#the creators knew what they were doing. They made it three times how much proof we need to know it'd be canon if Nobita was a girl 24/7

[nonokoko13]

You know what's funny?

In every episode where Nobita was a girl Takeshi has a crush on her. It's basically canon but I don't see anyone talk about this

[warmaidensrevenge]

It's not a never.

Pairings: Eddie x fem!best friend Plus size reader

A/N: Happy Sunday loves. Here I present the final part in this series. It's a bit steamy if you ask me. So ready your naughty bits. As always thanks for reading. Please feel free to share and comment your thoughts. It really gives me a boost of dopamine that I crave. So anything is awesome. Kay love ya. Byyyyyeeee.

I do not give permission for my work to be posted anywhere else. Please respect all creators. Also, all pictures and songs are from a Google search and found on Spotify. A huge thank you and credit to the original posters and artists.

Word count: 3,824

Warnings: 18+ No minors please. Angst, language, sexual implications, sexual situations, p&v, oral (both receiving), unprotected sex and mentions of alcohol use. Not proof read

Part 4: Right now

Summary: Time goes by. But feelings still remain.

The farewell was in fact unbearable. It hurt Eddie like hell. But what hurt the most was a year after. College life became hectic for you. Which caused letters and phone calls to lessen. 

Then the guys got a big break. It was a small record label with very little rapport. But it was one he had a good feeling about. They made a deal for one full album and a few shows to promote it. 

It was a very busy year that turned into two. Then three.

Before any of them knew it, they were playing sold out shows. 

Things were working out. His dreams were coming true. But he never forgot about that girl with the sweet little smile. Though it has been some time since he saw it. He was fortunate enough to see it again one summer night in that third year.

The band was performing at one of their favorite places one hot night. They loved it because it was on a rooftop. Where they could see most of the city.

Tonight though, Eddie could only focus on the pretty girl with the small smile he almost forgot if it weren't for the prom picture he kept in his wallet.

The second the set was over, he jumped off the stage and ran to you. Obviously dodging the groupies and fans asking for autographs.

You yelped when he embraced you. Surprised when he picked you up a little.

“ Oh shit! I can't believe this!” He said when he planted you back down. 

You giggled. “Hi Eddie.”

He leaned back a little and grinned like crazy. “ When did-” He was cut off by the rest of his buddies.

He took a few steps back to let everyone have their turn with you. To be honest he needed the minute to get over the shock of seeing you. 

One thing led to another and you guys went out for drinks then ended up back at their apartment.

The whole night you guys were hanging off each other. Loving glances were shared and every word you said sounded like a love spell to him. And that didn't end when it was just you two.

Everyone else went to bed and he wasn't tired at all. So why end the night? Who knows when he was gonna see you again.

“ Ehem. So Eddie?” You said, putting your half empty glass on the coffee table. “ How many times do I have to squeeze your thigh to get you to kiss me?”

He laughed nervously.

You gave him a sexy sly grin. “ Common I've been flirting with you all night.”

He cleared his throat and smirked while you moved closer to him. It was true. You were flirting. He was too. And he shouldn't have. 

You reached up to move his bangs to the side. After you rested your hand much closer to his genitals. 

He quickly put a hand on yours. Just in case you decided to touch him further. “ Ummm…” he mumbled and met your beautiful eyes.

If things were different, he wouldn't question a damn thing and take you right here and now. Maybe even on the floor and the kitchen counter. Definitely fuck you in the shower and again on his bed. But he couldn't.

He exhaled. “ I'm kinda seeing someone.”

You practically jumped back. Pulling your hand away in the process. He could see how red you were getting from embarrassment.

“ Crap! Ed- I'm…uhhhh I'm sorry. I should go.”

You stood up and without thinking he grabbed your arm and stood up too.

“ No! I mean. Please don't go.”

You looked at him and shook your head. “ No I should. I've embarrassed myself enough for a lifetime.”

You tried to go but he gently pulled you back and cupped the sides of your face. 

“ Common kid. Don't be embarrassed. I was flirting too.” He hung his head a little. “ I shouldn't have but…it's you.”

He felt your warm soft hands on his. Making him meet your eyes. 

“ Eddie I- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come and -”

“ No. You did nothing wrong. It was me. I should've said I was seeing someone sooner…but seriously, don't go. I-I've missed you…So fuckin much.”

You bit your lip and nodded. “ Okay. But you have to sit on the other side of the couch.”

He dropped his hands and held onto yours. “ Yeah, or I'm gonna have to make a phone call and become single.”

Your eyes widened. “ I'm flattered, but probably don't do that.”

You both grinned at one another before returning to the couch. Talking until the sun came up.

For Eddie it was heartbreaking saying goodbye to you that next morning. You were still that funny, sweet, affectionate girl from highschool. You were still the person he could talk to for hours without a care in the world. And he remembered the love that he still had for you. 

What he learned last night was that you were so busy with school that you didn't have time to date. He also found out that college was much harder than you thought it was gonna be. So hard that you changed your major twice.

Eventually, you found something you really saw yourself doing. Career wise that is. And he was happy for you. Just like how you were happy for him and the guys. 

Still, there was still something between you two. Something he wished he could explore. Something that just flowed with you. It was as if you guys picked up from where you left off.

It irked him. It bothered him so much that he actually opened up to his girlfriend about it. 

At first she was quiet, then she got pissed. Eventually, she calmed down and broke up with him. And to be honest it didn't really affect him that much. Sure he liked her. She was fun to be around. But after talking to you, he realized he never had a decent conversation with her. It was just partying and sex mostly. 

It wasn't her fault though. It was him. He never cared to open up to anyone besides his friends. Maybe it was because he thought no one would understand or get him. Get his quirks or quips. They probably wouldn't get his music tastes or like his nerdy side. Or maybe he didn't want anyone to. Perhaps it was because he still had hope for you. Hope that was instilled in him over the best pancakes in the world.

Either way it would be another 4 years until he would see you again.

…

Jeff was getting married. To Connie, in Hawkins. Everyone was invited and Eddie, Gareth and Grant were his groomsmen. They were all his best men cuz he couldn't choose one. 

Which was such a grueling task. Helping with the wedding and planning a bachelor party took up a lot of time. 

But besides all that, Eddie was looking forward to seeing one guest. One very important guest. The pretty girl he's been corresponding to for the past four years. 

He got in touch after you left New York. And kept up contact. He didn't want to disconnect again. Lose you again.

Though nothing was ever said about getting together, he anticipated that after the wedding he was gonna leave with you. Finally getting to that right now you had mentioned seven years ago.

-

He was near the entrance of the church, saying his hellos with the rest of the wedding party when he saw you. 

Everything around him seemed to slow down as you exited the car and fixed your royal blue dress. You looked around and smiled at the people you knew. Then you went to help your mom out of the car. 

He absolutely could not look away. You were a knockout. Absolutely gorgeous. 

What were the chances he could sneak you out of the party and make love somewhere? Maybe he could convince you to leave early. 

He suddenly felt a jab in the ribs. 

“ Ouch! What the fu-” he groaned as he looked at Gareth who was nodding towards Jeff's grandma. “ Oh right!” He uttered, holding out his elbow for her. “ Hello there young lady, I am to escort you to your VIP spot.”

She hit him with an ohh you and took his arm. He looked back to see if he could catch your eye. But it wasn't until the ceremony that he did. 

With a big smile you lifted your hand. Giving him a little wave. He smirked and looked down. Continuing down the aisle. 

Damn! He thought. He really wanted you to be a part of the wedding party.

Originally you were, but you had just started a new job and couldn't get away for rehearsals or any planning. So you opted to only be a guest. Which sucked for him because now he had to look at the happy couple instead of staring at you.

Once he got to the altar he met your gaze again. He knew he must look crazy grinning the way he was. But he didn't care. The girl he was in love with was in the same town, at the same place he was. And he was gonna make sure he left with you.

-

The vows and I do’s were said and the pastor gave the bride and groom the go ahead for a kiss. 

Eddie looked over at you and you had tears of joy falling from your eyes. He pulled out his  handkerchief and took a few steps towards you. Asking for the person sitting in front of you to hand it off. 

You blushed and wiped the tears away while he went back to his spot. Gareth nudged him, but he didn't care. He had to make sure you were good. 

At this point he would do anything for you. He would give anything to be with you. He'd say anything and everything he could just to see you smile. And for a second he pictured what his life would be like with you.

Applause broke out and he clapped along as Jeff and Connie walked back down the aisle together. Once they were at the end, the guys and bridesmaids followed. 

He looked at you again and you were talking to your dad. However, you met his eyes as he passed and mouthed a thank you. 

He nodded and planned on circling back around so that he could get to you. Unfortunately, he had to go in the limo as soon as they walked out. 

Apparently word mysteriously got out that Jeff was getting married. So there were paparazzi and a handful of fans waiting outside the chapel. 

It was a good thing that they had security on standby just in case this happened. 

Everyone was escorted into the car and rushed off.

Jeff was pissed but Connie calmed him down. Saying that to not let it ruin their day. 

Eddie smiled to himself. He was happy for his friend. Jeff had found the girl he was meant to be with. Even with the band getting bigger and the crazy schedules. One of his best friends got to spend the rest of his life with someone who calmed him. Who accepted him for all that he is and truly made him happy. 

Eddie was a little envious of it. Still, he was completely overjoyed for his buddy. 

He wanted that. More than anything, he wanted you. So it was his prerogative to be with you.

-

Everyone had to show their invitations to get into the dance hall. But once in, the music was going and drinks were being served. 

Eddie waited patiently by the door. Nearly jumping up and down. Excited to finally get to talk to you. 

While giving security your invitation you locked eyes with him and smiled from ear to ear. 

You looked away for a second then followed your parents in. 

He said hello to everyone as they made their way down the line to the newly Weds. Finally it was your dad's turn. They shook hands and your mom was next.

“ Why hello there, gorgeous. You are a vision.”

Victoria blushed and gave him a playful smack. “ Stop it.”

He laughed and gave her a hug. 

At last, it was your turn. 

“ Hi Eddie.”

He stood there with his lips together and an eyebrow raised. Giving you his flirtatious smile. “ Hi baby.”

You tilted your head to the side and raised both brows. “ Baby?”

He beamed at you and grabbed your hand. Pulling you closer to him. “ Yeah. You're my baby girl now.” 

Before you could say anything, he pulled you into a long warm hug. Rocking you from side to side. Making you laugh.

Grant cleared his throat. “ Alright Munson, you're holding up the line.”

You pulled away but he didn't want to let you go. He gave your hand one last squeeze before releasing it. His eyes never left you as you finally made it down to Jeff and Connie. 

He smiled as you took Connie's hand and twirled her around. Clearly admiring how beautiful she looked in her gown. Then you gave her hug. Moving on to the groom. He chuckled seeing you and Jeff do your nerdy handshake before hugging.

Afterwards, everyone sat down to eat. Eddie of course didn't want to sit with the rest of the party. Not while you were just a few feet away. He grabbed his plate and his beer and went to sit next to you. 

“ Eddie…Connie's is gonna kill you.” You warned.

He looked up at the head table and saw Jeff and Connie just enamored with each other. Not really paying attention to anything or anyone else but each other for that matter.

He put a hand on the back of your chair and scooted closer. “ I don't think they care.”

He watched you as you glanced at your friends and smiled.

“ Awww I love them.”

He reached up and moved your hair behind your shoulder. Causing you to look at him. “ Want to get out of here?”

You jerked your head back. “ Dude! It's our best friend's wedding.”

-

As the night progressed you guys were practically inseparable. You danced, drank, and talked. It was as if nothing had changed between you two. He made you laugh and you made him nervous. 

It felt right.

Even the approving nods he got from his friends and family assured him this was it. He could do this with you. 

Your parents were about ready to leave a couple hours later and you along with them. What could he do to get you to stay?

“ I-I can get you a ride home later if you want.” He offered.

You shook your head. “ No, I have some work to do so I better get going.”

He frowned. “ But we hardly got to hang out.”

You looked down, clearly to him, trying to think of something. When he came up with something first.

“ I uhh I should probably try and find a hotel for tonight.”

You met his eyes with yours. “ Why?”

He nudged his head towards the door. Where there were paparazzi hanging out with cameras at the ready. “ I was gonna stay with my uncle, but I don't want those guys to bother him.”

“O-oh… ummm well you know my parents still have the pull out in the basement. I could...if you want, I could sneak you out? But what about everyone else?”

He shrugged. To hell with them for the night. “ They're adults, they can figure out something I'm sure.”

You softly laughed. “ Alright. How about you go out the service entrance and we’ll circle around for you?”

He smirked. “ Let's go.”

-

He was laying there in his boxers trying to figure out how to sneak past your parents room and get into your bedroom. Sure it was probably a stupid idea to try and have sex while your parents were across the hall. However he needed you. He craved your lips, and your warmth. He wanted your body next to his.

So he decided to grab something to drink, then see if your parents had gone to bed.

What he found was even better. 

You were in the kitchen grabbing a Popsicle. Wearing nothing but a long shirt and tube socks.

When you turned around you jumped. “ Eddie!” You half whispered. 

He grinned. “ Sorry baby. Was thirsty.”

He went for a glass to pour himself some tap water. Paying attention to your movements. You had gone to sit at the table and started sucking on the ice cream. All the while reading a manuscript. 

He gulped down his drink and went to sit next to you. Pulling the chair as close to you as possible. 

You did your best to ignore him and his advances. But the way he played with your hair made you shift closer to him. 

You had gotten so overcome by his light touch on your thigh that you squeezed your legs shut. You then flipped the page you were working on and licked the Popsicle that was melting all over your hand. Some of the sweet syrup dripped down your chin. And before you could wipe it away he grabbed your hand with one arm and lightly held your chin between his index finger and thumb with the other. He then licked a fat strip from the underside of your chin up to your bottom lip.

He smirked to himself hearing your breath hitch. He had you right where he wanted. 

He stood up and grabbed your hand. Stealing your sweet treat and finishing it off before leading you down to the basement. Of course locking the door behind you. 

When he got you on the bed, he finally took that kiss he'd been dying for all day and everyday for the past seven years

Wet and needy. Tongues dancing together. Exploring tenaciously. With hands doing the same.

He started needing your breast and was surprised by something hard. Curious, he went under the shirt and felt two small metal balls on either side of your hardened nipple. 

He groaned against your lips. “ Fuck baby. I like this.”

You laughed softly and whispered. “ I knew you would.”

He grinned while he played with your piercing. After a bit he kissed his way down your body until he reached your underwear. But instead of taking them off. He moved the damp cloth to the side and spread you a part. 

He was addicted as soon as his tongue touched you. The sweet, sweet nectar that poured from you drove him mindless. But even more so feeling your hand get lost in his curls as the other covered your mouth. Trying to conceal your pleasure.

He stared up at you, enjoying your contorted face as he sucked and licked and swallowed like there was no tomorrow. 

Then he added fingers. Doing a come hither motion. Wasn't long after that. Your body trembled as an orgasm hit. Your pussy throbbed around his fingers. Coating them generously with your wetness.

He waited patiently for you to come down before climbing back up your body and crashing his lips into yours. And when he did you sucked in his bottom lip. Causing him to push his hardened length against your soaked undergarments.

You pushed him up off of you and got on your knees before him. He watched in awe as you wrapped your hair up and freed his cock from its cotton prison.

You teased him at first. Giving his head little kitten licks and kisses. It was maddening. Feeling your slick tongue swirl around the tip before retreating back into your mouth. 

“ Baby please!” He begged.

You looked up with darkened eyes and a less than angelic smile. “ Shhh. You have to be quiet.”

He pouted. Pleading you with his eyes. 

Then you did it. You took the whole damn thing. Making him reach for the back of your head and lifting his hips to go deeper. 

The hum in your throat had his eyes rolling back and toes curled until they hurt. 

A few seconds passed by and he felt your throat close around him as you started to choke. He loosened his grip and let you back off. 

He opened his eyes and focused on you. Watching you catch your breath before taking him in again. This time not so deep. Adding your hand into the mix. 

It was fucking amazing. Every slurp, every gag, every teasing lick around his balls nearly had him cumming. Even more so when you forced him in every once every other stroke. Building up his confidence and his orgasm.

“ Sh-shit baby…got-gotta stop.” 

You let him go with a small pop and had a concerned look in your eyes.“ Everything okay?”

He licked his lips and swallowed. “ Yeah. Fuckin perfect. Just don't wanna cum yet.”

He leaned forward and pulled you into a kiss while helping you up. 

You stood before him and used his shoulders for balance as he peeled off your panties. 

Once they were at your feet you kicked them off and straddled him. Slowly lowering yourself on his shaft. 

Your mouth fell open and your eyes screwed shut and his tip pushed through. 

“ OH MY GOD!” He moaned. 

Your warm tight pussy clinged to him. Hugging him like no other has before. Feeling you flutter around him as you rocked back and forth had him focusing on not cumming. 

He buried his face in your bosom and concentrated on his target. That one special spot that made you cry out his name. That spot that not only drove you over the edge but made him see heaven.

Sure enough he found it. But at this angle he couldn't touch it as much and he wanted to. 

So he wrapped his arms around you and held on tightly as he flipped you over on your back. 

You giggled in the process and stole a kiss and he repositioned himself. When he looked at you, you were grinning up at him.

“ Oh Eddie. So serious.”

He narrowed his eyes at you and rammed himself in. Earning that yelp/ moan. He reached up to cover your mouth as he plowed into you.

“ This. Is. Serious.” He grunted. 

Your eyes got lost in the back of your head as he thrusted hard and steady. Your moans turning into whimpers and sighs as he fucks you into the bed.

And within moments your body and his reacted to the immense pleasure. 

The climax washed over you like a wave of ecstasy.

Once it passes, he rested his forehead on yours panting with you. Letting his hand fall away from your mouth. 

“ I've missed you so much.” He whispered.

You nodded in agreement that he was also missed. 

He kissed your forehead. “ I'll go find something to clean you up.”

He then pulled out slowly and put on his bottoms.

When he came back he had a warm washcloth with him. He gently cleaned between your legs then himself before pulling you to lay in his arms.

You had started tracing his tattoos. Making him smile.

That's when he found himself writing something on your arm.

‘Marry-me-yeah?’

You sighed lightly and snuggled closer to him. Tracing your answer on his chest.

‘Okay’

He raised his head to look at you. " Yeah?"

You nodded. " On one condition...You have to break the news to Grant."

Eddie threw his head back into the pillow and smacked his forehead. " Shit! He's gonna kill me."

You giggled. " Yup."

…

@salenorona23 @browneyes528 @ohmeg @eddiesguitarskills @trashywormeateroffics @eddie-is-a-god @crookedcrone

[lunar-wandering]

"what the fuck is the mech doing here"

Summary:

"Uh, congrats on the kid, I guess?"

"Monkey King, I'm too young to be a father."

Or, in which Monkey Mech is sentient.

Word Count: 15k

Read on Ao3

Three days.

That's how long it had been since Monkey Mech had woken up.

It had been a rather boring three days, if he had been honest.

(He?? They?? She?? No, 'he' sounded right).

Nothing had truly happened, outside of that one event at the very beginning, when his creator had controlled him to destroy the Demon Bull King (he's fairly sure that that's what that guy had been called, but he could be wrong for all he knew). Or, well, not destroying him, he supposed, more so defeating him. He didn't think the Demon Bull King had actually died. No, he was pretty sure the Demon Bull Family had all escaped without any deaths.

The lack of any deaths, civilian or otherwise, was an honest miracle, Monkey Mech was pretty sure. After all, he'd had a while to think about it, having remained standing in front of the large, smoking, empty crater that he and his creator's final attack had left on the ground. He hadn't had much else to look at.

A few people had stopped by, a couple of times. Some had been observing the crater- Monkey Mech figured they were some kind of official people, from the way they were dressed. He wasn't... entirely sure how he knew that their outfits made them official people. He didn’t know where that information was coming from, but he was fairly sure that it was right. Probably.

...He should ask someone about that sooner or later. Of course, that’d only be once he got the chance, to talk to someone.

There'd been some other people who had shown up. Most had been seemingly curious civilians who had taken the opportunity to try and get a selfie with him. Not that it was really hard, as he was standing perfectly still, but he had still had to witness some people take hours trying to find the perfect shot to get as much of him in the frame as possible. Monkey Mech didn't really think that was necessary.

After all, why take a picture with him, when they should really be taking a picture of his creator?

Speaking of his creator, he had not actually seen him since the day of his creation. Him, Pigsy, Tang, Sandy, and Mei, (how did he know those names? He'd never truly met them. Was this leftover information from his creator?), had all left the scene shortly after the Demon Bull King's defeat, leaving Monkey Mech by himself.

All alone.

Standing still.

Which he had remained doing for the past three days.

...Okay, so maybe he was just the tiniest bit spiteful about that. Like, come on. He was starting to get restless!! He couldn't just stay like this forever! He wasn't some sort of inanimate statue, he needed to move!!

Of course, he supposed that he could just move at any time. Whenever he wanted to. But there was a reason why he hadn't.

Just one reason. (Definitely only the one. There wasn’t… anything else. Definitely). 

And it was really quite simple.

The humans around him, including his own creator, did not believe him to be sentient.

He was quite certain about this. Considering the way people had been treating him when they walked up for selfies, and the way he had caught some of those official people muttering something along the lines of “what should we do with the tin can?” it was fairly obvious that the people thought he could not think for himself.

And it seemed like his creator likely subscribed to that theory as well, considering he hadn't shown up to check on him yet.

...Not that he could truly blame him for it. Monkey Mech supposed he hadn't given his creator any proof as to otherwise during their brief amount of time together. So it made sense that he simply would not know.

And, well. Monkey Mech... didn't want to frighten anyone. Or, at the very least, didn't want to go against their expectations. He didn't really know how the humans would react if they discovered the giant robot was, y'know, capable of thought and had free-will. It was probably better for everyone's sakes to pretend that that wasn't the case.

...And also he didn't want to have to explain the standing around for three days thing. In truth, complete and honest truth, initially he had frozen up because he didn't know what to do, how to interact with his creator and his friends, and then they had left before he could figure it out, and then other people came around, and, well.

Monkey Mech had an inkling that, for some reason, he'd probably get teased if it was revealed that he had stood around completely still for three days because he was shy.

(Despite not even knowing her, something about Mei gave off that kind of vibe to him).

(Once again, possibly leftover remnants from his creator? Monkey Mech wasn't sure).

Still though, it had taken everything in him not to turn around when he heard his creator's voice again.

“Okay team!” MK yelled, arriving at the edge of the crater, dropping a table he had been carrying onto the ground in front of him and spreading out a blue sheet of paper on top of it. “It's go time!”

The others congregated around him, and Monkey Mech felt curiosity overtake him. Exactly what was his creator doing back here, now?

Patiently, he waited until the whole group was seemingly occupied looking over MK's shoulder, at what he was drawing on the paper, and then, making sure there were no civilians or anyone else around that could possibly see, Monkey Mech slowly and carefully bent over to try and get a better look.

(...He supposed it didn't really matter if a civilian happened to see. After all, since his creator was here, they'd likely assume that MK was the one moving him around. There wasn't much danger in that.

No, it was MK and his friends that he had to be careful of).

He was glad they had chosen to stand in a place that was already covered by his shadow, as it meant none of them noticed his shadow shifting to cover them more.

It... seemed like MK was designing some kind of blueprint?

Pigsy mumbled something, to which MK laughed- but what they were saying was so quiet that, at his height, Monkey Mech couldn't hear them.

He leaned down a little closer.

Mei seemed to bristle, and Monkey Mech took the warning for what it was and quickly returned to his prior position before she could turn around.

Her piercing stare settled upon him, almost kind of frightening, and it was only through three days worth of practice that Monkey Mech didn't instinctively fidget.

After a few seconds of analysis, she slowly turned back around, looping an arm over MK's shoulder as she pointed at something on the blueprint.

If it was possible for Monkey Mech to breathe a sigh of relief, he would have.

After a few minutes, just for safety, he started to lean down again- moving a lot slower this time than before. He wasn't entirely sure as to what had notified Mei that he had moved, so he wanted to be extra careful.

Thankfully, it seemed that he went unnoticed this time, as he was able to lean much further down than before- able to get a better look at what his creator was designing.

It looked like... buildings?

Monkey Mech glanced up at the crater in front of him, and then back down at the blueprints.

Huh.

By his calculations, the buildings in the blueprints would fit inside of the crater perfectly.

...Why was his creator designing the official replacement buildings for this area? Shouldn't that be the job of some government designer, or something?

...Now that he thought about it, were government designers even a thing? He was sure that there were some people who had designing as a job, but he couldn't recall if there was a government position for it or not.

Well, there probably was. Maybe. There were government positions for restaurants after all! Why else would Pigsy have so much authority?

...Something about that didn't feel quite right, but as it was, Monkey Mech didn't have enough facts to be able to dispute it, so, he supposed he should just be better safe than sorry and consider it true.

That still didn't answer why MK was designing these buildings though.

Oh, Monkey Mech really wished he could just ask him. But they all looked so focused on what they were doing, he didn't want to disturb them, and he especially didn't want to make them angry.

(He didn't truly want to admit it, but Mei's stare had been outright terrifying. Despite being a giant robot, he had actually felt threatened. He was certain that he absolutely did not want to get on her bad side).

So, he really had no choice other than to sit there quietly observing.

He was just starting to become entranced in the way MK drew the swooping lines for his designs when Mei abruptly turned around again.

This time, Monkey Mech was not as fast as he should've been.

He returned to his prior position standing up, yes, but it was obvious that Mei had caught the movement this time around, if the way her jaw dropped was any indication.

The both of them stood perfectly still for a moment, Mei's jaw slowly closing as she seemingly processed what she had seen. Monkey Mech stared back down at her.

And then she was opening her mouth again, in the process of turning around to, most likely, inform the others, and Monkey Mech panicked.

Bending down slightly again, he waved his hands silently, pausing for a moment before making a shushing motion. Mei froze again, but-

Tang had seemed to notice Mei's actions, and turned around to see what she was looking at.

The next few minutes, despite Monkey Mech's panicked shushing movements, were a clean and simple chain reaction.

Tang, in his shock, took a step back, bumping into Sandy, who automatically turned to stabilize him, thus seeing Monkey Mech in motion. While the river demon did not react with shock, per say, he did seem surprised, and immediately nudged Pigsy, lightly, on the shoulder, prompting the pig demon to turn around as well.

Monkey Mech found himself being stared at by all four members of his creator's friends and family.

He could feel his joints start to lock up- causing his motions to slow down. If he was human, he was certain that he'd likely be sweating from anxiety right now.

None of them had said a single word.

MK still hadn't noticed. He was completely in his own little world, happily drawing on the blueprints, seemingly having no clue what was going on.   

That, unfortunately for Monkey Mech, didn't last long.

Mei put a hand on MK's shoulder.

“Hm? What's up-” MK cut himself off with a strangled noise as Mei abruptly spun him around, outright picking him up off the ground in order to do so. He didn't let go of his pencil, still holding it in one hand like he was about to continue drawing. “What was that fo-”

Monkey Mech froze completely as his creator's eyes locked onto him, but it was far too late.

“Oh.” MK said, completely deadpan.

And then he opened his mouth and screamed.

Within instants, everyone was screaming. Monkey Mech, surprised by the sudden action, screamed too, and that just seemed to make the other's scream louder-

On a logical level, Monkey Mech knew exactly why they were screaming.

But, for a brief second, pure instinct took over, the want to protect that was literally written into his very being activating.

Not even thinking about it, he scooped the group up into his hands and ran.

It wasn't until he was sitting behind an abandoned building, glancing over the top of it (rather easily, as he was much taller than said building) for any sign of danger, that he realized what he had just done.

He turned his head back to look down at the group in his hands just in time for MK to summon the staff, seemingly moving to attack him-

Only to very clearly overbalance, as the staff grew larger and connected with Monkey Mech's head with even less force than if he had been lightly flicked on the forehead.

The staff automatically shrank back to more comfortably sit within MK's hands as everyone went completely still.

Monkey Mech blinked.

“...Was that really necessary?” He asked, and everyone quite promptly started freaking out once more.

“Holy shit, you can talk?!” The staff vanished into golden light as MK's hands moved to grasp at his hair in clear distress. “The mech can talk?!”

“Yes, I can talk.” Monkey Mech had to admit, he sounded a lot calmer than he actually was. Well, he supposed that would probably work in his favour.

“Why didn't you say anything before?” Mei asked- seemingly taking over the questioning as MK suddenly looked like he was having a crisis of world-ending proportions.

“You didn't ask me anything?” In truth, it was, well, as previously stated, because Monkey Mech hadn't known what to say, and was quite frankly too nervous to attempt it.

But he wasn't just going to tell them that.

“Why.” MK whispered, and it was only because he was holding them all so close to his face that Monkey Mech was able to hear him.

“Why what?”

“Why did you just stand there???” MK clarified, and Monkey Mech was so glad that he had not actually been built with the ability to form facial expressions, cause he was certain that if he had, the one he would be making now would've been very revealing.

“...The view was nice?” Oh, he should not have said anything. His voice had been steady beforehand, but now there was a certain tone to it that made even him able to tell that it sounded nervous.

There was a collective deadpan look, all of them clearly knowing that what he just said was very much not the truth, but there seemed to be a collective decision to not mention it yet (hopefully it would never be mentioned again, ever-), as MK suddenly removed his hands from his hair, a look of determination in his face.

“I need to go get Monkey King.” There was a bright golden flash, and then suddenly he was gone. Monkey Mech could just barely make out the visual of him struggling to pole vault with the staff in the distance, occasionally being thrown way up into the air.

...His creator should really have someone help him learn how to control that better before he goes off trying to vault across the ocean on his own, he was probably likely to fall in the water with the way he was doing it.

But, Monkey Mech realized, that was not the priority right now.

He glanced back down at his hands, where the remaining four stood staring up at him.

“Uhhh.” He didn't like how quiet they were being. What did people do when they were in this kind of situation? “...Hi? I'm... Monkey Mech?”

-

MK arrived at Flower Fruit Mountain with a bang- as he crashed into the beach.

