#“we are a strange bunch” says a moon in a group of moons

[mcuscuz]

MY LORD IN CHRIST WHAT EPISODE WAS THAT??!!

Let's talk about how Neptune is the best character? He knows the names of all their moons. He's smart. He's cool. He notices things. His ways are weird but that's what makes him special.

Europa being protective of the baby moons is so cute! I didn't know I needed this interaction, but now I live for it. And Garminedes who freaked out in the last episode kind of finding himself? Idk he realized he was fighting for the wrong reasons.

It's always sad to see the moons seeing their planets so defenseless. Especially Jupiter which is so big and imposing.

Speaking of Jupiter, I feel so bad. The isolation and guilt are eating away at him so much that he didn't even realize the moons were real.

Now about Planet X and Uranus, what was that dialogue? I try to think that he is not evil, but definitely manipulative. I mean, using something that the person (in this case, the planet) has always wanted/an insecurity of theirs to get them to agree with him is kind of manipulative, right? I think so. I can see his motives, making the ice planets stay close, more important, also a form of personal revenge by distancing Jupiter from the center. Although such a big change in orbit would be a problem. It already is with the banishment of Jupiter. But the way X approached this with the sun, I can see him convincing it.

But to tell the truth, I like how Planet X acts. does it make me want to scream? Yes. But it's cool.

[unabashednightmarepizza]

𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙇𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙑𝙤𝙞𝙙

Author Note: Hey... How yall doing? (anxious sweating). Okay, I know I have been pretty much absent for the past year or so, but I literally lost the ability and want to write so, I was just silently liking and reblogging a bunch fanfics, playing my silly video games and struggling with college here and there... Then, my Marvel fangirl era came back with the movie "Thunderbolts" and here I am.... With 8060 words for the FIRST chapter of a series... If anyone read my Moon Knight fic, it will be kind of similar to it but also not, with me adding a new perspective to the Void. I am assuming this to be not too long of a serie (if I keep the 8K word band going) but we will see! Hopefully, you guys will like it and my take on the cutie Bob!

Oh and... THUNDERBOLTS REQUESTS ARE OPEN!

Warnings for the series: Self-deprecating thoughts, struggles (mental and physical), Entity dramas, trauma, death, a little bit of humor, free-therapy, childhood trauma, domestic abuse, torture, blood, gore, the Void and the Sentry (I think they are enough of a warning by alone)...

Tagging: @magikdarkholme

“Did you just say we need to go to... where?”

Bucky was sure his new teammates were either stupid or feigning stupidity.

Between Ghost’s erratic phasing fits, U.S. Agent’s unwavering faith in fists over brains, and whatever the hell Red Guardian called a plan to deal with the many problems the newly formed “New Avengers” had, Bucky had seen enough chaos. The Void wasn’t just another mission—this was Bob Reynolds. This was a walking time bomb with the potential to turn the world inside out if Sentry lost control again, as he called it.

As if he didn’t care about the man’s well-being and understood his pain of  identity crisis, as if Bob wasn’t the new adopted member of their highly nonfunctional friend group that soon turned into a chaotic family.

And now, with the Thunderbolts half-functioning and Val refusing to listen, Bucky knew he needed real help. Not reckless, government-backed muscle. And absolutely no self-interested Val.

He needed her.

So, against every protocol and behind Valentina’s back, he found himself silently looking at the device you had generously given him before departing from the Earth. A golden globe with ancient runes of your people carved into it, small wings sprouting from the top of it as he found himself smiling after such a long time.

You truly were the Life itself, warming him up even if you weren’t there.

Asgard was different now, at least he believed it was—more grounded, more accessible although you kind of sticked to the traditional ways of your people—but still carried the strange, quiet hum of power underneath its cobblestone streets and tavern-laced ports. Their Queen was even stranger—regal and radiant, but unshakably human. She laughed like a thunderclap, she was messy and somehow addicted to any kind of junk food she could get her hands to and held herself like she bore galaxies in her chest.

Because she did.

She was Life itself, cloaked in mortal form, the entity who shook the entire universe and bared a trial you refused to tell to anyone so that you could revive your people and home back to life, eventually becoming the new Protector and Ruler of the Nine Realms.

And you also happened to be Bucky’s best friend. Odd pairing, sure. The former Winter Soldier and a literal cosmic embodiment. But your friendship had been forged in the strangest of fires—mutual survival, long silences, and shared understanding of what it meant to be the weapon someone else or thin had forged.

And his stupid yet naive childhood merged with your “teenage-hood”. As much as it was considered that when you didn’t get old, instead changed your form.

Everyone else saying something, as usual. Bucky hadn’t even finished explaining his plan before the room exploded into chaos.

Alexei and Ava was loudly berating each other “affectionately, Yelena was just humming to his plan with a dagger in her hand since she already knew you (despite the fact that she tried to kill you for what happened to Natasha, deeming you the guilty one, but eventually learning the truth). She hadn’t said a word to him directly since Bucky brought up going to New Asgard.

Not that he blamed her.

And then there was Walker. U.S. Agent had that expression again—like he was one word away from taking it personally as he sat on the couch widely, with an expression on the border of frustration, as if he still couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that there were Gods and Goddesses in real life. “So, let me get this straight. You want us to stand down while you go cozy up to some interstellar goddess?”

“She’s not some goddess,” Bucky bit out harshly, blue eyes as cold as steel as he stared at the blonde. “She’s the only one who can keep Bob from tearing himself or another city in half.”

“You sure she’s on our side?” Alexei asked gruffly as he chewed on yet another bar, one that was your favourite Bucky noticed. He didn’t blame the older Russian for his hesitance, after all, he and Yelena were the only ones who never your nature and how to talk to you (It wasn’t that hard or complicated, despite you being a cosmic entity. All you needed to easily cave in were some chocolate, some shiny jewelry and a good Cappuccino). But of course, they didn’t know that, and they didn’t encounter a Goddess or, well, the literal personification of Life, but hey, it didn’t seem like he was completely against the idea of going to you.

The same couldn’t be said for Ava and John, with the later one being more... aggressive at the prospect of such thing.

“She’s on my side,” Bucky said, sharp and final. He leant back on the couch with a silent groan, muscles screaming for one very hot bath. Maybe he could have one of those hot springs you had in Asgard. “And that’s enough.”

The silence that followed wasn’t exactly agreement, but it wasn’t outright rebellion either.

In Thunderbolts terms, that was practically a standing ovation.

“I repeat again: I said we need to go to the Asgard and seek help from the Queen if we want to help Bob. She is the only one who might know the Void.”

Walker scoffed from the corner, arms crossed. “Great. So the plan is we go knock on the front door of literal gods and ask for mental health advice? Sounds foolproof.”

Yelena popped a piece of gum into her mouth, lounging across the couch with her boots on the table. “I mean, better than your last plan of dealing with mental problems. What was it again? Run straight into a wall of bullets and hope for the adrenalin to do the work?”

Walker rolled his eyes. “Worked, didn’t it?”

“No,” Ghost said flatly, phasing halfway through the wall like she wanted to escape the conversation. “You were in the med bay for three days.”

Red Guardian grunted, tightening his gloves. “Bah! I like this plan. Finally, some honor! Gods, glory—maybe I get to fight a thunder beast! Reminds me of my prime!”

“You haven’t had a prime since the '80s,” Yelena said dryly without looking up, arms folded as she leaned against the fluffy couch.

“Yeah, well, I want to make the part with ‘might know’ highlighted! I ain’t going there!” Walker exclaimed once again on his seat, slamming a fist on the table like it would make his argument more valid. Both Ava and Yelena roller their eyes and even Alpine just stood there and hissed lowly and Bucky could swear she too rolled her eyes.

Bucky didn’t even look up, already fed up with all the loudness, as he got up for the kitchen and get a glass of water. “Why? Because she beat your ass up easily without moving an inch back in your jackass days?”

Yelena snorted. Ava straight-up wheezed.

Walker turned a shade of red that didn’t look healthy. “That was a long time ago. I was off my game.”

“Sure, man,” Yelena said with a grin, eyes sparkling with mischief. “She was literally braiding her hair while you were trying to throw a shield at her. I think she yawned.”

“Besides...” Bucky cut in before Walker and Yelena could start another verbal brawl that could escalate into a real one. “I already talked to her about it. Like a week ago.”

That made the room fall into a momentary silence.

Yelena’s brow lifted, the dagger stilling in her hand. “Wait. You already told her?” “Yeah.”

Alexei blinked from his spot next to the wall, arms crossed in front of his chest, intrigued by such... silence from a Goddess that could wipe out the entire universe if she pleased. “Then what is she waiting for?”

“For Bob to be ready.”

No one answered immediately.

Even Walker stopped posturing.

Because that meant the Queen—Life, the one force that could oppose the Void without unraveling reality—wasn't going to interfere until Bob Reynolds, the man at the center of it all, was willing to face what was inside him.

“She said,” Bucky continued, voice clipped with a hint of guilt, “that she doesn’t overwrite people and their fates. She meets them. Even the broken ones. Especially the broken ones... That the Void isn’t just something you fight,” Bucky replied, his voice low. “It’s something Bob has to face—willingly. Or it’ll tear through him and everyone around him trying to claw its way out.”

Ghost reappeared halfway through the floor with a frown. “And we’re just supposed to sit on our hands while he falls apart?”

“No,” Bucky said, meeting her eyes. “We get him there. She’ll help. But only when he accepts it. For now, we keep him grounded. Keep him human.”

Alexei scratched at his beard. “So this is… therapy quest? With Norse gods?”

Yelena gave him a blank stare. “Everything’s a therapy quest with this team. None of us actually has great pasts anyways.”

Walker threw up his hands. “This is ridiculous. We’re not babysitters—we’re soldiers.”

“You’re right,” Bucky snapped, sharper than before as he sharply set the glass down. So hard that everyone was kind of curious how it didn’t break. “We are soldiers. So act like it. We don’t leave anyone behind, remember? Or does that only apply when it’s convenient for you?”

That shut Walker up, at least for the moment.

Ghost looked away. Yelena stopped humming.

Seemingly, everyone was retreated back to their minds to think about their next course of action or make sense of what Bucky meant by “She is on my side.”. How could a literal goddess be on the side of one mortal man? Well, not exactly mortal but still human... Aren’t the Goddesses and Gods supposed to be neutral?

Well, in most cases yes. But in Bucky’s case, he was aware that she made some exceptions for him even though she shouldn’t, and she never talked about the troubles she would get into because of that (others Gods were not happy you cared for humanity that much).

You never said much about the consequences, only wore that same quiet smile whenever Bucky questioned you. A smile that hid wars fought in secret skies, negotiations whispered behind divine veils, and sacrifices no mortal—or even semi-mortal—would ever be allowed to understand. But he saw the strain sometimes. In your eyes. In the way you would allow yourself to touch his face like he was both precious and fleeting and hug him.

As if you were desperate, craving that kind of connection

“She shouldn’t choose a side,” Steve would often say, especially after learning who you were and what you were capable of doing when he got out of the ice and it was your face he saw first. His voice would often turn somber, quiet, but firm whenever you and how much you sacrificed were mentioned. You didn’t see it that way, more like “taking care of two more little brothers who were unaware to the ways of world.

“That’s not how this works.”

He remembered the last time he saw you—really saw you, not in passing glimpses, not in dreams or between the flashes of battle from his time as the Winter Soldier. The stars had bent toward you like flowers to the sun, and your voice had been threaded with something desperate whenever he would remember your words in a hazy daze of the memory erasing HYDRA did to him. You told him to stay alive. Not to win. Not to save the world. Just—stay alive. As if that alone would be enough.

He had been through so much and as much as he can remember, and as far as others told him, you were mostly there. Even when he was in ice, even when he went berserk as the Soldier, you waited... Like you said many times, you didn’t intervene, you couldn’t for reasons you didn’t explain except “I did once... and It costed me a great price.”...

As a result, he never understood how people did not see the same kind and caring woman... But he also understood their look on you because once, after he got away from HYDRA, he was like them too. Though you didn’t care, that you abandoned him, that you took satisfaction at watching him struggle... Without knowing you were also dealing with your own struggles and... voids.

Bucky’s mind went back to the conversation you two had a week ago, inside his room, as he watched the team trying to decide on what to do with the new common room’s decoration. Although some people might have thought it to be a casual phone call, or him actually visiting Asgard physically... They forget the fact that you were a transcendent being who wasn’t bound to only one physical plane of existence. Someone who could easily get into the minds of people without them ever noticing, seeing the deepest secrets they hid away in their consciousness.

“James,” you said warmly, stepping down from the dais. After everything, it was nice seeing your best friend although he looked frazzled at being in your palace. He... didn’t remember visiting you. “I knew we both got old but you look far worse than I expected. Something is troubling you.” He turned. You weren’t dressed in royal robes today—just a long, dark tunic and loose braids, light dancing at her fingertips like fireflies. She always glowed subtly. Not from ego. From existence. And by some weird instinct as he looked into your expectant eyes, he understood you used your magic on him to seep into his mind. “I hate how you became more mysterious and unexpected after becoming the Ruler of Nine Realms, with your magical hands and all.” he chuckled under his breath as you slowly moved towards him, turning your body around so that instead of looking out the waterfalls you so adored of your homeland, you looked straight at him. A warm smile, and a loud laugh filled up his mind as he felt his tenseness and stress over the few months after the New York accident.

“I do not have magic only on my hands, friend. I am the magic... Besides, my mom was raised by witches and I was raised by her. What did you expect?” You let out a soft giggle that made him let out a relaxed sigh and take a step towards you. Your eyes shifted towards a more “I missed you” look as you took a good look at your best friend. His figure is broad, but not as imposing as it once was. His black tactical coat hangs heavy off his frame like armor worn too long. His vibranium arm glints faintly, muted under dreamlight, chipped in places where the plating has seen too many fights. His flesh arm—scarred and tense—hangs by his side, fingers twitching as if clenching onto ghosts he never quite managed to bury. His face tells the rest of the story. Unshaven. Tired. The lines around his mouth are deeper, not just from age, but from guilt that settled into his bones and made a home there. His hair, longer now, curls behind his ears in a disheveled way, like he stopped caring about appearances once the missions stopped being about redemption and started being about survival.

And his eyes—blue, once sharp with mischief—are dulled with exhaustion. The kind of tired that doesn’t come from sleepless nights, but from existing too long under the weight of things he was never meant to carry. He looks like a man always halfway between moving forward and waiting for the next blow. “ However, that magic cannot help you if you don’t stop brooding and explain your troubles. Like the good old days.” “Thanks. Got a Void problem. Figured Life might know what to do.” he shrugged his shoulders, accepting the drink you offered. That got your attention. “You’re talking about Bob Reynolds.” you hummed quietly. “Yeah. Sentry’s fraying again. The Thunderbolts think they can contain it. They can’t. I’ve seen what happens when he breaks.”

“He’s not fully gone yet. He’s still… trying. But it’s getting louder in him. And I don’t trust the team they put together to handle this. Hell, I don’t even trust me.” You didn’t flinch. You didn’t react. You just looked at him with a tilted head and a hard stare.  “And you want me to intervene, think I can stop him?” The Queen's gaze turned hard, divine power flickering just beneath her skin. Bucky’s mouth opened, then closed. He didn’t look at her. Not fully. His gaze stayed just off her shoulder, like meeting her eyes might burn him. Or worse—like he didn’t think he deserved to. “I think you’re the only one who can match him. Light to his darkness. You’re not just a queen—you’re the counterweight. He’s the Void. You’re the Life. If we don’t end it now, there won’t be a later.” You looked up at him with a softness no one else ever received. Having lived with humans for many years throughout different times, you always though you understood their understanding and reasoning. But each and every time, much like now, proved you otherwise with their first instinct at the face of crisis was to...get rid of it. They called it “solving the problem from its root” but... was that really necessary? Huh, maybe you were turning out to be more human than you let on. “James. I don’t end people.” “You did once,” he reminded, voice low. “ With Thanos-”

“That was a mercy.” Your voice turned cold, glare harder than ever as the sun of Asgard dimmed fast for a second, only to reappear once more. But it didn’t change the suddenly cold and heavy atmosphere in the throne room as he took a slow breath. As if he was being drowned slowly... He knew how the name tasted bitter and your usually soft and understanding heart that would light up the way of the lost ones, much like him, would immediately grow cold and sharp. He cannot blame you for all the things you had to do because of that “eggplant” as you called him. “That thing didn’t want to exist anymore.” He swallowed hard. “What if Bob doesn’t either?” The silence stretched, not empty, but thrumming with power and grief. The silence was not the absence of sound as Bucky could still hear the people chattering outside, the waterfalls and birds, the ships cruising on the air and the water, but the presence of everything unsaid was thick like the air before a storm. It pressed into the skin, settled heavy in the chest, made every breath feel like inhaling from deep underwater. It hummed with power restrained, until you finally spoke. “That’s not your decision to make. Nor mine.”

“But if he asks, if he begs—” Bucky stepped forward, desperation flickering across his face, his metal hand curling tightly at his side. “You’ve seen what the Void does to him, then. He tears himself apart just trying to breathe, to control himself so that he doesn’t hurt others. Hell, he doesn’t even care about what would happen to him!” You walked past him, having circled around him as he explained his situation, eyes on the horizon, far beyond the gilded windows of the throne room and perhaps even beyond the world itself. Your figure, wrapped in flowing robes of deep indigo and gold-threaded silver, seemed carved from moonlight and silence, too regal to be disturbed by mere pleading. The air shifted in your wake, perfumed with soft notes of sandalwood and snow bloom. Each step you took down the polished obsidian stairs echoed like a pronouncement. “The Void feeds on despair, fear, erasure. It doesn’t kill you. It unravels you, rewrites you, until there’s nothing left to remember. That’s what he’s afraid of—not dying, but becoming nothing. Again.” you spoke out without looking at him, or else he would notice the shake of your hands... at the mention of a being that is not so different than you. You continued without a look at him.

“I have seen it,” you whispered. “And I’ve felt it. The way the Void slithers through his soul like ice, like teeth, like silence too loud to bear. I know.”

You came to a slow stop, robes pooling around your feet like rippling shadows. Only then did you glance back over your shoulder. Your gaze was level, piercing—not cruel, but ancient. Tired. Tired not in body, but in soul. The kind of fatigue that comes from watching too many people run headlong into the same fire, convinced their determination would keep them from burning. James’ breath caught as your gaze bored into his—fierce, mournful, determined. “But Bob Reynolds is still there. And until that fragment of him says he’s ready to go, I will not be the blade that ends him. I will not be the Queen who grants death when it is healing that is needed.” He blinked, as if trying to process your words through a fog. “But what if there’s no healing left for him?” he weakly says because he saw everything, every cry and scream after a particular nightmare. He’d seen the man curled in a corner of the darkened chambers, trembling with hands that could tear planets apart but now only clutched his own skull as if trying to hold himself together. Heard the hoarse cries, the guttural sobs that cracked like glass underfoot. The way he’d begged—not for salvation, but for silence. For stillness. For an end. Bucky had sat beside him once, blood on Bob’s fingertips—not from battle, but from scratching at the skin of his own arms, as though he could dig the Void out with his nails. And he had said nothing. Because what could he say to a broken man who feared the thing living inside him? Something that was him but also not? He understood that feeling, when he was too scared of the “Winter Soldier” appearing again and hurting random people... But in his despair, you and Wakanda had supported him through everything and he... he survived. When he thought he wouldn’t, that he would have to live with this time-bomb in him, you and Wakanda had healed him. So now, as he stood before you—his Queen, his best friend, mentor and savior, the only one he trusted to make the call—he wasn’t questioning your strength. He was afraid Bob Reynolds had none left to borrow. “Are you waiting for him to fall apart?” “No,” you said, turning back to him, heart softening as you took his hand between yours and squeezed... Before you hit the back of his head harshly.. “I’m waiting for him to face it. I won’t force that. Life doesn't conquer the Void, James. It reaches it. Offers a hand, not a sword.” He stared with a pained look on his face, hand idly rubbing his head because it hurted. He forgot how heavy your hand was, both naturally and because of fighting for such a long time with many weapons that he could name it...but it would take days to finish the list. “That might not be enough.” You sighed tiredly, quietly descending the final step, and now your voice took on the texture of velvet lined with iron . Oh, how you forgot James was a stubborn asshole.

