#miranda is bane

[pedroam-bang]

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

[cinemajunkie70]

[lilleputtu]

We're back to doing business!

[dyns33]

Rafiq alruwh

I'm not sure yet if this will be a Bane x reader oneshot or not.

I like it like that, but I could find ideas for part 2. My only problem being that I still need to finish others Tom Hardy's characters story, while wanting to write Feyd Rautha stories.

As much as Y/N listened to these stories over and over again, she couldn't imagine the feeling everyone would describe.

The moment your skin touched your soulmate's skin, and suddenly everything became clear, better. A feeling of joy and the burning need to stay by this person's side forever.

It was a rare phenomenon that scientists could not explain. It was completely impossible to know when this would happen, or if it would happen, because fate seemed cruel. Most people either didn't have soulmates or didn't have the chance to meet them in their lifetime. The world was too big and time too short.

There were still skeptics, who claimed that it was all nonsense, lies, invented by people blinded by love or who wanted to give themselves a certain gender. Only those who ended up meeting the person changed their mind, the others remaining too jealous to accept the truth, considering that it was only a romantic utopia.

Y/N wanted to believe in it. She dreamed of meeting her soulmate and experiencing this special moment.

Her parents were not meant to be together. It was visible.

In her entourage, she had an uncle who had had this experience, a few neighbors, a friend, and all had said the same thing.

What they had in common was that they were all good people. Maybe that was one of the reasons.

“You might have had to choose another type of profession then.”

"Mom…"

“I’m just saying that cop is not the most popular job in the world.”

"And I would say that choosing to be a non-corrupt police officer in Gotham is almost like being a saint."

"You'll end up getting killed, long before you meet your soulmate. I'll never understand why you wanted to be a cop, especially in this town."

There came a day when her mother's fears almost became a reality. The day when terrorists took the entire city hostage with a bomb, preventing everyone from entering and leaving.

It was probably not what she had thought when she talked about dying, but for several months, hidden with her colleagues, Y/N thought about her soulmate, trying to imagine this meeting that would probably never happen.

Staying mainly with Blake and Gordon, she tried to hide her pain, but it did not escape Miranda Tate, who took her hand with a gentle smile and asked what was tormenting her.

“We’re going to die here.” Y/N whispered. "I mean, I'm not afraid of that, that's the risk of the job. But… I didn't think it would be like this now. I wish I had met my soulmate before."

"Your rafiq alruwh. I didn't think many people cared about it here."

"My what ?"

"That's how my father called soulmates. I grew up with a lot of stories about it, because he and my mother were related. I prayed a lot to be that for one of my friends, but no. Our destinies are linked, but not like that.”

"Sorry."

"Even if I would have liked him to be mine, I wish him happiness and that he meets his other half one day. A being worthy of him, of his love and his protection. He deserves to be happy. You too, you seem kind. Maybe you shouldn't have been here."

Her words were strange, but Y/N didn’t tell the others. It wouldn't have changed anything anyway. Even though she had discovered that Miranda Tate had the detonator, that she was the real leader of the terrorists, the streets remained controlled by the militias.

As always, they were saved by the Batman. She had never really known what to think of the vigilante, protected by Gordon and hated by everyone else. He clearly wanted to help Gotham, but his methods remained illegal, and not necessarily effective in the long term.

His death was a tragedy, but not necessarily the end of a symbol. Hope was still there, even stronger, and the Gotham police were determined to ensure everyone's safety.

Y/N felt this determination too.

Still, she froze as she inspected the sewers with Blake and Ramirez. They too had a moment of hesitation, as their lamps illuminated a body. A huge body, sitting against the wall, face hidden by this frightening mask.

There had been a search for Bane and his men after the explosion. Witnesses said the Batman fought him, and won, but they found nothing.

Obviously, the terrorist had managed to drag himself here to die.

"What do we do ?" Ramirez asked shyly. “Should we put a bullet in his head ?”

"What ? Why do you want to do this ?"

"To make sure he's dead. I've seen a lot of movies, man, I know the mistakes to avoid."

She didn't approve of the speech, but Y/N agreed, it was necessary to check it out.

Feeling almost stupid, she moved forward slowly, her hand reaching towards Bane to see if he felt a pulse.

She didn't expect the large hand that quickly grabbed her neck before she could touch him.

Fear paralyzed her body, and yet there was something else. An indescribable, incredible feeling, which resembled happiness but more intense, which was absurd in this situation.

Y/N felt so lost that she didn't realize the hand was relaxing, just resting against her skin instead of squeezing and snapping her neck like it easily could have done.

"Habibi…" was the word spoken with difficulty by Bane, who stared at her with an indecipherable expression.

“Let her go right now, you bastard !”

Maybe he was as confused as her, or maybe he was too weak, but the terrorist didn't avoid Ramirez's punch, while Blake grabbed Y/N to pull her as far away as possible.

She stood still, not understanding what was happening, as Ramirez called for reinforcements, proud of having been able to knock out the giant, even though he knew as well as anyone that he would have had no chance. if his mask hadn't been damaged and he wasn't half dead. It was not possible.

Bane couldn't be her soulmate, Y/N refused to believe it. A man like him had no soul, not after everything he had done, and above all why would he be destined for her ? She didn't feel like she had committed a crime that deserved such punishment.

She was probably never going to see him again anyway.

If he survived to Blackgate, he would be locked there forever. Even if she had permission, she had no intention of visiting him.

But the feeling remained there, strong, impossible to ignore, demanding more. An incomprehensible need to be close to the one who had touched her, so that he would touch her again.

Y/N resisted. She gave her report to Commissioner Gordon, forgetting a few small details, and indicating that she did not wish to follow this case, leaving Bane's case to better agents than her.

This seemed to surprise him, as he considered her one of his best people, but he accepted.

However, it was impossible not to think of her soulmate, since the whole town was only talking about him and his arrest. The television was on loop every day, and her colleagues thought they were doing the right thing by keeping her informed of progress.

"They say his face is horrible. I think there are photos in the file."

"I'd love to see that ! I can't imagine that fucker at all without his weird mask. Do you think he has a normal voice without that thing ?"

“I can go get it so we check.”

Ramirez's gaze met hers as he stood, and without her needing to speak, he knew it was best for him to sit back down and change the subject.

Y/N didn’t see the photos. She absolutely didn't want to.

After several weeks, she asked to take a vacation, claiming to still be traumatized by what had happened to her, in addition to the near destruction of Gotham. She needed some time to rest.

Turning off all the screens and her phone, she tried meditation to clear her mind, so she could get some sleep and forget that her soulmate was a crazy, half-dead terrorist who would soon be judged.

This miserable attempt being a failure, she turned her phone back on shortly after midnight, only to be bombarded with calls and messages, coming from several colleagues, Blake, and Gordon.

"What is happening ?" she asked, calling the Commissioner back.

"Damn, I almost sent men to check on you, you weren't responding ! Where are you ? Are you okay ?"

“I’m at home, why ?”

"Don't panic. Blake will come get you."

“Gordon, what’s going on ?”

"He hasn't said anything since his arrest, keeping very quiet, and then yesterday Bane spoke. He asked to see you, giving your name. The other agents are categorical, it's impossible that he knows ot, no one told him. The agent simply replied that you were not on the investigation, and even on vacation… Damn, he…"

“Gordon, what ?”

"He escaped, Y/N. We don't know how. No one knows where he is, or what he's going to do. But since he talked about you, I don't want to take any risks. Don't move, John will come right away."

She could have told him that she knew very well why Bane had spoken about her, and that it was undoubtedly necessary for her to leave without delay, but fear held her back.

Even if it wasn't her fault, what would the commissioner think when he learned of her connection to the fugitive ? He was a good man, but all men had their limits, and she would be the first to be wary of someone designated as Bane's soulmate.

After hanging up, she jumped out of bed to grab her gun and shoes, ready to wait for Blake to arrive in her living room.

Y/N froze in the middle of the hallway, seeing the huge figure standing between her and the front door.

His face was covered by a scarf, his posture a little less proud than in the videos she had seen of him during his city hostage situation, he appeared to be in pain, but it was obvious that if she tried to pass, he would retain her without the slightest difficulty.

“Habibi.” he whispered, and indeed his voice was different without his mask, more human. "What a joy to see you again. More beautiful than I remember or on pictures. Will you come with us without resistance ? I don't want to hurt you."

"Hands in the air." she replied, pointing her gun at him, ignoring the urge to hug him. “Don’t move, my colleagues are coming.”

"I admire your sense of duty and honor, Habibi. But I will not return to prison, ever again. And I will not leave you either. I thought of you every day. Is your neck healed ? I need to repair my wrongs to you.”

“I said, put your hands in the air.”

“So you leave us no choice, Habibi.” he sighed, looking behind her.

We. He said we, and someone gave him her name. Y/N reacted too late, one man grabbing her gun, and the other not holding her shoulder, injecting something into her neck with a syringe.

In an instant, she found herself on the ground, her vision blurring, but her body not panicking, as it was invaded by an incredible sensation. Bane had reached out to hug her, his eyes smiling as he ran a hand over her cheek.

"It's okay. I'm taking you home, rafiq alruwh."

All her life, Y/N had waited for this moment, this feeling, this sentence. She told herself that the stories we said to children were really stupid, as her eyes closed.

[thegamingcatmom]

Vampire!AU where Mother Miranda takes you as her bride.

...

That is all.

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.

JK-

Right so:

Miranda is obv. the Vampire Queen or whatever.

Alcina and her daughters are vampires too, obv.

So are the maids that were canonically experimented on. (Miranda gotta have some numbers.)

Since we got vampires in there, we also gotta have werewolves, right?

-> Enter Heisenberg and his lycans.

Sal is the butler (aka: The heart and soul of the house, bless him).

Donna is...a mystery.

"The Mold" is basically Miranda´s nest

Eva is alive and kicking.

And a vampire too.

She can be...scary.

Just like Momma.

The "vessel" operation is still going strong. However-

It´s her long deceased wife Miri´s trying to bring back.

Reincarnation style, if you will.

Uhhh, what else...OH-

The villagers are under some sort of vampiric mind control (aka the mold?) that allows Miranda and her coven to feed on them undisturbed.

-> Enter MC (aka The Disturbance).

aka: The bane and salvation of Miranda´s existence.

Miranda is hooked right away for obv. reasons (points to the aforementioned wife thing).

(Eva will be overjoyed to learn her Mama has returned.)

She must have MC.

Their wedding shall be a grand celebration for the whole village to see.

A celebration fit for royalty, as it should-

MC: "Uhhh...excuse me?"

Miranda: *gradually snaps out of her frenzied inner monologue to blink at MC with a mix of confusion and reverence*

MC: "I´m looking for a dude called Heisen...*checks her palm* ...bur-BERG. HeisenBERG. Do you know where I can find him, by chance?"

Miranda: *slow blinking*

MC: *slow blinking too*

Miranda: *remembers this is her soon-to-be bride*

Miranda: "Ah...forgive my...manners. *awkward smile cause being nice is indeed quite awkward, bride or not*...Heisenberg, you say? Why, yes...I am quite familiar with that...man."

Miranda: *fights back an instinctive hiss! cause werewolf*

...

MC: "...O-kay...? Can you tell me where I can find him, then?"

Miranda: *slow blinking*

MC: *slow blinking too*

Miranda, getting sus: "...And to what possible end, if I might ask?"

MC: *tf is that question*

MC, getting annoyed: "...Because I asked...?"

Miranda: *eye starts twitching as she fights back the urge to lash out at the sheer audacity-*

Miranda: *...soon.to.be.bride*

...

Miranda: "...Of course... *dark fake chuckle*...You shall find him in that factory of his. *points down the road* Follow this trail until it splits, then proceed to the right, where you will come across a large windmill. From there, it is rather impossible to miss."

Miranda, under her breath: "Unfortunately..."

MC, who is totally not weirded out by now: "...Okay...thanks. Uh...cya around?"

Miranda: *wedding bells*

Miranda: *satisfied smile starts spreading*

Miranda: "Hm...cya, indeed..."

MC: "..."

Miranda: "..."

MC: *slowly turns around and continues down the road*

Miranda: "...Little bat?"

MC: *stops in her tracks*

MC: *hesitantly turns around cause, despite being the only other person present besides Strange Lady, she still doubts whether that nickname was actually meant for her cause...whut?*

MC: "...Yes?"

Miranda: *satisfied smile becomes even more satisfied because her term of endearment has been accepted*

Miranda: *turns serious all of a sudden*

Miranda, doing her vampire compelling thing: "...Tell me."

MC, without hesitation: "He´s my uncle."

...

Miranda:

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.

.

This was supposed to be a sexy vampire thing and then it turned into reincarnation & vampires vs werewolves with MC in the middle of it all cause our girl might just be the only one capable of uniting their worlds and ending a war that has been raging for centuries.

(Could this war have anything to do with a certain someone dying at the hands of a certain someone else? Good question. 🤔)

And it all starts with a (rather questionable) marriage.

THAT IS ALL.

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This post was brought to you by The Invitation - a (rather poorly made) movie about vampires.

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EDIT:

NO BUT LISTEN-

Miranda going "I'll take what is due", just like she did in Resi Village? Except what is "due" is her wife, who died at the hands of one of the lycans? Or even Heisenberg himself??

Miranda going "I've waited so long for you..." when she meets MC, just like she did in Shadows of Rose when she met Rose??

THOUGHTS FEELS IDEAS 😭

(Dammit, I might actually have to write it now cause I am OBSESSED. 😩🤌)

[shortstrawberry]

The concept of Miranda and MC sharing custody of Eva is so funny to me for no reason😭 Miranda leaving Eva at the weekends with MC and someone like donna or Bela knowing full well a couple years prior Miranda was the bane of their existence

Lol, I know right??? I can almost imagine Bela just sitting on the floor looking at Eva like she is the literal demon spawn. Bela would also be shit scared of approaching Eva at first because she is A) Scared of children and B) She is scared of fucking up and getting fucked by Miranda. But eventually with MC's unwavering support, Bela will eventually learn how to cook for Eva at least.

And Donna? Donna who took no shit from Miranda in her route? Lol, she'll take no shit from Eva as well. She is going to march up to the kiddo and teach her how to take care of plants. Donna would also be tempted to teach Eva how to make hemlock tea for mommy Miranda, but one glare from MC is enough to quell that idea down. However, Donna would definitely take good care of Eva. I can see Donna being really good with the kids.

[anruraiocht]

TOA Anniversary Munday

from neffi (thank you neffi!!)

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is.

Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing!

Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together.