Groaning, he pulled himself up out of the small impact crater he had left behind, shaking sand out of his hair and wringing ocean water out of his jacket.

(He hadn't exactly... perfected the art of vaulting across the ocean, yet. He had, unfortunately, lost his grip, and ended up taking a little dip on the way there).

Straightening himself out, he rushed up the stairs to the waterfall cave as quickly as he could.

“Monkey King!!” He yelled, as soon as he was past the waterfall entrance, “Are you in here?”

There was a loud crash, like something falling over, and MK winced.

“Just a second, kid!” There was a bright flash, and, as soon as MK had blinked, there Wukong was, standing in front of him. “What's up? Surely there can't be another world ending crisis already- besides, you could definitely handle it on your own!”

“That's not the issue.” MK sighed, opening his mouth-

“Oh, is this about me training you then? I thought I left a letter in your apartment telling you when we could start that-”

“Yes, yes! I read that- starting this weekend. Yes. I'm very excited for it actually! But this isn't about that.” MK said. Wukong opened his mouth as though he was about to speak again, and MK quickly reached out, slamming a hand over top of Wukong's mouth, preventing him from saying a word. “Could you just let me finish what I have to say?”

Wukong gave a nod, and MK slowly pulled his hand back.

“...What was I gonna-” With all of Wukong's distractions, MK had almost forgotten- “Oh, right- Monkey Mech is sentient!!!”

“Yeah, he is.” Wukong summoned his cloud, back flipping into it, laying down casually, like this fact wasn't a surprise to him. He even went as far as to pull out a bag of peach chips and start eating them before he noticed the incredulous look that MK was giving him. “...Did. Did you not know?”

“You knew?!?!” If anything, MK seemed more distressed than he had been before at this discovery.

“Uh, yeah? I could sense the life energy in him from the beginning, when you made him.” Wukong's tail swung back and forth with a nervousness that MK did not pick up on. “I thought you knew.”

“Well I didn't!! I only found out today!”

“...Uh, congrats on the kid, I guess?” The joke did not land, if the way MK collapsed down onto his knees was any indication. “Woah, hey-”

“Monkey King, I'm too young to be a father.” MK muttered, seemingly in despair. Wukong reluctantly got off of his cloud to hesitantly pat him on the shoulder.

“...You can be his brother, then?” Wukong tried, and, shockingly enough, this attempt seemed to almost kind of work.

“I've always kind of wanted a younger sibling…” MK trailed off, looking back up at Wukong. “But, Monkey King, this is a giant robot we're talking about. Like, giant!”

“So?”

“He can't even fit in the Noodle Shop!!”

“That's your biggest concern?!?!”

-

Monkey Mech being alive, surprisingly, was a concept that took very little adjustment to. People seemed to accept things as the new normal far too quickly in this city, in Monkey Mech's opinion. He thought there'd be more of an uproar than this.

Of course, that didn't mean that there hadn't been challenges. In just the one week since his sentience had been discovered, there had already been a group that had tried to run him out of the city.

'No Giant Robots Allowed!' Had seemed to be their catchphrase.

After one meeting with them, however, their leader had mumbled; “Well, I guess he seems rather polite”, and the issue had been dropped.

Of course, there still was the general concern about the overall destruction he might cause, even if it was accidental, which, Monkey Mech found that concern entirely fair. So, he did his utmost best to stay in one section of the city, mainly around the parts that had already been destroyed by the battle against the Demon Bull King, and, when venturing out, made sure to stick to the same paths- usually stepping into the footprints he had previously left behind, so as to not create more damage.

Really, the only reason he had for venturing out anyways was to go and visit his crea- (“MK, call me MK. Hearing myself be called your 'creator' just feels... wrong, for some reason.”)- no, MK, at the Noodle Shop. And, even then, most of the time the others just came around to visit him, instead, so he didn't really need to go anywhere.

(There had been, some kind of... vibe when he had first shown up outside the Noodle Shop. Pigsy had offered him some noodles, and Monkey Mech had allowed the tiny bowl to balance on his pinky finger for a good five minutes before something seemed to click in the other's mind.

”Can you even eat?“ Pigsy had asked.

”No, but I like to feel included!“ Monkey Mech had been genuinely happy at the time, but the energy coming from the others…

It had felt a little sad.

Monkey Mech didn't like it.

So he much preferred it when the others would come and visit him, instead).

He had never gone further than the Noodle Shop.

Which was why he hesitated when a commotion started up over at what he was pretty sure was the Weather Station.

He stood, in the middle of a street, ignoring the sound of traffic carefully moving around his feet as he stared down the road. He'd never gone down this way.

But... something was definitely happening down there. He couldn't just ignore it. What if MK was in trouble? They might need his help.

(Or, well, maybe not. He was pretty sure that they could handle themselves, most likely. But that didn't stop him from being worried).

A louder bang came from the Weather Station, and Monkey Mech made his choice.

Carefully, he started walking down the street to the Weather Station.

He kept his eyes on the road below him, paying close attention to make sure that he didn't accidentally step on top of a person- or their car.

(Someone who's car he'd stepped on had been a very vocal part of the 'No Giant Robots Allowed!' group. Monkey Mech would rather avoid going through that whole experience again if he could, thank you very much).

It wasn't until he was directly in front of the Weather Station that he realized that this building was actually slightly taller than him. Carefully, not wanting to knock himself off balance (falling down when he was surrounded by so many buildings was most definitely a worst case scenario), Monkey Mech stood up on his tippy toes in order to look inside.

MK wasn't there, but Mei, Tang, Pigsy, and Sandy were. They were all tied up, and seemed to be varying levels of mad about it. The Demon Bull King's son, Red Son, happened to also be there, sitting in the chair at the Weather Station's computer. All of them had their backs turned to him.

Well. This was a less than ideal situation.

Monkey Mech reached out, to attempt to gently tap on the glass to get the attention of one of his friends- and quietly ask them how he could help out.

Unfortunately, things did not turn out that way, as his 'gentle tap' completely shattered the window, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.

“...Oops.” He quickly withdrew his hand. “I... didn't mean to do that.”

“What…” Red Son muttered, and then continued, much louder than before; “What the fuck is the mech doing here?”

“Hey!!” Mei yelled, looking outright feral, “Watch your fucking language around the mech!”

“...You guys say the f-word all the time though?” Monkey Mech's head tilted to the side in confusion. Red Son looked absolutely flabbergasted at the situation, and Tang turned to the side, seemingly to hide laughter.

“Holy shit, he censored it.” Mei said.

“Say 'fuck' Monkey Mech.” MK chimed in.

“Do it Monkey Mech, say fu-” Mei started to continue, but was interrupted.

“I don't have the time for this nonsense-” Red Son said, his head in his hands, before he paused, and slowly raised his head, blinking, as his eyes locked onto MK. “What the fuck- when did you get back here?!?”

“Oh, around the same time Monkey Mech absolutely destroyed the window.”

“I said I didn't mean to!!”

-

It had been a few days since what Mei had promptly dubbed the “MK Clone Revolution” incident- which was a rather uncreative name, but Tang's idea of “Duplicatnation” had been outvoted. In all honesty, MK had felt a little bad to have to get rid of all the clones, especially the more sentient ones, like Painter, Delivery, and Porty... they had almost given off a vibe rather similar to Monkey Mech, if he was being honest.

Even so, that hadn't stopped him from making a clone or two to help him out with a few things. 

He just made sure that he didn't leave them around for too long! He even had Mei develop a little check in system to make sure that he hadn't left any clones unaccounted for.

“Clone Check!” Mei yelled, appearing out of nowhere behind him, and it was only due to the fact that MK had grown used to this behavior over the years that he didn't startle. “How many clones did you make today?”

“Mmm, three?” MK was fairly sure that sounded about right. It had been a pretty busy day- between his third training session with the Monkey King that morning and the intense rush hour that afternoon, he'd needed a bit of an extra hand (or, well, hands) with things.

“Okay, and, did you dismiss all of them?” Mei asked.

And MK... paused.

He... couldn't remember.

Had he dismissed the clones he made today?

Apparently his silence was answer enough, as Mei narrowed her eyes dangerously.

“MK...”

“I don't remember.” MK admitted, “But, y'know, I probably did, right?”

He winced as Mei gave him a Look.

“Alright, alright.” He said, before letting out a sigh. “I... probably didn't dismiss them.”

Mei sighed too.

“Guess we're going on a clone hunt.”

It was quickly discovered that there were far too many places within the city for a hair clone to hide. Over two hours had passed, and between him and Mei, neither of them had found a single clone. It was getting rather frustrating honestly- this was eating into MK's free time. Well, he supposed that was a valuable lesson to himself; don't leave a hair-clone active unless you want to waste hours in the city searching for it.

Eventually, their search led them to the outskirts of the construction area- where people were working to repair the damage MK, Monkey Mech, and Demon Bull King had inadvertently caused. (MK was just glad that his only punishment was to design the new buildings, not pay for them. The Demon Bull Family was the one charged with the financial aspect of it, thankfully). Monkey Mech usually hung around in this area- he said it was to stay away from buildings he could actually damage, and to help with the construction efforts, but MK was pretty sure it was actually because there were less people over here. He had a niggling suspicion that the giant robot was, for some reason, shy.

(This suspicion was only strengthened by how Monkey Mech still continued to avoid answering the question of why he had chosen to stand around perfectly still for three days. The longer they went without a proper answer, the more MK was certain that the mech was almost embarrassed about it, which, on some level, was kind of hilarious if you thought about it).

Sure enough, in their search, they eventually stumbled across Monkey Mech, who was sitting on the ground, seemingly doing nothing.

(...Weird. For some reason, MK could swear that the background soundtrack was oddly louder in this area...)

“Hey! Mecha-dude!” Mei called, catching the robot's attention. “Have you seen any rogue MK-clones running around?”

“First of all, it's Monkey Mech. Secondly... no. I haven't seen any MK other than the one beside you.” Monkey Mech said.

“Huh. Guess... they're not in this area.” Mei let out a groan, leaning on MK's shoulder to take weight off of her own feet. MK allowed her to do so without protest. “Ughhh, where could they be? We've been searching all over for them…”

“I don't know, Mei.” Was it MK's imagination, or was the soundtrack getting louder? “Maybe they... happened to 'poof' on their own? Hair-clones can't actually stand up to much stress, physically.”

No, yeah, the soundtrack was definitely getting louder.What was up with that?

“I think the hair-clones would know fully well what they can and cannot do without 'poofing', MK.”

“Ehh, I'm not so sure-”

Man, that was really loud. What was up with the-

Wait.

That wasn't the soundtrack.

MK turned on his heel to face Monkey Mech, not missing how the giant robot seemed to nervously startle at his action.

“And what is in your cockpit young man?!?!” MK shouted to be heard over the music, pointing at Monkey Mech in accusation. The music stuttered for a moment and then died out, Monkey Mech slouching slightly as the entrance to his chest opened-

Revealing Delivery, Painter, and Porty to be standing inside- slightly tangled with one another, as though they had been arguing.

They quickly straightened up when they saw that MK and Mei were staring at them though.

“Oh, uh. Hi, OG.” Porty avoided eye-contact, the other two clones following his lead and mimicking his actions. “How's it goin'?”

“Where have you three been?” MK asked, a note of exasperation leaking into his voice. “We've been searching for you three for hours.”

“Well, we've just... been here. Chillin' with big bro mech.” Porty said, lightly knocking his knuckles against the side of Monkey Mech. MK looked up at Monkey Mech expectantly.

Monkey Mech sighed.

“They're kinda like... well, they feel a bit like younger siblings to me.” He said, reaching a hand up for the three clones to jump onto, carefully and gently moving them back down to the ground. “They ended up wandering over here and wanted to hang out before you 'poofed' them away.”

“Well, you could've told us about it.” Mei huffed, “We went on a three hour long goose chase looking for them.”

Monkey Mech and the clones all hung their heads as though they'd been admonished, and MK let out a world weary sigh.

“Just... tell us about it next time, okay?” He said, pretending not to notice how both the clones and Monkey Mech brightened at the mention of a 'next time'. “I don't want to have to go searching all across the city again.”

The three clones saluted him, and Monkey Mech quickly copied their action.

...MK hoped he wouldn't regret this.

-

Monkey Mech didn't need to sleep. This, however, did not stop him from daydreaming.

Which, of course, is why he startled when his inner comms device suddenly rang.

“Hello, hello?” Mei's voice came through, “Testing, testing… Monkey Mech?”

“...Hi?” Monkey Mech said, slowly. He... didn't know his comms could do that, actually. Considering Mei had contacted him with them, he probably shouldn't tell her that, though.

“Oh good, it worked!” Mei said, “Anyways though, we've got a tiny bit of a situation.”

Well. That was never good.

“What's up?”

“Y'see, Tang and Pigsy have been kinda kidnapped.”

“...Kinda kidnapped?”

“Yeah, by some kind of spider-demon, apparently.”

A full body shiver suddenly made it's way through Monkey Mech's non-existent spine. He wasn't even sure he knew what a spider was, but just hearing the word was enough to convince him that he did not like it in the slightest.

Mei seemed to be completely unaware of this, thankfully, as she continued.

“She's down in the sewers, so we're starting a little rescue mission, but, well, MK is kinda scared of spiders, so we were wondering if you could lend an extra hand, somehow.” She said, and Monkey Mech could just barely make out the sound of MK saying something about spiders in the background- something about being tiny with lots of legs?

Yeah.

Monkey Mech did not like the sound of that. He wanted to help, that was what he was for, but…

...Mei had said that the spider-demon was 'down in the sewers'. Well, in that case…

“There isn't an entrance to the sewers that I can fit through.” Monkey Mech said, “And I don't exactly wanna destroy a city street just to get down there...you should probably save me as an absolute last resort.”

“Oh. Yeah, you're right. Y'know, sometimes, I forget just how big you are.” Mei said, and Monkey Mech did his best not to wince. “Sorry for bothering you! We'll contact you again if we need you to do some... demolition.”

Monkey Mech did not like the way she said that, but didn't get the chance to respond, as she hung up almost immediately afterwards. After a few seconds, he let out a sigh (he couldn't actually exhale air as a sigh, but something about making the sound of one did help to release some tension, somehow, so he kept doing it), feeling like he had just dodged a bullet-

“What are you up to, buddy?”  

Monkey Mech jumped, cringing as the buildings around him briefly shook from the motion. Paying attention to his surroundings, out of the corner of his eye, he could just make out the Monkey King standing on his shoulder.

“N-not much.” Monkey Mech hadn't actually interacted with Wukong, outside of that one time the monkey had stood on top of him before turning into a bird and flying off. He had sensed the Monkey King's magic then, but other than that, he'd never had any contact with him, so... “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I'm just checking a few things out.” Wukong said, sitting down, swinging his legs back and forth. “Where's the kid and his friends?”

“...Tang and Pigsy got kidnapped by some kind of... spider-demon. In the sewers. So MK, Mei, and Sandy are gonna go save 'em.” Monkey Mech explained, Wukong nodding along with every word.

“Ahh, Spider Queen, huh? So she's hiding out in the sewers? Good to know.” Wukong said, “Well, since everyone else is gone…”

Before Monkey Mech could properly react, one of Wukong's feet swung back with much more force than before, whacking him, and causing the door on his chest to swing open on instinct. Within seconds, Wukong had swung down and flipped his way into the cockpit, the door automatically closing behind him.

“Wha- hold on! What are you doing?!” It took all of Monkey Mech's strength not to move as Wukong started pressing buttons and moving the controls. “Hey!”

“I've always wanted to try driving a mech.” Wukong said, pulling one control stick back. Monkey Mech couldn't stop himself from lifting one arm in response. “Ooh so that's how that one works-”

“Okay, just, wait a second!” Monkey Mech forcibly brought his arms down, shaking with the effort not to move as Wukong kept messing around. “Just- can we at least move somewhere where there aren't so many buildings first?”

“Huh, why?” Wukong asked, sounding genuinely confused, before realization seemed to finally hit him. “Ohhh, property damage. And mortals. Right. Okay, yeah sure. I know someplace where we can go.”

And that, was how Monkey Mech ended up following Sun Wukong's instructions to a nice, large, abandoned clearing a good 20 minutes outside the outskirts of town.

“Right, we shouldn't bother anybody out here.” Wukong said, “Now come on, I wanna test this whole thing out!”

Monkey Mech glanced around for a second, double checking to make sure that no-one else was around, before he let out another audible sigh, just to let the Monkey King know exactly what he thought about all this, and then let Sun Wukong take control.

(Later, after calculating the exact number of trees they had accidentally uprooted, as well as the damage done to the ground, both Wukong and Monkey Mech agreed that Wukong should not be allowed to take the controls unless it was in the case of an absolute emergency).

-

Monkey Mech didn't normally get summoned for any kind of problem. He was rather big, after all, and his fighting style caused a lot of destruction. It was, usually, a better option for him not to get involved.

He knew this. He knew MK and the others knew this.

Which was why he rushed to MK's location at top speed the instant he felt the calling magic from the staff activate.

He had sensed that something was wrong all day. Or, for the past week, really. There'd been something off with MK, definitely, for sure. Some kind of magic that hadn't been there before. MK had vaguely mentioned having a bonus teacher “giving him a few extra pointers” when he had asked, so Monkey Mech had mostly shrugged it off.

However, he had also noticed... something strange about the overall magic in the city.

Over the past two days, the magic levels in the city had spiked. By, a lot. And the temperature levels seemed to be dropping too, for some reason.

Monkey Mech could only assume that the Demon Bull Family were up to something again. Something of this scale seemed like their forte. However, with his size, he couldn't exactly pull off any kind of investigation, so he had to leave it be.

As he jumped down into a giant hole in the ground and caught MK and Mei within his cockpit, though, he kinda wished he hadn't.

He didn't pay much attention to what MK and Mei were saying, instead observing his surroundings, as well as making sure that they didn't fall any further down the hole. Man, there sure were a lot of Demon Bull...Clones? Bots? Now that he thought about it, Monkey Mech wasn't sure what they were called.

Next thing he knew though, MK was falling back down the hole again, and Mei was maneuvering him back up to the top.

“Woah, hey, wait-” Monkey Mech said, even as he let Mei move his arm to deflect an attack away from himself. “What's going on?”

“Don't worry big guy, just let me handle this.” Was the only response he got, as Mei promptly threw herself entirely into fighting the enemy. Very quickly deciding there was no point in trying to get any kind of answer from her- she did have a tendency to be rather impulsive, sometimes even more so than MK and Wukong after all, Monkey Mech allowed her to do as she wished. The only time she paused, was when she happened to mess up a step, causing Monkey Mech to fall over backwards.

“Agh- sorry!” She said, even as she quickly readjusted while Monkey Mech stood back up.

“It's fine- you're doing better than Monkey King did, anyways.” Monkey Mech lifted a leg, lightly shaking off the Bull Clones(??) that had gathered there, sending them sprawling across the ground.

“Monkey King? When did he- ah, you know what, you'll have to tell me about that later, okay?!” Mei's tone left no room for argument, and Monkey Mech knew he would be forced to tell the whole story to her one way or another- despite the fact that he had told Sun Wukong that he “would keep the whole thing a secret”.

Well... it is in the nature of secrets to not stay secret forever, he supposed.

-

There was a large crash that was, most definitely, not fireworks.

Monkey Mech stood up almost immediately. From the outskirts of the city, he couldn't exactly see what was going on in the city center, and that... well, that worried him. He had picked this spot because it was far enough out that he wouldn't be in the way of any of the celebrations, but would still be able to hear everything, as well as see the fireworks, but now he worried that maybe this was to his disadvantage.

For a few moments, he wondered if maybe he had just heard wrong, if perhaps a stall had gotten knocked over or something, and the sound had just echoed louder than it should have. Maybe someone's generator blew a fuse?

The screaming proved that theory wrong.

He quickly started towards the center of the city- not daring to run, not quite yet (besides, he could cross the general area much faster than most cars could just by walking), when he caught a glimpse of Wukong and MK out of the corner of his eye.

He turned a bit, to put them in his sights better, just in time to watch MK completely freak out.

MK looked terrified.

Confusion ran through him. What could possibly freak MK out so much that he would-

Monkey Mech glanced back in front of him, and immediately came to a direct halt, a kind of fear he didn't even know he was capable of sweeping through him.

The shape of this-this mech. The way it was moving- the- it's legs-

Based on the way MK had reacted, there was no doubt in Monkey Mech's mind that this- this was a spider.

He felt almost sick at the sight of it, terror almost locking him in place. The spider-mech moved forwards, knocking into a building, sending debris falling to the ground.

He could've sworn one of it's various 'eyes' swirled around to look at him.

For once, Monkey Mech was glad for the general confusion and chaos of the panicking citizens.

Cause it meant that nobody noticed when he turned around and ran away.

-

“Hey, uh, has anyone seen Monkey Mech?” MK asked. The colours in the sky from the explosion were steadily beginning to fade, and MK had realized- “I don't think I've seen him in a while... He would've definitely heard the commotion, right? He usually always comes when there's some kind of trouble.”

“...Now that you mention it, no, I don't think I did see him.” Pigsy said. “You'd think a giant robot would be, y'know, easier to spot.”

“I can see where he normally hangs around from up here.” Mei curved her hands in front of her eyes like binoculars as she focused in on the direction of the construction-zone as well as the outskirts. “I don't see him at all…”

“...Strange.” MK muttered, standing up from the ledge of the building. “Maybe we should go look for him. It'd be bad if he'd gotten hit by some weird kinda robotic spider-virus or something.”

“I... don't think that's possible-” Tang started, but MK ignored him, instead heading for the stairwell. He was far too tired from the day's events to try pole vaulting around the city. 

Soon enough, everyone had piled into Pigsy's van, and were driving to the outskirts of the city.

About halfway there, Mei pointed something out.

“Are those... Monkey Mech's footprints?” She asked, and Pigsy brought the van to a stop as they all turned to look. Sure enough, there were giant footprints in the ground- ones that abruptly turned around and went back in the direction that they had come from. Mei tilted her head to the side. “I don't... think this is one roads he normally goes down... Plus, he usually makes sure to step in the prints he already left, so as to not leave much damage behind…”

The sense that something must be wrong settled over them like a suffocating blanket.

Pigsy turned the van around and took off, following the footprints.

It turned out, Monkey Mech could cross quite a distance when he wanted to. It was a full hour and half before they found him- they'd even needed to go off road, following the trail of crushed trees and flattened bushes until they reached a fairly large, fairly destroyed, clearing.

(MK had worried, for a brief moment, before he realized that none of the damage seemed truly recent. Good. At least 'giant robot gone rogue' wasn't on the menu for today. With everything that had happened already, MK wasn't sure he would've been able to handle that).

Monkey Mech was sitting in the center, his legs pulled up to his chest, his tail held within his hands.

Overall, he looked a bit like an upset child.

MK was out of the van before it had even come to a complete halt.

“Monkey Mech!!” He yelled, wincing as Monkey Mech seemed to actually startle- the resulting small jump the giant robot did enough for the ground to shake, sending MK temporarily off balance. Seems like Monkey Mech hadn't heard the van.

...That was weird. Normally he was more aware of his surroundings.  

“...Monkey Mech?” MK said again, gentler this time. “Is... everything okay?”

“Uh-” Monkey Mech's voice crackled a little bit, slightly staticky as he let go of his tail- but it only swished once before he seemed to think better of it and grabbed hold of it again. “I- yeah. Everything's fine. How'd uh- how'd the fight against Spider Queen go?”

“It's over now, but-” MK started, but was cut off by Pigsy.

“If you knew the city was being attacked by Spider Queen, then why didn't you come to help?” He asked, and Monkey Mech visibly shrunk back, seemingly trying to make himself smaller- a completely impossible task. Pigsy let out a sigh. “We're not mad at ya. We just want to know.”

Monkey Mech let out an electronic noise that, if MK didn't know better, would've almost sounded like a whine.

...The giant robot's next sentence was so filled with static that it was impossible to tell what he had just said.  

“...You wanna try running that by us again, big guy?” Mei joked, and MK harshly nudged her in the side.

Monkey Mech made another static-filled noise.

And then, after a minute of heavy silence, there was a staticky sounding sigh.

“I'm…” Monkey Mech's voice was still filled with static, but at the very least was now understandable. He sounded...almost nervous. “I'm... afraid of spiders.”

“Oh.” MK said, ignoring the various looks and noises of disbelief from the others as he stepped forwards, using the staff to help himself up to stand on top of one of Monkey Mech's hands to be closer to eye-level with him. “Uh. You uh, probably got that from me. Sorry. But, hey!! Spider Queen and the others are gone now, so there's nothing to worry about!!”

That statement, for some reason, seemed to do very little to assure Monkey Mech, as he let out another static filled noise. MK sat down and tried to give off the best comforting vibes he could, watching out of the corner of his eye as the others started pulling out blankets and some snacks. Seemed like they were all aware that they were probably going to be here for a long while.    

It was an hour before Monkey Mech spoke again.

“...I'm sorry.” He mumbled. MK, who had been leaning to the side, starting to fall asleep, jumped, before straightening up. Once Monkey Mech knew MK was paying attention to him, he repeated himself; “I'm sorry for running away.”

“Oh, hey- it's okay buddy.” MK said, gently patting Monkey Mech's hand. “Like Pigsy said, none of us are upset with you. Heck, if I was you, I probably would've done the same thing if that was my first encounter with a spider. Nobody blames you.”

“But what if you had needed me?” Monkey Mech asked- “What if you had called for me, and I didn't come?”

“I'm sure I'd find another way out.” MK swung his legs back and forth, creating a steady rhythm. “I have my friends with me after all. And, even if that had happened, I still wouldn't have been upset with you. Concerned, maybe, but not upset.”

This didn't seem to reassure Monkey Mech as much as MK had hoped- but the distressed energy he had been picking up from the robot started to slowly recede, so at the very least it was somewhat working.

Monkey Mech didn't speak again- MK wasn't entirely sure if he even believed what MK was telling him, but he wasn't outright arguing with it, so MK figured that there wasn't much else that he could do except wait.

...In the end, he must have ended up falling asleep, because when he next opened his eyes, he was laying on the ground, on the blanket with the others. Sitting up, he could see that Monkey Mech had moved slightly- unfurling from his previous curled up position into one that looked much more relaxed than before.

The sun was rising.

MK stared at him for a few moments more before laying back down, rolling over to curl in closer to Pigsy and Mei, and fell back asleep.

-

Everyone in town was asleep. All because of some stupid app.

Obviously, MK had to go to the Cloud to fix this.

.

...But before that…

Well, he wanted to check in on Monkey Mech first. Everyone had simply fallen asleep after all, there wouldn't have been any screaming, Monkey Mech probably wouldn't even know that there was a crisis at hand. So, deciding to put his plans to, y'know, save everyone, on hold for a brief second, MK vaulted to the outskirts of the city.

It was rather easy to find Monkey Mech this time around- he was standing beside a nearly finished building, his tail slowly swinging from side to side a little bit- MK wondered if Monkey Mech had to physically hold back from letting his tail swish more.

Well, at least he didn't seem to be asleep. (Could Monkey Mech even sleep? Now that MK thought about it, he didn't think he had ever seen, or heard of, Monkey Mech sleeping. Huh. Maybe he should ask him about that. If he was capable of sleep, the fact that he hadn't was... kinda concerning).

Anyways, right now, Monkey Mech not being asleep was a good thing.

MK landed on the rooftop of the building beside him, waving to get his attention.

“Yo!! Monkey Mech!!” MK called, and Monkey Mech, thankfully, didn't startle, instead just turning to face him. “You doing okay?”

Monkey Mech gave him a thumbs up.

“...Alright, good.” Something about this seemed...a bit off, but MK wasn't entirely sure what specifically was wrong, yet. “Um. Are you aware of what's going on in the city?”

Another thumbs up.

“Oh, so you know that everyone's fallen asleep because of that video game?”

Yet again, a thumbs up.

...Oh. That's what was wrong.

“...Why aren't you talking?” MK asked, and the slight swaying of Monkey Mech's tail immediately froze. “Is something wrong-”

“I'm fi--ine.” Monkey Mech's voice seemed to almost glitch mid-way through the word, going staticky and skipping a little- like a broken CD player. “Nothin--ng's wro--ong.”

“Uh-huh. Yeah. Suuuure.” MK said, leaning against his staff with the most deadpan pose he could muster. “Really believable, Monkey Mech. Now, tell me. What's up with your voice?”

“My voi--ice? Nothing's u--up with my vo--oice.”

MK didn't bother responding to that, instead fixing Monkey Mech with the best 'Disappointed Pigsy' look he could muster. (He'd never quite been able to nail the expression, but there had been people who had told him it was rather effective anyways, so...).

Sure enough, it only took a minute or so before Monkey Mech caved.

“...I'm no--ot as unaff--fected by the vi--rus as I see-em.” He finally said, sounding slightly defeated. “Bu--ut I can't sle-eep, so...”

“So it's just... making you glitch out?” MK asked, and got a thumbs up in return. “Hm. Well. That's. Less than ideal.”

“You're tel--lling me...” Monkey Mech mumbled, crossing his arms. MK let out a sigh.

“Okay. Okay.” He said. “Alright. I gotta get to the Cloud. The only real issue seems to be your voice so... keep an eye out to make sure nothing else happens?”

Monkey Mech saluted him, and MK saluted back, and then spun his staff and slammed it into the ground.

-

“You named me after what.” Monkey Mech deadpanned, looking down at where MK and Mei were standing in front of an arcade game with a very familiar name. MK laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Yeah, well... it's what you're designed after, after all.” He said, “I didn't know you were going to be, like, sentient. Alive. I would've picked a more serious name for you then instead of just. Y'know, what you are. You're... fine with this name though, right? We can always change it if you want to.”

This...gave Monkey Mech pause.

Did he want a different name?

...Maybe if MK had asked him that at the start, he would have, but, now, quite frankly…

“Nah, I think I'm too used to this one.” He said, “I'm fine with it. I just, can't believe I never noticed that I shared a name with the video game you're always playing before, though.”

