#it has brought me nothing but pain and suffering and I really should have stayed away from it

[asmosmainhoe]

KAYA LISTEN TO ME-

Idk if you will feel this as much as me BUT

First you have to listen to "Get in the water" from Epic the musical. (If You didn't already xD)

Second:

How will the obey me boys react to seeing the MC in the position singing this/threatening the person that for example did something terrible to a person dear to them or even killed a loved one? Would they let them do it? Would they stop them? How would they feel about it?

For the past day I can't keep thinking about anything else and now I need your help because you always get the point that I want aaaaaagskyhskdh help

MC kills someone

MC has their magical abilities here and is manipulating the ocean

I really recommend to listen to Get in the Water by Epic the Musical, but you don't have to to understand this. It's mainly for the vibes

Gender: neutral

Warnings: threats, death, angst, MC is murderous, slight spoilers about what happens after you free Belphie from the attic in Mammon's and Belphie's parts

Lucifer

He knows what you're feeling right now, but he doesn't want you to do something you might regret later on

"Are you absolutely sure?"

As a response you only shoot him a glare full of rage and sorrow. That is answer enough

"Fine then. I won't stand in your way."

The person responsible for your grief has brought this upon themselves and Lucifer refuses to intervene

He will have your back the same way his brothers had his back during the Celestial war

Maybe he should. Maybe he should keep you from taking a life, but would he react ant different if they had taken you from him? It wouldn't be fair

So he stands still at a nearby cliff, silently watching the tides rise and listening to your angry roars

The other person falls to their knees, begging for mercy which only fuels you

Lucifer can't do much except be there for you once you finish the deed and he intends to stay by your side for as long as it takes

Mammon

He's very well aware of the fact that nothing in the three realms is going to talk you out of it, but he doesn't want to see you go down this path of destruction

"MC, you're better than this!"

"What if that person had killed me? Huh, Mammon? What would you do in my position?"

He knows what he'd do. After all he once held your dead body in his arms. The image still haunts him everytime he closes his eyes

Mammon is all for making people who take things dear to him pay, but you're his sweet MC. It pains him to see you go from the kindest person he's ever met to...this

He wishes he could take all the suffering from you and go through this hell himself

The last thing he wants is lose you so he quickly pulls himself together and decides to stand by you when you do it

"You really don't have to, Mammon."

"I do. I won't let ya go through this alone."

Because wherever you go he will follow you even if you're leading him to the deepest pits of hell

Leviathan

Like Mammon he's hesitant to let you do this at first

It's just that you've never been a killer in his eyes. You're his innocent human who occasionally kicks ass when the ass deserves it, but this is entirely different

"I want to do it by the ocean."

"W-what will you do there?"

"...drown them."

Yes. Drowning. One of the most painful deaths one can experience

Levi knows it, because he feels every single life that is being taken by the tides fading. They're his tides after all

Only then he realizes how serious you are about this and how nothing will stop you from doing it

"If you do it then I want to be with you. In the water."

You stare at him silently for a few seconds until you nod

He desperately wants to be there in case you drown yourself in your own grief

Satan

No one understands the rage that you felt the day this person took the thing most dear to you like Satan does

That day he felt it through the realms. It woke him up from his sleep and made him nearly tare down the entire house of lamentation

Your wrath still pulls on him to this day. It's making him go insane and he has no idea how long he's going to be able to keep calm. If this goes on any longer he might destroy the entirety of the devildom

That's also why he doesn't disagree with you when you tell him about your murderous plans. Maybe you both will have some kind of relief

Nothing could prepare him for the day

Not only does the sea rage under your hand. Satan does as well

It's as if something knocked out all the air in his lungs and he falls to his knees, desperately trying to control his shaking body

"Get in the water!"

He can hear your screams inside his head and he is so close to kill that person with his own two hands, but he wouldn't take that from you. He couldn't

"Get in the water."

Asmodeus

People might think that Asmo doesn't understand love. That he only understand desire and attraction on a physical level

But truth be told, no one loves the way he loves

So when you tell him what you plan on doing his expression turns completely blank and he takes your hands

You can see your own determination in his eyes

"Do you really want this?"

He whispers the words, but they're still hanging loudly in the silent room

"I do."

"Very well, love. I'll go with you."

"You don't have to, Asmo. It's my business."

"Oh, my silly MC. How do you intend to raise the entire ocean without channeling a demon's magic?"

You usually channel the brothers magic on accident, because you don't feel comfortable using their powers for your own gain

Asmo's offer is different. He has a point and looks just as sure about this as you are

If you wouldn't have decided to kill the person who hurt you the most then he would have done it himself

Beelzebub

Ever since grief took over you Beel has been eating less. Seeing you in so much pain makes him feel sick to his stomach. All he does all day is worry about you so there isn't really the time to eat something either

He's of Levi's and Mammon's opinions when it comes to this. Beel doesn't want you to walk the dark path of revenge and self destruction

Belphie is living proof that the hatred doesn't end and only takes over everything that makes you...well you

Seeing his brother in such despair was bad enough, but he can't handle seeing you like this as well

But he gets it. He felt the exact same when he lost Lilith. There were less murderous intentions though

"MC, please don't. You saw what it did to Belphie-"

"And none of you stopped him."

Ouch. Even though your words hurt, Beel won't hold them against you. He knows it's the anger in you speaking and not you

Nothing will change your mind so the only thing he can do is support you and make sure you don't kill yourself in the process

Belphegor

He knows. He knows it too well and is just waiting for you to come up to him. To come up with a plan similar to his during the time he was locked up in the attic

Belphie is the last person to stop you. It simply wouldn't be right if he did, considering how he lashed out on you back then

"Use my power, MC."

"Are you sure?"

Of course you know that you don't have to ask him. If anyone would help you with this then it was him

"I owe you. For forgiving me."

You don't think twice about taking him up on his offer and the two of you immediately get to work

The sound of crashing waves is deafening, but Belphie can hear your screams loud and clear even though there is quite a distance between you and him

The murderous look on your face, the rage you wield the tides with and the lack of life in your eyes remind Belphie of himself

And the day he killed you

---

Masterlist

[mcflymemes]

ASSASSIN'S CREED III PROMPTS *  assorted dialogue from the video game, adjust as necessary

we never took them seriously. maybe we should have.

i'm getting ahead of myself.

we've been fighting them for thousands of years.

i've seen the truth.

it holds the power to change everything.

there's only so much we can do.

if we can't find a way to stop it, these next few weeks will probably be our last.

it worked. we think. we hope.

we're here. let's go.

you must find the key.

here we go again.

do you hear us?

you collapsed and entered into a fugue state.

you weren't in any danger.

i know what i'm looking for, by the way. it's a key.

i'd like to run a couple of quick tests.

have you seen it before?

my father brought me here as a child.

on to business then.

the stairs are watched. you'll need to find another way up.

you should have come to me.

for what it's worth, i'm sorry.

that's why we've called you here.

i am yours to command.

well, then i'd best be on my way.

my research has been stolen. without it, i'm of no use to you.

i'll see if i can't speed things up.

we need to find a way inside.

i believe i've found the solution to our problem.

we'll attack on my signal.

i made a promise to you, [name], one i intend to keep.

the sooner we're done, the sooner we can get out of this cold.

it does not engender peace to cut your way to resolution.

if we applied the sword more liberally and more often, the world would be a better place than it is today.

now i've upheld my part of the bargain, i expect that you will honor yours?

you seem disappointed.

you have shown me great kindness, [name]. thank you.

really? that's your response? it's like dealing with a six year old.

i sense my words cause pain.

do you even know what that symbol represents?

come on. i've got something to show you.

very well. i'll train you.

you're also going to need a new name.

what's true and what is aren't always the same.

you'll be happy to hear there's actually good news for once.

it's silly for us to go back and forth like this.

we cannot give up our home.

do you have a name? do you know who is responsible?

time will tell if you speak the truth.

why are you here? has something happened?

you should have heeded my warning.

perhaps you'll respond better to the sword.

are you threatening us?

i thought it might bring clarity or instill a sense of accomplishment. but all i feel is regret.

such sacrifices must never come lightly.

all of them must be dealt with in turn.

you speak the words, but do you believe them?

takes a true monster to do something like this.

every day i wait, more will suffer.

many who should've died today now live because of you.

we do the best we can with what we've got.

you wield your blade like a man, but your mouth like a child.

there are more important things at stake here.

i do what is right. no more. no less.

i don't even see a stall in here. what if i had to take a dump?

please just mute the microphone if you do.

life is not a fairy tale, and there are no happy endings.

in your haste to save the world, take care you don't destroy it!

our interests are aligned.

perhaps some time together might do us good.

i can kill you now if you prefer.

would you like me to come along and hold your hand, perhaps?

why the change of heart? where is this coming from?

you oppose tyranny. injustice. these are just symptoms. their true cause is human weakness.

you have said so much... but you have shown me nothing.

tell me of your latest exploits.

you have not come this far to throw it all away over misplaced sentiment.

there is nothing more to discuss.

i should have stayed.

now you must hide it.

what once was shall be again.

[mina-saiyat]

Twice Interactive Story Part 1205

No Problem (Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo)

'Welcome to the Incheon International Airport…’

It’s been days after the prince withdraw his proposal, and after the Myoui’s family finally accepted you as Mina’s boyfriend, you feel more stress for acting a perfect boyfriend in front of them. Luckily, they are quite satisfying you, although Mina still needs to stay at Japan for a while, you have to prepare the establishment of the Korean Division of the Myoui, so you back to Korea alone. You still remember how demanding Mina was last night, she sneaks into your room at night and drained you.

‘Pump a baby in Minari… Ah… Give Minari all of your cum, I am your boss now…’ Mina’s moan still occupying your mind, she is really jealous that Jihyo gonna have you as she still in Japan. You spend your time on plane to plan what you should do for the new company with your tired body, Mina’s dad is correct, Mina is just too inexperienced for in charging a regional department, which means most of the job are done by you.

You are too tired from the work and you just wanna back home. But you spot a familiar face, its Nayeon and Jeongyeon, it seems they are going for a travel.

You open up your phone and call Nayeon. "So where are you and Jeongyeon going? On a vacation?" You ask while watching her. You plan on telling her to look in you direction while you tease her.

You could not forget Nayeon’s shocked face when she sees you, she ends the call immediately.

'What are you doing here? Why are you keep stalking around me?’ Nayeon texts you right after she ends the call.

'I didn’t plan anything, it’s just the fortune that we meet today. I just comeback from my business trip.’ You reply and start walking to her. ‘That’s not my plan, really.’ You keep explain to her

'Maybe we can talk a little bit, without Jeongyeon? You know she is kind of…’ You point to a café nearby while looking at her.

'No! How dare you?’

'I am just joking, see you next time, Nayeon.’ You turn around and leave.

Seeing you have offline and really leaving, Nayeon was triggered, she has no way to release her anger that you made after you leave. ‘

Nayeom booms the message to you. ‘Yah! Who are you to treat me like that?’

'I am Im Nayeon, there are many guys that approaching me. Who do you think you are?’

'Why can you bully me like that?’

'Nabong, you ok? You seems so angry.’ Jeongyeon asks.

'Yeah, Jeongyeon. I am ok. I just want to go to toilet, help me keep my bag.’ Nayeon says as she leave her seat.

Seeing Nayeon leaves for toilet, Jeongyeon just sighs, of course she knows Nayeon is going for you, as you are the one who can make Nayeon become so emotional. ‘She takes out the phone and texts you, ‘Why can’t you stop disturbing Nayeon?’

You standing next to the column, and watch Nayeon walking around, you smile, you know she is under your control. You wave at her and tell her follow you, you plan to take her to your car again, a more private place that won’t disturb by others. Your head suddenly feel pain, but you thought you are just less of rest.

Nayeon pretends nothing happens and keep following you, but she stopped right in front of your car. She may not recognize it, as it is a new car you just brought days before your Japan trip, it’s much expensive than the previous one.

This is one of the most significant change that she can witness, when you two first start dating, you could not the rent in Seoul, you are jobless for almost a year after graduation, and the cash balance of your account could barely match her salary.

She has always being next to you and cheering you up during your hardest time, and then you get your first job, your first car and then your first house. It seems she is suffering your toughest time with you, but she cannot enjoy when you succeed.

Nayeon stun for a second, and eventually get on your car.

You secretly lock the door when Nayeon gets in, ‘There would not have a lot of people here, and the glass is transparent, they won’t see what we are doing here.’

‘What do you want again?’ Nayeon still act cold, seems already forgetting what you two talked in the ice cream shop.

"Nothing, really. I just wanted to tease you a little. You're acting so cold. Did you forget our talk last time?" You ask while poking her side. You look at her and pinch her cheek. "Have you been well?"

Nayeon’s face still so cold despite you try to act close. ‘I am well when you are not here, I can do what I wanna do.’ Nayeon starts to loss her temper, and turns around, only leaving her beautiful side face to you.

‘You really wanna like that?’ You tease her again.

‘What?’ Nayeon refuse to comply you, staring at you and say impatiently.

At the moment she finishes, your face in her eyes become much bigger as you approach her quickly, not giving her time to respond.

Nayeon instantly tense her neck and want to get away from you, the hot air you breath can hit on each other’s face, Nayeon’s heart booming like crazy, and she is just so nervous, she wants to yell but she just cant make a sound.

‘If you do what you wanna do, then I will do what I wanna do too.’ You smirk and look right into her eyes, kiss her lips lightly. You feel you are suffering from the pain, but all your focus is on Nayeon now.

Nayeon has no way to escape in the car, so she grabs the handle behind her and tries to leave. But the door was locked.

You keep teasing her’ I have locked the door.’

Seeing she has exposed, her face become more red, and the silence remains in the car. And Nayeon finally explodes. ‘Yah SI Ba’ She starts hitting your body and one of her hand squeezes your waist, making you moan painfully. You two have dated for a long time, so you two know the weakness of each other’s body so well.

You caress her neck, slowly moving one hand down to her chest. You push your tongue past her lips when you feel her resolve weaken. "Just relax, Nayeon. You wanted this before."

Nayeon slightly pushes you away when you are kissing her, you know she just pretending to resist you, if she really oppose it, you know she would bite your tongue at the first moment she could react. You end the kiss quickly, not wanting to ignite her anger, her face is red, but she squeezes your waist again.

‘Yah, why are you squeezing my waist when you angry every time? It hurts.’ You pretends to be poor, trying to ger her sympathy.

‘Then you should not make me angry!’ Nayeon still feels not enough and try to squeeze you again.

You catch her hands and kneel your head‘I am sorry.; You immediately apologize as you don’t want to suffer from the pain again.

Hearing your apologize, Nayeon moves away her hands. You reveal your clothes and heck your waist, there is already bruise on it. You look at Nayeon again, there is one moment that you want to punish her but you hold on.

You try to go on a more comfortable tone, “What if Momo sees it. I should tell her its because of you?’ You keeping looking at your waist and her, trying to tease her.

‘Its none of My business, just because you keep triggering me.’ Nayeon crosser her arm, surprised by your shameless.

‘Yeah, I am sorry.’ You know what she wanna hear so you say sorry again.

‘Are you still mad with me now?’ You ask carefully’ I thought we solve it at the ice cream shop..’

‘I never forgive you.’ Nayeon stares at you directly. ‘You know I don’t want to…’

‘I know’ You stop her ‘You know I won’t let go.’ You look at her with a staunch eyes.

Nayeon turns around as she does not have the courage to directly face you. How would she not understand what you want, everything happens after your break up is making you leave a deeper impression in her heart, instead of leaving her heart like a pair of normal broken up couple.

‘So what can we do? Tell me what can I do? What can Momo do? What can your other girlfriends do?’ The long term effort of you has make her hate and opposing attitude start to ease, but it doesn’t mean she is accepting you.

‘Trust me, Nayeon. Just Trust me. I will take care of everything. I am not the old me already.’ You say to her confidently. But the pain in your head is becoming more significant, you tense your whole body to pretend you are alright.

‘Talking cannot solve anything.; Nayeon says peacefully.

‘But trust is important, especially for couple… friends’ You change the words after seeing Nayeon stares at you.

‘If nothing else I will leave now.’ Another result-less meeting makes her feel tired.

‘Not angry now?’ You asks carefully, you would stop her when it is normal, but your headache forced you to let her go.

‘I am not angry, I just wanna thanks god that you are not bringing trouble to me again.’ Nayeon looks helpless and slightly shakes her head. Admitting she is not angry anymore means that she is overthrowing herself, but she knows if she says she is angry you won’t let her go.

Hearing her answer makes you feel relax, your pain seems taking over your body, you grab her hand and rub her fingers, missing how her hands feel like. ‘Enjoy you trip with Jeongyeon.’ You farewell her.

‘I will…’ Nayeon answers and try to free her hand from yours with a light movement.

You pull her in and kiss her cheek before unlocking the door for her. You'll watch her walk away before starting Your drive to Mina's home. The pain in your head is still there, and you decide to just rest when I get there.

But you didn’t make it, the last you see before you blackout is Nayeon’s worried face. She seems like she is screaming but you cannot hear it.

Your consciousness was in a muddle, and you fell into a dark and boundless world. You don't know how long it took. The consciousness gradually became clear from the darkness.

Faint voices could be heard coming from all directions. "The patient hasn't woken up yet. According to the seriousness of his illness, he should at least rest for a week, and we'll check the exact time after he wakes up."

"Pay attention to a light diet, and don't give him any irritating foods."

"Kimchi is not acceptable."

You were hazy, your eyes gradually opened a gap, and the lights on the ceiling were a little dazzling, which made you frown uncontrollably.

The field of vision in front of you gradually expanded, and the double images in front of your eyes gradually overlapped and stabilized, finally becoming real.

You felt uncomfortable all over your body, and your body was so weak that you couldn't use your strength. The needle inserted in the back of your hand was injecting fluid, and you could clearly feel the drip of liquid being slowly injected into your arm. You were lying flat on the hospital bed, you could only see the empty ceiling. You tried to raise your neck to look at your surroundings.

Your light movement alarms Momo, she let out an overjoyed voice 'Honey', fixed her eyes on you who had just woken up. Nayeon 's face shows a complex emotion when she hears Momo calling you honey.

Your eyes were tense, you bit your lip slightly, and your breathing slowed down. Momo's cry instantly attracted the attention of others, and they stopped talking with the nurse and turned their heads to look. You felt very uncomfortable at this time, physically uncomfortable, so when you saw the three sitting beside your hospital bed, you didn't have the mind to think about any messy intrigue. Seeing you struggling to lift your head, the nurse stepped forward and put a pillow behind your head so that you could lie comfortably.

You blink a few times and look at each of them for a few seconds before closing your eyes and pretending to be unconscious again. It's only after they nudge you that you open your eyes again. "So, how's everyone doing?" You say after not being able to come up with anything else to say.

Momo hugs your arm and leans to you, 'I am so worried, baby. I am really so afraid you would leave me.' Momo sounds like she is going to cry. You noticed Nayeon acts unnatural when she sees Momo acts so close with you.

You pat her head to comfort her and ask,' What exactly happens to me?'

'The doctor said your body is so intense for the last few days, and after the stress is gone, your body is too tired, so you gone back out.' Nayeon answers slowly.

'You still can't take care of yourself? You are an adult already.' Jeongyeon glazing you. 'You ruin my trip with Nayeon.'

'If he is awake then we should leave some place for the cheaters.' Jeongyeon says as she keeps glazing at you and Momo. Momo hugs you tighter when she feels Jeongyeon's anger.

'Jeongyeon, let's stay for a little longer. I want to talk to Dahyun, too.' Nayeon answers

You pat Momo's back. "Well, thank you for getting me here, Nayeon. I'm sorry for causing you trouble. You too, Jeongyeon." After a little bit, you look to Momo. "Momo, you can let me go now. I'm not dying."

'I feel disgusting when I stay in the same room with cheaters. I will wait for you outside, Nabong.' Jeongyeon says as she leaves the room.

You drink a little of water that Momo feeds you, but you still feel weak.' Thank you. I don't know what will happen if you are not sending me to the hospital.'

Nayeon bites her lips. 'No need to thanks, no matter who gets down, I will send him to the hospital.' You sit between Momo and Nayeon, trying to start some conversations to end the embarrassing atmosphere.

'Maybe I should get some rest during work next time, haha.' You look at them and say.

'Don't push yourself too hard, I will be there for you.' Momo hugs you again, and her worried face makes you realize how much she loves you. You feel so warm.

