#muse: goh

[askrockandfriends]

@starredvisions

@musekaiplex

BGM:

"So, you're the bastard I'm fighting in the first round? Hahaha... this'll be easier than I thought!" After saying that, Goh tore his suit jacket and dress shirt off, showing his ripped, muscular frame underneath them. He then gave a "bring it" hand gesture to the other. "Come on then... if you think you've got a shot at beating me!"

[tervaneula]

Just some soft boys(tm) because I’m so soft about them it almost makes me cry

You can also read this here at AO3!

---

“Grookey! Grookey, where did you go?”

“Grookeeeyyy!”

There's a happy chirp from one of the trees and suddenly Ash finds himself with a faceful of monkey. The force of the jump isn't enough to set him off balance this time and he pries the happily babbling Pokémon off of his head.

“Goh, I found it!” he yells in the direction of the other boy, who comes running at the sound of his voice. “No sign of my cap though,” he says as Goh reaches the two, Pikachu at his heels.

“Oh, that's not good,” Goh frowns and accepts the bundle of giggling monkey into his own arms. “Why did you run off with it like that?” he admonishes Grookey but it only hits him with its stick and blabbers something unintelligible. “Wow, thanks,” he mutters but he knows he can't stay mad at the baby Pokémon for too long.

-

They keep searching until after dinnertime and both boys sit down on a fallen tree along one of the numerous paths in the forest, beat. They feel like they've combed half the forest already - Grookey hadn't been missing for that long, how did it manage to lose the Arceus damned hat so completely?

“I don't think we're going to find it,” Goh moans and rubs his eyes. Grookey jumps off of him to check out an abandoned campfire across from them, carefree as always.

“Don't lose hope! I'm sure it's around here,” Ash says, stretches his arms above his head and yawns. “We still haven't checked out that part,” he then points at the path leading to Viridian City. “Maybe Grookey just wanted us to have a little detour.”

“No way,” Goh snorts. Ash's words do reassure him however and he leans back to look up to the sky. A few clouds are drifting overhead, pushed by the gentle breeze... He closes his eyes and sighs. The day has been pleasantly warm and walking through the forest has been nice, all things considered.

“I'm so hungry though,” Ash says abruptly and his stomach growls as if to lend weight to his words. Goh can't help but laugh. He digs through his pockets and hands Ash two breakfast bars.

“That's all I have on me but it should stave off your inevitable death by starvation. You're very welcome.”

Ash takes the bars but hesitates, poking Goh into his ribs with one of them.

“What about you though? You can't go without eating, either!”

“Don't worry, I'm not that hungry-”

“Yeah, sure,” Ash grins and hits Goh on the head with the bar. “Take it.”

Goh grumbles but snatches the bar from his friend's fingers, if only to not get hit again. Grookey takes care of that just fine by itself, thank you very much.

“Jeez, okay. But you better not whine about your empty stomach before we get to the Pokémon centre, alright?”

“You have my word!” Ash manages to say around a mouthful of oats and whatever else the breakfast bars are made of. Goh chuckles and unwraps his own bar.

-

They eat in easy silence and the food is gone fairly quickly. Despite the small size of the portion, Goh feels strangely content as he pops the last piece into his mouth. He glances at his research partner who's already finished his own snack and is playing with Pikachu on his lap. It's a cute sight and instinctively Goh looks around for Grookey, spotting it asleep on a patch of moss next to the campfire. Oh well, at least it won't get in trouble like that.

Goh looks back at Ash and feels a familiar warmth settle between his ribs. Ash can be silly but he's also determined, and strong, and funny. Ash is also kind. Ash is forgiving. He didn't get upset when Grookey snatched his hat and absconded with it and even after searching for it for hours, he's still in high spirits. Goh knows very well what a handful his little green friend is, having lost his patience with it more times than he likes to admit. Ash never loses his patience with any of his Pokémon and he never does that with Goh's Pokémon, either. He doesn't value anything over the trust he's built with his friends, both Pokémon and people. It's inspiring.

Given the opportunity, Goh doesn't hesitate to blabber on and on about his fateful encounter on the day he met Ash. It's about Lugia, of course, but as time goes on he can't shake the feeling of it being more than just about the legendary Pokémon - it feels like he didn't have just one fateful encounter that day, but two.

