#mentioned: flashstep

[fushichoumomo]

❝ I understand the rambunctiousness you and Grimmjow embody , but … try not to cause TOO much of a ruckus here , yes ? ❞

[thewertsearch]

TT: [...] I got a little help from RL and ganked it out of his museum. [...] GG: [...] Wasn't he furious about your burglary? TT: Pretty sure he didn't even notice. In years since, I never saw a news story about a "daring heist" or anything. I feel like he would have made some hay outta that.

Lil' Bro thinks he's more likely to get news about Dave from a newspaper than from the man himself.

...yeah, Dave has absolutely no involvement in this kid's life. That's better than giving him the Bro treatment, I guess, but the bar is on the floor.

Jane - the child being brainwashed by an alien - might just have the best home life in her entire friend group. That's fucked up, man.

GG: Why didn't you mention this when you gave the gift? More irony? TT: Essentially. It's not that easy to explain. TT: Broadcasting the gesture would have made it seem tawdry, and would somewhat defray its humor value. GG: I see. So it was like a private joke, and if anyone besides you was in on it, the joke would be ruined! TT: Like I said, there are layers.

Unlike John, Jane is sincerely interested in her friend's post-ironic nonsense. She actually likes this style of humor, and Bro's more than happy to yap philosophical about how it works. I suppose Jane's sense of humor isn't quite as cornball as John's, so she's willing to engage with Bro's more cerebral style of comedy.

As a result...

TT: On one level, I gave you a filthy tattered piece of shit[...] TT: On another level, I needed to incorporate something passable as a real heirloom. TT: For sentimental reasons. GG: D'awwwww. GG: Wait, real sentiment, or ironic sentiment? TT: No, it was genuine. TT: The upper echelons of irony should always include measures of sincerity. [...] GG: I have so much to learn. And I am not even saying that "ironically!"

...they're kind of besties, aren't they?

GG: Will you teach me your ways one day, sir? Perhaps an apprenticeship will open? TT: Oh god, I'd love that. TT: Consider the position yours for the taking any time. [...]

Like, I said before, it's obvious that Lil' Bro is a lonely kid - so when Jane offers him her company here, I think it means much, much more to him than she realizes.

TT: [...] Feel free to approach and kneel before Cal. With my sword and his floppy mitten, you will receive my flashstep anointment shoulder to shoulder, and to shoulder again.

lmao

I never thought that Bro of all people would be involved in such a wholesome interaction, but I'm pleasantly surprised. If these two end up falling out over the Jake issue, I'm going to be so sad.

[animeloverskylarmoon]

Komamura Sajin (Bleach) :Oneshot

“Why did I listen to Rangiku?”

You’ve gotten yourself into some deep shit because of her, but this feels by far the most embarrassing. The minute she found out about your crush she made it her mission to play matchmaker.

When she told you to make chocolates you thought nothing of it. She said that in the world of the living humans did this. Made treats for the ones they cared about. You never intended to actually give it to him.

You just like the idea of it.

Confessing your feelings while you handed him the treat. You even tied it with a little sticker with his name and a drawing of an adorable fox.

That very bag was now sitting in his quarters and you were trying to find a way to sneak in and grab it before he saw.

“When I get my hands on her, I’m going to strangle her.” 

Flashstepping through the barracks, you finally made it to his office.

You just need to get in and out.

Piece of cake.

Sliding the door open carefully, you tiptoed in, facing back to ensure no one sees you.

Maybe if you’d focused more on the front of you, you would have seen the male.

“(L/N)-san?”

You shrieked, instinctively slamming the door shut as you fell face first on the ground. A bead of sweat ran down the side of his head as he looked at you.

“Are you alright?”

You picked yourself off the ground, wiping your face.

“This is humiliating.”

It literally could not get worse.

“G-Gomen, Komamura-taicho.”

You bow, hoping to regain what little dignity you had left.

“It’s good that you’re here, maybe you can help me. I received this earlier today.”

In his hand was the entire reason for this dumb mission. The small wrapped packet of chocolates with heart and doodles decorated around his name. Not to mention that childish drawing.

“I believe someone left it for me.”

You wanted a hole to just open up and take you right there and then.

“It’s strange, I’ve never received sweets before. It must be a joke. My subordinates seem to be restless lately.”

Those words made you pause, and you lowered your head. For some reason hearing him make that assumption hurt. It felt like a mock of your feelings.

“It’s not a joke.”

Your stern voice caught his attention. The second you lifted your head, his eyes widened at your pained expression.

“I have to go, please excuse me.”

He didn’t get a word in. You disappeared and Komamura looked down at the small bag in his hand, gripping it a bit tighter.

Since the encounter you were careful to avoid him. Considering you are a member of the thirteenth division, it wasn’t that hard. You just kept a low profile when there were collaborations on missions.

Rangiku of course caught on and apologized profusely after learning what happened. You knew she was just trying to help, so you couldn’t be mad.

“I promise I’ll make it up to you!!”

She then persisted to dash off into a random direction. Probably to go to the world of the living and get you more of those cute stuffed animals that she knows you adore.

With a soft sigh, you intend to head back to your squad. It’s been an exhausting few weeks.

“I made everything weird.”

You scratch your head in irritation. You still haven’t figured out a way to face him, much less apologize.

“My brain hurts.”

With a frown, you drop your head, trudging wearily through the barracks. Maybe running head first into a wall would distract you.

“Ooof!”

Your head ran into something alright. Staggering back, you look up. Golden eyes stared down at you. Every bone in your body went stiff. Komamura looked surprised. Maybe because he must have realized that you were avoiding him. Because he’d barely seen you in the last few weeks.

“(L/N)-san.”

More than anything, you want to run, because your chest hurts.

“He knows.”

That’s all you could think about. He knows about your feelings. You made a sloppy statement last time and then bolted. Now here he is again and you can’t even form words. At least not the right ones.

“I..I..”

You’re literally trembling.

It might be time to come clean, because nothing you say can cover up what was already discovered.

“I LIKE YOU!!”

Maybe you shouldn’t have yelled that. You don’t even make the mistake of looking at him. You just have to be honest.

“R-Rangiku said that in the world of the living this is how they make their feelings known. You weren’t supposed to actually get the chocolate. She snuck it from me and left it on your desk. I-I’m sorry!”

You bow, both for the embarrassment and your poor way of handling the situation. Komamura isn’t a monster. Surely he would have understood. It just felt pathetic. Cowardly the manner in which you tried to confess.

“You made them for me.”

You nod, head still bent. You can’t look up.

“I’m sorry!”

Komamura’s expression softens. He can’t help but appreciate it. He’s used to people being so forward about their admiration for him as a captain. But this is the first time that he’s received such a confession. It’s not like this is the first time that he’s been aware of you. You’ve accompanied him on a number of missions. Your work ethic was impressive. You may not have been a ranked officer, but he was fully aware of your strengths and achievements.

It was nice to be the admirer in his instance. Because he knows that he admires you.

“I think it’s honorable to put yourself in such a position when you’re uncertain of how the other person feels.”

The statement makes your eyes pop open. Raising slowly, you somewhat gape at him.

“He’s smiling..”

You can’t believe it.

“I apologize for making light of those feelings. I’m not fully educated on all the customs of the human world. But I have to admit that I admire this one. Will you give me some time to properly think about your confession? I would like to respond to you properly.”

This must be a dream. Not only has he acknowledged your feelings, but he’s willing to actually consider them.

“Y-Yes!! Of course take all the time you need!!”

You don’t even care if you sound desperate. The person you’ve been pining after for the better part of three decades has finally become aware of you.

