#so maybe it got confused since i have two copies of the same game?

[tenebrous-dream]

downloaded another copy of new style boutique so i could take pics of early game for the wiki without resetting my current save file, but for some reason the pics from my orginal copy where overwritten by the pics i took in the new save and i lost all the photos id taken in my og save. what if i die

[yo-ri-su-ki]

Hello! I have a funny cute and funny request. Dante and the reader are playing a card game, and whoever loses the card game has to do whatever the winner chooses. Well, Dante loses, and now he has to do something funny.

High Stakes And Hijinks

An: I HAD THE BEST TIME WRITING THIS OMFG IT MADE ME LAUGH

It had started innocently enough.

You and Dante were sprawled out on the floor of Devil May Cry, an open bag of chips between you, a deck of very questionable-looking playing cards in your hands, and the TV blaring in the background. Rain pattered softly against the windows, trapping the two of you indoors with nothing but your collective boredom and Dante’s cocky grin.

“So,” you said, narrowing your eyes at him over your hand of cards. “Whoever loses this next round has to do whatever the winner says.”

He smirked, utterly confident. “Whatever you say, sweetheart. Just don’t cry when I win.”

You grinned like a gremlin. “Oh, I won’t.”

A few minutes later…

“…Is that a straight flush?” Dante’s smile froze.

You laid down your cards with the flair of a magician revealing their final trick. “Read it and weep, demon boy.”

“No way. No way!” He flopped backward in defeat, hands over his face. “This is rigged. You’ve got psychic powers or something.”

“Or maybe,” you said smugly, leaning over him, “you’re just bad at cards.”

“I’m good at plenty of things,” he grumbled.

“Well then, good sir, it’s time to test your talents.”

Ten Minutes Later…

Dante Sparda the infamous devil hunter, half-demon powerhouse, ladies’ man extraordinaire

stood in the middle of the street wearing a bright pink tutu, matching leg warmers, and a glittery plastic tiara that sat slightly crooked on his head.

He struck a pose as a passing elderly woman blinked at him in confusion.

“Who’s your fairy demon daddy?” he said with a wink.

You were crying from laughter across the street, doubled over with your phone held high. “Oh my god. I can’t believe you actually did it!”

“I lost fair and square,” he said with a dramatic sigh. “A man’s got to own up to his failures. Even if that means becoming Princess Dante of the Glitter Realm.”

“You're making a scene!”

“Exactly what you ordered, wasn’t it?” He wiggled his hips for emphasis. “I don’t do half-measures, babe.”

A small child walked up to him, holding a juice box. “Are you a ballerina?”

“Only on Tuesdays,” Dante said, patting the tiara. “Stay in school, kid.”

You wheezed. “This is going on the agency’s bulletin board.”

“I swear to Sparda, if Lady sees this…”

You grinned evilly. “She’s getting a framed copy.”

Dante sighed in defeat but couldn’t help laughing when he looked at you, cheeks flushed and eyes sparkling with mirth.

“Alright, alright,” he said, stepping back toward you and taking your hand dramatically. “Next time, I’m picking the dare. And you’re not getting off with just a tutu.”

You raised a brow. “Is that a threat or a promise?”

Dante winked. “Depends how good you are at cards next time.”

You hadn’t stopped laughing since Dante spun in a full pirouette for a group of confused tourists. But now, safely back inside the Devil May Cry office and with the tutu mercifully retired, Dante was plotting.

Literally.

He sat at the table with narrowed eyes, cards fanned out in his hands like he was some kind of blackjack war general.

“This time,” he muttered, “the devil gets his due.”

“You said that last time,” you said smugly, sipping your drink. “And I got a new lockscreen photo of you pretending to be a magical girl.”

“Magical Man, thank you.”

You chuckled and reshuffled the deck. “Alright, rematch. Same rules: loser does what the winner says.”

He cracked his neck. “Prepare to serve, human.”

Ten Minutes Later…

“NO!” Dante howled, slamming his cards on the table. “YOU HAD FOUR ACES?!”

You beamed. “Aces beat your two sad little kings, Dante. You know what that means.”

He groaned. “Okay, okay, what humiliating nonsense am I doing this time?”

You grinned like a villain in a Saturday morning cartoon. “You’re going to do… a dramatic soap opera monologue. In Vergil’s coat.”

He stared at you. “…You are one cruel woman.”

“Do it. Or I’m making you wear the tutu again. With fishnets.”

Five minutes later, Dante was standing on top of the couch, Vergil’s blue coat draped over his shoulders, looking like an absolute disaster. He threw one hand over his heart and began.

“Why, Maria?” he cried in the most theatrical voice you’d ever heard. “Why did you leave me for the pizza delivery guy?! I gave you my demon heart, and you shredded it like expired parmesan!”

You clutched your sides, tears of laughter streaming down your face. He stomped around like he was on a stage, gesturing wildly.

“My soul burns brighter than my twin’s judgmental eyebrows! And yet... AND YET!! you chose… STEVE!”

He collapsed dramatically onto the couch, one leg kicked over the backrest like a dying swan.

You applauded. “Bravo. A performance worthy of an Oscar. Or at least a Razzie.”

He peeked up at you with a lazy grin. “Next time, I win.”

“We’ll see, Mr. Drama Queen.”

He rolled over, grabbing the deck again. “One more round. This time, loser has to sing karaoke in a demon bar.”

You raised an eyebrow. “You’re on.”

He smirked. “Hope you’ve been practicing your Britney Spears.”

Location: A VERY shady demon bar, somewhere in the Underworld.

The place was dim, full of growling patrons, flickering neon signs, and questionable drinks bubbling in mugs that probably bit back. You had no idea why the microphone was shaped like a severed hand—but Dante insisted it was “part of the vibe.”

And now here you were, standing on the tiny stage, a spotlight glaring down on you, while Dante lounged at the bar sipping something glowing blue.

Because you lost.

By one card. One!

Dante waved at you from his barstool, the smuggest grin plastered across his face. “Break a leg, superstar! Or, y’know, get one chewed off.”

You shot him a death glare as the first notes of “Toxic” by Britney Spears crackled from the old speaker system. The demons in the bar turned to look, eyes glowing.

You took a deep breath. If you were going down, you were going down with style.

Two minutes later…

"WITH A TASTE OF YOUR LIPS IM ALL IN A RIDEEEE YOUR TOXIC IM SLIPPING UNDERR"

You were owning it.

"IM ADDICTED TO YOU DON'T YOU KNOW THAT YOUR TOXIIIICC?!"

You spun. You twirled. You even did the hair flip. Demons howled (possibly in support—maybe in pain, unclear). One huge, fanged creature started waving its claws in the air like a glowstick.

Dante choked on his drink, wheezing with laughter.

“My god,” he gasped, slapping the counter. “You’re actually killing it!”

You sang straight into the severed-hand mic, flipping him off mid-chorus without missing a beat. The bar roared.

By the end, a small crowd of demons was clapping, and someone even threw what looked like a… spine? You didn’t question it.

You descended from the stage dramatically and strutted back over to Dante.

“Well?” you asked, breathless.

He clapped, laughing so hard he wiped tears from his eyes. “That was the most unhinged, glorious thing I’ve ever seen. I think you just started a cult.”

The bartender, a leathery imp with a bowtie, handed you a coupon. “One free drink, Princess of Pop.”

You blinked. “…Did I just get promoted?”

Dante leaned in with a lopsided grin. “Looks like someone’s a hit in hell. Who knew?”

You smirked, poking him in the chest. “Your turn next round. And I’m picking Backstreet Boys.”

He paled. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Oh, I would.”

You never thought you’d see the day.

Dante Sparda, son of Sparda, devil hunter, resident bad boy of Red Grave City… standing on stage in front of a crowd of bloodthirsty demons, clutching the severed-hand mic like it was the last slice of pizza, as the opening beat of “Everybody (Backstreets back)” echoed through the Underworld’s crusty old speakers.

You were crying laughing before he even opened his mouth.

“Oh my god, we’re back again…” Dante sang in a half-growl, striking a pose so dramatically awful it circled back into amazing.

The crowd paused.

And then LOST IT.

Demons screamed in excitement. One tried to crowd surf and fell flat. A spider demon threw its top hat on stage. The bartender rang a tiny bell and yelled, “GET IT, WHITE HAIRED KING!”

You nearly fell out of your chair.

Dante leaned into it hard. He hip-thrusted. He moonwalked (badly). He did finger guns during the “Am I sexual?” line and winked at a three-headed werewolf.

He pointed directly at you when he belted, “Backstreet’s back—ALRIGHT!!”

You ducked behind your glass, mortified and hysterically proud.

“I hate you!” you yelled over the music.

“YOU LOVE ME!” he shouted back mid-dance break, spinning like a drunken Beyblade.

Post-performance:

Back at your table, Dante collapsed in a heap, dramatically fanning himself with a demonic drink menu.

“Well?” he panted. “Rate my boyband energy.”

You pretended to think. “You looked like a fever dream inside a leather jacket.”

“I am a fever dream,” he said smugly, wiping glitter off his face. “And admit it—you were into it.”

“…Maybe a little.”

“HA! One more round?”

You narrowed your eyes. “If I win again, you’re doing a K-pop routine.”

His soul visibly left his body. “You are crueler than Vergil on leg day.”

You smirked, already shuffling the cards. “Deal with it, Princess of Pop.”

An: Sorry if this isn't what you wanted but I hope you loved Dante singing backstreet boys and wearing a tutu..heh😼

[ask-codeearasure]

The Outer Realms -- Chapter 17

<-[Previous Chapter]

[Next Chapter]->

Wish to refill Ink's Paints? Go to our Ask Box!

—-----

Chapter Seventeen:

Opposition

—----

“You can’t escape the past. Right? Be a shame if I had to put them on again. Cast Irons… well, it’s hard to clean.” – Vander (Arcane)

—-

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” asked Error, confused.

Ink had just finished filling him in on the information he got from Edge. Error was right, Dream was not dead, but technically he was dying or in critical condition. Whatever golden apples that other skeleton threw at them back in Dreamtale were probably sick twisted copies of his friend’s soul, but it also implied they probably knew where Dream was.

“I don’t know, who knows where these… Outer-what-ever is at…” Ink shrugged, “I just want to check on my dads before we even begin trying to find it.”

Zephyrtop was the last AU in the lineup anyways. For Error, sorting through the code there would be a breeze while Ink caught up with Gaster, Aster, and his four brothers. And considering the former two were the technical creators of Zephyrtop altogether, the probability of it staying destroyed if they were too late was second to none.

Besides, with two of the very few creators left in the multiverse secure under his belt and held highly in his figurative heart, maybe they could help Ink find Dream. Error could only do so much with a being who had no code to his existence anyways.

“My guess is we’ll have to pick a direction and then just keep going until we find something.” Error huffed, cleaning his glasses with his scarf. He was already annoyed with the prospect of another AU he had to recode, remove another destruction code, and-or adding that blasted counter-command just to keep that weird copy of himself from destroying another AU.

“But what if we go in the wrong direction?” Ink asked.

“Then we can loop around. If they called this place the Inner Circle, then the best assumption we have is that everything is in a circle, we can loop around until we find your side-piece.” Error stated as if it were a simple matter. 

“Dream is not my ‘side-piece’, Error,” Ink hissed through his teeth.

The glitch rolled his eyelights. Though he had to admit, he was downplaying the entire thing. Who knew how many AUs were technically out there. It could be hundreds to millions, a good amount of said AUs likely being destroyed by the copy-cat and thus just being blank white nothingness. So if they made the wrong assumption as to how far they could go or not would mean they’d be searching for days to even years.

Even Error understood they didn’t have much time, but there really was not much they could do outside of participate in these fucking guessing games. At this point playing a game of Russian Roulette would get them closer to finding Dream. They could split up, but Ink and his memory problems were as untrustworthy as a pipe bomb with a broken timer the size of a tactical nuke. You don’t know whether or not you defused the damn thing, and even if you did, would you really trust your life with it? So he was stuck here.

Plus, there was that husk running around, that stupid fucking anomaly wearing Ink’s face without a single care in the world. If there was the copy-cat and the husk, that meant there was the likely chance that they both have a similar history to him and Ink. They likely both fought each other over the same reasons and since that anomaly was a pain in the ass to take down, that meant that the other glitch was also going to be a problem.

Either that, or the only things they had going for them was at face-value.

Or he was overthinking it.

He probably was overthinking it.

Definitely.

There is no way Error couldn’t kick BOTH of those impostors’ asses SINGLE HANDEDLY, NO SWEAT, NO FUCKS GIVEN!

Ink tapped him on the forehead, prompting Error to jump and swat their smaller hand away. His friend wasn’t phased.

“Whatcha thinkin’ about?”

The glitch snorted. “Not much. Are we going to your weird parents’ place or what?”

“Awww, did ya finally wanna meet my old men?” Ink playfully rocked back on his heels, loosely crossing his arms behind his back. “It’s about time, they’ve been asking about you for ages!”

He’s…? There is no way they’ve been talking about him to their fucking parents…? Why would they?

“Uh huh. Sure they were.” Error clicked his tongues in repulsion. “No, I just want to get this over with then go back to my Anti-Void and pretend none of this ever happened.”

“Oh. Okay.” Ink’s face fell, but at least they didn’t push the issue. They opened a portal to Zephyrtop’s motherboard and jumped in. Error followed suit, wishing that one day Ink would learn another way to make portals with literally anything else but paint. He hated the texture.

Both outcodes arrived, Ink pleasantly surprised at the fact Zephyrtop’s motherboard was actually decorated, and Error looking through every nook and cranny of the space to find the coding ‘screen’. 

The motherboard looked like a warehouse, storing blueprints and bullet point-filled cork boards, whiteboards only half cleaned, couches, coffee tables, a couple TV screens overlooking the main plaza, circus, and mansion where Ink’s fathers and siblings lived. It was obvious that through thick and thin, this universe was a well cared for outlier in comparison to the neglect all the others had gone through.

Knowing all this sooner would have made Error’s job so much easier in the past, but now that he’s thinking about this in the current day, any kind of prideful satisfaction the younger him would have gotten was nonexistent. Instead, the destroyer could only define one thing he felt from staring at the larger picture for so long.

Pity.

But of course, only Ink’s family would have given enough of a damn about their home to keep it this vibrant and alive, efficiently and effectively meeting the needs and wants of the characters inhabiting this universe.

It’s almost like being caretakers was a common theme in Ink’s family, and Error definitely didn’t fit the part. He didn’t even understand why he found this revelation so intriguing. It was unsettling, but Error had already been unsettled since before Ink made the portal.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off, like they were being watched.

“I can’t find it,” Error set down the couch he had lifted and flopped on top of it. Since Gaster and Aster were still around and thriving, what was the point of going through this universe’s code? They probably had already thought of something to keep every creation of theirs protected.

“Maybe we should leave; take our chances looking for Dream without them.”

Ink shook his head, but didn’t look his friend in the eye and fiddled with the empty vials on his sash. It didn’t take rocket science for Error to tell he was anxious. The artist had been nothing short of distressed this entire time, both with and without sufficient doses of his paints.

“I can’t do that, Error, I need– I just need to see my dads, man. Maybe they don’t know what’s going on. I mean, they barely get out as is…”

“So what makes you think they’d know what to do?” Error sat up, grabbing a pillow and squeezing it, venting his frustration little by little into the carefully embroidered floral design in the fabric. “You just said they don’t leave as much. They don’t know the multiverse like we do.”

“Yeah, I know that, it’s just–... They’re creators, Error. They have access to some influence over all universes that we don’t!”

“So did XGaster, and look at what happened to him.”

Whatever train of thought Ink was trying so hard to uplift might as well have just crashed and exploded into a trillion pieces. The artist’s hands dropped from their sash, and they didn’t do much aside from stare at the floor. Right. Him. How could he forget?

“XGaster had… ambitions, I guess, but asking any help out of him would’ve been like pulling chicken’s teeth. Impossible,” Ink started. “I don’t really… know where that guy went either.”

“Oh, he's as good as dead,” Error’s tone lightened, using one of his arms to cushion his head and pulled a thread out of his eyesocket with the free one to fiddle with.

“Last I heard, he got killed by his own creations! If only I could’ve seen it myself, but when I went to XTale for any kind of entertainment, nothing was left.”

“Really?” Ink looked up, eyes wide. “Nothing left?”

“Nada!” Error twirled the string around his index finger, grinning to himself in amusement. “If anything did survive, maybe Dream or that BUG Core!Frisk got to them first.”

Maybe Ink should check the Omega Timeline for them later. He slightly recalled the XTale inhabitants primarily having a black and white color palette for their clothing, but because he had to juggle an overabundance of creators around the same time that AU was active, it’s not like he could go out of his way to give it any special attention.

Oh, how the tables have turned since then.

“Well if you don’t want to go, that’s okay, but I really want to.” Ink reached back for Broomie, but then the motherboard shifted. 

The both of them froze immediately, then whipped around to stare at each other. Ink cleared his throat and slowly took down his hand.

“Did uh… Error, did you do something?”

“You think I’d be quiet if I did???”

“Good point, good point…”

Suddenly, there were teal strings that quickly ripped through the ground beneath Ink in the shape of an ‘x’, the air was rushing towards the strange hole they made, dragging the artist with it. Error used his own string to ground himself as he grabbed Ink’s hand. The rushing air was unrelenting as if it was demanding Ink be dragged into whatever hell it had in waiting. Error could see that the window frame his string was tied to was starting to break, forcing him to make a choice.

Either he let go of Ink, or he went with them.

He undid the string and they both were dragged in.

The portal was unlike anything they had ever seen. It was like an endless hole of cubes that made reality. He could sense it was like the Anti-Void, but also not. This was nothing like his home, but it had the same energy as it. When they finally crashed into the ground, it was as if they had fallen off of a twelve story skyscraper.

As Error got up, he saw the ground was blocky and uneven, as if it was destroyed, remade and re-destroyed endlessly, glitching out like some awful video game that had been both incomplete and re-coded constantly.

He looked over to Ink who was rubbing his head and popping his neck, the impact obviously still affecting him somewhat.

Then he heard it.

A glitch-filled laugh.

“Really? I thought I was doin’ yous a favor ‘ere,” said the voice.

How the fuck did Ink mistake that guy for him? Color him insulted to the highest degree.

The glitch barely looked anything like him! In fact, there were more differences than there were similarities. The most prominent thing was the hood of the jacket. It was easily comparable to a large lion’s mane, almost like Mufasa got skinned after everyone left. Bright golden fur was so long that it reached the glitch’s knees. The jacket was black and lined with neon blue but also had teal diamond markings, showing where it had been resown together on the sleeves. Even his shorts had the same markings. He wore a dark maroon turtleneck and a gold and gray-indigo vest over it. There was also an odd neon blue animal skull on the side of the jacket, right below where the hood started. He also carried a similar colored sickle with a golden chain wrapped around his waist. Another thing was his left eyelight. It had the shape of an ‘x’ with several rings around it.

He didn’t even wear his Papyrus’ scarf.

If he did, then Error would at the very least believe Ink had some reason to mistake them for Geno. But no. Their stupidity truly outweighed the odds.

Maybe he should lend Ink his glasses sometime.

“Really, Error?” asked the glitch, “Yous just had ta follow tha idiot ‘ere?”

“And what’s it to you, of all anomalies?” Error himself straightened his posture, already reaching up to his eyesockets for more strings. In the corner of his vision, Ink was already on their feet, their grip on Broomie firm and ready for a fight.

“Oh nothin’,” the glitch hummed, he touched the corners of his own eyesockets but instead of summoning strings like the way Error himself did, they did come, but rather they stood straight like claws, “I was just gonna take ‘im out for ya as a little practice run for when I have ta put up wit’ an idiot of my own.”

Error heard Ink suck in a breath, the artist inching closer to him. Something about this new guy pissed him off beyond what he considered the normal annoyance, which is what every other anomaly had become to him these days.

But no. As far as the destroyer was concerned, this fucker’s intentions were clear.

He wanted to take his place. That very thought on its own made his marrow boil, his teeth baring to match his growing hatred.

“I see what you’re putting on the table, and my answer is FUCK NO.”

“Really think ya had a choice in dis?” the glitch asked when suddenly two large blocks of the land suddenly appeared and collided with Ink from two different sides. Sandwiching him before two teal strings cut right through them. “I was merely tellin’ yous what was about ta happen.”

Ink rematerialized next to Error, a portal painted below him. Broomie’s length was already chopped in half, and the artist’s hands were sporting new cuts, spewing his namesake out from between the joints, a stark contrast to the pristine white Error expected to see every time.

The guardian of the AUs blinked several times, his eyelights spinning several shades of red in different shapes before settling on a triangle and a target symbol.

“WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR!? THAT WAS A TOTAL SUCKER PUNCH!!!”

“Awes, ya pretendin’ ta be mad at lil’ ol’ me…” the glitch cooed, calmly walking off to the side, not really paying much attention to them. This was his domain, and it was clear he was beyond comfortable and confident here. “It’s real cute that ya pretend ta have emotions, Inky-boy. But ya really shouldn’t be playin’ wit’ people’s emotions, things can get real messy.”

The other error’s new target opened his mouth to interrupt, but then shut it, the accusation taking him off guard.

“What…? I don’t do that!”

“Suuure ya don’t. Like the way ya don’t treat everyone around ya, like they ain’t people? Like they’re jus’ some characters in a book that ya can interfere wit’, o’ watch dem struggle in tha misery planned fo’ em. Like tha way you don’t see me an’ Error as people?” the copy-cat stated, he checked his claws for a second and shrugged. He paused and looked directly at Ink, “Ya only go around an’ play hero, an don’t even care if dey get killed off anyways. Horrortale, Somethin’ New, Dusttale, or the otha AUs’ my friends are from. Ya don’ care about anyone or anythin’ but ya own entertainment.”

Error squinted bullets at the other, his freakish New York accent was getting annoying, and really fucking quick too. He’s sounding a hell of a lot like Nightmare with all that YAPPING.

“Ink, he’s fucking with you.”

Ink went to answer, but nothing he could possibly say came to mind. He wasn’t guilty of whatever the Error-copy was getting at, at least currently, he was free from it, but where the hell did he get that information? Why use it against them now? Was their decision and work to change completely ignored?

Error shifted, looking at his friend from the very edge of his vision.

“Ink?”

“I know he’s fucking with me! I want to know why.”

“Am I now?” the glitch snickered, “Ink, can ya really say I’m lyin’ ‘ere? I mean, let’s look at yer history! Tha moment yous get bored wit’ an AU your first tactic is ta ignore it like a child does wit’ a toy they’ve grown tired of, an’ if it still ain’t entertainin’ enough you let it destroy itself. Isn’t that why ya let Error run around? Yous was bored with Underswap an’ so ya let him keep that Swap!Sans around and let him do whatever he wanted?”

“Hey- HEY- NO, YOU THINK I KNEW WHAT HE DID TO BLUE??” Realizing what had happened to his friend had devastated Ink back then, almost to the point he genuinely thought of killing Error like Blue already tried. Where the fuck did this guy get off on assuming he didn’t care!?

“No, but yous expected it.” the glitch frowned, “I mean, yous had every opportunity ta stop ‘im before an’ after. But instead, ya just ran off wit’ tha rest of tha AU, replaced ‘im tha first chance ya got because ya realized far too late that tha poor guy was too far gone. I mean, it’s not like ya leave Error alive because ya like him. Ya don’t even actually feel anythin’. If ya did then… well yous a shit friend. Constantly leavin’ ya friends ta die in horrific ways, be it a Killer bein toyed with by Nightmare, Error ‘imself destroyin their AUs, Horrortales being allowed ta exist, leavin Dream ta get shot by Edelweiss– Oh…” he grinned as he feigned it as a ‘slip of the tongue’, “Oh right… Ol’ Dreamy gettin shot and put on life-support. And yous… yous was nowhere ta be found! Talk about carin’ ‘bout yer friends!”

“I DIDN’T KNOW ANY OF THAT UNTIL CURRENTLY, I–” Ink’s ribcage rattled, an indication of his frustration, which would only continue to spike to higher heights as their opponent kept talking.

Before Error could catch onto what the artist planned next, Ink was already gone, having summoned a gray and black gaster blaster and shot after the other error.

Error raced after him, letting his strings fly to as many lengths as possible, mainly in hope of grabbing his friend and dragging him back, but Ink had a head start and was too far ahead than what the glitch had accounted for.

Ink’s blaster wasn’t used to shoot their new adversary out of the air, but to propel him forward to fight him head-on. He did feel! His emotions were his own! And if he had known sooner what happened to Dream, he would have tracked down whoever had him themself just so they could be at his side! Whatever he needed and it was HIS!

But soon enough, the only thing Ink began to see for certain was the blind red of unrelenting rage.

“I’LL MAKE YOU EAT THOSE WORDS!”

The glitch dodged Ink in an extremely odd way, Ink just…fazed right through him. The glitch patted his body down and grumbled, “So uncivilized…”

Error almost froze when he saw the scene. The glitch destablized himself. He turned himself into a string of code.

The copy-cat used his strings to grab Ink in a near identical way he did the first time when they met. But rather, they wrapped around his joints. "Oh what's tha matta Inky boy? I was jus’ sayin' tha truth! Ya neva thought we even truly felt pain, or despair. It was only until ya really started lookin' around that you toyed wit’ dat idea, and even then... can we really trust that ya learned yer lesson? That ya see us as people? Tell me, Ink, if ya really cared, then what would ya do on instinct if I were ta... order my friend ta kill that twerp Dream? Would ya even try ta care? Or would ya sit back an’ watch tha show jus’ ta see what’ll happen?”

