#might i say i love the shots of them inside the mecha like i think they utilize the reflections and lighting well to show they're working

[t-u-i-t-c]

they did this for me

[bard-of-worlds]

Chapter 14

Marinette sighed as she closed the program on her computer and leaned back.  She wasn’t sure what she was thinking, but this, something was bothering her………. She didn’t know what it was but something was missing with what they knew about Lila.   Come on, what is it?  I mean okay Lila is working with both Gabriel and she seems to be on a conversational basis with Hawkmoth, we already ruled him out before, and according to Adrien the Collector got both Nathalie and his bodyguard, so who could he have given the Miraculous to if he was Hawkmoth?  There isn’t anyone that he trusts, and his bodyguard was apart of that party and Nathalie was with him when they both left the city………but what am I missing?  She thought as she looked at her blank screen as Adrien looked at her with worry.

 “Your Ladybug face is showing my lady,” Adrien said with a smirk and Marinette looked shocked and blushed as the two Kwami in the room chuckled.   “The fact that Lila is working with both my father AND Hawkmoth?”

 Marinette looked at him, seeing the way his eyes were troubled and she sighed.  “Oh, Kitty……”

 “I thought the same thing my lady……… and about Lila?  When Kagami was Akumatized the second time…….. I think Lila tried to make a deal with Onichan,” Adrien said with a bitter edge to his voice and Marinette looked at Adrien in shock.

 “Remind me again, wasn’t Onichan after Lila to kill her?” Plagg asked and Tikki nodded.  “Okay, she’s a psychopath or a sociopath.”

 “Yeah……. I don’t know what we should do,” Adrien admitted as everyone looked at him.  “But with everything we’ve got, maybe the most we should do is wait for now, I mean there’s Sabrina and her new partner, we might find out where Hawkmoth is hiding!”

 “But Adrien, if he’s in the area of your home……” Marinette said and Adrien nodded.  

 “Yeah, but we have to find him, we don’t have a choice……. And since we figured out why he might want our Miraculous…… I thought about my mom,” Adrien admitted and Plagg winced and looked down.

 “Kit……” Plagg said and landed on Adrien’s head as Adrien tried not to cry.

 “I mean, it makes sense right?  But that means that he knows what happened to mom and he never told me……” Adrien said and Marinette felt her heart break a bit.

 On the surface, this was another mark against Gabriel but the sheer odes against it…… but the more that she thought about it the more it made sense.  If Gabriel was Hawkmoth then how he always tried to keep Adrien locked in, out of the way of Akuma………. He was the head and owner of a company so he could ditch work and become Hawkmoth whenever……. But the Collector, that was the only mark against him.  And they didn’t know that powers couldn’t affect the wielder, and Mayrua had created a Senti-Monster on her own!

 As they all thought about it Plagg looked around the room and frowned.  He hated Gabriel for how emotionally abusive he was, but he didn’t know that he could admit that

 “So let’s table that and talk about the feelings between you two instead!  I mean when the Bug’s parents called you down for that game it was just getting good!” Plagg said causing Adrien and Marinette to blush as Tikki giggled.

 “Let’s leave them alone, me and Plagg will be on the rooftop balcony!” Tikki said as she shot forward and grabbed Plagg and pulled him up and through the door to the roof.  Adrien looked up at the roof and took a deep breath.

 As soon as breached the door, Tikki spun around and looked at Plagg with a scowl. ”Plagg, did you have to do that!?”  

 “What’s wrong Sugar-club? Wouldn’t you be happy that they’re finally letting each other know what they feel?” Plagg asked and Tikki only sighed.

 “Before yes I would, but something happened…….. Fluff happened,” Tiki said and looked down as Plagg’s eyes widened.

 Down below Adrien looked up at Marinette and smiled at her.  Marinette looked away and blushed, her mind going miles in seconds as she tried and failed to figure out how to bring up everything she needed to, so after a few seconds Adrien started.

 “So we have to talk about this, don’t we?” Adrien asked with a smirk as Marinette

 “We do,” Marinette said and sighed as she looked up at Adrien with a hard look. “And I have to tell you about something, something that happened before everything the other day…….. I need to tell you about Chat Blanc.”

 Adrien looked at Marinette and saw such despair and pain in her eyes that Adrien was caught up in this desire to grab her and hug her.

 “Chat Blanc?  Who was that, I never even heard of him……. Was Theo hit by Hawkmoth when I was away or something?” Adrien asked and Marinette shook her head and looked at Adrien with sorrow.

 “No, one did but everyone did.  It would have happened in the future, and the victim was you,” Marinette said and Adrien went still and looked at her shocked as she started to cry.

 “Me?” Adrien said faintly as he felt himself grow cold as he looked at Marinette as she cried.  He wanted to hug her and never let go,

 “The whole city was underwater, the ‘Tower was on its side and the Moon was broken.   I cleansed it and you said that our love was what destroyed everything,” Marinette sobbed out as Adrien looked at her in horror and pain as he shook his head, a hundred different things going through his mind.

 “Oh Bug,” Adrien whispered as he put his arms around her as she just cried and he held her, letting her just cry as he whispered to her.  “I’m here, I won’t become his victim, I promise.”

 “Our love, that’s what you said caused it,” Marinette bit out and for a moment Adrien went still as anger suddenly went through him before horror hit him as he made connections in his head, connections that he hoped wouldn’t prove to be true.  

 “I signed my name for that barred I gave you and transformed to deliver it, then Bunnix appeared and then, and then….,” Marinette said as she started to cry.

 As Marinette cried and leaned into Adrien she tried to think about everything was different now, how the rest of the team was helping each other and everyone was on board, what happened that caused Chat Blanc wouldn’t happen again, she would make sure of it.

 “Oh Mari, I’m sorry you had to hold this in on your own, I really am,” Adrien said and part of him was sure that he was right about his fear, but as he held Marinette he let deal with her feelings.

 A few moments later Marinette took a deep breath and moved away, a shaky smile on her face.  “Thanks Adrien.”

 “Anytime,” Adrien said as he looked at Marinette.  As he looked down at her he swallowed as he zeroed in on her lips and for a moment he remembered how she had kissed him when Dark Cupid had corrupted him and then when they had been hit by Oblivio.  He looked at Marinette as she looked back at her and smiled shakily at her as he noticed that she was blushing.  “Say, when everything with our court dates are over and everything works out okay, how about you and me watch a movie when I get my new place set up?  Just us and our kwami, a good movie or two, and some food?”

 Marinette looked at Adrien and blushed harder, looking away from him as her mind went strange places and she chuckled lightly and looked at him with a coy smile.

 “I’d like that Adrien,” Marinette said softly as she put her arms around his neck and smiled at him with a strange expression on her face as her suddenly felt heavy as she opened her mouth.  

 As Adrien started to feel strange and after a few seconds he acted on them, slowly he moved his head towards her as Marinette did the same as they both closed their eyes slowly before a call came from below.

 “KIDS GET OVER HERE!” Tom bellowed and Marinette and Adrien both blink and seeing how close they were they to each other, they jerked apart and laughed shakily as they realized just what they had almost done and they laughed as inside Adrien and Marinette were both fuming.  

 “Dad only does that if it’s important, we should check it out,” Marinette said as she rushed towards the ladder down as Plagg and Tikki came from above, shooting into their chosen's pockets.

 The teens ran into the living room and saw Tom and Sabine on the couch looking at the TV.  On it was a scene of one of the local hospitals as three ambiances were out front with doctors bringing people in.  “And repeating the top story, over twenty people within ages from 10 to twenty were found earlier today asleep, dead to the world. So far all the doctors have said is they are not in danger of dying and seem to have all their organs and no marks that could explain their state.  This reporter will update on this developing situation as it develops,” The reporter said as Tom turned off the TV and shook his head.

 “After everything, I wondered what could shock me.  If Hawkmoth hadn’t set off an attack earlier today I would have thought it was him again,” Sabine said and Marinette looked at Adrien who shook his head as she felt Tikki press against her and she nodded to him before turning to her mother.

 “It’s terrible, but why did you call us down?” Marinette asked and Sabine sighed and looked at them.

 “Nadia called, her station is sending out interns to ask around where they were found, and they were found within two streets of us so for the next few days we might have people coming and asking to talk to us, so I want you to only open the door if you know who is on the other side and Adrien, keep away from the windows or stay in Marinette’s room,” Sabine said and Adrien blushed and looked away as Marinette started to stammer and Tom chuckled, Adrien meanwhile looked into his mind, remembering a lot of Tabloid ‘reporters’ and what they would do for a story, if one of them found out he was here………….. he didn’t want to think about what some of his fanatics would do, much less what his father would do.

 “So you two up for a little four-part tournament of Mecha-Strike?” Tom asked and he was met with three grins.

 XXXXXXXXXX

  Kim sighed as he got out of the pool and toweled off as he walked towards his chair.  As he looked up at the skylight and saw the night sky and the moon shining down he tried to calm down, even after swimming lanes he couldn’t quiet his mind.  He was still very angry about what happened to Marinette, he might not be too bright but he knew all about law, and what happened was against all of the laws of both respect and dignity!  Before he could spiral like Marinette a towel hit his head.  He looked out from under it and saw his girlfriend Odine walk towards him, her peach skin was wet, her swimming leotard dripped as she walked over, her swimming hat in her hands, her short red hair free and her brilliant turquoise eyes above her freckles shined with worry.

“Hey, you were hitting the lanes hard tonight, what’s up?” Odine asked and Kim sighed and looked away.

 “A lot of things, I don’t know where to start,” Kim said as he looked at Odine.

 “Well start at the beginning, what happened?” Odine asked and Kim sighed and looked down.  Odine was his girlfriend but she was also a friend of Marinette and Nino, they had all gone to elementary together and they had been friends for a long time, only he, Nino and Mari had a longer friendship.

 “Marinette was expelled without a hearing!” Kim bit out and Odine just blinked a few times before she looked at Kim and she started to growl.  Kim swallowed; Odine’s grandfather had been a judge and she was very

 “What?!  What happened?” Odine demanded and Kim scowled and looked away.  

 “It was crazy, first a stolen test answer sheet was found in Marinette’s bag, then Lila supposedly was pushed down the stairs in the courtyard and then Lila led the way to Marinette’s locker and then the Owl expelled her on the stop!” Kim said bitterly and Odine sat down and looked at Kim with a scowl.

 “And you didn’t stop it?!” Odine demanded and Kim looked down.

 “I was shocked! And then before anything else could happen there was a Mass Akuma attack and I was one of the victims!” Kim defended and Odine gasped and looked at him with a scared look on her face and he smiled at her.  “But it stopped in mid-attack, weird really, and after that, I was kinda out of it for about twenty minutes.”

 “Oh, Kim that was terrible!”Odine said as her own nightmare flashed behind her eyes, when she flooded Paris and most people had been stuck in buildings, thankfully most buildings had been airtight because of her powers.

 “Yeah. I thought that the principal would at least give her a hearing her but when other class representatives tried to get it he threw them out, yelled at them and me and Max were barely able to get away without detention!  My little buddy said he was going to talk to Marinette about her rights, but then the Akuma and he’s gone silent!” Kim defended and Odine huffed and looked at him with a scowl on her face.

 “Who the heck does that scum think he is!?” Odine asked and Kim grinned darkly.  

 “Yeah well my buddy sent me a message the other day, she’s suing them for what they did and she will get a hearing,” Kim said and Odine grinned darkly and started to chuckle.

 “Good, very good,” Odine said evilly and Kim started to feel scared for a few moments before he realized that she wasn’t thinking about him.

 “Yeah…… say do you want to get something to eat tomorrow?  Just the two of us?” Kim asked and Odine looked at him shocked before she blushed and nodded, not noticing how close the two were to each other.

 “Hey you two!  The pool’s closed, go shower and change and I’ll lock up when you leave!  And no PDA HERE!” A voice startled the two of them and they both looked down and saw how close they were to each other and laughed as they moved towards the changing rooms, both blushing as they walked away.

 About ten minutes later they walked out the doors and the lifeguard locked the doors behind them and Kim smiled at Odine.

 “Would the lady like an escort home tonight?”  Kim asked as he offered her his arm.  Odine giggled and accepted it and off they went.  As they walked they made small talk, Odine smiling at Kim as they walked, when she was with him she knew she would be okay no matter what happened, that her dreams weren’t too far out of reach.

 “Hey, Odine are you okay?” Kim asked and Odine looked at him and she looked away, only for Kim to put his other arm on her shoulder.  “If there’s anything I can do to help, anything at all you just have to say it you know?”

 “I…… I just haven’t had a good week at school, Kagami’s been having the same troubles lately,” Odine admitted and Kim raised an eyebrow.

 Kagami in Kim’s mind was one of the most straightforward girls his age, coming in behind Odine, Marinette and Chloe.  If both she and Odine were having troubles then it was probably like Lila, someone not something.

 “What is it, or who?” Kim asked as they turned down a side alley that went to a small courtyard near the Tower.  Odine opened and closed her mouth, not knowing how to describe it but if Kim had seen through Lila.

 “The school has a new principal and student, there putting more…….” Odine trailed off as she looked ahead of them and gasped.

 “What…….. Ah, Shi-bal,” Kim breathed as they saw over twenty bodies on the grounds of the small space before them.  Odine ran towards a child’s body as Kim ran towards an older body lying face down and rolled it over and saw a woman whose chest was moving up and down. “She’s still breathing!”

 “Here too!” Odine called out, looking around for anything.  “I don’t have my phone, it’s getting repaired!”

 “Mine too, stay here I’ll get help!” Kim called out as he ran away, leaving Odine alone.  

 A few moments later a low moan came from an older woman in a beige blouse and dress.  Odine ran towards her and crouched down and looked at her, the woman looked elderly and had her white hair in a bun.  “Who’s there?”  

 “I’m Odine, my boyfriend is getting help, hold on!” Odine said and the woman grinned at her, looking at her with glowing eyes that shocked her.

 “Oh….. good.  I ssee you, you’ll do what needs to be done, protect her, get the others please,” The woman said as she pushed a small white square box with a red circle in the center of it into Odine’s hand.  “Don’t let anyone know you have her, promise me!”

 “I don’t understand….” Odine began holding the box when the woman lunched and grabbed her.

 “PROMISE ME!” The woman said fiercely and Odine nodded and the woman slunk back down and Odine examined her and saw that she was still alive.  

 Odine looked at the box and frowned before she put it into her purse as she heard a siren, looking up she saw Kim running back towards her with police and paramedics following along behind him.  Waving Kim and one paramedic came over to her and she looked relieved that help had come.  “This woman just woke for a few moments, she didn’t say anything but she was semi-coherent!”

 “Good work, I’ll take it from here!” The paramedic said as he started to look over the woman.

 As Odine stepped back a police officer came to her and smiled at her. “Good work, but we’ll need to make a statement about what you two found, I’m sorry but we need everything we can to help these people.”

 Odine nodded and Kim took her hand and squeezed it, both of them drawing strength from each other as they followed the policeman.  The box in Odine’s purse made it feel even heavier as she walked, not knowing that her destiny had been changed, that her life would change in the short term and become stranger but better.

 XXXXXXXX

  Max looked at his computer as he quickly hacked into the school database and frowned.  It had been too easy to do that, he would have to try and send a message to the school about how easy it was to get into it.  As soon as he was in he went through a few files here and there on school evens before sending Lila’s file to a cloud server set up in Russia.    

 As she floated, Kaalki looked at Max as he worked, Max finding her stare and looking away.  

 “Not so, honorable is it?”  Max asked bitterly and Kaalki looked back at Max and smiled at him, her eyes holding understanding and

 “By a certain point of view, it is,” Kaalki said bluntly as she floated there and looked at her chosen with a calm look.  “Many of my own have been spymasters or helping with steeling things that they needed too.  Honor is in the reasoning, not the doing as one of my first ones said.”

 Max smirked as he finished his work as Markov came back online and floated upwards he looked at Max who was turning on another computer next to him. “Finished with your shadow work Max?”

 “Yes, for now, let’s just get the file and then start looking into Lila,” Max said as he quickly navigated to the cloud website and download Lila’s file before opening it. As he looked over it he frowned as he saw the numerous health concerns that were listed for Lila with no doctor’s note to back them up.  

 “I don’t know procedures about this Max, but shouldn’t there be notes from her doctor scanned in?” Markov asked and Max nodded as he finally found the data he needed from the file and turned back to his hacking one, quickly finding the school in question he started to look for an online yearbook.

 “Yeah, they should,” Max muttered as he finally found a list of students and then looked at the number of graduates for each year before Lila came to Paris and frowned when he saw a few numbers off, more than he thought.  “Markov, I want to know who didn’t graduate from this school and what happened to them, I’ll hack into the records and find out where Lila was before she was here.”

 “Of course Max, give me a minute,” Markov said as he slotted into the computer and started to absorb the data as Max worked.

 “Done, three students beyond Lila left this school for other reasons.  One is a grade lower than Lila would have been, two are the same age and both left not long after Lila did,” Markov reported and Max nodded as he worked.

 “Good, find out what happened to them please,” Max said as he found the school and location where Lila had been before.  He frowned, the city wasn’t one of the big ones that he expected a diplomat to have been sent to, something was wrong……… he needed to find out just what had happened in this city to have sent any diplomatic staff there long enough for Lila to go to school?  Wait, this says she left this one after only four months?  I guess an appointment to overlook something for the embassy would explain why she and her mother were only there so long, but why, where did they go after that? Max thought as he looked at his screen and tried to figure out why Lila had moved when she did.  As he sat there and let his mind wander over all the possibilities for why that was done, he couldn’t find anything.  He knew that Lila said her mother was a diplomat, but with what they all knew he doubted it.  He tried to think of what kind of job her mother could have that let them travel so much, but still the longer he tried to the more he came up empty for an answer.

 “I found them Max………. it’s not good.   One of them is a girl named Arianna Bianchi; she’s currently in a monastery…….. I tracked down a medical report that she tried to take her own life,” Markov said mournfully and Max swallowed. “I found social media posts and she was cyber-bullied a lot, the sheer viciousness of some of these posts……. The other is a girl named Daniela Candreva, she left the school after testing out the grade and is currently studying to become a prosecutor, I think I can find her address to email her.   But Max…….. most of the posts are about what ‘she’ or ‘they’ did to Lila,” Markov said and Max almost told him to send a message off but stopped himself and shook his head.

 “Why would Lila……oh god!” Max said faintly and started to shake in fear as everything started to make sense to him.

 “Max, what is it?” Markov asked and Kaalki looked at him in concern.

 “That’s what she would have done with Marinette, because she discovered Lila was lying!  She made this class hate her and then she tormented the girl until she did that!” Max snarled and Kaalki looked sick.

 “Yes, it fits.   The way she was acting, she had to have had practice at this.   she goes to a new school…….” Max began and Markov took over.

 “And someone either finds out about Lila or she finds a target to get the rest of the class on her side, and then when things go too far she’s either already gone or moved schools. Smart, evil but smart,” Markov said bitterly and

 “Scum, I haven’t seen such monsters in centuries!  I thought that modern schools looked for that!  People like that actually like it!  Why else if she’s been doing that for how long?!” Kaalki snarled as Markov unhooked himself and floated upwards.  Max looked at his computer as he saw the data on it, he found another discrepancy and looked at Markov with a hard look.

 “Markov, I’m going to find her third school, do what you did again with the second, we hunt for any and all evidence about what happened while Lila was there,” Max said as Kaalki nodded as Markov connected to the computer again.

 “One thing bothers me, what about the younger child?” Kaalki asked and Max went still.  Markov beeped and made a ‘smily face’ with his visor.  

 “Good news, from what I found the child only moved away with his family because of a death in his family, nothing to do with Lila!” Markov said and Max released a sigh and Kaalki floated with a lightened look in her eyes.

 “Well, there’s that at least,” Max muttered as he looked back to his computer and sighed.

 Kaalki looked at Max and his creation as they worked and hid a chuckle as she smirked.  He might be a worthy Horse after all are very smart.   But they all saw the big picture, but we have to remember the little things and how they affect the big. She thought as she floated there and looked at Max as he and Markov hacked.  “Still what does she get out of this all?  No one is pure evil, three are reasons for everything that is the truth of the universe.  But what is Lila after?”

 “I don’t know…….. Markov new mission; I want you to look into the relationships of each student in Lila’s class before she joined up……. Wait see if there’s a class chat first,” Max said and Markov ‘nodded’ with his visor and Kaalki floated over to his shoulder.

 “There is, and three people are active tonight,” Markov said and Max nodded.

 “Then let's talk, time to hack into it,” Max said softly as he looked at his screen.

 “Done Max, I found a chat and I’ll need to relay and translate it but we’re in,” Markov said and Max nodded.

 As Max looked at the chat room, he kept his mind blank and he hoped that these people would help him.

 “We’ll be visible to them all in 3.2.1, message sent,” Markov said and Max nodded and started to type.

 Starhacker909 has joined the chat.

 Bloodhunter; Who the hell is Starhacker909, Rob did you invite somebody new

 StrikeBak; No, who are you and how’d you get in here?!

 Starhacker909; Wait, please! I’m sorry about this but I needed to talk to you about a person named Lila Rossi, she got a friend of mine expelled a few days ago!

 Stanford; That witch is still doing that again!?  

 Bloodhunter; Okay Starhacker909, we’ll talk if you tell us what city you’re in!

 Max breathed a sigh of relief and Markov blinked his eyes.

 “Max, my barriers were hit by ten viruses and whoever is behind it is trying to find out where we are but I fought them off and they stopped, I think we’re safe for now,” Markov said and Max nodded as he looked at the screen.

 “Markov, try and find out if Lila really did what we think she did at other schools, if she did we need to talk to a lot of people about her,” Max said grimly and Markov ‘nodded’ and Max started to text as Kaalki watched from behind him, a somber look on her face.

 XXXXXXX

 Odine looked at the small box as she sat in her room as the box set on her desk next to her bed as she looked at it.  After the police had questioned them she had been driving home, her father had been worried when the police had shown up but after being told that she had found the people on the news he had relaxed a little.   After she had gotten o her room she had locked the door and put the box on her desk as she looked at it, trying to understand why she hadn’t said anything about it, and why that woman had been so instant that Odine take it.   After a few moments she took a deep breath and opened it, a moment later a ball of light shot up into the air, forming into a tiny grey creature with a large head with blue eyes, a fin on its back, a small snot, short arms and it grinned at her.

 “Hi!  I’m Bottla, nice to meet you!” Bottla said and Odine swallowed a screamed as she looked at Bottla as it looked around with a frown.   “Wait……. Where’s Melisa?”

 “You mean the old woman, she’s at the hospital,” Odine said and the creature gasped!

 “Oh no, she found us!” Bottla said and looked around, a scared look on its…..her? face as Odine looked at the creature and tried to calm Bottla down.

 “Hey, calm down.  She was okay and breathing last I saw her,” Odine said and the little creature nodded and looked at her with a strange look on its face.

 “Sorry, I’m Bottla, the Dolphin Kwami of Discord and …….” Bottla began before Odine gasped.

 “A Kwami?!  Like Ladybug, Chat Noir and Hawkmoth?!” Odine interrupted Bottla who nodded before going still.

 “Ladybug….. Tikki’s chosen?! What happened to bring them out into the light of day?” Bottla asked and Odin looked at the Kwami in surprise.

 “You don’t know what’s been happening in Paris!?”

 “We keep moving, staying ahead of the Seven Deadly,” Bottla said and Odine looked at the kwami with a bad feeling going through her.

 “The who?” Odine asked and Bottla sighed and looked away.

 “The holders of seven of the 7 miraculous of Dark Emotions, they’ve been tracking me and mine for years, I’ve lost so many friends to them,” Bottla said and sniffed as Odine looked at the Kwami in concern before she remembered what Melisa had told them.

 “Was one of them responsible for what happened there?” Odine asked and Bottla nodded.  

 “The sin of Gluttony; the Vulture.   Those people who were hurt won’t wake up until the egg she forms is used up or destroyed.  And the sin of Lust; the Ant gave her eggs to her, we destroyed a Soldier before

 “Soldier?”  Odine asked and Bottla nodded.

 “A non-sentient monster created from the Ant’s Powers.  The created warriors obey the one who activates them, wielder or civilian,” Bottla said and Odine swallowed.

 “What are they after?” Odine asked and Bottla looked down and away.

 “Me, my power of Turmoil causes all abilities to be turned on whoever used them, Melisa got away by hitting the Soldier so it would go after Vulture instead of us,” Bottla said and looked at Odine with a hard look.   “If they take my Miraculous, then they can do whatever they want with no way to counter their powers.”

