#surprised it doesn't cause a blackout

[ailithnight]

*Whoops. Forgot to title and link previous chapters. Fight me, I just woke up.

A King in Arkham

Chapter 3

Chapter 1 Chapter 2

"Tim. Tim you have to get me copies of this footage." Tim is not surprised by the request. In fact, the 'Sure' is already on his tongue when he pauses, a thought creeping into his head, seeded by the notification Tim really hopes Jason isn't paying attention to in the bottom corner of the computer.

"One condition."

"Fuck you, I knew you'd want something. What? You want my cookies? Coffee? For Red Hood to go on camera singing praises for Red Robin? I'll fuckin do it. Just send me the god damn clips."

"Nope, nope, and tempting, but no."

"Name your price, Replacement. I'll pay it."

"Swear you aren't going to go rush in and extract the kid until we're done investigating him."

"What!? Fuck that! I told you was pulling him out next chance I get!" Tim lets himself groan in annoyance.

"Look, anyone that could do that-" Tim gestures to the part of the screen where they'd pulled up The Joker's medical reports following the incidents, showing pictures and descriptions of just how thoroughly Daniel had beat his ass 3 weeks in a row, "without getting so much as a scratch or fucking bruise in return, has got something going on. There may well be a reason they sent him to Arkham!"

Jason's eyes narrow at Tim as he all but growls, "No reason is good enough to put-"

"A fifteen year old in Arkham. I fucking know that, Hood. But we still need to know exactly who we're dealing with when we get him out. What his deal is. If his dangerous. What the hell was so wrong with him that someone thought it was a good idea to stick him in there to begin with."

"He could get hurt while we're sitting on our asses trying to satisfy fuckin Bat paranoia!"

"He took down the Joker! Clearly he can take care of himself."

"Then who has been hurting him!?"

"Maybe him fucking self!" Tim knew he was pushing it. The green growing stronger in Jason's eyes was proof. But he needed to buy them some time before Jason made thing exponentially harder by storming the castle. Still, now he needed to calm Jason down before he went into a full rage. So Tim held up his hands placatingly.

"A few days, Jay. Just give us a few more days. I'm already almost through the Arkham reports, and there are only a handful from Chicago and Oracle is probably going to announce any minute now that she got through the communications blackout around his home town. We just need a bit more time to sort out intel so that we actually know how to help him once we get him out."

Finally, after a tense 34 seconds, green fades back into blue and Jason let's out a heavy sigh.

"Fine. But I get to tell the Bat about Daniel's discipline slips. Wanna see his fuckin face when I do."

"Deal." Tim hurriedly puts a comm in as Jason watches with narrowed eyes.

Batman.

Red Robin. Ready to fill me in?

Not yet, you're about to be busy. I isolated a pattern earlier. Exactly 15 minutes before the locks malfunction, there's been a strange power surge. Always written off. But the surge doesn't seem to be coming from the grid. And like I said, exactly 15 minutes later is when the locks malfunction.

Jason huffs as he catches on. Apparently he hadn't thought to question why Tim was so desperate to buy time before.

Robin responds, since he's on stakeout with Bruce. Mostly because Bruce won't let him watch the asylum alone. Much as the kid hates it, the rest of the family agrees. It's only a matter of time before someone in max security manages to take advantage of theses malfunctions. So far Croc is the only one who had, though thankfully he's not one to start shit on his own. But with Joker, Scarecrow, and TwoFace all inside; any one of them, or god forbid all three, could make for a real bad situation.

Tt. So you can tell before a malfunction happens.

Think so. Last power surge was 8 minutes ago.

And you are only telling us now, why Drake?

Codenames.

Cause he spent those 8 convincing me not to go get our kid out yet.

6 minutes. See if you can stop things before they start.

I'm not far out. Want me to join you?

Tt. I doubt we'll need your assistance, Signal. We shall be done before you get here.

No wait. Signal, head in. See if you can get a read on 26B.

You think he might be meta?

Hood?

Jason glares at Tim betrayed.

"I wanted to see his fuckin face."

Tim just waves him off.

"They need to know. You tell them or I do."

Boys

Jason scowls, but relents.

He put the Joker in the infirmary on his 1st, 7th, and 15th days there. All 3 times took no damage himself. Feral child had to be pulled off and still didn't stop struggling till the clown was out of sight.

All 3 assaults followed by panic attacks, though whether about the Joker himself or what Daniel had done to him, we don't know yet.

The comms were silent for a moment.

A 15 year old...

Did what you've never had the balls to old man.

...I've fought the Joker.

Daniel hits first.

Hnn

I will admit, it is impressive that he can take the Joker down alone. Perhaps he will make for a worthy brother after all.

4 minutes.

We're moving in. Thank you Red Robin, Hood.

The fuck are you thanking me for?

For helping. And giving us time to work this out.

ETA 7 minutes out. Be with you shortly.

.

The advanced warning proved invaluable for Batman and Robin. After alerting the chief of security of their supposed pattern, he had guards already in motion when the doors swung open. Batman took a perch to watch for max security escapees while Robin assisted the guards in keeping inmates corralled. Many didn't even bother to leave their designated areas, having already seen the Bats in the building.

No sign of any max security inmates. Normally, Batman would find this concerning. And while he did file it away to ponder later why no one from max security ever seemed to make it out of that wing, for today he counted the blessing that he would not have to try to keep Robin safe while dealing with someone like the Joker.

Batman tracked motion through the crowds, watching as a black mop of hair moved, seemingly otherwise unnoticed, through the sea of people. He thought to move in to direct the person back towards where people were being herded to, but the small figure merely walked towards the B wing and entered one of the far cells. That gave Bruce a sneaking suspicion of which patient that was. He moved to get a closer look as Signal swooped in.

"Where is he?"

"I believe he just went into his cell. This way." Batman led Signal to the cell he'd seen that tiny person enter. It was indeed 26B and there was indeed a small, too small, frail looking boy lying on the bed there. A red blotch had appeared under his left eye even though Bruce was certain there had been no injury there as the boy had crossed the hall.

Signal froze beside him, breath stuttering. The boy briefly glanced at them through the corner of his eye, mouth twitching into a brief frown. Then his eyes turned back to the ceiling and his face smoothed out. Bruce couldn't help but reach out.

"Hello." The boy said nothing. Signal opened and closed his mouth, seeming to try to say something, but unable to get words out. Batman wondered what he must be seeing. "You seem hurt. Do you need help?" Eyes flickered back to him and away just as quickly.

"Nothing you can help with Mr. Batman." And oh, how Bruce hated the kid's voice. So quiet and so so hollow. Bruce's mind flashed to his children, imagining any them speaking with such emptiness. His heart clenched, wondering what could have happened to this boy to have snuffed the life out of him so young.

Duke found his voice again, just as the doors buzzed and swung shut again.

"What are you?" Bruce frowned, looking at his latest. Who was looking, as Bruce tracked his gaze, not at Daniel but at the space just above him. Daniel himself seemed to take interest all of a sudden, breaking away his upward gaze to roll his head and look at them. Confusion plain on his face, the first hint of life shining dimly in his eyes.

"Signal? Signal, what do you see?" Batman asked. Robin materialized beside them. The daytime hero stepped forward, then back, light sparking and fizzling around his fingertips.

"There's something in there with him."

Daniel looked back up, where Signal still had his gazed trained on something Batman couldn't see. Even Robin seemed confused, though he no doubt trusted Signal's meta sight.

"Don't worry," Daniel murmured, "S'just a ghost. She can't hurt you."

This 'ghost' seemed unhappy either with the teen's words or this turn of events. Daniel's head snapped back to the side again, causing Batman and Signal to wince while Robin watched stoically. 4 red scratches appeared on Daniel's right cheek, as though he had been backhanded by someone with clawlike nails. A light chill brushed through him and Signal tensed, then relaxed, his gaze finally turning from the emptiness above Daniel to the boy himself. Batman took that as a sign that the... entity, was gone.

Daniel did not react to the obvious abuse from an invisible assailant. He mechanically turned his head back, once more dead and glazed eyes returning to the cracks in the ceiling of his cell. "You should go now. The guards will come around soon to make sure I'm still here."

Bruce wanted so badly to say 'Don't worry, we'll get you out of here.' But Batman was more restrained than that. He would get the child out. But he would have a plan first. For now, Bruce placed a hand each on the shoulders of Duke and Damien, guiding them away. Only when they were back outside did Bruce let them go. Only when they were perched on a rooftop half a block away did Batman pause.

"Robin, report."

"No escaped inmates and no sign of any from maximum security."

"Good. Signal, any information on what you saw in there." Duke rubbed at his eyes.

"A ghost, I guess? I don't know. It was weird. She didn't really have an aura. It was more like, an absence of aura. Like she was a black hole, drawing all the light in."

Even behind the domino, Bruce could tell Damien rolled his eyes.

"And what of the patient, Thomas? Was he not the one you were sent to look at?" Batman bit back the reprimand for codenames, more interested in Signal's response. Signal seemed to think for a moment, then shook his head.

"He definitely had a pretty distinct aura. It... felt powerful. But it looked weak. Dim. When the ghost... struck him, it flared up a bit, but died back down almost instantly. I... I get the feeling he was holding it back. Almost like he was afraid of it. Of himself."

"Hnn. Good job Signal. Robin. You two are welcome to head back to the cave. I'll take the rest of this Arkham shift."

At that moment, the comms crackled to life.

Actually B, you may want to come in, also. Arkham should be fine. And I found why they sent the kid there.

[propertyofyoutube]

Kidnapping Prank - EXPLICIT

Summary: Sam and Colby teamed up to pull, what they thought, would be the best prank to win the prank war. After you and Sam were both kidnapped and Colby 'shot' Sam in the head, you did not react well at all understandably! Heavily inspired by the killing best friend prank.

WARNINGS: SMUT 18+, mentions of guns, death (it was a prank) grief and pain. Kidnapping. Unprotected sex, angry sex, make up sex, fem dominance.

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Sam laughed as you spoke, "so I basically just ran a stop sign for Tara, when her emergency was that she literally had shit up the wall!" You thought back to a couple of nights before and speeding to Tara's rescue when all she had was an explosive bathroom experience.

"You know... it doesn't surprise me!" Sam laughed harder as he drove through LA. suddenly, he made an impromptu right turn as he headed away from the Main Street, "Colby found this new shortcut the other week, skips all the traffic." Sam said with a smile as he turned to face you. You nodded as you glanced out the window.

Just by luck, or so you thought, as Sam drove down a very secluded street, the car suddenly began to jump forward slightly as the engine inevitably came to a stop. "What the fuck?" Sam said, considering this was a brand new Tesla.

You couldn't help but feel nervous, as your hairs stood on end and your anxiety slightly started to stir. Sam sighed as he stepped out of the Tesla, walking to the engine and popping the hood. You waited for a moment before stepping out of the car as Sam was taking a little longer than expected. "Is everything okay?" You asked, as the street was pitch black apart from 2 dimly lit street lamps.

Sam huffed as he looked at the engine, "I'm not sure to be honest..." he looked at you, his face was hard to read in this light but he looked confused, "baby come here, does this look like it's cracked to you?" He asked pointing into the engine. You moved to stand beside him as you followed his gaze.

"Where?" You asked, leaning in closer.

"Just right there, on that pipe... I think it's-" as you were leaning closely to examine the part suddenly Sam was cut off as both of your head were swallowed by blackout out bags.

"What the fuck!" You screamed as your body was pulled backwards into the arms of someone.

You heard as Sam shouted struggling, "baby! Y/n!" He shouted loudly.

"Sam!" You screamed as you instantly began crying. All of a sudden, you were tied up as you were thrown into the back of a car. Everything quiet as you cried, your body shaking uncontrollably.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

It wasn't very long before the car came to a stop, and the door swung open as a pair of hands grabbed your body pulling you out of the back of the car by your feet as you kicked and screamed, "let go! Please let me go you bastards!" You cried heavily as two people carried you up a lot of stairs in what sounded like a very empty building. As the banging of metal doors you were being carried through echoed throughout the building.

As the kidnappers reached the top of the stairs and opened the last door you were hit with the cold air as you presumed you were outside, more than likely, on a roof.

The two strangers sat you on a chair, your head still completely covered, as they tied you tightly, your legs to the legs of the chair and your arms to the arms. You put up as much of a fight as you could, you definitely managed to cause some form of pain to the attackers as you kicked your legs and flung your arms, but it was no use. They were strong and managed to get you exactly where they wanted you.

Suddenly, you heard the door open and close as they left you there alone. Quickly followed by the sound of it opening again but accompanied by the sound of Sam shouted a string of expletives. "You let her go! Let her go!" He was screaming by the kidnappers didn't respond.

"Sammy?" You cried out.

"Baby! Shhh it's okay. It'll be okay." Sam said but you could hear the panic and shaking on his voice.

