#i lost my save data so now i have to replay everything

[realkeylogger]

SPLATOON 2 STORY MODE AND LEVEL 50+ SPEEDURN

[space-mermaid-writing]

House Arrest [Loki X Reader] Chapter 2

Summary: You are Clint’s 'little' sister and actually a trained Shield agent. But you gave that up a few years ago and became a Chef, because you wanted a normal live. Then one day Natasha shows up at your door and takes you to the Avenger Tower for a while for security reasons.

Tags: Reader is an former Shield Agent, chef!reader, Reader Barton, 2012 Avenger vibes, everything is still alright, Slice of Life, Avengers Family, Loki has a good heart, still the god of mischief, Slow Burn, mention of food and cooking

Read it on AO3

Chapter 2: Not the new kitchen help

You can now call a cozy apartment with two rooms and a nice bathroom your own. You have stored your things in the bedroom and are now looking around the tower. The living rooms seem to be spread over several levels. Either there are really a lot of people living here or they tried to keep a little space to avoid stepping on each other's toes all the time. Living and working together can be quite a challenge for some people. The floors above consist - judging by the signs - of labs and various development rooms. Most of it is probably technical stuff, but some of the doors also have concerning warnings, and you don't want to spend your first day trying to figure out if they're genuine.

You find the outdoor platform with the big A and see, then it’s connected to some sort of party or lounge room. There are several couch sets and a rather nicely equipped bar. Overall, everything is very spacious and you're sure you can walk around here for a few days without anyone noticing your presence. At least once, you think you've lost your bearings for a moment, but then you find your way back to the elevators. On the other hand, there was surprisingly little going on up here.

All floors below the living area seem to be offices, at least the names of the elevator buttons suggest that. You don't feel like visiting them right now, because the exploration tour has left you pretty hungry. The last meal was also your breakfast this morning and now it's almost afternoon. So you look for the room that interests you the most anyway. And you find it near the lounge: a wonderfully large kitchen with fantastic equipment. You explore it with interest and notice that it‘s visibly little used. Among the people and other beings here, there seems to be no one enjoying cooking. Saving the world probably takes up enough of their time. As you open the refrigerator, a voice suddenly comes from somewhere, startling you briefly at first. "Good afternoon, Miss Barton. If you have any requests regarding the food or ingredients, please let me know." You look around, but can't see anyone. "My name is JARVIS," the voice explains. "I am an A.I. and I am available to assist you." "Uh-huh...hello," you merely reply, processing this information. Jarvis, meanwhile, continues talking. "Welcome to the Tower. The other Avenger members have been notified of your arrival in a memo." "Okay, thanks." It‘s a bit weird talking to a room, but apparently modern technology has already reached the next level here. Hearing nothing more, you start inspecting the contents of the refrigerator. The result is quite sobering. "It's all just fast foods," you grumble. "Would you like to suggest changes in the selection?", Jarvis asks. "Yes! Please and thank you." "You're welcome to make a shopping list, and I'll have everything ordered." Why not? Regardless of whether a computer can really do it, you nod. "Okay." "A personal tablet will be calibrated for you. You can pick it up from Mr. Banner."

A few minutes later you find yourself in the labs on the upper floors. The sterile lit hallway reminds you much more of Shield than the lower floors. You turn a corner and have to go down some stairs that lead you into a large room. Here, tables are jumbled with various types of modern computers and equipment. Further back is a robotic arm soldering a hard drive all by itself with a quiet whir. It’s a dream for any technology enthusiast. From one corner, you hear typing and beeping, followed by quiet murmurs. That's where you turn, looking at the whiteboards on the wall along the way, where complicated calculations and drawings could be seen. Then suddenly, right in front of you, a hologram appears in the air and you stop, rooted to the spot. "Oops!" "Oh, sorry." A head pops up from behind a nearby screen and you recognize Bruce Banner. His face is always shown on the news whenever there's been a shot of Hulk. But now you're more interested in the hologram as you take a closer look. It shows a nebulous, pulsating entity. "What is that?" you ask the scientist. "We got some cosmic stones. This was in one of them." "It's moving. Is it alive?" "Living would be an exaggeration, but there is energy present. My name is Dr. Banner, by the way." He reduzes the size the hologram so it's out of your way. "Barton, nice to meet you." "Clint's sister, I read the file. He never mentioned you though." "I didn't want any attention, but didn't quite work out, I guess." Bruce smiles sympathetically and reaches for a cup of tea, which, judging by his expression after the first sip, seems to be cold. You ask for the tablet you came for, and Bruce looks around searchingly. There are a few of them in the room, but the display of one lights up, drawing your attention. You see your name displayed and simply conclude that it's the right one. Briefly you say thank and goodbye, before you go back to your room and start making a shopping list. Please fresh ingredients and please deliver today.

Afterwards, you browse around a bit. The tablet, like every electronic device in the house, seems connected to the main computer and to Jarvis. You pull up a few files on your new housemates and read them curiously. At least the parts that are publicly available. You also take the opportunity to look for your own name. Because even though you know that your records were officially destroyed when you left, you know that no data is ever really gone. So you're almost surprised when you find only a few sentences about yourself and not even a photo. Mainly it was about your and Clint's entry into Shield at a young age as orphans. You had received a pretty good education, which may have also kept you from going off the rails. Besides hand-to-hand combat and firearms training, your specialty was handling knives, while your brother took up bows and arrows. For foreign missions, you had also had to learn various languages and had chosen the widely spoken Spanish and Russian. But you didn't work for Shield for a long time, instead opting out of your career early on. It just wasn't the life you wanted to lead. So you changed cities and mingled with the civilian population. And before you knew it, your talent with a knife led you into a traditional apprenticeship as a chef. You enjoyed this work more than having to fight to death, and you even expanded your knowledge and skills during a year abroad in France. But there is very little of all this in your records.

You set the tablet aside and stretch out on your new bed. Normally, you would be in full swing at work right now. A glance at the clock reveals that it's already early evening. Rush hour in most of the restaurants. But here? Without a task or a plan, there's not much you can do. On the other hand, a little vacation wouldn't hurt you.

At some point, the tablet gave a soft ping and when you checked, it was a notification that the refrigerator and all the pantries had been restocked. By now you are very hungry and you heard nothing about a joint dinner time, so you decide to cook yourself something. Out of sheer habit and to avoid getting your clothes dirty, you put on a chef's jacket and apron you brought from home and go into the kitchen. There's a radio in one corner that you turn on. Jarvis really did get everything you had asked for. It was a dream come true. Now in a much better mood, you grab a pan and get to work. From the freezer, you pull out a fish, which you gut and fill with fresh herbs. It goes into the pan first. Then it's the turn of the potatoes, which are peeled, boiled and rolled in rosemary.

You're so absorbed in your work - you've just poked a knife into the boiling potatoes to see if they're already done - that you don't notice a visitor, who had entered the kitchen at some point, until he makes himself known. "I'll have the course menu and a white wine to go with it." Somewhat confused, you look up as you hear the man's voice and see Tony Stark standing at the sideboard across from you. He notices your look and returns it with a smile. "I didn't realize we hired a new kitchen help." You frown and take a sharpening rod in your free hand to sharpen your knife while not taking your eyes off Tony. "Oh, I'm not a new kitchen help," you clarify. "I'm a chef." "Excuse me. Then would the chef please serve me the course menu and a white wine?" The trillionaire indicates a polite bow, but you merely turn to the stove and take the potatoes off it. You then retrieve a plate from the cupboard. "Jarvis", you direct your voice to the computer, hoping it’s still listening. "Would you please explain to Mr. Stark that I'm not here to cook for him and that he'll have to order his course menu, if he really wants one, from the Chinese place next door?" "Mr. Stark, I'm supposed to-." "I heard her, Jarvis," Tony interrupts the A.I., eyeing you a little more closely now. "That does make me wonder what you're doing here, Miss...? Aside from the fact that there's no Chinese working next door." "Then you should make one move in there," you replay amused. As you do, you wipe your fingers on the cloth you've hung on the apron at your hip and prep your dish. Just as Tony is about to say something clever, the door opens and another person walks in. You recognize Thor at first glance. "What's that delicious smell in the air?", he asks, looking around curiously. You smile and point to the stove. "I was just cooking. There's still some left for you to take." With that, you want to go to your room, but Tony stops you. "Oh, he gets something, but I don't?", he complains. You shrug your shoulders. "He didn't want a whole menu." With that, you disappear through the door and go back to your living quarters. There you quickly change into something comfy and make yourself comfortable on the couch, where you watch an episode of your favorite show while you eat. A little company would be nice, but you don't feel like meeting more people you don't know yet. And you don't feel like searching for Natasha in this huge complex. So you’re fine with being by your own right own.

After dinner, you continue watching the show, but eventually you realize you're getting tired. It really had been an eventful and long day. So you quickly take your dirty dishes back to the kitchen. But just as you're closing the dishwasher, Tony comes back in and leans against the frame with his arms crossed. "So… you‘re a Barton." Apparently he had spent a few minutes of his precious time gathering information about you and then waited for you to reappear. "Surprised there's another one?" you ask with a smirk. He takes that as a sign that you're not holding a grudge against him. He pushes himself off the door frame and comes closer, now leaning his arms on the kitchen island. "Nothing about Legolas surprises me anymore. Met his wife and kids the other day. Nice family. Are you guys a whole circus?" "Not anymore." You shrug. "So, what’s your deal?", he wants to know. "You left Shield in your early twenties. What's normal life like out there? No one waiting for you to come home?" You turn on the dishwasher and grab a water bottle from the supply. "Life is nice. Often stressful, but I have to worry a lot less about getting killed." You don't answer Tony's last question. It's really none of his business. "That is when you're not being yanked out of that life and brought into the house of superheroes", you add. "You'll get used to it. Both that we're super and that we're heroes. I promise." You laugh at his words. Tony seems to be a real egocentric, but also a humorous person. "Well, let's see", you reply, "Now if the welcome speech is over, I'd like to go to bed." "I won't keep anyone away from their beauty sleep. Good night." You wish him the same, then head back to your room, where you make yourself comfortable on the large bed. The strange surroundings were unfamiliar, but not you don't feel uncomfortable and so you soon fall asleep.

[oh-for-fic-sake]

Brucie Baby~

You decide to top Bruce.

Masterlist

Warning: Adult situations +18, Smut, Oral, Teasing, Femdom switch, Name calling, Swearing, Anal, Dubcon, Spitting (once)

A/n: okay so... Yeah as you can probably tell by now I am more of a bottom, but I really really wanted to give this a shot not to sure how I feel about it but I do hope that people like it, its really smutty. enjoy xx

Taglist @125bluemachine125​

Brucie Baby~

Bruce was down in the Bat cave working on his latest device upon taking Clark's advice he had taken you to the hospital for a heart check up. As it turned out you do have an abnormal heart rate, an arrhythmia tachycardia no murmur or damage yet and not dangerous thank god but you needed to have it monitored. So Bruce was making you a tiny ecg, much like the ones on sports watches but as you had refused to wear one he was making one in the form of a thin flat delicate chain mail looking bracelet with a small platinum plate with Sweets engraved underneath and a small onyx on the top the bracelet was a modern looking piece small and was versatile, it would go with anything and more importantly it would send the data straight to his phone and computer wirelessly, he even set it up to log in the bat computer just to make sure it was never lost. He may or may not have also put a teeny tiny tracker on it to but you wouldn't be privy to either just yet holding his breath as he clipped the last piece in place holding it to the inside of his wrist then outside checking the data on his phone as it lit up recording his pulse, with one last look he was satisfied he pulled it away tucking it into a velvet lined gift box bought specifically for the piece. Standing he stretched looking up at the time six am he would need to be ready to leave at eight. It was your six month anniversary and you were both going to spend the week at his own little slice of paradise, since what was now called 'the incident' things had changed slightly he was a little hesitant when being intimate, not that he didn’t love you or anything like that he would argue that you didn’t just own his heart, you was his heart but he was afraid of hurting you at first it was because of your injuries, then your it was your heart now he was just worried not wanting to accidentally hurt you, not only that but he was stressed, he kept on replaying that night over and over, the way he slammed the breaks but knew he wasn’t going to stop in time, all he could do was watch as you came closer and closer. He was so close to loosing you that he didn’t want to risk any harm whatsoever including in the bed room. Alfred said he was being silly that you wasn’t going anywhere and that as long as you had your safe word you was safe, he didn't even bother to ask where Alfred had learned about that he thought he was better off not knowing. It was also Alfred who had suggested the week away together noting you was both a bit stressed with the incident then the move. So that what was happening a trip to his small private island in the Maldives, Dick was coming to stay and fill in for him on patrol. He snapped the box shut leaving the cave, when he arrived to the bed room he stopped dead seeing you sitting up reading with a travel mug you turned to him smiling.

"Hey baby, how was it tonight?" he shrugged turning closing the door.

"Not much, stopped a kidnapping and an a few assaults small things really"

"Not to the victims they wont be. I heard the boys come up earlier you stayed down there a while." he smiled slipping off his tight tshirt strategically throwing it on the chair covering the small jewelry box as he dropped that as well.

"Yes working on something"You smiled curling your toes into the bed beneath you.

"Oh really a new gadget? Oh oh is it a lazer? Please tell me its a lazer I have always wanted to play with one like the ones in James bond!" He gave you a look

"No its not a lazer and if it was you definitely wouldn't get your hands on it" you pouted but not for long as your favorite part of the day began it was the best bit of living here full time getting your daily dose of Bruce's delicious body without fail, he smirked dropping his bottoms and pants in one swoop as he made his way across the room. You watched him quietly biting your lip as he snuck into the bed slowly crawling up beside you plucking your kindle from your hand snapping it shut dropping it on the side table then slid higher leaning over you taking your mug from you placing it beside the kindle. You sighed at him shivering a little as his cock brushed the top of your thigh wetting the shorts you wore to bed as it twitched to life against you.

"And just what do you think your doing Mr Wayne? you know we have a flight to catch in what two hours?" he hummed tugging on your arms leaning down to your neck whispering into your neck

"It's my Jet it wont leave without me" you sighed pulling his face up abruptly holding him firm before pressing your lips to his, he was a little shocked to say the least but soon gave into you as you plundered his mouth forcefully taking what you wanted from him twisting and toying with his tongue before making him shiver as you ran the tip of your tongue over the roof of his mouth then sucked harshly pulling on his tongue he moaned when you pulled back. Blinking a little confused as to where that aggression had come from but you felt just how much he had liked the change of pace  as you gripped his now fully erect cock between your delicate hands tugging once twice and one final third time twisting as the went rubbing over his slit making him bite off a groan arching into your hand with eager hips.Perfect.

"Well I don't think it would be nice to keep the pilot waiting, so I'm off to have a shower and recheck my bag and you should to, I'd say sleep but you don't have time" you said he moaned trying to grab you as you slipped out of the bed licking your lips, oh yes this trip would be incredible. You see you had fully healed from the night you discovered Bruce's secret and had been forced to the hospital about your heart and although it wasn't anything to worry about yet. Bruce had been very delicate with you. Not that you haven't enjoyed the sex but it wasn't the same, so you was stuck not sure what to do,you had already asked him but he insisted you wait a few more weeks to be sure. You wanted to do something get him so riled up that he would forget everything that has happened and ravage you once and for all. You smiled to yourself you had gone to Alfred for suggestions Alfred about what you should do to help. Alfred being the good sport he was smirked telling you to leave it with him already having a plan in mind, the next day a note had been slipped under your morning coffee with a single web address. You laughed giddy when you looked and saw a plethora of adult toys all dedicated to one kink Femdom safe to say most of the money you saved since living at the manor had brought you a whole arsenal of toys that was already at the house waiting as Alfred had arranged for it to be shipped directly there. You stopped just before walking through the door to the bathroom turning back to Bruce as he laid sprawled out on his back hand creeping to his cock that tented the blankets

"Oh and Bruce? leave that alone its mine if you don't you'll be sorry" you smirked at the shocked look on his face having to enter the bathroom quickly before you lost your composure and started laughing at the confused man. He through his head back cock twitching, you were up to something and he didn't know what but what he did know is he couldn't fucking wait. Closing his eyes he willed his raging boner to relax a little but he could still feel the tingles left by your hands. Shit. He heaved a sigh once he heard the shower, quickly getting up and hiding the bracelet in his packed bag stuffing the small box in his side pocket before beginning to get ready, he didn't need sleep yet he could wait until the flight and would probably nap by the sea once at the island. He sighed when racing past you when you stepped out of the shower turning it cold to help settle his problem you smirked nodding at him a little.

Thirty seven hours later you found yourselves stepping off of the plane the first thing you noticed was it was hot....Fucking hot you was happy you only had a thin dress on and the second was the sight that greeted you took your breath away you stood looking at what had to be a photo because this could not be real Bruce came up behind you yawning and stretching as he had just woken up, he looked well rested for the first time in weeks. He walked behind you kissing the back of your neck hugging you close.

"You like it?

""It-Bruce this is incredible I've  never seen anything like this not in real life" you was awe struck by the pure white sand and crystal clear water, in front of you was a small thatched building that looked like it was for maintenance, beyond that a lush patch of brightly colored plants you could hear parrots and various other wild life in the trees and peaking thought you could see the beach. A long pier extending out with a large house at the end that you'd seen on the brochures from here you could see the slide that wrapped around it from the roof into the sea. you smiled turning to him excitedly

"Oh my god a slide? does it have one of those nets? you know the one that hangs over the water that you can lay on?" you asked jumping up a little he laughed nodding.

"Yes and the slide was for the boys when they were younger but I'm sure you will make use of it, there is an infinity pool at the back to, Jason got freaked out by the fish when he was little so I had it put in for him." you giggled as you saw someone you didn't recognize pick up your bags piling them into a small jeep Bruce walked you over to it holding you around the waist.

"Jason really? was he frightened of them?"

"No I wouldn't say frightened, he just didn't like the idea of them touching him, he loved watching them hence the pool is glass he would dive holding the top with his goggles and snorkel I was even considering getting some coral around it to encourage more but the more fish would have drawn sharks and I decided against it not with the boys." you snapped your head to him as you sat side by side in the Jeep as it started moving down the dirt road towards the house.

"Sharks? do they come close?" he patted your thigh at the cute expression

"Don't worry most are babies...Tho there was that hammer head that swam straight into the glass pool that one time, and the reef shark of 08 he hung about for a few days swimming below the house I wouldn't let the boys out it was quiet big, turns out they were fucking feeding it! Well Dick was, wanted to tame it and brag to everyone that he had a pet shark." you laughed you could imagine them sneaking out throwing food at the dangerous creature.

"Was that when Jason asked for the pool by any chance?" you said slyly as the jeep rounded the corner pulling out of the trees to the beach parking by the huge pier. You glanced along the beach noticing a large sunken area with a curved stone wall with wooden bench wrapped around it and huge sunken firepit full of smooth glittering stones. You jumped out of the car following Bruce down the the pier both taking your suitcases and rolling them behind you as you walked hand in hand down the long wooden structure hearing the jeep drive off back towards the airfield.

"Never though about it but yes it was it must, have scared him. I only found out they was feeding the damn thing when I caught Dick trying to get in the water with it,the silly little sod was adamant that he had 'tamed the beast' I only just dragged him out of the water in time. I can tell you he didn't try that again after the hiding he got." you chuckled but felt sorry for the boy. You finally arrived at the sleek modern villa upon entering you sighed in relief as the aircon was in full swing cooling the house to a comfortable tempature, it was one story the whole back of the building was huge panes of glass giving an uninterrupted view of the sea beyond it was open planned with the master bedroom on the far left of the house and two rooms for the boys on the far right in the middle was an open plan light and airy kitchen with center island and dining table in front and large living room with sunken u shaped sofa facing a fireplace with tv above, out side you could see the pool and large hammock net beside it to the left was a set of stairs integrated into the side of the house you assumed it was for the slide. It was beautiful he directed you through to the bed room placing your bags down you gasped as the view was stunning you almost felt like you was just skimming the clear water.

"Bruce this is-its beautiful, I've never seen anything like this" he smiled approaching you slowly placing his hands on your shoulders pulling you back against him.

"Good I’m glad you like it, I'm going to have a quick shower and change I will be right back" you nodded turning giving him a deep kiss before letting him go. Once he left through the door you moved fast finding your order that Alfred said was in here and ripping it open finding your toys, you guessed that you had around ten minuets which was enough you raced to the bed with the box quickly unwrapping what you assumed was the comfort hand cuffs, basically normal click hand cuffs with a soft lining they had a quick release to you noted you gave them the once over the chain between them was think so hopefully they would contain him, not wasting time you quickly threaded them threw the bars of the head bored looping it around twice and stuffed it down beside the mattress out of sight then repeated with two separate cuffs on either side of the base board. You quickly made your way back to the box pulling out your other goodies quickly fiddling with them figuring out how each thing worked and moved crawling under the bed finding a plug socket and plugged in the rechargeable wand and plug vibrator you sighed standing back up doing another round of the room checking everything was hidden. Smiling you fist pumped the air and pulled out the final thing you had got the the cherry on the smutty cake as it were. It looked a little tight but you could make do quickly stuffing it back in the box and fished out the rest from your suitcase then kicked it across the room out of the way. You panicked slightly trying to remember everything you had seen in the videos. You had planned this for just over a week using the time he was away at night to watch ridiculous amounts of femdom porn wanting to get this spot on. You knew he would like this just from the way he got turned on when you became as he called it 'Mama bear' you took a deep breath you could do this. You'd pay for it later .but you could do this. You kicked off your shoes and dress lying on the bed in only your panties you had forsaken your bra on the flight you turned facing away from the bathroom door staring out to the sea, it calmed you hearing the waves in the distance and the soft laps of water on the columns holding the house up just below the floor you nearly drifted off to sleep. Suddenly the bathroom door opened and Bruce came waltzing in clad in only a towel."All ready and waiting for me love? I thought we could go relax in the Jacuzzi for a bit but if you insist, after all I do owe you for yesterday" he said quickly throwing the towel away and crawling on the bed you rolled over to meet him half way kissing him lightly at first before moving slowly sitting up deepening the kiss you moaned as he bit your lip sucking it then released opening your mouth you welcomed him letting him explore your mouth slowly before you latched on to his tongue sucking it quickly and biting it lightly rolling over to lounge across him he smirked cupping your ass as you moved straddling him you looked down noticing he was already half hard.smirking you shuffled up sitting on his cock trapping it between your covered pussy and his own abdomen a leaning over kissing him again slowly clasping his hands maneuvering them up past his head. Distracting him by running kisses across his jaw suckling and biting harshly making him moan the he returned the favor sucking a dark mark on your neck. Yes almost there. You guided his hands further across the pillows and grinded on him making sure to keep him occupied then CLICK! he flinched jerking his arms pulling his face away from you. You giggled at the shocked look on his face

"ERR Babe wh-what are you doing there hun?" he asked there was a tremor to his voice. you grinned at him leaning down to him again kissing his chest.

"I want to play Brucie baby~ You see you've been gentle and I just don't know what I have to do to get you to rough me up a bit. First I thought if I was a good girl you'd reward me, fuck me stupid again like you did before. I know you was worried that you'd hurt me again but sometimes a bit of pain is good. Soooo I thought that I'd show you." you winked at him crawling backwards down the length of his body leaving soft kisses. He stared mouth open speechless as you slid off of the bed, you could see it in the way his pupils were blown, eyes clouded with lust he was enjoying himself and the slight bobbing of his semi erect cock was a very good indicator. He shook his head laughing a little and smirked.

"Oh you think you can top me baby girl because you have a set of handcuffs? Fine I will play along give me your best shot"

"Oh baby, you are so going to regret that" you smiled bending down licking your lips as you quickly cuffed each of his ankles spreading him open you tutted and walked across the room to the box pulling out a two little elastic rings towards him,he visibly flinched and gulped a little as you stalked to the bed holding the toys.

"Hey wh-where did you get that? How do you even know what that is? my sweet lovely little girlfreind, you know I love you right babe?" you giggled sitting on the bed as he tested his cuffs trying to shift away from you as you ran the tip of a finger up and down his lower abdomen.

"Of course I know you love me I love you to and I'm pretty sure this is on your list isn't it? the big bad bat of Gotham who is always in control day and night wants to take the back seat once in a while? to be completely at my mercy for once?" he nodded a little swallowing dryly still trying to get his head around the fact that you, tiny innocent y/n had cuffed him to the bed and was stroking his stomach getting him ready for a fucking cock ring. You giggled placing your hand on the crown of his cock rubbing and teasing him with the pads of your fingers making his hiss arching leaning down licking at him then slowly dragged the tips of your nails up and over his whole length until finally he rose fully erect and ready, you made quick work of placing the cock ring over him rolling it down the pulled both balls through it gently moving him through the tight loop letting go he moaned as it started squeezing him tight then you moved quick placing the second one at his base trapping his balls between the two elastics you parted with a kiss and nip to them making him arch off the bed groaning loud panting heavy, he hissed as they constricted his heated flesh keeping him pointing directly up. You then tapped the head lightly sucking on it once then pulled away."Now I will be right back just going to freshen up." you said walking of to the side lifting your new outfit ignoring his protests listening as he tugged at the bonds swearing as he realized he might not be able to break away. He was fucked utterly fucked but oh boy was he going to enjoy it, this was his darkest deepest fantasy that no woman had ever even attempted, in his playboy years he had always been treated like a sugar daddy, they expected him to top each time ,they were desperate just wanting him to dominate them, control them and then fuck them silly. It was a secret desire that he was almost ashamed of, absolutely no one new not even Alfred who knew everything about him. He absolutely loved topping it was his thing but every now and then he wants to be topped, the idea of you using him, controlling him.

"UGH fuuuck" he cried out as the thought made his cock harden bouncing a little as he was held high moaning and twitching as he tried to focus on his breathing instead of the tight delicious throbbing of his cock. Meanwhile you entered the bathroom putting on your new outfit, well you use the term outfit loosely it was one of those cute goth girl type harnesses that looped in v's across your breasts wrapping up around your neck in a choker and matching thong you paired it with Bruce’s favorite stocking and garter set thick band of lace wrapped around your waist attached to matching lace trimmed stockings and killer heels- he liked you in heels- then ruffled your hair applying you expensive red long wear lipstick, this particular one needs a special lipstick remover and had also been a new purchase just for this. You grabbed the last item a fierce looking black riding crop. oh yes this was worth epilating for. You felt so ready for this your insides aching for him if everything went to plan you’d be thoroughly fucked out by the end of the day then took a deep breath pushing aside your own arousal. Not yet today was for Bruce. Hearing the rattle of the cuffs a and a deep frustrated moan. You opened the door strutting to wards the bed watching him whither trying to tug himself free, he hadn't noticed you yet you licked your lips in anticipation. Excellent. you quickly brought the crop down on the v above his angry looking cock making him hiss and stop mouth agape as he saw you.

