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chaotic-orphan · 5 months ago

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Intoxicating Fear (XXVI)

A Fool’s Bargain

Read part one // masterpost // Continued from here

This part is dedicated to @neongalaxiie who always reminds me to link the posts, so you don’t have to go looking XD

*~*~*~*~*

Kit grabbed the keys from Jude’s body as Tides helped Sawyer to his feet. Kit gave her the keys and she gasped, retracting her hand quickly.

“Shit, ow!” She said, shaking her hand and Kit frowned, glancing down at the keys in his hand. Small sparks still flying from his hand and arm. Sparks he couldn’t feel.

Sawyer’s dark eyes found Kit’s and said: “you open the door, Tides and I can get up the stairs together.”

“But—” Kit protested, and fell back a step, his temple throbbing with a gasping pulse. So much power, so much energy, why stop now? Release, release, release, release, release.

Tides widened her eyes. “Kit?”

He shook his head, every component of his body thrumming with power that was begging like a child, keening like a dog, singing like a siren for Kit to give into the temptation. Stop trying so hard to fight it. Sawyer’s so weak, give him a jolt, a little hit. A pick me up. Come on—

“M’fine,” Kit mumbled, walking towards the stairs so he could ignore the looks of concern painted plainly across Tides and Sawyer’s faces. His heart was in his throat, blocking his oxygen and pulsing the thrumming blood around his body from there. What the fuck was happening to him?

He was happy to be standing, though his butt was numb from the constant sitting as he climbed the stairs and went through the keys one by one, sliding them into the lock and turning until one actually fit and opened the heavy door.

Kit frowned as the door opened.

They were in a house. Somebody’s home. Jude’s? Supervillain’s? He held the door open, eyes scanning the dark wooden floors and picture frames hanging on the walls for clues as to where the fuck they were. Tides helped Sawyer up the stairs, standing behind him so he wouldn’t fall and there to catch him if he did.

Kit frowned at the mirror directly across from the door, and glanced back at Sawyer. He was only halfway up. Kit let the door go and grabbed the mirror off the wall, glancing quickly around for a place to hide it. A small table with sticky notes and pens was on the other side of the door, blocked, so Kit stuck the mirror upside down under it and went back to the door, grabbing the handle and pulling it open again.

Sawyer grinned at him as he got to the top. “I thought you were abandoning us, Mallory.”

“Not until we’re free of here, and then maybe you two can get a room,” he said, closing the door after Tides had cleared the stairs. Tides laughed, shaking her head at Kit. “We need to move a little faster though, who knows when Supervillain will be back.”

Sawyer and Tides nodded. Tides went to support Sawyer again but he put a gentle hand on her wrist and told her he was fine. Kit walked ahead of them, giving them a little privacy as he peeked down a hallway. It was an old house, he realised, something passed down the family for generations. The hallway they were in seemed to be at one end of the house, tucked away into a little nook.

They was nobody else in the house, nobody Kit could feel anyways, but he didn’t exactly trust his abilities at the moment so he sent out a small pulse through the house under his feet.

Nothing. He straightened. They were on their own.

“There’s nobody else here,” Kit said, standing in the hall. “I can’t feel any other pulses except Jude’s in the basement. I think we’re good.”

“So we can actually get out of here,” Tides said with a wide smile. Kit could see the hope blossom in her face like relief washing over her. Kit nodded.

“I’ll find the door,” Kit said, his blood felt like fizz in his veins and he just wanted to go. To move, he couldn’t stand still.

“No,” Sawyer said with a breath. “We’ll stay together.”

Kit clenched his jaw. If he just zapped Sawyer unconscious then he could carry him the rest of the way and not have to wait for his—

Kit slapped a hand over his temple, groaning. Sawyer’s eyes hardened. “Kit? Why are you able to use your powers? And why aren’t they blue?”

Kit opened his eyes, which he didn’t remember closing, but as soon as he did he regretted it. A raging headache thumped behind his eyelids with every pulse of his heart. No, not his heart. That other thing inside him, the well of magic. It felt like a rabid dog, eating him from the inside out, and wilder too. Unpredictable.

“Kit!”

Sawyer’s words felt like bullets, bouncing off his inner ear canals and pin-balling around his skull.

“Kit!” A hand on his arm and Kit opened his eyes again, the world swaying a little in front of him. Kit stepped back, the hand fell away and he shook his head, leaning a hand against the wall for support.

Tides looked between the two boys, one was practically a walking safety hazard and the other winced with every word he spoke, his wounds congealed with dark, jelly like crimson glueing in the cracks.

“Okay,” she said. “New plan. The two of you will go sit down, rest on the stairs,” she told them, pointing two feet down the hall. “I’ll find a phone and we can call Superhero.”

Kit groaned. “No… there… Supervillain destroyed the city. I don’t know if Superhero’s alive, or any of the heroes for that matter.”

“What?” Tides asked, breathless.

“What do you mean Supervillain destroyed the city Kit?” Sawyer demanded, grabbing a fistful of Kit’s shirt and slamming him back against the lip of the wall.

“I— when Supervillain lured me to the clock tower,” Kit said, his memory scratching like nails on a chalkboard but he continued. “You were unconscious,” he said to Sawyer, “so you wouldn’t remember. But I thought—”

“Thought what?” Sawyer demanded.

Kit raised his head, catching Tides’s eyes in his unnatural glowing red. Brows furrowed over his sockets casting them in shadows. “You were there, Tides.”

Tides frowned in reply. Sawyer looked at her now too. “I don’t—” Tides sputtered, scrambling to find words that wouldn’t come.

Sawyer let out a grunt, tightening his grip in Kit’s shirt. “That doesn’t matter right now. Tides, go find a phone.”

“We should get out of here!” Kit protested, glaring at Sawyer again.

“How? Call an uber? Oh wait, we need a phone to do that!” Sawyer snapped as Tides walked past the pair and went searching the house, their voices dimming the further she walked away.

“You didn’t answer my question, Mallory, why can you use your powers and Tides and I can’t?”

Kit ran a hand through his hair, sighing. He felt the static charge from his hand ignite his hair and set it standing on end. “It’s a long story,” Kit said. “One we don’t have time to tell. Just know that I can.”

“How the fuck am I supposed to trust you?” Sawyer demanded. “How do I know you’re not working with them?!”

The words were like a slap in the face. Kit felt his emotions stirring inside and he wrestled to keep them down. “Sawyer, I’d advise you let go of me if you don’t want to be fried in the next three seconds.”

Sawyer’s hard eyes searched Kit’s face, scoffed and stepped back, running a hand through his own hair and letting out a breath, turning away from Kit.

“Fuck. I need to sit down,” he mumbled, walking to the staircase and planting his arse on the third wooden step.

Kit stared as he gingerly touched a bad gash on his face and winced, shuddering slightly. They were all stressed and tired, Sawyer and Tides more so than Kit, but here Kit was, throwing a tantrum and letting his powers consume him.

“I’m not one of them,” he said quietly. Sawyer raised his head, but Kit didn’t meet his gaze. “And I’m sorry for… acting out. I’m antsy. I’m gonna have a look around. See if I can find out any information.”

Before Sawyer could reply, Kit turned away in the opposite direction that Tides went, back towards the cellar and around the small wall to the other hallway. The house was oval like a continuous loop so you could explore every room and reach every place without having to walk through a rigid set of rooms. It was also massive.

Out one of the lattice patterned windows he could see an expanse of a garden, no, not garden— gardens. A three tier design with mixes of stone and perfectly cut grass and hedges, flowers of every colour. Kit frowned. This wasn’t Ambrose level rich, this was something else entirely. Would you even call it rich or wealth?

Kit continued walking. There was a second staircase, more rigid with creaking floorboards as he walked up to the first floor and stepped out. The floor was carpeted in a rich burgundy between two strips of dark wood, so deeply brown it would have looked black if not for the beam of light shedding the gleam of brown from it.

Portraits hung on the walls.

Actual painted portraits of women and men in old timey dress, starting from around two hundred years ago if Kit had to guess. It was so strange. He felt like he was walking through a museum, the walls thick and dense, seemed to close in on him a little. Sparks zipped out at his feet, the fibres from the carpet charging static in him.

It was so annoying.

He sent out another pulse through the house, just to make sure. Nothing.

It unsettled a sixth sense within him. Shouldn’t Supervillain have thought of this? That leaving them with just Jude was a bad idea? Did he honestly think they wouldn’t escape? And why the fuck were they looking for a phone, they should be looking for keys to a car, or even better a car. Kit could make it run.

Maybe.

He hadn’t tested the bounds of his new red lightning before, maybe it could do other things that Kit never ever considered.

Right. Decision made, Kit nodded. He would do a quick search of the upstairs, see if anything stood out and if it didn’t then they got to leave sooner. Lingering would just lead to problems later on, and they were in no shape to fight.

Kit’s feet moved through the upstairs. Some of the walls had small balconies in them that overlooked the ground floor, and at one he saw Sawyer on the steps of the staircase. “Hey, Sawyer?”

Sawyer looked up to see Kit leaning over the railings and scoffed. “Jesus, what kind of fucking hogwarts castle is this place?”

“I was thinking more great gatsby,” Kit said. “Wait til i find a wardrobe and I’ll shower you with clothes.”

“Have you found any clues?”

Kit shook his head. “Nope. It’s like mausoleum. Quiet as the grave.”

“Clearly it’s bringing out the romantic in you,” Sawyer said with a smirk then winced, oil like blood leaking from a split in his lip. The motion pulled at Kit’s heartstrings. They needed to get Sawyer to a hospital, ASAP.

“I’ll be down in a minute.”

Kit went straight, knowing the hall would loop around to the stairs eventually and just when he got to the mouth of the steps he saw it from across the way. His feet stopped suddenly, frozen on the step as his heart thumped in his chest once and then stopped altogether.

His mouth lost all moisture, his tongue scraping like sandpaper out over his chapped lips. His legs were moving as his mind stuttered along, trying to make itself comprehend what he was seeing.

On the wall were a collection of framed photographs and diplomas, degrees, awards. There’s a picture outside the Hero Academy, Mentor with his arm around a young Ambrose, beaming at the camera. Another on the same day, Mentor stood with his arm around a younger Ambrose who smiled genuinely at the camera, so unreserved and unfiltered. He had dimples in his cheeks that Kit had never seen on the real version of him, rather than this snapshot of him frozen in time.

The boy on the other side of Mentor, was a little taller than Ambrose, his hair a chestnut brown and his grin just as wide as Ambrose’s and Mentor’s, but his eyes… he had the same silver eyes as Mr Silver. Kit frowned. Were they brothers? Did Mr Silver have a brother that Kit didn’t know about? He must’ve, Kit… he would’ve known— or would he?

Mr Silver was more family friend than professional acquaintance. They had dinner together, surely it would’ve come up, but then again… he was a very private person. And Kit didn’t like sharing his past either so he couldn’t exactly berate him for it.

Kit stepped back, searching the photos. And sure enough, there was a younger Mr Silver shaking Mentor’s hand on the day they established the link between the Hero agency and the government.

He stepped back again, a picture of an older Ambrose with Mr Silver’s brother, a lazy arm wrapped around Ambrose’s shoulders and a cigarette dangling from his teeth. Ambrose looked more gaunt in that one, his eyes unsmiling, his expression stoic. So unlike younger Ambrose.

Did Ambrose go to the Academy? Was he in one of the older years? How had Kit missed him? Kit knew everyone older than him unless Ambrose was already gone by the time Kit joined.

A degree in Pure Mathematics with a minor in theoretical physics from the best college in the country attributed to Nathan T. Scarrow.

Kit’s eyes went back to the picture of Mentor and Ambrose, zooming in on the third, Nathan.

Why the fuck was Ambrose in the pictures of Supervillain’s house? Kit felt the anger surge in him before he could check in, before he could rein it in, it roared with a beast’s fury and Kit’s feet no longer touched the ground. Sparks erupted from every part of him, every inch of his body as he snarled, cracking the pictures, revelling in watching the glass shatter into pieces, falling from their hooks to the ground.

Mr Silver. Ambrose. Mentor.

They all knew Nathan, they had to be complicit in covering up the fact that he was Supervillain, right?! RIGHT?!

“Kit!”

But Kit didn’t answer. He could only hear the warning voice so very far away from him as he clenched his hands into fists and shattered the windows behind him, letting the breeze blow through the house and still it wasn’t enough.

He wanted to destroy everything.

Everybody.

How could he be so stupid?! To think Ambrose would actually— that Mentor had ever— that Mr Silver was a friend?!

“KIT!”

Terrified blue eyes found his and reached for him. Kit dropped his head to his chest, collapsing to his knees on the shattered glass crunching beneath his combats but he didn’t care as they pierced his skin. A sob wracked it’s way up his throat and caught in his throat, causing him to tip forward onto his elbows on the jagged glass staring at the smiling, happy photo of Mentor and Ambrose and wailing like a child.

“Kit,” Tides said, reaching an arm out to him despite the currents rushing through him but he knew, somehow he knew, he wouldn’t hurt her as she tried to comfort him.

“He lied…” Kit mewled, his back arching as fat tears splattered down onto the old photograph, staining it. “He lied about everything. Everything.”

Tides gathered Kit in her arms, gently picking him back away from the shards of glass and held him as he cried like a chief mourner to a funeral that wasn’t real.

None of it. None of his life, his happiness, his connections, his career— none of it was his, he could only ever contribute it to other people. Even now, when he should be focusing on escaping here he was, curled up like a child and sobbing into Tides shirt.

A hand plucked at a piece of glass on his legs and tugged lightly to remove it. Sawyer. He could see him from the corner of his eyes, tentatively working to remove the shards.

Kit didn’t care, he couldn’t feel it. The cold presence of betrayal felt like an overwhelming absence of all else, every good thing, even his friends who silently waited and tried to help him, hold him, be there for him. He couldn’t feel any of it except for the twisting knotting of guilt like a double barrel buckshot in his chest.

He shouldn’t have gone looking. He should’ve left well enough alone and escaped. They should have escaped.

Tides stiffened under Kit, and Sawyer paused in his movements. Kit blinked, staring at nothing, his mind and body numb.

It was Sawyer who spoke. “Kit?” He said, his voice a whisper. Kit’s heavy eyes turned to Sawyer. The weight of them too great to function. He was exhausted. He wanted to go home and forget everything.

No. He wanted to get Ambrose to make him forget everything. Everything about his life. He didn’t want to be a hero anymore. He didn’t want to do anything other than sleep, but his eyes met Sawyer’s and he sensed the urgency in them.

“Can you sense anyone outside?”

The question washed over Kit like alarm bells in a prison because yes, when he pushed his powers out along the ground he could sense a car that had just stopped and two heartbeats outside the front door, down and to the right of the staircase.

“Kit!”

Then a slap in the face. Kit blinked, eyes wide at Sawyer who had leaned over Kit’s legs and grabbed his face in his hands. It was like a spring uncoiled suddenly, releasing and launched itself forwards. Kit stared, eyes dazed at Sawyer.

“You’re bleeding,” he said. Kit reached a hand up to his face where Sawyer slapped him, dumbly fumbling for the blood. Before his fingers found it it dribbled over Kit’s lips and he blinked lazily, withdrawing his fingers as the warmth went over his lips to his chin.

“Oh,” was all Kit said, feeling so, so very far away from his body. Time seemed to be moving in slow motion as Sawyer helped Tides grab Kit and snuck into one of the bedrooms, closing the door. They put Kit against the bed, his bloody fingers staining the soft white carpet as Sawyer and Tides danced in a swirl of colours in front of him, pushing something heavy and wooden across the door’s threshold.

A barricade.

Kit blinked dumbly at them. He felt like he was going to throw up.

Kit?

Kit stiffened on the ground, hands fisting the carpet to keep himself steady.

Are you here?

