#it’s like yelling into the void and sometimes four people respond

[ratective]

i like seeing pearl portrayed so stupidly in love with rose but i also need this fool to MOVE ON and see the world beyond roses huge hair!!!! not in like a leave thoughts of rose completely behind you and forget her altogether type of way but broaden your horizons bitch there’s garnet. bismuth. go give them a kiss!!! right now!! AT THE SAME TIME!! HEAL BITCH HEAL

[blueflamebimbo]

Bakugou x Reader - Not Butterflies

Shit hits the fan and you both have to stop thinking like heroes and more like a couple to fix it. 

Dedicated to: @silenceofthecookies Warnings: angst, hurt/comfort Word count: 3K

The glare of the television screen only added to the discomfort you felt each time you checked your phone with no good news to show for it. There were no notifications, not a single sign of life that would put your mind at ease and keep you from worrying. You were met with only the changing of the hour as the room darkened around you.  You were bundled up on the couch, a fleece blanket wrapped tightly around you serving as the only comfort you could provide for yourself.

Katsuki wasn’t big on texting. Small talk was not something he would actively engage in face to face, let alone through text. Even so, you could always count on him letting you know each time he had finished for the day and would be on his way home. After the two of you had graduated from UA, you had moved back into your parents’ place for a few months in search for an apartment. That was nearly two years ago, and the apartment you shared with your boyfriend of four years was finally starting to look like a home. The television set-up no longer balanced on cardboard boxes, the messy suitcases had been replaced by an actual wardrobe and the cutlery in the kitchen finally matched. Even Katsuki’s reluctantly softened features were put on display throughout the living space in the form of polaroid pictures that had been haphazardly pinned to the walls with thumb tacks. To a stranger it seemed like a cozy home shared by two people who spent their days enjoying each other’s company, which wasn’t exactly the case - not now, at least.

Moving in together had seemed like the obvious next step in your relationship, and it had been save for the slight miscalculation in the quality time department. As pro heroes, you were both doing well. This was definitely a plus when it came to learning how to deal with finances and the like, but working a lot also meant spending less time at the home front than you had initially anticipated. Your mutual friends seemed to be solving this issue through the form of communication, but unfortunately that was something neither Katsuki nor you excelled at.

With Katsuki, communication had always been simple in the sense that there had  never been that much to argue about so heavy conversations rarely occurred and, even if they did occur, they were always solved by either one of you simply giving their opinion and, if needed, compromising. The difference was that, back then, there had been more opportunities for the both of you to sit down and have a conversation. There had been more time spent together: between classes, after assignments and even late at night before bedtime, though the latter often poked at both of your bad tempers and resulted in an explosive discussion, excuse the pun.

Right now, Katsuki was letting the pro hero rankings get to his head, causing him to take on the longest and hardest assignments he could get and resulting in him barely spending any time at home. It had come to a point where you felt anxious going grocery shopping, not knowing if you should bother buying groceries for two people, since Katsuki’s serving often lay forgotten in the fridge after he’d get home in the middle of the night, tired and already having eaten on the way home. You barely felt him crawl into bed with you, only to feel him leaving long before the sun was back up. It felt like he was starting to slip. Like he was drifting away from your relationship with him and towards a world that revolved only around his job. It was a very Katsuki thing to do, but, seeing as he’d grown up a lot since his first years at UA, it was disheartening to see him slip back into old habits without a chance to discuss your worries with him.

That same dread filled you as the moonlight streamed into the living room, another indication of how terribly late it was getting. He was supposed to be home by now. Katsuki had planned a meeting with Hatsume, who had become one of the best in her own ways, to discuss some adjustments to Katsuki’s hero costume. That type of meeting wasn’t supposed to take long, so when you came home to an empty apartment after your own assignments, you had felt your stomach drop. Part of you had tried to stay optimistic as you prepared dinner, but as the clock ticked and the hours seemed rush by, Katsuki’s food ended up in the fridge and you had to endure dinner by yourself once again. That was how you had anxiously made your way to the couch with a cup of tea in hand.

You checked your phone once again, but to no avail. It was starting to overwhelm you. This was not what you had signed up for. It wasn’t often that you let yourself get this emotional over Katsuki, because it was rarely this serious, but this time it was starting to feel like you had hit a dead end. Was this really the way things were going to end? With him growing out of your relationship and deciding that that was fine, while you were left feeling empty and staring into the void with the white noise of a once shared television set in the background, alone on a couch where you had spent some of your softest moments together? The Katsuki you knew couldn’t be that cruel...

... Could he?

The sound of the front door slamming shut made your heart stutter and you watched the blond step into the living room, looking stoic and cold as he eyed you. He was standing just a few feet away, but he’d never seemed further away, not even on that day you first made eye contact from across the room back in your second year at UA.

“So much for spending time together, huh?”

The tone of his voice matched his features with an crispness that chilled you inside and out.

Your eyebrows knit together, slowly realising that he was somehow making you feel responsible for the situation you were in. “Excuse you? If you wanted to spend time so much, then you had every opportunity to do so, I’d say. I’ve been waiting here for you all night. I’m always waiting. How am I to blame, here?”

Katsuki’s features hardened even further, evolving into a look you’d never seen him direct at you. “You have got to be kidding me. For once, I was trying to do the right thing here--”

“Do the right thing? By leaving me here by myself again? Do you think I like preparing food I know you won’t eat? Do you think I like going to sleep and waking up in a cold bed?”

“You had a choice--!”

Bakugou was trying his hardest not to burst out into explosive yelling, and you could see that frustration was getting the better of him. You couldn’t understand what he was getting at. How did you ever have a choice in him not being there when you wanted-- needed him to be there?

Before you could say anything else, Bakugou had made a beeline towards the bathroom, slamming the door and locking it behind him. That’s when you noticed your eyes burning with tears you were too stubborn to shed. With trembling legs, you went to sit down onto the couch once again, and you wondered if sleeping in your shared bed tonight was even a good idea.

Bakugou’s POV

The days were becoming longer and harsher as Bakugou barely got any sleep, spending his nights staring at the sleeping person next to him -- the one he wanted to impress the most, the one he so desperately wanted to make happy. But he was failing to do so, he could feel it. You barely spent time together, but Bakugou figured that if he became the best, then he would be able to make you proud of him and then life would get easier. Maybe if he achieved his goals faster, he would be able to spend his life by your side comfortably, knowing that he could provide easily and knowing he was doing the best that he could possibly do. The stolen forehead kisses in the middle of the night were left only for him to remember as he watched your resting form, and they were the only thing that kept him going these days. He needed them to get over the heartache that came with the sight of his dinner in the fridge. He was disappointing you. He wasn’t there, couldn’t be good enough. He needed to work harder, be stronger, be better for you.

Back at AU it was easier to assume that he was the best, surrounded by background characters who turned out not to be too terrible to be around. It was easier to imagine that you were proud of him, back then. Once he became a pro hero, though, it seemed like every time he proved his worth as he defeated one villain, an other, stronger villain would provide an even bigger challenge, one that he sometimes couldn’t tackle by himself. He simply wasn’t the best he could be yet, and you deserved the best. But he could see the dried tears on your cheeks late at night, and could hear the nightmares that he had no way of saving you from. Something had to happen. He had to fix this, because it was tearing the two of you apart.

That day, he had met up with Hatsume, who seemed to notice the way Katsuki wasn’t entirely himself. He seemed tired, too tired to even make snide remarks to some of the adjustments Hatsume had suggested. After she’d left, he’d sent you a quick text, asking you to meet him for dinner at your favourite restaurant, so you could finally have a decent conversation. He then went to take care of a few errands before he headed straight to the restaurant, waiting outside and only sporadically checking his phone for the time.

When at first you didn’t respond, let alone join him at the restaurant, he’d felt his heart break, feeling as though you were giving up on him after all. He knew... He knew you weren’t happy with how things were, but he had hoped that maybe you would still give him a chance to fix things, even though he had no idea how he was supposed to do that without giving up on his goals. If making Bakugou give up on his life goals was the only way you would be happy... You would never be that egocentric...

...Would you?

By the time the sun went down and you still hadn’t replied, he felt his anxiety and despair slowly evolve into anger. The least you could do is talk to him about the situation. You owed him that much.

He become so overwhelmed that he ended up sprinting his way back to the shared apartment, where he felt his last nerve being blown up by your behaviour. It wasn’t like he hadn’t tried to spend time with you. It wasn’t like he hadn’t offered to have a conversation with you, so why wouldn’t you admit that you just didn’t take the chance to fix things?

He needed time to cool off. A cold shower would soothe his nerves. He couldn’t stand watching you fall apart when he had clearly done what he thought was right. It was a two way street, no?

After his shower, he changed into some PJ shorts and a freshly washed shirt. The scent of the fabric softener reminded him of the sheets he found you bundled up in every night, and for some reason it broke his heart once again. He grit his teeth and gripped the edge of the bathroom sink, watching his knuckles turn ivory as he willed himself not to give into emotions that would make him lose control over his composure. He took a few slow breaths and then straightened his back, deciding to clean up after himself and throw his clothes into the hamper. As he did so, his wallet and his phone clattered onto the tiles, making him curse under his breath. He picked them up with a sigh and then checked to see if his phone was still alive.

The clock signalled that it was almost midnight, and he noticed a small crack in the screen right above it, next to the aeroplane icon that signalled...

His phone was on aeroplane mode. How...

That’s when it hit him. Katsuki had put his phone on aeroplane mode during the meeting with Hatsume, and hadn’t touched the settings afterwards. He gulped, feeling a shiver crawling up his spine as he realised just how badly he had fucked up and unlocked his phone.

His text message to you had never been sent.

With dread filling his entire being, he changed the settings and watched several text messages arrive.

[5.21 PM: Y/N] I’m making stew tonight! You’ll be home for dinner, right? [6:45 PM: Y/N] Almost done. Are you close? [7:33 PM: Y/N] I’ll go ahead and eat... I’ll save you some in the fridge... [9:01 PM: Y/N] ...Is everything all right? [10:53 PM: Y/N] Katsuki...?

With a heavy heart, he locked his phone screen once again and unlocked the bathroom door. He padded his way towards the kitchen and made two cups of tea, carefully bringing them over to the living room and setting them down on the coffee table.

He could barely look you in the eye as he pulled out his phone and showed you the message he never actually sent.

His voice was rough when he muttered a soft “I’m sorry. I put my phone on aeroplane mode when I met up with Hatsume. I had no idea. I-- I fucked up. I’m sorry.”

Your POV

When Katsuki came out of the bathroom looking frustrated but infinitely less pissed, you felt a sense of hope bloom in your chest. Even though it was late, you hoped you could at least clear up a thing or two, because you still had no idea what had just happened.

The scent of the tea that hit your senses calmed you down, but it was nothing compared to the feeling of the dip in the couch cushion as Katsuki took a seat next to you. When he showed you his phone, it suddenly became painfully clear what had happened.

After you’d processed what had happened, you felt your throat close up once again. “You idiot...” You looked over at him and watched how he was stubbornly looking at a small stain on the carpet but looking ten different kinds of defeated. “You... absolute idiot.”

He didn’t seem opposed to the insult... not this time.

“Did you wait at the restaurant all this time?”

He reached out for his cup of tea and took a tentative sip, after which he nodded. “At first I thought you were punishing me. Since I’m never home for dinner anymore, I thought you would let me wait a while before showing up, and I wouldn’t have blamed you if you did.”

You scoffed, frowning into the steam that rose from your cup. “I’ve not been... happy about that, but I would never do that to you, Katsuki.”

Katsuki’s nose scrunched up slightly, signalling that he was getting frustrated again. “I just keep fucking up. I keep fucking up and it’s pissing me off because you deserve better, I promised to take care of you--”

“Take care of me?” Your frown intensified, “Katsuki we’re supposed to take care of each other. And that doesn’t mean working so hard you’re barely functioning. I thought you were past all that. I’m behind you and your aspirations 100%, but you know there’s more to life than just proving your worth.”

But he shook his head, “This isn’t about proving my worth anymore, it’s gone beyond that.” He looked up, “It’s about proving your worth. Ours. I want to be good enough for us, and I don’t think I am.”

“Being good enough for us does not include missing out on quality time, Katsuki. It does not include skipping on affection and it definitely doesn’t include not talking to your partner. You are good enough for us, Katsuki, but you have to be around for me to be able to show you that.”

Katsuki looked guilty more than he looked frustrated, then. After a long pause, he nodded in agreement and placed his tea back down onto the coffee table. He kept his gaze fixed on the cup as he tensed his shoulders as if he was bracing himself for what he was about to say. “Y/N... I am really, really sorry.” He looked up, locking his gaze with yours. “I will do better, I promise.”

At this point, you put your cup down as well and placed your hand on Katsuki’s thigh, your features softening slightly. “I know you will. We both will.”

“Do you still love me, Y/N?” He still had a serious expression stretched across his features, but there was a glint of softness in his eyes.

With an unnecessarily heavy sigh, you nodded. “Yeah-- I really do.”

“Good,” Katsuki nodded, taking a moment to remove your hand from his thigh and turn his body towards you, slowly closing the distance between the two of you. The sudden proximity made a shiver crawl up your spine, a sweet smile matching Katsuki’s gaze in softness.

Finally, the sentiment made the corners of Katsuki’s lips curl up, forming a smile that you knew he only shot your way when he knew he was going to make you feel like he wanted to give you the world. The tip of his nose slowly rubbed up and down along yours as his eyelids lowered. When his lips met yours, weeks upon weeks of affection exploded between the two of you, spreading like a frenzy throughout your body. It barely registered how Katsuki cupped you’re jaw as his lips moved along yours. When he pulled back, all you could do was blink up at him, and that did not escape his attention.

“Butterflies?” he asked.

You shook your head slowly, smiling. “Dynamite.”

[contraststudies]

Thank you for tagging me, @tawnyontumblr​! I’m very bad at doing these writer meme things, so here goes nothing.

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

45 and counting!

2) What’s your total AO3 word count?

376,429. Holy moly that is a fuck ton of words (I only properly started posting on AO3 last May iirc).

3) How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Four: Critical Role, Good Omens, Hades, and Kill La Kill.

4) What are your top five fics by kudos?

This list is bookended by two PWPs, which I find hilarious given that I seem to have misplaced my smut brain cell sometime in the last couple of months.

On The Matter of Traffic Violations (Good Omens, E)

“Officer Fell,” Crowley says, and leans forward, enough to give Fell a good view of his décolletage. He tilts his head in the way he knows people find deliciously coquettish, glad that he’d had the foresight to apply some mascara before heading out. “I’m so very sorry about this,” he says, looking up at the officer through his lashes. “It’s late, you know, no cars around… Didn’t notice how fast I was going, that’s all.”

[Or: Crowley flirts his way out of a traffic violation.]

Unbinding (Critical Role, T)

This is a great honor, Essek reminds himself, trying not to recoil as fingers run through his hair, working through the tangles. A braid is made of three strands, symbolizing the inextricable bond between the soul, the den, and the Luxon. A recognition of an achievement by the drow who bears it. With each braid, the soul is bound ever closer to its den and to the Luxon.

It is a lesson Essek learned long ago, but one he is never permitted to forget.

[Or: the story of why the Shadowhand wears his hair cropped short.]

No Church In The Wild (Good Omens, E)

The stem of the wineglass in Aziraphale’s hand snaps cleanly in two, but no one seems to hear it—every eye in the room is trained on the redheaded dancer sashaying to the gleaming silver pole, centre stage for all to see.

Oh, Aziraphale thinks faintly. Good lord.

[Or: the one where Aziraphale gets assigned to the red light district.]

abide gold with me (Critical Role, T)

“Okay, Cay-leb,” Jester says, stretching out the syllables affectionately. “You sit right here so we can watch you and Essek try an orange for the first time.”

The Primal Scene (Good Omens, E - a collab with @lookitsstevie​!)

Harriet notices that there’s a crack of light at the end of the hallway coming from the door to the library, and her mood brightens considerably. Perhaps the tutors are still here, putting together their lessons for the next day before they leave for the night. She leans down to pick up a piece of cloth that’s fallen on the rug. Her breath catches in her throat when she realizes what it is – a necktie with a familiar tartan pattern.

She nearly drops the tie in shock at the unmistakable sound coming from the closed door of the library. A sharp, quickly stifled moan.

[Or: Harriet Dowling accidentally bears witness to divine ecstasy.]

5) Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I try. I really do. My friends (and maybe some of my readers) know that this is difficult for me, mainly because any sort of recognition reduces me to a gibbering pile of tears. I’m working on it though, even if it does take me a million years to respond to anything on AO3. 

6) What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

God, which one do I choose. I have been referred to as an angst gremlin for a very good reason. I’m gonna go with The Remains of the Day, a Good Omens fairy tale AU I wrote loosely based on Bluebeard.  

7) Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I HAVE. I wrote philtatos, a crossover of Good Omens and The Iliad/The Song of Achilles. It’s the only crossover I’ve ever written, unless we’re counting Variations of an Arrangement, which could loosely count as a crossover of the book/radio/TV versions of Good Omens.

8) Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I have not. And hopefully never will.

9) Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I do, and it’s usually of the angst with a happy ending variety.

10) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Hm. How do we define stealing? Just kidding. The short answer is no.

11) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope!

12) Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Got one in the works for Critical Role!

13) What’s your all time favourite ship?

Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes was actually the first ship I ever really got into, and they’ll always have a special place in my heart even if I never wrote anything for that fandom. Crowley/Aziraphale from Good Omens of course, and more recently Caleb Widogast/Essek Thelyss from Critical Role.

14) What’s a WIP you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Variations of an Arrangement. I loved writing it, and I still want to finish it one day, but it took a lot of brainpower to write and keep track of the plot and I feel like it’s beyond me, at least right now.

15) What are your writing strengths?

I… hmm. Judging by the way people are always yelling at me in their comments, I guess it’s that I can write stories that make people feel things very deeply.

16) What are your writing weaknesses?

I repeat words so often, it’s embarrassing. I use too many “-ly” adverbs. Also, I find myself using the same turns of phrase across several fics lmao.

17) What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Language is a tricky thing. I don’t want to bore you with discourse. I try not to write dialogue in a different language (especially if it’s not one I speak myself) unless it’s absolutely called for, or if they’re just basic phrases and I’m 100% certain I won’t be getting it wrong. I have read fics where this was done very well though, and I’ve found that it really adds to the atmosphere in those cases.

18) What was the first fandom you wrote for?

It was for this old anime called Princess Tutu. I danced ballet when I was younger and loved it so much – I believe I was only twelve at the time?? But I think the fic may still be floating around on FF.net somewhere.

19) What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

I wrote philtatos in a four-day fever dream. It’s not the most technically perfect fic I’ve ever written or anything like that, but I think it’s the one that reveals the most about who I am as a person. That is an incredibly cheesy thing to say, I know. I always joke that posting that fic felt like offering my still-beating heart on a silver platter to the void, but there you are.

For Critical Role, surprisingly enough it’s this ficlet I wrote called sinners, a small bite of Shadowdrei where I was parsing my ideas on Astrid and Eadwulf’s dynamic and where they stood when it came to Bren/Caleb and Essek. I didn’t realize how fully formed my thoughts were until I wrote that. Fascinating what your own writing will show you about the things that are in your mind.

Tagging with no pressure whatsoever: @naromoreau @jenanigans1207 @saretton @theseedsofdoom @musegnome!

[truerescreatuconfessions]

The past few days have been like a slap in the face so I'm sorry but I'm have to say this. I apologize to everyone but this is going to be long. I am aware that Pat will probably never see this post so it's pointless, but I have to say it anyway.

First, I'm going to start with a positive. Thank you to Lilith for being brave enough to pass on that anon message to Pat. Thank you also to Burrito for giving us a place to voice our concerns where they can't be shut down, whether Pat chooses to listen or not.

Now to business. I'll start with you Pat, on the off chance that you'll someday read this somehow. As people have said, no one is complaining about your recolor OAK. Please stop trying to turn it to that because it's not that. What we are complaining about is the absolute silence with which Dan received not one but 6 OAKs. The fact that many people on staff had no idea this was an option while Rumor, who I'll get to in a bit, also got one. I have spoken to many staff and ex-staff and not a single one of them knew that OAKs were ever part of staff pay or rewards. The ones I've spoken to also hadn't ever heard of this OAK test in any way. The way it was handled with Dan covering it up and saying "we were testing to see if there was interest" was clearly him backpedaling and now it just sounds like people are just rushing around to cover his ass. I don't have to repeat what at least a dozen people have said on this blog but I will. You don't gauge interest by quietly adding a dozen OAKs to the site and saying "oh, if someone finds them completely by accident then people are interested, otherwise no one cares." You gauge interest by posting a poll, by asking people in a place where everyone can voice it, and by making it front-and-center. I know you said you aren't talking about the subject anymore, but you skirted around the sheer number of OAKs Dan got by pretending we didn't say anything about them.

About the bans you claim "never happened." There is screenshot evidence from Kina, dozens and dozens of them, that Dan cheated for her and others. Ok, screenshots can be doctored, what about the video she sent in? Was that also doctored? If those right there aren't compelling enough evidence to ban Dan, why were four people banned for screenshots? Hell, Zuzu, Shinigami, and Shinohara were all banned for speculating that Dan was cheating during the name clearing. Zuzu was allowed to return, the other three were not. What rules did they break? Did they cheat? No, they talked, exactly like you constantly encourage us to do, about how they felt and what they thought was going on. They were banned. So please Pat, never tell us that "no one is banned for voicing an opinion" because that is categorically untrue.

You might tell us there are other reasons behind the scenes. Ok, let's say that's true. Why were they banned within a day or so of those screenshots coming to light? Why was that the catalyst moment? No one else was banned and unless they had a secret cheating ring with exactly 0 other people involved it sure sounds like those screenshots were the reason.

Also please never say Dan doesn't give special treatment to people. Rumor has been banned multiple times for cheating and abusing staff tools. He still gets an OAK. Omni is a known hacker, still enjoying the site like nothing ever happened. Juke was literally banned for running a hate blog, which is still active when anyone is brave enough to post on it, currently not only back but on staff.

When Rumor was banned, he got to move all his pets to Dan's account and they were kindly returned when he was allowed back on the site. Kina also moved all her pets before she was banned but that was determined to be "unfair" and "not allowed" so they were all returned to her account. Then a conveniently-timed name clearing happened.

Let's look at that name clearing for a second. Dan repeatedly and constantly told us that he was busy and didn't have time to refresh on the site all day for the clearing. Amazingly, he was online for every single clearing. Every last one of them. The odds of that are astronomical when you consider he claims he sleeps, eats, goes out with friends, and works 8 hours a day. He also got tons of incredible, high-value names. These facts are the reason Hell and the rest suspected him of cheating in the first place and honestly that seems like a fair assumption.

You say we need to speak up, but we did. Half a dozen people on that discord said they felt horrible about something and you basically swept it under the rug by saying "oh, it took longer than planned and we didn't say anything publicly but it'll be there soon I promise. Now never speak to me about this again and I refuse to respond anymore." There's been no information anywhere on Res about anything regarding this other than a quick post Dan made only after he was called out multiple times for the number of OAKs he suddenly had.

A minor complaint that I've seen a dozen times on the SB is that new items keep getting quietly released so anyone that does quests suddenly finds themselves failing them because they don't have the items stocked up. Honestly makes me happy I don't waste time with quests. Maybe one or two items doesn't warrant a full update, but isn't that exactly what the changelog is for? For minor additions, fixes, updates, etc?

Another minor complaint I've heard from a few sources is that people continue to spam the SB with copy paste from the site. There was even a forum post about it that no staff addressed, unless that's changed since I last checked. I've seen it happen constantly while staff are on the SB with no policing of it. Why should users listen to this rule, which was added because enough people complained about it happening, when staff don't bother to uphold it?

