#older peeps rise up

[ja3yun]

Melting Point | P.SH | CH.1

brother's rival!sunghoon x fem!reader warnings: heavily suggestive, kissing, perv!hoon, mentions of self doubt and overthinking, yn's mum is an asshole, anything else lmk! ch.1 synopsis: when circumstances unexpectedly bring you and your brother's long-time ice skating rival, park sunghoon, together, you discover a surprising connection. However, your brother forbids any relationship between you. Will you heed his advice or follow your heart? wc: 14.3k masterlist | next a/n: hi! first chapter is finally here and i hope you all like it. each chapter will be released on friday and roughly between 10k - 16k (since people wanted longer chapters, however, i am open to any feedback regarding lengths). enjoy and please leave any comments/likes/reblogs if you wish !! also, peep the new header

‘We’re dancing, dancing, dancing in the moonlight.'

The blaring of your alarm pulls you from the cocoon of sleep, and you groan into your pillow. The idea of getting up before 6 am feels like a crime, yet here you are, abruptly awakened at 4:30 am by the dulcet tones of TO1.

With a begrudging sigh, you reach for your phone, dismissing the alarm, and then collapse back, staring at the ceiling. This routine has been a part of your life since childhood, and you'd think you'd be accustomed to it by now. However, no matter how early you sleep, removing yourself from the warmth of your bed remains a daily struggle.

You can hear your brother and mum scooting around downstairs, their usual ‘Do you have everything?’, ‘Where are the car keys?’, ‘Get your sister’ conversations louder than they need to be at this time in the day. The last one does mean you better get a move on and go downstairs.

While you put on your peach-flavoured chapstick, your brother bursts into your room, “Hurry up, Y/N.” His eyes roll and he slams the door shut as quickly as he opens it.

You have had the same routine since you were 6 years old. Same exchanges, same panic, same everything. 

Minhee, your older brother, is the reason you have this same routine. When he was 6 years old, Mum took you and him ice skating for the first time and he was a natural. His feet took to the ice like fish to water, like chocolate to strawberries, like you to garlic bread. It was fated. By 7 years old he was already training and what was once a fun hobby turned into a gruelling regime of early rises and the need for a good winter jacket.

“2 minutes!” You shout down to them, one quick glance over in the mirror to make sure you look presentable.  

Running down the stairs you’re greeted by your impatient mum tapping her foot, “Come on, Y/N we really can’t be late today. Coach Kim needs us there as soon as possible. Big announcement.” Her hands are flapping around animated as she speaks, “I think he’s finally going to let Minhee try that quadruple axel we’ve been begging him to let him do for Nationals!”

Your brother looks disinterested, “Mum, he’s already said it’s out of my depth.” His tone is bitter.

Minhee was amazing at ice skating, winning so many medals your mum had you move out of your double room to the box one so she could display them all. By 10 he was the youngest ever in your city to reach state championships and by 14 he was competing at the National level. It did make him the golden, silver, and bronze child in your family, but you didn’t mind all that much - not that you would tell her it did. 

It’s not like you’re doing anything half as impressive as winning trophies, now that was what your mother truly found pride in. You could become a CEO or a lawyer but if you couldn’t hit a toe loop worthy of gold it wouldn’t impress her.

You did try skating when you were younger but it was like you turned into Bambi, never able to find your feet. Even when it snows in winter you can’t hold yourself up. Deep down your mum hoped you would be just like Minhee, creating an opportunity for you both to branch into pair figure skating like the Shib Sibs but no matter how many times Minhee tried to teach you or she got his coach to give you a few free pointers, you couldn’t do it. She’s disappointed and quite frankly you think she holds a grudge against you for not being anything like your amazing, spectacular, talented brother.

But you still loved to watch the sport, how efficiently and painlessly each skater would glide across the ice and do manoeuvres that defied gravity. It was a magical sport, so when your mum dragged you along to every practice because she couldn’t afford a babysitter, you didn’t mind all that much.

Tying up your final lace you stand up from the bottom step and Minhee passes you your black jacket with faux fur lining. You mutter a quick ‘thanks’ before grabbing your book bag and all three of you head to the car.

"What if it's the Olympics!" Squealing, your mother fastens her seatbelt. What if it was the Olympics? Despite consistently finishing in the top three, if not first, in most major competitions in his teenage years, his coach never selected him for the Youth Olympic Games. But now that he’s 20 years old, he could compete in the Olympics.

Your brother looks sideways at your mother and widens his eyes, "You think so?" It was his dream to make it to the Olympics, and even if he didn't win, he wanted to experience everything; the different country, being surrounded by the best of the best - he had been planning his routine for it forever. 

There is a little envious man who climbs up on your shoulder from time to time when conversations like this happen. Of course, you would be so happy for Minhee, after all, he works harder than anyone you know but you wish it was you. Not necessarily the skating part, but to be so good at something you have a goal and dreams that take you to the top. Just something to make you feel alive.

You’re in your 2nd year of University studying Events and Marketing after your mum said it would be good for you to learn how to pitch reasons why Minhee would be a great brand ambassador. So you did it to please her. Honestly, you actually do enjoy it, you won’t lie about that, but the lack of appreciation for your efforts goes unnoticed 99% of the time. The 1% was when you got to shadow a boss at a Nike headquarters branch a few cities over.

“Get a good word in for Minhee while you’re there!”

She was proud of you that day.

As the car rolls up to the rink’s parking lot your mother turns serious, “If this is about choosing you for the Olympics, Min, you need to act excited and unexpectant, they may be filming a behind-the-scenes documentary on your journey to a gold medal.” 

Image. Your mum was big on keeping Minhee’s reputation on brand. Right now his ‘brand’ is being humble and noble.

“Yes mum,” he salutes, “Smile and flutter.” Winking and smirking as he mocks his usual signature poses causes you to laugh but your mum finds nothing funny and her change in aura scares both of you out of the car.

_____

The usually quiet ice rink is filled with chatter and chaos, with over 20 people speaking over each other. Minhee looks down at you and you shrug. None of you had any clue what was going on but if your years of watching Detective Conan paid off you would say that whatever caused this commotion was the reason the coach asked Minhee to come in as quickly as possible.

Customarily, at this time in the morning, it’s Minhee’s solo practice hours to work on his routine for Nationals so this many people here is concerning.

“Listen!” Coach Kim’s voice bellowed around the arena putting the chattering to a halt, “I know this is untimely and inconvenient, trust me, it is for me too,” Your eyes follow his and see another coach standing about 2 meters from him, “But we need to make this work and to do that I need you to listen to me.”

As your family approaches the disarray, Coach Kim beckons you all forward. Minhee is the first to ask the all too important question, “What’s going on, Coach?” The people behind you scatter and begrudgingly tread out of the building, their faces glum and disgruntled.

“Minhee, Ms. Kang, Y/N,” Coach Kim greets you all, “Sorry about all that, although telling them was a lot less scary than you.”

“What? Is this place shutting down?” Minhee jokes but by the look on Coach Kim’s face he isn’t far off. 

“Not exactly.” Scratching his neck, Coach Kim looks everywhere but Minhee’s eyes, “You know the Albion Centre? The rink on the other side of town?” All three of you nod despite that he’s only talking to your brother, “Well the council had a little meeting last week and they’re turning it fully into a Hockey training centre.”

The words sit in the air as he hopes Minhee will come to the conclusion himself, “So what? Just means more time for skating here right? If all the Hockey team are going over there?” 

Sighing, the coach nods, “For sure, but it also means every skater from there will be, well, here.” He gestures around and then points half-heartedly at the other Coach who is stepping forward.

“Kang Minhee, it’s great to meet you properly, I’ve heard nothing but great things,” he extends his hand which your brother accepts, still dazed from the information, “I’m Coach Lee.”

“Wait so, EVERY skater in the town will be here? in Belmore? Coach Kim, that's not possible, my training time will be cut!” Minhee is sulking but you don’t blame him. This is a fucked up situation.

Coach Lee answers, “Not true, Minhee, with the Hockey team over at Albion it frees up some ice time, you’ll get to train more if you want to.” 

“And! No more shield guards around the rink, you always hated those!” Coach Kim smiles and playfully punches his chest.

There is something the Coaches aren’t telling him. Like they’re presenting him with all the benefits before hitting him with a bombshell. You know it and for sure your mother knows it. She has been eerily quiet throughout the whole exchange, if there is one thing more unsettling than her shouting, it’s her silence.

“Albion, huh?” She steps forward and tapers her eyes, “Isn’t that the rink where the Parks are located? And aren’t you Lee Jaeho? The coach of that snake ‘Ice Prince’?”

Tension spreads around everyone’s shoulders, the Coaches can’t look at her, and none of you move. 

A loud click echoes throughout the rink as someone walks through the door.

“Coach what the fuck?” The voice booms behind you, “Why did I have to drive almost an hour to come here, why couldn’t we just meet at Albi?” 

Park Sunghoon. 

What’s that saying? Speak of the devil and he shall appear? His mother shuffles in behind him, vocalising her own distaste for being here as if it were the most inconvenient thing in the world. Little do they know…

It’s like the world stops when Sunghoon and Minhee see each other and not in a rom-com way, “What the fuck is HE doing here?” Sunghoon points to Minhee, not taking his eyes off him. 

“This is MY rink, Park.”

Sunghoon and Minhee have been competitors since they were 9 years old. Each of them competes against one another in every competition, always striving for first place. It began as healthy competition, and they were even friends at one point, but as they grew older and each mother became increasingly determined to claim their kid was superior to the others, a rivalry developed. If one of them did something, the other had to outdo it tenfold.

When Minhee learned how to do a double axel, Sunghoon learned a triple. When Sunghoon landed his Euler jumps, Minhee was landing an Euler but following it up with a Salchow. When Minhee won the Junior Silver Medal in 2015, Sunghoon won the Junior Gold Medal in 2016.

It was always like this.

Their similarities didn’t help either, both 20, towering at 6”0, and blessed with faces that effortlessly drew admiring glances from girls. Objectively, you’ve only really seen the attraction to Sunghoon given that Minhee is your brother, however, you're not blind to the bevvy of girls who gravitate towards him either. This is precisely why your mother insisted on Minhee maintaining his brand, which stood in stark contrast to Sunghoon's.

He wasn’t rude or stuck up, actually from what you’ve perceived from afar, he is kind and gentle. But unlike your brother's ‘humble’ persona, Sunghoon knows he’s good and will tell anyone about it. Sunghoon’s confidence is easily mistaken for haughtiness. He can come across as arrogant and cocky, just like those sports journalists have been branding him for years like he thinks he’s better than anyone else past and present. 

Having been to every competition Minhee has skated in has led you to know a few things about Park Sunghoon. He was arguably the best skater in the division, even over Minhee, he was determined, hard-working, resilient, and fit as fuck.

To say you used to have a crush on him would be the understatement of the century, matter of fact it was so obvious back then that your mum would often reprimand you for staring at him too long. He was your first crush, you were 8 and he was 9, and like some girls that age you planned out a wedding, a future of 2 dogs and you’d both live in a pink palace. At first, it was his looks, no one in your primary school looked that pretty or even shone a torch compared to him. It was like seeing an angel for the first time. But then you started to grow up, and while still appreciating his face, you focused on how beautifully he skated and how majestic he moved. He was so passionate about the sport it made you feel butterflies, you hadn’t seen love like that before. Sunghoon and the rink were fated to be together. 

“Sunghoon, calm down.” His coach whispered, “We need to tell you something-”

“I am NOT sharing my rink with that fucking z-list prick, alright?” Minhee didn’t hold back, he got that anger from your mother.

Turning to his coach, Sunghoon raised his eyebrows, “What does he mean sharing?”

Both Coaches exhaled. You can’t imagine how many times they have had to explain this situation, they probably should have just sent out an email. So as Coach Lee takes Sunghoon and his mum to the side, Coach Kim is looking at Minhee apologetically, “I’m sorry, Minhee. I know he’s your biggest competition, and trust me, I don’t exactly love this outcome either,” rubbing a hand down his exhausted face he whispers, “but work with me here. I’ve scheduled you guys at different times, you won’t even need to see him.”

“That’s not the point, Coach, you know how I feel about him.”

If it wasn’t for your mum you seriously ponder whether Minhee would have such a strong hatred for the fellow ice skater, and as you look at Sunghoon you wonder the same thing.

“I know trust me, you and your mother make that perfectly clear every time we cross them at comps, but you just gotta live with it, son.” 

The coaches come back together and look at both of their young prodigies, “Minhee you’ll train morning, and Sunghoon you’ll train nights. Because of the merger of rinks, we have an excessive number of skaters, so we are making it a 24-hour arena but ONLY for you two and Wonyoung since Nationals are coming up.” Both coaches nodded their heads as if agreeing with themselves that this was a good choice, “So if you happen to turn up at the same time, you respect each others’ space and behave like grown men. Got it?”

Grumbling, your brother rolls his eyes, and Sunghoon nods. This is going to be a disaster.

Just as you think all bickering would be over, the mothers start chasing after the coaches as they head into the office. You felt bad for the trainers having to deal with this and getting blamed for it all, but most importantly, you feel sorry for them because they have to listen to both your mum and Mrs. Park for at least an hour.

Once the door to their office shut, it was silent, the only noise coming from the large ACs. 

Scared to look any of them in the eye you place a hand on Minhee’s arm, “Come on, you need to practice.”

“Emphasis on the ‘need’.” Sunghoon pipes up and you wish he hadn’t. You were a fool to think this parting would be civil.

Minhee pokes his tongue in his cheek and looks at his rival, “You got something to say?” He’s challenging Sunghoon, baiting him to start something, but Sunghoon doesn’t budge, “Better watch my skate doesn’t somehow come flying off and slit you open.” Minhee was all bark and no bite, you knew this, but he seems deadly serious right now.

“Is that a threat?” Sunghoon stands tall against Minhee.

“It’s a fucking promise, Park.” 

No one says anything else, they don’t have to, the look in their eyes is scary as they stand toe to toe with one another. “Let’s go, Mini.” You squeak out his nickname. By no means are you a timid person but you don’t want to interject and suddenly find yourself in the firing line. 

With a grunt, your brother obeys and storms out and into the changing rooms, leaving you and Sunghoon alone.

His stern eyes flicker to your soft ones, it’s been a while since you’ve been this close to him, close enough to admire him. His black hair is fluffy and unstyled unlike how it is usually when you see him at competitions, the bags under his eyes prove how hard he’s working whether at skating or general life and the freckles that are perfectly placed on his face suddenly look more ethereal than before. Sunghoon is the epitome of beauty.

While you’re staring you fail to notice how he is staring right back at you, taking in all your features like he’s trying to commit them to memory. He hasn’t seen you since Sectionals which didn’t seem like that long ago but to him, it feels like a lifetime. You’ve cut your hair since then and Sunghoon noticed.

Meeting his eyes once again you see how they sparkle, just like they do when he’s on the ice.

“Sorry for my brother, he can be-”

“A dick?”

“A lot,” Your tone is filled with warning. Sunghoon might have been right but that’s still your brother, “He can be a lot but you already know that.”

Walking up to you, he tilts his head and smiles softly, “Don’t start apologising for him now, Sweets.” He leans so his face meets yours, “Or else you’ll be apologising your whole life.” 

Sunghoon pats your head and makes his way to the coach's office, leaving you mesmerised.

______

Minhee and Sunghoon have successfully kept their distance from each other for the past two weeks, which has been a relief to everyone. If this pattern continues, there is hope that everything will just be a harmonious as before the merge.

Although the rink was now open for their disposal, you were never more grateful. No, it wasn’t for you, the coaches explicitly said it was for the future medalists, but you knew the receptionist for the building and she would let you away with anything if you batted your lashes and gave her a box of Toffees. 

Growing up at the rink meant you found solace in the atmosphere and surroundings, so much so that you went there to simply study, the arena oddly hugging you in comfort while you tore the hair from your head. Skaters and staff became your friends with how much time you’ve spent in the bleachers. Typically, it would be during the day with what little spare time you had, but with the building being open around the clock it means you can inhabit the premises in the middle of the night, the perfect time to get your head down and work.

That is where you are headed right now just after your shift at the supermarket. It was as painful as ever with customers not understanding that you don’t make the prices, or that no you cannot watch their baby while they run for a jug of milk. It’s baffling how dense some people can be. 

The rink is a nice place to relax and get away from it all.

Pushing open the door you see the receptionist, Miss Barbara, filing her nails. She was a friendly woman, the kind type, but when Coach Kim told her she would have to work some nights she wasn’t so sweet and caring, not to him anyway.

Her real name is just Barbara but as the years went on, she adopted this regal persona and insisted everyone call her Miss or Ma’am. Only you and Minhee gave in to her request though.

“Hi, Miss Barbara,” You wave. Reaching into your white tote bag you retrieve her bribes, eh, goodies, and pass them to her. 

With much delight, she wiggles her fingers and slips them from the desk into her lap, “Y/N you are my favourite person that walks through those doors!” Her eyes are trained on the sweets rather than you when she speaks which makes you chuckle.

“Glad I can be held in such high regard, Miss Barbara,” You change your accent to a posh one and wave like a Queen in her tiny town car. Lifting her head, Miss Barbara sees your roleplay and laughs, dismissing you into the rink.

As you step into the arena, the chill of the air greets you, accompanied by the soothing sound of skates slicing through the ice. Finding your way to the centre of the second row of bleachers, you settle in, unpacking your bag and gracefully arranging your belongings. Crossing your legs to create space for your laptop and paper, you deftly balance everything, a skill you've honed to perfection.

Typing in your password you hear the skates coming towards you and scraping to a halt but you don’t look up.

“If you’ve come to spy on my routine you aren’t doing a very good job at hiding.” Sunghoon playfully remarks. You hadn’t even noticed it was him who was skating, since it was usually Wonyoung gracing the ice you just expected it to be her. He looks at your mess of a lap and scrunches his full eyebrows, “Like you’re really not making it discrete.” 

You look up and see him pointing to your laptop, “Oh, no I’m just studying.” Returning to typing you hear him scoff, making you look at him again.

“You expect me to believe that?” The look on his face is incredulous when you don’t budge, “What? Don’t they have libraries at your Uni?”

Sunghoon’s tone is accusatory and you don’t like it. “Look, I don’t have beef with you okay? That’s the wrong Kang sibling.” There is no reason for him to be giving you attitude right now, you hadn’t done anything wrong, an innocent bystander in all this. 

Deep down he knew that too, but he couldn’t be too careful.

Crossing his arms, he leans on top of the barrier and rests his chin, examining you and how much you’re telling the truth, “So, what? You genuinely just sit here and study? Does the cold stimulate your brain or something?” 

“No, it’s like white noise at this point, comforting.” Glancing up you see his still dubious expression, “Ugh, look I come here all the time, ask anyone!” Your arms gesturing to the empty rink is not really helping your case.

Having had enough you slam the laptop shut and stand up, “Whatever, I’ll just go somewhere else.”

Sunghoon shoots his arms up to mock surrender, “Woah, Sweets, calm down, I was just making sure. Need to air on the side of caution, yeah?” His voice softens. 

Making you uncomfortable wasn’t on his list of things to do, but his mum made it very clear your whole family wasn’t to be trusted, and he always heeded his mother's warnings even if he thought she was being overdramatic. “Listen, stay here as long as you want but if I see your brother doing a double toe loop into a triple axel I know who to blame.” 

With a smirk, you sit back down, “See now you’ve just told me your big secret,” a laugh leaves your lips, “Changed your mind on trusting a Kang so soon huh?” 

He’s flabbergasted. 

Did he really just tell you part of his routine like it was nothing, in an instant after he just told himself not to be so trusting of you?  You’re more dangerous than he first thought, and you aren’t even trying.

After seeing the realisation come over his face you laugh loudly, “Sunghoon, don’t worry. My brother can handle you on his own, he doesn’t need to cheat to beat you.”

“Say that to my 8 first places over him.”  It goes silent. It’s not like you could argue with him, Sunghoon did beat Minhee in a lot of skates. 

Trying to lighten the mood he points to you, “No pictures.” He jokes and skates away adroitly.

You don’t see the smile creeping onto his face, or the way tries to shake you out of his head. That conversation between you made him want it to be the start of many more, much more.

________

Emerging from your room, you're taken aback to find your mom standing right at your door, narrowly avoiding a collision. Both of you gasp and instinctively clutch your chests. "Jesus, Y/N, you scared me," she exclaims. Ignoring the fact that she's lingering around your room, you offer an apology, which she quickly dismisses. "A letter came for you," she informs you, handing over the manila envelope before walking away. At least she isn't one of those moms who loiter and wait for you to open it; she doesn't fuss over things like that. Or perhaps, she doesn't fuss over you.

Abandoning your plan to head to the kitchen for a cup of tea, you return to your bed and sprawl across it, letting your legs dangle off the edge. With a swift motion, you tear open the envelope and unfold the letter, eagerly scanning its contents.

Dear Y/N Kang,

At Yonsei University, our students consistently impress us with their dedication and commitment to excellence. Each year, we have the privilege of acknowledging one outstanding student whose remarkable progress merits special recognition. This year, we are delighted to announce that you have been selected as the top student of Yonsei University.

In light of your exceptional achievements, we would be honoured to celebrate your success by presenting you with an award. A special ceremony, bringing together top students from across the city, will be held on the 23rd of September at 7 pm in the historic Cathedral adjacent to our university campus. You are welcome to bring a plus one to share in this momentous occasion.

Congratulations once again on this well-deserved honour.

You skim-read the rest, and a triumphant smile creeps onto your face. There's no conceivable way you're at the top of the University this year - perhaps the top of your year, but the entire university? It feels like a surreal, sick joke. Investigating the envelope, you spot the official stamp of Yonsei. It's real.

Bounding down the stairs, you find your mum and brother already seated at the dining table, ready for dinner, "Mum, Mini, look!" You flap the paper in their faces, excitement bubbling within you. Your mum tuts and carefully opens the letter, reading it with precision. You're searching for any sign of a reaction, but nothing surfaces. She simply places it down and checks her phone.

You sit down gingerly, awaiting her acknowledgement, hoping for some form of appreciation, "Hmm, thought so." Clicking the lock on her phone, she sets it aside, "Sorry, Y/N, Minhee has a schedule that day."

"But aren't you happy for me?" You ask, your excitement dampening. It's not just about the ceremony; it's about the achievement itself. She should be proud of you, "I'm at the top of my university."

"Yes, you are, darling," your mum responds, her tone lacking enthusiasm. Normally, it wouldn't bother you, but this is a big deal, huge even, and she couldn't spare you the time of day to at least pretend to be happy for you.

Your heart sinks, and the elation you felt a moment ago dissipates. She really did not care, and the void of her indifference casts a shadow over your significant accomplishment.

Minhee places a comforting hand on your shoulder, sensing your disappointment. "Top of the class, huh? Finally, you get one of your awards in my trophy room." His attempt at humour falls flat in the weight of the moment. Minhee notices your lack of response, withdrawing his hand and sinking into silence, his gaze fixed downward.

“We just can’t go, your brother has an advertisement to film that day, we’ve been planning it for months. You understand.”

You had no choice but to understand.

“Yes, Mum.” The acceptance cuts deep. You've never blamed Minhee for the uneven distribution of favouritism; it wasn't his fault, yet, the sting of yearning for a moment in the spotlight, just once, remains. The chair you rise from screeches against the floor. "I need to go tell my friends about it."

There isn’t a protest from her, so you slip out quietly. Minhee extends a hand toward you, a silent gesture of support, but you don’t bother acknowledging it. The door closes behind you, leaving a trail of unresolved emotions lingering in the air.

In truth, you didn’t want to tell your friends right now, when you tell them you want it to be a happy occasion, not tarnished by your mum's attitude.

How could she be so nonchalant about the fact that you achieved such an award? You weren’t looking for bells and whistles but a simple ‘Well done, Y/N.’ would have sufficed. Was it too much to ask for? You did all this for her, after all. 

A deja vu of last week, you push the heavy doors to the Belmore Centre, greeting Miss Barbara before heading to the rink.

The familiar scent of ice and warm rubber infiltrates your nose, offering solace and temporarily numbing the thoughts swirling in your mind. The rink, with its unique aura, never fails to bring you a sense of contentment.

As you take your usual seat, you can't help but notice an unusual absence of the rhythmic sound of skates cutting through the ice. It's just past 8 pm, yet the rink is eerily silent. For a change, it's pure bliss, the absence of the usual hustle and bustle providing an unexpected sanctuary.

Sitting with your head in your hands, you succumb to overthinking. If only you could have skated and achieved something that your mum could be proud of. What would it take?

A tear slips down your cheek, and you're oblivious to the approaching presence.

Sunghoon’s smile is subtle as he takes in your dishevelled appearance. You’re not in your usual jacket, in fact, you look like you've hastily run out of the house as if you were just popping into the shop for milk.

With your hands buried in your head, he hears a sniffle, realizing that you're crying, “Hey, hey, what’s wrong?” Sunghoon drops his bag and skates as he rushes over to you, concern all over his face. 

Shaking your head you just cry harder as your brain screams at you. It is so loud you can’t hear anything else, certainly not the boy sitting next to you.

He rubs your back to calm you down but to no avail. Instead, you cry harder and he doesn’t know what to do. Sunghoon isn’t exactly an expert when it comes to crying girls, “Sweets, stop crying.” Great, Sunghoon, just great, he curses himself, “Umm, no wait, shit, breathe! I’ve heard that works before.” He quickly made the realisation he would never make it as a therapist.

Sunghoon is always so confident and self-assured but right now with you he has no idea how to act.

What he doesn’t realize is that his awkward attempt to console you has genuinely worked. Sunghoon fumbling over his words gives you something to focus on, and hearing him mutter to himself about how awful he is at this makes you laugh. It’s a small laugh but one that breaks through the heaviness of the moment.

Hearing your laughter, Sunghoon whips his head to face you, his hand continuing to rub soothing circles on your back. “What happened, Y/N?” His voice carries a gentle concern, inviting you to share, but you just shake your head, not ready to delve into the details. “Nah, come on. Whatever it is has really upset you. It’s better to talk about it.”

His voice resonates with a soothing calmness, making you feel like you could confide in him about anything.

“I just feel like I'm not good enough and that anything I do will never meet her standards,” you shrug, expressing the weight of self-doubt that has been dragging you down.

“Ah, it’s your mum, right?” His lips purse as he gazes ahead to the rink. The elude to ‘her’ being his only anchor of reasoning.

Your silence serves as confirmation. Sunghoon, all too familiar with the feeling of not being enough, understands your pain. But in this moment, it's not about him. He can only offer superficial advice, “If you live your life based on other's expectations, you’ll never be truly happy.”

“Says the competitive figure skater,” you lightly laugh, a hint of sadness slowly dissipating from your face.

Sunghoon pauses the reassuring circles between your shoulders and sighs, “You got me there.” You were right; who was he to tell you to stop living for other people when that’s all he has ever done since he was 6?

Seeing how his shoulders slump, you worry you might have hit a nerve. “Hey, I didn’t me—”

“Do you want to do something reckless?” The sudden switch from sadness to confidence confuses you, and you gaze at him as if he has two heads. It's remarkable how quickly he pulled himself out of his own thoughts, and you can't help but feel a twinge of envy.

When you don’t respond, he pushes the idea further, “Come on, Sweets. Didn’t have you as the type to say no to a little fun.”

“There's a big difference between reckless and fun, so which is it?” you ask.

“Come and find out.” He smirks, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Suddenly, Sunghoon springs to his feet and yanks you out of your seat, propelling you into whatever scheme he has up his sleeve. As his hand interlocks with yours, a peculiar flutter dances in your stomach.

“Where are we going?” You glance around as he drags you past the rink and into the back rooms. "What’s so fun about plain grey walls and 'Employee of the Month' posters?”

Sunghoon simply rolls his eyes in response to your question.

The next thing you know, you're in a warehouse-like room, surrounded by old skating equipment, acrylite shields you've seen hockey players collide with, and an army of mannequins. 

What somehow escapes your notice is the giant red Zamboni that Sunghoon is confidently strolling towards.

Seeing you mesmerized by the mannequins, Sunghoon waits for you to turn around, but you're too engrossed in the plastic figures to notice him. “Looking for your next boyfriend in there?” he teases, his voice slicing through the silence of the room.

Jumping at the unexpected remark, you hastily remove your hand from one of the figures' chests and whip around. Sunghoon leans against the Zamboni, a tilted smirk gracing his face, hands tucked casually in his trouser pockets. Embarrassed, you mumble a quick 'shut up' and shuffle over to him. To be honest, those dummies probably would have offered a more exciting conversation than most men.

Your eyes finally land on the Zamboni. It gleams, proudly bearing the bold inscription 'Zamboni Campbell' on the side. A few years ago, Coach Kim, in a moment of whimsy, had asked people to name the ‘new love in his life’ through a Facebook post. Some 7-year-old had chosen 'Zamboni Campbell.' It might not have been the most clever name, but considering his age, you let it slide. 

“Please stop leaning on Zamboni Campbell; she’s a national treasure,” you interject, half-joking. If anything were to happen to her, you imagine Coach Kim might have an aneurysm.

The figure skater scoffs and pushes himself off the machine, “She’s no Zamby Malik.” He jokes, “My baby boy is probably being abused right now.” The comment raises an eyebrow; what is it with some people and their weird fascination for anything with a motor? Your expression remains neutral as Sunghoon looks at you. “Zamby Malik? Albion’s Zamboni? Named after Zayn Malik?” he questions.

“Yeah, got that reference, thanks.” Stepping forward, your eyes meet his. “I have been a Niall worshipper for many, many years,” you say proudly. You’ve been a dedicated fan of Niall and all the One Direction boys forever.

“Eh, more of a Louis girl myself,” Sunghoon shrugs and turns to face the ice resurfacer. “So, how badly have you ever wanted to ride her?” His hands rub together in a way that eerily resembles a villain plotting an evil scheme.

Nope. Absolutely not. You're not getting on that thing. For one, Coach Kim would undoubtedly kill you both if he found out. He loves the Zamboni more than his own children. And two, you have no idea how to operate it. Disaster is inevitable. “I am not getting on that thing!” 

Sunghoon gives you a look that says ‘Of course, you are getting on that thing.’ but he can give you all the looks he wants, you are not doing it.

“Sweets, you need to have a go. It’ll help whatever is going on in that pretty little head of yours.” Sunghoon's hand playfully ruffles your hair before he strides towards the steps of the Zamboni.

Fixing your hair consciously, you find yourself following him. “How will it help exactly? When I die from crashing it or at the hands of Coach Kim, at least I'll be free of my thoughts?”

Sunghoon spins around, and you walk right into his chest. “I was thinking more along the lines of a clear rink, clear mind, but your reasoning works too, I suppose.” His hands grip your shoulders and push you at arm's length. “So?”

As you weigh up your options, for him, there's only one option – getting you behind the wheel of Zamboni Campbell.

“I don’t know how to drive it though, Sunghoon.” That would surely deter him from this ridiculous idea. But it doesn't.

“Duh,” His eyes rolled once again, “I’ll teach you obviously.” 

It’s at that moment you understand that regardless of how long you’ve known him, you don’t actually know him. In fact, you haven’t even had a conversation this long before.

“Since when did you know how to ride a Zamboni?” You inquire and Sunghoon removes his hands from your shoulders, running his fingers through his hair. God, he is so handsome.

“You learn a thing or two being on the ice so long.” 

The truth is, he was constantly pestering the maintenance guy at Albion to clean the ice before his practice. He got so fed up hearing Sunghoon complain he told him to do it himself. So he learned, and ever since, he’s been whizzing on a Zamboni.

You are running out of excuses, and part of you is agreeing with him that this will be good for you. “Fine.”

“That’s a girl!” Sunghoon huffs, and you move to walk up the steps, but he stops you, holding up two fingers. “Two things first.”

Removing his long liquorice-colored coat, he gently places it on your shoulders. The warmth lingering from his body heat in the linings of the jacket makes you realize how cold you were. “It gets cold up there,” he says, straightening out the collar.

You push your arms through the holes and wrap yourself up in it. Sunghoon has broad shoulders, so the jacket makes you look ten times smaller than you are, creating a cosy cocoon. 

If he knew it was okay to say, he'd probably tell you how cute you look. For now, he keeps that thought to himself.

Murmuring a polite ‘thank you,’ you're grateful he doesn’t ask why you don't have your jacket. Sunghoon hasn’t pushed you to talk about it at all, and that's something you appreciate.

Sunghoon climbs up and gets situated behind the wheel.

“Wait, you said there were two things?” The jacket is one, and what else?

“Ah, there’s only one seat up here so,” he pats his lap, “You’re going to have to sit on my knee.”

He has to be joking, yet his face looks serious, a tinge of red sneaking onto his neck and ears. He’s blushing. The playful challenge in his eyes mixes with genuine warmth. It's clear he wants to make you smile.

Cute.

“I can’t teach you from down there, now come on up.” He continues.

He won’t give up, apparently, so with a huff, you start scaling the steps, standing at the top and realise how high this thing is. Sunghoon puts his hand out for you to take as he guides you to sit down. “This is super high,” you state patently.

Sunghoon laughs and shakes his head, “You’re just small, Sweets.” His hands go to your waist to stabilise you while you hike one leg over him. “That’s it, not so scary, huh?”

Slowly, you sit down on his lap, getting yourself comfortable. You feel his thighs tense under you. “Oh, am I too heavy?”

Quickly, he shakes his head, “No, not at all, I’ve got legs of steel.” He slaps the side of his thigh and relaxes them a little. Sunghoon won’t say it, but the way you wriggled to get comfy was putting pressure straight on his cock, making him tense up. It would be rude to pop a boner right now no matter how good you feel, given the circumstances.

“So what do I do?”

“Hmm?” He was too busy lost in his thoughts he forgot what he was doing. “Oh, right,” he turns on the machine and guides you through the steps. “So there are six levers, each does their own thing—conditioner, elevation, brush, tyre wash, wash water,” he continues going through the controls.

While he’s explaining, you observe how fast his lips are moving. Is he always this talkative, or is it just with you? A part of you hopes for the latter. “And we are good to go.” He finishes and smiles. You probably should have paid attention because now he’s looking at you expectantly. “You didn’t listen to a word I just said, did you?”

“Something about water being washed?” you bring your shoulders up sheepishly and smile, showing all your teeth.

The look on his face feigns annoyance, “How about I drive and you sit there and look pretty, yeah?” 

Pretty. That’s the second time he's inadvertently called you pretty. 

Sunghoon reaches his arm around you, starting the machine up and driving it onto the rink, his other hand is holding you securely in his lap. The ice resurfacer is in full swing as it sweeps the edges of the rink. You haven’t seen the rink from this angle before and it brings forth a new appreciation.

“Gonna need you to pump for me.”

It takes you a minute to process his words before craning your neck around to look at him, “Excuse me?” You have no idea in what context that sentence couldn’t be laced with innuendo.

He seems unphased, or maybe just unaware of his words double entendre, and points to the right of the machine, “This Zam has a manual wash water lever, you need to pump it for me, Sweets, I can’t reach it with you on my lap.”

Can he please stop saying pump for all that is holy? 

You screw your head back on and see the black lever he is talking about, “This one?” 

His one hand on your hip squeezes slightly when you reach over, “Yeah just lift it up and down, it might be heavy for you so be careful.” 

Sunghoon watches you pump the water washer a few times, you use both hands to grasp the lever so he tightens his hold on your waist to ensure your safety. After he has focused on the task at hand he notices the way your hands are gripped around the lever, your fingers barely able to wrap around it. He can’t stop the next thoughts that come into his head. What he wouldn’t give to have you stroking his cock with those pretty hands.

The next thing he notices is how you’re softly grunting as you put the work in and your arms losing pace due to repetition and tiredness. The scene in front of him isn’t calming his thoughts down any because now he’s thinking if these noises are similar to ones you would make while bouncing on his dick. He feels like a pervert because here you are upset and he’s got crude thoughts of you infiltrating his mind. 

“That’s enough for now, Sweets.” His voice is strained, he could have watched you do that for hours but for the sake of the ice and his dignity, he needs you to stop.

Pulling away and shuffling back to comfort on his lap you smile, “That was weirdly fun. It got some frustration out of me.” 

It’s ironic because frustration has seeped into Sunghoon, horny frustration, and you are so blissfully unaware.

“Wow, look how sparkly it is!” You exclaim as your eyes are glued to the ice behind you. Maybe only once have you seen the rink so clean, but even then it wasn’t like this, it’s practically glistening. Zamboni Campbell needs to pat herself on the back.

The boy steering her also needs to praise himself not just for the excellent resurfacing job, but also for helping you. It’s not until now you see that his plan worked, he got you out of your head and stopped the crippling thoughts that were bound to consume you if you didn’t have this distraction.

Both of you lap the rink 4 times before Sunghoon looks at his handy work and smiles, “She drives like a dream.” He steers back into the warehouse, trying to park the Zamboni close enough to where they found it.

“Better than Zamby Malik?” You tease.

“Never, but she’s not far off.” Sunghoon doesn’t let go of the hold he has on your waist despite the ice resurfacer being stagnant. Instead, he’s slightly massaging your sides, an action you can barely feel because of his coat engulfing your body, but you feel it enough.

Turning around so your legs are draped fully over his thighs, you're about to get off him, but you don't. You should stand up, climb down the steps, and leave it as a nice memory, but this future memory feels too short like there should be something more to it.

Sunghoon feels it too, that’s why he’s staring at you so intensely. The once shallow smile he had on his face now dropped off; his eyes are looking deep into yours, and his hands move up your waist slightly, yet he doesn’t make a move.

This has to be your decision. Something you want.

If there was ever an inappropriate time to think about your brother, it’s when you’re two seconds away from kissing a guy. Minhee’s face flashes in your mind, and you realize what you’re about to do - you’re about to kiss Minhee’s biggest rival, his arch-nemesis, how could you even face your brother if you gave in to this?

Sunghoon watches you while your brain flips out; you don’t look like you’re 100% certain of the idea of his lips on yours. “Sweets?” he squeezes your waist and sighs, “We should get going.”

Oh.

All you’re thinking about is why he didn’t kiss you, and why it hurt a little that he didn’t. It looked like he wanted to; maybe you took too long, or he stared long enough to realize you weren’t actually pretty. You guys don't even know each other well, but you feel yourself being pulled towards him. Wasn’t it the same for him? Your brain went from overthinking one thing to another.

Nodding your head, you stand up carefully and make your way down. You can’t even look at him out of shame and guilt for even entertaining the idea of kissing him. Your mum would be so disappointed if she knew.

