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magic-missle-blog · 4 years ago

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Ghost division 2 – The belly of the beast

2nd story in what will hopefully be a series. Roughly 6k words. Hope you enjoy

:readmore:

Four missiles streaked through the darkness of space from the canadation destroyer as it smashed through the human battle group.

The warship TDF Glasgow rocked as a missile impacted the hull. Point defence had taken out three others but the fourth slammed into the starboard side.

“Damage report!” the captain shouted as he swivelled his command chair to face the tactical officer.

“The hull plating is scorched and buckled, but no internal damage. We were lucky.” The tactical officer replied, shouting to be heard over the various alarms and beeps in the small bridge.

“We cant rely on luck. If we get hit again its your head!” The captain growled. His hair was cut close to his scalp and a sheen of sweat reflected in the bright yellow light on his dark skin.

Tactical officer Rotchford nodded. Her brow furrowed as she quickly typed into her console. “don’t worry I’m on it, I’ve analysed the firing pattern and I can probably take out most of the missiles, its those fucking fighters and energy weapons I cant do a thing about.”

Just as she finished speaking a swarm of small locust shaped fighters buzzed passed the ship, pelting the armour with energy weapons.

Turrets tracked the fighters, spitting hypersonic tungsten shells. One of the Canidation fighters exploded, the rest of the group took evasive action and continued on the attack run through the human fleet.

The ship rocked again and various alarms clamoured for attention. Lights on the bridge flickered.

Captain Conroy nodded and straightened his uniform. He brought up a tactical display on the console built into his chair.

Five Canidation warships had engaged the fleet of seven Terran defence force destroyers and the humans were loosing badly. The Canidations had the firepower and faster ships. Fighters swarmed over the fleet firing kinetic weapons and lasers, some with great effect.

He watched as another of the fleet exploded. That was the second ship they had lost. The battle had been raging for what felt like hours but in reality it was only 30 minutes. The Canidations had dropped out of hyperspace in this remote system to ambush a Human supply run. The freighters had escaped unharmed but the escort fleet couldn’t leave, not without leaving this Canidation battle group free reign to attack other convoys.

“Shit. That was the Newcastle!” the first officer said “Fleet captain Broadie…he was a good man”

The computer screamed out a proximity warning as another salvo of missiles streaked towards them, but true to her word the tactical officers new point defence programme took them all out. She returned fire with the main cannon as the destroyer elegantly swung around, scoring a direct hit to the Canidations engines. The insectoid ship vented atmosphere and appeared to lose power as running lights flickered out and the ship drifted

The other enemy ships moved towards the remaining fleet.

“Scan that ship, is it dead?” Conroy commanded the science officer as the warship rocked under more impacts

“yeah it appears… Fuck” the science officer said as his console went dark and the lights cut out.

A few moments later the ships emergency power kicked in and the lights came back on, but dull red colour. His console lit up. “ yeah its dead. I think. Scans are all over the place.”

Conroy nodded, as the most senior officer left in the tattered fleet he assumed command.. “signal the fleet. Lets get the fuck out of here...but slowly, I want to draw them away from that damaged ship.” He plotted a course that would take them deep into the Oort cloud of this system.

The remaining ships of the Terran defence force broke off the engagement and retreated. Caught by surprise at the sudden change in tactics, The Canidations stopped dead, recalled the fighters then followed, slowly gaining ground on the slower terran warships.

Glancing at his command console captain Conroy opened fleet wide comms. Signalling the other commanders he said “Listen up people. Once we are in that cloud drop sensor decoys try to buy me some time . I’m going to double back and capture that ship.”

The crew looked at him in astonishment

“Damn” said the first officer. “And I thought today was going to be a quiet day.”

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

The war against the Canidations had been raging for 3 months, and the Terran empire was losing.

The Canidations ships were more advanced, and they had the numbers. The only saving grace is that the Canidations were fighting two other larger empires. Humanity, as a relatively new race to the galactic stage, hadn’t been seen as a concern. Almost an afterthought.

No one knew why the war started. Canidations were a reclusive species. They had no trade with the wider galactic community, no embassies, no contact at all. No one really even knew if “Canidation” was their species name. They stayed in their home systems, A group of a dozen or so stars a few light years around the Canadathon, their home world.

A decade ago the Canidations has blasted out of their home system with an over powering military force and attacked a neighbouring world without warning. Everything was a viable target to them and they didn’t take prisoners…or at least they didn’t keep them alive for long.

For ten long years they attacked and destroyed any neighbouring species, expanding their empire. The first races, unused to galactic warfare on such a scale had fallen quickly. Other species had tried to build up their own military force but simply didn’t have the infrastructure in place and couldn’t come close to the Canidations speed of production. It seemed like for every Canidation ship that fell two more would take its place.

The Canidations were an insectoid race, they looked like an unholy amalgamation of a spiders body with a praying mantis torso, like an insect centaur. They didn’t seem to capture any world they won, they destroyed it. Left it a lifeless husk, took any easily accessible resources then moved on like locusts. Maybe they would be back to terraform it later, maybe not. No one knew.

The destruction on such a scale seemed senseless, and completely alien. Not even the best human generals, phycologists or philosophers could come up with a reason for this carnage.

What was known was they had a lot of ships. More than every other military in this region of space combined. They had been building up for decades and it seemed like now was the time to unleash their might.

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

The Glasgow had ducked behind a dwarf planet in the Oort cloud and waiting while the remaining fleet had drawn the Canidations away, then used a risky in system jump to get back quickly to the battlefield. They had scanned for survivors of the destroyed Terran ships but unfortunately found plenty of debris but no life signs.

TDF Glasgow slowly drew up alongside the crippled Canidation vessel, comms jammers at full power blocking any communication from the hulk. It had been few hours since the shot had crippled the Bug ship, but it was still drifting without any main power, its engines dark and cooling.

It looked like reserve power had kicked in and there was several Canidations on the main hull close to the breach in what looked like dark space suits, although it could have been their flesh. Conroy didn’t know enough about the species to tell. It was obvious the Canidations were trying to repair the damage.

The insectoid ship was large, at least half again as big as the Glasgow and followed an unorthodox design. It was nothing like the sleek Terran ships, whose lines were reminiscent of the war planes that fought in earth’s skies in the 20th century. Human ships were long and sleek, with swept back retractable wings protruding from the mid section to allow atmosphere flight when fully extended. Canidation was bulky, and looked like a flattened pinecone and close range scans showed it be highly modular.

The bridge appeared to be at on top of the bulky front section. Conroy guessed below this would be weapons, crew quarters and the like. Engineering and the ships drive core, and sub light engines must be located in the tapering end. Cannons clustered around the front with turrets in two rows along the top and bottom of the ship.

Conroy assumed there would be about 60 or so crew on board. Terran destroyers had a crew of 30 plus 10 marines. Not good odds Conroy thought.

“Easy to build, quick to swap different sections out if needed” Science officer McCallum said as he looked over the data.

Conroy nodded to Commander Paulson, the first office. “Pauly, get a boarding party ready. Find any intel you can get your hands on but don’t take any stupid risks. Focus on engineering, medical, ship deployments, shit we can find to kill these things.” Looking at McCallum “what do they need?”

McCallum brought up all the information he had on Canidations, which wasn’t a lot.

“Scans show gravity and life support is still active and the ship has atmosphere, although I use the term loosely. Their air is made up of 30% oxygen, 15% Co2, 10% Hydrogen sulphide, the rest is nitrogen, water vapour and trace gasses. Average temperature is roughly 30 degrees Celsius and humidity is close to 70%. Gravity is low, roughly 0.6G. So basically your walking into a hot sweaty hellhole that’ll smell like Satan’s ass. Enjoy” he finished with a laugh.

Paulson looked at the captain “Gee thanks Boss, you give me all the best jobs. Breathing units all round then.” He saluted as he left the bridge.

“Mac…what killed this ship? Did we get a lucky shot?”

McCallum looked over his reading for a few moments. “Yeah, very lucky. Looks like there is a weakness around the main engine core on this ship. Plasma exhaust has weakened the hull armour in a small area right above the main power linkage, its little better than paper. Must be a design flaw…if that shot had hit even a few meters on either side it wouldn’t have made a dent.”

Rotchford laughed. “luck had nothing to do with it. It’s pure skill.”

She grinned

Conroy rolled his eyes.

“Yeah yeah if you say so” he said grinning. Conroy didn’t mind a bit of banter with the bridge crew. He felt it build camaraderie and they all worked better as a result.

Turning to Macallum he said

“Deep scan this bitch, I see what else you can find, anything that’ll give us an edge.”

From over the other side of the bridge the tactical offer said “Captain, I think I’ve found something too. The missiles on the ship are armed.”

Conroy looked over “So?”

Rotchford brushing her brown bangs that had escaped from the severe bun on her head said “Our missiles auto arm a second after launch to prevent any accidents, these appear to pre arm before launch, Probably as soon as they find a hostile ship. Once direct hit could detonate the entire missile battery. The armour is thick but the launch tubes are vulnerable . “

“Comms” Conroy said excitedly “Tight beam the rest of the fleet and let them know what we’ve found…might give them an edge.”

Turning back to tactical

“Why would they do that?”

Rotchford shrugged. “not sure. It does mean the missiles can be fired much closer then we can shoot. Out missiles travel so fast that by the time they arm they’re a couple of hundred kilometres away, makes them useless for close engagements. By pre-arming them they get around that problem. Makes it almost impossible to shoot them down when the bugs get in close.”

Minutes passed slowly. Soon the boarding party was on board a small ship to ship shuttle and on route to dock with the crippled ship.

The shuttle did a quick fly over the damaged section and fired small arms at the Canidations working on the damaged hull, Killing the repair team. The aliens magnetic grips kept the bodies stuck to the hull like bugs splattered by a windscreen.

McCallum looked up “I’ve found something else captain, it wont help us now but I think we can take advantage of it.”

He put his display on the main screen, All eyes turned to it.

“I thought about using some kind of plasma weapon to weaken the armour of the whole ship, and that’ll probably work, we don’t use plasma tech, but I’m sure the weapons experts back home can build something.” He took a breath “Anyway, that got me thinking, Plasma is basically really hot ionized gas. Its expelled as exhausts right away as too much heat inside the ship it bad. As you know its almost impossible to loose heat in space, so we use active cooling systems to…”

Conroy interrupted before McCallum could go into a lecture on the finer points of starship heat management. “Get to the point”

Mccallum looked sheepish “Sorry sir, anyway, the Canidations seem to use radiator panels, they’re well armoured but vulnerable to excessive heat. A focussed laser beam could overload them. If they cant loose heat they’ll cook inside the ships.”

“Well done Mac, get everything we’ve found so far and bundle the data ready for transmission back to HQ”

Minutes dragged as Mccallum compiled the data.

Everyone was on eggshells, watching the boarding shuttle latch on to the Canidation hull and begin cutting through. Tactical constantly scanning for any Canidation ships that might be inbound. Conroy wondered how the rest of the fleet was fairing. The TDF ships were more manoeuvrable than the larger Canidation warships, so as long as they kept in a dense part of the Oort cloud, dodging comets and dwarf planets then the TDF ships should have an advantage.

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

Inside the shuttle the atmosphere was tense. Paulson looked over the assembled combat team. All had breathing units over their lower faces. The units would filter out the harmful gasses and reduce the oxygen pressure to something breathable, but as they weren’t full space suits or fully sealed Paulson knew the stench would get through, he grinned inwardly he hadn’t told the team what the Canidation air was like, he wanted to see the reactions.

The ten member boarding team all had dark grey combat armour, and each carried a small side arm and a combat knife. Eight also carried an assault rifle with enough ammo to take on a small army, the other two combat engineers carried various tools and computer equipment. Their mission was to hack into any systems they could find and mine it for data.

The shuttle bumped into the hull and latched on. A magnetic tube made an air tight seal around the hatch. It opened to show a sold hull. The engineers immediately started cutting to gain access. It was slow going. Armour that can withstand heavy ship weapons wont easily fail to small plasma torches.

Sargent Waltham stepped up next to Paulson. “We’re ready to go” She said coolly.

Paulson nodded. “Get in and secure the area. Set up fire lines kill anything that’s got more than two legs.” He said to Waltham.

She was tall, blonde, very pretty in hard way. People, especially men, tended to underestimate her due to her looks, thinking she was just a made up barbie doll. Paulson had thought the same thing once, until she kicked his ass in hand to hand training. The first round he went easy on her and he was flat on his back in 5 seconds. The second round he went all out, and to his credit, he managed to last a full 7 seconds before she had him pined, face pressed against the floor and his left arm twisted up his back. Waltham, like all the other,s had earned her place in the combat team, but unlike the men she had to continually prove she deserved to be there. This constant striving for perfection had made her one of the best solders Paulson had ever worked with.

The thick hull armour fell inwards with a heavy thunk. The sound echoed around the shuttle. The stench of rotten eggs filler the small enclosed space and everyone wrinkled their noses.

“For fucks sake… is this ship full of farts?” Jones, the lead combat engineer said.

Paulson grinned. “Ok move out. Slow and steady, I don’t want any fuck ups.”

The team moved slowly into the alien vessel. The interior was dark, smelly and hot, lighting was a deep red that cast odd shadows. Paulson didn’t know if this was normal or if it was due to low power.

Waltham took her place first in line as the engineers cleared the hull and opened a portal to the interior of the ship. She directed one of her team , Ramerez, a young marine on his first away mission , hang back and guard the shuttle just encase they needed to make a quick exit.

Ramerez took position just inside the the shuttle door, he pulled a couple of boxes containing emergency supplies across the entrance and dug in.

The rest of the team followed her lead, with Paulson acting as rear guard, scanning the corridor behind him with a quick practiced eye.

One of the marines whispered in a low voice “damn, this is weird.”

“what is? Looks like a normal ship corridor to me” Paulson said

“sir...that’s what I mean. I expected...well dirt..or tunnels like that old movie ‘Aliens’. You know, the one where the dildo bursts out of some guys chest and all these Marines hunt it down? I mean they’re bugs for Christ’s sake..but this just looks normal.”

Paulson shook his head.“Lay off the old horror flicks. Keep it together”.

Looking at a handheld scanner Jones said “looks like there might be a room down the corridor to the right, I’m reading power spikes, it could be a place I can hack into there systems.”

The team crept inward, the low gravity giving them a bounce to their steps. They were searching for a room with a computer access, but all the could see were long featureless corridors. The came to a junction and as they passed a blast of plasma energy almost took Walthams head off. She Pulled back just in time, lightning quick reflexes saving her life. As it was the plasma shot singed her combat helmet.

Risking another blast, Waltham popped her head around then quickly pulled it back. Three Canidations waited around the corner, plasma rifles at the ready for another shot.

Pulling a flashbang from her belt she leaned out and expertly tossed he weapon into the centre of the group, a second later a loud BANG and a FLASH of bright light lit up the corridor. She could hear a smattering of legs as the Canidations fell back. Her and two of her team ran around keeping low and opened fire. The sound of the assault rifles sounded odd in the dense air. the Canidations tried to return fire but there shots went wide, scorching the metal bulkheads, obviously still blinded by the light. The skirmish was over quickly.

The team crept up slowly to the dead aliens. One in the was headless. Its body twitched, a dark yellow fluid pumping from its neck. The other two were still. Red faceted eyes that took up most of the head were dull and lifeless. Mandibles closed tighter than a vice.

Bullets had ripped the skinny top part of one in half, and the others larger thorax between the spiders-like legs was riddled and leaking the same yellow fluid.

The team looked at the corpses, they were…creepy. They unnerved the humans just looking at them. Jones knelt down and pointed something out. “Look, this one has a couple of cybernetic legs. That one has a cybernetic head…That’s so weird. Gives me the creeps.”

Paulson looked. “Why weird?”

“Think of what this means. They use medical tech to repair wounds. Replace missing limbs like we do. You don’t think of bugs caring for individuals I guess. I assumed they would be like a hive, like ants or termites just mindless soldier’s, disposable and replaceable. Maybe they’re more than that.“

One of the other marines, Patel a tall solid build man with a cold gaze said in a whisper “They’re like spiders, I fucking hate spiders. Normal spiders are bad enough but these are super sized fuckers with guns. “

He shivered as a cold chill ran down his spine. Taking one last place at the dead Canadation he walked slowly past, rifle ready for another attack.

As the team moved on one of the corpses stood up with a clatter. It swiped at a passing trooper with its upper limbs, razor sharp claws sliced across his face and chest, cutting flesh and the scoring deep cuts on his combat armour. He fell back shocked. The headless alien thrashed about, seemingly attracted to the noise the shocked humans made. It tried to reach for another one but a burst of fire from Waltham’s rifle tore through its thorax . the alien twitched again then fell back. She crept up, gun ready and kicked the corpse. No reaction. It was truly dead.

Patel looked a mess, his face had been cut to the bone, but he’d live. Two others helped bandage him up.

“fucking fuckitty fucking spiders! “ he shouted and kicked the corpse, holding his wounded face and blood soaked bandages.

“get back to the shuttle” Waltham commanded him.

He nodded, his face screwed up in pain, The bandages soaking with blood. He got to his feet and headed back the way he came.

Paulson looked at jones “What the fuck?”

Jones shrugged “I’m no medical expert, but I guess a head shot wont kill them. Maybe they keep their brains in there ass or something, I guess the head is just for eating and seeing.” Pointing to the Canidation with the cybernetic head “Maybe loosing the head for them is just like loosing an eye for us? Or maybe they’re like cockroaches. We should drag these things back to the shuttle. Medical back at HQ would have a field day.”

Paulson nodded “team, forget headshots, aim for the centre mass.” He directed a couple of team member to take the most intact body back to the shuttle “Keep it under guard…just in case”

The diminished team made there way deeper into the ship. Paulson was aware of the time he was taking, he knew The Glasgow couldn’t wait forever, but he wanted more than a few dead bugs. Soon they came across an empty room. The door was closed but a kick and a shove and it slid back into the wall. The team entered. Looking around, there was a lot of electronics that Paulson couldn’t guess the function off. Jones quickly set up his scanner. Pulling open a panel he found circuit boards. After quick scan he attached a lead from his scanner to one of the chips.

“If i can hack this, this should give me access” he worked quickly The rest of the team took up positions around the door. Paulson moved to the back of the room and signalled Waltham.

“thoughts? He said after she walked over

Waltham shrugged “they don’t seem too tough. Decent weapons though.“ she pointed to the plasma rifle she’d captured.

“hows things between you two?” he nodded to Jones

Relationships were against regulations but as long as it was discreet no one really minded. It could be lonely in deep space.

Waltham smiled. “he’s sweet, like a puppy. Always eager to please. But utterly fearless too. He could be a great soilder, but likes his gizmos too much.”

“Yeah jones is a good one.” Paulson agreed. He’s been friends with jones for years. They grew up in the same town went to the same high school, and went through training together.

Minutes ticked by. Jones had attached a large data cube to his scanner. He came over to the pair while the data downloaded “. I can copy the full ships hard drive. Shouldn’t take long. There’s not a lot of data, mainly seems to be the ships opperating system. Seems pretty basic. I did find something interesting though, I found ship schematic. We’re not far from a path to fire control. Its down the end of that corridor out there. “

Paulson thought for a second. “no, we have enough we need to get back”

Just as he said that his communicator beeped. It was the shuttle “Sir, get back here we need to go! A Canidation warship is on approach, ETA 7 minutes!”

“Ok people pack your shit up, we need to get out of here! Double time!”

The team grabbed there gear and quickly made there way back into the corridor. Several canidations ran down the steel hallway, the hack had triggered some kind of security protocol. These Canidations didn t have weapons but they moved so fast in the lower gravity that the quickly closed the distance, soon it was a melee, claw against fist.