"Fuck me" he said drinking in your form you smirked sitting on the bed running the tip of the crop up his neck pressing on his jaw to close it humming at him.

"Not yet baby we've only just started, oh honey that looks uncomfortable~" you said tapping his red swollen cock with the crop quickly he grunted, couldn't take his eyes off of you as you got up and walked around the bed sliding beneath it you came back up resting your head on your elbow on the bed level with his face

."I almost feel bad about what I'm going to do you you. But this is a lesson you need isn't it love?" you watched his eyes widen as you lifted your hand holding a Pink wand vibrator. His breath hitched yep he was definitely completely and utterly fucked with capital F. He moaned

"No nono Sweets come on! that's not fair!" You smirked at him as he growled tugging on the cuffs again.

"OH but it is Brucie it is fair, pay back is a bitch and so am I" You picked up the crop striking him across the stomach with it leaving red strips across him then once lightly on the fat head of his cock as you moved taking your place between his spread thighs. Stroking him lightly barely touching him swirling your fingers around him making him swear at your cool hands.

"Today my love you are not Bruce Wayne, you are not the bat or even the boss. No today you are a little subby, little Brucie baby and lastly but definitely not least you are my toy!" You smiled as he grunted loud trying to buck, tho you wasn't sure if it was away or towards your hand.

"Im counting on you using my safe word if things get to much for you ,you remember what it is?" You asked him still stroking him slowly pressing your fingers every so often as you twisted making sure to rub the sensitive underside of his head a little making him hiss and groan

"Brownies" you smiled leaning down ghosting your breath on him. Letting one hand slip to the apex of your own thighs shuddering as you made contact with your engorged clit rubbing lightly coaxing small gasps and moans.

"Good boy, such a good boy" before you licked at his slit he groaned thrusting up trying to penetrate your mouth. You pulled back scraping him with your teeth collecting some precum along the way making a point of sticking out your tongue to him showing him his own seed before swallowing it licking your lips  tutting you moved your hand clenching your hand around him reprimanding him.

"OH baby you want my mouth? you'll have to behave then and I might let you have it" he swore when you placed the wand sneakily beneath both rings pressing it tightly against the flesh below his balls flicking it on.

"OH FUUUCK shitshit thats-Ahh!" he grunted torn between trying to press down and pull away as the vibrations traveled from his root to tip making the elastics tremble against one another teasing his trapped cock, you smiled wickedly before flicking it up not one but two levels enjoying the cry that ripped from deep in his chest, it was an unexpected pleasure watching as his whole upper body tensed curling his muscles bulging trying to free himself he panted a few deep breaths then held his breath grunting before panting quickly again whining trying to rut into it. Quickly you pulled it away before he could cum giggling as he through himself back on the bed panting already covered in sweat you didn’t give him long to recover before pressing it hard to the swollen balls peaking taught from between the rings. The reaction was immediate this time his whole body ceasing, locking and trying to squirm away all at once. Slowly you moved it up to his weeping head rolling it around in delicate circles he grunted throwing his head back into the pillows turning his head to his bicep biting down trying to stifle his moans but couldn't hold back for lone as you tortured him with slow deliberate strokes.

"OH FUCK PLEASE! Pleaseplease baby fuck yes I'm so close! NO! NONONO" Just as he started rocking moaning higher and more desperate you pulled away pouting at him you wriggled on your knees rubbing your thighs together watching him fall apart was the most arousing thing you’d ever seen, unable to take it anymore as you soaked your own thighs you spoke.

"You know your right its not fair" you quickly straddled him placing the wand beneath your swollen folds then pressed down rubbing on it. You moaned as Bruce thrashed beneath you trying to touch .So close yet so far. You as you rocked on the toy crying out as the vibrations made your swollen clit ache and swell with need but at the same soothed you as your pussy clenched leaking on the toy panting softly.

"OH! that's it fuck yesyesyes" you leaned forward hands on his chest looking straight in his eyes mouth open as you tensed quivering feeling his muscles tense the wand low enough on his abdomen to tease the muscles of his pelvis tensing forcing his cock to throb and move before he knew what was happening he was arching shouting his pleasure as he came for the first time bucking despite the cock ring still holding him at a full attention. You laughed at him as you carried on thrusting wildly on him leaning down more to kiss at his open mouth. He met you in a ferocious battle of tongues desperate for any contact he could get panting and shivering. You stopped yourself short gasping sliding off of him taking the toy with you. You would wait.

"Oh baby look at all this mess?" You said flicking off the wand you wouldn't need it now. He panted hissing through his teeth as you began to crawl over him sucking him sharply making him yelp out.

"FUUUCK NONONO BABY DONT IT'S TO MUCH-AHH UGH UGH NO PLEEEAASSEE!" You chuckled as he fought desperate to get away and stop you, ignoring him you pushed onto him swallowing him down until, your nose was flush against him moaning loud onto him he cried out higher then you had ever heard him then pulled back slowly bobbing onto him he panted cried and swore as you continued using your lips as you ran along his length popping off of him he went lax but only for a second choosing to torture his sensitive cock with your hand two fingers at first squeezing him keeping your pumping thumb on the vein underneath it he shook,  thighs tensing and quivering his upper body tense a flush of deep red almost purple creeping down his body.

"BITCH! OH JESUS!Your a fucking bitch you OOOHHH NOO PLEASE! WAIT! Im gonna fuck-shit FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK! fuck you so hard you'll be bed bound for days!" You laughed

"Im counting on it! Aww baby is it sore? Goood I want it to HUUUURT!" Then fisted him with both hands pumping as fast as you could go  your pussy clenched as you drove him beyond pain to the pleasure beyond it he cried throwing his head back cumming a second then third time in what seemed under a minute you stopped then puling away.

"Oh wow that was hot look at all this baby, Is it all for me? So good but whats this my love? Your still hard that must mean you want more musn’t it?" You said scooping up his cum before rubbing it over his torso he groaned pitifully at you shaking his head still trying to catch his breath you crawled up him quickly sliding your thong to the side impaling yourself on him squealing as his hard cock stretched you burning you from the inside out he tensed and shuddered beneath you looking up with tears in his eyes.

"FUUUUUUUUCK no babe I cant! NONONONONOOOO!" You just licked your lips bouncing on him rotating your hips grinding your clit on him  then changed direction forcing him to hit that spot making your eyes roll back you placed your hands either side of his head grinding on him panting breathy moans in his ear.

"Fuck are you gonna cum again Brucie? Come on love do it for me" you moaned loud and clenched around him tight making him whimper unable to speak he just nodded

"Good, such a good boy for me now I want you to cum! To fill me like never before you can just imagine it cant you love fucking me full, so I drip with you for days oh YES! FUCK UGH BABY PLEASE AAHHH!" you tucked your head in the crook of his neck rocking desperately against him as the change in angle brushed both your g spot and cervix you moaned tensing closing your eyes as you tummy quivered and you felt the heat move lower finally reaching your pussy you grunted as you came around his cock twitching as your walls fought to milk him he opened his mouth in a silent scream cumming for the forth time jerking into you tight heat as you came undone over him. You panted laying on him catching your breath as you came down from your high, giggling rolling off of him as he chuckled lightly closing his eyes you thought that was enough for today he looked utterly exhausted you lay beside him kissing his heaving chest patting his stomach

"I love you Bruce" he leaned down kissing your head

"I love you to Sweets, can you uncuff me now think we both need to relax in the Jacuzzi with some wine now" you hummed in response moving to the bottom of the bed releasing his legs then using the quick release on the hand cuffs. With precise movements you was maneuvered far to quickly for your liking being thrown over his shoulder he growled ripping off the cock rings hissing.

"Wha? Bruce how are you?" You was interrupted with a harsh spank on your pussy whining you moved your hands trying to cover yourself as you was dumped in the sunken hot tub out on the deck, grabbed again from behind as you surfaced the shaking your hair out blindly grabbing for anything using your confusion he pulled harshly at the thong snapping it clean off throwing it on the deck. He held both arms behind you pressing you to kneel on one of the hot tub seats knees spread and bending you forward slightly having your ass hang just over the bottom of the seat ,gulping as a very pissed of Bruce towered over you from behind gripping your throat restricting your air flow holding you still leaning his chest into you.

"B-Brucie?" He dug his fingers in to your neck before growling into your ear"Shut the fuck up woman! You really thought I'd let you get away with that?" He moved shuffling his still hard cock to your sopping entrance that was still twitching tapping it on your clit, sliding up and down between your lips, your walls spasmed and quivered, he was definitely going to make you pay and you couldn't wait.

"OH GOd! plEASE FUCK MEE! please Bruce I want your cum! PLEASE fill me again I want it!"

"You think your getting this cock Up your greedy cunt after that? Oh baby no, I'm gonna fuck your ass good and proper, your going to feel me for days, your pussy might not be worthy of my cock right now but I can do this" you screeched as he started the jets realizing why he held you here as a powerful jet sent a constant stream of water up to your pussy massaging your poor clit you curled into yourself letting out a long drawn out groan pressing into him he chuckled as you cried out loud, it was incredible and painful all in one as the water massaged your swollen flesh you rocked and withered against it

"OH OH FUCK BRUCE PLEASE PLEASEPLEASE IM SORRY!" He smiled licking at your neck making sure to stand firm holding you still as you moaned and panted before he used on hand to line himself up with your tight pucker his blunt head pressing hard in warning your eyes widened tilting back mouth open in one continuous cry with out wasting time he lurched forward past the tight ring of muscle grunting as the tight ring nearly chocked his cock he rocked slowly feeding you inch after inch.

"Oh baby girl your so tight shit yes fuck! You want to be fucked full? Well baby girl there was no need for all of this You could have asked." You whimpered moaning as he drove in deeper filling you to the hilt you grunted in pain as he pressed his balls to your cheeks, as painful as it was the jets directed to your clit abusing it eased you overall experience you panted gasping and whining as he fucked you harshly not giving much care to you as he pulled and pushed his way up into you, and you love every second of it moaning loud as the water lapped at you you screamed trying to wriggle away from him as your body trembled your walls clenched so tight they almost cramped in on themselves as you was left empty as you came looking up at him tears rolling down your face as he carried on fucking into your sore ass, not letting you escape the jet below you moving down to spit into your open mouth. The filthy gesture made you clench again around nothing in the middle of your orgasm you whined frustrated and over sensitive panting harshly as he pulled out of you tipping you further forward bending you completely over the side you stared into the clear ocean below as he moved forward plowing into your swollen abused pussy

"AH SHIT BRUCE PLEASE I CANT" he growled at you

"You can and you fucking WILL! UGH! SHIT!  yesyesyes take it babe ah ah ah!TAKE IT BABE COME ON YOU WANTED THIS NOW YOU'VE GOT IT" you shivered clenching your hands and curling your toes as he battered your cervix pressing down as he went to stroke your sensitive soft spot, still trembling you shouted out as your clit throbbed an your pussy hummed to life as he took you above and beyond anything you’d felt with him before, one hand was gripping your ass as he thrusted forward with no mercy legs shaking as the water jet used to torment you now pulsed over his balls as he pounded into you. You wailed as he moved his hand to your clit pinching and tugging on it forcing you to orgasm again this time his hips stuttered and with one last pound forward he lifted your knees off of the seat completely forcing you to straighten your legs holding his hands on the edge of the deck either side of you holding trapping you pushing stretching your cervix forcing the tip of his cock inside before he came you screeched loud as he did feeling his hot cum spurt into your fluttering womb he held you still as you panted in shock of what just happened still feeling him twitching inside of you.

"Thats it THATS IT!! FUCK FUCK GOOD GIRL! AH AH yesyesyes shit shit! You feel that? UGH! Thats what you get! My.Fat.Cock deep inside of you, marking you as mine! Because that what you are my little slut! Mine to fuck and fill as I see fit, you wanted to be full now you are and if you let so much as one drop escape I will drag you to the bed and start all over again and again until you learn to keep my cum inside of you where it belongs!" He ground himself against your stinging clit laughing as you whined

"Bruuuuce I'm sore" he kissed your back

"Good I wanted it to hurt" he threw your own words back at you nipping your ear load before pulling out you hissed when he twisted to sit in the water with you on his lap cradling you to his chest kissing you.

"I love you babe , that was the best sex we have had in a long time isn't it?" You nodded cupping his jaw kissing it.

"Yeah... sorry if I was to much I kind of got into it... more than I thought I would actually" its true you was surprised at how much it had turned you on to have him to the point of tears. He smiled rubbing your back his other hand moving to change the jets to a low hum massaging your tired muscles.

“Nonsense you were perfect, it was incredible more than i could have ever hoped for, but where did you get the stuff? And where the fuck did you learn about all this femdom stuff?" You blushed twiddling his light dusting of chest hair smileing coyly at him.

"Well Alfred slipped me a note with a web address on it and that was all she wrote." You kissed him as his face dropped

"WHAT? Alfred as in Alfred Alfred? The man who raised me Alfred? Our Alfred?" You giggled nodding he sighed

"Holy shit" you sat up tugging your new harness off wincing as you saw the red marks it left where your large breasts were pressing on it he looked down hissing on your behalf running a finger across it.

"And I watched a shit load of femdom porn when you was out patrolling, I planned this for over a week ... nearly two I just wanted us to go back to the way we used to have sex, wanted to prove to you that I'm fine now, you don't have to worry about hurting me, I promise I will stop you if its too much the only way I could think of was to top you, so you knew what it was like you know?" He nodded as you leaned against him resting your head on his chest.

"I definitely understand, I'm sorry I just got so caught up in wanting to make sure you was completely healed, I was considering asking superman to come and double check that your ribs were fine, that's when Alfred pulled me aside telling me I was being stupid and suggested this trip." You scoffed then froze "Wait he suggested this trip? He told me it was you? And he-THAT LITTLE SHIT! Bruce he has had us both over!" You growled then pouted

"Come again?" You snorted at him

"Not yet love still tender" he bellowed a laugh at that

"Any way what I mean is he suggested the trip gave me the website link and arranged for the stuff to be hear for our arrival.... he set us up, and to be honest I’m greatful but damn your butlers pretty cunning... I suppose its true the butler really did do it." Bruce belly laughed

"Hey I've got something for you" he said before standing taking you with him you giggled as he carried you to the bed room placing you on the bed softly leaving with a kiss kneeling routing around in his case pulling out his gift.

"Here I made this for you, I know I shouldn't worry but I do" you took the box tentatively opening it seeing a beautiful silver chainmail bracelet with small plate and strategically placed onyx. You gasped slowly pulling it out.

"Bruce? What I don’t know what to say its beautiful" he sat beside you placing it on your wrist smiling as it fit perfect, not that he doubted the fit he may have measured your wrist when you was sleeping.

"Its a heart monitor and sends the data to my phone computer and even the bat computer, so I wont worry as much, the hospital said to monitor it but going to the hospital for and ecg every three months wasn't good enough for me so I made this, I want you to wear it as much as possible, its water proof so you can swim and shower with it.Happy six month anniversary" You leant forward kissing him deeply and pulled away admiring your new bracelet.

"Thank you I feel bad I didn't get you anything" he bellowed a laugh

"Babe you gave me the best orgasm of my life and I got to fuck your ass that's plenty trust me, tho if your really that upset I wouldn't say no if you bent over again for me" you squeaked blushing slapping his chest

"Oh? Whats all this then? How can you go from being a hot sexy mistress to a innocent little baby doll in what ten minutes?"you pouted pushing on him whining embarrassed. Then you heard a small beep below the bed you froze. You had forgotten about that. Bruce looked at you curiously then went under the bed sighing as he came up holding the specially designed prostate massager you chuckled nervously as he cock an eyebrow at you.

"Were you gonna try and stick this up my ass?" You shrugged

"Hehe well I err funny thing-sort of? maybe.....The guys on the videos liked it..... So I kind of you know thought I'd try it." You explained rubbing the back of your neck as he just stared.

"Haha no. Absolutly not, you are not sticking anything up my ass babe." He said placeing it beside the bed. You pouted muttering under your breath

"Like you'll have a choice when I do." He snapped his gaze at you.

"What was that? You want it up yours? well why didn't you say babe" your eyes bugged out as he stepped towards you grinning mischievously, you screamed giggling getting off the bed running out into the deck as he chased you diving at you plunging you both into the pool. You giggled as he held you against him in the water holding your ass as you wrapped your legs around him kissing one another.

"I love you so much you know I'd do anything for you right?" he asked staring straight into your eyes you nodded

"I love you to Bruce honestly couldn't imagine ever being with out you,I truly believe your my soulmate" he smiled pressing his forehead to yours closing your eyes you stayed there with him just enjoying being held. Then Bruce had to ruin the sweet moment.

"Soo hammock sex yes or no?" You deadpanned pulling away

"Let me guess its on your list?" He shook his head

"Nope not that list... I have a different list for holidays" you groaned shaking your head at him swimming to the edge on the pool watching the colorful fish swim just beyond the glass.

"Tomorrow? Lets just relax for today" he swam up beside you crossing his arms on the rim of the glass.

"Fine by me" you both stayed there enjoying the peaceful surroundings. You was content thing were definitely back to normal. you snuck another kiss pulling yourself up to the glass beside him as he held you by the waist leaning on him looking at your new bracelet twinkly in the sun.

[pathofcomets]

soldier, keep on marching on (8)

fandom: mass effect andromeda (AO3)

pairing: jaal/ryder

summary: Sara Ryder will replay that moment before she died for the first time many times afterwards.

playlist: spotify

“Is Jaal doing okay?” Sara asks Lexi, since she is stuck for her check-up anyway.

“He’s adjusting. The rest of us have at least some understanding of each other’s cultures. But to Jaal, we’re all outsiders. It’s a lot to take in. I’d say he’s doing pretty well. Unlike you. Ryder, you are working on auto-pilot right now.”

The asari sighs, putting aside the data pad to look properly at her patient. Sara is stubborn – at least that one thing in common with her father, but her body is starting to strain under the effort of the past months: the intense fighting, the erratic sleep pattern, the barely kept down meals. It’s all in the numbers too, but even more obvious in the dark circles beneath her eyes. She may cover most of it with the make-up she seems to prefer, divert the attention to other places on her face, but Lexi has had decades of experience with tens and hundreds of people just like her. Sara Ryder is not that special, not that different from any other human she encountered.

“Lexi,” she sighs, looking up at the doctor, feelings shut off, entirely numb to the implications of the asari’s words. She doesn’t have it in her to deal with the fact that her father died and is gone, leaving her an orphan on a galaxy so, so far away from home. Even more, he died saving her life – something that she’ll never be able to forget, a reminder in every breathe she takes. If she stops to think about it, she is not sure she will be able to start again. So she doesn’t.

“Just take care of my crew, okay?”

Lexi frowns. “And who takes care of you?”

“SAM?”

It’s a definite answer, even if it sounds unsure coming out of her mouth. But it is also her heritage. She doesn’t like to talk about the AI, especially with her Milky Way people, too much doubt in their glances, but if there’s someone who kept her together so far, it’s definitely the voice in her head that reminds her that there’s still work to be done, that not everything is lost, that there’s a way to solve everything, find a way out of this mess. She doesn’t think she makes a good Pathfinder, but she’s the one they have. Kept together by disembodied voices, coffee and a questionable amount of authority issues, but still the only one available.

“You’re going to give me so many problems, won’t you?” Lexi sighs, but she gets up, allowing Sara to leave the medbay.

“I prefer the phrasing making things interesting.”

“Of course you do.”

And Lexi’s chuckle follows her as she makes her way out of the place, munching on the asari’s baton, that she stole from her desk. Drack is on cooking duties tonight – the usual, but there’s still a couple hours until then, and her eating schedule has been fucked up royally. She eats when she’s hungry, if she can, these days.

***

“Oh,” Sara says, meeting Jaal’s frame in the middle of the tech lab, and she shoves the rest of her dry muesli baton in her mouth, making sure not to entirely choke on it. “So this is where you settled down?”

The words come muffled, her cheeks rounded, and it takes a few seconds for Jaal’s translators to make sense of it. He looks at her, highly amused as she covers her mouth with her palm, covering her chewing. It seems like such a human thing to be ashamed of, when they’ve both been stranded on a planet, their stomachs growling, smelling so badly that not even the wild fauna would approach them.

“It was free, so I just assumed…”

“No, of course!” she says, waving her arms in front of her in a panicked motion meant to calm him down. “You’re welcome anywhere on board of the Tempest,” she adds.

“Hm.”

She looks good: fresher after the hot shower, now that they’re away from Veold from a while. Her skin still flushed from the warmth of the bathroom, visible because of the shirt she is wearing, leaving her shoulder, neck and arms all naked. Jaal’s eyes travel down the vast expanse of her skin, taking in her freckles, the faint scarring in odd places. Her mouth has the signature red, that would always wear off during a day on Veold, but looks prim here, in closed quarters, controlled environment.

Sara’s eyes, because she is so much struggling to look anywhere but him, lands on the weapon resting on one of the walls of the room. Her eyes grow, a familiar glimmer that Jaal has learnt to recognize as enthusiasm burning in there.

“I like to tinker, to get my hands on something and take it apart.”

“Well, as long as you don’t take apart my ship.”

He laughs; it’s a small sound, coming from the back of his throat, but she will take whatever victory she can.

“I… volunteered for this position,” he says, and this time he meets her eyes, as she hangs on every one of his words. “It is exciting. But… there’s something unique about you. Uneasy, raw – but somehow profound.”

Her entire face contorts, a myriad of expressions flashing across it, and Jaal watches her, transfixed. Her pupils blown large, her breath hitched in her throat, the redness overtaking her cheeks, as she goes tight-lipped. For a moment, he loses her to some memories he cannot even begin to guess at, this alien from stars so far away still bearing as many unknowns as the universe.

“That… sounds like a compliment. A nice one,” she manages, her voice lower than normal, and her fingers are fumbling with the hem of her shirt.

“It is. Angara feel deeply. We have more trouble hiding our emotions than showing them.”

He didn’t think it possible, but her blush intensifies, growing even darker, taking over her neck as well. He stares, impossible not to, wondering if this skin colour change is similar to the way bioelectricity might hum, if he was in a similar situation.

“Would you mind terribly if I… stop around here from time to time?” she fumbles over her words, and she looks pained, like it took a large amount of effort to even say them out loud.

“You’re here now, aren’t you?” Jaal replies, a bit confused. “It is your ship after all.”

Something in her snuffs out with that comment, her eyes growing glossed over. She’s determinedly staring at a point above his shoulder, not his face. Jaal feels, deeply, the absence of the eye contact.

“I should go,” she mumbles, seemingly not fast enough, and she turns, swearing under her breath when it takes a couple of seconds for the door to hiss open.

She almost trips over her own feet in her haste to leave the room shared with him. Jaal looks after her, quizzically, unsure what has gone wrong in a conversation that seemed to be so pleasant. Vetra shoots him a questioning stare; Sara doesn’t even acknowledge her presence as she makes her way to her own quarters. From far away, he can hear Liam’s laughter as he greets the Pathfinder, the thump of a body being shoved against the wall, that her only greeting back at his annoying ass.

***

The call with Evfra goes as well as anything involving the Resistance leader can go. Jaal thinks that it’s already a booming success that they got him to approve the involvement of the Pathfinder in their attempts to save the Moshae. When Evfra agrees, invoking his love for the older woman, something in Ryder’s face crumbles, the words on echo of what Jaal himself has told her when she asked about her.

“You should be more worried about the Roekkar,” Jaal says.

Because of course, understandably, there will be people upset at the appearance of several alien races in the Andromeda galactic space. She cannot even fault them, because it makes sense, their anger entirely validated by a troubled past, and the reckless actions of few of her own people. She doesn’t feel a particular devotion to her race; the years spent on the Citadel growing up has taken that out of her quite efficiently, but she can understand why after suffering at the hands of aliens, so many will be willing to make sure the chance of that possibly happening again won’t stand.

“I want to prove to them that we – I am not a threat.”

Jaal hums. “You can try.”

But it is obvious from the tone in his voice that he doesn’t think she could possibly succeed. He is probably right; after all he personally knows their leader. There is something in the way he talks about the hurtful things of his past and his people that Sara can recognize: a detached gaze, the pain coming forward, but kept at bay by an almost clinic account of the events. When he speaks of Akksul, and the way he became the person he is today – there is a clear link between the two, and some deep hurt.

She feels the idiotic want to comfort him, stops herself before she does something stupid.

***

Late into the night, when SAM notifies her of new messages, she is surprised to find a mail from Jaal awaiting her. She reads it all three times through, and doesn’t understand why and how she is deserving of the praise he is offering her. This is a thing she’s always done with Scott, after every task, back in the military: go through it, discover the weak points, do better next time. When she thinks of Veold, asking the AI for his input as well, she comes up with twenty-three different, better variations of her actions. Things she missed in the middle of an adrenaline rush, things she has done fuelled by impulse and emotions only, thinking head fogged over. To find that she is still worthy despite all these mistakes, it doesn’t feel like a real possibility.

 I've learned a lot about trust—being on this team, letting myself be open to trusting you and the others. I've learned that trust is more of a feeling than a science. And it seems like it is a universal truth. Universal. Get it?

I'll try to be even more trustful in the future. This assignment might change my life.

 She snorts at his joke, thinking fondly how typical of Jaal it is to fixate on words and meaning, linguistic puns that are not lost in translation. Still, she feels soothed by his message, better to know that she’s not the only one of a life-changing path, not the only one who has to learn how to trust. It is, of course, easier when one’s life is on the line, but Jaal’s attempt at covering the gap between them even like this, before they fall asleep, in the comfort of the Tempest, speaks of more than battle-won reliance. Maybe she learns a lot about trust too, maybe the two of them not so alien to each other as they initially thought.

She sends back only a short Good night back, and gives up her documents for the day.

[emisanemu]

Yesterday. All my troubles seemed so far away. Now it looks as though they’re here to stay. 

