#scratching and picking at it only spreads the rust around and makes it worse. it’s hard not to scratch and pick at it

[mechaffeine]

What do we think the transformers equivalent of acne is? Is it rust, regular iron rust, that corrodes and corrodes even if you scrape it off?

Is it something else? Mere pits in the plates of face and body, filling with debris over time?

[zenonaa]

'Like the rest of the group, he also wondered what could have driven out such a grin from him, out in the open like that. Worse, it could have not been a ‘what’, but a ‘who’. He had prided himself on never letting anyone slip under his skin, never letting anyone become close to him. Learning to rely on others, and let others rely on him, was one thing. This felt more personal, like a kick to the stomach.'

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Fukawa Touko/Togami Byakuya Characters: Fukawa Touko, Togami Byakuya, Naegi Makoto, Naegi Komaru, Kirigiri Kyouko, Asahina Aoi, Hagakure Yasuhiro Additional Tags: TogaFuka Week 2021 Summary: Togami and the others stumble across a photograph of him smiling, but he can't remember the context so the others try to figure out what happened for him to do that.

Comments: owo what's this? togafuka week day 1: happiness! i haven't actually written something for all the days but this is one of the things that i did manage to squeeze out.

💗 Please like, share and comment if you enjoyed it! 💗

***

Cleaning up Hope’s Peak wasn’t an afternoon affair. Beyond the old school building that Byakuya knew too intimately, debris clogged hallways, trash lay scattered throughout the campus like weeds and the air smelled of rust and blood. The group of seven started with the art building on the east side of campus. For the first few hours, Yasuhiro hummed as he hauled cardboard boxes, Komaru still had the patience to prepare and bring lemonade, and Aoi’s sunshine voice beamed between walls as she shared a story about the time her family held a second-hand sale in their backyard.

By the end of the day, however, their lively chatter had dimmed with the sky. Inside remained as bright thanks to Byakuya and Yasuhiro reconnecting the electricity, but darkening windows reminded them of the aches in their limbs, the ebbing flames behind their eyes. Byakuya swept his gaze across what used to be a theatre but was currently a sorting room filled with boxes instead of chairs. Makoto, Touko, Komaru and Yasuhiro were sitting together on boxes, while Kyouko and Aoi had just walked in with a dirty wheelbarrow.

“We should adjourn until the morning,” Byakuya announced. He reached a hand toward his glasses, intending to push them up, but stopped himself when he remembered the grime clinging to his palms. Not wanting to dirty his glasses, he lowered his hand.

The Byakuya of the past would have deemed this sort of manual labour beneath him, yet he had willingly spent most of that day working alongside his companions. His friends. How things changed.

“There is so much stuff,” said Aoi, who by now had parked the wheelbarrow and was slouched against it. She wiped her vest against her forehead.

“And not a lot of it is useful,” added Kyouko, next to Aoi. Yasuhiro straightened up.

“Nonsense. All we need to do is spruce them up, and they’ll be ready to go on sale.” He walked over to a broken lamp, its shade bitten and discoloured, as dirty as the floor it lay on. “Like this lamp. Fix this up, and it’ll be as good as new. Then all we need is a good pitch and b’am,” he punched his palm, “sold.”

“You can’t do that with everything here,” said Komaru. He put his hands onto his hips.

“Not with that attitude! But with the right mindset, you could sell anything here, guaranteed.”

Yasuhiro rubbed his finger against his nose, grinning like a fool. Some things changed, but others stayed remarkably the same. Byakuya’s gaze drifted over to Touko, who was scowling at Yasuhiro. Touko was both different and the same. Different, because she stood firm where she used to cower, and she let others into her world where she used to cloak herself in darkness.

And same because while like Byakuya, she had learned to allow herself to rely on friends and for friends to rely on her, she was still head over heels in love with him.

She pointed at a black bag containing hunks of metal. “What sales pitch do you have for this?”

“Easy! All you have to do is make the contents into sculptures,” replied Yasuhiro. “Their only purpose is to be admired, ‘right? Add a backstory to go with them and boom, sold. You can do that to practically anything even if it’s trash.”

“No way,” said Aoi.

“Want to bet?”

The group roused to accept his challenge. Makoto found a used wipe container, and Yasuhiro clicked his fingers and said to fill it with plastic bags, turning it into a dispenser that was portable and could fit easily into a car drawer. Aoi presented him with pizza boxes, at which Yasuhiro laughed and demanded more so they could be decked in wrapping paper and transformed into a drawer unit. When Komaru found a metal pipe, Yasuhiro claimed it needed a clean and spray paint and it could sit contentedly on a shelf.

Yasuhiro even sucked Byakuya and Touko into the game. The cork in Byakuya’s hand changed into a keychain, and Yasuhiro’s voice fashioned an old juice carton into a recyclable purse ideal for coins and trips to the arcade. Each item that the others found, Yasuhiro repurposed it into something else.

“There has to be something you can’t reuse,” Komaru insisted. She peeled the lid open on a cardboard box and lifted out a hardback red book from inside it. “What about these photos? Who’d want to have pictures of strangers?”

“Photos?” said Kyouko, intrigued.

“Yeah, there are a whole load of albums in here. I went through a few earlier but didn’t recognise anyone, so I forgot about them.”

Touko rolled her eyes. “Typical...”

Kyouko and Aoi each took out an album. The box seemed to contain several of them, their covers glazed in dust and cobwebs.

“Gekkogahara-san is in this one,” said Kyouko within a few seconds of skimming.

By now, the rest of the group had gravitated over. Inside the album that Kyouko was holding, the photographs were contained in plastic flaps that overlapped so only the one on top could be seen unless it was flicked up, revealing the photograph beneath. In the photograph currently on display, Miaya Gekkogahara was sitting next to a pale guy with dark hair and dark shadows under his eyes, who Byakuya recognised as Yasuke Matsuda. They appeared to be seated at a computer desk, their heads turned toward the photographer.

“It’s really her,” murmured Makoto. “And not a robot masquerading as her.”

“Do you think these are all photos of her class?” asked Yasuhiro as he and the others picked up their own photo albums to browse.

“If that’s true, then everyone in these are deceased,” said Touko.

Aoi winced. “When you phrase it like that, this feels kind of morbid.”

Makoto flipped through a few flaps in the album in his hands. Then his creased forehead exploded as his eyebrows shot up. “This album contains our class!”

Everyone crowded around him. The photograph showed a pink room with a television screen hanging on the wall. Blurred writing glowed on it that Byakuya struggled to decipher. In front of it, Couch seats were positioned around three sides of a table, and on the seats sat members of their class. The only classmate not in the photograph was Sakura.

“Sakura-chan must have been taking the photograph,” said Aoi. “No way would our class exclude her.”

Holding the album in one hand, Makoto scratched his head with his other.

“I vaguely recall this,” he said. “Kuwata-kun... yes, I think it was him... booked a karaoke room, and the whole class packed in. All of us sang at least once.”

While Future Foundation had aided them in recovering from the memory loss inflicted by Junko, some memories were stronger than others. For Byakuya, he could recall plenty of events, but none came with any emotion attached. It was as though he was reading about them in a newspaper afterwards.

“Byakuya-sama graced us with his voice,” Touko piped up. The ends of her lips curled upward as she squeezed her hands together. “I r-remember... he made the air taste like chocolate syrup... his words spread a chill across my skin... ah...”

Byakuya remembered performing a single song, but he hated singing, and he couldn’t remember what compelled him to accept a microphone.

“Enoshima tried to steal such a precious memory from us.” Aoi rubbed the heel of her hand against her eye. “Sakura-chan sang a beautiful song about friendship. Her voice washed over the room like the ocean.”

Kyouko placed a hand onto Aoi’s shoulder. Komaru flicked through the other photographs in the album. Byakuya didn’t pay Komaru any more mind, frowning at Touko as she seemed to relive the experience of him singing. Her recollection appeared much more intimate than his own. Part of him wanted to ask her for more details. Another part was repulsed.

Komaru gasped.

“What is it?” asked Makoto as they all focused on the album again. The photograph that had captured her attention depicted Byakuya. Nothing extraordinary appeared to be in the photograph - he was sitting on a bench at an angle, not facing the camera.

Yet the others stared with their mouths agape.

“I have never seen Togami-chi smile like that,” said Yasuhiro.

Byakuya inspected the photograph closer. Though it had been taken at a distance - probably so he wouldn’t realise someone was taking a photograph of him - there was a definite smile gracing his lips. It wasn’t a smirk, or a cruel grin, or the faint curve he sometimes showed around his friends, but a smile showing teeth, one that didn’t just meet his eyes, but made his gaze, no, his face glow.

What he was looking at, however, was unclear. It was now that Byakuya realised the photograph had been torn, and the section that held the object of his attention wasn’t in the album.

“It must have been something amazing to have made him smile back then,” said Yasuhiro.

They all turned to Byakuya, who pursed his lips.

“Putting aside whether I would tell you if I knew, I don’t actually recall when this took place,” he said.

“Maybe we could help jog your memory?” Aoi suggested. “When I want to remember something, I write it on my palm three times.”

“That won’t help,” said Touko. “You can only do that while you still remember the thing.” Her teeth gritted. “Argh... if only I knew what could have elicited such a pure smile from Byakuya-sama...!”

She dragged her fingers down her face.

“It’s not a big deal,” said Byakuya. While the others burned with curiosity, discomfort stewed in his gut like when he had watched Touko reminisce about the karaoke session.

Like the rest of the group, he also wondered what could have driven out such a grin from him, out in the open like that. Worse, it could have not been a ‘what’, but a ‘who’. He had prided himself on never letting anyone slip under his skin, never letting anyone become close to him. Learning to rely on others, and let others rely on him, was one thing. This felt more personal, like a kick to the stomach.

“There has to be some way to reawaken the memory,” said Komaru, her tone light without the burden of his thoughts. She turned to Kyouko. “You must know a way.”

“Must I?” Kyouko’s eyebrows rose.

“Because you’re from a detective family,” said Aoi, nodding.

“Actually...” Komaru’s smile cringed on her face. “I um... just assume Kyouko-chan knows everything.”

“There are a few techniques we can try,” said Kyouko, faintly amused. “Perhaps if we pinpoint when and where exactly the photograph took place, that may stir something in Togami-kun’s brain.”

Other than Byakuya, no one else was in the frame. A briefcase leaned against a bench leg and a pile of papers rested on his lap. Annoyingly, he couldn’t see any writing that may have been on the papers. In the photograph, he wasn’t looking at them. He was focused on the nothingness where the other half of the photograph should have been.

“That has to be the main plaza,” said Aoi. “I recognise the benches. Sakura-chan and I finished our morning runs there. Then we would sit down and drink some water. We never saw Togami there though.”

“Yeah. That looks like the fountain at the back,” added Makoto.

Kyouko stroked her chin. “The sliver of sky in the background appears rather pale, and judging by the colour of the leaves, it’s approximately autumn.”

“Togami-chi never missed a lesson, so it had to be late-afternoon at the latest, ‘right?” said Yasuhiro.

“Unless it was the weekend,” Makoto pointed out, prompting Yasuhiro to exhale frustratedly through his teeth. The thoughtful expression on Kyouko’s face, however, didn’t waver.

“We can deduce whether he had lessons on that day,” said Kyouko.

“How?” asked Aoi.

Byakuya already knew. “I’m not in uniform.”

“Indeed,” said Kyouko with a bob of her head. “So unless you changed into another outfit after your lessons, this scene transpired at the weekend.”

“Does that ring any bells for you?” Komaru asked Byakuya, clasping her hands together, eyes wide with optimism. “Visiting the plaza on the weekend, and catching sight of something that brings joy to your face...?”

His jaw clenched. All of them were staring at him. They had a campus as large as four high schools to clear and they had only made a dent so far, but the arduous task appeared to have been pushed aside in favour of probing his brain for some memory. Oh, how they tried his patience at times.

“I can’t say it brings anything to mind, though it is unusual for me to be there,” he said in a level tone. “Usually, during the weekend, I would be indoors, either in my room or in the library.”

Certainly not at the plaza. Certainly not with a brazen smile chipped into his face.

“I think we’ve followed the photograph’s lead as far as it can go,” said Yasuhiro. “Now we must turn to guesswork. If we bounce ideas off each other, that might help Togami-chi remember. Perhaps you had come from a meeting, where you struck a billion dollar deal?”

“Or you emerged from the cafeteria after they served some tasty donuts?” Aoi chimed in.

Byakuya’s frown sank in deeper.

“Or you finished a really good manga?” said Komaru.

“Or listened to a good song?” added Makoto.

Yasuhiro clicked his fingers. “I once read that listening to music is a good way to stir up memories. If we find a piece with the right mood, Togami-chi ought to remember the scene!”

“What sort of mood do you guys reckon we should play?” asked Komaru as she shoved her hand into her coat.

“Something cheerful,” said Aoi.

Komaru retrieved her phone from her pocket and tapped on her screen. A few seconds later, a series of beeps sang out of her phone, playing over the sound of clapping and a fast drumbeat. She side-stepped back and forth to the rhythm, and Byakuya lasted until the first few lines of Swedish auto tuned singing.

“Turn that off,” snapped Byakuya. “It’s not helping me think. It’s giving me a headache instead.”

With a pout, Komaru switched it off.

“Perhaps we should visit the location,” said Kyouko.

Touko’s brow creased. “Won’t it be dark?”

“Don’t worry, Touko-chan, our phones can provide you with light,” Komaru assured her, patting Touko on the shoulder.

They set off, departing from the old theatre and winding through corridors toward the plaza. Byakuya stayed silent, lagging behind most of the others slightly. Only Touko seemed to take note of this, and though she didn’t speak to him, she hovered further back than him, and he could feel her eyes on the back of his neck like flies crawling against his skin.

As they drew closer, he concluded that they wished so desperately to discover the source of his smile because they planned to use it against him. Perhaps they intended to humiliate him, or blackmail or manipulate him. But they were his friends, weren’t they? Surely they didn’t plan on using what they learned against him?

Yet... if that wasn’t the case, then why?

The plaza was no longer the picturesque location it once was. It couldn’t have been in a brochure promoting the academy, like the photograph in the album. Weeds grew between upturned slabs, gnarled fingers reaching toward the sky. Nearby, the rubble corpse of the fountain didn’t spout water, dry as sun bleached bone. They all stood silently for a while, observing their surroundings. There were no benches to sit on.

“It sure has changed a lot,” said Yasuhiro.

“It’ll do. Hagakure, bend over on all fours.” Aoi pointed at her feet. “You will play the part of the bench.”

Yasuhiro balked. “Why me? You’re stronger.”

Her stare didn’t relent. He managed a few more seconds before he dropped to his knees and planted his hands in front of himself. Once he was in position, Aoi turned to Byakuya expectantly.

“I am not sitting on him,” said Byakuya flatly.

“Please, Togami-san!” Komaru pleaded, shaking her phone in both hands. Light from the screen danced across her face and when her hands stilled, so did the glow. It seeped into her skin, accentuating the crinkle between her eyebrows and the stare from her eyes that pulled, pulled, pulled at Byakuya until he snapped.

“Why are you all making a big deal of this?” Byakuya asked not only Komaru, but all of them. He flung up a hand. “There is a photograph of me smiling. That’s it. It concerns me that you’re so obsessed with finding out what caused me to smile.”

His question clenched them in its jaws, burning the air with acid. He waited for one of them to answer. For Touko to do more than fidget, and Komaru to stop chewing her lip. Finally, the pressure squeezed out a response from Makoto.

“You’re our friend,” said Makoto. “You’re usually so serious, and you rarely ever seem happy. We thought if we could find out what made you that happy back then...”

“... we could bring that happiness back to you now,” finished Touko, curling her fingers into her palms. Byakuya tensed.

That explanation had never occurred to him. For most of his life, he had been forced to be on the defensive, to anticipate betrayals and attacks from anyone. Then again, for most of his life, he hadn’t been acquainted with people like this. Friends. He grimaced, staring at Touko for several long seconds before averting his gaze and pushing up his glasses.

“Nuisances...” But he seated himself on Yasuhiro’s back, setting his feet firmly on the ground.

Byakuya tried to imagine the sky was a pool of water, not ink, and that he was on a bench, and that water streamed from a fountain behind him. However, the air remained as dry and dark as his mouth, and no matter how often his mind mended the slabs of the plaza, they would crack and decay within moments.

“Anything?” said Touko, wringing her hands.

He folded his arms over his chest.

“No,” said Byakuya. A collective sigh spread, though Makoto was soon grinning again.

“I guess we’ll have to keep trying to make you happy.”

Byakuya clicked his tongue, but his lips twitched outward and he quickly hid it behind his hand. Nuisances.

“Does this mean you can stand up now?” Yasuhiro asked from beneath Byakuya.

Aoi stretched her arms upward, arching her back, and yawned. “We ought to call it a day. It’s getting late.”

While the others headed toward the dormitory building that they were currently living in. Byakuya stayed where he was. Their footsteps faded, the glow of their phones shrinking into five pinpricks of light before disappearing completely. Despite his friends’ efforts, they had failed to uncover the story of the photograph. Now that he knew their motives hadn’t been nefarious, he could appreciate their attempts and found himself wondering what had happened all those years ago.

“It’s a shame we don’t know what made you so happy back then,” said Touko next to him, echoing his thoughts. She hadn’t retired for the night with the others. He glanced at her, meeting her gaze. Her phone shone a light against her wistful expression.

“I suppose so,” he said in a casual tone.

“With many of my memories, I don’t recall exact details, but they evoke certain feelings.”

His eyebrows rose a fraction in interest. “Oh?”

“Yes. For example, standing here... is stirring some emotion in me. I think I have a memory associated with this place too.”

Byakuya turned his whole body to face her.

“What emotion?” he asked.

She didn’t answer right away, as if letting the thought sit on her tongue, tasting it.

“Warmth,” she said. “Like the warmth I feel when I’m with you. Perhaps I will never remember what happened to give me that feeling. B-But... I have many other precious memories... and I can work on creating more with you, Byakuya-sama.”

Her lips twisted into a smile. Meanwhile, his insides twisted, much like they did whenever she referred to him in a romantic manner. He had been experiencing the sensation more frequently around her lately. Sometimes, all she had to do was meet his gaze or brush against him, and his stomach would coil like she had pressed her lips against his.

“Byakuya-sama?” Touko’s voice broke into his thoughts. “A-Are you feeling all right?”

He did not want to think what about his face had made her ask that all of a sudden.

“I’m fine,” he said, and he adjusted his glasses. “We’ve dawdled here for long enough. Let’s return to the dormitories.”

“Together?” blurted Touko. Without a word, Byakuya strode away, and she darted after him, keeping abreast. “Are you going straight to sleep when you arrive back?”

His eyes stayed forward.

“No. I will have some tea and read first,” he replied.

“What do you plan on reading?”

“Out by Natsuo Kirino,” he said. Her head jerked back.

“I r-recently finished that!”

“I know. After seeing you reading it, I thought I would give it a try. I was more interested when I learned that it’s not a romance, but a crime novel.”

“I specialise in romance, but I read for a variety of genres,” she said. “I can recommend some more books i-if you want. Have you read The Inugami Clan? You may find the start slow, but I think you will enjoy the cast and the premise...”

He listened as they walked back together. The more she spoke, the more passionate she became, and he couldn’t help looking at her as she lit up, waving her arms around.

A smile poked at the corners of his lips, and he finally felt a sense of déjà vu.

[vesperlionheart]

Lady of the Blackthorn Trees

Happy belated birthday to @frostmarris​​! I hope you enjoy the first part (1/3) of this magical fantasy themed SasoSaku!

They had bound his hands with black horse hair, knotting it over his wrists in elaborate knots that he’d never be able to get out of on his own for how they blocked his magic. The enemy had done their homework and come prepared this time.

Good for them.

Sasori couldn’t bring himself to care that he was on his way to die. What was the point in grieving for such a sad and ruinous life anyway? He had lost his treasures, been run out of his homeland, sent to a foreign continent thanks to his cousin’s strange magic, and chased by every thief with a dagger from Darksprawl to the port cities. His family was likely dead while the Akatsuki group was setting themselves up pretty on the falcon throne across the world. He was a fool to have believed them in the first place. 

It was probably better for everyone if he didn’t live long enough to hear about how royally he had fucked things up an ocean away.

“Hey, you there,” one of the guardsmen called out. Sasori lifted his head enough to stare out his bangs at the other man, but it must have looked disrespectful since he felt the guard’s fist in his hair, pulling forward. Sasori cursed and fell on his knees, out of his seat while the other guards laughed.

“A shame he’s a man, I would have enjoyed myself more if we had a pretty woman,” the guard mocked.

“You think we’d get so lucky twice in one week?” another one jeered.

“The lot of you are disgusting filth. Get the criminal on his feet and lead him to the barracks. We’re not going to be wasting our breath anymore on this,” the captain bellowed before spitting in front of Sasori on the ground.

That’s when Sasori looked up to see where he was. He saw the long walls encircling the small military encampment, pitched with tents around a crudely constructed office towards the back.

The barracks Sasori was left to was a set of cages left out in the open, exposed to the elements but tucked away in the back corner. The whole camp would be able to see him in his cell, but only if they bothered to turn around and look.

 He was pushed in and tumbled into the rotten straw, scratching his hands on the stones hidden within.

“Hey, you had ta use the black rope on ‘em. Shouldn’t we use the irons?” one of the younger soldiers asked his senior.

“Irons can rust and chip but the black rope will always survive, lad. You must not have much experience with the magical prisoners. You lot seem to think the stronger the lock the safer you are, but take a look at this mess here.”

“Sir?”

“Picked him up for murder. Sure they were only rouges and thieves he cut into the throats of, but its a good enough reason for us to show off how much more competent we are than those White Lilly bastards. Look at us, we caught a foreign mage in a tavern with only two men and the element of surprise!”

Sasori refused to turn around as the story of his capture was exaggerated for the younger soldiers. The truth would never come out from their lying mouths so it wasn’t worth it to listen to them. The most honest they got was when they admitting the arrest was more to show off than to protect the peace.

The Darkguard of the latest mad king was reaching farther and took over a settlement protected by the Order of the White Lillies, an order of knights who served the high king from a kingdom too far away to care about. The politics didn’t matter to Sasori as he had no personal ties to anyone or any land, black or white, it didn’t matter what color their armor was, they were all the same to him.

“What kind of magic does he have?” someone else asked.

“We ain’t taking the ropes off to show you.”

“It probably was nothing,” someone else jeered. “You just like to feel good about yourselves so you dressed some lout up as a mage? Yeah right.”

“Jeter, you bastard son of a weasel, put your fists up and say that again!”

Sasori closed his eyes and settled into the hay while the camp laughed at the scuffle outside his cell. Even if he tried, he knew there was nothing he could do and nothing he could use to fray or break the black rope he had been bound with. Even with a knife, nothing would free him until the knot was undone…an impossible task for someone left in the bindings.

If he hadn’t been alone maybe he never would have gotten into such a dire situation, but there was no such option for a foreigner like himself. After his last great betrayal, he wasn’t willing to trust anyone who wasn’t family.  

Poor Gaara. Temari and Kankuro were at least old enough to maybe hold their own, but Gaara was still young and unable to master his wild magics. He would be either consumed alive by what he couldn’t control or slaughtered by whoever put himself up on the throne. Kankuro’s puppet magic was good, but largely undeveloped, and Temari…actually Temari wasn’t one he needed to be worried about. Out of all of his cousins, she was the most proficient in her magics. She was just too stubborn to realize when she was outclassed and outnumbered.

Would they blame him? He had failed to protect his birthright. The falcon throne was being used by an usurper and his family was dead or worse thanks to his blind ambitions. He should have known better than to trust that snake’s lies about immortality without lichdom or necromancy. What a fool he had been.

He hoped they killed him quickly. Sasori was too bored left alone in a cell with only his thoughts and regret to keep him company.    

The day quickly paled into dusk and then the bonfires were lit. Dinner was had and food was passed around, though nothing was spared for Sasori apart from stale bread and a bit of water. The dark seemed to draw most of the guards out for one last drink or story before they retired. Inside the fort they all felt safe.

The hairs on the back of Sasori’s neck all stood up and he tensed inside his cell, recognizing the static of building magic. It was a thick magic, stretching far. When he looked up he couldn’t see where it came from or what was causing it, but there were moths settling on the bars of his cell, clinging to the fortress walls, and perching atop the high points and banners left aloft. The hum of magic was strongest around them.

“What-?”

A younger solider had stepped backwards and crushed a moth under his heel and out of the carcass a spill of magic grew colored quartz crystal up over the man’s heel, up his leg, and over his thigh before encasing his entire body in a jagged prison of red and pink that swallowed up his scream.

A dozen different moths detonated on their own and grew into mammoth crystals that sealed up the exist and threw colored light across the encampment. The screaming rose along with the chaos before a still came over the camp.

The months on his door hadn’t moved or detonated, as several others hadn’t, but the insects didn’t move even as their magic grew. It gave the men time to gather their weapons and arm themselves.

“What is it?” someone shouted.

“Where is it?” someone else yelled in response.

In the chaos some of the fire had spilled out of the pit and caught one of the sitting logs up in flames, but spread no further. It cast longer shadows that changed the terrain to the natural eye.

There were curses as the men turned and searched, fanning out with their swords and bows drawn. Even their commander was out of his tent, looking wary. He shouted encouragements and cursed their coward enemy but it did little to erase the men’s fears.

“I hope it ruins you,” Sasori chuckled darkly, feeling the first tickles of delight in his belly.

When one of the guards started to cough and double over his neighbors noticed in time to watch his body explode in a shower of blood and gore, torn open with sharp, growing crystal. One of the nearby guards fell back on his ass and the stain through his pants was visible.

“At the front!” the commander shouted, pointing to where the thickest cluster of crystals started to glow.  Several heads turned in time to see what Sasori had already been watching. 

There was a cracking sound as a pair of delicate hands reached out through a wound in the crystals and pushed apart the two sides. There was a snap of new magic as a figure pushed herself out of the quartz and emerged atop a platform of ghostly white.

The trail of her glittering pink gown caught the firelight and Sasori could see the design of moth or maybe dragonfly wings beaded into its sides when she moved. There was a petite clack of her heels touching down atop the crystal before more crystal sprouts grew up like spores to make a staircase down to the ground for her.

Sasori knelt in his cell, watching the unearthly beauty emerge in all her finery. Her hair was the color of cherry blossoms, but it had been gathered up and held together with a crown of white and pink quarts shards, thin and long enough to make her look like something holy and haloed. Even from so far away Sasori could see the color of her eyes, as they caught the firelight and glowed with a personal magic of vibrant emerald.

“Y-you’re not from the white lilies,” someone shouted, sounding more confused than scared at the sight of a woman.

She didn’t respond right away, but took her time to look over the men in front of her, turning her head this way and that way, spotting the other soldiers who cowered behind tents and crates of rations. She looked Sasori’s way and the wave of magic made him tremble. If he hadn’t already been on his knees he would have gone down from the look alone.