Suddenly, everything became light for you as one of the attackers pulled off the bag over your head. As your eyes adjusted, through the tears, you was Sam. On his knees, the bag still over his head. Your heart broke as even more fear filled your body as you saw the masked man for the first time. "Oh my god. Sammy." You cried as you watched the man walk across the roof, next to Sam as he wasted no time, lifting up a gun and putting it to Sam's head.

"No! No no no!" You cried loudly. "Please mister! Please I'm begging you!" The man looked at you as you saw Sam shaking and could hear his tears starting to fall. "We're just kids please! Please don't do this, please don't take him away from me!" Suddenly, you heard the click as he cocked the gun. "Sir sir please! Please I couldn't survive without him, sir please I love him... he's everything I have!" Just as you screamed at the top of your lungs.

BANG.

You threw your head away, as you screamed out, and Sam's body hit the ground. Your body shaking uncontrollably as you cried harder than you ever did. Your heart just snapped in half, as you sobbed you screams of pain ripping through the streets of LA. you couldn't believe it. He was gone.

Suddenly, you hadn't noticed as you sobbed, your body dragging the chair as far away from Sam as possible. You hung your head low as you screamed out crying, as a hand suddenly touched your shoulder, "get off me you bastard! Get the fuck away from me!" You screamed your voice filled with both pain and anger.

"Baby baby!" Sam's voice echoed through your ears as your head suddenly snapped up in disbelief, "baby, oh my god, I'm so sorry!" Sam said as at first he laughed, "it was a prank baby! Just a prank!" Sam said as he quickly untied your hands, you looked at him. A million feelings running through your body all at once, your tears still falling down your face. You couldn't speak, you couldn't move. You looked at him, as for a moment you genuinely thought you would never see him again, hug him, kiss him. And there he was, smiling at you. As he finally got the last of the rope untied. You quickly stood up as Sam grabbed your hands and you wrapped your arms tightly around his neck as his arms squeezed across your back. "I'm so sorry baby!" Sam chuckled as you hugged you tightly.

"I thought you... I thought you were dead!" You cried into his shoulder as Colby suddenly took off the mask and stood off to the side. "Don't you ever, ever do that to me again Sam." You cried harder as you squeezed him tighter. Sam suddenly pulled away as you looked at the floor, terrified to look at his face as the relief you felt slowly began to wear away and anger started to rise in you.

"Baby I'm fine!" He smiled as he took his hand lifting your face up by your chin. As your gaze met his, his face dropped dramatically. The look in your eyes, the pain you had felt, it was in this moment Sam knew he'd fucked up. The realisation of what they did hit him like a tone of bricks. "Baby..." Sam said softly as he stepped towards you.

You quickly lifted up your arms pushing him backwards, "what the fuck Sam!" You shouted, your tears still streaming. "Are you fucking kidding me!"

Sam stood shocked as even Colby stayed back, both of them filled with nervousness and guilt. "Baby, oh my god. I didn't think it- I was being stupid- I just thought-"

"Yeah well you thought wrong Sam." You quickly looked at Colby, "and you!" Colby stared at you realising just how stupid they had actually been. They didn't say anything, they didn't know what to say. "How could you do that to me Sam? Put me through the worst pain I've ever felt in my life... just for a fucking video!" You screamed at him as he tried to step to you, his eyes filling with water. He tried to grab you but you fought back against him.

"Y/n please. I'm so sorry. I swear, this was a fucked up idea and I see that now, please oh my god..." Sam began to cry as he grabbed your shoulders, looking deep into your eyes. "Please.. just don't... please don't leave me. Let me fix this."

You looked at Sam shocked, you would never leave him. You loved him more than anything and yes, he fucked up, but life without him is what caused you so much pain. "Sam, I'm not going to leave you." You said between tears as you tried to compose yourself. "I just..." you looked at him, unsure of what to say at this point, you were exhausted. Both emotionally and physically. "Just please.. take me home." You said softly as he quickly nodded at you, pulling you into a hug, squeezing tighter than he ever had.

"Of course baby, I'm so sorry. I'm so fucking sorry." He cried as he held you tightly. Colby came up behind both.

"Y/n... I'm sorry. We didn't think it through." Colby said with his voice guilt ridden. You turned to face him as he pulled you into a hug, holding you just as tight as Sam did.

>>>>>>>>>>>

The drive home was horrible. You sat in the back of the car, telling the boys to give you space. You gazed out of the window. You thought back to what happened and the pain you felt. But then the relief of seeing him okay. You wanted... you wanted to hug him, but you also wanted to hit him, you wanted to fuck him but you also wanted to kill him. You had never felt more emotions as you did in this moment.

As you finally arrived back at their place you quickly ran into the house, heading straight up the stairs to the bedroom as Sam ran quickly behind you. As you walked into the room, you took off your hoodie, throwing it onto the floor as you paced around the room. You wanted to scream at him, you wanted to rip him to shreds for what he put you through. But you thought he was dead, you thought you'd never get to kiss him, you hold, to fuck him ever again.

"Baby..." Sam said as he closed the door behind him.

You continued to pace. You didn't know what the hell to do, you couldn't decide, your body wouldn't settle on just one emotion.

"Please. Baby, just give it to me. Let it out." Sam said softly preparing himself for the biggest scolding of his life.

You stopped, looking at him across the room. And then your body decided as you breathed heavily, "fuck me." You said firmly.

Sam's gaze quickly shot up, looking at you confused, "what did you say?"

You took a deep breath before stating once again, "I said. Fuck me." You stared him, your body refusing to move.

Sam looked at you dumbfounded, both of your emotions running high, "baby.. I don't think-"

"Sam. You either fuck me, or you get the fuck out." You said sternly. You needed to release some of this tension, your body desperate to relax into his touch. Your breathing heavier as you stood, your hands on your hips.

Sam stood for a moment, his mind racing as he suddenly swallowed hard, "fuck it." He suddenly ran to you, grabbing your face and connecting your lips, deeply and passionately. Your arms wrapped around his head as both of your tongues fought for dominance. Sam reached down grabbing the bottom of your shirt, pulling it up and over your head, throwing it across the room. As you quickly returned the favour, his torso exposed, as you ran your hands along it. Both of your lips in sync. Sam reached behind you and unclasped your bra before discarding of that too. As soon as your breasts were exposed Sam instantly turned his attention to them, kneading them with his hands and his sucking on your nipples, your head throwing back in pleasure as your hands interlocked with his hair.

You suddenly pushed him off you as you looked at him, pulling down your sweats along with your underwear. "Pants off now." You demanded. As Sam nodded eagerly with a smile across his face. He quickly undone his jeans and pulled them off, quickly kicking them away. You both reconnected your lips as he pulled your body close to his, you could feel his already hard dick pressing against you, as your heat dripped for him. You felt anger but mostly passion as you quickly pushed him backwards onto the bed, taking him by surprise. You were taking control tonight. You moved to straddle across him as you pushed him down by his chest, his eyes filled with love and admiration as well as lust and passion. His hands ran up and down your thighs as you breathed deeply, "you will never do anything like that to me ever again." You demanded as Sam looked all over your body. Nodding his head quickly.

"Never baby, fuck... I love you so much." Sam said as his hands dug into your thigh. You quickly lined him up with your entrance as you wasted no more time sliding down onto his cock as you both groaned deeply. You needed this, you needed him. "Fuck y/n..." Sam whispered as he flung his head back in pleasure.

"Oh shit..." you moaned out as you began to slowly move your body up and down. Feeling Sam's grip on your thigh tighten as he moved his hands up to your hips. Holding you with a firm grip. "You're such a dick." You said as you bounced, your heart pounding as the feeling of his dick hitting your g-spot being exactly what you needed in this moment.

"Fuck baby!" Sam moaned out louder, you calling him a dick made him crumble, "I'm so sorry." You quickened your speed as you bounced.

"You will never do that again," you moaned as you bounced, your head flinging back in pleasure, "fuck. You fucked up sam." You moaned louder.

"Fuck baby, I'm gonna cum already." Sam groaned as his grip on your hips began to leave marks.

"No." You demanded snapping your head to him, his eyes opening to meet your gaze, "not yet. Just a little longer. Don't you fucking dare cum yet." You said, your voice dominant and filled with passion and rage. You bounced even quicker, as you felt that knot in your stomach, your orgasm quickly approaching.

Sam's hands suddenly reached up to knead your tits once again, his groans filling your ears, causing your body to cover in goosebumps. "Fuck y/n. I'm so sorry."

"Fuck fuck..." you moaned out, your fingers digging into his chest as your breath hitched, "fuck I love you." You whined as you closed your eyes tightly your orgasm about to hit.

"Fuck baby. Please cum. I need to cum. Please." Sam begged, "I fucking love you. God do I love you." He groaned deeply. That's all you needed to hear as you clenched your walls around his cock as he suddenly lifted you up, his hands tightly gripping your ass as he began to thrust up into you, faster and harder.

"Fuck!" Your orgasm hit you full speed as you spilled all your juices all over his dick.

"Fuckkkkk." Sam groaned out deeply, his voice horse snd raspy. Breathless, As he came, filling you up entirely. "Fuck baby..." he said much softer as he tried to catch his breath. For the first time tonight you smiled, as your body relaxed entirely. You slowly lifted off him as you flopped on the bed beside him.

"Fuck... I needed that." You said looking up at the ceiling as your heart pounded out of your chest. You both laid there for a moment, nothing but your heavy breathing filling the room.

Sam turned his head to you, "baby... I really am sorry." He said with sadness in his eyes. "I really didn't think it through, I didn't think of the consequences." He said with his voice riddle with guilt.

You turned to look at him, his eyes glistening over, "baby, it's okay." You said softly as you reached your hand up to trace his jawline. "I swear though, that video better go viral! It best be worth it!" You chuckled as Sam looked at you, his mouth open wide.

"I mean... I wasn't going to post it, but... if you insist!" He laughed as he rolled over on top of you.

"I was so scared Sam." You said as you looked up into his eyes.

Sam took a deep breath as he spoke, "I'm sorry."

"I just love you so much, I couldn't imagine life without you..." you said with sadness filling your heart.

"You never will have to find out baby, I love you... more than anything y/n." Sam said as you smiled at him warmly. He leaned down giving you a sweet but deep kiss.

"I think you can start making it up to me now..." you said as you bit your lip.

"How so?" Sam said with a smirk.

You pulled a thinking face before you spoke, "for starts, instead of kissing me up here... you better go and kiss me... down there." You whispered as Sam bit his lip.

"Oh baby... I was already on my way..." Sam smiled before kissing you again.

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Authors note: I hope you liked this! This was a request! Please leave your requests on here xx

[whatwooshkai]

20 please!!

The weight of the world seems to have settled on the other rescue bot's shoulders.

Something's bothering Heatwave, it's been bothering him every since all four of them met, and now it's bothering everyone, especially Chase. After the Incident, the police bot can't seem to get his mind off whatever it is Heatwave's got eating at him.

And Blades. He's always had this kind of heaviness, but after the Incident, he's just gotten heavier. He's got this far away look in his optics, like he's watching bots that aren't them, and always reliving memories instead of staying in the present moment.

In short, it's depressing. They have their moments, yeah, but the vibe around here is so bad even the humans have started to pick up on it.

What the rescue bots need, Boulder decides, is an intervention.

So they whip up several of everyone's favorite flavor of high grade and gets them all blackout drunk.

Boulder had graciously decided to stay sober to keep an optic on everyone, and that is proving to be a better and better decision by the moment as this is not going well in the slightest.

Well, it's not going badly. This is pretty much the usual for a night like this, actually. But the Burns are reacting badly.

They'd started out playing poker, and now Boulder isn't even sure what the game is, just that they, Chase and Heatwave are absolutely losing.

"Boulder," the Chief hisses through gritted teeth, "it is midnight. What is going on?"

"'M GOIN' ALL IN!" Chase slurs, shoving his meager pile of chips forward. One of his arms is wrapped tight around Heatwave, who started uncontrollably sobbing two bottles in and hasn't stopped since.

Blades has almost every single chip in their set, stacked in high, neat piles that cover a large swatch of table in front of him. He gives Chase an unimpressed glare, then pushes one of the smaller piles forward.

Boulder's basically done playing anyways, so they push their chips towards Chase, who absorbs them into his pile without hesitation.

Blades rolls his optics exaggeratedly. "Don't extend their suffering."

Ignoring him, Boulder leans down to the Chief. "I thought it might help them relax," they admit, tapping his hands against their thighs. "We used to do it in the academy."

The Chief raises an eyebrow. "Is it helping?"

"Tomorrow will tell," Boulder says, patting their thighs again. "Now I'm not so sure."

"What, Heatwave usually doesn't cry this much?"

"No, that's uh, pretty par for the course, actually." Boulder chews on their lip. "They're just not talking like I thought they would."

Both Boulder and the Chief look to the other Burns kids, still on the lift, watching the scene with a mix of abject horror and fascination.

"What, lots of deep and in depth conversations going on usually?" Kade pipes up. "'Oh, guys,'" he poorly imitates Heatwave, "'even though I'm a total jackass and insufferable to be around, I love you guys, I really do-"

"Not so much like that," Boulder mutters, tuning him out. "It's less of a tangible thing, for lack of a better work. Field talk, kind of. Everything's so muddled right now it's like they're speaking in a different- oh."