Komamura nods.

“Thank you.”

He sends you the most heart stopping smile, and in that moment, you sort of want to kiss Rangiku right now.

Who knew her terrible idea would turn out so well.

[kresnikcest]

i skimmed the first two episodes of tozx bc procrastination but 1.) i do prefer how alisha got into the ruins in tozx compared to the story where she just kind of heads there out of sheer curiosity and they never talk much about why (she even mentions she was searching for camlann and sorey and mikleo don't really wonder about that either) and 2.) man i forgot how weirdly action-y the anime is lmao. it's nice at times because i find seraphim flashstepping cool, but it gets weird with sorey being totally human for these episodes lmao

[timaeus-tumbled]

Well would you look at that. There I am. There were mentions before, a talk with Jane, but hot damn am I present and accounted for now.

Dirk Strider. Philosopher Prince, Pantheonic Ironicist Flashstep Puppeteer.

What a fucking douchebag.

[celestialtrolls]

You are very aware that those are regular swords, but honestly, unless he's going to go straight for the neck, you're not really that worried about getting injured. After all, you'll heal just fine. No need to mention that though. Tempting fate isn't sensible.

"Sounds good."

Alright, halberds are built for disarming, you'll aim for that.

You take a breath and pull your halberd back to your front, moving your grip further towards the end, and taking an offensive stance, left side of your body turning towards him, and point facing his direction.

You've got to make sure not to use any of your abilities. No flashstep, no shifting into claws, just calm, methodical. You close your eyes for a moment, and breathe out.

"Ready when you are."

>> You follow, eyeing her weapon. Seems heavy, probably slow even with her strength. You can probably still expect her to move faster than a living troll, though, and maybe she'll throw you for a loop. And even if it's blunt, you don't particularly want to be hit with it.

>> You'd normally use training swords for a spar, but lacking any on hand you'll just have to use the flat side of the blades and otherwise be careful not to wound her. You suspect you'll have a hard time doing so anyway.

>> You draw your own weapons, and the trolls who didn't already back off from the purple start moving away. You take a position on the street several feet from her, hands down at your sides while you flick your wrists and roll your shoulders. Not like you aren't already in peak condition.

"We'll go until one of us is disarmed, incapacitated, or would be dealt a fatal blow. Agreed?"

>> As you speak, you take your starting stance, bending your knees and holding both scimitars horizontally, one just above your head and the other at your middle.

[rantceratops]

Hey so like, I'm looking at your post about still believing in Luz and Hunter as siblings. I'm on board for that too obviously, and am thinking of the part where he's in The Collector's palace and feeling like no one is waiting for him. I guess I'm trying to rationalize somehow...why he wasn't thinking of her words "You're family now" right after he sent Willow off to her parents. I get why the writers wanted to include Luz's narration of "And if someone thought they had no one waiting for them, well, they were in for a nice surprise", yet I'm sort of telling myself that perhaps Hunter didn't want to burden Luz and Camila at that time or something. If he's Luz's sibling he could just walk to Eda's house and join them there after making sure Gus and Willow are reunited with their family. Maybe that's what he, Darius and Eberwolf did offscreen after they reunited. Hm..

Honestly, I almost don't get the point of them including the "You're family now" line in TTT if they weren't going to follow it up with something a little more solid. Then again, one of my major gripes with the last three episodes in general are them constantly bringing up plot points that don't ever get any real follow-up("You're family now"; Hunter's flashstep powers(why did he even get them if they weren't going to be used in the finale in a major way? Seems like an odd writing choice so late in the game. And I am a FAN of him still having the flashstep, but I'm still pointing this out as a weird choice); Hunter not getting time to grieve at ALL; no Wittebro/Evelyn lore(I think TTT should have done a proper delve into their past. I don't necessarily think it's a good choice to leave it unexplored, but I'm kinda torn); Hunter's fear over the others finding out he was a Grimwalker getting glossed over with two lines when it was SUCH a Big Deal to him and he needed a proper conversation about it - that one's a BIG beef; probably several more I'm forgetting).

And like, back on Hunter and Luz Siblings, as I've said, it doesn't have to be straight up adoption papers or anything, it's found family, it doesn't have to be traditional anything. I just think it's so weird to have this really significant moment where Luz calls him that and he literally bursts into tears over it because he has no one at that point, but then there's not like, any other pay off or mention of it? (Camila also called him 'baby'.)

Imagine if Hunter had been looking sad after Willow ran to her dads, then Camila(and Luz maybe, even though she was still with Eda at the time), came up and smiled at him and hugged him? Really cementing that found family thing that was brought up with them. (And just to be clear, none of this means I would have wanted Hunter to live in the Human Realm, I was never a fan of that idea. I just want him to be Luz's sibling and visit the Human Realm often because he has a PLACE there that will always be there for him when he needs it.)

I pretty much figured they'd go for Dadrius, and I'm not like... livid about it or anything. I just think if they really wanted to go that route then they should have built it up more, and I personally would have also needed an apology from Darius to Hunter about how he treated him in ASIAS was wrong and how he's going to be better from there on out, etc, before I feel like that scenario would have any actual meaning or pay-off. (I am not bashing Darius, I like Darius, but he treated Hunter like shit in ASIAS.)

All this being said, I don't think the ending negates Hunter being Luz's sibling, even if Darius straight adopted him(I don't think he did), it doesn't mean he's lost his place with other important guardian/parental/mentor figures in his life. I think that's the most beautiful thing about found family. I think most of my salt just comes from them not really following a thread that was seemingly started in TTT and seemed like an awfully Big Damn Deal to the boy, considering how hard he cried.

I'm being salty and I have my critiques, but don't mistake this for me hating on the show or anything. I still really enjoyed the finale, but as a fan I have issues and things I didn't like.

[yuhi-san]

i'm a little hung up on the magic system in the owl house

like i get the coven system and that a sigil limits your magic. but how is certain magic categorized?

like the dash/flashstep hunter does (which is similar to what eda and lilith use in their fight)

the lightning hunter shoots at amity at eclips lake?

the shielding and orbs lilith, eda and young witches use against the rain amongst other thing

edas bodyswap sell and what sends people into mindspaces

also ilith mentiones needing an ice spell against fire bees and hunter controlls water in his first appears.

none of this fits any of the nine types of magic. i would categorize this as like general or standart magic but well.

i'd like to know what ind of magic this is considered. and if it is limited for anyone outside the emperors coven. becase i dont think we saw anyone use these spells that easnot either emperors coven or had no sigil

on the other hand it wouldn't make sense because there i general magic in use by different covend. like letting stuff pop out of nowhere (e.g darius and odalia both do this)

aso what about hunters little transformtion stunt?

[animation-recaps-by-sean]

The Owl House-Clouds on the Horizon Recap

Luz tries to regroup with Amity while she deals with her family. Spoilers below.

We open with the Belos working on the portal while the Collector bugs Belos to free him. Belos says he’ll free him once he knows the draining spell works. Interesting, so the draining spell is not related to freeing the Collector.

Meanwhile the Blight children try to warn their parents, but Odalia doesn’t want to hear anything that could effect Blight Industry’s bottom line. She even crushes Amity’s tamagotchi.

Meanwhile the CATS are coming up with a plan. They swap Eda with Raine, using an illusion spell. The idea is that Eda’s curse will kill the magic draining spell. Here’s hoping it doesn’t go overboard like it didi with Eda’s bard magic. Of course that means branding Eda with a sigil.

King, after learning that he is what he had considered a god, tries to do something to help. But he is constantly turned down; he has a flash about the Collector who is starting to wonder if Belos is gonna uphold his end of the bargain.