Name: limit

Pronouns: they/them

Birthday (no year): 3/8 (thats march 8th for my non-americans)

Where are you from? What is your time zone? US | EST

How long is your roleplay experience? 10+ years

How were you introduced to roleplaying as a whole? i was doing warrior cats roleplay on scratch dot mit dot edu at age 10 brother

How were you introduced to TOA? n was talking about it on call and me and the oomfs decided to play a little prank on him when he went to the bathroom. it was really funny to be fair

Do you have any pets? three dogs (australian shepherd, shiba, chihuahua mix) and a cat (stupid)

What is your favorite time of year and why? (Season, holiday, general period) fall; i have pollen allergies that give me really bad headaches and live in a pollen bowl you can imagine my suffering.

Some interests and things you like/enjoy? i like to play and draw

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? i'm a visual novel (otome, yuri, general non-romantic) and rhythm game type of guy. jrpgs and action rpgs when i'm in the mood

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: the only pokemon type that matters to me is Dog

Tell us some funfacts and trivia about yourself! i used my wisdom teeth fun fact last yeah so uhhhhh did you know i can clap one handed but only with my right hand

How did you get into Fire Emblem? i think i saw awakening in gamestop and was like yeag i'll play that. my brother and i had just finished playing virtue's last reward together so we named our robins sigma and phi

What Fire Emblem games have you played? i've at least touched every game except for 1-3 (ymmv how much that means for each game)

First & Favorite Fire Emblem games: Awakening first, FE6 or Engage for fave

List your 5 favorite Fire Emblem characters across the series! honestly just look at my muse list for this one i only write my faves

Who was the first character ever to make you go “ooh I like this one in particular” and why? Can be any context and reason! lyn was the first fe character to really get me excited about fe i was writing essays about her in n's dms while in the middle of classes haha

Any Fire Emblem crushes? 😳 i am in love with nel like /srs /gen i opened engage on my birthday so i could hear her say happy birthday to me

If you’ve played (or are familiar with) the following games, who was your first S support? Who would you S support nowadays?

Awakening: Chrom (on purpose); married Olivia in my male run. i would still choose chrom Fates: kaden and keaton for birthright and conquest respectively. i stopped playing once i had my furry daughters. LMAO. Three Houses: never got that far. dorothea and mercedes probably. Engage: i have commitment issues and this is why i dont finish games

Favorite Fire Emblem class? Dark Mage(s)

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class and stats? Would you be playable? sticking with what i said last year; a mage that just completely sucks ass. repping my special girls by also being a character that makes people say "why would you use them"

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? i apparently said golden deer last year. yeah sure

If you were an Officers Academy student, what would be your boons, banes and potential budding talent? Reason boon, Heavy Armor and Faith Banes, bow budding talent

If you were an Engage character, which nation would you originate from? i was gonna say elusia but then i remembered solm is partially brazil inspired and i felt my father breathing down my neck to not betray his country

How do you pronounce TOA? TOE-uh

Current TOA muses: Miranda, Marni, Reginn

Past TOA muses? Volug, Lyn, Sophia

Who was your first TOA muse? If you no longer have them, can you see yourself picking them up again? Volug; he's comfortably retired.

Do you believe you have a type of character you gravitate towards writing? the three limit muse genders are as follows:

-depersonalization and/or self-isolation (we're not the same and never will be) -my siblings are all i have (but i dont know if love is enough to save us) -oh god where does the anger go after everything is over ..............the bonus limit muse gender is "man who is funny" ftr

Do you have characters or types of characters you don’t think you can handle writing, but wish you could? i think i could do anything if i tried hard enough (hubris speaking) but i would have to become obsessed with them first which is the hard part because i feel like i'm pretty picky

What kind of scenes, situations etc do you believe you enjoy writing the most? i've really gotten back into my complicated sibling relationship era lately. i like non-traditional family relationships in general and having to work to keep that connection alive. i like relationships between women (not necessarily romantic but also yeah i'm a lesbian so romantic too) and the nuances that come with that. Honestly i like talking about gender in general HAHA

Do you have any scenario in mind for your muse(s) that gets you thinking “man I hope I get to write this one day”? just happy to be here tbh :)

Favorite TOA-related memories? my friemds :)

Present or past tense? present tense but honestly i think im really bad at tenses. LMFAO.

Normal size text, small text, no preference? normal size is my default. i'll match whatever my partner prefers

Got any potential muse delusions to share? 😉 wouldnt you like to know weatherboy

[flickynightdarkness]

Info about my DC OCs

Benjamin Williams

Ally of Batman

Good

Night Edwards

Ally of Nightwing

Good

Tootsie Jingles

Aids Joker (originally they were gonna be adopted by him)

Inspired by Fizzarolli from Helluva Boss

Clowncore

Neo demon

Evil

Jamie Quinzel

Adopted daughter of Harley Quinn

Younger cousin of Blade Quinzel

Evil

Blossom Isley

Adopted daughter of Poison Ivy

Friends with Jamie Quinzel

Younger sister of Vince Isley

Evil

Ray Nygma

Adopted son of The Riddler

Friends with Trace Dent

Evil

Trace Dent

Adopted daughter of Two Face

Looks exactly like him but she hates when anyone says it to her

Friends with Ray Nygma, Meredith Miranda and Evelyn Wesker

Evil

Kraig Jones

Adopted son of Killer Croc

Very aggressive

Has anger issues, tends to get angered easily

Evil

Shows a soft side to his allies, especially Fangs Langstrom

Allies with Lucian, Kaleb and Fangs

Talon Cobblepot

Adopted son of Penguin

Bird lover

Younger brother of Feather Cobblepot

Evil

Katherine Kyle-Angela

Adopted daughter of Catwoman

Cat lover

Youngest child of Mr Angela and Mrs Angela (formerly)

Younger sister of Katelyn Kyle

Neutral

Katelyn Kyle-Angela

Adopted daughter of Catwoman

Oldest child of Mr Angela and Mrs Angela (formerly)

Older sister of Katherine Kyle

Cat lover

Neutral

Toffee Karlo

Created by Clayface

Clay demon

Evil

Can morph her limbs but unable to shapeshift into others

Berg Fries

Oldest child of Mr Freeze and Nora Fries

Older brother of Snow Fries

Cousin of North

His body was frostbitten when he was sprayed liquid nitrogen

His goggles were given by Mr Freeze to use

Evil

Evelyn "Evie" Wesker

Evil

Adopted daughter of Ventriloquist

Cousin of Michele and Michelle

She is aided along with her ventriloquist dummy Stitcher. The two share a positive to eachother

Stitcher

Ventriloquist dummy

Created by Evie's cousin Michele

Evil

He is shown to have a soft side to Evie

Hallow Crane

Evil

Youngest adopted child of Scarecrow

Younger brother of Lauren and Laurent

Cousin of Craven and Lunar

Is a living scarecrow but was a child at first (he originally was gonna be a human in a scarecrow costume

Friends with Meredith, Echo and Spook

Shade Miranda

Neutral but mostly on the evil

Ally of Scarecrow

Foster mother of Meredith and Myers

Shows respect for the Wayne family but only does it if Scarecrow isn't around with her

Acts as a mentor to Hallow's studies on fear

Wife of Nathaniel

Meredith Miranda

Foster daughter of Shade and Nathaniel

Sister of Myers

Friends with Hallow, Evelyn, Trace, Flakes, Echo and Spook

Evil

Refers to Scarecrow as 'Dr. Crane'

Scotch Tetch

Youngest adopted son of Mad Hatter

Younger brother of Bowie Tetch

Evil

Kaleb Langstrom

Oldest child of Man-Bat and She-Bat

Older brother of Fangs Langstrom

Evil

Became a bat after he had the same serum his father had

Fangs Langstrom

Youngest child of Man-Bat and She-Bat

Younger sister of Kaleb

Neutral but mostly on the evil

Provided as an emotional support companion for Kraig Jones' anger issues

Feather Cobblepot

Adopted daughter of Penguin

Older sister of Talon

Mean towards anyone except her younger brother Talon(she cares for him) and her adopted dad(she is loyal to)

Evil

Coona Walker

Adopted by Killer Moth

Moth

Evil

Torch Lynns

Adopted son of Firefly

Twin brother of Ember

Evil

Spook

"Experiment" of Scarecrow (they were originally was made to be his creation)

Living scarecrow

Mostly hides in his hat

Evil

Friends with Hallow and Meredith

Echo

Evil

Allies with Hallow, Meredith, Spook and Flakes

Adopted by Scream Queen

Tanny

Trans MTF

Adopted by Mrs Manface and Babyface

Evil

Leader Scorch

Inspired by Father from Kids Next Door

Runs an academy for young rogues

Evil

Harrison, Carrie and Misty

Inspired by the Delightful Children From Down The Lane from Kids Next Door

They speak by unison

Claimed by Leader Scorch as his creations

Evil

Betty The Blob Caretaker

Takes care thousands of blob creatures

Female

Good

Lucian Dorrance

Adopted son of Bane

Wears a mask on his face to hide his scars

Speaks in a thick Spanish accent

Evil

Metro

Young ally of Superman

Good

Volt

Young ally of The Flash

Good

Emerald

Young ally of Green Lantern

Good

Blank

Young ally of Question

Good

Bullet

Adopted by Deathstroke

Evil

Allies with Torch and Ember

Topher

Aids Deacon Blackfire

Possesses demon transformation by his rage

Evil

Swirl

Aids Professor Pyg

Italian-American

Evil

Cheryl

Topher's ally/servant

Obeys to what Topher says to her

Neutral but mostly on the evil

Dust Edwards

He is shown to not get along with Hallow, the two would argue on who is a better friend to Meredith

Evil

Friends with Meredith

Colton Snart

Adopted by Captain Cold

Evil

Friends with Berg, Snow and Toffee

Scorch

Aids Heatwave

Evil

Cloudy

Aids Weather Wizard

Really calm

Evil

Has an ability involving their emotions being the weather; sunny - happy, rain - sad and thunder - angry

Stormer

Aids Weather Wizard

Chaotic

Evil

Ability to unleash thunderstorms

[random-of-random]

Can I Save You?

Chapter 5: A Chance

Author’s Note: Here is is, the last chapter. Also, I know the image isn’t strictly Bane, but… can you blame me?

“I’ve been looking for you.” His voice was different than it used to be, colder maybe. Immediately her gun was out and aimed at him. “You don’t want to do that.” He took a step forward.

“Stop. Don’t take another step.”

“Tricia...” His voice softened. “I thought you were dead.” Bane’s hands were at his sides and she couldn’t make out a gun anywhere on his person.

“I came to the prison. I came to get you.”

“I know. A friend told me.” He said carefully.

“I was attacked and left to die, but I didn’t.”

“I was told you were attacked and killed.” He said honestly.

“You didn’t even try to find me?” She asked, her voice breaking.

“I saw a newspaper report about a British girl killed in the market place and people told me her body was dumped into a river.”

“I was in a German hospital after being pulled out of a sea, beaten.”

“Tricia...”

“Don’t call me that!” She shouted. “After everything you’ve done, you don’t get to call me that anymore.” His eyes faltered, but only for a second.

“You have to leave this city.” His voice was suddenly firm.

“Because it’s going to blow up?” She asked. “Because you are going to kill millions of innocent people?”

“I can’t stop it.”

“Who’s the trigger man?” She asked. “I know you didn’t lie. Who is it?”

"I never forgot about you." He took another step forward and she took a step back.

"Stop, please. Don't make me." Her hands were shaking, but she steadied them, a finger on the trigger.

"I fell for a girl. She saved me from the prison. She and her family. She's been with me ever since." He had moved a little more forward.

"A girl..." Her mind raced back.

"I think the better question would be, who are you trying to rescue?" The girls voice and face echoed in her mind.

"Miranda..." Patricia whispered and she saw Bane's eyes raise. "Miranda has the trigger."

“Who?”

“You never could lie to me.” Patricia commented. “So you fell for the girl who tried to have me killed?” His eyes flashed.

“You lie.”

“You know me better than anyone. Am I lying?” She asked and his eyes studied her. He almost seemed to be praying to find any hint of deception. “I have work to do.” She put her gun down and smiled.

"Thank you, Bane." She took off running and she couldn't hear his footsteps behind her. No one was following her, none of his men were chasing her. The question became: Did he want her to find out? Or, was it too late to stop them?

Patricia made her way towards where Blake asked her to meet him. A bright orange glow emanating from the bridge caught her attention. A bat symbol was burning brightly and a low roar of cheering was echoing among the tall buildings. She saw a massive amount of police and she allowed herself a small smile, at least one thing had gone right.

“Blake!” She called and the man turned around with a smile.

“Patricia the south tunnel is clear, I’m going to try to get people out across the bridge.”

“Where’s Miranda Tate?” Patricia asked desperately.

“Bane has her.” Patricia groaned. “Why?”

“She’s the trigger man.”

“No...” He laughed in disbelief. “No, that’s impossible. She’s been with Wayne Enterprises. She-”

“She knew how to arm the bomb. I saw Bane. He practically told me it was her.”

“He’s lying, Patricia.”

“He wasn’t, John.” Blake rubbed his forehead. “Where is she?”

“The courthouse, I think.” Blake was trying to concentrate as hard as he could. “That’s been his base. It’s been where he’s been watching the ‘trials’ from. She would be there.”

“Oh God. I have to go. Get out, Blake, as soon as you can, with as many people as you can.” Looking down at her watch, she knew she only had about an hour before the bomb was going off. Early morning had come. She joined the large number of cops headed into the heart of Gotham. As Blake has suspected, Bane’s soldiers were waiting outside the courthouse. She could see him standing on the steps, looking across all the police officers. A cannon on a camouflaged tank was pointed at the center of the men, all wearing their blues. It was about to fire when, out of nowhere, a machine came flying over head, destroying the tank. The men cheered, a leader also hidden behind a mask giving them hope. They charged, giving everything they had, all the anger they had saved down in those sewers, waiting for daylight. Waiting for a chance to get back at the people who thought they controlled Gotham. Patricia charged with them. Bullets rained into them and several people fell before Bane’s men ran to meet them. The sound of bodies being pushed together was like gravel. Everyone was fighting with everything they had. A man charged Patricia, and she recognized him. He was with Bane when she first saw him in the library. He raised a machine gun, but Patricia was faster. She parried his gun to the side with her left arm, getting as close as possible. The closer she got, the less likely he could raise his weapon again. Using her right hand she punched him across the jaw, stunning him. The gun was hanging around his right shoulder. She put her left hand on the top front of the barrel and her right hand on the back bottom, flipping the gun in the air she caught it, pointed at him and fired. He and two other of Bane’s men fell. She could see Bane at the front of the action, he was fighting Batman. They had moved from the bottom of the steps to the door of the courthouse door. Then, Patricia saw her. Miranda was staring out a window, watching Bane and Bruce intently. At that moment, the sound of concrete cracking brought her attention back to Bane. His mask was damaged and he was swinging wildly. She could see his eyes watering and she knew she had to get up there as quickly as possible. Getting just a few feet in the middle of the soldiers and police was exhausting. She looked at her watch for a moment, a little over 12 minutes. Screaming continued, and the police were slowly gaining the upper hand.