Sunghoon follows you down but unlike you he is keeping his eyes fixed on your face, focusing on every change in your manner both positive and negative. He wanted to kiss you but you looked like you were about to pass out from the thought of it. Sunghoon wanted you to be certain, “I’ll drive you home.” 

“No, no it’s fine, I’m not that far from here.” Being in a car with him after this wouldn’t be the best outcome, your mind is still on his lips.

“Please, Y/N, it’s late. I just want to make sure you’re safe. Anything could happen.” Sunghoon doesn’t want you to walk home, yes because of safety concerns, but also because he wants to spend even a fraction of a minute more time with you. You seem to be one of the few people in this world he can relax around.

He should have just kissed you.

The look on his face is serious but his eyes are soft, not asking but begging you to just say yes. 

“Sure.” The atmosphere is heavy, filled with longing and tension. You’re both thinking different things.

You’re analysing every specific detail from tonight to see if you have done something wrong, anything that would have stopped him from kissing you.

And Sunghoon’s brain is filled with various thoughts of you from tonight. The lever, the way you felt so right sitting in his lap, and more importantly how amazing it felt to be the one that made you smile. The way you smiled and giggled on the Zamboni is something he is going to commit to memory. 

As of today, he will start keeping part of his brain solely for you to occupy.

The walk to Sunghoon's car is silent, free of the laughter and conversation that previously filled your space. Both of you appear to be over-analysing each other's previous acts, which makes the situation more awkward than it needs to be.

Sunghoon's car is impressive: a sleek monochrome Peugeot New 2008 with a black interior. The scent of his fresh cologne combines with the ocean-scented tree-shaped air freshener hanging from the rearview mirror.

“This is a nice car.” You note, buckling up your seatbelt.

“She’s a beaut, isn’t she? Got her as part of a brand deal with Peugeot Sport.” His hands caress the smooth wheel and his lips upturn into a proud smile. Brand deals and advertisements are not what you want to hear about right now, especially when it’s the one thing your mum cared about instead of your award. Your sour mood doesn’t go unnoticed, “Let’s get you home, yeah?” 

That was the one place you didn’t really want to be right now but you nod, shoulders slumped a little at the thought of facing your mum again.

“Or,” Sunghoon starts, “We could get some food? The University Cafe is always open late.” 

It was like he could read your mind, “Yeah, I could eat.” 

With that, Sunghoon starts the car and drives to the cafe. The way your face turned a little paler when he said he would take you home alarmed him. He doesn’t think you’re in danger there, Minhee might be a dick but he was protective over you, he wouldn’t let anything happen, and Sunghoon knew that. Whatever it is, you didn’t want to go home, and Sunghoon is more than willing to keep you to himself for a couple more hours.

The journey to the cafe, situated more on his side of town, unfolds in silence, only disrupted by the gentle strains of Hozier's "Like Real People Do" emanating from the radio. A wry smile tugs at Sunghoon's lips, finding the song's relevance a touch on the nose for the current situation.

Upon arriving at the cafe, you're taken aback by its shabby appearance - chipped walls, adjacent graffiti, not to mention it’s deserted. Sunghoon, attuned to your hesitance, reassures you, “It’s a lot nicer than it looks, promise. I’ve been coming here forever.” Stepping out of the car, he leaves you with the choice of venturing into the weathered establishment or remaining in the safety of the car. Despite your reservations, a rumble from your stomach nudges you to join him inside.

The interior mirrors the exterior's wear and tear, yet a certain comfort envelops the air as Sunghoon guides you with a reassuring hand on the small of your back. “Sit anywhere you like, Sweets.”

Opting for a seat by the back window, you settle into the firm, brown booth without ridding yourself of Sunghoon's coat, a silent acknowledgement that your stay may be short-lived. You aren’t a snob but you have a cafe like this in your side of town and it isn’t somewhere you choose to occupy. 

Noticing your scrutiny of the surroundings, Sunghoon, with a laugh, takes a seat across from you, studying your expression, "You don’t like it, huh?"

Huffing, you cast a critical eye around the place, "Not really, no."

You were brutally honest, he’ll give you that, “Wait until you try their food and then judge okay?” He chuckles and hands you the menu on the table.

A waitress waltzes over with a pen and paper. She’s too beautiful for a place like this, her rosy cheeks and long flowing brown hair make you jealous, “Sunghoon! My favourite ice slasher, how is it going?”

While they engage in small talk you look at the menu looking for something safe to eat. Maybe you should just wait for Sunghoon to order and get the same thing.

“Y/N, you know what you want?” He turns to you.

“Oh, so you’re the Y/N?” the waitress grins. 

What does that mean? How does she know your name? When you glance at Sunghoon, you notice his intense stare fixed on the girl. This is strange. The waitress seems to pick up on Sunghoon's unspoken communication, smirking as she says, "I mean, you're Kang Minhee's sister, right?" She then slowly turns her attention to you.

Ah, that's how she knew. He must have spoken ill of Minhee and you enough times for her to recognize you. Fueled by this assumption, you shift into defence mode. "Yeah, I am," you reply sharply, your expression hardening as you lean back, raising your eyebrows and waiting for her response, half-expecting her to be rude to you.

Strangely, the waitress's expression brightens. "It's nice to meet you, Y/N. Can I get you anything?" Her voice carries genuine warmth.

Now you feel a bit guilty. She seems genuinely nice.

"Uh," you glance at the menu again, uncertain of what to order. "What's good?"

Sunghoon intervenes with a smile. "She'll take my usual," he tells the waitress as she departs. Ordinarily, you dislike when men presume to order for you, but in this instance, you're grateful for the assistance. "It's just a plain cheese and ham panini with tomato, pesto, and hot sauce. It sounds simple, but it's delicious."

You expected Sunghoon to be a burger and fries kind of guy, but with his physique and strict regimen, you should have known his tastes would lean towards the healthier side of things.

“Did you order a drink with this ‘usual’ or am I supposed to just swallow it dry?” 

“Comes with diet coke and a lime.” He says timidly, now for the first time he is self-conscious about his food choice. Sunghoon would like nothing more than to chomp into a pizza and a full-fat Pepsi but with National’s coming up at the end of the year, he needs to stick somewhat to his meal plan. In hindsight, he should have ordered you something you might have liked. What did you like? He didn’t even know that simple fact, “Do you want something else? I can change it.”

“No it’s okay, I’ll trust your judgment,” You relax into the booth, “Shoot me if i’m being too straight forward but don’t you have enough money to go like, I don’t know, somewhere nicer than this?” 

Raising his hands in a gun motion he pretends to shoot you and you fake a wound in your shoulder. It’s nice to be playful like this, Sunghoon hasn’t had this for a long time, “You know how to ask a question, Sweets.” 

He then shrugs and looks around the cafe, not unlike how you were doing earlier but his eyes aren’t filled with distaste; they’re shining in fondness.

“It’s where my dad would take me after practices. Mum would never let me come here once I started aiming for professional level, too much grease and too many carbs.” He recalls a time his mum had him on a diet at 11 because he wasn’t flying high enough and a frown appeared on his face, “My dad though, he wanted me to be at least somewhat a normal kid so every Wednesday when mum worked late we would come here. Eat whatever we want and then pop a breath mint in the car.”

Sunghoon’s features are mixed with hurt and fondness, “Sorry, about your dad.” You offer your condolences.

When Sunghoon was 15 his dad died of a heart attack right before the Junior Championships and it broke him to the point he didn’t want to skate anymore, it wasn’t fun because his dad was always the one to cheer him on. His parents had their roles, his mum was strict and direct, getting him to train hard and achieve his best. And his dad was the reliever, encouraging him to have fun and let loose, be a kid. With one half of the balance scales gone, it was difficult for Sunghoon to maintain any adolescent normality. Perhaps that’s why he’s so fond to have you around.

In the silence you speak up, “You know your dad used to sneak me a packet of Haribos nearly every competition.” The boy's head whips to look at you and tilts, a knowing look on his face, “Yeah, and every time he would say ‘With everything so sour, we deserve something sweet’.” You smile at the thought.

“I-, he was kind like that.” He wants to say more, but he stops himself.

His dad was the nicest man in the whole world. When you found out the news that he passed away, you cried a little. Your mum being your mum she didn’t understand it, claimed you didn’t know him enough to mourn. Regardless of how well you knew him, people who were so kind and loving don’t deserve to be taken from this world so quickly.

You see the look on Sunghoon’s face lighten up a little, the shadow over his eyes washing away and when he looked at you, the sparkle came back, “So, you can’t hate this place or else I can pull the dead dad took me here card.”

“Fine. I love it.” The words feign mocking when in actuality they are full of understanding.

The waitress from earlier brings over the drinks in a frosted glass with a lime wedge on the rim, “There you go! Added extra ice for my Ice Prince.” 

My. She could have said ‘The’.

It stirred up something within your chest. Jealousy? Okay but why are you getting jealous over this? You don’t know because you aren’t exactly his and you have never been the threatened type, so you don’t know what’s going on with you. 

“Food will be right out!” She hops away and she is back in a flash with the Paninis. 

What you don’t expect is Sunghoon to take both of them and add some condiments, opening up the middle to pour a slight bit of salt and some mayonnaise. 

“Excuse me, I don't need your hands all over my food.” Crossing your arms you wait for him to stop but he doesn’t. Instead, he shows you his hands, stretching them over the table.

“Look how clean they are, Sweets.” They are clean and oh-so pretty. Suddenly you’re jealous of the food that receives his touch, wishing it was you. You need to get a grip, first the waitress, and now a piece of toasted bread are the objects of your envy.

It’s like your crush from when you were little came back tenfold, with every second you spend with him that little innocent pash is turning into full blown infatuation. Now with added hormones, it’s like you’re drawn to him more than ever. It’s scary how quickly you fell back into your feelings, whatever they were.

“Y/N?” He brings you back to reality with his low voice, retreating his hand, “Lost you for a minute there.”

Passing you the food you thank him, “Sorry, happens a lot. I tend to overthink literally everything.” It’s a confession you haven’t let pass your lips. Not ever. “I learned to control it as I got older but if I’m upset I can’t stop it 99% of the time, even if it’s something simple like putting salt on this food.”

Sunghoon sees you physically overthinking what you just said. It’s the exact same face you made when you were inches from kissing him. 

He understands the situation earlier a little better now.

“So what’s upsetting you now, Sweets?” He asks, “You said you didn’t feel good enough, what happened?” 

Shuddering, you remember your words. You’re embarrassed that you blurted out your feelings so readily, “It’s nothing.” Then you remember, “Why did you think it was my mum?”

“If your mum is anything like mine, and I guarantee she is, then I don’t ‘think’ it was your mum, I know it.” There’s an empathy shining in his eyes, “What did she do?” 

“I got some good news, and when I told her about it,” Sighing, you try to aggregate your feelings. Sunghoon’s hand makes contact with your forearm as he sees you struggle. The soothing motion of his thumb calms you instantly, “she just dismissed it. Like my achievement wasn’t up to par with Mini’s.”

“What was the good news?”

“Nothing major I guess. I’m the top student at my University for the year and I’m receiving an award.”

Sunghoon is furious. Your mum had downplayed your achievement and now you don’t think it’s a big deal and he wasn’t having it, “Y/N. You go to Yonsei, right?” Once you nod he continues, “Then that IS major, what are you talking about?” 

“It’s not exactly a Championship medal.” Your shoulders slump.

“And?” Squeezing your arm he tries to make you see past your mother and her shitty attitude, “Some people would think your achievement means more than one of his, does that make Minhee’s less than yours?” You mumble a quick ‘of course not’, not grasping what he’s saying, “Then why do you think that way about your award? Sweets, it’s fucking amazing you should be proud of yourself.”

You are, it’s your mum who isn’t and that’s what you can’t get over. 

Instead of answering back you avoid the conversation altogether and start eating the food in front of you. 

One bite has you falling in love with the taste, the pesto combination with the cheese and parma ham melts in your mouth and makes your tongue dance. You owe this shabby place an apology.

Triumph etches onto Sunghoon’s face as he sees the same fireworks behind your eyes that he had when he first tried the food. He knew you’d like it.

“Oh, my days.” You stare at him wide-eyed, one hand covering your mouth. Never will you doubt him again.

“Told you.” He smirks and eats some of his own, the familiar aroma and your face make his chest fill with glee and gratification, “I’ve just learned two things about you in this last minute.”

“And what’s that?” You question, taking another bite.

“You love the food here and will never question my taste again,” Your eyes are still on the food but you nod to agree, “And you’re an avoider.”

What is that supposed to mean? 

“An avoider?” 

Sunghoon leans back and picks up a tissue, cleaning the crumbs from his fingers, “You changed the topic pretty fast when you didn’t want to have a conversation you’re uncomfortable with. You can’t accept what I’m saying is right, your achievement is just as mighty as all of Minhee’s and it IS a big deal.” 

Arguing with him about it is pointless. Does it mean you won’t though? No.

“It’s not that I'm not accepting what you’re saying,” it is, he thinks to himself,  “I just don’t need to air my drama or feelings to someone I don’t know.” 

“Believe it or not, asking questions and having conversations like this is how you get to know people,” Sunghoon pushed the food to the side and leaned forward, “I just want to get to know you.” 

You challenge him by matching his posture and leaning on the table, “Whatever happened to, oh I don’t know, what’s your favourite colour?”

“White. See, easy right?” He’s smug. Sunghoon isn’t trying to pressure you to answer the question, he just thinks if you speak about the issue, it’ll alleviate the burden. A problem shared is a problem halved after all. “How about you ask me anything at all, and I’ll answer it because I know that’s how you get to know me.”

“Anything at all?”

“Yeah.”

“Then why didn’t you kiss me earlier?”

Stunned. Shocked. Astounded. Whatever other synonym he could use, that’s exactly how he feels right now. For the first time in his life, he is speechless. How do you keep doing this to him? Never has anyone been so forthright with him.

Seeing his cheeks flush red and eyes dart around as if finding the answer in his brain you know you’ve won, “Not so eager to speak now, huh?” 

Exhaling, Sunghoon sits back, “You looked like you were going to pass out,” He begins his answer, “You got in your head about something and it made you second guess.”

“I was thinking about Minhee.”

Sunghoon’s face shrivels, “Sweets, I know we’re compared a lot but I didn’t think he’d be my competition with you too?” Sunghoon’s voice is playful but he is worried about the next words out your lips.

Stretching over the table you slap his chest, “Ew, no that’s disgusting! Don’t even think like that!” You’re appalled at even the inclination, “It’s just that, you’re Park Sunghoon, you said it yourself he’s your competition,” He goes to say something and you stop him, “in SKATING. You’re so disgusting.” Laughter fills your booth, food and drinks forgotten, “If I ever kissed you he would freak the fuck out.”

The boy across from you knows exactly what you’re talking about, more than know, “If Minhee wasn’t a factor, would you have kissed me back?”

“Yes.”

Responding before your brain has a chance to filter the words is also a downside to your overthinking mind. So many thoughts in one brain make it easier for slips like this to happen, but you aren’t too concerned about this one, he probably already knew you would have kissed him back there if you weren’t preoccupied with contemplation.

Just as you think you’ll get to speak about what transpired earlier, the waitress comes over to take your plates away, “All done?”

Sunghoon nods and goes to pull out his wallet to pay but as he pats himself down to find it, he remembers it’s in his coat - the coat you’re still wearing “Uh, Sweets?” He points to his coat trying to tell you it’s in there.

Smirking you search the inner pockets to find a Prada wallet. You could have some fun with this.

“That’s okay, Hoonie, I’ve got it.” You pull out a few £20 notes and hand them to the waitress, “It’s my treat tonight, didn’t I tell you that? Only the best for my hard-working man.” Making kissy faces at him, his face goes red and his lips go in a thin line. 

It wasn’t the fact you just paid £80 for a £12 meal with his money, although that will be addressed later on, it was the nickname and calling him your man that has him trying to control himself. The sweet albeit lightheartedly jeering way of your words made his heart tight in the best possible way. If there was a button board on Sunghoon’s chest, filled with all his emotions like annoyance, lust, happiness, solace, and aggravation, you had pushed every one of them tonight.  

Laughing you put the wallet back into his coat. He looks so cute when he goes red like that, it almost makes you want to treat him like an actual princess or stuff him in your pocket. Either way, you wanted to look after him in some form or other.

“Are you quite done now?” Sunghoon gains back his composure as he watches you chuckling away to yourself.

Suddenly, nothing was funny anymore when your phone goes off, flashing your brother's name on the screen. 

You have to go home and Sunghoon knows it too, “Y/N, I would keep you out all night if I could, but Minhee might send out a missing police report if I do.” 

Now that you’ve somewhat spoken the issue out loud, you think you’re being a bit over the top about it all but your body still has the overbearing weight placed on your shoulders. Facing your mum right now was the last thing you wanted but you know you can’t avoid her forever. 

“I’ll text him. He thinks I’m at Rina’s place telling her and Allen the news.” Quickly standing up you type a generic reply back, telling him you’ll be home soon.

Sunghoon keeps two steps behind you while you walk out of the cafe, his arm hovering by your side to guide you as you text and walk at the same time, he waves goodbye to the waitress and she wafts the cash in her face, fanning herself with his hard-earned money. All he can do is laugh and show his disbelief at her flaunting through his expression. 

“There. Sent.” You put the phone into Sunghoon’s coat pocket. You’re almost at his car when you hear him speak up.

“Hey, Sweets?”

“Hmm?”

Sunghoon grabs your left arm, twirls you around, and presses his lips against yours.

The action knocks the air from your lungs and your eyes widen. Park Sunghoon was kissing you. His palms cup each of your cheeks, his lips moving against yours as he backs you up until your back hits the side of his car. This is what you wanted back at the rink, to have the feeling of his mouth moulding to yours, except it was better than expected, it felt like heaven.

He can't seem to get enough of you as he fervently kisses your mouth, his tongue sliding along your lips, eliciting a soft moan from you that's music to his ears. It was a daring move to kiss you so suddenly, and in an ideal world, he would have asked for permission first. But he knows that might have sparked another bout of overthinking from you, and he couldn't risk losing this second chance to kiss you tonight.

Sliding his hands into your hair, he gently pulls your head back, granting him better access to your open mouth, deepening the kiss. Lost in the sensation of your lips, he doesn't even notice the subtle movement of your fingers dancing along his waist until they settle between his lower back and the top of his ass.

At this moment, nothing could stop you from kissing or touching him.

Except, perhaps, one person.

Your phone vibrates, indicating an incoming call, but you're too entranced by Sunghoon's lips and tongue to notice. Pressing his body against yours, he traps you between him and the car, the sensation of his hips against yours causing you to instinctively grind against him, using your hands to pull him closer.

However, in the intimate closeness, he can feel your phone vibrating against your body. As much as he wants to ignore it, he knows you can't. "Sweets, your phone," he murmurs between kisses, his hands dropping from your hair to reach into your pocket, even as your lips continue to chase after his. "It's Minhee; you better take it."

No way has he cock blocked you twice in one night.

Grumbling, you take the phone from Sunghoon and answer, “Hi Minhee…No, I wasn’t ignoring you, I was putting on my shoes…no no, you don’t need to pi-”

You pause mid-sentence when Sunghoon starts kissing your neck and squeezing your waist. What does he think he's doing? Glancing down, you catch his eyes sneakily looking up at you. Attempting to push him away only results in him biting down, his fangs teasing the verge of breaking skin. In any other situation, you might have found it hot, but with Minhee yapping in your ear, you don't have time to appreciate it.

“Look, I’m on my way home…I’ll walk, it's not that far…seriously, Minhee- Oh,” you moan involuntarily when Sunghoon kisses your sweet spot, and once he's found it, he doesn’t stop licking and nibbling, “Hoonie, stop it!” You remove the phone from your ear and whisper-shout at him.

“I love it when you call me that,” he smirks, his eyes sparkling mischievously.

Hearing Minhee’s voice come through the phone again, you lift it back up to your ear, “What? Oh, I stubbed my toe, look I’ll be home soon alright…Yes, Allen is here…you know he and Rina are together. I’m going to go, see you soon.” Hanging up, you sigh in exasperation.

Giving Sunghoon a few light whacks, you demand, “Why did you do that?” You're almost certain Minhee heard him, or at least now he might think you're hooking up with Allen.

Bringing his face back up to yours, Sunghoon just shrugs and kisses you again with as much fervour as before. His lips are addicting, and you don’t want to stop, but Rina lives 20 minutes from your house if you walk, and this cafe is at least a 30-minute drive. “Sunghoon, I need to go back,” you say between his insistent kisses.

“How long do I have?” He needs to know how long he can indulge in this before having to let you go.

“Not even a second. I’ll already be late even if we leave now.” When his forehead falls on yours you see the pain on his face, like you’re depriving him of a basic human need.

"Don't say that, tell your friend to phone and say you're staying with her tonight." Sunghoon can't stop his lips from capturing yours again. It's as if he's had a taste of you and doesn't want to give it up, especially now. His hand teases the waist of your trousers, tempting to dip in and touch you where you desperately need him.

Personally, you would love nothing more than to call Rina up and get her to lie, she would do it in a heartbeat but Minhee would never believe it, “I can’t. I never stay over when he has practice in the morning. Mum never wants to make a stop off to pick me up.”

“You’re killing me here.” He states breathlessly, his fingertips dancing down to your pussy as he ghosts your neck with his breath. He’s waiting on you to give him the green light but you are far too concerned about getting home.

He suddenly hates your mum a little more than before. If it wasn’t her dismissing your accomplishments, it was her inability to put you on her priority list, “Can’t you just skip his practice? He’ll have more, trust me he needs it.”

“Don’t ruin this.” You warn him from speaking any more about your brother. It does bring you back to reality just who you were kissing, but you can’t focus on that right now, your only concern is getting home.

Sunghoon apologises by kissing you again, this time more gently, like it came naturally to him, “I need to go home. No excuses.”

It isn't what he wants to hear, but he has to accept it. Stepping away from you, his gaze remains fixed on your lips, which are lush and swollen; he can only picture what they would look like if he had more time to toss you in the back seat. His mind immediately returns to you with the lever, and to be honest, he could throw a tantrum right now over the situation at hand. It was unjust that he couldn't just have you, and he wasn't sure if he'd ever get the chance again.

Moving to his side of the car he slides in and you follow suit. He uses the excuse of buckling your seatbelt for you to give you another kiss and it has you internally giggling and kicking your feet.

You do the same to him, grabbing the seatbelt from him and clipping him in, leaning over to press your lips against his soft ones. 

“All I need is 5 minutes,” He whispers against your lips and you laugh, swatting his chest. 

You can’t say you don’t ponder it, and when you see his hard on poking so slightly against his trousers, you look at the time and really wonder if you could, but you can’t risk Minhee even getting a whiff of this, “Next time.” 

Sunghoon's eyes change from desire to hope in real time, "There'll be a next time?" His cool and confident demeanour fades and is replaced with puppy-like grin as he realises you want more than what you had tonight.

“If you get me home in the next 25 minutes there can be.” You pose and with that, Sunghoon drives out of the car park and down the highway going 10 above the limit.

Reaching closer to your house you put a hand on his thigh as you speak, “Better to drop me off here, so Mini doesn’t see you.” You also have to fake that you walked home from Rina’s so if a big fancy car starts pulling up outside your house, he’s going to know something is up.

Sunghoon takes your hand on his thigh and brings it to his lips, maintaining eye contact with the road as he stops at the curb of your neighbour's house 2 doors down. His grip tightens on your hand as he looks at the time, “Got you here in 27 minutes, Sweets.” Proud of himself he adorns a smile that splits his face in half.

Tutting you pout at him, “I guess there can’t be a next time, so sorry Hoonie.” His stunned face was worth holding in your laugh to act like you’re serious, “If only you had gotten here 2 minutes quicker.”

“Come on,” He exasperated, “There were like 10 red lights in a row.” His thumb points back to where you just drove from.

It’s true, it was bad luck, but you liked playing with him like this. 

“Sorry, see you at the rink yeah?” You unbuckle your seatbelt and turn to get out your side of the car, but Sunghoon isn’t letting it end here.

He stretches over to shut the door back over making you gasp, startled by the sudden move, “You don’t want to be a thief do you?” You think he’s going to hit out with something cheesy like how you stole his heart of something, but when his hand grips the coat you’re wearing you understand what he means, “Bad enough you gave my money away but now you’re trying to steal a £500 coat?” 

Perplexed by both the price and the unexpected accusation, your mouth hangs open. No wonder the coat is so cosy and warm—it costs most of your month's paycheck. Exiting the car, you impishly mutter a 'fine' as you remove the jacket, placing it on the passenger seat before walking away, feeling considerably colder than before.

Just as you reach the vicinity of your house, Sunghoon calls out, "Sweets?" You spin around to see him jogging up behind you, holding your phone. Ah, you put it in his coat pocket after Minhee's call. Taking it from his grip, you thank him, only to be surprised again when he says, "You also forgot this." What else did you even have on your person to forget?

Sunghoon's mouth quickly meets yours for the nth time tonight. A kiss. You forgot to kiss him.

Sighing, you realize you have to put an end to it. Lingering out in the open so close to your home practically guarantees Minhee will see. "Hoonie."

"Shh," he hushes you, continuing the kiss, "I know, but let me have it since there won't be a next time." A fake sad look takes over his face, his hands running up and down your sides.

"Ugh fine, since you gave me my phone I suppose I could spare you some time."  Crossing your arms, you act irritated, while his 'sadness' transforms into a self-satisfied smile. That was the dynamic between you both, always giving what you got, and you wanted to explore it more, no matter how difficult it was.

“See you at the rink then, Sweets.” Messing up your hair he skips back to his car like a kid on Christmas. He was the cutest thing you’ve ever seen. 

Spending these past few hours with Sunghoon was like nothing you had ever experienced before. He knew how to wash all of your worries and woes away better than some people you’ve known for years. And when he kissed you it sent shooting stars through your body. If only 8-year-old you could see what had just happened, she would burst with excitement.

With a smile on your face, you rapidly run into your house and up the stairs, trying to be quiet but also too lost in the dizziness from Sunghoon’s kisses. As you reach the top of the stairs, Minhee opens his door and gives you a quizzical look. Oh no, he didn’t see, did he?

“Why do you look like you won the lottery?” Phew, he hadn’t.

“Just, excited about getting the award, that’s all.” It wasn’t totally a lie, he would see right through you if you started to babble out any other excuse so you had to stick to something believable. You are happy about the award, there isn’t a doubt about it, but Sunghoon reassuring you throughout the night made you stop and acknowledge how happy you really were to receive it. Your mum was the one that ruined it for you.

Minhee follows you when you walk into your room, “Y/N? You know I would be there if I could right?” Facing him, you see how sorry he looks about the situation, “I tried to phone the company to move the filming but they can’t.” Of course, he would try to move it for you, that was the kind of brother he was. 

A surge of guilt overcomes your body. Here he was trying to move his schedule around, a big important schedule might you add, and you were out there kissing the one boy you shouldn’t be. If Sunghoon wasn’t such a threat to Minhee, you think they could go back to being somewhat friends, but that’s never going to happen.

“It’s okay, Mini. I know you can’t just cancel it.” Your voice is reassuring but his features still hold hurt.

“It’s not okay, Y/N. You’re the most important thing to me in this world, I want to be there for your big moments like you’ve been there for mine.” You could cry. Minhee wasn’t the type to show his emotions so being on the receiving end of such words makes you tear up a little, “Hey, Bubs, don’t cry.”

He hasn’t called you Bubs in so long, the childhood nickname growing out as you both got older. There was a bond between you and your brother, other siblings used to say how envious they were.

“I don’t want to speak ill of our mum but she was a bitch tonight. I should have said something.”

Shaking your head, you wipe your tears and look down before speaking, “Mini, it wouldn’t have helped.” Your voice cracks and your throat closes a little, “She’s always like that anyway.”

“It doesn’t make it right.” He says disapprovingly. 

Minhee pulls you into a tight hug and you instantly relax. Your brain starts to overthink everything again. The lack of proudness from your mother, the kisses from Sunghoon, and the brotherly affection you’re currently receiving. Could you have it all? Getting to know Sunghoon tonight, you don’t think you can leave it where you did. There was something there between you both, you fit together like skates to ice.

“I am so proud of you, Bubs.” Minhee strokes the back of your head, “and I might not be able to go to your ceremony, but when I beat that prick and come first at Nationals? I’m dedicating that to you. I promise you that.”

That prick…Park Sunghoon.

You couldn’t have it all.

taglist: @heelee-01 @zerasari @beomgyusonlywife @iwaplant @monstanctiny21 @chiiiiiiiiis @minniejenseo @run2gyuz @jngwnlvs @haelahoops @capri-cuntz @nctislifue @jaehoonii @weyukinluv @skzenhalove @enhypenlovre @cherriruto @ariadores @chwesuh-imnida

[moonchildstyles]

has Older!Harry ever had to work later than he thought, maybe running into plans he had with pretty girl?

wordcount: 3k+

—————

"What do you think, H?" 

(Y/N) twirled in front of where Harry sat on his couch, showing off the new dress he had pushed her into rewarding herself with (with his credit card, of course) after getting through midterms. He'd seen the photos online, but she wanted him to get a look at the real thing—see if he liked it on her as much as he said he would. 

Looking up from his phone, he gave her a bright smile. "Sweetheart," he crooned, appraising her with an adoring gaze, "Y'look—" 

His phone buzzed in his hand, the disturbance cutting him off as he was forced to glance down at the device. His features posed into something grim with a set line on his jaw and pursed lips. 

"What is it?" (Y/N) asked, fiddling with her nails with her purse hanging from her wrist. He'd been attached to his phone since he'd come over to pick her up, constantly going back and forth between doling out his attention to her before being taken away by his phone. 

He shook his head much like he had done every other time (Y/N) had asked what had been going on. "Jus' something at the office—trying to figure out what happened." 

"Is it bad?" she asked, sinking into the couch next to him in hopes of skimming a glance at his screen. 

"A little, if it is what I think it is," he murmured distractedly, scrolling through a report (Y/N) had no hopes of recognizing. 

Quietly, she watched as he tapped away, aware of the time ticking down towards their reservations. "Do you think you'll be done before we need to leave?" 

Seemingly suddenly realizing the time, he heaved a sigh. "I hope." 

Just as the words left his mouth, an incoming call colored his screen. 

"Hold on," he told her, rising from his seat with his phone in a tight grip, "If 'm not off the phone by the time we need to leave, come and get me, 'kay?" 

As soon as she gave a nod, Harry had his phone pressed to his ear and was heading upstairs towards his office. His voice was rumbling and low, but she could hear the curt tone even from where she sat. She watched as he disappeared up the staircase before pulling her own phone out. She'd give him ten minutes, she decided—it would be cutting it close to the reservation, but she didn't want to stress him out any more than he obviously already was. 

—————

(Y/N)'s lips thinned as she watched the time tick off one more minute.

6:45pm. 

Harry had been tucked away upstairs for the full of the ten minute timer she had set for him. She hoped the problem wasn't as bad as he had feared, but she had a feeling it was that or much worse. He hated being late for any kind of appointment, so she doubted he had just lost track of time while working. 

Rising to her feet, joints popping from being folded up on his couch while she had waited, she started for the stairs. Her heels clicked over his floors, following her up the case and towards his office. Only a few paces away, she could hear him speaking behind the door. None of the words were clear, but it definitely wasn't a good sign to hear him still on the phone.

She quietly knocked on the door, pausing for a moment before pushing it open. Peering around the wood, she found Harry just as she figured she would: sat behind his desk, features pinched and sharp as he stared at his computer screen with his phone pressed to his ear. 

He hadn't even noticed her peeking in, mumbling something to his associate with his eyes reflecting whatever he was scrolling through on his screen. Clearing her throat, (Y/N) finally gained Harry's attention. 

His features quickly softened at the sight of her. 

"H? Are you ready to go?" she peeped, hoping whoever was on the other end of the call couldn't hear her. 

Lips thinning, he murmured an excuse to his call before pulling the phone away from his ear for a moment. With the receiver pressed to his shoulder, eyes speaking apologies before he'd even shared a word.

"Sweetheart," he started, the syllables floating on a sigh, "I can't leave, yet. 'S worse than I thought." 

While she was sympathetic to whatever he was dealing with—Harry never liked to bring work home if he could help it, especially if it was problem based like this—she couldn't help the way her shoulders deflated some. "Will we still be able to make dinner? It's almost six." 

Harry glanced at the time himself then, hesitating meeting her eyes once more. "I don't know, love. 'M so sorry, I really didn't think it was going to be this complicated." 

"It's okay, it's okay," she waved him off, already creeping out of the room, "I'll call and see if they have anything later, but don't worry." 

A sad smile wormed its way onto his lips, molding into the apples of his cheeks though the curl didn't meet his eyes. "Thank you, love." 

After offering her own small smile, (Y/N) slipped out of the room with the door clicking behind her. Taking in a deep breath, she slipped her phone out of her bag before pulling up the restaurant's website. She had a feeling, just with how coveted their original reservation was, that there wouldn't be anything else available but she didn't feel like telling Harry that kind of news at the moment. 

Taking in a sigh, (Y/N) started towards the stairs with her phone pressed to her ear. 

"Thank you for calling Elio, how can I help you?" 

"Hi—um—I have a reservation in thirty minutes, but I was wondering if..." 

—————

After shooting off a text to Harry that there wasn't anything else available fore the night, (Y/N) had resigned herself to a night on the couch. Even when he'd answered with a promise that he would figure something out as soon as he fixed whatever was going on, she hadn't bet on the possibility. 

When it came to things like these—problems outside of his control, unanticipated mistakes—Harry had a hard time letting them go until they were back up to his standards. He wouldn't be able to relax enough to spend the night with her, she knew that. Instead she had only messaged him back that she'd be downstairs for him whenever he was ready with a heart emoji tacked on the end. 

That was how she found herself tucked into the cushions of his couch, shoes kicked off under the coffee table, and a fluffy blanket over her lap with one of her reality TV shows on screen. She wasn't paying much attention to the scenes, the episode one she had already seen, instead poking at her phone for entertainment. 

As the time ticked on, closer and closer to Harry having been stuck working for over an hour, part of her wanted to head upstairs and see if she could pry him away. If he finished soon, they could still at least go out somewhere, keeping her dress and makeup from going to waste. But, she could still hear his rumbling voice at times carrying through the walls—he was still stuck on the phone. She could only imagine the kind of stress he was feeling if he was still stuck on the same problem almost an hour later.

Curled on his couch, (Y/N) almost winced when her stomach growled. She had kept herself from snacking after class, knowing she was going to want to have all the room possible for the immaculate dinner Harry had planned. Now, with the time ticking well past their reservations, she was feeling the consequences of her abstinence. 

Though she wasn't particularly keen on the idea of padding upstairs and asking Harry if he would be okay with some takeaway for the night, there wasn't much else she could do. (Harry had been teaching her as much as he could when it came to the kitchen, but that didn't mean that she was particularly good yet). Especially after she had made the choice to indulge in watching too many sushi videos that popped up on her social media—she doubted she could wait for Harry to finish up before scampering off for dinner.

Moving upstairs, (Y/N) paused outside of Harry's office, her ear keen to the door in hopes of finding a good time to pop in. Though she wasn't encouraged at the stretching silence on the other side, there wasn't much of a better time, she decided when she finally knocked on the door.  A responding grumble came from the other side.

Peeking inside, he didn't look much different than when she had seen him last. Now, his sleeves were rolled to his elbows and his hair mussed, but that pinch between his brows lingered with his jaw in a strong set. He looked tired this time when he glanced up at her, the fan of his lashes becoming a drooping frame around his eyes. 

"Sorry," she started, keeping her voice low at the sight of his phone still pressed to his ear, "Um, I was thinking about ordering dinner, if that's alright with you?" 

He took a moment, pulling his phone from his ear, poking at the mute button before clearing his throat. "Are y'sure? If I finish soon, I can still take y'out," he told her, voice softer than what she was sure he was sharing on the phone. 

"It's almost eight-thirty, H," (Y/N) gently reminded him, resting her head on the doorjamb as she gazed at him, "I'm sure you're hungry, too." 

He seemingly suddenly realized there were other things going on than the emails and clients he was dealing with. He deflated after taking in a deep breath. "Right. 'M sorry, (Y/N), really."

"No, it's okay, don't worry. I under—" 

"Mr. Styles, Dean has the group scheduled for a conference call in the morning, but is—" 

"Michael," Harry said, pulling the phone to his ear with the speaker off and mute unselected, "'M going to have to call you back." 

(Y/N) was taken aback at his sudden suggestion, though she continued listening from where she stood at the threshold. She hoped he wasn't ending the call on her account. 

"Ten minutes, and I'll call y'back. Can y'handle that, or do I need to keep holding your hand?" 

Maybe it was a bit harsh, but (Y/N) had to hold back her laughter with her hand stamped over her mouth. It wasn't like her boyfriend at all to snap at anyone, including his colleagues, but she couldn't Balme him after being corralled in his office for over an hour. The man on the other end—Micheael—must have stood down seeing as Harry hung up the call with nothing else to share. 

Plopping the device face down on his desk, Harry pulled in a sigh before fixing his eyes to (Y/N) once more. "C'mere, pretty girl." 

His open arms were an offer as she padded across his office. He collected her against his chest once she had rounded his desk, pulling her as close as he could with her folded in his lap. 

"'M sorry," he murmured, voice low in her ear as she settled her chin on his shoulder with her arms looped around his middle, "I didn't mean to ruin the night, sweetheart." 

"It's not your fault," she reminded him, "And nothing is ruined. Sometimes things like this happen. I'm not mad." 

He pulsed his arms around her, tightening his hug with a kiss pressed to the side of her head. "You're too good to me, love. Thank you." 

Drawing away, (Y/N) shifted until she had his cheeks cradled in her hands. Thumbing at his cheekbones, she attempted to draw a smile out of his solemn features when she squished his cheeks with his lips forced into a puffy pout. Her responding laughter was enough to have him straining against her hands with his own attempting smile. 

"You know I'm never upset to stay home," she told him, leaning forward to peck a kiss to his puckered lips, "It's okay, H." 

"Promise?" he mushed out, words muffled against her squish. 

"Promise," she resounded, giving him another kiss before releasing his cheeks, "I think I'm going to order Chinese, so just come down whenever you're done and it'll be waiting." 

His arms were a cradle around her, one that kept her locked on his lap as he pressed forward and gave her a lingering kiss. "I love you, you know that?" 

"I do," she answered, smiling into his kiss, "I love you, too." 

Though he opened his mouth, prepping to say more, his phone began to buzz on his desk once more. (Y/N) could feel the way he deflated in response, hesitant to answer the call. 

