#johnny in the bg just .hey lol

[willmelon]

i don’t usually do this but i feel Compelled to do a liveblog/review of Mouth Dreams so here goes

Please don’t read this if you haven’t heard the album yet as it’ll spoil Everything

(i’ll admit the idea came to me After i listened to Just a Baby so these first ones are gonna be relistened reviews)

first we got Yahoo. what can i say about this song? neil starts off Strong with incredibly sustained notes and just one phrase, in typical neil style. and he makes it work in so many different ways! honestly didn’t expect myself to get so attached so fast but that’s just the way his magic works ig. when the hoooooooos harmonise it almost brings tears to the eyes. i would love to see a group of choristers singing this with another guy on an electric keyboard. what a cold open. 9/10

of course then we go on to the titular track, the dimension of sound, the dimension of imagination, the dimension of doors. rod serling narrates the intro in his traditional monotone as the warbling twilight zone theme plays in the background. i tell ya i was actually Screaming when the track finished and he dropped the title! it may not be a song per se, sort of like Blockbuster from Mouth Moods, a ‘filler track’ if you will, but the effort in those fifty seconds cannot be ignored. it just goes to show once again how Good he is at what he does. 6.5/10

oh lawd, my favourite so far, Spongerock. reading the title i had absolutely No idea what to expect. the goofy goober song from the movie? winner takes all from band geeks? i was pleasantly surprised to find myself tapping out queen’s distinctive boom boom CLAP as the song progressed, and i was in complete Hysterics the whole way through, chanting along with the kids as the pirate encouraged me to sing louder. it’s such a beautiful fit the way they mesh together, and it’s one of those mashups that you listen to and think ‘why has nobody done this before?’ but neil is on a higher plane of existence than us and Knows where it’s at. you’re never the same after you’ve listened to Spongerock. 7.5/10

Just a Baby, where i stopped to begin this thing, is a melancholy song, which i’m not usually a fan of. i admit i don’t know the original song so i kept quiet until the last chorus or two. it’s the yang to the yin of Wow Wow from Moods, another sentence-mixer that was like a full Bop and barely gave you time to catch your breath. in Just a Baby you begin to empathise with the singer as he regales confusing times of his constant youth, including the time his mother (a train) shot a man in cold blood. it’s a powerful ballad, and it’s got a tasteful amount of justin bieber adding backing vocals to the chorus. i may have to deduct a few points cos the lyrics are gonna be hard af to remember. 7/10

ok next up we got Superkiller. this one’s totally blind! i’m. ehhhhh okay not diggin this one very much. ok that say something once line being repeated was comedy gold but talking heads are just like. kinda tuneless tbh. i’m glad he’s trying to lassoo it together with u can’t touch this but it’s kinda falling short tbh. i wouldn’t skip it but it’s not as memorable as the previous ones. 5/10

starting Get Happy. i’m not gonna lie i think i Know what this is, there are only so many options after all. i predict it’s a mix of “get dancin’” by disco-tex and the sex-o-lettes and “happy” by bahrrel williams, and i really hope that ain’t the case cos i Love the first one but despise the latter. oh well let’s see if he can pull it off. sounds like village green by the kinks so far lol uhhhh i have no idea what to make of this. okay i feel like i’m gonna like this after all. hey it’s got memorable lyrics at least! is it gonna get faster? or just more bassy? yknow maybe i was too critical at the start, but i had no idea what to expect. this is a feel-good pop song and it’s definitely making me feel happier than i was when i was listening to Superkiller. 7/10

Ribs? wtf do i expect from a song called Ribs lmao another song i’ve never heard of IH IT’S EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE TH WORLD OH YEEEEEEEEES omg i Love this song i sing it to myself when i’m walkin my dog cos his little paws click-clack on the pavement to the exact rhythm of the song omg i’m in Love! another one with odd lyrics but i think after a Lot of repeat listening i’ll be able to properly croon along to this one omg! it reminds me of Best from Mouth Silence in that they’re both about products, only instead of folgers in your cup it’s about chili’s baby back ribs omg neil you’re Perfect! how come more advertisers haven’t contacted you for a product placement deal?? 7.5/10

next we got My Mouth. welcome to? who knows let’s hit play. ooooh minor key. is this a real song? it sounds like oney singing a cover of something. oh That’s the gimmick? 2:30 long i hope there’s something else tbh cos otherwise it’s gonna get pretty thin pretty fast. mm not a fan. the weakest so far imo especially after Ribs blew me away. definitely a bad dream. 3.5/10

Aerolong don’t fail me now! okay see This is how you do a mashup. I DON’T MISS YOU BABAY AND I DO WANNA MISS A THING THAT’S GOLD!! this is just a song about saying bye to your ex lmao i love it. wish it was longer though. 6/10

Sleepin’ here we go! ok in the youtube version the first half of this song is just silence so that wasn’t fun. gee this one’s only moderately better than My Mouth i’m feeling very shortchanged. 4/10

what to expect from Aamoorree? hopefully this one’s another jam but...okay i’m likin this one. it’s Fun and isn’t trying too hard! it’s just a drunk dean martin singing about pizza pie on karaoke night, what more could you ask for lol. 6/10

Where Is My Mom? by the p-p-p-pooo-oo-ooo-oooool of course. i don’t recognise the other song but it’s decent. i’ve listened to slowed-down songs before (the sludgefest chipmunks albums lately) and this one’s kinda ok. not a fan of the ending but points for effort ig. 5.5/10

Fredhammer ay? might there be some peter gabriel in there? undoubtedly. yup there it is lol ok now bring in the flintstones? oh ig that’s fred durst? mm not totally feeling it so far but censoring he** was funny lmao HEY THERE’S SEINFELD i’m wheezin that was a good way to end a song, well done neil. 6.5/10

here goes Limp Wicket. i’m on the edge of my seat. and Again i’m disappointed. is this a bunch of ewoks singing some kind of star wars song? or is it jarjar? either way this is Not a good song. it probably wasn’t before he mashed it up but this wasn’t an improvement. bringing in Fredhammer didn’t help this song much at all, in fact i think it brought both songs down actually. last one was a 7/10 but i Have to dock it points now that it’s a two-parter. as for this one? i’m being generous cos the limp bizkit song was good. 1/10

Cannibals runs for 4 minutes. PLEASE don’t let this be a repeat of the last one. i get that miners can’t dig up gold every time but don’t just show up with a bunch of rocks and iron pyrites yknow i’m just gonna start. i don’t want to be angry at this album. i recognise that sound in the bg! from a cyriak vid i think. thx comin in. loooooooong drone. ugh UGH there are Too many lucid dreams on this album. starting to regret liveblogging this cos i Loved the other three mouth albums. this one’s just falling flat again and again. 3/10

here comes The Outsiders. there is NOTHING to say about this. 1.5/10

come on Johnny. okay that got a laugh out of me, not many songs start with a booing crowd like that, is that meta? wouldn’t put it past him tbh. ah i’ll give it a 5/10, for a kinda filler song it wasn’t too bad.

Closerflies, this has gotta be gold. PLEASE. intro’s goin on for a little too long...mm having never heard the original version of closer i gotta admit i thought it’d be faster, like the one used in Rollercloser in Silence. this version seems very sloppy and sluggish, especially the bassline. 3/10

Nightmovin’ i’m not expecting much OH good intro oh YES now here we go. this is a good one, it’s got clear lyrics and a catchy tune, i’m liking this one more and more by the second. cuts off weird but it’s going into the next one. so i’m gonna leave the rating out of this one and see how it is after the next one.

Whitehouse i’m holding my breath. mm it’s Good but not great tbh. criminal that the last one was half as long as this one. think i’m gonna give both of these songs a 5/10 i doubt they’ll be anyone’s favourites. the title is a nice little joke too i respect that.

Wah! what’s neil’s obsession with using wannabe as a source lmao! it’s another decent one but nothing memorable again. 5/10

Pee Wee Inc i’m expecting big things. good intro I’M IN LOVE okay this is Much better than i imagined it’d be. did he use the radio edit of feel good inc? this is a heck of a way to bring it back to the gold stuff and i wouldn’t be surprised if this is what neil’s head sounds like all the time. 7/10

on to 10,000 Spoons. not sure what to expect from the title. okay this is a Nice one i think. throwback to the likes of Just a Baby with the two songs and the sentence mixing and it’s Good. and really 10,000 spoons is So ironic anyway, don’t you think? 7/10

oh another song called Mouth Dreams? an extro? that was Weird lol ok the intro i wasn’t too keen on, def not as much as the intro, but i got to appreciate it as it went on. like Rlly appreciate it i was beginning to reflect on what a journey i’d been through tonight, especially writing it all down. felt very poetic. and then WHAM, out of nowhere, after being gone for 23 songs, all-star came Back and How! gotta give this one a 7.5/10

keep the train rolling Brithoven! i can hear faint bits of instruments in britney’s song in the back of her audio which sound like a mistake but knowing neil.......yah lmao. this song’s kinda like Promenade (Satellite Pictures at an Exhibition) from Mouth Sounds, i liked what i heard. very nice. 6.5/10

the final song. we’re gonna be hit one more time for Ain’t! and i have NO idea what i’m in for! in the hall of the mountain king eh? is this like a way of looping around to the first song of the first album with classical music? ok the snoring’s a nod to Bustin i’m sure lmao funny anyway. i thought i heard a hey now in there but i must be going nuts. wouldn’t call it a grand finale but it is what it is. 5/10

now the question that must be asked - was Mouth Dreams trying to make a point? was there a reasons so many songs were of lower-quality than previous albums? perhaps it’s just a matter of taste, or perhaps it’s as rod said back on track two, that this album is a doorway into another dimension, and the further you progress, the more mind-rattling, brain-melting concepts you come across. the album gets an average of 5.5 which is kinda disappointing. don’t think i’ll be listening to the whole thing again. thanks for reading!

[vidadaily]

Vida 3x05 Cast Live Tweets (1 /3)

Tanya (Creator): We open and close with songs by my new favorite music diosa Angelica Garcia She threw down for us this season! Tanya: What do we think about Lyn's baptism? She's always in search for something greater than her -- something spiritual. First through curanderismo... now this. Gladys (Writer): Lyn has had such a journey! She’s born again. Or is she? Ser (Eddy): Such beautiful imagery as Lynn gets saved. Lindsey (Writer) : Hello I’m here for an adult baptism. Esti, will you Baptize me sometime? Chelsea (Mari): Didn’t know you can have a baptism in a pool Tanya: Oh, yeah. It's very common for evangelical storefront churches... Tanya: I don't know how Melissa wasn't choking and snorting water every time she emerged from that baptism water... and we did a few times too. Lindsey: Wow papi is kinda buff. Tanya: Tonight's episode was written by Jenniffer Gomez and a bit of trivial... SHE ALSO DOES DRAG AS ERIK ESTRADA in CHIPS!

Chelsea: Damn Emma was actually pregnant!🤯 Tanya: So Emma was preggerz, huh? #preñada Ser: Emma don’t give Af, gimme da pills. Lindsey: Me when I’m like thanks for the morning after pill. Old hat. Gladys: Originally we had a storyline I was supposed to write last season where Mari was pregnant and ending her pregnancy. This year, we changed it to Emma. Complicating her & Nico. Gladys: Although it is not that complicated for Emma, tbh. 

Lindsey: Love Jenn (tonight’s writer) talking about a banana republic wardrobe Tanya: Lyn is very anti Nico these days... Ser: Yo, Lynn where’s the drag king love??? Tanya: Lyn is pro-anything queer for the bar. She's just starting to be affected by Rudy's view of the bar, and she thinks burlesque is too janky. Tanya: Emma, I woulda waited to take that second pill. Lindsey: Lyn. The ONE time you took the pill? Chelsea: Sister bonding🥰 Ser: Queer is on brand!! Ser: Councilman wifey act-good one Emma... Mishel (Emma): I like Lyn’s new look🤷‍♀️ Esti (Writer): “I look like you... ew.” is very funny given that Emma is dressed like Arthur Mishel: Hey... I kept that sweater Esti: Can’t believe Arthur made it in the episode tho. Mishel, does Emma wear glasses? I don’t remember

Tanya: I loved shooting at Hollenbeck Park! Also, it was a bunch of scenes with my real-life bestie Adrian Gonzalez which was a highlight for me. Ser: Psst-  alli está la señora... Rudy’s mom...😧 Tanya: Nipplegate 2.0 over here... Chelsea: Nipples out lol poor Lyn🤦‍♀️ Gladys: Free the nipple! Lindsey: No one wants your sueter from Chico’s mami! Ser: I can’t even with Rudy🤦‍♂️ Gladys: Wake up, Lyn. He’s a straight up mamas boy. Tanya: Hasta yo le tengo miedo a esa suegra... #doñasilvia (Even I am afraid of that mother-in-law ...) Mishel: Yup Ser: I love Lidia Porto as Sra. Marquez Lidia: I love you as Eddy!! Ser: 🥰

Mishel: Coconut amelie?! Lol Lindsey: Okay coconut Amelie is good. I’m down with this insult. Tanya: I love Claudo Restrepo improv insult to Emma calling her "Amelie Barbie" #gobacktonordstroms

Chelsea: Oh snap I spot Annie Gonzalez😍😍😍 and the first thing she does is throw shade lol Ser: Dang, such shade on the stage before the show even starts lol Tanya: Eddy is not having these drag kings... they're a little entitled, no? Chelsea: The drag kings are very needy lol Vico: LOLOLOL we got them standards high Ser: Yes, Rocky, HELP!! Ser: Dang, open bar?! Thanks Emma😉 Ser: Please let Eddy go outside and get the trash please?! Ser: They mean and bossy Ser: Eddy understands lesbian drama lol she respects them and gives them space... Esti: Emma got a tummy ache?

Ser: Oh hey, are you misgendering eddy? Ser: Oh, Eddy, threw some women under the bus with that line😬 Ser: Them quien?? Eddy after being refered to as non-binary Ser: Elder? Who you callin an elder? Lol eddy Esti: “Respect your elders” is cruel Ser: Daggers

Lindsey: I like to sneak in the eps once or twice a season. See me bottom right.

Chelsea: Oh no, Karla and Johnny, run Lyn lol Lindsey: “Yeah but you could just send him an email” words to live by. Chelsea: Damn that Lyn Johnny Karla Rudy awkward baby moment Mishel: You can’t escape each other in the neighborhood Lindsey: Aw that’s a cute kid Johnny Gladys: Lyn seeing baby Elena for the first time. Oof. I’m sure she is feeling some type of way. Tanya: The twin actor babies' last name was Hernandez. Bit of trivia. Chelsea: Damn Lyn always say just a bit too much🤦‍♀️ Ser: Ay Lynn, siempre mete la pata (Ay Lynn, always screw up ) Tanya: Omaiga, awkward exchange between Rudy and Lyn and Karla and Johnny. In editing we kept cringing at the end too... It's sad because Lyn & Johnny haven't even done anything wrong this season! Mishel: So much awkward this episode Tanya: Left and right. CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS IS THE NEXT TO THE LAST EPISODE?!