“I mean, you are rather big.” Mei said, “It makes sense you wouldn't be able to see the letters on the screen down here.”

That... was true. While he could read, oftentimes, Monkey Mech wasn't sure what most signs or written letters said- simply because they were too small for him to actually see.

However…

“Can I watch you two play?” He asked, carefully kneeling down. “This arcade screen...seems big enough. I'll probably be able to see it.”

“Oh, sure!” MK said, before muttering to himself, “I wonder if we could somehow make a controller and screen large enough so that you could play it too...”

...Yeah. Monkey Mech wondered that too.

Honestly, there were a lot of things that he frequently missed out on, just due to being too big. Going to movies, hanging out in the Noodle Shop, playing video games... yeah. There wasn't exactly much that he could do.

Sometimes he wished he was smaller.

As it was, he would have to settle for this, doing his best to focus in on the tiny screen in order to take in every single detail of the video game his creation had apparently been inspired by.

-

Mei woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of a large boom, immediately followed by shaking.

She got out of bed as fast as possible, grabbing her jacket but not bothering to change out of her pajamas as she raced to the door- a large crash and shaking in the middle of the night could only mean one thing.

There was some serious mystic monkey business going on.

Swinging a leg over her motorbike, she turned on the engine, switching her phone on and checking the most recent social media to find out where the attack was taking place.

Only to find… nothing?

Sure, there were some posts, mainly from her general area, about a large crash and shaking, some even asking if there had been an earthquake, but nobody was mentioning an actual incident.

...Huh. Maybe it really had just been a normal explosion, or earthquake-

That idea was promptly dismissed as there was another large boom, and the ground shook again. This time, Mei was awake enough to be able to somewhat pinpoint what direction the sound had originated from.

Pocketing her phone and revving her bike, Mei pulled out of the driveway and drove out of the city.

Over the next hour and a half, she thought she'd picked the wrong direction a few times- or that maybe whatever was going on was now over and dealt with. That thought was always overruled, as another large boom would ring out, followed by more shaking- sometimes closer together, and sometimes further apart.

It was when the booms started to get loud enough to the point she had to put headphones on that she noticed the giant footprints on the ground.

Hm. Well, that certainly painted a scenario, but she wasn't going to make any assumptions just yet.

But, as it turned out, her assumptions would've been right anyways, as she pulled into a very familiar clearing, turning off her bike and hopping off of it, staring up at Monkey Mech.

He hadn't seemed to have noticed her yet, too preoccupied with-

He moved suddenly, with enough force to make the ground shake- as well as knock Mei completely off balance, tumbling to the ground, her headphones slipping off her head. She remained on her back for a moment, briefly dazed, her ears ringing, only just managing to catch a glimpse of Monkey Mech starting up another movement out of the corner of her eye.

“Ah- wait!” She yelled out just in time, Monkey Mech freezing before his foot could make contact with the ground. “Monkey Mech!”

Slowly, Monkey Mech turned around, with a lot more carefulness and precision than he’d had in his previous motions. He carefully knelt down once he caught sight of her, the ground still shaking with his actions, but not nearly as bad.

“...Mei?” He asked, and she could just pick up the slightest bit of hesitance and nervousness in his voice. “What are you doing out here?”

“That's what I should be asking you!” Mei pushed herself off the ground, wiping dirt and grass stains off of her pajamas. “You woke me up, I'll have you know.”

“Woke you up- ah. The, uh, the noise?”

“And the shaking, yes. Nearly knocked my shelves off of the walls, the entire west side of the city thought there was an earthquake!” Mei said, stretching her arms above her head for a second, before letting them drop back down to her sides. “What are you doing all the way out here anyways?”

“Oh, uh, nothing much”” Monkey Mech said, and Mei raised an eyebrow. Monkey Mech looked away from her. “...I'm sorry. I thought I was far enough away that nobody in the city would be affected.”

“Maybe the other parts wouldn't, but the entire west side certainly was.”

Monkey Mech still wouldn't look at her. Mei slowly crossed her arms, analyzing him. Something was niggling on the back of her brain, but what-

The expression she made must have somehow given away the fact that she had figured it out, as Monkey Mech let out a groan, dropping his head into his hands, as Mei pointed a finger at him accusingly.

“You were copying the moves from the Monkey Mech video game, weren't you!!!” With the way she said it, it wasn't really a question, more so a triumphant realization. Monkey Mech made a noise filled with static, but didn't attempt to deny the accusation. Mei cackled, pulling her phone out of her pocket. “Oh, MK's going to love this!”

“...Must he know about it?” Monkey Mech asked, his head still covered by his hands. Mei's loud laughter was the only response he got, indicating that, no matter what, MK was definitely going to find out about this- and there was no point in trying to delay the inevitable.

-

Monkey Mech found MK sitting on top of an abandoned building, cross-legged, his staff sitting on his lap. He didn't seem to be doing anything, simply staring off into the distance, in the direction of the ocean.

He only tilted his head to the side slightly in acknowledgement when Monkey Mech came to a stop beside the building. There was silence for a few moments- Monkey Mech couldn't help but think something about MK just felt off today, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what.

But, after a bit of pondering it, he decided to brush that issue to the side.

He had a more important question after all.

“Soooo.” He started, drawing MK's full attention to him. “I heard you managed to shrink your staff?”

“Huh? Oh, uh, yeah- I can make myself go all tiny too, if I want.” For some reason, MK didn't sound as excited by that fact as he should have been, but Monkey Mech didn't think too much about it.

“Well, in that case…” Monkey Mech looked side to side, confirming that no-one else was around, before leaning closer towards MK. “Could you... make me smaller?”

“What?”

“Y'know, smaller! Like, person-size, preferably?” Monkey Mech couldn't keep the hope out of his voice. MK gave a sigh.

“I... I don't know.” He said, “Maybe I could, but... I don't want to try it. Risk it.”

“Why not?”

“Well, I made you, right?” The staff vanished into golden light as MK slowly stood up, turning to be able to face Monkey Mech fully. “You're created from like, my energy, or whatever. I just, I don't know if trying to make you smaller would like... mess with that. I don't want to risk losing you.”

Oh. That... was reasonable, Monkey Mech supposed.

He didn't exactly want to be 'lost' either.

“Besides…” MK muttered, under his breath, too low for Monkey Mech to hear. “We're going to need as many heavy-hitters as we can get.”

-

Something was wrong.

MK and the others had headed out to the desert to train today. Monkey Mech had considered following them, but had been explicitly told by MK to stay in the city, and keep an eye out for trouble. He was under no circumstances allowed to slack off today, apparently.

Monkey Mech had picked up on the fact that it seemed like MK had been more anxious lately. And it was starting to look like he'd had good reason to be.

The magic levels in the city spiked again- to numbers that went even higher than the last battle against the Demon Bull Family. Monkey Mech's sensors pinged as the temperature steadily started to drop.

But, weirdly enough, it didn't seem like the source of the magic spike was in the city.

Monkey Mech was in the middle of trying to place where exactly the magic source was coming from, when a bright flash of blue light shone from the corner of his eye.

The desert.

MK.

Monkey Mech didn't even think twice before abandoning his post, turning and starting to run in the direction he now knew the hauntingly cold magic spike to be coming from.

A pang rang through his chest, causing him to almost stumble. It felt like something had grabbed hold of the energy contained within him and squeezed it.

Something was happening to MK.   

Monkey Mech started to move faster.

Even so, with the pangs in his chest resonating throughout him, he knew he wasn't going to make it to the desert in time.

Which was why he gladly accepted the staff's call, allowing it's magic to encircle him, teleporting him directly to MK's location.

He had only just registered MK's presence in his chest, safe but drained, as well as the small figure in front of him-

There was a brighter, bluer flash.

Something grabbed hold of him, and cold ripped through Monkey Mech's sensors faster than he could process.

Alarm notifications flared in his vision as connection to his left arm was severed.

He could hear MK's voice, faintly, but he couldn't make out what he was saying over the ringing- and the whispers.

“M....K....” His voice was staticky, barely understandable, as he struggled to move, to get up, to protect.

Something cracked.

Darkness.

-

MK slipped out of Wukong's grip and slammed onto the deck of Sandy's air-ship, skidding slightly before coming to a complete stop. He groaned- it felt like every muscle, every bone in his body was aching.  

Slowly, he started pushing himself up, glancing over at where his mentor was starting to do the same.

His breath caught.

“The- she-” He choked, coughing, Monkey King turning and looking at him with obvious concern. “Monkey Mech- we have to, we have to help-”

He pulled himself to his feet, only to freeze at the sight of Wukong's expression.

That... that was not the expression of someone who believed there was still someone to help. 

That there was still someone to save.

MK stumbled backwards, collapsing into Pigsy's arms.

Monkey Mech was gone.

-

It was almost like... dreaming.

Except Monkey Mech was not supposed to be able to dream, and, instead of a dream, if he had to compare it to anything, he'd say it was more like a nightmare.

He hadn't been expecting to come to awareness again at all, really.

And especially not like this.

It was a bit of an overly polite way of describing it, honestly. He wasn't entirely sure if he could call what this was 'awareness'.

It was still dark. He could sense things moving around him, sure, and he thought that maybe he was moving too, but he wasn't in control of it.

It was cold.

He felt like he was rotting from the inside out.

-

MK stared up, gaping, at the armored monster Macaque had created.

Those... those were Monkey Mech's parts.

A ringing flooded MK's ears as a bone-chilling anger crashed over him.

-

The Lady Bone Demon was gone.

MK guided the mech over to a nearby cliff, moving the hand up in front of the entrance to the cockpit, letting the door open, the other's silently stepping out onto the hand, which MK lowered to the ground, allowing the others to hop off before he jumped out of the pilot seat himself. Landing on the ground, in a crouched position, kicking up a fair amount of dust, MK slowly stood up and turned around, facing the mech behind him.

Since summoning him onto the field, Monkey Mech hadn't said a single word.

Not a single thing.

With MK no longer in the pilot seat, the mech simply stood there. Still.

Not a single sign of movement.

“Is... is he…” Mei trailed off, not wanting to voice what they were all thinking.

Monkey Mech was back, in body yes, but in spirit?

MK wasn't sure.

There was a flash of golden light out of the corner of his eye, and MK turned his head just in time to see Wukong change out of his bird form to land on the ground, Macaque stepping out of the shadows behind him. Wukong wasted no time in tearing off the armor he'd been wearing, tossing it off to the side as though it had personally offended him.

He was in the middle of making quick work of tearing off his outer shirt when he noticed the looks on all the others' faces.

“...Why do you all look so sad?” He asked, before seemingly finally noticing how still Monkey Mech was being. “...Oh. Hm. Weird.”

“Monkey King... is Monkey Mech-”

“He's... there, yes. Just not... awake, I guess? His energy is definitely there, but it's not at the forefront.” Wukong said, tilting his head to the side, golden eyes flashing. “Maybe if you give him a lil smack on the side?”

“Monkey King.”

“What, it works for laundry machines!” Wukong tried to defend himself from Mei's glare, raising his hands innocently. Her glare only hardened to pure steel.

“Monkey Mech is not a laundry machine, Mr.King. We are not going to sma-”

She was cut off as a loud clang resonated through the air. As one, the group turned to see Nezha, who was slowly pulling the flat end of his spear away from Monkey Mech, analyzing him.

There was a brief pause-

And then suddenly Monkey Mech was reeling back, stumbling, almost like a delayed reaction. One hand went up to the spot where he'd been hit, protecting it from a second attack.

“Ow.” Monkey Mech's voice hissed, filled with static, “What was that for- Oh. Hi guys. ...Did we win?”

“Holy shit.” Wukong muttered, the only words spoken as the others simply stared up at Monkey Mech in frozen shock. “I did not think that would work.”

-

It was a few hours after Nezha and Macaque had both left, Macaque saying he was going off to do some scheming, and Nezha simply saying that he need to return to the Celestial Realm, when Wukong brought it up.

“Y'know,” Wukong started, pausing mid-way through his fourth bowl of noodles that night, “I've been wondering this for a bit but. Why doesn't Monkey Mech just join us down here?”

“...What do you mean?” MK asked, from his position of sitting on Monkey Mech's shoulder. “He's right here.”

“Well, yeah, but like, he could be down here, is what I mean.”

“...I'm afraid I don't follow.” Tang said, “Once again, what do you mean by 'down here'?”

“Ugh, y'know!! Down here!! With us!! Eating!!”

“...I don't know if anyone told you, Monkey King, but I'm a robot.” Monkey Mech gently lifted a hand so that MK could jump onto it, carefully bringing him down so that he could be closer to the conversation taking place around the campfire. “I can't eat.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know you're a robot.” Wukong waved a hand dismissively. “My point is, you don't have to be a robot right now.”

Silence.

“...Monkey King.” MK said, slowly, and Wukong finally seemed to realize that maybe, just maybe, he was privy to some information that the others weren't, if the way he suddenly started to shrink under their collective stares was any indication. “Are you telling me. That there's been a way to make Monkey Mech human this whole time?”

“Uh…” Wukong shrunk down more, looking nervous as the others didn't take their eyes off of him for even one second. “...Kinda.”

“What do you mean, kinda?” Pigsy asked, “Either there is, or there isn't. Hurry it up and spit it out.”

“Okay, okay, fine so like, he would not necessarily be human, I guess?” Wukong scratched at the side of his face, seemingly thinking about it more intently. “It'd be more like... a hologram? Except he'd be able to interact with solid matter. He could form a new body outside of the mech, and just, transfer his energy into it. Of course- me or MK would have to help him make it the first time, and it doesn't really need to be a human form... but it's possible.”

A much longer silence. Wukong's tail started to swing back and forth nervously. 

“Did, did you guys not kn-” He started, but was interrupted by Monkey Mech's voice.

“I could've been going inside the Noodle Shop this whole time?!?!”

“That's what you're the most concerned about?!”

The rest of the night ended up being entirely and completely dedicated to designing Monkey Mech's mortal form. Wukong had said something about how Monkey Mech “needed to feel like himself in it” in order for it to work- so MK had rushed inside of the van to grab his sketchbook and pencils, and had quickly gotten to work, creating multiple designs with Monkey Mech's input.

Realistically, it should've been a relatively short process.

That is, if Monkey Mech would just pick one design.

“...No, it's not right.” Monkey Mech said, for what had to be the 23rd time that night, and MK let out a groan. The others had all mostly accidentally dozed off, leaving only MK and Monkey Mech awake. (Or, at least, MK assumed so. Wukong was curled up on top of his cloud, but for all MK knew, the Monkey King could very well just be pretending to sleep. MK kind of wanted to pull a little test, just to check, but considering Wukong had probably had little sleep these past few days in general, he didn't want to risk accidentally waking him up if he was, in fact, asleep). MK shoved the paper he'd been working on to the side, grabbing another one, and waiting for Monkey Mech's next drawing instruction.

“Um... I, uh…” Monkey Mech trailed off into silence. MK turned to look at him, but his face was just as blank and unreadable as always. His body language, however, read as… nervous. Unconfident. MK stared at him for a minute, then back down at the papers covered in various designs all around him, and then back up at Monkey Mech.

“...You do know that it doesn't need to be perfect, right?” He asked, receiving no response. “Nobody's perfect, after all. It just needs to be you.”

Monkey Mech slowly gave a nod. After a longer moment of silence, he quietly gave a new request, and MK turned back around to focus on drawing.

By the time morning came, the sun rising over the horizon, Monkey Mech had made his choice.

“Alright.” MK said, clapping his hands together as the others sat on the nearby logs they had set up for the campfire the night before. “Let's get this show on the road!”

“Uh, kid, did you even sleep at all?” Pigsy asked. MK ignored him.

“Monkey King!” He said instead, “You uh, got any advice on how to do this?”

“Eh, just concentrate your magic in one spot while focusing on the visual in your mind.” Wukong shrugged. He raised an eyebrow upon noticing the deadpan stares he got in response for his simple answer. “...What? The kid's pretty instinctive, it'll work out. Besides, if it's not working, I'll step in, don't worry.”

He then proceeded to yawn and roll over, seemingly going back to sleep, which was, y'know not reassuring in the slightest.

MK turned to look up at Monkey Mech, trying not to let his anxiousness show.

“You ready for this big guy?”

Monkey Mech gave a simple thumbs up. MK suspected that he wasn't speaking so that the nervousness in his own voice wouldn't show.

“Right. Okay.” MK took a deep breath, muttering to himself. “You got this. You can do this. Simple. Easy. Just picture it in your head…”

MK closed his eyes, holding his hands out in front of him, doing his best to hold the mental image of the design he and Monkey Mech had chosen within his mind.

Red fur... golden eyes... hair pulled back, with just a tiny bit of it remaining loose to frame his face... that stupid jacket that Monkey Mech seemed to enjoy for some reason that MK didn't have the heart to refuse adding to the design…

A few minutes passed with seemingly nothing, and Monkey Mech was about to speak up to tell MK to maybe take a break from this whole thing, that he could wait until later, when-

A spark.  

A flash.

A bright ball of light appeared in between MK's outstretched hands, flickering, before slowly growing and morphing. The others watched in raptured silence- even Wukong sitting up (proving that he had not, in fact, gone back to sleep), as they watched the light slowly morph into a more humanoid form.

Another bright flash, one that had everyone covering their eyes-

And then there was a body, standing on the ground, frozen still, eyes closed, almost as though they were asleep.

“Yes!! I did it!!” MK cheered, before pausing. After a moment, he turned his head to the side to look at Wukong. “Uh... Monkey King, what do we do next?”

“What do you mean?” Wukong asked.

“He means, uh.” Monkey Mech said, leaning down to get a closer look at the body meant for him. “How do we get me into the body?”

“Oh. That…” Wukong said, trailing off. Mei, sensing mischief, pinched his arm. “Ow, hey!”

“You better not have been about to say something along the lines of 'smacking him like a laundry machine' again.” She hissed, and Wukong leaned away from her.

“Please, of course I wasn't!” From the expressions of everyone around him, nobody actually believed that statement. Wukong coughed awkwardly. “Ahem. Uh, anyways it... should come naturally, really. Just, you can feel the energy inside you, right?”

“Yes…” Monkey Mech said, slowly.

“Right. So, just, mentally imagine that, condense it into one spot, and then... just imagine it leaving you and going into the body I guess?”

“You guess?” Pigsy crossed his arms, “What do you mean you guess?”

“Well I've never done this before!”

“What do you mean you've never- how do you know this will even wor-”

“Oh. Hey. It worked.”

Everyone turned to see that the light in the giant robot's eyes had faded, and-

The smaller, monkey demon form on the ground was now moving.

Monkey Mech had barely taken a step before he was stumbling, not used to his new size. MK quickly moved forwards to catch him. Monkey Mech's hands clung onto MK's jacket, shaking for a moment, his tail swinging as he looked up to meet MK's eyes.

“...Hi, MK.” He smiled at him. MK smiled back.

“Hi, Monkey Mech.”

That seemed to be all the permission the other's needed to tackle the two of them, sending them both tumbling to the ground, trapped under the rest of the group.

“Agh- hey!” MK struggled, trying to squirm his way out. “Not fair!! I wasn't ready for this one!! Let me go!”

“No can do, kid.” Pigsy said, “Y'see, Tang's done the numbers, and we're pretty sure you have not slept in the past three days, at least.”

“And, well, Mr. Monkey Mech has never slept at all…” Sandy said, “So…”

“Yeah. We're not letting either of you up until you both fall asleep.” Mei finished.

MK huffed, pouting, but not directly protesting the treatment. Monkey Mech, for his part, looked shocked-

And then he burst out into loud laughter, some tears running down his face, startling everyone.

“Uh, guys?” Tang said, “I think we broke the mech.”

-

Monkey Mech swung his legs back and forth. Getting used to being able to transfer himself into such a small form was... definitely a weird adjustment. He was grateful for it, most definitely he was, he finally got the chance to play arcade games with MK, Mei, and Red Son, as well as go in a car, and into the mall, and the movie theatre, as well as the Noodle Shop-

(Monkey Mech looked at the area around him with wide eyes, half supported by MK and Mei as they led him in. He still wasn't quite used to walking around in such a small body yet.

“Y'know…” Monkey Mech said, “...The inside of the Noodle Shop is much smaller than I thought it'd be.”

“I don't know if I should be taking that as an insult or a compliment.” Pigsy sighed, walking past them. “It better have been a compliment.”

“Oh- uh, trust me, it was!”

“You don't sound very confident in that statement.”

“C'mon- it was definitely a compliment- MK back me up here!”

“Sorry dude, you're on your own.”).

 So yeah, overall, it'd been great.

Didn't mean that sitting on his own shoulder didn't feel really weird though.

Monkey Mech swung his legs back and forth again as he thought, staring out at the half-constructed buildings around him. He'd been leaving his real robot body here for now, but he'd probably have to move it soon. Construction was shockingly fast within this city, sooner or later people would start to move back into this area... he'd probably have to move himself to the outskirts then.

Now that he thought about it, that clearing that Wukong had shown him would probably work just fine…

Lost in his own thoughts, he almost missed the shadow portal forming directly beside him.

The keyword being almost.

Monkey Mech did a double take, whipping his head around just as Macaque stepped out to stand beside him, giving him a little wave.

“Yo, Monkey Mech!” He said, “Uh, congrats on the new form. Heh. Um, I just came around cause uh. I wanted to... say sorry for, uh, stealing and using your corpse. From one resurrected guy to another, that was, uncool of me.”

...Was that meant to be a pun? Monkey Mech had some vague memories involving Macaque and feeling like pure ice was tearing through his non-existent skin.

Hm. Now that Monkey Mech thought about it, pretty much all of his memories associated with the time Macaque had been using his parts had felt... wrong.  

Hm.

Macaque seemed to be growing nervous at Monkey Mech's lack of a response, the anxiety in his expression slowly growing more obvious as Monkey Mech slowly stood up.

“...So, yeah, that was all I wanted to say, so, I'll just be going now-” Macaque went still as Monkey Mech vanished in a flash of golden light, returning himself to his robotic body. Before Macaque could recover from the shock, Monkey Mech raised one hand, carefully grabbing Macaque by his scarf. Macaque immediately struggled, trying to kick and scratch at Monkey Mech's fingers to no avail. “Woah- hey-”

Macaque let out a strangled noise as Monkey Mech unceremoniously tossed him into his cockpit, shutting the door behind him.

“Hey!” Macaque shouted, and, having landed in the pilot seat upside down, quickly readjusted himself to be sitting up. “What are you-”

“During your time using me, you felt a little... off.” Monkey Mech crossed his arms over his chest, preventing Macaque from being able to kick the door open. “So, I'm running a diagnostic on you.”

“What? You can't just- you know what, I don't have the time for this.” Macaque huffed, a shadow portal forming under his feet, the monkey demon dropping down into it-

Only to be spat out back into the cockpit.

“...Huh?” Macaque didn't even waste a single second before trying again. “I- what? What is this, how are you doing this?”

“A robot never reveals his secrets!” Nevermind that Monkey Mech was horrible at keeping secrets, or that-

“You have no idea how you did it either, do you.”

“Not a clue!”

A small pop-up appeared in Monkey Mech's vision.

Macaque was suddenly and abruptly tossed out of the cockpit.

Macaque swore, loudly, and Monkey Mech saved rolling his eyes until after he'd reformed his monkey body, and leapt forwards to snag Macaque out of the air, landing on the rooftop on a nearby almost-finished building. He set Macaque down on the solid ground, dusting off the shadow monkey's shoulders, ignoring the angry and indignant muttering that seemed to be comparing him to a dangerously faulty Easy Bake Oven.

...Not that Monkey Mech even knew what that was.

“Diagnostic's done!” He said instead, clapping his hands while smiling innocently. “And- hm.”

“Hm?”

“Well, you're functioning.”

“Yeah, obviously, I wouldn't be here if I wasn't.” Macaque rolled his eyes, crossing his arms and turning away from him.

“I do think you should probably go to a doctor, though.” Monkey Mech added, watching with thinly veiled concern as Macaque let out an irritated sigh.

“Oh yeah?” He asked, “And why's that?”

“...Well, it's not exactly normal for people to not have heartbeats, is it?”

Macaque made a sound that was almost akin to a kicked puppy, and suddenly Monkey Mech almost wished he hadn't said anything, as the other vanished into a shadow portal within the blink of an eye. Monkey Mech stood there, for a while, waiting to see if the other would come back, to learn what else the diagnostic had picked up.

...He didn't come back.

Monkey Mech sighed, and shelved the concern over the shadow monkey's only slightly healed broken ribs and damaged six ears for a later date.

-

“Monkey Mech!” MK's voice called, and Monkey Mech risked glancing up from his precariously stacked stack of delivery boxes in his arms to see MK standing on the top of a nearby building. “Is it cool if I use some of your parts for a bit?”

Monkey Mech shifted slightly to account for the stack changing weight.

“Uh, who is it today?” He asked.

“Jin and Yin!”

“Oh, sure! It's fine!”

MK gave him a thumbs up, and then summoned the staff, leaping to another building. They had discovered, a while ago, that while Monkey Mech was in his monkey demon form, any damage taken to his robot self would not hurt him in any way- so long as it was put back together properly before he returned to it.

That knowledge would have certainly been helpful in escaping a few situations if they had known it much earlier.

Monkey Mech returned to his goal of delivering the take-out boxes in his arms, and sure enough, a few minutes later, he could faintly feel the tug of magic suggesting that some of his robotic parts were being pulled to MK. Another couple of minutes later, there was a large crash in the distance, and Monkey Mech struggled not to fumble the last delivery box in his arms- only barely managing to keep it from slipping out of his grasp and tumbling to the pavement as the ground shook.

Geez. He couldn't believe anyone had been able to handle living with him around for a year if this is what it had been like whenever he had taken a step slightly too hard.

Final box delivered- Monkey Mech turned around to walk back to the Noodle Shop.

Upon return, it seemed like he had just missed MK, the faint hint of his energy vanishing around a corner, leaving Mei and Pigsy behind.

“Hey guys!” Monkey Mech gave them both a wave, catching their attention. “I'm done with deliveries, Pigsy.”

Pigsy let out a worn sigh.

“Thanks, Monkey Mech.” He said, “At least one kid is actually doing their job around here…”

-

Monkey Mech sat cross-legged on the stone floor, Delivery, Painter, and Porty beside him. 

All four of them were focused solely on the Azure Lion sitting across from them.

MK had summoned them to Flower Fruit Mountain- or, well, he'd summoned Monkey Mech, literally teleporting him there (he'd been in the middle of cat-napping on a roof, now that he could, in fact, nap). The other three had simply been poofed into existence already at the scene.

They'd been instructed to “keep an eye” on Azure Lion. He was, essentially, a complete stranger that they were choosing to tentatively trust, after all.

Besides, it wasn't like Monkey Mech could go into the scroll in giant robot form, not to mention that going in while in his monkey demon form, which he was only just getting used to, would be a bad idea, and MK obviously knew that he would worry if he didn't have some kind of task.

...The clones were probably just there so that he had some familiar people with him.

That being said, none of them had said a single word for the past four hours, which was rather impressive restraint on the part of the hair-clones.

A restlessness started to form in Monkey Mech's chest, but he ignored it, figuring it was just coming from being stuck sitting around doing nothing but stare at a complete stranger for so long.

Seriously, couldn't the guy come up with some kind of polite conversation to talk about? Heck, Monkey Mech would even take talking about the weather at this point! The weather!!

The restlessness kicked up a notch.

And then suddenly it was a pang, an all too familiar one.

Monkey Mech gasped, doubling over, clutching at his chest. The hair-clones had a similar reaction-

They poofed out of existence at the next pang.

“Something- something's happening to MK.” Monkey Mech struggled to get out, unable to get rid of the sensation of pain and panic. “I- you gotta let me in there, I have to help him-”

“Sorry, but.” Azure slowly stood up, a new, menacing aura surrounding him. “I'm afraid I can't allow that.”

And then he snapped, and Monkey Mech could feel the magic encircling him- the parts of his body fading away-

He jolted back into awareness in his robot form, exactly where he had left it, sitting on the outskirts of town. He remained completely frozen for a second, processing, before;

“Oh, I knew we couldn't trust that motherf-”

-

Monkey Mech watched silently as Wukong began the slow process of collecting all his robotic parts from the places Azure had carelessly thrown them to. Now more than ever, he was glad that he could transfer himself into another form so easily.

It still didn't make seeing his real form torn up into multiple pieces any less... disturbing.

He tried his best to ignore it, instead looking over to where MK was trying to lift some knocked over trees back into place. Wukong had said that Flower Fruit Mountain was fairly sturdy, and had a habit to bounce back from, well, a lot. (He hadn't elaborated upon what that meant, but Monkey Mech had the feeling that Flower Fruit Mountain had seen catastrophe before). So, MK had taken it upon himself to make as much of the process easier for the mountain's magic as he could.

...The both of them had also been quite promptly kicked out of the efforts to rebuild Wukong's house after Wukong had accidentally broken a board in half, and MK had started to get a little too into painting the walls.

Monkey Mech, really, had been sent out to keep an eye on the both of them, to make sure that they didn't end up getting into some kind of mystic-monkey trouble.

(Technically, didn't he also count as a mystic monkey now? Did that mean he could also get into mystic monkey trouble? ...Monkey Mech wasn't quite sure about the logistics of it, or how one defined 'mystic monkey trouble' in the first place. It was probably better to not think about it).

As it was, everything seemed fine…

Monkey Mech let out a sigh, slouching a little as he watched Wukong move to grab the next piece, and MK reach for the next tree.

He wished he could be on the beach right now…

-

Monkey Mech stared at the water far below him in trepidation.

“C'mon Monkey Mech!” MK called out, waving his arm from said water. “Join us!!”

Monkey Mech continued to stare down at the water.

He was standing on his own shoulder again. MK had practically tackled him full force earlier that morning, telling him about a much needed beach day, to take a break from the efforts to repair Flower Fruit Mountain, to just enjoy some sun, and had practically outright demanded that Monkey Mech bring his robot form with him, not just his monkey-self.

Monkey Mech had been, understandably, confused at the time.

