#Blazing Lazers

[obscurevideogames]

Gunhed aka Blazing Lazers (Hudson - PC Engine - 1989)

[postgamecontent]

Blazing Lazers (TG-16 Mini)

Probably one of the better-known TurboGrafx-16 games in the West, Blazing Lazers is a vertically-scrolling shooter from Compile and Hudson. Compile knows how to make a good shooter, that's for sure. Most of its work in the genre hovers around the Aleste archetype, and Blazing Lazers is one of those variations. There are a handful of different weapons, an assortment of other power-ups like shields and drones, and collectible goobers that beef up your main attack. You can also manually control your ship's speed and use your limited stock of bombs as needed.

Blazing Lazers has a lot going for it. The graphics, sound effects, and music are terrific. The weapons have a fair bit of variety between them and they're all fun to use. The stages vary nicely, and there's a solid assortment of enemies and nasty bosses to battle. But if you ask me why Blazing Lazers seems to have resonated with the average person more than most shooters tend to, I think it comes down to the difficulty. The shoot 'em up genre can be rather merciless, but Blazing Lazers is mostly fair. Not easy, but fair.

The weapons are strong, picking yourself back up after a death isn't too tough, and extra lives come at a decent enough pace. The amount of enemy bullets is fairly reasonable compared to many other games, and you even get four continues. I'm not saying everyone's going to be able to make it to the end of the game or that you'll finish it in one try, but I think this is a more doable shooter than the likes of Gradius or R-Type.

Blazing Lazers is on the TurboGrafx-16 Mini because... well, it almost has to be, doesn't it? Another iconic title for the platform, and one without any legal issues in its North American form. The Japanese version has a movie license attached to it that it's barely connected to, so it's not included here. I suppose we're lucky NEC decided to shake that off in localization back in the day so that we can continue to enjoy this great game today.

[sbnkalny]

The message that is the full blaze Of a scorching sun, a cloudless blue sky above, and the angry waters, lashed into Fury beneath, boiling and eddying up, on every Continent except for the otherwise central zone.

[astronnonyy]

Well, now that AvA 11 has put my heart in a wood chipper, let's finally get around to making a post about Chosen's powers! Which I've been meaning to do since I made my post about Dark's powers! Yippee!

(This post will contain no AvA 11 spoilers or screenshots, for the record.) (It is, however, very gif heavy, as a lot of their abilities/the examples I have are best viewed in motion.)

Like the Dark post, this isn't meant to criticize how anyone portrays Chosen's abilities. This is just a reference for what powers they're shown to have in canon, and how they seem to work. With that said, let's get into it.

Unlike Dark, Chosen never got any sort of power boosting/altering item (as of the time of writing, anyways). Their power set is straightforward, and largely consistent throughout the series. Most of the powers they have as of season 3, they've been shown to have had since AvA 2, excluding a handful of one-off abilities I'll make note of at the end.

Starting off with powers they share with Dark, and also their most used power, pyrokinesis. Their pyrokinesis seems to function pretty much identically to Dark's. They can fly, breathe fire, and throw fire as a projectile.

They're also shown setting themselves on fire, usually in a large, explosive blaze, which Dark is not shown doing.

And an interesting note: Chosen (and Dark too) seems to only produce fire from their hands and mouth. This appears to be true largely due to the fact that they only ever use their mouth or hands, even to fly, even when propelling themselves some other way may be more convenient.

I feel I should note here, as I said in the Dark post, that Chosen does not seem to be able to create 'fire bombs'. So far, the only characters shown to have that ability are Dark and Firefox.

They also share the heightened strength and resilience Dark has. Alongside this, Chosen seems to be resistant to deletion, being attacked by both Dark with the V blade, and the Virabots, multiple times, and showing no signs of the deletion that RYGB experienced, or even the physical damage sustained by Orange at Dark's hands.

Getting out of shared abilities, another common power of theirs is their lazer eyes. Able to cut through solid concrete, and the limbs of Virabots. They also seem to have a physical force to them, and can set things on fire.