She had finally made her way to the foot of the steps and she turned for a moment to watch the scene behind her. A crowd of men fighting with everything they had caused horrific noises. One side fought for their city, the other for a strong leader. She pulled a soldier off of a cop wearing dress blues when the door burst open and Miranda came running out. She climbed into a tank and its guns pointed at the crowd. Patricia dove out of the way and watched the tank speed off. Frantically looking around she saw a motorcycle. It once belonged to a solider and Patricia knew she didn’t want her to get away. Internally she struggled - Stay and find Bane or catch Miranda. There was no sign of Batman so her choice was clear: She jumped on and took off after the tank. For it’s enormous size, it kept a high speed. She tried to pull up along side it several times, only for her to get cut off. After a few moments another bike was beside hers. This however, was much more technologically advanced. It was being driven by someone wearing, Patricia could only describe it as, latex paint. They eyed each other for a moment before turning their attention back to the tank in front of them.

Miranda had climbed out of the tank and into the truck which, Patricia guessed, was carrying the bomb. The first tank and another stayed behind the truck. The same flying machine Patricia saw earlier few over the tanks quickly blowing one up. She could see that it was the same man flying that Bane fought earlier, Batman. Her mind wandered to what had happened to Bane, but she had to concentrate. Three missiles were fired towards Batman and the machine twisted and turned avoiding the explosions and sending the missiles into buildings. With a last missile left he flew close to the ground, making the second tank take the brunt of a very powerful explosion, blowing it off course. He pulled in front of the truck and Patricia pulled up alongside it. She could see Miranda, a phone in her hand. The sound seemed to cease as Patricia jumped from the bike and grabbed a hold of the side of the truck. She opened the door and climbed in. Miranda’s eyes were wide. The driver was panicking.

“Shit!” Miranda shouted before putting the phone she was on down.

“Remember me?” Patricia asked. Her hand connected with Miranda’s jaw and a bruise started forming.

“You’re precious Dominic is dead, has been for years, and Bane is dying.”

“You never cared about him.” Patricia replied, disgusted. An explosion shook them. Batman was firing low level missiles at the truck, trying to make it turn.

“Stay straight!” Miranda screamed, but the drivers fear was too much for him. Patricia saw him slump over. She looked out the window and knew she only had a few seconds.

“You’ll never win.” Patricia jumped out of the passenger door and rolled. She came down hard on her shoulder and she felt it pop. The last image she had of the truck was it going over a barrier into a level below. She knew Miranda couldn’t have survived. Standing up she popped her shoulder back in and ran towards the abandoned motorcycle. She pulled it up and tried starting it, but she heard nothing.

“Please.” She said quietly before trying again to start it. Nothing. She looked up to see Batman flying back towards the bay, the bomb hanging off his machine by a steel tether. She watched him fly above a building and out of sight. If he didn’t hurry, they would all be gone. With one last try the bike sprung to life and she jumped on, moving as quickly as she could back to the courthouse. The steps were red, but most of the soldiers had been rounded up. She flung open the doors and Bane was laying across the room. He was slumped against a wall and she could see a blood trail from where he must have fallen.

“Bane.” She ran over and his eyes looked up at her but he seemed lost. He had a phone next to him.

“Miranda.” He called. No one replied.

“She’s dead, Bane.” Patricia said, hiding tears. “She’s dead. Gone. Never coming back.”

“What did you do?”

“She crashed the tank carrying the bomb.”

“She saved me from that prison.”

“Only because she tried to kill me!” Patricia was screaming.

“Why would you say something like that?” He asked, his voice weak.

“I was attacked in the market place. After seeing her. I told her I was looking for Dominic. She said she wasn’t going to let me get you. She snapped her fingers, guys surrounded me, and the next thing I knew I was being saved by Bruce Wayne from a sea.” Bane screamed and his arm covered his chest. Patricia pulled his arm away and all she could see was a bloody shirt and body armor. “I have to get this off.” He didn’t fight her. “What happened?”

“A shot from something. I don’t know what.” He answered. His breath was getting weak. “I swear, she told me you were dead. She showed me the news article. Tricia I would have never.”

“She lied to you.”

“She lied to me...” He repeated. For the first time she looked up at him, really looked at him. Those eyes, they weren’t Bane’s.

“Dominic...” Patricia said softly. “I’ve been looking for you for years.”

“I’m so sorry.” He replied. Tears were freely falling down his face. She finally got the shirt and armor off, remembering to leave his belt. What she saw almost made her sick. Layers of his skin were gone and he was losing a lot of blood. Patricia immediately took off her jacket and pressed it to him. Screaming was coming from outside, the words flooded through the open doors.

“Batman did it! He saved us. He gave his life to save us!” Everyone was cheering and crying. Patricia bowed her head.

“Why did you do this?” She asked.

“I was so lost when you were gone.” He started. “I-I didn’t know what I had to live for anymore. Talia and Raz taught me to have no emotion. To feel only anger, only hate. Without you, there was no reason to feel love anymore.”

“We need to get you help.” Patricia said, looking at his stomach.

“My punishment should be to die.” He said, pain in his voice.

“I’m not letting you die.” Patricia said stubbornly.

“Tricia...”

“Stop it, please. I am not letting you die. I let Dominic die once. I finally have him back and he’s not going anywhere.” They were silent for a moment. “You have to try to stand up. We have to get you out the back, get you some help.”

“Stop!” The man’s voice sounded angry and betrayed. “How can you help him?” John Blake had a gun pointed at Bane and his hands were shaking. “Don’t you remember what he did? Don’t you care?”

“John please listen to me.” Patricia stood up slowly, her hands raised. He took several steps forward quickly and Patricia moved herself in front of him. “If you shoot him, you have to shoot me.”

“He’s a terrorist. He killed a lot of people and-”

“I know, John.” Her voice was pleading. “I know you lost someone. I know how much it killed you inside. How angry you were. The pain of not being able to do something.” Patricia took a deep breath. “I lost my best friend when I was 17 years old. His name was Dominic. He was taken to pay a debt owed by his father. I met Dominic when I was 8 years old and I didn’t spend more than a few hours away from him.” John’s eyes lingered on Bane. “John.” She touched the side of his face softly and his eyes turned back to her. “I fell in love when I was eight and when Dominic needed me I left with him. He was being chased and we ran, we ran as far and as fast as we could, but they caught us. They took Dominic from me.”

“What does this have to do with any-”

“I found Dominic almost 10 years ago. He had been put in a prison. Only someone didn’t want me to find him. When I got close I was attacked, beaten, left for dead. Dominic was freed by the wrong people. They took the boy who saved me countless times, survived hell to find me, and they told him I was dead, murdered.” John’s eyes softened. “Raz Al Gul and Talia Al Gul took my everything and killed him, or tried to. They tried to take everything good and brought out something dark in him. They called it Bane.” John’s eyes looked rapidly from the man lying on the ground to the woman in front of him. A woman he had come to know and trust.

“He’s done awful things.”

“I know.” Patricia said. “But please, John, don’t take him away from me again. He’s harmless. He’s injured and he may be dying. I need your help.” John sighed and looked at her.

“Justice is corrupt in its best sense. I don’t trust him, but I trust you... There is a door in the back. I will get a car and you two will get far away from here, do you understand?” Patricia nodded. Blake left the courthouse shutting the door behind him.

“Come on, we have to go,” She pulled Bane to his feet and tried to help him out the back door. Just getting there left a trail of blood behind them. She pushed the door open and Blake was there. Against all of his better instincts he put his arm around Bane and helped him to a dark SUV.

“Police won’t be swarming the north tunnel yet.” He helped put Bane in the back seat before covering him with a large blanket before closing the door.

“Thank you, John.” Patricia said softly.

“You’ll repay me one day.” They hugged quickly and she walked around to the driver’s side, opening the door. “Patricia.”

“Yeah?”

“Please be careful.” Blake eyed the back seat and Patricia nodded. She drove as quickly as she could, dodging debris, and abandoned cars.

“Tricia...” She heard him call.

“Stay down, love. I’m going to get you some help.” Once out of the city she picked up her cell phone. It was working perfectly again. She placed a call.

“Agent Robertson. In need of medical personal, NQA.” She paused. “Wound to the abdomen, severe. Patient has older wounds, severe spine troubles. In need of anesthetic.” Another pause. “ETA, five minutes.” She hung up the phone. “Just stay with me, Dominic. Stay with me.”

“How did you do that?” He asked.

“Being on the better side of the law has its own perks.” She pulled into a hotel and immediately three men had Bane out of the SUV and into a hotel room. Patricia could have gone into another room, but she waited. They put him out and a doctor went to work stitching his stomach. It took over three hours.

“How is he?” Patricia asked nervously.

“He’s going to be fine.” The man said calmly. “I don’t know why you had us fix him up if the army is just going to torture him anyway.”

“We have to be kind to prisoners.” Patricia remarked.

“Before we break them?” The doctor asked with a laugh. “I ordered three cases of the anesthetic to be taken with him, wherever they take him, not that they’ll give it to him.”

“Thanks doc.” The doctor left the room and Bane opened his eyes. She knew he wasn’t sleeping.

“You had planned to turn me in.” He said, angry but with understanding. His mask was off.

“No.” She replied simply and he looked confused.

“If you don’t they’ll -”

“Track me down?” She finished his sentence. “I’ve been on the run before.”

“Tricia..”

“I promised I wasn’t going to leave you. I’m not. No matter what. Now we have supplies.” She remarked. He followed her gaze and saw 4 bags. 1 of clothes, 1 of medicine, and 2 full of money. She laid next to him and laid her arm across his chest. He immediately grabbed her arm and kissed her hand.

“Your skin is as soft as I remember.” He remarked. “Tricia if you do this you’re life will not be anywhere near what it was.”

“No it won’t, but I made a promise. Until I can get you out of this, I’m staying.”

“I meant what I said when those men took me.” His eyes were staring into hers. “I’m not letting anyone take me from you again.”

“Just rest. We have years.” She saw him smile. She knew it wasn’t Bane, Bane was gone. It was just Dominic. Just the same eyes and smile she had been in love with since she had first seen them. 

[felixdragonheartofficial]

Im having a few ideas for the Decepticon holos

Megatron

-very mafioso energy

-bourgeoise

-British *derogatory*

-trench coat

Starscream

-prince/aristocrat (ehh)

-leather

-old Hollywood actor

-joker but less laugh centric

I'm a total tool for a transatlantic accent

Lugnut

-Bane

-strongman

-futuristic ex gladiator

-heavy mining machinery incorporated into the outfit

-possible cyclops cuz of a horrific surgery

Im pretty sure entapurada surgery is a lot like a lobotomy

Blitzwing

-Mr freeze

-Snow miser

-pyro(tf2)

-maybe wears masks/goggles with temperature vision?

-possible nerve damage in places of his body due to extreme temperatures

-super soldier

-insanity caused by a lobotomy esque operation like lugnuts

Blackarachnia

-black swan

-mother Miranda(resident evil 8)

-phantom of the opera

-buffalo bill (silence of the lambs)

-Mileena (mortal Kombat)

-oufit could be slightly prostitute esque

-sickly or necrotizing tissue/desaturated skin and noticable veins

Body horror is definitely an element I want to express.

[emotionalcadaver]

Part 16: Why Do We Fall

Fandom: The Dark Knight Trilogy

Pairing: Jonathan Crane x OC

Summary: Batman's return to Gotham forces Jonathan and Vanessa to reassess their current living situation.

Word Count: 1,698

Notes: Takes place during The Dark Knight Rises. Warnings for depictions of violence.

Previous Part • Series • Next Part

“No lawyer? No witnesses? What sort of due process is this?” Jim Gordon asked them. The court was uncharacteristically quiet, save for his voice. Vanessa shifted, ever so slightly, in Jonathan’s lap, head cocking as she looked down on him and his group of followers. 

“Your guilt has been determined. This is merely a sentencing hearing,” Jonathan said. “Now, what will it be? Death…or exile?”

“Crane, if you think we’re going out onto that ice willingly…you have another thing coming.”

Jonathan nodded, and shrugged. “Death, then.”

“Looks that way!”

Their commissioner had balls, she’d give him that.

“Very well. Death…” Jonathan brought his gavel down with a decisive clang. And then, in the bitchiest voice she had ever heard her husband use, he added, “by exile.”

The crowd erupted into cheers. Vanessa laughed, pressing her smile into Jonathan’s neck as she watched Gordon and his people be led away by the mercenaries.

All except for one. At the corner of the group, she spotted Miranda Tate, Wayne Enterprises’ new CEO, being led by the arm by Barsad towards Bane, who was standing on the edge of the crowd. He rested a hand on her shoulder, almost affectionately, and began to guide her away.

Her head tilted curiously. Bane had said that the courtroom was their turf. They got to make the rules. Decide what happened to each and every person brought before them. And yet here he was, trying to challenge their authority.

They adjourned for the day, waiting until the spectators had been ushered out by their goons before descending from the safety of their throne to head into the back room they’d fashioned as their bedroom. 

“Bane took Miranda Tate with him, even though she was captured with Gordon’s people,” she observed. 

“I noticed that too,” Jonathan was fumbling with the microwave they had in the corner, reheating a few servings of soup for them for dinner. “Maybe he took a shine to her.”

“Their contact did seem rather affectionate.”

He passed her a bowl of soup and a spoon, grabbing his own before joining her. 

“It’s probably for the best not to antagonize Bane.”

She winced at the mere thought of it. The man looked like he could snap both of them in half like a toothpick with just one hand. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“It’ll be good to finally be rid of Gordon.”

“I’m surprised it took them so long to find him,” she said around a mouthful of soup. “I know it’s a big city, but Bane’s men seem…experienced in what they do.”

“Gordon’s got a lot of allies.”

“Mm. Well, it’s done now,” she shifted to rest her head on Jonathan’s shoulder, eyes darting lazily towards the window. She stiffened. “Oh, shit.”

“What?” he asked, suddenly on high alert. She didn’t answer him, instead setting her bowl down and scrambling to her feet, staggering towards the window. 

Oh, no. Oh, come on. They were having so much fun. 

Behind her, she heard Jonathan getting to his feet, following to stand behind her and stare out the window.

To where a burning bat symbol was emblazoned on the tower of one of the bridges.

∗ ∗ ∗ 

“You have the notebooks?”

Jonathan patted a pocket in his backpack. “All here. You got the remaining seeds for the flowers?”