Seeing you two acting close in front of her, Nayeon feels unwell, but she keeps it in her heart. At this moment, the nurse comes back with the form and hand it to Nayeon, 'You are his girlfriend, right? Please sign the form.' Nayeon keeps silence and sit stills. Momo glazes between Nayeon and the form. You know it's time for you to come out, so you tell Nayeon to give the form to you and sign yourself.

The nurse reminds you something that you need to be aware of before leaving. Both Momo and Nayeon are still silence, seems having deep thoughts in their mind.

Momo takes a deep breath. it seems she has just made a big decision. 'Honey, let me get you some food. You must be hungry.' She squeezes your hand slightly and glazes at Nayeon before she moves to the door.

You look at Momo with disbelief. Is she willing to let you stay here alone with Nayeon? Being a normal person, you know what it means. Momo is giving you space with Nayeon. It is good news for you.

Nayeon also looks at Momo with a surprised face and stands up immediately. 'Let me go.' You hold her clothes slightly enough to pull her back on the seat, not allowing her to leave.

'I will be right back.' Momo grabs the door handle, looks at Nayeon naturally before she leaves.

When the door is fully closed, Nayeon asks nervously,' What are you doing?' She is confused in the situation. After talking with you so many times, she still can't find an answer for herself. She could just pretend she is aggressive to you.

'I have things that I want to talk to you.' You look right at her eyes with confidence.

"First off, thanks again, Nayeon. It's just like you to always be there for me." You slowly take her hand in your own. "You know, as I was fading away. I thought that if the last thing I saw was you, I'd be pretty happy. Seeing you scream as I passed out, though, made me realize. It's not just you I'd want to see. It's your smile." You inch closer to Nayeon and put your forehead against hers. "I still love you, Im Nayeon." Before she can say anything, you let go of her and wrap your arms around her. "I love you."

Nayeon seems panic and tries to push you away.

'Do you understand, Nayeon?' You look at her with love. 'Our love can conquer everything, no matter how far we are apart.’

Nayeon's heart is biting faster when she hears you confess again, but besides being happy, she feels pain in the heart more.

Nayeon keeps looking at you and finally answers you, 'It's too late to talk about these. You have a girlfriend already.'

"I do, you." You say reminding her of the form. You cup her cheeks and put your forehead to hers. "Nayeon, I love you. It’s okay."

You purposely cough a few times before continuing, showing Nayeon how weak you are right now. Expectedly, Nayeon shows you care immediately and asks,' Are you ok?' She says while pat your back.

'Let me finish even though I am not ok.' You give her a warm smile. 'All my words are from the bottom of my heart, I never be so honest to you.' You know it's a perfect time to use your illness, Nayeon will trust anything you say right now.

'But Momo... I can't do it like that...' Nayeon still cannot accept to share you with others.

However, you know she is just hesitant, you are on the edge of breaking her mental defense, with one more strike you can get what you want.

Nayeon wants to stop you, but seeing you cough again makes her heart stop. This kiss makes her think about you again.

You grab her hand and put it on your chest, let her feel your heartbeat. 'All matters are you and me.' You keep seducing her. It's the first step to let her accept and share you with Momo. If she can do it, you can play tricks on her bottom line easily.

Nayeon's heart is indecisive. Her mind is battling, and she is seriously considering the possibility. 'Should I do that? Can I really do it?' She asks her heart.

The cute face of Nayeon is losing her soul. She falls into deep thoughts.

You slowly get her between your arms and whispers,' I really want you to come back to me. I miss you so much.'

'You don't need to do anything. Just let me do it. I won't let you have any sadness.' Your words like a knife, strike direct to her heart and totally destroy it.

You look at her lips, you can't hold on and kiss her again, all her courage to resist you disappear when you insert her hair with your fingers.

She gives up everything and lets you take the lead. She looks at your face before closing her eyes, just focusing on the sensation of this kiss.

You have kissed three times after you break up, the first one under her home is full of anger, the second one in the ice cream shop is full of passion and lust, but this time, just pure love.

You grab her closer while you see she totally let you control her body, you know you succeed, Nayeon eventually gives up her self-esteem and back to you.

You break the kiss slowly and tilt her head back. "Nayeon, I love you. I'll take care of you." You take her hand and kiss her forehead. "You've had a rough day. Why don't you go get some rest?"

'Umm... I want to wait for Dahyun.' Nayeon whispers. Nayeon just makes the decision under you seduce, she need times to accept it.

'What are we now?' Nayeon asks nervously.

"Together. If you’re not going on your trip anymore. Why don't we go out sometime?" You respond as I give Nayeon a quick kiss. You laugh a little. "It would be kind of funny if I played dead when Dahyun got here, wouldn't it?" You say to change the topic.

'No... Dahyun is really worried about you. You can't do that.' Nayeon slightly slabs your arm. 'Aren't you sick now? Why can you still think of these naughty ideas?'

'Because I want to make you happy, Nayeon.' You grab her for a kiss again. You two have been missing each other for so long, so you keep having Skinship with Nayeon.

The door opened suddenly, and you and Nayeon quickly separated, pretending nothing had happened. Momo sits beside you and takes out the lunch box. Start to feed you. 'You must be hungry, honey.' Momo says.

You secretly peek at Nayeon and see she looks nervously, avoiding looking at you two. Probably, she doesn't know how to face Momo. Her boyfriend was stolen by Momo and now she steals the boyfriend from Momo again. The complex situation is kind of embarrassing.

'The doctor said you can't eat too full, just feeling not hungry is ok.' Nayeon reminds you when she sees you keep eating.

'But if I don't make myself full, I will keep feeling hungry.' You pour your face and act poor to Nayeon.

Nayeon shuts up and bites her lips. From her eyes, you can see that she probably feel you being annoying again.

Momo seems noticed some uncommon between your interactions with Nayeon, but she keeps it in her mind.

"Still, thanks for worrying." You take some of the food and feed Momo a piece and then offer a piece to Nayeon. "Have you eaten yet? You can always have a piece. I'll at least try to follow the doctor’s orders."

Nayeon looks at Momo playfully before accepting your feeding, you are not sure is she trying to get Momo’s jealousy, you could just try to be fair between them. You keep feeding them rather eat yourself, making a slightly balance between them.

‘Oppa!’ Dahyun knocks the door before she comes in, she seems not as worried as Nayeon and Momo, perhaps she knows that you have worried already. ‘Hello, Nayeon eooni… and this is?’ Dahyun greets Nayeon and looks at Momo curiously. You forgot that Momo is always your secret lover and no one knows your relationship wit her except, Nayeon.

‘Oh, so your “girlfriend” haven’t met your sisters yet?’ Nayeon smirks and teases you, you can feel Momo squeeze your hands when Nayeon is challenging her. You try to function your brain and find a solution for this.

You put the food into Momo's lap, stand up, and kiss Dahyun's forehead before whispering, "These two are fighting." You mess up Dahyun's hair, "I'm sorry to worry you, Dubu. I guess the trip wore me out more than I thought, but at least I'll be resting for a week."

'Should I tell Jihyo eooni don't come for now?' Dahyun whsipers back.

'Honey, are you going to introduce me to your sister?' Momo stands next to you and hook your arms

"No, it's fine. This is going to be a mess no matter what." You kiss her cheek. "Still, I'm glad to see you, Dubu." You look to Momo for a second before looking at Nayeon. "Dahyun, this is Momo. Momo, Dahyun." You look back at Nayeon. "Nayeon, what was it the nurse was saying about your relation to me?"

Nayeon tries to prevent your slight, she turns around and answer.’ The hospital need someone to sign the form, and it has to be your legal relatives or… or your girlfriend… I am not both of them so I told her to comeback later.’

‘You can give me to sign it, I am Y/N’s girlfriend.’ Momo looks at Nayeon and says. You see Nayeon tries to argue back, but she just could not let those words leaves her mouth, she turns glazes at you, telling you to manage your girlfriend.

‘Momo eooni is your girlfriend? Oppa?’ Dahyun looks at you surprised, ‘ Well, if you are all good now, I guess I will be back tomorrow.; Dahyun turns around and wants to escape from this embarrassment, she did not expect your still having woman outside..

You pull Dahyun back and hug her from behind, "No, you don't, Dubu. You're staying here, we have to catch up after all. That reminds me, does Chaeyoung know what's happened?"

‘Chaeyoung told me she could not find you, I just lied to her you are resting.’ Dahyun asks in shaked voice. ‘Oppa, could you please let me go, I don't know how to handle this right now.’

Both Nayeon and Momo can't hear what Dahyun said, but they seems confused why you are acting so close with her, much more than siblings.

‘Dahyun ar, long time no see, maybe we can have some talk?’ Nayeon stands up and walks to you and Dahyun.

You let go of Dahyun, "Yeah, you two should catch up. Tell her about your job." You'll take a seat on my hospital bed and pat the area next to you to signal to Momo to sit.

Nayeon and Dahyun leave the room, and Momo helps you walk back to the bed. However, she does not sit next to you. She directly sits on your lap and hugs you tightly. You could feel her nipples rubbing your skin, 'You do not wear the bra?' You ask surprisingly.

'Honey, I was in a hurry, so...' Momo gives you a deep kiss. You two touch each other's body passionately as your hand goes down.

You don't know if they are planned, but Nayeon and Momo's round by round skinship is making you turned on.

'Seems your sister doesn't like me a lot?' Momo asks as she laying between your arms and let your hands play with her bodies. The red on her face shows you that she is kind of needy now.

"She just needs to get to know you, Momo. But the touching probably won't help you." You start to poke Momo's sides while she sits on your lap. "I hope you thought of something fun we can do. Now that I'm back." You say to her.

'The only one who doesn't like I touch you will be Nayeon.' Momo smirks and leans you closer, let you to touch her body more comfortably. 'We are doing something fun already, isn't it?'

Momo can feel your bulge is poking her thigh, and she is already starting to wet. You desperately want to punish her for being naughty, but you know the health of your body is more important and you don't know about it.

Seeing Momo being more needy than you, you squeeze her tits hardly, forcing Momo to moan, and then you whisper to her. ' We can not do that right now.'

'I know... But I want you... Maybe I should visit you every day, to take care of you as your girlfriend, and when they are not here...' Momo blushes while imagining how you two could have fun in the hospital.

"I could always use some help." You say while you rub my head into her neck. "Now, what kind of plans did you come up with?" You ask again, wanting to see if she did as you told her.

‘Honey, I got some real big plans for you, but we will do it when you feel better.’ Momo smirks and squeeze your bulge. ‘so you need to take some good rest first, ok?’ You body jerks when she caresses you, seeing you are so excited for her Momo is so happy so she kisses you again.

The buzz from your phone stops the kiss, you break the kiss and check the message. It’s Dahyun that tells you that she has left with Nayeon already, and she has told Jihyo to come tomorrow.

Seeing Nayeon has left already, Momo wants to stay with you overnight at the hospital but you rejected. ‘Didn’t you say I should get some rest? If you are staying here, I can’t do it. You know I can’t resist you, Momo.’ You tease her.

‘ok then… I will visit you again.” Momo reluctantly packing her things and ready to go. ‘Take care of yourself, honey…’ Momo caresses your forehead before leaving, you finally have some personal place where none of your girls are here.

You lay your head down and rest, taking the chance of not having anyone around to sleep.

[lovelybrooke]

Bro, you don't understand the amount of brainrot you gave me from your HSR × GI crossover fic.

Cause like any generic person scrolling through the Yandere HSR tag, I came across your concept and was like, "Wow, that's cool!" It's not really common to see crossover fics between two of my favorite games, so I jumped at the chance and devoured your concept like my life depended on it. (I've already re-read it a few times since then 💀)

And your fic has taught me one thing about myself that I hadn't known prior to reading your concept...

I think I might have an addiction to angst 🤧

If ya wanna read my angsty thoughts, here they are:

When I first read your fic (or concept), I defaulted to a human reader, but then I was like, what about an immortal reader? (I.E. Adepti)

Cause here me out, the archon war was a devastating event, and during that time, it was kill or be killed. And if the reader (or darling) was present during that time, then they have most definitely experienced great loss watching as the friends they've known for so long dissappear from view and even after the war they still experience losses from the mortals they've grown close with when traversing across the nations.

And, of course, they end up in the HSR-verse, which is exceptionally cruel cause not only have they lost all their current friends but also getting forcefully ripped apart from their home.

Then, of course, they were found by Himeko and Welt, then brought the reader aboard the Astral express, and the rest is history within your concept.

Isn't it just cruel that the people you thought were your friends suddenly turned their back to your desires of going back to your homeland? 🥺

Anyway, Poll time:

I don't believe this is really important to add on, but it's an FYI... kinda... but I ended up choosing cryo (really hard choice between cryo and anemo, but Ganyu and Shenhe pulled me through on this one), and for the weapon, I didn't really know what to pick so I ended up picking polearm cause... Shenhe and Dan Heng...

What do you take away/gain from this?:

Absolutely nothing 💯💯💯💯💯 (I think)

What did I learn?:

Apparently, my first language wasn't Spanish, but actually, pain and suffering. 💀

What did I gain from this?:

My thoughts have been let free, and finally, my brain can (hopefully) turn off for a moment. (This can't happen. I get brainrots at 2am.)

Also, another fanfic writer who actually writes for my special interest (I.E. Spiderverse, Demon Slayer, TLOU)

That's all, I'm out!

- uhhhhhh, idk what I should sign with...

Number one, I’m super happy that you enjoyed the concept. Honestly when I released it I didn’t think people would enjoy it because how different both the games are, so I’m happy to see that people like it.

Number two, I do agree that reader being immortal would be really interesting. For the series, reader is going to stay human, but I do like the idea of reader being an Adeptis. Imagine the reader filled with guilt over the loss of their friends, attempting to protect their new ones even if it means their life. They’d feel as though it’s the only thing they can do to pay them back for helping them adapt to this strange world. Is definitely an interesting ideas.

(Also, if I’m being honest, I voted myself for Dendro and Claymore because they’re my favorites. But don’t let that sway your votes. I’m really interested in what the results will be).

[z0-ne]

Christmas time (Fish eyes! Uncle illumi x child reader! platonic)

Dead dove: do not eat - Mentions of emotional abuse, physical, scars, suicidal thoughts kidnapping and isolation. Read with caution!

It's a Holiday. A Holiday I should celebrate, or at least I should be celebrating. I should be happy I've finally found my way out of that wretched room.

My nails are bent and some hanging onto the skin by a thread, but I am free of that cold dark room.

My feet may be bare, the snow stings at my toes, freezing my nerves and causing me to shiver, but I don't have to worry about the cruel gaze of those empty black eyes. The ones that stare at me, unblinking, unfeeling as I am whipped for failing to win his sick games or the games of his accomplice.

I'm alone, but I am alive. I am older than I was when I was brought here. I am no longer that small child, sobbing their days away with a grumbling stomach. A ten year old child stands in their place.

I have learned my way around that house, but it was easier in the summer to track a way out. With the snow piling, nearly reaching up to my knees with every step, the wind harsh and unforgiving as more snow covers my line of sight.

Winter is cold and merciless.

I keep going. I'm not sure what I am really looking for at this point, I want a way out. But I cant tell if I'm closer or further from my goal. What will I do once I think I'm safe?

Will I run? Will I simply hide away? If I hide where would I hide? As far as Im concerned there isnt another sign of life for miles, and the winter is much to harsh for me to make it to town just to get others killed like....

Like I did all that time ago. The memories of her dead corpse, her lifeless body hiting the ground, how she painted the grass red with her blood. It haunts me to this day, and I know it should.

He's told me, so many times. Nothing would've happened had I simply stayed where I was told to be. Had I not let my curiosity- no, my stupidity get to me, I wouldn't have led her to her death.

At first, I was in denial, I tried to push away my thoughts of accountability, burying them under false thoughts that I was simply a child.

Excuses. Thats what it was, and I am much to old for those now. So where can I go? What can I do? I can not go to another, for the fear of killing someone else for my own selfish needs is far too much for me to bare.

The snow grows taller, and my body grows colder. However I keep walking, for some reason I don't stop. Its like my body won't let me.

The body that should be dead, but stays alive only by taking from others. I should've died that day. Not her, not my Nanny, such a kind selfless soul, even in her last moments she did nothing but give while all I did was stand by and take.

I took her chance of life away once I ran, I took it away once I stayed still instead of running back to her and pleading to go home.

'Home.'. I think to myself, my breath hitches as my heart stops for just a moment. What is that at this point? Is it the place where I am beaten for allowing my steps to be heard in the halls?? Where I am told I should feel guilty for being alive when if given the chance I'd gladly fix my mistake?

Is it the place where I thought I'd be happier, surrounded with my siblings, my parents, in a warm area with a fire infront of me to keep me warm. Food on the stove, the smell of it enough to make my mouth water and my stomach grumble.

A place where my birth was a blessing instead of a curse. Where my life is celebrated and I am not punished for every breath I take.

Do I...even deserve such a place? I've taken from them, a life. Its no wonder they haven't come for me yet. It has been four years, and not even a single sign. New scars, deeper and more painful are placed upon me everyday, and they're likely joined together by the fire enjoying its gentle warmth.

While I am suffering in the rough hands of the cold. The snow at my knees, my eyes squinted, I can hardly feel my face now. If I were to cry, my tears would likely freeze.

As I continue to drag my feet through the snow, I see something in the distance- no not something. Someone, it is...my fathers shadow? All the way out here?

I hear his distant call, his voice so familiar it has to be him. 'No, I shouldn't waste his time...my uncle...says I'm a nuisance to them.' I think, attempting to remind myself that I no long have a place there.

However, I hear his voice call out to me once more, and my body reacts despite my mind screaming for it to give up. My legs picking themselves up as they force themselves through the snow.

A loud crunch as I stomp through it, only to trip over my leg, I fall forward but that doesn't matter, my body keeps moving, my arms flailing around aimlessly to keep moving despite knowing I shouldn't bother.

He's there, he's so close and I see it. I imagine the warmth of his hug, how it felt to be engulfed in his arms and swung around as if it was a miracle to see me and i longed for that love again.

So I kept going. I got closer, and closer, squinting my eyes as the wind grew more harsh. Once close enough, I reached out yelling at his back, hoping to grab onto the fabric and catch his attention. So he'd lift me into his arms and hold me once more.

"Dad!" I call out but I an disappointed, my eyes opened wide, my vision clears as the wind stops-- no time itself seemed to stop. It wasn't the back of my father, nor the shadow of Gon or my mother

No, it was but a lonely tree. No lights. No ornaments. Nothing. Its trunk was buried into the snow, and only the green is visible.

In an instance, I feel my heart shatter, and I fall to my knees as the wind blows once more, gently moving the leafs of the tree, swaying back and forth.

Another case of denial. Why would they come for me? Why would they ever even for a moment consider bringing me back when I've only caused problems in their lives?

Even when I know I don't deserve a home, even when I know I don't deserve their love, or their warmth. I still have those selfish thoughts, those pointless wishes.

I look down, my hands numb and covered in snow. I'm so cold...but I deserve it. I don't deserve the warmth. I look at my arms and wrist, covered in welts and bruises from my punishments, atoning for my actions.

A little pain in comparison to my Nanny loosing her life... I have been far too lucky.

My eyelids are growing heavy, and so is the rest of my body. I shiver as I loose feeling in my trembling bones. 'I should've...died that day....I should die now...' I think to myself as I lay in the snow, underneath that lonely tree.

While my vision has gone black, I can hear footsteps approaching in the distance. As I wish for death, I know a fate much worse awaits me once he arrives.

The winter may be cruel and merciless, but it can also be beautiful and kind unlike my Uncle.

Illumi, more cruel than winter, and anything I've ever known, and as my mind fades. I can only hope to be selfish one more time and not wake up the next day.

(BONUS! [Just in case you want a kinda happy ending])

Honestly, I've only dealt with two children as... stupid as this one.

What child, would run off in the middle of a blizzard and in the dead of night none the less?

I have been walking for hours, questioning why I am doing this for some child who isn't really my responsibility. I never said we should kidnap them. I was done with raising children after their mother.

Alas, their potential did catch my attention, not to mention the odd sense of dejavu I get when I look at them.

I have a coat, and clothes to cover up, but I didn't think I'd be hunting down a preteen so late at night, by myself nonetheless.

'Being left to babysit and I've lost it in the middle of a blizzard. How lovely-' I think to myself, before I pause. I see them, just as they fall face first into the snow.

I sigh, shaking my head as I walk through the snow, it crunches beneath my feet as i get closer to them. Once close enough, there they are. Curled up in the snow,, trembling.