“Who was the one who raped and murdered the village girl?” she asked, voice as calm as deep water and just as dark.

There was a whisper amongst the men, questions hissed between them in their confusion. What villager? What girl? They weren’t rapists so why would she ask that?

“No matter,” she breathed out, exhaling more magic the men couldn’t see. “He’s here and all of his fellows are complicit. You will all die for his sins.”

“Bitch!”

She didn’t flinch as a swarm of wings rose up behind her and assailed the men in front of her, halting their advance. A thousand different wingbeats hummed in the air, drowning out the hows of anguish from those too slow to get out of the way.

Someone raised their sword her way but she didn’t even look in his direction as the earth split and his body was impaled on a thin obelisk of red crystal.

She raised her hand and the earth trembled before the men in front of her were lifted into the air. A flick of her wrist contoured them horribly before dropping them back to the earth, folded unnaturally backwards.

Sasori watched, rapt and amazed as she turned men inside out and displayed the enormity of her power over the soldiers. She was without mercy, leaving men to bleed out and die on spears of quartz, while other were devoured alive by carnivorous beetles. With others she used magic to brutalize their bodies before finishing them off.

With the last few straggling soldiers she had to walk out after them, as they ran screaming for the walls, desperate to climb to safety. She let them get halfway before their heads slipped from their necks and soaked the ground with enough blood to turn her white crystals pink and her pink crystals red.

The stables were loud with frightened horses but she ignored them in favor of turning towards the cells. That’s when Sasori noticed he was the last living human left in the camp apart from whatever avenging goddess she was.

“You are not one of them. Why are you here?” she asked.

Sasori had to swallow before speaking. “As an example.” He held up his bound hands and she seemed to recognize the black rope for what it was.

“A creature of magic, or are you a learned magician?” she queried, tilting her head so that the dangling earrings tinkled against each other.

“I have learned and practiced my family’s arts, divine lady,” Sasori answered. “The men of this land would call me a mage or a sorcerer.”

“This land?” she echoed. Without motion or command some of the crystals around his cell glowed brighter and he winced under the light, used to the dark of his corner.

He heard her inhale and knew she saw the foreign features of a native to the Golden Desert. True he was pale, but his eyes were desert colored like the eyes of his mother and father before him.

“Then, spellbinder,” she spoke, dimming the lights, “what brought you so far across the sea?”

“The rushed magics of my cousin. Our family was cast out and to save me from execution they did what they could,” Sasori explained without mentioning the falcon throne or his royal heritage. Maybe it was obvious since he knew magic passed down through the royal family exclusively, but it felt wrong to speak of what he once was. He was no longer a prince or a exalted practitioner of the arts.

“What is your name, spellbinder?” she asked.

“Sasori.” He bowed his head and dared. “And who might you be, divine lady?”

When the noisy bars to his cell creaked open he looked up to see she hadn’t moved but was still staring down at him with a contemplative look to her eyes. “You may call me Sakura. I am little more than you are as a practitioner of magic, but I fear I am far older than you could guess.”

“My lady?”

“Sakura,” she softly corrected. She gestured to the open door and beckoned him forward. “You will need someone other than yourself to undo those knots, won’t you? Come here and let me do so.”

“You are too kind,” Sasori could only whisper as he stood and approached.

With only a blur of movement to watch, she took the knot and twisted it before her magic forced its way into the binding and nullified their passive magic. She then yanked on one band and the whole thing came undone.  

 She turned over his wrist and rubbed her thumb across his pulsing vein where a rash showed off where the ropes once had been. With the passing of her thumb across his skin the rash abated and the hurt went with it.

“Where will you go now, Sasori?” She reached for his other hand and he didn’t protest.

“I will…I will continue to wander.”

Forming words became difficult in her presence. She was dressed like a queen and carried herself like a god, but the way she held his wrist and traced his wounds was soft like the caress of a lover. He struggled to think up an answer to her question as different thoughts distracted him; so close he could smell her.

“You have no home here and no destination to guide you after here. What of your homeland? Do you not wish to return?”

Sasori closed his eyes and forced his head to shake. “No, I…I would only be returning to die with how I am now. There is nothing for me there, no matter how I wish it were otherwise.”

“So what of your ambitions here?”

He blinked hard, distracted by the color of her lips and how they matched the blush of her gown. “Here?” Sasori echoed. “I…there is nothing for me here.”

“Then come with me. You are young and not without merit in the craft of spell working. Your veins of magic speak to this.” When Sakura spoke the thrum of her magic brushed up against his and he felt it like the stroke of fine rabbit fur-just as vivid. It made him shiver.

“With you? Why would you suggest such a thing? I could be of no good to you with my own young abilities. You are far older and stronger.”

“Oh yes, that isn’t in question,” she chuckled. “But I have trained others and take no delight in casting out a hopeless man to die from lack of ambition. Come with me and make something of yourself. I would assume at one point in your life you enjoyed the study of it, didn’t you?”

Her words provoked a memory of the libraries in the palace. He remembered running down their halls and vowing to his mother he would read every book they had before he died, even the ones about magic only the adults could access. She had laughed but never doubted him.

Now he wondered if the library still stood. Had they burned it?  

“I was once quite fond of books,” Sasori quietly admitted. “But I still can’t understand why you would help me. I’ve done nothing for you and there are plenty of pathetic men in the world who drink themselves into oblivion and wait for death like an old friend.”

Sakura’s lips split in an honest laugh as she reached for his face, curling her fingers under his chin. “Yes, what you say is true, but how many of them are runaway mage princes who look this good?”

Sakura’s dress while she messes up the guards 

[fanfiction-inc]

Golden Faced Bastard

Verse: Death Stranding

Characters/Pairings: Higgs Monaghan/Reader

Warnings/Tags: Masturbation, sexual themes, phone sex, sexual tension, enemies, love/hate relationship, m/f, mentions of sex.

Word Count: 2,444

Summary: When a terrorist grows bored, what’s a better pass time then contacting your favorite person to mess with?

Rating: Explicit

Notes: I used this ask from @dirty-higgs-confessions​ as inspiration for this story: "Higgs calling you while you're on a run for Bridges and teasing you as he jerks off. It soon turns into casual phone sex until he finishes then you just hang up on him despite the fact that now you're needy and wish he was there to fuck you."

I of course put a small twist on this but fuck it! :D

Link to Ao3 Version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22287181

South Knot, lit by the lights of signal post that wavered with each drop of timefall running down and over their initial scanners. Timefall, it had been falling for the past two hours and had no sign of clearing up at any point. The sun was already hidden behind thick and ominous clouds, giving way to darkened blue skies that seemed to shift to black when the smallest but the brightest of stars attempt to peak out of the thick layers and shed light on a damned world. As long as the country was divided, as long as the world went to shit, there was no hope in sight of making it to the end of the year. If it wasn’t the timefall that got ‘ya, or the BT’s that always loomed no matter where you went, it was the Homo Demens. Despite all of this deliveries still had to be made. A distraction was still always in order to avoid the end of life itself to a group that deemed themselves almighty.

A soft sigh of lips flutter in the air as the motorized trike raised from the garage platform, sitting new and ready for the exposure that was sure to knock it out of commission by morning come. Packages bound for Lake Knot and its distribution center loaded up with skilled fingers behind gloved hands that have worked too hard for their years, strapped down and held in place, cases prepared for the intensifying storm. The timefall was growing worse, but nothing would get done if the porter stayed put inside this metal and technology compound labeled a distribution center. In an older life, one may say it was a prison converted into a somewhat functioning distribution center surrounded by a semi-intact city. Others would say its the skeleton of what had once been and is now new. A final breath was given in the form of a sigh and hair tucked up underneath the timefall protective hood was tied back to keep from falling out, legs thrown over to straddle the bikes seat and started with a low rumble that stuck in the gut and fluttered to make the limbs tingle. A single motion to lower goggles that helped protect the eyes from the near toxic rain and the bike was taking off up the ramp and out of the distribution center.

Visibility was growing reduced with the lower in temperature and timefall, fog spreading among the ground and making any sort of travel along rigid rocks and muddy ground grow tough. The first slip of the bike was a fluke, the second sending it off its course a few feet and the third sending it to slide and sputter, mud slinging everywhere among the area before composure was gained once more and the route was continued to Lake Knot. The silence of the water hammering the ground and the low rumble of the bike nearly drowned out the incoming call, the tone that of unknown origin.

“Hello sweetheart.”

The voice brings the bike to finally slide and collapse on its side, sending the rider off to the side into the somewhat enclosed space of a covered cliff side with gathering mud puddle. The timefall hammered the collapsed bike, aching body of the porter jumping up to bring it out of the timefall and protect the contents within the now scratched up and slightly damaged boxes. Rust rubbed off onto the porters gloves and she was quick to remove them, to make sure they couldn't get up onto her skin and let the smear of timefall gather. A check of the comlink and a soft groan of annoyance fluttered from the lips of the porter who threw her hood back and unzipped the top of her jumper, the suit pooling around her waist. It was still active, and the gentle breathing on the other side indicated the presence of the man who simply refused to leave her be. The man who played games and invaded spaces he should never have been in. The one who stands before his men promising the sixth great extinction of the world and yet devotes his free time from the plans to the porter resting against the shallow crevice of an opening in the bottom of the cliff side and Bridges poster boy.

Higgs fucking Monaghan.

“Have a little accident there, darlin’? Did I startled you?” The labor to his breath, the soft flutter of that tone that the porter hated to admit drove her mind to slowly blank. She shakes out of her clouded thoughts, swallowing hard with a hand held to her throbbing head. It it wasn’t the impact that made it hurt, it was the annoyance of the man on the other end of the line who ruined her day and sent her into the wildest of fever dreams that left her body aching for touches she knew she didn’t want to admit she wanted or, being honest with herself, needed. So long without touch, so long without someone finding interest. It was almost gratifying, having that sort of attention, but why must it be him? “Wouldn’t you like to fuckin’ know.”

“Oh honey, one can only assume from the sound. Your little deliveries must be banged up, am I right?” The light hint of a noise and a pause fell over the line. He takes in a somewhat struggled breath and the porter could only confirm what he was doing the moment his hushed tone whispered ‘fuck’.

“Are you calling me just to jack off?”

“What can I say, your voice does it for me, baby.”

A hint of disgust fills her form and yet her body entered a full form of shivers and pin pricks that made everything tingle. The ground soaked in timefall wasn’t the only thing wet right now. His breath kept fluttering over the line and the porter had half the mind to cut it off, to end the call, but what would stop him from calling back and just continuing?

“I’m hanging up, Higgs-”

“Wait! Please don’t hang up (First name). Just...just talk to me and this’ll be over soon. Ya don’t even have to talk dirty or nothin’. Not unless ‘ya want to. Just be a good girl and talk.”

Hesitation met the line and the man on the other end knew damn well he had the other hooked, just by the way he hears a shuffle and a sigh that was a mixture of annoyance and possibly even defeat. She knew as well as he did that he would keep calling back until he was finished and she was annoyed to the point that she would just let it happen. He swallowed when he hears her soft breath, eyes fluttering at the sound of such. If only he could feel it, the hot breath that he imagined to be against his ear or neck, if only he could feel her.

“I’m only doing this so you’ll leave me the fuck alone, you golden faced bastard.”

“Ah, kinky. I didn’t know my honey was into name callin’.”

“I’m not your honey.”

The sound of a chuckle fluttered over the line and the porter was resigned to simply allow her eyes to roll, to ease back against the wall of the crevice and allow her hand to trail. It was no fun for this to be one sided, and she highly doubted any other porters would be coming through this area at such a late hour in the complete downpour of the timefall. Higgs smirked when another sigh sounded. “Is it safe to assume I’m not gonna be the only one enjoyin’ this, darlin’?”

“I don’t give a shit what you assume.”

“Oh come on, sweetheart, you can just lay back, relax and let each of us enjoy the other. One night and one night only. And I won’t tell if you won’t.”

The sound of his tone, as if the smirk could be heard in it. A few low pumps of his hips makes a soft grunt leave his lips and he hears the other try to stifle a noise of her own. Noises did it for each, but it wasn’t enough. They needed each word to grasp onto and allow themselves to melt with. Higgs needed her, and she needed him. She swallowed lightly when there was silence, wondering if he had already left the line, but she hears another shuffle of clothing and the soft sound of skin rubbing against skin. So, this is how it’s gonna be, the two satisfying themselves to pass the time then moving on with their lives. If only it was that easy.

Higgs grasped himself with a bare hand, a shaky breath and airy chuckle falling from his lips. “I wondered for some time what it would be like, ever since I met you in Mountain Knot, to have you just the way I want you. You don’t know how long It’s been, how long its been since I last had a satisfying session alone. It’s never good enough with fantasies. You can dream it but it doesn't get ‘ya anywhere. Do ‘ya know what I mean?”

“Sadly.” The woman begrudgingly admits, fingers simply tracing over the basic fabric covering the single heat patch that deserved her attention. It weeped for stimulation, weeped for the touch of the man, but his voice and her own hand alone would have to suffice. The mental image of him pumping himself would have to do.

“Be honest with me, darlin’, but how long has it been for you? I mean to truly have a good one.”

“A good what?”

“Oh don’t play dumb, baby doll. A good orgasm. Cum. Jerk off or whatever the female equivalent is. How long has it been where your body screamed ‘yes’ in the most delicious?” His pace was beginning to slowly pick up, shivering when he heard the soft wet noises of her fingers moving along her slick core, having moved beyond the fabric. He savored the sound, listened as closely as he could to the soft hitch in her breath and the shaky sigh she gives away.

“Months.” She finally whispered out, eyes fluttering shut as she hears him spit into his hand, or maybe even onto his own member and begins a more leisurely pace that sent a hot shiver up his spine. “You?”

“Maybe a year. They’re never good when rushed. But when ‘ya take your time with ‘em-” A soft flutter of a groan sounding in the air was enough to accent his point, his own head falling back against the headrest of the chair he sat in, legs spreading as much as the material around his knees would allow. Her shaky breath and the soft hint of a wine makes his teeth sink down into his lip, hand working as his imagination worked on what he would be doing to her that would make such a noise come from those perfect lips that enticed him every time he watches her speak.

“What is it about my voice that..Oh fuck...That helps you along?” She asked with a tone that wavered, licking at her lips when he breaths deeply, listening to the increase of skin against skin and the hushed noises leaving his lips. “How soft it is. You’re always talkin’ loud but that softness never leaves it. It’s airy, almost like ‘ya singin’ me a song. I’d like to hear ‘ya sing a different kind of one, my little songbird.”

She speaks before she can even stop herself. “You’d have to be here if you want a song like that.”

This earns a faster pace from each of their respective hands, one working the tip of a weeping member and the other the bundle of nerves that was beginning to make searing pain blossom in her abdomen and inner thighs. More wet noises, more heavy breathing from both parties. They needed more than this. “Then next time I see ‘ya, baby doll, I’ll make sure to make ‘ya sing.”

“You gotta find me first.”

“Oh, I will. I’m a very resourceful man. Though, you may not like what I do when I find ‘ya.”

“Is that a promise?” The barest grace of a smirk in her tone and the man groans at such a comment, hand working him like he would imagine her mouth doing. “I always keep my promises, darlin’. I’m a man of my word.”

“Oh bullshit, Higgs.”

The next groan was a bit more audible and his shivered in delight, savoring the way her voice sounded when she spoke his name.

“Again. Say my name again.”

“Higgs.”

The sound of skin slapping grows.

“Slower. Draw it out.”

He whispered, tone almost like that of a plea.

“Hiiiggs.”

“Oh fuck, just like that.”

He was growing close, just as she was with each noise and word she was able to soak up over the comlink. When he finally spilled, it was the groan of her name that left his lips, that was the tipping point for her and makes her high pitched moan follow and mingle with the groans that left his lips with each overstimulated pump of his leaking member. He wipes his hand on the inside of his pants, hiding the mess from view in case anyone was to check in, though why should he care? He was the man who could send them into the sixth extinction early. When her shaky and soft breath fluttered over the line, he lets his smirk return. “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. Now, I'll ask again. When was the last time you had a good one?”

“Today.”

“Mm, be more exact.”

“Just a few seconds ago, maybe a minute.” His chuckle followed her words. “You?”

“About a minute ago or so. Now it’ just a matter of getting into bed with ‘ya.”

A soft scoff from her end and he grins away, loving how she goes right back to the defensive. “When’s the last time ‘ya had a good fuck?”

The line hangs up and Higgs lets out a fit of laughter, a shake of his head following as he props his feet up on the table before him. In due time, he’d have her just the way he wanted her.

A call back, the porter groans in the midst of getting her suit zipped back up. “What?”

“South Knot, meet me there and I’ll keep good on my promise.” He was almost giddy, and the woman sighed. “If it’ll shut ‘ya up once and for all, then fine. South Knot it is.”

“I’ll see ‘ya then, darlin’.”

----------------

Thank you, as always, for reading and let me know what you guys thought about this! If you would like to be tagged in further stories, send me an ask! Remember, request are always open!

Tagging: @dirty-higgs-confessions​​ | @johnlocklover221​​

[sunkissedjiaer]

Fling [3] / Jaebeom x Reader

Pairing: Jaebeom x Reader

Genre: College au

Warnings: strong language, sexual content, angst, & fluff

Word Count: 2.8k

Summary: “You definitely will not see me again that’s why it’s called a one night stand.”

Previous Parts: 01, 02,

-

As you walked out of your last class for the night you felt your shoulders relax and a sigh of relief escape your lips. Silently you scrolled through your phone as you walked towards your locker.

“Hey” a voice sounded

Looking up you saw Jaebeom leaning up against your locker, a smile spread across his face. You couldn’t help but laugh to yourself and grin at the boy.

“Why are you on campus?” you asked as you softly moved him aside

Quickly you tossed your books onto the small shelf within your locker. With a soft bang you shut the metal door and turned to Jaebeom, still waiting for an answer.

“It’s our da- friend date.” he corrected himself “I’m here to pick you up”

“Well duh” you joked “I meant why’d you come to my school and not the apartment?”

“I wanted to see it” he commented “I never actually went to college so to see the campus is weird but exciting”

“Sign up” you stated bluntly

Jaebeom raised an eyebrow and stared at you with a questionable look

“Our fall term starts in four weeks, if you send in an application now I seriously doubt they’d decline. You could go in for business or whatever fancies you”

The two of you stood quietly for a moment. Jaebeom never thought of going to college because he already had everything set up for him. When he turned twenty he was to take over the family business, there was never a need for an education. However, something about being able to see you almost everyday without needing an excuse made Jaebeom warm on the inside.

“I’ll think about it” Jaebeom spoke softly “let’s get going”

Jaebeom began walking out of the school and you quickly followed in step. As you walked all you could feel were eyes on you, something you weren’t use to.

“Don’t mind them” Jaebeom said with a smile as he looked down to you. You nodded not knowing what to say.

You didn’t mind the staring per say, you just didn’t want what was going to come after the staring. Pointless drama was going to come out of this because people can only assume the worst when it comes to Jaebeom. You enjoyed hanging out with Jaebeom as weird as it felt. You and him have only been friends for a short while but you never expected that you, of all people would actually want him around. He was definitely a weird character, everything he did was unexpected.

You went to reach for the passenger door handle when Jaebeom swooped in front of you and opened it swiftly. You eyed the cheeky boy and smiled “thank you”

“Anything for you” he grinned softly.

-

The two of you drove in silence. The sky began to grow darker and you began to grow more curious. You looked to Jaebeom then out the window and then slowly back to Jaebeom. You eyed his face for a moment before your eyes traveled down to his chest, you stared at his sweatshirt and then to where his hand was. Resting on the shift of the car, you stared at his hands for a moment too long.

They were big but not bulky, his fingers were slender and beautiful. You began to wonder what it would feel like to wrap your hand in his or what it would feel like to have his hands cup your cheeks. Quickly you shook the thoughts off and hoped he hadn’t noticed your staring.

“We’re here” he chimed

Jaebeom pulled the car over to the side of the dirt road and shut the ignition off.

“Is this the part where you kill me?” you joked half heartedly.

“Why do you think I would do that?”

“It’s always the pretty ones” you commented.

“I guess I better be cautious of you then” he grinned “come on let’s go”

The two of you exited the car and with a soft beep and two clicks Jaebeom locked the car up. You followed closely behind Jaebeom as the two of you walked down the dark dirt road. The farther you walked the more you began to hear.

There were faint sounds of laughing and music but most of all you could hear the sound of rushing water. As you came closer to the noise it got brighter, your eyes wandered and you began to make out where you were.

“This is the abandoned railway” you commented

You looked around at all the laughing people enjoying themselves. There were lamps everywhere and small fires for each small group. Different music blared from different areas of the railroad but it all came together in beat.

Jaebeom came to a halt but you were too caught up in the moment to realize, which caused you to smack right into his back. Rubbing your forehead you muttered sorry but he didn’t hear.

Turning to you Jaebeom smirked playfully “you like swimming?”

“Yes?” you said quizzically “why?”

Without warning Jaebeom began to strip right in front of you. Slowly he brought his shirt over his head and tossed it to the ground, his black hair slightly disheveled. You eyed the boy silently, taking in everything he was offering. You wanted to say something, anything, but nothing came out.

With a soft sigh Jaebeom unbuckled his pants and stepped out of them revealing his tight black boxers to you. You kept eye contact with the cheeky boy in front of you.

“Like what you see?” he joked

“I’m not looking at anything but your eyes, perv.”

“You’re missing out”

Two can play at this game.

Grabbing the hem of your shirt you slowly brought the cloth over your head revealing your bra. Throwing the shirt aside you smirked back at Jaebeom who was completely taken back. With a chuckle you unbuttoned your pants and slowly stepped out of them. As you took your legs out of each pant leg you kept direct eye contact with Jaebeom and he with you.

Standing straight up you dropped the pants onto the heap of clothes.

“Like what you see?” you mocked playfully

“Uh” Jaebeom coughed awkwardly “I’m not looking”

“Really? Cause I swear I saw you eyeing my boobs”

“Nope I can’t say that happened” Jaebeom laughed and moved away from you to catch his breath.

You walked closer to him and eyed the water below.

“Is there a place we go to get in the water or?” you asked

“We jump” Jaebeom laughed “from here”

You gulped slightly and eyed the boy standing besides you. You didn’t have a fear of heights but the water looked rough right now but you weren’t about to pussy out especially in front of Jaebeom, he’d never let you live it down.

“Am I going first?” he asked

“Please do the honors”

Jaebeom looked to you and sent an air kiss before jumping into the rushing water. A minute passed and he didn’t come up for air, you squinted but it was too dark to make anything else out except the waves.

“Jaebeom!” you shouted down.

You began to feel a sharp pain in your chest and without thinking you jumped off the rusted railway. The cold air of the night scratched against your body as gravity pulled you into the rushing water. With a loud splash the water devoured your body and the chillness of the river numbed you instantly.

Kicking with your legs you came to the surface quickly, it never felt so good to breathe. You looked around and you still couldn’t see Jaebeom. Cupping your mouth you continued to spin around

“Jaebeom” you shouted

No response.

You felt like you were about to cry from frustration and fear. As you went to yell his name again you felt hands on your hips. Jumping around you saw Jaebeom peeking his head out of the water, a grin playing on his lips.

You felt your lip quiver and your eyes heat up. Jaebeom dropped the grin and stood himself up, his face written in confusion.

“what?”

“You dick!” you yelled as you slapped Jaebeom’s chest “I was worried about your dumb ass”

Jaebeom couldn’t help but laugh softly “I’m sorry”

Eyeing him you let out a huff “I seriously doubt that.. Maybe you should just go over there and drown I’m seriously mad right now”

With a look of sympathy Jaebeom opened his arms wide and pulled you in for a hug. You felt your senses tingle and even though you were absolutely freezing your body felt hot. You tried to focus on the friendly hug from Jaebeom but you could only think of how his bare arms were wrapped around you and that his bare chest was pressed up against you,  bare skin-to-skin contact was not something you anticipated tonight but you also didn’t think he was gonna have you jump off a bridge.

Pulling away you smiled but your teeth quickly began to chatter uncontrollably.

“Are you really that cold?” Jaebeom asked

“Yep” you breathed “can we go somewhere warm?”

The two of you left the cold water and grabbed your clothes in bunches, as the two of you were too wet to put the clothes on. Your teeth continued to chatter all the way to Jaebeom’s place which is apparently what he thought you meant as ‘somewhere warm’.

“Here put this on” Jaebeom ordered as he threw his sweatshirt at you

“What’re you gonna wear?” you asked as you brought the sweatshirt over your shivering body.

“Nothin” he paused “I’ve walked through the lobby in worse attire”

“You mean the lack thereof?” you asked

“You get what I mean” he laughed “come on, let’s get in before you freeze to death”

The two of you stepped out of the car and semi-ran to the lobby. As you entered the front desk lady chuckled softly and Jaebeom waved to her awkwardly. Stepping lightly on the carpet the two of you entered into the elevator and stood silently. With three silent beeps indicating you were passing levels, the doors opened on level four, Jaebeom’s floor.

Turning his key lightly the door opened and the two of you walked into the dark condo.

“Watch your eyes” Jaebeom commented

“Hu-?”

Before you could finish Jaebeom flicked the light switches and all the lights within the condo quickly turned on. You winced slightly at the sudden light but your eyes quickly adjusted. You followed Jaebeom into his room silently and stood next to the bed awkwardly.

“I don’t think any of my clothes will actually fit you” Jaebeom grinned at you “so I’ll just grab you a pair of sweatpants and a dry sweatshirt”

“T-this one is fine, really” you commented

“It’s not wet?” he asked as he approached you.

Jaebeom grabbed the sweatshirts collar in his knuckles, he touched the fabric lightly and rubbed it between his fingers slowly. His eyes traveled from his hands to your face and he stood there silently staring at you.

“R-really” you stuttered “it’s fine.. See? All dry..”

“Why’re you stuttering?” Jaebeom chuckled “are you nervous?”

“Why would I be nervous?” you asked

“Because I’m standing here in front of you. Invading your space. I mean our noses could be touching if I bent down slightly”

“Then don’t bend down”

“Ouch” Jaebeom winced as he clutched his chest “that hurts y/n”

“Oh jesus” you breathed “stop being dramatic”

The room fell awkwardly silent, you could sense there was something he wasn’t saying. Looking up at him you paused, what if what he wanted to say was something you weren’t ready for?

“Is there something on your mind?” you asked softly.

“Is it that obvious?” he chuckled “but yeah.. There’s something that’s been weighing on me lately.”

Slowly you sat down on the bed and motioned for Jaebeom to sit next to you. His eyes switched from looking at you to looking at the bed. Moments passed and he finally sat himself down.

“Get talking” you chuckled “we got all night”

Jaebeom began to twiddle with his thumbs nervously. You noticed how he softly would clench and unclench his jaw, as if what he was about to say was too hard for him to put into words.