They didn’t even answer, summoning bucketfuls worth of ink from between their joints, materializing bones and blasters to barrage the glitch with. 

Error blasted the other’s strings, freeing Ink for only a second before they were snagged again in his own contraption of electric blue strings, yanking them back to his side as he reached out for the code to this place, only for the singular thing for Error to hit was a barrier.

The glitch swerved his blaster sideways, ducking under a floating, disembodied wall he recognized as corrupted, carefully crafted code as well, but appeared in the form of organized rubble.

“Why didn’t you hit him too, Error? He wants to hurt Dream!” Ink pulled himself up and struggled against his bindings. Error only tightened them, which served to enrage the artist further.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?”

“WE DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS, DUMBASS!” Error shot back, continuing to dodge and weave between chunks of rubble and ruin. He noticed all of them had a particular pattern, grays and whites, teals and reds, some gold here and there. It was like his prior-known ‘copy’ themed this Anti-Void after himself! 

As much as he hated other errors more than anything else, there was a certain danger that came from being in another glitch’s direct territory. Given two other errors had almost succeeded in wiping him off the census in the past, Error wasn’t about to risk his neck a third time.

“He wanted to get a rise out of you, Ink! He was manipulating you–” Error looked back as he made another turn, only to see the artist gone, and his strings cut through. 

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?”

“He didn’t really think dat through, did he?” asked the other glitch.

Error screamed, spinning around to face the other error, the strings hanging from his fingers and eyes whipping forward to snag a grip on him, but all their intended victim had to do to avoid them was lean backwards.

“How rude of me, I didn’t even introduce myself!” the glitch snickered, “The name is Digital Klezmer! Nice ta meetcha. Though it really don’ matta, I mean ya probably gonna die ‘ere too. Speakin’ o’ which, why’s you helpin’ that guy anyways? I thought you wanted ‘im dead.”

A gaster blaster that had the skull of some animal, maybe some sort of badger, appeared right beside Klezmer, aimed right at Error, ready to fire. Error mimicked the threat, doubling the amount of blasters on his end off the bat. His voice began to mutate, the tone fluctuating and basic voice changing dangerously. Error’s blasters fired.

“MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!”

Klezmer’s blaster fired off its own blast but it had a secondary action, shielding Klezmer enough to escape, teleporting behind Error and sitting down on one of the pieces of blocky rubble, “Oh Error, don’ tell me dat ya think he’s ya friend! That he cares about ya!”

The fellow glitch cackled, “Oh, dat’s RICH!” He summoned several bones to impale Error, but Error summoned another blaster to take the hit, the bones going right through it before both weapons dispersed. 

Error bit his tongues. He wasn’t giving this freaking psycho more fuel to tend with. He already had more than enough to make Ink snap, and Error had to find that idiot squid before Digital Klezmer did.

He teleported back to where he and Ink were first dragged in, leaving Klezmer in the dust like he fucking deserved, only to find no sign of him there.

“IIIIINNNNNNNNNNNKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!” 

Error’s voice echoed off the Anti-Void’s floating walls and ruins, and he took to scouring the area close enough to the ‘floor’, keeping all his senses geared for any and every fucking noise that might give away the artist’s location. Ink was so fucking DEAD once he found them. He was so tempted to POP THAT LITTLE HEAD OFF THEIR MIDGET BODY AND CHUCK IT INTO THE NEAREST HOTLAND LAVAPOOL.

—----------

Klezmer sighed when he saw Error teleported away. He shook his head and teleported to a deeper part of his Anti-Void. He really wasn’t going to get an answer to that question, now was he. He knew where Ink was, but what was the fun of going after the guy directly?

Nah.

Too boring. He wanted to see them squirm.

So he settled himself in his seat at his piano and began playing one of his favorite songs, Altale. Whoever wrote that song was more insane than Katagma. It was an oddly upbeat song. But it was also oddly fitting for this little moment between the two knuckleheads he dragged here, letting their hopes rise with the song. Now all he had to do was keep playing. Sure, he was leaving himself as an ‘open target’. But who said he didn’t know everything that was going on in his own territory? Not him.

And like magic, his bait had an impressive effect, and of course it was the Inner Realm’s husk that took it the quickest.

Ink materialized next to him, and could have smacked him upside the head with what was left of his ginormous paintbrush if he didn’t dematerialize into raw code a second before.

Klezmer summoned a gaster blaster that bit down on Ink’s torso, as he spoke, “Oh buddy, I really thought ya had more brains than my husk. I really did. Thanks for correctin’ me.”

Once again, Ink didn’t answer. One of their own blasters was summoned, chomping down on Klezmer’s own and yanking it back, dislodging Ink from its grip. The artist’s namesake dripped to the floor, showing the enemy’s blaster did in fact cut through parts of his ribcage, staining his colorful clothing, but he didn’t seem to care about the weight of his own survival.

Then finally, the shortstack spoke up, his voice shaking with emotion, dominated by an overwhelming layer of rage.

“How dare you.”

They looked second to an animal, a feral beast. More ink leaked out between their barred teeth, some trails dripping from their sockets as the red of their eyelights glowed brighter.

But one look at their sash made it clear every one of their regular vials had already been drunk dry, and it was several days ago too. So the only source of this extra power could only be one thing, and Digital Klezmer already knew well.

Sketch had tried to kill Error before, when both stooges were in the Doodlesphere, and Sketch’s defeat led to the loss of its backpack. That was the only extra source of power Ink had access to.

Ink dropped Broomie, the tool useless to him and broken beyond use. Not even the bristles were in functional order anymore. Everything the artist was using now came directly from his body, from his will.

“I don’t know what hurt you this badly in the past, dude, but whatever you’re after now isn’t worth it. Seriously.”

“What I’m after isn’t worth it?” Klezmer cackled, rubbing his face under his glasses, he stopped almost as quickly as he had started, “Just die.” Two spears made of his strings appeared right from under Ink, unfurling and lifting him up to slam him down on another platform deep in the Anti-Void.

“I wanna reverse all negative creation.” Klezmer growled, “All of it! No more of dis needless sufferin’ ya view as cheap entertainment! And unfortunately I need dat useless guardian alive ta do it! Yous husks are nothin’ but a nuisance! Ya don’t feel, ya don’t care about nobody but yaselves! Hell, if yous an’ Error were ta make some stupid deal, ya’d grow bored of it instantly and jus’ find some bullshit loophole ta find somethin’ you think would be more entertainin’ ta yous and only you!”

The ribbon spears dragged the still tied up artist into a wall of the blocky rubble.

“And yous think that ya know anythin’?! I’ve watched ya long enough ta know that you’re only playin’ wit’ everyone’s emotions ‘ere! How long till ya get bored of Dream an’ Error? What about dem Swap-folk? How long till dey just bore ya? A week?! You’d probably drag a Dust over dere just for sick kicks! At least what I do is merciful, unlike yous!”

He let go of Ink to see if he’s still breathing. Letting the cloud of smoke from the destruction clear.

“Never…”

The second thing he got was a rough cough, but as the smoke cleared, Ink pulled himself back up, the ink in his body surfacing to repair the damage done to his body. Some of the artist’s clothing had been torn off, revealing tattoos that looked like random scribbles covering his lower arms and ribcage, and other discolored, gray patches of bone. The rage in their eyes didn’t subside.

“I will NEVER get bored of them. Not any one of them.”

He met Digital Klezmer’s eye, a spiteful smile gracing his face instead of the twisted snarl the glitch had plastered on it minutes ago. 

“But of course you won’t believe that, since you already profiled me based on the other guy that tried to kill my FRIEND, right? Who’s the dumbass now?”

Ink coughed again, dispensing a pool of ink at his feet as his body struggled to cope again with the amount of damage this new error wanted so badly to remain in place. This guy wasn’t at all like Error, Ink knew this now.

He was worse, really, and that was from a mostly unbiased opinion.

“I don’t care what you assume of me. I would have been devastated if it succeeded, and I would have been devastated all the same if Dream died too!”

The artist stretched his arms out, the ink creating another Broomie right in his waiting hands.

“So fuck you.”

The glitch stared at Ink, almost as though he was seeing the words Ink spoke right before him in material form. Klezmer couldn’t help but mentally compare Ink to Sketch, chuckling. “I guess you’re right. Ya ain’t nothin’ like Sketch. Unlike Sketch, ya don’t just show off your emotionlessness, or selfishness… well, not anymore… And you are right, I don’t believe you’ve changed. Whether or not you have actually started to understand tha sufferin’ of those around yous or even have a speck of empathy. But you definitely ain’t anythin’ like Sketch.”

He summoned several strings and drew them back from a ring that circled them like a giant slingshot.

“Dis… might sting a bit.”

He let go. The makeshift arrow shot right through Ink, impaling him straight through the sternum and the vertebrae leading behind it, but before Klezmer could do anything more with it, a blast of energy snapped it into pieces at the midpoint, Error’s cobalt blue strings were flung about the immediate area, snatching Ink away.

If Ink’s rage was considered animalistic, Error’s was a different lifeform entirely. The glitch’s eyesockets were clogged with his namesake, binary code spinning in his skull like miniature supercells, collecting more and more power to properly launch the amount of destruction it considered a basic portion. The creature before the two other skeletons snarled, the glitching only amplifying the volume and distorting it beyond recognition.

It was debatable if Error could speak properly in this state, with his body barely keeping itself in one piece, but somehow he managed navigating his way all the way here from the other side of the Anti-Void. 

“yOU SHOuLD KnoW BEtteR ThAN TO BREAK mY ThINgs.”

Ink could barely tell what the fuck dragged itself by its arms out of Error’s mouth, or if it even came out of his mouth in the first place. Before he knew it, his friend began to clog the area with electric blue strings, drowning their perception of the area in wires tying them down. Ink couldn’t get a word in, his body creaking under the weight and the tightness of what was, hopefully, a very temporary prison.

The sounds outside were muted to him, but he could figure they were fighting out there.

“--- .... / .-. . .- .-.. .-.. -.--?” Klezmer didn’t even open his mouth, rather the sound – the morse code just emanated from him. He didn’t seem to be shocked, rather his reaction was one that showed he knew what it was like to be in the very state Error was in.

He didn’t even struggle against the strings, rather he destablized himself and kept moving. Now he was the one on the run. Whether or not he had expected it was unknown.

Error pursued him immediately, blasting through entire walls of code that blocked his way. If he was saying anything, emitting any noise at all, it was unintelligible to him. Meaningless. 

He used to destroy everything he hated to fuel his will to live, including minor glitches distantly related to the monstrosity he truly was. But at the same time, none of it made sense. None of the semantics surrounding his past were important. Only the anomaly attempting escape before his eyes, destabilized code bunched together in a being that only knew suffering and grief, abandonment and anger.

So much like him but at the same time so, so different.

It was PATHETIC.

The entity let out a deafening roar behind Klezmer, causing the code closest to him to glitch out momentarily, then proceed to function as it was a second after.

Of course, not all gods went through life unchallenged. There were rules to the madness they shared and pain they carried. Rules not even they understood clear as crystal. 

Klezmer used one of his strings to create a portal only for himself, a split second to get far from Error and to a higher ground, where he made hundreds of spears of his strings and even fractured bones. All with their own rings of strings like crossbows, all aimed at Error. With a golden smirk, he let them loose, each one doing thrice the amount of damage they did to Ink. All the while he made a crossbow for himself. One he could wield. But this one wouldn’t shoot a spear or bone. Rather the sickle’s chain that was previously tied to his waist and now having a small sharp knife made of his strings to ensure it went right through his target.

“Didn’t think I’d ‘ave ta use dis…” he mumbled to himself. “But color me surprised… bastard got a bigger temper ‘dan Wiess.”

There was a click in the Anti-Void as the hurricane of projectiles chased their target, just a shift in the layout code, like something just went missing. 

Then, it was like the ‘ceiling’ grew a corn maze of red bones, stretching half a horizon across the new, demented plaza, connected to a million more blue strings. The ground shook with another haunting scream, and the source of the challenge pulled down the floodgates right behind Klezmer’s projectiles, snapping some in two every which way, cracking down on the ‘floor’ and disembodied walls, splitting some into smaller chunks than they were initially. Dust and grime filled the atmosphere, blocking a clear shot of wherever the target was.

Laughter without a direct source echoed off of what remained of the walls around them, morphing the acoustics and Klezmer couldn’t help but laugh alongside Error. He took aim with his crossbow as several portals opened up with more shots of the crossbow-spears and bones.

He saw the game Error was playing and he’d happily play along, but this was his domain, not Error’s. Thus, he knew every inch Error ran through. Every spot he paused. Every weak point. And thus, he fired the chain. With a rattling sound, it took off and the strings extended and extended further and farther than it would’ve otherwise, dragging the blade with it right towards Error’s soul.

The sickle wasn’t anything that the two idiots had ever faced. It was an Outer Realms specialty. A weapon that specifically did True Damage. There were specific damage types in the Outer Realms, and True Damage was a specialty that Klezmer had thanks to the weapon, specifically only the weapon really. It could bypass all resistances, all armor and specifically target the soul of the opponent, even going as far as latching onto it if the opponent could survive the attack. Meaning that they’d have the weapon stuck onto their soul and out for Klezmer to attack directly. It almost felt like cheating, but it wasn’t his fault someone was stupid enough to stand still long enough to get hit by it.

—------------

Ink made progress centimeter by centimeter, trying to ignore the sound of destruction, screams, and even more destruction. He thought back to the decay of Underfell, the compounding collapse of reality itself before everything imploded into white. Pure white.

He shivered and pressed on, cutting more divots into his bones in the process so more ink could join with the ‘floor’ underneath him.

Then came Error’s roar, the ring of the sound breaking his nonexistent ears, and then the ‘ground’ rumbled. Ink felt something slip under them, and the cocoon around them loosened, but not by much. They were a sitting duck like this, and whether Error wanted his help or not, Ink was convinced he’d die out there.

He had gotten an odd feeling this other Error was vastly more powerful than initially given credit when he was dragged kicking and screaming into this version of the Anti-Void, He didn’t know whether it had an actual name aside from that, but it’s not like they could afford to care, not when so much was at stake.

He wanted them both dead. He made that message abundantly clear.

Ink felt the hole in his sternum and vertebrae mend, and he could finally dematerialize enough to slip through the dozens of layers of strings that bound him. They knew they were getting weaker, having lost more paint than any other fight they could recall, and the migraine had come pounding in when he was dragged in this place too.

Error was right. They really didn’t have the position to fight in confidence here, but they doubted his impostor was manipulating either of them. The things he screamed several minutes ago were in complete confidence and backed with indescribable pain.

Think, Ink, think!

The ground rumbled again, knocking Ink back down in a pool of his own fluids. Another scream, and in the distance, he spotted one of the biggest walls in the area come crashing down, glitching back into the air in far more pieces than it started out as.

Summoning a gaster blaster, Ink jumped on its head and sped his way towards the ensuing fight, ripping off a lock of Error’s abandoned string as they zoomed by.

—-------------

Pain was the one thing Error knew best, but this was too much in one sitting. The glitch ripped out one of the stupid arrows that managed to snag him and snapped it in half, not bothering to watch the material crumble as he went to tend to another spot right next to it.

No matter how much his STATs fluctuated, flying up and down the border of 0 HP and MAXED HP to cope with the sheer amount of stress he just put his body through, Error felt it wouldn’t heal as quickly as he wanted it to, and it was just his luck that his sight cleared just enough before Klezmer pelted him with another barrage of projectiles, overloading his body.

He didn’t want to die like this, but begging was so far out of bounds of the question at hand that it was practically nonexistent, even as Klezmer shot another attack right at him, one the blur of his vision could not keep up with, not even if it were slowed down to fit his needs. 

It was gold. Thin and gold and probably heavy, but boy did it look ugly either way.

It was already too late when Error finally registered the real weight of what was to come, if it were even possible for him. The glitch jolted backwards, a wildfire of agony igniting his body in response to its inability to move and its broken down state.

Then a dark blue blur of his own strings shot its way across his vision, wrapping around the attack. Ink entered the edge of Error’s sight, tugging the chain in his direction, ending up in pieces.

It happened far too quickly for anyone to truly realize what exactly the situation was. The crunching of bone or the splatter of thick globules of ink splashing on the destroyed ground. The most that the two glitches got was the horror on Error’s face and sheer shock on Klezmer’s own, but the thud of the body was heard and the moment the black and gray gaster blaster turned to a pool of ink in an attempt to save its master.

In that moment the two glitches realized exactly what had happened.

Ink had jumped in front of the attack to protect Error, sacrificing himself to the blade of the sickle.

“INK!”

Error jumped and tried to catch Ink but barely made it in time, catching Ink’s husk in mere centimeters before it hit the ground – if one could call it that, considering it still somewhat did. Ink’s husk was flayed, sliced clean in half, only leaving behind the rib cage and up. The last bits of ink from the blaster served itself to heal its master as much as it could but it wouldn’t reawaken him.

“Nononononononono—” Error’s glitching getting worse and far more unstable the more he spoke.

All the while Klezmer couldn’t comprehend the sight before him.

Ink had jumped in front of a fatal shot just to save someone that wasn’t himself.

He didn’t even dare speak. But all he could do was mentally argue with himself to try to comprehend the situation and what to do about it. He took a long deep breath and tore open a portal, bringing his chain back to himself.

“I’m gonna regret dis later, I jus’ know it.” he thought to himself. Out of the portal he got a vial of mixed oil paints.

Carefully he walked over to the fellow glitch, placed the vial and used a string to teleport Error, the vial, and the husk out of the Anti-Void without issues. He stood alone for a moment before sitting down at his piano and played a song he had received from Katagma who got it from some random game… something called Laura Plays the Piano. Whatever game it was, he was told it was depressing.

As if…

As he played though, he couldn’t get the image of Ink jumping in front of the sickle out of his mind. No, emotionless husk would do that. Sketch wouldn’t do it even if someone paid him.

No. That Ink did feel. And he felt a lot. He stopped playing and sighed, “Yeah… fuck me. I am tha dumbass ‘ere, I suppose.”

—------------

His soul raced a million miles a second, a trillion miles a zeptosecond, and no matter what Error said or how much he screamed, the body in his hands didn’t respond or move. Not an inch. Not a millimeter. Nothing.

And even then, as far as Error was concerned, nothing outside of him and what used to be Ink mattered. 

The multiverse could burn.

It was like Error’s vision was set ablaze itself, both with glitches and tears he never thought he’d cry again, those blue-transparent pearls landing on Ink’s face, brushing away bits of their namesake, their blood. 

Error felt the ground below them change to something softer, and air clearer, holding the weight of life, but what use was it if his friend wasn’t here? The one person who bothered to spend time and energy on him since they met, regardless of how destructive his behavior was by itself, was doomed, and the glitch knew exactly why.

Ink was low on paints, their literal fucking lifeforce, but he would have rather died instead of him, even if he didn’t truly understand how hard he’d be hit, or how many pieces their little body would end up in. 

The destroyer’s vision began to black out, and Error heard the crunching of grass up ahead of them. 

Danger. Danger. DANGER. He came to finish the job.

“G-GET AWAY FROM US— I’M WARNING YOU!!!”

The figure in the distance was colossal, bearing the slight reflection of light glasses would get from the sun at just the right angle, and it was just tall enough to be the threat at hand. It hesitated, then continued with another step forward, its voice ringing in and out of Error’s fried senses.

“Hell–..-? A|3 y0– 0;ay…—-?”

Its shape muddled further, the darkness closing in. Error knew he summoned something, some degree of magic in an attempt to scare them off, but he didn’t get to witness the result.

[lockpickingliar]

Hello there! There are so many Kokichis that I got confused about which one to ask this question to. So, sorry about that!

Here is the same question(s) that I asked a different account:

Hello, Kokichi, Koko, Kichi, Loopy, Cookie, Joker, and any other iterations of the Ultimate Supreme Leader there are!

I have a question for you all. Do you each own your own version of D.I.C.E? Or are you all a part of the same organisation? If it is the latter, then do you all share equal ownership, or is there someone in charge?

I'd also like to know if you are all Ultimate Supreme Leaders or if each of your talent titles (or the talents in general) have variations between them.

Furthermore, are there any other differences between each of you, whether that be your behaviour, your emotions, your identities, any physical differences, or even your birthdays? Or are you identical copies to one another with the exception of your names?

Apologies for the mixup!

- Saber

Hello, hello, hello! No worries! We thought it was VERY funny, honest! You're right, there ARE a lot of us, and the doppelganger over there definitely doesn't make it any easier! As for your questions, though...

Me, oh my, though, where do we begin? Since there are so many of us, it's hard for all of us to clamor over each other to answer one ask. Soooooo for simplicity's sake I, Kichi, the one who's been around the longest (Six-ish years now! Crazy!) and arguably the mod's FAVORITE (or maybe that's a lie!) will give you a quick SparkNotes rundown of the Oumas we have.

Of course, I reserve the right to claim any and all of this MAY be a lie. You'll have to confirm with the others!

Let's get started, shall we? (This is a bit of a whopper, so under a cut it goes!)

Are you identical copies to one another with the exception of your names?

So, first and foremost a big thing with us is that we're not really copies of each other so much as alternate version from different universes. We're all Ouma Kokichi, and we've taken to our various nicknames to better differentiate between us!

That being said, there are a lot of commonalities between us:

Our overall beliefs (anti-harassment, anti-punitive justice, the subjectivity of truth, etc.)

Our playful demeanor (also some of us play rougher than others, I'll get to that)

Our lack of a sense of taste (a lie)

Our Talent as Ultimate Supreme Leader (possibly another lie, you'll have to ask the others because they're liars, unlike me, who only ever tells the truth!)

The Tragedy really happened and it wasn't a Real Fiction universe (at least, for most of us to our knowledge; not everyone has the memories to confirm or could be lying)

No, the big differences mostly fall under our experiences, namely the events that occurred in our respective universes. However, those differences in experiences do have an effect on the... I guess the flavor of Ouma we exude? Subtle variations, which makes sense considering everyone's unique experiences shape them into the person they are!

That being said, there are two major camps in general divergence that help sort things out a little between us: whether or not our killing game was a simulation, or more specifically, time loops.

Oumas whose killing game is a simulation and/or time loop and death is temporary:

Me (Kichi (remembers all of my loops (lie), 162+ loops so far (lie))

Loopy (does not remember his loops, 82+ loops so far)

Joker (remembers his loops, 467+ loops so far)

Petty (remembers most of his loops, ~93+ loops so far that he knows of)

Oumas whos killing game is not a simulation and death is permanent:

Me (Kichi (Dying (lie)))

Cookie (Dead)

Koko (Dead)

Bindle (Alive (for now))

Cusp (Dead)

Ender (Alive (barely))

Gemini (Dead)

Moonpie (Alive (I think (could be a lie)))

Do you each own your own version of D.I.C.E? Or are you all a part of the same organization?

Not all of us have a DICE, no! At least, it depends on the universe!

Oumas who are known to have had DICEs in their home universe:

Cookie (had a "canon" DICE as seen in his motive video)

Bindle (his DICE are a psychosis/headmate thing, he hasn't told us which it is just that they're there and they talk to him a lot)

Cusp (had a "canon" DICE similar to Cookie, PLUS his Amami-chan, who was also a member)

Gemini (his DICE was the entire V3 cast, actually! He's talked about this in one of his essays)

Oumas who are known to not have a DICE in their home universe:

Me (Kichi (lie))

Everyone else has not made mention of ever having a DICE where they came from. Well, except Joker, but Joker's story about his DICE parrots Cookie's so closely that it's hard to tell if he's lying or not.

If it is the latter, then do you all share equal ownership, or is there someone in charge?

HERE, though, it gets a little more interesting! Among the many killing game folk who live here (because we have MORE than just Oumas, y'know!) Cookie has actually gone out of his way to start a new faction of DICE after death.

Umami-chan (an Amami) and I are members of that new faction, among some others who do not use this blog! Cookie's the de facto leader, but whenever he needs a break due to post-death medical issues or whatever, I step up in his place. I'm the Ultimate Substitute Supreme Leader you might say!

Gemini is also working on getting his own DICE back from the grave! So far, he's managed to get back his Akamatsu (Lyra) and Hoshi (Ursa), as well as a couple of others (Momota and Amami) who, again, aren't on this blog.

Aside from that, us Oumas still have a tendency to cluster together in groups because as Supreme Leaders, camaraderie is what we do best! The other loopers (Loopy, Petty, and Joker) have formed a little gaggle and they try to check in with each other. Or at least, Loopy does. He's a sweetheart and worries about the other two a lot.

Furthermore, are there any other differences between each of you?

Like I said before, a lot of our differences are rooted in our experiences, and most are pretty subtle! Just for fun, though, here are some of the major differences for a few of us:

I'm pretty sure in my universe, Saihara is the mastermind. Like, 76.326% sure! (Kichi (lie))

I (Kichi) also prior to the killing game was a subject in some weird underground facility, where I grew up as far back as I can remember and everything I knew about the world came purely from TV and whether or not the things I got to ask the doctors to bring me once a week was actually possible to get and confirm they were real, but don't worry about it that's a lie! Makes a fun crazy story, though, right?