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

Alarms cried out for attention on the bridge of the Glasgow. A Canidation warship was closing in.

“eta?” asked Conroy. His calm voice a counterpoint to the frantic activity on the bridge.

“roughly 7 minutes until weapons range. I’ve contacted the shuttle”. maccalum replied.

Conroy nodded. Looking at the helmsman her said “keep that bug ship in between us. We’re smaller and so keep us in its shadow and hopefully they won’t get a weapons lock.”

Nodding, through helmsman fired up the thrusters.

“’ll try time get a target lock on the missile batteries.” Rotchford reported as she programmed the ships turrets.

Captain Conroy starred at the main screen, his fingers tapping a rhythm on the arm of his command seat.

Paulson tried to get a clear shot as a canidaton reared up on its four rear legs. It brought its full weight down on Waltham. Its mandibles opened and snapped closed right over her head. Only her quick thinking and combat helmet saved her from decapitation. She ducked her head and trusting the hardened carbon nanotube and ceramic construction she head-butted the bug right in its open mouth. Mandibles crunched against the helm. The force of through blow and the weight of the bug staggered her for a second, but years of hand to hand training came to her and with a twist and a flick she grabbed the alien and slammed it against the bulkhead. The lower gravity and adrenaline giving her almost superhuman strength.

Her combat knife flashed on the low light as she stabbed the mantis like torso. There was resistance then with a crunch she forced the blade through the carapace. The bug shuddered and wrenched. Flailing its limbs then it was still.

The skirmish was over as quickly as it started. Looking around Paulson shouted “sound off”

A chorus of voices said “here” or “i’m good”

A few troopers took minor injuries but no fatalities.

They sprinted down the corridor. The sound of gunfire brought them up short. The bugs were trying to capture the shuttle. Paulson knew if they lost that they were dead.

A scream echoed down the steel corridor. One of his men had fallen. Canidations pressed on.

“We need a distraction” Paulson shouted to Waltham over the blaring alarms.

“i have an idea. Hold here for a few seconds”

With that she sprinted back the way she came. Moments later an explosion rocked the ship. The lights and gravity cut out, then seconds later they came back on. The unprepared soilders hit the ground but were quickly back on there feet, the Canidations were not as lucky, they were a tangle of legs and claws further down the corridor.

Seizing his chance, Paulson shouting a battle cry and his boarding party fell in the bugs from behind. The battle was short and brutal but they pushed through just as Waltham returned. Her hair was burned and armour scorched.

“What the fuck did you do?” shouted Paulson

“I overloaded that plasma rifle and tossed it in the fire control room. I think we need to get out of here, that room is burning and it’s right next to the missiles”

Once everyone was on board the hatch slammed shut and the shuttle detached then raced back to the Glasgow, just as another explosion ripped through the Canidation warship. A series of smaller explosion’s rocked the ship them with a blast like a supernova the power core blew up. The shuttle was caught in the fireball but escaped with minor damage.

Paulson looked at his and bruised team as the shuttle pilot plotted a course back to the Glasgow.

Paulson pushed one of the Canidation corpses to the side, making down room in the small shuttle. He sat next to the body of a young man, almost a boy. Ramerez. It was his first tour, he was 18 and fresh out of boot camp. Ramerez had taken a plasma blast to the chest. His armour was burned through. Mercifully he had been killed instantly.

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

Conroy watched as the Canidation ship exploded. The shuttle streaked towards the hanger.

“well... shit” he said “get the shuttle on board and get ready to bug out”

calls of “aye” and “yessir” Echoed around the bridge..

The Canidation warship closed in, spitting fire and death at the Glasgow. Point defence destroyed the incoming missiles but the ship rocked from impacts

The Glasgow returned fire, turrets pounded the underside of the Canidation ship as it passed overhead passing through the expanding could of gas and debris.

The helmsman kept a steady course until the shuttle was back in then started evasive manoeuvres, he would have to hold the ship steady for a few moments to allow the hyperdrive to spin up, but the Canidation ship was not making it easy.

“Shuttle is on board. Prepare for Jump in 3...2...1...”

The ship lurched to the side and spun almost 90 degrees, crew members were thrown around the bridge like sticks caught in a hurricane. Alarms blared.

The main lights were down, red emergency lamps cast an eerie glow. Groans came from the crew

Rochford pulled herself back into her seat. Blood running from a head wound. She checked her console “sir..the hyperdrive core has been hit. We’re venting plasma and atmosphere...main power is down. Weapons down....the Canidations are coming around for another pass...”

Before Conroy could respond an explosion tore through the bridge as a missile impacted the armour surrounding the command center.

A ceiling panel that had been knocked loose earlier in the fight fell with a resounding crash pinning Conroy to his command chair and knocking him unconscious. Bones snapped under the force of the impact.

Rochford as the most senior officer left standing opened ship wide Comms “all hands. This is commander rochford. The captain is incapacitated abandon ship. I repeat abandon ship”

She moved as quickly as she could to try to help Conroy, Macallum was at his side trying to move the panel. “mac..leave him. We need to go...” she grabbed his arm “come on...move it soldier” macallum looked at the damaged viewscreen. The Canidation ship was baring down. Any second now it’s main cannons would finish the job. They were out of time.

White hot plasma blasts leaped from the Canidation vessel tearing across the cold black darkness. Promising death to the Glasgow.

A flash and a massive lurch pulled maccalum and Rotchford off their feet, but it wasn’t a weapon impact. It was the lurch of a gravity field forming a few miles away as a ship dropped out of hyperdrive.

A dangerous and potentially fatal move – a single miscalculation could have dropped the new ship right on top of them - but it saved the Glasgow. The rest of the fleet, the few ships that remained had jumped back to help. The TDF New York had jumped In front of the plasma blasts. Taking the hit that would have finished the Glasgow off. It opened up with its main cannons, rail guns blasting the armour above the Canidations missile batteries. Another Terran defence force ship TDF Cardiff jumped in behind and opened up on the bugs with everything it had. The Canidation vessel was powerful, but it couldn’t withstand the combined firepower of the vengeful human warships.

Explosion and explosion, hit after hit. The Canidations withered under the combined firepower and with a final flash it vanished as it’s fusion plant exploded.

The TDF Glasgows communication system beeped for attention. Maccalum moved slowly across

“This is captain Yoshimoyo on the New York. Prepare to receive medic and engineering teams. Your information won us the day Glasgow. All Canidation vessels have been destroyed. This is the first human victory in this war...”

“This is science officer McCallum. “thanks for the help. That was a risky move I owe your helmsman a beer. Captain Conroy has been injured. We don’t know how bad, the ship has taken heavy damage.

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

Weeks later Captain Conroy stood in front of admiral Wong.

Conroy had spent most of the time unconscious. His injuries sever, but with advanced medical skill, talented doctors and a dash of luck he had made a full recovery.

“Captain” the admiral began “I’m glad to see you’re back on your feet. I’ve out an official commendation for yourself and your entire crew. The information you fought so hard for will prove invaluable in this conflict”

Wong continued “The data contained ship specifications, technical manuals, training documents and recent fleet movements. With that information we’ve managed to push the Canidations back in a number of theatres , you and your crew have saved thousands of human lives. We all owe you a debt captain.”

“Thank you sir...i'm eager to get back to the Glasgow sir, to get back in the fight.”

The admiral shook his head

“I’m afraid not Conroy. The Glasgow was heavily damaged and will require months of repairs and refit. We can’t have a seasoned crew out of action for so long. You and your crew are being reassigned.”

Wong passed a pad to the captain

“Our newest, most powerful warship. The TDF Lucifer. You’ll be part of a task force – the ghost division. The Canidations are throwing more and more ships against us, and while we’ve slowed the advance to a crawl we are still loosing. You’ll go behind enemy lines and fight a guerrilla war. Do everything you can to bring the bugs down. Everything is a viable target, including the Canidation homeworld. Teach them to fear the wraith of Earth.”

End

#humans are weird #ghost division #ghostdivison #hfy #humans are space orcs #humanity fuck yeah

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cinebration · 4 years ago

Text

A Moment of Madness (Jonathan Crane x Reader) [Request]

Hey! Could I please request a Jonathan Crane x female!reader imagine with the prompt "Just let me see him one last time. Please." — Requested by @newyorks-hottest-club

Warnings: none

Gif Source: dcmultiverse

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but you can’t see him.”

You frowned, shoulders slumping. Meeting the officer’s gaze, you pleaded, “Just let me see him one last time. Please.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am.”

Sighing, you tried another tactic. “Has Dr. Crane been evaluated yet?”

“What?”

“There have been varying reports regarding his sanity over the last eight years. Has he even evaluated?”

“No, but you can’t—”

“I hold a PhD in psychology, Officer”—you tilted your head to read his name tag—“Collins. Not only am I licensed to evaluate Dr. Crane, but I knew him some years before he went off the deep end. As such, I’m one of the only people qualified in this town to determine if he’s insane or not. Now, I can come back with the right paperwork and with your boss barking murder at you, or I can see him now.”

Collins swallowed thickly.

“Sir, I have worked extensively with violent offenders. I am more than capable and qualified to handle an evaluation of Dr. Crane. It’ll save your ass in the long run.”

“I don’t follow.”

“No? If this man isn’t assessed, his trial could fall apart. Now, you wouldn’t want this man to walk off into the streets, would you?”

Scratching the back of his neck, the man shook his head.

“Good.” You smiled prettily. “So, let me sign in, get a visitor’s badge, and then you can escort me to a holding room.”

Collins did as he was told, whisking you through the process. Before passing through the metal detector, he stopped you. You handed him your purse.

“Empty your pockets.”

You reached into your pockets and removed everything but a small plastic bag in your right front pocket.

Collins looked up from your purse. “Why do you have two inhalers?”

“I need a backup,” you said. “I’m always misplacing the main one. Speaking of, I will need to bring one with me.”

“No, ma’am, that’s not—”

“Do you really want me dying on the floor today?”

He blinked, shook his head. You plucked one of the inhalers from out of the bag, stepped through the detector.

No beep.

“Knock on the door or holler if you need anything,” the officer said, his hand on the door to the evaluation room.

“Thank you, officer.”

He pulled open the door, and you stepped through into a well-lit, windowless room.

At the table in its center sat Crane.

“Come to gloat?” He shook his head, laughing ruefully to himself. “Amazing what comes out of the woodwork when one is at one’s lowest.”

You sat down at the table, looked at him. He met your gaze levelly, those clear-blue eyes appearing flat. You could see how sharp they were behind that feigned disinterest.

He had hardly changed from your post-graduate days. He seemed the same Crane, mildly distant and dripping with condescension.

“Anything to say?” He asked. “Or are you here to gawk?”

You remained silent.

“Alright. I’ll keep talking, then. I kept up with your work,” he said. “It wasn’t very interesting, until you published that piece based on your work with violent offenders. Then you seemed to disappear.” He fixed you with a stare. “I admit I haven’t been as…involved in the academic and scientific circles, but where have you been these last few years?”

“I was perfecting my work.”

“She speaks!”

You smiled thinly. “We should never have stopped working together.”

His eyebrows arched. “Oh?”

“Our research wasn’t so different in the end. You like fear and madness, but I like moments of madness. It’s more interesting. When the normal person snaps and then returns.”

He shook his head. “Where’s the fun in that?”

“Knowing how to break people.”

“Fear breaks people.”

“Consequences break people.”

He shook his head. “Why are you here?”

“Did you pick up the thread of my research?”

“Sure.”

“Which was?”

“If I recall correctly, something about the elasticity of the mind.”

“Yes, but there was more to it than that.” You reached into your pocket, pulled out the small packet. “You see, what I was most interested in was how to use that elasticity. Or rather, how elastic the brain is before it breaks. A moment of madness versus a turn to it completely.”

You placed the packet on the table. Crane’s dropped his gaze down to it. The condescending smirk on his lips faded, his eyes suddenly sharp.

“Do you know what drives a moment of madness? Sudden emotion.” You unzipped the packet. “Particularly rage.”

Pulling out a pair of industrial-grade earplugs from the plastic bag, you slid them across the desk to him. He stared down at them, then back to you, caution mixed with faint hope on his face. “Earplugs?”

Retrieving the other pair from the packet, you slipped them into your own ears as you spoke. “Interestingly enough, humans are hardwired for violence. Trigger them correctly, and you can have a riot. Put those on.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Crane picked up the earplugs and slipped them into his ears, his handcuffs rattling. You slid out one of your bobby pins, broke it at its folded center. Taking the flat end, you reached for his hands and slipped it into the small space between the teeth of the handcuff and the lock housing. You pushed the bracelet forward a few notches, tightening it around his wrist. The bobby pin slid forward a fraction.

Then you pulled the cuff off, the teeth sliding over the bobby pin and out of the housing.

You repeated the process with the other cuff, freeing him.

He stared at you in disbelief, guarded caution trying to hold back the excitement in his eyes.

“I dropped off the map,” you explained, brandishing your inhaler, “because I had to conduct my work away from prying eyes. I didn’t have an asylum to work in.”

“And what, exactly, was this work?”

You grinned, your smile feral. “Triggering moments of rage.”

You pushed the top of the inhaler down. Instead of a puff of medicine, the internal mechanism triggered a small device inside.

The inhaler left in your purse outside the room let out a high-pitched whine.

In less than five seconds, the prison exploded into chaos, a cacophony of screeching and screaming filling the place.

“That’s our cue.” Almost leaping from your seat, you opened the door with a flourish and waved him out of the room.

Crane in tow, you hurried down the hallway toward the front desk. Collins, visibly shaking, had his hands around another officer’s neck, throttling him. The other man clawed at Collins’s face, spitting and choking.

You picked up your purse, leaving the second inhaler behind, and calmly walked through the office. Crane kept pace beside you, looking around in astonishment as the men in the office screamed at each other and the inmates, unaware of your passing.

Klaxons blared suddenly, the metal doors behind you slamming shut as you walked out the front door. Two uniformed officers sprinted into the building, lunches forgotten.

You strode past them to a nondescript sedan in the parking lot. Crane hopped into the passenger seat as you slipped behind the wheel, nonchalantly turning over the engine as the chaos from the prison spilled out onto the street. Through the heavy duty earplugs, you could hear the inmates inside screaming bloody murder, the bars of their cages rattling as they clawed at each other and at themselves, trying to escape.

You pulled out of the parking lot, driving away leisurely.

Crane looked over his shoulder, laughing. Raking a hand through his full hair, he turned back to you, eyes sparkling with excitement. He plucked out the earplugs as you did the same.

“That was inspired,” he breathed.

“I have a lab just outside of Gotham. I managed to get my hands on some of your gas.”

He stilled, his mouth parting slightly in surprise.

“This,” you said, shaking the inhaler before tossing it into the backseat, “is only the surface. You haven’t yet seen what I’ve managed to do with the cerebellum.”

“Well, I have to admit, I never thought you were capable of this.”

You glanced at him, the wolfish smile returning. “You just have to get to know me better.”

“Well, then, Doctor, I think we’d better get acquainted.”

#Jonathan Crane x Reader #Jonathan Crane #Jonathan Crane imagine #Scarecrow x Reader #Scarecrow #Scarecrow imagine #Cillian Murphy x Reader #Cillian Murphy #Cillian Murphy imagine #Christopher Nolan Batman Trilogy #Batman Begins #The Dark Knight #The Dark Knight Rises #requests

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adaodinson · 4 years ago

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Don´t you want me

This fic has in it the song “Don´t you want me” by Human League. Let´s just imagine it came out before 1976 (it came out on 1981) because I got inspiration from it and the idea got stuck in my head so I had to write it.

I do recommend to listen to the song while reading or at least before, especially if you have never heard it. But if you have, then you´re good.

(Here’s the YouTube link for the song: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uPudE8nDog0 )

Summary: You have a difficult relationship with your boss, will a song smooth the tension or create more?

Warnings: Swearing.

Relationship: Niki Lauda x fem!reader

-I said I needed this finished for today! TODAY! Do any of you assholes know what that means!?- Niki had been yelling at your team for about 10 minutes (time that you could have used to continue working) because according to him, you weren´t fast enough to finish changing the parts of his car for when he needed them. Of course, the day wasn´t over yet, and you knew for a fact that you and your team were more than capable of finishing even before nightfall. But the asshole decided to load his anger of having lost the last race onto you, and you all knew better than contradicting him right now.

You wanted nothing more than shutting him up by just showing how fast you could all work together, you wanted to tell his pretty face to fuck off and let you finish your work, and if by the end of the day you hadn´t finished, then he could yell all he wanted. You had been a pain in the ass for Niki since you had started working for him, but he hadn´t been a beautiful angel for you either. Being a woman in this type of job meant you had to know how to stick up for yourself, so you were usually the first one to talk back to him, to shut him up with clever responses and to show just how capable you were. He knew you were one of the best at what you did, that´s one of the things he hated most about you: he knew he can´t fire you, but he knows how hot-headed you are. He had been trying to hide his attraction towards you, and so far, he was doing fine.

All of your teammates stood in silence, already used to getting yelled at by the man. When he finished, you immediately walked towards the car, grabbed the tools you needed and expertly changed one of it´s biggest parts in less than five minutes. You didn´t say a word, but whenever your eyes weren´t focusing on your task, they were on Niki. He was watching you, feeling like yelling again, but this time only at you. He felt anger boil in his body, and he was using every fiber in his being to stop himself from being once again amazed by your skills.

He had finally left, you had all finally been able to finish working on the car, and as usual, you were now the only one left. You yawned and stretched as you felt the muscles of your back tense from how tired you were. You grabbed your things and headed towards your car, wanting nothing more than to get to your apartment, get changed and go to bed.

You walked through the parking lot, feeling the light breeze hit your face next to the smooth lights that were on and enlightening your path through the darkness of the night. A minute later you were standing in front of your car, but as you felt through your pockets you just wanted to punch the glass of it´s windows: your keys. The mental image flew in your head, remembering exactly where you had left them. You always kept them inside your pocket, but this time, thanks to the Lauda asshole, you had been forced to empty your pockets as a prove you weren´t carrying anything that would distract you from your work.

You headed back for the workshop, and as you made your way through the now dark hallways you had grown so familiar to, you heard a distant music and singing. You immediately recognized the song: “Don´t you want me” by the Human League. You didn´t recognize the voice that was singing though. It was smooth and nice, a little loud, but whoever was the owner of it sure as hell knew his way through singing.

You weren´t a bad singer yourself, sometimes it was hard to recognize it, but you knew you had a pretty voice, so the second you reached the door and looked through the window and inside the workshop, you decided you would give that pretty voice of yours a good use.

It was Niki singing. He seemed to be checking everything in the car one last time, and he was playing the song as he sang the lyrics.

It's much too late to find

When you think you've changed your mind

You'd better change it back or we will both be sorry

You were between shocked at how good he sounded and amused at the opportunity for embarrassing him you had just gotten. Just as he was about to enter the chorus, you gently pushed the door making sure he wouldn´t hear you enter and started.

Don't you want me, baby?

Don't you want me? Oh!

Don't you want me, baby?

Don't you want me? Oh!

The second Niki heard another voice he turned his head dramatically to face the door. The moment he saw you he felt his cheeks cover up in embarrassment, thing that was completely unfamiliar to him. You smirked as you made your best to keep your voice loud and sounding good. Niki was between embarrassed, mad as hell and amazed at your beautiful voice, but as soon as you started the next part of the song, he stood up, smirked at you as you sang and thought: Oh, so you wanna play, let´s play.