He hadn't expected that MK would have used his robot body as a makeshift giant diving board plus water slide.

(Or, well, more so just slide, with the water only being at the end. They didn't have a hose long enough to be able to reach Monkey Mech's shoulder- so they couldn't run water down the arm that was currently extended slightly at an angle).

There was a green flash, and suddenly Mei was standing beside him, her head tilted to the side.

“What's wrong?” She asked, and Monkey Mech tried his best for an easy-going smile.

Considering how he had quickly discovered that faking expressions was a lot harder than he thought it would be, he was pretty sure he did not succeed.

“It's nothing!” He said, “I'm fine.”

“...Uh-huh, sure.” Mei was clearly unimpressed. “You've been standing up here for the past 15 minutes. Are you going to jump in or not?”

 “Well, uh-” Monkey Mech stuttered for a second, before shrinking down into himself, avoiding eye contact as he said, quietly. “I don't know how to swim.”

“What do you mean you don't-”

“I was a giant robot, remember!! Of course I don't know how to swim.” Monkey Mech's tail swished back and forth with anxiety. “What if I just sink?”

“Hm... I guess that's a valid point.” Mei mumbled, before reaching out and grabbing hold of Monkey Mech's arm. “Let's get you down from here, then.”

Before Monkey Mech even had the chance to blink, Mei had scooped him up on one shoulder, and rushed him back down to the beach, her dragon speed ensuring that they barely even touched the water.

Monkey Mech stumbled slightly when she put him down on the sand, but very quickly regained his balance.

“Mei? Monkey Mech?” MK asked, walking out of the water to join them. “What's up?”

“Mecha-dude over here doesn't know how to swim.” Mei said, pointing her thumb at Monkey Mech as she did so. Monkey Mech let out an irritated huff, mumbling “it's Monkey Mech, you've known this for a while now-” under his breath, and being rather obviously ignored.

“Oh! Well, not to worry!!” MK wrapped his arm around Monkey Mech's shoulders. “I can teach you!”

“...Uh-huh.” Monkey Mech said, slowly. “I have so much confidence in being taught how to swim by the person wearing floaties.”

“We should've never let Red Son teach you what sarcasm was.” MK deadpanned, before swapping back to his easy-going smile effortlessly. “And I can swim!! I just sink easily, is all.”

That statement was not as reassuring as MK clearly thought it was, but Monkey Mech didn't even have the chance to voice that thought, as he was grabbed by both arms and dragged into the ocean.

-

“Hey, Monkey Mech?”

...Monkey Mech did not like the look on MK's face.

“...What is it?” He asked, hoping his nervousness didn't show- but it must've, as the teasing smirk on MK's face grew slightly wider.

“So... I realized I never actually got the chance to ask you this before, in between getting you adjusted to your new body and, like, everything that happened afterwards…”

Oh, Monkey Mech did not like where this was going, slowly starting to stand up, but was prevented from doing so as MK put his hands on his shoulders and shoved him back down into his seat.

“And, well, you can actually show expressions now, so y'know, I was wondering…” MK continued, “...Why?”

Well... Monkey Mech could pretend to play dumb for a few moments longer, couldn't he?

“Why what?” He asked, already knowing there was an absurdly flustered expression on his face, one that drew the attention of the others, as well as made the teasing smirk on MK's face somehow more menacing.

“Why did you stand around for three days?” MK asked, and Monkey Mech opened his mouth- “No lying this time, young man.”

Monkey Mech let his mouth close.

Slowly, he looked away, avoiding eye contact.

“C'monnnnn.” MK poked him in the arm repeatedly, “I'm not gonna leave you alone until you give me an answer.”

Yeah. Monkey Mech had picked up on it.

He let out a defeated sigh.

“Okay, fine, you got me.” He said, “It was because of p.”

“...P?”

“Peace out.” Monkey Mech quickly made a peace sign, and then let himself dissolve in a flash of light, returning to his robot body.

Even though he was now on the other side of town, he could still hear MK's scream of frustration.

[emmaelix]

Oregon Files Book 15 X Bones Season 3/4 Crossover Part One of ?

So this is kind of niche. For anyone not familiar with The Oregon Files, it's a book series where Juan Cabrillo and his crew go around solving cases for the CIA. Bones is a tv show about a forensic anthropologist and her pet FBI agent.

Lizbeth Cabrillo is my own original character. Everyone else belongs to the creators of Bones and The Oregon Files. Although, you'd have a hard time asking Clive Cussler anything since he's currently dead.

Lizbeth Cabrillo sat in the infirmary of the Oregon, Julia Huxley closely examining a skull in front of her. "And you're sure it's been- chewed?"

Julia nodded grimly. "Yep. Boiled and then eaten. A gruesome way to die. Have you contacted Dr. Brennan yet?"

Lizbeth nodded, then stood up. "Juan and Eric should be changing course soon. We'll get there by nine tonight and then go to the Jeffersonian tomorrow. You should come, Hux."

Julia removed her gloves and turned to Lizbeth. "It would be interesting to see the greatest forensic anthropologist of our time working on the bones I found. But, there's one thing you shouldn't talk to her about. Dr. Zack Addy."

"Why? Were they close?" Lizbeth asked, moving to walk with Julia as they headed towards the Oregon's control room. Julia laughed mirthlessly.

"He was her intern and then associate until a few months ago. And no, he wasn't murdered. He's a murderer," Julia said, shrugging when Lizbeth looked at her incredulously.

Eric Stone, the chief helmsman of the Oregon, walked up to them, wearing a button-down shirt and khakis. He had a lipstick stain on his cheek. "Eric, I hope Silvia doesn't wear water-proof lipstick."

Eric looked confused, before rubbing at his cheek and sighing with relief when he saw pink lipstick on his fingers. Lizbeth chuckled, and Eric flustered for a second before saying, "I came down here to tell you we'll be in Washington by about eight to eight-thirty. Oh, and The Chairman asked me to tell you he has Dr. Brennan and Special Agent Booth's files for you to look over tonight."

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

Temperance Brennan was at work bright and early today. Zack's confession had rattled her, but she knew she could compartmentalize this, just as she had Booth's 'death'.

Cam came up behind her, saying, "Hey, Brennan. There are some people here to see us. They say they work for The Corporation, whatever that is."

Brennan turned to see four people walking towards her. Three women and two men. One of the women was tanned and wore dark hair in a ponytail that held neatly behind her. Next to her was a woman with much paler skin who wore a pinstriped suit and her hair in a low bun. The final woman had an extremely dark complexion with sharp features and searching eyes.

The two men were both caucasian, one with blonde hair and a prosthetic leg, and the other with a ring of red around his bald head and a gut that made him look like a typical sitcom dad. The blonde man smiled, saying, "I'm Juan Cabrillo. Chairman of The Corporation and Captain of The Oregon."

The blonde woman in a pinstriped suit walked up next to him. "Lizbeth Cabrillo. His wife and a Corporation Operative. I'm ex-CIA and Special Forces."

The dark-skinned woman said, "Raven Malloy. Corporation Operative and former military."

"Max Hanley. President of The Corporation," the balding redhead said, grinning and reaching out to shake Brennan's hand.

"And I'm the woman who contacted your organization. Julia Huxley, I'm the chief medical officer on the Oregon, the ship that found these remains."

Booth eyed the newcomers suspiciously. "How do we know you aren't lying?"

Lizbeth chuckled. "Special Agent Seeley Booth, thirty-five. You have a child with your ex-girlfriend Rebecca named Parker Booth. You read Green Lantern comics in the bathtub."

Booth looked surprised and also concerned. "How do you know what I do in the bathtub?"

"You'd be surprised what we know, Seeley. We have CIA and FBI connections along with multiple others. Unterschätzen Sie uns nicht. The Corporation weiß mehr, als Sie jemals wissen werden."

"You're German?" Cam asked, and Lizbeth nodded.

"I've always loved being German and ex-Special Forces. It makes people think I'm going to want to burn them at the stake before they've even met me, which makes up for my bubbly personality. Blöd," Lizbeth said, chuckling and motioning towards Julia Huxley. The doctor brought out a box, filled with a skull and several other bones.

"Have fun, Doctor Brennan."

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

"They're very interesting," Lizbeth said before taking a bit of her salad. She, Raven, Julia, Juan, and Max had all gotten rooms at a local hotel and they were eating supper at a local cafe that claimed to have the best burgers around.

"Is it just me, or does that Dr. Brennan give everyone else the heebie-jeebies too?" Max asked, taking a large bite of his burger before spitting it out. "Is this hamburger made of vegetables?"

Julia chuckled. "You're the one who went into the bathroom while we were ordering. Your fries are real."

"I've got another question. Booth, the guy with the kid, are he and the good doctor dating?" Max asked, happily eating his fries like a small child.

Juan and Lizbeth looked at each other. "Well, according to their file, Brennan and Booth's psychologist, and multiple co-workers, they aren't. But, everyone's surprised they haven't hooked up yet."

Raven chewed thoughtfully. "There are absolutely feelings there. They act the same way towards each other that I'm told you two used to act before dating."

Juan choked on the water he'd just taken a sip of. Max chuckled, pulling something out of his pocket. Max clicked play on what Lizbeth now realized was a recording. "Booth took a bullet for Brennan a few weeks back. He also stayed with her at home when she was being stalked, accidentally triggering an explosion set for her in his own face, putting him in the hospital until someone realized he'd been broken out by a co-worker to save Dr. B."

Two different voices had been speaking, but Lizbeth knew from hearing that there had to be something between Booth and Dr. Brennan. She clicked pause as she heard footsteps behind her. Brennan and Booth, talking happily, passed by them, barely noticing them until Lizbeth whistled to get their attention.

Booth turned his head - his hand going towards his gun - before he relaxed when he saw who had called him over. He placed his hand on Brennan's shoulder, a gesture that Lizbeth didn't let slip her eye, and guided her to their booth.

"I don't think I was properly introduced to all of you," Booth said when he sat down, eyeing Max carefully. "You're Max, right?"

Max nodded, saying, "Yep. At least, that's what my birth certificate says."

Booth nodded. "As long as you don't turn out too much like the other Max I know, we should be fine and dandy."

Brennan slapped his shoulder. "Booth! I hardly think that's professional! You shouldn't be comparing a man you just met to my- an arrested and convicted felon."

Interesting. The good doctor had faltered, saying 'my' before an. Maybe she was related to this other convicted felon named Max? "Speaking of professional," Lizbeth said, trying to segway into her questions about their case. "I'd love to know more about the psychologist who spoke on television about this "Gormagon." And whether or not you think Gormagon killed the vic we found sleeping with the fish."

Booth laughed. "Sweets will love you for noticing he was on tv. He's been begging us all month to tell him what we think about his interview."

Brennan was about to answer when bullets cascaded through the window, shattering the glass. Lizbeth looked around, her stomach dropping when she realized Juan had been hit. "Juan! Stay with me, okay, love? Julia, go get your med bag. Max, call whoever you can who's still on the ship. Raven, call 911. Other people were shot or hit by the shattered glass."

Booth looked around, watching Brennan run to help an older man who'd slipped as he was walking from his table as the bullets had been fired. "What do you want me to do?"

"Call the FBI, and then Langston Overholt. Tell Lang Lizbeth asked you to call, he'll understand."

"Why should I call them?"

"Because someone just shot my husband and I'd like to know what bastard it was," Lizbeth said, trying to keep her voice steady. This situation reminded her too much of Mike's death. Mike Trono, one of their crew members who had sacrificed his life for The Oregon, had died in Lizbeth's arms. She wasn't about to let her husband do the same.

[dorefasolsido]

6. BTS-related 1

In celebration of 2023 Festa!

***credits to the original creator***

what's the first bts song you heard?

I think honestly it was Mic Drop back when it came out, but I wasn’t particularly interested at the time, so I just heard it and moved on with my life.

what's the first bts music video you watched?

Again, it was Mic Drop. I remember seeing somewhere how it was a big deal that a K-pop act was collaborating with an American artist (Steve Aoki). So I was like, well I don’t really care about either, but let me see what everyone’s talking about. That was my first proper introduction to BTS aside from all the comments and gifs I was seeing everywhere.

who/what made you start stanning bts?

No one in particular. It just kind of happened last year when my sister and I randomly wanted to show our mum what K-pop is. Neither of us was a K-pop fan, so the only two groups we were aware of were BTS and Blackpink. My sister decided to check out BTS. And the rest is history.

who was your first bias and is now your current bias?

My sister and I decided to choose our biases in the very first performance we watched, even though we knew nothing about the boys and could hardly even tell them apart :D So at the time, I chose Jimin because he had silver hair and I really liked that, but I think Jungkook was more my style. But now that I know more about the boys, I 100% agree with my first instinct to bias Jimin.

you can only listen to one album for the rest of your life. which?

Uhhh, that’s tough. Maybe Map of the Soul: 7? Or Wings? Or maybe I can just choose Proof, so I have everything in one place :P

what's your favourite collab?

Collabs with Steve Aoki always serve. Mic Drop remix, The Truth Untold, what’s there not to like?

what's your favourite bts japanese song?

Tough choice, but I think Don’t Leave Me. That song’s intensity and emotion is on another level, especially when you know what the boys have been going through at that time.

you can only choose one cypher!

Cypher 3: Killer! I heard it for the first time when the rapline performed it at Yet to Come in Busan and that sealed the deal for me. The energy is off the charts!

if your @ is bts related what does it mean?

I don’t think I have any BTS-related usernames, I’m way too new of an Army.

whose birthday is closest to yours?

Jungkook’s is a little over a month after mine.

favourite rap line song?

Hmmmmm probably Outro: Tear.

favourite vocal line song?

Maybe House of Cards, it has that dark vibe I love and everyone’s vocals really shine.

zodiac compatibility with your bias?

Hahahah, actually if I remember right Leos and Libras are pretty compatible. I normally tend to really love Libras too.

what’s your mbti compatibility with your bias?

I’m INTP, my bias is supposedly ESTP (honestly a huge surprise), so I don’t think we’re super compatible. BUT my sister is ESTP, and we’re very different but get along great.

favourite songs in D-2, Agust D, and D-Day?

Agust D from Agust D and probably Burn It from D-2. From D-Day, it’s Amygdala no questions asked, but Snooze is a very very close second.

favourite songs in Hope World and JITB?

Blue Side from Hope World and either Arson or What If from JITB.

favourite songs in mono, RM, and Indigo?

I’m not sure about RM yet, but from mono it’s uhgood, and on Indigo I have three favourite songs which I call the night trilogy since they all have a perfect vibe for evening/night listens: Closer, Change pt.2, and Lonely.

what official merch do you own?

I don’t have much; I only bought Jungkook’s photofolio and JK TinyTan keychain for my sister. Weverse Shop shipping to Europe is super expensive, and I usually end up paying double the price for that alone. So, it’s easier to buy unofficial merch.

ever seen the tannies live?

Nope, but next time they go on a European tour, you bet I’ll be there.

who are tannies to you?

Comfort.

[reidingmelodies]

The Luckiest

Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem!Reader Category: Fluff Word Count: 2k Includes: Dad Spencer, Children, Pregnancy A/N:  I wrote this one for @anxiousblanketqueen’s birthday challenge: Happy Birthday, Jill! ♡ I hope you have an absolutely amazing day!! Main Masterlist

“What’s this, Daddy?” Spencer turned, eyes finding his daughter holding the scrapbook Penelope made for your anniversary a few months prior.  The book held your most cherished memories: from your first meeting to your first dates, to your marriage and the birth of your children.

“Auntie P made that for us, bug,” he explained, bending down to clear the pile of blocks on the floor to make way for her little feet.  She bounded towards him, the book dangling from her arms while she climbed next to him on the couch.

Big brown eyes similar to his own looked up at him, her little lip sticking out in a pout as she pushed the book towards him in a silent question.

She was only five, but she was fully aware that he was incapable of saying no to her; after all, she learned the puppy dog pout from its creator: his wife.

“Come here, love,” he situated his daughter on his lap, laying a gentle kiss on her hairline before opening the book to the first page.

“Is that Mommy?” her fingers moved to trace along the first photo, a still of you and Spencer at Derek and Penelope’s wedding seven years prior. Your eyes were focused off frame, gaze solely fixated on the couple’s first dance, but Spencer’s were glued to your every move.

It was your very first meeting, years of Penelope trying to set Spencer up with her high school best friend had failed up until that point.  Plans to go to bars were halted by last minute cases in different cities, parties in Penelope’s apartment were missed because you had a date lined up, lunch dates with Penelope where she hoped you would finally meet Spencer were ruined because he wouldn’t leave his desk.

Years and years of trying to get you two to meet, and all it took was her and Derek getting married.

If she knew it would have been that easy, she would have gotten hitched years ago.

As luck would have it, you and Spencer had somehow narrowly avoided each other during wedding planning as well.  It was as though the universe had something against you, as if all the signs were screaming that you weren’t meant to be.  But then, on the night the stars aligned for Derek and Penelope the same happened for you, your pre-planned seating arrangement leading you directly into Spencer’s arms and proving the universe wrong.

It was that night that two perfect strangers became stakeholders in one another’s lives, the night when two hearts found the piece that had been missing for too long.  Neither of you knew it then, but a few shared conversations and lingering glances over dinner were enough to change your lives.

“Yeah,” Spencer whispered, smiling at your daughter.  “That’s Mommy”.

And like their words summoned your presence, the front door opened and you walked in, your two year old son’s hand gripped around two of your fingers while your purse hung from your free arm.

“Mommy!” your daughter jumped from her position on Spencer’s lap to wrap her arms around your legs, your body bending to place a series of kisses against her head.

“Hi, Sweet Pea!  Did you have a good time with Daddy?”

“Mm-hmm!” you watched her pigtails bounce as she twirled, her hand moving to hold her brother’s as she walked him towards a tower in the center of the room.  “We played with blocks and read books and looked at a pretty picture of you!”

“Wow!  What picture was it?” but alas, your question fell short on your daughter’s ears, her attention long gone and instead focused on teaching her brother the right way to build a tower.

And honestly, as far as you were concerned that was perfectly okay.  Any moment they were getting along without tears or screams was a win in your book.

“We were looking at the album Penelope made us,” Spencer’s voice carried over the sound of your children’s giggles and you swiftly moved to sit next to him on the couch, thigh to thigh while your head rested against his shoulder.  “We made it through the first picture before you guys came home”.

You placed a gentle kiss against his shoulder where you laid, eyes scanning the photo in question. It was one of your favorite nights, but it paled in comparison to the picture on the next page.

“Remember that night?” you asked, pointing at the photo you had been eyeing.  It was a blurry mess to put it lightly, Spencer’s hand holding the disposable camera at an odd angle while you attacked his cheeks with kisses until a trail of lipstick was left in your wake.

You were young, in love, and inseparable- a blurry photo was a small price to pay for being with him.

“How could I forget,” Spencer chuckled lightly, shaking his head as he examined the picture, “I got off the jet at 11 PM and headed to your place for a midnight picnic.  We were only dating for three weeks and JJ thought it was weird to go to your place so late, but I didn’t care.  Did you think it was weird?”

You snuggled closer to him, the hitch at the end of his question cluing you into the fact that he was nervous you did.  “If you didn’t come over I most certainly would have went to your place- I hated being away from you, I still do now”.

You were rewarded with a kiss to your palm before Spencer continued to flip through the pages in a comfortable silence, your life together thus far being pieced together with every new picture.

From movie nights cuddled up on the floor of Derek and Penelope’s living room, to office holiday parties where you walked around with your pinkies intertwined, to stolen kisses at happy hour and café dates where you both sported espresso foam mustaches.

With the next flip of the page, you watched as your smiles grew wider in each photo with the addition of a ring on your left hand.  There were pictures of Spencer down on one knee at your favorite park thanks to Penelope’s hidden vantage point behind a set of trees a few feet away.

The sky was a cerulean blue, yellow and pink tulips in full bloom at your feet, but in that moment, with Spencer kneeling in front of you and the most beautiful declarations of love falling from his lips nothing was visible but him.  

Another flip of a page and yet another moment when nothing mattered but Spencer was on full display- your wedding day.  His arms were looped around your waist as you danced in front of your family and friends, your smiles the widest they’d ever been.  The night was filled with love filled glances and silent assertions of love fit for two in a room bursting with joy, each and every one caught on camera thanks to Penelope’s dedication to capturing one of her favorite love stories in action.

A series of selfies followed in the next few pages, each one a picture you had sent Penelope during your honeymoon as proof you weren’t always locked away in your hotel room. Spencer was sporting a sunglasses tan in each photo while you were sporting a smirk, each picture reminding you of the vacation that gave you one of your favorite gifts yet nine months later: your daughter.

You looked up from the album to glance in her direction, your lips curling into a smile as you watched her separate the blocks into color coded piles much to her younger brother’s amusement. With each passing day she reminded you more and more of Spencer, and it was by far one of your favorite journeys to witness.

Your focus shifted back to the book in Spencer’s hands, weekly progress photos of your stomach’s growth (which Spencer was determined to capture in all its glory) gracing the pages along with ultrasounds, memories from your baby shower, and pictures of Spencer’s hands constantly flitting over your lower belly. His head rested gently on your middle in each one, his face the picture of happiness as he whispered bedtime stories and facts about space, completely oblivious to everything but you and your daughter.

You watched as the baby you had spent months dreaming about came to life in pictures, her features the perfect mixture of you and Spencer from the moment she was placed in your hands. With each passing picture the bags under both of your eyes grew bigger, but your smiles grew wider.  Images of her firsts graced the pages: the first time she sat up, the first time she ate solid foods, the first time she said dada (and the tears in Spencer’s eyes when he heard it), her first steps, her first day of school.  

And then one made way for two, your son joining the midst of photos and bringing an endless amount of love and joy to your family.  Much like your daughter, he reminded you of Spencer: he was inquisitive- curious eyes always studying his surroundings, his hand always finding comfort in yours just like his father.  

Pictures of his firsts graced the pages much like your daughter’s, except this time the first time he sat up he was accompanied by a beaming sister, when he said mama for the first time it was you who was in tears, and when he took his first steps he walked straight into Spencer’s open arms.

The book was a picture-perfect testament to your love, one of your most prized possessions, but there was one thing missing.

“I love the life we built together,” Spencer whispered in your direction, his fingers tracing your side as he thought about how lucky he was. How lucky was he that he went from a man destined to live a solitary life to a man with a wonderful wife and two children made from love?

“I love it, too,” you murmured as your hand moved to reach for your purse, “but there’s one thing we’re missing”.

You watched as Spencer’s eyebrows furrowed, his eyes scanning the empty pages at the end of the book.  “I know the pictures are a little out of date, we can order some more this weekend to fill the empty pages though”, he stated as his gaze found yours to see if that was the answer you were looking for.

“We definitely can,” you nodded, removing an item from your purse and unsticking the scrapbook pages to place it in the middle.  Once you were satisfied with its placement, you adjusted the top sheet before holding both of Spencer’s hands in yours, “but we can start with this”.

The previously blank page was now the home of your very first ultrasound photo for your third baby, a surprise you had confirmed earlier that morning at your doctor’s appointment.  You watched as Spencer’s eyebrows shot up, his face breaking into a smile while his eyes filled with tears.

“Really?” his voice was so soft, you were sure you would have missed it if you weren’t sitting directly next to him.

“Really, really,” you confirmed, your left hand moving to grasp his jaw as you pulled his face closer to yours.

“Are you excited?” you whispered, fully aware that the answer was yes but craving confirmation.

With your question, a tear escaped his lash line, trailing down his cheek and making its way to a beaming smile that rivaled the ones you had seen in the scrapbook.

He nodded, at a complete loss for words as he closed the gap between you and let his feelings out in a kiss. It was a kiss filled to the brim with love, happiness, and appreciativeness.  

And in that moment, there was only one coherent thought on his mind as he listened to his children’s giggles in the background and felt the weight of your love against his lips: How lucky was he that he went from a man destined to live a solitary life to a man with a wonderful wife and three children made from love?

The luckiest man alive, that was for sure.

***

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[therealvinelle]

Hi, I was reading a post here in Tumblr about how Edward has two gifts, he can hear thoughts and is super fast, so I wonder what is your opinion about this topic?.

Furthermore, what others power might the Volturi's leaders and guards might have?

Edward has one gift, and it’s telepathy. Being fast isn’t a gift.

Strength, speed and even senses is varied among vampires. Some, like Emmett, are on the extreme end, but that doesn’t make Emmett gifted, nor does it mean that the rest are at an equal level. The Cullens have clear variations between them.

Physique appears to play a dominant role in how these variations play out: Alice, who was malnourished and never made it past 4′10″, is the physically weakest of the coven, while Emmett at 6′5″ and a mountain of muscles is the strongest. This is made very clear during the baseball game:

“Emmett was hovering close to third (base), knowing that Alice didn’t have the muscle to outstrip Rosalie’s fielding." (Midnight Sun, chapter The Game)

There’s also the fact that it’s taken for granted that Emmett would be intimidating to other vampires, and he is dismayed when James is more worried about Jasper, who is lean.

I suspect this disparity exists simply because a large frame means more tissue to have blood in. Newborns, animal, and human-eating vampires all having a difference in terms of strength is proof that blood has the final say in a vampire’s prowess, so Emmett being able to contain more of it than Alice and therefore being stronger makes sense to me.

This isn’t the meta for me to get into that, but I don’t think vampires have muscles in the sense we do. Or rather, we can’t know that they do. Renesmée is proof that Edward retains his human DNA, or she would be a clone of Bella. Nahuel is proof that Joham retains a Y-chromosome. Does this mean that vampires have different cell types? Does a vampire’s stone-like skin still contain human DNA? One would think yes - except, if you rip a vampire apart, you get rubble. The parts are all solid. There’s also Carlisle theorizing that vampires digest blood by absorbing it through porous tissue, which makes me wonder why he dismissed his digestive system (my guess: vivisection fun times with Aro in Volterra. Carlisle couldn’t have done it on his own, and Aro is the only one mad and curious enough to be down for that). I’m getting off-topic - what I’m saying is, we don’t know how vampires work, meaning I can’t build this meta off of the assumption that they have muscles. I simply can’t know for sure that they do.

The important thing is that a vampire’s physique is a deciding factor in how strong they are.

There’s also Laurent’s warning about James, that he has “unparalleled senses”, meaning some vampires are better at sight, hearing, and smell than others. I can believe that, because we have canon examples of vampires being bad at tracking.

There’s Edward in Port Angeles, who couldn’t track Bella’s, his singer, scent to her location, and (I admit this one is conjecture but it’s so probable that I say it goes) Carlisle’s creator, who after taking care of the mob must have realized he’d bitten one of the humans, meaning a newborn would soon be loose in London. This is punishable by death by the Volturi. The fact that he didn’t return to finish Carlisle off means that he was unable to find him. I remind the audience that Carlisle was bleeding and suffering the effects by a venom intended to paralyze the victim. To put it this way, Carlisle wouldn’t have survived James, or anybody with a trace of tracking competence. By comparison, Carlisle was able to locate a dying Rosalie by the smell of her blood, even though there wouldn’t have been a trail for him to follow, as her body had not been moved.

When it comes to these disparities in strength and speed among the Volturi, I imagine Jane and Alec are the physically weakest members of the guard, and among the slowest. They’re prepubescent, meaning no muscle for them, and their height (a humble 4′8″ and 4′10″) implies very short legs. They’re simply not going to get as far as an adult would, not in the same number of steps. Renata at 5′0″ is another tiny vampire lady who likely isn’t very strong or fast.

That’s not to say I think these physically weaker members of the Volturi guard are necessarily useless in hand-to-hand combat, Alec at least is a boy stuck in a playful age, and the males around him are trained warriors. He’s probably picked up a few things over the years.

As for the others, Aro is described as frail-looking, which hints at him being quite thin. I don’t think he’s weak, if he couldn’t win a fight he wouldn’t be around, but I do think he’s probably below average in terms of strength. Caius I picture as a Harrison Ford type, so of course I’m gonna think he’s a bit burly, but this is me headcanoning and not actually hinted at in canon. Marcus is 19, so I imagine he can only be so strong.

Back to Edward’s speed.

He’s a 6′2″ teen, that’s code for “very long legs”, though I’m actually going to go ahead and posit that he’s not actually that fast. Strap in for this next part:

The guy was a teenager who lay dying for an undisclosed amount of time. The fact that Carlisle had the time to get to know his mother points to a few weeks, at least. And Edward was very ill:

Elizabeth worried obsessively over her son. She hurt her own chances of survival trying to nurse him from her sickbed. I expected that he would go first, he was so much worse off than she was. (New Moon, page 21)

Muscles atrophy quickly, never more so than when you’re a teen ravaged by fever, on your deathbed. And as I’ve explained above, I think your physique in life ties directly into your vampiric prowess.

I think Edward is certainly the physically weakest of the male Cullens, quite likely weaker than Rosalie as well, maybe even Esme.

Now, speed is not the same as strength. However, for humans, the two are connected. It’s the muscle fibers in our legs that determine our speed. Basically, type I fibers make an enduring runner, type II fibers make a speed runner. So, assuming that vampires retain their human musculature, one could argue that Edward had a lot of type II in life. However, Carlisle when he was human was able to outrun the mob he was with:

He ran through the streets, and Carlisle — he was twenty-three and very fast — was in the lead of the pursuit. (Twilight, page 158)

Carlisle clearly had a lot of type II fibers, and unlike Edward he was in peak physical condition when he died. He was also an adult who’d had more time to develop musculature, while Edward was a seventeen-year-old. If musculature was a deciding factor, one would think they would at the very least be of equal speed, though realistically Edward should be slower.

So, if it’s not muscles, what is it that makes Edward faster than the others?

It could be a matter of technique. Except, the way Bella describes movement when she wakes up as a vampire, it’s all very automated. Her body knows exactly how to do everything, and executes it without much input from her:

After that first frozen second of shock, my body responded to the unfamiliar touch in a way that shocked me even more.

Air hissed up my throat, spitting through my clenched teeth with a low, menacing sound like a swarm of bees. Before the sound was out, my muscles bunched and arched, twisting away from the unknown. I flipped off my back in a spin so fast it should have turned the room into an incomprehensible blur—but it did not. I saw every dust mote, every splinter in the wood-paneled walls, every loose thread in microscopic detail as my eyes whirled past them.