Again, I get a sense of dejavu. Its the worse times when they look most like their mother to me. They're just as troublesome as she was, I grunt as I bend down, picking them up by the scuffle of their shirt and hoist them over my shoulder.

"You should be lucky that Illumi didn't find you." I say with a chuckle, the child is unconscious, although if illumi had found them instead of me a punishment would await them once they wake.

"Take this act of mercy as your "present" from me."

However, judging by their frozen skin, and trembling body I'm sure the winter was punishment enough.

[saras-devotionals]

Quiet Time 5/25

What Am I Feeling Today?

I pray that you all forgive me! I’ve completely fell off with posting my quiet times and I feel horrible about it! I want to be held accountable and I will try my absolute best to go back to posting daily! Also, I’m feeling a bit stressed because I have a trip coming up and I’ve never been that far from home and the day after I come back I start my new job so if you could all pray for me to have peace of mind and trust that God will allow everything to align the way it’s supposed to, I’d really appreciate it.♥️

Ruth 1 NIV

(v. 5) “both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.”

‭‭I felt like reading the book of Ruth because I wished to know more about the women in the Bible and the role they played. I wish to be encouraged by them and to mimic their great qualities. This stood out to me because Naomi left her home town because of famine with her family and now they’re all dead, my heart hurts for her, it’s must’ve been a terrible grief to deal with.

(v. 6-10) “When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah. Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the Lord show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.” Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.””

It’s sweet to know that she at least had her two daughters in law but I understand where she was coming from. They were still young (I assume), they could’ve stayed in Moab because that’s where they’re from, they could’ve found other husbands, they were under no obligation to go with Naomi.

(v. 14) “At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.”

Correct me if I’m wrong but there wasn’t anything inherently wrong about Orpah leaving? She was given a choice and she had free will, I don’t see that there was at all a ‘wrong’ decision that could’ve been made.

(v. 16-18) “But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.”

This really speaks to how much Ruth loved and trusted Naomi! She was willing to leave her whole life behind and go and follow her and her God and to stay with her. This is admirable, to have this sort of connection and relationship. In a sense, I believe it’s how we should view God, that nothing should be able to urge us away from Him!

(v. 19-21) “So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?” “Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.””

For reference, Naomi means pleasant and Mara means bitter. She was bitter because of the deaths of her husband and sons. I can’t understand the pain she must’ve gone through but we’re instructed not to hold on to bitterness, it hardens our hearts, and even in trials and suffering we’re meant to praise God through it all. I know that’s easier said than done but also, would you rather rely and trust in His love? Or allow yourself to be consumed by bitterness, anger, and grief?

[dialovers-translations]

DIABOLIK LOVERS LOST EDEN Vol.2 Kino Saga [TRACK 5]

Original title: 欲しがる理由

Source: Diabolik Lovers LOST EDEN Vol.2: Kino-hen

Audio: Here

Seiyuu: Tomoaki Maeno

Translator’s note: It has been a while since I actually translated this CD so I have forgotten some things, but I do recall being very fascinated by Kino’s backstory. I just wish Rejet was a little more clear about what exactly he is but maybe I will learn more when I eventually play his Lost Eden route. :p Speaking of which, I’m sure this CD has some spoilers for his route but I don’t really mind. I recall translating some of Carla and Shin’s CDs long before playing either one of their routes as well. 

→  LIKE MY TRANSLATIONS? SUPPORT ME ON KO-FI!

Track 1 ll Track 2 ll Track 3 ll Track 4 ll Track 5

TRACK 5: WHY I WANT YOU

*Rustle*

“Nn…”

*Rustle rustle*

“Nnh…Ahー I must have dozed off at some point. Pwaah…The taste of her blood still lingers on my tongue. Perhaps I overindulged a little?”

*Rustle*

“Hmー As to be expected, she’s out for the count.”

*Knock knock*

“Yes?”

Yuuri informs him on the Sakamakis retreat to the Demon World. 

“Heehー Those guys just made a run for it, huh? I guess they went to the Demon World. …Well, it makes sense. With six of them, it’s difficult to hide.”

You ask if he’s talking about the Sakamakis.

“ーー Whoops. Ahーah. How long have you been awake for?”

You sigh in relief.

“I would have liked to keep it a secret from you for just a little longer. Look at you being so relieved.”

*Rustle*

“Hey! This is your fault Yuuri! …Well, I guess it can’t be helped now that she heard. However, knowing that, I suppose it’s about time we get started with the preparations.”

You tilt your head to the side.

“I mean, those guys will definitely come to steal you back, won’t they? That’s why I need to be ready to strike back when they do. …One of them has even inherited Father’s powers.”

You ask Kino what he hopes to achieve.

“Hah? What? Isn’t that obvious? …I will become the King of the Demon World.”

You ask him why.

“Don’t sweat the details. You really think there’s anyone out there who would pass up on such an opportunity? Besides, I want power. Overwhelming…powers…”

You try to convince Kino that those powers are not what he might think.

“What exactly are you trying to tell me? Inheriting those powers only brought the guy pain and suffering? I mean, I’m sure it’s because he’s simply not cut out for them.”

You elaborate.

“Please don’t group us together. I’m nothing like those who enjoyed a good, fortunate upbringing free from any worries…I was abandoned in the Demon World’s Land of the Unwanted alongside the Ghouls, only to be discriminated against and resented by other Demons. And if that wasn’t bad enough, even the Ghouls…! Anyway, I’d be able to pull it off. I will be able to wield those powers correctly. The Vampire, Vibora, Adler and even the Wolf Clan…I will use those powers to annihilate all of them! Ahaha…Hahaha…”

Your eyes widen in terror.

“Don’t worry. I’ll let you stay alive. I kind of need you to be by my side when I claim sovereignty over the Demon World after all. Besides, your blood is sweet and delicious as well.”

You frown and question his words from earlier. 

“Oh, I still hate you, for sure. But that doesn’t matter, does it?”

Yuuri enters the room.

“Yuuri. We are going to make the first move again. Just like how we did when we murdered Lord Richter. ー I’m just not the waiting type. …Let us dye the moon crimson with blood once again tonight.”

You ask Kino if he is the culprit behind Richter’s death.

“Exactly. I’m the one who killed Lord Richter. That guy had the nerve to seek me out himself and approach me. I guess he assumed he could use me to achieve his own goals. But too bad, I taught him a lesson and he paid with his life. I really enjoyed the look in his eyes during his final moments.”

Your face goes pale.

“Fufu…~ I guess you’re shocked to find out about his death? But he was a Vampire, remember? So he should have been glad to meet his end. No need for you to be so shocked.”

You grab hold of Kino’s arm and ask him what he wants to do.

*Rustle* 

“Tsk…Isn’t that obvious? I told you before, didn’t I? I want to get my hands on those powers and bring an end to all Demons. If you understand that, let go of me. …No point in trying to stop me.”

Kino leaves the room.

*SCENE SHIFT*

“Yuuri, I want you to keep an eye on her. I honestly wouldn’t put it past her to try and jump out of the window again. I can handle those Sakamakis by myself just fine.”

Yuuri tells him to be careful. 

“Yeah, yeah. I won’t do anything reckless. I’ll make sure to have some alleys by my side, just in case. I won’t lose that easily. …Unlike those guys, I have a proper goal I’m working towards.”

Yuuri nods.

“Well then, I’m leaving her in your care, Yuuri.”

 The wind blows in the distance.

( After speaking those words, I leaped off into the night sky alongside my Ghoul comrades. When I did, I couldn’t help but catch sight of the lights flickering on the land. From my point of view, those lights looked incredibly pure and beautiful. Like someone had scattered konpeito all across the ground. It almost gave me the impression that stars had fallen down on this place. Yet, at such a lovely place, those Demons who think they can trample all over us are hidden. It’s rather odd that as soon as I realize that, an unstoppable urge to massacre them right here and now wells up inside of me. 

ーー I start seeking out other Demons from up in the air. It shouldn’t be that difficult to track them down. The fact that this is not the Demon World plays in my favor, since they’re more likely to forget to conceal their presence. I am sure that they consider this place to be some kind of Paradise as well. )

“...I guess I really have no other choice but to put the trash where it belongs. ーー In the garbage bin, that is.” 

*Woosh* 

*TIMESKIP*

Kino enters his manor.

“I’m back!”

He plops down on the couch.

*Thud*

“Phew…”

Yuuri approaches him.

“Ah, Yuuri. How is she doing?”

He explains.

“A shower, huh? I guess she finally realizes that there’s no way out for her.”

Yuuri asks how things went. 

“Ah, unfortunately, I couldn’t find those Sakamakis today. This blood belonged to some random Vampire. They had been living amongst humans, so I killed them.”

He suggests that Kino takes a bath.

“Ahー You do make a good point. Guess I can’t stay covered in blood like this…I suppose I should go freshen up. I’m sure she has left the bathroom by now, right?”

Kino gets up.

“Mmh. Well then, Yuuri, I expect you to bring me my guava juice?”

He leaves towards the bathroom. 

*Thud* 

*Pshhhhh*

“...Oh? She’s still in there? Quite the long bath she’s taking then. Hmー Oh well, whatever. No need to hold back at this point. We can just take a bath together.”

Kino takes off his clothes. 

*Rustle rustle* 

“...Hey! You’re in the bath, right? I’ll join you as well. ー Eh? No reaction? Boring!”

He approaches the shower area. (1)

“Say, aren’t you going to at least freak out a little or get all embarrassed?”

*Knock*

“Hey…!”

*Knock knock*

“I’m coming in, okay?”

Kino opens the door. 

“Huh…? There’s nobody here?”

*TIMESKIP*

“I wonder who took her away?”

Yuuri apologizes once more.

“It’s fine. I’m sure you never expected her to disappear from the shower, did you? Besides, only a Demon capable of controlling space would be able to pull that off. Which means it has to be those guys…Things were going a little too well. I made myself known to her and I’m sure she will tell them all about me. I mean, it isn’t really my style to do things behind other people’s backs…so this honestly works in my favor. Next time, I’ll go and get Eve in person. I’m honestly looking forward to it already. …But no need to rush. Hahn…”

*Nom* 

*Crunch*

“I am sure that the stars will guide us. ーー Just like they did back then, remember?”

( While thinking so, I bit down on the sweetness of the konpeito spreading across my tongue. ーー While the sweet melody of this world falling apart echoes in the back of my mind. )

ーー THE END ーー

Translation notes

(1) Most Japanese bathrooms consist of two separate areas with a door in between. The first area is used to take off your clothes while the second is where the shower area and tub are.

[mageofseven]

Repressed Love: A DiaLuci Love Story

Chapter 3

Third chapter is here! Here's your tags too! @astroseuss @zarakem

•▪︎▪︎◇°●♡●°◇▪︎▪︎•

Lucifer had no appetite. Although his physical symptoms disappeared thanks to Lord Diavolo's presence, there was only so much the prince could do in regards to his emotions and since the pride demon had left House of Lamentation, he hadn't exactly been too chatty.

Diavolo was there when his love told his brothers the situation, about the child and how he will be staying at the castle for a while. His physical presence was all the man could offer, however. Like always, Lucifer preferred handling his brothers on his own and Dia respected that as always. Still, it was heartbreaking to hear Satan say such things to Lucifer.

The blonde...reacted just as poorly to the news as one would expect. Another child? Being brought into this world the same way he was? The wrath demon could not think of a worse crime. After all, he lived it. Wasn't what he went through enough? Why must another child have to suffer?

Satan was furious and transformed. He told Lucifer that he was a heartless, spineless man who didn't know how to deal with his problems without pushing them onto children. And Lucifer said nothing.

Maybe it was his passiveness that helped the situation or maybe it was all Satan himself, but seeing his son calm himself down and disengage from the situation, walking away without destroying the furniture or attacking him...Lucifer felt proud of his son. He also felt a nagging sadness that his son had to grow to that point on his own. Lucifer gave him those anger issues. Satan battled them on his own.

The rest of the brothers expressed surprise and exhaustion at the idea of another baby being born into the family, but none reacted as badly as Satan. And why would they? This situation wasn't nearly as personal, nearly as raw to them as it was to the blonde.

Lucifer wished he could have saved his son from all of his pain, just like he has a chance to with this child. The man gave a small scoff as he thought about all of this.

If only wishes amounted to something in this world. If only--

"My Light, you really should eat." Diavolo interrupted his thoughts. "Your child needs that food just as much as you do."

Lucifer pursed his lips and looked away from the other man. The prince was right, but the former angel wasn't in the mood to accept such. All he could think about was his son, about how much he's hurt Satan, and about his words.

What if Satan was right? What if Lucifer never learns to handle his own emotions? What if he's stuck in a cycle of having children bear his burdens for him? What if he'll never be strong enough to face his own issues? What if--

Lucifer felt lips press against his forehead. He looked up and finally noticed that Dia had risen from his chair and leaned in front of him.

"Diavolo--"

"Shhh." The prince gently shushed his love before picking up the fork from Luce's plate, stabbed some food on it, and offer it up to the man's lips.

The pride demon slapped the fork from the redhead's hand, sending it clanking to the floor.

"I am not a child." He scowled at man. "I can feed myself when I choose to eat."

It felt so demeaning to the pride demon that the other man would try to feed him like that, as if he was some troubled child refusing to eat his dinner. Pregnancy or not, he was a grown man

...And Diavolo was just looking out for him and his child. Devil, his own indignation made him into the very thing he became angry with the man for treating him like. The problem wasn't Diavolo; as always, it was him for--

A wave of vertigo hit him just before the pain in his abdomen hit. The pregnant man fell out of his chair and was caught by his love.

"Lucifer!" The man barely heard his love through the pain. "Lucifer, look at me!"

It took a great deal of effort for the pained man to raise his head. His eyes met the golden orbs above him though and suddenly he felt a warm comfort descend upon him.

Diavolo launched his arms around his love and hugged him close. Lucifer only noticed in this moment that the excruciating pain he felt moments ago was now gone and replaced with the prince's loving embrace.

"I...Diavolo, what exactly just happened?"

The man pulled back and smiled apologetically at him.

"I'm afraid you became a bit too overwhelmed and...progressed."

The pride demon followed the man's eyes and saw that his stomach had expanded enough to break three or four buttons off of his jackets, which were now somewhere on the other side of the room.

"I...oh devil, no..."

He was going to run out of time at this rate! The longer he can stay pregnant, the better of a chance he has to save his child from a life of pain. When he felt the shame of treating Diavolo how he did just for looking out for him, he couldn't handle it. He was suppose to take care of others; not the other way around! Not knowing how to handle it still, he tried shoving that emotion deep into himself like he always did.

If...If it wasn't for Diavolo, he very much could have given birth right here on the dining room floor. Instead, the prince calmed his heart, causing his child to only grow within him instead of ripping their way out of him.

"Hey...Hey, it's alright." Dia saw the tears in Lucifer's eyes, tears the pregnant man had no clue were there.

The prince leaned in and kissed his love. Lucifer's eyes went wide before he closed them, causing the tears to fall. The pride demon found so much peace with the other man's lips on his.

Dia tried breaking the kiss too soon. As he pulled away, Lucifer tugged on the prince's tie and brought him right back down to his Light. Eyes wide in surprised, but no complaints in sight, the two continued their kiss till the pride demon broke away.

Diavolo stared at his love with warm eyes and a soft smile.

"Come. Let's finish eating." The prince helped the now bigger and more off-balanced man to his feet and back into his chair.

Since Lucifer's fork was currently on the floor, Dia took his own from his plate and took some food from Luce's before offering it up to the man once more.

This time, the dark haired man took a breath, laid a hand on his new belly, and accepted the food from the prince.

Lucifer...from here on out, the man had to deal with a lot of things that made him uncomfortable; his child was depending on him to go through it all. He can't afford to fight it anymore. That experience...it terrified the man, but was also just the reminder he needed. He lost much needed time because of the growth, but hopefully he's learned from his mistake and can make up for it.

...Hold on, baby. Daddy's trying for you.

[petermaximoffsrealwife]

Choices

Ben Chilwell x gn!reader x Mason Mount (2.1k)

“Hi, can I make a request? I was hoping for a fic about Mason mount and Ben Chilwell, but if not Chilwell Christian Pulisic would be great. Was thinking of a storyline of a blinddate from talking on an app, and then it get awkwardly but they realize they are knky in the mess because they like each other” @afstory1988

Quick disclaimer: English is not my first language so please keep that in mind when judging!

“Ben, I'm totally over him. It's been three years, how could I not be?” you told Ben. He was over at your house for your weekly movie night whenever he was in London. He was your best friend and nothing more.

“You say that but you still haven't taken down the picture you two took with Taylor Swift.” Ben retaliated.

“That was a historical moment don't even.”

“Okay, not the point. What I'm trying to say is that you never really moved on from him.” He was right. You had dated many people before but your last relationship was by far the longest and most meaningful. When he broke up with you out of nowhere, you really didn’t know how to react; hence the reason why he was bringing it up. Truth was, Ben never really liked any of your previous boyfriends, you would say it’s because he's being an overprotective friend wanting to keep you safe and preventing you from getting hurt, but, Ben would say it because he's irrevocably in love with you and even though he's famous and has many girls at his feet he only wants you. Of course, he would never say that out of the fear he has of losing you, and in his mind; never being able to have you is much better than losing you.

“Wait,” you say, pulling him out of his thoughts “I know you can be… iffy when it comes to me with your teammates but, what if you set me up with one of them? Like a blindate! Think about it, you know me and my type so you know what I like and you also know your teammates and their types. So… what if you set me up randomly with one of them and then we'll see how it goes from there?”

Ben had always encouraged you to stay away from his teammates but your recent relationships had been with average men living average lives and maybe it was time to step away from that and try new things. “I totally understand if you won't but if you really want your best friend and the most amazing, wonderful, and meaningful person in your life to not suffer, then you should set me up with someone completely different than what I’m used to.”

Ben was not happy. If you wanted someone with a different lifestyle, why couldn’t it have been him and not one of his teammates? His first thought was to immediately tell you off and make you forget you even brought it up but one look into your eyes had him melting on the spot. He could never deny you your chance at happiness, even if it wasn't with him and instead with one of his teammates. Begrudgingly, he agreed to set you up with one of them and he knew just who.

“Heyyy Mason, how are you mate? Seeing anyone? Free to casually pursue a wonderful person this Friday evening at 8?” Very subtle right? Ben knew that Mason had one of the worst reputations with women and men in the whole Chelsea and England teams so, obviously setting him up with you would make you realize that the only one who would treat you as well as you deserve was Ben himself.

“Hey Chilwell, can you… repeat all of that again?” Mason asked, the man was very confused. The only time the two had interacted outside of training was when Ben came up to him very drunk on a night out with the team sobbing about the unrequited love he shared with his best friend.

“Listen, I need you to do me a favor, my friend is very clearly still hung up on their ex and they don’t need that kind of pain at all. They suggested I set them up with one of you lads with whomever I thought was most compatible with them. You are my choice. So if you could just show up and give them a nice night, then I will do anything in return because they deserve the best and I believe you can give them that.” He was lying, he knew Mason would most likely flake or ignore you leaving you to go over to Ben’s house to cry once again in which he would finally be honest with you and tell you how he feels.

“Oh of course mate I'll take them out, just send me the address and I'll be there,” Mason replied honestly; and shocked. Out of all the people on the team that Ben could've chosen for this situation, he chose him.

Feeling good about himself Mason arrived at the restaurant he has supposed to meet you at. He was nervous, he had no idea what to expect. He had no background information, no knowledge of anything about you except for the fact that you were “absolutely stunning you'll know when you see them. Their name is Y/N if you get it wrong ill kick you off the team”; the last part scared him, so he made sure to remember your name. To be fair it wasn't hard, it was a beautiful name that he guessed would most likely be fitting.

On the other side of the street, you were in your car talking to Ben over the phone attempting to get a hint about who you were meeting up with. It would calm you down and give you at least five minutes to do a quick background search on him. However, Ben was refusing to tell you, so with one last “, I hate you” you hung up and finally found the courage to get out of your car and go into the restaurant. You were nervous, as anyone would be if they were in your situation, but you were also excited. You didn't really know who Ben chose and you were excited to find out. To your surprise, the infamous Mason Mount was standing right outside the restaurant looking at his watch nervously and glancing around.

When Mason first laid eyes on you he politely stared and looked the other way, not for one moment thinking that the most beautiful person he had ever laid eyes on was there for him. So imagine to his surprise when you came up to him and asked him if Ben had asked him to come here.