Untangling herself from his lap, she gave him a soft smile. "Finish whatever you need to do, okay? I'll be downstairs whenever you're done." 

His apology was clear on his face without a single word having to be shared. "I'll be fast," he vowed. 

"I know." 

With that, Harry pressed the phone to his ear with a sharp greeting while (Y/N) scurried out of his office. Though she was still tired and hungry, she felt better after getting a chance to talk to him. She doubted he would finish up as fast as he wanted, but she hoped he understood there was no pressure to be felt on her end. 

Chinese food kept perfectly well, anyway.

—————

"Goodnight, Micheal. Have a nice weekend." 

Harry didn't wait for a send off on the other end, hanging up on his coworker as soon as the words left his mouth. He'd heard enough of Micheal's voice to last a lifetime, especially after finding out that this entire mixup was nothing more than a paperwork error he hadn't properly checked the first time. Nonetheless, Harry was just happy to no longer be glued to his phone with his laptop lid shut for the foreseeable future. 

He dreaded to look at the time on his phone, but knew he had no choice. 

10:16pm. 

Sighing at the sight, he pocketed his phone with his joints cracking as he stood from his chair. (Y/N) had been quiet for a while now, no more padding around coming from the floor below for the better part of the last half hour. 

She had been so understanding, letting him disappear and forcing them to cancel their dinner plans only for her to give soft condolences and sweet kisses in response. He hoped she hadn't fallen asleep before he could make it up to her as much as he could. 

Making his way downstairs, the streaming service she had pulled up on his television was paused on one of her favorite shows, the program asking if she was still watching. The coffee table was set up with Chinese takeaway containers, everything clean and sectioned away with his own servings still packaged and warm. He knew what he would find when he peered over the back of the couch, but he still felt a bit of guilt when he saw her wrapped up in a too-small throw blanket on her body and a too-stiff decorative pillow under her head. 

Her hair was clean of every pin she'd used to style it, her dress replaced with comfortable pajamas, and face clean and shining in the low light. She was asleep, her breath coming in small puffs with each line and plane of her features left relaxed. 

He didn't even tell her goodnight. 

Petting his hand over her temple to push stray baby hairs out of her face, he allowed his fingertips to linger over her skin. The warmth of her was enough to thaw the strain he hadn't realized he was still carrying in his muscles. 

This would never get old, he decided. The evidence of her around his home was enough to get his heart kicking against his ribs, but to find her on his couch after a long night was something he hadn't realized he craved until he met her. Though he would prefer to have had more time with her, the stress of the night seemed worth it when he came downstairs to see this. 

If not for the fact he was just as hungry as (Y/N) had guessed by the amount of containers she left out for him, he would have tucked in beside her and slept off the stress. Instead, he settled for kicking off his shoes and heading for the linen closet for a warmer blanket to spread across her form. 

With (Y/N) snuggled under the fleece, he settled himself on the floor beside her. Though it wasn't a show he enjoyed watching without her commentary, Harry still pressed play on the episode she had left off on. He kept the volume low, reaching for the chopsticks that had come with the delivery. 

Twirling a bite of lo mein on the sticks, Harry hesitated before that first bite despite his gnawing stomach. Maybe it was the fact he couldn't get her soft face out of his head the last time she'd come to his office, or the way she had arranged all of his favorites out for him to pick through by the time he came downstairs, but it didn't feel right to have his dinner without her. 

There was no way he was going to wake her up, but that didn't stop him from reaching for the hand she had sticking out from under the blanket. Though it wasn't a particularly comfortable angle, he laced his fingers between hers. His chest warmed when she seemingly recognized his touch, reciprocating his hold as best she could in her sleep before snuggling the back of his hand to her cheek. 

Despite the cooling food in front of him, Harry let his eyes linger on the peaceful set of her features and the way she clung to his hand. A small smile thumbed a dimple into his cheek. 

He'd still be making it up to her tomorrow, but tonight hadn't turned out too bad. 

—————

thank u sm for reading, sorry for any mistakes, and if you have any ideas you want to share please send them in!!! if you want to read more you can check out my patreon:)

[thedevilspearl]

awkward moments during sex — younger bros

a/n: a continuation of funny and awkward moments that happen during sex with the brothers, but this time with the younger brothers (older brothers here).

tags: 2.5k words. female reader x satan (edging, orgasm control), asmodeus (no warnings), beelzebub (manhandling, breeding kink, mating press, minor injury) + belphegor (mild somnophillia). minors do not interact!

𝐒𝐀𝐓𝐀𝐍

your fingers slip nimbly through his blonde hair, gliding through the strands as if they’re made of the finest of silks. satan leaves an entourage of nips and bruises along your neckline, each of them planted with more desperation than the last.

his hips roll against yours; not fast enough, and not slow enough. and yet, he seems to find the perfect combination of pace and rhythm which drives you crazy.

it keeps you in limbo, with hope on one side and despair on the other. a purgatory of sorts.

he loves to torment you like this; his teething grin tells you that. and with his head buried in the nook of your shoulder, he peeps up only to appreciate the overwrought look on your face. your brows furrow in such a way that he doesn’t know if you’re about to cry, or if you’re about to cum.

you suppose that’s why he loves it so much — satan has always been fond of a good mystery, always wanting to discover what comes next in earnest. he’s enthusiastic to say the least.

his rutting hips grow a little more fervent, earning a most dulcet moan from your lips. he captures it in his own, swallowing it whole and locking it away deep in the ravenous hollows of his body. you fill him up in ways he never expected, and he can’t get enough of you.

“satan,” you whimper, evoking a sadistic smirk on his face. “please…”

“please what, my dear?”

the endearment in his voice alone is enough to make your guts feel like they’re being rearranged — though, his cock is doing a perfectly fine job of that already.

“i wanna cum!”

every one of your senses tosses you back and forth over a very thin line. one second, you’re free to fall into a sea of bliss, ready to be washed away by the intensity of the orgasms he brings upon your body. and the next, you’re tied up in the confines of satan’s control. he decides when you finish, not the other way around.

the nerves in your body are working overtime, analysing each second and anticipating whether or not he will give you what you so desperately desire. your brain is moments away from turning numb from the overload of feelings, both physical and emotional.

so much that the creaks of satan’s old, wooden bed go unregistered.

he thrusts harder, faster with the promise that he’ll soon be done with you, and you can finally succumb to the ecstasy you’ve been reaching for.

“satan!” you squeal, locking your trembling legs around his hips. “i’m close!”

“me too, baby,” he grunts with each rut and grabs your cheeks, making sure of the eye contact between you. “we’re almost there.”

he makes a point of driving his cock to the hilt of your pussy, and his strength passes straight through your body into the foundations of his bed. all it takes is one more thrust to break apart the timbers of the worn out wood.

the mattress beneath you softens your land as the bed collapses, but the impact from satan’s body falling on top off you knocks the air out of your lungs. his limbs dig into you and you groan.

“shit,” he mutters, and his hands fly to your face, inspecting your pained expression. “are you okay?”

“not really,” satan rises with you, arms delicately holding your frame until you’re sat upright on the wreck of what was once his bed. “are you?”

“yes,” he chuckles, leaning his head against you before planting a kiss on your cheek. “because the sex was literally bed–breaking. and no, because lucifer is going to have a lot to say about this.”

𝐀𝐒𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐔𝐒

asmo has tonnes of attention and he loves to give it away freely, just as much as he loves to receive it. you’re special, though. he makes a point of that every time your insecurities begin niggle away at you.

whenever he feels you drawing away, he’ll pull you closer than ever before, never letting you out of his sight. with all the fame and love, most people tend to forget how lonely a person can become. and that’s why he chose you.

you took that loneliness from deep inside and destroyed it in the palm of your hand. you filled all the void parts of his body and soul with your existence alone; no one thinks about the demons a demon can have, and all it took was one smile from you to scare them all away.

you helped him in more ways than one, so he never wants you to feel alone or inferior — you’ll always be his number one despite his fans and fame and ego.

he must say, though, he is quite proud of how far you’ve come. asmo had immediately picked up on those small traits of yours, the ones that signal you spiralling into the pool of your greatest fears. the nervous fidgeting whenever he spoke to other demons at school, the daylight dazing out when you find yourself lost in thoughts, and the sudden silence when he’s livestreaming to his fans, like right now.

asmo was fully prepared to pepper you with praises and kisses as soon as he finished — he’s more than willing to give you attention. but the fact is, you stole it already, along with his breath.

he freezes for a second before licking his lips and glancing back and forth between your teasing and his screen. he mumbles and stutters whilst trying to hide his growing erection from his fans. meanwhile, you sway your hips seductively behind the camera, slipping the silk gown from your shoulders to reveal your naked body.

“today was really fun, my darlings,” he waves and blows a kiss to the screen immediately. “i’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

he taps his screen rapidly before jumping on you, grabbing your ass and lifting you. your lips intertwine in seconds and he drops you onto the mattress with out breaking contact.

“someone’s feeling bold,” he teases between kisses. “i like it.”

“mmh, i figured i should be more forward with my needs,” you say with a daring smile. “i think it seems to be working, don’t you?”

“oh, it’s working,” asmo expertly removes his clothing, and occupies himself in the meantime by kissing up and down your body, burning patterns into your skin until he meets your lips again.

“asmo… hurry.” you whine and he heeds your words, aligning himself with your soaked entrance.

“i love you, my darling,” he feeds you one last kiss before pushing in, and the two of you groan in unison. “i love you so much.”

“i love you too, asmo.”

you gasp loudly as his cock stretches your walls, and your clench around his length as if he was made perfectly for you to take. you’re seconds away from screaming his name when—

knock, knock, knock.

you freeze and the knocking is followed by lucifer’s commanding voice.

“asmodeus, you might want to end your livestream before continuing with your… activities.”

“what?!”

scrambling, you gather the blanket against your chest, tucking your legs underneath to hide your nude body. this can’t be happening…

“oh, my,” asmo tuts. “it looks like i pressed the wrong button.”

he makes his way back to his ddd set up on his desk, dragging a blanket to cover himself from the hips down. you expect him to turn it off immediately, but instead he starts reading the flying comments that you’re too embarrassed to even think about.

“hhm, everyone seems to be enjoying it,” he looks to you with a seductively intriguing glint in his eyes. “what do you say, honey? why don’t we give them a show?”

𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐋𝐙𝐄𝐁𝐔𝐁

“oh my goodness, beel!”

juices flow from your pussy and his mouth finally parts with it after bringing you to your umpteenth orgasm. your mind is foggy from the highs and beel rises, hands roaming your body and placing you exactly how he sees fit.

the back of your knees rest against his arms and his hands sneak under your body, locking you in place. he has you folded in half, literally. his feet are planted flat in the mattress and his immense weight pushes you down further.

you haven’t fucked in this position before, but you have a feeling beel is going to destroy your needy cunt. you take a liking to this inner beast controlling him right now; he must be so hungry…

his lips are coated with your essence, the one that works like a spell, entrancing him in such a state that he can only think about how much he needs you.

this is going to be good.

the tip of his enormous cock prods at your entrance and eagerly pushes in. hissing from his girth stretching you out, you wonder if it’s possible that you’ll ever get used to beel splitting you open on his cock.

“ngh,” you groan gutturally, unable to form a decipherable sentence. “s–so big!”

“i’m gonna fill you up, baby,” he growls and pushes in deeper. “gonna fill you with my cum.”

he slams into you, and an unbridled yelp escapes you before he raises his hips, only to slam them back down again. each of his thrusts rattle the entire bedframe and you’re afraid the brother next door might storm in with noise complaints.

a cacophony of sinful sounds fill the room — beel’s animalistic growls, your wanton moans, the obscenely lewd noises coming from your bodies, and of course, the shaking of everything around you.

he’s fucking you so hard it might cause an earthquake.

the mattress bounces along with both of your bodies, fucking like animals in heat. his cock drags in and out of your pussy and you’re losing count of all the orgasms he’s forcing you to endure. you’re extremely sensitive from him eating you out for hours and you don’t know how long it will take for beel to feel some sort of satiation.

being both starved and gluttonous is a dangerous combination, and this version of beel is a prime example of that. he pushes your thighs down further, allowing himself to explore deeper and you feel another orgasm creeping on you.

and it’s only a matter of time before beel finishes too, and he’s going to fill you to the brim with his cum before using it to fuck you some more, pushing his seed deep inside you. you can’t wait for the day he finally breeds you.

“fuck, beel!” you screech, not caring how ridiculously desperate you sound. “come on, stuff me full with your cum! want you to knock me up!”

“gonna fill you up,” he grunts with every thrust. “i’ll fill you with my—”

“aah, i’m so tired… wait, what’s going on here?”

before you can look in the direction of the door, beel literally flips you over and flings your body to the side, unknowingly using his full strength which causes you to collide into the wall.

“what the fuck?!” you yelps, tears brimming your eyes from the impact.

did he just throw you across the room?

but you have no time to yell at him because belphegor is standing in the doorway with his eyes locked onto your naked body. your hands fly to hide your private parts, but you are stark naked and daring not to move.

meanwhile, beel sits nonchalantly on his bed, covering his crotch with the sheets. “nothing. nothing is going on.”

belphie doesn’t seem convinced, which doesn’t come as a surprise and he slowly backs out, closing the door behind him.

not a second after he leaves, you throw the dirtiest, most disgusted look of betrayal at beel. “every man for himself, huh?”

“i’m so sorry, mc,” he glooms. “i panicked.”

“panicked? you threw me across the room!”

𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐏𝐇𝐄𝐆𝐎𝐑

“belphie,” you whisper, shaking the shoulders of his sleeping form. “belphie, wake up.”

a grumble sounds from his limp frame, and you roll your eyes, shaking him harder.

“belphie, please wake up,” and with a sigh, you add, “i’m horny.”

again, nothing.

chewing on your lips in thought, your hands mindlessly graze over your body — your breasts, squeezing them with a gasp; your hips, grabbing them exactly where belphie loves; and your thighs, digging into your flesh with desperation.

you don’t realise your pitiful actions, nor the broken moan that escapes you until belphie rolls onto his other side, his back now facing you.

a pout forms on your lips and you grab him again, shaking him with all your might. but your frustration passes right through his sleeping form.

“belphegor, wake up right now! i need you!”

“keep it down…”

giving up, you flop onto the mattress beside him, unable to remove your eyes from his peaceful face. as unsatisfactory as his response is, your body still needs to be put at ease. and you can’t do that without some form of relief.

before you know it, your fingers slip below the line of your underwear and a shaky breath escapes you. you make work of yourself, thrusting your fingers in and out while imagining belphie’s cock driving hard into your pussy.

what you would give for him to open his eyes and plant his fingertips into the softness of your hips, holding you in place beneath his sweating body as he slams into you, his cock making its mark all along your walls.

“fuck…” you whimper, with a hint of his name among your quiet moans as you cum.

belphie has yet to move an inch, completely ignorant to you and your orgasm. so much for quality time. with your eyelids drooping, you allow yourself to sink into the sheets and pillows, carefully snuggling into belphie’s body as to not wake him.

an hour passes, or maybe two, possibly more and belphegor finally stirs. he yawns with little energy and rolls onto his back, but his arm stays wrapped around you, tucking you into his chest. all it takes is one look for that swirling sensation in his stomach to come alive.

he looks down at his crotch and sees that the problem goes further than so–called butterflies; his hardened cock stretches the material of his pants. morning wood has never been so persistent since you came along.

every remnant of sleep is gone in an instant and he’s on top of you, lips pressed against your neck and hands sneaking up your shirt, squeezing your hips on their way to your tits.

“hah…” small gasps and moans escape him as his hips jut against you. “what are you doing to me?”

he hates that innocent look on your face, so oblivious to the effect you have on him and to what he is doing to you. but that innocence is also what turns him on. god, he could just devour you whole like the sick demon he is and you wouldn’t know a thing because you’re far to busy dreaming something sweet.

it’s almost like he can smell it, the dream. or, a more logical explanation would be the sweetness between your legs. your glistening slit has him drooling when he pulls your panties away and he soon makes work of freeing his aching cock from his own clothes.

“mc,” he whispers against you with a kiss. “wake up, i’m horny.”

your eyes open slightly, and as soon as you register his hot, naked body above you, you roll over to the side with a huff.

“not now, belphie. i’m tired.”

well, he supposes this is what he deserves. it’s a taste of his own medicine, after all.

[kakiastro]

Astrology Placements Observations

This is just from my own personal research after studying lots of chart. So don’t come for me

Mars Virgo people are the true freaks. Virgo rules over acts of service, these are the people that’s going to know every little thing about your body and how to please you!

Aquarius moons are either social butterflies or very introverted

Mercury 3h or 6h knows what the are talking about okay! Mercury is at home when it’s in these houses.

Pisces Venus/Venus 12h people are prone to attracting narcissistic people in love. These people want to see the good and idolize what their partner could be. You all need to start seeing people for who they are at moment. Stop looking at them red flags like carnivals flags and start seeing them as stop signs.

Libra rising has been through some things in their love life. your love life has been a battlefield due to having Aries 7h. The day y’all start learning the word NO and setting boundaries with people then it’ll get better

Taurus Mercury people love to cuss and cuss a lot. You guys are really good at it too! Tell me I’m not the only ones to notice this?😅

Mars 1h people may have been in lots of fights growing up. You may be prone to having lots of accidents as well, be careful around knives.

Saturn 9h may be skeptics when it comes to religion or spiritual topics. You guys need to see some proof before it happens. On the flip side, you can be religious and firm in your traditional beliefs.

Jupiter 4h can indicate someone moving around a lot to different city or countries. You guys have to have new experiences in your lives

Aries 10h can excel in any chosen career that they choose to be in. The key to success is having the passion to want to do it

Venus-Saturn aspect- people have a timeless classic look about them. They may dress from a different era.

Saturn 7h doesn’t always mean you’re going to marry late in life. It could mean that your partner is older than you, or you can be older than them. They could be mature, they could own a business, your partner could be a past life connection and it coming back this lifetime to fulfill that duty. The same can be said with the Venus-Saturn aspect

Pluto-Venus aspect goes through the biggest spiritual growth through love. They’ve been through some painful experiences in love but out of that came lots of growth.

Venus-Uranus aspect has a very unique fashion aesthetic

Mercury-Uranus aspect has a restless mind, you guys have a million things you want to do and say. You guys may talk fast too.

Scorpio are only “obsessed” with their partners or anyone is when then they genuinely love you to the core. Other than that, I promise scorpios don’t be thinking about y’all like that😅

Mars Cancers people anger scares me more than Mars Aries folks😭don’t ever get on these people bad side.

Saturn 10h peeps, you guys will get the public recognition and respect you deserve the older you get so hang in there

Chiron 1h don’t be so hard on your physical bodies, you guys are beautiful okay!

[aheathen-conceivably]

“Good morning, birthday boy.”

Both Antoine and Zelda were now well used to rising at sunrise, so the words hadn’t woken him; but they did pull him out of the nebulous ether between sleep and wakefulness, so he moved closer to the woman curled around his back, “Oh, is that today?”

“Don’t play coy with me. That’s my job.”

Her hand wrapped around his waist, down his chest and to his drawstring, “I’m an old man now, my love, how could you possibly want someone with such wrinkles? I do believe I even found a gray hair yesterday.” A light laugh sounded in his ear, prompting him to turn and face her, “You can be so dramatic for a stoic. Thirty-six is not old.”

It was getting harder to answer her, to keep his tone measured as one of her hands wrapped around his neck and the other grazed up and down his arm. He brought his hand to her thigh, just below the lace of her silk shorts, “Oh you don’t believe me, do you? You should have heard the creak my knee made yesterday. I think it even scared off one of the horses.”

This time she did laugh aloud, shaking his hand off her thigh by throwing her leg onto the other side of his waist and sinking her weight down onto him. Her tone was as close to mocking as it ever came, “Yet not a peep from mine. Thank God at least one of us is still young enough for this.”

“Oh you’ll see one day, young lady. It’s tough to get old…” But by that point he had all but given up trying to speak without his voice descending into sighs. Her lips were trailing down his stomach, just slowly enough to answer him with a smile he had to look down to catch, “Sounds terrible. You poor thing. I suppose I’ll have to take care of you from now on, won’t I?”

Antoine took another glance out the window, where the day had already somehow grown brighter than he realized; but still he didn’t hurry Zelda with the last of his buttons. She caught his glance and finished the final one, “Don’t worry. You’ll barely be late.”

He pulled her close to him before grabbing his hat from the hook on the wall, “I know. And Mabel’s bakin’ a cake for lunch, so I doubt it’ll be much of a hard day.”

“Oh, so you did know.”

“You don’t have a market on coy, my dear.” He pulled his arm away and returned her wide smile, placing the hat on his head before grabbing her hand one final time, “How ‘bout you bring Violette over after you and Gio finish up work? She can have some cake and you and Mabel can enjoy yourselves.”

She answered with a quick kiss before turning to dress in her own work clothes, “Sounds great, old man.”

After their morning tasks, Antoine was standing in the stables with Silver. Before his daughter got there or he got another minute older, there was one thing he knew he wanted to do; and if he didn’t have the confidence to do it today he knew he never would. 

She had been friendly with him for weeks now, and he kept hearing Abe’s words in his mind tempting him like a daydream, “You get her to let you ride her and you’re welcome to, anytime you like.” Only she wasn’t some trained horse, she was wild and distrustful. Sometimes her nostrils still flared menacingly in his presence and he thought that maybe, despite all their time together, she still even hated him. But as he ran his hand along her shining black coat, she blinked slowly, trustingly, and he knew that it was the day.

He went to the front of the barn, where he grabbed the riding gear that had sat tempting him every day. First he set the blanket atop her, then the saddle. He stopped periodically as he adjusted it, listening and looking for any sign of her anger, but she stayed patient with him each step. Finally he placed the bridle on her face and buckled the strap in front of her chest. It was like she understood that the movement had fully encircled her in some sort of trap, and she kicked her legs angrily as her eyes went dark.

Any other day he might have walked away, or undone the buckle around her chest, but today he knelt down in front of her so he could look her in the eyes. “Hey old girl, hey,” the words were half spoken, half whistled, “it’s me, okay? Just me. You can trust me.”

Her kicking stopped and her eyes seemed to settle on him, blinking slower and slower as he ran his hand along the side of her neck.

He walked beside her, letting out a shaky breath and putting a hand on her thigh. Alright, Antoine. Now or never. Don’t think about her throwing you in the sand. Don’t think about her breaking your back with one kick. He grabbed onto the horn and hoisted himself up onto the saddle. In the movement his knee let out a low creak and he laughed aloud, louder than he intended to, “Old man.”

Only his voice seemed to stir something in Silver, and she immediately turned to trot out of the stables. He grabbed the reins immediately and went over everything Abe had told him. Don’t pull too tightly. Stay calm. Your feet matter just as much as your hands. Talk to them with every move you make. Stay fucking calm.

Out in the desert sunshine, he passed Abe in his favorite spot next to the fire where he had sat to eat his cake. Antoine didn’t dare fully turn to face him, but out of the corner of his eye he could see his eyebrows raised impressively and a small approving smile on his face.

The closer they got to the edge of the farmyard, the more Silver seemed to remember exactly what she was doing, and perhaps even exactly where she was going. Her feet moved slowly at first, and then faster and faster as Antoine’s guidance grew more comfortable and confident. As the hills opened up and the flowers parted for them, it was like he forgot to be afraid or to wish that this moment was everything he had ever dreamed of, simply because it was.

[ghost-bxrd]

So how do you think Jason finding Talon!Tim would work? Like we know with Talon!Dick and Calvin Jason gets adopted immediately, he is the owlet. So if, somehow, Jason stumbles on lil Talon!Tim, maybe he and/or Bruce found a bunker the Court had that no one knew about, or the Court was trying to rise up again. Do you think Tim would consider Jason, to his dismay, owlet? Or do you think Tim would go, "This my parent/older sibling/person who will keep me safe"?

Cause on one hand, you have this small child that is trying to parent someone older than himself, which is very Tim Drake, and very funny. But on the other hand he is just a sweet lil guy that has seen the horrors™ and really needs a hug.

Ooof I’m so torn!

On one hand it would be so adorable yet heartbreaking for Tim to go “owlet!”. Not because Jason is a tiny human, but because Tim takes one look at Robin and how vulnerable he appears to a trained Talon (Tim could have killed him ten times over in the last minute alone!) and determines that he has to be a big Talon now and take care of the squishy human who makes soft sounds at Tim and even smiles. Talon must protect at all cost!

On the other hand— just imagine little Talon Timmy crammed into a little alcove, trying to keep quiet with all the commission and screeches of the other Talons. Knowing he doesn’t stand a chance against invaders that can take on the older Talons and come out on top. And then Jason finds his little hiding spot, crouches down, and makes soft little crooning sounds at Tim. Trying to coax him out. And something about those sounds makes those alien instincts inside him perk up and go “Nest parent!”, and then Tim is barreling right into Jason’s chest, peeping frantically for protection and safety and love—

Urgh both options are so good don’t make me choose 😩

[ms--sarcastic]

Finished watching the finale of Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies and here are my thoughts:

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

1. I am so glad that Olivia didn’t marry that creep. The opening number was so funny. The girls running out of the church AWAE style was amazing.

2. Poor Gilium. Olivia and Gil are going to be that slow burn couple now that Mr Daniels is out of the picture ad Gil is attempting to move on.

3. Potato and Nancy have my heart. They are so unhinged. We love a chaotic couple.

4. Seeing Cynthia cry broke me. I’m glad she and Lydia worked it out. I loved her song. Nancy being their for her just solidified their friendship so much. Plus we got a peep of Cynthia’s home life.

5. The drag race. Honestly not the biggest build up. It was kinda meh. Interesting to see what Buddy does now that he’s a high school drop out.

6. Idk how to feel about Buddy and Hazel. She admitted that she liked him, but Wally and her are so cute.

7. I’m curious to see if they actually bring back Richie. With all the rumors going around, I hope they do.

8. Zuko? As in Danny’s older brother I’m assuming. Who Jane clearly knows. Probably setting up another love interest, or even another love triangle if Richie comes back.

[mysticmunson]

lone star, part two

summary: eddie had packed up his things and moved to the big city, indianapolis, but when he enters the fast-growing world of the adult entertainment industry, it gets lonely.

rating: R

warnings: smut, filmed sexual acts, drinking, smoking

authors note at the end :)

word count: 7k

Simple and sweet.

The words entrenched themselves in Eddie’s brain as he got ready the next morning, making sure his hair looked nice and even wearing blue jeans rather than his typical black ones. This was his chance to prove he could be marketable as a boy next door, not just used in obscure films that, even though he loved, were limiting him. Plus a chance to make things up with you.

“Woah. First off, I thought you didn’t work today. Second, whose pants are those? If they’re mine, I swear to God, Munson-” Robin rambled, a half eaten donut in her hand as she sat in her work uniform with Steve at the table. Eddie walked past them to grab a pastry for himself, walking back in with a mouthful of food.

“They’re mine, sweetheart.” He remarked condescendingly, earning a certain finger from her as Steve laughed, taking another sip of his coffee. “But Bill called last night, wants me to do a shoot today, have to be there at 9.”

They nodded, continuing to eat their meals in peace as the clock ticked closer to 8:30. Noticing the time, he scarfed down the remaining bites and quickly went to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth extra long (even using mouthwash for good measure), fluffed his hair, and put on his rings. He felt a little odd wearing a plain black t-shirt, blue jeans and his white sneakers, but it was just another aspect of his profession.

Playing the part.

The nervous jitters he felt transcended down the highway and into the studio building, walking in 5 minutes to 9. Fiddling with the rings on his fingers, he scanned his surroundings for Bill, Rich, or you. 

“Eddie!” Bill exclaimed, making him spin until he caught the older man’s eyes, body poking through his office door and summoning him closer. “You’re lookin’ sharp, buddy.”

“Thanks man.” Eddie snickered, patting his shoulder as he walked in, seeing the other two people he was searching for there. Giving a quick wave and a smile, which you returned while Rich did an upward head nod. 

Leaning against the wall, Eddie watched as Bill looked through the papers on his desk, the leather chair squeaking as he leaned forward. The rustling of papers disrupted the consistent tapping of Rich’s nails against the arm of the chair. You sat silent, hands in your lap as you looked down at your nails painted with a white strip at the top.

“Alrighty, so we need a flix today, but this is last minute so there’s not much planned. What do you have in mind?” Bill asked, looking at you as your head popped up, straightening your posture.

Sitting quietly for a moment, contemplating your options that seemed too vague to necessarily pinpoint, you made a soft hum noise.

“Well, I haven’t done anything with, like, spanking? Or choking?” You peeped, warmth rising to your cheeks despite everyone in the room seeing you spread eagle. Vocalizing your desires seemed much worse than just exhibiting them.

Eddie swears they had to have heard his stomach sink, twisting into knots as your request bounced off every crevice in his brain. Rubbing his chin and feeling the stubble, he nodded in comprehension, awaiting Bill’s response. 

Bill chuckled as he pushed his glasses up as usual, someone needed to get him a new pair. Fiddling with the sheet in his hand, he pursed his lips in a suppressed smile, glancing down at his calendar. It was barely legible with red pen scribbling and black marker crossing out to add new things.

“I like it, I think we should do a scene like that next week. But we still are determining what your first introduction will be. If we come out swinging with the more extreme stuff, we’ll lose the shock factor. Would it be alright if we did a calmer scene?” He proposed, clasping his hands in front of him as you nodded, tucking a stray hair behind your ear. 

Eddie could’ve kissed Bill at that moment, strangled him into a hug and lifted him off the ground. Ultimately, as long as it wasn’t something Eddie strongly opposed, he went with the flow. If you wanted to do a more intense scene, he would oblige, but he was relieved when it turned out to be plainer. 

“We have some leftover props from Aiden’s scene last week, could do a date night scene? Roses and shit?” Rich coughed, his deep voice catching in his voice before sipping his coffee. Bill clapped, giving a thumbs up before flickering his gaze from you to Eddie, both of you nodding.

“Alright! Meet back here in about an hour, we’ll get you all done up and start filming.” Bill stated, quickly putting it on his calendar with Rich being the first to leave. You and Eddie followed, wandering in silence to the front door, a gust of wind sounding as it opened.

Standing in silence, Eddie debated on a good starting sentence, but his mind went blank. He could ask if she was excited for the scene? But what if that sounded cocky or she wasn’t thrilled? Maybe compliment her shoes, they were a pair of black sneakers with blue laces, pretty cool. His hand played at his lip subconsciously as he leaned against the building.

“Eddie?” You called, snapping him from his trance, “Do you know of any place to grab a bite to eat? I was running late and didn’t get breakfast.” Turning towards him, he nodded, pushing himself from the wall and closer to you. The smell of his musky cologne was pleasant, different than the one he used on set previously.

“There’s a really good place a few minutes walking from here, it's a local diner.” He informed, pointing a ring clad finger in the distance, “I could take you there?”

You agreed, the two of you walking down the old sidewalk surrounded by fresh grass. The stroll was quiet, only the sounds of cars driving past and the squeak of both sets of shoes.

Eddie wanted to talk, but he was too wrapped up in his head to form anything. Everything he thought he could say was twisted into something else entirely, already seeing you storming off and begging to have the film with Steve be your introduction.

The small diner was at the corner of the block, a small set of stairs leading to the glass doors. It was empty, besides for a few miscellaneous truck drivers or construction workers who were getting a cup of coffee. 

Sitting at the table in the corner, the menu was an all-American breakfast, your mouth was watering at just the whiff of it. The clink of Eddie’s rings that tapped rhythmically against the counter, the silver rim around it reflecting his hand in abstract shapes.

“Morning, Eddie. You’re up early!” The waitress approached, notepad in hand as you both looked up. Her gray hair was pulled into a low bun with a yellow button up dress, accompanied by a black waist apron. Her eyes had subtle wrinkles, laugh lines that accentuated her soft smile, and her nails painted a pale pink.

“Morning, Veronica. Had to be at work early.” He laughed, handing her the menu, “I’ll have a coffee and the number 3.” She mumbled “Gotcha”, barely audibly, scribbling it down before facing you.

“I’ll have the number 5 please with apple juice.” You replied, handing her the flimsy plastic menu that she exchanged with a nod. She walked off into the back, the silver door swinging back and forth till it came to a halt. 

The decor was 1950s themed, checkerboard flooring with some neon signs teasing 5 cent soda. The shiny red seats at the bar were mounted to the floor, the booths matching similarly across the rest of the place. It was charming, providing a comforting feeling of home cooked meals. 

“I don’t think I’ve had the number 5 before.” Eddie spoke, your attention snapping to him as he looked at you, no clear emotion present. But then again, what kind of emotion should he be having over your choice of breakfast.

“It’s chocolate chip pancakes and bacon, don’t worry I have a toothbrush.” You jested while Veronica brought over your drinks, setting down coasters to prohibit the condensation from pooling. 

The steam from Eddie’s cup rose to his nose as he put in creamer and sugar, stirring it and watching it go to a lighter shade of brown. Pulling out the spoon, he watched the small tornado within it dissipate before taking a sip, sighing at it going down his throat.

“Don’t worry about it, once had a partner eat tuna and garlic bread before a scene.” He assured, but the small smile on his lips let you laugh, placing a hand over your mouth to regain some composure.

There were some unspoken rules in your line of work. Spending your day physically with or in someone means you need to be extra cautious on hygiene, like showering with nicer body wash or putting on extra strong deodorant. 

Even when you would film alone for solos, you took additional routes for cleanliness. There’s very few things more embarrassing than someone saying you smelled bad or were dirty when you were intending to be clean.

Eating tuna and garlic in one sitting is a dangerous concoction by itself, but before a shoot was a whole different type of sadistic. The pair didn’t even sound appetizing, your stomach twisting at the mere concept.

“Did she hate you?” You pondered, but he only shrugged, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he took another drink. You took one as well, wiping your dampened hand on your jeans and seeing them go from medium wash to a patch of dark denim. 

“Dunno. But you’re the first adult I’ve ever seen order apple juice at a restaurant.” He pointed out, his chin resting on his knuckles looking down at your drink with confusion.

“Are you saying you don’t like apple juice?” You inquired, not being able to believe someone could dislike it. Maybe it seemed childish, but it put you at ease, caffeine would only make you more jittery. 

“Not at all, it’s great.” He grinned, tucking some of his hair behind his ear, peering over his shoulder to see Veronica returning with plates of hot food.

The chocolate chip pancakes before you smelt heavenly, a slab of butter melting on top with syrup on the side, while the bacon faintly sizzled after just coming off the grill. This alone could make you horny enough to film.

Eddie’s meal was waffles, crispy with butter and syrup, with a side of scrambled eggs and bacon. It overcrowded the blue ceramic plate, corners of it hanging off the sides, but that’s how you want homestyle food.

Thanking Veronica as she confirmed you both were set, you dug into the feast before you, falling into a more natural silence than the one on your walk. There was a small TV up on the counter playing the news, covered in static and projecting dodgy volume. 

The pancakes melted in your mouth, soft and fluffy with the hints of sweetness. An accidental moan of satisfaction rumbled from your chest, pointing your fork down at the plate for emphasis, but felt the heat rise to your cheeks.

“Glad you like it,” Eddie chuckled, “Lets just hope I’m half as good as those.” 

The rest of breakfast went smoothly, brief commentary commencing in between chewing and eyes averting to the news as it forecasted the weather or moments of good deeds in the city. It must have been a slow day.

The watch ticked on, giving you two only 15 minutes to scurry back to set. Despite your protests, Eddie paid for the meal while you weren’t paying attention, sneaking Veronica the cash underneath.

With full tummies, you walked down the sidewalk and looked at the road, now quieter as rush hour concluded. 

“Thoughts on the diner?” He peeped, glancing at you to see an initial reaction. He knew you enjoyed it, you moaned at the first bite, but it didn’t hurt to have some reassurance. 

Before you could answer, his stride halted yours, looking at him confused. He mumbled something about chocolate on your lip, swiping his thumb at the corner bringing it to his own mouth. The moment wasn’t intentional, Eddie didn’t even process his hand coming to your face, something that felt more intimate than anything thus far.

“It was wonderful, thank you again, Eddie.” You stuttered, hand pressing on your lower stomach from the outside of your green sweater as you continued to walk. He felt his cheeks warm, you didn’t say his name much, but it was nice when you did. 

Holding the door open for you, the warm air of the office forced you to scrunch your sleeves to your elbows, walking to your dressing room down the hall. A man stood inside, setting up different shades of base makeup, along with every color of eyeshadow imaginable.

Your presence wasn’t made known until the door clicked behind you, his head shooting up as he smiled. His hair was a soft blonde, a dangle earring peeking from behind the waves, with a pair of gold, thin rimmed glasses. His outfit was simple, an abstract designed button up with a white tank top exposed from the top button, and black slacks. 

“You must be Eos, I’m Henry, nice to meet you.” He introduced, extending his hand over the folding chair that you met gladly. Enchanted by his trinkets, you watched him set up in awe, slightly unable to believe he couldn’t make all of this into a makeup look.

Maybelline and Revlon were the only two brands you could list off the top of your head, but now the names of French designers and suggestive adjectives branded themselves on the bottles. He motioned for you to sit, the lightbulbs surrounding the mirror illuminating with the click of a button, buzzing for a fleeting moment.

Cold swatches of foundation stroked against your jaw as he leaned back, lips pressing together before he wiped two of them away. Picking up his choice, he pumped it on the back of his hand before painting it with a brush, blending to your hair and neck.

“How long have you been doing this?” You questioned, watching the cream blend seamlessly into your skin. 

“About two days.” He quipped without a beat, your eyes widening as your mouth popped open, “I’m kidding, about four years.”

Laughing as he grabbed the concealer, he put it under your eyes and between your eyebrows, plus over the pesky pimple on your chin. 

“Would it be appropriate to ask how long you’ve been working?” Henry asked, his voice genuine without a sliver of judgment, maneuvering the product around to cover the discolored areas.

“Working in general since I was 16, but I’ve only been doing adult… stuff for a few months. Mostly solos till this week.” You confided as he nodded, grabbing some powder to set your face.

“Must be why I haven’t seen you here before, I work on almost everyone, even did Bill’s makeup for fun once.” He revealed, making you smirk, wishing you had seen your boss covered in shades of extravagant eyeshadow. 

Leaving Henry to his work, you closed your eyes and tried to calm your nerves. No matter what job you pursued, the jitters followed, adding extra tension to your shoulder blades and back.  The successful breakfast made you hopeful of a fresh start with Eddie, but your mind taunted at the thought that it was a fluke. You couldn’t bother to care too much as the smell of pressed powder hit the apples of your cheeks.

