#im horrible at introducing myself oops

[mvretti-blog]

fat albert vc: hey hey hEY!! good day pals lemme start off by sayin i’m suPER stoked to be here woweewow i haven’t rped in almost a year so excuse me if i’m a lil rusty omg. below the cut is more information on vance including but noT limited to: background, personality, fun Facts, etc.

(( hey, look over there! isn’t that vance moretti, the twenty four year old junior at uw who’s majoring in criminal justice. he is part of the baseball team and lives in the iris building. people who know him say he is gallant but also stubborn. ))

trigger warning: mentions of drug trafficking, gang activity, violence, dumb stuff

HISTORY; alrighty so he was born in staten island, new york to a small family, vance being the youngest of three sons. his family (other than his intermediate fam) actually lives in italy, the moretti folks packing up and moving their kids to america about two or three years before thIS fella popped out. overall he had a great childhood, always playing outside and easily maintaining solid friendships with the other kids in his neighbourhood. his parents worked hard for their money and they weren’t considered to be well off by any means, but they never went hungry or had to worry about being able to pay off their bills on time.

fast forward several years and vance is a lanky teen with two older brothers that already built a reputation around the moretti name. a name now affiliated with gang violence and criminal activity, he had been set up for failure and instead of taking a difficult path to bring honour back into his family, vance followed right along in his elder brothers’ footsteps. however, while they were way deep in the criminal underworld with a drug cartel, trafficking and collecting due payments by any means necessary, vance was doing the bare minimum; selling dime bags to his peers on school grounds and high school parties, sometimes even harder shit if it was relentlessly pushed on him by his brothers.

a small time skip; one brother in jail, the other dead, while vance was a free man. he was basically ostracized from his family not only because of the horrible path he’d followed but because he was also the reason for the current state of his older brothers. by trying to get them all out of the criminal life together, it backfired. he was deemed a snitch and therefore in jeopardy of being hit at any time, any day. the only way out was to flee without a trace so he did, he moved across the whole country and ended up in washington. he wasn’t sure what exactly the reason was for picking that particular place, probably from one of the countless travel brochures he skimmed over, but whatever the reason, he’d made the move and he was starting fresh.

the last time skip; after volunteering for the police department a few times (around working a job with late hours but great tips), vance is taking the necessary precautions and steps to become a man of the law (ironically enough) by attending the university in washington and majoring in criminal justice.

PERSONALITY; oh boy oh boy this guy looks like a hardass bc he has a bad case of resting bitch face howeVER he’s a gentle giant, through and through. he would do anything for his friends, which has been one big reason why he hasn’t had a serious longterm relationship for several years, and he tries to Fight for Good and not Evil but a guy’s gotta let loose sometimes, especially when a good handful of your friends are into or associated with the party scene. but he doesn’t go hard bc 1) hey he’s tryna keep a clean record and 2) he doesn’t wanna slip back into old bad habits.

he is very much a Dad in the sense that he wants to be cool and not hated but he also wants everyone to do their best and achieve their dreams and not go to jail woO. if anyone of his pals ever needs a designated driver, vance will gladly pull up in his trusty Ol’ Reliable aka a pontiac that had been given to him from his dad. he would much rather u call him for a ride home at like 4am rather than end up hurt or dead. vance is also a great person to vent to, will listen for hours or however long u need him to, and is always there to lend a helping hand for whatever. not violence, but he doesn’t shy away from making stern promises (that may sound like threats) to anyone who hurts his pals. he’s not a stickler i stg he just cares a lot abt the ppl he’s close to and wants them to have a Happy n Healthy full life so he’s just overly protective

as for relationships, previously mentioned he doesn’t really have a track record worth counting. the last serious girlfriend he had was probably during the first year he’d lived in washington. it wasn’t until after she moved in with him in the apartment he had at the time that she realized how invested he was in his friends and his work, which were both obviously prioritized over her. so the messy break up ensued, something he never wanted to experience again. vance has tried relationships that had no strings attached; flings or friends with benefits, but it's too hard for him noT to get attached and catch feels, which leaves him in an even messier situation. so if he can help it, he tries to avoid anything more than a one night stand.

basically just a protective cool single dad tryna make it in this crazy world

FUN FACTS; he’s been working as a stripper for the last four years which is how he was able to pay for school without any debt chasing him but its a secret sh. the routine he’s best known for is pretending to be a cop claSSIC

speaking of classic.....classic rock and old rap are his absolute fav music genres that’s lit all he listens too with the exception of a few new songs he’ll catch on the radio

he still keeps in touch with his ma bc i mean heLO she’s his ma his #1 aka he’s a mama’s boy and he talks to her at least once a week

idk thats abOOT IT I G

[marsgod]

HELLO !! IM THE JAMIL ANON AND I LOVE WHAT U WROTE !! if u don’t mind … what if likw . jamil and s/o started dating and they had dinner w jafar . i think it would be a little funny maybe .

HI!! hehe so glad you loved it! :D<3

also headcanon: all of the boys based off the great seven (jamil w jafar, etc.) are fanboys.