Kit looked up at Tides and Sawyer who were huddled in the corner, speaking lowly. “We need to get out of here.”

“We know,” Sawyer said, his voice hard. “But we need to be smart about it.”

“No,” Kit said, shaking his head. Oh, fuck that was a bad idea. “No, you don’t understand,” he protested, shifting his weight to the side so he could push himself to his hands and knees. He grabbed the fabric of the duvet and pulled himself up on shaky feet. A pair of hands grabbed him and steadied him but Kit didn’t really notice it other than the fact that he didn’t face plant the floor.

“Kit!” Tides hissed. “Be quiet.”

Kit kept his eyes trained on the broken windows of the room. They were only up one flight. They could make it. Kit reached a hand up to the window frame and felt solid wall.

“Fuck,” he said with a slightly hysterical breath. “Can one of you find the window? I think I’m seeing double.”

“Kit,” Sawyer said closer to him. “You just spent an unprecedented amount of power blowing every window in this house to bits, you can’t take jumping out of one.”

“He’s right, Kit.”

Kit?

Kit swallowed, turning in Sawyer’s hands a lopsided grin on his face, eyelids drooping as if he was drunk or drugged, but he fixed them on Sawyer’s swirling face. His nose drifting up to his forehead like a unicorn.

“WHO THE FUCK BROKE MY WINDOWS?!” A voice boomed from below.

“Omen’s here,” Kit told him. “Omen’s here,” he said again. “He’s the reason my powers are fucked. He’s the reason I don’t have a family anymore. He’s the reason for everything wrong in my life and he’s downstairs, Sawyer. So you can stay here and be his new little toy to break, I’m fucking done with him. I’m done. Now show me the fucking window.”

He didn’t know what Sawyer looked like. He didn’t know if he was happy or sad or effected by anything Kit just said but it didn’t matter because gently, Sawyer took Kit’s hand and placed it on the windowsill.

“There. Just hold on, we’re going together. Tides?”

Tides was by their side in a second. “Hold him, I’ll go out first. Send him after so I can catch him, and then you come. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Kit couldn’t see but Sawyer was concerned by his confession. But they could deal with that later. Right now they had to get out of here.

Sawyer put a foot on the bed, grabbing the window frame and swung his leg over, and, “what?” He breathed.

Kit frowned, but it made him nauseous to do so. “What?”

“I can’t— I can’t get through.”

“Jus’ open the window,” Kit said, slurring his words.

“There is no window, Kit. There’s no glass. There’s like— a barrier. I can’t fucking get through.”

Tides moved then and pressed her hand to the window, where Sawyer’s leg was perched in mid air. “What?!”

Kit sensed someone by the door, but by the time he processed that he should tell Tides and Sawyer the doorway exploded in on them. Wooden lats and splinters shot towards the trio, a wayward board hitting Kit over the head and he fell like a log.

His vision zoomed in and out, like a camera trying to focus on a subject but failing to find the proper balance. His ears were ringing violently, muting all other sounds except his wheezing breaths and his heartbeat that thumped thunderous in his skull and slow.

Kit got his elbows under him and pushed himself on shaky hands up to try and see what was happening. Tides and Sawyer were fighting, struggling beside him, Tides further away than Sawyer was. When did that happen?

But all cognitive skills died when he met two black eyes fixed on him. They were drawn down in concern, and Kit must be so fucking out of it because for a second— he could’ve mistaken them for worry. But that’s ridiculous.

“Kit?” Ambrose asked, grabbing his face in his cold hands. Kit blinked slowly like a cat. “Kit!” Ambrose said again, his voice muted and too far away for him to hear, but he could see his red lips moving. He couldn’t hear anything as if a bomb had gone off right beside his head.

He wished he would pass out but he remained stubbornly conscious the entire time, his brain pulsing in his skull. Ambrose shifted Kit to sit with his back against the wall, Kit groaning the whole time. Ambrose was still speaking, clicking his fingers in Kit’s face.

Across the bed he saw flashes of yellow and blue that he knew were Tides and Sawyer, on their knees in front of Nathan.

Supervillain?

He wasn’t wearing a mask, but the only logical explanation was that Nathan was Supervillain, right?

He didn’t remember. It seemed important at the time but now the thought melted into a puddle to join the pooling sludge in Kit’s head.

“Stop,” Kit said, leaning forward until he was stopped by Ambrose’s hand, his own reaching for Tides and Sawyer. “Don’t touch ‘em.”

Nathan laughed, or looked like he was about to laugh, gesturing to Kit but speaking to Ambrose.

“Get off me,” Kit said, slamming his hands down on Ambrose’s as he pitched forward again. “Don’t— hurt me instead, please. Please. Let them go.”

“Kit,” Ambrose said beside him, pushing him back again. It felt like he was submerged in water and Ambrose was speaking at him from above the surface. Muted, but he could make out the words now. “You have a concussion. You need to sit still.”

“We couldn’t get out,” Kit whined, red eyes meeting black. “We tried to get away. We tried to get out. And then— and then—”

Kit narrowed his eyes into a glare at Nathan. “You piece of shit! How do you think your brother would feel about you being a fucking Villain?! Supervillain of all people.”

“Kit, shut up,” Ambrose said, pushing him back against the wall. “For once in your life, just be quiet.”

“And you!” Kit said, tears welling up behind his eyes as he turned his attention to Ambrose. “You knew the whole time!”

“I didn’t, Kit. I swear. Don’t you think I would’ve told you?” Kit shook his head, slapping at Ambrose’s arms, his face, his shoulders. He grabbed the edges of Ambrose’s jacket and pulled him in, his lips curling back into a snarl that Ambrose almost recoiled at.

“No, no, no. Cause you’re a fucking liar,” Kit spat.

“You’re a monster, and you… you—” Kit said, but he couldn’t get the words out without crying, and so the tears fell over his cheeks, his eyes widening slightly as he stared at Ambrose, the realisation crushing everything in his chest, making it feel like his ribs were caving in on his heart and lungs. “I trusted you.”

Ambrose didn’t answer. Black eyes wide and hurt, and worried and it made Kit sick.

“I trusted you,” he said again, his voice coming out as barely more than a whisper through short, fretful breaths. “And look at what you’ve done to me. Look at what you did… I can’t— I can’t see straight, my powers are fucked, I lost my only family and now you’re going to make me lose my friends too? The only two in the world? How could you?”

Silence.

Hurt turned to anger and Kit launched himself off the wall, pushing Ambrose down and landing on top of him haphazardly, pushing himself to his knees straddling Ambrose on either side.

“HOW COULD YOU?!” He raged, spittle flying over Ambrose’s face, his blue eyes turning a startling red again and Ambrose thought that was it. He’d die there and then.

But just before the sparks erupted from Kit, an invisible hand grabbed him and slammed him against the wall, slamming the wind from his body. White hot stars burst behind his eyes as a crack sounded. Kit cried out as he fell like a rag-doll, his head and ribs taking the blow and burning. Kit howled, curling in on himself.

Fuck. Fuck, that was a rib.

Every breath was agony, but Kit still tried to push himself up, screaming and crying and raging all the while. Ambrose was on his feet, shouting at Nathan about something, his hand on Nathan’s wrist pulling it down.

Kit’s shaking arms faltered and he fell again with a startled breath onto his forearms, his screams dying to spine shuddering sobs, staring at the soft carpet below him. Twin streams of tears and snot and spit falling open as Kit wailed, pain seizing his mind and body but still he remained awake.

“I told you to leave him to me,” Ambrose snarled, shoving Nathan’s wrist away. Nathan inclined his head, smirking down at Ambrose.

“I think what you mean to say is thank you for not letting that kid fry my body to char, Nathan” Nathan said. “You’re welcome, by the way.”

Ambrose turned his head to Kit who was openly sobbing now, babbling incoherently to himself and slamming his fists down against the floor every once in a while. It pulled at Ambrose’s heartstrings in a way it shouldn’t have. Kit was nothing to him, nothing. He was just some fucking dime a dozen Hero who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

A warm hand on his cheek turned Ambrose’s attention back to Nathan, something hungry in his gaze, a muscle clenched in his jaw. “Thank you, Nate, you’d say, and I’d say anytime love, but it costs a kiss.”

Ambrose grabbed at Nathan’s wrist to push him off but Nathan’s grip tightened on Ambrose’s face, cupping his jaw in one hand, the other stretched towards Kit. Ambrose’s eyes widened as Kit’s screams increased in pitch until they were piercing and then another sudden crack broke through the air and Ambrose flinched, his heart hammering against his chest.

Nathan’s silver eyes didn’t leave Ambrose’s black the entire time, a smirk still present on his face though sinister now. A threat and a warning, and a knowing that he had Ambrose back where he wanted, at his mercy.

“Okay!” Ambrose hissed as Kit screamed again. “Okay! Just stop hurting him!”

Nathan lowered his hand and put it on Ambrose’s other cheek. “There. Was that so hard?”

Ambrose didn’t answer. Nathan ran his thumb along Ambrose’s bottom lip, his eyes flicking lazily to it, then to Ambrose’s eyes again, want shining desperately.

Ambrose swallowed hard. He didn’t… he swore he would never do this again, that he would never be under Nathan’s spell again. Max’s warning of not letting Nathan into his head again, under his skin, ready to do with him what he pleased because he knows Ambrose would go along with it.

Especially now, with Kit.

His weak point. And Nathan knew. How did he know? How did he know before even Ambrose knew?!

When did that happen? When did he start to think of Kit like he wasn’t just some hero to torture? Like he was something worth protecting, someone he cared for like an annoying little brother? When did his mind change from revelling in Kit’s misery, to doing the ONE THING he promised himself he would never do again, to make Kit’s misery stop?

Sure, he can torture Kit all he wants, but anyone else doing it was wrong. It felt wrong, and if his father— if his mother knew Kit, he knew she’d take him in like a second son too. Maybe, just maybe, in another world Kit and Ambrose could have been family. They could have been brothers.

The notion pulled ridiculously at Ambrose’s chest, and he was back staring at those horrible silver eyes. The enchanting twin pools of every vile thing imaginable.

“A kiss, Oskar,” Nathan whispered, leaning down to press one to Ambrose’s forehead, then his temple, his lips going to Ambrose’s ear. “A convincing kiss and I’ll stop hurting your little hero, hmm?”

Ambrose tightened his hands into fists. “I already said yes.”

“Oh, baby, no. You want something from it, you’re kissing me, not the other way around. I want to see just how much you’re willing to give for this kid.”

Ambrose hesitated, his index finger twitching as he waited, his heart slamming against his ribs. He couldn’t— he couldn’t do this, he couldn’t— fuck!

Nathan pulled back, his breath leaving Ambrose’s face, brows quirking. “No? Do you need some more convincing?” Nathan asked, raising his hand towards Kit again.

Ambrose didn’t think. He grabbed Nathan and turned them, shoving Nathan down onto the bed because Ambrose wasn’t leaning up on his toes to kiss the fucker. Nathan gasped, grinning like an idiot as Ambrose climbed on top of him, hands around his throat that he longed to squeeze.

“You look so hot when you want to murd—”

Ambrose captured Nathan’s lips in his before he could finish the sentence, swallowing it along with his pride, and the small part of him that died inside at kissing the most dangerous man he had ever known. Nathan smiled against the kiss, one hand on Ambrose’s waist while the other went to the back of Ambrose’s neck, pulling him closer.

Nathan lightly tugged at Ambrose’s hair, pulling his head back so he could tilt his head and deepen the kiss, which Ambrose allowed. It all came back so easy to him, remembering what Nathan liked and what he didn’t. The things he raved about, that drove him crazy when Ambrose did it to him.

Ambrose ground his hips into Nathan’s waist, eliciting a moan, which he swallowed, not allowing the bastard any space for breath, hoping to suffocate him. He drew back, biting at Nathan’s bottom lip and teasing it between his teeth as he drew back, planting kisses across Nathan’s jaw and down his neck.

Nathan laughed, his breath hitching when Ambrose found the spot he liked. Then the hand in his hair tightened again and pulled him back like a mother cat to a kitten, silver eyes meeting smouldering black.

Nathan’s fingers pinched Ambrose’s waist but he didn’t react. Nathan chuckled, his voice a little darker, coated with a amusing knowing. His hand trailed up Ambrose’s side, eliciting shivers as he went before cupping Ambrose’s cheek again. A long thumb smoothed across Ambrose’s cheek, just under his eye and pulled his eyelid down a little.

“Oh, Oskar. Haven’t you learned anything in my absence? What did we always say about showing people your hand, hmm? You care for this boy, for whatever reason, and I want to find out why.”

Ambrose stiffened above Nathan as he leaned up and pecked Ambrose’s lips again.

“I’ve missed you, Oskar,” Nathan said, softly as if it were a confession or a prayer. Everything about him; his voice, his smile, his dimples, his hair, his fashion, every except those eyes could make you forsake God for the sin that was the man laying under Ambrose.

“And I know you won’t just tell me why he’s struck a chord within you, so I think I’ll have to keep you both around to find out why.”

Ambrose’s expression hardened. “You can’t—” he began, retracting his hands from Nathan’s neck but Nathan didn’t let him, catching his wrists in his strong grip and holding them hostage.

“I think you know I can,” Nathan cooed. It had the opposite effect of reassurance, causing shivers down Ambrose’s spine.

“I don’t want this,” Ambrose spat, yanking his hands free from Nathan’s. He made to get off the bed but Nathan grabbed him by the waist, drawing his reluctant attention.

“We were made for each other, Oskar. There’s nobody in the world like us,” he said, voice almost pleading, yet still low and sultry, masking the desperation underneath. “I know you still feel this.”

Ambrose inclined his head stoically, cold black eyes running over Nathan’s face, searching for something that wasn’t there.

“I don’t.”

Ambrose pried Nathan’s fingers from his waist and lifted a leg up and over Nathan’s waist so he was just kneeling on the bed instead, moving towards Kit. Kit was motionless on the ground, his breathing shallowly inflating his back and hissing out again.

An anger rose in Ambrose, a helpless kind of anger that aroused when you witnessed something so horrific like a car accident, or hear of a young person’s death on the news. Anger at the world. Anger at Nathan. Anger at himself for not helping Kit sooner. Anger at Mentor. Anger at Kit for getting caught by Nathan. Anger at himself for getting pulled back into his ex’s web.

Ambrose felt a presence behind him, hands snaking around his waist, a breath against his ear. “You may not want me now, but you want Kit alive, don’t you?”

Ambrose tried not to let the words effect him, he really tried, but when Nathan pressed his lips to Ambrose’s throat he froze. Nathan smiled against his neck.

“See?” He murmured. “This is a mutually beneficial arrangement I’m offering Ambrose.”

Ambrose’s hands tightened into fists. “You can’t just make me love you.”

“Oh, darling.” The arms tightened around his waist, locking him in place. “You have no idea what I can do anymore. Besides, I have a hunch it was your hero who broke all of my windows, and I have killed people for less.”

“It’s not like you can’t just replace them, the windows don’t mean anything to you!” Ambrose huffed.

“Still,” Nathan teased, nipping at the side of Ambrose’s neck. “He destroyed something that was mine. A slight is a slight after all, Oskar.”

Nathan went back to kissing Ambrose’s neck again, trailing kisses up his jaw and over the side of his face, his cheeks, his cheekbone, the corner of his eye, his temple while Ambrose hesitated, considering any other way out of this situation.

He couldn’t compel Nate, but Nate couldn’t compel him either. Nate could compel Kit though, and who knows what kind of fucked up things ran through his mind.

“I missed your silence,” Nathan said. “It was always so profound, but it is taking a hair too long, darling, so I’ll sweeten the pot. I will keep you and Kit, and I will let his friends go free. Wipe their memories, make them forget, and when Kit wakes up you’ll be his hero.”

A knot tied itself at the base of Ambrose’s throat. What was he thinking?! Sacrificing himself for some kid he didn’t fucking know? His sanity?!

