#‘just dodge them’ dodge this eliter shot then

[evanatsuhi]

me when i exclusively play turf war and c rank splat zones and have no idea what i’m talking about

[silhouetteonpaper]

Worth It

Summary: As you find yourself at yet another one of Tony’s parties, dread fills you at the idea of having to socialize. But what happens if you decide to cause some mischief and bend the rules a little? Natasha Romanoff x Reader WC: 1,928 Warnings: Underage drinking, gross men, getting drunk A/N: Sorry for the long pause in my usual uploads! I just got home from a trip and have lots of new stuff saved up ;)

Worth It

Another one of Tony’s world-famous parties waits for you just one floor up. Dreading each and every one of them, you pull yourself from lounging around to get ready for a night of torture. It’s not anything against Tony, you’re just not a fan of big crowds or small talk, especially when it’s with a bunch of snobby elites.

After dragging yourself to your closet, you eventually decide on an outfit. You pick something classy to match Tony’s elegant dress code, yet not too uncomfortable as you know it’ll be a long night. The echoing sound of music from upstairs already streams into your room, making you sigh as you finish getting ready.

Finally, it’s time to face the crowd. Riding the elevator up one floor, you feel your confidence grow underneath the outfit you picked for tonight. Most of the people Tony invites to these parties can’t get enough of the youngest addition to the Avengers, especially when they’re tipsy from whatever drink Tony’s concocting. You walk with stature onto the open floor, smiling as eyes turn to you.

In an attempt to dodge all the turned heads accompanied by uninvited conversation, you walk straight towards Natasha. She stands in the center of the room, greeting you with a grin while clutching her half-empty drink. “No time for small talk, huh?” she questions while leaning in for a hug. You smirk, shaking your head.

“Not with these people,” you respond, eyeing the large crowd that’s finally returned their attention to whatever captivated it before you walked in. You already feel claustrophobic in these circumstances, but choose to take a deep breath and face Natasha in hopes her warmth can calm any discomfort.

“You want a drink? Tony’s at the bar,” Natasha gestures to an inebriated Tony pouring shots. “He’s probably sober enough to make you a mock-tail…” she tilts her head in contemplation. Knowing you’re not of age to drink, Nat of course is on top of keeping you away from any adult beverage, especially at these chaotic parties. The last thing she wants is for the youngest Avenger to get into any trouble.

“I’ll go try my luck.” You joke, leaving the redhead’s side to approach the bar surrounded by strangers. Squeezing your way past the drunk herd, you lean against the counter facing a very not sober Tony.

“Ah, my favorite underage party goer. What can I get’ya?” He asks, downing yet another shot. You wince for him, his own lack of a reaction surprising you.

“Something Natasha wouldn’t approve of.” You respond, stealing a glance back at the unassuming Widow now chatting with Steve. What Natasha doesn’t know won’t hurt her, as long as you keep it on the down low. A little alcohol has ever affected you much, from the few times that the team has let you sip from their drinks or when you’ve snuck out to a friend’s party.

“I knew I liked you,” Tony voices as he pours up a cocktail. Fizzy soda fills the glass; red syrup flooding to the bottom through rising bubbles. The last touch is added, a shot of the same mysterious liquid Tony drank just a moment ago. “Here you go, cheers!” He exclaimed while pushing your glass across the counter.

You nod back in thanks, taking a sip. It’s not a mock-tail, that’s for sure. But on the outside, nothing about it screams ‘kid holding a cocktail’. Walking back over to Nat, Steve shoots you a smile.

“What’cha got there?” He eyes the drink. You quickly come up with a believable lie, not wanting Natasha to find out. It’s not that she cares if you break the law, it’s about protecting your innocence. You understand why she does it, having lost her own so young, but sometimes rebelling like this is healthy for a normal young adult.

“Shirley temple,” you tell him, taking a long sip to prove it’s in fact real. You easily keep a stone-face expression, unaffected by the drink's true nature. He nods, taking a swig of his own drink. The two adults resume their conversation, mentioning something about an extra special guest tonight.

“If I can get a word in with the director, I don’t think we’ll have any issue initiating Project Red and Gold.” Natasha tells Steve, leaving you to awkwardly stand there in silence. You have no clue what she’s referring to, but assume it’s higher level information you don’t need to be aware of.

Suddenly, an older man surrounded by a cohort of other rich snobs strides down the glass stairs, causing Nat to nearly jump. “He’s here! My mouth is dry, damn it-“ she grabs your drink, taking a long chug in preparation to talk with the powerful man. What takes her by surprise is the liquid that burns her throat as she swallows, causing her to shove the glass back in your hands with anger.

“Seriously, alcohol?” She looks back and forth between you and the director, hesitating in walking over to him. “We’ll talk about this later.” Leaving the scolding for another time, she finally jumps into action, pushing her way to the front of the crowd to talk with her target.

Steve raises his eyebrows at you, not in an angry way, but rather letting you know he’s impressed. “She’ll forget about it,” you tell him, stirring your drink awkwardly before taking a sip. He gives you a knowing look, causing you to re-think your words. “No she won’t…”

A few hours and a few drinks later, you find yourself sprawled across the red velvet couch. The party seems to be dying down, a majority of the crowd having left and only close friends and team members still continuing to mingle.

You’re definitely past tipsy territory now, the handful of drinks you indulged in throughout the night are finally getting to you. Maybe it was a bad decision, but after getting busted for one drink, you chose to not look back and have a fun night in case Nat decided to actually kill you.

Now too unbalanced to sit up straight, you lean against the side of the couch as an unfamiliar man with gray hair sits next to you. At first you don’t pay any attention to him, too lost in your own drunken state to care. But eventually you notice him eyeing you up and down, his gaze scanning your entirety.

“What?” You question him out of concern, hoping you didn’t spill something on yourself without realizing. The man laughs, leaning in toward you.

“I’m just admiring the view,” he states with a suggestive smirk. You raise an eyebrow at him, looking to the large glass window behind him.

“You’re facing the wrong way for that.” You explain, unaware of his actual intentions. You find it funny he doesn’t even realize where the window is, but in reality you’re the one getting confused. He laughs again, his hand creeping up to find your leg.

“How about we go find a better place to see it, then?” He asks, settling in closer. You tilt your head, brows raising as you finally realize his offer. In your current state, no red flags were waving; the confidence the alcohol gave you causing you to nod and stand. What more could you lose? But as you stumble towards the hallway alongside the strange man, someone abruptly stands in your way.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Natasha intervenes, grabbing your wrist and pulling you from the older man’s arm. You look back and forth between the two, shrugging as you’re already certain she knows the answer. “Get the hell out of here.” She tells him through gritted teeth.

You laugh as he walks toward the elevators with haste, clearly terrified of your red-headed friend. “You’re drunk, aren’t you?” Nat’s attention is now on you, quickly realizing just how many drinks you’ve had as you use her for balance. With an exasperated sigh, she guides you to a couch, putting you between Steve and Wanda. “I have to go walk the director to his car. Don’t let her do anything stupid.”

As she walks towards the straggling group of party-goers, you giggle. “Oh, she’s mad.” You voice while watching her head out with the director from earlier. Wanda and Steve exchange a knowing glance.

“I hope you’ve enjoyed your last day alive.” Steve teases, seeing just how much you messed this one up. He’s always been okay with you doing normal teenage things, but a part of him definitely sees eye to eye with Nat on this situation.

“Was it worth it?” Wanda asks. She picks up a glass of water from the coffee table and hands it to you. Slowly sipping at the icy cold liquid, you nod.

“I should do this more often.” You reply, a smile creeping up your lips. Regardless of Nat’s demeanor, this party has been your favorite one yet. The abundance of confidence made it easier to socialize and weave within the crowd, something you usually don’t find enjoyable.

“Maybe… we should stick to mock-tails,” Natasha joins in, suddenly emerging from the elevator. “C’mon, it’s bedtime.” She holds out her hand, motioning for you to get up from the couch. You pout, placing the water down to cross your arms.

“I’m not a kid, let me have my fun!” You remark in hopes you can have a little more time out with your friends. The night was far from over, and just because you’re inebriated doesn’t mean it has to end so soon.

Natasha holds her gaze though, her eyes piercing into you with a ‘don’t test me’ look. You know at this rate she’ll work you extra hard in training tomorrow, no matter how hungover you are. So, after considering what’s in store, you stand in a huff and brush past her to your room.

After changing into comfier clothes, you hear a soft knock on your door. “Are you decent?” you hear Natasha’s voice from the hall.

You laugh and crash onto your bed, not bothered enough to crawl under the covers. “Yes, Nat.” She opens the door after your confirmation, holding a glass of water in one hand and some pain medicine in the other.

Placing both down on your nightstand, she then gazes at your current state with a sigh. “C’mon, get under the blankets. You’re going to get cold in the middle of the night,” Nat grabs at your comforter, forcing you to scoot backwards as she pulls the blankets over you.

“Okay, mom.” You roll your eyes and flop back down onto the pillows, eyelids already feeling heavy. She sits on your bed for a moment, smirking as she watches you struggle to stay awake. “What? Are you going to scold me more?” You ask.

She chuckles, patting your arm softly. “I’ll save that for tomorrow, right before we train. Drink plenty of water, you’re going to need it,” she tells you, standing and turning out the small lamp on your bedside table. “Goodnight.”

“Night.” You reply, watching her walk to the door but falling asleep too quickly to even see her leave. You’re too tired to even worry about what’s in store for tomorrow, or how much trouble you're actually in. 

All you care about is that you have someone who actually cares about you, who lets you make these mistakes. Even if it means you have to do extra training, you’re glad you have someone to count on. Someone who understands what it’s like to want to be a normal, troublemaking teenager.

[serena-babes]

So i have this idea about the knights of hell. There can’t be a king and princess without some royal protection. So how do you think the others will react to a Hell Knight Reader? Like reader is like a commander of a group of elite knights. And they came to check up on Charlie and Lucifer! To see if the king and princess are okay after the attack on the hotel.

Brownie points if reader doesn’t smile and are serious all the time! Reader is very dangerous they can and will kill to protect their king and future queen! No romance of course, just platonic relationships. Like Charlie can see reader as an older sibling.

Royal Knight Reader x Lucifer Morningstar + Charlie Morningstar

platonic!˙ᵕ˙✰

Gender neutral!

1.5k

omg! this is too cute! i really love the whole knight idea! ⋆｡°✩ i did some research on the whole knight system and its SUPER interesting!

might make another one shot of a knight reader with my own little twist･°˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°.

✧₊⁺⋆.˚꩜⊹ ࣪ ˖˚☽˚.⋆✧₊⁺⋆.˚꩜⊹ ࣪ ˖˚☽˚.⋆✧₊⁺⋆.˚꩜⊹ ࣪ ˖˚☽˚.⋆✧₊⁺⋆.˚꩜⊹ ࣪ ˖˚☽˚.⋆✧₊⁺✧₊⁺

Ever Since Lucifer and Lilith's fall from grace, protection has always been a necessary resource. Y/ns has been there since the beginning pledging allegiance to both the king, queen, and the then young princess serving them for centuries. Y/n and the rest of the knightage fought to make sure to keep hell orderly, or as orderly as hell can get. 

Y/n was much more serious compared to their fellow knights being a Grand Cross comes with its different sets of responsibilities that in their mind “allow for no error.” due to their seemingly frigid exterior outsiders would think Y/n was only following the chivalry code nothing more. But, on the contrary, Y/n did truly care for Morningstars.

This is why Y/n's heart dropped hearing about the extermination coming earlier than expected, it was always busier during this time of year. The number of casualties just from the royal guard was always a hard gap to fill after the massacre was over. But at least, the Morning Stars were spared. This time, however? Y/n wasn't sure everyone was going to come back alive, a direct attack from heaven? Some of their most skilled knights have fallen to the hands of exorcists. How in hell would Charlie ever come out alive? 

But, Y/n takes orders, and Lucifer stops her from interfering. 

“I don't understand why you won't let me do this,” Y/n exclaimed curtly, brows pulled tightly together. The confusion was evident in their tone, their body rigid like a sword. A still silence blankets the room after no response. Y/n, Moving forward through Lucifer's study smoothly dodging various piles of ducks. Continued.

“I am loyal to this family, eternally. And the one chance I am needed…you, tell me to stay?.. Why? She is your daughter. Do you want her blood to spill across the pavement? Because that is what will happen if you let this continue.” Anger started to bubble to the surface as they pointed an accusatory finger at Lucifer.

The silenced followed them 

“You must let me go I have-” Y/n pleading began

“Stop, I order you to stop,” Lucifer said weakly, looking away unsure. It was obvious he was going through his own anxiety and turmoil due to the extermination and the safety of his daughter.

“She has to do this, you.” he looked to Y/n glassy-eyed

“Cannot face heaven” he continued “I don't think anyone here really can… Charlie can hold her own. I mean if anything this could I don't know, um.. steer her away from heaven!” he said, his charismatic exterior seemingly returning to his body.

“Yes…but what do we do if she cannot handle it.” y/n said quietly, mouth pulled into a deep frown.

“Well, who better than me? King of hell! Eh! Eh!” lucifer exclaimed loudly elbowing y/n's rib cage

“This is not a time for humor,” she responded coldly. Lucifer rolled his eyes playfully.

“ Y/n I'm worried about her too, but this is something she needs to do. If I need to I will step in. You have enough to worry about with everybody else looking to you for guidance, have faith in her. So! I order you to stay here!…. Please.” Lucifer exclaimed albeit a little awkwardly since he was not used to giving many orders directly to Y/n's face

Y/n Sighed bending down to kneel “As you wish my king.” 

“Okay okay, you don't have to do all of that! I mean, come on! You're practically family.” Lucifer exclaimed in surprise. 

And so, Y/n trusting Lucifer they went back to their duties. Making preparations for extermination day preoccupied their mind most days. but silently anxiety seeped in. Truthfully, Y/n is terrified of losing Charlie and Lucifer they're the only family they've ever had. Even in life, Y/n wasn't close to anyone as much as they were with the MorningStars, which is why relief flooded Y/n's whole body hearing that both Charlie and Lucifer were safe in the end. After the hotel was rebuilt, they planned a visit to double-check. 

It was your average day at the hotel, Husk was busy cleaning the bar counter with a tattered rag as Angel Dust as well as Vaggie lounged on the couch. Angel, scrolled mindlessly through their phone while Vaggie worked on sharpening her spear. Charlie, of course, was planning new lesson plans with her father. Everything was calm. That was until three loud pounding knocks rumbled through the room.