He's never seen Lugia again after that day. Ash, however... Ash has stuck at his side ever since. And isn't that a wonder.

“Hey, Goh?”

Ash's voice interrupts his thoughts and Goh blinks just to find the trainer's eyes fixed on him. Oh no, had he been staring?

“Y-yeah?”

“Thanks for searching for my cap with me,” Ash says, surprisingly level-headed. “I know you'd much rather look for new Pokémon than my silly old hat, so I really appreciate it.”

The sincerity of the words takes Goh by surprise and he's sure his cheeks have already flared red. There's no hiding it but he turns away from Ash anyway.

“I, uh- Yeah, of course! It's important to you!”

Ash merely grins at him and stands up, Pikachu scurrying up onto his shoulder. He starts towards the other path, expecting Goh to follow. He doesn't.

”Could we... stay, a while?” Goh asks instead. Ash turns to look at him, perplexed, but sits back down on the log.

“Yeah sure, but we still have to find out where Grookey dropped my cap...”

“We'll find it,” Goh replies easily, turning to look at the other trainer. He's smiling and there's a sparkle in his blue, blue eyes. Ash only stares at him and Pikachu on his shoulder sighs and shakes its head. Seeing this, Goh laughs and shakes his head as well, effectively mimicking the Pokémon. He looks at the path ahead of them and chuckles.

He wants to stay here in this moment for just a little while longer. The future is in the palm of his hand - their hands - and it's up to them to mould it as they please. Goh has always known that he wants Mew to be a part of the shape his future ends up taking but it's not the only thing he's sure of.

He wants Ash to be a part of it, too.

[pikatrainer99]

Goh's password

So I watched the Goh recap episode of Pokémon Journeys yesterday and not only is his wallpaper the most adorable thing ever, but his password is also very funny and fitting...it's 5555. If anyone didn't know why that password is funny and fitting it's because 5 in Japanese is pronounced "Go". So not only is it his own name four times in a row but it's also "GO, GO, GO, GO!!!" If that makes any sense...that's why I love what they did with his password.

[demondamage]

“When I speak to you, I expect an answer.” Kotarou gripped his face, pulling the dislocated jaw until Aziphem whined in pain again. “Do you understand?”

“Goh– Vuch Yasel-”

“I’m sorry, with your jaw like this it almost sounded like you told me to go fuck myself.” Kotarou mused. “That wouldn’t be right, is it? Here, let me relocate it, and you can retry that answer.”

[getsusekaii]

ROLEPLAY HISTORY!

The rules are simple! Post characters you’d like to roleplay as, have roleplayed as, and might bring back. Then tag ten people to do the same (if you can’t think of ten, just write down however many you can and tag that number of people). Please repost, don’t reblog!

CURRENT MUSES:

jjk - 11 muses csm - 3 muses bleach - 3 muses free - 14 muses persona 5 - 4 muses drrr!! - 2 muses final fantasy - 1 muse loz - 1 muse kimetsu no yaiba - 2 muses fruits basket - 3 muses noragami - 1 muse sao - 1 muse dc - 1 muse mha - 1 muse xenoblade - 1 muse

WANT TO WRITE/AGAIN:

noctis lucis caelum (ff15) goku / kakarot (dragon ball) vegeta (dragon ball) dabi (mha) anya forger (sxf) mahiru shirota (servamp) natsuno yuuki/koide (shiki)

HAVE WRITTEN:

claire "lightning" farron (ff13)

oda sakunosuke (bsd)

atsushi nakajima (bsd)

kunikida doppo (bsd)

akane shiina (free)

mahiru shirota (servamp)

kuroh yatogami (k)

sato mafuyu (given)

ugetsu murata (given)

otabek altin (yoi)

yuri katsuki (yoi)

deadpool

haiji kiyose (run with the wind)

kaito onogi (tsurune)

psyche orihara (drrr)

roppi orihara (drrr)

virus-138 (drrr)

hibiya orihara (drrr)

sakuraya orihara (drrr)

delic heiwajima (drrr)

tsugaru heiwajima (drrr)

rubii yubiwa (drrr)

yahiro mizuchi (drrr sh)

mikado ryuugamine (drrr/sh)

shinra kishitani

goh (pokemon)

4 OCs

Tagged: @gohjuo & @vh1ral (●ˇ∀ˇ●) Tagging: If you actually read all this, you're obligated to do this

[voids-colourful-creations]

Floating into the Sunset - A SatoGou Fanfic

[Read on Ao3!]