Eddie did his typical routine of playing air guitar from his boombox, keeping it at a reasonable volume after one too many scoldings from Bill and Rich. Sneaking in a quick shot of tequila for confidence, he shook his limbs with deep huffs, looking at the popcorn ceiling above him.

His prep time was significantly shorter than his partners as he just needed to show up and get hard. If it was an abnormal day, there were stashes of raunchy magazines to get him riled up. Not only did he not want to touch them as some were older than he was, but waiting 21 years to have sex gave him a fair amount of stamina. 

The typical butterflies in his stomach appeared on schedule, noticing the black clock inching closer to showtime. Anita, the head of the costuming department, left a nice outfit hanging up with a pair of oxford on the oddly colored carpet. The pleated dress pants fit his slender legs nicely, recalling the last time he wore something decorous was to funerals, but he should probably keep that to himself. 

The freshly ironed white button up felt soft against his skin, tucking it in and rolling the sleeves to his elbows. The black ink that decorated his arms stood out even more against such a fair tone. Looking in the illuminated mirror, he adjusted every crevice he could spot before meddling with the top few buttons of his shirt.

Opting to leave the top one open, he took off his guitar pick necklace, placing it in the drawer to his left. While there was likely no one coveting the old plastic plectrum, he kept on guard as often as he could. He recalled the conversation at the diner while fetching his blue toothbrush, scrubbing extra thoroughly to avoid hypocrisy. 

The glass bottle of cologne on the shelf reached a halfway point as he coated himself, giving one spritz down his pants for extra assurance. Shoving the leather shoes on his feet, he flew open the door and grabbed it before it crashed with the wall. The hallway buzzed with chatter as scenes changed, props scattered on the floor that Eddie made sure to dodge as efficiently as he could. 

The set was pristine, looking like the bedroom of an upper middle class family, the kind Eddie used to dream of having to be able to cover his posters across the paint. The bedside table had a small lamp, illuminating the stack of books beneath it and a small jewelry dish with tangled necklaces. 

The cocoon of nerves winding tight in his belly grew firmer, his throat constricting on the blowing air conditioning. Rubbing his neck and forcing a cough, he tapped his foot against the rug placed beneath the ‘room’ set up. 

Hearing a growing bundle of voices, he turned to see Bill and Rich rambling, hands flying for emphasis and extravagance. But behind them was you and Henry, linked arms to keep your feet steady in the tall heels. 

Your hair was done casually, falling to your back in curls against your bare shoulders. The black dress had thin straps and a heart shaped neckline that accentuated your bust before flowing to your midthigh. Bidding Henry farewell, you walked further onto the soundstage and closer to Eddie. 

The heels were blisters waiting to happen, rubbing at your ankle and big toe in an uncomfortable way. Despite this, you adored your outfit, feeling grateful that Henry had vetoed the first dress Anita brought that was a vibrant pink with black stripes. 

“Hey Eddie.” You approached him, smiling beneath your rosy red lipstick that would soon litter his skin. 

“Hey.” He spoke, voice quieter than it had been just an hour earlier, but as your lips parted to check in, it was time to set up. 

The plot was simple enough. You were a couple that just got back from stellar date night, one where sex isn’t on your mind as you drive or as you walk in your house. However when the lights to the bedroom flicker on, there’s something boiling beneath both of you as you want to prove how much adoration you have for one another. 

Scenes like this could be more intimidating than intense ones. Instead of the power dynamics being physical, like being tied or gagged, this was emotional. To be convincing, you have to play the part as well as you can, that having sex wasn’t just to come, but to be so close to someone you feel within your bones already. 

“Sorry, excuse me.” Eddie mumbled, escaping the group to walk to his dressing room, closing the door quickly. Rich and Bill gave each other a look of confusion, before Rich took the initiative to set up the camera. 

Filming Bill was a frantic mess, leaving everyone in his path frazzled, just like always. With panic in his eyes, he wordlessly noted this wasn’t like Eddie, and you knew that. With careful steps, you neared his wooden door.

A flashback to your first encounter flickered in your brain, hesitating your fist until you eventually caved. A muffled ‘Yeah?’ was barely audible, but it gave you enough of a warrant to enter, slowly pushing it to anticipate any refusal.

Eddie didn’t know what was wrong with him. His stomach felt like it was getting wrung out, contorting into shapes as his chest felt heavy. The overstimulation of voices, bodies, and objects infiltrated every one of his senses, believing he could even taste the words leaving anothers mouth. 

Not even registering his departure, he somehow made it to his room, much quieter and subtle.. The thing he couldn’t escape was his body, despite the exchange of environment, it still felt constrained. Rubbing his hands against his face, he paced as he plotted some way to feign serenity for just an hour. 

Picking at his nails, he replied to the knock with little thought, not looking up as the person had fully stepped in.

“Eddie, you okay?” You questioned, guiding the handle back until it clicked shut. He released a forceful huff, running a hand through his long hair. 

“Yeah, sorry, I don’t know, I just feel kinda off. My chest and stomach feel tight.” He affirmed, still looking at his shoes and shoving his fists in his pockets. He familiarized himself with the inner stitches, the way the miniscule thread bound such material together, the inner to the outer layers. 

Cautiously taking a step forward, he tilted his head to meet your line of sight as you showed concern. Your eyes were much more tender than the ones he saw under the harsh stage lights, the mellow aura of the room at the moment made your feature appear softer. 

Soft hands cradled his face, thumbs running across the lines of his cheeks, putting just a hint of pressure that miraculously made him placid. Inching north, the application on the exterior creases of his eyes made them flutter shut as he took a hefty breath. Your fingers crawled closer as you rubbed between his eyebrows, sliding them back down to cradle his face. 

“Where did you learn that?” Eddie questioned, feeling more relaxed than he had in days, the taut muscles causing him aches were weightless. 

“My mom used to do that to me when I’d get fidgety, I did it to my younger sister when she was upset. Must be magic.” You smiled, relieved that the close contact wasn’t awkward and welcomed, watching his cheeks flush to a natural hue. “I’ll give you a second to get ready.”

He watched as you walked away, closing the door quietly with the patter of heels following. He could still feel the tender caress against his face, the pads of your fingers skimming his scruff and the scar between his eyebrows after he hit a swingset as a kid. 

Sitting on the edge of his chair, he took controlled breaths, finding a proper headspace for the scene. He needed to be gentle, but passionate. Everyone in that room needed to be convinced that they had made love millions of times prior, knowing the other's body as well as they know their own. He thought back to the first time he met you, how you moaned against his lips when he gripped your thighs and tugged at his hair when his tongue flickered over your breasts. 

With his pants feeling tighter, he hopped up just in time as everyone rushed to assemble the finishing touches. Your hair was being sprayed once more, thanking the stylist and walking to the edge of the stage. Eddie went up beside you, standing shoulder to shoulder, observing how each and every aspect needed to be just right.

“Thanks by the way.” He interrupted, putting his hands behind his back and clasping them. 

“Anytime.” You teased, but you knew you would actually do it if he asked, especially with those button eyes. Shutting the prop door in front of the two of you, Eddie held it still in fear it would fall on top of you.

With the finishing touches, it was time to start. The slate was filled out for scene one, take one as Bill and Rich called their cues for sound and filming. With a snap of plastic, Rich’s voice boomed over the room as it fell silent, “Action!”

Eddie opened the door, allowing you to walk in first, following the instructions given. You were to walk in first, giving the camera a chance to scan your body, and give the scene a quiet moment before everything began. Time was given to observe Eddie as he shut the door and approached you narrowly.

“That restaurant was really good, tonight was so fun.” You professed, turning cautiously and flipping your hair over your shoulder. 

“I’m glad, but is tonight already over?” He questioned with the corner of his lips turning up, arms snaking around your waist, pulling you closer. You could feel the outside of his trousers, pressing into your lower stomach.

You shrugged, putting your hands behind his neck, fiddling with the collar. With your lip between your teeth, you furrowed your eyebrows together in faux thought. He looked at you expectantly, the lack of a script was making him overthink any hesitation in your speech, but you hadn’t given him a reason to worry yet. 

“I don’t know, you didn’t get me dessert.” You pouted, pressing your chin to his chest, looking up at him. Laughing boisterously, his head tilted back as his Adam's apple bobbed, shaking his head as if he simultaneously couldn’t believe, but expected the rebuttal.

A firm hand smacked then grabbed your ass, making you squeal as he lifted you up, arms shifting below your bottom. The giggles were genuine as he walked towards the bed, slouched over his shoulder and bright lights blinding any surroundings. 

“Put me down!” You yelp, putting a firm hand on his own butt that was now in arms reach. He jolted, making a tsk noise, dropping you onto the bed and bouncing up. 

“You’re gonna regret that.” He teased, straddling over you as he unbuttoned his shirt. Propping to your elbows, you watched in amusement as he struggled to get them undone with his thick fingers, tongue poking out in concentration. 

Sitting up, your smaller fingers were able to undo them efficiently, but you indulge in his body in front of you. Running a hand against his stomach, a hint of hair above his belt buckle made you warm, pressing a kiss above his belly button while pulling the shirt from his pants. 

Dramatically flinging it off for comedic effect, you began the examination of his belt. Pulling the leather through the metal buckle, it made a satisfying sound as it dragged against the fabric and falling to the floor. The noise alone made your thighs clench, 

As you went for his pants, he grabbed your hands in one of his as the other tilted your head up. He looked angelic with his face flushed, hair surrounding him like a halo, the bright lights solidifying his cherubic status. Even his chocolate curls reminded you of the Renaissance paintings of small angels carrying harps.

“As much as I love this, I’d like to see a lot less clothes on you.” He jested, sliding his warm hands beneath your thighs to push it upward. There was a slight malfunction as he couldn’t get it off your shoulders in one go, eventually shimmying it off and leaving you in just a thong.

He laughed in a sharp breath, leaning back with his hands perched on his waist, looking down at you. The stance was meant to be sexy, giving him and Rich a second to observe you with pert nipples and lacy panties. He looked more dominant for some obscure reason, despite the scene being fairly common, it was the essence that dripped from him like honey. 

Leaning down to meet your lips, you cupped his jaw, tasting the mint toothpaste on his tongue mixed with chapstick. Snaking your palm behind his neck, one of his knees planted itself on the mattress, keeping him sturdy as he pulled you closer to the edge. 

Attempting to slide down to the floor, he catches you by the armpits, lowering you easily and fixing your hair. The action is sweet, making your cheeks flush, but you continue your mission of undoing his pants. His thighs were nice, you remembered that from last time, but something about him in refined garments made you more lustful.

The boxers beneath were easier to discard, allowing him to step out of both after you shoved them downward. His dick was pretty, something that definitely couldn’t be said for everyone, and you went eagerly for his tip. The bead of precum fell to your tongue as you dragged against his slit, an assuring hiss from above.

Rich moved closer with a handheld camera, putting it at the level of Eddie’s shoulder. Fluttering your eyelashes, you peered up as you went down to his base. The hairs tickled your nose, but you moaned salaciously and popped off. 

“You’re nothing, but trouble, you know that?” Eddie croaked, urging your mouth open with his grasp on your cheek. With your tongue out, he slapped his hardened length against it and slid to the engulfing entrance of your throat. 

When Rich moved back to his previous position, you rested your hands on his thigh comfortably, keeping your motions steady with the help of his guidance. But his free hand came to one of yours, interlocking them and letting them stay at his waistline. 

He noticed the soft lines by your eyes when he did this, flicking his brows upwards quickly with a strangled moan. You swirled your tongue around him like you need to remember every detail, doting over each vein or patch of skin, creating your masterpiece of eroticism.

Despite his growing experience, Eddie found himself becoming overwhelmed as you maneuvered your way around his manhood, thumb stroking the back of your hand. He yanked your hair to give him access to your lips, crouching to kiss them hastily while tugging you up. His eagerness was soothed briefly by your touch, holding his shoulders while your body pressed against him, feeling the thin fabric between your legs.

With little contemplation, he went to his own knees, nipping your navel and then the petite bow at your waistline. You watched in awe as he held eye contact, dragging your panties down with his teeth until they reached your knees. Motioning towards the bed with a nod, he began removing your shoes as you sat growing wetter and wetter.

The subtly throb in your foot felt relief as he slid them off, humming as he planted a soft kiss to your instep and ankle. He ran his nose up your soft leg, looking up to your amused look with a laugh, biting your thigh.

“I feel like you’re trying to eat me, baby.” You crooned, his face blocked by his wild hair, but you felt his face skim past your cunt. With a sharp breath, you laid on your bare back against the cool comforter, letting your legs spread.

“I’m getting there, doll.” He huffed playfully, licking up your folds to taste your desire. Moans fall from your lips as his vibrates against your core, fluttering at his tender touch. The silk skin glides seamlessly against his eager tongue with little resistance, only breaking his stride to suck on your clit.

The exaggerated slurping noises could’ve made you laugh, but you threw your head back with a moan, running a hand over your breast. With certain people, it was tricky to remember you were in a scene, but then there’s moments where it’s so stereotypical that it takes you by surprise.

Not to say that Eddie wasn’t exquisite at his job, it was pleasurable, but his job was ultimately to perform. You both were paid to give people an intimate show that typically ended in an orgasm if you’re lucky. 

Making direct eye contact with the camera, you bit your lip and groaned before letting your mouth fall open. Running your hands through your own hair, you let them hang up by your ears as Eddie made his way upward.

His lower face was doused in your wetness, leaving a subtle trail of it as he kissed up to your chest, latching to a nipple. Lifting his head, you left pecks from his forehead to his nose and to his cheeks, wrapping your legs around his waist. The new angle gave you a chance to flip over, still attacking his face as he blushed.

“I want your cock inside me.” You stated, rising to hover over his blooming erection as he watched. Truthfully, he wasn’t used to having someone else in control, his scenes usually had him making the rules and calling the shots. While there was no power dynamic for this one, it was interesting to see you start on top.

“I think I can manage that.” He replied with a chuckle, holding your hips still as you began to descend, slipping the tip inside. The pair of you cried out, a mix of sincere and elaborate with the way he pierced through and you squeezed.

Being on top was always riveting as gravity assisted, for better or for worse. Needing extra leverage, you placed your hands on his thigh to begin bouncing, leaning back to give a camera a full shot. Eddie went to his elbows, rolling his eyes at the way your chest moved hypnotically and your slick decorated him.

“You’re so big, it never gets easier.” You cried, satisfaction evident in your proclamation, and feeling firm hands grab your waist.

“Wouldn’t be so hard if you weren’t so fuckin’ tight.” He hissed, repositioning your chests flushed to one another as his feet planted on the bed. 

The thrusts up inside you started gentle as it built momentum, taking note of when your tone became softer and not as rigid. As your body relaxed, he quickened his pace as your hands clutched the sheets. 

A cameraman did a close up of where you connected, the sultry noises of skin picking up from the boom microphone. Eddie slowed it down to give the man a better shot before regaining his tempo. 

As you began to clench around him, Eddie flipped your bodies so he could hover above you, caging you in his warm body. He entered you with more intention this time, sling and languid with not just the orgasm in mind, but bordering on the love making requested of them. 

“I love you.” You gasped, kissing his lips abruptly, threading your fingers through his curls and pushing it back, making both of your faces easier to see.

“Fuck, I love you too, baby.” He groaned, “You gonna come all over me?” 

“Please, come inside of me.” You shrieked, feeling the climax approaching in a hot wave until it consumed you. As your body struck with pleasure, you felt Eddie’s release coat your inner walls, bringing you back to reality.

Eyes fluttering open to see his big brown ones with a dopey smile, you giggled for the 100th time and cupped his crinkled cheeks. Regardless of his softening length inside you, his mouth was avid and met you with affection. 

“Let’s get a shot of it dripping from her!” Rich called, snapping you both from the embrace and Eddie rolling beside you. The device went close to your pussy as his come flooded out into your lips, taking a finger to spread it and taste it.

“That’s a wrap! Great work!” Bill called, the prolific noise resuming in the room as assistance ran up with your robes. The cotton was comforting as it covered your body, tying the knot to keep it closed in front of you as the man beside you mimicked your actions.

Going your separate ways with a brief goodbye and closing the doors to your dressing rooms, you could hear the muffled voice of James Hetfield from down the hall. You laughed to yourself, grabbing your clothes to go into the showers and thinking about the way he wiped chocolate from the corner of your lip.

—--

This was a first for Eddie.

Typically after a day of shooting, he was ready to eat boxed mac and cheese and drink beer. But he was standing in the beaded back room of Family Video, glad that Robin was not in for another hour. Skimming the names on the torn paper VHS covers, his calloused index finger hit the letter E.

Grabbing the tape, he rushed to the clerk and to his van, not uttering a word to anyone. Shoving it in his bag, he sped out of the parking lot with a black trail from his tires. Hands fiddling with the hairs in his brows, suppressing the urge to tug at them as each light turned red or a pedestrian crossed the street. 

Consolation filled his chest as he realized both Robin and Steve were gone, their cars missing from the busy lot. Skipping over a few steps on his way up the stairs, he fumbled with his keys as they rang through the cold, outdoor walkway. The click of the lock sent him flying in, racing to his bedroom and locking that door for an extra safe measure. 

The old television was wooden with a coat hanger sticking from the antenna, providing dodge news channels, Saturday morning cartoons, and the occasional sitcom. The VHS player beneath it was covered in dust as most movie nights were in their living room, almost never finishing before they got distracted and did something else. 

As the tape slipped in the player, he sat on the floor and took a deep breath. Clicking the play button created an unpleasant static before you appeared, sitting on a bed with a lilac dress on, flustered as the man behind the camera complimented you.

Even before his career, Eddie didn’t get the opportunity to watch porn a lot, resorting to crinkly magazines or if a friend had premium cable that got X-Rated channels. When he did join, he didn’t find it enjoyable after knowing all the mechanics, most of the stars, and how some didn’t like each other outside the thin walls.

“I’m Eos, I guess.” You announced meekly, tucking hair behind your ear, your foot shaking against your other ankle. The shoes were wedges, not nearly as tall as the ones from earlier, but enough to emphasize your legs. 

Eddie had a vast mind that ran almost constantly, going from one obscure thought to another with little guidelines. As he watched the blurry screen, he focused more on the abstract elements that most who rented this film didn’t, especially since they had their cock in hand and he twisted his bracelet. Realizing how the background looked recognizable, like the Castle Hotel on the other side of town, one he recorded once in and hated it. It smelled like gasoline and had little noise cancellation.

The small indents of where your shoe hugged your ankle appeared as you slipped them off, very similar to the same ones he felt earlier. Somehow this felt more perverted, the fact he wasn’t just jacking off to it, but truly watching it. 

Losing patience, he grabbed the remote beneath a pile of clean clothes on his dresser with some tumbling to the floor with his sharp movements. Clicking the white arrows, it sped through the introductions and getting acquainted with being in front of a camera, stopping when your clothes were discarded.

A shaky breath ran through his lungs when you pressed a vibrator to your clit, achieving a timid gasp at the incentive as you began to glisten under the bright lights. The stirring in his stomach was a mix of arousal and nausea, feeling his face scorched, but his pants constrict. 

With a few more taps to the remote, you had a dildo between your legs as a haughty song blared through the weak speakers, jolting Eddie to sit straighter. Your mewls were barely audible and the angles were atrocious, scanning down your body as you whined and traveling up as your cunt made amatory noises. 

Rewinding to the beginning and ejecting it, he sat with it in his hands, slightly disgusted with himself and his evincing erection. Shoving it back in his bag, he marched to the bathroom and shut the door aggressively unintentionally.  

Tugging at his knotted hair, he dragged his clammy paws down his warm cheeks and looked at his own brown eyes in the mirror. The bags under them were more prominent as he was deprived of sleep, too many thoughts infiltrating his waking moments till his body finally gave out. 

Turning on the faucet, he splashed tepid water in his face, droplets decorating him like ornaments on a tree. His lashes clumped to a darker brown as he cooled down, blindly reaching for his hair tie in the side drawer to put it in a low bun. 

His hands clenched the beige granite countertops littered with products and guitar picks, subconsciously noticing the way he could make out a dog in the splotches of black igneous rock. Stretching backwards till his rear hit the white wall, he rolled himself against it until he saw his own reflection once more, continuously asking himself the same question.

Why the fuck did you rent that tape?

authors note: hi there! thank you for reading and for your patience! i can't begin to say how much reading the comments on my first part means to me, i love writing and i'm glad i can do it for people with a similar interest as me. a special thanks to my loves autumn ( @lilacletter ) and august ( @indouloureux ) for being my favorite people and helping me with this piece. mwah.

taglist: @imjuststeddietrashatthispoint @edsforehead @wiltedwonderland @idathereader @red-2-0@cutiecusp @haileyhellfire @bimbobobaggins69 @harrys-tittie @sillypurplemurple @thikkiesixx @metalsunflowers @creepytoes88 @girl-frm-mars @eddiesbabe95 @qnsfwthoughts @p4st3lst4rs @whoahoney @Innlove @whore-for-eddie @kiyastrf94 @mirrorsstuff @micheledawn1975 @whoreforhowl @killyspinacoladas @nevermore66 @aysheashea

@sweetsouthernbitchery @sidthedollface2 @trixyvixx @munsonsuccubus @gaysludge @abirdinthehouse @christalcake @lokiofasssguard616 @loving-and-dreaming @igotloki @munsonology

[sibillascribbles08]

I thought about drawing older Casey Jr. for a while but a post in the tag spurred me on

It's full of hcs tho haha

ID under the cut (and then some ramblings if anyone wants)

[ID: A digital drawing featuring three images of Casey Jones Jr. from Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He's depicted as older than he is in the show. The leftmost image is a full body drawing. He's wearing a deep green tank top, khaki pants, and black boots that stop just below the knee. He has his signature hockey stick weapon on his shoulder. His arms are covered in mystic tattoos and symbols of varying shapes and colors. There is a small bit of text pointing at them saying "tons of mystic tats"

The upper right drawing is a close up of his face. He's grinning and looking toward the camera. There's text pointing toward his eyes saying, "Red Marking Tats". It's referring to deep red triangles that are above and below his eyes to mimic Leonardo's stripes.

The lower right drawing is a halfbody shot of him in a leather jacket and a motorbike helmet. The helmet has his signature hockey mask attached to it, obscuring his face. There is text pointing to it saying, "Mask attaches to helmet." The jacket features some large spikes with text pointing to them saying, "Spikes like Raph."]

For peeps who read my fics like most of this won't be surprising. Casey starts learning a lot of mystics and alchemy from Draxum and he gets his tats so that he can quick fire some of the spells. He can portal pretty easily using it, and loves to do so while riding his motorbike so he flies out of it and spins to a stop. It drives Leo insane because, "How are you this cool."

His hairstyle is also based on Draxum's but man it makes him look like human Splinter cannot deal with it.

[knowyourplace-fool]

mind games until you lose control

Attack on Titan

Pairing: Yandere!bully!Eren x Shy!female!reader

Genre: Smut & Angst

Synopsis: Eren claims to hate you, and often torments you for simply existing, yet he can’t keep his hands off of you.

Word Count: 2.2k+

Part 1 (2 in the making and possibly a bonus too)

CONTAINS DARK THEMES!

PLEASE READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

A/N: uh, hi. First off, I want to apologize for disappearing literally right after starting this blog. I’ll try to post more often now that I’m back on my eren shit. The ONLY reason I’m back is that there are seriously no more good dark fics anymore and no one seems to be doing SHIT about it, so ur girl’s coming in clutch for all u peeps who are into dark shit. Ong tho, I’m tired of re-reading fics (shout out @father-time-and-baby-new-year , IVE BEEN LIVING OFF HER FICS, so good, chefs kiss) anyways, happy very belated Christmas and new year :) also, the song that inspired this fic is “Mind Games” by Sickick. Definitely giving toxic eren😩

Warning(s): Physical abuse, slapping, squirting, toxic behaviour, toxic Eren, dacryphilia kink, sadist!Eren, choking, manipulation, rough sex, abandonment issues, mean!Eren, groping in public, degradation

THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING!

THIS FIC CONTAINS NON CONSENSUAL SEX

READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

“There’s another side that you don’t know, you don’t know.”

You peer over at Eren whose left hand is firmly at the 12 o’clock position on the steering wheel. His other hand gripped your bare thigh, occasionally rubbing his thumb up and down on your tender skin. His eyes were direct, jaw tight. You took this as a chance to observe how Eren looked tonight. He was wearing mid-rise, black, ripped jeans. Matching his pants with a black designer t-shirt. Initially, he wore a black hoodie over the top, but now it’s over you. His long, silky hair was in a loose man bun and a thick silver chain hung around his semi-tattooed neck. Both of his arms were littered with tattoos and veins. Around his left wrist was an expensive watch and down to his fingers were a few silver rings.

You look down at his hand that was on your lap. You brought both of your hands down to his and played with the bracelet that you made for him. It made your heart flutter a bit that he was still wearing it, despite it acquiring bright colours which he contrasts with.

“I can’t wait to get you all alone, all alone.”

Eren was driving back to his house after a night out with a few friends. As much as you wanted to tell him to take you back to your place, you knew he would become more aggravated with you. You decided against poking the bear and buried your face into his warm, soft hoodie.

You closed your eyes and thought about the events that unfolded tonight. It was your first time going out. After being endlessly bullied throughout middle and high school by Eren, you ended up with no friends. At first, you were fine with being independent but as you got older, you realized how much you were missing out on. Ironically, your first outing was with Eren’s friends. You knew Eren was bound to be there but you couldn’t give up on the opportunity of making new friends.

You wore a short, emerald green, bodycon dress. You wore your hair down with a few accessories to put your look together. Originally, you were going to walk to the arcade — where you planned on meeting up — but your friend Sasha offered to pick you up.

The night was going swell, you were genuinely having fun. The hangout moved from the arcade to a bar where Sasha’s boyfriend served you guys a few rounds. It began to get late, and the bar started to fill. While Sasha was dragging you to the dance floor, you made eye contact with him. It made you stop in your tracks because you know that look. You recognize it by heart. Goosebumps run up your body and you begin to think back to the last time he gave you that look. It was a warning look. As she was being dragged away, Sasha quickly let go of your arm and you made the sensible decision to sit back down at the booth.

“Once I’m in there ain’t no letting go, letting go.”

Casually, Eren ended his conversation with his friend and strolled over to you, nearly sitting on top of your thigh. His arm rested around the seat and he leaned into you. “Who invited you, trailer trash?”

You attempted to move down the booth, but Eren lowered his hand to your thigh and squeezed it. “Answer me.”

“Sasha invited me.” You meekly say, clearly uncomfortable and intimidated by his presence.

“Oh? When did you and Sash become besties? Does Sash even know where you come from?

You don’t answer. You know he’s referring to your home which is an old, rented-out trailer that’s at a trailer park. You had running water, a bed, a cramped kitchen and a living space. You were practically raised in it. It was good enough for you but for someone like Eren who comes from mansions, yachts and money, could never see how one can survive in it. He let the whole world know that you were poor and grew up with a single mother who abandoned you at 14. It hurt, every time he spoke about it like it was his trauma.

Yet, you have kept a charming smile on your face and allowed him to run all over you. You were a person who avoided conflict. You’ll apologize even if you did nothing wrong. You never saw the point in fighting, especially with someone like Eren.

“She picked me up from there.”

He raised an eyebrow at this. “Oh? Are you sure she saw the trailer park or did you wait at the corner of the street so she wouldn’t see?” Eren could read you like a book. You loathed yourself for hiding or at least trying to conceal the fact that you lived there. You live in a relatively wealthy town — mostly wealthy senior people who’ve retired reside in your town. Then there are people like Eren, whose father is a successful travel doctor and whose mom is a successful travel nurse who retired early and now lives her life as a housewife. His dad could retire early too, but he chose to be the town’s family doctor.

Eren grew up in a mansion with nannies and butler’s running to him at the snap of his fingers. No one has ever said no to Eren. Except for you, but would he ever listen to a nobody like you? You’re nothing but trailer trash to him. You hated that Eren made you feel self-conscious about where you lived. You hated that he made you feel ashamed of yourself for being poor, even though it’s out of your control. You know you don’t fit in the standard of this town, but it’s not like you had money to move away either. Regardless, it felt inhumane to criticize someone simply because they don’t have as much money as you. Any available condos here were a minimum of $1,000 per month vs your trailer rent which was $200, including utilities.

Furthermore, it was the last thing your mother left you. She paid the rent for the next 5 years then vanished. All you needed was money for food. You recall how you struggled to get a job at 14, most of the businesses running in town were family-based. They didn’t hire outsiders. Eventually, Eren’s mother Carla offered you a job as her sewing assistant. You were passionate about fashion, clothes and designing, so the job was right up your alley. Not to mention, Eren’s mother was a fallen angel. Truly a second mother. She was somewhat aware of your situation and frequently had you stay over for dinner, so you wouldn’t go home hungry.

Initially, you thought you hit the jackpot with this job, but once Eren started interfering, you began to scramble home as soon as you were done. It started small, like mean, typical insults to a little physical aggression like pushing and pulling to straight abuse. Every so often when Carla wasn’t looking, Eren would grip you by the neck and slam you into the wall, choking you out. Other times he’d slap you, pull your hair and spit on your face. You thought you could manage, but the final straw was when he ripped through your virginity, dismissing your pleas to stop.

You had to quit afterward and budgeted your saved money until you could find another job or better yet, get the hell out of here and away from him. But of course, that never happened. In fact, after Eren had stolen your virginity, he kept coming back for more. Early in the morning, he would show up at your door and force you to the back, where the bed was. You recall it all too vividly, you were lying on your stomach, unfortunately already aware of what was about to go down. You couldn’t help but cry. You were unsure of how to stop him. His whole body weight kept you down, and he had both of your wrists pinned. You were wearing a nightgown, only providing easier access for him. He fondled your body for a couple of minutes before ripping your gown off, leaving you bare on the bed. Eren had a ridiculously huge dick. No matter how many times you fuck, you can never adjust to his cock. Eren was completely aware of this and used it to his sick advantage. Without properly prepping, he pierced into your tight pussy, letting out a deep groan after bottoming out. You were sobbing your heart out, kicking, squirming, whimpering, doing anything you could to attempt to get him off. Little did you know, Eren was fully getting off to this. He pulled out his cock again and shoved it back in with no mercy. Pretty quickly, he picked up the pace and began fucking you like an animal in heat. He had a hold of your whole body; he wouldn’t allow you to slip away from him. After adjusting to a comfortable speed, he leaned down, burning breath fanning your ear, “stop fucking crying, you like this.”

“No, Eren please!” you cry out, gripping the bed sheets harder than before. He lets go of your wrist and pulls your hair back to get a proper look at your pathetic face. “Tell me no again, baby. I fucking dare you.”He pressed his cheek against yours, moving his hips harder and faster from behind. He was provoking you to say it again. It’d give him more reason to punish you. You knew it was a trap and tried your best to avoid it, but it wasn’t enough. After hours of relentless fucking, you felt the hope in your body crumble and decay. It hurt to inhale because of his cock that was nonstop impaling you. It didn’t seem like he was going to stop anytime soon either. You couldn’t help but beg him to stop. Every inch of your body was aching, screaming at your brain to figure something out to make this all stop. Your poor mind was helpless. You couldn’t do anything but beg for mercy.

Eren quite literally fucked you all night. By the morning, you were smothered in sweat and tears. When you woke up, he was gone. Wrapping a blanket around yourself, you waddled over to the bathroom before bursting out into tears after taking a look at yourself. Dark hickeys decorated your neck, collarbone and cleavage. His big hands left some bruises on your wrist and ass. Lips are swollen from being sucked on for too long and hard. You used the washroom and freshened up a bit before crawling back into your bed.

Unfortunately, for you, this would merely be the start of it.

“Watch me turn your mind into my home.”

Eren's house is located in the outer part of town, also known as, where the rich people live. The drive from town to his house was about 30 minutes, even with Eren’s speeding. Eren’s hand was now holding yours; he was fidgeting with your ring.

It belonged to your mother. After she “had disappeared, ”you went to the police station after 72 hours of her not contacting you. You knew your mother’s work required her to be away for a few days, but normally she’d call you. It had already been three days and you hadn’t received a single phone call. When you informed the police officer, they informed you that your mother had already spoken with them and that she was not missing. She’s moved into the city. A wave of confusion strikes you. Did she move… without you? You understand the city was far more expensive to live in, especially with a teenager, but an explanation would’ve been nice. Once you reached home, you opened a few of her drawers and saw that most of her items were gone. You must have been in deep slumber when she packed her bags and left for good. Your heart breaks a little, every time you think about it. It made you feel worthless.

Although you’ve never acknowledged it, your mom was the one who triggered the crack in you. She raised you to be independent and obedient because it made her job as a parent significantly easier. By the time you were eight, you already knew how to wash your clothes, cook and even walked to school by yourself, despite it being a 15-20 minute walk. Because your mom left early in the morning, it was your responsibility to wake up and get ready for school. However, you never complained because you knew your mother was working her ass off to provide a better living for you. Or so you thought. But could you blame her? You hated that you constantly found a reason to be empathetic toward someone, even when they outright wronged you. Your mother left you to fend for yourself, and that’s how you landed into the palms of Eren Jaeger who completed the crack and completely broke you.

I fucking hate Tumblr. It took me longer to format this fic than to write it.

Anyways, hope you somewhat enjoyed it.

I know that there wasn't much smut in this part but the next part will!!

Thanks for reading :)

xoxo,

n❣️

[giggly-squiggily]

squiggily i love you you're the bestest pal forever and my requests are always open for you 🩷

requesssst... i NEED lee!eizen, it's not even funny anymore 😭 it's such a standard scenario but how about eizen has just been ranked as number one (idk how old he would've been, just at some point pre canon 💀) and he starts overworking himself because he gets a little paranoid over losing the top spot which concerns shion who then decides to get eizen to chill out a bit, no matter what (and maybe genji if you want to add him but feel free to leave him out if two characters is easier ^^)

again THANK YOU for inviting me, you're amazing and ily

Rey you are an absolute blessing! This was so freaking fun to write AHH! I love me some Lee!Eizen; it's not something I usually write but after this he's definitely up there as characters I need to write more of! :D I hope you like it, friend!

Cloud 9 (Taglist Peeps):

@cupcake-spice13 @rachi-roo @thatbigbisexual29 (thought of you while writing this hehe)

It took many years, endless hard work, and a lifetime’s amount of patience, but he was here. Top of the Asaemon, he took a vow to continue to work his predecessors left behind and carry on the good name of the Yamada Clan.

Even if that meant working twice- no, three times as hard as they have before. He would not let this decision be in vain.

“There he goes again, throwing himself into his work..” Genji sighed with a shake of his head, folding his large arms across his chest with a small tsk. “I respect the dedication, but even the best samurai take breaks.”

“I agree. Though you know how Eizen is.” Shion recalled, folding his own hands into the sleeves with a furrowed brow. “When he sets his mind to something, there’s no stopping him.”

“Sounds like someone I know.” Shion didn’t need eyes to know the older man was smirking. He didn’t need them when he smacked him lightly either.

“Hush.” Shion scolded him gently, unable to deny it. They’ve always been hard workesr, even when they were first starting out in the clan., However- he eventually outgrew his habit of overdoing it- something Eizen still seemed to struggle with. Shion could count the amount of times he and Jikka dragged him home after he trained so hard he couldn’t use his legs any longer- a matter the redhead made them swear to secrecy.

Genji hummed, turning to leave while Shion was lost in thought. “I’ll leave him to you? If you need me, I can assist.”

“There’s no need. I’ll see to him.” Shion smiled, grinning when he heard Genji groan on his way out.