Eda’s jacket just became part of Luz’s design. She is also wearing a cute ponytail. Luz carved her palismen to be an egg, so it will hatch into whatever they want. That’s sweet but damn it I want to know what it’ll be!

Eda sends Luz and King on a rescue mission to save Amity. Hunter, Gus, and Willow are sent to help them. Hunter hadn’t told the others that he is a magical clone of a human. When Luz tries to get him to tell the others he throws the fact that Luz hadn’t told anyone about her helping Belos.

Luz gets into Blight manor and she and Amity kiss on the mouth! I figured we’d get it but as a season two finale or a season three thing.

While sneaking out they run into Odalia giving Kikimora some abominations. They’re wearing disguises but Kiki recognizes Hunter’s ‘annoying voice’. Meanwhile Alador is stressing over his marriage, Odalia threatened to get the children more involved in the family business. And she makes Alador work through sickness, and cuts his team’s staff. He finds King who tells him about the day of unity. Alador tries to save the kids, Kikimora grapes Hunter and flies off to Belos but not before she reveals that Belos knows about the rebellion.  

Okay it’s properly not Darius due to his relationship with Hunter. It might be Eberwolf, I hope not because they look cool. It could be one of the bards or Steve. The mole could be a spy in disguise. Raine could be faking not being brainwashed. Or Belos might have another way of spying on them. Magical bug. Maybe he used that spell Lilith did in the season premiere. Kikimore mentioned keeping an eye on the owl lady, not that they have a spy.

Alador confronts Oladia who reveals that she knows about the draining spell but Belos promised her power. Alador ‘quits’ while Oladia says she’ll get a new business partner.  This didn’t really work for me. I get the idea. Oladia’s reaction to the day of unity is not too dissimilar to how rich people treat global warming. “Oh it won’t effect me”. But it doesn’t have room to breathe. This is the first time I really felt the cancellation aside from a lack of breather episodes post Hollow Mind. But everything flowed nicely until this subplot. We really needed to see more of the Blights for this to land. Heck we don’t even see the twins reaction to all of this. I do find it interesting that Alador and Oladia spoke of their relationship in business terms. Was it always this bad? Did it fall apart over time?

It turns out that Hunter and Luz switched places using an illusion spell. If you watch the last fight, they’re a bunch of tails to this, including ‘Luz’ using Hunter’s flashstep and ‘Hunter’ blowing a raspberry. The episode ends with Luz being taken to Belos.

A fine episode with some warts. ¾  

[the-pallid-king]

His head whips to the side when your reiatsu comes crashing down. But he finds your attention already on him, and he can’t read your expression while he’s trying not to lose any more body parts. He shakes off his distraction, twisting his sword and yanking down to wrench the weapon from the shinigami’s grip. Then he kicks him, a heel to the head, and he’s out cold. They need to go. Hollow reiatsu in a place like this might as well be a flair gun. Not to mention there are at least a few people that might recognize it, and he doesn’t want to run into any of those people.

He flashsteps behind the closet Shinigami, locking an arm around her throat in a choke hold, his Zanpakuto sliding to block hers while she chokes out. He doesn’t feel great about it, but better to pass out than wind up at the end of his sword or yours. It doesn’t take long and he crouches to drop her when she goes limp and stays that way.

“We need to go.” He knows you already know. Next time, he figures they won’t stop. A cero would be better at this point than slowing enough to be flanked by an entire division.

You choking out that third shinigami saves her life. He turns, looking for her after he's downed the second one, to find you already working on it. Since that's under control, he slides the edge of his blade across the throat of the shinigami struggling at his feet. It's more to keep him quiet than out of mercy, but it's unlikely he would have lived anyway. There's intestines in the dirt.

He nods sharply to show he agrees, features tugged taut into a displeased glare that's aimed entirely at himself. It's a little early in the night for them to be losing their element of surprise, but it's already done. He was able to fight his way through half Seireitei by himself to find you, their chances together are still good. "Let's go." Assuming you're ready, he starts towards the tower again.

[yandere--stuck]

Yandere!Dave x Reader Headcanons

❤ Dave is extremely caught off guard by how strong his feelings are for you. But, a part of him knows that falling for you was inevitable - I mean, who could blame him for falling for someone as wonderful as you?

💿 Though, the possessive and obsessive ideas regarding you that are starting to creep into his mind are starting to kinda freak him out… Nothing a little denial can’t fix!

❤ He’ll give little hints about his feelings for you through “ironic” flirting. Yep, totally ironic. Depending on your reaction, he’ll “jokingly” say he’ll come and kidnap you to keep you all to himself… Completely ironically, of course!

💿 Dave tries to fight it, but he can’t help but daydream about how he’d actually kidnap you. Knowing that you were away from hom for even a second made him feel so panocked and sick- what if you got hurt and he wasn’t there to save you?? Fantasizing about taking you home and keeping you bear him always helps him feel better.

❤ Dave honestly does try to fight his posessive urges… Or, at least, he did. Everyone has their breaking points, even Dave. He’s tired of spending all day and night, every second away from you, worrying about where you are, who you were with, if you’re hurt, if you’re alive or dead. Dave is a man of action - or at least, that’s what he wants to believe - and he feels awful for neglecting you and your safety.

💿 It doesn’t matter how close or far you are from him, he’ll get to you somehow. His plan is to “borrow” his bro’s old pickup and drove to your place for an unexpected visit. He’ll wait until night and when he’s certain your asleep to set his plan into action.

❤ Dave breaks into your place, creeping across the floor and making his way to you. His first step is to secure a gag across your mouth, preferably without waking you up. He wouldn’t want ypu to freak out loud enough for any family members or neighbors to hear! Someone less knowledgeable would use chloroform - but Dave knows his shit and does his reasearch - chloroform doesn’t work as fast or easily as it does on TV. Not to mention that he’d never want to accidentally hurt you!

💿 After securing a gag, he’ll use a rope he jad purchased to tie you up. It’s not the most comfortable form of restraint, and he hates to make you uncomfortable, but it gets the job done! If you start to wake up, Dave will use his quick reflexes and flashstepping to quickly secure you with the rope. He thinks you look so cute like this!

💿 He makes sure to return to his apartment at night, too, lessening the chance of seeing him carrying you up to his room. And he’s so relieved when you’re finally inside! It’s like a giant weight left his shoulders, knowing that you were finally, finally safe with him.

❤ Dave chains you up in his room. You almpst always have a gag in your mouth, but it’s cause he doesn’t want his bro to hear you! Please forgive him! To make up for it, he dotes on you and gives you lots of love and affection. He loves you so much!

[agerefandom]

Cupcakes and Moms

Fandom: Homestuck

Characters: Roxy Lalonde & Dave Strider

Words: 900

Summary: Just a sweet afternoon in an established regressor and caregiver relationship! Roxy has a surprise for Dave.

Warnings: Food mentions, bug mentions, and Dave calls Roxy mom because that’s canon, baby!!

Other Fics (soon to come) / Request Rules / Please Respect My DNI!

---------

“Hey, Dave!” Roxy yelled from the kitchen.

“Yeah, mom? I mean, Roxy?” Roxy stifled a grin. She had told Dave again and again that it was fine with her if he called her ‘mom’ whether he was regressed or not, but he insisted that he wanted to keep things ‘normal’ between them as adults.

Roxy thought that normal was overrated, but she never called him out when he corrected himself.

“Your surprise is ready now!” She was still fussing over it, technically, but it was as close as it was going to get. “Come and get it!”