“y/n.. I know you said you wanted to start out as friends and obviously I’m trying my best because I enjoy being with you but I can’t pretend that my feelings towards you are strictly platonic.”

Looking up from his hands, Jaebeom eyed you softly.

“I understand where you’re coming from, you want to make sure I’m not gonna use you, hurt you, or whatever else runs through your mind when it comes to me. I’ll admit, I don’t have the best reputation when it comes to relationships, I tend to mess around a lot but you’re different in the sense of how you make me feel.”

You felt your face begin to heat up, with every word that Jaebeom slowly spoke you began to realize how you felt towards him.

“All those other girls, they never put me in my place like you do. They never really made me reflect or work for what I wanted. I hope what I’m saying let’s you understand what I’m feeling.. If not I can put it into a simpler perspective for you.”

“I get what you’re saying.. But what’s the simpler perspective?”

Turning his body to you Jaebeom breathed out slowly and looked you dead in the eye.

“I like you a lot and I want more than a friendship with you and I don’t think I can sit here and act like your best bro when I’m not.”

“Okay.” you exhaled slowly, you tried to find your words but you couldn't.

“Is that all you’re going to say?” Jaebeom paused “you’re just gonna say okay? After what I just spilled out to you.. I-”

“Kiss me.”

Jaebeom took a double-take when those words set in “what?”

“I said, kiss me”

Without hesitation Jaebeom quickly leaned in, his hands wrapped around your face, pulling you forward, allowing the two of you to meet in the middle. His lips merged with yours igniting a sensation in your gut that you’ve never felt before. In this moment you felt like melting into Jaebeom’s hands, the way he held your face and kissed your lips made you turn into putty.

Slowly the two of you pulled away, silently gasping for air. You gulped nervously and looked to Jaebeom for words but he was at a loss for them.

“What’s this mean?” he finally spoke, his words slightly shaken.

“Uh” you breathed “I don’t know.”

“I’m okay with that” he chuckled “I just want to be with you.”

“Actually?” you commented “I don’t want to give every fiber of my being to you just to have to watch you walk away from me in the end. I will not set myself up for failure, not with you.”

Jaebeom sat silently taking in your words and understanding what you were saying. He felt confident in himself and with you. He would do better if it meant having you by his side.

“I would be honored to be able to call you mine, officially or behind closed doors. Whatever makes you comfortable.”

“What would be safer?”

“In terms of?” he asked confused

“Do you not realize how popular you are?” you laughed “I don’t want to be eaten alive by journalists or gossip pages.”

“I’ll eat-”

“Jaebeom!” you gasped “I’m being serious..”

The two of you chuckled, “we’ll make it work, I promise.” he spoke warmly

“Okay” you grinned “good”

“Sooo” Jaebeom hummed “do I get to officially ask you to be my girlfriend or is it already kind of set in stone?”

You began to laugh softly “you can if you want to”

“Okay then” Jaebeom smiled as he sat himself up straight “will you, y/n, take the title and duties of being my girlfriend?”

Nodding happily you smiled “yes I would happily do so”

Jaebeom leaned in and planted a soft, warm, kiss onto your forehead.

“Bed time?” he muttered

“Yes please” you nodded.

You slid yourself under the covers and snuggled into the comforter. Jaebeom shut the light off and took a running jump into the bed causing you to fly off the mattress for a second before dropping back into the soft material.

“Did I get some good air with that jump?” he chuckled as he got under the covers

“I couldn’t really see because it’s dark but since I flew for a moment I think you did pretty well”

The two of you chuckled before it fell silent. The only sound was that of your guys’ breathing.

“Hey” Jaebeom piped up “remember when we fucked here in this very bed?”

“Shut up” you joked as you slapped Jaebeom “go to bed”

Rubbing his arm slowly Jaebeom pouted “fine, meanie”

[to be continued]

[the-walking-memelords]

Allegiances: Chapter 8

Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 |Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 9

Series is rated M

Word Count: 3278

Louis briefly manages to pull Clementine away from her work for a card game, the experience making her decide to be a little more open with some of her new friends.

Read it on Ao3!

Read it on Wattpad!

Beads of sweat dripped down Clementine’s forehead as she stood under the late afternoon sun, her jacket and hoodie discarded across a nearby couch. She held her breath as she lined up her arrow. The wooden target swung slightly in the light breeze, arrows sticking out around the red painted bullseye mocking her faulty aiming.

This is easier with a gun.

Her fingers felt raw against the rough wood as she released the arrow. It stuck with a satisfying thunk just barely within the center circle.

“You’re uh, getting pretty good at that.” A nervous voice came from behind her. She turned to see Marlon standing hesitantly a few feet back, his own compound bow in his grip.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you drop that bow all week.”

“It's been a long time since I shot a bow.” She twirled another arrow in her fingers, barely looking at the blond boy.

“I need to get used to it again.”

“Mind if I… join you?”

Probably easier for him to talk to me now that that damn bruise is gone.

“Just don’t get in my way.” She spat, pulling the other arrows from the wood.

They each took turns firing at the target, the former leader having no problems hitting the bullseye. Clem bit her lip in frustration as her arrows landed scattered across the different rings of the target. Once the arrows ran out Clementine leaned against the couch with a sigh. Had this been a real competition, Marlon would have won by a mile.

“You're too good at this.” She said as the boy plucked out the arrows.

“I’ve had a lot of practice.” He smiled

“Though I imagine if we were shooting guns instead of bows you would be the one schooling me here.”

“I don’t doubt that.” She managed a chuckled.

Marlon still seemed a little nervous to be around her, but grateful he was able to do so. Unlike someone else, she was at least willing to give him the time of day.

“Did you talk to Brody recently?” She asked but the sombre look in his eyes told her he hadn’t.

“She won’t even look at me.” He sighed, crossing his arms.

“She’s been avoiding me like the plague for over a week.”

“You put her through a lot.” Clementine shrugged.

“Now that she has other people to open up to it’s going to take a while for her to be around you again.”

“I don’t expect her to forgive me, and honestly I don’t deserve it.” His gaze fell to the dirt.

“I put her through hell for the past year all because I was too afraid to tell everyone the truth. I hurt her… so much… because I am a coward.”

Marlon’s voice broke as he tried to get the words out. Clementine couldn’t help but pity him. It sometimes felt hard to judge him too harshly. Hurting others to protect someone you care about rang pretty close to home for her.

“I just have to let her go.” He decided.

“Brody and I… I don’t know what we were… before the twins were taken. Everything changed once that happened. The feelings were still there, but they were all so… twisted.”

“That might be for the best.” Clem flashed a small smile.

“There’s no point in trying to force it if it just makes you both miserable.”

“Yeah.” He nodded with a slight smirk, examining the bow in his hands.

“We’re not like you and Louis.”

“Excuse me?” Clementine choked on her own spit. She coughed for a moment as heat rushed to her cheeks.

Please don’t tell me he thinks there’s something going on between me and Louis.

“Oh, nothin’.” He teased.

Clementine crossed her arms with a huff. She knew her face was bright red. She wondered what gossip had spread about them.

“Try shooting with this one.” He held the compound bow out to her, changing the subject back to archery. “It’s a lot better than those wooden ones we scavenged.”

Clementine took the bow. The fact that it was metal made it significantly heavier than the other one she had been using. Pulling back the bowstring took extra effort, making her overworked muscles even sorer. She fought against the discomfort as she lined up her shot. The arrow flew with a lot more power, dropping less mid-air before it sunk into the middle of the target.

“I finally got it!” Clem smiled proudly.

“Indeed you did.” The boy smirked.

Clementine looked over the bow one more time before handing it back to Marlon.

“Keep it.” He said, refusing to accept it.

“You’re the protector these people deserve. You should have the best weapon.”

“Thank you.” She nodded, wanting to feel happy but unable to shake the claws of anxiety digging into her chest. Clementine wasn’t sure if she would be able to live up to Marlon’s words.

I have to be certain.

The bow suddenly felt heavier in her hands

I don’t have room to second-guess myself.

A week of deliberation did nothing to help Clementine fully make up her mind. She knew what Lilly was capable of, the lengths that evil bitch would go to to get her way. If worse came to worst, Clementine was afraid she would have to abandon her new friends to keep AJ safe.

God, when was the last time I saw him?

She had been denied the opportunity to say goodbye before they loaded her onto the ship. Closer to cargo than to a member of the group.

Thirty-two days ago.

It was a thought that slowly picked away at her heart, shaking the ground beneath her as she tried her best to stay on her feet.

“Clementine?”

Her eyes shot open as she blinked back the first pricklings of tears. Clem felt as if she had lost time as she realized her surroundings, a concerned Marlon included.

“Sorry, I just… zoned out.” She laughed weakly.

“It’s too hot out here.”

“I see you two are getting along finally.” The cheerful voice of Louis chimed as he approached, smiling hopefully.

“Don’t push your luck.” Clementine smirked at the freckled boy, trying to calm the gnawing feeling in her chest.

“What’s up, Lou?” Marlon asked his best friend.

“I uh, wanted to talk to Clem for a minute.” Louis said, scratching the back of his head.

“Really?” The blond teased.

“Dude, shut up.”

“Can we go inside?” Clementine suggested, wiping the sweat off her forehead with her bare arm. The sun felt like daggers in her somewhat watery eyes.

“Sure.” Louis cast one final glare towards Marlon before he lead her towards the admin building.

---

“Where are you taking me?” Clem asked as she hurriedly followed behind the taller boy, her steps moving twice as fast to keep up with his longer strides.

“It’s a surprise.”  He kept facing forward but his smile was wide enough for Clem to see how the corners of his mouth curled upward.

“Trust me, it’ll be worth the suspense.”

“Are you always this dramatic?” She giggled as she followed him up a winding stairwell. Their footsteps echoed as they ascended.

“I prefer charming and theatrical.” He winked, slightly out of breath as they continued to climb.

“Entertaining is another word that comes to mind.”

They climbed flight after flight until they finally reached the top. Clementine leaned against the railing, panting from her efforts to keep pace with him.

Why are tall people so damn fast?

The top of the stairwell ended in a small room. Cobwebs hung from every corner and a layer of dust covered the floor, their footprints being the only thing that had disturbed it in some time. Louis stood in front of an old rusted metal door, hand reaching back to the handle as he faced Clementine. Golden rays of the outside sunset peeked over his shoulder through the cracked glass window of the door, causing the boy to be slightly silhouetted

“Right this way, my lady.” He struggled with the rusted handle for a moment before getting it to open. The door squeaked loudly on its hinges as Clementine stepped past him onto the outside roof.

She squinted, using her hand to shield her eyes from the light of the sun as it hung just above the treeline. From up here, Clementine could just barely see overtop of the expansive forest that surrounded their school. Puffy clouds scattered the sky above, painted in soft, warm hues by the sinking sun. The dark trees reached for the heavens with their pointy branches, unable to taint the beauty of the sky with the corruption of the earth below.

“It’s incredible up here.” Clementine gasped.

“I know, right?” He took a spot beside her.

“It feels so suffocating down there sometimes, almost like we’re stuck in a cage. But up here? It’s like we’re above everything like nothing can touch us.”

“Free.” She said softly, admiring how the sun turned his soft brown eyes to pools of honey.

“Exactly. It’s easy to forget that there’s a big wide world out there.” His face seemed wistful as if he was stranded.

“You’re the only one here who’s seen it. The way it is now, at least.”

“There’s not much to see I’m afraid.” Nothing but the dead for as far as you could go, and worse, the occasional living.

“Everything out there is either overgrown or broken down.”

“There’s gotta be something left to enjoy.” He jammed his hands into the pockets of his trenchcoat.

“But hey! Since we can't on a vacation out there, how about we have a little one right here.”

“Uh, what?” Clem raised an eyebrow at him as he grinned.

“How is this a vacation?”

“Simple. People go on vacations to get away, right? Have some fun? Well, up here, we can forget about all of the other bullshit going on down there. No walkers. No people. No stress or worries!” He spun as he let his theatrics take over for a moment before slowing again, pulling his card deck from his pocket and holding out towards her.

“One game?”

How could I refuse?

“What’s the game?” Clementine accepted the halved deck, kicking a few broken twigs out of the way as they sat on the roof facing each other.

“Twenty Questions. Nothing crazy.” He smiled, shuffling his half of the cards.

Simple and fun!”

Her heart fluttered as she messed with her own deck, pulling her first card. Her seven of spades defeated his five of diamonds.

“So…” She smiled devilishly as she held up the winning card.

“How’d you lose that tooth?”

“When I was thirteen I was doing this song and dance routine out in the yard trying to annoy slash cheer up Violet into smiling for a change.” He chuckled at the memory.

“There was one part where I jumped onto the picnic table, but my foot slipped on the seat and I hit my face off it instead.”

“Seriously? That’s what you did?” Clementine couldn't help but burst into laughter at the mental image.

“Hey. I’ll have you know it worked like a charm.” He smirked, shaking his head.

“Violet didn’t stop laughing at me for a week.”

He’s such a dork.

Clem continued to giggle as she drew another card, pulling the high card once more.

“Two in a row.” She pondered what to ask.

“Hmm… Where are you from, before everything?”

Louis looked down for a moment, biting his lip. Clementine felt a tinge of regret as she hoped she hadn’t brought up any painful memories.

“You don’t have to answer tha-”

“New York City, actually.” He cut her off.

“Always loud and busy all the time, but the skyline at night was a sight to die for.”

He looked off towards the woods sadly. Louis really was a long way from home.

“You usually couldn’t see any stars from all the lights on the buildings, but those were pretty enough to admire.”

“I grew up on the outside of Atlanta.” She reminisced.

“Born and raised in the same house before everything changed. I’ve been all over since then.”

All these years later but if Clementine went back to her old home tomorrow, she knew she could walk the halls blindfolded.

“My parents and I went into the city all the time, I used to love it when we drove past the skyscrapers.”

They shared an empathetic smile, silently flipping over their next cards. Louis’ king of hearts gained him a victory against her four of clubs.

“Third time’s the charm!” He cheered, holding the card high.

“Just ask your damn question.”

“What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Surely a badass like you has had a few interesting adventures.”

Clementine paused to think for a moment, attempting to pick a story he would find most impressive.

“I once helped a former baseball player overthrow a corrupt government and save an entire community from a herd of walkers.”

Louis’ jaw dropped. He stared at her in awe, completely speechless.

“His name was Javier Garcia, he was pretty cool. His nephew, Gabe, was really sweet. I hadn’t met someone my age in forever.” She smiled as she thought of another card-playing dork she once knew.

“I miss him.”

“Was he uh, good looking?” Louis’ smile dropped as he stared at his deck.

What kind of question is that?

“I didn’t think about that, but he was cool, I guess” Clem was confused why that was the part he was interested in.

“The city of Richmond used to be run by a group called the New Frontier, lead by this psycho bitch who raided other towns to get supplies.”

Clementine’s right hand scratched hesitantly just above her left elbow. She took a deep breath, finally deciding to roll the sleeve of her henley shirt up farther, revealing the circular branding scar.

“I used to run with them before Javi showed up, this was their initiation.” She bit her lip, the feeling of the red hot metal scorching her flesh still a crisp memory.

“That is fucked.” Louis said plainly, staring at the angry red mark.

“How could you let them do that to you?”

“I didn’t have a choice. I was all alone, barely able to keep myself going and I…” She trailed off, digging her nails into her palms as she tried to remain calm.

“I had… someone… I needed to protect.”

Clementine pulled her legs up to her chest, resting her chin on her knee. She watched the sun dip below the trees, unable to look back at Louis.

“I’m sorry.” Louis apologized.

“I didn’t mean to bring back bad memories.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Lou.” She assured, hiding the brand once more.

“I’m alright.”

The first cold breeze of the night blew past them, causing goosebumps to form over her exposed skin.

Dammit, I left my jacket down there.

“I think it might be time to bring this vacation to an end.” Louis stood, offering the shorter girl his hand.

“Let's get inside before you freeze.”

She graciously took his hand, bringing herself to her feet. Clem’s face felt warm while the rest of her was chilled. Hardly thinking, she wrapped her arms around the freckled boy. Her arms wrapped around his torso inside of his coat, head resting on his chest. His heart rate picked up, causing her own heart to feel giddy. Louis immediately returned the surprise embrace, wrapping his coat around her. Neither spoke before she pulled away, the boy releasing her.

“Thank you, Louis.” She brushed a few loose curls behind her ear.

“I needed this.”

Through the last light of day that dwindled on the horizon, she could see his cheeks dusted red.

“I can’t wait for our next ‘vacation.’” She smirked at the flustered boy before making her way back inside.

Maybe next time we can actually call it a date.

---

Clementine yawned as she read over the school map for what felt like the millionth time. The flickering candle was the only thing dimly lighting the music room. The pale moonlight barely able to shine through the clouds outside. The tip of her pencil lightly traced the creases in the paper as she tried to organize the new defences. The barbed wire had been set, the sharp coils guarding the top of the brick walls that surrounded their home.

This won't be enough.

A few practice drills and barbed wire wouldn’t be enough to hold off Lilly and the others. Somehow, Clementine was going to have to turn these teenagers into real fighters. The collection date was fast approaching, less than a week before the Delta would come knocking on their door. She used what remained of her closely chewed nails to scratch the wooden writing desk.

“Clementine?” Violet’s voice broke her out of her thoughts.

“Shit, Vi you scared the hell out of me.” Clem practically jumped from her chair upon hearing her friend’s voice.

“Sorry, I just uh… wanted to talk to you.” The blonde seemed on edge. Clementine was starting to think it was something she’d done to make them act this way around her.

“About what?”

“Well, about that.” She gestured to the map that Clem had been practically burning holes in with her eyes.

“You spend almost all your free time locked away with that thing.”

“I’m planning our new defences.” She looked back to the paper. Every mark, fold and tear was already memorized in her brain.

“Yeah? Well, it seems more like you’re gearing up for war.” Violet said almost accusingly as she crossed her arms.

“What’s going on with you?”

“I just want us to be ready for anything.” She scribbled on the desk with her pencil tight in her grip.

“Well, it feels like you’re getting us ready for something.” Violet walked around her to be back in her line of sight.

Shit.

“I’m not a dumbass, Clem. You’re worried about something out there. The drills, the training, this fucking map.” She sat on the edge of the table.

“You know the outside world better than any of us.”

Clementine’s heart started to race as she waited for what her friend would say next.

“Do you know something?”

The graphite tip of her pencil snapped She let it clatter onto the desk as she took a deep breath. Clementine felt almost as if she was back in that train station. Her little boy’s life hanging in the balance of the words she spoke.

“I-I…” She tried to find the right words.

“I know… of… something.”

A lie, but not quite. The truth, but not full. Something of a balance between the two.

“There’s a war going on up north. Two communities at each other’s throats. I’ve been trying to get away from it for a long time.” She still couldn’t meet Violet’s eye.

“One of the communities has been moving farther and farther in this direction. If they find you, they’ll take you. Make you fight for them. If you don’t, they’ll hurt you, or they’ll hurt someone you love.”

“Shit.” Violet cursed.

“Do you… do you think that’s what happened to Minnie and Soph?”

Clementine finally looked up at her. Violet’s face was twisted with grief as if she had just lost the twins all over again.

“Yes, I do.”

A heavy silence hung between them for a moment. Violet began to pace the room a bit, contemplating this new threat.

“If you’re right, and they come back for the rest of us…” The blonde panicked.

“What are we going to do?”

“We’re going to fucking fight.”

[williamshakespaw]

Chronicles

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

A short story I wrote with a horror character I’ve been working on for a few years. Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed finally writing something for him.

“Hey! Knock it off Mike!” David screamed as his older, torturous brother twisted his arm in an indian burn. They were only children then and sessions like this were a daily occurrence in David’s home. Only this time Mike wouldn’t stop twisting. He kept twisting and twisting until flesh peeled from muscle and the young David watched as his skin began sloughing off of his body.

David awoke screaming in pain. His scream was cut short as he instinctively moved to get up but was immediately pulled harshly back onto the ground. David’s head hit the stone floor and for a moment he saw stars. A dream. Just a dream. He thought to himself as he waited on the floor for his head to stop spinning. “But where am I?” David whispered aloud to himself as he sat himself upright. The pain in his hands still persisted despite being awake and David looked down to the bailing twine wrapped around his wrists.

Come on, it’s like a long night of partying. Put back together what happened. David thought as he felt his heart rate accelerate in fear. You went over to Sara’s to fix her sink. Things got hot and heavy as usual, and then… His brow furrowed in thought as he tried to swim through the fog of his memories. “John.” David finally said, his voice dripping with malice. “That scrawny bastard. Where are you!” He screamed into empty air. “I swear! If you’ve hurt Sara I’m going to put you six feet under!” Silence hung in the air of that empty cell for a long few seconds. That silence was only broken by the cawing of crows in response.

A shiver went down David’s back as those caws filled the void of his dungeon. “Always knew he was a fucking creep.” David mumbled to himself as he awkwardly stood up without the use of his hands. Thankfully, David’s eyes had mostly adjusted to the darkness surrounding him. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all made from rough cut stone. A heavy wooden door was the only way in or out of the small space. The only thing provided was a small bucket in the corner and the entire room smelled of stale piss and dried blood.

I need to get these restraints off first. David thought as he looked down at his bound hands. He started by examining the walls on the perimeter of the cell. The only thing David needed was something sharp enough to cut the twine. From his own experience on a farm he knew there was no way to simply rip them off. After coming up with nothing sharp enough, David anxiously glanced at the bucket in the corner. “God damn it.” He said and sighed to himself. David awkwardly knelt down next to the bucket and examined the rusted metal. It was just corroded and textured enough to be able to saw a hole through the twine.

After a few moments of trying to position his wrists on the lip of the bucket, David lost his balance and knocked the bucket down with him. It’s rotten contents spread across the stone floor and partially onto David himself. He shakily righted himself and violently wretched from the smell. After a few ragged breaths, David put his wrists back to the bucket and began sawing through the twine.

David sighed deeply at the instant relief he felt by breaking his bonds. His wrists were rubbed raw and at some parts David thought he could even see muscle. David’s eyes went to the imposing wooden door as he wracked his mind trying to think of how to get passed it. He looked back down at the rusted bucket and an idea came to him. David stomped hard and the brittle metal snapped underneath his boot. After looking at all of the possible pieces to take, David decided on a long sharp piece of the handle. He moved to the door and began to pick the old lock and prayed that the rusted metal wouldn’t break. Finally, a small ‘click’ echoed out through the cell and the door slowly creaked open.

“Yes!” David said to himself with a small smile. He quickly ran out into the hallway and stopped dead in his tracks as he was met with about 15 crows that turned to stare at him with black, hollow eyes. David covered his ears in pain as a cacophony of birds and feathers echoed through the hallway. A rush of black plumes and sharp talons flew by David and knocked him to the ground once more.

As soon as it started it was over and the dungeon was quiet once more. “What the fuck is this place.” David mumbled to himself as he examined the fresh scratches dotting his skin. He shakily stood once more as he looked around the hallway he found himself in. Old, flickering lights lined the ceiling which cast the hallway in a dismal glow. Various doors very similar to the one David just went through lined the walls. Some of them swung ominously open, almost inviting him to step inside. Others were shut and, David assumed, locked.

Groans of pain hauntingly echoed through the stone hallway and David’s blood ran cold as he realized he wasn’t the only one here. Sara. He thought as he made his way  cautiously down the hallway. David glanced in a few of the doors but the cells were too dark to see into from the outside. He pulled on the handle but the door didn’t budge. “Sara?” David called into the dark cell. Once again, his only response was a cawing from somewhere deeper in this nightmare.

David continued this pattern multiple times on multiple different doors. Each time met with the same reply reverberating through the halls. He eventually turned a corner and came face to face with a single crow standing in the middle of the corridor. The crow cocked its head and looked at David with those dark, beady eyes. The two stared at each other for a few seconds before a chill ran down David’s spine. It suddenly felt like there was someone, something, else in the hallway with them. A horrifying something that was slowly getting closer and closer.

All of a sudden, the crow squawked and fluttered its wings as it flew down the hallway and rounded the next corner. David watched as it’s shadow disappeared and was replaced with a different silhouette. Something larger, something more humanoid. John! David thought as adrenaline coursed through his body. He quickly glanced around for something to hide in or, better yet, use as a weapon.

Without wasting much time, David ducked into one of the open cells and pressed himself up against the wall behind the door. The sound of boots on the stone floor began to approach David’s hiding place. “I ain’t got time to deal with this. Sara is waitin’.” John said to seemingly no one in particular. A crow cawed in response and David heard John sigh heavily. “Alright, alright. Ya make a good point.” He said. Is he talking to the fucking birds? David thought in a mix of terror and confusion.

David waited until the footsteps passed and faded completely before exiting his hiding spot. He made his way quietly down the hallway and strained to hear the sound of John’s boots or more of those damn crows. But the only sound David could hear were his own footsteps and the sound of his heart beat drumming in his ears.

After a few more corners David stopped and frowned to himself. I am absolutely lost. Is there any end to this place? He thought as he tried to get his bearings. However, David’s thoughts were cut short when he heard the sound of wings flapping. He turned to see a crow enter the hallway and land on the floor. “CAW!” It shrieked as it fluttered away back where it came from. “Come on, David. Yer gonna make it a lot easier on yerself if ya just stop runnin’.” John said, his voice coming from the direction the bird flew off to.

John’s shadow crept up the wall like a creature in a horror movie.David turned as fast as he could and bolted for the opposite direction. I might as well be in a horror movie. He thought to himself as he ran through the twisting halls of the dungeon. There has to be an exit here somewhere. David thought as he rounded another corner and was met with another crow. “Shit!” He exclaimed as the bird cawed and flew off past David and down the way he had just come. “Sara is scared and alone. Let us gentlemen hurry this up so we ain’t keepin’ the lady waitin’.” John’s voice said from somewhere down the hallway.

Fuck Sara! I’ve got to get out of here myself! David thought in a panic as he turned and sprinted as fast as he could. It seemed that around every corner there was a crow and John was only a step behind him the entire time. David heaved heavy, tired breaths as he ran around in this seemingly endless maze. He was about to give up when he finally rounded a corner and found a set of stairs that led to a hatch in the ceiling. Please don’t be locked. Please don’t be locked. David desperately thought as he took the stairs two at a time.

David pushed the wooden hatch with all of his strength and it swung open. He all but lept out of the exit and was ready to finally smell something other than decay. Instead, he walked into something worse. Corpses in varying states of decay and consumption hung off of meat hooks suspended from the ceiling. Crows were covering the blighted corpses and picking off bits of their flesh. The concrete floor was covered in various bone fragments and body parts. Some of them look like they’ve been laying there for years.

David struggled not to vomit for a second time as the crows stopped their feast and turned to look at him. David’s eyes quickly moved to another set of stairs to the left of him. He just had to outrun the birds then freedom was his. As David turned to make his escape that horrible sound of wings fluttering filled the room and began to rush toward him. David practically crawled up the stairs in his desperate attempt to flee as the sound of crows came closer and closer.