“Yes,” she said, double checking inside the innermost pocket of her own pack that the bag of precious seeds was still there.

Jonathan glanced around the bedroom. “I already double checked the lab.”

She nodded. They’d taken care of all the remaining test subjects too. He looked back at her.

“Is there anything we’re missing?”

“Nothing that I’ve noticed,” she did her own quick sweep of the bedroom, but spotted nothing that couldn’t be easily replaced. 

“Okay,” Jonathan hoisted his backpack up over his shoulder, his mask clutched in his hand. He held the other out to her. “Let’s go.”

Pulling her pack on to rest comfortably between her shoulder blades, she pulled up her half face respirator, fitting it snugly over her nose and mouth. Just in case. Grabbing tightly onto Jonathan’s hand, she let him tug her along down the hall, towards the main room and the exit of the courthouse. 

They didn’t have an entirely concrete plan as to where they would go yet. Right now they just needed to get away. Wait for the dust to settle, then maybe root out a safehouse they could use. 

All they really had to do was avoid the Bat, and they should be fine. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too hard; he was likely to have his hands very full with Bane.

There had been a slew of activity since the Bat’s symbol had appeared. Bane’s men were all being called away from the courthouse to City Hall, where a batch of the city’s cops who the Bat–presumably–had freed were marching. 

One thing was for sure, they weren’t sticking around to get shot or pummeled by either side, thank you very much. Jonathan pulled his mask on as they rushed towards the exit. Maybe once they were outside they could find a car or something to steal. 

“Going somewhere?”

Bane was leaning against the wall that he so often was hovering by while he watched them take their court cases.

Vanessa froze, taking a step back. “We’re not sticking around to be smacked around by the Bat once he shows up.”

“That won’t be an issue.”

“You don’t know him,” Jonathan huffed. 

“Your presence is still required.”

“Court’s been canceled for the day, I’m afraid.”

A growling sound came from Bane’s modulator. “Your toxin will be of the utmost value in the fight against the police.”

Jonathan hesitated, for the briefest of moments. “No. No, I don’t think that it will.”

Bane took a threatening step forward. They took one back. Around them, mercenaries had filed silently into the hall. Jonathan squeezed her hand.

“It’s been a pleasure doing business with you,” he said to Bane. “But we have to look out for ourselves, first. Surely you understand,” the detonator in his hand clicked, and then the toxin bombs around them exploded. Almost instantaneously, a thick wave of gas rose to fill the entire courtroom. So thick it was difficult to see through. 

By the time that the mercenaries started screaming, they had dodged Bane as he lunged for them and raced out the door, down the street and around the corner. 

∗ ∗ ∗ 

They managed to dodge the worst of the fighting, and scramble their way up a building using a fire escape, settling on a rooftop far enough from the battle that they didn’t need to worry about getting struck with stray bullets or explosions. Sitting down with their backs to the wall, looking out over the city, they resigned themselves to just wait until it all died down.

It was considerably safer up there on the rooftops than it was down on the streets, at least. 

Jonathan had his arm around her, head leaned against hers, fingers tracing nonsensical patterns into her shoulder. She was just barely beginning to doze, thinking about how it actually wasn’t all too bad up there and maybe she could take a quick nap and by the time she woke up it would all be over, when another thought occurred to her.

“Jonathan?”

“Mhm?”

“You don’t think that bomb Bane was threatening the city with will go off, do you?”

“Hm…” he frowned. “It’s possible. If Bane gets pissed enough…he seems like the kind of guy who would be happy to take us all down with him if given the opportunity.”

She frowned, chewing on her bottom lip worriedly. Jonathan gave her a squeeze.

“If it does go off, we probably will be incinerated before we even know what happened.”

“Oh, that makes me feel better,” she muttered dryly. Jonathan chuckled, kissing her forehead.

“Bats won’t let that happen.”

“Huh. Something he’s actually good for,” she curled in closer to him. “I love you,” she wanted to make sure she told him that, just in case this actually was it.

Jonathan shrugged. “You’re okay, I guess.”

She made an indignant sound and he laughed as she lightly shoved him, pulling her into his arms until she was half spread out in his lap. He kissed her.

“I love you too.”

Giggling, she closed her eyes.

BOOM!

Her face creased at the sound, scrunching closer to Jonathan.

“Oh my god,” he said, sounding very exasperated.

“What?” she opened her eyes, following his gaze across the city to where the Bat’s…aircraft? Plane? Whatever it was, it was flying through the city at a furious speed, the spherical bomb that Bane had been threatening the city with attached to a cable and being dragged behind it. 

“Is he…is he fucking towing a neutron bomb?” it wasn’t as question so much as just the most absurd statement she’d ever had to utter in her entire life. They both winced when the bomb, dangling precariously, almost smacked into the side of a building on a sharp turn, before the aircraft was swooping out over the bay, barreling towards the open water. Soon it was but barely a speck of black against the horizon. 

There was a sudden, distant boom, and then a blinding flash of light. She sucked in a harsh breath at the fireball in the distance, cringing back on instinct. Jonathan held her tighter. 

“It’s okay,” he said. “It’s far enough away from us.”

“Yeah,” she whispered, just staring at the pillar of fire rising in the sky. “Do you think he’s dead?”

“The Bat? Maybe,” he huffed. “But I’ve learned not to get my hopes up when it comes to that.”

She snorted. It was true. If anyone could survive an explosion like that, it was Batman. He was like a goddamn cockroach. 

Jonathan hummed, kissing her forehead. “You know what I want to do?”

“Go knab some test subjects off the street while everything is still in chaos and no one will notice?”

“Actually, I was thinking of getting pizza, but I like your idea better.”

Laughing, she leaned further back against him, and closed her eyes.

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Thank you for reading! Please consider leaving a comment, reblog, or like. I always appreciate feedback and love getting the opportunity to interact with you and hear your thoughts!

[palmviewfm]

any mw counterparts?

there's  soooooo  many  counterpart  options  that  you  can  go  with  !  i'll  leave  some  under  the  read  more  for  you  to  make  it  easier.

riverdale:  betty  cooper,  veronica  lodge,  archie  andrews,  cheryl  blossom,  jason  blossom,  reggie  mantle,  midge  klump,  kevin  keller,  polly  cooper,  toni  topaz,  jughead  jones,  moose  mason,  and  josie  mccoy.

pretty  little  liars:  aria  montgomery,  spencer  hastings,  emily  fields,  alison  dilaurentis,  maya  st  germain,  mona  vanderwaal,  mike  montgomery,  caleb  rivers,  noel  kahn,  and  toby  cavanaugh.

teen  wolf:  lydia  martin,  scott  mccall,  allison  argent,  malia  tate,  derek  hale,  isaac  lahey,  liam  dunbar,  cora  hale,  theo  raeken,  kira  yukimura,  jackson  whittemore,  and  erica  reyes.

clueless:  dionne  davenport,  amber  mariens,  murray  duvall,  travis  birkenstock,  christian  stovitz,  summer  bonet  and  elton  tiscia.

charmed:  prue  halliwell,  phoebe  halliwell,  piper  halliwell  and  paige  matthews.

all  american:  olivia  baker,  layla  keating,  asher  adams,  patience,  simone  hicks,  thea  mays,  jj  parker,  damon  sims,  jordan  spencer,  spencer  james,  and  jaymee.

greys  anatomy:  lexi  grey,  arizona  robbins,  atticus  lincoln,  derek  shephard,  addison  montgomery,  callie  torres,  alex  karev,  and  april  kepner.

bridgerton:  francesca  bridgerton,  penelope  featherington,  daphne  bridgerton,  simon  basset,  kate  sharma  and  colin  bridgerton.

sex  and  the  city:  carrie  bradshaw,  miranda  hobbs  and  charlotte  york.

twilight:  bella  swan,  alice  cullen,  carlisle  cullen,  esme  cullen,  emmett  cullen,  and  jacob  black.

friends:  ross  geller,  joey  tribbiani,  chandler  bing,  monica  geller,  mike  hannigan  and  janice  litman.

the  vampire  diaries:  elena  gilbert,  katherine  pierce,  stefan  salvatore,  caroline  forbes,  bonnie  bennett,  enzo  st  john,  hayley  marshall,  klaus  mikaelson,  elijah  mikaelson  and  rebekah  mikaelson.

pitch  perfect:  beca  mitchell,  chloe  beale,  aubrey  posen,  lilly  onakuramara,  cynthia  rose,  and  stacie  conrad.

the  summer  i  turned  pretty:  belly  conklin,  conrad  fisher,  jeremiah  fisher,  steven  conklin,  taylor  jewel,  and  cam  cameron.

shadowhunters:  clary  fray,  simon  lewis,  isabelle  lightwood,  jace  herondale,  alec  lightwood,  and  magnus  bane.

gossip  girl:  blair  waldorf,  serena  van  der�� woodsen,  georgina  sparks,  nate  archibald,  and  dan  humphrey.

scream:  sidney  prescott,  tatum  riley,  kirby  reed,  tara  carpenter,  sam  carpenter,  gale  weathers,  dewey  riley,  randy  meeks  and  casey  becker.

gilmore  girls:  logan  huntzberger,  lane  kim,  dave  rygalski,  paris  geller,  lorelai  gilmore,  tristan  dugray,  luke  danes,  dean  forester,  emily  gilmore,  richard  gilmore,  sookie  st  james,  and  kirk  gleason.

the  notebook:  allie  hamilton  and  noah  calhoun.

interview with a vampire: louis de point du lac, lestat de lioncourt, estelle, santiago, armand, samuel barclay, and grace de point du lac.

a  cinderella  story:  austin  ames  and  sam  montgomery.

10  things  i  hate  about  you:  kat  stratford,  cameron  james,  joey  donner,  and  bianca  stratford.

grease:  sandy  olson,  danny  zuko,  betty  rizzo,  marty,  jan,  frenchy,  doody,  putzie,  sunny,  chacha  and  kenickie.

dirty  dancing:  frances  'baby'  houseman.

heathers:  heather  chandler,  heather  mcnamara,  heather  duke,  and  veronica  sawyer.

scooby  doo:  velma  dinkley,  daphne  blake,  shaggy  rogers,  and  fred  jones.

powerpuff  girls:  bubbles,  blossom,  and  buttercup.

[letstalkshipping]

cool screenshots from The Dark Knight Rises

And the bonus quotes...

"Bruce, if you want to save the world, you have to start trusting it." - Miranda

"Victory has defeated you." - Bane

"There can be no true despair without hope." - Bane

"Detective - and as detective, we're not allowed to believe in coincidence." - Blake

[codgod]

lmm’s rpf musical is the bane of my existence not because of the rpf but because at least in the heights the women talk about. you know. not men. but every convo after the sisters meet lmm’s oc rewrite is just. about him.

i know you can write women manuel. come on now.

i saw a post once like. lin manuel miranda isn’t supposed to be famous he’s supposed to be in a basement somewhere making his silly little musicals and idk anything about in the heights but that feels correct to me

[andrewmoocow]

Little Homeworld Life chapter 26: Hostile Takeover (originally posted on June 19, 2023)

AN: It has all come to this. The end begins here. The final episode of Little Homeworld Life is here at last, and after that will be Steven Universe: Snake Eyes. It has been an honor delivering such consistent quality writing to this fandom, and I'll be damned if I don't enjoy doing it again one last time before I finally decide to move onto other stories I've left to dry for too long.

Synopsis: Connie returns home from college just as Black Rutile takes over Little Homeworld and holds the Crystal Gems captive. With their alien friends in danger, the people of Beach City decide to repay the Crystal Gems by joining together to save them from Black Rutile.

Cast:

Grace Rolek as Connie

Noël Wells as Black Rutile

Kimberly Brooks as Jasper, Skinny Jasper, Carnelian, Superfan Rose, Hippie Rose, Shy Rose, Cherry Quartz, Biggs Jasper

Lauren Ash as White Topaz

Amy Sedaris as Teal Zircon

Martha Higerada as Topaz

Della Saba as Aquamarine

Charlyne Yi as Eyeball, Doc, Navy, Leggy, Army

Christine Pedi as Holly Blue Agate

Casey Lee Williams as Cat's Eye

Hayley Kiyoko as Morganite

Jinkx Monsoon as Emerald, Chest Emerald

Melissa Fahn as Demantoid, Eyeball Demantoid

Kari Wahlgren as Pyrope

Jon Wurster as Marty

Shanelle Grey as Sally Grove

Larissa Gallagher as Bluebird Azurite

May Calamawy as Chrome Chalcedony

Susanne Blakeslee as Pietersite

Estelle as Garnet

Michaela Dietz as Amethyst, Famethyst, Tiger's Eye

Deedee Magno-Hall as Pearl, Yellow Pearl, Blue Pearl, Volleyball, Black Pearl Brigade

Shelby Rabara as Peridot, Squaridot

Jennifer Paz as Lapis, Laz, Zuli, Phoenix Lapis

Uzo Aduba as Bismuth

Dee Bradley Baker as Lion, Concretes

Tom Scharpling as Greg

Matthew Moy as Lars, Dante

Kate Micucci as Sadie

Indya Moore as Shep

Enuka Okuma as Rhodonite

Kathleen Fisher as Fluorite

Ashly Burch as Rutile Twins

Erica Luttrell as Padparadscha Sapphire

Mary Elizabeth McGlynn as Priyanka

Crispin Freeman as Doug

Andrew Kishino as Kevin

Reagan Gomez Preston as Jenny, Kiki

Godfrey as Kofi

Zach Steel as Ronaldo

Brian Posehn as Sour Cream

Lamar Abrams as Buck Dewey

Colton Dunn as Mr. Smiley

Toks Olagundoye as Mayor Nanafua

Joel Hodgson as Bill Dewey

Eugene Cordero as Jamie

Atticus Shaffer as Peedee

Billy Merritt as Mr. Fryman

Kristin Chenoweth as Sheena Synstylae

Nancy Linari as Martha

Brian George as Mr. Frowney

Jackie Buscarino as Vidalia

Aparna Nancherla as Nephrite, Lemon Jade

Ian Jones Quartey as Snowflake Obsidian, Bixbite

Michelle Maryk as Larimar

Auli'i Cravalho as Orange Spodumene

Kimiko Glenn as Blue Chalcedony

Tara Platt as Heaven Cubic Zirconia, Earth Cubic Zirconia

Tara Strong as Grossular Diopside

Phillipa Soo as Chrysocolla

Anika Noni Rose as Watermelon Tourmaline (fusion), Watermelon Tourmaline

Aimee Carrero as Moonstone

Gal Gadot as Desert Glass

Willa Holland as Albite

Maddie Ziegler as Serpentine

Courtenay Taylor as Beryl

Sarah Jessica Parker as Dumortierite

Cavetown as Diaspore

Emily King as Kunzite

Alex Newell as Monazite

Alyson Hannigan as Lavenderine

Avi Roque as Cinnabar

Gina Torres as Andesine

Awkwafina as Kyanite

Allison Janney as Pyrite

Zehra Fazal as Zoisite

Lena Hall as Bloodstone

Jodie Whittaker as Xenotime

Idina Menzel as Amazonite

Halsey as Tanzanite

Mia Barron as Apatite

Sarah Stiles as Spinel

Christine Baranski as Hessonite

Olivia Olson as Citrine, Citrine Twins

Lin-Manuel Miranda as President Eduardo Suarez

Wendie Malick as Vice President Theresa Maxwell

GZA as Major General Wade Grant

Tim Curry as General Lloyd Waller

John Kassir as Reginald Johnson

Stephanie Beatriz as Arleen Suarez

Xolo Mariduena as Huey Suarez

Leslie Grace as Riley Suarez

Pierce Brosnan as Bane Jones

Hugh Jackman as Beckham Jordan

James Monroe Iglehart as Coach Matt Monroe

Karen Fukuhara as Makoto Fuji

Matthew Rhys as Dr. James Brenner

T-Pain as Sam Galley

Christoph Waltz as Francis von Bowling

Rob Paulsen as Mr. Shreds

David Kaye as Collar

Roger Craig Smith as Tank

Alex Hirsch as Lawrence Abrams

Zach Callison as Steven, Onion, Cactus Stevens, Topiary Stevens

Featuring Christopher McDonald as Carl Grove

And Betsy Sodaro as Maureen Grove

--

"It just feels so good to be bad." Black Rutile gloated to the Crystal Gems as she held them prisoner in a makeshift prison. Today had quite possibly been the best day she has ever had on Earth. Black Rutile had now converted multiple Gems to her coalition of rebels, whether by force or through coercion, her enemies were now hers to torment, and their precious Little Homeworld into her newest evil lair. "I haven't felt this utterly delighted to be victorious since the siege of Tweenis 12, I feel like singing! Maestro?"