The wind shakes the windows violently as the rain slammed against the side of the building singing a harsh song to anyone that may be listening. The room beyond the storm was filled with stale air and the distinct smell of alcohol and a tension of guilt clouding the atmosphere. Guilt, every word he said filled him with guilt. This feeling tugged at his heart, at his now disgraced soul. Every sober thought intensified the loss he couldn’t help but feel, so he drank away the pain that these thoughts threatened to cause. He drank away his mistakes, his wrong doings, all those poor souls which he had hurt. Dean was a mess, how could he be anything other than that. He was too clouded with emotions to find any resolution other than trying so desperately to forget. God knows he could not change. 

Oh I believe in yesterday. 

The bottle slipped from his fingers onto the ground beside him, whatever liquid remained seeped onto the off white carpeting creating a sizable wet patch. A wetness which came close to the dampness beneath his eyes, his lost unfocused green eyes.  He was lost, how can a moment change so fast, go from being so real to being nothing more than some kind of never-ending nightmare. Nothing felt real, not the tears streaming down his face nor the wood of the desk chair he had found himself sitting on. The only feeling that could be considered true was the emptiness, the quiet, he could not find the will to escape. How could silence be so deafening, yet, something that he is so grateful for. In this moment, Dean was grateful, thankful in all the hurt that he could be alone. Alone, surrounded by a void, so simple to be alone yet so complicated to comprehend that it stemmed from only a moment. 

Suddenly, I’m not half the man I used to be. 

Another bottle empty, another pile of broken glass on the floor, another stain on the carpet. Less and less control. Why keep it together if everything was telling him to tear it down. He had what he wanted, freedom. Freedom to break down, to destroy, and yet, his body did nothing but sit. Unmoving, unfazed by the storm. Limply and emotionlessly drinking bottle after bottle to soothe the fire he does not quite know how to extinguish. Tears and alcohol. The world was fading in front of blurry eyes. This was not who Dean was, weak and heartbroken, yet, it was who he was becoming with each sip of the poison he could not help but to crave. He was crashing and there would be nothing to catch him, to save him from what was consuming him with each passing second. 

There’s a shadow hanging over me. 

The world was collapsing the dizzier Dean got. He was blank. Head clouded with a euphoric feeling of nothingness. He was numb. Numb and dangerous. Wrong choices looming just above him, the hanging sword strung up with thread. There is no expected result, no predictable outcome, just random occurrences that you’d have to wait and see. Dean is nothing other than an experiment, collected data on how harmful a broken heart can be, of how deadly imaginary demons can really be. Hell is open for him and he’s more than willing to go back. 

Oh yesterday came suddenly. 

Broken, broken, broken. Glass, hearts, and souls. All shattered by foolish choices, contained truths, empty promises that had never been made. Everything destroyed for Dean in an instance, a day that just replays, the movie never stops and the film never runs out. He was gone so fast and Dean was alone even faster. Who could have known it would happen, that every mistake, and every word left unsaid would wreck the world. Would tear down the walls that Dean had built, leave him lifeless. A motel room was hardly a place to leave your hope behind but Dean did not care because holding on to hope is  a harder poison to swallow than the alcohol. The alcohol could make the past disappear and yesterday would not exist, and soon, maybe there would be no tomorrow. 

Why she had to go, I don’t know, She wouldn’t say. 

“Why?” The only question that Dean had been able to formulate. Mumbling over and over in his broken, trance like state. How could someone just go, a question that just replays with no answer in sight. What made him leave is a question that Dean refused to ask, to even acknowledge, the elephant in the room that for the time being can go ignored. Instead, he repeated the ‘why’ in the form of a mantra, a prayer, as some type of magical solution that wasn’t willing itself to appear. So confused and so unwilling to accept the ‘how’. Willing to face any kind of realness except spending the night intoxicated, drunk on fearfulness and always being to proud for his own good. 

Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play. 

Had he thrown it all away. Had he been too scared? Ashamed of his identity. Would this cause someone to walk away? Dean could wonder his whole life and find no solution. He is blind. Wool pulled so far over his eyes, there is no sunlight. A lonely fool, words he used harshly to describe himself. His foolishness lives in his resistance. His unwillingness. Just as well, Dean is powerless, he had chances, millions of chances, but none he was willing to take unless they were the wrong ones. He had lived dangerously until this moment, a moment where he wondered if it was worth living alone.  Wondered if he played with hearts the way his had been, plucked so elegantly expressing a deep song of sorrow. 

Now I need a place to hide away. 

Dean heard his phone ringing. He heard it each and every time, doesn’t mean that he has to listen. No one was going to stop him, he was going to fly, float away on his own self pity. Dean was going to break and didn’t plan on being found when he did. He had hurt and he was hurt. He broke down the walls of others to leave them open to his games. But will he apologize, no, too prideful for apologies. He tensed up as his phone rang again, before he could stop himself the phone was flying towards the wall, the ringing stopped and Dean relaxed.  He would not be found. 

Oh, I believe in yesterday.

He wanted to go back, drown himself in blue and comfort. He yearned to travel to the place where his serenity existed, where there were ripples rather than these crashing tidal waves. He hoped for heaven, or at least a piece of it. He hoped. Hope  is for the utterly hopeless. Heaven had gone where the angel had gone, far away from Dean. So far away from the damned man, and Dean could blame no one but himself. He was regretful, he had really done it this time, chased away another happy ending.

[alcxandros]

I'm surprised it took me a while to actually talk about this - probably because I was still replaying the game and collecting data before jumping to conclusions on anything, but now that the ending is coming up, I feel like I can go ahead and talk about this.

Garnet is mentally ill. She is has had a lifetime of repeated traumatic event after repeated traumatic event. While it is true that trauma is subjective and the things she went through may affect other people differently - it is extremely clear to me how the events in her life has shaped her.

At six years old, her home was destroyed. She almost lost her life to the attack and nearly lost her life to the storm, which claimed her birth-mother. She never saw her father again, and her tribe and everyone she would know from it was gone. She’s adopted, mutilated, and gas-lite into a dead child’s existence, forgetting her name, her culture, and where she came from. She’s sheltered and kept nice and protected and safe, at the cost of never being able to take risks for herself, figure anything out for herself, or build any kind of confidence. The only places she travels are in books. Her life is consumed with how a princess should look, how a princess should behave, and has no identity of her own of who she even is. 

Her adoptive father dies. Her teacher leaves. Her adoptive mother is acting strange since her father’s death. Every time she tries to speak concern about her mother, everyone continues to gas-light her, that she is imagining things and just upset over the loss of her father. She takes it upon herself to leave her country, something she likely has NEVER done for the past ten years ( as she does not understand Alexandrian territory when seeing it in person ), in efforts to try to contact her uncle so that he may be able to help her mother. Clearly, she didn’t feel like anyone else in the castle was helping her, and she couldn’t reach her mother herself. 

Her mother attacks the ship she is trying to escape on. She watches as Alexandria is torn apart and homes are destroyed and people are killed in her mother’s attempt to reclaim her daughter - even at the risk of Garnet’s own life. Garnet is in denial, thinking these actions were to protect her despite her nearly dying by a harpoon, followed by an explosion from a Bomb. That guilt is on her shoulders of what Alexandria suffered at her mother’s hand, in spite of the fact she was discovered by a freak accident. 

Her eidolons are forced from her. Her mother wanted to kill her. She watches helplessly as her own eidolons destroy Lindbulm. Her mother sends Black Watlz’s after her, and later on mercenaries with clear orders that her being safe is not a priority - they are permitted and encouraged to kill her. Even now - Garnet is in denial that this is true. Eventually, she has to learn that her mother used Odin to completely destroy an entire nation ie. Cleyra ( though she does not learn this in game ). 

She is forced to watch Bahamut be summoned by her mother, for that summon to turn on her. She does everything she can think of to save her mother, but it’s no use - Leviathan can’t help. She watches as her mother perishes. There is no time to grieve. Alexandria needs a queen, and she must bare that responsibly now at sixteen years of age.

Just like Madain Sari - Garnet is once again subjected to watching the place she calls home burn down to ashes, as Bahamut makes another return and attacks her kingdom. Her mother isn’t here anymore. Zidane isn’t here anymore. For however long it takes Zidane and the party to get back to Alexandria - Garnet feels completely on her own and out of her depth. The trauma of losing her mother and her country to her own eidolon’s is too much to bare, and in a traumatic response she loses her voice for days following, completely overwhelmed in every since of the word.

Just to name a list of events and I”m sure there’s some I’m forgetting. 

There is no way Garnet comes out of the other side completely fine. She isn’t fine. She buries her emotions, she doesn’t express herself to the depths of everything she’s feeling, and she doesn’t process and grieve. She pushes herself to just ‘get over it’ that ‘she can’t be depressed forever’ which does not actually help anyone. She isn’t okay. I heard something recently and I think it holds extremely, and sadly, true. “Everyone is a mental health advocate until mental health gets ugly” Mental illness is not something beautiful and to be inspirational porn. It isn’t something that makes you strong. It is suffering and it is ugly and it an effect everything in your life. Garnet is not her mental illness - but it is something she deals with and will effect her, how she rules, and her relationships with others. I have zero intention on erasing her hardships and struggles for the sake of painting a pretty picture. 

“oh, that’s rough so we don’t want to see it; let’s put something nice in front of it instead” fuck that. As someone with mental health issues, I find that insulting. Traces of what she suffers will be represented in my writing without watering it down for the sake of a pleasant image. The reality is that mental illness can all nine of Dante’s circles of Hell.

Naturally, if these subjects are upsetting then please do whatever it is you need to in order to protect yourself; your own mental health matters. This just isn’t a subject I am going to shy away from representing and I am doing to take extreme care when going over these subjects. 

Obviously not every roleplay is going to be this heavy; but it is something that isn’t going to be erased. 

[poisonheadcrabsalesman]

If Halo people on here weren’t so excited about Halo 4 I probably wouldn’t have given it a second chance, and then also forced friends to watch me play the entire game over 2 nights.

Making people love these characters has been really fun, y’all, thanks for hanging out with me while I bounce all over the place.

Like seriously, Halo people, thanks for writing essays (this one is very fucking good and helped me reconcile a lot of emotions), making gifs and videos, and talking about halo so much. I feel like I’m a kid again.

I played Halo 4 for the first time in 2014 in the worst way possible and it hurt and it sucked.

I had a few days home from school and was writing a paper on video games (so yes, I guess I have Always Been Like This) and I powered through the campaign, home alone, while keeping my eyes open for “primary data“. It was sad, and not relevant to my paper.

Halo 4 spoilers and personal junk under the cut. uh maybe heed the tags?

I went in blind (something I need to stop doing with games, looking at you Firewatch) and thought I was going to see Chief and Cortana stop floating in space and Save The Day.

Instead I saw characters I've loved struggle to save their loved ones and lose control of themselves in the wake of an unstoppable illness. My escapist power fantasy now had more emotional depth and I was confronted with Real Life Issues. I wasn’t ready for a very real portrayal of mental illness in a Halo game.

I Did Not Know about the Rampancy is AI Dementia. I played the games growing up but had no idea about Rampancy or AIs thinking themselves to death.

It was also less than a year since a close family member of mine was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

So I’m miserable, forcing myself to play something that’s hurting me, but too stubborn to stop. I’m nitpicking it in my head and mad at the ending and the differences from earlier games. The QTE at the end? God, I still have issues with the certain aspects of the gameplay.

Wow Stumpy, I thought you said you liked the game now, why are you shitting on it? I’m long-winded and it’s my blog and I need to over-explain to give context! I’m defensive of my interests!

Replaying Halo 4 in 2020 with friends who were genuinely excited about it, with everything that’s happening, was really important to me.

It meant a lot that y’all sat there for hours while I goofed around and got to experience this game through your reactions.

I lost that family member early this year to complications from COVID and Alzheimer’s. It’s not a pretty disease. It is not nice. That’s not to say it was all bad and I’m very lucky to have gotten to spend so much time with that person. I just didn’t get the goodbye I needed.

This post is A Lot and I want to thank anyone who even glances at it. I guess I’m trying to say thanks.

Seeing people love a character, even when she’s “at her worst“ and isn’t functioning at expected standards, meant a lot.

Seeing her loved and respected because of how hard she was trying, not despite her illness meant a lot.

I got to say goodbye to this character for a second time, but in a meaningful way, (yes, we are ignoring halo 5 in this house), with friends who also loved Cortana and didn’t get annoyed when she struggled, but felt for her. From that essay I linked above

“Honest representation and some actual research into/understanding of sensitive topics such as these can mean a world of difference between fans who will come to love and connect to your work (and I really don’t think that this is much to ask for), and… well, the reaction to Halo 5.”

I know I keep saying it, but thanks y’all, not for putting up with me, but hanging out and letting me share these games and just having fun in a very challenging year.

[simxnoire]

Shishori Update

Hello lovelies! It’s surely been a while. I wanted to give you all an update concerning something that’s happened to me recently, all under the cut as to not clutter your dashboard!

First and foremost, I had actually been without a laptop since early October. Here’s a breakdown of what had been happening:

All of a sudden, my laptop had stopped charging, so I took it into a local Micro Center. I go to school in Denver, but I didn’t know where else to go, and that was where my school IT center had directed me after they couldn’t figure out the issue with my laptop.

Micro Center sent it to ASUS on warranty because they had claimed that there was liquid damage.

There was a whole fiasco between myself, Micro Center, and ASUS, and I had just wanted my SSD back (since it’s been with me since my last last laptop). Ultimately, they had promised to send me a new unit and my original SSD.

I received the laptop earlier this morning! But the SSD they had sent me was not my SSD; it was the actual original SSD of my laptop, not the one that I had installed myself.

Micro Center has agreed to reimburse me by giving me an SSD that’s equivalent to the one that I had + install it into my laptop.

And that brings us to now! The biggest loss from my SSD is all of my TS4 data; I’ve lost my saves, my tray, etc. I actually have an older TS4 save back from when I was having problems in Generation 7 (Titania), so I wanted to ask you all something:

If I were to replay back to where I had been (Generation 9 transitioning into Generation 10), should I treat it the same way as when I had to restart the end of Generation 7? We would be getting new heirs, new Generation storylines, etc. I would be posting casual gameplay photos until we get back to Generation 10.

Alternatively, I can just mix genetics to get as close as possible to our original heirs. I can replay up to where we would’ve been, and we can continue like nothing happened.

EDIT (12/19/19): As it actually turns out, my save is from when Roy and Kory were already in the family, so I may just end up replaying Generation 9 with a twist!

What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear them!

Thank you all for being patient with me. I apologize for going through so many laptop issues, disappearing due to university, etc. I’d like to continue creating CC, but I can’t promise when that’ll be happening. I have a few CC projects lined up, but I have yet to start them. I’ll keep you all posted.

I love you all. Thank you again for being so patient with me and continuing to stay with me through everything.

tl;dr: Laptop issues, need to restart Shishori save (to an extent): should I stick to the original storyline or do a Shishori remix?; possible future CC projects!

[agentmarymargaretskitz]

Better Late Than Never

My last minute contribution of something that will not happen in COIE, but what’s fanfic for anyways?

AO3

Earth-73

This was not supposed to happen.

              Everything had been going perfectly when the GATE was first activated. They had expected it to stay that way, given they’d checked and double-checked all the parts of the machine. Still, something had gone wrong. Dr. Jackson had sent Thea to get her and Jax to help. When they arrived on the floor where the GATE had been built, the woman herself seemed to be struggling to put in the override codes. Her mother and Caitlin were struggling too to stop the impending disaster.

“Mom!” Lily Stein screamed, jogging forward before lightning crackled in front of her and put her to a stop.

“Lily!” shouted Clarissa as she and Jax’s mother looked up at the arrivals. “Get out of here!”

Jax was at her side, shaking his head. “You sent Thea to get help!”

“I thought we could,” Dr. Jackson’s face crumbled when she looked up at them. “But it’s too late. The energy is overloading. An explosion is coming. We can’t stop it- just prevent its direction. And we have to stay with it.”

Her eyes found Cait’s reddened ones before her fiancée sniffled and rubbed a sleeve over her face.

“Mom,” Jax shook his head. “No, we all need to go.”

“Someone has to redirect the power. We can’t get out through the lightning. I’m sorry.”

“No!”

“Just get out of here, both of you!”

“NO!” they screamed together.

“Lily, Jax, you have to-“

There was an explosion above the GATE. For two seconds, time seemed to freeze. Then it resumed to its speed, a pulse of energy surging out to hit the two young scientists holding on to try and shield each other.

              Lily Stein’s eyes snapped open. Her entire body shook with residual panic from the nightmare. Gritting her teeth together, she reminded herself where she was- in an apartment, not in the basement of Mercury Labs. When that didn’t work, she turned to her breathing exercises. Eight counts in, eight counts out. Repeat four times.

She was alive. Jax was alive. They were safe.

But her mother, his mother, Caitlin…they were gone, or not who they once were in Caitlin’s case.

              Light was streaming through the thin curtains of her room. Lily wrapped the sheets around herself tightly, thankful she had the day off. After finding Caitlin again, she needed some time for herself. Jax and Thea understood and told her to go. The city survived years without Firestorm before the GATE blew, and it could absolutely handle a few days now.

~~~

              Across town, Jefferson “Jax” Jackson was frowning at the screen of a computer. Like his late mother, he was considered a genius and could back it up with his doctorate and project history. His latest participation in sending satellites out across the multiverse to make contact with other Earths was Mercury Labs’ latest and potentially last push to win back public favor after the GATE disaster. If this didn’t work, then the labs would close for good and his mother’s legacy would not be the lab she and Clarissa built, but the disaster that took their lives.

              Now one of the satellites had stopped transmitting data without warning. The launch had been a month ago and the other three satellites were working perfectly fine. But this fourth one had been functioning just like the others two nights ago. Yesterday, it had just stopped transmitting data. He couldn’t figure out why.

“Still hung up on the satellite?”

Jax turned around to see Thea standing in the door, surprised not to have heard her. “When did you get here?”

“I’ve been here an hour. Did you go home last night?”

“No, I stayed here and tried to figure this out.”

Thea raised her eyebrows. “Not to use her against you like this, but you know that your mother would have-”

“Told me off?” Jax gave a ghost of a smile. “Yeah, she would. She’d probably already know what to do. So would Clarissa.”

“I know,” Thea took a seat across from him. “It’s been hard without them. But we’re holding up. And we’ve figured out countless things without them. This one is just taking more time.”

“I think I’m going to need to call in Lily from her day off to help. But I know she’s still processing Caitlin too.”

Thea nodded. “Can you blame her? She believed her fiancée was dead only to find out she’s been alive all this time. Not only that, but she’s not the Caitlin we remember.”

              They fell into silence, both trying to think about the satellite but their minds drifting back to Lily. A quarter of an hour later, Thea decided to try and get into the computer system of the satellites not to examine data, but the live data from the satellite before it had lost all contact. She managed to get it up soon enough before sending him off to cafeteria to get some food for himself. He didn’t realize how much he needed the break until he had it and decided to thank her by bringing back lunch and coffee for her.

“Ready to watch the last recording the satellite sent out?”  Thea asked, taking a sip of her cappuccino.

              Jax nodded and pressed on the file. Together, they watched the Earth from the view of the satellite. For a few moments, the two talked about how beautiful the other Earth looked and what life must be like on it. As the rest of the video played, their awed expressions turned to horror at the events on screen. Thea covered her mouth and Jax put a hand on her shoulder. Then they replayed the video, slowing it down so they could see the details closer.

“We need to call Lily in now,” Thea murmured.

Jax shook his head in agreement.

~~~

              Within the next hour, Lily was watching the same video the other two scientists had seen. The other Earth rotating peacefully one moment. In the next, a wave of…something was surging across the screen to consume the Earth. The satellite captured it all before everything went to static, then black. Likely due to being hit by whatever that matter was.

“Do we know what that stuff is?” she inquired softly once the video had played through.

Jax shook his head. “We don’t. And because of the satellite’s positioning, we don’t know a point of origin either. Whatever it is, it destroys everything in its path.”

“So all of that…it’s gone?”

“We don’t know for sure,” Thea bit her lip. “But there’s no longer a signal from that satellite, or that Earth.”

A chill ran down Lily’s spine. “All those people…”

“I know,” Jax murmured. She knew he could feel flickers what she was feeling. “But the other three satellites are still working. The project won’t be a total loss. I figured you would want to see this though. It could be a potential risk for our Earth or another one day.”

              With a few strokes of the keyboard, he had pulled up the live transmission date for the three remaining satellites. Lily studied them and the Earths they were focused on. This was the first step in moving towards inter-Earth cooperation. Soon, they could make contact with the citizens of those universes. Strike up a relationship and share technologies. Maybe there was even something on another Earth that help Caitlin’s new powers, bring her back them and her…

“How have you been holding up anyways?”

Jax’s question startled her out her observation of the satellites. “Okay. Although finding out your fiancée has been alive for the past two years and not dead is a lot. That’s not even counting that she’s become some sort of energy vampire.”

“We’ll figure it out. Just like we always do.”

A smile slowly made its way onto her face. “Thanks, Jax.”

              He opened his mouth to answer, then stopped and leaned towards the computer screen. Lily followed his gaze, trying to see what had caught his attention. It took a moment before she and Thea both saw the substance in the corner of the satellite creeping towards the Earth. Before they knew it, they were watching the strange mass surge towards the other Earth, wiping everything out before the satellite’s feed went dead.

“That’s another one…” Thea swallowed. “Just like the last one.”

“Exactly like the first one. How is this happening.”

Lily frowned. “There are two ways. It might have originated in this universe too somewhere. That’s one way, maybe the better way.”

“And the other?” Thea asked.

“It’s the same wave, one of destruction that can cross dimensions.”

Jax grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. “Thea, where are the positions of the Earths where we launched those satellites too?”

She ran to another monitor and began to recite them to him. His pen scribbled a graph and circles down as fast as she could read them. Lily stood to the side, watching him.

“Thea, when did the first satellite go down again?” she asked.

“Two days ago. Exact time was 23:08.”

“Great,” Lily nodded before she grabbed a pencil and started writing on the other side of Jax’s paper. “And this one just went down a minute ago, so I can get the rate down with the distance. I know we don’t know it for sure yet, but this would be how fast that wave is traveling through the multiverse.”

She set her pencil down at the same time Jax dropped his pen. With Thea, they all examined the work.

“So if that material is all the same, and it’s traveling through the multiverse,” Thea began. “How long would take before it reaches us here?”

Jax was silent for a few seconds, picking up the pencil and writing down the numbers. “Three days.”

“Three days until the end of everything,” Lily’s shoulders sank.

Silence fell over the trio.

“Firestorm can’t stop this one,” Jax sighed, looking over at Lily. “We can do a lot of things. But stopping a wave of destruction from space? There’s no way we can transmute that.”

“I know,” Lily nodded. “But I don’t want to die.”

“Me neither.”

“Hey, I don’t want to die either,” Thea chimed in. “But it’s not just our Earth. There are others out there, and not all of them might know about this. Some might know how to overcome this.”

“Like that one,” Jax pointed to one of their remaining satellites. “There’s been a lot of traffic over there for the last three years. If we get to them, then we can warn them or get them to help save the other Earths.”

“And how do we get there?” Lily asked. “Can we use the system that got the satellites to the other Earths, Jax?”

He shook his head. “We didn’t design it for organic material.”

“But the Gateway to Alternative Timelines and Earths was,” Thea reminded them. “And it can be again.”

Lily stared. “You want to try to use the GATE? Thea, you know what happened the last time it was activated. People died. Others got powers like Jax and I. Threats came over from another Earth for a whole year before we put a stop to it.”

“But the DeVoes tampered with the system,” Jax looked between the two of them. “Without their sabotage, it would have worked. Not that we’ve ever tried to.”

“The GATE was two and a half years ago,” Thea said. “Since then, we’ve all learned more about the multiverse. I think I can create a program that will connect the GATE to that Earth everyone keeps going to. When I do, we can reach them and explain what’s happened.”

“The last time we ran the GATE, Mom and Dr. Jackson never had an exact coordinate planned. It just scanned for signs of life to lock onto as a breach. Having that specific place we go to might make things easier. But the explosion did do damage. It’s going to need repairs.”

“Then we can do them while Thea works on developing the program. How long do you think it’ll take?”

“I don’t know. If it’s possible, at least a few hours. A day at maximum. Plus I want to run a few simulations with it.”

“Do we have time for that?”

“Need I remind you France won the Space Race because America didn’t run tests and ended up with astronaut jelly?”

“I don’t want to be Firestorm jelly,” Jax gulped. “Okay, simulations are good. Lily and I still need to assess damage.”

~~~

“Our mothers’ greatest undertaking,” Jax sighed, staring at the arch before them. “Now we’re the ones who are depending on it to save Earth.”

“And all the other ones,” added Lily, approaching the twelve-foot structure with their toolbox.

“Yep. Are you okay coming back to this?”

“Peachy. But you’re not.”

Jax crossed his arms. “This killed our mothers. It gave us a great power, but it also made Caitlin what she is now. The GATE gives and it takes away from my point of reference.”

“It didn’t take away our fathers. They were there that night instead the building, but we still have them. And it never took away Thea. It just brought her closer to us.”

His partner grinned knowingly at him and Jax rolled his eyes. “After we deal with this…crisis that’s happening, I’ll tell her. Promise.”

“Good,” Lily chuckled and tossed a roll of paper to him. “Spread out the blueprint. Let’s see what we have to work with.”

For a while, the two worked in silence studying the blueprint, comparing it to the GATE, and making the fixes necessary to it. They didn’t need to talk at times with their psychic link. If Lily needed the pliers, Jax passed them to her wordlessly. In turn, she knew what he needed, whether it was holding the ladder for him to climb up or to pass him some new screws. Other scientists thought it was freaky whenever they did it in the past and avoided them. Thea told them it was kinda cool.

“This is going to work,” Lily finally told him.

“I know.”

“But you need to hear it. Thea is better with computers than anyone I know. We’re both brilliant with mechanics and how things work. I admit it, I have my trauma from what happened. I’m still seeing Dr. Horton about it. But I trust you and Thea and I believe this is going to work.”

“I just don’t want to bring down Mom’s or Clarissa’s legacy anymore than people have already done,” Jax told her. “And I don’t want to bring any more hurt to the city than I already did with the GATE, even if the DeVoes did sabotage us last time.”

“We won’t fail, because we can’t.”

Jax snorted. “When did you get so hopeful?”

“One of us has to be.”

“In that case, let me tell you something, Lily. We are going to get Caitlin back one way or another.”