Now to Rumor. His latest blog honestly boils my blood in so many ways. If his real information was given out and doxxed then that is absolutely disgusting and I do not stand for that. No one deserves it. I am starting this section by saying that because I want to make it clear that it's not ok that that happened, if it did. That doesn't mean I like him or agree with any other part of that blog.

Yes, I'm sure he worked long hours as a CM. You know who else did? Gunmetal, Dess, a bunch of other CMs. Someone else? All the artists, all the support and mods, all the writers. His blog makes it sound like it was just him putting in the hours and that it was purely his idea about all those events. Remember, before we got to a point where staff didn't know what was going on with events because no staff talk, staff used to all contribute together to events. Or maybe they didn't, I don't know, but they at least knew what was going on so I assume they had some input. I remember a time when asking on the SB about an event with staff around, regardless of their position, meant you could get an answer. Nowadays we have staff that have less idea than the users what's going on with an event. Staff like development, who you would assume would know everything about the event that they helped create, or mods, who should probably at least get an overview of the event if they're going to be able to help users.

Speaking of other staff helping with events. Is Rumor pretending he wrote every piece of those events on his own? Why are no writers mentioned anywhere in his list of people that spent many long hours working? He obviously can't pretend he drew everything for the event, but is he implying he wrote everything?

You say people on that list are "deserving" of OAKs Rumor. Schemes has been staff for almost no time compared to some of the old staff that you decided didn't deserve listing. Juke was banned and then unbanned, obviously more deserving than the ex-staff that still frequent the site and have never been in trouble.

Now let's turn to the thing that made me want to scream. You say to "just speak up" more. I've seen at least 8 different people, off the top of my head, told to "stop talking about it" in the SB when they voice a concern and it goes on longer than one or two sentences. Not a single one of the people I'm thinking of was being rude or starting something, they were trying to express themselves and basically being told to shut up. Often they're told to "take it to the forums" which works about as well as just saying it out loud in a room alone. No one reads the forums. Or at least very few people. Staff never responds to suggestions, not staff that can make those changes anyway, mods do sometimes and rarely an artist. Posting in the suggestions forum is like yelling into the void and hoping the void yells back. The absolute only way to be heard in the suggestion forum is advertising it nonstop on the SB and even that barely gets any staff looking.

You say this lack of communication is the reason many people have quit? Yes, that's very true, the exact opposite way you imply. People have left the site often because their feelings are silenced and their opinions completely ignored. No one reads their posts, staff don't respond to them except to tell them they're wrong or to tell them to stop talking about things, and their friends get banned for nothing while staff are allowed to continue cheating with no consequences. So you're right about that, people do leave over the lack of communication, but it's the lack of communication and understanding from staff that drives them away.

I know Pat will probably never see this, but if he does, or if someone is brave enough to link it, maybe he'll hear it. At this point considering his reactions to the people that are trying so very hard to make their voices heard on the Discord I doubt it but I can always hope.

[w-k-smith]

THE FINAL CHAPTER

Beetlejuice races to catch up to Lydia before Juno does. But Lydia has entered the Abyss in search of her mother, and will soon learn Beetlejuice lied to her. Will Beetlejuice be able to keep his friend from getting attacked by a demon, AND keep her from hating him forever when she realizes what he has done?

Chapter One: “It’s a Wonderful Afterlife” (6/19/20)   Chapter Two: “Worm Welcome” (07/03/20)   Chapter Three: “Ghost to Ghost” (07/26/20)   Chapter Four: “To Beetle or not to Beetle?” (08/30/20)

Warning:  This story contains depictions of, references to, and discussion of  topics like suicide, untimely death, abuse, and body horror - you know,  like the musical does (though this probably has more). Know your  boundaries, and stay safe.

(This story is also available on AO3, under the username w_k_smith.)

New chapter under keep reading! B33tl3b4b3s DNI!

The darkness…swirled. That was the only way to describe it. There was nothing but blackness all around, but the blackness wasn’t still. It undulated, with a few jagged beams of light jumping through the dark. The ground – if you could call it ground – was steep and uneven, like the floor of a funhouse.

“Hey, kid!” he called. “Where are you? Don’t go too far!”

No answer.

He ran, and almost tripped. He scrambled to get his footing, but he had to keep moving forward.

“LYDIA!” he yelled as loudly as he could.

And then he heard her.

“Mom?” She was calling into the void around them. “Mama? Emily Deetz? It’s me, Lydia.”

A few more steps, and he saw her. Her dark clothes and hair made her next to invisible. But when he saw her, her energy and frantic movements made it clear she didn’t belong in this environment, among the deader than dead. She was running back and forth, peering into the shadows as if that would make a difference.

“Mom!” she yelled. “Mom, it’s Lydia!” Her voice cracked on: “Mommy? Can you hear me?”

He went up a short incline, and hopped to another. “Hey!” he yelled, hoping to get her attention.

Not only did she not look over, he also slipped and fell onto the ground. By the time he got up, she was out of sight again.

He groaned in frustration, and kept moving. Going deeper into the Abyss would keep Juno from catching up too quickly, but they couldn’t avoid her forever. Not even here.

Lydia appeared up ahead. She’d moved on to shouting her mother’s name. Like he’d told her to do.

“Emily Deetz!” she yelled. “Emily Deetz! Emily Evelyn Deetz! Mom?!”

“Hey,” he said. “You don’t –”

“Where is she?” she demanded, her voice ragged. “Where’s my mom? You told me she would be here.”

He raised his arms to either side. “She’s out here. At least, part of her is. And it’s all around you. So is just about everyone who has ever died.”

“Why isn’t she answering me?”

It was a hard, hard question to respond to, in more ways than one.

“That’s…complicated.”

“Where is she?”

He took a deep breath he didn’t need. “She’s not…herself, anymore,” he ended up saying. “Ghosts can hold it together for a long time. Act like we’re people. And maybe we are. But once you give yourself over to the next step, then…” He struggled for the right words, and shrugged. “Then dead is dead is dead.”

“She isn’t responding to me.”

“She can’t. Or, she won’t. It’s not because of anything you’re doing wrong. What you want to do can’t be done.”

“But you told me –”

“Yeah, kid. I told you.”

“You lied to me,” she said.

“Yeah.”

“How could you do that?”

He’d had all the right justifications in mind when he’d first lied. You wouldn’t have listened. You would have left me. I wanted to be free. I was just so miserable I couldn’t risk it.

The words didn’t come.

“I hate you!” Lydia spat. “I thought I knew what you were, but you’re even worse. You’re just a terrible, lonely bastard, and you’re don’t even realize how pathetic you are. Your mother is the only one who wants you around, and she’s disgusting. You’re disgusting. I can’t believe you let me think you were my friend.”

“I’m…I’m…”

“Stop talking to me!” She turned on her heel, and started walking deeper into the Abyss.

“I’m sorry, OK? I really mean it. I’m sorry, Lydia.”

She stopped walking.

“What you have to understand is that the Netherworld is a truck stop. Nobody, except demons, is meant to set up shop out there. Everyone leaves, to come in here, and become whatever it is dead people are really meant to become. Everyone. Sometimes, you hang around the Netherworld for decades. Sometimes, it’s a few minutes. It sounds like your mom’s stay would have been on the shorter side.”

She pressed her hands to her face.

“I know it doesn’t feel like it,” he said. “But that’s a good thing. Trust me, kid, you don’t want to stick around the Netherworld too long. ”

It took him a second to realize she was crying.

“I’m not going to see her again?” Her words were thick.

He drew closer to her, feeling very much like he was approaching a land mine.

“Not here,” he said.

“I – I – I –!” She lowered her hands. Her shoulders were heaving. He could tell she wasn’t trying to decide what to say, but crying so hard she has having trouble forming words. Tears gushed down her face. “I don’t – what am I going to do now?”

The guilt was overwhelming. It pulled at him, dug its fingers in. He’d said all he knew, and tried to offer the closest thing he had to comfort. But fresh tears still welled up in her eyes.

“I just – I came all this way and she’s not – coming – back!”

She buried her face in his shoulder and sobbed.

He froze. He didn’t know what to do. He wanted to help her, more than he had ever wanted to help anyone. But he didn’t know how.

Shake her! insisted the part of him that was chaotic and colorful, the part most like himself. Tell her to snap out of it. Remind her that Juno is coming. Pull out your alarm clock that constantly screams, and say neither of you have any tiiiiiime for this.

He ignored that part, and ignored the instincts that had kept him lonely and apathetic. His friend deserved more than that.

He didn’t know what else to do, though. So he let her cry. And he hoped that would be enough.

Eventually, she let go of him. Her makeup was smeared, her face was flushed and puffy, and she looked about three years younger.

“I think I got some snot on your jacket,” she mumbled.

“It’s seen worse.”

“I don’t actually hate you.”

“Oh. Huh.” How about that?

“I want to go home.”

“Me, too.” The old feeling came back, the one that had been buried even deeper than he was. The lonely and aching urge to go home, even if you were already there. Even if you had never had one.

And one day it was all too damn much. And he’d done something dumb. And now he was…here.

“Why is your hair purple?” she asked.

He cleared his throat. “Egad. You’ve got me emotional.”

She lowered her head. Her shoulders sagged.

“What do we do now?” she asked.

He squinted into the darkness moving around them. “You leave.”

“What?”

“Juno’s on her way,” he said. “It’s bad. I really pissed her off this time, and if she catches up –”

A rumble in the distance. A waft of smoke.

“Lucky for you,” he continued, “she might be more mad at me than she is at you. You have to go.”

“Lawrence!” came his mother’s roar.

Lydia frowned. “She sounds different.”

“I’ll bet she is different. A rampaging demon is not a pretty sight. You can’t be around for this. You gotta get out of here.”

“I don’t have any chalk with me,” she said.

“She’d be able to follow you into the living world, anyway.”

“Then let’s make a run for it!”

“No,” he said. “Stay. And be quiet. She knows I’m in here, but she still doesn’t know exactly where you are. I’ll go and distract her; you run once we’re gone. Find the Maitlands, or Miss Argentina, and they’ll help you get back to living world.”

“Will we be safe from Juno then?” Lydia asked. Her eyes were filled with fear.

It was time to stop lying to her. “You won’t be, if she has her mind set on punishing you. But! I’m going to take the blame. Toss myself on her sword.” He pantomimed stabbing himself, and added a realistic splat sound.

“Don’t do that. She hurts you, right? All the time? Hurts you a lot? Even though she’s your mom?”

Her words were simple, but were wrapped around something very big he could tell she was struggling with.

He gave an exaggerated shrug. “Yeah, Little Miss Sunshine, I’m used to it.”

“But if she’s so mad, it’ll be worse this time.”

“Let me worry about that.”

She narrowed her eyes, and he worried he was going to have to drop kick her to safety, or something. “Can I have some Zagnuts for the road?”

He couldn’t figure that one out. But he was happy to hand over an armload of candy bars from the depths of his jacket.

“I’ll see you later,” she said.

“Lydia…”

“I’ll see you later.”

She turned, and ran into the dark of the Abyss. It only took a few steps for her to disappear.

“BEETLEJUICE.”

He turned, his stomach filling with dread. Juno was still on fire. Her beehive was blackened and losing structure. Her walker had sunk into her forearms. It was either melting, or she was so angry she was forgetting to keep it a separate part of her body.

“Hi, Mom,” he said. The words came out more quietly than he intended.

She huffed, and it sounded like a growl.

“I’ve been patient. For hundreds of years, I’ve been patient. But you’ve disappointed me at every turn. You’ve never even tried to live up to your potential. Don’t you know the kind of purpose you could have had? What you could have achieved if you weren’t such a lazy, boneheaded, waste of space? You said the breather was your friend.” She drew closer to him. The walker scraped across the ground. “What kind of demon is friends with a little girl? More than that, what do you think you’ve ever done to make anyone be friends with you?”

She took another step.

“Stay away!” he said. “I don’t care what you say! I’m through with you, Mom! I’m getting out of hell, and I’m not letting you hurt anybody I care about!”

How he was going to keep that promise, he didn’t know. He told himself it was the thought that counted.

“Oh, sonny boy. We’ll just see about that…!”

His mother started to change. She must have liked looking old, and gross. It wasn’t what he would have chosen if he had total control over his appearance, but hey. Demons’ true forms were strange and primordial, and rare sights. Juno wasn’t reverting to her true form, but she was becoming something else.

Juno stretched and warped, until her walker became the front four legs of the giant insect demon she was at heart. Loose red clothing hardened into a carapace. Her face was broken by mandibles that slid from her mouth. The smell of fire remained.

Exit stage left.

He turned and ran through the Abyss, fueled by desperation to get out, get out, get out. He scrambled over the uneven ground, hoping he was doing more than just going deeper into the black. Juno followed him. He heard her mandibles clicking, over the sound of her limbs shredding the rocks beneath her.

And over that, he heard her laughing.

“Come on…come on, universe!” he groaned. “Help a guy out!”

He ran up a short rise in the ground, jumped off the edge –

– and tumbled onto the sands of Jupiter.

“Yes!” he whooped.

The sand three feet to his right exploded as it was raked by a spiked, armored leg. Someone – definitely not him – let out a high-pitched shriek.

He started running again, flying over the dunes and kicking up sand like the Roadrunner. He didn’t look back, but he didn’t know where exactly would be a good place to go, either. Juno could follow him through Saturn. She could follow him into the living world. He pressed forward toward the admin area, knowing Juno would be right behind him. His only hope was that she wouldn’t want to disembowel him in front of her employees.

Who was he kidding? That would be gravy for her.

Sand gave way to black rock. He skidded to a stop in the craggy field, because where else was there to go?

He glanced behind him. He’d put a little distance between himself and Juno, but her jagged silhouette advanced on the horizon.

The swift clack of heels. “What have you done?!” Miss Argentina asked. She had a tight grip on her clipboard, and her face was so livid it almost wasn’t green.

“I set her on fire, a little bit,” he said.

Her hands shook, and her clipboard snapped in half.

“Where is the living girl?” Miss Argentina said.

“Hiding. She’s fine for now; Juno’s focused on me.”

“Well that’s something! What exactly is your mother going to do?”

“I think this is it, Miss A.”

“Beetlejuice…”

He cleared his throat and yanked on his tie. “Ah, you know, at least I get the honor dying horribly twice…”

Miss Argentina squeezed her eyes shut for a second. “There must be something you can do.”

He shrugged. He was powerful, and had more tricks up his striped sleeves than any other ghosts. He was nothing compared to his mother.

A door formed in the air, and swung open. Charles, Delia, and the Maitlands tripped over each other rushing out.

“Finally!” Adam exclaimed. “We opened so many doors!”

“There you are!” Charles said. “Where is Lydia?!”

“She’s as safe as she can be,” he said. “Right now, you need to get the hell out of here if you know what’s good for you.”

“Not without Lydia!” Delia said.

“It might literally be your funeral.”

“More breathers?” came Juno’s roar. He looked up. She’d grown taller, her skin stretched tight in some places, bunched up in others. Her eyes were bulging and multifaceted, like a housefly’s. Her fried beehive still bobbed on top of her head.

“Help me or scram!” he said to the ghosts and the living.

The Maitlands looked at each other. Charles and Delia just looked terrified. Miss Argentina’s eyes darted from left to right, but she didn’t move.

“C’mon, Ma!” he yelled at the creature towering over them. “Let’s have it out, you and me! For better – or worse.”

Definitely worse! What was he thinking? What was he doing?

He had no other options. No more cowering. No more tricks. No more running away.

He strained, and spikes erupted from his body. Juno’s pincer tried to clench around him, but she couldn’t grab hold. He puffed himself up even bigger, and her limb jerked back.

He kept moving. He retracted the spikes, stretched his body like a snake, coiled, sprang, and wrapped himself around his mother’s neck. She choked, and her head jerked back. It was just a holdup, though. She grabbed him, yanked him off her. He found himself being dangled in front of her face.

“I never should have borne you!” she hissed, as he wilted into his human shape. “I should have scrubbed you from the afterlife the second you crossed over!”

He opened his mouth to answer, but a chunk of rock flew over his head and hit Juno on the chin.

“That is no way to talk to your child!” said Barbara Maitland.

She and Adam were on the sidelines, but holding rocks. Barbara was still a little off balance after throwing hers. They thought they could help. Oh God, they were so adorable that he wanted to die again…

He twisted so he dropped out of Juno’s grasp. As soon as he hit the ground, he rolled to the side, and popped up covered in arms that ended with claws. He could only raise all those limbs for a few seconds, however, before they disappeared, leaving him with his usual two arms and two legs. Boring. And weak.

His default form kept threatening to return, like a resistance band threatening to snap back and hit someone in the eye. Unlike full demons, who could look like any horrifying thing they set their minds to, he had a semi-human form he had to settle back into after a while. Sure, he’d warped over the years; he hadn’t been born with green hair, but this was pushing him to the jagged edge of his limits.

One of Juno’s six legs smashed into him. He let his body get rubbery, so instead of being crushed, he just kind of…squished.

She hit him again. And again.

“Beetlejuice!” Miss Argentina yelled.

He tried to make a joke, because the idea of Miss A being worried about him was just plain disconcerting. But it was hard to say This is karma for every time I drunkenly broke a Whack-a-Mole machine when your lungs wouldn’t inflate.

He was trying. He really was. But he just couldn’t resist anymore.

Juno pinned him to the ground. A little more pressure and he’d be squashed like a bug. Fitting, he supposed.

“Leave them alone!” came a familiar girl’s voice.

He looked up, and saw a sandworm bearing down on them. For a second, he braced himself to be devoured. Until he recognized the dark shape clinging to the sandworm’s back. And he realized Juno was about to be distracted.

“Hi, Lydia!” he shouted, and slithered away as the sandworm reared back over his mother.

“No!” Juno roared. “Get away, you filthy –”

A Zagnut hit her between the compound eyes.

“Go, Sandy!” Lydia called. “Get the snack!”

The sandworm lunged forward, all jaws snapping. The vision of black and white stripes turned into a shadow that threw up a wall of dirt. He heard Lydia shriek, and Juno yell in anger.

And then Juno went silent.

The dust settled.

The sandworm was curling itself up into a satisfied ball. Lydia was safe on its back, but was quietly whispering “oh my God oh my God oh my God” to herself. Juno was nowhere in sight.

Miss Argentina took a hesitant step toward the torn patch of earth where the Director of Netherworld Customs and Processing had been devoured. The sandworm nipped at her experimentally, and she scampered back.

“Yeah,” he wheezed. “The ghosts need to stay away from the worm.”

Charles and Delia went to help Lydia down. They didn’t seem thrilled about getting close to the sandworm, but it ignored them completely. He didn’t blame it for not getting overexcited. It was going to have quite a time digesting a meal like Juno, given that demons weren’t sandworms’ usual diet. In fact, it probably wasn’t even really all that interested in the nearby ghosts.

Not that he wanted to stand up and check. Or stand up. Or move at all. His body – his whole existence – felt beaten to a pulp.

“Are you alright?” Barbara Maitland asked, leaning over him.

“I will be if you kiss it better,” he said.

She sighed. “You’d have to shower about a hundred times for me to even picture that happening.”

“Anything for you and sexy over there. Let’s run some hot water and get the ball rolling.”

She pursed her lips.

“Sorry,” he groaned. That word again. Bleeeeech. “Would you please help me up, Barbara?”

“That’s better.” She took his hand, and pulled him to his feet.

“Beetlejuice!” Lydia ran over to him. “Are you OK?”

“Never better!” He grabbed her, tossed her into the air, and caught her while she giggled. “Look at you! You saved the day!

“I can’t believe it worked,” she said.

“Me neither!” He set her down. “Chekov’s Zagnuts. Whodathunkit?”

“Hey, um…” Lydia’s expression grew concerned. “Who are they?”

He looked over his shoulder. A motley assortment of nightmares had wandered out of the admin area. Little gremlin creatures with skeletal faces and bulging eyes. A chalk-pale man wearing a suit, and smiling with a mouth like a stretched rubber band. A woman in Victorian garb who had the strong smell of potpie.

“Oh, them? They’re demons,” he said.

“Cool,” Lydia said.

“Lydia.” Charles had snuck up on them. “I need to talk to you.”

Her smile was gone. “Things didn’t go as planned, with…with Mom,” she said.

“I didn’t think so,” he said quietly. “Come on, sweetie. Let’s talk over there. Away from…” His gaze slid over the demon audience. “…All that.”

Charles led Lydia away.

He checked a strand of his hair, and saw that the green was fading to a vague and colorless shade with his exhaustion. Still, he revved up to stomp over and interrupt Charles, because he was in the mood to confront another terrible parent today.

Delia grabbed his sleeve. “Don’t,” she said quietly. “I think they need to figure this out by themselves.”

“He’s been an asshole.”

Delia patted his arm. “Maybe a little bit. But he loves Lydia very much. He’s going to make things as right as he can.” She was looking at Charles with misty, lovestruck eyes. Ew. “Thank you for looking after Lydia…in your own way. She’s a unique girl.”

“Ah, she saved my sorry ass.”

“By the way…that giant insect creature was your mother?” Delia asked.

He nodded, and waited for the usual disgusted look, the double take, the silent curiosity about whether he was as twisted as Juno was.

“I’m very sorry. Growing up must have been awful,” was what Delia said instead.

“Um…yes,” he said.

“And you’ve been working for her for how long?”

“Ever since I died. It’s been a wonderful afterlife. Every time a bell rings, a demon bites the wings off a bat.”

Delia blinked a few times. “Have you ever considered therapy?”

He put a hand on each temple. “I don’t like having my head shrunk.” He squeezed until his skull was the size of an apple. Delia looked a little grossed out, and mildly impressed. He let his head reflate, and decided she was OK.

“Beetlejuice.” Lydia was done talking with her father. She wiped the corner of her eye, but she seemed fine. “So is Juno…dead?” she asked, pointing at the sandworm. The striped animal’s eyes were lowered drowsily. “Like, dead dead?”

“Let me see,” he said. He cleared his throat. “Benchchartreuse. No, Bechdelgoose. Beachcaboose, dammit!” He shook his head. “She isn’t dead enough, apparently. I’d give her about a hundred years stewing in the sandworm before she pops out.”

Miss Argentina, drawing closer now that the sandworm had settled down, clicked her pen. “The Netherworld will be in very capable hands when or if she returns. Hands so capable, they may push her right back into the sandworm’s maw.”

“You’re the best, Miss A.”

“I know.” Miss A turned to the assembled demons. “Anyone want to argue about that? I think we can make do without a director for a while.”

“Hey, man, we aren’t gonna cry with Juno gone,” said a one-eyed skeleton in a bowler hat, his jaw rocking back and forth as he spoke. “She was the worst boss we ever had. And what she did to her own flesh and blood? Not cool.”

“We’ll get more done without her around. Don’t act like we haven’t all been thinking it,” said a mournful elephant in clown makeup.

“The capitalist paradigm of a manager overseeing a 40-hour work week is obsolete anyway,” said a moldering bride, and the maggot in her eye socket agreed.

“I would very much like to leave now,” Charles said.

“I have the chalk!” Barbara said.

“Wait!” Lydia ran in front of her father. “BJ comes with us,” she said, crossing her arms. “I already signed the adoption paperwork. And if you say he can’t, I’ll drop out of school and get a neck tattoo. So.”

Charles blinked hard, and looked to the Maitlands.

“It’s fair that you two get a say about this,” he said.

The Maitlands looked at each other for several seconds, and he started to get worried.

“No sexual harassment, or you can’t live with us anymore,” Adam said.

“And you take a bath the second you walk in the door!” Barbara added.

“And you can’t have your ghost or demon friends over.”

“At least, not without getting permission first.”

“And we’ll evict you the second you stop being a good influence on Lydia.”