Vaggie immediately jumped up in defense while everyone slowly turned towards the door, a menacing shadow shown through the glass. The only person who seemed excited was Charlie.

“Wait! Wait! This could be a new guest!” Charlie said excitedly jumping at the opportunity to greet the mysterious person at the door

“Okay everyone, let's remember to smile and introduce ourselves!” she smiled to everyone in the lobby, Alastor now entering the picture to observe.

Charlie swung the door wide open “Welcome to the hazbin hotel!- Y/n!!” 

Charlie embraced Y/n in a bone-crushing hug squealing and spinning both her and the reader around “I'm so excited to see you! It's been so long! Oh! Come and meet everyone!”

But just as Charlie was leading you over to the rest you spot a certain um. Eccentric! red demon

“Oh! What in the unholy hell is that..” y/n exclaimed obviously unsettled by the red demon 

Grimacing at the sight and leaning down Charlie 

“Charlie, I trust your judgment but what… what the HELL is that.” but just as y/n leaned up there he was.

“Alastor, Pleasure to be meeting you dear. Quite a pleasure indeed!” Alastor said enthusiastically jostling you around like a rag doll with his over-excited handshake.

“And who are you? The servant to the morning stars him?” he continued. Lucifer and y/n both make eye contact across the room silently agreeing about their mutual opinion of this “Radio Demon” as he likes to be called.

“More like, protector. What are you hm? The janitor? With that tattered suit, one might think you would be a stray animal who wandered in.” Y/n shot back with a frown and an unimpressed brow

“Alright! y/n! Let um let's meet everybody else! please..” Charlie said steering you away from Alastor you both looked as if you were about to be at each other throats if she didn't intervene 

“Everyone! This is y/n! They are a part of the…” she whispered over to Y/n “Is it the knightage..?”

“Yes, it's the knightage you're right.” y/n had responded quietly they were used to Charlie's struggle with certain words many nights they had to help Charlie with their spelling when she was younger.

“The Knightage! They work for me and Dad.” Everyone had gone silent at this news no one ever thought that they would be meeting the top of the food chain. Royal knights have been seen around hell usually around the time of the extermination, and almost everybody knew not to mess with them. Especially Y/n, just looking at them everyone would think they could snap someone in half without a second thought. Almost everybody there straightened their posture as Y/N's cold gaze flicked over everybody even Alastor tensed up slightly. 

“It's nice to meet everybody, Charlie is very enthusiastic about this hotel of hers, I'm glad it's made its reach to people,” Y/n responded professionally, Charlie looked over the cast of people in the room noting the uncomfortableness of everybody, She knew y/n was…Cold-looking, but she's never seen anyone react to just their presence in such a way. 

The silence lasted for what seemed like an eternity no one daring to speak up 

“So, are both your swords accurate about hitting certain deep spots, or just the one?” Angel spoke up flirtatiously everyone's heads snapping in the direction of the outburst

“What?! Just asking, geese.” replied angel

“My sword is made of iron it's manufactured to hit “deep spots” A knight does not possess two iron swords that would be .. redundant,” Y/n said calmly. Angel had side-eyed Husk when this was said triggering Husk to roll his eyes to mimic annoyance. 

“Speaking of weapons, Vaggie your spear needs to be sharpened. I suggest you sharpen it daily it'll really glide through people like butter if you do.” Y/n continued, they had met Vaggie prior to the hotel but only briefly as Charlie didn't come to the castle much anymore after Lilith left. 

“Oh! Um, thanks!” Vaggie replayed hurriedly intimidated by the tall stance Y/n possessed the heavy armor from neck to toe didn't help them look less menacing either

“By the way, thank you for protecting Charlie and everyone at the hotel.” y/n said slowly moving down to kneel “ I wasn't there myself due to my orders but I am glad to know Charlie is in good hands it brings peace of mind.” Y/n continues now fully kneeling 

Vaggie visibly flustered responded quickly “Oh! It was oh it was nothing really.” 

“Y/n?” Charlie interjected 

Y/n slowly rising to their feet, “Yes, Charlie?”

“How about you stay for dinner really.. Catch up!” Charlie said excitedly. Y/n glanced over to Lucifer who had two thumbs up. 

“Ah hell, why not.”

[female-buckets]

ESPN: *posts anything about women's hoops*

10,000 male comments: "Kitchen. Make me a sandwich. Me and 4 other casual male players could beat this WNBA team by 100 points."

Casual male players: *Get beaten by casual female players*

Casual male players:

Andrea Womack is mourning the loss of her 21-year-old daughter, Asia Womack. She was killed Monday evening after playing basketball at T.G. Terry Park just up the street from her home.

"This was supposed to be a friend of Asia's. She's eaten with the man," Andrea said. "She's fed him, and he turned on her and killed her in a vicious way." 

Asia was a whiz at basketball, playing her high school days at Madison High School.

Her family says she was in a pickup game at the park playing against the guy who is said to have shot her, and she won. The family also says there was trash talk, too.

According to the family, the shooter took his kids and brother home and came back to the park, shooting Asia five times.

Cameron Hogg, 31, murdered Asia Womack, a woman 10 years younger than him, after she beat him at basketball. He's on the run in Dallas Texas and has not been apprehended.

All across the US, a million girls and women play basketball at public parks exactly like this one. No female player is ever completely safe at a pick-up hoop around men. Not even around men they consider friends. And men are always around because they are extremely territorial about this sport in particular. They believe basketball, especially casual basketball, is male territory.

Where I live, every single public pick-up court is dominated by men. Any woman who tries to dribble on these courts faces severe harassment. But some women like Asia Womack are so in love with this sport, they are fearless and powerful with a ball in their hands. Harassment and intimidation and trash talk can't keep them away from public hoops. Men who believe casual basketball is male territory feel threatened by women like that.

Women's basketball shouldn't just be about the top 0.1% elite women who get paid to play. Basketball should be accessible for every woman. Women should not have to dodge threats, sexual assault, and bullets just to play basketball. If men can't share the court, they don't deserve to play.

[autisticsupervillain]

It's Fictional Throwdown Friday!

This Week's Fighters...

Tom Hansen vs Robert Cross!

Conditions:

No restrictions.

Scenario:

After the events of Cold Fear, Tom gets reassigned to Blackwatch for his proven proficiency in combating bioweapons. Robert Cross challenges him to a sparing match to see how advanced his skills are.

Analysis: Hansen

The ocean depths are a mysterious and dangerous place. At the lowest survivable levels of Earth's surface, strange creatures straight out of Lovecraft's nightmares evolved to survive the dark, cold, crushing depths of the ocean floor. And humanity was about to unearth some of its most dangerous creatures.

In the coldest parts of the Atlantic Ocean, Russian oil diggers discovered a new form of life within the ice they were mining. Exocels. Parasitic creatures that were completely uncategorized by existing scientific theories. Capable of overtaking the higher brain functions of their host and mutating them in response to dangerous external stimuli. Naturally, the crew of the Star of Sakhalin begain trying to weaponize these new creatures to sell for a profit. Predictably, it didn't work out. The ship was quickly overrun by mutant zombies and a distress call was sent out.

The call was answered by Tom Hansen, an officer of the United States Coast Guard who really wants to be Leon Kennedy. He and his crew were sent to rescue everyone on board, only to find everyone already dead or zombified. Narrowly surviving the massacre of his crew, Tom was left alone on the ship as the only thing stopping the Exocels from falling into the shadowy hands of the CIA.

Luckily, Hansen comes equipped with every weapon a survival horror protagonist could ever need. He comes decked out with the usual affair of pistols, shotguns, and automatic weapons, each laser scoped to ensure perfect accuracy. Even his standard M1911A1 can completely pop a human’s skull like it was made from confetti, to say nothing of his MP5, AK47, and Benelli M4. But all of that pales in comparison to his sawed off M79 Grenade Launcher to blow apart any Exomutant that gets hit by it, even shredding through Exo zombies that evolved specifically to withstand bullets and fire arms.

Tom would quickly adapt against the rapidly evolving Exocels, using a modified harpoon gun whose harpoons emitted a protein gas, allowing his shots to distract Exocels with delicious smelling harpoons. Perfect for luring them into a trap or grouping them together for a grenade. Hansen has fought through squadrons of Russian mercenaries, defeated invisible Exocel zombies, dodged a steel door that was blasted at him by an explosion, and survived getting infected by an Exocel that tried to eat him alive from the inside out twice.

With nothing but raw wit, determination, and witty one liners, Tom rigged the entire ship to blow with C4 and faced down the man behind the entire disaster. Kamsky, the mad scientist turned sentient Exomutant out to replace humanity with his zombified master race. Kamsky is strong enough to completely demolish a metal bridge just by jumping right through it, generating an energy equivalent to 397,700 kilojoules.

Source:

Ultimately, Hansen defeated Kamsky, blowing the Star of Sakhalin to pieces and exterminating the Exocel threat once and for all.

Analysis: Cross

Captain Robert Cross. The Specialist. The elite of the elite and Blackwatch's greatest operative. When everything's gone to hell and the zombie apocalypse is knocking on the door, he's the man the US government calls in. He's insurance. Cross contained the viral outbreak in the underground city of Springfield. He's chased down powerful infected by himself and killed them with his bare hand, and he's the only mortal man to fist fight Alex Mercer one on one and live to tell the tale.

So when the Blacklight Virus contaminated New York and turned Manhattan into a post apocalyptic warzone, Cross was called in. His mission: Kill Alex Mercer.

Cross would prove to be the most tenacious and devastating human opponent Alex would ever face. Cross had done his homework. He'd use a shock baton to keep Mercer at a distance, fire homing rockets to harass him from afar, and control the battlefield with tactical use of land mines and fire grenades.

Now, Cross is one of the earliest bosses in the game, so he doesn't actually scale to the endgame feats Alex demonstrated. No earthquake scaling or relativistic reactions for him. Mercer at this point in the story was still getting ragdolled by Elizabeth Greene.

That said, he's still clearly superhuman. Mercer in the early game could still dodge tank shells, catch helicopters, and tear down buildings by himself. Alex could even burst clean through a two foot thick metal door, a feat that would require roughly 235,600 kilojoules to perform.

Source:

How did Cross compete with this? He's Robert Cross, don't ask questions.

Even laying defeated, Cross still had one last trick up his sleeve. Realizing that Alex hadn't yet regained all his human memories yet, Cross would refer back to Alex's death at Penn Station, triggering a painful flashback that distracted Mercer long enough to be injected with a parasite. This virus would hamper Mercer's powers and nearly kill him, with Alex only escaping being brought in right there by sheer luck.

Unfortunately, this would be Cross's undoing. After Mercer expunged the parasite from his body, it would become its own entity, becoming the Supreme Hunter. It would then track Cross down, assimilate him, then use his memories to attempt to manipulate Mercer into helping it consume all life on the planet. Alex would only narrowly defeat it by the skin of his teeth.

In a way, even in death, Robert Cross was the biggest human threat that Alex Mercer would ever face.

Throwdown Breakdown:

This is a fairly simple fight, honestly.

Hansen should be pretty even with Cross in terms of stats. Cross scales to Mercer catching helicopters, while Hansen can dodge explosions, both being roughly in the hypersonic ranges of speed. If anything, Hansen should even be slightly stronger, 397,700 kilojoules vs Cross's 235,600. Buuuut, that's where it all swings the other way.

Cross is better equipped. His electric baton is a better melee weapon, his homing rockets allow him to destroy or get around Hansen's cover, while his incendiary grenades and mines give him better battlefield control over Hansen's mostly stock arsenal. Everything short of Hansen's grenade launcher is just completely outpunched by Cross's destructive weaponry.

And skill is something that Hansen can't even compete with. Hansen is a regular Coast Guard officer in out of his depth against the zombie outbreak he's faced with, while Cross was hand picked to be a part of Blackwatch, an organization designed specifically to combat such bioweapons. Cross's status as a legend by Blackwatch standards, as well as his ability to fisticuffs Alex goddamn Mercer, puts him on a different level of skill entirely.

Hansen would compete evenly initially, maybe even getting an early advantage with his greater strength and superior reflexes, but once Cross had his number, he'd be swiftly outmatched and beat down.

Then, Cross would offer him his hand, compliment his right hook, and welcome him to Blackwatch.

This Throwdown's Winner is....

Robert Cross!

[melishade]

Hello.

I feel bad for Megatron in the timeline with Elite One. Megs must be currently consumed by guilt

Previous Episode of the Beloved Timeline

That and he's 100% sure she is going to fucking kill him.

There is a reason she is a high ranking Autobot in the first place. Sure, Elita was a social butterfly, but she is extremely clever and a down right menace. According to the Covenant of Primus, she helped conspire to overthrow the Quintessons and helped with colonial expansion of Cybertron. I also like other iterations of her being a badass fighter. I like to picture that she took down 50 Decepticons by herself as she tried to escape before Megatron had to intervene and subdue her himself. And the reason why she was in her situation in the first place was because of Megatron, so the minute Elita sees Megatron again, those Kill Bill sirens are going off. Megatron is doing everything he possibly can to avoid her.

But we'll deal with that later.

For now, after Optimus has to answer those questions from the Survey Corps, dodging as many inappropriate ones as he can. Historia and Ymir decide to make their demands while everyone else is here and announce that surprise moment of Historia wanting to marry Ymir. Ymir agrees and they do the wedding in secret. Hanji adds to Optimus that he can invite Elita as his plus one. Optimus is a little irritated at the notion, because he knows for a fact some of the Survey Corps are going to be treating him differently for a little while. But the thought of spending time with Elita again does make him feel happy.

He does return to her and being to explain what is happening with Historia and Ymir, which Elita is confused by because being sparkbonded is a private matter. But Optimus has to explain that there are differences in human culture and Cybertron. Optimus explains the logistics of it and Elita respectfully declines. Elita explains that she would probably just hog all the attention. She does remember when she was last here and the commotion she caused. Also, she hasn't exactly talked to anyone in 20 years, so her social skills are practically shot. And the humans look dangerously similar to the titans and it's not something she's comfortable with. She only feels easy around Optimus because of familiarity.

Optimus is slightly disappointed, but respects her decision none the less. He's just happy that she's back, and tells her to take the time that she needs. Elita does ask about the difference between the humans and titans and ultimately what has been going on with him and Megatron since being on this world. Optimus decides to explain it piece by piece as to not overwhelm her in one go, because learning this shit himself has definitely taken its toll.

"How is it that bad that you're fazed by it?" Elita questioned.