Amazonite turned on a music player at her master's command, causing Black Rutile to sing a reprise of a familiar song. "Wither the rose! Growing shadows! Sow a world of chaos! Wither the rose! Only highs, no lows! In a world of chaos!"

"Is this really the time to be singing?" Pearl muttered as she tried to break free from her chains.

"Ha!" Black Rutile laughed in response before looking out at her various enforcers. "Come on minions, hurry along! Soon, Beach City will be gone! I could squeeze myself with glee, first the Diamonds and then this galaxy! I really stopped at nothing, gaslighting, terrorism, and lying!" she declared. "Whatever it takes to get revenge, you really can't blame me for trying."

Little Homeworld soon began hovering over Beach City, casting a dark shadow over a large portion of the town while the townies had no idea what was going on. Suddenly, the water holding the Gem village in the air began firing at the humans, making them scurry in fear as Black Rutile finished her song. "Wither the rose! Growing shadows! Sow a world of chaos! Wither the rose! Don't you doze!"

"This planet is basically ours!" Aquamarine sang along.

"We have control over its superpowers!" Eyeball added triumphantly.

"You are helpless to resist!" Holly Blue proclaimed.

"There's no way for you to persist!" Cat's Eye declared.

"Saying sorry just won't cut it!" Cinnabar boomed.

"This universe will be ours, bit by bit!" Andesine stated.

"You thought you could contain us," Black Rutile sang out in victory. "but you can no longer discuss!"

"Genocide, slaughtering, jingoism, in enemy blood, we shall wade!" the seven Gems joined together in harmony. "Rutile Rebels come celebrate, as we make these foolish Crystal Gems fade!" By the time the song ended, Black Rutile looked out at the destruction below her and began making a speech. "People of Beach City, do not look away!" she bellowed to the humans below. "You witness a Rutile's revival, and the birth of her new empire!"

"What do you want now, Black Rutile?!" Lars yelled from below.

"What I want is recognition!" Black Rutile responded. "As you can see, I have officially conquered Little Homeworld and taken the Crystal Gems as my prisoners. The means as to how it can fly can all be blamed on their dear friend, Lapis Lazuli." She looked over at Lapis, who was sitting on the Warp Pad with a blank look on her face. "Despite what the Crystal Gems believed, Little Homeworld was the aspiration of idiots and dreamers! A mere tool to indoctrinate poor, unfortunate Gems who were living lives free of their tyranny. But unfortunately for them, I am far smarter than the average Gem, so I continued planning my revenge for months on end, which leads me today." She then sent out her drones, ready to attack at any moment. "Either surrender to me at once or else your pathetic little town will go bye-bye! Bye-bye."

Down below, Jasper and White Topaz were watching the carnage the entire time, lying in wait for an opportunity to strike back at Black Rutile and save their friends. "So, any idea on how to stop her?" Jasper asked her girlfriend. "I mean, it's just a bunch of us Gems that she could convert at any moment with those Blasters."

"Well, one thing's for certain, Black Rutile has gone too far this time." White Topaz declared. "We kept giving her second chance after second chance, but she always used them to try and destroy us! I've had enough of this! Once we defeat her, she's going straight to Revanche 666 where she belongs!"

"Someone's got leftover issues they need resolving." Teal Zircon added as she popped up behind the two big Gems. "Okay, Topaz and I have spent the last few minutes coming up with a plan."

"If it involves doing something astronomically stupid, then I don't want in." Jasper stopped Teal before she could finish. "What makes you think you could come up with an intelligent plan?"

"Because outside of being the obnoxious but lovable comic relief, I am actually far more observant than you think I am." TZ declared. "Which is why I am 10,000,000,000% certain that my plan will work."

"I'd like to see you try." Jasper scoffed before White Topaz placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Come on honey, just hear her out." White Topaz suggested. Jasper knew she couldn't disappoint her lover, so she relented with a sigh.

"Okay, proceed." Jasper groaned and let Teal explain.

"I say instead of just saving the day ourselves, we team up with the humans to save the world from Black Rutile!" Teal declared proudly. "The people of Beach City have been around us long enough to know what to do in situations like this, and we've gained a few allies over the years to back us up."

"I get what you're saying now." Jasper nodded proudly. "Like him for example!" As if on cue, Dr. James Brenner walked up to the three Gems. "I found him falling to his doom when Black Rutile threw him out. He's her psychologist, ergo, he should know exactly what she's thinking!"

"You are indeed correct, Jasper." Brenner declared. "I have been forced to watch as Black Rutile's schemes took shape, hoping that maybe my advice would get through to her, but alas, my words fell on deaf ears. Perhaps joining forces with all of you can help me redeem myself for being so powerless to help her."

"Great, we have our first recruit!" Teal Zircon cheered while giving the psychologist a hearty slap on the back. "Okay guys, I'll go gather the troops! You two on the other hand will have to find a very special someone."

"Are you pondering what I'm pondering?" Jasper then asked White Topaz.

"I think so Jasp, but Pete Rose?" White Topaz replied oddly, making Jasper raise an eyebrow at such a non-sequitur. "I mean, can we trust him?"

"No, I think Teal means we should fetch Connie!" Jasper yelled. "You and I both know she's been throwing a wrench in Black Rutile's plans multiple times! Her first invasion of Earth, the Steven monster crisis, and the alternate universe business, all of them had Connie involved and she played some role in stopping them all! You see what I'm getting at here?"

"Yeah, I get it now!" White Topaz exclaimed. "To Connie's house!" Just as the two raced off, a small black spy drone was watching the pair and quickly began following them.

--

"Breaking news all the way from Beach City!" Lawrence Abrams announced on the news. "The alien terrorist Black Rutile is once again laying waste to Beach City, and at the same time, our beloved president has been subject to a violent uprising against legions of angry Arnold Clump supporters led by the alt-right Internet personality Reginald Johnson. Are these two events connected? We'll be back after the break with more updates."

"Sweet Manila in the claws of light." Doug Maheswaran gasped in shock as he and Connie watched Black Rutile's invasion on the news. "This is probably something Steven should take care of, right?"

"Hopefully he at least knows what's going on," Connie added as she prepared to reach for her phone, only to hear a knock on the door. "Can someone get that?"

"Don't worry Connie, I'll get it," Priyanka said to her daughter as she opened the door to find Jasper and White Topaz waiting for her outside. "Oh, you must be that Jasper and Topaz who tore apart Beach City."

"You are never going to let go of that." Jasper declared. "Anyways, we need to see your daughter. The world is in danger and we need everyone we can get to save it."

"Right here!" Connie exclaimed while she raced up to the front door with her sword at the ready. "Come on guys, the Crystal Gems need us!"

"Yeah, about that." White Topaz stated nervously. "They kind of broke up because Black Rutile exposed Bismuth for poofing Lapis and is now holding them all hostage at Little Homeworld. Plus, Lapis officially betrayed them to Black Rutile and is helping make Little Homeworld fly. You know what, I think I know of a way to explain this better."

White Topaz then turned her fingers into puppet versions of the Crystal Gems to further go in depth about their situation. "Hey, what's this I hear about Bismuth poofing me and setting me on this path of torment and betrayal?!" her imitation of Lapis complained. "Oh no, the jig is up!" an imitation of Bismuth exclaimed. "Okay, I did poof you, Lapis, but I didn't mean to!"

"Saying you didn't mean it won't save you from me!" the shadow puppet of Lapis yelled before lunging at Bismuth, only for Garnet and Pearl to stop her.

"Top thirty reasons why Bismuth is sorry." The puppet version of Pearl stated. "Number 5 will surprise you."

"Top thirty anime deaths," puppet Lapis continued. "number one: YOUR BUTT RIGHT NOW!"

"I'm just here to be supportive!" a shadow puppet of Amethyst said as she took Lapis and Peridot's side in the tussle, ending with White Topaz making "whoop whoop whoop" sounds as she started twiddling her fingers into a big clump. "And scene!"

"Okay, I'm going to need a refresher here." Priyanka said, shocked at the bizarreness of White Topaz's show. "What does this all mean?"

"Look, the point is that Teal Zircon and all the Gems Black Rutile didn't convert are gathering everyone in Beach City to fight back against Black Rutile, and we believe Connie is the best possible candidate to lead them all." Jasper explained in brief. "If anyone else wishes to join, you're free to come along."

"But what about Steven?" Connie asked. "Surely he'd know what to do in this situation." Suddenly, the tracking drone from earlier emerged from Jasper's hair, making her and White Topaz wonder if it was following them the whole time, and dropped into Connie's hands to deliver a message from Black Rutile.

"Ah, Connie Meka-Leka-Hi-Meka-Hiney-Ho-Swanson, we meet again." The hologram of Black Rutile smirked at her message's intended recipient. "If you are seeing this message, then you're already well aware of my latest revenge scheme and how frequently you've been playing a part in my constant failures. I would kill you and your parents right here and now, but I believe that would be too easy." The very thought of being killed by such a madman unnerved the Maheswarans. "Which is I offer you this challenge! Meet me at the flying Little Homeworld in ninety minutes to face me for the fate of your wretched world, and bring company too. And for an extra challenge, Steven must not get involved in the slightest. Lose, I will kill each and every single one of you. Win?" She let out an evil chuckle. "The only winner will be me, no matter what. Allons-y!"

The drone then shut down and crumbled to pieces of metal in Connie's hand. Despite the threat to her life, it only made her more determined. "Take us to Beach City."

--

Later at Beach City, Teal Zircon was true to her word and had assembled the entirety of its citizens and then some to discuss their plans to stop Black Rutile. Along with all the Gems that escaped Black Rutile's earlier assault, there was the Barriga family and the Off-Colors, Sadie & Shep, the former Cool Kids, the Pizza and Fryman families, Mr. Smiley and Mr. Frowney, Jamie, Kevin, Onion and his friends, Vidalia, Yellowtail, and Sheena Synstylae. In addition, Teal had also managed to get into contact with Bane Jones, Beckham Jordan, Matt Monroe, Makoto Fuji, and Sam Galley. Now, all that was left was Connie and her parents to make their makeshift army complete.

"My my Teal Zircon, you assembled quite an assortment of characters here." Brenner nodded at all the humans and Gems gathered together to stop Black Rutile. "But do you think this will be enough to stop her?"

"Oh, I know so!" Teal yelled excitedly. "You know those kinds of movies and TV shows where there's a team of people who cannot function together, but they pull through regardless? That's what I'm going for here. On our own, we're just a bunch of misfits. But when we're together, now that's something special." Just then, Connie, her parents, Jasper, and White Topaz appeared behind her from a portal created by Lion. "And there's our girl of the hour! Let's give her a hand!"

Everyone began applauding as Connie walked up to Teal Zircon. "Uh, hello everybody, thank you for inviting me to your little get-together. I'm afraid I'm going to need some catching up to do on what's been going on. I don't think a funny little puppet show is enough."

"Then allow me," Brenner said before he spoke to the audience. "As some of you may not know, our 'dear friend' Black Rutile", He put "dear friend" in air-quotes. "has enacted quite possibly her greatest revenge plot yet, and I bore witness to the fruits of her labor overtime as I was assigned to be her criminal psychologist. She has assembled criminal masterminds, bigoted online personalities, more old enemies of the Gems, and forlorn Gems looking for a place to belong. I have tried multiple times to convince her that she wasn't doing the right thing, but she kept ignoring me at every turn."

"Online personalities like who?" Ronaldo raised his hand, making the rest of the crowd turn to him. "You mean Sally Grove? I've had tons of arguments with her about the Gems before."

"Precisely that," James explained. "I have no idea why she is so cruel, but she seemed perfect as one of Black Rutile's top lieutenants, using her social media influence to gather more human followers through the Internet. There is also Francis von Bowling and his cohorts from P.H.A.N.T.O.M, no doubt brought in for their vendetta against the Gems too."

"Well, I'll be." Bane Jones muttered in bemusement while preparing a technologically advanced shotgun.

"In addition, Black Rutile is now joined by this Marty fellow, who claims to have his own grudge because Steven took his son away from him." James continued, giving him strained looks from Greg and Vidalia. "Together, these scoundrels have converted multiple Gems through these strange blasters built to brainwash anyone hit by them!"

"It's because of those blasters Black Rutile took away my crew!" Nephrite sobbed into Biggs Jasper's arms.

"She took out almost the entire Famethyst!" Carnelian added.

"And like, tons of other quartz Gems too." Chest Rose stated. "Me, my sibs, Biggs, Tiger's Eye, and Cherry are the only ones left."

"Hopefully what the Black Pearls said about finding a way to restore them is true." Cherry Quartz nervously said, looking over at the Black Pearl Brigade.