He could hear the laugh in his tone. It was nice to know his jokes landed.

~~~

Eizen laid his aching head in ink stained hands, letting out a low sigh that rattled his bones. He was so, so tired. Between working with new students and old, extensive recordings he needed to read and sign off, and the self-imposed training regime he set for himself, he was rather exhausted. All he wanted to do was have a cup of tea, visit the nearby shrine, and stare out into the sun rising horizon. Maybe he’d invite Jikka and Shion; just like they used to when they were kids.

Something warm and fragrant pulled him from his thoughts. A cup of tea, manifested. He blinked in surprise before following the hand it was attached to, eyes landing on the familiar face. “Thank you, Shion. This is much appreciated.”

“Of course. I even seeked out your preferred blend.” Shion folded his arms as Eizen took a sip, brows furrowing. “Eizen, when was the last time you took a break?”

Silence. The sipping stopped, as did Eizen. The redhead dared another peek, finding Shion frowning. “Don’t lie to me, either. I can see it on the tip of your tongue.”

“Ever a joker.” Eizen shook his head as he turned to face Shion properly. “I can’t stop right now, Shion. There’s so much to do; if I fall behind even a bit-”

“You’ll come back. Like you always do.” Shion’s gentle but firm words cut him off as he took a seat across from him. “You're a hard worker, Eizen. Even before you became the highest ranked. It’s something I’ve admired about you for a long time.”

“You're kind.” Eizen nodded, wincing some. He’s sat through enough of Shion’s lectures to know where this was going.

“But you concern me- especially now. You’ll find yourself knocking on death’s door if you keep this up.” He tilted his head low, brows low for added seriousness. “And I’d rather my dear friends not die before me.”

Eizen had nothing to say to that, for he knew all his answers wouldn’t be ones Shion wanted to hear. He stared down at the warm tea in his mug, finding the distorted reflexion unsettling. He looked tired- and perhaps thinner? He wasn’t missing meals- though they have been getting smaller and quicker than before…

He looked back up at Shion, the words stuck in his throat at that deadly serious face. A part of him wanted to give in. Put aside scrolls and swords and breathe. Shion wouldn’t look so sad then.

But…

“I’m sorry.” He bowed his head, unable to face his deep frown. He felt like a child in the face of his master. How shameful.

“No, I should apologize.” What? Eizen looked up-

Then he was blinded.

“Shion!” He yelped when the other man attacked, knocking his tea out of the way and wrestling him to the ground. His foot kicked the table over, sending scrolls and ink everywhere. “Shion, this is ridiculous!”

“Yes- I suppose it’s a rather childish sight.” Shion was smiling again, grabbing at Eizen’s wrists as he positioned himself across his lap. “But when it comes to a hurricane, one must go for the eye of the storm.”

“That last one wasn’t even a blind joke!” The redhead grunted, tugging at his entrapment. Shion was strong as ever, much to his annoyance. “Let me up, we’re both too old for this.”

“Age is irrelevant here.”

“You’re acting like a child!”

“You’re acting rather stubborn. Who’s the child here?” Shion’s grin made Eizen blush and advert his gaze. “Since you’re too blind to see the error of your ways, I’ll just have to show you the path.”

“Don’t you da-Are!” Eizen gritted his teeth at the touch to his ribs, fingers sharp and precise. Just a small, little poke; yet it felt as if he was swarmed by bees. Tickly bees. “Shion!”

“Yes?” The blind man asked, poking him again. The redhead grunted, his body rebelling against him. “You sound tense. What’s wrong?”

“You know what’s-ermph!” Eizen shuddered all over when Shion used both his hands, twisting his index fingers into both sides of his waist. “St-Stohop that! Cea-ase this behavior imediahahahtly!”

“Ah, finally starting to see the light.” Shion smiled, feeling Eizen grab loosely at his wrist, shaking with suppressed giggles. “There’s no point trying to fight it. Just let go.” He added additional fingers, kneading along Eizen’s waist. “Give in to the first breath of laughter.”

Eizen would have punched him if he weren’t fighting for his life. Teeth gritted so hard he was sure he was bleeding, he tugged at his entrapped wrists with all the power of an Asaemon. Unfortunately for him, Shion’s earlier words came to haunt him. He was far too tired to pull away. “Shion, you damn ba-Gahahhahaa!”

“Oh?” Shion asked, fingers prodding along his ribs in a deviously familiar gesture. “Was that a laugh?”

“Shuhuhuhush! Stohohohop thihihis iihihiemehehehdiately!” His struggles grew, but Eizen still had no real strength to break free. Laughter bubbled up and over his lips, filling the once quiet room with its light sound. “Shihiihihihon!”

The blind man laughed alongside him, dancing his hand from one side to the other as Eizen squirmed. He eventually kept his hands on the center set of his ribs, the spot provided a slightly higher octave of laughter. “Seems you're still as ticklish as you were when we were young. Good to know.”

“Dohohohoohn’t you dahhahahre brihihihng that uuhuhuhp! Gehahahahah, you sohohoohn of a- Aheahhahahahahha!” Eizen managed to wiggle a hand free, swinging it at Shion’s arm as if it’d do anything. Taking this as a good sign, Shion released both wrists before attacking the dreaded spot on each side of his torso. That got him bad. “Gehahhahahahaha nohohohohohohohoohoho!”

“Hmhmhm, is it truly that bad? You haven’t changed one bit. Say, are you still ticklish here?” Shion dived his hands upward and into Eizen’s armpits just to see what would happen.

“GHHAHAH! ZZZFT!”

“Did you just snort?” Shion was utterly shocked. Eizen looked just as startled, briefly pausing his laughter at the silly sound.

“Shion- Shion don’t you dare-GHEHAHAHAH! EHAHAHH ZZZFT! ZZZPT GHEHAHAHHA!” He flailed backwards when those dastardly fingers attacked again, staying right within the sensitive spots beneath his arms. More giggles and snorts mixed with shouts and swears; Eizen was grateful he lived far enough from the clan’s main manor. The idea of his students even HEARING him in such a state was enough to make his face burn. “WOHOHOHOULD YOHOOHOHU KNOHOHOOCK THIIHIHS OHOOHOHOFF?”

“Are you going to stop overworking yourself?” Shion asked, brow raised. “Or at the very least, are you going to take more breaks?”

“YEHHEHES, YEHHEHHS! ZZZPHT GEHAHHA I PROHHOMISE!”

“Do you swear?”

“I SWEAHHAHAHR, I SWEHHAHAHAR!”

“..Do you like my puns?”

“SHIHIHION!” With a devious giggle, the blind man pulled back- sitting on his knees while Eizen gasped for air. Free from his clutches, the redhead twisted to his side, coughing roughly through the remaining snorts and giggles. Shion’s hand on his back was welcomed- if not a bit reluctantly. “Yohohour a dehehvil!”

“And you’re stubborn. But we make it work.” Shion patted him a few times before bringing back the tea, listening for Eizen’s sips. After he felt the cup return to him, he leaned back and nodded. “Feel better?”

“Heh..heheh..depends on what you mehehan..” Eizen forced himself to face him, pushing a hand through his fringe. “If you mean physically- I feel exhausted. I was already rather tired before, but then you showed up and took the last ounce of strength I had.” He glared, softening at Shion’s quirked lips. “Ah…I’ve made your point.”

“I’m glad you see things my way.” Shion chuckled. Eizen rolled his good eye with a good natured laugh.

“Fine. You win- I do feel better mentally. My head was starting to hurt from all that paperwork. I guess…I should take a rest now and again.” He looked out at his scattered scrolls, some smudged with ink and others crumbled in places. His brow furrowed. There was still so much…

“We’ll help you. I’m not much for paperwork, but I can take some of the training days off your hands. Jikka can help with this.” Shion gestured to the scrolls. “It’d be good for him to have something to do. He’s dangerous with time on his hands.”

When Eizen still seemed hesitant, Shion patted his wrist. “You do realize that just because you're our highest ranked doesn’t mean the weight of it all falls to you alone, yes? We’re all here for you. You don’t need to do everything by yourself to prove your rank is deserved.”

The redhead sucked in a sharp breath, Shion’s words hitting straight to the matter. He...really was doing that, wasn’t he? Whether he realized it or not. How shameful.

Yet, despite the effect his words had, Shion was kind. He always was, really. Eizen put a hand on top of his, nodding to the other man. “You’re right. I apologize for my behavior. I’ll take better care of myself and rely on you all more.”

Shion nodded, satisfied. “Good. Now- tomorrow is a day off. We’re going to the shrines.”

“It is?” Eizen hadn’t heard anything of the sort.

“For us, yes. Genji will be training the students. We’re going to visit that shrine nearby.” Shion held his chin, a pun loaded. “I’ve got quite the eye for such architecture.”

Eizen swatted at him gently, shaking his head. He was laughing though.

Thanks for reading!

[bluebeaniefrog]

So I have fallen ass-backwards into (back into?) The TMNT fandom and had the idea for a ROTTMNT x TMNT!2012 fic hit me like a rubber chicken. All I've got so far is that 2012 turts show up in Rise!verse bc reasons and Rise end up just pranking the shit out of them. Because they were raised by an actor, and they're little shits. They would absolutely do this.

Inspired by the uniquely Australian urge to mess with people for no reason, and for other Aussies to join in on the act, no questions asked.

What I have so far:

2 year after Krang

Rise!folks = Rise!Raph 19, Rise!Donnie & Rise!Leo 18, Rise!Mikey 17, Casey Jr 18

Rise!turts all look WAY older than their actual age, bc Rise were created to be supersoldiers. you can't tell me that Draxum didn't fiddle with their DNA to make them more dangerous/efficient/etc.

The massive growth spurt they all had means they're all like a foot taller than they were during the movie.

This does not help poor Casey Jr (who goes by CJ, purely to make things easier)

He kept accidentally calling Leo "dad", to the point where Leo started to respond to it

This did not help CJ.

CJ ended up getting a concealment broach, and uses it to make himself look like a mutant turtle.

When asked why, he says "because" (he wanted to fit in, and topside NY still freaks him out too much.)

Hey, trauma isn't logical

He keeps his hair as a turt though, which weirded everyone but Leo out until they got used to it.

And four fingers instead of three (purely so he knows which one to flip people off with)

When he uses the broach, he can make himself look any age he wants. Usually, he chooses anywhere between the ages of 8–12.

This was originally an accident, but Mikey encouraged it, as well as acting his apparent age while cloaked, as a healing method and a way of reclaiming his childhood.

They eventually figure out that CJ is kind of flipping between voluntary and involuntary age regression

Leo starts actually being a father to CJ while he's regressed and he absolutely thrives.

Donnie managed to recover Shelldon's memory drive from the wreckage post Shredder

He also started kind-of-but-not-really-more-like-less-than-half sharing his lab with Draxum after the yokai starts living with them full time

Thus meaning that sometimes things (like leftover ooze) might be left lying around

Unrelated, Draxum found a three-legged turtle hatchling and decided to keep it as a pet

Everyone else finds it weird, but it's not an issue

Until the turtle somehow manages to get into Donnie's lab, EAT Shelldon's memory chip  and then trip into a bowl of ooze.

Everyone FREAKS THE FUCK OUT because there's now ANOTHER MUTANT TURTLE DRAXUM WTF!

ALSO WHY TF WAS THERE A BOWL FULL OF OOZE????? JUST LYING AROUND??????

They manage to somewhat calm down, and then the new turtle tot speaks in a kiddy version of Shelldon's voice, and calls Donnie "Dada".

Cue the second freakout in as many minutes.

So now Donnie has a kid as well.

They figure out that Shelldon is now the equivalent to a two-and-a-half year old toddler.

Splinter doesn't know how to feel

He technically has grandkids now, but his kids are still kids!

Also it's Draxum's fault (again) so he doesn't know whether to thank him or throttle him

2012!verse turts appear bc reasons

They are all 16 (set early-like/s2-ish)

Rise peeps all have a standing agreement to prank the living daylights out of any alternates they come across.

They unanimously decide to tell 2012 that they are all 10 years older than they actually are, and to leave out the fact that CJ and Shelldon are not actually their biological children.

Coincidentally, Mikey had been practising his hyper-realism and special effects make-up skills for his online art degree that morning, and used Donnies shell as the canvas.

So now Donnie's shell now looks like one big burn scar

They very much use this to their advantage. *Cue evil laughter*

Draxum shows up in the middle of them all trying to figure out what to call each other

2012 turts freak the fuck out when Rise!Mikey calls him "dad"

12!Mikey: "wow this really IS an alternate universe your Slpinter isn't even a rat!" Rise!Mikey: What no this is Draxum. Splinters our other dad."

Cue yet another freakout from the 2012 folks.

Draxum sees them and goes "another lot of turtles? Free reign to fuck with them and be the dramatic ass bitch that I am? Count me the fuck in" and goes absolutely ham

CJ comes in uncloaked but regressed, calling Leo "dad"

12turts freak out (12!Leo: "I'm a DAD????? ....wait isn't that CASEY WTFFFF") while Leo puts his dad voice on and reminds CJ to "take off" (read: put on) his cloaking broach

CJ does so.

Yet another freakout from the inter-dimensional peanut gallery

Shelldon starts crying and Donnie goes to grab him (praising his dramatic timing as he does so)

Again: freakout (12!Donnie: "I'M a dad??????")

(Basically the entire fic is just 2012 turts freaking out over Riseverse's ..... everything)

April and Cassandra are in on it, of course

They decide to be little shits and show up in their foot clan uniforms

*Cue 2012 freaking out for the billionth time*

Then Splinter shows up, tells them to shut up, sit down, and talk (ie give their life story)

Or in Rise's case, "life story"

Basically a fic where Riseverse just bullshit the living daylights out of the 2012 turtles. Whether or not the truth comes out, I haven't figured out yet. Either way, 2012!turtles spend the entire time freaking out and go back to their dimension questioning everything ever.

I've got so many ideas I'd probably have to make a separate fic purely for worldbuilding my Rise!AU. Thing is, I actually really want to write this fic, but have no idea where to start. Any tips or tricks to get started, or even someone to bounce ideas off of would be a godsend.

[asshlyyyy]

Personal Nurse

Series Warnings: Language, drug abuse, mentions of abuse, mentions of drugs. Colonel not liking the reader, probably some medical terms are incorrect, mentions of Elvis' potential death, health terms, health issues, yelling, fighting. Spelling and grammatical errors are likely. Individual chapter warnings will appear as needed.

A/n: This is basically Just The Nurse Extended

Masterlist | Previous Part | Next Part

Chapter 2: Leaving for Graceland

You set your alarm for eight the next morning. Sure enough, the next morning around eight your obnoxious alarm went off. You thrashed your hand over to the alarm to hit it off. You rubbed your eyes awake and let out a groan. The nerves were really hitting this morning. In just an hour you would be in a car on your way to Graceland. God, you were so nervous you felt as if you were about to barf.

You pushed yourself up into a seated position and stretched your arms out. Okay, one task at a time and your nerves will lessen. You hoped that they would at least. First things first, get ready. Put on some appropriate clothes and get your hair and makeup ready. Then, get something to eat, and brush your teeth. Lastly, get your bags near the front door and say your goodbyes. Hopefully, that will all take within that hour time frame you gave yourself.

You got out of bed and looked through your closet. Most of your clothes were packed away, but you made sure to leave an outfit out for today. You got changed rather quickly and spent some time making yourself look more presentable. You wanted to make a good impression and prove that you were going to do a good job. At least you hoped your would.

After you finished getting ready you made your way to the kitchen, where your mother already was. You walked over to her and gave her a kiss on her cheek. “Good morning, mama.”

‘Good morning, Y/n. You excited?” She asked as she continued to make breakfast.

“Far from it, I’m so nervous I feel like I’m going to throw up.” You answered back as you grabbed a glass from the overhead cabinet.

‘I’m sure once you get some food in your belly you’ll feel much better.”

“Or much worse,” you said as you pulled open the fridge and pulled out the orange juice. You opened the bottle and poured the orange liquid into your glass.

“Can you go wake up your siblings, please? They need to get up and ready for school.” Your mother asked. You hummed in response and drank some of your juice before leaving the kitchen.

You knocked on Mary’s door as a pre-warning and opened the door wide enough to flicker the lights. “Rise and shine, Mary. I’m leaving soon and you got to get ready for school.”

Your sister responded with a groan. You closed the door and made your way to your brothers' room. One that used to house two brothers, but at the moment it only currently houses your youngest one. You once again knocked on the door as a warning, peeped in, and flickered the lights.

“Wakey wakey Joseph. Don’t wanna miss saying bye to your older sister~” You teased and closed the door. You made your way back to your orange juice and asked your mother if she needed any help. You knew she didn’t like when people pushed onto her cooking, but she would love the outside help. Such as cleaning up and making the table.

“Go ahead and get the table ready dear.” You nodded at her request and did just that. You even started to brew the coffee. Your father was the only one to really drink coffee, but it was still a nice gesture.

“Do you have to leave, sissy?” Joseph asked as he came up to you.

“I do,” you nodded and lowered yourself down to his level. “But, I will make sure I call to check up on you.”

“Do you know when you’ll be back?” His big e/c eyes look at you.

“That is something I cannot answer. Once I know though, I’ll go ahead and tell you okay?” You smiled softly. He nodded in response and wrapped his arms around you. You returned his head and smiled. As much as a pain in the ass he was, he was such a sweet child.

“Morning champ,” your father said and rubbed Joseph on the head.

“Dad~” he whined in response. You let out a light laugh and stood up.

“Morning, dad,” you said as you looked over at him.

“Morning, sweetheart,” he smiled and kissed the top of your head. 

You were going to miss mornings like this. Sure your siblings got on your nerves something, but soon you’ll be waking up somewhere strange. A place you weren’t exactly used to, or have never been in before. You wouldn't be able to walk out to the kitchen and see your family. Instead, you'll be stuck feeding a man healthy food and bringing him back to great health. At least that was the plan at least.

"Big day, you all ready?" He asked as he went towards the coffee pot to pour himself a drink. You nodded and sat down at the table.

"Pretty sure I triple-checked my bags," You chuckled lightly. 

"I hate this whole... having to go to school thing," Your sister sighed and walked into the kitchen.

"You only have one more year... I think you can manger to suck it up." Your mother said as she placed the food on the table. You smiled and thanked your mother before placing some food onto your plate.

"I can't, the people there literally suck." Mary huffed and sat down. "All they do is talk about the ugly boys there, and cheerleading! Like,-"

"There are much bigger world problems than your high school, Mary." Your father said as he sat down as well.

"I wanna be in, Y/n's shoes. She's literally going to be living with the king! God, If I was in her position I would be the most popular girl in school." She rambled on. You shook your head and ate your food, just enjoying the last few moments you had to leave.

"That's until you have to do actually health-related things. You wouldn't know the first thing about correct vitamins and medicines." You pointed out to her as you continued to munch down on breakfast.

"Neither do I want to. I just want to live with Elvis Presley.” She admitted. You hummed and shook your head.

You finished dinner after some time and went to say your final goodbyes. Your father had to get to work, and your younger siblings had to get off to school. So, one last big hug and kiss to each of them. We’re you overreaction? Perhaps, but you also had no idea how long you would be gone.

You gathered your things to the door and waited in the living room with your mother. Your nerves were at an all-time high. Whoever said your nerves would calm down deserves to die, because they are a lair! It’s just a job, I mean, there is nothing to worry about. Besides the fact that you are nursing a man who is loved by millions of people, and if you mess up you will never see the light of day again.

There was a knock on the door and your head immediately turned toward the door. Your breathing hitched and you grasped your shirt. This was it, this was the moment. Your mother noticed your state and went to answer the door.

“Hello, can I help you?” Her voice appeared as she opened the door.

“Yes, I am here to pick up Ms. Y/l/n.” The guy responded back. You turned your head towards your mother and immediately started to shake your head. Second thoughts were starting to come in and they were coming in quickly.

“Of course, let me go get her.” Your mother closed the door and made her way over to you.

“I changed my mind, I am not going.” You told her.  She responded with a sigh and sat down next to you.

“Y/n, this is an opportunity of a lifetime. You cannot turn this down because of some nerves. You can call home whenever you’d like. I know you’re nervous, hell I would be also, but let’s be honest… You can’t live here forever. You’re already thirty,” your mother tried her best to calm your down. She ran her hand through your hair and smiled.

“Something tells me that… the best thing is going to come out from this. Now, I want you to tell yourself that you got this. You were chosen for a reason.” She pulled you into a tight bone-crushing hug. “I love you, so much.”

You returned her hug and smiled softly, “I love you too, mama.” You whispered. You eventually pulled away and wiped away any free tears. You let out a deep breath and stood up.

“Next time you see me, I’ll be on the front of the newspaper.” You smiled and walked towards the door. You picked up your bags and looked towards your mother who had tears now running down her face. She mouthed an I love you and you were quick to respond.

You pulled open the door and smiled, “hi, I’m Y/n.”

“Perfect,” the driver returned your smile, “I’m Dave. May I take your bags?” He held his hands out.

“Oh! Of course!” You gave him your luggage but kept close your medicine bag. You walked out of the apartment and closed the door. It was time for a new adventure and you couldn’t be scared of it.

“Big day huh?” Dave said as you two made your way through the building to get outside.

“Huh? Oh yeah… yeah…” You shook your head lightly as you were pulled out of thought.

“You nervous?” He then asked.

“Big time,” you awkwardly laughed, “I feel like I’m going to vomit.”

“Well don’t be too nervous. You’ll be around amazing people. I’ll be your driver for the duration of your stay. Well for the most part you’ll be by Elvis, when you need to pick up supplies or need something dropped off, you can give me a call. I’ll pick up mail, packages, anything you need.” Dave explained as you arrived at the car. You nodded listening to everything he had to say.

“Okay, so when I call my manager for an order on some medications, you’ll go and pick them up?” You doubled checked with him.

“Yes, and if you need anything from home, you can tell your parents to set it off to the side and I’ll come pick it up.” He brought up another example.

“Sounds like I’m kind of trapped there.” You chuckled lightly and got in.

“Don’t worry too much about it. It can get frustrating at some points, but it’s an amazing place to be working at.” He reassured you. You smiled softly and nodded as he closed the door.

You took another deep breath and rubbed your face. At least he answered a few of your questions. That would be fewer questions to ask Vernon once you meet him. Dave got into the driver's seat and started the car up. You lived relatively in the middle of town. Well, that's how you would describe it at least. So, to Graceland... It would take relatively twenty to thirty minutes. It really all depended on the traffic. How did you know this off memory? Well, because your sister would drag you down there sometimes to wait outside the gates... yay...

"Have you been down to Graceland yet?" Dave asked after a while.

"My sister likes to drag me down there in hopes to see the man himself." You chuckled lightly. You smiled softly and played with the hem of your shirt.

"Your sister a fan?" He raised his eyebrow.

"Ohhh big time. Don't get me wrong, I like his music... but she's a die-hard fan. She has every album, and every piece of merchandise she could get her hands on. She's crazy for that man." You told him.

"Many people are, it's sad to see him go down a path where he could possibly not return from."

"Yeah... I just hope that... I hope that I can bring him back." You leaned against the window. You had to do this... you couldn't mess this up. Not only just for the state of your career... but just for yourself... to show that you can help people and not... and not just ruin their lives forever.

You just didn't want to let your family down. You didn't want to let down Vernon... or all the millions of fans Elvis had. God, you really wished you wouldn't fuck this up.

Mutual Taglist: @babyhoneypresley, @emmymaehereeeeee, @venus-haze, @austinstyles

[ilovebeinaturtle]

Heya peeps! Here’s a new version of Kammie! Here 2007 version which I commissioned from Propimol! Enjoy! Thank you!

Her bio still kind of a WIP!

Name: Kammie

Nickname: Kam

Sex/Gender: Female

Pronouns: She/Her

Race: Mutant Green Sea Turtle

Age: 19-20 (She's 1 year older than Mikey)

Sexuality: Hetero

Year Hatched: 1988

Mutation Year: 1990

Eye Color: Brown

Height: 5'0"

Weight: N/A

Mask/Headband/Bandana Color: Coral/Salmon

Boyfriend/Love Interest of: Michelangelo

Personlity: Shy/Introverted, Timid, Sweet, Friendly

Back Story/Info: Before the events of the movie, one day after one of Mikey's birthday party gigs that was taking place on beach, after the party when everyone went home (at night), Mikey was getting ready to leave when he noticed something wash up on the shore… another turtle (Kammie), Mikey who was in shock tries to wake her up and eventually takes her home to the lair.

Other Notable Stuff: If the 2007 movie is connected to the 90s movie then she will have a very similar origin story as her 2003 version (Being born and hatched in NYC Aquarium and being released on Coney Island Beach and mutated there)

Also check out other versions of Kammie:

2003 Kammie

Rise Kammie

[sassyduckqueen]

Miraculous: Rise of Anatis Special 5

Hey peeps! I'm alive!! Sorry this took so long. I've been having quite the interesting time. Both good and bad things. Cosplay making took up a lot of the time but it paid off. I'll tell you all about it on tumblr when I post my latest pics and then there was family issues. Long story short, I had to cut my sister off permanently. I don't want to go into detail but please don't be worried. It was a long time coming and I feel like I've made the right choice. I'm doing better since I made the choice as well. Anyway, here's my version of the Miraculous special for Paris. Enjoy :D

Edit: OK so I edited and post this at 6am with very little sleep so there's probably a load of crappy grammar going on(I'll edit it later) but also I forgot to put a spoiler warning on this so here it is!!

Spoiler Warning!! This chapter is set just before Gang Of Secrets and contains some little spoilers for it.

If you guys want, I'll go through my specials and release a timeline for them so you know how they fit into the timeline

==========================================================================

Chapter Five: Miraculous: Tales of Brumus and Lady Ombre

"Hello and welcome," The voice of the news reporter Nadja Chamuck echoed through the basement as in the distance explosions echoed. Standing in front of the tv was an older gentleman with a worried look on his face. Despite his worried expression, he wore a very bright outfit. The shirt he wore was very light purple and he had a bright purple tailcoat that resembled a butterfly's wings. In the middle of his coat was a white triangle and from it the form of a butterfly spreaded out, acting as its collar. His pants and shoes matched his coat and he had loose silver hair. Upon his face was a butterfly shaped mask with the same white triangle over the eye parts. In his hand was a cane and a purple brooch was adorned on the ruffled collar he had on. Next to him was a younger looking girl. She had curly brown hair that was shaved on the side. She wore a faded denim jacket and ripped jeans. Like the older woman, she had glasses but her frames were purple. "Once again, Anatis and Lady Noir were able to defeat him and Paris was saved yet again. Clara, you're live on the scene-"

"Is it ready?" The man asked as the tv signal messed up. He looked down towards a robot that was fixed to the TV and had a face on it. "Can we make the jump?"

"There's a 92.8 % statistical chance of landing in the world where these source images originate," The face on the computer declared with a worried expression as the lighting turned red and an alarm sounded. The two of them looked behind them with panic as the lift came down and opened. A man dressed in rock star garb and a teenage boy dressed in skater clothing ran in. The older man was holding onto a rifle as the teenage boy held a baseball bat. He gestured for the boy to get behind him as he held his gun up, ready to fire.

"I'm sorry! We couldn't hold them back!" The boy gasped, rushing over to the rest of them. "They're coming,"

"We don't have a choice," The woman gasped, looking at the man in purple.

"I understand," He replied with a sombre look on his face. He closed his eyes before opening them and releasing the butterfly concealed in his hand. "Fly, my kamiko and magnify the glimmer of hope that shines in Alya Ceraise's heart,"

The butterfly merged with the younger girl's glasses, causing her eyes to wide as he spoke to her.

"Ubiquity, I am Atlas," He declared as the floor above the lift got destroyed and two figures jumped down. "I am giving you the power to connect to the parallel world we have found so we can find help. With this, I am exposing you to many perils and placing a great burden on your shoulders. Do you accept it for the greater good?"

"I do," Alya declared with determination, giving Atlas a sense of hope. He needed to find a way to find the heroes of the other Paris and from what he had observed from the images and videos they were able to find, one Marinette Dupain-Cheng had a personal relationship with the hero of that world. It just happened that one of her friends was that world's Alya which is how his plan was formed. Using his powers, he would transform Alya into a superheroine that would allow them to cross into that world by connecting with her counterpart. He allowed her to take the power, causing her form to change. From her glasses, a light purple smog spreaded over her body and transformed her into a new being. Her new costume was a purple suit with stars and her body had become something akin to a floating veil. Her hair had turned bright purple and she had a glass mask over her eyes. Her body rose up as she held out her arms, waiting for the command. The sound of a crack was here as the glass in the lift was broken. The two figures jumped over and landed in front of the man with a gun. He began to fire at them, causing Atlas to look at them before he turned to Ubiquity.

"Open the gate and close it as soon as I'm through," He ordered. She nodded and used her power, causing her body to expand. Atlas jumped through as the two figures dodged the bullets. He hoped he could find help.

~Main Universe, Current Time~

Luka gasped as he jolted away, sweat dripping down his skin. His eyes were wide in terror and he was breathing heavily as he shook. Tikki, Snapp and Stingg were looking over at him with concern as he sucked in a deep breath before Stingg flew over with hesitation. Luka didn't seem to notice him as he flopped down onto his bed. His breathing was starting to calm down and he moved his hand to his hair.

"M-Master?" Stingg whispered. "Ar-Are you ok?"

Luka opened his eyes, looking over at the kwami before sitting up and gently cupping him in his hands.

"I'm..." He cut himself off, causing the kwamis to look more concerned. Luka knew why. He wanted to tell them that he was ok but he couldn't. That would be a lie and he wasn't going to lie but he didn't want to worry them either. "It's fine. I just had a nightmare again... by the way, you don't have to call me Master. Luka is just fine,"

"B-But... y-you're my n-new master..." Stingg replied as Tikki and Snapp flew over.

"No, I'm not your master," Luka replied, making Stingg look at him. "I'm your friend and you're my friend so I'm happy for you to refer to me as Luka,"

"O-ok... Luka..." 

"Are you sure you're ok?" Tikki asked, flying over and gently placing her paw on his cheek. She looked at him and her concern grew. His eyes were almost blank like there was nothing in them and then there were the dark circles. "Was it the usual dream?"

"Or Lady Blanche?" Snapp asked, making Tikki glare at him but she knew it was a possibility.

"No, it's fine," Luka replied, giving them a little smile but it didn't reach his eyes. "It was neither of them... I've never had this dream before but it was... strange... it felt like Feng's power and the dreams I had about Lady Blanche,"

All of the kwamis looked at each other before Tikki cleared her voice.

"What did you see in it?" She asked, making him frown as he thought about it. "Luka?"

"There was a butterfly holder in it and they made an akuma," He muttered, trying to recall it. "They seemed afraid of something but I don't know what,"

"How did the dream end?"

"The butterfly holder went through a portal to-" Luka's eyes widened as he recalled one of the most important details. The akumatized was Alya and Alya was currently sleeping over at Marinette's tonight. He quickly jumped up and grabbed his phone, dialling her number but it only went to her voicemail. He hung up and swiped his earrings. "Tikki! Spots on!"

He transformed and turned to the other two kwamis.

"Please stay here and keep hidden," He requested, getting a nod from the two of them before they hid in his guitar case. Stingg seemed to like hiding in there and Snapp was happy to stay with him. Reassured that the kwamis were happy and hidden, Anatis turned to the porthole and opened it. He climbed out of it and swung off into the night.

~At the Same Time in Marinette's House~

"Ah ha! Take that!" Alya declared, jumping up as she finally beat Marinette at the game they were playing. Marinette laughed and clapped her hands as Alya did a victory dance before she sat down and took a slip of her drink. "I can't believe I finally beat you!"

"It only took you a few years," Marinette grinned, making Alya gasp with shock and pretend to be wounded. She couldn't help but smile, happy that her and Alya had reached a good point. Sure, there was a time where she thought Alya would never be her friend again but she had grown so much since having the wake up call as they called it. She had taken her blog more seriously and made sure to get real sources for the things she reported. She had grown as a friend and as a person to the extent where Anatis had even decided to allow her to continue being a member of team miraculous. She had wielded the monkey miraculous on a couple of occasions now and it helped a lot. Not just that but Alya was trying to be a better person overall. She was mindful of how she acted. She had devoted a lot of her time searching for Shadow Moth's identity and was a great help when it came to dealing with the American heroes. She had proven herself enough to allow Marinette to have her round for a sleep over again and it reminded her how much she missed it but also how much she needed it. Especially with the hard time she was going through with her hero life and her civilian life. Luka hadn't been himself recently, especially after the attack and she was trying her hardest to help him. However, he didn't open up to her. She knew why. Luka didn't want to make her worried or stressed out. Sometimes she hated how selfless he was but she also knew she would never change him for the world. As for her hero life, Anatis was still struggling to deal with that future he faced but they were both trying to find a way to prevent it, even though she had no idea what she was preventing.

"Earth to Marinette?"

"Hm?" She replied, glancing at Alya who gave her a look.

"You zoned out there," She replied, making her blink. "You ok?"

"Yeah... I'm just worried about Luka," She admitted, making Alya frown. "He's been so down recently and I don't know how to help him. Everytime I ask him if he's ok, he just changes the subject or brushes off his emotions. Do you think he feels like he can't approach me?"

"No way She replied, gently holding her shoulders. "I don't think Luka feels like he can't approach you. I bet he just doesn't want to worry you. Luka is so selfless that he probably doesn't want you to be burdened,"

"I know but I feel like a bad girlfriend,"

"Trust me when I say you're not," She replied, making Marinette frown. "Marinette, you don't ne-"

Alya suddenly cut off, gasping and screwing her eyes closed as if something just disturbed her.

"Alya?" Marinette asked as she let out a small scream and jumped up, gripping her glasses as she stumbled away from her. Marinette jumped up as she fell to her knees and gripped her head. "Alya?!"

A bright light engulfed her, causing Marinette to raise her arms to protect her before it disappeared, revealing Alya floating in the air, dressed in a new form. Her new costume was a purple suit with stars and her body had become something akin to a floating veil. Her hair had turned bright purple and she had a glass mask over her eyes. She was holding her arms out and the veil was looking closer to a portal. Marinette stared at it before a man in a purple butterfly suit jumped out, surprising her. Without a shadow of a doubt, he was clearly the butterfly holder but it was impossible. Shadow Moth didn't know she was Lady Noire and there hadn't even been an akuma in her room. She also noticed the man's outfit was different to Shadow Moth's outfit. For one thing, he didn't have the peacock miraculous but he also lacked Shadow Moth's butterfly mask. In fact, his design was completely different. However, it could be a trick. She had to be careful. She went to transform but Plagg shook his head at her, making her stop as the man looked around the room before his eyes landed on her. To her surprise, they didn't contain hatred or bitterness like she expected Shadow Moth's to but instead were filled with desperation, sorrow and a small glimmer of hope.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng?" He asked, surprising her. "Forgive my intrusion and please don't be scared. My name is Atlas and I need you to lead me to the holders of the miraculous of the ladybug and the black cat in this world,"

"Anatis and Lady Noire?" She asked, frowning before holding up her hands. "I d-don't know how to find them. I don't know them. I'm just Marinette. I'm just a normal girl-"

"I beg you," He gasped, taking her by surprise. Shadow Moth would never beg. "Please take me to them. I know you have a friendship with them and they are my last hope,"

"Last Hope?" She asked, frowning. "I'm sorry but I can't just call Anatis. I'm not as close to him as you might think,"

He let out a sigh as the floating Alya turned into light before shrinking down. She remained in her akuma form but seemed to be completely Alya. She looked around confused as she leaned on some of the wooden beams that held up the room.

"Marinette?!" She gasped, seeing her before seeing the newcomer. "What just happened?"

"You transformed into..." She gestured to her but didn't know what to call her new form.

"Ubiquity," Atlas explained, making both of them look at him. "In the universe where I come from, Alya Cerasie is one of my allies,"

He turned to look at Alya.

"She connected her power to you in order to open a gateway between our two worlds," He continued, making Alya look at him with an expression of sheer confusion. "I chose her to be my champion as we learnt that you two have a friendship. By connecting with you, it would bring me to Miss Marinette here and I hoped in turn she could lead me to the heroes of this world,"

"Huh?!" Alya gasped before shaking her head. "Is this another one of Hawk Moth's Schemes?!"

"Hawk Moth?" Atlas asked but before anyone could explain, Alya cried out in pain again as she gripped her head before turning back into the gateway, causing Atlas to gasp and step back.

"I'm sorry! They made me open again!" She gasped, struggling as if she was holding something back. "I can't hold them back for long,"

She opened her eyes in pure terror.

"Run!" She shouted, making Atlas gasp and pick up Marinette.

"You can't stay here!" He gasped, looking around the room for an exit. "They are merciless,"

He jumped towards the skylight as Marinette cried out before jumping off the roof as Plagg floated. Ubiquity struggled as a figure stepped through the gateway, holding the robot in his hand. In a way, he resembled Anatis but looked much darker. His costume was almost completely black. He had a red collar, red fingers, red details on his boots, gloves and belt while the rest of the outfit was completely black. Unlike Anatis who had several spots on his costume with yellow halos around them, he had a pattern that resembled two commas on his chest area in a blood red. The pattern was repeated on his mask, arms, zipper and his yoyo. His hair styled the same way as Anatis but had short red tips while the rest of it was black. His eyes were a dark blue but looked completely lifeless and had no light in them. His skin was so pale that he made a corpse look alive which amplified his already terrifying appearance. He glanced around as another figure stepped out of the gateway, dragging their version of Nino with them. She had her fingers to his head, holding a cataclysm to him. Like the other, she resembled Lady Noire of this world. Only like a broken version of her. Her outfit was almost exactly the same, apart from a toxic green panel down the middle of her costume that had black cracks over it. Her mask was black with green cracks over it as well. Her eyes resembled a cat's but they also had black cracks through them. Her braid was thicker than Lady Noire's and resembled a scorpion's tail a little. Her belt buckle still had a paw print but the background had the black cracks in it. Her lips were stained black and her skin was extremely pale. The most concerning part was the black vein appearing below her lip, looking like she's consumed some sort of poison. The guy glanced over with a look of annoyance as Nino trembled.

"Why is he still here? Get rid of him," He asked as he threw the robot head aside, causing the Lady Noire look alike to shrug and push him back into the gateway. She called off her Cataclysm as he glanced around the room. He grabbed a belt that was hung and used it to tie Ubiquity up, causing her to fall onto the ground before he roughly grabbed her hair and pulled her head up so she was looking at him. "The only reason why you're alive right now is because you're still useful to me so be a good girl and don't go anywhere,"

He dropped her head, causing it to hit the ground hard before going straight to the computer and narrowing his eyes. The wallpaper showed a happy couple. He recognized the boy in it as a variation of his civilian self. The evil cat wandered over and looked at the image.

""Oooh, he's cute," She sighed happily, making him roll his eyes before she glared at him. "Unlike you,"

"Of course, he's your type," He stated, moving away and jumping up to her bed. "A weak, sensitive musician. Just as pathetic as you,"

"So what if I like musicians?! At least, they actually have an emotion level unlike you!" She growled as he glanced over at the images by her bed. "Why did bitterfly chose this location anyway? I mean other then Alya been here obviously,"