*＊✿❀【Ｊａｍｉｌ　ａｔ　Ｊａｆａｒｓ　Ｆａｍｉｌｙ　Ｄｉｎｎｅｒ】❀✿＊*

| Info you need!

v

that i realize i accidentally did lunch instead of dinner, oops:’)

Warnings; Jamil’s suffering, otherwise N/A

I-

When you first tell Jamil about the invite, he doesn’t think much of it til he see’s the black letter with golden lettering in your hand and suddenly he really really wants to crawl in a hole and hide

but he can’t, because even though it’s Jafar, he’s also your family and if this was theory then he’d be quaking at the thought but it’s reality and he’s dying

you thought he was internally screaming at the Study Sesh? You can hear the muffled screaming because this isn’t some 3-on-1 study session as two students concerned about grades

THIS is going to a family dinner as your boyfriend and oh god Jafars probably been laughing about the way he accidentally misspelled that one word-

If Kalim is there then he’s choosing the fanciest crap he can and lays it before Jamil explaining how they’re all backups for backups

You’re in the back picking between 2 outfits and Jamil is panicking because he doesn’t know how he should dress, important man + party = probably super formal, and then you come out with some sort of outfit that’s anything but formal and he’s frozen

ON to the part with the actual lunch

It’s really just Jafar(ofc), you, Jamil, and some cousins that were visiting from somewhere for dinner to catch up

Jamil is stiff most of the time and picks at his food, eating in small portions at a time

He doesn’t say anything other than introducing himself, he knows he doesn’t look like anything’s wrong but on the inside he’s a wet cat shivering in confusion and fear

Jafar stares at him at some point before pulling you aside and asking about him, and you’re forced to explain that your boyfriends still in the cold shock of realizing he’s in the presence of his idol and s/o

Your cousins try to include him but his answers are short and.. awkward

When it’s all over you’re beaming “That went well” and Jamil is on his hands and knees “Oh my god that went horrible the only way to redeem myself is death-“

[sasspotatodoesthings]

Killing Book

Aka, the Death Note movie released this year. Now, I like Death Note (the anime of course). I watched it when I was like 12 or something and it introduced to the world of gory anime. So as you can expect, I was upset at seeing this movie, seeing the wrong things in the trailer and knowing it would be even more wrong in the movie. I was interested though, as one would be interested in watching a kid harmlessly fall so you can snicker at them. I avoided the movie even if I wanted to see the train wreck it was. But tonight, at somewhere around nine pm I decided NO MORE! I shall watch the movie and tell my friend how bad it was. We’ll be calling her Friend. I skype messaged her (i know who uses skype anymore? i do. because im lazy and dont want to change to discord) while watching it. Sadly she left early because she sleeps waaaaay earlier than I do. So at some point I’m just talking to myself. Just to let you know. Enjoy my ramblings.

WARNING: Obviously lots of death is mentioned. Also, if you liked the anime of Death Note, do NOT watched this movie. It’s horrible.

So this was taken directly from skype, with VERY little editing (just small things like personal stuff etc.) and it is rude, crude and not pleasant to look at. I tend to message a lot, in segments and that is was what made this so long. You have been warned.

Me: so I'm finally watching the death note movie Me: and I might rant at you a bit Me: first, its set in Washington in seattle Me: and lights fuckin blond frosted highlights Me: why

Friend: so Friend: 10/10

Me: its the best start a movie could ever have Me: so light is bullied and does homework for other classmates Me: who is this man? this isn't the light I know

Friend: maybe Friend: maybe Friend: just maybe Friend: someone kidnapped him

Me: god and now he likes this fark haired girl Me: dark Me: light loves no one Me: his heart is too icy to love Me: if only he was kidnapped Me: then at least he would break out and kill the person impersonating him

Friend: does he have the death note?

Me: yeah Me: its so different Me: its not the same at all Me: its like they just took the concept and fucked it Me: so the death note looks used even tho I pretty sure it was blank in the anime

Friend: it's for the money

Me: shit dude ryuk is in the house

Friend: is ryuk still cool thougj

Me: and light just fell over and is now running away Me: idk we'll see

Friend: does he still freak out over apples

Me: maybe Me: didn't ryuk show himself in lights room? Me: cause right now he's in school at detention Me: oh ryuk ate the apple

Friend: they met in his room

Me: welp here they met at detention

Friend: also it's to soon for light to know ryuk's obsession with apples

Me: its waaay too soon Me: I'm 10 minutes in Me: light didn't know ryuk for awhile Me: not almost immediately after getting the death note Me: also ryuk is persuading light into using it Me: anime light did not hesitate to kill a motherfuker Me: didn't need a demon to tell him what to do

Friend: wait Friend: what about the chip scene

Me: oh Me: what] Me: the Me: FUCK Me: they've ruined it

Friend: THE CHIP SCENE!?

Me: wasn't it a rule that if you put someone name without a death, theyd die of a heart attack like an hour later Me: well Me: fuck that rule Me: doesn't exist Me: they die by random bullshit means

Friend: WHAT?!?!!?

