#the advance team haha that's not actually the first time someone vagued about that

[thoughts-reasons]

history lessons

[amaranthkick]

A Therapy Werewolf, part 10

(ao3) 

“You should have seen it, Pidge! Shiro threw his head back, a noble howl resonating around the area catching the attention of the space wolves. All Shiro had to do was growl, showing off those pearly whites and they were cowering with their tail between their legs. Ah, as a fellow lupine, it brings a tear to my eye.” Lance dramatically wiped a non-existent tear from his eye.

Shiro knocked Lance down, laying on top of him and trapping him underneath. “You know that is not what happened in the slightest.”

“Mmm, yeah, I’m sure that’s what happened.” Pidge said to Lance, voice dripping with sarcasm. She raised an eyebrow. “What really happened?”

Lance hid his flushed face behind his hands while Shiro whined softly and put a paw on top of his muzzle. Hunk tilted his head at their reactions and gasped as an idea popped into his head. “Oh! Is it like on TV where dogs sniff--”

Everyone froze as the alarm blared throughout the castle and in an instant they rushed to the bridge.

“It's as I feared.” Allura informed them as she pulled up the map, showing an enemy marker heading towards their location. “The Galra are sending a warship to our position. Fortunately, it's not a robeast. ...Not this time yet. But this means we don’t have the leisure to wait here for a way to change Shiro back to normal. Never mind, we’ll talk afterwards. Paladins to your Lions!”

Shiro huffed as he waited on the bridge as the others worked together to take down the warship. He could feel the Black Lion purring in apology in the back of his mind but as otherworldly and advanced as these Lions were, the controls proved difficult in his current state.

Though he wasn’t able to fight with his team, he perked up in pride as they managed to take it down. They have really grown from the first time they piloted the Lions to be able to work together even with one Lion missing.

---

Even though they were victorious it was tense when the paladins returned to the bridge. Keith was tense with anger, of course the Galra wouldn’t let them catch their breath. It’s just a matter of time until they keep sending stronger and stronger reinforcements. Pidge was fiercely staring at a screen as if her glare can make a cure form faster. Everyone else was frowning thinking of what they could do.

Lance started when he felt Shiro nudge his hand with a wet nose. “You said you had a plan B, in case things don’t pan out. Well… things aren’t panning out. Can I hear what it is?”

Hearing Shiro bark made everyone turn their heads in their direction. Lance rubbed the back of his head. “Uh, there is something I’d like to try. I think it’ll be able to help Shiro.”

Lance explained that he wanted to turn Shiro, give him the bite and turn him into a werewolf. He got the idea thinking about Coran’s remarks about his body rejecting the space wolf chemical. The turn would also pretty much be instantaneous. The idea surprised them and certainly piqued Coran’s interest in how the turning works but more importantly brought a spark of hope back in their eyes.

“How interesting, is it magic based or perhaps it works like an infection passed through a bite wound?” Coran was holding a magnifying glass too close to Lance’s mouth for his liking.

“I have no idea.” Lance leaned away from Coran’s good-natured prodding. “I’ve never tried it but it does involve a bite, which obviously hurts. Not sure how I feel about biting our leader. Are you sure you want to try it?” He asked Shiro.

“I’m willing to give it a try.” Shiro nodded, appreciating his concern.

“Are you sure this will work?” Keith asked, highly concerned for Shiro’s safety.

“I don’t know how this’ll work on a space wolf but uh… ok, something like this happened before. They say that no one has turned anyone in a while but my dad or his friends might have done it but don’t you guys tell a soul! My family might get in trouble.”

At their agreement, Lance continued. “A long time ago, when my dad and a few of his friends were young and dumb and unafraid, they asked the age old question ‘can you turn a wolf into a werewolf?’ But unlike normal people and just imagining what would happen, they tried it out. Long story short they ended up adopting a very confused and slightly feral human. Ah, Uncle Jim Jam… the life of the party.” Lance ended with a nostalgic tinge in his voice.

“You guys named him Jim Jam?” Hunk asked incredulously.