“How are you so sure,” you began, voice edged with something sharper now, something tired and sharp as a blade honed too often, “that he would go berserk?” you approached the topic in a different way, hoping to make him see your reasoning. “Excuse me?”he replied, confusion and caution winding tightly in his voice. “You talk like he’s already gone. Like he’s a loaded gun just waiting to fire. But you never say why.” You stepped closer, the air around you suddenly colder, heavier—not with menace, but with the truth you were about to lay bare. “Why are you truly scared, James? And don’t give me the crap of being a hero thing, I am not buying it.” “So tell me, James. Is it because he’s dangerous? Or is it because you saw something in him… something you saw in yourself?” His lips parted slightly, but the words caught in his throat, as if the very truth he’d been dodging was suddenly too close to confront. He clenched his fists, the metal hand faintly shimmering in the dim light of the throne room. You studied him—his every muscle tensed, his gaze downcast, his entire being caught in the web of past battles and old scars. “You think you had a choice in the matter? That you chose to be turned into that weapon?” His jaw tightened, and he turned his head slightly, as if unwilling to meet your gaze. But the quiet challenge in your question lingered, pushing against the walls of his heart. “You were broken, James. Just like Bob.” Your words were soft but carried the weight of the years you had seen the agony of humans. “You were the monster once. But you didn’t give up. You didn’t let the darkness take you. Why are you so ready to assume that Bob’s beyond saving?” The silence that followed was thick, suffocating in its complexity. He could feel it—the raw truth in your words, pulling him into a realization he wasn’t ready to face. He wasn’t ready to see how closely he and Bob were bound by their pain, by the choices they never got to make, and the things they thought could never be fixed. And how it all changed with the subtle help of a certain Goddess he knew. “He deserves that chance, even if the world has long since given up on him. Even if he wants to-” “You think I don’t know that? I know. I just… I’m scared. I’m scared that if we let him keep going, he’ll turn into the thing he hates most. And if the Void—” “I have faced the Void,” your voice cut him in the middle as he widened his eyes, knitting his brows in confusion at the sudden noncholant look on your face, serene yet amused at the same time. Then, slowly, deliberately, you stepped closer. The ambient light flickered across your features, illuminating the regal fire behind your gaze. “You forget what I was before this throne, before the crown and the titles that make the universe and every inhabitant bow. I have held back stars from collapse, James. I’ve screamed into the abyss until it screamed back.” Asilent beat... Bucky held his breath with anxiety until... “ Less loudly, of course.” You giggled and soon his on-guard behavior evaporated, just like that. You were back to the friend he knew, all smiley, soft and understanding. He surely knew how worthy you were of your other title now that he witnessed your anger. “I will not let Bob Reynolds be swallowed without a fight. Not by the Void, and not by himself... But for that, I also need his help.” James looked down, pain etched across his features, guilt sharpening every line. “I just don’t want to lose anyone else,” he muttered. “Not to war, not to darkness… not to mercy.” Your hand cupped his cheek—warm, gentle again, your thumb brushed the faint stubble there, grounding him in the now. . “Then help me save him.” He leaned into your touch slightly. “Even if he doesn’t believe he’s worth saving?” You gave a bittersweet smile. “ When did humans ever believe in themselves?” You muttered to yourself amused as you gave a determined nod. “Believe for him… until he can.”

..

The door hissed open before him with a polite chime, one that somehow made the silence on the other side feel even heavier. Bob stepped into the Watchtower’s living room—barefoot, book still in hand, thumb tucked between worn pages like he’d meant to come back to it. The title was some obscure thing from the archives, philosophy soaked in poetry, too heavy for what little sleep he’d had. His shirt clung to him from where he’d curled into the armchair earlier, sweat-damp from another dream that didn’t belong to him.

His footsteps were soft against the polished composite flooring—quiet enough that neither of them noticed at first.

The room was dimly lit, walls aglow with that sterile white-blue of orbital tech, like a hospital made of stars. The glass panels looked out over Earth: whole, spinning, oblivious. For a second, he pretended he was too.

Bob hadn’t meant to listen. Not really. But they weren’t exactly subtle. And no one ever noticed when he was still on the doorway, after cleaning around the kitchen and drying the dishes, retreating back to his room with blinding light and a huge bookcase enough to cover the whole room.

Not even Bucky, who was observational most of the times.

So he stood quietly in the corner, slouched over himself anxiously as he played with the deep blue sweater he wore, a comfort item from that time, watching them argue for his sake like he wasn’t the reason half the room had stopped sleeping with both eyes closed. His hoodie was pulled low over his face, sleeves frayed from being twisted in his nervous grip. He looked like a man trying to vanish.

But inside?

Inside, he was screaming.

She’s waiting for Bob to be ready.

The words kept ringing in his head like a church bell cracked in half.

Ready?

He didn’t even know what that meant anymore. Was it being ready to fight? Ready to die? Or worse—ready to live again, knowing what he was?

Bob Reynolds hated himself.

Not in the way people say when they mess up or fall short—not in frustration. No. Bob’s hatred was quiet. Constant. Structural. Like his very existence was a mistake that kept happening. Every breath he took felt like a borrowed one. Every kind word someone gave him felt like it was meant for someone else entirely.

Because he knew what he was.

He was the guy who destroyed entire cities when he thought he was saving them. The one who couldn't remember if he killed people, only that he probably did. The man with god-tier power and the emotional stability of a wet paper bag.

And the worst part?

There was no evil mastermind to blame. No alien parasite. No secret chip in his neck. It was just... him.

The power. The sickness. The Void. It was all tangled together so tightly that he didn’t know where Bob ended and the monster began.

“You’re not a monster,” Bucky had told him once, eyes heavy with meaning, as they sat together in the common room after yet another nightmare Bob had. And for a split second, Bob believed it.

Until he blinked and saw a flash of black tendrils at the edge of his vision, heard that voice whispering in the back of his head again—

“₮ⱧɆɎ ĐØ₦’₮ ₥Ɇ₳₦ ł₮. ₮ⱧɆɎ ₣Ɇ₳Ɽ ɎØɄ. ₮ⱧɆɎ ₴ⱧØɄⱠĐ. ₮ⱧɆɎ ₴ⱧØɄⱠĐ.”

Bob flinched even when no one else heard it. That’s how deep it ran.

There were days Bob looked in the mirror and couldn’t tell who was blinking back—himself, or the Void. There were seconds he lost, hours he couldn’t remember, and when he tried to look at them, they laughed—he laughed—because the darkness didn’t just come from him. It was him. A tidal wave he had to pretend he could hold back with duct tape and breathing exercises.

And now she knew. Life herself.

She knew what he was.

And she still hadn’t come.

A part of him wanted to scream at her. What are you waiting for? Kill me, stop me—do something! He wanted her to end it already, erase the Void even if it may cost him his life, before he made another mistake, another killing spree.

But deeper—quieter—something else ached.

She wasn’t coming... But it wasn’t a fixed decision either. Not until he looked the Void in the eye and told it: You don’t own me.

He didn’t know if he could do that. He barely knew who he was when he wasn’t being erased from the inside out by the Void. Because Bob’s insecurity wasn’t about strength. He knew he could move a mountain or end a war. But could he sit in a room and just exist without fearing that someone would die because he lost control? Could he ever believe someone wasn’t flinching inside when they looked at him?

He didn't believe he deserved kindness. Didn’t believe he could be fixed. He was scared to be saved—because what if they saved him, and he broke again? He wanted to be angry. Embarrassed, at least. But instead, all he felt was—

Small.

He doesn’t know who this Queen, you, is. He doesn’t know if he should be afraid or not, or if you were an arrogant asshole but... But it seemed like you didn’t speak of him like a god or a weapon or a mistake...

You spoke like someone who still saw a man.

His fingers tightened around the book. The pages crinkled slightly beneath his palm. He didn’t deserve any of this. Not her conviction. Not Bucky’s loyalty. Certainly not the faith they so freely gave him, again and again, like he hadn’t ripped half the sky open just last month trying to keep himself together.

The silence in the room returned, and still, they hadn’t noticed him.

Part of him wanted to step forward. To say something. To apologize.

Another part wanted to disappear. Back into the dark, into solitude, where no one would see the trembling that had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with guilt.

People needed him, but no one wanted to know or help him. Not really.

Except maybe Bucky... And the team. After what they had willingly gone through to pull him away from the clutches of the Void... And now, her—the Queen. Life incarnate. The one who should be most afraid of what he carried inside for the potential of destruction he carried towards all the things she created, she cared about.

But she wasn’t.

She waited.

And that terrified him even more.

Because if she still believed in him…

Then maybe he didn’t have the excuse to give up anymore.

And that was almost worse than the Void.

He squeezed his hands tighter, knuckles bone-white. The noise of the Thunderbolts’ arguing faded into the background static of his mind. He couldn’t help but wince, holding onto his head a bit to silence the hateful words the Void still whispered.

₮ⱧɆɎ’ⱠⱠ ₮ɄⱤ₦ Ø₦ ɎØɄ. ɎØɄ’ⱤɆ ₦Ø₮ ₩ØⱤ₮Ⱨ ₮ⱧɆ ฿ⱤɆ₳₮Ⱨ ł₮ ₮₳₭Ɇ₴ ₮Ø ₱ł₮Ɏ ɎØɄ. ⱠɆ₮ ₮ⱧɆ₥ ₮₳Ⱡ₭. ⱠɆ₮ ₮ⱧɆ₥ ₴₵Ɽ₳₥฿ⱠɆ ₮Ø ₴₳VɆ ɎØɄ. ɎØɄ ₭₦Ø₩ ⱧØ₩ ₮Ⱨł₴ Ɇ₦Đ₴. ɎØɄ ₳Ⱡ₩₳Ɏ₴ Ⱨ₳VɆ-

“You are not a mistake.”

The voice wasn’t loud. It wasn’t a command or a demand. It was warm. Steady. Somehow familiar.

Her.

Not here physically, but it echoed through him all the same—like a thread of sunlight winding through a storm cloud. And suddenly, he could breathe. Just barely. Bob exhaled, trembling. His fists loosened. The vice around his chest didn’t disappear, but it shifted. Lightened, like the weight was now being shared. All he could hear was his heartbeat and her voice, from days ago, echoing through him like a prayer he didn’t deserve:

Life doesn’t conquer the Void. It reaches it. Offers a hand, not a sword.

And he wanted—god, he wanted—to reach back.

But what if his hand wasn’t his anymore?

He winced, flinching as if struck. One hand reached up to grip his temple, fingertips pressing hard into his skin. A sharp pain bloomed behind his eyes—not from the voice, but from his own resistance to it. The Void didn’t scream anymore. It didn’t need to.

Now, it cooed. It whispered in familiar tones, seductive and patient. It came wearing his own voice, softened with mock pity, with poisoned comfort.

₳ⱧⱧ… Ⱡł₣Ɇ, ₴₮łⱠⱠ ₳ ₱Ɇ₴₭Ɏ ₩Ø₥₳₦, ₮Ⱨł₦₭ł₦₲ ₴ⱧɆ ₵₳₦ ₱ⱤØ₮Ɇ₵₮ ɎØɄ ₣ⱤØ₥ ₥Ɇ. ₳ĐØⱤ₳฿ⱠɆ…

Bob shut his eyes, swaying slightly in place. The pressure in his skull thrummed like an earthquake waiting to breach surface. He was so tired of this. Of holding back. Of pretending his breathing didn’t feel like trying to hold the tides with trembling hands.

His heart pounded against his ribs like it wanted to be out.

The whispers didn’t vanish. The Void never did. But for once, he didn’t want to listen to it.

He didn’t want to believe in what it whispered, how it corrupted him from the inside... He only wanted to listen to You.

Your words cut deeper than any blade. Not because they hurt—but because he wanted so desperately to believe them. To deserve them. Her voice wasn’t loud. It didn’t need to be. It lived in the marrow of him now, threaded through the cracks, gentle as a lullaby and stubborn as a vow.

You... Not here in the room. Not yet. But present in a way the Void could never understand. You lingered in him like warmth in winter, refusing to be extinguished, no matter how cold the world got. Maybe that was what you stood for, what your existence meant for the universe.

Life doesn’t conquer the Void. It reaches it. Offers a hand, not a sword.

He remembered the way she’d said it. Not as a plea. Not as some dramatic declaration. But like a truth older than the stars. One you’d lived.

And for the first time in what felt like forever, Bob wasn’t alone inside his own mind.

He blinked. Slowly sat upright from the crouching position he found himself just before reaching the door to the living room. His eyes—sunken, tired—lifted toward the team, still arguing, still fighting over what to do with him.

And for a heartbeat, he let himself wonder: What if I tried to believe her? Anyone?... Myself? Just once?

“…I—um…” It slipped out. Barely louder than the hum of the ceiling vent. Not a declaration. Not even a statement. More like a sound that escaped before he could smother it.

Silence fell like a guillotine. The arguing stopped.

Ava froze mid-gesture. Yelena, leaning back in her chair, tilted her head slightly, eyes worried at the obvious wincing expression of his face was still apparent. Even Bucky stilled, his expression sharpening—not with judgment, but attention.

Bob shrank in on himself slightly, shoulders tensing as if expecting a blow. He didn’t look at anyone. Just stared down at the floor, fingers twitching around the hem of his sleeve.

“…I heard what she said,” he murmured, almost to himself. “About… being ready.”

Silence stretched. It made the air feel thick. “I don’t know what that means. Not really,” he went on, his voice barely more than a whisper. “I—I don’t feel ready. I don’t even feel real half the time. Like I’m just… holding space until the bad part wakes up again.”

His chest hitched with the start of a breath he didn’t want to finish. He dug his nails into his palms. No one moved. The air was heavy, like the room itself was holding its breath.

“I’m scared of what’s in me. Scared of me.” His voice shook now, just a little, like it was something fragile being held too tightly. He couldn’t help but shake a bit, or maybe it was the tower itself, he didn’t know. All he knew was that he was overwhelmed and that there was a small quake on where he stood

“Bob, you don’t have to-” Bucky started, feeling a bit guilty that he didn’t first explain it to him when they were alone. He knew how the team could be so reckless and loud when it came to secrets or a secret plan. Hell, even Val might have heard at this point and he wouldn’t know. However, considering the head space Bob was in most of the days, he cared about his...friend, as reluctant as he was to call him, and his well-being, more than a bitch who uses anything and anyone for her benefit.

“N-No... I need to let it out, I need to speak.” It was a plea, it almost sounded like a plea by how breathless and pained it left Bob. So much so that even John had lowered his guards and listened to him with a complex look on his face. Understanding. Apprehension. Confusion. Care.

After Bucky’s nod of approval, Bob took a deep breath, put his book down on the table awkwardly and looked at his friends, the friends he was going to explain the dark side of him for the first time.

“Every time I think maybe I can try again, I hear it. Him. The Void. It tells me all the ways I’ll fail. All the ways I’ll hurt people again. And part of me… starts to believe it.”

His hands dropped from his sleeves and curled into fists on his knees. White-knuckled.

“But I heard her. Just now. In my head. And it felt… lighter. Not fixed. Just… not so loud.” he gave a small smile to himself, lips curling lopsidedly as he lifted his head and gave a determined no to his friends who were listening to him.

“She said I wasn’t a mistake. And for a second—just a second—it felt like I could breathe.”

His voice faltered for a moment, but he didn’t stop this time. He took a step forward the team, his team, his friends... The ones who willingly went into the Void despite knowing they would see their darkest fears, just to save him.

He owed this much to them.

“I didn’t even know I wanted to breathe,” he chuckled humorlessly, eyes still downcast, lashes heavy with something unspoken as he threw his arms carelessly, as if what he is saying didn’t matter too much. “I’ve been holding everything in for so long—like if I let even a little of it out, it’d swallow me. Swallow all of you.”

Ironıc, isn’t it? For a being who could show the biggest fears a person might have to that same person, he was afraid to reveal his own, to the only people that mattered to him know. Maybe he didn’t want to be seen weak, or bother them when they all had their troubles to deal with, besides the fact that he might have traumatized them quite badly. His breath hitched, and he rubbed the heel of his palm against his eye—not crying, not really, but too close for comfort.  He laughed, but it was broken, breathless. More of a release than a sound of humor. “It’s stupid. I know it’s stupid. One sentence from a goddess and suddenly I think maybe I’m not cursed? Or maybe it wasn’t even her, maybe my fucked up m-mind is making u-up things...” he waved his hand dismissively as if he was speaking nonsense but still risked a glance up. Not at all of them. Just Bucky. The one who had gone to her. The one who hadn’t given up.

Bucky smiled at him brotherly, nodding at him. “It’s not stupid... She does that sometimes.”

“I think…” He faltered again after a smile, swallowing hard. “I think I want to try. If… if someone shows me how.”

He looked up again. Not just at Bucky this time. At all of them.

The room didn’t erupt. No one clapped or consoled him. But no one looked away, either. Ava, whose guarded stance had softened into something like protective stillness.Yelena, who now leaned forward, fingers laced together, eyes watching him like he wasn’t a threat, but a person. Even John—arms slack, frown etched deeper—not cold or dismissive, but present. Listening.

“I’m not asking for you to fix me. I don’t think anyone can.” Bob’s voice dropped lower. “But I think… if I have to carry this… I don’t want to do it alone anymore.”

His shoulders trembled, and his small, self-effacing smile flickered back. The kind someone makes when they’re afraid of what comes next.

“I think that’s what she meant. When she said I had to be ready.”

Then, softer, almost like he was testing the words in his mouth for the first time in years-

“I think I am.”

And for once, Bob didn’t feel like a monster being studied... as his friends smiled at him, all of them carrying their own way of genuine care for him as he found himself doing the same, releasing the breath he was holding. That was their way of silently encouraging him, a silent gesture of  “You are not alone.”...

He felt like a man, asking for help... That was when he heard it.

Beep.

Soft. Sharp. Out of place.

Bucky’s brow furrowed.

Beep-beep.

The sound was coming from his pocket. Mechanical, almost crystalline. Faintly melodic. Everyone turned toward him as he reached in, fingers closing around the cool, unfamiliar weight of the device—the one the Queen had given him when they last spoke. The one she said to use only when the time was right.

When he was ready.

He drew it out slowly.

A small disc, no larger than his palm, etched with ancient runes that shimmered faintly beneath the surface. It had been inert for days—dull, cold, unresponsive. But now it pulsed with light, soft and golden, like the first break of dawn and the little wings sprouting from it now fluttering, creating a glowing halo. Her insignia—a sigil shaped like a blooming star cradled by twin arcs—glowed at its center.

It was responding.

Bob’s breath caught in his throat. The glowing light from the device reflected off the metal around the room, casting soft golden halos that danced across his face and the floor—but his eyes stayed locked on it. Unblinking. Disbelieving. Like it wasn’t real.

“It’s her,” Bucky said, his voice quiet with awe, laced with certainty. “She knows.”

The glow intensified for a moment, then dimmed to a steady rhythm—heartbeat-like. Not urgent. Not demanding.

Just… ready.

The device warmed in Bucky’s hand, and a voice—not a full message, but a feeling—brushed against his thoughts. Gentle. Reassuring. Her voice, even if it didn’t speak words, rang inside his mind.

He is ready. And I am waiting.

The rest of the Thunderbolts didn’t speak, but the shift in the room was palpable. Yelena crossed her arms with a soft exhale—half scoff, half smile. It was the kind of smile that didn't quite reach her eyes—a guarded, skeptical expression she wore whenever things felt too strange for her liking.

“Of course she’s watching. Creepy glowing Queen of the cosmos…” But the words were hollow, and Yelena could feel it. She didn’t want to admit it, but there was something undeniably… comforting about the idea of the Queen watching and the device starting to activate when Bob finally explained his thoughts to them. Something that made her feel less alone in this chaos, even if she couldn’t bring herself to fully accept it...because of the past.

The past of her, Natasha...and the so-called Life that didn’t do anything to save her sister, despite being close friends.

Ava stepped back slightly, eyes narrowing at the device like it might explode. “Are we seriously going to Asgard right now?”

John just rubbed a hand across his jaw, glancing from Bucky to Bob, then back to the still-glowing disc. “Guess the gods are calling.”

“Well,” she said with a small shrug, trying to reclaim some of her usual nonchalance, as he glanced at Bob. “if she’s waiting for you, then I guess it’s your call. But don’t expect me to be all warm and fuzzy about it.” She shot a wry smile at him, as if to soften the edges of her words. “I’m not exactly a fan of gods popping in to solve my problems.”

Bob continued to stare at it, wide-eyed. He didn’t move. Didn’t breathe.

Bucky stood and turned toward him, still holding the device as it pulsed between his fingers like a living thing.

“You said you wanted someone to show you how,” he said gently. “She’s the only one who can. And I think she’s been waiting for this moment longer than either of us knew.”

The device glowed once more—brighter now. Not as a warning.

As a doorway.

[lanora-star]

Magical Bat

[Platonic Yandere! Batfam × Neglected! Magical girl! Batsis! Reader]

It was odd wasn't it? The only biological daughter of Bruce Wayne has pink hair

Interviewers, reporters, everyone asked him how is it possible? And the only thing he says is that it's hair dye.... It's not.

The fact is that your mother had pink hair and she had a deep dark secret; she was the leader of a magical group called Clouded Moon Guardians.

And when your mother died during a mission protecting you from a Villainess who went by the name; Sun Blazer....yeah, strange name ain't it? But I mean who are you to judge? Right?

Aways, the others in the Clouded Moon Guardians just quite pestering you about taking your dead mother's role and leader no matter who many times you tried to say no.

You were if that, you are still a kid barely brushing 15 and then that stupid mascot appeared and bugged you to OBLIVION!

And it didn't help that your family seems to and the biggest boner for Justice. But oh no! When it comes to being around for the newly added sister that came from another heroin, they were like oops! Sorry we didn't come to your dance performance or your leading role in Gotham's biggest Musical/Play! And don't you dare forget the 'Sorry sissy, the Joker had kidnapped a bunch of people we'll make it up to you!' Speech on your 15th birthday.

And so you agree to take your mother's place on the Clouded Moon Guardians, becoming a magical girl and you didn't tell anyone.

-

"(Name)! Wake up!" Another member of Clouded Moon Guardians whose guardian name was; Lightning Skye, but her real name was Shoshana, "Huh? Wha — yeah, yeah, I'm up. Jeez, what's the big deal?" Shoshana and the others looked at you like you had two heads.

"This is serious! You are the leader!"

"I never wanted to be the leader."

"Well, you are and so was your mother."

You and Deanna (Her guardian name is Spring Fire) glared at each other, why did she have to be like is? God you wish you could drop dead right now.