Me: also Me: no chip scene Me: yet Me: I'm waiting Me: anime light waited until he got home to kill a guy Me: but movie light was still at school and watched him die Me: heres what happened that absolutely gets rid of the heart attack rule Me: so a couple of kids had a basketball and dropped it when a woman's bags of groceries ripped Me: the kid chased after the ball into the street, where a car swerved to miss him Me: another car coming the opposite way swerved to miss the car and hit a parked car Me: a ladder on top of the crashed car got loose and decapitated the guy whose name was written Me: instantly after his name was written Me: wtf happened man

Friend: -.-

Me: also Me: apparently there are rules to the book Me: lemme get to the scene where he looked at them Me: but I know one of them was the holder of the death note can only hold it for 7 days Me: wtf?? Me: in the anime anyone could have for eternity if they wanted Friend: for as long as they lived or until they gave it up Me: atleast his dad is still a cop Me: but his mom is dead??

Friend: dfhnasjkfahdjkasdhf Friend: what

Me: by getting hit by a car by the guy he killed earlier Me: wtffffff Me: okay Me: okay Me: tell me what you get from this, its rule 65 of the book Me: "each page of the note contains the power of the whole note" Me: wtf does that mean?? Me: ooh Me: oooooooh Me: wait Me: is that the thing where you could tear a page out and it would still work? Me: wtf you gotta word it like that man

Friend: it's as bad as tests

Me: okay I got a previous rule wrong Me: it was rule 95 Me: anyone can write names in the note but only the keeper can have it longer than 7 days

Friend: -.- that's still stupid

Me: it is yeah Me: I'm pretty sure a death note was supposed to have one owner Me: I mean once you touched the paper, you were stuck with the powers until you died or gave it up Me: also Me: previous apparently wrote warning ramblings in the book for light to see Me: "don't trust ryuk"

Friend: -.- Friend: no

Me: he also said ryuk weird Me: I say ree-yook Me: he said rye-uhk

Friend: i'm sad Friend: i'm pissed

Me: and that's barely 20 mins in

Friend: need bleach?

Me: still another hour and a half left Me: god Me: 90 more mintes Me: ryuk is creepin in lights closet Me: light is offering an apple Me: ryuk is happy Me: ooh thank god Me: ryuk told light how to pronounce his name Me: I don't think I could live with light always saying his name wrong Me: ryuk looks gross Me: haven't seen him clearly yet tho Me: always in shadows

Friend: ryuk is cool

Me: movie ryuk is pretty chill Me: light has killed again Me: this time the gfather of the guy he killed ealier

Friend: is

Me: oky

Friend: is light killing innocent people

Me: heres how he died because I'm pretty sure light didn't right a death Me: not yet Me: so a couple knocked a salt shaker of a table at a restuarant Me: a waiter trips on it and bumps into the dude who will die Me: the father get knocked forward and stabs himself in the neck with a knife that he had been holding upwarrd Me: he sprays blood all over his guests and dies

Friend: why are the deaths so convoluted

Me: ryuk cackles in the background Me: I have no idea Me: wow steak sounds good right now Me: even tho I guy just died because of some Me: a Me: oops heres dark haired pretty girll in the bakground Me: she talked to light Me: wtf Me: who is this chick Me: she elooks like the next bella swan Me: turner Me: light turner Me: and her name is mia Me: what was the name of the blond girl who loved light?

Friend: yeah

Me: mia was her name? really? Me: she has no idea what a death note is Me: and light is showing it to her

Friend: fucking moron

Me: anime light would never do that Me: mia is laughing at hime Me: shit her name in the anime was misa Me: not mia Me: noe light is killing in front of mia Me: but at least hes using the news like anime light did Me: this movie is horrible

Friend: I wonder how they will ruin L Friend: i might cry at that part

Me: and I will tel you every wrong thing they do Me: so light and mia teamed up

Friend: i know you will

Me: even tho mia doesn't have a death note like anime misa did Me: and light want to kiss her Me: help Me: help Me: oh n Me: they Me: making out Me: I don't want to put skype down Me: hep Me: me

Friend: GET Friend: THE Friend: BLEACH!!!!!!!!!

Me: theyre done Me: no[e Me: not done Me: shit Me: okay Me: wait Me: stop' Me: they keep kissing Me: and its inbwteen scenes Me: so it surpried Me: me

Friend: life has no meaning

Me: okay hang on Me: how did light start getting called kira in the anime Me: didn't the public start calling that?

Friend: yea

Me: well light chose it in the movie Me: hes like Me: I want to be kalled kira Me: and now somehow the whole world knows Me: agh Me: nudity

Friend: >=c

Me: brief, dead women nudity Me: L is helping kira? Me: L informed kira of a club full of baddies

Friend: are you sure that's L

Me: yep Me: subtitles label him as L Me: here lemme send a screen shot Me: there it is Me: proven by the subtitles Me: L is originally from England right? Me: I cant tell if movie L is sitting like anime L

Friend: L is an orphan from England yes

Me: no accent Me: move L is american

Friend: i'm sorry japan

Me: gotta apologise to the mangaka who wrote death note

Friend: who

Me: idk their name

Friend: who the hell made the decision to make them..

Me: I have no idea Me: eath note was done and over years before they made this movie Me: why did they make it now?