Rated G - No Warnings Pokemon Journeys Ash/Goh 1596 Words

Summary: There's been a project spanning across all of Vermillion City for kids to raise a Drifloon egg and set it free into the wild, and of course Ash and Goh took part. Finally, the day comes to set them all free.

Notes: This fic was written as a birthday gift! It's just some short, nice fluff =D! Hope you Enjoy!

-

Goh was the one who carried the egg as both boys made their way up Vermillion City's tallest hill.

One of the tallest hills, anyway, one of the most scenic ones. It had half grassy hill, half cliff face, a steep ledge that tumbled down into brambles.

What was worth it though, was the view. Under the shade of the old, towering tree, the entire cityscape unfolded out beneath them, blanketed by the sea.

Lights were just beginning to flicker on in the windows, and the sea reflected vibrant oranges and pinks as the sun began to melt into it.

Clutching the egg tighter, Goh continued making his way up the hill, trailing behind a significantly faster Ash. Even Pikachu was faster than him, though to be fair it was riding on Ash’s shoulders.

“Goh! You alright back there? Do you need me to carry the egg?”

“I’m alright!” He called back.

It wasn’t a very heavy egg. He’d be surprised if it was.

The Drifloon Raising Project had been a bit of a side activity Chrysa had been organizing. The Drifloon population in Vermillion had been dangerously low for about as long as Goh could remember, and she had decided to start a project to help combat it.

A bunch of children all throughout the city would be given a Drifloon egg to take care of and raise. The project had been pitched as a great way to help promote responsibility and cooperation with children, raise the Drifloon population, and help children be friendly towards wild Drifloon in the future. The project had been wildly successful, with tons of children around the city getting their very own Drifloon egg to take care of.

But, of course, the main selling point of the assignment was the release of Drifloon into the wild, and today the day had come to set them free.

Or would be, if their Drifloon had hatched yet.

“Lookit that!” Ash exclaimed excitedly, just out of Goh’s line of sight.

“What- where! Did they start it already? It’s not 6:00 yet, is it?”

Ash laughed a little.

“No no, not that! The sunset!”

Goh finally made his way to the top of the hill, fully able to take in the view.

Now Goh took pride in a lot of things. His appearance, his ability to catch pokemon, his dedication to his dreams. With all that, where he lived wasn’t usually something that made the top ten list. There were just a lot of other things he cared about more.

But with views like this, every now and then, Goh felt truly special having grown up in a city like this.

He let himself slide downwards, careful to let the egg rest safely in his lap as he stretched his legs out. Ash plopped down behind him just as fast, Pikachu still clinging to his shoulders.

“It’s pretty, isn’t it?”

“Yeah…”

The breeze swirled around them, not quite the chill of autumn yet and yet not as relievingly cool as it once was.

The egg shook a bit, a squeaking excited noise coming from inside it. Goh placed his hand on top of it, patting it lightly.

Ash stared at Goh for a moment, thinking.

“Are… you alright Goh?”

“Hm? Why?”

Ash hummed, toying with his shoelace.

“I dunno. You just look… bummed out? Or sad? I don’t really know. I thought you’d be happier about this, I guess.”

“I am happy!” Goh protested, but faltered quickly after. “I-I think? Probably. I should be.”

“You’re not scared of the Drifloon, right?”

“What? No!”

“It’d be okay if you were,” Ash mused, looking up towards the sky again. “I wouldn’t blame you after… stuff.”

Goh shook his head.

“We agreed that wasn’t your fault, and you already apologized for everything you said when you were possessed. If I was scared, and I’m not saying I was, but if I was, I’m not anymore.”

Goh sighed, kicking against the grass a bit. He dug in his heels, tearing into the grass to expose the soil beneath.

“It’s just… I’m gonna miss it, for sure,” he started. Ash continued to look at Goh, expectantly.

