#went from using yellow atmosphere to red

[ruumuf]

wyd me n my "ur just like me fr" bug in the same place

bonus doooooddle under cut

dw they just havin a photoshoot [with poob!]

[archivequinn]

the bond between us eddie munson x female reader

Summary: You go back to the town you had to leave to go to university, but the town wasn't the only thing you left behind, you go to the place you least want to be for a date and there you run into your ex-boyfriend Eddie Munson. ao3 link Words: 5,147 Warnings: bleeding, injury part one | part two (completed)

Looking from the outside, the Hideout bar in the small town of Hawkins was a place that had seen better days. The wooden facade, a sign hanging down from the weight of the snow, and the red paint peeling at the corners. Near the door, a dull yellow neon sign flickered “Hideout” in a dull flash of light.

When you stepped inside, the nostalgic and somewhat sad atmosphere of this place immediately hit you in the face. The smell of tobacco permeated the place, combined with the slight creak of walking on the old wooden floors. A few bare lamps hanging from the ceiling provided a warm but insufficient light.

The long wooden bar counter behind the stools was blackened with time, the surface streaked with water rings left by glasses. On the walls hung a few faded rock posters and plaques of pool champions from a local tournament.

A few silent alcoholics were seated at tables in the corner, drinking their glasses down. With their worn coats and tired expressions on their faces, they seemed in no hurry to spend another winter evening here. A homeless man sat at the back table, slowly puffing on a cigarette and watching the snowflakes flutter outside the window. A few people gathered around the pool table, joking and waiting for the next game. A group of people were sprawled on stools, raising their cheap beers in the air, smiling at each other and chatting. Some of them turned to the stage, staring at the microphones placed next to the guitar amps as if waiting for the next performance.

You took a deep breath, sat down on one of the stools and looked at the clock on the wall behind the bartender who was wiping the glasses with a clean cloth. It was almost seven in the evening, less than ten minutes before the date was due to start. 

You smiled and shook your head at the bartender who asked if you wanted something to drink. “I'm waiting for someone,” you replied shortly. You were feeling a little uneasy, being here of all places to meet made you feel uneasy. In fact, just being back in this town made you uneasy in itself.

You remembered the day you left this damn town to go to university. You had to leave not only this place, but the love of your life. Eddie. 

Now you had graduated and you were back home. For the first few weeks you spent time at home with your family, you spent every evening with them, as if to make up for all the times you couldn't see your friends. You always felt like asking about Eddie, but you preferred to keep it inside. You thought that if you ever got the chance, you might mention his name in conversation, or that your friends would mention him. 

They said he'd been dating a girl for a while, and I think you heard that after he broke up with her, he hadn't been around much. He never went to college, he was still living with his uncle in the trailer park, he was fixing cars and Steve said he was pretty good at it.

The first thing you asked was, “Does he still play guitar?'' Robin was the one who answered that question. 

“He hasn't touched it since you left...''

This sentence was like a flame burning your throat, preventing you from swallowing. “What about his dreams? He was going to leave this damn town to make records, to become a famous guitarist like his dream...'' You couldn't put the thoughts that came to your mind into words. Because you knew the answer.

And deep down inside, you knew your friends blamed you for leaving Eddie when you left. But they were too nice to tell you that.

But what else could you do? You both knew a long-distance relationship wouldn't work. 

Having to break up with Eddie was like a wound in the center of your chest that still wouldn't heal. It seemed like a simple “obligation” to everyone else, but only you and Eddie knew how complicated it really was. Going to university was a dream, your dream... but it was also an inevitable path, shaped by your family's pressure. It seemed the only way out of this town, the only way to make a future for yourself. Eddie, on the other hand, had never felt like he belonged in the world outside Hawkins. He had grown up in the trailer park, learned about life with his uncle, and even his dreams had been shaped within the confines of this town. His dream was to become a famous guitarist, yes, maybe that was just a fantasy for him. A dream he knew he would never achieve.

He discussed it with you for hours. “You're leaving me here,” he once said, his voice cracked, his eyes full of sadness mixed with anger. “I don't belong in your world and you don't belong in mine. You'll understand that better when you go to university.” At that moment you couldn't fight him with the words that were stuck in your throat. Because he was right. Eddie was living a very different life, one that could never coincide with your career goals. While you'd be in the campus libraries, full of books, he'd be fixing old cars in the grease-smelling workshops of Hawkins.

But what hurt the most was watching Eddie quietly give up on his dreams. “We can find a way out together,” you said, almost pleadingly. But Eddie shook his head from side to side, averting his eyes as his hair fell over his face. 

“My place is here. Your place is... somewhere else. It would consume us both, you know that.” His sarcastic tone, always taking things for granted, was gone. It was replaced by the voice of a tired, accepting man.

Eddie said he couldn't imagine you every morning in another city, in another life. “How can distance be enough when even Hawkins isn't enough?” he said, smiling bitterly.

You knew in your heart as you left him behind: The separation wasn't just a physical distance. When you left Eddie that night, you took a part of him with you forever. And Eddie had done the same. 

So what were you doing at the Hideout now? Yes, you were waiting for your first date with a guy named Josh, but you wondered why it had to be here. When Josh suggested to meet there, you couldn't say no, because what were you going to explain to him, “My ex-boyfriend used to play there all the time, and even though he doesn't play there anymore, I'm not over him, so that bar has a special meaning for me, I can't go there”? That would be the worst impression you could give on a first date.

You turned around slowly as you heard someone calling your name, that familiar voice bringing a familiar face with it. It was Gareth, Eddie's friend from the band and the matchmaker who made you two become a couple in the first place. Seeing him here made your heart race, you thought, if he's here maybe... maybe. The possibility that because he was here, Eddie might be around here somewhere made your stomach twist in knots.

You put a warm smile on your face and hugged Gareth, “What are you doing here? I thought you were out of town,” Gareth said as he hugged you back.

''Yeah, I've been back for a couple weeks now. I uhm, graduated,” you explained. Your eyes were scanning the bar quickly, the mere thought of Eddie being here made you want to throw up from anxiety.

“I'm glad to hear that,” Gareth said as he sat down on the stool next to you. ”So, what's up? Where are your friends, are you waiting for someone?''

You nodded as you took a sip of water. “Actually, I have a date, I'm waiting for him,” you said, and it felt like you had been punched in the stomach, like it was a crime to say that. You thought Gareth would be angry about it, after all you had caused his friend to be miserable for months. But it had been years, hadn't it?

Gareth nodded his head as if to say he understood and smiled. “Alright, I'll be on stage in a bit, nice to see you again, hope you have a good time on your date.'' After patting you on the shoulder, he took the beer the bartender handed him and walked away from you.

Looking after Gareth, you took a deep breath and began tapping your fingers nervously on the surface of the table. 

Just then, the cold air hit you in the face as the door opened and a man stepped into the bar, wearing a brown leather jacket and an expensive scarf that looked like it had been bought in a luxury store. His blond hair was styled like something out of a hairdresser's advertisement and his bright blue eyes looked arrogantly around him. It was him. Josh. Even before he said his name, you knew who he was.

When Josh noticed you, he walked over with a wide smile, as if he was the only one lighting up the room he was in... or so he thought. “Hey, you're just in time, too!” he said, his voice filled with a squeaky cheerfulness. 

“Yeah,” you said, with a forced smile, ”I've been here a few minutes.”

Josh made an almost implicit gesture for you to get up from the stool. “Great, great. Let's move over there, the light's a little too bright here. I'll find you a better seat.” Before you could understand what he was saying, he placed his hand lightly on your back and guided you to a darker corner of the bar.

Josh gestured exaggeratedly to the waiter as he sat on the opposite stool. “Two margaritas for us! But please... make sure you cut the lemons right. I had a very bad experience at a bar last time.” His tone was more like a lecture than an order. It was impossible not to notice the patient but obviously irritated expression on the waiter's face.

“Well, actually I don't want a margarita, a water will do for now,” you said, interrupting his arrogant order. Josh cocked his head to the side and looked at you as if you had said something strange.

“Water? God, you can't be serious,” he said with a mocking laugh. “Relax, we're not here to party, but we can make the first date count, right? Tell me, are you having any fun?”

For a moment lightning flashed in your head. You had already gotten annoyed with him from the very first sentence. How could he be so cocky? You crossed your arms on the table and stared at him, inwardly looking for ways to escape.

“Yeah, I don't usually have to drink to have fun,” you said, a little teasingly. Josh took it as a joke and tried to laugh, but even his laugh was insincere.

“Oh, okay. I think you're serious. You know, people usually find me extremely funny. I mean, not just because of my looks,” he said, smoothing his hair with his hand. “I guess you've noticed that too.”

“Sure, I noticed,” you mumbled, but your eyes were searching for Gareth and the others without realizing it. You felt like you were going crazy if you spent any more time with this man.

As he talked, it was like a part of your soul was dying, you could have been on the most boring date in the world.

“I mean,” Josh continued, twisting the lemon wedge in his hand, ”Hawkins is a small town, isn't it? I hate being here. Imagine, people are born and raised here and never get out. I think you were born and raised here too, weren't you?”

With that sentence, his discomfort grew. Eddie's face involuntarily flashed before your eyes. You knew that Eddie had always felt inadequate because of people like Josh. Instead of answering him, you kept silent, because if you opened your mouth, the anger you were trying to hide behind your words would show.

Just then Gareth's voice was heard on stage. “Okay everyone, tonight we're going to get a little nostalgic! We're going to play one of the ‘Corroded Coffin’ songs. You used to be with us every Tuesday at Hawkins. Maybe some of you will remember our songs and sing along, who knows?”

Gareth's voice pulled you back to the real world. In the dim lights of the bar, you suddenly stopped breathing. Your heart's beating like crazy. If Gareth was on stage... Eddie.

Gareth gripped the sticks of his drum kit and sat on the drum seat, you knew the other members of the band, you had spent enough time with each of them. Eddie and the others used to go on that stage when you were still here and with him. You always watched them from the front. You listened to Eddie playing his guitar, looking into your eyes, as if you were the only one there.

But now Eddie wasn't on stage... And it felt like something was missing. Like something was wrong, like the last piece of the puzzle was missing.

Josh continued to talk about himself, as he had for the last hour. You were staring at the stage, listening to the songs you once knew by heart being played again, remembering the lyrics with each note. You remembered how each note made you feel. The whole thing was passing before your eyes like a movie, and when your song started playing, you felt your eyes fill with tears. Everything seemed blurry, everything seemed to feel sorry for you.

You stood up, grabbing your bag. ''I'm sorry Josh... I almost forgot something I had to do... Uhm, I have to go...'' you said.

Josh didn't seem convinced. “Oh, yeah? I can give you a ride... I've got a car outside the door.” he offered. 

You shook your head quickly. “No need, I'll go,” you insisted.

“It's cold and the snow is falling faster. I'll give you a ride,” he said as he put a few dollars and a tip on the table and stood up.

“No,” you said shortly.

“Do you really have to go?” he said, this time in a slightly sarcastic tone. “I mean, I put a lot of work into planning tonight, and you could at least be a little... I don't know, grateful for that, right?”

Josh's words froze you in place. Your eyes quickly turned to him. “Grateful? What are you talking about?” you said, your brow furrowed, your tone sharp.

“I mean, after all, I spent my time and energy to get here,” Josh said, spreading his arms wide, putting his arm behind your back and leaning in close enough to press you into your chair. “You need to spend more time with me here. After all, don't you want to get to know me? Or... maybe you're being too coy.”

You were startled when his arm came close enough to pinch you. “Pull your arm away!” you said sternly, but Josh just grinned.

“Oh, come on, don't be so scared. I'm not a bad guy. I brought you here because I thought we could have a nice evening,” he continued. This time his voice was more sarcastic and disturbing. 

“Let me go,” you said again, this time sounding more nervous. But Josh took these words as an invitation instead of a threat.

“Let me go? Oh, I see...” he said, leaning closer to your face and gazing into your eyes. “You actually like it, don't you? This little 'coy' game. Don't worry, sweetheart. I'm good at figuring out girls.”

Just then, as your whole body froze, a voice from behind you made you hold your breath.

“You're also good at blowing your chances, apparently.”

Someone tapped Josh hard on the shoulder. Josh's expression changed. Frowning, he turned around to meet Eddie's stern gaze. The anger on Eddie's face made it feel icy even inside the bar.

“Who the hell are you?” Josh asked, giving Eddie a condescending look. But Eddie's smile held no warmth; it was more like an approaching storm.

“I'm not an asshole like you, that's for sure,” Eddie said, his voice deep and menacing. Then he turned to you, a soft but worried look in his eyes. “Did he touch you?”

Josh interjected, his voice loud and confident enough to drown out Eddie's question. “This isn't about you, man, leave us alone.”

Instead of answering, Eddie suddenly grabbed Josh by the collar. He easily lifted him off the floor and shoved him hard into one of the bar's tables. The chair tipped over as Josh fell to the floor, several people standing around you recoiled in horror. Eddie leaned over Josh and whispered in a cold voice.