They also have cryokinesis, the ability to create and control ice. They're able to create truly massive icebergs, and apparently also freeze themselves. Presumably, similarly to how their pyrokinesis seems to work, they likely have a resistance/immunity to freezing, hypothermia, etc as a result of this power, though that is largely speculative on my part.

I've seen people say before that Chosen seems to gain new powers sometimes, and I think they're usually talking about this ability or the next one I'll mention, but they've both been present since AvA 2!

Speaking of, they have... either electricity powers, or some sort of storm manipulation, I'm actually not 100% sure what's going on here.

They're capable of controlling/summoning electricity/lightning, but every time they do it, a storm cloud also forms. So... /shrug. Make of that what you will, I guess.

This ability does not seem to give them an immunity to electricity, much like electric eels.

Not totally certain if this counts as a power or not, but I have to make note of the pac-man mouth. What even is this thing (affectionate)

They can eat text, and breathe fire via this mouth. (Though it doesn't seem like the pac-man mouth is required for them to breathe fire, as they don't appear to use it in Wanted or The Box, despite breathing fire multiple times.)

This next part is where I'm gonna list all the powers that Chosen only uses once/a handful of times, and that don't seem to be directly linked to their other abilities in any way.

First up, in AvA 2, they double jump exactly once and never again. Please bring this back it's so unreasonably funny

The rest of their one-off powers come from season 2.

In The Chosen One's Return, they use some kind of golden wave attack to force the Virabot out of control of the PC, and back into a form that they can actually attack (and ultimately defeat). This attack seems to weaken the virus in some way, though it's not entirely clear why.

Also in this episode, we see Chosen create a Wifi portal for the first time. Some kind of white light appears, before the portal opens up under their hand. It's unclear if this is an ability unique to Chosen or not, but we also don't see them do this again after this moment.

And finally, in The Flashback, twice during the fight with Dark in their workshop, Chosen throws a punch that's surrounded by a swirling white light of some sort. It's very unclear what this is, or what it does exactly.

Good lord Chosen has a lot of powers. I guess they live up to their name??

I might make another post like this for Orange at some point, though I have a hunch that that would end up being outdated pretty quickly. Will probably do it anyways tho, if just for the sake of completing the set. That'd end up being a Lot of speculation tho, so...

[colibrie]

More jedi turtles! Again, all thanks and credit to @trilobitepunch for the spectacular art and inspiration.

Rise of the teenage mutant ninja jedi (working title)

Meetings

"Leo?" Mikey whispered, his heart skipping a fearful beat when his elder brother failed to respond. Swallowing hard, he carefully edged forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with his sibling, one eye on the armored duo while the other ran over Leo's form in search of injury.

No blood stained his clothes. No scratches or bruises marred his pale green skin. Yet their absence didn't prevent his heart from racing, rabbit quick beats slamming an SOS against his ribs as Mikey looked at his brothers face.

Leo, charming, affable, funny Leo, was gone. His expression was as blank as a piece of fresh paper, mouth hanging ever so slightly open as though he'd forgotten how to close it. Dark eyes that usually danced with mischief and mirth, sulked and steeped in petulance or sorrow, that blazed and smoldered so brilliantly in frustration and in wamth, had become empty and hollow. His dialted pupils were blackholes staring off into some fathomless mid-distance, chest barely rising and falling with the shallowest of breaths.

"Say. Something," the smaller armored figure hissed.

Where Leo was blank, this one could not seem to keep still. His facial features kept twisting and churning rapidly, flickering and warping too fast for Mikey to fully comprehend. Waves of dark energy rolled from his quivering shoulders, a potent brew of rage flavored with grief and disbelief that had acid creeping up the back of Mikey's throat. Horrendous pressure bore down from seemingly every direction, an unstoppable force that demanded the unmoveable to get out of its way or be subsumed.

"Keep it together Don," the big one rumbled, burnt eyes sliding predator sharp between Mikey and Leo and his companion. "Donnie..."

"Donnie" did not acknowledge his companion, attention lazer locked on Leo. The red glare of his saber added a slightly crazed sheen to his eyes and a corner of Mikeys brain, used to looking for the tiniest details, absently noted the way the red picked out beautiful highlights of purple. The greater part of his mind told that part to shut the shell up.