So by the time I found myself crouched against the wall defensively—about a sixteenth of a second later—I already understood what had startled me, and that I had overreacted. (Breaking Dawn, page 251-252)

Growling, crouching - those are all distinctly vampiric, non-human ways to act. Bella didn’t learn this, her body knew it of its own accord. When she later runs, she explains it as happening the same way - she just does it.

The way Bella experiences it, vampiric movement is like a package she downloaded, and that executes her instinctual commands with no need for her to actually know how to do any of this. Her grace is another example of this - Bella Swan may be in charge of her own consciousness, but the venom is entirely in control of her body.

Given these facts, I don’t think it’s technique that makes Edward a better runner than others. His technique is likely similar to everyone else’s. If it isn’t, if technique is what makes the difference, then who is and isn’t fast is an arbitrary process.

With that, we get to my controversial theory about why Edward is the fastest Cullen: he’s not.

Running and being fast is the only thing about vampirism that Edward enjoys. This is for another meta, but Edward is extremely depressed about every single other bit of it. Every aspect of being a vampire torments him.

Except the running. He enjoys all of it, especially being the fastest, so much. And as a newborn, he would have been faster than Carlisle.

But after that, when his newborn strength faded…

I honestly think that Carlisle decided to just slow down a bit when running with him, let Edward have this. It’s no skin of his back, and it makes Edward happy, so why not.

Esme joins the family, and of course she would be down for this. Nothing is more parental, more maternal, than losing at checkers to make your child happy, after all. Could also be she’s not very fast herself, but even if she were then she would downplay it to make Edward feel like Jesse Owens.

Enter Rosalie, who would think it’s completely ridiculous, yes, but she would also recognize this excellent opportunity to call in a big favor from Carlisle later on. There’s also the fact that I think Carlisle has a gift (yes, yes, meta is coming, people) that makes him very persuasive people. And also that for all that Rose gets a lot of bad rep, she is very generous and loves her family, if being fast makes Edward happy then alright.

Emmett is an easy-going guy, he goes along with things. Alice adores Edward and would go along with it. She also has tiny matchstick legs and couldn’t outrun him if she tried. Jasper could not care less.

Bella does get outrun by Edward after waking up, but she also did zero exercise in life (listing this in case musculature matter), had Renesmée devour her from within rendering her emaciated, and then died like a slasher movie murder victim. There’s not a lot of blood in her, and what little blood there is doesn’t have a lot to work with. She does defeat Emmett at arm wrestling, so I’ll concede that. However, there are enough extenuating circumstances surrounding Bella that I think my “Edward isn’t that fast” theory survives his ability to outrun her.

So, I believe Edward is the fast Cullen because Carlisle told a white lie in 1919, no one ever corrected that, and now it’s too late.

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

Hello! I love your writing and I’m having trouble with my English assignment right now, we’re supposed to right about how we think the afterlife is and I don’t know where to start. Could you help me out?

think i literally did this in response to a @writing-prompt-s​ post once. hold on

“You, an atheist, have died. All the gods that have ever been line up to offer you their version of heaven if only you believe in _them_. Turns out souls are currency and yours is up for grabs.“

There are many Gods. They speak, and I am tired. A mass of voices coiling around me, each telling their own tale. They speak over one another, they talk to me, they do not listen. And I am tired.

Currency. Is this what I am to them?

They will not stop speaking. They offer me things. They will take me to my loved ones. They will gift me joy and music. They will have me serve, in their armies, in their choirs. Some tell me stories of how they made me. From clay. From nothing at all. Some tell me they love me, small as I am, that I am their creation and so their child.

Above all, they repeat their stories. They talk incessantly of their power, their battles, of the ways and reasons they are feared. How long will they talk? Time does not happen here. It is so much effort to stay. Effort to maintain. Effort to exist.

So many Gods. Gods whose names I had already heard. Modern Gods whose human disciples still speak their names. Obscure Gods whose stories were written on tablets, on scrolls, thousands of years before, whose only proof and records were discovered underground, in caves, in ancient lands. Every God there ever was. They are all here with me. They have been talking for years. They repeat their stories. Their stories are important to them. They demand, plead for my attention.

I died knowing I was dying. I died as I lived, believing in no Creator, no great demiurge, and no final salvation from death. Knowing that gods were stories we told. I believed only in the universe. That it existed before me and would continue without me.

And it has.

The voices scream their stories. Why are they so desperate for me? Despite their insistence, I know what I knew before. My truth is unchanged. My truth is of the universe, of its physics and particles, of its probable beginnings, of its possible ends. Of the simple fact of existence.

These gods are not my creator. I was created by a long line of life, of unlikely Life happening and colliding and continuing. Eons. Three, four eons, billions of years all lined up behind me, all of my predecessors, their lives and their stories, they are my chapters and I am their sum. I am the story of Life, in all its improbably glory. And gods are as old as humans, but I am as old as Life, and Life is much older.

I think I’ve solved it. I think I know why they seek us. They want what Life wants. To exist. To continue. They need their legends told, at any expense, because:

We wrote them. I said before: gods are stories that we write and tell. We are their Creators. And this is why they scream for me, for my ears, for my attention. Stories exist only so long as they are told. Gods exist only so long as they have a listener. And I know they have nothing to offer me. There are no rooms, there are no gates, there are no hallways, no crowds for me to join. They only keep me here to listen. If I accept an offer, what then? Will they stop speaking, disappointed, and leave me? Will they keep delaying? Will the god of my choice sweep in, desperate, and keep me here as long as I can be convinced?

All of my being is tired. Life is not meant to persist this long after it is through. My presence and existence, temporary from the start, is loosening and loosening. All of my pieces beg to be released. I was not made to last.

I am through. I have given these voices enough.

So I do what life does when it is finished. I dissolve, and return to the world.

[mythandtruth]

Voltron theories

The Galra adaption

One thing I know about Galrans is that they come in all shapes and sizes. Unlike any other aliens in the Voltron show, the Galrans were way more colorful. Also notice that some half breeds look completely like the first parent and others look like their Galran parents, while the rest are mixed? So why is that the case? 

Well it is true that even in our human society some children can look more like the second or the first parent while others can look like a complete mix of those two, I never saw children adapting to the look of their parents through the time.

Also this can all be just something creators decided without any particular reason, but can actually add more to the story.

I have a theory that Galra are chameleon's race, just like Alteans with some differences. Because they were a warrior race, Galra were able to adapt to any looks or environment similar to how Alteans can do, but more permanently.

The only clue I have for this is actually the Keith, since the show did not go too far in any other Galrans or half Galran’s lives.

We noticed that Keith was born on Earth and because at the time, his mom was stuck on Earth and was only surrounded by humans she was able to give birth to a half breed that looks completely human. The last three seasons we noticed that Keith began to adapt some Galran features. 

Theory is that by staying on Earth during her pregnancy and wanting to stay there and cut her ties to the Galrans, Crolia made Keith human-like during the pregnancy, but as Keith spent much time with blades he was slowly adapted to their culture and way of living, thus slowly adopting physical abilities of the Galrans too.

The other proof for that would be Lotor himself. We know that he is a perfect mix of his parents but he does not have the ability to change his skin color or his shape even though he did possess Altean magic abilities. He said that Altean magic should have allowed him to change, but he did not. It could also be because he spent all of his childhood with Galra, and because of that he never connected with his Altean heritage. It is possible that that was one of the reasons why Zarkon did not allow him to know anything about this mother, although there were many more.

He did adore Alteans but still was unable to adopt their abilities. This might be because Alteans were just a test subject for him and his feelings toward them were not genuine. I believe that if he spent more time with Allura or Alteans he would change his abilities. Maybe his magic powers awakening were a result of him spending quality time with Allura?

I know that this theory doesn’t have many clues, but I believe this is why Galra came in so many forms and why they are able to breed with so many other aliens; although I do have a theory about them not being able to have healthy half breeds.

I also believe that Galrans can adapt to any species, not just the one they are connected to by blood. This would also explain why they never stayed on any planet, they just kept expanding and winning more and more territory but never truly staying on any planet or choosing one as their new home. They only lived on their giant spaceship, never truly finding a new home. It was because they never wanted to change, they wanted to stay the same, to preserve the memory of what they once were. staying together in that one ship was the only way to do so. It would explain why they were expanding, but never connecting. It would make them more sympathetic, after all none of us wants to lose tradition that we were proud of. Our looks help us see who we are, who our ancestors were, where we came from and what we can become. It would be the same for them. They knew that if they stayed they would lose what they were, and that was something they did not want.

Either way, if this was true or if it was confirmed it would actually be an interesting explanation to why Keith was slowly changing at the end of the series, and it would show that Galra and Alteans were similar in their own way. What do you think about this theory, is it possible or is it’s just something stupid, or maybe would make VLD universe lore more interesting? What do you guys think?

[darkstarnight02]

Why the Akuma Class Doesn’t Trusts Lila Rossi

Nino

This dude is a loyal friend

Like, he’s also a loyal boyfriend, so it’s hard when his girlfriend is siding with Lila

But he’s the one who’s like

“Dudes, we’ve known Mari for years there’s no way she would do the stuff this new girl we’ve known for five minutes says she did.”

He and Kim and Mari were besties since preschool, I think we all know that.  

Adrien

I hate it when people say he tries to defend her with the high road crap

When he sees her hurting people, especially Marinette

Because lets be honest, he cares about her alot

He’s less forgiven

Like do y’all remember the “BeCaUsE We’Re FrIeNdS, aReN’t We?”

So he’s not going to try and make her life miserable

But he is going to try to get her to stop

Chloé

Let’s be honest, she never liked Lila in the first place.  

So Imma give y’all bonus “how she figured out everyone’s identities”

So once she became friends with Marinette

Cause they formed a “we hate Lie-la” alliance

(tho since Mari’s still friends with the others its kinda awkward)

Chloe’s pretty smart.  

Like, she totally could have figured it out before they became friends

But she would never have believed back then that Mari-trash was Ladybug, her idol (and lesbian awakening, lesbihonest)

But now that she’s friends with her, it’s way too obvious

And she definitely already knew about Adrien because these guys are besties

And, dudes, she never had a crush on him, she was just an overprotective best friend

And a very touchy one

To her, it’s all pretty obvious.  

She thinks that its just whatever magic thats blinding everyone of the obvious, its immune to (like low-key Rachel Dare here)

But Sabine, Tom, and Jagged probably know to because they’re all Kings and Queens.  

So Chloe figures everyone out pretty quickly.  

Sabrina

She trust Chloe more than anyone.  

But I’m not just gonna use that because its kinda boring.  

Tho Chloe is her bi crush so that definitely helps secure loyalties

Its only when Marinette becomes MDC that she realizes

and yes, Sabrina probably knows because Chloe and she also recognizes the designs from some stuff she has in her own closet.  

So anyway, she realizes Mari is MDC and she’s some famous designer and Lila is not

And Mari also knows Jagged and Clara and a whole bunch of other famous people

And she never brags about it but there’s proof that she knows them

while Lila always brags about it but she’s never been mentioned and no one knows her.  

Alya

I hate it when people say she totally sides with Lila.  

This girl knows that her bestie never lies(or at least thinks)

and some things with Lila don’t add up.  

Like she doesn’t check directly if what Lila says is true

But she’ll be doing research for something else and see’s that it contradicts something that Lila said.  

So she’ll do more research and try to figure more stuff out

And she’s like holy f*ck nothing Lila says is true.

Or, alternatively, for those of you who have watched season 4

She immediately realizes Lila’s a liar right after Marinette tells her she’s Ladybug.  

Marinette

No explanation needed.  

Mylène

Mylene notices when Lila insults one of her classmates one day.  

Even if its subtle, or just piping on the edge of her blaming Marinette for something, she notices it.  

And a good person wouldn’t say something like that,  

Like Chloe, they all expect something like that from

No one every really liked Chloe in the first place

And Mari never says anything rude

Sure, she gets angry at Chloe and Lila sometimes, and she tries to prove what they say is wrong, but she never directly attacks someone.  

I don’t know who Lila was being a bitch to this time, but it cost her a follower.  

Alix

This girl is probably one of the most Gen Z kids in the Akuma Class, which is pretty sad because they’re all supposed to be Gen Z. 

She can smell bullcrap from a mile away

Not to mention the little hints older Bunnyx drops whenever she visits.  

With the mix of her being the future miraculous holder of time and being the daughter of a historian, she’s very aware of history and timelines and cause and effects and chain reactions

So when Marinette starts ‘acting up’ she tries to find when her personality switched over

And even if she seems more like a background character, this aro/ace queen always seems to know your secrets. 

So even before she knew Lila was a phony, she knew that Mari was MDC and that Jagged Stone was Juleka and Luka’s dad

So she definitely figured some stuff out that way

Honestly, next to Chloe, Alix was probably one of the first people to figgure out Mari’s identity.  

She’s a detective to rival batman

Ivan

I think Lila would make some sort of rift between him and Mylene.  

He loves her so much and it would be so hard

And mari and her friends would help him out

and he would see the truth

They wouldn’t like break up or anything

But he can just tell immediately when someone’s being a bad person.  

Kim

Probably something similar to Nino

But I think it’d be a bit more like he’s totally a die-hard fan of some of Marinette’s connections or some of Marinette’s work itself

And when he puts the pieces together its like everything makes sense in the world.  

He really feels super stupid afterwards.  

Ondine probably slaps him for not trusting his childhood best friend before some bitchy new girl.  

Max

This is the smartest dude in class

He made a f*cking robot with emotions you can’t tell me he doesn’t figure Lila out.  

A part of me believes that in the first episode with Lila when they were all waiting on her hand and foot they were probably aware that she was kind of delusional, but were giving into it the way you give into the tales of a six year old.  

Like ‘yeah, okay sweetie.  Sure’.  

I mean, at least that’s why Max went along with the napkin thing, because there’s no other excuse for that whole incident.  

Nathaniel

I don’t totally know how he figured her out, but I love the idea of her saying that she can introduce him to the creator of the Ladybug Comics.  

They actually sit next to each other in class, so he definitely is more aware of her weird behavior than others.

And since he’s an artist he’s very observant, always noticing things like her facial expressions and what seems more exaggerated than real.  

And we all know how kwami-damned done Nathaniel is with the class, so he probably knew all along.  

Not to mention that since the rest of the school is less submissive to Lila’s lies, Marc probably pointed it out to him at some point.  

There’s also the idea that since Nathaniel is pretty much never mentioned anymore, the class forgets about him and he ends up having to spend some time with Marinette and the other outcasts

In which he realizes that they are actually good people.  

Honestly, Nathaniel probably knew all along but he’s just not a drama queen about it so Lila never bothered him.  

Rose

Girls besties with Prince Ali, one of the key components of Lila’s lies

She definitely does not want to believe that someone is capable of so much evil, and she definitely gets Akumatized when she figures it out

She goes through a lot of denial but is eventually convinced.  

Juleka

Her dad is Jagged Stone, also another key component of Lila’s lies.  

After becoming Tigris Pourpre, the holder of the tiger miraculous (that’s canon in the future), she gets a little bit more invested in cat culture

And omfg I just realized that both of our models are kittens and I just wanna DIE because that’s so cute.  

And honestly now that I’m thinking about it if she was a celebrity she would totally take after Jagged and have an emotional support tiger like Princess Jasmine. 

ANYWAY, I’m kinda getting off topic here.  

So she asks Jagged about his cat, and he’s like 

“wtf I’ve never had a cat why would I have a cat I have FANG my CROCODILE”

And she’s like but your cat...

And he’s like “Jules, darling, I wrote a song about how I replaced my family with a guitar and I have three instagrams for Fang, why would I have a feline animal?”

And she’s just like

....

And honestly she probably already knew some sh*t was up before that

Because Luka obviously, despite only having met Lila, like, once, probably, dislikes Lila severely

And also Juleka is more of an observer than a do-er so she probably saw that some stuff was up.  

[doctenwho]

Hardy’s Cure for Sadness

Hello! Sorry this took a while, I couldn’t figure out for the life of me how to start it! I loved the request, and it was so fun to write when I figured out where I was taking it! Thanks for the request! :D

I’m glad you like my work! I hope you like this one too!

Warnings: None

Word Count: 3,270

Summary: Check the prompt above!

(Gif doesn’t belong to me! Credit to the creator!)

The day had been long. You’d known when you got the job that it would be long hours and lots of dutiful work, but you’d never really thought a workplace could work you as ragged as the Wessex Police station did. You weren’t even an officer, instead a receptionist, which was quite possibly more work than being an actual officer.

Not only did you have to deal with moody citizens filing reports and asking to speak with officers, or detectives, but you also had to deal with the moody officer's upstairs who were always irritated when you phoned up for someone. They were always frustrated with you for disturbing them, when you were really just the middle man.

Then there was dealing with the media, and attempting to console people who came in upset, or angry. There was being the person who’s calls got ignored upstairs when people were busy, and you were left with antsy citizens.

And you understood it all, you couldn’t even imagine being an officer and have to deal with the gruesome parts of the job, like Danny Latimer’s murder for example.

You really couldn’t win being a receptionist at the station.

The officers barely noticed you, let alone spoke to you. A few did, a pleasant few, like Ellie Miller, who was friendly and cheerful with everyone, but the majority of the office barely glanced your way unless they needed something from you.  

It was tiring to say the least.  

You leaned back in your chair, glancing around briefly for anyone who may need you, before letting your head fall back against the office chair and rubbing at your tired eyes.  

It was just one of those days where you felt sad, but didn’t know why. It didn’t happen often, but when it did, it hit you like freight truck. It wasn’t even that you were sad about anything in general—just... blah. The kind of feeling you had where you wanted nothing more than to leave the office and tuck yourself into bed at home.  

And honestly, being stuck in the office really didn’t help those feelings.  

You gave a tired sigh, pulling yourself back towards the desk and returning your aching eyes to the screen of documents you were going over before they could be sent up to be looked over by one of the officers. A glorified proof reader is what the guys upstairs thought you were.  

It wasn’t even in your job description, but you were too nice to turn them away, and one always turned into two, and then three, and before you knew it, you were elbow deep in documents.  

You didn’t hate your job here. Everyone was nice most of the time, and as much as you liked to complain, you had it pretty good. The pay was good, and it was worth it to stick around for the few people upstairs who respected you and held friendly conversation whenever you were around.  

Plus, you always got to use the break room upstairs and take free coffee, or tea to have at your desk downstairs.  

It had its share of pros and cons like any other occupation; some days were just harder than others. And for no reason. Nothing prompted your sadness today, it was just what it was.  

It was getting quite late in the evening. You couldn’t really leave until the officers upstairs did, since you and your fellow receptionists were usually first to arrive, and last to leave. The three receptionists who swap out, the Chief Superintendents, the Detective Chief Inspector and the Detective Inspector were the only ones to have keys to the building.  

It was both a blessing and a curse. You didn’t have to wait in your car for the building to be unlocked when you arrived early, but then again, at the end of the night when all the higher ups left at their usually time, but others were still busy with cases, you couldn’t leave until they did.  

Thankfully though, it was usually DI Hardy and DS Miller who stayed later, so you could leave, so long as DI Hardy was around. He was usually good about staying behind late and locking up when he left (if he did leave for the night).

He’d been nothing but nice to you since he’d arrived. And that was a change of pace, since most of the higher ups tended to just breeze passed the reception desk to get to work. DI Hardy had been pleasant to you, at least in his own gruff kind of way.  

But still, how most of the building talks about him, you’d never have imagined him to be as nice as he was to you. He usually stopped by for conversation, thought it was a bit awkward at times. You thought it was endearing though, since he always looked nervous, but still put in the effort to talk with you when he had the time.  

Less could be said about anyone ranked higher than DI Hardy. The officers were usually friendly enough as they passed by, throwing quick greetings and friendly waves over their shoulders, but it was refreshing that Hardy too the time to check in from time to time. Especially since no one else considered a boss ever did.

You focused back onto your screen, eyes straying tiredly to anything that wasn’t bright and blinding in the evening hours. You liked to keep track of who came and went every day. You knew each member of staff by heart, so you could always keep track of when people were leaving.  

If you were correct, that meant it was just Ellie and DI Hardy working away.  

So, technically you could leave, but you did have more work to finish up before tomorrow, and you’d rather get it done now, instead of coming in early tomorrow to complete it.  

You continued on, fingers flying over the keyboard with practiced ease.  

You didn’t bother looking up from your document until Ellie appeared before you, smile bright, but tired. “You’re still here?” she asked kindly.

“Just finishing up,” you told her, hoping you’d returned the smile, “is DI Hardy still in the building?”

“He is,” Ellie gave a grimace, “sittin’ in his office staring at the files of Danny Latimer’s case.” She gave a tired sigh, rubbing her eyes. You knew the thought of the case exhausted anyone involved, Ellie and Hardy probably the most of anyone, since the two of them had been the most dedicated in getting justice for Danny. “You can leave now, if it was us who you were waiting for. Hardy will lock up when he’s on his way, that is if he even leaves.”

“That’s alright,” you gave her a small smile, “I’ve still got some work to finish up before I can head out.”

“Alright, well,” Ellie gave you another bright smile, “I’ll be off then, my boys are waiting for me.”

“Have a good night, Ellie,” you gave her a small wave as she moved towards the doors.  

“You too,” Ellie grinned, “don’t let Hardy keep you here too late, alright?”

You returned a good-natured laugh as Ellie finally stepped out into the cool evening outside the office. You watched her retreating form for a moment, before it disappeared from sight, and you tiredly let your attention drop back to your computer screen.  

You continued on working on your documents. It was a couple hours past the time the station usually closed. It made sense that the station closed relatively early, compared to stations in bigger, urban areas. In comparison, Broadchurch had very little crimes, and it was usually petty crimes such as trespassing, theft, and occasional breaking and entering.  

You weren’t sure how long you’d been staring at your screen when Hardy finally made an appearance in the room. You’d just kind of given up on typing, and was instead just staring at the screen.  

The man looked like deer caught in the headlight of a vehicle when he finally noticed you still sat at the lobby desk. He eyed you for a moment, blinking at your slouched form before clearing his throat, “(Y/N),” he bowed his head in a greeting, “what’re you still doing here? It’s late.”

“I could ask you the same thing,” you shrugged, fiddling with your fingers, “I was just finishing up a few things for tomorrow.”

The man looked you over from where he was standing across the room, eyeing your slouched position and looking all the way to your hands, which weren’t anywhere near the keyboard. You just now noticed you really didn’t look like you’d been working at all.  

How long had you been staring off into space?

“Are... are you alright?”

You blinked at the man. He was still in the exact same spot he’d been when he noticed you, but he was close enough to catch a glimpse over the tall divider protecting the computers from onlookers when they were stood at the counter.

“Yeah, of course,” you cleared your throat, you’d hoped you could’ve just hidden away, or not been noticed like how Ellie had just walked by. But Hardy seemed a bit more observant. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You just... look sad.” The man frowned, then, he seemed to back track, “not that I mean anything by that... it was just... ah, never mind. You look lovely as always.”

“No, no,” you sighed, “you’re right. I’m... well, not really sad. Or, not sad for any reason, you know? Just... blah.”

“Ah,” Hardy gave a slight nod, looking towards you before looking away abruptly. “I was... just heading out to eat if you’d like to join me?” He paused, glancing at you, then looking down at back of the screen in front of you, “unless you’re still working, then disregard me.”

“You wanna go out to eat now?” you asked with a raised eyebrow. Hardy once again looked like a deer caught in the headlight, blinking nervously, “I mean, I’d love to, of course, but... isn’t everything closed?”

“The bar will be open,” the man shrugged, “I’m not much of a drinker, but there’s fairly good food there?”

“Are you sure?” you couldn’t help but ask.  

You weren’t too sure what to think of this situation. Alec Hardy had been nice to you, he had since his arrival, of course. But the most interaction the two of you’d really had was when he’d occasionally bring you a tea from the breakroom; there were glances, and nods of acknowledgment, or a rare, tiny smile as he walked past. Conversations were short and sweet, and usually in passing.  

But he’d never prompted anything like... eating out. You weren’t sure he’d suggested eating out with anyone in the office, other than maybe Ellie. And that was usually Ellie talking the man into it with her friendly hard-to-say-no-to charm. Hardy liked to keep to himself, which was why you were both unsure of the current interaction, but honored all the same.  

“Sure,” Hardy have a dip of his head, looking out at the car park where your single car remained, “wouldn’t’ve offered if I wasn’t sure.”

He paused for a second, looking around before he continued in a soft voice, “I mean, I’d like if you came with me.”

And that sealed the deal for you.  

“Alright,” you gave him a small smile. “I’d like to join you.”

You almost laughed at the surprise on Hardy’s face. It was funny as much as the look was sad. You could only imagine the previous rejection that would’ve curved that look. You couldn't understand why anyone would turn the man down—they should be happy at getting anything other than the stony, hard faced detective that was keeping Broadchurch safe.  

“Right then,” Hardy cleared his throat, “shall we then?”

“Sure,” you replied, organizing your papers for the morning just a bit before standing and rounding to the other side of the desk. “To the Trader’s Hotel then?”

“Yes,” the man pushed the door open for you, and you stepped out quickly. You watched as Hardy locked the door behind himself after he’d joined you out in the chill of the ocean air. The two of you decided quickly between walking and taking your car.  

The hotel wasn’t far, but Hardy seemed to be set on you not walking back to the station alone when the two of you were finished eating. It was a nice enough night that you’d be pushing to just stroll along, but you couldn’t deny that the thought of walking to your car with the person who killed Danny Latimer still out there, didn’t scare you.  

You’d almost forgotten that Hardy still lived at the Trader’s Hotel, just because he’s been around for weeks already, and you barely ever remembered he wasn’t a native to Broadchruch.  

The drive over to the hotel was nice. It was quiet, and there was next to no traffic since the whole of Broadchurch tended to shut down in the late evening. Neither of you said very much, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence. You knew Hardy just wasn’t a talkative person, but him inviting you out to eat was nice gesture.  

Hardy led you into the hotel, taking a turn and leading you into the small bar section. Becca Fisher gave the man a nod, before noticing you following behind him. She raised a confused eyebrow, but gave you a friendly wave anyways.  

The two of you sat at a table, and Becca was quick to join you and take your orders.  

Conversation flowed relatively easily while the two of you waited for your food and drinks. Neither of you had ordered any alcohol, since you still had to drive home, and Hardy had said he wasn’t much of a drinker. You’d ordered a meal off the menu you’d had once or twice, while Hardy seemed to order a usual, since Becca didn’t even ask him what he wanted.  

The two of you talked about work. You talked of the office before Hardy’s arrival, and how much had changed since he’d come. And he told you bits and pieces of his past station and some of his memorable cases. The two of you talked about nothing relating to Danny Latimer’s case, or anything relevant happening at the station.  

“I swear,” he told you, voice light as he sipped on his water, “that was the weirdest arrest I’ve ever had to make in all my years.”

“Well, you don’t forget something like that,” you snorted a laugh into your own water. You set your glass back on the table and took another forkful of your meal, smiling widely at Hardy. “That’s hilarious.”

Becca had brought your food out quite quickly since the bar was relatively dead at this time. You dove into your food, starving after staying later than you usually did and not having eaten since lunch. Hardy wasn’t as excited to receive his food, but Ellie often complained in good fun that her boss didn’t ever eat or sleep, as far as she knew.  

He’d always seemed like a perfectly normal guy to you, just... a bit different. He was far more normal than the rest of the station thought him to be, but then again, everyone else was going off looks where you and Ellie were seeing him for more than his harsh speech and stiff mannerisms.  

Alec watched you across the table, fondly dropping his gaze whenever you looked back at him.

“What?” you could help but ask, smile small as you evened yourself after laughing at his story.

“Nothing,” he shrugged, “you have a very nice smile is all. I missed it earlier when I saw you.”

“You missed it?” you asked in surprise, furrowing your eyebrows at the man across the table, “why?”

“I don’t know,” he replied honestly, “you’ve just been a very nice person since I arrived. I know I’m not well liked, but you never really treated me any differently than you treated anyone else. I got kinda used to your smile, I guess.”

You didn’t say anything, watching him as he pushed his food around his plate more than he ate it. He looked up at you again, giving you a small smile, “it was the first thing I noticed when I met you, and the first thing I noticed wasn’t here this evening.”

You weren't sure how to respond. How was Alec Hardy this sweet, but still nicknamed ‘shit-face’ by the others in the office. Not a single other person had noticed your droopy mood. You’d been blah all day, and no one said a thing. But the first time Hardy really sees you, he’s noticed and he’s trying to cheer you up.

“No one else noticed,” you mumbled, setting your fork down on your nearly empty plate.

“They’ll all have a long time to wait before they’re observant enough to be a detective then,” Hardy said. And it almost sounded like a joke. Hardy looked towards you, giving you another tiny smile. Hardy had made a joke.  

You gave a surprised laugh, at both the joke itself, and the fact that Hardy had made a joke. You gave the man a smile, to which he returned a fond look, smiling at the smile gracing your lips.

“Are you finished eating?” Hardy asked softly, pushing his own plate away. He’d barely eaten anything, but you were not close enough to him to comment on it. Yet.

“Yeah,” you yawned, “it’s pretty late. I’m exhausted.”

“It is late,” Hardy nodded, waving Becca, who’d been watching the two of you almost the whole time you’d been sitting at the table, over for the cheque. She came over, handed him the cheque, then gathered the two plates and the glasses you’d both used for water. 

“I’m glad you could join me,” Hardy continued to speak, pocketing the cheque before you could see and pay your half, “it was far better having you here to eat with me, than eating alone.”

“I’m glad you invited me,” you gave him another small smile, “thank you for the invite, I think it was just what I needed to cheer me up. I don’t feel as sad anymore.”

“Anything to get that smile back on your face,” he replied with what you’d almost assume was an uncharacteristically sweet voice. You were starting to think he was just a big, soft teddy bear underneath all that gruff Detective Inspector, “don’t worry about paying, I’ve got a tab that Becca has added to the room.”