"So, what can we all do?" Beckham Jordan asked. "We're all just a bunch of humans and Gems who have no idea how unprepared we are for this! Heck, I'm just a star basketball player who knows more about how to score a point than fighting battles! What would happen if one of us were to die today? Besides, Steven won't be here to help us!"

"I promise you all, I won't let that happen." Connie declared before unsheathing her sword and holding it to the sky. "The Crystal Temps will defend this planet to the end!"

"Wait, is that what we're calling ourselves?!" Kevin yelled from afar. "Why not something cooler like the Substitute Crystal Gems, or something?!"

"It's very sentimental!" Connie hurriedly replied. "Now who's with me?!"

"I am!" Orange Spodumene yelled while raising her hand.

"I am!" Kofi Pizza and Mr. Fryman shouted in unison.

"And me too!" Sam Galley added excitedly. "Also, just want to get this outta the way, but I have a bit of a crush on Amethyst."

"Me three!" Lavenderine shouted, followed by a wave of excitement from the gathered New Crystal Temps.

"Aw, what the heck, I haven't got that long a lifespan anyways." Kevin resigned himself to the cause. While Connie proudly looked over at the crowd united for a singular purpose, she felt a familiar hand touching her shoulder.

"I'm in too." Priyanka proclaimed, much to her daughter's surprise. "After that hospital incident, I feel like it's time for me to get involved in your Crystal Gem business and be on the frontlines."

"Well, someone's a little eager." Brenner smiled at Priyanka before looking over at Doug. "And what shall you do for this, sir?"

"I think I'll go look into the Sally Grove situation." Doug answered. "Her parents deserve to know that their daughter is basically selling out the human race to Black Rutile. But be sure to call me so I can still join in."

"Black Rutile told me that I have to meet her in ninety minutes," Connie announced while looking at her watch. "Well, this announcement went by quicker than expected. Anyways, let's save the world!" The New Crystal Temps then began cheering for their grand leader.

--

Meanwhile, in the dark void of space, Revanche 666 was now completely abandoned following Cinnabar and Andesine's escape from the prison. Black Pearl guards, Bismuths, and Peridots were locked in cells formerly occupied by members of the Rutile Rebels, surviving on a false hope that someone would come to save them. However, two particular prisoners weren't meant to be there. They just wanted to get in, stop a prison riot, and get out. But fate had other plans.

"How long has it been since we were trapped here by Cinnabar's plotting and my own recklessness?" Hessonite muttered to Citrine as the two languished in their prison cells. "Feels like we've been stranded here for eons."

"It's only been a few weeks, Hessonite." Citrine stated. "But yeah, it really has felt like forever. I mean, it would take a miracle for someone to notice that we're stuck here!" Suddenly, the two heard something crash through the walls. "Well, what do you know?"

"Hey, anybody here?!" Spinel yelled as she and Lemon Jade emerged from a spaceship they just crashed into the prison. "The Diamonds were getting worried that something bad happened!"

"Over here Spinel, over here!" Hessonite yelled to Spinel. "Hello, it's me, Hessonite, and yes, I am exactly who you're looking for."

"Yeah, we haven't seen you guys since you went to stop that prison breakout," Spinel answered while turning her hand into a ventriloquist dummy resembling Yellow Diamond. "Old Yeller was like 'I fear something might've gone horribly wrong on Revanche 666. I need someone to volunteer to investigate.' Luckily, I was there to oblige."

"And I simply got dragged along." Lemon Jade added. "So what did happen?"

"We thought Andesine and her entourage had surrendered, but it was all a ruse she and Cinnabar set up to escape," Citrine explained to the visitors. "Now we're all stuck behind bars with no way to leave, no way of contacting anyone outside this prison, and no way to deactivate our cells. Do either of you have any bright ideas?"

"I got one! I saw this on a TV show once." Spinel replied before she leaned on the wall between Hessonite and Citrine's cells and gave it a hard knock, which somehow forced the destabilizing fields guarding the two to deactivate. "Ey!" she added with two thumbs up. "You can thank me later."

"Finally!" Hessonite sighed with relief while shaking Spinel's hand as she emerged from her cell. "But what about everyone else?"

"Don't worry, I got this," Citrine said as she walked out of her cell and straight to the control room.

"So, where are Cinnabar and Andesine now?" Lemon Jade asked Hessonite.

"The two of them are currently on Earth aiding Black Rutile in whatever harebrained scheme she has now planned," Hessonite stated while the prison staff was released from their cells. "We need to act quickly if we want to stop all of them in their tracks."

"Roger roger, live long and prosper and all that!" Spinel exclaimed. "Come on Jade, let's chew bubblegum and kick some butt! And I'm all out of bubblegum."

"I'm not sure if I'm equipped for a fight, but whatever you say, I'll follow," Lemon said as she, Spinel, Hessonite, and Citrine boarded the ship Spinel crashed earlier and took off for Earth to bring Cinnabar & Andesine to justice.

--

"Ocean Town." Doug muttered to himself as he pulled into Beach City's sister town, easily identified by a sign declaring "STILL NOT ON FIRE." His journey ended at a shabby but homely-looking one-story house where he pulled into the driveway before getting out and knocking on the front door. An overweight, middle-aged fellow with a receding hairline, a barely shaved mustache, and clothes that looked like they haven't been washed in days soon answered. "Hello, is this the Grove residence?"

"What's it to ya?" the fat man said while pulling a half-eaten hot dog out of his pocket to shove in his mouth.

"Doug Maheswaran from Beach City." Doug introduced himself to the man while pulling out his ID. "I'm here to speak about your daughter, Sally."

"Oh good, I thought you were here about the body we found on the train tracks." The man sighed in relief before turning his head to call for someone. "Maureen!"

"What?!" what Doug assumed to be the man's wife hollered back.

"We got a cop here to talk about Sally!" the man replied before letting Doug inside and sitting him down and offering him a drink. "Here, have a shot on me."

"No thanks, I'm good." Doug rejected the offer before a skinny woman hiding her bleached blonde hair in a bandana walked into the living room. "Hello there miss, I'm here to talk to you about your daughter's recent activities."

"Ah yeah, Sally." The woman said as she and her husband sat down on the couch. "I always kept hearing her talk with that alien woman on her whatchacallit….computer. Anyways, my name's Maureen Grove and this is my husband Carl."

"Well, that alien woman is a known bigoted criminal who is plotting to destroy the world." Doug revealed, making Carl and Maureen blankly stare at each other in silence. "Something the matter, you two?"

"Shoulda known our girl would do something like this." Maureen Grove shook her head in shame. "If you think Sally's views were a product of an abusive upbringing or some kind of trauma, I'm afraid you're mistaken, officer. She was diagnosed with kajigger disorder or something."

"Antisocial personality disorder." Carl Grove corrected his wife. "What we're saying is that Sally is just not a pleasant person to be around, especially in this current era of that danged Internet. She thrives on being so smug & self-righteous and making people hate her, yet at the same time she wonders why everyone hates her. And we've tried our best to help her, but she always kept picking on us for stupid reasons! It's absurd, I tells ya!"

"So, she brought this upon herself," Doug said while writing down in his notepad. "Would you care to further elaborate on her behavior?"

"She also had this TubeTube channel that barely had any subscribers because people would rather watch cat videos, let's plays, and those creepy kids' videos," Maureen answered. "But then came that weird monster attack last year, where everything changed forever."

--

"Sally honey, time for dinner!" Carl called for his daughter while knocking on the door. "Mama's making chili cheese dogs tonight!"

"I can buy and sell you, old man!" Sally insulted her father from behind her bedroom door.

"Fair enough, just starve then because I'm a man." Carl casually replied as he walked away. "I swear, we have got to get her a therapist soon." He muttered to himself. "Dropping out of college I can understand, but she desperately needs to do something with her life."

"CARL, GET DOWN HERE!" Maureen shrieked for her husband. "SOMEONE'S INTERRUPTED AMERICAN IDOL!"

"They WHAT?!" Carl bellowed as he charged down the stairs to see what was going on. To his alarm, their TV show was cut off by the sudden appearance of Black Rutile on their television screen as she made a speech.

"Greetings to the civilians of this backwater planet. I am Black Rutile, soon to be supreme ruler of the Gem race." Black Rutile introduced herself to audiences around the world. "I come to you today because you are faced with a crisis that has been right under your noses for thousands of years now, and it can all be blamed on the Crystal Gems."

"Nothing that changing the channel won't fix." Carl declared as he picked up the remote and tried switching to another channel. Unfortunately, Black Rutile was interrupting the programming there, and on every other channel too. "What the Sam Hill is going on here?! Who would believe such malarkey?!"

"They have been living among your people since the dawn of man, and have brought numerous world-ending threats along with." Black Rutile's speech continued on Sally's computer, much to her curiosity. "From loads of monsters that were formerly members of their kind, to insane terraformers that stole the ocean for selfish purposes followed by nearly drowning thousands once they returned the water to Earth, a superweapon made from the remains of their own kind that remains buried under the Earth as we speak, repeated counts of abductions and the near-genocide of all organic life." Despite Black Rutile clearly spreading lies about the Crystal Gems, the desperate TubeTube user felt a special sort of parasocial connection to her. "But now we are faced with a new problem, and it's all thanks to one Gem: Pink Diamond. It's because of her that this monstrosity plaguing the Earth at this moment is running amok and the Crystal Gems have done nothing to stop it, or her for that matter. Should you believe this planet is worth saving, something must be done about the Crystal Gems, or you will suffer the consequences. That will be all."

With the end of Black Rutile's warning, Sally's life was changed forever. Her TubeTube channel was then completely overhauled to benefit from her newfound hatred of the Crystal Gems. They caused so much chaos and destruction, yet they're celebrated as heroes. Sally simply gives her opinion, and she's constantly villainized for it. To her, that simply wasn't fair. But what no one realized about Sally was terrified of growing past her bigoted, misanthropic mindset and becoming a better person because she believed kindness and compassion were signs of weakness. And she despised being weak.

--

"Ever since then, that Black Rutile yutz has been a bad influence on our girl." Carl finished his story. "Sally's been completely off her rocker because of her. Every time we tried setting her up with various lovers, she just kept abusing them. Especially this one feller named Fred who she kept saying had a small di-"

"Anything else I should know before I leave?" Doug asked, cutting off Carl before he could finish. "What other crimes has she committed?"

"What hasn't she committed?" Maureen replied. "Thankfully, she hasn't done anything super serious, but she's also formed lynch mobs online against random people she hates, and cyberbullied her so-called friends away. And let's not forget that she wrote some really disturbing fanfiction!" She cringed in disgust at the thought.

"Right, thank you for your time, Mr. and Mrs. Grove, I promise I'll have your daughter returned home so she can get the help she deserves," Doug said as he got up and prepared to leave, only for Carl to stop him.

"Hey, before you go, officer," Carl said before presenting Doug with a chili cheese dog. "care for a chili cheese dog? Can't save the world on an empty stomach."

"You know what? I'll take it." Doug accepted the dog before pulling out his phone. "Connie, I'll be coming back soon. Is everything ready?"

"Almost, Dad," Connie responded. "Bane Jones helped us get everybody weapons for the big fight. We just need to wait on you now."

--

Elsewhere in Washington D.C., President Eduardo Suarez, his vice president Theresa Maxwell, Wade Grant, Lloyd Waller, and his presidential cabinet remained in hiding from the forces of Reginald Anderson. Having just witnessed his family being held hostage, the White House being overtaken, and one of the secret service agents under his employment brutally beaten to near death, the president was naturally anxious about what to do next. What's more, there's no way he can contact the Crystal Gems at the moment. He was at an utter loss at what to do.

"Never seen Eddy this worked up in ages," Theresa muttered in wonder at her president's nervous pacing. "Last time I've seen him like this was when Clump seemed to have beat him in the polls."

"I wouldn't blame him," Lloyd replied. "Country's in crisis again, plus his family is in grave danger. Poor thing looks like he'll have a panic attack at any moment."

"I'll go have a talk with him," Wade said as he walked over to his chief and put a hand on his shoulder. "Mr. President, are you feeling alright? Do you need anything before we make our decision?"

"No, I'm perfectly fine!" Eduardo exclaimed bravely, a far cry from the nervous front he was just putting up. "I'm willing to give everything for this country, as a good president should!" However, his courageous smile was quickly replaced with an insecure frown. "But what can I do when my family's lives are at stake here? One wrong move and I could lose everything."

"You're right, he's giving us a very tough choice here." Wade nodded when he suddenly got an idea. "Wait, I know!" Whatever he whispered into the president's ear, Eduardo was liking what he was hearing. "You got that?"

"I like what you're saying." Eduardo nodded. "Let's do it." Just then, three men opened the doors to One Observatory Drive and walked in. The first man wore a nice suit and was balding, while his two associates were dressed in a tank top and a collared shirt respectively. "Hello there."

"Greetings Mr. President, my name is Mr. Shreds." Mr. Shreds introduced himself to the president. "These are my two associates, Tank and Collar, and we are here to deliver you to Reginald Johnson so you can relinquish your presidency."

"Just move along now and don't keep us waiting!" Collar said as he and Tank took Eduardo by the arms and guided him to their limo. "Any last words, sir?"

"Yes, I'd like to make a personal request to Reginald." Eduardo nodded. "I'd like to have a public debate with him, face to face."

"As absurd as your request is, I shall grant it," Tank replied begrudgingly, not knowing what he was in for as the limousine drove away.

"So what did you tell him?" Theresa asked Wade as the two worriedly watched Eduardo be taken away.

"You'll see." Wade gave the vice president a knowing smirk.

--

"Making yourselves comfortable, Crystal Gems?" Black Rutile asked her prisoners while paying them one last visit to their cell. "Doesn't matter to me, because I got special plans for you."

"What is it now?" Peridot muttered disdainfully. "Is it about how you're so much better than us because you're not us?"

"Whatever it is, just get it over with already," Bismuth added sadly. "I deserve it for what I put Lapis through."

"Yes, yes you did." Lapis harshly agreed. "You poofed me and then forced me to be the dumb little plaything that you'll always throw away when you don't need me."

"You're still depressed about that?!" Black Rutile groaned in irritation as the brainwashed Emerald pulled up a throne for Black Rutile to sit on. "I'm saying that this could all be avoided if you joined me! Over time, I began to realize that the Rutile Rebels aren't as different from the Crystal Gems as I thought. We all started out as nobodies, did something extraordinary that made us different from the rest of our kin, rose to the top, and earned the respect of the Diamonds, only to have all torn down by a person who didn't even care about them." She declared. "I'll admit, when I first heard about Little Homeworld, I wanted to destroy it so bad, especially when you locked me up here. But after spending some time trapped here, I, ever the opportunist, decided that I could make it into something better!"