Friend: money

Me: fuck the money Me: at least follow the god damn plot

Friend: yeah

Me: they used the right logo for L Me: that's nice Me: to see somethingsimilar Me: ugh Me: L is such a pig in the movie Me: hes got candy everywhere and is eating it messily Me: anime L was careful and deliberate

Friend: yeah

Me: ugh Me: they say "fuck" is this movie too much

Friend: i'm going to bed. you can keep ranting and i will respond tomorrow

After this point, it’s just me ranting so there will be no more Me: going on. Just a series of messages one after the other.

kay okay wait this was funny the movie did a funny so lights dad is meeting L in L's big fancy hideout and lights dad has his hand held out and and ice cream is just silently put in his hand with no information about it no one says a word about it he just holds the ice cream now L is speaking to a million reporters in broad daylight outside and movie L doesn't sit exactly the same as anime L hes in the same pose as anime L but movie L sits on his butt instead of sitting/squatting on his feet in the chair if that makes any sense L is calling out kira on the news ryuk likes L so apparently to kill using the book, you need a name AND a face but I'm pretty sure in the anime you only needed a name and now L isn't even sitting right hes lounging LOUNGING also mia cant see ryuk even tho shes touched the note book all the rules have been tossed out the window mia stole the book and is killing all the investigating agents oh siiit mia didn't do it ryuk did ryuk killed 13 people and now hes telling light to let the note go anime ryuk didn't do this he wanted light to have the note mia wants to kill lights dad so light and L have met in public and they fightin and light is being sooo suspicious they've got the weather in this movie right tho its constantly rainging shit mia told light she loved him and they making out now so if you write a name and burn the page before the person dies, theyre spared. but you can only do this once so many dumb rules  what I don't understand is why they changed misa's name to mia but didn't changed light's misa is a way more normal name than light why change it?? okay now movie L is sitting like in the anime lights dad is beating L down L is threatening light and light is acting as innocent as possible ryuk is meddling in lights plans lemme tell you those plans light write the name of L' assistant, having him find L's name and then tell light but ryuk is there to screw things up oh shit ryuk took the page with L's assisatants name on it so mia betrayed light light wanted to save watari watari is L's assitant but mia and ryuk messed that up ooooh shiiiiit mia did kill all those agents she killed 13 people not ryuk oooh L is angry that watari is dead and mia is trying to kill light hope he kills her instead L is gonna hunt light down L is driving angrily through the streets just rmapgaing dude rampaging now L is chasing light on foot 20 mins left no chip scene (note: really sad there wasn’t any chip scene) L is confrtoning light but light is saved by one of his many admirerers mia is trying to take the book and theyre fighting at the top of a ferris wheel light put mias name in the book she dead the ferris wheel deatached so now its slowly falling ryuk is manipulating the ferris wheel mia is hanging out of the pod thing light dropped her light fell mia died in an explosion of flowers light landed in water the book did too now L' there the page containg lights name is burning and L saw the page buring some old guy just picked up the washed up death note this new guy is carrying on kira's duty while light is in a coma now he's returning the book back to light oh light woke up L knows that mia was involvev involved lights dad knows he knows now light is gonna tell his dad how it works okay wait some exposition is going down and you need to know what is up so mia wrote that light's heart would stop at midnight so to fix that light chose a rapist who had connections to a hospital to save light when he fell in the water, give him cpr and keep light in a medically induced coma hospital guy commits suicide then light writes a pedophile mailman gets the note book on the shore, writes criminals names to keep up the act while light is in a coma, gives the death note back and commits suicide then he writes when mia takes the note book from light, she falls, tears the page with lights name on it that then the page is burned, light lands safely in water and mia dies instantly when she hits the ground L found the page with watari's name and all the agent's names L angry at light hes laughing crazily L looked like he was gonna write light's name but then the credits are going ooh that was interesting they showed behind the scenes stuff while playing the credits but it was done in a way I hadn't seen before they were like flashing it on screen inbetween credits, only a few seconds at a time got to see how they did ryuk which was cool god damnit they never showed if L wrote light's name or not I'm guessing not I waited through 5 mins of creits for thi why so light didn't kill any innocent people huh but mia sure did so my rating is 0/10 this wasn't death note this was like like some knock off version called'killing book' hope your happy that L is alive tho didn't have to kill himself like anime L did unless that was what the end implied hang on imma see if movie L killed himself too well Wikipedia doesn't say anything but we all know how reliable Wikipedia is that was a real joy ride hope you enjoyed my ramblings even thought half of them prob don't make sense

[peachcitt]

a shocking chapter 34!! @gigiree @luvclick @megatraven

hello hello! im glad i was able to get this chapter finished in time because after last week’s overload in writing i spent this past week watching crime shows on tv and lounging and not much else. when will i learn to not burn myself out?? when i stop relying on bursts of motivation and inspiration to set the times i write which is basically saying n e v e r 

there is some good stuff though - my parents managed to figure out a way for my super old 2008 era mac laptop to access internet again so i don’t have to leave my cave to post new chapters on sundays. hella. this chapter btw was meant to be sort of light hearted like in the game but like. oops? there are some soft bits because it’s me we’re talking about and i can’t live without soft but still

and yes i had fun with the chapter description.

Read from the beginning/where it’s originally posted here.