The villain narrowed his eyes before ripping a picture of the wall and jumped back down.

"Because Little Miss Pink knows the local heroes if this is anything to go by," He replied, shoving the image in her hands. It was a selfie of this world's Marinette with the holder of the ladybug miraculous. He glanced around, noticing the skylight. "They must have gone of that way,"

"I'd rather go out with a bang!" The evil cat grinned, throwing the image to the ground and summoning her cataclysm. She slammed her hand against the wall, causing it to explode out. She jumped out into the night as the evil bug looked towards Ubiquity. 

"You're our ride back," He informed, glaring at her. "Don't move,"

He dived out of the hole and swung off into the city. As soon as he was gone, Ubiquity connected with Atlas.

"Atlas, they tied me and are coming for you," She warned, making the man on the other side of the connection frown. He was running across Paris' rooftops, holding onto Marinette as he did. Marinette was watching him as he did, trying to work out what to do and more importantly, who he was running from.

"You carried out your mission perfectly. Thank you for everything," He replied as Marinette listened. From what she and Anatis had seen with Shadow Moth, he was rude, demanding and evil. This man was the complete opposite so far. "I release you from the power I gave you,"

Back in Marinette's room, Ubiquity turned back into Alya. She looked around confused and scared. Marinette and the butterfly man were missing, there was a massive hole in the roof that had clearly been made by a cataclysm and she had been tied up. She jumped as she heard a knock on the door.

"Marinette, Alya? Is everything ok?" Sabine asked, making Alya panic.

"Uh... yeah, we just started to play a game and there was a jump scare in it," She gasped, scrambling to look for her phone. "Sorry for worrying you, Mrs Cheng,"

"Very well," She answered, making Alya let out a sigh. "Don't stay up too late,"

"We won't!" She gasped, picking up her phone. However, it had been cracked. "Oh shoot,"

She got up and looked around, just as Anatis landed in the room. He looked around, confused and concerned.

"Alya, what happened?" He asked as she rushed over to him.

"I don't know but I got akumatized but it was weird because I wasn't angry or anything," She gasped, making him frown. "I don't remember exactly how but somehow a butterfly man used me to get into the room and then he kidnapped Marinette! And the wall was cataclysmed but I don't remember Lady Noire been around and I woke up tied up!"

"Tied up?" He asked as she pointed to the belt. He picked it up and frowned before noticing the robot head. "Marvok?"

"Huh?" She asked, looking over as he picked it up. "Wait but Max wasn't here?!"

He remained silent before noticing the picture on the floor. He picked it up and frowned deeply.

"Something feels off," He replied, turning to her. "Does Marinette have her phone on her?"

"I think so but mine is broken," She replied before noticing the computer. She rushed over and used it to phone Marinette's phone. She didn't answer, making Anatis frown before he moved her over and typed, bringing up her phone tracker. It was moving very fast.

"She's heading towards the Eiffel tower," He muttered, making Alya frown before he turned to her. "Keep trying to get through to her and I'm going to head there,"

"Ok," She nodded, phoning again as he jumped out of the window and headed into the night. "Wonder how he realised something had happened,"

~Meanwhile~

The evil bug swung through the city as the evil cat followed him, running up the TV station building before he swung up and landed on the roof of it, frowning as he did. His partner landed next to him and let out a dramatic sigh.

"Oh, which way did he go?!" She pouted as he scanned the city. "This place is so big and different to our place that he could be anywhere,"

"Stop being dramatic," He replied, looking at her. "The only difference between here and our world is the lack of burning buildings. This is still Paris and Atlas is still predictable. Lucky charm!"

He threw up his yoyo, summoning the magical bugs that transformed into an item. It fell and he caught it, causing a smirk to appear on his lips.

"Ooo, what useless trash did you get?" The cat girl asked as she stretched and yawned, showing off her fangs.

"A butterfly tracker... kind of..." He replied, holding it up to his eyes. "It tracks the pheromones that butterflies release,"

"Urg, why do you always pretend to have a smart plan?" She groaned, rolling her eyes. "All you have is !"Luck","

She made air quotations with her fingers as he rolled his eyes.

"I don't see you coming up with a plan, Fleabag," He replied as he found the trail. He moved til he saw the butterfly. "Got ya,"

He called off the lucky charm, causing it to disappear in a puff of red smoke.

"It's heading to the Eiffel tower," He declared, taking out his yoyo. "Let's go greet our old friend,"

"Right behind ya, cockroach," The cat declared, jumping off the building as her partner swung into the city.

~Meanwhile at the Eiffel Tower~

Atlas jumped and landed on the Eiffel tower before jumping inside and gently placing Marinette down on the stairs, making her look at him with surprise as he stood up.

"Whatever happens, stay here where it's safe," He instructed before shaking his head. "No one should suffer because of a battle that isn't there,"

"Huh?" Marinette asked as he looked out towards the night sky. A white butterfly fluttered towards him, making him smile and open his cane.

"Thank you for your help, little kamiko," He declared, holding the cane up to it. It flew inside, landing on a tiny perch inside the cane before the top closed.

"That's not an akuma?" Marinette asked, pointing to it. She was starting to conclude that this man wasn't Hawk Moth, an akuma or even a villain at all. He looked at her confused.

"An akuma?" He asked, confirming that he didn't know what one was. She was about to explain but the tower suddenly started to rust, making her gasp and stand up. Before Atlas could react, the rust hit their area, causing the floor to give away. Marinette screamed as she fell but luckily Atlas caught her. "Are you ok?"

She nodded, causing him to look relieved before he rushed over to the stairs, taking cover and glancing over the walls. She did the same and gasp as she saw a twisted version of her hero self, landing on the ground and hiss.

"He got away!" Her reflection hissed, making Marinette narrow her eyes. What was going on? "I thought your lucky charm was supposed to guarantee us victory?"

"Well, it would have done but you didn't think. As usual," A calm but cold voice replied. It was oddly familiar but instead of filling her with hope and warmth, it made her blood run cold and a sense of despair washed over her. Her eyes widened as the owner of the voice landed next to her dark reflection. Like hers, he was a twisted, dark reflection of Anatis. His outfit reflected a Pine Ladybug just as Anatis reflected his name sake but just looking at him filled her with a sense of dread that made her want to puke. Her reflection rolled her eyes.

"You know I prefer intentional harm over your lucky charm," She declared, skipping over to him. "More direct,"

"But not very discreet and even less clever," The evil bug declared, crossing his arms. The evil cat kipped over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, making him roll his eyes.

"Don't be mad, Cockroach. He can't be that far," She declared before letting go of him and cupping her mouth with her hands. "Butterfly! We know you're hiding here!"

"Show yourself!" He shouted too, causing the cat to smirk. However, Atlas didn't come out of his hiding place, making the evil bug frown deeply. "Fleabag,"

"Yes, Cockroach?" She asked, skipping back over.

"You know what to do," She smirked, removing her hand from his and holding it up in the air. A dark bubble began to form, causing both Atlas and Marinette's eyes to widen with fear. The very atmosphere changed and the earth itself trembled. Marinette couldn't believe what she was seeing. How was she amplifying her cataclysm like that? Could it be Plagg's Master Power? Or was it like that because her intentions weren't good.

"Atlas, better show yourself or I'll let her turn this place to ash," He declared, making Atlas frown before turning to Marinette. 

"I'm sorry that you got involved in this fight. Please take care of yourself and as soon as you can, get out of here," He declared before jumping over the wall and running over to them. "Stop! The people of this world haven't harmed you!"

"You know what to do then," The evil cat girl hissed, calling off her power.

"Return the miraculous you stole!" The beetle declared, summoning a large blade before charging at Atlas. He dodged and began to engage in a fight with them. Marinette gasped and ducked down as Plagg flew out.

"Are you ok, Pigtails?" He asked, making her nod before her phone rang. She quickly answered it and saw it was Alya.

"Marinette, thank goodness!" She gasped, the panic leaving her body. "Did you get away from the supervillain?"

"I don't think he's a villain, Alya," She whispered in a hush voice, causing Alya to give her a look. "I think he's a holder of the butterfly miraculous but he's not Shadow Moth and I'm pretty certain he's a hero,"

"What makes you say that?" She asked as the video flickered, confusing Marinette. However, she turned her phone to the current battle, showing Alya the two newcomers. Atlas was struggling to hold back the beetle, who roughly grabbed him and threw him across the pavement and into a car.

"Look around you," Atlas gasped, getting up. "A better world than ours is possible,"

"You think I care about that?!" The evil cat declared, diving at him. Atlas jumped and rolled over of the way before she slammed her hand on a car that was behind him, turning it to dust before she turned to Atlas and grinned, charging at him. He managed to knock her back with his cane but before he could follow up his attack, the beetle brutally slammed his blade into the back of his head. 

"They have the same powers as Anatis and Lady Noire?!" Alya gasped, shocked. "I need to warn Anatis,"

"Anatis is on his way?" Marinette asked.

"The supreme is using you!" Atlas declared, getting Marinette's attention again as the Beetle summoned a new luck charm and threw it at him, trapping his cape with it. He yanked it out and turned to him. "The supreme abuses their powers,"

The beetle threw another weapon at him, sending him flying. Atlas landed on the ground and tried to get up as the bug stalked over.

"You shouldn't have taken what didn't belong to you," He declared, roughly grabbing Atlas around the throat. The cat slinged over and smirked as he tightened his grip. "I'll give you one chance, Atlas. Give back what you took or die and I'll take them from your corpse,"

"I gotta go, Alya," Marinette declared, hanging up. "Plagg, we can't let them kill him!"

"Be careful, Pigtails. They're holders of the ladybug and black cat miraculous from one of the many parallel universes that exist only these two aren't nice,"

"I figured that," She replied before watching them, narrowing her eyes as she did. She wanted to rush in but she didn't know all of the facts. "How come they can use their powers without changing back? Do they have high levels?"

"I don't sense attunement from them but as for the lack of detransformation," Plagg stopped before frowning. "As you know, the transformation draws a lot of energy from both the kwami and the holder but Feng put in a fail safe for those too young to handle it,"

"Yeah, we turn back to us,"

"It seems their miraculous don't have that fail safe," Plagg declared, looking over. Atlas was sent flying across the ground again before jumping and diving out of the way of the cat, who broke the area he had been in. He said something about power being shared before the beetle summoned another charm for himself and charged at him. "No auto-detransformation for them which means unlimited power but the cost for that is..."

"Terrible," Marinette declared, shocked before holding up her hand. "We have to stop them. Plagg, Claws Out!"

She transformed and jumped over, just as the bug sent Atlas flying again. Clearly running out of energy, Atlas tried to get up but the evil cat used her baton to push him back down. The bug stalked over and went to reach for his miraculous but Atlas grabbed his wrist.

"Join the resistance," He gasped, making the beetle look at him. "Everything can change. This world is proof of it,"

The beetle narrowed his eyes as Atlas pleaded.

"It's not too late for you two," He gasped, causing the cat's eyes to widen. However, the beetle didn't seem bothered by his words.

"Give it up, pest," He replied, holding up his hand and summoning his new weapon. "The resistance ends here... with you,"

He went to stab him but Lady Noire threw her baton, knocking his lucky charm out of his hand. He glanced up and narrowed his eyes at her.

"I never thought I would say this," She mumbled before holding out her baton and pointing at them. "But stay away from the butterfly man!"

"Another mangy fleabag?" He asked in a bored tone as his partner went 'hey'. "As if one cat isn't annoying enough,"

"The name is Lady Noire," She declared, narrowing her eyes. "Hand over your miraculous. They shouldn't be used for evil. Only for the greater good!"

"How disguising," He hissed before taking out his yoyo. Three blades appeared out of the end of it before he charged at her, making her gasp. "Here, kitty kitty!"

He smirked evilly, trying to slam his yoyo into her. She jumped back and blocked it, only for the other cat to try and slam her baton into her. He threw his yoyo at her and it wrapped around her waist, causing her to gasp before he pulled her in and spun her around before throwing her towards the beams of the Eiffel tower. Atlas took the chance to jump and catch her before she could hit the beams. However, the beetle saw his chance and summoned a lucky charm that was a car. The cat jumped up and kicked it towards them, causing it to knock into them and trap them against the wall.

"Prosperity," The beetle declared, changing his yoyo into a morning star mace. It dragged across the ground as he stalked over. Lady Noire and Atlas tried to push it off them before Lady Noire held up her hand. 

"Cataclysm!" She declared but before she could use it on the car, it disappeared and the morning star wrapped around her waist, pulling her to the beetle. She went to slam her hand on the mace but he yanked it, causing her to spin and land on the ground. She managed to stop herself from wasting her cataclysm. He smirked and lifted the mace, ready to swing it at her but before he could, Anatis dived at him and slammed his feet into his body, sending him flying. "Annie!"

"Are you ok, kitten?" He asked, helping her up and looking to Atlas. "... So it was real..."

"I'm sorry?" Atlas asked but Anatis shook his head and took out his yoyo.

"I'll explain later," He replied, making him frown. "Prosperity!"

His yoyo turned into a shield, causing him to raise an eyebrow before he saw the other beetle charging at him, along with his cat. He blocked their attack with the shield before the two of them began to fight. Anatis managed to send the beetle flying again, causing the cat to attack him as Lady Noire ran at him. He jumped up, allowing her to slide between his legs before she grabbed his arm and held up her cataclysmal hand to him.

"Easy there, Beetle," She declared, making him look at her. "Other cat, back off from Annie now or your bug gets it,"

The other cat looked at her before holding her hands up.

"Lucky charm," Anatis declared, getting handcuffs. He placed them around her wrists but something felt off.

"You haven't got it in you to hurt me," The beetle declared, making Lady Noire glare at him.

"Don't test me, bug boy," She declared but before either of them could react, he moved his arm and spun her around. He grabbed her cataclysmal hand and pulled it closer to him, making her eyes widen. "Wait!"

"Aww, is the pretty kitty scared to use her claws?" He mocked, smirking before he pressed her hand to his chest, causing her to jolt back. Anatis yelled out but the cat took the chance to slam her body into his. He used the shield to block her as Lady Noire stared in shock at the beetle. He was breathing heavily but smirked as he looked up. "Think that can stop me? Well, now you're out of your power,"

"W-what?" She gasped but he suddenly ran at her and punched her, sending her flying into a building before turning his attention on Anatis. He summoned a lucky charm which was a rocket launcher and fired it at Anatis, causing Anatis to block it with his shield. The other beetle smirked as his shield turned back into a yoyo before he fired again at Anatis. Anatis spun his yoyo and blocked the rockets before throwing his yoyo and knocking it out of his hands. 

"Enough," He declared, wrapping the yoyo around the other beetle. "You're injured and this battle is pointless. Surrender your miraculous and we'll get your medical attention,"

"You think a little cataclysm can stop me?!" He smirked, getting out of the string of the yoyo before grabbing it and pulling it. Anatis was pulled over to him, making him smirk. He punched him, sending him flying into the wall before he jumped up and held out his yoyo ready to fight. The other beetle smirked. "Fleabag,"

"Cataclysm!" The other cat declared, destroying his lucky charm. "Oops!"

"Now you have no lucky charm," He declared, making Anatis narrow his eyes. "Well, I'm assuming that's the case since you haven't tried to summon another one. Am I right? I am, aren't I?"

"Even if you are, we'll defeat you," Lady Noire declared as she landed next to Anatis. "Ready, Annie?"

"... How are they using their powers without transforming back?" He asked, making her look at him. He looked extremely worried, causing her to look at her. "That can't be good,"

"It isn't," Atlas replied, trying to climb up. "But Brumus and Lady Ombre don't care,"

"Brumus?" Anatis echoed before looking over at his counterpart. Brumus smirked and waved at him before calling for his lucky charm. He got another rocket launcher before firing it at Atlas. Anatis jumped down and blocked the rocket before Lady Noire ran at Brumus as Lady Ombre dived at Anatis, causing him to use his yoyo to block her move. Brumus fired a rocket at Lady Noire who jumped at it and knocked it back at him, causing him to call off his charm. Lady Noire jumped into the rafters as Anatis threw Lady Ombre into a wall. She took a deep breath and let out a scream, pushing Brumus back. He used his yoyo to block her attack before jumping out of the way as Anatis charged at him. He dived out the way and spun the mace around, trying to hit Anatis with it. However, Anatis threw his yoyo and wrapped it around the mace before slamming it into the ground, forcing it to turn back into a yoyo. Brumus summoned a helmet and quickly attached it to his yoyo before trying to continue to hit Anatis with it. Seeing her chance, Lady Noire dived at him. However, he saw her and got rid of the helmet before summoning a new lucky charm that was a grenade launcher. He smirked evilly as he pointed it towards her with his fingers on the trigger.

"Lady Noir!" Anatis cried out, running towards her. Atlas quickly released his butterfly and transformed it into a kamiko before releasing it towards Lady Noire. It flew over to her and landed in her baton, opening a connection between them. Time slowed down for her as her eyes widened in shock.

Hey... what are you doing? She gasped in her mind. It was nothing like what it felt when she became Princess Justice. Sure, she didn't remember being Princess Justice but she remembered what the akuma felt like. It had been cold and intrusive. She had been scared and he played on her fear and hurt but this didn't feel like that. It felt strange. Warm and almost like a hug.

Lady Celestia, I am Atlas. His voice echoed in her mind but it wasn't intrusive like how Hawkmoth's had been. He wasn't trying to force her into transforming. He was trying to help her. I want to entrust you with the power to save us from Brumus and Lady Ombre. For the greater good, do you accept the gift I'm offering you, Lady Celestia?

I do. She replied, causing her body to be covered in a light purple smog. When it disappeared, her form had changed. Her costume had turned white. Her hair was mostly white too but there were green highlights in it. She also had two massive wings and was also emitted a brilliant light. There was even a halo over her head. However, Anatis wasn't looking up at her with awe but with terror. All he could see was Lady Blanche. On the other hand, Lady Ombre had shielded her eyes as Brumus had fallen back like the light was hurting him.

"Brace for take off!" Lady Celestia declared, grabbing his arm and then Atlas' before flying off. Lady Ombre lowered her hand, frowning.

"They got away," She gasped before turning to Brumus, who was leaning against the wall. He had his eyes closed and was breathing in heavily. "Cockroach? Are you ok?"

"Do I look ok, you dumb cat?!" He snarled, glaring at her and making her coward away. His eyes were bloodshot and his irises had changed from cold blue and burning gold. He slammed his fist into the wall, cracking it before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. When he reopened them, the cold blue was back. "We need to find them,"

"T-They can't have got far," She gasped. "Maybe we look around?"

"Fine," He declared, rolling his eyes. "Let's go,"

She nodded and followed him as he threw his yoyo and swung off.

~Meanwhile~

Lady Celestia flew down into the catacombs of Paris and into the sewers, fluttering down. She let Atlas and Anatis down before landing on the ground. Atlas was about to call his kamiko back but she shook her head when she noticed Anatis leaning against the wall, refusing to look at her. Instead, he was talking to himself.

"It's not the same," He muttered, making her and Atlas frown. "It's not her,"

"Anatis?" Lady Celestia stated, carefully walking over to her. She gently leaned down and carefully held out her hand, making him look at it. "It's ok. I'm still me. Just with an upgrade,"

He still refused to look at her, causing her to move her wings so they were in his line of sight.

"Look. I have wings and a halo," She grinned, making him slowly look over. He took in her look and noticed the highlights in her hair and that her eyes were still green. Relief flooded his eyes, causing him to hug her. She wrapped her arms around him. "It's ok,"

"I'm sorry," He whispered, making her frown. She gave Atlas a nod, causing him to call off his kamiko and turning her back into her normal form. "You're still you,"

"I'm still me," She responded, just as both her ring and his earrings beeped. Atlas gave them a nod before heading behind a wall. Anatis let go of Lady Noir and moved behind another wall as she did the same. "Claws in,"

"Spots off," He declared, turning back into Luka. He handed Tikki a cookie before leaning on the side and taking a breath. He closed his eyes but opened them when he heard Atlas crying. His heart song sung of pain and loss but dreamt of hope. "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry... it just... your world is so beautiful," Atlas replied, surprising both of them. "You help each other. You're partners and equals,"

"Is it not the same in your world?" Marinette asked, frowning. Brumus and Lady Ombre seemed to work together.

"No, Brumus is the leader and Lady Ombre is his sidekick," Atlas responded, frowning as he sat down. "In my world, any form of mutual aid is a crime,"

"But you use your miraculous for good," Luka replied, frowning. "Does that make you a criminal?"

"Yes," He replied, sighing. "In my universe, ordinary people don't know about the miraculous exist. It's a secret. Instead, they all belong to the Supreme. He only uses them to preducate his own power,"

"The Supreme?" Both of them question.

"The title of evil being who rules the world where I come," He replied, making them frown. "There's many legends about him. Some say he's immortal and others say the title is passed down through family members,"

"How did you find out about the miraculous?" Marinette asked, curious.

"Sometimes, he entrusts them to the powerful of my world," Atlas explained, glancing down at the ground. "All of whom have sworn loyalty to him. I too was a part of this corrupt system but I got greedy. In order to get something me and my wife desperately wanted, I stole two. The butterfly and the peacock but I misused them and hurt the people I loved,"

"I'm sorry, Atlas," Luka responded, pressing his hand to his heart.

"No, it was my fault," He replied, frowning. "I thought it was ok but then... she was taken from me,"

"She?" Marinette asked, frowning.

"My wife," He replied, looking up as tears pricked his eyes. "The Supreme killed her to punish me,"

Marinette and Luka went quiet, waiting for Atlas to continue.

"That's when I realised that they would stop at nothing and so I decided to redeem myself and use the miraculous I stole for good," He continued. "So I changed my name and took on the new identity of Atlas. I thought it was suitable as I felt like I was holding the weight of the world on my shoulders and because like a moth, I had no choice but to fly in the shadows in order to give people hope. The perfect identity of a reformed villain and I started to fight back. It was just me on my own at first and it was hard, especially when the cult announced the resurrection of the Supreme and when Brumus turned up but someone had to show them that we must revolt. That a better world is possible provided that power is shared between all. It wasn't long after that I gained allies. Alya Cerise was one of them but the turning point was when an anonymous person joined us. With their money and influence, we were able to get a better hold in the world but it's still far from perfect,"

He went silent for a moment.

"We got close to winning," He declared. "My champion Queen Justice defeated Ikuchi and Orochi.... but then Brumus turned up. He beat my champion with pure brutality and cunning before declaring war on me. Like me, he was alone at first but he was able to sway people on his side, seducing them with his promises and words. That's how he got his team. He promised them what they wanted,"

"And they fell for it,"

"Exactly,"

"This anonymous person... Do you know who it is?"

"No, we don't," Atlas replied, frowning. "The only thing we have to go is that they use the code name Vixen but other than that we have nothing on them. We did have support from the Bourgeois family at one point but Brumus got to their daughter Chloe.... but now that I've seen your world, I know that my dream is not just an impossible utopia and you can help me reach it,"

"You know our world is not all that perfect," Luka replied, looking down at Tikki who gently placed her paw on his chest. "We almost lost recently. The one who has your miraculous... he uses it for evil and then there's the false guardian Su Han. They tried to steal the miraculous. As a result, one of our mentors died and the other lost his memory,"

Luka sunk down onto the ground and hugged his knees as his mind drifted and insecurities crept up on him.

"How can I help save your world when I can't even seem to save mine?" He whispered, more to himself than anyone else but both Atlas and Marinette heard regardless. He didn't say it but both could tell what he was thinking. He was blaming himself. Marinette pressed her hand against the wall as Atlas frowned, feeling his emotions before he stood up.

"Your world is still standing and not burning," Atlas declared, wanting to reassure him. "And your values are pure and true. Your mentors may be gone but they would be proud of who you are,"

"He's right, Annie," Marinette declared as Plagg nodded. "You did your best to save them and you freed Zoe from Su Han's clutches so please don't blame yourself,"

".... Thanks, Kitten," He replied but their words offered no comfort. He appreciated the effort though.

~Meanwhile~

"Urg!! They got away!!" Lady Ombre declared as Brumus and her walked down the street, glancing around. "Why didn't you grab onto that flying fleabag and why did your eyes go weird?"

He didn't reply and continued walking, speeding up a little.

"Hey! Answer me!" Lady Ombre declared, catching up to him and moving so she was in front of him. He pushed her out of the way, making her hiss. "Oh, come on! You must be kicking yourself for not doing that and now you're sulking because they got away! You must fe-!"

"Oh my god! Do you ever shut up?!" He snapped, turning to glare at her.

"Excuse me but I'm not the one who let them get away!"

"Oh yes because every little plan is down to me!" He retorted before shoving her. "Well, maybe if you weren't a lazy idiot, I wouldn't have to pick up your pace!"

"I'm not lazy, you dumb cockroach!" She screamed back, shoving him back and pointing at his chest. "Well, maybe I should just get rid of you since I don't need you!"

"Need me?! You'd be nothing without me!" He screamed, slapping her hand away. "I'm the brains here! You're just the brawn! You're nothing without me!"

"Nothing?! If I was nothing, why bother with me huh?!" She yelled back, getting in his face. "I'd be better on my own!"

"Oh yeah!" He snarled back, getting in her face. "Well, good luck with that!"

"Oh really?!"

"Yeah, really!" He snarled. "You're nobody!"

"I'm not a nobody!" She screamed. "I'll be the one who will take back the butterfly miraculous and the one the Supreme spares!"

"In your dreams, fleabag!" He screamed, making her growl but an akuma fluttered over to them, causing her to notice.

"A kamiko!" She declared, pointing towards it. Brumus jumped back before it could enter his yoyo and quickly swiped it up with it. She suddenly shoved him, making him glare at her. "If you didn't make me so angry, Atlas wouldn't have tracked our emotions!"

"I made you angry?!" He snarled. "You infuriate me!"

"Urg! Why do you always use such big words?!" She screamed, glaring at him again. He laughed wickedly, making her hiss. "Well?!"

"Well, if you weren't so dumb then you'd be able to understand them!" He declared, making her glare at him. "Now shut up! I need to think and check over this butterfly,"

"Why do you need to check over it?!" She asked as he opened his yoyo and took it out, checking it over. "It's a Kamiko, idiot!"

"No, it isn't," He replied, putting it back in and causing her to stare at him. "It feels more negative and dark... but that is something we can worry about later on. Right now, we need to catch up with Atlas,"

"So what do we do now?"

"Luckily for you, I still have my brain intact and a lead," He replied, taking out his yoyo and throwing it up. He swung away, causing Lady Ombre to follow him. The two of them swung through the buildings until they came back to Marinette's place, causing Alya to hide as she was still in the room. Brumus landed in the room first and glanced around as Lady Ombre landed next to him.

"Urg, she escaped," Lady Ombre declared as Brumus picked up his belt and put it back on.

"That isn't our concern," He declared, moving over to the computer. "Atlas opened the portal here for a reason so search around. If we can't find anything here, we'll try my next lead,"

"Fine," She replied, beginning to search. "Hey, Brummy,"

"I told you not to call me that,"

"Whatever," She responded, making him roll his eyes. "Do you think they have a supreme here?"

"I doubt it," He replied, searching through Marinette's things as Lady Ombre did the same, coming across her counterpart's diary. She glanced over and saw Brumus was too busy, searching through other things so she opened it, seeing a picture of her and Alya smiling. Her heart ached as she saw it. "What did you find?"

"Nothing important, Cockroach," She replied, holding it up. "It's her diary. What about you?"

"Nothing," He replied, making her frown. "Time to try my other lead,"

"Well, I'm going to stay and read this," She replied, making him tilt his head. "In case it contains something,"

"Fine," He replied, rolling his eyes. "I'll meet you back here then,"

"Ok," She replied, climbing up to the bed to sit and read it. He rolled his eyes again before swinging out into the night. He moved quickly towards the Seine before dropping down on the Liberty. He glanced around before closing his eyes.

"Blots off," He declared, transforming into his civilian form. In almost every way, he looked like Luka. Same hairstyle, same clothing but instead of having blue and black hair, his hair was toxic green and black and where he wore a blue hoodie in this world, he wore a black hoodie instead. His skin was much more pale and he had thick eyeliner on as well. He caught Tikki and took out a cookie for her from his pocket, placing her on his shoulder as he walked over to the door. He stopped in front of it and placed his hand on it. "Kcolnu,"

The lock clicked, causing him to smirk and open the door. He descended down the stairs and turned on the lights, looking around. 

"How very quaint," He replied, glancing around before closing his eyes for a few seconds. "Hmm, no one is home. We won't be disturbed. What do you think, Tikki?"

"It's nice," She replied, floating up. "Homely even,"

"Enough to make me sick," He replied, walking over to the pictures of the family. He picked up on showing his counterpart, his sister and their mother a few years ago. "He grew up here. No one stole him away in the night,"

With a surprising amount of gentleness, he put the picture back and walked away, heading into the back of the boat. Even in this world, his mother was a tornado of chaos but she seemed nice here. His mother on the other hand... He narrowed his eyes at the thought of her. That witch didn't even try to help him. Not when that cult took him away and not when he returned to Paris after escaping from them. She didn't care for him at all.

"I can only rely on myself," He muttered darkly to himself. As he did, shadows seemed to follow him. "Well, myself and you,"

We are one and so we rely on each other. A dark voice echoed. If anyone had been in the room, they would have either lost their minds or broken down in fear from the voice but luckily, no one was. Luka pushed open the door, leading to his counterpart's room and glanced around before walking over to the bed. He placed his hand on the pillow, causing his eyes to roll into the back of his head for a few minutes as Tikki flew over.

"What do you see?"

"He's plagued by nightmares," He replied. "Pathetic,"

"Anything else?"

"Well, there's other kwamis here and he is almost a perfect reflection of me," He continued, picking up the guitar and strumming it. "He is Anatis and he has magic, just like me but his heart bleeds where mine freezes,"

"Why didn't Atlas just open the portal here?"

"He obviously doesn't know Anatis' identity and was hoping that a girl called Marinette would lead him to them," He replied, playing a haunting melody on the guitar. "A logical conclusion. She seems to have some sort of relationship with him. I saw the pictures in her room,"

"... Will you hurt him?"

"Are you worried about him, Tikki?" He asked, glancing up at her. She plays with her paws.

"I have memories with him too," She replied but the information isn't anything he doesn't already know. Kwamis, Renlings and Spirits simultaneously live in all universes. Technically speaking, so did he. It just worked differently as he wasn't completely a spirit. He was human too. The way they perceive things are different and if they perceive things and memories the same way as Kwamis, Renlings and Spirits do, it would drive them insane. He had the same restrictions as a human in that sense but he was also able to view his counterpart's memories due to his spirit nature.

"I can't promise anything, Tikki," He responded, making Tikki frown. He didn't like to disappoint her but he wasn't going to let anyone win. Not the cult who raised him. Not the family who abandoned him. Not that stupid butterfly and certainly not a version of himself who had everything given to him on a silver platter. "Sorry but if he stands in my way, I will tear him down,"

"I see," She replied, frowning before flying over to him. "Are you done searching here?"

"I am," He replied, placing down the guitar. "Blots on,"

He transformed into Brumus and turned to the porthole. He went to leave but stopped for a moment and took one last look at the room he was in. It was a nice room with a warm bed. His counterpart here had a good life and that made him mad. It was nothing like the life he had back in his world. The cult that stole him kept him locked away didn't exist. His counterpart had it easy. He gritted his teeth and climbed out of the porthole, swinging off into the night. It didn't take him long to get back to Marinette's house. He landed through the hole in the roof and glanced around, frowning. The room appeared to be empty.

"Where did that stupid cat go now?" He sighed, glancing around. The room was dark and he couldn't see her anywhere. He frowned before she suddenly came at him, knocking him down and going to grab his earrings. "Luc-"

She ripped them out of his ears before he could summon his power and restrained him with a spare belt she had grabbed. She stood up and made a shush noise as she held up her finger to her lips, causing him to glare at her but he decided to let it pay out and see what she would do. She raised an eyebrow at him as he glared at her.

"I know you," She whispered before leaning in and wiping his cheek, revealing that he had been wearing makeup. "Make up... of course..."

She straightened up and put the earrings in, causing Tikki to manifest. She glanced worriedly at Luka, who gave her a nod as Lady Ombre walked away and picked up the diary. She ripped out a diary page and held it in her hand as she read it.

"Daggers in," She declared, turning into her civilian form as his eyes widened in surprise. Marinette. She looked very similar to this world's version but more goth. She wore combat boots instead of ballet pumps and a leather jacket instead of a cardigan. His eyes widened though as he stared at her. She was someone who he would never forget. He had first met her before he was Brumus. Before he had power. It had been when he had returned from Paris and had nowhere to go. Despite turning to his mother, she wanted nothing to do with him and let him rot on the street. He was hungry and cold. It had been raining and he was hiding in a doorway near the bakery from the rain. She had come out to put some trash out and saw him. She had put the trash away and headed back in but to his surprise, she came back over and gave him a small loaf of bread with a gentle smile. She had been the only person to ever show him any real kindness. That kindness had stopped him from killing her when she was Queen Justice. She turned to him with a cold look in her eyes as well. "You know me?"

He didn't reply, just glanced to the side as a light blush appeared on his face. Mentally scolding him, he moved his eyes over to her again. Luckily, she didn't seem that bothered.

"Hm, never mind," She replied, holding the page in her hand. "Tikki! Plagg! Reveal yourself!"

The two kwamis transformed into massive creatures with multiple arms and wings. The room around them melted into a different space as Luka glanced around, waiting for the right moment.

"Why fight for a better life when I can just switch with someone else," She explained before looking at him with a soft look. "I'll include you in my wish too,"

He looked at her with surprise, generally not expecting that before she turned back to the god like kwamis.

"Null! Reveal yourself!" She declared, throwing her hand out. However, the symbol of the Supreme appeared below her and both Tikki and Plagg cried out in pain, making Marinette look at them in horror and fear before the symbol surrounded her.

"Only the Supreme defines reality," A voice echoed, making this version of Marinette step back in horror. "And you are not the Supreme!"

The space exploded back into Marinette's room, knocking Marinette back and causing her to hit the mirror, breaking it before she fell to the floor, panting in pain.

"Marinette, is everything alright?!" Her counterpart's mother called through the trap door, having heard her fall from downstairs.

"Yeah! Whatever! Just get off my back!" She shouted back in an angry way.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Her 'mother' asked, causing her to roll her eyes.

"Yes! I'm ok!" She snarled, going to shout more but she looked over at Luka, who was looking at the trap door with a look she had never seen on Brumus' face. He looked so sad and at the same time like he would give up everything just to have a mother ask him if he was ok. It caused her heart to ache to see him with that expression. Her partner who was usually so brutal and cold looked like he was about to cry. She felt bad for shouting. "Sorry, mummy dear. I just..."

She quickly looked around for an excuse, seeing the sewing machine on the ground.

"Broke my sewing machine but it's fine," She continued before she paused as she saw her reflection. The black veins on her face had gotten much worse and she was so much more pale than before. "... It's just slightly damaged,"

"Don't worry, sweetie, we'll take care of it," Sabine replied. "Broken things can always be fixed,"

Sabine paused, making Marinette frown.

"Good night, sweetie," She stated, surprising her. "I love you,"

"I... I love you too, mum..." She replied, hearing her walk away as her eyes filled with tears. If only her real mother felt the same. Luka frowned as her tears fell. His eyes turned a copper colour and he took a deep breath.

"Em eerf," He declared, causing the belt she had tied him up with to let him go before he got up and stood in front of her before leaning down and taking the earrings off her, He put them back in his ears, causing Tikki to reappear. "Tikki... if I was to make the wish... would it work?"

"I... I don't know..." She answered honestly, making him frown and look at her. "The seal on Plagg is powerful,"

"But I am the current Supreme," He answered, causing Marinette to look at him with shock. "Are you telling me that even with my power, the wish won't work?"

"I think you'd have to remove his seal like you removed mine," She answered, making him frown. "And even then I don't know if the fake Supreme has put other spells,"

"F-Fake supreme?" Marinette asked with a confused expression as she wiped away her tears. "I don't understand,"

"The cult that once worshipped the Supreme are using the idea of the Supreme to further their own goals," He replied, looking over at the Paris they were currently in. "Their leader stole the title and used it to keep the rich and powerful of the world in power... but I'm the real Supreme. The rightful heir,"

"Do they know?"

"No," He replied, turning to her. "Lord Fu knew and so did Misha but even they wanted to use me for their own goals,"

He narrowed his eyes.

"That's why they had to go," He replied, making her look at him in more shock. He walked over to her and gently kneel down, cupping her face with his hand. Normally, he would kill her for daring to double cross him but even though she tried to make a wish, she still included him. He knew she could be his greatest ally. Of course, if she failed him, he'd get rid of her too but right now, she might be the only one on his side. "But you... you wanted to include me in your wish and you showed me kindness when no one else would. I know you technically double-crossed me... but you're different from the others,"

"Did you know about the wish?"

"No," He answered, frowning. If he knew about it, he would have used it already.

"... Why didn't they tell us about it...?"

"For the same reason why they didn't tell us that using our miraculous would slowly destroy us,"

"Even though you're the Supreme?"

"Even I'm not immune to the ill effects. It's just slower for me," He admitted, making her frown before he turned to Tikki. "Blots on,"

He turned back into Brumus and looked out at the sky.

"What now?" Marinette asked, wiping her eyes again.

"We find some allies," He replied, surprising her. "We take back the butterfly and we take the miraculous of Anatis and Lady Noire. Once we have them, we use their wish to destroy the cult and rebuild our lives,"

He turned to her but his eyes narrowed as he saw a shadow moving. He threw his yoyo and caught Alya, pulling her out and roughly grabbing her arm.

"You," He growled, making her gasp and struggle to get out of his grip as Marinette turned to her, narrowing her eyes as well. "Where is Atlas?!"

"I d-don't know!" Alya gasped, terrified. He narrowed his eyes and leaned in closer to her. "I swear!"

"Then I have no use for you," He replied, shocking her. "Tóutāi... lead me your power,"

Several deep green veins spreaded from his hand, causing Alya to gasp and drop down to the floor as poison flowed through her before he turned from her and back to Marinette.

"Will you follow the true Supreme?" He asked as Plagg floated over to her. She was looking at him with terror. Well, he could work with fear as well. He didn't need her to sympathise with him or love him. "Or will I have to get rid of you too?"