“You will not bother her again. In fact, you will never set foot in this bar again. Do you understand?”

But Josh didn't seem like the type to give up that easily. He put his hand on Eddie's collar and stood up quickly. “You think you're gonna scare me? Get out of the way, you fucking bastard!” he shouted, and then he punched Eddie hard. As the punch connected with Eddie's jaw, the loud thud inside the bar momentarily froze the whole place. A thin trickle of blood trickled down Eddie's lip as he took a few steps back.

But instead of pausing, Eddie became even more enraged by the impact. The rage in his eyes was now uncontrollable. He quickly wiped his cheek and took a step toward Josh.

“I warned you,” Eddie said. There was such determination in his voice that you could see Josh was scared.

Eddie moved quickly and punched Josh hard in the stomach, then, without missing a beat, struck him a second time. This time his fist connected with Josh's jaw and he staggered back to the ground. But Eddie didn't stop. He pounced on him, grabbed him by the collar and delivered another blow to his face. “You're learning the price of bothering a woman,” Eddie said, his voice growing more determined with each blow.

Josh tried to stop Eddie with his hands, but Eddie was giving him no chance. Within seconds, Josh's face was covered in blood. Those inside the bar looked on, horrified by the fight, while Gareth got up from the stage and prepared to try and pull them apart.

Eddie took one last look at Josh's face and pushed him hard to the floor. “If you ever cross me again, I'll make you regret it,” he said.

Josh staggered to his feet. His shirt was soiled, his face bloodied and his pride shattered. “You'll pay for this,” he mumbled, but his voice couldn't hide his fear. He walked quickly to the door and left the bar.

Eddie took a deep breath and sat up. Blood was still seeping from his lip, but he didn't seem to care. When he turned to you, the anger was gone from his gaze, replaced by a familiar warmth.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

You nodded and put your hand over your heart. A few minutes later the waiters were picking up the fallen stools and the chaos inside the bar had slowly subsided. People were back in their seats, chatting, and a few people were still discussing what had happened in whispers. 

You turned to Eddie and took a deep breath. The adrenaline was giving way to shame, especially as you felt the stares around you. “Everyone's staring at us,” you muttered, your eyes drifting to the floor.

Eddie shrugged, as if he didn't really care. “Let them look,” he said, smiling slightly. But even the small grin on his face disappeared instantly because of the cut on his lip and he groaned slightly.

Just then Gareth came up to you with an ice pack. There was a slight look of concern on his face as he handed it to you. “Here. That should help a little,” he said. He paused for a moment, turning to Eddie. “I have to get back to the stage, but are you... are you all right?”

Eddie nodded his head as if thanking Gareth and gave a slight smile. “I'm fine. Don't worry.”

Gareth looked at Eddie for a few more seconds, then glanced in your direction, patted him on the shoulder and returned to the stage. Guitars and drums echoed through the bar as the band regrouped and prepared to play. But no longer could they drown out the pounding of your heart.

You gently took the ice pack gently and pressed it to Eddie's bleeding lip. Eddie flinched involuntarily and tried to pull back, but you didn't let go. “Stop,” you said softly. “At least let me take care of this while you put up a big fight for me.”

Eddie's gaze stopped on you, the anger long gone from his eyes. A strange embarrassment had taken its place, but he said nothing. As you cleaned the blood from his lip in silence, you finally couldn't resist and tried to speak. “I didn't know you were here. If I had known...”

Eddie interrupted, trying to avert his eyes from you, but finally he looked at you and took a deep breath. “Wouldn't you have come if you'd known?” he said, his voice more calm and vulnerable than you expected.

You parted your lips to answer, but Eddie kept talking. “I know... I heard you were back in town but I didn't dare to see you. I didn't know what to say, but... I still wanted to see you, so... I watched from a distance.”

Surprised, you put down the ice pack and looked at him. “You watched from a distance?”

Eddie tilted his head, a faint smile playing on his lips. “I don't want to sound like a stalker,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “But yeah. Ever since I found out you were here... I guess I've been following you like a shadow, watching you from a distance, not bothering you. I don't know, maybe I didn't have the courage to see you again. Maybe I thought that if you saw me here... you would run away.”

You felt your heart squeeze at this confession. Eddie's voice was so honest and vulnerable that it was hard to look him in the eye. 

You pressed the ice pack to Eddie's lip again and leaned a little closer to him. “Eddie...” you whispered. “Why didn't you say anything? Why didn't you come to me? You could have talked to me. I wouldn't have run away.”

Eddie looked you in the eye, but this time he didn't run away. “I don't know. Maybe I didn't think I deserved it. I didn't have anything right to say to you. But... seeing you was enough. Seeing you happy... Anyway, you were telling that idiot that you had to leave... Can I drop you where you're going? I don't want him to get in your way.’’

''Uhm... I made up a lie to get rid of him. But I'd better get back home... It's been a long night.''

The moonlight glinted off the thin layer of snow that had just fallen, and it looked as if the ground was covered in a silver blanket. Eddie was walking a few steps ahead of you, his hands in his pockets as usual, but his shoulders were much broader than they had been. This difference caused your eyes to involuntarily drift to his back and silhouette. You immediately averted your eyes, but you couldn't control where your thoughts were going. 

Eddie suddenly stopped and turned his head to look at you. “Are you still cold?” he asked, his voice soft yet protective.

You tried to smile at him, but your lips felt numb from the cold. “No, I'm fine,” you said, but you didn't sound convincing.

Eddie shook his head from side to side, as if expecting this answer. “Let me put this jacket to good use,” he said, and in one motion he took off his leather jacket. You couldn't help but notice the moment when his arm muscles peeled away from his jacket. This whole car mechanic thing... it had definitely worked for him.

When he handed you the jacket, you tried to protest. “But I thought you'd be cold too...”

“Stop arguing with me,” he interrupted, smiling slightly. He gently placed the jacket on your shoulders and straightened the collar. “Do I look like I'm cold?”

He was right. It was impossible not to notice the muscles under his thin black shirt. His shoulders looked wider, his arms thicker and his back stronger. The boy who years ago had played songs on the bar stage with his guitar was now a different man. There was something about Eddie; maybe the years, maybe the hardships he had endured had made him more attractive. But one thing was certain: This man was too good looking for any girl in town to refuse. 

“Thank you,” you whispered, inhaling the faint smell of leather and cigarettes in the jacket. Eddie's scent... it filled you with something familiar and nostalgic.

Eddie shrugged, but there was a look on his face that said he was studying you. “If you hadn't gone on dates with idiots like that, you'd be sitting in your warm house and you wouldn't be cold,” he said, his eyes seeming to focus on a point on the horizon, but there was a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

“Even if I don't go on dates with idiots like that, I'm still being watched by stalkers somehow, right?” you said, tilting your head and mocking him slightly.

Eddie threw his hands up in the air. “I never watched your house. I'm not that kind of stalker, okay?” he said, the sarcasm in his voice a little defensive.

And then he continued. “Besides, you're lucky I was there. I don't want to watch stupid Josh get in your way again. He'll probably lose more teeth next time.”

You started laughing too, but at the same time you felt grateful that he was making such an effort to protect you. Eddie continued to walk beside you, occasionally glancing at you to make sure everything was all right.

“By the way,” he added after a while, ”it's all his fault that guy treated you the way he did. The way he spoke to you... It was unacceptable. If he tries to get close to you again, he'll find more than me.”

You felt your heartbeat a little faster at Eddie's protective attitude. Even after all these years, Eddie's devotion to you seemed unchanged. It was both frightening and strangely comforting.

When you came to a familiar corner of town, Eddie paused for a moment. “This is it, isn't it?” he said, nodding toward your house.

“Yes,” you said, nodding slightly. But you didn't want to say goodbye to him. There was something in you that wished this moment could last longer.

When the door opened, you were a little disturbed by the silence from inside. As you stepped inside you realized that Eddie was still waiting behind you. You turned to look at him and saw a hesitant look on his face.

“Anybody home?” Eddie asked, running a hand through the back of his hair and tugging at a lock of curly hair. It was an indication that he was a little nervous.

You shook your head from side to side. “No, no one's home. My family has been out of town for a few days. It's just me...” Your voice trailed off, but then you gathered your courage and continued. “If you want... you can come in and have a coffee. I mean... it's quite cold outside and you gave me your jacket.”

Eddie cocked his head and gave a light laugh. “I don't know, I don't want to be a bother. I mean... Tonight was weird enough...”

“Eddie,” you said, determination in your eyes. “It's just a coffee. Nothing weird. And... seriously, I'm not going to leave you out after you've helped me so much.”

Eddie hesitated for a few seconds, then shrugged and stepped through the doorway. “Okay, but just a coffee. I promise I won't bother you any more.”

“The kitchen is this way,” you said with a slight smile as you led him towards the kitchen.

Eddie was leaning against a corner near the counter, and you were putting the kettle on for the coffee. “Still drinking it with sugar?” you asked, your eyes flicking to his face for a moment.

Eddie smiled. “More of this 'do you drink with sugar' talk? You still don't recognize me?”

You laughed, this familiar conversation had taken you back to warmer and happier times in the past. Just as you reached for the sugar jar, Eddie bent down to pick up the glasses and your arms collided.

“Oh, sorry,” you said and stepped back slightly, but Eddie moved at the same time and you collided again.

Eddie put on his familiar wry smile. “I guess we're still pretty clumsy, like the old days.”

You rolled your eyes. “Well, it's your fault. You shouldn't have stood so close.”

But Eddie didn't answer. His eyes locked on yours for a moment, then his gaze slowly dropped to your lips. Suddenly the kitchen became a much warmer, much more intimate place. Your heart began to beat faster.

“Eddie...” you whispered, but your voice was barely a breath.

Eddie's hand was resting on the counter, his body pressed a little closer to yours. When his eyes refocused on yours, his expression was mixed. There was both eagerness and a kind of timidity.

“If you want to stop me...” he said, his voice low, almost a murmur. “Now is the time.”

But you didn't say anything. In fact, you didn't even know what to say. It was as if everything had stopped; all you heard was your own breathing and Eddie's approaching presence. Your eyes closed involuntarily as you felt his nose touch yours.

Finally... his lips lightly touched yours. It was so gentle that for a brief moment you wondered if it was real. But then Eddie's hand reached around your waist, pulling you to him, deepening the kiss. This kiss carried all the intensity of that moment, all the longing, all the emotions that had been hidden for years.

Your fingers involuntarily gripped the hem of Eddie's shirt. As you inhaled deeply, his scent - the faint smell of cigarettes, his leather jacket and that timbre you had always recognized - completely overtook you. For a moment the world was just that moment.

[worldofstoriesanddreams]

Is there an age limit chapter 3 - Christmas edition

Wrapped in a straitjacket, his utility belt and every gadget stripped away, Batman pulled himself up to a sitting position and scanned the room. 

Across the room, Superman was sweating bullets — his face as green as the kryptonite handcuffs that chained him to the wall.

Wonder Woman, in the WayneTech Virtual Reality suit, was in her own world, fighting imaginary battles, unaware of their plight.

Green Lantern was trapped in a yellow cube.

In the agency cage of fire, Martian Manhatter had lost his humanoid form — incapacitated by terror.

Green Arrow without his arrows. Black Canary was gagged and had a metapower inhibiter collar around her neck. Both of them were in straitjackets, unable to escape.

Flash was trapped in a containment field which severed his connection to the Speed Force.

A bald man in a lab coat, calling himself the Master of the World, taunted the Dark Knight with empty boxes that once contained Batman’s contingency plans and resources he had prepared to take down each and every member of the Justice League, should the need arise.

Checking his watch, he announced. “It’s 3pm. Time for Captain Marvel to show up to save his friends.”

He loaded a gun with bullets from the box with Captain Marvel’s lightning on it. These bullets were made of pure lead — deadly to Daxamites. 

“Why put one into his shoulder when I can shoot all of them into his heart?” The villain cackled.

Batman’s contingency plans were never meant to kill. They were to neutralise members of the Justice League when they are under mind control or go rogue, or otherwise become a threat to humanity.

Captain Marvel crashed to the roof, landing in front of the villain.

“Release them,” said the Big Red Cheese.

Click

“Duck,” Batman growled. “Pure lead bullets!”

Bang! 

Bang! 

Bang! 

Bang!

Bang! 

Bang! 

Captain Marvel didn’t flinch as the flurry of bullets struck his chest, bouncing off without leaving a scratch.

“My turn,” he tapped the villain’s shiny head, knocking him unconscious.

He looked at the boxes with their insignias and stared at Batman. His eyes blazed with anger while his smile dropped as he scrutinised Batman. 

“Is this what I think it is?” Disappointment coloured his voice.

“Hm.” Batman glared back.

“Then you’ll know how to free them,” Captain Marvel’s brilliant smile returned as he ripped open the straitjacket, releasing Batman.

So he’s not Kryptonian. He’s not Daxamite.

What was he?

*

Back in the Watchtower, the atmosphere turned chilly. Every hero gave him the cold shoulder. They should. In their line of work, it was unwise to trust so easily. A certain level of paranoia was essential for survival.