Lindsey: Oh hey check out Kelcie Gruenberg in the background drawing caricatures! I made her do this and I’m sitting next to her. Tanya: You're still our MVP background actor! Lindsey: What if I change careers. Support me in my bg actor life! Tanya: I think it’s where it’s at for you. Kelcie (Writer): Should I accept the background Emmy now or...? Lindsey: Please accept it’s a once in a lifetime Raul (carried Marcos last ep): Not if I get it first. Kelcie: I’m willing to duel for this honor [Karen Walker slap gif] Raul: Hahhaha

[rooneywritesbest]

The Horsemen

The Horsemen

By Cory Benoit And Brendan Rooney

Takes place in the quaint town of Springdale which was built over an Indian burial site underlining and alluding mystery. We open to the 4H it’s a bar. The horsemen are the title of a group of friends who are essentially brothers. The horsemen are enjoying Guys night when they hear it’s karaoke night what could go wrong

John - 21-year-old leader of the solves the problem (Action Man)

Jose - 21 yrs old Brain of the group  

Jim - 21 yrs old Moral compass of the 4H sees the problem but can’t figure it out

Mackie- Funny outgoing, caring, tries to do the right thing all the time also trying to get out of the shadow of the 4H  

Melanie - New girl working or in town

Johnny: Hey Guys another night at the 4H Does this mean we are officially horsemen because were regulars all the time. They literally have our faces on the wall of fame.

Jose: Maybe in your mind but isn’t it the wall of shame. I Mean Mackie threw up last month when we were here.

Jim: Lol maybe you guys are right what do you think Mackie.

Mackie: I think it's time to order actually boys.

John: yeah you're probably right Jim -  Mackie look at the new hottie at the bar absolutely smoke screen.

Jose - Well mack go get it.

Mackie-  I don’t know boys she looks like she’s staring into my soul.

Johnny - Tell you what Mack I'll take a shot. Here I go boys

Melanie - can I help you another drink or closing your tab?

Johnny - Nah just shooting my shot and see where im getting

Melanie - Nice try and no thanks scurry back to your little fraternity over their

(Feeling a sense of shame and being upset John swallows his hubris and proceeds to walk back to the horsemen)

Mackie - Damn Johnny you got crucified up there by the bombshell

Jose - Using those big words again Mack trying to play out of bounds

Mackie -Screw you Jose I don't see you trying to stand out and make a name for yourself

(Jim proceeds to smack Mackie on the head almost to wake him up from his tangent)

Jim - Come down to earth Mack and relax bro the waitress is coming back boys you ready to order yet

Melanie alrighty you four ready to order. (Melanie has a sense of disgust for the four sitting like they owned the bar.

Mackie - I’ll have a beer and a burger

Jose - steak for me please, seasoned, and medium rare

Johnny - Uh i'll have Wings and I’m sorry for before we noticed ya wasn’t from these parts

Jim- I’ll take a sampler platter

Melanie - So Btw horsemen I guess that’s what they call you guys.  There is a karaoke night going on maybe you should join

Mackie - What uh no thanks singing is for chumps.

(Mackie suddenly gets an urge or a gut feeling then Mackie realizes karaoke sucks but only says that because he has ulterior motives because Mackie doesn't possess the ability to sing.)

Mackie- You know what actually I’ll give it a try.

Johnny - Mack attack you sure you wanna go up there

Jim - Mack we know you can’t sing you sound like a dying whale

Jose- Do you bro remember boys Mackie just being Mackie

(Mackie goes on the stage looks over at the 4H and scolds and scolds himself for getting himself in this predicament. Mackie warms up and makes a whale like sound which proves to himself that he can't sing. Sweating bullets on the stage.)

Jim- So you heard it here first I’m telling you boys shammu wants his voice back

Mackie: all right everybody got a mop this won’t take very long (im getting nervous Mackie has a sense of fear painted on his face)

Extra - here’s the mic here is the screen go break a leg. Big guy

( Mackie gets the mic he feels an earthquake below his feet but notices no one else is feeling the same which Mackie feels nervous.) (The earthquake is figurate because it’s a shift in the tone and emotion of Mackie) But I feel I could put an audio bite in the BG  

(Mackie starts to sing a little)

(Melanie is seen talking to the horsemen with a sense of amazement on her face. The others are surprised on what is occurring)

Melanie - Wow so boys Mackie is really good did you guys know he could belt like Sinatra

Jose- That’s just Mackie being Mackie

Jim- The Machine is probably doing it for him

Jose- I don't know guys. I feel like what if it’s something else. I really think it’s more than autocorrect something about that machine don’t seem right?

Johnny- Sweetheart The Mack cannot sing it’s just not possible if he could sing then I'm an alien in disguise but that’s a big joke

(Jose proceeds to get up and walk around to solemn apologize for Mackie singing even though the crowd starts to boo Jose)

Jose- Hey everyone here sorry for the torment on your ears they are probably bleeding by now

Melanie - Sounds like maybe you guys should pay more attention to Mackie from now on. You guys must look like fools not knowing he could sing like that. (Melanie walks away tending back to the bar)

Jim - Maybe the waitress is right btw what’s your name

Melanie - It’s Melanie

Johnny- Boys lets go get the big guy off the stage and buy him a round.

(So the scene ends and now we have A brotherhood. That is broken and torn because of that Microphone. The horsemen play it off quickly dismiss it. But the action shifts to Melanie sketching away on her notepad and  Melanie’s design shows Mackie singing afterward)

(Melanie suddenly gets a gut feeling pointing her to the image of the mic cemented in her train of thought)

The scene opens the horsemen sitting around confronting and asking Mackie about what just occurred walking out of the 4H

Jim -  So i gotta ask Mack where did that come from?

Mackie -  I don't know boys I really don't remember what happened

Jose -  Mackie all the ladies were chanting you're name

Johnny: bro that was dope.

( Suddenly Mackie has anger on his face almost a complete 360 of his positive attitude all the time. A vain imprint was on the face of Mackie he looked over at the three with disgust in his eyes).

Mackie - I gotta go and screw you guys. Maybe you know what. Mackie should hit the road and leave the horses in the stable from now on Mackie out.

(The trio felt broken and split Jim being the brains of the group comes up with a theory about what occurred)

Jim - Boys I think Mackie is revoking his brotherhood card. I’m telling you something is wrong with that machine. First off who talks in the third person about themselves. You know what I’m gonna take a further look. Even autotune being invented in the spring of 1997. No one is that good.  

Jose- What happened to the mack

Johnny- Boys that’s not Mackie something feels wrong

(Johnny walks to the bar and bumps into Melanie. Melanie being startled proceeds to run away).

Johnny- I'm sorry btw on how I treated you did a great job and the boys and I wanted to give you a tip welcome to the 4H and the quaint city of Springdale.

( But it was Too late the humiliation was already in seeched in his vigor and her mind)

(Next day Mackie has a proverbial fire lit up his ass.)

Mackie arrives at 4H to see the guys sitting alone. Mackie pulls up a chair

Mackie- What’s up dipsticks

Jim: Mackie you're being a douche and you can say yeah yeah whatever but you know it’s the truth. Look inside bro this isn’t you

(The horsemen are playing cards and Mackie gets dealt in)

Johnny - Deal him in boys

Mackie -  Cards in time boys Aces boys I win alrighty. So I’m off now. See ya later boys.

(Mackie leaves the table goes to the bar. The 4-horsemen are now dissolving away to the trio comprising of Johnny, Jose And Jim.)

Jim - Jose what’s macks problem he hasn’t been the same since the karaoke night

Jose- Maybe it’s a new Mackie and he wants to test the waters of the social chain I guess. (Jose tries to hide the fact that he’s afraid of what Mackie has become and wants his friend back

Johnny- I don’t know boys maybe we should come back on another music night. Wonder if Mack will actually show.

(Mackie comes back from the bar to tease the horsemen with his newfound talent)

(Jim looks at the trio with a mission about to take place).

Jim- Hey if anyone asks I’m in the bathroom.

Jose- You got it, bro, wait are you sleuthing again? (Jose gets a sense of feeling annoyed)

Jim-Maybe maybe not

Johnny- Just don't get caught.

Scene end

(We return to Jim looking at the karaoke machine and Melanie investigating the disturbance holding a letter in her hand).

Jim - I knew it autotune wasn’t even turned on. So it has be to something else or Mackie can just really sing because I’m all out of ideas. (Jim hears an explicit sound) Whose their?

Melanie- Relax I'm not here to turn you in. I just doing some maintenance getting the machine ready for the headliner. (Melanie feels conflicted should I give him the letter or not?)

Jim- Please just don’t tell anyone about this ok I’m just worried about Mackie. He’s never been this distant.

Melanie- I understand I won’t tell but you kinda should hurry back to your table just saying. (Jim leaves the backstage and joins the trio waiting for the stage to erupt when the corrupted Mackie gets up there.) Whew, that was a close one when should I tell them the truth it has to be soon. I can feel it.

(We pan to the horsemen sitting in their booth feeling lost and confused with a not a glimmer of hope to rescue their friend. Mackie strolls over with a smug attitude emanating from him clouding his judgment.)

Mackie- So boys ready for karaoke again. (Mackie then proceeds to push the horsemen severing the bond) Get out of my way chumps.  It is time to grace my kingdom. If you excuse gotta go warm up the pipes.

(Melanie enters the bar holding her notebook  sketching an image of the mic pondering till it hit her what if the mic was the problem for the four horsemen)

(Melanie rushes and surveys the bar to find the horsemen to spread the newfound answer to all of their problems)

Melanie - Guys I know what’s wrong with Mackie it’s the mic if we destroy the mic I feel like we can change him.

(The horsemen look at her with a confused look on their faces. Jim then gets up to talk to Melanie about her theory)

Jim- What are you talking about destroying the mic you crazy.

Johnny- Yeah are they gonna put that on our tab or yours just saying,

Jose- Hey are you not telling us something we should know?

Melanie - Everything you need to know is this in the letter please trust me. I can get your friend back i know a way but we have to work together. (Melanie throws the letter on the table. Jim proceeds to open and read the letter. Then the trio’s faces are immediately glued with the impression of a shock to the new-found clue of their investigation.

Jim, Jose, John- what!!!!!!!!!!!

(John Reads the letter with anger and sadness on his face staring at Melanie sensing her guilt.

John- “Dear Horsemen, It’s Melanie aka the hottie from the bar btw thx for that insult but I think I know what’s wrong with Mackie. If you guys claim to say that he couldn’t sing then explain to me in person how did he sing and belt-like Sinatra moving on? When he was up there something was surrounding him. I know it sounds weird and hard to explain. But you need to believe me. So stick with me the town of Springdale is not what it seems. Mackie will continue to spiral down a path of being a jerk and will slowly break away from you guys. I’m telling you this ahead of time to put aside your own truths and pride to save your friend before it’s too late. I know you four are inseparable but the time is now you have to fight for Mackie or you will lose him forever. (Jose stands up with a new lit fire of emotion)

Jose- Boys Mackie is our friend our brother. our fellow horsemen it’s not the 3 horsemen it’s the four horsemen we take on everything together. He fought for us let's fight for him. Whose with me!

Johnny- For the Mack

Jim- For our brother

Melanie- ok ok relax and breathe guys  Get Mackie on stage and we can fix this now

(Jim finds Mackie standing at the bar flirting away with his new faux sense of pride and confidence. The first part of the plan is starting to come together. Jim grabs Mackie and walks him to the backstage area)

Jim- Hey Mackie buddy it’s Showtime show the 4H some magic bro

Mack - Alright Jim I never liked you anyone what’s your game anyway.

Jim- I just want to see you sing bro

(Mackie walks to the stage grabs the mic. starts to sing and has the crowd chanting his name like nothing ever seen before).

(Melanie  Picks up her notebook and starts to draw a presence of energy around Mackie confirming her theory)

(John now standing next to Melanie sees her sketching away and the aura around Mackie starts to emit from the page to the visible eye).

Johnny- What's that around Mackie? (John says curiously)

Melanie - That John would be dark energy let's just say I have my fair share of knowledge

Jim- So what do you want us to do. Should we get the mic or create a diversion. Your call. I say we stop doing this and leave but that’s just me. But this is for Mack i want the old Mackie back.

Jose- I say diversion turn the lights off and get the mic out of Mackie's hands

Johnny- Melaine your call?

Melanie- do both

Jim - ok let's do this! This all started because of that stupid mic.(Jim interrupts Mackie on stage to get his attention) Mack, I'm sorry for this bro but get off the stage you stink

(Mackie furious stops singing proceeds to fume anger and the darkness around him starts to emit from him being visible to Jim.)

Mackie- What did you say to me out of everyone I thought I trusted you, Jim. You're just a follower you have no identity. (The distraction was going perfect. Jose was in a position calling out orders. Johnny would bullrush the stage and Melania was idling by at the lights waiting to pull the switch.)

Jose - Now Johnny get that mic and break it. Melanie, you got lights

Melanie - Got it

(Melanie turns the lights off for a few seconds. In the dark a fight can be heard for the control of the cursed mic)

Mackie - what's going on hey where's the mic

Jim - Sorry bro but this is for your own good.

(Johnny grabs the mic and then stares at the evil creation but then makes the choice of a hero cementing the role of horsemen leader)

Johnny- I’m breaking it boys just remember Melanie this is going on your tab

(Melanie starts to laugh and roll eyes a little. Then at that moment, The aura disappears from Melanie's notebook and the cloud around Mackie. Jose then starts to talk to Mackie)

Jose- Mack Mack you ok bro?

Mack - Boys what happened i don’t remember anything from the last time. I was up here on the stage

Jim - It’s alright Mack we got ya bud now how about a round of beers on us

Mack - I'll drink to that btw what are we drinking towards anyway

(Melanie laughs and calls the horsemen to the bar then serves the drinks and says)

Melanie  - To friends and brothers who are the one and only Horsemen  

Johnny- Hey Mel can I talk to you in private what's up with that notebook of yours.

Melanie - Let's just say I don’t think the mic will the end of these disturbances. Just remember Springdale is a scary quiet town but with tales waiting to be written. No offense you guys aren’t ready to fully understand who lives in the shadows and plagues the streets of Springdale. No one is ready for that, for now, See you boys around.

Johnny- Wait stop please your hiding something I can feel it. I know it. (Melaine calls Johnny outside and they converse more in private)

Melaine- Listen Johnny you're the only one. Whose figuring out my story, and your buddy Mackie. The poor guy just wants a place to belong and to break out of your shadows. You may not know but you cast a huge shadow on that poor guy. Just remember you seem different but that’s the thing it’s cool and intriguing about you four something brought you together. Destiny has a bigger plan for you i can feel it. I gotta go.(Johnny walks backs inside the bar almost feeling like nothing occurred in the last couple days. When it really it did but he was happy to have his brothers back.  

(The horsemen sit and ponder about what just occurred and with Mackie having no memory and Johnny questioning his thoughts on who Melanie really is and what she told him? Melanie stands outside 4H sketching an image of the horsemen enjoying their drinks. Melanie then looks up and says)

Melanie- Those four really have no idea what really lies in Springdale. However, it may seem crazy destiny has a bigger plan for them I can feel it. (Melanie walks off into the shadows of the night.)

End?   

[svt-energyskincare]

“fruit boy?”

ten? the boy whom hates fruits w a fuming flame? what happens when he meets the girl who works at the local juice bar? hMMmm (warning: this is about to be the most cheesiest+extrA thing ever but omg bUT IDC LESGOOO LOL)

✭ ten is a man who despises fruits more than anything in his life

✭ this is literally fact #6 in the 1st chapter of the FACT BOOK

✭ i mean everybody and their momma’s know that ten despises fruits, he can drink fruit juice, but if it’s raw fruit ….. bye sweetie!