“Uh-uh, yes! Ben did in fact ask me to escort you on this beautiful Friday evening.” Mason replied very nervously. He could tell you were enjoying this, a small smirk appearing on your face upon hearing stutter.

“Well then, let's get started shall we.” You grabbed his hand and politely led him in while you asked for your reservation. Once you two were seated it was quite awkward at first until you spoke up, a little more shy this time.

“Look, I know that Ben asked you to be here and I wouldn't mind if you wanted to just eat and leave I just thought it would be nice to have a date with someone different than usual but if you don't want to be here then I totally respect your wishes, I would never want to impose on someone like that.” you admitted honestly. After your initial suggestion, you realized how forced this sounded so you completely understood if whoever showed up wanted to leave or not pursue anything after the initial dinner.

So it was to your complete surprise when Mason spoke up very confidently stating “No! Don't even worry about that. Honestly, I'm happy for a change of scenery and you seem like a lovely person inside and out so of course, I don't mind being here with you. As for after the dinner, I wouldn't mind a walk around town, this part of Cobham is quite beautiful and I would love to show you my favorite spots.”

“Oh! Well, that sounds quite lovely actually. Although I've lived here most of my life, I have never quite explored this part of town intensely and I would appreciate the tour.”

“Well I’d be very happy to show you around, there's this one ice cream place to die for…”

The dinner went great. After the initial confrontation, conversation flowed smoothly and you found yourself being very charmed by Mason. He was kind and funny, as well as patient and an attentive listener. You had learned that he was a family man and quite kind to others, surprising you since that was the opposite of what everyone said about him.

As the dinner came to an end, he spent quite literally seven minutes trying to convince you to let him pay for the whole meal, not half like you were suggesting. Exclaiming he needed to go to the bathroom, he smoothly grabbed the check without you noticing and managed to pay the whole bill successfully without any trouble from you.

“I'll have to give it to you Mason, that was smooth, can't even complain about that.”

“You were fussing about it so much I had to find a way to stop you, looks like it worked.” You both laughed. He shyly grabbed your hand and started ranting about the town and giving you an exact description of each shop and his rating of it. You both spent the rest of the night just walking and talking, each never wanting to end the night. But alas, the night had to end sometime. When the last shop turned off its lights, you two realized how much time had passed and that maybe you both should start heading back.

Once you two arrived at your car you took both of his hands in yours and looked up at him. He looked down at you and started to lean in. Your lips met and you both swore it was the most magical moment ever. Your lips moved in sync and it was like you two were made for each other. Eventually needing air, you both moved apart and laughed.

“Wow.” was all you said

“Wow is right.” Mason chuckled. “You know, I would really enjoy it if you wanted to go out with me again. Next time I’ll cook you a nice dinner over at my apartment.”

“I would really enjoy that Mase, thank you for such a wonderful night I'm really happy that Ben chose you.”

“I'm really happy Ben chose me too. Goodbye, darling.”

“Goodbye.” and with that, you both parted ways and went home. While driving back you called Ben so that you could tell him about your successful date and to discuss a new potential relationship. After a couple of rings, he answered.

“How did it go? If he did anything I swear I will-”

“Woah, relax. He didn't do anything, actually, I think he was actually the nicest guy I've ever gone out with.” You told ben wondering why that was his immediate reaction.

“Oh… that's great darling. Glad it went well.” Ben said shocked, he had honestly thought hoped that it had gone bad, which would cause you to come over seeking reassurance which would create a comfortable environment for him to finally confess his feelings. So imagine his surprise when you started ranting on and on about how great Mason was and how kind and sweet he was and how he paid for the bill in such a great and sneaky way…

“So then he asked me on a second date and of course, I couldn't turn him down. He has such big brown eyes you know and like great hair so like how could I ever say no, so I didn't, and now I totally have a maybe-boyfriend and I think this will actually work out.”

“You said that last time.” Ben said dryly.

“Yes, but I didn't really believe it so that doesn't count.”

“That's great glad it went so well, listen I have to go, training starts early tomorrow and I need some extra sleep,” Ben said trying to end the conversation. He couldn't stand to hear you talk about Mason for one more second before he would expose his feelings to you.

“Oh okay, well, I hope you sleep well, and thanks again for setting me up with him. I know it must've been hard since you normally shoo me away from them but I appreciate it. Goodnight Ben.”

“Goodnight darling” and with that, he hung up as he realized his mistake was not pursuing you when he had the chance and not after Mason had pulled his charm.

[spiralcass]

NEW X-MEN: THE ANIMATED SERIES - SEASON 3, EPISODE 2 (PART 2 OF 2)

We open once again on Okkara, thousands of years ago. This time, we are even further in the past. There are no demons and no battles raging. With a shining sun and a clear blue sky above, Okkara is a flourishing island paradise. Its Mutant population is happy and at peace. 

The man known as En Sabah Nur, dressed not in armor, but in loose-fitting robes, sits on a rock, strumming a stringed instrument, a calm smile on his face. A small captivated crowd listens. 

Nur's attention is turned away from his music as someone calls for him. 

"Father! Father!"

Apocalypse grins as a little girl made of flames runs up to him with excitement. He picks her up and asks what's brought her such joy. 

ORIGINAL WAR: "Death and I fought! And I won!"

APOCALYPSE, an amused father: "Ah, I see. No wonder you are proud. Defeating Death is no small feat. Even if he is your baby brother."

War continues to be smug over her victory as Nur holds her tight. 

NUR: "Stay strong, my daughter. But remember, to fight is not your future. You are the war which will never come again."

In the present, Apocalypse and War stand in their laboratory. A scientist reports to them that everything finally seems operational. On his mark, they can deploy the X-Virus. 

A different scientist speaks up.

SCIENTIST: "Please, Lord Apocalypse! Don't do this! We can weaponize the virus on a smaller scale. If you'd just think of the–"

The scientist is cut off as his throat is sliced open, blood gushing out. He falls over, dead. 

Apocalypse puts an arm around War's shoulders. 

APOCALYPSE: "Proceed…and end this fight."

At the Jean Grey School, Mercury and Bling! have been sent on a drug trip. Cessily is dazed as she hallucinates her body expanding and twisting in every which way as the world expands and twists around her. Bling! meanwhile gets shinier and shinier. It’d blinding. It gets more pleasant for them as bubbles start forming on Mercury’s skin and she pops them to tickle herself, while Roxy tosses on some sunglasses and revels in how cool she looks. 

CESSILY, giggly: “This is so weird. Have you ever done something like this before?” 

ROXY: “You asking that because of who my parents are?” 

CESSILY: “What? No, I–” 

Roxy bursts out in hysteric laughter. 

The Cuckoos are also on this trip, laughing as they hallucinate. They’re continuously merging with and unmerging from each other. 

CUCKOOS: “They’re so gonna thank us.” 

In the mission room, we pick up directly where we left off last time. Cyclops, Kitty, Iceman, and Wolverine desire to go and stop Apocalypse, but Magneto and Emma believe they should allow his plans to play out, and Hellion and Surge think they may be right. In the face of Archangel’s murder, Iceman is enraged and has put Magneto’s neck at icicle point. 

ICEMAN: “I don’t care if you won’t help, but you aren’t getting in my way!” 

Without moving or flinching, Erik disintegrates Bobby’s stretched-out arm. 

MAGNETO: “The loss of Archangel is painful. For myself, the loss of the Morlocks even more so. Children died in those sewers. Do you know where else children died? By the millions? Genosha. This is the only way the pain ends.” 

SCOTT: “Emma, please. You’re better than this.” 

EMMA, insulted: “Do you really think speaking down to me will change my mind? Humanity’s leaders have brought nothing but suffering to all but the very worst of their entire population. Gently guiding them into the night as we take our rightful steps into the future and preventing decades more of suffering for them is practically a mercy.”

MAGNETO: “Why is this such a difficult pill for you to swallow, Cyclops? You have killed before. You will kill again. All in the name of protecting your people. And in the long term, you will save far more billions than those who die here.” 

KITTY: “Can we stop talking like these are numbers on a spreadsheet and not living, breathing people?! Living, breathing people with family and friends!” 

NORIKO: “Humans, Ms. Pryde. You’re talking about humans.” 

JULIAN: “Humans who wouldn’t hesitate to kill us all if the positions were flipped.” 

LAURA, aghast: “What the Hell is the matter with you two?!” 

Nori angrily explains why she has no shits left to give about humans. Her family abandoned her, groups like the Purifiers and U-Men keep forming to try and kill them, and even if a new one hasn’t popped up lately, she knows they weren’t the first, even if they were, Stryker and all of his followers, and all the engineers who agreed to work for him were why Nova was able to kill 16 million of them, they do SHIELD’s dirty work fighting their own people for them, but SHIELD never seems to help THEM, Cyclops, for all his hard work, has barely made any dent in improving public opinion of Mutants…

Julian takes over. 

JULIAN: “They took my damn hands, my family, hell, half the families of the kids here abandoned us, and the X-Men couldn’t even do the one thing they were supposed to do for us: keeping us safe.” He glares right at Scott. “With how many times you failed Sofia, it’s no wonder she turned on us.” 

Bobby shouts at the kids that this is NOT the time for a temper tantrum, but Scott silences him. 

SCOTT: “Everything you just said is true. And I’m sorry for where I’ve failed, and the hands you’ve been dealt.” He turns to Emma and Magneto. “But I’m not ready to give up.” 

In Apocalypse’s lair, engines pound, and lights flash. Apocalypse’s lead scientist informs him and War of the good news: the X-Virus has been released. Before long, his goals will be fulfilled. 

Apocalypse laughs in triumph. 

APOCALYPSE: “Thousands of years of pain…will finally come to an end.” 

War hooks her arms around one of Apocalypse’s and congratulates her lord. New Okkara will be the greatest civilization the world has ever known. Apocalypse rests a hand on her head. He could not have reached this point without her. 

Just then, all of the scientists started coughing, as their bodies undergo a series of rapid, horrific Mutations. By the end, they are nothing but beige splatters on the floor. 

Exodus enters, cackling at the irony. 

EXODUS: “Shall I summon Death and Pestilence to join us in our hour of glory?” 

APOCALYPSE: “No. They are needed in their current positions.” 

EXODUS: “And if the X-Men don’t arrive willing to simply enter your open arms?” 

WAR: “Has all that hair gel gone to your brain? These are hardly the X-Men who bested you both in the past. The three of us will more than suffice to crush them.” While Exodus bristles, War raises clenches her fist. “One way or another, I will make them see the light.” 

Back in Cessily and Roxy’s room, the girlfriends have started making out one on the best, while the Cuckoos are spead across the floor, each in a daze, fiddling with one of Roxy’s instruments. 

IRMA, plucking a violin with her fingertips: “Hey…can I ask you all something?” 

PHOEBE, banging a drum stick against a bongo: “Since when can you not?” 

IRMA: “I know…I know…but, I was thinking…what if I changed my name?” 

The other Cuckoos weakly laugh. 

SOPHIE, fidgeting with the buttons on a trumpet: “What?” 

ESME, ripping the strings off a guitar: “TO what is more like it.” 

IRMA: “I don’t know. I was just thinking about it.” 

SOPHIE: “I guess it’s okay as long as it starts with an “I”.” 

Cessily pulls away from Roxy and falls off the bed, partially liquifying on impact. 

CESSILY, as she struggles to put herself back together: “I…hate you all. And I’m going to regret asking. But why do you…” 

Cessily trails off as she passes out mid-sentece. 

CELESTE: “She’ll be fine.” 

ROXY: “Cool, cool…so explain?” 

The Cuckoos giggle. 

SOPHIE: “We chose our own names. Sophie, Irma, Phoebe, Celeste, Esme.” 

CUCKOOS: “SPICE!” 

SOPHIE: “As in “Spice Girls”.” 

Roxy burts out laughing at that. The Cuckoos’ expressions range from insulted to hurt, until Roxy clarifies why she’s laughing. Their taste in music for their routines may suck, but she can respect that kind of crazy passion. 

The Cuckoos’ faces light up at the first positive response they’ve managed to get from Roxy. 

Just then, Sooraya knocks on the door. She wants to make sure her friends are okay, as something horrible seems to be going on around the world. 

The Cuckoos cackle as they open the door telekinetically, accidentally slamming it, and tell Sooraya to come join them. Sooraya is instantly distracted from her previous concern, as now she’s just wondering what in the name of Allah is going on here. 

ROXY: “Gonna be honest…still not entirely sure. You don’t have to do anything, girl. I know drugs are challah or something. Just take a seat and soak in the moment.” 

Cessily, as a puddle, woken up and squirmed over to Sooraya’s feet. Her face is in the puddle. 

CESSILY: “Hi.” 

Sooraya seethes before shutting the door behind her. She’s only staying to make sure these irresponsible heethens don’t die. The other girls all cheer. 

In the mission room, the argument has devolved into a shouting fest, Scott and Bobby screaming back and forth incomprehensibly with Emma and Erik, while Laura does the same with Julian and Noriko. 

The only one not screaming? The team’s designated mediator, Kitty Pryde, who’s watching everyone else and taking in the situation. As the wheels turn in her brain, she picks up her phone and takes note of the crisis going on around the world, as thousands of people drop dead. 

Kitty cringes, eyes shut, before opening them, full of determination. She has a plan. 

While everyone else is fighting, Kitty sends a text message. While they don’t go to check their phones, we hear the buzz going off in Wolverine and Iceman’s. Kitty then rushes Surge and Hellion and phases all three of them through the floor. 

Julian and Noriko are pissed, and question what Ms. Pryde is doing. And after everything she’s seen, why isn’t she on their side?! 

KITTY: “Shush! Oh my god, be quiet.” 

JULIAN: “You can’t shush us!” 

KITTY: “You must be getting too big for your britches if you’re forgetting you’re still students and I’m still your teacher. Yes, I can shush you. And you’re going to listen to me.” 

NORI: “But Ms. Pryde–” 

Kitty shoots her down with a stare. 

With the kids reluctantly quiet, Kitty takes a breath. 

KITTY: “Listen, I…you know, I…” 

As Kitty struggles to find the right words, Julian and Noriko glare at her with skepticism and disinterest. A vein bulges in her forehead as her emotions overwhelm her. But she has to keep going. 

KITTY: “You’re not wrong.” The kids are visibly surprised by those words. “You’re not wrong at all. About what you’ve been forced to deal with. About how you’ve been forced to live. You two have been dealt more shit than anyone should ever have to face, and you can’t even so much as look at your own hands without remembering that. I get it! Letting someone else do the dirty work of wiping away all the nasty people who’ve hurt you, and then take out whatever evil Mutants are left? Get the happy ending just like that? I get what why you want that. But, in spite of everything, everything I’ve seen, everything I’ve faced, all the people I’ve lost…” KItty trails off as she laughs. “All the bullcrap I’ve had to deal with from my own teachers and teammates. Do you know why I still dream?” 

NORI, disregarding her: “Because you’re just naturally that perfectly good?” 

Kitty cackles. 

KITTY: “Hell no! The stories I could tell you kids. I won’t, because trauma, but I could.” They don’t laugh like she’d hoped. “Anyway...what kept me going were the people I loved. And I don’t just mean Mutants. And I’m not going to say I’m talking about “humans” or “Flatscans” like you two have gotten so fond of calling baselines. It’s one gene of difference! We’re all still human!” 

JULIAN, disregarding her: “You think “baselines” are worth keeping around just because a few of them aren’t the worst?” 

KITTY: “It’s a lot more than a few. I promise. My parents never had anything but love for me. And I have so, so many friends who I know would do anything to help us if they could. You’re heroes. Superheroes. Do you really want to just let countless innocent people die?” With Julian and Noriko still not being reached, Kitty realizes she has to go deeper - more personal. “My dad is already dead. Killed alongside the Mutants of Genosha he considered his community. But you know who’s still alive? Sooraya’s mom, who Dust has been so, so happy to have back in her life.” Julian and Noriko hang their heads and cringe as they’re hit with this. “How about Roxy’s parents? Or Brian’s? Or all the other parents of kids here who still love them? Do you want to tell you “crew”, Julian, how you decided to let their parents die? You think they’ll understand? What about if people like Storm and Sofia don’t just get their powers back from this? Noriko…” Kitty hates herself for having to go this far. “...do you want Keitaro to die?” 

Noriko and Julian scream in rage as they super-speed toward Kitty, but she simply phases through them before grabbing their collars and slamming them on the floor. 

The kids start crying. They don’t WANT anyone to die. They don’t want anyone to get hurt. But nothing is getting better. Nothing is getting easier. They just keep losing more and more. They just keep losing people. 

Kitty helps the two stand up. Like she said, she gets it. But this is why escalation isn’t the answer. Evil isn’t genetic. There are evil baselines and evil Mutants.

KITTY, to Julian: “Sure, baselines’ hate is what often provokes radical response. But we should be better, right?” 

Julian bites his liip as his own philosophy is thrown in his face. 

KITTY, to Noriko: “And most people? Most people are good. They all need to be protected. And we’re the only ones who can protect everyone, baseline and human.” Noriko’s eyes widen and light up and a switch clicks in her brain. “We’re all the same.” 

There’s a quiet pause. 

JULIAN, trying to still be bitter: “I…” 

Nori hugs Kitty, apologizing for how she’s been thinking and acting. Kitty hugs her back and assures her she’s got nothing to apologize for. She was just scared and angry. She’s still a good kid. Still a hero. 

KITTY: “You wanna get in on this?” 

Iceman and Wolverine arrive, with Kitty glad they got her text, and thanking them for their good timing. 

Julian brushes her off, but he does thank her for the wakeup call. Honestly. 

KITTY: “Mission Room?” 

ICEMAN: “Frozen solid.” 

KITTY: “Good. Won’t hold Magneto and Emma, but we don’t want it too. Hellion and Surge are back on track. I need the four of you to head to Egypt NOW. Kids, you’re on Horseman detail. You aren’t beating them, but I just need to distract them for as long as you can. Iceman…” 

ICEMAN: “I really hope you’re not about to tell me I’m fighting Apocolypse on my own.” 

KITTY: “I mean, if anyone could.” Bobby is able to laugh a little. “But no. You can make copies of yourself. Hold Apocalypse back while your dupes disable his machines.” 

HELLION: “This sounds like we’re being thrown to the wolves.” 

KITTY: “Only if I can’t get our “leaders” to join us. I’ll work my magic on them too, and get them over to Egypt to help as quickly as possible.” 

Everyone is aware this isn’t a great plan, but it’s the only one they’ve got. Just one problem: Magik’s not talking or getting out bed, their planes are fast, but can’t move instantaneously, and Nightcrawler can’t do long distance. 

Nori laughs at their panic. Kitty and Iceman don’t actually KNOW what Pixie’s Mutation is, do they? 

In Apocalypse's throne room, he sits on his chair, with Famine and War at his sides. While Apocalypse and Exodus track the plague's effects telepathically, War watches on her phone. 

WAR: "I wonder what sorts of new weapons will be unlocked."

EXODUS: "Perhaps there will be an Omega with your weapon so we can replace you."

WAR: “Fine by me. I’m almost due for a promotion anyway.” 

Apocalypse sighs. 

WAR: “Is something wrong, my lord?” 

APOCALYPSE: “No. Merely what we expected. The X-Men are coming. And they do not appear to be interested in joining us. Deal with them.” 

EXODUS, sarcastic: “A shocking turn of events.” He smirks at War. “Are you sure you’re up to this? I can handle the battle myself if you think you might–” 

APOCALYPSE, cutting him off: “Famine. Go.” 

Exodus, frustrated shakes his head, before bowing and departing. 

For the first time, War appears hesitant. 

APOCALYPSE: “War…I know you wish to save them. But we can only help those Mutants who wish to be helped. If they fight, you may attempt to show mercy…but nothing can be allowed to stop us. Am I clear?” 

War stands in place, frozen, as she looks down at her phone. Noticing her struggle, Apocalypse stands. He gently takes her phone from her and tosses it aside. 

APOCALYPSE: “I did not expect this weakness from you.” 

WAR, finally speaking up: “I am NOT weak!” 

APOCALYPSE: “Of course you aren’t. You are among the strongest horsemen I’ve ever led. My blood runs through you. You did everything in your power to purge yourself of weakness. So why do you hesitate?” 

War leans against Apocalypse’s chest. 

WAR: “I only froze for a few seconds. You would have pause as well were it your family fighting against us.” 

APOCALYPSE: “Oh, my child.” Apocalypse wraps an arm around War. “My family is your family.” 