So, day by day, in preparation for the wedding, Optimus helps out there and later explains what's been going on. And the more information she receives, the more mortified that she is. Like this is some messed up shit!!!! But it's fine. It's fine! Totally fine!

"Elita, you do not have to-!"

"It's completely fine, Optimus!" Elita forced a smile, "Not only is my beloved forced to fight again, this world is more backwards than I thought!"

The Survey Corps are disappointed that Elita won't be attending the wedding, and they try to capture sneak peeks at her, because some of them didn't get a good look at her. Eren was really the only one. Hanji is very persistent, and Elita swears she can feel eyes burning into her back. But they do notice that since Elita has been around, Optimus' mood has significantly improved. Like he is definitely more sociable and talkative, and she's not even around!

Day of the wedding, Optimus bids her farewell, and Elita...decides to take a look around this place. This is the most relaxed that she's been in ages. She still hasn't seen Megatron yet. She wants to kick his ass. As she's walking around, she does mind her step and avoid the humans, but they do notice her and can't help but stare. They are aware that people like Optimus don't eat humans, but to see a titan in the walls walking around without a single alarm going off and a shot being fired is odd.

Elita is curious about the top of the walls. She's always wanted to know what was up there. Elita took few steps back, got into a starting position and bolted towards the wall. She managed to jump up and get some good distance before climbing it with ease and little damage. When she reached the top, she could hear cheering and clapping and looked down to see the humans that had been following her just praising her. Elita can only wave sheepishly before walking along the top of the wall and taking in the view from so high up. And it was breathtaking.

As she's walking along the walls, she comes across military men in uniforms with roses on them. They are a little tense when they see her, and Elita is just as tense, but Commander Pixis greets her to ease the tension (with Anka and Gustav keeping a very close eye on him). The two talk and Elita does learn more about the humans in the wall through the Commander. With what Elita knows; however, there is one burning question she has in her spark:

"Do you intend to continue the ways of your ancestors?" Elita demanded.

Pixis paused and looked up at her.

"I understand that your memories have been wiped of this knowledge, and you have only now just learned about it. I also understand that the sins of your ancestors should not reflect the innocent here and now," Elita explained, "But knowledge is power, and power can corrupt. Optimus has the habit of seeing the good and potential in everything, willing to grant opportunities for change."

Elita raised a servo to her spark. "Despite how I feel about Optimus, it is not a principle I can always agree with in such strenuous times. I need to know if Optimus' faith in you is well placed and you will not default to the carnage of your ancestors."

Pixis noticed the rather emotional look in Elita's optics at the name of Optimus, and how fond it looked. And suddenly, everything clicked. Why Optimus was in such a better mood, why the Survey Corps have been acting rather mischievous, why Megatron wasn't even here right now and avoid this place like the plague.

"I see," Pixis smiled before looking on ahead, "I wish I could speak on behalf of all who live within these walls, but we humans are fickle beings. Self preservation and greed is in our nature. When pushed to the brink of annihilations, there are those who would tear each other apart to survive, and those who choose to fight for those who cannot. Personally, I would like to continue fighting for a better and peaceful and free world. Only for the sole reason that my comrades who fought for that same dream, did not die in vain."

Elita is quite moved by the answer and laughs. "Well, at the very least, your answer is an honest one."

Elita thanks Pixis before jumping off the wall and landing on her feet with grace before returning to her temporary home. Pixis can only say 'well done Optimus' to himself.

The next day, Elita decides to introduce herself to the Survey Corps, thinking it would be best way to go considering she's decided to stay and help. And the Survey Corps couldn't help but notice the way Optimus beamed at the sight of Elita.

Side note: Anka threatened Pixis when Optimus informed them about Elita and she immediately pulled him aside.

"If you so much as look at her wrong I will castrate you and throw you over the walls, you drunken bastard," Anka seethed.

"Eh, not the worst way I've imagined going out," Pixis shrugged.

(Interactions between Elita and the Survey Corps will definitely be for the next ask)

[crinkled-emotions]

Day 29: Daggers adopting baby aviators

I forgot that I'd already put this on my AO3! (I cbf tagging, that'll be fixed now)

This is only the first chapter of... four I think? I have three finished so far. I'll publish the remainder once I finish days 30 and 31

How crazy is it that it's February- I still don't want to talk about it 😂

I finally did my make up exam this morning and I'm tired as hell considering I didn't get home from work until 11:45 last night but it's done and I feel surprisingly okay about it? I refuse to jinx it though.

-

“Do you think she’s scary?”

“Who?”

“Captain Trace. Phoenix.”

Juliette “Cowgirl” Ryder snorted, doing up the zip on her flight suit before turning to Zoe “Pigtails” Harries.

“She’s not scary; she’s terrifying.”

Pigtails’ eyebrows shot up under her bangs and Cowgirl laughed.

“I heard there’s never a dull moment in hers and Captain Floyd’s class. C’mon, let’s go, I don’t want to be late to Admiral Mitchell’s debrief.”

Cowgirl and Pigtails left the women’s change rooms, bumping into the other members of their TOPGUN class on the way. Benjamin “Shades” Kerner was waiting on the opposite wall to the door; Hudson “Posh” Miller, Cooper “Curse” James, Wesley “Titanium” Torres and Aaron “Soggy” Scott weren’t far behind him.

“Remember; show no fear,” Soggy hissed to the rest of his team as they all grabbed their notebooks and manuals to head into the hangar. Their eyebrows raised when they realised the Daggers were already standing up the front of the classroom, looking as much the elite squad they were.

“I think I just peed a little,” Titanium confessed as he slipped past Cowgirl with a hand on her arm. The moment they were all seated they heard footsteps and faced forward, already nervously sweating. It was TOPGUN; everyone was sweating.

“Good morning, aviators.”

The man, the myth.

The legend.

Admiral Pete “Maverick” Mitchell.

-

“Phoenix, you do realise there are separate changing rooms for a reason right?”

“Nothing I haven’t seen before. Seresin!”

Phoenix dodged Rooster’s arm, catching Hangman by the arm and pinning him to the lockers. For a woman standing at 5’7, she was surprisingly strong. Well, not surprising, considering her career.

“Repeat after me; I know I just came off paternity leave and I’m missing my baby but I will not be an asshole to these kids.”

“I- what? Slow down, I’m sleep deprived.”

Phoenix sent him a look and he groaned.

“Okay, fine. I know I just came off paternity leave and I’m missing my baby and wife but I will not be an asshole. Happy?”

“It’ll do. Now show me the photos!”

The Daggers all gathered around to see the photos of Hangman’s daughter- his first but by far not the first of the Dagger group. It had been eight years since the Dagger mission and it felt like they’d gone through major life changes one after another.

First, they’d all been promoted within three weeks of one another. Then again. And again, until they were all Captains. Next, the baby boom.

Payback and Coyote were already in long term relationships prior to the uranium mission but they’d married and had three kids between them (Payback’s wife had twins) within a year; Coyote and his wife had a beautiful baby boy and Payback had shown off their twin boy and girl with pride. Bob had snuck off to Florida to marry his boyfriend of three years, apparently waiting for him to come home from the mission, and they’d happily adopted a little girl after their 1 year anniversary. They were now talking about surrogacy. Fanboy had met a beautiful woman one night at the Hard Deck and they’d stayed together long enough to have their son, but it hadn’t worked out for a multitude of reasons. They were now great friends and had the poster for good co-parenting. Rooster, to everyone’s surprise, had a long term girlfriend back in Virginia Beach and she’d flown out to be with him in San Diego. They tried to start a family for almost two years without any luck, going through a couple of miscarriages, before they finally had their eldest son. He’d taken it hard but respected it when they started talking about not having another baby, only to find out his wife was pregnant when their baby wasn’t even three months old. Their daughter was born the month before their son turned 1 and the Daggers never let him forget it. Hangman was probably still laughing about it somewhere.

Even Phoenix took a breath and let herself find happiness. She cried for three days straight when she found out she was pregnant but Maverick had been quick to reassure her that her job would be waiting for her when she was ready to come back to work. She had her second baby- another boy to Rooster’s amusement- the previous summer.

Hangman had taken the six weeks paternity leave then a little extra when he saw the way his wife was struggling with recovering and caring for their new baby. It wasn’t her fault at all, it had been revealed she was suffering from severe anxiety prior to the birth and it had only worsened afterward. The last thing he wanted to do was stress her out more and he didn’t even have to beg Maverick who signed the paperwork for more time off without question.

“Daggers, let’s get a move on!” Maverick called into the change room and they all exchanged a look, scrambling to grab their helmets and go.

“Hey, Tasha, before I forget... thanks for coming by and helpin’ out, we both really appreciated it.”

Phoenix bumped Hangman’s waist.

“Yeah. You got it.”

-

The younger aviators were already seated when the Daggers walked up to the podium between the seats. They stood to either side of the lectern, leaving Maverick to do the introductions. Nervous energy was electric in the air, and Bob leaned over to whisper to Phoenix.

“Wonder if Mav’s gonna toss the manual again.”

“God I hope not, they’re expensive as fuck,” Phoenix replied. They shared a smile then returned to standing to attention when they heard those familiar footsteps. The younger team members stood as well, backs straight and hands by their sides. Maverick appeared, walking up the aisle himself to settle in front of the lectern.

“Good morning, aviators. My name is Admiral Pete Mitchell, callsign Maverick.”

“Mav,” Rooster prompted between his teeth.

“Thank you, Rooster. I’m also the Air Boss for this Naval Base, so everyone here reports to myself and your designated Captains. From left to right we have Captain Trace, callsign Phoenix. Captain Floyd, callsign Bob. Captain Fitch, callsign Payback and Captain Garcia, callsign Fanboy. Captain Machado, callsign Coyote, and Captain Seresin, callsign Hangman. Lastly Captain Bradshaw, callsign Rooster. Welcome to TOPGUN.”

The Daggers watched the reactions in the room and internally smirked to themselves. They’d worked hard to be here, they deserved to be a little cocky.

“First thing’s first; I assume you’re all familiar with the jet manual?”

“Yes sir,” echoed around the room and Maverick hummed, holding up the manual. Phoenix internally grimaced.

The manual went into the bin.

“Forget it. My version of TOPGUN means we’re going to use our brains and we’re going to test the limits of our aircraft; but we’re going to make sure we’re doing it in a way that means we’re not risking ourselves in the process.”

It may have been thirty-six years since his dad died but Rooster still dropped his gaze to his boots for a split second. Hangman bumped his shoulder and Rooster nodded at him, attention back on Maverick’s speech. The others would probably check on him later.

“Alright, team; gear up and get out there. You’ll be doing a hop with two Captains; three if it’s a two-seater. Keep your eyes open and don’t look down. Dismissed.”

The TOPGUN students scrambled out the door and Maverick glanced around the Daggers.

“Scared ‘em, right?”

“Ah c’mon, Mav,” Rooster said, “be nice. Ground crew hates cleaning out puke, you do know that right?”

“Thanks, Bradley,” Maverick deadpanned. The team all fell in behind him as he made an exit out of the classroom.

-

A few days passed and the Daggers had taken every opportunity to wipe the floor with the new kids; there had been plenty of panicked sounds and pushups. So many pushups.

“Hey, Shades, wait up!”

Shades whipped around, finding Rooster jogging up to him. He paused mid-step, waiting for the older man to catch up.

“I wanted to ask; have we met?”

“I’m not sure, sir. Have you served in Oceania or Milwaukee?”

Rooster’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Well, no, but I was actually referring to- uh.”

“Uh?”

“Ron Kerner... any relation?”

Shades’ face softened and he lifted his sunglasses from his eyes to prop them on top of his head.

“My grandfather on my mom’s side; kinda saved her ass and then mine too. Why?”

“Huh. Uh, your grandfather was one of my dad’s best friends. Crazy- hey, your mom’s Maya right? How’s she doing?”

Benjamin shrugged.

“Fine, I think. We don’t talk all that often, I don’t think she loves the idea of me being here.”

“My mom didn’t either.”

It just fell out of Rooster’s mouth, the fact he’d wrangled out of Maverick after the mission under the premise of tears and begging to know the truth. Benjamin frowned.

“Oh, no, we’re just... it’s personal.”

“I get that.”

A pregnant pause. Finally, Rooster cleared his throat.

“Thanks for clearing that up. You’re dismissed.”

“Yes sir.”

Shades returned to walking down the hallway whilst Rooster reached for his phone and flicked through his contacts.

“Hey Mav. No, I’m fine- can you meet me in your office? I need to have a look at Shades’ file. No- yeah, Benjamin. Kerner? Yeah, okay. Thanks.”

-

“Captain Trace?”

Phoenix glanced up at the call of her name, smiling at the younger women standing by the door.

“Hey guys; how’s it going? Please, Phoenix is fine.”

Cowgirl and Pigtails hesitantly stepped into the room and Phoenix finished fixing her boot, standing in front of them.

“Everything okay?”

“How do you do it?” Pigtails blurted, “be a kickass naval aviator, keep up with the boys’ club and be a mom?”

Phoenix blinked. Snorted.

“Well, uh, I don’t always. I have a great husband and we talk openly, and the guys here aren’t so bad. Don’t worry about Captain Seresin, he’s gone soft in his old age.”

“Isn’t he only 38?”

“Good answer, we’re the same age. What can I do for you two?”

“Nothing, we just- uh. You’re kind of a legend at the academy, Phoenix... it’s surreal to be learning from someone like you and we’re really grateful for this opportunity.”

Phoenix smiled.

“Thank you, that’s really sweet of you to say.”

As she headed for the exit Pigtails and Cowgirl followed like lost puppies, finally taking the opportunity to confirm some gossip.

“Phoenix, we were wondering if you knew how Captain Bradshaw got his callsign?”

Phoenix snorted.

“I gave it to him.”

They stared. Gobsmacked. Phoenix sighed.

“Okay no, it’s nothing like that... did you guys ever hear about the can opener on Suits?”

Cowgirl and Pigtails exchanged a look, and Phoenix grinned.

“Exactly; no one knows except me and Harvey Specter.”

-

“They’ve been staring for, like, five minutes, man.”

“Were we ever like that?”

“You were worse. For the record.”

Hangman and Coyote jolted apart when Maverick interrupted their gossip session, glaring at the Admiral.

“Maverick, why the sneak attack?” Hangman complained. Maverick grinned, gesturing toward Posh and Curse who were standing off to the side in the dining hall, pretending they weren’t staring at Hangman and Coyote from a distance.