"Hey, hey, no fighting!" That damn spirit was always had a stick up their ass, they were the reason for the Clouded Moon Guardians! If you could you would've thrown Rkish into outer space...but you couldn't do that.

-

After the meeting you were walking through an alley that was a short cut to your school: the prim and proper academy that got in through recommendations from your old school that scored you a scholarship to it.

Plus the school you used to go to was the one your mom wanted you to go through your life: the school was the same she wanted to go to when she was a younger hero and the school would've given you a normal life and she wanted that for you after you said you didn't want to be a hero.

But your life feels like it done a 180 on you with your new family, new school, and now being a hero! It sucks really, and as you gaze at the grand gate of the school you let out a groan.

"Heyyy, woah are you okay?" The words snapped you out of your daze as you looked at the brunette named Mia, the only friend you made coming to your new school that when you told Mia your name she and I quote "Wait, your a Wayne? Like in the biggest investor for our school Bruce Wayne?".

Great you thought just great for you that your biological father had donated to the school you got a scholarship to.

"yeah, just....just tried is all..." You mumbled out as the two of you walked into the school.

-

It was slightly nice walking home instead of letting Alfred pick you and Damien up together, Damien would taunt you, pinch you or even scratched you.

And as you walk you don't notice a figure cover in the darkness of alleyways......

-

Hi! I hope you enjoy the story and yes this will be a series!

[m00nsbaby]

Falling asleep on their shoulders.

A bunch of headcanons about how would they feel. :) (Moon system x reader.) Steven.

In a million years, he would never have accepted a work outing when he could be in his comfortable apartment with Gus, reading a new book.

Until he found out that you would be going.

He never imagined that an amusement park could be so much fun. He had never been to one before.

Or maybe he had, but he doesn't remember.

You separated from the group as soon as you arrived. Steven thought he would like to be as carefree as you when you took his hand and walked without a trace of nervousness or fear.

You talked all day, about anything and everything.

"You're very interesting, Steven." It was probably the sweetest thing he had ever heard. His blush made you feel satisfied.

For the rest of the day, you made sure he knew you were interested in him.

You also mentally noted how his lips brushed against your fingers when you offered him some of your cotton candy.

You held hands again when you rode the tallest roller coaster in the park.

Oh, and you kept the photograph.

"Shall we go see the Aqualoop?" "See it or...?" "Get splashed, I mean." He couldn't say no. Both of you were like a pair of children enjoying the day.

Adult life hadn't given you the chance to enjoy yourselves like this in a long time.

Both of you closed your eyes tightly as the water splashed over you, drenching you from head to toe. You both laughed until your stomach hurt, and Steven brushed a wet strand of hair from your face.

Having him so close made your heart skip a beat.

You spent the rest of the day dripping wet, enjoying the sun on your skin and the warm air drying your hair.

You shared food as the evening approached, and you discovered that vegan food was much better than you had imagined, while Steven ate half of your french fries.

As the park was about to close, you met up with the others at the exit.

Both of you insisted on declining the ride J.B. offered, as your clothes were still wet.

After 20 long minutes of arguing, you accepted on behalf of yourself and Steven.

Or Scotty, as J.B. had called him, making you struggle to hold back your laughter.

The space in the back seat was limited, and your body was squeezed between Steven and the car door, but you couldn't say you were uncomfortable.

His body emitted a delightful warmth.

A yawn escaped you.

"Are you tired?" Steven's whisper near you broke the complete silence in the car.

You silently nodded, rubbing one of your eyes with your hand.

If only he had the courage to tell you how adorable he thought you were.

Minutes of silence passed, your breathing became slower and heavier, and your head gradually leaned to the side as you began to fall asleep.

And it happened. Your cheek ended up against Steven's shoulder.

He almost vomited from excitement, not exaggerating. Needless to say, he was the type of person who simply assumed he would die of natural causes before moving or telling you that his shoulder had become tired.

After a few minutes, you shifted, slipping an arm underneath his and intertwining your fingers together, returning to your place on his shoulder after.

He allowed himself to finally smile.

And the hours it took him to gather the courage finally culminated in the best part of the night. He leaned in enough to kiss your forehead.

You smiled too, without opening your eyes.

Marc.

One day, you had to explode, and he knew it.

His plans were always thwarted because Khonshu interfered with his sudden missions that not only meant pausing whatever you were doing, but also meant that Marc would disappear completely from the radar for God knows how many days.

It was strange when he returned, too. It took him days to return to normal, if you were lucky enough he would tell you what had happened, only partially.

"It's always the same!" You finally screamed at your breaking point. Tears overflowed from your eyes as you quickly packed your clothes into your suitcase. You didn't care if the clothes became even more wrinkled.

"You knew it would be like this, I told you." Marc had the migraine of the century.

You shouted at each other for a while, and the maid looked at you as if you were crazy.

To be fair, you sounded like it.

The argument came to a close when Marc went too far with his words. You didn't argue often, but when you did, it always ended like this.

You cried the whole way to the bus station. And you almost started another argument when you pushed your boyfriend's hand away to prevent him from grabbing your suitcase.

If only he had the strength to set aside his pride for once, he would have apologized the moment the tip of your nose turned red.

You wished you could switch places with a stranger to avoid hours of travel with him.

But it didn't happen.

You felt like the thousand times you cried yourself to exhaustion as a child. You even let out a yawn within the first 15 minutes of the trip.

It didn't take long for you to succumb to physical and emotional exhaustion, thinking that sleeping would make time pass faster and you would be away from him sooner.

He was so focused on avoiding your gaze by looking out the window that he didn't even notice when you fell asleep.

Until your head landed on his shoulder with a sudden turn in the road.

Marc's body tensed. He was too stubborn to give in instantly, but at the same time, he was too in love to push you away.

He looked at you, and his chest tightened.

You looked so vulnerable. So tender and small. How could he hurt you if he loved you so much?

Unbeknownst to him, a barely noticeable pout formed on his lower lip.

"I love you," he whispered, more to himself than to you. He was almost consoling himself in the pain of having to carry the regret of his words.

"I love you with all my heart," he repeated.

It was futile, you were deeply asleep.

He made his decision and closed his eyes, leaning his head against yours to find comfort.

He would sleep by your side, feeling the warmth of your body, and when you woke up, he would apologize to you as many times as necessary.

Even if it meant having to make it up to you with other vacations.

Jake.

You never exchanged words unless it was necessary.

You knew his name, he knew yours, and that you were good at fighting together. Unfortunately, you didn't have a "magical" suit to help with that.

You stared out the window, suppressing the urge to moan in pain every time the taxi jolted on the road. You had survived worse things than a twisted ankle and a possible broken rib.

Jake didn't look at you, only when he heard you hiss or take a deep breath because of the discomfort you were in.

"We're close to the hotel," he reassured you, even though it was a lie. You were in the middle of nowhere, trusting that the driver had the correct directions.

You nodded silently, closing your eyes and resting your forehead against the cold window.

Five more minutes passed, and there were no signs of life on the road, but the pain became more bearable as exhaustion started clouding your perception.

Every time you were about to fall asleep, a tap of your forehead against the window would wake you up.

And you didn't even notice his gaze on you.

After the seventh hit, Jake lost his patience.

"Eso no va a funcionar, cariño." You didn't understand, and you couldn't be bothered to understand as you kept your eyes closed.

The last thing you felt was his body moving closer to yours.

You yielded, your body finally relaxing as you managed to fall asleep. It was easier for Jake to wrap his arm around your shoulders and gently push you against his, allowing you to rest.

Almost immediately, he regretted it.

Jake didn't have this kind of closeness with anyone. His interactions with other people always involved punches, sometimes harder, sometimes softer, but pain was always present.

Was it normal for his heart to race like this? He would investigate later.

You moved your head slightly to snuggle better against his shoulder as he held his breath, trying not to make the slightest movement that could wake you.

"¿Cuánto va a ser?" he asked in a low tone so that the driver would understand his concern about not disturbing you.

The driver pointed to the meter in silence. Well, he encountered someone even quieter than himself.

Jake lost count of how many times he whispered in your ear, "Shh, cariño." (although sometimes he changed the endearment to "cielo" or "corazón") as a way to lull you in his arms whenever you shifted in your seat.

When you arrived, he paid in silence, as usual.

He didn't wake you up, in fact, he did his best to be as stealthy as possible.

He slid one of his arms under your legs, wrapped the other around you, and lifted you up like a bride.

Jake was careful, but not so much that your reflexes didn't catch the movement.

You woke up, but never opened your eyes; you simply nestled closer to his chest and enjoyed his care.

Tomorrow you would both face whatever you had to face.

[lostwysteria]

E-Soul arc part 4! It's another shorter one. Just in time for our boi's bday! He's canonically 21! Omg. He's a baby! I aged him up in this one on accident. I had no clue he was baby.

Masterlist

The rest of the week flew by. 

By the time Nice flew into the apartment and reclaimed him, Lin Ling was anxious to return to his boyfriends.

Nice was frantic to reclaim him as well. Neither he, nor an oddly bedridden Wreck would really explain what had happened.

“The power of the fandom is insane.” Was all the dark haired man would say in a daze. He was covered in bruises,and bite marks along with scratches. 

Both Ling and Nice happily took care of him. Ling especially enjoyed acting like a weighted blanket and being held on top of him. Wreck was broader and more bulky than their white haired paramour. He had to have different muscles to be able to use his sword.

Nice was all lean muscles and dancers' grace.

“It was so strange. Just. The whole time I was there this uneasy feeling persisted. No danger even presented itself in an obvious way, though.” Ling told the two as they cuddled in bed. Tomorrow Nice would have to get back to work, but for now they could cuddle and bask in each other’s presence.

“That is strange. I don't want you to go back there, then. Not without either of us.” Nice frowned. 

“I agree. Something smells fishy.” Wreck agreed.

“How did you meet those guys, anyways?” Nice asked, referring to Ling’s charges one floor up.

“We went to college together for a while. Shang Chao is our boss’ son, by the way. Be respectful.” Ling scolded with a boop to a perfectly formed nose. “I met E-Soul first. We shared an umbrella and were both late to class. We got assigned a group project because of it. We just got assigned most of the group projects for that class together, really. I met the second member of their group, Xia Qing, next. Same thing. We got assigned together on group projects a lot in another class. Same with Shang Chao. It all just culminated into them becoming my charges.” He then told them of the night he saved Shang Chao's life. And the night his parents died.

“Losing my bonds to them was the most painful thing I've ever felt. I spiraled and kinda never stopped. Until I met you.” Ling yawned. He looked adoringly at Nice and Wreck. “I missed you two this week.” He said and nuzzled closer to Wreck. Lots of kisses and cuddles were had the rest of that day. 

…

A few days later Nice and Wreck officially debuted as a hero duo. Homemaker watched in the surveillance van with Miss. J as they took down a domestic terrorist group. The two worked flawlessly together. Light and dark flowed together in harmony. 

It was amazing to see. He fell even more in love.

…

Homemaker helped several lost children find their way back to their school group during a field trip. He was at another E-Soul event with his other two charges that were in the country.

He also helped a mother settle her baby twins down as well.

“You'll do amazing with your own babies one day.” She told him. He got told that all the time.

Shang Chao choked in the background.

He was imagining Lin Ling having children. With the two degenerates that had seduced the (in his eyes) too innocent and pure for this evil world man. Not on his watch! Yang Cheng would agree!

…

Lin Ling was led to a room in the Tower. It was a party room. One of several.

He had forgotten it was his 27th birthday. It had been a while since he celebrated.

Everyone he knew was there. He also found out that Moon and Xia Qing were dating.

Bai Yuzhou gave him a gift card for their favorite cafe and for a fancy bakery. “Everyone loves coffee and cakes.” He said with a playful grin.

He got a bunch of yarns and his new favorite hooks from the girls. “Hobby Lobby is a magical place.” they said in awe. “Also, Walmart is such a place. Just. It is a place. The people really are like that.” Moon told him. She and her girlfriend had encounters with People if Walmart.

Nice and Wreck got him books on sewing and embroidery. Plus beginner kits. “You were saying about how you wanted to really learn more than basic mending.” 

Miss. J informed him that the party and a selection of cooking wine was his gift from her before she left.

Cheng and Chao got him some new cardigans and sweaters. “You are always so cold. Seriously, why?” 

Lin Ling had no clue why he could shiver in summer. Nothing was wrong with him medically that could be found. He just. Didn't retain body heat.

The party was a blast and he ate way too much cake. His boys, girls, and singular friend made it the best birthday he ever had.

[yellowocaballero]

I love your moon knight fics so so much — would you ever consider writing more of them? Sorry if you’ve answered this question before.

Also, the way you portray Boba and Fox inspired me to write a fic about the two of them which is not very good but is so in my brain all the time that I have written like 40k words and counting in a week. Twilight On Owl Creek Bridge is such a masterpiece that it has irrevocably changed the way I view Star Wars as a whole. I genuinely could not have cared less about the Clone Wars before reading it, and now it is on my mind 24/7. Boba and Fox are the most tragic characters in the SW universe and nobody can change my mind about it. They both just want to live goddamnit!

On another note, have you watched Thunderbolts? I’m not usually a marvel movie fan but watching that one really hit me in a way I seldom feel except for reading your works. The idea that a group of unambiguously, absurdly fucked up losers are truly the only people that could feasibly make a team of heroes we deserve felt like it just fit so well with all of your marvel stuff.

I will not be writing more Moon Knight stuff! I told all of the stories I wanted to tell, and then some. I did recently post a 60k thing that I should have probably put on the masterpost...here's the post, I'll stick it onto the masterpost. Beyond that, I do have a bunch of unposted stuff lmfao, but none of it is really fit to print. When I first got this ask I poked around my drive a bit to see if I should throw any of it on here...the third story in the MK mens rea trilogy was really ALMOST done, there's the entire Heroes For Hire backstory fic, it's a lot but none of it's really...I might reblog this with some of it, when I have a second.

And I'm SO HAPPY that Fox and Boba live rent-free in your brain because they also live rent free in mineeeee. Fishhooks was a solid little story, but I ended up touching on some concepts that got much, much more fleshed out in the Boba POV story for the No Chip AU. Every time I write Boba I really do just go deeper and deeper into how fucked-up weird that entire situation is. Also Fox. Unfortunately, my takes are very - uh, Meg specific, they're very much a me thing, so it makes me happy to know that the vision is spreading (somebody wrote a Supernatural/SW AU influenced by my Boba and it was FANTASTIC).

Obviously I need to see the fic once it's done. Obviously you have to link me. Obviously. Give me it. It's also very hard on me being the lone cowboy in this town.

I have not seen Thunderbolts, and I wasn't really planning on it! That tracks with the Heroes For Hire thing lmfao - the connecting thread between them is honestly how they were all fucked over and disenfranchised by society (or is Danny), and that feeling is very coherent with them Just Being Guys. Something I liked to do in the best life world was to just imagine superheroes being things other than superheroes, living their lives in their own way - MK as an indentured servant, She-Hulk as both a superhero and an influencer, the HFH as losers who live like college students helping people for very little pay, Dr. Strange working retail, MCU!Peter Parker being his assistant and finding his own path, Ghost Rider doing Doordash. It makes the actual superheroes in the story a lot more purposeful - the Avengers (She-Hulk, Wasp, Monica, Hawkeye, Sam!Cap) are Avengers on purpose, it is a very specific kind of thing that a very specific kind of person does. It creates this rich and robust feeling world and I ended up being very fond of it.

I'll let you know if I do see it, but I wasn't expecting to. I haven't seen an MCU movie innnnn a while (I would say that the last I saw was No Way Home In Literal 2021 but Wikipedia says Wolverine & Deadpool is MCU, which - doesn't feel right at all). Glad everybody has the Avengers 2012 fanfic life that we all wanted, though.

[pykxz]

hi.

you're on a rock floating in space.

pretty cool, huh?

some of it's water.

fuck it, actually most of it's water.

i can't even get from here to there without buying a boat.

it's sad.

i'm sad.

i miss you.

how did this happen?

a long time ago, actually never, and also now, nothing is nowhere.

when?

never.

makes sense, right?

like i said, it didn't happen.

nothing was never anywhere.

that's why it's been everywhere.

it's been so everywhere you don't need a where.

you don't even need a when.

that's how every it gets.

forget this.

i wanna be something.

go somewhere.

do something.

i want things to change.

i want to invent time and space.

and i know it's possible because everything is here and it probably already happened.

i just don't know when to start.

and that's exactly where it started.

whoah, i paused it.

i think there's a universe now.

what's it made of?

quarks & stuff

ah, that's a thing.

in a place.

don't like it?

try a new place.

at a different time™.

try to stick together, because the world is gonna get bigger.

and emptier.

but it's not empty yet.

it's still very full, and about a kjghpillion degrees.

great news!

the quarks are now happily married, in groups of three called a proton or a neutron

and there's something else flying around too that wants to join in but can't cause it's still too

HOT great news!

the protons and neutrons are now happily married to each other.

and some of them even doubled up.

great news, the electrons have now joined in

congratulations, the world is now a bunch of gas in space.

but it's getting closer together.

and it's getting closer together.

and it's getting closer toge-

it's a star

new shit just got made!

some stars burn out and die.

bigger stars burn out and die with passion, and make some brand new, way crazier shit.

space dust

which allows newer, more interesting stars to be made, and then die, and explode into

even crazier space dust

so now stars have cool stuff around them, like rocks, ice, and funny clouds, which can make some very interesting things.

like this ball of flaming rocks for example.

holy shit, we just got hit with another ball of flaming rocks.

and it kind of made a mess.

which is

now the moon

weather update:

it's raining rocks from outer space.

weather update:

those rocks might have had water inside them, and now there's hot steam in the sky.

weather update:

cooler temperatures today, and the floor is no longer lava.

weather update:

it's raining.

severe flooding alert:

the entire world is now an ocean.

volcano alert:

that's land!

there's life in the ocean

what?

something's alive in the ocean

oh cool, like a plant or an animal?

no, a microscopic speck.

it lives at the bottom of the ocean and eats chemical soup, which is being served hot and fresh, made from gnarly space ingredients left over from when it was raining rocks or whatever.

oh yeah, and it can do that.

it has secret instructions written inside itself telling it how to build another one of itself.

so that's pretty nifty, i would say.

tired of living at the bottom of the ocean?

now you can eat sunlight!

using a revolutionary technique, you can convert sunlight into food

taste the sun

side effect: now there's oxygen everywhere and the sky's blue.

then the earth might have been a snowball for a while, maybe even a couple of times.

it's a sponge.

it's a plant.

it's a worm, and some other types of weird strange water bugs and strange fish.

it's the Cambrian explosion

"wow, that's animals and stuff"

but we're still in the ocean, hey, can we go on land?

no

why?

the sun is a deadly lazer

oh okay.

not anymore, there's a blanket

now the animals can go on land.

come on, animals, let's go on land!

nope, can't walk yet.

and there's no food yet, so i don't care.

ok, will you learn to walk if there's plants up here?

maybe, said some bugs, and fish.

ok, so i can go on land, but i have to go back in the water to

have babies

learn to use an egg.

i was already doing that.

use a stronger egg.

put water in it.

have a baby, on land, in an egg.

water is in the egg.

baby, in the egg, in the water, in the egg.

works for me.

bye bye ocean

and now everything's huge.

including bugs.

wanna see a map of the land?

sure.

oh fuck, now everything's dead.

just kidding, here are the survivors.

keep your eye on this one because it's about to become the dinosaurs.

here's another map of the land.

yeah, it broke apart, don't worry about it, it does that all the time.

here comes a meteor.

and the dinosaurs are gone

it's mammal time, here come the mammals.

look at those breasts.

now they're gonna dominate the world and one of them just learned how to grab stuff.

and walk.

no, like, walk like that.

and grab stuff at the same time.

and bang rocks together to make pointed rocks.

"ouch"

and set things on fire.

"yeouch"

and make crazy sounds with their voice.

"gneurshk"

which can mean different things.

that's a human person

and now they're everywhere.

almost.

ice age

what, you can walk over here?

cool.

not anymore

well i guess we're stuck here now.

let's review.

there's people on the planet.

and they're chasing their food.

fuck it, time to plant some grass.

look at this.

i control the food now.

now everyone will want to be my friend and live near me.

let's all build houses except mine is bigger because i own the food.

this is great, i wonder if anyone else is doing this.

tired of using rocks for everything?

use metal.

it's underground.

better farming was just invented, in a sweet dank valley right in between these two rivers.

and the animals are helping.

guess what happens next

more food.

and more people who came to buy the food.

now you need people to help make the food and keep track of the sales.

and now you need houses for people to live in and people to make the houses, and now there's more people and they invent things, which makes things better and more people come and there's more farming and more people to make more things for more people and now there's business, money, writing, laws, power.