Boulder blinks as realization hits them. Of course they can't understand any of the talking that's happening, they're not drunk.

Reaching for a bottle, some of the tension leaves their frame. "I'm just not drunk enough to listen," they hum, about to throw it back, when the Chief places his hands on their calf.

"Stay sober, please?" he asks. "I'd rather at least one of my rescue bots not be inebriated if something happens."

An uncharacteristic beat of anger flashes through Boulder, and it's enough to cause the other three to look over in surprise. Your rescue bots? they want to demand. They're my rescue bots, as I am theirs. These are things I may never hear if I don't hear them now. I can't stay in the dark forever. If they need me I need to be able to know what to do-

They put down the bottle. "You're right," Boulder says, offering a smile that doesn't quite reach their optics. "Someone has to be responsible here."

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Even that night, with the other three pressed so close Boulder can feel their fields in their frame, Boulder can't understand it.

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The next morning, Blades is looking at Heatwave strangely, and Chase is brimming with frustration. And Boulder doesn't understand.

Somehow, they think they've made it all worse.

[yawnderu]

>Second commission for @alypink 💗💗

Adler's visage is oddly relaxed, nothing but pure calmness shown on his usually stoic expression. His cheek rests on his palm, using his elbow as leverage to keep himself up, blown pupils focused on the sleeping figure in front of him. Despite the violence his hands have caused, a newfound gentleness is displayed when he traces the outline of her cheek with his knuckles, the soft skin a sheer contrast to the calluses on his palms.

His head tilts slightly to the side, letting out a small sigh as he admires Aleks like she belongs in the most prestigious museum— her chest rising up and down with each breath she takes, plump lips slightly parted and tiny snores coming out of her, forcing the corners of his lips to tilt up into a sincere small smile despite himself. He moves a few strands of soft blonde hair away from her face, leaning down to plant a kiss on her forehead, cursing himself out in his head the moment she begins to stir awake.

“Good morning.” Aleks says groggily, raising her hand to rub the sleepiness away from her eyes, thankful for the blackout curtains they decided to purchase the moment they moved in together. Adler says nothing, his arm curling around her waist to bring her closer, her face resting on the crook of his neck, feeling her take a moment to inhale the lingering scent of cigarettes and coffee— the very same Colombian coffee she insists on buying every single time they go shopping.

“How'd you sleep?” Unlike her, Adler is fully awake, secretly taking a few minutes each morning simply to admire her like a work of art never once seen, destiny's gift for someone as flawed as him. He doesn't recoil back when her soft hand comes up to cup his cheek, tracing his wrinkles for a few seconds before moving onto the deep, dark scars adorning his visage.

“Much better now that you're here.” Her nose scrunches up teasingly as they make eye contact, earning a small smile in return. Though often away on missions, they both bask in these moments of normalcy, of having a normal life rather than making new enemies by the day.

“Go get dressed, I have a surprise.” Without giving her time to reply, Adler steals a kiss from her lips, his hand coming up to move her bangs away from her forehead just to admire her full face for a few seconds before getting up from bed, barely giving her the chance to see his large frame disappear into Mary's room.

Aleks' blonde hair blows in the wind, the way it gets all over her face as they try to set up a blanket on the grass drags an amused chuckle out of Adler, crouching down and setting a rock down on the corner that was previously giving Aleks issues, the cheeky grin he shoots her way only is enough to earn him a playful slap on the back of the head— much to Mary's amusement, her sweet laugh ringing through the field as they lay down on the thick blanket.

“You made this?” The disbelief is clear in her tone and written all over her face as she looks inside the picnic basket, taking in the plethora of sweet treats waiting for them. She has rarely seen Adler cook anything other than steak and BBQ— never anything that had to be baked or looked half as appealing as these pastries. He simply hums in confirmation, his full focus on holding one of Mary's plushies, play-fighting with hers as they finally get settled.

Despite the lovely sweet treats, Aleks' hands immediately reach out for the thermos flask, excitement setting in her core the moment the smell of freshly brewed Colombian coffee overwhelms her senses, mouth watering in an instant. She mouths a quick 'thank you' before pouring it on the plastic cup, closing her eyes in delight at how well-made it was. For all his initial coldness, Adler was nothing short of a box full of surprises, acting so casually about romantic gestures as if they were nothing, despite taking his time to thoroughly study Aleks and anything important to her, wanting to be part of it all.

“There's some chopped strawberries, too.” While Adler is not the most vocal man when it comes to romance, it comes as a second nature to express himself with actions, every single pastry in the basket has been mentioned by Aleks in the past when talking about her favorites, memorizing them even if they were briefly mentioned years ago.

He sits up, his calloused hands reaching out to settle Mary's tiny body between them, reaching out to grab a pastry and holding it up to her lips until she takes a messy, big bite. Despite the simpleness of the situation, there's always a growing pit of pride at seeing his small family having a good time, the thin smile on his lips not going unnoticed by Aleks.

“You should eat.” She points out with a grin, pushing the basket towards him until he grabs a Tupperware bowl with chopped fruit, fidgeting with the fork for a few seconds before sinking it into the biggest piece of strawberry, offering it to her. The corners of his lips tilt up in amusement as he sees her cheeks get rosier at the offer of her partner wanting to feed her with his own cutlery for the first time.

“Thank you.” She mumbles out, her gaze drifting away from his to calm her fast-beating heart, taking her time to admire the breathtaking view in front of them— the sounds of the strong wind hitting the trees and birds chirping mix in with her daughter's laugh, likely being tickled by Adler. She closes her eyes, basking in the warmth of the sun hitting her skin and the inner peace their little getaway makes her feel, her lips tilting up into a smile at how good life has become despite her difficult past.

A warm hand ruffling her hair drags her back to reality, blue eyes meeting hers as he leans down, his lips pressing against hers, moving at an almost agonizingly slow pace until he pulls away after a few seconds, letting the flustered woman brush her hair to fix the mess he purposely left just to be an asshole. A little treat for himself, of sorts.

[arcanusarchieves-if]

Can you share a snippet of your writing please? It doesn't have to be from the game but I'm just a bit curious!

Sure! Here's a (very short and completely unedited) flashback scene that I wrote that didn't end up making the final cut. It takes place back when MC was at school so it has a few characters that you won't recognize!

It begins with pain and ends with darkness.

You came back into reality just as you had left it (“Well not exactly as you had left it” the ache in your bones reminds you softly), unsure and exhausted, with the light blinding your unopened eyes. The urge to open them briefly crosses your mind but the thought of having to put actual energy towards anything quickly turned that desire into nothing more than a passing thought.

“You still alive, mate? I don’t have a eulogy written up quite yet so if you could hold out just a bit longer I’d really appreciate it.”

Alistair’s teasing words fall over you like a soothing balm, the familiar sound of his voice sinking into your skin like a long-lost friend. It was admittedly an overdramatic thought if not a ridiculous one - most of the time you and the rest of your friends couldn’t get him to shut the hell up. Still, there was something comforting about the fact that he stayed despite…everything (“despite you” says someone that sounds very much like yourself).

“It happened again, didn’t it?”

A beat passes after your words. Then another one. And one soon after that. Eventually though…

“…yeah, it did. It wasn’t that bad this time though. Nothing got destroyed - nothing that can’t be replaced, that is.”

So you didn’t hurt anyone. That’s always a bonus. Still there were some lingering questions.

“…where’d we end up?”

Another beat, then another voice. Soft and Uncertain. Fearful but Unwaveringly Fond.

“Not too far from the academy, thank the lord. Erm we’ll still need to use a teleportation spell though. One of us can do it for you if you’re not up to it.”

The thought of casting any magicae after what just happened was a (“terrifying” the voice mocks) miserable thought. Still you give a swift shake of your head, forcing your eyes open as you do so. The blue of the sky meets your gaze but a quick series of blinks reveals it to just be Lena's eyes - you knew if you turned to the other side you’d meet the familiar green of Alistair’s. You push yourself up pretending it isn’t odd to think about your friends’ eyes with such intensity.

Lena offers you a shaky but not uncertain (and never ever fearful) hand, and with strength that you’re surprised you still have, you take it gratefully, pulling yourself to your feet - stretching out aching bones and wobbly knees. Alistair grins at you from where he sits nearby, his expression a mix of relief and amusement.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," he says, reaching out to clap you on the shoulder. "Or whatever passes for it, considering the circumstances."

You scoff and then snort. A lurking shadow in the background catches your eye and something like amusement and annoyance stumbles into your bones and out of your lips. Some would call it a laugh. You’d call it an experienced reaction to the person in front of you.

“What, you're not happy to see me? Here I am, spending my very precious time making sure you don’t destroy anything during one of your little fits, and you go ahead and laugh at me. Honestly, where’s the appreciation I deserve?”

Caspian’s voice is arrogant. It’s snarky. It’s even cruel in some ways. But it’s also so loyal. So fond. (“Of you” a voice says softly. It’s the same one as before but it’s also so so different).

You try to think of a witty response but eventually give up, deciding to focus your energy on leaning against Lena for support, the memories of the recent blackout begin to flood back. It was a close call this time, with your magicae threatening to spiral out of control once again. The fear of causing irreversible damage always looms over you like a dark cloud, but having your friends by your side eases the burden, if only slightly. (“But how long can this really last?” the thing you're trying to ignore asks).

[chadillacboseman]

Does Jesse feel love? Like is he capable of it?

This is an interesting question that requires a complex answer, so I apologize for the rambling.

Jesse suffered from severe head trauma as a teenager when he was in a car accident. This accident gave him a traumatic brain injury and resulted in a trigger of borderline personality disorder and damage to his anterior insular cortex when blood buildup put pressure on the area. Part of Jesse's skull is artificial due to this accident. Add in long tours overseas while in the Marines that gave him PTSD and, well, you've got a lot going on.

Jesse struggles with empathizing with others, but I would not say he's entirely devoid of empathy. He does not care about most people he meets, not because he sees them as 'pawns' or targets for manipulation, but rather he just...does not see them at all. Sometimes he sees himself as an outsider and is jealous of those who have support systems or loved ones. Losing his brother, his one steadfast tether to normalcy and structure, was a big trigger for him. Jesse now stands as the last of the Geller line, and he is painfully aware of his own mortality. Hence the Malleus exoskeleton, the constant upgrades to his forces, and the hunger for money. He will do anything to prolong his mortal life and his seat at the top of the food chain.

I wouldn't even call him a narcissist, because he certainly is not. He isn't surprised when he experiences consequences (just angry, usually), and while he can be charming, he hates doing it and, again, can struggle finding the will to empathize with the target of it.

Now, as for the love question-

Jesse loved his brother and his parents, certainly, but his love looks a little different than one might expect. He feels very strong waves of emotion that oscillate wildly to different ends of the spectrum. Anger is his most common and easily triggered- he is prone to blackout periods during which he cannot remember his whereabouts or his actions for extended periods of time. The rigid structure of the military and his brother's command of RCMG gave him outside control that helped keep him in check; that coupled with a medication regimen that Jason heavily enforced, gave him some regulation of his emotions and behavior. Jason's death made him lose all of that, and now he's been thrust into command of a massive private military operation and he is the control, which is ...not working out.

Jesse's love might look like an obsessive devotion, a willingness to kill for someone, but a constant fear of being left alone that just might piss him off or cause him to become paranoid and accusatory. It might look like an all-consuming fixation that eats at him until it is unbearable. Or, he might just love someone 'normally' (whatever that means lol) depending on the circumstances surrounding his life at the time.

All of this is to say: his injuries and disorders do not excuse his fucked up behavior. He is very aware of the fact that what he's doing is wrong, though his victim complex is still quite strong. He knows he should take his medication. He knows he should try to enforce structure in his life and get his shit together.

He does not want to.

Jesse does also have a sadistic streak, which you can glimpse in a few of my works of him. People who he perceives as having wronged him in some way are often on the receiving end of whatever pain he can cause them. He likes to wield fear as a weapon, and nothing instills fear in your enemies and your own men quite like murder. Remorse doesn't often come to him for these acts, because, in his mind, he was wronged first. It's his right to take his pound of flesh (or litre of blood).

Thank you for listening to my rambling.

[theurgic-necromancer]

Rest has not come easily to you for years now, and this night proves to be no different. Whether it's your persistent insomnia or something else that causes you to break your restless trance, you may never know.

All you do know is that you open your eyes to find Astarion leaning over you, fangs glinting in the dying light of the campfire. His red eyes widen as he realizes you're awake, and he quickly sits back, uttering a quiet "shit" under his breath.

You bolt upright, a grin crossing your face. Astarion hastily springs to his feet, holding his hands up defensively. He still bears the bruises from the unexpectedly difficult fight with the mother spider. But you know now exactly what he is.

"I knew it!" you exclaim excitedly. "I knew you were a vampire!"

"It's not what it looks like, I swear—" Astarion says, backing up a little further.