✭ he was the kid that always picked fries instead of fruits for the side in his happy meal

✭ and tbh, he’ll always be like that at heart

✭ but his best friend johnny literally is the opposite

✭ kiddo who would always order the fruits, and even snatched the fruit in other’s happy meal when they weren’t looking, the fries who ?? kid

✭ and tbh, he’ll always be like that at heart too

✭ so whenever johnny and ten had a day of rehearsing or recording ahead of them w the rest of da boys, they would almost always make a stop at the local juice bar in the morning

✭ which of course, always resulted in a thicc groan from ten bc where’s the green tea

✭ which always resulted in a retort from johnny saying “well they have gReeN aPple smOoThiEs iF yOu aCtuAlLy liKed fRuitS”

✭ they always had (yes, h a d) to go to that particular juice bar because not only was it convenient since the sm building was right next to it

✭ but also to avoid them having to buy completely new phones bc the rest of the boys were actually blowing their phones up if they didn’t get what they wanted, which johnny didn’t want bc the boy’s already dropped his phone enough give him a break boys lol:(

✭ doyoung: guys, are you at the juice bar?

✭ ten: no

✭ johnny: no

✭ renjun: no i saw them leave!

✭ ten: RENJUN

✭ johnny: no guys we’d have to drive like 30 minutes back to get your drinks

✭ renjun: ah c’mon we’ll get you guys walkers if you get us some

✭ chenle: LOLOL

✭ renjun: get it? cause they’re old hAHAH

✭ kun: i feel attacked and that wasn’t even for me

✭ winwin: aw i want some smoothies :(

✭ haechan: what’s manager hyung’s number again? hmm..

✭ ten+johnny: …….

✭ ten+johnny: ………..

✭ ten+johnny: ……………… fine

✭ mark: can i get a banana smoothie!

✭ doyoung: could i get caramel americano pls n thx

✭ yuta: but they don’t have those

✭ doyoung: wHA

✭ taeyong: yogurt smoothie!

✭ ot7: oh! could i-

✭ ten+johnny: oKAY

✭ as for johnny and ten, if they didn’t already cop their coffee elsewhere, they would always order the same ol thing and luckily, this place was one of those places that was technically a juice bar, buuuuut ofc it had other stuff like milkshakes, smoothies, etc- but hey not complaining thO

✭ so johnny’s usual: tbh he doesn’t have 1 bc when i tell u that the boy is a full on beverage (and coffee) connoisseuR-

✭ ten’s usual: a plain yogurt smoothie with 2 lil muffins (well actually it’s not really a muffin … it’s lowkey a lil cupcake but ten likes to call it muffin, so if he says it’s a muffin, muffin it is amirite)

✭ and usually the workers at the place memorized their orders AND the rest of the members by now bc of how often they came, so they wouldn’t even have to tell em! would ya look at that

✭ however on this particular day, there was one worker who had never looked so confused in her whole life

✭ who is this confused as hELL gal u ask????

✭ correct! yes sweetie, it’s you :’)

✭ it was your first shift at the juice bar and honestly you were sO NERVOUS

✭ but luckily, your coworkers were p chill and nice and willing to help you out whenever you needed !! yay 4 friendly coworkers

✭ you were spacing out, listening to the music they had faintly playing in the background as you waited for the first customers to come in for what felt like forever

✭ well, it was 6am afterall

✭ snapping you out of your daydream or morning dream whatever tf you wanna call it, your coworker eagerly shook the absolute hell out of your arm and started whisper-yelping

✭ ”oh my god they’re back!”

✭ ”what? who?”

✭ ”oh my god! this is the best morning of my life!”

✭ “you’re freaking me out what are y-”

✭ “joHNNY AND TEN ARE-”

✭ before you could ask anything else, literally all your coworkers scrambled to their stations and started making smoothies like their life depended on it and you’re like uhhHHH wtf are y’all doiN

✭ but that’s when you glanced up at the two boys walking in, and you honestly were stunned for a hot minute

✭ you knew who they were, of course you did, everyone did are u KIDDING

✭ but you literally wanted to pinch yourself because they legitimately looked like WALKING 3D SIMS W/ ALL THE PRETTY CC LOL

✭ prettiest boys you’ve ever seen with your own two eyes? you betcha!

✭ they weren’t even looking at the menu, but rather their phones and you could hear them groan lmAo and believe me you tried your best not to stare at them, but your eyes were like what did u say? disregard what u just said and continue to stare? okay!

✭ luckily a few moments later, they finally stopped groaninG and went to the front to order

✭ ”good morning! what can i get for you?” you asked johnny w the biggest smile you could muster up from your immense lack of sleep from the first day nerves… and oh! also! how could i forget, the iNTENSE nervousness of talking to these 2 sims lmao

✭ there was a silence in the air bc your coworkers were trying to stop from revealing their giddyness, but tragically failing which made johnny and ten lose focus and laugh ever so cutelY about it

✭ ”i’ll have a strawberry milkshake wiiiith….” johnny said, tapping his finger on the counter debating whether or not if it was too early for a sugar rush (also yes, he did just order a milkshake at 6 in the morning. did someone say ICON)

✭ ”whipped cream?” you asked which made johnny bust out the biggest smile

✭ ”how’d you know!”

✭ ”oh come on, a shake without whipped cream? that even sounds wrong”

✭ ”you read my mind!” johnny said in between laughs and handed you the amount of money for the coffee

✭ at this point tbh you didn’t feel that nervous anymore surprisingly, like something about johnny just made you feel sO comfy?? he was so friendly and welcoming bIH HE’S AMAZIN

✭ and yup, just when you thought your nerves were gonna pack their bags and go tf home ….. ten pops out from behind johnny like one of those wind up toys w/ the jumpscare just waiting to happen

✭ as soon as you saw him, your nerves literally said LMAO U THOUGHT, OUR FLIGHT ISN’T UNTIL TOMORROW

✭ you finally met eyes with him, and you swear to gOD that he hypnotized you

✭  what were those …. galaxies in his eyes ??? they sparkled just like the stars did

✭ and little did u know, ten was like muffin who ??? he didn’t even know what the hell that was, he was too busy thinking about how pretty u weRE

✭ also did i mention that ten is literally your biggest crush? no? OOPS OK ANYWAYS

✭ ”s-sorry” you managed to blurt out with the shyest smile ever, followed by regret bc you realized you lowkey blew your cover lol

✭ ”what can i get for you?”

✭ ”i’ll have 2 double chocolate chip muffins please” he said with the cutest smile ugh

✭ “oh and one of those macaroons! the chocolate one” he added, standing on his tippytoe’s to point over the glass im:(((

✭ ten’s smile never left his face and the more you looked at him, you noticed how confident n not shy he was, so you were like HHHHokay y/n, you gotta step tf UP DON’T U DARE TURN INTO A RED ASS APPLE

✭ oh and speaking of apples

✭ just a lil after you took ten’s order, you heard footsteps coming up from behind you

✭ you’d recognize those scary high heel clicks anywhere hHH your manager was coming to check on how you were doing

✭ and with a cringe to your eyebrows, you huffed and gave in before you could get in trouble on your first day

✭ ”oh, would you guys like to try our new morning … madness smoothie?” you asked them as u could practically feel the manager burning a hole into your head by how intensely they were glaring at yoU

✭ oof you cringed at the damn name of the thing, they sure did notice and started piecing 2 and 2 together

✭ just when you thought you’d done your part of promos, your manager “AHEM”’d you, signaling that you, indeed, were wrong again

✭ “uh- it has strawberries, apples, oranges-”

✭ as you were listing the painstakingly lengthy ingredients to them, ten’s expression changed from that cute lil smile, to an almost in pained, scared look?? OMG

✭ but to your surprise when you were done reciting the declaration of independence, he piped up with a quick ”sure!”

✭ both you and johnny looked at each other with this shook (is that still a thing?bye) expression at his sudden excited tone, johnny looking more “what the fick???” than you were

✭ before you could even say anything, ten slid over his money to a very much confused you, nodding with a look that read ‘go ahead hun’ :’(

✭ you did your thang on the register, and in the bg you could hear your manager walking back into the back-room, which made you make an obvious huff of relief

✭ ”dude why’d you order that?” you managed to hear johnny whisper to ten

✭ ”mm?”

✭ ”you-”

✭ ”hyung, shhh it’s okay” ten said a lil too loud

✭ ”hm?” you piped in, curious as to why they were bickering in asmr

✭ you noticed ten patting johnny’s back, but almost in a way where he was like ‘don’T SPILL THE TEA’ you know what i mean? but they both just shook their heads to you w/ a smile, reassuring you it was ‘nothing’

✭ as you and your coworkers worked on their orders, ngl you’d occasionally glance over at them and it legit looked like they were sharing some kinda juicy secreT bc whenever you’d look, johnny always had this cheeky smile on his face looking at ten

✭ after you finished their orders and your coworkers finished the rest of the memorized members orders, you called them up to get them in which they hurriedly rushed to the counter in the softest way (idk how them walking could be soft BUT IT IS)

✭ ”thank you!” they said in unison, making the lil awk tension break again

✭ they grabbed their drinks and food which made u kinda :( bc when will u see them again -sigh-

✭ ten looked at his phone, checking the time you assumed bc when he put his phone back in his pocket he looked #panickedt

✭ ”ah hyung we’re gonna be late. well, thanks again!” ten said to you, definitely not forgetting to shoot you another heart clenching smile

✭ “thank you, have a nice day guys!” you smiled back

✭ then you shared that same look from before, all heart stricken and iSH OOF, ten had to snap out of it quick or else the rest of the members would kick his booty for being late

✭ ten wasn’t one to be shy of showing his feelings, like he absolutely thought you were beautiful and he couldn’t help but lük, but the manager was gonna pop off if they didn’t leave so-

✭ ”you go ahead, i gotta get the straws real quick” johnny called out to him before the door closed to the juicery

✭ you handed him a straw from behind the counter to him, which he shook his head at ??????

✭ bih u were confused as hecc

✭ johnny gave you this certain look and you just knew what it meant, see from the get-go y’all had a bond!1

✭  johnny sensed the tension between you and ten the second he ordered, like it was undeniably obvious and he knew you knew, and you knew that he knew, and he knew that you knew that he-

✭ that look he gave you gave that away rip!

✭ you stood there like hhhhh what what wh-

✭ he laughed and leaned over the counter, and in the most nonchalant, yet all-telling tone he said:

✭ ”he doesn’t like fruit”

✭ and with a smirk and a wave, he was outtie

✭ BIH YOU WERE LIKE ??!!? but realistically telling yourself like ‘huh well that’s odd, wonder why he bought it then’ and ‘he probably got it for johnny’

✭ at first you really didn’t think anything of it other than the fact that he was trying 2 be a sweetie pie, but your coworkers who so eagerly were bombarding you with screenshots in your work gc (they were your mini nct skhH) strongly disagreed

✭ what were these screenshots you ask?? well-

✭ ‘Y/N’

✭ ‘Y/N ANSWERRR’

✭ ‘WHAT, WHAT I MISS’

✭ ‘YOU’RE LITERALLY VIRAL’

✭ ‘WHAT’

✭ ‘HAVE YOU BEEN ON TWITTER’

✭ ‘NO WTF’

✭ (3 attachments: screenshots of tweets saying:)

“OP was at the juice bar earlier and saw Johnny and Ten! 😭 They said that the girl asked if they wanted a fruit smoothie, and Ten said yes!”

“OMG ten ordered fruit????? he doesn’t do that?????”  

“life goal: to be the cashier at the juice bar who literally got ten to buy a fruit smoothie”

✭  ‘WHAT IS THIS I DON'T GET IT’

✭ ‘dude… they literally think ten has a crush on you’

✭ ‘LOL’

✭ ‘WE’RE SERIOUS, JUST GO ON TWITTER’

✭ and your mini nct’s weren’t lying… literally your mentions were blowing tf up with a bunch of “omg! found her @” and “girl wtf you’re famous”  

✭ but like….. you still didn’t get why people thought he had a crush on you based on that little interaction because it just was so minisicule to you, but as if twitter was trying to virtually smack you in the face, the tweets starting flowing in again

✭ this time, about people’s conversations with ten at a recent fansign omg

✭ “OP asked Ten about why he got fruit at the juice bar, and he just looked at her and smiled, and said ‘shhhhh’?”

✭ “OP asked Ten if he liked fruit now since he recently bought some, and he replied immediately ‘no no no, of course not’ ?!”

✭ one word…… WHY

✭ not only did you have all these tweets flowing in to convince you otherwise, you just remembered what johnny said to you before he left and nOW you’re like ……. okay what tf is up, it’s just fruit what is going on, why and where-

✭ oof you just couldn’t wrap your head around as to why it was such a big deal online, and it was truly bugging you and it’s not like you could ask them again what he meant

✭ 1, because you were too shy n nervous to

✭ 2, because you didn’t know if they would come back to the shop

✭ deep sighs all around my dude :(((

✭ those two always went to that shop, mostly in the mornings you heard

✭ and since you’d been working a little under a month there now, your boss started to schedule you for shifts where you didn’t need a supervisor anymore, which were 12 times out of 10 in the evening bc they were always lacking on those shifts

✭ so honestly, you haven’t worked a morning shift since your first day, the day you saw ya boys

✭ ........... (yes u knew this was comin)

✭ until one of your coworkers had to call off last minute on their shift and you were the worker they called in, that is ;))))

✭ boi when u got the call to come in, you got so !!!!! because what if you saw them again

✭ you missed them, johnny was so funny and you felt like you guys got along so easily almost instantly

✭ and ten, he’d always been your crush even before you talked to him, so that whole thing- your heart never failed to yodEl whenever you thought about him

✭ yes, they were idols, and yes you had been a fan, yes the encounters were short and probably seemed small to others

✭ but you couldn’t help it, ya know?

✭ anywho, the morning came for you to take on that shift and man were u nervous lmao

✭ when you got to work, literally only one other coworker was there with you

✭ as soon as you flipped that sign on the door from closed to open, OOO IT WAS GAME TIME

✭ the game plan: if they come back, try your best to ask them, i mean u gotta at least try, especially since the whole twitter thing AND let’s not forget why johnny felt the need to tell you what he did, you hAd to know

✭ the morning went slow, and it was raining too, so it was slower than usual since rainy days were obviously chill in dayzzz

✭ so you just tidied up around the place and waited, even did that thing people do in the movies where they look out the window while it’s raining while a slow song is playing in the bg …… except you were just staring out the window from the counter to the pop that was playing in the shop lol

✭ it wasn’t until mid 7 am that people started coming where you could finally stop acting like you were in a dilemma in the newest drama

✭ it was pretty steady then, you took orders, made them, served them, then tidied up, daydreamed out the window, basically on repeat for the rest of your shift

✭ you were on lunch break FINALLY, you swore u were gonna pass out from boredom if you heard the same pop song you daydreamed to three times already

✭ you sat along the chairs on the side of the shop, just sipping your drink, going through your phone awaiting the time for your rinse and repeat routine to get back into play *sigh*

✭ the quiet aura of the shop suddenly got interrupted as the bell rang chAoTically, followed by the squeakiest footsteps

✭ ”hyung, we shoulda brought two umbrellas”

✭ ”it’s not my fault i was blessed with this heavenly height”

✭ ”oof”

✭ your head perked up as you heard those voices, those familiar voiceS U MISSED :(

✭ you looked over and there you saw them :(

✭ ten and johnny :( right there :(

✭ their hair was just a little dampened from the rain, little water droplets on their cheeks, and their typical banter :(

✭ then all of a sudden you remembered the pact you made to yourself; “if you see them again, you gotta at least try to ask them” or else you’d forever be mAd at yourself

✭ the thing is, how tf are you gonna get their attention ??