“A-and… I’m nervous.”

“About what?”

“Well…”

Goh leaned over the egg, pressing his head against it as he stared off to the bay, watching the gentle ripple of the sea's tides from a distance.

“We’ve been looking after it for so long. I’m just worried that… it’ll go off into the world and it won’t be ready. It was supposed to hatch 3 days ago, like the others! An-and I know, I know, some will hatch early and some will hatch late, but I just keep worrying I did something wrong , or I didn’t do enough or…”

He trailed off, stumbling to find the right words.

“We want it to have a good adventure, right?” Ash filled in, handing Goh the words.

“Yeah. Yeah… I want it to get a good start to life. I don’t want it to have been held back, or start late because of me-“

“It’s not just you though!”

Goh startled a bit, turning to meet Ash’s eyes. They faced him back, determined.

“We raised that egg together, don’t forget!”

“Of course- I didn’t mean to- I’m sor-“

“Goh, Goh, It’s okay! That’s not what I meant.”

Ash reached forward, laying a hand on Goh’s, overtop the egg.

“There’s nothing you did that I didn’t follow you up on, so if anything goes wrong, it’s on the both of us. And nothing will! I just know it. This Drifloon is gonna have such a fun and exciting life, just like us!”

Goh began to nod along, Ash’s words convincing him as always.

Ash continued.

“And even if it does get a late start, that’s not such a bad thing, is it? It’ll get to meet all sorts of other Drifloon who’ve already hatched for longer who can show it the ropes, it’ll have all sorts of floaty friends just waiting to meet it! Whenever it’s ready, it’s gonna have a super awesome time and make a ton of friends! There’s no doubt about it!”

“High hopes, huh?”

“Of course!”

Goh took a moment, closing his eyes. With a second to think, he breathed in deep, smiled, and let it out.

“Yeah. You’re right.”

“I always am!” Ash grinned.

Goh narrowed his eyes, raising a hand to flick Ash on the forehead.

“Don’t get cocky.”

“Says you!”

“Hey!”

“Ohhhhhh-whoaaa hey!”

“I hey’d you first-“

“No really, Goh look!”

Ash grabbed Goh’s hand from where he held it, squeezing it tightly as he gestured out towards the city with his other hand.

“The other Drifloon! They’re rising!”

Sure enough, under the orange-pink glow, a crop of purple was beginning to float upwards, dotting the horizon.

“Whoaaaa…”

The clusters of violet began to grow, more and more Drifloon being released into Vermillion City’s twilight.

“You were so right about this being the best place to watch…” Ash murmured under his breath, attention caught by the Drifloon.

“Thanks…” Goh murmured back.

The egg shook a bit in Goh’s lap as they spoke.

“Ah- Ash, do you think it can tell all the other Drifloon are out here?”

“Totally!”

Goh leaned over the egg once more, fixating his gaze on the egg and egg alone.

“Hey, Drifloon! There’s all these other Pokemon, just like you out here! I bet they’d love to get to know you. So, whenever you’d like to come out and meet them, don’t forget they’re waiting for you! And- and even after you do hatch and join your friends, you can always come and visit us, okay?”

And maybe it’s coincidence, but Goh liked to believe those words were why the egg started to shake, crack, and glow.

The cyan light washed over him for a moment, and then, floating right in front of him, was a tiny, newly hatched Drifloon.

It trilled quietly, blinking at Goh.

“W-welcome to the world!” He managed to choke out. He chose to blame the tears in his eyes on the wind.

“Woah, super cool! Hiya, Lil’ Drifloon!”

“Loooooon!”

It spun around in place, bobbing back and forth.

“Looooooon?”

It drifted out towards the city for a moment, turning back to Ash and Goh as if asking for permission.

Goh blinked.

“…Yeah. It’s… it’s okay. If you’re ready.”

“Looooon!”

It does a few happy little loop-de-loops, darting closer to them.

It bumps itself into Ash’s face for a moment, then proceeds to do the same to Pikachu, then to Goh.

With that, spinning in a circle one more time, the tiny Drifloon floats up, up, and away, heading towards a cluster of Drifloon just a bit further down the wind.

“There it goes…”

“Do you think… it knew we were happy for it?”