Martian Manhunter sat in the break room, still shaken by his exposure to fire. He refused to look at Batman.

“Have some milk and cookies,” Captain Marvel walked in with a tray.  It held a plate piled high with an assortment of chocolate cookies with cream centres, and two glasses of milk. “This really helps after a tough day.” 

The alarm went off. 

There was yet another alien invasion.

Did the various alien races have some kind of time table to invade the earth on a monthly basis?

The screen showed an armada of fiery spaceships that covered all visible space. His sensors showed each ship exuded flames with heat that rivalled the sun’s core.

“Hold this," he handed the tray to Batman.

Captain Marvel beamed, “I call dibs on this invasion.”

A blur of red cleared the sky of the fiery orbs in a blink of an eye.

The Captain was back in the room, with another mug of milk in hand. “Join us for milk and cookies?” He beamed at Batman.

*

It was the night before Christmas. Batman hadn’t a clue who or what Captain Marvel really was. He was only available outside elementary school hours, so he had to be an elementary school teacher, but the bat computer scanned the photos of every elementary school teacher in the country but couldn’t match any of them with the elusive Captain.

As he retired for the night, he noticed milk and cookies laid out near the entrance of each home. Even his own children would set out milk and cookies for Santa Claus before they go to bed on Christmas Eve. 

He looked at the chimneys. Santa was known to enter homes through chimneys. Some fireplaces were still burning, so Santa had to be flame proof.

In one single night, Santa visits every home in the entire world, delivering presents to those who have been good, and coal to those who have been naughty. Bruce knew. Ever since he started those contingency plans to take down every one of his team mates, he had been getting a coal in his stocking every Christmas.

The clues fell in place.

Captain Marvel loves milk and cookies.

He’s great with the kids.

He’s flame proof, which meant, going down the chimney while the fire is still burning wouldn’t bother him.

He moves so fast, he could visit every home in the world in one night.

The way he looked at Batman after seeing the contingency boxes in use, reminded him of how his dad would look at Bruce when he was naughty.

That bright red suit and white cape - same red as Santa's suit. Same white as the trimmings.

The perpetual smile. 

The Captain’s favourite catchphrase — “Holy Moley” — “Ho Ho Ho.”

Of course.

He knew Captain Marvel’s real identity.

Captain Marvel is Santa Claus!

[chrrybmmb]

🦈๋࣭⭑ inf : homecoming [part 1]

it was the week right before graduation, you had just recently broke ties with eijiro. so now you lay on your floor, the cool wind bustling in through the sheer blue curtains that floated upwards. as you lay there, bored out of your mind you get a text, its from mina, the eccentric pink haired girl with pale yellow horns. 

"hey! girls meet @ my place 4pm prty plans"

college graduate ficcie

-- kirishima!agedup ; angst! ; smut ; mdni ; masturbation

as you step foot into the small neighborhood home, your instantly hit in the face with the smell of weed and alcohol. not spotting anyone you knew, you sat on the stairs, sitting at the very bottom, watching people as they walk in and out the front door. the loud atmosphere was nothing you were a stranger to but just as you look up, he walks through the door. 

red hair bouncing about, the same red hair he quit wearing spiked up, minus when he was working. "i dunno man, one night stands aren't really my thing.", he muttered out, his blonde himbo friend, denki, was walking along side him. 

time seemed to slow down as you watched him walk past, he didn't see you but you damn sure saw him. you turned to face the wall, trying to hide your face as he walked by you and headed up the staircase you were seated on. 

"'scuse us.", a pool of heat settled in your stomach, his voice still brung you to butterflies, it made you feel all giddy, just how it did back in junior high. 

as he headed up the steps you stood up, getting ready to move to a different part of the house. "yeah.. i'll pass. i'm gonna go get a drink", you heard his scratchy voice coming from above. you opened your eyes only to be met with his staring down at you from the top of the stair. 

he looked down and saw your face. he didn't say a word further and backtracked back up the steps. his two friends were standing there as they watched the awkward interaction.

"dude wasn't tha—", hanta's question was cut short as eijiro held up a hand for him to be quiet.

he stepped into the nearest bathroom and locked the door. he let out a heavy sigh as he leaned against the closed door, looking down at his tight and tented jeans. "shit", he muttered out. just looking at your face again made him hard, his thoughts were only surrounded with you.

"why'd she have to wear that stupid dress", he cursed himself for even setting foot in the store to buy it for you when he did. it was an anniversary gift from him and you never could find the right time to wear it, until now.

he looked up at himself in the mirror, palms pressed against the counter, his red hair drooped over his face. he was sweating bullets, his hair stuck to his forehead in efforts to cool him off.

the only few thoughts coursing through his mind was how beautiful you'd look, staring at yourself in the mirror as he gently fucked into you. the bulge in his pants only made it more uncomfortable to wait.

for a moment, he contemplated going to grab you and apologize. half of him just wanted a quick pull on his dick and just to head back to the room with hanta and denki. the other half wanted you, for you to tell him how good he felt, how much you loved him.

he found himself grinding against the sink counter top before he reaches for his phone. he went to type in his password, it was your birthday. as he unlocked it, he was met with his wallpaper, a picture of the two of you on your first date. he never found the time nor wanted to change it.

he quickly opened his camera roll and scrolled to his hidden folder. as he unlocked it, he could only grind harder against the cool countertop, seeking as much friction as he possibly could.

he cupped his clothed boner, groping himself through the fabric of his jeans as he scrolled through the pictures and videos that you had sent him and ones he took mid-fuck.

he glanced up, staring at himself in the mirror, eyebrows furrowed though his sweat drenched hair. he watched himself touch the hardness through his pants, it only made him want you more.

pathetic.

no longer could he wait. he moved to the opposite wall of the bathroom and with hurried motions unbuckled his belt and pulled down both his jeans and boxers, freeing his hardened length with relief.

with a quick movement he wrapped his hand around the base of his length and moved up and down at a rapid pace. just as he was nearing his release he heard a familiar rhythmic knock on the door.

"you okay in there, kiri? sero's rolling up another blunt so hurry up.", denki called out from the other side of the door. eijiro slumped against the wall responded back "yeah.. i'll uh—be out in 5!", his voice shaky and uneven.

back downstairs where you were was loud and sweaty. there was someone to your left, to your right, and 2 couples behind you making out on the cigarette scented couch. just the sight of seeing them made you feel uneasy.

you gulped down your drink and set the cup down, slumping against the cool kitchen tile wall and slowly sliding down it. before you hit the floor you heard his voice and by instinct you scanned the room to find it.

"kiss mina? dude we've been friends since like junior high, i'm not putting my lips anywhere near her, plus isn't she like, gay or something?", he mouthed off to hanta, "you and denki really need to quit trying to set me up."

you quickly duck back around the wall before you hear him again, he was in the kitchen grabbing a drink. "'scuse.. me.", he said, stepping over you and not exactly paying attention to who you were.

for the few moments that he was in your presence you wanted to talk to him, but you couldn't muster out not even a peep. right before you know it, he's gone.

・ ⭑ ╭ ︰ notes ⁀ ⊹ ₊ “

hi everyone! part 1 (one) of an original story, hopefully i'll be able to start working on part 2 (two) and finish it up!

part 2 is uppp!!

[flamboyantraichu]

Hi, your works with Friede are so good they make me love this man even more♥️. Can I request something where (gn)Reader and Friede are really close friends (like giving little kisses, going on dates) but Reader is not sure what they are to each other while Friede thinks they are already dating? Whatever you will do, your fluffs are adorable♥️

Thank you for the kind words!! Hopefully this story satisfies your request ❤️I enjoyed writing this one, even it it turned out double the length I intended haha

Too Casual

You were in your own little world, your heart beating hard and your fingers trembling against the fabric of his jacket. The light from the Sunny Day soon faded behind you, and you remembered where you were. You weren’t in some mystical dream– you were standing in the middle of a tiny area, staring at your crush like he would disappear if you looked away for even a second. People were definitely staring. You untangled yourself from Friede’s grip in a panic and shouted out some excuse before rushing off to the nearest bathroom, your Liepard following closely behind you. "What the hell was that?"

ao3 vers: https://archiveofourown.org/works/63630637

tags: POV Second Person, Gender Neutral Reader, Pre-relationship, Getting Together, Situationship, Best Friends to Lovers, Miscommunication, Fluff

3,415 words

“Liepard, Sunny Day!” A faint glow surrounded the feline pokemon, her nose pointing to the sky as she let out a howl. The once cloudy atmosphere gave way for light to filter through, the battlefield turning blazing hot. Perfect. You looked over to Friede, who winked back at you.

You were at a terrible type disadvantage with Liepard against two bug pokemon– a Scyther and a Scizor– but fortunately Friede had chosen Charizard for this fight. And supporter moves were your specialty. This battle was going to be over quick.

“Flamethrower!” Friede called out. His Charizard immediately took flight, rising up to block the sun off from the ground with his massive wings. The sun glistened off its red, scaly, body, a translucent glow of power circling around the pokemon as he charged up its attack. Charizard opened his mouth and unleashed Flamethrower. 

It hit the Scyther spot on, burning the pokemon and immediately knocking it out before it could react. The Scizor narrowly avoided it, its claws lighting up when its trainer shouted out a command. The pokemon made a mad dash towards yours. 

“Block it with Night Slash!” The pokemon was too close to dodge, so Liepard did her best to counteract the move. They met in the middle, claws pressed against each other with equal power before Liepard was knocked back to her original position on the field. 

The opposing pokemon attempted to use the same move again, but Charizard had finally regained its barings and let out another Flamethrower before the Scizor could do anything. This time the attack hit dead on, knocking out Scizor. 

You won.

The referee called it out, and both you and Friede shouted in victory. You turned to Friede, intending to give him a high five for his battling efforts, but was caught off guard when his hands went to your hips. He raised you up from the ground without warning and spun you around. Your arms instinctively wrapped around his shoulders to keep you from falling. The look on his face was that of pure delight, and before you could tell him to put you down, he lowered you down, keeping a hold of you even after you regained your balance. Your arms stayed around his neck. Yellow eyes stared into yours, and you could’ve sworn he looked down at your lips once or twice. He said something, but you didn’t hear it.

You were in your own little world, your heart beating hard and your fingers trembling against the fabric of his jacket. The light from the Sunny Day soon faded behind you, and you remembered where you were. You weren’t in some mystical dream– you were standing in the middle of a tiny area, staring at your crush like he would disappear if you looked away for even a second. People were definitely staring. You untangled yourself from Friede’s grip in a panic and shouted out some excuse before rushing off to the nearest bathroom, your Liepard following closely behind you. 

Friede, completely unbothered by your antics, “I’ll go check on the kids!”

The door clicked shut behind you and Liepard, the single stall bathroom greeting you with a questionable smell and an average cleaning job. Your back slid down the back off the door until you hit the floor. Covering your face with your hands, you let out a loud, annoyed, groan. 

“What the hell was that?” Liepard laid down next to you, her head resting in your lap to ground you. You ran a hand through her dark red fur.

“He was just holding me. Like it was nothing. I have to be imagining things.”

This wasn’t the first time something like this, Friede being touchier than normal, that is, has happened. It was just because you were friends. Best friends. Obviously! But the raging crush you’ve been forming on the man over the last few months made moments like this drive you nuts. To your displeasure– or maybe pleasure, only future you would be able to decide– this wasn’t the last time this was going to happen. 

It was earlier in the morning, the sun barely peeking through the alleyways of buildings and reflecting a pretty orange across the windows above. The medium-sized plaza had an array of stands, both with various options of produce and way too much junk year nor Friede could imagine people actually wanting. It was advertised as a farmers market, but it was more like a flea market.

You and Friede walked the aisles all the same, stopping occasionally to observe the random knick knacks and to pick out the produce for the week. The rest of the team was split across the city gathering other supplies, leaving you and Friede to get the food. You looked over to Friede, who was holding an apple with a puzzled expression.

“You good there, Friede?” You questioned, a smirk rising on your lips. 

Friede looked over to you and held the apple in your direction.

“Looks like a good home for an Applin. Pretty sturdy. Surprised it made it to a market in one piece.”

Of course that’s what he was thinking. You plucked the apple from his hand and placed it in your basket. Friede grinned. “We’ll be sure to leave it out for one, then,”

You felt your stomach grumble. Skipping breakfast this morning might not have been the best idea, but you figured you could find something fun to eat while out and about. Looking around the plaza, your eyes landed on a sweets shop not too far from you. What better breakfast than a donut? You tapped Friede’s shoulder to get his attention and pointed towards the shop.

“Wanna get a donut?”

Friede immediately agreed, and after paying for the vegetables you got from the sweet old lady, the two of you made your way over to the food. The line wasn't too long, they likely had just opened, but the menu options seemed endless. They have a display of other treats, too, making your mouth water. You ended up deciding on your favorite donut, while Friede chose something with cherry filling. The two of you got some treats for your pokemon as well. 