Cookie's plan to fool Monokuma with the hydraulic press actually worked and ended their killing game early! We found all this out from his Momota (Plum), who unfortunately still died from his illness after the fact. Bummer.

Loopy is the younger brother of Tsumiki Mikan, and was raised by the Remnants of Despair through the Tragedy until the Future Foundation apprehended them and put him in foster care with a shiny new family name.

Bindle found his Amami as he was dying in the library, and plans to throw the trial and take Akamatsu's place as Blackened after tipping everyone off about the potential canon he's learned about here so he can just spend his afterlife here with his Amami.

Petty had to eat his Amami when they got trapped starving in a cave! (lie)

Ender was the one who took the shot put ball to the head in his universe. Thankfully he's not dead, as the culprit had a change of heart afterward just quickly enough to get him help, but he's in critical condition in his home universe now with only Momota's astronaut emergency first aid to help him. He's not usually, like. Conscious. Obviously.

As stated before, Gemini's DICE was the entire V3 cast. They were a counter-organization to the Future Foundation, which is a lot more corrupt in his universe. They had a lot of projects going on to assist with Tragedy reconstruction in places the FF willfully turned a blind eye to, and were planning to overthrow them entirely. According to Gem, the FF themselves were the ones that caught them and put them in their killing game.

Aaaaand that's about the most pressing bits about it! We all have our own little blurbs in the Directory if there's anyone in particular you're more interested in, with our individual tags and tags for flash fiction series our dearest mods (mostly Pick with his AitCM Challenge, let's be real here) have been working on to put our stories in writing!

If you're curious on our thoughts about our various experiences from our own perspective, though, you can pop more questions in our inbox or take a look at our X on Y Essay tag, where some of us go on little tangents about inane things!

Thanks so much for the ask! It was fun getting to answer something serious for a change! We hope to hear from you again!

-Kichi

[nogenderbee]

♡˗ˏ✎*ೃ˚ 𝕀 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦- ℕ𝕆 𝕎𝔸𝕀𝕋 ₊˚ˑ༄

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ @nenes-numberonefan request: HELLOOO

ima request the same thing i requested @/mizu-nights but i’m a silly goose and i wanna see everyone’s style of writing

basically can i request rui, nene and tsukasa x reader (separate) and they have a platonic relationship with our beloved y/n but then they accidentally confess their love to the reader, sort of like the verse “the time is right your perfume fills my head the stars are red and oh the nights so blue, and then i go and spoil it all by saying something stupid like i love you ❤️” from the song something stupid. thank youuu xxxxxx love youuuuuu 😍😍😍🥶😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍(very hyper rn)

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ HIIII!! Yeah absolutely! I don't tho songfics normally tho, so I just based on your description and hopefully that's gonna be good enough!

But omg, the moment I saw this, I wanted to run to mizu-nights and read it because I apparently missed this fic- but NOPE I didn't wanted to accidentally write the same thing sooo I held myself back ^^

I totally did not copy lines from event for Tsukasa part-

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ fluff

Affiliation with @virtualbookstore

You've agreed to help Tsukasa with practicing for his upcoming performance, Romeo&Julia. He got the role of Romeo while his other friend from troupe got Julia. He just wanted someone to help him get that feeling of saying it right to soemone's face and... maybe he had planned something more too?

"O Juliet! Sun of my life! I beg of you, allow me your fair hand in marriage!!"

He was now on his one knee, holding your hand like pure gentleman with his left hand. This made you both happy and regretful for agreeing to help him... it's obviously very sweet to see him like this but it's also not helping your feelings for him... and you could swear you're blushing...

"Sweet Y/N...!"

But then he said your name... and you finally looked at him just to see him clearly in state of daydreaming, not stopping reciting next lines, so you had to stop him before he gives more hints than you can handle!

"Wait, wait... wasn't the second main character's name Juliet? Why did you say my name...?"

His face immidietly gained red hue and his hand didn't stop holding your gently. His eyes still looked focused on yours as if he haven't woke up from his dreamland, but his words told you his state was something completely else than you imagined...

"Y-Yes I know..."

You could only stare at him in slight shock... you didn't knew what to say and so did he. He was barely holding himself from turning it into a play someway... but he repeated one sentence in his head, "go big or go home", if he blurted it out, might as well go along?

"O Y/N, sun of my life, I beg of you, allow me to take you on a date!"

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@bleachtheidiot @akitosheart @bad-the-an-enjoyer @yulikesminori @alicewinterway18 @nenes-numberonefan - come get your future star!

You and Nene were hanging out on a rooftop at Kamiyama. Even if you're from Miyamasuzaka, let's say Emu teached you a trick or two~ So either way, you can enjoy your time with your dear friend!

You leaned in, wanting to see what she's playing and for once, instead of seeing shooting or rhythm game, you found her playing some... visual novel? Or was it otome game?

"Hey Nene? Are you playing... otome game?"

"Mhm, yeah."

She responded, clearly way into the game to process what she's saying. But that never was a problem for you since she still responded and was honest if anything when she was in this state.

"Look, you can even name your love interest~"

You looked at the screen with even more interest and saw 2 names... "Nene" and "Y/N". You get why her name would be here but yours? Were you... no way, right?

"Is... is Y/N the name of your... ingame love interest?"

"Yeah, real love interest too."

She finally looked up from her phone right at you with this soft and charming smile, when she saw your blush she was even confused for a second! Untill she realized... she just blurted it out, didn't she?

"Oh- uh- I mean... not like... Like..."

Now it was her blushing like crazy not knowing what to say... she was clearly between 2 thoguhts and had no idea which to choose... oh did you know it was all about if she should tell you the truth or a lie...

"Am I actually~?"

You couldn't help but encourage her a bit, hoping to hear the truth. If she actually saw YOU as the love interest, the real one! Or... if it's just a misunderstanding...

And luckily, you didn't had to wait for long because right after your question, she gave you a little nod, easy to miss if you blinked... but her blushing face and the way she looked away would tell you it either way~

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@bleachtheidiot @akitosheart @bl4cktourmaline @nenes-numberonefan - come get your shy gamer~

Rui has texted you he forgot his coat from his house. And you as good friend, agreed to bring it to Pheonix Wonderland. He made sure you get a free ticket after all! So how could you say no to free fun at amusement park AND helping out your dear friend?

When you finally arrived at the Wonder Stage, you saw him tinkering with the robot, untill he heard someone's footsteps... his mood immidietly lighting up once he saw it's you!

"You're finally here! And I see you got my coat with you~ I can't express how glad I am for your help~"

"Don't mention it! You offered me a free ticket for that so how could I've said now?!"

He chuckled and finally came over to get his coat back, which you gave him back. And in another second, he had it on!

"But still, you're a great person for bringing it to me at THIS HOUR."

"Awh~ Don't you melt here or I'm gonna melt too!"

You couldn't brush off how sweet it was and opened your arms for quick friendly hug, since you clearly had a bit of appreciation moment going on.

"No, I mean it... you're such a sweetheart... I really couldn't avoid falling for you~"

"Huh-? What?"

After your questioning, he finally got a hang of himself pulling away with faint blush, clearly not knowing what to do. But his first reflex was to lie...

"I-I mean..."

But he seemed to stop himself... he realized lying would only make it last longer... so he decided to pull himself together, take big breath in and take the risk.

"Yes... I'm really sorry. I'm aware this is probably gonna break our friendship but... I indeed did fell for you..."

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@bleachtheidiot @akitosheart @yulikesminori @toyaswif3y @bl4cktourmaline @r4wrclwz @superstar-ethereal - come get your crazy inventor~

[venbetta]

I'm not sure if anyone's ever thought about this or has made a post about it, but I figured I'd add my own two cents if someone did talk about this.

// Ruin spoilers ahead

mostly about Freddy

So, seeing that headless Freddy has prototype written on the bottom of his foot, it's suggested or even theorized that our Freddy (the one we're with in SB) was a prototype this entire time.

Of course, like many others, I was very skeptical and in denial about the idea because why the hell would that be a thing? How is he a prototype? It wasn't there on his foot in the base game, so why this sudden change?

I kinda hated it, and as a way to cope, I theorized that maybe it wasn't the same Freddy and FazEnt just replaced him with another copy and then abandoned him... don't ask me how that particular Freddy became headless either. Also I was wobbling between the "True Ending" being the Canon one, I was back and forth and just trying to figure out what would've made sense.

My logic for the True Ending being canon was, maybe Freddy and Gregory both got out (alongside Vanessa) with glamdaddy intact, and they're just living life. Meanwhile, Faz Ent just made a new Freddy while fixing the plex but gave up and left everything to rot. Of course I know now that makes no sense or explains why/how the 2nd Freddy lost his head, but it's what I came up with. The PQ Ending is technically canon... so that was a waste of a braincell, hah...

Since fnaf has the tendency to rewrite/add things to the story, I think our Glamrock Freddy being a prototype is something I've accepted. Now, there are a few things I thought of that might add to the idea of him being a prototype (not confirmed but more speculative).

He's a high-tech, sentient AI robot, he can clearly experience human emotion (like the other glamrocks) and has decent mobility. What most likely seperates him from the other glams is the fact that he experiences existentialism. I know we don't see much from the other glams, what they think of their current situation (not even from Roxy in Ruin), they aren't fully aware of what they are or what they're doing (as far as we know). Their programming is focused on being entertainers and birthdays.

I'm not gonna say that the other glams aren't able to express deeper thoughts, but I think this is where I might be stretching this idea just a bit.

If you're going to make AI bots who can adapt and be flexible with their environment, there's gotta be some kind of limit of what they can say/think/do. Freddy is the prime example of not having that limitation since we see/hear him express concern about not being the only Glamrock Freddy that's walking around:

"Have I always been a Freddy? Am I Monty with a different shell? What if I am not the first Glamrock Freddy? ... Do we all feel the same? Am I special? If I am mass-produced, am I still art?" (Endo Warehouse)

This motherfucker literally commits arson:

"You sure collected a lot of toys! Perhaps we can do something to stop whatever is going on here." (Fire escape Ending)

When he goes to the basement and encounters the blob, he goes on this monologue:

"I know what this is. I have been here before. She brought me here. I found myself for the first time when I cleared the path. I did not want to, but I had no choice. Now I have a choice. I have changed. My friends are here. They are so angry, confused. But I can protect you. I am not me." (True Ending)

He ultimately goes against some of his programming to help a child in need-- even lie to a security guard-- which if he were set to do as he's told, he would've sent Gregory straight to Vanessa, even with Gregory adamantly telling him not to.

If he were programmed to be strict and not break any protocols, he'd would've gotten Gregory killed immediately.

I'm saying this because if we're being realistic (realistic in terms of how we usually program robots and things), there are barriers in what a robot/ai can really say/do that doesn't break its programming. If he's a prototype, Freddy wouldn't have those barriers to stop him from saying/doing most of the things he did in SB. I know there's another factor to him behaving kindly to Gregory and that's him being in safe mode, but even still... you would think he would follow the rules and not let Gregory do certain things and perhaps unintentionally get the boy killed.

I'm going back to the existential crisis Freddy has, because for something that's meant to be an animatronic mascot for kids, you wouldn't want him to make the children around him question the meaning of being alive and sentient. There would have to be some sort of guard against having those kind of thoughts and ideas. It makes Freddy more interesting, especially if he could've been easily replaced with a finalized version of him that did what he was suppose to.

Also, I know it's probably more widely accepted that either Vanny or Gregory hacked into Freddy, causing his collapse during the opening. With him being a prototype, maybe his systems couldn't handle that type of an advanced hack, unlike the other glams, making him unable to be properly hacked into in the beginning.

Not only that, there are some issues he has with performing, who knows, maybe he's had collapses before. We don't know.

Him being unable to enter the West Arcade:

"When I step onto the West Arcade dance floor I cannot stop myself! It is a programming bug." (West Arcade)

I'm aware him being in safe mode meant he's disconnected from the main network as well keeps him docile. While the "Afton" fight isn't technically canon, with the other upgrades on Freddy, those parts might have made him more susceptible to the virus attack. There's not much evidence pointing to the other glams not being prototypes but seeing how they each have upgrades while Freddy doesn't, that might hint that the others were mostly finalized, meaning their systems were properly functioning (aside from the virus of course).

Sorry if this was super long, but it's something I thought about and I had to put it in words. Nothing about Glamrock Freddy is normal, like he's not possessed (I use to believe in the glammike theory but I don't anymore eh...), but he's a prototype! He's gonna act all funky because he's not polished yet... and I think that's very interesting and endearing (in an odd way).

[i-love-yoi]

Hey! Sorry if this is really specific. Feel free to ignore this request.

Omori characters with a fem!reader whose birthday happens to be on the same date (not year), that Mari died and has the same hobbies, actions, personality traits (basically almost everything like Mari except looks)?

Tysm if you ever do this!!

S/O who is very similar to Mari in hobbies and has the same birthday as Mari.

Characters: Hero, Kel, Sunny, Basil, Aubrey.

I hate chemistry, and yet I take it. Now I'm praying that I'll pass this test with a three, and not a two, as usual. In general, at home I write test papers with a four, and at school with a two. However, the scores there are too high (0-9 points - a two, 10-23 points - a three, 24-30 points - a four, 31-38 points - a five). In general, I studied this whole month, worked on my body (losing weight) and played Chinese gacha games. Sorry for the delay, I just have exams coming up, I'm preparing for them (I've already passed the first exam (February 12), thank God I passed (16 points out of 22). I'm starting to think about making an account on AO3 and publishing a bunch of fanfics for different age groups🏋🏿‍♂️🏋🏿‍♂️🏋🏿‍♂️🏋🏿‍♂️🏋🏿‍♂️

TW:Fem!reader, romantic relationship, events take place after Mari's death, unhealthy relationship (?), delusional behavior, obscene words, Russian grammar, hurt.

Hero

•The death of the love of his life, what could be worse?

•The appearance of a person in his life who is perfectly similar to his dead love, and differs only in appearance.

•It was like a fucking reincarnation of Mari.

•The same character, the same tastes, the same hobbies, even the fucking birthday was on the same day as her.

•And only the appearance was different.

•As if this really was a pure reincarnation, as if heaven gave him a second chance.

•And he clearly will not miss this second chance.

•He will not be able to just let him go, now he will squeeze all the juices out of this "second chance."

•And he is lucky in that you have exactly the same preferences as Mari, absolutely the same, that's good, right?

•He could literally sometimes confuse your name and not even notice it.

•You're so kind, like Mari, and Mari would never be offended by that, so neither would you, right?

•It was always like, "Mari, I brought you your favorite flowers!" Or, "Mari, your baking is just wonderful!"

•But...Your appearance was not the same as hers.

•I think he would slowly, deliriously, and without even noticing, start changing your appearance little by little.

•For your own good, of course! After all, he wants you to shine and be simply beautiful!

•"I think this hair color will suit you just fine with your beautiful eyes!", "Maybe you should get this hairstyle? It will suit you perfectly, darling!"

•And many similar things.

•Oh, and he damn well can't stop comparing you to Mari, even if you say that you don't like it.

•You have to understand him! He is the main victim here! The victim of loss! He lost the love of his life!

•But hey, he told YOU that YOU are the love of HIS life...

•He doesn't see you, he sees Mari.

•Better take him to a psychologist before it's too late.

•Otherwise, who knows what else he can do.

•But the main thing to remember is that he doesn't consider all his actions to be obsession or harm.

•In his opinion, he helps you, makes you and you better.

•Even if it's the other way around.

Kel

•He was a little scared, he had to admit.

•He never even thought that something like this could happen.

•All those cliches in books and movies about love, like: "She's a damn copy!" were just a fantasy for him.

•But when he saw it in reality, to be honest, he got goosebumps.

•He almost screamed, like those desperate guys in the movies: "You're a damn copy of her!" or "Did God bless me with a second chance?", although the second phrase is more suitable for his older brother.

•He never felt any love for Mari, especially since he was too young for this! And his older brother was almost her fiancé.

•But when he saw how similar his own girlfriend was to his dead friend, it became a turning point for him.

•In fact, Kel used to be very angry at Mari for the fact that the day of her funeral fell right on his birthday, where he was forgotten, again.

•However, this was in childhood and he was small then, and compared to his love for Mari, Kel quickly rejected these feelings and thoughts.

•Kel was always the one who threw away his emotions if he considered them unnecessary.

•Thanks to the injury, he swallowed all the bitterness and resentment, smiling through fatigue and pain.

•Who will need him if he is always sad and tired?

•No one.

•And at least someone needs clowns, so he cannot show his true self.

•Just smile.

•Honestly, you will become almost like a second parent to him, and he will become your first child for you.

•He will become more mischievous and capricious.

•Oh, he still remembers that care from Mari, and you have exactly the same!

•So, in a sense, you are now parents to your own boyfriend.

Sunny

•Oh, shit.

•This is total shit, bro.

•You're literally the epitome of his older sister, except for your looks.

•Damn he blames himself so much for what he did, and now you too.

•The guilt over THAT situation is growing so strong, his spine is almost breaking from the weight.

•Honestly, at first he felt like you were sent to him by God himself as a punishment for what he did.

•Yeah, he loves you, but damn—

•It's just that you and Mari are so similar, you're like twins, only you look different.

•Same preferences, same hobbies, same phrases, even the same thoughts.

•Sometimes he thinks that you're the reincarnation of Mari, even if you're not.

•Because of these thoughts, he often finds it difficult to make any romantic gestures towards you, even kisses on the cheek.

•In the end, he is not a fan of incest, but on the contrary, a despiser.

•Even in his dream world, you and Mari are the same, even in appearance, well... Almost.

•To distinguish between you and Mari, he gave you a mole under your eye in the dream world.

•His heart often stops when you call him by name, like Mari once did.

•He is unlikely to get rid of it.

•It seems that he will have to live with this huge feeling of guilt forever.

•And even God will not spare him.

Basil

•Holy shit—

•This is going to be a total fuck-up for him.

•He still blames himself for everything, he's heard a lot of different bullshit, he's carried the burden of guilt alone, and now... this.

•Fucking rebirth Mari, completely.

•Well... almost completely.

•You have everything the same, hobbies, preferences, even the taste of baked goods is just as perfect!

•But only your fucking appearance makes you different, well, maybe the year of birth.

•The gods must be making fun of him.

•As if they sent you to him on purpose to torture him even more.

•He always considered gods and angels to be kind and merciful, but angels are not like that.

•They are just fighters for justice, ready to do terrible things for the sake of equality and the implementation of the laws from their holy book, the Bible.

•Basil himself was not a direct follower of Jesus Christ or a religious fanatic, but he believed in God.

•Until that moment.

•He still feels enormous guilt for that incident.

•He lay in bed every night, his heart pounding, his lungs unable to absorb oxygen, and tears streaming down his face.

•And curled up on the bed like an abandoned kitten, with a rapid heartbeat that was audible even in his ears and could easily pierce his ribs, he held his palms together, whispering a prayer for forgiveness.

•He prayed to everyone: God, angels, Sunny's parents, Kel, Hero, Aubrey, Mari.

•But no one ever responded to his pleas.

•No one ever forgave him.

•Honestly, Basil is very uncomfortable around you.

•And it would be a lie if I said that it wasn't because of you.

•But that's not the case.

•Yes, it is because of you, but it's not really about you.

•More precisely, it's about who you remind him of.

•He is overcome with intense fear every time he sees you, because your appearance brings back completely different memories.

•Sometimes good ones, and sometimes not so good ones.

•It will be very difficult for him to interact with you.

•Even just standing next to you will be difficult for him.

•You are a walking trigger for him.

•But, of course, it's not your fault.

•Only his fault.

•No one else's.

•He often thinks that you are just a reincarnation of Mari and have come for revenge, for his soul.

•He will never be forgiven.

•Never.

Aubrey

•For the first time in her life, Aubrey doesn't believe her eyes.

•When she first saw you, and in principle met you, she felt only shock, and her face expressed obvious disbelief.

•Who are you? Still an unfamiliar girl or her childhood friend, who was like a mother to her, just in another body?

•Aubrey herself is a detached and far from affectionate person, thanks to her father's departure and her mother's drunkenness.

•She never wanted to be the first to meet someone or ask someone for affection.

•Not after Mari's death.

•But here you are, a wonderful vision, which is literally a mirror image of Mari, only the appearance is different.

•Like her twin sister, the same character, but different in appearance.

•Although in twins everything is the opposite, but that was not even the point.

•When she saw you, she was immediately drawn to you.

•She immediately wanted to know you, to be with you.

•She just wanted to feel again that affection that she lost 4 years ago.

•That affection that she never received in normal quantities from her mother or father.

•Aubrey often went to church after that meeting, but now not only to pray for a better life that she has now, but also to thank the gods.

•To thank them for giving her literally a second chance.

•A second chance to feel loved again.

•A second chance to protect the one she loves and the one who loves her.

•Thanks to your exact resemblance to Mari, you quickly became friends and quickly got along.

•It was easier for Aubrey with you, because she knew that she loved Mari, and it turned out that you were literally her, just in a different shell.

•But sometimes there are absolutely maximum awkward moments, mainly for you.

•Because of your similarity to Mari, Aubrey often calls her by her name.

•And the most interesting thing is that sometimes she doesn’t even understand that she said something wrong!

•Also, in her gang, the ace is often compared to Mari.

•Yes, although they weren’t as familiar with Mari as Aubrey, for example, but hey, this gang of Mari, Kel, Hero, Sunny, Aubrey and Basil was popular in their entire town.

•And especially since Aubrey called you that, so if their boss calls you that, then you are probably like two peas in a pod, and it will be much better that way.

•Although you two often have quarrels because of this.

•Of course, you don’t like that you are not seen and are considered another person, and you express it.

•Aubrey doesn't see anything terrible in this, and often feels betrayed, because "Mari would never say that!"

•But then, swallowing her pride, Aubrey apologizes first.

•In the end, she doesn't want to lose again that affection that she lost 4 years ago.

[theamityelf]

Since I'm never going to take the time to actually write an SDR2 musical, I'm just going to post all my Danganronpa 2 musical brainstorms that I dumped on some acquaintances on Discord. Just as documentation.

First of all (and this is genuinely just copy-pasted in the order I said it.), Akane would have an upbeat song like Violet's in the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory musical. And maybe Nekomaru would keep trying to interrupt with a more basic melody, but then she keeps interrupting him back. Gundham’s song would be similar to H-llfire from Hunchback.

Akane's stuff could have shades of Dead Girl Walking (Reprise) from Heathers, if that makes sense. Just a vibe thing.

Plot-wise, I think the Twilight Syndrome Murder case can be dropped to just the envelope of photos, but I'd like to include the Funhouse if possible. (I specified this because I know the stageplay dropped the Funhouse, and precedent makes me stubborn.)

Chapter One:

First scene is just Hajime being confused and meeting people. Maybe we meet everyone through song, where everyone gets a verse to say their talent and their general deal.

Then we have Usami overpowered by Monokuma and Monokuma establishing the killing game. I'm thinking no song for that.

Impostor gets a song where he becomes the leader and encourages everyone.

First murder happens. A song for the trial, where Teruteru gets kind of Patter Song vibes to convey how no one could understand him at the end of that trial in the game. He's constantly interrupted by Nagito and the others.

After the trial, Nagito gets a short song about his bizarre ideology. It's going to get a few reprises later. That's why it's short. (Also, Nagito's song gets cut short by Kaz and Nekomaru abducting him.)

Chapter Two:

Instead of initially not knowing where Nagito is, the group is told the next morning that Kaz and Neko tied him up in the old building, and instead of having Mahiru bring him breakfast just once, it's a thing she does every day. She also still helps Hiyoko with her kimono

There's a song about exploring the new island, basically goes over all of what's there, in accordance with who Hajime spoke to in those places in the game (so, Fuyuhiko gets a verse in the diner, Sonia in the library, etc.) Fuyuhiko is the only character who doesn't sing (yet); he hasn't sung at all, this whole time. Not in a meta way, where he's acknowledging that everyone else is singing; he just doesn't do it.

Akane's song happens here, because it's where she first starts training with Nekomaru. Fast-paced duet where he keeps trying to slow her down.

Monokuma's motive is simplified from a video game to just an envelope of photos.

Mahiru asks Hajime to feed Nagito for her one day because she has another thing to do. He does, and Nagito sings part of a reprise for his song from earlier, but Hajime walks out on it.

Kazuichi brings Hajime in on his plan to crash the girls' beach trip, they find the body. When they find the mask, Sonia gets a song that is superficially her explaining Sparkling Justice and really her getting to be open about her interest in serial killers; there's a lot of creepy lyrical dissonance and I'm picturing it to be like (extremely deep cut incoming) the song "Silver and Gold" from the musical 1619: When Destinies Collide, as far as the general sound and the casually grim lyrics.

Investigation happens, Nagito pops in (and depending on the tone of the musical, his first line when he shows up can be something like, "Hey guys, good news! I've been in everybody's cabin tracing the shape of their shoes!"). The trial happens. They sing through presenting the evidence, except Fuyuhiko still only talks. The reveals happen the same as in the game, and Fuyuhiko's first sung word is just a long cry of Peko's name. From Chapter 3 on, he's a singing character.

Okay, that's as far as I got. Might add more later.