Lance gasped, a hand on his chest. “Don’t be mean! He’s doing his best! But anyway, they started a wolf and ended with a werewolf that can turn into a human or wolf. Which is what we’ll end up with, hopefully.”

---

It wasn’t night yet but the moon had entered the sky from the eastern horizon. Lance said he needed some time to concentrate and see if the moon was willing to help. Apparently he had to get the moon’s blessing to be able to turn someone. Shiro found Lance in the usual hall, the moon visible in the window. His eyes were closed and he breathed in deeply, soaking up the moonlight. Once Lance noticed his presence he sat down next to him.

“This moon is happy to help, she feels friendly and kinda curious about me and werewolves since this planet doesn’t have any. ...How are you feeling about all this? Like getting drugged and uh, getting experimented again by the galra?” Lance winced as he asked. There wasn’t exactly a subtler way to ask that.

Shiro was surprised then he deflated with a sigh. It was hard to keep the dependable leader front with all this trauma piling up. “It certainly is not helping that it happened again. Feels like everytime they get their dirty hands on me, I’m changed beyond recognition from who I used to be.” He felt like he could breathe a little easier, having admitted that.

Lance started to gently stroke his fur, he felt Shiro relaxing slightly at his touch. “How about this though? If turning you is successful, you won’t exactly be fully human again.”

“Hmm, but this feels different. Maybe because you offered it and I chose to try it rather than another galran experiment being forced on me.” But still… being a werewolf, it’ll definitely be a new experience, Shiro thought.

“Oh! That kinda reminds me of some werewolf legends, want to hear them?” Lance looked eager to tell him a bit of werewolf culture, his culture. Shiro wagged his tail once, happy to listen.

“Well, they say the first turning was actually a curse.” Lance smiled sheepishly as he started. “Humans were afraid of werewolves so they hunted them. The moon was angry at the many innocent lives lost to the hunters. So she cursed the bite a werewolf had inflicted in self defence and caused the hunter to become a werewolf and thus the hunter becomes the hunted by his own people.

“Oh! But then there’s another legend that makes turning look like a blessing! So there was this werewolf woman whose lover was terribly injured. Since werewolves boasted great regenerative abilities she begged the moon to be able to turn her love so she can save them. And once she did they lived happily ever after and all that jazz. They tell these stories to get pups to not judge things at first glance since something was a curse in once case turned out to be a blessing in another. Ah, I remember when grandma told me these stories...”

Shiro's eyes softened fondly as Lance started to reminisce, happily talking about his family. A blessing, huh? Shiro felt lighter as his nuzzling caused Lance to laugh.

“Haha! Alright, alright. Enough of that, I think I’m good to go. Let’s get everyone and see this through.”

---

Pain.

Shiro was ready to accept that. Sharp teeth sinking into his flesh. But that spike of pain only lasted for a moment.

Then it felt like lava coursed through his veins spreading from the bite to every part of his body. He felt something… in the back of his mind, a gentle pull. Was this how the moon felt to Lance?  Lance told him if he felt it, he should go against the pull as it guided them towards their wolf form. He concentrated on doing so. Shiro gritted his teeth as muscles spasmed and bones started to shift. He could vaguely hear yells of concern from the others.

He remembers Lance trying to tell him to not fight against the change before he blacked out.

---

It was a chaotic few minutes full of screaming, cursing, yelling, honestly, just another day out here in space, Lance thought to himself. But everyone calmed down once Shiro had changed back into a human even though he promptly passed out. They quickly dressed him up in the silky, black pajamas stored in the castle. He was still missing his arm but with Pidge, Hunk, and Coran on the case, Lance doubts it would be that much of an issue for long.

Lance suggested a sleepover, getting everyone bringing their blankets and pillows to fill that circle of couches area in the common room. This way with Shiro’s brand new stronger sense of smell, he’d be surrounded by familiar scents when he wakes up.

Allura took Coran with her to chart their next course to their next destination, taking care to mark some safe spots to give the paladins much needed rest. Coran assured Lance that he would make her join the sleepover so she could rest as well.