All tension left Ambrose’s body. Nathan smirked behind Ambrose. “Okay. Fine,” he replied, the words hard and thick in his throat.

“Wonderful,” Nate cooed, squeezing Ambrose tighter. “Oh, you have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to hear you say those words.”

Ambrose didn’t want to know how long Nathan was waiting, so he just hummed, his eyes never leaving Kit’s back, watching his breaths rise and fall. Still alive.

*~*~*~*~*

Continued here

*~*~*~*~* A.N *~*~*~*~*

Hello, hello!! A little A.N. from me, I will not be continuing the weekly updates of this fic going forward, and it’s because the quality of the writing has rapidly declined and I don’t like what I’m putting out into the story — it’s not doing the story justice, because it feels like it’s floundering like a fish on a hook — it will be part of my regular uploads, but maybe every 1-2 weeks!!! I also feel like I can't edit it enough to have it up to scratch and it is slowly eating away at my brain and my motivation to write. The support for this story has been crazy, and I love that you guys like it so much, but I think for the story to be as good as it can be, this is what is best going forward - It also is draining me of creative flow that I want to put into my other fiction stories here! I hope you’re not too upset at this, but I think it is what is best for this story, the characters and myself — so thank you for reading :) enjoy!! this means I will be able to go back to regularly updating all my other fics that need to be dusted for cobwebs atm, like Heroic Betrayal, Defiant Leader, Vendetta (my beloved), etc.

TLDR; no longer weekly updates of this story, but it is still part of the regular update schedule - Which will give me more time to focus on my other stories here XD

*~*~*~*~*

Orphanage roll-call (lmk if you wanna be added or removed): @beatenbruisedandbloody @404lunar1216 @whumpyworld @nameless-beanie @andithewhumper @annablogsposts

@whumpasaurus101 @0eggdealer @rejectedbytheempty @sleepy-pearl @n3rv0usn0v4 @whumpatize-me-captain @sunshiline-writes @burningkittypoet @honeyed-euphrates @sacredwrath @theonewithallthefixations @blood-enthusiast t @tippytappytyping @shinokoro @bedtimescenarios @whatwhump @acer-whumpstuff @fa1rie @jesterrinobutter @xxgalgurlxx @princess-bubble-blossom @steh-lar-uh-nuhs @dutifullykrispyland @memepsychowhowantsuperpower-blog @ehobep

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b4mpyre-k1zz3s · 6 months ago

Text

Three Nights in Mexico

Mexico- a beautiful, vast country that Y/N would have otherwise loved to visit if she didn’t have to be responsible for a gang of grown children while she was there.

Johnny Knoxville X Fem!Reader

(Fluff)

4.1k Words

Warnings: Suggestive content, drug mention, alcohol use, one night stands, nudity, skinny dipping, cavity searches, vomit, waterborne disease

An: Thank you so much for sending in requests! This is the only Manager!Y/N fic I’ve written about a place I’ve actually been to! XD As a note, if you have not tried a concha I am URGING you to those things r to die for! Also, the incident described in the beginning of this fic was actually based off of a real thing that Steve-O did! Anyways, thank you for the requests and please keep them coming!

The guys were full of giggles as you sat around in those uncomfortable plastic chairs in the Mexican customs office. You started to feel that you were the only person who was taking this remotely seriously, given the fact Knoxville was capturing this whole thing on the camcorder you knew he wasn’t supposed to have there. Even Steve, who was currently receiving a full cavity search on the other side of the very thin wall, thought what was happening was comedy gold. But you really couldn’t feel too bad for him- after all, it was his decision to ask the security agent if he could lay on his back and go through the baggage X-Ray machine (you still had no idea why he let him), and he did intentionally put that condom full of cocaine in his ass as a part of that “Drug Mule” stunt he was planning for the new movie. To nobody’s surprise, the oblong shape in his colon raised a couple red flags. Your heart went out to whatever poor, latex-gloved security agent was currently feeling around in him. For a while, there was nothing but stifled snickers while everyone in the waiting area held their breath, before it was broken by a yelp from the other room and that familiar raspy voice, “Ah- dude! Aren’t you supposed’t take me out to dinner first or somethin’?” How did you even let this happen?

Your high school level understanding of Spanish wasn't helping you in the slightest as you tried to bargain with the custom’s officer, “Uh…¡Necesito ir ahora! ¡Muy urgente, señor!” Why couldn’t it be Bam or Ryan or Johnny who got pulled back there instead of the one guy in the group that actually spoke the damn language? From the other side of the room, Chris raised his hand and chuckled, trying his hand at reasoning with the buff man in the uniform you were pleading, “Hey! I mean- I could stand in for him!” Turning to shoot a ‘shut the fuck up’ glare back at him, you went back to what you were doing. “¡Ellos son actores muy famosos! Yo soy sus agente.” He didn’t budge.

It was moments like these that made you nostalgic for that time you had to bail Steve out of airport custody after that time he had the idea for an awesome stunt- trying to see how long he could keep a cigarette lit inside of a federally owned building: not very long. Sighing, you thought back to that piece of advice Jeff let you in on from his Wildboyz days of traveling abroad with these idiots. For a while you considered if you would really stoop so low as to follow his word, but considering the circumstances, you didn’t really have a choice. Blinking hard under the white fluorescent lights, you hesitantly pulled your wallet out with a sigh and, as sneakily as you could, slipped a couple five-hundred peso notes into the custom officer’s waiting hand. He looked at you, then to the other agents who all clearly saw what you did, and made a gesture to them to open the door.

Knoxville couldn’t believe it. A lady such as yourself, who was always so damn adamant about them obeying the law- did you actually just bribe a customs officer? He didn’t think you had it in you. The entire ride to your hotel in that shitty, little, not private at all shuttle bus full of all the other idiot tourists, he caught a glance here and there of you with this amused look on his face as he just imagined all the ways he was going to hold this over your head. But you didn’t notice- you had better things to worry about, such as the fact Ryan was currently fast asleep on your shoulder and didn’t show any signs of waking up any time soon, or the million questions Bam had been pressing you with since you left the airport. Even after you told him that no, just because it’s not a great idea drink the tap water in Mexico doesn’t mean he should avoid showers or brushing his teeth like the plague and yes, they do have alcohol other than beer and tequila here (including whiskey, which he was particularly concerned about), he still had more damn questions. “Hey- hey, Y/N. D’they have skate parks in Mexico?” Wordlessly nodding, you leaned your head against the cool bus window. “What about McDonald’s- d’they have that?” You squeezed your eyes shut at his insistence- it was like dealing with a four year old. Groaning, you rubbed the space between your eyes, “Yes, Bam. They have McDonald’s in Mexico.” You knew his high school education didn’t leave him with the most awareness of the world outside of the states, but you didn’t think he was that stupid. Christ- he’d been to Cabo for Viva La Bam! Letting out a sigh of relief, Bam sat back in the stiff little bus seat that probably hadn’t been cleaned in years and nodded, thinking out loud, “I could make do with that, yeah...”

That night, after everyone got unpacked, the guys decided to go out to have a few drinks, especially after a bit of animated convincing and high inference language from Steve, who went on and on about how they were gonna fuckin’ party tonight, and that last time he was in Mexico he was just swarmed with chicks who were fiending for a piece of the ole’ Steve-O. Hearing that, the guys were more than eager to jump at that opportunity, leaving you and Ryan, who was too tired to party that night, to sit back in the room. Taking a sip from the bottle in his hand, he looked up with half lidded eyes and held it out to you, “Want some?” You shrugged from where you sat on the bed as your eyes stayed fixed on whatever movie was playing on hotel cable. “Nah, m’alright.”

The night went by pretty quietly after that- for you, of course: you watched some tv and got to bed at eleven or so. It wouldn’t be until the next day where you would catch word of all the shit that went down while you were peacefully asleep. And as the early morning sun came streaming in your window picturesquely, you stirred in your bed to discover that Bam, who was fast asleep, was lying by your side, which is both a nightmare you had definitely had before and a sentence you never thought you’d say. Panicking, you peeled his arms off of you and hurriedly sat up to survey the damage, notably the fact that the room was completely empty besides the three of you- three including Ryan, who felt as if he’d spent the night with his head in the minibar and was about this close to vomiting in his shoe, still hadn’t left his chair and was slowly blinking awake. “Ryan! What the hell happened last night?” Groggily, at first, he began to recount the story he got secondhand from Bam.

Everything had been going fine until right about two am at the bar, because as we all know, the road to cultural understanding begins and ends with beer- well, tequila in Steve’s case. Three hours at the shitty little bar near the hotel, and Bam still couldn’t get a drink, which had absolutely nothing to do with his lack of language skills. They had been relying on Steve, which was getting hard considering how popular he was that night given how many shots he was buying for random strangers. Bam had to look up and yell to speak to him, due in part to both the loud music and the distance between the bar stool and on top of the bar where he was standing. “Hey-hey dude. Can you ask for some Jack Daniel’s?” Steve was more occupied with the cheering crowd he had attracted from the Payaso de Rodeo he was doing standing on the bar top, made more impressive was how well he was dancing after downing that fifth of tequila. Turning to the bartender with a grin, he held up two fingers and shouted, “¡Mas chupitos, por favor! ¡Mezcal!” There was only one word in that sentence Bam understood, and he was pretty sure the word for whisky is the same no matter what language you say it in. Johnny, who happened to be sitting next to him at the bar groaned, lamenting his own language barrier he encountered trying to chat up the hot chick next to him, and said no nobody in particular, “Not with the fuckin’ Spanish again…” as if they wernt in a country whose official language was Spanish. Throwing his hands in the air, Bam turned to him, exasperated, “That’s what I’m sayin’!”

That’s around when Bam decided to leave the bar, stumbling alone through the streets of Mexico City to get back to the room: hungry, sober, and mad about it. He found you and Ryan still awake. Ryan shot you a ‘what’s his problem?’ look as Bam threw himself onto the bed, but given your years of expereince dealing with his pissy nonsense, you could sort of read him. Angrilly grumbling to himself, he didn’t even hear you as you punched in the number for room service, “Hey, can I get a cheeseburger and a bottle of Jack Danniel’s up to room 107?”

In between ordering it and receiving the food, you had fallen asleep, completely missing the mumbling, half coherent rant Bam gave to nobody in particular, questioning why they couldn’t have filmed that desert shit in Arizona or New Mexico or some other fuckin’ place besides Mexico and lied and just said they went there, all while sounding more or less like a little kid asking his parents to bring him home from summer camp. He was ready to call it a night, which really just meant getting naked, but thank god that when there was a knock at the door, Bam at least had the decency to pull a shirt on before he went to answer it, assuming it was one of the guys getting back from the bar. The look on the delivery guy's face as he stared up at him from where he was setting the food down was priceless, made even more so by the fact that the shirt Bam grabbed was several inches shy of his crotch. All Dunn heard was the delivery guy’s panicked, stumbling footsteps as he dashed down the hallway and Bam, who was seemingly oblivious, didn’t question how it showed up or who ordered it as he brought the food in with a shrug, “Guy ran off quick.”

It was that point in the morning you decided to leave the boys and head to your own room. When you opened the door to do so, lo and behold, there was Johnny. In his underwear, laying face down in the hallway, and very not sneakily eating off of a room service tray that you knew wasn't yours. “Alright Knoxville,” As his eyes darted up to you like a guilty dog, you rubbed your temples and went into responsible adult mode, “let’s get’cha to bed…” You had to lean down and grab him under the arms to pull a little and get him to his feet, surely a funny sight especially given the fact he still had a little bit of someone else’s breakfast on his face, “Oh, you wanna go to bed with me?” Leave it to him to try and flirt with you as you were practically carrying him to his room. Given the fact he was still a little drunk, you were thankful you didn’t have to get them on set for a few hours and you hoped Johnny could just sleep it off. “Cmon, lay down...” That earned you an eyebrow raise and a crooked grin from him as he fell back against the mattress, something that you would’ve found charming if he didn’t have a very clear piss stain on the front of his boxers, “Ooh! An assertive woman…I like it!”

Still drunk, Johnny stared up at you from the bed with hearts in his eyes as his lips curled into a knowing half smirk and he shook his head, “Y/N- I still can’t believe y’bribed a cop…” At the mention of that incident at the customs office, your face dropped, flushing pink with embarrassment as Ryan blinked in disbelief, “Wait, who bribed a cop?” While you were out in the hallways, busy hauling in the six foot one man who was laying out there all by yourself, Bam had apparently woken up and was still snickering when you whipped your head around. “Oh my god- Y/N bribed a cop!” He was still laying on the bed shirtless, tangled up in the sheets like some kind of male model. “Yeah,” Ryan sat up, taking a swig of stale whiskey from the open bottle in his hand, “an’ you slept with her.” And the misunderstandings kept coming…Now Bam’s expression of wide eyed delebeif mimicked yours as he misconstrued the idea of sharing a bed with the image of the two of you fucking. “Wow…first a felony, now you’re screwin’ Bam? Never really pegged you for the wild type, Y/N.” Sighing, you shook your head as you tried not to let Johnny’s teasing get you flustered. It’s not like you wanted to admit that you actually kinda enjoyed it when he talked to you like that. You decided just to go back to your room and try to catch a few z’s before you had to get their asses up. As you went for the door, Bam buried his face in his pillow, groaning, “Ugh…I’m gonna be sick.” You had awoken to an ugly, half remembered montage of, ‘no it didn’t happen. it couldn’t have happened! that’s your story and you’re sticking to it.’s and all you wanted to do was go back to sleep.

So you did. Unfortunately, you were rudely woken up maybe an hour later by Jeff's call on the hotel room phone and you tried to make yourself sound more awake than you were, “What’s up?” In contrast to his usual tone, he sounded surprisingly calm on the other end of the line, “Hey, just calling to check in and make sure everyone’s ready to shoot. Be on set by 9!” Making a mental note of it, you pulled yourself to your feet and started getting dressed as you shot a glance at the clock. “Got it- yeah, we’re doing alright. But, now that I think about it, I don’t know where Chris or Steve are…” Suddenly, his tone sounded distinctly panicked, “Wait what?” but before you could try and explain yourself, Jeff was going off on you, “Listen, I’m not gonna be bailing these guys outta some- some Mexican jail somewhere! I need their asses on set for that cactus jump stunt today.” Before you had the chance to argue, he hung up. How the hell were you going to manage this?

The first thing Steve realized when he woke up with the sun in his eyes was that he was surrounded by dogs, which he was stoked about before he realized the fact he was also just asleep in an alleyway, which never meant anything good happened the night before. Sitting up groggily against the brick wall behind him to try and collect himself, all the street dogs that were sniffing and licking at Steve’s face quickly turned to what he only just noticed he was laying on- a bag of dog food. The dots took a while to connect in his head but eventually he put two and two together, reaching over to tear open the cloth bag. Pulling himself to his feet, Steve grinned to himself as he watched those little fellas chow down. Meanwhile, about half a mile away, Chris was waking up as well, only in maybe less ideal circumstances than his buddy did: laying on the sands of some public beach, ass naked, with no clue as to where the hell he was or how he got there. Pretty par for the course for those two.