[prism-empurress]

you want xehanort lore? here is my best attempt based on what i know. i havent beaten the game where time travel got involved so this is uh. before things got too bad

so xehanort was a keyblade master who was training this kid ventus. then one day he felt a bit silly and wanted to restart a war for science so he stabbed a child to split his heart into two halves (ventus, pure light, and vanitas, pure dark) and then gave ventus (actively dying because of having his heart you know. ripped in half) to his old pal eraqus to deal with and kept vanitas. his GOAL was that vanitas and ventus would eventually fight and somehow form this old weapon called the x-blade (not to be confused with the keyblade despite being pronounced the same) because something something it forms when equal light and dark powers clash i think? idk. anyways i literally have no clue what happened at the end of bbs because i wasnt paying attention but iirc that plan only semi worked and ventus ended up in a fucking coma for 10 years. in the meantime i think xehanort was uh. i feel like his goal was immortality but i could be mixing him up with william afton. anyways he norted a boy. that boy was terra. basically he just possessed him. so theres terranort now. then aqua i think beat him up then dropped him off in radiant garden before going to the void

terranort then took a quick detour to get a phd in unethical science with notoriously totally definitely not the worst character ever ansem the wise. he learned about how to release peoples hearts and then uh. idr how this happened exactly BUT HE DID IT TO HIMSELF AND MAYBE CONVINCED ANSEM TW's OTHER APPRENTICES TO DO IT TOO????? anyways so oops! he now has split himself in half. not the same way he split ventus in half though he split himself in half in like a normal way, aka into a heartless and a nobody

tldr explanation for heartless and nobodies, heartless are peoples hearts that have succumbed to darkness and nobodies are the body they leave behind. if you have a strong will, your nobody is basically just a kinda funky copy of yourself without a heart. also if you choose to succumb to darkness instead of being overtaken by it, then you remain sentient as a heartless <-(this is also why sora was a very polite heartless, since he released his own heart). xehanort filled both of those conditions, so his heartless was ansem seeker of darkness and his nobody was xemnas. neither of them are ansem in any way shape or form and i genuinely cannot remember if there was a reason for him naming himself after ansem besides spite.

anyways. xemnas goes on to form a cult of nobodies with the other 5 apprentices that lost their hearts and a handful of other people he found. meanwhile, ansem sod is hanging out on the island sora and riku live on and is being weird to children. riku is feeling a bit silly and also jealous that his crush doesnt need him and so he accidentally destroys his home and starts hanging out with the demons. ansem sod decides that it would be really funny to possess this kid and so he tells riku that the darkness holds the secrets to free robux if he just succumbs to it. unfortunately no free robux awaits riku and ansem sod norts his second boy. its fine though, sora got exorcised him and then killed him with the power of friendship.

meanwhile, xemnas' cult is thriving. until it isnt. sora killed like half their members then tripped and fell so hard that he got amnesia and now hes in a coma while namine tries to fix him. theyve recruited soras nobody, this weird quiet kid named roxas, to go kill a bunch of heartless with the goal of completing kingdom hearts. what is kingdom hearts? great question im not sure. its like this big heart moon / the heart of all worlds? idk its where hearts go when theyre not heartless. xemnas tells his cult that completing kingdom hearts will give them all back their hearts and so they all are going along with it because they want their hearts back. except roxas who doesnt really care about this whole humanity thing but hes being bribed to stay with ice cream. but soon not even ice cream is enough to get him to stay. roxas decides to go out and find himself (literally!) and then immediately gets kidnapped by riku who is sad that his boyfriend is in a coma and snatched roxas to bring back to ansemtw so they could wake sora up. roxas then dies tragically. goodbye roxas!

sora then goes on to kill pretty much the rest of their members (except for axel who kills himself) and then tells xemnas to go die and then he and riku kill him with the power of... friendship........ totally just friendship

and then i stopped paying attention! hope this helps :>>

holy fucking shit, you really went above and beyond for this and I really must thank you more than just typing "thank you" here. THIS IS SO CRAZY!!! I'm fucking cackling over the robux bit too, that was brilliantly placed. I know NOTHING of kingdom hearts, but now I know...this guy! kinda! Again thank you, holy shit, I hope you have a wonderful rest of the day!

[beevean]

Something positive I have to say for Prime, because while it's not really appealing me to so far, I don't necessarily hate it. It's just a show that's just kind of there, so far. It's more of something I would play in the background while working on something:

The voice actors they got for it are genuinely good. They sound very close to the current game cast, but don't sound like cheap copies at the same time and are their own thing. I think Kazumi Evans is the best English voice actor Rouge has had since Lani Minella. I'm just confused on why they gave Knuckles two different voice actors. We go from main Knuckles sounding like a poor man's Patrick Warburton, to all of his AU counterparts sounding completely different. Don't know why they couldn't have Vincent Tong just voice main Knuckles too.

It's probably an unpopular opinion among people who hate Prime, but I really like Deven Mack as Sonic! He's obviously taking inspiration from Jaleel White's take, but he doesn't sound nearly as grating. Like Ben Schwartz, it fits Sonic, although maybe not the game version. And he seems to be downright honored to be voicing our boy, and I can respect that :)

I like Rouge's modern voice, but I loved Kazumi Evans in MLP and she's perfect for her. I'm not fully convinced by Ashleigh Ball's take on Nine, though - it's funny because I remember people thinking Rainbow Dash was a boy based solely on her voice :P

I didn't listen to Knuckles' different voices, but I noticed that he has multiple VAs, which is odd. Why only him? Was... *check* Adam Nurada unavailable for the rest of the show?

But yeah. Prime is inoffensive, at the end of the day - as I said, I simply feel out of target. I just think people are hyping it up too much, and hype backlash is always annoying.

[livehexmoments]

OK SO I HAVE AN AU YIPPEE!! I love the hex side characters sm for some reason, im making an entire au centered around them. These are just copy and pasted from my doc i made (and still working on so it might be a little rough!)

So, basic plot summary because it's not that deep: Wizarro found a bunch of supposed “dead” characters somewhere far off into the void on his travels and took them in to travel with him. Some characters like Shrewd and Rocky are actively looking for someone, while others like Jack and Alley just follow because they have nowhere else to go. Catarina joins them later on because she feels bad and wants to at least help them in finding a safe place to stay. Chaos ensues. Adding onto this, I was thinking they would eventually find a place to live in “beneath the Surface” or somewhere like it! (for fellas who don’t know, it's a free game that was made by Carla in canon. It contains the secret ending for the Hex).

Main Cast:

Wizarro:

Description: Very cryptic guy but friendly (Like “I don’t sleep, I dream'' cryptic)!! Always calls people his friend and isn’t afraid of much. Tends to wander from place to place, which is how he found most of them. His magic is VERY weak, even weaker than Moji’s. He’s trying to get better throughout the events of the au and does manage to learn some powerful spells to protect himself and his new found family. At least he is able to fight back and can do some hand to hand combat (he wasn’t the best fighter in combat arena x but got by). He used to work for Gameworks and was assigned to Combat Arena X but quit during the development of Secrets of Legendaria and has chosen a life of wandering in worlds/engine (which explains how he ends up in the weirdest of places). Irving didn’t really care too much, since his hands were full with SOL, so he was able to get away with just leaving. Wizarro is someone who appreciates the newfound company and is actually afraid to lose it. He’s been wandering by himself for a while and it does get pretty lonely.

Appearance: Wizarro still wears the same clothes as he did before, with the addition of a little handbag he carries around, a scarf around his neck, and maybe a patch or two on the shirt. The handbag actually works on cartoon logic, as he seemingly can fit a lot of stuff in there (yet constantly forgets to put what they actually need in there). His sunglasses are still there too and he’s never seen without them. Even when it’s cloudy, he refuses to take it off. One change he does have is with his hair as it grew a bit longer from his travels and he doesn’t want to cut it.

Rocky:

Description: BELOVED ROCKY ...He's so confused on this journey and just wants to go home with his pops (if he could find him that is). He doesn’t remember too much from his death, just the forest and the hat lady shooting him out of existence, which he still has nightmares from. While Rocky is confused, he is also very kindhearted and protective over his new found friends. Like Rust, he doesn’t understand the concept of being a video game character and whatnot and tends to ask a lot of questions. Well, he always did that, he’s just a very curious person. Like to crack jokes and puns to lighten the mood and hear the stories of everyone. His protective nature came naturally from his time in the wasteland, the unfortunate downside is how he usually treats himself as a meatshield and will take a lot of hits for people, which isn't good.

Appearance: Rocky’s appearance hasn't changed too much. Instead of the undies he wears in game, I gave him shorts that are a bit torn up from being in the wasteland for so long. He still wears his worn out sneakers and bandages on his arms. I also gave him a lot more scars. Not only on his arms from those implants when the mods took over, but also just from cuts and bites from when he fought raiders and rad rats. One notable thing I did give him compared to his canonical design is he wears a large brown hooded cloak. I don’t know how he got it yet (thinking either they found it or Wizarro/Mr. Shrewd made it for him) but I wanted him to wear something that was a bit similar to Rust’s hood. I also think that most of the members of this travel gang wear stuff that covers their identity a bit, since they don’t want people immediately recognizing them and causing issues (especially Gameworks).

Jack:

Description: SNARKY BITCH. Has a hatred for liars and hates being here sm. The only person he tolerates at first is Wizarro as they knew each other well from Gameworks, everyone else is for him to get used to, ESPECIALLY ALLEY AND JUNIOR. They both annoy him so much. He is still a door, so he moves around with magic and floating. He is the best magic user by a long shot, but his only spells relate to ankhs and that’s it. He says his sense of smell is good…that’s a lie, it’s really bad. He misses his queen sm and he honestly misses Secrets of Legendaria, as he truly did consider it one of the better games he was assigned to.

Appearance: There’s not much I can say about his design because I didn’t change much. I will say that since coming back, he does have a couple of more cracks showing, specifically on his door body, arms, and face. I’m thinking about also just giving him a chipped ear because why not. OH and a tail on the backend that yes, will wag if happy or excited (he hates it).

Alley:

Description: Uncontrollable swearing. Is the reason why Rocky now knows 10 swears including Fuck. He is a pretty strong character too (apparently from dialogue, he was put in the npc detention center for being OP), but only in short bursts. He then gets tired and can’t fight so he’ll either give up or pass out. Known for having a bad temper and short patience. Easily irritated and only calm during rare moments when nothing is going on. Despite all that, he is not one to pick fights unless he’s approached directly and feels threatened…which is a lot of the time.

Appearance: Alley is the one character who died that doesn’t have any major design changes in this au, other than maybe his clothes being scuffed up with rips and a few scratches (he’s perfect as is <3)

Mr. Shrewd:

Description: Wonderful old man and dad. The father figure of the group and someone to keep everyone calm. He’s used to dealing with impatient or jerkish people (see Weasel kid and Mr. Squarrel here), so he can handle whatever fighting is going on that day. Pretty stern yet always giving good advice and support to anyone who needs it. While is a horrible fighter, he is decently quick with getting anyone out of a sticky situation and his ability to burrow underground will be useful. He honestly wants to try and find Weasel and/or Squarrel but realizing how much time has passed, he grows more unsure of that plan since he doesn’t want to upset them and bring back old trauma. “I miss my husband and kid…I miss them a lot. I’ll be back.”. Honestly I think he is pretty protective overall. He’s so used to being like that in Super Weasel Kid 1 and I do think it does come from a genuine fear of seeing people he cares about being hurt in any way :(

Appearance: Mr Shrewd has big ass glasses because of his old ones being “missing” (with mr Squarrel). He also has an amount of gray on his sideburns and mustache as he still is considered a bit older. It applies to his fur too, as the color is much paler. The wiki says he wears a green tee, so i'm gonna change it to be a green plaid sweater vest with the white shirt and tie kept because honestly i like that better. Oh so because he was initially designed (COUGH no legs COUGH), i think that the gang manages to code him in some legs and they’re so small. He would have khakis and a small tail with these new legs.

Moji:

Description: I feel so bad for Moji, he’s honestly seems so nice and just trying his best. Kind of a dumbass and too naive for his own good but he tries. Goofy little guy who’s just trying his best and desperately wanting to spend the time he missed with his kid. The resident healer of the group who makes sure everyone is in good health and spirit (Even if they don’t want it). He can get upset, but it’s very hard to genuinely make him mad or sad. If you do, what’s wrong with you, he’s been through enough. He’s more lenient as a parent, basically letting “the kids” which consists of Junior and Rocky, to do whatever as long as it isn't super dangerous. He honestly forgives Chandrelle for killing him, he isn’t the type of person to hold a grudge (Junior does that for him). He still is apprehensive towards actually seeing her again and honestly I do think that forgiveness comes from him wanting to believe the good in people, even someone like Chandrelle who killed him in cold blood.

Appearance: So many burn marks and a scar from being stabbed by a sword on his chest. It’s honestly kind of horrifying. Moji otherwise has barely any notable design changes such as that. I will mention it here (and it applies to Junior too) but I think moglees’ eyes work in the same way as Olimar’s does in Pikmin. Basically always closed but when expressing extreme shock, fear or anger, go wide open. idk i just thought it would be funny

Junior:

Description: The “Wildcard” of the group. Very chaotic and a “You can’t tell me what to do kind of guy” (except when his dad tells him no). Does not regret killing Jay at all as it was per the agreement. LOVES COMMITTING WAR CRIMES (and regular crimes). He does regret one thing: Blaming his father for abandoning him when that didn't happen at all. He is so traumatized from secrets and his own death it's insane. Loves denying it though to keep up his toxic masculinity. When he finds out about Chandrelle and how Lazarus kept quiet about it, he is going to lose it. While him and Lazarus aren’t the closest or anything, he does respect Lazarus’s skills and actually looked up to him since he was a kid (he thought being a knight was cool, he was like 10). Although being a bit older than Weasel, he is very much more immature than him and doesn’t know how to take responsibility for his actions that well.

Appearance: Junior has a lot of scars from his days in Vicious Galaxy, his child self dealing with the Vallamir attack, and his untimely demise being crushed by debris. He also has some stitches on certain parts of his body that he doesn’t remember getting at all. He absolutely ditches his armor and goes for the most punk/goth clothes you can think of. I can imagine him finding a red trench coat with combat boots and ripped jeans and being like “yep, im wearing this from now on, this is badass”. He carries his shotgun on his back at all times and is not afraid to use it. He’s very much taller than Moji

Jay:

Description: Oh god, this man has so many issues. He is still a meek and cowardly man, but since his death, he’s…changed. He’s honestly become a bit more jaded and bitter, actually getting over his anxiety when the time calls. He’s less afraid of getting into arguments but still is relatively quiet. I know I compare him to Lazarus a lot but they are alike in my eyes. But unlike Lazarus who became more depressed, Jay became more angry. Finally being sick of being treated like a tool and dirt (dying does change your mind lmao). He looks out for everyone as best as he can. Out of everyone, he’s the 2nd person to know most of Reggie’s plan but refuses to ever step foot in there again. His feelings about everything and his death and…them are complicated and too much for him to handle. So he’d rather avoid the pain than confront it. He does not tell the others about it though. Only him and Catarina understand the extent of his revenge and both would rather not let the others know to avoid any potential problems.

Appearance: Jay has scars from the vicious galaxy and his death. But his death scars are the biggest pain to deal with it because they fucked him up physically. I think the shotgun bullets hit his backside (need to check in game and stuff) so id like to think his head, back and maybe arms are a bit fucked. He gets frequent migraines, mood swings, and even can have serious back/arm pains during the worst of it. Jay still wears his old armor (and occasionally wears his old robe if necessary), the only real difference is with the helmet. Think of Master Chief's helmet but with the visor being in shape with the arrow and a removable mouth piece for drinking and eating. He wears it not for protection, but to keep his identity hidden if needed.

Catarina:

Description: Now I was debating on making her a side character or having her be a part of the gang...Ultimately, I chose the latter because 1. Cat lady and 2. I love her. Barely see anything about her so I'm gonna change that. She’s the last person to join their little traveling gang and she didn’t do it out of a big reason or wanting anything. She did it for fun. While she had nowhere else to go, she was feeling rather lonely and just wanted to be with other people. This group seemed chaotic yet welcoming when she stumbled upon them so why not join them? She gets along with everyone fine (especially shrewd who she sees as an old friend). She actually cares about them a lot. The group’s safety is important to her (she grew attached to these silly men) so if she foresees some bullshit, then she will let them know and try to get them to avoid it. She is also someone who knows everything about the plan and stuff, and agrees with Jay that going to the Six Pint Inn is a bad idea. Before the Hex, she actually knew it was going to happen, and yet felt powerless to do something. it’s one of her biggest regrets to let it happen (not because of Lionel but for the npcs that were killed and how the patrons’ lives were basically fucked).

Appearance: No change to her design at all. The only thing I will say is that she can be seen walking more rather than using her carpet everywhere. This was a personal choice by her. She wanted to be on their level and walk alongside them so she only uses the carpet for emergencies or if they need to get somewhere fast (it shockingly can hold all of them but only barely).

[queen-of-writing-bad-things]

Henry Danger Reader Insert | Captain Man x Reader: SEASON 4

Episode 16: Henry's Frittle Problem

~Henry's House~

Homework, isn't it fun? Well, Henry didn't think so.

The boy was sitting on the couch in his living room, struggling through the worst homework he'd ever gotten. At least that's how it felt. It was math, the worst of all subjects that are forced onto unsuspecting, innocent children and he wasn't very good at it. In any way. Come on, he was a superhero's sidekick, he didn't have time for algebra, fractions and graphs, he should be focusing on kicking butt and taking names. But no.

Charlotte, being the little smartypants she was, insisted that they do their homework together because, otherwise, he'd never get it done, and she knew that Henry was starting to slip behind in class. Honestly, it was for his own good, just a few sums and equations for them to solve and then the pain would be over, but he wouldn't listen to that shit. 

Use X to find Henry giving a shit. Oh, wait, she couldn't because he didn't know where to begin; not one answer down on his sheet as she scribbled down the last letter for her working out. Nothing like warming up the old brain, but for the sidekick, things weren't going so well...

"So, what'd you get for number one?" Charlotte asked once she had all her solutions in a nice neat line and she looked over to her friend, who had...none of that. He wasn't a nerd, okay? No offence to the girl, but he preferred to doodle all over his page and if he was sneaky about this, he could make it look like he wasn't an idiot at all. Why have a dog and bark yourself, right?

"Number one...number one...uhhhhh... What'd you get?" He replied, hoping that she'd take the bait and tell him her answer so he could then write it down and look like a model student, all brainy and studious. Charlotte looked at him funnily, wondering what game he was playing because it shouldn't have been so hard to say one letter, but she replied anyway, albeit with a glint of suspicion in her eye. "I got B."

"Uhhh, I got B! So, yeah... I got B." Henry grinned when she told him what he knew to be the correct answer, not because he quickly did the math and solved the problem to get the same solution, but because this was Charlotte and she never got any questions wrong.

"Okay...and what'd you get for number two?" She asked, sensing what he was doing because again, this was Charlotte and as demonstrated by her phenomenal mathematical ability, she wasn't an idiot. In the meantime, their discussion about their homework was drawing some eyes, mainly those of Mrs Hart and Piper as they set up a big celebration in the kitchen, although "sorry" didn't seem particularly festive. Oh well, she could ask about what was happening in a bit. Right now, she had to beat Henry at his own tricks.

"Number two...uh, that was a tricky one, wasn't it?" He mumbled, trying to make out that he wasn't as stupid as he was sounding, but truthfully, the question hadn't been tricky. It was the second one and they descended into difficulty, starting with the easiest stuff at the top and the trickiest questions at the bottom that only brainboxes like she could solve. The fact that he was struggling already said a lot about a boy who was going to school less and less these days... "Uh, w-what'd you get?"

"Y," Charlotte answered curtly, knowing that it made no sense since there was no P option, just A, B, or C, so when Henry looked down to see his paper, he furrowed his brows in confusion. Maybe the genius had lost her touch? 

"Exactly, I got, uh, Y--wait, Y?"

"Yeah. Why are you just copying my answers?" The girl questioned sharply, drawing him out with her sneaky wordplay and Henry bristled at how she'd caught him red-handed. Damn, he'd hoped he be able to squeeze a few more out of her before she caught on, but clearly, he'd met his match and all he could do now, was deny, deny, deny. "Pffft, I'm not!"

"Why are you lying?" Charlotte retorted, using her wordplay again when he just lied to her face like she was stupid. It wouldn't have even been that bad if he'd have said "yes, I am copying because I don't know what the hell I'm doing", but not, he'd made it ten times worse and now, she was feeling slightly offended and protective of her answers.

"Okay, let's move on," Henry said quickly as he saw her glare and he returned to his answers as his mother started pouring glasses of water in the kitchen, ordering Piper about so she was dashing all over the place. What were they doing in there? It didn't seem weird to the teen, him ignoring his family, but for Charlotte, it was all so odd. "What did you get for number three?"

"P."

"Come on!" Henry whined, wanting a real answer now that she knew he was dumb. He needed to get this assignment done before his teachers hated him more than they already did, but he misunderstood. Charlotte was that petty, she was more than willing to help him learn math now that he had a bit of respect for her, but first, she needed to do something. Very urgently.

"No, I'm serious. I gotta pee." She told him and left him stuttering as she chucked her writing pad and pencil onto the coffee table. She stood up, feeling the urge from her bladder telling her brain that it was time to go, nature was calling. And Henry could wait as she went to head to the stairs, but then, she was needed elsewhere.

"Hey, Charlotte, will you help up put up this banner?" Mrs Hart asked, having seen the girl walking across her living room and she figured that since she was already on her feet, then she wouldn't mind lending a hand. The banner in question was huge and not what anyone normally hung from their kitchen cabinets; it was big, red and yellow, so gauche and gaudy that she didn't want to look at it, although her curiosity won in the end. Why the hell did it say sorry? And what were all the other posters for, like the "we still love you!" one?

"Oh, sure! But, could it wait until after I use the bathroom?" Charlotte asked politely, knowing that the task would go a lot more smoothly if she could just pee and left help out, without any necessary strain on her bladder. In her mind, it wasn't a demanding question, it wasn't even that big of a deal, but Kris thought differently. "Uh, no. Right now."

"Oh...all right." Charlotte faltered at the woman's blunt tone and she panicked at the thought of upsetting her best friend's mom. Not one for conflict, she decided that it was best not to argue and so, she briskly crossed the room, entering the kitchen as her body screamed for a toilet or any receptacle that could take away the pain, but no. She was gonna be nice and help out her friend's family before they bit her head off.

"Just grab the end of that yellow rope and pull," Piper instructed her as she held the other rope, keeping one half of the sign hung to the ceiling and Charlotte rapidly did as she said. The sooner she did this, the sooner she could pee and it wasn't too difficult with Mrs Hart keeping an eye on how straight the thing was. She could pull up a banner, no problem. "Okie-doke!"

"Hey, Henry. Does this sorry banner look straight?" The woman asked her son as she stared at the huge yellow lettering. It looked straight to her but she was a bit too close to tell properly, so she figured that she might as well put Henry to good use. The problem was though, he was kinda busy himself, mainly with how he'd gathered that with Charlotte preoccupied, her lovely little answer unguarded, ripe for him to snap a few pics with his PearPhone. Y'know, just for future reference, certainly not because he was gonna copy them later. 

"Uh, yeah, looks good..." He replied in a flat tone, not even bothering to look at it since he didn't care about the dumb sign, all he wanted was to make sure his photos weren't blurry because he was going to the effort of cheating, he might as well get it done properly. However, Charlotte knew that tone of voice and knew that he didn't give a shit in reality and when she turned around to see what he was actually doing, she felt betrayed.

"Henry! Are you takings pics of my homework answers?!" The girl asked even though she already knew the answer. Yes, he was. She could see the way his screen flickered black as it took the shots and there was no way he'd be hunched over like that, staring directly at her paper for nothing. The nerve of some people...

"What?! No...no! No, no, no, no, I'm taking--I'm taking some selfies!" He lied through his teeth and then stuck out his tongue to lamely prove his point. Yeah, she wasn't falling for that, especially not when he tilted his phone to take even more pics of her work. Asshole.

"Okay, Charlotte, we'll take it from here." Mrs Hart smiled at the girl as she shook her head and it was like she'd been released from service, free to do whatever she wanted. Which was peeing. She needed to pee so badly, but there was one burning question she had that she couldn't ignore, not even when her brain started nagging her too.

"Sure! So, uh, who's sorry?" She wondered, taking in the banner as she stepped back, ignoring how every small movement jiggled her bladder about. She'd be the sorry one if she didn't find a dang bathroom sooner.

"Oh, no, this is just a family thing we do," Kris stated, dismissing it as a one-off event because that was not true. It was a tradition in a way, something they always did when Mr Hart came back from a job interview because he had this issue, which was that he was Jake Hart. Himself. He was the issue. He was a lovely man, wouldn't hurt a fly but underneath his kindly exterior laid a hollow brain with nothing that employers wanted. Therefore, he'd gone through more interviews than Captain Man had formally gone on dates with girls and every time, his family were there to pick up the pieces after he was laughed out of the building.

"Yeah, we put up the "sorry banner" whenever my dad interviews for a new job," Piper explained further, thoroughly confusing Charlotte since she thought that job interviews should be a happy time. If only she knew how dumb Mr Hart was, how many failures he'd been through and how many times his wife and kids had had to put on reassuring smiles and tell him that there'd always be the next time. "Oh, why?"

"To make him feel better."

"When he doesn't get the job!"