"You were trying to bite me," you counter. There's no malice in your tone, more amusement.

"I wasn't going to hurt you!" Astarion claims. "I just needed—well, blood."

You raise an eyebrow, not that it's immediately visible with the way your hair falls over your face. "And you couldn't have asked when we were making camp, or any other time before the middle of the night?"

"At best, I was sure you'd say no," Astarion says with a shrug. "More likely, you'd ram a stake through my ribs."

You give him a look.

"All right, maybe not you specifically," Astarion admits, "but the group at large likely wouldn't. Especially given last night's... incident."

Zia's blackout murder, he means. You rub the scars on your neck distractedly.

"I needed you to trust me," Astarion continues. "And you can trust me."

"I do," you assure him. There's a momentary flicker of surprise across his face, so quick you're not sure you even saw it. "Considering you're one of about three vampires—"

"Vampire spawn, technically," Astarion corrects you.

"—I've ever met that weren't gunning for me... yeah, I do."

"Thank you." You're not entirely sure how genuine Astarion's smile is. "Do you think you could trust me just a little further?"

You raise an eyebrow again, fairly certain you know where this is going. Astarion's eyes flick to your neck ever so briefly, confirming your suspicion.

"I only need a taste, I swear," he assures you. "I normally feed on animals—boars, deer, kobolds—whatever I can get."

"Like the boar we saw earlier," you say. Astarion nods.

"Well spotted, by the way. Even I almost didn't see the puncture wounds, and I'm the one who left them."

You shrug. "Once I realized it had been exsanguinated, all I needed to do was look for any wounds on the neck."

"Look at you, breaking out the fancy terms," Astarion teases. You feel your face grow hot. You idly wonder if your face is turning red, or if your blushing shows up differently.

"How much is 'a taste,' anyway?" you ask.

"Oh, you know," Astarion says, waving a hand. "Not enough to harm you."

"So you're not planning on draining me dry like that boar?" you say. "How reassuring."

"I won't," he insists.

You consider how to respond. Even after all this time, the skin around your scars feels rough. You remember what it was like to have your blood taken, used by people who saw you as nothing more than a tool. A convenient repository of divine power. A walking spell component.

But so far, none of the others have made any indication of knowing what you are. And reading between the lines, you're fairly certain Astarion targeted you because your necromancy is a poorly-guarded secret, and not because he's figured out what you are. You wonder if divine blood like yours and Zia's would taste differently than anyone else's.

"Fine," you say, "but only a little."

"Really?" Astarion looks pleasantly surprised. "I—of course. Not one drop more."

"And," you continue, holding up a hand, "if it tastes... odd... you'll stop, got it?"

Astarion raises an eyebrow. "Why would you think your blood would taste odd? It certainly doesn't smell strange from where I'm standing."

That catches you off-guard. "It... doesn't?"

Astarion shrugs. "No, it smells about the same as anyone else's."

You wonder if he's even noticed that your blood looks different. But if he hasn't noticed a difference in scent, then maybe...

"Just don't drain me dry, then," you say.

"I promise you I won't," Astarion says. He then gestures for you to lie back down. "Let's make ourselves comfortable, shall we?"

You lie down again and get comfortable. Astarion leans over you, and you catch a glimpse of his pearly white fangs before they plunge into your neck. It feels like two sharp shards of ice jabbing into your neck, before the pain quickly fades. The sensation is less unpleasant than you remember it being. But then again, all the other times you've been bitten were during battle, which is not exactly the most relaxing of times. You're willing to tolerate the discomfort for now, at the very least.

As you feel the dizziness set in and become more aware of your racing heart, however, unpleasant memories start drifting to the surface of your mind. You need this to stop. Now.

"That's enough," you gasp. You press your hands against his chest and feebly push against him. "Stop."

"Mm?" It takes a moment for Astarion to register the request, but he sits up quickly. "Oh, of course."

You breathe a sigh of relief, reaching for the puncture wound in your neck. You remove your hand to see your black blood smeared across your fingers, as you expect.

"That," Astarion says breathlessly, "that was amazing."

You glance over to see him wiping a trickle of your blood from his mouth, the darkness a stark contrast to his pale skin. You can already see some of his bruises fading as the blood rejuvenates him.

"My mind is finally clear," he remarks. "I feel strong. I feel... happy!"

"Happy, huh," you murmur. He does certainly look a bit more chipper than before, though. You manage to sit up, ignoring the way your head swims for a moment.

"Now, if you'll excuse me," Astarion says, "you're invigorating, but I need something more filling."

You wonder how your blood could possibly fail to be filling. Then again, considering the source of your divinity...

"This is a gift, you know," Astarion calls over his shoulder. He's paused in his stalking off into the forest for one last parting remark. "I won't forget it."

Maybe it's from the blood loss, but you feel your heart skip a beat. You shake it off, before dragging yourself to your feet so you can go clean the blood off before it soaks into your shirt.

[flapjacksfursona02]

Ugh i looove your ramblings. like. this show barely gets any discussion besides how sPoOoOky it is and shit and it saddens me lol (i guess it doesn't help that the creepy aspects are the most memorable, oh well)

Anywayyy,, whatchu said about the abusive relationships/caricature stuff? *slams table* 100% canon no cap...

like, the whole point of the show (at least originally) was to showcase how dark and sinister everybody else is compared to Flapjack, who's just this bright young fella who just wants to be everybody's friend, while being oblivious to how fucked up everything is around him.

That boy really is the only good character in the whole series, and it makes me sad cause Bubbie is pretty much the only good role model present in his life 😭

Also, you could argue that K'nuckles has shown to be reedemable multiple times on the run, but,,,, he's still a selfish jerkass to Flapjack and everybody else for most of the time so it doesn't really matter 😭

At least we got this weirdly cute quote from the show's pitch bible in the Flapjack wiki ig... i love it sm lol:

"Although Candied Island is always at the fore-front of K'nuckles mind, we see that there may be something that he craves even more than candy; the adoration of Flapjack. Although K’nuckles claims not to have any tender feelings for Flapjack, his actions say otherwise. He needs Flapjack, because he’s the only person in the world who doesn’t see him as a worthless bum."

Goshh how i wish they had more moments with an actual good father/son bond... ok bye lulz

i could just go talking about it for hours.

k'nuckles is kind of the great example of how gruesome a person could become (and yeah, we'll look at him as a person and not a myth beast, he's still human according to the show's canon) in some circumstances. dude was literally raised without anyone by his side who had good intentions, at least from what i saw. mermen tried to drown him in a bag like some animal when he was a child, to listen to bednight stories he sat under the caged window holes of a stormalong prison and absorb all the things criminals told him when he didn't know any better. the way he lacks empathy at all in his life that he is able to kill a person without any thought nor hesitation and death threatening people is normal to him. also him easily falling to alcohol and drug addiction, that's... yeah. reaching rock bottom of society from time to time, until someone saves him. feeling comfortable sleeping in a trash bag, as if he was used to be thrown there by someone else while being uncosciosly blackout drunk. all the candy overdose deleriums. the way he is lying all the time, permanently, sometimes even if there might be a chance for both him and flapjack to get in trouble for hiding the truth. the way he can easily start to cry without a reason, or just lay on bubbie's tongue and not getting up for weeks 'until he rots'.

this is an insanely good written alcoholic/addict character. so good that it's way too depressing for some comedy-driven kids tv show. and i'm surprised that no one talks about it aloud, the gruesome angst that this show is about. i'm not sad about it tho, nor mad, it even feels more nicely when even the fandom and fanart are quite joyful, but sometimes you just sit and analyse the show or a character and you feel weirdly excited and horrified at the same time. flapjack is dark fiction art

[teen-cups-au]

Teen Cups - Plot Notes Part 25

Beginning of the comic | Previous | Next

Cuphead sneaks in the Devil’s office while Henchman keeps watch. Cuphead finds the contract and finds out that it doesn’t say what the Devil said after he lost. But what he initially said, that he only owns the casino money. He calculates. Having worked there for a while, he already refunded it, and even has to be paid, as he worked more than what was due.

He suddenly hears the Devil and King Dice coming back, talking with Henchman, who struggles to keep them out. They eventually enter, making Cuphead hide in a closet in panic. He overhears them talking.

King Dice: Mr. Bell called earlier. He said he’s finally ready to sell his soul in exchange of healing.

The Devil sits down at his desk.

The Devil: Excellent. Creating CPRD is my best move. So good for business!

Cuphead has a horrified look.

Cuphead: *thinking* ”Creating CPRD”?! “Good for business”?!!

King Dice: And scientists struggling to find a cause, it’s hilarious!

Cuphead slams the closet door open.

Cuphead: YOU BASTARD!

The Devil: What the heck are you doing here? You’re in so much trouble!

Cuphead: SHUT THE FUCK UP! YOU’RE THE WORST AND I’M DONE HERE!

Cuphead shows the contract.

Cuphead: I know EVERYTHING. I don’t owe you anythi- Ugh!

He frowns and holds his head. The Devil gets up.

The Devil: *chuckles* And what can you do about it, huh?

He holds Cuphead by the collar and pulls him against his desk. Cuphead struggles to keep balance, letting himself lay down on the desk in an uncomfortable position.

The Devil: You are so pathetic! You can’t even stand, how could you stand against me?

Sky: BROLOM BROLOM

Cuphead: *thinking* Thunder?

The Devil lets go of him, startled and looking scared, looking up. There’s a blackout allowing Cuphead to run away with Henchman, while the Devil gets angry. They get out of the casino. They approach the Inkwell Hell exit. They stop and Cuphead turns back.

Cuphead: I’ll be back for what he owes me. And it’ll be the last time I come here.

Henchman: It’s the first time I leave here.

Cuphead: Really?

Henchman: Yeah. What are all these colors?

They look at the entrance of Inkwell III.

Cuphead: I guess… Those are joyful colors.

As they walk around to go home, Henchman looks everywhere. He points at a candy stall.

Henchman: Hey look! It’s the thing you did once! The apple with sugar!

Cuphead: Heh, yeah. I’ll get you one some time.

Person 1: Oh gee! It’s a demon!

Person 2: What is it doing here?

Cuphead: ...I think people will have to get used to seeing you around...

Later, Cupchal (hand in hand huehue) go see Quadratus, because the CPRD disappeared, and they're surprised, as the Devil definitely didn't plan to obey Cuphead, so they wanna make sure it's over.

Cuphead: Is it really -?

Quadratus: Yes, the illness that made your brother and many people suffer doesn't exist anymore.

Cuphead: But how is -

Quadratus: Despite the Devil refusing to obey a mortal, he isn't the highest entity.

Cuphead: YOU MEAN -!?

Quadratus: The Devil exists, why wouldn't God exist?

Cuphead: But why did he -

Quadratus: They helped you because you are a good person and to make justice. Make things go as the contract says.

[walkingwiththegods1]

Being Calm in Front of The Uncertainty: Why we must accept with calm, when we doesn't know what will happen in the future (...Or, with us!)

I was surprised (In a very bad way...), when at the last days of June of this year; Beryl developed so quickly than in all The Caribbean, the alerts passed into warnings of impending impact... In less of TWO DAYS! But, the worst part of it; was than it happened something to me, than rarely happens...

...I don't recieved any vision from Guabancex, or any hunch about Beryl! (I had been in such an stressful moment in the last two months, than I couldn't percieves Beryl; and I was blocked of any possible warning than Guabancex could have sended me, in these months!) ...Is a very scary moment, considering than this hurricane; passed too closes of my country, and luckily, ''we missed that bullet''; but sadly... My neighbors in the other Caribbean's Islands, and in The US; are grieving for the property they losed, and... For their deads! (My condolences, if any of you were affected in any way; for this hurricane.)

As a Psychic by birth, I have many moments I could see the outcome; before my predictions come true, but... As you have already readed above, sometimes; I can't percieved what if may happens, when I should have known before, what it was to come to The World, or... Into my life. (If a Psychic ever tell you, than he/she/they always sees the future or the past; or, than never had failed a prediction, then... Trust me: It must be a liar/s!)

In 2012, I was very stressed out about ''The 2012 Mayan's Profecy of End of The World''' (which ended to be an hoax, which was fabricated by white people than didn't have nothing to do in their free time, obviously...); and I tried to looked into the future at the beginning of the year, to see what if may happen in December 21; but... As I concentrated myself in trance, I notice something curious and terrorific; when my mind and spirit, arrived into the mentioned date...

I was in front of a very thick and tall wall, made only of a black moving smoke; so dark... Than I didn't dare to touch it. I tried a few times in that same day, before to quit to do that; and tried in the next weeks and months, until I started to felt fear cripping in all my being: ''I DON'T KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN, IN DECEMBER 21!'' … After May 2012 (full of frustration and in an state of deep fear), I decided to do the unexpected: I stopped to trying to see, what if may happen in that date.

As time passed, I felt that feeling of impending doom; 'cause each day than passed, put to The World and me... Closer to that dreadful prediction came true, but; at some point, in the last three months, I suffered a transformation: I started to feel at peace, even with not knowing what the future had in store with all of us.