~~~

              In the end, it took a day and a half, a combined total of fourteen hours of sleep, several coffees or beverages containing caffeine, several alternative pop mixtapes, and only one use of the first aid kit before Jax, Thea, and Lily completed the project. The trio stood in the basement to gaze up at their work. The GATE was rid of dust and gleamed a little brighter than it had hours ago, save for the large burn mark on the base of the right leg. All that was left was for it to be powered up, Thea to upload her program, and then they could walk through to another Earth.

Too bad the founders of Mercury Labs were not here to witness it.

“How long is it going to take to power up the GATE?” Lily asked.

Thea slung off her backpack. “About half an hour. Then we can enter and should find ourselves on that Earth.”

“I’ll go power up the GATE now,” Lily looked right at Jax. “It should take me a while.”

“Then you better get going.”

              She smirked a little as she hustled over to the control booth. Once inside, the memories of the night she’d lost her mother crashed into her. It had been the first time she and Jax had fused, which was terrifying given they’d never done it before. They had crawled into the control booth and tried not to get into a lengthy panic attack over how they were one. Thea had been the one to find them and helped them split. Team Firestorm was born in the early morning hours after the GATE failed.

              Lily yanked the lever down to start the power-up. Most of the employees at Mercury had already gone home, which was all the better. The rest were probably going to experience power problems for a while. Hopefully none of them would find their way down here to see what they were doing. Everything about this was off the books and could cost them their jobs. But when it was compared to losing the world, Lily would rather be jobless. So would Jax and Thea.

              Speaking of the duo, Lily fell back into an easy chair and spun around to watch through the control booth’s window. Jax was doing all the talking. Lily didn’t need the psychic link to tell that he was anxious about talking to Thea. But then those fears evaporated as Thea put her hand over his and kissed him. Good for them.

She gave them another moment before exiting the booth. “Did it go good?”

“It was great,” Thea chuckled. “As soon as all this is over, we’ll do something proper, like dinner or coffee.”

“Or you can do it on the other Earth?”

“Lily, there’s a wave of destruction that’s taken out two Earths already,” Jax reminded her. “I want to stop it first. Then I’ll take Thea on a date.”

“Point taken,” she smiled. “I’m happy for you two. Not the best time, but…better late than never.”

Thea’s expression softened. “Thank you, Lily.”

~~~

“It’s almost time,” Thea announced as she looked at the GATE’s readings on her computer. “Another two minutes and we’ll be good to go.”

“Anyone else feeling a little nervous now?” Lily asked.

Jax raised his hand. “Not sure if it’s me or if it’s because of you. Probably both.”

“I am, but I’m hopeful,” Thea told them. “We always need hope.”

The halves of Firestorm nodded.

“Once the GATE is at power, I need to input the code. Then we can-“

“NO.”

              Someone was in the room now. A towering man in some kind of armor stood by the door. It had been locked, but none of them had heard him come in. His skin was white with eyes that were sunken and gaunt. It was as if someone had taken a corpse and brought him back to life. There was even a stench of death about him, one so repulsive that all of them took a step back.

“This Earth must fall, and so must those who tread upon it. You will not be spared.”

Jax held out his fist to Lily behind Thea’s back. She bumped hers against his. With a swirl of flames, Firestorm appeared, inhabiting Jax’s body this run. It was his turn after all.

“I’d get out of here now, buddy,” they warned, stepping in front of Thea.

“You cannot frighten me,” the corpse hissed. “I have seen many Firestorms. None of them strike fear. None of them have overcome me. Fire can be put out easier than you think.”

The lights flickered above them. It made the corpse frown, so it was not his doing. Jax frowned before remembering they were using a lot of energy.

“She’s coming.” Lily’s voice echoed.

“Thea, get ready,” Jax whispered.

A second later, the lock on the door clicked loudly before the door itself fell to the floor. In stalked a woman with tangled white hair and pale skin. Dark circles formed rings around her eyes. If they didn’t know her, they could have assumed she was related to the corpse. But they knew her name. Who she had been. Who she had loved.

“Caity.”

              Caitlin Snow, now known as Blackout, stared around the room. She frowned at the corpse before relaxing a bit at the sight of Thea and Firestorm. Once she laid eyes on the Gate, her expression became a mixture of hunger and anger. The device that had changed her life was now offering itself as a food source.

“Let me take over. Just for a moment.”

Jax relaxed control over their mouth so Lily could assume it.

“Caity,” Lily’s voice came from his mouth. “Help us get out here. He wants to destroy the Earth.”

Caitlin turned back to her. “Lily?”

“Please, Caity. We’ll help you. We’ll find a way to stop the hunger.”

Two long strands of energy flowed from Caitlin’s hands. “You had me at destroying the Earth.”

“Careful, girl,” the corpse warned.

The metahuman laughed. “I’ve been much more than that for a long time.”

With that, she ran towards him, her energy whips flying forward to wrap around the wrists of the corpse.

“Guys,” Thea whispered. “The GATE is ready. I have to get in the coordinates.”

“We can’t let them follow us,” Jax reminded her, taking control of Firestorm again. “At least this freaky guy. He’s the one who wants us dead.”

Thea smiled. “Well, we’re lucky that I was the one who made sure the code has an instruction to close after two organic lifeforms enter it.”

“Thea, you’re a genius.”

“Go help Caitlin first, then compliment my brain.”

Firestorm rose into the air as Thea made a run for the control booth. The corpse was holding up well against Caitlin’s energy whips, which was saying something. Together, Lily and Jax hurled fireballs at him to keep him distracted from Thea. But just as she almost reached the booth, the corpse bent backwards to avoid one whip, which smashed into the metal frame of the window. Thea yelped and fell backwards, her laptop skittering out of her hand all the way to the boot of the corpse.

The corpse stopped and stared at the laptop. Without hesitation, he brought his foot down on it.

Thea did not scream as her pride and joy was reduced to a cracked screen and a broken keyboard, but she looked devastated.

“Thea Queen,” the corpse boomed. “You are not like your doppelgangers. And you shall die different from the rest of them.”

“Not interested, but thanks.”

The corpse smiled cruelly and raised his hand. Jax started to fly towards her.

A strand of energy coiled around the hand before it could swing down.

Both Firestorm and the corpse stopped and turned to see Caitlin clinging to her whip with gritted teeth. “Leave my friend alone!”

The corpse growled at her and yanked his coiled arm forward. Caitlin flew forward and landed on the floor. Thea took the chance to scramble her feet and out of the way. Jax didn’t look to see where she went, but he couldn’t fly anywhere. Lily was too transfixed in horror, watching Caitlin struggle in vain to hold her group as the corpse dragged her across the floor.

“Caitlin Snow,” the corpse pulled the whip forward, so she landed at his feet. “Any final words?”

“No no no no no no.”

Lily wanted to move forward, so did he. But they couldn’t somehow. They were just guests.

Caitlin scowled as the corpse lifted her up into the air by the whip, but then looked towards them.

“I love you,” she said. “Kick his ass.”

The corpse snarled. “Pathetic.”

His hand wrapped around her neck. Jax closed their eyes, but they still heard the snap and the thump of a body.

“Now, Firestorm. It is your turn.”

Jax reopened their eyes and felt feeling return to their body. He lowered them to the floor. Caitlin’s body was behind the corpse. A cry that did not belong to him escaped his mouth. Lily’s anguish was almost overpowering, but it was fueling a fight in them.

Flicking their hands out, Jax and Lily summoned handfuls of fire. If they were to go down, they were going down together in a fight.

Behind them, the GATE was filled by a dark blue hue. It was active and ready for transport.

Jax flew up in the air a little, just enough to see past the corpse and Caitlin. Thea was inside the doorway of the control booth, a smile on her face. She was also crying.

“Thea?” he shouted, throwing the fire out to throw off the corpse

The corpse growled. ���How-”

“It’s called a flash drive, E.T.!” she screamed at him. “You killed my computer, but not the back-up!”

Then she looked up at them. “Now go!”

“Not without you!”

But the corpse was turned towards her now. She wouldn’t have the time to make it. Logistically, Jax knew this.

Emotionally, he could not accept it.

Thea looked up at him with love, not fear. “Go save this world.”

“Thea!” he cried out.

Lily took control and flew toward the GATE. Jax peeked back one last time at her before they entered the arch. Everything became blue and cold and fast. This was what he imagined going down a sink felt like. Images of people and places flashed around them, but there weren’t very many. He didn’t focus on them when he had just left Thea in the hands of the corpse who wanted to kill all the Earths.

Then everything went black.

~~~

“You’re a foolish girl,” the corpse said as he stepped inside the control booth.

Thea was backed against the wall. Moments ago, she had been brave. Now she was terrified.

“I’m no fool,” she proclaimed, yanking the flash drive out. “I’m a freaking genius.”

The GATE sputtered and shut down.