 “So these Miraculous have been passed down for how long, and most of the time they’ve been hunting you?” Odine asked and paled when Bottla shook her head.

 “No, it’s the same people……… They have a ritual that uses the energy that the Vulture gathers to empower them and extended their lives.  Anything they kill, they all gain the years, in the past  they left totems near where battles might happen to gather the years of killed soldiers, WW1 and 2 gave them centuries!” Bottla said with a haunted tone

 Odine looked at the kwami as she tried to figure out what to do.  The easy thing to do was get in touch with Alya, she ran the Ladyblog and if anyone could get a message to Ladybug then she could.  But then the woman trusted her with this, and why shouldn’t she do something to help out?  By the way the kwami was talking, if she was able to get even one of them away from the Seven then she might be able to stop them.   And her home was perfect, it was in a section of the city away from the center and the main roads, if…..when the other seven made it to the city she would be out of the way.  And she knew the sewers and catacombs well, she had played there as a child and knew them almost as well as she knew the streets.  And Bottla was a dolphin, her favorite animal.

 “If I used your Miraculous to transform, can I breathe underwater?” Odine asked and Bottla nodded and Odine took a deep breath.  “Then I have one question, what’s the name of the hero who uses it to transform?”

 XXXXXXX

  Alya blinked her eyes as she woke up and looked around, seeing Chloe’s room in the hotel and for a moment she was confused before she looked down and saw Trixx sleeping on her chest and then remembered everything.  She after they had all learned how much of a psycho Lila was she, Chloe and Sabrina had done a quick interview, she had transformed and had Sabrina record ‘Ladybug’ and ‘Apisera’ and talk to Chloe about how she had been retired and Chloe had agreed with them, only saying to listen to their ‘teacher’, a good trick they had to keep Kwami from being on the news and in the public eye.  

 As she looked around she saw Sabrina and Chloe leaning against each other with their kwami sleeping on their chosen, she smirked as she looked at them.  Who knew that the three of them loved to watch feel-good movies or that Chloe was such a romantic?  As the sun shined down Chloe and Sabrina both woke up, all the kwami did as well.  

 As Sabrina got up she looked around and saw Alya as Chloe turned the news on as she grabbed a PDA and looked over it, smiling as she listened to the morning news.

 “……… And in local news, if you can head over to the zoo tomorrow, the tickets will be half price and there’s a presentation on fire safety there as well.   And next on Moth Watch, the latest Akuma was defeated by three heroes, our protectors Chat Noir and Ladybug with the help of a new hero we haven’t been able to get in touch with, as usual, the victim has been hidden and the reason why they were influenced,” The reporter said as Chloe looked at the screen, scoffed and muted it, causing Alya to look at her with a raised eyebrow.

 “What, have you got a thing against the press?” Alya asked as Trixx landed on her right shoulder

 “Yeah. No offense Alya, but a lot of the reporters on the Hawkmoth case are worse than tabloids writers,” Sabrina said  

 “Daddy tells me that reporters are always trying to get dirt on people who were Akumatized, a reporter even had a piece about how a girl who was almost raped before she was Akumatized in the first month should have fought harder,” Chloe said bitterly and Alya gasped before she nodded.

 “Trash like that, you should give them nothing at all, they’re just a stain on journalistic integrity,” Alya growled and Sabrina looked at her with a strange look as Chloe grinned evilly. Alya looked up and saw the look Sabrina was giving her and Alya looked ashamed.  “And before you say anything about my interview with Lila, I never published it because I was still working on fixing it before I met Trixx here for the first time and after that well…..”

 “Yeah, nice to know that you’ve got a good head on your shoulder,” Chloe said Alya nodded.  “Thankfully daddy went down hard on all the editors, something about banning their people from any events he or mom held in the city,” Chloe said with a dangerous purr and Alya whistled as Sabrina giggled evilly as the Kwami looked at each other shrugged.  

 “Nice……” Alya said with a smirk and looked at the two girls as they looked at their bodies and Chloe felt her hair and shuddered.

 “So, I’ll get the first shower, then I’ll order breakfast while Sabrina showers and Alya can finish last and Sabrina can act like she’s drying off when the food gets here,” Chloe said as Alya looked at Chloe with a frown as she tried to figure out what Chloe meant.  “Me and Sabrina will get dressed in my walk-in closet, Alya, you will get dressed in the bathroom.  Order the usual for me Sabrina, and ask Alya what she wants, and don’t forget the honey mustard please”

 Alya opened her mouth closed it and nodded after she realized Chloe’s plan.  She grinned as Chloe walked away but frowned as she looked at Sabrina who grinned back at Alya as Barrk sighed as he ate a small part of a dog cookie.

 “One thing I don’t get it, why do you act like a servant to Chloe all the time?” Alya asked and Sabrina looked away and Alya felt a little bit dirty for a second.   “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to……”

 “It’s not a good story, but well……” Sabrina said and sighed and looked away.  “My grandfather on my dad’s side and Chloe’s were godbrothers growing up, they promised we would have a place with each other…….. and after I moved here with my dad four years ago…….. I just didn’t want to be around people for a while and I got to like acting.”

 “So it was an act? Everything?” Alya asked in complete shock and Sabrina grinned at Alya.

 “Yeah, I actually bought most of the ‘gifts’ Chloe gave me, it was all part of our plan really,”

 “But your Akuma?” Alya began and then winced.  “Sorry……. ‘Don’t talk about what caused it’, forgot for a moment there.”

 “No, it’s okay. A…….person I liked didn’t notice me when I left them a gift…….. when he hit me I was cursing how I acted and I think Chloe for her part of our plan…….. at least I think, you know how when you’re ackumatized you forget about a minute before and what he offers you?” Sabrina said as Barrk rubbed his head against Sabrina’s check,

 “Yeah.  But romance, that’s hard,” Alya said and Sabrina chuckled.

 “At least I’m not like Marinette and Adrien!” Sabrina said and Alya laughed a little as Trixx giggled while Bark nodded.

 “Bugs and Cats kit, they always orbit around each other.  The stories I could tell you about them all,” Trixx snickered as Bark nodded.

 “Yep, I remember sometime around 800 years ago, me and my chosen were tracking down this necromancer when we came across the Black Cat, we worked together for about a month tracking the varmint down and saving all we could and all he could talk about was this girl he knew, turned out she was the Ladybug of the time,” Barkk said and Sabine looked at her kwami, for a moment she had forgotten that Barrk and the other kwami were as older as their concepts, the sheer time they had been around staggering for a moment.  

 Sabrina looked at the TV screen and paled at what she saw.  “OH MY GOD!”

 “What?!  Oh,” Alya said as she and the Kwami turned and saw the screen, the reporter in the foreground as behind him was a shot of last night in front of the hospital.  

 “CHLOE GET OUT HERE!” Sabrina screamed and Chloe shot out of the bathroom a moment later clad in a yellow robe as Pollen flew behind her.

 “What is it……” Chloe trailed off as she saw what was on her TV as Sabrina raised the volume.

 “ at this time nothing has changed since last night, the victims are still unconscious but sources have reported no casualties at this time.  Police are still looking for what could have caused it with the Park by the ‘Tower still closed as the ECDC look it over.   With nothing new to go on, most authorities are waiting for any of them to wake up to hopefully explain what happened to them……. And now on to the weather,” The reporter said moments before Sabrina muted the screen again.

 As Chloe dripped onto her floor she looked at the screen in horror, horror that was mirrored on the faces of Alya and Sabrina.  

 Chloe however was feeling something else, she remembered an old meeting from when she was a lot younger when she was learning to read.  She couldn’t remember it but she heard something like this before, she couldn’t remember what it was exactly but it was there.

 “This is terrible; I wonder if it’s something to do with Hawkmoth?” Sabrina asked and Chloe hugged her as Alya looked at the screen with a hard look.

 “It sounds familiar, doesn’t it?” Trixx asked and the humans looked at the kwami.  Pollen and Barrk were looking at the screen while Trixx floated upside down.

 “Trixx, are you okay?” Alya asked and Trixx just floated there for a few moments before snarling. “Trixx?!”

 “No, I…….this is something I’ve faced before, but I can’t remember when!”  Trixx snarled as old emotions came back, emotions the kwami couldn’t place.

 “I’ve never heard of something like this, but it was a long time ago,” Pollen admitted and Trixx just floated there as Alya looked on in concern.  

 “Why can’t you remember?” Alya asked softly and Trixx just kept floating and Alya shared a look with Chloe and Sabrina.

 “We lived a lot longer than you all, and sometimes when the old Guardians would take us out the box, sometimes the others would come back having forgotten things,” Pollen said darkly and Chloe held Pollen to her body as the Kwami relaxed against her.

 As the three girls exchanged worried looks, the way Chloe called Master Fu a ‘cult baby’ yesterday came back to them.  Chloe was only speaking in jest, but the evidence was something that they couldn’t deny. If the guardians were a cult like Chloe suggested, then they all might be in more danger than they thought they were, with the surprising fact that Hawkmoth might not be the only foe they would have to face.

 XXXXX

 Lila smiled as she looked at the Hotel before her, all she had to do was find anyone who worked here and say that she was a friend of Chloe’s and that she was blocking her calls.   Then all she had to do was say that she was worried because of the class chat, well that was enough for the old-timers to tell her how Chloe was feeling.   If she could find out anything about how she was feeling about the New Bee because of how much pride Chloe had, how she was worried she might do something, and if anyone heard her then that’s all the better for when she was Akumatized.

 As she walked into the lobby she looked around and smiled, there were enough people there that she could do her plan and not be obvious about it.   She saw a woman with tan skin in a white uniform talking to a man behind the desk and she walked towards it as a woman with purple hair and dark skin walked out of the elevator, but Lila ignored her once she saw the dark clothing the woman wore, writing her off as a goth once she saw colors of her hair and clothing.

 “Excuse me, but I haven’t been able to get in touch with my friend Chloe for a while, and since the new Bee hero was revealed on the news last night I was worried about her reaction,” Lila said as the two people by the counter looked up at her.

 “No Madame Chloe is currently in her room and I believe that she is fine and doesn’t want anyone to come up there now,” The man said as the goth walked closer and looked at Lila with a strange look on her face.

 “Is she okay, she’s my friend.  With the last text of we exchanged I’m so worried about her, it seemed like she was angry when she wrote them, and well with Hawkmoth….” Lila trailed off and noticed a few people looking at her from the mirror behind the counter and barely kept from smirking.

 As the man looked at the Italien, Marina looked at Lila and frowned, she remembered Alya talking about a girl who was a liar and how she messed up, if this was that girl who tricked her daughter then so help her then she would beat the girl herself.  

 “Miss Chloe was alright the last I saw her,” The woman said and Lila grinned, not seeing Penny looking at and frowning.  

 “Oh good, I mean the way the texts I saw, it was all I could do to try and talk to Chloe about it, I was so worried about her,” Lila said sweetly and Penny looked at Lila, she knew the girl looked familiar, but she couldn’t remember where she had seen her.

 “I…..well she did look like she was crying last night,” The woman muttered and Lila grinned, something that she could use against Chloe to string along Hawkmoth was just what she needed.   She might not have turned Marinette into an Akuma yet, but the return of Queen Wasp might win her some points.  As she wondered if Chloe would get expelled before or after Lila got her Akumatized?

 Before Lila could say anything else Penny finally reached the desk and spoke up from behind her.

 “Hey, you got our mail from yesterday right, J’s been chomping at the bits to finalize the paperwork on a few things,” Penny called out and the woman behind the counter nodded and handed over a bundle of mail.  

 “Here you go ma’am. Will you and your friend be leaving us soon?” The woman asked and Penny shrugged.

 Lila looked at Penny, something about the woman was bothering her, she knew she had seen her before but she couldn’t remember where.  She looked at Penny as she shrugged.

 “Maybe not too soon.  There’s this girl who tried to start a rumor that Jagged made up a song about her when she was a pre-teen of all,” Penny said as Lila’s eyes shrank as she realized she was looking at Penny Rolling, the woman in the chief’s outfit gasped and shook her head.

 “That reminds me about this lying girl my daughter told me about, I can’t believe that there are such people out there, liars that just want to make themselves look good!” The chief said and Lila paled a little and took half a step backwards.

 Her lies and tales were all to get a good life for herself, but sometimes people just didn’t understand why she did what she did and those people always made trouble.   She fought back against them and set things up so her revenge would happen after she left, and was it her trouble that people never understood that she and they were legitimately fighting?

 As Lila slipped away as the woman chatted about their own experiences with liars, Penny suddenly went still and then turned and saw Lila’s back as she left the hotel, finally realizing exactly who that had been and cursing the lost chance to give that young lady a piece of her mind.

 “Is everything okay ma’am?” The woman behind the counter asked and Penny shook her head.

 “Yes, everything is fine for now, I just need to give someone a talking to,” Penny said darkly as she took the mail.

[flclarchives]

Amusing Himself to Death, an Akadot.com interview with Kazuya Tsurumaki (director of FLCL and assistant director of Evangelion) from around December 2001. In the article, Tsurumaki explains a few things about Evangelion, his mentality behind FLCL as a whole, and the meaning of the name ‘FLCL’.

Full article text is under the cut, or read the article in its original form [here].

Kazuya Tsurumaki was a relatively little-known animator when Hideki Anno selected him to work as the assistant director on Neon Genesis Evangelion. For the TV series, which became a smash hit in Japan and one of the touchstones of the current surge of interest in anime in the US, Tsuramaki served as the main storyboard artist as well as assistant director, and when Studio Gainax began production on a trio of Evangelion films Tsurumaki got his first directorial assignment.

As he tells the story, Anno came to him after Eva and announced that he was out of ideas and that it was up to Tsurumaki to dream up the next project because, "you are next." Tsurumaki let his imagination run wild, but by the time he had written a script, Anno - despite his declaration that he had no stories left to tell - was already several steps ahead of Tsurumaki and in pre-production for his next series, Kareshi Kanojo no Jijo, leaving Tsurumaki a chance to have complete and unsupervised creative control of his own series FLCL.

FLCL, referred to as "Fooly Cooly" (or "Furikuri" by its American fans), is unlike any anime series to come before it. Wild, maniacally fast-paced physical comedy; exaggerated, exuberant animation alternately pushing towards surrealist- as when mecha exuviate from a bump on young Naota's head - and deconstructionist - as when the animation literally stops and the story is told by a camera bouncing across a page of black and white manga art panels; and obsessively, often irrelevantly, referential to obscure Tokyo-pop bands and anime insider trivia; FLCL was hyperkinetic and disorienting, yet mesmerizing, almost transgressive, and undeniably original. It inspired enthusiastic admiration for Tsurumaki as a creator, even amongst the perhaps 90% of the series' fans who were absolutely baffled by much of it. One is tempted to refer to it as announcing the arrival of full blown post-modernism in animation, or perhaps as the Exploding Plastic Inevitable of the anime industry.

When Tsurumaki visited Baltimore to speak to American fans at the recent Otokon Convention, predictably, many of the questions were along the lines of, "Hi, I really loved FLCL [or Evangelion], but could you please explain this part of it to me?"

Tsurumaki answered all questions genially with a self-deprecating and often mischievous sense of humor. For example:

Why does Haruko hit Naota over the head with her guitar?

Kazuya Tsurumaki: Naota is trying to be a normal adult and she belts him to make him rethink his decision.

Why does Evangelion end violently, and somewhat unhappily?

KT: People are accustomed to sweet, contrived, happy endings. We wanted to broaden the genre, and show people an ugly, unhappy ending.

Why is the character of Shinji portrayed as he is?

KT: Shinji was modeled on director Hideki Anno. Shinji was summoned by his father to ride a robot, Anno was summoned by Gainax to direct an animation. Working on Nadia [Nadia: Secret of the Blue Water, one of Anno and Tsurumaki's earlier projects] he wondered if he still wanted to work like this. He thought that working on Eva could help him to change.

Is there any particular reason why so many Gainax series feature very anxious, unhappy young male protagonists with no parents?

KT: Yes, the directors at Gainax are all basically weak, insecure, bitter, young men. So are many anime fans. Many Japanese families, including my own, have workaholic fathers whose kids never get to see them. That may influence the shows I create.

Could you explain the mecha bursting from Naota's head in FLCL?

KT: I use a giant robot being created from the brain to represent FLCL coming from my brain. The robot ravages the town around him, and the more intensely I worked on FLCL the more I destroyed the peaceful atmosphere of Gainax.

Why doesn't FLCL follow one story?

KT: In the third episode Ninamori was almost a main character, a kid who, like Naota, has to act like an adult.  After episode three her problem was solved so we wrote her out.  She has many fans in Japan and we got plenty of letters about that decision.  For FLCL I wanted to portray the entire history of Gainax, and each episode has symbols of what happened behind the scenes on each of Gainax's shows.   Episode one has many elements of Karekano; episode two, a lot of Evangelion references, etc.

Where does the title FLCL come from?

KT: I got the idea from a CD in a music magazine with the title Fooly-Cooly.  I like the idea of titles that are shortened long English words. Pokémon for "Pocket-Monsters" for instance, and an old J-pop band called Brilliant Green that was known as "Brilly-Grilly."

Is there any reason why the extra scenes added to Eva for the video release were cut in the first place?  Did you think the story would mean something different with them intact?

KT: The scenes that were added to Eva for its video release aren't that important.  We added them as an apology for taking so long to get the video out.  Maybe they'll help people understand things, because the episodes were done under tough deadlines the first time around.

Can you explain the symbolism of the cross in Evangelion?

KT: There are a lot of giant robot shows in Japan, and we did want our story to have a religious theme to help distinguish us.   Because Christianity is an uncommon religion in Japan we thought it would be mysterious.  None of the staff who worked on Eva are Christians.  There is no actual Christian meaning to the show, we just thought the visual symbols of Christianity look cool.  If we had known the show would get distributed in the US and Europe we might have rethought that choice.

After the panel, Mr. Tsurumaki sat down to speak with Akadot.

Do you enjoy confusing people?

KT: I have a twisted sense of humor.  I'm an Omanu Jacku, a contrarian.  [Writer's note- Omanu Jacku is a folk character a bit like Puck, a mischief maker]

What do you see differently now that you're working as a director rather than only as a visual artist?

KT: As an animator I have only the art; as a director story is really big.  I still feel as an animator and I often have trouble putting the needs of the story first.

Did you intend from the start for FLCL to be as bizarre as it wound up?

KT: From the very start I wanted a different flavor.  To achieve this I had to re-train the animators to be as stylized as I wanted them to be because I wasn't drawing it.  I knew that not everyone would get it.  I deliberately selected very obscure J-pop culture and anime sub-culture jokes and references.  Because Eva was so somber I always intended to make FLCL outrageous and wacky.

Why the choice to break out of conventional animation and use manga pages? Was it at all a response to how many anime are using computers to achieve smoother and more realistic visuals?  Were you trying to go the opposite direction?

KT: I like manga, not only to read, but the visuals.  The pen drawings, the frame breakdowns and layouts . . . This is the first time I have used digital animation, and those bouncing manga shots wouldn't have been possible with cel animation.   Personally I'm not interested at all in using computers for realistic animation.  I'm impressed by it sometimes, but I'm interested in using computers to do what was once impossible, not to do smoother versions of what has already been done.  I want to be less realistic.

Has using digital animation techniques changed the way you work, or the way you feel about your work when you see it?  Does it still feel like it's yours if a computer did much of it?

KT: Before I got into digital animation I saw other shows that were using it and I felt that there was no feeling, it was empty.   As an animator, there's a sense of release when you draw a cel.  There's something there.  Working on FLCL, though, I learned that computers can do more, and, most of all, that they allow room for trial and error and revising, more freedom to experiment.  That is why I now feel that cel art cannot win against computers.  For actual animation everything is still drawn on paper.  That work hasn't changed.  It's the other stuff, the touchups, and coloring.  If we didn't use paper, maybe the feeling would change.

Earlier today you said that you were trying to broaden the genre by giving Eva a sad ending.  Does the sameness of much of today's anime bore you?

KT: First of all we didn't use a sad ending to annoy fans.  When they're upset, that really bothers us.  Personally, I think a happy ending is fine, but not if it is achieved too easily.  That's no good.

For all the fans that are confused at all, if you had to define in one sentence what FLCL is about, what would you say?

KT: FLCL is the story of boy meets girl.  For me it is also about how it's ok to feel stupid.  With Evangelion there was this feeling that you had better be smart to understand it, or even just to work on it. With FLCL I want to say that it's okay to feel stupid.

Even though it may be strange to us, do you have in your head a logic behind it?  Are you trying to portray a story that follows the logic of dreams, or is it supposed to make sense symbolically?

KT: I'd like you to think of FLCL as imagination being made physical and tangible, just as it is for me when I take whatever is in my head and draw it.

So what are you working on next?

KT: Right now Gainax has told me that they'll support anything I choose to create, but I'm having trouble coming up with any ideas.

Why is that?

KT: Releasing titles for market, I know I have to make something to please fans, but I'm not a mature enough person to accept that fact.  If I'm not amusing myself I can't do it.  I feel bad that fans have to put up with such behavior from me.  I apologize. 

[a-solitary-marshmallow]

Do No Harm Take No Shit Chapter 3 - A Class-y Return

Luckily there were no akumas that weekend, so Marinette was free to relax and heal and enjoy hospital ice cream. Though, she was ever determined to go to school on Monday.

“I can’t let this keep me down, Adrien, I’ll be fine.”

Adrien at least managed to get her to agree to a ride. No way was she walking to school with a cast and a bruised rib!

Marinette was discharged on Sunday and Adrien, Nino and Alya were there to help her parents carry her stuff – not that there was a huge amount to carry. In all honesty they were mostly there for support. Left with nothing to hold, Nino resorted to carrying the weight of his defeat. Marinette was beautifully flustered as she insisted she could take her bag, until Adrien scooped her up in his arms.

“You looked dizzy.” He explained innocently to Marinette and their staring friends. “I just wanted to make sure you didn’t fall over.”

Marinette paused before mumbling, “I am a bit dizzy,” and snuggling into his chest. Adrien counted that as another win. He grinned as he proudly carried his Lady to the car.

That was Sunday. Bright and early on Monday morning Adrien knocked on Marinette’s door and her father answered with a cheery smile. “Good morning, Adrien. Marinette’s just coming. Thanks for taking her into school today – I would, but the bakery-”

“I understand.” Adrien nodded. “Besides, it’s – really nice to spend time with your daughter. It’s my pleasure.”

Tom beamed. “She is a delight, isn’t she?”

Hurried footsteps sounded behind him. Tom looked around, then stepped aside to let Marinette through. She darted past with a wave.

“Adrien, hi! By Papa, see you tonight.”

“Goodbye sweetheart. Have a good day at school.”

“See you later, Mr. Dupain-Cheng.” Adrien said politely, only to be quieted by Tom’s head shake.

“You can call me Tom, you know. By the way, if you come by the bakery this afternoon after school there’s a complimentary pastry for you as thanks for all your help. Do you like croissants? Or I was thinking about making some macaroons if you prefer…”

Somehow Marinette got them away from her father’s endless attempts to feed Adrien – which he was both pleased and disappointed him – and they piled into Adrien’s car. The Gorilla grunted a gruff hello and started up the engine.

Marinette shot Adrien a nervous smile. “So.”

“So.” He echoed. Marinette bit her lip and looked away. Well that wasn’t going to slide. Adrien racked his brains for something to cheer her up. “Your dad really wants to fatten me up, huh? I guess I’d breader get used to it.”

Marinette snorted, and Adrien grinned. Gotcha.

“I’ll just have to bake the most of it. At yeast I have you by my side.”

“Ugh.” She complained, trying to hide her smile and failing. That only spurred Adrien on.

“I’m sure I can rise to the occasions. I crust stay strong.”

“Where do you store these?”

“Ah, as you know, puns are stored in what’s usually known as the good-decision-making centre of the brain. I cake the most of what I have.”

Marinette cackled into her hands. Adrien grinned at her triumphantly and she shook her head, still snickering. “Those are so bad.”

“I know! That’s why you’re laughing.”

“Do you just spend all night coming up with these?”

Adrien winked. “Well, I guess the cat’s out of the bag.”

“Ah, cat puns!” Marinette poked her tongue out. “My one weakness. Leave meowt of it.”

Adrien stared at her. Ladybug just made a cat pun. And she was laughing. This was a dream come true.