After finding a free table, you let Liepard out of her pokeball and handed her a pastry. You then handed Cap the donut he had been eyeing since you got to the stand. They were grateful. Finally, you took a bite of your own donut.

Delicious!

You practically melted at the taste. Sure, you get this flavor every time you go to a donut shop, but you couldn’t deny it was the best thing you’ve ever had. Friede seemed to be enjoying his donut too.

“Why don’t we come here more often?” Friede asked, mouth stuffed with food and a little bit of cherry filling stuck to the side of his lips. You tossed a napkin at him, which he accepted. 

“I dunno– don’t you drive the ship?”

Friede busted out into laughter, laughter that was too contagious for you not to join in. If you had to make a guess, Friede was definitely going to make this a regular supply run city. That is, if he remembers how much he enjoyed the donuts here.

The laughter soon died down, and you eventually finished off your donut. As you were about to ask Friede where to next, you paused. He was staring at you, intently.

“You got something on your face,” Friede said. Before you could reach for a napkin, Friede held his hand out towards your face. Your breath hitched. His fingers cupped your cheek, while his thumb grazed the corner of your mouth. He pulled his hand back and inspected the syrup. Without giving it much thought, he tasted it. A burning feeling rose up your body. 

“Not bad,” he declared. Friede pushed himself up from the table and grinned. “Let’s go get the spices Murdock wants!”

Without waiting for an answer, Friede and Cap walked off into the direction of the spices. Liepard started to go with them too, before she looked back to see if you were coming. 

You stayed still on the bench, mouth agape and your face on fire. Your lips almost felt numb, and the feeling of his hand on your face lingered. If it wasn’t for Liepard nudging her nose against your knee and almost hitting you with Iron Tail, you would’ve stayed on that bench for the rest of the day. 

Rocks crunched beneath your feet as you made your way up the path. Liepard was next to you, her red and yellow fur all dusty from the environment. Friede was on your other side, a bag slung over his shoulders and a water bottle in hand. He offered it to you, which you graciously accepted. You tried to ignore it when Friede took a sip out of it right after you. The two of you stopped in front of a steep wall of rocks. 

Friede took the climb first, scaling up the section of mountain like he was a professional. Considering all the stuff you’ve seen him do, you wouldn’t doubt that. Liepard and Cap jumped up after him. Friede held a hand out to you.

“This is the spot!”

You took hold of the wall in the same way Friede did, rising a few steps before you allowed him to take your hand in his. He yanked you up effortlessly, and after you regained your balance, your eyesight settled over the horizon.

The chunk of mountain the two of you were on looked over a small forest that bordered a large, blue lake. The cloudless sky was colored a deep blue that faded into a bright orange the lower it went. The reflection of the sunrise bounced off the water.

“It’s beautiful,” You whispered.

Friede, instead of looking off towards the sunrise, had his eyes on you. His hand was still in yours, the calloused skin warming your near frozen fingertips. Friede gave your hand a squeeze before letting go and stretching his arms. You mirrored the motion. 

Friede’s arm then wrapped around the back of your shoulders, and you let him pull you into a side hug. The moment was borderline romantic. Watching the sunset together in the brisk morning, all by yourselves? The light of the new morning gave a soft glow on Friede’s face, his eyes sparkling as they looked into yours. It felt like a scene out of a romance movie. If only you had the courage to lean in and kiss him.

Friede seemed to not get the memo, and without warning, he leaned in and pressed his lips against your cheek. 

The motion was quick, his soft lips only lingering on your skin for a few seconds before he pulled back, a goofy smile on his face. You tried to say something, but he beat you to it.

“I could go for a sandwich.” It was casual, the way he spoke, like he didn’t just do something that turned your whole perspective on your relationship upside down. Up until now, you’ve been writing everything off as a cruel coincidence, but now you had no idea what to think. Liepard nudged your leg, her cute face looking up at yours. Friede had started walking away now, back towards the direction the two of you came from. One of your hands touched your cheek. 

This was getting out of hand.

“Sounds like you,” Orla pointed a finger in your direction, “are in a situationship.”

“Ughhh!” You buried your face in your hands, a warm feeling rising up through your body. You spent the last thirty or so minutes complaining to Orla about the various encounters you’ve had with Friede over the last few months, and as much as you didn’t want to admit it, she was totally right. There is absolutely a situation going on, and you didn’t know how to proceed. Orla was amused. 

“Been there, done that. It’s not that bad.”

You huffed. “It totally is! Am I missing something?”

Orla shrugged in return. “You know Friede, always forgetting to tell people things and instead taking actions that confuse everyone. Maybe he likes you, and just hasn’t said it yet.”

It was plausible. But the doomerism in you wanted to say there was no way. Orla chuckled. She was about to say something else before the door to the conference room slid open. You turned to look behind you and were greeted with the sight of the very man you were complaining about. Friede walked over, plate in hand.

“Thought you might be hungry.” He placed the plate in front of you. Orla crossed her arms, a playful frown on her face.

“You didn’t bring me anything?”

Friede shrugged. “Murdock has sandwich stuff in the kitchen.”

He then leaned down next to your ear, saying your name to get your attention.

“I was wondering if you wanted to get dinner with me? Tonight?”

You raised your eyebrows. Glancing over at Orla, you saw a surprised look on her face. She mouthed something along the lines of ‘say yes’.

“Sure. Sounds like a plan.”

Friede grinned. He casually kissed your cheek, just like he did earlier in the morning, and started to make his way out of the room. 

“Great! See you later!”

The moment the door shut behind him, Orla started laughing. You groaned.

“See what I mean?”

You looked down at the plate before you. A twisting, warm feeling settled in your stomach– Murdock usually left the ingredients out, separated, for everyone to make their own choice. Friede had taken it upon himself to build your favorite sandwich.

The place Friede suggested wasn’t overly fancy, but you still dug out some nice clothes for the event. As Orla theorized, the rest of the crew wasn’t invited, and it was almost certainly a date between you and Friede. You argued that she was wrong, but you couldn't shake the feeling of excitement for the night. And nervousness. You were so nervous.

The hostess led the two of you to a table near the window, dimly lit and most of the light coming from the evening sun outside. Friede pulled a chair out for you, which you accepted. He took the one across from you.

The waiter had come by quickly to take your drink and food order, then left the two of you alone.

“So,” breaking the silence, you started, “what have you been up to all day?”

Friede went off into a tangent about the afternoon he had, which included updating parts of his environment map. Apparently an area he needed to look into again was overrun by Spheal, and despite how cute they were, they were extremely rude, hitting Friede smack in the face with Water Gun a couple times. His environment map was a passion project since high school, and you couldn’t help but marvel at how fondly he spoke about it, partially wishing it was you he spoke about with such love. During the conversation your drinks arrived, and midway through your rant about the training you did with Liepard today, your food arrived too. You originally weren’t sure how this night was going to go, but you were pleasantly at the outcome. It felt natural, the best friend side of your relationship wiping away any awkwardness as the prospect of this being a date. You were glad for that, as you weren’t even sure this could classify as a date.

The meal was over as quick as it began, and after paying for the food, you found yourself walking side by side down the sidewalk. The sun was almost down by now, a soft orange glow and newly turned on street lamps lighting your path. The moment felt like the morning you had, but Friede somehow looked better, that dopey smile melting your heart. 

It was too perfect to not confess everything on your mind.

Friede slowed to a stop next to a water fountain. The clear water glistened in the light. So did Friede’s eyes. You sucked in a breath. This was the moment. Friede stared at you, an indecipherable look in his eyes. 

“Friede, I have to confess something.” 

“No,” your name followed next. “I have to tell you something first.”

It caught you too off guard to object. Friede grabbed onto your hand and raised it up to his face. He pressed his lips against your knuckles. 

“We’ve been dating for three months now, and I can’t keep waiting any longer to say it. I love you.”

Friede’s hands cupped your cheeks as he pressed his lips, soft and wistful, against yours. It felt different than when they ever did against your cheek, and you couldn’t help but internally punch yourself for missing out on something like this for so long. His breath was warm on your cheek and you weren’t sure what to do with your hands. You weren’t sure what to do with anything, really, the thoughts racing through your mind as you failed to reciprocate his actions.

He loves you?

Friede pulled back, a look of confusion laced through his features. You stared at him, the words getting lost on your tongue. You barely registered him saying your name.

“What’s wrong? Are you not…”

“You love me?”

“Yes, I–”

Suddenly it hit you. You took a step back. “Wait. We’ve been what?”

It was Friede’s turn to be confused. “We’ve been… dating?”

You couldn’t stop yourself. Your shoulders shook as a wheeze passed through your lips, and not even the lack of proper airflow could stop you from laughing. 

Friede started to panic. “Are you okay?”

“We–” Your voice was broken up in gasps. “Aren’t dating!”

Maybe that was the wrong thing to say at the moment, the visual of Friede’s heart getting shattered to pieces squeezed at your own. Before Friede could make any brash movements, you grabbed ahold of his shoulders. 

You took a few breaths to steady yourself. “Let me rephrase that,”

“I wasn’t aware we were dating, Friede.”

One of your hands trailed down his arm, stopping above his hand as you laced your fingers together. He accepted the affection, but he still seemed confused when he spoke.

“At the battle tournament.”

You pinched your eyebrows together, thinking back at the day. Friede had spun you around after you won the qualifying match, and while you didn’t go on to win the whole thing– Liko and Roy did, actually– you had fun with him. But you couldn’t remember any significant moments from that day. When you didn’t respond, Friede continued.

“After we won that one match. You looked so happy, and I realised how much I wanted to see you happy forever. I asked you out.”

“You did?”

Friede raised an eyebrow. He was more amused than concerned now. “Yeah? You said ‘yes, yes, sure, I need to go pee I’ll be right back’ and ran off. I thought it was kinda weird but you act weird sometimes so I didn’t think too much about it.”

Upon seeing the look on your face, he continued. “Maybe I should have thought about it more.”

You hit the palm of your hand against your forehead.

“I’m sorry Friede. I didn’t know what you said, I was distracted.”

He released your hand. Friede rubbed the back of his head. “No, it’s my fault. I should have noticed how awkward you got whenever I did something romantic. I just thought you wanted to take things slowly. Like really slowly.”

Friede took a deep breath. 

“I get it if you don’t want to continue–”

“No!” You cut him off. “I mean, yes, I do want to continue. That day I was distracted by you. Because I like you. And I wanted to tell you that tonight, after dinner, but I guess you had something more shocking to tell me.”

That stupid grin was back on Friede’s face. He pulled you into a hug.

“This time, we’re actually dating?”

You pulled back and cupped his face in your hands like he did to you. You leaned forward and pressed a light kiss to his lips. 

“I thought we were already dating?” You joked. Friede laughed and grabbed a hold of your hand. The two of you continued your way down the road, a new-found connection between the two of you that made your heart flutter. Guess that nervousness was all for nothing, huh?

[bird-in-the-space]

Bayverse Version (Part 8)

You arrive at a mining post with Que to seek more energon. However, just as things seem calm, you are ambushed by Decepticons. Instead of coming for energon and causing havoc, their objective seems to be you.

(Author's note: I might have changed some stuff for this story)

Warnings: The Decepticons ambush you, a lot of cursing, you get picked up, things and people get shot at, you get tied up and kidnapped, you escape momentarily, you then get shot at, shocked, and the cons succeed in kidnapping you.

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

After your morning routine of psychological evaluations and a health check by Ratchet, you were ready to travel to another unconfirmed energon post. This time, you felt more prepared as you traveled with Que and a group of NEST soldiers. The flight was a bit longer, and you even heard that the mining post would be near your home city.

You had hoped to take the opportunity to visit Emily, but since you didn’t know how to transform into your alt-form, you had to let go of that idea—and, technically, you were on a job.

During the flight, Que taught you the basics of energon veins and where they are usually found. You listened attentively until you finally arrived at the post.

You walked toward what appeared to be a mine, different from the quarry, and you could see your home city in the distance.

“Alright, (Name). How about you mark the spots with these red flags or any veins you suspect, and I’ll help the crew start mining? It would be fantastic if we found another pure energon source here,” Que said, handing you some small red flags.

“No promises, but I’ll try,” you replied as you took the flags.

Using your ability, you located all the visible veins on the surface. There were a few more than at the quarry, so you walked around, placing flags at the nearest spots. Meanwhile, Que assisted the crew in the mining process.

About an hour and a half passed. You had marked all the spots you could find, even inside the mines. Unfortunately, there were no pure energon sources this time. However, the crew had already extracted a large quantity of energon. Thanks to your outlier ability, the work went much faster since they knew where to dig.

“Great work, (Name). This really saved us a lot of time, and we won’t have to worry about our energon supplies running out for a while,” Que said after you walked out of the mine. 

“How about you go take a break? I’ll do some last check-ins, and then we can proceed to the next energon post,” Que suggested. 

“Okay,” you said and left. 

You decided to take a walk around the area. The atmosphere was peaceful despite the sounds of mining behind you. The day was clear, and you took a deep breath. You weren’t sure why you continued breathing—maybe because it sometimes helped you calm down and relax.