“And if you ever, ever hurt her at all, we will defy all afterlife laws, find a way to resurrect you, and murder you slowly and painfully.” The steel in Adam’s and Barbara’s eyes when Barbara said that made him certain that they meant it, and he was both terrified and, somehow, more deeply in love. Oh, he’d find a way to bring them around. Even if it meant having to do some really twisted, degrading stuff like being nice, and giving compliments, and remembering birth days. Time to learn some romantic ukulele songs.

“Agreed, agreed, I have no friends, agreed, and that’s fine by me,” he said, ticking off the points on his fingers.

“Then I guess we’re OK with it,” Adam said.

“On a trial basis,” Barbara said.

With a flourish, Barbara pulled the chalk out of her pocket. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m ready to go home. It’s been a long, long day.”

“See ya later, guys!” he shouted at the spectators. Miss Argentina smiled at him, actually smiled in a full, genuine way that didn’t come off in the least bit sarcastic.

“Bye-bye, Sandy!” Lydia called, waving at the sandworm. It thwacked the ground with its tail.

He gathered with Charles, Delia, Adam, and Lydia while Barbara drew three straight lines on a rock.

“I’m still mad at you for lying about my mom,” Lydia said.

“Eh, that’s fair.”

“But…” she said. Her tone was deliberate, as if she was about to say something important. “I guess you’re supposed to always be mad at your dumb big brother.”

He scrabbled for something to say, though that word had knocked the wind out of him.

“Dumb?” He straightened, and pressed a hand to his chest, affronted. “I’ll remind you, I’m the brains of this outfit.” He reached into his right ear, and pulled out said brain. Lydia laughed.

“Brother?” he mouthed to himself when her back was turned. Barbara saw him, and gave him a small smile before she walked through the door herself.

Lydia cleared her throat. “And once we’re all through, I’ll say your name two times. It was two times, right? Two times exactly, and then if nothing happens, I should just give up and assume you don’t want to come?”

His unbeating heart burst with pride. “You little shit.”

“Come on,” she insisted, holding out her hand. “Let’s go home.”

He took it, and she yanked him through. And through the shadows and green mist, he was pretty sure he could see daylight.

[bleachanimefan1]

Turtles Forever Part 70

In an strange dimension called the 79th level of Null time, a castle floated in an warping endless void. Inside, a teenage girl, dressed in a blue suit with clock designs on it, was dusting.  "I totally hate dusting! All I did was accidentally reverse the evolution on a planet of gross giant worms, and I get six weeks of dusting duty! This is so completely harsh!" She sighed, bored.

"I didn't become an apprentice timestress for this," the timestress noticed on orb that was sitting on a stand. "Hmm, maybe, there's something good on the orb of Hindsight?" She started to inch her way over to it until a voice called out.

"You really shouldn't be touching that," 

The timestress let out a scream in shock and jumped, startled. She quickly turned around to see a cloaked figure that looked like a woman, resting against a statute, with her arms and legs crossed.

"Ahh!" Renet shouted as she stomped her foot. "D, don't do that! You almost gave me a heart attack!" The cloaked woman laughed as she pulled back her hood, revealing to be a turtle. She had a light green tan-yellowish skin, also wearing a belt with a satchel attached to it. 

"You're going to get into a lot of trouble, Renet," She warned.

"What our Master won't know, won't hurt him," Renet said, walking up to D. "Besides, I just wanna take a little peek. Please, don't rat me out!"

"Fine, but you have to do my chores for an entire month," D made a smug smirk. Renet yelled in frustration.

"Fine," the timestress sighed. Then she turned back towards the orb and walked over to it. "Now, let's take a look-see." No, boring!" The orb turns, showing an medieval castle. "Hmm, this looks good!" The castle doors open, showing a strange demon-like creature, sitting in a chair.

"The Lord of Time thinks he can banish me to this prison of the past, because I still have power!" he spits. "Even though, I cannot leave this place, I will lure the sacred sounds of the Time Scepter to me! Then I will have my revenge!" A red dragon was lying next to him wearing strange mask, growling. "I will draw the Time Scepter here with the spell of summoning!"

"That guy has some serious anger issues,"

"Ew, ick!" Renet commented. "Stupid orb of Hindsight, there's never anything good on!" She took the orb, shaking it. It flashed, showing the turtles on the rooftops with the girls, having a water balloon fight. D frowned as she watched. "That's better, they look like they're having fun. Lot more than I'm having right now," Renet placed the orb down, and started dusting it. However, she stopped when she noticed the the young female turtle had a far off gaze in her eyes.

D watched closely, mainly staring at Donnie and Venus as Donnie splashed her with a water balloon. Renet shook D on the shoulders, snapping her out of her thoughts. D frowned as she looked at the timestress.

"D? What's wrong?" Renet questioned, worried. "You were totally spacing out on me!"

D brushed her hand off her."It's nothing. Just something I remembered in the past," she murmured.

"You know, what? Come to think of it, you never told me about your past," Renet pointed out, rubbing her chin. "Oh, you were the cutest little thing!"

"Renet," D glared, narrowing her eyes at her. "What is there to talk about? I was given away by two heartless monsters. That clearly shows how much I was cared about!" Renet stared at her, as D continued, looking away from the timestress. "All I remember is being given away to Lord Simultaneous by two people. I barely even remember their faces." she sighed. "Whoever they were, only Lord Simultaneous knows, but, even he won't tell me." Renet walked up D, hugging her.

"Well, I think of you as a sister to me," the timestress replied. "We're more than family than you need, me and Lord Simultaneous." she finished, hugging D tighter. D reached her arms out, wanting to hug her back, but dropped her arms to her side. She made a fist and punched the timestress, instead, on her side, making her let go.

"I'm not a hugger," D smirked. "You should realize that by now." Renet frowned, rubbing her sore side with her hand.

"I hate it when you do that!" she whined. "Now my side's going to be numb for a while."

 However, the timestress noticed something far off in the distance. "Oh, wow!" A strange scepter was sitting in a statue.

"Uh, Renet," D said, trying to get her attention.

"The time scepter! I forgot it was even here. Wait a sec, Lord Simultaneous said that I was ground for six cycles, right? So, all I gotta do is use the time scepter to move myself ahead in time like six cycles, and I'll be like done!" She started to reach out for the scepter, but, D, smacked her hand away.

"I wouldn't do that," she hissed. "You don't even know how to use that thing!"

"D, you're such a downer!" Renet brushed her off. "I am going to be an Timestress, eventually. Might as well learn, now." She reached out her hand toward the scepter. "I'll just," and took it off from the statue. An alarm went off.

"Attention! The time scepter has been disturbed..."

"Way to go, bimbo," D snapped as she backed away.

Renet gasped, backing away as well. "So busted! If Lord Simultaneous captures us, we're so dead! It's not even funny!"

"What do you mean, us?!" D exclaimed. "You're the one who grabbed the thing!"

"But, you could've talked me out of it!" Renet answered. D stared at her.

"Uh, I tried to, remember?!" she yelled. "You're the one who didn't listen!"

"Girls!" a giant booming voice roared in anger.

"Scepter, get us out of here!" Renet pleaded, panicking.

"Destination," the scepter replied.

"Somewhere, anywhere but here! I dunno," Renet turned around seeing the turtles and girls on the orb. "Wait! With them! There, I mean, then!" The scepter began to glow, brightly. "J-Just hurry up!"

Back on top of the rooftops, Leo was spraying everyone with a hose. He chuckles. "It's time for your bath, Mikey!"

"Hey! No, fair!" Mikey protested. "I took a bath last week! Blegh!"

Leo laughs evilly, then slips on a puddle landing face first into it. He looks up. "Uh oh!" Everyone was standing over him, holding water balloons in their hands.

 "Time for your bath now, Leo," Donnie said. Suddenly, a rift opens up above everyone. Renet and D fall through it, and land right on top of them. The timestress sits up rubbing her head.

"That wasn't any fun," she groaned, placing her hand on Raph's head, while rubbing her butt. "Like, it really hurt my heinie!"

"Well, excuse the shell out of me!" Raph exclaimed, annoyed. "And my skull's not having a picnic either!"

"Get off, Renet!" D shouted, while trying to get out of the pile. Renet jumped off.

"Oh, I'm totally sorry! Are you guys okay?"

Everyone got up helping each other. As Donnie pulled Venus up, he turned and saw D on the ground, the hood from her cloak completely covering her face. He reached his hand out to her. D glared and smacked it away. 

"He was just trying to help," Venus replied.

"I don't need any help," D retorted. "Especially, not from you two."

Raph cricks his neck. "Let me guess, you're not from around here, are you?"

"Was our outfits the first clue, brainiac?" D commented, standing up, brushing herself off.

"Don't need to be an smart shell about it," Raph growled. Renet stepped up, standing in front of D.

"Don't mind her, that's just D. She's always fun to be around," the timestress replied. "We're from the 79th dimension of Null Time, obviously!"

"Uh, obviously," Donnie commented.

"And your name is?" Leo questioned.

"Oh right! I'm really bad at introductions," she waves. "Hi, I'm Renet, and this is the time scepter, it brought us here."

Silently, everyone stared at the two newcomers, completely confused. "Um, so why did you pop out of nowhere and land on us?" Mikey wondered.

"I was bored and you guys were in the Orb of Hindsight and it looked like you were having fun," Renet explained.

"Orb of Hindsight?" Leo pondered, still confused.

"Totally, it shows times where EGS happens," the timestress answered.

"Eggs?" Mikey asked.

"Like omelets?" Leo questioned.

"No, silly, EGS, as in significance of great events," Renet told them. "Sometimes it's a bummer because everyone is like to be horribly destroyed and stuff, but you guys seemed okay."

"Horribly destroyed and stuff?" Donnie repeated, confused. 

"Is it just me or are you guys getting a feeling of impending doom?" Leo responded.

"Renet!" Renet screamed, as she pointed at something from behind everyone. D stiffened hearing the booming voice. "D!" Everyone turned to see a giant silver glowing head, beginning to form. Their mouth's dropped in shock.

"Oh, bummer! He's found me! You gotta help me, you gotta help us!" Renet panicked.

"Return what you have stolen!" he demanded, inching closer towards them.

"It's Lord Simultaneous! He's gonna kill me!" Renet screamed in fear.

"Not on our boat," Raph replied.

"Stay behind us," Mikey stepped in from of the two girls with Raph. "We'll handle Chrome Dome here!"

"Insolent rat! Prepare for a punishment far worse than anything you have experienced!" Lord Simultaneous declared.

"Experience this!" Raph exclaimed, tossing his sais at the giant head. Simultaneous shot a beam from his eyes, zapping Raph's sais, sending them flying in reverse. Raph caught them. "Okay, that didn't work!"

"We gotta bail," Renet looks down at the scepter. "Scepter, get us out of here, now!"

"Destination,"

"Any place, just go! Go!" Renet yelled, holding up the time scepter. A bright blinding light engulfed everyone and they disappeared.

"No!" Lord Simultaneous shouted.

The sorcerer chanted in his castle in front of a fire. His dragon was sitting nearby. "Bring the time scepter's guardian to me!" The fire began to erupt into the as it grew bigger, the sorcerer laughed, evilly.

A rift opened, not too far off from the castle, and the turtles, four girls, the timestress and D fall out of it, landing on top of each other. They were in a battleground.

"I have done it!" the sorcerer exclaimed. "I have summoned the time scepter here! Now my freedom shall be at hand."

Everyone groaned as they tried to get off of each other. D froze when she realized that she was right on top of Donnie as he was on top of Venus. She quickly got off, standing up, as Donnie stood up helping Venus.

"You know, Renet, for a timestress, or whatever, you really gotta work on your control," Mikey commented, stretching his back.

"Where the shell are we?" Raph demanded.

"I think the question is, when the shell are we?" Donnie corrected.

"Let me check," Renet looks down at the time scepter. "No," then pulls out her watch. "No," then looks at her other wrist. "Okay, here. We're in the year 1406, somewhere in medieval Europe someplace." 

"1406?!" Raph exclaimed, as they looked around nervously.

"And we're here because?" Leo asked the timestress.

"I have no idea," Renet answered, as she shrugged her hands, unsure. "It...it felt like...I don't know, something reached out and brought us here."

"The time scepter is very close," the sorcerer, Savanti said. "I can feel it. Soon, it will be in my grasp and power, beyond all time and space will be mine! Dark warriors, arise and do my bidding, arise!" Thunder cracked as a red circle floated from the castle, heading towards the group. They shout in surprise as the ground began to shake underneath them. One by one, ten zombies rose from out of the ground, surrounding them.

"Bring me the time scepter! Let nothing stand in your way!"

"Do something, you stupid thing!" Renet exclaimed, shouting at the scepter. The others surrounded the two girls with their weapons drawn and getting into a fighting stance. D stepped up, joining them.

Venus turned to her. "We'll handle this," she said. "just stay behind us." D stared at her then turned towards the zombies.

"I can handle myself, thank you very much," she retorted. Renet shook the time scepter and it suddenly glowed, making armor for the turtles and girls, except her and D.

"Hey, check it out," Mikey commented. "An extra shell, I like it!"

"Take the time scepter! Feast on their flesh! Attack!" the leader zombie warrior declared. They charged at the group and they pushed the zombies back, away from Renet. D reached into her cloak and pulled out some sheets of paper ,from out of her satchel, with some strangely drawn symbols on them. She sets one down as a zombie started to advance towards her, getting closer. Mikey notices and started to run over to help her.

"Hold on, I'm coming!" he shouted, kicking a zombie away. As the zombie raised his sword, getting ready to bring it down on D, D slammed her hand onto the paper. "Glacius," she chanted a spell. A sheet of ice shot out, stabbing the undead, knocking him down. 

"Whoa," Mikey murmured in awe. "You got magic? Wicked!" Venus stared at what she had seen as well in shock. However, she didn't notice that a zombie was coming towards her as well. 

"Venus, behind you!" Donnie warned. Venus jumped out of the way, only to fall back, landing on the ground, as the zombie stood over her. D sighed and slammed another paper on the ground. "Blaze," A giant fire erupted from the paper, burning it, shooting over towards the zombie, engulfing it in flames. Mikey kicked a zombie over to Donnie, who knocks him away, only to get hit from behind. The zombie warrior was getting ready to finish him off.

"Donnie!" Raph and Venus called out. Raph was about to jump in and help him, but D, summoned a boulder, sending it smacking into the zombie, knocking him back. The zombie landed on the ground, and it rises, pulling the undead back into it. Savanti notices it.

"No! My spell isn't strong enough. The Earth's reclaiming my dark warriors!"

"Whoa, looks like the newcomer's gotten taking care of." Raph commented in awe.

Donnie looked up at D in shock as he got up.

"Uh, thanks?" he said, hesitantly. D only glared at him.

"One of these days, you're going to get yourself killed!" she screamed. "Be more careful!" 

"Noted," Donnie replied.

Venus came over to the two stepping in front of Donnie "Don't yell at him!" she shouted.

"Or what, you'll ground me, mom?" D scoffed, teasing her, crossing her arms, smirking. "Talk to the glyphs, witch, cause the ears ain't listening." Venus' eye twitched as she stared at the girl in disbelief.

"What did you say?!" she growled, angrily, getting ready to charge at the girl. Donnie held her back.

"Uh, maybe, we should focus on our own fight for now?" he suggested. He noticed several zombies coming up towards them. "Look out!" he pushed the two out of the way, as it swung at them, jumping over the undead warrior.

 "I don't act motherly," Venus murmured under her breath. She turned to Leo. "Hey, Leo! Do I act motherly? She called out.

"I'm staying out of this," Leo said.

Raph kicked one down, seeing the ground pulling it in. "Guys, put 'em down long enough, and they stay down," Raph called out, kicking some undead down. "They're worm food."

Leo clashes with one and it kicks him back. He jumps up before kicking the zombie down. Mikey does the same with his, and the ground eats the zombie, pulling him in. Raph and Mikey were surrounded as some zombies inch towards them. "On my mark, Mikey," Raph told him. The zombies get closer. "Now!" The two jump up, kicking the undead into the ground, watching as it sucked them in.

"I will not fail, the time scepter will be mine!" Savanti declared, walking over to the dragon. He mounts onto his pet and flew over towards the group. As they continued to fight, Renet was trying to fix the scepter. Yuuki jumped over to her.

"Can't you work a little faster!?" she shouted. 

"I'm trying! Stupid thing! How come you're not working?" Renet looks at the others, still fighting. "Can't you guys, like, be a little quieter? Ugh! I can't concentrate!"

They continued to fight, throwing zombies around while getting knocked back a couple times as well. "Oh, cheap piece of temporal junk! One minute it works, the next it doesn't! I don't think it's me...isn't it?"

Leo gets grabbed by four zombies as the leader started to walk up towards him. "Hold the creature! Hold him!" Leo struggled to get out of the undead grip. His eyes widen as he saw the leader raise his sword, preparing to strike. 

"No, you," Yuuki yelled "Don't!" kicking the zombie right in the face with her foot. Leo gets out of the other zombie's hold and kicks them away then jumps up into the air, kicking the leader into the ground. All of the zombies were defeated as the ground sucked them back in. Suddenly, they hear a scream, it was Renet. Savanti was hovering above her with his dragon.

"The time scepter will be mine!" He made the dragon swoop down and grab Renet. However, the dragon turned his attention towards Yuuki, grabbing her as well.

"Yuuki!" Leo called out.

The two girls screamed as the dragon began to carry them off towards the castle. "You idiot! What's wrong with you?" Savanti shouted. "Why'd you grab both of them? I only need the timestress. Let the other one go, I command you!" Savanti smacked the dragon like creature on it's head with the time scepter. The dragon released Yuuki sending her plummeting to the ground, screaming. Without even thinking, Leo immediately took off as he ran. Yuuki was almost to the ground when Leo leaped and managed to catch her just in time. 

"Thanks," Yuuki replied. Everyone watched as they saw the dragon carry the timestress back to the castle.

"There goes our ride home," Donnie said, gravely.

"Looks like we better go get her," Leo declared.

"How come all the weird stuff always happens to us?!" Mikey complained. "I mean, we were just minding our own business when WHAM that time lady and miss dark and gloomy fell out of the sky right on top of us. Now, we're stuck here! And we've got to go to the creepy looking place," he points to the castle. "It just doesn't seem fair!"

Raph walked over to him. "You done?" Mikey paused, tapping a finger under his chin.

"Yeah, I'm done. Let's go save, Renet," he said and started walking towards the castle, the others following behind him.

Inside the castle, Savanti laughs as he used the time scepter, turning a chair into a small tree.

"Time is mine to command," he laughed, as he used the scepter again, reverting the tree into an acorn. Renet was tied up in a chair, sitting next to his dragon. The acorn dropped into the sorcerer's hand as he caught it.

"How'd you do that?" Renet asked in surprise. "I can just barely get it to work. I did manage some armor earlier, but that was kind of an accident," Savanti growled, getting annoyed. "Hey, do I know you? You seem kind of familiar...and ugly. No offense, but you know, you really should try to do something about your skin. A little night cream-"

"Silence!" Savanti shouted, pointing at the timestress. "I cant' understand how Lord Simultaneous puts up with you, but I will soon put him out that misery when I end his life." He walks up to her. "It was your master, Lord Simultaneous, that banished me here." Renet eyes widen in surprise. "And now, with the time scepter in my hands, I will be free to move through time and space, to wreck my revenge upon your master!"

Suddenly, his dragon started to growl and stands up, baring his teeth at the sorcerer, like it was going to pounce at him.

"What's gotten into you? You act like I haven't fed you or something. Settle down, I command it!" Savanti zapped his dragon with the scepter, smirking evilly as he did.

Everyone climbed over the walls, jumping over it, landing on the ground. They have taken off their armor, but, Mikey still had his armor on. 

"Mikey, loose the armor, will ya?" Donnie asked.

"I like it," the energetic turtle patted his armor. "It makes me feel safe and protected." Leo crossed his arms, giving Mikey a stern look. "Alright, alright, don't get your shells in a bunch," he tells them, taking off his helmet. However, Savanti noticed them, as he was looking out from the window.

"Ah, I have some unexpected guests. Let's see if I can arrange a little welcoming party," the sorcerer uses his magic on two cockroaches, and they started to grow bigger. Everyone saw and took a step back from the two bugs. Mikey had taken the last of his armor off and notices the roaches.

"Oh, now I take my armor off, thanks guys," he retorted.

Everyone ran away from the bugs while one stepped towards Mikey. Leo rushes towards him. "Mikey, look out!" he pushes Mikey out of the way, but gets grabbed. Leo managed to break free from out of the roaches grip and landed behind a statue of Savanti. He kicks the head off and the roach roared as Leo landed on the ledge, hanging onto it. Leo quickly moved out of the way as the roach tried to stab him with it's pincers then he kicked the pillar onto the roach, crushing it.

"My turn!" Mikey exclaimed as he pulled out his nunchucks. He jumps onto the other roach's neck, trying to steer it. But, the bug bucks Mikey off. The roach swung at D, sending her flying as it knocked her to the ground. 

"D!" Donnie called out. He rushed over to her, as did Venus, while Raph jumped in to fend off the roach. As the two approach, D groaned as she sat up, her cloak hood had fallen off. Donnie's eyes widen in shock, as did Venus, seeing another turtle in front of them.

"Y-You're a turtle?!" Donnie stammered. "B-But, how?" D stood up, pulling her hood back over her face. Venus stared at her, silently, still in shock and confused as well. She tried to process what she had seen. A turtle that can use magic, chi block, and the same fighting styles as Donnie and his brothers. This was all too much of a coincidence. 

Suddenly, a loud roar caught everyone's attention. The roach lunged at Raph grabbing the turtle with it's mouth, eating him.

"RAPHAEL!" Mikey, Mona, and Donnie shouted. They kicked and punched the roach down, while Donnie pried it's mouth open with his staff. Suddenly, the three hear kicking. They look to see the roach's stomach moving and Raph bursts out of it, completely covered in bug juice.

Mikey walked over to him. "Welcome to the teenage mutant ninja turtle roach motel, where giant, killer roaches check in,"

"But, they don't check out," Raph finished as he wipes himself off. Mona walked over to him, hugging him.

"I'm okay, kid," Raph assures her. "Although, this doesn't really help my bug phobia." Raph shivers, looking down at the cockroach with a disgusted look on his face. Leo jumps down, grabbing his sword.

"Come on, let's keep moving,"

Back inside the castle, Savanti's dragon started to chant. "Hey, uh, sorcerer guy?" Renet called out. "Your pet is acting like really all weird and stuff," the dragon had a cocoon encased around itself. "Ew, gross!"

Savanti was using the time scepter. "Time and space are now mine to command," The doors were kicked down by the turtles and the girls.

"Somebody here call an exterminator? You got one heck of a bug problem out here," Mikey said.

"What? You dare!" Savanti shouted, enraged. He pointed the scepter at them and they charged at him. Savanti fired a blast at Raph, but misses him. Then he zapped Donnie's staff, turning it into a branch. "Ignorant fools!" He kicks Donnie to the wall.

Leo landed behind Renet, using his sword to cut the ropes. "Are you okay?"

"I am now," she tells him.

Mikey and Raph both charged at Savanti, but the sorcerer teleported out of the way. The two to smack right into each other. "Pathetic warriors, you waste my time! I have revenge to seek and an universe to conquer!" He blasts Mikey, Raph, Mona, Alopex, Venus, and Yuuki with the time scepter.

"Not if we have anything to say about it!" Leo shouted, attacking the sorcerer. Savanti blasted Leo's swords out from his hands and knocks him back.

"Ah, but you don't!" Then the sorcerer blasted at the ground underneath Leo, creating a pillar. It rises up, with Leo along with it, crashing him into the ceiling. He fell to the floor unconscious. Savanti laughed triumphantly standing over the turtles and the girls. As he was distracted, Renet crouched up on him from behind and whacked the sorcerer with Donnie's staff on the back of his head.