“What a purrfect moment. And here I thought my puns bugged you!”

“Adrien.” She snickered.

“Ah, you know I’m just kitten you.”

“Adrien.”

“Alright, alright, I concede. I can spot the time to stop.”

“Adrien!”

  He thought he’d prepared for this moment. But he could barely stop from hissing when he slipped out of the car and caught a glimpse of her. Standing on the front steps, talking with a group of students, probably spilling more lies… It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

Marinette took his hand. Adrien hadn’t realized he’d been shaking. He carefully unclenched his fists and squeezed her hand, and they walked up the front steps together.

After teary greetings, the class settled back into its usual weekly pattern. Classes came and went. Projects were (sometimes) done. As long as they stayed away from Lila – a duty Adrien took as his own and diligently made sure that they didn’t cross paths with the liar for the whole week – things were okay. Adrien did his modeling and fencing and, when his bodyguard permitted, walked with Marinette to her house after school.

“You don’t have to do this you know.” Marinette muttered as they walked through the busy Parisian streets, having bid farewell to Alya and Nino at the school.

“But I definitely want to.” Adrien turned his face away to hide the embarrassment on his face. “You know I love spending time with you, Milady.”

Marinette stopped – they’d reached the bakery already. She hesitated for a moment before blurting out, “Do you want to come inside for a while? I – I have cookies and Mecha Strike 2.”

Adrien groaned. “Oh I wish. I have a photo shoot today and father wants me to arrive early. I’m lucky I got this time at all.”

“Oh.” Marinette looked crestfallen. He hastened to continue.

“But I’m free tomorrow, is that okay? I can bring ice cream to sweeten the deal. Though it can’t be much sweeter than you.” He added, delighting in Marinette’s blush. She snorted.

“Puns again? Really?”

Adrien gave a mock gasp. “What, do you not like my puns?”

“Of course I do.” Marinette’s smile was wide and genuine. Beautiful. “See you tomorrow, chaton.”

‘Now’s your chance, Agreste. Ask her out. Properly. You’ve done this before, remember? And this time she might actually say yes.’

Adrien opened his mouth.

Marinette darted forward to kiss his cheek, leaving Adrien paralyzed as she hurried inside and closed the door behind her.

Marinette… kissed his cheek. He brought a hand to his face as if to confirm it was real. Marinette kissed his cheek because she wanted to, not because there was an akuma or he was brainwashed or anything.

Plagg snickered at him from inside his pocket. Adrien shook his head quickly and turned to wait for the Gorilla’s arrival, unable to keep a big, goofy grin off his face

Marinette kissed me.

[soundwavereporting]

fic for @doorwingdings for the @transform-or-treat Halloween fic exchange! She requested Jazz/Prowl ala Pet Semetary. Hope I did the concept justice. This is vaguely IDW-flavored. cw for grief/mourning, alongside vague references to pretty much anything you’d expect from Pet Semetary.

“Y’know, I’d always thought of myself as level headed. Reasonable. Willin’ to do what needed to be done, say the right words to the right people, set your processor to it, and it’ll get done. I swore I’d never be one of those mechs who loses it after their sparkmate passes. That wasn’t me.

Taking him to the Acid Wastes was a mistake.”

It was not a legend, or even a myth. Jazz would have had to struggle to call it a rumor outside of the place it originated: a small town on the outskirts of Carpressa, straddling the border between a true city and the desolation of the Acid Wastes. The way the story went, the smelting pit was a relic from the Golden Age, built over a tunnel leading to the Afterspark itself. This tunnel, lined with veins of Primus’s own innermost energon, was the conduit to guide a mech to his final resting place.

Or to bring him back to the living world.

Its original name had been lost to time: there was no way the Primes and Senators would ever have deigned to have their bodies lain to rest in a ‘smelting pit’. But it was a smelting pit, cold and lifeless as the gunmetal gray forms that had been buried there.

Through the haze of rage and grief, Jazz had reasoned that even if this didn’t work, if the smelting pit was just a figment of a mech’s overactive imagination, it wouldn’t do any harm. Prowl had held little sentiment or attachment to his frame: he, Jazz thought, would have done the same thing were he in Jazz’s place.

If there was a chance: even the slightest chance, that leaving a mech’s dead frame in the cold smelting pit would bring him back? Would bring Prowl back?

Jazz would take it.

“Here’s the secret: this whole thing, start to finish? A mistake. We never shoulda pressed our luck.

“I think Sentinel knows. He signed off on ‘Prowl’s’ request for an extended leave of absence way too fast.”

Jazz had also reasoned that if it didn’t work (which it would, it had to), this would simply be an unspoken incident he would shove into long-term storage immediately. He would take Prowl’s frame back to Iacon, let Sentinel or the stylus-pushers handle the details of the funeral. Jazz would fight for Prowl to be smelted in Iacon, not Petrex. And that would be that. He would wallow in his grief for a half-million years and come out of it smiling. And if the smile was a little tinged with insincerity, or his gaze seemed distant, well.

The last thing Jazz had reasoned was that it just wasn’t fair. If Prowl had to go out before his time, it should have been helping someone. The mech had a habit of sticking his nose into places it didn’t belong, and Jazz loved him for it. He had been investigating a mech named Render for selling contaminated energon cubes. If Render or one of his mechs had shot Prowl? Jazz would’ve been competing with Sentinel and a good chunk of his Security Services to get first shot at the mech’s spark chamber.

But an accident left no one to blame.

Not entirely true: Jazz could blame the mech operating the transport. He was a minibot named Greenspark, overworked and undertrained, barely tall enough to see the controls on the vehicle he was required to operate, nonstop, five cycles at a time. He could blame the company that had ‘employed’ Greenspark, who had recruited him from an employment agency that was shadier than a clearance sale in Kaon.

Shaking his fist at the world wouldn’t do anything.

So Jazz took Prowl’s lifeless frame to the cold smelter.

He bribed a mech with six hundred shanix to take him—them—there.

In hindsight, Jazz was certain he could have found it himself: it looked nothing like the nondescript smelters scattered around Kaon or Iacon. This place was massive, a testament to the opulence of the Primes and the mecha they favored. More crypt than smelter, Jazz privately thought, and had things been different, he and Prowl would have enjoyed spending a few days exploring the place.

It was a shared hobby of theirs, one they never had as much time to indulge in as either would have liked. Both enjoyed architecture and history, things that Cybertron had in excess. It was not an unpopular pastime among Cybertronians but prior to his grief-fueled research, Jazz had never even heard a whisper of this place.

As he lay Prowl’s cold, gray form on the ornately engraved platform, he wondered if Prowl had known. Had Prowl known, and kept it a secret? Had Prowl known what Jazz might do of the situation came to it?

No. Prowl wouldn’t do anything like that. Prowl—his Prowl, vibrant and alive, with shining blue optics that caught Jazz’s attention the minute he walked in the door of Kaon Security Services—would trust Jazz’s intuition. Because that had always been them, hadn’t it? Prowl’s logic, Jazz’s intuition. Two sides of a chic-chip, blurring into sameness when Prowl’s leaps of logic came out looking like a hunch or Jazz’s explanations same out looking like a intellectual-class mech’s thesis on statistics and probabilities.

Before meeting Prowl, Jazz had been certain he was complete. He still was his own mech—Prowl hadn’t changed that. But Prowl had come into his life and added something to it: a dash of comforting stability amidst the chaos of a mech trying to maintain a semblance of normalcy in post-Functionist Cybertron.

Now, Jazz was adrift, unmoored. Anchored only by the thin ray of hope that this cold smelter in the Acid Wastes might bring Prowl back.

His quick examination of the place had revealed no trace of corpses, which left two options: mechs came and took the gray frames away after it didn’t work. Or…

Jazz couldn’t bring himself to remain inside. He camped outside the cold smelting pit, optical visor trained on the entrance as he scanned for life signs.

As these things happened, he slipped into recharge.

Jazz awoke to see a mech standing in the grand entrance to the cold smelting pit. His optics registered it as Prowl: his Prowl, standing tall and proud. His frame still bore the damage of the injury; the plating on his torso was warped and dented, but he could see the hint of a spark shining in the early morning light.

“Jazz.”

Prowl’s voice was as flat as ever. Upon closer examination, Prowl’s armor was still desaturated; the brilliant red of his chevron was a muddy shade of rust.

He hadn’t realized he had leapt to his feet, closing the distance between them.

Prowl’s frame was cold to the touch.

Jazz didn’t care.

On the sixth cycle, he commed Sky-Byte.

They met in a Stanzian café. It wasn’t often Jazz visited; he preferred the real thing on his rare trips back to his home city, but today he needed a taste of normalcy.

He tried not to think of the way Render’s innermost energon had tasted on his lips.

“It’s about Prowl,” Sky-Byte said, without preamble.

Before Jazz could reply, Sky-Byte spoke:

“Grief-stricken ending before lonely spark flies beyond the carbon”

“Hell’s that supposed to mean?” Jazz asked, immediately grateful for the distraction.

Sky-Byte’s optics narrowed.

“It means you are in mourning.”

An hour later, Jazz returned home from the café with more questions than answers, accompanied by a slowly-growing sense of dread he couldn’t put a finger on. Prowl was still in the habsuite, secured behind the best locks shanix could buy. Jazz couldn’t find it in himself to muster up the energy to even pretend to be happy to see the thing that was inhabiting his conjunx’s frame.

Jazz headed into the spare room that had quickly been converted into a second bedroom. After a moment’s consideration, he locked the door behind him. He had spent half a day attempting to soundproof the rest of the habsuite to muffle the sound of the shuffling footsteps as he incessantly paced the rooms, before realizing the absence of sound was worse than the sound itself.

“I don’t need to go over all of it again. You know what happened. How I fed him.

“They were—are—bad mechs. Ones who others whisper about when they think no one’s listening. This latest one, Render? Made his fortune selling empty cubes wholesale to th’ Dead End’s energon distribution center, a hundred cubes a shanix. No need to waste money on mechs who can’t be bothered to take care of themselves. What he didn’t tell the center is the cube quality isn’t fit for a turbolouse, much less a mech.

“Or maybe he did, and they didn’t care.

“The number of bad mechs on this planet ain’t infinite.

“If you’re seeing this, ‘Byte—one of two things happened. No matter what, I need you to call Sentinel and get a security team up to my habsuite. The number and my auth codes are at the end of this message.

“I’m not tryin’ to get myself killed. I’ll take him down and be out of the habsuite before security shows up, or I won’t.

“Either way, I won’t be around. I’ll head to Staniz. Maybe Kalis. Anywhere but here.

“Take care, Sky-Byte.”

[queen-of-my-goofball-army]

Most Educational Anime

I know what you might be thinking, how can an anime be educational, funny and have amazingly lovable characters? I’ll tell you simply. I have been trying to watch new anime that I have never seen before I start this new quarter of community college. The first one that I watched was Plunderer which was a fun smack em down shonen anime but wasn’t really very profound or saying something that hadn’t been said before. It wasn’t until I got to my second anime that I watched Dr. Stone that something sparked inside of me. 

Dr Stone became one of the most popular anime of the last year. It’s a science related comedy about the stone age. 3,700 years before the start of this show humanity froze to stone. It's up to a high schooler with genius intellect, Senkuu Ishigami, to get humanity back to the days that it was before. After a mistake was made on the part of him and his best friend Taju they are forced to separate and Senkuu founds his own Kingdom Of Science to defeat the Tsukasa Empire. Overtime more people join his motley crew including one of my favorite characters in the entire show Gen Asigri, a “mentalist” magician who has the tendency to speak pig Latin. 

I have never in my years of watching different anime, come across a show quite like Dr. Stone. I have never learned anything substantial from an anime that wasn’t about friendship or something of the like. However this is not the case with Dr. Stone. There are so many moments that Senkuu teaches the audience about how modern science works. From making penicillin to building the Stone Age’s first cell phone and record player every big obstacle that he overtakes  teaches something to the audience about how it’s done. One of my favorites was when he made their world’s equivalent of cola for Gen using caramelized honey, carbonated water, cilantro and lime. Mecha-Senkuu taught the audience about the basics of science and it was one of my favorite running gags of the show. 

If I were to have the opportunity to join any sort of group in any anime this would probably be my answer. As much as I would have loved to be gifted with magic like in Fairy Tail, or a superpower like in My Hero Academia something called to me with the main group in the Kingdom Of Science with Senkuu, Chrome, Gen, Kohaku, Sukia, old man Kaseki  and the grunt workers brothers Kinro and Ginro. I love this group of characters because of how different they all are yet when they come together for a common goal nothing can stop them. They are also one of the most heartfelt groups surprisingly, like making Senkuu a telescope for his birthday. I rarely get into shipping two characters together if it isn’t iconic like Kyoru or Tamaharu. But I was pulled into the dynamic between our two favorite conniving bastards Senkuu and Gen. I love these two and their interactions so much when Gen says what Senkuu is thinking even if it’s obvious to everybody else it’s actually really adorable!! 

Can we also just talk about this dub for a hot minute? Because this couldn’t have been easy for anybody involved. Watching the show and noticing how fast Senkuu in the sub had to blather about science or make equations aloud was hard enough. But finding out that in the sub that Gen has the tendency to slip into pig Latin or saying words in a miscellaneous order made it seem improbable. But hearing Aaron Dismuke voice Senkuu was actually one of the most incredible things that I had ever heard in voice acting. I love him but I’m super happy that he seems to be getting more roles!! Ever since I saw him voice Alphonse Elric in the original dub of FullMetal Alchemist when he was a kid he was one of my favorites. Hearing him play Tamaki Amajiki again quickly moved up the ranks as one of my favorite English voice actors. Talking about Gen he’s voiced by the same voice actor who played Sir Nighteye in this season of My Hero Academia. He is the fiancè of probably my biggest hero for anime voice acting J Michael Tatum, Brandon Mcinnis. He has quickly moved up the ranks after watching this show!! He was so good for Gen slipping into the antics of everyone’s favorite magician\mentalist goofball was probably one of my favorite things about the show. 

Dr Stone has quickly became my third favorite anime of all time. It has even taken My Hero’s spot on my favorite’s list knocking it down to number four and my favorite characters were a toss up between Senkuu, Gen and Suika. Watching this show is something that I recommend to most everybody to at least give it a shot.  

[yunaffie]

Second Life

Exchange fic for @trucywright as part of @fyeahghosttrick‘s Ghost Swap fanworks exchange.

Prompt: “free spot for any and all Alma content”

Happy Ghost Swap, dear recipient! Hope it’s to your liking!

Crossposted to AO3 here.

A shrill ring cuts through the cacophony of a babbling toddler and the thumps of her plastic bowl. Snapping her book shut, Alma follows the sound, anticipating her husband on the other end of the phone. A fierce growl emanates from her stomach, spurred on by the aroma of curry. 

"Hey, baby, it's me."

"Cabanela? Let me guess, Jowd's going to be late, right?"

"Well, that's not quite it. You see, things got pretty crazy today and now I'm callin' from the hospital-"

The word 'hospital' rings in Alma's ears, provoking a sharp intake of breath. Curling her fingers around the receiver, she utters a single whisper. "No."

"Whoah, it's okay, baby, it's nothin' serious. Just a leg wound, that's all. I think you should come down here though, not sure he's in any condition to drive."

Alma feels the thrums of her heart beneath her palm. "You had me scared for a moment. I'll be right over." Bundling Kamila onto the car, she takes off, keeping the speed limit in mind as she weaves through traffic. Jowd is putting his life on the line every day as an officer of the law but even knowing that, a little thing like him getting hurt is enough to steal away her breath. Swallowing, she blinks away the sudden onset of tears and focuses solely on reaching her destination. 

"Hey." Cabanela is right there. Alma seeks comfort in his warm chest, holding Kamila to one side. "Gods, what a day this has been." When he steps back, she notices how his usual vibrant energy has faded, leaving him with slumped shoulders and a haggard expression. "And it was all because of me. I'm sorry, baby. I screwed up, and Jowd got hurt."

"Don't be ridiculous." Alma's tone is stern. "Was he shot? Even if he was, that was in no way your fault. He knew what he was getting into when he joined the force."

Cabanela's head sways from side to side. "I'll explain it to you on the way."

Alma absorbs every detail with keen interest: an interrogation gone wrong, the suspect fleeing with gun in hand, Jowd in pursuit, a hostage situation, the meteorite impact out of the blue.

"A meteorite fragment? Are you serious?"

"Sure am. Jowd got to see a meteorite fallin' close up. Must have been an amazin' view. Sure wish I could have seen it."

"So he wasn't shot then."

"Oh, no. Thank the gods for that. I don't think I could live with myself if it was my own gun that hurt him."

"And what of the little girl? What happened to the man?"

"The little girl's fine. Jowd says the criminal peeled himself off a lamppost and threw the girl to safety while his own legs turned to jelly under a fallin' rock. Look, I don't understand it anymore than you do, baby."

"Wow." Alma bounces Kamila around in her arms. "You weren't kidding about things getting crazy."

"Nooope, I sure wasn't." Cabanela opens the door and gestures for her to enter.

Jowd is sitting on the bed, his leg swathed in bandages, with his folded coat beside him. Alma lets out a quiet gasp and Jowd's eyes meet hers. For a long second, husband and wife are caught in each other's stares, neither uttering a word. Alma breaks the spell, his name slipping from her lips as she thrusts Kamila into Cabanela's arms. Flying to Jowd's chest, she sinks into his comforting embrace.

"Alma... oh, gods... you're alive. You're okay."

Alma pulls back with a quizzical frown, finding herself the subject of an intense stare. His eyes are coated with a glistening sheen. "Jowd, are you alright?"

Fluttering his eyelids, Jowd takes in a breath and releases it. "I'm just so happy to see you, that's all."

Doubt radiates from her eyes. Those words had been heavy and loaded with meaning, spoken by a man deep in the throes of his emotions. "I can't believe you got hit by a meteorite." His facial hair is rough and tickly against her palm. "Just what are the chances of that?"

"I wonder. Probably less than being hit by lightning. Not that I ever got the chance to discover what that feels like." Jowd's chuckle rings hollow in her ears. The flash of mirth in his expression goes out like a light. His next words are directed at Cabanela. "Hand me my daughter, would you?"

"Heeere you go, baby."

"Daddy," Kamila burbles, stretching her tiny arms. Jowd holds her aloft under intense scrutiny before taking her into his embrace, bringing his lips to her head.

"Kamila. You're going to be alright now. I won't leave you ever again." 

His words are like a faint breeze flowing past Alma's ears. It might be she wasn't meant to catch them at all. 

Once he's in the foyer of his home, Jowd transforms into a statue, resting on his crutches. Alma peers at his face, mystified by the dazed look in his eyes.

"So I'll just hang this up, shall I?" Cabanela is already placing Jowd's coat on a hook.

"Hm?" Jowd's head twists toward his voice. "Oh. Yes, that's right. Cabanela, check my coat pockets, would you?"

"Sure. Huh?" Cabanela holds aloft a bundle of black fur. "What's thiiis?"

"Meet the newest member of our family. His name is Sissel."

A rush of protests flow forth from Alma's lips at the unexpected news. How could Jowd not tell them to buy the necessities for a cat on the way home, she asks. Jowd's response is not to worry about it but Alma isn't convinced. At the very least, she has to put out a bowl of water and a plate of leftover chicken, as well as some newspaper in a cardboard box. How can Jowd expect a kitten to go without food, water, or somewhere to do his business for an entire night?

They sit down to dinner, hearing Kamila's excited cries from the next room as she gets to know their newest family member.

Jowd lifts the spoon to his mouth, blowing on the curry before taking his first mouthful. "Ahh. This curry. It's just as I remember."

Eyes meet across the table, flashes of concern striking in midair. It was only a week ago that curry was last eaten in this house. Jowd brings one spoonful after another to his mouth with gusto.

"Calm down." A small laugh bubbles through Alma's lips. "You'll choke if you keep eating that fast."

Jowd takes a sip of water. "It's just so good." Capturing Alma and Cabanela in his intense stare, he continues. "I'm so glad. Being at home with my family, seeing you all happy, it's such a wonderful thing. I'm so thankful to have you all in my life."

"Jowd." Alma's hand covers his.  "Are you okay?"

"I nearly killed a man with my own hands and then got struck by a meteorite. On the plus side, I adopted a kitten so I guess it wasn't that bad a day." Jowd lifts his shoulders, his lips curving in a smile that fails to reach his eyes. "It could have been a lot worse."

Alma draws back her hand, lines furrowing her brow. 

When the time comes for Cabanela to return to his home, Alma follows him outside.

"Somethin' sure is straaange about Jowd, huh?" Cabanela rests a hand on his hip. "I don't know what's going on, but he does seem a bit off."

"I don't understand." Alma pinches her lower lip between her teeth. "That way he looked at me in the hospital and what he said. Did you see how he kind of froze up when we got home? Then the stuff with the curry. I think something happened in that park and it changed him."

"His near death experience might have sooomething to do with it. Whatever it is, I'm sure he'll tell us eventually. If not, we're just gonna have to coax it out of him, baby. No way we'll just let him suffer in silence."

"You're right. We're here for him." Rubbing her arms, Alma adds, "Tonight could have been so different."

"Well, fortunately, it wasn't." Cabanela grips his forehead. "Gods, I still can't believe I messed up like that."

"You made a mistake. It happens." Alma's words are like a gentle tide striving to wash away his guilt. "Don't beat yourself up over it too much, okay? Just learn from your mistakes and move on. That's all you can do."

"Right. I'll do my best to make up for it. Goodnight, Alma." Cabanela plants a kiss on her cheek before whisking away in a flurry of white fabric. 

Retreating inside, Alma discovers Kamila nodding off as she nestles in her father's arms. Sissel perches behind Jowd, looking over his shoulder as if taking an interest in this spectacle himself.

"I'll take her to bed." Alma extracts their sleepy toddler. After sending Kamila into slumber, she comes to Jowd's side. "So. Anything you would like to do tonight?"

Jowd tilts his head while several seconds tick by. "Music. Put on one of your favourite artists."

"Alright, music it is." 

As the music flows, Alma nestles against Jowd's warm bulk. His broad and gentle arm encircles her, filling her with overflowing love and comfort. Closing her eyes, she commits herself to the flowing melody. A splash of moisture against her skin draws her attention to Jowd. Two glistening trails are streaking down his cheeks.

"It's okay, sweetie." Alma presses her hand to his damp skin. Jowd's searching gaze ensnares her, pulling her into its twin wells of sadness. "I'm here, you know."

"You're really here. Alma." Jowd's words land heavily, laden by the weight of his emotions. 

"Mmm." Eyes lingering on her husband's visage, Alma traces the sharp contours of his well defined cheeks with her fingertips. In the corner of her eye, she catches the twitch of a tail and extends her hand. Sissel's dark fur is soft to the touch. Scratching the base of his ears, she offers him an invitation.

With a meow, Sissel stretches his legs, light rippling over his taut form before he hops gracefully into Alma's lap. As she strokes him, the vibration emanating from his body grows even louder.

"What a sweet little kitten. So, what made you decide to name him Sissel?"

"Hm. I suppose it just popped into my head."

"You know Sissel is usually a girl's name, right?"

"I don't think he really cares."

"Fair enough." The kitten has taken to lying across her lap. Alma's stroking continues, a purely mechanical motion kept up even as she drifts into her thoughts. So many things are off. Someday Jowd will surely tell her and she'll wait until then.

Silence falls over them with the music's end, a cue for them to turn in. Before the light goes off, Jowd takes Alma in his arms, "Goodnight, Alma." His warm breath caresses her face as he brushes his lips over hers. "I love you."

"I love you too," Alma says, with another kiss. "Goodnight."

During the days that pass by, Alma watches. She notices all the little things. Stares pinning her a beat too long. Eyes hazing as he drifts away on the tide of thoughts. Recollections beyond his grasp, as though no longer fresh but tainted by time that shouldn't exist. Her name passes his lips more often as do his declarations of love. His slightly cynical side seems to have amplified over time. The retorts he let loose are often darkly humorous in nature. Alma and Cabanela have many tales to share of Jowd's bizarre words and actions. 

Alma is frequently roused from slumber by Jowd's fitful mutters or the bed rocking in tune with his tosses and turns. Her name is spoken many times, infused with pain. She pulls him out of the nightmares and he clutches her like she's his salvation in the midst of a storm, soothed by her reassuring words. 

A painting has taken the place of the antique gun that was on display. Jowd's explanation is short and simple. He fancied a change. Nothing is said about what prompted him to make the change in the first place.