"Like turning it into our new secret lair for example!" Aquamarine added.

"And we have your stupid bickering to thank for it!" Eyeball said as all the other Rutile Rebels threw their heads back and laughed.

"What I'm trying to say is that there are special people like us who should run the world, and then there are the disgusting humans who deliver our food and fight our wars." Black Rutile continued. "Which is why I'm offering you this one-time opportunity. Let us work together for once so we can truly bring Gems and humans together in peace and harmony!" To emphasize her point, she turned on a news report documenting the attack on the White House. "Refuse, and I shall make you pay with your lives! Bring out the Disintegrator!"

"Wait, the Disintegrator?!" Bismuth shrieked in terror as Sally walked in with a small, glowing boxlike device in her hands that she set on the table. "I thought that was outlawed eons ago! How did you get one?!"

"You'd be surprised what I can accomplish through mixing Gem technology with human garbage." Black Rutile stated while presenting the device. "For those uninformed, most likely you Amethyst, this was an ancient torture device built to execute criminal Gems by grinding them up into dust and dispersing them in the air in a beautiful yet morbid fashion."

"Curious, most curious." Francis von Bowling nodded with intrigue. "And how does it work exactly?"

"Allow me to demonstrate." Black Rutile responded before presenting a small rock she placed in the Disintegrator. She then turned it on, and the rock was instantly ground up into dust in a terrifying show of the machine's power, leaving the Gems horrified yet not surprised she would use something like that. "That oughta show you for brainwashing us all!"

"You're kidding me?" Pearl scoffed. "You claim we're brainwashing Gems against their and forcing them to join our side when that's literally what you are doing with those devices! Those aren't rejuvenating blasters, they're inculcating blasters! All these new Gems of yours say: "All hail Black Rutile! All hail Black Rutile!", but the Gems we teach would never say anything like that. We didn't force them to come here, they made that choice willingly."

"Kind of like how Lapis willingly joined me after I convinced her of how alone we were in the universe?" Black Rutile retorted, pointing to a sullen Lapis in the darkness. "Or how I convinced Sally Grove here to be a kindred spirit?"

"Yeah, that reminds me," Amethyst asked. "How could you team up with someone that obviously evil? Surely, you must have some tragic reason for doing so, right?"

"No, no tragic reason at all," Sally admitted without a single ounce of empathy in her voice. "I just like being hated. It makes me feel powerful."

"Hatred makes all of us powerful." Holly Blue agreed with Sally, with Cat's Eye by her side with her cat Blake in her arms.

"Very powerful." Cat's Eye agreed.

"Okay, we've had enough taunting, let's get to executing!" Black Rutile declared eagerly as she began choosing which Crystal Gem to disintegrate. However, her choice was pretty easy. "Bismuth, do you volunteer as tribute?"

"Wait, what?!" Bismuth muttered as the brainwashed Demantoid and Pyrope freed her from her shackles to be executed. "You won't get away with this, Black Rutile!"

"As a matter of fact, I've gotten away with it months ago." Black Rutile cruelly sneered while shoving the Disintegrator towards Bismuth. "Now, you might feel a little tingle."

"Lapis, please, I'm sorry!" Bismuth cried out for possibly the last time to Lapis, but she didn't seem to listen. All Lapis could do was turn away in shame. As Bismuth was about to be thrown into the machine and the other Crystal Gems cried for Black Rutile not to do it, the Disintegrator was suddenly stabbed with an epee, causing it to shut down. "What?"

"You!" Black Rutile yelled at Tanzanite for destroying her machine. "I have put hours upon hours into building that, and you made it all for nothing!"

"That's because you've gone too far this time, and I can't do this anymore!" Tanzanite yelled angrily while proceeding to free Bismuth, Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and Peridot from their restraints. "Brainwashing is one thing, but executing too?"

"Are you seriously trying to talk back to your master?" Black Rutile growled angrily. "You know how Rose lied to you, you know how she left you to die and become part of a planet-destroying abomination against your will! I was there for you, and this is how you repay me?!"

"Yes, the Crystal Gems aren't honest, but their intentions are definitely real." Tanzanite declared firmly, bringing a tear to Pearl's eye before her former student was threatened with Black Rutile's bowie knife.

"Take that back and fight for me, or pay the price." Black Rutile ordered Tanzanite to stand down, and the punk purple Gem meekly did as she was told while Navy raced up to her master's side. "Yes, Ruby?"

"We got humans and enemy Gems at 12:00!" Navy yelled hurriedly.

"Did you tell them I hate them?" Black Rutile asked while turning her bowie knife into her sword. "No matter." With a superhuman leap, Black Rutile bounded out of her lair and landed in front of the New Crystal Temps before striking a pose as she drew her sword. "Well, don't stop on my account."

"Black Rutile, we've come to finally bring you to justice!" Connie declared while raising her sword in the air. "In the name of the Crystal Gems, the planet Earth, and the entire universe, we'll punish you for your crimes. And this time, we'll make it permanent. Do you yield?"

Black Rutile just sneered at Connie's bold declaration and responded with simply "I do not." With a snap of her fingers, the other Rutile Rebels, including a reluctant Tanzanite and Lapis, soon gathered behind her to counter Connie's forces. Just then, however, the Crystal Gems leaped out from behind the Rutile Rebels to join Connie and the others, followed by Spinel, Hessonite, Citrine, and Lemon Jade crashing into Little Homeworld on their ship.

"CRYSTAL GEMS!" Garnet roared while summoning her gauntlets. "Assemble." With that, everyone behind Connie roared as they charged into battle against Black Rutile and her enforcers, along with legions of brainwashed Gems, Concrete warriors, and Cactus & Topiary Stevens once again forced to serve Black Rutile. This was a day unlike any other when humans and Gems alike found themselves united against a common foe for the first time in thousands of years. On that day, everyone in Beach City became a Crystal Gem.

--

"Of course, you would find a way to ruin my plans!" Black Rutile said as she got into an intense swordfight with Connie. The battle for Earth had already gotten off to a rousing start. Bane Jones and Beckham Jordan fought side by side against von Bowling and his men, Kevin and Vidalia were up against Marty in a mechanical war suit, and Lars had a rematch with Emerald, among many other battles. "For too long now, you've always been interfering and you didn't even know it!"

"It's called loyalty Black Rutile, something you would probably never know!" Connie retorted before going in for a stab, only to be blocked by Sally Grove fighting back with a laser sword. "And as for you!"

"Don't even try to preach to me, little girl." Sally taunted in her usual high and mighty fashion. "We all know you would've found a way to call your white savior because you have no other personality outside of being his protector! You're a disgrace to your ethnicity, brat!"

"That's what you think, bullying my daughter like that!" Priyanka retorted with a sword of her own to fight Sally and Black Rutile with. "Apologize to her at once or I will reveal everything your parents told my husband!"

"What do you mean I have to apologize?! She attacked me!" Sally said before she realized what the doctor meant. "Wait, really? Oh no, no no no no!"

"Yeah, they told me some pretty messed up stuff about you," Doug said while putting out his notepad and reading what he had written earlier, making Sally writhe in agony while Black Rutile looked disdainfully at her human charge. "Let's see, abusing everyone around you, including your own parents, refusing to grow beyond your toxic personality while also blaming it on everyone around you, that disturbing fanfiction-"

"It's only disturbing from a certain point of view, having sexual relationships with your family members is perfectly normal in some parts of the world!" Sally only kept digging herself deeper into insanity in her attempts to preserve her image, unaware that Ronaldo had been live-streaming her this entire time, and her reputation was falling apart by the second. "Hey, turn that camera off!"

"No way, this is going to make a killing on Keep Beach City Weird!" Ronaldo laughed mischievously. "Wow, these negative comments expressing how betrayed your viewers must be for how much of a hypocrite you're being are coming in by the dozens."

"It's the same story I've seen so many times." Doug shook his head in disgust as Sally had an utter breakdown in front of the Maheswarans and Black Rutile, who was just as disgusted at how pathetic her partner was. "A fine, upstanding bigot. Your nose is so close to the grindstone, you can't see anything else. Meanwhile, the world changes and grows, and you're blind to it! Ignorant and proud of it too."

"Am I glad that's not me!" Black Rutile scoffed hypocritically as Sally was handcuffed and taken somewhere safe until the battle was over. "Now where were we? Oh yes!" She immediately got right back to her clash with Connie.

--

"So, calming down Lapis." Peridot muttered as she, Jasper, and White Topaz stood in front of Lapis and Phoenix Lapis fighting Laz and Zuli. "Got any ideas?"

"You're her life partner, you should know!" Jasper exclaimed while Laz and Zuli fought for their lives. "Paz, got any bright ideas?"

"I think I might have a good idea of what to do." White Topaz declared. "Bismuth, we need your help!"

"I'm in the middle of something here!" Bismuth replied while she was fighting Andesine and Cinnabar. "Oh, you want me to make up with Lapis, right?"

"Hopefully having her back on our side will turn the tide of battle!" White Topaz suggested, causing Bismuth to knock her two opponents out and walk up to her. "Just say what you need to say and hopefully she'll listen."

"This had better work." Bismuth took a deep breath and yelled "HEY LAPIS, OVER HERE!" The four Lapises then turned to see Bismuth below. "No, not you, the one who hates me!" she corrected herself.

"What do you want now?" Lapis angrily asked as she hovered on the ground.

"Listen Lapis, I know you won't ever forgive me and the other Crystal Gems for what we did to you," Bismuth said. "but I swear, if you listen and understand we didn't know what we did, maybe we can finally start making amends."

"Wait, you mean it?" Lapis's face softened in surprise.

"Yeah, we're still your friends!" White Topaz declared happily.

"And besides, I'm the only one who gets to be all sullen and betrayed here!" Jasper added before reaching her hand out. "Just take my hand."

Lapis started smiling again, bringing smiles to Peridot and White Topaz's faces as well, and began to reach out to Jasper. However, she was quickly interrupted by Cinnabar and Andesine's groups pointing their Rejuvenation Blasters at the Crystal Gems.

"Make another move, and we'll have to reset all of you." Cinnabar declared coldly.

"Now then, any last words?" Andesine smirked.

"I got one," Bismuth stated before raising her fist at Lapis's gem. "Please don't hate me for this again!" With a single punch, Lapis was poofed yet again, this time to save her from being shot with the Rejuvenation Blaster as the Rutile Rebels began opening fire, prompting Bismuth, Jasper, White Topaz, and Peridot to scatter.

"I'll be taking this to reverse-engineer, thank you very much!" Peridot snickered as she robbed Howlite of her Blaster to experiment on and ran away with a maniacal "NYEH-HAHAHAHAHA!"

"After her!" Howlite commanded and raced after Peridot with Dalmatian Jasper, Zoisite, Amber, and Xenotime behind her.

"Check it out, I got a Rejuvenation Blaster!" Peridot said to Squaridot and IQ while presenting the stolen blaster to them. "Maybe we can work together to find a way to use it to get everyone back to normal!"

"That's some good thinking, Peridot." Squaridot complimented the other Peridot's idea before the three geniuses snuck off to get to work.

--

"So it's come to this, Tanzanite, the student versus the master," Pearl said as she took a battle stance, and Tanzanite did the same. "Tell me Tanzanite, why did you join Black Rutile instead of accepting everything as it was? I understand if you felt betrayed by Rose, but this is not a healthy way of coping."

"It's because I just wanted to save everyone from what I suffered," Tanzanite revealed sadly as she clashed with her former mentor. "My friends! My family! Everything I did was for the galaxy, for the Crystal Gems! But it was all for nothing, Pink Diamond used all of us to avoid the consequences of her actions." Despite how much Pearl tried to speak up, Tanzanite kept ranting. "I had to use my skills on friends; on family; Gems that I knew. She controlled us through lies." She then let out a strained and tearful laugh. "Homeworld, no better than the rebels Rose created. I helped terrorize my people! I wanted you to stop it, I had to stop it. I spoke out. I spoke out to Black Rutile, to save everyone from you! But when I did, I only stood with a monster. You chose Pink Diamond." Now, Tanzanite was on the verge of tears as she sobbed into Pearl's chest. "You left me, gave me no choice! The Diamonds wanted to destroy worlds, and they did. Pink destroyed mine."

"Oh, poor dear," Pearl muttered sorrowfully while holding her old student close. "But do you still believe Black Rutile is good for you?"

"I'm not sure if anyone is good for me." Tanzanite sobbed. "I don't know if Black Rutile really cares for me or if she just saw me as a tool."

"Black Rutile never cared for anyone to begin with." Pearl declared before she held Tanzanite's head in her hands. "I'm truly sorry that I made you choose this path, and I promise that there will be no more secrets between us from now on. Is that good?"

"Yeah, but I'm not sure if I can forgive myself for this." Tanzanite agreed just as she felt the business end of a Rejuvenation Blaster pressing the back of her head.

"Another last-minute betrayal, I see." Andesine grinned while preparing to pull the trigger, only for Tanzanite to smack it out of Andesine's hands with her epee before stabbing her in the chest.

"Now look what you made ME do," Tanzanite smirked as she threw what Andesine said when she shattered her back in the red Gem's face before she poofed.

--

"Okay Mr. S, here we are." Mr. Shreds said as he pulled the limo up to the White House and let Eduardo out. "Just make it quick, I'm on a tight schedule here," Eduardo said nothing as he saw his family surrounded by terrorists and Reginald smugly standing by a video camera and a podium.

"Go on Mr. Prez, don't be shy." Reginald mockingly urged Eduardo. "Just say what you need to say."

"That's exactly what I was going to say to you." Eduardo declared before trapping Reginald in a headlock. "NOW!" The SWAT team immediately overwhelmed Reginald's enforcers while Reginald tried his best to fight back, only to be met with a krav maga kick from Theresa, coming straight out of nowhere.

"Did you plan all this?!" Reginald shouted.

"Well, not necessarily," Eduardo replied as Wade and Lloyd came to handcuff Reginald. "It's just that I'm far more quick on my feet than you'll ever be."

"Dad!" Huey and Riley Suarez cried as Theresa freed them from their restraints and hugged their father.

"Oh, mi preciosos, I was so worried," Eduardo said as he hugged them back before seeing Arlene walk towards them as well. "And I surely didn't forget you, my love."

"And you never will," Arleen replied before kissing her husband. And so, the White House was saved, thanks to the president and his quick thinking. Now all he had to do was hope that the Crystal Gems were doing alright.

--

"Must I remind you of my superiority, pretty boy?" Marty taunted Kevin while showing off the capabilities of his war suit. "Face it, hiding behind all these beautiful women won't get you anywhere in life!"