After an hour of driving around, you eventually corralled everyone up, as uncomfortable it is to be trapped in a moving vehicle with a completely nude man. Better you than the police, you thought. You caught bits and pieces of their conversation, gradually piecing together the story as best you could: Steve and Chris, the last people in the bar that night, got thrown- not kicked, thrown out around three or four. They decided to call it a night, but before they headed back to the hotel, Steve told Chris he was gonna stop to take a piss. Before he got the chance to zip up his pants and make his way out of the alley he stepped into, Chris was long gone, having run off with two ladies from the bar who met up with him outside and seemed very eager to catch up with him. But still, you were thankful to finally have everyone together again. Hell, with the way things were going, you might actually have everyone on set on time today! You were feeling more relaxed than you had the entire trip as you opened the door for Chris and Steve, “Alright you two. Just get ready and meet me downstairs in five-“

As you would come to find out, it wasn't the thought of sleeping with you, which in Bam’s mind was on par with fucking your babysitter, that made him feel sick. Yep, you opened the door and there he was, regurgitating the contents of his stomach and not even having the decency to close the bathroom door behind him. Steve, in one of his seemingly random moments of wisdom, knew immediately what was up, “Drinks with ice?” From where his head was in the toilet, Bam nodded. Steve held up his hand to whisper to you, “Send him out with a bucket- he’ll be fine.” before turning back to Bam, “You’ll be alright. I mean, there’s worse you could have, man! Giardia, Montezuma’s Revenge…” You weren't the only person who was amazed at his medical knowledge as Chris looked over at him with wonder in his eyes, like a kid watching a magic trick, and chuckled, “Woah. You should be a doctor or somethin’…” Now that’s something you don’t want to see- Steve as a doctor.

That night, after Bam thankfully started feeling better, you made the poor decision of leaving the guys unsupervised at the pool under the assumption that there was only so much trouble they could start within a fenced-in area, like putting a toddler in a playpen. Oh, how wrong you were. You spent the night peacefully alone in your room, happy that things were finally calming down a little. That was, however, until you received a phone call that whoever was staying in said room needed to find new accommodations because they were no longer welcome. “I’m sorry sir- this has to be a mistake!” But the guy on the other end of the line hung up on you before you could reason with him. Hurrying to your feet, you punched Jeff’s number into your phone, knowing he would without a doubt be pissed but you didn’t really have anyone else to call. Rushing to the elevator then down into the lobby, you quickly found the manager and the words seemed to tumble out of your mouth, “Oh my god- I am so sorry about all of this- I really don’t- what is going on, exactly?” Deadpan, all the guy did was point you to the pool area outside.

Running out and onto the pool deck (even though that’s the one thing people tell you not to do), the very first sight you were greeted with was this white blur standing out against the darkness of the night sky. A few seconds later you realized what it was- Steve-O, doing a gainer into the pool off of some second story balcony he climbed up on, and splashing into the water, ass naked. You couldn’t see if Bam or Chris were clothed from where they were messing around and wrestling in the pool, even less with Knoxville and Ryan, who were sitting over in the hot tub chatting up a few half naked girls, but you made some assumptions. You were fucked. Unequivocally, unilaterally fucked. And then, with impeccable timing, guess who comes screeching up behind you, practically parking the van on the sidewalk? “You. Out!” Storming past you, Jeff was a man on a mission as he threw open the gate and grabbed a very unsuspecting Bam by his hair, hoisting him up like a mama cat and giving you a clear as day view of his pasty white ass.

“What on earth made you think, ‘Oh! Let’s all get shitfaced and swim naked in the hotel pool!’“ Jeff was anxiously pacing back and forth in front of the bench that he hauled the guys onto while you, under his orders, passed out towels for them to cover themselves up with. He shook his head like a disappointed father, “Now, thanks to you, you shitheads just got your sorry asses kicked out of the one hotel that’d take you! Great fuckin’ job, guys...” You felt a little awkward standing by his side as he lectured them while the guys just sat there, staring at you guiltily as if you were the lifeguard that kicked the kids out for adult swim.

Unbeknownst to you and everyone else, Jeff and the rest of the crew were staying at a pretty fancy resort, while you and the guys got the shaft and had to stay at the creepy craphole down the road. “Wait- why couldn’t we stay here?” Chris asked as the group was busy oohing and aahing and cursing their director under their breath as they pulled up to the sparkling mass that was the hotel. “Because,” Jeff roughly shifted the car into park, “somebody has a tendency to jump out of windows.” This comment was directed towards Bam, made even more so by a little thing you referred to as the Margera Curse. Due to his reputation, all it took was one look at his ID and whatever hotel, rental car agency, or insurance provider immediately denied Bam (in particular, but the guys had experience with this to lesser degrees).

One star people at a five star resort. That’s what it felt like when the guys walked in the marble floored lobby wearing nothing but their towels. There were ladies wearing pearls and businessmen in suits- for god’s sake, the place had a damn chandelier, and there was the Jackass crew, half naked dripping chlorine all over the tile. Of course, given the fact they were celebrities, they attracted quite a great deal of attention as Warden Tremaine tried to quickly escort them through the lobby without causing too much of a commotion. Still, they couldn’t help but take it all in, waving and smiling as a few tourists snapped pictures with around-the-neck cameras, like they were some kinda landmark people could go home and say they visited. But eventually, you got to the one room all the guys were crammed into and Bam groaned when he got a look at it, “We’re sharing a room again?” Rolling his eyes, Jeff turned to his own door, “Yes. You idiots earned it.”

Later that night, you were about halfway into a vending machine concha when you got a knock on your door. See, you hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast and by that time of night you were starving, so you had gone ahead and grabbed a few snacks for yourself. To your surprise, even though everyone had surely gone to sleep, standing there in front of you out in the hall was…Knoxville? “Uh, hey Y/N.” It must’ve looked kinda funny from an outsider’s perspective as you stood there, still chewing on that last bite you took while he explained, “I wanted to say sorry for all the shit the guys an’ I pulled tonight...” It was a rare moment of remorsefulness from him, which was odd considering how typical this was in terms of things you had to deal with. “It's fine- I mean, they’re not your responsibility.” In fact, they were your responsibility- you were paid to have them as your responsibility, and even you weren't all that concerned. “I’m serious. I-“ Midway through his sentence, Johnny’s stomach growled, and you realized that he was probably in a similar situation as you were. So, in an expression of goodwill, you took the pastry that was in your hands and held it out to him. Looking at you, then the half eaten concha with some speculation, then to you again, Knoxville accepted it, looking right at you as he took a bite out of the part you just ate from.

#jackass #bam margera #johnny knoxville #steve o #chris pontius #ryan dunn #jackass fanfiction #jackass fanfic #fluff #jackass x reader #johnny knoxville x reader

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teecupangel · 5 months ago

Note

Hii teecup!! Hope you're doing well!!

May I ask some a/b/o AltDes stuff please (alpha! Altaïr and Omega!Desmond) because there's not much of it out there :'D

Now I'm sure Altaïr would more open minded and much less of an asshole to omegas then most of the people back in his days..... HOWEVER, please hear me out, what if he wasn't

He could be low-key about it, unlike most alphas who are very vocal and open about their 'opinions' on Omegas and such. He's very aloof when it comes to omegas in general, not having strong feelings on anything (very Altaïr behaviour honestly). That is until he meets Desmond.

Now instead of time travel, this time Desmond was born in Altaïr's time. This means Desmond would be raised as a traditional and submissive omega, but he still fought back. He could be born in Alamut (because Eagle of Alamut XD) as the son of the mentor (who is not Diya al-Dīn because he would never) who trained and became an assassin... sort of because idiot bigots.

Desmond is the best assassin in his entire brotherhood, BUT he's not officially an assassin. His father/mentor isn't as strict like most and let him get away with his antics, usually.

That is until Desmond was 'of age' and that's when it starts getting bad for our boy. His dad became more controlling and won't let him sneak off to do missions or fight anymore. He was to be married to whoever the assassins could use as allies. Basically just a bargaining chip. Desmond would fight back harder then ever, even with one of the best assassins guarding him and monitoring his move all the time, he would still be able to sneak off to continue doing missions to make them see just how capable he was.

He could runaway, he probably should runaway, but deep down all he wanted was for his father to love him again. To look at him with pride and treat him like a son again. (Altaïr would use this fact as an advantage later on)

But then it all comes crashing down when he finally gets betrothed. (Idk who he should be betrothed to LMAO it could be whoever. Someone very powerful that the assassins could use)

And all was going to shit for Desmond but it all went to super shit when Altaïr showed up. Because oh boy, Altaïr was a Strom of his own.

Now I honestly don't know how he and Altaïr meets, but it definitely left an impression on Altaïr because he was smitten from the first time they made eye contact. Man was obsessed from here on out kajsksjssoakakak.

And uhh yeah that's all I've got, plot wise

Some notes.

- Desmond pulling all the alpha assholes like catnip.

- Altaïr, manipulating Desmond as a sign of affection

- Malik suffers because we love him <33

Honestly teecup, I just wanted a toxic a/b/o au but it grew plotty legs and ran out of my grasps, my apologies.

And that's all for now!

Sorry in advance if my English is very trying, I'm typing on my phone and it's not the best experience.

PS please make it as toxic and horny as Tumblr allows you to, and I would give you my kidneys.

PPS if you think you know who I am by how I write..... No you don't/lh

As horny and as toxic as Tumblr would allow it? I don’t even know the limit of Tumblr’s tolerance hahahaha

So for this one, if you want Desmond to be born in Alamut as a son of the mentor but not Diya al-Dīn, we can make him the son of an older brother of Diya al-Dīn instead. Born more as a way for the older brother, who was passed over because Diya al-Dīn was more worthy of the title, to try and get power with his son being the next in line for the imam since Diya al-Dīn was still childless at that point.

Diya al-Dīn would be the kind uncle who tried to do right by his nephew but can’t truly intervene because his brother was controlling and had a firm grasp on Desmond’s every day life. It was going well, all things considered.

Desmond wasn’t a genius nor was he inherently talented but he was a hard worker and he always went beyond what was required of him.

His father rewards his hard work by giving him a bit of leeway, all the while making him drink medicinal tea that was meant to change him into an alpha.

It didn’t do anything but hide his scent… which had been easy to do in the first place because those not yet of age only had a hint of scent to show their ‘status’.

Diya al-Dīn tried to be accepting of Desmond’s wish to be an Assassin even if omegas aren’t exactly… well… only omegas that could control their ‘base instinct’ could become Assassins which was hard for an omega without the help of some kind of medicine that would leave them in pain or groggy.

Desmond, unfortunately, is one of the omegas that cannot be medicated. Even if he drank more than he should, that only leaves him in unbearable pain.

That’s why his father pivoted from Desmond becoming the next imam to having some talks with certain powerful rulers. Finding Desmond an alpha that would take him as their official wife or one of his concubine.

His father was less picky of Desmond’s standing and more interested in creating a political bond with a powerful ally (whether he plans to use this to usurp Diya al-Dīn or he simply wants more power outside of the Brotherhood is up for grabs)

And he finally finds one but Desmond would enter into that household as a concubine. His marriage proposition wasn’t a good one all things considered, the alpha was a powerful one but it was well known that his official wife and the older concubines were dangerous. Newer concubines either die from poisoning or accidents or childbirth and, more often than not, their children would not survive more than five summers.

So Desmond escapes. Maybe, just maybe, Diya al-Dīn had a hand in the patrol routes that night and it left certain large windows of opportunity for Desmond to use.

Alamut, of course, will look for him. That’s why Desmond would try to hide from them.

That’s how he meets Altaïr.

He was desperate and his heat was upon him. Altaïr’s scent was overpowering and he could feel it within him that this was an alpha that would fight tooth and nail to keep his omega safe.

He wasn’t a romantic.

He had already accepted the very idea that his alpha would not love him.

He doesn’t need it.

Love did not bring his omega parent any happiness, no matter how overflowing their love for Desmond’s alpha father had been.

What he needed was an alpha who would take care of him and any child he would bear.

So he used his scent to weaken the alpha’s defenses.

It was Desmond who made it impossible for Altaïr to resist.

And so Altaïr claimed him.

Unorganized Notes:

Desmond escaped a few weeks after Altaïr killed Rashid but before AC Bloodlines. (So late Sept, early Oct)

He was on his way to Alamut to talk to Diya al-Dīn about being the new mentor (he doesn’t want to be the next mentor) and they actually spent Desmond’s heat in a random abandoned home

Alamut Assassins found them afterwards and, by that point, Desmond was sooo thoroughly claimed that there was no way to say that Altaïr wasn’t his alpha.

This also changed Altaïr’s desire to not be the mentor because the easiest way to keep Desmond by his side is to be the mentor of Masyaf with his marriage to Desmond being a way to ‘mend’ the broken relationship between Alamut and Masyaf.

Desmond’s father was not pleased but fuck him, by law, Desmond was now the property of his mate and Altaïr has no qualms killing the asshole if he doesn’t stop yapping about how he raised Desmond and should have the final say on everything.

He returns to Masyaf and… sorta kicked all the Flowers of Paradise. To be more exact, they were transferred to another part of the fortress while the entirety of Paradise became Desmond’s new home. (Desmond and his most definitely growing child)

That is the second headache Malik got.

The first one was the fact that Altaïr returned with Alamut’s blessing as the mentor (which Altaïr had stressed he would never take) and an omega mate (which he had always said would never happen)

Desmond is free to go anywhere in Masyaf but he will always have guards on him because security reason.

Desmond believes Altaïr’s affection stemmed from the fact that he did more or less coerced Altaïr to biting him during the throes of heat-induced passion so he wants a child to further keep Altaïr ‘happy’ and satisfied (not knowing that the mentor title isn’t passed down from father to son in Masyaf, he honestly believe Altaïr is Rashid’s adopted son)

Altaïr was never fully enthralled during Desmond’s heat. He has been trained to have high tolerance as part of Rashid’s plan to make him the ultimate ‘attack dog’. He marked Desmond fully knowing Desmond was desperate and was trying to ‘seduce’ him.

Honestly, Altaïr just wanted Desmond because his scent had been the sweetest ambrosia he had ever smelled and he believed that meant they were meant to be.

And he will not let anyone get between them, no matter who they may be.

#desmond is being manipulative #it has no effect on altaïr and really #altaïr is manipulating desmond into thinking it does lol #i have no idea if this is toxic enough for you #this has more plot than horns or toxicity #sorry ‘nonny’#i hope you like it anyway #no usual tags because #altdes

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sabrondabrainrot · 4 months ago

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Latest EP theory "Moon goes MISSING during his HALLOWEEN PARTY!!!"

🌃🌕🎃🚀

I currently have two theories, mostly on Sun's phone and I'll try to be eloquent but break is only so long and I have limited time!

I've been yelling @ikamigami for long enough on these theories XD but they did help me to refine my rambly ideas.

For starters, for those who haven't seen the ep, to avoid spoiling things for everyone I'm putting the theories under the cut!

Both of my theories are pretty outlandish so take them with a grain of salt, knowing how TSAMS can be, this might just be a straightforward situation where Moon was grabbed and will be used as ransom or bargaining for Sun. However, while I feel that is the course I like to overthink and come to with theories on what else might be going on.

So starting off, my first theory revolves around Sun, Dark Sun, and Sun's phone.

During the party, in my opinion, I think Sun was acting oddly. I propose, it wasn't Sun but instead Dark Sun doing his imposter work. So for starters, Moon leaves to get soda for the party and very shortly after 'Moon' calls 'Sun' to tell him the store is out of soda. Just completely out.

Then Sun, very loudly plays their phone conversation for everyone to hear, which is odd because he went into the other room to take Moon's call but then it got so loud the entire party could hear that Moon was now on his way back, and soda-less. (Kind of odd the store was completely out of sodas?). I will also add Sun abruptly hung up on Moon which seemed very out of character for him.

Furthering this odd behavior, Solar took Dazzle out to trick or treat, which seems innocuous at first but I need to remind everyone up until this episode Sun on record has been too worried and scared to even let Dazzle in the back yard even with Jack's protection. So it's just strange Sun was very.... uncaring? Unbothered? About Dazzle going out, without Jack too. Just with Solar.

Then when Sun met up with Solar later he panicky explained to Solar that Moon said he left the store but he still went there to look for him. The entire time Sun is this immediately scared and stuttering mess. Now, he is worried about Moon but we've seen a much calmer and more mature Sun as of late and I don't think he'd be a stuttering mess.