But even then I knew I'd find a much better place

Either with or without you

As you finished the woman´s part in the song and started the second chorus, Niki headed quickly towards you and grabbed your waist with both hands harshly, but you didn´t pull away; you weren´t going to give up easily, so you just stared into his eyes as you placed your hands on his shoulders and kept on singing.

Don't you want me, baby?

Don't you want me? Oh!

Don't you want me, baby?

Don't you want me? Oh!

Your voices sang in synchrony as you teased each other with your eyes and hands. There had always been a weird type of chemistry between you two, and sure, Niki was an asshole, but even you couldn´t deny he was handsome as hell. You had always thought that if he weren´t your boss you probably would have made a move on him before earning your place between the people that annoyed him the most, or that´s what you thought.

Niki noticed you since he laid eyes on you. It was hard not to, but he was a professional, and so were you. You were there to work on his car, not on him. He surely felt attracted to you; your stubbornness (so similar to his) was, as annoying as it was, quite appealing to him. He knew there were lines with you, you didn´t pull up with anybody’s shit, not even his, and he loved it.

As you sang and looked into each other´s eyes, you both almost felt a magnetic force that bonded your bodies together. With each new word from the song you felt yourself an inch closer to Niki, and what surprised you the most was the smile that seemed to want to exit his mouth. You decided to smile first, knowing he wouldn´t see it coming, but you sure as hell weren´t expecting what he did next.

Don't you want me, baby?

Don't you want me? Oh!

Don't you want me, baby?

Don't you want me? Oh!

You got to the end of the song, and the second the music stopped Niki pushed you closer into his arms, and before you knew it, his lips were on yours. It was a perfect mixture between a rough and soft kiss. Without any hurry, but with just the right strength.

You softly moaned into the kiss and you immediately felt his grip tighten and his tongue begging for entrance between your lips. You happily complied. Your breaths mixed perfectly, just like your voices while singing. You felt fireworks exploding in your head as you moved your hands up to his neck and hair pulling him even closer. It was now his turn to moan into the kiss.

You both soon remembered you needed air to live, so you parted at the same time and just looked into each other´s eyes for what felt like ages.

Against your desires, Niki lost his grip and started walking away. You suddenly felt panic. Had that been too much? Would he fire you? Would he yell at you?

He silently went to turn off the still on music, grabbed his things and walked back to you. He placed one of his hands on your back and led you outside, to the parking lot. For him, you were in comfortable silence, but you were dying for either running away, or kissing him again.

-Let me take you to dinner tomorrow- Niki said with that familiar grin on his face.

-Only If you give me another kiss- you answered playfully. It took him by surprise, but only a few seconds were enough for his other hand to run to cup your cheek and pull you into a sweeter kiss. You played with his hair as you parted and talked.

-Then sure, I´d love to have dinner with you- You answered. He smiled proudly and left you next to your car.

You were about to slap yourself for not grabbing your keys, which happened to be the original reason you went in, when Niki put his hand into his pocket and took them out.

-Don´t forget them next time, or I´ll have to take you home- He said with a huge smirk in his face. You took them from his hand with an annoyed laugh and got inside your car.

-Good night, boss- He chuckled at the use of his title.

-Good night, worker- It was now your turn to laugh. You finally started your engine and drove home with a little less of a sleepy feeling as you had before, and definitely a more excited one to go back to work tomorrow and see how things went with the asshole, your asshole.

#niki lauda x fem!reader #niki lauda daniel #niki lauda #rush 2013 #rush #don’t you want me #fic song #song fic #niki lauda x reader #daniel bruhl x reader #daniel brühl character #daniel brühl fanfic #brühl

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darlingpetao3 · 4 years ago

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House of W (Multiple!Wells x Reader, Chapter 2)

Rating: T

Summary: After having to deal with the deaths of an infinite number of Harrison Wells in the Multiverse, you, a magic-wielding meta, have a breakdown and unwittingly create a happy, fictitious sitcom life with some of your favourite men. In a world of comedy and cameos, can Team Flash and an out-of-town magician break through your powers to save you? And what if you don’t want to be saved...?

Tag List: @fandomdancer @bluesclues-1234 @pinkdiamond1016 @crissymadlock @ensign-tilly @disneyoncerlover815 @marvel-lady10 @thecaptainsgingersnap @noctvrnalmoth @alexxlynn @dontbedumb3 @heyl0lwhatsup @ryou-cosmos

PROLOGUE | CHAPTER 1

Birds tweeting, sun shining…

Big strong arms around you.

“Well, well, Wells,” you say with a scratchy morning voice and twist your body around in bed to see who’s got you in his grasp. Ah. “Good morning, Harry.”

“Good morning, (Y/L/N),” the scientist replies. You just love how strands of his hair stick up in place. Harry arguably has the best bedhead.

“You know dear, since we are married after all, don’t you think it would be more acceptable to call me by my first name?”

Harry chuckles and pulls you closer against him.

“You do raise a fair point. (Y/N).”

“That’s more like it.”

He kisses your nose. Shortly after he does, it starts to feel itchy. You feel like you’re about to sneeze. It wiggles and wiggles until—

“Achoo!”

Suddenly, Harry, who had been clad in his silky pyjamas is now- oh my.

“(Y/N), did you just sneeze my clothes away?”

You can hardly answer the Wells in your bed because you’re so enthralled by his lack of clothing under the sheets.

“Happy accident?” you offer innocently. Harry shakes his head and smiles as if to signify that you’re up to your old antics again.

“Come here, you,” he says and pulls the covers over you both.

* * * *

The scene is really quite comical.

Harry walks briskly with his long legs into work at S.T.A.R. Toys Manufacturing Inc. as you try to keep up with quick little steps and a clipboard… while H.R. trails behind you like a maniac with a tray of coffee.

“(Y/N), I believe you have some explaining to do,” Harry speaks to you over his shoulder. “Can you remind me why you’re at work with me? And why the numbskull, too?”

“Handsome numbskull!” H.R. jokingly clarifies. Harry rolls his eyes.

“I told you, honey,” you begin, “I decided it would be best for me to get a job instead of sitting around the house. Plus, an assistant here was the only position available. I thought that was terribly convenient. We can spend more time together now, isn’t that wonderful? As for H.R., I hired him as my assistant!”

“My assistant has an assistant?”

“Don’t question it, honey,” you tell him and pat him on the cheek. Just then, two young employees walk up to you. They look rather familiar, but you can’t place why at the moment.

“Good morning, Mr. Wells,” the pair greet Harry. “And Mrs. Wells. ...And Mr. Wells.”

“Ah, good morning Garcia. Runk,” Harry answers. “I trust your projects are coming along?”

“That they are, Sir,” the young man called Runk replies.

“We should have them finished and ready by end of day,” Garcia, the young woman, adds.

“I’m glad to hear it-”

“-Well done, chaps!” H.R. interrupts. “You’re all doing such magnificent work. All for the children.”

“All for the children,” Garcia and Runk agree.

Harry clears his throat and whispers to you, “I think assistants to the assistants should be seen and not heard.”

“I’ll have a little chat with him,” you tell your handsome boss husband. “Now, let’s build some toys!”

* * * *

After a long day at the factory, you, Harry, and H.R. all return home. The delicious scent of dinner greets you as you walk in the door.

“Mmm, I wonder what Sherloque and Nash are cooking up!” you think out loud.

“I hope it’s nothing French,” Harry says semi-bitterly.

“H.R., can you go see what they’re up to in there, sweetie?”

“I most certainly can, dearest!” he responds then disappears into the kitchen. You are sure to take this opportunity to have some more one-on-one time with Harry on the couch. As you sit, he sets his briefcase down on the coffee table and removes from it a small rocket ship. After turning it around in his hands, Harry hands it to you.

“I’d been working on this today,” he says.

“Oh Harry, it is so groovy. You do such fine work.”

“The idea came to me in a dream.”

“You make dreams come true for children every day.”

Harry turns to you. “I think I’ve always wanted kids. But I guess it’s never happened for me.” He looks into your eyes. “I think I’d like to have one with you someday, (Y/N). How do you feel about that?”

“I feel… I feel…” Your nose starts to wiggle again. “Achoo!”

“(Y/N), are you sure you’re feeling okay?”

“Oh, yes, I’m completely and totally, whoaaaa!” You stand up to get a better look at yourself, finding that your tummy has a noticeable roundness to it.

“Are you…?” Harry asks. The rest of the Wells men come rushing into the living room.

“Qu’est-ce qui se passe?”

“I heard another sneeze!”

“Jumping juniper, (Y/N)’s pregnant!”

They all group around you in a half-circle to admire your belly and to declare their delight at the very abrupt surprise.

“Is this really happening?” you ask all of them, falling deeper and deeper into your happiness.

“I couldn’t imagine a better life with you,” Harry says and punctuates his final word with a kiss. Everything about this moment just seems… so much more colourful and vibrant.

And perfect.

~ ~ ~ ~

Barry had urgently messaged Cisco and Caitlin to meet him back at the Grand Central City Auditorium, where they had just seen Zatanna’s magic act. The plan—what very little of a plan he had—was to race to find Zatanna, the Mistress of Magic, and ask for her help.

Word on the street was that Miss Zatara’s act wasn’t mere illusions. People have said that she really does possess a special magical power. And if this was the case, she was their only hope to retrieve you from whatever world you’ve gotten yourself into.

They say sometimes you have to fight fire with fire.

Well, now Team Flash is going to fight magic with magic.

It took a bit of making a scene inside the venue with the security guards for Zatanna to finally come out of her dressing room to see who was causing the commotion.

“Hi, excuse me, what’s going on here?”

“Zatanna? My name is Barry Allen,” your brother introduces himself. “I was at your show tonight.”

“Flawless,” Cisco can’t help but add.

“Sure,” she says, probably very much wanting him to get to the point. “How can I help you, Barry Allen?”

“We have a bit of a magical issue. My sister has gotten herself into a situation. We need your help.”

Zatanna’s big round eyes squint slightly, but whatever she sees in these three strangers surely isn’t threatening.

“Your sister, you say?” The Mistress of Magic always did have a soft spot for family. “Where is she?”

“You better come with us and see for yourself.”

~ ~ ~ ~

“Wow, this is quite the setup,” Zatanna says, taking in the Cortex upon her arrival. “Now, you said that your sister is broadcasting her own sitcom?”

“That’s right,” Barry confirms. “I switched on the TV earlier, and there she was in black and white. But the weird thing is that her set looked almost identical to her home, except not because her real home exploded-”

“Yeah, that’s the weird bit,” Cisco pipes up sarcastically. “Definitely not that she’s married to four different versions of the same man.”

“What?” Zatanna looks entirely confused. “Okay, you guys are going to have to catch me up.”

“No problem. The episode is streaming online. On repeat.”

“Cisco, pull up the show on the monitors,” Barry orders. The engineer does so, and the crew proceeds to analyze the sitcom episode.

“This man... or these men, rather—you said they died?” Zatanna asks the room. The rundown the gang gave her on the way to S.T.A.R Labs was quite rushed, so naturally it would only generate more questions.

“That’s right. I saw them disappear before my eyes,” Barry confirms. “They sacrificed themselves for us.”

Zatanna hums in thought. “Whether they’re truly dead or not, she must be using an incredible amount of magic to create this world and broadcast this across the airwaves.”

“Guys!” Caitlin raises her voice. “We have an incoming broadcast!”

The monitors change after a bit of static. Now, instead of the episode Team Flash was watching, a brand new jingle comes through the speakers.

“Is this…?” Barry starts.

“She released Episode Two!” Cisco cheers. Everyone in the room shoots him a look. “What? I’m invested.” As they watch the new episode, they take frantic notes, searching for any kind of clues.

“Look!” Barry points at the screen to the familiar faces.

“How did Allegra and Chester get in there?” Caitlin wonders.

“They have a guest-starring role…” Cisco notes, possibly with a hint of jealousy.

“And who are they?” Zatanna inquires.

“They’re our friends,” Barry clarifies. “At least, I think they are. They can't be illusions, can they? Created by (Y/N)?”

“I’ll call them and see if we can hear their phones ringing in the show,” Caitlin suggests. As she attempts the call, the rest of the team stands and stares at the screens hoping for some form of ringing sound. This episode seemed to be styled more in the Sixties, so it was unlikely that they’d actually see Chester and Allegra pull out a cell phone.

Nothing. No sound.

They must not have their phones on them…

A little while longer passes, with even more analyses by Team Flash and Zatanna studying your power on screen. Once in a while, she’ll ask Barry for background information about you. Which brings her to ask the all important question:

“How did (Y/N) get her powers?”

Barry goes on to explain your origin story, which coincides with his own. It was that one fateful night where Barry was in his CSI lab at CCPD, and so were you. You had stopped by to see how he was doing after the whole debacle of Iris getting her laptop stolen and Eddie saving the day instead. (To Barry’s credit, he tried really hard to catch the criminal, he just wasn’t fast enough). But you were checking up on him when the Particle Accelerator exploded and sent a wave of extraordinary, uncontained power across the city. You saw the lightning in the sky and tried to get Barry away from holding that metal chain, but in doing so, you also got caught in the crosshairs of the accident. Your brother fell into the shelf of chemicals as the lightning struck at the same time you knocked over a box of evidence—stolen ancient crystals from the Central City Museum.

Zatanna takes in the story silently, nodding in the right places. She’s deep in thought when a voice comes from the entrance to the Cortex: “Hey guys, what’s going on in here?”

Barry rushes to the two younger members of Team Flash, Allegra and Chester. “How did you two get in there? How did you get out?”

“Get in where?” Allegra wonders.

“Come on! In (Y/N)’s sitcom,” Cisco says. “Did she send out a casting call or did she just tell you that you got the parts?”

Chester and Allegra glance at each other with identical furrowed brows.

“You really don’t know what happened, do you?” Caitlin asks them.

“What happened?” they reply in unison.

Cisco stands up immediately. “I’ll get the popcorn.”

As he replays the footage, both of the ‘guest stars’ shake their heads in disbelief.

“Wow, nope, don’t remember any of that,” Chester says.

“No,” Allegra agrees. “One minute I’ve got my feet up in the Lounge, and the next I’m here walking into the Cortex.”

“Interesting,” Caitlin muses. “Interesting, but beyond strange. It’s like they’ve been mind wiped of the experience. We need more answers.” The rest of the episode plays out to reveal the big cliffhanger at the end.

“(Y/N)’s going to have a baby?!” Cisco shouts. “Oh man, things just got real. I wonder who’s the father... You don’t think (Y/N) would turn her show into a Maury episode, do you?”

“Zatanna, is there anything you can do?” Barry asks desperately. “This is getting out of hand.”

“I can cast a locating spell. All I have to do is say the words of what I wish backward for it to take hold.” Zatanna readies herself. “(N/Y) etacol,” the magician utters with her eyes closed. Everyone in the room stands silent in case making any kind of noise would ruin whatever spell she has cast.

They hold their breaths.

“I’m getting something…” Zatanna says eventually. “It’s like a signal of sorts. I can see it in my mind. And it’s coming from… here.”

“What do you mean, ‘here’?” Barry presses.

“Here. As in S.T.A.R. Labs.”

#reader insert #harrison wells x reader #harrison wells imagine #harrison wells fanfiction #harry wells x reader #harry wells imagine #nash wells x reader #nash wells imagine #hr wells x reader #hr wells imagine #sherloque wells x reader #sherloque wells imagine #the flash imagine #the flash fanfiction

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yoongi-sugaglider · 4 years ago

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Daegu Quarantine

Jungkook x reader

Gang/ zombie apocalypse au

Warnings:

Gore, violence, zombies, mention of drugs and drug dealing, weapons discharge in self defense, main character death, zombies, course language, zombies, drinking, did I mention zombies?

Summary:

They were the top of their game, known throughout the city as the smartest and most dangerous crew to ever hit the Daegu streets. But what’s going to happen when this group of young men encounter something right out of a horror film?

Word count: 2825

Part 16===Part 17===Part18

Jungkook sprinted up the stairs two at a time as Rose helped me hobble my way behind him. The house above was a chaotic mess of screaming and pistols cocking by the time we’d made it to the first floor. Rose abandoned me at the stairs, sprinting off towards the kitchen to find Taehyung as I motioned Yoongi over.

“Jin and Jeanette are at the shed. Rose saw movement, so there’s no telling if more are back there.”

He nodded, face a mask of murderous intent as he sprinted for the back door. By the time I’d pulled my own weapon out Jimin was at my side, nervous sweat dripping from his forehead as he handed me an extra clip.

“Go. Jungkook, Namjoon, and Hobi are gonna need you out front. I’ll send Tae your way once he’s armed.” The doctor hesitated for a moment, giving me an anxious once over before nodding and sprinting off without a word.

I grunted, shifting as much of my weight as I could manage to my uninjured leg and hobbling for the front door when Taehyung and Rose rejoined me.

“Front gate Tae. Rose’s got me.” I muttered, wiping at the tears of pain now streaming down my cheeks.

He paused, pecking Rose gently on her cheek and giving my arm a quick squeeze before rushing out the door after Jimin.

Rose was white as a sheet as she gave me her arm to lean on. “Holy shit...what do we even do…” She wondered as we slowly walked out onto the front porch.

“The only thing we can do, make our way out to the driveway and watch for anything that might flank the boys. We have to have their backs. But with you being new to shooting that means I’ll have to do the work, you just make sure to keep me standing no matter what.”

She nodded, her eyes wild with fear as she helped me down the stairs and out to the driveway.

Already I could hear the shots in the distance, each one sending a pang of panic through my heart as I imagined them being the last one for any one of my boys. Pushing that fear down though I continued on, heart racing and mind focused as the men at the gates came into view.

The barrier that Namjoon and Yoongi had worked so hard to put in place had been somehow smashed to pieces and a pile of bodies was already growing from the boys taking down as many of the monsters as they possibly could.

“Right here’s fine Rose.” We were about 30 yards or so behind the boys. Close enough that I wouldn’t lose accuracy but far enough away that if we got overwhelmed, well….I’d have time to think about how much it would hurt before I died.

I began shooting, Rose bracing me with her body as I fired off round after round.

Two bodies came at Namjoon, a snarling mess of teeth and grabbing hands as he hastily reloaded his shotgun while struggling to stay on his feet and walk backwards at the same time.

I fired 2 shots, the first hitting one chatterer directly in the forehead and dropping it, though the second missed and buried itself in a tree further back. Namjoon finally managed to reload his weapon, a grimace to his face as he finished off the closest ravaging chatterer to him with two shots to the head.

I’d already moved on though, eyes seeking out Jungkook in the mass of bodies. He was holding his own, alternating between shots from his gun and large sweeping slashes from a machete identical to the one Hobi was using several paces behind him. I knew he’d be okay as I watched one head fall and roll away and another body drop a few seconds later.

I began firing again, picking off chatterers that forced their way through the gate while slowly allowing Rose to back me up a pace or two every few minutes. We weren’t exactly being overrun yet, but we weren’t gaining ground on the gate either. If we wanted this to end we’d have to find a way to shut it.

Jimin shouted, drawing my attention to where he’d been backed up into a tree. He had 4 bodies on him, two without arms though they kept lunging at him regardless. He fired where he could, tears streaming down his face as he screamed again when one got too close. I picked off two of them, the third having already dropped, leaving Jimin to fight one elderly lady by himself. He hesitated a moment, eyes wide as if in recognition of the woman, though when she went to bite at him again it seemed the moment hardened his resolve.

He fired a shot, gagging as the head exploded and showered him in viscera. But the deed was done and he moved on, providing back up despite his tears.

And then...things changed.