Society

coming soon to a dank river valley near you.

meanwhile, out in the middle of nowhere, the horse is probably being tamed.

why is all my metal so lame and lumpy?

tired of using lame, sad metal?

introducing

Bronze

made with special ingredient tin from the far lands of tin land.

i don't know, my dealer won't tell me where he gets it.

also, guess what?

egypt

meanwhile, out in the middle of nowhere, they figured out how to put wheels on a horse.

now we're getting somewhere.

also

china

and did i mention

indus river valley civilization

norte chico

the middle east is getting more complicated, maybe because it's in the middle of the east.

knock knock, er, clop clop.

it's the people with the horses.

and they made an empire.

and then everyone else copied their horses.

greeks

ah look, it must be the greeks, er, a beta version of the greeks.

let's check in with the indus river valley civilization.

they're gone.

guess who's not gone?

china

new arrivals in india, maybe it's those horse people i was talking about, or their cousins or something

and they wrote some hymns and mantras and stuff

you could make a religion out of this.

there's the bronze age collapse.

now the phoenicians can get down to business

also, can we switch to a metal that's a little easier to find?

thanks.

look who came back to israel, it's the twelve tribes of israel.

and they believe in God

just 1 though, he's got like a ten step program.

here's some huge heads.

must be the olmecs.

the phoenicians make some colonies.

the greeks copy their idea and make some colonies.

the phoenicians made a colony so big it makes colonies.

here comes the assyrian empire.

never mind, it's the babylonian- median-

it's the Persian Empire

"wow, that's big"

ah, the buddha was just enlightened.

who's the buddha?

this guy, who sat under a tree for so long that he figured out how to ignore the fact that we're all dying.

you could make a religion out of this.

oops, china just broke, but while it was breaking, confucius was figuring out how to have good morals.

ah, the greeks just had the idea of thinking about stuff.

and right over here, alexander just had the idea of conquering the entire persian empire.

it's a great idea.

he was great.

and now he's dead.

hopefully the rest of the gang will be able to share the empire evenly between them.

knock knock, it's chandragupta, he says get the hell out of here.

will you get the hell out of here if i give you 500 elephants?

ok thanks, bye

time to conquer all of india

or

most of india

but what about this part?

that's the tamil kings, no one conquers the tamil kings.

who are the tamil kings?

merchants, probably

and they've got spices

who would like to buy the spices?

me, said the arabians, swiftly buying it and selling it to the rest of the world.

hey, china put itself back together again, with good morals as their main philosophy.

actually, they have three main philosophies.

out here, the horse nomads run wild and free, and they would like to ransack your city.

let's check the greekification levels of the greekified kingdoms.

greekification overload!

bye, said the parthians.

bye, said the jews.

hi, said the parthians, taking over the entire place.

heyyyyyyyy, said the romans, eating the entire mediterranean for breakfast.

thanks for invading our homeland, said the jews, who were starting to get tired of people invading their homeland.

hi, everything's great, said some guy who seems to be getting very popular and is then arrested and killed for being too popular, which only makes him more popular.

you could make a religion out of this.

want silk?

now you can buy it from china.

they just made a

brand new road to the world

or you can

get there on water

sick! new trade routes! said india, accidentally spreading their religion to the entire southeast.

hmm, that's a good place for an epic trading kingdom.

there goes buddhism traveling up the silk road.

i wonder if it'll reach china before it collapses again.

remember the persian empire?

yep, said the persians, making a new one.

axum is getting so powerful they would like to build a long stick.

has anyone populated madagascar yet?

let's do it together.

china is whole again

then it broke again

still can't cross the sahara desert?

try camels.

hell yeah! now we've got business

said the ghana empire, selling lots of gold, and slaves

hi, i live in the roman empire, and i was wondering

is loving jesus legal yet?

no.

actually, ok, sure, said constantine, moving the capital way over here to be closer to his

main rival

don't worry about rome, it won't fall.

it's the golden age of india

there's the gupta empire, not chandragupta, just gupta.

first name chandra.

the first.

guess who's in rome?

barbarians

what's a barbarian?

non-romans, said the romans, being invaded by non-romans.

r.i.p., roman empire, er, actually just half of it, the other half is just fine, but it's not in rome anymore so let's give it a new name.

the mayans have figured out the stars

oh and here's a huge city, population: everyone

the göktürks have taken over the entire eurasian steppe.

great job, göktürks.

how's india?

broken.

how's china?

back together

how's those trading kingdoms?

bigger, and there's more of them

korea has 3 kingdoms.

japan has a kingdom, it's the sunrise kingdom.

deep in the arabian desert, on the top of a mountain, the real god whispers in muhammed's ear.

so he goes down to the cube where everyone worships gods and he tells them their gods are all fake.

and everyone got so mad at him that he had to leave town and go to a different town.

you could make a religion out of this.

and maybe conquer the world as well.

the roman empire is long gone, but somehow the pope is still the pope.

plus there's

new kingdoms all over europe

i wonder if there's room for moors.

here's all the wisdom.

in a house.

it's the baghdad house of wisdom.

just in time for the

islamic golden age

let's bring stuff to the coast and sell it, and become the swahili on the swahili coast, said the swahili on the swahili coast.

remember this tiny space you have to go through to get from here to there?

someone owns that now.

wanna get enlightened in the middle of nowhere?

the franks have the biggest kingdom in europe, and the pope is so proud that he invites the king over for christmas.

surprise! you're the new roman emperor, said the pope, pretending to still be part of the roman empire.

then the franks broke their kingdom into what will later be called france and not france.

but the northerners, or just norse if you don't have much time, are exploring.

they go north, from the north to the northern north.

and they find some land.

two types of land.

and they name them accordingly.

they also invade some other places, and get called many names, such as vikings.

there's the rus.

the kievan rus.

are they vikings?

i don't think so, said the kievan rus.

ok, fair enough.

the pope is ready to make some more emperors.

of the "roman empire".

the holy roman empire.

it's actually germany but don't worry about it.

new kingdoms.

christianize all the kingdoms

which brand would you like?

mine's better.

mine's better.

mine's better.

time to conquer england, said william.

it's a bird, it's a plane

it's the seljuk turks

aah! said the byzantine empire who's getting so small and almost doesn't exist anymore.

we need help!

they need help, so they call the pope.

hey pope, can you help us get rid of the seljuks?

maybe take back the holy land on the way?

come on, i know you want to take back the holy land.

yes, i do actually want to do that.

let's do a crusade.

crusade

they did many crusades, some of which almost didn't fail.

but at least the italians got some sweet trade deals.

goodbye mayans.

hello toltecs

goodbye toltecs.

hello mississippi

look at those mounds.

there's the pueblo.

i always wondered how to build a town in a cliff.

guess who's here?

khmer.

where?

here.

and pagan is there.

vietnam unconquered itself, korea just became itself, and japan is so addicted to art that the military might have to take over the government.

china just invented bombs, and typing.

and the mongols just invaded most of the universe.

nice going, Genghis!

i bet that will last a long time.

some of the islamic turks were unaffected by the mongol invasions because they were busy invading india.

is it tonga time?

i think it's tonga time.

i just found out where the swahili gets all their gold.

look at this chad.

means "lake".

there's an empire there.

right in the middle of

Africa

the king of mali is so rich he's going on tour to let everyone know.

wow, that guy's rich, everyone said.

the christians are doing a great job reconquering iberia, which will soon be called spain and not spain.

please remain christian.

we will check in later to see if you're still christian when you least expect.

whoops, half of europe just died.

ming

china's back, yay!

hey khmer, time to share.

new kingdoms here and there.

oh, look who controls all the islands.

it's the mahajapit.

majahapit.

mapajahit.

mahapajit.

mapajahit.

majapahit?

oh, italy's really rich, time for them to care a lot about art and the ancient classics.

it's kinda like a rebirth.

here's a printer.

let's make books.

so you think you can conquer the byzantine empire?

yep, said the ottoman turks.

nice job, ottoman turks.

whoops, you missed a spot.

don't forget to ban europe from the indian spice trade.

what? that's bullshit, said portugal, spiceless.

well i guess we'll have to find another way to india

wait! said christopher columbus, probably smoking crack.

if the world is round, let's go this way to india.

nah, don't worry, we already got this, said portugal.

so chris goes to spain.

hey spain, wanna hire me to find india by going around back of the world?

no.

please?

no.

please?

no.

please?

ok.

so he sails into the ocean.

and discovers more ocean.

and then discovers the indies.

and japan.

let's draw a line to decide who gets which half of the world.

the aztec and inca empires are off to a great start.

i wonder if they know that europe just discovered their continent?

the habsburgs are marrying into so many royal families they might have to start marrying each other.

move over lithuania, here comes moscow.

ivan wants to make russia great again.

move over timurids, maybe go invade india or something.

persia just made persia persian again.

let's make it the other kind of islam.

the one where we thought the first guy should have been the other guy.

hey christians!

do you sin?

now you can buy your way out of hell.

that's bullshit.

this whole thing is bullshit.

that's a scam.

fuck the church.

here's 95 reasons why, said martin luther, in his new book, which might have accidentally started the protestant reformation.

you know what would be magnificent, said suleiman, wearing an onion hat?

what if the ottoman empire was really big?

which it is now.

what if russia was big? said ivan, trying not to be terrible.

portugal had a dream that they controlled the entire indian ocean, including the spice trade.

and then that dream was real.

and spain realized that this is not india, but they pillaged it anyway.

damn, said england and france.

we gotta start pillaging some stuff.

then the dutch revolt and all the hipsters move to amsterdam.

damn, said amsterdam.

we gotta start pillaging some stuff.

question 1: can you get to india through north america?

no, but at least there's beaver.

question 2: steal the spice trade.

that's not a question, but the dutch did it anyway.

sugar

guess where all the sugar's made?

in brazil.

stolen

and the caribbean.

and it's so god damn profitable you might forget to not do slavery.

the next thing on russia's to-do list is to get bigger.

britain and france are having a friendly discussion about who should control the entire world.

more specifically, ohio.

then it escalates into a seven year discussion, giving prussia a chance to show austria who's boss.

but what about britain and france, did they figure out who's boss?

yes they did.

it's britain.

guess who's broke?

also britain.

so they start taxing the hell out of america.

fuck you, says america, declaring their independence, and fighting for it.

and france helps them win, now france is broke.

and britain'll have to send their prisoners to a different continent.

wait, if france is broke, why do the king and queen still wear such fancy dresses?

let's overthrow the palace and cut all their heads off! said robespierre, cutting everybody's head off until someone eventually got mad and cut his head off.

you could make a reli- no, don't.

haiti is staring to like the idea of a revolution.

especially the slaves, who free themselves by killing their masters.

why didn't we think of this before?

wait, who's in charge of france now?

me

said napoleon, trying to take over europe.

luckily, they banished him to an island.

but he came back

luckily, they banished him to another island.

there goes latin america, becoming independent in the latin american wars of independence.

britain just figured out how to turn steam into power.

so now they can make

many different types of machines and factories with machines in them so they can make a lot of products real fast

then they invent some trains.

and conquer india and maybe put some trains there.

hey, china! said britain.

buy stuff from us!

nah dude, we already got everything, says china.

so britain tried to get them addicted to opium.

which worked, actually.

but then china made it illegal and dumped it all into the sea.

so britain threw a hissy fit, and made them open up five cities and give them an island.

britain and russia are playing a game where they try to stop each other from conquering afghanistan.

also, the

sultan of oman lives in zanzibar now

"that's just where he lives"

india just had a revolution, and they would like to govern themselves now.

nope, said britain, governing them even harder than before.

technology is about to go crazy

the united states finally figured out whether slavery is good or bad.

it's bad, they decided.

and then they continued manifesting their destiny, which is to kill the rest of the natives and take their land and maybe kick out the mexicans too.

i know, let's rape africa, said europe, scrambling to see who could rape it the fastest.

they never got ethiopia

britain and france are still hungry.

they never got thailand

the united states ran out of destiny to manifest, so they're looking for more.

hawaii

cuba

wait, spain controls cuba.

well, blame something on them and go to war!

what should we blame on spain?

let's blame the maine on spain.

so they blame the maine on spain.

now we're in business.

to celebrate, they kick panama out of panama and make a canal, connecting the two oceans.

britain just found oil in the middle east.

it makes cars go

china is so tired of being bossed around that they delete their old government and make a new, stronger government, which is accidentally weaker and controlled by a guy from the previous government.

europe hasn't had a war since the last war.

so they start world war 1.

look at those guns.

it's gonna be a great war.

so great we won't need a second one.

after it's over, they blame germany.

russia went on strike and the workers overthrew the government.

now everyone's paycheck is the same.

communism

in the soviet union

the arabs revolt and britain helps.

now the ottoman empire's gone so we can give the

jewish people a place to live

hopefully the arabs won't mind.

let's cut the cake, said sykes and picot, carving up the remains of the not-so-ottoman-anymore empire.

except turkey, turkey makes a brand new turkey

and then the saudis conquer arabia.

it just seemed like the right thing to do.

hello?

yes, it's the 1920's calling.

let's get in the car and drive to a party and listen to jazz on the radio and go to the movies.

the economy's great and it'll probably be great forever, just kidding.

germany's back, featuring hitler, the angry mustache model.

and he's mad at the jews for existing.

japan is finally conquering the east, and they're so excited they rape nanking way too hard.

they should probably just deny it.

hitler's out of control.

so the international community tackles him and then tries to explain why killing all the jews is a bad idea.

but he kills himself before they could explain it to him.

that's world war 2

bonus round!

pacific showdown.

united states vs. japan.

fight!

finish him

let's unite all the nations and have some

world peace

seems legit.

hi, i'm gandhi, and if britain doesn't get the hell out of india, i'm gonna starve myself in public.

wow, that worked?

bonus, now there's pakistan.

actually two pakistans.

one of them can be bangladesh later.

the jews and the arabs finally figured out which one of them should live in the holy land.

me, they both said at the same time.

let's divide up the land so everyone's happy.

sike, they both get angrier

look out china, there's a new china in china.

what's on the menu?

communism!

no thanks, said the other china, escaping to an island.

i wonder which one is the real china?

there's the korean war, korea versus korea.

nobody wins, then it's on pause forever.

let's meet the sponsors.

oh, it's the two global superpowers.

they're having a friendly debate over which economic system is good, and which one is an evil virus of Satan.

and they both have atom bombs.

fight!

wait, no, that would be the end of the world.

let's just keep it cool and spy on each other instead.

and make sure we have enough atom bombs.

i'll race you to space.

now let's make some more countries fight themselves.

europe is tired of pillaging other continents, so the continents they were pillaging are tired of being pillaged.

so here's a new map, with new countries.

now you can't tell who they're being pillaged by.

the united states finally decided whether racism is good or bad.

they decided it's bad, and the world agrees.

south africa might need another minute to think about it.

let's check the world population.

whoa.

okay.

technology's better too, that might keep happening.

the soviet union decides to relax a little, and accidentally falls apart.

europe makes a union, so now they can all use the same money, except britain, because they don't feel like it.

let's check the mail.

surprise, it's on the computer.

whoops, someone just attacked america.

i bet they'll remember that.

phone call.

surprise, it's in your pocket.

wanna learn everything?

surprise, it's on the computer.

now your phone's a computer, which is in your pocket.

whoops, the economy just crashed.

don't worry, the big banks won't fail because they're not supposed to.

surprise!

flying robots.

with bombs.

wanna print a brain?

some people have no friends.

some people have no food.

the globe is warming

and the ocean is full of plastic

let's save the planet! said everybody, not knowing how.

let's invent a thing inventor, said the thing inventor inventor, after being invented by a thing inventor.

that's pretty cool.

by the way, where the hell are we?

[zeke-fanfucs]

Echoes in the Void

The Chronicles of Kamor and Zed’s Library’s

I hope yall like this fanfic. I was pretty nervous about adding myself in any fanfic. But I like this. And I hope you all do too. Also, if anyone else wants to have something like this, just leave a comment and I’ll ask some questions!

Also, big props to Kit from discord and @iincogneeto! I hope you do like this!

Echoes in the Void:

The Chronicles of Kamor

and Zed’s Library

It was a weirdly eventful day in the town of Maya. The streets buzzed with activity, stalls being set up, decorations hung from lamp posts, and townspeople rushing around in excitement.

Hipswitch hummed, hands resting on his belt as he took in the scene. His sharp eyes scanned the bustling crowd before tilting his head. “Huh. Some kind of festival?”

Kamor, standing beside him, furrowed his brows before signing, ‘What’s this about?’

Albus, just as lost, shrugged. “Beats me. First time I’ve seen this.”

Mahatma, who had been watching with a knowing smile, finally chimed in. “Ah, this is a rare event in Maya,” he explained, eyes glinting with excitement. “It’s the Festival of the Blind Sun. Only happens when the moon covers the sun just right, leaving behind a ring of red in the sky.”

Kamor’s eyes widened slightly before he quickly signed again. That sounds familiar. ‘On Earth, we call it a Solar Eclipse.’

Mahatma chuckled. “Well, here, it’s a little different. The red ring is said to be the eye of an old god, watching over Maya for just a short while.”

Albus crossed his arms. “So, what happens during this festival?”

Mahatma grinned. “Guess you’ll just have to stick around and see.”

————

In a dimly lit corner of the festival, a group of younglings lingered near a stall, half-hidden from the bustling crowd. The air was thick with the scent of fried treats and spiced cider, but the real chaos was happening among them.

Kit, the oldest of the bunch, stood at a jewelry stall, lazily flipping through an assortment of trinkets. A messy blonde strand fell into her face as she picked up a silver ring, inspecting it with vague interest.

Oda, standing beside her with his arms crossed, smirked. “Just buy it already. You’ve been staring at that thing for five minutes.”

Kit snorted. “Oh? Didn’t know you were so invested in my shopping habits. You got a thing for me, Oda? Should I start calling you my sugar daddy?”

Oda let out an exaggerated groan, rubbing his face. “For the last time, Kit, no one wants to be your sugar daddy.”

She gasped dramatically, clutching her chest. “Wow. So you’re saying I don’t deserve to be spoiled?”

Oda huffed. “I’m saying you already bully me for free, I’m not about to pay for the privilege.”

Kit grinned, waving the ring in his face. “Sounds like something a broke loser would say.”

Before Oda could throw another complaint her way, Ezekiel barked a laugh from the side. “Damn, you’re just letting her run circles around you, huh?”

Meanwhile, the real battle was unfolding between Ezekiel and Neeto. The latter, the embodiment of unchecked chaos, was attempting—yet again—to shove another festival treat into their mouth. Ezekiel, with the patience of a man who had clearly been through this too many times, held up a hand to stop them.

“Neeto, no. You already had five.”

“But I can fit a sixth,” Neeto argued, eyes gleaming with pure mischief.

Ezekiel shook his head. “We’ve been over this. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.”

Neeto, unbothered, grinned. “Coward.”

Kit, still fiddling with the ring, glanced over. “Let ’em choke, Ezekiel. That’s natural selection at work.”

Oda sighed. “I hate that I agree with you.”

The festival continued around them, but in their little corner, the chaos was alive and well.

Kamor shivered, a strange prickle running down his spine. He was used to being watched—Mad Crow made sure of that. But this… this was different. It wasn’t the sharp, suffocating gaze of a single enemy. No, this felt like a group watching him. Studying him.

His steps slowed slightly, sharp eyes scanning the festival crowd.

Meanwhile, back in their hidden corner, Ezekiel groaned as he realized Neeto was still staring, practically vibrating with excitement.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake—”

Before Neeto could do something really stupid, Ezekiel grabbed them by the back of their shirt and, without hesitation, yeeted them out of sight behind a stack of crates.

Neeto let out a startled yelp mid-air before landing with an undignified thud.

Kit snorted. “Effective.”

Oda nodded. “Not subtle, but effective.”

Neeto groaned from the ground. “You guys suck.”

Ezekiel dusted off his hands. “Yeah? Well, at least I didn’t just ruin our cover because I have an obsession on a legend.”

Neeto sat up, scowling. “It’s not a obsession! It’s admiration!”

Kit smirked. “Sure, buddy. Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Kamor, still on edge, shook his head. Maybe he was just being paranoid. He took a slow breath and continued walking.

Zed’s Library, now slightly less chaotic, remained in the shadows—watching, waiting, and trying to keep their most excitable member under control.

————

A little while later, Neeto and Ezekiel found themselves at a stall filled with weapons—blades, knives, and other shiny, dangerous things. Neeto’s eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store, while Ezekiel was a bit more discerning in his interests.

Ezekiel ran his fingers over a beautifully crafted dagger, the gleam of the blade catching the light. He picked it up, admiring its craftsmanship before testing the weight in his hand. The handle was smooth, the steel flawless. He gave it a few test swings, humming to himself. “Nice balance,” he muttered, spinning it once in his hand. “Not bad at all.”

Neeto, on the other hand, wasn’t quite as subtle in their excitement. They practically bounced in place, eyes locked on a pair of brass knuckles—except these were no ordinary brass knuckles. At the end of each knuckle was a sharp blade, a wicked little knife that looked like it could do some serious damage.

“Yo, check these out!” Neeto grinned, slipping the knuckles on and giving a mock punch to the air. “I could do so much chaos with these.”

Ezekiel shook his head. “You’re gonna poke your own eye out with that thing.”

Neeto shrugged, still too pleased with the idea to care. “Eh, that’s part of the fun.”

Ezekiel tossed the dagger up, catching it again effortlessly as he smirked. “Whatever you say, chaos child. You’re the one who’ll end up in a ditch.”

Neeto, not paying attention to him anymore, slid the brass knuckles off, their eyes darting to the stall owner, then to the rest of the weaponry. “Still though… these are sick.”

“Keep it down,” Ezekiel said, narrowing his eyes as he glanced around. “We don’t need anyone catching on.”

Neeto, always the one to push the line, grinned and gave a small wink. “I’m always quiet when I need to be.”

Ezekiel didn’t believe that for a second. He didn’t need to.

——

Back with the gang, the festival was in full swing as Albus, Hipswitch, Mahatma, and Kamor wandered through the lively streets. Stalls lined the paths, the air filled with the scent of roasted meats, spices, and something vaguely sweet.

Albus, ever observant, noticed the way Hipswitch kept close to Kamor, the subtle but clear way he leaned in when speaking to him. A smirk tugged at his lips.