The sight of Kamila dangling Sissel and twirling one day provokes a gasp of horror from Alma, who immediately retrieves the kitten, issuing gentle admonishments. Sissel seems fine in spite of it all, not having made a peep as one would expect of a kitten at the mercy of a small child. It occurs to Alma that he has never scratched anyone. The house remains clear of his fur. His litter box is perpetually clean. Even his food and water bowls are never touched. 

There are times Alma will catch sight of Jowd and Sissel lost in each other's stares. Once, as they remained oblivious to her presence, she saw for herself how her husband's face changed or how Sissel would twitch various body parts. If she didn't know any better, she would swear they were having a conversation.

The mystery only deepens with the awareness that Sissel isn't growing over the months he has been with them. 

A year has elapsed since the park incident. Jowd has a grave look on his face as he announces that he has something important to tell Alma and Cabanela. Once Kamila is asleep, the three gather round the table. Sissel watches from the sill.

"So." Jowd puts his hands together. "Where should I begin?"

"The day in the park, right?" Cabanela's expression is grim. "Ever since that day, sooomething's been off about you, baby. Alma and I have been worried about you all this time."

"I know." Jowd's breath billows forth in a heavy gust. "I never had any intention of hiding this from you forever. Sissel wouldn't have allowed it either."

"Huh?" Alma shoots a glance at the kitten. "Wait, so you really have been talking to the cat?"

"It might be easier if I just get this out of the way first. Sissel, perform a trick, would you?"

Sissel collapses like a puppet with its strings cut. The soft hum of the overhead fan picks up, its guttural whine filling the room as it rotates faster, stirring the air and turning it into a strong breeze that wafts over them, ruffling their hair and clothes. 

"Ye gods."

"H-how..." Alma brings trembling fingers to her mouth. 

"That's Sissel's power. A ghost trick, a power of the dead."

It suddenly makes sense. The random noises heard around the house. Objects moved or transformed without explanation. It was the work of this supposedly dead kitten.

"But, but..." Alma struggles to call the words forth. "When? How did he die?"

"The meteorite. The fragment that pierced my leg is inside Sissel's body."

"But this makes no sense! How can he move around and stuff? Why isn't he, like, rottin'?"

"That's the meteorite's power. His body is immortal. Nothing can damage him. I could put him in the microwave for five minutes and he would come out of it completely fine."

Alma kneads her forehead. In the span of five minutes, she's learned the cat is dead and her husband has joked about microwaving him. She is tempted by the siren call of another glass of wine but quickly dismisses it. This is too important a conversation to be lost to the blurring effects of alcohol on the memory.

"That meteorite grants powers of the dead, even to those who merely die within its radiation. And now that you know all about it, it's time to tell you the story of an alternate version of events that went down in the park."

The man Jowd faced in the park was killed by the meteorite, a fact that drains all the colour from Cabanela's face. Sharp, spiky pain pierces Alma's chest, brought forth by the knowledge that Jowd blamed himself. How must it have felt, being consumed by that guilt?

It gets worse. Four years into the future, on Alma's birthday, Kamila made a surprise contraption and it was instrumental in her mother's death. Or rather, her murder, carried out by that man with the powers of the dead. Jowd is still speaking, his words growing increasingly tinny and distant. Alma cradles her head in her hands, her ears filling with a dull roar.

She was murdered by a man she had never met, his actions spurred by the desire to make Jowd feel pain. Heat and cold twist together in a fierce maelstrom, churning inside of her trembling body.

"Why?" Her voice quivers like a leaf caught in the wind. A veil of moisture sweeps over her eyes, transforming everything into a blur. "Why me? I didn't do anything. Why did I have to die? Jowd didn't mean to... he didn't put that man in the meteorite's path on purpose!"

"How could he?" Cabanela's words lash out, sharp as a whip. The table judders from the impact of his fist. "Taking Alma's life like that, making it look like that poor little girl's fault!"

"Alma, are you alright?" The weight of Jowd's hand settles upon her shoulder. "Should we stop here?"

"No." Alma dashes the back of her hand across her eyes. "Keep going. I'm okay." It's a lie, constructed for the sake of keeping this conversation going. No way will she put this off after waiting so long.

Jowd's next revelation hits like a punch to the gut. Claiming credit for Alma's murder, Jowd turned his back on their daughter, leaving her to someone else's care. By this point, Alma is completely numb. Jowd's agony radiates from every crevice of his face, simmering away in the hollow pools of his eyes. She sees all those moments she found Jowd standing over Kamila's crib in a whole new light.

Five years later, Jowd was to be executed. A saviour came to his cell; a ghost with the man's face in search of his lost memory. Said ghost would go on to become their beloved family pet. Alma watches Cabanela's face change as he hears detail after detail, ending in a look of relief over the revelation he was working to save Jowd all along. 

"But of course I was, baby. I would never, ever doubt you. Still, five years and me not even visitin' you once? What's up with that?"

"I'm so glad. You had people who believed in you, fighting for your sake." Tears spill forth, coursing down Alma's cheeks. "Thank goodness."

"Yes. No matter how much I insisted, they refused to listen, and I'm so very grateful. Thank you, Cabanela."

"No need to thank me, baby. You're one of my best friends in the whooole world and I would never give up on you."

"So, what happened next? What happened to Kamila?"

Jowd launches into the next part of the tale, detailing how his and Lynne's pursuit of the manipulator went horribly wrong. Alma covers her mouth, horror constricting her chest in its tightening band. Kamila sinking into oblivion within the freezing confines of a destroyed submarine. Jowd gunned down, also lost to the depths of the sea. Even with the odds against them all, they found the ray of hope in the darkness and it was down that path of light that they found salvation in the form of a whole new ten years.

"And so, here we are." Jowd's shoulders sag. "Any questions?"

"Gods." Cabanela rubs his forehead. "I don't even know where to begin."

Alma drags her gaze to the clock, observing the time. On cue, her mouth opens in a yawn. Despite the tiredness weighing her down, she doubts she'll sleep tonight. Bringing her eyes back to Jowd, a fresh pang pierces her chest. For a whole year, he held in all this pain, all these secrets. Embracing him from behind, she buries her face in the crook of his neck. "Oh, Jowd."

Cabanela comes to her side, joining her in embracing Jowd. "I'm glaaad you finally told us, baby. You did the right thing." 

Countless minutes tick by while they hold on, lingering in each other's presence. When they break away, Alma turns to the kitten and pulls him to her chest. "Thank you, Sissel. You saved us all. Thank you so much." Her gratitude is acknowledged with a mew.

The lateness of the night draws them all to bed. Jowd and Alma lie beneath the sheets under the cover of darkness, silence hanging over them like a heavy weight.

"You shouldn't have left her."

"I know."

"You should have been there for her. She needed you."

"I'll never abandon her ever again, I promise you."

"I believe you." Alma's chest rises sharply and falls, her breath rushing out in a great sigh. "To think I was just murdered, out of the blue, leaving you two well before my time, it's so awful. How could he do that? I know, you told me everything, and I do feel sorry for him, but I can't just ignore what he did."

"I understand."

"Gods. I wondered what you were hiding for so long, but I never imagined it would be anything like this. I don't know how you managed to keep quiet for a whole year."

"Having a therapy cat helped."

"Right, you had Sissel to talk to." Alma scoots closer, draping her arm over his chest. "Well, now we all know, so that's a load off our minds, isn't it?"

"Yes. It's a relief really, having it all out in the open at last." Jowd kisses the top of Alma's head. "I'm so lucky to have all this back. When you died, I just fell to pieces. I missed you so much. Sometimes I still can't quite believe it. I'll wake up in the morning and see you lying next to me and I just feel so incredibly relieved."

"Oh, Jowd." Alma seeks out his face, stroking her fingers along his stubbled cheek. A deep ache wells in her chest. It's okay, she assures herself, she won't die. Nobody is going to suffer from her loss. Their happy family life will continue beyond four years from now.

Dipping in and out of sleep, Alma emerges from a gruelling nightmare involving her being six feet under. Seeking out the clock display, she learns that it's five in the morning. 

"Forget it." Throwing on a bathrobe, Alma slouches downstairs.

Cabanela sits at the table. Little white wisps rise from the mug in front of him. "Hey, baby. Sleep well?"

"What do you think?" Alma peers at him through lowered lids, speaking in a voice as thick as syrup. 

"Yeah. That's what I thought." Cabanela stretches his arms over his head. "Didn't sleeeep so hot either. I just couldn't stop thinkin' about it. Anyhoot, I just boiled the kettle, so help yourself."

"Thanks." Alma pours herself coffee and joins Cabanela. The warmth of the mug seeps into her hands. Gazing deep into the murky brown depths within, she speaks.  "It's all so crazy, isn't it? To think all this stuff happened in another timeline. A different ten years. And I was dead for five of them."

A breath, heavy as lead, slips past Cabanela's lips, while he shakes his head. "I can't imagine how it must have felt. Your dying and Jowd's imprisonment. You two are the most important people in my life and I can't bear the thought of you both not being there anymore."

Alma takes small sips of the coffee. The searing liquid is as bitter as her thoughts. How could a man murder her on her birthday and leave her child motherless, with a lifetime of guilt in her place? Bile gushes up from her churning stomach, filling her throat. No use dwelling, she tells herself, best to put it out of her mind. "At least I got my life back." Meeting Cabanela's gaze, she offers him a weak smile. "I should be thankful for that. I've got a second chance."

"That's riiight, baby." Cabanela responds with a smile of his own. "So let's stay positive, shall we? Maybe we should think of something nice to do today, take our mind off things. Just get out there and enjoy life."

With another long sip, Alma dwells in silent contemplation. "Yes. I should think of it as an opportunity to do all the things I wanted to do. Better be realistic though, I don't think we could afford a luxury cruise to Hawaii."

"Probably not, but we can find other things to do. Maybe we can teach Jowd to dance."

"I said realistic."

Their exchanged laugh is accompanied by the heavy falls of Jowd's feet. "Hm? Did someone mention my name just now?"

"Hey, baby. So nice of you to join us. Ahh, the early hours of the morning, nooothin' like it."

"Definitely something easier to appreciate once you've had a cup of coffee," Jowd mutters, making his way into the kitchen. Brandishing his own mug, he joins them at the table. "Well, what a night that was, eh?"

"Thank you for finally telling us," says Alma. "We were so worried."

"I know." Jowd's smile does little to banish the sadness hanging over him. "Sorry for troubling you so much. It does feel better to finally have it out in the open."

"From now on, just tell us whatever you're feelin', baby. We're always here for you, you know that."

"Yes. I appreciate you both being so patient and understanding."

"Now, why don't we have a good looong chat about all the things we're going to do with our new lives?"

Their conversation continues through the long hours ahead, interrupted only by trips for more coffee. The presence of a fourth person approaches, signalled by the patter of tiny feet. Kamila rubs her eyes as she stumbles forwards, followed by a little black kitten. 

"Good morning, sweetheart," says Jowd. "How are you this morning?"

"I want juice. And I'm hungry."

Alma's swallows do little to banish the lump filling her throat. Emotion flows over her in a crashing wave, spurring her to lunge for her daughter and clasp that tiny body to her bosom in a fierce yet gentle embrace.

"Kamila. Oh, Kamila!" Alma's weeping voice gushes forth, flowing with relief. "Oh, my sweet little girl."

Kamila's tiny arms loop around Alma's neck. Hearing loud sniffles, her eyes fill with concern. "Are you crying, Mommy?"

"Huh?" Alma brings her fingers to her cheeks, finding drops of moisture clinging to her skin. 

"Why are you crying?"

"I'm just happy to see you." Alma rubs a thumb over one of Kamila's round, soft cheeks. "I love you so very much, Kamila, you know that, don't you?"

"Mmhmm." Kamila's head bobs, a smile spreading over her beaming face. "And I love you too."

Alma wipes her eyes, momentarily lost in the radiance of her daughter's innocent smile. Keeping her voice steady, she poses a question. "Juice and something to eat, then?"

"Yeah." 

"Here, why don't you come and sit in Daddy's lap?" Jowd pats his leg and Kamila scampers over. Alma's gaze lingers over them, renewed emotion blossoming in her chest, while she goes to fulfil Kamila's request. As she gets the juice and food, a  smile comes to her face, conjured by the thought of how they will live as happily as they can in the future granted to them by a miracle. 

Telling the truth has only partially erased Jowd's troubles. At least Alma and Cabanela now share his burden, ready to lend an ear even as they deal with the issues the truth has brought to them.

Two years have gone by since the reveal. Alma stands outside the prison building, trepidation churning within her. Jowd has been here to see that man several times. The two of them share a deep understanding, having been through so much. Alma knows the man isn't bad anymore and she wouldn't dream of judging Jowd for staying in touch

Sometimes she wonders, does she dare see him? Why hesitate, there's nothing to be afraid of, but no, it's too soon, She isn't ready.

A woman flies out of the building with her head bowed. Alma stumbles back, knocked off balance by the resulting collision. The woman's purse falls to the ground, scattering its contents over the sidewalk. 

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry." Alma kneels, assisting the woman in gathering everything up. "I didn't see you."

"No, it's alright, I'm the one who should be sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going." The woman punctuates her sentence with an awkward laugh.

Alma's gaze is drawn to a bundle of scattered cards as she collects them into a neat pile. "Sissel?"

"Hm? Oh, my business cards." The woman takes them from Alma's outstretched hand.

It's no coincidence. This is her, the love of that man's life, the catalyst who drove him to cause Jowd the same pain.

"Thank you." During Alma's momentary daze, Sissel has got everything together and now she stands. "I really am so sorry about that. What a klutz I am."

"Please don't worry about it." Alma rises. "So, er, what is it you do?"

"I play the piano and sometimes I even sing. I get gigs here and there. Haven't managed to make it big just yet, but who knows, maybe one day."

"Well, good luck with that."

"Thanks." Sissel's gaze lingers on her briefly, diverted by a twist of her head toward the prison. "Are you visiting someone?"

"Oh. Oh no, I was just... er... I suppose I was just standing here lost in my thoughts."

"Oh?" Sissel tilts her head, a corner of her lip curving upward. "I see. So, was there something interesting about my name? You sounded pretty surprised."

"I've..." Alma pauses. "I've heard the name before." Meeting this woman came like a bolt out of the blue and now she has no idea what to do next. Go on her merry way or satisfy her curiosity? Settling on the latter, she speaks again. "Um, I hope you don't think this is a strange request, but would you like to talk some more? There's a cafe just down the street we could go to."

"I suppose it's better than standing around in the street waiting for more people to come bumping into us." Sissel laughs. "Sure, why not, it's not like I have anything else to do right now."

Finding an empty table at the café, they promptly order two cups of coffee. Sissel rests her chin in one hand. "Right, you know my name and job, so I suppose it's time I learned yours."

"I'm Alma. It's nice to meet you."

Sissel shakes the offered hand. "Nice to meet you too."

"As for what I do, I work in a library. The one at the courthouse."

"Ooh, I see. A courthouse, then? Are you interested in law?"

"I've read quite a few books and studied it a bit. Law, criminal psychology, that sort of thing. Actually, my husband is a detective"

"Huh." Sissel lowers her gaze.

"Is something the matter?"

"Oh, no, it's just..." Sitting back, Sissel folds her arms. "I'm sure you must be wondering who I was visiting and why they were in prison."

Alma keeps her expression neutral. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, it's alright." Sissel's eyes wander over the centre of the table where a meny sits. When they snap back to focus on Alma's, a sudden intensity burns within. "He's not a bad man."

Not now, no. Alma finds herself mentally replaying the excruciating details gleaned from Jowd as she has done so many times before. 

"He's really good at computers. They had him on a huge project, but then the police thought he might be a spy. He was brought in for interrogation. Then this fool detective-" Sissel's words are broken off by the arrival of their coffee. She takes a sip before continuing. "He pushed him so hard, even though he was innocent, made him lose hope, and then even worse, that fool left his gun in the room. Can you believe it?"

"It was careless." Alma rests the rim of her mug against her lips, inhaling the aroma before taking a sip. "And then your loved one escaped. Another detective chased him down to a park where he took a child hostage."

"Oh, you've read about the case."

"Not quite." Alma's mouth twists. "That man who left his gun? My friend. The second man? My husband." Pinned to the spot by Sissel's stare, she tunes in to the hustle and bustle surrounding them. After a minute or so, the awkward feeling prompts her to speak again. "If you want to tell me exactly what you think of them or me and leave, I understand."

"Huh. What a coincidence."

Not quite, but 'I'm considering meeting your fiancé, who murdered me in another timeline' isn't going to go down terribly well, so Alma keeps her mouth shut on that particular subject. "They both went too far, and they really do feel a lot of remorse."

"I know, they were only doing their jobs. Yomiel's not holding it against them. Anyway, they spoke in his favour during the trial and I think that got him a lesser sentence, so I should be grateful, really." Her eyes flare with a deep sadness as she smiles. "Just a shame things turned out the way they did."

Alma's throat bobs.

Sissel brings the mug to her lips, taking another sip before setting it down with a dull thud. "All I can do is accept it. Yomiel wouldn't want me to be blaming anyone. At least he's alive, and he'll be out eventually."

"You must love him very much."

"Oh, yes, I do." Sissel's face transforms, lighting up with a radiant glow. "Yomiel is everything to me. He's so sweet, so thoughtful and caring. That day, he was so out of it, desperate, panicking. They made him think his life was over."

"I know."

"I just don't want anyone having the wrong idea about him. I visit him every day. It's hard, but I'm doing my best. Things could have turned out so much worse."

"I'm really sorry."

"It's not your fault." Leaning forward, Sissel rests her chin in her hands. "So, anything to tell me about yourself? I know you're married to a detective. Anything else?"

"Hm, well, we have a young daughter, and a cat." Realizing her error too late, Alma sends a prayer to the heavens, pleading for Sissel to not inquire about the cat's name. 

"Oh, you have a little girl? How lovely. What's she like?"

Alma stops herself from expressing her relief just in time. "Kamila is so precious. She's quiet as a mouse and she just loves making things, all these toys and contraptions. I never know what she's going to make next."

"She really sounds like a delight. How about your husband, what's he like?"

"Well, he's a wonderful man, though his sense of humour is a little twisted and his personality can rub people the wrong way. Jowd and Cabanela make such a pair together. Ah, Cabanela's the other guy. He's like a part of our family too."

"The ruthless interrogator?"

"He was trying too hard." Alma shakes her head. "He had just gotten admitted to the Special Investigation Unit and thought he would try to impress them."

"By interrogating an innocent man?" Sissel's lip curls as she lets out a derisive snort. "Ah, sorry, I-"

"Oh, no, no, be as honest as you like. Still, I wouldn't call him ruthless. I don't know what image you have of him, but if you saw the real Cabanela, that image would be quickly shattered. He's really unique, in a sense. He's easygoing, laid back, always dancing."

"Dancing?" One of Sissel's slender eyebrows shoots upwards.

"You have to see it to believe it. I hope it doesn't seem like I'm trying to defend them. I just want you to know they aren't necessarily the ruthless men you might think they are."

Sissel flashes a reassuring smile at her. "Really, it's okay. I get it." Draining the last of her coffee, she sets down the mug and stares into it, a cloud passing over her eyes. "I'm glad. It doesn't seem like you're judging my fiancé."

"No, I'm really not."

"Some of our friends didn't want anything to do with him anymore, or me when I defended him. They didn't even try to understand why he took that child hostage. There must have been so many people judging him and thinking he was a terrible person when it was in the news."

"I'm so sorry to hear it."

"Oh, well. I guess I learned who my real friends were at least."

"You have people you can still talk to, don't you? I'm sure it must be hard."

"I have some friends left. Anyway, it's enough that Yomiel is alive. I hate having to say goodbye but I know he'll be out one day. He was so badly injured back then." Sissel shudders. "I could have lost him. I don't know what I would do without him."

Alma averts her gaze, pushing back the lump in her throat. "Well, that's good that you have some support then." Checking the time on her watch, she adds. "Is that the time already?"

"I guess you should be going then? I'd better get off too, get some shopping done on my way home."

Outside the cafe, Sissel takes a card from her purse and holds it out to Alma. "Here you go. If you want to talk or meet up again, here's my number."

"Really? I almost thought you might not be interested."

"Well, I don't see any reason not to." Sissel tilts her head. "I almost feel like us meeting might not have been a total coincidence."

"Hmm. You know what, I don't think it was either."

"It was very nice to meet you. Well, then, hope to see you another time." Sissel walks away with a wave. Alma watches her blend into the distant crowd with a smile, slipping the card into her own purse.

At a later date, Alma gets in touch with Sissel. Their next meeting is at a restaurant where Sissel is performing. Alma is impressed by how well she can play the piano and sing. Their meetings continue well beyond that and they talk about all sorts of things, the subject of their loved ones in particular.

Five years past the meteorite's fall, Alma's birthday rolls around. Jowd announces that he's made plans for dinner, and even bought crafts to keep Kamila occupied. "If we can try and get off work early, that would be good too. Sissel's going to be around, so Kamila won't be lonely either. I want this day to be different."

"I understand." Alma doesn't feel ready to see the contraption in action either. They go to work as usual and come home with Cabanela, discovering Kamila deeply absorbed in craftwork under Sissel's watchful gaze. The evening is spent dining at Alma's favourite restaurant and they all have a wonderful time. When it's all over, Jowd and Alma fall asleep in their bed, snug in each other's embraces.

The years fly by. Alma enjoys her life with considerable vigor as does Cabanela. They remain conscious of how precious their time is, never forgetting for a single moment. Alma continues meeting Sissel and even makes a new friend in the Justice Minister's wife, who she introduces to Sissel. It doesn't take long before Emma is inspired to write a romance novel involving a jailbird. Seeing how well they get along, Alma is glad to have brought another person into Sissel's life. It's hard for Sissel, being separated from her loved one by prison walls, and Alma will do whatever she can to ease Sissel's pain, even if it's just a little bit.

Alma's birthday comes round, ten years after that fateful day. Coming home from work, Alma is the first to go inside. Greeted with a dark room, she reaches for the light switch only to freeze. Kamila has finally brought the contraption into existence, hasn't she? Alma wouldn't dream of spoiling her daughter's birthday surprise. Time to see it in action. 

"Here we go." Steeling herself, Alma flips the switch and light floods the room. The contraption plays out before her eyes. Cupid's arrow takes flight, its fiery tip striking the party poppers. Loud pops fill the air as streamers fly. She covers her mouth. Jowd's stories couldn't have prepared her for this. It's incredible what Kamila was capable of even five years ago.

Kamila bursts out of the cupboard and runs over to Alma with the kitten in hot pursuit. "Did I surprise you, Mom?"

"Oh. Oh, yes, wow. You really made that yourself?"

"Of course!" Kamila beams, throwing her arms around Alma's waist. "Happy birthday, Mom."

Embracing her daughter, Alma strokes her hair. "Thank you, Kamila. That was a lovely surprise." Behind her, the door opens. Jowd's puzzled expression quickly fades, a knowing smile taking its place.

Some time later, Alma gets a call from Sissel. Joining her husband on the sofa, she clears her throat. "Sissel's fiancé, er, Yomiel is out of prison."

"Yes, he was released a couple of days ago."

"I see." Alma's head tilts.

"Is there something on your mind?"

"I used to go to the prison and think about seeing him myself. Then I met Sissel and she told me all about him instead. If I keep seeing her, I might bump into him at some point."

"Hmm. Yes, I suppose that's a possibility. Is it a problem?"

"The thing is, if I meet him for the first time, I want it to be with you, Jowd. I think I'm ready."

"Alright, I'll arrange something."

The next day, Jowd and Alma head to a bar that evening. They quickly spot Yomiel sitting alone in the far corner. It was decided that bringing his fiancée was too risky.

"Hello, Yomiel."

Yomiel stands up, responding with a curt nod. "Hello, Detective. It's good to see you."

"Yes, it's good to see you too. How's life treating you out of prison?"

"It's not easy, but I've got help." Yomiel turns his head slightly. "And you are..."

"Ah, yes, I do believe you already know my wife, don't you?"

"Uh..."

Ever since they came up to him, Alma has been lost in a trance, her thoughts tumbling around in a frantic whirlwind. Thick mud clogs her throat. Swallowing, she wipes her palms over her skirt before thrusting out a hand. "I'm Alma. It's nice to meet you."

Her words cut like a blade through the tension holding Yomiel in place. Shaking her hand, he responds, "Nice to meet you too. I'm Yomiel."