Now that I've laid the foundation, my idea is, I think Sun has already been grabbed. We've seen recently that Dark Sun, or D!Sun has been more aggressive with his space invasion. He's been coming in and out more and pretending to be Sun blatantly. We had a recent episode where for an indeterminate amount of time D!Sun was pretending to be Sun in their home, around Solar and the kids. Molten was also right there and didn't notice anything. He was full on acting strange and no one questioned it. Dazzle only thought he seemed sad. By the end of the charade, D!Sun just left while asking Solar to call his phone because he couldn't find it.

He gave away the fact their own home isn't safe. Solar knew after calling his Sun that the entire time he was with D!Sun.

Something interesting is the only thing that's so far gotten D!Sun caught when he's pretending to be Sun, is Sun's phone. Forever ago, D!Sun tried visiting Foxy and FC when he was living at his stormy beach house and was immediately caught as not Sun because Foxy was only moments ago texting Sun. While Foxy in particular is observational he would have fallen for the act if not for the prior text messages. Then, later on after the first encounter with Goliath, D!Sun showed up to give advice to, and check up on, Earth and Lunar. The entire exchange would have been innocuous if the real Sun didn't happen to call.

So, keep the timing and Sun's phone in mind.

In today's episode Moon shortly after his strange soda-less run, called Monty and let them know he could not get a hold of Sun, he was apparently trying to call him multiple times. Which, when we find Sun outside not only is the not worried about the missed calls but doesn't even state "I have no missed calls." On top of Monty's call suspiciously cutting off.

Now why would Moon keep trying to call Sun when less than 5 minutes ago he spoke to 'Sun'? I think the first Moon on the phone was actually Nexus pretending to be Moon. He's just not the best at pretending to be Old Moon, so D!Sun hung up before he could give too much away.

The second call I think was Moon, he was trying to get a hold of Sun but due to Sun not being available he called Monty instead. (Reminder, Monty is Moon's go to when he thinks anything might be wrong.) I think Moon calling Monty was not according to plan, him leaving to go to the store was not according to plan. D!Sun maybe sent a signal to Ruin to grab Moon before D!Sun could be caught again. The phone is his immediate give away so D!Sun at this point knows to eliminate that before it can cast suspicion his way.

I think he was at the Halloween party pretending to be Sun as an elaborate distraction scheme. The only people who could stop Sun's kidnapping are Solar and Moon so keeping them unaware something is occurring is the easiest option. However, Moon leaving to grab Soda at the store was very much an unprompted thing. I think this wasn't according to plan. So D!Sun had to improve with Nexus and Ruin.

At the party when D!Sun took the call it was more then likely an exchange of code. How can the store be completely out of Soda? However, if this is Nexus pretending to be Moon, he needed to make up some kind of code. Sun himself may actually be on the run? Nexus might have communicated 'no soda at the soda store' as a means to let D!Sun know Sun isn't secured and to keep stalling. Moments after the actual Moon called and raised suspicion that he couldn't get a hold of Sun, despite 'Sun' being right there at the party. So, I propose, he sent another signal or order to Ruin to grab Moon while on the call to stop Moon from further alerting the others something might be wrong with Sun.

The second part of the plan was probably enacted messily. Plus, a hasty kidnapping plot would buy Nexus enough time to grab and subdue Sun. While that happens, Ruin keeps Moon tucked away somewhere and D!Sun can lead Solar on a literal made up goose chase.

IS this convoluted? Yes. I feel like it's right up a Dark Sun plot though, the guy is a Sun. So, that's my first theory.

My next theory I feel doesn't have as much to it, but it is still solid. I find it a bit more boring? So the way this next theory goes is this, I think what we might be seeing as an audience is the occurrence when two individuals somehow just miss each other at the right moment.

We know Nexus and D!Sun have eyes and ears everywhere, D!Sun was literally able to touch Sun's bed and car. They know everything about their day to day schedules. So it wouldn't be hard to time things in their favor. We saw this recently from Nexus showing up with those drones to talk to Earth in the daycare and Sun at Atlas' study. (They even know where to find that). He also managed to show up and attack Moon while Moon was alone twice. Not to mention isolating Solar twice too.

So with the hyper-vigilance and D!Sun's methodical ways, I think he is orchestrating a trap. I was explaining how strange Sun was acting at the party, and while it is grasping at straws that he's D!Sun, another explanation could be maybe Sun is just stressed? He wants to be a good host to the party. He has a lot of guests to entertain and despite his protectiveness towards Dazzle he trusts Solar to keep her safe.

So with the theory I think the opposite happened, The first person calling Sun was Moon, the store was out of Soda and well....having anything go wrong for a party you planned carefully is stressful. So him snippily hanging up the phone on Moon can be believable, especially since it seemed like Moon was about to start an argument over nothing. Then, while they watch Moon leave the store Nexus called Monty, pretending to be Moon. Nexus just made up a lie about not being able to reach Sun to make Sun and Monty worry that something might be wrong. The only reason Moon would call Sun so much was if he needed help afterall.

Sun, being a good brother obviously would go to the store to see what's wrong. This is when the 'just missed each other' idea comes in. I'm thinking Moon left in advanced and Nexus summoned Sun with the false call, to lure him and hopefully Solar, away from the party and group. With how the timing should go down, Sun shows up to the store when Moon arrives back home to the party. Nexus probably made sure to time it so Sun and Solar would be in the same spot so he could lure them far away in a short amount of time. I think the kidnapping note is a red herring to lead them to a trap. What is the trap? No idea. Nexus is showing that he in particular wants Sun, Solar, and Earth to join him. He's offered a spot by his side to all three. Sun and Solar are right now together in an undisclosed location. It would be interesting to see if Earth is also lured away too.

To me, this theory is a lot more...boring? I think it also holds a bit of water. Let me know what you all think! Which theory did you like more?

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tobiasdrake · 8 months ago

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Digimon Adventure 01x13 - Angemon Awakens! / The Legend of the DigiDestined

Previously on Digimon Adventure: Takeru learned how Digimon Babies are made and then arranged a sumo match over it.

Now, six out of seven Chosen Children are on their way back to Infinity Mountain while Devimon plots to assassinate Takeru, the one child left behind.

We open right where we left off: The corrupted Leomon has arrived at the Village of Beginnings. Uttering his mantra of "Defeat the children," he draws his sword and descends upon the nursery, eager to drench it in human blood.

The babies down below, playing with Takeru, are the first to notice him. They all stare up the cliff and quiver in terror, giving Takeru and Patamon the cue to look up and see him too.

To defend Takeru, Patamon lets off his Air Shot. Leomon blocks the attack, but it forces him to take a knee for a moment to defend himself, delaying his advance. Patamon takes that as an opportunity for Plan B: Run like hell.

Takeru and Patamon take cover in the nearby jungle.

Patamon: Leomon is normally a good Digimon. If we can just get rid of the Black Gear inside of him....

Unfortunately, we don't get to pursue that train of thought as Ogremon reveals exactly what Devimon meant by "stacking the odds".

He's snatched up one of the baby Poyomon as a bargaining chip.

Ogremon: Can you hear me, kid!? You're hiding somewhere like a scaredy-cat, aren't ya? Come out and show yourself! If you don't, this one here's gonna get it!

Over in the dub, he says:

Ogremon: Hello! You've got company! You're a nice little kid, aren't ya? Get your hide out here so I can get a good look at ya! 'Cause if you don't, your little friend here's gonna squeak his last squeak.

"Squeak his last squeak" is fantastic phrasing. I love it. Perfectly captures the threat he's making while accommodating it to the context of the scene. A+ dub team.

Patamon takes a moment to consider the awful situation in front of them.

Patamon: If I drive out the Black Gear inside Leomon, he'll fight Ogremon for us. But... If I fail... Would I be able to protect Takeru by myself?

Hard tactical considerations taking place here.

Over in the dub, he's... he's whining? Whining seems like the word for it.

Patamon: Poor Leomon. I know he wouldn't attack us if that stupid Black Gear didn't have him under an evil spell! He'd come over to our side. If we could only figure out a way to help him. I gotta protect T.K. from Ogremon! But he's so big and I'm not....

Dub Patamon is venting about how bad this situation sucks.

Whoops, time's up. Guess we're dying here. Leomon raises his sword to stab down into Takeru, then lets out a battle cry of "FOX FIRE!!!"

Wait, no, that wasn't him. A rush of blue flames erupts from the woods and forces him into evasive maneuvers, announcing the cavalry's arrival.

Leomon's forced to back off from Takeru to evade the first shot of Fox Fire. As Yamato splits from Garurumon to go check on Takeru, Leomon blocks a second burst with his sword, expertly splitting the flames around himself.

As the two emerge from the woods, wrestling with one another before separating, their brawl is revealed to Ogremon. He's so shocked, he doesn't even notice Taichi plundering his hostage.

(The audacity of this child. XD Ogremon could snap his spine in half with his bare hands! This is what Crest of Courage means.)

Once he realizes he's been had, Ogremon whirls on Taichi. But it's too late. Taichi's got the Poyomon now, and Greymon's ready to engage Ogremon. Greymon lets off a Mega Flame to kick the fight off proper, but Ogremon dodges.

To his credit, Ogremon's no pushover. After dodging Mega Flame, he closes distance and lands a crushing blow with his club to the top of Greymon's skull. As he lands, Greymon tries to counter with a tail whip; It's honestly unclear if the blow connects or if Ogremon backs off fast enough to dodge.

Seeing as this ambush has turned into a battle, Devimon sends seven Black Gears out from Infinity Mountain to hedge his bets.

Over at Leomon's fight, he dodges a lunge from Garurumon, slashing him along the flank. Garurumon turns and lunges again, this time hitting his mark.

Ogremon scores another solid hit with his Haouken, straight to Greymon's face. Greymon recovers and lets out another Mega Flame, which Ogremon deftly evades.

(Honestly, Greymon and Garurumon are getting worked over in this fight. You can feel the difference between Ogremon and Leomon - two seasoned Adult-stage warriors who've tested their skills against one another in battle countless times - and the two Partner Digimon who only hit Adult-stage for the first time this week. It was one thing when we could mob them 6v2, but these two are incredibly formidable 1v1.)

In an interesting choice, the dub cuts the footage of Ogremon bashing Greymon in the skull as well as cutting Ogremon's Haouken. We only see him either dodging or being hit by the tail whip, and then him narrowly evading another Mega Flame. None of the hits he lands make it in. So while Leomon and Ogremon seem to be carrying their fights in the original, the dub makes it seem like Greymon has Ogremon on the ropes.

But it offers no similar puffing up to Garurumon for his fight. The shot of Leomon avoiding Garurumon's lunge and then slashing his flank is preserved, so Dub Garurumon seems to be having a harder fight than Greymon is.

Suddenly, Devimon's backup arrives. The Black Gears pour into Leomon, causing him to grow dramatically in size and power. Yamato yells at Garurumon to get out of there, but it's too late; It only takes a single ultra-powered Juuouken to put Garurumon down for the count.

"GARURUMON!!!" Yamato screams in horror. Meanwhile, in the dub, Matt unhelpfully calls out, "Are you okay?" Peachy, Matt. Thanks for asking.

Turning to back up Ogremon, Leomon lets off another Juuouken, one-shotting Greymon. The shot hurls him backwards into the Village of Beginnings.

With the kids' defenders out of the way, Devimon speaks telepathically to Leomon, giving him a simple command: "Defeat the Chosen Children. Start with the smallest."

At this point, we're getting pretty dark so the dub dials it back. Dub Devimon only tells Leomon to "bring me the DigiDestined" rather than to vanquish them all. Gotta treat this like Devimon's trying to take prisoners so nobody pays attention to him visibly trying to stab them.

Reciting his new order, Leomon turns on Takeru. Patamon lets off Air Shot after Air Shot after Air Shot, but Leomon wades through his attacks as if they weren't even there. He snatches Patamon out of the air and--

--then more cavalry arrives. Togemon calls her attack, letting out a "Chiku Chiku Bang-Bang!" but she doesn't do the move. Instead opting to let air-dropping a giant cactus on Leomon's back be the full move and belly-flopping him into submission.

Technically, that counts as a Needle Spray; It's just a different delivery mechanism.

Takeru snatches up Patamon from the ground.

Takeru: Patamon! Are you okay!? Patamon: Takeru... I have to protect you.... (eyelids droop, body limpens) Takeru: Patamon! Hang in there, Patamon!

No dice, Takeru. Despite his encouragement, Patamon passes out right then and there in his arms.

Again, we're getting pretty dark for the dub so they recontextualize this scene to avoid having Patamon lose consciousness from battle damage.

T.K.: Patamon! You gotta take it easy, buddy. Patamon: I'm sorry. T.K.: What for? Patamon: I was just trying to protect you. (eyelids droop) T.K.: And you were doing great! Don't feel bad, little guy!

Hang in there, little buddy. Those Air Shots you've been firing have been great for moral support!

Kabuterimon delivers Koushiro and Mimi to the fight, dropping them off with Taichi. They have game-changing intel to deliver.

Koushiro: Use the powers of the holy device, the Digivice! Taichi: The holy device? Mimi: These things! Koushiro: These devices have the power to eliminate the darkness! Taichi: Come to think of it....

Taichi suddenly remembers when his Digivice purified Leomon before, back at Infinity Mountain. He understands now.

The dub, of course, talks around the "holy device" terminology.

Izzy: We have the consummate solution to all of our problems. Tai: That's cool, but what are you talking about? Mimi: Check 'em out! Izzy: They call them Digivices. They have the capability to completely obliterate the Black Gear. Tai: Then let's give 'em a try! We have no other choice right now; We have to take a chance and stop him!

Naturally, Tai's last line talks over the Leomon flashback.

Meanwhile, Leomon is back on his feet and advancing on Takeru. Yamato stands between them, shielding Takeru with his own body. Suddenly, Taichi calls out, approaching with a confident swagger.

Taichi: Leomon! You're after us, right? Come and get me. Yamato: Taichi? What are you doing!? Leomon: Defeat the Chosen Children!

Leomon turns, his attention drawn to Taichi. Just as planned.

Seeing what's happening, Yamato gets the idea and joins in. Together, Yamato and Taichi use their Digivices to purge the Black Gears from inside Leomon.

Ogremon watches in shock as the tide turns against them. Then Koushiro pulls his attention, just before Kabuterimon slams him with Mega Blaster. The shot hits him dead-on.

The dub blunts the impact of both of these moments. Watching Tai purify Leomon, Matt simply says, "Y'know, these things pack quite a punch," as if he already knew how this worked. Meanwhile, we have Ogremon's line.

Ogremon: N-Not good! Those little brats!

This gets replaced with:

Ogremon: How'd they do that? Rotten kids.

Delivered with all the emotion of finding a frisbee on your roof.

Once Leomon's been purified, Ogremon concedes defeat and retreats.

Ogremon: You're joking. I can't fight all of them at once!

Ironically, the dub rewrites this to make Ogremon tougher.

Ogremon: Ha! Those little fools are kidding themselves. They don't know who they're dealing with! They're gonna find out sooner than they think.

Oh, I think they have a pretty good idea. Devimon by this point has been well-established.

With Leomon now purified, he can at last explain the plot to five of the seven children lost on File Island. Jou and Sora can go screw themselves, I guess.

Leomon: A rumor started long ago. It said the world will be consumed by evil and Chosen Children from another world will arrive to save it. Now, File Island is being overrun by a great darkness. That's when you appeared. Taichi: So that's why you call us the Chosen Children. Yamato: But you have no proof. Leomon: The Chosen Children are said to have the power to enable Digimon to evolve, just like you all. Koushiro: If that's true, then perhaps if we destroy the darkness, we won't be needed in this world. Mimi: What do you mean, Koushiro-kun? Koushiro: In other words, we may be able to return to our world. Mimi: Really!? Yamato: But, to do that....

Over in the dub, the ancient rumor has more specificity to it.