As they slept in the soft nest waiting for Shiro to wake, Lance settled in and he let his mind wander. It’s been a wild ride out here in space. Becoming paladins, helping Shiro like he helped his uncle, everyone accepting him even if he was a werewolf and him fully accepting them as a pack. Lance knew this war would be tough but he’ll do what he could for his pack.

[lordofsunshadowandsailor]

story replies

I have intentionally left some comments, mostly on my writing, to be answered on another post, but here you get a bunch of them already!

Thank you so much @declarations-of-drama @simblu @acquiresimoleons @simcatcher @tyrellsimsoficeandfire @danjaley​ for the comments, and all for the likes and support on LoSSS!

declarations-of-drama replied to your post “story and other LoSSS replies”

Haha I meant Cor Blimey as in "WOW!" lol

That much I understood, after having looked it up... but still, why risk getting what we are asking for with such an expression? :)

acquiresimoleons replied to your photo “That was the proper word to describe Alvar, Tobio pondered. For in...”

I, too, am a very "lost and far away" kind of person. My man often asks me, "where are you at? "When I'm sitting right beside him. It takes someone special to pull us back to the present.

I know just what you mean. I’m glad that you have someone special right by your side to pull you back to the present moment. Meditation helps too, and I have so often heard my Buddhist master talking about “the wonders of the present moment”, about being “in the here and the now”, that I often try to go back to it, just by becoming aware of my own daydreaming as the kidnapper, and by concentrating on my breathing...

acquiresimoleons replied to your photo “I am not sure, but I believe it must be Zeus nevertheless.” Alvar had...”

Zeus, i think, could be more associated with *ahem* sperm rather than rain lmao

May I ask why you say that? Zeus did procreate like no other Greek god and had a bunch of bastard children, is that why?

simcatcher replied to your photo “Tobio’s surprise doubled. Alvar had joined two very wet teams – and...”

Amazing picture !

Thank you dear! I like it too. And now thinking back of it, it was actually harder to find the appropriate poses to fake a water polo practice, and to pose the guys inside the water, than to edit it! Both efforts did come along nicely. :)

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “That was the proper word to describe Alvar, Tobio pondered. For in...”

What a great recreation! They look so authentic and beautiful!

Thank you! I think you have seen the screenshots for Oneiroi, my Greco Roman game play, when I was actually trying to be authentic... This is a recreation, like you say, and much more a vision of Ancient Times in the 1910s, clothes looking more like costumes as seen in photography of that tperiod... I’m glad you like it!

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “Tobio’s surprise doubled. Alvar had joined two very wet teams – and...”

Great pic! But there's clearly a difference between rain and being in a pool. Come on Tobio!!

Tobio wasn't thinking clearly in that moment. He was wetting himself in another manner, with Alvar standing by his side, and so close, as he fantasized about what they could be doing... 

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “And to reinforce his invite, feeling at any moment Alvar could retreat...”

Fantastic! I'm surprised they can even wait to get inside :D

This is the 1910s, and I guess they could wait a lot longer to get inside... There is so much to take into consideration before acting out your desire for another person of the same sex... If you get caught or is denounced, prison, electric shock therapy, lobotomy, eternal damnation, social ostracism awaits you! Though death penalty no longer applied, there was still a lot to keep men from committing ‘buggery’.

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “Not quite sure.” Tobio responded, vaguely.  He concentrated instead...”

Secretive Stolen Intimacies! I am loving this

After you mentioned this, I had to go checking what ‘secretive’ actually meant, and whether it applied here... I often choose words by the sound, and how they link to the previous and next ones... Next I read it out loud, sentence by sentence -- but then, my choices might sound nice with my foreigner’s accent, while maybe not in native English... I had never thought of that :O 

Though you like it, thank you for bringing my awareness on that!

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “Tobio, brought up in the fear of God, permanently lacked the courage...”

Oh that thing called Religion! How it has suppressed so many lives!!!