“Totally! It was telling us- “thank you and goodbye!”-  I could feel it!”

“With your magic Pokemon mind reading sense?”


“Goh, I told you that’s not a thing.”

“It could be.”

“No-“ Ash started to laugh part way through his sentence, “I can just feel it, you know?”

But Goh laughed a bit in return.

“Yeah, actually, I do!”

He stands, releasing Ash’s hand to brush the grass off his pants.

“Gonna be so much fun…” Goh murmurs to himself under his breath, casting a look out at the clouds of Pokemon drifting through the sunset.

“Yeah,” Ash answered, reaching out for Goh’s hand once more, “It is.”

Smiling, Goh reached for the hand offered to him, and together, in the sunsetting skies dotted with purple, they walked home.

[End!]

[the-slumbering-divine-goddess]

"Enemy conversion + The League of Evil Muses (My villain supergroup consisting of Goh, Junko Enoshima, Giovanni, Bowser, Dr. Eggman, Darth Vader, Neopolitan, King K. Rool, DJ Octavio... and now Black Shadow and Ragyo Kiryuin)

Alice struggled, being kept hostage. She sweated.

[gatesofhypnos]

Today's special flashback...

GoH-450: Envelope Muse - ascension in thirds

An amazing mixture of dark ambient, industrial and noise filled with strange noises, samples and corroded distant rhythms. Absolutely recommended!

[miraiconnection]

Flashback (Hau or Goh)

Send "Flashback" for a look at something in my muse's past.

"...Can I help you?"

"Oh, uh, this is Professor Sakuragi's lab, isn't it?" Gou's voice is quiet, shy, as he stands awkwardly in the doorway of the lab. He'd expected to find the professor here, but instead there was just a girl around his age. She frowns at his question.

"Dad's not home right now-"

"The professor is your dad!?"

The girl jumps, startled by Gou's sudden change in demeanor as he excitedly runs up to her.

"Um, yes? But he's not home-"

"That's so cool! I bet that means you know tons about Pokemon too!"

"...I guess? Not as much as my dad though."

"What's your name? Do you wanna be friends?"

"I'm Koharu-"

"Whoa! I've never seen that Pokemon before!"

Koharu pouts, beginning to become frustrated that she keeps getting interrupted and apparently ignored in favor of her dad's Yamper, which barks happily at the attention as Gou runs over to pet it.

"Hey, are you even listening to-"

"Yeah, I heard you! Koharu, right? I'm Gou, let's be good friends!"

He stops petting Yamper long enough to hold a hand out for her to shake, and she sighs as she takes it. Things were about to get a lot more lively around here.

[jadevibes777]

Pokémon musings:

Currently binging Journeys (which has been super healing btw)

But Ash CANNOT leave Goh. I cannot stress this enough. Goh was already left by Horrace and he has that trauma still! And his parents weren’t there for him a lot of the time but seriously. We can’t have Ash without Goh. I can’t see them separating I’ll lose my shit. I’ll fucking lose my shit. They are perfection.

[askrockandfriends]

Open MFT RP: The Search for Goh

"Hey, d-bags, it's Ken here! Y'all enjoying musekaiplex's little MFT tournament? I know I sure am... or at least I would be, but we got us a little situation here! You see, lately, guys on Team Allelitemuses have been struck with various weird instances in their fights that made it harder for them to fight. Batman got his utility belt repeatedly set on fire. Rick came down with a mysterious illness and was portaled to different dimensions randomly in the fight. And now... our pal Raisuke Fukumoto is out there trying not to fucking DIE from a barrage of missiles being shot at him!"

"I talked to Mr. Hollywood about this, and from what he's saying, it looks like our culprit is the fourth Team Allelitemuses member - the biggest asshole on our blog, and my uncle, Goh Yamashita. You remember him - that big, egomaniacal "scientist" that tried to cheat against Razor and had it backfire badly on him. Boy, I tell ya, I damn near pissed myself laughing when Rick pulled that stunt on him! Anyhoo, right now, I'm on the hunt for the culprit, as are Team Allelitemuses members Batman and Rick Sanchez and Raisuke's adorable younger sister Anzu. But we could always use a little extra help! If any of you who ain't fighting right now got a little extra time, maybe you can pitch in! Together, we can find and stop this asshole before he fucks up the whole tournament because of his fragile fucking ego!"