Leomon: According to ancient legend, our world will be taken over by a strange dark force that will change good Digimons into bad ones. Our ancestors have predicted that a group of children called the DigiDestined will appear from another world. When they arrive, they will come to possess superpowers that will eventually save our world from destruction. I believe their prediction has come true. File Island has been seized by an evil power. We're in danger of destruction, and now you've appeared. Tai: Whoa, that's amazing! But tell me: How can you be sure we're the kids you're talking about? Matt: Yeah! Do you have some proof that we're the same ones? Leomon: It's been foretold that the DigiDestined have the ability to make Digimons Digivolve. You've done that, and it's all the proof I need. Izzy: I, for one, hope that it's true. My theory is that we'll be released after we save the island. Once our purpose is served, there's no other reason for us to remain. Mimi: And I'll finally be able to change these clothes! Izzy: That's right! If Leomon's information is correct, we'll be heading straight for home. Mimi: I can't wait! Matt: How can we make it happen? We're not even sure who's causing it. What if it's a force that's too big for us to handle?

XD Don't agree too hard that Mimi's clothes are nasty, Izzy.

The original prophecy is vague as to the precise nature of the dark power and its effects on the world. We're just assuming, from our limited perspective on File Island, that Devimon is the dark power being described.

The dub version is clearly talking about the effect the Black Gears have on Digimon. Nonetheless, they throw in Yamato's line to hint that Devimon may be a symptom rather than the cause all the same, so it's a bit more awkward but we're not wholly committing to Devimon being the problem.

For the first time, the kids have marching orders.

Leomon: You must defeat Devimon, who is the source of that evil power. Taichi: Let's do it, guys. We have to defeat him or we won't survive here. Koushiro: You're right. Plus, we have the power of the holy devices! Mimi: I'll do my best! It's scary, but I want to go home! Palmon: We'll do what we can to help you, Mimi! Tentomon: Our stamina's recovered. Agumon: I'm ready to fight any time you are! Gabumon: Let's go to Infinity Mountain, Yamato! Yamato: Agreed. We have no other choice. Leomon: I will help you as well. Taichi: YES!!! It's decided!

Taichi is gung-ho about wasting this motherfucker.

Over in the dub, we have:

Leomon: You see, Devimon is the main cause of all this evil. To save the island, you're going to have to defeat him. Tai: Let's go for it! Everyone: (unintelligible grunts of dissent) Tai: Come on, everyone! Why not? If we don't defeat him, it'll never be over! Izzy: Fine with me! Besides, it's impossible for us to lose with the Digivices Mimi: First thing on my list when I get home is to do some killer shopping! Palmon: For that to happen, we have to get you back home. Tentomon: If we all work together, we're sure to win. Agumon: I'm ready any time you are, buddy! Gabumon: How about it, Matt? Are we up to the challenge, my friend? Matt: It's gonna be tough. When you get down to it, we have no other choice. Leomon: Alright then, troops! Let's get down to it! Tai: Far out! It's a done deal!

There are two main differences between these versions. The first is that the dub has everyone grunt in dissatisfaction when Tai initially wants to go fight Devimon.

The other is Mimi's line, which is changed from her joining in the Let's Do This fanfare to a Valley Girl bit about what she plans to do afterward. Which still signifies her agreement. And at least nobody makes fun of her or yells at her for it.

Leomon rows the kids back to Infinity Mountain in a boat. From there, they all begin their climb.

The dub gives Leomon some extra dialogue as they're rowing.

Leomon: Devimon is very powerful. He's brought nothing but trouble to File Island. We must be careful.

At the top, Devimon prepares to defend himself against the children's counterattack.

Devimon: It appears I'll have to fight them myself now. Before he appears.... Ogremon: Please give me another chance! Devimon: Yes, I'll let you fight... As a part of me. Death Claw!

Devimon snatches Ogremon up by the throat, choking him. Then he disintegrates Ogremon into a set of eight Black Gears.

(That's how he makes Black Gears!? Horrifying.)

The dub completely alters the tone of this scene.

Devimon: Perfect! That traitor Leomon is leading them directly into my trap. He's been very valuable to me! Ogremon: I guess so, but I'm loyal and better looking-- Devimon: Listen to me! You will pay them one final visit. Ready?

They edit out the footage of Devimon grabbing Ogremon by his throat, though they keep the part where he disintegrates into Black Gears. The body horror is fine, but no choking allowed!

In the original, this is presented as Devimon's last-ditch Hail Mary. His back is against the wall and violent retribution is coming straight at his doorstep, so he conjures all the power he can muster for one final throwdown.

The dub plays this like he's still in control of the situation and meant for this to happen.

As the Gears levitate and surround him, Devimon exclaims in a booming voice:

Devimon: COME TO ME, POWERS OF DARKNESS!!! I WILL MAKE FILE ISLAND INTO YOUR TOMB, CHOSEN CHILDREN!!!

The gears implant themselves in Devimon. From outside the island, we see even more Black Gears flying in from all around, as if he's summoning Black Gears from across the shards for this battle.

Similar to before, Dub Devimon's super confident that he's got this.

Devimon: AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Hear this, DigiDestined: My power is infinite! Your hopes and dreams are useless! I am the supreme master of this island! If you dare to defy me, I will unleash the powers of the universe and conquer you! You can't escape!

Not sure what "powers of the universe" he's referring to but it's certainly intimidating, to be sure.

As the Black Gears concentrate at File Island, we see Sora and Jou on their approach. They notice the Gears massing too.

Sora: What's that? Birdramon: The powers of evil are gathering. Jou: What? Ikkakumon: The fight must be starting. Sora: Let's hurry! Jou: Yeah!

Sora's giving the commands now, I see. Now that he's prayed Bakemon to death, we don't need to pretend to respect Jou's leadership anymore.

I kid. But over in the dub, the disrespect for Joe is real.

Sora: Oh no, what's that? Birdramon: Big trouble's brewing. We'd better get ready for action. Joe: Black Gear! Ikkakumon: This is going to be the big one, Joe. It's time to show your true self. Sora: You feeling okay, Joe? Joe: Just a little seasick.

I love this exchange for reasons that probably aren't intended. Joe unhelpfully calls out "Black Gear!" as if we all can't see the countless Gears flying to Infinity Mountain from every which way. Which then prompts both Ikkakumon and Sora to be like, "...y'okay there, champ?" XD

It's so inadvertently condescending. Surely not the intent of the dub, but it made me laugh.

As the kids climb higher, Devimon suddenly reveals the nature of his Hail Mary. This is what he's been doing with the Black Gears. He grows to colossal size, towering over the mountain.

Mimi: What is that!? Koushiro: Is that Devimon!? Palmon: Why is he so big!? Koushiro: Could this be an illusion like the one he made earlier? Leomon: No. (The kids turn to Leomon) Leomon: He's grown larger using the powers of evil.

Holy shit, who knew the Black Gears could do that!? Well, everyone, if you've been paying attention. Sizeshifting is a well-established ability of the Black Gears now being pushed to the extreme.

The reaction in the dub's a bit more... confused.

Mimi: What in the world is that!? Tai: It must be Devimon! Palmon: I didn't expect him to be such a big guy. Izzy: Bad guys always seem to think bigger is better. Leomon: 'Fraid not! (The kids turn to Leomon while gasping in surprise) Leomon: The power that Devimon possesses is immense, so be careful!

...I have no idea what he was contradicting here when he said "'Fraid not!" The kids react like that was a game-changing revelation. But. Like. What is he saying?

Is he saying bad guys don't thing bigger is better? Because Devimon demonstrably does.

Is he saying bigger isn't better? Because he follows that up with a warning about how dangerous Devimon is. "Ha, he's ACTUALLY a wuss. Anyways, he's supremely dangerous and you should try not to die." Doesn't really make sense that way either.

Flying down from the mountain, Devimon lands in the woods at its base. Before they can evolve their Digimon, he turns and showers the kids in an ongoing stream of dark energy pouring out of his right hand.

Leomon raises his sword to attack, but Devimon has two hands. There's enough dark energy stream to go around.

Devimon: Brainless. You are all destined to be destroyed here.

Dub Devimon takes this as an opportunity to brag.

Devimon: You are fools! Don't expect me to play silly games with you; I'm far too wise for that!

Okay, but hear me out: What if we challenged you to a children's card game? No? Okay.

Fortunately, the artillery arrives, with Devimon suddenly taking six Harpoon Vulcans to the face.

"Oh wow, somehow I completely forgot about that." ~Devimon, probably.

While Devimon's reeling from the missiles, Birdramon keeps up the assault, pummeling him with Meteor Wing from above. Sora races up the mountain, screaming at the rest of the team to evolve while they have the chance.

They take her up on that without hesitation. As each Digimon evolves, their kid cheers them on.

Taichi: Go, Greymon! Yamato: We're counting on you, Garurumon! Koushiro: Please, Kabuterimon! Mimi: You can do this, Togemon!

The dub kids gradually get more and more distracted as the moment goes on. XD

Tai: Yeah! Go, Greymon! Matt: Let's turn this guy into pudding! Izzy: My biology teacher would love this! Mimi: I do like the way our colors match!

Tai's the only one who read the script. Matt improvs and does a solid job of it. Izzy gets distracted by science. And then Mimi takes Izzy's screw-up as permission to stop trying too. XD

As soon as the team's evolved, this turns into precisely the 6v1 that Devimon was so worried about earlier. However, in his giant form, Devimon's able to defend himself. The team pummels him with Mega Flame, Fox Fire, Chiku Chiku Bang Bang, and Mega Blaster. Devimon fights back, slamming Garurumon into Greymon, knocking Togemon off the ledge, and swatting Kabuterimon from the sky.

He yells at them that their attacks are useless, but he sounds hurt and frustrated as he does. When he shows his back to swing at Kabuterimon, seasoned veteran Leomon seizes the opportunity to strike where he's most vulnerable.

It does not go well. This is what Devimon was referring to when he said Ogremon would fight as "part of [him]".

(He's like the Venom symbiote now. Viruses are fucking weird.)

Ogremon: (emerges) Not so fast, Leomon! Leomon: What. Ogremon: (club) You thought his back would be a weak point? Well, I won't let you near him!

The tiny "Nani?" that emerges from poor confused Leomon is comical.

Ogremon re-enters Devimon's back, then emerges from the back of his shin to follow up on Leomon.

Ogremon: I've become one with Devimon-sama! There's no way I can lose to you now! HAOUKEN!!!

Ogremon blasts Leomon with a far more powerful Haouken, which emerges as a black beam made of darkness energy instead of the purple ki blast it usually is. The shot hits Leomon dead in, rocketing him into the forest behind him.

The dub cuts the first exchange, with Ogremon bashing Leomon. Ogremon emerges from Leomon's back and then we're down on the ground for Ogremon's second line. Also, despite Leomon trying to make this a sneak attack, Dub Leomon announces his presence.

Leomon: RAAAARGH You're mine now! Ogremon: (emerges) YAAAARGH!!! Leomon: YOU!!! Ogremon: You got no chance against the likes of us, kitty-cat!

Then the beam of Ogremon's darkness-infused Haouken strikes Leomon, but without Ogremon calling the attack.

Up above, Devimon's caught Birdramon out of the sky. He throws her onto the cliffside, landing directly on top of Greymon and knocking them both down the cliff.

(This is the second time in this fight Devimon's used another Digimon to club Greymon specifically. If Taichi were a more toxic player, chat would be full of obscenities about "ok tm8" and "git gud or uninstall" right now.)

Devimon next turns his ire on Ikkakumon, picking him up from the spot near the woods he's been firing from. Kabuterimon chooses that moment to recover and return to the air, so Devimon serves Ikkakumon straight into him.

Having bought himself a moment to breathe, Devimon turns on Takeru and Patamon down on the ground.

Devimon: The smallest Chosen Child. As long as you are gone, I have nothing else to fear. Death Claw!

It hasn't been established yet why Devimon's so afraid of Takeru. The dub pegs it as part of the legend.

Devimon: Now to get rid of you. Then I'll have nothing to fear. They say the smallest will destroy me but I'm not going to let that happen. Don't move; Make it easy on both of us.

Devimon extends his Death Claw towards Takeru and Patamon on the ground, but just then his breathing moment ends. Yamato and Garurumon arrive to save Takeru, with Garurumon lunging and biting onto Devimon's arm. This quickly escalates into a full-blown dogpile.

(I love how we have one Digimon on each of his limbs, one on his face disorienting him, and then Togemon's like "My body is a knife; It doesn't really matter where I stab, shit's gonna hurt regardless.")

Devimon releases a radial pulse of dark energy, sending both the Digimon and kids hurtling back, badly injured. Just like that, this fight has reached its conclusion, as neither Children nor Partners have strength left to even pick themselves off the ground.

Taichi: ...Greymon.... Greymon: ...S... Sorry, Taichi.... Togemon: I wanted to send you back to your world, but.... Kabuterimon: My power.... Ikkakumon: Fuck! Taichi: Guys.... Yamato: Ta... Takeru!

Yes, Ikkakumon curses. The word used is kuso, which is the general-purpose Japanese angry swear word. You're allowed to say kuso in kids' cartoons.

Meanwhile, in the dub, obviously Ikkakumon does not shout "Fuck!"

Greymon: Whoa, that guy knows how to take it out of ya! Togemon: I can't move. Even my needles feel numb. Kabuterimon: Now is probably not a good time to take a nap. Ikkakumon: Mrrrrrrrgghhhhhh.... Tai: This is bad.... T.K.: MATT!!! Devimon: You will be mine. Matt: Hey! Get ready to run!

Not only does ikkakumon not shout "Fuck!" but I guess they washed his mouth out with soap 'cause he can only groan wordlessly.

Also, back from Episode 1 by popular demand, it's "Get ready to run" in a situation where there's clearly no escape avenue available. Meanwhile, Devimon is once again talking like he intends to take prisoners.

As death closes in on Takeru, Patamon lets off Air Shot after Air Shot in desperation but his attacks are useless.

Patamon: It's no use. There's no way my attacks can work! (crying) Why am I the only one? WHY CAN'T I EVOLVE!?!? Takeru: PATAMON!!! Patamon: TAKERU!!!

Patamon throws himself in front of Takeru just as Devimon's hand closes around them both.

Yamato: TAKERU!!!

The dub plays this almost completely straight, with the exception of changing Yamato's line.

Matt: Hang on, pal!

"Hang on" to what, Matt? He's being crushed to death. XD Trying to find things these characters can say that won't sound like one of them is about to die hideously. This is a very dark episode.

Fortunately, the light has arrived.

Mimi: What? Koushiro: That's... Sora: The light of evolution!!!

Patamon SHINKAAAAAA!!!

At long last, Patamon's evolution is revealed: Angemon, an Adult-stage Vaccine-type Digimon and the very thing Devimon was so afraid of.

Jou: Patamon evolved! Sora: Angemon...? Yamato: Takeru's... Digimon...? Mimi: He looks like an angel.... Takeru: Patamon evolved! Devimon: You! I was so close! Angemon: I will annihilate your powers of evil. COME TO ME, OH HOLY POWERS!!!

Meanwhile, the dub's still trying to keep this light despite nearly all the characters being wasted on the ground and unable to stand.

Joe: Hey, Patamon finally Digivolved! Sora: That's super cool! Matt: Not bad! That little guy really had it in him! Mimi: Nice hair! Good color. T.K.: I wanna take him home with me! Devimon: What's this? Another foolish attempt? Angemon: The forces of good are more powerful. Even you can't stop us! I'll destroy you and bring peace to the island!

The kids have conferred and decided that Angemon's a solid 8.5 out of 10.

I jest, but I fully understand why they're doing this. This episode is so dark. Way too dark for the FOX Kids censors.