"But, you guys don't know whether or not he got the job." Charlotte pointed out, thinking that they were getting a bit ahead of themselves. Surely, it would be best to keep their fingers crossed and cheer him on, but after years and years of watching him come home a beaten man, The Harts had figured that it was kinder to welcome him home with their sympathy, not a party for a guy who could've won the interview if he wasn't such an oddball.

"Yeah, but, you see, it's like, in life, there are winners and..."

"Y'know." The mother and daughter screwed up their noses, trying to explain it in a way that seemed kind but it was tricky. Mr Hart was dumb, there was no getting away from that, just like there was no way he was gonna come home victorious.

"Hey, I, uh, I finished my math homework," Henry announced, coming up behind Charlotte and tapping her on the shoulder. he was so proud, the task was finally done, meaning he could relax and not worry anymore, because thanks to his friend's answers, he'd be going to the top of the class for this assignment.

"So?" The girl asked, thinking it was weird that he was telling her. It's not like she needed an update every time he did something, certainly not when she knew that he'd put in one per cent of the work she had.

"So I'm ready to copy your English homework." He told her expectantly, which drew another irritated stare. That little... English wasn't that hard, it was just words and reading, not exactly rocket science, but Henry couldn't be bothered with that shit, not when he had his own little Bill Shakespeare as one of his greatest friends. Y'know, she could do English, math, science, everything he needed so he didn't fail all of his subjects.

"Well, I'm ready to visit your restroom," Charlotte replied dryly, giving him an unamused stare before walking off. He had some nerve asking her for more answers, but she'd fight back properly after she peed because it was starting to ache from how tense her abdominal muscle had to be. Just pee first, argue later, that was her plan.

"Well, can I, uh, can I get your English homework before you go?" Ugh, why wasn't he getting the message? When you gotta go, you gotta go and Charlotte really needed to go. This wasn't just a trifling, passing fancy, this was an urgent, unyielding call from nature and sure, if she was a robot, then he could have her homework at that very moment, but she wasn't. She was all too human and meant that his relentless whining was starting to piss her off. Jeez, was this how (y/n) felt when Ray started pouting? "No! I have to pee!"

"So, I can get it right after?" He called after the girl as she headed for the stairs, not wanting anything else to stop her from reaching the bathroom. She was on a mission and that mission was to get there before she had to use a plant pot or something and nothing could stop her...apart from Mr Hart energetically bursting through the door with the happiest expression she'd ever seen. Ugh.

"Okay! Nobody move!" He shouted, causing everyone to stop what they were doing. Piper and Mrs Hart stopped prepping, prettifying and tidying the kitchen, Henry stopped trying to sneak a glance at Charlotte's other homework, whilst she halted in her tracks. So close and yet so far. "Aw, whyyy?!"

"Honey, what's up?" Mrs Hart asked, wondering why her husband was in such a good mood. Normally, when he came back after an interview, his mood was dark and foreboding because of how another job had come and gone, so this chirpiness came as a complete surprise. Where was the depression and tears, frowns and grumbles?

"What's up is...Frittle Chips! You get some Frittle Chips! And you get some Frittle Chips! And you get some Frittle Chips!" Jake grinned, taking several cans of the famous chips from his bag and throwing one to his wife, Piper and Henry, who gratefully accepted them but there was still so much confusion with the gifts. Why was he so happy and why were they getting free food? And why did Charlotte have to stand still?!

"Dad, why are you throwing us Frittle Chips?" Henry asked on behalf of everyone because they all had the same question on their minds.

"I'll answer that with a poem. Ready?" Mr Hart replied joyfully, making them frown with bewilderment. Okay, an odd choice for explaining but hey, that was their dad/husband, a bit of a weirdo. "Roses are red, doors have a knob, this guy is happy because he just got a new...!"

"Car?" Henry suggested, thinking that there was no way he was gonna say the J-word. Maybe he'd bought himself something to cover the pain or maybe he'd been given the car. Whatever it was, they thought he couldn't come home with victory because of who he was. Mr Hart wasn't a winner, he was a loser, as harsh as that seemed. "No..."

"Hat?" Piper went next, also believing that he wasn't gonna say j-o-b because that would be madness. She knew her dad and how crap he was in interviews. That's why she'd been bothered to help her mom with all the signage, because of how dumb he was. "Come on!"

"Swim trunks?" Okay, Mrs Hart's suggestion was ridiculous and it made Jake purse his lips in annoyance. Did they really have that little faith in him? Well, he'd show them because he wasn't a loser this time, the tables had turned and he was king. Sort of, more like a lowly courtier, but that didn't sound as cool.

"No! Job! I got the job!" He yelled, and for a moment, no one knew how to breathe. Did he say?-- Holy shit, his family were so confused and so happy and so proud and so everything because their father was no longer a moron, he was employed! This was so shocking, who the hell hired him!

"He--he got the job!"

"I can't believe it..."

"I--I guess we should cheer." Mrs Hart stammered after her surprised children and they slowly started clapping and whooping, which hadn't been their initial reaction solely because this had never happened. Ever. Their cheers were nice for the man, even if they were a little delayed and he flushed under their praise, feeling pride swell in his heart once again since he hadn't expected to ace the interview either. After so many failures, he was beginning to think it was him (it was definitely him), but now, he was on the payroll, a breadwinner, the man.

"Thank you! Thank you very much! I am a happy, happy daddy!" Okay... Another strange thing for him to say since he wasn't just a daddy, he was a husband and "man" would have been much more fitting. Plus, his kids weren't exactly at the "daddy" age anymore, so that didn't help either, but whatever. This was all lovely and she was happy for them, but Charlotte could think about much better things. Like peeing.

"Okay, well, this seems like a family time and I really need to go use the bathroom, so--" 

"Oh, Charlotte, stop that!" Mrs Hart interrupted her as she tried to be humble and polite with her excuses. The teen didn't want to intrude and step on the moment, she just wanted to go upstairs before she burst, but they were obviously feeling much more sentimental than she was, especially when Mr Hart dragged her right back and into the family circle. "You're family!"

"You just sit down!"

"You just stay here!" Piper and Henry grinned as the boy wrapped an arm around her shoulders, meaning she was trapped yet again. Telling them that she didn't want to celebrate with them would break their hearts and she couldn't do that, even if she wanted to tell them where to go. Grumbling, she sat down on the edge of the couch, hoping the position would make things feel a little bit better and easier to hold in, but the cushions were too squishy and the pressure on her bladder merely intensified. Damn it...

"So, honey, what is this new job?" Mrs Hart asked excitedly, stepping up to her husband so she could grin at his goofy face. Yeah, under that stupid exterior was a loveable goon and even if they had their rocky moments, such as when she had moments with tennis instructors, the sweet times made up for it.

"I'm gonna be a project manager at the Frittle Factory!" Mr Hart exclaimed, making them all gasp at how that sounded pretty cool. Frittles were super popular and that could only mean that his job was gonna be super interesting, as well as super high-paying. This was what they'd been waiting for, now he wasn't an embarrassment because he was working for one of the biggest companies in the country... Wait, the Frittle Factory? 

"There is no more Frittle Factory in Swellview," Piper stated, remembering how the huge production warehouse in the industrial area of Swellview had been blown up during an unfortunate accident involving Captain Man, Miss Danger and Kid Danger. Well, mainly the boys, she'd watched the superheroine try to calm her then-boyfriend and fellow sidekick, only for things to go wrong when they made the factory's system go haywire and literally explode. So, how was her dad able to work there? Was his desk amongst the rubble and builders attempting to salvage the shredded shell?

"I know, 'cause Captain Man, Miss Danger and Kid Danger blew it to bits." Well, when he said it like that, it seemed so violent, but Henry knew better. So what if he and his boss got a bit carried away? Sure, there had been a bit of collateral damage and (y/n) never let them live it down, but it hadn't been that bad. No one had been hurt, that was the main thing.

"Well, that's not exactly what happened...to those guys and girl!" He protested, remembering to distance himself from the superheroes he definitely wasn't one of before his family got suspicious. He wasn't Kid Danger, he was just a normal kid, no one start prying.

"Yeah, it is. It happened last year. It was a cool, Wednesday afternoon, I was watching the news with my pants on and they said that Captain Man, Miss Danger and Kid Danger were visiting the Frittle factory and got into an argument that Miss Danger couldn't stop..." Mr Hart described, making them all reminisce about that fateful day when Mr Frittleman's fortune plummeted by fifty per cent when two friends battled it out with a pretty girl in the middle...

~

"Hey, he's not indestructible, you can't shoot--" (y/n)'s protests didn't matter, this was war and Ray Manchester took no prisoners. He fired a can of Red Frittles into Henry's abdomen, sending the kid to the floor with the forceful impact. Poor Mr Frittleman, he didn't want a brawl in his. factory, so he looked to Miss Danger for help.

"Guys, don't do this." She stood in the middle, but she was fighting a losing battle.

"Oh, he asked for this." Henry seethed and fired another can past (y/n). so it would hit Ray on the temple again. Ouch, that one had to have been painful and the pain was like adding wood to the fire. It made Ray even angrier.

"Okay! Say hello to my Frittle friend!" He quoted Scarface and yet another load of red frittles were sent Henry's way. It was slightly biased for a man as large as Ray to fight a skinny kid like Henry, who didn't have the weight to keep himself on his feet.

The worst wasn't over though, the catapulted Frittles hit some machinery at the back of the room, causing it to spark uncontrollably and an alarm to go off.

"They jammed the system controls! Now, the corn compressors are building up an extreme amount of pressure and...they can't release the corn gas!" Everyone paled at the news. Pressure meant explosion and an explosion was very, very bad.

"Oh, well done, you two. Nice going, you've outdone yourselves this time." (y/n) clapped her companions sarcastically as she guessed that they were heading for a catastrophe and she had to hand it to them. This was their biggest fuck up of the year.

"Attention. This is Jack Frittleman...run!" The CEO announced over the tannoy and no sooner than he did, the crowd bolted for the exits. Forgoing any attempt to salvage the snacks, the heroes, workers and guests legged it through the door and made it out with seconds to spare, leaving the Frittle factory to go up in flames.

~

"There's two sides to every story..." Henry argued as he snapped out of his little flashback. Jeez, that felt like it had happened only yesterday, Ray and (y/n) had only just started dating and he remembered how grumpy the woman had been when she'd heard about the extent of the damage her dumb friends had caused. Oh well, they were still together, engaged now, would you believe it and as gross as ever, so it had all been fine, for the Man Cave team at least. The same couldn't be said for the company that'd had to start from scratch after the incident.

"Hey, I thought I heard they were building the new Frittle Factory in Bordertown." Charlotte piped up. Being the clever clogs she was, she kept a close eye on the news and she was pretty sure that the old factory had been deemed a construction worker's nightmare and that it would be years, maybe even decades before it was safe again for people to use. Therefore, she'd heard that they'd picked a new location and that it wasn't anywhere near the Hart's home.

"They already did. That's where I'll be working." Mr Hart remarked, making them all frown. Wow, that was commitment right there. Bordertown was miles and miles away, at least a two-hour trip to get there and then two hours back, so that was a four hour round trip every day for one man. How badly did he want this job? That's what Mrs Hart wanted to know. 

"Wait, wait, wait. You're gonna be okay driving two hours to and from work every day?!"

"Noooo! This family is moving to Bordertown!" Mr Hart announced, smiling at what he thought to be a great opportunity and adventure for his family, but their reactions were quite the opposite. Was he sniffing something? He just wanted them to up sticks and move just like that? No, no, no, no, they had friends and family here, they studied here, Herny had a job here that was more important than any one of them would ever know and he couldn't move. It would be physically impossible for him to be Kid Danger and live two hours away, he'd have to quit, something he couldn't accept...

"Come on! What happened to "yay, we're all so excited for you, daddy!"?" Jake asked dejectedly when he saw their smiles fall. He'd thought they'd be happy about this, a chance to start a new life and support him in his venture into the world of business, but they just couldn't. The Harts loved Swellview and for Henry, his place was here, fighting with Captain Man and Miss Danger.

"We were!"

"Until you started talking like a maniac!" Kris and Piper exclaimed, the latter's volume and screeching tone making Charlotte wince as she watched from the couch. Okay, peeing didn't seem to be as important now. Sure, it still hurt but what hurt more was the idea of Henry going away and leaving Swellview and how that would affect the Man Cave. Oh god, how would Ray cope? He wouldn't, not without his youngest sidekick and best friend...

"I'm not a maniac! Bordertown is a great place to live. It's got houses and trees and a library and--" Mr Hart listed off everything he could think of that sounded appealing but it wasn't working, not one bit. They had all those things and more in Swellview and for his son, it was all just too much.

"Dad! Hey! Please! Listen! Dad! We are not moving to Bordertown!" He exclaimed, punctuating each word until he realised it was starting to sound weird, but he was just upset. His life was good, he had great friends, a great boss, he went to a great school when he remembered to show up, Swellview was his hometown and his world. He loved it in the dumb city he'd always known.

"Well, okay but, yeah, we are." His father argued, having made his mind up about the matter. This was the first proper job he'd had in years and he wasn't going to let something like his family home stop him from having it. Driving every day would be ridiculous, but moving everything was even crazier. "Dad!"

"Okay, I'm sorry, guys, but I really gotta go pee, so--" Charlotte started, springing up from the couch so she could slip out of the conversation and go meet her body's needs. She cared about this situation and she'd definitely be by Henry's side to support him through the pain of leaving and what they could do about it, but right now, some things were just too much for her to ignore, not that Piper cared.

"Look, daddy! I am not moving to Bordertown and I am gonna go lock myself in the bathroom until you say we don't have to!" The tween yelled in her signature shrill voice, making everyone cringe but for once, her mother and brother didn't mind because they felt exactly the same way. However, her plan for protesting wasn't so well-received with Charlotte, who had been hoping to get there first.

"No, Piper, please don't lock yourself in the bathroom!" She wailed after the girl as she stomped up the stairs with her parents chasing after her, but they weren't quick enough and Charlotte cringed when she heard the door slam shut. Well, if the real toilet wasn't available, then she was gonna have to improvise and go old school.

"Uhhh... Well, I'll be in your backyard." She told Henry, ignoring the shame that crept up on her as she grabbed a roll of kitchen towel from the countertop. Yeah, it was gross but peeing her pants was worse and it was dark outside, so it should be fine, right? Sure...

"Doing what?" Henry pondered, not getting it even as she grabbed the tissues and hurriedly walked towards the back door as if her life depended on it. 

"Watering your plants!" The girl exclaimed and left him alone in favour of the sweet relief she'd only find behind the bushes and hydrangeas in her friend's garden. Watering the plants was one way off-putting it and when it had had time to sink in, Henry shuddered. Ew, remember to tell him not to smell the roses next time he was outside. 

~Later, at Junk-N-Stuff~

The minute they could, as in, the moment Charlotte had peed and Henry had appeased his family, the teens were sprinting to Junk-N-Stuff, hurriedly trying to get to the shop as fast as they could because they knew that they had to discuss this with Ray. As long as he had (y/n) with him, he wouldn't react too badly, at least that was what they were hoping for, and the minute he got over his pouting, they'd be able to put their heads together and think of a solution. 

That was the plan. Ray, (y/n), think, don't go to Bordertown, simple. However, what wasn't so simple was how there was one kid that they hadn't quite thought about. A kid who loved Henry like a brother and the moment they walked into the store and told him about the sitch that had gone down whilst he was manning the cash register in the junk shop, he'd started wailing. The kid was Jasper, who was infamously attached to his best friend, almost obsessively. 

"What?! You can't move away!" Jasper exclaimed as he heard the devastating news and his hands clenched the edge of the counter as he thought about what this meant for his best friend. He was one of the greatest people he knew and he couldn't bear the thought of never seeing him again, not like this and at such short notice. Like everyone, Jasper knew that Henry was not only important as himself, but Kid Danger belonged in Swellview and if he wasn't around, then it would take Miss Danger months to peel Captain Man's sobbing self away from their bed. Jeez, he didn't like the sound of that at all, or any of it really.

"I don't want to move away!" Henry protested, not wanting to be painted as the bad guy here because the decision was out of his hands. Of course, he didn't want to go to stupid Bordertown, he loved his city, his job, his friends, his entire life and couldn't stress enough how he was just as distraught as everyone else. Charlotte understood him, after all, she'd been there and had heard him bitching about it all the way to their workplace. "It's his dad, not him!"

"We—well—well, I'm going to give your dad a pizza my mind!" Jasper growled, trying to sound tough and authoritative, but he just sounded weird and not just because he was the world's least scary guy. It was kinda hard to intimidate someone when you got the idiom wrong and he did it all the time, much to the chagrin of his friends.

"Did you just say pizza my mind?" Henry asked, hoping that he wasn't doing it again. He'd heard the saying once, misinterpreted it and now, he refused to say it correctly, no matter how many weird looks he got from friends, family, hell, even total strangers. Seriously, the sidekick was agitated because his entire superhero career and his social life were hanging in the balance, but here they were, talking about Jasper and his stupid quirks. "Yeah, it's an expression! Like if my mind was a pizza, I'd give—"

"Okay, let's just go talk to Ray and (y/n)." Charlotte butted in, having heard enough and that was before he'd even gotten into his stride. They had a real problem here and sitting and listening to Jasper and his weird brain weren't going to solve it; what they needed was calm, rational logic, AKA (y/n), and a splash of man-child-power and pouting-powered scheming, AKA Ray. Even though one of them was an idiot, the couple were adults and superheroes with resources to spare, so they'd know what to do, right? That's how adults worked, they solved the tricky shit that they couldn't handle.

"All right..." Henry nodded and he and Jasper followed the girl as she walked through the beaded curtain and headed for the elevator. All they could do was hope and pray that Ray would react calmly and not overreact, but that was wishful thinking. He was gonna flip when he heard that he was gonna be one sidekick down if they didn't act fast and they prayed that (y/n) would be willing to give him so yucky yet necessary kisses to butter him up. They could look past the mushy stuff just this once, especially if it meant they had his cunning on their side after he had his meltdown.

"Henry, you can't move away from Swellview!" Jasper reiterated as they waited for the elevator to come and for the boy in question, it was like he was a stuck record. He'd been over this again and again and again; he hated this just like everyone else, but he couldn't stay behind without a lot of paperwork being filled out. He was too young to legally look after himself and his parents would never leave him behind, so they were at a stalemate and in need of a plan.  "Man, I don't want to!"

"You promised we'd grow old together!" And Jasper made it weird. What were they? An old married couple? His sentimental and bizarre statement made Henry and Charlotte frown as they thought about the implications of such a thought and how disgustingly romantic the undertones were. The minute the elevator door slide open, the girl was in like a shot, swiftly followed by a flustered Henry, who didn't know how to answer such a question without hurting his odd friend's feelings. Yeah, he thought they'd grow old together, but not like that, ew, god. Shit like that was best left to (y/n) and Ray. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, when did your dad tell you this?"

"Can I just push the button, please?" Charlotte interrupted them again, feeling quite snappy after all she'd been through tonight. Having her homework stolen, having to pee outside like it was the dark ages and now, her best and most sensible, male friend was possibly leaving forever. Honestly, she couldn't catch a break.

"Wait, before you hit the button--" Jasper protested, wanting to discuss the issue a bit more with his friend before they took the plunge, but Charlotte wasn't waiting for anyone. She hit the button, causing the elevator to drop at its signature speed; like it was out of control and about to kill the people inside. It never did, and now that they'd had a few years to get used to it, Henry and Charlotte could fall and not feel the worst of its effects. Jasper, however, was still getting there and as they descended into a freefall, he screamed and clutched at their bodies until they slammed into the bottom floor.

The door opened, revealing that in his panic, the kid had dragged poor Henry to the ground and that left him pissed off and Charlotte looking at them in miffed amusement. This might be one of the last hugs he had with him and even if it was on the floor of a grungy elevator, he was gonna enjoy it. "Please don't move away."

"Please get off my body..." Henry retorted wryly, making his friend immediately unwrap his arms and help him to his feet. In some ways, Jasper was kinda cute, just not when they had an emergency and their dumb boss and brainy girl-boss to find. Was (y/n) their girl-boss? Yeah, she'd earned it...

Speaking of the Man Cave's resident lovebirds, here they came, chatting and giggling with one another as they came out from behind the secret door, the big doof wheeling a vacuum clear in front of him as he refused to take his eyes off her. To his immense relief, they'd been just like normal after the "blobification incident", and now, it was all in the past, something for them to learn from as they continued to kiss, snuggle and love each other just like before. Dorks.

"Hey! Henry and Charlotte! I don't know what you guys are doing back here but I am glad to see you, 'cause tonight is a special night! Stay right there!" Ray grinned as they looked across the room and saw the three kids that always just seemed to brighten the place when they were working. Sure, their shifts had ended hours ago and even if he didn't say his name, Ray was delighted to see them, including Jasper. 

(y/n) was surprised too, knowing that it was getting kinda late for them to still be hanging around unless they'd forgotten their phones or something. She hadn't seen anything lying around but then again, the moment she and Ray were on their own, nothing else seemed to matter. They should just be thankful that they didn't catch them on the couch...again. They'd never survive the scarring twice.

"Ugh, he's making it into such a big deal..." The woman groaned, throwing her head back slightly, but underneath it all, she loved the stupid excitement on her fiancé's face, it made him appear younger and more carefree like he was letting the big kid inside out to have fun. And it made him extremely touchy and kissy, so she couldn't complain that much. "You guys all right? You look...perturbed?"

"Why's tonight a special night?" Henry asked, ignoring her question and observant stares, plus, the way she was scrutinising their every move because it was just too suspicious for them to just pop back at this hour for chitchat. She sensed something was up, maybe not a big thing, but there was something about them that screamed worried, not that Ray could see the warning signs.

"'Cause I just bought that vacuum cleaner!" Ray grinned, pointing at the thing that he'd left in the middle of the floor. The thing wasn't the exciting bit, no, it was what he was gonna do to it that was making him all giddy. And he kept looking at his sweet girl, who looked so damn pretty tonight, stood there doing nothing particularly interesting, but the ring on her finger kept sparkling and catching his eye so he couldn't help but give her lovestruck gazes. The teens were used to it and more intrigued by the device in front of them.

"Uh, you and have different definitions of the word, special," Charlotte commented, looking at her boss with boredom at how he was getting so excited about such a trivial thing. Sure, she might understand why he always got eager when talking about (y/n), she could ignore how he was constantly looking for kisses and all that, but a vacuum cleaner? No.

Is this the Tyson Ultra-Suck?" Jasper asked as he inspected the gadget and it was a weird thing to be so knowledgeable about. But it was Jasper, so they didn't delve into it too much, they let it go as Ray came back over from the supercomputer, a mysterious, orange tub in his hand that drew their attention.

"Yeah...get away from it." The hero told him curtly, his childlike smile dropping as he walked past his "least favourite" helper and strode towards his fiancée, who gave him one of her scolding expressions. She wasn't gonna let him talk to Curly like that, he didn't deserve to be spoken to like a second-rate human and even if he was adorable, she didn't let Ray get away with being mean.

"Be nice, Raymond." She chastised him, causing the man to smile with a soft apologetic touch and he even pecked her cheek as he passed her, making her melt as he stood next to Henry to show his latest toy. He'd been a little more cautious around her ever since his scare about her leaving him, not that she ever would and whilst it wasn't like he was walking on eggshells, he was more mindful and eager to please her in whatever way he could. And it was all in the aim of seeing her walk down the aisle because now that he'd been given a taste, he was hooked on the married life.

"Hey, hey, Henry, check this out, check this out. See these little breath mints?" Ray grinned at his youngest sidekick as his sweet girl stood behind him, resting a hand on his shoulder as he shook the small orange pills in their equally orange container. Wow, great, fantastic, just what Henry wanted to see, but come on, he had a problem and it wasn't bad breath. 'Uh, yeah, I do but, uh--"

"Guess who made these mints? Schwoz! And (y/n)!" The hero squealed, rattling them even more as Henry, Charlotte and Jasper rolled their eyes at how carried away he was getting, just because he was holding some cool invention made by his handyman and lover. To be honest, (y/n) hadn't really been involved either, she'd just lent a quick hand when the genius was whipping them up, she could hardly be described as a co-inventor.

"Yeah, I just turned the machine on that produced them..." She mumbled sheepishly, knowing that her doofus was singing her praises when she didn't deserve it, but Ray didn't care if she helped massively or did the most menial task, she was still so smart and so pretty, it just made him so damn proud that he got to call her his. Ugh, kill Henry now. "Cool, that's cool--"

"You wanna mint?" Ray offered and even if it was quite generous, Henry just wanted to get through to the big lug before he exploded from the perturbing knowledge he was carrying. It was like it was eating him up from the inside and he just wanted to tell his boss and the curious woman hugging his left arm so that they could help. He didn't want a damn mint. "Nah, I gotta tell you something, man..."

"You wanna mint?"

"No, I gotta tell you something..."

"Yeah, take a mint..."

"Nah, no one wants a mint, no one wants a mint..." The man and boy argued back and forth, one trying not to scream at how thick his boss was being and the other trying his hardest to impress him with his fancy gadget. He needed to let it out so bad, but Ray didn't have his listening ears on, he was just mouth. He did catch the attention of one person, though, namely (y/n), who frowned in thought when he heard the boy saying something about something. Huh, what was that all about?

"All right, well, then, I will just take this mint and throw it at that vacuum cleaner!..." Ray exclaimed as he took a mint between his forefinger and thumb, having decided that if Henry wasn't going to take the bait then he was just gonna have to be awesome himself.

