#[someday I will figure out a tag for kasumi]

[helldustedstories]

Despite (or perhaps because, knowing Echo) Kasumi's insistence that there was no need to make a fuss, no need to travel to Greed on her behalf, Echo already knew that they were likely going to make the trip, to see what they could find out. And they were going to keep an ear to the ground for any additional information, any whispers of rumour against the fox, any at all. They wouldn't take action unless they needed to, but they would make damn well sure they knew what was going on before that became a necessity.

Oh, Echo knew full well that Kasumi didn't need them to look out for her…., but she was important to them. Which meant that they were going to do what they could anyway. Even if she didn't need it. It was just….something they needed to do.

They cross their arms over their chest, rakish grin hiding the train of thought they'd started down. Instead, they focus on what Kasumi was saying about this so-called Hazbin Hotel. It sounded like she had some old friends around the place, something that intrigued the shapeshifter. Well, at least they'd know where to find her if they needed to. Not that they couldn't find her otherwise; it just made things simpler if they didn't have to track her down.

"But enough about boring business, what about you? I feel like it's been far too long... You never visit me anymore!"

That gets a laugh out of Echo, and they signal to the bartender for drinks, their usual along with Kasumi's, leaning on the bar even as they look over at her. "You could have come to visit me, too," and it's their turn to pout before it's ruined by the little grin they give her.

"Oh, you know, I've been keeping myself out of trouble, been listening for all sorts of things, finding out all the juicy gossip." The bartender brings their drinks, and Echo pushes Kasumi's over to her, something of a smile on their face. "You know, if I'd known you'd be dropping by, I would have brought your gift with you." But then they can't help but smirk as they add, "Guess you'll just have to drop by, hmm?" Kasumi is one of the few people who actually knows where they live, and she didn't use that to her advantage nearly as much as she should.

A peal of sharp laughter slips out of the fox as she is pulled into the stance of a mock-dance, following with a practiced ease. This sort of thing was hardly out of the ordinary, where Echo was concerned, and not nearly as poorly met as it would have been had someone else grabbed her in such a manner.

The dip was more for flair than anything else : what else could she have expected from the showman themself?

"Oh, I wouldn't make a fuss over it. You know how things down there are... Once certain parties fall back into line, I'm sure everything will play out just perfectly." She knows, of course, that discouraging them is pointless. If Echo has it in their mind that a trip to Greed would sate their curiosity, then go they will. There likely wasn't much to be found : whispers here, a well placed bet there. Dancing from ring to ring as it suited her had always been her style.

"That's the one~" She concedes easily enough, not bothering to play her usual games. Not with Echo. "It seems I have old friends in new places... or however the saying goes." A wave of her hand. "But enough about boring business, what about you? I feel like it's been far too long... You never visit me anymore!"

The expression began as a pout, but quickly morphed into laughter.

[obsidianfr3sk]

Rise of the Renegades (Chapter 5)

Summary:  Heroes come from the most unexpected places. Heroes sometimes feel a little too different, a little too scared, a little too alone. But heroes also know when enough is enough, and that before saving the world, they need to save themselves. And they cannot do it alone.

They were going to be the hope of the world. They were going to call themselves the Renegades. Even if they didn’t know it yet.

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26246812/chapters/65295007

This week I had multiple proyects and tests. Also I had this... kinda atack and I got completely obssesed with a movie saga and posted several insta stories about it so it was kinda hard find a space to write lol BUT I POST EVERY THRUSDAY SO HERE I AM. Sorry this is shorter than usual hehe

Hope you like it:) Let’s see what this kids are up to.

Thanks for the reblogs and the likes!

Tag list: @nodrianbcyes @healing-winston-pratt @bluraspberryoff-secretary @aceandnebula @cerenoya @cindersnightmare @plain-jane-mclain (don’t worry, take your time to read it!)

A peculiar monster

Who would you live and die for on that list?

But the problem is, there's another list that exists,

and no one really wants to think about this.

Forget sanity, forget salary, forget vanity, my morality.