Savanti groaned as he fell to the ground, dropping the time scepter as he did. The scepter rolled landing right in front of the cocoon.

Raph handed Leo his swords. "Nice swing,"

"I'd say that counts as an homerun, Renet," Donnie commented.

From within the cocoon, a hand bursts out from it, grabbing the time scepter. "Ah, the turtle brothers, their women, and Yuuki. How glad we are to see you again."

"Uh, do we know you?" Mikey questioned.

"He knows us," Leo pointed out.

"And those voices sound really familiar," Raph murmured.

"Yes, listen well to our voices. For it is the last thing that you will ever hear!" the cocoon ripped open, revealing Drako and the Ultimate Ninja's head, on his stomach, combined and morphed together, laughing darkly.

"Eww, what is that thing?!" Renet asked in disgust.

"It's Drako!" Raph exclaimed.

"And the Daimyo's son," Leo murmured as they backed away. Yuuki shivered and cringed in disgust.

"Merged together somehow," Donnie said in shock.

"And still ugly as ever," Alopex added.

"You both got sucked into that dimensional rip thingy," Mikey explained.

"Yes, heartlessly pushed into a rift beyond time and space, where we drifted for an eternity. You remember, don't you? How you turtles and girls could have saved us? But, you let us go. Over thousands of millennia, our bodies combined into this horrific form. Our minds fusion in the endless isolation. Our hatred of you driving us, keeping us alive, until we learned enough to free ourselves, and came here. And how we suffered, pretending to serves this fool of a demon sorcerer. Only because he sought the time scepter. Only with it, could we find and destroy you!"

"Got anything in that magic satchel of yours to deal with this?" Mikey asked D.

"No, I do not," she replied.

"Oh, enough of this noise!" Raph threw his sais at the Ultimate Ninja, only him to use the time scepter to completely disintegrate Raph's weapon, reducing them into dust, along with the three brother's, Yuuki's, and Alopex's as well.

"Steel rust, wood crumbles, time is the master," a tree root shot up from the ground, trapping them. "As for flesh, prepare to rot!"

D jumps onto the Ultimate Ninja's back, grabbing for the time scepter. "You icky creep!"

The Ultimate Ninja smacks the D off of him. "Meddlesome pest of a girl! You are no match for us!"

"I'm not, but I know somebody who is!" she retorted, holding the scepter. "Lord Simultaneous! We need you, I need you here! NOW!" The scepter released a beam of light, summoning Lord Simultaneous.

"Well, it's about time," he said.

"Ahh! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Renet shouted.

Savanti wakes seeing the time lord as well. "No, Lord Simultaneous, this is just not my day."

Lord Simultaneous' head began to transform, revealing to be a old small human man. He walked over to D, taking the scepter from her. "Gimme that please, before you hurt yourself." he scolded.

"That's Lord Simultaneous?" Donnie questioned as the tree roots released everyone.

"He should've quit while he was ahead. Get it?" Mikey joked. Raph smacked him on his arm.

"You may be the lord of time, but you shall not interrupt our vengeance!" The Ultimate Ninja lunges out at Lord Simultaneous, but the time lord freezes him.

"Quiet, you! You caused me enough trouble for one eternity. As it is, I'll be sweeping temporal spillage for a decade," he turns to the sorcerer. "And you, Savanti. You think that banishing you to the 15th century Earth would be enough. But, no. Say bye-bye, Savanti," Savanti backed away from him in fear. "See ya, later,"

"What? Where am I?" the sorcerer looked around until he realize where he was. The Jurassic Period. "Oh, no. He didn't." A long necked dinosaur snorted in his face, while the sorcerer began to sink in quicksand.

"Now what to do with you?" Lord Simultaneous asked, turning to the Ultimate Ninja.

The Ultimate Ninja began to break free from the time freeze. "You cannot hold us, you cannot command us, we are not without power!" he used his tail to take the time scepter from Lord Simultaneous. "We shall return. We shall have our revenge! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" He used the scepter and retreated.

"Lord Simultaneous, that ugly creep just stole your time scepter!" Renet exclaimed.

"I wouldn't worry about it. The time scepter's a funny thing. Has a mind of it's own sometimes. I'm not so sure that character knows what he's in for," he turned to Renet. "As for you, young lady, we need to talk about your punishment. Do you have any idea of the time damage that you've caused, especially bringing D along with you!"

"Please, Lord Simultaneous, I'm sorry!" Renet pleaded.

"You must pay for your crimes! Six more weeks of dusting," he tells her.

"Ah, you are such a tyrant!" she shouted.

"Seven," Lord Simultaneous replied.

"No!"

"Do you wanna try for eight?" he questioned.

"Ah, no, your magnificence," she murmured.

"Dusting? This was all about dusting?" Donnie asked in disbelief. Lord Simultaneous walked up to them.

"Now, let's set things right, shall we?" he used his powers and sent everyone back on the rooftops. However, they landed on top of each other, again.

"Um, I'm glad we're home. But, why do I always have to be on the bottom?" Mikey complained. As everyone began to get up, Raph noticed something.

"Whoa, and it looks like we're not alone. Guys," Everyone turned and saw D in front of them.

"D? But, why are you here?" Donnie asked.

"My master said that I should stay with you guys for the time being," she replied.

"Looks like we've got another turtle on the team!" Mikey shouted. "I can't wait to show you the lair! You're gonna love it!"

"Hey, D, if you don't mind, I'd like to ask you something," Donnie said.

"What is it?" D asked.

"Just out of curiosity, your name, D, is it short for something?" Donnie pondered. D nodded.

"It is," she replied.

"Well, what is it?" Leo asked.

"My real name is, Donna," she tells them.

[aertifas]

Broken Mirror - Chapter 2

ii. obligation

Cloud Strife.  

Tifa often thinks about Cloud Strife.  Every once in a while, when she dreams of Nibelheim, she doesn’t see red flames devouring everything; instead, she sees a sky studded in millions of green and blue stars, the plaza bathed in a warm glow from yellow lights behind lit-up windows.  She hears the faint chirping of insects, feels the dewy grass on her feet.  This is the Nibelheim that reminds her of Cloud Strife--the Nibelheim that she loved.

But the Cloud Strife before her is a far cry from the Cloud Strife she knew.  She can picture him as he looked on his last night in town.  Gawky, thin, slouched.  Long hair tied behind his head in a ponytail.  And those big eyes, filled with so much emotion.

Tifa always loved Cloud’s eyes--blue like the deepest part of the ocean.

But they’re different now.  She can just make them out from beyond the crowd and Cloud’s heavy lids, hiding them away.  His eyes are surely still blue but a fluorescent blue.  They glow from somewhere within.

I guess he made it into SOLDIER after all, Tifa thinks.

But why is he here?  Crumbled on the ground, surrounded by concerned people?  How did he get here?

Tifa pushes past the onlookers, desperate to reach him.  Something’s not right--Cloud’s unresponsive to the crowd’s shouting, his head simply rolling to one shoulder in reply to each yell and shout for him.  Someone has managed to prop him up against the platform, so he’s sitting upright, but Tifa doubts Cloud was conscious when it happened.  His eyes are dead, lifeless; his skin is pale and sallow.  

Tifa kneels beside him to get a closer look.  She takes note of his labored breathing.  He’s wearing his uniform from SOLDIER--they all wear the same standard issue blue coveralls, metal gauntlets, and a single pauldron.  Slung on his back is a massive sword.  Tifa estimates that the thing must weigh at least fifty pounds, maybe even more.

She lightly places her hand on his forearm and nudges him, cautiously.  “Cloud?”  She cranes her next to get a good look at his Mako-infused eyes, trying to read what lies behind them.  “Cloud, are you okay?”

Cloud seems to register Tifa’s voice, if only a little.  He looks in her direction.  At first, his expression is blank; it’s not as if he’s seeing Tifa but rather seeing past her.  But slowly, surely, the dust settles, and Cloud’s emotions return to him.  He furrows his brow and studies Tifa’s face, just for a moment.  Then, he raises his brow in surprised realization.

“T-Tifa?” he says, voice hoarse.  “Tifa Lockhart?”

Tifa nods encouragingly, giving Cloud a shy smile.  “You remember me?”

“Of course.”  Cloud struggles to his feet, and Tifa follows suit.  When Tifa looks around, she sees that the crowd initially gathered around has dispersed--though she feels a dozen eyes trained on her and Cloud.  “How long’s it been?  Five years?”

Five?  Tifa purses her lips.  No, not five.  It’s been seven.  That night at the water tower--that was seven years ago.  Tifa doesn’t doubt herself.  She thinks that maybe she should say something to Cloud about it, but she takes too long to decide and Cloud has moved on without her.

“Do you… live here?” asks Cloud, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Uh, yeah, I do.”  Tifa gestures in the direction she’d just come from.  “I’m a bartender, actually--at a bar called Seventh Heaven.  It’s just down the road there.”  She takes one measured step closer to Cloud, who tenses at her movement and takes an equal step back, almost instinctively.  “I see you made it into SOLDIER.”

“Huh?”  Cloud looks down at his clothes and then back up in a haze.  “Yeah.  Yeah, I did.  First-Class.”  He responds well to Tifa’s question, and she watches as his shoulders relax once more, and he closes the gap between them.  A subtle grimace washes over his face.  “But, not anymore.”

Tifa raises her brows.  “What happened?”

“I quit,” Cloud answers curtly.  “About… four and a half years ago.”

Four and a half years.  Tifa wonders where Cloud has been for four and a half years.  So many people left Nibelheim before the incident--in search of work, of meaning, of something greater than what the quiet green pastures of their sleepy little town could offer.  Tifa manages to reconnect with some of those people, if only briefly, in Midgar.  She always found herself asking them about Cloud.  Have you heard from him?  Do you know what he’s up to?  The answer was always, without fail, “No.  Could be dead for that matter.”

Where could Cloud Strife have been hiding all this time?

“So, what have you been doing?” asks Tifa.  “After you quit SOLDIER.”

Cloud pauses for a long moment before answering confidently.  “I’m a mercenary now.  You know… boring stuff, dangerous stuff.  I’ll do anything for the right price.”

“Is that right?” Tifa says, closely watching Cloud’s expressions, trying to read what’s underneath.  “So, I guess that means you’ve been all over the place, huh?  Seeing the world?”

“Less of it than you’d think.”

“How’d you find yourself in Midgar--Cloud?”

Cloud clutches his head in both hands, contorting his face into a pained expression.  When he tries to speak, only a strained, anguished groan comes out.  He doubles over, head shaking back and forth, gloves hands buried in his blond hair and clutching his temples tightly.  The people loitering around the station begin to stare, some shifting uncomfortably from one leg to another, or shuffling away.

Tifa’s eyes widen at the sight of Cloud--this new, foreign Cloud, made strong by the Mako in his blood--succumbing to such pain.  She panics; her mind races while her feet remain planted to the ground, body frozen without any idea of what to do next.  What’s wrong with Cloud Strife?  What should I do for him?  She musters the courage to extend one hand, with care, and places it very lightly on Cloud’s arm, feeling him shake beneath it.  With a quivering voice, she asks, “Cloud… are you hurt?”

Cloud manages to shake his head, but he can’t form a full sentence.  After a few moments, he mutters, “I’m fine.”  His body tells Tifa the opposite story.

Cloud’s outburst attracts the attention of the station operator.  The man, bearded and clad in a burgundy uniform, steps through a crowd of concerned commuters to make his way toward where Cloud and Tifa stand.  With a white-gloved hand, he taps Tifa’s shoulder.  When she turns around, she’s met with a stern look.

“Miss, do you know this young man?” the station operator asks her, point-blank.

“Uh, yeah,” Tifa says slowly, unsure that she can even accurately answer such a question.

“Then are you responsible for him?” he continues.  “Or should I call Shinra security?”

Tifa stands before him, clad with a blank expression, a million little thoughts racing through her head.  She can only be sure of one thing: something is not right with Cloud Strife.  His gaze, distant and cold and foreign, unyielding and yet unable to focus, doesn’t remind her at all of the boy she once knew.  That Cloud Strife had eyes filled with wonder, with dreams and goals and ambition.  His eyes were blue but they burned with a fire that Tifa admired so much; as a young girl, she thought she could spend hours looking at his eyes, that those eyes held the world inside of them.  It took her away from the tiny little town she called home.

Now, that fire is extinguished.  Behind Cloud’s eyes is nothing but a void, the world once beneath them now consumed entirely by green Mako.

But why?  How?  Cloud surely can change in seven years--but like this?  This kind of change is not growth; it’s decay.

Tifa doesn’t know why just yet, but she’s scared for Cloud.  She’s worried about him.

“Ma’am.”  The harsh voice of the station operator snaps Tifa out of her racing thoughts.  “Ma’am.  Are you responsible for this man?”

Am I?  Tifa’s not sure.  She thinks about how long it’s been since she and Cloud last spoke.  Seven years.  He’d mistaken it for five earlier, but she remembers, clear as day, his last night in town.  The water tower.  The stars.  Her nerves when she decided to meet him there.  After he left, she’d thought about him often; she’d even buy the paper, every Sunday morning, and read it cover to cover with the hope that Cloud’s name would be in it.  Nothing ever came of it, though.  He never reached out to her.  But she didn’t stop thinking about him; no, every once in a while, even all these years later, he still crept back into her thoughts from time to time.

Sometimes it made Tifa angry that she never heard from Cloud after he left the village.  There were so many words left unsaid.  Moments forgotten.  Promises broken.

But when she first saw him at the station today, none of those things mattered.  And they don’t matter now--what matters to her, in this moment, is that Cloud is safe.

Am I responsible for him?  Tifa thinks she finally knows the answer.

With a sigh, she finally answers, “Yeah.  He’s with me.”

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

Tifa slings Cloud’s arm over her shoulders and helps him back to her apartment.  His feet drag a little, but he gathers up enough strength to carry himself most of the way, only leaning on Tifa for support.  People in the slums don’t often take notice when strangers roll in, even in Cloud’s stupor--they think, It’s just another drunk.  But they pay attention to Cloud.  The uniform gives him away as a SOLDIER; and in the slums, SOLDIERs are synonymous with trouble.

Tifa catches a group of people staring.  When she shoots them a dirty look, they quickly turn away.  Tifa has a reputation in the slums, too; after five years, she’d been in enough fights to garner a little bit of respect.

Tifa is careful to avoid Seventh Heaven.  She’ll explain everything to Barret later--but for now, it’s easier to keep this to herself.  Barret, of all people, harbors the strongest distrust of Shinra.  Tifa doesn’t know how he’d react if he spotted her with a SOLDIER--even an ex-SOLDIER.

Once at the apartment, Tifa helps Cloud to sit upright on the edge of the bed.  He collects himself while she reaches for the phone, dialing Seventh Heaven’s landline.

As expected, Jessie answers.

“Tifa!” Jessie’s bubbly voice rings through the receiver.  She seems to be in a particularly cheerful mood.  “I thought you were topside today!  Didn’t expect to hear from you ‘til later.”

“Yeah, about that...”  Tifa makes a show of coughing into the phone--though, admittedly, she worries her feigned coughs won’t fly under Jessie’s radar.  Tifa has never been the most convincing liar.  “I think I came down with something.  I feel awful.”

“Really?  You never feel under the weather.  I can’t even remember the last time you called in sick.”

“Yeah, I know, can you believe it?”  Tifa nervously chews the nail on her ring finger in a vain attempt to hide her anxiety.  “Today of all days, I end up catching a cold.”

“Do you think it’s that virus going around?” Jessie asks.

“Could be!” Tifa exclaims, though upon hearing her own excitable voice, she lowers it back to a normal volume.  “Let Barret know I’ll be out tonight, okay?”

“Will do.  Get some rest, okay?  We need you in top shape for Avalanche’s next big step.  And Barret will wanna fill you in ASAP--so make sure you stop by the bar tomorrow.  Okay?”

Tifa thanks Jessie before hanging up.  By now, Cloud has come back to his senses.  He looks up when Tifa returns the phone to its receiver and says, in a very measured voice, “Sorry about that.  I... don’t really know what happened back there.”

Tifa gives Cloud a shy smile.  “It’s really no big deal.”  She pulls the folding chair out from underneath her desk and takes a seat, facing Cloud.  “You have a place to stay while you’re in Midgar?”

Cloud shakes his head.  “No, not yet.  Thought I’d... figure that all out once I got here.”

“You’re welcome to stay with me, if you want.  Just until you find your own place.”

The words escape Tifa’s mouth as if they have a mind of their own.  Tifa’s gut tells her that Cloud needs to stay close by.  That odd, almost surreal feeling she gets when they speak puts her on edge.  Her worry spreads like a fire in her chest.  She doesn’t want him to leave--not yet.  Not until she figures out how she can help him.  And she thinks if she offers him a place to stay, she can buy herself some time.

“R-Really?”  For the first time since they met, Cloud’s eyes show something behind them.  Surprise?  Shock?  Tifa doesn’t have time to analyze, because as quickly as it appears it dissipates into nothingness once more.  “Uh, I don’t wanna put you out--”

“You wouldn’t,” Tifa assures him.  “In the meantime, I can ask around and see if anyone’s got a spare room.  I’ve got a pretty good relationship with the landlady here.”

After a moment of thought, Cloud finally nods.  “All right.  Thanks, Tifa.”

Tifa thinks she sees the faintest hint of a smile form on Cloud’s lips, and almost automatically, she finds herself smiling back at him.  Cloud never was one to smile; that much stayed consistent after all this time.  But Tifa remembered him almost fondly for that.  It made the moments he did smile all the more meaningful.

“I wanna hear about everything,” she says.  “Everything that’s happened since you left the village.  But first, I think I oughta wash that uniform.”  Tifa noticed it at the station—that Cloud’s uniform is covered in dust and dirt from his travels.  He must have gone days without stopping to be this unkempt.

Cloud looks down with furrowed brows.  “Oh, shit.  This is all I have.”

“I might have something for you.”

Tifa walks over to the dresser and rummages through the drawers.  Every so often, as a single father, Barret will start getting overwhelmed.  Marlene is so young and needs so much attention; compounded by Barret’s involvement in Avalanche, he tends to spread himself far too thin.  When Tifa notices his stress, she’ll offer to help him out, so that he has a chance to catch his breath.  Maybe in some ways Barret reminds Tifa a little bit of her own dad.  For so long, it was just Tifa and her father.  She always wonders how it must have been, to lose Tifa’s mother and to continue on without her, raising a little girl all alone.  She’s proud of Barret for what he does for Marlene, and that’s why she does her best to help.

This week, Barret fell behind on his and Marlene’s laundry.  Tifa had folded it all and planned on dropping it off tonight—but a change of plans bought her some more time.  She dug out a plain shirt and pair of pants belonging to Barret and handed them to Cloud.

“These might be a little big on you,” Tifa warns.

“A little?” Cloud holds the shirt out in front of him.  In seven years, Cloud has bulked up, getting a little bit taller, building muscle mass—most likely from his SOLDIER training.  But even with a taller stature and broader shoulders, Cloud has nothing on Barret.  The shirt swallows him up.  “I’ll be swimming in this thing.”

“Beggars can’t be choosers,” remarks Tifa with a small smirk, before turning her attention back to the drawers.

“Whose is this anyway?” Cloud asks, his voice lowered to a whisper.  

“Why do you ask?” Tifa responds absent-mindedly.

When she turns to Cloud after his long silence, he’s glancing back and forth from the shirt, to Tifa, then back to the shirt.  With a tinge of negative feeling that Tifa can’t quite pinpoint, Cloud says, “Nevermind.  Doesn’t matter.”

“If you want,” Tifa tells him, “you can get changed in the bathroom over there.”

Cloud nods and makes his way across the room.  Once he’s inside, door shut and locked, Tifa finally gets a closer look at his sword.  He leaned it against the wall when he entered the room, so now it stands completely upright; like this, it’s almost as tall as Tifa.  Tifa taps it with her knuckle every so lightly, and listens closely to the sound it makes.  It’s solid, made of some sort of dense metal.  Despite the layers of grime that have settled on the blade, there don’t seem to be any knicks or scrapes on it; every inch of the sword is pristine, as if it were almost brand new.  Odd that he’d buy a new sword, thinks Tifa, when he’s moving to a new city.  Near the hilt, two identical pieces of magic materia sit nestled into perfectly-sized slots.

Tifa squints when she looks the blade up and down.  Why do I feel like I’ve seen something like this before?

*

*

*

Blog Introduction/Chapter Selection | Next Chapter

[kolhearted-archived]

FOUR YEAR ANNIVERSARY STUFF

This wouldn’t be me if it had some sort of fancy banner, so you’re just gonna get my wall of text, lol. 

So when I decided to create a blog for Kol, I didn’t have any idea — ANY IDEA — what I was getting myself into. I was happily RPing in the Disney rpc with my Toy Story muse, and had amazing friends over there, lots of muse, and was really happy with where I was, RP-wise. 

But I’d just gotten back into The Originals, and had seen Kol’s comeback, and his story began to click for me. I needed that extra backstory — of seeing him, narratively, from the storyteller role and not just as an antagonist — to be able to really understand the potential of his character. We had a character who was introduced as a dark force, unpredictable, who was willing to get his hands dirty to achieve his goals. Originals fleshed out what he looks like from the other side of the story: his motivations, his relationship with his family, and what he is ultimately searching for. 

So I decided to make a Kol blog, but I was expecting it to be, like, not a big thing, you know? I was going to make him my “weekend blog” and I was going to have fun on him, but he wasn’t going to be my main muse. But as soon as I started digging into him, and realized how much room I had to grow and develop with a character who had SO MUCH untold story?? I fell really hard, and really fast. Soon, Kol was the only blog I was logging into. And faster than I realized it could happen, there were people who were responding to my version of him! I was being validated and galvanized to just keep going. 

I found this weird middle ground where I wasn’t apologizing for the horrific things Kol had done, but I wasn’t focusing on them, either. I was worried about making this blog because I don’t write viciousness that well. I don’t want a character who is in CONSTANT fight mode. I didn’t want every single interaction to be Kol hunting someone, Kol hurting someone. 

The last four years has been a series of ups and downs, character-wise. There have been things I’ve tried that have worked really well, and stayed with my portrayal of Kol! And there have been things that really needed to be brought back to the drawing board. Everything has been important and it’s definitely made me a stronger writer. 

I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who’s stuck it out, through huge changes on my blog, through me backing away from Kol for times when my inspiration was low, through personal ups and downs which played with my strength as a writer. The opportunities I have are because I have people willing to try things out with me. I appreciate you all so much. 

lots of thank you notes under the cut

@seesgood: I want to make this long but I’m going to try to make everyone’s short and sweet. Thank you for taking a chance on a really new blog and being down to figure out what a Caroline/Kol interaction should look like. Thank you for being my Grove sister and I wouldn’t be half the Kol I am without you. 

@herstolenson: Thank you so much for finding a way to work Matty into Kol’s life so flawlessly, and thank you for giving our muses the time they needed to figure out what they wanted from this dynamic. Thank you for always being there when I’m having a rough day and just need to whine, and thank you for making Matty <3

@outlawiism: Thank you for always following me no matter where my muse takes me. Thank you for being there almost from the very beginning of my indie career, and thank you so much for the genuine support I’ve always felt whenever I talk to you! Thank you for being the Glitter Queen™ and giving so many people reasons to smile. I am always so humbled to be your friend. 

@hauntedgilbert: Thank you for giving me the opportunity to explore the Kol/Jeremy dynamic the way I had so desperately wanted to! Thank you for talking me through Jeremy’s side of things so we could figure out what was happening in any situation. Thank you for always being down to make something crazy, just because it’d be fun. Thank you for all of the AUs and angst that you brought along the way!