Raising a hand, the corpse stared down at her. “Then enjoy a taste of your planet’s demise.”

~~~

“How long ago did you find him?”

“An hour, and it’s not really just him. There’s another brainwave signature.”

“So it’s Firestorm. Did Jax find a new partner?

“This isn’t our Jax. Gideon pulled up his location. He’s out in Zenith City.”

“Well, I kinda figured he was from another Earth given how he burst out of that breach.”

“What Earth did he come from?”

Jax groaned. Lily was groggy inside his skull. Summoning as much energy as they had left, they split apart.

“Whoa!”

Jax sat up first and opened his eyes. He was jammed with Lily on a bed in some medical wing. Three people were crowded around the bed. A man wearing something between armor and an exoskeleton, a woman in a white jumpsuit, and a second man wearing all red.

“Where are we?” he asked.

“Earth-1,” the woman answered. “You landed outside STAR Labs and passed out. We know your doppelganger pretty well, so we brought you inside. Where did you come from?”

“Earth-73 is our positioning,” Jax told them as Lily started to rise up beside him. “Something has been destroying Earths. Ours is going to be hit by it within a day. We travelled here to warn you if you didn’t know, or to get help to fight against it.”

The three exchanged a look before the man in red answered. “We know it’s coming, and we can use all the help we can get to fight it.”

“Consider us invested,” Lily told them. “Can you use two people who become a superhero with nuclear-based powers?”

“Definitely,” the man in the suit told them before frowning. “Hey, are you okay?”

Jax didn’t realize he was crying. “I…I…”

Lily finished for him. “We lost people coming here.”

He nodded. She’d lost Caitlin. And Thea was probably as good as dead, but at least he’d told her how he felt.

Better late than never, right?

[salty-geralty]

Soooooooooooooooooooo....

It’s been about two weeks since it happened, but my PS4 basically had a power issue that caused it to do a full factory reset on its own. I lost pretty much everything that I had on there because nothing was backed up.

Long story short, the majority of the save files I had on there were ones that I really didn’t need to keep around. I had my super long FFX, FFXV, TW3 and KH1.5/2.5 remix files on there from previous playthroughs, and wasn’t really planning on doing much with those anyway because I had finished everything I wanted to with them except for like most of the FFX trophies and the FFXV DLCs which didn’t need much from my original save files to begin with. What really killed me was that I lost ALL of my saved data and latest screencaps and videos that I still had on there from RDR2.

Good news: the RDR2 story mode trophies that I had been focusing on before jumping back online are all saved to my PSN profile, so I didn’t lose any of the merit of getting those done.

Absolute worst part of all of this: I. was. 68. fucking. gold. medal. missions. in. on. the. 70. gold. medal. story. mode. mission. trophy.

68/70 for the Gold Rush trophy. S I X T Y. E I G H T. O U T. O F. S E V E N T Y.

Meaning, now that my original save data is gone (the 536 hours of save data where I had all of my fave guns/equipment, all of the trapper sets because I fucking could, all of everything my little heart could want), I’m going to have to replay the entire game to even begin trying for gold on those missions. Again.

Moral of the story kids, back your shit up.

[jira-chii]

World 1 story summary

A friend needed a summary of story mode ASAP so I quickly wrote this up in about a week.

Very obvious spoiler warning.

Some notes:

This is by no means a perfect recount of World 1. In fact, it is not even based on my actual experience (I watched this playlist by Shinchan, and viewed each video in its entirety exactly once). 

This version of World 1 is fully voiced and uses the Shoumetsu Toshi 2 tutorial, which I did not experience when I first played story mode back in 2015. However, I imagine this is the version most players would now be familiar with. (Honestly though, from what I remember, apart from the beginning the changes are very minor, so you’re not missing much).   

I do still want to replay main story for myself, take screenshots, and rewrite this post eventually. In particular, I want to go into more detail about the gameplay mechanics that contribute to the story (like literally having to move back a few chapters to progress at one stage of the story).

As this is a summary focused on giving an overview of the story only, I have most certainly missed out on many nuances in the character dialogue. These are not necessary to understand the story, however they add a lot more depth to character personalities and motives. This will be something else I will pay more attention to when I replay the game. But not now.

I have not recounted each chapter exactly as it plays out in the game, because 1) I was writing this in a rush, and 2) there is a lot of repetition. I have tried to keep everything thematically consistent, although this means I may have shifted the order of some of the information you find out. Therefore, if you are using this as a guide for your first playthrough, do not read my chapter summaries until you have actually finished the entirety of said chapter (which are the sections on the map which have the character 話 at the end of them), or else there may be experience-ruining spoilers.

Alright, enjoy.

Shoumetsu Toshi's opening literally throws you right into the action. In fact, you are informed, it's the final battle to save the world! Yuki tells you to collect spheres while she uses tamashii to fight against ????. It is in this moment of intense tension that you are given a tutorial on how to play the game.

Just as you are getting the hang of things, ???? reveals  a new power. A panicked Yuki exclaims it feels similar to when the city “disappeared”.

Suddenly, as ???? is about to attack, the game freezes and the screen glitches. We pan out to a shot of the city in time to see a silent explosion.

The narration explains this “second Shoumetsu” brought about a new world and the start of a new story. It all began with the “first Shoumetsu” that happened in that city, which we will now turn to.

Three years after the initial Shoumetsu, inside a mysterious organisation, hooded figures panic as they search for an intruder..on a scooter?

Takuya is a courier with a request to save a girl and get her out of the facility. The girl's name is Yuki and she is able to summon these beings called tamashii. Takuya doesn't stress the details though, and just follows her instructions to keep driving and collect spheres. After all, his mission will end once he delivers her to his client and they won't have to see each other ever again.

Takuya brings Yuki to a research facility, where they meet up with a scientist. Scientist researched “parallel worlds” with Yuki's father. And it seems like he's not done with Takuya just yet.

Scientist explains that three years ago, a city disappeared (“Shoumetsu” means disappearance/extinction/annihilation). They now call that area “Lost”, and he wants Takuya to take Yuki there. Takuya accepts the job after making sure the reward is worth it.

After the opening sequence, we find out the hooded figures from the organisation are after the two of them to get Yuki back.

PART 1: Searching for Nakama

Chapter 1

Takuya communicates with Scientist through a mobile phone while he drives his scooter. First he wants to know why Yuki wants to go to the place where a city disappeared, the Shoumetsu Toshi, Lost.

Scientist said Yuki's father, who should have disappeared in the incident three years ago, sent a message to Yuki saying he is waiting at Lost.

During battle Takuya asks Yuki about the tamashii. They are the “wills” of people who disappeared in Lost. There are even little girls, who probably aren't even aware they have turned into tamashii. But some tamashii are also able to realise their unfulfilled dreams in this form, as was the case with a singer we fight.

Yuki can summon tamashii in battle if she is able to visualise their “wills” or “feelings”. For that, she needs to know a little bit of their background information, so Takuya takes her to an information broker he knows, called Headhunter.

Headhunter has a list of all the people who disappeared in the Shoumetsu. He is a businessman who works only when money is involved. According to his introductory bio, he also likes anmitsu and geisha.

Chapter 2

After the visit, scientist calls again, with another request. He wants Takuya to retrieve some stolen data, on Yuki's father's research. The culprits are the mysterious organisation that Takuya rescued Yuki from.

Takuya happens to have a friend called Geek who is great at finding information. But when he tries to call him, Geek doesn't pick up.

Yuki and Takuya's relationship is still tense, with neither completely trusting the other yet. Yuki comments that all of Takuya's acquaintances are weird people. Takuya refuses to talk to her about anything unrelated to the job. So when he asks Yuki to explain her dad's research she is unwilling to say anything. Until Takuya makes her realise he is putting his own life on the line to help her, so the least she could do is let him know why.

Yuki's father was researching how to make tamashii stronger.  But that's strange, because tamashii didn't exist until after Lost, so how could her father be researching them before the Shoumetsu happened? Yuki won't tell him anymore though, because he won't open up about himself either.

The two finally arrive at Geek's place. Geek managed to get the data but he is very scared. He doesn't want to be involved anymore. He doesn't want anything to do with Yuki, the girl involved in Lost. He agrees to give them the data if they leave asap.

The men from the organisation find out their computers were hacked, but they definitely won't make another mistake. They won't hand over the  “evolution” data.

Well, guess what our next mission is.

Chapter 3

Scientist had planted a spy in the organisation who is currently stealing the evolution data. Takuya and Yuki are to meet up with them to retrieve it.

Yuki is still feeling hurt over what Geek said, but she says she's used to it. A lot of people said hurtful things to her out of fear in the three years after the Shoumetsu. Takuya knows it's also impossible to like everyone you meet, so he reassured her it's OK.

There are a lot of grass enemies in the area so the best element to put in our team is fire. Like the guy in the suit Yuki first summoned. Yuki clarifies his name is Akira, but won't go further into their relationship.

Takuya changes topics and asks about the mysterious organisation. They did experiments on Yuki to get her power. Takuya knows they are a dangerous group to mess with, because he used to be involved with them, before he became a courier. That’s why he knows they don't let off traitors easily. So we should probably be wary of Scientist, who was gutsy enough to plant a spy in there. What kind of man is Scientist, and is he really trustworthy?

Yuki admits even she sometimes can't tell what Scientist is thinking, but he is the last living person carrying on her father's will. They have no choice but to rely on him.

Takuya gives her a piece of advice, which is to be true to yourself. What an uncharacteristically useful thing to say. Well actually he didn't come up with it himself, he read it in a book.

Yuki wonders what Takuya was doing before he became a courier. He was in a detective group, but he doesn't want to tell her why he quit. She asks if he still keeps in contact with his friends from back then. Takuya gives an unconvincing answer of “sometimes”.

Takuya and Yuki arrive, but there is nobody around to greet them. Then they find a corpse. It looks like the organisation is onto them. But they have the data now. The spy hid it inside their mouth so the enemy wouldn't find out. But how important is this mission to need everyone to go to such lengths?

Takuya tells Yuki to go outside and take some deep breaths to calm down while he sends the data to Scientist.

The hooded guys from the organisation realise Takuya and Yuki must have gotten the data. Their next strategy is use their network, the detective group.

Chapter 4

Takuya is furious at Scientist. Clearly he knew what was up, so why would he keep quiet and subject a young girl to a scene like that? Scientist explains it was because he didn't want to risk Takuya pulling out of the job after knowing the dangers. Takuya makes it clear he is definitely going to see the job through to the end, so he doesn't want to see Yuki hurt anymore.

Poor Yuki is still in shock. Takuya diverts the topic to another acquaintance of his they are going to get help from. Researcher is his childhood friend and an expert at gathering data. She was also his colleague in the detective group. The truth is, he never wanted to contact her again, but Yuki taught him that relying on people once in a while is not such a bad thing. He hasn't talked to her in a while because “it's complicated”, but he assures her Researcher is trustworthy.

Why did Takuya leave the detective agency even with someone as trustworthy as Researcher in it? Takuya still won't tell the details, but he claims he was put in charge of a big case, was told by his higher ups to pull out, got made to take responsibility for it and was consequently kicked out of the group. It sounds bad, but in a big organisation it isn't strange for one person’s happiness to be sacrificed for the group collective. But Yuki probably won't understand until she's older.

Researcher greets the two of them at the pub, and says she has good news and bad news. The bad news is that she has reported them to the higher ups in the agency. They want Takuya to hand over Yuki. But the good news is, if he does so, they will consider everything he's done water under the bridge, and let him back into the group.

So the detective group was affiliated with the mysterious organisation after all. Takuya is furious at Researcher's betrayal, tells her to forget everything and never appear in front of him again.

As the two make their escape, Takuya apologises to Yuki. He truly thought Researcher was able to be trusted. Yuki doesn't mind though. She asks if they dated. A woman's intuition is a scary thing. Just once, Takuya says.

It's a shame how things turned out, but Yuki doesn't think it was wrong for Takuya to have tried to trust her.

Suddenly they get a message..from Researcher: “Head in the two o'clock direction.” But can this message be trusted? Yuki says yes and that's good enough reason for Takuya to do so too.

On the way they see a very strong tamashii called Hazuki, who emanates an intense feeling of regret, that never disappeared even when she became a tamashii.

Researcher immediately apologises when we meet up. Takuya knows she didn't mean it, but it’s hard to trust her now that she’s put them in danger. Researcher admits that just now, she quit the group, and won’t leak any more information to the organisation. She is completely on our side now. But...why?

“It's because I like you” she simply states with a smile.

The organisation lost their source of information from their detective group network. But, they did locate the man who hacked their computers and stole their data…

Chapter 5

Geek is in danger! Takuya and Yuki race to his rescue. But when they get there, there's someone else's corpse at the entrance. Did Geek do that?

No, a little boy of all people came and killed the henchman from the organisation. Who is he? Scientists seems to know. He warns Yuki that what lies ahead is a reality she may find hard to accept. But Yuki will move on regardless, because she has to.

Takuya is grateful to Yuki for tagging along to save Geek. While it's true Geek said some hurtful things to her, she knows he is an important person to Takuya.

Takuya and Yuki resolve to make a move against the organisation. After all, the hunter is stronger than the hunted.

Chapter 6

Takuya had a reaction when Geek mentioned the mysterious boy. Actually, the big case he worked on as a detective was an investigation on a boy who used strange powers to kill people.

Headhunter managed to get some info on him. There is a rumour he is also heading for Lost.

We also find out the organisation planted a bug on Geek, so he knows everything. It looks like a fight with the boy will be inevitable.

The confrontation with the boy comes with an unwelcome shock for Yuki. He is her younger brother, Souma. Souma figures out she is with Takuya because she is not “perfect” like him and so needs Takuya to collect spheres.

Souma doesn't want Yuki meeting their dad in Lost. What is his goal? Souma says he is “making the world right”, and he will kill everyone who gets in his way, even his own sister.

Are we going to make Yuki fight her own brother? Yes. She pleads for Takuya to not give up, and bring her to Lost no matter what.

After the fight, Souma concedes he can't beat us in his “current body”, but he won't let us off so easily next time. He is no longer the Souma Yuki knows, and will only get stronger and stronger.

He also tells Yuki not to be fooled by Takuya, who still hasn’t revealed much about himself to Yuki.

Finally, before he leaves, Souma tells Yuki she can't change the past. Their dad is gone, and there's nothing they can do about it.  

Takuya demands answers from Scientist. Why is he making Yuki do this? Scientist replies: “there is no other choice.” On top of saving the world, there is another consequence for Yuki that she isn't even aware of yet. Yuki is actually deeply connected to Lost, so if it expands it will suck her life energy. That is, if nothing is done about Lost, Yuki will die.

PART TWO: Evolution

Chapter 7

We now know the enemy tamashii are being summoned by Yuki's brother, Souma. Defeating him is a necessary sacrifice to ensure Yuki gets to Lost. The enemies are strong, but Takuya advises we don't panic, and proceed to get stronger at our own pace.

Yuki and Takuya try to figure out what happened to Souma, but the truth is Yuki doesn't know much of what happened after the Shoumetsu. Takuya is actually in the same boat. He recalls that on the day he was close by, possibly observing someone. But he can't remember who he was observing, and why. How strange that neither Takuya nor Yuki remember the events of that day.

Now that Takuya is aware of the stakes, he asks Yuki once more to explain the purpose of their journey. Why was her father researching tamashii?

The truth is something hard to believe. Yuki's dad got his data from the future. Which means even if he should have disappeared, even if he shouldn't be alive right now, there's a possibility he is. Everything will become clear only once we meet him. So for now we can only trust his message, that he is waiting for Yuki at Lost.

It seems like Souma also wants to meet his dad, so why can't the siblings talk it out? Yuki feels Souma is different now, she isn't even sure he is her brother anymore. Though he looks exactly the same as her brother, he behaves differently. It's like he doesn't even see Yuki the same way as before anymore.

Takuya has his suspicions someone else is pulling the strings. Souma doesn't act like a kid his age should.

Yuki talks about how her brother used to be. He gets lonely easily. He used to drag a blanket around the house, and Yuki and her dad would laugh and say he was like an anime character. On that topic, Takuya mentions he never really got into anime, but he would read his older sister's manga. Yuki giggles. Shoujo manga seems somehow fitting for Takuya.

Yuki now turns to her concern for Souma. When tamashii get hurt, their summoners also take damage. To think that Souma may be getting hurt because of them is unpleasant. But we can only move on. There is no time to worry about the enemy.

Meanwhile, Souma himself is also powering up, as indicated by the more evolved tamashii standing in Takuya and Yuki’s way. But it's still not enough. They are still being defeated one after the other. It's almost driving him mad. Suddenly a mysterious man appears and tell him he's done enough. Enough to show he's useless. Souma asks for another chance from the man, Taiyou. Taiyou says he is free to try harder. But depending on the result he may “fix” Souma. For example, maybe he'd be more useful if he was made immune to fear of pain, and able to summon tamashii continuously until the very limits of his mental ability?

Chapter 8

Takuya wonders what will happen if they get to Lost, but don't find Yuki's dad. Yuki assures him she is fairly sure of where he would be: on “the other side” of Lost.

Lost looks like a hole, but that hole is actually connected to another world, a “parallel world”.

Do you know about Schrodinger's cat? If you put a cat in a box and close the lid, you won't know if it is dead or alive until you open the lid. The cat is technically alive and dead at the same time.

In a similar way, Lost leads to a parallel world that shows a different “possibility” of this world. Poor Takuya still doesn't quite get it, but in a nutshell, the enemies are coming from another world.

Yuki apologises for involving Takuya in such a dangerous job. But Takuya says he has no regrets. The job is pretty interesting, and he doesn't mind being with Yuki either. So instead of apologising and saying “sorry”, he wants her to say “thank you”.

At the organisation, Souma is being pushed to his limit. Even the hooded henchmen are getting concerned. The boy is too young, and can't handle the power.

Meanwhile Geek gets a visit from a woman. Her name is Tsuki and she is Taiyou's partner. Tsuki knows Geek is the hacker and she wants information on Takuya.

Yuki is feeling conflicted about Souma. Is it really alright to move forward knowing you will be harming your own brother? But she has no choice. She can only pray that he gives up eventually.

Yuki thinks the next time they meet she will try to talk to him normally. Souma also went through Lost, so he must have had to endure many horrible things, just like Yuki did.

There are many evolved tamashii in our way. It's happening abnormally quickly. With the defeat of the next enemy we cut back to Souma at the organisation. He's started to go crazy, continuously repeating the phrase “I won't forgive you”.

Chapter 9

From threatening Geek, Tsuki learns Takuya is not related to Yuki in any way, which is hard to believe. Geek says Takuya has always been like that, a kind person at heart, even to complete strangers.  

Tsuki figures he isn't lying. But she does get one piece of useful information: Takuya and Yuki can't fight unless they're together. Before she leaves, Tsuki calmly requests that Geek stop hacking the organisation, or else she will kill him. But of course he won't give up that easily.

Geek contacts Takuya and Yuki to tell them about Tsuki. He also informs them Souma is in a bad condition and his mental state can't take the pain anymore.

Yuki needs to prepare for the worst. She doesn't want to fight Souma, but if she doesn't the world might disappear. This is news to Takuya. Yuki explains Lost connects two worlds, but the two worlds cannot support each other's existence. One will suck out the possibilities of the other, and destroy it, turning everyone into tamashii. Yuki's dad hopefully has a solution to avoid this catastrophe, but truthfully Yuki isn't sure what can be done.

Headhunter investigated Souma. The boy should be dead. He even has a corpse, albeit a missing one. He hasn't investigated why it went missing yet, because that's out of scope of his request. Researcher pays him to continue the research.

So, Souma should be dead, but somebody has forcefully resurrected him. Yuki doesn't want to believe it, but Takuya tells her she must make a choice now, because to not decide anything is the worst thing that can happen.

Yuki asks what Takuya will do, to which he replies he will follow his contract to the end, like he has always done.

As we fight the next evolved tamashii enemy, Yuki is concerned Souma must be in a lot of pain. He probably doesn't want this either.

We cut to Tsuki and Taiyou, who are having a strange conversation. Tsuki says she's always been jealous of big breasts, but now she finally has them she's realised how much they make her shoulders hurt. Taiyou berates her for not choosing a body similar to her parallel self.

They then talk about what to do with the “corpse”.

Souma is not just in a lot of pain. He's snapped mentally, muttering things as if in a trance: “play with me… I'm lonely… don't come… quick, let's play…” He probably can’t do much more in that state, but Taiyou thinks it a waste to just throw his body away. Furthermore, the “Apocalypse calendar” is also looking forward to him.

Yuki makes a decision. She will fight and move forward, no matter how painful it gets. She tells Takuya that no matter what happens, he can't give up on her, because she needs him.

Yuki tells Takuya her mother died soon after her and Souma were born. Her father worked hard to raise them and do his research at the same time, but Yuki hated it. She hated not having her mother there and often cried a lot about it, causing her father a lot of grief. That's why she wants to save him, but to do that means hurting Souma...

Chapter 10

Yuki needs a small break after defeating Souma. She asks Takuya to lend her his back (so she can cry). Takuya asks her what she wants to do once everything is over. The thought had never even crossed her mind. Takuya says they should find her a new house in a new city, so she can start a new life. Yuki can go to school, and make friends her own age. Such an ordinary life should be everyone's right. Yuki agrees, that it would be nice to have such a life.

Yuki continues thinking about the ideal future Takuya outlined for her. Will she be able to make friends her own age? Will Takuya visit? Takuya also joins in the fantasising. He will visit her occasionally, but he's still got a job so he can't look after her all the time. Yuki gets a little annoyed he's treating her like a child. Takuya says he'll definitely make that future, that dream come true. We fight a Judo girl, who fulfilled her dream to get stronger as a tamashii. Takuya says he and Yuki will fulfil their dreams too, not as tamashii, but as humans.

Yuki is a little conflicted, but Takuya tells her the most important thing to success is to believe, even if that is a lie. He convinces Yuki to believe in this little dream they have created. When Takuya comes to visit, maybe she'll make him breakfast. Takuya doesn't think Yuki looks capable of making anything complex. He tells her he'll settle for anything as long as there's coffee.  Yuki berates him. If it's breakfast in the morning, it's got to be rice.

In this chapter, Takuya and Yuki also noticed something strange about the tamashii. Even though they defeated Souma, the enemies keep getting stronger.

Actually, Souma is being forced to summon them. He is in a lot of pain but Tsuki tells him to be a good boy and endure it. He's the only one who can summon tamashii for them, so they need him to keep working.

Meanwhile, Researcher finds out from Headhunter that Yuki and Scientist are hiding something very important from Takuya (Headhunter doesn't tell Takuya directly because he knows Researcher will pay good money to know anything concerning Takuya's wellbeing).

Researcher calls Takuya at the end of the chapter and pleads for him to stop the job: If Takuya continues the journey to Lost, his life will be in danger.

Chapter 11

Many people who investigated Lost have died, and the small amount of survivors suffered damage to their memory and mentality. There is a type of energy wave emanating from Lost that has negative effects on people. Yuki probably knew this, but she didn't tell Takuya.

Takuya asks Yuki how meeting her dad will help stop Lost. According to her father’s research, Yuki’s power is an important key to closing Lost. When Yuki summons tamashii with her power, she is essentially opening a gate to the other world. By the same logic, she should be able to ‘close’ that gate that is Lost.

Our next enemy is not evolved, so the enemy must be getting weaker. Takuya and Yuki are also getting closer to Lost.

Takuya talks about his philosophy around contracts again. He has pride in fulfilling his contract. The higher the hurdle the better. Takuya acknowledges he has a dangerous job, but to fail even once means loss of credibility, and no more jobs. So he will definitely fulfil his contract with Yuki, no matter what obstacles lie in the way.

Takuya's pride is a troublesome thing, but it's what keeps him going. He remarks it might be good to settle down after all this, but Yuki asks if he's scared he won't even make it back. Takuya reminds her they decided they wouldn't regret anything. To falter even a little bit means death.

On Tsuki and Taiyou's side we get confirmation that they are tamashii from the other side, who have successfully taken over bodies from this side. Also there are 30 seconds left on the ‘Clock of the End’, but Lost is spreading too slowly. The Noah plan won't succeed like this.

Souma is also now able to summon even stronger tamashii, even though he should have hit his limit long ago. Taiyou seems to know more.

Souma's ramblings are now about the sister he loves. Tsuki thinks it's kind of gross a corpse is talking about his sister.

Chapter 12

Scientist is concerned Takuya will not help them anymore now that he knows about the dangerous waves, but Yuki knows he is stronger than that, and will go on. Even knowing there is a good chance he will lose his memories, and possibly his life.

It seems Yuki is now conflicted between having Takuya continue to help or, or having him give up and preserve his life. She asks him if he has any regrets. Takuya says instead of thinking about the painful near future, it is much better to think of the happy future when everything is over, even if that future is a lie.

The next enemy is Akira, the SP who guarded Yuki and Souma's dad. Which means Souma is still summoning the tamashii.

Yuki is in shock, she can't even give advice normally anymore, instead delegating that task to Takuya to advise us on what we should focus on next for our team building.

Researcher relays the news to Headhunter that Takuya won't stop, because he's found out from Scientist that Yuki will die if he does. Headhunter doesn't understand how one can stake their life on just a contract, but that's Takuya for you.

Souma's condition has gotten to the point even Tsuki is becoming concerned about him. But Taiyou doesn't care if his body breaks or his sanity is destroyed. As long as they can get power out of him. Tsuki conceded he is correct, too correct. But she still secretly lets him go before he evolves.

Yuki is horrified when she sees Souma. He's gone crazy. He's no longer her brother. And she has to defeat him.

After the battle Yuki tearfully apologises. “I'm sorry I couldn't save you. But I have things I have to do. I can't stop here, I have to go ahead.”

Now Takuya and Yuki have reached the vicinity of Lost. No matter what happens, Taiyou will ensure the Noah plan goes ahead. Taiyou thinks the waves around Lost will be enough to get rid of the two of them, but just in case, he tells Tsuki it is her turn next.

PART 3: Towards Lost

Chapter 13

Tsuki has no choice. It's her turn next. She wonders how there could be people idiotic enough to sacrifice themselves just to reach Lost. What a stupid story this is becoming…

Takuya and Yuki are feeling the impact of the waves. Both already have splitting headaches, and the enemies are getting stronger.

Tsuki makes her appearance. She tells them to stop but ofc they don't. They're the exact type of idiots she was talking about earlier. We beat her once, then she escapes to get stronger. She tells Taiyou the waves might not be enough to stop them. Taiyou says they have to do everything they can to stop them, which is bad news for Tsuki. Tsuki doesn't say anything. She’s scared of what will happen to her.

Yuki feels like the scenery around her is familiar, and it's too clear to be Deja Vu. She can even see what is going to happen from here on, as if she was seeing another memory. Something like this had already been happening to her, it was why she always had a bad feeling right before an enemy was about to appear.

These are actually the memories of her parallel world version flowing into her. Takuya asks what will happen next. In a desolate tone, Yuki says the two of them will be defeated by a powerful enemy. It’s Tsuki.

Scientist's tamashii research lab was invaded by some men from the organisation. He managed to chase them away, but not before they destroyed some of his equipment. He clearly identified them as from “the other side”. Geek tells him to not give up. They'll give the organisation some dummy data and find an alternate route to keep supporting Takuya and Yuki.

Tsuki is amazed Takuya and Yuki are still going to challenge her, even though Yuki's memories say they will die by her hands. The two confidently tell her things will go differently, because this is a different world and they are not like their parallel world selves.

Against all odds, they do defeat Tsuki, sending her into a bit of a panic. She doesn't want to keep going, she doesn't want more power, she doesn't want to become like Souma…

Chapter 14

Taiyou thinks it odd that Takuya and Yuki are still able to maintain their sanity after so long. As Takuya and Yuki get closer, their pain increases.

Scientist finally explains the nature of these waves. They are the memories of their parallel world versions. But if Takuya and Yuki can handle it, they will absorb the wills from the parallel world and grow even stronger. It's incredibly dangerous, but in the end it's a battle of wills, and Scientist is willing to bet on that miracle.

Yuki becomes concerned about the possibility of losing her memories. What if she forgets her purpose for journeying with Takuya in the first place? How will she be able to keep moving forward?

Takuya is also in a bad situation. His head hurts and his mouth is dry. But somehow, he still has this feeling that despite all that, they will still win. Even if their current selves forget everything, they only have to trust in their past selves, who have been able to endure everything up to now, to get them to this point.

Yuki makes a revelation about the tamashii in our party. Even though we should only have capacity for five in our party there's always one more, the helper tamashii. We know now, it's another version of us, helping each other from different parallel worlds. So even if Takuya and Yuki lose their memories, they won't lose their strong will.

Tsuki comes back. Yuki can sense conflict within her. Tsuki is afraid of fighting us, but she doesn't say anything. Taiyou steps in and says even if she loses her self, as long as she has power left she will stop the two of them. Tsuki gets pushed to her limits under Taiyou's command, and evolves into something that isn't even human anymore.

Chapter 15

After taking down Tsuki, it’s Taiyou’s turn in the ring. The strange but powerful man is able to induce a headache purely through his aura. We win anyway. Taiyou retreats to get more power.

Geek has finally found a way for communication to reach us inside Lost. But Takuya and Yuki no longer remember him, nor Headhunter, nor Researcher, nor Scientist.

But all of them assure the two they have a team of allies ready to support them, and offer various pieces of advice. Who are these people and why are they helping us? Can we even believe them? But Takuya says he is willing to take a gamble on them, and Yuki agrees, that trust is truly a wonderful thing.  

Yuki admits that sometimes, she would suddenly forget her reason for continuing to move forward, and become very worried. But then she sees that Takuya is there, right in front of her, and she trusts him completely. Likewise, Takuya says when he feels Yuki’s chest against his back, he remembers he has to keep moving forward. This elicits a less than friendly reaction from Yuki.

We have the final fight against Tsuki, and another fight against Taiyou.

Also random trivia we learn: the quote “we still have bullets left”, which we often hear Akira say, is from a movie that Yuki likes.  

Chapter 16

Yuki becomes concerned about her own wellbeing. If they continue to fight like this, will she become a tamashii like the one we just defeated? Will she become like crazy, like Souma and Tsuki and now Taiyou?