Suddenly, you noticed a vein that you had somehow missed earlier. You followed it to the lower areas of the mine, where you saw other shimmers. Shrugging your shoulders, you figured you might as well check it out to make sure nothing had been overlooked.

Following the vein, you carefully slid down the hill. The vein led you to a small cluster of energon. Looking around, you spotted even more small clusters on the lower areas.

“Hey, Que!” you called out. 

“Yeah?” Que answered, looking down from the upper hill. 

“There are some smaller energon clusters here. I’m gonna mark them with an x on the surface,” you said. 

“Alright. I let the mining crew know,” he said before going back to whatever he was doing. 

You looked around with a sigh. You weren’t going to lie—this energon hunting was kind of fun in a way.

As your eyes scanned the area, they passed over some construction vehicles. You stopped and turned your eyes back to the construction vehicles, especially on the large green dump truck and the yellow loader. You noticed something glowing in them.  Squinting, you watched as the glows expanded into energon veins. 

Backing away cautiously, you felt a sense of unease. Those energon traces were eerily similar to those of transformers—and you hadn’t heard anyone else coming with you.

You then saw what appeared to be a logo on them. It had a distinct “v” shape, unlike the Autobot logo, which was boxier and more rounded in design.

With a growing sense of dread, you called out to Que.

“Que!” 

“Yeah. What is it (Name)?” he replied. 

“What did the Decepticon logo look like again?” you asked. 

“Kinda looks like a face, but sharper edges like a ‘v’. Why?” he asked. 

Fear began to fill you as the logo on the vehicles matched the description. “I don’t think we’re the only transformers here,” you replied. 

Before Que could answer, a military helicopter suddenly appeared in the air. You all glanced at it, confused. 

As you looked away, the green dump truck and the yellow loader suddenly began to transform. Panic surged through you as the truck shifted into a towering green giant with blood-red eyes. It let out a grunt before both he and the yellow loader turned their attention to you.

Spinning around, you scrambled to climb the hills.

“Que!” you shouted, fear in your voice.

Before you could get any further, the massive green bot grabbed you by the back, lifting you effortlessly into the air like a rag doll.

“Decepticons!” The NEST soldier yelled and started shooting. 

The green giant and the yellow con covered themselves from the bullet. You shrieked and covered yourself when the bullets nearly hit you. 

“Stop! Cease your fire! You’ll hit (Name)!” Que exclaimed, trying to make them stop. 

You struggled helplessly in the green giant's hand as he held you in front of him like a shield. The yellow loader Decepticon then sends missiles at Que and the soldiers. 

“Take cover!” Que yelled as the missiles hit the mine, causing explosions. The NEST soldiers and the mining crew yelled and screamed as they tried to avoid getting blown up.  

The yellow Decepticon muttered something to the green giant in their native tongue. Before you could react, heavy chains suddenly wrapped around you.

The two transformed, and you were tossed into the green giant’s dump box like cargo. Helpless, you felt the ground shift beneath you as they drove away from the mine, carrying you with them.

You then realized something terrifying. You were being kidnapped. 

You struggled against the chains that bound you, banging against them. Then, an idea struck you. Carefully, you adjusted the parts of your body, shifting just enough to loosen the restraints. With a final push, you slipped free.

As you regained your balance, you looked up, taking in your surroundings as you moved. Your eyes then locked onto the yellow loader Decepticon that was driving behind the green dump truck. 

Standing up, you steeled yourself before making the risky decision to jump. You landed on the yellow con’s roof, causing some damage and making him curse. You flew over and barely landed on your feet on the ground. When you saw the cons stop, you quickly bolted into the woods. 

Running as fast as you could, you ran past the trees and slapped away the branches that nearly got in your face. Luckily, you were smaller than those two Decepticons, and their sizes were probably enough to prevent them from coming after you through the woods. 

You stopped for a moment to take a breather. You looked around, trying the tell which way you should go to get back to Que and other NEST soldiers. You do not know why these Decepticons were out to kidnap you, but you were not about to find out. 

The wind above you suddenly pushed against you, and you saw that military helicopter again. It then started firing at you. You yelled when the bullets nearly hit you and continued running in panic. 

Fucking hell! What are they trying to do here?! Kidnap you or fucking kill you?! 

You tried to lose the helicopter, but the trees gave little cover, and you had to avoid getting hit by the bullets. 

Suddenly, you arrived at the edge of a cliff. You looked at the distance, but then were met with the helicopter again. The force of its rotor wash sent you stumbling backward.

Before you could react, a shot rang out from the forest, and you felt something striking you in the waist. A powerful shock surged through your entire body. You shrieked in pain as a searing sensation overwhelmed you, causing your body to shake and twitch, and then—like an automatic shutdown—you lost consciousness.

Your eyes closed as you collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

A large, metallic panther-like creature emerged from the forest, growling as it stood over and inspected you.  The helicopter above shot a rod at you, using a magnet to attach itself onto your back before pulling you off the cliff. The metal panther retreated into the forest as the helicopter carried you away into the unknown, fulfilling their objective. 

[dronebiscuitbat]

Oil is Thicker Then Blood (Part 97)

A plan was formulated, perhaps it was risky-but when a horde of infected wandered within visual range of the workshop before being burned to crisp by N and V. Some risks needed to be taken.

V would lead a group to pick up one pod and Khan would lead another, Thankfully two more seemed to be the last they need for parts. All that would be left would be wiring the guts and... taking off.

Of course taking off implied that there was somewhere to go, and so Uzi and N went on their own mission, a mission deep within territory already claimed by the eldritch growth consuming the planet. Into a satellite hub that tracked the coordinates of human colonies likely once used to send a receive transmissions between them, though at this point had fallen silent for over a decade.

So while the last of the materials were being salvaged from the pods, N carried Uzi on his back, flying high and fast through the soured air, the atmosphere of Copper-9 itself becoming stained with the scent of rotten flesh, following his navigation system almost mindlessly. Tera was being babysat by none other then Delilah, who had offered as an apology for their last playdate going so wrong.

The wind bit at his visor and through his wings as he pierced through it, Uzi shuffling slightly in her sleep- she'd begun to get far more sluggish as of late, sleeping the moment it was quiet enough and calm enough for her to relax. He was expecting her to go into labor any day now; part of what made this mission so risky.

But waiting any longer would make it more and more dangerous.

Uzi made a noise in her sleep. Something between a whimper and a sigh, her visor glitching from purple to yellow and back to purple again.

Uzi was... somewhere familiar, but not.

The walls were ancient, well kept hardwood, the windows so clean you could convince yourself there was simply no glass; and silhouetted by velvet curtains the spilled lusciously onto red, satin carpet. She felt taller then usual, every step making a light click on the floor as her hair bounced off her shoulders and back. It was a different color too- black, long.

She was wearing a dress that felt a little too tight on her skin- and her wrists were raw and sore.

She was also looking for something; though quietly as if she was scared about what would happen if she was heard. In a voice that wasn't hers, but achingly familiar, she called out a name. "J! J!... Where are you? Where did everybody go?"

The only response was the pitter-patter of rain falling outside.

"Master... [Error- Not Found]"

She whipped around, coming face to face with a much shorter, much kinder looking J. Though whatever the worker had called her had merely sounded like static to her ears.

"J!" Joy instead of rage filled her, and she wrapped the worker into a tight embrace. "Oh thank god. I couldn't find anyone! Whats going on?"

The worker blushed briefly, it was yellow; it had always been yellow.

Then why did she think it should be white?

"You shouldn't be awake, Master will be... displeased" J replied, ignoring the question, this was weird, everything felt... off.

"I can't even find them! it's like everyone's dissapeared!"

J's visor remained exactly the same, cold, though Uzi could have sworn she saw her mouth twitch as if she was trying to say something other then what came out of her mouth.

"I can take you to them, they're waiting for you downstairs."

Uzi blinked in confusion. "This is the ground floor... you mean the basement?"

J nodded, it was stiff, robotic, not like her at all.

"What are they doing in the basement?"

J didn't respond, just took her hand and lead her away.

The next moment there was darkness, she couldn't see herself, feel herself, like her consciousness and her body had disconnected...

And then;

Pain.

It was searing, all consuming, paired with an intense bright yellow light that seemed to bind with her very being, she screamed louder and harder then she ever had in her life. It was unrelenting, coming from inside as it felt like she was being ripped apart piece by piece.

And there was laughing- disjointed, glitchy, monotone.

"Laughter. Don't Worry. I will help you."

She snapped awake with a yelp, nearly letting go of N's back and plummeting to the ground, but he gripped her tighter, flipping his flying position so that she laid on his chest instead. His tail resting on her back. "Everything okay?"

It took her a moment to resettle into her conscious, robotic body, the pain slowly ebbing away into a dull ache in the back of her head. She sighed.

"Weird Dream" was the only explanation given as she nuzzled into N's coat, content to try and sleep again as her processors demanded she conserve as much energy as possible. She heard N sigh and move some hair out of her face. "Were here, can't go back to sleep honey, sorry." He hummed, and that's when she realized he had begun just hovering. She grumbled, everything telling her to stay snuggled up on his chest until... something.

She looked up, eyes focusing on the huge satellite dishes below them... though in worse shape then what she would have liked. One dish had crumbled to nothing, only jagged pieces being visible poking out from the infestation of gently pulsating ground, another was tangled in vine after vine of organic black, pulling the dish inside of a sinkhole that had opened up, in a few days- it would likely be gone.

The third and final dish was mostly untouched, baring some growths at it's base. Thankfully, the building that housed the control panel was mostly fine as well, a hole was torn in the side, and tendrils were making their way inside, but the roof and most of the walls were flesh free.

N landed on the flat, concrete roof as softly as possible, taking care to not disturb the still inert- sentient flesh.

"Right... Lets do this."

Next ->

[ask-thearchivists]

Speaking of color, do you like the color of the sky?

(Sorry everyone. I have to put anon in the ground. If you're on desktop press J)

The Coordinator: Yes, I very much enjoy the view of our galaxy outside the doorways behind us. The ambient color is always a lovely shade of purple here.

The Charmer: It's so nice, but I do miss the blue-green color of the Illusory Galaxy. I can't see myself leaving to found my own Archive anytime soon, but I sometimes imagine the beautiful color it will be.

The Cartographer: Since they're mortal, don't you think that what they meant by asking that is in reference to the view of the sky from the surface of a planet?

The Curator: Oh, that's a hard question that will probably require a lot of discussion before we remember all of our favorites.

The Cartographer: Once I went down to a planet and the sky was the pale blue of my body spots. That was striking, holding my hand in the air and seeing it vanish against the sky.

The Coordinator: Yes, it is striking when that happens. The first one that comes to mind is a blue sky I saw once, the exact same shade as half my skin, with white clouds like my hair.

The Charmer: Once I saw a world where their sky was a deeper blue like my skin during the day. Maybe worlds have blue skies by they are rarely ever such a dark shade of it, because of their suns.

The Curator: Wow, what boring answers. I like when planets have ammonia crystals in the upper atmosphere that make the skies look like the same pretty yellow shade as my skin.

The Charmer: Okay, but now you're just listing a sky that looks like your skin.

The Curator: Oh no, whatever shall I do? Maybe if you all think of more interesting colors for the sky to be, I will think of better colors too.

The Cartographer: Well, I remember a planet that we visited that had permanently orange skies from its incredibly dense atmosphere. They were the color of my eyes.

The Coordinator: Well, I do also recall a planet that had red skies. It was caused by smoke in the upper atmosphere because of the intense volcanic activity of the planet. The mortals were so interesting.

The Cartographer: I mean, you never see it on satellites capable of spontaneously creating life. But planets and moons with very thin atmospheres for one reason or another, their skies are pitch black in the day because there's nothing to catch and scatter the light. Though, I hate those skies.

The Charmer: Eugh!! Stop talking about that! You know those ones give me the creeps. It's like you're the last living creature in a dead universe where all the stars have gone out except one. It's like the only thing that is unsettling to us.

The Coordinator: Yes, I would like us to talk about different skies.

The Curator: Well, it's not the exact same but being in a mortal city and looking up at a black sky from light pollution is also interesting.

The Coordinator: Those skies are always so sad. When it gets to that point most mortals are not even aware that they are missing anything. The believe the sky to be unimpressive, typically unaware that they are no long able to see the stars.

The Charmer: Well, anything is better than those skies.

The Curator: One of my favorites skies that I've seen is one where the atmosphere had a lot of argon in it, so it was naturally purple. It's also really common for mortals to believe that their skies are blue when they're really purple because they didn't evolve the ability to see purple as well as other colors.

The Cartographer: There was one world I visited where the sky was a really pretty shade of blue-green.

The Charmer: The sky there was pretty, with its yellow clouds, but I would prefer not to compliment that terrible place.

The Coordinator: I agree. It is extremely rare but I like worlds with pink looking skies. It is typically just a washed out red but sometimes it looks more vibrant.

The Curator: The bright magenta sky worlds give ME the creeps, it's like a sky made of blood. Makes my skin crawl.