The day before, I say goodbye to people than were my friends in that time (just in case than we wouldn't never saw to each other again, after December 21); and I returned to my house, wearing a overcoat with a thick t-shirt below the overcoat; and jeans with boots in a cold night, with my father at my side; when a blackout made him searched for me in the street next to my home, were my once friends lived; and under a clear Crescent Moon's quiet night. I went to sleep after a light dinner, resigned to whatever may happen to the next day...

The day arrived, and... The weird first thing that happened, was than I woke up to early than I usually do; and at 7 A.M., It was still dark! (I thoughted than it was only my perception... Until my Mother's Friend screamed than why the Sun, wasn't coming out yet; and that was where I started to feel fearful again: The Sun, finally came out; 15 or 20 minutes later) after that... Nothing weird happened again, until the sun sunset that day; I looked to the sky, and I wasn't expecting what I saw that day: The Stars... Looked more brighter, bigger and prettier; than ever! And the Sky... Looked so clean! I felt peace and joy, like never before. The Mayan Profecy, was true in one thing: It really felt like a new beginning for The World, and... For all of us!

I wrote this to all of you so than you may read it, so you may know something really important: It's really hard to not know what it may happen, specially when you feel than is urgent and important to know the future; and believes me, I know what you feel, but the only advice I can give you; is than you must be prepare to any possible outcome. In the same way, than people prepares for a natural disaster than may happen in their Community or Nation (Or, in poor countries like mine; keeping some raw foods in a dry and dark place, with the expiration date outside the container; so they may have something to cook or eat, in case of a social uprising; or close to the beginning of a possible famine); you must prepare yourself to keeps yourself calm, 'cause is the only way you and your loved ones; can take the best decisions for all of you, 'cause if fear and uncertainty; could clouds your reason, and can makes you commit mistakes than could puts you; or to others in peril, or can makes you sick; in the medium and long term.

…Learn to be calm, when uncertainty strikes: Our Ancestors, were more psychic than us; for being so close to nature, and even them... Couldn't avoid that feeling in the mouth of the stomach, of not knowing what to do for lacking of not seeing the future/past, sometimes; when they needed it the most. (If they could survive, after that; we than are descendents of them... We will make it, too!)

That's all in this post: May we always know what to do, for ourselves and for others; whether if we can see into the future, or not... So Be It!

[distant-eclipses]

Okay but... why?

Aka, a look at Eclipse, Sun, and Moon(both in the dlc and in the base game) and wondering: why does Eclipse exist?(With bonus commentary/theorizing on Sun and Moon) The meta answer is probably "fans liked the idea of Eclipse, so why not" but I'm looking for more(skip to "ruin info" if you just want to see me talk about Eclipse, this got long)

Before-Ruin info: Sun is supposed to be the daycare attendant, but he's not the greatest at it(being loud, pretty clingy, and creepy). He has a reason for this(aside from "Fazbear ent sucks at making child friendly places/robots")

Originally it was supposed to be a theater robot(explaining the... everything) that becomes evil when the light goes out. While the performance functions were supposedly removed(aside from Moon), obviously they didn't do a good job at that, cus Sun is loud, dramatic, and obviously a theater kid(and it's implied that the new daycare programming either doesn't exist or was also shoddily implemented). So despite Moon's calm face on the posters, the kids were never supposed to see him

Moon is... Moon. While it's implied that he's supposed to be a security related feature or some type of enforcer now(between the crazy strength it has, the fact that it took Freddy to Vanessa, and the fact that it's allowed to just roam the building at the end of every hour while the others recharge), obviously the villain parts of its programming were never removed(I'm not even sure how Faz Ent got him ready for his new role, did they give him extra strength and prayed he'd listen to them or did they finally decide to mess with his programming? Did he always want kids to sleep and the enforcer role made it worse or did the change in Sun's programming affect Moon as well?)

There's also the interesting wording of "That, combined with the occasional blackouts in the day care, created the Moon side of the attendant" which implies Moon didn't exist, or didn't exist in the way that we know him, while the Daycare Attendant was a theater bot. Did the programming change increase the separation between Sun and Moon, was it a lie that the company made up, or was the separation always there but more obvious when Sun's functions changed? A mix of more than one maybe?(I suspect the answer is "plot holes that Steelwool failed to notice and/or retcons" but that's the boring one and prevents theorizing)

Ruin info: okay this is where it gets interesting, let's take another look at Sun and Moon

The fire obviously messed with them, with control being fought for more easily(with Sun being able to take control in a darker area for a moment after having the flashlight shined in its face, when Moon handled Gregory's flashlight pretty well)

Poor Sun has obviously been going through it, with Moon forcing him to be inactive. You can even hear him sing a song if you have the mask on. But speaking of the mask, it seems like Sun is active in the neural network, with it being the only way to actually talk to him(he even refuses to let you reboot him in the network for some reason, but the mask and its world are their own level of weird, so I'm not surprised). It's all but stated that the reason you can see Sun is because the fire caused a malfunction and made both active(even if one gets forced into the network), but I have to wonder what someone would see if they used the mask pre-fire

While the fire obviously weakened the Mimic's influence(with MXES controlling the other bots instead, maybe the glitch was never removed and was merely changed?), Moon is still being himself and forcing Sun to a "nap" and wanting it to be night forever

As the wiki says, it's unclear how separate these two consider themselves. Sun refers to Moon as "The other me", while Moon talks to Sun and kinda calls him by his name. They also both use "I" to refer to their respective modes and "we" to refer to themselves as a whole. But in general, Moon seems to view the two as much more separate(is this what the book meant "created the Moon side"? Part of it may be personality/experience based, what with Moon's villainous behavior/role staying around more than whatever Sun's old role was and villains, especially ones for child stuff, being less willing to play nice and work together), whereas Sun considers the two to both be him

And then there's Eclipse, who, despite most of tumblr's theories, isn't actually the person we see in the Balloon Boy arcade game. Moon ends up getting rebooted and we see the two daycare animatronics as a whole. And he's nice. Friendly, has a safety mode, and cares about safety and cleaning, but not to the extent that the other two do. It's like a proper daycare robot

But... why? And also, how? It's not triggered by light(post-fire, maybe pre-fire would be different but I doubt it), but obviously he doesn't exist the whole time. It also says "happy birthday" while the other two don't(sure the other robots, aside from Roxanne, don't, but I'm not even sure Monty can speak and Chica deactivates right after she gets her voice box), which implies he's been active before(not to mention the fact that Sun knew the two could become whole, knew it required an outsider to do it, and that it would fix the current issue). There's probably also something to be said about how the reboot occurs

There's a waxing crescent(which is similar to Moon, but he's a waning one) and a warning related to electrical hazards. Normally Fazbear Entertainment doesn't care about safety, so was the hazard warning about the exposed... everything on the back of the Daycare Attendants head or Eclipse in particular? And because of how they are rebooted, is the thing pointing towards the crescent specifically for him? If so, that implies they're able to be rebooted again and made two separate modes

One could argue that Eclipse was supposed to stay for good and that Sun and Moon are back because of the glitch or Vanny deliberately changing the mode, but it wouldn't explain... Everything Else. So obviously Eclipse is only a part-time thing

While there isn't a lot we can work off of so far, there is a possible theory. And with the stuff I went over, we can make a lil timeline/explanation on how the Daycare Attendant works and what the deal with Eclipse is

The Theory:

The Daycare Attendant was originally a theater robot, with the good side "Sun" and the villain side "Moon". Then Fazbear Entertainment got a "good idea" and decided to turn them into the daycare robot. They remove some of its old programming(mostly for Sun, the daytime mode that kids will see more often) and installed some daycare programming

But Moon was much harder to work with(having fewer daycare-like things and being much more villainous) and they couldn't remove him(with the mode switches becoming more painful as a result, especially when the two struggled for control). But because of how much Sun was changed and Moon wasn't, the latter started insisting on them being different, instead of being two parts of a whole

In the beginning they decided to keep the lights on and had Sun as the only robot, but kept the Moon stuff left over from when they were working on him. But sometime after bobbiedots(or the time period bobbiedots would take place in if you want to ignore the books series), the company decided to change up Moon's programming a bit(with extra strength). When the pizzaplex diverted power to the recharge stations, Moon's job was to make sure everyone was charging and, if they were broken and weren't getting repairs, drag them off to Parts and Service

But there were 2 problems: 1. Fazbear Entertainment wanted more money that Sun couldn't provide, 2. if a problem occurred with the Daycare Attendant(especially their mode changing function), it'd be hard to fix. So they killed two birds with one stone and made Eclipse, a fusion mode that is used for repairs and well behaved enough it could be used for parties(especially for older kids who may not want to deal with Sun)

[duhragonball]

Neon Genesis Evangelion 11

Most of this episode is just characters restating the problem over and over.

Basically, Tokyo-3 experiences a power outage. The NERV base is also affected, which results in Misato and Kaji getting trapped in an elevator the whole time.

What makes this especially irritating is that the story keeps teasing interesting plot developments only to abandon them immediately. For example, the episode opens with Ritsuko and other NERV staffers discussing the three Magi supercomputers that run Tokyo-3's government. So maybe the blackout is tied in with the Magi? No, it's not. Ritsuko had planned to run tests on Eva Unit 00 today, so maybe that's what caused the blackout. No, it wasn't that.

Oooh, maybe Gendo Ikari sabotaged his own facility, as part of some weird scheme he's up to... nope, he doesn't know who did it either. He just knows it must have been a human enemy, which is ironic, since NERV is trying to save humanity from the Angels. Well, at least it'll be fun to unmask the saboteur... no, that never happens. If we ever find out who did this, it isn't in this episode.

Vice Commander Clownshoes points out how it would be disastrous if an Angel attacked at a moment like this, and that's exactly what happens. So you'd think this episode would be focused on getting the power back in time to fight the thing, but not quite.

Mostly, the focus is on Shinji, Rei, and Asuka as they attempt to enter the base without any power. Rei has emergency instructions in her purse, and Asuka declares herself the leader, and they bicker the whole way in. For some reason they crawl through ductwork, and it's kind of boring because it's not like anything will attack them on their own turf. There won't be a malfunctioning security system or anything like that, because the power's down.

As the Angel threat becomes more pressing, Gendo Ikari orders the Evas to be prepared for launch, using a diesel engine that was set up in case of emergency. We see him helping the others to set up all the stuff with pulleys instead of machines. I'm not sure how any of it works, but whatever.

So when Shinji arrives, he's surprised to find the Evas ready for use. Ritsuko tells him that his dad believed that the pilots would show up when they were needed, and so they did. Nice.

So when they're finally ready to deploy, the Evas have to ascend a vertical shaft, but the Angel is waiting above them, secreting a corrosive solvent down onto them.

They only have a few minutes of battery power to work with, so Asuka finally proves her worth and comes up with a plan. She takes her Unit 02 up into the shaft to defend the others. Rei goes down to retrieve the weapons they dropped earlier. Then she'll hand off the weapon to Shinji, who will open fire on the Angel. Asuka takes the defense job because it's more dangerous and she wants to repay Shinji for helping her out of that volcano in the last episode.

And it works! Another Angel bites the dust. I think this is the eighth one? It's enough of them that I've lost count.

With that settled, the kids chillax outside while they wait for the grownups to restore power to the city. Rei waxes philosophical about how humans fear the darkness, so they scrape away at its edges with fire. Whatever you say, kid.

[springleggedstarro]

Starro ends up waking up earlier than he would've liked to- mostly because of the sunlight beaming through a crack in his curtains and into.... all of his eyes.

He groans realizing he's still abstracted... not as bad as before though, at least. His legs are starting to roughly resemble coils, and some of the eyes have closed more. One of his stars have even turned back to normal, pulsing a dim blue light, and what used to be his mouth has sealed away and disappeared.

Pushing himself off the ground, the first thing he sees is Conny's box and a tiny bit of her hair sticking out.... he's almost tempted to approach, but a sharp pain in his lower left leg stops him. Right.... broken leg. Fun.

Everything hurts- not even just from abstracting, his neck is more than certainly bruised from hitting it, and the floor did absolutely nothing for his back.

He wonders if Conny slept comfortably in her box.

...... that feels like a stupid question, she probably did.... he thinks, sitting up fully and stretching. Ow.

He's still shocked that Conny decided to stay..... actually no, he's more shocked it wasn't Gangle.

His heart quickens as soon as she crosses his mind. Every time this happened before, it was always her. And it was going to be her again, until Conny came by.... and something about this time felt different. But Gangle was still trying to get in, trying to help him..... she wanted to help him.

Guilt starts to bubble up in Starro's mind. Why does he feel so bad about this..? Why does he feel bad that it wasn't Gangle this time? She doesn't hate him, right? No, definitely not. Gangle isn't resentful or jealous, she'd.... probably just be happy he's okay.

As the damned girl starts to (once again) consume his thoughts, Starro can't figure out if it's easing his stress or adding to it. He wants to find her, wants to reassure her, wants her there-

An uncomfortable tickle catches in his throat, forcing him to start coughing. It's a sort of cough he's never had before, but God it's uncomfortable. As if something thin, light, but large is trapped in his throat.