Story description: They say that curiosity killed the cat. But it can do a whole lot more than that.

Chapter description: Lights, camera, action! Welcome monsters and my ladies to a very shocking CB broadcast. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!

Rated: T (because some things may not be suited for some audiences... intense pain and rage in this chapter, but nothing graphic)

“Oh, great,” Chat groaned softly, leaning towards Marinette. “Chloe may not be all that into fighting, but she is a colossal b-”

“Ready the cameras!” Chloe shouted, her voice shrill. Several cameras and other video equipment buzzed into the room from the hole that Chloe had made in the wall, seemingly on their own. Another small robot, considerably less flashy than Chloe, also buzzed into the room, going straight for Marinette.

She jumped back, pulling Chat with her. The robot seemed undeterred, going for her again and raising what Marinette saw were just makeup brushes and powders only after Chat slammed his baton into it and it was on the ground beside Chloe.

“Chat Noir!” she gasped in horror. “How dare you ruin the makeup machine!” Chat rolled his eyes, twirling his baton and tucking it in the small sling he had at the small of his back.

Chloe sauntered up to Marinette, her metallic heels clicking on the tile floor. Her cold and artificial hands grabbed Marinette’s chin before anyone could even think of swatting her away, and she roughly moved Marinette’s face side to side, seeming to examine her. Marinette didn’t think she should attempt to talk with her face squished as it was.

“Could you back off?” Chat said, providing Marinette with much appreciated back up. Chloe eyed him coldly, and they seemed to have a glare-off before Chloe’s grip on Marinette’s face loosened and she practically shoved Marinette away.

“Relax, kitty-kins,” she lilted, stepping away from the two of them and checking one of the other cameras. “Since somebody destroyed my makeup machine, I had to check that the human’s face was worthy of my cameras. It’ll probably be fine, though I can’t say for sure my cameras won’t break.” The look she gave Marinette was so absolutely icy that it put Stormy to shame. Marinette rubbed her jaw, where she could still feel Chloe’s cold grip, feeling more than a little offended.

Sabrina slowly went to stand by Chloe, her eyes fixed to the floor and multiple limbs starting to turn invisible. Chat glared at her.

“If we’re not going to fight, then we’re leaving,” Marinette said, glaring at Chloe and starting to walk away, motioning for Chat to follow her.

A thick wall of electricity blocked Marinette’s path, making her stop abruptly to avoid getting shocked into the next century. Marinette whipped her head back to Chloe, who smiled sweetly at her. “That’s against the rules.”

“Rules?”

“Action!” Chloe shouted, and the lights went out, plunging the room in darkness until a spotlight burst to life on Chloe, making her metal gleam and blinding Marinette. “Good evening monsters and my ladies,” she said, flashing a bright smile at one of the hovering cameras. “Tonight’s broadcast comes with a surprise guest! It is my pleasure to introduce-“

A spotlight flew around the room until settling on Marinette, whose eyes were feeling very abused at this point. She blinked rapidly, rubbing her eyes and watching her vision clear to see a camera right in her face. She yelped, surprised by the camera and by the cold metallic arm that was now wrapped around her shoulders.

“The human!” Chloe near screeched, her voice pounding on Marinette’s eardrums now that she was so unbearably close. “Tell me, human, what is your name?” she asked, looking to Marinette and holding up her hand – which was now a microphone – to Marinette’s face.

“My name is M-”

“What an interesting name!” Chloe exclaimed, throwing the microphone out of camera shot and whirling away from Marinette to stand in front of her again. “Now that all of the guests have been introduced-”

“Sabrina and I are here, too,” Chat said loudly from the darkness beside Marinette.

“No one cares!” Chloe said brightly. Spotlights fell on them anyway. Chat looked like he’d rather be anywhere else, and Sabrina was almost entirely invisible. “Now then, let us begin with a game show” – she paused, leaning into the camera nearest to her – “of death!”

“Great,” Marinette grumbled.

“If it’s regular trivia, I can help out,” Chat whispered, taking Marinette’s hand and squeezing lightly.

“Helping the human is against the rules!” Chloe said, pointing her long metallic finger to Chat and sending several robots to him. They grabbed him and pulled him away from Marinette. He kicked and hit at them, but they were metal so all that did was hurt him.

“Chloe,” he growled, his lip curling up threateningly. Marinette shivered, but all Chloe did was look away, gesturing to the robots. They plastered what looked like duck tape over Chat’s mouth, and he shouted against it, struggling against the robots holding him back. But he couldn’t get free.

Marinette started to run to him, but Chloe extended her arm and caught her, pulling her close to her side. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” she said lowly, the same horrible smile on her metal lips as a cage of electricity erupted around Chat and the robots restraining him.

“Let him go,” Marinette demanded, shoving herself away from Chloe, who let her go easily as Marinette stumbled away.

“If you win the game,” Chloe said, and Marinette really felt like slapping that smile off her face. She looked over at Sabrina, but she was just a pair of glasses floating in mid air.

“Fine,” Marinette relented, and her SOUL emerged from her chest. She looked over at Chat, whose body had gone rigid. His eyes were trained on Marinette, and she nodded to him. He closed his eyes, letting his head sag for a moment before he seemed to resolve himself and look up again.