He tossed the small pill directly at the vacuum cleaner, smirking at both the anticipation of something cool and then way his girl immediately hugged herself into his back, shielding herself from the impending, fucking explosion that ensued when the pill didn't ricochet and skid across the floor. 

Oh no, this was no ordinary mint, it was some chemical compound shit in capsule form that Schwoz had engineered to explode on impact and as such, the vacuum was blown to bits and the teens were sent flying onto their butts from the shockwave. A fucking warning would have been nice, y'know, (y/n) had her human shield of a hot, indestructible fiancé, but what did they have to spare them from the heat and debris?

"You're such a child, Raymond!" The woman smacked her lover's arm when the fireball dissipated, leaving Ray cackling at how his friends had been thrown to the floor most hilariously. They were fine, of course, maybe a little bruised but no broken bones in sight, thank god. Merely their irritation at how the place was now a mess and their hearts were banging in their chests like they were doing cardio. Asshole.

"Dude!" Henry whined as he got up, him, Jasper and Charlotte scowling at their boss as he just continued to laugh and grin at their pain, hugging (y/n) to his chest so he could feel how adorably small she felt in his arms. Yeah, he didn't pay much attention to her scolds this time because it was so funny to see them so shocked and caught off guard. Plus, she never grumbled for long when she could nuzzle her nose into his pec and be kissed on the head by him. 

"What was that?! What if I said yes and put that mint in my mouth?" The kid carried on, raising a valid point that neither adult had thought about and (y/n) lifted her head to give Ray her frowny face. He was right, if he had swallowed it, then they'd be hosing chunks of Kid Danger off the walls right now and explaining to his loved ones why his head was in a million pieces. Eek, not their best move...

"I guess we'd be on our way to your dentist!" Ray chuckled, smacking the teen's chest like it was some banter between lads, not a life or death situation where they could have the death of a child on their hands. It's not a new set of molars he'd need, it was a damn casket.

"Or the morgue!" (y/n) replied with a faux excitement on her face, making Ray's smile fall when her words and Henry's annoyance sank in. He didn't want a dead sidekick, he loved the boy too much, so did (y/n) and his loss would crush them, which was a shame because they were unknowingly running the risk of that happening. Not in the same, morbid way but he wouldn't be around and they weren't ready to let him go just yet.

"Jasper, clean that mess up," Ray instructed as he looked at the bits of melted plastic and metal that had erupted across the floor, not to mention the scorch marks from where the vacuum cleaner had literally been on fire. His precious girl kept a very tidy Man Cave, it had always been one of her responsibilities as an employee and she just kinda liked it, but he didn't want to see her slaving away, not when he could get the annoying one to do all the work whilst he got to sit her on his knee and give her sweet, sweet kisses.

"With what?" The boy asked, looking to (y/n) since she was the head cleaner, scrubber, duster, head everything when it came to cleaning and even though she wasn't entirely happy about leaving him to do everything, the woman was more than happy to let him use her personal collection of bleaches, detergents, soaps and polishes until she could prise Ray away from her long enough to help out. "If you go into the back, you'll see some stuff for sweeping and cleaning--"

"No, sweet girl, he can do it with the vaccu--oh." Ray butted in, petting her hair like he was trying to protect her from his innate Jasper-ness, and that protective streak extended to her belongings. She loved her rags and mops, she loved keeping his, no, their home tidy, it was her pride and joy thing, and there was no way that that lump-fisted goofball was gonna ruin them. Very well, plan B it was then. 

"Uh, ooh! I got something you could use... Here you go, that's ought to do it." The man smirked as he carefully pushed his girl to one side and reached past her body to take a small blue case from a nearby cabinet. Inside the case was a teeny-weeny-peeny broom and dustpan as if he had mice as cleaners and (y/n) and Jasper looked at him weirdly. Jeez, he wasn't joking, he actually wanted him to use it to clean, dear lord...

"What is that?" Jasper asked, not knowing that they made brooms so small and he watched in curiosity as the hero plucked the thin handle/stick from the foam. 

"This is a broom and dustpan travel kit. Now, uh, go on! Get to work!" Ray told him as he dangled both minuscule items in front of the boy's face, expecting him to start cleaning with what was obviously meant to be a prank or novelty kit. What other explanation was there? (y/n) gave her doofus a look, half telling him off for being so snappy and bossy and another half telling him that he was the cutest and most ridiculous man she'd ever met...and she loved him.

"Here you go." And he didn't stop amusing her there. Without breaking their loving stare, Ray held out a tiny trash can to Jasper, as if it would hold all of the clutter that was on the floor. It would hold one piece of rubble, two at a push and this time, his girl raised an eyebrow at how he was just brimming with bright ideas today.

"You're so stupid...I love it." She cooed, reaching up to squish at his cheeks and stroke them just to let him how much she adored him. He looked so handsome right now, so dopey and cute that it made her want to smother him with all of her affection, and the rush of love made her forget about the teens who were vying for their attention. Jasper wanted some physical help with the sweeping and the other two needed action, advice, something that wasn't lovey-dovey shit.

"I love you, sweet girl. You wanna go buy some mirrors online?" Ray asked her before nudging their lips together in a soft kiss, holding onto her waist and silently preening at how his soulmate was finding him attractive at that moment. 

God, he loved her so much and after that brief albeit horrifyingly eye-opening experience with Bitchface, he never wanted her to be sick of the sight of him. So now, they were gonna do the most mundane, adult task in the world; buy some mirrors for their bedroom. No reason in particular at all. Don't ask any questions. Mirrors in bedrooms are normal. Wink-wonk.

"Sure, doofus, whatever you want," The woman grinned and the kids wondered why a faint blush spread on her cheeks at the mention of online shopping, but they ignored it and the way they brushed their noses together and went in for yet another kiss before moving to leave. Okay, they'd been gross for a bit, they'd had their fun but they couldn't take it any longer

"No, no, no, no, no, dude!"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Henry and Charlotte protested, grabbing their arms and forcing the couple to stop giving each other dreamy gazes and look at them instead. Okay, (y/n) wasn't that grumpy to be interrupted but Ray was; he'd been hoping for a peaceful evening curled up in bed with his sweet girl so they could browse some shopping sites and then possibly watch a movie. Because he knew what watching movies lead to. "What, what, what now?"

"We got a huge problem!" Henry exclaimed, making the heroine pull away from her lover's embrace a little bit, although not fully. She could give them her full attention and let Ray (and herself) be touchy, it just made everything so much better.

"What? Ooh! Do I look fat?" He asked suddenly, making the teens recoil ever so slightly and (y/n)'s heart crack since she knew that this was another one of his fears. Sure, most of them revolved around his vanity but he could be so insecure sometimes, worrying from how old he was getting to how the world perceived him and if it was up to her, he'd be able to see himself in the same way she did. So fucking hot, she had no idea how she'd struck so luckily. "No, sweetheart, you look perfect."

"Oh, good. Let's get those mirrors then." He grinned, feeling his tummy flutter at how she looked at him like he'd hung the stars in the sky and even if he did doubt himself sometimes, he didn't feel ugly when she deemed him perfect. He thought the same about her, which was probably why they went so well together; they made everything better for the other.

"Seriously, seriously. My dad, he got a new job working at the Frittle Factory." Henry told them, nerves zooming around his stomach as he saw their faces contort into confusion. Okay, Ray often pulled that face, he wasn't the smartest guy around, but it wasn't a common expression for (y/n), who knew clever people stuff and street smarts. What was happening? She didn't like this... 

"What? Thought they built the new Frittle factory over in Bordertown." Ray stated, using his central processing centre for once and recalling how it had been all over the news. Also, Henry's dad got a job? That silly bastard? What did he do? Pay the interviewer? Pay the CEO? He could not believe this shit.

"Yeah, that's where Henry's family is moving to!" Charlotte replied coldly, causing Jasper to let out a long, pained groan as she once again reminded him that his best friend was leaving, but two more people were breaking down. (y/n) and Ray's eyes widen at the confession, their heads snapped to each other and then they jerked back to the kids. No, no, no, no, no, Henry couldn't leave, he was staying behind, right?

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, kid. There is no way you're moving to Bordertown!" Ray said firmly, feeling his sweet girl's shaky hand grab his and Henry felt a pang of hurt go through his heart at how they both looked like kicked puppies, wounded by the thought of a member of their family leaving and leaving a space. Ray needed him more than he'd ever know, not just as a sidekick but as a friend, his best friend, his best man because that's what Henry was gonna be if he ever got to the wedding. Oh god, would he even see the wedding?

"I don't want to!" He exclaimed, trying to make them see that this wasn't his choice. If it was up to him, he'd stay, but this was a family thing, even if he also had a second family working for the couple. They were like his surrogate brother and sister, maybe like an aunt and uncle, either way, seeing (y/n) fighting tears and Ray just as distraught was hard, but it really wasn't his fault.

"You're Kid Danger!" The hero reminded him as if he'd forget the incredible three years he'd had working as a superhero. Once upon a time, he was a puny little squirt and (y/n) could see over his head, making her worry about the scum he was going out to capture, but now, he towered over her, made bad guys quake in their boots and she couldn't let him go, not like this. "Yeah, I remember!"

"Don't go, don't go, don't go!" She cried, removing herself from Ray's arm and instead, latched onto the boy's skinny body, wrapping him up in one of her bone-crushing, rush of affection hugs that usually meant she was proud of him. But not this time, rather than feeling happy, she didn't want to see him leave and even if it was a bit childish for her, she figured that he couldn't leave if she was glued to him.

"(y/n/n)..." Henry sighed, patting her back soothingly as she whined into his plaid shirt and the sight the pair of them made was too much for Ray. His sweet girl and his sidekick, he needed both of them and if it wouldn't be weird, he'd be hugging him too.

"Well, what if I need you? Huh? What if there's a big emergency?!" He asked, taking his fiancée from Henry's arms when he pushed her towards him, knowing that he'd be able to comfort her better than he ever could but nothing could make the woman stem the tears. She had her little family here, the people who made her feel safe and confident, the kids who'd she taken it upon herself to mentor and in her mind, they weren't ready to leave the nest yet. Call her selfish, call her clingy, but she loved Henry like the younger brother she'd never had.

"By--by the time he got here from B-Bordertown, e-everyone would already be d-dead!" She hiccuped into Ray's chest, making him rub his hands up and down her back and petting her hair as his heart clenched from the breathless hiccups leaving her mouth. Poor baby girl, how should he take the pain away? Was there anything he could do? And it's not like Henry wasn't feeling horrible, especially when his boss gave him a semi-annoyed, semi-heartbroken expression that only made the sight of the crying woman, who'd grown to be like a sister to him, worse.

"Expect for us, sweet girl. We're Captain Man and Miss Danger." Ray told her gently, trying to cheer her up a bit with one of his dorky, big-headed comments about them being better than everyone else since they could survive a nuclear bomb if they had to. With their indestructibility and super-regeneration, they were one hell of a power couple, but it didn't help much.

"I remember, doofus. I just don't want Henry to movvveee." (y/n) whined, wailing into his shirt like she was having her arm wrenched off or her legs amputated with no aesthetic. She was a blubbering mess, a brilliant scientist reduced to an emotional, clingy, snotty mess and all because she didn't want one of her kids to leave prematurely. Sure, one day she'd have to say goodbye, they'd grow up and would want independence but that wasn't now; she'd need time to prepare for that with them, be allowed to realise that they were ready, something that hadn't been given here.

"Look, guys, I'm only sixteen." Henry pointed out, giving the couple his most apologetic stare, but what else could he do? He didn't feel ready to go either, he still had a lot left to give and it broke his heart and mended it all at once to see (y/n) so loving and protective, even if her hugs squished his spleen and liver into one mushy paste. And her protectiveness stemmed from his age, from the memory of the little kid he used to be, the one who felt tiny when she crushed him with her affection, and despite him being twice that size now with his youth easy to forget, it was still very much a problem.

"Yeah. If Henry's parents move to Bordertown and say Henry's gotta go with them, then he'll have to move!" Charlotte elaborated, making (y/n) dab her eyes when she realised she was right, and it was no use shedding crocodile tears now. The law was the law and under said law, her friend was still a minor and even if they sometimes acted like it, she was not his mom, Ray was not his dad and as such, they had no say in the matter of where he got to live.

"Okay, guys, what are we gonna do?" The boy asked exasperatedly, looking from the snuffling couple to his smartest friend to the one still sweeping, or rather, picking up pieces of vacuum cleaner one by one. There had to be a solution and they had to find it soon because who knows where his moving date was, who knows when the next hug attack would come. Come on, if only he could make the woman's head clear again, maybe she could come up with something smart and not have a wobbly lip in the meantime. Jeez, her sad face was something else, he could see why Ray was so afraid of upsetting her because damn...

"Somebody could help me sweep..." Jasper suggested, holding up his brush and pan as he knelt on the floor snd he took the time to give everyone a grumpy frown. His knees and back were starting to ache from bending down and resting on nothing but the cold, hard floor, so he really wanted a hand, or maybe just a bigger brush like one of the ones he'd seen in (y/n)'s cleaning cupboard, but that wasn't gonna happen. Captain Man was keeping her all to himself, cooing into her ear and pressing kisses to her jaw, nose, neck, temples, forehead, cheek, anywhere his lips could touch and that meant that the heroine was too distracted to focus on anything but her adorable doof as he tried to heal the hurt.

"No, I'm talking about my dad," Henry replied firmly, leaving the kid to keep doing his laborious chore. Okay, no one had any ideas, not even his sweet, sweet girl as she tried to pull herself from her sorrow and so, Ray took the reins, using whatever he had in that superhero brain of his to both guide (y/n) into his side and think about his sidekick's predicament. "Okay, well, when does he start this new job?"

"Uh, tomorrow, I think. Yeah, he's gonna meet Mr Frittleman, sign some papers and then, that's it." Henry said, prompting them all to panic more when they heard about the alarmingly short amount of time they had to sort things out. Tomorrow would be here before they knew it and then it would be "bye-bye, hen, nice knowing ya" for all of them. No, it was thinking time, not crying and moping time, so the ones who were crying stopped and the ones who were holding it in got serious, everyone shaking their brains into action.

"All right, okay, pace, pace, pace, think, think, think...and snap! Buzz darts!" Ray smirked when one of his infamously genius ideas popped into his head, making Henry give him a confused face as (y/n) suddenly looked thoughtful. Of course, she knew what a buzz dart was and whilst she normally didn't approve of their use, not in a public environment, this was an emergency and she'd be there to supervise if she was thinking what her doofus was thinking. "I'm sorry, did you just say buzz darts?"

"Yeah, hang on a sec. This drawer's got everything..." Ray paused for a moment, carefully letting his fiancée step away from him so he could fish around for a small, black case that Schwoz had stowed away somewhere and he had a feeling it was around here somewhere. And he was right, that did have an endless supply of crap shoved into it and he gave (y/n) a victorious smile when he pulled out the right thing, glad to see her return the smile, even if it only had a fraction of the brightness. What he'd give to see her happy again...

"Have a look at this new Schwoz invention..."

"Buzz darts?" The boy asked as his boss flipped open the case, showcasing it to him and Charlotte as she came over from the couch. (y/n) didn't really need to see, she'd seen them every day almost back when they were still a prototype model and had giggled every time Schwoz made a mistake with the mechanisms or chemicals. All the buzz darts were a pair of cool if a little geeky glasses and a few tiny, pinprick darts lined up neatly, their multicoloured tail feathers standing out against the black foam background. "Buzz darts."

"And how do buzz darts work?" The girl asked, watching with a curious apprehension as Ray shrugged on the glass in the suavest way possible since y'know, his girl was watching and he snapped his head towards his sidekick. His first victims, perfect... 

"I'll show you... Hey, Henry?" Looking directly at the unsuspecting teen and before (y/n) could comment on how hot he looked in glasses (something new but not something she was complaining about) or how irresponsible it was to test neurological chemicals on kids, he tapped the arm of the glass. 

The light pressure activated the nanotech sensor and as quick as a flash, a previously loaded-up dart came rocketing from the glasses, aimed for Henry's head or neck. The dart was fast, but the kid was faster; like lightning, Henry's hand was suddenly in his face, fingertips clutching the blue needle that could have so easily been buried in his forehead if he didn't have hyper-motility. 

"Dude!" 

"Hey! You're only supposed to use your super-fast reflexes to fight crime, not to wreck my demonstrations." Ray scolded him as Henry glared at him in shock, wondering why he deserved to be the guinea pig. They were reflexes, the body's natural defence against dangerous stimuli and if something was flying towards his face, then damn right he was gonna stop it, it was just a natural response. Nothing to get so aggro about, jeez. 

"Well, I'm sorry but if I see a buzz dart flying at my face, I can't help but—"

"Ehhh, forget it!" The man snapped at his excuses, not caring about his feelings or anything since he now looked like an idiot. Well, if he couldn't use that kid then there was always another one available, one that he had no shame in testing his hot glasses on because he wasn't too fond of him in the first place. "Hey, Jasper?"

"What's up?" The boy asked politely, standing up from his sweeping and looking at his boss to see what he wanted now. Poor, sweet Jasper, he just wanted to lend a hand, but if only he knew he was walking into a trap. Using his unobservant nature to his advantage, Ray yanked his hand from his pocket and as quickly and sneakily as he could, he tossed a coin to the ground, making the girls next to him frown as they watched it roll across the tiles. Oh god, what was he up to?

"Oh, I dropped my quarter over there, would you get it for me, please?" Ray fluttered his eyelashes innocently, covering up the chinking sound of the metal with a not-so-subtle cough. (y/n) noticed how shifty he was being, not to mention how nice he was being to a boy who he'd always said to dislike. There was no way that he would use that level of manners with the kid unless he wanted something...

"Yeah, sure." Jasper nodded and being the good employee he was, scooted over to the supercomputer, looking for the quarter that had been flung under the console. Bending over the controls, Jasper's butt stuck out, giving Ray the perfect opportunity to line up and take his shot, and this time, there be no super-fast reflexes to get on his nerves.

"Ow!" The teen screeched when he felt a small, sharp pain in his ass, kinda like a bee sting but much worse, and he whipped around to see Henry, Charlotte and (y/n) looking at one man trying to appear guiltless. That sneaky little... it was obvious what he'd done, no matter how much he looked at his feet and the ceiling to avoid everyone's eyes.

"Raymond!" (y/n) scolded him, smacking her fiancée on the pec when she saw the needle sink into denim and flesh and she knew that it had been a cruel trick to play. She tried to be stern with him, tried to scrunch up her face so he could see how she didn't approve of hurting teenagers, but it was so damn hard when he was so cute. The glasses, his floppy hair, his huge muscles, the t-shirt that accentuated them so well, she was swooning. Hard.

"You look so pretty in this shirt, sweet girl..." The hero mumbled, fiddling with the sleeve of her faded t-shirt as if he was trying to tempt her into forgetting why she wanted to be mad at him. It wasn't a lie, he genuinely thought she looked so beautiful that day, or any day really, but seeing the blush spread across her cheeks, replacing the one that had been from her crying, made his heart speed up.

"Did you hit me with a dart?!" Jasper questioned angrily, breaking up the way they were staring at each other and he was glad he did. Although he'd only been working in the Man Cave for a much shorter time than anyone else, Jasper knew the signs of when they were going in for a kiss, the way their smiles grew and their eyes fell to each other's lips, it was so obvious... and so not the time for it when his ass was aching.

"Uhhhh, I'm not sure, why? Just let me kiss my girl..." Ray replied facetiously, wobbling his head in a way that was almost comical because he was trying to be obstreperous and stubborn. His hands were settled on (y/n)'s waist as she raised her eyebrows at his pouting and efforts to get away from what he'd just done, but then again, a kiss did sound quite nice. It was the glasses, the new bane of her existence.

"No, you're not allowed to kiss (y/n) 'cause when I bent over to get your quarter, I--erghhh..." Jasper started off strong, his tone harsh and scolding since he wanted to stand up for himself, even against the great Captain Man and for the first ten seconds, it was going well. He even got as far as walking over to the couch table and that's when it all went wrong.

"My body feels weird..." The boy groaned, feeling his muscles turn to jelly for a split second, causing him to collapse onto the table as they tensed and started moving all on their own. On his next step, Jasper's body began convulsing creepily like something out of a horror film as he stood in front of his horrified friends, a concerned (y/n) and his smirking boss. Yeah, Ray was loving the sight of the kid fighting thin air, even if it was a bit disturbing to hear him groan at the seizures.

"That's what buzz darts do?" Charlotte asked curiously, wondering if it was best to go and help Jasper, but when he started punching nothing and kicking his legs out, she decided against it. There was no way she was going near him when he couldn't control his limbs.

"Yeah, it buzzes through the air and when it hits someone's body, it doesn't cause any permanent damage. Y'know, it just impairs your nervous system for thirty minutes or so and you become...that." (y/n) explained, gesturing to Jasper as he fought to regain control over his body but to no avail. He was moaning and groaning, throwing his arms about and stomping around near the elevator like a demented zombie.

"And uh, how do those buzz darts help me not move to Bordertown?" Henry asked, taking his eyes off his best friend for a moment so he could look at his other best friend, who wasn't a professor or smart person even if his dart glasses gave him an air of intelligence as well as (y/n)'s longing gazes. Yeah, it was obvious that she couldn't stop checking him out and just as they'd witnessed for all those years, Ray was none the wiser. How did he not see>

"Simple," Ray replied and...that was it. He just yanked those beloved specs from his face and looked off into the non-existent distance like he was trying to be cool or something. Silently, (y/n) mourned the loss of how they framed his face and made him look so damn adorable, but the smirk he replaced them with was good enough for her, enough to make her ignore how awkward the silence was and let her mind drift to dirtier things instead.

"You gonna tell us?" Henry asked when his boss said nothing, merely stood there like a lemon or maybe like a Greek god just to make the woman standing next to him lose her cool when the muscles underneath his skin rippled. Henry, on the other hand, was less impressed and impatient to hear his explanation rather than see the icky, unspoken flirting between them.

"Sure. We disguise ourselves as Frittle employees. Then, we wait for your dad to show up for his meeting with Frittleman, blast your dad with a couple of buzz darts." Ray grinned, looking from the kid to his precious girl, who looked a little breathless for some reason, he couldn't think why. He could barely think of anything when he looked her way, she was just so darn beautiful. 

"Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah and then he's gonna be all--" Henry was cut off as he nodded along with the guy's devious plan, only for him to have to stop when Jasper rampaged past him like he was possessed. He'd be fine in a bit, tired from the workout his muscles were having, but fine nonetheless.

"Yeah, he'll be like "Hello, Mr Frittleman! Oh, what a beautiful factory you have here! And then there's no chance Frittleman will hire him to work there." Ray had a smug expression on his face as he imitated the way Jasper was walking around, his arms tight and muscles contracting as they were pulled into a T-rex position and he couldn't help but smile softly when he drew laughs from the kids and his sweet girl. He loved to hear her laugh, especially after she was so sad a few minutes earlier and he was glad that he'd been the one to cheer her up.

There was one thing wrong, though. In his mind's fuzzy pleasure at being the jokester he always was, he lost grip on that intelligence he was using before and foolishly picked up the tub of exploding mints from earlier. He popped one into his hand, an action that was overlooked by everyone since they were too busy celebrating his ingenious plan to see what he was doing. The jokester was about to become the jester, where everyone would be laughing at how dumb he was.

"Yes! That is perfect!" Henry exclaimed, not realising that his compliments were already inflating the man's already huge ego and therefore, he was hurtling towards swallowing one of the mints. Oh well, it was better that it was him than Henry or Charlotte and he'd never forgive himself if it was (y/n). She'd be on bed rest with him nursing her through the stupidly fast healing process, swearing that he'd never fully earn her forgiveness for leaving something so dangerous around, but he'd spend the rest of his life making up for it. Yeah, that would cause way too many problems.

"Yeah, who's smart?" Ray asked in a sing-song voice and oh lord, the irony. Without anyone knowing that they had to stop him, Ray threw the mint into his mouth, waiting for the minty explosion to come. He loved mints, they were what (y/n) could taste along with the bubblegum he chewed at random points in the day and he had no reason to believe anything was wrong...until the pill hit his uvula and exploded. 

What had been a moment of waiting for minty freshness turned into him gasping in agony when his indestructible teeth, cheeks, soft palate and hard palate withstood the blast, merely feeling like they were being incinerated and torn apart all at the same time, so y'know, nothing Captain Man couldn't handle. Ray opened his frazzled mouth to release the smoke from the mini inferno and screamed at the pain that filled his head, which normally would've been strewn across the wall by now, but he was fine. Just a bit stunned. 

"I don't know, who's smart?" Henry asked sarcastically as (y/n)'s face paled and she rushed to help him, not that there was much she could do. All she had to offer her doofus as he coughed and spluttered was her hand rubbing his back soothingly and her most worried face when his weight fell onto her, strong arms draped across her shoulders. Her silly doofus, he wasn't known for his brains, but whatever scrapes he got himself into, he always had his sweet girl by his side to patch him up.

"Oh my god, doofus, are you all right?!" She asked in concern as he wheezed and smacked his lips together, tasting something smoky. Perhaps he was imagining that he could taste his barbecued tongue if it was actually barbecued, or maybe he was wanting something else.

"I don't know, sweet girl. I think a kiss would make me feel better..." He told her slyly, wanting to use his pain as an excuse for tasting her lips and honestly, he deserved it. He'd taken that explosion like a champ and now, he wanted to replace the mint's taste with something much, much sweeter, if she'd let him.