“Is it food? I kinda bet it’s food. You’ve been in the kitchen for hours, it’s gotta be food. Unless you were using kitchen stuff to make some kinda modern art, I don’t know your life, I just think that you said your kitchen was for food some time, not that I was paying attention, and so I really-“ Roxy listened fondly to the rising mumble as Dave made his way off the couch and towards the kitchen.

Dave came into Roxy’s view and leaned his shoulder against the doorway, crossing his arms. Roxy stepped back from the counter, letting him see what she had been hiding. “Ta-da!” She waved her hands enthusiastically towards her masterpiece, and watched Dave’s face for a reaction.

Sitting on the counter were cupcakes, but not just any cupcakes: Roxy had decorated each one with a different bug that she remembered Dave ranting about over the months that she had been taking care of him on weekends. It had taken her a while, and there had been many discards thrown away (eaten). The results were still blobby and a bit misshapen, but Roxy hoped they were recognizable.

Dave was very still, unmoving in the doorway. Roxy waited it out: his stillness could mean good or bad things, and she knew from experience not to push as he processed. She shifted hopes and contingency plans around as the seconds ticked by.

“Is that a giraffe weevil?” Dave asked, his voice higher and more cautious.

Roxy beamed. “It sure is, sweetheart! Good eye! I’m not the best artist, but I know that they’re your favourite.”

Dave crept into the kitchen, casting a nervous glance around even though they were alone in Roxy’s house. As he got closer to the counter, some of the fluid caution fell away from his steps: he caught himself against the counter with both hands and pushed himself up onto his toes, looking down at the cupcakes.

“What do you think?” Roxy asked. “I made them just for you”

“What flavour are they?” Dave’s fingers tapped against the edge of the counter and he rocked up and down, clearly excited.

“Red velvet, have you had it before?”

Dave’s head tilted back and forth. “Don’t remember.” Most of them had trouble with their memory after the game ended, but the kids with aspects that put them in contact with different timelines had it even worse. Dave’s answer didn’t surprise Roxy.

“Well, I hope you like them, but we can always make a new batch of chocolate ones.” Dave finally turned to face her, and Roxy was treated to a wide grin.

“I love them! Thank you, mom!” Roxy wasn’t expecting Dave to flashstep but he did, by the counter one second and crashing into her chest the next. She caught him in her arms, held him tight. Dave was taller than her, but it had never mattered when they were like this, Roxy’s arms steady around him and Dave’s face buried in her neck.

“Anything for my boy, you know that,” she murmured, and Dave made a squeaking sound. Laughing, Roxy let him go, catching his face with her hands and bringing his head down so that she could press a kiss to his forehead. “I love you,” she said, and Dave hummed.

Roxy reached out a hand without looking and managed to locate the dimmer for the kitchen lights, sliding it halfway and then gently pulled Dave’s sunglasses off. He blinked even against the low lighting, squinting for a few seconds, but eventually his eyes adjusted and she could see the distant soft look that told her that he wasn’t anything close to adult right now.

Roxy preferred to keep the sunglasses off when it was Dave’s kid-time, preferred to see his face and the expressions that were rare even when he regressed. She had learned to read his posture, his hands, the patterns of his tapping and bobbing. Nevertheless, seeing his full face was a visual difference between her child and her friend, and seeing his eyes now let her relax fully into her role.

“Okay, my little entomologist, what are we going to eat first?”

Dave turned back to the cupcakes and wiggled his shoulders as he looked them over. “Wolf spider!” he declared at last, pointing to one of the more crude designs.

“Very good choice! I bet he’s very yummy.” Roxy got out a plate and a napkin, and put the spider-cupcake on the plate before holding it out for Dave. “Two hands, please,” she reminded him as he reached for it.

Dave didn’t need the reminder, laser-focused on being careful with the plate as he walked back towards the living room, his little stomping steps so different from his usual glide from foot to foot. Roxy watched him go with a smile, and then hurried after him to set up The Land Before Time on the TV. Dave was always in the mood to play dinosaurs after that movie, and being chased by T-Rex!Dave was secretly one of Roxy’s favourite parts of playdates at her house.

Roxy wouldn’t trade this for the world.

[sailor-cresselia]

Zi-O 41: *SCREAMING*

:THE BLOGGER IS NOT OKAY WITH THIS:

We open with the final scene from episode 40; Sougo charging Oma Zi-O, after getting a pair of Blade transformation screens (specifically, Blade and Garren’s) thrown at him, and a green-and-purple whirlwhind sent in his direction. Interestingly, when the whirlwind connects, the W emblem rises up along with the explosion. After attempting to trade punches – with zero effect on Sougo’s part – the kid summons Build with his Grand Zi-O panel, and. Oma Zi-O summons Kuuga.

Sougo uses the same technique as in 40 – he touches the figurine, the Build emblem appears while the name is announced, and a window reading 2017 moves backward, with Build appearing through it. Oma Zi-O, however, just holds out a hand, with the Kuuga emblem showing up with the same announcement. Notably, the emblem here is torso-sized, as opposed to figurine-sized. Kuuga appears in a bit of a blur, but there is a distinct lack of any other adornment.

Oma Zi-O’s jump over the two now-fighting riders has a bit of a flashstep effect to it, which is. Worrying. Also it breaks my heart a little to see Build and Kuuga fighting, which is not helped in the slightest by my having recently finished Decade and watching Showa V Heisei for the first time. But as Sougo attempts to hit Oma Zi-O, still with zero effect, Build and Kuuga launch their respective Rider Kicks at each other – no announcements from the Build Driver, which is probably for the best. Build disappears in an explosion, shortly followed by Kuuga winking out of existence.

Hm….

OH NO. SOUGO NO! YOU STILL HAVEN’T PROPERLY GOTTEN THE DRIVE WATCH! DON’T USE DRIVE!

-

See what you’ve done? Now Oma Zi-O’s taken control of him, with a scary red spark effect, and definite sounds of struggle that are very much Shinnosuke’s voice. His helmet’s eyes momentarily light up red, and the standard Tridoron horn sound plays – and then plays again, slowed way the heck down.

And it’s really nice to see the Type Speed finisher again, and to hear Krim announcing the Tridoron, but! Those are still Shinnosuke’s grunts of effort! And said finisher is being launched to great effect at Sougo! To the point of knocking him out of Grand, and back to being just plain old Sougo.

Woz warps in – with a very Time Jacker-y blur to his first few steps – and rushes to Sougo’s side, helping him up. And Sougo is angry when he asks why he can’t even touch his future self.

“You haven’t obtained the powers of all the Riders.”

And at least SOMEONE based in 2019 remembers that we still haven’t had a Drive arc! Namely, Woz, reminding Sougo, the kids at home, and the production staff, that the Drive watch we currently have was stolen from 2068 by Geiz.

…I wonder why they went with Ghost and Drive. I know that at least part of the reason is that the staff wasn’t sure if they’d be able to get the actors back, but that didn’t exactly stop them in other arcs.

SOUGO NO! You can’t go trying to fight him still! You’re not transformed! You can barely walk!

I don’t think we have ever seen Sougo actually angry before. Not like this – all furious and glaring, desperate to take. Him. Down. Not that it helps him at all, not with the massive explosions that Oma Zi-O is setting off around him.

Woz’s scarf is so handy. He sends it out to wrap around Sougo, warping him away.

“For personal reasons, I have decided to side with Past You.”

Oma Zi-O looks surprised, but then. Woz starts walking up to him. (Drive is still here, by the way!)

Oma Zi-O: “Well done, Woz. You’ve made a wise choice.”

Me: wait what.

Woz: “It is my pleasure.”

Me: Wait WHAT?