They came out of nowhere. Men and women in army fatigues and black tactical gear, weapons raised and firing at the monsters from all sides.

I’d have felt relieved at the sight in any other situation. But as the monsters were pushed away from the house and back towards the gate I quickly realized these were not Korean Army here to help us.

No. These were Americans.

As I watched them raise their weapons at my boys an entirely different set of fears washed over me. They knew who we were somehow. Had to. And it might just be that some of us weren’t getting out of this alive.

***

They’d rounded us up at the front of the house, the boys on their knees while Rose and I were held at gunpoint to keep them compliant.

“We’ve got two more back here!” A voice shouted from around the corner.

Two…

My eyes widened as I saw Jeanette and Yoongi forced at gunpoint to march towards us, Jeanette in tears and Yoongi being restrained by two large Americans and quite literally being dragged over to where the other boys were.

“Y/n..they...they shot Jin.” Jeanette sobbed when they shoved her into my arms.

My skin flushed cold, adrenaline coursing through my veins as shock hit me like a freight train.

Not Jin...Seokjin the jokester. Our favorite chef and the dad of our group.

Shot…

Gone...

I screamed, dropping to my knees and clinging to Jeanette as tears coursed down my cheeks.

“YOU MOTHER FUCKERS!!!” Jungkook howled, fighting against his restraints as he struggled to climb to his feet.

“Boss, please…” Jimin whimpered. They’d shoved him to the ground, one soldier having planted a steel toed boot in his spine to keep him down despite the handcuffs pinning his wrists to his back.

Tae and Namjoon had been cuffed together, the shorter man serving to pin Namjoon in place, out of convenience or just spite I hadn’t been sure. But each of them was screaming or crying in some way, while Yoongi continued to glare death in their direction.

Three soldiers appeared from the house, each carrying various weapons from our vault.

“Sarge, you’ll never believe what we found down in their basement.”

I couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, grief took hold, gripping me tight in it’s embrace as I sought out Jungkook’s gaze.

They’d invaded our home. Killed one of our own.

The next thing I knew shots were being fired again.

I ducked down, covering Jeanette’s body with my own as I sought out who could have possibly been firing.

There stood Hobi, face bright red with anger and mouth agape in a scream of rage.

“Hoseok no!” I screamed, but it was too late.

His body went flying, a series of shots having rung out from the soldiers behind me.

It was too much. All of it…

“Y/n!!”

I think...that was Jungkook.

I couldn’t tell.

It was going dark.

Strange...as it was the middle of the afternoon. And...I could no longer hear....anything.

I let go, allowing my body to relax. Sleep...sleep would be good right now….

***

The next thing I knew my world was filled with a roar of sound. My body tensed up, though a familiar set of eyes bore into mine when I finally managed to open them.

Jungkook sat across from me, pinned in place between two American soldiers just as I was. I glanced around, unsure of where we were until I glanced over to see clouds moving past at such a high speed that it took me a moment or two to realize we were no longer on the ground.

“The bitch is awake.” A voice muttered into my ears. They’d put headphones on me to cancel out some of the noise from the helicopter blades, how nice of them…

I grunted, shifting upright and taking in my surroundings. Including Jungkook there were several others on the seats surrounding me. Taehyung sat with Rose while Jeanette sat on his other side. The rest of the space was filled with soldiers, each carrying weapons and steel faced as they either glared at our crew or out the windows.

“Airstrip’s clear Sarge. Preparing to land.”

The soldier beside me nodded, reaching over to rip the headphones off my ears as the helicopter descended and landed with a massively jarring thump.

The sudden influx of noise from the blades left me stunned just long enough for the soldiers to shove me out of the doors and onto the tarmac without much struggle, though as soon as I spotted Jungkook I tried to run for him.

He shook his head and I sobbed when my arms were almost dislocated from my shoulders when one of the Americans jerked me back and away from him.

As the helicopter engine shut off my hearing slowly began returning to me and I began to pick out the sounds of yelling and movement that surrounded me.

A second helicopter had landed before ours and the rest of my crew were already lined up, each with at least three automatic rifles aimed at their heads.

As we moved away from the helicopters to join the others I glanced around, quickly realizing they’d taken us to the military base north west of Daegu. I’d only passed the place on a few occasions, a collection of buildings distinctly American in nature with the occasional military plane or helicopter taking off from the air strip for destinations unknown.

A thrill of relief passed through me as I did a quick head count, though the feeling was dampened slightly when I realized that...those of us who’d survived were all here.

“Get to moving.” The soldier I’d been sitting with growled as I turned to look at him.

I hesitated a moment, locking eyes with him and sending him the fiercest look of fury I could muster. The soldier shoved me forward with the barrel of his rifle, causing me to stumble over my shoelaces. Luckily, despite being handcuffed, Jungkook was able to catch me. The sudden pressure of landing against his forearms though had me gasping in pain as my still healing ribs shifted.

“Oi! She’s injured!” Jimin cried out, earning him a jab to the ribs with the same rifle that’d shoved me.

“Shut it tiny. I could give two shits less if she was the Pope or Jesus incarnate. When I say move I mean double time it. You hear?”

Jungkook and Yoongi growled almost in unison at the American’s words.

“I’m killing you first.” Yoongi muttered and I was forever grateful that I’d been the only one to hear him.

“Easy boys, I’m fine.” I straightened with a groan, nodding to each of them for them to keep moving.

As appreciative as I was for that protective nature, now was not the time for posturing.

***

They lead us to one of the smaller buildings, a sign with a ball and pins labeling it as the bowling alley. It’d been heavily reinforced from what I could tell of the barricades on the doors and the armed guards stationed outside.

The interior was dark, several lanterns giving off the only light I could see and lending it the gloomiest of atmospheres I’d encountered in a very long time. But seeing the lanterns let me know they were far worse off than we’d been. No generators.

We were split off at this point, Taehyung and Rose being led off in one direction while the rest of us were forced towards a set of steel double doors that when opened revealed a massive kitchen.

Huddled inside were several dozen people. Civilians from their dress and grouped up into what I could only guess were family units.

There weren’t very many children. Only 3 from what I could see, and their destitute and resigned faces broke my heart to see.

Making my way into the depths of the kitchen I picked a spot, glancing back to watch Jungkook sit directly across from me. Turning to face him I slid down to sit, leaning back against the cool steel of the oven door in the hopes of finding some sort of comfortable position to ease the throbbing in my chest.

I looked up to Jungkook, watching as his head hung low with his knees pulled up to his chest and his fists clenching and unclenching on the floor to either side of him.

He’d been quiet since before they’d taken Tae and Rose away. Silently stewing over our situation. I knew he was plotting, planning some way to get us out of this. But honestly with the amount of guns being pointed at us, there wasn’t a whole lot any of us was going to be able to do.

A sniffle sounded from my left and I glanced over, almost tearing up myself at the sight of Jeanette clinging desperately to Yoongi. He had that thousand yard stare. The one he got right before a mission where he sat and pictured every scenario that could or would go wrong should shit hit the fan. And yet even with that focused glare he still found it within himself to calmly stroke her hair, occasionally whispering reassuring words to her when her whimpers would turn to sobs and her grip on him would tighten.

Namjoon and Jimin sat just opposite them, each staring off into space as if struggling to find a way to cope with everything that’d just happened.

We sat around for several hours, not a soul in the room speaking as we waited to hear news on what they’d done with our friends.

Several soldiers walked in, talking amongst themselves as they stopped to stand before Jungkook.

“We’re never gonna get the woman to talk.” Grumbled one as he glared down at Jungkook who refused to even acknowledge their presence.

“What information are you even looking for?” I demanded, sitting up straighter and glaring at the soldier that’d spoken.

“You’re little hacker friend, Jangmi they call her. She’s got shit we need.” He sneered at me, the look causing my skin to crawl.

“But why do you even need this information?” I demanded angrily.

“Because even when the world’s gone to shit we still have a job to do. Take down the bad guys. And guess what the fuck you and your people are.” He stepped forward, shifting his shouldered weapon as he crouched down before me.

“Don’t you fucking dare touch her.” Jungkook lunged forward, though several soldiers pinned him down immediately to keep him from going further.

“Four soldiers we lost trying to get these useless fuckers. Four good men with wives and children and mortgages. And for what?! A couple of gangsters and some tech smart bitch and her boy toy who can’t even talk??”

“Fuck sake Jenkins get ahold of yourself!” The man who I’d assumed was in charge before barked at the irate soldier that was still in my face.

“No! Fuck this!”

The next thing I knew he had his fist in my hair yanking me to my feet as I screamed out in pain.

Jungkook roared, straining against the four men that held him down as Yoongi and Jimin fought their captors as well trying to reach me.

“Look at them!” Jenkins sneered, pinning me to his chest and pressing his cheek to mine while he glared at my boys.

“This one’s their weakness. This one will get us answers. Maybe she doesn’t have them, but I can guarantee if we push just hard enough,” with that he squeezed his arms around me, shifting my still sore ribs in the process and causing me to scream out again with pain, “they’ll all start squealing. Just you watch me work Sarge. I’ll have all the info those Langley fucks want and you won’t even have to lift a dainty little finger.”

#bts #bts jungkook x reader #jungkook reader insert #jungkook angst #bts jeon jungkook #bts gang au #bts zombie au #bts angst #bts fluff #bts reactions #bts imagine #bts scenarios #bts x reader insert #bts fanfiction #bts x reader #bangtan boys imagine

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calypsoff · 4 years ago

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Ninety. Part 2

I mean Robyn isn’t wrong, she is right that this room is a mess, but she will be sleeping in bed with me, on god she will be. I dislike when she is moody with me, but I need to get some pussy before I explode, I need her really bad. I huffed out making my way out of the bedroom, there is one thing about Robyn she’s going to search the home to see if it’s to her standard. Slowly dragging my feet and into Rylee’ room, Robyn is looking all around this room “so you think the buyer would like it? Me and my ex-wife had a good time here” Robyn turned her head glaring at me with a smirk “mhmm?” I grinned “ex-wife you say?” Stepping into the room “yeah, her name was Rihanna. She left me because I was just too beautiful for her, and she couldn’t handle it” Robyn sniggered making my way over to her ‘ah right! I’m sure she found a more handsome man, I heard he was a prince” Robyn gripped my tee “and they lived happily ever after in a beautiful place, Barbados I hear” I smirked “Barbados? Never heard of the place, I’ve found a new girl now though. She’s called Robyn, and she has the prettiest smile, prettiest eyes, and beautiful feet. She has a good personality too, she loving and open but Rihanna my ex, she was nasty, always being judgmental. Hurt me, you know” Robyn raised an eyebrow “it did? I heard about Rihanna too, she’s a savage. Heard she wrote lovely songs about him too” I snorted laughing “you’re annoying” staring down at Robyn “you can talk” I want to kiss her; I am going to kiss her. I am doing it, leaning down to her. Robyn turned her face, and I kissed her cheek, I groaned out mushing the side of her face “you are so annoying” pressing a kiss to her cheek every time “nobody told you to kiss, you don’t deserve my kisses, not after that nasty ass room” Robyn wrapped her arms around my neck giggling, she still as her face turned away from me. I really missed Robyn so much “you’re beautiful” sniffing her hair “get your nose out of my hair, I can tell my mother has been cleaning Rylee’ room” I am busy trying to not want to hump her, staring at the side of her face silently just waiting to pounce “wait, you can touch me, but I can’t you?” Robyn looked at me smiling, she is playful as fuck “I am the boss and what I say goes and once you can accept that then you can!” I ended up kissing her hand “then you can kiss my lips!” She eyeballed me, I groaned out again this is annoying.

I don’t see what we need to fix when we are doing ok now, we can start to have things back to how it was, I miss that so much “so inspector Rihanna, are you happy with the home? Are you going to come back now? Where Rylee should be” she has really just toured the house “the pool is a mess too, why hasn’t the pool guy come?” I shrugged leaning against the counter top “just a shrug, alright. I am coming back home yes. You’re dealing with the bedroom; I will sleep elsewhere. But this house is not up to the standard on how I have it by the way, you been really busy haven’t you?” She crossed her arms across her chest “in what way?” I questioned “how much did you go out when you were alone? Being all single, the truth will be nice” I swallowed hard “just here and there, I haven’t really been home so like I get why the pool guy hasn’t been around and stuff” Robyn rolled her eyes “I can tell, Chris this isn’t a joke. I’m not going to fall into your arms just like that, it’s gradual but I’m gonna need you to appreciate me more than ever. The thing is Chris I fucking love you so much, I want you, I want the attention, I want all of this but when I think back, you have been a real ass to me. I have my faults too, but you need to know that I’m not playing, for Rylee I am coming back home, for Rylee yeah. I said we will work on it but in your mind you need to realise that I am not playing. I am watching you and your persona, don’t sit pretty. I mean it” I sighed out putting my head down, I am trying my best here and it’s like one knock after another with Robyn, hard work.

Making my way out of the house to get into the car “I am so sorry to hear about your daughter” Justin came out of nowhere, reaching my hand out and falling him “thank you brother, just going to see her now. Appreciate it” hugging him “I sent flowers to your house, but I don’t think they got there” I chuckled “the hell you sent them too?” I questioned “god knows, I will again. Rihanna, I haven’t seen you here in a while. Sorry to hear about your daughter” watching Justing walk over to my wife “aww it’s ok; thank you for coming over” Robyn hugged him, I really want to fuck Robyn so bad. Just over the car fuck her, just make her scream bad. I miss that ass so much “Chris, hey!” Robyn spat “catch you soon” dapping Justin as he walked off “yeah let’s go” I dragged out, that really went down to my dick “I uhm, got a cleaner to come” opening the car door, climbing into the car “ok, good” she is so moody, I hate that. Banging the door closed “why are you moody with me? Please tell me this, give me a damn chance” I am sick of this shit “you expect me to be happy after coming home and seeing the state it is in? My mother here with a nasty ass pool and bedroom, I am glad she didn’t look in that room, which woman would be happy with that Chris? And it just shows to me you were busy doing other things and those things didn’t include me you right, I am annoyed. I didn’t ever say this was going to be easy because I am back in the house, you could have said it to me Chris, tell me that it wasn’t done but is head crawling up my ass saying you want to eat my fucking ass!? In that nasty bedroom, boy!” She kissed her teeth “stop pulling me down Chris, act right!” She spat, putting my car engine one in silence. What can I say, she is right “I just think there has to be a moment where you aren’t annoyed by me” sighing out shaking my head “then act right, know your shit and own it. You knew I woulnd’t approve of that, but you could have said it, I would have been less annoyed. You just know this but don’t say, you just been having real fun without me, and I can see it but please let’s go back to Rylee” I could have told her actually, she is right. I don’t know why I didn’t, maybe because of this.

Flicking through my music while sat in the beautiful LA traffic, shit is so crazy here with the traffic, but we are so quiet, I have stopped talking because I get myself in some shit, that is just me. That always happens to me because I can’t keep quiet at all. I found the perfect song for this, pressing play on Boyz II Men – End of the Road. Placing my phone in the compartment, Robyn looked over at me “really? You could select any song; you know that right?” nodding my head “We belong together, and you know that I am right, why do you play with my heart, why do you play with my mind. Said we'd be forever; said it'd never die. How could you love me and leave me and never. Say goodbye” I sang to her “I did say goodbye” Robyn retorted “you didn’t the first time around, did you?” she rolled her eyes “don’t do this, you’re being dramatic” maybe I am but it’s fitting “sing it with me, although we've come to the end of the road still I can't let go, it's unnatural. You belong to me, I belong to you” Robyn wants to laugh but she won’t, she is being hard-faced “you have windows down and doing this, look at what you’re doing” looking out of the window and this group of guys is just staring “we are getting a divorce!” I shouted; Robyn placed her hand over my mouth “stop it! You idiot” she put the window up “the best bit is coming on” I cleared my throat “Girl, I'm here for you, all those times at night when you just hurt me. And just ran out with Mel, baby I knew about it. I just didn't care” Robyn snorted laughing “you’re so dumb, I can’t take this serious, drive” she waved at the window.

Locking my car door laughing to myself “you are a really something else, that song was on loud too. If there are videos of it I won’t be shocked either” watching Robyn walk around the car, locking it again because she was just closing the door “don’t hold my hand if you love me, ah see. You’re not holding my hand, so you do love me, I get it. You’re shy” i cheesed so hard “you wish I held your hand, maybe if I come home to a nice clean bedroom” she said, “you will sleep in bed with me?” she sniggered “I will reconsider that you can touch me” holding the door open for Robyn “men first” Robyn abruptly stopped “nigga” I chuckled “I am playing, sir. I am sorry she is holding up the flow of people, this man has people to save Robyn and this wonderful young lady. You’re here blocking the way” Robyn playfully hit my chest walking inside “you can both go” I gestured, Robyn is walking to the elevator and she looked over her shoulder, oh she is being playfully hard on me “you can close the elevator doors, he is not coming on here” Robyn is a trip, jogging towards it “I would have laughed if you twisted your ankle, stop doing the most” she says that but is the one asking for the doors to be closed on me.

Robyn and her bright ideas, this elevator is going down so now we are stuck going down and then up one and down again “anymore bright ideas, you would have thought with the size of your head you would have better ideas” Robyn shuffled away from when the doors opened and I was going to move to her but the influx of people coming on, I sighed out and side eyed her. She just laughed, she is playing too much, staring at her in the crowded elevator. Watching every little curve of her lips, every breath she is taking, the shaky breath she just let in. She looked over at me, she knew I was staring. Licking my lips and then bit my bottom lip, she poked her lips out at me “your floor” the guy said at the side of me, snapped me out of it “oh yeah, it is” I didn’t think we would have ended up on our floor actually, I thought it was going down. Stepping off the elevator, Robyn laughed out “I didn’t know you like men” that guy did give me a weird look “whatever, but on a real are you coming back to bed with me? If I tidy it up of course. Serious question” I am being deadass, I miss her “yes I would, it’s my bed and we are married. I also enjoy seeing you squirm when we aren’t having sex and you have to lay there like a plank of wood” I scoffed, she has a point “wood gets dry, I need to be watered, a little squirt juice” Robyn opened the door to the room “you are nasty” going inside the room “what?” Robyn said, looking in the room “the doctor wasn’t happy, Robbie come in” Monica said, looking at Rylee and my joy just left me.

Things are just up and down but pretty much has been down for us, one minute laughing but then not “sorry, I have been ever so busy” Myriam came into the room “you weren’t here so we just informed the grandparents” maybe we took too long “why is my daughter back in the same position? I left her free from this and you put it back in her, why?” Robyn’ voice broke “when we removed the tubes, especially the oxygen I said it’s not permanent, we would monitor her and when I came back Rylee wasn’t doing well and I wasn’t confident to let her come home, we will do the oxygen again, then try again. She is not as bad, but I want her to be ok to know she is ok to be at home, we try again and move forward. I am sorry, I can only say sorry, but I want to make sure she is ok to be at home, it’s her breathing so it’s important but we can move her. Into the suites, have you all comfy and more private. Give you a bed to stay with her” I frowned “how long are you planning to keep her here?” that is crazy “as long as I am confident to know Rylee won’t be struggling at home, this is what we all want. But we will move her, the porter will be here soon” placing my hand on Robyn’ shoulder “oh my god” Robyn breathed out “she is in the best place Robyn” my mom said “I just went to make sure her room was ready, she was ready to go home. I just want her home” Robyn’ voice broke “I am ok, I will be ok. You’re right” this is a big blow for us.