The Charmer: And then there's worlds with white skies. There's so many reasons the sky could be plain white.

The Coordinator: Oh! Do you recall that planet where the atmospheric conditions were so specific that the light from its star was pure white, and everything would appear grey-scale until there were fires or lightning strikes, or when it was overcast because the moisture of the clouds split the light and showed the colors of the world below? It was such a fascinating place.

The Charmer: Oh I almost forgot about that place! The sky there was so amazing.

The Coordinator: My favorite sky color is dark red.

The Charmer: After all this discussion I think I remember my favorite sky color to be vibrant magenta.

The Cartographer: I have to choose the golden orange permanent sunset skies.

The Curator: I'm going with purple. I love the rich royal purple skies on worlds with bacteriorhodopsin.

[mariacallous]

At 12:30 pm local time on Monday, the power went out. Across Spain and Portugal, trains and traffic lights abruptly stopped working.

Reports emerged of people being stuck in lifts, and Google Maps live data showed traffic jams in big cities, including Madrid and Barcelona, as they became gridlocked. Major airports warned passengers of delays due to the blackout. Its cause is still unknown. The blackout is estimated to have affected the entirety of Portugal and Spain and small regions in France.

“Traffic lights aren’t working. The streets are chaotic because there is an officer at every crossing,” says Gustavo, who lives in Madrid. “Water doesn’t reach flats at the top of buildings because the pumps are electric, and the very few shops that are open are only taking cash.”

This is every electrical engineer’s nightmare scenario, says Paul Cuffe, assistant professor of the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at University College Dublin. “The reason we don’t have widespread outages all the time is because system operators are very conservative and very proactive about using big safety margins to make sure this doesn’t happen,” he says. Engineers plan for failures in grids or surges in consumer demand that could destabilize the power supply. “These things are unusual, but to a power engineer the latent threat of it happening is always there.”

Spain’s electricity operator Red Eléctrica said in a post on X a few hours after the initial blackout that it had recovered power in some areas of Cataluña and Aragón in the northeast; País Vasco, Galicia, La Rioja, Asturias, Navarra, and Castilla y Léon in the north; Extremadura in the east; and Andalucía in the south.

Experts believe that getting the grid back up and running in both countries could take between a few hours to several days, depending on the area. While the grid is powering back up, emergency services will likely be prioritized over things like stable internet connection, they say.

There is a well-rehearsed sequence of steps that now happens, says Cuffe. They are going to be doing what is called a “black start"—a process that gradually reconnects power stations to form a functioning grid again. Electrical supply and demand has to be balanced to avoid further blackouts, meaning as power stations come online, only portions of the grid can come online with them, with the country gradually powering up, step by step. There should be a team within the grid operator that plans for this and that has identified which generators to bring online first, he explains.

Demand on the grid (yellow) fell drastically at around 12.30 local time. Typical usage is marked in green.Red Eléctrica de España

“You should be anticipating every failure that can happen, and you should survive any one of them,” Cuffe says. From the control room, engineers should be able to tell what parts of the grid are definitely functioning so they won’t be flying blind—but it will still take time.

“Even with a completely healthy grid, to do that black start could take 12 hours or 16 hours. You have to do it sequentially, and it takes a long time. I’m sure there are engineers in vans swarming all over the place as we speak trying to make all this happen,” Cuffe says. “It’s like assembling some hellishly complicated Ikea furniture.”

The biggest issue is that without an established, obvious cause for the blackout in the first place, it will be difficult for engineers to know where to reestablish power first without triggering another outage.

“The challenge is to constantly match supply and demand,” says Ketan Joshi, an independent climate and energy consultant. “You need to perform that balancing act, not just plugging everything back in there.” Joshi describes it as a blackout “in reverse.”

“When a tree falls on a power line, you end up chopping off a small chunk of the grid. It’s a pain. A hundred homes get blacked out, a crew comes and they reenergize and reconnect the section that was disconnected,” Joshi explains. This is the same thing, but at an enormous scale. “When you have a blackout like the one we are seeing in Spain and in Portugal, the challenge to map supply and demand becomes ridiculously complicated. Every time you connect up a new chunk of households, you have to perform that same balancing act. The generators that are producing electricity have to match the new demand that has suddenly come on to the grid.”

REN (Red Eletrica Nacional), the main power operator in Portugal, gave a statement to the BBC saying that the outage was caused by “extreme temperature variations in the interior of Spain. There were anomalous oscillations in the very high voltage lines (400 kV), a phenomenon known as ‘induced atmospheric vibration.’” Spain has yet to respond to this allegation.

“I scratched my head at that,” says Cuffe. Both of the country’s grids may be run by national operators, he explains, but they are shackled together as a synchronized grid, which means if one side fails the other one does too—making it not entirely unexpected for one to blame the other.

When it comes to propping the grid back up, both operators are on their own. The Iberian peninsula is an “energy island,” says Jan Rosenow, vice president of global strategy at the Regulatory Assistance Project, an NGO advancing policy innovation and thought leadership within the energy community. Spain and Portugal’s collective interconnection capacity with the rest of Europe—that is, how much of their energy they can draw from or send into the wider continent—is around 6 percent, far below the 2030 target of 15 percent set by the European Union.

“There’s a lot of speculation at the moment, but perhaps with better interconnection the problem would have been a lot less worse,” he says.

In a press conference, Spanish president Pedro Sánchez said that the cause of the power cut is still unknown and warns against speculation. He claimed that the regions that have recovered power have done so with the assistance of connections with France and Morocco, and confirmed that the hydroelectric plants in Spain are back online. He claims that hospitals are unaffected by the power outage, and that air traffic had been “voluntarily” reduced by 20 percent during this incident. He said that trains will be halted for security reasons.

Blackouts in Europe do not happen frequently—a blackout across the whole of Italy in 2003 is the closest example that experts cite as having a similar scale to the one affecting the Iberian peninsula. In that case, a tree brought down a line between Switzerland and Italy, causing other lines nearby to take over the power from the failed line and overload. This caused a blackout for 18 hours that plunged over 55 million people into darkness.

At the beginning of the current blackout, things seemed more or less normal, says Daniel Borrás, head of editorial content at WIRED’s sister publication GQ, who is based in Madrid. “People understood that it would be a couple of hours, or something like that. Now the feeling is a little different because a lot of communities in Spain are recovering step by step. For example, Cataluña, Galicia, and Pais Vasco are more or less working, but in Madrid it’s basically still a complete blackout. A lot of people are in the streets and in the bars and the terraces drinking something and it’s a very quiet mood.”

The main issue where he is, says Borrás, is with people trying to come back into Madrid and finding themselves in terrible traffic because trains aren’t running.

“No one has lost their sense of humor, and people are going out to enjoy some digital disconnection,” says Gustavo. He says he’s on his balcony enjoying a good book and contemplating going out to buy candles. “I’ll need a couple of hours to decide whether I should get lavender vanilla spa or geranium.”

[vulture18]

Julius x Reader - First kiss

TW: first person. Terribly cheesy.

Gender not specified

Vanessa had invited me to attend the festival together with Finral, Asta and Noelle and I excitedly accepted. I’ve always loved the atmosphere, the way the kingdom really comes alive, the music, the chatter, the excited buzz and the way the lights light up the warm summer evening. I put on one of my favourite outfits and even made my hair (with Vanessa’s help, of course).

Finral had kindly teleported us to the marketplace before he took off to flirt with some poor women the first chance he got. Good for him. The four of us walked through the streets, agreeing on walking one round to map out where everything is. It didn’t take long for Asta to run off excitedly to one stand or the other and Noelle begrudgingly followed him, leaving Vanessa and me on our own. Once we completed the first tour, we went to play some games, looked at a few shopping stalls (I bought an old book on the history of wind magic that I thought Julius would like) and got something to eat. It was about one and a half hour later when Vanessa started drinking and another half hour before she deemed herself above walking further. At that moment Yami appeared and told me he’d watch over her and that I should enjoy myself. He leaned down and whispered something in my ear as an afterthought. “I think the old man’s waiting for ya somewhere.” Upon hearing Julius being mentioned, I perked up and was on my way to find him. It didn’t take me long though to realise I had no idea where he was.

I looked around the marketplace for the familiar red robe or the golden locks of hair I’ve grown so fond of. But I couldn’t find him, no matter how hard I searched. I was about to give up when suddenly, there was a gush of air behind me and I felt his presence weighing down safely on my back. His voice sent a small shiver down my spine when he leaned in to whisper to me. “Come, I want to show you something.”

He didn’t have to tell me twice. I took his hand and in an instant, I found myself atop of a hill, overlooking the royal capital. The soft golden lights from the marketplace shone brightly, illuminating the night even from so far away. The music, although faint but still noticeable, added a touch of serenity to the scene. “What did you-?” I was cut off by a finger landing upon my lips and Julius’ eyes sparkling with something akin to mischief. “Hush now, it’s about to start.” I looked at him, puzzled but he just smiled knowingly and inclined his head towards the capital. That’s when it started. Fireworks went off and lit up the night sky in bright splashes of green, yellow, red and pink. It was beautiful. Breathtakingly so. All I could do was watch as Julius took my hand gently and gazed towards the sky with me. “Wow… it’s-“. “Beautiful.” he finished my sentence although he wasn’t looking at the fireworks but rather the person standing in front of him right now.

“I don’t remember there being any fireworks at the festival. Did you do this?”

“Hmm, well I thought maybe we could add a touch of magic this year.”

“It truly is magical. Thank you. For showing me this.” “I’m glad you like it. I wanted to do something a little special this year.”

“It’s wonderful.”

“It is, isn’t it?” He asked, referring entirely to the moment and not the fireworks. “Beautiful.” I answered, to which he just hummed and turned fully towards me. “You truly are.” He said softly. The sound of his voice, his gaze that flickers below my eyes for a moment, it’s all beautiful. If I could pause time, I surely would right now. I don’t need to answer. Not verbally. My gaze and reddening cheeks tell him everything he needs to know. His other hand comes up to rest against my jaw, his thumb rubbing softly against the skin. “Let’s make this night a little more special, shall we?” “Please” I breathed and as soon as the words left my lips, his own were against mine.

My eyes closed even though I wanted them to stay open, to look at him and to capture this moment. But they fell closed as his mouth brushed over mine gently, almost hesitantly. In this moment, I had wished for nothing more than to pause time and to stay there forever. Nothing lasts forever but in that moment, when our lips met and the fireworks danced behind the horizon, the music faded into the distance and his presence became the only thing that mattered, it felt like it lasted an eternity and yet was over too quickly.

[scarlettmacbeth]

Good Omens - Fanfic - AO3 - Love

The world was safe.

The world was outside.

Their world was contained by the cozy sofa, the plush carpet, the warm-colored walls, and their companionship. They had not discussed it; it just happened. One thing led to another, until the night brought them together with a glass of red wine in hand. The booming chuckles subsided into a gentle murmur, and the quiet fell over them like a blanket shielding them from cold and despair.

Safe. Aziraphale savored the sensation. Perhaps it was the wine's effect, or Crowley's igniting closeness, or the strange atmosphere they had unknowingly created together, a miracle that required no snapping. Aziraphale chose to articulate what he had been forming in his mind for a considerable amount of time as the night licked its lips with anticipation:

—Dear… 

Crowley turned to look at him intently, feeling a current of electricity course through his veins as he heard the pet name.

—Do you ever think —Aziraphale went on— about... us?

A brick to the head could not have left him any more stunned. His heart was in his throat, his pulse had died.

—Us —Crowley said, startled—. What do you mean?

Aziraphale did not hesitate. With his eyes hidden behind his dark glasses, Crowley's lips quivered. Could it be that the demon was just as afraid of the word that explained everything while leaving them with more questions than answers? Being a longtime friend of words, Aziraphale was well acquainted with this one; all he needed was the bravery to speak up and face the pain of loss, the possibility of rejection, the twist of hope, and the joy of finally confessing the truth.

—Love —merely uttering the word, Aziraphale let it sink in between them.

Crowley froze. His brain malfunctioned.  It seemed like a trap; nothing is ever that easy. Yearning for the fruit he was never supposed to have for six million years; alluring him with its elegance, grace, and fragrance while remaining forever out of reach. He could tolerate the silent pain, the blind fury, and the melancholy that abandoned him to the isolation of banishment and cracked his black soul. Yet this was going too far. He would never been subjected to such brutal torture. Give him suffering and anguish; that is what the universe was made of, but there was no hope in Hell. 

Once a part of them, the silence rose abruptly in its coarseness. Writhing in agony, Aziraphale's soul waited a few more seconds. Then it buckled, bleeding from the inside out, and pulled itself together, prepared to give up and tend to its wounds. 

—I will go... fetch more wine —with a sigh, Aziraphale got up from the couch. It was the saddest sigh Crowley had ever heard.

—Wait —Crowley frantically grasped his hand. He ripped his glasses from his face in an instant and stood next to his angel, trembling like a leaf.

Sky blue and bright yellow met in a vulnerability-laden gaze.

—Yes —Crowley admitted— I do.