"So, I finally got to meet the man himself," Alma says, as they sit down. Her repeated swallows do little to moisten her mouth. It's really him, that man who took her life and hurt her family, but he isn't that man anymore. That twisted creature who sought to hurt and even kill others is long gone. "I've heard a lot about you from Jowd, and Sissel. I mean, your fiancée. Not the cat."

"I see."

"Well, I suppose I should get drinks for us. Is that okay with you, Alma?" 

Seeing a hint of concern in Jowd's eyes, Alma responds with a smile. "Of course it is. A glass of white wine for me, please. Would you mind giving us a few minutes to speak alone?"

"Sure." Jowd's hand lingers on her shoulder before he walks away.

"You know everything, don't you." A statement, not a question.

"I do. Jowd told me about all of it. I know what you went through."

"Right." Yomiel clears his throat. "I really am so sorry for what I did to you and to everybody else. What I did was completely inexcusable."

Alma studies her interlaced fingers as they lay in her lap. "I know you're not that person anymore. What you went through was hell, wasn't it?"

"Yes. I was consumed by loneliness, by the desire for revenge. It transformed me. I could no longer see people for who they were. You and your little girl? Just tools for causing Jowd pain." Yomiel releases his breath in a soft whoosh. "I don't expect you to forgive me. If you want to tell me you hate me, well, I know I deserve it."

The laughter and animated chatter coming from the other tables provide such a sharp contrast to their serious conversation. While Alma's gaze roams over the other customers, she speaks. "I might have despised you for a while. The truth made me sick. I was hurt and angry, I tried to understand why you would have done it, and then I met your fiancée."

"You've been a good friend to Sissel. I was surprised to hear she had become friends with you."

Alma turns her full attention back to Yomiel. "I didn't seek her out on purpose. We bumped into each other outside the prison and I learned her name. I wanted to get to know her, maybe even hear more about you. I wasn't using her or anything. She's a fantastic woman and I can see why you love her so much."

"Yes, I really do."

"You're lucky to have each other. I hope you'll have a happy future together."

"Thank you."

"Anyway." Alma rests her chin in one hand. "I wanted to meet you in person. I think... I wanted to dispel that image of a murderous monster. To see you for the person you are now."

Yomiel's cheek twitches, his gaze remaining level with hers.

"I know you're not that monster anymore and you will never hurt my family again. I don't bear a grudge against you and I don't hate you either."

"I see." Yomiel bows his head, the words oozing from his lips like thick syrup. "You really are a very kind woman."

Amidst the conversation's lull, the rowdy noises filling the pub become painstakingly clear. "Well then, might as well get Jowd back over here." Alma seeks out Jowd, signalling to him with a wave.

Jowd joins them, setting down the drinks. "Well then, how did it go?"

"We had a pleasant conversation. I told him I have no hard feelings."

"That's good to hear. You were a bit nervous, weren't you, Yomiel?"

"Yes." Yomiel's head moves in an almost imperceptible nod. "I'm not sure I deserve so much kindness." Shifting his gaze to Alma, he continues. "I'm so grateful that you were there for Sissel also. My imprisonment was hard on her but now it's all over and we can look forward to our future together." 

"Well then." Jowd raises his glass. "Here's to us all not being dead or in prison."

With a roll of her eyes, Alma lifts her glass as does Yomiel, their glasses meeting in midair with a soft clink. They engage in conversation, the words falling from their lips ever so casually. Any resulting moments of discomfort are entirely on Jowd. Before they realise it, the glasses are empty and it's time to go. Bidding farewell, they set off back to their respective homes.

"Well, how did that feel?" Jowd asks on the way home.

"It was alright." Alma is relaxed, her body filling the contours of the car seat. "I was so nervous about meeting him but in the end, it all went fine. I can finally let go of all those feelings. It's like a huge weight off my mind."

"Is that so? I'm glad. The ten years are all behind us at last."

"Yeah."

Pulling the car into the driveway of their home, Jowd cuts the engine. Alma leaves the car and goes round to meet Jowd. Snaking her arms around his waist, she sinks against his chest, clasped in his strong embrace.

"I really do love you so much." Alma turns her head up.

Jowd kisses her on the lips. "And I love you too."

As they approach their front door, it swings open, revealing their smiling daughter. Sissel weaves around her legs, mewing. "Welcome back, Mom, Dad." With those words, Kamila steps aside, allowing them to enter together.

[determinationisnotcrash]

Red to the Rescue! Value of True Companions

Another @gbpack-discord oneshot! An action one where Sabre, Impact, and Red team up to fight a mechanical dragon.

Impact, the Blaster raptor GB Papyrus belongs to me!

Sabre the part time seiyuu the mysterious Blaster from an unknown timeline belongs to @paddie-ut

Red the GB Fell Sans belongs to @goosygander

Everything was going perfectly – almost too perfectly. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and everyone around town seemed to be in a great mood. …Perhaps at that time, that should have been cause for concern. After all, when an amazing stroke of good luck came, what usually followed was…

***

Interlink City

Impact applauded his friend, lightly clapping his mechanical floating hands as they departed from the recording studio. “Splendid work on your performance, Sabre! You did a wonderful job. It was like I was seeing Heero Yuy in the flesh!”

That comment drew a slight chuckle out of the small quadrupedal bone beast. “Heh, funny you say that. I don’t have any flesh. And your performance wasn’t half-bad, either. Very accurate at portraying the larger-than-life villain type.”

The blind man was unable to see it, but the raptor nevertheless took a small bow. “I appreciate the compliment! I’m glad to know that I at least remain successful in that field. After all…” Impact cleared his throat, putting on his best impression of the Mad Dummy’s voice. “My destiny is already smeared with blood. I won’t be talked out of any transgressions! I’ll live right to the bitter end – the hard life of a warrior!”

“Yes… Well then, what do you want to do now? Find another of those great places to eat? I’ll treat you to a meal this time. Mind, you’ll need to lead the way.”

The Papyrus beamed in response to the Sans’ generosity. “I would love to! Let’s go!” Head held high with pride of a job well-done, he started to head in the direction of the most economical restaurant he could think of… only to realise the small Blaster wasn’t following. “Sabre…?”

Impact turned back to see the dogman sniffing around on a ground like a… well… dog, muttering to himself. “This scent… it’s faint, but…” Sensing the presence of his friend nearby, likely watching him, he felt his face heat up. “Ah, Impact… I just detected something strange. I think… we’re being followed. By something from your world.”

The scent… where was the scent…? He kept sniffing in all directions, like a game of Hot and Cold, until he found the direction it was the strongest in. His nose led his sightless gaze upwards, causing him to carefully rise up onto his hind legs. “Impact… can you look in the direction my muzzle is pointing?”

“Doing it now.” His functional (in contrast to Sabre’s) eyes followed his friend’s… right up to one of the tall buildings next to them. Peering right over the edge were two strange, ball-like contraptions. They both had a metallic silver sheen, smooth all over, except with one camera for an eye. They almost looked like creepier cyclops versions of mascot characters from a popular mecha show Impact’s brother loved to watch.

Before he could take in more of their appearance, they abruptly jolted and flashed, as if startled. Their cameras blinked rapidly, before they ‘jumped’ off the building’s roof, landing on the pavement and starting to roll away.

Combat data collection drones…!? But all the two skeletons were doing was a part time job! Unless… oh, no… Were they analysing their physical properties!? Impact didn’t know everything about Sabre’s past yet, but he did know what the small blind man could become, and what that thing could do. If that information got into the hands of literally anyone… it would spell certain disaster.

“GET BACK HERE---!”

Impact immediately gave chase to the balls, Sabre following close behind so as not to lose him in the crowd of the city. They were sprinting with all their might, at far greater speeds than an ordinary human could go. Yet the strange metal spheres stayed just out of their reach. They were clearly engineered for speed.

Unbeknownst to both of them, one of their allies also happened to be in the city at the time, raising funds for the party in his own way by selling hotdogs. They both brushed against him in a rush, not even noticing his presence in their focus. The wind stirred up by Impact was almost enough to bowl him over, sending sausages and condiments alike flying.

Naturally, this was enough for him to notice the two skeletons and wonder just what the hell they were doing. Wiping the mess off his black leather jacket with a grumble, he joined in on the chase. He wasn’t as fast a runner as the other two, but with dedication, he would eventually be able to catch up.

***

“SLOW DOWN, ALREADY…!” Impact accidentally roared, slamming his mechanical hands over his muzzle when the realisation hit him. By now, they had done a full lap of the city, before the two spheres retreated into a nearby lake.

What kind of energy did the things run on!? Wouldn’t such small things have run down to nothing by now? Impact was still fine, but Sabre was starting to tire… Just where (and who) were these things headed to!?

The moment Impact wondered that, his question was answered. Of course, it wasn’t anything good. The twin spheres jumped into the water with a plop… and immediately after, two metallic dragon heads attached to long, cable-like necks ripped out of the lake’s surface! A terrible shriek vibrated the air, sending civilians running for their lives in terror!

“T-that’s no data gathering unit!” Impact realised, horror welling up inside him. “It’s an extermination unit! The enemy must have sent it here to clear the land of ‘pests’!”

As if confirming the statement, one of the heads lunged at him, a vicious deadly snake about to bite!

“OH SHI…!” Impact scrambled to respond. Neither he nor Sabre had a Mechanical Guardian on them, so they didn’t have much in the way of firepower. Fortunately, they weren’t so foolish as to walk around an unfamiliar location completely unarmed! Just like a movie cowboy, he reached within his coat, whipped out a gunblade, and fired several pinpoint shots! All within the span of under a second!

However, quick reflexes didn’t save him! The Blaster raptor yelped in as pain seared through his chest! “W-what the…!? What just… How did…” When he looked down at himself, he couldn’t believe his eyes: the projectiles the metal dragon sent at him… were his own bullets!? A reflection ability!?

He didn’t have more time to process this before the head barrelled straight into him!

“Blurgh…!” Harsh, serrated jaws clamped tight around his ribcage, causing the Papyrus to cough up blood for the… he lost count of how many times that happened in his life. He was actually surprised he hadn’t received any permanent damages from such injuries.

“Impact…!” The scent of blood and the man’s cry were enough to motivate Sabre to action, drawing his own emergency weapon! To accommodate his disability, he decided to modify the futuristic laser blade Impact left with him into a lance! “Haaaaaa…!” With a battlecry, he charged at where he perceived the enemy was – aiming just next to the spot where he smelled Impact and his blood.

With that satisfying buzz of beam weaponry against metal, the attack hit home! Letting out another screech – this time of pain, rather than anger, the dragon’s jaws released! Impact fell to the ground, landing on all fours before rising to his hunched bipedal stance. “Amazing work, Sabre! It seems that melee attacks are effect-AAAAAAAAAAH!”

A sound not unlike gatling gun fire exploded through the air around the two, as they were pushed back by a comparable force! Massive chunks of earth pelted their bodies, knocking them off their feet and sending them rolling along the ground like crash test dummies after a particularly violent experiment.

Heads still spinning from the tumble, Impact and Sabre forced themselves to get up and charge again! But unfortunately, the result was still the same: they couldn’t take even a few steps before another storm of earth hit them, feeling like they ran straight into the path of a speeding truck!

The sighted monster of the two noticed something strange: several oddly-shaped craters that certainly weren’t there before now dotted the land around the lake. “Craters around the lake…? Is the land itself being reshaped to attack us…?”

A cold feeling passed through Sabre’s body as his mind started to piece together what this dragon’s ability was… “This… this isn’t good. If that ability is what I think it is…” He could smell and hear a large amount of water around the area, too. Putting two and two together…

Confirming Sabre’s fear, one of the dragon heads stuck its head beneath the lake’s water, draining the massive reserve, while the other’s neck started to swiftly expand like a balloon inflating. This was enough to have Impact realise what was going on. “One head takes things in, and one head ejects them!?” The ability was a lot simpler than some enemies that he faced in the past… but it was still powerful enough to spell the two Blasters’ doom! After all, a weapon for killing didn’t need to be fancy, it just had to do the job.

Like an aquatic volcano eruption, a high pressure, high volume waterspout erupted from the dragon! The seconds following were almost tormentingly slow: the lake water blotted out the entire sky around them, hanging stationary in the air… then slowly… started to fall, coming down on them like judgement from heaven.

That volume of water, with that force behind it, would surely be enough to squash the two skeletons flat. Impact abruptly leaped on top of Sabre. The attempt to shield him using his body was likely futile, but better a small chance of one of them surviving than neither. Papyrus squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the end… but it didn’t come.

Rather than a crushing flood, and the crushing defeat that came with it, the two friends heard the pounding of paws on earth, a familiar sound of shifting bones, and the pulse of magical energy from a powerful blast. A wave of heat rushed through the area, causing Impact to look up in confusion.

The entirety of the water had been evaporated into steam! Standing heroically against that backdrop was the towering form of a massive skeletal dragon. Impact at first couldn’t even recognise it – this was a form he rarely saw the man in – but closer inspection was enough to make his face light up. Similarly, a huge grin formed on Sabre’s face at the familiar scent. “Red!”

A small smirk appeared on the dragon’s face, the corner of its muzzle tilting upward, before turning to the metal dragon. Its jaws parted again, letting loose with a second blast, this time towards the dragon!

But the hope that came with the Fell skeleton’s appearance was swiftly cut short. Moving so fast, the naked eye almost couldn’t follow, one of the heads rushed towards the laser and snapped it up. Impact and Red could see the movement of the laser’s glow through its body, almost like liquid through a plastic silly straw, before it emerged from the other end, right back at them!

“I’ll take this one! Red, Impact, get behind me!” To the skeletal dragon’s surprise, Sabre was already in front of him. Had the blind man already planned that far ahead and considered that possibility…? And how was he going to counter the laser?

With a smooth flick of the wrist, Sabre’s laser spear returned to a laser sword. Next, he held it in front of himself and started spinning it like a rotor fan! When the searing heat and force of the returned blast hit, Sabre grunted… almost growled with exertion. He dug his hind paws into the ground, raking up soil as he was slowly pushed back.

The beam sabre rotation trick did indeed shield him from the attack… but it only shielded a portion of Impact’s and Red’s bodies! And on top of that, his arm started to scream from the exertion of keeping the sword rotating at a constant rate! Longer… just had to keep it going for a little longer…! It felt like the blast was assaulting the trio for hours at this point! Did the metal dragon add to its energy somehow, or it simply his perception!?

For one instant… just a single instant, Sabre’s arm cramped, and the enemy’s attack penetrated his defence. “No…!” It was like a giant, flaming meteor collided with him, blowing Sabre and his two friends back. Most of the blast had been blocked, but the remainder of the force was enough to bring the heroes to their knees.

The two-headed metal dragon let out a metallic cackle as it loomed over the despairing, crouching heroes.

Impact, being fearful of all things draconic, felt like he was the one the most intimidated by this display. “Even a Blaster’s laser didn’t work against this thing…!? Is this the last enemy we’ll ever face…?” Panic ran through him, despair starting to wrap its icy grip around his heart. Would this all end here…?

However… Next to him, Sabre was even worse. Fear and panic were prime triggers for his transformation. A surge of energy ran through his bones, coursing through his whole body like electricity.

His clothes started to tighten at a slow yet steady rate, the buttons on his shirt popping off one-by-one. “Urgh… Ghh…” The dragon’s voice steadily began to deepen, taking on a guttural, animalistic rumble.

Despite pushing back against it with all his might, the pressure of the situation was warping his form into something monstrous – in the figurative sense, rather than literal.

Not satisfied with simply making him grow, Sabre’s magic started to warp his features. His fangs jutted out further, extending with a painful creak. Vicious spikes mercilessly ripped through the clothes Impact oh-so-carefully picked for him, completely ruining them as his body expanded. The hellish beast that was his feral side started to seep into his mind, venom dripping from his mouth as a demon began to enter the world through his body. Then…

<SNAP OUTTA IT!> THWACK!

A surprisingly high-pitched yelp escaped Sabre’s muzzle upon a bony object softly, yet firmly hitting his face. He had to pause, rapidly blinking before he could process what just happened. “Did you just… halt my transformation by hitting me? With your tail?”

The blind man could hear the proud grin in Red’s tone. <‘Course! It’s like those old computers and televisions – nothin’ a good whack can’t fix!>

“…I-”

BLAM BLAM BLAM!

“DODGE!” The other two complied with his command, evading the makeshift earth cannonballs alongside Sabre before the near-Blaster could continue. “I may not be experienced in that field, but… that… sounds wrong.”

Red simply chuckled.

Impact tilted his head, raising a brow. “Do you have a way in mind to defeat it?”

<O’ course! There’re three of us now! With our powers combined, we can make it through! You, of all people, should know this!>

The dinosaur-like Blaster blushed, embarrassed that he missed something so vital. “U-understood. What is your suggestion?”

Red’s expression became serious, as he beckoned for the two to get closer in an awkward (due to differing sizes and anatomies) group huddle. <Alrighty, ain’t much time to explain. We’ll……… Got it?>

“Got it!!”

<Good! LEEEEET’S DO IT!>

With that rousing cry, the Blaster trio charged! Unlike Impact’s and Sabre’s previous attempt, they split up and rushed the metallic dragon from different directions! It couldn’t hit them all at once!

Sabre galloped to where he felt one of the heads were. The distance is right…! Here goes! The voice acting stint earlier put him in the mood to announce his attack. “Target, Metal Dragon… Commencing with elimination!”

Leaping into the air, the hellish dragon fired a blast of his own – a bright green burst! It wasn’t as strong or flashy as the others, but it was far more economical on energy use. That, coupled with his current form, just barely gave him enough energy to use a continuous surge. Full output…! GOOOOOO!

The beam came right back out through the other head – to the place where Impact was, but he was prepared for it! Sabre had already demonstrated how to deal with this! “ROTATION BLAAAAADE!” Imitating Sabre’s technique, he spun his gunblade like a helicopter rotor!

With a normal sword, it would have just killed him. But because of the Blasters in his timeline, both his and Sabre’s weapons were designed as specific anti-Blaster measures! Impact’s gunblade wasn’t powerful enough to deflect it, but it was strong enough to block it!

Both of the metal heads were occupied, leaving the enemy dragon immobilised in terms of both offence and defence! With the lake drained from its previous attack, the main body – a big fat lump of rugged metal with the two spheres lodged inside – was open to attack!

Red dived at it, claws glinting in the sun as he prepared to deal the finishing blow. Hot blood coursing through his bones, he called out the name of this technique: <TRINITYYYY… FINISH!>

The metal beast was easily reduced to ribbons of scrap metal, the heads deactivating as the two central processing units were crushed. Just to make sure it was dead, Red unleashed the biggest blast he ever made on it, reducing it to ash. The deed done; the beast let loose with a howl of triumph. Not because he had lost to his base instincts, but for the cool factor.

Once he ensured it was safe to approach the dragon, Impact rushed up to him, tail wagging and eyes sparkling. “That was amazing…! You performed excellently!”

<We performed excellently. Don’t sell yourself or Sabre short.> The dragon turned his gaze from Impact to his fellow beast, a cheeky expression on his face. <Now… how ‘bout that nice lunch you wanted to treat Impact to?>

Sabre went green – the colour of his blush being due to his magic, a wildly unfitting appearance on his now frightening visage. “O-oh… as a voice actor, I don’t get paid much, but… I’ll see what I can do for three people.”

With a series of uncomfortable-sounding cracks akin to a crackling fireplace, he reverted to his normal half-Blaster shape. As he shrank down to his usual size, he couldn’t help but shiver against the cool breeze on his naked bones. “A-after the cost of new clothes, as well… Impact, can you get my wallet?”

“Of course!” After a few seconds of searching, Impact found Sabre’s wallet amongst his clothing tatters. The raptor briefly considered throwing it to him, before remembering a blind man wouldn’t quite appreciate the gesture. Instead, he passed it into his hand, and additionally wrapped his coat around the skeleton as an interim measure.

“Thank you. Now, where to eat…”

***

McDaniel’s

Sabre rubbed the back of his neck anxiously, sweating slightly. “…As I said earlier, I did tell you that I didn’t get paid much…”

Impact quickly dispelled any doubts, as he dug into the burger from his Joy Meal™ with warmth in his tone. “No, this is fine! This is more than enough!”

The now humanoid Red nodded his head in agreement. “Just bein’ able t’ spend time together here is fun.” Chuckling slightly, he lifted up a small figurine. “Plus, I’ve been lookin’ for this one for ages!”

Neither of them felt even the slightest urge to complain – after all, it wasn’t about the food itself. Sharing a meal and company with true companions, who would always be there to support each other… that made it taste better than even an emperor’s feast.

[gryffindorcls]

Day 1:  I like the way your hand fits in mine.  (Part 2)

Hello, lovely readers!

HAPPY LOVESQUARE FLUFF WEEK 2019!!!

The Day 1 prompt is “I like the way your hand fits in mine”; however, I already wrote the same prompt for an ask game when I hit 300 followers.  So, here is the sequel I never planned to write, but I am so happy that I did!

Thank you @lovesquarefluffweek for organizing this week of fluff!

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO READ PART 1 FIRST CLICK HERE.

---

Day 1: I Like the Way Your Hand Fits In Mine (Part 2)

Marinette was floating high above the clouds, and she never wanted to come down. Honestly, she didn’t think she ever would. Within a matter of minutes, her entire life had changed for the better.

Adrien Agreste wanted to go on a date with her. With HER! And...he had told her that he was falling in love with her. She couldn’t believe it. Yet, here he was, holding her hand and looking at her like she was the center of his universe.

When the final bell rang, she attempted to let go of his hand and take her seat, but his grip tightened. “Class is about to start. I’m going to need that hand to write.”

He looked up at her with kitten eyes that rivaled Chat Noir’s. “I like the way your hand fits in mine. I want to keep holding it forever.”

The newness of the situation still made her feel nervous around Adrien, but the steadiness of his hand and the sincerity in his eyes gave her the courage to reach up and kiss him on the cheek. He immediately dropped her hand and touched the side of his face.

Adrien’s mouth was agape. “What was that for?”

His look of shock caused her to giggle. “I wanted to give you something to tide you over until we could hold hands again.”

He quirked his brow. “How about lunchtime today?”

“I think I can squeeze you in,” she teased playfully.

***

That day, Marinette found concentrating in class an impossible task. Instead of listening to the lecture, she found herself staring at Adrien’s bouncing, golden locks on multiple occasions. When the lunch bell rang, her notes were incomplete, but her heart felt full.

As she gathered her belongings and stuffed them into her backpack, Adrien hopped out of his seat and stood in front of her. Without saying a word, he slung her backpack over his shoulder and held out his hand.

When she took his hand, he shot her a dazzling smile. “Thank goodness...my hand felt empty all morning.”

She felt a firey blush creep up her neck and spread across her cheeks. Using her free hand, Marinette covered her face and groaned.

“You can’t just say stuff like that!” she mumbled through her fingers.

Adrien chuckled. “Why...whatever do you mean? I thought you liked me.”

She dropped her arm to her side. “That’s the problem! Just because you asked me out, it doesn’t mean that talking to you got any easier! Ugh...you probably think I’m super weird...and you’re going to rethink wanting to date me...and then…”

“Woah! Marinette! No...I would never do that! Okay, so your feelings for me make you a little nervous. That doesn’t make you any less kind, selfless, or brave. I’ve seen you do incredible things. That’s why I called you our ‘everyday Ladybug’ last year. You’re amazing without even trying, and that’s why I’ve started to fall in love with you. We’ll just take it slow. Trust me, I’m not that scary.”

“I know...it’s just...sometimes my mind starts running a million miles an hour, and I get all of these ideas. Alya tells me that I tend to overthink things, and she’s right.”

“Yes, but we need people whose mind works like yours.”

“You think so?”

He took her other hand in his. “Marinette, you are smart and creative. Those are only two of the reasons why I admire you. However, if you get nervous around me in the future, I will wait patiently by your side until you’re comfortable again. I will never let anything happen to you as long as you’re with me. All I want is for you to feel safe and loved. Okay?”

Hearing Adrien’s words made her insides melt. “Okay.”

“Now, where would you like to go to lunch?”

“Oh, umm...my parents are actually expecting me to come home for lunch. And everything happened so fast this morning...I didn’t have time to tell them anything before class started. D-did you maybe...uhh...want to come over? They’d be more than happy to have you.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to cause an inconvenience.”

Marinette shook her head and laughed. “Are you kidding? My parents love feeding other people. They’re bakers. They always make plenty of food. Besides, Alya comes over all the time. There’s a chance that they’ll ask a lot of questions, but they like you. That and they’re definitely going to find out that we’re dating sooner or later, so why not tell them today? If...umm...that’s okay with you.”