The big difference here is Devimon's reaction. Again, in the original, this was a last-ditch Hail Mary play. Devimon's last remaining hope of victory was to snuff out Takeru and Patamon before this could happen. Here, Devimon sees the writing on the wall. He knows it's over.

But Dub Devimon meant for Leomon to bring the kids here as part of a fiendish trap. So he remains arrogant and boisterous, unaware that the tables are about to turn one final time.

Reacting to Angemon's summons, those holy powers do indeed come to him. Every holy device on the field reacts, sending a ray of sacred energy up into him. He channels the energy used to evolve the kids' Digimon, taking so much from each and every Digivice that the Partner Digimon all revert to Child-stage.

Devimon: W-What are you doing!? Stop that! If you do that, you won't get off so easily either! Angemon: There is no other way. Even if this destroys my body-- Takeru: ANGEMON!!! Angemon: Devimon, your evil powers have grown far too much. You must be erased from this world.

Because of the dialogue change, it's not quite as clear in the dub that this is something Angemon is doing to the kids' Digivices intentionally. It seems to happen out of nowhere. As a kid, I was always confused about what's happening here.

Devimon: That light is so bright; What are you doing to me!? Stop it! I'm not going to allow you to take my power away; You'll have to fight me! Angemon: I'm afraid I have no other choice! If I can help others, my fate is unimportant! T.K.: ANGEMON!!! Angemon: Your powers have gotten far out of control and must be extinguished! I am ready to fight for peace!

Of course, as confusion goes, it doesn't help that the dub makes it seem like Angemon's doing some sort of energy drain to try and weaken Devimon.

Ogremon desperately emerges from Devimon's chest to defend him and clonks straight into Angemon's holy... um....

Okay. This makes it all the way into the dub unedited, too.

I was not prepared for that. Laughing for probably three minutes straight. Goddammit, Digimon.

Struck by Angemon's holy staff, Ogremon withdraws all the way through Devimon's chest, vanishing and leaving a gaping hole where he'd been. The staff shrivels away after use, disintegrating and sending all of the stored holy power into Angemon's right fist.

Devimon: Oh no.... Takeru: ANGEMON!!! Angemon: I'm sorry, Takeru. Devimon: I'll crush you to death! Angemon: HEAVEN'S KNUCKLE!!!

With no other options to fall back on, Devimon tries to simply close his hands around Angemon in one last desperation move. But Angemon counters, releasing every ounce of sacred energy he's channeled from the Digivices all at once.

Meanwhile, traumatized dub writers frantically scribble out Angemon's pre-self-destruct apology and replace it with heroic assurance.

Devimon: Now you've done it! T.K.: Be careful! Devimon: Ahahahahaha!!! Angemon: I'll get him. Relax. Devimon: Come here, pretty boy! Angemon: I'll stop you!

So that's a 9.5 out of 10 from Devimon.

Heaven's Knuckle rips through Devimon. The eruption grows, engulfing the entirety of Infinity Mountain.

As the energy engulfs Devimon, he and Angemon both slowly disintegrate.

Devimon: Stupid! That was stupid of you, Angemon! What was the point of exhausting your energy here? The powers of darkness aren't confined to File Island alone. Across the sea, there are Digimon who have far greater powers of evil than I do! This is the end for all of you! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! (Devimon fades into nothing) Takeru: Angemon! Angemon: Takeru. I'm sure we'll meet again, so long as you wish for it. (Angemon, too, fades into nothing) Takeru: ANGEMON!!!

Would somebody get this poor child some therapy?

Devimon dies with a smile on his face, assured that this will prove to be a Pyrrhic victory for the Chosen Children. Only time will tell if he's right.

The dub exchange is mostly the same, with one key exception.

Devimon: You have used up all your power! That wasn't very smart, Angemon. Now you are no use to anyone! You can't get away from the dark forces; Evil is everywhere, so don't savor your victory. There are other Digimon that are just as powerful as I am; Some of them are even stronger! I wonder what you'll do when you run into them? You haven't won at all! What a waste of time! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! (Devimon fades into nothing) T.K.: Angemon! Angemon: T.K. I'll come back again... If you want me to. (Angemon, too, fades into nothing) T.K.: ANGEMON!!!

The key difference is the world on the other side of the ocean, which the show has mentioned a few times by now. Dub Devimon eschews telling the kids of greater powers beyond the ocean, opting instead for a more general "Evil is everywhere".

(If I'm understanding Devimon's plans right: Devimon used File Island as a cover to manufacture Black Gears, converting the whole island into transport vehicles to disseminate those Gears globally in the process. As the weakest in his faction, this was Devimon's plan to even the playing field.

We've seen the Black Gears work fine on Digimon even up to Perfect-stage; No clue about Ultimate-stage, but being able to control stronger Digimon is a great way for a weaker Digimon to claim supremacy.)

As Angemon dies, a few of his feathers drift down to the ground. Glowing with energy, they mold into the shape of a Digitama.

Tentomon: It's a Digitama. Takeru: Is it Angemon's? Gabumon: Angemon is starting over again from an egg. Palmon: That's right! As long as he evolves properly, you'll meet him again! Takeru: (embraces the Digitama) I'll take good care of you.

I like that Palmon specifies, "as long as he evolves properly". As previously noted, Digimon have branching evolution paths. How they evolve is determined by their circumstances. That's going to be a plot point in a few episodes' time.

Alright, dub; How do you approach the topic of reincarnation?

Tentomon: What do you know, it's a Digi-Egg. T.K.: Do you think it could be Angemon? Gabumon: I know it is. He's just resting for a while to regain his strength. Palmon: But don't worry! You'll see him again when he Digivolves. T.K.: I will make sure to take really good care of him! (embraces the Digi-Egg) You saved my life, Angemon.

Credit where it's due. They softball the topic with "resting for a while" but the intent of the scene remains clearly implied. Angemon died and has been reborn inside this egg.

Looking out over the sea, the kids notice that the island shards are all returning to their proper place on File Island.

Meanwhile, Ogremon wakes up down in the forest with one question on his mind.

Ogremon: Where's Devimon? Did they defeat him? Leomon: (standing right next to him) They did. Do you want to fight some more? Ogremon: N-NO MORE!!!

Ogremon runs screaming into the woods, bringing an end to the last piece of this conflict.

Dub Ogremon, on the other hand, is getting ambitious.

Ogremon: With Devimon out of the way, I can take over now. Leomon: (standing right next to him) Hello, you forgetting about me? Ogremon: LEOMON!? GET ME OUT OF HERE!!! Why can't the bad guys ever win?

That first line of his is awfully big talk for a guy who can't throw a punch without it being censored out of continuity.

Meanwhile, up at the top of the cliff, the kids discuss where to go from here.

Yamato: He said that there are more powerful Digimon across the ocean, didn't he? Jou: I thought we'd be able to go back to our world. Mimi: Do we have to keep fighting? I don't want to! Taichi: But we have to. No matter who the enemy is.

The dub kids have the same conversation, but a bit snippier.

Matt: What's with those other evil Digimon across the sea!? Joe: Yeah, I thought we were going home! Mimi: I don't want to have to fight again! Ohh, I think I broke a nail.... Tai: Well, according to Leomon's legend, we gotta do it! Remember: He said we're the DigiDestined!

Justice for Mimi's nail. Probably happened when Devimon hit them all with that radial burst.

Before the kids can discuss any further, a set of rocks suddenly falls away to reveal this strange holographic emitter. It powers on, displaying the image of what appears to be an old human man who greets them all as the Chosen Children.

But his is a story for another episode.

Assessment: For what is essentially the season finale for the File Island arc, this episode had a lot of disparate plot points to bring together. It's hit-or-miss on that.

Takeru's desire to find a better way to deal with Devimon doesn't bear any fruit - Though the idea of "uniting our hearts" certainly does. More pressingly, I have no idea how both Taichi & Yamato and Mimi & Koushiro knew which island shard to come find Takeru on. They were riding shards of their own and heading back to Infinity Mountain. How and why did they hop off their shards and go to the Village of Beginnings instead?

Also, Taichi and Yamato were bringing Yukidarumon and Mojamon to the fight too. I guess those two fucked off and went home. Between that and the previous episode's temporal continuity error with Leomon, the File Island arc falls apart in some ways here at the end.

Still, it pays off the Digivice plotline well. The fight with Leomon and Ogremon is fantastic, serving to set up the fight with Devimon. It fills in as a reminder, both for the sizeshifting properties of the Black Gears previously seen with Meramon and Mojamon and for the holy power of the Digivice. These two mechanics end up driving the final battle.

As for the dub... they did what they could. This episode is so dark. They had no hope of matching that intensity while keeping it censor-friendly.

#digimon #digimon adventure #revisiting digimon #revisiting digimon adventure

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crystalninjaphoenix · 7 days ago

Text

A Chance Meeting

Switch AU

A JSE Fanfic

So I got sick this week :( And therefore, I couldn't write as much since I needed to rest. But I still wanted to give you guys something, so here's a shorter chapter. I couldn't give it much editing, either, so I hope it lives up to the usual standard XD I think it came out pretty alright, circumstances considered. The group is preparing to get evidence against IRIS when an unexpected snag forces them to make a quick run to the store. And that's where they meet a possible ally. But can this be trusted? Enjoy reading! ^-^

More of This AU | | First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Read on AO3 under CrystalNinjaPhoenix

———————

“Okay, what did you get?” Anti sat at the counter in the apartment, leaning forward. Across from him, Schneep set down a plastic bag, the logo of a big chain computer store on the side. “Oh, you went to Motherboard? Eugh.”

“If you wanted to be picky about things, you should have come with,” Schneep said, raising an eyebrow.

JJ nodded, folding his arms—then unfolding them in order to sign. We worked hard to avoid people seeing us!

“Right, right. Sure, sorry.” Anti nodded. They’d agreed to only go out in groups of two, so there was less chance of being recognized if IRIS happened to have a presence in this town. And Anti hadn’t volunteered. This level of paranoia about IRIS was starting to get exhausting. But he understood it. He was in no hurry to return to that place, either.

And it wasn’t just IRIS. Distorter was watching them, as well. They weren’t sure what he was planning, but clearly, he wasn’t done with this group. Better safe than sorry.

“I think we bought everything you asked for,” Schneep said, returning to the topic at hand. “You can check if you would like.”

“Well I was going to do that anyway.” Anti pulled the bag closer to himself and started digging through it. “Hm... you got all the cheap shit. But I guess that can’t be helped if we want to avoid using our cards.”

“I still think that in particular might be too far,” Jackie called from where he was sitting in the living room, playing cards on the floor with Michelle and Will. “IRIS can’t track our card use, to my knowledge.”

“Better safe than sorry,” Anti said, shrugging.

“Yeah, I guess. Michelle, do you have any threes?”

“Go fish, Dad!” Michelle giggled.

Anti continued to examine their purchases. “Okay okay... a good start here, I think. This fucking camera looks like it’s ten years old, but it’ll work.” He picked up the voice recorder, narrowing his eyes at the picture on the box. Then he forcibly opened it up, using his fingernails to slice through the tape holding it shut, and reached inside, pulling out the voice recorder. He tapped the casing. “Is this... plastic? Eugh.”

Well I’m sorry the stuff we had to get from the bargain bin isn’t up to your high standards, JJ said, raising an eyebrow.

“Gah, you’re right, you’re right, I’m being too picky.” Anti shook his head. “This will do nicely. In fact, I think that having older materials will go some way to prove that what we’re doing is real. Less likely to be accused of photoshop.”

“Ahh, so that is why you asked for the polaroid camera, yes?” Schneep asked. “I thought that was a strange request to be so high priority. But it makes sense when I think about it.”

They could still accuse polaroid pictures of being staged, JJ pointed out.

Anti chuckled. “They could. But you know, there were those staged fairy pictures back in the day. People still thought those were real.”

“Staged fairy pictures?” Schneep asked.

“The... uh, I don’t know the name of them,” Anti said. “But two little girls took pictures of themselves with cardboard cutouts of fairies, taken from like, children’s illustrations or something. And people thought they were real for a long time, because they couldn’t find any evidence of the photos being manipulated.”

Schneep frowned. “People can be dumb sometimes.”

Anti laughed.

At that moment, someone else walked into the room. Stacy. “What’re you guys talking about?” she asked. “What can people be dumb about?”

Jackie looked up. “Anti told us this story about two little girls who faked fairy photos.”

“The Cottingley Fairies? Yeah, I remember growing up and thinking those were real. What got you started on that?” Stacy then noticed the bag. “Ah. You have the stuff?”

Anti nodded. “Hopefully this will be a good start to exposing IRIS.” They’d talked about buying phones as well, but those needed a whole long activation process, while you could just pick up this stuff and use it. They also had ports to connect to computers, when they eventually got access to them.

Stacy sighed, rubbing her eyes. “I do too. I’m... not meant for this stress.”

No one is, JJ said. He started walking down the hallway. I’m going to check on Marvin.

“He’s doing fine last I saw,” Stacy called. “He heard you guys come in, he knows you’re here.”

JJ gave her a thumbs-up, then continued to the room he, Schneep, and Marvin shared.

The room was dark. It seemed that Marvin had turned off the lights, but he’d left the door open, so JJ walked in. He knocked on the wooden doorframe for attention. Marvin, lying on the bed, groaned and rolled over. “Hey, Jems.” He cracked open an eye to look at JJ.

I’m sorry, did I wake you up? JJ asked. Stacy said that she just saw you.

“No, no, it’s fine, I was jus’ lyin’ down. Ugh.” Marvin lifted his head. “I recognize t’is feelin’. A fever or flu or somet’ing is comin’ on.”

Really? JJ blinked, then walked closer, concerned. That’s the worst timing. Are you sure?

Marvin chuckled. “Very sure. Like I said, I know t’is feelin’.” He rubbed his eyes. “I was dizzy t’is mornin’, an’ once I lied down I had t’find a position t’at didn’ make me nauseous. D’you t’ink t’is place has a large bowl?”

Oh that wasn’t good. JJ frowned. Why do you think it’s happening now?

“Who knows? Perhaps bein’ out in the world after bein’ stuck in IRIS and its all... clinical cleanliness-ness... Maybe t’at’s connected?” Marvin frowned, then shook his head. “Eugh. Fog in my brain. Not Distorter’s fog, jus’ ‘bein’ sick’ fog.”

JJ nodded understandingly. Makes it hard to think, I get it. Is there anything I can do?

“Well like I said, it couldn’ hurt to have a large bowl next t’me.” Marvin chuckled humorlessly. “If we were at home I’d ask for some medicine or somet’ing but I don’ t’ink we have any here.”

No... but I can ask the others to go look around outside, maybe? JJ suggested.

“T’at woul’ be nice. But ye all have to be careful. Don’ go takin’ risks on my account.”

It wouldn’t be a risk, JJ said. Or... it’d be a worthwhile one, if you feel so bad. Not to mention Marvin’s sickness often lingered, especially without medicine. Getting something wouldn’t just be helping a friend, but it was also practical to have him get better as soon as possible.

“Alrigh’... I’m not really in position to stop you,” Marvin said jokingly. “I’ll jus’ try to rest a little.”

Yes, get some rest, JJ said. Don’t worry, the rest of us will take care of everything.

Marvin gave him a thumbs up, then put his head down and closed his eyes.

JJ walked back down the hallway. Nothing much had changed in the couple minutes he’d been gone. Jackie and the kids were still playing cards, and Stacy, Schneep, and Anti were still talking about what to do with the things they’d purchased. “The main problem will be getting close to the compounds without drawing attention,” Stacy said. “I’m sure we could... do magic... or something to help. Maybe JJ could talk to other magicians.”

“He’s made friends with this Magic Circle group that could help,” Schneep said. “Surely if we can get into Mirygale, we can contact them.”

“Well that shouldn’t be difficult, Rama drove there and got the kids easily enough,” Anti pointed out. He glanced at JJ. “Hey, you’re back. Now can you turn right around and go get Rama from the bedroom? We should talk to them about how they got into the city.”