Researcher and Scientist echo similar worries. Yuki will be in danger if she keeps fighting, and may suffer intense mental damage. But they cannot stop them, they have to keep going forward. Scientist also says he feels the two are different from their parallel world counterparts, who perished halfway.

Taiyou wants more power. He claims the calculations from the Apocalypse calendar shouldn’t be wrong. He shouldn’t lose anymore.

We can see the waves impacting on Takuya and Yuki’s memories a little bit more now. Yuki becomes concerned again. Should we really keep going? What if it’s the wrong choice? But, like Takuya said, the worst thing to do is to make no decision at all. She had just forgotten it.

When Yuki realises, she apologises. But Takuya tells her not to say sorry, but thank you. Yuki wonders why that phrase sounds so nostalgic. Takuya wonders if somebody important to her said that to her once. He has forgotten that person was himself.

Even Taiyou is being affected. He doesn’t quite remember who Takuya and Yuki are, but he knows he will destroy anyone in his way.

Once we defeat Taiyou, he begins to mutter what sounds like gibberish: the communication ship should not reach the bulb…?

Taiyou makes his escape once again. Then Researcher calls. Though neither Takuya nor Yuki remember her, she tells them how to make sure they don't lose their goal. She tells them to remember their image of the happy future, grasp onto it and never let it go. Scientist later explains to her that if the two of them are able to hold onto just one memory, even if they lose all their other memories, they will keep their sanity. This is the only way they will be able to maintain their purpose.

Taiyou evolves. The hooded henchmen of the organisation talk amongst themselves. If Yuki touches the core, Lost will close. But the organisation hasn’t lost yet. Taiyou is growing ever more powerful, to the point he breaks his body. As he reaches his final evolution, the men say it is time for Plan B.

Chapter 17

Yuki and Takuya are now inside Lost. The mysterious organisation know that if Yuki manages to touch the core of Lost, a contradiction in the calculations of the Apocalypse calendar will cause Lost to close. They are unsure if Taiyou can even stop them now, so they are initiating Plan B, which is to make Takuya and Yuki disappear, along with the rest of this world. Then according to the “Third War” (which seems to be what the Noah plan is), the world will become a place humans can no longer live on. They will then have to abandon this world, and find another timeline to inhabit. This is probably harder than it sounds, but everything will be fine. Because they have “God” on their side.

Inside Lost, Takuya and Yuki can see many parallel worlds. Takuya cannot stop driving, otherwise they could fall in the gaps between the worlds. But after a while, the scenery has not changed, and it feels like they are stuck driving in circles. Yuki’s father is also nowhere in sight. Here, the signals of Geek’s communication device cannot reach them, so their allies can only pray for their safety and success.

Taiyou continues growing stronger. He trembles with power as he absorbs the memories of all the lost souls. He utters “everything will go according to the Apocalypse calendar”.

Taiyou approaches and Yuki can feel her sanity slipping away. She asks Takuya to forgive her, if she uses up too much power in battle, and ends up forgetting him.

We fight Taiyou, we beat Taiyou. Then he evolves into a...fetus?

We defeat the monstrous baby, but at a dear cost: Yuki has lost her memories.

Chapter 18

Poor Yuki has lost her memories of Takuya, of Lost, of her journey. She says: “I don’t know who you are, but I know we have to go. That’s what’s important to us.”

As Takuya continues driving, Yuki hears a voice, telling her that she has done enough. She has worked hard, gone through so much pain, but it’s alright to forget everything and rest now. It’s her dad.

Yuki’s dad apologises for not being a good father, always being too busy to care for her. He doesn’t want Yuki to feel pain anymore. He invites her to stop moving forward, and rest her weary body in this warm and happy place. Just the word “happy” triggers Yuki into wanting to accept the tempting offer, but Takuya stops her. Taiyou is still not defeated, they can’t afford to rest just yet, there is still unfinished business left to do. It’s the less comfortable choice, but it’s the one Yuki has to make. She can’t rest like her dad just yet.

Taiyou is still alive gdi. Men in hoods explain he has totally abandoned his body, to become a corrupt being. The man (if he can still be called one), cannot be stopped now. The world will be destroyed.

They also explain that getting power from Yuki’s father, who has become one with the core, is their Plan B. The core contains the wills of everything. With that much power, the organisation will destroy this world. They have confidence that Yuki will not be able to touch the core in time, because she has to get past the will of her own father first.

Yuki is definitely tired. Her dad’s voice becomes more powerful. If you are tired, you should rest. Besides, there is no proof that what you are doing is even the right thing. Good and evil do not exist in this world; they are just concepts we created, they all boil down to electrical impulses in the brain. Instead of doing noble things, we should each just chase after our own happiness, and maintain the balance of the world.

Yuki cries hearing her dad talk of happiness, but she doesn’t know why. But Takuya does. He urges her to remember, the reason they move forward, is to grab their own happiness. A peaceful life in a different town, and delicious coffee in the morning! Yuki tells him it shouldn’t be coffee, it should be rice. And with that she’s back, just in time for the final fight against Taiyou.

After beating Taiyou, Yuki's memories come back. She has to touch the core to get rid of Lost, but getting that close means she might not be able to escape in time, and will disappear along with the rest of Lost. But she will do it. Her father is holding the core so it's power doesn't escape, but this means he has been trapped like that for a long time. Yuki wants to release him, and tell him it's OK for him to rest. So she asks Takuya once more, to please take her to the core, and then run.

Yuki's dad tells her to stop, but she won't. When we see him he takes on the appearance of a grotesque wall of objects. In order to stop Lost spreading, he absorbed everything around him to the point of losing his mind and body. Yuki gently tells her dad, she's different from the old Yuki. She now understands many things: the bonds between people, what a strong will is, and what a happy dream looks like. With those things, she is able to do anything. She can keep moving forward forever. And to move forward, is what it means to live. Yuki is grateful for learning those things, and she is grateful to her dad, for giving her life, and for being her dad to the end.

Yuki's dad is defeated, revealing the core. But Takuya keeps driving. He's not letting Yuki off just yet. He will fulfil his contract, and bring her right up to the core, staying with her until the end.

If both of them get that close, there's a good chance neither will survive. Yuki becomes very sad, and lets out a bit of an emotional confession. It's because of Takuya that she was able to come this far. Before she met him, she was always alone. Her first impression of him was a very rude and unreasonable man, dragging her around without any explanation, doing anything he wants without a care for others. He rode a weird scooter and also stunk slightly of sweat.

Takuya realises what tsundere Yuki is saying and says he's glad to have met her too. His last words before the credits are: “Even if you touch the core, I'll keep moving on. So grab onto me tight, I'll save you. And after everything is over, we'll get out of here.”

After the credits, we hear some thoughts from Yuki's dad. In his hazy consciousness he saw his daughter. Lost will disappear in time and the world will be saved. He has no more power to continue watching this ‘story', but he is glad he got to see Yuki in the end. Thank you, Yuki.

PART 4

Chapter 19

One year after Lost disappeared, Yuki has locked herself in her room, depressed. She doesn't want to see anyone and doesn't want to go outside. The reason is that she feels responsible for another catastrophe that occurred after Lost disappeared and the world was supposed to be saved: the town turned into stone, and the area into an uninhabitable wasteland. And it's slowly spreading.

Meanwhile, a woman approaches Takuya, claiming to have been searching for him. It's Lisa, an executive of the detective agency Takuya used to work for.

Lisa claims she has cut ties with the agency, and now needs Takuya to head north, in order to protect Yuki. Takuya now has to drag an unwilling Yuki to go on another journey with him.

Our enemy are still tamashii. Yuki still remembers how to fight them, even though she wanted so much to forget all about them.

Yuki talks about how people around them have moved on with their lives. Apparently Headhunter started a new business, healing the hearts of those who were harmed by Lost. He does this by altering people's memories to remove their trauma. Yuki might be thinking of doing the same.

They meet up with Lisa. She praises Takuya for his speed, though that was something she taught him. Lisa explains that in the north is a place called Lost Zero. According to a mysterious note called the Isoya Report, there is a group who are planning to destroy the world with their Plan B. The start of that destruction is Lost Zero. So she wants the two of them to go there and stop it.

Yuki never said she would help Takuya, she didn’t want to go on another journey, and she doesn't want to fight anymore. She wanted to save the world before, but then look what happened. So why is Takuya so willing to believe what Lisa is saying, with no basis at all?

Takuya tries to explain that it's fine if it turns out to be a lie and nothing happens, but what if it's not? Yuki accuses him of actually wishing for the end of the world. He just wants to believe there is something else he can do to save the world. She thinks he wants to erase his sins, and that's why he hopes the note will be true, so he can redeem himself.

Takuya claims it's not about saving the world. He just wants to protect the people close to him, even those that didn’t ask to be saved. It could just be his ego, but he wants to do it. If he doesn’t he will surely regret it.

However Yuki does not think like that. She doesn't want to save anyone anymore, because she doesn't want to let down those expectations. She doesn't believe in the note, and she doesn't want to go on this journey. But Lisa asked her to trust in her, for just six days. So once those six days are up, she will go to Headhunter, and ask him to erase her memories. She just wants to forget it all.

Lisa also meets up with another new character in this new chapter. Kouta used to be a talented rookie in the detective agency, and now works as a courier. He feels competitive around Takuya, who is basically his senpai.

He thinks this new job involving Takuya will be troublesome. But Lisa assures him it's completely safe. Unless he gets caught by the enemy, of course. Then he's dead. But worry about that when the time comes. For now she just needs him to get some information on Ginga and Souya. Or was it Touma?

The goal of the mysterious organisation is to erase this world, because they think it “should” disappear. That was supposed to be its fate, it's pre-written history. But Takuya changed that ‘history' by preventing its destruction. So now they are trying to fix it to the way it was supposed to be. They are aware Takuya and Yuki are on the move again, but this time they are sure “Ginga” will defeat them.

Ginga is the new enemy character. He is a mysterious old man who came from a parallel world after hearing about Taiyou's defeat. Ginga says the fact part of the city turned to stone is proof that this world should not even exist at all, and so he will destroy it himself. There is no time. He will not allow Takuya and Yuki to get to Lost Zero. He will not let them break the “fourth wall”.

Yuki knows when she lays eyes on Ginga that he is too powerful to fight against. Ginga affirms this. Takuya and Yuki will not win against him, this is the end of the story.

The screen turns black. When Takuya regains consciousness he and Yuki are back inside Lost. Ahead is a very bad ‘fate’ for the two of them. How will they go ahead? Yuki says she needs “our” power…

Chapter 20

Takuya has to stop the erasure of the world. He needs to go to Lost Zero. He needs to save Yuki.

Suddenly Kouta yells his name. Takuya is surprised, the two haven't been in touch since he left the detective agency. But Kouta acts like they've been together for ages.

Takuya's got no time to worry about the strange things Kouta is saying though, he's got a world to save. So he leaves him behind and drives off.

But curiously, even Yuki seems to know Kouta, and calls Takuya weird for forgetting they met with him only yesterday. So today is not the second day of their journey, but the third day? Takuya begins to realise he has lost a whole day's worth of memories.

Kouta catches up to Takuya. Takuya is still suspicious of him. Why is he tagging along? Kouta says he doesn't want to be with him either, but it was an order from Lisa. He's the only one who can help Takuya right now, in fact Takuya requested his help only the day before!

Takuya calls Scientist, hoping for an explanation for what is happening. But Scientist apologises, says he cannot help him, and also asks Takuya to not contact him again.

Takuya tries to contact Geek but gets a very strange outburst from him. Geek can't help, but on top of that, claims he hates Takuya for always taking advantage of him whenever it suits him.

A call to researcher also results in rejection. “I'm sorry I can't help you, and I can't tell you why either. We're walking different paths. This is our fate.”

Takuya is sad he got rejected by all his friends. Yuki wonders if it's his personality. Takuya should be more honest. Takuya wonders if Yuki will also walk a different path to him. Unfortunately Yuki can't guarantee anything, especially with how strange Takuya is acting right now. She isn't sure if it's still alright for her to be with him. But, the fact is she cannot fight without Takuya, so she can only rely on him.

Yuki was also pretty nonchalant about moving ahead without the help of our allies. Takuya is confused Yuki wants to go ahead at all, considering how she was so against this journey on day one. Yuki says she already told Takuya her reason, but it looks like he forgot. She's doing it for her “precious person”. She wants to meet him and apologise.

Takuya eventually agrees to accept Kouta’s help. He is able to tell us the enemies up ahead are all water element, so we should build a grass element team. Takuya is puzzled Kouta knows what enemies lie ahead. Kouta is puzzled Takuya doesn't know, because he was the one gave Kouta this information in the first place.

Kouta later also gets some information on Ginga, and Souma, who is summoning the enemy tamashii. Ginga can control the waves that Lost emitted, meaning he can remove people's memories. Takuya figures the source of his memory loss must be Ginga, and maybe he took away the memories of all their allies too.

The enemies begin to overwhelm the two of them. There’s even Akira, confirming Souma is still the one doing the summoning. Yuki is almost at her limit, but suddenly Kouta comes through with a new route and allows them to escape to regroup with Lisa.

Lisa doesn't reject Takuya like the others, so he explains the problem to her. She admires that he didn’t give up even though all his friends betrayed him, but did they really? The route that they escaped through just now was actually discovered by Geek, Scientist gave advice on tamashii, and Researcher scouted out the path ahead. The truth is, Ginga has intercepted their communication lines, meaning it would be dangerous if he discovered the allies that were working for Takuya. How did they know this? Well, Takuya told them. Unfortunately Lisa can’t really explain what happened to him, but she assures us she will always be our ally.  

Chapter 21

This chapter opens where chapter 19 left off. Ginga states Takuya and Yuki cannot win against him, and this is the end of their story. He then orders them to close their eyes. But then out of nowhere, Takuya has an epiphany. He gets it now, and he tells Ginga things won’t go according to his plan. Ginga is stunned because he hasn’t even told them his name yet. Even more, Takuya knows Ginga has the power to erase memories. Ginga escapes.

Yuki has a lot of questions, but it’s complicated, time is scarce, and Takuya asks her to just trust him. Yuki says she will only be around for five more days, confirming we are on day two.

Takuya asks if Yuki is really fine with running away: turning a blind eye to the world’s destruction and not doing the things only she could have done.

Takuya and Yuki meet up with Lisa, who appears to have been expecting them. So she has noticed Takuya’s “will” can “transcend” time. Lisa asks Takuya if he would believe, that she met Takuya from the future?

Lisa looks depressed for a moment as she thinks to herself. This is a fate she cannot escape from, so there is no point being depressed. Lisa offers to get Kouta to assist the two of them, but Takuya knew that already.

Takuya asks Kouta for his help without even a greeting. There is no time to lose, he tells them about what will happen tomorrow, the memory loss, and the enemies they will face. Kouta is understandably confused, but it’s alright if he doesn’t believe it, he just has to remember.

Finally, Takuya sincerely thanks him, which feels kind of weird for Kouta.

Yuki comments that it is rare to see Takuya trusting somebody so easily. Takuya tells her Kouta is reliable, and the only person who can help them. So even if the time comes when she is no longer able to trust Takuya, she can trust Kouta.

Yuki notices there are a lot of water enemies, and wonder if this is a plan by the enemy to prevent her using Akira, meaning they know about her connection with Akira? Takuya says it’s likely her brother is still fighting for the enemy, so she should prepare for the worst.

In a strangely random but excited outburst, Takuya calls the final evolution of Gambler Yuri the “Gamblest”.

Scientist calls because he has noticed there are a lot of enemy tamashii. He only knows Yuki and Souma who can do this. Takuya asks him to find out more, but also to stop contacting him. In fact, if he does try to contact him again, Scientist should reject him.

Researcher calls after hearing Kouta is helping Takuya, and offers her help too. But he doesn’t want it. Instead he wants her to “put on an act”, and pretend she is not helping him.

Yuki asks why Takuya is rejecting the help of their friends. He explains the “strategy” he will use to make it them seem like they are not helping him, in order to protect them from getting their memories wiped by Ginga. He tells her not to reveal the strategy to anyone, to pretend she doesn’t know anything. Yuki asks if she can blame it on his personality. Takuya says he will be sad, but if he just thinks of it like she is acting, he will be ok with it.

Scientist implied Souma could still be fighting for the enemy after being forcefully resurrected, which makes bad memories resurface in Yuki’s head. But if this is the Souma we already defeated, maybe things can still work out if we talk it over. Maybe he could even fight alongside us.

Souma is being forced by the organisation to continue summoning. A grunt from the organisation explains to Ginga there was a lot of resistance from him, especially when he heard his sister was involved. They are now torturing him by tying him up and ripping his fingernails off one by one. But this can only go on for so long.

At the end of the day, Takuya and Yuki regroup with Kouta. Takuya informs him that the Takuya of day three knows nothing, so he asks that Kouta support Yuki. Kouta still has no idea what he’s talking about, but Takuya says everything will become clear by tomorrow. So if everything Takuya is saying is the truth, where will his will fly next? The fourth day?

Chapter 22

Takuya’s will did not go to the fourth day as planned. It is actually day five, and Yuki is struggling against him to get off the bike. She doesn’t know why enemies are attacking them, she doesn’t know why she has to fight against them, and she doesn’t know who Takuya is.

Yuki is very distressed. She claims she never wanted anything to do with tamashii, she just wanted to live her life peacefully. Takuya tries to make her remember about Lost, about how the world turned to stone. But she doesn’t remember, and even calls Takuya horrible for accusing her of being responsible for turning the city to stone.

Takuya then gets a succession of calls from his former ‘allies’. Scientist claims Lost is just an urban legend, and Researcher calls him the worst for kidnapping a girl with no basis.

Did Ginga’s plan succeed? Takuya has to defeat Ginga to get everyone’s memories back. But it’s hard when your partner is calling you a liar and wants desperately to escape… Not even talking about Yuki’s dad will bring her to her senses.

Was everything just a dream? Did the city really disappear? Are we just believing in some made-up world we saw in a game?

I understand it’s hard to believe, but everything will be ok. Let’s calm down, good, and now take a deep breath. Let it all out, forget everything, breathe... It’s just a game. So stop touching the screen...Just stop...Stop it...Stop.

Takuya begins to doubt himself. Are his memories fake? Is this really just a game? Is he actually the one going crazy?

But then he steels himself. No, there is no way this is all a lie. He is going to move forward no matter what, to Lost Zero. In fact, even if everything is a lie, that’s still fine.

Then, Geek calls. And, he didn’t lose his memory! It looks like for some reason Ginga didn’t think he was Takuya’s ally. Lisa and Kouta are ok as well, and have gone ahead to the north. Takuya is going to catch-up to them now, and he’s bringing Yuki with him whether she likes it or not.

Takuya tells Yuki the one summoning tamashii is definitely her brother Souma. This puts even more distress on the poor girl because 1, how does this man know about Souma? And 2, why does she have to fight her own brother? Takuya also now seems like an even more horrible person in her eyes.

At the mysterious organisation, we get confirmation that Ginga has managed to wipe out everyone’s memories of Lost. He has also wiped all of Souma’s memories. The boy is no longer human, but just a tool to summon tamashii. Ginga claims he feels remorseful, but he had no other choice. He hopes in the next timeline there will be no more sacrifices like Souma.  

Yuki has flashbacks of Souma before everything happened. He was always so understanding, but also lonely. When Yuki got depressed thinking about their mother, he told her they had to survive and live on. When their father was working late again, he said he would be ok, because Yuki was with him. Another flashback shows him being worried when Yuki came home late, because being by himself was lonely. How could Yuki fight him? Why would Takuya make her do this? It doesn’t make sense to her at all.

We defeat Souma, but Ginga claims their fate will not change. Yuki wants to escape from her painful reality, so he will let her forget everything. Then he orders Yuki to close her eyes, so he can take her memories…

Chapter 23

We return to the day before, day four. Takuya tells Lisa what will happen on day five, meaning today is the day everyone will lose their memories. But Takuya won’t give up. Lisa tells her the fifth day he saw may have a different meaning…

The plan is now to lock away Yuki’s memories before Ginga can get to her, i.e. make her temporarily forget them. Because you can’t remove memories if they aren’t there, right? Lisa paid Headhunter a large sum of money to get him to help them.

Yuki is understandably concerned at this prospect. Because she doesn’t want to forget about Takuya. Knowing she will soon lose her memories also makes her remember other ones about their journey thus far.

Yuki’s first impressions of Takuya were not good. This man came out of nowhere, and forcibly dragged her around with no explanation. He seemed weird, and cold. But she knows now that was because he was bad at expressing his real feelings.

She remembered that when she first met Geek, he hated her, and Takuya had to comfort her.

Yuki is worried that when she forgets everything, she will be unable to face painful things. Kouta knows she is especially worried about forgetting Takuya, because she likes him (she denies this, of course). But he assures her that Takuya will definitely get her memories back, and she will definitely remember Takuya again.

Yuki saves her most heartfelt memories for last. She remembers it was Takuya who taught her not to say sorry, but thank you. She thanks him for journeying with her. Though she knows it will be hard from now on, though she knows there is a good chance she will have to confront Souma again, after everything is over she wants to say thank you to him. So until then, even if she loses all her memories, she will not say sorry.

As the two journey to Headhunter’s, Ginga is going around memory-wiping everyone. He manages to track down Scientist and Researcher. Researcher leaves him with a beautiful quote summing up her belief in Takuya: “Even if my memory disappears, my will will remain.” But Ginga responds with “the hands of the clock will not turn backwards”.

When he gets to Geek though, he becomes confused. According to his sources, one of Takuya’s allies should be around here. Somebody with powerful engineering skills and networking knowledge. Somebody with great ability, intelligence and judgement. But it looks like he is not there. He even tells Geek to get out of his way as he continues searching. Geek is incredibly offended, but it seems he was saved?

Lisa wants to speak to Yuki in private before they get to Headhunter’s. First, she laments that Yuki’s beautiful hair is getting all messed up as she rides around with Takuya. Next she tells her that she knows without a doubt, that this story will have a happy ending. All the bad guys will go away, and Yuki will live happily ever after, so there is nothing for her to worry about. But don't tell the others. A story won’t be interesting anymore if you know the ending.

The chapter ends with Yuki getting her memories wiped by Headhunter. Yuki says she is prepared, and she vows to get her memories back, no matter how much pain waits ahead. Lisa chimes in that it’s because Takuya is there with her. Takuya asks Lisa if he is footing the bill for this one.

Chapter 24

It is now the sixth day, and Takuya is trying to restore Yuki’s memories. Headhunter had said there should be no issues getting it back, it will just take some time. Takuya keeps checking in on her, to make sure she is ok. Yuki seems tired and confused, and doesn’t say much.

Though Takuya is comforting her, he himself is plagued with worries. What if Ginga was able to destroy the locked up memories too? He recalls how much pain Yuki was in just now after taking down Souma. She had said she would rather die than be exposed to such a painful feeling.

On the way Takuya keeps urging her to remember, she said so herself that she would. But Yuki right now doesn’t want to remember at all. It’s just too painful.

Lisa and Kouta are currently chasing after Ginga. Takuya catches up to Kouta and relays the bad news about Yuki. They don’t have much of a choice but to continue north in hopes of catching Ginga. Takuya thanks Kouta for just being there. The man is probably the only person there keeping him sane at the moment. Kouta claims he’s not doing it for Takuya’s sake, but he does get annoyed seeing him so depressed.

Yuki is having an inner battle with her mind. She lost her loved ones one by one. She never did anything wrong, just wanted to live peacefully, so why does she have to remember all these painful things? Souma surfaces in her mind. Didn’t she decide to kill him and move forward? Where did all that determination go? But Yuki claims she never decided on anything.

Scientist appears in her thoughts. Everything is a battle of will. If Yuki can make the decision, everything will go well. But why does it have to be her?

Geek pops up now. Yuki right now is not the Yuki he knows. The Yuki he knows is strong, and always moves forward. Instead of inspiring her, this makes Yuki even more desolate. She couldn’t live up to everyone’s expectations. She isn’t the person everyone thinks she is.

A flurry of characters appear, overwhelming her thoughts. Takuya, Kouta and Lisa are all urging her to remember. Didn’t she decide on that? Didn’t she decide to remember Takuya, and keep going forward?

Yuki cries out in pain. She wanted to forget so badly, she could finally run away from everything, so why is everyone forcing her to remember?

Suddenly she hears her dad’s voice. It was hard, it was painful, but she doesn’t have to do it anymore. Yuki agrees. She’s done her best, and it’s alright to give up now.

But then another Yuki stops her. A stronger Yuki, who doesn’t want to give up. She wants to keep going. She wants to save the world. She wants to keep journeying together with Takuya.

Yuki begins to unearth the deeper reason to her motives. She said to herself that she came with Takuya on this new journey in order to erase her sin of turning the city to stone. But that was not her real reason. Takuya was the one who accepted her. She was so happy being with him. That’s why she journeyed with him, defeated tamashii, and even took down her own brother.

On cue Souma’s image surfaces. He accuses her of using the excuse of saving the world, to be with Takuya. She wanted to be together with Takuya so much, and that was why she killed her very own brother. Yuki tries to deny it, it’s not true. But the other Yuki does not lie. It is true. When she talks to Takuya her heart skips a beat. Yuki has fallen in love with Takuya.

Yuki comes to terms with herself, accepting all her memories and her true self. She admits that she wasn’t journeying with Takuya for the sake of the world, nor for other people. She was doing it for herself. But is that really so bad? Takuya thinks it’s fine. Nobody will hate her for it. Not even her brother.

Now Ginga is coming, but Yuki knows just her and Takuya’s power alone cannot defeat him. The two of them do not have the power to continue the story alone. But she wants to live. She will accept the part of her that shouldn’t be forgiven. And she will continue to fight, to win and grasp her happy future.

We defeat Ginga, and he has figured out, that no matter how strong he gets, we will always be stronger. Takuya's memories are still intact because the fourth wall has opened, and a very powerful will, the Observer, is helping Takuya, because the Observer wants to see the continuation of the “story”, and saving Takuya is the only way to do so. Obsever’s will is so powerful it can even bend time, meaning Takuya and Yuki have all the time in the world to get stronger. There is no way Ginga can win…against “us”.

The screen turns black, and Ginga speaks as if addressing the player, the Observer, directly. We can't pretend to be an outsider to the game anymore. Our fingers continue to touch the black screen which we see our own faces reflected in. Ginga orders us to stop being involved in this world. Stop touching them, stop touching the screen. But we do not stop. We keep tapping.

The black screen reverts to the main screen. The main menu screen and BGM then start to glitch. We see flashes of Lost, of Yuki’s face, of a desolate wasteland. Then back to black.

We then hear Yuki’s voice. “Hey, why do you pretend not to know anything? I’m here in so much pain. I need you. Please, I’m praying from the bottom of my heart. Please, won’t you help us?”

PART 5：Goodbye

Chapter 25

The chapter opens with a flashback of Tsuki saying of course she is scared. But Taiyou told her their bodies are just a facade. Even if they lose the body, their minds will remain in this world. To see the mission through to the end is their “freedom”.

Yuki regains unconsciousness and sees an unfamiliar scenery. The landscape all around her is a desert. She realises while fighting Ginga, her power must have gone haywire again, and caused this.

Yuki becomes disheartened once more. Fighting Ginga was inevitable, but did it even do anything? He could still be alive. So what’s the point in fighting? Takuya says right now we have no choice but to believe in Lisa’s note and head to Lost Zero. But should we even be going? Should the note be trusted? Should Yuki keep fighting? What will happen if the same destructive phenomenon happens again? Takuya wants to keep going, but will it be possible to continue onwards without hurting anyone else?

As we take on more tamashii, Yuki thinks about how they are the reflections of dreams that were never fulfilled, and futures that never happened. And we are using those wills to destroy the world. She wonders if it is right to rely on the strength of the tamashii. It could be dangerous. Suddenly she hears a voice in her head. She tells it to go away, but it won’t.

Kouta is glad to see Takuya alive and well, and vice versa. He explains Yuki’s power only impacted a small area so the desert is not that big. Everyone else is also alright. But it is concerning to think that the world could be destroyed by Yuki’s hand before the actual end of the world. Kouta then asks Takuya if he will really sacrifice Yuki to move on for the sake of believing a note that has no basis, because Kouta can’t bring himself to. Instead, he chooses to search for Ginga.

Lisa anticipated that nobody would believe her, and she does not have the right to force them to. What Takuya should do from now on is something he has to decide for himself. Will he go on to Lost Zero, or give up? Incidentally, the enemy after this is Satoru.

Takuya decides to goes on, so Yuki continues to fight.

Yuki asks for a quick break. She knows they don't have a lot of time to get to Lost Zero, but she is feeling very tired, and has a bit of a headache.

Also, the disturbing voice in her head is getting stronger. It becomes even more disturbing when Yuki starts talking about a communication ship that won’t reach.

The next day the two meet with Lisa. Lisa realises that Yuki is having trouble controlling her power, and that there may be somebody trying to gain control of her mind. Somebody who might be trying to get their hands on the note.

It is a frightening thing to not have control over your own body. If Yuki’s consciousness is being controlled, how can she believe these feelings of wanting to save the world, of wanting to trust Takuya, are true? Takuya tells her to believe in him. They’ve been together so long, Takuya knows this is the real Yuki. When Yuki feels concerned, she should just rely on Takuya. He echoes a memory from long ago when he felt having Yuki rely on him was annoying. But since then he’s found that being relied on once in a while doesn’t feel so bad after all. We also get a flashback about believing in the future, even if it’s a lie.

But Yuki is still concerned. She doesn’t even know if she is truly herself anymore. How long will Takuya be able to trust her?

Behind the scenes, Taiyou is encouraging Yuki to believe in herself. A human without doubts can become anything. That is their freedom.

Ginga feels Taiyou beginning to move. The end of the world is in motion. Ginga will also fight, as will Souma, who is not much more than an empty shell at this point. Souma only says two things in this scene: “Taiyou” and “Uchuu”.

Yuki feels the power of Ginga’s waves. Her will wavers among her panic and she starts saying more phrases from someone else’s memory, Taiyou’s memory. Takuya is getting scared. They stop for a break and contact Kouta.

Takuya apologises for his outburst at Kouta before. He is willing to accept his help now. Kouta’s got a plan. Ginga is probably with Souma right now, so while Takuya and Yuki distract Ginga, Kouta can save Souma.

The plan gives them some hope and Yuki is able to focus better. She has to do her best, for Kouta’s sake too.

Scientist reviews the information he has. Yuki’s power turning everything into a desert, Taiyou’s mental resurrection, the increasing number of “replicants”...with a sinking feeling he realises it is everything Lisa predicted. Meaning everything is now up to Takuya and Yuki.