A multicolored rippling effect washes over the area, incidentally fading Drive out of existence.

Woz: wait what.

Oma Zi-O: Oh, looks like someone’s changed the flow of time...

The entire scene fades out – in a manner very reminiscent of what you see when film footage dissolves.

-

Sougo wakes up on the ground, in a location that we haven’t seen before. A mansion is at the top of the staircase. In front of said mansion…

Me: WAIT WHAT?!

In front of said mansion is a statue. The statue… is of Kakogawa Hiyru, Another Zi-O, in his not-so-civilian form that we saw in the preview. He’s holding his Another Watch at his waist, in the manner he previously used to transform, and is surrounded by Another Riders in action poses. It’s all grey and aged, with a plague at the base that I can’t read, because RiderTime didn’t sub it. But I’m willing to bet that it says “In commemoration of the first transformation of Kakogawa Hiryuu.”

-

I AM THREE MINUTES IN. THIS HAS TAKEN A HALF HOUR, WITH THE REWINDING TO CATCH DETAILS AND THE TYPING. SEND HELP.

-

Okay I made the grave mistake of jumping into Discord for a minute, and have promptly left Discord, but not before being cued in to look carefully at the Another Rider statues.

So, the first shot of them… From left to right, we see Kiva, OOO, Fourze, Ghost, Build, Ex-Aid, Gaim, and Wizard. Interestingly, all of them except for Build are doing their Rider’s signature poses, albeit with the standard corruption. Because Early Installment Weirdness is such a thing for Another Build that he was basically feral, and that has clearly carried over.

I can’t get over how the statues are just. Clearly still shots of the actual characters with a really bad filter over them, and terribly CG’d in. The budget for this episode must be going tot he fight scenes. … HUH. From the back, it looks like Another Build is trying to do Sento’s pose, albeit with considerably less success than everyone else. I guess the terrible filter made it really hard to see from the front, with him overlapping all of the other sections.

Okay, as the camera pans down to the plague, I see Another Agito on the right, and I can’t for the life of me make out who that is second from the left, but. The second from the right sure looks like it has Decade’s shoulders. And the head on the left sure looks like a warped version of Drive’s helmet.

Guess we’re getting Another Drive and Decade after all!

-

Woz’s Recap this week is him on an inexplicable bench swing in the middle of a wooded area, with Sougo none the wiser to his presence as he stumbles around the trees.

And apprently, by ‘the flow of time has changed’, we mean Woz warped Sougo to yet another alternate timeline, except this time it’s 2019, and he’s implying that the future where Sougo becomes Oma Zi-O has been completely derailed.

And that mansion is in a wooded area, alright. A large one, several city blocks worth. And we can tell.

Because we get a zoom-out, and see that it’s in the middle of a city.

With a whole lot of sirens in the background.

And a whole lot of buildings on fire.

-

!!!

New opening narration for the OP!

RiderTime translates it as… “The Heisei Kamen Riders have run through the era. Their powers now collected, the curtain of the final battle has risen! Clear the way! For the future of the True King!”

For reference, the previous narration, as subbed by RT, is “The Heisei Kamen Riders have run through the Heisei era. A new legend is starting that inherits all their powers. Rejoice! For the birth of the new King!”

And as translated by Overtime, it’s “The legacy of the Heisei Kamen Riders has carried on throughout the era. Once their power has been passed on, a new legend begins… Rejoice! For the birth of the ultimate king!”

The shot of () in the OP has been replaced by all the Heisei Riders striking their poses, and then coalescing into a ball of light, which breaks and shows Grand. First with just the helmet – then zooming out to a fullbody shot, with the 20 emblems fanning out behind him in a circle… and those odd circles of light dropping down around him, that I failed to mention from the first Grand transformation last time.

-

Sougo emerges from the forest into a city apparently at war. Rubble is strewn everywhere, and several people in fatigues with guns run by down the street, the sound of gunfire in the distance. Sougo, time-traveler that he is, goes to pick up a tattered poster, confirming that it is, in fact, 2019.

Our camera zooms out, freezeframing with the sound of a camera shutter and framing the scene.

Hey there, Tsukasa! Nice to see you again, you wonderful troll, you! He’s in fatigues – clearly what he was assigned when he arrived here – and. TWO cameras. Tsukasa, ffs. He’s still got his Magenta one, but also a brown one – that is some variant on a polaroid instant camera, since it ejects a photo right after he takes it. It’s about time he learned to carry something like that.

And his photos are still supernaturally bad – with all their eerie foreshadowing abilities intact. Case in point…

Tsukasa: “So, this is the end of this world.”

He pulls the printed photo from the camera.

Tsukasa: “Then what will you do now, Tokiwa Sougo?”

We see the photo. There’s none of the recurring double-imaging here that used to be seen in so many of Tsukasa’s pictures. Instead… Sougo is half faded from existence, the wall and abandoned shop stall showing through him in places.

(Also, Tsukasa looks exhausted. Get some sleep, sir.)

-

There’s barricades and fencing outside of 9-to-5. It’s not a clock repair shop anymore.

It’s a resistance shelter.

And one of the people, a woman tending someone’s wounds, asks who Sougo is.

And his uncle doesn’t recognize him – tries to attack him with a daikon radish, even.

Tsukuyomi’s voice comes in over the radio, saying that Another Riders are attacking a shelter, asking someone to send help.

Sougo asks where it is, and says he’ll be right back, running off.

Junichiro: (scandalized) “Young people these days act overfamiliar… even though we just met!”

Ow, my heart.

-

Another Kiva and OOO are attacking some refugees. Please note, literal machine guns have no effect on them! That’s! That’s just great!

(I’m still not okay with the eyes on Another Kiva’s shoulders, BTW.)

Geiz – in armor – and Tsukuyomi work to fight off the Another Riders and get the former civilians out of there, respectively. Geiz draws Another OOO away, and Tsukuyomi gets Kiva off of a group. At least the Faiz Phone X can make them flinch, if only a little. Enough to actually serve as a nuisance, before Another Kiva lifts her by the neck as Sougo runs in.

He knocks Kiva off of her, by vaulting over the staircase railing and nailing them with a kick, and asks if she’s okay. Tsukuyomi also does not recognize him!

Hey, Sougo, maybe at least try using your name when you’re trying to totally-not-re-introduce yourself to people who don’t know who you are? It might help, I dunno, jog some memories locked by the time distortion.

You know, I’ve commented before on how Sougo could take hits really well at the beginning of the season. But now he’s full body tackling Another Riders, knocking them back. Actually, no, scratch that. After Tsukuyomi paused time for everyone in the room sans herself – good for her – and grabs the Faiz Phone X to shoot Another Kiva, when time starts back up? Said Another Rider goes after her, and Sougo just blocks them. Just takes the hit, arms raised defensively, and Another Kiva is the only one to be knocked back. Sougo doesn’t even budge. This young man is made of iron.

And also very confused as to why Geiz would think that he would run, proceeding to pull out the Zi-O II watch, transforming.

Geiz knows who Zi-O is.

I somehow doubt he knows the same Zi-O as we do, though.

Also, for this Geiz, at least, the Time Burst kick can be channeled through just. Straight up holding Another OOO against the wall with his foot, and charging the attack down through his leg, exploding Another OOO with a notable coin effect amid the flames.

And although we can’t exactly seen Geiz’s face, because helmet, he’s probably sharing Tsukuyomi’s scared expression right now.

-

What, no stained glass effects when Sougo’s finisher takes out Another Kiva? I’m disappointed.

Tsukuyomi and Geiz come on the underground scene… and Tsukuyomi immediately shoots Sougo several times with her blaster. Geiz is ready to do a violence, and proceeds to start attacking.