If you get in between someone I love and me,

you're gonna feel the heat of my cavalry.

Simon

Simon ran for a good two minutes before finding a place to stop. He turned the corner in the second alley he found and collapsed behind the largest trash can he found, dropping his backpack next to him. Simon wiped the cold sweat on the sleeve of his jacket. It had been a long time since he ran that much.

However, compared to the relief he felt, the fatigue was hardly noticeable.

They were safe.

He turned to his right, ready to tell Hugh that they were never going to go back to that damn store when he realized he was alone.

Completely alone.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

In the street, there were a couple of homeless guys, an old man talking to himself, a dirty-looking child…

Hugh was nowhere to be found.

Simon hid again. His heart was beginning to beat unnaturally, and he couldn't feel his arms or legs. He tried to breathe but instead started to hyperventilate.

Tears were beginning to pool in his eyes.

He pulled his hair. Simon didn't want to cry. Only weak men cried and he was not weak.

Right?

He covered his mouth to hide his sobs.

Simon was weak. And selfish. And an idiot. And a fucking coward.

Why didn't he look back? Why didn't he take a moment to make sure Hugh was following him?

Weak and selfish. And an idiot. And a coward.

The Roaches were going to finish off Hugh. They would kidnap him, force him to join their gang, and he wouldn't be able to return to his normal life. Simon would never see him again and it would haunt him the rest of his days knowing that he could have done something and he didn't.

It was his fault. If only they had stayed to fight...

They probably would have been killed. There was no doubt about that. However, if they died, at least Simon could have taken his friend by the hand and thank him for believing in him. That the only thing he liked about being a prodigy was that it gave him the chance to meet him and that he was going to consider him his best friend even after all came to an end.

Because nothing and no one could ever end with what they had. Not the Roaches, not Ace Anarchy… not even death itself.

The two of them dying together sounded better than one of them dying alone.

He looked at his hands. They were invisible.

Hugh must have been so scared… Simon was fucking scared to death.

The boy he had seen on the sidewalk a few moments ago entered the alley. He was wearing cotton pants and shoes that did not fit him well. A gray cap covered his entire head.

Children shouldn't be alone in this part of town, he knew that from experience. If they were unsupervised, an idiot like Freud would probably come along and hunt them down for a long time with the sole purpose of killing them, and—

Then Simon remembered that in one of the pockets of his school bag, he carried a jackknife.

That jackknife.

The boy began to search the garbage.

It might be too broken to stab someone, but it was worth a try. Being invisible, he could take them by surprise. Simon would stand right in front of them and stick the jackknife in their eyes, one by one. None of them would understand what the hell was going on and when they finally figured it out... it would be too late to fight back.

The boy put his hands in his pockets and sighed wearily.

What if Simon arrived too late?

He banished that thought from his head immediately. For the sake of those Roaches, he wished he didn’t arrive late.

Simon was more than aware of his limitations. However, he was willing to ignore all that just to kill whoever dared to hurt him.

He still couldn't feel his hands when he reached for his backpack. Immediately, he realized the boy had been in front of him all that time. His little green eyes were fixed on Simon's. He wiped his tears, but then remembered there was no point.

He couldn't see him.

The kid took a few steps towards him. His eyes didn't move.

Wait.

Simon reached out his hand to touch him.

Or can you?

Then— the boy took the backpack and fled.

It all happened so fast that for a second, Simon wondered if it was worth following him. It was his school backpack. He was going to drop out anyway. If Hugh did it, so would he.

Hugh.

It was that thought that made him stand up and chase the thief.

The jackknife was in his backpack. He needed that jackknife.

He needed his friend alive.

Evander

He wasn't quite sure why he started running when he grabbed the backpack. Maybe it was because he felt guilty about stealing it but the truth was that he didn't. If someone had left it there, it was because they didn't want it.

Evander did want it. So he grabbed it. It was a fair deal.