Adrien beamed. “Your parents are amazing, and I would love to eat lunch with your family. Let me just text my bodyguard and let him know where I’m going to be.”

He let go of one of her hands, fished his phone out of his pocket, and quickly typed out a message. Adrien then led her towards the classroom door and carefully guided her down the stairs. They walked hand in hand all the way to the bakery.

Sabine squealed upon seeing them walk through the door together. “Oh my goodness! Tom! Get out here! Come and see who our daughter brought home!”

Tom sauntered into the store and gasped. “Has my little girl finally brought home a boyfriend?”

Marinette hesitated, but a gentle hand squeeze from Adrien gave her a much-needed confidence boost. “Yes, papa.”

“What a joyous day! Come in, son! Come in! I hope you are hungry because my wife has prepared a wonderful meal. We are so happy to have you here!”

Adrien looked at Tom with wide eyes. “Really, sir? Wow...thank you! I’m very excited to be here.”

“Son, you are always welcome here. Our home is open to any friend...or boyfriend...of Marinette’s.”

“Thank you, Mr. Dupain.”

Tom turned to Marinette. “He’s very polite. You should keep him.”

Sabine walked over and stood next to her husband. “Alright kids, lunch won’t be ready for another half an hour. How about the two of you head up to Marinette’s room and relax for a bit? I’ll call you when it’s time to set the table.”

“Okay, maman.” Still holding his hand, Marinette took Adrien up to her room and guided him to her chaise.

Instead of sitting down, he let go of her hand, put their belongings on the floor, and took in his surroundings. “I’ve always loved your room. It’s so warm and inviting.”

“Really? It’s nothing like yours. You have so much cool stuff.”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t mean anything when you have no one to share any of that stuff with. Video games just aren’t as fun when you're always playing in single-player mode.”

“You know...we could...umm...fix that if you wanted.”

He knitted his brows. “What do you mean?”

Marinette bit her lip. “Well, the last time you were here, we played a game. We could play a few rounds of Ultimate Mecha Strike right now if you wanted to.”

“I would love to.”

“Oh, and maybe sometime you could join us for one of our family gaming sessions! My dad would love to have a new player in the group!”

“Wow...that sounds amazing! My dad would never sit down and play video games with me like that. Honestly, he doesn’t do much with me. He’s usually too busy, but that’s okay.” Adrien deflated and looked at the floor.

Seeing the sadness darken his features broke Marinette’s heart. “Hey...don’t worry about him. If you ever feel lonely, just call me. I’m always here to talk.”

Adrien’s face lit up. “You know...I might just take you up on that. Thanks, Marinette.”

“There’s no need to thank me. I care about you. If I didn’t, I probably wouldn’t have had a crush on you. Also, if we’re dating now, we’re going to be talking a whole lot more. Actually, we’ll probably be talking all the time.”

“I can’t wait.” He reached up and gingerly touched her cheek. “Is...is it okay if I do this?”

She took a moment to close her eyes and lean into his touch. “Mmmhmm...it feels nice.”

“Just let me know if you’re ever feeling uncomfortable.”

“Adrien, do you know how long I’ve waited to do stuff like hold your hand or cuddle?”

“Cuddle?”

Realizing what she said, Marinette once again felt her face turn red. “Uh...yeah, but only if you’re okay with doing that!”

He grinned and moved closer to her. “I wouldn’t mind trying that right now.”

“I...um...wow...okay.” She took a deep breath, calmed her nerves, rested her arms on his shoulders, and ran her fingers through the hair on the back of his head. “That’s fine with me, but only if I can kick your butt at Ultimate Mecha Strike at the same time!”

The sound he made in response sounded almost like a purr. “In your dreams, Princess!”

Marinette moved away as she was struck with a sense of familiarity. “Wait...did you just call me ‘Princess’?”

Adrien scratched the back of his head. “I...uhhh...yes?”

“Hmmm.”

“D-do you not like being called that?”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just, I can only think of one person who’s ever called me that, and…”

Marinette looked up at her new boyfriend. She’d spent a year and a half studying Adrien’s features; however, it suddenly felt as if she was looking at him for the very first time.

“His eyes are the same color as yours. People don’t realize it, but they are,” she noted absentmindedly.

Adrien’s eyes darted around the room. “I...uh...and who might you be talking about?”

“Chat talks the same way, too,” a voice echoed inside her mind.

Marinette quickly brushed the idea away and shook her head. “No. I’m sorry. You know what? Never mind…it’s stupid. Let’s just play the game.”

Adrien’s body appeared to visibly relax after hearing her last statement. “Okay, yes...sounds great!”

Once again, Marinette buried any lingering thoughts regarding her partner and turned her attention towards setting up Ultimate Mecha Strike on her computer. However, before the game had the chance to load, an Akuma alert popped up on her phone.

Marinette groaned. “Ugh...no! Not today.”

“Hey...um,” Adrien began, “I need to go. My dad expects me to go home whenever there’s an Akuma attack.”

“Oh, really? Well, I guess that explains why I never see you during one.”

“Uh...yeah. So, I’ll just get going. My bodyguard is probably already waiting for me outside.” He walked up to Marinette and kissed her on the cheek. “Please stay safe, and if this clears up...maybe we can hang out again later? Or I could call...I’d really like to hear what suggestions you have for our first date.”

Marinette’s breath hitched. “D-date?”

“Yeah...that’s what couples do. They go on dates and spend time with each other.”

“I...umm...grounds sate. I MEAN! Sounds great!”

He chuckled and kissed her forehead. “I’ll see you later, Marinette.”

“Bye!” She waved as she watched him open the hatch and disappear into the room below.

Once he was gone, Tikki zipped into view. “Marinette! You need to transform! Chat Noir is probably already there.”

“You’re right...Tikki, SPOTS ON!” Marinette threw her head back and allowed her transformation to wash over her.

She then climbed onto her balcony and unsheathed her yo-yo.

“Ladybug?” Chat’s stunned voice asked breathlessly, “No...it can’t...that’s not...I just...why are you coming out of Marinette’s room?”

She froze. “Good afternoon, Chat Noir! I was just...ummm…I think the better question is why are you on Marinette’s balcony?”

“Okay...fine. Don’t answer, but I’ll have you know that I was visiting my girlfriend who lives close by, and I transformed in an alleyway behind near her house. I was just making my way across the rooftops to meet you at the Akuma battle,” he paused before continuing, “However, I was definitely not expecting my lady and my princess to be the same person.”

“Yes, well, you see...WAIT.” She narrowed her eyes at him, “What did you just say?”

Chat shifted his grip on his baton. “I...uhh...called you my Princess, and right now I’m just hoping that this won’t lead to our first fight as a couple.”

“Adrien?”

“Umm...yes?”

“Oh my God...OH MY GOD...It is you. I thought I was going crazy. Ohmygod...I’m dating Chat Noir!”

“Ummm...also yes?”

Ladybug groaned. “I can’t believe this. Why was I ever nervous around you? You are a pun-loving dork...a loyal, brave, and kind dork, but a dork, nonetheless.”

Chat’s ears drooped. “I guess you’ll probably want to break up then huh?”

“What? No...where did you get an idea like that?”

“You don’t like my puns.”

“No, I don’t like your timing...just like your timing for this conversation. Not good, Chaton. You probably should have waited until after we defeated the rampaging Akuma. You’re so lucky that I love you.”

He perked up. “You still love me?”

“Of course, you silly cat! I’ve always loved you. True, we have a lot to talk about, but it’s definitely going to make sneaking away for Akuma battles much easier. I was hoping to keep this a secret, but I guess it we’ll just have to figure it out. We’ll have to keep this a secret from Master Fu though.”

“Yeah...we wouldn’t want him to take...WAIT...hold on. Am I the boy you were in love with?”

Ladybug bit her lip. “Yeah. If it wasn’t for...well...you, I would have fallen for...um...you ages ago. I’m so sorry for breaking your heart so many times.”

Chat sheathed his baton, ran to her, scooped her up in his arms, and twirled her around. “No. Don’t be sorry. That’s amazing. You’re amazing. All of this is amazing. I can’t believe that I moved on from the girl of my dreams only to fall in love with the girl of my dreams again, and to top it off, she’s loved me all along! How did I get so lucky?”

“Chaton, as much as I love being in your arms and having this conversation with you, I wasn’t joking about the whole terrible timing thing. We really should uhh...you know…”

“Oh, right. Yeah. We’re the ‘saviors of Paris’. We should probably get on with that whole Akuma thing.” He gently set her on the ground.

She beamed. “Alright...shall we?”

“We shall, my lady...oh, wait...one more thing!”

“Yes, Chat?”

“When we’re done can we try that whole cuddling thing? It seems like it would be a step up from hand-holding.”

Ladybug rolled her eyes. “Only if we can defeat this Akuma before my mom calls us downstairs to set the table. We only have like 20 minutes before that happens.”

Chat extended his baton. “Okay...I get it. Work now, cuddle later.”

“Thank you, and...yes, kitty, there will be lots of cuddles.”

“Sounds paw-sitively purr-fect, my lady. I’m ready whenever you are.”

Ladybug shook her head and laughed. “Let’s get this done...together.”

<--- Part 1

AO3

[samatok-i]

sooooo this is my first request here so I spent 737484647 hours thinking on what would be a good start but I think I'll settle for something simple,, may I request first date headcannons for the boyes?

I APOLOGIZE FOR THE WAIT TUMBLR RLLY LET ME HAVE IT!!! blease accept these qwq (im breaking them up by division so the post wont be so cluttered :0)

💫 Allstars on a First Date Pt. 1💫

♡Buster Bros♡ :

Ichiro: 

-He wants to take you to the movies! He’s not picky at all about what you guys go to see because he’s the kinda guy to enjoy the experience no matter what kinda movie it was! He’d love to talk about it afterwards with you if the movie was trash or if it was really good! (when he saw Into the Spider-verse with his bros he raved about it for days) 

-(his fav spidey person is Peni cuz he’s a slut for mecha anime)

-If you wanted to pick the movie that’d be totally fine with him! (unless theres a new movie adaption of an anime he wants to see- he’d agree with your choice but you can see the Longing in his eyes as he walks past the poster and you just might hafta give in lmao)

-Definitely pays for your snacks and drinks even if you protest because he’s a huge sweetheart (need me a MANS)

-He’s no scrub either he goes for the large drink, the large popcorn. AND king size m&ms??? Do you even deserve him????? No baby I’ll hold the food tray you’ve done enough 😤

-He finds y’all good seats and takes the tray so you can get comfortable before doing so himself and immediately going to demolish the popcorn before the previews end because he’ll always be a rebel at heart

-During the movie he (subtly but not Really) shifts closer to you and occasionally leans over or puts his hand on your shoulder lightly to whisper a joke or a thought he has about the movie in your ear (stay calm Reader-chan)

-You sorta spend the rest of the movie whispering jokes and making witty comments and giggling to yourselves like adult children and Ichiro thinks your laugh when your trying not to laugh is cute

-If something funny happens during the movie he’ll laugh loudly, if something sad happens you’ll hear him sniffling into his jacket sleeve and if something scary happens he’d keep that to himself but the way the his voice wavers when he asks if you’re okay kind of gives him away (he will Jump at the opportunity to hold your hand if you ask)

-He asks to stay after the credits because he cannot miss any after credits scenes its not in his blood, that’s not the kinda man he is

-After the movie is officially over he beats you to throwing away the trash and putting the tray back

-Would also immediately fire off about what stuck out to him in the movie and what he thought it lacked and ask your thoughts about it with a glimmer in his eyes

-He set a curfew for himself that he told his brothers he’d be back by but you both have a few more hours to kill so he asks if you wanted to grab dinner somewhere

-The place he takes you too isn’t fancy or high class, it’s just a nice, warm family diner he takes Jiro and Saburo to sometimes- he promises you’ll like it! (the place is also very special to him yknow)

-”If you don’t like it you never hafta go out with me again!” he joked but when you told him in all seriousness that you wouldn’t do that to him, some sort of tension fell away from his demeanor and he laughed warmly (relieved even) and said how that was real sweet of you

-Ichiro makes good conversation over dinner- he treats you like that he would an old friend or someone close to him and makes sure you stay engaged in the conversation just as much as he is

-After dinner (he pays of course- he was quick to whip out his wallet) you both make your way outside of the restaurant and you notice how he starts to fidget by rubbing the back of his neck and shifting his weight from each leg

-He asks if you had a good time and when you tell him you did (you Better) he visibly lights up, all traces of nervousness leaving him and his smile is big and its adorable

-(If you tell him that he wouldn’t know what to do other than stutter out a shocked thank you as his cheeks color)

-He says maybe you guys could go out again sometime? If you want? It’s totally chill if you don’t tho.

-When you say yes you didn’t think his smile could get any brighter and you realize how nice it makes you feel. How fuzzy.

-”Okay cool! That’s awesome! I’ll talk to you later alright? Be careful on your way home!”

-When you respond he starts fidgeting again like he wants to say something else and when you’re about to ask him what was up he quickly pecks your cheek before you could even register how close he had gotten. If his face wasn’t red before it definitely is now

-”I’ll call you okay? G’night!” he waves as he’s leaving and his big smile never leaves his face

Jiro:

-It’s arcade time! That would definitely be his first choice on where to take you

-Ichiro insists Jiro bring you over before y’all leave and although Jiro would love for his Niichan to meet you he can’t say the same for that little rugrat he’s forced to share a home with

-Of course he brings you anyway because Ichiro really wanted to meet you and Jiro can’t just say no to his older brother like that (Ichiro made Saburo promise to behave and he did so while wrinkling his nose and shooting Jiro a look behind Ichiro’s back and Jiro shot him a smug look in kind- Ichiro caught that one though and flicked his ear)

-When you reach the front door of the Yamada residence the door swings open before you could even knock

-Ichiro greets you warmly and eagerly ushers you inside telling you how much he’s wanted to meet you because “Jiro talks about you a whole lot yknow!” (Jiro makes a strangled noise of betrayal and his face goes red)

-You get an excited introduction from Ichiro and a less excited more being polite out of obligation introduction from Saburo (who’s about to make a quip at how Jiro even got someone to go on a date with to which Ichiro pushes Jiro towards you and says how you both ought to be going- “Also don’t forget about curfew got it? Have fun!”)

-When y’all make it to the arcade and get your game cards (they’re still tokens in my Heart) Jiro asks what game you wanna hit first and then y’all just sorta take turns dragging each other around

-His personal favorite games are 1v1 fighting games, racing games and dancing games- he loves the competition they bring and if you challenge him it’ll totally pump him up “You’re gonna regret it when I kick your ass!” 

-You guys go around the arcade with a new fighting spirit and try to kick each other asses at almost every game. Basketball, air hockey, hell even wack-a-mole- theres no holding back on any of them

-After you guys’ 3 round long dance battle you announce that you need a Break and he agrees (his jock ass could go for a few more rounds but he don’t wanna leave you out)

-He buys you a drink of your choice because he was informed that that was the Manly thing to do (”gentlemanly” was the word used but technicalities, technicalities) and asked if you’re down to get some food 

-Y’all both go for pizza (unless dear Reader is lack toes of taller ants then he wouldn’t mind letting you pick)

-You guys just share a big platter because Jiro’s funds are limited but he’d still like to treat you

-You guys laugh more often than you chew and take silly videos of each other eating to post on social media until you both decide that it was time to make more rounds around the arcade

-When it’s time to exchange game points for prizes Jiro loses his impulse control (read: non-existent) and picks out a bunch of dumbass shit

-”Bro I’ve wanted a kazoo for so fuckin’ long it ain’t even funny”

-If you want something a little higher on the points list but don’t have enough for he’d put back some of his shit (goodbye Creeper plushie) and say y’all could try combining points

-When its about time to leave Jiro clumsily says that he could walk you home- if you want! It comes out rougher than he intended and he can feel his face heating up but he’s determined to hold eye contact with you until you give him an answer

-He walks home with you until you both reach the front door of your place (also like how he was informed) and says he had a real good time and that y’all should definitely go again…y’know if you want…or whatever…

-You tell him you do and his face is Priceless (shock turning into something more like joy until he schools his features to look less like an excited puppy)

-Now unsure of how to end the conversation without being awkward he settles for the Bro Clap on your shoulder (totally not awkwa r d) and promises to get at you later 

-”I’ll dm you later ok? See ya!” he turns leaving you with a cool wave over his shoulder but he has the biggest grin on his face

Saburo:

-Oh god Saburo’s first date

-It’s his first date

-”Baby’s first date haha” “Shut up, maggot”

-He’s so nervous please help him

-He doesn’t have a clue how he was able to invite you out for the weekend let alone get away with calling it a date

-He’d be stroking his big fat ego if he didn’t feel like he was going to collapse- but he’ll be fine he has to be

-After all it’s just the aquarium! He actually likes the aquarium unlike the idiotic suggestions The Lesser One gave him (he would never go to the mall by choice). But he found the specimens kept at the aquarium to be interesting.

-Also Ichiro said he’d “chaperone” as his support (which Saburo would have never asked his Ichinii to do so in any other situation but…it’s a date. This is not his area of expertise. No matter how much research he had done on what to do and what not to do his anxiety never went away.)

-The plan was to meet the Yamada brothers at the aquarium and sure enough you couldn’t miss the two freakishly tall boys (one waving with both hands and the other meekly raising one hand in greeting)

-Ichiro took the lead, introducing himself on the way in and thanking you for taking care of Saburo (Saburo’s cheeks may have tinged a light pink at that)

-After making your way in Ichiro said he’d get out of y’alls hair and to text him if you needed anything

-Then you were both alone

-Saburo squashes the feeling of unease settling in his stomach and whips out a map of the building, asking if there was an exhibit you’d like to see first and then set off when you’ve made your pick

-At the exhibit he finds himself wanting to tell you what he knows about this particular species but he doesn’t want to annoy you or seem like he’s bragging about his knowledge (thats what kids at school usually assume- and although he Is known to brag he also like to share facts for fun)

-He starts slowly, “You know these animals are actually very interesting..”

-When you turn away from the exhibit to look at him and prompt him to speak more he’s actually startled and stutters a bit before continuing 

-You tell him that what he said was interesting and these animals were cooler than you thought!

-Oh. Oh.

-Saburo’s face feels warm as he opens the map again

-You guys laugh at the otters, marvel at the jellyfish and pet the little stingrays (Saburo was honestly a little reluctant at first but you coax him into it easily and the smile he wears when he touched one is a sweet little thing)

-He was becoming more eager to share his random information with you and you were just as entertained to listen

-He also laughs with you if you point out something funny the animals are doing

-”Hehe T-Pose crab.” “T-Pose cr a b” (these r what kids b talkin about dont @ me)

-He found himself loosening up around you qwq

-You guys eventually reach the gift shop and Saburo’s immediately drawn to these little sting ray plushies (they remind him of Mantyke from pokemon hehe) and he really wants one but…should he? In front of you?

-You catch him staring at them and then get a crazy idea: you both get one

-His cheeks flush immediately and before he can protest with something stupid you pick one up and give it to him while taking one for yourself. 

-Saburo was so caught off guard that he almost forgot to offer to pay (its Gentlemanly, Jiro, not Manly you fucking imbecile-)

-(Regardless MC BB taught them well)

-After you both snap a pic of your matching pokemon plushies, Saburo texts Ichiro asking if he could take you guys to McDonalds and Ichiro is fucking on it bro

-You all leave to get some McNuggies and make fun of the new Lion King toys because that shit is nasty (i know Hypmic is set in the near future but have you considered: i do what i please)

-It’s sundown by the time you all finish eating so Ichiro insists they accompany you home

-When you all reach your place Ichiro fakes a phone call and leaves you kids to be anxious alone

-Saburo says he hopes you had a good time and that if you’re ever free on the weekend again maybe you could hang out? If you’d like to…. (Ichiro fist pumps from behind the corner)

-You tell him of course you would and his cheeks grow warm again and he stutters out an “O-Okay!” and that he’ll keep in touch and he smiles and you smile and its cute bro

-He leaves you with a “I’ll see you at school” and a small wave

-He tries to keep his face neutral when Ichiro asks him how it went (and that his Mantyke plush is cute) but he fails horribly, a slow smile creeping onto his features

♡

WOO finally finished these for a second time! i still had a lotta fun writing them though!! the rest of the divisions will be up shortly ;3c thanks for requesting!! 💖💗💕

[thewritewolf]

Nino’s Quest Chapter 5: On the Road

The gang hits the forest road as they make their way to the capital.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 (Final)

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3.  My ko-fi.

Lord DM: Alright dudes whatre we thinking.

Marinoodles: Did I ever get that journal decoded?

Lord DM: Yup! It basically just backs up what the dude was saying He had a master. A true Necromancer There are hints of a plot. Like raising legions of the dead Some harsh stuff, to be sure

Alya’ll Beware: I don’t like the sound of that We need to get the truth out there

Marinoodles: Hm… i dunno If everyone knows, that might bring panic And gives the Necromancer warning

Adrien Regreste: We should do something though Is there someone higher up that we can talk to?

Marinoodles: Right! That’s a great idea! If we’re in a kingdom… maybe we can talk to the king?

Lord DM: It’ll take a while. Two weeks to reach the capital.

Adrien Regreste: That’s not great Is there any shortcuts we can take?

Lord DM: If you go through the forest, sure But its lawless Tons of bandits And worse It’ll shave a week off the trip though

Alya’ll Beware: So we get there in double time AND we get to smash some baddies? Sounds like only upsides, babe

Marinoodles: We say that now Let’s see how we feel after an ambush

Adrien Regreste: With someone as clever as you with us, how can they ever catch us by surprise? :3

Marinoodles: Thank you! :D <3

Lord DM: to be clear, you are choosing to go through the forest?

Marinoodles: Yuppers!

Adrien Regreste: Yes! >:3

Alya’ll Beware: Did I stutter?

Lord DM: Nice. I’ll see you guys at Marinette’s on Saturday then.

-----------------------

Nino entered the Dupain-Cheng home with his bag slung across his shoulder. Immediately, the delicious scent of baked goods hit him and he took a deep breath to enjoy it. The food was probably his favorite reason for them hanging out here. It was nice to know that he wouldn’t be leaving hungry.

As he walked into the living room, he saw Tom and Sabine playing Ultimate Mecha Strike. They were so into their game that they had failed to notice his arrival. At a passing glance, it looked like Tom was winning, but even as he watched that seemed less and less certain.

“Sup, dudes.”

Tom glanced toward him before returning his attention to the screen. A wide grin split his face. “Nino! Great to see you. How’s it hangin’, son?”

Chuckling, Nino replied, “S’alright. Wait, aren’t you two usually in the bakery this time of day?”

“We’re closed today,” Sabine chimed in. “Bakery holiday.”

“Yeah? What holiday is that?”

“Beating Tom’s butt at Ultimate Mecha Strike holiday.” She laughed as she delivered the final move on her husband’s character, winning her the game. “But more seriously, we’re just on a break. Marinette is using the kitchen right now.” She turned around to look at him now that the match was over. “I assume that has to do with why you’re here?”

“Yeah! I’m pretty pumped for another session of Dungeons and Dragons.”

“Oh! I remember playing that years ago. It was a fun way to spend time with friends back in the day. It’s nice to see you kids still playing it.”

Tom leaned back and crossed his arms. “I never got into roleplaying games, myself. I found my love in fighting games, and I never could stray.”

“Mhm, such a shame that love doesn’t translate to skill,” Sabine replied with a smirk. Tom shook his head with a chuckle.

“Well, I have to let you win every once in awhile. Otherwise you’d stop playing completely and I’d only have Marinette to fight.”

“Uh-huh.” Sabine rolled her eyes playfully as she stood, straightening her dress as she did so. “Let’s get back to the bakery, sweetheart. The kids need space for their game.” She gave Nino a wink as she returned to the shop, Tom in tow behind her.

Once he was alone, Nino got to work setting things up. He had high hopes for today’s session, and a few tricks up his sleeves to keep the party from getting complacent.

-------------

“The villagers gather in the town square to see you off. Your backpacks are full of supplies and your spirits are high as you go down the Old Road.” His friends listened intently as they munched on freshly baked macaroons. “By the time you’re ready to set up camp for the night, you’ve already entered the forest.”

“Oh, cool!” Alya nodded. “Plenty of firewood, at least. Who are we going to send out for that?”