War shivers at those words. She quickly hugs him back before pulling away. 

WAR, enthusiastically: “Should it come to it, I will bring you every last X-Man’s head, my lord.” 

APOCALYPSE, grinning: “I know you will.” 

War bows before flying off. Apocalypse, still smiling, returns to his seat and laughs. 

In her dorm room, Pixie is freaking out. People around the world are melting or dying in other horrible ways, and she doesn’t want to melt, and she doesn’t want the school to blow up again, or for anyone else to get hurt, or to have to go back to living with her mom. 

ICEMAN: “We don’t have time for this!” Bobby forcefully shows Megan coordinates on his phone. “Send us here with your pixie dust NOW, Megan!” 

Megan whimpers, afraid of the situation and of Bobby. 

Wolverine shoves Bobby away. 

WOLVERINE: “I do not care if you’re angry. You do not scream at my friends. Cool off. And do not dare make a pun.” 

Iceman backs off as Nori steps forward. Noriko asks Megan if she noticed they’re roommates this year. Pixie nods. 

SURGE: “Well, I know I don’t exactly have the best reputation. Gonna be honest: I’m probably gonna annoy you as much as I do everyone else. Only girl who didn’t find me annoying is long gone.” Julian and Laura cringe. “And if you don’t trust the adults to keep us safe at this point, I can’t blame you one bit. But, feel free to tell everyone else: I’m an X-Man now. And you don’t have to like me or trust the adults as protectors…I’ll keep you all safe. No matter what.” 

Pixie is able to start calming down and she weakly smiles. 

Hellion steps forward with a smug look on his face. 

HELLION: “And, when Surge inevitably screws up, because, let’s be honest with ourselves, she will, I’ll always be there to catch her and show her up.” Pixie giggles. “No one ever touches this school again.” 

Laura smiles, happy to see her friends like this after their dark turn, while Bobby is impressed. 

PIXIE: “Okay. Okay, let’s do this!” 

As Pixie starts making her dust, Wolverine stands next to Hellion and Surge. 

WOLVERINE: “Welcome back.” 

Pixie wishes the X-Men good luck as she sprinkles the four with her dust, sending them away. 

In the Mission Room, Magneto and Emma vaporize Iceman’s ice, freeing themselves and Cyclops. They all struggle to catch their breath. 

EMMA, telepathically: “That young man is becoming far too powerful.” 

Kitty races back into the room. 

KITTY: “Hey, perfect timing. You all have a chance to calm the Hell down?” 

Cyclops and Erik glare and huph at each other, while Emma turns her eyes toward KItty. 

EMMA: “Where are the children?” 

KITTY, smirking: “They left with Iceman. Off to save the world.” Emma is visibly pissed off. “If you’re worried about them, they sure could use you two backing them up.” 

CYCLOPS, smiling: “Nice work, Kitty.” 

KITTY, smirking back: “Thanks. Nice job not letting Emma use your hair like puppet strings for once.” 

EMMA: “Do you find this funny?! You have jeoprized our children’s safety!” 

KITTY: “And here I thought you believed in your kids’ potential.” 

EMMA: “Potential they are YET to realize!” 

MAGNETO: “Enough!” 

Erik apologizes to Emma, but they cannot bend now. Not with what is at stake. They must hope that, if Apocalypse was in a mood to speak with them, he won’t just kill Wolverine, Hellion, and Surge, and they’ll be able to save them. They already know from Storm’s loss that he’s sparing Omegas, so Iceman will be definitely be safe. 

Erik’s words are able to calm Emma and allow her to recompose herself. 

EMMA: “Yes. You’re right. That’s that then. Cyclops, Kitty…your move.” 

Back over with the girls, Cessily, Roxy, and the Cuckoos are now all on the floor. Sooraya stands over them, wondering just what they took. She won’t take any herself, but figures it would be less awkward if she relaxed a little. She removes her hood and facemask and lays down next the other girls. 

CESSILY, ROXY, and CUCKOOS: “WOOOOH! DUST! DUST! DUST!” 

IRMA: “Take it all off!” 

PHOEBE: “Eww, don’t be gross, Irma.” 

The silence resumes as everyone except Soo’s eyes continue to glaze over. 

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Cessily burts into tears. 

Everyone wonders what’s wrong, but she just keeps crying. 

ROXY: “Oh. Babe. I wanna help. But I’m over here. And you’re over there. And…ugggggh.” 

Sooraya crawls over to Cessily and takes her hand, filling in for her unavailable gf. Without slurring her words like the others, she asks what’s wrong. 

CESSILY: “I just…I just feel like I’m being left behind. School won’t last forever. And when it’s done, I don’t want to be the only one who isn’t an X-Man. Three of us already are, four of us should be, Dust, your time is coming and we all know it, babe, you’re a genius, Brian’s got a gimmick, and you Cuckoos may be the worst, but you’re stronger than all of us.” She sniffles and coughs up some metal coins. “I only got put with you guys because I was able to fight  Sofia BEFORE she could even fly straight. You all have something I don’t. That natural IT! And no matter how hard I work, I’ll never catch up. I’ve learned to be proud of being a Mutant, but if I can’t fight with you all, you’ll leave me in the distance. Just like they did.” 

There’s a pause. 

ROXY, still extremely high: “Oh. That’s rough.” 

Cessily cries even harder. Sooraya glares at Roxy before holding Cessily. 

Iceman, Wolverine, Hellion, and Surge appear in a flash of pink light in Apocalypse’s lair. While Noriko thinks this place is spooky, Julian makes some light for them. His attention is caught by all the murals of Apocalypse…

JULIAN: “And they say I have an ego.” 

…with him also noticing one depicting him alongside a dark-skinned woman, their swords both raised in the air as their followers kneel before them. 

NORI: “People really worship this creep?” 

ICEMAN: “Baselines, Mutants, and everything in between unfortunately. Sometimes you just give up and want a god to make all your problems go away.” 

Bobby coughs up a bunch of clones and sends them to scout this place out. No need for them to waste energy hunting for their targets when they can do it. The dupes will hopefully be able to find a horseman or two, and destroy the doomsday device, before they’re all taken out. Plus, if the four of them stick together, they’ll be more difficult to get the drop on. 

LAURA: “Huh.” 

BOBBY: “What?” 

LAURA: “Nothing. Thought you were a clown.” 

BOBBY: “I like to be. But my friend is dead. So today, you kids get someone with as much training as Cyclops.” 

Iceman leads the kids further into the base. 

ICEMAN: “By the way, that was a nice speech you two gave Pixie. I should have said something like that.” 

JULIAN: “Only said what I felt. The X-Men have been letting me and mine down since our first month here. Ashida and I aren’t here at this point because we think you’re just so cool…” 

NORIKO: “...we’re here because we’re the only ones we trust to do this job right.” 

BOBBY, after a pause: “Sooooo, you’re teenagers.” The two pout as Bobby laughs at them after they thought they were sounding so cool. “No, no, I get it, it’s chill. But maybe you’re onto something. This team isn’t what it used to be. Maybe you two are just what it needs.” 

Noriko slams a fist against her palm. 

NORI: “No one puts my brother in danger. I know Ms. Pryde wants me distracting horsemen or whatever, but I wanna punch this Apocalypse guy in his big, dumb face. ” 

“Oh, honey.” 

The X-Men arrive in a golden, octacongal chamber, where Exodus and War await them. There are doors all around them. The building is a maze designed to lead trespassers back to this location. 

EXODUS: “You’d break every last nail.” 

The X-Men stand off against the two Horsemen, with Iceman’s eyes immediately filling with rage. 

As Cessily continues to cry and Sooraya holds her, the Cuckoos visibly feel awful for her. 

Sooraya tells her that she understands her fears, but she has nothing to worry about. The two of them have been together constantly, and she’s seen her grow so much. Even if she isn’t always getting real “experience” like the others, she’s always pushing herself and getting stronger. 

DUST: “No, you aren’t Wind Dancer, Hellion, or Surge. I’m not either. Everyone else seems to think I’ll become an X-Man soon. But the way you push yourself? I know you will.” Cessily sniffles, and wipes her tears. “And even if you don’t? We will never abandon you. We’re not your parents, Cessily. We’re your family.” 

Cessily is able to smile and wipe the last of her tears away as she hugs Sooraya. 

CESSILY: “Thank you. I love you.” 

SOORAYA, hugging her back: “I love you too.” 

ROXY, flatly:  “Love is awesome.” 

CUCKOOS: “Awwwwww.” 

SOPHIE: “This is better than Small Town.” 

CELESTE: “Are you guys always this sweet?” 

Cessily and Sooraya turn to the sisters. 

CESSILY: “It’s just called being friends.” 

The simplicity of that statement blows the Cuckoos’ minds. 

PHOEBE, telepathically: “That’s it?” 

CELESTE: “That’s how you make friends?” 

IRMA: “Being honest? Vulnerable?” 

ESME: “EWW! EWW! EWW!” 

OTHER CUCKOOS: “Sophie?” 

Sophie takes a moment to think. The other Cuckoos’ expressions change with hers as she decides what they need to do. 

SOPHIE: “Well…that’s all we want.” 

The camera cuts away from the Cuckoos. 

CESSILY, eyes bulging out of her head: “What the Hell?!” 

SOORAYA, equally shocked and covering her mouth: “What is this?” 

Roxy launches up to her feet, feeling better, before noticing the Cuckoos and fainting. 

Iceman turns his arms into blades, glaring with rage and hate,  as Exodus welcomes them to where Eden will be reborn. 

EXODUS, sultry, leering back at Bobby: “That’s quite the look you’re giving me, Iceman. Positively penetrating.” 

WAR: “Why do you need to make this weird?” 

HELLION: “And just who are you supposed to be? Iceman?” 

ICEMAN: “Never seen her.” 

War steps forward, holding out her arms. 

WAR: “I am War. And we do not need to fight. We should not be enemies. Everyone in this chamber is an extraordinarily powerful Mutant. We should be working together.” 

Hellion and Surge power up their auras. 

SURGE: “Thought about it. Decided I’d rather kick your teeth in.” 

ICEMAN: “You’re killing millions. And don’t pull the “just humans” thing on me. You’ve been killing our own. From defenseless children to the “strong” you claim to respect. You aren’t getting away with it!” 

BEAT. 

WAR: “Oh, are you talking about Death?” Bobby’s eyes widen. “He was hardly THAT strong.” 

Bobby howls as he forms and launches a glacier to throw at the two horsemen. Exodus blows it apart and rushes Iceman at super speed, punching him in the chest and smashing him through the wall. 

EXODUS: “Believe me, I get wanting to kill War. But I’ve already tasted one Omega today. And I want seconds.” 

Iceman narrows his eyes and he jumps back. 

Back in the main chamber, Hellion laments the plan already going to Hell, but thinking they may as well take War out together then. 

HELLION: “We’re gonna break that tacky armor apart as easily as your bones. You got that?!” 

While he, Surge, and Wolverine stand ready to fight, War shrugs. She falls back, catching herself in mid-air, and lays back with her legs crossed and her hands behind her head. 

WAR: “I have no desire to fight any of you. Stand still and stay out of the way of Famine’s battle, and you will live to see paradise.”

Surge resents being talked down to like this, and is about to jump her, but Wolverine stops her. 

WOLVERINE: “Think. Our job was to be a distraction for Iceman against Apocalypse. Now Iceman is distracted. If she is as strong as Exodus, then she’s right that we can’t beat her. If she does not want to fight…then it doesn’t make sense to fight. Not until Iceman wins.” 

HELLION, cringing: “I hate that that makes sense.” 

SURGE, also annoyed and spitting on the ground: “Seriously, who are you?” 

War giggles at them. 

WAR: “Within 24 hours? Your princess.” 

Iceman vs Exodus begins. Bobby throws everything he has at Famine, from more enormous glaciers, to snowstorms that make the arctic tundra look like the sun. 

BOBBY: “What are you even doing here, Exodus?! Last I checked, you hated Apocolypse as much as any of us!” 

EXODUS, shielding himself from and blowing away all of Bobby’s attacks: “I did, yes. But Magneto lost his way, and now chooses to walk the path of sloth. Lord Apocalypse’s vision is a holy one.” 

Exodus counterattacks at last and blows Iceman apart. He knows that he hasn’t won, and that Iceman can regrow from any chunk of himself. It’s why he can’t defeat him the same way he did Storm. Another reason to join Apocalypse is that, with his Omega-level molecular manipulation and god-like technology, he can make you stronger than you ever imagined. In his case, he was given the technology needed to steal x-genes, and the additional mutation of moisture absorption. 

EXODUS: “But you? You are moisture.” He rolls his shoulders as he looks at some of the water drops which wound up on him. “You’re already making me wet.” 

A full grown Iceman emerges from one of those water drops and punches Exodus in the face with a mace-hand, drawing blood. 

ICEMAN: “What is WRONG with you?!” 

Iceman after Iceman grows from the water, snow, and ice all around the room, and, freezing the floor underneath Exodus’ feet to make him slip for just a second,  Bobby’s small army of himself  gets in close and whales on him. While they do bust up his face and knock out his hair tie, they can’t put him down before he vaporizes all but one. 

EXODUS, panting: “What can I say? I like what I see. And don’t you dare say I’m less appealing to the eye than poor, dead, Death.” 

BOBBY: “Don’t you…! Wait, are you saying I–?” 

With Bobby frazzled, Exodus finds the opening in his mental defenses and psychically brings him to his knees. As Bobby screams, Exodus sadistically grins and approaches him, readying the same hand he used on Storm. 

EXODUS: “Don’t worry, Iceman. In a moment, your pain will come to an end. In a moment, you will be…inside me.” 

Exodus slams his hand down on Iceman’s face and begins stealing his x-gene. 

Back with the girls, Cessily, Sooraya, and even Roxy have gotten situated on one of those beds, the girlfriends both chugging water. Seated on the other bed, the Cuckoos smirk confidently at them. 

There’s an awkward silence. Until…

ROXY: “Okay so what WAS that?” 

CESSILY: “You said you got your noses done!” 

IRMA: “And more!” 

Sooraya doesn’t understand. Their unmasked faces were completely mangled. Did they shatter them?

SOPHIE: “No.” 

PHOEBE: “They were made broken.” 

ESME: “We just fixed them.” 

Once again, there’s an awkward silence. And once again, Roxy breaks it. 

ROXY: “No. No way. I don’t buy it.” 

CELESTE: “Why? Do you expect us all to act like whiny victims?” 

IRMA: “We’re exactly who we were meant to be.” 

A look of realization slowly creeps onto Cessily’s face. 

CESSILY: “BULLSHIT!” 

The Cuckoos giggle. 

Sooraya still doesn’t get it. The Cuckoos reason she may not have any context for what’s going on, so they decide to make it easier for her, and just beam the information into her head. 

Sooraya’s eyes widen. 

SOORAYA: “Oh. I…didn’t realize that was possible. Congratulations?” 

Roxy gets a chuckle out of that. Some of the celebrities she introduced her to over the break were also trans, and it just never came up. 

The Cuckoos nonetheless thank Sooraya, and all of them for understanding. They aren’t so sure everyone here would be, Mutant or not. 

The sisters go on to say that, for as long as they can remember, they’ve known who they wanted to be, and how they wanted to live their lives. From being pop stars, to ruling the school, and being friends with all the coolest people. They thought they were cool and hot and powerful enough to force it, but that just ruined everything. 

SOPHIE: “This is all still so new to us…and we didn’t know what else to do. We are sorry.” 

With the Cuckoos actually looking like they mean it, the three friends turn to each other, unsure of what to say next. 

In the Mission Room, Scott turns and paces away from Emma and Erik. 

ERIK: “Do you remember when we spoke on Genosha? In no way did I infer that I had come to think the same way as Charles. What I told you was that I’d realized that attempting to dominate humanity would only ever divide Mutantkind. If there is no humanity, and Apocalypse is defeated later, there will be no division. I was chosen by Phoenix in its infinite wisdom to lead our people. It knows that this is the path forward.” 

Scott takes a moment to respond. He doesn’t look back at Erik, but he does tilt his head. 

SCOTT: “The same Phoenix that destroyed Genosha?” 

Erik is enraged. 

ERIK: “How dare you.” 

Scott turns back to face him. 

SCOTT: “How dare I? Do you really think this is what any of your people would have wanted?” 

ERIK: “They are dead!” 

SCOTT: “And clearly more dead bodies will stop the problem, right? Just hope that Apocalypse has changed slightly and if he hasn’t, take him out? Great, what happens next? You lead us? No one challenges that? You, of all people, are going to unite the remaining population of millions? Millions who, by and large, actively chose against moving to Genosha? After doing THIS?” 

Magneto clenches his teeth and fists and forms magnetic bubbles around his hands. 

SCOTT: “Go. Do it. Blow me up as easily as I know you can. Doesn’t change that the reason Apocalypse’s plan will work and yours won’t is the same reason you were never able to wipe out humanity.” 

ERIK, stomping forward: “Are you calling me weak?” 

SCOTT: “No. I’m calling Apocalypse the devil. And despite the horns on that helmet of yours, you just aren’t. You don’t have the stomach to do what you’d need to to force everyone to follow you. Even if you had his resources, you wouldn’t have the stomach to initiate this plan yourself.” 

Magneto grabs Scott by the throat. 

MAGNETO, through gritted teeth: “And what makes you so sure?” 

“Because I still remember a kind old man who wouldn’t have been able to live with himself if he’d killed a single little Jewish, Mutant girl.” 

Erik turns to look at Kitty as she finishes speaking. She mocks him with taunting eyes and a head tilt.  He cringes and powers down. 

Magneto sighs. 

MAGNETO: “That is another tally on the board for you, Summers. I concede. And I am sorry.” 

Scott puts a hand on his shoulder. 

SCOTT: “We all want the pain to stop. One day, it will. But it will be through the dream. Not like this.” 

Everyone turns to Emma, unsure if she’s gotten on the same page from all this. 

Emma struts over to Scott like nothing is wrong and kisses him. 

EMMA: “I have nothing to apologize for.” 

The lovers share a smirk, but it’s quickly back to business. They have a big bad to beat. 

SCOTT: “And you don’t need to hear me say I forgive you.” 

In Apocalypse's base, Iceman attempts to resist having his powers stolen by freezing Exodus's hand, but against his telekinesis and telepathic assault, that can only do so much. Famine taunts Bobby with a slasher smile as he creeps into his mind. 

EXODUS: “Of all people, you should relish the potential of our victory. You are Omega. You would live one step below godhood. Your full power will be unleashed, not suppressed.”  

Bobby groans as he pictures both his solo victory over one of the super sentinels, as well as a flashback to when he was a teenager, being scolded by Xavier and laughed at by the rest of the 05. 

EXODUS: “You will not fear yourself.” 

Bobby moans louder as he flashes back to his interactions with Christian and Warren. Special attention is put on their smiles and Warren’s post-shower chest. 

EXODUS: “You will have a lord who accepts you.” 

Bobby screams as he thinks back to being a kid, slapped across the face by his father, with a cross on a wall visible in the background. 

EXODUS: “Your loyalty or your weapon. Whatever your choice, you must submit.” 

Bobby groans and struggles as resisting becomes almost impossible. His head is hung and his time is nearly out. 

ICEMAN: “I…thank you, Exodus.” 

Exodus raises his eyebrows in surprise. 

EXODUS: “For showing you the righteous path?” 

Bobby laughs. 

BOBBY: “Hell no. For proving every telepath I’ve ever known right.” He manically grins up at Exodus. “Intrusive telepathy DOES beat therapy!” 

Bobby flash freezes the arm Exodus has on him, and with an uppercut, shatters it. Exodus screams in pain and horror as Iceman powers back up and blasts away at him, hitting him hard enough to send him crashing through multiple walls, and outside into the surrounding desert. 

Iceman, talking to Exodus as faces on water drops on his clothes, tells Exodus that he never dreamed he could be who he is now. He didn’t even fully realize who that was until just now. And you know who that is? The hero who will always step up. The hero who CAN always step up, because he can do anything, and because he isn’t smart enough to overthink a problem that has a villain to be punched. And also?” 

ICEMAN, as he stands over Exodus on an ice bridge: “I’m gay. But you are so not my type.” 

Exodus desperately attempts another telepathic assault, but Bobby counters with the Red Diamond.

Bobby smiles up. “Check what happens next, Warren.”  

Iceman blasts again at Exodus, with Famine now the one struggling to shield himself. 

Still standing by, Hellion and Surge cheer at the sight of Iceman kicking Exodus’ ass. 