Geiz: “So you’ve made your presense known, Zi-O – today you meet your end!”

Sougo: “Why?”

Geiz: “I’ll defeat the Great Overlord and save this world!”

Geiz: “That is our, the Resistance’s, mission in life!”

I noticed that he used the term ‘daimyō’ there – not whichever term it is he usually uses to refer to Oma Zi-O in the regular timeline. Interesting. Though, to be fair… the preview shots of Hiryuu looked like he was using a very different version of absolutely terrible taste than the regular Oma Zi-O.

A single direct blow from Revive Fury is all it took to knock Sougo out of his transformation.

He’s so confused, and scared, because nobody recognizes him, and he doesn’t know what’s going on. He can’t get any answers, and he’s so sad that his only family and friends, the only ones he’s had around him in years, have no idea who he is. Are all so willing to attack him.

To the point of when Sougo is practically begging to be told what’s happened. Geiz attacks him.

Still transformed.

Still using Revive Fury.

Still using the buzzsaw.

Sougo’s not transformed.

Me: :BARELY CONTAINED SHRIEKING:

There’s a painful looking slice on Sougo’s arm and cheek – there are scorch marks where his shirt was cut open.

Geiz refuses to listen to anything Sougo has to say… and readies another attack.

Aimed right at the prone Sougo’s neck.

Me: THIS IS NOT FINE.

I mean, yes, time paused, leaving Sougo free to move – BUT VERY CLEARLY HAVING BEEN AT MOST A SECOND FROM LITERAL DECAPITATION.

AHHHHHHH!

But… who paused time? UHR. Telling Sougo to run, unless he wants to die there. Sougo rolls to his feet, and stumbles away down the tunnel. When Uhr unpauses time, we see that Geiz and Tsukuyomi definitely still know about the Time Jackers, although not Uhr specifically, with her aiming the phone-blaster at him, and him just skipping off and presumably disappearing once he gets out of their line of sight.

He can’t let them kill Zi-O now.

-

Here on a roof – a decidedly shabbier roof than usual – we find out that the three Time Jackers are still around… and that they, at least, know who Sougo is. Know that he has an incredible power, and that going after him with brute force won’t work. So, Swartz is going to leave the new overlord to Hora, for now.

And here’s something interesting. I’ve always thought that Swartz was clearly their superior. But.

Hora thought their positions were equal. Swartz smirks as she storms off, followed shortly by Uhr leaving in the other direction.

And yet again, we have evidence for Swartz having a different plan than everyone else.

Hat!Woz called him ‘Sir Swartz’, and was acting largely according to a plan they shared.

The previews for Over Quartzer imply that Scarf!Woz’s outfit is a uniform for the group trying to stop Sougo from ever having the chance to obtain the Drive watch.

And they all have those grommets scattered all over their wardrobes.

Different sides of the same group? Different departments, where the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing?

Interesting.

-

Back to the former shop…

The more things change, huh?

Junichiro is still a nice guy, offering to make something for Geiz and Tsukuyomi to eat.

Tsukuyomi has her doubts about Sougo being the overlord, since he did help defeat the Another Riders.

But Geiz has a point, too. An overlord probably wouldn’t hesitate to take out his minions to fool people. (You know. Like might be going on with Woz.) The Time Jackers are still the enemy, in some way, and Uhr helped him. And, most damning of all, he transformed into Zi-O.

Geiz vows… he’s going to take him down.

-

Sougo, in pain, is by a riverside. It’s… it’s really depressing to see the abandoned bicycles just laying there. And Woz, at least, still seems ot remember him.

…or, maybe not. He’s acting incredibly restrained, not even really looking at Sougo, and hasn’t… actually… indicated directly that he knows who Sougo is. But he has seen the statue, and knows it’s of Hiryuu.

He saw it because Hora took him there.

…Wait. Sougo. SOUGO DO YOU NOT KNOW HORA’S NAME?!

Okay, just gonna put the realization that our main trio might not even know the time jackers names aside for now, because we’ve got bigger issues.

Namely, that Sougo’s future as Oma Zi-O has disappeared from the book. (Dark Toei, give us the forbidden book backstory.)

Namely, that Woz has decided to serve a new Overlord.

Namely, said overlord is Kakogawa Hiryuu.

That he wants to pay back the humiliation of being told to live in the present, instead of the past, of ‘not being chosen’.

And, since we’re having a dark mirror of what Sougo could have been, if he’d grown up bitter…

Let’s have a dark reprise of one of Sougo’s old catchphrases.

Hiryuu: “So, I’m going to give this a try.”

Hiryuu: I’ll take everything away from you, and then you can try ‘living in the present’.

And now…

He’s not Another Zi-O.

He’s Another Zi-O II.

…Is it just me, or does he have an actual Driver? Because when he holds his watch at his waist, that black copy of the Ziku Driver appears first, and then the rest of his form as an Another Rider.

And that Driver looks an awful lot like a black copy of Oma Zi-O’s, but with a watch attached on the right-hand side.

Sougo is still heavily beaten up, and it looks like he’s struggling a bit to raise his arms enough to insert the watches, even though he’s not using his usual flair. He’s putting them in before he puts his driver on.

Grand Zi-O starts to charge at Another Zi-O II.

-

Geiz and Tsukuyomi are trying to find Zi-O, but not having any luck.

That is, not until Uhr shows up, saying that Zi-O is running amok, and offering to tell them where he is.

With an incredibly smug look on his face.

The right hand doesn’t know what the left one is doing, either.

-

Back at the Zi-O Vs Zi-O fight, Hiryuu just straight up summons copies of Another Agito, Den-O, and Gaim out of thin air.

Agito appears with green smoke and a single light, coming from right about belt-level.

Gaim still has the orange smoke and juice-droplet effect from last time we saw Another Zi-O.

Den-O has lines of light around him that look distinctly like the lines in Actual Den-O’s attacks.

(Where was this attention to detail in the first arc?! They got much better at it pretty quickly, actually, distracting forced-amnesia subplot be damned, but still!)

Sougo summons Den-O and Gaim to take on their respective Another Riders – both of whom have those windows, still – and takes on Another!Another Agito himself. All three Another Riders go down simultaneously.

But. You know. Hiryuu is Zi-O II now.

And Zi-O II can do more than predict the future.

He just reverses the attack, rewinding time for the three Another Riders, and incidentally turning daytime into night. The same rainbow ripple effect from earlier shows up as he does it.

The Another Riders de-spawn Sougo’s summons, and he tries to defeat them with his “Giri Giri Slash” finisher… only for Hiryuu to undo that, and turn it back into daytime.

Sougo is just getting his ass KICKED today!

…and then machine gun fire blocks Hiryuu and his mooks from going further after him.

Shots fired by one Kadoya Tsukasa, still in miliary fatigues, with a magenta button-up underneath and matching bandanna tied around his arm.

TSUKASA, you’re STILL wearing two cameras! At least. At least let the pseudo-polaroid not be brown. Maybe a nice violet color, you know, for Natsumi, or a bright Cyan for Daiki. Even a yellow or some such for Yusuke.

(Yes, I ship them as an OT4. Come at me. I’ll carry my Photo Studio Polycule forever.)

-

So, this speech Tsukasa’s giving… it’s a pep talk. Yes, in his standard, trolling manner, but a pep talk nonetheless. “So, you’re just giving up here? Because it got hard? Because they left you? You were all high-and-mighty, going on about being a King, but here you are, an Overlord. Did you want this because they came to you? Or did they come to you because you wanted this?”