✭ like do you just walk up to them like ‘hey!!!’ ??? like you weren’t even sure if they even would remember you omg

✭ oh lordt you could hear their voices getting closer and closer, why did it have to be raining and why did people have to camp out here for the free wiFI, there were like 5 seats open and they just so happened to be next to you wHY

✭ next thing ya know, you heard them sit to the side of you, just a few seats down

✭ ”where are they?”

✭ ”dunno, they said they’re coming”

✭ ”they said that 10 minutes agO”

✭ ”aish lucas”

✭ then again, you heard the door push open abruptly like an emergency and then another squeaky shoe sliding across the floor

✭ …. and sure as hell that was lucas and also a cheerful haechan following him

✭ they looked around adorably confused, probably looking for the 2 sims to ur rigHT

✭ you were trying not to glance at them but ugh timing ficking hates u! so when you looked up, they were already on their way to johnny and ten to the side of you

✭ when you looked up, lucas looked at you and he immediately smiled like his whole being softened a bit which made you uwu!

✭ but haechan on the other hand kinda froze in his tracks, and glanced crazy fast back and forth between you and behind you

✭ there were no words exchanged, but rather looKs exchanged bc haechan was looking at you with a look that he knows what’s going on, whATEVER THAT IS

✭ you couldn’t see it but ten and johnny were both confused as ever too, but now you could feel their stares burning into your fricken back just like your manager’s that day they came in sksk

✭ they literally actually gasped and scooted their chairs out

✭ ”hey!!! long time no see!!” johnny pops up in front of you with the biggest smile

✭ ”we’ll get the stuff ready in the car. meet us kay?” they all scurried out way too obviously quick, they didn’t even order yet i’m skAHAH

✭ leaving you and ten to each other on the benches in this tension of silence

✭ yes you heard me right, JUST you and ten

✭ these sneaky boys smh

✭ you and ten shared a mutual “???!!?” how obv could it be sksjdjdif

✭ ”so-”

✭ ”hey-”

✭ you both cut each other off which caused you to blush the same way you both did that day AWW

✭ you weren’t sure if ten would even know about how big your guys’ lil interaction became bc you weren’t sure if he even checked the internet

✭ but oh honey, he was all aware.. the amount of times it was brought up at the fansigning!1

✭ in a panic to fill the awkward silences that was inevitable to happen, you nervously and impulsively blurted out ”so, how come you don’t like fruit?” omGF

✭ he just started chEESIN and laughing to himself and you were like ???!!!

✭ “i couldn’t help myself!”

✭ “how come?”

✭ “you know!”

✭ “no, what is it!”

✭ “ah no, you know” he started teasing you omg

✭ “ten :(“ (yes you could hear the frown in your tone loL)

✭ “wah, you know my name?” he clutched his heart and leaned back like the drama queen he is

✭ “hey! don’t change subject!”

✭ but no matter how many times you asked, this baby would just sip his drink and give you the look (which by the way, your coworkers were on iT like, they brought out his drink as soon as the others left im???)

✭ yes, you know what look i’m talking about. the one where his eyebrows wiggle, and he’s staring at you like he knows some piping tea sister!

✭ he isn’t gonna budge, he’s taking that one to the grave, but honestly he just is teasing you because he really has 0 problem with telling you that he really got the fruit because he thought you were really pretty and he noticed you were getting nervous bc of your manager behind you and he didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable, so he bought it despite his hatred for fruiT , but he just thought it was cute how huffy you got JSJS

✭ and ten is def one to pick up a fruit cup, pose for a pic with it, and then immediately drop it, shaking his head in TERROR

✭ so yes, someone who doesn’t like fruit bought a fruit smoothie, maybe it’s no biggie.... but if it’s at the level of fear as ten???

✭ the difference is stARK

✭ interrupting your back in forth playful nagging chat with ten, in popped a hurried haechan with his head peeking out the front door

✭ “hyung, could you hurry up and talk to your girl, manager hyung is going to yell at us!”

✭ “haechan!”

✭ “hyung i’m sorry but we gotta-”

✭ “okay byebye~”

✭ both of you froze in your place as haechan closed the door and rushed back to the car, where you could see johnny and lucas peering over at you guys, motioning to ten omf

✭ you built up the courage to look at ten to see his reaction and he was not having it sksk this boy was literally glaring at haechan through the window like ‘wait til we get to the studio’

✭ and as if things couldn’t get anymore chaotic … in comes your manager saying “y/n could you hurry up and talk to your boyfriend later? your lunch ended 5 minutes ago” FJSKF

✭ you didn’t even want to see what his reaction was, you were so embarrassed but ugh even in your time of trauma, those were the CUTEST lil laughs you’ve ever heard

✭ but before your boss would come back and fire you, you rushed over behind the counter and took ten’s order, two double chocolate chip “muffin’s” and a little yogurt smoothie again :’)

✭ you did your thang as the lil hard worker you are, and when it came to writing his name on the side of the cup… you were like.. ‘hm okay, since ten wants to be all cute n shit… two can play at that game’

✭ your sneaky self smiled and quickly signed it with a smug, proud look on your face which made ten go ???!!! girl what did u do

✭ you gave it to ten and he thankfully smiled, sipping it as if to test run it first

✭ he did that thing where something tastes so good you start reading out the ingredients on the side of the box or dancing as you’re chewing lol he even exaggerated it a bit because he thinks your smile is so prettY

✭ ”fruit boy?” he read off the writing you on the side of the cup

✭ ”mhm”

✭ ”me?”

✭ ”mhmmm”

✭ “why is there a heart?”

✭ you were trying your best to mimic how ten was so confidently teasing you earlier by not letting you know the answer, but you were failing because even looking at him made your heart do the tHING, so all that came out of your mouth was the most flustered “u-uhhHhHh”

✭ “wahhh, someone’s blushing”

✭ “hey!”

✭ there was that pretty smile again as he looked at the little heart you put beside it along w/ a smiley face, but he never was one to blush, instead it was you w your red cheeks and red ears aWW

✭ in the same confident tone, even leaning closer, shaking his finger at you saying “gwiyeo”

✭ this boy was so happy seeing how flustered you were SMH, that same cheeky smile never left his face im-

✭ you guys were so focused on each other and being playful w each other to actually notice that people were looking at you guys all crazY, and if they weren’t then they were deffo taking pics bc honey you both were giggling and lightly nudging each other

✭ idk what was with you and these nct boys, but you felt comfortable with them easily… like ten made you BEYOND nervous but you still felt like you’ve been knew him???

✭ which was probably why so many people were gonna take your guys’ interaction further than just the normal now, especially with how red your cheeks got and how sly ten’s smile was

✭ you loved that little sly smirk of his and his playful nature, and he adored how blushy your cheeks got whenever he looked at you a little too long

✭ and honestly, you didn’t even need to say that to each other, with the look in your guys’ eyes??? oh c’mon 

✭ “you still need to tell me why yo-“

✭ “mmm-mmm” he sing-songed, sipping his lil drink

✭ “tEN”

✭ “neh?”

✭ “ten!”

✭ “fine. guess”

✭ “no tell me!”

✭ “mmmmm…. that’s not fun”

✭ “uGH”

[blooblooded]

BG story part 2

Yes this sucks. Last 30 pages, the first half was definitely better. Cynthia is good for like 3 lines at the end though.

I wondered why I was so fixated on BG trying to make excuses for Lady even though he knows exactly what she does. Then I figured it out lol.

BG vs Empathy

Fucked up events were now snowballing. Destructive blood magic groups were becoming more organized. Terrorists were all over the place. The creatures that Dot was related to teemed beneath the Colony in the sewers and Lower levels. Social unrest grew as factions like the Prospases, Voorsts, and Agapamas gained more power and control. It seemed like some new awful thing happened in the Colony every day, and there weren't enough secret police agents to take care of them.

Up until that point, the unrest only happened outside of the secret police.

One event put an end to that. And of course it did. The individual at the center brought nothing but chaos and unrest in life, why would he be anything different in death?

He and Lady relaxed on the couch of the common room on their floor. Some kind of commotion had been going on earlier in the day, but for once they weren't a part of it. It felt good just to chill. So many agents had been killed recently that everyone was overworked. There was no better remedy for stress than laying around and doing nothing.

Lady was falling asleep. She curled up on the couch with her head resting on one of BG's legs. From time to time she would drift off and BG would feel stabs of neural pain until he shook her awake again. It wasn't her fault. She was just so exhausted. He liked to have her close to him like that because he felt like he could keep a better eye on her. With every day that passed he could feel her drifting farther away from him and closer to whatever black hole had opened up inside of her on B-Day.

He tried to keep her awake. "Hey. Want to hear a joke about a piece of paper?"

"Hm?"

"Never mind…it's tear-able."

"Ugh." She yawned and stretched her long thin legs. She was wearing BG's clothes and was practically swimming in them. What was with the squad and stealing his clothes? At least he never had to worry about Bizo, since she burned right through anything that wasn't made specifically for her. While Echo liked to wear other people's' clothes out of comfort and familiarity, BG was almost positive that Lady did so because her brain was so rotted she had forgotten who owned what. "You're very very bad at jokes. You're not funny."

BG scratched Lady's head. She had just shaved it again and the black stubble was soft. "I'm funnier than you are."

"I don't really need to be funny, do I." She exhaled heavily and closed her eyes. BG tapped her on the shoulder to keep her from falling asleep. "Quit poking me, I'm awake! I'm just bored! Where is everyone?"

Boredom and Lady were a dangerous combination. BG heard someone scuttling past the common room in the hallway and he whistled to get their attention so that Lady could have someone else to entertain her. When the person didn't stop, he teleported out into the hall so that he could stop them. BG was also deathly bored. He had not interacted with anyone but Lady since breakfast; Echo and Bizo were out on a mission together.

The person who was scuttling past was one of the worst agents to teleport in front of, on account of her jumpiness and violent temper. However, when BG suddenly appeared in front of Creedo, she barely flinched. Creedo was a tiny woman with narrow eyes and patches of discoloration across her black skin. Always yelling. Always fighting. As a telekinetic, she often levitated several inches off the ground in order to appear more threatening than she really was. Whenever she and Smiles had their spats she always levitated at eye level with him before attacking. At that moment however, Creedo was still and quiet. She regarded BG blankly, with her mouth slightly open as if she was in shock.

"Uh," said BG, staring down at Creedo. "You good?"

"What?" said Creedo, as if seeing him for the first time. She had patches of angry looking blisters on her dominant hand, the one that she used to direct her abilities.

"Are you ok?" asked BG. For some reason he felt anxious. He gestured at her hand.

Creedo touched the blisters and then winced. She swallowed. "Oh. I'm on my way to the Infirmary. It's not that bad. I just--I had to-- I don't know."

Behind her, Lady crept out of the common room doorway. She tiptoed when she walked, like she always did. Luckily, Creedo did not turn around, because Lady was not a pleasant sight to behold. With clothes hanging off of her bony frame, green shadows blooming beneath her eyes, and skin that had almost gone white, she looked more dead than alive. She cocked her head to one side, watching Creedo.

Something was wrong. Creedo wasn't talking. It was abnormal. BG's heart beat faster.

"Uh," said the little telekinetic at last. She licked her lips. She cradled her injured hand. "Have you heard anything?"

"About what?"

Then, Lady's terrible eyes went very large and black. She stood up straight, suddenly filled with strange energy. "About Smiles," she said in her high-pitched voice. Creedo startled when hearing it and turned around, but did not react violently like she normally would. Instead she drew back half a step and watched Lady dumbly. "What do you know about Smiles?"

Creedo took another half step back. "I don't know anything," she said. She turned to look at BG again, since he was the one she interacted with the most, but for good reason kept glancing back at Lady. "I don't feel too good, I mean if he-- I don't know. People are saying he got Retired this morning. I had to take Pete to solitary before she-- before she realized what was happening. She knew though." She took a deep breath that should have been calming but it sounded like she was about to hyperventilate. "I don't think I ever seen her cry before. It's got to be real."

Time seemed to stop.

It was impossible. His nemesis, dead? Smiles, the guy who had been in the organization forever? No, no, no, no.

"Ha!" said Lady, loudly.

BG shook his head. It wasn't happening. They would never Retire Smiles. If Smiles was gone that meant anyone could be gone. They couldn't just get rid of a squad leader like that without setting up the next steps for his squad. That would be like-- well, it would be like getting rid of him and leaving his squad to fall apart. It was cruelty. It was impossible.

He was only vaguely aware of how fast his heart was beating and how dizzy he felt. His mouth was completely dry and when he swallowed he just became more parched. Did Creedo feel the same way? She looked lost. Of course she did. She was 27, almost as old as Smiles. It was only a matter of time.

He needed proof.

"I have to go," BG mumbled. He inhaled and teleported away, leaving the girls to do whatever it was they did when he wasn't around. He re-appeared outside of Smiles' dorm room. For a second, everything seemed normal. The door was open like it always was. There were scuff marks on the floor outside from Smiles stomping around in his precious boots. It was easy to imagine that everything was like it was before and that BG would bust in to find Smiles ready to bubble him. Except it was too quiet. The only sounds from inside was a woman's low talking.

He paused for a long time outside that door. He wondered if he would be happy if it was true. If it was something to be happy about then why did he feel sick inside?

BG walked into Smiles' dorm without knocking. And why should he? If Smiles was truly Retired and if Pete was in solitary, then what did he have to worry about? He could do whatever he wanted to Smiles' room and Smiles' things and Smiles' team without facing any repercussions. Thinking about that did not make him happy either and he knew it meant that there was something wrong with him. He'd known he was going soft for a while now. The feelings in his gut only confirmed it.

Inside the dorm, it was just as Creedo said; devoid of A-Class agents. Nickels and Johnny were sitting on one of the lower bunks, the bunk that BG knew was Smiles's. They did not notice BG come into the room. He watched them like some kind of voyeur of grief. Nickels talked quietly and rapidly, pausing every now and then to sniffle and wipe her nose with the back of her hand. Johnny sat cross-legged and perfectly still without making a peep.

“We’re OK,” Nickels was saying. “We knew this was gonna happen one day, right? He always told us how to survive this. I’m OK and Pete’s OK and you’re OK too.”

BG cleared his throat. Nickels whirled around to face him and jumped out of Smiles’s bunk to stand defensively. BG always thought that Nickels was pretty. She was soft and fat and had a round, expressive face. Somehow she remained bright and had avoided the haggard, exhausted look most psychics developed from overwork. Now however, she was not pretty. Her skin was red and blotchy; hey eyelids were swollen from what he assumed was crying.

“Get out of here,” said Nickels harshly. “Out.” She pointed at the door. As a B-Class psychic, it was abnormal for her to be giving him orders like that.

BG didn’t move. All he could do was look at her and know that what Creedo said about Smiles getting Retired was true. His heart had not stopped beating fast and he didn’t know why. “I, uh, heard that something happened. To Smiles.”

Nickels clenched her hands into fists. It was disturbing that she favored physical fighting over her psychic abilities. That was all Smiles’ doing: he didn’t like psychics. Every time BG ever saw the guy training with Nickels, he was forcing her to fight him physically. As powerful as Lady was, if she had to face Nickels without the benefit of her abilities, Nickels would snap her in half like a glowstick. Hell, Nickels could probably beat him in a fight if it came down to it. She was scary.