Chapter 26

Now that Scientist has realised the note’s predictions were correct, he is willing to believe in it with no scientific basis. Lisa confirms that the note predicts the future, and she got it from a precious person. Scientist will offer his help to get Lisa to Lost Zero, but both know her chances are not good.

Unfortunately, Scientist is probably Lisa’s only other ally. Researcher doesn’t believe in the note. She doesn’t want Takuya to go to such a dangerous place like Lost Zero, and she doesn’t want to see Yuki suffer more as she fights. Researcher can tell that Yuki is worried about her powers going berserk again. She tells her that worrying is a good thing, because it is proof you are alive. But she really doesn’t think anything good will come of Yuki and Takuya chasing after a baseless note.

However she also knows she cannot stop them. She sends them Kouta’s location. He was successful in rescuing Souma, but he is currently being chased by Ginga, so he went into hiding. It is likely we will have to fight the old man again.

Kouta has a pretty bad headache. Ginga is powerful, and there are many enemies after them. Kouta tells Souma his sister is coming, and he won’t let the bad guys use him anymore. He promises Souma will be happy. But actually he is powerless against the enemy, and if Takuya and Yuki don’t arrive soon, they will be in trouble. Unexpectedly, Souma tries to tell him it will be ok, and even calls him “big brother”. It works to cheer him up.

Yuki is still worried about losing control of her powers. She apologises for putting everyone in danger. Takuya, of course, tells her to stop saying sorry. Yuki thinks that her consciousness won’t wander if she is able to hold onto her memories of Takuya. So she thanks him, for being with her the whole time.

Taiyou’s words are getting so strong they escape the bounds of proper formatting. Yuki begs him to leave him alone. Her pain gets worse. Takuya offers to stop for a break, but they’re running out of time!

Geek and Researcher come to Takuya and Yuki’s rescue. They will stall the enemy, and find a path with less tamashii. Before they head off, though, Researcher and Yuki have a quick talk,  but Yuki won’t tell Takuya what it was about. She does assure him though that she will now be able to maintain control over her mind.

Researcher actually gave Yuki some pills. The medicine will allow her to suppress her powers. However they come with side effects. While they will protect Yuki mentally, they will break her body down physically. Researcher gave her five pills, but told her not to eat them all, or she will die. Yuki is able to move forward thinking Ginga is the final enemy, and everything will be over once he is defeated.

Ginga starts to say some pretty cryptic things as he prepares for battle. He notes Taiyou intends to see everything to the end. Everything will go according to Uchuu’s will. Taiyou is now a figure closer to Uchuu than he is. Taiyou is now a higher being than Ginga. Ginga will destroy Takuya and Yuki, if that is what Uchuu wishes. Ginga will use all his power to stop them.

We fight Ginga, who accuses Yuki of standing up to him just to satisfy her ego. There is no proof that the note is real. Even then she will sacrifice her body in order to fight him. Takuya is shocked to hear Yuki is sacrificing herself and demands to know what is happening after the fight.

Ginga is still alive, by the way. He is furious. At Yuki for standing in his way. At us Observers for continuing to watch. And at Taiyou too, who is also only observing. Taiyou knows Ginga cannot beat them alone. But if Ginga and Taiyou combine powers, they can win. That was supposed to be the plan from the start. Taiyou’s power is that strong. He will surpass the fourth wall, he will surpass the bulb.

The game glitches as Ginga’s body descends into corruption.

Chapter 27

Taiyou and Ginga’s voices combine to symbolise their powers fusing. They become stronger and stronger. Their power is overflowing. Takuya and Yuki can only run.

They go to Lisa for advice, who urges them to not touch Ginga, and go to Lost Zero instead. But Takuya is conflicted. So many people are against him following the note, and he doesn’t want to put Yuki in any more danger. And if they can just defeat Ginga, won’t everything will be finally over? Lisa knows she cannot force him to believe in the note. But regardless of what he chooses, she will go to Lost Zero.

Takuya has made his decision, but has he really? Yuki wants to know that he is fighting Ginga instead of going after Lisa because he really wants to, and not just because he is concerned about Yuki and the medicine. Takuya demands to know everything about the medicine. He knows there must be side effects, because otherwise Scientist would have passed it to them earlier. He is mad that Yuki ingested the pills knowing those side effects. He also says that after winning against Ginga, they should head for Lost Zero, if it is still possible to do so.

Takuya calls Researcher to yell at her for not understanding Yuki’s feelings and making her sacrifice herself. Researcher retorts that the one who doesn’t understand Yuki is Takuya. Yuki is no longer a child. She feels responsible for causing the desert, and the thought of it happening again has been tormenting her the whole time. To continue on in that situation would be impossible. So Researcher asks Takuya once again, to forget about the note, and believe everything will be over once they defeat Ginga.

Unfortunately this is juxtaposed with a flashback between Lisa and Kouta. Lisa tells him defeating Ginga won’t end everything, because another Shoumetsu will occur at Lost Zero. Sadly, Kouta still doesn’t believe the note, and is dismayed that Lisa continues to hurt herself. But Lisa will still go to Lost Zero, because she made a promise.

Kouta wants to stop Lisa so badly, but he is stuck being surrounded by enemies. He can’t do anything with his power. Souma tells him not to cry.

Everything will be over once Ginga is defeated. This is the only thing we have left to do. And we have the support of everyone to do it. According to Geek’s information, Ginga is very powerful, but that power is unstable, and follows a wave-like pattern. We have to attack him when he is at his weakest for a chance at victory.

Among the enemies on our way to Ginga, there is Akira, who seems confused and then sad when he realises he couldn't protect Yuki. She wonders if defeating Ginga will free tamashii like him of their pain too.

Ginga needs more power. Suddenly he hears a voice, that he can only hear because his consciousness and Taiyou's are now one. It's Uchuu.

After hearing Uchuu, Ginga becomes stronger. But if we hurry and get to him before his power reaches its peak we can still win.

Yuki is still wavering about Lisa and Lost Zero. But Takuya tells her she has the right to live her life the way she wants to, and weave her own future: the peaceful future that she and Takuya dreamt up together. To do that we need to defeat Ginga.

As Yuki's will continues to waver, Lisa approaches Lost Zero. And Uchuu finds her. Lisa claims she isn’t scared though, because she believes in Takuya. But that man is currently distracted fighting Ginga.

Kouta realises Scientist let Lisa go to Lost Zero. He is furious, accusing him of treating Lisa like a test subject. Unable to bear knowing Lisa is in danger, Kouta resolves to go to Lost Zero to stop her.

Lost Zero seems to be getting stronger. Lisa suspects it is reacting to Ginga's power. Lisa realises she is probably not going to survive after completing her mission. She wonders what Takuya would do in her situation. Bear the danger and get closer, or run? Obviously though, she can't run, or else Lost Zero's power will overflow and Ginga will become unstoppable. So she will use what little power she has to do what she can. Because she doesn't want to regret anything. Lisa will sacrifice her life for the hope of a better future. Finally, she asks for Takuya to believe in her.

The power flowing into Ginga suddenly stops, giving Takuya and Yuki a chance to beat him.

We hear some of Lisa's final thoughts, as a message to Takuya. “Takuya I will go to Lost Zero. To truly save the world, I need your power. I wonder if it will be ok to leave the future to you.

Hey Takuya, to tell the truth, it's actually just a little bit scary. I always seem strong, but even I want to be held by someone sometimes. Someone who will stroke my head, and tell me not to be afraid. But I guess I have no choice but to live this life. Ahh, Takuya, I actually really would have liked to have a boyfriend like you.”

Kouta arrives just in time to see Lost Zero disappear. He was too late. Lisa is gone. And he won't forgive whoever made her do this.

Chapter 28

We see a confused jumble of flashbacks and glitchy words: Yuki wondering if it is really alright to ignore the note; Lisa sacrificing her life to make a small but significant difference toward hope; Kouta vowing to never forgive those who did this to Lisa.

We then get some sort of meta philosophical pondering as, over a montage of real photos, Yuki asks if we think tomorrow will always come like a normal day. It is something we always take for granted, but the truth is, such normality can disappear in the blink of an eye. Just like what happened the day of the Shoumetsu.

The Shoumetsu Toshi logo appears, but Yuki’s silhouette disappears from it.

Scientist told Takuya Lost Zero is storing a huge amount of energy, so despite defeating Ginga, despite believing everything would be over now, Takuya and Yuki must now head over there.

Yuki is in a lot of pain though. It's so bad even collecting spheres will hurt her, something that has never happened before.  

They take a break and Yuki takes her second last pill. Takuya wants Yuki to give him her last pill, but she won't. This last pill represents her life. So she wants to hold onto it with her own hands. She wants to be the one to determine her own fate.

We hear Yuki's silent thoughts to Takuya. “Hey Takuya, don't worry. If I have to take the last pill, I'll take it in secret. Because I know, that if you find out I am going to die, you will be very sad. You won't be able to smile anymore. You probably think I'm a troublesome woman right now. And you would be right.”

Yuki no longer feels concerned over taking the medicine. Because she knows once she takes it, she will disappear.

Kouta is still furious over Lisa, but his rage is beginning to manifest itself in a strange way. He continues to repeat the words “unforgivable”. And then we see an image of Taiyou overlaid over his.

Kouta is filled with so much anger with no one to direct it to. So he goes around to everyone: Scientist, Researcher and Geek, accusing them of abandoning Lisa to die. They must have planned to sacrifice her from the beginning. Pushed all the responsibility onto her and just watched from a safe place.

A conversation between henchmen of the organisation confirms that Taiyou has taken over Kouta's body as the new “vessel”. The intention was to steal the “replicant's” body but that was difficult so he took over the body of the one closest to him. As the images of Kouta and Taiyou alternate, the hooded men explain that “that person” cannot even think right now. He has no idea what he is doing. Engulfed by hatred, he will continuously desire power, and be lost until Uchuu erases him. Why does he go so far for that power? It is even destroying his consciousness. What a poor fellow.

Taiyou and Kouta's voices merge in a similar way to how Taiyou took over Ginga. Kouta begins to repeat Taiyou's phrase. But it seems different. The communication ship is turning in the starry sky. The stars are twinkling.

Yuki gets a bad feeling when she feels a strong power emanating from the place where Lisa disappeared. It feels like malice.

Takuya and Yuki get an urgent call from Geek. Kouta is acting strange. Scientist calls Yuki to tell her there is only one way to save him, but it involves sacrificing somebody else: Souma.

Taiyou is controlling Kouta from within Souma. If we force Taiyou’s will back into Souma's body, taking down Souma should kill both of them. However, it is risky: if we fail to kill him he would gain access to Souma's summoning abilities and become even more powerful.

Yuki remembers in the past, Souma used to complain about their dad’s job. It was painful not being able to see him while he was at work, but it was a very important job only he could do. There was no other choice, just like now. Yuki resolves to kill her brother, because to defeat Taiyou, someone must be sacrificed, and between Kouta and Souma it is clear who should be the one to survive. Because no matter how much Yuki loves Souma, the fact is that he should have died that day.

Researcher will use a special technique to knock out Kouta. The moment he loses consciousness, Taiyou will be forced into Souma, and that will be our only chance to beat him. According to Takuya, once Researcher uses her special technique on Kouta, his stomach will hurt so much he will be unable to stand for days.

Yuki and Takuya cross the bridge leading to Lost Zero, the beginning of the end of the world. There is no more land, only sea. They spot Souma.

Yuki needs Takuya to give her the courage to stand up to her brother. She trembles as she asks him to not look back. Look forward, so she can too. Neither can afford to falter for even a second.

Souma has likely noticed something is up with “big brother” Kouta. He is scared and lonely and cries for his sister to save him.

Taiyou and Souma's wills begin to merge. As Taiyou craves more power, Souma calls out to Yuki for help. It's lonely, it hurts. Why isn't Yuki saving him? Why can't he be happy? He doesn't want Taiyou inside him. It feels bad, it feels good. He wants to disappear, he wants to die. He wants more power. More and more and more….

As Taiyou's consciousness rampages within Souma, he begins to multiply.

We fight the Souma replicants, and after taking down each one we get a snippet of their thoughts. “Will you smile and like me?”; “If only I just worked harder, and harder”; “Even though I tried so hard, even though I endured more than anyone else”; “Please, look at me. Pay attention to me. Like me”; “Don't come over here.”

And with each version of her brother that falls, Yuki has a reply: “I'm sorry, I must defeat you”; “I know it must be painful, but it's alright, I'll lay you to rest”; “you can hate me, it's ok”; “I'll end it, I'll end your battle with my own hands.”

And her final message: “Goodbye Souma, and thank you. Thank you for being born, for being my brother, thank you so, so much.”

When all the replicant battles are over, Yuki cries. Did it really have to end this way? Was there really no other way? She misses him, she wants to see him again so badly.

A flashback shows Souma agreeing to endure the pain of not being able to see their dad, because he believes that one day, when everything is over and their dad doesn't have to work as hard anymore, the three of them can live happily, together.

Instead of heading straight for Kouta, Takuya drives around a little longer. He tells Yuki if she wants to cry, she can. He'll even lend her his back. Yuki calls him awful for being nice now.

Kouta makes sure to apologise when he does regain consciousness. Takuya says it wasn't his fault. But they can no longer fight because there is only one medicine pill left and Yuki will die if she takes it. What should he do?

Kouta berates him for being uncharacteristically sad. Use your head Takuya, you have a special power! Jump to the past, and do what Lisa wanted you to do!

Chapter 29

Takuya and Yuki must go back to the past now, to the gap in their memories right after Yuki turns everything into a desert. They are relying on the ‘God' on their side to help them do so. We, as their ‘God’, have been with them and watched them grow since the start of the journey. We will take them back to the past where they need to go. Because this is not just Takuya and Yuki's story, it's ours too.

The screen glitches as we attempt the time travel process. It's not quite strong enough yet. Yuki and Takuya's prayers have to reach us, and then we need to transmit those through our own thoughts (just keep tapping).

It works, but time is scarce. They've got to beat Ginga first, but if they've done it once, they can do it again. Ginga curses us after the battle, telling “Observer” he will be back.

Lisa is alive and well here, but she knows what Takuya and Yuki are trying to do, and that they can't do it. What has been decided already cannot be changed. The two of them are only watching the past. She tells them the time they should have returned to is not now, but one year ago, when they escaped Lost, and got the note.

The Isoya Report collates the research of Yuki's father and records the disappearance of the world. Takuya and Yuki must go back and escape Lost again, to get the note, pass it onto Lisa, and set everything in motion.

Lisa gives one final warning: don't think of changing anything. Any action their current selves make in the past is a contradiction in the timeline of this world. If the two of them think of doing anything other than passing on the note (such as saving somebody who was meant to perish), this world might disappear due to taking on more contradictions than it can handle.

Takuya and Yuki don't actually remember how they escaped Lost at the end of their journey one year ago, but that is exactly why they can now travel back to that period. After another prayer session, they time jump to the moment right after Yuki's dad is defeated. Now they need to find him.

Takuya drives towards the place the two of them fought him. Yuki hears her dad's voice, as well as someone else's.

It's Tsuki, meaning we didn't complete defeat her. She sounds lost without Taiyou to guide her. And in a lot of pain. Everything went wrong. It shouldn't be this way, she doesn't want this kind of fate.

After beating Tsuki, we see the note. Yuki has a final conversation with her dad, apologising for not being able to save him. Her father thanks her, saying he was glad to see her in the end. But now she must escape, because Lost is disappearing and he cannot maintain this form for long. Before she leaves Yuki assures him she is no longer the same Yuki from the past.

A flashback illustrates this point. Yuki's mother took her to the amusement park, but she didn’t want to go home, so she pretended to sleep for longer. Current Yuki wonders what the purpose of her journey is. Who does she journey for? What does she gain after all this pain? Lisa told her the past couldn't be changed, but is that true? Is it really not possible to save her dad and Souma, and live together happily again? Because if that is not possible, where is she going to return to once everything is over?

Takuya knows in the present, Yuki’s body is reaching its limit, but he won’t let her eat the last pill. If Yuki has to sacrifice her future, this whole journey would be pointless.

Lisa’s philosophy was that there are no “right” choices, we can only try to make them right after the choice is made. Takuya wonders how to make the “right” choice. Will everything really be good as long as he hands Lisa the note? What choice will they make after everything is over?

Takuya and Yuki now need to find Lisa and hand her the note. They also have to tell the unsuspecting Lisa all about the painful truth and her fate. We realise now that Lisa actually knew everything. She knew she was going to die, but she went ahead and sacrificed herself anyway, because Takuya was the one who gave her the note, and she trusted him.

On their way to get out of Lost, Takuya and Yuki have to fight Taiyou again. Taiyou agrees that there is no right choice, only choices we make right. And that is why he seeks power.

Souma still haunts Yuki’s mentally. He asks her why does she keep moving forward? Where is she going? Will she become happy like that? Is what she is doing truly happiness? Even though Souma himself wanted happiness so badly.

Yuki admits she doesn’t know if this is the right choice. She has lost many things, but right now there are other things she does not want to lose. That is her reason for moving forward. She wants to keep journeying, with Takuya. She wants that happy future. She apologises for being selfish, but for the very first time in her life, she has a dream she absolutely does not want to let go of. She pleads forgiveness for her selfishness, which has been the cause of her progress up to now.

After beating Taiyou, we hear Takuya’s thoughts. He also does not know what is right, only that he wants to protect the small life behind him.

If Takuya had never passed the note onto Lisa, she wouldn’t have been involved in Lost Zero, meaning she probably wouldn’t have died. Should we really give the note to her then? But while not giving the note to Lisa could save her, it could also result in a heap of other changes. Takuya and Yuki would never have set off on this second journey, they would never have stopped Ginga, and Lost Zero may have erased the world. Lisa would probably have chosen to save the world too.

As Lost is disappearing, Yuki’s dad who has lost his conscious thought, approaches for a fight. Yuki is very unwilling to fight her father, again. Then Akira’s tamashii reaches her, saying he can hear her father asking her to kill him. Akira also tells Yuki that it is okay to be selfish. The person most important to her should be herself, and she has every right to a happy future. This time, Akira will protect her.

Yuki thanks Akira and resolves to not waver anymore. No matter the sacrifice, she will move on, for the sake of her own happiness.

We beat her dad but his will is still alive. If we do not bring him down for good, he will be consumed by Lost, and become like Taiyou. So poor Yuki has to fight him again. It does not help that his last words are: “It hurts. Why Yuki? I don’t want to die.” Yuki tells her dad she will work hard and make sure his will does not go to waste. Somehow her and Takuya have ended up carrying the wills and expectations of many people. But that is why they have to believe in themselves and move on.

Yuki asks Takuya to promise to be with her until the end. Takuya confirms he will definitely fulfil his contract, and make her happy. It was here that Takuya also secretly made a decision, about who was most important to him, and who he wanted to protect the most. Takuya thinks cryptically to himself. He will be the one to make the hard decision. He will be the one to end this journey.

The two meet up with Lisa and she is understandably skeptical. But Takuya and Yuki don't have much time left so they can only relay what they know. Lisa does ask a difficult question though: why her? If she accepts the note, even if she doesn’t believe it, she will never stop thinking about it day and night. Why would Takuya wish something so tragic onto her? She ultimately takes the note though.

The next time in history we jump to is back to right after Yuki’s powers turn a part of the city into desert. Lisa had indeed been thinking about the note the whole time, and now that she’s seen its prediction about the desert was true, she will probably go through with what she has to do. Takuya apologises but she brushes it off. She does tell him though, that to save the world, one needs to be determined enough to sacrifice even the person most important to them. Takuya vows to save the world, earning praise from Lisa that he’s reliable. She also tells him that she really wanted a boyfriend like him.

Takuya and Yuki leave to return to their original time period, knowing that they will not be able to return. So they can only believe that the choice they make here is right.

Thank you, Lisa, and goodbye.

Chapter 30

Scientist recaps what is happening in the present. Lisa is approaching Lost Zero with the intention of sacrificing herself. She will disappear, and use her power as a tamashii to suppress Lost Zero erasing the world. But she can only do so for a few hours.

Additionally, Yuki’s body is also at her limit. It is turning to stone, like the city. There is one pill left but it will kill her if she takes it.

Scientist relays his final request to Takuya: Go to Lost Zero and stop the erasure of the world, no matter what. Takuya accepts the job.

Time is running out, for the world, and for Yuki. Takuya wonders cryptically to himself when will be the last time he will say goodbye to Yuki forever. He remembers that, after so long avoiding people after leaving the detective agency, it was only after meeting Yuki that he learnt to connect with people again. That’s why he had forgotten just how painful it is to say goodbye.

Yuki notices Takuya is losing focus. The reason for this was actually hinted at in the previous chapter. Lisa sacrificed herself in order to open a path to the source of everything: Lost World. To end everything, what Takuya really needs to do is not stop Lost Zero, but go to the parallel world, Lost World. There, a being called Uchuu is controlling everything. He has to defeat her, or there will be no way to stop Shoumetsu from reoccurring. However, to do so requires Takuya to make a very difficult decision.

As the two approach Lost Zero, Takuya asks Yuki if she is still ok to fight. Yuki confirms that when she is with Takuya, she feels like she can do anything. This draws a conflicted reaction from him.

Takuya asks Yuki if she still remembers her dream to live peacefully after everything is over. Of course, Yuki never forgot. Takuya tells her to chase that future, he wants her to be happy. But to Yuki, that alone is not enough for her to be happy: she wants Takuya’s happiness too. Won’t he stop taking on dangerous contracts after this, and settle down like her?

Takuya admits it would be easier if he did do so. Incidentally, the enemy we fight when he says this is Luna, the ultimate symbol of not being honest to yourself.

Takuya thinks to himself, that he can never see Yuki’s face directly, because she is always behind him. Is she sad? Is she thinking about something? Has she noticed the truth already? That Takuya cannot bring Yuki with him on his next journey.

Only one person is able to go to Lost World, where Uchuu is waiting. Takuya isn’t afraid of going. It’s almost shocking how unafraid he feels. But he does feel that the thought of leaving this world, and never being able to see everyone again, is very painful.

Takuya has in fact already said his farewells to the others. But not Yuki. He claims he doesn’t want to put her in danger anymore, but it was he who didn’t understand. Yuki has clearly noticed something is up, and Takuya is only pretending not to notice.

Yuki tries to convince Takuya to stay. She reiterates how much of a good thing it is to have him there with her. If Takuya never came for her, she would still be alone. But Takuya argues she isn’t alone anymore. She has lots of friends now, who will support her. But that’s all because of Takuya, Yuki counters. In stark contrast to how she thought at the very beginning of this story mode, Yuki says she now believes that good people gather around Takuya.

Takuya tells Yuki the happiest meeting for him, was meeting her. But Yuki picks up on the past tense. Why did he say “happiest”? Why did he say it in a way that sounded like things were ending?

She pushes him. “Hey Takuya, you won’t go, right? We’ll be together forever?” Takuya avoids lying by saying he will fight with her until the end. But Yuki sees through it. And then what? What will you do? Takuya avoids answering by telling her to focus on what’s in front.

Takuya never said goodbye to Yuki properly, because he didn’t know how to say it. But that’s a lie. He ran from telling her the truth, because he couldn’t bear to see her sad.

When Takuya said goodbye to Headhunter, he gave him one key piece of advice: If you are going to disappear, don’t say anything. Don't make promises you know you can't keep. That would be the most horrible thing to do to anyone. But then he also getsTakuya to promise to return all the money he owes him eventually. Because that’s separate business.

Back at the organisation, two members discuss how Lost Zero has stopped spreading. But this is fine. They just have to open the next Lost. Uchuu has enough power to make it happen.

As if on cue, we hear the voice of Uchuu, saying she is bored. One of the men then disappear. The other, realising what has happened, starts to beg for his life. But Uchuu eliminates him too.

Uchuu waits in Lost World. She tells us to hurry up, unless... (cue fucking jump scare) “are you scared?”

Uchuu loves Takuya, does Takuya like Uchuu?

Yuki asks if Takuya is crying. She’s always behind him, so she can never see his face. That’s why she hates his back.

Takuya resolves to tell her the truth. Yuki is devastated, begging it to be a lie. When she finds out it isn’t, she predictably asks to go with him. When he tells her she can’t she gets even sadder. What is she supposed to do? It’s not as if she could forget about him. Yuki’s happy future, that the two of them came up with, was one of the few things keeping her going. And in that dream, Takuya was right there by her side, smiling next to her. Yuki asks a whole bunch of “why” questions: Why are you going by yourself? Why can’t you be with me? Why aren’t you saying anything?

Takuya finally speaks. He tries to explain to Yuki that in life, people have to say goodbye. And then they have to move on. It’s something she will understand when she’s older. But Yuki right now doesn’t understand. There is no way there will ever be a replacement for her memories of this journey, and of Takuya. Takuya thanks her, and says he won’t forget what she said.

The final boss battle of World 1 is Lost Zero, with Lisa trapped in it. Its defeat signals the end of our gameplay, the end of Takuya’s contract, and the end of his partnership with Yuki.

Takuya must now say his final goodbyes to Yuki. He tells her not to be sad. As she grows older, she will make many more memories. Her journey with Takuya will eventually become one small memory in a huge mountain. Once in a while, Yuki might remember, and she will be sad for a moment, but that’s alright, because that is what it means to face the future, and move on.

Takuya’s speech does nothing to lift Yuki’s spirits. She is still sad. She still doesn’t understand. She still clings on to hope. She asks: “Hey Takuya, it’s not the end, right? We’ll meet again, right?”

Headhunter’s final piece of advice flashes into Takuya’s mind: don’t make promises you can't keep.

Takuya tells Yuki they will definitely meet again, bringing a smile back to her face. Yuki says she will believe it, forever.

Takuya: “Thank you, Yuki.”

Yuki: “Thank you, Takuya. For coming with me on this journey, for fighting with me, for giving me a dream...Thank you so much.”

But when Takuya leaves, she drops the smile.

The credits roll, and we see the Shoumetsu Toshi logo again. This time, we know the meaning behind Yuki’s silhouette disappearing.

The epilogue plays in between the credits. Researcher and Scientist note that Yuki is still feeling empty, but she will be ok. When they were her age, they also made many memories, but they only occasionally remember those days now. It will surely be the same for Yuki. That is what Takuya hopes for the most.

We also find out Headhunter is paying Yuki’s living fees. He can do this because it’s going to Takuya’s bill, who will pay him back ‘eventually’.

Geek is incredibly depressed Takuya is gone, because Takuya was his one and only friend in this world. But when Kouta offers his friendship, Geek rejects him. Poor Kouta.

Appropriately, the final person we see is Yuki. After some time, she took another look at the note, the Isoya Report. In addition to her father’s actual research, there was information Takuya noted for Lisa. And on the last page, was a short letter from Takuya to Yuki.

Dear Yuki, I’m sorry I couldn’t live in the world peacefully with you. I’m sorry I couldn’t fulfil our promise. But there are things I need to do, to make sure you and everyone else can live peacefully.

The truth is I am a little excited about going to a parallel world. What if in that world, the secrets of the Ancient Civilisation have all been uncovered? I would definitely find a way to bring that back. Sorry, but this will be my last contract. Look forward to when I get in contact with you guys about it.

Thank you, Yuki.

Yuki: “You’re such an idiot.”

World 1 story mode finishes with a preview of Lost World. We see someone who appears to be Yuki with red hair, talking to ???? from the tutorial.

[comicgeekscomicgeek]

Their Hero Academia, Chapter 14

Continuing my string of new viewpoint characters, we have Sora Iida!  This is the raw, unedited version, and will eventually be cleaned up a bit when it goes up on FF.net and Ao3. Chapters 0-12 can be found here

The unedited chapter 13 can be found here

Their Hero Academia – Chapter 14: Sora Iida Takes Off

“For the record,” Sora shouted after Kenta Sato and Kimiko Ojiro, “being unable to access the Wi-Fi does not constitute a “science emergency!”  I am not your tech support!”

Honestly!  All Ojiro had done was turn the Wi-Fi functionality off on her phone.  Hardly a science emergency and definitely not worth the urgency with which she and Sato had demanded that she come with them.  In fact, there was no reason why she should have had to leave the room in the first place.

Clearly, something was going on.  Shenanigans were afoot! But what?  With all respect to the two of them as her friends and future Heroes, neither Sato nor Ojiro were clever enough to be the primary suspect in anything.  But they were usually to be found in the company of Takuma Sero, who possessed the rather unique ability to be rather clever and rather stupid at the same time when it came to getting into trouble.   Perhaps he had spearheaded something while the other two distracted her?  But what? And why would they not distract her younger brother as well?

These were questions that she clearly was going to get no answer to until she had additional data. On the other hand, she had multiple projects of her own to work on and there had been no sign of any damage to anything.  Perhaps she was better off ignoring it, so long as they did not cause any apparent disruptions?  It would mean a return to the designs she and Tensei were working on.

Yes, perhaps that was best.

Sora returned to the Common Room to find Tensei sitting at the table she had left him, looking up with the kind of grin that was usually reserved for a very serious breakthrough in design, one with only a very small number of explosions and minimal property damage.

“Brother?” she asked, tilting her head slightly.  “Did something happen while I was gone?  Did you figure out how to reduce the thrust multiplier to a manageable size?”

He continued staring ahead for a moment, though from the look in his eyes, she could tell his thoughts were moving quite rapidly.  Their mother got the same look fairly often and from what their father had said, so did she.  According to Father, the only trick to bringing one of them out of it was a sudden shock.

“Oh, younger brother,” she trilled.

That brought Tensei to attention, his eyes focusing on her.  “While that is factually correct, it is only a matter of minutes!  The data is statistically irrelevant under most circumstance!”

She offered him a somewhat apologetic nod.   He was easy to get riled up.  Not quite as easy as Father, but few people were.   Their mother could do it with just a slight change of expression.   “It was necessary.  You were quite clearly lost in thought and I did not wish to wait for you to come out of it on your own.”

“I was not…” Tensei trailed off, starting to stand.  Halfway though, he sat back down.  “Forgive me, Sister,” he said.  “I was indeed lost in thought.  Much has occurred since you left the room and I am still uncertain of how to process it all.”

“Elaborate,” she said. “Did Sero do something?  He was not with his usual collaborators.”

“It was Sero,” Tensei told her.  “He wished to thank me for saving his life earlier.”

That was perfectly logical, but it did not make sense with the deception.  “Commendable,” she said.  “But that does not explain why Ojiro and Sato felt the need to remove me from the room before he did.”

Tensei smiled again. “There was more.  He asked if I wished to engage in a one-on-one activity with him this weekend.  I accepted.”

“Oh, well then, that is…”

Wait.

She stopped and replayed the words he had just said in her mind. “Are you telling me, you have a date?”

More information assembled itself in her brain.  “With Sero?”