HELLION: “Better go running to your lord and master for safety. Once he’s done with him, you’ll have to deal with all of us.” 

War turns her head toward where the fight is happening. 

WAR, under her breath: “That buffoon.” 

War lands on her feet, one arm behind her back and one hand on the hilt of her sword. Surge questions if she’s ready to start now. 

WAR: “No. I still don’t wish to fight. I just wanted to ask you something. You’re all students at the Xavier Institute, aren’t you?” 

NORIKO: “Jean Grey School. What of it?” 

LAURA: “Don’t talk to her. This is obviously a play.” 

Julian erects a forcefield around the three kids. He’s putting all his power behind it, and he doesn’t care how strong she is, she isn’t breaking it down. No matter what she says, they’re staying on defense. 

WAR: “So suspicious. I only asked because I was curious if any of you ever happened to meet a girl I encountered. I believe her name was…Sofia Mantega?” 

The eyes of all three young X-Men, including Wolverine, immediately become intense. 

JULIAN: “Why do you know who that is?!” 

NORIKO: “What did you do to her?!” 

LAURA, not keeping her cool: “Steady heads.” 

War shakes her head. 

WAR: “It’s such a tragic story. A powerful young Mutant stripped of her weapon, all because she trusted fools who told her her place was to serve the weak. Made weak herself, and becoming as pitiful as any human, attacking her own people.” War paces forward. “Lord Apocalypse took note of her online acts. They spoke and, in the end, all was well.” 

JULIAN: “If you so much as hurt one hair on her head, I’ll tear you limb from limb! You hear me?!” 

WAR: “Hurt her? Never.” Beat. “I just put her out of her misery.” 

Surge and Hellion snap, firing massive blasts at War, but the only thing their attacks successfully destroy is a good chunk of the base, as War somehow forces their tk energy and electricity to crash against the walls, rather than travel in a straight path toward her. 

Wolverine, having lost all sense of leadership and composure, rushes War. However, she’s completely outclassed. War is fast and skilled enough to block all of her attacks with seeming efforltessness, she counters every move with a harsh body blow, and by the end of Laura’s attempted assault, she has Wolverine restrained by simply holding onto and crushing her arm. 

War tosses the battered Wolverine at the other two X-Men’s feet. Hellion and Surge charge in next, both coated in forcefields, and while that, plus their superspeed, allows them to do better, War can still either physically block or otherwise deflect all of their attacks. 

WAR: “If this is the best your school has, you need a better teacher.” 

War sends the two flying back, scorching them both with her flames. Wolverine gets back up and tries to fight again, but she doesn’t even get to make War block this time, as War easily steps out of the way of all of her attacks, and just gets to beat on her. 

WAR: “I am sorry it’s come to this. But the pain will make you stronger.” 

Seemingly spontaneously, Wolverine is slashed all over her body, deep bloody marks covering her from head to toe. Laura screams, and with one more punch tot the face, War puts her down. Screaming like maniacs, Hellion and Surge try one more time to do anything they can against War, but War just puts her hand to her head like a telepath and, a moment later, Noriko and Julian collapse to the floor, with their heads in agony. 

WAR, casually stepping past the kids in Iceman and Exodus’ direction: “If you wish to stand for something…if you wish to protect those who cannot protect themselves…the becoming the strongest and dominating is your only option. Otherwise? You’re just asking to be stepped on.” 

Julian and Noriko try to get up, but a sharp, invisible pain keeps them down. 

WAR: “I’ll see you in the new world.” 

Julian and Noriko pass out. 

In the girls' room, the eight teens are all sprawled back out on the floor, lying back in a circle. There’s a moment of silence. 

CESSILY: “You drugged us. That’s really messed up.” 

SOPHIE: “We tried just talking before.” 

ROXY: “Yeah, well, next time, maybe stick to that.” 

SOPHIE, perking up: “Next time?” 

Neither Cessily nor Roxy responds. 

SOORAYA: “I learned so much about American culture during the break. Things I never cared to learn while here. In so many ways, it is the free, wonderous place it promises. In others..” Sooraya trails off. “I’m still not sure if the country outside these walls is right for me. Much of it goes against…everything. Ommi is enamored. She loves it here. But even for baselines, it is more than it claims.” Sooraya looks at the sisters. “You threatened my mother. But I believe you have changed. I am not who you harmed the worst. The choice is Roxanne’s.” 

All eyes turn to Roxy. She exhales. 

ROXY: “You’re not the first girls I’ve met like you. Girls who’ve got everything and think that means they can take anything they want. Even people.” The Cuckoos faces fall. They don’t think this is going to end well. Roxy looks at Sooraya. “But last year, I realized the only difference between me and them was I threw tantrums when I didn’t get my way instead of pushing my pain onto others. I was just as entitled.” She looks back at the Cuckoos. “And another I learned last year? There are parts of us we don’t even know about just waiting to be uncovered. Good or bad, we’ve all got something else going on that we don’t show. I may regret this…but yeah, Sophie. You and your girls get a next time.” 

The Cuckoos all squee in delight, and even Cess and Soo seem pleased. Finally! Roxy won’t regret this. They’re going to be the best friends ever and run this school again. 

The others glare at them like they can’t be serious. 

CELESTE: “We mean by being popular.” 

Roxy and Sooraya breathe sighs of relief. 

CESSILY: “Well, the Hellions cannot come back for sure…but maybe we don’t need to be *totally* nice.” 

Everyone’s a little intrigued by what she’s thinking. 

We cut to Quentin’s room, where he and Brian are playing video games. Quentin has a “Magneto Was Right” poster on his wall, alongside various academic awards. The two boys are sitting back playing video games. We hold on this visual for a few seconds, until a giant, creepy monster pops out of the screen. Brian and Quentin scream in terror. 

Outside in the hall, the Cuckoos, Cessily, Sooraya, and Roxy laugh at their prank. Quentin is so scared, he loses control of his telekinesis and blasts out the light fixture, making the boys scream more. The girls pause, momentarily worried, and the Cuckoos shut off the illusion. 

QUENTIN, scared out of his mind: “Cuckoos! I know that was you!” 

The girls still seem concerned…but then they burst out laughing again. 

In Egypt, Iceman vs Exodus reaches a climax. Iceman laughs at the one-armed Exodus as he launches one ave of destructive tk energy after another, filling the air with sand. He keeps blowing Bobby apart, but he has no way of actually keeping him down. 

ICEMAN: “It doesn’t matter how many times you blow your load. Even the desert can’t make me melt.” 

Iceman freezes all of the sand Exodus has kicked up, sharpens it, and pelts Exodus with millions of hail shards. Bobby follows up with one more freezing blast to completely overwhelm Exodus. 

As the attacks finish, Exodus is down. For Warren and for the Mocklocks, Bobby is going to take him out. 

Exodus pants. Maybe he is about to lose…but he can still fight. 

From his one remaining hand, Exodus launches a TK wave, not at Iceman, but at the section of the base they came from, where Julian, Noriko, and Laura are passed out and helpless. 

Iceman screams in horror, powerful as he is, he can’t freeze the blast, or at least not as quickly as he needs to. 

ICEMAN: “NO!” 

The music stops everything stops. Everything stops except for Iceman. 

Bobby is weirded out, and confused by what’s going on. But then he realizes it. He did this. He froze time. 

ICEMAN: “I…I can do this?” BEAT “BWAHAHAHA! THAT’S SO COOL!” 

With time now on his side, but feeling like he can’t do this forever, Bobby takes the time he needs to freeze and shatter Exodus’ attack, although doing so clearly exhausts him, as he’s already used so much energy. For Exodus, time unfreezes as Iceman skewers him with two sharpened arms. 

ICEMAN, exhausted: “Congrats. You got me inside you.” 

Fear of death overtakes Exodus’ face as Iceman freezes him from the inside out. 

EXODUS: “This…this cannot be. I am the lord’s most faithful soldier. I cannot die to a clown.” 

ICEMAN: “I may be a clown. But at least I’m no one’s b–” 

Iceman’s victory quote is interrupted, and his victory is stopped, as a hellstorm of flames melts him down, the nature of the attack hurting him far more than Exodus’. War has arrived. With all the energy Bobby has already spent, the intensity of War’s heat makes it a struggle to reform his body. She shows no mercy as she continues to hit him again and again, cackling manically and leaving him a series of puddles in the sand. 

WAR: “And he said I couldn’t fight an Omega.” 

Exodus pants as he stands up and cauterizes his wounds. 

EXODUS: “I…had the situation under control.” 

WAR, mockingly: “Of course you did. Now shut off his brain. It’s the only way to kill him.” 

EXODUS: “Do not presume to order me, you little –” 

APOCALYPSE, telepathically, cutting him off: “Famine. War. You must leave at once.” 

WAR AND EXODUS: “WHAT?!” 

They’re both confused. They’re winning. And they’re about to kill Iceman. 

APOCALYPSE: “The X-Men’s leaders are arriving. Famine, you are in no condition to face Magneto as you wish to. War, your psychic defenses cannot withstand a single attack from Emma Frost. You have done well. Now leave the rest to me.” 

WAR, worried: “But my lord–!” 

APOCALYPSE: “Do you doubt my ability to defeat them? Do you doubt my strength?” 

War hates this, bending over and clenching her fists in frustration at this order, but she can’t argue. 

WAR: “Show no mercy, my lord.” 

War flies off. 

EXODUS: “As I heal, I shall find our new people, and shepherd them to their true paths.” 

Exodus flies off. 

Right outside Apocalypse’s base, Cyclops, Emma, Magneto, and Kitty finally arrive in a flash of pink sparkles. 

Emma’s first act is to breathe a sigh of relief. She senses that the kids and Iceman are all still alive. Down and out, but alive. They’re also in luck: it doesn’t seem like any Horsemen are present. Either they went down taking them out, or Apocalypse wants them all alone. 

Magneto orders Kitty to retrieve the kids and get them out of the base; the base may not survive the upcoming battle. Once that’s done, it’s her responsibility to disable Apocalypse’s machinery, get out, and see what she can do about Iceman. 

MAGNETO, looking to Scott and Emma: “Apocalypse wished to speak with us three. We shall grant that wish.” 

Kitty doesn’t question these orders for a second, tells the others to not mess this up, and runs in ahead of them. 

The three leaders dramatically follow behind her. Or, not so dramatically. 

SCOTT: “Let’s a make bet.” 

EMMA, not having time for this: “What?” 

SCOTT: “Make it interesting. Losing isn’t an option. We’re going to win. So let’s make a bet for who takes him down.” 

MAGNETO: “Are you being serious right now?” 

SCOTT, smiling and shrugging: “You shouldn’t be complaining. Odds are in your favor.” He looks at Emma. “If I put Apocalypse down, I get to teach you how to fly the Blackbird, and if you win, I’ll learn to ride a horse?” 

EMMA, continuing to glare at him in confusion: “Are you okay?” 

Scott laughs. 

SCOTT: “Oh god no.” 

In Apocalypse’s throneroom, Apocalypse sits, all by himself, his servants no longer present. He wearily leans to his side, resting his head on a fist. 

The leaders enter. Apocalypse,although still tried, grins. 

APOCALYPSE: “You have arrived. Are you here to witness the apocalypse alongside it?” The three just glare back. Apocalypse laughs. “No. I suppose you aren’t.” Apocalypse takes a breath. “I cannot say I understand. I have observed you. None of you are weak. Not like Charles Xavier. Even you, Child of X. I believed that the overly gentle terms I have set would be…agreeable.” 

The three continue to stare him down. Rather than respond to what he said, Magneto notices something else. 

MAGNETO: “You are already gravely injured. Sick. That’s why you have shown humanity this “mercy”. Not out of any desire to reach out an olive branch. You don’t even have the energy for a prolonged conflict, do you?” 

Emma questions how that’s possible. She and him have never had a chance to get acquainted, thank god, but isn’t he supposed to be immortal? Scott confirms this, and shares in her confusion, as if he did survive his last encounter with the X-Men, he should have needed to spend time in his regenerative chamber; the real reason they’ve never been able to stop him for good. 

APOCALYPSE, nodding: “What you say is true. But a sacrifice was necessary. One I do not regret.” 

Apocalypse questions if this is really what they want. To perpetuate the conflict among them. To prolong their suffering. 

The leaders tell him that question was a difficult one for them to come to a consensus on. But this won’t stop the fighting either. And at the end of the day, there are good humans; there is no good in Apocalypse. 

CYCLOPS: “Unless you mean to tell us you’ve changed your view of Mutants you don’t see as “worthy”.” 

APOCALYPSE, smiling: “The weak have no place in this world but to be crushed by the strong. That fact will never change. But I have witnessed the weakest, most pathetic of creatures transform themselves into the very strongest, given the right circumstances. All Mutants will have a chance in my world. It is not my fault if they fail.” 

Apocalypse knows that Kitty is also here and what she’s no doubt after. But they misunderstand. The plague has already been released. Millions have died, thousands have been born, and destroying the weapons of the old gods will not stop this from continuing. He explains that in granting each of his new Horsemen new Mutations, he set a condition on them: should they ever lose a battle, those abilities would fade away. He has put a similar condition on himself. If he falls, the plague will cease. That is the only way to stop it. 

APOCALYPSE: “If I can not still crush any who oppose me…then I have no right to dictate the new world. And the new world is not ready to be born.” He sits up straight. “Do you issue the challenge?” 

MAGNETO, stepping forward: “The X-Men do.” 

APOCALYPSE, moaning: “Very well.” Apocalypse slowly stands up, cracking his muscles and drawing two swords. “I am the weakest I have been in thousands of years. I stand against two Omegas and an Alpha. I…shall grant you honorable deaths.” 

Moving at super speed, Apocalypse rushes Magneto. Erik is able to hold him back with magnetic force, taking hold of Apocalypse’s hands to keep his balance, but this only lasts for a few seconds before Magneto is overpowered and sent flying through a wall. 

Cyclops blasts Apocalypse, but his optic beams merely tickle the immortal, who sends Scott flying with a far more powerful concussive blast of his own. 

EMMA, transforming into her diamond form: “You shouldn't have done that, Apocalypse. No one gets to beat that man but me.” 

Emma attempts to fight Apocalypse head on, but the punches of the form which survived Genosha can do little more than annoy him. She’s backhanded across the face, and sent flying like the others. 

Apocalypse is disappointed. He assumed if they were challenging him, without even knowing his condition, they must have gotten stronger. Instead, they are just fools. 

Scott looks to Emma, and then up at the hole Magneto made. He whistles. 

The ground shakes. All of the heavy machinery  and everything else made of metal in the room shakes as well. Apocalypse appears more interested than afraid by what’s happening. Flying back into the throneroom, Magneto launches everything at Apocalypse. A is easily able to smash and slice apart everything thrown at him, but all of this is just a distraction to allow Magneto to nail him in the face with a ground-shaking punch. Apocalypse isn’t sent flying, but he is knocked back  and visibly injured. 

APOCALYPSE: “There it is.” 

Cyclops and Magneto blast at him at the same time, and when Apocalypse blasts back, Emma steps in the way of Scott, blocking for him, while Erik defends himself. Without wasting an instant, Scott leaps off of Emma’s shoulder and targets Apocalypse’s head with a still-wider blast. Apocalypse telekinetically tosses them both away as he grunts, but is left open to be ravaged by a full-power magnetic wave. 

The attack not only launches Apocalypse out into the desert, but damages the infrastructure of the base. This is seen as we briefly cut to Kitty, as she drags the three kids out of there. The crumbling starts. 

Apocalypse remains standing, even if he is bleeding. Cyclops blasts Emma, launching her as a projectile at Apocalypse. He grabs her throat, ready to slash her head off, but she is merely a distraction, for Magneto to swoop in and tackle the titan. Apocalypse dissolves his swords, knowing they’ll do more harm than good at this stage. 

With his whole body charged up, Magneto and Apocalypse engage in hand to hand combat, moving even faster than War and Archangel did in their duel. While Magneto is succeeding in further injuring Apocalypse, each one of Apocalypse’s blows takes far more out of him. 

Eventually, Erik’s weariness and injuries catch up with him, and he slows down to the point Apocalypse sees an opening for a killing blow. He doesn’t get to deliver it though, as Emma is once again blasted by Scott, this time being positioned in between A and Erik to tank the hit. Magneto takes advantage of this, slamming his hands together and blasting Apocalypse once again. 

At last, A falls.. He narrows his eyes at Cyclops. Scott smirks back. 

We briefly flashback to sometime earlier in the year, Scott, Emma, and Erik seated around Emma’s desk. Each has a binder in front of them. Magneto is unamused and puzzled by what Scott has him looking at. Scott explains that it’s the X-Men’s strategy book. It’s a little list of tactics for each specific alignment of X-Men in the face of any given scenario. He updates it every time the rollcall changes. 

SCOTT, extremely proud of himself: “Pretty cool, right?” 

EMMA, lying and slightly embarrassed as she pats his shoulder: “Yes. Very.” 

In any case, since Magneto’s in charge now, and many of these strategies involve him, he needs to study up. Magneto sees little point. There are few threats he cannot crush on his own. 

MAGNETO, flipping a page: “Oh. Actually…this one could be of use.” 

In the present, Apocalypse takes note of what his enemies have been doing. Cyclops acting as a distraction and Emma acting as a shield, so that Magneto can focus just on hitting him as hard as he can. 

APOCALYPSE: “Hardly an honorable way to fight.” 

CYCLOPS: “Maybe. But Break the Juggernaut Isn’t about honor.” 

MAGNETO: ‘You did NOT name this.” 

EMMA: “Oh, let him have his fun.”

Apocalypse gets pissed as he floats up and finally powers up, kicking up a sandstorm and destroying the rest of his base as he shakes the Earth in the process. He fires off a massive energy attack in all directions, forcing Emma to shield Scott, and Magneto to stand on his own and try to cut a path through it. He succeeds, only to be met once again by Apocalypse. Now using the full extent of his current power, Apocalypse grows two additional arms, and with them beats Magneto halfway to death. 

APOCALYPSE, continuing to break Magneto: “You all think me evil? “No good” you said? I did not fail to stop a small, feeble human from causing the deaths of 16 million of us.” 

He tosses away a barely clinging to life Magneto away like a ragdoll before leaping and chokeslamming Emma. 

APOCALYPSE: “I have not failed my student.” 

Using his molecular manipulation, he turns off her diamond form. Emma, while being strangled, knows he’s too powerful a telepath himself for her to just shut him down, but she is able to force him to let her go, letting her gasp for air. Scott blasts at him, but Apocalypse’s blasts are once again far more powerful, and a single shot puts Scott in similar condition to Magneto. 

Apocalypse floats over Cyclops. 

APOCALYPSE: “I have not abdicated my responsibilities.” Apocalypse holds out his arms. “None of you are fit to rule!” 

BEAT, focusing on the battered leaders. 

SCOTT: “Yeah. That’s the point.” 

Cyclops removes his visor and hits Apocalypse with the full brunt of his power, at last able to make him feel it. 

CYCLOPS: “You don’t want any tricks? Just power? Well here it is!” 

Apocalypse’s shields are overwhelmed, and he’s launched higher into the sky. He’s immediately dragged back down by Emma’s telekinesis, dragging him back into Scott’s line of fire, and hitting him with her own psychic lightning. 

Apocalypse’s knees bend, as the Celestial tech parts of his body begin to flicker and fail. He knows none of them can withstand another attack from him. He just needs to…

He doesn’t get to finish whatever he was saying, as from above, Magneto lets loose everything he has left, and applies the pressure needed to knock Apocalypse on his face, and keep him stuck where he is. 

MAGNETO: “FINISH IT!” 

As their attacks fill the sky along with the sandstorm, Kitty watches from a distance, in awe of what these three fighting together looks like. 

Eventually, Scott, Emma, and Magneto are completely tapped out, and fall over, a cloud of smoke hiding the fate of Apocalypse. They all wait tensely to see if they’ve won. If they haven’t, it’s all over. 

The smoke clears…

And Apocalypse still stands. 

APOCALYPSE, slurring his words, all his tech destroyed or powered off, and bleeding all over:  “Weak as I am. Strong as you all are. I cannot be stopped.” 

Scott, Emma, and Erik look on in horror. The world is doomed. 

Apocalypse takes slow, heavy steps toward them. We cut away to Exodus’ face, the man somewhere far away. He’s smirking maliciously. 

EXODUS: “I think not.” 

For a split second, Apocalypse’s eyes flash pink. At long last, it’s Exodus’ surprise psychic blast that brings Apocalypse down, knocking him out, as an explosion takes place in the remnants of Apocalypse’s base. 