David launched himself off of the top stair and closed the hatch by kicking it down and standing on top of it. The force of the frenzied birds caused thd wooden door to bounce him up and down. David fumbled with the lock for a moment trying to latch it close. As the lock slid into place the clamor of birds suddenly stopped and David was met with sweet sweet silence once more. He kept his eyes on the hatch as he slowly backed away from it. David expected any moment for that lock to break loose and the crows come rushing out. Or worse, John. He thought grimly.

David didn’t know John very well. No one in town did. If John wasn’t at church or coming into town to pick up something small he was always on his farm. As far as David knew, he lived there with his mother. John’s father, the towns pastor, had passed away about 6 years ago and left the property to his son. Thankfully John didn’t follow in his father’s footsteps and instead he devoted his time to running their small farm. The town got a new pastor and John got to keep his creepy ass secluded to his house. It seemed like it was a win win for the whole town.

Who knows what that guy is going to do to me if he gets his hands on me. David thought as he finally took his eyes off of the hatch. Various stalls lined this room and in the dark David could see the vague shapes of horses. Smells like horses too. He thought as he crumpled his nose against the smell. David quietly made his way to the side of the room and was careful not to spook any horses or run into any more crows.  

Once David finally reached the wooden walls of the barn he quickly found a metal door. David put his hand to the cold metallic knob and prayed that this was the door that was going to save him. This was the door that could lead to his freedom. He slowly turned the door knob and felt the warm summer air brush over his skin.

David stepped outside and took in a deep breath. For the first time in this whole ordeal David felt that he could finally breathe again. He looked around at John’s small farm and actually felt a moment of calm. Outside of that nightmarish dungeon, the property was quite peaceful. The nearby field of sudan grass rustled soothingly in the breeze. A few chickens roamed about in the fading light of the setting sun and picked at the ground. The faint sound of dogs could be heard down near the farm house.

Dogs. Dogs aren’t good. David thought as that sense of terror began creeping up his spine once more. The cawing of crows could now be heard on top of the barking and David froze for a moment while thinking of what to do. If I just pick a direction and run I’ll get out of here. This place can’t go on forever. I’ll get to town, I’ll find the police, and I’ll lead them back to this sickos lair. He thought and clenched his fist out of anger.

David saw a figure walk out onto the porch of the farm house. “I’m gonna find ya’, David. You can’t hide from the eyes of God.” John yelled. He then pointed off toward the barn and David could see the two faint silhouettes of dogs slowly and quietly slinking their way toward the building. David looked over at the tall stalks of sudan grass and decided that hiding in the field would be his best bet. At least those stupid crows can’t get to me. He thought as he pushed the tall plant aside and began to creep quietly through the field.

It wasn’t long after that David heard the flapping of wings once more. He stopped in the field and crouched down in hopes that the birds couldn’t see him in the approaching darkness. The murder of crows above David circled the field and squawked desperately while trying to find him. It seemed that whatever they see, their twisted master sees as well. Not to mention those dogs. David remembered as he nervously looked behind him.

It seemed that the field continued on and on and on. For a moment, David wondered if this was some kind of holy punishment. A purgatory made just for him. Of endless crows, sudan grass, and the one guy in town you don’t want to be left alone with. Perhaps this madness would never truly end. Maybe when John’s dogs got to him David would simply wake back up in that cell and start all over again.     

His thoughts of penance were cut short at the sound of rustling in the grass behind him. David quickly spun around as the crows went silent and two low growls could be heard in the dark. Two border collies, one black and one brown, could be seen moving between the stalks and making their way toward him. The sight of the dogs eyes reflecting in the moonlight caused adrenaline to course through David’s body.

That basic human instinct of fight or flight kicked in and David ran as fast as he could. The rough texture of the grass whipped across his face and stung his wounds. The growls behind David turned to barks as the dogs sprinted toward him. It wasn’t long after that he felt one of the border collies fangs sink deep into his calf.

David tasted dirt and blood and his head hit the ground. Despite the pain, David reached his hand out to grasp something, anything, to pull him away from the animal. From the corner of his pain blurred vision David saw the other dog appear. It lunged for his outstretched hand and David screamed in pain as he felt his bones crack under the pressure of the dog’s mouth.

“Down.” A low voice commanded from somewhere outside of David’s field of view. He gasped in relief as the dogs released their grasp on him and then David began to cry. Hard wracking sobs ran through his broken body as he lay there weeping and mangled in the field. David then shakily turned his head to look at his assailant for what he hoped would be the last time.

From David’s position on the ground, the full moon cast an ethereal halo around John’s head. The two border collies retreated back to their master and sat like guardians on either side of him watching David for any sign of defiance. A crow sat perched on John’s shoulder and stared at David with those piercing black eyes. In fact, many more crows flew above and hopped around on the ground next to him. The birds seemed to be completely silent in their movements as the ones on the ground slowly began to approach David.

Is this how I die? In some psychos field? David thought to himself as he whimpered and placed his head back on the ground. “Ya ain’t dyin’ yet.” John said as he knelt down onto the ground. David winced as John took his head in his hands and turned it so that David was facing him once more. “Ya got a lot to answer for, Mr. David Johnson. And I’m here to listen to every last confession.” John said and he took out a rag covered in some kind of liquid.

John put the rag to David’s face and he thrashed against the man’s iron grip. Not long after, David’s vision began to blur even more than it was and his field of view began to darken. The world began to spin and the crows circling above him looked like a hurricane of feathers and darkness. David felt hands under his arms and the bottom half of his body being dragged along the dirt and then he fell unconscious.

David awoke with a sharp, rhythmic pain in his abdomen. John had thrown the broken David over his shoulder and was walking down those dreadful stairs to the basement of his barn. With every step John took his bone would dig into David’s bruised and battered stomach. He tried to fight against the pain. Tried to fight to stay awake. But it was all too much and it wasn’t long before David blacked out once more.      

The smell of rust, death, and decay filled David’s nostrils and woke him up from his comatose state. He groggily opened his eyes and blinked a few times to clear his vision and his clouded thoughts. How am I not dead yet? Am I actually in hell? David thought as he looked around the small room.

He was kneeling and his hands were bound together by handcuffs and resting on a long piece of polished dark marble that was littered with candles. David attempted to get up only to find that the chain of the handcuffs were stuck to the altar by a heavy weight. In his drugged and injured state David had no hope of breaking his bonds from sheer strength alone.  

David looked around his surroundings and was momentarily entranced by what he saw. The ceiling was domed and at the crown was breathtaking painting depicting angels of justice dressed in glittering plate and armed with holy weapons. Lower down the wall the mural transitioned into depictions of martyrs being brutally executed for their faith. David remembered learning about martyrs in Sunday school alongside John and Sara when they were kids. Though now he couldn't remember the name of a single one. Never thought I would regret not going to church. David thought with a tired smile to himself.

The closer to the floor of the room the painting got the more gruesome it became. Pictures of unholy looking creatures that were dismembering and sodomizing their victims in every way David could imagine possible. In the flickering candle light David could have almost sworn he saw his own face amongst the sinners that were sentenced to an eternity of punishment.

The sound of the door to the apse opening brought David back to reality. He looked over at John who entered the intimate space with his two dogs tailing at his heels. A small flock of crows followed soon after and scattered about the room. They perched on various candelabras and smaller offering tables that were placed methodically around the chamber. A few squawked at David and landed on the altar to peck at his exposed skin.

John calmly walked over to the polished marble slab and shooed away the crows that were closest to David. They squawked and fluttered off in a huff to perch somewhere else in the unholy sanctuary to watch whatever judgement John was about to pass on him. David could feel all of the eyes in the room on him. Almost like all of the animals were the jury in a hellish courtroom.

In the light, David was finally able to get a good look at John. He was tall and lanky for being as strong as he was. John’s face was square and angular and it looked as if he hadn’t shaved in an few days. His dark tousled hair lay to the side of his head and his eyes flickered with a sense of righteousness that caused David to look away in fear and guilt. What have you done wrong? This freak is the one that kidnapped you.   

“Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.” John said in the low monotone voice of someone lost deep in prayer. “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our tresspasses, as we forgive those that have trespassed against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.” As he finished the room went deathly silent. “Do you remember what those words mean? I remember sayin’ em with ya every Sunday for a long time.” John added seriously after a moment.

“Fuck you and fuck your words.” David said and spat a mixture of spit and blood at John. He looked down and lightly brushed off his button up shirt before looking back at David. “They ain’t my words. You abandoned God and therefore recent the privilege of Jesus dying on the cross for your sins.” John said and reached for a hatchet with an intricately carved handle. “Which just means you gotta suffer for ‘em yourself.”

David nervously looked between the axe and John trying not to lose his composure. The room, the bible quotes, the crows. He refused to believe any of it was real. It was too ethereal and too ecclesiastical for this to be in a small town in rural Alabama. They had to be in hell. It was the only way to explain it.

“We’ll start back at the basics sincein’ you forgot what it means to be a good Christian.” John said as he set the sharpened end of the axe on the altar next to David’s uncrippled hand. He instinctively jerked away but there was nowhere to go. David was left completely to John’s mercy. If he has any. He nervously thought at he watched the flames of the candles reflected in the metal of the axe head.

“How many things have you stolen in yer life? I remember you bein’ the best lockpick in town. At one point you were makin’ a business out of robbin’ decent folks cars and homes.” John said and lifted the axe in his hand. “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.” He repeated methodically and set the metal lightly on David’s hand. “Let’s make that thieving hand of yours useful.” John said coldly as he raised the axe and struck down hard on David’s wrist.

David screamed out in agony as the sharpened metal cut through skin, muscle and bone. His vision went in and out from the pain as John continued to hack at David’s hand. After three swings his hand was completely severed from his wrist and David looked down in disbelief at the stump that was left behind. The blood that had spurted from his limb began to pool on the dark marble and drip off of the edge.

The shock of the situation delayed the pain long enough for David to watch John take his severed hand and toss it on the floor next to where his two border collies were guarding the door. The dogs immediately lunged at the piece of meat and devoured it in seconds. They looked at their master with blood stained mouths and wagged their tails in anticipation for more treats. “No beggin’.” John scolded and the dogs lowered their ears in disappointment and returned to their post.

The adrenaline began to wear off and David started to whimper at the increasing pain. Tears began to roll down his face and John smiled down at David. “Cryin’ is good. It means yer truly understandin’ the pain you caused others.” John said with a hint of satisfaction in his voice.

“Now, let’s talk about Sara.” John said as he wiped the head of his bloody axe on his jeans. “Sara never loved you.” David said with a short sniffle. He was going to die here. David had come to terms with that fact even before the whole hand chopping incident. The least David could do was torture this freak the only way he knew how. “She always acted so cute and so nice for you so you’d do whatever she’d want. Sara had you wrapped around her little finger and you ate up every minute of it.” David said as he grimaced through the pain he was in.

David looked up to John whose face had twisted into that of one of rage and anger. “How dare ya say that about her. Sara would never do somethin’ as...as...wicked as that.” He growled and a blush rose on his cheeks as he placed his hands on the side of the altar and glowered at David. He stared John in the eyes and listened as the sanctum echoed with the ruffle of feathers and angry caws.

John had always turned to a flustered school boy when it came to Sara and even in this moment, in his unholy menagerie of faith, the mere mention of her still seemed to have that effect on him. In John’s brief moment of weakness David felt in control for the first time since he woke up in this hell hole. Despite the situation a small smile cut through his pain ridden expression. “You were nothing to her. Remember when you found us? When you came in to drop off the groceries you bought her and we were fucking on the couch? Did you wish you were me in that moment? Kissing her lips and touching her ass and-” David blurted out before he felt John strike his head with the blunt side of the axe.

Something inside of David’s head cracked and the world seemed to flip upside down. The images of angels and demons and martyrs blurred with the crows frantically flying around the apse. John’s enraged expression flickered hauntingly in the light of the candles and the shadows of the birds. He was screaming something that David couldn’t make out over the cacophony of sound echoing in the small space and his own dazed state. Eventually, David couldn’t feel the axe coming down on his head anymore. In fact, he couldn’t feel anything at all.

John stood in front of the altar breathless with the bloody axe turned backwards in his hand. “Wrath!” One of the crows circling the room squawked out. “Cease from anger, and forsake wrath,” A different crow cried. “For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.” Another crow finished.

John took deep breaths to calm his nerves and block out the crows mocking words. The images of Sara on top of David came flooding back into his thoughts. “She forgot you were coming over.” One of the crows reminded John of the excuse Sara had given him. “It ain’t what it looks like. David just came over to fix my sink.” A different crow said aloud in what sounded like Sara’s voice. When the crows knew John wasn’t going to reply the ruffle of feathers and agitated screeches began to calm down.

John looked at the shattered and maimed body of David that lie strewn across the altar. He looked down at his own brain and blood stained clothes and wiped a piece of viscera from his cheek. “Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the Lord.” John said his prayer and looked up and toward the paintings of righteous angels and holy martyrs. He looked back down to David’s body and smiled before adding “and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.”    

[disrepairhouse]

Arc Two: Chapter One - Recalibration

A vast, arid desert stretched for miles, a harsh wind whipping the sand across the endless dunes, creating great whirlwinds reaching for the great, blue sky.  Pillars of an ancient civilization stuck up sporadically throughout the dunes, a gust of wind occasionally revealing the remains of a platform before covering it once more.  No sign of life or movement appeared under the scorching sun.  Suddenly, in the midst of the sand, the air crackled and snapped, subtly at first but fluctuated and grew violent within a matter of seconds, ending in an explosive boom that shocked through miles of the desert wasteland.

Sand and ancient debris whirled through the static air as a pulsing, swirling portal appeared.  With a powerful wave of energy, a mass of damaged, sparking red metal was thrown from the center of the portal, landing several feet away before coming to a sliding halt, half buried in the hot sand.  The air crackled once more before the portal faded out of existence, disappearing as quickly as it had appeared and leaving only heaps of displaced sand and the immobile pile of robotics behind.

Not far off, the hum of a hovercraft filled the now-silent air as its shadow ran across the sandy hills below.  The craft sped through the desert before reaching the deposited robotic body, stopping above it just long enough for its driver to inspect the creation, using a pair of robotic attachments to grab it.  Lifting the half-buried body out of the sand and hoisting it in the air enough to not drag, the hovercraft returned the way it came with its new discovery.  A quiet laugh escaped the man inside as he returned to one of his many bases.

Finally… something to replace his own lost creations. It would take some repair, but nothing he couldn’t handle, he was sure.  The real challenge would be keeping the new addition under his control; he was growing tired of robots going rogue on him.

“If I had let the fight continue, it would have turned in their favor.  You couldn’t have just expected me to stand by, could you?  He asked me to help with a specific job and I did, and no, he did not specifically ask me to fight Shadow, he just asked me to intervene in the fight.  It was my decision how to do it and—Kipper, are you even listening?!”

“Huh, what was that?  I stopped listening ten minutes ago.”

Burgundy and blue quills prickled as pale cheeks puffed in irritation.  A small hedgehog girl crossed her arms, narrowing furious green and purple eyes at the doll sitting on the back of the rust red couch.  She slammed her hands down on her crossed legs while a toothy, terrifying grin spread across the little fox doll’s face.  “K-Kipper!  Don’t as-ask me about the… past if you aren’t gonna l-listen!”  Her face reddened as she barely stammered through her command, causing the grin on the doll to widen further.  As soon as she realized he was only looking to tease her, as he often was since he was given the ability to talk—something Itara regretted more everyday—she huffed indignantly and turned away.

There wasn’t far to go, unfortunately, as they were still in the base she’d originally set up in several timelines ago, so she couldn’t do much to escape the infuriating doll’s teasing.  It was a small cabin, set far into the forest and away from any town. Itara had found it abandoned initially, but it worked for what they needed, a simple base of operations. They had refurnished considerably to create a more comfortable living space, as well.  One of the two smaller rooms was turned into a bedroom for her, the other she’d turned into a computer room, and the larger, main area was sectioned off into a living room and kitchen by a half wall.

The living room was furnished with an old TV and couch, where she spent most of her time, either journaling or watching a show or two when she managed to catch them.  She kept her small, black journal on a side table beside the couch so it was easy to grab and write in.  On the other side was an even older, more worn out chair and a spiral rug sat in the center of it all.  The rug’s material was matted and coarse, thin from years of use, and a bit scratchy to lie on, but Itara often lay there, in front of the TV, to watch her shows.

The kitchen was outfitted with the most basic of necessities: counters, an oven, a fridge, and a few cabinets they’d repaired, themselves. Against the far wall, just beyond the half-wall’s reach, was an old, scratched up dining set with four vaguely matching chairs.  A recycled set of blue curtains hung over the two windows in the larger area, the ones over the dining room window cut shorter than the living room curtains so they didn’t run over the table.  It wasn’t much, and everything in it was salvaged from something or another, be it street side giveaways or thrift stores, but it was enough for the current residents.

Yelling out in frustration, the young hedgehog girl reached over, shoving the little yellow doll off the back of the couch where his two tails had been propping him up.  Even the talking doll, that was now filling the small cottage with a haunting laughter, looked as though he’d been picked up from a gutter.  His patchy orange fur was matted down from years of questionable stains, his body badly sewn together with puffs of stuffing sticking out between the threads.  What used to be white fur on his ears, padded hands, and belly were grey and spotted with specks of brown.  His black button eyes were scratched and dulled, and the red gem that hung from a wire on his head fared no better, having a decent chunk taken out of one side. It was a creepy imitation of a well-known two-tailed fox, but years of abuse and an innately unsettling design with an off-putting aura had left it in an antique shop window for decades.  The cleanest part of it was the shiny white ribbon wrapped around its neck.

“Keep it up and I’ll tear the rest of your stuffing out, Kipper.”

The young hedgehog had stormed over to the dining room where the other two residents were set up at the table, one of them hunched over in pieces in one of the chairs, while the other stood over them, working on a laptop.  The taller of the two, a towering, thickly-built echidna covered in thin red fur glared over towards the laughing Tails doll, his single, glowing green eye backing his threat and bringing the possessed doll’s amusement to an end. Satisfied, he turned back to the laptop on the table to continue his work; though thanks to the long, metallic claws jutting out from one hand, the process was slow, even though he was plugged into the computer, itself.  A long, red tail flicked back and forth as he waited for loading screens.

The other, far quieter bot sat propped in one of the chairs, inactive and badly damaged. The blue and white bot had a leaner design than its red companion, though with the sharp, jutting metallic chassis it was difficult to tell what its original appearance used to be.  While the red robot showed signs of damage, between a shattered eye hidden under a black eyepatch, the exposed ‘skin’ on one of its dreads, a long scratch going down its muzzle, and a missing hand, wrapped and replaced with a hook, the blue one was even worse.  One arm was missing entirely, only a heavily gashed ball joint and exposed electrical wires remaining; the other was badly cracked and dented.  Both legs were splintered and torn, half its torso was nothing but jutting edges and exposed wiring, the top of its head was shattered and charred black, and a long, webbing crack ran across its eyeglass.

At one point in time, both robots had been notoriously deadly creations of Robotnik, designed and built solely to battle and destroy their mobian counterparts.  Yet one had been abandoned for years, left to decay in the rubble of a fallen base—until a time-travelling child rescued and repaired him—and the other was reduced to scrap metal after a time-shattering battle against an angry God.  Nonetheless, the less damaged of the two was determined to fix his companion, however he could.

“Itara, do me a favor and get the extra USB cord from the other room?”

The small hedgehog muttered a quiet ‘sure’, turning her attention to the room connected to the dining room, shuffling around in it for a moment before returning with a long, black cord, USB ports on either side of it.  Handing it to the red robot, she stood back and watched him curiously.  “Have you thought of something new to try?”

“Just testing another theory. He’s still going to need a lot of repair before he’s fully functional again,” he paused, adding a small, “if he’s ever fully functional again,” before continuing in the same monotone nonchalance, “but if we can at least get him back online, even if only to a minor degree, it could make the process considerably faster.  He would know how his circuity works better than even I would, especially since no one can go back and look now.”  Itara shuffled uncomfortably at the suggestion, but it went unseen by the other.  “But he’s… even more damaged than I was initially.”

“I wish I could just check,” Itara muttered, casting a hateful glare towards the black journal in the living room.  Turning back, she noted, “at the very least, with as much damage as he’s sustained, if we do get him back online, we likely won’t have to worry about his loyalty chip… or his communications system, for that matter. We’ll have to make sure those don’t turn back on at any point during the repair, but it’s easier to keep something offline than to turn it off sometimes.”

“So what happens when he wakes back up, remembers everything that happened, hates you all for it, and kills everyone?”

Both robot and hedgehog turned a wary eye towards the amused doll.  It wasn’t so much that they hadn’t considered the possibility, between the two of them they’d run through just about every possible outcome and came up with several contingency plans to deal with them, but that was the most dangerous option out of all of them.  Unlikely as it was.  Even if he remembered most of what had happened before, and even if he did still hold a grudge about certain circumstances, he would be too damaged to do anything about it.  For as terrifying and talented of a killer as their out of commission guest was… he was hardly more than a pile of bolts nowadays.

Sighing in annoyance, Itara turned away from the doll first, crossing her arms as she explained, “RK shouldn’t have any trouble with him, if he tries to attack.  He’s built stronger and Sparky’s super broken.”

There was silence in the room afterwards as they considered the answer, RK turning back to continue his work while Itara moved to sit down at one of the empty chairs beside him. Kipper shrugged and dropped against the back of the couch, returning to his ‘sleeping’ state.  He could at least talk and move on his own at certain points, but he couldn’t remain active indefinitely.  He returned to his doll-like state whenever he no longer felt like interacting with the others, and more often than not, both RK and Itara welcomed the moments of silence.

As usual, they took advantage of the current silence and continued their work on their broken project. RK decided to hook up to the other robot, directly, leaving Itara to run the programs necessary for his new tests through her laptop.  Once everything was set up and ready to run, RK shut off unnecessary background programs and let Itara take over the process, using the larger, functioning robot as an interpreter and display for the possible errors running on the other robot once they booted power into him.  It took some time before Itara was able to reconfigure the mess of code into something readable but once she did, she relayed the information.

After a quick discussion, and a lengthy argument about how to do it, they decided to shut down everything except the ability to turn lighting and optics on.  They would start at the smallest, most basic structure of the design and if no errors appeared, move on until they found the core problem.  Then the problem would be fixing whatever came up, but if they could at least figure out what, the how would come.  Once again, using his own processors as an intermediate, RK began routing power to the broken Metal Sonic while Itara kept a sharp eye on her laptop screen, watching for problems.

Processors began to whir and familiar crackles of the long-time shorted circuitry sparked up, getting a cautious gaze from the young hedgehog, but when she saw RK making no attempts to stop the process, she returned to the screen to watch for errors. Whirs and the puff of internal fans filled the silence of the open rooms, the occasional warning showing on the laptop screen, that Itara looked into before continuing the process. Unaware she was holding her breath, Itara let it out sharply when she saw one of the bright red eyes light and begin to glow, dimming and brightening slowly along with the notification that appeared on the laptop.

The robot made no movements; even the glowing red eye remained stationary, prompting Itara to look into the program to see if it was getting any optical feedback or if the light behind the screen had been the only component to turn on.  She relayed the information to RK once again while pulling up the visual programs of both robots.  RK’s was normal, showing a dimmed view of the living room from the one functional eye.  Metal Sonic’s however, only showed static.  But it was more than they had gotten before.  It had only shown black before, if they were getting static now, it meant something was working.

Itara quickly took a seat back in her chair to start looking into it, digging deeper into the code to try and locate the exact problem of the feed, relaying the information directly to RK’s communication lines via the computer since he’d shut his auditory programs down to conserve power.  This was the most they’d gotten out of the broken robot since the reset and they were both equally eager to push on.  Even when Kipper activated again and started with his usual sass, likely awakened by Itara’s cry of excitement at having finally made progress, she aptly ignored him in favor of working on the robot.  While she was still wary about activating him completely, considering his nature and the previous timelines, it was the biggest source of distraction to keep her from thinking about things she preferred not to.  She would happily forget problems she couldn’t solve for the ones she could.

As she worked, however, more whirring and sparking started up, causing her to pause and study the still immobile robot.  The single lit eye had stopped blinking and remained consistently glowing, and the opposite side even gave an occasional flash, but nothing moved.  Checking the various programs open on her laptop again, making sure nothing was overloading or trying to turn on more than it could handle, she returned to work when she felt satisfied she could press on.  She knew of Metal Sonic’s previous circuitry problem, knowing he had a short in his system that he’d learned to manipulate, and was likely to return, if not get much worse, so she expected sparking when they reactivated him.  That was why she nicknamed him Sparky, after all.

Reassuring herself that was all it was, she poured through the codes again, looking for anything that could be relevant to his reboot.  During her search, however, a string of errors finally popped up that brought her progress to a short stop.  Optical errors, software errors, reboot errors, overheating errors, the list went on.  Sighing, she sat back again, looking over the list before leaning forward again to let RK know… but the second her fingers touched her laptop, a sharp zap ran up them, causing her to quickly withdraw.  Leaning back again, she eyed the laptop, concerned, reaching out to try again, knowing she’d need to let RK know to disconnect before anything more happened… when a sharp electrical current zapped through all three electronics.

Darting up and away from the frying laptop with a screech, knocking the chair back and nearly tripping over it on her way, Itara scrambled away from the table and the robots, watching in shock and horror as both Metal Sonic and RK jolted spastically from the assault.  Her laptop managed to throw a stream of errors and warnings on the screen before making a horrifying crackling sound, flashing several times, before finally blacking out, the smell of burnt plastic and metals filling the room.  Metal Sonic and RK continued sparking for several minutes before they gave a final jolt and dropped forward, leaving a wake of fried electronics with a smell of burnt faux fur.  Just as Itara was getting up to start looking over the damage, however, the entire cabin gave off a soft hum as the power shut down, leaving only the light of the setting sun to fill the dark, quiet rooms.

Itara shut her eyes, her ears pinning against her head as she heard Kipper moving behind her, before crying out in anguish and distraught.  Kipper chuckled behind her, the light red glow of his gem casting wide shadows around the room when she opened her eyes again.  “Oh no, would you look at that,” the doll laughed, “Momma bear’s shorted.  It’s gettin’ dark.  The powerless little hedgie is all defenseless.  What’s going to happen?”

A quick chill ran down Itara’s spine at the suggestion, but she quickly shook her head, turning around to grab the floating doll out of the air and wrap him tightly in her arms, “nothing’s going to happen, Kipper.  It’s not like I’m averse to the darkness or anything, I just have to get the power back online… and then… very carefully disconnect everything from RK to let him reboot.”

“But I wonder what caused that in the first place,” Kipper continued, disgruntled at being grabbed but continuing his taunting, nonetheless, “is it possible your killer robot is more active than you originally thought?”