He didn’t know why he said what he did next. The only explanation he had was that he was getting weak and soft. He cared about people who hated him because his brain was trying to get him killed. After everything he had been through lately, it was impossible to exist with the same casual cruelty that some of the other agents did. Some of the things he saw Lady doing lately disgusted him and he knew he didn’t want to be like her, as much as he loved her. He didn’t want to hurt people who were weaker than him. He didn’t want people to get Retired. All he ever thought about now was how Echo had told him how much they hated this place and wanted to leave before it was too late. At this point in his life, BG was starting to feel the same way.

Looking at Nickels in her state of grief was terrible when he knew what she really was like. He felt bad for her and didn’t know what to do. “Are you OK?”

It looked like she wanted to attack him. She brought her fists up in front of her chest, realized what she was doing, and put them down again. “No!” she said, loud enough for anyone in the rooms next door to hear. “Would you be OK if you were me? Get the fuck out of here!”

Over on Smiles's bunk, Johnny looked over at BG like he was just recognizing that he had come in the room. He wasn't moving or reacting; usually he was all over the place and friendly to a degree that provoked irritation. His eyes were so wide that the whites showed all the way around. Apart from that, his expression was completely flat. He had his arms crossed tight across his chest like he was hugging himself for comfort.

After the time that Johnny flipped out and bit him, BG had maintained his distance. He watched Johnny cautiously, since something like Smiles getting shot in the head could easily precipitate an episode. But judging from his movement and his expression, he wasn't all there.

"What's wrong with him? Are you doing that to him?" BG asked Nickels. It's what he would have done if he was her.

Nickels turned red. She moved her chunky body so that she blocked BG's line of vision to Johnny. "You think I'm like Lady? You think I just fuck with people?" she asked savagely. The anger and grief inside of her was not being contained properly and it showed in her wet black eyes. She roughly wiped at her face with her sleeve. "Smiles told me not to get in peoples' heads without asking, especially not people I care about."

"Oh." Smiles and his whole asking for permission thing. Recently BG had considered bringing psychic consent up with Lady-- at least as it applied to Echo and Bizo. It would go completely over her head and she would end up ignoring him. What was the point.

It made him feel like he was not as good as fucking Smiles.

"Did you need something?" asked Nickels from behind clenched teeth. She sniffed and tried to turn it into something tough. "Are you gonna leave us alone anytime soon?"

"I--I wanted to see if you were OK," he said helplessly. He missed the days when his conscience was quiet. "I kind of try to do that now, you know."

Nickels turned away from him and stomped back to Smiles's bunk. What used to be Smiles's bunk. She sat down and got as close as she could to Johnny without touching him. "What a saint," she said, and sniffled again. "You know what's going to happen to us with Smiles fucking dead and Pete in perma-timeout? Everyone hates us because of him and now he's gone." She pried Johnny's arms down from the hug he was giving himself and forced his hands down into his lap. The physical contact did not jar him from his unsettling trance. When she let go of his hands, he put his arms around himself again and did not move. Nickels slumped her shoulders. It was clear that she was doing her best not to cry.

The two of them made a seriously sad picture together. BG could not stop feeling anxious. Was this even real? It was like something playing out in front of him on a screen. Any moment now Smiles was going to pop in and kick his ass.

It was real. Creedo knew it was real and knew it was going to happen to her one day. And BG? Well, Silas assured him and assured him that he was special. She revealed that sometimes she allowed the agents she thought were special to re-enter society as civilians. They didn't get Retired, not ever. They were able to live out their lives and have families and be normal and shit. Doc was one of the special ones, she had said. The first day she met him she had known that she could never kill him. She said that she felt the same thing about BG.

The thing was, that Doc might have been out of the agency, but he wasn't truly Free. Why did he come back and work in the Infirmary 3 days a week? Was that it for him, forever?

BG could not trust Silas anymore and it killed him. Not after how cold she had been about Echo.

“I want to help,” he said. He wondered if he was overstepping boundaries. “I’ve been thinking about how all of us need to start sticking together.”

Nickels didn’t answer him. BG wasn’t sure what he wanted her to say. Would he be able to keep her from being forced to work Upstairs and torture people in the same way Smiles had? Probably not. Would he be able to protect Johnny from his own choices and toxic desires? Another no. Would be be able to advocate for Pete? He did not even know where he would start.

"Will you just get out of here and leave us alone?" Nickels said at last. She still did not look at him. "We just need to be alone."

"Ok," he said. "I'm sorry about what happened." He left. What else was there to do?

Smiles was dead.

Smiles was dead. They'd roll his body into an incinerator and that would be the end of that. Maybe they'd take Pete out of Solitary if she behaved, maybe they wouldn't. It all depended on whether or not her value to the organization outweighed the possibility that she would try to burn it to the ground. Nickels would get treated like a real psychic without Smiles to protect her all the time. They'd assign her work Upstairs and force her to hurt people and eventually her brain would turn to mush. Johnny no longer had Smiles to reign in his behavior; he was going to cross a line and then he would get Retired as well. It was the end for Smiles' squad and all it had taken was the death of one person.

Was that what would happen when he was no longer there for his squad?

Intermission II

Every night he had dreams that his left arm began to operate outside of his control and in those dreams it squeezed the life out of him.

BG vs The Worst Thing that Ever Happened to Him

The day that BG's life went down a path he could not turn away from was more dreamlike than any of his dreams. It was more nightmare like than any of his nightmares.

It was only a few months after Smiles was Retired. He could never have seen it coming.

Bizo, Dot, and himself all had been exercising in a rec-room for several hours that morning. It was something nice they did together. BG sometimes felt like he neglected Bizo. He was impossibly close to Lady because of what they went through together, and Echo was his best friend so there was no competing with them. Every week he tried to put a little extra time into his relationship with Bizo because of this. She needed to know how important she was to him and how valuable she was to the squad. She spent so much time by herself already.

Spending time with Bizo meant spending time with Dot. The two came as a pair. Dot was an ugly little creature but since the time Bizo found her, her intelligence had increased exponentially. Even though she was a sentient hairy ball of black slime that was usually only about as big as a cat, Dot called herself a girl. Most of the time she had 12 legs, dozens of eyes, and mouths all over her body. Her prickly black shed all over the place and was hard to explain. She could change her size; sometimes she was small enough to fit into a boot and other times she was large enough to cover Zoey like a blanket of pudding. Dot could talk a little bit, but mostly she mimicked Bizo's breathy snorting laughter.

One of the primary jobs secret police agents had was to hunt down and exterminate the creatures like Dot that infested the Colony. Only people with abilities could see them, but they latched onto civilians and brought misery into their lives. It was strange that Dot was so different. She had latched onto Bizo, but the relationship between the two of them was like a friendship. For some reason, Dot was intelligent, friendly, and not interested in hurting humans. For that reason, BG and his squad protected her like she was an important secret.

Protected by the closed doors of the rec-room, Bizo was able to scoop Dot up in her arms and hold her like a baby. She had her greasy brown hair tied up in a pony-tail to keep it out of her face (BG had told her time and time again that shaving her head and following hygiene regulations would make her life easier but she just would not listen.) Bizo's ugliness was charming. She had a dumpy body and tan oily skin covered in freckles; these qualities made her seem froglike. BG and Bizo used the open space of the rec-room to goof off in.

"Wicker was acting weird today," said Zoey, referring to one of the Elite psychics. She talked about everyone as if they were all her friends, even though 99% of the secret police avoided her like the plague because of her behavior and the nature of her abilities. Nobody could touch her physically without risking chemical burns; it was one of the reason she loved to hold Dot so much. "He looked funny at breakfast, like they fried him or something."

This wasn't a huge surprise to BG, since Wicker had parts of his brain cut out and only ever interacted with other psychics. That was an agency recipe for creating someone with all the rebellion potential of a boiled shoe. He nodded anyway as he sat on the floor doing butterfly stretches to keep himself limber. It was important to him to encourage Bizo when she talked, no matter how dumb it seemed.

"He had glue stuck on him."

"Lady has glue stuck to her all the time." It was from where they stuck the electrodes to their temples when psychics had to monitor their brain patterns during high intensity work. Lady complained about it constantly because it made her delicate skin break out.

"I guess. I still think we should do something nice for him because it looked like he felt bad."

This was what was wrong with Bizo: being trapped in Isolation for 6 years had stunted her so badly that talking to her was like talking to a 9 year old when in reality she was Creedo's age. She was nice. She was thoughtful. She didn't like hurting people, even when they had hurt her.

This was what was wrong with BG: he was starting to think she was the only sane one in the agency and he wished that he was more like her.

Dot crawled up Zoey's chubby arm and nestled beneath her chin. "Felt bad!" she said, in a voice that was scratchy and small. "He felt bad." Bizo tickled her and she changed her shape, expanding with happiness.

Someone knocked on the rec-room door and all three of them jumped in surprise. Dot shrank herself and slithered into Bizo's clothing like an eel. "We still have 90 minutes in here," BG shouted crossly. Probably a dumb C-Class rookie who didn't understand the rules. You had to sign up for time slots and Elite agents got first pick.

The knock came again. Bizo laughed. BG sighed and got to his feet. He had barely done any stretching. Usually when he hung out with Bizo he was able to get several lengthy yoga flows in. He touched his toes, reached his arms up towards the ceiling, then went over and punched in his ID number to open the door.

Of all people to be standing there, it was Nickels. When he saw her, BG felt his stomach drop to his feet and he didn't know why.

In the months since Smiles' Retirement, Nickels had been forced to work Upstairs with the other psychics. She had probably lost 10 pounds and she no longer had the funny, expressive face she used to have. She looked tired and unhappy; instead of the comfortable sweats she usually lived in she wore the heavy black pants, long sleeved black shirt, and rubber gloves that all psychics wore when they were on duty Upstairs. This uniform differentiated them from field agents. While field agents dressed in helmets and protective uniforms for the benefit of civilians, agents who worked within the Capitol building only needed to be clean and effective. When the doors opened, Nickels made a face like she didn't want to be there.

"Hey," she mumbled, not making eye contact. Whatever they were doing to her to re-train her up there was destroying her social skills. "I'm working but I really needed to talk to you."

"To me?" BG's voice sounded high in his ears.

(Alone,) she said telepathically. BG flinched. The voice in his mind sounded exactly like Nickels, while most psychics who spoke telepathically sounded like they had static over their voices. She was talented, a more talented telepath than Lady could ever hope to be. So she had given up on asking for consent before going into people's' minds. How long had that taken? (I'll intercept your thoughts, you don't need to talk. It'll just freak her out.)

(What's going on?) He felt panic.

Nickels looked at her feet. They had taken her boots away and given her the same kind of little black flats Lady always wore. (I'm sorry. I shouldn't be here but you were nice to us when Smiles was Retired. I wanted to repay that. You need to get Upstairs right now.)

"What?" BG almost shouted it. Adrenaline surged through his body as he realized what Nickels was talking about. His legs began to shake as if he had just run a long distance. There was no reason for anyone on his squad to get Retired. They were all hard workers, efficient agents. Unless one of them had committed an act that was unforgivable."Lady?" His eyes stung at the unthinkable.

Nickels shook her head no. (I just thought you'd want to see their body. For closure. Nobody gets that here.)

For a second, BG saw red. His blood was hot, he could feel every heartbeat. He could not move. He could not think. He could not breathe.

Behind him, Zoey took a few shuffling steps forward. "BG?" she asked, extending a hand out to nearly touch him, as she did when she was nervous. "What's wrong?" In that moment BG was so scared and reactive that he shoved her away from him with his right hand. His skin met hers and it instantly blistered. The pain brought him back to the issue before him and he clutched his hand over his heart.

Usually he could spring into action without hesitation. BG opened his mouth but no words came out. It was like he was a fish dying on the shore. He tried to focus enough to teleport but nothing happened. It took three more attempts before he was able to do so. He left Bizo alone and didn't even care. Didn't even take her feelings into consideration. All that mattered to him was getting to Echo.

The jump was not-- for lack of a better phrase-- well executed. He knew the Upstairs layout perfectly. He knew where the small concrete room with the grate in its floor was. He knew how to navigate the sterile halls above the dormitories, with all the twists and turns, the laboratories and confinement rooms. Instead of appearing right in front of the room where Retirements happened, BG crashed into a desk in a laboratory. A couple of white coated scientists jumped back in surprise. BG stumbled, then teleported again. If he was not careful he was going to lose his other arm or worse.

He appeared in front of the Retirement room but didn't stick the landing. BG tripped and almost fell to his knees. In front of him, directly in front of the door, leaned Crossfire, the agent in charge of executions. When he saw him, he jumped to his feet.

Crossfire regarded him with his heavy-lidded, half-open eyes. He put the communication device he was tapping on back in one of his pockets. Like Nickels, he was dressed in the simple black pants and black shirt that all agents who worked Upstairs wore. Unlike Nickels, he had a firearm strapped to his belt. "Woah there friend," he said. He was so universally hated that he had to sleep on a bed in one of the labs so that nobody shanked him in his sleep. It came with being in charge of Retirements. "This isn’t ideal."

BG seized him by the arm and shoved him away from the door. He flung it open without considering the consequences. What was worse, seeing your closest friend’s body or never seeing it at all? That philosophical question did not exist in BG’s mind. There was only the mission: get to Echo. Find Echo. See Echo. Be with Echo.

Did he love them? There wasn’t any doubt.

There was nothing inside of the room. No body. Only a wet little puddle of blood on the floor that was slowly draining into the grate. It seemed too small to be the only thing left of them.

All he could do was stand there and tremble. He could not process organized thoughts. The world was not moving around him. This was a dream. This was a nightmare like the ones he had every night except it was worse.

Crossfire leaned against the doorframe behind him. “Your teammate was nasty, you know,” he said. BG slowly turned to face him. His blonde lashes and eyebrows made him look hairless and repulsive: a monster. He had a hand lightly on his firearm. “Their ability. They didn’t look the same after they died. ”

BG’s left hand clenched into a fist.

Did you want to see them?" The executioner curled his upper lip. "I wouldn't. You know what a bullet does to a head. Messy." The way he said it made BG gaze down at the blood on the floor again. It was very red. Had he ever seen Echo bleed before? They were so careful and avoided injury. Images of skulls being obliterated by bullets filled his mind and he hated himself for knowing what it looked like.

Had they been scared?

Of course they had been fucking scared. There had been no warning. No preamble. They just got dragged Upstairs and shot. He'd seen Retirements happen before. They made you stand with your hands raised, your face to the wall. A Handler, a psychic, and the person who took the shot were always present. Sometimes others if backup was needed, if it was expected that the soon-to-be terminated person would put up a fight. A lot of people tried to fight. Allegedly Smiles had bubbled himself for nearly a day before they got to him. In the end that's what always happened. No one escaped.

He held the image of Echo's face in his memories. The last time he talked to them had been when they parted that morning after showering. Echo had been so upset about a single zit that had sprung up near their nose. BG had laughed until Echo tried to get him in a chokehold so he had flipped them over and didn't let them get up. It had been so funny because they were so mad. What a stupid final memory. That was it, forever. No more jokes, no more wrestling around. No more missions. No more waking them up in the morning. No more Echo.

They had been taken away from him.

BG couldn't look into Crossfire's eyes. He wanted to kill him; this creature that existed only to take the lives of others. That's what they all were, really. Their function was to kill and destroy. Echo had been right to want to get out of this place and now they never would.

"Who authorized it?" he said in a voice that he did not recognize. It came from far away. "Do you know?"