“This world is coming to it’s destruction. The only way you can stop it is to defeat Kakogawa Hiryuu.”

And at one point, Tsukasa lifts the BSOD’ing Sougo up by the collar, and he’s almost entirely limp. Just, being jerked around, almost slumping back down to the ground when he’s pushed against the wall.

Sougo stumbles off at Tsukasa’s challenge. He! Is in no way able to fight at this point! He’s just gotten beaten up three times in less than a day, all of which were very brutal! This boy! Is not okay!

The three Another Riders show up.

Tsukasa: “Defeat them, and then we’ll talk.”

So, Sougo enters Grand Zi-O. Almost reluctantly, it takes him a moment to even pull out his belt, but he still goes into battle.

(I do appreciate that they don’t show the full Grand transformation every time. Unlike certain other anniversary riders. Tsukasa. Fricking. Six episodes having to watch the full transformation into Complete. UGH. That was painful. If it were a better form, or a better sequence, I wouldn’t have been as made. But Complete is ugly, and the transformation cutscene for it is just. Bad.)

Sougo summons Den-O and Gaim’s weapons to take out the respective copies, and that leaves Agito. Who, you know. Doesn’t always have a weapon – his and Kuuga’s are form-based, unlike the more recent riders.

SO INSTEAD!

Sougo pulls out a translucent COPY of Agito, and sort of. Just. Merges with it to do Agito’s Rider Kick.

THAT’S REALLY CLEVER!

Tsukasa seems at least a little impressed. But here comes Geiz, going straight into Revive Typhoon, saying that he’s going to take Zi-O down to save the world.

And while Geiz is attacking at normal speed, so Sougo could have dodged…

But he doesn’t.

He just takes the hit.

We close out to the end screen, with the Another Den-O and Another Agito watches in the back… and once again, the Zi-O watch, glitching and being replaced by the Another Zi-O watch.

-

In the preview…

Zi-O II, Geize Revive Fury, and DECADE fighting Another Zi-O II.

Sougo: “There’s no point in fighting Geiz.”

A bunch of fight scenes, with Swartz saying that someone will help him, and Hiryuu sitting on a throne.

Daiki’s coming back! And still going on about treasure, because of course he is. (Still mad at Tsukasa about the first Super Hero Taisen movie, I’m guessing)

Tsukasa – still in the army jacket, but seeming to have ditched the helmet – spin kicking Another Build away from Tsukuyomi, and holding an honest to Gaim PISTOL.

AND SON OF A-

SOUNDS LIKE TSUKUYOMI IS, IN FACT, SWARTZ’S SISTER.

Or, at least, that’s what she’s being told, and Uhr – who looks to have just been holding a Faiz Phone X to Tsukuyomi’s head, being just as surprised as her.

THIS IS FIN-

YOU KNOW WHAT NO NONE OF THIS IS FINE.

THIS EPISODE IS SCARY.

-

So, Tsukasa’s ‘pep talk’. That’s the voice of experience that he’s using. That’s a man who has done the whole ‘evil ruler’ thing, and would really rather not see his latest successor go down that route. He’s just. Kind of terrible at saying it.

And of course he’s trying to point out to Sougo that he needs to rely on his allies, if in a roundabout way.

It was only because of Natsumi, Yusuke, and Daiki remembering him that he came back to life, after all.

Memories are a powerful thing in Kamen Rider. We just came off of the Den-O arc, which is largely powered by memories, and to go right into people not remembering that Sougo exists… well. There can’t be a coincidence that it’s also a Tsukasa arc now.

-

Also, as a note, we had some of the first decent shots of Oma Zi-O’s belt in this episode. Previously, we only got to see one side of it, the one not obstructed by his sash. This time… well.

The places that used to be for Ridewatches? Those look an awful lot like the extensions on the Grand watch.

[tipsyraconteur]

The Old Razzle Dazzle, Part 3

Pairing: KakaSaku Rating: E Word Count: ~1.6k

Read on AO3 | Read on FF.net

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 4 | Part 5

"You're chunin?" Sakura said in an admiring voice. "I never progressed past genin, that's so impressive," she lied. Chunin? This was going to be disappointingly easy. "I bet you both know all sorts of moves that I've never seen," she added in a suggestive purr.

It had been over ten minutes since Kakashi had disappeared backstage, and Sakura now had both of the club's hired nin on either side of her. The first, Jin, hadn't taken his eyes off of her breasts since they'd started talking, and had been pathetically easy to manipulate. The second, who’d begrudgingly told her his name was Asao, was fairly suspicious and resistant at first, but as she’d persisted in charming him, he’d begun to show his interest.

"It looks like you're already busy with Jin's moves," Asao responded in an unmistakably jealous tone.

She held back a smile, knowing she had him. Jin's hand was on her hip and sliding upward, which she stopped under the pretext of weaving her fingers with his. While he leaned in and took a deep breath of her hair like the world-class creeper he was, Sakura focused on Asao and moistened her lips with her tongue before huskily murmuring, "Oh, I think I can handle both of you."

Asao's eyes darkened as his eyes trailed over her form and he got closer to her. "That sounds good to me."

From the corner of her eye, Sakura saw Kakashi slip out of the door to the right of the stage, and a wave of relief washed over her, followed by a bit of irritation. Sure, he had to dress in drag for the mission, but at least he hadn't had to be pawed by some creeps while he offered them a threesome.

Her irritation vanished, however, when she noticed that his wig was mussed and one of his dress straps was hanging off his shoulder. This distracted her enough that she didn't even notice Jin's hand on her knee until he was already moving it up to her inner thigh. From across the room, Kakashi's eyes homed it on her, dropped to where Jin's hand was sliding under her skirt, and then narrowed.

Sakura had raised her hand to put a stop to Jin's exploration, but a puff of displaced air hit her face and his hand was suddenly gone. Kakashi—who had just flashstepped over, looking spectacularly sparkly—had Jin's arm twisted behind his back. His other hand had him by the hair, and in a dark voice Kakashi snarled, "Hands to yourself, darling," before smashing Jin’s face into the bar.

Asao gaped as Kakashi. "What the f—”

Sakura cut him off by punching him in the jaw. She had no idea what was going on, but if Kakashi was fighting, then she was fighting too.

As Asao flew back and landed on his ass, Jin recovered enough to throw an elbow back toward Kakashi's gut. Kakashi easily evaded, but that gave Jin enough room to grab a bar stool and swing it at him. As he leapt into the air to avoid the stool, Kakashi's slitted skirt fell almost to his hips, revealing well-muscled legs that shimmered slightly thanks to the pantyhose he was wearing. Sakura couldn't help but stare as he spun, false ebony curls flying, into a beautiful kick that collided with the side of Jin's head and knocked him off his feet.

Kakashi landed neatly on his heeled feet, his eyes flicking toward her as he smirked and said, "Eyes forward, Momo."

Sakura snapped her attention back to the quickly recovering Asao in time to dodge one of his fists. However, a slight stumble—damn it, Kakashi was never going to let her forget that he fought better in heels—meant that she didn't dodge his second punch right to her face, and she tasted blood as her head rocked back. She heard Kakashi curse, and, feeling kind of embarrassed, she recovered quickly and caught Asao's still-extended arm, turning and flipping him over her shoulder. Adding a healthy amount of chakra-boosted strength, she slammed him into the floor.

There was a crackle of electricity from Kakashi's direction, which caused the few patrons and staff that hadn’t already fled to scream and start running for the exits. Sakura looked up in time to see him touch Jin with a lightning-engulfed hand and shock him into unconsciousness, looking for all the world like some kind of shimmery, bewigged, wrathful goddess. Asao gave a groan from beneath her as he lifted his head, and she dropped to one knee, another quick punch sending his head back to the floor. Knocked out, he went completely limp, and Sakura pulled herself back to her feet with a sigh.