@fiercerebekah: Thank you for being there from like the VERY beginning! Thank you for showing me what an “established” blog looks like, and the real fun that can come from sitting with a muse for an extended amount of time. Thank you for the shenanigans you’re always willing to offer up, and for always letting me know what Rebekah’s thoughts are about what Kol does.

@ladamedemartel: Thank you for bringing different aspects to a character who did not originally have that many layers. Thank you for introducing us all to Aurora and allowing us to interact with her! Thank you for always being so fun to talk to, to debate with, and to bounce ideas back and forth.

@hardcoreproved: Thank you for creating the bizarre and delightful ship that is Kol/Bubbles. Thanks for figuring out what that would look like with me, and the why and the how! Thank you for always being one of the single most patient partners, and always know that even when I’m elsewhere and just bobbin along, I see what you’re making with Bubbles and I’m just like “that’s my girl!!!”

@portectorisms: Thank you for bringing some consistency to my blog!! We’ve been following each other forever, and the times we interact are always so much FUN and honestly, I want to make it more of a thing. Whether we have one thread or one hundred, though: thank you so much for your constant encouragement and support. 

@grawpiish: Thank you for being so encouraging, and for reminding me how long it’s been that we’ve been in each other’s orbit! Thank you for writing an amazing character, creating depth where there wasn’t any in his canon. Thank you for giving me chances to practice my graphics skills, and thank you for reaching out again so we could reconnect!

@hiddensteel: Thank you SO MUCH for the moments I see you popping in to interact with my posts, to offer advice or support or encouragement. Thank you for writing with my smaller muses, even though I neglect them for so, so long. Thank you for writing an amazing Sansa and giving her the love she so deserves. 

@asundrop: Thank you for being one of the first people to really challenge how soft a character could be with Kol. Thank you for dealing with him with a more tender touch, for seeing the scars that are around him and what his potential really is. Thank you for being a rock and a pillar in my RP life, because you, Polli, are a constant for me. 

@anditsxsorrows: Thank you for crreating such a wonderful portrayal of Nik, and sharing it with us. Thank you for the sheer amount of time we’ve been in each other’s orbits, and the ups and downs, character wise, we’ve seen each other’s blogs through. Thank you for sticking with Nik so long and providing such a wonderful pathos to his character. You are an inspiration!

@predictableisnotbad: No matter how much time has passed since we’ve last spoken, you’re always so ready to jump back in and have fun. Thank you for your dedication to Alice, and the depth you’ve brought out in her. Thank you even more for being a constant source of support for me, even and especially when I feel like I don’t deserve it. You are a special and kind light and I am so grateful that you are around. 

@oliverqxeen: Thank you for your friendship, because it means way more to me than I can ever really say. Thank you for being a source of constancy and support when my anxiety gets bad, or when I back off because my nerves and my thoughts are telling me things that aren’t real. Thank you for always being funny, and for really giving so many people the permission to push against canon if it doesn’t make sense. Thank you for being such an amazing writer and a friend that I don’t deserve. 

@yovrstruely: Thank you for always being there, in one form or another! Thank you for always showing how much fun it can be to RP, and for always being true to your muses. Thank you for dancing back into my life, and for offering advice whenever I ask for it. You make the dash feel a little less like I’m yelling into a void sometimes!

@prlman: Thank you for not taking the fact that I know virtually and literally nothing about your muse as a reason why we shouldn’t interact. Thank you so much for sitting down with me and figuring out a way for our muses to meet, for their universes to collide and crossover, and for making Elio one of the very first baby vamps in Kol’s new sire line. I’ve gotten to know Elio a bit better over time — though I still haven’t read or watched his source material, oops — but you’ve provided so many opportunities for us over the years and I so desperately appreciate it. 

@relishingvampirism: Thank you for always supporting my blog. You like and comment on so many of my posts, and really make it feel like someone’s watching and gives a care. Honestly, I constantly feel like I don’t deserve it. You make me feel so seen and I appreciate it so damn much. I see it. 

@crimscnmalice: Thank you for every moment I’ve run to you to ask for help and you’ve been there. Thank you even more for the times when I didn’t need something and we were able to just talk about life, about our geography, about our characters and what it’s like to find yourself and your creative well in a muse. Thank you for everything you do for the RPC, and a little more selfishly, everything you’ve done for me. You are an amazing person and I am so grateful when you turn your attention to me. 

@zcldrizes: Thank you for your constant support, no matter what blog I’m on! Thank you for your enthusiastic encouragement with my portrayal, because getting that “stamp of approval” from a blog I admired so much felt like the sun was shining on me. Thank you for all you’ve done for the GOT RPC and the RPC in general. Every muse I’ve seen you pick up is done with such depth and care. Thank you for letting me be a small part of the world you’ve built for your muses. 

@tocxmply / @killthebxy: Thank you so. damn. much. And I can’t even begin to count the reasons why. Thank you for showing me just how far a crossover could handle going while still being IC with the brotp that is Kol and Jon. Thank you for humoring me on Becky ( but I want to talk more about Kol rn ) and everything you do. But beyond all of that, thank you so much for always being someone so willing and ready to be a source of positivity in the RPC. Your cloak of protection is something I will always remember. Your messages to people are always thoughtful and personal and I feel so humbled being in a place with someone as light and good as you. 

@atomiism: Thank you for giving me the opportunity to explore Kol as a sire. Thank you for your amazing Ray, and giving me even the littlest chance of writing with him, because as soon as we started plotting, I couldn’t contain my excitement. Thank you for the moments together that we’ve gotten, and please know that I cherish each and every reply we get done. 

@fire-hoes: Tagging you over here, but honestly this counts for any blog. Thank you for your enthusiastic support and encouragement you’ve offered me over the years. You made me feel like I was a part of something real and really special and I always felt so honored and grateful whenever we talked. Thank you for your support that spans muses for both of us, and always being up to trying something new. You are one of my true constants around here, and I am so, so, so, so grateful for you. 

@itsgclden: Thank you for all of the time you’ve put into Rapunzel, because every time I see your posts, I just get so excited and sit down and read. Thank you for being willing to find ways for Kol and Rapunzel to interact. Thank you for the light you spread on the dash. Thank you for caring so much about someone who is so special to me, because I always feel like they’re in good hands. Thank you for being a real-life Rapunzel and spreading light and happiness. 

@livevl: Thank you for encouraging me no matter what blogs we’re currently on. Thank you for always being one of the first people to remind me that there’s someone in my corner always, and that you like what I’m dong here. Thank you for being that special kind of person who reaches out and says a kind word, because there aren’t a lot of people who think to do that, and it really matters. You make it feel less isolating on here. You are so damn good, so damn special, and so damn talented. I always feel a great pressure of gratitude when I think that I have the support of someone as amazing as you. 

[nev3rfound]

distant stranger : b.b

from strangers to potentially something more.  just fluff, nothing else. word count: 2.48K  requests are open!

Six months ago was when everything changed. I can still remember the feeling when it happened, that pulsing through my veins as everything slowed down until I unleashed what I never knew I had.

I unleashed a power, an evil that I never anticipated. It was the kind of thing I’d read about in stories growing up of witches and wizards. But to think I was a witch? Or something of the sort with born powers is still a fact I’m learning to deal with every day.

When I moved into the compound almost everyone tried to make me feel welcome. No one explains how much of a change moving is, especially when you move somewhere filled with superhumans or genetically enhanced people - and an actual God. 

Wanda was the first person to fully bond with me. She’s a similar age which helps, and Sam is always around as a parental figure whether he realises he is doing so or not. 

The compound slowly became more of a home and less of a place to be afraid. I was genuinely enjoying my new home and the people I shared it with. Well, all but one. 

James Buchanan Barnes. The Winter Soldier. A complete dick. 

I’ve tried, countless times to be friendly, to speak and engage in a conversation with him. But none of it works. All I receive back is a grunt or a brief glance before he returns his focus back to whatever he was engrossed with in the first place. 

What makes it worse is that I don’t know what I’ve done to annoy him in the first place. Wanda sometimes tells me it’s because he’s a grumpy old man, and has his moments where his young self comes back. But I know there’s something else hidden in those icy blue eyes, a deeper meaning behind his dark presence. 

The only time I really get to see him is when we’re training. It was a part of Steves mandatory team-building exercises where we had to develop one particular skill. And based on what we selected we were partnered up. This week I opted for swiftness, and I had learnt James wanted to know more about flexibility in fighting. 

I couldn’t hide the sigh that escaped my lips when Steve announced the pairings as we slowly made our way closer to one another, barely lifting our heads to greet one another. 

He mumbled a half-hearted greeting before we began. It was clumsy at first, his ability to duck quickly or bend over to avoid being punched, but slowly I began to speak up. “If you do this,” I act out a move I learnt before I got here. My leg retracts beneath me, allowing my body to almost be flat on the ground before I get back up quickly, avoiding any harm in a split second before tackling my attacker to the ground. 

Bucky carefully watched my actions, his eyes following my legs. But as soon as he glanced up I kicked my leg out, tackling him to the ground with a harsh grunt sounding from him. I rise to my feet, seeing a few of the other Avengers staring in surprise. 

“She didn’t come to mess around,” Sam calls out with a round of applause. 

I turn back to Bucky, holding my hand out. But he rises to his feet, declining my offer. “That all you got?” He asks bitterly. 

Shaking my head I try to hide my smile. “I can do this all day, Bucky.” 

*

After training, I hang back to talk to Wanda. I watch as Steve walks over to Bucky, patting his back lightly as they walk out clearly engrossed in some form of conversation. 

“That was something else,” Wanda speaks up, interrupting my deep thoughts as I turn to face her. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Bucky so, so,”

“Angry, bitter, annoyed, irritated? I could easily go on.” I pitch in, a small laugh following suit as she shakes her head.

“Upset.” She states, frowning ever so slightly.

A scoff escapes my lips. “I’m sorry are we talking about the same person?” I question, raising my left eyebrow to her. “Bucky isn’t capable of being upset, clearly.” I retort as I list off every occasion I’ve seen him in the past few days alone. 

“Y/n, trust me.” She pats my shoulder lightly. “I know he’s upset, but I can’t figure out why.” I watch as she frowns to herself before snapping out of it. “Anyway, wanna go get coffee in that cafe you’ve not stopped praising?” 

I smile at her little comments, if anyone knows how to distract me from myself it’s Wanda. “Yeah, why not.” I respond as I pick up my jacket, slipping it on. “I’ll just get changed okay?” I jog out of the room, heading back towards my own room. 

As I near my door I see a figure leaning beside the wall and I slow down to a gentle pace. “You alright?” I call out to the shadowed figure. Slowly I watch as they step away from the wall, and there stands Steve. Letting out a sigh of relief I rest my hand on my chest. “Thank god it’s you.” I mumble as I push open my door, heading inside hearing him follow me through. “Everything okay?” I yell as I head into my bathroom, changing into something more casual, but Steve remains silent. 

Stepping out to see him he wears an unreadable expression. For someone who can usually be read like a book, this wasn’t normal by any means. “We need to talk about Bucky.” He speaks up and I move to sit down on the edge of my bed whilst he takes the chair from in front of my desk. 

“What about him?” I ask blankly. 

Steve clears his throat, avoiding my gaze. “I think you intimidate him.” 

I can’t stop the laughter from my lips as Steve stares at me. “Oh,” I calm down, retracting my reaction. “you’re being serious?” I ask and Steve nods. “Why of all people do I intimidate Bucky?” 

He shrugs his shoulders as he leans back into the chair. “I haven’t a single clue.” I watch as his eyes follow the artwork on my wall, the minimalist style that lines the walls as they slowly join together. “Have you, have you ever been dancing?” 

Raising my eyebrow he mirrors my actions. “I can’t say I have, I mean I don’t think school dances count?” 

Steve shakes his head. “Definitely not.” He retorts as he pulls a face of disgust. “I might have an idea.” 

Before I have the chance to ask anymore he gets up and leaves my room without saying another word. “What’re you up to Rogers?” 

*

Waking up I head towards the kitchen, and as always Steve is sat with Bucky. “Mornin’ Y/n.” Steve calls out and I watch out of the corner of my eye as he looks to Bucky.

“Morning.” Bucky too calls out and I keep my hand frozen on the bowl for a moment, unsure if my hearing is working properly. 

Lowering my hand with the bowl I close the cupboard, smiling to the two men. “Morning boys.” I respond with a small smile, trying to hide the blush I can feel crossing my cheeks. 

“Any plans today, Y/n?” Steve asks and I shrug my shoulders as I pour out my cereal. 

I lift my head up, seeing Steve eating whilst Bucky keeps his blue eyes focused on my movements. “I think I might head out for a few hours. I want to go to the flower market.” Glancing down I check the time. “Shit, I better get moving.” I mutter as I take my bowl with me as I rush towards my room and quickly get dressed. 

As I grab my bag I open my door, seeing Bucky stood there with his knuckle raised to knock. He nervously smiles as I stand in front of him. “Erm, hey?” I ask as I keep my hand resting on the door. 

Slowly Bucky lowers his knuckles and clears his throat. “Can I join you?” He asks and I blink a few times, unsure if what he just said is my mind playing tricks on me. “To the market,” I watch as he nervously scratches the back of his neck with his gloved hand, something rarely seen displayed. 

“Sure,” I state confidently as I walk past him. “are you ready? It’ll close in a few hours and I want to get a new plant.” I smile at him, forgetting that this is the most we’ve ever spoken since I arrived all those months ago. 

“Let’s go then,” He replies, still hiding a smile I know he might possess in there somewhere. 

Walking through the stalls I often lose sight of him as I find myself distracted by vibrant shades of petals slowly ranging to the gentle pastel colours. I touch everything I can, the life that runs through places like these makes me feel normal. Markets on Sundays, Shopping at Christmas, Family parties, laughter, crying, being able to walk around museums - they’re all things that make me forget that I’m not normal, even for a little while. 

“Hey,” Turning around Bucky stands behind me, a cap covering his hair as he tries to keep a low profile in public. “wondered where you got to.” He cracks a smile for a split second before it vanishes into those deep lines. 

I continue walking, knowing he’s never too far behind. That is until I reach one stall with bright tulips. “How much for four bunches?” I politely ask the lady behind the flower arrangements. 

She ponders momentarily and then her eyes dart up to see Bucky stood beside me. “For you, I can do them for ten.” She smiles and I reach into my purse, passing her the note. “They say Tulips radiate positivity in a couples life.” She comments, looking between the two of us. “You’ll love ‘em.” 

Opening my mouth to object I glance up at Bucky who is ready to move on. He places his hand on my lower back, guiding me away as I hold the flowers close to my chest. 

“Bucky, you can let go.” I mumble as I realise his hand is still on my back as we look at various house plants. 

Slowly I feel his hand return to his side, a strange vacant feeling flooding my skin. “You know,” He speaks up. “I’ve never fully heard your story,” 

“Which one?” I ask as we pass through the crowds of cheers and encouragements from sellers. 

“How you discovered your powers.” He catches my gaze before focusing on creating a path in front of us. 

I sigh quietly. “It’s the kind of story best told over a drink.” I speak up and he nods. 

“Good job there’s a bar just up ahead.” 

*

“I knew something wasn’t right when I was growing up, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.” I begin to recall the events leading up to the moment it all fell apart. He sits silently opposite me, nursing a small glass of whiskey. “But I was never very emotional, I was kind of void in that sense. I didn’t mind that, but if I ever got emotional things happened that I couldn’t explain. Things would catch on fire, bulbs would burst, wind outside would start swirling and thunder would roll nearer.” 

Taking a deep breath I close my eyes as I lift the glass closer to my lips. I feel the liquid burn down my throat, trickling down as I force myself back into that day. “I was arguing with my Dad about something to do with my issues. And before I knew it I lost it, and, and it was uncontrollable. I couldn’t stop any of it from happening, even if I felt calm.” 

Opening my eyes I focus on my breathing as I feel the tears building in my eyes. “I, I flooded the house. The electricity broke and I fled the house. But, but my Dad he, he didn’t make it out.” Sniffing I wipe my nose before downing the last of the drink, coughing violently afterwards. “And then I was quickly taken away. I should be in jail. But Fury saw something in me worth keeping and slowly I’m learning to channel whatever this is into something better.” 

The entire time Bucky sat still, listening to every word I had to say. 

He lets out a deep sigh. “I had no idea, doll.” The nickname slips out of his mouth before he realises, and a small smile forms on my lips. 

I shrug my shoulders. “Well, you wouldn’t. I mean, we’ve barely spoken since I arrived ‘til today.” I state, feeling the need to ask becoming more desperate. “Did I, did I ever do something to upset you Bucky?” 

My eyes lock with his and he flickers them away before clearing his throat. “No.” A simple word I wish was something else. 

If he said yes I could deal with that, work through whatever it was I did to upset him in the first place. But no, no has more meaning behind it. That I didn’t do anything, and it might just be me after all. 

“It’s not that you’ve upset me, not at all, doll.” He rephrases, his hand now resting on the table. “I, I just, I’m not good at explaining or showin’ my feelings like I once did.” I watch as his fingertips flinch and something catches his eyes in the distance. “Whatever they did to me I can’t really show or talk about the way you make me feel.” 

Slowly I nudge my fingertips closer towards his, my eyes not moving from his cold gaze. “And what do you feel, Buck?” I almost whisper, hesitant to hear if this is real. 

“That I really like you, and that scares me.” He states clearly as his fingertips take mine into his hand, closing them into his soft palm. “And I know I am not worthy of someone like you, and I never will so I deflected it all so you wouldn’t even talk to me.” 

“Guess it worked to a degree,” I mutter, a small laugh following. 

He shrugs his shoulders. “But it wasn’t worth it. I hated seeing you deflated when I didn’t say good morning or was willing to talk over breakfast. That I didn’t know how to talk to you without fumbling over my words or just staring at you.” His words roll out all at once without him pausing for breath, but all I do is squeeze his hand tighter. 

“So I don’t intimidate you?” I raise my eyebrow and he smiles, a small blush crossing his nose. 

“Like hell you do,” He replies. “but in the best way possible, doll.” 

[jovialtorchlight]

nanowrimo

nanowrimo is going kind of poorly. I had to scrap my first project at 5k words--it was too painful and slow to write--and settled on this idea. If you want to, please read it, and tell me what you think. I have so much catching up to do. 

I think it’s called The Witch.

I found the two dead, newborn goats in a corner of the barn. Black and brown, tiny, the size of puppies, twins. The mother looked at me like she always did; huge marble eyes dilated, sideways, like they were about to bulge out. 

It’s hard to figure out what a goat knows. Sometimes, they seem like bleating animatronics, only interested in food, screaming, and breaking shit. Other times, they stare at you, long tongues lopsided, eyes sideways, looking at something beyond you, understanding the there beyond the there. 

The Witch taught me how to feel that connection. That communion. Not the evil, biblical pentagram shit. But a link to something beyond. Once you know it’s prescent, you can feel it. 

The animals are a vessel. And it’s not a dark energy they draw from, a dark message from an abyssal place.

But the witch also taught me that  everything can be perverted, can take on a new form, a terrible form. 

I met the Witch in a parking lot. Her Outback wouldn’t start. I offered to jump it. It was a cold February evening, already dark at 3:30 p.m., and as she popped her hood, as I attached the cables and jumped the car, I got out and went to take off the cables. 

I saw her illuminated in the headlights. She was blond, hair falling, unkempt, long to her back, flicks of snow and freeze embedded in her scalp. She was shivering. 

“Thank you. I’ve been waiting for almost an hour,” she said. 

“Not a problem,” I said, closing the hood of my car. “Happy to help.”

She got in. Her old junker jostled to a start, and she drove off into the night. 

I’d love to say that it was love at first sight, that I knew she was a witch, that I felt her presence and the fact that she was going to gradually teach me that I was fundamentally wrong about the universe, about the way things worked, about life and love and joy and terror. But as I drove out of the Walmart parking-lot, the sky was just the sky. The cold was just cold, and the emptiness of a half lived life swam around me. 

But we kept circling each-other. Sometimes I noticed her, sometimes she noticed me. At least three or four times a week; at gas stations, waiting rooms, checkout lines. It became a bit of a joke shared by two near-strangers. We were always together, almost by accident.

It was a hot July day, and I was at the town beach, lying on a towel. I had been reading a book, but I closed it, and laid it on top of my eyes so the beating of the sun wouldn’t blind me. 

I could feel my skin tightening into a sunburn, so I sat up. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw her. 

“Again?” I said, smiling.

“Yep. looks like it,” she said, grinning. 

“I’m starting to think you’re following me,” I said, making a half-baked, conversational joke. 

Her grin faded. She was wearing dark sunglasses and a sunhat, so I couldn’t really make out her face, but I got the immediate sense that she was very, very serious. 

“I’m not,” she half whispered. “Are you following me?”

“Uh...no,” I said, unsure of what to say. I couldn’t tell if I had spooked her, if I had crossed the line from an extremely coincidental stranger to a stalker. I was tempted to get up and leave, and maybe move out, somewhere far away, where I couldn’t be taken for an accidental creeper. 

“I didn’t think so,” she said, easing a little bit. “What’s your name?”

“Jonny,” I said. ‘What’s yours?”

She didn’t answer. Her voice fell into a whisper. 

“That boy is going to drown,” she said, pointing out, towards a floating dock. I couldn’t respond, but I followed her finger. “Things are going to fall into place.”

Six or seven children were standing in the corner of the floating dock, trying to sink it. They did; and the other half of the dock rose into the air. 

A boy; he looked to be about ten, was standing on a particularly pitched part of the float; as it rose sharply, he slipped, smashed his face off of the wood, and, before his friends could catch him, slipped off into the water. 

I don’t think his parents even saw him hit his head. Before I knew what I was doing, I was in the water, running, as fast as I could; diving into the water, stroke after stroke, kids screaming, parents from the beach yelling, jumping in behind me; but I was first, I was swimming quickly; and I was at the dock, and I dived under, opened my eyes, stinging, couldn’t see anything, just a chain heading to the bottom; breath running out, I followed the chain to the bottom; he wasn’t there either; I looked back up, and saw him, face down, stuck under the dock; pushing from the bottom upwards, running out of breath—

I grabbed the boy’s limp body, and with the final push before I inhaled a lung full of lakewater, dragged him out from under the dock and felt the fire of air hit my lungs, I pushed him up above and some hands grabbed him and while I wheezed and coughed I heard screaming; he’s dead, not breathing no, I thought, I just saved him, just grabbed him, I should have saved him, and I failed a bit as I lost some strength and before I lost consciousness I felt some hands grab me and pull me— 

The EMT said I was out for  three minutes, still breathing, just cold. Could have been my mind responding to the influx of trauma and the lack of oxygen. But I woke up in the back of an ambulance.

Everything happened fast. The EMTs were having lunch at the hotdog stand up the road; they heard the screaming and were on scene while I was under-water. He was under the dock for just under a minute. The guy right behind me was a lifeguard with all the training. 

On that hot July day, everything lined up. We should have been able to save that boy—I’d learn later, from his mother, that his name was Jacoby—and he should have been the one, blue lipped, shivering, on the back of the ambulance, having his vitals monitored, coughing up water. 

A 24 year-old man was alive  and a ten year old was dead. 

While I was unconscious, I had a dream. The boy was up to his ankles in the water, looking out towards the empty shore of the beach, spare one purple  lawn chair. I was out on the floating dock. 

The boy was sobbing. The witch rose from her chair, and slowly walked to the boy, embraced him, and reached out to put a hand on his head. 

“Where’s my mom?” the boy asked, sniffling. 

“She’s not here now, but you can visit her later. Why don’t we go take a walk? There are some people up by the hot-dog stand who would love to see you, Jacoby.”