—Really? —the angel inquired.

He had not noticed his bated breath until he abruptly expelled the air trapped in his lungs. The smile began timidly and gradually spread across Aziraphale's face. His eyes sparkled with joy, and his laughter echoed throughout the room.

 —Oh dear, you scared me so much, for a second I thought… but no, and I'm so happy for that, I knew, well, at least, I hoped, so much, so much hope contained deeply in my bones, and so many times I considered that I had been misreading it all, thought that maybe those looks, those grand gestures of yours were not beyond a pure and sincere friendship, and… yes we are good friends, but also more, so much more, or that is what I long for, what I have been pining for for six million yea…

His mumbling became a stutter as lips met Crowley's, his fingers tightening on the coat lapels. He froze, his hands flapping briefly in midair before settling on shoulders that eased slightly at his touch. A cry of pure happiness burst from his chest, and he kissed back, finally able to give in and let go of the long-neglected desire. Who would have imagined that Crowley was capable of such a tender kiss, that his initially harsh hands would eventually move down his torso and land on his waist, and that the heat from his forked tongue would tickle his mouth each time it caressed his own. Crowley took a sharp breath through his nose and broke off the kiss, overwhelmed by a liquor sweeter than wine and a thousand times more addictive.

 —I cut you off, angel—Crowley apologized, a pleasure-filled smile spreading throughout his body.

—I forgive you —Aziraphale laughed joyfully, leaving soft caresses on his chest.

The first kiss was worth the long wait; the second kiss came quickly; the third kiss left them unable to count anymore. 

[transmascaraa]

!christmas special!

"Just for you"

gf!furina x gn!reader

author's note: MERRY CHRISTMAS TO THE ONES THAT CELEBRATE IT!!! THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR LIKING MY POSTS! all of that encouraged me to to try and write a fanfic instead of hcs this time, as a special! i wish you all a very happy christmas and hope that all of you are doing well! i hope you like this!

"i was blessed to have met you at all..."

You and Furina have been dating for about a year now, and it's finally Christmas time... The time that people celebrate and get gifts under a tree... The time that everybody has fun at.

You weren't really as hyped up for it as everyone else was, but you still wanted to keep the tradition going. And what made it easier, was that you were getting a gift for you dear girlfriend, Furina.

She, on the other hand, was very excited for this time of the year. The beautiful lights, the city at night, and just the whole atmosphere of Fontaine. It made her smile. It made her happy.

So you had to do it.

You decided to go to the store early in the morning, before Furina woke up. Just so she wouldn't panic, you left a little note on her nightstand.

"i'm at the store, don't worry<3"

And just like that, she was left alone in the bed, sleeping peacefully as you went out.

When you got there, you could just see how decorated it was, even inside the stores. So, with that, you rushed to the plushies section.

Furina loved plushies, and had a bit too many of them. But there's never enough plushies for the love of your life!

You put a little blue jellyfish in the cart, and a fluffy white cat, and a dragon... You didn't even look at the price. No money was worth more than that sweet and grateful smile she will have on her face once she sees her gifts.

Finally, after paying for all of that, which wasn't so cheap, you started to head home.

On the way back, you saw a small jewelry shop.

"joyaux d'amour" (i used google translate "gems of love" idk if it's the real translation)

It wasn't popular, and when you entered, you didn't understand why. Beautiful necklaces, rings and earrings were on display. Diamonds, amethysts, sapphires,... you name it.

"Uhm, hello. I'm here to get a Christmas gift for my girlfriend... any recommendations?" you asked the lady who was in charge of the store.

"Of course! This beautiful sapphire necklace, this diamond ring here if you're planning to propose, these ruby earrings..." the lady quickly recommended you a lot of options, but you couldn't take your eyes off of the sapphire necklace.

"I'll have the necklace." you pointed at it.

"Okay, let me just put it in a box for you..." she took it in and put it in a little light blue box for you.

"Here you go. Happy holidays, and Merry Christmas!" she exclaimed as she waved at you.

"Thank you ma'am, Merry Christmas to you too." you waved back to her, and finally left the shop.

After you finally got home, you realized that Furina was still sound asleep in the bed, she hasn't even moved a single bit. She must've been really tired last night... Still, that gave you enough time to wrap up the presents that you got her!

You quickly went to the living room and started packing the gifts.

The plushies in shiny red wrap, and the necklace still in the box, and in yellow wrap.

When you finished, you left them under the Christmas tree and went back to the bedroom, only to find your sweet girlfriend waking up from her deep slumber.

"G'morning, my love!..." Furina smiled at you as she stretched out her arms.

"Good morning, my dear! Merry Christmas!" you smiled back at her in a happy tone.

"Oh yeah, Merry Christmas to you too!" she giggled and slowly got out of bed to hug you.

"I got you some gifts, they're under the Christmas tree."

"Gifts? Under the Christmas tree? Aww... you shouldn't have... But i didn't get you anything in return... i'm sorry..." she apologized as she looked up at you.

"No, it's okay, i was blessed to have met you at all, so it's enough." you softly kissed her forehead.

"You're so sweet... C'mon, let's go open my presents!" suddenly, she grabbed you by the hand and lead you to the living room.

"I hope you like them..." you said to her as she already sat on the floor next to the Christmas tree, in her pajamas.

Then, she started opening the gifts. First, the plushies. The smile she had on her was undescribable.

"Oh my, they're so cute!" she hugged each one of them.

When she got to the necklace, she smiled widely, put it on, and got up to hold you tight.

"Thank you so so so much, my love! This is the best Christmas i've ever had!" she kissed your cheek as another "thank you".