They have moved us to the suite, it’s really nice actually. Couch and bed, bathroom. Like an apartment, much more privacy, my daughter deserves it “I am confused, Rylee is always asleep. Like why? She doesn’t be awake like she does?” the nurse finished off changing the IV line “we put her in a natural sleep” looking over at Robyn “you knew that? They put Rylee to sleep” Robyn nodded her head “they told me, it’s because Rylee gets fussy, when she gets that way to stop her from wanting to move things or pull things, it’s best” letting out an oh “I am going to say bye to my mom and the family” nodding my head turning to Rylee, I don’t like to see this shit at all, how can anyone enjoy seeing their child in this state, she doesn’t look pale but if the doctor doesn’t feel it’s right yet, we have to do it. I do not want Rylee home when she is not right, I couldn’t lose her like that “nice room, we will leave you both son” getting up from the chair “thanks dad” hugging him “it’s ok, keep in touch. I am praying for my grandchild so much; she was really upset earlier. Pained me” Robyn and I must have missed that part.

#chrianna fanfiction #chrianna #chriannaff #chrianna ff #fanfic #fanfiction

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unik0rnu · 5 years ago

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Page 4, Dethrone

(re-written)

- Hey folks! Its Reeeed Eye! Looks like we have another fool to get himself killed. Oh, we gonna watch you with pleasure while the gauntlet will gut you out of here.

-Oh dear fucking God. They even have a commentator? What kind of raiders are they? She rolled her eyes and carefully stepped down the stairs leading into the gauntlet itself. Busy room welcomed her, filled with trash, bodies, broken furniture, dried blood splattered all over and the stench of struggle and death that was hanging in the air like a radiation cloud.

- That doesn’t look...safe. A-ha. She spotted a green lights blinking in the shadows and turning around, scanning the area for any movement. - No surprise they put so much lights in here. She grabbed some rubble from the floor and threw it into the reflectors standing in the middle of the long hallway, giving her a bit more shadows to hide in from turrets. First few rolls towards the tables and counters were successful but as closer she was getting to the door the more lights of the turrets were blinking, leaving her no choice but to run at the last few meters. Luckily she was fast and trained for extreme situations so she managed to outrun the fire and bullets, crashing the floor tiles upon the impact right after her feet. She took a very sharp turn behind the wall to catch a breath before going any further.

-That was fucking close. She leaned her hands on the knees, catching the breath before approaching the next challenge ignoring the Red Eye in the speakers trying to rush her as it was no option this time anyway and calmex running through her veins was keeping her focused well enough.

The next room looked surprisingly..clean but it showed its tricks one Lucy heard blipping next to her, kicking the landmine away and covering her face from the dust upon exploding. She was surprised that nothing from the shabby structure collapsed as raiders were the best engineers of the commonwealth.

- Fuck..that’s gonna take a while. She went, slowly, step by step, keeping her head on the floor and eyes rolling all around in a nervous manner until reaching a locked door. -Alright, let’s see. She pulled a bobby pin from her hair and started digging in, taking her sweet time as she was short on them. The click occurred, filling her with satisfaction, being able to move forward.

Sadly the place seemed like it had no end. Bloody labyrinth trying to kill you at every inch with everything that wasteland had to offer, bullets, radiation, beasts, hidden traps, even a gas that almost made her wish to collapse on a spot, leaving the rupturing pain inside her lungs as she slid down at the wall catching the breaths of fresh air that was coming from behind hopefully last door, beams of lights shining through its cracks, almost welcoming her. Her pre-war jobs for gang were nothing in comparison to this. This was straight brutal, every challenge coming straight at you and not giving up any moment. She was trained more in short and swift actions almost like a cheetah of crime, not a long runs like this. The only thing keeping her still alive was curiosity, adrenaline and calmex. And that endless voice in her head when she was drugged, to finish what needs to be done without asking questions.

----

She pulled herself up after a short pause, gathering the last of her strengths for last push, hoping to find some answers to this bullshit she willingly stepped. She kicked opened the last door, daylight blinding her from the up, crate ceiling hanging right up to her, colorful figures cheering and howling at her in a vicious manner. The bullet cracking the wooden frame next to her shoulder reminded her that there is no time to stand still and she pushed herself through the messy hallways, running as fast as she still could but as she was about to reach the end the bullet flew through her arm, the sharp pain filled her guts as she fell to the floor, hearing the men above walk away, mumbling in surprise and excitement about last duel.

- Fuckin hell. This better be worth it, you stupid bitch. She pulled a stimpak and injected it, hoping to ease the pain long enough to carry her through the last fight or whatever was coming to her, catching the sounds coming from within the arena, deep into the building. As she walked forward, holding herself onto the railing, tired and pissed off. The last challenged welcomed her in a shape of a massive power armor figure standing in what it looked like a pre-war cola cars hall, lighted with pink and blue lights, almost unnerving to the eyes.

- That’s it? That scrawny little bitch beat the gauntlet? Haha, i’m Colter by the way and i can’t wait to bend over your tiny, sweet little body and hear it crack in my hands. Colter - the leader of this whole mess, or at least he looked like one, standing down, with the other raider, tinkering around his armor and blinking towards her or at least that’s what she saw.

- Fantastic....i guess that’s where my shit trip will end. There was no way back for her anyway, only forward down the stairs to the cloakroom. She would barely be able to take another room...but a man in a fully functioned power armor, in her shape...seemed impossible. She sat on a bench, leaning her head over the arms, resting on her knees, awaiting the inevitable.

----

Suddenly the crack of the interphone hanged nearby disturbed the silence in the room.

- Hey, come here for a sec. I gotta tell ya something and i ain’t having much time for that. The same voice from the train called her over. She looked at it from under her arms, tired but approached it eventually.

- Who are you really, and why do you wanna talk now? I’m gonna die soon anyway. She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, facing the interphone.

- I might be just what ya need in this case now. Look...i saw you, going room after room. You ain’t soldier, nor raider, you don’t look like anything i saw yet in this shithole.

- And your point is? She asked, impatiently.

- I will get to the point. If you take my advice you might not die and get something nice in exchange for roughing you up like that. If not, that’s your fucking problem but it would be a shame to lose someone with your skill assets...if ya ask me.

- Fine, tell me, but be short about it. She wasn’t in a mood for much talking as pain and exhaustion started slowly getting to her again.

- Alright, look. There is a special gun i hid in the locker. Colter is a cheating son of a bitch, you won’t win this without that gun. She looked over the lockers and her gaze stopped at the red, shiny squirt gun.

- What? Water gun? Are you fucking joking?! The irritation filled her voice along with few more swears as she picked it up and came back to the interphone.

- Hey, hey i know it sounds crazy but just fucking take my advice if you want to keep your ass afloat in this crap. It ain’t my life that’s on stake so do what ya think its best.

- Wait, one more question. Why do you help me? I mean..its your boss. She gave a few squirts with a pistol just be also negatively surprised by its...short range.

- Some people are just ain’t the kind for the job after all. Well enough, you get through, we gonna talk more. I hope to see ya on the other side, the one across the arena. Good luck.

As the interphone went silent Lucy was shuffling her thoughts, not sure as to believe in raider words but could there be any better way to die rather than squirting some water into a fully armored big mouthed raider. And that’s what she intended to do. She scoured the area before heading to the entrance, snatching a psycho on a way and spotting a generator hidden behind the crashed wall opening.

- I don’t think he needs any more power in this place. Opss. She pulled a core and tossed it to the side like a piece of junk. Arena got filled with raider audience, but looking differently...more proper and scarier than the commonwealth saps. Some of them had polished metallic pieces, sharp yet elegant looking and some were dressed much more colorful than the flora of the wasteland. The last group looked most disturbing, fully covered faces, only seeing the sharp expressions of their lips and determination vibrating from them to gut her at any second.

- Since it might be last push, might give myself a good ride. She used the psycho along with the last calmex dose that send her mind into interesting state of focus and calmness and pumping adrenaline like a bull at the same time. Her heart beating like its about to rupt her chest.

The door opened, Colter didn’t waste any time greeting her with bullet rain but she was neither letting him have an easy fight, taking a cover behind one of the cars, sending a few grenades landing at his feet. He didn’t even care to dodge and that’s what rubbed her the wrong way. He was truly cheating, the impact of the explosion reflected by the strange electric wave shining from his armor.

- Maybe he’s not actually bluffing. She looked from behind the car, spotting Gage observing a fight with a nerve in his eye, almost hoping for something. - Alright, Feit...use your charm. She said to herself and stepped from behind the cover as Colter stopped the fire.

- Hey, i know i have no chance, so how about you gonna give me that good bend over you said and finish me like a man? She teased him, grinning at him. Colter tossed his rifle aside, looking proud and slowly taking steps forward.

- Crash you with my bare hands? That’s your deathwish sweetheart? He grinned back, looking down at her, taking a swing but she dodged it, pulling a gun from behind her and squirting all over his face and body as he kept on trying to catch her.

-Fuck. Lucy swore as he managed to snatch her by the neck tightening the grip but suddenly the electric shortage occurred. Colter paused, confused to what is happening and tossing her aside.

- Gage! What the fuck is going on? Answer me now! Colter turned towards him, spotting his smirk from under the patch ignoring Lucy slowly standing up and pulling last of grenades. - Its you...isn’t it! I’m gonna fucking tear you apart Porter! He stomped and bashed at the door, yelling but the explosion occurring next to him made him turn his focus back to Lucy. Some parts of his armor flew away which only encouraged her to throw whatever she had left, backing away step by step, keeping herself up with lasts of strength.

- Just fucking end him! Gage yelled from behind the glass.

- I don’t know what the hell is going on but you can fuck off, Colter. I ain’t going down yet in this case. Her arm wouldn’t allow it but drugs did, pulling the cannon out and shooting whatever was packed in its barrel into the rest of remaining Colter’s armor, sending the man flying back and her to the floor in the process as she could no longer stand.

As the smoke dropped down the silence occurred. Raiders looked at her and then at Gage and finally at Colter body, lying beneath junks of metal and blood.

- Gage what the fuck just happened there? The Red Eye voice asked , from the speakers.

- What happened? We just got a new Overboss. What else its looking like? Gage yelled to the audience.

- Her? Are you sure Porter? The massive raider with a red hair stood up in disbelief as the rest started leaving the room, mumbling in concern and mistrust.

- I’m sure Mason. You saw what she did. She has skill and ain’t that stupid. Just give her time and get the fuck out. Gage verbally kicked the rest of the audience and entered the arena as room got empty.

-----

- Hey, you okay? He approached her, laying on the ground, breathing heavily but slowly pushing herself up on her arms just to be stopped by a sharp pain from the bullet that didn’t have time to fully heal.

- What kind of question is that? Shit...it hurts. She pulled herself up and leaned on the car, turning her gaze up onto the raider. - So..what the fuck is going on here?

- Right..let me explain now, that there is no crowd shouting over my fucking back. He spotted the wound and jabbed her with a stimpak in the arm.

- Ouch...ey! What makes you think i trust you that much yet? She brushed her arm and awaited the answers.

- I get ya but you ain’t gotta choice for now so you will have to stick with me for a while if you want it or not.

- And what makes you think i want to stick around? She squinted her eye at his and crossed her arms, still leaning onto the car.

- Well..you came here because you wanted to, so there must be something that pulled you to us. And second...fucking congratulations, you passed the challenge and...well you’re the boss now, as the vacancy.. just got...well, freed. He looked over Colter’s dead body slowly releasing its stench of half burned skin and guts into the air.

-Wait...what? Me? Boss? You must be kidding me again. She chuckled in disbelief at him.

- I wasn’t kidding with a squirt gun, why would i be joking now, hm? Gage offered her a hand to lean on. - Let me show, you gonna see its gonna be worth it.

She looked at his hand with hesitation but the pain and tiredness was getting enough to her, wanting to finally sit down somewhere and rest in comfort so she accepted the help, letting herself be supported by his strong, big arm as they slowly walked towards the exit.

- Let’s get ya ass to Fizztop. By the way. Where did you learn all that? You don’t look like a type...for..ya know, combat and so on. He spotted a soft smile appearing in the corner of her lips.

- That is a huge advantage, even back then....to not look like someone who might just cut the shit out of you. Let’s say for now..i had quite a bit of training, working for some gang...might tell you more if you are actually worth trusting and you not gonna gut me at the end of that hallway. After a while she could feel the stress going down, being able to finally stand on her own, still weak but enough to reach the Fizztop.

- I don’t have a reason to gut you yet...well. Let’s hope there won’t be any need for that. He chuckled and scanned her over as he could finally have a good clear look at her posture. - Ain’t you a surprising little package, shit. And funny how you might be just what we need right now.

She looked up at him. His face wearing many fights, not all successful, a big metallic patch covering his eye and whatever was beneath it. Experience and confidence striking in his voice as the posture as well. She felt small..and scrawny indeed standing next to such a massive raider, his bulky armor only adding to it but she had a strange feeling that following him might be just the answer she was looking for a long time.

- Feeling might prove mutual in time, Gage. They looked at each other, eye to eye for a few seconds before heading to Fizztop.

#fallout 4 #fo4 #nuka world #lucy feit #lucy's diary #porter gage #colter #re-written

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howtohero · 5 years ago

Text

#296 Return of the Starter-Villain

Hello How To Hero Heads! Today we’ve got some exciting news to share with you, we’ve finally hired a new supervillain correspondent: Everyone’s favorite lameo starter-villain, Smuggles. Say hello Smuggles. ||Hello Smuggles.|| Sheesh, this guy. I know, I know you must be shocked that I even allowed this to happen. Many of you will recall that I never signed off on, approved of, or got along with our last supervillain correspondent, Dr. Brainwave (don’t pretend you didn’t love Dr. Brainwave like a son, I seem to recall you being incredibly broken up when he died.) but that was because Dr. Brainwave was like, a credible threat who posed an actual danger to us and who once genetically engineered a giant monster that ate me. But Smuggles isn’t anything like that, he’s like the lowest of low-tier supervillains. ||It’s true, I was once hired to smuggle several objects into America, including a TSA uniform that was my exact size, and I never even once thought to put on the uniform to make the rest of the job easier.|| You may recall how in our original post on starter-villains we mentioned that he was on the rise ever since he teamed up with fellow low-level supervillains, Perry the Pirate and Charlie the Fish-Whisperer to hijack a canoe. But we’re both please and dismayed to say that our prediction was wrong. In the past three years, Smuggles has made absolutely nothing of himself. ||I once accidentally turned myself into a bowl of ice cream on a hot summer’s day.|| That starter-villain team didn’t even last past that first job, Charlie the Fish Whisperer went on, as you know, to become one of the most feared supervillains in the world and we all live in fear of the day Chuck the Fish Whisperer uses his awesome powers to escape the prison dimension the world’s heroes trapped him in. And Perry the Pirate became a lawyer I believe. But Smuggles, man, Smuggles. He’s no threat at all, so I was thrilled to see his application among the many we received following Dr. Brainwave’s untimely demise. So, welcome aboard Smuggles. ||Thanks! I’m excited to share my villainous insider knowledge with your read-|| Yeah yeah, that rocks man. So, anyway, in honor of our new staff member, we’re going to take a look at what happens when your starter-villain returns.

A starter-villain is, of course, the villain you fight on your first night out as a superhero. The costumed jaywalker whose swift defeat you use to springboard your career as a respected crime fighter. They will undoubtedly be the easiest villain to defeat that you come up against. As you become more experienced and proficient in superheroism, you’ll look back at your first fight fondly and laugh about all the ways the fight could have ended even quicker than it already did now that you’ve learned and grown a whole bunch. As time goes on and you fight more and more supervillains, eventually meeting your one true nemesis and a whole slew of other villains that you’ll tango with on a regular basis, you’ll even forget who your starter-villain even was. ||I’ve been a starter-villain to over 30 superheroes, and even though I send each of them a holiday card every year, I’ve only ever gotten one response.|| But, as Smuggles just demonstrated, your starter-villain will never forget you. And soon enough, once they’re ready, they’ll ensure that you never forget them again. ||The one response was from Hatman and he just sent a card saying “New phone, who dis?” Like, it was a postcard, a signed postcard. A signed personalized postcard. It said “Hatty Holidays!” and everything!||

It’s very possible that the starter-villain you defeated was also just starting out their costumed career. A crushing defeat on their first night is sure to sit with them, (supervillains being notoriously obsessive, dramatic, and good at remembering how they got their various scars), and they’re going to stew with that for a good while. Even if it wasn’t their first night of attempted-villainy, a defeat by a rookie superhero is sure to make them a laughing stock in the supervillain community. And you know what that means... ||Years of unanswered holiday cards||... revenge.

Your starter-villain will soon come to see you as their nemesis. Even though you’re perfectly happy with the eternal battle of good versus evil that you’ve already got going on with your actual nemesis. They aren’t going to care that you’re already seeing somebody (off to prison in handcuffs). They’re going to want you for their own. They’re going to spend every waking moment of their life plotting against you. Taking the time to really learn everything there is to know about you. This is just one more reason why it’s so important to to make sure your secret identity is ironclad before you start your superhero career. Because as soon as you defeat your first villain, there’s going to be someone out there working to uncover who you really are. ||Honestly, most superheroes don’t even bother trying to keep their secret identity from me. Many of them have just walked up to me and introduced themselves like “Hi, I’m Joe.” It’s kind of insulting.||

For that reason you’d do well to keep tabs on your starter-villain after you defeat them that first night. Their quest for revenge will start immediately and their scheme is just going to grow more and more protracted and elaborate the longer you let things lie. If you’ve already lost track of your starter-villain and it’s been a few years since you’ve been a superhero, I’d start shoring up your defenses. The longer you go without hearing from them, the worse it’s going to be when they eventually rear their ugly ||that’s just rude|| heads again. So put out some feelers, try to find out what they’re up to. If you can’t track them down through your superhero network of contacts, you can even try reaching out to your nemesis to see if they can help. Depending on how obsessive and vindictive your starter-villain is, your current nemesis might also find themselves in your starter-villain’s crosshairs. If you literally have no idea who your starter-villain is, sorry, you’re just going to have be on high alert all the time.

You may discover that your starter-villain has since turned over a new leaf and is actually now operating as a superhero or working with a superhero-adjacent organization such as the OPG. On the surface that makes sense, I mean, they were barely a supervillain to begin with. So the jump to superheroism is not as extreme as it would be for say Al “Da Boss” Marconi, or Karallaxus destroyer of worlds. But even though it might make sense for a starter-villain to have become a superhero, you must not believe it even for one second. Even if some part of a starter-villain truly wants to be better, you can be sure that an even bigger part of them actually just wants revenge on their starter-hero and joining the superhero community is just one of many increasingly inane steps in their protracted revenge scheme.

The only way to truly dissuade a returned starter-villain from dogging you forever and always is to either die or pretend you did. Otherwise they will track you down and hunt you to the ends of the known universe. ||And don’t forget the multiverse, Chuck the Fish Whisperer may be consigned to another universe, but that doesn’t mean his hatred has diminished one iota.|| Exactly! A starter-villain will stop at nothing until they’ve repaired their reputation in the form of destroying the person or people who tarnished it in the first place.

Defeating your first supervillain is an important milestone in the life of any superhero. Unfortunately, it is also an important milestone in the life of that very supervillain, whose life will become utterly subsumed by their embarrassing defeat at your inexperienced hands. Smuggles here is really the exception that proves the rule. ||Wait what?|| Normally, starter-villains become exponentially more dangerous by the time you next encounter them. So you must never underestimate a villain just because you beat them when you were a little kid wearing garish tights and you happened to be doing parkour near your convenience store right when it was being robbed. So why don’t you all take a moment now to check in on your starter-villain and make sure that you’re still able to beat them!