Crossfire shrugged lazily. "I just follow orders." He scratched his nose with his non dominant hand. The other never strayed far from his firearm. "I'll tell you though. For a price."

"What do you want?" He stared at his gun, unable to look away from it. He imagined the way he had held it before firing.

Crossfire smiled. It was not so much an expression of happiness or smugness as it was an act of him moving the corners of his mouth up to mimic normal human behavior. "The name of whoever went down and leaked confidential information to you."

If BG told him that Nickels had told him about Echo's termination, Nickels would be subject to swift and severe punishment. Everyone who worked Upstairs operated on a different level than the rest of them. Not too long ago, BG would not have cared what happened to Nickels. When Smiles was still alive, he would have relished the idea of landing her in the kind of trouble that left her in pain just because it would have pissed Smiles off. Now the idea of hurting other agents made him sick. He couldn't do that to her.

"Lady," he lied. Nobody could touch Lady. As far as he knew, she had never faced repercussions for anything she had done. She had killed 3 agents accidentally over the years while working on them in the re-education rooms and got away with it. She hurt people just for the hell of it. She was childish and incompetent in the field because of how rapidly her mind was failing her. Why should she care? Lady was Elite and nobody could touch her. There was not a single agent who was not terrified of her, himself included. "She intercepted what was happening by accident."

"Aw." The smiles that Crossfire was aping faded away like he was disappointed that he was not going to get to hunt some poor sucker down and hurt them. "OK. The termination order came straight from the Executive Director. It wasn't proposed by a Handler or nothing. Guess your pal personally upset her, I dunno."

Silas.

Statue-like, unreadable Silas. Silas, who he had loved for so long and had only just recently started to fear and resent. Smiles had been right about her. Of course he had been. Smiles had been right about everything.

BG wanted to throw up. He wanted to die because that would be easier. Of course it came back to Silas. She had never liked his connection to Echo. She had never liked how much he talked about them, and now they were dead. All he could do was stand there helplessly. His metal fist began to rise. The rest of his body was frozen in place. It was like he was already dead.

Crossfire noticed his aggressive stance and clenched fist. He did not change his, as if he was confident that BG would not dare to attack him. He was one of the oldest agents there; as old as Smiles had been. Silas had told BG once that it was hard to keep agents in that position because they became so hated. Soon he would be executed by someone else's hand. "What's the problem, man?" he asked mockingly. "You angry at me because I terminated your little girlfriend? That's so cute. Wanna hear something funny? They refused to turn around and face the wall so I shot them in the face. Let me show you. You snuck up here to see them, right?" He manhandled BG out of the Retirement room and down the hall. They were evenly matched strength wise, but BG felt as weak as a kitten. He let himself be pulled down the Upstairs corridors because he couldn't come up with anything else to do.

They passed by more researchers, who inhabited the many laboratories Upstairs. BG took no notice of them. They all wore white coats and detached expressions. Dr. Y-- or Yancey Atwood-- passed by with a canned energy drink. He did not recognize BG. Dr. Y was an unremarkable man with a wide, smiling mouth and sneakers that did not match the usual uniform of a scientist. It was hard to picture what he looked like away from his presence but as he passed, but BG tried to commit his bland face to memory. He did not look sad. He did not look interested in anything at all. A man who had...worked with Echo for nearly 10 years, and he didn't even appear to care about their death.

For most people, this was just work. They got to go home to their loved ones and forget all about what they had done. It wasn’t fair.

Crossfire pushed him into another room. It was small, windowless, and more than 10 degrees colder than the rest of the Upstairs. The only thing inside was a stainless steel table in the center with a connected shelf and bright lights overtop of it. Like a Re-education room, only more sterile. One wall had several small square metal doors. BG had never been inside but he knew it was where they kept the bodies before they tossed them into the incinerators. If an agent was not Retired-- that is to say, if they died of natural causes or were unlawfully murdered-- then this was where autopsies were carried out. Agents who were Retired were not further mutilated after their deaths. Everyone knew how they died. That was a blessing at least. Echo would not have wanted to be cut up.

BG supported himself by leaning on the metal table. He was dizzy, he was not grounded. He was watching himself from outside of his body.

"I'm so tired of you people sneaking up here to try and see the bodies. I keep saying nobody wants to see that shit, but no," Crossfire was saying. He wrenched one of the little metal doors on the far wall open. It opened with little difficulty and a smaller metal slab rolled out. The thing that had been inside and laying on top of the slab was not even covered. BG was quick to look away. He didn't want to see. Did he? "All your little friendships and connections-- who does that really serve? Nobody. And then a few months back, when that girl Pete was fighting her way out of containment because she thought she could get to Smiles, who did that serve? Nobody. She screwed herself because of her connection to the guy. Now here you are, so intent on seeing your partner after their brains have been blown out because they were on your squad. All this does is make you people feel like shit. Is it really worth it? Go on, I've taken you this far. Look!"

Against every instinct in him, BG looked at Echo's body lying there. Their expression would have been peaceful, had it not been for the wound which had taken their life. The left eye socket and cheekbone were entirely caved in into red nothingness. Totally obliterated. Gory. He stared at the bulletwound for a long time. This was where people were supposed to cry and wail and tear at their clothes out of grief. What was wrong with him? What was wrong with him? He had seen other people go into paroxysms of grief when their teammates were taken from them. BG was numb. He kept staring at what was left of Echo's face, and from far away he thought about how much they would have hated it if he saw them like that. He looked away and his eyes were unable to move from the gun at Crossfire's hip.

He raised his fist like it did not belong to him. "Hey man," he said from around a tongue that had gone thick and useless.

The executioner looked up from his handiwork. His lazy, uninterested expression did not change because he was like Lady in his arrogance; so far gone that he did not view anyone as a threat, even if they were right in front of him ready to do harm. "What?"

"Thanks."

"For what?"

Without answering, BG started hitting him in the face with all his strength. He used his metal arm with its terrible capacity for violence. He did not stop. It was easier than he imagined it would be, but at close quarters Crossfire's ability was useless. After two good hits, BG had him on the tile floor. After four, he had crushed the cartilage in his nose and the blood began to spurt in heavy bursts, splattering across BG's face and getting into his eyes. Crossfire's skull felt like a wet melon under his fist. He was aware that he sustained a couple of blows, but did not feel them. He was aware that the other agent was yelling for help, but did not hear it. In the moment, his body was a beastly automaton with a singular desire: to kill.

He saw Crossfire's eyes roll back in his head and he still didn't stop.

He wasn't even mad at him for shooting Echo. He wasn't the one to blame-- just following orders, after all. But he was the only person close enough to punish.

The yelling attracted people. It must have. BG felt himself pulled up and physically restrained. It didn't hurt, not yet, although he knew that someone had tased him because he saw himself convulse. He kept fighting back without thinking about how futile it was. All he wanted to do was cause harm to anyone who played a part in doing this to Echo, and for all it mattered, everyone had played a part in that. It did not occur to him that he could teleport to Silas' quarters and end it all for good. Not yet.

They got him on the floor and tased him again. Two Handlers: October and someone else, he couldn't quite see them. A gaggle of researchers had gathered behind them, observing in their frightened-rat way. BG thrashed and rammed his shoulder into the legs of the Handler he couldn't see, sending them crashing to the ground. October kicked BG viciously, then stomped down on his elbow.

"Aw shit," said October. "I guess it was only a matter of time before this one lost it. Yikes. Hey can one of ya'll check if he killed that other guy? Jesus, what a mess."

BG tried to free his arm and October tased him a third time, not letting up until BG lost control of his bladder. He was sadistic, even for staff. The other Handler got up (upon closer inspection, she was the one known as Wednesday) and once she was clear, October stomped down on BG again even though he lay still. "Yeah, have fun laying in a puddle of piss, smart guy, because you're gonna be in Solitary for a week."

One of the researchers stepped over the urine and the blood with his sneakers to stand over Crossfire's body. BG was so far removed from what was going on, he could only recognize the white coat. The researcher bent down to check the pulse. "Unconscious," he said in an unremarkable voice. Still mostly obscured from view, BG saw this researcher pause by the open metal slab that held what was left of Echo. He gently rolled it back into the opening which held it and closed the door so that Echo and their ruined face could no longer be seen. A small act of kindness. An unheard of action. "No real harm. I'm sure whatever this young man's punishment is, it needn't be so drastic. He's upset about his friend."

October snorted. "No offense, but you have no idea how to treat these kids. If you aren’t harsh they’ll rip you to shreds."

The researcher leaned down over BG and smiled at him. Black hair, black eyes, completely and utterly bland. It was evident that he recognized him. Yancey Atwood. If BG had not been so incapacitated, he would have....well, he would have done something. "You're the professional," said Yancey pleasantly. He gave BG a cheeky little wink, which he interpreted as mockingly malevolent. "I just think this big fella is upset about his poor friend with the big hole in their grey matter over there. I know that I sure am."

Things were much worse than BG could have ever imagined.

Interlude III

Later, he thought about how he could easily teleport to Silas and kill her, but even in his anger he would not dare. There were parts of him that still loved her.

BG VS Lady

Months passed. Life became tiresome. Day in and day out, it all boiled down to the same thing: violence. They all perpetrated violence. Out in the real world, they perpetrated violence against civilians. Inside the dorms, they perpetrated violence against each other. It did not end. It would never end. It was not only the secret police who were engaged in violence. A strange and horrible Outsider came to Eden and brought with him his appetite for blood. The terrorists who had fled the Colony a year and a half ago were back and causing trouble. More Outsiders came, and Silas executed their leader herself. Cyberterrorism got worse by the day, which led to riots. There were lots of riots. There were even reports of a family of cannibals, which was actually kind of weird, even for Eden.

BG was sick of it. He woke up every morning feeling nauseous and haunted by every bad thing he had ever done. And yes he had done bad things, he had liked doing bad things. He had taken kids away from their families who loved them. He had chased innocent people down and killed them. He had liked it all, because his convictions in the agency were so strong. It wasn't just about being ordered to do bad things. Anyways, it wasn't a good enough excuse. When Smiles was ordered to do anything that crossed the boundaries of his moral fortitude, he refused until they really forced him.

He started helping people whenever he could because he could no longer stand the violence. When weaker or lower-level agents got bullied, he stepped in. When he saw people breaking the rules, he looked the other way. He stopped being complicit. He gave advice. People like Pills and Nickels, girls who had once hated his guts and attacked him, grew friendly with him. The solidarity between him and others strengthened.

But BG still couldn't sleep well. His dreams upset him too much. He would wake up in the night beneath an empty bunk. At some point he would have to find someone to take Echo's place. Recruitment wasn't for another 5 months, and he did not think he could stomach choosing some freshly tortured 14 year old. He wanted to petition to put Nickels on the Squad, since hers had been dissolved the second Smiles kicked the bucket. Lady would never go for that. Staff would never go for that either; what was the point of having a Squad with two psychics?

He hadn't stopped thinking about Echo. Sometimes he talked to Nickels about it, since she could understand what it felt like to lose a teammate. Hell, Nickels had essentially lost 3 teammates: Smiles got a bullet in his brain, Pete was locked up Upstairs having unimaginable things done to her, and Johnny was so still so hurt and angry that he had started hanging out with people who treated him poorly. Nickels said that she just missed the way things used to be, and she screwed her plump face up but was unable to cry. It made BG feel even worse.

BG contemplated these things as he slowly walked back to the dorm after an exhausting mission where he had done nothing but try to hunt down the little terrorist group that had come back. They really did not want to be found. Good for them.

The door to his room was closed, but he didn't think anything of it. It was mid-afternoon and the girls often liked to take naps when they weren't working. BG swung the door open and stepped inside. "Hey, I'm ba--" That was all he was capable of getting out before he looked about the room and froze.

Lady sat cross legged on the floor, her posture and focus as rigid as a dancer's. Beside her, Bizo lay on her back, unmoving. This tableau could have been normal, but BG knew what was happening immediately. He knew because there was blood at the corners of Bizo's mouth like she had bitten her tongue. He knew because Lady did not move or react when he entered the room since she was so focused on what she was doing. And he knew because Dot had congealed into a still black puddle on the floor nearby. Every few seconds, Lady's beautiful hands twitched like she was directing her psychic ability, and more blood came out of Bizo's mouth. Lady was smiling.

"Hey!" BG shouted. No reaction. His instincts kicked in and he crossed the room to seize Lady by the shoulder. Her skin was cold to the touch. Her big eyes were so black he could barely see any whites in them. When he grabbed her, she still did not leave her sadistic trance. Her terrible mouth kept smiling and smiling. On the floor, Bizo's expression was frozen in one of terror. She had gone so pale that the freckles on her face looked like they had been painted on. She was so trapped by whatever psychic horror show Lady was inflicting on her that could not even blink.

"Lady!" BG said loudly, shaking her. "Stop it!"

She did not stop, and she wouldn't be able to unless he jarred her from the way she was locked in. A while ago, he would have hesitated or tried to wait it out. He would have made excuses for Lady, like he always did. Oh, she had brain problems. Oh, she had  good reason for doing what she was doing. Oh, he couldn't criticize her because she had saved his life. Oh, he loved her. Excuses, excuses. Now, BG could only think about one thing: he was going to be sick if he stood around and watched as she hurt even one more person.

The Lady problem was something that he should have addressed a long time ago. He would always feel guilt over the way that he knew she treated Echo and that he hadn't stopped any of it. He would always feel guilt over the way she treated everyone except him, for that matter. But it was better late than never.

BG slapped her across the face with the open palm of his right hand. He did not use much strength in the slap, because he didn't want to actually hurt her-- she was so fragile. When his hand connected with her head, Lady made a noise that was in between a gasp and a growl. For a split second, before she lost focus, she lashed out at him with her mind.

In all his years as an agent, BG had never been psychically assaulted. He was too privileged, too important. Not even during these last couple of months of acting out had anyone dared to confront him. The last time a psychic got into his head was B-Day, and she had ripped his potential out from where it hid deep down inside of him. Now, Lady pulled out other things that he had shoved away. Her specialty was trauma memories and luckily BG did not have too many of those floating around. For those few fleeting moments, he re-lived the pain of losing his arm, and had to grit his teeth to keep from crying out. The heat and the blood seemed unbearably real. He tasted copper. The air, however, did not smell of smoke and fear like it had on that day. It smelled soapy and clean, just like Echo used to. That was what really got to him. The psychic pain merged with the pleasant memory of his friend and became something unbearable.

His eyes grew wet.

Then it ended. BG steadied himself and shook his head to clear it. He looked at Lady, who clutched one hand to her face. A red mark bloomed across her pasty skin. Her expression was one of shock and betrayal. On the ground, Bizo started to wheeze and cough. She rolled over to her belly and spat out a mouthful of blood. "Oh no," she whimpered. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" BG knelt to try and help her up, but her skin glistened with corrosive oils. She cried in the way that a little kid cries. Beside her, Dot began to solidify into her usual form. The little monster also made terrible noises as if she was also crying. Dot oozed over to Bizo and let herself be clutched.

"You hit me," Lady said in disbelief. Her lower lip quivered.

BG ignored her for the time being. "Are you OK, Zoey?" he asked Bizo. He wanted to hug her so badly.

Bizo shook her head as she buried her face in Dot. The creature was slowly growing back the prickly black hair she liked so much, and which had been lost when she had been...puddle-ified….He had not known that Lady could affect the alien creatures. Maybe it was only due to Dot being smarter than the rest of her kind.