“You could ask them if they wanted to eat with you,” Maverick suggested. Hangman scoffed and Coyote grimaced, which earned a snort.

“Okay, c’mon you two, I’ve read your files and you two weren’t angels at TOPGUN either. The least you could do is make sure they’re adjusting to this okay. It’s elite training, they’re probably scared as hell.”

“I wasn’t, I got in there and I kicked ass,” Hangman rebutted, but the hand on his shoulder stopped him from walking away.

“Those two are from the same town, they spend all their free time together and Posh is Curse’s wizzo. Ringing any bells?”

“I’m not his wizzo,” Hangman complained at the same time as Coyote sighed.

“Yes, sir. We’ll go make sure they’re handling it alright.”

“That’s what I want to hear. Report back if there’s any issues.”

“Thanks Mav.”

Maverick went to merge back into the crowd of aviators but Hangman called out at the last second.

“Hey, you seen Bradshaw anywhere?”

Maverick hummed.

“Something about Shades, he’s reading his file back in my office. I left him to it.”

Hangman and Coyote exchanged a look, a silent agreement. Hangman got up to go and check on Rooster whilst Coyote rounded to the table with Posh and Curse, greeting them with a relaxed smile and a joke.

-

“Captain Garcia?”

“Lieutenant Torres, is everything alright?”

“Sir, I think I need to... request a new pilot.”

Fanboy sat up at his desk, gesturing for Titanium to take a seat in front of him. The WSO did as told, wringing his hands together.

“It’s okay; just start from the start.”

“I- uh, well...”

Fanboy put down his pen and locked his computer’s screen.

“You wanna go hang shit on Payback and talk about what’s going on?”

Titanium blinked.

“Sir...”

“C’mon; it’s that or we find Captain Bradshaw and he puppy-eyes you into telling him all of your life’s secrets. He might be scary as fuck but he’s also scary good at it. Trust me.”

Fanboy stood, gesturing toward the door. Titanium hesitantly followed him into the office adjacent where Payback glanced up.

“What are you... uh, Lieutenant Torres, is everything okay?”

“He said something about a new pilot and I thought you and I could weasel the story out of him, no Bradshaw eyes needed.”

Payback leaned back in his seat, a knowing look crossing his face.

“That’s probably a good idea. Alright, Torres, what’s going on?”

“I- uh... Cowgirl- I mean Lieutenant Ryder- and I... we have known each other for a really long time... before we even flew together.”

Fanboy leaned back in his seat, smirking. Payback’s eyebrow raised.

“Okay...? I would have thought it would make you a good pair-“

“-Payback, man, they’ve been-“

“-and that’s why I think we should be separated. I know it complicates things, especially because we made it all the way to TOPGUN, but... yeah.”

Fanboy and Payback exchanged a look, then Payback nodded.

“I’ll talk to Maverick about it; have you mentioned this to Ryder?”

“She... doesn’t get it.”

“Hm,” Payback and Fanboy mused at the same time.

“Do we have to mention it to Admiral Mitchell, sir? I don’t think he’d appreciate knowing that I slept with my pilot.”

“Maybe; maybe not. It’s not professional conduct from either of you, but Maverick’s a wild card. He’s been in the Navy a really long time and it’s probably not the first time he’s heard of this happening.”

“It’s so rare than women and men aviators are paired together for this exact reason, Captain Fitch.”

“Yeah, maybe so, but you’d be surprised. You leave Maverick to us.”

“Us?” Fanboy hissed. Payback waved him off.

-

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, honey.”

Rooster glanced over his shoulder at his wife, sending her a soft smile when she put a hand on his back then stood beside him at the dining table. He had Shades’ file out in front of him, clearing his throat.

“Uh, well. I think I might have. Kids already down?”

“For now. Did something happen at work?”

Rooster hummed, leaning back in his seat.

“You might want to sit down for this one... or help me do the math.”

“Okay...?”

She took a seat, reaching over to take his hand.

“No more secrets, Bradley, remember what the marriage counsellor said?”

“I know. Uh, so, the Kerners- you remember Ron Kerner and his wife Sophie? They had a daughter and she was a couple years older than me, Maya. We... were a thing.”

“Oh no, is this one of those things about your first love? I don’t need to know about the first time you got laid-“

“-we were together for over a year, I barely turned 16 and she was almost 18 when her dad decided to leave California after Iceman- Tom Kazansky- was promoted to Admiral and he wasn’t going to be flying anymore. Ron and Sophie took Maya with them and that was the last I heard from them because soon after I had my fight with Mav and got the fuck outta town.”

“I’m following so far. What does this have to do with work?”

Rooster gestured to the file in front of him, Shades’ headshot and a brief typed description of his accomplishments. Neatly typed into the box lay his date of birth, and Rooster’s wife sucked in a breath.

“You’ve got another kid? He’s an adult?”

“I don’t know. He didn’t say anything, but I don’t know if he knows. Do I ask him? Do I see if I still have Maya’s number? Shit, this is complicated. The dates kind of match up I think but Maya would have said something. I thought she would have called...”

Mrs Bradshaw stood, dropping a kiss to his temple before leaving to get one of the kids yelling for her. In the meantime, Rooster reached for his phone.

Rooster: we need to meet before work tomorrow morning

Maverick: that’s so early

Maverick: I’m an old man now

Rooster: it’s important and I’ll bring coffee

Maverick: See you at 6:30

Maverick: everything okay?

Rooster: kind of

Maverick: that’s mildly daunting

Rooster: see you at 6:30

-

[rewriting-thearrowverse]

This one was posted August 27, 2023. And there are 3 more that have already been written to post. After that, I have no more backlog in drafts.

𝑺𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝟏 𝑬𝒑𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒅𝒆 𝟒: 𝑨𝒏 𝑰𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑴𝒂𝒏 (𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝟏)

*Oliver's Voiceover*

My name is Oliver Queen. I was stranded on an island, with one goal. To survive.

*Flashback*

Oliver Queen is alive.

Now I will fulfill my father's dying wish.

*flashback*

"Survive" says Robert before shooting himself in the head.

To use the list of names he gave me to bring down those poisoning our city. But to do this, I must become someone else, I must be something else.

Diggle wakes up in Oliver's lair, to see the vigilante without his hood.

➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳

"You're that vigilante." Dig gets off the table

"Easy Dig, you were poisoned."

"Son of a bitch." Diggle says as he swings at Oliver

Oliver dodges it "come on.. I could've taken you anywhere, but I brought you here."

"You really did lose your mind on that island." Diggle says

"Found some things along the way."

"What? Archery classes?" Diggle says with snark

"Clarity. Starling City is dying, being poisoned by a criminal elite who don't care who they hurt. As long as they remain at the top..

"What are you gonna do, take them out by yourself?" John asks

"I want your help, special forces out of Kandahar. You're a fellow soldier."

"You're not a soldier. You're a criminal."

"And a murderer."

Oliver walks through the door of the mansion and sees Laurel "Where were you? "

➴◈◉◈➶◈◉◈➴◈◉◈➶◈◉◈➴◈◉◈➶◈◉◈➴◈◉◈➶

"What are you doing here?" He asks

"There was a shooting at your stepfather's auction, so naturally as a friend, I came by to make sure you didn't get shot."

"And what I found was a family worried with the same concerns."

"Oh."

"You need to start remembering something Oliver." She said

He listened.

"You're not on an island anymore. There are people here that care about you now, whether you like it or not. You need to show them the basic decency of letting them know you're okay in situations like this. You didn't even text them."

"I can handle that.. But your family doesn't deserve to be treated like that."

"Laurel, thank you for coming."

"Please.. Just do better." She says with a sigh as she leaves.

Oliver sighs with his head back and Thea walks up behind him "That was harsh."

"Are you okay?" She asks as she gives him a hug.

"Just.. It's the second time tonight a friend has taken me to the woodshed, it tires you out.."

"Goodnight."

*Flashback*

Yao Fei comes into the cage carrying a woven cage with a bird in it.

"Shengcún." He says

"What am I supposed to do with that?"

"Shengcún!" he repeats as he walks.

"I don't speak Chinese!"

Oliver looks at his little picture of Laurel. "I'm so sorry Laurel.. So sorry."

➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴Oliver wakes up with a start, and walks down stairs where Thea is watching TV.

"There were no signs of forced entry, but later the police found the bloodstained kitchen knife in the trunk."

"Couldn't sleep either?" Thea asks as she notices Oliver.

"No" he says taking a seat next to her on the couch

"Forensic Analysis confirmed.. "

"What are you watching?" Oliver asks

"It's about Peter Declan, a man who murdered his wife in front of their baby."

"Despite the growing list of evidence, Declan remains in denial."

"Camille was everything to me, I couldn't kill her anymore than I could myself."

"Psycho.." Thea says before turning her attention to Oliver.

"So, why can't you sleep?"

"Just Bad dreams." He says

"About?"

"Laurel.."

"So why don't you make a play? I mean she did come to make sure you didn't get shot."

"I have reasons.." He says

"What are they, other than you sleeping with her sister, who also died. Her father hating you, and you being a jerk to everyone since you came back?"

"Those.. Are the main ones."

He sighs "I know it may not always seem like it... But I'm not the person I was anymore."

"Then show her.. Show her your new self."

➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳In the morning Oliver walks downstairs and sees his mother sitting on the couch and a man standing in the corner of the room.

"How did you sleep?" Moira asks

"Just fine." He says as he walks by her.

"We have a visitor." He says

"Mr Diggle's replacement"

"Replacement?"

"He resigned on account of you constantly ditching him."

Oliver walks over to the other man "Hi."

Mr Queen, Rob Scott." He says as he shakes his hand

"That's a firm grip you have Rob." Oliver says

"That's 5 years SWAT with Monument Point MCU."

"I feel safer already."

"Thank god we don't have to hear about this awful man anymore." Moira says as she looks at the TV.

Oliver unmutes it.

"The execution of Peter Declan is slated for midnight 2 days from now."

Camille's former employer, Jason Brodeur had this to say "I hope this gives Camille the peace she deserves."

A look of realization covers Oliver's face for a brief moment and "Jason Brodeur" slips out of his mouth

"What?" Moira asks

"The dead wife worked for Jason Brodeur." He says

"Apparently.. Why?"

"No reason."

Oliver speaks up "Rob, I'd like to go into town. May you grab the car for me?"

"No Offense Mr Queen, but I know you're a flight risk. If it's all the same, I'd prefer to keep you in my sights at all times." Rob says

"We're 20 miles from the city, how are we supposed to get there if you don't take me?" Oliver says

Rob looks at him and then walks outside.

"I like him!" Oliver says enthusiastically

➴◈◉◈➶◈◉◈➴◈◉◈➶◈◉◈➴◈◉◈➶◈◉◈➴◈◉◈➶

Outside Rob is waiting by the car when Oliver races past him on a motorcycle as he waves.

Rob waves back until the realization hits him "Hey!"

➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴

*Oliver's Voiceover*

They say Peter Declan killed his wife in cold blood. He had no allibi.. And all evidence pointed to him.

In a warehouse, Jason Brodeur stands next to another man.

This would be an open shut case, except Camille worked for Jason Brodeur... And he's on the list.

"Mr. Brodeur. "

"Admiring your handiwork?" Asks Brodeur

"You should've just let me kill both of them." The man says

"Declan is worth more alive."

Jason speaks again "Husband kills wife is a much better headline than whistle blower uncovers toxic dumping, don't ya think?"

"Besides, in 48 hours all of this will be over."

➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳

*Oliver's Voiceover*

The odds are good that Brodeur is involved with Camille's murder. Which means an Innocent man is facing execution.

He'll need a good attorney.

➴◈◉◈➶◈◉◈➴◈◉◈➶◈◉◈➴◈◉◈➶◈◉◈➴◈◉◈➶

Back at CNRI, Laurel is packing up for the night when Johanna speaks up.

"So I take it there's no point in asking you if you want to get a drink?"

"That would be accurate. I still have to go over the transcripts in the Fernands case."

"You know, your chances of meeting someone are way better, if you go somewhere that isn't work or home."

"Mm. Could still get mugged on the way home." She says with a slight smirk

"Well, then I hope he's cute and single." She retorts

"Good night, Jo." Laurel said walking out the door.

The scene changed as Laurel walked into her house. It was dark and the lights wouldn't turn on.

Her senses kicked in, she was very aware that someone was there. She readied herself to grab a knife.

She remembered this could be a simple threat, and didn't want to show everything she knew, so instead she reached for a pistol in a drawer, speaking up.

"If you're trying to be discreet, you're terrible at it. I've known you were here since I walked in."

She looked back and saw the hooded man looking back at her, and he said "Hello Laurel."

"You better stay where you are, Robin Hood." She warned.

Sure, she wasn't gonna outright attack the vigilante, but if he tried anything, he'd get a piece of her combat training.

"I'm not gonna hurt you." Said the deep voice

"You move, I shoot. And something tells me I can pull this trigger faster than you can shoot those arrows."

"I'm not the person you think I am. I need your help."

"Peter Declan is gonna be executed in 48 hours. I think he is innocent."

"His wife was going to report Jason Brodeur for Toxic dumping. Brodeur had her killed."

"And out of the thousands of Lawyers in Starling City, you choose me. Why is that?" She asked

"We're both trying to help."

"And what makes you so sure I'd help you?" She asked

He walked around her saying "Because I know you would do anything to save the life of an innocent man."

As she looked up her gun was lowered and he was gone.

Laurel is sitting at a table in Iron Heights across from Peter Declan as he looks at a picture of his daughter.

➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴

"A jury has found you guilty Mr. Declan." She started

"The evidence was stacked against me, but I didn't kill my wife. My daughter's mother."

"The murder weapon was a knife from your kitchen with your with your prints on it and your wife's blood."

"It was found in the trunk of your car."

"And your neighbors said they heard an argument that night."

He sighed "it was about Jason Brodeur. They were dumping toxic waste.. And Camille told me she went to a supervisor about it."

"I was afraid for my family's safety, so yes, we argued. Very loudly."

"Izzy started crying so Camille stayed with her over night. I came in during the morning to apologize, and that's when I found her.."

"....I just took Izzy, and I ran outside... And I called the cops."

"I'm innocent Ms. Lance."

Back in his office at Queen consolidated, Walter is checking the records on his desktop as Moira walked in.

"Well, it looks like somebody forgot a lunch date with his wife." She said

"What do you mean? Lunch isn't for another.... Oh. 45 minutes ago."

"I'm sorry." Walter apologized.