I can speak for myself. This part is rather autobiographical, I must say. Though I have come a long way now in negotiating peace with myself  -- and not with some God! --, I still have a strong sense of shame and guilt infused in me by Catholicism.

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “Thus Tobio intently and mercilessly crushed his own impulses. <  ...”

Gutted for him :/

Sorry, I’m not sure I get that... Is it like “I feel bad for him?”

tyrellsimsoficeandfire replied to your photo “Thus Tobio intently and mercilessly crushed his own impulses. <  ...”

Already liked it but these pictures are too beautiful. Declarations of drama is right! Do they allow girls there? Just asking

Haha! I don’t think girls were allowed, but they certainly would be welcome... I’m not sure, though, that they would be respected upon entering the locker room, for back then, respectful girls would never have dared...

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “The recent freedom of spending his days on a strictly masculine...”

Bless him! And such teasing pictures!!! No wonder he is gagging - WE ARE TOO!!!!

This is only one of the many pictures I have taken inside that locker room, and from this point of view... It is also the least explicit of them, for the naked man in the front has some gagging material indeed, sprouting below that pubic hair... :O

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “Dear Lord, protect me from what I desire.”  Thus started Tobio’s...”

Surely if he believes a God created him, why would he think He got it wrong? Just go with what your God gave you! tsk tsk, I can never work out these religious folk

I believe Tobio never reached that conclusion. Back then, mortal sin was the end to every line of thinking. What you mention is rather modern, or contemporary thinking. I remember how thrilled I was in listening to my Buddhist master enunciate that, if God created man in his own image, than if man is gay, God is gay too... Some people left the room, outraged, while I and others were silently applauding upon hearing that. 

Tobio did not have the chance, in his lifetime, to listen to such revolutionary, compassionate thinking.

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “Tobio instinctively knew he could entrust no one man on campus with...”

I reckon there's some of them who think the same - I'm sure Tobio can find a companion to release his thoughts upon :D

Tobio is actually afraid of finding his equals, though he can identify them... For what he longs is not talking to them, expressing his feelings, or releasing his thoughts... There is something much more urgent he wants to release, but that is a sin :/ 

I hope I don’t bother you with insisting in his religious point of view...

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “But something stood peculiar in relation to Alvar. Tobio expected the...”

Hahaha, of course! Tobio has to be your man :D

I believe it’s the other way around, here, and Alvar is Tobio’s man -- first man to actually drag him from behind his trenches of fear!

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “To wait, they sat – the leather cushions of an old bench letting out a...”

Getting a bit confident with the feels Tobio :D

Or is he getting more desperate? All this because he keeps misreading Alvar’s reactions to his advances.

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “Immersed in internal struggles, Tobio heard nothing but his own...”

Do you use the Pose Player Add On? It lets you turn their heads and change expression for the same pose - making it look like they are animated in different shots.

That would certainly be an improvement, wouldn’t it? I did download the Add On some time ago, but never tried it... Maybe it’s time. Thank you so much for the suggestion!

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “Immersed in internal struggles, Tobio heard nothing but his own...”

Also - don't get too risky Tobi!!

He is acting on a different mode with Alvar, and going farther than he ever dared... I’ll mention it later in the text, but I’m pretty sure Tobio keeps in mind the scandalous outcome of the love affair between Oscar Wilde and Lord Douglas, ending with the famous writer being sentenced to jail.

simblu replied to your photo “Immersed in internal struggles, Tobio heard nothing but his own...”

The reader too feels the risk..

I do hope so! Though the boys are in a deserted hall with dim lighting, they are both aware that the implacable Law is spying on them, and aware of applicable penalties and punishments. Breathe deeply, gulp, swallow your desire -- you better forget it than act it out, is my advice to them!

simblu replied to your photo “Having remarked from the first day how, on his outstandingly pale...”

Ooh! Dismissed!

Yes. The impertinent, dirty little fly that Tobio’s caress is has been dismissed!

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “That  touch exceed everything uncomfortable and uncivil Alvar had...”

Desperation! Calm down Tobio!!