(All right, that’s a wrap on How To Hero #296. Great job everyone, we’ll see you next week.)

||Um.||

(Oh hey, Smugs. Good work today I guess. In the future we all prefer it when the supervillain correspondent kind of harasses Zach a bit, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you’re a bit lackluster compared to Dr. Brainwave.)

||Oh well-||

(You know, I didn’t even want to hire you. I was gunning for Snipey McSkullface. That guy has style.)

||In the form of a skull face-tattoo, yes, I’m familiar with him.||

(Anyway, did you need something from me?)

||Er, yes. I was told that this position came with housing?||

(Oh yes definitely it does! You get to move into our super sweet basement! Right this way, follow me.)

||Thank you, it’s tough out there for a costumed smuggler. So I’m kind of in between homes at the moment.||

(Oh yeah? Wearing a distinctive bright costume makes smuggling more difficult? Who would’ve thunk.)

||Sigh.||

(Did you just say “sigh”?)

||So this basement...||

(Oh yeah! Dr. Brainwave used to live there, you know before he exploded, so a lot of his junk is still down there, but don’t worry we did our best to clear out the mutant alligators.)

||What do you mean you did your best?||

(Listen Smugs, at the end of the day mutant alligators will be mutant alligators if you catch my meaning.)

||I’m not sure I do...||

(Ha! Classic Smugs, anyway enjoy your new digs I’ll see you around.)

||Sure... thanks||

||Wow, they really left everything just as it was. All of Dr. Brainwave’s equipment and machinery is still here. This couldn’t have gone better... Now if I just fire up this thing ah, nope, that’s just a feed that shows what everyone else in this building is thinking about. Not what I’m looking for, but I’ll come back for that later maybe... Oh gross, you know what this thing should be burned. Now let’s see, shrink ray, precarious stack of explosives, ah! Here it is! The interdimensional warp gate generator. Excellent. Now, if I just power it up, and set it to the proper frequency. Yes... Yes! Yes it’s working! Oh now they’ll rue the day they disrespected Smuggles. Each of them will pay dearly for how they treated me... now that you’re back old frien-||

Hey, Smuggles? Oh good, Parenthesis Guy got you settled in, just wanted to thank you for your great work today and to check if you needed anythi- What are you doing.

||Oh Zach! Hello! What do you mean?||

Why is there a warp gate open in my basement? What are you doing with that thing?

||Taking my foul revenge on you and everybody else who ever slighted me! The world will crumble before me and my ally!!!||

Listen, if this is about the jokes, I’m sorry about that, but you really don’t want to do this. Trust me, this isn’t going to end well for any of us.

||It certainly won’t end well for you and all of your superhero friends. Ah, there he is. Welcome back, Chuck the Fish Whisperer.||

Oh... this is bad.

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ruined-shaper · 5 years ago

Note

Spirit of (X)! (Can I have one too? Either for this universe, or linked to the new one, or... however you think it could fit even if she was involved in the events already...?)

Mirabelle, Follower of Veigar

Unknown years after the Dawngate opened.

Not so long ago, in the world we knew then, a great shaper lived. Eidolus, his name. A western shaper, a grand engineer, brilliant mind, and hopeless lover for his mate, Imanna. It was said her beauty was-

“C’MON, SKIP AHEAD.”

“Writing is a process. It must be detailed! You can’t simply leave out details. What if the audience-”

“THE AUDIENCE DOESN’T MATTER, I MATTER, AND I SAY, SKIP AHEAD.”

“Ugh. Fine.”

-Imanna was pretty, she died, Eidolus got sad, and built the Dawngate to blow himself up.

However, our story takes place with the thieving-

“I prefer… opportunistic.”

“You hEARD THE LADY.”

“Can you please be quiet?”

However, our story takes place with the thieving opportunistic duo: a soon to be powerful master of the universe,

“GOOD!”

-and his sane, intelligent, stunningly beautiful associate.

“BAD!”

“Sorry, she’s the one paying me.”

“Don’t worry about it, Veigar.”

“ANGRY! RAGE!”

Now, these two cunning individuals were made aware of the circumstances they were about to encounter thanks to some interesting experiments-

“He glued a stick to a rock.”

“A STAFF TO A FOCUS. I spent YEARS on that!”

- and a rare anomaly: True communication with the spirits. Words of wisdom from the Spirit of Insight itself.

“It says hello, by the way.”

“It says whatnow-”

“Just, ignore him. Keep writing.”

As such,

“I WILL NOT BE IGNORED-”

“Please, Quiet!”

As such, prepared for the new age of shaping to approach, the spirit realm exploded forth from the gate, and the world would be changed forever. Of course, they were absolutely prepared for anything…

1 minute after the Dawngate opened

“I AM ABSOLUTELY NOT PREPARED FOR THIS.”

Mimi, in a bit of a panic as the worlds collided in the nearby gate, the spiritual energy shaking the ground and air thick with a searing heat. Laying still nearby, a cheshire grin spread wide on his sleeping form, Veigar had fallen.

“SPIRITS, BE ALIVE. JUST, BE ALIVE, YOU BASTARD. I SPENT TOO MANY YEARS OUT OF SCHOOL TO BE A PART-TIME ASSISTANT WITH A DEAD BOSS-”

Anxious, full-fledged screaming echoed through the night.

“Can- Can we, skip this part? He was asleep for this anyway.”

“Wait, why?… WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME IN MY SLEEP-”

“Nothing, Veigar.”

“..Oh.”

“What’s ‘oh’?”

“What, I don’t look irresistibly handsome and you DIDN’T take advantage of the situation? I TAUGHT YOU BETTER.”

“Spirits help me.”

“…Wuzzat, Insight?… It says no. And agrees that I’m deserving of a modelling career.”

“Can we FOCUS, please?!”

Careful so as not to raise alarm, Mirabelle carried the newly born-again shaper back to a hostel at the edge of the world’s heart. Passing in secret away from the prying eyes of pilgrims, paladins, and animals, the duo rested. While awaiting the rise of her unconscious-

“HEY, YOU ALREADY USED UNCONSCIOUS. YOU CALL YOURSELF A WRITER?”

“That’s not an issue here-”

“I DEMAND CHANGES!”

“By Grace, you are NOT worth the money…”

While awaiting the rise of her unconscious-non-consensually sleeping companion, another miracle glistened in the window, out of view of the masses seeking refuge from the Gate.

A simple, small being. A spirit of unknown nature. It seemed to be waiting, watching Mirabelle. For what purpose, she was unsure. Such things were unheard of. Veigar had performed what no one had done before by summoning a spirit to his bidding-

“Actually, it’s more of a bargain-sorta deal. You know, all-powerful beings have to respect each other.”

And yet, here was another. And it was calling. To her.

How was she supposed to respond? What if it was a ploy? A trick of the light? Perhaps she was hallucinating, maybe the blast had killed her and this was some odd state of purgatory leading a similar scenario.

“Mimi, what the HELL were you on about?!”

“I was stressed. It’s normal to be stressed in that situation.”

2 hours after the Dawngate opened

“ThIS IS AN ABNORMAL AMOUNT OF STRESS FOR THIS SITUATION-” She yelled aloud. Covering her mouth and pacing the room, she cursed herself for the outburst.

“This is fine! It’s, fine. Really. No problem. Just going to… touch it? But what if it burns me? What if I burn IT? Is that even possible- THINK, Mirabelle, THINK, DAMN YOU.”

A moment of pause.

“Sweet Grace, I’m starting to sound like him.”

You are not him. You are better.

“Gee, thanks brain… wait… that wasn’t me.”

It was a shock. Though it could not truly speak, there was another conversing with her in a language she could replicate, but could clearly understand. It respected her.

She was a more suiting candidate, in its eyes, for the incredible power contained within Veigar. She must have it. She WOULD HAVE IT-

“-No. NO! I-I’m not thinking this…. It’s YOU.”

Trust in me, girl. No one else… only in me. I can give you power. Purpose. What has he done to deserve this? Nothing.

Kill him. Take his power. His energy. IT IS YOURS. TAKE IT.

“No! You’re… NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!”

TAKE IT! TAKE IT. TAKE IT TAKEIT TAKEITTAKEITTAKEITTAKEIT

“-AGHAGH- PAIN, AGONY, AND POWER- power… Uhhh… Mimi, what are you screaming about? YOU WOKE ME FROM MY POWER NAP.”

It was his voice that caused the screaming in her mind to stop. A sense of clarity, and calm. Steadying herself, she looked to him, then to the window. The creature was gone.

“Ahhh, I feel… AMAZING! Like I could take on the world! LIKE I COULD RULE THE WORLD-”

Veigar attempted to stand from the bed triumphantly, instead falling flat on his face, causing the nearby dresser to topple on him.

“MIMI HELP THE WORLD HAS BETRAYED ME-”

“…Betrayed…. Betrayal… so that must’ve… no. It was nothing at all.”

“ALRIGHT, WE’RE LEAVING THIS PART OUT TOO. NOTHING OF IMPORTANCE HAPPENED. AT ALL. NEVER WOULD I DO SOMETHING SO SILLY.”

“Of course.”

“Alright…. So, does that look good for a start?”

“I think it’s great-”

“I REQUIRE MORE WRITTEN COMPLIMENTS.”

“I will compliment you later.”

“…Fine. I accept your offering.”

“Alright then, we’re done for today. When’s good for a next visit?”

“Whenever I feel like it.”

“I-no, that’s-”

“Whenever. We feel like it.”

“Fine! Fine. I’ll make due.”

A promising student, with dangerous hidden potential, Mimi is unknowningly accompanied by the Spirit of Betrayal. Though not bonded as spirit and shaper, the being is more than willing to manipulate and coerce those around it for its need and utmost desire to shatter the bonds of mortals.

Allies: Veigar (So much to know… to be… to own.)

Friends: Zeri (Another student. I mean, her teacher is… something, but they’re nice enough to ignore that fact.), Fenmore (He wants to bring upon a new age… maybe we can get ourselves ahead of the curve.), Amarynth (So violent. So powerful…. and yet, she’s sad. Why?)

Enemies: Dibs (Stop talking, stop talking, PLEASE STOP TALKING-), Kindra (I have never felt more uncomfortable around another person-), Sakari (… I stand corrected.)

//Another fun tale! This one was a doozy, but I really enjoy writing dialogue! I think a more comedic set of team rocket-esque deuteragonists with some oomph to them really fits well in the universe, and I find the dynamic Veigar and Mimi could have here very intriguing to build around.

The additional tension of having a terrifying, parasitic spirit lurking is another relatively unique property here. Sure, parasitic spirits exist, but they have immediately satiable needs, like Corruption or Consumption. Betrayal, by contrast, has to wait. It has to weave and earn its kill, like building a house of cards. Only then, will it be sated.

Big shout out to @veigarthevile and @assistant-of-evil! Thanks for the prompts!

#veigarthevile #assistant of evil #dawngate #dawngate au #dawngate rp #drabble #shaper meme #shaper

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canyousevmyheavydirtysoul · 6 years ago

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Bodyguard III: Avengers Assemble (Chapter 8) (B. Urie x Reader)

“GRENADE!”

On the Helicarrier bridge, the small device exploded, sending agents flying in every direction. In the smoke, Loki’s men entered, guns at the ready.

Fury knocked one out, using his handgun to shoot at another. While he moved to take care of a third, a fourth man entered. Unbeknownst to The Director, the henchman aimed his gun at his head, about to blow his brains out.

Agent Hill shot him in the head, eyes blazing. She was pissed.

And bleeding.

Giving her a short nod, Fury proceeded to join her in attacking the rest of the assailants. The place was chaotic; every available agent was playing defence, protecting the Helicarrier as best they could, while the tech employees scrambled in search of a hiding place.

Over the intercom, Agent Coulson’s voice sounded all throughout the ship. “We’ve got the Hulk, Thor and Snowflake on Research Level Four. Levels Two and Three are gone.”

Agent Hill yelled out almost immediately, knowing full well what a battle between three super-strong inhumans meant. “Sir, the Hulk will tear this place apart!”

“Get his attention,” Fury instructed calmly.

“Escort 6-0, proceed to Wishbone and engage hostile,” Hill said over the comms, “Don’t get too close.”

On the outside of the Helicarrier, a fighter jet pulled up. “Copy.”

The young pilot directed the jet over to where you, Thor and Hulk were fighting, seemingly evenly matched in terms of strength.

“Target acquired,” he spoke, aiming the jet’s guns at the Hulk, “Target engaged.”

Within a split second, a flurry of bullets were headed toward Hulk. The barrage of metal did no harm, each and every one of them bouncing off of his green skin.

It did no harm, but it certainly pissed him off.

Hulk roared, running at the window. Crashing through the glass, he leapt at the jet.

“Target angry,” the pilot panicked, screaming once the Hulk landed on his jet, “TARGET ANGRY!”

Landing on the nose, Hulk tore at the metal of the jet as it swerved in the air. The pilot tried to eject himself, but he didn’t manage to get very far, sicnce Hulk grabbed him and threw him and his seat off to the side.

Fortunately, the parachute deployed just in time, and he was able to make a safe getaway, propelled further away as the jet exploded, sending Hulk plummeting to the Earth.

✧✧✧

Research Level Four.

Groaning, you gripped the edge of a nearby desk station and steadied yourself, faint flecks of orange reflecting in your eyes as you watched the fighter jet explode.

“Shit,” you mumbled, sucking in a breath as you turned to look at Thor, “you think he’s okay?”

“He was able to battle the both of us without any issue,” he responded, standing up himself, “I am certain he is fine.”

Nodding to yourself, you tossed a quick glance around the mostly destroyed area, suddenly remembering why your altercation with the Hulk had happened.

“Loki,” you said, face hardening.

Starting for the exit, Thor spoke over his shoulder. “Help where you can. I have him.”

“Right,” you spoke under your breath, lightly chewing on the inside of your cheek.

You weren’t entirely familiar with the dynamic of Thor and Loki’s relationship, and from a S.H.I.E.L.D agent’s standpoint, allowing the brothers to interact without the prescence of another Avenger was an insansely risky move.

But you let Thor go it alone because as you just then remembered – you had another two men to deal with.

✧✧✧

The bridge.

Bullets were flying in every direction as the S.H.I.E.L.D agents fired at Loki’s men, trying to keep them at bay. Fury was at the forefront, shooting at the enemies.

“They are not getting through here so what the-“

Rounding the corner, Agent Barton fired explosive arrows throughout the area, wrecking havoc and disorientating almost everyone in sight. He fired one more arrow, which hit the control panel; the arrowhead broke apart to reveal some sort of USB device and inserted itself into one of the control plugs, hacking the system.

“Engine One is now in shutdown,” a computerised voice rang over the intercom as the Helicarrier began to tilt dangerously. Everyone in the bridge was knocked off of their feet.

“Sir,” Dallon cried out urgently, trying his best to keep himself upright as he rushed to his station, “we’ve lost all power in Engine One.”

Staggering over to some railings, Fury pressed one finger to his ear and spoke over the comm network.

“It’s Barton, he took out our systems. He’s headed for the detention lab. Does anybody copy?”

Down in the lower engine room, Natasha sat in the carnage of Hulk’s rampage, shaking. Slowly, she lifted a hand to her earpiece.

“This is Agent Romanoff,” she said softly, voice shaky, “I copy.”

✧✧✧

Detention centre.

Running toward the cage where his brother was being kept, Thor saw the glass door begin to slide open.

“No!” he yelled, running forward to prevent Loki from escaping, only to go straight through him.

Reappearing behind him, Loki shut the door, locking Thor inside the cage.

“Are you ever not going to fall for that?” he mused cheekily.

Angrily, Thor struck his hammer against the glass; the cage cracked, but the attack caused it to shake off the bolts securing it in place, threatening to send the god on a thousand mile decline.

Mockingly, Loki let out a short laugh as he treaded over to the control panel. “The humans think us immortal…” he looked at his brother with a questioning stare, “shall we test that theory?”

In a matter of seconds, the God of Mischief had pressed a button that opened a chute beneath the cell, which would drop Thor to what (for any regular person) would be certain death.

Coulson suddenly appeared, weilding a large prototype Phase Two weapon.

“Move away please,” the agent asked politely, trepidation only barely evident in his tone.

Loki stepped back from the panel and Coulson gestured to the gun.

“Do you like this? We started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer. Even I don’t know what it does. Do you wanna find out?”

The agent prepared to fire the weapon, but Loki disappeared. Reappearing behind Coulson, the god thrust the point of his dagger through the agent’s chest. Crying out, Coulson dropped to the floor.

“NO!” Thor hit his fist against the cage wall.

Returning to the panel, Loki pressed one more button, sending the cell – and Thor – flying from the ship.

Bleeding out and nearing his death, Coulson layed slumped against the wall of the detention centre, watching Loki as he turned to leave.

“You’re going to lose.”

Stopping in his tracks, Loki gave a brief glance over his shoulder. “Am I?”

“It’s in your nature.”

Turning so that he was facing the agent, Loki gestured with both hands as he replied. “Your heroes are scattered, your floating fortress falls from the sky… where is my disadvantage?”

“You lack conviction.”

Loki’s face soured, and his tone turned harsh. “I don’t think I-“

Coulson took his oppurtunity, then, and fired the weapon. A blast of blue energy sent Loki flying through a wall.

“So that’s what it does.”

✧✧✧

Engine 3.

The Helicarrier was still falling, gaining speed as it declined. Iron Man was inside engine 3, attempting to kick start it by manually moving the huge rotors. He pushed the blades, flying faster and faster until they were able to spin on their own, leveling the ship.

“Cap,” Tony called out from inside the helmet, “hit the lever!”

Steve, who had been attacked by Loki’s men, was dangling from the side of the ship by a power chord. “I need a minute here!”

“Lever! Now!”

Cap hauled himself up, hurrying toward the lever.

Iron Man was pushed up against one of the rotors, which was now spinning too fast for him to escape.

“Uh-oh.”

Sucked into the blades, Iron Man was spun around wildly, trapped until Steve was finally able to pull the lever.

Now free, Tony was able to right himself and flew back to the ship, taking out the gunman who had resumed his attack on Steve.

Both men sat, absolutely spent, on the damaged, exposed floor of the Helicarrier. Looking out into the sky, they caught sight of a quinjet taking off from the deck of the ship.

Inside of it was Loki, who smiled down at the Helicarrier as it strayed further and further from his sight.

✧✧✧

Detention centre.

Fury rushed into the room, taking a kneeling postion beside Coulson’s limp body.

“I’m sorry, boss,” the agent said, gun still in his lap, “They got rabbitted.”

“Just stay awake,” Fury urged, tilting Coulson’s head, “Eyes on me.”

“Oh, I’m clockin’ out, here.”

“Not an option.”

Mustering up a weak smile, Fury’s right hand man reassured him one last time, “It’s okay, boss. This was never gonna work… if they didn’t have something… to-“

His breathing came to a halt. Regretfully, Fury stood up, letting the medical team through. He leaned against the railing.

✧✧✧

Corridor, near the infirmary.

You were running down the corridor, coming up on the room that Brendon and Aaron were in, when your godfather’s voice sounded out over the comms.

“Agent Coulson is down.”

You stopped dead in your tracks.

✧✧✧

Engine room.

Natasha stood on the catwalk, facing away as Barton was dragged away by some agents. She listened over the comms intently.

“A medical team is on its way to your location,” one of the other agents informed.

“They’re here,” Fury replied.

✧✧✧

Engine 3.

Tony and Steve stood together by the engine, listening quietly.

“They called it.”