“First question!” Chloe exclaimed, either not noticing the heavy feeling in the room or just not bothering to care. “What is your prize for answering a question right?”

Four answer choices appeared in the air in front of Marinette, as well as a small timer that was ticking away the seconds. Suspenseful game show music had started to play.

The answer choices read:

A – Survival

B – Chat Noir being let go

C – More questions

D – Puppies!

Marinette eyed the choices, noticing that the timer was starting to get under fifteen seconds. She looked up at Chloe in defiance and slammed her hand into answer choice B.

There was a beat of silence in which Chloe smiled wickedly. And then – “I’m sorry, but that is incorrect.”

The next few seconds were filled with agony as it felt like all of Marinette’s cells in her body were jolted awake and burned multiple times over originating from her chest, where her SOUL normally came out of. She heard an almost animal-like screech, and when she fell to the floor, her body throbbing and her throat dry, she realized it had been her.

“Screaming is against the rules,” she heard someone say, and tears rolled down her cheeks as she tried to unscramble her brain. “Crying is, too.” The voice sounded very far away, completely drowned out by the sound of her own heartbeat in her ears.

It seemed like a long time before Marinette finally stood up on shaking feet, colors and sounds finally seeming to make sense to her. Her SOUL was shivering in front of her, and it looked very fragile. She looked over at Sabrina, blinking until her eyes focused, and she saw that it seemed like Sabrina had been shocked into turning visible again. Funny. Shocked.

She looked over at Chat, squinting through the bright electricity cage. He was struggling against the robots again, his limbs thrashing. She could hear his muffled attempts at screaming from underneath the tape. For a terrifying moment, she was afraid that Chat had gotten shocked too, but when he looked over at Marinette, his eyes were clear and in pain. But not the kind from being shocked with electricity.

“I’m okay,” she said weakly, and Chloe laughed.

“No, you’re not.” Marinette looked over at her, her movements feeling slow. “That shock was set to bring someone halfway to dying.” The words were delivered with the bright tone of a game show host, and Marinette closed her eyes, wondering how she was going to get through this. “Next question!”

Marinette opened her eyes again, straightening her spine and clenching her fists. No way was she letting herself look weak in front of Chloe ever again.

“What is the king’s full name?”

The answer choices and timer appeared in front of Marinette again.

A – Cool-king Plagg

B – Monsieur Fluffy Buns

C – Plagg

D – Plagg Dreemurr

Marinette looked over at Chat, but of course he couldn’t do anything to help. The robots were even covering his hands.

She didn’t want to get the answer wrong and experience such a strong shock and potentially die, but she didn’t know the answer. She couldn’t even rule any of the answers out because the rules here in the Underground were always strange and sometimes people had strange names. In a last resort gesture, she looked hopelessly at Sabrina.

For a moment, nothing. The timer ticked each second away. And then Sabrina’s eyes shot between Marinette and Chloe, her hands, which had been folded neatly in front of her, forming a very clear letter C.

Setting her eyes on Chloe once more, Marinette prayed to whatever higher being was out there that Sabrina could be trusted, and she pressed her hand to answer choice C. An agonizing silence ensued where it seemed like the only things comfortable were Chloe and the other robots.

“Correct!” Chloe said, still bright, but mostly disappointed. Marinette breathed out a sigh of relief. “Our king has only one name, but that doesn’t mean we don’t give him loving nicknames!” She winked at the camera.

“How many questions are there?” Marinette asked. Chloe’s robotic head whipped around to look at her, fixing her with that same shallow smile.

“How ever many it takes before you drop dead,” she said, her voice coated in poison and sugar. “Next question!”

Marinette looked at Sabrina, praying that her helping wasn’t just a one-time thing. Sabrina gave her a slight nod, her facial expression carefully blank.

“What shade of CB brand lipstick is my favorite?”

“That question isn’t fair,” Marinette protested, and Sabrina shook her head slightly, giving her a worried look.

“I decide what’s fair here. It’s a question, therefore it’s fair. Now what is my favorite shade of my brand of lipstick?”

As the answer choices materialized in front of Marinette, she considered Chloe’s words. CB brand. Chloe Bourgeois brand. She rolled her eyes, looking down at the answer choices and tucking a strand of glittery hair behind her ear.

A – Frozen Blossom

B – Pink Lady Luster

C – Sugar Coated

D – Dark Ballet

The answer choices didn’t come with swatches of the color, which Marinette found very unfair, but she restrained herself from saying so, instead looking up at Sabrina. She was forming the letter A which her hands, keeping them still low in front of her. Marinette chose the answer choice, and she was glad to feel no electricity in her.

“Correct!” Chloe exclaimed, sounding a little disappointed again. “Frozen Blossom is really and truly my favorite – I’m wearing it right now, in fact!” She made kissy lips at the nearest camera. “My brand has wonderful shades so it’s easy to pick a favorite, and I have multiple formulas available that suit scales, metal, skin – you name it!”

Marinette tuned out the rest of her shameless advertising, looking over to Chat, who seemed to still be struggling against the robots just in an effort to be free. She almost ran to him again, but the cage of electricity kept her away. She breathed out a sigh, trying to convince herself that she’d get through the deadly trivia game.