Finally, as a silvery-tasting fluid fills his mouth, he manages to dislodge the foreign object and spit it into his hand.

It's a bloody rose petal.

...... did you do this?! He asks the voice in his head. Knowing her, he wouldn't be surprised if she was the cause of yet another physical issue. She sounds equally shocked as she answers though.

Wha- no! This actually isn't me, I dunno what it is!

..... fan-FUCKING-tastic. Starro opens his window a tiny bit, dropping the petal and spitting out the rest of the blood in his mouth before closing it, wiping his face and hands on the inside of his (thankfully blackout) curtains. He really could use some water right now.... but like hell is he gonna go out and get some.

He's not going ANYWHERE until this abstraction thing goes away.

[insomniaccipher]

EDIT (24/3): so um, I posted this way way too early. In my sleep deprived state I guess I posted it rather than save it as a draft, since it's clearly not done. I'm not going to private it, people have already seen it so expect this to be updated with the remaining notes. Sorry and thank you for understanding!

(tw for mention of depression and a depressive episode)

After a few days of me being absolutely fucking drained and progressively chipping away at this, and having a surprise d3pr3ssiv3 episode

(seriously though, don't do what I did and work yourself into a depressive episode. I'm okay now, but I should have rested before I crashed.)

And I can finally present the original sketches, notes (internal dialogue included) and with additional notes provided by present me.

Thank you to the few people who showed interest in my little character for being patient with me, I know I wasn't super loyal with the time frame and kept having issues arise but here it is. I apologise for not having a full illustration of them, It's one of those things that I have to be 100 percent satisfied with and right now, it's not there.

Thank you so so much again and I hope you like them, please feel free to critique them or ask questions but try to keep it polite please. Love you all!

Page 1 (left) - Bits and bobs

- Originally I was thinking of giving Arc moving tattoos. This was because I wanted them to have a more clear connection to ink since they would already be around it quite a lot also I imagine it would have been funny for Arc, who is a very calm and collected person, to be in a frustrating situation but can't express it so their tattoos just fucking loose it showing that they are fucking fuming but looks calm as can be.

After I decided on the hat with a veil however I decided to scrap the idea, or at least save it for a different character, as I realized the character would feel too busy and between the two ideas I liked the hat and veil more.

- There was a short-lived idea of them having blackout tattoos but after a bit of research I decided not to ask I wasn't sure if they had any cultural significance, so better safe than sorry.

- Arc, as stated in the notes, is seemingly always calm. That doesn't mean they can't feel frustrated, sad, embarrassed it just means they can keep their composure and level headed. They're like one of those people that if you upset them they'll walk out the room yell and throw shit and walk back in calm as can be.

- Their role has by now developed more than just being an archivist, as now I see them as just a general records keeper. They find and keep old records and text organised, while also writing down new information and such. I'm not changing their name though, cause honestly I've just grown attached to their nickname.

Page 2 (right) - the first note and ideas

- Weirdly enough, the very first idea I had for this character wasn't their story or personality: but their hat and veil. Yup. I just liked the idea of a character with a big halo hat and a veil hiding their face.

- There was another character at one point or they might have been the same, I don't exactly remember and the details between them were similar enough that it's possible that they were just the same character just with minor tweaks. But that character was more connected to the band (again as in the personas/characters they play, not the irl people) while Arc is more of a solo unit.

Mentioning this other character is relevant because, and this is purely based on memory, I think the whole reason they were reworked/scrapped/whatever-the-fuck I did with them was because a hat and veil wouldn't be practical on stage.

- Anyway whenever they do take the veil off, either for more delicate work or they have to be in public, they'll put on a basic mask that covers the majority of their lower face.

- A lot of stuff I see, so forgive me if it's not actually a popular concept, seems to make the band members some form of inhuman. Which I fucking love, however to be honest the inhuman stuff was always kind of going to be part of them no matter what, even if I hadn't chosen the hat and veil concept (See top bullet point for the moving tattoos concept).

[fyeahwebnovels]

ONGOING

Webnovels in this directory are still updating, and/or are a part of experimental formats that are still updating (i.e. a series of webnovels set in the same universe, contained on the same website, where some are complete but others are updating currently).

Astielle by kitty unpretty (romance, fantasy, queer)

A half-feral hero, a monster king, a bastard prince, and an open world. Bound by destiny, they save or slay one another, an endless cycle of death and rebirth. When the Moonlight Monster rises, the Starlight Hero is Astielle’s only hope. Unfortunately, she’s a little busy with her rock collection.

BEHOLD! by Rune (comedy, queer, fantasy, adventure)

For a thousand years stories of world-saving hero Butterbar the Beautiful have inspired bravery, heroism, and mythic levels of hypermasculine dumbshittery. Now Butterbar’s tomb is opening and every would-be hero on the Earthshard is gathering to claim his power–and also Naewoon, a disgraced academic come to the edge of the world to study Butterbar’s worshipers. Beginning his journey by almost getting murdered by bandits, Naewoon is rescued by Brodcrum the Bloody, an enormous warrior and self-described “man-witch” who has mistaken the diminutive scholar for a damsel in distress. Each fascinated by the other, Brodcrum and Naewoon set off together–and are forced to cooperate with Brodcrum’s ex and her scary spider-covered wife when surprise attacks by two competing dark lords leave the tomb pilgrims scattered. Now, with undead hordes and high tech imperialists on their heels, the four adventurers seek the tomb–a quest that will reshape their world and themselves.

Blank Slate by Michael Blankslate (fantasy)

A dark fantasy web serial about fire.

Brennus by Tieshaunn (superhero, historical)

This is the story of a world where powers appeared in the Roaring Twenties and caused history to take a very strange turn. More precisely, it’s the story of a bunch of young people, whom gain powers and set out to change the world their precursors made. And even more precisely, it’s the story of Basil, maybe, a young gadgeteer, and the trials and tribulations he faces on his path to a goal he himself knows little of.

Children of the Wells by various authors (fantasy)

In a nutshell, Children of the Wells is a series of novellas set in a fantasy world that developed along similar technological lines as our own but with magic as the energy source. Then stuff goes BOOM! and our story begins.

Chum by reachartwork (superhero, slice-of-life)

Chum is a story about superheroes, supervillains, people with powers who reject either label, sharks, fishing, Philadelphia, the Jersey Shore but the part that’s full of old Jewish people and not party people, how growing up sucks, how authority sucks, how fascists suck, cancer, and teeth.

Collapse Protocol by Vern Carson (sci fi, action, queer)

Sen Devartani is a pretty ordinary guy, save for one thing - his all-too-autonomous imagination. An imagination that's managed to create a fictional persona, complete with memories that shouldn't exist. All handily delivered to him in the form of unexpected blackouts. Culwell is a superhuman being in a system where he is unmatched. He's the product of an experiment to create a perfect being, and Culwell is just that: perfect. He intends to bring the entirety of humanity under his rule, and that means heading onto the battlefield himself. Even the satellite colonies around Venus aren't safe. Sen's entire world is shattered the moment Culwell descends on Mars and targets his home. He loses everything, his family slaughtered by Culwell himself, all for a war he doesn't understand. As he's sucked into the conflict, he slowly realizes why his family was targeted, as well as who - or what - he is.

The Descendants by Landon Porter (superhero)

The Descendants is the title of the main series in a family of web serial novels set in the Descendants Universe. It follows a group of individuals with supernatural powers (collectively known at the beginning of the series as psionics) following their discovery that they’ve been betrayed by the Psionics Training and Application and Academy, a school founded to train young psionics to use their powers for the good of their nation.

The Flower That Bloomed Nowhere by Lurina (fantasy, mystery, horror)

The world is in the midst of a golden age. Humanity has been largely united under a single government for two centuries, scarcity has been all but eliminated, and the human lifespan has been extended further than ever before, with many living for five centuries or longer. Yet cracks have begun to form in this utopia. Progress in science has outpaced social values, leading to conflict as the new generation struggles with the prospect of perpetual disenfranchisement under their all-but-unaging elders. In this era of transition, a class of gifted young arcanists are invited to attend a conclave held by the enigmatic Order of the Universal Panacea, an ancient organization devoted to pursuing the secret of true immortality. Several of the participants, however, have ulterior motives for attending, including Utsushikome of Fusai, a young prodigy of Thanatomancy whose grandfather was once a member. But unbeknownst to them, there is a curse on the Order of the Universal Panacea. One does not defy death and the natural order lightly. And an uninvited guest may already lurk among them; one that is not human. In the end, all of them will have to ask: What can be found in this world, that is truly eternal? The curtain rises on this, mankind's final battle with entropy, and the possible outcomes are death, or a slightly later, more complicated form of death. Even so, please try to enjoy yourself.

The Gods are Bastards by D.D. Webb (steampunk, western, historical, fantasy)

Set in a familiar high-fantasy universe of wizards, dragons and elves, the action takes place roughly fifteen hundred years after the medieval stasis in which most high fantasy is set, during an era much like Earth’s Industrial Revolution.  Mass production of enchanted goods has revolutionized all aspects of life, energy weapons have made blades and armor all but obsolete, and the world is connected and illuminated by magical analogues of trains, telegraphs and electric lights.  With progress has come social and political upheaval: the scattered feudal kingdoms of yore have been consolidated into a now-precarious Empire, the clerics of various gods have organized themselves into a mighty Universal Church, and the first stirrings of modern education and an Enlightenment ethos have taken root in a young University.  On the other hand, dragons are nearly extinct, elves have been herded onto reservations, and the days when a person could make a living as a wandering adventurer are long since over. It’s a new world, and the people of the Empire must learn to live in it, or fall to ancient threats they have tried to forget…

Katabasis by Apex Altra (adventure, fantasy, furry)

In an alternate Earth where humans have the heads of animals, and where the animals aren’t always what they seem, the Firebird rules myth and legend. Said to have divine power, it appears every millennium to grant the wishes of a select few. A young woman discovers that she's among them, but there are two problems: She doesn’t remember ever seeing the Firebird, and she definitely doesn’t remember wishing for immortality! Ignoring her thrill-seeking nature, she's decided that her only way forward is to get a degree. But after being attacked, she finds herself in a magical bond with a violent monster- one who's taken a keen interest in her ability. Now her only chance of getting her normal life back is to work with him and a group of newfound allies. She must dive into the space between life and death to uncover the Firebird's secrets, along with a few things about herself, too. But her attacker is still on the loose, and the task is more dangerous than anyone realizes…

Katalepsis by Hazel Young (horror, cosmic horror, urban fantasy, queer)

Nightmares and hallucinations have plagued Heather Morell all her life, relics of schizophrenia and childhood bereavement. Until she meets Raine and Evelyn, that is — self-proclaimed bodyguard and bad-tempered magician ��� and learns she’s not insane at all. The spirits and monsters she sees are all too real, the god-thing in her nightmares is teaching her how to surpass human limits, and her twin sister who supposedly never existed could still be alive, somewhere Outside, beyond the walls of reality. Heather plunges into a world of eldritch magic and fanatic cultists, trying to stay alive, stay sane, and deal with her own blossoming attraction to dangerous women. But being ‘In The Know’ isn’t all terror and danger. Sometimes the monsters wear nice dresses and stick around for afternoon tea. Sometimes you find you have more in common with them than you think. Perhaps this is Heather’s chance to be something more than the defeated husk she’d grown up as, to find real friendship and meaning among things like herself – and perhaps, out there on the rim of the possible, to bring her twin sister back from the dead.

The Legion of Nothing by Jim Zoetewey (superhero)

Nick Klein never intended to be a superhero. But, with the death of his grandfather, an active superhero during World War 2 through the early 1980’s, everything changed. Nick inherited his grandfather’s powered armor, his grandfather’s team’s command center, and found that his friends (the grandchildren of other team members) were very much interested in bringing back the Grand Lake Heroes League. Nick had to make a choice. Go along with everyone else or avoid it? If he did go along with it, and restart the League, would any of the old League’s unfinished business come back to haunt them?

Link Rot by Qrowscant (horror, sci-fi, multimedia)

Link Rot follows those within a research station. Once dedicated to the study and containment of a newly discovered life form, complications arise following its unexpected merge with the station's AI.

Necroepilogos by Hazel Young (horror, sci fi, queer)

Nothing walks the black cinder of Earth except the undead leftovers, reanimated by science so advanced it may as well be magic. Twisted into unimaginable forms by flesh-shaping and machine-grafting, the undead are the only remnant of a civilization reduced to bitter ash and organic slurry. Zombies shuffle through the ruins of nuclear fire and biological warfare and far worse, alongside rusted war-machines still holding the posts of a thousand ancient conflicts, dwarfed by god-engines turned so alien that even the extinct necromancers would have run screaming. Elpida doesn’t know this world, but she’s up on her feet, leading a half-dozen other fresh revenants, ripped from the oblivion of eternity and disgorged shivering and naked on cold metal slabs in a womb-lab of blinking lights and blaring alarms, by machines running some ancient plan to spit them out into a world long dead. Necroepilogos is a web serial about body horror and alienation, weird zombie-girls gluing themselves back together, mad science beyond mortal ken, and trying to cradle the flower of companionship in twitching, undead fingers.