Tobio certainly is desperate, though Alvar still keeps his calm, up to this instant.

simblu replied to your photo “That  touch exceed everything uncomfortable and uncivil Alvar had...”

Don't try to reel him in yet.. give some play in the line.

Interesting strategy. But who is the angler, and who is the catch here?

simblu replied to your photo “Like owning a rare animal for pet, wherever Tobio went with his...”

A very sharp character analysis

Thank you dear! I truly hope so... Because, you know, this is the last post I wrote for this update, though it stands in the middle and is a turning point in Tobio’s feelings for Alvar... 

Alvar is bullying material to his bones, and being defenseless as I describe him, he has be truly endearing to be favoured by his teammates with respect and protection... This was hard to write, and still feels hard for me to get along with.

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “Like an informal party of bodyguards, his most athletic colleagues...”

OMG!! That writing made Tobio almost sound like a predator capturing the poor defenseless Alvar!! This is getting so juicy!! :D

That is exactly the impression we are supposed to have, and how to read this scene... Predator yes, though circumstantial and a first timer, defenseless yes, though charmingly so. 

But as for poor Alvar... It’s not just that he is very wealthy -- I’m not sure he is the weakest part in this duet, and the one to be pitied... 

Juicy? It’s your comments that are juicy! Love them!

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “Reassured by the sepulchral silence spreading around them, both men...”

Jesus!!!! This is so erotic! I need a . . . coffee break :D Yes. Coffee.

Don’t you just love how we use religious names and expressions in these situations? :D I’m glad you find it erotic, and not offensive... 

How was that coffee? ;)

danjaley replied to your photo “Reassured by the sepulchral silence spreading around them, both men...”

'All the world's a book. And all the men and women in it merely characters watched by the reader...'

Shakespeare revisited -- cool!

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “Tobio drew in closer, flexing his knees to face Alvar eye to eye – the...”

Oh poor Alvar! Stuck in a world of religious dogma and pointless threats of the afterlife. Just let yourself go kid!!

Wouldn’t that be Tobio, the blond Medicine student?

I believe Alvar has no religious concerns at the moment. He has still to go to Sikkim, during the last year of college, to get in touch with Buddhism and any religion at all -- except, of course, the usual stuff of going to church on funerals and weddings and etc.

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “Realizing in Tobio’s glance that, from too close, he was losing his...”

.......................... You had better not leave us hanging! I am devouring each chapter with a hunger greater than Tobio's!!!

Thank you for saying that , dear. But I have learned a thing or two since first publishing The Last Canvas, back in 2013, and one of them is to never properly finish a chapter, and leave a hook for the next... sorry for blatantly doing so!

declarations-of-drama replied to your photo “A desert, it felt like. Arid, and vast. But not deserted, not...”

HA! I misread and thought you wrote dessert! Tobio got his cherry pudding :D :D :D Also, got any more shots? Need. . . More. . . Detail . . . for this chapter. This is #66 - can't WAIT for #69!!! :p

I was really laughing out loud as I read this comment! Love it! Humour is a very privileged kind of intelligence, God bless yours! 

It’s very hard to determine how much detail to include in a scene like this, before descriptions become too graphic and plain, actually killing the eroticism... The same with the images. Let’s see what I come up with!

And as for pic #69, I don’t believe Alvar and Tobio shall be doing just that, not on their first date, not in a public hall... But they still have other possibilities of fulfillment, don’t they?

[bullymagnetweek-blog]

Hitball: The Musical - Bullymagnet Week Day 5

AN: so this is like super late and hardly even bullymagnet but *shrug* i listened to high school musical on repeat for six hours for this so here we go. i apologise in advance for the cheesy lyrics. also again the formatting bc what. - KindleSpark

SUMMARY: Retelling of the hitball arc, but everyone’s singing and it’s even more dramatic than it already was. Suzy has a blackmailing song. Johnny and Max have a theme. Jeff’s monologue is now a villain number. Enjoy. (I’m sorry).