_______________________________

Thank you for reading x

Taglist:

@arosebyname @avengertrash21 @tiffisnotnormal @darknessdancing @raversam @theieroenthusiast @the-ghost-of-hemingway @laerkers @peters-vlogs @hockeyswag-boll @username-number-01834 @untilyouburnallofthewitches @underscoredarcy @aminasmells @becausebands @converseskyline @vinyloider @attractiveugly @twentzyonepirates @tegan-eva @i-only-date-flower-boys @jishwatylrandtop @blueskiesbleakeyes @robinruns @hi-ho-and-hello @svintsandghosts @iamafishandigosplish @sunshineandapplepie @kealohilani-tepise @bookworm104 @sheridans-dynamos @justawriterinprogress @anotherwriterinprogress @sillylandcalzonespy

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fatbottombucky · 6 years ago

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A Stark Is Born *Prequel to That’s Stark’s Boy*

Summary: Peter listens to the story about how your parents met and the story of why you stopped contact with Tony.

Grace Hart is an up and coming Agent to the FBI, although mostly on desk duty due to not following instructions, she’s on a mission to protect the most sort after man. Tony Stark, recently taking over his dad’s company, Stark makes it difficult for Grace to keep him safe. A story about how true love, but how loving each other is easier when they aren’t together.

Pairings: Tony Stark x Grace Hart (Miss Congeniality OC!) & Peter Parker x Male!Reader & Tony Stark x Pepper Potts

Warnings: Swear words, violence and drinking. It’s Angst, but fluff too. Sex is mentioned, obviously. But I’m not writing smut for this.

Word Count: 2236

Authors Note: Sandra Bullock is in no way how YOU should picture the mom. She’s simply an OC I created, the mom is a mixture of a bunch of Sandra Bullock characters, and I’m using the actress as INSPIRATION. You do NOT have to picture her as Sandy B, but she is an OC and therefore I will be using the name Grace for her, you’re free to place another name for the mother. It’s the same with all my fics, I leave it open to interpretation. I only use gifs as inspo and decoration, they’re not meant to depict how the reader/ the mother should look like.

Next chapter will be posted Thursday17th 8pm GMT - come to this blog as I won’t be able to link for future chapters / I’ll be creating a masterlist for the prequel also, so don’t worry, you’ll be able to find every chapter on my masterlist

Chapter One/ Six

“Agent Hart,” Jack Traven voice calls through the office, “Chief wants you.”

He pats the young female’s shoulder as he passes, giving her a sympathetic smile as he sits at his own desk. Grace heaves a sigh, pushing herself up from her own desk and pursing her lips as she walks towards the chief’s office. This wasn’t the first time she’d been called, nor would it be the last either. She had a thing for not following the rule book, sometimes tossing it out and struggled to follow orders; it’s why she’s never led a case.

She knocks a few times, hearing the faint gruff of her superior’s voice to come in. A few seconds of pep-talk before she opens the door, she’s met with a few faces, only one that she recognises- and that’s her boss.

“You wanted to see me, sir?” Grace asked and stood with her hands clasped behind her back, hair pulled back into a low ponytail but she still managed to miss a few pieces that framed her face.

“I know I’ve put you on desk duty because of your last… instruction issue,” McDonald explains, “but I have an assignment, a very important one. It requires one of the best and since Matthews is on holiday, you’ll be on this one.” Grace nods once, “a very important male has been receiving disturbing letters these past few months, I’ve got the Intelligence team downstairs looking them over, they seem to be getting progressively more violent.”

Grace raises an eyebrow, “So a celebrity has a stalker, how is this an FBI issue?”

“It’s a top-secret operation,” McDonald's informs Hart, who instantly perks up. “We have suspicion to believe that whoever is sending these letter is planning on killing the victim, we’ve been informed that one of his helicopters suddenly lost engine power… then exploded.”

Grace nods, “And you want me to take point on this? Find out who’s behind the letter-”

“Nope,” he shakes his head, “you’re going to be protecting the victim, that’s all you’ll do. I have a team put together to figure out who this is, we just need someone to be with them at all times. Keep them alive and safe,” McDonald nods to the two other men, Hart only now acknowledges them. “Happy Hogan and James Rhodes have requested FBI officials.”

Grace instantly deflates, babysitting duty, great. Not. No one wants to follow some suit around and make sure he’s well and truly safe, they have money to get those types of people without using government-funded officials.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Anthony Stark,” Grace already starts to shake her head. “After the unexpected death of his parents, he has reason to be jumpy. His dad had a lot of enemies too, a lot of people trying to claim the Stark Industries from under the young heir of Howard. This could be serious, he needs protection and you’re not doing anything important around here.”

“No way,” Grace scoffs and crosses her arms. “I’ve seen Stark, he’s an egotistical, playboy asshole and he has enough money to hire bodyguards.”

“Actually,” one of the men piped up, “We can’t trust anyone but the FBI. We recently found out someone we hired was in on the operation to take Stark down, we believe it’s a man that posed as Tim Robbins. This is our last resort, so to speak.”

Grace looked at her boss and sighed, “I have no say in this, do I?” he shakes his head, “when do I start?”

“He won’t accept any hired help,” Rhodes explained to Grace, who nodded as the car drove them to wherever Stark would be. “His usual help, Miss Potts-”

Grace snorted, “What is he the prince from Beauty and the Beast?” she carried on snorting loudly, laughing at her own joke till she calmed herself down.

“Okay,” James mutters, “Anyway, she’s on paid leave. Visiting some family, he needs a stand-in. A personal assistant, you’ll have access to his whole timetable and with him at all times. We’ve just gotta make sure he’ll hire you.”

“Great, so not only do I have to babysit this adult. He refuses to accept any actual help, so I’ve also got to run his errands for him as I potentially stop him from getting assassinated?” Grace asked James with a raised eyebrow.

Happy Hogan, who is head security detail for Stark and used to be his personal driver, let’s out a small chuckle from the driver's seat. He looks in the mirror, to Grace, and only nods his head with a sympathetic smile.

“Do you own any dresses?” Happy calls from the front of the car.

“No,” Grace scoffs and raises her eyebrows at them, “Why do I need a dress?”

“You’ll need to look the part, Miss Hart.” Happy tells her and then focuses back on the road ahead.

Grace groans and slouches in her seat, gnawing on her bottom lip as she hopelessly sits in the back of the SUV. Wondering why and how she got into this mess, she should’ve handed her badge and gun over, could’ve taken the offered vacation. Yet, you’re a workaholic and did this to yourself, Grace.

“Okay, you know what? Drop me off home, send me a text of Tony’s favourite coffee and his DD tomorrow,” Happy frowns, “Designated Destination.” Grace rolls her eyes slightly like he should’ve known that anyway.

Happy and James drop her off, telling her Tony’s morning schedule for tomorrow. Leaving the young woman to go into her apartment and do the only she can; tape her hands and start venting her frustration out on her punching bag.

The corny RnB song plays loudly through the stereo as she works up a sweat, the sweat drips down her face and stings her eyes. By now she expected to be top of her game, yet she’s hardly playing with the team now, always on the bench because she can’t follow simple instructions. Her parents always told her to throw out the rule book, to live a little, but it seemed that always got her in trouble.

She turned the stereo off and picked up the phone, dialling the number of the only person she knew could help her, that would listen to her and tell her what she needed to hear.

“Hi, Mr Wong, it’s Grace Hart. I need one No. 13, two No. 7’s and I need three No. 8’s, no garlic.” She pauses for a moment, “yes, for one. Always for one. Can you throw in a No. 23, thank you. See you in 15 minutes,” she slapped the phone back on the receiver and sighed heavily.

Tomorrow she’d have to start her job, well her two jobs; saving and protecting Tony Stark and being his personal assistant till he is safe.

*Next Day*

Grace ran through the crowded New York street, almost spilling and tripping up several times. The long maxi, rather flowy, skirt kept causing her to stumble and tumble into people and buildings. The shoes weren’t a big help either, the flat sandals kept skidding and slipping, yet they are fashionable- by Grace’s standards.

Grace caught sight of Tony and Happy exiting the building where Stark Industries meetings are held, both in deep conversation and surrounded by a few journalists. Grace waved frantically to Happy, who raised his eyebrows at the poorly dressed woman, chuckling when she starts to yell at a cab that almost hit her.

“Mr Stark,” Grace pushes past Happy and stumbles up to the billionaire, handing him his coffee and shoving some papers into the other hand. “I’m Grace Hart, a pleasure to meet you. Miss Potts told me your schedule and what coffee you like,” she steps quickly to keep up with his fast pace.

Watching as he takes a small sip and nodding in appreciation, he glances over the papers in his hands. Her resume that she bullshitted early hours of the morning and frantically printed at the library, a cover letter that wrote up that had a forged signature of a George Wade- who she has never met and hopes Tony doesn't know.

Despite the headband pushing her hair back, it still manages to get into her face as she follows both men. “She recommended me, hoped you’d take me on whilst she’s away. I’ve looked over your schedule and I’m willing to work, to start right now.”

Tony stops at the car, pulling the glasses that cover his face off and eyeing her up and down. Grace frowns for a moment before he shrugs at Happy, stepping into the car, Happy nods for her to follow and she quickly dives in with a heaved sigh.

It’s silent, so Grace quickly fills it. “I live on the lower east side, so it’ll take me a while to get to your place in the morning. That’s if… I’ve got the job?”

Tony smiles, “Yes, you have the job. But I want something else from you.”

Grace chortles incredulously, “Oh, no. I am fully aware of your reputation and there’s no way you’re getting… that. No.”

Tony raises an eyebrow, not looking offended but rather amused, “Getting what?”

“You know what.” Grace concludes, muttering, “Sex,” Tony only chuckles, “there’s no way you’re getting that. I don’t care what past PA’s have done for the job, I will not.”

“Well, that would be nice. But what I really need is for someone to attend my meeting on Wednesday, I’ve got a party at the Playboy mansion, won’t be able to attend.”

Grace just nods and sighs, already knowing this is going to be difficult. The car is mostly silent, Tony on his phone and talking occasionally to Happy about something random.

The house they pull up to is… breathtaking. Clearly costs more than anything Grace will ever own, it’s beautiful and modern, clearly a mansion too. It must have around six bedrooms, at least. How can one man need all this space?

“You live here?” Grace asked and Tony nods, “alone?”

Tony chuckles, “I’m hardly ever alone, Pepper usually stays with me and I’m hardly single, I mean, you know my reputation.”

“Don’t you ever feel lonely in a place like this?” Grace asked and looked at Tony, his eyebrows are knitted together and he’s looking at her for a long moment before turning back to Happy, telling him to park the car in the garage around back.

Grace follows Tony up the drive, where he types in a code to enter the luxurious house. The lights all come on, the sound of a brewing coffee pot could be heard distantly, Grace raises an eyebrow at everything. Then from nowhere a distinct British accent is heard… from above?

“Welcome back, Mr Stark.”

“Who said that?” Grace asked looking around for the source of the voice, yet coming up empty.

Tony shrugs off his jacket and passes it to Grace, pointing to a closet near her, “That’s JARVIS, he used to be just an interface computer system, but I’m upgrading him to an Artificial Intelligence. It’s going rather well,” Tony smiles and Grace can only nod her head, “JARVIS, this is Grace Hart, she’s taking over Miss Potts duties for a few weeks. Get her prints for the doors and add her to the security logs.”

“Right away, Sir.”

Grace remains by the door, utterly floored by the technology in this house. Tony is making an AI? She knew he was a genius, like his father before him, but she didn’t know that he just makes AI’s in his spare time. Isn’t he meant to be running some kind of business? Oh, right. No, you are Grace, you’re attending the meeting for him on Wednesday.

It wasn’t till past eleven at night that Grace finally returned home. She had to go over Pepper’s timetable, all involving picking up his dry-cleaning, answering his own emails and arranging all of his meals- alongside his own head chef. She also had to consult with JARVIS, an Artificial Intelligence, talking to something with no face was… weird.

“Sir,” Grace sighed as she finally got through to her boss, “I really don’t think I can do this job.”

“Agent Hart, it’s just a security detail.”

Grace scoffs, “I wish. It’s not just a security detail, Mr Stark doesn’t want to be looked after. No, I have to pretend to be a personal assistant just to keep him safe,” she paced outside of her apartment building. “I have do everything, it’s like looking after a child. It’s been one day and I can’t do it. He has a frigging robot as a friend, Sir.”

“Hart, you can and will do this job. No matter what you keep Stark alive and safe, got it?” It sounded more of a command than a question.

“Sir, I think this individual might actually be mentally unstable,” Grace affirms but knows better than to argue. “Can you at least have the team look into an Obadiah Stane? He works alongside Stark, I got this… vibe from him.”

There was a moment of silence, “I’ll have them look into it. But Stane is one of the people that was also concerned for Stark’s safety. I’ll update you in a few days of the progress.”

Grace let out a long groan before ending the call before entering her apartment. It’s only for a few days, it can’t be that hard to look after and keep him safe. It’s not like he’s constantly putting himself in danger.

(so, like, yeah. I don’t know. If you want to read That’s Stark’s Boy, simply click the masterlist link in my bio OR type in TSBmasterlist in the search bar on my blog. I had no idea if JARVIS was a computer or an AI in 1999, so I had to blag it. I’m having to bullshit a lot for this prequel lol. Hope you enjoy this, there are only six chapters, so I guess this short thing!- Rosalie)

#tony stark x oc #tony stark one shot #tony stark imagines #iron man x reader #iron man one shot #iron man imagines #tony stark x reader #peter parker x male!reader #peter parker x you #peter parker x male reader #peter parker x male #tony stark x peter parker #grace hart x tony stark

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antiquechampagne · 6 years ago

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Beastly Kingdom - CH13 - Line’em Up

A shaft of orange light cut across Liz’s face, waking her up just as she had fallen asleep. She was tempted to grumble, but silently slid out of bed, careful not to disturb Oswald on the other side. After she freshened up as much as she could, Liz poked her head in Louis’s room. He still lay on his threadbare and stained mattress. The rusted bedframe creaking lightly as he shifted in his sleep. She took this rare peaceful moment and drank it in silently.

A hand lightly touched her shoulder. Her body tensed to attack, but she realized it was just Oswald. She wasn’t sure how he had snuck up on her so silently, then she remembered he had a few special tricks up his sleeve. He gave a little squeeze.

“That’s not the smartest idea, sneaking up on me like that.” She chided as she turned to face him. She smiled, noticing he had only clothed his lower half. “Unless you want to lose a few more teeth.”

Oswald smiled carelessly before a more serious expression darkened his glowing features. “He’ll be fine.”

“I know.” Liz couldn’t help but glance back. “But I should go before he wakes up. If he sees me, he might get upset. I don’t want him to be a handful for you.”

“He’s a sweet kid, but he’s not the one I worry about. Are you going to be able to leave if he won’t let you go?”

That rang a bit too true for Liz. She dramatically put her hand over her heart. “You wound me, sir!” Oswald shook his head. Before he could clap back, Liz gave him a quick and passionate kiss.

“And that is a thank you for last night… well, I guess another thank you. I’m off to war. I’ll bring you back something fun!” With that, Liz slipped off to join in the last-minute preparations before their forces started filtering out into the wasteland.

They had been sending small plainclothes groups to set up camps and safehouses in the nearby city for nearly a week, hiding the build up around the airport. Stealthily moving a giant glowing deathclaw and her blazing white and gold power armor was not an option. Liz was shipping out with the last remnants of her forces, including the gang leaders and their heavy guns just before the big offensive. Gage was slated to stay behind with a skeleton crew to keep Nuka-World running in their absence.

“Fuck’em up, Boss.” Gage nodded to Liz as she scanned over the nearly silent Nuka-World one last time.

“Don’t raise too much hell while I’m gone! Those townies can’t hold their liquor like a raider!”

“Shit, ain’t that the truth!”

They traveled slower that Liz would have liked. The arrived later than planned at the temporary command center in an abandoned school. Liz was tempted to send Mama to the nearby racetrack. It would be easier to hide her behind the stands, but she decided against it. Even though it was now full of her forces, some might spook and bolt being so close to such a threatening creature. Instead, she told Mama to stay behind the building and guard her power armor.

Heading inside, she was greeted by a scene of a bustling headquarters packed to the gills with people running here and there. Nearly all of them were wearing some version of a stupid tricorn hat. It nearly made her chuckle.

Liz and her entourage were quickly spotted and directed to a courtyard. The General was directing a few underlings with last minute orders.

“Glad you could make it. I thought I was going to have to start the party without you.” Nate arched his eyebrow. He was wearing a dark blue overcoat with stars sewn on the collars. He grabbed his own tricorn hat and put it on.

“Yeah, well, Mama needed a break… you try telling a deathclaw to hold it until we get there.” Nate almost smiled. “But now that we’re here, is everything progressing like we planned?”

Nate bent back down over the table with a crude map in the middle of the courtyard. “Everyone is in place; the artillery is awaiting my signal. What about your people?”

“This last group has the big guns… a little more than a dozen missile launchers and the bastards that love’em. The rest are chomping at the bit to get a piece of Brotherhood flesh, all we have to do is release the hounds.” Liz made a bit of a show of looking around. “And here I thought I would finally get to meet that Preston Garvey I’ve heard so much about. So, where is your second in command?”

Nate’s eyebrows knit ever so slightly. “He’s back at the Castle, keeping things running.” He glared back at her. “I don’t see Gage riding your coattails.”

“Touché,” Liz conceded. “But I will be insisting my underbosses work with your crew to coordinate and focus our strikes. They will be in charge of my people during the assault.”

“What are you going to be doing, then?”

“I didn’t wax my armor this morning for nothing. If I don’t get a few new scars from this little war you have staged, how can I call myself a proper Overboss?”

Nate shook his head. “Of course, you are suicidal…”

Liz punched her fist on the table with enough force to topple a few coffee mugs. The room went suddenly cold. More than one hand went to unclip a sidearm.

“I don’t send my guys into any place where I won’t go myself. What coward stays behind while sending others to die?”

The General and Overboss locked eyes. Nate broke away first.

“We don’t have time for this.” He huffed. “There’ll be enough of a blood bath for everyone, especially if we delay even more.”

“Agreed.” Liz turned to leave. “Rain hellfire down on the bastards and cover our asses. We’ll have them shitting their pants in no time.”

Mason followed her back to her armor, leaving Mags to coordinate placing the final assets among the entrenched Minutemen and Nuka-World troops. The plan was to get the missile launchers in place before the artillery landed to add an additional punch to their opening number. After that, she and Mama would lead the shock troop in and try and punch a hole in the wall. The first goal was to bring down the Brotherhood airship, everything apart from that was just frosting on the cake, as far as she was concerned.

After getting in her armor, the silent minutes stretched on for what felt like hours. Mama perked up and snorted, her head cocked to the side moments before Liz heard the telltale whoosh of an incoming projectile. For a split second, the Liz thought she heard the blare of an air raid siren before she pushed the ghost of a memory out of her head. She didn’t have time rehash a 200-year-old flashback right now.

The first dozen shells hit a mix of the perimeter wall guarding the airport, as well as the building proper. A few even managed to hit the Prydwen itself, one taking off a front observation deck and another damaging the support struts holding the tail in place. As the alarm was raised, a hail of missiles from the surrounding landscape exploded in of burst orange fire.

Liz slapped Mama on a meaty leg, then let out an adrenaline-fueled howl as she launched into a run down the barren space between her and the wall topped with Brotherhood knights. Roused by her cry, Mason’s Pack followed suit, popping up from behind every crumbling wall and rock to rush alongside their Overboss. Mama bellowed out her own deafening roar, the shockwave knocking out several nearby school windows before she sprinted to keep up.