"Just for you, my dear."

~~~~~

first time posting a fanfic and i'm so insecure bro😭

is it even good???

pls tell me but anyways i hope you guys have a merry christmas and happy holidays! i love you all!

[bubblyernie]

Tasty Wretch color keys, very nice!! Would you say it's a split complementary, or a broken color key? Or a secret third thing?

(Ftr one of my profs describes broken color key as analogous and something from the other side of the color wheel but I have a different professor who disagrees with the name "broken color key" lol)

Eeee thank you thank you!! I’m so so so excited to talk about this (and actually, I go into the colour choice I use in the final book, which I’ll release not too long from now :3 so if u want to look into that when it’s out, by all means)

I didn’t really focus on colour schemes in like a theory kinda sense when I was picking (which may be to my detriment or qualification or whatever, but I’ve just been going off instinct for so long when it comes to design, it felt right), it’s more like I went in with my mind set on a general mood and tone, then going scene by scene design + brand colours. So it’s hard to say I’m one or the other with both? I guess what your prof calls a broken colour scheme is the closest to what I did for these keys, with the accent colour being teal and the rest being warm.

The colours of red yellow and teal are the ones the original comic focused on, they represent like fear anger and like an unnatural state, with purple used for detailing but I got rid of that (purple) for this version of the project. I also had a lot more orange this time round just to give it some atmosphere, so yeah, I’ll cast my vote to the broken colour scheme.

[birdmenmanga]

Hii please talk about your fav tracks from birdmen ost that doesn't exist!!! I wanna know!!! Are those like just songs or do you mean original instrumentals? (Btw I still have to give you my review of that eishi and his mom playlist, I didn't forget just so you know)

HI so this ask is clearly sent in response to this post, which I made in response to watching my mutual's video about the first episode of umineko when they cry (it's funny and you should watch it. hi silas)

he basically opens the video with "yeah so umineko is a banger visual novel with crazy good music. go listen to it" so then I went and listened to it and the music WAS good and then I got mad that I couldn't tell people to listen to banger music from my mental illness series because it doesn't have any music

BUT if we were to talk about the hypothetical BIRDMEN OST right. Hypothetically. boy do I have some thoughts for you.

So let's talk about the vibes of BIRDMEN right. What sorts of themes and aesthetics the series itself is exploring, and essentially the vehicle with which the author is using to sort of carry her message.

The visual aesthetics of the series are dark. Edgy, bordering on apocalyptic. High contrast, bold colors, and little rendering gives this series a very modern and futuristic vibe. Let's look at a couple of early color illustrations:

Even when she's working outside of this color palette, we still have those same elements in the illustrations:

Obviously not all illustrations follow this clean, modern aesthetic, but it gives us a good idea of how she thinks about this series. I specifically bring this up because Kekkaishi, one of her previous series, had a very traditional and historical aesthetic, and in some ways this was reflected through the watercolor artwork.

The rightmost illustration also features the red-yellow-black palette similar to the top photoset, but the soft textures end up giving it a different, warmer feeling.

What I'm getting at is that like the BIRDMEN color illustrations, which uses the digital medium in order to achieve the clean, bold colors, the soundtrack should also feature futuristic instruments, heavy in synths and other digitally created noises.

An idea commonly explored in the series, I'd say, is the idea of discomfort. The world which was once familiar to you is now totally foreign. It's disturbing, unsettling. I think the soundtrack should reflect that.

I think this song does an excellent job at capturing the unsettling atmosphere in BIRDMEN. Opening with the subtle ambient noise, the weird warbling noise, and then adds the unrelenting, repeating high note to build pressure. (ignore miku she's not part of the mental exercise) This is the song that convinced me a heavy, almost subsonic bass pulse like the one featured at 0:49 is an absolute must in the soundtrack. This type of sound profile, vaguely, is what I think "becoming a birdman" sounds like.

While most of this post is "yeah I think something that sounds kinda similar to this or uses sound fonts like this would make a great BIRDMEN OST" I have to pour one out to Cyber Thunder Cider (EZFG). This could just straight up be a blackout fight soundtrack.

Like, that super strong pulse at the start is EXACTLY what I imagine the throb of the back marking to be like if you had to express it through music. You know, this thing:

I REALLY like the timing of this. That first hit, then a beat of silence, and the suspense grows until the full energy of the track kicks in about 10 seconds into the song. You can practically hear Karasuma's mental monologue in the spaces between the beats. And when the track DOES get off the ground (haha?), it's got a very fast-paced, restless beat with these gritty synths. Despite its busyness, it's not so demanding of your attention, and consistent enough that it actually CAN function as a genuine BGM track in my opinion. I fancy myself an imaginer of music videos rather than an imaginer of animations, but unironically I feel like given enough time I could storyboard a gorgeous blackout fight scene to the song, that would literally be an animated scene and not a music video.

Obviously, I don't think ALL the tracks should have to be married to synths. I think EDEN's themes, for instance, should definitely have a touch of sound fonts that have a heavy religious note to it, like church bells or organs. I really enjoy wotaku's... hmm... I don't know what to call this... "Cathedral trap", maybe? I think it really does marry the reverent, intimidating Christian vibe with contemporary percussion. Haters may disagree but I genuinely think EDEN sounds like this:

However I feel like wotaku's music tends to be a bit overbearing and really demands a lot of the listener's attention. You'd have to slow the tracks to at least 0.75x speed to barely make them functional as OST music. special shoutout to the second one. I think the American flock massacre set to that song would go crazy. like if scenes of viktor making the decision to kill them, sanders and the other guy talking about it, was interspersed with the flock getting decimated? do you see the vision. the final gunshot is robin getting sniped. it would go crazy trust me

Now obviously we also have like. Normal Music, right. Like Music Which is Ambiently Playing in the Background While Normal Things Happen. I am not passionate about this type of music but I do still largely agree that they should still follow the synths rule. Here's some thoughts but these are largely subject to change:

This one's a fun one. I think it's worth listening to an on vocal version of it (Psi by r-906), and while largely it does fit into the synth-heavy, dark, low tones of the other songs I pulled out, it also has this really delightfully cheery section at 1:40. sadly I made the mistake of listening to it on loop while reading canis so this song is really tied to that series now. woops!

I am sure everyone is sick and tired of my bringing this song up at the drop of a hat but genuinely I think the blue sections of this PV are really great for the. normal and ordinary parts of the OST. it is light and airy and in some ways it really does feel like flying to me. but again wotaku's music is such a slut for attention it's really not possible to have something else take center stage while it's playing.

Something I'd really like the soundtrack and sound design to feature as like, a recurring thread, would be static. If you listen to some of the G-Witch soundtrack, such as these few songs (just listen to the first 5 seconds of each, you'll get the idea), you'll notice that there's this motif of like, a breathing apparatus:

I reaaally like this. They're pilots in space, and I think this being such a prominent motif in the series really sells the delicate mortality of a human body. It's soooo cunty. I think the birdmen equivalent would be static and here's why okay. "Communication" and "connection" are such huge and prominent themes in BIRDMEN, from the way they're likened to linked PCs, the nerve connections, the telepathy, and so on. Even though I personally imagine the tweets to be insanely high fidelity with no static at all, just a clear and platonic chime of pure thought, I still think static is such a good audio motif to have. Dead air is unsettling. anyways listen to the beginning of WAVE (niki)

those first 10 seconds are kinda goated. I love that in terms of the sound design.

well, anyways. my thoughts! enjoy!

[thesnazzysharky]

Analyzing and reviewing some more stuff in the SOUP update for SJSM

So, in my last post talking about the SOUP update, I missed out on some things that I want to comment on. Obviously this won't be as long as my previous post, but I hope you enjoy regardless.

Miscellaneous Stuff

The funny red gummy worm mfs have 3d models now and judging from this still screenshot they'll actually move like worms. I really dig this change because not only will it make the pink and yellow room more surreal when you step into it, but it also makes it more clear that the worms are... well, worms, since that wasn't really made obvious in the original version where they were just 2d red lines moving across the floor. Very nice.

The bones that we see throughout the mansion will also be getting 3d models. A small but very great improvement. Always thought it was a bit lame and odd that the bones were 2d images. Especially since the skeleton of the Romantic Victim was a 3d model. Now all of them are 3d and will add to the atmosphere instead of looking out of place.

And there's this pic of Ringu showing her sharp teeth. Not much to say other than it looks cool.

Before we move on, I just want to talk about Beef Demon's redesign again. In the last post I kinda dunked on the dude, but after seeing him move around a bit and realizing he doesn't look as skinny as I originally thought thanks to that little showcase video Hoolopee posted on Twitter, I think he actually looks pretty cool and unnerving. I especially like the texture on him. It kinda makes him look like he's made out of meat, something I think the original model should have implied more. I think I'll start to prefer this model to the older once I get used to it. I think Jenbobby explained it best. The trailer just did my boy dirty.

Specimen 9

So, another design that I'm a bit mixed on. My guy do be looking like a cranky ass old man who just got woken up from his nap, but on the other hand, I do like how they lean more into the "disembodied head made out of clay" aspect. He actually looks like he's made out of clay here, which is pretty cool.

But, he just looks a bit odd to me and isn't as creepy as the original model in my opinion. I feel like the neck plays a factor into this as well as it looks a bit too long. Decent model I suppose, just think this one will take some getting used to.

As for his boss form, the redesign here is... decent. I think he is too brightly colored and his head and jaw looks odd which makes him look less creepy to me, but it's a solid model.

Specimen 13

Originally I thought Specimen 13's model wasn't changed at all, but they actually did alter it a bit. Her hair is now slightly shorter and has changed a bit in appearance. Her fish body has went from blue to a more teal looking color and the end of her tail is a more triangular shape rather than looking like a typical fish tail. It also seems like compared to her original model, her breasts got a bit of a buff... nice so have fun with that.

Anyways, I do like this model, but I think the textures could've been done better. Comparing the models, her hair and the scales on her fish half look lower quality on the new model, which is odd. I also don't like how the end of her tail went from resembling the tail of a fish to... I don't even know what it's supposed to be anymore. Again, the model is pretty great, but it unfortunately gets brought down by the textures and tail.

Specimen 7

Wow... now this... this is a glow up. I already enjoyed Specimen 7's design before, but holy shit, this is amazing. The faces look like they're in more agony than ever, overall detail has been improved, and it looks more scarier overall. I don't know what else to add other than that this redesign is similar to how Spooper's redesign was handled. Do exactly what you did before... but just better. Move over Old Specimen 10 Eel Thing, because THIS is EASILY the best redesign from this update hands down. Specimen 7 fans are eating 100%.

Anyways, that's about it really. Not much else to say other than although it seems to be pretty controversial so far, I'll be gladly waiting for the SOUP update despite its faults I'll never forgive them for what they did to Bab though.

One more thing though...

You're telling me the mf behind the redesigns in this update is the same mf behind this? A-am I the only one shocked?

[red-n-ded]

The Ultimate Team-Up (reverse!AU)

Miguel Davidson, also known as Mirage, tries to steal rare 1994 Dodge Viper for money, unaware that it's a young Autobot in disguise with a protective green Dodge Challenger as a brother.

or

A Transformers Reverse AU of Noah meeting Mirage and the Autobots in Rise of the Beasts then joining forces to get the Transwarp key

Ao3 Fic Sneak Peek Below

Miguel Davidson remembers what the world looked like before it all went to shit. He remembers living in a beautiful home under blue skies and luscious green grass with smiling parents.

But that was when he was barely out of college.

Smog and grime fill the atmosphere and the smiles on his parents’ face are lifeless and covered in blood. Manipulated and brainwashed civilians walk the streets cheering the names of Megatron and his Decepticon task force with UniCorp’s face and logo painted on every flat surface on Earth.

For a while, Miguel felt alone in this dystopian world, just messing with officials and stealing cars and technology left and right when. He couldn’t leave all the credit to him, much thanks to his charisma and maybe a bit of help from his hologram tech. At least he's putting his optical engineering degree to some use.

They call him the Mirage, the illusionist thief. Kind of flattering. 

Mirage.

Kind of dumb but it fits.

Luckily for him, he’s not the only one with a dumb nickname.

Benjamin O’Brien, or Bumblebee the young speed demon insists Mirage to call him, was the first friend he made while wandering the 1984-remake environment. They met during a protest and they found each other as roommates when they were hiding.

Months later, they found each other as teammates when the scout convinced his leader, Orion Cullen or Optimus, to let the thief join their rebellion.

Bee doesn’t talk much, both literally and figuratively. Mirage knows a little bit about him.

He’s a few months younger than him, likes 80’s music, hates the Smiths but listens to them 24/7, dreamed of being a race car driver since he was little, and is a scout for the Freedom Racers, followed by stories of raids he led with the yellow Camaro he built from scratch in the racing pits of Optimus’ speedway.

Bee is also mute.

After a year living and working together, Bee told Mirage the story of losing his voice in a riot a few years back. Decepticon member Blaze Sobolov, nicknamed Blitzwing, shot him in the throat, getting multiple pieces of metal lodged in his vocal cords. From that day on, Bee now speaks through a built-in radio and soundboard in his smartwatch with the occasional sign language.

It didn’t bother him before but as time went by, his throat started to get infected, swollen and red. The team feared the worst if left untreated but they’re not in the position to go to the hospital and get help, afraid of getting caught by the Decepticons.

Mirage isn’t willing to wait for Bee’s throat to fully close up and goes out to do what he does best; Steal.

He got a tip that someone is willing to give loads of cash in exchange for luxury cars, specifically ones hiding in UniCorp parking lots. That money will allow Mirage to buy the materials he needs to build a magnet that could keep the metal pieces away from Bee’s throat and temporarily save him. It's only until the revolution is over and they can go to a real doctor.

Sneaking in was the easiest part. A few holograms here and there and he was within seconds. He wandered the parking lot holding a photo of the targeted car, careful to not make noises in the cramped concrete building. Luckily for him, it didn’t take too long for him to find it.

Two cars lay in front of him in the corner of the first floor.

One is a forest green 1970 Dodge Challenger, looking slightly beat up with scratches near the bottom of the metal and the bumpers.

Parked right next to it is a bright orange 1994 Dodge Viper RT/10. It shined as a distinct opposite of the old Challenger. The paint is shined and polished with a brightness that burns his eyes and the metal looks so smooth as if it was manufactured straight out of the factory.

“Goddamn!” He exclaims almost jumping in excitement. Getting this money will be easier than he thought.

“Do you hear that?”

“Shit.” Mirage quickly covers his mouth, realizing the echo from his excitement. Footsteps and mumbles of soldiers made Mirage flinch, quickly crouching down to hide behind the Viper.

The thief muffles his excitement, giddily shuffling towards the orange Viper, brushing his hands over the clean paint, a smile leaking onto his face. He does smell some rust near the undercarriage as he crouches. Mirage worries for a moment that it might affect the price but waves it off. Some air fresheners and a bit of charm could cover it up. 

Ignoring the rust, this car alone would be enough to pay for Bee’s magnet five times over. In addition with the Challenger, which with a bit of paint and buffers, doesn’t look too banged up-

“We’ll check it out later.”

Oh well, one will do.

Mirage quickly got to work. He stands up next to the driver’s seat, pulls out a wire from his bag and snuck it into the lock, pulling it to hear the click of the lock.

“Mirage is in.” The blue-haired rebel whispers, excited to get his ticket to extra cash out of the concrete parking lot. Unfortunately for him, it was quickly short lived when the lock went back down.

CLICK!

For a moment, Mirage was confused but quickly brushed it off to try again.

Then he tries again. And again. And again.

CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!

“You’re a real piece of shit.” Mirage wants to laugh. It’s as if the car is making fun of him, like it’s playing a game that only it knows the rules. Or maybe it just doesn't want Mirage to get inside.

“That’s how you want to play then.” Mirage grumbles, trying to ignore the fact that he’s scolding a car like a naughty child, before pulling on the wire again to get the lock loose. Before the car could lock it back in, Mirage pulls on the door handle to open. 

“Ah ha! Gotcha!”

The thief immediately hops into the navy blue and black leather interior, bouncing on the seat and drumming his palms on the steering wheel. He sits back and lets himself breathe, taking in the mix of bitter iron and new car smell and feeling the plastic of the dashboard and radio.

“Now this is what we call a car.” He mumbles before bending down to hotwire the car, pulling out a piece of the dashboard under the steering wheel to reveal multiple wires hanging out but burnt red and black dust fall from the compartment making Mirage cough. There’s even rust inside? Jeez, who owned this thing? Some car care.

Small sparks light up the dark car as he tries to start up the car with routine ease. The car starts to rumble a bit, waking from the sparks. For a moment though, he sits back up with a smirk to look back at the black and green Challenger, “Don’t get jealous, baby. I’m coming back for you later.”

“NYPD! Come out of the vehicle with your hands up!”

Shit.

Mirage turns towards the window and outside a couple feet away from the car are two police officers, aiming their guns at him with stoic expressions. The thief doesn’t even flinch, rolling his eyes and his cocky smirk returning his face. He rolls down the window and leans his head out the door.

“Hello officers. How may I help you?” Mirage asks with a natural suave, hoping the two will be distracted enough for his two hands to finish hotwiring the car.

The police don’t waiver from his charisma but are confused at his unshaken confidence. “The hell? We said to come out of the car! Or we will engage!”

Mirage laughs but he fumbles the wires a bit faster, “Sounds like the night shift is getting to you. How about we relax, go out for donuts or somethin’?”

One of the officers leaned over to the other, guns still pointing at the thief, “Sir, that’s Mirage. He’s one of the rebel racers. The one with the holograms.”

Mirage’s smirk grows into a big grin, “I see my reputation precedes me. Want an autograph or-”

The car’s radio buzzes to life, interrupting Mirage’s retort. His smile shrinks into a worried stare. The dials spin frantically between different stations before buzzing in white noise. If Mirage listens close enough, he can hear a voice.

“Kris! Bzzt! Kris! Bzzt! Can you hear me?” An urgent voice filters through the static, almost too buzzed for Mirage to translate but enough for him to slightly recognize a few words.

“The hell?”

“Are you listening to me?!” Mirage’s head shot up from the radio to the officers, looking more annoyed than before and slowly creeping up towards the car. “Get out of that car or we will shoot!”

“Screw this. I’ll get you pretty boys later.” The white noise continues to buzz in the back and Mirage, not willing to push any more buttons, rushes to open the door. He grabs the door handle and pushes to open but the sudden noise of the lock startles the thief, even more when the door refuses to open. “What the hell?”

“Kris. Bzzt! Please calm down. Bzzt! Just unlock the doors.”

“Who’s Kris?” Mirage yells amidst his confusion. 

“Get out of the car!” The officers are barely five feet away from the car door and his grip on the handgun grows tighter on the trigger.

“I can’t!” Mirage yells through the glass, banging on the window and kicking the frame, "It won't open!"

“You have three seconds to get out of the car!” One of the officer’s threatened as the safety of the gun clicking.

His original confidence has all but faded away, staring at the two uniformed men with panicked eyes. He’s not going to get caught now. He punches the doors and digs his heels into the plastic interior hoping to loosen the door but the car refuses to budge. It even seemed to flinch at every hit.

“Stop kicking me!” A child’s voice drips out from the car but oddly enough, not from the radio. “Noah! I can’t… I can't breathe!”

Was that a kid?

“Three!”

The green Challenger comes to life as well. The angry-sounding roars of a waking engine thundering so loudly that it made the concrete of the parking lot shake. Mirage and the police officers jump at the mere sound of it. The headlights flash on and the car inches towards the orange Viper ever so slightly.

“Kris, stay with me.” The voice returned, with an accent Mirage recognizes to be Puerto Rican, muffled by distance and no longer coming from the radio but from the other car. The urgency didn’t leave but it sounds gentle, comforting to the ear as the child’s voice starts to hyperventilate. “Please calm down. Cadimus Prime said to stay hidden.” Cadimus Prime?

“They have guns!” The child’s voice cries with a desperate voice that makes Mirage’s heart crack, his kicks faltering at his begs.

“Two!”

“Kritical, listen to me.” The hispanic voice, edging from urgent gentleness to growing fear, and softly grumbling to reassure the other car.

The orange Viper doesn't respond. The wheels begin to squeal and spin so fast that black rubber stained the stone floor like the car was having some kind of panic attack.

“Three!”

Mirage stops kicking the car, his head spins towards the police and hands pressed against the window in surrender. “Don’t shoot!”

BANG! BANG!