Max is expecting a huge trumpet fanfare to start what is apparently a high stakes middle-school dodgeball game, but instead all Coach Oop does is blow a small ‘toot’ on his whistle

It still has everyone sprinting as fast as they can to get to the middle of the court, though. Max lingers back as Johnny and Isabel lunge for the balls, pulling off stunts no middle-schooler (or anyone for that matter) should be able to do. Someone’s already in the bleachers in the first two seconds.

Everyone’s taking this pretty damn seriously, Max realises. A ball comes spinning his way and he quickly side steps it. Well, at least dodging is his forte.

Thump. Thump Thump.

Speaking about forte.

Squeak thump.

Max should’ve seen this coming.

Thump. Thump thump.

Sneakers hit the floor, and balls whiz past rhythmically. There’s a beat humming through the gym.

“Burnhounds.” Menacing whispers come from the other team.

“Shockodiles.” The response is immediate, perfectly in rhythm.

Max suppresses the urge to roll his eyes. Of course Mayview is dramatic enough to have a song for a middle-school dodgeball game. He feels the beat instinctively, feet slipping side to side in sync. Sure, songs happened all the time, and he wasn’t against them or anything, but they usually only started up when it came to something significant. He vaguely wonders if it’s just a well-known hitball theme… but no, hitball was only introduced today. He shrugs. It’s probably just a Mayview thing. The drama never ends.

“Burnhounds!”

“Shockodiles!”

The chanting continues. Swung quavers and a shuffle-likebeat, Max notes. He shouts along as the music reaches its peak.

Thump. Thump thump.

“HITBALL!” The gym cries in unison. Max spoke too soon. Those were definitely trumpets.

He leaps to the side, dodging and twisting past the balls. Songs always push his movements along, it’s so much easier to step and move when there’s a beat driving you forward. The melody surges inside him, and he’s buzzing with expectation. 

Isabel starts up, and Max grins. Most people have a specific style or instrument their songs most occur in, and she’s perfect for this. Of course, she wouldn’t be singing if she wasn’t, but he’s still impressed.

“Hey Burnhounds, we’re gonna tear you asunder, 

‘coz us Shockodiles are lightning and thunder.

Hey Burnhounds, get ready to stop drop and roll,

‘coz the flames you’re holding’ll be reduced to coal.”

Max watches as she dances her way across the court, singing all the way. At the end of her verse, she pelts the Golden Switch she’s holding directly towards Lisa, hitting her just as she’s distracted by Ed. 

“Haha, yesss! We’re stacked.”

Thump thump.

The chorus starts just as aggressively as the verse, and Max finds himself singing with the rest of the team as they taunt the other side, balls bouncing and stomps shaking the floor as the music roars at a peak.

“Get ready, get ready for hitball,

Burnhounds vs. Shockodiles!”

Max feels the title drop resonate through him. Ah man, he can’t deny he’s having fun. Max hides a grin as Johnny’s verse springs up from the other side, responding to Isabel’s threats in perfect rhyme. 

“Hey Shockodiles, hope you’re ready for this game,

‘coz you’ll need more than water to put out this flame.

Hey Shockodiles, you’re up for a treat,

‘coz us Burnhounds ain’t afraid to turn up the heat!”

He whips two balls out in sync, and Max grimaces as he watches both of them hit their mark. The chorus comes back in, and now both teams begin to sing the chorus, lines whipping back and forth as fast as the balls are. Somewhere in between the chorus and the next verse, Max hears the raspy voice of… was that kid levitating? 

“Dag, sons! These burnhounds are wiggity wiggity worse than homework!”

You know what, he’s just gonna ignore that one. The music pauses just as the bridge comes in, and Max finds himself itching to sing. Oh man, he’s one of the main vocalists? The songs hadn’t stopped coming since he moved here, and he much preferred background vocals. 

“Hey Matrix, try contributing! The game’s not called dodgeball!” Isabel shouts at him.

Oh good, it’s a private conversation. He sighs in relief. At least these parts usually play underneath the main song, with the rest of the singers are often oblivious. 

“Stop deflecting!” Isabel roars.