Itara remained silent, keeping the doll tightly wrapped in her arms as she made her way out of the cabin and around the side to check the circuit breaker.  She was at least glad the sun was still up, low as it was, but they were so surrounded by forest that even the comforting light of the sun came off more as a harsh, burning glow, casting long, reaching shadows.  It was late in the year, on the cusp of winter, so the biting cold was snaking its way through the trees while the setting sun turned the changing leaves to fire.  There was only a small dirt path leading down the hill from their cabin, which didn’t reach a solid road for at least a mile, and even then they were several miles outside of town.  They were, in many aspects, entirely isolated and alone.

Shaking her head again, Itara flipped the switch on the breaker, one ear perking to listen for the snap of the electricity turning back on before she headed back inside. Casting a longing glance towards the sun, she sent it a silent message on her way back inside.  As soon as she stepped foot back inside, however, as she was preparing to return to the robots… the electricity snapped back out, causing her ears to flatten once again.

“You forgot to-”

“Shut up, Kipper,” she hissed, tightening her hold on the doll to emphasize her point, walking over to the robots and disconnecting them both from the main power.  With that taken care of, she returned to the breaker, flipped it on again, and finally returned to the robots to start unplugging everything.  Knowing she wouldn’t be able to work while holding the doll, she released him and watched him float up above the robots while she went about unplugging them.  Sighing in defeat when she saw the state of her laptop, she set it on the kitchen counter. That had been expensive.  It would take forever to save up to get another like it.  Stupid Sparky, he owed her a new laptop.

With the sun finally setting over the horizon, the woods outside the cabin fell to darkness and silence while Itara sat quietly working to repair the robots.  She couldn’t even check to see how far that had set them back, or even what caused it in the first place.  Kipper’s comment about Sparky maybe being more aware than they initially thought was caught in her brain and had her concerned.  If that was, in fact, a defensive maneuver on his part, whether on purpose or not, it could complicate his repair even more. If they couldn’t hook up to him without fearing for their electronics, or in RK’s case, his own computers, she wasn’t sure how they were going to repair him at all.  Well, first things first, she had to get him back online in the first place.  Luckily he was more resilient than her laptop and only seemed to be offline, much like the breaker, he just needed his switch flipped back on.  Once she had him disconnected and made sure turning him on wouldn’t damage him further, so far as she could tell without her laptop, she initiated a manual startup.

“I’ll try to get you a new laptop soon.”

“Mhm.”

“For now, I suppose you’ll have to do your homework at the school library, though.”

Itara looked up from her journal in horror at this, meeting the unamused stare of the robot who had been trying for several minutes to get her attention.  “I didn’t think of that!  RK, I can’t!  We have to get a new laptop now!”

He shook his head, shrugging, “sorry, Itara, but as you said, it’s going to take a little time to get enough for a high end laptop like that.  You’ll be fine.  Just let them know your home computer crashed, they should let you use a school computer for whatever you need one for.”

“That’s not the problem! I don’t want to be in that Hellscape any longer than I have to!”

RK stared at her, an eyebrow rising, “I still don’t understand why you hate it so much considering everything else you’ve lived through: Multiple timelines, a destroyed future, and everything that happened with Mephiles, and it’s school that’s the Hellscape?”

“Yes!”  Desperation was so blatant on her face, RK almost smirked in amusement, but shook his head, instead, turning back towards the dining room. “Don’t ignore my suffering!”

“You’re the daughter of a God.  You’re fine. Come eat your dinner.”

Itara whined loudly and dramatically, but eventually sighed in annoyance and returned to her journal, finishing her thought before setting it down on the stand again.  With as much vigor as a slug willingly walking to a salt pile, the young hedgehog made her way to the half of the table that wasn’t consumed by tools and cables and sat with a heavy ‘thump’ in her seat.  A small bowl of mac and cheese and a glass of milk sat, waiting for her, but the young girl seemed as interested in it as she had been in Kipper’s earlier taunting.

“Don’t play with it, eat it,” RK warned, watching her poke at the small, orange noodles with her fork, resting her head in her hand and an elbow on the table.  “You can pout all you’d like, there’s nothing we can do about your laptop for now, you’re just going to have to be patient.”

“Another reason to hate my lack of powers,” the girl muttered angrily, glaring at her dinner now, but slowly started eating with another warning glance from the much taller robot. An echo of snickers from across the room gained the doll responsible the same glare, though the snickering didn’t stop as Itara’s pouting did.

“In any case,” RK sighed, looking over the table at the remainder of their available tools, “we’re going to need another trip into town soon.”  They might need to put Metal Sonic’s repair on hold again until they can replace the laptop, it would be difficult to do anything without at least one computer and he couldn’t suffice on his own.  Especially with the new string of errors he couldn’t get rid of. After a long, thoughtful silence, he spoke up again, “perhaps we should look into moving to a new base.”

Itara looked up at the suggestion, tilting her head to the side in confusion.  She’d chosen this cabin for a reason in the original timeline, it was far enough that they could work in considerable quiet, but it was also one of the few places RK could remain intact for as long as she needed him to be.  Of course, with the reset, with Solaris’ fusion, she doubted the second reason would be relevant anymore, but they’d still need to be cautious about the first. “Where else would we even go?”

“We can only do extremely minimal repairs and upgrades in the situation we’re in, with as few computers as we have at our disposal.  One laptop gets fried and we lose all sources of operations, it’s problematic.” Itara’s eyes narrowed as she started picking up on his point, but let him continue, “in such a small base, even if we had the proper amount of computers, at a high enough level to work on Metal Sonic and myself, they could never fit and the menial power such a small dwelling can even get could never power them all.  In addition, getting our hands on such high end electronics is near impossible, and stealing them would create unwanted attention we can’t really handle at the moment.”

“RK… what are you suggesting, exactly?”

“If anyone would have the equipment necessary to do the repairs we need to… it’d be the original creator.  It’s no secret Dr. Robotnik has a number of abandoned bases around the area, if we could pinpoint of them, clear them out, get them back online without tipping him off about it, it would offer everything we don’t have at the moment. It’s a dangerous gamble, but if we’re careful about it, it could work.”  He turned towards her, crossing his arms and adding, “plus, we might be able to find something closer to your school, so you have less of a walk.  Or at least something closer to the trains. There are a number of underground bases he used for surveillance purposes that should be empty now; they’d have normal buildings above them to avoid suspicion.  If we can find one of those, it could work.”

Itara grumbled in annoyance at the mention of her school again, but went into careful thought about the actual potential of looking into one of Robotnik’s abandoned bases.  She’d looked into a number of the doctor’s inner workings during her runs through earlier times, looking for the most beneficial times to steal his robots, she’d run across a number of his various bases, including the underground ones RK mentioned.  The problem, more or less, came from taking them without tipping anyone else off.  If they powered up a previously abandoned base, it could alert him, and they would be in far more trouble than they were now.  Not to mention, it could also tip of others.  Robotnik wasn’t their only concern.  He never had been.

“What are the chances of success?”

“Depending on the base, it varies anywhere between 2% and 78% chance of success.”

“78%?  That’s a surprisingly high percentage,” her brows furrowed in confusion.  She wasn’t expecting anything beyond fifty.

“As I said, it depends on the base.  There are some that are nearly ruined where the largest complication would just be getting power back to it, it’s old enough that it would be long since off Robotnik’s radar and so far away from populations that it wouldn’t be likely to catch attention from the general populace.  However, they are… rather far out of the way, even more than we are now. They’re isolated, but also decrepit.”

Itara hummed in thought, pushing her now empty bowl aside to cross her arms on the table, leaning forward to think about it.  It had potential.  It would be a search, and they’d have to be careful about how they went about it, but maybe they could do it.  Just using an old Robotnik base did offer them a lot of solutions they didn’t have at the moment.  She didn’t much care about the location relative to her school, she didn’t even want to go in the first place, but if they had bigger computers, it would be easier to fix Metal Sonic.  And the sooner they got him fixed, the better.

Hopefully.

“I’ll run the numbers a bit more later, for now, are you finished?”  Itara looked up from her thoughts, having completely forgotten about dinner, but nodded, prompting him to nod towards the sink, “then put your dishes away and get ready for bed.  We’re going to have a busy day tomorrow, either way.”  The small hedgehog huffed, but did as she was told, dropped her dishes into the sink before grumbling off to her bedroom.  RK watched her until she closed her bedroom door before turning back towards the other robot, running the numbers while studying the broken chassis. He had to wonder if the shock earlier was intentional or not.  To a degree he hoped it had been intentional, it meant Metal Sonic was in a better shape than they initially thought and they might be able to convince him not to do it again so they could repair him.  However, at the same time, it meant he was inherently hostile, which was to be expected, all things considered.  But if he couldn’t be reasoned with, RK had to be ready to forcibly restrain him and as much as he loved a fight, he didn’t want to damage Metal Sonic any further than he already had.

His repair was going slow enough as it was.

Shaking his head, he moved to sit down and run through the possibilities of taking over a base again until Itara came back out, dressed for bed and looking for Kipper.  Once she had the inactive doll, he told her goodnight and sent her off to bed, waiting until the light from her bedroom switched off before going into a partial sleep mode.  He wanted to save as much energy for his scans and calculations as possible without wasting any on unnecessary functions.  It was irritating that he still had to preserve energy like that, but there wasn’t much he could do about it until he could be better repaired. The best bet, for both him and Metal Sonic, was to find a base.

Besides, he wouldn’t mind finding something a bit bigger to give Itara more space to move around. Maybe even something a bit nicer so she didn’t have to live in a literal shack in the middle of the forest. They’d fixed it up as much as they could manage on their own, from new coverings for the walls, installing furniture and proper kitchen appliances, and even wiring it for power.  But there was only so much they could do in their situation.  If he could, he wanted to give her a room as close to the one she had in that mansion as possible.  He knew he couldn’t find something quite that large without drawing attention to themselves, but he wanted to see if he could get close.

He knew there had to be something out there, he would just have to find it.

[neversatisfiedswitch]

So this would’ve been done sooner, but a power surge went through my neighborhood and all of my work on this was lost. Whoops.

Anyway. The lovely @eleniel221b asked me to write a story featuring my OCs Myarel and Colton with the prompt “Do your worst!” from this post! I love these 2 so much, they’re literally like my favorite OCs to write about/with, sdkljflk.

Warning for language, but prrrrobably not as bad as last time. My boys curse like sailors. :P Also just a tiny bit of Colton-related angst bc I love that shit.

Summary: No matter how many times Myarel has seen Colton’s metal limbs, he’s never been able to figure out if the places where they were attached are sensitive or not. Colton really should’ve known not to take a challenge from him, because he never plays fair...

Words: 1590 (bc everything I write becomes a novel)

There’s never been a good time to ask Colton about his limbs-- because in doing so, you’d be asking about his dad, too. It had taken him years to open up to anyone besides his adoptive mother, Rowan, about any of it-- and it wasn’t because she could read his mind. It had just come spilling out while she was cleaning his wounds, the years of fear and the pure terror that washed over him when he woke up to see that his own father was the one who’d hurt him like this becoming too much for him to keep inside--

And she’d listened. She’d held him like he was a child, despite him being fifteen and far too large to fit in her lap, and she’d calmed him. Every night until he’d left to live with Lyn, she’d done this, and eventually he’d been able to get over the sight of the shining metal attached to his body without wanting to saw the limbs off. Now he was... he wouldn’t say “comfortable”, but at least he could stand the sight of them.

Usually he didn’t have an audience when he polished his limbs-- he did it twice a day, to keep them from rusting-- but Myarel sat down next to him this time, and honestly, he didn’t really mind. They bickered and messed with each other, but he enjoyed the demon’s presence, choosing to lean against the older man’s shoulder as he rubbed the rag across his arm.

“Hey...” Myarel rested his chin on the younger man’s shoulder, watching him as he carefully cleaned the crease in his elbow, the place where flesh and metal melded together. He noticed the small shiver in Colton’s shoulders as he did so, and at first he decided against asking his question-- but considering Colton let him get this close, it had to mean something, right?

“Can I see your arm?” Colton looked over to the white-haired man, blinking confusedly as he held out his left arm to him. Myarel snorted, moving his head from the blond’s shoulder. “Not that one, your other one.”

Raising a brow in slight confusion, Colton shifted, turning to face Myarel. He’d already rolled up his pant legs and removed his shoes and socks, revealing the same shining metal that made up his legs from the knee down-- though his feet were facing the floor, Myarel had seen them enough times to know they weren’t like his legs, they were still skin, meshed with metal like the crook of Colton’s elbow and his knees.

Placing the rag on the coffee table, Colton held out his metal arm to Myarel, and the older man gently took it, holding the arm by the back of the forearm. The cool metal was intriguing, but it wasn’t what he was looking for. He looked at Colton’s face, a grin on his lips. “Close your eyes. I’m not gonna do anything to you, you know me.”

The reassurance was unnecessary-- the two had been close for a long time, and they trusted each other immensely, so it took no time for Colton’s eyes to slip shut. Myarel took his fingers and laid them on the metal wrist, gently trailing them up Colton’s arm. At first, there was no reaction, but as his fingers brushed over the tiny crease on the inside of Colton’s elbow-- scar tissue-- the blond’s reaction was immediate. He jumped slightly, fingers twitching as he pulled lightly at his arm. Myarel traced the scar with his fingers, unable to stop himself from chuckling when Colton began to giggle, his nose scrunching up as he pulled Myarel’s wrist away.

“What was that fohor?” Colton was still giggling as he rubbed the tingling sensations from his elbow, and Myarel snickered. “Just testing something... are your knees ticklish, too?”

He didn’t wait for a reply, fingers gentle as he reached behind one of Colton’s knees and ran his fingers across the skin-- again, he got the reaction he was hoping for, but this time his laughter was louder, and the reaction was quicker. He almost got a foot to the chest, but thankfully he was able to teleport to the other side of the living room before the bone-breaking kick reached him.

“Holy fuck, Colton-- you’re ticklish all over, aren’t you?” He wasn’t as concerned as his friend about what could’ve happened, Colton’s laughter having stopped as he stood to be sure the other was okay. “Hey-- shut up! I could’ve hurt you!” But Myarel wasn’t listening. He wasn’t keen on getting kicked again, but he did want to mess with Colton a bit.

“I’ve got a challenge for you.” Colton’s brows raised, and he made room for Myarel to sit down as the demon continued. “If I tickle your knees and you don’t tap out before I stop, then you win.” There was no winning condition-- with any competition between them, there never was. It was friendly competition at its finest, even if it was something as silly as this.

At first, it didn’t seem as though Colton wanted to take the challenge-- and if he didn’t, Myarel wouldn’t force him. But the cyborg spread his legs out so his knees were across the other man’s lap, and he crossed his arms over his chest, gunmetal blues piercing sapphires with their gaze.

“Do your worst.” Myarel placed his hands on the backs of Colton’s knees, and the smallest movement of his fingers was enough to make the younger man tense up like before-- this time his whole body was tense, laughter already pouring from his lips with the barest touch. And yet, he only gripped his shirt with both hands, ducking his head as a blush rose across his cheeks. Myarel kept his knees from bending by sliding one leg over both of Colton’s, making it so the backs of his thighs were against his legs and his knees were over open air. Really, he felt almost like an annoying older brother, tormenting Colton like this-- but he knew the kid well enough to know he enjoyed this kind of attention.

However... like most brothers, he didn’t think Colton was laughing hard enough, or that he actually wanted him to win. So while he kept one hand behind Colton’s knees, he pushed the blond’s shirt up, tickling first around his waist and one of his hips. A loud gasp left Colton’s lips before his laughter kicked up a notch-- surprisingly, he was able to get a few words out before it got worse.

“N-nohoho! Thahat’s cheheheatihihing!” He shrieked as Myarel’s finger trailed across his tummy, jumping as the digit swirled around his belly button-- but he still kept his grip on his shirt, determined to outlast the torment, no matter how much of a cheating bastard his friend was.

“I never said I wouldn’t tickle you anywhere else... you did tell me to do my worst, and this is it.” He wiggled his finger inside Colton’s belly button as he spoke, causing the poor boy to shriek again before falling into silent laughter. Having tickled Colton before, he knew his limits-- and while he was near them, he wasn’t quite close enough. On a hunch, he looked toward Colton’s feet, which were attempting to flail despite his legs being trapped. All it took was a single finger gently running up the sole of his foot, and Colton let out a wheezy screech of laughter, his fist pounding against the couch-- finally tapping out despite how badly he didn’t want to.

Myarel released Colton’s legs, chuckling when the other curled up into a ball, rubbing a hand against his belly to rid himself of the tingly feelings on his skin, giggles still escaping him. “Better luck next time.” The words were said in a gentle, amused tone, and it was clear there was fondness behind them as Myarel ran his fingers through Colton’s hair, lightly scratching at the back of his scalp as his eyes fluttered shut. He pulled his hand away after a few moments, however, not wanting to make Colton fall asleep on the couch.

“You want me to leave you alone? I could get your arm, if you want.” As Myarel picked up the polishing rag, Colton lifted his head to glare at him. “No tickling, or I’ll really kick you.”

Snorting, Myarel moved to sit on Colton’s right side, resting it across his crossed legs and beginning to lightly wipe it down, avoiding the crease of Colton’s elbow as to not make him jump. “You know me better than that.”

As Colton started to polish one of his legs, Myarel finally noticed what the bottoms of his feet looked like-- the very centers of his soles matched the rest of his skin, but nearer to the sides of his feet, they were grayish, though still the texture of his skin. “I didn’t... hurt you when I touched your foot, did I?”

Colton looked up at his friend, shaking his head with a bright smile on his face. “Nah, you’d know if you did. My feet are sensitive, but they don’t hurt unless you dig in. But,” he elbowed Myarel’s ribcage, getting a soft snort in return, “don’t get any ideas.”

Shaking his head, Myarel gently turned Colton’s arm over to polish the other side. “No ideas here.”

They continued their work in a comfortable silence.

[sharonitwd]

Twice Shy, CHP: 27

Once Bitten

AO3 Link

I worked on this chapter nearly every week, paragraph at a time. Half hour lunch breaks don't provide enough time to write a whole lot in between bites.

When the door shut behind them the house was almost completely dark, aside from a few cracks and holes in the window coverings.

The two stumbled with Lee’s full weight on their shoulders. Kenny was the first to let go of him, quickly rummaging in his backpack for a flashlight. Sharon groaned under his full weight but didn’t complain, trying to lower him gently to the ground.

Once the room was lit Kenny scanned the kitchen they now resided in. Similar to the mansion, all the windows had been boarded up or covered with multiple sheets, including the small window on the door. He pointed the flashlight to the doorway leading further into the house, nervously staring through the darkness for any walkers awaiting them deeper inside. 

“That last one took my screwdriver.” Sharon sighed as she removed her flashlight and Lisa’s pocket knife from her bag.

“We’re clear for now, if Molly didn’t ring those bells we might not have made it.” Kenny said, reaching his hand out for Sharon's knife. “We need to check the other rooms.”

“What about Lee?”

Kenny squinted in the darkness at his friend, he didn’t want to shine the light on him in fear of how sickly he may look. "He's not going anywhere, we can’t help him if we have walkers on our back."

Sharon shoved her bag under Lee’s head for his comfort and stood. With Kenny taking the lead, she followed while holding her own flashlight steady, allowing him to take out any dangers safely with her being his reliable light source. 

The house had been scavenged like the mansion, anything of use was taken with hardly anything left behind. A few walkers were upstairs, more than they were comfortable with but Kenny was able to kill them one by one without any close calls.

Once they were in the kitchen again Kenny set his flashlight down and pulled Lee further away from the door, securing their exit while ensuring Lee's safety incase the dead decided to start banging on the doors. Sharon replaced the bag under Lee’s head and sat by his side.

“Shit.” Kenny sighed and grabbed his flashlight back from the ground and lowered the light at Lee, then at Sharon. When he noticed he had pointed it directly in her eyes he directed the light elsewhere only to bring it immediately back. "No." His eyes grew wide at the tear in her jacket, cloth fibers shooting out of the hole. "Not another one! Please don't tell me you're bit, too!"

Sharon looked to the fabric of her jacket, where even in the darkness she could see a definite hole. She had felt pressure on the arm earlier from being pulled down the other side of the fence, the disorientation and panic was too overwhelming to notice if she had been injured. Even now she doesn't feel any pain, though it was normal for her to block discomfort from her mind.

She wasted no time to be dramatic, unzipping the jacket and pulling the sleeve away from her left shoulder. Though the jacket had jagged rips and tears her shirt had almost been damage free, aside from the stains she hasn’t been able to wash out and the fresh decaying teeth marks that had been left behind. Just to double check, she pulled the neck of her shirt down to reveal her bruised shoulder, no scratch marks, no blood, no bite.

"Oh, thank god." Kenny let go of the breath he was holding, then he caught himself and returned the scowl to his face. "So, what are we going to do with Lee?"

Sharon looked away from the harsh bruises on her arm, her eyes landing on the bite mark on Lee's wrist. His injury had become inflamed since she last saw it. "There's nothing to do but wait for him to wake up."

"Are you sure? Will he turn?"

"Not yet." Sharon almost mentioned how Katjaa had lost consciousness a few times after she was bit, though she didn’t want to bring up sore wounds so soon. "He still has color."

They sat in silence, Kenny only shook his head as he stared at Lee, impatiently looking through his bag for something that might help.

"He'll wake up soon." Sharon tried to calm him down. "We just have to wait."

"We don't have a lot of time for that." Kenny stood abruptly and disappeared deeper in the house, his feet echoing loudly on the stairs.

She sighed, scooting over to sit by Lee and check his pulse from his non-bitten wrist. It took her a few moments to find it, the limited training Katjaa had provided her didn’t make her a professional. Once she found the beating artery she sighed again, this time in relief. His heart is beating rapidly, perhaps a bit too much, though it means he is still alive.

With nothing else Sharon can do, she took his hand and patiently waited for him to wake. Kenny, on the other hand, stomped on every step of the stairs and quickly found his way in to the kitchen.

"Are you going to help me with this?"

“Huh?" Sharon squinted in the light that he pointed at her, unsure of what he had in his hands. "Help you with what?"

In his grasp he displayed an old hacksaw from who-knows-where, covered in rust and dirt. "We can't sit around and wait while that bite is infecting him, we have to take it off."

"No!" Sharon stared and scrunched her nose. "We are NOT doing that! That's not okay!"

"Clementine is still out there, if we cut the bite off maybe it will save him!"

"We don't know that!"

"We need to try!"

"No." Sharon let go of Lee's hand and stood her ground. "Kenny, he's already sick. The infection is in his system."

"I've seen dogs who needed their legs amputated to stop infection from spreading, it could be like that!"

"He's not a dog!" She gestured down to him. "Even if that would work, we don't have any medical equipment.” 

“We have this!”

“That will give him tetanus." 

"He's probably had the boosters."

"The infection any other germs we can't protect him from would kill him faster!"

"Why am I even arguing with you?" He easily disregarded Sharon’s words. "I don’t need your permission."

"Kenny-"

Sharon stared in shock as he knelt down and placed the hacksaw on Lee's forearm, the sharp rusty metal connected with skin only a few inches above the bite wound. Kenny paused, the more he stared the more the action scared him. He replaced the saw closer to Lee’s elbow, then toward his wrist, unsure of the best place to cut while trying to convince himself to press harder. 

“Just like ripping a band-aid, just gotta do it, can’t think about it.” With a deep breath Kenny picked the spot he thought best, the metal once again pressing against Lee’s skin. “I’m sorry, man. I gotta do this.”

Then Lee tugged his arm away.

Kenny fell backwards with a yell, dropping the hacksaw behind him.

Sharon stepped between Kenny and Lee with one hand on reaching for her knife.

“What the hell, man?” Lee pulled his bitten arm away and held it protectively to his chest. “What are you doing?”

“Kenny was thinking if we amputate your arm. . . he’d stop the infection.” Sharon answered, stepping back to her original spot.

“This is about trying to SAVE him! At the very least buy him some time.” Kenny stood and dusted his pants. “It was the only thing I could think of.”

“I might also die in a pool of my own blood.”

“I’m not going to let you die, you hear me? I think we gotta take it off.” Kenny said. “You haven’t been bitten long, it’s away from your heart and your head. We take the arm and maybe we save your life.”

“The materials we have aren’t sterile and not good enough to do this safely.” Sharon said. “You’ll get tetanus from the rust and who knows what other kinds of infections. Not to mention the blood loss and how your body would respond to the trauma.”

“But the bite could be making his condition worse, like frostbite! We can’t let it spread anymore, we can’t lose any more people.” Sharon felt pity for him as his voice turned from stubborn to desperate. “We have to try something.”

“And what if he dies? What if we kill him?”

“Then you and I find Clementine, but right now- my opinion is we do this.” Kenny stopped his arguing and looked to Lee. “If there’s a chance it stops you from turning, we have to take it.”

“Well. . . the decision is up to you, Lee.” Sharon crossed her arms. “If you think it’s best, we’ll do it.”

"Oh, now you want to help?" Kenny scoffed.

Sharon shook her head, not replying.

With eyes on him Lee sighed and allowed himself to think only about what he wanted to do about his condition. 

He could feel a difference in his body; his heart seemed to be beating faster and harder than before, with the added stress of the current situation it felt like he had finished running a mile. His entire left arm throbbed and ached. He could feel a fever coming on and a weakness in his muscles that wasn’t there before.

He stared at the bite mark. Comparing to his healthy side, he could easily tell his entire arm was swollen. The wound itself looked angry, red around the edges, and tender to the touch. It wasn’t hard to see his dark skin is losing color. He lowered both of his arms and looked at his friends.

“No.” Lee closed his eyes and sighed. “I feel like I’ve got enough time; just keep an eye on me. When I get my hands on the bastard who’s got Clem, I’m going to be happy to have both.”

“Lee, you’ll die.”

“Yeah, but not here.”

“So, what do we do now then?” Kenny returned to being impatient. “We still don’t know where that fucker is keeping Clementine, Molly sounded the bells while you were out so our only lead is gone, we don’t even know how much time we got. What the hell is the next step?”

Lee stood and paced around the house while Kenny ranted, looking between the boards on the windows.

“Should we just continue the direction we were going?” Kenny said. “The house is surrounded so we’d need cover.”

“We need to go up.”

“Like, on the roof?” Sharon asked.

“If we get a good vantage point, maybe we’ll see something?” Lee shrugged. “The car, Molly, a sign. . .”

“Anything is better than nothing, I guess.” Sharon hummed. “How are we going to get up there?”

“What’s upstairs?”

“Not a whole lot.” Kenny shrugged, leading the way up. “Some dead walkers and junk, mostly. Stuff Crawford didn't give a shit about.”

At the top the three checked each window for anything that would help them gain access to the roof. After some brief searching Kenny called the two over to a bedroom.

“This window has the closest access to the roof, with some arm work someone could lift themselves up.”

“I’ll go.” Lee volunteered.

“Are you sure?” Kenny asked.

“What’s the worst that could happen, I get bitten again?”

“While that’s true, Lee-” Sharon took off her backpack. “I can go.”