Mahatma barely had time to react before Albus suddenly grabbed him by the arm and dragged him away.

“Wait—what—?” Mahatma started, stumbling a bit as Albus all but yanked him toward another stall.

“Let ’em have their date,” Albus said casually, tossing a glance back at Kamor and Hipswitch.

Kamor, who had just realized what happened, snapped his gaze toward Albus, his expression darkening. His eyes practically screamed traitor.

Albus met the glare head-on, completely unfazed. He even had the audacity to give Kamor a lazy salute before turning back to Mahatma.

Hipswitch, completely unbothered by the exchange, chuckled and placed a hand on Kamor’s shoulder. “Guess it’s just you and me now, partner.”

Kamor exhaled sharply through his nose, still glaring after Albus. If looks could kill, the bastard warrior would’ve been dead on the spot.

Hipswitch grinned. “C’mon, let’s make the most of it.”

Kamor sighed but didn’t argue. Albus was so dead later.

For now, though… he let Hipswitch lead him through the festival.

——

Kamor turned a corner, barely paying attention—until he collided with something solid.

Well, not something. Someone.

“Oof—!”

Neeto stumbled back, blinking up at Kamor like they had just won the lottery. “Oh my gods—”

Ezekiel, who had been watching from a distance, silently cursed under his breath the moment he saw it happen. “Shit.” Without hesitation, he bolted forward, shoving through the crowd to stop Neeto before they could blow their damn cover.

Meanwhile, Neeto, completely unfazed by the situation or the mission, was still standing there, wide-eyed. “Holy crap, Kamor, I can’t believe I—”

“—Neeto,” Ezekiel growled as he grabbed them by the back of the shirt, yanking them away before they could start fangirling again.

Neeto flailed slightly. “Hey—! I was just—!”

“You ran right into him, dumbass,” Ezekiel hissed. “Why the hell were you even running in the first place?!”

Neeto pouted. “I forgot my bag of treats on a bench.”

Ezekiel stared at them. “You risked our entire mission for some snacks?”

Neeto didn’t even hesitate. “They were good snacks!”

Kamor, meanwhile, was watching the interaction with narrowed eyes. Something was off about these two. He didn’t recognize them, but there was something about the way they acted—the way Ezekiel had immediately jumped to drag Neeto away—that made his instincts flare.

Ezekiel gave Kamor the most awkward, forced smile. “Uh—sorry about my dumbass friend here. They have no spatial awareness. We’ll just—uh—go.”

Before Kamor could respond, Ezekiel all but dragged Neeto away, muttering angrily under his breath about “the stupidest mission partners in existence.”

Kamor stood there for a moment, watching them leave, a suspicious frown on his face.

Who the hell were those two?

——

Ezekiel ran a hand through his hair, exhaling sharply as Neeto continued their unhinged rant—something about fate, destiny, and how running into Kamor was a sign from the gods.

They spoke with the energy of someone who belonged either in a mental hospital or locked in a dimly lit room, surrounded by scattered, obsessive drawings of who-knows-what. Their hands flailed wildly, their voice getting faster and more frantic.

“And listen, Ezekiel,” Neeto gasped, gripping his sleeve like a conspiracy theorist connecting red strings on a corkboard. “What if—what if—this was meant to happen? Like, what if I am supposed to be part of Kamor’s story? Maybe even his tragic backstory?”

Ezekiel just stared.

Then, very slowly, he pried Neeto’s hands off him. “Yeah. No. We’re done here.”

Without another word, he turned on his heel and walked off, rubbing his face as he made his way back to Kit and Oda. He could already hear them rambling about something nerdy—probably lore, history, or something unnecessarily complicated.

As he approached, Kit didn’t even look at him before sighing dramatically. “You fucked up, didn’t you?”

Ezekiel groaned. “Why do you say it like that?”

Oda snorted. “Because we know you.”

Kit finally turned to face him, arms crossed. “You let Neeto out of your sight, didn’t you?”

Ezekiel made a face. “Okay, first of all, I am also a chaos child. Who the hell thought I was the right person to supervise Neeto?”

Kit pinched the bridge of her nose. “Oh, fantastic. So the mission is already a mess.”

Ezekiel threw up his hands. “Hey, I saved it! Kinda! Maybe! Look, I got them out of there before they could do anything worse.”

Oda raised an eyebrow. “And Kamor?”

Ezekiel hesitated for half a second. “…Might be suspicious.”

Kit groaned. “Oh, for fuck’s sake.”

Neeto finally caught up, still ranting, still waving their hands around like an absolute lunatic. “—and I swear, he looked at me like he knew me! Maybe in another life? Maybe I’m important to him, Kit! Maybe I—”

Ezekiel threw an arm around their shoulder, sighing heavily. “Neeto, my dude, my problem child, my walking liability—shut the hell up.”

Kit and Oda exchanged glances.

Yep… They were so screwed.

Hipswitch extended a hand, effortlessly pulling Kamor up. His usual easygoing demeanor didn’t change, but Kamor could tell—he was just as suspicious.

“You felt it too, huh?” Hipswitch murmured, dusting off Kamor’s shoulder.

Kamor gave a small nod, his sharp gaze locked in the direction those two had run off.

Hipswitch sighed, cracking his neck. “Well, guess we’re doin’ some light stalking today.”

With that, the two silently started after them, blending into the festival crowd.

Meanwhile…

Kit, Oda, Ezekiel, and Neeto were still mid-argument when Kit suddenly stiffened. Something in her gut screamed danger.

She turned her head slightly—and froze.

“Shit.”

Hipswitch and Kamor were heading straight for them.

Ezekiel’s brain barely processed it before his survival instincts kicked in. “Nope!” He bolted without hesitation, shoving past festival-goers like his life depended on it.

Kit turned to Neeto, her glare sharp. “You absolute dumbass, this is your fault!”

Neeto threw their hands up. “HOW IS THIS MY FAULT?!”

“Because it’s always your fault!”

Before Neeto could argue, Kit grabbed their wrist and ran.

Oda groaned, already regretting every life choice that led him here. With a heavy sigh, he jogged after them.

Neeto scrambled to grab their treats, but Kit yanked them forward. “Leave it!”

Neeto let out the most guttural sound of betrayal as they watched their precious treats hit the ground. “NOOOOOOOO!”

Kamor and Hipswitch watched the chaotic escape unfold.

Hipswitch raised an eyebrow. “…That’s definitely suspicious.”

Kamor just nodded.

Then they picked up the pace.

Ezekiel sprinted toward a nearby building, skidding to a stop as he shoved the door open and dove inside. Oda followed close behind, muttering something under his breath about how this was exactly why he didn’t sign up for fieldwork.

But before either of them could catch their breath—

“Oh, come on!”

Kit and Neeto had not been as lucky.

Hipswitch had an iron grip on Kit’s wrist, while Neeto struggled in vain against his other hand. “Damn, for a guy with a cowboy hat, you are way stronger than you look!” Neeto grunted, still trying to wriggle free.

Kit shot them a glare. “NOW you’re worried about that?!”

Ezekiel, watching from his hiding spot, was half tempted to just leave them to their fate. They were the ones who got caught, after all.

But then he saw Kamor watching the scene, his gaze calculating.

And Ezekiel knew one thing for sure—Hipswitch was very protective of the mute.

A slow grin spread across his face. He pulled out his pistol, took a deep breath, and—

BANG!

The bullet hit the ground right beside Kamor’s foot. The sound was deafening in the festival’s chaos.

Kamor immediately jumped back, startled, his head snapping toward the direction of the shot.

Hipswitch, on instinct, yanked Kit and Neeto closer, his grip tightening. His sharp eyes locked onto Ezekiel, assessing the situation in an instant.

Ezekiel cocked his pistol, giving Hipswitch a smug grin. “Oops. My bad. My hand slipped.”

Oda, from inside the building, groaned. “We are so gonna die.”

Kit used the momentary distraction to yank free, elbowing Hipswitch in the side before stumbling back. “Ezekiel, I swear to every god in existence—!”

Neeto didn’t hesitate. “FREEDOM!” They tore away from Hipswitch’s grip, nearly tripping over their own feet as they ran toward Ezekiel.

Hipswitch cursed under his breath, clearly debating whether to chase them or check on Kamor.

Ezekiel’s smirk widened. “Better make a choice, cowboy.” Kamor, recovering quickly, narrowed his eyes at Ezekiel, signing something fast.

Hipswitch huffed. “Yeah, yeah, I know.” He turned his attention fully to Kamor, letting the others bolt.

Ezekiel, still grinning, gave them a lazy salute before sprinting into the building after the others.

The second he was inside, Oda slammed the door shut behind him.

“You are the worst person I have ever met,” Kit panted, glaring daggers at Ezekiel.

“You’re welcome,” Ezekiel said, slipping his pistol back into its holster like a damn action hero.

Neeto, still catching their breath, wheezed out, “Rest in peace, my snacks.”

Kit threw her hands up. “I hate all of you.”

Oda sighed. “Yeah, well, they definitely know we’re up to something now.”

Ezekiel shrugged, still riding the high of his successful distraction. “Eh. Could’ve been worse.”

Kit looked at him like she wanted to strangle him. “We just pissed off a gunslinger and his mute boyfriend. How exactly could this be worse?”

A beat of silence.

Then Neeto perked up. “Well, technically—”

“Shut up, Neeto.”

————

Hipswitch quickly turned to Kamor, scanning him up and down. “You good, partner?”

Kamor gave a small nod, dusting himself off. But his mind was elsewhere.

Because now, more than ever, he was convinced—those two knew something.

The way Ezekiel had aimed his gun, not at him but near him, was deliberate. A distraction. A move made with intent. And Neeto? They were too damn familiar. Like they already knew who he was—like they’d been waiting for this moment.

Kamor’s brows furrowed.

He had to figure out who the hell they were.

⸻

Later, Back at Base…

Hipswitch and Kamor pushed open the door, stepping into the base.

And immediately, Hipswitch stopped dead in his tracks.

Because there, sprawled out on the couch, was Albus—watching adult films like they were just another rerun of a sitcom.

Kamor didn’t even react beyond a slow, unimpressed blink, rolling his eyes as he pulled off his coat. This was just… normal Albus behavior at this point.

Hipswitch, on the other hand, stared. “Albus.”

Albus, not looking away from the screen, took a sip from his drink. “Hipswitch.”

Hipswitch squinted at him. “D’you seriously have nothing else to watch?”

Albus shrugged. “This has a plot.”

Hipswitch groaned, dragging a hand down his face. “I—why do I even—y’know what? Nope. Not dealin’ with this today.”

Kamor ignored the chaos and collapsed onto a chair, resting his chin on his fist. His mind wasn’t on Albus’ questionable TV choices—it was still stuck on them.

Ezekiel and Neeto.

They’d said each other’s names. Out loud. That was their mistake.

Kamor now had names to go with the faces. And names? Names meant he could track them down.

Hipswitch plopped down beside him, watching him closely. “You’re still thinkin’ ‘bout ‘em, huh?”

Kamor nodded slowly.

Hipswitch exhaled, tipping his hat back. “Alright, partner. What’s the plan?”

Kamor didn’t answer right away. He just sat there, eyes narrowed, fingers tapping against the armrest.

But one thing was certain.

He would find out who Ezekiel and Neeto really were.

And when he did? They were going to talk.

———

Meanwhile, Across Town…

In a much nicer part of town, inside a well-furnished hotel room, Ezekiel flopped onto the bed with all the grace of a man utterly done with life. He let out a long, dramatic sigh, staring at the ceiling like it had personally wronged him.

Kit, meanwhile, sat in the corner, arms crossed, glaring at Neeto—who sat on the floor, pouting like a scolded child.

“I can’t believe you got us caught,” Kit grumbled, flipping through Neeto’s device. “As punishment, I’m taking this.”

Neeto gasped, looking truly offended. “You grounded me?!”

“Yeah. Actions have consequences, Neeto.”

“But drawing is my therapy!”

Kit ignored them, already pulling up a new page to doodle. “Cry about it.”

Before Neeto could launch into another dramatic rant, a loud cackle filled the room.

Sitting on the opposite bed, Nana was absolutely losing her shit. She clutched her stomach, kicking her legs as Ezekiel finished recounting the utter disaster that had been their day.

“Y’all got caught?” she wheezed. “By a cowboy and a mute?”

Ezekiel shot her a look as he sat up. “You can stop laughing any time now.”

Nana ignored him, wiping a fake tear from her eye. “Oh, nah, this is gold. Y’all be talkin’ about how slick and professional you are, and then you go and pull this?”

Ezekiel groaned, rubbing his temples. “You know what? If you think it’s so funny, you should do fieldwork too.”

Nana immediately sobered up, fixing him with a deadpan look. “Hell no.”

Ezekiel narrowed his eyes. “Oh, so you just get to sit behind a desk, eating snacks and watching anime while we’re out risking our asses?”

“Exactly!” Nana shot back without hesitation. “Y’all out here runnin’ for your lives, gettin’ chased, nearly shot—I’m back here, chillin’, eating my chips, watching my shows. No stress, no danger, all vibes.”

Ezekiel scoffed. “That’s so unfair.”

Nana smirked. “Sounds like a you problem.”

Neeto suddenly perked up. “Wait. What anime are you watching?”

Nana grinned. “Jujutsu Kaisen.”

“Which arc?”

“Shibuya.”

Neeto clutched their chest. “My heart’s not ready for that pain again.”

Kit, still sketching, didn’t even look up. “Neither was Gojo.”

A deep silence fell over the room.

Then Nana burst out laughing again.

Ezekiel groaned, flopping back onto the bed. “I hate this team.”

Kit smirked. “No, you don’t.”

He didn’t respond.

Because she was right. Kit let out a long, exhausted sigh, rubbing her temples. “Okay, so. We need a plan.”

Ezekiel groaned, dragging a hand down his face. “Yeah, no shit. We’re stuck in SpringRock for another month or two, and now we’ve got Cowboy McDrawl and his mute shadow breathing down our necks.”

Neeto, still sulking about being grounded, perked up slightly. “Technically, we could just—”

Kit shot them a glare. “No. No more ‘technical’ anything from you.”

Neeto huffed. “I was just saying—”

“Don’t care.”

Ezekiel stood up, stretching with a dramatic groan. “I can’t think on an empty stomach. I’m starving.”

Nana, still lounging comfortably on her bed, shrugged lazily and pointed at the pizza box on the table. “Then eat, dumbass.”

Ezekiel narrowed his eyes at her. “That pizza’s been there since this morning.”

Nana raised a brow. “And?”

Kit looked up from her sketching. “Yeah, and?”

Ezekiel glanced between them, then to Neeto—who was already reaching for a slice without hesitation. He sighed, dragging himself to the table. “Fine. But if I get food poisoning and die, I’m haunting you.”

Nana smirked. “Joke’s on you—I’d love a personal poltergeist.”

Kit nodded in agreement. “Think of all the free entertainment.”

Ezekiel groaned, but still grabbed a slice. “I hate this team.”

Neeto, mouth full, mumbled, “No, you don’t.” Ezekiel sighed. “No. I don’t.”

They were absolute menaces. But they were his menaces.

And like it or not… they had a job to do.

________

One Day, at the Market…

Ezekiel sighed as he pushed his cart down the aisle, dragging his feet like a man sentenced to death. Out of all the people in their group, he had been the unlucky one chosen to do the grocery run.

“Rock-paper-scissors is a scam,” he muttered under his breath, adjusting his headphones.

He barely paid attention as he grabbed a carton that looked like eggs. Whatever. Close enough.

That’s when he felt it.

A weird prickle down his spine.

The kind that screamed you are not alone.

Ezekiel glanced up—and immediately froze.

Standing right next to him, casually looking over a row of vegetables, was Mahatma.

Oh. Oh shit.

Ezekiel’s entire body went stiff. His brain scrambled for options. Had Kamor or Hipswitch told him anything? Did Mahatma even know who he was?

There was only one way to find out.

Step One: Abort Mission.

With the smoothness of a man who absolutely did not belong there, Ezekiel turned on his heel and started walking away at a completely normal speed.

Totally normal. Totally casual.

Nope. No shady business happening here.

Definitely not a dude trying to avoid getting clocked.

Please, for the love of God, let Mahatma not have noticed— Of course, as fate would have it, Mahatma did notice.

Ezekiel froze mid-step, his brain shouting at him to keep walking, but his body betrayed him, like it always did in these situations. Mahatma, without skipping a beat, turned his head and caught Ezekiel’s gaze.

For a moment, there was just silence.

Then, Mahatma’s eyes narrowed slightly. He didn’t recognize Ezekiel—he didn’t know who he was. But there was something about him, something that fit the description of one of the mysterious figures Kamor and Hipswitch had encountered before. The ones who managed to escape without a trace.

Ezekiel’s heart rate picked up, but he forced a casual shrug, trying to act like he didn’t just try to bolt.

Mahatma, being the perceptive man he was. “You in a hurry’?”

Ezekiel kept his cool. “Just trying to get outta here as fast as possible. Grocery shopping’s a nightmare.”

Mahatma chuckled, though there was something calculating behind his gaze. “Yeah, I get that. But, you look familiar.”

Ezekiel’s brain went into overdrive, and he forced a smirk. “I get that a lot. People mistake me for all sorts of things.”

But in his gut, he could feel the tension coil. The last thing he needed was Mahatma making that connection. Because he—Ezekiel—might just be the one with all the answers about Kamor’s mysterious past. And if Mahatma started digging?

Well, that was a problem. Ezekiel took a deep breath and turned to walk away, finally thinking he might have dodged a bullet…

Until he didn’t.

He turned the corner—and bam—face-first into a very solid, very unforgiving chest.

Ezekiel’s brain short-circuited as he staggered back. His vision blurred for a second from the impact, but when he looked up, all he could see was Albus’s smug face, the warrior’s arms crossed over his chest.

“Well, well,” Albus said with a grin, one eyebrow raised in amusement. “I was wondering when I’d bump into you. Looks like the grocery run wasn’t your only problem, huh?”

Ezekiel, now desperately trying to regain his bearings, chuckled nervously. “Heh… yeah, just, uh, having a bit of an off day.” He started inching away, hoping to make a smooth exit, but before he could even blink—

Albus scooped him up, tossing him effortlessly over his shoulder like he was a sack of potatoes.

“Hey! No—!” Ezekiel protested, flailing his arms as his legs dangled. “You can’t just—this isn’t fair!”

Albus chuckled, completely unphased by Ezekiel’s protests. “You’re not getting away that easy.”

Ezekiel, now dangling over Albus’s shoulder like a bag of rice, sighed dramatically, feeling the weight of his life choices. “I’m really not cut out for this.”

“Maybe next time,” Albus teased, starting to walk down the aisle toward the checkout. “You should stick to being low-key. Or at least, not run into me. It’s like the universe is trying to make things difficult for you.”

Ezekiel let out another dramatic sigh, his entire body just done. “You know what? At this point, I think I just need a nap… and maybe killing Neeto.”

Ezekiel was so screwed.

———

Ezekiel sat there, tied to a chair, staring at the ceiling in a mixture of disbelief and amusement. The situation was ridiculous. He had never thought he’d end up like this: tied up, caught by the very people he was trying to avoid, and in the middle of an interrogation that was more like a bad sitcom.

Kamor stood in front of him, arms crossed, glaring with intensity. His silent glare was almost comical, though Ezekiel knew better than to underestimate him. The mute’s eyes could pierce through steel, but… the situation was still too absurd to take seriously.

And then there was Albus, leaning against the wall, twirling a knife like he was about to perform an impromptu magic trick.

“So,” Albus said, smirking as he spun the knife around, “we’ve got ourselves a mysterious guy here, huh? I guess the real question is… what exactly were you doing in the market?”

Ezekiel raised an eyebrow, unable to hold back a chuckle. “Really? This is how we’re doing this? A dramatic interrogation?”

Albus grinned, clearly enjoying the role. “Oh, it gets better. Kamor here’s got that death stare locked on you like you’re a target in his sights. You might want to talk before he figures out what to do next.”

Ezekiel smirked. “Is he gonna silently murder me with that stare? Because at this point, I think I’d prefer that over… whatever this is.” Kamor’s glare intensified, but his eyes flicked to Albus, as if silently begging him to take this more seriously. But the warrior just grinned and patted Kamor on the shoulder, clearly enjoying Ezekiel’s discomfort.

“Oh, come on, Kamor,” Albus teased. “You know he’s not gonna crack that easily. Might as well have a little fun with it.”

Ezekiel rolled his eyes, knowing full well that neither of them were taking this seriously. And honestly? He couldn’t blame them. He hadn’t exactly been making their lives easier.

“Fine,” Ezekiel sighed, trying to play along. “You want to know what I was doing? I was grocery shopping like a normal person. Nothing too exciting.”

Albus laughed, twirling the knife one more time. “Grocery shopping, huh? That’s real suspicious. Kamor, what do you think? You buying that?”

Kamor just gave him a long, piercing stare, his expression as unreadable as ever.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. No one’s buying it,” Ezekiel muttered. “But seriously, I’m not here for some grand scheme. I was just minding my business… until I ran into you guys.”

Albus chuckled, moving closer and leaning in, like he was about to deliver some big secret. “Might wanna rethink that next time. Because if you really think you’re gonna slip past us without us noticing, you’re way off.”

Kamor shot a glance at Albus, his glare softening for just a moment, before he returned to staring Ezekiel down like a hawk eyeing its prey.