Once Chloe seemed to be done with her self-promotion, she turned back to Marinette, or rather, the cameras. “Next question! Who is the most beautiful in the Underground?”

A – Rose

B – Chloe

C – Ali

D – Chat Noir

Staring at the answer choices, she was in a clear bind. All of the people in the answer choices were beautiful to Marinette, even Chloe, though her appearance seemed a bit marred by her horrible personality. The timer ticked. Marinette looked up to see Sabrina was forming a B with a bit of difficulty.

Marinette looked at her SOUL. It seemed to look back at her. She pulled out her yo-yo, watching the timer in front of her as she pulled out her last unicicle and nearly inhaled it. She watched as her SOUL seemed to glow brighter, and something told Marinette that she was near full health now. She whispered a quick apology to it.

Carefully positioning her hand and one of her arms, she looked Chloe dead in the eye as she slammed her hand and arm over every single answer choice except for answer choice B. Chloe didn’t even bother saying it was incorrect.

The bright beam of electricity hit Marinette’s SOUL dead on, shocking Marinette’s very core. The pain that overcame her was just as intense as before, if not more. She felt herself throw her head back almost involuntarily and scream, the sound rough and animalistic. It tore her throat apart, and it felt like her body was being drenched in acid but it was so unbelievably worth it.

When she came back to her senses, she was on her knees again and tears were streaming down her face and it hurt to move, but she raised her head to look at Chloe, feeling her lips pull into a twisted smile. Something that felt far worse than anything Chloe could ever pull off.

“I’m not fuel for your ego,” she said, the words coming out as growl. Her eyes flicked over to Sabrina, who was standing completely still, her eyes wide and her mouth open.

There was a small sound from beside her, and Marinette looked over at Chat, whose face was turned toward the ceiling, almost like he was praying. When he opened his eyes, they met hers, and she could see how wet they were and how much he was begging her to never get an answer wrong again. For her sake and his.

Marinette’s heart felt like it had just been put through a wringer.

“Next question,” Marinette said, getting to her feet and leveling Chloe’s hard stare with one of her own.

After that, Marinette lost count of how many stupid and unfair questions Chloe shot at her. Each time, she was able to answer correctly because of Sabrina’s hand motions.

It was when Marinette was presented with a large jar of glitter and asked how many pieces of glitter were in there that their trick was found out. Sabrina was taking a while, and Marinette was staring at her hands the whole time.

“Oh!” Sabrina exclaimed at last, and she quickly formed the letter. Marinette breathed a sigh of relief, and reached for the answer choice, but before she could, the choices disappeared.

“Huh?” Marinette looked up to see Chloe glaring at Sabrina, who nervously looked over at Chloe, her teeth worrying her lip. “Oh, no.”

“My dear Sabrina,” Chloe started, her lips pulling into a pinched smile, “have you been helping the human?” Sabrina shook her head back and forth, her hands and arms starting to turn invisible. “You know that’s against the rules.”

“I wasn’t helping,” Sabrina said, but the blush creeping across her cheeks told the exact opposite.

“In that case,” Chloe said, completely ignoring Sabrina, “I’ll ask a question you’ll be sure to know the answer to!” There was a dramatic pause, and the suspenseful game show music swelled. Marinette looked over at her SOUL, who looked just about as done as she felt. “Who does Sabrina have a crush on?”

A – The Human

B – Chloe

C – Alya

D – Don’t know

Marinette looked at Sabrina, but all she did was shake her hands back and forth.

There was no timer for this one, and Marinette took advantage of that, taking her time in considering each question. She wasn’t sure how the question was structured, so she couldn’t possibly feel comfortable picking option D if Chloe didn’t think that was the right answer.

She didn’t feel like it was herself – it seemed like Sabrina had been aware of Marinette’s feelings towards Chat, and that would certainly be the answer to piss Chloe off the most.

Since they had arrived at the lab, Sabrina had made no mention of Alya at all, and, to be quite honest, Marinette had a hard time imagining Sabrina liking her in that way.

That left the last option – Chloe herself. It would certainly be the option that would please Chloe the most, but Marinette still thought about it. Sabrina had defended Chloe vehemently when Chat had gone on his rampage, and she had gone along with Chloe almost immediately after she had showed up. Not only was the answer choice the safest, it was the one that made the most sense. So Marinette chose it.

Almost immediately, Sabrina turned completely invisible, and that was enough proof for Marinette to know she was right.

“Wow, Sabrina,” Chloe said, her expression uncharacteristically soft and genuine. “I always thought you were loyal to me, but this just proves it.” There was a moment in which Chloe just smiled to herself, and Marinette thought that was far more beautiful than anything she had seen Chloe direct to towards the cameras.

But then her soft smile dropped and was replaced with a cold one. “As much as I appreciate your loyalty, Sabrina, we all know it’s the human. It’s just too obvious.” Marinette frowned, and she saw Sabrina slowly start to turn visible again, a look of confusion across her features.

“What makes you say that?” Marinette asked, just as confused as Sabrina.

Chloe waved her hand, visibly trying to make it look like the matter meant very little to her. “She has that viewing screen up, and she’s always talking about you. I’d call her obsessed.”