A ball collides perfectly into the one he’s holding, ricocheting to the side.

Max deadpans. “But clearly that is an important part of the spor-” 

Isabel shoves the ball into his face. The music quietens, and the beat disappears, something more lyrical starting up.

“Max, are we clear on what I said on the train?

I hope I didn’t mislead you, I mean, I’m trying to explain…”

Max baulks. Nope. He’s not talking about this now. Thankfully, the music complies and his lyrics quickly interrupt hers.

“Most ghosts really can’t-“

“Looks like someone needs me over there.” Max shouts awkwardly, edging his way out of the song. “I’m just gonna go-“

“HOW DID YOU KNOW??”

The music screeches to a halt as Max comes face to face with a terrifyingly delighted Suzy.

———

Oh my god, she has a blackmailing song.

Collin’s slumped shoulders tell him this isn’t just a one-off melody, it’s an actual honest-to-god theme. Max cannot believe his own eyes. Or ears. Jagged string lines bounce eerily off each other, dissonant and harsh. Suzy sings along delightedly, and Max has a sense of incoming doom as she rattles off high-pitched lines and exposition. He tries not to let the panicky music get to him.

“You know what that means, Max? Don’t hold your breath.” Suzy sings, music stopping just before it reaches the final note. Max is sweating “It means jumping through a school bus is now punishable…” 

Silence. Max is pretty sure he knows what’s coming.

“BY DEATH.” He was right.

“Suspension.” Collin interrupts. Max’s brain has zoned out, and he’s imagining all the horrible ways his dad’s gonna sacrifice him in if Max gets suspended. 

“No, no! My Dad’ll kill me…!”

Suzy lets out a cackle. “I’m always right in the end, see?”

The song, unfortunately, doesn’t end there. 

“Now now, Max, it’s okay, don’t be so hyperbolic.

It’s not like anyone knows you did it, I’m not that vitriolic.

No one has a clue, it’s just been rumours, don’t you see?

It’s not like anyone knows you did it… Well. Nobody…”

Oh. Max hates everything. “but y-“

“But me!” Suzy’s smile holds six different layers of evil, and Max is ready to embrace death.

———

“I hate people like you!

And you, and you!!”

Max recoils as Nega-Jeff actually begins to sing. There’s something different about his voice too, an underlying tone that doesn’t sound right. The accompanying music is all wrong and twisted, not like Jeff at all. Something’s very wrong.

“Self-centered, without a scrap of ambition, 

Warriors of whim, without proper cognition.

You’ve still yet to reach your brains’ higher functions!

Honestly. What a waste of good violence.”

Max watches as Johnny flinches back, and he can tell that particular line was in one of Johnny’s songs as well. He scowls. Low blow.

“Kindness without a code, cruelty that isn’t calculating,

can’t you see it serves no purpose, your stupidity is infuriating!

The true power of violence isn’t just to entertain,

I hope you’re ready to learn a lifelong lesson in pain!”

Isabel’s up to something in the background, and Max really hopes she can come up with something while this Jeff imposter is singing. He lights up as Isabel flings balls their way, hope rising within him, well. Until Johnny catches one and sends her to the bleachers. Ughhh.

———

Max smirks. Johnny was pretty selfless when it counted. I mean sure, dismissing his friends did leave the two of them stuck with Jeff, but Max wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Hey, don’t let Nega-Jeff get too deep under your skin, okay?” Max says. “Everything else aside, caring about your jerk friends isn’t a flaw. It’s your sole redeeming quality.”

Johnny chuckles, smiling. “Heh.” 

Something swells inside Max, and it takes him a second to realise it’s the beginning of… a theme. Just an instrumental, apparently, but it still surprises him. He doesn’t even have a proper theme with the activity club yet, and yet the moment he’s alone with Johnny… Weird. Stagnant ostinatos, melody on the bass, and… was that the sound of clashing metal as the beat? Unconventional, but it worked. It fits perfectly, and Max already loves it. He can feel himself buzzing with anticipation for the showdown, comforted with the thought Johnny was by his side. He makes a face. Oh man, that was cheesy. Songs really brought every embarrassing thought to the forefront.