“Look,” Ezekiel said, trying to stay calm, but the absurdity of the situation was making it harder to keep a straight face. “I’m just trying to stay under the radar. You guys aren’t exactly subtle about being… well, you. But if you’re looking for something useful from me, I don’t have much to offer. You’re better off interrogating Neeto.” Albus raised an eyebrow. “Oh? What’s Neeto got to do with this?”

“A lot more than me,” Ezekiel said with a shrug. “That chaos child probably knows way more about you guys than I do.”

Kamor shot him another glare.

“What?” Ezekiel spread his hands in mock innocence. “You really think I’m the one with the answers? Please. I’m just the guy who got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Albus stood up straight, finally setting the knife down. “Alright, alright. Guess we’ll get to the bottom of this eventually. But for now? You’re staying right here. Enjoy the show, partner.”

As Albus started to leave the room, he gave Kamor a playful wink, and Kamor simply shot him a look.

“Yeah, this is totally going according to plan,” Ezekiel muttered to himself. He knew one thing for sure: he wasn’t going to get out of here easily. But at least the ride was gonna be one hell of a show.

An hour later

The scene in the dimly lit room looked like something straight out of a bad spy movie. Kit, Neeto, Nana, and Oda were all tied to chairs, looking equally annoyed and confused as they sat across from Hipswitch, who was pacing slowly, a frown tugging at his features.

“Alright,” Hipswitch sighed, stopping in front of them, “Let’s try this again. Who the hell are you people? And how the hell do you know so much about Kamor and the rest of us?”

Kit, always the feisty one, shot him an irritated glare. “You’re seriously asking this now? Like, after you’ve tied us up like we’re criminals?”

Hipswitch crossed his arms, unphased. “You’re not exactly making it easy, you know? Kamor feels this weird… connection to you all, and I’m trying to figure out why. You don’t just walk into someone’s life like that without a damn good reason. What do you want with us?”

Neeto let out a loud sigh, leaning back in their chair as they twiddled their fingers, clearly bored. “You think this is bad? You should’ve seen the last time someone tried to interrogate us. At least you guys aren’t throwing stuff in our faces or making us drink weird teas. It’s just a chair.”

Nana, sitting beside them, chuckled dryly, clearly unfazed. “I mean, we’re tied up, but we’ve been in worse situations. You could’ve at least let us have some snacks while you interrogate us. This place is seriously lacking in good food.”

Hipswitch shot them a pointed look, which only made the group smirk. None of them were taking this seriously, and Hipswitch was starting to lose patience. “Focus… I don’t know if you’ve realized this yet, but Kamor has been through some serious shit. So, I need to know: what do you know about him?”

Oda, sitting beside Kit, raised his hand as if he were in a classroom. “Oh, I know. You want to know how much we know, right? The answer is—everything. Sort of”

At the group’s surprised looks, Oda’s expression turned serious. “You really want to know how we know about Kamor? The answer’s simple: we know because it’s all in the archives.”

A quiet pause filled the room, the air suddenly thick with tension. Hipswitch stared at Oda, his eyes narrowing. “Archives? What archives?”

Neeto leaned forward, suddenly interested. “Oh, this is the fun part. You see, we’re part of a little organization called Zed’s Library. We collect stories. Not just any stories, but stories across multiple dimensions. Your stories are part of that collection, too. You might not realize it, but they’ve been documented. And Kamor, well, he’s a bit of a mystery. But we know a lot about him.”

Nana’s lips curled into a smile, clearly enjoying Hipswitch’s growing frustration. “Everything’s documented. From Kamor’s beginnings to his time with the The Academy of Intelligence, his disappearance, and the things he’s seen. It’s all there. That’s how we know so much about you guys.”

Hipswitch’s face darkened as he processed the information. “So, what? You’re just collecting stories like they’re some kind of… library? You’ve been watching Kamor, knowing everything, and you never thought to—what, tell him? Help him?”

Kit shook her head, rolling her eyes. “Look, we don’t interfere in what happens. We just observe, collect, and archive. That’s the job.”

Oda leaned back, stretching out like he didn’t have a care in the world. “We’re not playing any game. We’re just… observers. Sometimes, we step in when things get interesting. But for the most part, we just watch. You’d be surprised how much history Kamor’s a part of. We’ve been collecting stories for a long time.”

The interrogation room was quiet, save for the occasional shift in chairs and the sound of a pen scratching against paper. Kamor, still bound to his chair, stared intently at the others. He’d been observing them carefully, and now his attention was focused on one thing: Mad Crow.

He scribbled something down on a piece of paper, and as the others watched, he slid it across the table toward them. His eyes were cold, but his expression showed the weight of the question he was asking.

The note read: ‘Do you know my stalker? Mad Crow?’

Neeto’s eyes twitched at the mention of the name. The chaos child’s usual playful demeanor shifted, and their fingers dug into the arms of the chair. Kamor’s question hit a nerve, and it was clear that they didn’t take kindly to Mad Crow either.

“Oh,” Neeto muttered, their voice suddenly sharp with irritation. “We know him. And trust me, I hate that guy.”

Kit raised an eyebrow, but she could tell this was serious. “You hate him?”

Neeto scowled, their hands clenched into fists. “He’s a pest. He’s been stalking Kamor for way too long. Always popping up at the worst times. He makes Kamor’s life hell, and I can’t stand it. He needs to stay the hell away from him.”

Oda crossed his arms, looking more contemplative than usual. “Yeah, Mad Crow’s been a problem for a while now. We’ve dealt with him a few times. He doesn’t know when to quit.”

Nana, usually the more relaxed one, let out a low whistle. “That guy? Yeah, I’ve heard stories. He’s persistent, if nothing else.”

Kamor’s gaze stayed locked on Neeto for a moment, his mind racing. He hated Mad Crow. Hated how he constantly watched, how he’d turn up at the worst times, like some kind of lingering shadow. Kamor didn’t want to admit it, but Mad Crow’s presence made him feel… vulnerable.

He wrote another note, his expression hardened: ‘Why does he stalk me?’

Neeto’s eye twitched again, clearly annoyed. “To be honest, we don’t know the specifics. But there’s something connecting you with him. A sort of trial. He can’t stand the idea of losing control over anything or anyone. That’s why he’s been following you. He doesn’t get that Kamor’s not some thing to be controlled.”

Kamor nodded, his jaw tightening. He had suspected as much but hearing it aloud from someone who was not only aware of Mad Crow’s obsession but also hated it, made something inside him click. This wasn’t just some random stalker. This was personal.

“So what now?” Kit asked, voice low. “What do we do about it?”

Kamor looked at the group. He needed to do something about it before things escalated further. He scribbled one last note: ‘Can you help me get rid of him?’

The room went quiet again. The tension was palpable, and for the first time, Kamor felt like maybe he wasn’t alone in this fight.

———

Ezekiel shook his head, his arms crossed. “We can’t interfere,” he said flatly, glancing over at Kamor. “Our mission is to observe, not to get involved. Breaking the rules now would only make things worse for everyone.”

Neeto’s eye twitched, frustration clearly building. “But Mad Crow—”

Kit held up a hand, cutting them off. “Neeto, we can’t. Just talking to Kamor and his crew already breaks too many rules of the organization. We have to leave this be.”

Oda sighed. “Kit’s right. We’ve been pushing the boundaries enough as it is. We need to get out of here before we make it worse. I’m sorry, Kamor, but this isn’t our fight.”

There was an awkward silence as everyone seemed to process the weight of the situation. Kamor was left with the sting of unanswered questions, the looming threat of Mad Crow, and the knowledge that his mysterious stalker wasn’t something his allies could deal with, at least not yet.

Kit, sensing the tension, tried to lighten the mood, glancing over at Albus with a mischievous smirk. “You know, Faith would be a better of with me, Albus.”

Everyone froze. Hipswitch, Kamor, and Mahatma exchanged confused looks, clearly unaware of who this Faith was. But Albus? His entire posture stiffened, his expression shifting as if a dark cloud had settled over him.

“Faith?,” Kamor signed, his gaze flicking to Albus, his eyes silently asking for clarification.

Kit, noticing Albus’ tense reaction, gave him a playful nudge. “You’ve been running from Faith for so long, Albus. You know you’ll have to face her eventually.”

Albus’ lips pressed into a thin line, and for a moment, it seemed like the weight of the years was pressing down on him. His voice was low but in a threatening way, almost rage and.. fear? “How the hell do you know her name— right.. you know everything.” He didn’t like the fact they also knew about Faith. That meant they knew about Kerano and Devlin, maybe even more.

Kit didn’t back down, her teasing tone shifting into something a bit more pointed. “*You should stop running from her, Albus. You’re not the only one with problems. But you—” She shot him a critical look.

Albus flinched, but he didn’t say anything in response. His eyes briefly met Kamor’s, and there was a silent understanding between them. Kamor might have felt lost, frustrated, and alone in his fight against Mad Crow, but Albus? He had his own demons—ones that were harder to fight than any physical enemy.

Kit let out a breath and leaned back in her chair. “Well, whatever you decide, just I’m really to step up for the beautiful- no gorgeous woman.”

Ezekiel shot her a look, his tone sharp. “Kit, we’re not here to play therapist. We need to focus.”

Kit waved him off. “Yeah, yeah. I get it. But someone needs to knock some sense into Mr. brooding over there.” She nodded toward Albus with a grin. “He’s been running from Faith long enough.”

The tension was thick in the room. Kamor, still processing everything, felt the weight of their words settle into his chest. He had his own questions about Mad Crow, but now, the mention of Faith—someone tied to Albus’ past—had left him with more questions than answers.

___________

Ezekiel glanced over his shoulder as the group began to leave, the tension still lingering in the air. Kamor, deep in thought, was still trying to process everything that had happened—too many questions, too many unknowns. Neeto tried their best to encourage him, but even the chaos child could see the heavy weight Kamor was carrying. The mute was lost in thought, staring down at his hands, the unanswered questions building in his mind like an unrelenting storm.

Ezekiel’s voice broke the silence as he shouted toward Neeto, “We need to go. Now.”

Neeto, sensing the urgency but not wanting to leave Kamor hanging, hesitated before turning to the mute. They couldn’t stand the idea of leaving without offering something, so, in a rare moment of softness, Neeto rushed forward and gave Kamor a quick, tight hug. “You have Hipswitch and the others to help you figure this out, okay? You’re not alone.” The words were rushed, almost as if they knew time was running out.

Kamor gave a small nod, his expression unreadable, but Neeto could see the slight flicker of gratitude in his eyes. It wasn’t much, but it was enough.

Later, as the group made their way back to the ship, Ezekiel let out a frustrated sigh. He glanced over to see Neeto sulking in the corner, their usual energy deflated. Neeto’s mind was still tangled in everything that had happened, their usual chaotic nature subdued for once. Ezekiel could see it, the frustration and the urge to do something, anything, to stop Mad Crow from causing more harm.

With a slight smirk, Ezekiel pulled out a glowing cube from his pocket. The cube flickered with an otherworldly light—something that could teleport anyone to a location with just a thought. It was ridiculously overpowered, but that was Ezekiel for you. Always prepared for chaos. Walking over to Neeto, he dropped the cube onto the seat next to them. “Wanna fuck up Mad Crow?” he asked, his tone light but mischievous.

Neeto’s eyes snapped up at the mention of Mad Crow, and their entire demeanor shifted in an instant. They lit up like a Christmas tree, excitement instantly overtaking the sulking mood. “Yes!” they nearly shouted, practically bouncing in their seat. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this! Let’s wreck that guy’s day!”

Ezekiel chuckled, rolling his eyes but secretly thrilled to see Neeto this fired up. “Well, get ready. We’re about to make Mad Crow wish he’d never heard of Kamor.” The grin that spread across Neeto’s face was all the answer Ezekiel needed.

They both knew this was just the beginning of something chaotic—and they wouldn’t be able to stop until Mad Crow finally learned that Kamor wasn’t someone to be messed with.

————

In the depths of an abyss, Mad Crow floated in the void, his mind swirling with thoughts of how best to torment Kamor. It was what he always did, after all—creating fear, instilling doubt, and twisting the world around Kamor until it was unrecognizable. But just as the darkness seemed to thicken around him, something unexpected happened.

A blinding plasma blue light ripped through the void, shattering the oppressive stillness. The light was so bright it seemed to tear at the very fabric of space. From the rift, two figures dropped down—Ezekiel and Neeto, landing gracefully as if they had done this a thousand times.

Neeto’s eyes locked onto Mad Crow, their expression twisted with contempt. “Well, well, well,” Neeto growled, their voice dripping with disdain. “Look who we’ve got here. A wannabe bird-man who’s too stupid to fly.” They flashed an almost gleeful grin, before adding a string of creative insults that would make even the most hardened sailor blush.

Mad Crow, his crow mask never faltering, tilted his head slightly in amusement, as if toying with the idea of responding. But before he could speak, Ezekiel pulled out two gleaming daggers from his belt, his posture casual yet poised for action. His eyes glinted with a mix of amusement and focus, clearly unfazed by the intimidating presence of Mad Crow.

Meanwhile, Neeto, always unpredictable, clocked their guns—each one a weapon of pure chaos—reloading them with a satisfying click. “This is gonna be fun,” they muttered under their breath, practically vibrating with anticipation.

Mad Crow’s eyes narrowed behind the mask. “I see you’ve come to play,” he said, his voice carrying the weight of someone who was used to instilling fear, not receiving it. “But you’ll find the void is… unforgiving.”

Ezekiel smirked, his gaze flicking over to Neeto before locking eyes with Mad Crow. “Oh, we’re not here for play, Crow. We’re here to send a message. Kamor’s not your toy.”

Neeto stepped forward, their finger tapping the trigger of their gun with a sharp click. “Yeah, you better listen, you crow-faced freak. Kamor’s ours to torment, not yours.” Their voice was a low growl, the menace in their tone palpable.

The tension in the air thickened as Mad Crow’s form shifted slightly, the shadows of the void seeming to pulse around him. “We’ll see how long you last in the abyss,” he hissed, his voice cold and detached.

Without further warning, the void around them erupted in a storm of darkness and whispers. Mad Crow raised his hands, manipulating the shadows to twist into forms of his own creation, monstrous figures beginning to emerge from the blackness.

Ezekiel and Neeto didn’t hesitate for a moment. They were ready to make sure Mad Crow learned that messing with Kamor was a very bad idea.

“Let’s wreck this guy’s day,” Ezekiel muttered under his breath, already moving into position, his daggers gleaming in the shifting light.

Neeto grinned wider. “Hell yeah. Let’s show this bird just who’s hunting who.”

———

The battle felt like it had stretched on for hours, a chaotic blur of shadows and steel. In the end, Neeto stood victorious, pulling one of Ezekiel’s daggers from Mad Crow’s battered form. The crow-faced tormentor was left gasping, blood staining the void’s floor around him. Though Neeto and Ezekiel had wanted to end it, they knew killing him would only lead to more problems. Torture, however, was a different story. It was a reminder, a message. And Mad Crow was going to learn just how far his reach could be stretched before it broke.

Neeto’s grin was wide as they skipped over to the glowing rift, holding the dagger loosely in their hand, their body practically humming with adrenaline. They were so ready to leave this place behind.

Ezekiel couldn’t help but chuckle as he walked beside them. “Feel better now?” he asked, his voice light but with a knowing glint in his eyes.

Neeto twirled around, holding up Mad Crow’s hat, now covered in blood and twisted in shape. “Oh, absolutely!” Neeto grinned, practically skipping with joy. “This hat’s a souvenir—a reminder of kicking Crow’s butt. He’s gonna think twice next time he even thinks about Kamor.”

Ezekiel shook his head with a grin. “Just… hide it from the rest of the group. The last thing we need is Kit to scold us for collecting trophies.” He gave Neeto a look of mock seriousness. “You’re gonna get us in trouble with that thing.”

Neeto winked, sliding the hat into their bag like a prized possession. “Noted. It’ll be our little secret.” Their grin remained, a mischievous sparkle in their eyes.

With that, they returned to the rift, the light enveloping them once more as they stepped through. When they emerged, they found themselves back in the massive spaceship—the headquarters of Zed’s Library. The familiar hum of the ship’s engines and the steady pulse of the lights greeted them, bringing a sense of ease after the chaos they’d just caused.

The mission was done. Mad Crow had been dealt with, and Kamor was a little safer. For now, at least.

As the rift closed behind them, Ezekiel looked over at Neeto, still clutching the hat with a proud smile. “What now?”

Neeto tossed the hat up and caught it. “Now we wait for the next disaster.”

Ezekiel’s chuckle was the last thing heard before they disappeared deeper into the ship, the adventure far from over, and the Library’s mysteries just beginning to unfold.

The end.

Big credit toooo

@iincogneeto

Nana

Kit

President Oda

If this gets likes, I’ll make more. Maybe Neeto will have another chance to yeet a evil crow off a cliff or something

[thatonesalmonlingnamedspike]

the history of the entire world I guess transcript I guess

hi.

you're on a rock floating in space.

pretty cool, huh?

some of it's water.

fuck it, actually most of it's water.

i can't even get from here to there without buying a boat.

it's sad.

i'm sad.

i miss you.

how did this happen?

a long time ago, actually never, and also now, nothing is nowhere.

when?

never.

makes sense, right?

like i said, it didn't happen.

nothing was never anywhere.

that's why it's been everywhere.

it's been so everywhere you don't need a where.

you don't even need a when.

that's how every it gets.

forget this.

i wanna be something.

go somewhere.

do something.

i want things to change.

i want to invent time and space.

and i know it's possible because everything is here and it probably already happened.

i just don't know when to start.

and that's exactly where it started.

whoah, i paused it.

i think there's a universe now.

what's it made of?

quarks & stuff

ah, that's a thing.

in a place.

don't like it?

try a new place.

at a different time™.

try to stick together, because the world is gonna get bigger.

and emptier.

but it's not empty yet.

it's still very full, and about a kjghpillion degrees.

great news!

the quarks are now happily married, in groups of three called a proton or a neutron

and there's something else flying around too that wants to join in but can't cause it's still too

HOT great news!

the protons and neutrons are now happily married to each other.

and some of them even doubled up.

great news, the electrons have now joined in

congratulations, the world is now a bunch of gas in space.

but it's getting closer together.

and it's getting closer together.

and it's getting closer toge-

it's a star

new shit just got made!

some stars burn out and die.

bigger stars burn out and die with passion, and make some brand new, way crazier shit.

space dust

which allows newer, more interesting stars to be made, and then die, and explode into

even crazier space dust

so now stars have cool stuff around them, like rocks, ice, and funny clouds, which can make some very interesting things.

like this ball of flaming rocks for example.

holy shit, we just got hit with another ball of flaming rocks.

and it kind of made a mess.

which is

now the moon

weather update:

it's raining rocks from outer space.

weather update:

those rocks might have had water inside them, and now there's hot steam in the sky.

weather update:

cooler temperatures today, and the floor is no longer lava.

weather update:

it's raining.

severe flooding alert:

the entire world is now an ocean.

volcano alert:

that's land!

there's life in the ocean

what?

something's alive in the ocean

oh cool, like a plant or an animal?

no, a microscopic speck.

it lives at the bottom of the ocean and eats chemical soup, which is being served hot and fresh, made from gnarly space ingredients left over from when it was raining rocks or whatever.

oh yeah, and it can do that.

it has secret instructions written inside itself telling it how to build another one of itself.

so that's pretty nifty, i would say.

tired of living at the bottom of the ocean?

now you can eat sunlight!

using a revolutionary technique, you can convert sunlight into food

taste the sun

side effect: now there's oxygen everywhere and the sky's blue.

then the earth might have been a snowball for a while, maybe even a couple of times.

it's a sponge.

it's a plant.

it's a worm, and some other types of weird strange water bugs and strange fish.

it's the Cambrian explosion

"wow, that's animals and stuff"

but we're still in the ocean, hey, can we go on land?

no

why?

the sun is a deadly lazer

oh okay.

not anymore, there's a blanket

now the animals can go on land.

come on, animals, let's go on land!

nope, can't walk yet.

and there's no food yet, so i don't care.

ok, will you learn to walk if there's plants up here?

maybe, said some bugs, and fish.

ok, so i can go on land, but i have to go back in the water to

have babies

learn to use an egg.

i was already doing that.

use a stronger egg.

put water in it.

have a baby, on land, in an egg.

water is in the egg.

baby, in the egg, in the water, in the egg.

works for me.

bye bye ocean

and now everything's huge.

including bugs.

wanna see a map of the land?

sure.

oh fuck, now everything's dead.

just kidding, here are the survivors.

keep your eye on this one because it's about to become the dinosaurs.

here's another map of the land.

yeah, it broke apart, don't worry about it, it does that all the time.

here comes a meteor.

and the dinosaurs are gone

it's mammal time, here come the mammals.

look at those breasts.

now they're gonna dominate the world and one of them just learned how to grab stuff.

and walk.

no, like, walk like that.

and grab stuff at the same time.

and bang rocks together to make pointed rocks.

"ouch"

and set things on fire.

"yeouch"

and make crazy sounds with their voice.