The three leaders look at his unconscious body in stunned silence, unaware of the betrayal that just occurred. One by one, they all laugh. They actually did it. 

CYCLOPS: “Okay, you know what…I think we can call the bet a draw.” 

Scott passes out, and the others are quick to follow. 

Sometime later, back at the school, an assembly is being held. Many of the students are afraid following the recent events. Magneto, in a wheelchair, sits on the stage and speaks to them about the great tragedy that occurred. While the X-Men did succeed in stopping Apocalypse and his plague, the Morlocks are all gone, including their former classmates Artie and Leech, and 10 million baselines died in the process. A few kids are crying. 

Magneto goes on to say that they should mourn and they will help them in anyway they can. A loss of life like this is always a tragedy. Baseline or Mutant. 

The other day, he spoke to them all. Not in his words, but in those of their previous headmaster. And he is glad he did not speak to them as he would have liked to. While he may stand firm in his philosophies, they are not what should be passed down to the future. They should not need to be passed down to the future, even if he believes they are what will ensure it. 

And in truth, when it came to stopping the ultimate evil, he and they worked better together than he could have imagined. Cyclops and Emma walk on stage. It is for this reason that, from now on, the three of them shall be equal partners in running the school and leading the X-Men. Together, they defeated the unstoppable. And while he will not promise there will be no more tragedies because there will be, they will still do all they can to help the children flourish. 

There’s a slow, awkward applause. 

Out in the hallway, soon after this, the three leaders walk with Kitty. Nice speech, but the kids may call them liars when they find out they weren’t actually able to finish off Apocalypse. 

Kitty isn’t sure what happened, but by the time she reached the uncnocious trio, Apocalypse’s body was gone. Emma brings up that there’s also still the matter of the four horsemen as well. Hopefully Iceman (confirmed to slowly be re-forming) will be up for a rematch by then. Magneto laments that, short of the plague, they may have to do this all over again whenever Apocalypse finishes restoring himself. Scot isn’t worried. The X-Men have this covered. 

Storm appears in their path, smiling. Kitty is relieved to see she’s doing better, as is Erik, who offers her his condolences; he more than anyone knows what she must be feeling right now. Ororo thanks them both…and reluctantly, thanks Emma for her part in stopping the plague.

EMMA: “Well, someone had to, while others were laying in bed.” 

Ororo rolls her eyes. She needs to speak with Scott. Alone. Kitty gives her a hug and Magneto shakes her hand, before the three comply. 

Scott asks Ororo what he’s done now, which just makes Storm laugh. Is that how he sees her now? The nagging big sister who’s always finding faults. 

SCOTT, cheeky: “A little bit.” 

Storm grins. She heard everything from Kitty. And she is so proud of her brother. When the ultimate test came, he stuck to what he knew was right, and did not allow himself to succumb to the darkness he’s surrounded himself in. 

STORM: “Perhaps I lost faith in you too quickly.” 

Scott tells her not to worry about it. He gave her reason to worry. Does this mean she’ll rejoin the team? They both know she doesn’t need her powers for the job. Ororo thanks him, but she isn’t ready to go that far. Especially not now. The Morlocks didn’t have any loved ones, but Betsy could use her right now. And after that…

STORM: “A young man witnessed my battle online. He called me, claiming to be my nephew. I’m intrigued.” 

The two hug it out, and Scott wishes her luck with everything. 

Storm begins to walk off, but…

STORM: “Oh, and Cyclops. When you find Exodus…kill him for me.” 

Scott sneers and nods. 

At the Grindstone, the three young X-Men and their friends, which now includes the Cuckoos and Quentin are all hanging out. Brian is annoyed about the girls bringing the Cuckoos, especially after the prank they all pulled on them, but Roxy counters if he can add “sweater-vest” to the gang, they can add the Cuckoos. The sisters play it cool, teasing that, really, they all have the fortune of now being in “their” group, but really they’re just so happy to finally be here. 

NORIKO, slamming her hands on the table: “Is no one gonna bring up the three of us helping to save the world? Cause I think that’s a pretty big deal.” 

JULIAN: “Yeah, no need to grovel, but a thank you would be nice. Groveling would be appreciated though.” 

Laura rolls her eyes at them, as she reminds them that they all lost. Badly. All they achieved was getting Iceman severely injured, and keeping Exodus alive.

CESSILY: “I also heard something about you two wanting to let Apocalypse win?” 

Julian and Noriko shrink, embarrassed. Everyone laughs at them. 

Sooraya is just glad they came to their senses. That on its own is a victory. But who is strong enough to beat the three of them so easily? 

QUENTIN: “Like it’d be that hard.” 

Brian punches his shoulder. 

Julian slams his fists together. You know who I think War is? 

JULIAN: “Ms. Grey.” 

The others think he’s crazy, but he tells them to think about it. She has flames, telekinesis, and is super strong. Who else could it be? 

There’s a pause, as everyone considers this. 

LAURA: “There’s also Prestige.” 

JULIAN: “Tch! I don’t care if she’s Jean, her daughter, or her granddaughter from even further in the future, next time I see her, I’m taking her out.” 

Julian, Noriko, and Laura all exchange glances. 

We flashback to the three young X-Men in the medical bay, after waking up. They make an agreement. They don’t tell the others what War said about Sofia. Not until they know for sure she isn’t lying. And not until that heartless monster is dead. 

In the present, Noriko gets up to go get everyone drinks. Milkshakes on the newbies!  

Back in Egypt, we pan down on the wrecked base to reveal that Apocalypse had a second, underground base. Apocalypse appears barely alive as he can only walk with an arm around War’s shoulders, and her holding him up. 

WAR: “Just a little further to your chamber, my lord.” She grunts. “Why didn’t you let me fight with you? We could have killed them!” Apocalypse weakly groans. War is clearly afraid. “Just a little further.” 

The two arrive where his restorative chamber should be. Apocalypse’s eyes widen in horror. 

WAR: “No.” 

Someone has destroyed his chamber. 

Apocalypse collapses against a wall. War bends down, not understanding how this could happen. 

WAR: “I…I shall find someone who can fix it. I will make them fix it!” 

War starts to rush off, but Apocalypse takes her hand and asks her to stay. It’s okay. It’s done. 

War gets on her knees. He can’t be giving up. He’s Apocalypse! 

APOCALYPSE: “I…will never yield. I will never die. But without my chamber, I will not wake up from my slumber for a long, long time.” 

WAR, her small hands clasped around one of Apocalypse’s massive ones, audibly crying under her helmet: “No. No!” She bows her head. “This is my fault. You could have destroyed them with ease if I had–” 

APOCALYPSE: “Shhh. Regret for the past is a weakness.” 

WAR, knowing exactly what to say: “Action in the present is strength.” She sniffles. “What about our mission? We were meant to save the world.” 

Apocalypse coughs up blood. 

APOCALYPSE: “Our mission…is now your mission. Clan Akabba is yours to lead.” War whispers “no”. “Are you afraid?” 

WAR: “Never!” 

APOCALYPSE: “Then do…as I trained you to do.” 

Apocalypse pulls War into his arms and removes her helmet, although the audience still can’t see who it is. We do see that she has long brown hair, as Apocalypse strokes it. 

APOCALYPSE: “You are the strongest. Perhaps not in power, but in spirit. This world…is yours to conquer.” War continues to nod along as she cries into his chest. “Let these be the last tears you shed. Only the wives and children of your slain enemies may weep.” 

WAR, still speaking in a distorted voice without her helmet: “ I will burn this world in the flames of war, for I am the war that will never end. I will make you proud.” 

APOCALYPSE: “I know…you will.” 

Apocalypse runs out of energy and enters a long, long sleep. 

WAR: “Goodbye…Father.” 

Elsewhere in the base, in Apocalypse’s backup throneroom, Exodus is in a perfectly good mood. Apocalypse may be lost, as are the powers of Famine, but he’s still more than powerful enough to lead the remaining Horseman to glory. 

EXODUS, mockingly:  “In the name of Lord Apocalypse, of course.” 

Sitting across from him, lighting a cigarette, is a muscular Japanese man with a mohawk in a silk shirt, slacks, and a katana strapped to his back. 

DEATH: “Forgive me, Famine, but I can’t believe in a loser to aid me in my revenge.” 

EXODUS: “I am the ONLY Omega among us.” 

“Boys, be nice.” 

DEATH: “Such a scary little word you like to toss around. Maybe one day it will mean something.” 

The fourth and final Horseman, Pestilence, reveals herself, and it’s a familiar face: Polaris. She sits with the two men. 

PESTILLENCE: “Unless you actually want to kill each other. That sounds fun to watch.” 

Death laughs as he smokes. 

DEATH: “Perhaps I should lead us.”

EXODUS: “I *would* kill you if you tried.” 

DEATH, casually reaching for his katana, unafraid: “By all means, go ahead and try it.” 

Exodus powers up, ready to start another fight. Polaris grins as it looks like this will happen, her eyes turning purple. 

“Quit your bickering!” 

War stomps into the throneroom, getting the other three horsemen’s attention. 

WAR: ‘Lord Apocalypse is gone. His mission is now our mission. Before he awakens, it is our responsibility to make this world strong. Before he awakens, we must cleanse the world of the weak. Of the human. And, most importantly…” 

War sits on Apocalypse’s throne as her face is finally shown. 

WAR: “Of the X-Men.” 

Her skin is blue, but War’s identity is still clear. She is Sofia Mantega. 

While Exodus sneers at her and Polaris chuckles, Death smirks and steps forward to kneel before War. And for War, there is nothing but hate and pain inside her eyes. 

[brandnewhuman]

The lack of fics where the reader leaves Michael is so annoying. ☹️ I also want him to suffer! And the fics that we do have is : Reader leaving Michael but Michael finds them and kills/kidnaps them. I don’t want that, I want him to go crazy and regret treating his s/o like shit. Like, why can’t we have a happy ending for once?? Don’t get me wrong, fics with Michael killing/ kidnapping his s/o are so good, but I just need one fic where the reader successfully leaves Michael and lives a new and better life while Michael is heartbroken. Some of the fics make me feel so unsatisfied. I just feel like Michael should suffer more, that’s all. I love him but I feel like he’d be such a bastard.

The shape effect

☆STARRING☆

☆Michael Myers☆

CONTENT:

Tw: canon violence, Michael myers being michael, mentions of murder, toxic relationship, angst, description of panic attack

A/N: you have honestly brought this upon yourself IM NOT SORRY. YOU ASKED IT I SHALL DELIVER. Not as good as I wanted it to be but at least it's something. I know it wasn't really a request but Im a people pleaser, what can i say. Enjoy it babe

If you think hard about how everything started to feel so wrong and painful you couldn't pinpoint an exact moment you were sure started this brutal downfall. What draws you to the conclusion that what's happening it's just the consequence of your blind stupidity.

I mean, one has to be pretty stupid to let evil himself live in your house. And if you told anyone they would all tell you that you're a fool for believing this thing could actually work. And they will be right in saying this because almost everyone who ends up in Michael's path dies, why should they think he could be capable of anything other than harm. 

But you couldn't find it in yourself to see him as evil as everyone thought of him, even if it meant living in your delusional bubble. Because everytime you look at him you can only see good memories, maybe not real but good nonetheless. You honestly are starting to have a blur in your mind between what it is really like you see it and what's not. 

You see what feels like a lifetime worth of memories and things that had made Michael look ten times more human in your eyes. You see his pain and the things he has been through too and that's the part that is making this so hard, cause you know that once it's done you'll be part of the people who have given up on him. 

But you have to do it, cause otherwise you'll end up hating him like everyone else does. 

You had to go, you had to get away as far as possible for him. You feel just…so tired of fighting and crying, of feeling the most alone you have ever been when you're with the person who's supposed to be the love of your life. The more you'll stay the more you realise that most of the things that make you happy about Michael come from your mind and your need to feel he somehow cares, you have to leave before the realisation eats at everything nice your mind has created. Even if you're aware he's the one who makes you feel miserable, you prefer to be the bad guy in your head instead of him, instead of having to see that you have wasted all this time chasing a fantasy. Those excuses of happy memories were all you had, all the "nice" moments were the only thing you didn't want to give up. 

You could live with him not caring anymore or not caring enough but you couldn't just accept he didn't care at all. There was nothing more you wanted from Michael than a sign of him loving you if not as much at least a little bit, you have given him all the chances to show it and he just couldn't. 

That's the worst part, you couldn't even be mad at him and keep fighting and screaming while crying about how much he was hurting you cause he couldn't do anything about it. You were the one who fell in love, you were the one who let themselves be overwhelmed by an unrequited love. 

Maybe there was a time where he could've changed, where there was still some of the Michael you wished to have but you had to accept that you were simply too late. You have come into his life too late, what you see it's just all that remains of the person he was before. He's a conglomerate of too many mistakes, too many "too late" and countless days of being told what he is. 

Your love was simply not enough anymore or maybe it has never been and you couldn't keep living like you being the one in love for the both of you, could make anything better. 

Maybe your mind was telling you to do it for the wrong reasons, but it was screaming at you to just leave before your love for him ends up withering your whole being. 

You planned everything so thoughtfully not even Michael himself would be able to find you. If it was someone else you wouldn't make all this effort to leave but Michael was different from anyone else. He could always seem to tell when someone was trying to trick him or do something, he always knew everything about everyone. If you want to leave and he doesn't then you're most certainly never going to leave. That's why you had to make sure everything was right. You just hoped that by the time he finds out you're far enough,reassuring yourself that even if it's not the case he surely won't be upset for too long. You just wanted to stop feeling like you're not enough and free him from having to pretend he cares while simultaneously staying alive. Is it so bad to want for yourself someone less rough? More kind? Someone who didn't need to be "fixed" or teaches basic human emotions while keeping yourself from becoming like him too? 

For Michael It will. When he'll come home the first thing he looks out for is you, not to ask you to do something for him or anything but just because you're the first person he has to wait for him and the first he can come back to when he feels alone. When he'll see you're not around he might not think much about it at first, maybe you just went to buy something or you're having a longer shift at work. There's a little whisper inside him, though, telling that something doesn't feel quite right as he heads to the kitchen and sits at the table to wait for you. 

In case you were wondering, he waited much longer than anyone could ever wait, after all he's a very resilient person. He would always wait for you even if he had to wait two eternities. 

Now he's not stupid, deep down he knows that you're not going back since he hasn't tried to go out looking foe you. He just feels that maybe if he waits enough you'll somehow know and you'll be back. 

That's the half of him that still thinks like the 6 years old Michael, the one that waited entire years for his family to come back and for the people around him to really help him. And there's the other half that isn't surprised anymore, that was actually wondering how much longer you would stay.

He is so scared of even moving or breathing to deeply cause to him if he stays still enough he can't pretend that this is not happening 

How tragic it is to know perfectly well how bad  you are in someone but not being capable of letting go. He once thought the only thing able to torment him was the bottomless pit of darkness inside him demanding more and more violence and consuming literally everything inside him but he was wrong. It wasn't until he met you and he learned how it feels to care for someone, that he knew what was real torture. Being trapped in a body and a mind that are broken, that would never function the way you like and will never give the one you love what they need. No matter the effort, his touch will never be gentle or kind, his emotions will never work the way they should, his voice will never come out to say anything, much less something nice. You were all he had, you were the only one who took care of him and loved him as if he was a real human being worthy of such attention. Loomis had mentioned it from time to time, how his energy and overall him as a  whole consumed and ate away other people's vital energy.He used to compare it to a some sort of cancer, when you find out what it is and what is doing is always too late.

The thing is, he is trapped with himself as much as everyone else is. He doesn't get a way out, he doesn't get to justify himself and certainly doesn't get to be understood. You did that though, you made him feel understood and loved and heard, you made him feel like he wasn't entirely wrong at being angry at the world. 

You have been very smart at leaving before he could stop you cause knowing himself he wouldn't have allowed that. He finds himself aware of the fact that he wouldn't have cared about your happiness if that meant he got to keep you by his side. But deep down he didn't want to be a cancer for you too, he knows you're right about leaving. That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt, doesn't mean that a hot stream of tears can't be running down his cheeks inside the mask and falling onto his hands making him realise his crying. He has cried very few times and never this much. This feeling inside him..he just can't stand it. It's getting more and more overwhelming as the hours pass by and in his chest there's an oppressive feeling of not getting enough air. His head is spinning so fast he falls from the chair gripping his chest as if that was going to stop the brutal pounding of his heart inside trying to get out of his mouth. His always steady hands are now shaking as he takes off the mask for the first time in years, he wasn't even sure there was a face under that mask anymore, he doesn't even know how or when he had become more the boogeyman and less michael. He actively feels like he is dying, and he has suffered countless near death experiences so he should know how dying feels. It's like everything that has happened has come down on him only now and it's trying to tear him apart from inside. He waits and waits for the moment in which his lungs stop gasping for air and his heart stops fighting to keep the heartbeats going, but it never comes. He's stuck in that almost dying over and over again. 

The thought of how happy you would be to finally see his face crosses his mind and for you he would be faceless for life, he would let anyone see right through what scares him the most just to have an opportunity to make you come back, to keep you near. 

But he can't, like some stupid romantic story cliché he wants to change when it's too late. 

He holds his head between his hands and tries so hard to stop the loudness inside his mind, he feels so dizzy he could throw up. He can't take it anymore, the shape himself feels defeated and it's now even praying for god to make it stop. He tries so hard to just push everything away but it's like he can feel himself getting sicker and sicker, like the pain is spreading inside him just to rip apart his body to get out. 

He just doesn't know how to make it right and how to tell you, he just doesn't know and now you're gone because of it. It's like every mile you get away from him he feels it in pain. 

As days pass by it doesn't get any better, if anything it gets worse. He has thought about stopping going back to your house and just getting away from anything that reminds him of you but everytime he takes a step towards the opposite direction his mind flashes him with images of you coming back and not finding him. He knows it won't happen but knowing it doesn't mean accepting it. 

He keeps lying on your side of the bed, trying to imagine hard enough that you're there. Keep caressing your clothes but not too much so he can save your scent for a little bit longer. He holds onto everything and anything that can make him feel close to you, even if it's painful he needs it. He needs to at least know you were there once, that you really existed before disappearing. 

The void you have left behind it's eating him alive and the ones paying for it are his victims. He has searched for you, has tried everything but in the end you seemed to have outsmarted him because he had to give up. 

For any other person, this type of pain would certainly end up fading and just become a distant memory of a nasty break up but for Michael? He can't forget. 

His body and his mind, his essence if you will, latches onto every little thing that makes him feel alive. He will live with the pain of not having you near for the rest of his life. 

[sowingseedsandshootinghoops]

Love is Enough: Patroclus in “The Song of Achilles”

Note on the text: I used The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller as published in 2012 by HarperCollins

Madeline Miller has crafted a near masterpiece here. Not quite as good as Circe but how many books are. And at the center of this one is another great protagonist, Patroclus, who learns how to truly tap into his potential and become the best version of himself.

When we first meet Patroclus he is just a little kid craving for his father’s love and attention. His mom has passed away and it is clear that he is nothing but a “disappointment [to his dad]: small, slight. I was not fast. I was not strong. I could not sing” (1). He knows deep in his bones that he is unloved and unwanted: a failure. This not only affects him psychologically, but stunts his growth as a human being. Love is the most important thing for a child to experience. More than anything else he needs to know that he is loved and accepted if he is to become who he is meant to be. That is why Patroclus isn’t able to grow while living with his father, but Achilles is. It’s obvious from the beginning that King Minoetius despises Patroclus while King Peleus loves Achilles.

When he goes to live with King Peleus, Patroclus is something of a disappointment, and runs a real risk of being just another royal brat who never met his potential. In fact he is being sent away because he brought shame on his family name, but the moment King Peleus sees him he tells Patroclus that he is welcome to stay and that he may “still make a good man” someday (29). It’s Peleus’ belief in Patroclus that starts Patroclus on the path to becoming the hero that Briseis will later say is worth 10 of Achilles. Achilles also loves Patroclus and even from the very beginning treats Patroclus with a respect that his father never gave him. When he and Patroclus are learning to play the lyre, instead of simply mocking Patroclus he encourages him to keep practicing. Similarly, when Chiron decides to take on Achilles as a pupil, he also teaches Patroclus everything he knows about medicine so that he can become the best doctor the world had ever seen. The love and acceptance that Patroclus experiences here is what allows him to evolve into the man that he later becomes.