"You hit me!" Lady said again. Her fine black eyebrows furrowed to contort her face.

"I'll smack you again the next time I catch you hurting Bizo!" BG said fiercely. Lady shrunk back from his anger, but her expression darkened. "That goes for anyone else here too, but especially for her! What the hell is wrong with you? What is wrong with you? She is our teammate!"

Lady's gaze slid over to Bizo, who kept crying and crying. Her curled lip revealed her belief that Bizo was something less than human-- a belief that many agents shared due to Bizo's disability. Once, BG had believed that Bizo made it out of all those years she spent in Solitary without being damaged. Spending years alone in the dark made her wilt. She was not intelligent, she was not emotionally mature. It showed in her naïve, trusting eyes. It showed in the way her mouth gaped open at all times. They'd slammed her into a dark little room when she was only 8, when her mind was still plastic and learning new things. It damaged her irreparably. Maybe if she was not in this place then she would have a chance to heal. Healing was a luxury no agent was privileged enough to get.

Dot's hair bristled and moved like the legs of countless spiders. She was back to her usual size, just a little bit bigger than a housecat. 5 narrow yellow eyes popped up in various places on her body and they all stared at BG. One mouth filled with sharp triangular teeth opened in her middle, close to Bizo's face. "Hurt!" The teeth gnashed in anger but the voice was scared and quiet. "She--she made me see the home that is beyond the stars! She made me remember we can never go back!" She grew several short legs with appendages that were not quite hands but not quite paws. Even smaller mouths opened in the center of these hand-paws, with tiny tongues that Dot used to gently lap up Bizo's tears.

"Talk to me, Zoey," said BG pleadingly.

Bizo kept shaking her head and holding the little monster close. She never opened up to him. Just like Echo. Never opening up, never actually saying the thing that was the problem. Never putting a name to the problem. In this case, BG knew the name. Lady.

Of course they hadn't felt safe talking to him about her. He always took her side. He defended her. BG felt nauseous and it wasn't just the sight of the blood at Bizo's mouth.

"I'm sorry," he told her and he knew that his words were cheap, that only his actions could start to make up for it all. He looked at Lady, who still sat on the ground but whose expression had changed to confused rage. It was not yet clear who that rage was directed towards. If it was at him, well, he didn't let himself care. "Lady," he said, keeping his voice calm even though he wanted to yell at her some more. Even though he wanted to shake her. "Why did you do that?"

"What?"

"Really? What do you think?"

Lady gingerly put a hand to where he had slapped her and winced. It made his heart twinge but he no longer let himself feel bad for her. There was no more room for that in his heart, not after he had been filling it with things like trust and collaboration with other agents. He looked at her and saw how sick she was. The culmination of nearly a decade of being used to torture others-- to torture kids-- had made her into a monster. She was not beautiful like he used to see her; she had grown unspeakably ugly. Every inch of spare flesh had withered from her body, her olive skin had turned colorless. Even her teeth had become translucent and gray. She was probably dying slowly. Her brain hadn't worked in years, and her body would soon follow.

"Are you mad at me?" Lady asked him. She slowly got to her feet and her knees popped. On her feet were the little flat slippers that they gave out to agents who worked inside of the building, and she padded a few steps away from him as if she anticipated that he would strike her again. "I do this all the time. I just get bored, I can't stand being bored. You know how it is, some people can just be so annoying!"

He tried to stay calm and tried to not clench his hands into fists. "You can't do that. Zoey and Dot are our friends."

"Bizo is retarded and we kill stuff like her pet literally every week," Lady said dismissively. She sniffed. "And I was thinking that like, now Echo's gone it would be easier for us to downgrade to Partners instead of having to get a new teammate. Then it would just be me and you, and wouldn't that be totally so much nicer? Just me and you, just like back on B-Day."

BG felt icy horror fill his body. Lady was smiling at him like she had come up with something novel. The implication alone made him want to do something drastic.

"What do you think?" she asked him.

He stared at her and knew that the girl who had brought him back from the brink of death on B-Day was dead, and the person who lived in her body now was a stranger to him. He had closed his eyes and ears and ignored the way that she had changed because it was easier for him to pretend like she was the same as she was. He knew that she loved him in her own twisted way but he wished she didn't. He loved her too, even then. He loved her more than he could even explain and knowing what she really was made him want to rip his hair out.

How was it possible for someone to be bad, even though he loved them? BG did not want to reconcile with something like that. It would be so much easier if everything was black and white, like it used to be. A couple of years ago, he knew for a fact that Smiles and his Squad were his enemies. Now he pitied Smiles for dying in such a humiliating way, and had grown close to Nickels. A couple of years ago he knew for a fact that the agency was always just. Now he thought it might rip him apart.

Bizo kept crying her snuffling tears. She was so vulnerable.

At length, BG said, "I think you need to walk away because I'm so angry right now I don't know what I'll do if I keep talking to you, and because I love you I really don't want to hurt you. Get the Partners thing out of your head forever, I mean it. I love Bizo too." When he said that, Bizo finally stopped mashing her face down into her alien friend so that she could look at him in a way that was so shocked it almost broke his heart. Of course she believed that he loved her less. Why wouldn't she? He had to make up for that somehow. He had to let her know that he loved her entire greasy awkward being, that he would kill and die for her. Echo would have done anything for her too, back when they were alive. Bizo was wonderful and kind and she was loved so much.

Lady cocked her head like that helped her better comprehend what he said to her. Like she couldn't read his body language. She probably couldn't. She blinked stupidly and did not stop smiling. "Ok, I'll take a walk, only because you asked," she said. She turned to soundlessly go for the door. Without looking back, she said, "Remember what I said about the two of us though. Just me and you."

She closed the door without making a noise and left.

He knew that it was too late for Lady and that he would never be able to help her. She was too far gone.

BG VS THE FINAL SHOWDOWN

There was nothing BG used to like to do more than chase people down.

Now it depressed and repulsed him.

There he was, in the middle of the School District. Not on top of the buildings, or creeping through the alleys at night, but inside of the actual high school. Like a civilian. For this mission he was even dressed like a civilian. The armory had doled out jeans, red sneakers, and a t shirt that said "peach time", whatever that meant. He was supposed to blend in, but even with his youthful face he could never pass as a high school student. He was too old. And he stood like a soldier. The act of dressing up anyway made him feel uncomfortable.

The mission itself was uncomfortable. Abnormal. 3 days of surveillance on the target, concluding with her extraction. The target was some 16 year old girl named Cynthia Tariq, who was a low-grade psychic. Normally she would be yoinked out of her bed while she slept, but for some reason that had been deemed an impossibility. She was special in some way so Silas wanted her to be monitored before bringing her in. This may or may not have had something to do with the fact that the suspicious Infirmary nurse Doc was her father, and her other father was part of the terrorist cell that had been causing so much grief lately. BG hadn't even blinked when he learned that snippet of information. Nothing could surprise him anymore, it was all too fucked up.

The Colony was going to hell.

The Colony was going to hell and BG was wasting his time, standing around in a high school wearing red sneakers.

He and Lady were co-leading the mission. They were unable to really interact with any of the school kids because they obviously didn't belong. Lady looked especially horrific in civilian clothes; he had never seen her wear colors other than black, grey, and white, so the orange shirt she had on looked ghastly. When staff briefed them, they had been assured that all the kids would think the two of them were college aged, or teachers. It was worse. All the kids thought they were cops, which was not far off from the truth.

While he and Lady co-lead the op from the background, four C and B Class agents did all the real grunt work. They were chosen because of their actual ability to pass as high schoolers, as well as their high levels of friendliness and charisma which were supposed to put the Tariq girl at ease so she didn't call her father before she got nabbed. Bex, Shorty, Flash, and Johnny. That last one didn't feel too good. BG and Lady had been given orders to make it look like he got killed on accident during the mission. Really, Silas just wanted him executed like vermin so that Nickels and the freshly re-integrated Smokey Pete would stay in line. BG really didn't want to put Johnny down on account of his closeness to Nickels, but it would be up to him to do it since Lady couldn't kill using her mind, and they all had to leave their weapons behind to 'fit in'.

BG sat in an empty classroom as he contemplated this. He had a piece of taffy in one of his pockets but wasn't interested in eating it. He wanted to take a nap. Anything bad that could have happened had happened during the last couple of months. That wasn't including the day he walked in on Lady torturing Bizo and Dot. Silas was one step away from declaring martial law, she couldn't control anyone. Even Commissioner Nguyen was defying her and was seen openly interacting with West Agapama. He hadn't had a full 8 hours of rest in....well, he couldn't remember when.

He was aware of a fire alarm going off on another floor because he could hear it faintly. Probably the one where the cafeteria was located, since Cynthia Tariq was at lunch that that was where the 4 dummies were supposed to nab her. BG put a finger to the side of his face, then remembered that he wasn't wearing a helmet and had to use a normal communication device on his wrist. He pressed the button that activated it and would connect him to the agent he had appointed Squad leader. "Bex," he said. "What's the situation?"

No answer. Probably because civie communication devices were inefficient and awkward to use. Bex probably didn't even know he was hailing her. BG sighed and thought about teleporting down into the cafeteria, but knew that would cause mass panic if anyone happened to see him. Which they would, crowded cafeteria and all. He decided to wait until someone contacted him for once.

10 minutes later, Lady skidded into the room. She had actually been jogging-- he knew because she panted for breath and had high points of color in her cheekbones. BG immediately popped up and teleported across the room to support her. She appeared to be shocked and amused.

"What's going on?" BG asked her, flabbergasted that she had exerted herself physically instead of just talking to him telepathically. "Is everything ok?"

"No!" Lady exclaimed, but she didn't sound too upset. There was laughter hidden behind her voice. "This is just too crazy. That girl just wiped the floor with our goons. She's terrifying, she can't possibly just be a psychic. I see why she's so special, why they wanted us to watch her. I couldn't get into her head at all from that distance, and when I tried she ran for it!" Lady really did laugh, like she didn't believe what was happening.

"She got away?" BG said, alarmed. "What's so funny about that? Locate her right now so I can jump over and grab her, what the fuck is wrong with you Lady, an untrained civilian shouldn't be able to take out four of us at once!"

"Three," said Lady, brightly, like it was the funniest thing in the world.

"Three?"

"Three. It's too good. That Artificial who bit you last year helped her, he turned on us. They ran away together-- don't worry I can feel their minds, even from here. Hiding while the girl tries to reach her dad to come save her before it's too late. It's all fear fear fear, I don't think I can stop laughing about it."

BG had to keep himself from reacting. It wasn't funny. It was awful. So Johnny had known that he was going to die on this mission. He must have known for days, must have been waiting for it. There wasn't much worse than the anticipation of one's own death. It was the reaction of a cow going to slaughter and trying uselessly to turn back. Of course Lady sensed fear. Johnny knew he was going to die and had tried to save a civilian girl anyway. And now they were both going to be hunted down easily, Johnny would die, and Cynthia Tariq would be taken away from her dads and tortured and brainwashed until she was nothing but a soldier.

He felt numb and hated himself for being a part of this.

"Where are they hiding?" he asked. He wanted to go home. He couldn't go home. He'd never had one.

"Two floors down, close to the left wing," Lady told him. She put her arms around his waist in preparation for teleportation. She was featherlight and he wanted to push her away. "Closet. Isn't it always a closet that they choose to burrow into?"

BG nodded without feeling anything but dread, and made the jump.

Two floors down, the firearm still rung. It blared in the background, impossible to ignore. The hallway was empty, all the students and faculty having scampered away to safety after seeing the fight and hearing the alarms. Since all emergency alert systems were wired into the agency, the single technopath always prevented emergency services from even receiving alerts if secret police were involved. None of them wanted the added difficulty of dealing with the cops, fire-control, or EMTs. These delays had resulted in dozens of civilian deaths, but the missions always went smoothly.

As he stuck the landing, BG noticed the red sneakers he wore. They looked ridiculous on him after all the years of wearing heavy boots, but he kind of liked them. He zoned out for a second to exist in a fantasy where he could wear what he wanted and didn't have to kill anyone, until Lady grasped his metal shoulder. Teleporting didn't make her sick anymore, since she no longer ate and no longer adhered to the same physical laws the rest of them did. She patted him a few times in excitement.

Lady loved to hunt people down just like he once had. For her it was not the thrill of the chase. It was the slow process of it all; the understanding of her prey's terrified anticipation of her arrival.

She pointed at a closed door several meters down the hall. BG followed the path with his eyes. He swallowed. "You sure?" he asked, his mouth dry, knowing the answer.

"Mhm." Lady's eyes had gone black again, deep pools of water framed by impossibly long lashes. She did not look human. She cocked her head for better focus the way that she always did when she listened in telepathically; she had no skill for it, unlike Nickels. For all her power, she failed to even be half the telepath of Smiles' B-Class psychic. "So sad. He's giving the girl advice on how to survive in the agency because he knows they're about to be caught. He’s thinking about all the bad things that ever happened to him."

BG's heart pounded. The frayed nerves in his shoulder burned as if his body was turning against him, as if it was urging him to stop participating in what he knew was wrong. If he was brave he would listen. But he was not brave. He would kill Johnny with his bare hands since he had no weapon. He would restrain a little girl and drag her out of her hiding place so that she could begin a short lifetime of participating in the same wretched things. The cycle repeated itself.

Just go, he thought to himself, unmoving. Just run away. He couldn't. He stared at the closet where the target hid. Boiler closet? Maybe. It would be so easy to stomp over there and get it over with. He had done this dozens of times before, both with Lady and without her. He could not will himself to do so.

"Now would be a good time to surprise them," said Lady. She un-cocked her head and stretched her arms to limber up. The bones in her shoulders and back popped gruesomely. "Really reaching a whaddya call it, a crescendo of feelings in there." She laughed her girlish, high-pitched laughed. The fire-alarm had not stopped. When BG did not move, she took the initiative. She covered the short distance to the door as quietly and gracefully as a dancer. BG reluctantly followed behind her and flexed his left arm in preparation for the kill.

How many people had he killed with that arm?

The closet door was one of the flimsy ones that slid open and shut, painted the same color as the wall so that it was perfectly camouflaged. There was no handle, no lock, only a small indentation where one could insert their fingers to slide it open. Lady hooked two fingers into it and pulled; BG loomed behind her like a menacing shadow.

Boiler closet. Of course it was. Like all boiler closets it was dark and cramped, with only just enough room for the mechanical beast that provided heated water and steam for the left wing of the school. Two people could not fit inside comfortably, but fit they did. Johnny stood closest to the door. He was in a fighting stance, ready to lunge. The t-shirt and jeans he wore to be undercover made him almost look like a normal kid, but that was the end of it. His face was wild and afraid; his sharp teeth were bared in a snarl but his eyes were big and wet like two runny fried eggs. The girl, Cynthia Tariq was pushed uncomfortably behind him like he was trying to protect her. She held something in her arms and gazed at the intruders in the way that civilians who have never seen Elite secret police agents always do. She had dark skin, bright eyes, and box braids that were in disarray, probably due to her recent fight. Someone must have hit her before she escaped the cafeteria, because a bruise was forming on one of her cheeks. She looked frightened, but not nearly as frightened as she should have been.

When Johnny saw Lady, that's when he must have known it was all over because he started to breathe rapidly; BG could see his chest rising and falling. But Cynthia was worse, it was like she knew Lady's true nature just by looking at her. She squeezed the thing in her arms tight and it squeaked.  As mashed as she was up against the boiler, she tried to correct her stance instead of cringing back. It wasn't that Cynthia was not afraid-- she was very afraid, judging by the way she looked at Lady like she was some hideous spider. It was that she had the strength of will in to push past the fear.