"gneurshk"

which can mean different things.

that's a human person

and now they're everywhere.

almost.

ice age

what, you can walk over here?

cool.

not anymore

well i guess we're stuck here now.

let's review.

there's people on the planet.

and they're chasing their food.

fuck it, time to plant some grass.

look at this.

i control the food now.

now everyone will want to be my friend and live near me.

let's all build houses except mine is bigger because i own the food.

this is great, i wonder if anyone else is doing this.

tired of using rocks for everything?

use metal.

it's underground.

better farming was just invented, in a sweet dank valley right in between these two rivers.

and the animals are helping.

guess what happens next

more food.

and more people who came to buy the food.

now you need people to help make the food and keep track of the sales.

and now you need houses for people to live in and people to make the houses, and now there's more people and they invent things, which makes things better and more people come and there's more farming and more people to make more things for more people and now there's business, money, writing, laws, power.

Society

coming soon to a dank river valley near you.

meanwhile, out in the middle of nowhere, the horse is probably being tamed.

why is all my metal so lame and lumpy?

tired of using lame, sad metal?

introducing

Bronze

made with special ingredient tin from the far lands of tin land.

i don't know, my dealer won't tell me where he gets it.

also, guess what?

egypt

meanwhile, out in the middle of nowhere, they figured out how to put wheels on a horse.

now we're getting somewhere.

also

china

and did i mention

indus river valley civilization

norte chico

the middle east is getting more complicated, maybe because it's in the middle of the east.

knock knock, er, clop clop.

it's the people with the horses.

and they made an empire.

and then everyone else copied their horses.

greeks

ah look, it must be the greeks, er, a beta version of the greeks.

let's check in with the indus river valley civilization.

they're gone.

guess who's not gone?

china

new arrivals in india, maybe it's those horse people i was talking about, or their cousins or something

and they wrote some hymns and mantras and stuff

you could make a religion out of this.

there's the bronze age collapse.

now the phoenicians can get down to business

also, can we switch to a metal that's a little easier to find?

thanks.

look who came back to israel, it's the twelve tribes of israel.

and they believe in God

just 1 though, he's got like a ten step program.

here's some huge heads.

must be the olmecs.

the phoenicians make some colonies.

the greeks copy their idea and make some colonies.

the phoenicians made a colony so big it makes colonies.

here comes the assyrian empire.

never mind, it's the babylonian- median-

it's the Persian Empire

"wow, that's big"

ah, the buddha was just enlightened.

who's the buddha?

this guy, who sat under a tree for so long that he figured out how to ignore the fact that we're all dying.

you could make a religion out of this.

oops, china just broke, but while it was breaking, confucius was figuring out how to have good morals.

ah, the greeks just had the idea of thinking about stuff.

and right over here, alexander just had the idea of conquering the entire persian empire.

it's a great idea.

he was great.

and now he's dead.

hopefully the rest of the gang will be able to share the empire evenly between them.

knock knock, it's chandragupta, he says get the hell out of here.

will you get the hell out of here if i give you 500 elephants?

ok thanks, bye

time to conquer all of india

or

most of india

but what about this part?

that's the tamil kings, no one conquers the tamil kings.

who are the tamil kings?

merchants, probably

and they've got spices

who would like to buy the spices?

me, said the arabians, swiftly buying it and selling it to the rest of the world.

hey, china put itself back together again, with good morals as their main philosophy.

actually, they have three main philosophies.

out here, the horse nomads run wild and free, and they would like to ransack your city.

let's check the greekification levels of the greekified kingdoms.

greekification overload!

bye, said the parthians.

bye, said the jews.

hi, said the parthians, taking over the entire place.

heyyyyyyyy, said the romans, eating the entire mediterranean for breakfast.

thanks for invading our homeland, said the jews, who were starting to get tired of people invading their homeland.

hi, everything's great, said some guy who seems to be getting very popular and is then arrested and killed for being too popular, which only makes him more popular.

you could make a religion out of this.

want silk?

now you can buy it from china.

they just made a

brand new road to the world

or you can

get there on water

sick! new trade routes! said india, accidentally spreading their religion to the entire southeast.

hmm, that's a good place for an epic trading kingdom.

there goes buddhism traveling up the silk road.

i wonder if it'll reach china before it collapses again.

remember the persian empire?

yep, said the persians, making a new one.

axum is getting so powerful they would like to build a long stick.

has anyone populated madagascar yet?

let's do it together.

china is whole again

then it broke again

still can't cross the sahara desert?

try camels.

hell yeah! now we've got business

said the ghana empire, selling lots of gold, and slaves

hi, i live in the roman empire, and i was wondering

is loving jesus legal yet?

no.

actually, ok, sure, said constantine, moving the capital way over here to be closer to his

main rival

don't worry about rome, it won't fall.

it's the golden age of india

there's the gupta empire, not chandragupta, just gupta.

first name chandra.

the first.

guess who's in rome?

barbarians

what's a barbarian?

non-romans, said the romans, being invaded by non-romans.

r.i.p., roman empire, er, actually just half of it, the other half is just fine, but it's not in rome anymore so let's give it a new name.

the mayans have figured out the stars

oh and here's a huge city, population: everyone

the göktürks have taken over the entire eurasian steppe.

great job, göktürks.

how's india?

broken.

how's china?

back together

how's those trading kingdoms?

bigger, and there's more of them

korea has 3 kingdoms.

japan has a kingdom, it's the sunrise kingdom.

deep in the arabian desert, on the top of a mountain, the real god whispers in muhammed's ear.

so he goes down to the cube where everyone worships gods and he tells them their gods are all fake.

and everyone got so mad at him that he had to leave town and go to a different town.

you could make a religion out of this.

and maybe conquer the world as well.

the roman empire is long gone, but somehow the pope is still the pope.

plus there's

new kingdoms all over europe

i wonder if there's room for moors.

here's all the wisdom.

in a house.

it's the baghdad house of wisdom.

just in time for the

islamic golden age

let's bring stuff to the coast and sell it, and become the swahili on the swahili coast, said the swahili on the swahili coast.

remember this tiny space you have to go through to get from here to there?

someone owns that now.

wanna get enlightened in the middle of nowhere?

the franks have the biggest kingdom in europe, and the pope is so proud that he invites the king over for christmas.

surprise! you're the new roman emperor, said the pope, pretending to still be part of the roman empire.

then the franks broke their kingdom into what will later be called france and not france.

but the northerners, or just norse if you don't have much time, are exploring.

they go north, from the north to the northern north.

and they find some land.

two types of land.

and they name them accordingly.

they also invade some other places, and get called many names, such as vikings.

there's the rus.

the kievan rus.

are they vikings?

i don't think so, said the kievan rus.

ok, fair enough.

the pope is ready to make some more emperors.

of the "roman empire".

the holy roman empire.

it's actually germany but don't worry about it.

new kingdoms.

christianize all the kingdoms

which brand would you like?

mine's better.

mine's better.

mine's better.

time to conquer england, said william.

it's a bird, it's a plane

it's the seljuk turks

aah! said the byzantine empire who's getting so small and almost doesn't exist anymore.

we need help!

they need help, so they call the pope.

hey pope, can you help us get rid of the seljuks?

maybe take back the holy land on the way?

come on, i know you want to take back the holy land.

yes, i do actually want to do that.

let's do a crusade.

crusade

they did many crusades, some of which almost didn't fail.

but at least the italians got some sweet trade deals.

goodbye mayans.

hello toltecs

goodbye toltecs.

hello mississippi

look at those mounds.

there's the pueblo.

i always wondered how to build a town in a cliff.

guess who's here?

khmer.

where?

here.

and pagan is there.

vietnam unconquered itself, korea just became itself, and japan is so addicted to art that the military might have to take over the government.

china just invented bombs, and typing.

and the mongols just invaded most of the universe.

nice going, Genghis!

i bet that will last a long time.

some of the islamic turks were unaffected by the mongol invasions because they were busy invading india.

is it tonga time?

i think it's tonga time.

i just found out where the swahili gets all their gold.

look at this chad.

means "lake".

there's an empire there.

right in the middle of

Africa

the king of mali is so rich he's going on tour to let everyone know.

wow, that guy's rich, everyone said.

the christians are doing a great job reconquering iberia, which will soon be called spain and not spain.

please remain christian.

we will check in later to see if you're still christian when you least expect.

whoops, half of europe just died.

ming

china's back, yay!

hey khmer, time to share.

new kingdoms here and there.

oh, look who controls all the islands.

it's the mahajapit.

majahapit.

mapajahit.

mahapajit.

mapajahit.

majapahit?

oh, italy's really rich, time for them to care a lot about art and the ancient classics.

it's kinda like a rebirth.

here's a printer.

let's make books.

so you think you can conquer the byzantine empire?

yep, said the ottoman turks.

nice job, ottoman turks.

whoops, you missed a spot.

don't forget to ban europe from the indian spice trade.

what? that's bullshit, said portugal, spiceless.

well i guess we'll have to find another way to india

wait! said christopher columbus, probably smoking crack.

if the world is round, let's go this way to india.

nah, don't worry, we already got this, said portugal.

so chris goes to spain.

hey spain, wanna hire me to find india by going around back of the world?

no.

please?

no.

please?

no.

please?

ok.

so he sails into the ocean.

and discovers more ocean.

and then discovers the indies.

and japan.

let's draw a line to decide who gets which half of the world.

the aztec and inca empires are off to a great start.

i wonder if they know that europe just discovered their continent?

the habsburgs are marrying into so many royal families they might have to start marrying each other.

move over lithuania, here comes moscow.

ivan wants to make russia great again.

move over timurids, maybe go invade india or something.

persia just made persia persian again.

let's make it the other kind of islam.

the one where we thought the first guy should have been the other guy.

hey christians!

do you sin?

now you can buy your way out of hell.

that's bullshit.

this whole thing is bullshit.

that's a scam.

fuck the church.

here's 95 reasons why, said martin luther, in his new book, which might have accidentally started the protestant reformation.

you know what would be magnificent, said suleiman, wearing an onion hat?

what if the ottoman empire was really big?

which it is now.

what if russia was big? said ivan, trying not to be terrible.

portugal had a dream that they controlled the entire indian ocean, including the spice trade.

and then that dream was real.

and spain realized that this is not india, but they pillaged it anyway.

damn, said england and france.

we gotta start pillaging some stuff.

then the dutch revolt and all the hipsters move to amsterdam.

damn, said amsterdam.

we gotta start pillaging some stuff.

question 1: can you get to india through north america?

no, but at least there's beaver.

question 2: steal the spice trade.

that's not a question, but the dutch did it anyway.

sugar

guess where all the sugar's made?

in brazil.

stolen

and the caribbean.

and it's so god damn profitable you might forget to not do slavery.

the next thing on russia's to-do list is to get bigger.

britain and france are having a friendly discussion about who should control the entire world.

more specifically, ohio.

then it escalates into a seven year discussion, giving prussia a chance to show austria who's boss.

but what about britain and france, did they figure out who's boss?

yes they did.

it's britain.

guess who's broke?

also britain.

so they start taxing the hell out of america.

fuck you, says america, declaring their independence, and fighting for it.

and france helps them win, now france is broke.

and britain'll have to send their prisoners to a different continent.

wait, if france is broke, why do the king and queen still wear such fancy dresses?

let's overthrow the palace and cut all their heads off! said robespierre, cutting everybody's head off until someone eventually got mad and cut his head off.

you could make a reli- no, don't.

haiti is staring to like the idea of a revolution.

especially the slaves, who free themselves by killing their masters.

why didn't we think of this before?

wait, who's in charge of france now?

me

said napoleon, trying to take over europe.

luckily, they banished him to an island.

but he came back

luckily, they banished him to another island.

there goes latin america, becoming independent in the latin american wars of independence.

britain just figured out how to turn steam into power.

so now they can make

many different types of machines and factories with machines in them so they can make a lot of products real fast

then they invent some trains.

and conquer india and maybe put some trains there.

hey, china! said britain.

buy stuff from us!

nah dude, we already got everything, says china.

so britain tried to get them addicted to opium.

which worked, actually.

but then china made it illegal and dumped it all into the sea.

so britain threw a hissy fit, and made them open up five cities and give them an island.

britain and russia are playing a game where they try to stop each other from conquering afghanistan.

also, the

sultan of oman lives in zanzibar now

"that's just where he lives"

india just had a revolution, and they would like to govern themselves now.

nope, said britain, governing them even harder than before.

technology is about to go crazy

the united states finally figured out whether slavery is good or bad.

it's bad, they decided.

and then they continued manifesting their destiny, which is to kill the rest of the natives and take their land and maybe kick out the mexicans too.

i know, let's rape africa, said europe, scrambling to see who could rape it the fastest.

they never got ethiopia

britain and france are still hungry.

they never got thailand

the united states ran out of destiny to manifest, so they're looking for more.

hawaii

cuba

wait, spain controls cuba.

well, blame something on them and go to war!

what should we blame on spain?

let's blame the maine on spain.

so they blame the maine on spain.

now we're in business.

to celebrate, they kick panama out of panama and make a canal, connecting the two oceans.

britain just found oil in the middle east.

it makes cars go

china is so tired of being bossed around that they delete their old government and make a new, stronger government, which is accidentally weaker and controlled by a guy from the previous government.

europe hasn't had a war since the last war.

so they start world war 1.

look at those guns.

it's gonna be a great war.

so great we won't need a second one.

after it's over, they blame germany.

russia went on strike and the workers overthrew the government.

now everyone's paycheck is the same.

communism

in the soviet union

the arabs revolt and britain helps.

now the ottoman empire's gone so we can give the

jewish people a place to live

hopefully the arabs won't mind.

let's cut the cake, said sykes and picot, carving up the remains of the not-so-ottoman-anymore empire.

except turkey, turkey makes a brand new turkey

and then the saudis conquer arabia.

it just seemed like the right thing to do.

hello?

yes, it's the 1920's calling.

let's get in the car and drive to a party and listen to jazz on the radio and go to the movies.

the economy's great and it'll probably be great forever, just kidding.

germany's back, featuring hitler, the angry mustache model.

and he's mad at the jews for existing.

japan is finally conquering the east, and they're so excited they rape nanking way too hard.

they should probably just deny it.

hitler's out of control.

so the international community tackles him and then tries to explain why killing all the jews is a bad idea.

but he kills himself before they could explain it to him.

that's world war 2

bonus round!

pacific showdown.

united states vs. japan.

fight!

finish him

let's unite all the nations and have some

world peace

seems legit.

hi, i'm gandhi, and if britain doesn't get the hell out of india, i'm gonna starve myself in public.

wow, that worked?

bonus, now there's pakistan.

actually two pakistans.

one of them can be bangladesh later.

the jews and the arabs finally figured out which one of them should live in the holy land.

me, they both said at the same time.

let's divide up the land so everyone's happy.

sike, they both get angrier

look out china, there's a new china in china.

what's on the menu?

communism!

no thanks, said the other china, escaping to an island.

i wonder which one is the real china?

there's the korean war, korea versus korea.

nobody wins, then it's on pause forever.

let's meet the sponsors.

oh, it's the two global superpowers.

they're having a friendly debate over which economic system is good, and which one is an evil virus of Satan.

and they both have atom bombs.

fight!

wait, no, that would be the end of the world.

let's just keep it cool and spy on each other instead.

and make sure we have enough atom bombs.

i'll race you to space.

now let's make some more countries fight themselves.

europe is tired of pillaging other continents, so the continents they were pillaging are tired of being pillaged.

so here's a new map, with new countries.

now you can't tell who they're being pillaged by.

the united states finally decided whether racism is good or bad.

they decided it's bad, and the world agrees.

south africa might need another minute to think about it.

let's check the world population.

whoa.

okay.

technology's better too, that might keep happening.

the soviet union decides to relax a little, and accidentally falls apart.

europe makes a union, so now they can all use the same money, except britain, because they don't feel like it.

let's check the mail.

surprise, it's on the computer.

whoops, someone just attacked america.

i bet they'll remember that.

phone call.

surprise, it's in your pocket.

wanna learn everything?

surprise, it's on the computer.

now your phone's a computer, which is in your pocket.

whoops, the economy just crashed.

don't worry, the big banks won't fail because they're not supposed to.

surprise!

flying robots.

with bombs.

wanna print a brain?

some people have no friends.

some people have no food.

the globe is warming

and the ocean is full of plastic

let's save the planet! said everybody, not knowing how.

let's invent a thing inventor, said the thing inventor inventor, after being invented by a thing inventor.

that's pretty cool.

by the way, where the hell are we?

[canon-notcanon-warriorcats]

what if

we pushed the ancients moving to the mountains by like a year

fallen leaves still died in the tunnels, but everyone saw that as a fluke/bad luck/"it's sad, but it happens" (and also he should've waited until after the rain but he was too impatient, it could've happened to anyone that wasn't paying attention to the weather or was too impatient to wait)

Jay's Wing has been getting bad feelings about the tunnels, and the territory in general ever since just before Fallen Leaves died because twolegs had been building a couple of nests in the territory. He keeps getting these strange feelings that the cats need to move and so has been trying to get the ancients to form an actual comprehensive group for moons and leave the territory, but no one really listens and brushes him off, except for his friend Half Moon who tries to help if she can, but also tries to chill Jay's Wing out so he doesn't seem entirely crazy to every other cat.

Lion's Roar, who even though he was barely an adult was considered one of the strongest cats of the group, barely survives his sharpclaw assessment in the tunnels because even though the weather was clear and it hadn't rained at all in a couple of days, the tunnels suddenly flooded.

Jay's Wing and Half Moon do some snooping and they find out twolegs have been taking water from the lake, using it for something that neither of the cats could comprehend, but it had something to do with giant monsters that had shown up in the forest, and then later twolegs dumped water, which leaked into the tunnels and caused the sudden flooding.

There had been more monsters than ever before on the thunderpath and now they weren't just on the thunderpath, they were in the forest! And a bunch of twolegs with them, even setting up camps and marking a chunk of territory out with weird sticks, rocks, and vines.

On the far side of the territory, where the forest thinned into moorland, there were even more twolegs and monsters and more thunderpaths were being made. The twolegs had also been cutting down the trees that dotted the area, marking an even larger chunk of territory with their borders, and building a few more nests.

When Jay's Wing and Half Moon told the cats this, Furled Bracken brushes them off saying that there's plenty of territory and they can simply stay closer to the lake and avoid those areas. This infuriates Lion's Roar, saying that the twolegs dumping their water nearly got him killed. Not to mention his brother and sister had been killed before they could even become sharpclaws because of the monsters in the forest, and his other brother had been captured by the twolegs. Dove's Wing brings up how her and Jay's Wing's mother had been killed by a monster moons before, when monsters were just starting to become more common, and now things had become even worse.

Lion's Roar allies himself with Jay's Wing and Half Moon and he quickly becomes closer with them. A few days later the three cats go to where there were giant monsters in the forest, bringing Furled Bracken and Stone Song to show them the severity of what was happening. They find that the situation had become even worse, and that the twolegs and monsters had torn up the terrain and were now using monsters with massive jaws and teeth to dig into the rock and earth itself.

The cats are appalled by the destruction, but Furled Bracken insists that even though the noise and disruption had driven all of the possible prey, they simply must avoid the area. Stone Song asks what would happen if the twolegs and monsters never stopped and just continued doing this to every part of the territory. Furled Bracken replies that there was no proof that that would happen.

Lion's Roar is infuriated at the leader's passiveness and decides to take matters into his own paws. If the twolegs were taking over and the monsters were going to eat at their territory, but the group wouldn't leave to find a new home, then that meant that they would need to fight for their territory! Lion's Roar was the biggest cat in the group and one of the best fighters, he would protect his kin, his friends, and his home!

The other cats try to stop Lion's Roar, but the young sharpclaw pushes past them, letting out a fierce yowl as he charges into the clearing. Twolegs turn their heads toward the cat as he faces one of the monsters with giant teeth, its neck stretching up to take a bite out of the rocks above it. The twolegs start shouting as Lion's Roar pounces at the monster's paw and bites it, but reeling back at the acrid taste, as well as from the pain of trying to bite and grip onto the strange, hard material.

The twolegs start running towards the cat, but Lion's Roar has no time to figure out his next move, because as soon as he leaps off of the monster's paw, a shower of dirt and rocks comes crumbling down on him. The cats, and the twolegs, can do nothing but watch in horror.

When the cats return to the rest of the group, shaken and grieving, they tell the rest of the cats what happened, how Lion's Roar tried to fight to reclaim their territory from the monsters and twolegs. That night is when the group of grieving cats cast their stones, voting to leave the lake.

[dj-grooves-simp]

Galaxy

Chapter five (part 1) - Son of the Stars AU

"Finally, you were taking so long I thought you wouldn't come"

Amos looked at Joseph as he entered the library, ten minutes behind their original schedule.

"I'm sorry, Terry had to stop elsewhere before arriving."

Joseph didn't like being late, but he couldn't do anything to arrive earlier. He sat down next to his classmate and took out his notes, when Amos took a closer look, he realized he had no idea how to read them.

"Mmm... Do you expect me to know what it says there? It looks like a bunch of doodles"

His classmate was harsh with he words, but Joseph understood why he was saying that. He didn't like writing in the Latin alphabet, since he usually used the traditional moon one, which Amos didn't know anything about.

"It's something personal, and I'll read out loud so you understand, ok?"

While they worked together to finish it, Joseph thought more about his classmate. His personality was definitely challenging for him, but he wasn't bothered by it, in fact he liked the way the other was, his way of being was very strong and defined which Joseph enjoyed. He had to say though that Amos looked strange. Not like anyone he had seen before. Yes Amos said he was part of the owls, but his ears and yellow feathers pointed to a very different heritage.

"So, what do you think?"

Joseph did not expect Amos to call him so he was a bit startled when he did, it made him pretty self conscious about how he was thinking instead of just living the moment.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

His classmate looked at him clearly not happy.