In some sense you could say that Patroclus becomes doubly great. Not only because what he himself accomplishes as a doctor and a soldier (he kills the renowned Trojan warrior Sarpedon) but because of the way that he influences and changes Achilles.

Achilles has been told all of his life that he is destined to become a great warrior, a hero. Odysseus himself says that Achilles is “a weapon, a killer. . . . The best that the gods have ever made” (207). Achilles believes that with such conviction that it has blunted his ability to really empathize with other people. He thinks he’s above it all. That’s why he tells Patroclus again and again, when he begs Achilles not to kill Hector because the prophecy says that Achilles will die next, “why should I kill him? He’s done nothing to me” (171). It is the statement of an innocently arrogant person who has never experienced any major pain and believes that he is above it all. He’s struggled to really empathize with others which is why he’s willing to let all the Greek suffer and die while he looks on from the sidelines when King Agamemnon insults him by taking away all of his war prizes. The degree to which Achilles is able to have any kind of compassion is directly a result of his relationship with Patroclus. There is a scene where Achilles approaches Patroclus in the aftermath of a battle. Now just prior to that battle, Patroclus chided Achilles for being an unfeeling, ruthless killing machine. This time however when he approaches Patroclus it is to tell him that he

left one son alive. . . . The eighth son. So that the line would not die’

Strange that such kindness felt like grace. Yet what other warrior would have done as much?. . . . The surviving son would have children, he would give them his family name, and tell their story. They would be preserved, in memory of not in life (254).

Patroclus is the one who is able to give this “Tin Man”, this unfeeling war machine, a heart, and the value of that is so high that Achilles later admits that he would give up everything to have Patroclus with him again. More than that, he agrees with Briseis when she says that she hopes Hector kills him. Without Patroclus and his love, life, for Achilles, isn’t worth living.

The beautiful thing about this book is how it really is all about love. We all need love, in all its forms, to become the best version of ourselves. Patroclus was only able to become the best version of himself because of the love of people like Peleus, Briseis, Chiron, and Achilles. Even Achilles was only able to be the hero that he was because of the love of people like Peleus and Patroclus. Love is so important. It is the soil in which we grow, and what plant doesn’t need the right kind of soil to flourish. Love really is the answer.

[curly-hot-brat]

Ramble alert

I am in a moment in my life where everything is new, so I feel the need to write things down to get them out of me, and there's no better place than this, so here goes nothing.

So much has happened in my life since the beginning of the year... I finally graduated college after six and a half years, and I got my board certification so I am officially a licenced psychologist. However, I have made zero moves to start a professional life. The truth is that psychology was never a dream graduation for me. It was the second best thing when I was told by my mom when I told her I had finally decided I wanted to graduate in music that it should be just a hobby. I was so tired of trying to find my way back then that I just chose what felt less irking when I checked the subject lists. So now I feel kind of at lost at what I actually wanna do with this degree.

My grandma passed away on January. I am so grateful for all the time I had with her, and that she didn't suffer and that we had a family dinner party with all the women in the family to celebrate my aunt turning 60 the night before her passing. What's been the hardest part is that my aunt, who inherited her house, decided to sell it, and seeing the place that was a physical core to all our family for the longest time completely empty feels like a punch in the gut. I wish I had resources to buy it just so that I could honor that space. I'm not mad at my aunt. But coming to terms with the loss of that space has been hard.

I also moved places. After my grandma passed I kept the promise I made to her every time she'd worried what would happen to her twin cats after she died and I brought them to live with me. Since I also had a cat of my own and the neighborhood I lived in didn't make sense to my life anymore since I have nothing else to do on campus, I decided to move to a more central neighborhood and out of an apartment to a two floors, two bedroom house. I moved in February and I still haven't finished organizing things my way, so I'm still in the process of turning this house into my home. The twins are ten, and my cat is one, so it's also been a process to try to get them to accept eachother, and the twins are still confined to my bedroom until now. I still don't feel confident they ever will accept eachother and I have no idea of what I'm gonna do if they actually don't.

After I moved, I also traveled alone to a new town to go to a music festival that had so many bands that were the core of my teenage emo rocker girl years. I stayed at a relative's place and I met a friend at the concert, and it was my first ever day long festival event. I got there early cause I didn't wanna miss any bands. It was one of the best experiences ever, but I also found out I don't have enough stamina to face another one of these. Only if there's another group of too many bands I love to make it impossible to miss. I don't think that's happening again anytime soon.

After that I was finally alone to figure out my life back in my new place. But I have spent most of my time dissociating. I haven't really been too keen on feeding myself right. I forget to eat at least two meals (consider snacks a meal) everyday. Sometimes more. The only thing I have tried my best to not neglect are my three girls. (The cats. I don't have any human children) Still, it's been hard to keep up with life. My health also hasn't been great, specially related to my period and my hormones. I've been suspecting I have Polycystic ovarian syndrome and/or endometriosis based on my symptoms. Last week was my ovulation window and there was a day I had such an intense lower abdomen pain I literally cried and had difficulty walking. I've been taking antiinflammatories ever since and I have a doctors appointment tomorrow. I hope I finally start to get some direction to how to treat my body better. I've been neglecting it for too long, and I feel like that has definitely had an impact on my mental health that has contributed to how I've dealt with this moment in my life so far.

I know I have to make decisions about what I wanna do in my life rn. I also know that this decision doesn't need to be permanent. But it's been hard to figure out where to start. I hope that this doctor's appointment and whatever tests I have to make to figure out my physical health are a good way to get that starter point. I hope that it helps to bring back some energy in my body, cause the fatigue I've been feeling for minimal tasks isn't t normal. Can't be. I hope it isn't.

[the-tiger-with-a-computer]

You having a talk with blackarachnia.

This will be good.

If I was in Transformers Animated: Part 10

*During the episode Predecon's Rising*

Wasp: I saw Cat's video. Wasp was thinking. Why Cat help Wasp?

Me: Well, I want to help you. You suffered a lot and you did not deserve it. I just hope that by making sure you stay here you can find peace here on Earth.

Wasp: You think Wasp innocent?

Me: Yeah. We know someone framed you and Bee feels regret for the part he played in it all.

Wasp: Wasp not forgive Bumblebot.

Me: I'm not saying you have to forgive Bee. I'm saying that now you have a second chance at living a better life. Here, why don't we take a walk around the park?

Wasp: That sound nice.

*Later*

Me: Isn't this much better?

Wasp: Better than being near Autobots.

Me: Well at least you are feeling better.

Suddenly Swoop came in and grabbed Wasp.

Me: WASP!

I grabbed Wasp's servo and the two of us were carried away. Thankfully I managed to send a text to Sair. It was not good but hopefully, she understands.

*On Dinobot Island*

Wasp: Is Cat ok?

Me: Yeah. I'm fine.

Blackarachnia: Would you look at this. Instead of just Wasp, you got me a human as well. And not just any human, but Cat.

Me: Let me guess, live steam?

Blackarachnia: Yup. I watched it and found it quite interesting.

Me: And you must be Blackarachnia. Optimus told me about you.

Blackarachnia: Oh. And what did the big bot say?

Me: That the two of you used to be friends, that he regrets not checking the caves after the explosion, and how he hopes that he can someday make things right

Blackarachnia: Really now?

Me: Yeah, and honestly. I don't blame you for cutting contact but don't be so hard on them. From what I know you, Optimus, and Sentinel share the blame. You all should have known better, Optimus should have done more to stop you two, and Sentinel should have not brought you all there in the first place.

Blackarachnia: Well, maybe you are right but that doesn't change the past.

Me: And you shouldn't let it affect your future. Sure what happened to you does suck but that doesn't mean you can hurt others.

Blackarachnia: Maybe. But that's not what's important right now. Right now I have a proposal for Wasp here. Do you really think that the Autobots will help you? Once you have served your purpose what's stopping them from sending you to prison again?

Me: The fact that the charges were dropped and Wasp has been proven innocent.

Blackarachnia: That may be true, but I used to be one of the Autobots, and trust me they are nothing but trouble. Your human friend can't protect you from their bias forever. Fortunately, I can give you power. Power to protect Cat and to stand up to the Autobots.

Wasp looks back at me before speaking: What kind of power?

Blackarachnia: To be like me. To be a perfect combination of cybernetics and organic matter.

Me: Techno-organic.

Blackarachnia: Exactly. Just step into this chamber, let me handle the rest, and you will be so much more powerful. Unless your friend has something to say?

Me: As much as I think this is a bad idea it's Wasp's choice and whatever he chooses I'll support him.

Wasp thinks for a moment: Wasp accepts lady's offer.

Wasp steps inside the chamber it fills with green gas. Blackarachnia places a wasp insect into the other chamber and the transformation begins. It's painful for me to watch and I look away. Then the chamber glows green and explodes.

Me: WASP!

Then a gaint green Wasp flies away from the explosion.

Me: Wasp?

Wasp transforms before speaking: Wasp now Waspinator.

Optimus then comes in with Bumblebee and Sentinel.

Me: Oh great. It's the blue and orange disaster.

Sentinel: Oh come on.

Optimus: Cat! Good to see that you are all right. Where's Wasp?

I point to Waspinator.

Waspinator: Wasp now Waspinator.

Sentinel: Eww.

Bumblebee: Wasp?

Blackarachnia: Well. Looks like it's a reunion.

Sentinel: Optimus. What's the freak talking about?

Blackarachnia: Yes Optimus. Tell him.

Optimus: Elita-1 never went offline. She was changed and now she is called Blackarachnia. Part organic.

Sentinel: What?!

Blackarachnia: You never bothered to check. Maybe if you did things would be different.

Optimus: I thought you hated being organic. Why do the same to Wasp?

Blackarachnia: Because if I can change him back I can do the same to myself.

Optimus: And what if he goes offline?

Blackarachnia does not say anything. Optimus has his answer and so does Waspinator.

Waspinator: Waspinator thought spider bot Waspinator's friend. Spider bot use Waspinator. Waspinator destroy spider bot!

Waspinator prepares to attack and the others have their weapons ready.

Me: Waspinator. Calm down. We can work things out without resulting to violence.

Then Waspinator begins to spark. Something is wrong.

Blackarachnia: His transwarp mutation is unstable. It's building to critical mass.

Me: What do we do!?

Optimus: We run!

Optimus grabs me as Waspinator tries to attack Blackarachnia.

Everyone gets out safely but Blackarachnia knows that unless she does something everyone will be killed. So she covers both herself and Waspinator in webbing.

Optimus: Blackarachnia NO!

Me: Waspinator!

Waspinator: Waspinator sorry. Waspinator should have listened to Cat. Waspinator wants Cat to remember Waspinator and help others.

Blackarachnia: Optimus. Sentinel. It may be too late, but I'm sorry for everything. Cat, take good care of Optimus for me and keep him out of trouble ok?

Me: I'll try.

Blackarachnia: One last thing. Optimus I never stopped loving you. Goodbye.

With that Waspinator explodes. It takes a huge chunk of the island with them.

Bumblebee: What happened?

Me: There gone. That's what happened.

Optimus: Cat.

Me: I should have done more. I should have stopped Wasp. I should have said something. Maybe then none of this would have happened.

Optimus: What's done is done. You can't change it.

Me: I know. It's just. I could have done more and I didn't.

Optimus: Blackarachnia made her choice. She sacrificed herself to save us all. What we can do now is honor their memory.

Me: I want to search for them. Any sign of them.

Sentinel: What good will that do? Even if they are still alive the transwarp energy could have sent them anywhere.

Me: I want to try. Because unlike you I care for Waspinator. He was my friend and now he's gone. I told him that here on Earth he could live a good life and now this happens?!

Optimus: We will search for them. After a night's rest. We have all been through a lot today.

Me: Fine.

*Later*

Jazz: That's for everything OP. Sorry, we gotta split so soon. I always dig this planet.

Jetfire: Dat is making one of you.

Jetstorm: Sentinel. He's definitely not digging organic insects.

Optimus: Ease up you two. He's been through a lot. We all have.

Jazz: Never thought I hear you sticking up for SP.

Optimus: He's a good bot. Even if he doesn't know how to let go of a grudge.

Sentinel: I can handle my own team thank you. Umm. How is Cat?

Jazz: Am I hearing you right? Never thought you would be concerned about any organic.

Sentinel: It's just with the night they had even I am a bit concerned.

Me: I'm fine thank you for asking.

Everyone else leaves, including me. Leaving only Optimus, and Sentinel.

Optimus: I'm sorry I never told you about Elita-1. I didn't want to open old wounds.

Sentinel: Well I'm sorry for ever going to that stupid planet. Besides. It's too late for apologies now.

Optimus: Maybe so but right now Cybertron needs a leader and for better or worse that leader is you.

Sentinel: Got that right buddy.

Sentinel goes on board his ship and it takes off.

Optimus: Where is Cat?

Bumblebee: They have been in their room since we got back. Said that they have important things to do.

Optimus: All right. Hey Cat. Get a good night's rest ok? We'll search for Blackarachnia and Waspinator in the morning ok?

Me: Ok.

[venjamin-kingdomhearts]

Writing based of my thread on twitter. Of course Ventus would hate himself after everything. The realization that your happiness has made others suffer, that your whole existence has brought bad luck... it's a nightmare. You WERE meant to exist, Ventus. But the world would be better off without  you, wouldn't it?

"Ventus. Listen to me."

Ventus. The boy who's brought nothing but misery. You wanted to be happy, and Strelitzia died. You wanted to survive being split from Vanitas, and he suffered under Master Xehanort's teachings. You didn't want to die, not really, so you took sanctuary within Sora's Heart, and since then, his life has been hell.

"Stop that. Stop talking to yourself like that,  Ventus."

Why shouldn't Ventus think of himself so lowly? You've brought nothing but pain. You never meant to, but you did. And despite it all, despite knowing people have been hurt and that the universe would be happier without you, Ventus, you're selfish enough to be scared of being punished. Being blamed. Paying for what you did with your life--

"You didn't DO anything!"

Despite knowing people were hurt, Ventus is still selfish enough to WANT to LIVE.

It's not until Ventus feels wet fabric against his face that he realizes he's been crying into someone's shirt.

"Those people were hurt, yeah. It fucking sucks," Roxas whispers into Ventus' ear, holding the other tight against his chest. "But do you really think beating yourself up about that's going to change anything? You really think Strelitzia and Sora want you to hurt?"

They should want you to hurt. It's what you deserve.

"Yeah? Well people told me all I deserved was to become part of Sora again. That it was my destiny to be a part of him and nothing else."

Ventus is quiet. Shaky, selfish arms grip Roxas closer. Ventus feels his fingers tangle together. It's hard to feel connected to his body right now. So any sensation that proves he's still here is helpful. But deep down, Ventus knows he shouldn't be holding Roxas so tenderly. Shouldn't be allowing himself to feel this comfort, after all the pain he's caused.

"Sora couldn't wake up until I was put down. He'd never wake up if I wasn't killed. Do you think I deserved to stop existing for his sake? Do you think he should've stayed asleep for mine?"

Ventus feels his throat tighten. His lips quiver all fierce, and he finds himself rubbing his forehead against Roxas' chest. His breath hitches. Roxas' voice is still strong, but it's a lot gentler. More quiet. Still determined to get a point across, but so very, very caring.

"See, Ven? It's more complicated than one person deserving to live and someone else deserving to be hurt. Bad things might've happened to you. And some might've happened because of an accident. But you didn't cause this shit. You didn't mean to hurt them. All you did was exist. All you did was try to survive and do you really think anyone should be punished for that? For just wanting to live life, for fighting for their survival?"

Ventus sobs. Roxas rubs a hand along his back.

(Ventus remembers a long time ago, when he begged Terra and Aqua to "put an end to me". He'd brought the two of them nothing but suffering, hadn't he?)

(. . . But if he'd REALLY only brought them sadness, then why didn't they destroy him? Why did they fight so hard to keep their family together?)

"You might not think you have a right to exist. But I do. We all do."

[smutracha]

Why are the stars missing? I’m right here, your star.

Angst, Fluff, BF!Hanji, anxious and stressed reader, hints at past self-harm

A skz comfort one shot cause m drowning in exam anxiety and my moods are everywhere.

For some reason the days have all been passing in the same way. There was an obvious reason and it’s not like you were shying away from it but still. The days were repetitive, not that it bothered you, but every night you pondered it with a strange kind of calmness.

Slow days, eating because you should, no appetite really. Not being able to focus on a single thing, a comfort show to pull you in. shifting focus to the all-consuming anxiety that forced you to work on the exams that loomed over you. Then the lack of focus was back, music playing in the background while your mind snatched you from reality and your emotions just took over. Pain and screaming with frustration and anger about the things you could never control. A sudden calm, stray tears every now and then. You weren’t sad, just so overwhelmed that nothing could keep the mood swings at bay. And then you were okay again.

The only thing that was constant was the tightness in your chest and the knot in your throat. But it was different now, there was an obvious change. In the past you would have been struggling to cope with any of it. The countless nights laying in the dark, feeling so alone in a house with the people that loved you most in the world despite the way you couldn’t stay constant. The way your mind consumed you and the battles to stop that screeching voice that tore you down with every word. The uncontrollable sobbing and begging. The detachment as you stared at your stars through the skylight, soothing yourself, waiting for fatigue to take over as you assured yourself that when the morning came, you’d be okay again.

But now the suffering didn’t come. You’d forgotten it ever did. Now it was dealt with in such controlled strangeness that it made no sense. But the anxiety was stronger than before, and nothing could stop the crushing grip it had over you.

The only comfort you’d found before now evaded you. You couldn’t find your star in the darkness above your balcony. Like it was stolen. And without noticing the tears began falling from your eyes. The only solace was the sound of your boyfriend’s music humming through the night. The comfort playlist had a way of making everything seem okay even if you were crying. Still, you weren’t sad or frustrated, just calmly crying to let the pressure out.

“Baby?” There he was. “Babe? I thought I’d come over and surprise you.” He called out, feet softly padding through the apartment as he searched for you. “Oh, here you are, what are you doing out here?” “Just looking for my star” you turned to gaze at him as he settled next to you at the railing. A soft sad smile fell over his features as he noticed the glisten staining your rosy cheeks. “Oh baby, what’s wrong?” “Nothing, m just so anxious cause of exams. Its all been so weird, this new pattern my mind has made to deal with it.”

He'd brought you inside to the sofa. Bundled under a blanket and cuddled into his chest as he held you, you spoke it through to him. “I never really had much control over my emotions and how my mind dealt with them and anxiety. It crushed me before, but now it just constricts me. It’s all so different now that m doing better. But it still changes with the day, at night I feel the heat of it all. So, I feel the gnawing urge to scream, and I feel a tug at my heart but eventually it calms down and I just kinda go into idle. I let out random tears, without knowing its gonna happen, sometimes  don’t even realize. But it’s calm and I’m okay with it all. It’s so new and controlled and it confuses me a bit. And then I end up realizing that I’m actually growing up and changing to finally suit my age because m not scared of growing up anymore. But the anxiety just builds and m not really getting it out.”

He just nods and holds you as you speak, rocking you back and forth as your playlist softly outlines the softness of the moment. “it’s ok that this is happening, you know? You don’t have to understand it all, as long as you still feel that it will be okay. I know exams always scare you and stress you out and that these changes cloud you a bit. But this is good, you’re handling it well even if your emotions play out on their own, you still are able to stay calm and let them just be. It’s good, as long as it’s not frenzied. And I think the music probably helps to soothe the process.”

“You don’t think the tears are weird?” “Eh, kinda but I never like seeing my pretty girl cry so that’s probably why. But I cry too, and you know m a sobber. just like my pretty baby. Its okay for your tears to fall, its good.”

“I love you, Ji.”

“I love you, yn.”

A comfortable silence settles over you and pretty soon you feel sleep fogging your mind. He giggles softly at the way you snuggle further into him; you always do when you’re falling asleep. “C’mon cutie, lets get to bed.” “Sleeping over?” you ask as he carries you into your bedroom, he settles you down on your side of the bed. “Mm, figure my pretty girl needs some comfort.” He leaves a soft kiss on your nose before he dips back out to switch the apartment off for the night.

He settles back down into his side of the bed pulling you back into his embrace.

“Why are the stars missing?” you ask as you finally drift off, soft breaths leaving you as your lips part in a pout. “I’m right here, your star.” He says softly. He was never gonna leave you, his love for you burned eternal.

{waiting for us started playing while I was typing the last bit and m crying now. I didn’t know I needed to write this so badly but m actually just crying all of my stress and anxiety away. Kinda sad rn too}