He wanted it because inside of it there could be anything. It was a treasure chest, like the ones from the stories Kasumi told him. There could be food, or medicine, or toys. A year ago, he had been so lucky that he found a backpack with a bag of marbles hidden under a pile of adult clothing. Unfortunately, he had never been lucky enough to find the treasure of a retired mobster, who was sorry for his old habits and decided to abandon all his money on the street, in the hope of rehabilitating himself.

Someday he would. That day could be today. One never knew.

No, he had fled, because he had the feeling that someone was watching him. He didn't know how, he didn't know from where, but someone was watching him. If Kasumi had been there, she would have told him that it was his parents watching him from the stars. But Evander knew his parents weren’t looking at him.

When his parents looked at him from the stars, it was always with love, even when they reprimanded him for doing something wrong. Every time Evander was about to talk back to Kasumi, every time he was going to take something that clearly belonged to someone else even though he didn't need it, or every time he was going to be rude to a stranger just because he was having a bad day, his parents frowned at him and prevented Evander from doing so.

Because they loved him. Even from the stars, they loved him.

That look was nothing like his parents'. That one was full of terror, anger, and resentment.

But who’s gaze was that?

He kept running.

Was it someone from the stars?

No, that didn't make sense. Only good people were in the stars.

He stopped in the next alley, a few blocks away. Evander looked back.

No one was following him.

He swallowed. The backpack was heavier than he expected. He sat it on the ground and rubbed his hands together before carefully opening it.

Please make it the treasure of a retired mobster who is remorseful for his actions.

They were books. What a nerd.

He wished books were food.

Despite his disappointment, he hugged the backpack like it was a teddy bear. If he had learned anything in all that time, it was that there was nothing they couldn't take advantage of. Maybe those books became decorations. Or they could be a new source of stories. Or maybe they could actually eat then...

Then, a hand took off his cap. He screamed in horror.

All of his red hair was exposed.

Evander felt chills immediately.

They were going to recognize him. They were going to know it was him.

He turned around, still holding the backpack. Suddenly, an older boy materialized in front of him and tried to snatch it from him.

They struggled for a while. Evander didn't know if he was too strong or the boy was too weak.

His hands were beginning to ache...

“GIVE ME MY BACKPACK!”

The backpack broke. The older boy fell backwards and Evander hit his nose on the floor. Lots of notebooks, books, and loose sheets of paper were blown up like an explosion.

Evander's eyes were watery and his body was aching. To his right, he found a closed jackknife. The older boy was still trying to recover from the blow when Evander took it and he opened it.

He had never held a jackknife before.

Evander pointed at the older boy just as he sat down. “Leave me alone!” he screamed. “Go away!”

But his words only made him more enraged. The boy grunted and stretched out his hand.

He was going to take him. Evander was convinced that he was going to take him.

“I am Thomas Freud!”

He froze. “Thomas Freud?”

“Yes!” Evander screeched. “Yes, I am Thomas Freud! Don't come near me!”

I’m not Evander Jr. I swear, I am not Evander Jr. I am not the one you’re looking for. Please just leave me alone.

He ignored him and reached out again. Evander slashed his palm slightly and the monster swore underneath. “LEAVE ME ALONE!”

“I know you are not Thomas Freud!” he shouted.

His throat went dry at that moment. “No, I am! I swear! That’s my name!”

“It is not true!” he answered, pointing at him with his finger. “I know that because I met Thomas Freud and I hope he is rotting in the last circle of hell!”

He couldn't take it anymore.

Evander broke.

He knew it. That boy, that monster knew. He knew who he really was, he knew what he had done, he knew they were looking for him. The monster was going to take him to the other monsters. They would kill him as they had killed his parents, Mama Bertha… they would go after Kasumi too. They were going to kill her too and everything would have been his fault.

Everything was always his fault.

The monster snatched the jackknife from him with a slap.

He knew immediately what was next.

“Please …” he mumbled. “Don’t hurt me please…”

The monster lost its enraged expression immediately. He blinked hard and looked at him like it was the first time he had. His face twitched, but Evander's gaze was so clouded by tears that he couldn't make out what he was feeling.