"God, don't tell me you weren't listening to my explanation Joseph..."

Joseph looked away with frustration. This is probably why he's not the best of his class, because his always thinking of other things, or too tired. This is why no one other than Terry likes him, because he analyzes everything and he's not normal.

"Listen Joseph, I don't know what's happening with you right now, but we have to finish this for tomorrow and I'm not leaving until it's done. If you have an issue, solve it in your free time, but don't waste my time."

He accepted what Amos said, knowing he was right. Even with this, he couldn't help but feel hurt by this, deep down this just confirmed what he thought. Amos didn't see him as anything else than a classmate who's just slightly better than the others, and he's benefitted by it. Luckily the assignment was done not much long after. They were both happy with the result, the two of them expected a good grade. Joseph packed his things as quick as possible, he wanted to go home and try to forget about the stupid way he had acted by getting so invested in his own thoughts. When he reached the door, Amos called him.

"What happened to you before?"

Amos didn't look like he cared that much or that he was genuinely worried, more like he was curious to know more about Joseph.

"It was nothing, I think about too many things all of the time so I get distracted pretty easily"

His classmate looked at him, not very convinced by the answer Joseph gave him.

"Well, it was fine working with you, I hope if we ever have to work in groups again we do it together"

With that, Amos left the library with Joseph tagging along after a few seconds.He saw Terry waiting for him on the car and got in the passenger seat.

"So, how was that?"

Joseph looked at Terry, still trying to process what had been happening.

"It.. fine? I think it was ok"

His brother thought of what he said.

"I get it Jo, it's hard for you to be alone and trying to work with people you don't know pretty well, but it's okay. Just try to concentrate a bit more on what's happening and less on what you're thinking"

He tried saying something back, he felt exposed, like everyone knew that he lived more in his head than the world but he couldn't help it. Ever since he was a kid he'd been alone, just him and his thoughts, he knew it had to change at this point but it was so hard. Joseph simply nodded as Terry took him home. He was pretty concentrated on the landscape when he remembered something that had been lingering in his head.

[biohazzard121]

Elijah, Storm Sorcerer, Selûnite Cleric of Life, In life he wasn't anything special, he sacrificed his life over 1000 years ago saving innocents from Sharran spears, he's reward was to serve as a Commander in Selûne's army, to defend his godness and her followers against the darkness.

So we skip forward to the present.

Elijah was part of a group sent to continue the search for Selûne's lost daughter, a search that has consumed the better part of a century.

"Sharran's" Elijah says, as they spy a group of people acting strangely"

"Leave them" one of the others replied "they are not our mission"

"No, they may know where our ladies' lost child is," Elijah snaps back. "You return and report, I will follow"

"BUT sear...." another said,

"Go!" Elijah said, interrupting the young man

Reluctantly, the others left, leaving Elijah alone. He wasn't about to let a bunch of Shar worshipers go. Elijah followed the Sharrans around the corner, just then the sky's lite up and an Illithid ship appeared, there was panic in the streets people where running, Elijah tried to flee, he knew what it meant to be caught and as a Celestial he couldn't let that happened, he took flight, a large tenticle came from nowhere and he was taken.

Elijah awoke. As he was thrown out of an Illithid pod, the ship was being attacked. How long had he been in there? He checked himself over.... his wings where where is wings... no time to panic he needed to get off the ship.

A Sharran, this one is trapped, good "Arghhh" a pain in his skull, not the worm, but a divine voice trying to bresk through, "Help her"

It goes against everything Elijah values, but his Godness has spoken.

The story continues throughout the events of the game. The following pictures are moments in Elijah's adventure, his romance.

The Sharran is starting to fall for Elijah, but she is torn, he's a Selùnite, she can't, she won't... may just a taste

[Imaged removed due to Tav having bruises]

"Maybe if I tend to him, he'll fall for me enough to embrace lady Shar" Shadowheart thinks to herself.

Elijah knows he's having an effect on Shadowheart. Maybe he can bring the child back to the moon maiden.

As the relationship deepens, Shadowheart, makes a decision to spare the Asmir, that is trapped in the soul cage,

"Lady Shar has forsaken me" she weeps

"You did the right thing, my darling," Elijah says, comforting the now lost Sharran. "The Moon Maidens' daughter is free"

"I didn't do it for Selùne" Shadowheart says, wiping a tear from her cheek. "i did it for you, hope you were worth it"

Elijah smiles and embraces her

With kethric defeated, the road to baldurs gate is open.

[Image removed due to apparent "mature" content, it was Shadowheart laying on Elijah]

[Relaxing in the secret night orchid garden]

Shadowheart is now free, mostly from Shar, and she has her parents back.

Nothing says marry me like defeating the choosen of bhaal....

The journey is over, Selùne allowed Elijah to stay with Shadowheart, on the understanding if he was needed he would leave, he eventually did after Shadowhearts passing, where he took her to the moon maidens embrace himself, waiting for her was her mother.

Elijah continues to look over his mortal friends, paying close attention to the vampire, trying to walk in the sun again,

One friend, however, ascended to God hood and didn't like being shunned when offering Elijah the chance to be his chosen....

I hope you enjoyed Elijah's adventure there where there were more pictures, but I was limited, so I decided to stick to his romance.

I love making back stories for my OCs not just on Baldurs Gate 3 on everything, and even though the game doesn't support anything like what Elijah is it's nice to use my imagination and I hope you do too.

[canadianno]

[[IGNORE: THIS HAS NO RELATION TO THIS BLOG AS A WHOLE]]

Sanguinius, The Red Angel

"Angel born in hell"

Also known as the "perfect child", the most beloved of all the primachs, atleast to the public eye, Sanguinius represent all that is pure and noble about humanity

His capsule did not crash against a planet, insted it was moon, "Baal Secundus" (strange name i know), the moon of the planet that later could be the base of the Blood Angels, his sons, but thats going to much into the future

Long ago the two moons of Baal were a beatiful place, even more for the standarts of the Dark Age of Technology, but as you can guess it didn't last during the Old Night, we don't know how, but both the two moons of baal were infected with enormus amounts of radiation, probably result of some kind of weapon against the man of steel

Soon the few survivors had to live in the leftovers of its monuments and cities, ending with horrible mutants created for the radiation, basically fallout in space

When a group of humans first found the "angel", the people of the place tried to kill him, why?, because this was perfect child only with a tiny defect, he had wings, yeah that part of being called and angel it was literal btw

The people thinking he was a mutant, the people was gonna end short his life. Now why did Sanguinius had wings????, some say it was for the radiation, some others said it was the design of the Emperor (maybe even the Chaos gods), the thing is that even the own Primach didn't know, he supposed it was some kind of "phych" manifestation cuz even him knew that it was completly imposible having wings due to his you know, 4 meters tall demigod-

I mean he was a Primach and all, so he thought that, but he still could feel the wings so he kinda eventually just roll with it, lets leave it there (that and the Emperor himself never really answer that)

In the end of the day it didn't matter, the people of baal couldn't put the child down due to feeling his "primach vibes" and being a motherfucking child, so they adopted the child and just ignore the wings that were there-

With time Sanguinius grew and so did his wings, and with time we was surfing over the skies like an angel, not only that but he grew up to became a nice person to knowing and understanding the necesity and value of the people of Baal that with each day they pushed forwad to live another day

Until one day, an army super mutants could attack Sanguinius campament to kill everyone in it, seeing how the people of Baal died to such beast Sanguinius entered in an blood rage, destroying the bodies of the mutants and eventually leaving nothing of them

In the end all that was left was Sanguinius in the middle of a battle and being covered in the blood of his enemy, any person would have been horrified at this vision, but when you live at a place like that, this was the perfect man to being at your side

Soon Sanguinius conquered his world and purged all the mutants out of it, soon the hope came back to Baal Secondus and soon came the Emperor and meet his son and his legion, the Blood Angels....

Who unlike their genetical Father

They were a bunch of super sociopaths cannibals addited to the blood traumatized from the wars on terra

"Ah" said the Primach, "lmao" said the Emperor

In the eyes of the Imperium, the Blood Angels were at par with legion of Angron, the world eaters, at least in how the were despicted, Sanguinius seeing this decided to send his legion to therapy but to change them all by himself

And he did it, Sanguinius managed to convert an entire legion worth of monsters into one of noble warriors with honor, from monters to heroes of the imperium

But with a small problem, the Blood Angels were had the called "black rage" (or something like that i forgot) which turned the Marines into monsters once again, Sanguinius did his best to hide this information from the public and even other primachs and the Emperor due to his fear of his legion being probably replaced with another

This genetical problem could never be resolved

Sanguinius, Primach of the IX legion, The Blood Angels for the Imperium

-alz, 13/18

-alz, also the Blood angels were extremly loyal to their Primach

-alz, the only other person that knew about the black rage was Horus Lupercal.

HELLNYEAH

[nerdyogre]

So I just finished reading the 2022 run of The Punisher. And to say that I have some Big Thoughts about the whole thing is an understatement. Spoilers will be under the cut and I really want to hear what people think. I may get some stuff wrong then oh well.

This run of 12 issues involves Frank being involved with The Hand, a group of ninjas that serve The Beast, a god of murder (god in lower case because this is a physical entity with power over a domain rather than some omnipotent omnipresent creator- I realise that my Catholic upbringing puts a bias on that, and I'm sorry, but anyway).

Spoilers below and I'm going to be jumping all over the run as my brain runs through it so there is no safe spot to get off once you click that Keep Reading button.

While you probably might be thinking this run was a response to the conservatives using the Punisher skull as an icon to promote their everything, as a media it uses that real-world connection in a goddamn impressive way - and I consider myself kind of a basic bitch when it comes to media.

So why did the morally inflexible Punisher work with the murder ninja cult The Hand?

They brought his wife back from the dead. They tried to do it with his kids.

What did the Hand get out of this?

They wanted Frank to become the avatar of The Beast. It would have turned him into a vessel for The Beast. There were five levels or bestowments. Frank gets four of them, and manages to do more damage to criminals in a single day worldwide than he had ever done before by a huge margin. One of his moderate works is a full page picture of a megayacht sinking into the ocean, on fire, sharks swarming to feast on a bunch of super rich criminals, while he WALKS ON WATER away from the situation.

This would have basically been the end of the world had he gone through with it the whole way, most likely, judging by the panicked intervention of the entire Avengers (Cap, Widow, Strange, Wolverine, Moon Knight).

"What do we do about The Punisher?"

This is a line stated by Strange, and it sits at a perfect junction of both the real world effect of Punisher and his effect in universe.

In the end, the resurrected Maria Castle finds out about what Frank has done in the names of their children - and how many times they tried to bring back the children. There's only a faint glimpse of one, before Frank puts them out of their misery, but judging by how many tombstones there were, they gave it a lot of tries. Think about the Ripley clones in Alien Resurrection. I don't want to talk about it any more.

She shoots him, which almost kills him because Murder Artifact Turned Into Bullets, which he had previously used to kill Ares, the God of War - he's a secondary antagonist, if you can believe that.

This is a Frank Castle story, where we look at what setting a path to unending war does. There are a number of flashbacks to Frank's childhood, where the Hand had their eye on him for a long time. Then we develop more of the growing relationship with Maria, starting at high school, and continuing on until the day in the park.

The Beast, and by extension The Hand, had its hooks in him since he was 10 - his first kill. And throughout the run, you can see him being pulled in two directions - his love for Maria and his kids, and his love of War, or Murder, or Death.

The flashbacks show a tumultuous life. Maria gets pregnant as Frank joins the Marines. Frank finds it hard to return to civilian life. There are ups and downs, and it becomes clear, in Maria's words, that War was the one he was really loved.

There's some back and forth between Frank's path as the Punisher and his desire to keep hold of Maria, both in the past and in the present (highlighted by a much simpler art style in the past as compared to a precise and detailed present).

Maria was going to ask for a divorce when they got shot in the park. She couldn't deal with the man of two selves that Frank was. And as her Resurrection continued, she remembered more of what happened - at first only remembering the good times, but then finally discovering the bad, the loss of their children, and how she saw her relationship with Frank.

Frank chooses at the end, before Maria's revelation, to close out the War Journal for good. And as the Avengers bring him down, and they finally decide to put an end to Frank, after his wife gets to live again, free of the monster her husband had become, as the Avengers decide what deep, dark hole to stick him in, Frank chooses to, in a way, follow his now ex wife's wishes and die for good - he prays to the Beast to be gone from this plane of existence for good.

The epilogue has him starting a new journal. Weirdworld. Some place where war is happening. The last shot is of Frank leading four orphans across an alien land, scarred by war. One of them asks if where they're going will be safe - he affirms that. They want to know his name.

"Frank. Call me Frank."

He still has the armor with the horned skull on it - but he carries no weapons.

Frank Castle isn't the Punisher any more. Frank Castle has learned the ultimate futility of his first path and the eventual impossibility of his methods in society, even if said society has superhuman members.

It's a condemnation of a strict moral code of reactionary punishment. It shows that how we choose today to act is not always how we should choose tomorrow.

Other thoughts:

1. Ares runs a weapons smuggling operation, kills a gang who buys the guns but doesn't use them to do as much war as possible, looks like Frank when he takes his helmet off, and wears the old Punisher skull on his armor.

2. Nope ran out. Just love this run and am happy with its end in the same way I was with Breaking Bad - Frank's story is done.

[rubykgrant]

How many RVB AUs have I made so far? Hmm...

Monsters AU (mostly Vampires and Werewolves, but a few ghosts and some other spooky things thrown in)

Sim Trooper/Freelancer/AI Swap AU (the original Freelancers are the Red and Blue Teams in Blood Gulch, the AI are now human and have the Freelancer roles, and the Fragments that come from Alpha are the Reds and Blues we know and love)

High School AU (Church, Tex, Sarge, and Lopez are the teachers. Tucker, Caboose, Kai, Grif, Simmons, Donut, Carolina, Wash and Doc are all students)

Tooth Fairy AU (yes that Rock the Dwayne Johnson movie)

“Mermaid” AU (younger human Grif and merkid Simmons)

Care Bears and Cousins AU (I love these little fuzzy guys, what can I say)

Wizard of Oz AU (this was bonkers and I don’t even care)

Same Leaders, Different Group AU (in which Sarge gets Tucker and Caboose, while Church gets Grif, Simmons, and Donut)

Locus and Felix in Blood Gulch AU (Locus is on Red Team, Felix is on Blue Team. later, Sharkface is hunting down the AI while Wash is stuck on a prison ship, and Carolina has been convinced by her father to get involved with the war on Chorus)

Circus/Carnie AU (they all work with a traveling circus, because they’ve always been a bunch of clowns)

Sharkface Lives and Gets Sigma AU (pretty self explanatory. I just like the fire boys. also, Sharkface eventually chills on trying to kill Carolina, and joins Red Team)

The Memory of Tex Works with Epsilon, and also South is on Chorus AU (that’s a long title, but yeah; Tex and Carolina have a reconciliation. meanwhile, when Wash was still stuck with the Feds, one particular soldier kept picking on him... turns out, somebody didn’t die)

Grif and Simmons College AU (if they had somehow met earlier, going to the same college. they eventually join up for the space war, and go to Blood Gulch together. the only difference is, they’re more aware of how they feel from the start)

Ghostbusters AU (who you gonna call? I guess these dorks)

Sailor Moon AU (Tucker is the reincarnated Moon Prince who needs to fight evil with the power of glitter and friendship. Church is his bossy cat guardian. the rest of the characters all get magical powers too, and Tex is their Tuxedo Mask)

Jumanji AU (Church, Tex, Sarge and Lopez began the game years ago. Tucker, Caboose, Simmons, Grif, Kai, and Donut are new players. Carolina, Wash, and Doc don’t have tokens or turns, but they get pulled into the shenanigans)

Pokemon AU (the Reds are Team Magma, the Blues are Team Aqua. Freelancers are Team Plasma, Locus and Felix are Team Rocket)

Grif and Epsilon are the Only Survivors of the Final Battle on Chorus AU (Carolina, Doc, and Wash actually all survived as well, but they lost the rest of the Reds and Blues. naturally, Grif and Epsilon are pretty depressed... when time-travel nonsense happens, they both get pulled into alternate realities where their counterparts died, but the others lived. they are very tempted to just... stay. it is never that easy, though)

Coraline AU (a young Carolina moving into a new house after her father mysteriously passes away. she finds a pathway to strange new world where everything seems better, but it is actually insidious. her new neighbors might be odd, but they help her see the truth)

Alpha Remembers AU (when Church first woke up in Blood Gulch, he remembered who and what he was. he’s slightly more quiet at first, being so forlorn and all, but slowly grows into the Church we know. later, he doesn’t deactivate the other AI with the EMP, and Epsilon just joins the group. two Churches now)

(I think that’s most of them... well, a few others that are just vague ideas, but these are all a bit more solid~)

[himynameisobed]

mid-may.

i've been having a pleasant string of almost-summer days that make me grateful. last saturday, amber and i went to cirque du soleil and had what seemed to be a life-changing and eye-opening experience - at least in the immediate aftermath, when we talked about leaving our boring, everyday lives to join the circus. (my toxic trait is believing that i can develop the capabilities necessary to be a cirque du soleil performance if i wanted to, even now, in my close to middle age) the human body is an absolute marvel. we saw mesmerizing contortionists, a man stacking chairs to an unbelievable height while also performing acrobatics, a man whose feet were strapped to one long stilt, who was launched into the air and did several flips before landing in perfect balance - it was insane and thrilling and now i truly believe every one should see one of these performances at least once in their life. after the circus, we went to my friend beth's 30th birthday party and it was cute. i'm trying to live more of an alcohol-free life, but it's difficult when i say i'll only drink on special occasions and every occasion seems special. got a bit tipsy, played with a dog, stood outside smoking a cigarette and talking about the upcoming movie, "killers of the flower moon." and when a friend of mine gets tipsy too, sometimes we get closer than we probably should. easy affection, a strange pull, some yearning for a deeper intimacy that might not be wholly appropriate given the context of everything. or maybe just a little bit of a harmless flirtation. the next day is sunday and i'm too hungover to go to church. i meet my sister at my parents' house later though, and we head to bang bang to stand in line for 20 minutes and get ice cream. we walked all the way there, which was impressive, but maybe a bit unnecessary. i'd invited conor out for ice cream, but he flipped it over on me and instead invited me over to a little party he and his friends were having at Tommy and Ronan's place. i wanted to go just to properly meet one of their friends, Shane, who had just immigrated to Toronto a couple of days before and has maybe the coolest natural hair colour i've ever seen. my sister and i get to their party, which is happening on the shared patio space on their building, so there's a bunch of random people there, and we find everyone talking to a group of australian girls. i play it cool with shane, pretending to be just noticing him, and strike up a nice conversation. he seems sweet, and a bit shy and sensitive, but also like he can have a good time. a nice addition to the group, in any case, but i guess they've all been friends forever. later we go to stackt market, and shane confides in me that he thinks it's overrated and he's bored, so i suggest going to crews. to my delight, he seems excited about the idea, but conor and i had been texting renee and she said she was at karaoke, so we went to meet her there instead. it might've been the wrong move since we ended up having to get a separate room anyway and barely seeing renee, and crews honestly probably would've been more fun, but it is what it is. shane leaves early saying he's tired. he leaves without letting most people know, and i feel bad he didn't have more fun, but there's always next time. the next day i meet my david, amber, and michael (+ michael's wife) at the beach. it's a nice day out and we walk along the board walk for a stretch before heading to a barbecue restaurant for lunch. my friend liam, his friend william and william's room mate meet us there. i feel kind of bad because i think liam thought we were going to have an actual beach day - a day of casual drinks on the shore, playing beach volleyball or some other sport - but really we just wanted to be outside in the nice weather and go get food. i think i accuse him of misunderstanding what i said when i invited him, but really i should've just apologized. in any case, he said he'd be ready for next time - that he would get some sort of ball himself and we'd all be able to play. he lives in the beaches but apparently rarely goes to the beach, but next time we'll make a day of it. our waitress at the restaurant is unnecessarily rude, making mistakes and accusing us of them and refusing to answer questions in any helpful way. it's honestly astounding, and i make a loud remark about how she needs to learn how to just do her fucking job that i hope she hears while she's walking downstairs. at one point she'd brought us what she says is a pork sandwich, which none of us ordered. she goes, "well, it's someone's, i wrote it down," and we say none of us ordered it so she goes back to the kitchen and comes back saying it's a brisket sandwich. our friend asks to confirm if it's pork or beef (since he can't eat pork), and she dismissively says something along the lines of, "i can't tell just by looking at it." so we ask her to go to the kitchen and check. and it was on her way back to the kitchen that i make a loud remark, and honestly after that she was quite a bit nicer to us so i think it worked. it's crazy how service can truly make or break a dining experience. we were 9 customers who were just trying to have a good time and enjoy the long weekend, and it seemed like this waitress with a stank ass attitude was making it her personal mission to ruin everything. to be honest, i think she was also a little bit racist or ignorant. maybe she was just a basic white blonde girl whose spent all her life in the beaches ever only with other white people, so she has no grasp of any possible experience beyond that. two of the people we were with were from cameroon and were asking her very reasonable questions that she was treating as stupid. i want her to try going to cameroon and ordering in french off of a menu that she doesn't understand. she literally had no patience or empathy, but i'm hoping she's just young and will grow out of that. after lunch, we walked along the beach some more and when we parted ways, i went home and took a nap until 9pm. all in all, it was a nice weekend with nice weather, and now i'm going to go back to trying to finally finish my portfolio.