"I will follow you," She answered. He looked at her and nodded.

"Then get to work," He replied, going back to the cruel person she knew. "We have things to do,"

She transformed into Lady Ombre before the two of them jumped out of the hole in the roof, leaving Alya to die as the poison slowly and painful spreaded across her body.

~Meanwhile in the Sewer~

Luka sighed as he sat against the wall, waiting for Tikki to finish her cookie. He felt terrible and he knew Atlas could feel his emotions too. Wearing the Butterfly Miraculous grants the user the ability of empathy as did the peacock since both were born from concepts related to emotions. As much as he felt down though, Luka couldn't help but wonder about the Supreme. It sounded like that the Supreme ruled the world but Atlas also mentioned rebirth and that there was a legend that said the Supreme was reborn. Just like the Mage in this world. He wondered if the Supreme that Atlas was facing was actually the true one or was it the same as his situation? Was there a fake Supreme in that world just like there is a fake celestial guardian in this world? Is it their version of Su Han or someone else?

"You mentioned the Supreme ruled your world and that there are rumours of him being reborn?" Luka asked. "What exactly did you mean by that?"

"I don't know the full details but while I was in the cult, I learnt that the Supreme is a mage capable of rebirth and resurrection as well as a number of other spells," He replied, making Luka frown. "Though I never have seen his magic... or him actually,"

"Could the Supreme of your world be a fake?" Luka asked, surprising Atlas. The thought had never occurred to him. "We have a similar person here called the Mage and is known as the Celestial Guardian but the current guardian is a fake who murdered the Mage in his past life and used the wish to steal his title. However, he's running out of time. The Mage was reborn and if the fake doesn't destroy him before the ghost festival, the title will be returned back to the true mage. Since your world reflects ours, do you think that's a possibility?"

"It could be," Atlas admitted. "But who could possibly be the real Supreme? What would the fake want to achieve?"

"Probably world domination," Luka replied, frowning. He felt very bad for Atlas. "Regardless, I'm sorry. It must be hard for you,"

"It's ok... realistically speaking, I should be as distraught as you. In my world, I'm hunted relentlessly " He declared, reminding Luka that he can feel what he feels. "No one believes in heroes and everyone is afraid of the supreme and his cult.... I am so lonely,"

"How do you not give up?" Luka asked, looking down. If he was in Atlas' shoes, he'd give up. He's come close to it already but luckily, Lady Noire, Juleka, the rest of his family and his friends refused to give up on him. After all, they care for him and are his support. Something that Atlas doesn't have.

"I hold onto the one thing I have," Atlas replied, making Luka listen even more. "Hope! The hope for a better world! The hope that people can evolve! For a single decision that can change a single lifetime!"

"Is it really that powerful?"

"Of course!" Atlas declared, jumping up. "Hope is the most powerful thing in the world! It can overcome any situation as long as you believe in it!"

"But it seems hopeless right now," Luka sighed, looking down. Tikki gently placed her paw on his arm to reassure him. Atlas frowned a little as he got the impression that he wasn't talking about the current situation but he was an empath, not a psychic. All he could sense is the boy is in some sort of turmoil. On the other side of the wall, Marinette frowned to herself. She knew Anatis was suffering at the moment as much as Luka was. She believed it to be linked to each other. After all, the two boys were both empaths and best friends. If one suffers, the other does too. She placed her hand on the wall and mentally swore she would do what Feng had asked her. She would find a way to destroy their despair.

"Nothing is hopeless," He declared, surprising Luka and Marinette. "Take our situation right now. Brumus and Lady Ombre may seem like they have more power then you but they don't have your strength... because they know nothing of trust, friendship or love,"

"But does it seem impossible to you?"

"Sometimes yes but that's why I hold on to my hope," Atlas declared. "I truly believe that nothing is hopeless,"

"Hope...." Luka whispered, feeling a calming feeling washing over him as he thought over it. Looking at his personal situation, he wondered if hope was something that could help him. He had lost his mentors, he had been attacked by an evil spirit, he couldn't tell anyone his identity and he was desperately trying to stop his coming akumatization, all which was adding to his stress. Even though he knew he had friends and family willing to help, he was scared of being a burden to them. He didn't want to break them so he had been dealing with it alone. He didn't even burden Tikki or the other kwamis with it... but maybe hope could help him. He gently placed his hand on his heart and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and allowing himself to feel the feelings of everyone around him. He hadn't done that in a while and like someone who hadn't played their favourite song in a while, the music of their hearts flooded his senses. Lady Noire sang of worry and love and Atlas sang of despair and loneliness but mixed in with them was a single yet powerful instrument. It was like when hearing a piece of music that seemed to be dominated by several instruments making noise all at once but yet a single flute continues to play an actual tune. Tears filled Luka's eyes as he pushed past the rest of the emotions and listened to the solo piece. It was a beautiful song of freedom, love and belief. He wiped his tears away and nodded. "Atlas?"

"Yes?"

"You came here for my help so allow me to help you," He declared, causing that song to amplify. "Lady Noire, are you ready to fight our evil counterparts?"

"Damn right!" She declared, making him smile before he turned to Tikki.

"You good, Tikki?"

"Let's go!" She grinned, making him smile back before he swiped his earrings.

"Tikki! Spots on!" He declared, causing a red light to fill the area before he stepped out. Atlas and him heard Lady Noire call on her transformation as a green light filled her area before she stepped out. "Alright, our best bet is to investigate where they entered this world. There might be some clues there,"

~Meanwhile~

"So where are we going?" Lady Ombre asked as they ran across the rooftops. Brumus held up his hand, making her stop before she looked around. They were near the Grand Paris hotel, making her smirk. Chloe should be there and she doubted Chloe was a good person in this world but either way, they could easily sway her to their side. The two of them swung over to the balcony and landed in the shadows and moved closer to the balcony door which was slightly ajar. 

"Oh, what a day!" Chloe declared, flopping on her bed as two other girls followed her into the room. Brumus frowned to himself as Lady Ombre raised an eyebrow. One of them he recognized as Sabrina, Chloe's weak slave but the other girl he hadn't seen her before. The way she held herself was unsure as if she didn't belong. "Zoe? Are you good?"

"I... I'm just not used to this," She mumbled, pushing her blonde hair back. She resembled Chloe but seemed a little... older? They wondered if they were sisters. "I mean I'm used to Mum ignoring me but..."

"You're not used to having friends and not being used by an evil cult?" Chloe asked, making the other girl nod before she got up and hugged her?! Since when did Chloe show any emotion?! Wait... could she be good in this world? The thought disgusted both of them. Lady Ombre looked at Brumus and mouthed 'what now?'.  He rolled his eyes and put his finger onto his lips as they listened."Don't worry. You're free now and part of the good guys,"

"But I was evil?"

"And brainwashed!" Sabrina gasped.

"Exactly!" Chloe replied. "But Anatis saved you just like he saved me! Oh, I should get you a life size cut out of him too!"

"I think I'd prefer Lady Noire?" Zoe blushed, making Chloe grin. "If that's ok?"

"Of course it's ok!" She declared, getting up and walking to the door. "Daddy!"

Brumus gritted his teeth in annoyance while Lady Ombre rolled her eyes but he also paid attention. Zoe was part of a cult? Hmm, that could be useful plus he could work out exactly who is an ally from her. He would just need to borrow her for a few minutes and well, he would feel a lot better if he terrorised some people right now. After all, he had been through a stressful situation... and he supposed Lady Ombre wouldn't mind either. He turned to her and gave her a smirk, making her smirk back before they both looked in the room again. Chloe was just about to reach for the door handle, causing him to smirk and his eyes to change colour.

"Flesruoy kcol," He declared, causing the door to lock itself but also the girls to gasp and spin around as he stepped into the light. "Hello, Ladies,"

"Who the hell are you?!" Chloe declared as Sabrina stepped away in fear. He smirked evilly as Lady Ombre saundered in and leaned against him, placing her arms around his neck. Unlike the other times she had done this, he let her.

"Oh, we're just here to borrow... Zoe was it?" He asked, looking at her. Sabrina stepped in front of her as Chloe grabbed her phone. He narrowed his eyes. "Hand her over and I promise we won't hurt you,"

"I doubt that!" Chloe declared, making him narrow his eyes.

"Lady Ombre," He declared, making her smirk.

"Cataclysm!" She declared, slamming her hand on the wall. Cracks spread up the wall, causing the ceiling to give in and fall on them. Sabrina was the most injured with a cut on her head and was dazed while Chloe was trying to push the debris off her. Zoe's leg was trapped beneath some as well and she was desperately trying to get it off her. Both of them managed to do so. Zoe bolted for the door as Chloe tried to help Sabrina, managing to get her out as Brumus smirked evilly.

"Kakos," He declared, holding out his hand. "Lend me your power,"

Chloe's eyes widened as a flame appeared in his hand. He smirked at her before dropping it.

"Oops," He declared as it hit the ground and burst, causing it to spread through the entire room, filling it with smoke. Chloe quickly dialled the emergency services as Zoe tried to open it. Lady Ombre leaned against the wall as Sabrina grabbed a chair. She charged at Brumus and tried to hit him with it. It broke over him but didn't affect him. He instead grabbed her by her neck and picked her up, choking her. Chloe charged at her but Lady Ombre grabbed her in a choke hold as well and summoned a cataclysm ready to hit her with it. 

"Wait!" Zoe gasped, making both of them stop and look at her. "Please let them go!"

"Agree to come with us and we will," He declared, making her nod. "Say it,"

"I agree!" She gasped, causing him to drop the semi unconscious Sabrina to the ground and for Lady Ombre to shove Chloe to the ground. Both of them gasped for air as he grabbed Zoe's arm and pulled her out of the room, followed by Lady Ombre. Chloe tried to grab her leg but she landed a harsh kick to her stomach, winding her.

"Z-Zoe!" Chloe gasped, dragging herself towards them despite Lady Ombre's kick. She managed to grab Brumus' leg as well. He rolled his eyes and yanked his leg free, kicking her back into the burning room. Chloe landed next to Sabrina, who wasn't moving but didn't give up. Despite her now bleeding nose, she pushed herself up and stumbled towards him. "G-give b-back my s-sister!"

"Hmm... no!" He smirked, using his magic to cause the balcony doors to swing close and lock, trapping her inside. Lady Ombre destroyed the lock with her cataclysm, ensuring that they were trapped in there. Zoe looked terrified as he took out his yoyo, ignoring Chloe banging on the door and trying to open it. The two villains ignored her as they jumped off the building and swung off into the city. The smoke started to get Chloe. She coughed and collapsed onto the ground, still trying weakly to open the door....

~At Marinette's House~

"Anatis!" Sabine gasped, jumping up as he swung through the damaged wall. She had found Alya after she decided to check on Marinette as she had been worried about her. It wasn't like her daughter to snap over nothing but to her horror, she found Alya on the ground, a hole in her daughter's roof and her daughter was nowhere to be seen. She had called an ambulance and tried her best to help Alya while they waited but luckily Anatis had appeared. Her expression was extremely worried, causing him to frown before he glanced around and saw Alya laying on the ground. Her skin was extremely pale and she had green veins across her skin, spreading from a wound on her wrist. He rushed over to her and gently picked up her hand as Sabine moved over. "I found her like that and called an ambulance,"

"What do you know about what happened?" He asked, rushing over as Lady Noire and Atlas landed in the room. Lady Noire gasped as she saw Alya on the ground. Sabine explained what she had heard and how she found Alya. Anatis frowned as he examined the wound. Atlas came over and looked over as Lady Noire reassured Sabine that she had done the right thing and that Marinette was safe despite not being in her room.

"It looks like she's been poisoned," Atlas mumbled, making Anatis frown. Could Brumus poison his enemies?

"Brumus must have done something," He muttered, making Atlas frown as he placed his hand on the wound. His eyes turned silver as he did. He closed his eyes and placed his hand onto where Brumus had placed his hand. Instead of a painful sensation, a cooling sensation spreaded from his hand as a golden liquid spreaded through the poisoned veins, turning them from green to gold. Slowly, the colour came back into Alya's cheeks and the golden veins began to dim. She was still extremely weak but she would live. He turned to Atlas, who was frowning. "Did you know he could do something like that?"

"No," He replied as Alya opened her eyes, weakly grabbing Anatis' arm.

"A-Anatis," She gasped, making him look at her with a gentle look.

"Rest, Alya,"

"T-That beetle..." She gasped. "H-He s-said he's the Su-Supreme,"

"What?" Atlas gasped, making Anatis frown as he carefully picked her up and carried her to the futon. Lady Noire frowned but didn't seem surprised. "Lady Noire?"

"It makes sense," She replied, making him look at her. "Annie, you agree?"

"Yeah," He replied, standing up and walking over to them so they were out of earshot of anyone listening in. "In this world, I am the most recent reincarnation of Hao Feng, known as the Mage and the creator of the miraculous. As the mage, we are a source of good and light but the evil Spirit Simme wants to kill us. I believe in your world it is reversed and the Mage is actually called the Supreme. Brumus is the most recent incarnation as well but unlike me, he is a source of true evil. I suspect that is because his version of Hao Feng made a deal with your world's Simme instead of being saved by Finni. As a result, the rest of his lives were corrupt and their powers followed suit. That's why he can poison people. It must the power of his Tóutāi,"

"How long have you known?" Atlas asked.

"I suspected it as soon as I met him," He admitted, making Atlas look at him with surprise. "But when you told me about how your world works, it kind of confirmed it for me. That's why I asked you if you suspected if the 'Supreme' you know of is fake,"

"I see," Atlas replied, thinking. It made sense plus he didn't blame them for keeping the information from him. After all, they didn't really know him. "But does the fake Supreme know that Brumus is the true one?"

"I doubt that," Anatis replied. "Our fake guardian doesn't know that I'm the true Guardian so I imagine it's the same for Brumus. Lady Ombre might not have known straight away but I think she probably knows now,"

"I see," Atlas replied, frowning. "And the young lady? Will she be ok?"

"She will. I was able to heal her thanks to this world's Tóutāi but I suspect that's how she was poisoned to begin with. SinceI can channel my past lives abilities so it makes sense that Brumus can do the same. He probably channelled the power of his Tóutāi," He replied before his yoyo vibrated again. He took it out and saw it was a news reporter on a fire at the Grand Paris hotel that was spreading to the other buildings. "We need to go. Mrs Cheng, can you keep an eye on Alya until the ambulance comes?"

"Of course," She nodded, making him thank her.

"Let's go," He declared, jumping out and swinging off into the night as the other two followed. As they did, they could see the flames that were ravaging everything in their path. Anatis landed on the ground as the fire fighters continued to try and fight the flames but to their surprise and horror, the flames seemed to take the form of a monster with several heads. Anatis frowned as the fire crew couldn't get into the building. Everytime they tried, the fire got wilder. Andre ran up to him. "Mayor?"

"Anatis, Chloe, Zoe and Sabrina are still trapped inside!" He gasps, making the hero frown before throwing his yoyo up and swinging up the roof, followed closely by Lady Noire. The entire roof was on fire, causing it to be extremely hard to see and the smoke did not help.

"L-Lady Noire, I'm going to take to the sky and try to get this fire put out," He declared, making her nod as he took out his magicaron and turned into Astroid. "Ok, Al... I'm gonna need your help,"

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, channelling Alpheus' magic. Clouds gathered in the sky and heavy rain fell, destroying the fire hydra and putting out the flames. He flew down as Lady Noire used her cataclysm to break the door, causing fire to explode out. Luckily, Atlas pulled her back before she could get hurt by it. Seeing the room still on fire, Astroid moved his hand, redirecting some of the water inside and putting it out, allowing Atlas and Lady Noire to rush in and carry a very injured Chloe and Sabrina out. Astroid fell over and turned back into Anatis as the two other heroes gently placed them on the ground. Both girls had several burns and bruises around their neck. Chloe's nose looked broken as well.

"Can you heal them?" Atlas asked as Anatis knelt down and checked that they were alive.

"I'm not sure," He answered honestly, gently placing his hand on Sabrina first as her wounds were the worst. He took a deep breath and focused but he couldn't. Instead he felt dizzy and his vision blurred, causing him to grip his head. However, the feeling around him changed as someone gently placed their hand on his shoulder, making him look up as Lady Noire grinned and Atlas gasped.

"Tóutāi?" He asked, surprised before he looked behind him. Sir Rene in his rabbit form waved at him as Tóutāi gently knelt down and took over the healing. Sabrina gasped awake once he had healed her and moved onto Chloe as Sir Rene walked over and knelt down, gently placing his hand on Anatis' shoulder. "Sir Rene, how did...?"

"Feng sent us a message," He replied, making Anatis nod before he looked over at the other two. Lady Noire wasn't surprised but Atlas was shocked. Sir Rene gave them a nod before he turned back to Anatis. "He has a message for you too but he couldn't reach you so he asked me to grab Tóutāi and come find you,"

"It's probably my lack of spiritual energy," Anatis mumbled, making Rene nod. "What's the message?"

"He said to take it easy on the magic," He replied as Tóutāi healed Chloe. "He also said that the miraculous presences before you are the keys to success and while Brumus reflects you in most ways, there is one way he doesn't,"

"Riddles as usual," He sighed, making Rene shrug. "Thanks, Rene,"

"Anatis!" Chloe gasped as soon as Tóutāi had finished healing her. She jumped and rushed over. "They took Zoe!"

"Zoe?" He asked, frowning. "Do you know where?"

"I don't know," She gasped, tears in her eyes. "I tried to stop them but..."

"It's ok," Anatis replied, gently placing his hands on her shoulder. "You did good, Chloe and don't worry. We will save her. Rene, Tóutāi. Can you bring these two down to Andre and the firefighters? Lady Noire, Atlas. We need to catch up to Brumus and Lady Ombre before they leave more chaos in their wake,"

"Of course," All four answered but before Anatis left, Rene and Tóutāi stopped him.

"We will temporarily lend you some spiritual energy," Tóutāi replied as Rene nodded.

"But still try to go easy on the magic," Rene advised, causing Anatis to nod. They held up their hands and he carefully pressed his against them, causing all three to glow gold before it faded. "It will only last for a few hours,"

"But it should help against them," Tóutāi concluded. "I'll check in on Alya too,"

"Thanks, Tóutāi," Anatis smiled before running back over to the other two. "Let's go,"

~At the Eiffel Tower~

"Tell me everything," Brumus ordered, holding Zoe over the edge of the top of the Eiffel tower, ready to drop her. Lady Ombre was sat on the rail, happily watching his interrogation. "You were part of a cult, yes? Tell me about it,"

"I d-don't remember anything about it! Only that I was part of it!" She gasped, terrified. He rolled his eyes as the wind whipped around them. "I swear! They brainwashed me!"

"You don't want to lie to me, Zoe,"

"I'm not!" She cried, tears rolling down her face. "I swear!"

"Fine," He growled. "Who is Anatis' enemy?!"

"H-Hawkmoth!" She gasped, making him smirk. Now they were getting somewhere.

"That explains the butterfly," He muttered, turning back to her. "His identity! What is it?!"

"I don't know!" She cried again. He growled and loosened his grip a little. She screamed and tried to grab onto his arm. "No! Please! I'm telling the truth! No one knows who he is! Not even Anatis!"

"Oooh, a secret identity," Lady Ombre smirked.

"Does he have any allies?" Brumus asked, keeping his grip loose.

"M-Mayura but she hasn't been seen for ages!" She gasped, making him roll his eyes and loosen his grip again. "Wait!! I k-know someone who would help you!"

"I'm listening,"

"L-Lila Rossi," She gasped, making him roll his eyes as Lady Ombre groaned. Of all the people to deal with it, it just had to be that goody two shoes. Brumus took a deep breath and reminded himself that she isn't good in this world. He just hoped that she wasn't as annoying. "I d-don't know if she works with H-Hawk Moth but she h-hates Anatis,"

"And how do you know this?" He asked. "Wouldn't she be on his side?"

"C-Chloe and Marinette told me," She gasped, making him growl at the name of his ex. "I s-swear I'm telling the truth!"

"Where can we find her?" Lady Ombre asked, jumping down and smirking at her. "Speak quickly. I'm sure Cockroach is getting tired,"

"So tired,"

"S-she lives opposite the park! That's all I know!"

"You've done well, Zoe," He smiled, sending shivers down her spine. His eyes moved behind her and his mouth stretched into a smirk. "I just have one last thing for you to do,"

"Brumus!" Anatis' voice echoed, making her feel relieved. Lady Ombre smirked and got ready to fight the heroes but Brumus shook his head, making her look at him. "Put her down!"

"Keep the heroes distracted for me," He whispered to Zoe before he looked back at them. "You really should think about your words, Anatis,"

He smirked before letting off her neck, causing her to scream as she plummet down towards the ground. Anatis dived down after her as his Partner and Atlas charged at him.

"Want me to deal with them?" Lady Ombre asked, making him smirk and hold out his hand, telling her to leave it to him. "Ok,"

"Kakos, lend me your power," He declared, causing a storm to burst into the sky and lightning strikes to aim repeatedly at Lady Noire and Atlas. He laughed evilly before saluting to them. "Don't worry, Atlas. We'll catch up soon! Fleabag, let's go!"

He swung off and headed towards the park with Lady Ombre on his tail. They both landed on the rooftop and looked around, seeing Lila leaving the park as a black car drove off. Seeing his chance, he jumped down and landed in front of her, causing her to jump back in surprise and fall down. She stared at him with shock as he straightened up. Lady Ombre landed next to him and circled her, making her gasp and jump up.

"You are Lila Rossi, yes?" He asked, making her nod as Lady Ombre moved over to him. "I'm Brumus. This is Lady Ombre,

"Hello, pleased to meet you," She smiled, putting on her false persona. The two villains rolled her eyes, surprising her. "So... is there something I can help you with?"

"Oh, I believe you can," He replied, gently letting go of her hand. "I believe we share a common enemy-"

"Brumus!" Anatis called out, swinging over and making him roll his eyes. Lila couldn't help but giggle a little. "Step away from Miss Rossi,"

"Anatis, you have the worst time!" He declared, turning to him and throwing up his yoyo. "Lucky charm!"

A car was summoned and Lady Ombre jumped up, kicking it towards Anatis. He managed to dodge it but Brumus slammed his fist into his face, sending him flying before he threw his yoyo, causing it to wrap around Anatis' ankle. He dragged him back over to Lady Ombre, causing her to kick him towards him. He slammed him into the ground before stalking over. He roughly grabbed Anatis around the neck and lifted him up, causing him to struggle as he choked him before he literally slammed him into the ground again. He kept Anatis pinned with one hand, still choking him and causing Anatis to try and pull his hand off him.

"Lucky charm!" He summoned a knife and caught it, smirking evilly as he did. "Time to get rid of you, Pest!"

Both Lila and Lady Ombre couldn't help but grin excitedly as he lifted it above his head, causing Anatis' eyes to widen in fear but before he could, Lady Noire jumped down.

"Screech!" She declared, activating her power before she took a deep breath and screamed out, sending shock waves from her voice and throwing Brumus off Anatis. He managed to recollect himself and land on the ground as Lady Ombre charged at her before he jolted her, trying to swipe his blade at Lady Ombre. Atlas ran over and helped Anatis up as Lila watched all of it with sheer excitement. Lady Noir blocked his attack with her baton and managed to land a kick, knocking him back before dodging Lady Ombre's attack. 

"Stupid cat!" He growled before smirking and jumping back. "Fine, you think you can handle me! Let's see how you handle this! Kakos, lend me your power!"

He held out his hand, causing massive vines to burst through the ground and charge towards Lady Noire. She managed to destroy them but they kept coming at her. Seeing his chance, Brumus took his knife and moved behind her, going to stab her as Lady Ombre summoned her cataclysm, ready to hit her.

"Lady Noire! Watch out!" Anatis called out, causing her to turn around as Brumus brought his knife down. Atlas, however, let go of Anatis and pushed her out the way, narrowly missing the blade himself and Lady Ombre's attack. He and Lady Noire landed on the ground as Brumus began to stalk over to them, causing Atlas to crawl from him. Lady Ombre stopped Lady Noire as she tried to help him.

"You stupid butterfly!" He snarled, holding out his hand and summoning another lucky charm. This time it was a large hammer and he slammed it down, causing Atlas to jump out of the way.

"Brumus, please. I know you're the Supreme but you don't have to be evil!" He gasped, making him laugh. "I know about the fake supreme and how they are using you for their own goals. You can guide humanity towards the light-"

"Light?!" Brumus snarled before laughing. "I don't care about the light, humanity or any of that crap!"

He slammed the hammer towards Atlas but Anatis threw his yoyo, wrapping it around it and pulling it from his hand.

"Lucky charm!" Brumus declared, causing the Hammer to disappear and a new weapon to appear in his hand. He smirked as he walked towards him, causing Anatis to step back. "Don't you get it, Annie? I can do this all day! There's no beating me! I am the Supreme and you will bow down to me!"

Anatis' back hit the rails as Brumus smirked but Anatis returned to the smirk to his counterpart's shock.

"I'm not giving up hope," He declared, opening up his yoyo and holding it up to the sky as a bright light burst from it. Brumus screeched and covered his eyes, jumping back into the shadows as Anatis held his yoyo high up. He stepped forward, causing Brumus to back away. Anatis stepped closer but Lady Ombre dived at him, causing him to jump back before Lady Noire tackled her. However, it gave Brumus enough time to recover. He quickly attacked and slammed his fist in Anatis' cheek, knocking the yoyo out of his hand and causing the light to disappear.

"Lucky charm!" He declared, summoning a flash bang. He released it, dazing the heroes. With them distracted, he ran over to Lila and threw her over his shoulder, causing her to cry out in surprise as Lady Ombre kicked Lady Noire back and ran over to him. He threw his yoyo and jumped up to the rooftops before jumping down and heading to the catacombs with Lady Ombre following. Once there, he dropped Lila on the floor with little care. Lady Ombre landed next to him and glared at Lila. "Our apologies,"

"Um... Forgiven," She grinned, clearly not impressed with being dropped but not wanting to get on their bad side. She got up and dusted herself down before she walked up to him, circling him before she moved over to Lady Ombre, who hissed a little. "Are you two akumas?"

"No," He replied, surprising her even more.

"So how do you have the same powers as that pest and the fleabag?" She asked, glancing at him as she showed her disdain towards their hero counterparts. "You even have a beetle theme too but you both seem far more fun than they are,"

"I'm glad you think so," He smirks, turning to some of the skulls. He held up his hand, causing a strange shadow-like thing to appear from it and connect to the skull. The skull crumbled to dust as he seemed to absorb it before he turned back to her. She raised an eyebrow as Lady Ombre looked at her nails. "As I was saying before we were so rudely interrupted, I am Brumus, this Lady Ombre and we have an offer for you,"

"For me?" She asked, surprised before she smirked. "I'm listening,"

"I thought you might," He smirked. "We need to get in contact with the one called Hawkmoth and I heard you're the person to go to for that,"

"And why would I do that?" She asked, crossing her arms. "Assuming that I can,"

"You hate him, don't you?" Lady Ombre stated, making her look at him. "Well, me and Cockroach can help you destroy him but in return you have got us in contact with the butterfly man. Capre?"

"Really?" She asked in a doubtful manner. "You can do that?"

"We can," He replied, smirking. "You don't have to but what have you got to lose? It's not like your life will change if you don't but if you do... we will destroy those useless heroes. Surely, that would be worth the tiny favour of getting us in contact with Hawkmoth,"

"And why would I do that?" She asked, clearly not sure. He gripped her chin suddenly, making her look at him as his eyes glowed a little. A light blush came across her cheeks. She didn't realise he was seeing her life.

"I think that's a sweet deal," He stated. "You get to see his fall and reclaim your kingdom of lies while he falls,"

"I'm not-"

"A liar?" He asked, smirking as he let go of her chin. "Of course, you are and why shouldn't you?"

His words surprised her. She was expecting him to hate lies like Anatis.

"The way I see it is that it's not your fault if people are dumb sheep and why shouldn't you take advantage of that?" He asked, making her hear exactly what she wanted. "They're so willing to give so a smart person would take what they have. And why shouldn't you? It's not your fault that they are stupid enough to fall for your lies,"

"And all you want is for me to introduce you to Hawkmoth?" She asked, making him nod. Lady Ombre couldn't help but be impressed at how easily he got Lila to consider. "And in return, you'll destroy the heroes and give me back what is rightfully mine?"

"You can have it all. Hell, we'll even be partners but you have to do me that little favour first," He replied, holding out his hand. "Do we have a deal, Lila?"

"You have a deal," She grinned, shaking his hand before taking out her phone and going through it. "Damn it... I don't have a signal,"

"Let's return to the surface," He replied, making her nod before they headed up there. As soon as they reached it, she got a signal. She pressed the green phone button and held it up to her ear as he leaned on the gate to the catacombs.

"It's me," She stated, walking a little away from him and Lady Ombre. He raised an eyebrow as he heard the other person shouting on the other side. "I know but I have an offer for you that you won't want to miss,"

"Do you trust her?" Lady Ombre asked, making him smirk.

"Of course not," He replied, turning to her. "But the moment she becomes useless to us, we'll dispose of her,"

Lady Ombre smirked as Lila nodded.

"Ok, we'll meet you there in five minutes," She stated, hanging up and turning to Brumus and Lady Ombre. "Do you know where Arc de Triomphe is?"

~At Arc de Triomphe~

"Sir, are you sure this isn't a trap?" Natalie asked as Hawkmoth waited for Lila. She promised that he wouldn't regret it and he had a feeling that it was linked into the dark heart he sensed early. Su Han and Simme had joined them as well as they waited. Simme was playing with some pigeons while Su Han was glaring at Natalie. She was hidden in the shadows in case it was a trap. He was looking at the ground, wondering how long it would take her to get there. "Sir?"

"That is why I have an akuma ready," He replied. "But Lila hasn't let me down yet,"

"But Anatis might have-" Natalie gasped before coughing. Despite not using the peacock miraculous for a while now, she was still extremely sick. "Anatis-"

"If it is a trick, I'll defeat him," Hawkmoth replied, narrowing his eyes as he saw something approaching from the rooftops. He got his cane ready as it got closer before the people suddenly landed in front of them. One of them was holding Lila in his arms. He put her down, allowing her to dust herself down. "Miss Rossi?"

"Hawk Moth," She smirked before turning to the young man and the young lady next to her. Hawkmoth turned his attention to him. He could only be described as a dark reflection of Anatis. "Allow me to introduce you two. Hawkmoth, this is Brumus and Lady Ombre. Brumus, Lady Ombre... this is Hawk Moth. You'll keep your deal right?"

"Of course, Partner," The dark Anatis... Brumus... said, making her smirk in pure delight as he moved past her and circled around Hawkmoth, who could sense a dark vibe off him. His Partner Lady Ombre hissed at Su Han, making him glare at her. "Fleabag, behave... so you're the butterfly man?"

"I am indeed," He replied, a little confused as Brumus moved past him and over to Su Han.

"You're stink of death," He hissed, catching Su Han off guard as he moved on, stopping in front of Natalie. "And Death is following you... ah... now that's familiar,"

He walked over to Simme with no fear, surprising almost everyone there. Apart from Lady Ombre.

"Pigeons? How disgusting," He stated, getting the spirit's attention. "Try Swans. Their souls are so much more delicious,"

"I'll keep that in mind, Dark One," Simme hissed back, completely relaxed much to everyone's surprise. Brumus smirked back before walking back over to Hawkmoth.

"You two. Leave," He declared to Su Han and Natatlie. "I have no interest in those with no futures,"

"How dare-" Su Han stated but Brumus' eyes turned the same colour as Simme's and the sky got darker. "Yo-You're the Mage,"

"No, I'm the Supreme," He declared. "Learn your place, monk,"

His eyes turned back to the lifeless blue before he smirked and shooed them with his hand.

"Leave," Hawkmoth ordered, causing Su Han and Natalie to leave. Lila and Lady Ombre went to but Brumus shook his head, making both girls stop. "What do you want, Brumus?"

"I propose an alliance between us," He stated. "You want to take down Anatis and his mangy cat and I want to take Atlas,"

"Enemy of my enemy is my friend," Hawkmoth replied, smirking as he held out his hand. Brumus took it and shook it. "How delightful. It seems we're going to get along just fine. Do you have a plan in mind or do I have to do that?"

"Humor me. I'm curious as to what you will come up with,"

"Very well," He replied, smirking as he already had an idea. "My plan is simple,"

~Back at the Park~

"Annie, are you ok?" Lady Noire gasped as she waved her hand, getting rid of the smoke. Atlas helped Anatis to his feet and frowned as she walked over. "Where's Lila?"

"They must have grabbed her in the confusion," Anatis sighed before turning to Lady Noire. "I'm alright though. Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," She nodded, causing relief to flood into Anatis' eyes before she took a breath. "But we need to find Lila. She will willingly help them,"

"She will?" Atlas asked, a little surprised. "Why?"

"To put it frankly, she hates us," Anatis sighed, looking down. "She has willingly been akumatized, helped create akumas and I'm sure she's in league with Hawkmoth..."

His eyes widened as he realised.

"That must be why they went after her," He gasped, making Lady Noir's eyes widen as she realised. "They're going to team up with Hawkmoth! We have to stop them!"

"Oh no," Lady Noire gasped as Atlas frowned. The two of them went to jump away but stopped when he cleared his throat.

"I know you want to chase after her but they might have set up a trap for us," He pointed out. Lady Noir made an expression that told him she was considering it and her emotions matched but Anatis' emotions were wild and panicked. He stepped forward.

"Atlas, we have to catch up with them!" He gasped, panic clear in his eyes. "I can't let them team up! I have to stop them!"

Before either of them could argue, Anatis turned and threw his yoyo, pulling himself up onto the rooftops and disappearing into the city. Lady Noir frowned and looked at Atlas before the two of them nodded and chased after him...

~Meanwhile~

Anatis ran as fast as he could, trying to keep an eye out for Lila and his evil counterpart but no matter where he looked, he just couldn't find them. Feeling his panic rise even more as he searched the Eiffel tower for the third time, he slipped down onto his knees.

"No, no, no. I can't fail again!" He gasped as a buzzing sound surrounded him and his panic came down, crushing him. His breathing got heavy as he felt himself being dragged back into that deep ocean that haunted his dreams. He felt like he was drowning as his heart raced and pounded. He gripped his hair as tears rolled down his cheeks. He couldn't fail again. He had failed to save Mila. He had failed to protect Master Fu. He was a failure. He didn't deserve to be the mage. He was-

"Cataclysm!" Lady Noir's voice shouted, causing him to look up as the akuma that had being so close to him turned to dust. Atlas landed next to her as Anatis stared in shock. She dusted her hand and knelt down. He went to open his mouth but she pulled him against her into a hug as he shook. He had nearly be akumatized. Not as Luka but as Anatis. Tears rolled down his cheeks again as she held him. "It's ok, Anatis. I'm here,"

"I-I'm sorry," He gasped as she rubbed his back. Atlas frowned and stepped forward, gently placing his hand on him. He looked up as he wiped his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Atlas. You came here looking for help..."

He paused and then whispered in a small voice.

"Y-you must be so disappointed..."

"On the contrary," He replied, making Anatis look at him in surprise. "It is good to see this world has such a kind soul guiding it. You believe they will team up with Hawk Moth but they still need to find him,"

"What are you suggesting?" Anatis asked, wiping his eyes. 

"Let me try and talk to him," Atlas suggested, making them both look at him like he's crazy. "I know I might not be able to get through to him but there's a small chance and this can also give you a chance to take a step back and sort yourself out, Anatis plus I might be able to learn a bit about him,"

"No, Hawk Moth-" Anatis started but Lady Noir gently placed her finger on his lips, making him look at her before she looked at Atlas.

"Go," She stated, making Atlas nod and jump off. Anatis looked at her. "He'll come back but right now, you're my concern,"

"B-But what if he teams up with Hawkmoth?" He asked, looking down. "Or if Brumus attacks him,"

"Somehow I think he has escaped," She replied, rubbing his back to calm him down.

~At Arc de Triomphe~

Atlas came to a stop on a rooftop and hid behind a wall on it as he approached where Hawkmoth was. The villain was pacing in front of Lady Ombre, Brumus and the girl who the heroes had called Lila. A strangely dressed man was nearby and the shadows near him seemed to move. Atlas frowned as Brumus stood up and seemed to talk with the villain. He could see why Anatis was worried. Brumus was clever and dangerous even without being the Supreme. The Supreme Cult thought they had a leash on him but he suspected he had been playing them for a while. He frowned and moved back, reaching into his cane and taking out a second brooch shaped as a peacock's tail. He had to repair it and it took a lot to find out how but he managed to steal the spell from one of the guardians. At the time, he thought he was stealing it directly from the Supreme and saw it as a f you to him but now he knew the truth. The Cult had killed his wife, not the Supreme and the real Supreme was a young teenage boy who was probably scared and alone in the world. He wanted to reach out and help Brumus realise that he didn't have to be evil. Their world didn't have to be dark but right now, Brumus was one of the villains he was fighting. He would appeal to him once he had captured him and Lady Ombre. He put the brooch on, causing a peacock kwami to appear. Unlike Nooroo, she had a symbol trapped on her mouth.

"Hello there," He smiled as she shied away. "I'm Atlas and I need your help to save the world. Nooroo has told me your transformation words for this moment but I would like your permission to use them. Is that ok?"

The kwami looked at him before nodding.

"Excellent," He replied, smiling as he cupped her into his hands. "In return, I will find a way to get that seal of you,"

She nodded happily, making him smile.

"Ok then," He replied as she floated up. "Nooroo, Dusuu, unite!"

A light purple and blue light surrounded him, turning him into a merged version. He was still wearing his suit but the tail coat had increased to resemble a peacock feathers and he had a cape that resembled a butterfly's wings. His mask was half blue and half purple and in his left hand was a fan. His eyes had turned purple but the whites of his eyes remained that colour. The last thing that had appeared was a peacock feather in his hair. He put his cane on his back and plucked out a feather from the fan. He closed his fist around it and charged it up with his power.

"Now, My Sweet Luci, bring my hope to life," He whispered, placing it into his glove. A blue blob appeared and he began to shape it, turning it into a humanoid form before it dissolved, revealing an exact copy of Atlas in front of him. He gave it the information it needed before glancing from behind the wall. The supervillain that Anatis had called Hawk Moth was still talking to Brumus but he had noticed that Lady Ombre and the other girl had gone. "Ok, Atlas. Approach closer and listen in to the conversation. As soon as Brumus has left, try to make contact,"

"Of course, Inachis," It replied before jumping over and finding a hiding spot that was close enough for them to hear. Atlas frowned as he listened to Hawkmoth's plan before making a mental note to explain it to Anatis. 

"So that's it?" Brumus asked, holding his chin as he thought out the plan. Hawkmoth nodded, making him smile. "I think it would work. That Anatis has such a hero complex that he'll have to try and stop us,"

"Exactly my thoughts," He replied, frowning. "I am disappointed that my akuma couldn't reach him though,"

"You win some, you lose some," Brumus replied, shrugging. "I'll go get the girls and bring them up to speed,"

"Very good," Hawkmoth replied as Brumus jumped away. Seeing his chance, Senti-Atlas jumped over and cleared his throat, causing Hawkmoth to spin around. Atlas, himself, shuddered at the look of the man. He looked awful in his design and judging by Hawkmoth's expression, he was thinking the same thing. "You must be my counterpart? Atlas was it?"

"That is correct," He replied, speaking through the senti creature. "I am here to ask you to reconsider working with Brumus. He is extremely dangerous and working with him will only bring him ruin. I suspect that I know why you're doing this but this is not the way,"

"And what would you know about 'the way'?" Hawkmoth questioned, stepping closer. "You could easily seize control of the world with your miraculous but you are clearly too weak to. I suspect that our motivations are the same but unlike you, I will do anything to bring my Emile back to life. You clearly won't. Otherwise, we would not be having this conversation,"