The well-trained soldiers of the Brotherhood quickly recovered, scrambling to cover the advancing forces with return fire while extracting those unlucky enough to be in the blast radius of the first attack. Liz smiled as dozens of laser beams bounced ineffectively off her armor.

Come and shoot at the big bad bouncing raider, she thought as she raised her twin miniguns, keep wasting your ammo on me, dumbasses. Started firing as she ran, getting ever closer to the wall. She laughed, peppering bullets in wide swaths, causing the knights and scribes to duck for cover. The air around her rang with ballistics from both Pack semiautomatics and the slow thrum of Minutemen laser muskets.

A few yards down the wall, a dull gray power armor landed with a thud, its immense weight sending stone and debris flying in every direction. Liz turned, her eyes alight with a devilish fire. Pull themselves up, Liz saw the armored knight brandishing a powered super sledge, rockets blazing.

“Bring it, you rusty metal twat!” Her attacker sprinted, hurtling towards her with the deadly sledge raised. The knight was hit with a full barrage of 5mm rounds, but it barely slowed. However, it was enough for Liz to follow the super sledge’s trajectory. As the knight brought the sledge down, she sidestepped, the head catching nothing but empty air. The knight quickly recovered, pivoted and tried to use their moment to get out of arms reach. It wasn’t fast enough to avoid a blast from Liz’s trusty flamethrowers that were still mounted on her wrists aimed at the knight’s head. Liz snickered as she heard the voice inside roar in frustration.

Unfortunately, with her attention focused on the threat in front of her, Liz missed the telltale sound of an incoming vertibird. She soon found herself the target of a hail of machine gun fire as they strafed by in a close arch. Her HUD started to blink and squawk annoyingly as the bullets started to break through her armor. Frustrated, Liz turned and returned concentrated fire, forcing the aircraft to break off and retreat momentarily, one it’s rotary engines beginning to smoke.

The knight, recovered, took advantage of the distraction, leaping and smashing the rocket powered lead into Liz’s turned back. Many more indicators turned red and blinked anxiously.

“EAT SHIT!” Liz raged and leapt onto the knight’s power armor, knocking them prone. Her armored fingers digging under the heat-deformed helmet and pulled. The metal groaned and gave. As soon as she could see something soft inside, she stuck the barrel of her flamethrower in and released enough hellfire to smell melting rubber and bubbling flesh inside her enclosed helmet.

Panting, she stood up, her hands still warm even with the internal heat shielding taking the brunt of the blowback from the flamethrowers. What worried her more was a single message that blinked angrily in her peripheral vision.

FUSION CORE BREACH IMMINENT The flashing was growing more urgent as she watched.

God damn it! She swore to herself. She just got this armor just how she wanted it. Fucking vertibird.

With a few seconds to decide, she knew what she was going to do. She sprinted to the closed gate. The reinforced metal and concrete were just barely scratched by the artillery and missiles that had missed their marks. Liz was betting a little nuclear fueled explosion could help crack that nut. She parked her armor right in the middle of the gate and pushed the button to open the back hatch… but all she heard was the grinding of gears and the pinging of shots hitting her armor.

“Fuck it!” she growled as she slammed the button again, the flashing warning so fast it was nearly solid. The hatch hitched and twitched. Using all her strength, Liz shoved her shoulders against the misbehaving mechanism. With a metallic pop, it gave all at once. Liz spilled awkwardly onto the crumbling pavement. Without any though, she righted herself and ran for the first cover just as the fusion core erupted. A wall of heat, radiation and shrapnel blasted her. Even though her ears rang, Liz thanked her stars that not only was she impervious to the radiation, but that she had reinforced her grease monkey suit with ballistic weave. Peeking over the pile of rubble, she cursed. While the gate had been breached, there was only enough of a clearance for their forces to file in single file.

Guess those Brotherhood bastards knew how to build shit. Liz grabbed a smoke grenade from a pouch and pulled the pin. One more hit should do it, of those Minutemen bastards can actually hit it this time. She threw it at the ground in front of the smoldering wreckage of her armor. A flash of color next to her caught her attention. It was a Pack member. They returned fire, covering her as she sat. She was disappointed it wasn’t Mason, but it gave her a moment to catch her breath.

Liz still couldn’t hear anything, but she tried as best she could to impress upon her underling that artillery was incoming before putting her fingers in the corners in her mouth and attempting to whistling as loud as she could. Mama answered her call, appearing like a giant bloody glowing angel out of the chaos.

With one swift move, Liz grabbed onto Mama’s armor and hauled herself onto her back. She fit perfectly into the saddle slipped in between Mama’s jutting dorsal spikes. Liz spurred her mount away from the front. The handful of few small arms she had stashed strategically among Mama’s armor wasn’t going to cut it. She needed something with a bigger punch. A helmet might be nice, too. No need for some pimply scribe to get lucky with a headshot. She was looking for some nearby peon she could pull rank on when she heard something that took her by complete surprise.

“I AM LIBERTY PRIME. I AM… AMERICA.”

#beastly kingdom #fan fiction #fanfic #fallout #liz rosa #ao3 #Ghoul #nuka world #brotherhood of steel #battle

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lettersnorth · 6 years ago

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Prompt #4: Shifting Blame

@sea-wolf-coast-to-coast

The laboratory was empty except for Aislinn. It was late and most people had called it a day but she enjoyed the quiet. This was the perfect time to get work done. Alone in the lab she could relax and focus, safe in the knowledge that if something needed her attention, the carbuncle currently perched on a nearby counter would alert her.

She had just finished mixing the suspension gel according to Remunaud’s exacting specifications when the peace and quiet was cut short. Her carbuncle let out a chirp a mere moment before the door to the lab swung open.

“Aislinn. Why am I not surprised.” the dry voice belonged to a towering Hyur. “Working late again.”

Aislinn glanced briefly over her shoulder before returning to the task at hand. “Tyr.” she said by way of greeting. “Seems we had the same idea.”

The man grunted as he moved to an unused workbench and shrugged off a Garlean gunblade that had been strapped to his back. “I’m here to calibrate this thing. I’ve no idea what you’re about.”

“I won’t stop you.” Aislinn replied as she mixed powdered aether crystals into the suspension gel.

Her carbuncle gave another chirp as the engineer approached, gazing down at her station in unvarnished curiosity.

“What is it you’re on about, exactly?” he asked.

Aislinn’s lips twitched in a barely-there smile as she stirred the powdered crystals through the liquid and then poured the concoction into a tall glass cylinder. “An experiment.” she said simply. “I’m hoping this will serve well enough as an analog for a living subject.”

He turned and shuffled off his leather duster, slinging it over the back of an empty chair. “For the Company or for pleasure?” he asked as he rolled up his shirtsleeves.

“For…” she trailed off a moment as she reached for the odd aether manipulator she discovered on her last outing with Ren. She ran one finger along the winding coil that terminated at the power supply. This wasn’t Company work but it most certainly wasn’t for pleasure either.

“Freelance work.” she settled on as she slowly pushed the device into the suspension gel until only the power supply remained above surface.

She felt Tyr’s presence over her shoulder, now more interested in what she was doing than the work he had come to the lab to do. She got the sense that before she had arrived he usually had the laboratory to himself. While never outright rude, he had initially been reluctant to share the space.

Aislinn held her breath as she carefully set a gemstone into the bracket of the power supply, snapping it into place. At first nothing happened and her shoulders slumped in defeat. It looked like it was back to the drawing board for her. But then the gem began to softly glow and a hum could be heard from the device as it powered up.

Not one prone to sudden outbursts, Aislinn nevertheless found herself giving a small jump and punching the air in victory. Tyr glanced at her in amusement.

“It works!” she hurried to a nearby desk to grab a quill before hurrying back to the bench to begin taking notes in her notebook.

Tyr leaned in close to the humming device, peering at the suspension gel. “Interesting.” he muttered, then louder. “What do you have floating in the gel?” he asked.

“Powdered aether crystals.” she replied as she jotted down her findings.

The engineer paused. “Where did you get aether crystals?”

“Deauphane found a stash in the stockpiles.”

“The stockpiles.” Tyr whirled on her. “The only crystals we had in the stockpile were from that job where they found the corrupted crystals.”

Aislinn froze, her flurry of writing scratching to a halt. She looked up at him, horrified. “Why would we keep corrupted crystals?”

“For evidence!” he nearly shouted.

“Then Deauphane shouldn’t have given them to me!”

They both looked back at the glass cylinder and the strange device humming away within. The suspension gel had turned a violent shade of purple and even now Aislinn could see streaks of ominous black energy jolting through the gel as the cylinder began to vibrate.

“Nymeia’s blood.” she swore.

Just then her carbuncle, who up until now had been sitting so neatly perched on the edge of the workbench, let out a great bark and sprung into action. Sensing the impending threat, it rushed between the cylinder and the two Hyur and leapt into the air, curling into a ball and releasing a wave of aetheric energy that knocked Aislinn and Tyr back, sending them flying across the room.

Aislinn hit the marble floor hard, the wind knocked from her in a rush but before she had time to gather herself, Tyr grabbed her by the arm and hauled her behind one of the workbenches, shielding her just as the device exploded.

She may as well have been a statue, frozen by the chaos and the sudden, claustrophobic feel of powerful hands gripping her arms, a body pressed too close and invading her space. Just like that, she was that defenseless girl back in that tight alley in Ul’dah, too scared to know what to do. A sickening wave of nausea rolled over her.

Tyr, meanwhile, had scrambled up and rushed back around the workbench once the danger had passed.

“Seriously!” he exclaimed as he took in the damage, wholly unaware of Aislinn’s internal struggle. “Oh...I am not cleaning this up. No fucking way.”

He crossed the room to his own workbench and let go a relieved sigh. “My sidearm is fine. If you care to know.”

As he continued on, Aislinn was still frozen and out of sight behind the bench. She could hear him but it was if she was hearing him underwater, muffled and distorted. Much louder to her ears was the sound of her own breath, jagged and shallow. She squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to breathe in one long breath and let it out. Again. And again.

It was the voice over the linkpearl, snug in her ear, that pulled her out of the past and back to the present.

“What the hell was that?” it barked, almost groggily. The Company leader. Most likely woken from sleep, by the sound of it.

Both she and Tyr were silent. Slowly, Aislinn stood and turned, sweeping her gaze over the laboratory. Her carbuncle had dispersed, likely due to the aether required to absorb the worst of the explosion. Yet corrupted suspension gel clung to all manner of surfaces, the walls, desks, chairs, she even spied some on the ceiling. Obviously, her own station had taken the brunt of the damage. Most of her lab equipment was smashed. She let go a groan as she crossed the room and beheld the ruined state of her notebook, its pages soaked and splattered with gel.

“Hello?” the voice was more alert now.

She turned and met Tyr’s dark-eyed stare across the room, her lips pressed in a flat line of apprehension. The engineer paused as he regarded her and then, with a decisive shake of his head, let out a huff and touched the pearl in his own ear.

“Nothing to worry about. Just testing a few new toys down in the lab. Had a little more kick than I anticipated.” he said as he held Aislinn’s gaze.

A pause and then, “Well...take it outside. Some of us are trying to sleep.”

“Yes sir.” Tyr replied and dropped his hand from his pearl. Aislinn let go a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding.

He pointed a finger in her direction. “This is your fault. I am not cleaning this.” he stated firmly in a tone that brooked no argument.

“My fault?!” Aislinn protested. “You don’t store corrupted crystals in the stockroom! And certainly not without letting the Quartermaster know they’re not to be handed out!”

“Can’t you tell a corrupted crystal? I thought you were some kind of aetherological specialist? Sounds like something you should know!” he shot back.

Aislinn opened her mouth but had no reply to that so instead she glanced wordlessly off to the side.

Seeing the fight drain out of her, Tyr sighed and took a step back. “Look. It happens. Experiments go wrong all the time. Just clean it up before the boss sees it.”

Aislinn silently nodded. As much as she had tried to shift the blame, she knew he was right. She hadn’t been paying attention, too excited by the solution found in Remunaud’s instructions and she trusted that the Quartermaster knew what he was handing her.

“You’re lucky you’re still alive. Puts the rest of it in perspective.” Tyr said as he turned back to his bench.

“Thank you.” Aislinn murmured. “For pulling me behind that bench.”

Tyr stilled a moment, his shoulders hedging but he didn’t turn around. “Don’t thank me. Thank that critter of yours. It did the heavy lifting.”

Turning away, Aislinn swept her gaze over the ruined room and inhaled. Cleaning this up would take all night. But Tyr was right, it was better than what could have happened. With a shake of her head, she made her way to the supply closet for a bucket, broom and sponge.

#FFxivWrite2019 #writing #ffxivwrite #prompt 4

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doshmanziari · 6 years ago

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2019 Mega Drive Explorations [1]

It takes me a long time to do some things and I’ve finally gathered up a bunch of Sega Mega Drive / Genesis titles that I’ve been meaning to play, hopefully through their entirety, or replay and take as many screenshots as I can. These aren’t going to look like most other screenshots you’ll see online, though; I’ve been using an NTSC filter because I believe it’s the visual format in which these games look best. So, let’s take a stroll through the material so far.

Super Hydlide (1989)

This is one of the best “old style” action-RPGs I’ve played. I’ve gone in with barely any prior knowledge, and I think that’s how to best experience it. Spoiling yourself on the extent and workings of its mechanical systems would, I think, turn it into nothing more than leveling up and finding the next place to go. The range of overworld which you’re initially able to explore is fairly restricted, and, as the action-RPG designation suggests, there are no randomized battles. Because of details like your need of food and sleep, or the encumbrance limit, though, it’s a deep relief to return to a town after some exploration in a way that reminds one why this trope of wilderness vs. domesticity caught on. You might just find yourself exhaling when your enter an inn. In another game, your character’s attack would likely be assigned a hitbox straight ahead of the sprite, but Super Hydlide locally assigns it to your right arm/hand, and it’s a welcome quirk in a game with super basic combat. There is no in-game map (or, if there is, I haven’t found it yet), and so -- as with Simon’s Quest -- I’ve been drawing my own on a sheet of gridded paper.

Above: the same screen at different times of day.

I hope that this blog’s emphases and its audience make the claim that I think Super Hydlide looks amazing at least appreciable. Everything has just enough detail to render the object, being, or space as categorically legible while retaining ambiguities, and there’s a variety where you might not expect it, like the grass around the building above, that gives each screen a kind of visual grain that an ornate and time-worn carpet might have. Complementing this is a soundtrack that seems unaware of the console’s audio capabilities in a way that another contemporary Mega Drive release, like Sword of Vermilion, certainly was not. That’s fine, though; the sound’s smallness, with those lite approximations of exclamatory synth brasses and the percussion’s dusty, dinky punches, enhances the cute visual aesthetics: people, monsters, and buildings you could hold in a pair of cupped hands. Especially remarkable is the overworld theme, “Chaos Separator” -- almost three minutes long, a duration that was basically unheard of at the time.

Atomic Runner Chelnov (1992)

Chelnov has me torn between wanting to share either as many screenshots of it as I can or as little. It’s so stunning to behold that exposing anyone who hasn’t played it to its sights seems like a disservice. It’s in extreme contrast to the game’s original arcade version, too, which may as well be a different game. Every stage is a stream of layered ornaments, and continuing to play to see more of this is motivation alone. At first I thought the graphic theme was one of a general “exoticism”, with ziggurats settled above lava giving way to stepped Mayan pyramids, but then the penultimate stage threw architecture designed by Antoni Gaudí my way, making me wonder if the theme is more broadly “eclectic” -- choosing certain settings and motifs for their dazzling power alone. This is one of those run ‘n’ gunners where your character will keep running unless you stop them -- but you soon have to start running again anyway, since the screen keeps moving right and only stops for bosses. It took me playing through half of the game to figure out how to turn around. Please, if you want to give Chelnov a look: consult a controls FAQ.

El Viento (1991)

If you’re looking for level design that’s a mixture of the mundane and the out-of-control, El Viento might be for you. One moment you’re walking through an open sewer channel, exploding the occasional fish; the next, you’re navigating a bundle of platforms that feel way too closely packed together for your character’s sprite size as you attempt to outrun a never-ending flood of rats that move at speeds never before recorded. One moment you’re going through an apartment’s door into an empty interior; the next, a tank bursts through the opposite wall and just starts hammering you with missiles and bullets, giving you only five feet of space to work with. It’s the second in a trilogy of games, which includes Earnest Evans, a game perhaps most notable for all of its footage making it appear that the players are incompetent on purpose, but which in fact plays more or less the same no matter how good you are. Grave sacrifices were made so that the titular character could be a composite sprite. El Viento’s level design hews closely to Earnest Evans’, with the important difference that its protagonist, Annet Myer, is controllable.

Even with its problems, El Viento is charming. It’s nice to play a videogame with a female protagonist who’s not creeped on by the artist(s) (perhaps we can, in part, thank technical limitations for this). The palettes and style of pixel art bear an uncanny resemblance to Master of Darkness, released for the Game Gear and Master System, and give each stage a distinct, almost dirty granularity. For me, El Viento gets especially interesting around the fourth stage, a ship’s engine room (or... factory?) that’s preceded by a short segment that has you crossing water on top of a cartoon-eyed dolphin. The level design transitions to looking like a network from Metroid Fusion -- a knotty maze with small destructible points that cause chain reactions, oddly small platforms, moments where you’re not sure what’s interactive and what’s not, and low ceilings underlined by spike-beds that necessitate you make use of a crouch-dash mechanic that feels like it shouldn’t work the way it does. It’s a hardly perfect yet precious occurrence of extinct, or endangered, level design, and the developers apparently had a confidence in letting it, as it were, speak for itself, because there’s not a single enemy to defeat throughout.

Jewel Master (1991)

Wanting to hear Motoaki Takenouchi’s incredible score, one of the Mega Drive’s best, in its intended context was almost totally my incentive to play Jewel Master. It’s a fine, somewhat haphazardly designed action game; not bad, not memorable, but for the music. You acquire different rings, some optional, as you go from stage to stage, and can assign them to a total of four active slots on an equipment menu. Different combinations will lead to different effects -- or you might want to leave a ring on one hand on its own. It’s a neat idea in the abstract. In practice, you’ll often be better off sticking to one set-up per stage until a boss demands a switch. The level design is pretty uninspired, and it increasingly makes artificial attempts at challenging the player by burying you under swarms of suddenly-appearing monsters. When this happens, you just have to hope that you can make it out alive. There’s not a whole lot to look at, either: the stages’ environmental peculiarities and palettes are minimal to an extreme, although I do love that the protagonist’s sprite seems to take a cue from Rastan’s by only moving his legs when he walks.

Gynoug (1991)

My experience with, and interest in, shumps, is next to nonexistent, so I don’t have a ton to say about Gynoug. Why’d I bother? Well, because of the weird and grotesque enemy and boss sprites, which combine the mechanical, exoskeletal, and visceral. The first miniboss is like a floating snapping turtle... except without legs, and a head that’s a toothed skull. Later, in stage two, you’re confronted by the bow and head of a ship that reveals itself to be the hat atop a colossal, wrinkled face. Maybe it was expecting too much to hope that the settings would match the bestiary’s inventiveness, but only stage three and four wowed me. If it’s not a game I’m going to be returning to any time soon, it was worth going through once.

That’s all for now. Other titles I’ve been exploring and will write about at some point include Alisia Dragoon, Cadash, Chakan: The Forever Man, Elemental Master, Light Crusader, Mazin Saga: Mutant Fighter, Mystic Defender, Shining Force 2, Splatterhouse 2 and 3, Two Crude Dudes, and Ys III.

#sega genesis #mega drive #hydlide #el viento #gynoug #jewel master #chelnov

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