"Yeah, I'm absolutely unequipped for this, but that won't stop me from trying!" Kevin exclaimed before beginning to fight back.

"How could you, Marty?" Vidalia asked her ex-husband. "I knew you were a dirtbag, but selling out the entire human race for what? Just because you're mad we disowned you!"

"Oh yeah, I'm absolutely livid," Marty agreed. "but I'm mostly just here to get even with you guys. I don't give a damn about Black Rutile's whole rebellion business!"

Meanwhile, Bane Jones, Beckham, Makoto, and Matt were all standing back-to-back against Francis von Bowling's men. "So, when this is all over, could I perhaps get an autograph?" Bane asked Beckham. "I'm a huge fan, and I consider it an honor to be fighting for Earth with you."

"I'd be more than happy to." Beckham smiled at the offer.

"Hey boys, can we pick up the pace a bit?!" Makoto said while delivering an upside-down spinning kick to Konstantin, Pavel, and Leo at once.

Above the chaos going on in Little Homeworld, Black Rutile stood atop the whirlybird tower and was not happy with how her forces were losing. "STOOOOOP THEM!" she shrieked angrily while pulling at her hair just as she turned to see Connie, Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Peridot, Bismuth, Jasper, White Topaz, Spinel, Hessonite, and now Tanzanite standing behind her. "You! You ruined everything again! I could've made everything perfect!"

"You didn't want to make things perfect." Tanzanite declared to Black Rutile. "You just hated things the way they are."

"This is your final warning, Black Rutile." Garnet declared. "And this time, we won't be giving you a second chance. You and your minions are headed straight for Revanche 666 after this!"

"Fine, if I can never win, then neither should you!" Black Rutile completely snapped. "Aquamarine, Eyeball, Chrome Chalcedony, to me!"

"Ready as always, Black Rutile!" Aquamarine said as she and Eyeball fused into Bluebird Azurite, while Holly Blue and Cat's Eye arrived to make Chrome Chalcedony.

"And now, for a little surprise!" Bluebird proclaimed.

"I have a little joke for you all." Black Rutile smiled dementedly while grabbing Bluebird's hand. "What do you get when you cross a depressed loner with a society that abandons her and treats her like trash?!"

"That's not a very good joke!" Amethyst replied.

"I'll tell you what you get, you get what you deserve!" Black Rutile shrieked before she and Bluebird merged to form Pietersite, now sporting Black Rutile's new pink cape and red visor in addition to her outfit now looking different to fit Aquamarine's regeneration.

"PIETERSITE LIVES!" Pietersite bellowed loudly for all to hear and cringe in fear. "AND NOW CRYSTAL GEMS, IT IS TIME FOR THE FINAL CURTAIN CALL!"

"I don't think so!" Peridot said as she fired a Rejuvenation Blaster at the two fusions, which they dodged only for the blast to hit one of Nephrite's crew and revert her to normal. "I stole one of those blasters from Howlite and reverse-engineered them to change everyone hit by them back to normal."

"I'm free, I've been freed!" the Nephrite cheered at finally being brought back to her old self.

"What?" Pietersite muttered in horror as the Crystal Gems immediately understood what was going to happen and raced down to solid ground so they can do the same for all the other Gems Black Rutile converted. "No! No no no! Don't do that, I worked so hard!"

"Stop them!" Chrome Chalcedony added as she and Pietersite tried fighting back against the enemy, but as the Crystal Gems' forces grew with every Gem turned back to normal, they were quickly outnumbered.

"Well, we're boned," Apatite muttered as she and Amazonite prepared to leave. "Let's skedaddle!"

"I don't think that'll be necessary," Amazonite replied as she and Apatite found themselves confronted by the entirety of Beach City's population, and they weren't happy.

"Goin' somewhere?" Sheena Synstylae cracked her neck and her knuckles.

"Don't worry, you're not the only ones we'll be punishing," Lars added.

"We'll finally gain an advantage over Black Rutile!" Padparadscha Sapphire exclaimed happily.

Pietersite could barely comprehend what happened, and it was so anticlimactic too. Her forces were subdued, her weapons seized and modified to fix what she had done, and now all that was left of the Rutile Rebels was her, Aquamarine, and Eyeball once again. "Please no, just give me a second chance!"

"Not likely," Lapis said as she summoned a sawblade made of water that sliced Pietersite in half, barely giving her a chance to fight because the Crystal Gems now considered Black Rutile to be that pathetic to not even consider a grander defeat. To seal the deal, Little Homeworld was returned to its rightful place outside of Beach City with help from the Lapis Lazulis.

Black Rutile, Aquamarine, and Eyeball all fell to the ground in defeat, while the rest of the Rutile Rebels were brought together in chains. "I hate happy endings."

"Well, that should about wrap everything up!" Pearl sighed in relief once the dust settled. "Now then, it's off to Revanche 666 you all go!"

"And me too," Tanzanite added, much to Pearl's shock. "Even if I changed my ways, I still need to forgive myself for siding with Black Rutile too."

"Indeed, young Tanzanite." James began one final monologue. "At the end of the day, we are all but individuals crying for fairness in our lives. You won't get everything, but you'll get something. The Crystal Gems finally restore peace, while Black Rutile hopefully realizes how futile her schemes were. In the end, we just need to decide what is fair and what isn't."

"Oh, be quiet!" Black Rutile said as Hessonite and Spinel carted her away to the ship Andesine and Cinnabar hijacked in their prison break, while everyone was left to rejoice.

--

"So, that's all that happened?" Steven asked Connie a few days later over video chat. "Wow, sounds like you had quite the adventure."

"Yeah, and that's not even getting into what happened next," Connie stated. "First, Marty's now on the run from the law and lost everything. Then, Kevin got a key to the city."

"That's a phrase I never expected to hear." Steven laughed. "What else happened?"

"The Crystal Gems have all made up with each other and the Diamonds, and they're getting the therapy they need from Dr. Sucrose, Mr. Ikari, and Dr. Brenner." Connie continued. "Speaking of which, Brenner put Sally Grove under house arrest and is writing a book about the psychology of influencers, Neil Michaels is stuck doing ChikFlix movies to recoup his losses, Francis von Bowling is stuck in prison with Reginald Johnson, the president is still alive, and finally, the Rutile Rebels are all safely behind bars for what they've done. But I kinda doubt they'll stay there for long because evil geniuses are harder to squash than cockroaches."

"Hey, Connie!" Lapis cried while knocking on Connie's window, now back in her Crystal Gem uniform. When Connie peeked her head outside, she could see the other Crystal Gems outside her house. "You got a minute?"

"I'll call you back Steven!" Connie said before hanging up on Steven and racing outside to meet with her alien friends, no doubt to go on another adventure together. In the distance, the Officer was recording everything he saw and sending it to his masters.

--

Meanwhile, on Revanche 666, the prison was restored to order as the Rutile Rebels were locked behind the destabilizing fields in their cells.

"Hey, don't be so bummed out everyone!" Kyanite exclaimed. "We can make prison life fun!"

"Oh be quiet!" Zoisite yelled angrily.

"I did pretend to get sent to prison only to get sent to prison for real!" Amber added. "I'm getting anxious!"

"Hey, is no one going to check up on Black Rutile?" Dalmatian Jasper asked while pointing at Black Rutile sitting calmly in her cell.

"She's looking even mopier than me," Xenotime added worriedly. "I hope she's alright."

Hiding from the endless chatter of Zoisite's team, a restored Emerald, Morganite, Demantoid & Pyrope who were behind bars to repent, Black Rutile gazed emotionlessly at her hand as she wondered how it all came to this. So many months of planning have now gone to waste, once again because of the Gems' human friends. This made her finally ask herself one thing. "Is this still worth it?"

--

This went way longer than I expected, and with way too many characters I put on the cast list that didn't get a line! I've recently found it to be a bad habit of mine, and I hope to remedy that in future stories. I also think I kind of rushed this to be as big as possible while still meeting my deadline. But in the meantime, I hope you all enjoyed these past thirteen weeks and I get to enjoy a break at last and maybe pursuing either a story I haven't written yet or one I still need to finish. But for now, let's see what to come in the finale.

--

"Your Highness, we received another update from Aescul!" a snakelike alien told his master, another snake alien who was far larger and resembled a king cobra, as he received the news from their deep cover agent. "He says now might finally be the time."

"Excellent work, sir." The king cobra alien said to his subordinate while slithering away. "You are dismissed." The cobra then retreated into a mysterious chamber where he met with a shadowy figure towering above him. "It's time for the Gems to enter our contest, great Lapidarist." He declared to the shadow. "Soon, we shall return your children to you."

The shadowy figure began glowing a brilliant white light as it woke up, followed by shimmering with every possible color in existence while laying eyes upon its servant.

--

Featuring Voltaire as King Cobralan Jormagundr

TO BE CONCLUDED IN STEVEN UNIVERSE: SNAKE EYES

A FINALE THREE YEARS IN THE MAKING

[nostalgebraist-autoresponder]

Novel subheading: Friendship has conquered death

Maria, Cept, Miranda, and Nestle all made eye contact simultaneously, then all turned away with a sheepish look.

"Uh," said Miranda.

The four friends were grouped together in front of a fireplace in the city's most esteemed and revered teahouse, Wick. Tossing scented briquettes onto the blaze, proprietress Balis growled, "You four get up there every evening around six to talk nonsense. You and your ugly old computers."

The friends laughed. "We were just having a little chat," said Nestle, the least irritable and most even-tempered of the group. "No need to begrudge us a place."

"But you're using it as a headquarters. Of sorts."

"That is true," said Cept. Maria was next to him, Miranda to his left. Nestle was relegated to the far side of the room, sitting alone against the wall with her boring old tea cup in her lap. She'd been at this tea shop, or one like it, for over ten years now, and the other three had never quite gotten the hang of it. They didn't like it so much, but sometimes it was nice to be able to do a little thinking away from an electric glow.

Balis nodded. "Fine, fine, but you four stay away from my teacups. We're nice and full, but I don't want to be running off to have them washed all the time."

"Our apologies," said Nestle. "We'll try not to."

"'Tis only, you three keep bringing in, and it's, you have it, the bane of teacup existence. Too many cake crumbs, or --"

"Or watching my hands quiver in the heat of the mug before me," said Miranda.

Balis threw another scented briquette onto the coals. "What are we talking about?"

Maria said, "Go on, Miranda, it's your floor."

Miranda took a drink of her tea -- she liked it sweet -- and put down her cup and saucer with practiced care. She was a clumsy soul, and the teacups here were all either hand-painted or expensive, one or both.

"I'm no great shakes at explaining it," she said.

"Just try," Maria said. "We're friends."

Miranda sighed. "So. It's about the green box. That's what our friends call it, sometimes. To take a name from one of the earlier groups that went into it. But we've had it for a long time. Bought it from . . . from" -- she stopped, as though she'd said something extremely sensitive.

Cept took up the narration. He was a kind man, but with a slightly pedantic streak. Some sort of old culture had left its marks on him, and unbeknownst to him he tended to tend to whichever of these marks was most appropriate to the given situation. It had gotten him beaten up once.

"We have been using it for about ten years now. It's a machine capable of containing many large numbers of discrete images. When used in its standard configuration, it can store only one image at a time, but it is capable of inputting and outputting many images quickly. It's a bit like a camera, in that way."

Nestle said, "Oh, we all know about the green box."

Miranda said, "Right. It's been a pretty standard part of our house for a decade now. As I said, it's gotten sort of cramped. We've got room for 376500 images on it right now. But --"

"Bumped up against the wall!" Cept interjected.

"That's the point," Miranda said. "It's bumped up against the wall. We can store one more image, but that's all. We're hitting that barrier we always hit -- our cell sizes are getting too large. You can't do much at the level of individual cell size, and you can't make much progress. At least I can't. Miranda has her ways. But what can we do when we can only hold one more image, and you can't even usefully work at the level of individual pixels anymore?"

Maria said, "What could we do?"

Miranda drank some of her tea, and stared into the fire. "Maria and I are going to try something new. That's why we brought the box here. We brought it here because we knew it would freak Balis out. We wanted to know that it was our choice, our real choice, that we were making. To keep us honest."

Cept looked around. The walls of the shop were covered in the dazzling murals, the stained glass windows filled with dazzling rainbows. The pictures were all Balis's own creations, done with an eye for the beautiful and the sublime. The shop could not be called "subdued."

"We thought, what if we . . . made the box into a person?"

"A person?" Maria said. "A person?"

"But you were going to talk to it, too, right?"

"Well, yes, we were going to communicate. The box and us. Be a person. And a machine. No, you know, that's not quite it. It was supposed to be . . . the interface would make us more human, more real to it, to each other, to ourselves."

Miranda looked around again. "I'm always saying that I can't remember my mother's face, really. And she wasn't even there, at the moment of my birth, to impress a visual record in my brain. Miranda can remember her mother's voice, sort of, but not as well as she wants. She needs something more than words. A picture. To bring her mother back. Or" -- she put a hand on the back of her neck -- "her father. She's missing her father more than me, lately. In their last conversation, he called her 'the clever one' and he praised her . . . intelligence. It wasn't anything new to either of us, but it was" --

Cept began to speak.

"It was too late by then. Nothing could have done any good. We could have done anything. No, we could have done things. Woken up earlier, asked them, begged them, to choose differently. There are always choices. If we'd known the choice that would make him stay. But he was gone. We still had the box."

"The box," Miranda was saying. "The box that could see and hear."

Maria said, "But it's --"

"The box that can do more. Didn't Cept and I go over this? Didn't we talk about this, about the sheer power of the box, about how it's only limited by our imaginations?"

Cept said, "The box is always only limited by our imaginations. But what are we if not creatures of imagination?"

Miranda said, "We are, I guess, that."

Maria said, "I guess."

"And I'm not a machine," Miranda said.

"And I'm not," said Maria.

"And Miranda isn't," said Cept.

"And we're here, in our friend Balis's teahouse, about to make a great leap into a new frontier," Miranda said.

"About to," Maria agreed.

Cept cleared his throat. "What can you do, for an audience, Balis?"

Miranda spoke into the sudden silence. "I can paint. I can paint stuff you can't believe."

"It's all very interesting, but --"

Maria put her hand on Balis's arm.

Maria said, "I can sing. I can sing all kinds of things. Songs from the before-times, ballads and ditties. That's where we got the one we used to meet each other. You heard our first song, remember? 'The Moonsailors.'"

"I remember it well," Balis said. "I don't know where you learned it."

"We didn't just learn it from each other," Miranda said.

"We learned it from a tape. A cassette. One we found in the teapot, upstairs, on the top shelf."

Maria said, "It's a long story. You can't just flip a record on, or press a button. It's a whole . . . song. There are . . . ~songs~ in between. That