"It's alright, the restaurant is still holding our table." She says, her smile faltering as she noticed a distressed expression on his face.

"Is everything okay?"

"It's.. Well Compliance department has tagged something.. A $2.6 million withdrawal from one of our subsidiaries in Vancouver."

"W-what? Are you saying someone embezzled $2.6 million from the company?" She asked

"Well, it's more likely a bookkeeping error, Compliance is understandably worried about an IRS Audit."

He saw her concerned expression and spoke again "But don't worry, I'm sure it's nothing."

"Come on, we'll be late. well, Later. " He said as he turned to leave.

At the Police station, Laurel met with her father to ask about the old Declan case.

"I wasn't the lead on that investigation, but as I recall, we had prints, blood and there was motive."

"Brodeur seems like the kind of guy to have the right resources for a proper frame up." Laurel said as she looked through the file.

"In 24 hours Peter Declan is getting the needle in his arm. And he isn't getting back up."

"Don't you think if I thought for a second we had the wrong man, I'd be doing everything I could to get to what really happened?" Quentin asks

"Declan said his wife went to a supervisor on Toxic waste dumping allegations." Laurel says

"Yeah, but he said that never happened." He says as he looks through the file

"What was his name?"

"Istook.. Matt Istook."

"He said he didn't even see Camille that day. Happy now?" He said looking up at her

"Yes." She said with a smile as she stood up.

"You know, I thought it would be a cold day in hell before you started defending criminals."

"Not so sure he is one.. But like you said, he's on a clock. I can't leave any stone unturned." She says as she walks off

"Oh yeah."

John was sitting at a Table at Big Belly Burger, as Carly walked over with his food.

"So when are you gonna tell me what happened to your arm?"

"Oh, this? It's my shoulder. It's fine..." He said

"I had a feeling that Queen guy was trouble."

"Hey, I never said this happened protecting Queen." He responded

She looked past John as she spoke "Oh yea then why is he here?"

Oliver and Rob walked through the door.

"Are is secure, sir."

"Thank you very much Rob." He said, heading towards Dig.

"Hello Diggle's sister-in-law Carly. I'm Oliver Queen."

"I know who you are." She responded.

"No, you really don't." John said with a hint of snark in his tone.

Carly walked away as Oliver took a seat.

"I couldn't help but notice a distinct lack of police cars when I got home. I knew you wouldn't drop a dime on me." Oliver said

"So have you considered my offer?"

"Offer? That's one hell of a way to put it."

"It is an offer."

"It's a chance to do the kind of good, you joined the military to do." Oliver continued.

"Please. You were born with a platinum spoon in your mouth Queen. What, 5 years without room service and you find religion?" John said with a scoff

Oliver takes the tiny book out of his pockets and places it on the table saying, "This was my father's. I found it when I buried him."

Diggle's eyes widened slightly. "I thought you said he went down with the boat."

"We both made it to a life raft. But there wasn't enough food and water for both of us, so he shot himself in the head." Oliver began.

"And as much as he did it to help me survive.. I also believe it was his way of atoning for his sins."

"I need to right the wrongs done by my family... And I'm giving you the chance to right the wrongs done to yours."

"What are you talking about man?"

"The police never identified your brother's killer."

"Leave Andy out of this-"

"The bullets were laced with curare, the M.O. of deadshot, The sniper I stopped." Oliver said as he looked at John

"You're telling me you took down Andy's killer?"

'I'm giving you.. A chance to help other people's families. Do you remember when people in this city helped each other?"

"They can't anymore... Because the group of people like my father see nothing wrong with stepping on people's throats to raise themselves up higher."

"It needs to stop. And if not by the cops and the law, then it's gonna be me. And I hope you." Oliver finished as he stood up.

He walked by Rob saying, "I'm gonna go to the washroom real quick."

Rob nodded his head as Oliver walked off. After Diggle's and Rob stood in silence for a little bit, Dig spoke up as he looked at Rob.

"That boy's long gone."

Rob looked at him very concerned.

"Phew." He said imitating a speeding bullet taking off.

Moira walked into the Living Room where she saw Walter looking around with his glasses on.

➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴

She walked to the table nearby and said "Still following the money trail?"

"Mhm."

She stepped towards a little table as she spoke again. "Don't we have accountants for this sort of thing?"

Not looking up, Walter said "Well, they're being singularly ineffective in this instance."

Moira poured herself a glass of wine as she spoke again, "I suppose it's fortunate I've solved the mystery."

She walked towards Walter.

"I believe I am the culprit... 2.6 million, it's a rather specific figure."

"It's the exact amount the company invested in the start up venture of a friend a few years ago."

He still wasn't convinced.

"I'll call accounting to clear it up."

"There's nothing to worry about." She said as she turned to leave the room.

"You're putting a lot of hours into this Declan thing... You actually think he's innocent?" Johanna asked Laurel back at the office.

➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳

"Somebody does." She responds as she looks through the file again.

"You haven't said who yet."

"Well..." She walks Johanna away and whispered "The Guardian Angel."

"The guy in the hood?!" She whisper tells

"You're joking, right?"

"He found me and asked if I'd look into this case."

"But you've met him."

"Look I know. He's a vigilante. He's killed people, and whatever else.." Laurel looked up from the file.

"And how do you know he isn't gonna do the same to you?" Johanna asks

"He won't. I can tell."

"When I said you should meet someone, this is not what I meant." Johanna sighed, exasperated.

Laurel meets with the Hood on a roof.

✧𖣠♫✧𖣠♫✧𖣠♫✧𖣠♫✧𖣠♫✧𖣠♫✧𖣠♫✧𖣠♫✧𖣠♫✧𖣠

"I got your message, but did it have to be like this?"

"You've met with Peter Declan."

"I think you're right, he might be innocent."

"He said his wife told on Brodeur to the supervisor the day she was killed." Laurel says

"We'll need to get him to testify."

"Matt Istook. He did, said she didn't say anything to him."

"He could be lying."

"If he did, then he's very convincing. Enough to fool the police and courts." She said

"He hasn't been questioned by me."

"Look.. I didn't become a lawyer to hurt anyone."

"I do what I need to for people like Peter Declan." The Hood spoke.

Laurel looked at him.

"If what you're doing isn't wrong... Why hide your face?"

She had more than one reason to ask him..

"I need to protect the people I care about."

"It sounds lonely..."

"It can be.." He said as he walked towards the edge of the roof.

"But not today!"

He grappled off into the distance, off the building.

[heartsoulrocknroll]

AEW Dynamite 11/16/22

Bryan Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli vs. Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara -- Claudio does lunges while holding Guevara in a suplex position before dropping him!!! Guevara continues to target the eye of Danielson that was injured in the 2 out of 3 falls match. Danielson with some aggressive running dropkicks into the corner!!! Guevara with a drop toe hold, driving Danielson's face into the bottom turnbuckle. Jericho hits Danielson in the head with the bat!! Claudio gets the hot tag!! He absolutely throws Guevara around like a rag doll and pummels Jericho in the corner with vicious uppercuts!! Danielson and Guevara back in. Beautiful rolling elbow from Danielson to Guevara!!! Series of kicks by Danielson!! Guevara goes back to Danielson's injured eye. Jumping knee by Guevara!!!! Danielson reverses a GTH attempt and grabs the LeBell lock!!!!!!! Guevara gets to the ropes. Top rope cutter by Guevara!!!! Jericho tags in and hits a Lionsault on Danielson, but Claudio breaks up the pin! Claudio absolutely hurls Guevara so high in the air and hits a huge uppercut!!!! Claudio tags in! Jericho goes for a shot with the bat, but Claudio catches him in the Giant Swing!!! When Claudio releases him, Jericho grabs the bat again. Claudio snatches the bat away and locks in the Sharpshooter!! Jericho taps!!! Claudio now has two falls on Jericho since losing the ROH World Championship to him!!! This match rocked!!!! Excited for the four way at Full Gear!!!!

The Acclaimed debut their music video, in which Caster raps about Swerve. It's pretty funny. Not gonna lie. Lol.

Death Triangle (c) vs. Top Flight and AR Fox for the AEW World Trios Championship -- Good to see Darius back and to see AR Fox in AEW! Darius and Dante throw Pac into a cutter by AR Fox!!! Standing moonsault from Pac and double team cazadora bomb from Penta and Fénix at the same time on Fox! Later on, 450 off the top rope by Fox on Fénix, but Fénix kicks out!! Fear Factor by Penta and Fénix followed by Black Arrow by Pac gets the three count on Fox!! Death Triangle retains again!!!

After the match, Pac calls out The Elite. "If they think they can just mozy in and best the Death Triangle, that's ridiculous. Death Triangle runs from nobody!! You may think you're coming for us, but we've been waiting for you." Go off, Pac!!!!! I am so hyped for this match!!!!!!!! But if The Elite win, I will jump out a window. I need Death Triangle to have the reign they deserve.

Bandido vs. Ethan Page (AEW World Championship number one contender tournament) -- This was fine. Page wins with Ego's Edge. Yawn.

Here comes Moxley to the ring with Regal. Moxley says his liking to fight isn't a good thing. He says he is sick in the head. He's addicted to the adrenaline rush, to hurting himself and his opponent. He said you can't hurt him, because he literally doesn't care. That's who Jon Moxley is. He says he has been trying to figure out who MJF is. He says the world sees what MJF wants them to see, prepared speeches and hand-picked opponents. But what Moxley sees is a kid playing wrestler, who is afraid he won't live up to the hype. Moxley says MJF isn't challenging him, Moxley is challenging MJF to show him something, to show him why people think MJF is going to be the future of this industry.

The Firm attacks and beats Moxley down!!!!!!! MJF runs out on a mission!!!! He takes out the Gunns and Moriarty on the ramp!!! He jumps into the ring and gives Morrissey a swift low blow!!! Ethan Page tries for a kick on MJF, but MJF dodges him and sends him into Morrissey instead. Then MJF puts his thumb in Page's eye and lands a low blow and a big left hand strike!!! I AM FREAKING OUT!!!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!! MJF USING HEEL TACTICS LIKE THE LOW BLOWS AND THE THUMB TO THE EYE BUT STILL LOOKING LIKE THE BABYFACE OPPOSITE THE FIRM IS MAKING ME INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MJF tells Stokely and The Firm, "If I were you, I'd get the hell out of Connecticut before I firmly take my boot and shove it up your ass." He then turns to Moxley, who is still down and out. "I did not save your ass because I like you, Jon. I saved you because I don't want any of your pissant, mark fan club making any excuses for you when I knock your lights clean out. No Dynamite Diamond Ring necessary. Ain't that right, Will? When I got into this business, my ultimate goal was to become the best wrestler in the world. And I'm not an idiot, Jon. I know this Saturday, I'm in for the fight of my life. You're one double tough, bad son of a bitch. But know this, I ain't the same kid I was the first time we fought for that piece of gold. You see, this time, you can dump me on my head as many times as you want, you can make me bleed buckets, you can snap, crackle, and pop every single ligament, joint, and bone in my body, but I will not stop. Because I need that belt more than I need water, more than I need food, and more than I need oxygen. Because when you're the man that holds the AEW World title, that makes you the best wrestler on God's green earth, and goddamn it, it's my time!!! Now I heard you last week when you said I'm not the devil. That's classic. Maybe you haven't been listening very well, so allow me to tell you. The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist. And this Saturday at Full Gear, you are going to find out that I am the devil himself." MJF starts with his catchphrase, but Moxley takes the mic out of his hand before he can finish. Moxley says he never really saw the big deal with MJF, but at Full Gear, they are going to find out. Moxley says if MJF can't find it inside of himself, Moxley is gonna reach in and pull it out of him. He says at Full Gear, the training wheels come off.

LET'S GOOOOOOOOO. I AM SO EXCITED. I CAN'T REMEMBER THE LAST TIME I WAS THIS EXCITED FOR ANYTHING IN AMERICAN WRESTLING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mister-leonn]

With my easy-to-cry-and-fly Treecko in my pocket, the start of my Hoenn journeys was... slow. I tried to make him fight wild Pokémons for hours in vain, he would always run away, cry or cry while running away, that's how I came to meet Wurmple, a single brain celled but Jolly organism who happened to just stand there, chewing leaves, minding her own business, I thought it was the perfect target for Treecko, a defenseless, completely unaware of danger little bug, and he actually gathered his strength and tried to confidently walk toward her and hit her in the back, if only she didn't turn to him and used String Shot on his face, a traumatic event indeed as he ran away screaming and crying. I could only sigh at this desesperating scene, I just sat there, pouting, watching a bush shivering like a Maschiff shaking off water of its fur as Treecko was hiding in it, while thinking about how to make him gather some courage, little Wurmple crawled up to me and laid between my legs for a nap, which I didn't notice for a moment. When i realized Wurmple felt completely unbothered by her surrounding the idea came to my mind, if Treecko could befriend a wild Pokémon perhaps he would be more eager to fight it, knowing what to expect, but perhaps, "wild" was too scary for him, I decided to catch Wurmple then, after all Treecko wasn't so bothered by Beldum. I walked up to him and sat him next to Wurmple, he jumped out of scare and just stayed completely paralyzed with fear, but Wurmple just crawled and fell asleep next to him, I thought Treecko would never ease down but he actually did a bit, until he felt completely calmed next to her, he even went for a hello when she woke up, the first time I actually saw him get the courage to meet another Pokémon on his own. After a time he even agreed to a battle with Wurmple, I could tell Treecko was scared to his bones but to my great relief he actually went for a Pound of his tail, which crash landed on the ground as Wurmple dodged it, he came back crying his eyes out but I couldn't be happier, to his surprise, I told he finally went to use a move, even if it failed, even if it wasn't great, he found the strength to do it, all thanks to Wurmple, so I decided to keep her. She quickly evolved, as many bug types, into a Silcoon and then a Beautifly, I couldn't be happier to see her turn into such magnificent Pokémon, not only that but also strong, thanks to Sceptile, I tend to believe they help each other finding strength within themselves, Sceptile helped her become a strong Pokémon and always look at her to find his own strength, as a call back of how much he used to cry, and she was his first victory on life. It's a relationship that goes beyond the simple friendship I believe, an emotional bond to help them grow and find the strength in each other to keep going. As a result of his training and an expertise of Mr Aaron, a member of Sinnoh's Elite 4, she learned Psychic, Shadow Ball, Quiver Dance and Bug Buzz and Swarm ability, resembling the Overgrow ability used by Sceptile.