Marinette tapped at her chin. “Well, since it’s pretty dangerous around here, I should go. I’m pretty good at avoiding danger.”

“Sounds like a great plan,” Adrien said. “I’ll start setting up the tents.”

“I guess I’ll sharpen my sword while I wait for the campfire.” Alya shrugged. “Can’t cook without it.”

“Right.” Nino made a quick perception roll. The bandits nearby were well hidden and always prepared to ambush travellers that set down this road. Marinette didn’t have much of a chance to spot them, but-

His eyes widened, his jaw drops, and he just barely resisted the urge to face palm.

She’d gotten a natural twenty.

“Okay - Marinette, as you are gathering firewood your keen elven eyes notice faint, barely noticeable marks in the trees. Your eyes widen as you recognize them as a crude thieves’ cant. Probably the work of bandits.”

She sucks in a sharp breath. “I see… Do I have any idea where they are at?”

“Do you want to look around?”

“...Sure.”

“Roll for stealth.” He nodded as she rolled high - because of course she did. “Right, you find their camp well positioned at the base of a hill. Even the glow of their fire and the smoke is easily hidden from most vantage points, but you’ve managed to find it. By your count, there is probably ten of them.”

“Gotcha. I’ll head back to camp and get the others.”

Adrien’s fingers drummed along the table as he watched Marinette. “How are we going to take them down?”

“Yeah, M. What’s your plan?”

“Wah- Why do I have to come up with the plan?”

“Well…” Adrien rubbed the back of his neck. “You’re kind of the best at it? So far, none of them have failed yet.”

“We’re gonna need it too.” Alya stretched. “Otherwise, we don’t stand a chance against those numbers. Something tells me bandits are going to be tougher customers than kobolds.”

“Um…” Marinette furrowed her eyebrows. “Well, we could sneak into the camp. Take out a few of them unaware, maybe light some fires to cause panic. That’d at least even the odds.” She shrugged. “We’d have to get pretty lucky though.”

“With you in our team, we’ve got luck to spare!” Adrien shot her a winning grin.

Nino took a sip of hot chocolate. “Alright, so you approach the lip of the cliff where you can look down at the camp. From there you can make more plans, but first… roll for stealth.”

It wouldn’t be that difficult of a roll. Night was falling, there were plenty of trees, and the bandits expected them to still be at their roadside camp. With Marinette leading the way, there shouldn’t have been any difficulties. Everything seemed fine when Marinette and Alya rolled decent enough.

But they didn’t factor in Adrien’s consistently poor rolling. A dreaded natural one reared its ugly head and Nino couldn’t help but chuckle as Adrien stared, dumbfounded at the traitorous die.

Cracking his knuckles, Nino leaned forward. “Alright, so let me give you the deets about what just happened. You’re all walking along, right? Most of you being supes stealthy.” He turns toward Adrien, who was looking like a kicked puppy right about now. “Then there’s this guy. He’s doing his best. But there is only so much you can do when you trip on a root and cause a bunch of loose stones to go sliding down the cliff.”

Alya winced as Marinette patted Adrien on the back. “How bad is it, babe? Did they notice?”

“Yeah, they’re totally awake now. You can even see a few of them aiming bows in your direction.” He leaned back and took another sip. “What do you do?”

They all faced Marinette, who was still absentmindedly rubbing Adrien’s back. He didn’t seem to mind, though. She hummed as she thought. Then her eyes went wide. “Wait. You said a root knocked some rocks loose?”

Nino gave her a cautious look. “...Yeah?”

“So that means the cliff is unstable! We could cause a rockslide and bury their camp!”

Not for the first time that night, Nino’s jaw dropped as the party cheered. He held up his hands for silence. “Okay, so is that what you guys are going to spend your turns on?”

“You bet, babe!” Alya was grinning.

“Right, well, the bandits are going to start firing on you then.” He rolled, but with the darkness and the cover, the arrows went wide. “Okay, another turn of working then?” At their nod, he rolled again with no better luck. On the inside, he sighed. “Again?”

When they confirmed, he set his dice down and leaned forward into storyteller mode. “Right, so after some quick thinking and quicker work, you manage to loosen the soil enough that a firm strike sends an earth slide towards the camp. Most of the bandits are crushed instantly, and the survivors are no match for all four of you.”

The three of them cheered and Nino couldn’t help but clap along with them. Adrien had pulled Marinette into a half hug, quickly followed by Alya. It was all very overwhelming for their de facto leader.

While they were distracted, Nino surreptitiously opened his notes and took out the sections about them getting captured by bandits and introduced to the bandit lord. He’d have to wing it for the rest of the session, but he couldn’t help but feel proud of them. They were even more clever than he had expected, Marinette especially.

With an evil grin, he realized that this meant he could be even more devious to match.

[supercasey]

So I watched Batman Ninja with my buddy Jason the other night...

Under a readmore because I'm screaming and y'all normal people don't need to see this shitshow.

So, like, to begin with; the animation is gorgeous- I will in no way try to deny that- and does a lot of cool things with the art style. You can tell a lot of work went into this movie, and while I personally find it so bad that it's funny, I'm not gonna shit on anyone who likes this film more seriously. (Also, I'm gonna shit on the outfits a lot, so sorry if that comes off as unintentionally racist. I am white and stupid.)

However, other than that... What the shit??? Was that??? I'm still reeling 48 hours later.

The basic plot of this wild ass movie (that I could figure out): Gorilla Grodd has built a time machine so he can go back in time and rule over Feudal Japan and change history (it never really specifies why he chose Japan of all places but go off, DC). He brings Deathstroke (my fav obviously), The Penguin, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, and The Joker + Harley Quinn (because if you want your plans to work you should absolutely bring in the disaster piece of shit that is The Joker).

Also Catwoman is here but from what I can tell it was accidental on her part/I think she's the one who fucked up the time machine??? Unclear.

So everyone goes to the past, including Batman, Alfred, and all the Robins (Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, and Damian Wayne as Robin) (none of the girls but let's be honest, I think they dodged a fucking bullet).

Batman ends up behind everyone else during the time traveling??? Not really explained, but now everyone has been in Japan for two years and Catwoman has depression.

Okay onto me rambling:

They have this scene where every villain gets a title card/one-liner, and everyone else but Deathstroke gets a line that fits their shtick. I feel like they had no idea what to do for a pun/joke, so there's just a literal pause then "... Yeah :)" from Deathstroke. I straight up scream-laughed so fucking hard.

All the Robins look so fucking stupid except for Tim. Nightwing looks like Goku, Red Hood has the tallest bucket on his head I've ever seen, and Damian's hair... good fucking lord.

Also, Damian is completely out of character. The people making this movie, I think, have never read a comic with Damian, and just made him into "annoyingly happy child character that is annoying as all fuck and talks to animals for no reason except Baby" and let me tell you, I got such whiplash from seeing that. Also Damian and Red Hood are apparently voiced by the same guy and my buddy Jason is freaking out about it lmao.

Joker's fucking UGLY next question.

Harley sounds low-key annoying in this film but that might just be me... feels like a lot of people who try to voice her make their voices as high-pitched as possible and it's very grating after awhile.

There's an amnesia plot??? Where Harley and Joker get amnesia after a boat fire??? Red Hood beats the fuck out of them and while I feel bad for Harley, fuck Joker, he can die. They get their memories back by seeing a plant... that looks like Joker's face... as my boy Deathstroke would say: "... Yeah."

There's a clan of Batman ninjas from the past and, tbh, they look pretty fucking cool and I thought they were a really neat concept. Doesn't excuse the bat ghost thing.

OH GOD THE ENDING FIGHT

Through a series of unfortunate events, Gorilla Grodd and all the other villains start fighting each other in giant mechas in order to decide who will rule Japan because of course they do.

My favorite parts from the villain fights:

Two-Face's robot is the shit of nightmares. At one point Deathstroke and Grodd are going at it, Two-Face gets between them, then FLIPS A COIN FOR WHO HE'LL BEAT ON (very in-character I guess but I was still screeching). Btw, he chooses to attack Grodd, and Slade just stands back like "... Yeah :)"

Can you tell that I'm not over that stupid line yet?

PENGUIN HAS SEMI-SENTIENT PENGUINS WORKING ON THE INSIDE OF HIS ROBOT WTF!?!? WHERE DID HE GET THEM!?

Poison Ivy is beautiful, next question.

Okay, back to everything in general:

Grodd reveals that he has been low-key mind controlling all of the other villains this entire time, and that he's the one who made everyone build giant robots. He attempts to take full control of everyone, but Joker does instead. This is maybe the most sane part of this entire goddamn movie.

ALL OF THE ROBOTS MORE OR LESS FORM VOLTRON, LADS!!!

So now our heroes (Batman, the Batsquad, and the Batclan) need to take on this giant robot... so what's a boy to do? Well, if you're Damian Wayne in this movie, you get a magic flute from Grodd after he nearly dies for you, and with the help of your baby monkey friend, summon an army of millions of monkeys that form a giant monkey.

This is a Batman movie. Just thought I'd remind y'all of that.

At first it doesn't work, but don't worry! Another monkey (wearing a pink bow to remind us that she's a girl and the other monkey's love interest) comes and helps Damian play the flute better so the monkeys are better.

Monkeys still aren't enough, so with the power of bats and probably a lot of weed being smoked, the bats that came out of literally nowhere form a giant Batman to punch Voltron.

(Side note: they destroy the arm that Deathstroke was controlling so I don't know why he isn't dead. Never explained. He isn't even really hurt!!!)

The Robins enter Voltron to fight the villains because Joker loses control of everyone: Nightwing vs Penguin, Red Hood vs Deathstroke, and I forget the other match-ups, but nothing matters except that Red Hood walking up to Deathstroke and saying "Tell you what... I'll let you take the first shot" was badass and the best part of the movie.

Too bad we didn't get full fights scenes between everyone 🙃

Batman nearly died??? But lived??? I was so lost at this point and probably should've been paying better attention, but I was too busy trying to convince myself this wasn't a fever dream.

They got back to the present and everyone lived happily ever after, the end :)

Notes: I'm sure I missed some shit but Jesus fucking Christmas, it was a wild ride from start to finish. It was, like, not that great storytelling wise, but it was so bad it was funny??? It was the "The Room" of Animated Batman films.

Batman is a fucking HIMBO in this movie. I dunno how to exactly explain it, but he makes so many stupid ass decisions throughout the movie, it's so funny. When he's trying to blend in with the townsfolk HE LITERALLY CUTS HIS HAIR TO HAVE THE BATSYMBOL ON THE TOP OF HIS FUCKING HEAD!!! WHO APPROVED THIS MOVIE!?!?

I have decided that Deathstroke didn't die because trans rights. Is he canon trans? Well, he is in my heart.

Jason Todd's voice actor did a great job with him, tbh I wish he had been more prominent in the movie.

I literally forgot Tim and Dick were there most of the time they were so unneeded in the plot.

I hated Damian but whatever.

I honestly did enjoy the movie, but probably not for the reasons the creators wanted me to. Again, nothing against the creators, but this was such an odd movie for 90% of it's run time.

7/10 would watch again, if only because it was so funny and nonsensical.

Ratings all together:

Animation: 10/10

Voice Acting: 7/10

Story (If taken seriously): 2/10

Story (if not serious): 8/10

All together; watch this if you're a Batman fan that feels like having a hilarious time and doesn't mind seeing your favorite characters be OOC or doing weird shit. I feel like this movie is best enjoyed on call/while hanging out with friends.

[natsthinkitythinkthinkthonk]

SSSS.GRIDMAN - Thoughts

I finished that whirlwind of an anime! On my quest to finish a lot of anime I missed in 2018, Gridman was at the top of my list! My brother recommended it after finishing it, and I can say that *ahem* I actually enjoyed it. I usually do not like mecha, and even though this show is far from original (it’s a parody of the original Ultraman) I found myself admiring the world they built. 

I can say that if you don’t like fanservice, this is not the anime for you. I’m not a fan of fanservice, but I am not deterred so easily. Let me put it this way, the director (forget the exact position) requested thicc ass and thighs and boobs just go without saying at this point. It wasn’t disgusting like some ecchi out there, but they will make their presence known. I found that it got in the way sometimes though. If it means anything, the female characters have a lot of good moments together, and this anime (in its entirety) does pass the Bechdel test.

Bechdel Test:

The work has to have at least two women in it,

who talk to each other,

about something besides a man.

Story and Characters

Yuuta Hibiki is a first-year student in high school living in Tsutsujidai who wakes up without his memories. Yuuta later meets Hyper Agent GRIDMAN who is inside an old computer. Yuuta's quest to fight Kaiju and to discover the meaning behind these events along with finding his memories begins.

The synopsis I made was a bit vague, but that’s what it’s about essentially. In terms of the story, it seems quite light and not that deep, but it doesn’t stay that way for too long. The fights aren’t meaningless, and it’s not a “my power is greater than yours” type of thing. It slowly builds up until a few episodes from the end. While I think the plot twists they pulled were cliche, I still found it exciting. I think I’m going to stop treading around spoilers and just say the plot twists very vaguely. It has to do with creation itself, the meaning of existence, and what is humanity, what is the world, and who are these characters exactly? It will have you questioning everything at times because they don’t answer all the questions they set up (leaving viewers to theorize for themselves). I will include my personal two cents below. But hopefully, that explains enough without spoiling everything. And if you don’t like plot, there are giant robots and fanservice (I say this sarcastically, but I know there are people out there). 

In terms of characters, we have a likeable cast for the most part. I think I wanted the female characters NOT to be overshadowed by the fanservice, but *shrugs* it was inevitable. They both contributed a lot to the show besides the camera angles and sexualized shots. It’s a shame that the focus was taken off that. Besides that, the cast is nice, and I didn’t have any character that I hated enough to say, “TAKE THEM OUT”. In fact, the character I didn’t like still ended up playing a large role and was still cool overall. 

I feel like they could’ve done more with best girl Rikka, but that’s just my opinion.

Art

Studio Trigger is known for its fluid animation, awesome fight scenes, and fanservice. With its main series being Kill La Kill and the notorious Darling in the FranXX (seriously, their robot design is whack), this isn’t too surprising that they took this on. Both are essentially known for fanservice everywhere, and DITF is known for its *ahem* big robots. But this studio is also known for Little Witch Academia, Inferno Cop, and Kiznaiver which aren’t as sexualized from what I hear. Although it's not that old, Trigger has made their presence known. 

The animation in this was pretty darn good. It did everything I wanted (I AM NOT REFERRING TO THE DARN FANSERVICE. I AM TALKING ABOUT FIGHT SCENES). The robots were awesome-looking, and the fights were over-the-top explosive and fun to watch. I’m not a fan of mecha but watching these detailed human-like machines fight and battle each other was exciting!

[”GET ‘EM!!!” - me in the background]

But yeah, the fanservice is heavy to the point where it overshadows the female characters’ actions and sometimes what they’re saying even if it’s important to plot. I don’t mind giving the characters idealic bodies. I just mind the extent of the animators going, “Hey! Did we mention this character has great [insert body part]? Let’s do a pan(ty) shot! How about some yuri baiting?” Ships are built on the actions and what people say and the relationship, not by bait. Most of the gifs that pop up when I search “ssss.gridman” has to do with these shots. There’s even a thing up that’s promoting the body pillow covers with these characters-- I’ll leave it at that. Just a reminder that these are first-year high schoolers. Let’s enjoy some non-sexualized gifs that respect these girls but also pay respect to their design (look at those eyes).

Gridman himself says that he wouldn’t have been able to do it without her. She provides good reasoning and insight. She isn’t afraid to speak up and has more connections than the two other characters. She’s also quite capable and smart just like the other characters. She’s the most normal and down-to-earth. In that way, she reminds me of Hiyori from Noragami.

She is one of the main characters too! She’s mysterious and works her magic behind the scenes. She’s crafty, witty, idealistic, and she’s really creative. She has unique interests that truly drive the series.

Sound

THE OP AND THE ED ARE BOTH AMAZING! I REALLY LIKE OP AND ED. I DOWNLOADED BOTH.

The score provides a lot too! I can’t say it’s the type where I say, “I’m downloading the OST” but for twelve episodes, I sure got hyped when the OST took flight.

I really liked the voice acting for this. Both Yuuya Hirose and Yume Miyamoto are new to voice acting, but Yume has been acting for a long time since she’s in the large famous group called the Himawari Theatre Group which seems to farm talented youth like Kouki Uchiyama, Miyu Irino, Mamoru Miyano, Ryohei Kimura, Yuuto Uemura, and Sumire Morohoshi just to name some off the top of my head. Yume has range, but I really liked the voice she used for Rikka. I really want to hear her take on more roles. Hikaru Midorikawa playing Gridman was also great because it was like a senior leading the youth. Soma Saito was in the main cast too! He was in a few anime that season. He was good comic relief, and he fits the character so well. Reina Ueda has impressed me with her performances in supporting roles in anime like ReLife and Net-juu no Susume, but this was even better. I really look forward to seeing her in more roles soon. The rest of the cast was filled with people I’ve heard before with exception to Ryousuke Takahashi as Calibur. Everything else worked out great, but as much as I like Kenichi Suzumura... I think a newbie would’ve fit the role a lot better. That was a bit of a slip-up.

Spoiler Zone

But what do I think happened at the end? Besides leaving us hanging with no reasoning or any sign of a sequel, here’s my hot take:

I think Akane comes from the real world, goes to this world because she's tired of real life and wants to control a setting. She takes this alternative universe and wreaks havoc with the help of the main bad guy. She alters things to the point of no return, but after the disorder has reached its peak, Gridman is called in. She is sent back to her own world with only a select few keeping the memories of this ever happening. She isn't a god, but she was a human given the abilities of one by the villain who represents disorder and corruption himself. Gridman is a being who restores order.

But what about the ships?

As much as there is a ton of material for both Akane x Rikka and Yuuta x Rikka respectively, I think the fact that Akane no longer being around ultimately makes me prefer the other one. Hey, Rikka can be bisexual and still choose Yuuta. They’re good together too.

It’s implied in the end that Gridman chose Yuuta because he sat beside Akane and also because he likes Rikka, and Gridman is also wingman. He worked so hard to get them together. He even said to her in the end that Yuuta will remember his feelings for her (not said whether it’s romantic). 

In the video below, you can see why I ship it because he says he likes her, her main love interest is gone anyway (Akane is no longer in that universe), and I was good with either with me leaning more towards this one anyway because the other ship was a little too allusive, not as straight-forward, and just look at the look on Yuuta’s face. Do you want to break him? Do you want to break his soul? My heart goes out to the poor guy.

The last scene cuts out before you see the true heartbreak on his face. He invites her out for dinner, and she’s like, “Sure!” He does a small “yatta!” then she says, “But fitting all of us would be difficult.”

Me: I’m sorry for your loss. (+f = I have paid my respects)

For these scenes, I don’t think Yuuta was fully asleep or Gridman was really that determined to play wingman.

Edit: @italiantea commented this link which explains a lot of the leftover things! It’s a bit long, but if you’re confused about the ending, you might find this a good read!

https://mobile.twitter.com/i/moments/1076999602388299776

[rw-swan]

Paralyzed (Keith x Anya)

//Listen with headphones to get the full effect.

//Warning: Mentions of death, angst, a whole lot of pain

~

Heavy chest, cold sweat stuck to his skin, tears stained his cheeks as he thrashed on his bed, her name caught in his throat.  Keith woke up, his breath ragged as he clutched the blanket, his fist balled up. He looked around the room with wide eyes, in search for something. But there was nothing and he knew this. He looked to the empty spot on the bed next to him, his heart broke...again.  How was that even possible? Wasn't the loss enough? He found one of her old band shirts and held it close to him, took a deep breath as if that would change the past. It still had the faint smell of coffee, despite the fact that she would constantly do laundry. He looked at the dark fabric, his fingers ran through the letters, a sad smiled tugged his lips. Sleeping With Sirens. Warped 2012. The first of many concerts they went together. Their favorite band.

He missed her. He missed her a lot. He felt like a huge part of him was missing. As if half of his soul disappeared. And it did. Anya was his everything. His other half, his soul mate. The love of his life, his partner in crime. His world. They weren't a perfect couple but they were perfect for each other. They knew each other so well and they've been through so much together that now, without her...Keith can't see himself with anyone else.

Despite the separations life had put them through, they seemed to always find each other. After they were taken into foster care when their dads died, they turned out to be in the same school and soon enough, the same foster home. Then, after their fight at the Garrison, he got kicked out. A couple of months later, she was too. They spent almost a year apart until she happened to stumble into his desert shack and they made the decision to live together as they found out about the Blue Lion. Their adventures in space had given them too many life and death situations but they always end up back together. But not this time. This time, she was gone for good.

*Flashback*

What was only supposed to be an intel mission became something worse and soon Keith's worst nightmare. The team rushed to get to their lions but they were across the battlecruiser and it didn't make it easier when they tried to get past the guards. Anya had been the one who shot at the sentries but there was only so much she could do against so many of them.

"Guys, I can't hold them off much longer! I need to use an explosive to buy us some time," Anya suggested through the comms.

"We would get hit by the blast as well wouldn't we?" Hunk asked after he fired his blaster.

"If we just concentrate on running and give ourselves a boost with our jetpacks, it'll give us enough space to get to our lions and Anya can throw in the bomb," Pidge had calculated.

"Anya, you think that's a good idea?" Keith asked as an uneasy feeling had settled in his stomach. He turned his gaze to her.

"Do you have a better idea because if so, I'm all ears," she raised an eyebrow.

"Do what you have to do, team. Let's just get out of here quick," Shiro attacked sentries in front of them and they all followed with the plan. Anya started to prepare the explosive until she felt a shock through her body and a shot puncturing her skin.

"Ah!" She fell to her knees, gripped her abdomen and Keith looked at her.

"Anya!" he ran to her and held her up. "What happened?"

"I-I don't know but that's our cue to leave," She hissed as she looked at her wound. Keith looked at her in worry and they both head to the group.

"Stop them!" they heard a voice and Anya looked back.

"It's Haggar, should've known it was her" she hissed again and fell to her knees. Keith knelt next to her. "Go on without me. I'll distract them, I'm slowing you down."

"You're insane for suggesting that. I'm not leaving you," Keith shook his head and picked her up bridal style. "Work on your bomb while I walk."

"Can't anymore," Anya let out a sigh and clutched her wound. "Haggar's shock messed with my system." She fixed her guns and began to shoot at the sentries. Keith ran, his mind concerned over Anya's wound as he felt blood seep through her clothing. They got to their lions and Keith set her on her feet.

"Everyone alright?" Shiro asked. "Anya?" He looked at her as she held on to Keith.

"Yeah, I'll be ok. Let's get out of here," she nodded and they all headed to their lions. Anya went towards Shere Khan along with Keith's help. Sentries barged through the doors and the two looked towards them. "Get to Red now. Form Voltron."

"And leave you here to fend them off in your condition? No way," Keith shook his head as he held her up.

"Keith, we don't have time. I'm not completely defenseless. I'm already by Shere Khan, I can handle these guys while you guys handle the battle cruises outside the ship," Anya reasoned with him. Keith gave an unsure look. "Go. I'll plant a bomb here and get out. Don't worry about me." Keith let out a sigh. He knew she was right. He cupped her face and gave her a deep kiss, he hoped it wouldn't be their last.

"I'll see you on the other side kitty," he mumbled after he let her go and made his way to his lion. Anya shot a couple more sentries to cover him as she went in her mecha-tiger but not before another shot pierced through her skin, her hand gripped to her side to stop the blood. As soon as she settled in her seat, she began to shoot as the Lions made their way out of the battlecruiser to form Voltron. Anya was ready to make her escape until the hangar doors were closed. She found herself trapped.

"Uh, guys. We have a problem," Anya spoke through the comms.

"Yeah, no kidding," Hunk agreed, his voice shaken with panic. "This thing has a forcefield. We can't even leave a dent."

"It's given us more blows than we to it," Lance added in.

"Anya, where are you?" Keith asked, his voice filled with worry.

"That's the thing," she let out a sigh. "I'm stuck inside. Hangars are closed and I can't override the system-AH!"

"Anya!" Keith looked at the ship with frantic eyes. "Anya, are you ok?!"

"I'm fine but Shere doesn't look too hot," Anya looked at her dashboard, her brain processed the numbers of Shere Khans' statistical survival. Until an idea was formed. An idea that Keith will hate. But it was the only way. The screams of the team fueled her more.

"We can't shake them!" Lance cried out.

"We need to get out of here!" Hunk suggested.