Tensei nodded.  “I do.”

“I am very happy for you, Brother,” Sora said.

She realized it was the first lie she had ever told him.

***

“Kirishima-Bakugo!” Sora shouted, arms flailing through the air as she entered Kirishima-Bakugo’s room. “I require advice!”

Kirishima-Bakugo looked up from her chair, where she was lifting small weights.  She gave Sora a long, penetrating stare.  Perhaps it was meant to be some form of communication?  Was it code?  She could crack that if she applied enough thought.

Somehow dissatisfied with Sora’s response, Kirishima-Bakugo finally spoke.  “…And you’re coming to me, why, exactly?  Isn’t this more Tokoyami’s bag?  Or Toshi?  Or Izzy? Besides, I thought you usually talked things through that brother of yours.”

Sora frowned. “Unfortunately, this concerns my brother, so I am unable to request his advice on the matter.”

“That still doesn’t explain why you came to me.  We ain’t exactly best friends or anything.  …And it’s not like I’m exactly known for making the best decisions.”

“Those are true statements,” Sora admitted.  “But Tokoyami, Todoroki, and Toshi are occupied with their study group with Shinso and Haimawari.  I did not wish to interrupt.  I know we are not close, but I would appreciate council all the same.”

Kirishima-Bakugo finally set down her weight.  “This have anything to do with your brother getting a date with Sero?”

Sora felt her eyes go wide. “How do you know that?  I only just learned moments ago!”

The blonde, muscular girl laughed at that.  “You do remember Ojiro was involved, right?  Once she knew it, assume everyone who exists, did exist, and will exist knows.”

She picked up her phone and called up a post from a social media site.  It showed a picture of a happy if somewhat shell-shocked Sero with the caption “My BFF (@Takuma_Sero) just scored himself a date with Tensei Iida! I’m so proud of him!  And Iida is such a hottie!  So jealous!”

Sora stared at it for a moment.  “That was fast.”

“So what’s up?” Kirishima-Bakugo asked.  “Just don’t tell me you were crushing on Sero.  Because that would have really been barking up the wrong tree.”

She shook her head. They had all known Sero was gay for some time; he made no secret of it.  She had known Tensei was as well, of course, though she was uncertain how many of the others did.  He did not really speak of romantic or lustful inclinations one way or the other. Like her, machines and intellectual challenges were typically his first priority.

“No, nothing like that. It is just…”  Sora trailed off, waving her hands in the air in awkward gestures.

“I’m gonna need words, Jetset.  My Quirk ain’t mind reading.”

Strange.  She could usually articulate her ideas quite clearly. Or at least, clearly enough that her brother and mother could understand.  Other people sometimes did have a hard time following her.  But words were not usually a problem.

She tried again.  “Tensei and I are twins.”

Kirishima-Bakugo raised an eyebrow.  “And water is wet.”

“It is just… I should be happy for him.  It is good that he has found someone to spend time with, someone he might like.  But for some reason, I am not.”

For a long moment, Kirishima-Bakugo stared at her again.  Then, a strange, amused grin finally crossed her face.  “I always wondered what would happen when one of you left the nest.”

She stood and rubbed Sora’s hair vigorously.  “You’re jealous, Jetset.”

Sora pulled back, running a hand over her blue-black hair to smooth it back down.  “I am sorry, but… what?”

Kirishima-Bakugo flopped back in her chair, still grinning.  “You,” she said, “are jealous. That someone who’s not you is getting to spend time with your brother.”

“No, that cannot be it,” Sora said, looking down.  And yet… The data point introduced by Kirishima-Bakugo completely recontextualized the data points she had already gathered about the situation.  Her reluctance to be happy about the situation, a nagging concern in the back of her mind that she could not name…

“We have always done everything together,” she went on.  “We have the same Quirk, we have the same interests, we understand each other well enough that we can practically read the other’s thoughts.  I cannot remember a time we have every spent more than a few hours apart.”

“You do know they’re not getting married or nothing, right?  This might not even work out.”

She was aware of that, wasn’t she?  And it was not realistic to expect that her brother spend his every second with her. He already did not do that; they had to sleep sometimes, after all.  Not at much as most people would probably prefer they do, but that was an argument for another time.  But they typically did spend the majority of their waking hours together.  Two minds and four hands made for lighter, smarter work, after all.

Sora was a woman of science. She had been taught from a young age to hypothesize, experiment, analyze the data, and come to a conclusion, even if the results were not the ones you wanted.  The walls of their home had several scorch marks that attested to that.

She became aware of Kirishima-Bakugo snapping her fingers in her face.  “You went away there for a little while, Jetset.”

“I am sorry,” Sora said. “But I think, Kirishima-Bakugo, you are right.”

“Say that again.”

“’You are right’?”

She grinned.  “I just wanted one of you eggheads to admit that for once.”

Kirishima-Bakugo went on, “Look.  My own personal life’s kind of a mess right now.  And I really ain’t the person with answers.  But the way I see it, being a little jealous ain’t terrible.  Letting it take over, letting it get in the way of you and your brother, that’d be terrible.  I know I’d hate it if I let something come between Tai and me.”

Sora nodded.  Her jealousy was an understandable factor. But one she could control.  There was no reason to deny her brother a chance at some happiness.  She would hope he would do the same for her.

“I…   Thank you,” she said.  “You have given me a lot to think about.”

Kirishima-Bakugo nodded. “Yeah, well, you’re not the only one who can use their head.  ‘sides... Just think of how he might feel when you find some guy to ask out.  Or girl.  Or whoever.  If that’s your thing.”

“Oh,” she said, “I suppose that would be rather hypocritical of me.  Especially as I like…”

Kirishima-Bakugo held up both hands.  “Nope, don’t wanna know.  I got enough going on without getting you even more sorted out.  I already know more about you than I needed to.”

“Still,” Sora said, “I must thank you.  This was a very clarifying discussion.”   She held up her arms, awkwardly.  “Social convention tells me I should hug you now.”

“…Let’s skip that, okay?”

***

When Sora went to find her brother, he was not in his room.  Thankfully, Shinso knew where he was and told her that he was on the roof.   She first went down to the Common Room to grab bottles of grape and apple juice from the fridge, then went up to join him.

Tensei was standing near the edge of the roof, looking up at the stars.    “Brother?” she asked.  “Are you nervous about your date? It is soon?  Where are you going?   I demand additional information!”

He turned and smiled, accepting the bottle of apple juice that she offered him, taking a long swig before he answered.  “I am filled with uncertainty. This is my first date ever and I feel incredibly unprepared.  But Sero has suggested this Saturday and going for a quick dinner and to the arcade downtown.  He seems experienced enough in these matters, so I agreed with his plans.”

She took a drink of her own apple juice.  “If I could offer you advice, I would,” she said, “but my dating experiences are no different than your own.”

“Do you suppose I should ask Father for advice?”

Sora shook her head. “I think we both know that would useless.  Mother always says that she had to get Aunt Mina and Aunt Toru to explain her interest in him to him before he understood.  Though he claims they were overly direct about it.”

This got a laugh out of him. “This is true.  Though I am uncertain as to what they could have said to fluster him so.”

Sora shrugged.  “I am afraid I have no idea.”

She frowned.  The two of them had always been open and honest with each other.  Now was not time to change that.  Even if her opinion on the situation had changed, he deserved to know her full thoughts on the matter.

Tensei noticed.  “You seem preoccupied, Sister.”

She finished her juice before she spoke, feeling it fueling her body and her Quirk.   It was a warmth, spreading through the rest of her, concentrating itself in the jet engines on her back.  “I told you I was happy for you when you told me you had a date. And I am, now.  But when I told you that, I was lying.”

His eyes widened. “You were?  But why?”

“I was jealous,” she said. “I was afraid if you were spending time with Sero, we would have less time together.  And I realize that this is still true.  But that does not make it wrong.  We are twins and always will be.  But that does not mean we cannot have our own lives as well.”

“As if I could ever forget about you,” Tensei said.  “You are my sister.  I will always try to make time for you.  But I am also inexperienced in the requirements of other relationships.  So if I fail to achieve balance, I will be relying upon you to set things right.”

She nodded.  “Of course I will. Can you forgive me my jealousy?”

“Of course!”

“And,” Sora said, “you will do the same for me, should I ever pursue a romantic relationship?”

“Certainly,” he said. “Though as your brother, I am obliged to threaten any boy you might be interested in with bodily harm, should he be anything less than a gentleman to you.”

“And as your older sibling, I should remind you that the responsibilities of protecting the younger sibling from their romantic partner falls to me.  Perhaps I should be pre-emptively defending your honor with Sero with threats of violence!”

“You are older by only three minutes!  That is a statistical rounding error!”

“Nevertheless, it is still factual and precise!”

“I am not having this argument again!”

“Because you are losing!”

“I do not concede that!”

“The facts do not care about whether or not you accept them, they simply are!”

Tensei gave her a curious look, as he put data points together.  “For the sake of being prepared to defend your honor, is there anyone you have romantic interest in?”

He always shifted topics when he knew her logic had defeated him.  Well, she had already nearly told one person tonight, perhaps she ought to tell someone for real…

“Both of you go inside! It’s after curfew!”

Sora peered over the edge of the roof, spotting Aizawa down on the ground, patrolling the school grounds.

“How does he do that?” Tensei asked.  “His vision should not be that good.”

Sora shook her head.  “If I have learned anything so far this week, it is that Mister Aizawa is a statistically anomaly all his own.”

***

Sora returned Tensei to his room and was on her way back to hers when she saw Toshi coming from the stairwell.  Mostly likely, he had finished his study session with Tokoyami, Todoroki, and the rest. Even in his casual wear, his muscles were readily apparent.

“Oh, hey, Sora,” he said.  “How’re you taking being lab-banned?”

She frowned.  “It is going,” she said.  “A week is a long time to be away from the Support Workshop.”

“Well, you did kind of blow it up…”

“Only a little!  We put the fires out very quickly!”

Toshi put up his hands in an apologetic gesture.  “Okay, okay, just a little exploding.  I’m sure it was fine.”  

“It was,” Sora insisted.  “But Power Loader did not see it that way.  After he was done banning us, I saw him break into the bottle he keeps in his desk for “emergencies.”  Whatever that might be.”

Toshi blinked slowly for a moment, looking at though he might say something about that, then shrugged.  “Well, I’m sure it will pass pretty quick.  We’ve got plenty of Hero stuff to keep us busy.   We’re going out to the USJ next week, after all..  Uncle Kota says he’s got some really special stuff planned!”

“That is good,” she replied.  Though she was not completely without worry about it.  They all knew what had happened during their parents’ first visit to the USJ.  While they all knew the likelihood of anything like that happening to them was amazingly slim.  The various members of the League of Villains were either dead or in prison. Nevertheless between who they were and what else was going on in the world, the school was taking a great number of precautious.

He nodded.  “Yeah, I’m really excited for it.”

Indeed, she could see the excitement already in his green eyes.  It was an aesthetically pleasing look on him, especially when he smiled.  

“It promises to be an interesting experience,” she agreed.  “Though I am not as certain as to how well I will perform at rescue work.  I can certainly catch falling people, as my brother did for Sero earlier today, but much of it requires more delicate work than my Quirk allows.”

“That was a good catch,” Toshi agreed.  “But don’t sell yourself short either.  The right Quirk in the right place at the right time can make a big difference, sure.  But you and your brother are way more than just flying around.   You’re both crazy smart.  That’s important too.”

Sora felt her cheeks redden slightly.  “You are too kind, Toshi,” she said.

“Yeah, well,” he said, rubbing the back of his hair, messing up his green hair. “It’s true.”

“Thank you,” she said again.  Perhaps there were better words here.  But she still felt as though the time was not quite right.   Not when she was still battling down the last vestiges of jealousy. “I will keep that in mind.”

He smiled again.  “Good,” he said.  “See you in the morning then?”

She nodded.  “In the morning.  Good night, Toshi.”

“Good night, Sora.”

She headed back to the stairwell to head back to her own room.  She definitely required further data points before proceeding.   Perhaps she could interrogate Tokoyami or Todoroki for more information before she put a plan of action into effect…

[bluerose5]

In a Past Life

(Warning for severe illness, lack of editing, and transfer of consciousness.)

Summary: Connor gets the feeling that he met the deviant leader before the events of Detroit. Word Count: 1,395. Rated T.

The first time that Connor saw Markus, he nearly bit his tongue off from the shock.

What he was shocked about? He couldn't exactly say. All he knew was that, deep down, he had seen that deviant before.

Flashes of various images had passed him by, there and gone within a second. The feeling was disorienting, his senses were overwhelmed, and the room wouldn't stop spinning for anything. As he stared at the screen before him, his vision focused in on the RK200's facial structure, trying to figure out where he knew him from.

Of course that would be the moment that Hank approached him, asking whether he found anything of interest.

Before Connor could even think, the words were already spilling out of his mouth, dismissing Hank's concern.

Apparently, he came across as a bit too defensive because it was nearly impossible to miss the suspicious glance thrown his way.

Connor ignored the churning of his gut, continuing on with their investigation.

Only the flashes didn't stop there.

With each passing day —hell, with each passing hour— more and more of the flashes invaded his mind, the strange images growing impossibly more intense with each encounter. All it took was one thing to trigger them. It could be something as simple as a random coffee shop, or it could be another news coverage on the deviant named Markus.

When he and Hank eventually visited Elijah Kamski himself, the images remained at their clearest throughout Connor's entire stay. He would constantly raise a hand to his throbbing temple, massaging his LED in confusion, but every time he did so, Elijah would merely stare at him in amusement.

After the whole "Kamski Test" ordeal, Hank rushed him out of there as quickly as possible, but the images refused to go away.

From then on, they were a constant nuisance, a stubborn thorn in Connor's side that he would rather ignore.

Following that, he threw himself into his work without abandon, a tactic which eventually paid off. With Hank's help, of course.

Connor didn't know what he expected out of that exchange with Markus, but he definitely didn't expect for all of the images to come crashing down on him at once.

And when he comes to, he definitely doesn't expect to be transported to a different world.

No, not another world, but... a memory?

Your memory, his mind corrects him, but no. That's impossible. He has no recollection of this.

Everything around him is overwhelming. It's like all of his systems are being bombarded at once, overloaded by an endless array of sensory data. The sounds, the smells, the tastes...

Wait, no, androids can't taste.

Wrong. Wrong. This is all wrong.

But Connor can remember it all, as clear as day. The sweet taste of his favorite chocolates on his tongue, the teasing press of another's mouth against his own, a smile forming on the human's lips.

A human that beams back at him with mismatched eyes.

Before Connor can get his bearings, though, he's thrown haphazardly into another vision, launched into a free fall before he crashes through another portion of his programming.

This time, he's in an apartment, yelling through a closed door, his mouth moving without his consent.

"Markus, please," he begs, tears streaming down his cheeks. Desperate and afraid, he clutches tighter at the phone in his hand, a recent email open on display. "This is our last chance. He's offering us a solution."

"Bullshit. He's offering for us to be his guinea pigs," Markus calls out, followed by some strained, gurgling coughs.

Then silence.

Connor feels his heart sink in his chest, and he starts pounding on the door, his nails scratching viciously at the wood.

He doesn't even notice when he starts bleeding.

"Markus?!" he yells.

No answer.

Connor feels his stress levels skyrocket to hazardous levels, his LED turning a deep red.

Followed by an endless display of notifications.

Software Instability ▲

Software Instability ▲

Software Instability ▲

[IN%EGR@%ION C@MPLE#E]

What? What integration?

There's not even a warning before he's thrown back into the fray.

Connor continues to bang on the door, dropping to the floor to peak underneath.

"Come on," he whimpers, swiping furiously at his tears.

It clears his eyes long enough to spot Markus' form, still and lifeless on the floor.

Connor can't breathe.

He can't breathe, he can't breathe, he can't breathe...

The room goes dark around him, just for him to reappear in  yet another memory.

This time, he's in a hospital of some kind, surrounded by sterile white walls on all sides while an incessant beeping drones on in the background.

Connor sits by an occupied bed, his leg bouncing, fingers tented thoughtfully over his mouth.

And Markus lays silently before him, staring resolutely at the ceiling, his breathing shallow, eyes droopy and frame emaciated. At this point, he can barely stay awake, so he nods off on multiple occasions, unable to keep his head upright. Connor uses his sleeve to wipe away the trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth. Summoning what remains of his strength, Markus reaches up to grasp comfortingly at his hand.

A white gold band shines brightly in the lights.

The door opens, and Connor glances up at their visitor in relief. Markus takes the time to appraise him as well, his lip curling with  disdain.

Elijah Kamski stares at them, rewarding them both with an appreciative nod.

"Thank you two for agreeing to participate," he says, calm and collected.

Holding in another cough, Markus glowers, squeezing weakly at his husband's hand. "Let's get one thing straight. I'm only here for him. This never was and never will be about you."

Kamski holds his hands up in surrender, smirking victoriously. "Crystal clear. Although, I have to admit that I was surprised by your sudden willingness to participate."

"Nothing like a good change of heart," Markus deadpans.

Connor takes a deep breath, trying to keep himself from falling apart at the seams.

"You wanted someone with my level of intellect to perform your procedure on," Connor states. "If you want my cooperation, then this is my condition. Save him first, and then you'll get the prototype you always dreamed of."

Kamski considers the offer for a weighted moment, then nods his final consent.

"Well, gentleman," he says, clasping his hands together with glee. "Ready to make history?"

"No."

That one word is enough to snatch Connor immediately back to the present.

Meanwhile, those memories —his memories— continue to sort themselves in the background, but it doesn't end there. It isn't a simple replay of events, but it's a total integration of the experiences. Emotions, thoughts, actions... All of it is transferred over.

All of it is his.

Not only that, but all of the other missing pieces return. Pieces that were supposed to be lost with each new transfer into another "Connor" android. Fifty predecessors, but he's the first to come full circle.

He's the first to fully adopt the original Connor's consciousness.

A human consciousness.

The words pop up unexpectedly.

[I AM DEVIANT.]

Oh no.

He shakily drops his gun, grasping desperately at his skull.

Too fast. This is all happening too fast.

He feels like he's drowning, suffocating. His legs can barely hold him up, and his chest feels as if it is collapsing. He keels over, dry heaving onto the floor.

Pain. This is pain. Why can he perceive pain?!

[STRESS LEVEL: 96%]

A notification pops up, warning him of potential self-destruction.

Coughs wrack his body, and a bitter taste clings to the inside of his mouth.

What has he done?

Hands settle roughly on his shoulders, but Connor can't even find it within himself to look up.

His voice is still the same, calm yet passionate, able to make a person believe anything.

Able to convince an entire people to stand by his side, even in the face of death.

Connor curls in on himself.

Why now? Why did it all have to come back to him now, of all times?

Why couldn't this have happened at Stratford Tower, before the worst of the damage had been done?

"Connor," Markus whispers, his voice filled with a mixture of awe and disbelief.

Too bad Connor is going to have to break his heart.

It only takes five words.

"They're going to attack Jericho."

[mcgrathandwives]

That’s what Luthor’s do? Part 1

I can’t get rid of this idea so here’s some random shit nobody asked for. Lena Luthor’s sister is dating Kara, Sam’s the Luthor’s best friend and they’re doing everything to help her. Set last weeks episode flowing through into the next. I DON’T OWN ANY DC CHARACTERS.

Word count: 1670

-----

The screen was starting to get blurry- the numbers were too much, the clock struck 11pm and there had still been no word from Lena.

Deciding to give up you made your way down to the group floor, making your way over to the service elevator. The doors opened to reveal Lena, hunched over a desk, tear tracks and messy mascara stained to her cheeks, her entire demeanor screamed exhausted.

Your sister had been through hell and back trying to save Sam whilst you ran L-Corp and ‘looked over CatCo’. You glanced over at Sam, or at least what’s left of her. She was broken, scared and lost, your heart broke for your friend. You loved Sam with everything in you- it killed you knowing you had to take Ruby to Metropolis away from her Mom.

“You’re so like your sister, y’know that?” Her voice was broken with emotion but yet that million dollar smile still sat on her face.

“Hey, are you hungry? I can get you something if you want?” A small smile spread across her face.

“I’m okay Y/n really. Lena is at my beck and call all the time I just want a normal conversation that doesn’t involve the fact I’m a villainous alien.” Grabbing a chair, you sat facing her, returning the smile. “I’ve always got time for you Sam you know that.”

Sam had been a major part of your life, she was your best friend- you stayed with her when you and Lena fought, any time you failed in college and didn’t want Lena to find out Sam always had an open door and a cup of coffee for you. The Arias’ were family without a doubt. The two of you struck up a conversation whilst Lena napped at her desk, “How’s things with you and James by the way? Lena’s been kind of giving him the cold shoulder since she started studying me.” You shook your head, giggling lightly.

“I don’t like him he gives me a weird vibe- like he’s hiding something. He’s a total show off, did I tell you about the time I moved his dumbbells when Lena was talking me through the workings of CatCo, he watched us from a distance- then came in, with his shirt off and started lifting. Like who does that? Ugh, men.” For the first time in a week, you heard Sam laugh.

“Oh believe me I know, he came over to L-Corp before Kara’s Christmas party, it must’ve been his day off or something- anyways he came in with just a vest on, flexing like he was Hercules and then tried to flirt with Jess. She wasn’t having any of it, I interrupted and asked what he was doing.” Laughing at the memory she continued, “He then started to check me out and flirt with me just to get in to see Lena. I don’t understand it kiddo.” You couldn’t help laughing.

“See that’s one reason to not like him.” Lena’s laugh echoed through the lab, her arms wrapped around your shoulders, “Have you considered that maybe you’re just being protective and trying to keep me from getting hurt?” She pressed a kiss to the side of your head, grabbing her tablet she turned off the barrier. “Can you blame her for wanting to make sure her big sister is happy Lee? You remember all the girlfriends Y/n brought home that you didn’t like for nearly the same reasons?”

A smirk graced your face- Sam had your back in this and that was a rare thing, you were smart obviously, you’re a Luthor after all. Lena practically taught you everything you knew but you also had a bit of a ballsy side, getting into trouble just because you could. It’s why Lilian cut you off and wanted nothing to do with you.

“Exactly Lee! I mean you still think Kara’s going to hurt me in some way but she’s your best friend and we’ve been together for 5 months now and I haven’t cried once!” You watched as your sister and Sam laughed at you being right, eventually, Lena agreed to what you were saying. “Sam get some rest we have a long day tomorrow.”

----------

You had been in meetings all day. To say you were exhausted was an understatement, Lena was still coming up short in progress but she had been slaving away for weeks. You covered everything for her though and she couldn’t have been prouder of how much you’ve stepped up to help. You were making your way over to CatCo to have a quick progress meeting with the top reporters and James. If you could avoid being in the same room as James you would but Kara would be there to help you get through. Not that the plan went ahead you got a call from Kara. You smiled at her goofy photo before you could say anything a sob broke through the speaker.

“Kara? Baby are you okay?” Panic washed over you.

“A-Alex, she’s sick. She’s r-really sick.”

“Baby I need you to take a deep breath in for me okay? Lena and I will work on it I promise, she’s strong Kar, she’ll pull through.” Kara’s hiccups were all that could be heard.

She breathed out a small “She will.”

“Of course she will baby girl. She’ll be okay.”

“Y/n? I gotta go something’s came up with Alex’s condition, I’ll call you later.”

“Okay babe, give her my best! I love you, Kar.”

“Love you too.”

It broke your heart hearing your girlfriend like that, you knew how much Alex meant to Kara, their relationship was everything Kara held dear. It why you both got on so well, Lena was everything to you just like Alex was to Kara. Wiping away your tears you decided that you’d look at Lena’s research.

Your phone buzzed with a message from Lena. just as you hung up the call with Kara, and walked through the elevator.

“Lee, where are we on a cure? Alex got sick and she’s bad- Kara’s a mess! There have been breakouts all across the city.” She pulled you over to the screen.

“Y/n! Yes!” pulling you into her arms she continued, “I’ve been electrocuting Sam to bring Reign out and I think this could be the thing we’re looking for.” She started showing you the DNA sample.

“It definitely looks like it could be- does it match all of her other tests? Can we come up with a cure?”, Lena flashed that award-winning smile, the glint of hope in her eyes returned.

“I think so I just need your help crunching the numbers.” You jumped at it as soon as she finished, carefully you started going through all the data she collected. “The Luthors saving the day once again.” Casting your eye over in Sam’s direction you watched her carefully, she didn’t look right, she sat straight almost like she was meditating, quietly mumbling to herself.

------

Meanwhile, Kara had her hands full at the DEO, her head was spinning a million miles an hour. She was trying to work out how to get through to the Worldkillers, she wanted to make Alex feel better since she was still on bedrest, replaying her conversation with Imra. Selfishly wanted to be with you, just to take her anxiety away from everything.

Being a hero was a lot of hard work, it took a lot out of her especially hiding it from you and Lena. She hated keeping secrets from you but she knew everyone would flip if she told either of you. A matter of time and you’ll work it out- you’re one of the smartest people she knew next to your sister of course and Alex.

Walking back over to the command center, Winn started to give her the rundown. “We’re getting a hit.” She followed the energy signals, Winn cut in before she could “They’re heading to L-Corp.”

Fear struck Kara, “Y/n and Lena are there we need to go now!” She ran her hand through her hair to calm her nerves. All sorts of thoughts were running through her mind- her best friend and girlfriend were in danger and she’d be damned if she let anything happen to either of you. With Mon-El, Imra and J’onn joining her she felt like she’d be ready for just about anything- all measures to keep you safe were taken, she wouldn’t let you down.

----

Sam’s voice pulled you and Lena from your intense conversation. “They’re coming.” Confusion took over Lena’s face, “Who’s coming?” Just before you could ask a burst of red light appeared in the lab, turning you found Supergirl, Kara’s ex, the Director of the DEO and a woman you didn’t know.

“Supergirl?” The blonde looked relieved to see you- it looked all too familiar. “Lena, Y/n the Worldkillers are on their way here and we need to get you somewhere...safe.” She turned to Sam, stepping closer to the barrier. You’ve never seen Supergirl stiffen so quickly. “What is this?” Sharing a look with your sister, she nodded answering for you both. “We were gonna tell you..”

“Tell me what?” As much as you should’ve answered the Kryptonian you couldn’t help but notice the frustration on her face- the frown was familiar and the nose crinkle you knew you had seen it somewhere but you just couldn’t place it. Before Lena could answer Sam stood up, you reached out for the tablet and hit the settings to ensure your safety. Kryptonite was ready to be injected into Sam’s body, you pulled Lena behind you.

“Tell you about me.” You hit the button that injected Kryptonite into Reign. The doors burst open revealing two other woman- the other Worldkillers, Lena grabbed your hand as Supergirl stood in front of you both ready to fight. It didn’t go down well. You don’t remember much other than seeing a blue light flash and being thrown against a table.

[illusionsofdreaming]

With the new Valentine banner coming out in FEH, I thought I’d share this funny (which was really sad before) experience I had on FEH. For those who aren’t interested in Illu’s FEH adventures, have a Dancer Inigo which I drew all the way back in October for Inktober 2017! 

I swear I’m still writing! Hopefully you’ll see some posts coming out soon! Uni’s been eating my muse for breakfast, lunch and dinner lately. Sorry!

So it’s not big secret but I do play FEH. I've been playing pretty much since the day the game’s been released. Now FEH’s reached it’s 1st birthday and here everyone’ll be expecting me to have collected a bunch load of heroes. And if anyone remembers this very old post, I should, theoretically speaking should be able to compile a strong team that I can be proud of as a F2P player. 

HAHAHA. Strap on your seatbelts kiddies, Illu’s going to tell you a story now.

Everyone here (at least everyone who plays FEH) should know about Nintendo Accounts right? The option to link your FEH progress to a Nintendo Account keeps your data safe and saves your progress online so that should you need to switch platforms/phones you still have your old team, stats, orbs, etc.

Now, when I was still new to the game I didn’t really give it much thought as I was still trying the game out. Give it a few more days, still playing FEH, but meh, didn’t get any good heroes yet, still pretty weak so I didn’t bother. Fast forward to randomly pulling a Hector and Klein and boy, NOW, I’m getting somewhere in FEH, finally. By now, I know I won’t be deleting this game soon so I really should consider signing up to a Nintendo Account but then I hear this voice ‘Meh, it’s just a F2P game, if I lost all my progress I’ll just start over - seems easy enough to get back to where I should be’ (keep in mind, back then FEH had less heroes so pulling good heroes was easier). FAST FORWARD SEVERAL MONTHS LATER. Here I am, shredding through the levels and arena with my 5* ATK+ Hector, 5*Klein, 5*+2 Nowi, 5*Adult Tiki, armed with a bunch load of other 5* heroes plus special event heroes. I’m pretty proud and satisfied with how far I’ve come as a F2P player and PSSSH NINTENDO ACCOUNT? Who even uses that? I have a new phone, it’s not going to break any time soon. Whatever. 

I’m pretty sure if you’ve read this far you should be able to pretty much predict what happened right? If you guessed my laziness came back and bit my ass and left a scar, you’re right. 

It was around the time Fjorm and Book 2 was about to be released, think the dancer, singer banner had just ended when it happened. My phone wouldn’t load FEH and all I got was a black screen. Restarted the app, restarted the phone, nothing worked. Now I was panicking a bit here because oh my god what’s happening? Sweating a bit too because oh no, what if- i lose all my progress. Yep. Without knowing, I spent almost a year on FEH and all the progress made in that time period I finally recognize, cannot be regained if I started over all again and neither do I want to start over especially after how far I’ve come. Long story short, I deleted the app, reinstalled in and it still didnt work. It wasn’t until the next day when I went to get my phone checked did I realise it was my phone’s new update problem and not the app. But by then it was far too late. 

NEWS FLASH FOR EVERYONE WHO DIDN’T KNOW. Deleting FEH app, deletes all your FEH data from your phone, even if you’re using the same phone, deleting the app means scrapping the FEH progress you made and starting anew. 

I. Lost. Everything.

DANCER INIGO WHICH I JUST PULLED -CRAIS- (IRONICALLY the art above was drawn in celebration that he came home), HECTOR, KLEIN, EASTER HEROES, ALL THE EVENT HEROES, ALL THE ORBS, FEATHERS, TOKENS- all the effort I put into training and inheriting skills. Back when SP grinding took forever (still takes forever).

I was emotionally scarred. Never thought I’d be so attached to a few animated chibis of FE characters BUT I DID AND NOW THEY’RE ALL GONE AND SOME OF THESE EVENT CHARACTERS, I MIGHT NEVER GET BACK. Starting over had never been so painful. In fact, I couldn’t touch FEH for several days. I still shudder thinking about it. 

Eventually I did start again because what the hell. I’LL MAKE IT WORK A SECOND TIME. Good news was when I did start FEH round 2, Fjorm’s special heroes banner was running and I managed to get Brave Lyn, Ike and Fjorm with those early game orbs so my replay didn’t start off too badly. BAD NEWS was that they all had BAD IVS.

I still think of my lost Hector every time I open the app AND DANCER INIGO. GIVE HIM BACK TO MEEEEEEEE, LET ME DRAW HIM AGAIN PLEASE, I ONLY HAD HIM FOR TWO WEEKS? EVEN LESS? DANCER SINGER BANNER RERUNS PLEASE. HE WAS JUST REALISING HIS POTENTIAL IN MY TEAM. 

IMPORTANT LESSON OF THE DAY: SAVE YOUR GODDAMN PROGRESS. DON’T BE LAZY.

Despite all the Hector focus banners I still haven’t drawn him again. I CRAI. 

CROSSING MY FINGERS I’LL FINALLY DRAG HECTOR BACK HOME DURING VALENTINES BANNER AND CYL. SOB.

If y’all got something that can top this tragedy, feel free to share. We’ll sob together.