[rain-candles-jazz]

whumpcember day 5: "i hate you"

tw: medical, restraint, sharp instruments

Sariel opened her eyes instantly upon regaining consciousness. She proceeded to try to jump to her feet, but found that her arms and legs were tightly bound... again. Even if it had never worked before, she struggled with all her strength to attempt to escape them.

With this effort, and her adrenaline beginning to die down a bit, she noticed a pain in her left abdomen that flared up with each additional attempt at movement. Sari stopped and stared at the ceiling... the now familiar ceiling with the stain that reminded her of a tea cup and saucer, the ceiling she had counted the pockmarks of many times. She was tired and angry, and she just wanted all this to be over.

"ITCHY!" she yelled, her side aching with the effort. "ITCHY GET THE HELL-"

"WHAT?!" came Itchy's reply from across the room, probably from his curtained prep closet. Footsteps approached the table she was strapped too, and she heard the distinct sound of metal instruments clacking against a metal tray. "I swear you are so impatient," Itchy tutted.

Sari could only see glimpses of him, swaying back and forth, instruments clacking as he sorted them.

"Itchy," Sari growled. "What happened?" A question, voiced as a command.

Itchy was unfazed by her tone. "Don't you remember? God, you have a terrible memory." He stood tall, hovering over her so that she could see him, that look of superiority that she hated so much plastered on his face. Her side ached anew, and she winced, attempting to show no more signs of weakness. "You failed to grasp the entire scope of the battlefield! What kind of elite soldier drone thing can't even dodge some friendly fire?"

Sari blinked at him before realizing what he'd said. "You... you SHOT me?!"

Itchy shrugged. "It was a perfectly good line of fire. Can't help it if you stepped in front of it. Amateur mistake on your part, really."

Sari was furious. Itchy had shot her in the back and blamed her for it. Before she could say anything else about it, the ache in her side turned into a sharp stabbing pain.

"Aahhh!! What- what the hell are you doing?!" she shouted, attempting with little progress to flinch away from the feeling.

"I'm trying to get some of my shot back," he said as though it were the most obvious think in the world. "I'd much rather dig out what I can. Do you have any idea how much of a pain it is to make buckshot?"

Sari recognized the feeling of a scalpel slicing afresh at her side. "AAugh!! S-stop! Itchy, please!" He cut deeper, and she felt like the blade was slicing straight through her brain, instantly erasing all clear thoughts.

"Ugh," Itchy replied in annoyance. "If I had any anesthetic, you know I'd give it to you. If for no other reason to shut you up." He knew well from trial and error that the restraints he used would hold Sari still enough to do what he had to. He grabbed a laryngoscope to poke around through the shredded muscles of Sari's abdomen. They tensed as he touched them, and he impatiently pushed them away so he could look further into the tissue.

Sari clenched her teeth and closed her eyes as she felt the cold metal pressing through her flesh. "Ah-ah! Itchy-" The scalpel was sliding in now, and she felt a deep cut further up towards her ribs. "Itchy stop!! God why?!"

Itchy ignored her completely, dropping the scalpel and grabbing a small pair of needle-nose pliers. He maneuvered them in, gripping a small jagged metal slag that was imbedded in tissue. He pulled it towards him, ripping the tissue it was lodged in.

Sari tensed all over. She opened her eyes wide but saw only white stars. Her mouth opened, but nothing came out.

Itchy dropped the metal piece on his tray with a clang. He smiled. He knew there was stuff to salvage from this incident! He grabbed the scalpel again and began to poke around.

After a few moments, Sari seemed to regain herself a little, and she began to make noises that gradually progressed into words. "Ah... I... I... h... ha... haah!" Another pinch from inside her muscles made her wince. Another deep cut made her scream, and her voice and mind integrated enough to make her feelings known. "AAaah- I HATE YOU!" She yelled at full volume, straight into the ceiling. "I HATE YOU I HATE YOU UUNH-" Yet another stab. "I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU!!"

Itchy winced at the sheer intensity of her voice but continued working through her mindless tirade. "Yeah well," he said softly, more to himself than anything. "Its not exactly my goal to be loved."

[wingsfromwhere]

reach would be a good game if the devs didnt go insane on the elite’s AI, literal garbage AI. on legendary the ai will sprint everywhere whilst blast you full force and if you try to close the distance they just run away so your only option for dealing with them is using instant hit weapons wich is nearly no plasma weapon (plasma weapons wich are the only efficient way to deplete their shields) and theres nothing you can do if you have to kill two at once, they will dodge everything you have to throw at them or soak up the rest with shields all while landing every singles plasma shot on you from 20 yards away  

[bananainbox]

Is doom 2016 snapmap any good

#Is doom 2016 snapmap any good mod#

#Is doom 2016 snapmap any good upgrade#

#Is doom 2016 snapmap any good full#

#Is doom 2016 snapmap any good full#

When his health is depleted he will respawn again with a full health bar. When he uses the laser beam just do a double jump to the side.Ī great weapon to down him quickly is the Heavy Assault Rifle with the Micro Missiles Mod. In the first phase he uses mostly rockets which you can easily dodge by running in circle around the boss. For the trophy the difficulty does not matter. This video shows the fight on Ultra Violence difficulty (hard). You fight him at the end of mission 9 (Lazarus Labs). Plus it has really good range and splash damage to kill multiple targets at once.Ĭyberdemon is the first boss in Doom. It lets you fire a grenade that kills most enemies on a direct hit.

#Is doom 2016 snapmap any good mod#

This will drop more health than shooting them and saves ammo.Īlso make sure you buy the “Explosive Shot” mod for the shotgun at the field drone. The smallest enemies are easily defeated with melee attacks. A charge shot with the pistol can kill some enemies in 1 hit. Use the alternate fire of the pistol to zoom in. Try to let them come to you one by one and stay as far back as possible. Best thing you can do is bait the enemies. On this difficulty you die in 3-4 hits and you gain very little health and armor from pickups. Luckily, there’s no trophy for beating all missions in this mode, you only need the first one. If you die you respawn at the very beginning of the game. This is a hardcore mode without checkpoints. You don’t have to pick it up again when you die.įor this you need to complete the first mission on Ultra-Nightmare. It’s okay if you miss a few of those.Īs soon as you pick up a collectible it will be saved instantly and you can exit the mission without having to reach the next checkpoint.

#Is doom 2016 snapmap any good upgrade#

You don’t need every single secret to fully upgrade everything. The secrets will give you weapon upgrade points. Some are still hard to find because you need to use switches that aren’t marked. The Praetor Upgrade called “Full View” reveals the collectible locations on the map (except for Secrets). This makes them an important part of the game. You are allowed to get them via chapter select after beating the story, just don’t start a completely new game until you have all of them.Īll collectibles (except for dolls & data logs) let you upgrade your gear. For two of the trophies “Overclocked” & “Argent Fiend” you have to find all Elite Guards & Argent Cells in one campaign playthrough. You can get everything via chapter select at any time. Finding all locations is required for the following 13 trophies / achievements: There are the following collectible types in Doom 2016: 79 Secrets, 26 Collectibles (Dolls), 49 Data Logs, 36 Elite Guards (Praetor Upgrades), 12 Argent Cells, 12 Field Drones, 12 Rune Trials. Continued abuse of our services will cause your IP address to be blocked indefinitely.All Collectible Locations (Secrets, Collectibles, Data Logs, Elite Guards, Argent Cells, Field Drones, Rune Trials) Please fill out the CAPTCHA below and then click the button to indicate that you agree to these terms. If you wish to be unblocked, you must agree that you will take immediate steps to rectify this issue. If you do not understand what is causing this behavior, please contact us here. If you promise to stop (by clicking the Agree button below), we'll unblock your connection for now, but we will immediately re-block it if we detect additional bad behavior. Overusing our search engine with a very large number of searches in a very short amount of time.Using a badly configured (or badly written) browser add-on for blocking content.Running a "scraper" or "downloader" program that either does not identify itself or uses fake headers to elude detection.Using a script or add-on that scans GameFAQs for box and screen images (such as an emulator front-end), while overloading our search engine.There is no official GameFAQs app, and we do not support nor have any contact with the makers of these unofficial apps. Continued use of these apps may cause your IP to be blocked indefinitely. This triggers our anti-spambot measures, which are designed to stop automated systems from flooding the site with traffic. Some unofficial phone apps appear to be using GameFAQs as a back-end, but they do not behave like a real web browser does.Using GameFAQs regularly with these browsers can cause temporary and even permanent IP blocks due to these additional requests. If you are using Maxthon or Brave as a browser, or have installed the Ghostery add-on, you should know that these programs send extra traffic to our servers for every page on the site that you browse.The most common causes of this issue are: Your IP address has been temporarily blocked due to a large number of HTTP requests.

[freshabogados]

Nerf to a Gunfight

I got bonked on the head with a Nerf dart by a random kid on the beach and it developed into this.

My hands have lost all control.

Tags: Matt takes playfight a little too seriously, nothing but fluff, boyfriend!matt, gn!reader, Nerf gun violence, mention of smut but nothing more, SFW.

Pairing: Matt Murdock x gn!reader

"Do it. It's what you've been waiting for isn't it? So go on. Pull the trigger." Matt was being extra dramatic. Acting has become second nature to him.

It started as a joke. Your cousin left his Nerf gun at your place last week when you were babysitting him. He used your bedroom door as target practice, often missing the large target. The child in you wanted to do childish things. You couldn't deny it.

Matt had just gotten back home from work. He put his cane and briefcase on the table next to the door. He called out your name only to hear a muffled giggle in response.

Oh oh. What are you upto now?

"Sweetheart, what are you doing?" Matt called out eagerly.

You walked out from your hiding spot behind the bedroom door. Your hands stretched out infront of you, the object of interest gripped tightly in your hands.

"Don't you dare try anything funny, Murdock. Move to your left and you'll find a gun and some darts. Pick it up." playful seriousness took over your voice.

A jolly smile adorned Matt's face as he followed your instructions.

Oh that's what you're up to.

Matt listened to you talk about your cousin's target practice session. You had hinted about having a play fight with him but he wasn't expecting it today.

The rules were simple. Whoever made it to the rooftop with atleast one dart left in their gun was the winner. And the prize? That was the fun part. The winner gets to choose it.

Matt had gotten a few good shots at you. You didn't consider his heightened senses as an advantageous factor for him. You mentally cursed yourself for forgetting it.

It was very difficult to dodge Matt's strikes. He somehow always knew which way you'd move. But you had an idea. You had to back him to a corner and trap him there. He would break out easily but even a few seconds was enough for you to run to the staircase.

The furniture had been moved around by the both of you in an attempt to have more space. You had eventually pushed Matt against the living room window. The coffee table blocked his legs from moving forward and you gave a small push to the coffee table making Matt stumble and fall back to the windowsill.

This was your opportunity to run. You didn't think twice before you dashed to the staircase. Matt got himself out of the poorly made trap in few seconds. But you had the high ground. You took cover on the staircase leading to the rooftop, with a Nerf N-Strike Elite in your hands with two more bullets remaining. Matt was standing a few steps below you, hair sticking out in different directions, tie hanging losely on his neck, sleeves rolled up exposing his forearm, surrounded by darts. They were lying all over the apartment, most of them were his. You hadn't gotten even one good hit at Matt.

This was very difficult.

"I will destroy you and everything you care for." you could be dramatic, too.

Matt snickered at your response.

"You do realize that includes you, right?"

Even now Matt knew how to make your heart flutter like a butterfly on drugs. He kept throwing flirty comments at you ever since you started your game. He was distracting you but you didn't complain.

"Lost in your thoughts, sweetheart?" Matt had made his way up the stairs while you were stuck thinking about him.

Damn he was good at being sneaky.

"I- how?- what?...How did you get up here?"

"Well my legs still work, you know? Come on babe, give up already. You've lost." Matt really wanted this win. He wanted to take advantage of the prize for tonight.

"I am a fighter, Matt. I don't give up. Plus..." you took a step towards him. You put your free hand on his neck, thumb gently running along his jaw, lips dangerously close to his. Matt's eyes fluttered close. You brushed your nose along the length of his neck, breath hitting the sensitive spots on his neck. Matt let out a low hum, relaxing into your touch. You continued your ministrations on his neck while your other hand took hold of his gun. Once you had secured it you took a step back. Matt snapped back to his senses.

"Looks like you're disarmed, Murdock. Too bad because I just shot you" you finished your sentence by emptying out the bullets from his gun on Matt.

He had been defeated but a victorious grin was plastered on his lips as you waved your hands around as if you had been awarded with Marksmanship.

"What?" you asked, smiling, stopping your celebration and bringing your have to a rest on his cheeks

"You've won, my darling!" He said while kissing your wrist.

"What would you like your prize to be, your highness?" He said it with innocence but his eyes were hungry. And so were you. Hungry for him. His disheveled state had left you breathless.

"My prize? I'm yours for tonight, my king. Do whatever you want with me."

Matt didn't waste a second. He carried you down the stairs and into the bedroom. A mischievous grin dancing on both of your faces.

"We should do this again, sometime." you said.

"I'd like that very much" Matt replied, already looking forward to it.

But now he had a very important thing to do. You.

Thank you for taking the time to read my Matt-thots <3

Tag List: @matt-erialgirl @shedaresthedevil @star-spangled-man @mindidjarin @e-dubbc11 @sobachka-korol @1800-fight-me @mattmurdockspainkink @catholicdaredevil @mattmurdocksdumpy

[onesaltyhunter]

After Ragnarok

find the general masterlist here!

find the prologue here!

Part 1: A Particularly (Shitty) Family Reunion

Harald Sigurdsson x Goddess!Reader

Summary: Y/N meets back with (what is left) of her family, and is met with a new face in the city of Kattegat. After a brief gathering, the Prince of Norway yet again, struggles with another brush with death.

Warnings: Swearing, more Christian hate because Hel likes to poke fun at people, near death experiences, people getting the shit beaten out of them lmao

Y/N had fallen asleep after returning to her home. The wind was violently causing the trees nearby to shed their branches, each of which crashed and hit the wooden roof of the cottage with a loud bang. Propping a pillow over her head didn't help to muffle the sounds at all, but she did it anyway. Y/N turned onto her side to face the fire she had lit to the right of her bed.

In an instant, the fire was extinguished. Y/N slowly opened her eyes, struggling to sit up, due to her lack of sleep from the current week. Then the smell of a familiar substance filled the house: seawater. A medium-toned voice resounded in her head.

We need to talk.

Y/N's eyes darted from each side of the house, looking for the supposed culprit. There was no trace of anyone ever being in her home that night, besides herself.