She looked so young. 16 was older than a lot of recruits were when they got pulled away into the agency. For some reason, Cynthia seemed younger. It was because she where she was supposed to be. She was supposed to be in school, doing whatever it was teenagers were supposed to do in school. BG never had that privilege. He could see ink stains on the sleeve of her pink sweatshirt and that made him feel worse than anything, though he could not place why.

"I'm surprised you guys got as far as you did," said Lady, like she was some kind of villain from a movie. BG wished she wouldn't talk so they could get this horrible ordeal over with. She didn't twitch a muscle, but was already using her monstrous ability. Johnny shook all over like a dog as she pulled things from the recesses of his memory. It could have been anything; he had suffered enough over the years. Cynthia did not seem to be affected but she grew more alarmed when she saw that..

Cynthia dropped the thing she had been holding so that she could clumsily put up her fists. BG was roused from his discomfort and self-loathing when he realized that it was one of the alien creatures, like Dot except larger. It stretched itself up into a dripping bipedal form all covered in eyes and mouths, aping a human-like shape. It wrapped several long black tendrils around Cynthia's legs and her waist. When Lady saw it, she hopped back in disgust.

"Get away from us," said Cynthia. Her voice quavered a bit but she spoke like she was making a threat. She maintained eye contact with Lady, something that most people could not do. "I'm not kidding, I know how to fight."

"Me too," said the creature. It formed what could almost be called a human face, exactly where a face should be.

This display shocked Lady so intensely that she must have let go of her psychic connection to Johnny, because he refocused and he stopped shaking. It shocked BG too. He was not aware that there were other creatures that could talk like Dot could. He was not aware that there were others that could make connections to humans. In that moment, Cynthia Tariq was more familiar to him than Lady was. She was a girl that loved a slimy little alien, just like Bizo. Someone who was like that saw the good parts of things, not the bad. This girl cared about a creature that wasn't even from her own dimension, something that deserved to creep around in the sewers eating vermin. She was not disgusted by it the way that all other people who could see Things were. She had made friends with Johnny in less than 3 days-- Johnny, a person who was harmful,  empty, and unlikable. BG didn't need to talk to her to know what she was like: Cynthia Tariq was good.

He was about to take her to a place that would squash all the good right out of her.

Lady regarded Cynthia and the creature. "Ew," she said to BG. She wrinkled her nose and suddenly the creature made the kind of noise a cat makes when it is being slowly flattened beneath a wheel. The oily black surface of its flesh bubbled like it was being boiled. Its dozens of eyes rolled wildly before being sucked back into its body. As it shrieked, Cynthia grabbed at it in sudden terror, the same way one grabs at a family member. But her fingers slipped through its body as it dissolved into gelatinous black jelly and melted into a quivering puddle by her feet.

The only way Lady could affect something was if it had complex feelings. BG looked at the puddle. He thought about Dot.

"Billy?!" Cynthia exclaimed, but she did not waste time on grief. She tried to lunge at Lady. Johnny, standing in front of her, held her back. He had that unnatural freak strength Artificials sometimes had, but even then he appeared to strain against her. What was this girl? The dossier he had read said that she was nothing but a low-grade psychic, but then how was she that physically strong? She was not an Artificial, but then why did she have strange blue eyes and a mouthful of sharp teeth? She seemed to be reading Johnny's thoughts, because she looked at him and then stopped fighting. The message was clear: it was futile to fight two Elites. But Cynthia was not resigned; every inch of her body was tense and ready to move.

"Don't hurt her," Johnny said to BG. It was the first words he had said to him since that night he had sunk his teeth into his neck. All the fear seemed to have gone out of him now to be replaced by acceptance. Who could possibly get past both Lady and BG? Nobody could evade such hunters."I know you gotta kill me, I get it,  but don't hurt her. You don't know what it's really like in there."

"I'm sorry," said BG, completely pathetic. He pictured what he would have to do, what he did not want to do. If he was lucky they wouldn't fight back.

He was not lucky.

Cynthia lunged for a second time and shoved past Johnny with a strength that should not have been possible. It was clear that she was untrained, but someone in her life had shown her how to throw a punch. She moved with the ferocity of a person who does not find it acceptable to quit. Her fist connected with Lady's face, dead center. It could have been a crippling blow, had Lady not recognized the danger she was in and lashed out psychically against it. Still, Cynthia's punch hit Lady square in the nose and shattered it with a loud crunch, sending Lady reeling back against BG. But the moment that Cynthia's skin touched Lady's, she crumpled to her knees, her body twisting in pain.

Suddenly motivated, Johnny also sprung forward to attack Lady, who he recognized as the greater threat. He moved to sweep her legs out from under her. Johnny was fast but BG was faster. He took one step into the boiler room and intercepted him, using his left arm to slam him against the wall hard so that he couldn't move. What Johnny’s Ability came down to was luckiness. Most of the time he was impossibly lucky. Other times, like this time, he screwed himself over so badly that it seemed like he had no luck at all. BG pressed his forearm across Johnny's throat and applied enough pressure to start incapacitating him-- knowing that with enough intensity, his job would be done.

He was farther from the door now, though only a pace separated him from Lady. By his feet, Cynthia Tariq's body convulsed and she cried for her mother. BG could see Lady out of the corner of his eye. Cynthia's punch had broken Lady's delicate nose; it was smashed and flattened. Blood poured out of both nostrils, down her chin, neck, and chest. The blood made BG sick to see and he steeled himself against becoming faint. Lady froze like she did not know what had happened to her. In nearly a decade, no target had ever laid a hand on her. She put a hand to her nose and then shuddered with pain and rage.

"You good?" BG asked her. Johnny struggled to free himself but grew weak from the lack of oxygen. BG tried not to look at him. He knew he had to end it, that it would be kinder to do it fast. He didn't have it in him to press down.

Lady gazed down on Cynthia, who went into another convulsion. In nearly 10 years, BG had never seen her so inhuman. Her eyes were completely black, no longer deep pools of water, but like holes in her skull. The entire lower part of her face was red and the blood dripped down onto the floor. Her trembling lips pulled back into an obscene smile. The blood was in her mouth and it stained her teeth. She crouched down to get closer to Cynthia and dropped whatever psychic torture program she was running in the girl's brain.

"Change of plans," said Lady, speaking more to Cynthia than to BG. "Looks like we failed our mission and couldn't take the girl in. Unavoidable accident." Cynthia breathed heavily and tried to get back up, but the things that Lady had made her experience had not given up their influence. All the girl could do was glare back at Lady without blinking, frozen.

Her words sent a chill through his body, like his own blood had turned to ice-water. Without knowing what she was talking about, he understood that this was it. This was the place where she really went off the deep end. Where their two paths separated forever. He had been waiting for it since the day he caught her hurting Bizo. Waiting for the moment she finally went where he couldn't follow.

Waiting for the moment where he would have to make a choice he didn't want to make.

"You can't mean that" he said, from a place that was far away and outside of his body. He forced himself to look at Johnny, who looked back in the way that people who know they're going to die do, little blood vessels in his eyes already bright and red from not being able to breathe. He didn't hate Johnny, didn't want to hurt him despite all of the things he had done. BG understood. And he wanted him to be free in a place where nobody could hurt him anymore.

BG wanted all of them to be free in a place where nobody could hurt them anymore.

"I mean it," said Lady. When she breathed, bubbles of mucus and blood came out of her ruined nostrils. She put one of her hands on Cynthia's head, gently rolled one of her braids between two fingers. "We have time. I want to slice her apart. You can do whatever you want to that guy. I know you must want to after what he did to you."

He knew one thing for sure and that was that he would not be able to live with himself if he allowed Lady to torture and kill this girl. BG used to think he was a good person, but had lost that sense of himself back when he realized that he was just a tool in the hands of someone evil. He had never been a good person. He looked the other way when people got hurt. He hurt people himself. He let people die and he let people get punished. He could not do that for even one more minute unless he wanted to blow his own brains out.

BG stopped pressing his arm against Johnny's windpipe so that he could breathe. Johnny wheezed and sucked air into his lungs, looking at BG warily, intelligent enough to know that he was being shown mercy but too stupid to understand why. When he was sure that Johnny was not going to react, BG released his hold on him entirely. He shook his head once to try to communicate the importance of not interfering.

On her knees in front of the girl, Lady was not paying attention to anything but the harm she intended to dole out. She was humming to herself, the way that she did when she was getting into 'torture mode'.

"Lady," said BG. He stepped to stand beside Cynthia and extended his left hand to his teammate. She took his hand without hesitation and allowed him to help her to her feet. Totally trusting, totally unaware. And why shouldn't she be? Over the years, BG had never given a reason to believe that he would harm her. Cynthia was frozen, and in Lady’s mind someone like Johnny was lower than dirt. Maybe she believed that he was showing her affection, maybe she believed that he wanted to tell her something important. It was impossible to say.

She was a monster and he loved her so much but it was all...wrong.

"Yes?" When she looked at him she was not really looking at him. Her terrible, beautiful, blood covered face was completely open. The cruelty and insectile anger on it faded away the moment that he spoke to her. BG had never wished to be a psychic before, but he did in that moment. What was she thinking? How was she feeling? She had no premonition of what he was about to do to her because she trusted him completely. He had watched her back for so many years. He had turned his back on what she did to others for so many years.

He cupped her face in his hands. When she brought him back after he lost his arm and he was bleeding helplessly as the bombs went off around them, she had cupped his face in her hands just like that. That was the day that he found her, but that was the day he had started to lose her as well. There was no going back to the girl she was before, the girl who he had been friends with, because that girl had been dead for a long time. The thing that was left was something that should not be. BG wanted to do the girl that Lady used to be just one act of kindness.

He should have said something. He should have said 'I love you', or, 'I'm sorry', but he didn't.

With one fast, simple, practiced movement, BG jerked Lady's head hard to one side and broke her neck. She died instantly. Painlessly. It was more than she could say for anyone who had died at her hands. One second she was there and the next second she was gone. Nothing changed. Lady looked the same as she ever did, she just wasn't...alive. She could have been sleeping. It wasn't like Echo, whose death had been concrete and violent and left half their skull blown off. BG carefully lowered her body to the floor and wondered why he didn't feel anything.

The second that Lady died, Cynthia Tariq regained control of her body. "What the fuck!" she said, gasping in pain but popping up to push past BG and Johnny in order to get to the black puddle. It was reforming itself too, the way that Dot had once. "Billy?! Are you OK?!"

Johnny did not look like he understood what was going on, like he expected the other shoe to drop and land him into an even worse situation. He had one hand on his neck and was still trying to position himself between BG and Cynthia.

The severity of what BG had done was starting to hit, but he still did not feel panic or grief. The numbness did not leave him. The fire alarm droned on and on as it had that entire time, and he thought about his next steps. He couldn't run. Running would make it worse. If all three of them ran then there would be nobody left to cover it all up. He knew what he had to do.

He would never be able to make up for all the bad things he had done. But he could start.

He would help Cynthia and Johnny escape the school District. He would go back to the Capitol building and as time passed he would do everything in his power to help as many people get out as he could. Until they caught him-- and they would catch him. It would be worth it.

BG looked at Lady one last time. He took a deep breath. “OK,” he said. For the first time in a long time, his voice felt like his own again. He felt like he was his own again. Maybe that was a start. “You two have to listen to me very carefully and do exactly what I tell you to do. I’m getting you out of here.”

EPILOGUE: MEANWHILE

When Yancey Atwood heard the fire-alarm go off from the safety of the classroom he was lounging in, he knew that the secret police kids were going after his protege Cynthia. Not that he was worried about her safety. Scrappy kid could fight! Not only had he been teaching her his technique, but the sad old lady cop and the rich mob guy had been sharing their skills as well. He had total confidence in her ability to survive, just as long as the A-Class agents didn’t involve themselves-- especially the psychic. Cynthia was a bright girl. She reminded him of himself.

No, now was not the time to worry about Cynthia. Now was the time to get the Teleporter without raising Silas’s suspicions. The chaos would make it easy to look like he had run away.

Yancey sipped on his 3rd energy drink of the day. “Hey Harper,” he said to his companion. “Let’s get this show on the road, bud. Time to grab your chubby boyfriend and blow this popsicle stand.” He wondered if he was mixing metaphors but didn’t care enough to correct himself.

Harper Malena, who was known as “Echo” to their little secret police pals until Yancey had brilliantly orchestrated their escape, didn’t say anything. So quiet. They didn’t have much going on upstairs, it showed in their blank and glazed over face. Sometimes he wasn’t sure why he had bothered with them as long as he had, but they were useful in their own way. And he knew for sure that they cared about the Teleporter known as ‘Bubblegum’ (stupid name) more than they cared about their own life.

Out of habit, they raised their hands to start signing, but then put them back down. Yancey couldn’t read sign language and always forced them to speak if they had something to say. Looked like whatever it was wasn’t that important.

Yancey smiled and sipped on his drink. He couldn’t help but laugh.

That Bubblegum guy was about to get the shock of his life.

[the-firebird69]

Everyone recognize the terrain as Hawaii not New Zealand they were out there underground or something and woken up my blood in San Fran and went out there to Hawaii and got caught and then they've been building that facility for several months and for some reason everybody seems interested in it and I think it's because they're captured and they're going to try and fit them with the AI thing robotic pain or RC or Yeager system from inside and they're trying to infiltrate a captured by bringing down another kju a Godzilla here and then try and grab a bunch they have probably 1,500 of them there so it's actually some of this captured him and BG is there and back they go out there tomorrow they're going to try and fit him an Asian shows up for real and they grab the ship and the T-Rex and go the other way to New York and try and bring their people there cuz they can't get past the blockade and while some of them are molok both blockhaids my son makes a dumb joke. So they're sitting there tonight actually they go out there later and still daytime and the show starts this morning actually right now and by the time tomorrow afternoon rolls around this crazy Godzilla stuff's going on and tomorrow night it goes to San Diego now tonight it goes to San Diego then it comes out and goes down to Jamaica and tomorrow night it goes to New York then for some reason they go all the way back around for real. It's kind of their home their whole really live for less they think they're born. Also sad it's a crypt they're going to go back to the crypt. But it seems like he's trying to ditch her somehow go after something and the competing for silicon.

Zues

I'm mad at you I can do this job says at what point West point empties out of general Colin Powell Jesus Christ that's all those nights and were there for hey stupid people anyways I'm still mad at you well come and get it have a ball I get what your saying

Hera

It's kind of money oh let me putting things bombs there maybe the computer put big bombs next to it and it's trying to threaten for it

Thor

Okay Jenny sacks lol

Freya

Sacks or what Johnny sacks.

Shit lk Dan says

Zues

Is enough for me just finding a place this is hell you're so bad I can't help anything he says just touch the old risk or put like a warning thing you have on T-Rex you know it was going to happen here so I'm getting it unruly jerks. The southern open the whiskey bars like 20 minutes after you said it there with all this equipment and stuff I hear my mind's eye he's going now don't make any holes cuz I'm cutting until scratching me and then like okay then if you holes doing it anyways I'm drinking one of them it's a nice house it was a beautiful woman who came very cruel and had to because everyone was very mean and they're still very mean to me and everyone else this blouse is so terrible I can't calm down.. cork is selected me to be Sarge, did you see that he's a maniac and out of control it's a subdue

Mac