"Took you long enough," she fired at Kakashi, hoping he wouldn't mention the part where she stumbled in her heels.

Instead, he gave her a coy look and said, "Why, did you miss me?"

Sakura blinked and flushed—she was definitely having a hard time keeping her footing this evening, and it wasn't just the heels. For lack of a response, she changed the subject, something which Kakashi seemed to find amusing. "Why did you use lightning to knock him out? You could have just done it the old-fashioned way."

Kakashi looked down at Jin's slightly singed body with the kind of look one reserves for a squished bug. "I was feeling dramatic."

Remembering the anger that had crossed Kakashi’s face before he’d pulled Jin’s hand away from her, Sakura suppressed a small smile. Crossing her arms, she took in the rest of the club—though they'd thankfully managed to keep the scuffle confined to the small area around the bar, that hadn't kept the patrons and staff from fleeing the second they saw lightning dancing on Kakashi’s fist. Since they were alone, Sakura tilted her head and gave Kakashi a questioning look. "So, what happened?"

Holding up a finger to tell her to wait, Kakashi bit his thumb and then slapped his palm to the ground. When Pakkun appeared, he gave an amused snort at Kakashi’s appearance, although he was all business as he said, "What's up, boss?"

"We need an ANBU unit to claim three missing nin," Kakashi told him. Sakura estimated that it wouldn’t take long for a detail to show up; it was known that they were on a mission here, and the tourist town that the club resided in was still in Fire Country, only a day’s run from Konoha. There would be a patrol nearby.

Pakkun barked his assent and then poofed out of existence. Kakashi stood, slumped back into his usual relaxed posture and, before she could ask him again, finally answered her question. "I got back into the restricted area. The owner has the entire backstage wired, particularly the dressing rooms and bathrooms—and I’m guessing none of the staff here know they’re being filmed.” As he spoke, Kakashi shoved his hand down the front of his dress and pulled out his bra inserts, throwing them to the ground in disgust.

“He’s been filming them while they change?” Sakura asked, scowling.

“He seems to be running some sort of cam site from it, and I'm guessing that's where all of the money is coming from. He’s a missing nin, too; he decided to attack me when he caught me in his camera room.” He smiled. “That didn’t work out very well for him.”

Sakura hummed to herself as she processed what she'd just heard. "So, he kept these guys around to protect his investment?" Prodding Jin with her toe, she snorted. "He should have hired better."

Kakashi replied with a distracted grunt, still shifting uncomfortably. He had the look of a man who had recently realized exactly why kunoichi usually fought in bindings instead of bras. She took pity on him. "If you want to go back to the hotel and change, I can stay here until ANBU comes. It shouldn't be long."

The look of grateful relief that spread over his face was unmistakable. "Thank you." He looked ready to spring off, but he paused, stepping close to her and raising his hand to her chin. Tilting her head up, he gingerly touched his thumb to the cut on her lower lip, given her an apologetic look as she hissed slightly.

"Make sure you heal this," he said quietly, eyes meeting hers, and Sakura didn't even realize she'd been holding her breath until the long moment was over and Kakashi was heading out the door.

Blinking her eyes away from the continually fascinating image of Kakashi's ass in that dress, Sakura exhaled, glad for the moment to be alone. The whole night had been so odd, she was no longer able to tell if it was just part of the strange energy of the mission, or if Kakashi had actually been… flirting with her. And what if he was? Did it mean anything? If the way her pulse was still humming was anything to judge by, it certainly meant something to her. Suddenly, the prospect of going back to the hotel room where they would be alone seemed much more consequential.  

In the meantime, though, she had to wait until Pakkun brought backup to secure the two missing nin and their boss. Sakura righted a bar stool and slid back onto it, reaching out to grab her forgotten drink. She took an experimental sip, surprised to find it still cold, and settled in to wait for ANBU.

[blatherkatt]

Chapter 30 summary under the cut for those who need it 

REALLY short version: Dave’s escape plan mostly worked, but Bro caught up with them before the police arrived; Rachel got there in time to chase him off, but Dirk’s leg is now even more badly broken and Dave sustained serious injuries in the fight. The chapter ended with them both being taken into an ambulance and Terezi and Pyralspite hot on Derek’s trail. 

warning for brief mention of burning and attempted strangulation as well as the ole’ troll drugs doin’ there thing ahead. 

longer version, will still try to keep talk about the injuries and violence to a minimum: Dave forgot to grab the car keys, so they had to walk. They got to a point where the cell Dave had stolen had cell coverage, so they called Terezi, who told them that cell phone tracking isn’t as precise as it is on TV; dave climbed a tree and spotted a nearby house with some high schoolers gathered around a campfire in their back yard, and Terezi told them to go there and get the street address, then call her back. She started on her way to their general area as Sollux found from the tracking. They did manage to get down to that yard, and the kids gave them the street address, but Dave, panicked because he knew that Derek would likely be after them at any minute, grabbed his sword and ran out into the woods to fight him off.

Derek turned up, clumsier than usual but making up for it in raw fury; Dave, exhausted having to help Dirk, realized he wouldnt be able to keep up the fight long enough for the police to arrive, and in a moment of desperation, begged Derek to let him go. Derek, still feeling some effects of the troll drug, experienced a hybrid of a hallucination and a flashback to a moment in time when his brother had said something similar to what Dave did, and for a moment he looked like he might actually let Dave go, but as soon as Dave let his guard down, Derek was consumed with anger at Dave for the crime of looking like his uncle and lunged forward to try and kill him -- by choking rather than stabbing, despite still holding his sword. Dave wriggled away, but was thrown into the fire. 

Dirk managed to force a flashstep even on his broken leg to knock Derek away from Dave, and thanks to that and some attempted help by the high schoolers, Rachel had  just enough time to fire off a warning shot and scare Derek away. Terezi arrived shortly after with other police officers and paramedics in tow, and the boys were rushed into an ambulance. 

[floralmarsupial]

okay now im not the same anon but hear me out::: dave spent all of his childhood constantly fighting and on alert from his brother. weapons training wouldnt make him ripped but he would have like a runners body. svelte. that doesnt mean attractive but you do have to admit that with his history his body would be more toned and likely to cotton onto building muscle. strifing would make him muscular to an extent

See I definitely feel what you guys are saying (cause this was the point of the previous anon too) but I’m just not inclined to agree, mostly because of personal bias but also because I really do not read the “hero training” to be as involved of a thing as fandom interpreted. Like y'all rewatch the strife flash and take note just how bad Dave is in it. And for someone who is suppose to be on alert Dave walks into every trap Bro sets out and I think that is even tho the hero training is Dave’s excuse for Bro he doesn’t actually actively participate in it but is a passive recipient of it. Honestly I doubt Bro taught Dave jack shit versus just giving him a shitty sword and coming at him. And that’s how I read that situation, Dave going up to the roof, getting pummeled and then hurriedly going back to his room and sitting in there until the next 10 minute abuse sessionNot to mention the running point gets complicated by the fact flashstepping exists in this universe, and I don’t think they’re equivalent in nature since he’s been doing it since he was a baby.Lastly nothing Dave does incomic is really physically impressive in comparison to the other kids, and in reality he’s very evidently the clumsiest out of all of them. I think it’s a very legitimate point and is probably true but from my personal taste/understandings Dave is in no way athletic. He’s just a kid who can sort of hold a sword alright and climbed a tower and found it exhausting.