"You know, you could just let me sleep for once." She immediately sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes.

Eh, when have we ever been the people to take a break?

"You know the realms have gone to shit when Ymir decides to bless you with the power to speak in my fucking head." Y/N reached for a fur blanket that she could wrap herself with.

~●~●~●~●~

Leif, Freydis, and Harald sat a table in the main longhouse, sipping ale among a few other warriors that returned from England. It was dead silent before one of them attempted to speak.

"Harald, you look..." Leif started to say as the prince shot him a "don't you even dare say it" glance.

"Like shit?" Freydis chuckled, setting her cup down. "According to the healer, you shouldn't even be sitting up right now. They said that the back of your head bled a river."

Harald remained silent. After he was returned to his home, he had checked his heads for any wounds. He found nothing. He washed his hair to find no traces of blood, not even a single place upon his head where it hurt to the touch. He vividly remembered everything that happened up until his collapse. Y/N, the dead who walked--Harald couldn't comprehend a thing.

Grasping the cross around his neck, he wanted some confirmation that this was the work of the devil. At the same time, he didn't want to believe that one of the elites of Kattegat was capable of such things. But, overall, he didn't want to accept that the woman resembled the goddess of death. After all, the Christian God was the "one true God". He wanted to strongly believe that, but it was if his entire encounter threw that sentence out the door.

Harald opened his mouth to speak, but was interuppted by the yells from a group of warriors, entering the hall. Haakon, on her wooden throne, immediately stood up.

"May I present, Noah Odinsson!" One of the men shouted, introducing a tall, dark haired man, who easily towered over most people in the hall.

"Odinsson?" Harald stood up and spoke his first words of the night. "How far can you possibly shove your head up your arse?"

The man simply raised a brow and stared at the group at the table. Leif stood up to calm Harald down, since they believed he was obviously drunk. Freydis, gulped and gripped the knife in her left pocket tightly.

"Your words mean nothing, Christian." Noah smiled. "Especially with blood as tainted as yours."

"What is that supposed to mean? Huh?" Harald broke free from Leif's grip and unsheathed his sword, before swinging at the stranger.

Noah dodged every hit, left and right. Effortlessly, he grabbed the sword by the blade and held on to it. Harald tried to pull it from him, but it wouldn't budge. He looked up towards the slightly taller individual, and stared at what looked to be glowing blue eyes. In an attempt to get a better look at him, Harald let go of his sword. Noah let the blade slide farther down in his grip, handing it back to the prince.

"Jarl Haakon!" He immediately turned his attention away from Harald. "I requested a place to rest for me and my men."

"And you shall be given one, Odinsson." She replied, with an annoyed look plastered across her face.

"I've had enough of this." Harald slammed his cup on the table before exiting the longhouse.

Noah shook his head, smiling.

~●~●~

Harald was walking towards his home but was caught off guard by Y/N speaking to herself.

"What the fuck do you mean that there's something wrong?" She mumbled, as she continued pacing towards the shoreline.

"Hello." Harald didn't know of any other way to catch her attention, and his smile immediately faded once she shot an angry look at him.

"I'm busy right now..."

"You seem troubled."

"I'm always fucking troubled." Y/N attempted to turn a right after a fisherman's home, but Harald followed.

"You saved me." He exhaled, and she stopped in her path.

"I did."

"And those soldiers you brought back to life." Harald attempted to maintain a stoic glare.

"Did you just arrive here after drinking in the longhouse?" Y/N raised a brow, turning around towards the building and he replied with a small nod. "Fuck, I want whatever substance they're putting in their ale."

Y/N began to approach the longhouse even thought the voice in her head yelled louder. It was repetitive, and an annoyance. Perhaps it was better if her brother had been given some other power?

I'm trying to describe the problem to you, not guide you towards it. Damn this prince! Y/N, you need to turn around.

"No." She hid her reply in a cough.

"What was that?" Harald caught up to her speedwalking pace.

"Ugh, it's cold."

"Oh."

The instant Y/N reached the corner of the longhouse, her ears began to ring. Not in a destructive way, but more of a distinct, magical manner. She ignored it, and continued into the building. There on one of the middle tables, sat Noah, who glanced back at her. He clearly wasn't human, at all. The two stared at each other for around 3 minutes, with everyone in the longhouse confused, and perhaps even a bit uninterested. Noah approached Y/N, and leaned over to whisper in her ear.

"I missed you." He grinned, as she still stood there, absolutely lost.

Harald wanted to tear this man apart. He saw the confused, and irritated look on Y/N's face and for some unknown reason, he just wanted to tear this "Odinsson" to shreds. Had he said something that violated her? Had he been a man out to hunt her? He didn't hear a thing, but the now angry look on Y/N's face said it all. But after all, he couldn't do anything, because Haakon outlawed major fights in the hall.

"Excuse me for a moment," A man with sea-soaked clothes placed his hand on Y/N's shoulder and seemingly dragged her outside.

"Where the fuck have you been?" He snarled, looking around. "He's here."

Y/N placed both of her hands on her brother's shoulders.

"Who? Who the fuck is he--" She turned to face a blade that was pointed at Jormungandr.

"Leave her." Harald gripped his sword even tighter.

"We're busy!" The two yelled in unison.

"Are you..."

"Her brother? Yes, now kindly fuck off. We have family matters to attend to."

Absolutely angered by how poorly he had been treated, Harald retreated to his home--his original destination. It was as if any time he tried to speak with Y/N, had been forbidden by God himself. He simply wanted to punch a wall out of complete frustration, but he refrained from doing so. After he entered his home, he sat on his bed, and began to grip the cross on his necklace tight. Closing his eyes, he hoped to picture anything that would bring him any joy whatsoever. For a split second, he saw a dark-red flame, followed by a brief scream, which shook him out of his thoughts. Harald looked around his bedroom, for a sign of anyone, and there wasn't a single one. Perhaps this was a sign from God himself, that he must not approach Y/N at any cost. But again, if God was truly almighty and righteous, he wouldn't have let innocents die on Saint Brice's Day.

Harald wanted to drift off to sleep, but instead he laid in bed, staring blindly at the ceiling--for he feared what nightmarish sights awaited him the instant he shut his eyes.

~●~●~

Jormungandr guided Y/N to the edge of a coastline which was blocked off by a moss-lined cliff--a great distance away from Kattegat. He sat down with his feet lined up where the edge of the tide rolled in. Y/N followed and sat next to him, staring off into what would soon become the rising sun.

"Who is here?" Y/N stared at her brother, beginning to stack a few pebbles next to herself. "I mean, how detrimental must this be? You only come out of the water once every three decades."

"I cannot say. I know who they are, and--" He paused, picking up a stone and throwing it into the sea. "There is some power preventing me from saying."

"I'm sorry, some pesky creature has got you under it's spell?" She chuckled, raising a brow, only to receive a look of desperation in return. "By the blood of Ymir, it fucking does doesn't it?"

"I have a contingency plan."

"Which is?"

The shuffling of feet resounded against the bluff behind them. What was assumed to be a weaker Jotunn warrior by Y/N appeared to be another human. Or at least, what looked to be a human. The man had glowing yellow eyes, and medium length hair that resembled freshly mined coal. She recognized him instantly. Fenrir. The brother who was responsible for telling their father of her relationship with Baldur--the man who angered Odin into a battle that would end in near-complete annihilation.

"Harald Sigurdsson, hm?" Fenrir stared into the horizon before glancing at Y/N, who now refused to make eye contact with him. "Talk about polluting the bloodline."

"Jor-"

"Yes, Y/N?"

"I'm going to strangle him."

"I'd love to see you tr-" Fenrir gasped when Y/N caught him in a chokehold, and slammed him violently against the face of the cliff.

Rocks tumbled from above, signaling the fall of a larger rock but Y/N was relentless. Her right hand began turning into its original corpse-like form, as she channeled the power of 8 realms through it. She wanted to watch her brother meet his bitter end but she stopped abruptly. Fenrir was still shaking, his teeth chattering ever so slightly, in complete shock after everything that had just happened.

"Hel, I should have known better." Fenrir shook his head. "And for that I'm truly sorry."

"You're only saying this because you don't have mother and father to protect you anymore." She shoved him, causing him to scrape his knees against the rocks. "Do you hear me? You are nothing without them!"

Jormungandr sat, unmoved by the whole situation. Both he and Y/N were given simple lifestyles before Ragnarok. He churned the seas, and she controlled one of the afterlife realms--constantly being tortured by Fenrir's petty nature. The wolf was like a child, always wanting attention and praise, and and he did not receive it, he broke down, similar to what he was doing currently.

"We will never get anything done if you two keep fighting." He picked up another rock to throw, but this time, he held it in his hand.

"Fighting? We are not fighting." Y/N stood up straight and shook her head, a little out of breath. "Saying we are fighting implies that both sides have a chance."

"Shut up, brother." Fenrir attempted to stand up, but Y/N kicked at his kneecaps to knock him down again. "You know he doesn't even have a plan?"

"You dragged, my ass, away from drinking heavily, so that I may get too see what's left of my family, and nothing more?" She began to clap slowly. "Congratulations Jor! You have accomplished abso-fucking-lutely nothing."

Y/N paused, as she felt what seemed to be a spark of energy shoot through her body--signaling that someone was on the brink of death nearby. Without warning, she began to run towards the city, bumping into merchants if she had to. The sound of a man coughing became louder, but what she did not know is that her brothers were following close behind her. The sounds of the sick and dying individual came from one of the largest establishments in the city: the prince's house.

"Harald?" Y/N yelled, and once she received no response, she kicked the far right side of the door open, seeing the prince shirtless, with blood trickling down from his mouth onto his chest. "Harald! Damn it!"

Fenrir walked in behind her, and Jormungandr soon after.

"Did you bring a horse here?" She said softly to her eldest brother. "Damn it, I'll ask it again, did you bring a fucking horse here you foul-witted dog!"

"Bring it to the door. And Jor, pick Harald up, place him on the horse, and take him to my home. Now! You cold-blooded son of a bitch!"

The two did as they were told, still a little petrified about how violent their sister had gotten over the centuries. A once solemn, kind soul had been replaced with a vengeful, violent maniac in what seemed to be mere hours after the great catastrophe. Perhaps they underestimated how the events that preceeded Ragnarok affected her--perhaps everyone did.

Y/N ran to her home, which was probably going to be faster than the traveling by horse in the wind. The instant she reached it, she began to clear off her workspace, both the table where the bodies laid, and the area where she set her tools. Reaching for a few cups, she set them all out in a line. Jormungandr arrived first, carrying Harald, before setting him upon the main table. Fenrir came soon after making sure that none of them were followed. Y/N examined Harald, who was continuing to cough up blood. His eyes were dilated, and a drop of blood fell out of his left eye. With a wave of her hand, the prince passed out, in an attempt to stabilize him.

"Asgardian magic." Fenrir loomed over the dying lord. "It's what they used in a surprise attack on our soldiers after we breached the bifrost."

"That has to be ingested for it to fully take effect." Y/N paused. "The longhouse."

"I know who did it." Jormungandr replied, and his siblings merely looked at him in disbelief, as a reminder that he had a temporary curse that prevented him from warning the of the exact individual who presented a danger in the city.

"Odinsson. Noah Odinsson. What if that man was truly a son of Odin?" Fenrir cocked his head to the side. "Sorry I didn't say anything to you two earlier. I was um... drinking."

"That wouldn't narrow it down at all. I mean I've known Harald for a day and yes I admire him--" Y/N looked at her brothers who were holding in a laugh, after Fenrir had an "I told you so" expression plastered across his face. "What if this isn't about him? What if this is about me?"

"As you said, this narrows nothing down. Every son of Odin hates us. Except Baldur, so we can exclude him."

"Thor maybe?"

Y/N reached for a red stone, which she began to ground into a powder, before mixing it into a small cup of water. With a quick flick of her wrist, she woke Harald up, easing him into a sitting position with her arm. She handed him the cup, which he immediately drank out of, without question. He placed his hand on her forearm which elicited a slight jump from Y/N. Tilting his head up a bit towards her, he mumbled a few words, each of which were unintelligible.

"What?"

"Hot. It's really hot." He managed to speak out.

"The cure to your ailments is going to hurt a lot, just bare with me." Y/N helped to prop him up in a stable manner.

"Have I not bared enough for you?" Harald mumbled once more. "I sit here next to you, slightly uncovered, and I try to speak my feelings but all you do is--"

He collapsed and Y/N caught him again, with both of her arms tucked under his shoulders.

"What a madman." She chuckled, placing a pillow underneath his head. "Ah, feelings. What an archaic commodity. Have you seen this idiot?"

"You just saved his life, now you care not for him?" Fenrir crossed his arms. "Never took you for a heartless bitch."

"Coming from you--" She paused, placing a hand on her brother's shoulder. "That isn't saying much."

"Son of Odin." Jormungandr blurted out. "Sorry, I've been trying to speak for the past few minutes. That was all I could get out. I'm trying to see if I can break this forsaken spell or curse or, whatever it is, in pieces, rather than as a whole."

Y/N shook her head in disbelief to feel Harald's hand wrapped around her wrist. It wasn't in a violent way, but rather in a comforting manner. She took a step away from him and his grip became tighter, then she took a step towards him, then the girl became loosened. Completely unwavering, Y/N grabbed his hand to remove it from herself.

I will not allow my son to be alongside those weakened forest gods. He is of our pantheon, not theirs! He was born to seize control of the northern lands, not to sympathize with those who currently roam them! Perhaps I shall let some other faithful Christian do this for me. A low voice resounded.

Y/N woke up on the ground with Harald kneeling next to her, his hand still gripping her left wrist tightly. His eyes shimmered in the torch's light nearby, giving off an crimson glow. Perhaps she was just hallucinating. It didn't stop Harald from helping her up, and leaning her against the workbench to help her catch her breath.

"Lady, are you--" Harald paused, fearing a possible negative reaction from referring to her in a formal manner. "Y/N, how are you feeling?"

"How am I feeling? How are you feeling? You've been speaking like you hit your head a little harder than I thought the other day." Y/N reached past him to pour herself a cup of water from a metal pitcher. "'Feelings' and shit like that. You sounded like you drank enough ale to fill Odin's hall twice over!" A brief pause. "Sorry, you're a Christian. Enough to fill Jesus' cave I guess."

"It's a tomb." He corrected her, before looking down abruptly. "I apologize."