Nowhere Stars by Anenome (horror, urban fantasy)

Liadain, a girl born terminally ill, has only ever wanted to live — forever, if at all possible. Instead, shortly after her thirteenth birthday, she’s consigned to spend her last months in hospice care.  Until the night she encounters a monster more terrifying than death, and her savior offers her a chance to achieve her impossible dream. A chance to become a Keeper, one of the chosen children whose magic serves as humanity’s sole defense against Harbingers, living nightmares that devour dreams and passions and souls. Few Keepers accept the mantle simply to be heroes, though. Those who consume enough Harbingers grow into something more than human, obtaining the power to change themselves in nearly any way they wish.  So Liadain throws herself into a new life, hoping against hope to save herself. But magic is foremost an expression of the soul. Shaped by her cold bitterness, her new power grants her dominion over sickness, death, and ill-fate, forcing her to wield the things she hates most as weapons. And as she delves ever deeper into the minds of Harbingers, tearing fragments of her salvation from their hearts, Liadain can’t help but wonder if their hunger is really so different from her own.

Pale Lights by erraticerrata (horror, fantasy, adventure)

Vesper is a world built on the ruins of older ones: in the dark of that colossal cavern no one has ever known the edges of, empires rise and fall like flickering candles. Civilization huddles around pits of the light that falls through the cracks in firmament, known by men as the Glare. It is the unblinking stare of the never-setting sun that destroyed the Old World, the cruel mortar that allows survival far below. Few venture beyond its cast, for in the monstrous and primordial darkness of the Gloam old gods and devils prowl as men made into darklings worship hateful powers. So it has been for millennia, from the fabled reign of the Antediluvians to these modern nights of blackpowder and sail. And now the times are changing again. The fragile peace that emerged after the last of the Succession Wars is falling apart, the great powers squabbling over trade and colonies. Conspiracies bloom behind every throne, gods of the Old Night offer wicked pacts to those who would tear down the order things and of all Vesper only the Watch has seen the signs of the madness to come. God-killers whose duty is to enforce the peace between men and monsters, the Watch would hunt the shadows. Yet its captain-generals know the strength of their companies has waned, and to meet the coming doom measures will have to be taken. It will begin with Scholomance, the ancient school of the order opened again for the first time in over a century, and the students who will walk its halls.

The Primal Hunter by Zogarth (sci fi, action)

On just another normal Monday, the world changed. The universe had reached a threshold humanity didn’t even know existed, and it was time to finally be integrated into the vast multiverse. A world where power is the only thing that one can truly rely on. Jake, a seemingly average office worker, finds himself thrust into this new world. Into a tutorial filled with dangers and opportunities. In a world that should breed fear and concern, an environment that makes his fellow coworkers falter, Jake instead finds himself thriving. Perhaps… Jake was born for this kind of world, to begin with.

Princess Murders the Hero by makapatag (fantasy, action)

In the Isles of Violence, the Spider Lily of Azure Flame is sent to the neighboring Sultanate as bride gift to create an allegiance, to consolidate power, and The Ashen Star God, with 180 Sidereal Swords, sends the Hero of Prophecy to Herald of the Millennium Kingdom: Sunder the world with your sins. A storm upends the supposedly uneventful bride-gifting: the Spider Lily is visited by her demon-witch mother, and for the first time after being released from her perpetual seclusion, experiences the truth of the world: Violence until glory. Witness now: the Spider Lily of the Azure Flame, the Shining Lightning of the Dragon Guard, her demon-sorceress servant, the Greatest Warrior in the Isles, and the Half-Female Lord, as they trawl and trudge and strive and survive in the Isles of Violence, knowing the one truth fulminating from their souls: The hero must die.

Roguehunter by Vern Carson (sci fi, cyberpunk)

Retired Roguehunter Alex Park may not know what a café is, nor does he understand basic addition, but what he does know how to do is kill. And these particular skills land him in hot water when he makes the mistake of rejecting a mysterious woman's offer of a job. After she ends up dumped in his dumpster, he takes up arms once more to find the perpetrators. Not to avenge the woman, but to punish them for using his dumpster. It's his, after all. It's for his bodies, and his bodies only. In doing so, he dips his toes deeper into the underworld of Site 17 than he ever has before.

The Shattering by The Scribe (fantasy, queer)

The Shattering is a fantasy web novel about three queer middle-aged warriors banding together to fight an ancient evil that's threatening to literally tear the continent apart. They also semi-adopt a Chosen One kid in the process. Torvola, an old knight who thought her fighting days were long behind her, takes up the mantle of champion once more to fulfill her duty to the queen. Cazan, an archer and a blood mage, fights to protect the kid they took on as a student and prove that there is such a thing as ethical blood magic. Caleste, a countess on an endless quest for fame and glory, throws herself headlong into the battle to save the continent (and finally get the hero title she rightfully deserves).

Stardust by valentine dagger (sci-fi, horror, queer)

In a speculative near-future United States of America, a reptillian alien species colloquially known as Dusties have inserted themselves into the US government via a military takeover. Dusties are named for the pollutant dust they dissolve into on death, sometimes referred to as stardust; stardust pollutes the atmosphere, forcing humans to wear dust masks and respirators when they go outside, and blocks wireless signals, preventing wireless transmission of information by anyone other than the Dusties themselves. Several years after the initial coup and bombings, July Wright, a fiery sniper with closeted psychosis, and Cass Trehan, a brutally intelligent strategist, are young officers in a paramilitary cult formed in opposition to the Dusty-run government, hiding in the subway tunnels of New York City. When the militia takes a key player in the coup into custody, July and Cass find themselves embroiled in a plot to assassinate President Taner, which quickly spirals out of control. While grappling with their isolated, militaristic upbringing, July and Cass must also make sense of intergalactic politics, surreal and hallucinatory experiences, the existence of other planes of reality--and figure out what the Dusties want from them, and what it has to do with July's dead twin sister.

Stone Burners by Syphax (superhero)

Olivia has awoken to a strange world. With mere scraps of memories and a warped, unfamiliar body, she must find help to survive. However, a vast criminal syndicate, an urban legend, and more all threaten to snuff her out before she can find her footing.

[lit-works]

Spider-Man : A City in Darkness

Finale

I sit there, perched atop a 20-story skyscraper, looking north at the city. No one would know that just a few hours ago this island metropolis was plunged into blackness by some madman, a madman who would likely do it again. A madman with a colossal grudge against me, Spider-Man.

The question is, which madman? I've made more than my fair share of enemies in my career, some of them incredibly powerful. Doc Ock. Hobgoblin. Doomsie, the Frightful Four, Vulture–the list goes on and on, a fact that is not the least bit reassuring. Electro is on the loose as well, but Electro has rarely ever used underlings. He usually teams up with another super-powered felon when he isn't going solo.

Somehow, though, everything ties together; the springing of Electro, the blackout, the electrical equipment theft, the writing in the sky…it all adds up to one thing : someone really doesn't like me.

Well, I can sit on my brains and worry, or I can go out and get to thr bottom of this. I think getting to the bottom of this is the better choice of the teoz but where do I start?

Captain Patricia Amber Nash, commander of the PEGASUS security team assigned to delivering Electro to his parole hearing, sits alone in an office in the justice building. In front of her are reams of paper. She is carefully ignoring the papers and staring at the ceiling, leaning her wooden chair back on its hind legs. She might be deep in thought or just daydreaming.

Hanging upside down, I tap on the window. The sudden noise catches her by surprise, and it is only by grabbing the table that she avoids pitching over onto the floor. As it is, she scattered papers across the office.

Rising from the table, she stomped to the window I was hanging outside of with as much decorum as she could muster. Through the insulated glass she mouthed the words, "what the hell do you want?" She doesn't look pleased.

"Dinner and a movie?" I shout back, loud enough to be heard through the glass. "But I'll settle for some info? How about letting me in before someone sees me out here and calls the cops?"

She looks at me for a long moment, as if weighing the options. Then she unlatches the pane and opens it. "Come in then," she says. "And make it quick. It's getting cold out there."

"Do you know how much paperwork there is for an escaped criminal?" She asks, stopping to pick up the scattered papers.

"No, but if you hum a few bars I'll pick it up." I say.

She shoots me a glare that says, 'dont mess with me; it's been a bad day'.

"What do you want now?" She asks, trying to reorganize the papers and then giving it up as a lost cause.

"How about if I get your runaway electric company back?" I ask.

"Given a choice, id rather take a week off in Jamaica, but it woukd nake things easier," she says, picking up one official-looking form and quoting: 'If said incident involved metahuman individuals, please designate on a separate form the nature, identity, and abilities displayed by said individual(s) and their bearing on the incident.' "can you imagine what it would be like if the Avengers came by to help? At least they have this stuff on reprinted forms." She looks up at me. "Right. Information. What do you want?"

"Well," I say, "the last time we met you were loudly handling the cleanup from that little kidnapping, so we didn't have too much time to chat. And I walked right into the middle of that half-painted picture, so I have no real idea why you were there in thr middle of Manhattan in the first place, unless it's standard procedure to ship dangerous criminals through the heart of the city in the early evening. So, why don't you take it from the top and don't leave out any whys and what-fors."

Captain Nash begins to explain. She and her team were to escort Electro from his cell to a specially prepared holding area for his parole hearing tomorrow morning. While in transit, the team was ambushed by four individuals carrying electrical discharge guns. They opened fire as one, overturning the armored car transporting Electro and blowing open the rear doors. They pinned down the PEGASUS troops while two of the team went in and pulled Electro from the wreck. Electro was heavily sedated, additionally restrained with an insulated straightjacket.

Two of the men headed down the alleyway with the bundled Electro while their comrades kept Nash's troops pinned down with their shock-zookas. By the time I arrived on the scene and free their fire, the others had apparently already escaped out the other side of the alley, but not before leaving an explosive package in the sewers, which according to record, public works is citing as the cause of the blackout.

"Anyone see the goons leave with Electro?" I ask.

"We performed a building-to-building search on the side of the alley with the NYPD, but it turned up nothing. They've vanished completely." She replies.

"How about the goons I fought?"

"Resting comfortably," she says, stretching to relieve a neck cramp. "They were checked out for prior arrests, but they're small fry. They've been keeping pretty mum, but what we did get before their lawyers told them to shut up is that Electro was the prize of their operation, not the boss."

I nod and she continues, "The outfits look like those of HYDRA but are only imitation, According to a source at SHIELD. Talking to the people at SHIELD, by the way, was like pulling teeth; they know HYDRA is up to something, but they don't think they're connected to this kidnapping."

"So that leaves us with the question of where they went?"

"Maybe the earth swallowed them?" Says Nash.

I smile beneath my mask. "Maybe it did, at that. I'm going to go check out the crime scene. Maybe I'll find something else. Thanks, and I owe you a dinner and a movie." I head for the window.

As I dive out into the night air, Nash shouts after me, "how about you just bring me back a pizza? JI'll be here all night! And close the window next time, there's a draft!"

Electro!

I swing out into the night.

Electro's the key to the entire operation. Whoever stole the equipment was probably in cahoots with the master of electricity and busted him out only when everything was already in place.

If Electro is working with another super-powered baddie, there may be an Intel leak in the PEGASUS security. That thought may have occurred to Captain Nash already.

I retrace my path to where the Project PEGASUS troopers were blasting it out with Electro's mysterious allies earlier in the evening. The ruined armored car has already been pulled from the street, and traffic is flowing normally (for NY, anyways) past the alleyway.

The alleyway itself is no longer empty as I remembered it. The bureau of public works has set up a generator and equipment to clear away the debris kicked up by the explosion and make repairs. Signs warning : 'Men Working' are at both ends of the alley. I land atop one of the buildings overlooking the alley. The alleyway is singed darkly from the blast, more so toward the end where the PEGASUS troopers were fighting.

What if the purpose of the blast was to wipe out any traces of pursuit…if the men ledt behind were abandoned? Then that explosion might be more than just a poor going-away gift.

I swing down the alleyway itself.

"Hey!" Says one of the workers, looking up. "It's that spider-guy!"

"Spider-Man!" I correct him, spinning through the air and landing in front of the workers–three guys apparently on a coffee and pastry break. The speaker nods, a second workman looks surprised, while the third simply bits into an oozing jelly-filled donut. "How's work going?" I ask.

"Real mess down there," says the first worker, apparently the spokesperson for the group. "Looks like they had enough explosives down there to whole the block to the moon and back!" He chuckles at some private joke.

"Then I need your professional opinion," I say, leaning back against the generator. "If someone was down there a minute or two before the explosion, could that person have survived?"

"Hmmm," the union rep rubbed his jaw. "I dunno, man, it's not likely. He'd have to move very fast or it'd be zoom…bang!"--the spokesman claps his hands together and thrn motions to the heavens. His two fellow workmen grunt in agreement. "The passage is blocked and clogged in both directions, and it's gonna take a while to dig a clear path through."