“Are you sure?” You frowned, almost feeling bad about Hardy paying for you. Sure, you’d come because he invited you, but you should still pay for yourself.  

“Yeh,” Hardy nodded, standing up and waiting by the table for you to stand as well, “it was my treat. I invited you. Now, you should get home. I look forward to seeing that smile of yours tomorrow.”

The man walked you out to your car, standing there until you drove away. You watched in your rearview mirror as the man turned to enter the hotel as you turned out of the parking lot. You couldn’t wipe the smile off your face if you tried. This super late meal was all you really needed, and Hardy was an absolute saint for providing it.  

And if the smile on your face the following morning wasn’t as fond and bright as the evening before with Hardy, the coffee sat on your desk, made perfectly to your liking, when you walked into the office certainly would’ve made it.  

<><><><>

Hope you enjoyed! As always, feel free to prompt again if it wasn’t what you were looking for! Wasn’t sure how to go about this, but I hope it’s alright! 

[inkedtae]

bring the pain ⇾ jjk. [M]

𝓅𝒶𝒾𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 ⇾ ON!jungkook x dancer!reader (f.)

𝑔𝑒𝓃𝓇𝑒 ⇾ requested, s2l, secret lovers, fluff, smut, a dash of angst for good measure

𝓈𝓊𝓂𝓂𝒶𝓇𝓎 ⇾  innocent glances and sweet smiles turned into secret meet-ups and dirty desires. you’re in love with the man, not his fame. is this love really worth the hate? 

𝓌𝑜𝓇𝒹 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓃𝓉 ⇾ 10.3k

𝓌𝒶𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈 ⇾ dom!jungkook, bigdick!jungkook, unprotected sex (wrap it to tap it), slight degradation, dirty talk, bondage, oral (f. receiving), bodyworshipping kink, daddy kink, hair pulling, spanking, pussy slapping, begging, lowkey filth, mentions of threats near the end

𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓇'𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓉𝑒 ⇾ thank you to the kind anon that requested this; never knew i needed to write ON!jungkook until your ask. i might have gotten carried away with the the smut part… oh well. i might have rewritten the entire plot at the last second.  if you have any requests, please send’em my way. enjoy!

It was the way you pushed yourself, he had told you. The way you didn’t quit when the others thought that you couldn’t keep up. The way that you became the lead dancer within three days despite the otherwise badgering doubts that surrounded you. That’s what drew him to you, what made him curious for more. 

Doubt and hate were two different levels of insecurity, within and without alike. Doubt was a little voice. That voice’s impact was only as effective as your mind would let it be. Hate was different. It was not a nagging of the mind, but a breaking of the heart, reaching for your soul next. Hate consumed and used, battered and beat all affection from an already wounded heart. Hate didn’t smell blood; it drew it. He did not see that yet. But, then again, neither did you. 

The day you met him was the morning of a full dance rehearsal. Management needed to see the full moving picture. They needed proof of progress and what better way to retrieve it than by organizing it themselves. It was a busy morning, filled with three different kinds of production crews: concept creators, filming directors and assistants, and video and sound recorders. The members of Bangtan were said to arrive later, once they had gone through hair and makeup and the rehearsal room was prepped for filming. 

You weren’t very sure why management needed to do a full rehearsal so soon. Usually, these kinds of rehearsals were scheduled three months before scheduled performances. This one had been pushed up to six months. And you knew that management already had a good grasp on how all the background dancers were progressing throughout practises. You had caught one or two managers, who you didn’t really recognize, sitting in one on your early morning or late night practises many times before. They always had masks on and hoods up. They wore clothes that were all too baggy to make out a proper frame and their faces remained too covered to make out proper features of any kind. When you had asked one of the choreographers about it, they just said that it was management’s way of being discreet. You thought it only made them that much more painstakingly obvious, but you didn’t push the topic any further and returned to your place to practise the motions once more. 

“Ow,” Harin muttered under her breath. She scooted closer to you, pulling her legs into her chest as the camera crew got their wires in order. 

You turned to her, assessing the damage on her fingers as she rubbed them. “You alright?” 

She nodded. “That’s the fourth time,” she huffed, glaring at one of the men holding a camera. 

You bit the inside of your cheeks, resisting the urge to tell her that if she had followed the rules the moment they were given, then she wouldn’t have been stepped on at all. Everyone was told to remain around the centre of the room, letting the crews do what they had to on the sidelines. Her failure to comply couldn’t have led to anything less.

“I’m sorry about that,” you mumbled, avoiding her eye. The statement wasn’t a complete lie. You really didn’t want to see her, or anyone for that matter, hurt at all. But all you could hear when you saw her were those backhanded compliments she gave you when you first started rehearsing about three months ago. 

That’s pretty good for a beginner, she told you. Skilled footwork would have played that slip-up off without anyone even noticing, she said as she stared down at you when you had tripped over her slip-up. She helped you up that day, only to push you back down again. 

A loud clap drew you out of your thoughts. You redirected your attention to the front. Mijin stood before all the dancers, gesturing them to stand up. You smiled at her and she returned it while others wrapped up their conversations. You were really for Mijin. Had she not believed in you, you probably would’ve been cut a while ago and replaced. She was the only choreographer that stood up for you when you first started.

“Remember,” Mijin repeated for what felt like the thousandth. “Do not speak unless spoken to. This is not an opportunity to ask for photos or autographs. Please maintain professional conduct at all times.” She’d been telling everyone this for the past week, urging everyone to adhere to the NDA contracts they signed. 

You could feel Harin shiver with excitement beside you. She fixed her hair one last time in the mirror before for trying to calm herself down. You couldn’t really blame her. You were really excited too. You’ve been following Bangtan’s journey for a while, their struggle to be heard and taken seriously resonating with you on levels you couldn’t bear to recall. But, your nerves took over your excitement by a long shot. You were too nervous to expel your excitement like Harin did, or any other dancer for that matter. While they whispered to themselves about the member’s arrival and shifted about in their places, you stood perfectly still. Your entire body stiffened, out of fear or panic, you weren’t really sure. All you knew was that you were probably going to have to stretch again to not risk pulling any muscles during practise. 

The chatter amongst the dancers died out as the members entered. Your breath hitched at their tall, perfectly sculpted figures. You knew they were beautiful, but this was simply another degree of beauty you had ever witnessed. You realized in that moment that not a single camera could properly capture the beauty that was them. Those pictures you had seen, gifs you’ve stared at and videos you’ve replayed so many times you couldn’t count, only held a fraction of them. Looking into their eyes in person was enough to tell you that they were not entirely the same people they advertised themselves to be as well. They were more. They were flawed and flawless all at once, smiles hiding the exhaustion of the industry. You supposed that was the price for reinventing art. 

As you scanned down the line, your eyes caught a doe-like gaze. Jungkook flashed you half a smile that only just met the dazed look in his eye. You felt your cheek heat up a bit as you returned it. You never really had a distinctive bais; they all kind of stuck out to you in their own way. You knew that if you had met them under different circumstances than you might have all been friends. However, that was a fantasy you didn’t dwell on too much. The reality was before you. They are famous; you were not. This was their show; not yours. You were only a moving piece of the puzzle that was this very concept; nothing more, nothing less. 

But Jungkook’s eyes told you a different story. You didn’t regret listening to them, getting lost in the wonders that they were. You didn’t regret anything, besides the consequences of your colliding worlds. 

“Two, three,” Namjoon started before they all joined in, “Hello! We are BTS!”

They bowed and you returned it, just as you were instructed. Mijin wasted no time ushering everyone to their places. She told the members to do as they practised themselves and move around us as they had done without us in their private sessions. 

You took your place in the front, practically centred. From your position, you could still feel Jungkook’s eyes on you. No other member had spared you another glance, here to do their work and carry on with their day. Jungkook, however, hadn’t let himself break away from your figure once. You dared a look over at him through your lashes. He must have interpreted your stolen glance as something more than it was. Maybe he was right and you just didn’t fully process your actions before doing them. Whatever the case may be, he still raised a brow at you and you still blushed. 

The music began and you moved with it, following the beat, remaining in sync, nailing every sharp turn or bang of drum. You were able to ignore his eyes until you looked up, the drum you were holding hovering above your head and Jungkook staring down at you as he danced. And fuck, did he dance well. You already knew this about him, but seeing it in person only further proved his talent. He smiled, not missing a single beat then handed you back the sticks, rough fingers brushing yours.

You had to practise for three hours, going through the same motions over and over again. He would always smile when he caught your eye, brush his hands against yours, and stare at you when he thought you weren’t looking. By the time everyone was allowed a break, you were exhausted. You sat on the floor, chugging down your water and trying to catch your breath. You knew that sitting down after such an intense workout would only stiffen your muscles and make you have to stretch all over again, but you just really felt like you couldn’t stay standing for the life of you. 

Jungkook still had his attention on you, you could tell from his reflection in the mirror. You blushed a bit, growing embarrassed by the fact that you were extremely sweaty to the point that any hair that had fallen on your face, clung to your forehead. In an attempt to fix it, you took your hair out of the high ponytail it was in and began to pull it all back once more. You were so focused on your task that you didn’t notice Jungkook’s reflection make its way to yours.  

“Hi,” he smiled, and bowed. 

You tightened your hair as you looked up at him. Somehow, within the panic coursing through you, you managed a small smile and nodded your head at him. “Hello,” you whispered, dropping your hands down to your lap. 

Jungkook gestured to the floor asking, “can I?” 

His request shocked you a bit. You had thought all this staring was in your head, that maybe he was just zoning out or looking at the cameras behind you. The thought that he actually might be interested in getting to know you at all was flattering, but still extremely confusing. You were simply  some back-up dancer, a common face lost between others in the background. 

His eyes searched yours as you stared up at him. You hadn’t realized you didn’t reply yet until one of his brows shot up. Blinking repeatedly, you pulled yourself back to reality and you nodded. A little blush tinted your cheeks as he beamed at you again. He had the cutest smile, the kind of cute that melted and filled your heart all at once. 

“You’re a great dancer,” he started after seating himself across from you. You opened your mouth to mumble a quiet thank you, but he continued, “I was just talking to some of the guys about it.” The tips of his ears reddened as your brows shot up at him. He opened his lips to speak, but his words seemed to fall short. 

You weren’t really sure what to say. Was he flustered, or hurt? The panicked look in his eyes could be applied to either, only confusing you even more. Why would he be flustered around you though? Yes, you had been exchanging glances the entire time, but that could hold countless meaning. You felt your stomach recoil with disappointment at the thought that he might not be as into you as you were into him. But, you needed to ground yourself, to remind yourself of the reality of the situation; you were just another face in the crowd.

He gaped at you, trying to find his words, as you slightly tilted your head at him. “You okay?” you asked. You tugged your bottom lip with your teeth, nervously chewing on it as his face suddenly lost all readable expressions. You could only assume, based on his relaxed jaw and wide eyes, that he was lost in some sort of trance. 

“Jungkook?” you asked, searching his eyes for an answer. 

A quiet sigh escaped him and he suddenly stood up. “Uh,” he started, glancing back at his friends. 

You leaned over a bit, sneaking a look at Jin and Jimin silently giggling to themselves while looking over at the two of you. Was all this just some sort of joke? Heart slightly shattering, you scolded yourself for indulging in your delusional thoughts about his actions. You looked back up at him, eyes reflecting a disappointment you didn’t have the strength to hide.  

Jungkook must’ve picked up on your thoughts because he suddenly squatted back down to your eye level. You watched him carefully. You wanted to be sure that whatever conclusions you drew from his next words were accurate and not just wishing thinking on your part. His adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed thickly. The sudden urge to lean over and pepper his neck with kisses hit you and you had to remind yourself that you were in a huge room filled with lots of people and that you needed to pull yourself together. 

“I’m sorry. I just- I um, the thing is that I-,”

You never got to hear the rest of that sentence as he was cut off by Mijin. She towered over both your frames, glaring down at you in particular. Fear overtook your mind, your heart beating so loud in your chest, you could hear the pounding in your ears. One look at her was enough to tell you that she won’t believe a thing you have to say about him talking to you first. 

Slowly tearing her warning stare from you, she looked to Jungkook and began to apologize. “I promise you we spoke to all the dancers about not bothering you. I thoroughly apologize for her behaviour.”  

“No, no,” he quickly replied, standing back up to his full height. “I was the one that approached her.”

Mijin raised her brow at you, confirming your thoughts. You weren’t really sure what the consequences were exactly, but knew that they weren’t going to be the best. “Thank you for understanding,” she smiled at Jungkook, all but dismissing him from the conversation. 

You stood up, clasping your hands behind you as Jungkook stared between you and Mijin. He seemed to finally get the hint that he was not needed in this conversation anymore and muttered one last apology to each of you, eyes lingering on you as he backpedaled back to his members. 

Mijin muttered for you to follow her and led you out of the rehearsal space. You walked behind her like the guiltless person you were. You did not technically break any of her rules. She told you not to speak unless spoken to and that was exactly what you did.

She didn’t seem very happy with your attitude when you finally reached the hall. “I didn’t expect this from you, (Y/N),” Mijin whispered, the disappointment clear in her voice. 

You lowered your head down as she spoke, accepting the scolding without a word. You weren’t going to challenge her or correct her knowing how well that attempt worked for Jungkook. You knew the best thing for you to do was silently receive this lecture and promise not to let it happen again.

“You are the last person I thought I’d have this conversation with. Their team is very adamant on not having them be distrubed. I really do not want to have this conversation with you again.” She crossed her arms over her chest and sighed, “look at me.”

You silently met her unimpressed gaze. 

“You’re a valued dancer so I can’t reposition to the back like I’ve done to the others who tried to pull the same thing you did. But, I need to make sure you don’t do this again so you’re in charge of cleaning up the rehearsal room after practise tonight. I’ll have one of the janitors leave you everything you need. The moment everyone is out of there and you’re done changing, I want that room cleaned.”

You supposed she was being as lenient as she could. It wasn't exactly the best outcome, knowing how gross that room gets after a hard rehearsal, but you were thankful that you didn’t get pushed to the back. You had really worked hard and to have it all be taken away from you like that would’ve really been a big blow to your ego. 

“I understand. I’m sorry about it all and I promise it won’t happen again,” you reassured. 

She gave you a close-lipped smile, the same kind your mother gives you when she can’t help but forgive whatever stupid thing you did that set her off. After patting your shoulder, she nodded for you to return back into the room. 

Jungkook continued to watch you all through rehearsal and, though you promised not to interact with him or any of the guys, you still met his eye and shared a smile. Your heart simply couldn’t deny him whatever attention he wanted. 

The practise fully ended three and a half hours later. Your body was completely torn with exhaustion and all you really wanted was to go home and take a long, hot bath to soothe your aching muscles. Your punishment still hung over your head though. Mijin reminded you about getting it done while you were leaving to change. She said that a list of what to clean will be left for you as well. 

You didn’t really take your time changing. You just wanted to go back in there and finish everything you needed to quickly so you could go home and shower the entire practise off. You swapped your sweaty t-shirt and sweatpants for a lavender patterned dress that ended just around your mid-thigh. It hugged your waist nicely, but flowed out beneath it. You found it very breathable and it was one of your favourites. 

The reek of the practise room didn’t really hit you until you reentered it. It was the hearty proof of a whole team’s hard work but it still overwhelmed you. You made your way to the windows position high up on the wall to crack it open and air out the room a bit. Standing on your toes, you reached and reached for the handle to turn it open but continuously fell short. A frustrated sigh escaped you as you began to look around the room for some leverage to stand on. 

“Need some help?” 

Your entire body froze as his sweet voice met your ears. He wouldn’t actually come back, would he? You turned to find Jungkook leaning against the doorframe, wearing an oversized black shirt and some baggy black pants. The sight was nothing short of breathtaking. He seemed more collected now than he did before, smiling lazily at you. 

Your brows came together as you watched him carefully. “Yes, please,” you replied before stepping aside as he made his way over to you. 

Jungkook held your gaze, nodding at you like he was greeting you all over again. You gave him a nod back and resisted the urge to laugh. It was clear he was trying to play it cool, acting indifferent as to whether or not you even gave him your attention. It was only later in your relationship when he told you Jin had given him that advice and even walked him through it a couple of times while waiting for you to finish changing. 

His shirt rode up a bit, making you blush, as he reached for the handle, failing the first time as well. His face briefly tilted to the side as he realized how much of a challenge it really was. He reached up again, able to hold onto the windowsill and hoist himself up just enough that his toes only just brushed the floor. In the quickest motions you’d ever seen, he turned the window open, letting the cool spring breeze air the room out. 

“Thank you so much,” you smiled as he hopped back down. 

He offered only a little shrug as he tongued his cheek. His eyes then fell on the cleaning supplies and all previous nonchalant attitude left him, concern and guilt taking its place instead. “Is that because of me?” He questioned as he walked towards them. 

You followed him, having to somewhat jog just to keep up with his fast strides.“Uh, not exactly,” you said, not really wanting to lie to him but also not wanting him to feel bad about it either. He turned to raise a brow at you before picking up the list of things that need to be done. “It’s really not that big a deal,” you shrugged. 

Jungkook didn’t react to your words. He seemed all too immersed in the list that you questioned if he even heard you. You took a step forward, leaning a bit to meet his gaze but he didn’t acknowledge it, probably still not noticing you had moved at all. You took a quick step back when he suddenly looked up and began to grab a spray and cloth. “I’ll clean the mirrors and you could sweep the floor then we can mop it together later,” he said, making his way to the mirrors before you even had a chance to fully register his words. 

Your eyes followed his frame to the other end of the room as you froze in place. Confusion took over your features and you were slightly concerned by his behaviour. “Um, what are you doing?” You met his gaze in the mirror. 

He gave you a small smile and replied, “Cleaning the mirror like I told you I would.”

“Yes, but why?”

His hands dropped to his side and he turned to face you. “I got you into this mess. It’s only fair I help you out a bit. And I know you’re probably tired from practise anyway so the sooner we get this done, the sooner you can go,” he explained then turned back to the mirror. 

It was clear that he had already made up his mind and, with the innocent look in his eyes, you really couldn’t find it in you to refuse him once more. A sigh escaped you as you took the broom and carried out your punishment. Every so often, you’d look over at him expecting to find him looking at you. His concentration latched onto the task he assigned himself, mouth slightly agape and brow furrowed as he rubbed the mirror clean. It was rather endearing, watching him give his full to such a normal task. It wasn’t like he was asked to build a mirror, yet he cleaned it with the same effort he probably would’ve applied to building it. 

Jungkook met your gaze and you snapped your head down to the ground, sweeping around you once more. A little chuckle echoed in the quiet room. You snuck a glance back up at him to find him still looking, a little smirk playing on his lips now. “You okay?” he asked, the cockiness in his voice not at all lost on you. 

You offered him a little nod, nothing more. You didn’t trust yourself to speak, knowing your voice would betray you. He was a very hard guy to read as he switched between demeanours easily. You weren’t used to that, used to having to figure out guys. Usually, you’d be able to tell if a guy was interested or not within the first two minutes of your interaction. But Jungkook confused you more than you wanted to admit. He’d stutter and fluster then stride with confidence and flash smug smiles only to revert back to his quiet, shy attitude as he simply stared at you. 

You thought that maybe finding out what exactly he wanted to talk to you about might help you figure him out. You had been thinking about his almost-words all day, wondering if he was sent there to mess with you or if he really had something he wanted to share. He squatted down to get the last of the mirror done as you cleared your throat. You wanted to make sure you didn’t sound all breathy and out of it when you spoke to him. His attention snapped back up at you, brows raised as if to ask you what it was you needed.

“Um,” you started, before leaning against the broom. “What was it that you wanted to tell me?”

His neck grew a bit pink as he ceased all actions and stared at you. After a moment of silence, he stood up and turned to you, but kept his gaze on the floor. “Oh, that,” he said as he scratched the nape of his neck. He walked towards the cleaning supplies and set the things he was using down as he continued, “well, I wanted to let you know that I think you’re really talented.” 

Your jaw went slack, eyes wide and brows rose in disbelief. “I- really?” you asked, searching for signs of possible lies. 

He nodded, walking back over to you with a small smile playing on his lips. “Yeah, I’ve seen how you’ve improved since the first month and I gotta say that not a lot could really do that. You’re a natural.”

This was all too much at once. You knew you were a pretty good dancer, but coming from Jungkook it all seemed too good to be true. And when had he even seen you dance in the first month to know you had improved. You didn’t remember any cameras being there, documenting the group’s progress. The only people outside of the choreographers who have watched all practised were the few members of upper management. 

Your eyes fell back on his all black outfit, that shirt seeming all too familiar. The growing smile on his face only further confirmed your suspicions.

“You were pretending to be management?” you asked. He shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged as he smiled knowingly at you. “I- well, thank you, I guess,” you finally breathed, growing more and more flustered as he looked at you.

He nodded, reverting his gaze to the ground. “And, um, I kind uh, well, here’s the thing,” he restarted, looking back up at you. His eyes met yours but no words followed. He just stared at you with a slightly panicked look in his eye while his mouth remained open. You parted your lips to ask if he was alright when he finally found his voice again. “I was wondering if I could get your number,” he quickly asked. 

“Me?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you sure?”

Jungkook looked around the room with a small smile playing on his lips as he nodded again. “Who else would I be talking to?”

You breathed a giggle, rolling your eyes at his words. He redirected his grin to the ground, pleased with himself no doubt. It brought a similiar smile to your lips and you held your hand out to him, silently asking for his phone. 

However, Jungkook completely misinterpreted the gesture. His smile widened and he slipped his large hand into your small one, rubbing his thumb over your knuckles. Your breath got caught in your throat by the action, but he didn’t seem to catch onto that either. He swung your joined hands a bit, an innocent grin on his face.

“This is very nice,” you started, “but, I was actually wanting your phone, so I could type in my number.” 

His cheeks redden as he immediately let go of your hand. You giggled a bit at his flustered state. He quickly patted his pockets for his phone. “I’m really sorry,” he laughed a bit with you, before pulling his phone out of his back pocket. He fiddled around with it before handing it to you. 

Your hands brushed as you took it and he redirected his gaze to something behind you. You knew he was just trying to avoid your gaze so you didn’t bother to follow his line of sight. Your mind was way too absorbed by what he had written in the contacts name. He had your initials with a little pink heart beside it, making you blush. You spared him a glance, wondering how the hell he knew your last name when you remembered that he sat in for quite a lot of classes and most likely heard Mijin call on you by it. 

Jungkook met your gaze for a second, nervously shifting in place. It was then that you knew you could really fall for him. And that fact didn’t worry you in the slightest.

“You’re late,” you greeted as you opened the door.

Jungkook smiled widely, hoping it was enough to make up for the fact that he didn’t text or call to tell you so. It was working, but you didn’t want him know to that. You wanted to make him pay a little for making you wait so long. After casting him your best unimpressed expression, you turned around and walked back into the kitchen to check on your ramen. 

“We weren’t allowed to leave until we got the shot right,” he explained after shutting the door and kicking off his shoes. “And you know how the guys get when they’re tired.” He walked into the kitchen to find the spread you promised to make him this time all laid out. An excited smile graced his lips as he took it all in. “Is this a preview of what I’d be coming home to?” he asked. 

You hummed in response, keeping your back to him as you portioned out the noodles. Little kisses peppered the nape of your neck and moved up your jawline as muscular arms wrapped around your body. You blushed, turning your face away from him so he won’t see. It only made him tighten his grip, his body now pressed against yours. A giggle escaped you as you tried to fight off his hold. He laughed into the kisses, keeping you in place without much effort. 

“Okay, okay,” you laughed, finally turning to face him. 

A soft smile greeted you before you were pulled into a sweet kiss. You could never get tired of his kisses, not realizing how much you needed them in your life until you had them. A little whine left you when he pulled away. 

Jungkook leaned his forehead against yours, whispering, “I’m sorry; I should’ve let you know.”

You shrugged, fighting off a smile. “It’s fine, I knew you’d be late so the food’s not that cold anyway.” 

Jungkook tilted his head at you, tightening his grip once more. You laughed as he attacked your neck with kisses again. 

“If you wanted my attention, you should’ve just asked, babe,” he smirked against your jaw. His lips trailed up your chin, placing teasing little pecks around your lips too. 

You tried to fight off a smile and catch his lips with yours but he skillful dodged them, too keen on teasing you. “Jungkook,” you exclaimed in frustration. You parted your lips to tell him off when he finally gave into your request, pressing his lips to yours. His tongue gently nudged yours and you quietly moaned onto the kiss, feeling a blush spread across your chest. 

He pulled away with a smile, those cute teeth on full display. He didn’t say anything for a while, just stood and gazed back. “I love you,” he murmured, brushing the tip of his nose on yours. 

You’ve only been dating for about five months, spending every free second you had together and he’d already confessed his love for you multiple times. You’ve always returned it, mirroring his smile and shy eyes. You knew you loved him, and meant it every time you said it, but this time you felt it with every ounce of your being. Every part of you melted into his frame, drowning in everything that was him. Your lips sweetly latched onto his again, a softer take on the kiss you previously shared. “I love you too,” you smiled. 

“Good,” he smirked. He gave you one last peck before reaching behind you and grabbing the two bowls of noodles. “Now, let’s go eat before the food gets cold.”

You let out a little sigh as you watched him walk away, already missing his warmth. You knew that if you called him back, he’d gladly agree to heat the food up later and humour every one of your desires right now. But, you could tell from the tired look in his eyes, that he was trying hard to fight off, that he really needed to relax. You turned to the rest of the plates instead and took them to the table.

Jungkook had set your plates beside each other rather than across, making you furrow your brows. He usually liked his own space when he was eating to be able to move freely, and you never really took offence to that, knowing that sometimes you wanted that same courtesy. You searched around for him to find his broad back. He was hunched over the bluetooth speaker in the living room, looking between the speaker and his phone to probably try to connect them. You thought that maybe he was excited to put some music on, seeing as he usually always is, and didn’t think to set the plates properly. You took the liberty of doing that yourself, placing the kimchi and beef plates down in the middle and resetting the bowls of noodles across from each other. 

As you walked back into the kitchen, you heard Jungkook call over the music he chose, “Babe!” You grabbed the wine glasses and bottle before walking back to the table, humming your concern. “You don’t wanna sit next to me?” He asked with a playful smile, resetting all the plates so that they were easier to reach from one side of the table.

“You do?” You raised a brow at him as you set down the glasses. 

He took the bottle from you and nodded. “Maybe I missed you today,” he shrugged as he poured some into the glasses. You sat down, taking a sip of your drink as he continued. “Didn't you miss me?” The smug tone in his voice made you roll your eyes at him. 

You kissed his cheek when he sat down beside you, slightly staining his red from the wine. You brushed your thumb over the area, wiping the colour away. He took a bite of his food, groaning out his approval as you pushed his fringe back a bit. A blush coloured your cheeks at his reaction. 

“You’re not overreacting, are you?” you questioned with a smile playing on your lips. 

“Oh my god,” he mumbled around his food. “You can’t fake this,” he insisted, shoving another piece of meat in his mouth. 

You giggled and began digging in as well. “Who’s covering for you this time?” you asked before taking another bite. 

“Jin,” he replied before chugging the last bit of his wine. “I promised to buy him lunch tomorrow in exchange for his help,” he sat back, looking at the wine bottle as if wondering if he should have another glass. 

You chuckled at his spaced out expression, knowing he was serious debating how badly he wanted another glass. He looked at you, a small smile dancing on his lips. “Want another?” he asked, leaning his arm on the back of your chair. You took your last bite before shaking your head at him. He seemed to use that as his own deciding factor, nodding along. 

His hand slid from your chair to your thigh as he smiled fondly at you. “You look so cute with your cheeks filled with food like that,” he laughed, pulling out his phone to take a picture. 

You held your hand up at the camera, trying to chew on your food faster. His hand held yours down easily, repeated the action when you used your other hand to block your face. The way he was able to easily hold down both your hands in one of his own made you blush. You rolled your eyes as he took the phone, making his giggle into his screen. He let go of your hands and began fiddling around with the picture.

You finally finished eating before saying, “you better not be saying that to anyone.” 

He furrowed his brows at you, immediately shaking his head. “Nah, this gem is mine,” he winked at you. 

You nudged his shoulder, laughing at his cuteness. He barely moved, and didn’t make an effort to even fake the effects, all too busy gazing down at his phone. You playfully exaggerated a sigh and began picking up the plates in front of you. “So obsessed,” you said, feigning annoyance in your tone as you walked back to the kitchen. 

“Obsessed?” he questioned behind you. You jumped, dropping the plates in the sink. You hadn’t heard him even stand up, let alone follow you back into the kitchen. You turned around to face him to find his body towering yours. He took a step forward, closing whatever space was left between you as his hand caressed your cheek. “I think I’m just in love, babygirl,” he whispered as he hovered his lips over yours. 

You smiled, leaning up and pressing your lips against his tenderly. Your hands, previously clutching onto the counter’s edge behind you, moving up his sides to his shoulders. “I know you are, daddy,” you replied when he pulled away a bit, watching his smirk widen and eyes darken.

He ran a gentle hand through your hair only to roughly grip onto it. A tiny whine left you but he didn’t pay much mind to it. He pulled your head back, forcing your gaze to lower to get a better look at him. His head lowered a bit as his tongue darted out and swiped a lick over your lips, earning a quiet moan from you. “What did I say about being bratty, babygirl?” he asked, voice dropping an octave. 

You gulped, pressing your thighs together as you felt yourself getting wetter. “Are you saying I’m wrong, daddy? Are you not in lov- Ah!” you gasped as his strong hand came down on your ass. You opened your mouth to apologize but it only earned you another spank, jolting your body against his. 

“Did I or did I not ask a question?” He looked down at you, a smug smirk playing on his lips. He was definitely having too much fun with this and if you weren’t starting to get needy, you probably would’ve kept talking back. 