“What, you don’t think I can do it?”

Sharon bit her tongue. “Well. . . Yeah, but-”

“She’s lighter and probably won’t fall through if this roof is shit.” Kenny said, unsurprisingly willing to let Sharon go through with the deadly stunt.

With nothing weighing her down she stuck her upper body through the window and sat on the sil, with some stretching she was able to grab onto the gutter.

“Use the roof itself to pull yourself up if you can, don’t put a lot of weight on the gutters.”

Sharon paused, looking around for something else to grab on to. “Why?”

“Even though you don’t weigh as much as Lee, the gutter isn’t supposed to hold a lot of weight, pull too hard and you’ll rip it off.”

Sharon nodded, testing her weight on the gutter by pulling herself up to a standing position, leaning precariously off the side of the house. 

The trees in the front yard protected her from the searching eyes of the walkers, she remained hidden from the streets as long as she’s on this window. Should she slip, or should Kenny feel vengeful and dislodge her feet, or if the gutter collapsed as he had mentioned- she could plummet. It would be a hard landing on the concrete driveway and attract the whole herd to her.

With a few deep breaths and attempting to grip the shingles more than the gutter- which proved harder than she thought- she went for it. She managed to quickly swing herself up far enough to rest her arms up top, the rest of her body dangling precariously.

She began to slowly and delicately pull herself up. At first she tried not to damage anything as she climbed, not wanting to destroy someone else’s property. 

When the sound of metal of the gutters groaning she quickly abandoned the notion to care for someone's old drainage spouts and hastily pulled herself up. 

As she placed one knee down on the shingles the gutter started to pull away, Sharon quickly pulled her last leg up and watched as the gutter pulled itself three feet away from the roof and stopped, teetering lightly in the wind. If it had continued the path downward the clattering on the concrete would have attracted and agitated all of the walkers.

Her legs felt like gelatin and she tried to ignore the pit in her stomach. Now safely away from that situation Sharon took the careful steep steps on to the peak, testing each foot before climbing the next step, unsure if the moss meant the roof is soft or slippery. 

Once at the highest point she scanned the horizon.

Seeing the city from this point of view felt eerie. With the scale shift the walkers seem so small yet an incredibly massive force. Even though she had blurry memories of blending in with the crowds of walkers, the thought of being in this one sent shivers through out her body. This would have to be the largest amount she had seen in one place.

The morning fog had cleared with the sunrise but it was replaced by the dust that was once settled on the streets, now kicked up in the air from the herd. Even through the dust she was able to see every street, each had a pack of walkers all walking toward the same direction: a church by the freeway onramp. 

The only clear sign she could see is a grim unfinished: “NO HELP” in white paint on the hospital roof. Even from this vantage point she couldn’t see any sign of where Clementine could be. For all they know she could have already been taken across the bridge before the bells rang, or they could have managed to escape through the crowd.

She didn’t want to think about the possibility that Clementine could be stuck in the middle of that.

With her hopes diminished and nothing else to look for, Sharon decided to head to the spot she climbed. Just before turning away she saw something in the distance, a bouncing speck of red on another roof trying to get her attention.

Molly, once her presence was known, quickly disappeared out of sight. Sharon waited with bated breath for the teen to reappear, anxious she could be in trouble.

When she didn’t return Sharon debated in her head whether to inform the men below her or continue to wait for Molly to pop back out. If the teen needed help Sharon could be delaying it by standing and waiting.

“HEY!”

Sharon whipped around, spotting Molly a block away on a balcony seemingly out of breath. Molly’s shouting continued, though over the growling walkers and the distance Sharon couldn’t hear any of it. Standing at the edge of the roof with ears cupped, she could only make out a few words.

“God damn it.” Molly huffed and rested her head on the railing, struggling to catch her breath to repeat herself. With a few more deep breaths Molly lifted her head and shouted again. “GET BACK TO THE HOUSE!”

“The house?” Sharon cleared her throat, nervous that the walkers on the streets no longer wandered toward the church and instead now looked at her. “TO THE MANSION?”

“JUST- god- JUST GO BACK!”

Sharon silently raised a thumb to show Molly she understood, watching in shock as the teen kicked open the nearest door to her and disappeared from the balcony. Following her lead Sharon returned to the spot she had climbed up and peered carefully over the edge.

Kenny peeked his head out the window waiting for Sharon to return, clearing his throat when they locked eyes. “What do you see up there? Who were you talking to?”

“I saw Molly.” Sharon said, eyes drifting to the ground below, a walker had started to wander around the house. “I’ll explain inside.”

“Alright.” He sighed and slipped inside.

Sharon hesitated for a moment, unsure of how exactly she should approach this. She began by laying on her stomach with her legs dangling precariously over the edge, it seemed to be the only way without entirely risking her life. She kicked her feet foreword hoping to reach the house, she could feel the siding of the house but not the window. 

She tried to shimmy down slowly, her stomach ached as she strained the bullet wound from not that long ago. Focusing on the danger of her situation and keeping her grip was enough to distract from the pain.

“Just a little farther.” Kenny called out. “You need to lower yourself down a bit more.”

Sharon did as she was told to, dangling blindly and trusting Kenny to guide her back down. As soon as her stomach passed the roof he grabbed her legs and guided her on to the sill. Once she was back at her starting position she maneuvered herself inside without assistance, fingers tightly gripping the rough shingles.

When she sat on the sill she took a deep breath, appreciating the fresh air before she had to go back inside the musty house.

“So, what the hell was that?” Lee asked. “Who were you talking to?”

“Molly, she’s across the block.” Sharon said as she finally tucked herself through the window and stood fully inside. “There’s something wrong, she wants us to get back to the house.”

“Why?”

“She didn’t say why.” Sharon shrugged, pulling her backpack on. “Just said to get back to the house.”

“How do we do that? There’s dead lining the streets.” Kenny handed Sharon her flashlight back and crossed his arms.

“With that shouting we can assume the walkers know where we’re at."

Kenny peeked out the window to confirm what Lee had said. “Yeah, we’re getting a few around the house but they ain’t tryin’ to tear it apart yet.”

Sharon looked around the bedroom. Earlier, when the two of them had searched the house for walkers they had found the place had already been ransacked, anything useful already gone. The larger furniture had been stripped bare leaving only the frame and mattress, the rooms were empty aside from trash.

Shining her flashlight in the closets she discovered it wasn’t picked completely clean, this closet still had hangers with some smaller shirts inside. Sharon closed the closet and quickly left the room.

“What are you looking for?” Lee called out, shrugging to Kenny when his question fell on deaf ears.

Kenny and Lee followed her deeper in the house, finding her in the master bedroom pulling out a large jacket from the closet.

“Oh no.” Lee groaned. “I suppose it’s our only option.”

“If we lure one inside we can cover these safely.” Sharon said, sifting through the jackets for another that would fit them.

Kenny pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Let’s just get this shit over with.”

  The trio noticed the trek back to the mansion didn’t take as long as it had leaving it. With the large crowd and the cover of the jackets they no longer needed to peer around every corner and take caution. 

After a few minutes of walking the density of walkers decreased the further distance they made from the bell tower. The walkers had become so sparse it had become safe to take off the blood covered jackets and abandon it in a few bushes, dealing with the occasional stray felt worth it to save their noses.

Even though it was safe to talk they were silent. They were supposed to have returned here with Clementine, but all they accomplished was a few close calls and wasted time. The mansion in plain view only reminded them that they failed their mission.

Clementine is still out there.

Lee didn’t hesitate to shoot the last walker that stood in his way, his frustration clear as he didn’t care about the noise or waste of a bullet. Simply put: he didn’t have time to deal with it.

Before they reached the steps Molly had burst through the front doors.

“Are you guys serious!?” She placed her hand on her hips like a mother scolding her children. “The geeks aren’t that far away! They could have heard that!” 

“Oh well.” Lee crossed his arms. 

Sharon looked behind Molly, surprised Duck hadn’t run out to greet them yet. “Hey, where’s everybody else?”

“I’ve been waiting here forever and no one’s here!”

“What?” Lee uncrossed his arms. “Where are they?”

“I don’t know.” Molly shrugged. “I got here about five minutes ago, I’ve looked all over the house.”

“Where the hell is my son?” Kenny sprinted inside and began shouting. “Duck? Duck!”

Lee, Sharon, and Molly quickly rushed inside to shut the doors, before Kenny’s loud shouting could alert any more walkers than they already had.

As the doors shut Kenny had already sprinted up the stairs, continuing to shout for his son.

The scowl on Molly’s face vanished as she gestured to the living room. “Their weapons are all on the coffee table, why would they just leave it here?”

Lee and Sharon locked wide eyes. Two pistols, two rifles, a socket wrench, and a screwdriver lay on the table; meaning their friends are all without protection from walkers or worse.

“Did you check the shed?” Sharon eyed the screwdriver on the table and took it protectively, replacing the one she had lost earlier. “Maybe they’re with the boat?”

“What?” Molly blinked. “No, I didn’t check the boat.”

Sharon’s shoulders dropped and Lee shook his head disapprovingly.

“Kenny-“ Lee tried to call out.

“I heard!” Kenny stomped down the steps. “They’re probably getting the boat ready for us!”

“Oh.” Molly moved aside as Kenny barreled around her. “Why would they move the boat?”

“That was the plan!” He called as he ripped open the back door. “Weren’t you paying attention?” 

Molly shrugged. “No, I wasn’t really listening to that part, to be honest.”

Sharon followed behind Kenny, rolling her eyes once her back faced Molly.

“I just hope they’re in there.” Lee hesitantly followed.

As Sharon rushed out the back door she gripped the screwdriver tighter. Kenny stood far from the shed doors, staring with mixed emotions on his face at the shed.

“What the fuck is this?” Kenny gestured to the door. “Did they do this?”

Sharon caught up and cocked her head at the rake slid in between the door handles. “Why would they lock it up like this?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know, it’s pretty fuckin’ stupid if they’re trying to stop someone from stealing it.”

Before either could ask or answer more questions the door started to rattle, as if someone is locked inside. 

Then a muffled voice called out. “Dad?”

“Duck?!”

Kenny ripped the rake out from the handles and swung both doors wide open, welcoming his son into his arms. 

“What the hell happened?” Kenny looked up with a clenched fist at the others locked in the shed, with the missing boat it was easy to see the shame and various mixed emotions plastered on their faces.

Omid and Christa were sitting against one of the walls, silently staring ahead. Ben was nervously pacing around where the boat once was, his stare fixated on the ground. Travis was laying on the ground with his feet propped on a toolbox, seemingly without a care in the world.

Lee rounded the corner, eyes wide when he saw them. “What happened?”

Omid stood from his spot on the wall, his voice deadpan. “Vernon, his entire crew, they took the boat.”

Kenny shook his head. “No fuckin’ way.”

Christa stood up alongside Omid. “They haven’t seen Clementine. They jumped us. They took the boat. They locked us in here.”

Kenny threw his hands in the air. “The INVALIDS?”

Sharon took a step away from the scene not feeling any strong emotions toward the missing boat, confident her invitation was still revoked at this point. She still worried about Clementine and where she could be at this point.

Omid sighed. “Their actions, uh, contradict your characterization, but, yeah, the invalids.”

“He’s right; they’re not invalids.” Christa stood by Omid’s side. “They’re just people. People who have been dealing with shitty situations even longer than we have.”

“I don’t give a fuck if they’re Make-A-Wish was a fuckin’ boat ride!” Kenny shouted, Duck slowly pulled himself away from his father. “When I find them, I’m gonna rip their throats out!”

“I can’t believe they did this to us.” Lee shook his head.

“How many people do they have, a whole cancer ward? Why the hell did you let them take the boat?”

Travis scoffed. “They were armed.”

“So were you!”

“We didn’t LET them lock us in here!” Travis shouted, his stare fixed on the ceiling. “They stormed the house, didn’t give us a chance to fight back.”

“Well, one of us did.” Omid looked at Ben. “Tried to, at least.”

“What do you mean?” Sharon asked, looking back and forth hoping for an answer. “Ben, what did you do?”

“I panicked.” Ben stepped closer into the light and looked to his left to show his black eye in the light.

“Ben!” Sharon neared and stared at the bruise. “Does it still hurt?”

“Nice shiner dude.” Molly commented with a smirk. “I’m impressed.”

Ben ignored Molly. “It’s sore but it’s not so bad now.”

“It’s sick, it really is!” Kenny paid no mind as Duck walked away and sat on the fountain by himself. “They use your goddamn sympathy for sick folks and then stab us right in the back!”

Christa was taken aback by his claims. “They didn’t ‘use’ shit- they did what anybody would’ve done. They’ve been living like ghosts forever and they were fed up. That’s it.”

Sharon watched Duck as he dragged his fingers through the scummy water. She wondered if Kenny would notice if she were to talk to his son, with his current frustration he might start screaming at her if he saw.

“He said they felt bad about it and didn't know anything about Clementine. He was sorry to hear about it.” Omid said.

“This is not happening.” Kenny paced with his hands on his head. “Everything is so fucked.”

Duck took a hand full of green muck and squashed it in his hands, watching as it oozed from between his fingers. Sharon grimaced and slowly walked toward him.

“Duck.” Sharon whispered. “That’s gross.”

Duck smiled. “I know, right?” His frown vanished and he rinsed the goo from his hands in the clearest spot of water.

“Where’s Clementine?” Christa asked, looking behind Lee, she took his silence and grim expression as a no. “Then she’s still out there.”

“So we get Clementine and then what?” Kenny gestured to the shed. “We lost the boat, what else are we going to do?”

“We get the fuck out of cities, I am DONE with cities.” Christa crossed her arms. “We find Clementine, we go out in the country, and make a go of it.” 

“Yeah.” Ben nodded. “That sounds like a good idea to me-.”

“Nobody asked you.” Kenny interrupted.

“You just did!”

“Don’t get fuckin’ smart with me, Ben.”

With the hostile tones from behind her Sharon rejoined the group.

“Chill.” Christa glared.

“What ever we're doing after this, this little shitbird ain't coming anywhere near us.” Kenny pointed at Ben, then shifted his glare to Sharon as she defended him.

"I gave supplies to the bandits too, I snuck out and took supplies from Lilly when Macon was dry. I'm just as guilty as he is."

"Then you ain't coming, for fuck sake- you got Katjaa KILLED!"

"She knew I was sneaking out!" Sharon's struggled to keep her voice steady. "She forgave me, so why can't you?"

"Why should I? I stuck out for you every day, yet you still wanted to leave. Fuck, I called you my daughter because Kat wanted me to and this is how you repay us? Stab us in the back?"

"I did it for the group! The only mistake I made was not telling you sooner!"

"The only mistake you made was not leaving when you had the chance."

“Alright!" Lee spoke, stepping between the two. "Let's keep it together. Nothing has changed.”

“‘Nothing has changed’?” Kenny repeated.

“I mean not immediately, we stay the course, don’t turn on eachother.”

“Yeah.” Ben followed Lee’s lead. “Chill out, Kenny.”

“Ben, I swear to god.” He grumbled back. “Where the hell do you get off?”

Travis sighed and finally stood up.

“I’m just saying we should ALL chill.” Ben backtracked. “Not just you.”

“Chill? Lee’s bitten and god know how long HE has left, Clementine is who the fuck knows where, and we’re robbed of the only hope we’ve had!”

“So?”

“So Lee should’ve dropped you and left Sharon in Crawford. We’ve got enough problems from you two.”

“KENNY.” Sharon clenched her fists, ready to step in to help.

“FUCK YOU, KENNY!” Ben abruptly shouted, everyone’s eyes went wide.

Travis and Molly locked eyes, returning an impressed smirk.

“I am so, so, SO sorry about Katjaa, I AM. I know we fucked up, but STOP pushing us around and STOP wishing I was dead."

Kenny squinted and took a breath.

“NO!” Ben stopped him before he could make another jab. “You know how they died, you’ve said GOODBYE. I never got to see my family, my parents, my little sister. . . do you get that?” His voice cracked. “Your family is gone, but at least you had them to lose.”

He took a breath, continuing as he saw Kenny was speechless.

“I never made it home. They could be alive, or dead, or walkers, or WORSE, and I DON’T KNOW. So give me a FUCKING break!”

In the silence, walkers growling filled their ears. 

Kenny struggled for words. “Ben. . . I’m-”

“Hey, we need to head inside!” Omid called out, rushing outside to the fence. “They’re close.”

Ben was the first to walk away, desperate to hide his red face. Kenny and Sharon locked eyes for a moment as everyone rushed around them.

“You're not the only one who's lost everything. I never lied to you about my family, the last time I heard from them was a text before my phone lost reception. It's not an excuse for what we did and you don't have to forgive us, but it is NOT acceptable to say stuff like that.”

  Duck stood by her side, avoiding looking at his father and taking Sharon’s hand to pull her away. She held her breath as Kenny watched, unsure if he’d yell at her for this. Instead they stayed silent as Duck led her inside.

“So.” Molly leant against the fireplace mantle and cleared her throat, unsure how to start after the scene in the backyard. “I found the guy who took the little girl.”

“What? Where is she?” Lee asked, taken aback by how nonchalant she is acting considering the situation. “Why isn’t she with you?”

“I don’t know where exactly, but she’s still here in Savannah.” She shrugged. “When I rang the bells the geeks blocked the creep from leaving. I jumped on his car and tried to get her out of there but with the crowd I had to get out.”

“You jumped on his car?” Omid’s eyes went wide. “Do you mean you got hit by it?”

“Are you hurt?” Christa continued.

“I’m fine, he didn’t hit me hard.” Molly quickly answered. “I know generally where he is.”

“Generally?” Kenny scoffed. “Do you know or not?”

“I know he didn’t leave town! I watched all the roads leading out of Savannah and I didn’t see anyone leave.”

“So where is he then?”

I don’t know! In the city!” Molly threw her arms up dramatically. “Don’t start yelling at me, too!”

“We need to calm down.” Sharon spoke up.

Kenny refused to comment.

“So, we know he’s still here but not exactly where, that’s still something.” Omid said, trying to stay optimistic.

“Then why send us back here?” Lee asked.

“The whole city is surrounded by walkers, I don’t know if it’s because Crawford isn’t killing them anymore or what. I could hardly make it back here myself.”

“That could be it.” Christa said. “Now that Crawford is all walkers too, they’re making the horde larger.”

Lee’s shoulders slumped. “And Clementine’s in the middle of it.”

“Well, let’s go get her then!” Kenny exclaimed. “Get some jackets made and start lookin’ for her.”

“Did you not hear what I said?” Molly scoffed. “The city is infested, we’re not getting anywhere close until the geeks get bored.” 

“Even with the jackets we’ve never gone through that many.” Sharon said, remembering how thick the dust was from the crowds in the streets. “Kenny, that’s too dangerous.”

“Uh, I think we need to worry about ourselves.” Travis called out from the windows, his eyes staring through the cracks. “We should’ve left when we had the chance.”

“The hell do you mean by that?” Kenny walked up to him, his glare vanished when the light of outside met his eyes.

“I mean that we have a shit ton of dead guys still coming our way.”

Duck slowly backed out of the room, walking toward the back door.

“You know, that shot I heard earlier probably led a good chunk of them here.” Molly pointed a glare at Lee before pressing her forehead against the windows to get a look. “The shouting didn’t help either.”

Sharon joined them. “What if we just stay silent? They probably don’t know where we are.”

Before anyone could respond, a loud crash echoed from the backyard.

“They know where we are.” Lee said.

“They knocked over the fence!” Duck shouted, running back into the living room. “There’s a whole bunch of them!”

“Of course, we can’t have anything go right.” Kenny groaned. “Everyone grab something, we might have to fight our way out of here.”

“I don’t think that’s going to work.” Lee said. “We’re already surrounded!”

“We still gotta’ fight!” Kenny unholstered his gun. “I ain’t gonna stand around!”

Christa leapt to action. "We can secure this place!" She collected her gun from the coffee table and handed Omid the other. 

Lee agreed. “Ben, Travis, grab the rifles and go upstairs. Start gathering furniture in the hallway, anything that will slow them down, we’re going to need a barricade.”

Ben and Travis did as they were told.

“You too, Duck.” Kenny commanded. 

“I can get a gun too?!” Duck exclaimed, bouncing on his heels.

“What? No! You can help by going upstairs!”

“No fair!” Duck whined. “Clementine showed me how to use one, I can do it!”

Kenny and Lee whipped their heads to look at Duck, gauging if he was serious or not.

Kenny sputtered a response. “Duck- I- We will talk about that later, right now you need to go upstairs so I don’t gotta worry about you!”

Duck crossed his arms and stomped up the stairs behind Travis and Ben.

Lee looked over the living room, Omid and Christa took to holding the front door shut while Kenny began to push the couch to use as a barricade. Both Sharon and Molly continued to stare out the window.

“You two, help the boys.”

“We’ll be trapped up there.” Molly took out her ice-pick, switching her gaze to and from the walkers and her weapon. “We really can’t get out of here?”

“No. We’ll defend with what we got, but we’re not making it out alive if we go out there.”

“C’mon, we need more than just Ben and I.” Travis called from the stairs. “We aren’t really the best for moving furniture right now.”

Molly reluctantly agreed. “I guess I’ll be the muscle between the cripple and the twig up there.” 

Sharon hesitated, reluctantly following behind Molly. Her eyes caught one last glimpse of the family portrait above the mantle, unsure if she’ll be seeing it again.

In the office Travis and Ben had knocked everything off the desk and tried pushing it, only managing to move it a few inches.

Duck joined them, trying to pull it.

“Duck, can you wait for us upstairs?” Sharon asked as Molly took Travis’s place behind the desk.

“But I wanna help!”

“You can help by getting out of the way!” Molly demanded. 

Duck moved aside, with Molly and Ben pushing they scooted it at a steady pace, Sharon hesitantly stood at Ben’s side and helped. Duck, with nothing else to do, rushed out and watched over the railing at Lee struggling to shut the front door.

Travis spoke once they got the desk in the right spot. “Push it on it’s side and use it to block the hallway!”

The three found it a lot easier to tip it over. The slam of the expensive hardwood against the floors shook the house, Sharon quickly stepped over it to join Duck’s side.

“There’s not much else we can use!” Sharon called down.

“What about the attic?” Kenny called back. “There’s furniture in there!”

Before Sharon could object, the doors finally cracked from the pressure.

"Get upstairs!" Lee ordered.

Omid and Christa were the first to run up the stairs. Christa turned midway up and aimed her gun, shooting the first walker that entered the doorway.

Kenny took Christa’s place on the stairs allowing her to retreat, stopping at the railing. “Omid, grab the rifles. We’ll hold down here as long as we can while they barricade the top floor.”

“You got it, babe.” Omid smiled, rushing as fast as his injured leg would let him.

“Sharon, help me move more furniture." Christa spoke, rushing over the desk barricade. "We need to use everything we can.”

“Duck, go wait upstairs.” Sharon said, physically pulling him from the railing. 

Duck didn’t pout this time, not wanting to help with this part.

Kenny, seeing Lee was handling himself and had a clear path to the stairs, started to climb.

Sharon waited to make sure both Duck and Omid made it over the desk before looking back down the stairs. “Oh my god.” Her hand flew to her mouth and tears pooled to her eyes as she saw the next walker in Lee’s path.

Her hair had been disheveled, dark blood covered her clothes, her skin pale, her head fell limp to her shoulders, and most noticeably her neck had been snapped at a ninety degree angle with a splintered bone protruding from the skin.

If there was anything to be thankful for, it was sending Duck away before he could see Carley.

“What’s the hold up, Lee? We need to-“ Kenny stopped at the top of the stairs and turned around, the words lost in his throat as he saw her. “Holy shit.”

Carley took a step toward Lee, struggling to keep her balance as she walked on broken legs.

All Sharon could think of is if she died painfully. She didn't land on her head, or she wouldn't be here. Did she die on impact? Did she have to wait for the end to come? Did any walkers get to her before she passed? Did her prayer go unanswered? 

A loud clattering behind them startled Sharon, upon turning around a familiar bookshelf had been tossed down the third floor stairs.

Back at the front doors, Kenny had leapt to action pulling Carley off of Lee. The movement of her neck made Sharon want to vomit.

With the sound of more clattering upstairs Sharon ran, she couldn’t breathe, she could hardly see past the tears.

“Sharon?” Omid looked up from hauling the bookshelf off the stairs. “What’s wrong?”

“What happened?” Christa peeked out of the master bedroom while dragging a nightstand behind her. “Where’s Kenny and Lee?”

“Is my dad okay?” Duck called out from the other side of the night stand.

Sharon couldn’t stop to speak, she couldn’t stay in one spot. Instead of answering Sharon rushed up the stairs.

Christa and Omid lowered their shoulders in relief as both men rounded the corner safely, but didn’t like the pale grim look on their faces. Duck was happy to see his dad alive.

Sharon could hear Kenny yelling at Duck to go upstairs, too focused on his voice to see a second mini bookshelf blocking the doorway.

“Watch out!” Molly moved it out of the way so Sharon could get around it. “We’re tossing the smaller stuff and getting the bigger stuff ready to move once everyone is up here, Thing-One and Thing-Two over here aren’t helping.”

“Did you forget I got shot three days ago?” Travis swept his hands over the desk to clear all the clutter off. “I can’t lift.”

Ben didn’t say anything as he held a stool in his hands, the smallest furniture piece in the room.

Molly rolled her eyes and began to push.

“Wait!” Sharon quickly pulled out a leather bound photo album, Lisa’s name was beautifully stamped on the front.

“Jesus, all of you are useless.” Molly nearly shoved the bookcase again, until Duck appeared behind it and squeezed through. With one kick Molly finally got rid of the bookcase.

Duck didn’t say anything, standing in the center of the room and watching the chaos unfold, the gunshots from down below echoing too loudly for anyone to talk.

With every surface Travis cleared, Sharon was behind him catching the fragile items. With every piece of furniture Ben and Molly moved, Sharon was squeezing her way in between to grab something sentimental before it got tossed down the stairs.

Soon Omid and Christa climbed up the pile, being pulled inside by Molly and Ben.

As Travis ripped a lamp from the wall, Sharon panicked. “Not that!” She quickly gripped the lamp and tried to pull it from his grasp.

“What are you doing?” Travis tugged it, his shoulder burning as he fought against her. “It’s just a lamp, who cares?”

“I care!” Sharon’s eyes stared at the photos that Lisa had long ago clipped on to the lamp shade, the random drawings they had doodled on the fabric, the carving on the wooden base from Lisa’s pocket knife. “It’s all I have!”

Travis weakly tried yanking again, pulling Sharon across the room. “I’m serious! Let go!”

“Travis, just let her have it.” Omid tried.

“Why?” Molly scoffed, returning her attention to the door.

The pins on the lamp let loose and small polaroids trailed behind them.

“You can find another one!”

“No I can’t!”

“Sharon!”

Kenny’s shout startled Sharon enough to let go of the lamp. Her shoulders hunched when she noticed all eyes aside were on her, aside from Travis and Molly who helped Kenny through the wreckage on the stairs.