The sewers are closed off by fallen debris, and anyone down there might have been caught in the blast.

The valuable human labor resource flashes his light around the wreckage left underground by the blast. There is a thick smell of something smoldering, and the workman shouts to be heard over the steady din of water running over shattered concrete.

"The main part of the blast is this way," says the worker, making his point by panning the lught over the mess of obliterated concrete that almost fills the passageway. "The other way"--he flashes the light to the area behind me–"is almost as bad, and it leads to a dead end, according to the city plans."

"Such an option." As I glance forward and back at the equally dismal-looking stretches of alleyway.

"Mind if I lend you a hand?" I ask, reaching toward the debris blocking the sewer.

"Don't mind if you do," says the workman. "I'll hold the light."

The debris is not as tightly packed as I first thought, and I quickly dig my way through to the other side of the rockfall. The ceiling holds, as well, and my companion follows me, flashing the light around as soon as I reach the other side.

The other side of the rockfall looks just like a New York sewer. The slime on the concrete appears to remain undisturbed after at least a few generations, and nothing is out of place.

"Blast," I say, my voice echoing down into the depths of the pipes.

"You were expecting something else maybe?" Asks my new friend.

"Some kind of clue. I had a hunch Electro escapes down here. There's another blocked passage behind us?"

"Yeah, but it leads to a dead end."

The map the workmen have of the sewers shows a dead end on the other side of the passage. Which means that Public Works may just decide to forget about digging it out. A perfect way for someone to cover their tracks.

I start digging through the slime-covered rock filling the passageway. The laborer shine his light as I use my spider-enhanced strength to lift and burrow.

I am about halfway through the second blockage, and feel (relatively) fresh air on my face, when my Spider-Sense gives off a sharp warning buzz. Bits of plaster and stone rain down around me. The passage's ceilings are dangerously unstable, and the whole street is about to drop on our heads!

Thinking quickly, I brace the sagging rock above me with both hands, and call down to the worker who accompanied me.

"Quick," I shout, my voice carrying down the sewers. "Get me something to brace this wall with!"

The light that has been shining on my digging flickers and turns away, and I am left in the darkness for a moment. I hear the drip of fetid water and the shout of the worker to his fellow workmen. My arms are beginning to tire, but if I let go, the entire street could cavr in.

After a short eternity, the light returns, with the workmen behind it. "Here ya go, Spider-buddy." The spokesperson says, placing a large device next to me. "One handy-dandy sewer jack, at your service." He turns a crank at one end of the tool and it expands against the floor and ceiling, taking the weight off of my aching shoulders.

"That was close," I say, and in that same inatant, I notice the workman's light flashing down the passage that has been fully opened by the shift.

"That's funny," he says. "The sewer is supposed to end fifteen feet from here."

Instead, the sewer continues down into the darkness. Along the concrete floor of this unknown sewer, the algae and moss have been pushed aside, leaving a clear path into the depths of the city.

'Come into my parlor, said the spider to the fly'. Or is it, 'said the Electro, to the Spider-Man'?

I dig out my spider-beacon from my belt, but the workman who has been helping hands me his flashlight.

"That itty-bitty candle ain't gonna cut it if you're going in that direction," he says. "Take this one. It's halogen beam will illuminate a hundred yards down here. It's also shockproof, so you can beat the crocagators with it."

I take the flashlight, saying "thanks…er…"

"Ed. Name's Ed." Says the worker, giving a toothed grin.

A sewer work named Ed. Only in New York. I tell Ed and his buddies that if they don't hear from me or see.me in two hours, they should go to the police with what they know. With that, I head down the path.

Off to see the wizard. Or the doctor. Or whoever.

I reach a corner that carries me out of sight of the repairmen, so I turn and wave, and am gone.

The path through the slime is uncomfortably smooth, clean, and recent in origin. I've gone about a mile underground before I realized what would cause it to be that way: a ground effects vehicle, or hovercraft, traveling on a cushion of air. That cushion would push up the slime and debris as it passed.

I hear a chittering to my right, and swing my light to reveal a large rat, sitting on a pipe. The rat holds motionless for a moment, then squeals and bounds away.

Yuck. The last thing I want to do is meet up with the everyday run-of-the-mill vermin while I'm hunting down a real rat.

The sewer passage widens and crosses a wider sewer, this one carrying a stream of darker water. The path of the blasted algae disappears at the edge and reappears on the other side, about 20 feet away, and then disappears down the tunnel.

Ceiling's too low to leap. The walls are slicker than Jameson on payday. But I think it's climb or swim. I don't think they have a limo service down here.

The walls are covered with a thick gooey slime, as is the ceiling. As I reach the apex of the vault, I hit a patch of moss that must have been what prinitive man used for Teflon.

Choosing my way carefully, I make my path through the slippery muck to the other side. At that moment, I think I see movement in the water: probably another rat or something. Ahead there is a flash of light other than my own, dimming my flashlight. I check out the light at the end of the tunnel. With my luck, it will be an oncoming train.

The glow intensifies until I'm standing in front of a pair of massive doors illuminated by a single powerful light. The trail through the slime ends here. To the right of the doors is a parked hovercraft with a wide bed, suitable for carrying spools of wire.

No welcome mat, though, and I bet this place isn't listed with Triple A, either, looks like I'll have to break in.

I approach the huge metal doors. Something is rotten in the state of New York. Huge metal doors. Hmm….

I dig out a spare metal cartridge of web-fluid and toss it at the doors. The intensity of the flash upon connection momentarily blinds me.

Makes sense. Electro, electrical supplies, huge conductive metal doors. Put it all together and now it spells T-R-A-P. Now, how to get through it without becoming a bag of spider flavored bacon-bits.

I see the hovercraft and smile beneath my mask.

Using a good deal of my noninsulative webbing, I create a battering ram at the front of the hovercraft parked outside. Another two minutes and ai have hot-wired the vehicle and am backing it away from the entrance.

I back up to where the trail crosses the stream, then throw the hovercraft into high speed. The air whistles past me as the vehicle bears down on the doors.

"Cowabunga!" I shout in a loud surfer accent, jumping off the hovercraft at the last possible moment.

The craft slams into the electrified double doors at full tilt. Sparks dance off the webbing protecting the front of the craft. The door gives way with a bone-shuddering crash, and the way is clear.

Score one for Yankee ingenuity. I walk through the now-open passageway.

My feet pad across the concrete, and I notice the area is lit, though not well lit. A single light every twenty feet shines dimly, giving the impression of a coal mine.

Suddenly, the passageway widens into a larger, dark room. I see nothing and hear only an electronic hum of whirring and clicking, and I am reaching for my spider-beacon when lights come on and I see that I'm surrounded!

The lights come on suddenly, blinding me for an instant before revealing a cavernous chamber with a single entrance at the far side of the room. And before me stand five of my greatest foes!

Electro is there, blocking the far exit. Above him hovers the Vulture, beating his long mechanical wings to stay in place. Sandman, who has the ability to convert his body into sand, is to my right. To my left is Kraven the Hunter, holding a net, and behind the criminal sportsman is Mysterio, master of illusion.

Five of the Sinister Six. "What's up, fellas?" I ask a loud.

The five move toward me without a sound.

"Lemme guess," I jab. "It's International Pick-On Spidey Day. Ya know, when I was trying to figure out who was behind this mess, I never figured it would be a committee of chumps."

My foes are strangely silent as they move in. Best to hit them before they all converge. I can reach any of them. Who should I take down first?

There's no way these five could have gotten back together, even to kill me. That indicates a hoax, and Mysterio is the criminal master of such illusion.

I bound effortlessly over Kraven, and land feet-first on Mysterio's glowing fishbowl helmet. The helmet cracks and shatters under the force of my blow, revealing a maze of wires and circuits beneath. The form of Mysterio crumples to the ground, but not before violently shocking me.

I stand for a moment, looking at the shattered remains of Mysterio as the vicious voltage courses through my body. Robot, and wired to shock on destruction. How many of the others as well?

The others are still moving toward me. Picking myself up, I run to the far exit, where there is a switch and a metal door.

I pull the switch down, and the low-register clicking and buzzing of machinery in the room fades. I look back at my remaining foes, and they are frozen in position.

Dumb robots, I knew the Sinister Six couldn't have staged a reunion bash, even to bash Spidey. These little playthings were obviously guards for the main gates, and the switch allows someone from this end to shut them down so personnel can go in and out. Simple, once you know it. Pull the plug and the toys wind down.

The metal door hums and rises to the ceiling. Five down and it's obvious now who the sixth is.

I pass into the next corridor.

"Ta-Ta, Troopies," I wave back at the inanimate robots. "Time to reveal the puppeteer."

This passage is similar to the last one, dimly lit. At the end I can see through an open door and into a brightly lit room. From my far station, I can see some machinery. The smell of ozone is strong in the air. The walls of this passage are lined with wooden doors, and these are shut and have bars in the windows.

I am halfway down the hallway when a low voice says, "wait!" In a hushed tone. I see a hand wave at me from the bars.

"Doctor Jefferson, I presume?" I say, looking at the psychiatrist captive in the cell. It all fits together now–with five of the Sinister Six being used as lackeys, the sixth must be the head honcho. He must have put another robot in his cell to avoid suspicion.

The bespectacled man nods and puts a finger to his lips. He hands me a note.

The note reads : 'He can hear but cannot see us. He has captured Electro and is using him to power a weapon to destroy you. There is a trap at the end of the corridor. Look up. Don't hurt him.'

I look up and see a ventilator grill above me. I nod to him and, trying to make as little noise as possible, rip his lock out of the door. The complete, I give him an A-OK hand sign.

Trusting that Jefferson is honest and the events aren't monitored, I rip out the grillwork and crawl into the ducts. After about five minutes of crawling I reach another grill. Looking out, I see an incredible sight.

It could best be described as an electrical elephant! It is a huge, almost obscene machine, occupying most of the room. At it's core is Electro, glowing like a supernova star and apparently in pain. At it's crown, riding the elephant, is Doctor Octopus awaiting my appearance at the doorway. The "trunk" of the elephant, the barrel of the weapon, which is probably what did the skywriting is pointed at the doorway.

Definitely the work of a disturbed mind. I look at my foe as I work the grillwork off the vent. At least I'm out of the line of fire.

"Where is he…?" Hisses the Doctor, his mechanical arms adjusting power levels and turning dials on the huge machine. "Why hasn't he appeared?"

"Sorry, Ock!" I shout, leaping from my hiding place. "I had to use the service entrance."

I leapt out onto the machine where the beam could not reach me.

As I land on the machinery, sparks spread out from my fingertips. I feel a tingle akin to my Spider-Sense, but otherwise the massive machine does no damage. Atop it, the madman who has been trying for most of the evening to kill me is watching me, stock still.

Ok, hero, now what? I spy Ock's arms beginning to writhe along the machine toward me. Attack? Talk to him? Free Electro (who really looks like he's suffering)? Sabotage the machinery? He's had me on my heels and on the run all evening, now it's my turn! Think!

First things first. I scrabble across the machine's sides to where Electro is held prisoner. The master of electricity howls soundlessly on the inside of a glass prison. Above me, Octopus is starting to react. I see Doc's metallic arms reach toward me.

The bowl is designed for Electro's powers, not my spider-enhanced abilities. It shatters with a crash and a bolt of lightning erupts from the prison. I am dlung violently backwards and topple off the side of the machine.

"OCTAVIUS!!" Comes an inhuman shout from the sphere. "YOU HAVE USED ME, OCTAVIUS! YOU HAVE HURT ME!! NOW I SHALL HAVE VENGEANCE!! I NEED MY REVENGE!"

Electro emerges from his cage shining like a bright white beacon, throwing everything around me into shadow. Ignoring me completely, Electro moves up the sides of the machine towards Doc Ock.

Ock is read as well, two of his mechanical arms grabbing nets and weapons, while the other pair extend, carrying his body high above his opponent. Electro grasps one metallic arm, and a yellow glow pulsates and courses up the arm to the mad doctor. Octopus howls and stutters in pain.

Uh-oh. The genie is out the bottle. The pair are locked in a deadly embrace. The machinery they are fighting on is breaking, falling apart.

I bound out of the chamber just as the machine starts to smoke and the ceiling caved in. The walls and floors are buckling as I run at top speed out of the complex, only stopping to grab Dr.Jefferson, the imprisoned psychiatrist and bound out. Behind me is the cacophonous roar of explosions.

From the sewer I make my way to the surface. There is one last explosion, this one reaching the surface (an abandoned garbage dump) and spreading light (and garbage) into the sky.

"You think they…" the doctor starts to ask, faltering.

"Survived?" I finish for him. "Don't know. Their kind always has a way of turning up. For now, one more bad guy plan has gone smash, leaving us and the City of New York to pick up the pieces."

The pair of us watch the fire and listen for the approaching sirens as the police come to investigate. I have saved the city, once again.