"Uh-huh, sure." (y/n) rolled her eyes, knowing exactly what he was playing at as the kids groaned at how they were back to the gross stuff only seconds after the blast and they adverted their eyes to watch Jasper when Ray's hands grasped her waist and she pulled his face down his neck.  Their lips met softly, him sighing and melting into her when he finally found the honey to replace the bitterness coating his teeth and Ray moved to delve deeper, running his tongue against her bottom lip, striving for more, but then, (y/n) abruptly pulled back. Hey, what gives?

"No, let me kiss you, sweet girl." Ray pouted when their lips parted before anything interesting happened, watching as her nose scrunched up in disgust at the smokiness that assaulted her tastebuds, not the usual mint-bubblegum combination she loved. Ugh, she loved his attention but not when his mouth was so disgusting, he could keep his kisses to himself.

"Ewww, you taste like burnt toothpaste." She grimaced, trying to swish her tongue around to sweep away the ickiness he'd left but it would go and he wouldn't stop laughing. His girl looked so precious with her nose scrunched up and even if his fun had ended early, he didn't mind.

"And you taste like honey, I love it. I love you..." Ray gushed, unable to stop himself from going sappy when he tucked her hair away from her face and kissed her forehead, which felt scorching under his touch as she blushed. Is that what kissing her was like? She thought it was just her who thought their kisses were special and it was only her who thought she could distinguish a taste from all the other boys she'd smooched over the years, but he admitted that she was special too. Here came the swooning again. 

"And as much as I love you too, there's no way I'm gonna kiss you again unless you brush your teeth. Even your hot glasses won't work on me, sweetheart." (y/n) smirked when he took a moment to figure out what she meant by glasses, only to realise that she meant those glasses. Ohhhh, she thought those were hot, huh? Well, he'd save that information for later, probably get himself a real pair if they made her squirm for him, and in the meantime, he could work around the no-kissing thing.

"Oh, yeah? Well, then, I suppose I'll just have to kiss you elsewhere because I know that my girl is sweet in other places too." He watched as a soft gasp fell from her lips, the ones that were only a fraction of the honey he so loved to indulge in. Ray smirked as his hands left her hips and he sauntered over to the sprocket, leaving her trembling on the spot as the teens giggled at Jasper and he retreated to their bedroom. She couldn't run after him quick enough...

~The next day, the new Frittle factory~

Jeez, the new factory sure was something. Every brick had been placed perfectly to create a hip and exciting warehouse, production facility and distribution point all rolled into one and it looked so impressive. Everything on the outside was accented with purple splashes, tying everything into the Frittle brand and things weren't any less cool on the inside.

The place had that new factory smell; fresh paint, fresh concrete, fresh plastic, all mingling with the inescapable whiff of the oil and baking process that was used to pump out can after can of Frittles. Soon, that would be all you'd be able to smell, just the fat and savoury saltiness that came from making an endless tidal wave of chips but hey, the heroic trio wasn't there to care about the future of the company.

Ray, (y/n) and Henry had risen early that morning, wanting to beat the morning traffic since stupid Bordertown was miles and miles away and that wasn't the only task they'd had to do before they walked out the door. Of course, Ray and (y/n) had had a vigorous start, as per usual, and after crawling from their bedroom with a glow emanating from them that made Schwoz and Henry shiver, they'd donned their disguises and holy shit, they were hilarious. 

They weren't extravagant, obviously, this was a track, interfere and blend in mission, so clothes-wise, they were just sporting the usual Frittle employee uniform; beige khaki pants or jeans, sturdy service shoes and a bog-standard, blue polo shirt with the logo. No, the real laughter came when they looked at each other's faces, which had been altered ever so slightly so they'd not be recognised once they left. 

Henry had been given a ridiculous wig, one that made him look like some hippie type with a long, bushy ponytail clamped to his scalp and a wispy beard glued to his chin. Don't forget the silver, dangly earring he had too, it just completed his look, which made him look about twenty years older, so he was fine.

Ray had gone for something much simpler. Nothing big, nothing complex and certainly nothing that would dampen his good looks, so he just had a normal, short but not too short moustache glued to his face, tickling his upper lip every time he spoke. (y/n) wasn't a huge fan of it, stating that it made her face itch when he kissed her but still, at least he still looked drop-dead gorgeous, that hadn't changed. 

The young had also gone for simplicity, and had plonked an alarmingly vibrant, strawberry blonde wig on top of her head and shoved some glass onto her nose. She looked completely different and yet completely normal at the same time, so they were all good to go and once they had their fake I.D badges, they snuck inside with no problems whatsoever.

They stayed at the back as some guy, probably the shift manager or something, addressed his workers, quelling their complaints about not having a project manager with them because apparently, that person was crucial to their operation. That's where Mr Hart would come in with his bold, brainless ideas and that's what the heroes were waiting for, his arrival so they could set their plan into action. If only the supervisor person actually recognised them.

"Hey, you three." He called out to them once the crowd had dispersed, leaving three unknown workers fiddling with the controls at the back and he was suspicious. They looked weird and he wondered if they were new or if he wasn't as observant as he'd always thought he was, and when they did not answer, his confusion deepened. "I'm talking to you guys!"

"Hmm, what's up?"

"Hey, how are you? Love And life, brother."

"We were just working, nothing suspicious about us. Just honest workers." They spluttered the minute they saw his shifty eyes analysing every part of them and Ray, (y/n) and Henry knew that they had to get past this guy if they were gonna stand any chance of successfully turning Mr Hart into a nutcase. But even their friendly, relaxed demeanours didn't shake him off, if anything, Henry's shoulder-pat just made it worse.

"I don't recognise you guys. Let me see your badges." The man stated and he took a closer look at their identification cards hanging from their chests, the quick work of Schwoz since he was so damn good at faking documentation and the like. The three didn't argue, merely smiled tightly as they offered them freely, acting as though they weren't terrified of him seeing a fault or flaw that would prove that they were imposters.

"That's me right there. Joey Gladstone."

"I'm Danny Tanner and we work here, so, y'know..."

"Sabrina Phalange, that's the name my momma gave me." They told him with nervous chuckles, Ray and (y/n) linking pinkies behind their backs so that their hands wouldn't shake and it was all well and good when he picked up the woman's badge, seeing nothing wrong with hers. However, when it came to scrutinising Henry's he saw something he didn't like and it confirmed his suspicions.

"Whoa, whoa. This doesn't look like professional lamination." He replied, giving them each a hard glare before his hand dropped to his belt to grab his walkie-talkie. Oh god, Ray and Henry started barking excuses at the man as he went straight through to security, causing their hearts to turn to water when they realised that he was gonna get them thrown out or worse, arrested. 

"I need a security check on three employees. One says he's Danny Tanner, one says she's Sabrina Phalange and the other says he's Joey Gladstone--" The manager never got to finish his call to the team in security because as he wandered through the warehouse, getting close to the secluded corner on the right-hand side of the room, Ray and Henry got desperate. Looking around, they saw that no one was looking so they did a perfectly normal thing to do. They shot the guy with a million lasers.

"Uh, negative on that one, guys, all is well. Nothing is wrong, we are completely fine, please have a nice day." (y/n) rambled into the man's walkie-talkie as Ray dragged his sleeping body behind two steel drums. He'd be fine there, no one could see him and it seemed like whoever worked in security didn't give a toss about what was happening where they were and they couldn't get off the line quick across.

As the couple hid the body, which sounded a lot worse than it was, henry kept a lookout, trusting them to do the job properly as he scanned the room for any nosy parkers, but then he spotted something and dear god. This was bad, this was really bad, this was super duper bad and it was sat right on the counter, just waiting for someone to come along and have something really bad happen to them. Ray, what a numskull. 

"Dude! Are--are those your explosive mints?!" Henry asked his boss as he and (y/n) stepped away from the hiding place with their fingers interlaced and their faces innocent. Their eyes followed his gaze, landing on the same orange tub he was looking at and yep, those were definitely his mints. Why the hell had he brought them after they nearly burnt his mouth out the last time he used them? Was it because the events following had been so full of pleasure?

"Uhhh, yeah, dang it. I must have set 'em down." Ray groaned as he dropped (y/n)'s hand, internally scolding himself for being so careless. He was supposed to be a superhero and here he was being so forgetful. Well, there was only one thing for it, he'd have to go grab them before someone blew themselves up, at least that was (y/n)'s philosophy.

"Raymond, you have to go get them. They're too dangerous to be left lying around!" (y/n) hissed to him, her hand squeezing at his bicep as she watched the mints with a burning gaze, jumping whenever someone walked past or got a little too close for her liking. And Ray knew the pressure too, he was just as worried as she was, meaning he got grumpy when he was hurried.

"Uhh, all right, mom! I'll go get them!" Ray groaned, making her stick out her tongue at how childish his reply was, which was ironic in itself. Ew, she didn't want to be his mother because he wasn't her child, even if he acted like one. She wasn't his long-suffering fiancée, the one who gave him a similarly grumpy glare as he stomped past.

"Call me that again and I'll start calling you daddy..." She growled at him as he walked away, her frown turning into a smirk when his hands tensed into fists and his back and arms visibly became tight. Oh yeah, she knew what she did to him and for Henry, he normally would've groaned or gagged at how openly gross they were, but his complaints died on his tongue when someone he knew all too well sauntered through the door. Oh, god...

"Dude! Dude! There's my dad! That's my dad! He's here!" Henry gasped as his oblivious father chirpily came through the door, following a woman who was giving him the big tour of the Frittle factory. Acting immediately, Henry and Ray turned to frantically look like regular joes, scattering large bottles of the corn-gluten catalyst the company used in its Frittle production. But they were so terrified about the kid being recognised, they didn't realise that they were actually drawing more attention to themselves.

"You guys are acting weird and causing a scene!" (y/n) hissed to them as the racket of hollow plastic hitting their floor drew many eyes and caused murmurs from the rest of the employees working at their stations. They couldn't help but look at the two idiots messing about with the catalyst chemicals because they were so clumsy and the woman with them looked so flustered, something she was heavily aware of.

"Right here, you can see our main area of production." The cheery woman told Mr Hart as she gestured to the machines, workers and hundreds of Frittle cans being pumped out. Jake looked around with a similarly bright if a little dopey smile and admired everything around him. Ahh, that new job feel, it was so good and that played to the heroes' advantage as they pretended to wheel some carts away, knowing that their disguises weren't gonna be enough if the man got too close.

"And what do you call this area?" Luckily for them though, Mr Hart was way too interested in the tour and learning about his new workplace than studying all of the new faces around the room. He was also distracted with all his silly questions, some of which the lady had no idea how to answer because some things didn't need to be questioned. They just were. "Our...main area of production."

"Ah. Good. That's exactly what I would've called it." Mr Hart grinned at the puzzled woman and scribbled something down in his journal since he wanted to remember every little detail about his new job so he could really impress his new boss. That meant that from their nook, Ray and (y/n) and Henry could observe him safely, pondering how they were gonna shoot him with the buzz dart.

As the two started to look at the machines and whatnot, Ray took his chance, flicking open the glass and sliding them up the bridge of his nose now that his target was in the room and standing still. He also didn't miss the way that (y/n)'s tongue poked out to moisten her lips at the sight of his new eyewear, causing his tummy to flutter at the thought of her loving it every time he wore them. His girl found her attractive, result.

"All right, now, I'll just pop him with a buzz dart, he'll be wobbling around like a weirdo when he meets Frittleman." Ray chuckled as his fingertips brushed the sensor on the side, making Henry bite his lip in worry. He had a pair too and had pushed them onto his face the minute Ray did since (y/n)'s disguise ones were actually already loaded up. She didn't expect to use them, thinking that the boys could take the shot, which was ambitious when considering that Ray had fucking terrible aim.

"Yeah...I kinda feel bad about this, y'know making him lose his job here." Henry mentioned, making Ray lower his hand as they continued to watch their victim and (y/n) could understand where he was coming from. Yeah, it was a bit mean, but it was this or bye-bye Kid Danger, so they didn't really have a choice. "Ray's the boss, what'd you say, sweetheart? Should we let him go?"

"Uhhhhhhhh, no." Well, that was final. The hero didn't want to leave his sidekick's future in the hands of a man he deemed to be an idiot, he wouldn't risk it and because he was in charge, they were gonna do as he said. Henry nor (y/n) argued, merely sat back on their haunches as he lined up the edge of the lense to the kid's dad. Right, he was infamous for missing, so this time, he was gonna try real hard and ignore that little voice in the back of his mind that told him to let his sweet girl aim since she was so pretty and smart and sexy and deadly...

"Okay, Mr Hart...eat dart!" Ray growled and went for it, ignoring the voice and his surroundings as his finger pushed the release, sending a tiny dart zooming across the room...and straight for an employee crossing the room. Oh, fabulous; the dart shot through the man's water bottle cleanly, creating an entrance and exit hole and a lovely little fountain, meaning the dart was thrown off course or shattered on impact. Either way, it meant that the attempt had been useless and Ray's reputation as a marksman was still shit.

"You missed, doofus!" (y/n) groaned, knotting her hands in her fake hair when she witnessed how Mr Hart and the tour guide hadn/t even noticed the disturbance, and the guy was definitely not convulsing and twitching like a weirdo. He was, like, right there, how could he miss?!

"Only because Henry was breathing so loud!" Ray lied, trying to cover up that he'd missed because he was terrible. Okay, maybe five per cent of that was the distraction of having her so close and so needy from the moment he put those stupid glasses on, he honestly couldn't help but feel a little breathless, but he wouldn't push her away with an admittance. That would go against everything he and his heart believed in.

"What? No, I wasn't!" The accused boy exclaimed, looking at his friend with indignation at how he'd been called a panter. He wasn't some huffing and puffing heavy-breather, he was quiet and knew that Ray was talking out of his ass just to save his own skin.

"Yes, you were! I was trying to aim and you were all like, herrrherherhughhhh!" Ray mocked him, and the boy's anger flared up at how overly exaggerated and stupid his boss was being, not to mention highly unfair. He missed because he was crap and he was just too chicken to admit it.

"I don't breathe like that!"

"Sorry to say, but yeah, you do!" The boys argued back and forth, putting (y/n) in the middle of them as each refused to back down, two alpha males squaring off with brash opinions. Ugh, why do boys have to make such a big deal about things?

"Okay, stop arguing! You're gonna get us thrown out!" The woman hissed, smacking them both upside the head and glaring as she continued to look at Mr Hart and they went quiet. Ray was busy trying to get back in her good books after mildly annoying her, squeezing her hand and giving her that dumb look he always had when he was trying to be cute and that left a gap. A Henry-sized gap.

"You know what, let me shoot. Let me try..." He said and Ray begrudgingly allowed him to step past, albeit with a slight arrogance that the kid wouldn't be able to hit the target. He was Captain Man, if he couldn't do it, then how could his boyish sidekick? And so, he stepped back with some amusement on his face, an arm around his girl's waist as they stood back to watch his demonstration.

"No, no, abort, abort! Look! Look!" (y/n) whispered when low and behold, Henry was prevented from even taking aim as a short, sharply dressed man waddled into the workspace. Jack Frittleman, CEO of the Frittle company was here. His presence meant that they had to suddenly be on their best behaviour and that meant they had to look diligent and hardworking, not like they were about to fire a dart into a man's ass.

"Yeah, it's Frittleman..." Ray nodded and they all quickly turned their backs on the short man, terrified that he'd notice that they weren't one of his workers. That would be a tough one to get out of and even though they desperately wanted to get it all over and done with, the heroes had to wait for the opportune moment.

"Excuse me, Mr Frittleman?" The tour guide lady smiled at her boss, who had been quickly pulled to one side by one of his senior employees so he could sign some documents on shipping, production and purchases. He was a very busy guy, but despite that, he tried his best to make his tone airy and polite, although every CEO has an element of psychopathy to them. "What? Yes? Hi!"

"I just wanted to introduce you to our new project manager, Jake Hart." The woman smiled and Mr Frittleman returned one tenfold as he set eyes upon his new worker. Hmmm, a little goofy-looking, smartly dressed, yeah, he looked all right and Mr Hart was certainly keen to positively add to his first impression.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr Frittleman." He said politely and warmly, offering his hand out for the man to shake since that's how most meetings go and he wanted to put his best foot forward with his new boss. However, there was one slight hiccup; Jack Frittleman didn't shake hands. Ever. That came from his psycho bit.

"Oh, I don't shake hands. People's hands are disgusting." He replied in a tight voice, visibly tensing his body at the sight of the outstretched palm and wiggling fingers in front of him. Ugh, those pink sausages had millions, if not billions, of bacteria crawling all over them and he hated to have them on him, even though his hands were also pretty dirty because that's just how humans work. Still, Jake overlooked his mysophobia and merely smiled softly, still eager to get on his good side.

"Oh, yes, especially mine." He agreed and he tried his best to make a small joke or something the CEO would like, and it worked for a moment. Frittleman laughed at his new employee, nodding along with what he said until the weight of his words dawned on him. Dirty hands? Ew. "Whaaaat?"

"Uh, nothing. I--I just wanted to show you my new tie." Oh god, where was he going with this? There was a reason that Mr Hart had failed at so many jobs and the big one was that he lacked so many crucial social skills. Not because he was shy or anything, just because he had an odd sense of humour and a strange way of getting out of tricky situations, it just made things a bit tense. "Your tie?"

"Yes, sir. Look, it's made of metal." Jake stated and lifted the fabric resting on his shirt, only it wasn't fabric, it was really was made from sheet aluminium. Maybe it was woven into the cloth or something, but either way, when lifted to a right angle, it didn't flop down, it was a perfect line. Huh, that did impress the guy, who apparently liked things all weird and quirky.

"Do you see this? Do you see what's happening?" Henry hissed into Ray's ear, leaning over (y/n)'s head as they watched the interaction from the hiding corner. Jeez, this was not going well; any minute now, Jake or Jack would move on and then their big plan would be ruined and all because they couldn't find a window of opportunity. 

"Yes! Now, calm down, will you? You're making me nervous!" Ray snapped back, trying not to let the pressure get to him and he had trained so that it wouldn't happen, but he still had a few nerves circling his stomach. What else could they do if this went wrong? Nothing, that's what and he was eternally grateful to the sweet girl who stood next to him. She grabbed his free hand and raised it to her lips for a kiss, just so she could calm him down and assure him that they had this in the bag. Maybe.

"Yeah, but my dad's about to get the job!" Henry exclaimed, trying to convey all of his worries into his voice because from the looks of things, his father was getting pretty pally with Frittleman and if the boss liked him, then he'd be hired on the spot, something them couldn't allow.

"Yeah, just wait. Let's see if Frittleman wants to hire your daddy after he gets a faceful of buzz dart!" The hero smirked and this time, he took no chances. He didn't go for a trick or a cool move, he just lined up the shot and--

"Move!" Oh dear lord, it was Piper. Piper Hart, the brat who'd caused him so much grief in the past, had just stormed into the building and was pushing past every worker in her path. Shocked to see the girl here, two hours away from Swellview, (y/n) and Henry each took in a sharp breath, the former reacting through instinct the moment she saw her.

"Oh god, it's Piper! What's she doing here?!" She panicked, and her body reacted in the only way it could think of; knowing that she needed comfort and support, her hand clutched onto Ray's forearm and accidentally made his body jerk...with his fingers on the arm of his glasses. His grip tightened and before they could do anything, a dart was released and buried itself into the girl's butt, causing her to scream and (y/n) to gulp guilty. Ooops.

"Great! You hit Piper!" Henry hissed, looking over at Ray with a glare as his sister yanked the needle from her skin, wondering where the hell it had come from. He was the one with the glasses, he should've been more careful, but no surprises, Ray didn't agree. Instead, he gazed down at his fiancée, who was looking a tad awkward at how she'd latched onto him with no warning whatsoever.

"Only 'cause (y/n) jostled me!" He argued, making the woman wrinkled her nose at the accusation, which was technically true. Okay, yeah, she held her hands up, guilty as charged, she did jostle him, but only because she found safety with him when things got tough.

"Didn't mean to..." She muttered moodily, looking down as she scuffed the stupid work boots she'd had to put on with her disguise and all the while, she looked like a scolded child. The kind of child who never got told off, but when they did they took it to heart and sulked for the rest of the day. Well, she would've sulked if not for the lips that cushioned against the top of her head, signalling that Ray could let it go because he could never be mad at her for touching him. Not even a little bit.

"Hello!!"

"How did you get here?" Mr Hart asked his daughter in an irritated tone as she barged into his private conversation with his future boss. Ugh, why did this one have to be such a brat? Here he was, on the cusp of landing a really great job, but his youngest had barged in and was setting him up to look bad and it showed in his voice how cross he was at the intrusion.

"I took three nasty buses with no wi-fi! Now, please, you can't take this job!" Piper yelled harshly, making everyone recoil at her volume and the sudden appearance of a child dressed in pink in his factory confused Mr Frittleman enormously.  She was here, talking to his new project manager, who was clearly annoyed by her presence and he couldn't help but ask since she was a safety issue. "I'm sorry, who's this girl?"

"Oh, I wouldn't know...uh, does anyone know who this girl is?" Mr Hart looked around the room sheepishly as he loudly asked if anyone knew who Piper was, which greatly offended her since he was ignoring their strong familial ties. He was ashamed of his own daughter, wow, that stung deep, but that wasn't what was on Ray, (y/n) and Henry's minds.

"Why isn't the buzz dart affecting her?" The boy asked as they watched and he couldn't help but wonder. It had been a couple of minutes since she'd been darted and back in the Man Cave, it had been seconds before Jasper was acting weird, so why wasn't Piper? She should have been convulsing by now, but wasn't, an explanation, please?

"Wait for it..." Ray held his finger, halting his sidekick's impatience and they observed with a little more patience forbearance as the girl continued to yell. They just needed to let the chemical spread through her body and Ray just knew that she was about to start acting out.

"Dad, I'm serio--" Piper started shrieking, but midway through, her tone was changed into a garbled groan as she began to do the freakish zombie thing, cramping up and jiggling all over the place as her nervous system was overtaken.

"My God, what's wrong with her?" The tour guide asked in horror as she, Jake and Frittleman watched Piper as she slapped at her dad and wiggled around violently and uncontrollably, making them think that she was having some kind of seizure. Should they call for an ambulance? 

"I don't know, but it's making me uncomfortable. Hugo! Chavez! Could you take this, uh, child away?" Mr Frittleman grimaced as two of his strongest employees came to grab Piper, who was promptly dragged away kicking and screaming like a lunatic as the buzz dart fought her body. Mr Hart was tempted to follow since she was his responsibility but then again, she'd be fine and was always around, but this job interview was a fleeting chance of moving up the professional ladder. He couldn't miss this. "Glad she's gone!"

"Me too!" He smiled, at ease now that Piper had been taken away, but the same tranquillity couldn't be applied to the hidden heroes as they scrambled to make another attempt.

"You have another dart in your pocket? In your right pocket?"

"Yeah! Yeah! I got it!" Henry snarled at his boss as the man pushed him to hurry up. They'd bought spare darts, just in case, and they couldn't help but rush to get everything into the glasses since it was looking likely that Frittleman would be moving on soon and Jake would go onto the next part of his tour. They had to act quickly, but snapping at each other wasn't gonna help.

"Calm down, just put them in the glasses!" (y/n) whispered to them, her fingers working alongside Henry's as the boy fumbled getting the tiny projectiles into the right holes, so she helped him out in that regard as Ray kept watch.

"If you'll just sign this contract right here, you'll be a Frittles official project manager!" The tour guide woman grinned at Mr Hart and handed him a contract of employment that would sign him up for a long term of working for the company and a long term of suffering for Henry since it was like he was also signing his life away. Oh god, they couldn't let pen touch paper, if he signed that contract then they were finished.

"Now, this is fantastic!" Mr Hart squealed, clutching the pen tightly as he prepared to scratch his name down in cursive, but his son had other ideas. Ignoring how his heart said it was cruel, Henry adjusted the position of his glasses and aimed, the likelihood of him hitting his father much higher than it was with Ray.

"Okay, dad, it's time for you to--" Henry went for the sick line, trying to add just a little bit of coolness as his finger hit the button, but he had been talking out of his ass too. Honestly, they should've just let (y/n) do it because the kid's aim was just as lousy as Ray's and he missed his dad, who he'd forgotten had been wearing a metal tie. The buzz dart bounced off his body, pinging on the aluminium and ricocheted into Jack Frittleman's cheek, making him shriek at the pain as Ray and (y/n) groaned. How could he hit the tie? It was shiny and so obvious not to hit.

"You hit Frittleman in the face!" (y/n) cried, whacking Henry's chest as the boy paled at her and Ray's disgusted faces. Okay, at least he'd actually gotten the dart near him, even if his dad was dumb and wearing a stiff, heavy tie that could save him from being shot, he'd done more than Ray, that was what his argument was. "Well, it was a ricochet!"

"Wit was a wichoway!" Ray mocked him as they watched Frittleman start to stumble, knowing that he was about to turn into a raving madman. Would Jake sign if the boss looked like a weirdo? Maybe he'd be put off the idea of working for the Frittle company or at the very least, they'd stopped him signing for just a few moments.