It was at this moment that Marinette understood that Chloe’s hatred towards her was for a reason and that Chloe was also very, very oblivious.

“Anyway, now that it’s clear that Sabrina’s been helping, there’s no edge to the game anymore, so we might as well stop,” Chloe said, turning to the camera nearest to her and plastering on her game show host smile. “But our mission to kill the human is not over, monsters and my ladies! Tune in next time for more drama” – the cameras panned to Sabrina – “more romance” – the cameras zoomed over to Chat and Marinette – “and more bloodshed!” The cameras went back to Chloe, whose smile had not left her face even the slightest. “Until next time!” she said, saluting charmingly at the camera.

There was a blackout, and immediately after, the regular lighting of the lab returned. Marinette’s SOUL slipped back into her chest. Chloe’s game show smile dropped almost comically from her face, replaced with a cold scowl that Marinette figured was her natural facial expression.

“Release him,” Chloe ordered, and the robots holding back Chat let him go, letting him fall freely to the floor. He landed harshly on his hands and knees, his body shaking.

Marinette ran to him, this time unhindered, and she dropped to her knees beside him, touching him lightly with her fingertip only to get a small electric shock. She pulled away, glaring over at Chloe, who was examining her perfectly polished pink nails. “What did you do to him?”

“The robots are programmed to deliver a minute electric shock any time he struggled. It was really his own fault.”

It was like the world went red for a moment, and suddenly Marinette had Chloe pushed up against the wall, her hands gripping the metal lapels of Chloe’s yellow blazer so tightly that it hurt. She couldn’t even form words to express the anger inside her, so she just glared, hoping that everything was communicating through her face.

Chloe’s perfect pink lips pulled down in a scowl of distaste as she stared at Marinette, and there was a moment in which all they did was stare at each other in mutual hatred. And then Chloe lifted her metal hand and pushed Marinette away.

“Relax human, he should recover easily in the next few minutes.” She turned away from Marinette, stepping back through the hole she’d made in the wall when she first arrived. “We’ll be seeing each other soon.” And she left, her cameras following after her.

Marinette stared at the spot for a moment longer, her fists unclenching and clenching, trying to get herself under control. There was a muffled moan behind her, and she was quite suddenly reminded of the fact that Chat was on the floor and in pain.

She hurried back to him, dropping to her knees again. He had fell from his hands and knees and now was laying face down on the tile. Marinette carefully flipped him over, touching her hands to his face and wincing at the shock it gave her, but pushing through it.

Chat’s eyes were glassy, and he looked really out of it, but he seemed to focus on Marinette. “Hey,” Marinette whispered, tracing her thumb on his cheekbone. He breathed out a harsh sigh through his nose, his eyes closing. “I’m going to take this off, okay?” she asked, tapping the tape on his mouth.

He raised his arm with great difficulty, his hand shaking, and he opened his eyes long enough to find Marinette’s other hand. She took his hand, and he gave her a little squeeze, nodding his head.

And then she ripped off the tape.

“Mother f-” Chat sat straight up, almost knocking his head with Marinette’s, but she managed to move out of the way just in time. He relaxed, rubbing his mouth. “Ow.” He looked over at Marinette, his lips pulling up weakly into a grin. “That was quite a shock.”

Marinette breathed out a sigh of relief, practically tackling Chat with the force of her hug. “You’re okay,” she sighed into his neck, pulling him as close to her as physically possible.

She felt his body relax into her grip, and he wrapped his arms around her and rubbed his hands over her back soothingly. “You scared me, too, bug.”

“I know,” she whispered, and she pulled away and gave him a soft smile. “But I’m okay. You’re okay.”

“Can’t deny that,” Chat said, and he pulled her close, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “But I really hope you never do something dangerous just to prove a point ever again.”

“No promises,” Marinette said, her smile growing as he pulled away and laughed softly, shaking his head.

They helped each other stand, and when they were both on their feet, Chat leaned a little on Marinette. She let him, wrapping a hand around his waist to help keep him steady.

She looked over at Sabrina, who was blushing up to her ears and staring with a deep expression of longing. Marinette felt her cheeks grow hot, and when Sabrina noticed that Marinette was looking, Sabrina blushed even harder. “I’m very sorry,” Sabrina said, tucking her hair behind a very red ear, “ it’s just that you two are very- ah, I mean, I want- er, it’s very-” With each word she spoke, another part of her body turned invisible and her blush deepened even more.

“I get it,” Marinette said, sparing Sabrina of another moment of agony. She understood that whatever Sabrina saw with her and Chat, she really wanted to feel between her and Chloe.

“I don’t,” Chat said, and Marinette shot a glare at him. “What?” he asked, looking between her and Sabrina. “I really don’t get it.” Marinette rolled her eyes.

Sabrina was entirely invisible at this point, just a pair of red glasses and a stylishly smart outfit. “Well,” she said, clearing her throat. Marinette imagined that she just tucked her hair behind her ear. “That was certainly something.”

Marinette sighed, feeling an ache set into her bones from the shock of electricity she’d felt before. She was suddenly very tired.

“Understatement of the century.”