“Oh...okay,” the boy said. He took a step out, onto the beach, before he threw himself around, and stared at me, and I felt my chest tighten and I felt him pinpoint in on me and I felt the way his smashed face felt when it hit the dock and the way he tried to swim up before he lost consciousness and the way the water filled his lungs--

“Who is that?” the boy said, eyes widening with fear. I wanted to tell him, say who I was, that I was a friend, that I tried to help-- but I couldn’t, and I realized, with horror, that I was witnessing something that I shouldn’t---

‘Jacoby.” the witch said, sternly, motherly. “You need to turn toward me. Please. You don’t have to be afraid.  He is a friend.”

Jacoby, still turned to me, began to writhe, skin crawling, energy bursting out of him; light coming from his skin, from his head; blinded by the heat radiating from his formlessness, I felt myself burn into him, felt my consciousness blend into his—for a moment—I had to stand—had to stop this—I saw the writhing and the fear, the red open sore of the sky, the dark hue of the beach suddenly vast and endless, a void, drawing me and the boy in like a magnet, like we were being pulled; I had to stand up, do something, anything. I stood up.

It was Jacoby, myself the witch.  He was sobbing again.

“WHO ARE YOU?” he screamed. 

“I’m a friend, bud.” I said. “I saw you under the dock and I tried to help you out—”

“Oh. That was you?” Jacoby asked me, the sobbing ceasing. 

“Yeah, it was,” said the Witch. “Now I need you to get out of the water, Jacoby.”

“I don’t know if I can,” he said, his skin beginning to jump up and down like a flame like it did before. 

“You can,” she said. “You can, Jacoby.”

Jacoby turned to me. 

“I’ll get out if he jumps in.”

For the first time, the Witch turned to me directly. 

“Friend,” she said carefully, like she was choosing each word with care. “You don’t have to jump.”

“Yes, he does!” said Jacoby, sounding, for the first time, like a ten year old. “I won’t do it if he doesn’t!”

I looked down at the water. It was black, oily, bubbling. I glanced back at Jacoby. I didn’t know what was going to happen to him if I didn’t jump. But the fear in my chest told me he would be lost, swallowed up by whatever this oily water was. 

I looked at Jacoby.

“Alright,” I said, “On the count of three.”

One. 

Two. 

Three. 

I jumped into the water. I woke up in the ambulance. I asked if Jacoby was dead. 

“Woah, take it easy,” the EMT said. “Who’s Jacoby?”

“The kid,” I said. “Underwater. Jacoby.”

No one in the back of the ambulance responded. After a few seconds, the EMT asked,

“They said they didn’t know you. How do you know his name?”

I didn’t say anything. I looked toward the beach. The witch was gone.

A few days passed. Jacoby’s family called me a few times, told me it wasn’t fault, that I was a hero for trying to save him. They asked me to come to his funeral. I didn’t I couldn’t. I could barely leave my apartment. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Jacoby. Or the water, the black oil.

And in my dreams, I was standing on the edge of the dock, staring at the bubbling void and Jacoby's blue bloated bloody face rose up from the depths and he was sobbing, and asking me why I didn’t swim faster, why I didn’t save him.

 When I drank, I didn’t have dreams. So I took to drinking. Hard. 

One day, I was driving to work, an open bottle of whiskey barely concealed under a coat in the passenger's seat. The car in front of me stopped suddenly. I tried to break, but ended up smashing into the back of a Subaru. 

I got out of the car, stumbled. A few people came out of their cars and started coming over. I didn’t even wonder if the other driver was ok; I was more concerned about my breath. 

The witch got out of the car. 

I stopped. A small crowd was gathering, cell-phones out, on the phone. 

“It’s...you..” I whispered. 

“Yeah.” she said. This time, I could see her eyes. Bloodshot, like she had been crying. I could smell her breath. She’d been drinking as well. 

“Jacoby..” I muttered.

“He’s fine. He made it.” she said, staring at me, ignoring the woman who was asking us if we were alright—

“Then why…”

“The dreams,” she said, nodding. “It’s because you jumped.”

“I had to jump, I said, not noticing the blues flashing behind me, the cops getting out, coming toward us;

“Yeah, you did,” she said, a lopsided, drunken smile.  “They’re going to arrest us both, Jonny. But...after we sober up...we need to talk.”

[thefifthturtleismyicon]

Glowing

Tmnt x reader

Pt 1

TMNT reader insert- first of a longer story- but i think I'll write it as a master post and not a series

Basically me writing my ideal version of TMNT, just because I have no paitience, but works with any version of the turtles... except maybe 2k18....

Anyway, if you guys like it, i would love to actaully make it seem more reader focused, this first part is still pretty void of any turtle x reader lol

FEEDBACK MAKES IT MORE FUN FOR BOTH OF US

Anyway....

The Ninja turtles run into a human like mutant who is after the same kind of ooze as them, but when they keep crossing paths, they realize they have a lot more in common than that.

There was one thing that made mutants hard to identify- other than the fact they were so good at hiding. Sometimes, there were ones lucky enough to seem human at a glance.

You were one of those mutants- and right now, you had a problem. That problem was plural; other mutants- who looked much less human than you.

Turtleish actually.

You landed hard against the roof, shoes scraping against the old cement as you tucked into a roll. The glowing can of ooze was warm against your side, pinned between your torso and your arm. It made it much harder for you to run, which was probably the only reason you hadn’t outmaneuvered your pursers yet.

As you sprinted across the moonlit rooftop, you could hear the silent movements in the shadows, the deft patter of feet following after. If you had been anyone else, that probably wouldn’t have been possible. The movements of your pursuers were as quiet as you had ever encountered, and it didn’t help that you were in the middle of New York City. They seemed to know how to stay hidden- and they were gaining on you.

You chanced a brief look behind you as leaped over an air vent, head snapping back forward for your eyes to land directly on one of the mystery mutants.

Yeah- it was a turtle.

Your eyes widened at the tall, muscled figure a few yards away from you, brain quickly digesting the red mask, sai’s, and aggressive stance. He was blocking your path.

You rolled your eyes and pulled out one of your guns from your chest holster, pointing it at the dark green turtle, still running. The red-masked mutant’s eyes widened and he immediately dodged out of your way, bracing himself for gunfire. You simply kept running, leaping off the edge of the building that the turtle had been guarding. Sounds of dismay and annoyance rang out from your other pursues followed by a loud exclamation you couldn’t exactly make out.

You made it to the other side of the next roof, glaring down at the large gap between the next building and yours. The way you had taken to get here had been much easier, but now the canister of ooze you had under your arm made it harder for you to just walk through the street with the civilians. You bounced on the balls of your feet impatiently, trying to run through and pick an option as fast as you could. The only ways of getting away with the chemicals seemed to be getting down the street and hoping no one thought you were suspicious enough to call the cops or fight.

You decided to take the easier option.

You placed one foot up on the ridge of the building, but then suddenly a whistle cut through the air and you rolled backward, just barely avoiding the sturdy bostaff that slammed down where you had been standing. Pressing the ooze more closely to yourself, you watched as the taller turtle moved the staff to face you, a small smile on his face. He was clad in heavier equipment than the last- and seemed to have goggles strapped to the front of his head.

“Hi.” The purple-masked turtle offered, pointing the bo staff in your direction, staying low in a crouch.

You didn’t respond to his greeting verbally. You lunged forward and grabbed the staff, yanking hard and pulling it toward you. The turtle let out a yelp of surprise as he stumbled, and was probably just as shocked when you kicked him across the face.

Having moved him out of the way, you again went for the building’s edge, when a chain wrapped around the edge of the ooze canister, tugging you backward. You held on tightly, rolling backward into the pull and through the next pursuers legs, pulling hard. The orange-clad turtle was flipped onto his back, arm dangling on the other end of the nunchucks. He was staring up at you with big eyes, much less angry than you would’ve been. All that came out of his mouth was an excited giggle of surprise, one that you could barely hear as you ran once again for the building edge.

You jumped over the ridge and slammed down onto the fire escape, beginning to flip down through the metal bars as the three turtles began yelling at each other. You smirked slightly, knowing they couldn’t be crazy enough to follow into the view of civilians, and once you hit the open streets, you would just hitch a subway ride and be home free.

Suddenly, another turtle swung in from outside of the fire escape, kicking you against the wall. You grunted as you hit the bricks, ducking quickly as the blue-masked turtle punched where you had just been standing, surging forward and jabbing your shoulder into his plated stomach. He likewise slammed back against the staircase, looking at you in a new light. After that brief second of rest and sizing up, you lunged for the next set of stairs, which the turtle blocked with his arm, stopping you each time from passing under or over him. You weren’t going to be able to beat him with one arm. You groaned in frustration and tossed the metal canister into the air, the turtles focus immediately on the ooze, which gave you the opportunity to grab his still slightly outstretched arm and judo flip him, slamming the turtle down against the ascending staircase. The canister landed between your feet and you let out a breath, pushing the (h/c) strands of hair out your face as you picked up the container.

You scrambled down the rest of the fire escape, landing loudly on the dirty cement below. The alley tucked just a few feet away from the bustling street and you rushed toward it, hopes rising as you neared the human packed area.

Those hopes were dramatically crushed in the same way you were, slammed down into the pavement by large feet. Your skull brushed against the pavement as your arms were pinned under you, the cannister popping out of your grasp.

“No-” You grunted hazily, your vision swimming as you attempted to get up.

“Mikey!”

“What?”

“You- you can’t just jump on people like that!”

“It stopped her didn’t it?” The turtle exclaimed, a sense of indignation in his almost surfer like accent. The other voice scoffed, and you could feel three other pairs of feet hitting the pavement.

“You could have crushed her.”

“I didn’t.“ The turtle- Mikey- replied, leaning down and turning your head to the side, “I didn’t crush you did I?”

You groaned in response, one hand reaching out to your head, pulling away and looking at the dark blood that was now smearing your hand. Mikey seemed to take the response well, nodding up at the others.

“See? She’s fine!”

Mumbles of disagreement rose up from the turtles as they stared down at you, the tall purple one reaching down and picking up the ooze. Your eyes widened, cloudy brain clearing as you realized you had lost the canister. You surged upwards, Mikey yelling in surprise as you threw him off of you. But before you could reach the turtle, the red and blue turtles both had their weapons pointed at you, keeping you from the other.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” The red-masked turtle growled, his voice unmistakably accented. Your eyes leveled with the two weapons, sizing up your four opponents. You might have been able to take them all on at once before your head had cracked against the pavement- but now? There wasn’t much of a chance… but you needed that ooze. It didn’t matter how little of a chance you had.

Your arms snapped up to the holsters at your ribs, fingers wrapping around the handles of your guns, which was met by a katana pressing close to your neck. You froze, glaring at the blue-eyed turtle. He stared back, knowing you had nothing else to do.

“Let go of the guns.”

“I need that canister.” You snapped back, eyes hard as you glanced between him and the ooze.

“So do we.” He replied simply, taking in your black military grade outfit.

You shifted on your feet, fighting the urge to rush forward, even with the katana in your way. They didn’t understand and you didn’t have time to deal with them. You needed those chemicals.

“Raph, take her guns.”

“No! Hey- don’t-” You let out a loud groan as the guns were wrestled from your sides, Raph smirking down at you as he tossed the weapons around in his three-fingered hands.

“Okay… Mikey do you still have those bungee cords?”

“Aw- not my bungees Leo, you know I was going to try to use those!”

“Would you rather she follow us?”

“No…” Mikey replied, grabbing your shoulder as Leo kept the sword close to your head.

Panic was beginning to build in your chest, realizing that they were going to leave you there, and you weren’t going to be able to…

Your gaze snapped up to Mikey, and you raised your hand, grabbing his arm. A loud yelp rang out from the shortest turtle and he stumbled away from you, his arm swinging uselessly at his side.

“Mikey!”

Your hand glowed softly, the mutagen in your veins pulsing. You stumbled backward, ready to run, but was stopped by the crushing grip of the red turtle.

“Let me go!”

“Not after what ya just did ta my little brother-”

“Oh, he’s fine! Just let me go!”

“Raph!” Leo hissed, rushing forward. “They’re going to hear her!”

“Well, what am I supposed ta-”

“Help! Help, I’m being k-” The tallest turtle lunged forward past Leo, his hand slapping over your mouth, muffling your screams. You wiggled in Raph’s grip, body brimming with frustration as they yelled over your sounds of the struggle.

“Donnie don’t touch her! You saw what happened to Mikey-”

“I’m touching her face! Raph is holding her off the ground- what difference does it make?”

“I don’t know! I just-”

“AH! She’s licking my hand!”

“Donnie. Donnie- don’t you dare let go. It’s just-”

“It’s wet!”

“I know! Just wait till I-”

“My hand!” Donnie exclaimed, “I can’t feel my hand!” Just as he was saying so, Donnie’s hand grew limp, just as Mikey’s arm had. You laughed in triumph, shaking your head free of his now lifeless hand.

“Woah- her tongue is glowing!”

“It’s kinda gross,” Raph said.     

“You mean cool.” Mikey quipped back as you began to yell again, which was muffled by Leo placing a ripped bandage over your mouth. You screeched as Donnie duct taped the bandage to your face, struggling to do so with one working hand.

Eventually, the turtles had you duct taped and tied down to the fire escape ladder, arms behind your back as you struggled to get loose of the bungee cords.

“You don’t think she's going to break those is she?” Leo asked warily, looking at his youngest brother.

“No way! I was going to use those to bungee off the empire state building. If they could hold me, she won’t be able to break them.”

Your eyebrows furrowed at the comment, wrists working feverishly to break through the cords.

“So we’re just going to leave her?” Donnie asked, still nursing his hand.

“We have to, she’s too good to not just follow us,” Leo replied,  staring down as you shook your head.

They couldn’t leave you-you needed the ooze! You screeched as they began to climb back up the fire escape, about to disappear into the night. Mikey suddenly stopped, looking down at you for a moment, his brows quirking up in sympathy. And then as fast it had come, he smiled down at you and waved. You stomped your foot as the last turtle hopped up onto the roof and out of sight. You strained against the bungee cord, waiting to see if any of the turtles would change their minds. It would’ve just been easier if one of them stopped to ask you what was wrong.

Instead, you had to follow them now. You sighed, standing up straight and pulling your wrists apart, the bungee cord stretching to a point where you slipped one wrist out, and then the other.

They really should’ve checked how stretchy the bungee cord was. Because now, you had to go and find their hideout. You needed that ooze. And you were going to get it no matter what.

[echoes-of-the-clockwork]

Deacon St. John || Phantom in the Night [3/5]

A/n: Honestly, this short series might end up having 4 or 5 parts instead of 3. Not sure yet, but if it does, I'll make sure to fix the other parts.

⚠️SPOILERS AHEAD⚠️

Hope you all enjoy! Love you all!!! •••••••••••••••••••••

***HAS NOT BEEN PROOFREAD! PLEASE NOTIFY ME OF ANY ERRORS!!!***

***** Prompt: With the chaos of the Ripper attack subsiding, you make the hasty decision to leave Lost Lake and head to Crater Lake. Fortunately for you, you won't be alone on the upcoming ride through Hell. *****

~3rd Person POV~

It felt like hours had passed by in a flash during the attack. (Y/n) had watched the Rippers terrorize the entire camp from far away, her heart aching as she heard the terrified screams of those who called the camp home. She ended up biting the tip of her thumbnail, pacing back and forth impatiently. If she rode into the camp, the Rippers wouldn't hesitate to grab her and take off. 

A few minutes passed and (Y/n) saw the Rippers were retreating. Once they were out of the camp, she hopped onto her motorcycle, placed the mask over her face, and crossed the bridge, unable to wait for Deacon any longer.

Bodies littered the ground of the encampment, both Rippers and the people of Lost Lake. Their painful cries rang in her ears as she drove up to the lodge and dismounted her bike. Stepping through the front doors, she immediately heard arguing.

"Mike, you know I did it to protect us!" (Y/n) recognized the voice from anywhere. She peered around the corner, watching Skizzo fall to his knees in front of Iron Mike. "(Y/n) is Phantom and if we just hand her over, Carlos and his fuckin' followers will leave Lost Lake alone!"

Before Iron Mike could even respond, Deacon used his handgun to hit Skizzo in the face. "Maybe we should give your sorry ass to them instead."

"Enough!" Mike shouted, causing (Y/n) to flinch. "We are not giving anyone to the Rippers, got it?!"

"You're just gonna let him get away with this?!" Deacon yelled back.

"He will have a fair trial like everyone else!" The older man bellowed, scowling at the drifter. "We knew this attack was coming regardless of who's fault it is."

(Y/n) stepper around the corner, making her presence known. The sound of her boots against the hardwood grabbed all three men's attention. Skizzo reaches for the pistol by his side, but Deacon stomps on his hand before he could grab it. "Don't even think about it."

"(Y/n)," Iron Mike calls out.

The woman removed her mask with a sigh. "Mike, can I speak to you in private?"

"Let's head outside," Mike responded. (Y/n) followed behind the old man, not sparing Deacon a glance. She could feel his eyes on her back as she left the lodge with Mike. They walked down to the banks of the lake and decided to talk. "Is this about the attack?"

(Y/n) swallowed nervously. "Yes, it is."

"It is not your fault they attacked. I just want you to know that before you make any rash decisions."

"How long have you known I'm Phantom?"

"The first time I met you three months. The mask was peeking out of your backpack when you rode in with Deacon."

The woman couldn't help but laugh. "I really need to remember to zip that thing up."

"I want to thank you for all the help you've done for this camp. Taking out hordes, marauders, Rippers... Never thought I'd see the day where one woman would face a horde on her own," Iron Mike smiled warmly at her.

"I'm glad I could help," she smiled in response. "And now that you've said that, this next part is gonna be difficult to say."

The old man crossed his arms. "You think it's best to leave, don't you?"

(Y/n) nodded slowly. "Yes. The Thielsen Pass. I've been to Crater Lake plenty of times before I met Deek. If the Rippers want me, let them come. They won't make it far with the Deschutes County Militia prowling the region. It'll keep everyone here safe."

Mike glanced back at the lodge before meeting (Y/n)'s gaze. "You plan on going alone?"

"That's what I was gonna say next. It'll be difficult to leave without having Deacon follow, but I'm hoping you can distract him for an hour. That'll be enough time for me to gather my things, buy some ammo, and get the hell outta Lost Lake."

Mike respected her decision to leave and agreed. "Alright, I'll keep him occupied. Be careful out there, (Y/n)."

She smirked. "Always am."

<————————————<<<<<<<<<<<<<

"Goddammit..." (Y/n) muttered as her bike's engine sputtered and smoke rose into the air. She hadn't even made it to Iron Butte before her engine burnt out. "Should've asked Buzz to look over the bike before I left."

Hopping off the motorcycle, she pushed it down the road until she reached a small house. She pushed it into the driveway and searched the house for anything useful. She discovered a couple dead in their bed in the bedroom, both individuals covered in blood and dismembered. By the carved skin and the three letters etched into their foreheads, she knew it was a band of Rippers. "I am gonna miss killing their asses when I leave," she grumbled, leaving the bedroom.

(Y/n) searches the remainder of the house. In the kitchen, she found a few pieces of scrap and a couple of rags. When she wandered into the living room, the sound of an approaching motorcycle. She peered out one of the shattered windows and saw a familiar bike approaching. "Shit, Mike... Guess he figured it out."

(Y/n) watched Deacon pull into the driveway next to her smoking bike. Without reservation, she hightailed it to the guest bedroom and hid in the closet. She sat down, hugging her knees close to her chest in hopes he wouldn't find her. "This is a stupid idea," she whispered, remembering how Deacon has amazing tracking skills. "He's gonna find me." She scooted into the darkest corner of the closet, but she still knew the drifter was going to find her.

From the closet, the woman heard Deacon's meter the house without a single word. By his footsteps, she knew he'd found her trail. (Y/n) rested her chin on top of her knees, waiting to be discovered. There was no point in escaping since her ride needed repairs and there was no way she could possibly outrun him.

Deacon's footsteps echoed from the hallway and (Y/n) looked out the slits of the closet door to see if she could spot him. When he rounded the corner and entered the guest room, she watched him stalk towards her hiding spot. The drifter slowly slid open the closet door and their eyes met. The woman raised her hand and weakly waved. "Hey, Deek. Didn't expect to see you here. I guess you figured out Mike was stalling you."

"Yeah, well..." Deacon sat down beside her, reclining against the back of the closet. "Mike never rush his mouth that much. I figured something was up. And besides, you still got my cut."

"Ouch. And here I thought you liked me. Guess that kiss was to just shut me up." (Y/n) released her knees and stretched them out in front of her. "Your cut's in my backpack. I'll get it for you and you can be on your way." She stood up and left the closet.

Deacon flew to his feet, disbelief written all over his face. "You're out of your goddamn mind if you think I'm gonna let you go that easily."

(Y/n) leered at the drifter as she stopped and turned to face him. "As much as I love you, I'm not dragging you along with me. You might be wanted like me, but at least Rippers weren't gonna wipe out an entire camp just to get to you." She turned her back to him, making her way through the living and to the front door.

Hearing the four letter word baffled the drifter since he hadn't heard it in years and never expected to hear it in the midst of the apocalypse. After meeting the woman and coming to terms with Sarah's death, he never thought it'd be (Y/n) to fill the void in his heart. He lunged forward and grabbed ahold of her hand before she could walk out the front door. "I'm not losing you like I did Sarah."

(Y/n) snapped her head around, her heart skipping a beat at the declaration. Even though she loves him, something kept gnawing at her on the inside, telling her to leave him behind. "I am not dragging you along through shit you didn't sign up for. Crater Lake is not like the other regions, trust me. The minute we're seen, the fucking militia will either kill us or force us into their ranks."

"You're not leaving without me," Deacon declared.

"What about Boozer and, and—"

"He'll be fine without me."

(Y/n) yanked her hand out of the drifter's and crossed her arms. "Not so sure about that. He just lost his arm, Deek. He needs you more than ever!"

"That's not what Boozeman said," he retorts.

"You," she grits her teeth and smacks him on the chest with both of her hands. "Are a hardheaded, persistent man. Your tenacity is annoying sometimes."

"Sorry to disappoint, but you're stuck with me."

(Y/n) turned her head to hide her smirk. "Guess I am. There's no way I can make you change your mind and head back?"

"None," Deacon replied.

Unable to change the drifter's mind, the woman sighed and gave in. "Fine. You win." She walked over to her bike with Deacon on her heels.

She searched through her backpack for his cut, but he stopped her. "Hang on to it for me."

(Y/n) was confused at his request, but she didn't question him. "Alright. That would be for the best, especially where we're going. After all, bikers are supposed to be dangerous criminals and only care about themselves, right?" She teased.

Deacon saw the teasing expression on her face and found it mesmerizing. He couldn't help but play along. "Oh, yeah. A hundred percent."

Her smirk morphed into a gentle smile. "I'm just glad I'm no longer alone in this hellish world." The drifter met her gaze, flabbergasted at her words. (Y/n) was the first to look away, eyeing the smoking engine of her bike and promptly changing the subject. "Um, do you think you could help me with this?"

"Yeah."

<—————————————<<<<<<<<<<<<

Once (Y/n)'s bike was repaired, the two departed from the house. The (h/c)-haired woman led the way to Crater Lake through the Thielsen Pass. They had encountered Rippers when they entered Iron Butte, but they were able to avoid their gunfire and maneuver around the adversaries without confrontation. Their main goal was to reach Crater Lake safely and wouldn't allow anything or anyone stop them.

"So, what's this "militia" like?" Deacon asked as they carefully navigate through a tunnel.

"Let's just say if you aren't one of them, Freaker or human, they won't hesitate to kill you. But there is a chance you can join their ranks. Colonel Garret, the man pulling all the strings, is a complete nutjob. Carlos is normal compared to him."