“Hey, maybe you should sit down for a second.” Omid calmly guided her to the bed.

Sharon did as she was told, sitting on the foot of the bed in embarrassed silence

“Kenny!” Lee called from the stairs, grunting as a walker had grabbed hold of his foot.

“Shit!” Kenny reflexively reached for his gun. “I don’t have any ammo left!”

With a heavy thud and crashing down below, Travis had successfully thrown the lamp and knocked the walker away hard enough to free Lee from it’s grasp.

As Lee finally managed to make it through the clutter, Molly and Ben began tossing the boxes to fill the gaps. When the last box was thrown Kenny shoved the armoire in front of the door, just in case any walkers managed to crawl through the barricade.

With the danger now behind them everyone caught their breath, taking a moment to take in their situation.

[neyla9]

Masks & Capes Episode 15: Corruption

Ao3 Version

It was about three weeks the ”Somna Incident”, and Dipper and Bill still hadn’t had a real talk about it. It was hard for Dipper not to get frustrated with the current situation, since it constantly seemed like he and Bill avoided talking about things they definitely should be talking about. But on the other hand, the event had also had a clear effect on Bill, making Dipper hesitant to push for a talk, out of fear of pushing Bill too hard.

 It was evening, right around the time they were closing up the shop. Dipper was going through inventory while Bill and Mabel were cleaning up the shop.

 “So, who’s handling patrol tonight?” Mabel suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

 “Um, I think it’s my turn,” Dipper answered.

 “I was sure it was Bill,” Mabel argued.

 “No, me and Porcupine traded shifts so I could watch a show tonight,” Bill interjected just as he was sweeping up the last bit of dust.

 Dipper blushed slightly; it had been a while since Bill last used his nickname

 “You might as well record it in case an emergency happens,” Mabel pointed out. “Anyway, I brought it up because I thought I could take care of patrol tonight.”

 “Why?” Dipper asked.

 “When was the last time the two of you had a date night?” Mabel shot back. “No, scratch that; when did you two last have an open conversation?”

 “Oh, come on, Boss, it’s not like we’re ignoring each other,” Bill said defensively.

 Mabel gave him a strict stare in return, slowly moving her gaze to Dipper.

 “I’m taking tonight’s patrol,” she said. “And if you two haven’t had at least one heart-to-heart by the time I’m back, I’ll lock you both inside the closet until you do.”

 And that was the final word.

 Later, when it was time to start patrolling, Mabel left, hoping that her words had reached them, and that today of all days wouldn’t be particularly crime filled.

 She transformed and got going, but barely five minutes had passed before she heard commotion a little further into the city.

 “Please let it be a false alarm,” Mabel sighed as she flew closer to investigate.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Dipper was sitting with Bill on the couch, an uncomfortable silence spreading between them.

 “So…” Dipper began, scratching the back of his neck.

 “What was it even that Mabel wanted us to talk about?” Bill asked.

 Dipper’s mouth opened slightly in shock.

 “Haven’t you noticed?” he asked.

 “You gotta be more specific,” Bill said nonchalantly.

 “This,” Dipper emphasized by gesturing between them. “Us. “

 “Again, you’re not making any sense,” Bill was beginning to sound frustrated himself. “How am I supposed to know what you’re talking, if you won’t say it?”

 Dipper shut his mouth and looked away. He was scared to bring it up, for various reasons, not just out of fear of pushing Bill too hard, but he was also afraid of what Bill would say.

 Luckily, their conversation was interrupted by Dipper’s phone ringing.

 “Hello?” Dipper said after picking up the phone.

 “I need Pine Tree and The Illuminator on Central Street ASAP,” Mabel’s voice responded. “We’ve got a villain on our hands.”

 “We’ll have to finish this conversation when we get back,” Dipper remarked while turning off his phone.

 “Or we could just not have it,” Bill mumbled before transforming.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  The two heroes settled out, soon discovering where Mabel was. Even without the street name, it wouldn’t have been difficult to find her, due to the sound of battle.

 They arrived to find the street in ruins, but from the looks of it, not because of the fight; the buildings, asphalt, sidewalk, even lampposts, all looked like something from a post-apocalyptic movie; the buildings’ brickwork were shoddy, several bricks missing, with the ones still there looking old and covered in dust, the asphalt looked grey and was filled with holes and cracks, as were the sidewalk, and the lampposts were rusted and deteriorated to the point that they weren’t even functional anymore.

 Mabel was facing off against a villain, with about a twenty meters distance between them. The villain was wearing a suit that covered his entire body except his hands; his costume was black and white, sectioned off with jagged lines.

 There wasn’t much time for talk, as the villain immediately lunged at Mabel. She reacted by sending out a shot before flying over him. The villain slid under the shot before he rose to his feet, and the three heroes circled him, trying to prevent his escape.

 “What’s his powers?” Dipper called out, keeping an eye on the villain who was standing still at the moment, just observing the heroes.

 “Don’t get touched by his hands,” Mabel warned, but before she had the chance to elaborate, the villain lunged again, this time at Bill.

 “Look out!” Dipper shouted, rushing in to try and defend Bill. He grabbed the villain by the wrists to prevent him from touching anything. The villain responded by kicking Dipper square in the chest, making him let go. Then Dipper heard the sound of something tearing, followed by a hand smacking him on the back, sending him to the floor.

 It took a couple of seconds for Dipper to regain his composure, but that was all it took for the villain to escape. He had expected Mabel or Bill to chase after him, but they looked panicked at Dipper.

 Mabel ran over to Dipper and ripped upper part of his costume off, just in time for Dipper to see the material disintegrate on the street.

 “Are you okay?” Mabel asked worriedly, checking Dipper’s back for any signs of something wrong.

 “I’m… fine, I think?” Dipper responded, still confused by seeing part of his costume disintegrate like that. “His powers… they make things rapidly age?”

 “I assume it’d work on people too,” Mabel explained. “That’s why I didn’t want any of you to get touched by him.”

 “You were ready to act there,” Bill complimented Mabel. “If you hadn’t ripped the affected part off, Pine Tree’s entire costume would’ve been gone with the wind.”

 “Thanks,” Mabel sighed. “But now I have to fix Pine Tree’s costume.”

 “Actually, I can probably fix it,” Bill added.

 “Can you sew?” Dipper asked.

 “No, but one of my powers is kinda like… clothes repairing? It’s hard to explain, but it’s the main reason why I never had to worry much about clothes when I was broke.”

 “Can you do it right now?”

 “It… takes some time,” Bill admitted.

 “Alright, Pine Tree, you go back home,” Mabel ordered. “Bill and I will search for the villain.”

 Dipper felt a small pang of anger and hurt at being told that. He understood he wouldn’t be much good in a fight with his suit ripped, especially if the villain only needed to touch him to take him out, but it was still frustrating.

 “Fine,” Dipper sighed, accepting his sister’s orders, and left. Once home, he took off his suit before transforming back and decided to retire early.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  The next morning when Dipper awoke, he was already in a bad mood. He could feel it would be one of those days where nothing turns out right.

 After getting out of bed, the first thing he saw was his suit, mended by Bill’s powers no doubt. Dipper knew he should be happy about that, but now him returning home the other night felt like a waste of time; if mending his costume could have been done that quickly, he should’ve been out there with his team!

 He went into the kitchen, finding nothing there but dirty plates, and a single plate of scrambled eggs and toast with jam. Dipper ate the contents of the plate before heading down to the flower shop, finding no joy in the cold food.

 When he got downstairs, he saw that Mabel was there, behind the cash registry as always. She smiled and waved at him when she saw him.

 “Were you going to wake up, or were you fine with me sleeping all day?” Dipper grumbled at her.

 “It’s not even noon yet, Dip-dop,” Mabel giggled. “Besides, I thought if you were oversleeping, you probably needed it.”

 Dipper only responded with a small grunt.

 Just then, the door was slammed open, causing Dipper to visibly wince at the sudden, loud sound.

 “Delivery done!” Bill exclaimed as he barged through the door, throwing a stack of money next to the cash register. “I see you’re up and running, Porcupine. Did you see that I repaired your costume?”

 Dipper glared at Bill and let out another grunt before going into the backroom.

 “I think Dipper’s feeling grumpy today,” Mabel concluded.

 “I agree,” Bill nodded. “The question is, will my company make it better or worse?”

 “You ever thought he was maybe grumpy because you still haven’t talked about what happened with Somna?” Mabel asked.

 “I… guess that’s… possible?” Bill mumbled. “… I’ll try.” He sighed and went into the backroom.

 Dipper was busy growing flowers to refill their stocks when he noticed Bill stepping in.

 “Hey Porcu-“ Bill was interrupted when he fell over a pot on the floor, falling hard on his stomach.

 Dipper couldn’t help it; he burst out laughing.

 “Thanks Bill,” Dipper giggled while Bill picked himself up. “I needed a laugh today.”

 “I was gonna talk to you about that,” Bill responded, carefully putting the pot out of the way so he didn’t trip over it again. “Is anything wrong?”

 Dipper shrugged. “Just having a bad day, I guess. There’s not really anything to talk about.”

 “You sure?” Bill stepped closer to Dipper. “Because I can-“

 “Yes, I’m sure!” Dipper snarled, taking a step away from Bill. “Just…” he looked away and let out a sigh. “I just need to be alone…”

 “Alright…” Bill had a look of surprise on his face; he couldn’t recall Dipper having ever snapped at him like that. He was worried, but he didn’t want to start a fight over Dipper wanting some time alone. So Bill left the room without another word.

 Once Bill was gone, Dipper began shaking. He gripped one of the nearby tables and started breathing heavily. It didn’t make sense for him to get so angry at Bill over nothing. After all, Bill had just tried to be helpful, but for some reason, Dipper had felt a wave of anger when Bill expressed concern.

 Dipper felt a flash of fear; could this be the work of Venus? She hadn’t appeared since the affair with Pentagram, but if she had returned, it would make sense for her to target them.

 He tried his best to calm himself before leaving his work room. Another rush of anger hit him when he spotted Mabel and Bill.

 “Dipper?” Mabel looked at him with worried eyes that felt like they were burning him.

 Dipper knew what he should do; tell the other two about his suspicions and how he was feeling. But something nagged in the back of his mind and was coming to the forefront; if he told them, they would either not believe him, or they would keep him there at home, while they headed off to look for clues. Just like yesterday. Almost like they didn’t need him around, or didn’t want him around.

 “I-I’m just not feeling too good today,” Dipper stuttered, massaging his forehead. “I’m going to bed and resting for a while.”

 “Sure,” Mabel replied. “You want me or Bill to get you something-“

 “No!” Dipper shouted before forcing himself to calm down. “… I just need to rest in my room… alone.”

 Dipper hurried up to his room without looking back at the undoubtedly worried faces of Bill and Mabel. Once inside, he transformed, wore his newly repaired costume, and jumped out the window to search for Venus.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  It took a couple of hours, but business had finally calmed down enough for Bill and Mabel to talk about what had happened with Dipper.

 “Before you ask,” Bill started, having recently returned from the day’s deliveries. “I didn’t have a real heart-to-heart with Dipper. He snapped at me when I tried to ask what was wrong.”

 “I actually don’t blame you,” Mabel responded, the worry evident in her tone and expression. “Something’s clearly wrong with him…”

 “If we don’t have any more deliveries, I’ll make him something to drink, just in case he is sick, and see if I talk to him. If not, you’re probably gonna have to try something, Boss.”

 Bill set out to do what he said he would; he made a cup of tea and carried it to Dipper’s room. He knocked on the door, but didn’t get a response. He knocked again, and when he once again didn’t receive a reply, he went inside, only to find that Dipper wasn’t there.

 Placing the tea down, Bill tried the bathroom, thinking maybe Dipper had felt sick, but he wasn’t there either.

 Finally, Bill tried calling Dipper on his cellphone, only to hear his ringtone and finding his phone in his room.

 Bill hurried back down to the store as fast as he could, thoughts about what could have happened to Dipper invading his mind.

 “Dipper’s gone!” Bill shouted as soon as he stepped foot in the flower shop.

 “What do you mean?” Mabel asked.

 “He’s not upstairs, and he doesn’t have his phone!” Bill explained. “Oh god, I shouldn’t have gone out on those deliveries! I knew something was wrong and I didn’t do anything!”

 “Bill, calm down,” Mabel told him. “We… we don’t know for sure if something bad happened to Dipper.”

 “Then why would he leave without his phone? Why would he leave without telling us?!”

 Mabel was quiet, silently conceding that Bill had a point.

 “We need to close up shop early, transform, then go out and find him!”

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  As soon as they were out, Bill and Mabel split up, hoping to find Dipper quicker that way. Bill was surveying his part of the city, hoping to at least find a clue.

 After nearly an hour of searching, Bill finally heard something. It was faint at first, but the sound grew louder; it came from his old home, from before he moved in with Dipper and Mabel. As Bill stood in front of the building, he could clearly hear what the sound was; it was unmistakably Dipper’s voice, or rather Pine Tree’s, calling for help.

 Bill rushed inside, not even caring to think there could be a trap. He followed the shouts to his old living room, finding Dipper in his ‘form there, tied to a chair, with the only illumination in the room being the lit fire place.

 “Illuminator!” Dipper shouted, his eyes lighting up with joy. “Quick! Get me free before he comes back!”

 “Who?” Bill asked while he began to untie Dipper, not wanting to risk accidently burning him by burning the ropes.

 “That villain we fought last night,” Dipper explained. “His name is Corruption, and he’s more dangerous than we thought; his powers don’t just rapidly age things he touched!”

 “What else do they do?” Bill asked after having finally freed Dipper.

 “They…” Dipper turned his gaze away before meeting Bill’s eyes with a cruel smile on his face. “… corrupt people, of course~”

 Bill barely had time to react before he realized that not only were the ropes still attached to Dipper, they weren’t even ropes! They were vines growing out of his wrists! Before he could register what was going on, Dipper used the vines to tie up Bill in the chair; his vines moving much faster and with way more ease than normal.

 “Pine Tree, what’s going on?” Bill asked in surprise.

 “I just told you,” Dipper groaned and rolled his eyes.

 “You’re being controlled,” Bill implored, trying to reach his boyfriend. “You have to break free! You’re not like this.”

 “If what I’m doing is wrong, why does it feel so good?” Dipper questioned with a small laugh at the end. “Feels really good in fact~ I actually beat you!”

 “How did you even do this?!” Bill asked, nodding towards the vines keeping him tied to the chair. “Since when could you do that?”

 “I got the idea a little while back,” Dipper said with a bright smile. “I realized that I could use my own blood and body as the water and ground to grow my plants. Upside, I can control these plants much easier than others, since they’re a part of me. Downside, I can’t grow plants much bigger than these vines.”

 “I guess that’s good,” Bill gave him a crooked smile in return.

 “Stop that!” Dipper roared, tightening the vines around Bill. “Every time you smile, I feel sick! I despise you to my very core!” He put his face so close to Bill’s that their noses nearly touched. “If you’re gonna do anything, use those flames of yours to free yourself; let me feel that burn.”

 “I am not going to hurt you, Pine Tree,” Bill said sincerely.

 “Urgh!” Dipper made a sound of disgust and recoiled slightly from. “You are the worst!” He then calmed down, his eyes lighting up as if he got an idea. “… But if you’re not gonna do anything to stop me…”

 Dipper approached Bill again, this time sitting down in his lap, and grinding his body into Bill’s crotch.

 “What are you doing?!” Bill asked, a look of distress on his face, which only seemed to please Dipper more. This was very bad.

 “What’s wrong, Cipher?” Dipper gave him a fake pout. “I thought you liked me…” the pout was replaced with an angry sneer. “But I guess you really are so disgusted by me that you can’t even stand the idea of having sex with me, even though I’m supposed to be your boyfriend.”

 “That’s got nothing to do with it!” Bill protested. “This isn’t you; you’re under Corruption’s control-“

 “Don’t blame this on him!” Dipper laughed. “You were like this before I was corrupted.”

 “... I just can’t stop thinking about the Somna incident,” Bill confessed, hoping that somehow his honest feelings would get through to Dipper. “Every time I think about what I did… I feel like I’m gonna throw up-“

 “Wow, you really find me that disgusting,” Dipper let out an unhinged laugh.

 “No!” Bill insisted. “Listen to me; I hate that that was technically our first time. I love you so much, but I’m so disgusted with myself, because I still enjoyed it.”

 “Stop -” Dipper growled and leaned far enough in that his and Bill’s noses were touching. “- saying that.”

 Bill took his chance; he theorized that the corruption must have somehow reversed the chemical responses in Dipper’s brain. If that was true, maybe a strong enough response could return the chemicals to normal. So Bill leaned forward and kissed Dipper with all his might. The sudden lean-in even caused the chair to tip over, and Bill landed on top of Dipper.

 Dipper let out a small squeak and pushed Bill off of him, standing up and trying to get some distance, while still being close enough to keep Bill tied to the chair.

 “I love you so much, Pine Tree,” Bill said as sincerely as he could. “I wanna spend the rest of my life with you!”

 “Shut up!” Dipper shouted, visibly shuddering.

 “You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen!” Bill continued. “Every day I spend with you, feels like some kind of divine blessing I don’t deserve!”

 “What’s wrong with you!?” Dipper screeched, shutting his eyes and moving his arms to cover his ears with his hands. In doing so, the vines loosened around Bill, allowing him to escape.

 Bill hurried to his legs and ran over to Dipper, using his arms to trap Dipper against the wall; the fireplace provided the perfect lighting for Bill’s plan.

  “G-get away!” Dipper screeched, trying to kick Bill away. “You think this is going to make me like you again?”

 “Shh…” Bill hushed and leaned in closer to Dipper.

 “Y-you…!” Dipper was gasping, and his face was turning pale.

 “Just keep focusing on me,” Bill tried to reassure him, but in truth he was starting to doubt if this was working. Maybe he would be better off knocking Dipper unconscious and try to locate the villain behind this.

 But then Dipper’s gasps turned into whines, and his pale face got flushed with color.

 “Bill?” Dipper managed to say before he fainted in Bill’s arms, probably exhausted from all the shifting emotions.

 Bill picked Dipper up in his arms, right as Dipper’s transformation wore off, and carried him back home. He hoped Mabel would be able to take on Corruption this time; Bill needed to be there for Dipper when he woke up.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  As Mabel scoured the city, it didn’t take long for her to find the villain; he was sitting in the middle of the same destroyed street from yesterday.

 In her excitement, Mabel forgot to shoot Bill a message that she had found a villain, and instead flew in to confront him.

 “Ah, it’s you,” the villain said calmly. Mabel was confused; last time he had attacked her on sight.

 “What are you doing here?” Mabel asked carefully, inching closer to the villain.

 “Waiting for you,” he responded. “Pine Tree said you would arrive. You and that other hero; Illuminator. I assume since you’re here alone, the two of you split up?”

 “You know where Pine Tree is?!” Mabel exclaimed.

 “Probably taking care of Illuminator as we speak,” he grinned and rose to his feet; his hands began to glow with a dark energy.

 Mabel didn’t have time to ponder what the villain meant, as he lunged for her. Mabel narrowly avoided his hands by bending backwards, raising one of her legs both to regain balance and to kick him in the stomach.

 While the villain was stunned from her kick, Mabel took to the skies to put some distance between them. It wasn’t an ideal solution since now neither of them could touch the other. Well, Mabel could technically use one of her shots to hit him, but would that be enough to knock him unconscious?

 “Any minute now…” the villain grinned as he stared at Mabel, not doing anything else.

 This standstill continued for several minutes until his smile faltered.

 “W-where is he?” the villain sounded perplexed. “This doesn’t make any sense…”

 “What did you do?” Mabel finally demanded.

 “I- I corrupted Pine Tree,” the villain said. “That’s what I do! That’s what my powers do! What else am I supposed to do with them!?”

 Mabel was taken aback by the villain’s outburst. It almost sounded like something that had been held back for a long time.

 “Of course Meliors like you become heroes!” he shouted. “You can fly, for fucks sakes! But what about those with powers like me!?! I could have never been anything else…”

 “It, um, sounds like you’re dealing with a lot,” Mabel said awkwardly, slowly descending and hoping this wasn’t some clever mind trick to have her lower her guards. “If you wanna talk about it-“

 “Fuck you,” he snarled. “You win, okay? You win this time. I don’t know what the hell happened to me and Pine Tree’s plan, but I’ve had enough of this.”

 Mabel was pretty stunned. This was pretty similar to when Venus had given up, only she had done so because she had been betrayed by Pentagram. This guy was quitting for seemingly no reason.

 “You aren’t really a villain, are you?” Mabel asked. “I mean, you’re fine with doing collateral damage, clearly, but… you don’t really want to fight me.”

 He paused for a moment. He closed his eyes before he spoke again. “Imagine growing up, knowing you’re a Melior, hearing tales of superheroes, only to learn that your powers can never be used for good.”

 A moment of silence spread out between the two.

 “That’s not true,” Mabel insisted, finally breaking the silence. “All powers can be used for good, including yours! You just-“

 He held up a hand to signal for Mabel to stop, and she did. “I… appreciate the thought… It means a lot, more than you probably think… But I’m still a villain. Are you going to apprehend me?”

 Mabel looked at him for a moment; this man she had thought a villain, who now just looked so sad and defeated, and she didn’t even know why.

 “No,” Mabel said and shook her head. She half expected the guy to attack her again, but instead, he turned around and began to walk away. Mabel let him.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Back home at the apartment, Bill placed Dipper on the bed. Bill transformed back to his civilian self, and waited by the bedside for Dipper to wake up. It didn’t take long before Dipper started to stir, and finally opened his eyes.

 He awoke with a startled expression, and took a couple of deep breaths, before he noticed Bill.

 “O-one… one sec,” Dipper gasped before he sat up in bed and detransformed.

 “Do you remember what happened?” Bill asked, readjusting his position so that he was sitting next to Dipper.

 “I… I knew something was wrong with me,” Dipper explained. “I wasn’t feeling like myself. I took out to look for Venus, since I suspected she had something to do with it.”

 “Me and Mabel had the same idea,” Bill added before he let Dipper continue.

 “Yeah… so, I encountered Corruption. He knew what he had done to me, and he told me. I should’ve had been angry, but instead I felt… happy. So happy… A-and Corruption was happy too, because he had someone on his side. He wanted to corrupt you and Mabel too, and in my state, I felt so excited at the idea. We began to plan, based on every conceivable outcome; if you and Mabel both showed up to rescue me, I had to play it off like I hadn’t changed, lead you to Corruption, and then… betray you. If both you and Mabel showed up to fight him, he would pretend to escape and lead you to me, which we hoped would throw you off enough to let us take advantage off.”

 Dipper paused for a moment, like he was trying to collect his thoughts.

 “Ideally, we wanted you and Mabel to split up, letting us both tackle you one at the time. I was supposed to knock the one who showed up to save me unconscious and tie you up, then join Corruption in fighting the other, but… when you showed up, I couldn’t help myself,” Dipper swallowed audibly. “It felt so good to toy with you, make you feel bad, ashamed…” Dipper was shaking and hid his face in his hands. “I can’t believe I did that to you…”

 “Dipper…” Bill gave him a sympathetic look before pulling him into his arms, tenderly stroking his back trying to comfort him. “It wasn’t you.”

 “Yes, it was!” Dipper insisted. “That’s what makes it so scary. I don’t blame you if you don’t-“

 “Wait,” Bill placed a finger over Dipper’s mouth. “I know what you’re gonna say; I still want to be with you. I still love you, Dipper.”

 Dipper looked at him helplessly before averting his gaze. “How?”

 “Well,” Bill thought for a moment how he could best explain it. “You still love me, even after everything I did while under Pentagram’s control.”

 “That’s different. You were under mind control, I wasn’t.”

 “No, it was exactly the same thing. Someone manipulated our emotions to act in a way we wouldn’t otherwise act.” Bill leaned in closer to Dipper. “For the longest time, I couldn’t understand why you still wanted to be with me, but I get it now.”

 Bill gave Dipper a quick peck on the lips.

 “Don’t blame yourself for this,” Bill said. “Nobody else does.”

 “… Thank you, Bill,” Dipper responded, embracing Bill as he did so.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Soon after, Mabel returned as well. Bill and Dipper told her what they knew about Corruption, and Mabel relayed what she had been told.

 None of them were sure, but they had a feeling they would encounter Corruption again.

[jakehglover]

What's Worse Than Bedbugs? Their Poo

By Dr. Mercola

Bedbugs are parasitic insects that feed exclusively on blood, and prefer human blood. About the size of an apple seed, they swell and turn a reddish color after feeding.1 Although they are a nuisance, multiply quickly and trigger allergic reactions, they don't likely spread disease.

Bedbugs are often creatures of the night and crawl out like vampires, feeding on the blood of people and animals while they're sleeping. They first inject an anesthetic so you don't feel the bite. Once finished with their meal they crawl off to their colony to rest. Once largely eradicated in the U.S., in recent decades populations of the insects have exploded as air travel has likely spread colonies across the world.

Bedbugs are spreading rapidly in North America and have been detected in every state in the U.S. While they are attracted to the smell of dirty laundry, an infestation does not mean you have a dirty home. They've been found everywhere from five-star resorts and cruise ships, to libraries, schools and day care centers.

Bedbugs can go for months without eating but prefer to feed every few days. Interestingly, they live and feed within 8 feet of a sleeping surface.2 Hiding during the day, often in a mattress seam, bed frame, headboard or behind wallpaper, these small creatures do more than bite and poop in your bed.3

A Bedbug Bite May Be Your First Evidence

Bedbugs affect each person differently. A bite response requires an allergic reaction, so if you aren't allergic you may not even be aware you have bedbugs at home.4 Those who are allergic may sometimes scratch so much that it leads to a secondary skin infection.5

Bite marks may take as long as 14 days to develop in some, so other signs to look for include exoskeletons of the bug after they have molted, live bedbugs or excrement in the folds of the mattress or sheets and rust-colored blood spots on the mattress or nearby furniture. The bite mark often looks like one left by other insects, including mosquitoes or fleas. The area might be slightly swollen and red and might itch and be irritating. Bite marks can be random or may appear in a straight line.6

Although infestations can be found year-round, they tend to peak during the summer months as more people are traveling during this time. You may be interested to know that Orkin Pest Control’s 2014 Bedbug City list included Chicago, Illinois, and four cities in Ohio (Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Dayton) in the top 10 cities with the worst bedbug infestations.7

Emotional Effect of Bugs May Have Physical Source

Although bedbugs are more of a nuisance than a danger, the psychological toll they exact can be steep. In one case study, a woman committed suicide after repeated bedbug infestations in her apartment. The researchers concluded:8 “the bedbug infestations were likely the trigger for the onset of a negative psychological state that ultimately led to suicide.”

Others who live with bedbugs are more likely to report problems with anxiety, sleep disturbances, financial distress, mood swings and delusional behavior.9 Emotional effects associated with post-traumatic stress disorder have also been reported after a bedbug infestation. Compounding the psychological issues is a misguided stigma that bedbugs are the result of uncleanliness.