"Hahaha... night-night, Raisuke Fukumoto!" From an unknown location, Goh fires another round of missiles, smiling at his handiwork all the while!

"Kh!" Rock can barely avoid the relentless onslaught of missiles! "At this point, losing this battle might be the least of my worries..."

@tvstarkuma @heroicmultiverse @nxthingtxwn @starredvisions @soulsbetrayed @lawain-dimensional-heroes @strykingback @ancicntforged @mayohigan-orange @dexter-the-inkling-boy @eternalstretchofmuses @thesafaribaggirl-returns @grayfxce @team-vlts @stardustfist @musekaiplex

[invictarre-archive]

personals, do not reblog this post.

major spoilers for the pokemon journeys anime are below the cut. read at your own risk!

I will say, my masters eight has been canon-divergent right from the start so this outcome was never going to affect my blog much, but I will of course make allowances for the new outcome!

if I am writing with an ash, goh, or other anime-based character, we can assume that leon lost the world championships and that ash is the new monarch. that works fine by me, it’s anime canon and will be used for anime muses. also congratulations ash, that battle was close but pikachu pulled through !!

however, when writing with everyone else, my canon is that leon actually loses his monarch title to dani / @jocundcompany in one of the future tournaments. he is very proud of her victory, something he’s always delighted to talk about whenever the topic of the world coronation series comes up in conversation, and while he’s no longer the strongest trainer you will never get him to budge from that second-place spot. they’re the reigning couple, the king and queen, and you will not separate them

[askthejourneysgang]

Modern Jordan

"Don't... even.... try it!.... you hurt..... that mew.... then...you get.... the wrath of... my pokemon."

His Dusknoir hovers over him menacingly.

Goh:

I-I'm not going to hurt it! I just want to... keep it for an indefinite period of time!

You can still play with it and be its friend. But every pokémon needs a home...

Chloe: Why can't its home just be a jungle somewhere? Weren't you musing about whether catching pokémon was irresponsible, earlier?

Goh: But this one is SPECIAL 😩 I must have it. It tasks me!

Chloe: Oh, boy

Goh: Fffffine, I won't catch it! >_<

I'll just give you some books about pokémon rearing that I have. Some of their advice should work on Mew, since you know... it has the DNA of every pokémon and that's super cool... *grumbles to himself*

[tumblestones-archive]

muses (5e) dnd classes:

blue - fighter, battle master

briar - warlock, archfey patron, pact of the chain

brock - cleric, life domain

courtney - wizard, school of divination

elm - druid, circle of the shepherd

giovanni - rogue, mastermind

goh - warlock, celestial patron, pact of the tome

hilbert - fighter, eldritch knight

hilda - fighter, champion/sorcerer aberrant mind multi-class

jessie - bard, college of glamour

krane - druid, circle of the land

looker - bard, college of whispers

michael - paladin, oath of redemption

rose - paladin, oath of the crown

[multiverseofmisfits-backup]

📏You want not normal? How about Razor and Dr. Goh being 6'4" and full of muscle?

Send me 📏 (ruler) + your muses height and I'll compare them to mine!

Was about to include the one with Wolf Spirit but eh XD

[fardell24b]

16th November 2023 Writings

16th

Excerpt from: Return to Alamos Town

“Yes!” Ash said.

“So, Dialga and Palkia were really there?”

“That’s right.”

“Are the Space-Time Towers really that impressive up close?” Goh asked.

“Of course! In fact, I’d like to show you.”

Words: 32

Excerpt from: A twisted Invitation

“Brittany!” Quinn said. “You’re here for Daria’s party?”

“Yes,” Brittany answered. “I’m hope I’m not too late.

“Oh, not at all,” Quinn said as she let Brittany in.

There were a large number of people in the living room already. Brittany saw that Jodie and Mack were already there. ‘Of course they are,’ she mused.

“Hi, Brittany!” Daria said.

Words: 59

Excerpt from: Spider Quinn

“But, Kevvy.” He continued to be amorous “Kevvy!”

“Huh?” Kevin asked.