"Not with Anya in there!" Keith added in, worry shaken through his body.

"Guys, I have an idea!" Anya finally spoke. "Shere Khan is a bomb. I can destroy the ship from the inside."

"But what about you?" Pidge asked.

"I'll be fine. I can manage an escape-" Anya started to reply. Until Keith intervened.

"No," he shook his head. "We'll find another way to get you out without having to do that." He began to think but nothing came up.

"Keith, we don't have time for that. We need a plan now," Shiro tried to reason with him.

"No, this isn't the only way," he felt his voice crack, the pressure of the situation starting to crush him. "It's not, it can't be."

"Keith," Anya appeared on his dashboard. Keith only looked down. He couldn't look at her. "Keith, look at me...please." Keith looked up at her, his jaw stiffed, his fist gripped the handles of his lion. "Trust me. I'll be ok. I'll be out in time." She gave a small reassuring smile but there was a hint of sadness. She had lied and she knew this. She wasn't going to make it out. To activate the bomb, she would have to do it manually. She had designed Shere Khan to automatically shut down or self-destruct if ever taken by an enemy. A self-defense mechanism.

"Anya, you worked so hard on him, you don't have to lose him," Keith tried to convince her. "So I won't lose you."

"Keith, you won't lose me," Anya tried to reassure him. She felt her eyes water and get heavy. She's not gonna cry. Not in front of him. Not at this moment. "Don't worry about me."

"Anya-" Keith felt a tear roll down but he didn't care. This was the only person who loved him and who he loved with all his might. And he's going to lose her.

"I love you Keith," Anya butt in the phrase. The one phrase she never said. She was too scared to say it. But she did. She knew this would be their last.

"Damn it, Anya," Keith choke out. "I love you too."

"I'll see you soon" she cut off the call and took a breath, a tear slipped past. She wiped her eyes and started with the plan.

"Anya just sent me the info about the explosion," Pidge interrupted the silence and Keith wiped his eyes, not being able to do anything else. "We need to start moving or we'll get hit by the blast."

"Alright, team let's go," Shiro called out and they all flew away.

"Guys, we have to get her out!" Keith stopped them as Red faced the cruiser.

"Keith, we have to leave," Lance called out.

"NO! We're getting her out of there!" Keith cried out. But it was too late. In a matter of seconds, an explosion erupted from the inside of the shield, the cruiser burst into pieces, fire surrounded the area. Voltron was pushed back by the explosion. Once they came to a halt, they all looked towards the wreck, their eyes wide in shock. "ANYA!" Keith had gotten out of Red and made his way towards the scene, his breath ragged. His eyes searched for her desperately.

"Anya, where are you?!" He kept his eyes fixed on anything and everything. "Anya, please answer me!" He wanted to believe. He wanted to hope that she made it through. That somehow, someway, she survived.  But he knew the truth. He knew the cold, dark truth. He stopped and just floated in space, the sudden realization seeped through his body. Something caught his attention, he did a double-take and looked to where Shere Khan was. There it was. The reality slapped in his face. The one thing that gave Anya hope. A sense of self. Her necklace. In the midst of the debris. Keith got a hold of it and looked it over. The cord itself was broken as if it was ripped from her neck. He could imagine her clutching it for comfort. For a prayer, a miracle. But he also had a feeling that she held it as a way of letting go. They knew the risks of the war and sometimes sacrifices had to be made. Even their lives. He wanted to think of better things but right here, right now, he couldn't muster the thought. All he could think of was that he lost her. He, once again, felt alone. And this time, nothing was going to fix him.

*Back to Present*

So there he was, decided to make his way to the training deck, his heart heavy, his eyes dry from all the sleepless and tearful nights. The empty feeling in his arms. The neverending sense of her as if she was there but knows that she was gone. He fought the gladiator, yells and cries echoed around the deck. He didn't care if he woke up everyone else. The team knew what he felt and there was nothing they could do. Keith defeated the gladiator and sat on his knees, his sword used for support. He let out a shaky breath, tears rolled down his cheeks, the droplets stained the floor. He clutched the edge of his sword, the sting of the sharpness as the blade pierced his skin. He didn't care. He needed to feel something. He was never the kind to think or give himself pain but without Anya, he felt so bleak. Empty. Incomplete. She was his best friend before they got together. Their entire lives, they were by their sides. He couldn't move. He couldn't get up. He felt helpless. He felt...

[kprciffdw]

Kim Possible: The Extremely Secret Files-Part 30

It was a very tough battle and both sides are showing to put up a good fight. Soon enough, Clank would be taken by surprise from a secret weapon. Drakken: "Shego, let's present them with a most…unexpected and nasty little surprise of ours." Shego: "With pleasure, doc!"

Shego had her hands placed into a device that looked like a clear sphere on a tube. The sphere had 2 large holes for her to place her hands into. Within the sphere, her hands glowed the same bright green glow from the energy of her powers. That energy flowed into the tube.

From directly outside, the mecha charged that energy and shot it out of its hands. Shego: "Whoa, not bad, Dr. D." Drakken: "Heh! What can I say? Evil genius!" Shego: "Can you tell me of anything else that this mecha can do?" Drakken: "In due time, Shego. In due time."

Ron watched from back inside the space station. Ron: "Whoa! Did you see that? I had no idea they were able to come up with something like that!" Wade: "Hm, seems as though Drakken's learned a few new tricks." Ron: "But what can we do?" Wade: "Hm…got it! I have something that may help out. Hang on, I'll try to establish communications with the others."

From directly outside, a part of Wade's vendor appeared, displaying a holographic image of Wade. Wade: "Kim, Ratchet. Can you guys hear me?" Kim: "Go, Wade, we're listening." Wade: "I have something that might be able to tip the scales in your favor." Ratchet: "I sure hope so. That's some weapon that Drakken's built." Kim: "That energy beam was very similar to Shego's hand lasers. Do you think Drakken has managed to build a weapon a lot like it?" Wade: "I would say he's built one to amplify her powers so it could be used as a weapon." Kim: "Think you can counteract this with a nasty surprise of your own?" Wade: "Absolutely, I just need to upload it into Clank's program." Ratchet: "We'll take anything, Wade. Right, Clank?"

Clank gave out a thumbs up. Kim: "Do it, Wade!"

Wade got onto uploading his device into Clank. The palm of Clank's hands started glowing. Kim: "What will that do?" Wade: "Wait till Clank catches one of Shego's amplified energy projectiles to find out."

The mecha shot out another one of Shego's green energy beams. Clank caught the energy in his hands then shot it back at the mecha, greatly damaging it. Drakken: "Hey! No fair, that's cheating!" Ratchet: "Oh, stop whining, Drakken. Clank carried out a very clever move and you know it!" Kim: "Well done, Wade. You came through for us again." Wade: "I'll go work on more projects that can help you guys out."

His holographic image turned off temporarily. Drakken's mecha managed to recover from the attack. Drakken: "Gah! Don't think you and you little pals are getting off easy after pulling off that cheap trick. I will be the one who will be triumphant when this is all over." Kim: "Oh, I would not count on that, Drakken." Ratchet: "Heh! We'll see to it that we're the ones who will win this. Keep at it, Clank; you're doing great."

They continued on the fight.

Ron continued watching. Ron: "Whoa! That was so cool! What else can you do, Wade? You…do have more tricks you've been dying to use, right?" Wade: "As a matter of fact, I already have a clever plan in mind, but I will need some help from you and Rufus." Ron: "Just tell us what we need to do and we'll do it." Rufus: "Uh-huh!" Wade: "OK, now, go over to the main console and place the Kimmunicator on it." Ron: "Got it!"

He walked over to one of the consoles and placed the Kimmunicator on it. Ron: "OK, so now what?" Wade: "I'm going to access the system via the WiFi connection of the Kimmunicator." Ron: "And do what?" Wade: "I plan to take absolute control over the system so I can activate the space station's self-destruct sequence. Once you, Kim, Ratchet and Clank leave from there, I will detonate this abominable killing machine once and for all." Ron: "That includes us dragging Drakken and Shego back to Earth with us, right?" Wade: "Of course." Ron: "Uh, that all sounds great, Wade and I would love to see this terrible weapon be blown to bits, but what about Dr. P.? Aren't those horrible men going to do something really bad to him if we destroy this place instead of giving in to their demands of having it returned?" Wade: "Don't worry, that's already being taken care of. Let's just focus on what we need to do here." Ron: "Uh…OK…check! Go for it, Wade."

Wade got to work on his computer. Ron looked up with a concerned look on his face. Ron: "I…sure hope everything does turn out alright. KP, Ratchet, Clank…"

Back outside, the fight against Drakken's mecha continued on. Drakken: "Hmph! Don't think you have us beat, yet, Kim Possible! Shego, it's time to unleash our other secret weapon." Shego: "Sure thing, Dr. D. Here comes the pain!"

Shego charged her hand powers into the machine again. Shortly afterwards, the mecha shot out a massive shockwave, which struck Clank directly, causing severe damage to him. Ratchet: "Whoa! Didn't think they would be capable of that!" Drakken: "(laugh) Bet you didn't see that coming!" Ratchet: "Uh, I just said that!" Drakken: "No you didn't! Did he?" Shego: "Uh, yeah, he did; he just phased it differently than you." Drakken: "Hm, I suppose he did…maybe…I think. Oh, well, it doesn't matter. The point is I built something that will really give us the upper hand! Soon, we will have Kim Possible and her friends beat and the Earth will be ours! (laugh)" Ron: "Oh, man, this isn't good. Drakken will lay a serious beat down on them. Wade, do something!" Wade: "Hang tight, Ron. I have just the thing that will help out with this."

Wade's image was projected again near Kim. Wade: "Kim, are you still OK?" Kim: "Wade, please tell me you have another trick that will deal with this other weapon?" Wade: "Better than that, you already have it. I just need to intensify the frequency and that shockwave weapon will be put out of commission." Kim: "Uh, what? You know what? I don't care! Just do whatever it is you need to do!" Wade: "Gladly."

With a few clicks on his keyboard, he managed to greatly increase the intensity of the disrupter device, which let out a shockwave that disabled the mecha's weapon. Drakken: "What the…!? What's happening!?" Ratchet: "It worked! I didn't know the disrupter device could do that!" Wade: "Uh…it…kind of didn't…the device is still a work in progress." Ratchet: "Heh! I don't care! That was amazing!" Drakken: "Drat! The shockwave emitter has been disabled! I didn't expect THAT to happen!" Shego: "Got any more bright ideas, Dr. D.?" Drakken: "Yes! No more playing around! It's time we finish this! Let's lay a serious beat down on them, Shego!" Shego: "Yes! Now you're speaking my language!"

The mecha then fought back against Clank with excessive force. Ratchet: "I guess playtime's over. Fine with me; I was getting tired of their toys. Let 'em have it, Clank!"

Clank fought back and the real fight has truly began to heat up.

[roseymoseyberry]

Early (one-shot)

Don’t mind me sliding in here with this commission for @scraplet! They asked for Megatron/Minimus goodness and how could I say no?? Love these bots and had a blast with this commission.

Link to AO3 will be here once I get it up there later tonight or tomorrow.

Title: Early

Series: MTMTE

Ship: Megatron/Minimus

Rating/warnings: R for that Robofucking. Aka sticky interfacing and fluff happening on several surfaces in Megatron’s habsuite. 

When Minimus was on shift, he didn’t look forward to the end of it. There was no point – thinking about how much time was left didn’t make it pass any faster, and in fact just led to being less productive while waiting that same amount of time. It was a useless mental exercise that resulted in subpar work.

It didn’t escape him that until recently that had been an easy philosophy to follow since work was, in fact, the highlight of Ultra Magnus’s day. When it was over he was left with spare time that he had no one to share it with. Or, at least, no one that he felt comfortable reaching out to in that manner.

But, for better or worse, his time on the Lost Light had changed that.

Minimus was actually able to exist outside of Ultra Magnus. Minimus had friends and companions. Minimus could have, Primus save him, fun.

And at that moment, Minimus was checking his chronometer for the third time in practically as many minutes, holding back an exasperated ex-vent.

It was a matter of minutes, certainly, but that was no excuse for his behavior. There was plenty that Minimus could finish up in that amount of time, signatures he could add to requests from crewmembers, stamps of rejection on others, that much less work for the next day—

But all that Minimus could think about was the mech waiting for him. It had been—Primus, he didn’t like to do that particular math, but it had been well over a month since Megatron and he had been able to spend any extended period of time together that wasn’t spent recharging. While there was a spark-deep comfort he would have never guessed could be found curled up in Megatron’s arms while recharging, it wasn’t quite enough at times when Minimus knew what other highly pleasurable experiences that same frame could give him.

Minimus had a lover now and it had turned his world upside down, and as he checked his chronometer yet again he wondered, for the first time in his functioning, if he couldn’t just leave his shift early.

“You’re early,” was Megatron’s comment as he opened his habsuite door. It wasn’t accusatory or judgmental – truthfully, the captain just looked surprised.

Minimus still felt his spark pulse a little faster though as he nodded.

“I left my shift early.”

“Oh?” It was subtle, so much so that Minimus wouldn’t have noticed if his field hadn’t been reaching for Megatron’s, but Megatron’s field flickered with warmth. “Run out of work to be done for the day?”

“No,” Minimus admitted and Megatron’s lips started to lift at the corners. “Rather, I decided it would be best to finish those tasks at a later date when I wasn’t so distracted.”

“Distracted, you say?”

Minimus’s frame warmed with the timbre of Megatron’s rumbling voice and the way those optics were practically devouring him on the spot. How the captain managed to make him feel so desirable was a mystery to Minimus, but Primus how it worked. Were it not for millions of years of memories to insist otherwise, Minimus could have sworn that they were a couple of newly forged mecha with the way his spark fluttered in its casing.

“Indeed. Perhaps you could assist me with that?” A terrible line that Minimus would have regretted immediately if Megatron hadn’t in turn held out his servo to Minimus.

“With pleasure.”

Minimus laid his servo in Megatron’s and let himself be led inside. It was only a couple of steps and the sliding shut of the door before all of Minimus’s thoughts melted away as his frame was easily lifted, his arms already reaching to wrap around Megatron’s shoulders while the captain laid claim to his lips. For all that he once was, no one would know it from the way that Megatron kissed. It was the kind of kiss one would read about in silly romance stories -- just the soft press of lips at first, firm but patient as they molded with Minimus's. It was only as Megatron got Minimus settled in his grip, one arm slung under the smaller mech's aft and the other bracing up his back so his servo could cradle the back of Minimus's neck, that his glossa finally slipped from between his lips, more a question than demand.

Minimus moaned his relinquishment as he gladly let his captain lick into mouth.

His back gently hit the back of the closed door, Megatron's arm slipping out from behind him once Minimus's weight was stable against the surface.

Where Minimus had expected the slow build to continue, however, he instead found his frame jostled as now both large servos were under his aft. Megatron's impossibly powerful frame lifted him with ease until his legs, which had been hooked around Megatron's waist, now settled atop his shoulders.

"Megatron!" Minimus gasped, both surprised and scandalized as Megatron's digits splayed across his aft to hold and caress and his lips immediately found their way against Minimus's array cover. Megatron chuckled and the ex-vent brushing against Minimus's rapidly warming metal had him shuddering in turn.

"You're not the only one who's been distracted today. I've been counting the hours until this moment, and then the minutes," Megatron purred, the rumbling of his vocalizer tickling the sensitive cover. "I would have resorted to counting the seconds if you had not arrived early."

"You're exaggerating," Minimus insisted, even as his legs curled around the armor of Megatron's shoulders, one shin lifting to nudge his helm closer. Impatience must have been contagious as Minimus allowed his panels to shift away without the lingering foreplay they usually engaged in. Megatron hummed his pleasure to be allowed in so easily, dipping forward to drag his glossa along the seam of Minimus's valve. Minimus's helm fell back against the door with a thunk and a soft groan.

Primus, it had been far, far too long since Minimus had had the time to indulge himself in Megatron's ministrations.

"I assure you it's no exaggeration." Megatron's ex-vent felt cool against Minimus's moist valve, and he had to admit that not all of the slickness was from Megatron's glossa and lips. "And that's without speaking to how I have had the delight of having the Minimus Ambus leave his shift early to be in my arms. If you weren't interested in my impatience, you shouldn't have fanned the flames."

Megatron retained his collected exterior, but his field further unfurled around Minimus to reveal the roiling longing hidden behind pretty words, the sheer unfettered need Megatron held for his little lover.

Minimus would swear his spark was becoming swollen with arousal and affection as his back arched and his hips pressed into Megatron’s eager mouth.

Despite the impatience Minimus could feel pressing into his field, Megatron kissed his valve like he had Minimus’s lips. Soft but firm kisses rained across the sensitive protoform, taking his anterior node between gentle lips but only long enough for Megatron to flick his glossa against it before moving on to do the same along one valve lip and then the other. It was stimulating and frustrating all at once as Minimus’s need soared. His array had been neglected for too long and was eagerly building charge now, especially with Megatron’s lust twisting with his own, but it simply wasn’t enough. Megatron’s treatment was too soft, not going anywhere even as Minimus squirmed in the hold of his captain’s large servos.

Minimus’s thighs tightened around Megatron’s shoulders as he groaned deeply, his servos that had found themselves on Megatron’s helm originally for stability now grasping tightly and trying to pull him in closer, harder—

“Now you’re testing my patience.”

And instead of the snicker that Minimus had expected in response to that, Megatron’s cooling fans roared to life and he hummed pleasantly. His field spiked.

“We wouldn’t want that.”

Any retort that Minimus might have had was lost in long string of gasping moans as Megatron buried his face into his valve, his thick glossa delving past caliper rings to taste him deeply while his nose pressed against the pulsing anterior node. With long strokes to find inner nodes, Megatron had Minimus writhing against the wall, hips jerking forward to take more and deeper and finally chase his charge to its final destination. All that kept Minimus from dislodging himself from his perch were Megatron's large servos and broad shoulders. For all the distance that lay between Minimus and the floor, Minimus felt utterly safe as Megatron all but devoured his anterior node and left him trembling as overload grasped him by the spark and tore through his frame.

The flat of Megatron's glossa gave a last few long strokes as Minimus came down from the high. There was no mistaking the pleased hum of the captain's systems or how his fans roared with his still unaddressed arousal.

Minimus lessened his grip on Megatron's helm, instead simply stroking it.

"Did that scratch your itch?" Megatron asked as with one last flick against Minimus's now oversensitive node he moved Minimus's frame to be held against his chest, legs back around his hips and Minimus's mouth hovering in front of his own.

It had never been a secret that Megatron was a gorgeous mech, even if it had once been considered an unfortunate truth that went unspoken among the Autobots. But now, with Minimus's lubricants staining the lower half of his face, lips glistening as they quirked, his optics bright with desire completely and utterly focused on Minimus--

Minimus grabbed Megatron's helm and pulled him in for a kiss, sweeping his glossa into his captain's mouth to taste them both.

"It will take more than that," Minimus admitted to the swirling delight of Megatron's field. For all that relief flooded Minimus's frame, it didn't wipe out the need that still ached in his frame and spark in equal measure. If anything it only keyed Minimus up more and had his hips rocking against Megatron's abdominal plating.

"Well, I aim to please."

Megatron moved from the door, though he didn't get far before settling his aft down on his desk, allowing Minimus to straddle his lap. The captain's thighs were wide which meant that Minimus's legs had to spread all the wider for them, but the stretch was long missed as Minimus settled, his servos grasping onto Megatron's thighs to keep himself from pawing at Megatron's still closed panel.

Minimus shuddered as his field gave his longing away and Megatron's spike quickly pressurized into view.

The longing was so strong in fact that when Megatron reached his servo down to curl his digits into Minimus's valve, Minimus gently but assuredly pushed the servo away with a shake of his helm.

"I can't wait, so just-- I'll be careful, I promise," Minimus murmured when Megatron looked ready to protest. “After all, it wouldn’t be prudent to start the one night we’ve finally managed to schedule together by injuring myself.”

And, of all things, Megatron laughed. It was quiet and rumbled deep in his chassis and for a short moment his face looked millions of years younger.

“You never cease to amaze, Mini--”

Minimus had to kiss him. Had to grab Megatron by the sides of his helm and pull him down just to feel his ex-vent, to taste him again. Had to feel the gentle vibrations of laughter against his lips while his hips tilted so his valve slid along Megatron’s spike.

Megatron’s hold on Minimus’s hips tightened as the smaller mech pressed down, slowly taking the head his captain’s spike into his frame, his calipers parting easily for his lover. Minimus shuddered and moaned into Megatron’s mouth, and his digits hooked Megatron so he couldn’t move away from their kiss. And just like that – his lover’s lips against his own in a hurried kiss – Minimus slowly lifted and dropped his hips, fragging himself open on Megatron’s spike.

A nearly inaudible whine escaped Minimus as he dropped far enough down that their lips simply could not meet anymore, the extent of their flexibility exceeded. He imagined that Megatron must have heard it though since his servo found Minimus’s helm, first stroking along his facial insignia a few times before tracing his kiss-swollen lips.

“You’re going to be the death of me,” Megatron growled as his field whipped around his frame with desperation. His thumb pushed between Minimus’s lips while his other servo still gripped Minimus’s hip – he did not pull Minimus down harder or faster, just tracking his progress, waiting to bottom out and finally lose himself in Minimus’s heat. Megatron’s optics burned blindingly bright. “And I could not be more honored.”

With a shuddering ex-vent, Minimus sunk down and felt impossibly full as his array was finally flush with Megatron’s. The spike was hot inside him, sparking charge across Minimus’s internal nodes and sending pleasure rushing up his back to settle in his spark. His glossa was lax under Megatron’s thumb, but as the overwhelming fullness settled, Minimus managed to close his mouth and suckle the digit briefly.

Megatron twitched inside him and charge crackled between them.

Minimus pulled his mouth back and his valve fluttered around Megatron’s spike enticingly.

“I missed you,” Minimus admitted, afraid for a moment that it was too quiet to be heard over their combined cooling fans. But Megatron’s optics flared and his servos stroked Minimus’s frame.

“As have I.”

Minimus grasped Megatron’s shoulders to pull himself up enough that he could drop down again, groaning as intense pleasure washed over him.

“Then overload in me.”

Megatron’s field snapped and crackled with sharp bursts as he finally moved. His servos covered Minimus’s back as the smaller mech was lifted again, shaking and gasping as the movement settled nearly his whole weight down on Megatron’s spike which jostled inside him as Megatron took three long strides to the berth.

Minimus’s back was laid gently on the berth padding and then Megatron moved.

One large servo still held Minimus’s hip, though now it was to keep him in place as larger and more powerful hips rolled against him, pulling a grunt or a moan or a gasped “Megatron--!” with each frame-rattling thrust. The other servo pressed one of Minimus’s back against the berth above his helm, thick digits interlacing with his thin ones, squeezing as Megatron’s field wrapped Minimus up in sheer affection.

Minimus was completely surrounded and filled with Megatron and it felt comforting and freeing and fun—

With a roar of his engine, Megatron grasped Minimus tight and grunted his name as overload rolled through his powerful frame. Transfluid overfilled Minimus’s valve, spilling out and down his aft while arcs of charge snapped between thick warbuild armor and sturdy loadbearer plating. Data from sensory nodes overwhelmed with the physical pleasure of calipers tightening around the spike pushing them open was twisting with the powerful charge of Megatron’s overload where it sank into Minimus’s lines, and when they swarmed Minimus’s spark he felt his systems crackle with circuit-shorting bliss.

The overload didn’t knock Minimus out but it was a near thing as his processor spun. The best Minimus could manage was to tighten his digits around Megatron’s and reach up towards his face as satisfaction washed over him.

Minimus frowned at the sudden emptiness of his valve but it disappeared as Megatron’s kissed him. The large mech had his other arm braced next to Minimus to keep his mass from crushing Minimus and it warmed his spark.

Megatron hummed a pleased note.

“Would it make me a terrible captain if I said you should leave your shift early more often?” he teased, voice gruff with the lingering charge. Minimus huffed as amused ex-vent as Megatron lips lazily trailed across his facial insignia.

“Absolutely,” Minimus stated. Megatron chuckled and Minimus’s spark swelled with unspoken emotions. “But I will still take it under advisement.”

“That’s acceptable. For the time being though, shall we move this to the bath?”

Minimus’s processor quietly observed that the minutes of work he lost by leaving early were being replaced by minutes spent relaxing in a bath with Megatron, and he smiled softly to himself as he nodded.