"Well, shit," Deacon sighed.

"I've never met the man, but I was following a group of men he sent to take out a few squatters near the visitor center. I overheard him on one of their radios. Apparently, he favors lynching people he deems as murderers, rapists, and thieves." (Y/n) fell silent before remembering something Deacon had told her a few days after they took out the Ripper camp in Black Crater. "You were in the military. Did you meet any batshit crazy people who were in charge?"

"Weird people, yeah. Crazy assholes, no."

"I just hope we don't end up getting sucked into the militia," she muttered to herself, gripping the handlebars tightly. A foreboding feeling blossomed in her chest as they reached the Thielsen Pass and rode up the snowy path through the light snowfall.

Entering Crater Lake, they encountered two men being attacked by a Rager. (Y/n) skidded her bike against the snow and hopped off the moment it came to a complete stop. Grabbing her IDF Pup, she unleashed the entire clip into the mutated bear's body. It growled, releasing the man who was trying to climb onto the roof for safety. The Rager roared as it charged towards the woman.

(Y/n) quickly reloaded and pulled the trigger, killing the creature with half a magazine left. "I hate Ragers," she sighed, lowering her weapon. "Fucking annoying and persistent."

Deacon was amazed at the feat, his mouth agape as he dismounted his bike. "Wha—What the hell was that?"

The woman slung the firearm across her shoulder, kicking the dead bear in the side. "A Rager."

"That's not what I meant," Deacon scoffs.

"You know what I'm capable of and this is the one feat you're astonished by?" She huffs with laughter. "You saw what I did to that horde at the sawmill. I'm a dangerous woman."

"I can see that," Deacon shook his head with a faint grin.

"Holy shit!" One man shouted as he jumped down from the roof, stalking over towards the duo. "Oh, Jesus, lady."

"Yeah, I don't know what we would've done without you, miss," the other man sighed in relief.

He reached out to pat (Y/n) on the shoulder, but Deacon quickly inserted himself in between them before he could touch her. "Hey, okay. It's dead. It's cool."

"I'm Russell," the man in the booney hat introduces. "Glen Russell. This is Private Mullins," he gestured to the man in the orange camouflage shirt.

"Goddammit..." (Y/n) hissed under her breath at hearing the rank.

"Rick," the man in the tacky shirt greets.

"Hey, Rick. Uh, I'm Deacon St. John and this is (Y/n) (L/n)," the drifter gestured to the woman behind him. He fell silent for a split second before checking to see if he heard Russell correctly. "Did—Did you just say "Private"?"

"We're fucked..." (Y/n) groaned loud enough for only Deacon to hear.

Russell nodded. "Yeah, yessir—Deschutes County Militia. You two aren't from around here. You come over the pass?"

Fortunately, (Y/n) didn't need to tell Deacon to lie. He had already formulated a perfect one in such a short time. "Uh, no, no, no. We've just been, uh, drifting. We came over the, uh, Salt Flats, east of Silver Lake."

"What—What the hell are you both doing out here?" Mullins inquired, causing (Y/n)'s body to tense up. "How'd you get across the 97?"

The taut woman went to respond, but luckily Russell interrupted his companion. "Whoa, whoa, whoa—Jesus, man."

Mullin glanced towards Russell with a shrug of his shoulders. "What?"

"This girl just saved your freakin' life," he replied, pointing towards the woman who stood behind Deacon.

"The colonel told us to look out for anybody enterin' the territory, north or south. The—"

"Freakin' slow your roll, man," Russell raised his hands, gesturing for his partner to calm down. "We'll let the captain deal with that, okay?"

Mullins reluctantly nodded. "Fine."

Russell gestured to the animal corpse a few feet away. "She just killed a freakin' Rager, dude." He turned and faced the couple with a gentle expression. "Come with us. We got a camp just by Diamond Lake. Get you both three hots and a cot—least we can do."

Deacon glanced behind him at (Y/n), who was desperately trying to hide her disdain about how they were already becoming wrapped up in the militia since they've only been in Crater Lake for nearly an hour. When he knew he was t going to get an answer from her in her furious state, he sighed. "Okay, yeah. Sounds good."

(Y/n)'s jaw dropped to the ground. "Wha—There's no way in hell—!"

The drifter grabbed her arm and forced a small chuckle as he looked at Russell. "Would you give us a moment?"

"Uh," the man glanced between the two. "Yeah."

Deacon tugged (Y/n) around to the back of the cabin and released her when they were far enough away from Russell and Mullins. "I know you want to shoot my ass for saying that, but—"

"Oh, hell no! There's no "buts" in this situation! I told you we shouldn't get ourselves mixed in with the fucking militia! These two might seem normal, but Colonel Garret is a man who's unhinged and missing plenty of screws. The moment he finds out we're here, we'll be on his radar and he won't stop until we're either dead or have joined his damn army!"

"Just trust me, okay?" Deacon begs.

(Y/n) inhaled deeply through her nose and sighed through her mouth. She folded her arms, hugging herself and trying to fight off the chilly breeze. "Fine. But so you know, I'm not completely on board with going to Diamond Lake."

"Already knew that by the look on your face." Deacon placed both hand on the side of her head and pulled her closer, pecking her on the forehead and swiftly releasing her to return back to Russell and Mullins.

"You stay here. I'll come back with some fuel," the couple heard Russell talking to Mullins.

The man in the hunting cap shook his head furiously. "No!"

Russell reassures his companion, trying to also calm him down in the process. "You'll be fine."

"I'll stay with him," (Y/n) offers. "It's better to not be left alone out here."

Russell smiled and gestured to her. "There you go. You won't be alone."

Deacon glanced at (Y/n), skeptical of her decision to remain with Mullins. She nodded with a reassuring smile before he went to his bike. "Just try not to get yourself killed while I'm gone."

(Y/n) rolled her eyes. "Just get going. I'll be here when you come back."

Nodding in acknowledgment, Deacon followed Russell to Diamond Lake.

[bnha-hcs]

Soul Bond - Chapter 4

I’M FINISHED WITH FINALS YEAAAAAH now I can write and draw for at least a month before classes start back up... BUT I’M GONNA WRITE BC I’VE BEEN SO CREATIVELY STARVED UGH. Here’s chapter 4 to Soul Bond I’ll probably be writing some Jojo stuff later because I’m trying to update all of my series. Emphasis on try. My goal is to finally get part 2 to Winning Your Heart and another chapter for the Death Before Decaf before I die alsdjak. I might open commissions again but we will see 

- Tiki 

You didn’t have much time to respond to what Katsuki had just let fly into the void like that. The sharp intake of breath from yourself didn’t you serve you much as you tried to say something about how it was extremely unnecessary to just shout things like that as you stopped to watch as the knight’s face contorted to such pure undenied rage that you thought the poor guy was literally going to explode. I mean, he was out here probably guarding the world eater of all things… his pride out here probably was already a little… damaged if you will. Katsuki’s words probably did him in if you were being honest.

The knight and his crew stopped a little beyond the base of rocks that you were on, and by the looks of it, you could see that he probably had a LOT to say to you which was great.... Thanks for that again Katsuki. You were about to try and buckle down to get through whatever rant this knight was going to spill on you, but in the distance, closer to the world eater, you could see two men. How they got past these idiots in front of you, you had no idea but it looked like there were trying to take on the world eater themselves… Or not, you couldn’t really tell from this distance anyways. But it wasn’t until you heard a throat clearing so obnoxiously loud that you remembered your situation that you looked back to the knight. Well… Great.

“Are you even listening to me???” The knight asks, obviously more offended by the fact that you didn’t hear a single word of his rant. You sighed.

“Obviously not!” Katsuki said for you. He was right, though so you sat tight as Ochako approached from behind you, now finding herself into the situation unfolding in front of all of you.

“Jeez, are you in trouble with authorities already?” She asked poking her head from around you.

“I wouldn’t really call them-”

“Enough!! State your business here immediately and we’ll remove you by force!!” The knight yelled.

“Don’t you mean OR you’ll remove us by force??” Ochako asked, squinting at the man. You heard Katsuki snort.

“This guy is just full of beans huh…”

“Well we’re here to attack the world…!!! Thingy…!” Ochako said, losing a bit of her enthusiasm halfway as she realized that 1. She didn’t know the name of the thing they’re fighting and 2. That it sounds completely ridiculous. The knight looked at her like she’s the stupid one. (Spoiler she’s not.)

“That’s just… Stupid.” The knight says, very bitterly. You wonder how he thinks it’s any less stupid that he’s guarding quite literally the one thing that could kill him very easily.

“How rude!! We’re just-”

“I don’t have time for this lunacy!!” He yells, obviously thinking that all of you are out of your damn minds. “You all, get rid of them!!”

The soldiers who were on standby this whole time quickly started to make their way towards you like they were waiting for their chance to jump in. You were quick to jump out of the way but one managed to grab Ochako by the arm. She was quick to fend them off however and ran off after you and towards the path in between the rocks. Your strategy was to let them funnel their way towards the two, or three I guess, of you. And so you watched as Ochako found her place behind you and wait, the soldiers not being too far behind her.

“Keep your dirty hands off of me!!” You heard her yell, slicing into the shoulder of another one of the soldiers trying to advance.

You found yourself surrounded by four other soldiers and although they outnumbered you they looked even weaker than those bandits in the forest not too long ago. Maybe being out in the sun all day and having to deal with such an annoying commanding knight took a lot out of a guy, but if this was what the army was like around these parts you were sure getting past these guys was easy for most people. Your point was proven as one of the soldiers swung at you with a short sword, making an easy block and parry with your much longer blade. It took maybe one solid hit before he was on his ass and out cold.

The other soldiers seemed to pale when they realized that you were much stronger than they thought you were and you didn’t have too much trouble getting rid of them. They were dispatched and knocked out cold on the craggy field area as you started to loot them. Just as soon as you were done reaping your spoils, you heard Ochako from not too long a ways down finishing off a few of her own opponents.

“I guess I got to see how rusty I was with these guys huh.” You heard Katsuki say cockily as you started to walk over to Ochako.

“I thought you got to do that during the last fight?” You said unsure, sighing as you debated drinking another stamina potion before facing that annoying knight down the path.

“Yeah sure but now I’m really starting to be able to stretch my legs in this body.”

“I don’t know if I like that.”

“Sure you do!”

You were halfway through a groan when Ochako came up to you, seeing you unharmed and nary a scratch on you. The two of you nodded before you made your way down the path to where the knight was waiting. Upon seeing you he got on guard, and seemed a little angry by the fact that the two of you already bested his men. And to be honest you felt a little bad for him. Being stuck here with a bunch of shitty men who don’t know how to fight in the middle of a barren area with literally nothing to do. But at the same time he was really arrogant for someone who just got all of his men decimated by a Sepp and a possessed person.

It wasn’t too long before he lunged at you, obviously much faster and more experienced than his own men as he landed a blow on you. It wasn’t that good because you responded in kind, hitting him right back but much harder. Katsuki must’ve been able to tell that you were a little mad he got a hit on you because the power pulsing through your sword got stronger as the ringing in your ears got louder.

Ochako managed to land a hit on him not too long after you did, and hey, it was two on one so good for him for being able to hold out against you for so long. BUt he was still going to lose. And so with renewed vigor, you slugged the dude head on with a full body slash, knocking him off of his feet and into the dust. He scrambled for purchase on the ground as he made a hasty retreat.

“Impossible!! There’s no way such rabble them could….” He gasps trying to get away with some semblance of pride. “I’ll tell my commander of this!! Men, retreat!!”

You watched as he made his escape and weren’t too sure if he understood that his men were all knocked out but part of you knew that he probably didn’t care. Ochako was happily besides herself as she watched him go. And now that all that was over the three of you could get down to business and get after that world eater. You turned towards the direction that the path lead you to, contemplating if this fight was going to be that easy. A big part of you said of course the hell not because it’s a goddamn world eater and it literally eats worlds!! But it’s what you had to do so…

“Ha!! What a bunch of wusses!!” Ochako laughed happily, pumping a fist in the air.

“Yeah yeah, but you only won thanks to me here so…” Katsuki interjected. “Our real fight begins now though. Are you ready, Soul Mate?”

With a huff you cringed at the way Katsuki called you Soul Mate. You weren’t really sure if you liked it at all but you certainly didn’t like the way he said it. It sounded too… violating if you will. Like, you already had to deal with him being inside your body but the least he could do was not make such weird comments. You would prefer not to have to think about sharing your body with a master of death. In fact, you’d like to forget it sometimes.

“Anyways let’s just go kill this world thingy!!” Ochako declared, leading the way down the path.

“World EATER! Gods how can you forget something so important!?” Katsuki barked.

And so the three of you made your way down the path, taking note as any sort of life started to disappear around you. The grass was gone, and it was nothing but cracking sandstone and wind as you slowly got closer and closer to the world eater. You didn’t like the feeling that the rumbling ground made while you walked through the sand and sandstone, and how the air felt like it was thick with a static, an energy that you couldn’t understand. Katsuki was oddly quiet for someone who was supposed to know a lot more about this thing than you or Ochako.

As the three of you finally came into range, you could tell that Ochako wasn’t too sure about herself anymore either. She turned to you as it loomed not too far off. The thing looked absolutely massive. The main body was like a woman with a large dress but was discolored in a mixture of gray and bright magenta, mixing into glowing highlights of blue and yellow. Giant winglike structures grew out of the back and horns grew out from the beautiful woman’s face. Two large arm structures floated out in front of it, holding two giant golden swords all the while four more loomed ominously around the main body. Hmmm... you weren’t too sure if you liked to idea of fighting anymore.

“Hey now that we’re closer… It kinda looks tough…” Ochako said quietly, her will to fight also wavering.

“Of course it’s fucking tough! It used to serve none other than yours truly!” Katsuki said rather matter of factly. You heard Ochako groan. “Of course I could beat its ass in no time.

“Okay then go.” You said flatly.

“Then give me your fucking body!”

“No.”

“Ugh!!” Katsuki groaned disgustedly. “Whatever, we can’t do much talking now because here it comes!!”

“Wait is it those guys from before??”

You looked over quickly to see the two mysterious men from before with the knights. And with all horror you watch as the world eater slowly shifts to face them, charge up attack from the core of its belly, and then shoot it at the men. The sound echoed in your ears and cracks raced out of the earth around the beast. The light was so bright that you couldn't see, and you covered your eyes and waited for the attack to be over. When the blinding light subsided, the men were gone and the world eater slowly started to face back to the three of you…

“That thing is terrifying!!” Ochako shrieks, you nod solemnly in agreement.

“Yeah, and it wasn’t even aiming at us. It saw the actual strong people and went after them first.” Katsuki spat. “A hell of a lot stronger than you guys.”

You hear Katsuki whisper to you in your mind, “A shit ton stronger than you considering you can't even use my power right. You can pray that maybe you can be able to unlock even a sliver of my unlimited godliness.”

With a groan you rolled your eyes and tightened the grip on your sword. You hated that he’s at least kinda right. You don’t have any clue as to how to use this power you have, and nothing from your training ever prepared for you to be possessed by the master of death or even how to use his power for yourself! How were you even supposed to know anyways?

And then again with much hesitance you made your way closer to the world eater, and before you knew it, it’s going to engage you. You prepared for the worst as you practically stared death in the face, every hair on your body standing on end as every instinct you have was telling you to fucking run. You don’t and blindly walk forward. Right before it charges its attack you hear an oddly familiar voice.

“Leshura…” It says.

You watch as the golden rays charge up from beside it, and soon enough its floating arms fly out at you and Ochako, slicing you with one golden sword before the other one comes down and like a pair of scissors, slices you completely in half.

And just like that, you’re pretty dead yeah? Everything’s black, and your consciousness floats in an endless void. You aren’t sure where you are but it feels familiar. It’s then you realize… You’re there and then you look up and see him.

“Hey kid.”

[spectacledotter]

The Ballad of Jonah & Michel

Ace, the answer to the age-old question "what would happen if a golden retriever carried a heavy machine gun," bounds into the hangar with an enormous grin on his face, followed by a somewhat less energetic warlock.

"I'll admit," says Eska to Ace, "when you said 'I know a warlock' I was a little concerned you meant that bitchy cryptarch."

"Taron doesn't do fieldwork," says Ace with a shrug, "and anyway, if we're going to have one warlock, Konath is the one we want."

"It was me or Taron?" Konath the warlock sounds insulted.

"No," insists Ace, "it was you because you're really fucking good and we kind of need that where we're going."

"The Vault of Glass." Konath looks to Eska. "You're really serious about this, aren't you? You realize what you want to get into, right? The Vault eats people. Guardians don't go in and come out again."

"That's why we need to remove it," says Eska flatly. "If you're not interested..."

"I didn't say that." He's grinning. The warlock is actually grinning.

"Right, introductions," Ace swings an arm around Konath's shoulders. "So, that's Faulkner-5 and Gavri, they're our hunters. Over by the sparrow, it's Gavri's. He's one of the best racers since Marcus Ren. And I call Faulkner Deadeye for, y'know, obvious reasons." He winks, then points over to the exo in black and the considerably more colourfully-dressed awoken focusing on tuning the sparrow's engine. "And--Akira's somewhere around here--AKIRA!" Ace waves to the large, bulky exo currently completely distracted by the hangar cat. "Hey come over here and say hi to our warlock! This is Akira-28, you've probably seen him on the Crucible leaderboards, right? Best fucking headbutt on the Tower. And this guy is Eska."

"Just Eska?" says Konath with a quirked eyebrow. He's barely glanced at the hunters or the titan exo. He keeps watching Eska as if trying to place him in his memories somewhere. Eska's not particularly surprised; he's gained a reputation at record speed since his revival. Konath's probably seen his face in Vanguard projections if he spends any time in their area.

Yet he can't stop thinking he knows Konath's face, too. Where has he seen him before? A projection? "I prefer it that way," says Eska.

"Don't want to let your reputation precede you?"

"My friends don't know my reputation. They know me. I like it that way." He's not sure what kind of reputation Konath even has, but if he's seen his face before, he must have something. "I like knowing my friends that way, too."

Konath's wicked grin turns softer. Friendler. "Now that, I can respect."

They knew when they entered that the Vault of Glass would be harrowing, but that word is not nearly strong enough for what they experience. The Vault is every bit the wound in time, the Vex underworld they had been warned of, but none of them are deterred. They press on through every horror the Vex can throw at them.

Konath channels light into Eska's ghost, giving Spark the boost he needs to recreate Eska's form, just as more of the suicide-bombing fanatics rush towards them both. One well-placed shot takes them all out at once, but only once it's taken do Eska's feet find solid ground. Konath has a mere second to be impressed before they both have to refocus on the Oracles.

It is Eska who grabs the Aegis. It is Eska who is the forefront of the defence, Eska who holds the line against the Templar--but it is Konath, of all of them, who keeps him there. Konath who flings both blasts of void and bolts of solar--*that* is what Ace meant when he said Konath could be one warlock for a team of six, because Konath brings twin Lights and wields them as fluidly as water flows against oil, separate but parallel and moving together. Konath is clever with his placement and quick with his fire, and Eska is both stalwart in his defence and relentless in his advance, and together they are the unstoppable force and the immovable object.

The other four of the fireteam do their part, but when the massive Hydra known as the Templar is naught but so much scrap, the hunters and the titans look at each other and look upon Konath and Eska, both of whom are breathing heavily and leaning on each other as if they have done this for centuries on. They never spoke. They simply moved as one thought.

They met two days ago.

They have known each other for two hundred years.

Perhaps it is because of the Vault, and the way time bends and folds and screams within it. Perhaps two days can be stretched over centuries within the Vault of Glass.

Perhaps.

They return to the City scarred and changed but triumphant. All of them are exhausted, but before they split apart, Eska catches Konath by the shoulder. He can't quite explain this magnetic draw he feels, but he knows with the same instinctual feeling, the same urgent understanding that has saved his life so many times, that he needs to know this man. He can't let Konath go.

"Do you want to get ramen sometime?" he asks abruptly, before Konath has even fully turned to face him.

"Are you asking me out on a date?" Konath responds, delicate lips curving into a smile.

"It doesn't have to be a date," Eska can't help smiling back, "but that's up to you. I just figure that live firefights with Vex aren't the greatest way to get to know a person."

"What, you're not used to having conversations between laser shots? You just need to yell louder."

That makes Eska laugh, which makes Konath laugh. He has a pretty laugh, one Eska wants to hear more of. He does agree to lunch at the ramen shop on the Tower, once they've all had enough sleep to be complete people again.

"He's interesting, isn't he?" says Spark when ghost and guardian are alone.

"I like him," Eska says.

"He's a little ... chaotic."

"That's not a bad thing."

"Well, no... but you're more like the opposite of chaotic. He's not like you."

Eska rests his head on his hand to look at his closest friend and companion for a year. "That's why I like him," he says.

Konath could talk for hours, about practically anything, and Eska could listen to him for the whole time and not get bored.

No Light. No ghost. The few medics the Farm has collected have done what they can, but they are spread thin by refugees--citizen and guardian alike--and his wounds are deep. There are others who can be saved. He is not among them. He lies in his cot in their makeshift field hospital, set up in a dilapidated old house, and he watches the darkening sky through the hole in the wall, and he thinks of Eska. Konath can barely breathe, his hands are cold, and with Death seeping into his body the only thing on his mind is the man who settled into his life as if he belonged there. If anyone could make it out of the City, if anyone could stop this catastrophe, it would be Eska. But he'll have to do it without Konath, and that knowledge hurts almost as badly as his collapsed lung.

I'm sorry, he thinks, and the sensation of deja vu--that he's done this before, apologized to his love as he dies--washes over him with such strength it gives him vertigo.

Wait.

No, that's just Chaya healing him with--

"Chaya!" gasps Konath, pushing himself up with renewed strength to face his golden-shelled ghost who is somehow beaming at him. "How did you--I thought the Legion got to you!"

Strong arms come around him from behind and the side, pulling him against a warm and muscular chest, and he looks up into the relieved face of his beloved. "Eska found me," says Chaya. "You look so awful, Konath! I was so worried. You need to eat, and then you need to rest, and then--"

"You're alive," Konath breathes, touching Eska's face. Chaya is still talking but he's not hearing a word.

"I thought I'd lost you," says Eska in a low voice. It's the first--only--time Konath has ever heard him on the verge of tears.

Konath presses his face into Eska's chest and Eska holds him as close as he can, and they sit wrapped around each other until long after the stars have come out.

With Xol the Hive worm god dead, the Guardians have a little more freedom to explore. And of course, with a treasure trove of Golden Age technology including the Holy Grail himself, Rasputin, at their fingertips, explore they do. Konath and AK-47 in particular spend hours combing through the massive facility. Though he's less obsessively interested in Clovis Bray's inventions, Eska does join them from time to time if for no other reason than to spend time with his best friends.

On one of those days where Eska tags along, they find a door with a palm lock for security. "Must be high clearance," says Eska. "We won't be able to open it... hey, Ana," into his comm, "think you can pick a lock for us from your end?"

While he fills Ana in on their location, Konath tries placing his hand to the palm-reader. He doesn't think it will work, but he can't resist putting his hand within the lines.

"WELCOME, DR. JONAH L. KRAMAROV," the Concierge AI greets him cheerfully, and the door opens.

"Well," says Konath, "shit. It worked."

"You must have worked here!" AK-47 signs excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Like Ana! Maybe you worked with Rasputin!"

"I--I have no idea." He's done Thanatonatics but he's never seen this place before. Then again, it must have looked very different back then.

"Let's go inside! Now we *have* to see what's in here."

She darts inside and Konath is right on her heels. They find themselves in a hallway lined with doors to the offices of high-clearance officials. Fortunately, these ones aren't locked, and AK immediately starts bounding in and out of every office. Konath, meanwhile, checks each door until finally he finds the one that bears the same name as his hand. Jonah Kramarov.