You bit your lip and nodded, easily complying. He raised a brow, silently ordering you to answer the first question he asked you. It was all part of his game, a lesson you learned the hard way when you two were still exploring the other’s likes and dislikes when it came to the other’s body. He liked seeing you so openly compliant, melting into his every word and touch, as if you didn’t do that already. But when he was in this role, he wanted to see the desperate plea of your eyes, and feel the way you quivered and whined for him. And from the hard bulge pressed against your abdomen, you could tell that he was getting exactly what he wanted. 

“You’ll punish me if I’m bratty, daddy,” you finally answered. He must’ve been satisfied because he released his hold on your hair, patting it down gently. 

He nudged his nose against yours, slightly leaning away from your lips when you’ve puckered them for a kiss. “I don’t think you’ve fully learned that lesson yet, baby,” he said as he curled a loose strand of your hair behind your ear. 

You hummed, the sound somewhere between a moan and chuckle. You were way too eager to see what he had in mind and it was all too clear to him. You could tell by the way his eyes flashed with amusement that he was enjoying seeing you so excited about it. However, he quickly recovered, eyes darkening once again as he gripped your ass with both hands. You gasped, giggling against his neck as your hands slid down to his chest. 

“You’re having way too much fun,” Jungkook laughed, leaning back to look at you. 

You raised a brow, trying to fight off a blush and asked, “And you’re not, daddy?” 

His lips quirked up in a mocking smile before he reached his hands to the back of your dress, tearing it apart in one swift motion. The thin straps fell off your shoulders, his chest against yours the only thing keeping it up. “Kookie,” you whined, reaching a hand back to feel the ripped seams. “This was one of my favourites.”

Jungkook chuckled, smirk widening as he rolled his eyes. Your skin prickled with goosebumps at the sight then from the cold as he moved back enough to let the dress fall. “I’ll buy you another, baby,” he promised, eyes shamelessly wandering down. 

“I don’t another,” you pouted as he gazed at your breasts. You weren’t wearing a bra, the dress not necessarily calling for one so your nipples instantly hardened from the sudden cold. 

He dragged his eyes back up to yours, looking less than impressed. “You walked around all day without a bra, baby?” he questioned before circling around your naked frame. 

You instantly felt small with him somewhere behind you. You could only just feel the faint fan of his breath over your shoulders. He placed both hands on your hips and gently guided you to the counter. You weren’t really sure what he had in mind. Usually, at this point, Jungkook would have carried you somewhere more comfortable, somewhere he could press your face into as he fucked you relentlessly. 

He stopped you the moment your hips were pressed against the edge of the counter. The clatter of his belt filled the room, making you wet with anticipation. He was really drawing this out more than he normally did. Before you could even think to question his actions, both your hands were pulled back behind you. His belt wrapped around them, tightening the restraint to ensure you couldn’t break the hold. 

“Daddy?” you asked, looking back at him over your shoulder. 

Jungkook froze at the tone of your voice. He pushed your hair out of your face, leaning towards you and placing a sweet kiss to your cheek. “You remember the safe word, baby?” he murmured, that loving tone of his returning as he stroked your hair. 

You nodded, replying, “gold.”

He softly smiled and nodded. “Do you wanna use it?”

You shook your head, biting your lip. 

The switch flicked back on, eyes darkening once again. “Then shut the fuck up, babygirl.” He pushed you down over the counter. 

You were on your toes, ass propped up as you whined at the coldness of the marble beneath your naked torso. You squirmed, trying to look over your shoulder at him. He was in the middle of stripping, taking his layers off starting with his plaid shirt then his white t-shirt. You drank in the sight of his chest, pressing your thighs together as a little moan left you. 

He must’ve noticed the action, looking up to meet your helpless gaze with his lust-filled one. He smirked and ran a hand down your spine, making your shiver and nervously giggle. “You’re too fucking sexy,” he sighed. He was most definitely horny, but the sincerity in his voice couldn’t be missed. You leaned your head back on the counter, blushing to yourself like you weren’t naked and bent over, ready for him to fuck and play with. 

His hands rested on your hips, pulling down your panties. He remained on his knees, spreading your cheeks to lick at your pussy. You helped him get better access, spreading your legs for him. His tongue flicked at your clit a few times before his lips latched onto it, sucking and licking all too erotically for you to handle. Your thighs began to tremble and he laughed.

“I barely started, babe. Don’t ruin all my fun,” he teased against your folds then lapped at them. He shook his head between your thighs, lips rubbing against your pussy. 

“Daddy,” you mewled, moving your hips against his face for more. You were so close, voice getting higher as your walls clenched around his tongue, making him laugh again. “Yes, fuck yes, daddy. Ye- fuck!” you cried out getting up to turn around only to have him push you back down. You huffed, pushing your ass back on him in defiance. How the hell did he even get back on his feet that fast? 

He kissed your back, trailing open mouth kisses up and down your spine and around your shoulders. “Were you about to cum without permission, babygirl?” he questioned, smacking your pussy this time. The wet slap echoed in your ears, pulling a pornographic gasp from your lips. He groaned in response, smacking your sensitive pussy again just to hear you whimper, “daddy please.”

“Please what, slut?” he chuckled, his cock now sliding between your pussy lips. When the fuck did he get his pants off? You hadn’t even heard the little thump of his pants hitting the floor. Did he even take them off or did he just pull his cock out, too eager to fuck you to properly undress like he preferred to do? When you felt the warmth of his legs against your thighs, you got your answer. 

You squirmed, rolling your hips to move his cock against your clit. He stood up straight, removing his lips from your back. One of his strong hands held your hips in place while the other slapped his cock up on your pussy. You squealed into the marble surface, moaning his name then correcting it to his role title when he’d smack your ass again. 

“Fuck, just ruin me already,” you begged. “Please daddy, please.” 

He leaned down to bite your shoulder and whispered, “Has my baby learned her lesson?” You nodded immediately, moaning quietly as he licked the shell of your ear. He stood back to his full height, pumping himself a bit before aligning himself to your entrance. He gave in all too quickly, but you figure he was getting pretty needy himself. He slowly pushed in, groaning with his whole chest as he gripped each asscheek of yours. “Shit, baby,” he hissed. 

Your eyes were already rolling to the back of your head. He was so big, like huge, as if he grew further while he was in you even though he was already rock hard. He was stretching your walls so delightfully, it made your mouth water for him to push his cock against the walls of your throat too. 

The moment he bottomed out, he didn’t even wait for you to adjust. He began his harsh thrusts, using the grip he had on your ass as leverage. Your moans stuttered with each snap of his hips, voice catching each time he hit or even brushed your g-spot. It always surprised you how easily he found it, like he already knew the way around your pussy. He really took the idea of ruining you to the next level, your mind already foggy with lust.

“Ah, fuck,” Jungkook whispered, groaning with you every time your moans would peak. “Is this what you wanted, babygirl?” he questioned. 

You didn’t have it in your to reply but he didn’t care, smacking your ass to ensure you’d answer. “Yes, daddy,” you mewled. Little sobs bubbled out of your throat and he bent over your frame while his hips still slammed against your ass. In this new position, you could fully feel his balls smack against your pussy. The weighty sack pounded as harshly against your clit as his cock did to your walls. 

It didn’t help your case at all that Jungkook began to kiss the nape of your neck and your head. “Shit, how the fuck are you this tight?” he whispered, his husky voice tickling your skin. 

Your tears began to surface at the conflicting rough and soft actions, your body unsure what to soak up first. Everything he did just hit you at once. “Look at you, baby,” he whispered. “Look at how good you take me. You know, I honestly believe this tight little hole of yours was made for me, babygirl, don’t you?”

You only cried out in response. He chuckled and stood back up, starting to feel your pussy tighten around him. “Ah, my babygirl wants to cum, hmm?” he moaned, sounding pretty close himself. 

“Y-yes please, da-ddy,” you whimpered through your tears. Fuck, he was way to good at this, ruining more than your pussy. Your heart would tremble every time he called on you as his babygirl or kissed you tenderly. He was fucking with more than just your pussy and knew it all too well, only making him that much more sexy and your mind that much more blown. 

“Fuck, Jungkook just let me cum!” you screamed, when he didn’t answer your pleads. You looked back at him, loose strands of your hair sticking to your tear-stained cheeks. 

Jungkook smiled, pushing your hair back. “Go on, baby,” he winked. You screamed, as you finally let yourself release your high, gushing all over him. Your legs were quaking now, along with your body and you tried to fight the hold of his belt around your wrist but he tightened all too well. The sounds of your pussy got drenched with wet slouches and sploshes of your orgasm. 

He felt himself about to unravel too but knew you still needed to ride out your orgasm, still having lots left to give him. He pulled out as one of his hands reached down to rub your clit. His other hand pumped his cock, aiming to shoot all over your ass. He underestimated the power of his shot, cum flying all over your back and arms instead, reaching as far as the nape of your neck and getting in your hair. “Fuck,” he hissed, hoping you wouldn’t be too mad about it. 

You were too consumed by the ongoing overstimulation as his fingers were still rubbing harshly at your clit. He hadn’t noticed you’ve been crying and squirming, pressing your legs together until he couldn’t move his hand anymore. “Okay, okay,” you sighed desperately. Even knowing his hand was still down there made your body tremble. 

Jungkook pulled his hand away, resting his hands on either side of you as you both tried to catch your breath. “There’s cum in your hair,” he muttered after a while. 

“I know,” you breathed. He fell silently, unclasping the belt around your wrist. You let out a sigh of relief, moving your hands to your sides to push yourself up. 

“Careful,” he whispered, watching his cum drip down your back and to your ass. He smirked to himself as he admired his work. Your pussy was all but throbbing, looking more precious than ever, and your body was covered in sweat, tears or his cum. You were a mess to say the least; a mess he made, his mess.

You turned back to him, face flushed as you reached out to hold onto him. “You okay, baby?” he murmured against your forehead. You wrapped your arms around his neck and he steadied you by placing his hands on your hips. 

“Just fine, kookie,” you smiled. “A bit fucked out, but I’m okay.” You giggled at your own words, making him smile down at you. 

He placed a gentle kiss on your forehead, walking your backwards towards the bathroom. “How about we clean you up, then fix the mess we made in there?” he suggested, nodding back to the kitchen. 

“You’re washing the dishes,” you said as you scratched the short hair at the nape of his neck. 

He hummed a half-hearted agreement, rolling his eyes a bit. “We’ll see,” he shrugged. 

“We will,” you insisted as you entered the backroom. “Hey!” you giggled after his hand came down on your ass again. This smack was lighter than the others, made to tease you and nothing more. 

“I love you,” he smiled, all annoyance in your face disappearing. You hated how easily he could fix everything with those three words.

“I love you too.”

The pictures surfaced a month or so after the release of the official music video. Someone had caught you too getting bubble tea late at night. Over fifty photos were taken, each one a different angle of every part of your conversation, capturing flattering and unflattering shots of you alike. 

The first wave of hate was mainly targeted to the way you looked, or didn’t look. “Nothing like his past crushes,” they’d note in multiple different languages, dragging everything you didn’t have through mud with your pride in tow. 

The second wave of hate was dedicated to how unfit you were for someone like Jungkook, as if they knew him like you did. He didn’t put much of a persona in front of the cameras, but there was a small part of him reserved for you, the guys, and his family. They talked about him like he belonged to them only and you simply didn’t fit the equation because you didn’t know him like they did. 

The first two waves were bearable. Hard to manage, but bearable. The third wave was the most nerve-wracking. You were too scared to leave your house, missing dance practises at other companies because of all the messages you’ve got sent to your address. You didn’t tell Jungkook about it at first, wanting to handle it on your own. Management told you this would be a risk, but you didn’t want to believe that anyone could hate a stranger that much. 

You spent the first month after receiving the letters not making any unnecessary trips out, like attending parties or lunch dates. You asked Jungkook to meet you at your house and would fake feeling sick to get him to agree to stay in. The next couple of months were all too scary to even think about leaving the house at all, even to go to work. You’d only leave every now and then to stock up on massive amounts of ramen. You talked to your agent for hours on end, explaining that you wanted to take a semi-hiatus from all practises and events as you weren’t feeling well. She pushed you on it for a while, asking if there was anything else going on behind the scenes that you weren’t sharing. You always denied it, regretting it now. 

“I just want to go out tonight,” Jungkook shrugged. “I thought you didn’t mind too much about going public after the photos.” He stroked your hair back as you rested your head on his chest. “I wanna treat you to the date you deserve.”

The smile on his face broke your heart. He looked so in love, entranced by whatever beauty he saw in you. It made him that much more ignorant to your pain and fear, to the erratic thumping of your heart at just the thought of going out. 

You avoided his gaze, nuzzling against his chest. “I rather just stay in,” you muttered. 

He huffed, ceasing all affectionate actions. His hand fell off your body, somewhere behind you as his other tucked under his head. You looked up to find him glaring at the ceiling, a scowl taking over his features. 

“Are you embarrassed to be seen with him or something?” he asked after a moment of you staring at him. He met your gaze, the hurt so evident in his eyes it was enough to swell tears in your own. He furrowed his brows, sitting up and pulling you with him. “What is it?”

You turned away from him, giving him your back as you wiped your tears away. “Nothing,” you squeaked, internally cursing at the tone of your voice. His hand rubbed up and down your back soothingly. You knew it was meant to calm you down, but it only made you want to cry even more. 

He shifted closer to you upon hearing your sniffles and wrapped his arms around your waist. “I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”

“Maybe I don’t want your help,” you snapped, pushing yourself out of his grasp.

Jungkook held onto your wrist, pulling you back to him. You turned back, regretting meeting his gaze because the confusion and pain mixed within his doe-like eyes completely shattered you. You began sobbing uncontrollably. He gasped, crawling over to you and pulling you into a strong embrace. Your body shook as more sobs left you and he rubbed your back, whispering reassurances that you couldn’t quite fully register since his voice was much deeper in a whisper than his normal tone and volume. 

“You’re really scaring me, (Y/N),” he confessed, voice slightly breaking too. “Just please tell me what’s wrong, baby.” He was practically begging you for an answer, any answer would do just as long as you talked to him about it. 

After a few more minutes of crying and him lulling you back to stuttered hiccups and ragged breathing, you finally confessed everything. You pulled the letters out, showing them to him and explained all that you have done to keep yourself safe and why you felt like you never wanted to leave your house again. You even had to switch on your privacy settings for all your social media accounts a few months back. You hadn’t been on them in months though so you weren’t really sure how that was going over.

Jungkook read through each one silently, pausing every so often to sigh or run a hand through his hair. “Why didn't you tell me earlier?” he asked. He couldn’t even meet your gaze, too disappointed with himself for not noticing all this before. “I could’ve protected you.”

“I don’t know,” you confessed, leaning back against the headboard. “I didn’t want to bother you with it.”

He furrowed his brows. “You never bother me, you know that. I told you that I don’t care what they say. They’re not the real fans, (Y/N). You’ve been so focused on all the bullshit you haven’t once looked at any of the support.”

“What support? Do you not see what’s in your hand?” You questioned. “I’m being threatened daily, Jungkook.” 

He shook his head at you. You scoffed, tears pooling once more. You couldn’t believe he was brushing you off like this. 

Jungkook looked down at the notes again, muttering, “If you had told me sooner, none of this would’ve happened. We have the best guards. I would’ve personally paid for twenty-four hour surveillance.” He tossed the notes to the side, looking back at you. He wiped your tears as he continued, “If you had logged in like I've been telling you to do for weeks, you would’ve known that all your social media accounts have filtered out all the hate. You would’ve seen the overwhelming support that I do. You have no idea who the true fans even are anymore, do you?”

You sighed, pulling your legs into your chest. You couldn’t believe how fucking stupid you were being. Everything just happened so fast, the initial leak of one of your dates already feeling like a violation of privacy. You took every cruel word to heart, deeming it the epitome of a fandom you, yourself were a part of. Why you tried to seek comfort in the hate all the trolls offered was just as backwards to you as it was to Jungkook. 

“I’m so sorry,” you croaked, trying to blink back another round of tears. “I was just scared.” You let him pull you into his lap, crawling over his legs to seat yourself comfortable. 

Jungkook hugged you tightly, scattering tiny kisses on your head. “I’m sorry I didn’t see all this sooner. I’m gonna fix this, baby,” he promised, already going to reach for his phone. 

You looked up at him through the tears as he frantically texted his manager all the details of your last few months. Your hand covered his phone, pushing it out of his view. He shot you a confused gaze. You didn’t explain, only leaned up to press your lips against his. “You already did,” you whispered. 

 “I love you,” Jungkook smiled, “and so do they.”

You nodded. “I love you,” you pecked his lips once more, “and I’m starting to love them too.”

----

note; please do not leave hate towards me or any other readers. please do not copy, repost, or translate any of my work without my permission.

[lastsonlost]

Many of the women promoting the “cancellation” of men in comics, and demanding they post the recent empty promise known as #ComicsPledge, are in fact hypocrites.  In this article, I’m going to present evidence of lies, collusion, rumor spreading, and, in my opinion, defamation and contract interference.

I personally know that they’ve colluded for YEARS to take down men. Specifically those with conservative politics and philosophies. This is an ongoing, coordinated effort. How do I know this?

Because I obtained access to their PRIVATE FACEBOOK GROUP.

This is Part 1 of the #Hypocralypse leaks

There is simply too much to put in one leak, so I will make the following three points for now.

1. The so-called Comic Book Whisper Network, which has been dismissed as conspiracy since 2016, is real, and I have hundreds of screenshots to prove it.

2. The Whisper Network has been targeting men and trying to destroy their careers, and use their connections in the comic book media to do so.

 3. Whisper Network members have acted unprofessionally and unethically at best. At worst, they have engaged in what I believe could be illegal behavior.

MY STORY

I first heard about the Whisper Network back in mid-2016 from folks I knew at Image, DC, Marvel, and later, Valiant.  Depending on who I chatted with, sometimes the group was called ‘The Women’s Network’, other times ‘The Whisper Network’, occasionally ‘The Whisper Campaign’, and eventually there were more conspiratorial names used mockingly (a friend called them a gender-swapped 4Chan, which became ‘FemChan’ to some insiders).

Regardless of the name, it was all the same group.

The same five or six names kept popping up in conversation over and again. As time ticked on, I noticed a trend on Social Media: half a decade of rumors, false allegations, cancellation attempts , and they almost always traced back to these same five or six people.  The goal of this Whisper Network, according to industry folks, was simple: choose a target, smear them until they lose their reputation, their income, and are ultimately blacklisted – opening up job opportunities for the same people who started these smear campaigns in the first place.

 Behind the scenes these “cancellations” are painted as morally or politically motivated, but in the end it’s all financial. As time passed, the group in question seemed more and more like a reality. I saw their influence. I saw things I knew to be verifiably untrue go viral online, appearing in what I thought were legit news sources. I felt angry and helpless seeing innocent people getting attacked, but did not know what to do. 

A few years passed and by 2018 almost everyone I interacted with in the industry seemed to know about the Network, from top level editors right down to the letterers. It was an open secret, but no one was willing to speak up for fear of being targeted themselves. They knew the consequences.

And after all, this was a secret network. Without proof, there was no point in going public because members would just deny its existence, and use their media connections to smear anyone who challenged them.

 THEN THINGS GOT INTERESTING

December 16, 2018, Whisper Network member Gail Simone, who joined the Network 6 years ago (4 years before the following tweet was posted), mocks “doofuses” who speculate that a “whisper campaign” exists.

At this point in late 2018, I was still skeptical of the Whisper Network’s existence. I’d heard many stories of individuals spreading rumors and lies, and plenty of malicious behavior was going on behind closed doors. Though I wasn’t ready to believe it was a coordinated effort, or collusion was involved.  Then, certain people began openly mentioning the Whisper Network and my attitude changed.

 March 26, 2019, Heather Antos, a member herself, did not outright mention the Whisper Network or her involvement, but she made what some took as a veiled threat to those who got on her bad side.

 Heather “milkshake girl” Antos’ colorful backstory at Marvel, and later at Valiant, is notorious in the comic industry. A conversation about office rumor-spreading and bullying is never complete without someone bringing up a juicy Antos anecdote. Everyone has one.

Up until then, I still hadn’t seen ACTUAL PROOF of a larger scheme. But then, something changed in 2020.

January 8, 2020, Alex de Campi, who I would discover is one of the most active Whisper Network members, openly admits there is a Network. I have no idea if this was a slip or a brazen attempt to show off her power and influence, but this appeared.

Eventually, everything I had heard and read was confirmed beyond any shadow of a doubt after I gained access to their private Facebook group.

I WAS INSIDE THE WHISPER NETWORK!

This is the place where the Whispher Network has been colluding for years. And although their activity is not confined to just this site, from what I can tell, this was where they first met, and started their coordinated campaigns.

Members of the Secret Group called “Comic Book Women”

At present time, there are 440+ members of the secret Facebook group, called COMIC BOOK WOMEN. From what I can tell, a few are regular users, though many of them have never posted.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/comicbookwomen/ 

*unless you are a member, this will not show up in a search

Secret Facebook groups offer the same level of privacy as closed groups, but operate under a cloak of invisibility. No one can search for secret groups or even request to join them. The only way to get in one is to know someone who can invite you. Everything shared in a secret group is visible only to its members.

This secret group includes a list of members whose actions and connections speak for themselves. Members such as:

Zoe Quinn

Gail Simone

Alex de Campi

Heather Antos (aka Heather Marie)

Mags Visaggio (aka Magdalene Francis)

Mairghread Scott

And several key members of the group are women who work in the comics media and can be used to run damage control, including women like Heidi MacDonald of Comics Beat.  They have contacts outside of the secret network as well, with some male allies in both comics and the media.

Just the fact that all of these folks were secretly linked in a private network came as a shock to me, considering their reputations and the accusations that they’ve made. Immediately I began to connect the dots…

They’ve denied for YEARS that they coordinate their actions in private. And yet they always coincidentally appear on Twitter, retweeting and amplifying each other’s accusations, signal boosting one another, and helping them gain traction. And their allies in media – Bleeding Cool and CBR specifically – will turn those same tweets into stories almost instantly & with no fact-checking or verification, sometimes within the hour.

I’m going to start explaining who the key actors are, and, from my perspective, how they coordinate these attacks.

KEY ACTORS

There are too many people to focus on at once, so I will have to break this into several posts, but I will start with one of the clear group leaders IMO.

Alex de Campi is well connected, despite never being part of the Big Two (since, from what I’ve been told management is well aware of her bullying, harassment, rumor-spreading and unethical behavior that goes back years, and depending on who you talk to she’s almost as notorious as Antos or Tess Fowler).  She just wrapped up a graphic novel campaign on Kickstarter with David Bowie’s son, the Hollywood film director Duncan Jones. It grossed over $366K

All the while she makes baseless accusations while demanding transparency from everyone else.

Now, I’ll take you into their private network.

Two years ago, on May 13, 2018, De Campi launched a private campaign to target an independent creator, claiming she was using her connections to have Simon & Schuster cancel their book.

In addition to contacting the publisher, others in the Whisper Network coordinated their efforts to contact media outlets to have the narrative changed, according to the posts in this thread.  Again, in my opinion, this could end up as a defamation or tortious interference case, and has many implications regarding media bias as well.

 

The following month, on June 23, 2018, de Campi posted private text messages between herself and writer Max Bemis in what appeared to be an attempt to damage his career. Despite Bemis being mentally ill (diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2014), de Campi still posted the private messages with malicious intent IMO. According to US and UK law this is an actionable offense: posting private texts without both parties consenting.

[knchins]

Heaven Sent, Hell Proof - Two

Summary: An angel named Keigo is assigned to win over the soul of a mysterious woman for heaven. He quickly finds that he is not the only one with his eyes on her. Can he get to her before his arch rival does?

Pairing: Angel!Hawks x Reader x Demon!Dabi

Rating: M (for now)

Word Count: 3k

Bingo Prompt: Angels and Demons

Warnings: Mentions of noncon, minor yandere themes

Notes: This is only going to be three parts! I figure it was going to be around 10k and it looks like I was right lol. I hope everyone enjoys part two! And stay tuned in the upcoming weeks for the final part that will include some very...steamy scenes.

Part One → Part Two →  Part Three

 Keigo had always been confident in his speed, especially while flying. What he wasn’t confident in, however, was how skilled his demonic adversary was in tailing him. Any time he left headquarters, he would sense Dabi nearby. They were after the same thing of course, but what the red winged angel didn’t understand was why he didn't try to find her independently. Why was Dabi so focused on whether or not he could find her himself?

 On the third day, he finally got sick of it. He coasted back down to the ground where the demon was hiding in plain sight and landed right in front of him. “Shouldn’t you be out searching for my girl instead of sniffing after my trail?” He asked, an indifferent look on his face.

 Dabi smiled in a particularly devious way that had Keigo taking a step backwards. “What’s wrong, Feathers? Can’t take the heat of a demon on your six? Don’t you trust me?”

 “I trust that you have some ulterior motive.” Hawks snapped back, wings flexing behind his back as some sort of show of strength. Not that it had any affect on Dabi.

 The demon shrugged nonchalantly, “Actually, I thought maybe we could team up this time. Just this once. This girl is something special, don’t you think? Half angel, half human, left to live on earth and not in heaven. Definitely the sluttiest virgin I’ve ever met. I can’t wait to rip that flower from her dainty little hands.”

 Dabi noticed the sharp feathers of his wings puff out, standing on end as they tended to do whenever Keigo felt threatened or aggravated. “Don’t talk about her like that. You are not going to defile an angel.”

 “She’s not an angel, Keigo.” Dabi said, his voice turning serious suddenly. “She is an abomination, said so by the gods. She belongs in hell with the rest of us. Do you not read your own holy scripture? What do you think they do with nephilim in heaven, bird brain? You think they let them exist as they are?”

 Keigo was silent. That had been what he was led to believe. That their half angelic souls resided in heaven. That they were given the same treatment as any god-made angel. However, Dabi was right. The scripture did state that hybrids between man and the celestial were not natural. However anything beyond that just fell short from his memory.

 “The pages were missing, right?” Dabi said, seeing the turning wheels in Keigo’s head creaking to a stop as they were met with an impasse. “Ripped out of every version in heaven and earth. Trust me, I know. I know because I’ve been there- and you know that I was. You work for my father, after all. I fell because I wanted answers no one could provide. The gaps in memory. The rules that didn’t make sense. The missing information. It’s all in hell, bird brain. I know everything your daddy wants to keep hush hush.”

 “Why would the creators do something so demonic?” Keigo asked with a huff, his feathers relaxing the tiniest bit. “What purpose would that have?”

 “What purpose?” Dabi scoffed, “What did my father tell you about this girl? That heaven needed her for the apocalypse? Do you always believe everything you’re told?”

 Keigo stared at him with a blank expression, unsure of how he should answer. Why would Enji lie to him? Why would anyone lie to him? Again what purpose would that serve? He was clearly growing frustrated.

 The demon knew exactly how Keigo felt, because he too had once been in his shoes. An angel trying to do the right thing. When would he learn that Heaven wasn’t always about doing the right thing? “Listen, Feathers, the reason she was able to live this long is because no one could find her. Her powers only recently awakened and when they did it was like a homing beacon for everyone above and below. She’s more powerful than the average nephilim because of her lineage.”

 “Who is her father?” Hawks asked, tired of the run around. “If he is so powerful then why could he not find her?”

 “He kept her secret, no one knew she existed until a week ago. Why they sent you, bird brain, I’ll never know. Maybe my dear old dad just enjoys using his little soldier boy to do his dirty work. Maybe you’re just so naive and eager to believe their lies that they thought you could be trusted. What they didn’t count on was me.” Blue flames sprouted from either of Dabi’s hands. “If this is such an important mission, why not send the angel who sired her himself? Why not let him deal with it?”

 Again, Keigo was quiet. Dabi did have a valid point. If something as big as the apocalypse was on the line, then why send a lower ranking official such as himself. “Who is her-”

 The flames grew brighter. “Haven’t you figured it out yet? Angels that copulate with humans get dusted. They get thrown down to hell. But this angel is  so   powerful that Heaven wouldn’t dream of doing that. Who is the one angel that that could possibly be?”

 His golden eyes widened, jaw slackening, “Toshinori Yagi…”

  The urge to use her powers had been growing more and more prevalent in the back of her mind. She had lived twenty years without them, so why did she suddenly feel the need to use them at any time she could? Was it simply because of convenience? The thrill of teleporting anywhere in the matter of seconds was just so exhilarating. No more driving, no more waiting at the bus stop, and no more walking. Just pop in and pop back home, that’s it.

 She had lived in isolation for most of her life without the need for others. True, up until a year ago it had been with her mother and at first the loneliness was suffocating, but now it was just simpler to be by herself. She didn’t have to explain why she could do the things no one else could. She didn’t have to worry if they were really an angel or demon in disguise to whisk her away. The only one she could trust was herself and that was the one person in all of the realms that she needed.

 While she had conceded that not interacting with people was necessary, she did admit that it could be quite lonesome. She had found herself watching more and more romance movies as a way to surrogate that feeling of being with someone. Twenty years old and never been touched, what a joke. Virginity had been hammered into her brain since she was old enough to understand what it was.

 But since that fateful encounter with the red winged angel and burn scar demon, she had found herself longing for companionship more and more. The demon had spoken incessantly about the things he would do to her, and at this point she kind of hoped it was more a promise. To her, her innocence was a curse that would haunt her until she could finally get rid of it once and for all.

 She had been praying to her father at night for guidance, but she had heard nothing in return. Typical. She had never seen his face and didn’t know his real name. Heaven’s mightiest angel, my ass, she thought bitterly as she walked down the street to the convenience store.

 Her mother had taught her not to trust neither angels nor demons. Other angels would kill her and demons would want her for more nefarious purposes, ones she didn’t have to think too hard to figure out. Maybe though, just maybe those things wouldn’t be too bad. Was it possible for her to fall into hell and become a half-demon instead of half-angel? She wished she had asked her mother while she was still alive. It was too late now though.

 A sigh left her lips as she lifted her head. She walked past an alleyway where she could hear two men talking. She stopped abruptly, recognizing the voices.

     “Toshinori Yagi…”  

 The name stirred something deep within her, she recognized it but couldn’t place who the person was. She blinked in surprise, having never guessed she’d run into the two after her randomly like that. Not after she had taken precaution not to use her powers and keep herself hidden.