Researchers have now found that bedbugs secrete enough histamine to trigger skin and respiratory symptoms.10 A lasting effect to the presence of bedbugs may be related to histamine present in the excrement. Histamine is a naturally occurring chemical in the body that is secreted in response to allergens. However, exposure to external amounts of histamine can result in a variety of health conditions, from rashes to respiratory disorders.11 Excess amounts of histamine has also been associated with anxiety disorders and depression.12

Bedbugs Do More Than Bite

Researchers from North Carolina State University investigated pest-free and infested homes, reporting that histamine levels were significantly higher in homes infested with bedbugs.13

Elevated levels of histamine persisted for months after the bedbug infestation had been eradicated. The researchers analyzed homes that had been heat treated to eliminate bedbugs and found histamine had the ability to withstand the raised temperatures and even evidenced an increased level of histamine after the apartments were pest-free for months.14

Although heat treatment is an effective means of killing the insects, the researchers speculated the rush of hot air stirred up excrement and spread histamine from infected mattresses to the remainder of the home.15 In earlier research,16 Canadian scientists had noted that histamine was secreted by bedbugs to attract others, essentially leaving a trail to crevices close to food sources. With this understanding, entomologist Zachary DeVries, Ph.D., wondered if health problems may result from exposure to external histamine.

He and his colleagues found infested apartments had an average of 54 micrograms of histamine per 100 milligrams of dust. This was significantly higher than the amount of histamine found in noninfested homes, even though the amount of dust was equal between the homes.17 The health effects are thus far unclear. Devries and his colleagues concluded:18

"Notably, the histamine concentrations in dust collected in bedbug-infested homes were 50-times greater than in agricultural hay. The high concentrations, persistence, and proximity to humans during sleep suggest that bedbug-produced histamine may represent an emergent contaminant and pose a serious health risk in the indoor environment. Histamine is used in bronchial and dermal provocation, but it is rarely considered an environmental risk factor in allergic disease."

Have Bugs, Will Travel

A female bedbug can lay hundreds of eggs in her lifetime. The average life cycle is between 10 months to one year, as the bug goes through multiple stages.19 When there is a viable host available, the bugs can progress through those stages rather rapidly and reach maturity in just one month.20 To find a viable host, bugs rely on a variety of sights, smells and changes in temperature. Bedbugs live year-round as they are sheltered from extreme temperatures in your home or hotel room, but are most active during summer.

A greater number of infestations are reported in the summer as there are more people traveling and staying in hotels. Researchers from the University of Sheffield in England were interested in what drives bedbug behavior in the absence of a viable host.21 In a small study, researchers analyzed the movements of bedbugs when they were exposed to bags of clean clothing or bags of clothing that had been worn for several hours. One of the rooms also had a steady flow of carbon dioxide piped-in to simulate human breathing.22

The researchers discovered that the bugs in the room with carbon dioxide searched more actively for a blood host. Surprisingly, the bugs in the room with the bag of previously worn clothing were also more active and appeared to be attracted to the clothing.23 The researchers surmised the bug’s ability to discern human odor plays a role in the spread of the insects and may offer information that could be used to help dissuade insects from traveling with you.

One of the ways bugs have traveled around the world is in bags of dirty laundry that are carted from hotel to hotel and then home. This study demonstrates that storing your dirty laundry in airtight containers may help prevent parasitic hitchhikers from coming home with you. Unfortunately, it only takes two or three bedbugs a couple of months to populate your home.

Before You Unpack, Do This

This short video gives you simple instructions on how to find bedbugs in your home or hotel. It's important to take sensible precautions while traveling to reduce your risk of bringing a little critter home. Before making hotel reservations, check out the hotel’s Bedbug Report,24 a free public database of hotels and apartment complexes across the U.S. and Canada. The database lists hotels by region, so if your hotel has a report of bedbugs, you can find one on the list that has a clear report.

Don't unpack when you arrive. Instead, place your luggage in a clean bathroom tub or on a rack off the floor while you inspect the room.25 A credit card and flashlight will help you find any bugs that may have taken up residence. If you don’t have a flashlight, install a flashlight app on your smartphone. Starting with the pillows, peel back the pillow case and look along the seams for small eggs, insects or excrement.

Pull back the sheets and mattress cover to look for telltale stains or live bugs in the creases of the mattress. Remember to look along the tiny air vents located on the side of the mattress or box springs and be sure to look thoroughly at all four corners of the bed and not just one. Take care to look under furniture as well — upholstered chairs, box springs, nightstands — and along the headboard and curtains, where they may hide until their next meal. If you do find bedbugs, pick up your luggage and leave immediately.

It's a good idea to do a routine basic inspection the following morning as well. Look for tiny red blood stains on the sheets that may be evident after a bedbug bite. If you didn't find them the night before, but do the next morning, you'll be able to take precautions so you don't bring them home.26 Bedbugs may also arrive on the coats or clothing of a friend who comes to visit, or on the clothing of appliance repair people. Therefore, even if you haven't done any traveling, it's a good idea to routinely inspect your home.

Dangerous Health Effects May Follow Chemical Treatment

While you might want these bugs gone as quickly as possible, you'll want to use caution before accepting standard pesticide treatments in your home. The National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC) has reported a dramatic increase in the number of mild to serious side effects resulting from pesticides used to kill bedbugs.

Inquiries are increasing each year, with 7 percent related to pesticide exposure, spill or misapplication.27 In a number of cases, side effects were related to excess use or failure to change bedding and inadequate ventilation.

The NPIC reports that bedbugs have become resistant to commonly used pesticides and no longer respond to bug bombs or foggers.28 They report receiving hundreds of calls each year regarding both the treatment of bedbugs and the side effects from using pesticides to treat homes or commercial buildings. Daily spot treatments with pesticides also increases the potential the bugs will develop resistance and increases your own exposure to toxic chemicals.29

Anytime you choose to use pesticides, you increase your risk of experiencing neurological and cardiopulmonary symptoms and other long-term and chronic conditions, as well as poisoning your immediate environmental surroundings. There are effective and safer means of treating bedbug infestations that do not include pesticide use.

Prevention and Safe Treatment Your Best Options

Heat treatment is an effective and safe option to kill bedbugs in your home.30 This involves exposing your house or areas of your home to a temperature of 113 degrees Fahrenheit (45 degrees Celsius) for an hour to kill the bugs, regardless of their stage in life. Heat treatment can be applied to individual items, such as clothes that can be placed in a dryer on a hot setting for 30 minutes, or may be applied to an entire room by a company expert at this treatment method.

The featured study indicates that while heat treatment is an effective means of killing bedbugs and their larvae, it does not remove the presence of histamine, nor their exoskeletons and excrement that may trigger allergic reactions.31 Heat treatment can stir up a cloud of histamine and excrement that deposits in the dust on your furniture and flooring. Thus, it's important that once heat treatment of your home is completed, you do a thorough cleaning and dusting to remove as much histamine, excrement and exoskeletons as possible.

With small items you may consider cold treatment by exposing the item to a temperature of 0 degrees F (-18 degrees C) for four days. Smaller items can be sealed in a bag and placed inside of a freezer.

It's important that you use a thermometer to check the temperature, since not all freezers will reach 0 degrees F. Bedbug traps are another effective option. Although these are commercially available, you can make your own at home. Discover how to make one and more tips to prevent an infestation in your home at my previous article, “How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs.”

from HealthyLife via Jake Glover on Inoreader https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2018/02/28/bedbugs-excrete-chemical-increases-allergic-reaction.aspx

[disrepairhouse]

::Return - Chapter 3

Itara walked out onto the desolate street, eyes scanning the horizon.  The road ahead was broken and cracked, much the same as anywhere else, but unlike the scorched and melted landscape of Soleanna, violent waves crashed against shattered, slanting buildings.  The sea line rushed well into what had once been city limits, drowning everything below three stories.  Roads flooded.  Buildings caved to rust.  The tops of trees stuck out from what used to be a section of forest.  Unlike the thick, dry air around most the world, the air here was humid.  Heavy.   Itara could already feel her fur cling from the muggy air.  Yet, it was a strange sort of relief from the dry heat of Soleanna.

They had all set out in their separate ways to search for the power source, in whatever ways they would and could.  RK, Metal Sonic, and Zero had all been updated with sensors to scan for the unique signature, while Itara had done her best to describe the sense of power and the likely effects it would cause to nearby surroundings to the others.  Shadow, of course, was the most likely to understand what to look for so despite her natural inclination to work against him, she’d done her best to make it clear what he was looking for.  The only ones that remained at the base on the computers were Mira and Tails.  They opted to stay behind to fix the computer and work on a program to compile all the data everyone would be sending back.

Sonic seemed wary about letting Tails remain behind in potential enemy territory, even if they did have a house full of civilians.  But ultimately, Tails convinced him to go.  They would all be connected on the same comm unit while they were out; if anything happened, Tails could easily inform him.  He also reminded Sonic that he was no longer a child and could handle himself, which Sonic often forgot.  Mira was curt and off-putting, but he wasn’t dangerous and the main dangers would be out in the field with him and Shadow.

In the same vein, RK wanted either him – preferably – or Metal to remain with Itara while they were out.  Itara also convinced him otherwise, however, stating that they had too much ground to cover in too short a time for them to waste resources like that. RK didn’t like it, but he couldn’t argue.  Besides, more than anything, Itara wanted the alone time.  She did her best to keep it to herself at the time, but coming face to face with both Sonic and Shadow together, sent chills down her spine. She needed time to recoup away from everyone.

‘C’mon, Shadow, she’s just a kid.’

‘Shadow, don’t be so rough, she’s just a little girl.’

‘Destroying you will be a start to my plan.’

‘I can crush you and Mephiles…’

Itara shook her head violently.  Crisis City.  Solaris.  Even Shadow’s comments.  There were too many repeats.  She’d learned that Metal Sonic returning to Robotnik after going rogue was a constant.  She had hoped Crisis City had been a variable.  She promised RK and Kipper that she wouldn’t let Crisis City happen again. She looked up from the scorch marks on the pavement where Biters had likely met a watery end to the burned sky that lit the clouds and fog with an angry orange glow.  Far, far away, a great fiery beast was lying dormant in a volcano between battles.  Iblis no longer existed.  Mephiles no longer existed.  But Crisis City still came.  She looked down at her hands, pulling the hint of flame forward and watched in equal parts intrigue and disgust as wild, orange fire engulfed both hands, flickering in the humidity.  She could feel the heat, but it didn’t burn, not like before.  Even as the glowing tendrils reached up her arms, threatening the edges of her sleeves again, she shook them out with ease.  She’d been born from shadows, yet now commanded the same flame that threatened her home once again.  Her father would regret giving her any of this power again.  She would use every last ounce of it to put the world back in order.  Even if it was still halved.  She continued forward again, summoning her small, purple crystal hounds, and set off on her search.

They had decided to spread out as far and wide as possible; those who could go farther would, which meant she and Shadow went the furthest out from Soleanna.  RK remained the closest while Zero covered the area around Spagonia.  Both Sonic and Metal insisted they could go the furthest due to their speed, but seeing as thoroughness was more important than a quick scan, they both remained on Soleanna’s side of the ocean.  Though they were sent in opposite directions. Itara volunteered to cover around Station Square and, as usual, Shadow gave no direct response about where he’d be going.  The only ones who would know his location would be Tails and Mira.  Itara gave him a final warning about not covering the same ground before they separated, though he ignored her.  Not that she was expecting otherwise.  He was still struggling with the memories of Mephiles, she knew better than to push it too far.

In either case, they were all decently spread out across the world and she was possibly the furthest from home.  Yet, she still felt a strange calmness in the situation. Maybe it was just getting out of Shadow’s eyesight, maybe it was the prospect of finally answering the mystery of the blotted-out pages.  In either case, she was more excited to search than afraid of being alone.  She’d been far more alone in far worse situations. This, she figured, she could handle. Unlike the first instance of Crisis City, and unlike the last year of her existence, she had full access to her powers and complete control over them.  If danger arose, she felt confident she could deal with it or easily get away.  She hadn’t felt this confident in a long time.  Though even that reminded her of the reset timeline.  When she would jump around time, getting involved with so much without anyone really suspecting who she was or why.  All so she could assist in the destruction of the world.

It was possible, she should have felt guilty for that.

Yet somehow, she didn’t.  She felt angry, she felt betrayed, she felt a new sense of furious determination to bring the source of the destruction down.  Yet, for her own part in the reset timeline, there wasn’t as much guilt as she expected there to be.  She couldn’t say why.  But that was irrelevant now, anyway, for the time being, she needed to focus on her search. She had to find the source of the blank spots.  She had to find a way to defeat Solaris.  Admittedly, it was frustrating not having her journal to simply tell her where she needed to look, but she’d gotten used to it.  Not only had it been useless for a year now, but with the blank pages, she knew the answer couldn’t be far.

During her trek through dried up waterways on her way to what used to be Station Square, she picked up on a weak source of power emanating somewhere nearby.  She couldn’t determine what it was right away, but radioed it in to Tails and Mira, letting them know she picked up on something and that she was looking into it. While she waited for a response, she climbed over a large collection of rubble on the side of the road to follow the trail.  However, she hadn’t expected the immediate drop on the other side and scrambled and slid down the muddy embankment to keep her face from planting firmly in the cement bottom of the ravine.  She managed to keep her face safe, but sacrificed her palms in the process and hissed at the stinging pain, sitting down to shake them out.  As she was pulling small pebbles out of her knees, she caught the glint of something shiny just ahead.  She gave her hands a quick look over and pushed herself up to inspect the glint.  It took some searching, during which she finally got a response from Mira asking what she’d found, but after a few minutes she spotted the glint again and crouched down to brush some mud away to reveal the small, red, cracked gemstone.

Her heart sunk as she recognized it almost immediately. The diamond-shaped, blood red stone, which fit almost perfectly in her hand, had always had a deep scratch going across it, but the scratch had deepened into a gash and there was a decently sized chunk taken clean out of the top.  The faint power she’d felt a moment ago was coming from the gem.

“Oh, Kipper…”

Mira questioned her again about what she found as she stood up, keeping the gem tightly wrapped in her hand as she answered, “It was nothing after all.  Sorry.   Gonna keep looking.”  She gave the gem another quick look then tucked it into the pocket of her overalls.  There was no sign of the doll the gem had been attached to, it was likely burned long ago, but at least she could bring the gem home.  But now she had to figure out how to get back up the ravine.  It was a steep slope with more dirt than rubble, which would make climbing difficult.  “Alright Kipper, help me find somewhere to get back up now, would you?”  She didn’t expect an answer and she didn’t get one. She was entirely on her own, as expected.

The remainder of her search unearthed no more results once she scrambled her way back up to the road.  She got the occasional update from Mira or Tails about the others’ progress, but outside of an extremely desolate Station Square and a far view of the still floating Angel Island, she made no further progress.  Station Square fared no better than Soleanna, only replacing fire with water, which Itara couldn’t resist dipping her toes in at one point. Soleanna was so dry even the ocean had fallen back several miles from the once water-surrounded city, not to mention the fact that she and the others had been locked tight inside that house for eight years.  She missed fresh water.  And fresh air, for that matter, but that was nowhere to be found, not even here. Solaris’ raging heat was powerful and consuming but at least here underneath Angel Island, Chaos kept the waters cool.  She guessed it was more for the chao than for humanity, though.  On the plus side, Chaos wasn’t one for underlings or monsters, meaning she was in far less danger from attacks than anywhere else.

She may or may not have planned to search Station Square herself for that exact reason.  She couldn’t help but wonder if Chaos would know she was there, though.  It was her father that was threatening the world and, in relation, the chao and the Chaos Emeralds.  Would Chaos take her being near as a direct threat?  Would he even notice her with everything going on?

The other Gods being awake was the main difference between Crisis City and this timeline.  She’d finally come to understand that it was her father’s intent to destroy everything that roused the others.  She didn’t know if they knew about the past timeline or not, if they knew what he had already done once, but they seemed to understand what he would do now, if left unchecked.  If Shadow had gone through with his original plan to knock them out one-by-one, it would have been Solaris as last man standing and he would end everything as intended.  With the distraction of the other Gods, however, the world still had a chance to recover. Chaos kept the oceans from drying completely and Gaia kept plant life alive where he could.  Solaris’ rage couldn’t decimate all life with them around. But the longer the battle went on, the less chance there was at recovery.

With a quick shake of her head, she pulled her shoes back on and stood, staring up at the floating sanctuary.  There was no longer any concept of day and night beyond the few remaining working clocks they had kept intact, none of which Itara brought along. She would search a bit longer then return home for rest.  Luckily, traveling within the timeline was much easier and less energy-consuming than traveling through time.  Even a trip from Soleanna to Station Square and back was relatively straightforward, but she wanted to cover as much ground as possible per day, as well.  She gave a final pat to Kipper’s gem to make sure it was still there and continued on her way through the watery grave of Station Square. When her legs grew tired and she no longer had the energy to keep her crystal hounds summoned, she dispersed them and opened a passage to home, informing Tails that she was on her way.

Getting a final glance at the ocean, she stepped through the passage and reappeared once more in the dark basement lab.  Kelly was fast asleep and snoring away on one of the kitchen chairs near the computer while Mira sat, typing away beside her.  Tails was pacing back and forth near the charging stations, talking frantically with one of the others.  “Just tell me where you are and I’ll come get you!” the frantic fox nearly screamed as Itara approached from the shadows across the room.

“What’s going on?”

The sudden question startled both Tails and Mira as they jumped and turned towards her.  Kelly gave no indication that she would wake any time soon.  Mira remained silent and went back to work but Tails quickly turned his attention to her, “Thank goodness, someone is back!   Please!  You have to go help Sonic!”

Itara couldn’t help but consider the irony of that statement but kept it to herself, “Well where is he?  What happened?”  She glanced up at the blinking computer screen with the maps, different comm unit locations, and the program running all the data.

“That’s the problem!  He won’t tell me!  I think he got attacked!”

“Alright, I’ll go see if I can find him,” she sighed, though unsure what she expected to do against something that could ambush Sonic of all people.  “Have everyone else call in at their locations so I can at least narrow it down by where he’s not.”

“Right.  Yeah.  Okay,” Tails frowned and returned his attention to his own comm unit.

“If we’re lucky, I’ll only have to narrow it down between him and Shadow.”  Tails gave her a strange look but called in to the others to ask for their locations. One by one, reports came in and Itara mentally crossed them off on the map until, just as she expected, it was down to Shadow and Sonic, who had stopped responding completely.  Tails only grew more panicked by the idea of him being that badly hurt but Itara remained calm as ever.  Once she had her answers and Tails begged her to hurry, she waved him off and returned to the shadowy side of the lab.  It was easier to travel the more darkness she was surrounded by.  “Don’t worry, I’m a time traveler, remember?”

With that, she was gone.

Both locations she needed to check were much further out than they likely should have been so it was hard to tell which was more likely to be Sonic.  She decided to check the closest one first, since it made the most sense, but as she exited to a half-destroyed base, it was Shadow she came across first.  He was coming from the opposite direction down a long, narrow hallway, his usual unwavering scowl on his face, which only darkened once he caught sight of her.  Before he could threaten her, though, which she fully expected him to do, she threw her hands up in defense and explained, “I was looking for Sonic.”

Shadow only narrowed his eyes further, “Why?  So you can kill him off again like Mephiles?”

Itara took a deep breath and sighed, putting her hands down. “No.”  A shudder ran down her spines as her gaze averted to a nearby wall, “And if you remember that, you should remember that Sonic wasn’t the only one Mephiles was willing to sacrifice to become Solaris again.” Shadow only scoffed.  Itara shook the memory from her head and faced him again, letting her honest unease slip for the briefest of moments, “Whether you believe me or not doesn’t matter, but I really do only want to help.  I may have been part of Mephiles but… RK and Metal are more important to me and right now, Sonic needs help.  Tails said he may have been attacked but couldn’t pinpoint his location, which is why I’m here looking for him.  So I’ll see you back at the base, I need to go help him.”  She opened another passage and walked through rather than waiting for an answer, leaving the scowling black and red hedgehog to brood on his own.

Her next exit was in a half-burnt forest with the screech of several nearby monsters echoing off every surface.  She followed the sound and found a horde of Nightmares tearing into a bloodied and beaten hedgehog, though he was still doing his best to fight them off.  She cringed at the sight and decided the best course of action was to stop him beforehand rather than facing off against the horde.  Biters she could possibly ward off, but Nightmares gave no differing response to her.  There was a clear path leading to the current disaster, suggesting Sonic came from the north, and judging by Tails’ response it had only just happened when she arrived home.  A quick jump back five, maybe ten, minutes sounded like enough.

With a few careful, quiet steps back, she reached out to the timelines and stabilized a portal, stepping through with a final glance back.  Same place, ten minutes in the past.  Unfortunately, as soon as she stepped through, she realized the reason Sonic likely got jumped so easily.  She had just stepped into the middle of a veritable army of battling monsters.  She dove out of the way of a screeching Nightmare with a yelp, her already injured hands burning with the sudden weight against them again.  She shrieked at the clamor that erupted over her, wrapping her hands around her ears and shutting her eyes tight.  This was exactly what she’d been trying to avoid!

She managed to summon her own crystal hounds to stave off what she could, but it wasn’t long before they were crushed under a tossed golem and she had to scramble away to avoid joining their fate.  But as she stumbled her way around the battlefield, avoiding diving birds, summoning Biters to fight off Nightmares, and nearly stormed by a line of golems, her legs suddenly stopped moving yet the wind rushed by at a speed she knew she wasn’t capable of.  She was vaguely aware of talking above the noise of crashing trees and screeching monsters, but it wasn’t until it was all distant echoes that she finally opened her eyes again.  Unsurprisingly, she met a pair of bright green eyes, blue fur, and a confused grin.

“I thought we were separating.”

Itara took a deep breath to calm herself, all but deflating into his arms, “We were.  But you got attacked and no one else was available.”  His confusion only grew as, obviously, he was in perfect condition so she clarified once again, “time traveler.”

“Right…”  Sonic looked out towards the ongoing battle and frowned, “You mean I got caught up in that?”

“Correct.”

“And… they sent the kid to help?”

Itara glared up at him and struggled back to her feet, straightening her clothes back out and checking to make sure Kipper’s gem was still in her pocket.  “I am older than I look!” she hissed, but shook her head, “That’s not the point.” She scowled at the forest that was now below them.  Most of it was charred black and destroyed, but there was a patch or two of somehow surviving trees here and there.  They weren’t particularly healthy, but they at least existed, which was better than most. Looking out across the otherwise flattened field, she had a feeling the massive crater several miles south was the reason.  She studied the area in silence for several minutes, her eyes narrowed in suspicion as the monsters below grew more and more erratic in nature.  It soon became clear why even someone as experienced as Sonic would fall victim to the battle.

What started as a battle between two obvious sides became a mass of confused creatures, battering at everything that moved with no regard for friend or foe.  Sonic attempted to speak up but Itara quickly hushed him as she watched them closely. Not only were they attacking each other as well as their enemies, but they seemed to be struggling to remain physical at all.  Creatures disappeared and reappeared without warning, missing their mark or jumping into the fray from unseen locations.  She pointed it out to the concerned hedgehog and explained, “I believe we may have found what we’re looking for.”

Sonic looked between her and the battle below for several long minutes, then whistled and stood back, “Man, what a mess.  But I still have a hard time believing I would get caught up in that.”

“If this is what we’re looking for, it could have very well affected you in a similar way,” she explained, though rolled her eyes at his ever-present cockiness, “As I explained before, you and Shadow are both highly attuned to chaos energy.  If a fluctuation can cause the Gods’ creations to warp in and out of existence, imagine what it’d do to you.”

He looked over at her with a brief look of horror, though she never took her eyes off the battle.  His expression fixed itself without her ever seeing as he reached up to rub his head, “Man…”

Itara looked up at him again, “We should return to the base and let the others know.  If this continues here, they’re likely to wipe themselves out before long.  We can come back later with the others and clear the area out more effectively so we can figure out what’s going on.”  Once he nodded in agreement, she opened another portal home and led the way through.

They hardly had the opportunity to explain the situation as Tails clung to Sonic the second they stepped through and he caught sight of him.  “Sonic! I was so worried!  What happened?!”

Sonic just laughed it off and reached up to pet Tails’ head, “You worry too much, little buddy.  Look, I’m just fine.”

Tails continued fawning over the hero hedgehog while Itara moved to the computer where Mira sat watching.  “I think we’ve found something.  Call the others back so we can look into it.”

“Sure, but what happened?”

“I’ll explain when everyone gets here.”

Mira watched her carefully, but nodded and turned back to the computer to send out a message to the others to return ASAP.  Tails kept his focus on Sonic in the background as the stream of responses came in.  The group returned to the base one-by-one, Itara remaining silent as they did as she moved to sit between the two charging stations so she could write what she could in the defective journal.  It wasn’t until RK returned that she moved from her compact spot to climb up on his shoulders to rest, nearly melting against the robot’s head.  She was exhausted and the day apparently wasn’t quite done, she would take whatever rest she could while they waited.  Shadow was, of course, the last to return but once he did, Itara perked up again to explain what she and Sonic had seen.

“There’s a distinct fluctuation of energy in the area and I believe the effect on Sonic was what would have gotten him jumped had I not intervened,” she explained after pulling up the area on the map. The comment got a huff of indignation from Sonic but she ignored him and continued, “I don’t think the monsters in that area were specifically sent there, I think they were drawn there.  It may very well be exactly what we’re looking for but if it’s drawing monsters to it and making them even more violent than normal, it’s obviously going to be dangerous to look into.  I think we should wait for the majority of them to wipe each other out and then go back in a larger, more prepared group and clear it out. Then we can set up boundaries to keep them out so we can investigate further.”

“And what if it’s just a trap set up for us by one of the Gods?  Or even Robotnik?  No one’s heard from him since this all started, he could have been up to any number of things this entire time,” Shadow suggested.

“Robotnik’s been in his space colony this entire time and none of his robots have left nor returned since.  We’ve been keeping an eye on Robotnik.  As for it being a trap set by the Gods,” Itara trailed off and shrugged, “that’s why I want to be more prepared when we go back.  If it’s a trap, we have a better chance of escape with a larger group.  But considering the way the monsters were reacting, I’m severely doubting it.”

“I think she’s got a point,” Sonic intervened, seeing Shadow only grow more suspicious, “this is the best lead we’ve had in a long time. We should at least look into it.”

Shadow continued to huff and argue, but was ultimately overthrown by the group at large.  They would keep a close eye on the area until it cleared out and run through the possible causes, then move on to discuss the best course of action to study it.  Even Shadow, after realizing he was outnumbered on the decision, got involved to make sure they didn’t overlook any possible trap.  Even if it was dangerous, Sonic was right, it was the most potential they’d seen since everything started.  They couldn’t ignore it.