I imagine they drove there, JJ drawled. Anyway, something else. Marvin thinks he’s getting sick with the flu or something. We should probably look around for a place that sells medicine.

“Huh?” Jackie perked up, having taken his eyes off the card game to look at JJ’s signing. “He’s getting sick? With what? Is it really the flu or is it something else?”

He said flu or fever, JJ said. He also mentioned he’s nauseous.

“Nausea isn’t a flu symptom—well, it is in kids, but not in adults, but with Marvin’s constitution maybe he’s also vulnerable to it?” Jackie bit his lip, then stood up. “I’ll go talk to him about this. Hey, Will, I see that.”

Will froze in place, halfway to reaching for Jackie’s cards. “Eheheh...” He laughed nervously.

“Anti, keep an eye on your kid,” Jackie said jokingly as he went to talk to Marvin.

Anti gave a thumbs up. “Hear that, Will? If you’re gonna cheat, you gotta be more subtle about it.”

“Nooo! Will, don’t cheat!” Michelle said.

Will laughed and nudged her. “I’m not gonna, don’t worry. That was mostly as a joke.”

“Anyway, back to the matter at hand,” Anti said. “We need to go get medicine? Do we... have the money for that? All this stuff would’ve cost a lot, even if it’s the cheap shit. We still have to buy food and rent out this apartment, you know. Those should be our priorities.”

“Marvin has been hospitalized with a bad fever before, though, remember?” Schneep pointed out. “You had to fake his medical history so he could be admitted.”

“Hah, yeah.” Anti grinned slightly. “But... seriously. We have a lot of people crammed in here, including two kids. Can we splurge for medicine? I know that’s why you haven’t tried to get medication for yourself, Volt.”

Schneep flinched slightly, and JJ slowly turned to look at him. I thought you had something? He asked.

“I... I did,” Schneep said slowly. “But... then we all got taken by IRIS. A-and I did not dare ask Rama to go pick up the pills I had in the motel. There was a good chance they threw those away, anyway.”

“That’s some improper disposal, there,” Anti muttered.

“It was a shady place, I do not think they would care about proper disposal of medicine.”

In any case, that could be a problem, JJ said. What will happen to you without medication?

“Well... my symptoms tend to come in cycles,” Schneep said. “Every couple months, I will have a period where they are really strong. It lasts about two weeks before returning to normal. I-I have been keeping track, and... I-I think I am not due for a surge for a-at least a couple more weeks.”

JJ frowned. Are you sure it won’t be a problem?

“Yeah.” Anti leaned forward, looking concerned. “Is it possible that you could have an episode triggered by the intense events we just went through?”

“Why do you sound like my psychiatrist?” Schneep snorted.

“Hey, I did minor in Psychology,” Anti said defensively. “I may not have a doctorate, but I studied this shit. You obviously know your brain better than I do, but I know that something like that is totally possible. So... just want to be sure.” He paused. “We... don’t want you to be...” Again, a pause, as he searched for the right word. “...distressed, you know?”

“I know, I know,” Schneep mumbled. “I need to be in top form. It will be difficult to deal with IRIS and Distorter if I am hallucinating and have no energy.”

“And also you’re our friend,” Anti said fiercely. “It sucks when you’re upset. We don’t want that for you. Cause we care about you.”

Schneep blinked. “Well, that is... a new attitude for you, to say it so freely.”

Anti shrugged.

I like it, JJ said, beaming. And he’s right, Henrik. We want you to be alright! You AND Marvin. That’s why we have to go get some medicine. For BOTH of you, apparently.

“My medication is very specific and fairly expensive,” Schneep said. “I am not sure we’ll be able to get it over the counter...”

“Maybe we can just, like... grab it... from somewhere...” Anti said slowly.

JJ stared at him. Anti... think about what you’re saying. Are you REALLY advocating for stealing in this moment?

“No, you’re right, th-that’s—that’s too far,” Anti said, looking away in shame.

“I am putting a hard rule down right now, just in case we start getting desperate in the future,” Schneep said. “If I ever find out any of you have taken medicine that someone else needs and given it to me, I am leaving. I would rather deal with my disorder.”

“That’s fair, that’s fair,” Anti mumbled. “Sorry. I know, we’re all... better than that.”

JJ patted Anti’s shoulder. You’re just trying to help. But... seriously. Seriously.

Anti laughed. “Damn, I must’ve really fucked up suggesting it.”

Jackie returned to the room. “Suggesting what?”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll tell you later,” Anti said. “How’s Marvin doing?”

“He has a fever, body aches, a headache, and is nauseous,” Jackie said. “All that considered, we should probably get him some antiviral medicine, just in case.” Jackie walked over to the cabinets as he said that, searching through them until he found a large white bowl.

“What is the bowl for?” Schneep asked.

“Well... the bathroom is nearby, but Marvin can’t walk well under the best of circumstances, so...” Jackie trailed off awkwardly.

“God, say less,” Anti said. “Anyway. So we’re really going to spend some of our cash on medicine?”

Jackie nodded. “Better safe than sorry. And this way, we’ll have some in case the rest of us get sick as well.” He took a plastic cup from a cabinet as well and filled that up with water from the sink. “If you guys are going, antiviral medicine is a high priority, with painkillers as a second priority and antibiotics in a ‘if we have the money’ category. Who’s going to get it?”

Schneep sighed. “Well, JJ and I were just out. So Jamie, if you would be okay with it, we could just go back out right now.”

I feel like I have to stay and help Marvin... JJ said slowly.

“Hey. JJ. I’m literally a doctor.” Jackie chuckled. “I can help him with anything he needs, no problem.”

JJ nodded. True... Alright. I guess we’ll just go out, then.

“Man, now I feel like I really should’ve gone to get the electronics,” Anti said. “Then you guys wouldn’t be stuck doing everything. Anyway, Jackie, if you’re gonna be running around, can I take your spot at the go-fish game?”

Jackie laughed. “No, but you can join in next round.”

“Yeah, join us, Dad!” Will said, grinning. “I promise I won’t look at your cards!”

“I know you won’t, because I’ll be keeping them close to my chest,” Anti laughed. “Alright, good luck you two. Remember, Schneep... look out for yourself, too.”

Schneep nodded. “If possible, I will.” He looked at JJ and silently gestured towards the door.

JJ nodded back and the two of them headed out.

———————

They found a pharmacy easily enough. JJ had spotted one in the grocery store when the group went out to buy food, tucked away in the front corner. And luckily, that grocery store was only a twenty-minute walk away. It would’ve been easier to take a bus, but they didn’t have bus passes and wanted to save the cash for the fare. So, a walk it was.

The interior of the store was brightly lit, a few other customers walking around with baskets and carts. Schneep pulled up the edges of the coat he was wearing, trying to partially hide his face. None of these guys look like they’d belong to IRIS... and he’d see Distorter, if he was inside. But still. The bright lights made him feel exposed. Reminded him of being in IRIS’s compound.

JJ also looked nervous. Come on, it’s this way. He headed to the right side of the store. Schneep glanced around, then followed him, trying to seem casual as he grabbed a basket.

This corner of the store had shelves of supplements and over-the-counter medications, some of which were locked behind glass doors on the shelves. The two of them started browsing. “I found pain medication,” Schneep said. “Tylenol.” He grabbed a bottle of that. “Mein Gott... this is so much more expensive than I thought. Ten and a half pounds? I swear it did not used to cost that much.”

JJ shrugged. Well this isn’t exactly a place you can haggle.

“I was not going to. It just surprised me. Did you find the antiviruses?”

Antiviral, JJ corrected, spelling it out.

“What is the difference?”

The one you said is something that is found in your body. The other is an adjective for a type of medicine.

“Oh pshh, the point is, did you find it?”

I think they’re in the glass cabinets, JJ said, pointing down to one of the walled-off shelves.

Schneep crouched down next to one. “Yes, there. That brand there is an antivirus—oh, I mean, antiviral.”

JJ rolled his eyes, smiling slightly. We probably need to get a chemist to help us. I’ll go over to the counter to ask one. He tapped his pockets, making sure he had a notebook and pen on him. Just in case the person at the pharmacy counter didn’t speak BSL, and he didn’t have the patience to talk too much. You stay right here so I can point out where we were looking.

“Sounds good.” Schneep stood up straight. “I’ll be here.”

JJ gave him a thumbs up, then hurried over to the counter. Schneep watched him go. There were two people in line, so it might be a moment. He knew JJ would be too polite to cut past them. He put his hands in his pocket and focused on looking casual. Don’t be nervous. Don’t be nervous. It was extremely unlikely that anyone here would be connected to IRIS. This town didn’t have a known IRIS presence, unlike Mirygale. And he could see JJ, too, so if he started acting strange like Jackie did the other day, when he was being controlled by Distorter, he would know right away. Everything would be fine. Everything was fine. Everything was normal—

Wait a second. Who was that?

A woman was walking past the pharmacy aisles with a basket dangling from her arm. She looked... very familiar. But... no. No way. Why would she be here?

The woman slowed down, as if sensing that Schneep was watching her. She looked around—and quickly saw Schneep as well. He started to look away, but she spotted him too quickly, so he ended up just staring at her. No. No way. This... didn’t make any sense!

Why was that detective, Rachel, here?

The two of them stared at each other, both of them wondering the same thing. And after a moment, Schneep walked towards her. Why? He wasn’t sure. His feet just started moving on their own. Rachel started in surprise, but didn’t move. “Y-you...” Schneep stammered. “D-do I... know you?”

Rachel hesitated. “No,” she said. But it wasn’t very convincing.

“You... you are Rachel, aren’t you?” Schneep whispered. “Rachel Kikilomo? W-what are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” she said, dropping the pretenses. “I know you haven’t been seen in Mirygale these days, but... I-I just thought you’d stopped doing your vigilante things. And... gotten a different job.”

“You’ve been checking my workplace?!” Schneep hissed.

“Not on purpose!...I...think,” Rachel said.

Schneep took a wary step back.

Rachel sighed. “I... I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I... I’ve had a lot of time to think about how I did things. I pushed you too hard. I shouldn’t have gotten involved.”

“N-no, you... you had valid concerns, as a detective,” Schneep said, taken aback by her sudden regret.

“I went about expressing them in the wrong way, though,” Rachel said. “I kept thinking about it after the last time we talked. I... I don’t know the details of your situation. And while I don’t approve of the vigilante stuff, I shouldn’t have applied so much... pressure? But at the same time, I-I felt like I had to.”

Schneep wasn’t sure what to say. He simply folded his arms. “Yes... you shouldn’t have implied I’d lost my mind and was dangerous because of it.”

Rachel winced. “Yeah... when you put it bluntly like that, I-I realize what the problem was. But I’ve done a lot of thinking afterwards, and... self-reflecting. And even if you are a vigilante, you’re still... a person.”

Schneep blinked. “This sounds very rehearsed.”

“I-I’ve been thinking about it for a while,” Rachel said. “And, uh, you’ll probably be happy to hear that since Von Voltage hasn’t shown up in a while, we’re closing the case. I-I’m also doing everything I can to help solve the cases about your friends.”

“Well, honestly, I would prefer if you just dropped those cases as well,” Schneep said.

“I can make that happen,” Rachel said. “I’m the one in charge of both those cases, I just have to slack off a bit. And if there is anything else I could do, just let me know.”

Schneep nodded slowly. He was starting to get an idea, but he wanted to know some more before he brought it up. “So... what are you doing here, again?”

“Oh, I’m visiting my parents,” Rachel said.

“And you’re in a grocery store because?”

“My mom asked me to pick up some cooking supplies.” Rachel picked up one of the items from her basket. A bottle of olive oil.

“When are you heading back to Mirygale?”

“The day after tomorrow. Why?”

“I... This might sound strange,” Schneep said. “But have you heard of a company called IRIS?”

“Yes... I think so.” Rachel nodded slowly. “They make technology.”

“Oh they do more than that,” Schneep said. “If you want to do something to make up for driving me out of town, I ask that you open an investigation into them. Do what you can from a legal perspective. Me and my friends are working on something.”

Rachel narrowed her eyes, suspicious. But she forced herself to push that aside for now. “What sort of thing am I looking for?”

“Shady activities of all sorts,” Schneep said. “Severe crimes. I do not know all the details myself, but I know that much. They have three compounds surrounding Mirygale that should still be in your jurisdiction. One to the north, one to the west, one to the east. Please... do what you can to check them out and discover what they’re doing there.”

“I... okay.” Rachel nodded slowly. She clearly still had doubts about this, but she was listening. “I suppose that won’t be too much trouble, if we keep it low-key. Should I list you as an anonymous tip?”

“That would be great.”

Footsteps behind them. Schneep glanced over his shoulder and saw JJ returning, along with a woman in a white coat. Right, they needed a staff member to give them access to the antiviral medicine. JJ waved at Schneep, looking at Rachel curiously.

“Ah, that is all,” Schneep said, turning back to Rachel. “Do not let me keep you. Enjoy your... cooking.”

“What are you doing?” Rachel asked. “Buying medicine?”

“A friend of mine is sick,” Schneep said, giving Rachel a suspicious glare.

“Oh. Right, right, didn’t mean to imply—sorry. You go on.” Rachel slowly started stepping backwards. “Maybe I’ll... see you around?”

“Maybe,” Schneep said noncommittally. “Goodbye.”

“Goodbye.” And with that, Rachel hurried off.

Schneep walked over to join JJ and the staff member, who was crouching down close to the ground unlocking the glass cabinet. JJ looked at Schneep curiously. Who was that?

“A friend,” Schneep said. “It turns out, she is in town for a short time.” Then, while the staff member isn’t looking, he adds in sign language, I’ll tell you more later.

Jameson looked concerned, but nodded.

A short while later, the two of them walked out of the store with a bag in hand. They’d bought the antiviral medicine and painkillers, but elected to save the rest of the money. If they needed to buy something else from the pharmacy later, they could always come back. As they started on the walk back towards the apartment, Schneep briefly explained his history with Rachel and told Jameson about their conversation. Once he was done, that expression of concern returned to Jameson’s face. So... she’s a detective who knows your secret identity and was a jerk about it. And you trust her to investigate IRIS?

“At the very least, I trust that she is truly doing this for justice,” Schneep said. “She is very dedicated to her job as a detective. That is why she was so... on my ass.”

JJ chuckled. I suppose it could be helpful to have someone else checking IRIS over. Just in case what we do doesn’t work.

Schneep nodded. “Of all the people to run into... It’s... strange that she was here.” He hesitated. Actually, now that he was thinking about it... did he trust that she was really here accidentally? It didn’t make sense for her to have sought them out intentionally... but...

You’re having paranoid thoughts, aren’t you? JJ asked.

“What? Huh?”

I can see it in your eyes. I know you, and I also know myself, and I know we’ll both be worried that she really ran into us randomly. But... we have to remember that it doesn’t make sense for her to be, what, in league with IRIS or Distorter?

“You’re right, it does not make sense,” Schneep said. “I just... I-I cannot help but be cautious.”

JJ nodded. Me too. We can be cautious, but... if she really is able to help, we should keep that open.

“Hah... thank you, Jamie.” Schneep smiled at him. “I... I-I appreciate your ability to stay calm and rational.”

Jameson looked away. Maybe I’m just telling that to myself, more than anything. God knows I don’t FEEL calm and rational.

“Well if you continue to act that way and tell yourself these things, then eventually it will sink in and become real,” Schneep said.

I know. Sometimes it feels like I don’t, but I know. JJ took a deep breath. Now, let’s get this back to Marvin. Hopefully he’s feeling better.

“I’m sure Jackie is taking great care of him,” Schneep said. “Perhaps he is happy to be doing doctor work again.”

Perhaps. JJ laughed. Alright, take a turn up here, that’s the way.

The two of them continued back to the others.

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