 Something stopped her from running away. Fight, flight, or freeze as they say. She stood still, watching them with a curious mixture of horror and fascination.

 Dabi noticed her first, a smirk on his mismatched face. “Well, looky here. Guess we don’t have to keep combing the city any longer, bird brain.”

 Keigo turned his head, eye widening when he saw her. She was radiant as ever, standing there with a dumbfounded look on her face. Clearly she wasn’t expecting to run into them either. Quickly his eyes snapped to Dabi, “Don’t you dare lay a finger on her.” He said through gritted teeth. His feathers stood on end once more, wings flexing as they tended to do when he got anxious.

 “Please, I wouldn’t dream of it, Feathers. At least, not while you’re here.” Dabi said in a sly voice as he approached the nephilim in front of him. “Don’t you want to come with us, doll? Maybe decide who’s side you want to join? The one willing to snuff out your existence or the one that will make you more powerful than you can even imagine?”

 Her eyes seemed to grow even larger at his words. Power? Did she want power? There was no denying that the small amount she had been playing around with since her gifts awakened had breathed new life into her. All her life she had felt as if she were going through the motions, not real thought put into anything she did. She kept her head down and kept out of sight, doing the same boring thing day in and day out.

 Now that she could do so much more, she truly felt alive for the first time. It was amazing, euphoric even. She knew the gods would rip this power from her and dismantle her existence into nothingness. Were the demons any better though? What would they do to her besides a lifetime of torture? Of course, that was just what her mother told her. She had never had any contact with an actual demon, though she was reluctant to even trust what one would tell her.

  “You can give me that?” She asked tentatively, her voice portraying her uncertainty. Dabi didn’t seem to take an offense to this as Keigo watched him with doubt.

 The demon reached out, brushing her hair back behind her ear in a way that caused butterflies to erupt in her chest. “I can give you that and so much more.”

 Suddenly Keigo’s hand was on Dabi’s wrist, ripping the scarred hand away from the woman before him. “Wait a minute, I deserve a chance for her to hear my side too.” He said, releasing the demon once he was confident that he wouldn’t touch his charge again.

 “Settle down, I said she could decide, didn’t I?” He asked with a scoff. “Though once you know the full truth, I believe you may be more...accepting of my offer to her. After all, heaven would have her smote for simply existing.”

 Keigo fell silent once more, his gold eyes piercing the half-angel. Her beauty was astounding, captivating him yet like a shiny object might a crow. He didn’t know what to think about what Dabi was confessing to him, but he did know that he would do anything to protect her. Even if that meant he had to fall from heaven to do so. He took her delicate hands into his. “Please, come with us.” His voice was deep and pleading. “I’ll keep you safe, no matter what.”

 She quickly realized she had no will to resist him and found herself nodding her head. She took both of his hands into hers as she fell deep into his bright golden eyes. “What is your name?”

 “Keigo…”

  The three of them arrived at her apartment and she told them to make themselves comfortable. Dabi took the opportunity to tell her that the only way he’d be comfortable was if he were between her naked legs, but she chose to ignore the statement.

 Hawks sat on the couch while Dabi took to the plush recliner. Their host was in the kitchen making tea for the three of them. “I have always heard conflicting things of what would happen to me if I were to ascend to heaven.” She said, speaking loudly enough for her two guests to hear her. “My mother would say one thing and then turn around and contradict herself in the same breath.”

 Dabi was nodding his head, despite her inability to see it. Keigo was giving him a wicked side-eye. “So what have you heard, princess?” He asked. “Just so I can point you in the right direction.”

 “Heaven wants me dead.” She said calmly as she entered the living room with a tray of hot tea and a small assortment of cookies. “However, also that angels were trustworthy and will protect me. My father loves me, but won’t respond to my prayers or give me some kind of sign that he even knows that I exist.”

 She took a seat next to the angel as she poured herself some tea. “How can angels be trusted if they only want me dead? How can my father love me if he denies my very existence?”

 The demon tutted, giving her a mock sympathetic look that she saw right through. “I bet bird brain here will tell you something similar. That you are important to heaven and that you will be reunited with your family there once and for all. The truth is, princess, heaven doesn’t just want you dead. It wants to see your existence completely erased for good. Nephilim don’t go to heaven or hell or even purgatory. The road stops completely for them. Only a god has the power to make a soul completely vanish, but I can assure that every single nephilim that has ever existed has wound up in the hands of one in one way or another. And that’s because they employ some idiot lower tier angel to guide them up there sooner rather than later.”

 “You see, we’re only sent after people that are about to die. Your time on Earth was counting down the second we were assigned to your case.” Dabi said rather nonchalantly as he sat with one leg thrown over the arm of the chair. “So this here angel is trying to aid in your demise. You don’t want that, do you?”

 Keigo was uncharacteristically silent. Was what Dabi was saying true? Would she vanish without a trace as soon as he took her to the proverbial pearly gates? He had never in his life been faced with such a terrible decision.

 He had never felt enamored with anyone before her. The need to wrap his wings around her and shield her from harm felt like his most basic instinct at this point. No other charge had that sort of affect on him. And because of that, he was actually thinking of believing Dabi. He took the demons words in carefully, assessing them, and searching for any sort of dishonesty.

 His heart shattered when he could find none. He knew in the deepest recesses of his soul that Dabi was telling the truth about what the gods would do with his little half-angel. Nothing was more terrifying to him than losing her.

 “I am…” he almost choked on the words, hating himself for having to even say them, “in agreement with Touya- I mean, Dabi.” He said, correcting himself. “It doesn’t seem like heaven will be a safe place for you.”

 She looked at him with warm and caring eyes, clearly seeing how much he was hurting. Many angels had empathic abilities, so it wasn’t farfetched to think that she would have them too. “Demons are supposed to be great liars, but even I can sense that he’s telling the truth.” She said, rather plainly. “But if I do choose him and descend into hell, then what will become of you? I do not want you to get in trouble for my decision.”

 “I will go with you.” He said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the mortal world. “Tear my wings from my back and accept damnation with open arms as long as I could stay by your side.”

 Dabi straightened himself in the chair, somewhat surprised by his confession. Was his arch rival serious in changing sides? Falling from heaven, transitioning from angel to devil, was an extremely painful process. Obviously, he had the scars to prove it. Keigo’s signature red wings would be ripped from his flesh and a creature that had previously never known the feeling of pain would know nothing but. Some didn’t survive the fall and instead descended into madness.

 There was always a chance of something going wrong, however the demon kept it to himself for the time being. “I know how to take care of you two birds with one stone.” He said, unable to stop the twisted smile that graced over his mismatched features.

 Keigo didn’t like that look, not one big. The nephilim next to him was also feeling a little weary, thinking that perhaps she should take more time in her decision. “What is it?” She asked tentatively.

 “Feathers is not going to like it.” He said in a taunting voice, as if he were dangling something irresistible over their heads.

 Keigo’s sharp eyes were narrowed with distrust. “Just spit it out, Monster Mash.” He said in a rumbling tone as one feathered wing flexed to wrap around his charge so that he could force her closer to him for protection. She moved so that she was sitting right against him, his wing enveloping her with his body heat.

 “It’s time for you two to pop your cherries.” He said, grin growing even wider in the process. “And I’m going to be the one to do it.”

Masterlist || Request Rules

Tag List: @dabi-hates-fish​, @hawksward​, @httppariis​, @kurinhimenezu​, @sinclairsamess​ (comment/message to be added to the taglist to the final part or my permanent tag list!)

[aot-snk-4238]

AOT No Requiem Fanfic Review Part 2

Disclaimer: I am not a supporter of ANR myself, so I knew that I probably wouldn't like most of what this fanfiction is putting out there. That being said, I decided to check it out anyway because I was interested in seeing what changes these people were planning on making. This review is not meant to bash the work or the team of artists and writers behind it. These are just my own personal opinions, and I will try to express them as professionally as I can without coming across as aggressive or rude, as that is not my intention.

After a four month hiatus, it looks like the popular fan fiction Attack On Titan No Requiem is back in action. I'm glad to hear that their creator is doing okay. Since this fan fiction covers the final three chapters, I'm splitting my review into three parts. The first one can be found here so if you haven't read it, you can check that out first. I kept it short and to the point and I intend to try and do that with the rest of these as well, so without further ado, here are my thoughts on the second installment of this short series:

This chapter opens up where the previous one left off, with a clash between Eren and Armin's ideologies, their discussion getting more heated by the minute. Armin still believes in a more peaceful way out of the situation that involves more talking and less bloodshed, whereas Eren sees no other options other than the path he is currently on. Fuming with anger now, Armin grabs Eren by the shirt and this is where the scene transitions to the rest of Eren and Historia's conversation from chapter 130. I still can't believe we were deprived of this in the canon universe, so I was interested to see if any of it would play out in a way that I wasn't already expecting. As it turns out, it did not. I was fully prepared for them to confirm or at least imply that Eren is the father of Historia's baby considering what theory this whole thing is based off of and that's exactly what happened. To their credit, they didn't make it as cheesy and overly-romantic as I was afraid they might, but it still could have used a bit more exposition and time to develop. I didn't care for what appeared to be a brief elopement scene in the woods, though. And was that supposed to be Floch officiating it? That's...just too weird for me. Sorry, but a secret wedding in the woods with Floch as the priest felt more like a joke to me rather than a serious event. I remember when most fans used to hate him, but that changed at some point and now he's quite popular. I can't tell if it's for the sake of memes or if people really had a change of heart. And just to be clear I have no issues with people liking him, I'm just a little confused as to how it came about. As for the whole pregnancy subplot in general, I don't think there's anything that can done to make me like it at this point. It came out of nowhere and it led to nowhere. It looks pretty clear to me that making Eren the baby father is the only solution that people can come up with to have it actually mean something and have relevance, which only serves as further proof to me that it never should have happened in the first place. Even if this team has something clever up their sleeve, I feel like there's only so much they can do to make it better, especially considering that they're only changing the last three chapters. To me, a much better handling of Historia post time-skip by Isayama would have involved giving her a chance to actually be queen and exploring her thoughts on Eren's actions and whether she would have allowed the Yeagerists to take over the island. We saw in the end that she did let them take over, but we're not clearly shown why. We also never found out why Eren was able to change her mind so suddenly regarding his plan and what made her decide to have a child. Not to mention that not once did we get to see her interact with the rest of the cast, which it doesn't look like will happen in this fan ending either. It was just her in that stupid chair and then the baby is born and that's it. I appreciate the AOTNR team's attempt to breathe some life back into her, but it still doesn't make up for all the missing screentime she had from chapter 90 onwards.

Moving on to the last part of this chapter, we see that after learning Eren's secret, Armin has had enough. He calls Eren a hypocrite for hiding what he did with Historia from everyone and how things could have been better if he just trusted them, but Eren is still unfazed. Armin asks Eren why he was brought back into Paths if it wasn't actually going to fix anything, and this is how the rest of the chapter plays out:

I like the way this cliffhanger is depicted. It shows Eren and Armin both as children this time facing each other, each with a determined look on their face while their adult faces shine in the background. It serves as a good visual representation of just how much things have changed between them since their early years and prepares the audience for a huge face-off outside of PATHS where everyone else is still trying to fight off Ymir's horde of ancient titans. Speaking of that, these two fan-made chapters have not given much focus to what's been going on on the outside, unlike Isayama's chapter 138. It looks like their three biggest priorities here are giving us Eren's POV, which we didn't get until the very end, Historia's POV, which we never got at all, and a final boost of character development for Armin. As a result, other important plot points are put on hold, such as what's next for Zeke and the rest of Eren's friends. This, paired with a lack of action sequences, causes the pacing to feel slow. Seeing where we are now, though, I'm assuming that it will pick up next chapter. And now that they've given Historia some much needed attention, I'm interested in seeing if they have any plans for Mikasa. There are a lot of people who strongly dislike her, so changing that perspective into something more positive looks like it's going to be a big challenge and I'll be very impressed if they pull it off. Overall, I thought this chapter was okay. It's very good for a fanfiction, though, and I'm glad that other people are enjoying it. I'll be grateful if it brings at least some level of peace to this fandom in the end, so until next time, thanks for reading ✌.

[supersilversleuth]

I Know You Won’t Believe Me (But Sometimes I wish You Would) by SuperSilverSpy

Fandoms: DCU, DCU (Comics), Batman - All Media Types  

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Category: Gen

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Roman Sionis, Hurt Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson-centric, Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, Dick Grayson Whump, Whump, Whumptober 2021, Angst, Dick Grayson DID NOT fake his Death, I know I’m not really touching on it in this fic, but it’s important I say that, Post-Spyral, Miscommunication, Betrayal, I mean, Perceived Betrayal, SuperSilverSpy, SilverGrayson, SilverWhump, Protective Dick Grayson, injuries

Summary:

“Wha—Where am I? What do you want?” He asked, pretending to be groggy from waking up.

“Well, Officer Grayson, you are the Red Hood’s dirty pig informant, so I’m betting there’s a lot I can get out of you.”

Dick resisted the urge to laugh, or explain himself. There wasn’t much to explain anyway, not without revealing secrets that he would rather die protecting. Instead, he forced his expression into something more like shock, and resignation, deciding to play this role to the end. He could feel the instincts of manipulation and deception settling back over him like a very familiar blanket. Playing spy for a while had given him the opportunity to hone those skills. If there was any beneficial thing that could be taken away from that whole experience, it was what good he could now do with the abilities he’d enhanced during that time.

OR Dick is forced to pretend to betray Jason in order to protect the Red Hood’s identity

No. 5 - I’VE GOT RED IN MY LEDGER betrayal | misunderstanding | broken nose

Part 5 of 2021 Most Whumperful Time of the Year - Dick Grayson-centric

Language: English Words: 3,462 Chapters: 1/1 

Dick was tracking down a lead in the northern part of Blüdhaven, snooping around in various warehouses. It was the part of Blüdhaven that was closest to Gotham, so really Dick should’ve known better than to think his day would be uneventful.

 As it was, he was surprised by the sight of the Red Hood tying up the exact criminals Dick was looking for.

 Jason had tensed, glancing up, hand going for his gun—when Dick pushed the creaky warehouse door open to take a peek inside—and then, when Jason realized who it was, the hand went away from the gun, and the eyes away from Dick, but the tension remained. Jason continued about, tying the criminals up, studiously ignoring Dick’s presence as he did so.

 “Hood—” Dick started.

 “I’m just finishing up, Officer ,” he said mockingly, “They’re all yours when I’m done.”

 “I—They’re Black Mask’s people, do you have any intel about what they’re doing in my city?” “Not much,” replied Jason, tone clipped. “You?” “I have a little, maybe we could arrange a time to go over it? This case is clearly turning out to be a problem for both of us—”

 “Nope, that’s not how it works,” Jason cut him off, “You haven’t been forgiven for your last f*** up yet. Maybe we can trade information later, if I ever decide to trust you again.” Dick winced, stepping back. “Well, I’ll be out of your hair then, Hood. I’ll have some people come this way to put these criminals back where they belong.” “Where they belong is a big, ugly a** community grave,” Dick heard Jason mutter behind him just as he walked out the door.

-- A few days after the Hood incident, Dick was heading home after a long day of writing reports and studying casefiles. Being a detective was certainly not all excitement 24/7. Most of the time he was sitting around, wishing for more time in the field.

That particular day, he was distracted, thinking about a very complicated case that had been stumping him for longer than he’d like. He should’ve known better than to take that route home, though it probably wouldn’t have mattered—whoever wanted him was professional enough to have all the streets around the precinct covered.

 Ah, chloroform, he didn’t miss it. It’d been a while since he’d last had it pressed against his face. He supposed he was due for a run in with the stuff. The chloroform appeared at the same time as the wrenching of his arms behind his back, and the restraining of his legs. Dick tried not to fight  too  hard, he was still Detective Grayson, a civilian by vigilante standards, afterall. He had to keep up appearances. For that reason, he also pretended to fall unconscious long before he actually did. He’d built up an immunity to the drug of course, but that could only work with him as Nightwing.

 When Dick woke up, he found himself face to face with Black Mask. The man sat behind a desk, with Dick, sitting, bound to a chair in front of him. With a start, Dick realized that Roman must’ve been watching him while he was unconscious. Dick suppressed a shudder. 

 “Wha—Where am I? What do you want?” He asked, pretending to be groggy from waking up.

 “Well, Officer Grayson, you are the Red Hood’s dirty pig informant, so I’m betting there’s a lot I can get out of you.”

Dick resisted the urge to laugh, or explain himself. There wasn’t much to explain anyway, not without revealing secrets that he would rather die protecting. Instead, he forced his expression into something more like shock, and resignation, deciding to play this role to the end. He could feel the instincts of manipulation and deception settling back over him like a very familiar blanket. Playing spy for a while had given him the opportunity to hone those skills. If there was any beneficial thing that could be taken away from that whole experience, it was what good he could now do with the abilities he’d enhanced during that time.

 “I don’t know who the f*** that is,” Dick said, thinking about the actions of several of his coworkers for reference on how to act like a dirty cop.

 “Don’t lie to me,” snarled Roman. “My people know you spoke with him at the last operation of mine that he busted.”

 Ah, so that’s how he knew. One of the thugs must not have been fully unconscious during Dick’s conversation with Jason the other day.

 “Look man, I’m just his source guy sometimes, and he doesn’t even like me very much lately. So I don’t know what to tell you. Just let me go, and we can call it a day.” Dick made himself fidget, as if he was nervous about the threatening crime boss sitting across from him.

 “So what? You don’t have anything for me? Maybe I should just torture you until you die, how about that?”

 “N—No,” Dick made himself stutter, “I—I can still help you...for a price.”

 “Even now, you argue for your checkbook,” Roman chuckled, “The world goes ‘round, and dirty cops never change.”

 “What can I say,” Dick smirked, “The Hood didn’t pay me enough. I’m sure  you’ll be different…”

 Roman smiled at him, a dangerous smile that said he couldn’t wait to use him up and leave his body in a ditch.

 Dick smiled back.

--

Jason got an alert that the alarms at one of his safehouses had been tripped. It wasn’t one of his favorite safehouses or anything—in fact, it was due for a restock, but he knew it would be better to check it out as soon as he could anyway.

 He swung through the air, making his way through Crime Alley to where he knew the safehouse to be. Any intruders in his territory would be dealt with, crappy safehouse or not. 

 He found that much of his security system had been quietly disabled…except for a single, simple sensor. Whoever did this wanted him to come here.

 The door to his safehouse was ajar, and Jason carefully pushed it open, peering through the crack.

 His lights were on, and there were the sounds of ransacking and breaking glass.

 Jason grabbed the guns from his hips, and slammed open the door.

 There stood Dick, out of uniform, surrounded by several of Black Mask‘s people. 

 Jason snarled at the sight, thoughts of the man’s betrayal swirling through his mind. 

 Dick’s eyes widened, shooting a pleading look at him as if trying to convey something. Jason ignored it in his anger.

 “Let’s go! He’s here!” yelled Dick.

 “Traitor.” He growled darkly.

 Something flickered in the traitor’s expression, before smoothing out as if it had never been there.

 Jason didn’t think. He just lifted his guns, and fired.

 Unfortunately, they were rubber bullets, and he’s pretty sure he only managed to clip the lying b****** in the leg.

 He did manage to take down at least three of the others before the rest escaped quickly through the window.

--

“So, I guess Hoodie really isn’t on your side after all,” said Roman, pacing.

“I—I don’t understand what happened,” Dick sputtered, feigning fear, “I disabled all of his security, he wasn’t supposed to show.”

 “That’s because I had one of my people purposely sabotage you. I needed to make sure you weren’t still on his side. This,” he said, putting his hand on Dick’s leg where the bullet hit him, “is the proof I was looking for.” He pressed down, Dick gasped as if in pain. It really didn’t feel nice.

 “W—What?” He said in indignation, “Of course I’m on your side, that guy hates me.”

 “So I’m told.” Roman said, uncaring. He dug his fingers in.

 “Stop!” Dick strained against the ropes binding his hands behind the chair.

 The man let up, briefly, “You got the package I sent you to get?” 

 He was referring to the fake intel Dick had promised was stashed in Hood’s safehouse, intel that he had planted while no one was looking. The moment Roman plugged that thing in, Oracle would have complete access to all of the crime boss’s servers. “Yes, of course! Don’t forget to plug it into a high powered computer, I’m sure it’ll require a lot of decryption…”

 Roman waved his hand, “Yeah, yeah, whatever, my people have it covered.”

 “I’d like my payment now,” Dick said, glaring at him.

 The man grinned malevolently, “You’ll get your payment, when I let you go and the Hood goes after you. The people he captured have  quite  the story to tell.” 

 Dick slid a look of fear onto his face.

--

Jason didn't even give him the chance to explain.

Not that Dick was surprised about this, of course, but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt.

Roman had released him onto Gotham's streets, and sent several of his people to tail him.  Dick of course, was not supposed to know about that particular detail, but it's not like the low-level thugs had any actual expertise when it came to anything, least of all properly tailing a person.

Ah, so this was one more test, to confirm that he was truly against the Hood, before Roman dared plug in the USB. So it was best that Jason's first reaction upon seeing him was to lash out anyway, and Dick didn't even get a moment to get a word in before Hood was slamming him into the ground.

Well, it seemed these days the only reliable fact was that his family no longer trusted him. It was a good thing he needed Jason to beat him up for the operation, then. Internally, Dick sighed, he wished it didn't have to be like this. He hated lying, detested spying, but he'd learned long ago that sometimes there's no time for debate, and often the situation called for the best solution, not necessarily a good one.

Jason always acted on his emotions, it was something about him that never changed. It was reliable qualities like that, that Dick had been trained to notice, to exploit when needed. Dick did what he had to do, Jason did what he wanted to do. Many times, Dick had had to shoulder the burden of doing what was needed, even if it hurt those around him. He would gladly carry these responsibilities for the rest of his life, if only his siblings didn't have to, if only his family  lived.

And so, Officer Grayson fought with the Red Hood in a back alleyway as the man spewed curses about him and how he couldn't trust someone who'd betray him just to meet their own ends and not even think to tell him about the undercover op—

Dick, of course, was still being watched. So he fought like a random inexperienced police officer, not like Nightwing, professional vigilante. 

Jason didn't seem to notice. 

"Is this the new you then? Huh? You stab us in the back at every chance you get, all for a supposed “mission”? Is this Dick the spy then? Is that who you are now?"

Dick dodged a fist, got kicked in the knee.  It’s probably just the pit rage,  he reminded himself,  another thing I can count on.

"You know, I didn't think you of all people would pull something like this the first time, I don't know why I didn't see it with this one, you'd think I'd have learned my lesson by now."

Jason punched him in the stomach, causing him to sink further to the ground.

"I don't even know if I'd grieve again, if I found out you were dead. How would I know it wasn't just another lie that you failed to mention to me?"

Dick was just glad his tails were too far away to hear what Jason was saying.

"Do you have any idea what Black Mask is capable of? Have you  forgotten  who the f*** he  is  ? You can't just go undercover to work with him against  me, without telling me!"

His little brother sounded so upset, Dick only wished he had time to explain.

"Whatever happened to communication? Is that a foreign concept to you  spies? And here I thought we were actually family."

Jason headbutted him right in the face, breaking what Dick was pretty sure was his nose. He could feel the sticky warmth of blood on his face, flowing over his lips, past his chin to drip to the ground. Dick's vision blurred, and he collapsed to the ground, curling in on himself, he had to play it up, afterall. Even though the wounds inflicted were mostly just surface ones. They had an audience, and Dick could not fail to perform.

Above him, Jason scoffed, as if he could see through Dick's pretending. Still though, DIck could see his hands shaking, could see as the pent up energy within his little brother's body drained, tension leaving his shoulders. In a moment, Jason was gone, and Dick closed his eyes, giving into the exhaustion of having had to pretend to be someone he wasn't under very stressful circumstances for the past few days. It was alright, nothing...Dick...couldn't handle...

--

Jason felt drained. He hadn't felt that angry since well...the last time Goldie had pulled something like this.

The feeling of Dick’s face against his fist was quite familiar by this point. Each time he’d done it blurred together, echoing in his mind as green tinted his vision.

Jason made it back to one of his safehouses, somehow. He wasn’t sure when he got there, or how, but when he finally came back to himself, it was to the sight of a familiar kitchenette.

He felt too restless to sleep, but too exhausted to do anything productive at the same time. He didn’t trust himself to go out as Red Hood. In this state, he was a danger to anyone around him.

Jason’s mind raced, even as his body collapsed on the couch. He turned the tv on, letting himself get lost in some random sitcom.

He needed to calm down, probably do something like think things through. Though Jason knew that he was most likely going to just go about his day tomorrow, as if today hadn’t happened.

Always running away, still that same self-preserving street kid who only knew how to survive. Well, it’d worked for him so far, minus the dying part of course.

Hours later, technically into the next morning, Jason’s comm beeped. What could Barbie possibly want at this time of morning? Not even villains were awake at 6:00am, usually this hour was sacred.

“Hood?”

Well, apparently not anymore.

Sighing, Jason brought his finger to his ear, “Yeah? How’d you know I was awake?”

“Unimportant,” she said, all business, “I need you to check on Nightwing for me.”

Jason’s mind blanked, and then he scoffed, “You kidding me?” His voice was shaky. “What the f*** did he do this time?”

Oracle had no time for overly dramatic interbat-relations.

“A few hours ago, Black Mask’s servers went online, Dick’s code caught my attention. I was able to get every little bit of data ever entered into one of Mask’s computers. It was more than we’ve been able to get from him in years. Dick’s work really was genius. I tried to get in contact with him, but his trackers aren’t working, his phone’s out of the picture, and I can’t find him on any camera. I’m worried he went undercover without a backup plan for when Mask figured it out.”

Jason attempted unsuccessfully to tamp down his feelings of guilt and concern.

“Alright O, I’m on it.” He croaked, already heading out the door.

Adrenaline flowed through his veins, spurring him on. 

His earlier hate had fled, leaving behind nothing but cold determination. He was angry at his brother, sure, but he didn’t want the guy to  die… right?

And if what Oracle said was true, then it just might have been worth it for Dick to do what he did, just maybe.

Jason headed to where he’d last seen Dick. 

He found him about a block away from where they’d fought, being tortured in a rundown warehouse.

If it weren’t for the screams, Jason probably would have passed it and not even known.

Black Mask stood over Dick, who was bound to a table. Goldie was missing his shirt, and his torso was littered with burns and bruises. His feet were bare too, Roman was in the process of whipping them.

For the second time in twenty four hours, Jason felt the anger rise and the pit take over. 

The emotion was stronger this time, more powerful, Jason thought distantly. 

There were about thirty thugs surrounding Roman, guarding the man’s sadistic torture session.

Jason drew his guns, and tried not to think about the last time he’d used them to pistol whip Dickie across the face.

The first five thugs went down quickly, the next ten following right behind them. Jason reloaded. Some part of his subconscious aimed for kneecaps and non-lethal areas. The pit aimed for whatever was convenient. Nevertheless, if Jason had been paying attention, he’d have noticed that not one of his bullets missed a target.

By the time he’d made his way through all thirty of them, he had two loaded guns left, though they weren’t the same ones he’d started out with.

Roman had fled sometime during the action, like the coward he was. Jason was halfway out the door to find him when he heard a sound from behind him.

It was Dick.

Jason startled, hurrying towards his brother's side. The anger once again drained from his body.

Dick’s eyes were hazy and unfocused, they looked at him without seeing. But as Jason neared, something foreign came into them: fear.

Jason dropped his guns on the floor, trying not to think about how he’d never seen Dick look at him like that.

He bent to untie his brother from the table, and Dick flinched away from him, unintelligible noises stumbling out of his throat.

“Shh, Dickie, it’s alright.” Jason said frantically, “I’m gonna get you out of here, okay?”

He finished removing the last of the restraints just as Dick passed out from what was likely incredible pain.

--

Jason efficiently cleaned and bandaged his brother’s wounds, feeling numb. Dick’s body was covered in scars, the recent--but not too recent ones were what caught his attention. Jason didn’t want to think about when Dick must’ve gotten them.

Instead, Jason thought about something that had been bothering him before, little details here and there that he had missed. Namely: Dick hadn't been wearing his Nightwing suit during all of their interactions in the past few days. In fact, he'd been dressed quite like a detective.

 It dawned on Jason in a moment, and he felt horrified. Dick had been a detective that day in the warehouse with Black Mask's people. Back when this all started. 

 Jason's mind was racing when Dick groaned, eyes cracking open, "Wha—Jay?"

 "Yeah, it's me Dickie. I'm here."

 "What—What happened?"

 Jason sighed, "What do you remember?"

 Dick's brows furrowed in thought, "I...I had to go undercover..."

 "Why didn't you tell me?" Jason asked.

 Recognition flashed in his brother's eyes, He seemed to be getting his energy back.

 "There was no time, Roman kidnapped me, I had to play along."

 "But—there had to have been some time you could have explained the situation to me…"

 "Would you believe me if I had?" Dick's gaze was piercing.

 “I—yeah, okay, that’s fair.” Jason paused, “Were you going to tell me that you went undercover to save my a**? Or were you just going to keep letting me hate you?”

 Dick was silent.

 Jason continued, “I mean, sure. Maybe I wouldn’t have believed you. But maybe I would have. You weren’t even going to give me the choice.” Something occurred to him then. “We didn’t give you the chance to explain about Spyral…was that situation similar to this?” 

 Dick sighed, “I’m not up for having this conversation right now. Maybe later, after I wake up.”

 He burrowed further into the couch, closing his eyes.

 “One more thing,” Jason said, unwilling to let it end just like that. “Those scars…”

 Dick’s smile was bitter and darkly amused, “You didn’t think playing spy was all fun and games, did you? Everyone was out to get me. See here?” Dick half-heartedly lifted up his arm, “A cannibal took a chunk out of it. Congratulations, you’re the first to notice.”

 “I’m sorry,” Jason murmured to him, long after he’d fallen asleep. 

 The two words were long overdue.