This was his office. It's messy, with papers scattered everywhere and even the tattered shreds of a coat that froze before it could decay completely away. It looks like Jonah left in a hurry. Konath slides his fingers over the bookshelves, looks over the equations on the papers, sits in the chair. For one second, the office is brightly lit and full of classical music, and he's leaning back from writing a letter on his computer. His eyes fall on...

Konath blinks and the office is a dim, cold, silent ruin again, but his eyes are still on the upturned photo frame. He tilts it up curiously, then pulls it close to his face in shock. The photo is of himself, but human with olive skin and hazel eyes, wearing a white tux and pink corsage, his arm around... it couldn't be, but it is.

Eska.

Konath knows that face better than he knows his own by now. His dark hair is shorter, less shaggy, but it's the same high cheekbones, dark eyes, golden-brown skin, even the same dimples in his smile. His tux is black but the corsage is the same. Their bow ties are both blue.

Written across the bottom is JONAH & MICHEL'S WEDDING and a date.

"Konath?" Eska is standing on the threshold of the office.

Konath looks up to him. "Find anything interesting?"

"Was about to ask you that."

"I... I don't know. Jonah Kramarov was definitely working on something. Looks like he had to leave in a hurry."

"You want some time?" he asks in that soft tone he uses when Konath is upset or overwhelmed. Hearing him talk like that, concerned and patient and ready to help, makes Konath feel better all by itself.

"Yeah," says Konath. "Yeah, that'd be nice."

"Sure. We'll be by the security door when you're ready."

When Konath finally joins them, the wedding photo is tucked into a pocket of his coat. He could have just transmatted it to his ship, but he wants it on his body. He never believed in destiny, and he's pretty sure he still doesn't, but now he understands Eska's magnetism. His gravity. The way he just settled into Konath's life like he was meant to be there. Konath is willing to call that destiny.

"Hey." He pulls his helmet up and Eska's off to kiss him by way of a greeting. "I love you, you know that?"

Eska is surprised but smiling. "What brought this on?"

Konath shrugs. "Sometimes I just want to tell you."

"I love you too, Konath."

[blairette-on]

Bonds to our Destiny, Chapter One

Hello there! ^^ Finally, the chapter two! Hope you’ll like it!

Yeah… This one hadn’t been beta read yet but… I wanted to post it so there it is! (It will be updated when my beta would have the time to do so! ^^ (Because I suppose it’s something that takes quite an amount of time to do, so…), so sorry if you found some English/grammar mistakes and all! ^^’’

Hope you’ll like it! ^^

By the way, in this chapter, there a little time skip, and for the following ones, some will be separated by months, other by nothing, but you’ll, and I hope that won’t bother you! ^^

And even if things seem a little… confused now, they will make sense later, promise!

(and yes, I tried to do a sort of « little child way of talking »… Dunno if it works!)

Tangled, movie and Series, belong to Disney, as the Moon theory to @ghostar, who created it on Tumblr!

Enjoy! o/

When I first saw you

oOoOoOo

As far as she could remember, Rapunzel had been always able to see strings get out of her chest and disappear into the air in front of her.

Well, to be perfectly honest, it was only when the sun shined very, very high in the sky, and never more than a few seconds at each attempt. Plus, it was a very exhaustive exercise so she didn’t try very often to invoke them. She was only six years old after all.

Nonetheless, she knew that she was connected to five people. First of all, there was the string that linked her to her Mother. It was a vibrant shade of red, fiery as her Mother’s temper could be. She deeply loved her Mother but, sometimes, she was very, very scared of her.

… Maybe it was because of Mother scared her sometimes that there was a taint of black mist on it…?

The second link bonded her to Pascal, her chameleon companion. It was made of a lovely shade of yellow, soft in is color, almost shy, but so comforting. After all, Pascal was the one who made her life in the tower a little less lonely.

The two seconds strings were almost transparent. They shined with a profound purple color and the only time she tried to feel them more, as faint as they were, she felt an overwhelming wave of confused feelings that she wasn’t able to stand up for several minutes. She hadn’t tried to feel these strings again. Maybe when she will when she’ll be older.

Maybe.

Then, there was the last string, the string that appeared only two years ago out from nowhere. Rapunzel didn’t know who it was linked, but an almost blinding light emanated from it. It was also a bit more elaborated in its composition. As the four other stings were some kind of rope-line like of faint colored-light, this one was made of two lines intricated in each other in a very complex way. One of them seemed to be made of gold as the other was made of silver. The six-year-old girl could have sworn the string was enameled with several little shining crystals.

Somehow, Rapunzel knew that she shouldn’t try to pull on this particular string, not yet. It’s was simply a feeling, a sort of instinct which told her so. And even if she was very curious about this string, in particular, she could wait a little longer. She was a very patient girl. She lived locked in a tower after all. She was used to waiting.

She heard her Mother climbing up the stair and the little girl shook herself off of the daze that came upon her when she summoned the strings.

She would try later to pull on it when the time will come.

oOoOoOo

It was not his room.

The four years old boy looked around him with curiosity.

At least, this dream wasn’t a nightmare.

He was in the middle of a black-gray nowhere surrounded by a sort of fog that lingered at his feet. Looking up, he saw the Full Moon shining in the strange sky of the place as a feeling of safety washed over him. He let out a long sigh of relief as he began to walk without a goal in the noplace that his dream brought him into.

But it all seemed amiss, like a void, as if something was lacking to this place, but Varian couldn’t point out what. Somehow, the young boy had the feeling that he had to be here, that someone was calling out for him and that this very nowhere-place was made for the only purpose of helping this person.

Then, he heard it. The footsteps coming his way. He turned on himself to look at what was approaching him from behind.

His baby blue eyes meet emerald one and something just shift within him.

The girl before him seemed as confused as he was and, after a few seconds of silence, she asked

“Where are we ?” her childish voice was soft and comforting. Varian, without knowing why, liked the sound of it.

“We’e in my dream !” he said with his babbling voice. He paused for a second and scratched his head,  “Well… I think we a’e!”

The girl only nodded and stay silent. A few moments passed and Varian couldn’t help but stare at the stranger in front of him. It was at this moment that he saw that her eyes were a little red as dry tears still ribbed her cheeks. He tilted his head a little and knitted his brow. He didn’t like the sad look on the girl's face.

“Somet’ing wrong ? Why are you c'ying ? You’e hurt ?”

“N-no ! Not all !” said the girl frantically, shaking her head in denial as she wiped her tears away, « It’s just me…Well, you know, I just… I… »

The younger saw her fidget on her feet as a blush appeared on her cheeks. The four years old sighed a little, deciding that this situation couldn’t last any longer.

“Wanna play ‘ith me ?” she looked at him and at the hand he had extended her way, slightly confused before nodding, a smile returning to her face.

“Yeah, sure! Huh, well… I-I never got the chance to play with someone else before…” she scratched the back of her neck at this, looking away.

“You don’t ‘ave friends?”

“Well, I have Pascal but… “ she shook her head and smile at him, “Wanna play Hide and Seek?”

The younger flashed her a wide grin.

“ ‘kay ! But you count first!”

So she covered her eyes and the game began.

Varian didn’t know how long they play in this strange place, but the four years old was happy to see the older girl smiled at him. Once the ended their game, they sat in the middle of the nowhere and began to talk. She told him that she was eight years old and that she lived in a tower with her Mother and that it was forbidden for her to leave it. He tried to ask her why, but she wouldn’t respond, so he didn’t push the subject much and talked about himself, about his passion for science, or how deeply he loved his father.

He learned that the little girl was really, really lonely sometimes and that’s why she was crying earlier.

She asked him how was the outside world, so he described her his village, the way he lived and how far the Capital was from where he lived.

The little girl listened to him with wide eyes, a little gleam of wonder shining behind their emerald-like color, a grin spread across her face.

Looking at her, Varian felt something rose inside his chest, a warm feeling that washed over him like a sweet wave of sunlight. So, he smiled shyly at her in response.

It was as if had stopped its course as they continued to talk together.

Suddenly, he heard a loud crack resonate inside the noplace as if someone was tearing apart a sheet of paper. He felt a harsh burning bloomed across his chest as the floor beneath his feet began to disappear. One of his hand flew to his heart as the pain began to increase, almost unbearable for his little body.

In front of him, he saw the girl reached out to help him, but her hand was only meet by a wall made of glass that prevented her from coming closer. As the burning continue to consume him from the inside, he felt smooth, cold hands took hold of him and pulling him away from the immediate danger as a voice began to ring in the back of his mind.

The foggy world of his dream began to vanish as he saw the older girl disappear too. He tried to struggle against the invisible hands that pulled him away from her. While he had felt complete in the other girl presence, the void that he had first felt when he woke up in his dream was back once again.

Then he realized. He didn’t ask for her name.

He yelled.

“WHO ARE YOU ?!”

As the older girl tried too to stay in the dream too, he heard her say from the other side of the wall

“I’m-!”

“Varian, please! Wake up, son!”

His eyes snapped open as a cry died upon his lips. His throat was sore as if he was screaming. He was shaking badly, sweat covering his forehead as tears were rolling down his cheeks.

He was still feeling the ache of the burning rolled upon his chest, even if the pain began to dull a little.

Already, the little girl’s face was disappearing from his mind, leaving behind it only the feeling of a warm smile.

Varian looked around him, trying to figure where he was. But before he could understand what was happening, he found himself caught in a powerful embrace as fingers combed his hair, trying to soothe him.

“It’s okay, son, I’m here. It was only a dream, you’re safe now…”

The deep voice of his father anchored him to reality and he clung to the big frame of his father’s body, crying madly but not knowing why.

“I-It wasn’t a nightmare…” he said between two sobs, “It wasn’t a nightmare at all, Daddy… There was a girl, and she was sad, but then we played together and… Oh, daddy, the burning… !”

“It’s okay, son… Just, try to calm down a little, would you? I’m here, so hush, don’t you cry my little Varian, don’t you cry… “

It took several minutes for the young boy to stop his tears. His father’s embrace soothing his shaken nerves. A few moments later, tiredness took possession of his body and he felt himself drift into a peaceful dreamless sleep.

He didn’t notice the panicked look on his father’s face as he hadn’t noticed that his hair was glowing with a silver-blue light, illuminating the dark bedroom with their soft gleaming.

So this is all true… Thought the older man with a point of fear. Unconsciously, he hugged the sleeping boy a little closer to his chest in a protective embrace.

A ray of Moonlight fell upon the glowing freckles sprinkled across his son’s button nose. A few moments later, the faint light began to disappear but Quirin felt a shiver run through his spine a the simple thought of what the future may hold for his sweet little Varian.

And for the first time in a very, very long time, Quirin was truly afraid of what could happen to his dear son.

He didn’t leave Varian’s side for the rest of the night.

oOoOoOo

Rapunzel opened her eyes slowly as she felt a hand brushed her hair in a soothing way.

“Mother… ?” she asked in a sleepy voice

“Yes, my Dear, I’m here… You had a bad dream, sweetheart… “

“A bad dream? No, Mom, I-”

“Hush, my Little Flower, it’s okay now. I made them go away…” cut the sweet tone of her Mother voice, “Now go back to sleep, would you? I promise you’d be safe now.”

The girl frowned a little, but she didn’t try to argue with her Mother. They already had their argument earlier this day and she didn’t want to upset her again.

“Thank you, Mom…”

“You’re welcome, sweetheart…” she bent a little to kiss a forehead « I love you, my dear »

“I love you more…”

“I love you most… Goodnight.”

And with that, she was gone and Rapunzel was left alone in her bedroom. She snuggled under her sheets and thought about the dream she just had.

When she had fallen asleep after her argument with her mother, crying, she had wished to have someone to talk to, or to play with, just for once. And even if it had been only her imagination, the sweet little boy from her dream had been exactly what she had needed.

She couldn’t remember his face but that really doesn’t matter at this moment. She hoped that he was okay, as he seemed to be in pain the last seconds she saw him before waking up, but the little girl assumed it was the case. She fell asleep in a matter of seconds, a small smile on her lips.

What she didn’t know was that downstairs, her Mother was cursing in a hushed voice as she tried to reinforce the spells that protect to tower from any intruder.

She couldn’t take the risk that someone sneaked into her Magic Flower’s dreams once again, it was too dangerous.

But each of her attempts was sold by a failure. She cursed out loud once more deciding to try it again the next day.

And outside, the Moon snickered at her.

[perlocutionary]

Following Orders - Mitch Rapp

Description: Y/N and Stan have to deal with a new recruit being sent in.  Training a handsome, reckless man is one thing. But can she keep her hands to herself? Relationship: Mitch Rapp x Reader - AMERICAN ASSASSIN

Title:  Just started, but not yet finished. Word count: 2468

A/N: This part contains references to sexual interactions and a female mind in overdrive. Let me know what you think! xox

Part 2

I was absentmindedly stirring my coffee, enjoying my few days off before the new group of recruits would come and I’d constantly be running around, trying to keep them in tow. Rain harshly pours down from the sky, drowning out any other sound that reverberates throughout the small cantina.  

My joy of loneliness isn’t due long when I hear the heavy footsteps, that can only belong to Stan Hurley, resonate through the otherwise people-void area. “Ah, there you are.” A sigh leaves my lips, my head whipping around to see Stan walk in, heading straight to the coffee machine.

“Here I am.” I murmur, taking a sip of my almost cold coffee, pinching the little cup over and over again, creating that annoying sound plastic makes when bend. “Did you see the footage I sent you last night?” He states, back still turned to me as he waits for his coffee cup to fill up.

“Of course, footage from the Central Intelligence Agency. Don’t know what that has got to do with us.” I grumble, raising to my feet and trying to dunk my empty coffee cup in the trash bin three meters ahead. A loud groan slips me when I miss, and I do my walk-of-shame over to the bin before throwing it away.

The footage Stan is referring to contained two males, in the training program, sparring together. It starts off with both of them fighting, as any other sparring session would go. Something seems to click in the taller male and within a second, the other one is on the floor, in a headlock, tapping out against the floor rapidly. The taller one doesn’t respond to his pleas though. This continues on for at least ten minutes – the one in the headlock trying to break free, giving up and tapping out, while the other just strengthens his hold on him.

Eventually, the smaller male falls unconscious and even then, he doesn’t seem to stop. It’s only when other recruits grab him by his extremities that he reluctantly let’s go. The taller male gets send off by his superior, but not before receiving a full-blown scolding. Sometimes I wish these sorts of footages had sound accompanying them.

“His name is Mitch Rapp. As you already could tell, this kid has some serious temper issues. It doesn’t help that he follows his curious nose wherever it may take him.” Stan speaks as he simply passes me, not once glancing in my direction. With a little jump and a jog, I catch up to my boss and follow him out the cantina, picking up our conversation again.

“Sounds like every other CIA agent I have encountered thus far. So, it seems like a nice match.” I snicker, immediately shutting up when Stan throws me a pointed look before taking a sip of his coffee. We round the corner and by now I realize we are heading toward the gym. I suppress the involuntary groan that wants to slip my lips – I promised myself I wouldn’t step foot into this facility for at least another week.

Stan stops in front of the closed door, the muffled sounds of recruits yelling and chanting behind the doors. Apparently, a training session is taking place as we speak. Stan smirks at me, pushing the door open as he states what I hoped he wouldn’t. “Langley thought he would be better suited with us. They shipped him here.”  

It seemed as I was watching a rerun from the footage I had received well after Midnight. Rapp was being dragged away by two larger males, his legs still locked around this poor kid’s head, his battle cry something that could cut through bone. One of the new recruits, Finley, was gasping on the floor for air. A part of me wants to jump to the poor kid’s aid, but instead, I remain stoic next to Stan as he keeps our distance from the group of males and their commotion.

“What do you expect from me? I’m not a miracle worker.” My eyes remain glued to Mitch Rapp. His eyes were wild, uncovered chest heaving up and down as he limply hung in the fierce grasp of the two assassins. He had an outstanding physique, both training-wise as for my wandering gaze.

“Spar with him.” I splutter on my own saliva, cheeks flushing red as I snap my head to a stoic Stan. The look I throw in his direction is nothing less of one of pure filth. His eyes flick to mine and he sighs, starting his walk towards the group of males, although tentative and slow, before he speaks again. “Y/N, he has never sparred with a woman before. We hope he’ll behave in front of you. He needs to learn control and learn it fast – to trust his team mates.”

If it was even possible, my disgusted look towards Stan gets even more outspoken. I want to counteract his statement by maybe bashing his head in against the wall, but I decide to lecture him about using my female physique as something condescending.

“Y/N, shut up.” I hadn’t even said anything, but I close my opened mouth, almost visibly slumping beside him. My gaze flicks back to Mitch. “Look, you’re one of the best. For that reason, you’re my right hand. You’re trained and skilled enough to take him down in under a minute – and you know it. We just hope his caveman brain clicks, you know. Hope he learns to control himself that way.”

A scoff passes me without a second thought as we halt right behind the circle that has formed around the two males. My voice immediately drops to a hushed whisper. “Do you think you can bribe me with compliments? I am well aware of my abilities, thank you.”

“No, but I can with chocolate and an extra day off, can’t I?” Another smirk coats Stan’s lips and I roll my eyes at him, throwing my hair up into a pony tail and securing it with the rubber band around my wrist. “Better have that chocolate already bought, Hurley. Or I might be forced to hurt you.”

“Alright! Break it up!” As soon as my voice booms through the spacious gym, a silence envelopes the recruits and the part ways for me to walk through, Stan hot on my heels. Most of these newbies had heard from me, but hadn’t seen me yet – that was reserved for our first scheduled training session on Monday.

“Let’s see what you’re made of, Rapp.” I threaten him, stepping onto the sparring mat and crossing my arms over my chest. A series of sounds escape the crowd around us and the two males let go of Mitch, who immediately stumbles forward before a loud, condescending snicker leaves his lips.

“Hurley, did you not see what I just did? Do you still don’t realize what I can do? Why’s Bambi here?” He locks gazes with Stan before flicking his heard towards me, his smirk never once leaving his lips. This kid didn’t only have temper issues, but apparently could work on his arrogance as well.

A part of me just wants to jump him and go straight for his throat – but I am trained, and I know how to keep my anger under control. Something he still has to learn. I am smaller than him, quicker on my feet and I am nimble. He may think that I am an easy target – but I know my strengths. And I know how to exploit them.

I’ve seen him fight twice in the last twenty-four hours and already I had enough to analyze his game plan – he didn’t have any. He wrestled his way through, using his anger as leverage. And I was planning on using that against him.

He is still laughing loudly, throwing some comment incoherent to my ears into the crowd, and I act quickly. With one gracious, quickly pulled sweep of my legs I knock his ankles out from underneath him, sending him tumbling to the floor.

The room erupts into laughter and I smugly grin down at the large male, groaning on the mat before he rolls over and jump to his feet, pushing his hair out of his eyes. “We hadn’t started yet – I wasn’t ready yet.” I raise my eyebrows, my tongue darting out to poke the edge of my mouth before I let the smirk overcome my features.

“Ah yeah. Terrorists will wait until you’re ready to go.” I wave my hand at nothing in particular, turning around to grant Stan one of my well-known looks. He snickers, shrugging his shoulders, before crossing his arms over his chest. “Rematch, Rapp?”

He huffs, nodding his head and getting ready to pounce. For a second, I take the time to appreciate his toned chest and the way I can see his heart hammer against his ribcage. His eyes shine brightly due to incoming sunlight and I have to shake my head to focus again.

He charges at me without a second thought and throws his arms around my neck, trying to pull me into a headlock – what I’ve seen him do twice – to get me down onto the floor. His grip isn’t tight enough though, and with a swift movement, I pull from his grasp and swiftly turn. His back is toward me and I sink my fingertips into his elbow, swiftly flipping him and knocking him to the floor.

My movements are smooth and before Mitch can comprehend what is happening, I’m sitting on his chest, his wrists pinned to the mat by my knees. I’m slightly panting, taking a deep breath while pushing the stray hairs from my face. I raise an eyebrow at him, silently asking him when he is going to try and do his best, licking my bottom lip. “I love a woman on top.”

His words are so out of place, I can’t do anything but widen my eyes and scramble off him. No one has seemed to have heard what he has said, and I can’t help but be the slightest bit flustered. A blush has crawled its way onto my neck and I take a few steps back as Mitch raises to his feet again with an angry huff.

I can see the shift in his gaze. I have angered him. He isn’t properly balancing his weight as he shifts from foot to foot, anticipating my next move. I don’t do anything though, waiting for him to attack me. As soon as he takes one step towards me, I charge this time, throwing my arm around his neck and using that to swing me over his shoulder and onto his back.

Due to his bad footing, he tumbles to the floor from my weight shift and I land on top of him again. I’m quick to grasp his hands in mine and press them to the mat, our faces only hovering mere centimeters from one another. “How many times to I have to lay you down onto this mat for you to learn a lesson, Rapp?” I whisper, my gaze flicking from his eyes to his lips.

The dark hue that covers his eyes seems to lighten, a genuine smile playing on the edge of his lips. He releases our intertwined fingers and lets his hands drag along my palms, fingertips pressing into my wrist before he throws me the subtlest wink. His hands grab my wrists and he rolls us over on the mat.

His hips are fitted between my opened legs, his whole body weight resting on me as he lets go of my wrists. “Until I get to be on top.” The insinuation behind his words are thick and I almost moan audibly, pressing my lips tightly together as a shiver rakes over my spine.

I feel his hot skin press against every curve of my body, a slight bulge straining against his athletic shorts, fitting between my legs. My chest is heaving up and down, forcing my breasts into his naked chest, our gazes trained on each other. My senses are extremely heightened, something I had always experienced after a fight, but Mitch Rapp only seemed to magnify these emotions.

I’m perplexed on his lips, slightly parted and blowing out puffs of air. In this moment, I wanted to do nothing more than lean in and experience what it would feel like to feel him pressed up against me even further, lips a tangled mess, just as our limbs. Stan scrapes his throat and I’m roughly pulled out of my sexual-tension-filled spiraling mind, dragging my leg up and brushing along Mitch’s hip, causing him to turn rigid on top of me.

“Are we done?” I huff, my fingers twitching underneath Mitch’s large hands. He straightens up, sitting up on his knees as his hands drag along my body while he does so. I feel his fingertips ghost over my waist, hips and slowly drag along my thighs before his hands drop into his lap. His tongue licks along his bottom lip as he never lets his gaze waver from mine. “I’m not finished with you.”

My eyebrows furrow as he raises to his feet, turning towards a smirking Stan Hurley. I feel a few hands grasp below my armpits and hoist me to my feet, a growl passed from my lips forcing them to immediately retract their hands. I hadn’t been this sexually attracted to someone since my college years and all I could think about right now is him moaning underneath me as I swivel my hips into a rhythm that would drive me to an orgasm.

I push the men away from me and tighten my ponytail, taking a few steps towards Stan as I feel my core tingle at the mere sight of Mitch. I hold my head high, not granting him a second glance and I stop beside Stan, whose hand immediately lands onto my shoulder to give me a congratulatory squeeze.

“I get it now, okay Hurley? Are we done here?” Mitch asks as he steps up toward Stan, my stance immediately defensive. Stan nods his head for Mitch to get out of his sight and he passes both of us, disappearing through the double entrance doors.

“Y/N.” I’m addressed curtly, my head snapping to Stan as he lays a hand on my elbow, guiding me out the gym, leaving the rest of the recruits behind for other trained assassins to deal with. A snicker leaves his lips as I huff in annoyance, running a hand along my face to get the male out of my mind. “Keep an eye out for him. I have a feeling if we handle this right, this recruit is an outstanding acquisition to the task force.”