"Ooooh, the pagan doesn't know anything about Christianity." She smiled, "How surprising. W-Where have my brothers gone?"

"No idea." Harald placed both of his hands on his hips.

The two stared at each other for a brief minute as thoughts rushed through both of their heads.

Is he the son of Lucifer? Oh, who am I kidding? I must have hit my head extremely hard or something. Y/N began to glare into his spruce-tinged eyes.

She must be a goddess. Had it not for her magic, twice, I would have died. Christ, if this is God's way of tempting me, I am sure to give in soon enough. Harald smiled for a brief second.

"You must be hungry." She broke the silence to reach for some of the vegetables she left out on a table next to her workspace.

"Oh God no, please don't cook for me. Really, it just seems wrong for a warrior like you to do such a thing." He immediately paused. Warrior? What was he thinking?

"Well guess what? I'm hungry, and I just can't seem to make the correct amount of food to only fill my own stomach so please, if you want some, please tell me." She looked over at a vial of a substance she had retrieved on her travels.

Whatever it was, it was known to be extremely potent. The ability to get any human to tell the truth about anything. It could be a stepping stone to figuring out who this man's dangerous father character was. Perhaps it even may have had the ability to exploit Harald's knowledge of everything to see if she could discover this other dangerous figure Jormungandr spoke of. After reaching for it, the now sitting Harald took off his necklace, twirling it around between his fingers.

"Aren't you not supposed to take that off, Christian?" Y/N raised a brow, taking the lid off of the vial. "Will your God not punish you for that?"

"I-I don't know." He stuttered. "It just... Nothing feels right."

After seeing Harald set his necklace down on a table and him planting his face between his palms, Y/N screwed the lid back onto the vial.

I've done this countless times before. Since when did this not feel fucking right?

[yourslytherinprincess]

:The Lady and The Grim: - Sirius Black x F!Reader

A/N: This is a sort of Lady and the Tramp themed. It was by far a favorite of mind to write. I hope you enjoy it.

Summery: You’re new to the Order and you get to spend some quality time with the rugged, good looking bad boy.  ;) Kinda PG-13.

Word Count: 2775

You were new to the Order of the Phoenix, you hadn’t expected to be sent out already. After all, you didn’t know any of these people and none of them knew you. But there you were, patrolling a set of darkened muggle streets with a man you didn’t know.

He had introduced himself as Sirius Black, to which your eyebrow had perked up. You’d heard the name before, but of course your family was made up of the most elite witches and wizards that even the sacred twenty-eight had seen. He certainly didn’t hold up to the House of Black’s reputation. After all, his hair was grown out, seemingly messy though kept twisted into a bun, his skin covered some places in inky black lines that moved this way and that underneath his leather jacket.

“So, what made you decide to join the Order?” He asked, as you walked down one of the streets. “Your family... I’ve heard that they’re a little bit…”

You let out a long sigh. “Yeah, I can guess the sorts of things you’ve heard about us.” Rolling your eyes, you continue. “They wouldn’t even let me attend a real school, I had to learn everything from home. To pure they said, they even wanted to marry me off.”

Sirius shook his head, eyes on the ground, a smile breaking out from the corner of his mouth. “Awful, isn’t it?”

“You’re telling me.” You scoffed. “They disowned me the minute I left to help fight the war. A lady doesn’t do that sort of thing, my mother said. Well a decent person doesn’t sit on the sidelines and do nothing while a war is breaking out.”

You’d waved at a muggle couple, having what looked like a midnight stroll, and out of nowhere there were two black puffs of smoke coming right at you. Before you could blink, Sirius jumped in front of you, wand out sending hexes and curses in each of their directions.

Looking back, you saw that the muggle couple had run for it, and Sirius was fighting both of the dark wizards on his own. Scrambling for your wand, you joined him. You dodged left, shot a jinx to your right, ran to cover Sirius, counter-curse shot straight ahead.

“You’re rather good at this!” Sirius called to you, a laugh trailing off from his voice.  

Before you could respond you’d been disarmed, wand flying far from your grasp. “NO!”

Sirius threw you to the ground, jumping in front of you to fight both dark wizards again. One of them seemed to have petrified after his spell hit them, falling to the ground. The other ran to grab him, apparating the pair of them away.

Heavily out of breath, Sirius walked back over to you, stretching out a hand for you to take. He pulled you back to your feet with ease, “You alright?”

“Yeah,” Dusting off your backside, you looked across the ground with squinted eyes. “I need to find my wand.” Spotting it laying on the ground you walked over and picked it up.

“We need to notify the rest of the Order of what’s happened here.” Sirius tucked a piece of hair that’d come loose from his bun back behind his ear. He pulled out his own wand, conjuring his Patronus to send the message. When he was done and the shining dog bounded off he looked back to you, grey eyes roaming your face. “That’ll take care of that for now, fancy a bite?”

You hadn’t realized how hungry you had been until he asked and a rumble when off in the pits of your stomach. “I’ll take that as a yes.” He laughed, the deep throaty sound filling your ears pleasantly. “I know just the place.”

  The second that he walked into the restaurant, Sirius was treated like a king. It had brought the slightest blush to his scruffy cheeks, “I’m a regular, that’s all.”

You raised your brow and gave him a cocky smile in return. It wasn’t really a fancy restaurant, but it was much more than just a hole in the wall. Each table was lit up in a warm glow by candles placed at the center, but the vibe of the place was leaning more towards comfortable and less towards romantic.

The waiter guided the two of you towards a table set away from the rest. “You’re usual table, sir.” He bowed before disappearing in the direction of what you assume was the kitchen.

“Wow, Sirius.” You laughed, “I never would have expected this from you.”

“Oh, hush! You don’t even really know me.” He said, but smiled still.

The waiter brought out large wine glasses, along with a sultry red wine and the menus. You’d carried on conversation with him effortlessly, as if you had known him your whole life. He told you bits and pieces of his past and how he had run away from home to live with James. You marveled at his stories of their pranks and jokes, life at school. In exchange for his stories, you told him yours. They were lackluster, boring in comparison, but still he listened like he’s never been more interested in anything.

The night seemed to be coming to a close, and you couldn’t seem to take your eyes off of him. You’d never met anyone like him before. Sirius had been raised in a home with similar values, rules, and strictness’s as your own, and yet here he sat, comfortable, happy, and free. It was a breath of fresh air. He was quite the looker as well, that didn’t help you to stop looking at him either.

“You know, I’m not sure I’ve ever had this much fun in my entire life.” You said, searching grey eyes, for what, you couldn’t say, that refused to leave yours.

“I’m not surprised considering how, stuffy things were at home for you.” You both laughed, eyes still unmoving from each other.

For just a second, you’d glanced at your watch. “It’s getting a little late…”

“That it is,” Sirius agreed. He’d had his elbows propped up on the table, chin resting on his laced fingers. The way he was looking at you could only be described at hungry. You could barely stand to hold his stare a second longer, when the waiter dropped the check at the table with a smile. You both reached for it, fingers near tangled together. From his hand resting over yours, your eyes moved back to his face, bottom lip sucked between your teeth.

“Let me, you saved my life.”

“A lady shouldn’t have to pay for a meal she didn’t even know she wanted.” He smiled back, his hand wrapping wholly around your own.

  Sirius slammed your back into wall right inside of the front door to his flat, you were being held up only by his hands gripping at your thighs.

You weren’t exactly sure when the kissing had started or how you’d even made it to his place, but here you were. His mouth was pressed hard on yours, tongue exploring the entirety of your mouth. Your hand had been in his hair, bun pulled out sometime before this, and where sliding down his clothed chest.

Pulling away from his mouth, you started to feather kisses around his face, across his scruffy jaw line, then down his neck where the pecks turned into nips, your teeth grazing the soft skin there. He’d let out a noise that you’d rather liked and there was an ever so present firmness pressing into your most delicate of places. Biting down harder had caused him to let out a guttural growl, he pushed off of the wall, carrying you off towards the stairs.

You continued to suck and nip at his neck, one hand tangled in his hair until he tossed you down onto his large bed, a sexy smirk playing at his lips as he slowly dropped the leather jacket down his arms. You watched as it slid down, eyes taking in the tattoos there and as his shirt lifted slowly up his toned abdomen and chest, you’d found the same inky black lines there. You couldn’t take your eyes from him, just looking at him made you feel drunk.

“Like what you see, love?” His voice was thick, brow raised. You didn’t have to tell him, he already knew just how attractive he was, and exactly what it was doing to your body. Reaching out you pulled him towards you, running your hands slowly over his soft warm skin, tracing over the black lines with your fingers, and then your mouth. After a moment, he took your face between his hands, bringing it up so he could look into your eyes again. What had been a hungry look over the table at dinner, turned ravenous.

His mouth was back on yours, a hot mess of lips and tongue, as he lifted your shirt, you couldn’t stop the shiver that came as his fingers grazed your skin. He was already so delicious, and you could still taste the wine on his lips. You knew that this was going to be a long night, a night you weren’t going to be able to forget.

 The next morning you woke up to the sound of a woman shouting, which considering how the night ended was terrifying. Sitting up, you’d noticed that Sirius had left out a pair of his own sweat pants, and a tee shirt for you to change into, which you had done quickly, so you could run back down stairs to where the commotion was taking place.

“-AND YOU SENT A PATRONUS MESSAGE INSTEAD OF COMING BACK AND TELLING US WHAT HAPPENED! HOW DID YOU GET SO THICK SIRIUS ORIAN?” It was Lily that had been doing the shouting, you realized as you came down from the last step. Her face was almost as red as her hair, and when she spotted you, she looked you up and down, and turned back to yell at Sirius some more.

“This is the reason you didn’t come yourself?” She’s been pointing at you. “You thought shagging the new girl was the better option? Do you know how worried James has been? He’s barely slept! You dim-witted fool!”

“It didn’t-” You had tried to come to Sirius’ defense but she continued to shout, at both of you now.

“There’s a meeting, the whole Order is going to be there.” Lily turned her angry green eyes at you. “I highly suggest you change before you attend.” And then she apparated out of the house, leaving you and Sirius alone in the living room.

He turned to you, hair back in its bun, a shy smile on his lips. You couldn’t help but remember the things those lips were capable of. “You look cute, relaxed.”

You let a laugh slip between your own lips. “Thank you, I’ve never worn anything like this before.”

Sirius sauntered over to you, placing his hands on your hips, leaving a kiss at the corner of your mouth. “We should get ready to go.” A kiss on your jaw. “I’m already in trouble and I don’t think I can handle getting yelled at by Lily more than once a day.” He left one more kiss just below your earlobe, a sigh escapes you involuntary.

“I really must go change. As comfortable as this is, it’s not presentable at all.”

“Perhaps once this meeting is over, if we’re not on patrols tonight, we can just do away with all of it.” He smirked, pressing one single kiss to your lips before releasing you from his grasp.

 “Muggles saw you use magic, Sirius! You know that’s an offence that has to be taken up with the Ministry. They’re not going to let you off easy.” Remus had a stern look in his eye, as he went on.

You knew what kind of trouble he could get it, and you also knew that the Minister of Magic relied very closely on the good word and advise of your father. If it would have been you instead, not only would Sirius not have to suffer the consequences of the Ministry, he wouldn’t be kicked out of the order, and that is what it seemed his fate was going to be.

“It wasn’t Sirius it was me. I used magic in front of the muggles, I did it all, he was covering for me.” You spoke up, interrupting who ever had been talking now.

Sirius’s head snapped in your direction, “Y/N what are you doing?”

“It’s okay Sirius,” You said through gritted teeth, widening your eyes at him, trying to make him take the hint. “You don’t have to cover for me, not anymore.”

“Y/N, you know you’re going to have to take this up with your father?” Dumbledore asked. “You won’t be allowed to participate in the Order of the Phoenix anymore.”

The words left a terrible queasiness in your stomach and prickles in your skin, but the punishment would far worse for anyone else.

“NO!” Sirius shouted, standing in outraged. “No, you can’t make her leave! She didn’t-”

You tugged at his sleeve, pulling him to sit back down. “It’s alright, Sirius. It’s probably for the best anyway.” He sat, and you knew it was only because you had asked him to. He refused to meet your eyes for the rest of the meeting.

 The walls of your parents’ house were confining, just as they had always been. You’d been dealing with your mother talking down to you, telling you how stupid you’d been for leaving. “You’re lucky that the Nott boy is still willing to marry you.”

You rolled your eyes, standing from the sofa to make your way to your upstairs bedroom, ignoring your mother who was still calling after you.

There were more important things to worry about than a wedding to a boy you’d never met none the less even wanted to marry. The Wizarding World was in danger, and there was no longer anything else you could do to help save it.

Throwing yourself onto your bed, you thought back to the last time you had seen Sirius. He’d dragged you out of the meeting to yell at you, not giving you a chance to explain yourself. He was very visibly upset, but you’d done what was best for everyone. They’d made up The Order before you joined, and they’d be fine without you.

Even though you hadn’t known him long and didn’t know exactly how you were supposed to think of him, you missed him something fierce. You’d never clicked with anyone the way you’d clicked with him. Sirius tasted like freedom, and now you were trapped again, probably for the rest of your life. But it was all worth it, wasn’t it? To protect him. He was worth it.

 You weren’t sure when you’d fallen asleep, but the tapping noise at your window pulled you from your dreams of deep laughter and dark tattoos, soft skin and rough kisses. It had taken a second to register in your mind to open the window, but when you did a small owl flew around your room, dropped a thin roll of parchment, and flew right back out.

The smell that drifted from the parchment was familiar, exciting. You’d unrolled it as quickly as your fingers would allow.

Out beyond the garden.

S.B.

Dropping the note on the ground, you ran for your bedroom door, your shoes forgotten but you didn’t care. Down the stairs you ran, across the house, gaining speed with every step, until you could throw the heavy front doors open, and you shot off again, enjoying the cool air on your skin.

There he was, next to his motor cycle, dressed in his usual jeans and leather jacket. You leapt at him, he caught you in his arms, holding you tightly to his chest as his kissed your hair over and over again.

“Sirius!” You said pulling back to look at him, “I never thought I’d see you again!”

Grabbing your face, he pulled you in for a hard kiss. “Run away with me. Y/N, run away with me. I don’t care what any of them have to say.”

“Yes! Merlin yes, please get me out of here.” His eyes widened, but he didn’t hesitate to climb on his bike, patting the spot behind him for you. Throwing your leg over, you clung onto him tightly, and waited for him to start the enchanted motorcycle, so that you could fly off with him into the night, never to look back.