"Hugo! Chavez! Help! There's something in my face!" The businessman yelled to his assistants, forcing them to come out from the hall and see their boss as he started to strut like a chicken and wave his arms like one of those inflatable men outside a gas station. The rest of the workers on duty looked on in horror and bafflement as the usually reserved and proper man lost control of his limbs and kicked out at his surroundings, behaving like his polar opposite.

And that's when it all started going wrong for poor Jack Frittleman, that's when he accidentally set off a chain of events that would ruin his life all over again. 

He crashed into a wall, knocking a portrait of himself off the wall in the process, and that then fell onto the trolley holding all of the catalyst bottles and caused the first shelf to collapse. Then, a hammer was flung across the room at a great velocity, eventually hitting a valve that was twisted to hell so gas started to escape. The hammer then bounced off a control panel, denting the buttons and causing them all to blink and malfunction as the conveyor belt was sent into meltdown.

The entire production machine started pumping out hundreds of cans of Frittles from how damaged the circuits were and it seemed like history was repeating itself as things started to go to shit pretty quickly. Whatever that alarm was, it did not sound good.

"My mug!" Frittleman yelled as his favourite cup was flung across the room whilst everyone screamed in panic and worse things were yet to come. A basket-looking thing dropped from the ceiling, hitting a propped-up mop as it dropped to the floor and when the mop hit the main controls, everything was past the point of salvation. The machine literally exploded in a ball of fire and sparks that made everyone jump at the wave of heat and Ray clenched his teeth at the alarm of doom that suddenly sounded. Not again...

"What's--what's happening?!" Mr Hart yelled above the noise and chaos that was happening around him and he found himself quite fearful at what he was sensing; panic, danger, shit going wrong, this wasn't how he'd imagined his tour going, not before he actually signed onto the payroll anyway. Two men ran in as an automated voice started to repeat "warning, warning" over and over again, making their faces pale as they saw the sudden increase of heat and pressure in the ovens.

"ˇhe corn compressors are building up an extreme amount of pressure! I think it's gonna blow!!" The man, who (y/n) guessed was a corn compressor engineer, shouted, turning to face his boss and fellow Frittle employees with a faceful of fear for both the danger they were in and at how his boss was gonna react.

"Oh, not again!" Jack cried to the ceiling, feeling his heart hurt at the thought of losing another factory to a fat-powered explosion and Jake reacted off of his panic. This was fine, a little tense, but he could handle pressure, and this was his chance to prove that he deserved the job that quickly was slipping through his fingers faster than he could blink. "It's okay, I can manage this! I can manage this project!!"

"We gotta do something, we gotta do something now!" (y/n) exclaimed to her worried doofus and friend, looking from Ray to Henry for some idea as to what they could do, and the answer was pretty obvious. The workers were panicking and there was an imminent, deadly explosion coming that in their experience, was gonna wipe the entire place out. Well then, there was only one thing for it.

"All right, all right, all right," Henry calmed her as they crossed the floor, no one questioning who they were or what they were doing there because there were bigger things to worry about, and the boy grabbed the announcement tannoy. "Uh, hey, hey, hello. Uh, attention, everyone, this is Danny Tanner, a Frittle employee. I work here--what do you want me to say?"

"Run!"

"Get on with it!" Ray and (y/n) hissed at him as the kid dithered about what he was saying to the already confused people in the room. They needed a snappy, clear instruction to give them so everyone cleared out, not a load of gobbledygook as he debated what to say. 

"Run!" That was more like it and upon hearing the simple, clear instruction to save themselves, the workers, Mr Hart, the tour guide lady, Hugo, Chavez and Frittleman himself legged it from the room. Ray, (y/n) and Henry were the last to leave, having ushered everyone to the emergency exits before leaving for safety since they were the superheroes, even if they weren't in uniform.

Well, there was a slight diversion. Being the greedy so-and-so's they were, Ray and Henry decided that a golden chance had been put in front of them, namely in the form of hundreds of cans of free food. The Frittle cans were just theirs for the taking, who cares if the whole place was melting down, they could just grab a few armfuls and then run, no biggie, no problem. 

"Let's go, this place is about to go!" (y/n) yelled to them, heading for the door as they scanned the room and saw that everyone had cleared out, meaning they were free to leave now that they'd done their duty. Ray nodded at his sweet girl, reaching out to grab the hand that she offered him and sprinted to guide her safety, Henry hot on his heels.

"What are you doing, you morons?" The woman screeched when the boys had second thoughts as they pushed through the door. All those cans just screaming to them, it was too much to ignore, so Ray dropped his sweet girl's handing, promising himself that he and Henry would only be a second as they hugged armfuls of Frittles to their chests.

"Oh my god, just leave them, we can get some at home!" She yelled at them again, forcing them to abandon their efforts and scramble through the exit as they realised that she was right. That alarm was particularly scary and they'd already wasted a few precious seconds, which meant that Ray couldn't leave his girl in jeopardy any longer.

With their claimed Frittles cans scattered on the floor, the heroes left them behind and made it out of the building with only moments to spare, narrowly dodging the huge explosion of the entire Frittle factory that left the building ruined. Oh dear, Mr Frittleman was going to find it hard to pick up the pieces after this fuckup...

~Later that night, in the Man Cave~

"Apparently, everything was fine with Henry. He said he's not moving." (y/n) told her doofus as they got dressed for bed that night. She was brushing out her hair and removing her jewellery at the vanity unit whilst Ray was laying on the bed, waiting for her to join him. Goddamn it, he looked so fucking good just stretching out in his underwear after a very long, stressful day, akin to a god as his muscled tensed, but she had to take everything off before she snuggled into the soft bedsheets.

That's why she was in yet another one of his t-shirts, a long, cotton, black shirt that drowned her just like all the others did and left her looking tiny but they were just so comfy for sleeping in, she never minded. And Ray was way too in love with how she looked in them, drenched in something that was his and smiling because of a joke he said, it was just heaven, and he didn't have it in him to stop that.

"Well, yeah. His dad lost his job before he even got it, so... I get my sidekick back." The man smiled softly as he scratched the underneath of his chin, a picture of comfort and relaxation as he melted into the pillows and studied her every move. He'd be branded a liar if he said he wasn't relieved at Henry being back with them and for good, but he wasn't the kind to show sentimentality, not in front of anyone but (y/n), that is. He could be himself around her, emotional, angry, dumb, happy, she took all of it and loved it as he loved her. Fully. Unapologetically. With everything he had to give.

"And you're happy about that, even if you were grumpy and grouchy when we dropped him off at his house." The young woman teased him playfully, rubbing the last of her scented lotion into her arms and standing up from the vanity, her engagement ring carried in her hand since it always stayed next to her in a ring dish as she slept. The table was too far away for her liking and she liked knowing that it was close, especially when he pulled back the comforter with an eye roll at how she was so right on a topic he would never tell. 

Yeah, he was her doofus and he showed it by reaching out a hand to grab her hip as she padded across the room and slid down the mattress, not even lying fully flat when he started to pull her towards him, eager to have her small form wrapped over his. It had been a long day, he wanted to softness she brought, a stark contrast to the hardness they often experienced and it wasn't like he was forcing her into cuddling.

They always had the same position for general sleeping. If there was a particularly traumatic event, then one would be spooned and supported by the other through everything, but on most nights, it was just a matter of not being able to get close enough. Leg over his hip, head on his chest, arm around her back, fingers threading through her hair as his second arm pulled her hips until they were almost on top of his. They were like jelly smeared on toast, a messy tangle of limbs and torsos amongst the pillows and blankets as she sighed at them taking their natural position, so warm, so safe, so right.

"I was not grumpy, sweet girl. Just... didn't get overexcited..." Ray muttered as his lips hit her forehead, allowing him to press several, constant butterfly kisses across the expanse of skin there, making her smile into his neck even as she understood what he was saying and took a mild form of offence.

Okay, maybe she had tackled Henry in a bear hug before he'd left the car, maybe she'd shed a tear or two and maybe she'd told him how glad she was to still have her friend around. Maybe that happened or maybe it didn't, she wasn't proud of how she'd swamped the boy, but then again, she kinda was too. Just because he now towered over her didn't mean that he wasn't the sweet little kid she'd met all those years ago and by no means did she care any less about him. (y/n) was glad that Henry was staying, and whilst she may have gotten overexcited by just a tad, she'd do it all over again if it meant her family stayed perfect.

"If that's a reference to my hug with Henry, then I'm gonna go sleep in the other room." She joked, knowing that it was an empty threat on her part since this was way too good to just get up and leave, the whole being laid on top of her fiancé thing was just too blissful when compared to sleeping alone, so she didn't really mean it. However, that didn't mean that Ray, who knew that she wouldn't since he could hear her light, playful tone, from tensing his grasp on her, anchoring her to him like he was afraid to lose the softness that soothed his nightmares into dreams of sweetness.

"Noooo, don't go..." He whined, rubbing his face into her neck so she could feel his high-pitched neediness reverberate against her throat, making her skin prickle at the sensation. His breathing was soft and steady, so it shouldn't have exhilarated her as much as it did, shouldn't have made one of her hands lift to his head and push his face further into the crook, begging him to connect his lips to her pulse point. And that gave him an idea. "...or there'll be no morning sex for you."

"I won't risk it, then. But for the record, I think we both know that you wouldn't be able to keep your hands away anyway." (y/n)grinned as she felt featherlight kisses trail up the column of her neck, tickling her more than anything and drawing giggles from her lips when he chuckled. Yeah, she had him to a tee, knew that even if she could hold off and play stubborn, he couldn't, not for anything or anyone. Being denied his sweet girl in the mornings, that seemed so cruel...

"I think you're right, sweet girl. I can't resist you--can't say no to you." Ray confessed to her, releasing a small sigh when her fingernails dragged against his scalp. Sleep was setting in quickly and they felt too tired to actually move or do anything overly active or substantial, not at this time or after this day. There was one good thing though, they had set a slow simmer for their desire and come tomorrow morning, it would be blazing, enough to set the day up in the best kind of way. "Which is lucky for you..."

Damn right, she was lucky. She had a man willing to do anything for her in her arms and his loving words being mumbled into her skin just for her to hear. The chitchat and banter continued for a few more moments but nothing was sweeter than those words he gave her, a small confession that told her of his devotion to her. To her. 

(y/n) had never been possessive, it wasn't in her nature to control someone else and covet them, she knew what that was like and hated it. No, this wasn't possession she felt for Ray, it was deeper, just a deep longing to hold him in her heart, or rather, a deep longing to love him. The adorable yet courageous doofus was hers, she got to call him that and hopefully, one day, she'd be able to call him her husband.

That sounded like a pretty good life to her.

[thorntopieces]

Attempt at explaining the LoZ timeline soup

Every time I look at the Loz time-crossword-puzzle (credit to this video by Chase Kip for the term) I just get more and more confused. ToTK did not help on that front.

But I had a thought - and I haven't watched many theory videos on the timeline after ToTK came out, so it is very possible someone has already discussed this exact idea. In that case, please ignore this post lmao.

Second disclaimer: I haven't played a lot of ToTK yet simply because I haven't had the time. I know a bit of the lore from watching others play it, but uhhh ... don't expect perfect accuracy.

I'll put this under a read more, because who knows how long it's going to be and how many shitty illustrations I might have to add in. I also have like,,, no proof of my idea except what popped into my brain.

Update: 750 words and two images under the "keep reading". Image IDs are provided. No grammar checking has been done.

Basically, my thought is that the entire timeline as we know it, y'know, this one:

[Image ID: picture of the Legend of Zelda Timeline depicted on page 69 of The Hyrule Historia. It shows the typical timeline split after Ocarina of Time into the Downfall, Adult and Child timelines. End Image ID] Source

Yeah, I think this timeline still checks out. Obviously, the version I'm showing here ignores some games (most importantly, my favourite: A Link Between Worlds) but that's alright.

Basically, my thought was that if we take all the fun new games that just ruin whatever remnants of timeline we had left (read: BoTW, AoC, ToTK and Hyrule Warriors) and uhh. Let's create a semi-pocket dimension with them. All of those exist together in their own fun little loop now. Imagine the original timeline as a bed and we just drape my fun BoTW-AoC-ToTk-HW blanket over the bed. Let it lay on top.

At the top of the bed, by the pillow is Skyward Sword. We let Skyward Sword play out and BAM! They're working on establishing the Kingdom of Hyrule on the Surface. At the same time we can have Rauru (the King, not the Sage) and Sonia establish the Kingdom of Hyrule on ... well, the Surface. But since BoTW-AoC-ToTk-HW is a blanket laying on top of the bed, these two Kingdoms of Hyrule don't really interact.

And so the established timeline moves as normal, like we have the Minish Cap and Four Swords and everything is going great. But Ah! Actually Everything Isn't That Great because now we've got Hyrule Warriors happening on the blanket. A big war requires big help, yeah? Well, so what I failed to tell you is that this blanket is ... kind of in need of repair. It's got some thinner areas in the weave here and there and a couple of actual holes. Time kind of doesn't really progress during this war, so let's say that the Hyrule Warriors war lasts ... from around ish around the start of Ocarina of Time through the bottom of the conventional timeline (after Spirit Tracks, Four Swords Adventures and Whatever Is At The Bottom of Downfall).

The holes in the blanket are where we get the interdimensional travel through. Young Link? Yeah he was just temporarily dragged through a hole in the blanket from OoT/MM to aid in this war. Twili Midna? Same thing, just snatched out of the Twili Realm. Ravio? Sure! Snatch him up too. During the time where they're fighting in the war, time doesn't really pass in the normal timeline, and they probably don't remember much of the war afterwards once they've been returned to their original time and place. Think of it like a full body, skill and personality scan of them being done and that copy being dumped into Hyrule Warriors.

And then peaceful times happen and an indeterminate amount of time happens after Hyrule Warriors. Maybe because time passed so slowly during it (a couple of years at most, I think someone said 7 once?) while the normal timeline progressed by thousands of years, it's now catching up and a lot of time passes. Then we get AoC.

Well, you see, this blanket is actually quite fucked. We're getting closer to the bottom of the bed and this blanket has been mauled. There are now two strips of blanket, not just one cohesive blanket. On one side, AoC happens and everything is great, and on the other, BoTW Link falls in battle and takes a long feckin nap. Then he goes and does Breath of the Wild, gets a moment of peace. Then, ToTK.

And bam, we're back at the top of the bed with Skyward Sword and ToTK and it starts all over again.

Makes sense? Eh, probably not so much.

How about a (shitty) visual depiction:

[Image ID: a low-opacity image of the IGN Legend of Zelda timeline. There is handwritten text on top of the image. Between Skyward Sword and Ocarina of Time is written "Tears Of The Kingdom + Peace Era" in dark blue. All the other games are encircled in a dark-blue outlined square. Inside this square is written "This Is All Just Hyrule Warriors". At the bottom of the square is a cutout, where a mini timeline has been drawn. The timeline splits into two. The left side says "AoC" and the right side says "BoTW" and then "ToTK". End Image ID] Original Image Source

Anyways, those are my silly little thoughts.

[owlixx]

CoD notes: purchase history

I distinctly remember trading in Halo 3 at GameStop to get CoD WaW. I can’t remember how this ties in to when I would’ve gotten ODST. Also I think this was during a time when MW2 was the newest CoD but I wasn’t quite allowed to play it yet, so WaW was kind of a stepping stone game for me at this age. And I ended up purchasing all 3 map packs at full price just for the zombies goodness. A decent investment with how much I ended up playing them, but I could’ve saved up and got MW2 earlier instead. Beat the campaign for sure. Played a decent amount of multiplayer on top of focusing on zombies.

Not sure when it happened, but I eventually owned MW2 on disc for 360. I wonder what possibly was the catalyst for me putting down zombies finally and picking up MW2. Beat the campaign for sure. Never got DLC. Played a good amount of multilayer and Spec Ops.

I distinctly recall getting Black Ops 1 on day one or close to it, I think the same with Halo Reach. I also remember BO1 being a game that made my parents introduce a daily time limit on the 360 using its settings. I only ever got the first map pack for ascension which I remember having a snow day the day it came out and playing it with my cousin and being very confused by the black and white. This would’ve been a disc on 360. Beat the campaign, played plenty of zombies and MP.

MW3 I got later on PC, just a month or two before the release of BO2. I beat the campaign but didn’t play as much of the MP or spec ops.

BO2 I pre ordered on steam and played the heck out of, mostly MP but I did beat the campaign and play some zombies. TranZit really pushed me to prioritize multiplayer. At the same time though, it didn’t matter how good or bad the zombies map was, because zombies was always about playing with friends for me and I had become an asocial gamer inbetween this game and black ops 1. I never made any big friends on PC the way I did on 360. I’m sure I would’ve played TranZit over and over and over if I had been a part of a community and been that age and in that same headspace but without trying to get too deep here, I think I as a person changed more in those 2 years than CoD did. Anyways, I was sick from school the day this came out and I binged the campaign and an entire 12 pack of diet Sierra Mist (rip) to enable a speedy recovery the next day. And I still showed up for a math competition that day which alleviated any suspicious of me faking it since I was clearly super ill. Never had the DLC except later I went back and got a, ahem, heavily discounted offline version of the game just to try the zombies maps once each which I no longer have.

Ghosts I owned on PS4 physical and only played offline multiplayer with bots mostly and maybe barely touched the campaign/Online MP. Only a few matches of extinction as well.

AW barely touched. I definitely played some multiplayer but I can barely remember anything. Owned on PS4, I think physical copy but I’m not confident.

Black Ops 3…this is where things get weird. I owned outright on PS4, I think digital. Mostly did MP and a little zombies, never beat much of the campaign. Didn’t own DLC. I think that was my first copy of the game but then later I accidentally purchased the multiplayer-only edition on PC through humble monthly and eventually played a bit there. Later got an, ahem, heavily discounted offline version of the game just to play zombies once or twice each. I remember doing that on my laptop, on tv with gamepad, and even with my college roommate. Lost that copy eventually. Later still, I now own the base game physically on Xbox and just beat the campaign coop finally. I still want that zombies goodness and can’t decide how and when to upgrade. Also briefly played maybe 10 minutes on PS5 about a year ago with my dad since it’s free there.

Infinite Warfare I think I owned on PS4 physical then sold and then later got for mad cheap physical on PC and just stuck the code into steam and tossed the many install discs. I now also own on Xbox along with MWR because it was 5 bucks as part of a “4 for 20” deal when I moved out and bought a tv and wanted to play Saints Row 3 remastered because I had just beaten saints row 4 before moving out. Can’t believe the disc actually lets you play MWR without just a code in the box. Never beat campaign or owned DLC but I want it.

WWII I think we owned on PS4 but now also own on Xbox digital and my memories of what I played where is a little hazy.

BO4 I got on battlenet on slight sale after having enjoyed the beta. Mostly did zombies and MP, almost no blackout or the weird single player missions. No DLC. I own physical on Xbox now too as part of that same “4 for 20” deal.

MW2019 we owned digital on PS4 but I played some Warzone and free weekend on PC.

BOCW I got on PC on sale after a free zombies weekend for the zombies but then ended up playing MP more long term. Also own on Xbox through dad.

Vanguard own on Xbox, I paid my dad half the price to pre order it. Last CoD of me living at home with my parents.

MW2 own on Xbox. I think my dad got himself the ultimate edition unprompted.

MW3 I paid my dad to pre order on Xbox and then I also got on steam so I could play with my gf which has worked out really well actually, definitely worth 100ish bucks to get 1.5 copies of the game.

[timeturner-jay]

Meta Knight and Galaxia: An Observation (and maybe a theory)

Earlier today, I was watching a playthrough of Kirby's Return to Dreamland, and as the group was fighting Magolor Soul EX, I noticed something peculiar: 

In his EX form, he uses Galaxia. Huh! I never knew about that! It's gotten my theory brain going a little, I'll admit. How did he get that? Why is there more than one of it to begin with?

If the Master Crown can summon Galaxia, is there some kind of connection between the two relics?

Well. Let's see.

Before the games officially started using the name "Galaxia" (a name that first appeared in the Kirby anime) for the legendary blade, the fan community had a different name for it: the Master Sword. What looks like a tongue-in-cheek reference to Legend of Zelda at first glance actually has some canon basis - in Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, Meta Knight entrusts his sacred sword to Kirby for the final battle. The copy ability Kirby receives thereupon is simply called the "Master ability"; so the sword he got it from must consequently be called the Master Sword, right?

(Granted, the sword's design has changed quite a bit since then, but it's presumably still the same weapon that is known as Galaxia nowadays. The in-game spritework also has that golden energy dance around the blade in ways that strongly resemble Galaxia's familiar prongs.)

So if Galaxia is the Master Sword, and the relic known as the Master Crown can summon alternate versions of it... Perhaps these two artifacts aren't so dissimilar. 👀 I wonder if a similar power to Crowned Magolor could be unleashed through it, if Meta Knight wanted to. Why doesn't he, then?

I've got a few thoughts about that, as well.

As you know, the Master Crown had a guardian, one who was protecting it fiercely without ever tapping into its true power - the dragon Landia.

Perhaps Meta Knight's role is a similar one. Not just a wielder of the Master Sword Galaxia, but its guardian. Someone who can be trusted with such immense power. He does share one more similarity with Landia, after all...

I've compared Meta Knight's and Dragon Fire Kirby's wings in the past, delighted by the similarities, and pointed out that Meta Knight's wings seem a lot more draconic than bat-like to me, what with the talons and all... So perhaps, in a roundabout way, he too could be likened to a dragon protecting its hoard, just like Landia.

Perhaps relic guardians (if indeed there is an official role like that) were selected specifically for their draconic qualities - after all, in many cultures, dragons are thought of as wise and long-lived protectors. Who better to entrust a relic with god-like powers to for safekeeping?

There's also the fact that Meta Knight seems so utterly unsurprised by anything happening in the RtD finale, outside of perhaps Magolor's betrayal itself - where everyone else is acting surprised and confused, he just takes it all in stride, like he knows what's going on and what to do about it. Like none of this is new to him. He even uses Galaxia to deflect some of Crowned!Magolor's attacks - how did he know that he'd be able to do that, unless he was a lot more familiar with this type of relic than he lets on?

I just have a lot of thoughts about Meta Knight's role in the Kirby series. I doubt HAL will ever actually confirm anything, because being "a mysterious Knight" is kind of just his Thing now, but if you look into things just a little bit, there are a lot of vague implications that hang around him.

Maybe none of this means anything, and it's all just conjecture. But it's fun to think about, in any case. It could make for some interesting headcanons, if nothing else.

(There's also the fact that Void Termina summons the Master Crown for one of its attacks, so what does that mean for the Master Sword? And Meta Knight's own implied relationship with Void? The rabbit hole just keeps going and going!)

[kkpaaw]

SPOILERS FOR THE VIDEO GAME "PROCESS OF ELIMINATION" CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK

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This game was amazing! It had me on the edge the entire time I was playing it! And then ending??? When It was revealed that my precious Doleful was the Quartering Duke? I felt...SO betrayed you don't understand.

I was prepared for him to like end up as a potential victim, like maybe his luck in surviving close calls would rum out and we would have to figure out how he got killed despite his danger magnet ability. I was preparing myself for that potential outcome but I was NOT prepared for this.

The ending was SO good but In truth i wish we got more of a follow up ngl. Like Incompetents last line before the epilogue implied that they were gonna do to Doleful what the did with Renegade? Like making him use his abilities for good? At least that's what i got from it?

I could be absolutely wrong because He did get apprehended on the ship but hey, I would like to imagine that they made him useful like that cuz, despite everything his ability is VERY helpful and useful to solving cases (and im just biased as hell and would hate to see him locked up) Dunno how they would force him to help since the little collar Renegade wore wouldn't work because of his invincibility, but hey maybe he can become a permenant partner to Incompetent who would be able to foresee any potential killings he might try and do. Maybe help him turn that mindset he has around. (Also because I ship them two so badly, I swear every alone moment between them was screaming romantic tension)

Also can we talk about this image of my boi??

I was in so much denial up until i saw this and had to give in that he was the Quartering Duke. The music it this scene is also so amazing and eerie. Fits perfectly!

Tho the ending line for the game very much confused me. I honestly have no idea what the line implies but it kinda worries me? Especially considering we were brought to the island for the Detective Elimination Project by Senior (who was working with/for Doleful AKA the Duke). So to have the name of our future project be called that exact same thing? Deeply weird ngl. What exactly are they planning on doing? If anyone who played the game knows what that ending entails please do tell me cuz I'm completely confused.

Workaholic turning out to be Diabolic who was the one who kidnapped us? Wasn't expecting that either. Tho that made him immediately climb up to my top three favorite characters cuz he became SO much more interesting and made me wanna know more about him after that everytime he showed up after? Ya homegirl got hella happy and excited. Was very sad when he died THO i was expecting him too. People who follow the trope he did usually end up being killed so I'm not surprised he died tho i was very sad.

I wasn't expecting Renegade to die tho frfr. Thought he would survive till the end so his murder was unexpected for sure!

Overall I loved the game and I hope more people play it and enjoy it so I can talk to more people about it! I know it gets compared to Danganronpa ALOT (Doesn't help that Wato looks alot like Shuichi) but I fr think it's definitely capable of standing on its own.

My top fav 5 characters

1. Doleful (which is why his truth hurt so much ahshs)

2. Incompetent

3. Workaholic

4. Mystic

5. Bookworm

Alright that's all I got ahsjs

Credit to BAI GAMING on YouTube for the screenshots. Was too lazy to open my copy of the game for them so I got them from him!