He looked at the jackknife. He looked at the street. And then he looked at him.

“Please…”

Please let me live one more day, Mr. Monster.

The monster took off his jacket and put it under Evander's nose. “Raise your head,” he asked. “It's just ... your nose is bleeding.”

Evander looked down at his pants. It had tiny drops of blood on it.

He raised his head.

The monster's jacket smelled like mud and like the peppermint tea Mama Bertha used to drink at night.

That was weird. That was not how he remembered monsters smelled.  Monsters smelled of garbage, rocks, and fire. They didn’t smell, like… good. Nor did they speak with such a soft voice, or had traces of tears on their cheeks.

It was a... peculiar monster.

After a minute, the monster put his jacket back on. He still had the cap that he had ripped from his head in his hand. Evander took it without warning and quickly put it back on, making sure not a single red hair was visible. He dusted his hands with dirt from the floor and rubbed them over his face to cover his freckles.

The monster stared at him for a few more seconds. He didn't say anything else and left.

Evander smiled. With his cap and his freckles covered, he didn't recognize him anymore.

What an idiot monster.

But a monster after all.

Kasumi was in the lair. Whenever one went out, the other stayed to watch that no one went in while they were gone.

She was extremely calm, sitting on the mat, daydreaming.

She was fine.

Evander ran to hug her. Kasumi was startled by it but returned the hug. Immediately, she felt something was wrong.

Kasumi took him by the cheeks. “Vandy, are you all right?” she asked him. “Did someone hurt you?”

Evander shook his head. “Then what’s—”

"I saw a monster today,” he replied. Kasumi shuddered. She moistened her hands and tried to wipe the dirt off his face. “No, don’t. When I covered my freckles, he left. Dirt saved me.”

Kasumi removed her hands from his cheeks. “A monster, huh? Like the ones we’re afraid of?”

He shook his head again. “He wasn't wearing any red. But he was a monster. You have to believe me, he was a monster.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “I believe you, Vandy.”

Kasumi leaned on the wall so that Evander could sit between her legs and lay his head on her chest. The afternoon sun came through the glassless window and warmed his face with its light. She stroked his hair. Kasumi knew how much it calmed them both to do that. “What was this monster like? Did... they had wings?”

“Wings? No, no, no wings. It was... tall," he recalled. “He wanted the backpack, but when he could take it, he didn't. His hair was curly and… he had cried.”

Kasumi stroked her chin. “Hmm, I see. I think I've heard of those kinds of monsters.”

“Are there many kinds of monsters?” Evander asked in amazement.

“Yes,” Kasumi replied. “But you don't have to worry about them.”

“How are you so sure?”

She bit her lip and looked around as if she was afraid someone might overhear. Finally, when she made sure no one else paid attention to them, Kasumi whispered, “Because monsters are afraid of candy.”

Evander allowed himself to laugh a little. “Of candy? What a bunch of idiots, who is afraid of candies?”

“Monsters only.”

He was about to laugh again when he remembered a small detail. “But we don't have candy,” he stressed. “Or do you have a secret reserve you haven't told me about?”

“Well, I don't have candy, that’s right.” Kasumi took him by the hands. They were still stained with dried blood. “But you do, Vandy. Here. Inside you.”

Then he remembered.  “Candy for the soul.”

Kasumi nodded and rested her chin on his shoulder.  “Next time a monster tries to hurt you, you attack it with candy.”

He looked at his hands for a moment more. “Is that why you never use your powers against monsters? Because you know they’re immune to them?”

He felt his friend's body shudder again. “Yes, that’s why.”

“And is that why I could defeat the monster from that night? The night of the attack?”

“Yes. That’s why.”

A spark of pride touched his heart. No one else and no one less than him had managed to end a monster attacking him with his worst nightmare. And he hadn't even known until now.

But the spark of pride was quickly extinguished when he realized that there were still many monsters out there. And that he was never going to be big and powerful enough to kill them all.