“Ready to win this, Johnny?” Max barks, spectral energy igniting on instinct.

Johnny grins, all teeth and resolve. “Let’s show Jeff what-“

“That’s not Jeff.”

The music halts abruptly as Cody shoves the Golden Switch into Johnny’s hands, face dark and angry. Thunder crackles between them, and Max instinctively steps back. Something about Cody’s posture screams danger.

“Punish him.”

Thump. Thump thump.

Max’s eyes widen in realisation. A reprise. This was it then.

Squeak thump.

Johnny sends him a look, face determined. Final showdown. The people on the bleachers begin to whisper softly.

Thump. Thump thump.

“Burnhounds!”

“Shockodiles!” 

Johnny jumps into the verse, lines reprised as Johnny lets out his anger, determined to bring Jeff down. Meanwhile, Max’s brain is racing, trying to piece together a plan as fast as he can. The likelihood of actually hitting Jeff is low, but there’s no way they could catch one of his throws, unless… No, that’s too dangerous. He grits his teeth. Well, that’ll have to be the back-up plan if this doesn’t work. He vaguely registers Jeff singing, but ignores him, grabbing Johnny quickly and dragging him back.

“Grrr, all I need is a single ball, 

Just one, and I can finish this farce,

What the- there’s none at all?

Why, Guerra, ever a thorn in my-“

“HEY, JEFF!!” Max interrupts, breaking up his verse. “HEADS UP!!!”

He sprints up, bringing back his arm and aiming…

“PSYCH!!” 

… for the ball golem. Max honestly has no idea why she’s still on the court.

It hits her perfectly, and the rest of the class cheer, music starting up again and launching into the chorus. The beat, with a lack of people on court, is picked up by the thumping of shoes and fists on the bleachers. 

“Burnhounds vs. Shockodiles: Final showdown!”

“Not.” Jeff rises slowly, and Max tenses. He turns, and Max grimaces as he shows off the Golden Switch. Plan B, then. The background vocals are shocked into silence, and the music thumps silently as Jeff launches into his villain song again, this time with leitmotifs from Burnhounds vs. Shockodiles. Yikes, he really liked the sound of his own voice.

Max remains alert as Jeff walks along the court. The likelihood of him throwing the ball before his verse ends is low, but he watches anyway. Somewhere in the middle of it, Max perks up with incredulity, recognising the counterpoint. That was his and Johnny’s theme! Jeff hasn’t seemed to notice it, thankfully, and Max glares him down. It’s not over yet.

“Ha, you think I’d miss?

LET’S SEE HOW YOU LIKE THIS!”

Max grits his teeth.

“Johnny!!” He cries. Their theme breaks free from the harmony, playing high above everything, and overwhelming Jeff’s at the final note. He grins. “Look up!”

The music pauses.

Krak.

Foom.

Thwack.

SNAP!

The ball ricochets off his arm, arcing high over the court. He doesn’t need to look back to know Johnny caught it.

Max has a split-second to acknowledge darkly that the throw was in rhythm, before pain bursts on Max’s left arm, and he tears up, hissing as he tries not to cry. This doesn’t work. 

“RRRRGGGHHHHH!!” He groans, curling up on the ground. Flippity flippin’ flip! His arm is on fire. He didn’t think it’d be this bad if Dmitri had somehow survived it, but it was.

“WELL WHATRYA WAITIN’ FOR?!” Johnny shouts. “LET’S GET ‘IM!!”

“YEEEEAAAAAAAHHHH!” comes the cry, and the music starts again, playing a victory instrumental to accompany the cheers.

Thump. Thump Thump.

Well, almost an instrumental. Lisa steps up unnoticed behind Jeff, pinning him with a vice-like grip.

“Hey Shockodile, here’s some advice:

In this school, you should really learn to think twice.

Hey Shockodile, don’t make this a trend,

There are scary people here you don’t want to offend.”