“Didn't you say we were going to follow her and save the world and stuff?” she asked. She liked making him think some things were his idea.

“Oh, yeah. But I don't think we have to save the world right this second,’ he responded.

“Great!” she said. A few more moments of making out wouldn’t go awry, she considered.

Suddenly there was a purr above them. ” Que passionato!”

‘Oh great!’ Brittany thought. ‘Upchuck!’

“Hey! We're trying to save the world here!” Kevin said as he shone his flashlight at Charles.

“And I'm trying to find the space maidens' ship so they can take me back and make me their love slave,” Charles responded.

“Oh cool,” Kevin said.

Two more flashlights turned on. “Well, you were right. Everyone has gone crazy,” Jodie Landon said.

“I knew you'd try something, Kevin. I figured I owed it to the team to keep you from humiliating yourself,” Mack said.

Bushes rustled and Mr. O’Neill emerged.

“Mr. O'Neill? Don't tell me you're hunting communists, too?” Mack asked incredulously.

O’Neill laughed nervously. “I wouldn't call it hunting. I heard a rumor about secret police kidnapping educators and spiriting them off to the gulag. But me? No. I frequently go for walks with a, um, flashlight in case the streetlights go out.”

There was another rustle above and SpiderGirl emerged upside down, lowering herself halfway down by a thread. “What’s going on here? Paranormal?”

“Not very,” Jodie said, looking around.

‘Probably meant paranoia,’ Brittany thought.

“These reds come red-hot from the red planet itself. We're talking Mars,” Charles said.

“Really?” SpiderGirl asked, her voice showing incredulity.

“Charles, I think you mean Marx,” O’Neill said as he dropped his flashlight.

Jane answered the door. “You made it. Cool. I was starting to... whoa!”

Daria also looked at the flashing lights in the nearby woods.

O’Neill found his flashlight. “Found it.”

“But why are you all, like, sneaking around with flashlights?” SpiderGirl asked.

“Good question,” Jodie said.

The others all switched off their flashlights.

“Did we just see a U.F.O.?” Jane asked.

“You're getting paranoid. It's probably just an informal get-together of local stalkers. You know, hang out, swap stories, try out each other's skeleton keys,” Daria responded.

“But only an idiot would go stalking with a flashlight, especially with that SpiderGirl about.”

“Come on. This is Lawndale,” Daria said as she went inside.

“Your’re right, SpiderGirl, we’ve all been acting very foolish.”

“Hey, man, speak for yourself,” Kevin objected.

“Oh! Sorry, Kevin, “ O’Neill said. “But I wonder if maybe a rally might be in order. You know, something before classes to promote understanding, remove the fear, and increase the peace.”

“Are you sure?” SpiderGirl asked, before Kevin could get a word in.

“Quite sure. It won’t get out of control,” O’Neill said.

“But, practice is before classes. He's trying to destroy football. He's one of them!”

“No he isn’t,” SpiderGirl said, trying to keep calm.

“Who?” Brittany asked.

“I thought you knew.”

‘Time to go, Kevin,” Mack said.

“I’ll stay and talk to SpiderGirl for a bit,” Brittany said.

“Sure,” Jodie said. She turned to Upchuck. “Come along, Charles, we’ve had enough excitement for one night.”

“Yes, I better go too,” O’Neill said.

SpiderGirl wasn’t sure why Brittany wanted to talk to her. “What’s up?” she asked.

“Um, What is it like being a hero, fighting crime?” Brittany asked, whilst twirling a pigtail.

“Difficult. But the thanks I get from the people rescued from muggers make it more than worth it.”

“What made you start?”

“Someone died,” SpiderGirl answered, trying not to give anything away.

But it seemed that Brittany made some connections. “Like that carjacking, when one of my friends’ father died two weeks ago.”

“Yes,” SpiderGirl said carefully. “That was the last straw. That was when I knew Lawndale is declining into a crime filled…” she paused, seeing that Brittany got what she was saying.

Brittany nodded. “But you have powers, right?”

“Yes, but why are you asking all this?” SpiderGirl asked.

“Like, after that death, I’ve been thinking about what’s been happening. And maybe I could help in some way.”

Words: 698

Total: 789