"So you did lose her too?" Inachis responded, saddened. "We both share that pain but bringing her back and being a villain is not the way to go,"

"So you admit you've given up on her?" Hawkmoth growled, making Inachis shake his head. "You know full well that if we get the miraculous, we can bring her back. Can you truly say that thought hasn't crossed your mind?"

"Of course, it has," Inachis growled, causing the Senticreature to step forward. "I have thought about it but everything comes at a price. If I were to wish for my Emile back then someone else would have to lose theirs. I can't wish that on anyone. It wouldn't cure my pain. It would just pass it onto someone else and the cycle would never end,"

Hawkmoth remained quiet for a second and for that moment, Inachis thought he might have gotten through to him but then a horrible smirk appeared on his face.

"You are pathetic," He stated, making Inachis stare at him. "So what if the pain 'passes' on?! As long as I get her back, I don't care how! I will bend and break everything whatever must be broken until she opens her eyes again! I will stop at nothing to get those miraculous and bring her back! And if that doesn't work then I'll find and force the Mage to resurrect her! I know he has the power to as he can resurrect himself! And you would do the same if you weren't too weak!"

"Having compassion and acceptance is not weak!" Inachis argued back but he knew he was talking to a lost cause. Hawk Moth smirked as a yoyo wrapped around the senti creature's torso as Brumus returned.

"I told you he would turn up," Hawkmoth stated as Brumus stepped forward and went to grab the miraculous of the Senticreature but stopped. "Brumus?"

"This isn't the real Atlas," He stated, glancing around. Meanwhile, Inachis had already jumped across to a different rooftop and snapped his fingers, causing the SentiAtlas to disappear before he jumped off. "A senticreature?!"

"So he has the peacock miraculous?" Hawkmoth answered, frowning. He really was his other world counterpart. He shook his head. "Nevermind that. The plan can still work,"

He opened his cane, allowing an akuma to fly out. He held out his hand, allowing it to land in his hand. He charged it up as Lila stepped forward before placing it into her necklace. The psychic connection opened as he smirked.

"Miracle Queen, not only do I return to you your powers of illusion and mind control but I also give you some extra powers to help capture Anatis and Lady Noir," He explained as she smirked. "Do you accept my gifts?"

"Of course, Hawk Moth," She declared before holding out her arms and allowing the purple smog to engulf her before it disappeared, revealing Miracle Queen. She took out her flute and played a tune on it, causing a ball of light to appear at the end before she threw it into the sky. It burst and in a glow of orange, two giant illusions of Brumus and Lady Ombre appeared. She smirked and turned to them. "That will lure them out then once they're here, we will complete the plan,"

"As you wish, my good queen," Lady Ombre grinned, ready to take them on.

~Meanwhile~

Inachis landed back in front of Anatis and Lady Noir, who had waited patiently for him. Anatis was leaning into Lady Noir as she stroked his hair, humming gently and keeping him calm. To his surprise, Anatis glanced up as he landed in front of him, as if he expected him to land there. It didn't surprise him. He called off the duo transformation and caught Duusu before giving her a cookie.

"I wasn't able to get through to Hawkmoth," He sighed, looking at the sky. "He is too far gone but I was able to learn their plan. He's turned that Lila girl into a villain called Miracle Queen,"

"No, no... how can we defeat her?!" Anatis gasped, jumping up. "Last time, she almost won. I almost killed Lady Noire because of her!"

"Annie, deep breathes," Lady Noir stated, jumping and taking her hands in his. He looked at her and nodded, taking deep breaths as she looked to Atlas. "What else did you learn?"

"Hawkmoth gave her extra powers," He explains, making Lady Noir frown deeply. "From what I heard he's given her four extra abilities. The ability to duplicate herself, to paralyses her enemies, to teleport and to make herself invisible,"

"That makes her even harder than before," Lady Noir admitted as the colour drained from Anatis' face. "But you heard their plan right?"

"I did," Atlas confirmed, nodding. "They intend to lure you two out using an illusion of Brumus and Lady Ombre as akumatized giants. Once you two have split up to chase the giants, Miracle Queen will use her new abilities to capture you,"

"H-How do we even counter that?!" Anatis gasped, looking panicked as he gripped his head. "No matter what I do, I just can't think of a solution,"

Lady Noir gently takes his hands in hers, causing him to look at her as her touch instantly calmed him down. Atlas couldn't help but admire their relationship. He also couldn't help the strike of inspiration for a couple's outfit based on them.

"Maybe we just need a little bit of luck," She hinted, making him nod before he took out his yoyo. He hoped Tikki's guidance would help him.

"Lucky charm!" He called, causing his outfit to change as he summoned the item. The swarm of magical bugs burst into an item that fell towards Anatis. He caught it, causing all of them to look at it. "A scrying mirror...."

"Tikki only ever gives you that when Feng can give you a hint," Lady Noir points out, making him nod as Atlas gave him a confused look. "Spirit stuff,"

"Oh," He replied as Anatis lifted in the mirror so he could look in it. For a moment, he just saw himself but soon Feng appeared behind him with a soft smile.

"I don't know what to do," He whispered. His voice sounded so vulnerable and raw that it tugged at Atlas and Lady Noir's hearts. "Brumus is so much more powerful than I am. He's ruthless and now he's teamed up with Miracle Queen and Hawkmoth given her so many new powers. No matter what, I just can't see a solution. How can I defeat him when I can't even defeat my own enemy?"

Brumus is your reflection in many ways but there is one way where you differ from each other.... Feng's voice echoed in his mind, making him frown. This difference and the miraculous before you are how you overcome this trial...

"But what do I do?" Luka asked, finding himself standing in front of Feng. "It seems impossible and I don't know how to solve your riddles,"

"Nothing is impossible," Feng stated, gently placing his hand on his shoulder. "But I know you're having a hard time right now so I'll give you a hint...."

You're not alone.

Anatis blinked as he found himself back with Atlas and Lady Noir. Both of them looked at him with a little bit of worry. He glanced at the mirror in his hand. Feng had faded away but Anatis could still feel his hand on his shoulder, reminding him that he was not alone. His eyes widened as it suddenly became clear. Yes, Brumus was very powerful and the two of them reflected each other but there was one difference between them. Anatis wasn't alone where Brumus was. Sure, he might have Lady Ombre but that's it for him. Brumus only had one person on his side where Anatis had Lady Noir, his melody, his team and his past lives. He wasn't alone.

"Annie?" Lady Noir asked as he looked around. The yoyo in his hand lit up in his luck vision before he looked up, causing the butterfly miraculous light up then Lady Noir and Atlas. "You good?"

"I'm not alone," He smiled, making them both look at him with confusion. "And I have a plan but first, I need to let Tikki take a break,"

He made the mirror disappear and moved behind a wall where the two of them couldn't see each other. Atlas looked at Lady Noir as a pink glow appeared but she grinned and turned to the wall that Anatis was behind.

"Want to explain?" She asked, making Atlas nod.

"It's simple really," Luka stated from behind the wall as he waited for Tikki to eat her cookie. "Brumus has no one. He is alone,"

"But what about Lady Ombre?" Atlas asked. "She seems devoted to him and aren't they equals?"

"Not quite," Luka replied. "Despite having her as a partner, he is still alone. The reason? He doesn't see her as his partner or an equal. He's exploiting the fact that she is devoted to him but for him, that's as far as it goes. I would even bet that if she failed or wasn't as powerful as she is, he would drop her. It's the same with Hawkmoth and Miracle Queen. He is using them to further his own goal. Anyway, I have a plan that will protect us from Miracle Queen since she is the biggest issue right now. Wanna hear it?"

"We're all ears, Anatis," Atlas replied as the pink glow reappeared and Anatis stepped out again.

"Ok," He replies before clearing his throat. "So first of all, the miraculous of the butterfly has a limited range so we need to get far enough from Paris to be out of Hawkmoth's radius. As we do, we'll pick up Alya. She should be completely healed thanks to Toutai. Once we have her, Atlas will turn her back into Ubiquiti so she can open a portal to the other world."

The two of them nodded as they listened.

"Next, Atlas will lend me the butterfly miraculous. With it, I'll use it to create a second hero with a specially crafted super power that will protect us from Miracle Queen's abilities," He declared. "Next, we'll hide the object in which my Tenshi would have landed in the parallel world,"

"Making it inaccessible to Hawkmoth," Lady Noir gasped, making Anatis nod as Atlas listened in.

"Tenshi?" He asked, making Anatis look at him.

"Kamiko doesn't feel right for me," Anatis explained, making him nod. "With the object hidden, Hawkmoth won't be able to remove your powers in battle,"

"And my power will protect from Miracle Queen's treacherous blow!" Atlas declared, nodding. "Brilliant. Simply brilliant,"

"That's our Annie," Lady Noir grinned, giving him a high five.

"It gets better," He answered, making them look at him. "With our safety confirmed, we'll be able to deal with Miracle Queen and use her to separate Lady Ombre and Brumus. Obviously, she will use her extra powers to try and capture us when we go after the giants. More than likely, she'll send Brumus and Lady Ombre to us so they will lure us to certain areas and isolate us from each other. At that point, Miracle Queen will try to paralyse us. It will fail thanks to our guardian and then I will undo her akuma, dealing with her and Hawkmoth at the same time,"

"What do you mean her and Hawkmoth?"

"As soon as she's defeated, he'll realise we had a plan to defeat them and will run off," Anatis predicted. "Anyway, once we've got rid of her, we can take on Brumus and Lady Ombre separately. Of course, we have to make sure that no one gets hurt so I'll contact the police and let them know that a battle is about to go down. Brumus is brutal and ruthless so we're gonna need to make sure there are heroes on standby in case he tries to destroy buildings or harm anyone. If we can, we should try and naturalise him and Lady Ombre as soon as possible though. For that, I think we should have some heroes with us as well but we'll have Toutai on standby too. They won't hesitate to harm anyone so having a healer nearby would be wise,"

"You have truly thought of everything," Atlas stated. 

"And as a last touch, we'll stay in touch," Anatis smiled, taking out his ear piece as Lady Noir did the same. "The Strength of teamwork,"

~At the Arc de Triomphe~

"You said this would lure them out," Brumus growled, clearly getting impatient as Miracle Queen glanced around. Lady Ombre was clearly bored as well but Hawkmoth shook his head.

"Don't worry, they will turn up," He declared. "Anatis and Lady Noir always turn up,"

As he spoke, the four of them see Lady Noir and Anatis running with a number of their hero allies and Ubiquiti across the rooftops towards. Though Anatis wasn't in his usual form. Instead of his usual hero look, he appeared like a mysterious faerie prince. His hair is purple and black and he was dressed in a black tail coat with purple detail. Its tail resembled the wings of a butterfly and his pants were completely red. He appeared to be wearing a light purple shirt with black dots. He wore black gloves and purple boots. His yoyo was by his side and he had a cane on his back. Brumus narrowed his eyes a little as Hawkmoth smirked.

"See?" He states, gesturing towards them. "They can't help themselves. They always have to save the world,"

"Maybe so but there's more than just Anatis and Lady Noir now," Brumus stated, looking at them. "And Anatis is wearing the miraculous of the butterfly,"

"Your simple two person plan no longer works," Lady Ombre pointed out. 

"On the contrary" Hawkmoth answered, smirking. "Now it will be even simpler to seize their miraculous and the one of the butterfly. As for the holder of the butterfly, what he has done regardless of his universe, I can undo it,"

He smirked as he clicked his fingers, causing Ubiquiti to turn back into Alya. Brumus once again narrowed his eyes.

"Did you poison her?" Lady Ombre asked, confused.

"I did," He confirmed. "Anatis must have found a way to heal her... how intriguing,"

He smirked as he watched Alya apologise to Anatis and his team before they continued. Anatis, The Bee Holder and The Dragon Holder went after the giant Brumus while Lady Noir, the Turtle Holder and the Tiger Holder went after the giant Lady Ombre, causing Hawkmoth to smirk.

"Miracle Queen, you're up," He declared, making her smirk as she took over. She opened a portal for Brumus as the heroes discovered that it was an illusion before doing the same for Lady Ombre.

"See you soon, my dear good Queen," She smirked before diving into the portal as Miracle Queen smirked. Hawkmoth watched carefully as she went ahead with the next stage, using the extra powers he granted her to divide herself into two before the two Queens headed to the locations that Anatis and Lady Noir will be lured to. 

~Meanwhile~

"It was an illusion?!" Ryuko declared as she landed on the ground with Abeille. The two of them turned to look as a portal opened, revealing Brumus. He narrowed his eyes as he stalked over to them.

"Where is he?!" He snarled before throwing his yoyo at them. Ryuko jumped out of the way and charged at him as Abeille spun her spintop.

"Venom!" She declared, summoning her power as Ryuko turned into her Lightning Dragon form, diving at him. He blocked her sword with his arm and threw her into a building as Abeille dived at him. He kicked her, sending her flying before throwing his yoyo. It wrapped around her foot and he pulled her towards him as Ryuko dived back at him. He grabbed Abeille's hand and slammed her power into Ryuko, paralysing her as Abeille gasped before he slammed her into the ground.

"Where is Anatis?!" He growled, lifting her head. She didn't answer so he slammed her head into the ground again, yanking her head back up. "Where is he?!"

"I'm here, Brumus," He declared, causing Brumus to smirk and drop Abeille's head. "And it's Cinnabug actually,"

"I don't care what you call yourself," He growled, throwing his yoyo at him. Cinnabug blocked the attack with his own yoyo before the two of them engaged in a battle. While they were busy, Culpeo jumped down and picked up Abeille, taking her to Toutai who was on standby to heal anyone who might need it. While Brumus and Cinnabug fought it out, Lady Noir, Leatherback and Sabertooth were waiting to ambush Lady Ombre. As soon as her portal opened, Leatherback used his power to trap her. However, she called on her power and used it to destroy it before stalking towards him.

"Leatherback, be careful!" Lady Noir called out from the rooftop. "She can use her power with no limit,"

"What?" He called back as she charged at him with another cataclysm. He managed to use his shield with it but she was relentless, trying to hit him with it. Sabertooth sneaked behind her with his power but she managed to realise he was there. She grabbed him and threw him into Leatherback, knocking them back into a building. She went to slam her hand on it to destroy it but Lady Noir jumped down.

"Screech!" She declared, causing her outfit to change to her upgrade before she released a sonic scream, knocking her back. Lady Ombre used her arms to protect her before she smirked.

"My turn," She replied before using Screech to send Lady Noir flying into another building before she turned it to the building where Leatherback and Sabertooth were, destroying it and trapping them within it. She smirked and turned back to Lady Noir, who was pushing bricks off herself. "Finally, we can have a pawsitively clawsome cat fight!"

She dived at her, causing Lady Noir to slam her baton into her and send her flying before she jumped after her. With Lady Ombre out the way, Atrarus and Phenix Rouge jumped down to help get Leatherback and Sabertooth out of the collapsed building.

"Will they be ok facing them?" Phenix asked.

"The outcome is satisfactory," Atrarus replied, nodding. "But I will keep an eye on things,"

~Back to Anatis and Brumus~

"You think you can defeat me?!" Brumus declared, throwing his yoyo. It wrapped around Cinnabug's leg, causing Brumus to pull him close and punch him. He pulled him back again and jumped up, kicking him into a building before throwing his yoyo up in the air. "Lucky charm!"

He caught the sword that had been created and dived at Cinnabug as he pulled himself out of the broken building. He jumped out of the way, just as Brumus slammed his sword where he had been before he took out his cane sword and jumped at him. Brumus blocked the attack, causing Cinnabug to jump back onto a rooftop. Brumus dove at him again but he sent him flying, causing Cinnabug to rush to the edge of the building. He looked around and didn't see him around but he felt something behind him. He ducked as Brumus went to slice at him, causing his earpiece to fall out before he grabbed Brumus by the arm and slammed him into the ground, unintentionally breaking the earpiece. Brumus smirked and wrapped his leg around Cinnanbug's arm, pulling him down and twisting his arm.

"You are pathetic," He smirked, twisting his arm farther up as Cinnabug called out in pain. "You think you can defeat me?! You can't even defeat your own enemy!"

"At least, I have allies!" Cinnabug gasped, making Brumus growl. "You're alone-!"

"Shut up!" He growled, letting go of Cinnabug's arm and grabbing his hair, yanking up his head. Seeing his chance, Cinnabug activated his spirit eyes and grabbed Brumus' hand, causing his touch to burn him. Brumus dropped him in shock, causing Cinnabug to get up and look at him with silver eyes. "You want to use our magic to fight?! Fine by me!"

His eyes turned a copper colour and he held out his hand.

"Kakos!" He called out, using the power of his past self. "Lend me your power!"

He summoned a fire beast, directing it towards Cinnabug, causing him to jump out the way and into Miracle Queen's path. She dived at him and slammed her hand onto his back to paralyse him but Guardian's ability activated, manifesting itself as two small wings on his back before trapping her in a bunch of feathers. Cinnabug straightened up and smirked, clicking his fingers to reverse her akuma. The akuma escaped from her necklace, turning her back into Lila and destroying the other one. It flew off as it lost its colour. Brumus narrowed his eyes and jumped up, grabbing Cinnabug before he could even think before throwing him into the nearest building, which happened to be the school...

~With Lady Noir and Lady Ombre~

At exactly the same time, the other Miracle Queen was trying to paralyse Lady Noir. Lady Ombre had lured her into a rooftop, causing her to try and use her ability but Guardian's powers protected Lady Noir before Miracle Queen's akuma was undone. Lady Ombre backed up a little, clearly not expecting that. 

"What's the matter?" Lady Noir asked, playfully. "Cat got your tongue?"

"Cheater," She growled, making Lady Noir smirked before jumping off, causing Lady Ombre to chase after her. "Get back here! I'm not done with you, Kitty cat!"

"Catch me if you can!" Lady Noir asked as Lady Ombre dived at her before she jumped over to a building. "Fun fact! Cats actually don't mind water!"

"Why do I care about that?!" She responded, trying to claw her with her claws. Lady Noir jumped out of the way, leading her into the swimming pool area. 

"Well, we are in a swimming pool!" Lady Noir responded as Lady Ombre dived in and looked around before she kicked her and sent her flying into the swimming pool. She managed to recover and dived at her. "Also did you know that viewing one's doppelganger is bad luck? But the question is which one of us is going to be affected?"

"I don't care for your stupid trivia!" She growled. "'It's not like my luck can't get any worse than it already is! Now give me your miraculous!"

Lady Noir jumped up to the diving board, causing Lady Ombre to follow her. She grabbed her leg and threw her down into the pool before diving at her. Lady Noir dived out of the way as she tried to get her.

"Why do you have to have a miraculous you already hold?" She asked, causing Lady Ombre to growl.

"Don't you know?!" She demanded, as Lady Noir hid behind one of the pillars. She dived over and glanced around. "We can make a wish if we merge ours with the Ladybug's,"

"So you need Brumus' miraculous," Lady Noir declared, diving at her again. Lady Ombre blocked her attack and threw her back before kicking her baton out of her hands. "Not mine!"

"Ours don't work," Lady Ombre declared, catching her baton. "But with yours!"

"No!" Lady Noir declared, diving at her and pinning her down. "You have no idea! Merging these two miraculous is too powerful! There would be a great price to pay!"

"Nothing is too powerful!" She declared, throwing Lady Noir off her before she stalked over. "And no price is too great to pay if it would free me from my pain!"

"Your pain?" Lady Noir asked, confused.

"Don't you get it?!" Lady Ombre growled as she stalked over. "There are no awesome girlfriends to inspire me every day! No amazing BBF, let alone a calm and gentle mum or a boyfriend who doesn't think I'm a total loser!"

Lady Noir looked at her with an expression crossed between surprise and sorrow.

"You ready my secret diary?" She asked as Lady Ombre pointed her own baton at her.

"Of course, I read it!" She screamed. "How could I not?! Your life is so much better than mine!"

"It's no-"

"It is!" She screamed as she summoned a cataclysm and went to slam it into her chest but before she could, Lady Noir called off her transformation, turning into Marinette. Lady Ombre stopped and stared at her with shock.

"See?" She stated. Lady Ombre stared at her with complete shock as Marinette stared back at her. "I get it,"

"No, you don't!" She gasped. "Don't pretend to be me! You know nothing of pain!"

"If you read my diary then you know it's not true," Marinette answered. "I suffered too. I was angry as well and scared. I still struggle with this every day but you don't need any magic jewels. Powers didn't change who I was. I changed who I was. I decided to do better and be better. That I could help and fix what was wrong. I'm sure you could as well,"

"... I can't..." She admits, looking down. "It's not just about me. It's about Brumus as well. I want to help him!"

"I admire that but-" Marinette started but she stopped speaking as someone jumped down, stopping their fight. Lady Ombre hissed and held her baton but Marinette sat up. "Sir Rene?"

"You both need to get to Brumus and Cinnabug right now," He declared, making her look at him with concern. "Me and Toutai both sensed something is about to happen,"

"Is Brumus in danger?!" She asked.

"I think so," Marinette declared, holding out her hand. "Truce?"

"Truce!" She declared, giving her back her miraculous. Marinette retransformed after making sure Plagg was ok before the two of them headed out to find where Cinnabug and Brumus were.

~With Brumus and Cinnabug~

Brumus narrowed his eyes and jumped up, grabbing Cinnabug before he could even think before throwing him into the nearest building, which happened to be the school. Cinnabug pulled himself out of the debris and jumped out the way as Brumus dived at him with a sword again. He jumped down and landed on the group before throwing up his yoyo.

"Lucky charm!" He shouted, summoning the magical swarm. Another mirror fell down and he caught it, looking at it with a confused look. Brumus growled and summoned a hammer, driving at him with it. Cinnabug jumped out as he tried to hit him with it before jumping over him. "I wouldn't break it if I were. It would be seven years of bad luck you know!"

"You think it can be any different then it is now?!" Brumus snarled, changing the hammer into a massive sword before charging at Cinnabug, causing him to stumble back as he tried to avoid being hit. "Guess what?! I don't have your nice little life!"

He made the sword disappear and threw his yoyo, wrapping it around Cinnabug's leg. He yanked it, pulling Cinnabug into the air and slamming him into the canteen before he stalked through.

"In my world, I have no family who cares for me!" He declared, using his yoyo to break tables as he stalked over. "No loving mother who would do anything to protect me! No sweet little sister who looks up to me! No rockstar dad who didn't abandon me!"

"You saw my life?" Cinnabug asked. Brumus growled and threw his yoyo at him again. He used it to backhand Cinnabug, sending him flying through the window and back into the courtyard. He climbed onto the window shelf and jumped back into the courtyard. He summoned his sword again and charged at him. Cinnabug looked at him as he stood up before he looked down at his mirror as it lit up as Brumus stalked over. "Then you know we're the same, you and I?"

"Are you kidding?! I'm the opposite to you!" He screamed as Anatis showed him his reflection. "All I've gotten is pain and suffering! That stupid cult stole me from my family and tortured me! When I finally escaped, my own mother refused to help me! No one helped me or loved me! Until I was given a miraculous and finally got my true power as the Supreme! Now no one will hurt me anymore! I'll get rid of them before they can!"

He turned his sword into a smaller weapon and used it to break the mirror in Cinnabug's hand.

"So we have nothing in common!"

"We might be opposites but we do have things in common," Cinnabug stated. "I have had my fair share of pain. My stepfather tried to kill me on more than one occasion and recently I have lost my mentors..."

"I don't care!" Brumus shouted, using his yoyo to hit him again. He grabbed Cinnabug and threw him into the middle before diving at him while summoning a sword again but before he could hit him, a whip wrapped around his wrist and he was suddenly pulled back, causing him to land and glare at whoever did it. Cinnabug looked over as well as a miraculous holder that resembled Khnurn jumped down, glaring at Brumus and Cinnabug. "Who are you?!"

"You do not recognize your own past life, young Supreme?" A calm but cold voice stated, making the hairs on Cinnabug's neck stand up as a man who resembled Feng walked over but unlike Feng who wore peasant clothing and had an easy going aura, this man wore the finest silks and the aura radiating off him could only be described as terrifying. Brumus let out a growl and charged at him, causing Cinnabug to shout out but a knight in all black dived in front of him and slammed his sword into Brumus, sending him flying before he pointed his sword at his throat. Realising that this man would kill him, Brumus held his hands up. The man turned his attention to Cinnabug. "My apologies for the destruction this one has brought to your world. We'll take him back now,"

"I can't let you do that," Cinnabug stated, making the man smirk.

"Oh? You rather risk your world falling into destruction?" He asked. "That's what will happen if he stays. Trust me, I have seen it already,"

"Who are you?" Cinnabug asked, narrowing his eyes. He had an idea.

"I am Huài Shé," He responded, bowing slightly. "The first of the Supremes but somehow you knew that, didn't you, young mage?"

"I suspected," He confirmed as Lady Noir and Lady Ombre jumped in. Seeing Brumus with a sword to his throat, Lady Ombre growled and charged towards them, causing a fourth to appear. He was dressed similar to an assassin and used fans as weapons. He slammed them into her and kicked her into the wall. Lady Noir rushed over to her. The Knight in Black pulled Brumus to his feet as Lady Ombre got up and pushed Lady Noir out of the way.

"Let him go!" She snarled but the assassin-like holder grabbed her. "Unhand me!"

"I highly recommend you don't move, young lady," Huài Shé declared, making her glare at him. "Toutai has quite the talent when it comes to poisons and I doubt you'll be able to do much if you are poisoned,"

"Leave her be," Brumus declared as the Knight pulled him over. "I'll go with you,"

"Of course, you will," Huài shé replied as he turned on his heel. "Toutai, Khalid. Let's go,"

The two lowered their weapons before moving over to where Huài Shé, Brumus and the Knight who Cinnabug suspected to be their version of Sir Rene were before a portal opened up. Huài Shé entered first before the Knight pulled Brumus through, causing Lady Ombre to run over but before she could, a line of fire appeared, making her jump back.

"Brumus!" She called out, causing him to look back at her. "I'll find you!"

He said something but none was able to hear what he said before the two others entered the portal and it closed, making Cinnabug frown.

"Lady Ombre... are you ok?" He asked, causing her to look at him.

"I'm fine," She sighed, making him nod. "I just don't know how I'm gonna find him. What if they hurt him?"

"Were they...?" Lady Noir asked, making Cinnabug nod.

"That world's version of Feng, Toutai, Khnurn and Sir Rene... yep," He confirmed. "I suspect their Alpheus is who started the fire too... speaking of which,"

He held out the mirror and threw it up into the air.

"Miraculous Ladybugs!" He declared, causing the mirror to burst into the magical swarm, spreading throughout Paris fixing everything that had been destroyed. Finally, it came back to the school. It fixed it up and put out the fire before going around Lady Ombre, making her gasp as the black veins disappeared and the colour returned to her cheeks before disappearing. "Tikki believes you can do better and deserves better,"

"I..." She mumbled, looking down before the feathers on Cinnabug's back growled and Guardian appeared. "So that's how you did it,"

"I should give this back," Cinnabug replied, gently gesturing to the miraculous. "Ladies, we'll meet you near the Eiffel tower. Bring Alya. We're gonna need her,"

"Of course," Lady Noir replied, causing Lady Ombre to nod and follow her as she jumped off. Cinnabug turned to the Guardian.

"Do you want to hide behind somewhere?" He asked.

"I don't mind you knowing who I am," He replied, making Cinnabug smile and click his fingers, turning him back into his civilian form. 

"Gabriel Agreste huh?" Cinnabug replied, thinking. He couldn't help but wonder if it was the same in this world. It more than likely was but he would have to find a way to fully confirm. After all, he's suspected Gabriel has been Hawkmoth for ages but he's just never been able to find the evidence against him. He would have to work harder. "Thank you for your help, Mr Agreste,"

"The honour has been mine," He smiled gently. He was completely different from this world's version. 

"Nooroo, Tikki. Divide," Cinnabug declared, turning back into Luka. He caught both of them with one hand as they both looked exhausted before taking a cookie out for both of them. Tikki grinned and began to dig into hers as Nooroo bowed before taking it. The two kwamis began to eat the cookies as Luka sighed softly. 

"Are you ok?" Gabriel asked, gently placing his hand on his shoulder.

"I'm worried about Brumus," He admitted before bringing Gabriel up to speed. "His past lives aren't like mine so I'm worried for him and what they might do to him,"

"I understand," Gabriel stated, nodding. "Brumus may be a dangerous person but he is still a child. I will try my best to find him,"

"Thank you," He replied as the kwamis finished their cookies. Seeing them finish, Luka took off the butterfly miraculous and gave it back to Gabriel, who pinned it back to his shirt. The two of them transformed. Anatis went and collected all the miraculous he and Lady Noir had lent out before saying goodbye to Toutai and Rene before they left. With that done, he and Atlas headed to where the two cats were waiting. When they got there, they saw Lady Ombre had changed her costume a little. However, the real difference was that she no longer had cracks in her outfit and the green was more of an emerald green than a sickly green.

"I'm still going by Lady Ombre," She declared, crossing her arms as Lady Noir shook her head. "I am still Brumus' partner... but I will help take down the fake supreme,"

"I would appreciate the help," Atlas replied, making her look over. "And in return, I will help you find Brumus and rescue him,"

"You will?!" She gasped before clearing her throat. "Of course, you will,"

"It's time," Atlas smiled before turning to Alya. "Alya Cerise, if you allow me,"

She nodded, causing him to charge up his Kamiko before he let it fly over to her and land into her glasses. She transformed into Ubiquity and opened a portal to their world. Atlas turned to Anatis and Lady Noir.

"I thank you for your help," He smiled. "And I'm sure you'll be able to defeat your Hawkmoth soon,"

"Thank you, Atlas," Anatis smiled. "You helped me find something I thought I had lost,"

"Oh?" He asked, a little confused. "What would that be?"

"Hope," Anatis replied. "I know the future is uncertain but as long as I've got hope, my friends and my families, I'll be ok,"

"I'm glad I could help," Atlas replied, gently placing his hand on Anatis' shoulder. "Whatever burdens you have faced... they have not destroyed you. They have made you stronger and I believe you will only grow in power and strength. I hope we might meet again in a more positive situation,"

"I hope so too," Anatis replied, getting a nod of Atlas before he turned and waved to Lady Noir, who waved back. Lady Ombre gave them a salute before walking through the portal with Atlas. As soon as they went through, the portal closed and Ubiquity turned back into Alya as the butterfly escaped and flew off. 

"Well, I'm glad tha- ah!" Lady Noir gasped, suddenly gripping her head.

"Kitten?!" Anatis gasp as a white light overtook her before it disappeared, showing her outfit had changed slightly. Her main outfit had turned space-like, appearing like a night sky of stars. Her hair had turned bright purple. She had several glowing circles on her legs and two on her shoulders with several glowing lines. She now wore a cape and the green details of her outfit were glowing. "Lady Noir?"

"Sorry for the sudden visit," She stated, making the two of them stare. "I'll explain in a moment,"

Anatis went to open his mouth but before he could say anything, an orange portal appeared and a man dressed in a very strange costume stepped out. He had gelled back white hair and purple skin. His main outfit was a dark purple suit with a butterfly in the middle that appeared to be made out of stained glass with a different colour in every part. Anatis narrowed his eyes as he noticed he wore every single miraculous. However, Lady Noir narrowed her eyes, clearly expecting this.

"And you're not getting them here either, Monarch!" She declared, pulling back her fist and punching him back into the portal that closed seconds later. She let out a sigh and turned back to the others. "Sorry about that,"

She turned to Anatis.

"He was planning to try and steal your miraculousness so I had to stop him," She explained. "You see he's-"

"He's the butterfly holder from your world," He stated, surprising her. "And you're the Ladybug of that world,"

"Well, I'm Ladybiquity right now but yes," She replied, smiling. "You're very insightful. I can see you're a great Ladybug. What's your name?"

"I go by Anatis," He replied, making her smile. 

"Well, Anatis, your world is very lucky to have you," She replied, grinning. "Well, he's stopped now so now it's time for me to leave. Bye,"

"Good luck, Ladybiquity," He stated, making her grin before the light engulfed her again. It disappeared, returning Lady Noir to her normal form. She fell forward, causing Anatis to catch her. "You ok?"

"That was very odd," She mumbled before straightening up. Anatis couldn't help but yawn as he finally felt tired. "You should go home and sleep, Mister. I'll take Alya back to Marinette's and then pick up Marinette ok?"

He was going to argue but he yawned again and just nodded, too tired to make a counter-arguablement.

"Ok," He nodded, smiling. "Get back safely and see you both soon,"

"Bye, Anatis!" Alya yelled out as he swung off before she turned to Lady Noir. "What a night right?"

"Yep,"

~At the Liberty~

Anatis climbed through the porthole of his room and dropped his transformation, stretching and yawning as he did. Part of him was still terrified of what was to come but after meeting Atlas and Brumus, he couldn't help but be glad that he was born in this world. Throughout their whole battle, he could sense Brumus' anger and pain. He didn't doubt for one second that he had suffered and he suspected it was more than what he said. However, he also knew that he was lost and there was a high chance that he was too far gone. Part of him was reassured that even if he was akumatized, he would never be like that. He moved to his bed and flopped on it as the kwamis flew over.

"I'm tired," He mumbled to them, causing them to curl up around him. "Good night, everyone,"

They said good night to him but he didn't hear them, having drifted straight into sleep. Bennu, Nepp and Vernn lifted his blankets over him before joining the other kwamis.

~Somewhere in the Spirit Realm on the Parallel side~

"You are quite the supreme already," Huài Shé declared as Luka knelt down before him. Tikki was eating a cookie and he had a cup of tea in his hand. "Already channelling our magic without even making a connection with us,"

"I'm sorry," He mumbled, looking down.

"You mistake my tone for displeasure," Huài Shé stated, making Luka look up at him. "On the contrary, I am impressed,"

"Then why did you stop me?"

"Your present in that world would have ended up in its destruction and ours," He explained, making Luka frown. "And that is something that can not happen. I worked too hard to have my world destroyed. Speaking of which, that cult is using our title to their own gain,"

"I know but they're too powerful," Luka growled, gritting his teeth. "They have most of the miraculous and while I've gotten rid of two of their people, they still have more,"

"In that case, I will teach you how to be a true Supreme," Huài Shé declared as the other four walked over. "All of us will teach you and then you will reclaim your birthright as the true Supreme,"

"You have my thanks, Master Huài Shé," Luka smirked with a dark expression that the other Supremes reflected.

[darksaiyangoku]

RWBY Christmas Tales

The Dragon King

For Kina and Borvak.

Jaune licked his lips as Rouge pulled out the the salmon from the oven. He, Saphron, Verte, Noir, Blanc and their parents, Lucien and Grace hummed delightfully as the rich aroma danced on their nostrils.

Rouge: *grabs a large knife and fork* Alright everyone, let's dig in. *carves the salmon*

The Arc Family devoured their breakfast swifty, leaving behind clean plates. Rouge's eyes were wide in shock and embarrasment.

Rouge: Animals... my family are complete animals...

Lucien: Sorry about that, sweetheart. *wipes his mouth* We just love your cooking so much.

Blanc/Noir: Yeah!

Rouge: Just behave yourselves at the Christmas Banquet today.

Jaune: Don't worry, big sister. You won't hear a peep out of us. We'll be as good as gold.

Verte: Dibs on the last salmon! *goes to grab it*

Saphron: No way! It's mine!

Jaune: Give it here!

Blanc: No fair, I want it!

Noir: Shut up and give it to me!

Rouge: *groans in annoyance*

[Kingdom of Vale- Vale Castle Courtyard]

The Arc Family arrived in the Vale Courtyard and saw that everyone was playing in the snow, even the knights. Noir and Blanc raced towards the commotion and hastily made their snowballs to join in. The older siblings chuckled in amusement, with Jaune fighting the urge to join in.

Saphron: Go ahead, Jaune. *smiles*

Jaune: Yes! *runs up and get hits by snowball* Ow! Blanc!

Blanc: It wasn't me! Noir did it!

Noir: Did not!

Blanc: Did too!

Jaune: I know a way to settle this. *grabs snowballs* Run for cover!

Everyone cheered and laughed as they pelted each other with snowballs. Rouge, meanwhile, tried to hide. She didn't want to get her new dress wet. Once the fight was over, the people were invited inside for a lavish Christmas Banquet. The tables were laid out with some of the most exquiste spreads; roast beef, roast pork, roast chicken, roast turkey, roast goose, roast pheasant, sausages, bacon, mashed potatoes, leek and potato stew, carrot and parsnip soup, caramalised onions, grilled fish, potato croquettes, a cheeseboard, cherry pies, mince pies, stollen, strudels, crepéa and figgy pudding. Jaune couldn't believe his eyes. All of this was ready to be feasted on by knights and peasants alike. As everyone enjoyed their meals heartily, the King, George Draco, sat beside his advisor, the mage Ozma.

Ozma: *leans in* Your Majesty, now that everyone is here, I believe it is time to make the announcement.

George: *nods head and rises* Attention, everyone.

The guests all turned to the King at once.

George: Welcome one and all to this joyous occassion. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas. I am grateful to receive the wonderful gifts that you have left me and my loyal knights. But now, I have a gift for you. *raises arms* This very castle.

The crowd murmered to each other in surprise. King George was often referred to as "The Generous One", but to give away his entire castle sounded too much. Even Jaune's family was confused by this arrangement. King George smiled and raised his hand to calm the audience.

George: Let me explain. For 20 years, I have ruled this land and I have watched Vale blossom from a rough and frail land into a wonderful kingdom. But as a mortal, my life is finite. Eventually, I will no longer walk among you and, as I have no heir, you will be left without a ruler.

Ozma: *walks to the center* In the centre of the courtyard stands a relic from the Conjunction of the Spheres; a sword known as Caliburn. It is lunged within a stone and, whomever is worthy, shall inherit the Kingdom of Vale.

Jaune couldn't believe his ears. Inheriting a kingdom just for pulling a out a sword? He couldn't help but smile at the ludicrousy of it all. The guests, meanwhile, chatted amongst themselves in a mix of excitement and concern. Magic wasn't trusted, some outright feared it and to let magic decide the fate of Vale was rather dangerous. But the alternative could power a struggle and eventually a civil war. No one should have to fight their own brothers and sisters for a throne. After the feast, everyone gathered outside to gaze at the sword in the stone. It was a gleaming, silver blade with a silver crossguard modelled after dragon wings, dark blue handle and a sapphire embedded into the pommel. One by one, several people stepped up to face the challenge of Ozma, from peasants to barons, lords, ladies and even the knights. But none could do so much as move it, let alone pull it out. Jaune felt his tunic being dragged by his brothers as they pulled him towards the altar.

Jaune: Wha- hey! What are you two doing?

Blanc: Come on, big brother! You have a go!

Noir: Yeah, you can do it!

Jaune: Hehe, boys, no one else could do this. I don't think-

Blanc/Noir: Pleeeeeeease??

Jaune: *chuckles* Alright, alright.

Jaune grabbed the handle with both of his hands and took a deep breath. He placed his foot on the stone and pulled as hard as he could. Just like the others, however, he top struggled and his face turned red from the straining. In the end, he gave up and returned to his family.

Blanc: Awww.

Noir: Unlucky.

Jaune: It's okay, boys. *chuckles* At least I tried.

It didn't seem like anyone would be able to lift the sword out after all and people were starting to grow weary. At the sky became dark, the courtyard shrank as many of the guests had decided to go home. One young, blue-haired boy, however, stared at the sword with intrigue. He walked up to it and grabbed a hold of the handle. Suddenly, the sapphire started to glow and, with gentle force, the boy pulled it out effortlessly. Everyone's eyes nearly popped from their sockets. This young boy, who seemed to have gone unnoticed throughout the day, had successfully won the Kingdom of Vale. The boy stood back, bewildered at the sight of everyone bowing down, including the Arc Family and the King himself. Ozma stepped forward and smiled.

Blue-haired boy: W-What's going on?

Ozma: You are next in line to rule as King. We have finally found an heir! *bows down* All hail, Prince Arthur Azure!