"Leo, we need to go," he mumbled under his breath, one hand sliding up to grab Leo's shoulder. "We need to go right now."

Leo remained blank, limbs locked and limp like a droid without a power source.

"Leo, please!" Mikey begged, panic dripping ice cold down his shell as the big one shifted restlessly. He stepped back, trying to drag his brother towards the safety of their ship. "We need to- MOVE!"

The last word came out in a half mangled shriek as the big one lunged, one red saber igniting and swiping out in a brutal arc that forced Mikey to shove Leo away as hard as he could to avoid getting dismembered.

"You two ain't goin anywhere," the big one growled, towering over them.

[m-for-musings]

BRAZILIAN FUNK STARTERS

I bring you some sentences sorted from unhinged brazilian music for your RP, enjoy!

You can check them all out in this playlist :D

!!!ATTENTION!!! I TRIED TO KEEP THEM AS SFW AS POSSIBLE BUT MOST OF THEM ARE SUGGESTIVE/EXPLICIT.

“Look at me, stare me down, I’m your prey. Swallow me whole, make me fit, go ahead, devour me.” —  Sagrado Profano (Luísa Sonza)

“You say there are no feelings involved, but when I sit you fall in love.” — sentaDONA (Luísa Sonza)

“Put your hands on the wall, I’ll make you feel strong.” — POC POC (Pedro Sampaio)

“If you want it, come and get it. Tonight, "can't" isn’t an option.” — PROIBIDONA (Anitta, Glória Groove, Valesca Popozuda)

“And tonight I wanna play with your lips, our playground, all night long.” — Playground (Vivi)

“I'm gonna shake my ass right in your face.” — Sua Cara (Anitta, Pabllo Vittar, Major Lazer)

“I told you it was gonna be just once, you promised not to fall in love.” — Ai papai (Anitta, MC Danny)

“Look at this bold-ass clown, now tryna act all flirty on me!” — Depois do Carnaval (Lexa)

“I want to mess around until the morning, I owe no one an explanation.” — Funk Rave (Anitta)

“Yo, hottie with that enchanted look, hop in my cauldron, 'cause tonight I wanna kiss a frog.” — AMEIANOITE (Pablo Vittar, Glória Groove)

“After 2AM, I know what’s waiting for me. In this state, I love to fuck around.” — Descontrolada (Pablo Vittar, MC Carol)

“If what goes around, comes around, baby, I’m around. But I’m around for the whoring, and now I’m here to stay.” — Eu Viciei (Lia Clark, POCAH)

“You’re trying to tie me down, trying to keep me tight. But I just wanna mess around, I’m single today.” — Bandida (Pablo Vittar, POCAH,  MC Mayara)

“This is your time to learn, class on sitting on you.” — TOMA (Luísa Sonza, ZAAC)

“Watch out, highly flammable substance here. Like magic, pyromancy, causing chaos!” — MIL GRAU (Glória Groove)

“Get that ass out of the couch and come dance!” — YoYo (IZA, Glória Groove)

“Not on, nor off. Mommy is torn between whoring and loving.” — Nem On Nem Off (POCAH)

“Tonight I'm going wild, french-kissing in loop. Come with me if you can keep up all night long.” — MODO TURBO (Luísa Sonza, Pabllo Vittar, Anitta)

“I’ve been wanting to see you for a while, sit back and relax with some wine here on my couch.” — VERMELHO (Glória Groove)

“I don't give a fuck, the vibe’s different now. I’ve gone wild, see you never.” — Quer Mais? (POCAH, MC Mirella)

“Let me remind you, I’m not obligated to anything, no one controls this ass.” — Não Sou Obrigada (POCAH)

“Tonight, no one's sleeping at home, tonight you're gonna be my toy.” — Hoje (LUDMILLA)

“Curiosity killed the kitten, but this big cat here is alive and well.” — A QUEDA (Glória Groove)

“R.I.P. to the bullshit, brush it off like cool whip.” — RIP (Anitta, Sophia Reyes)

“Go wild, turn around and put it down on me.” — Vai Malandra (Anitta, ZAAC)

“Come up to the lookout, I’ll fake you a romance. You’ve only got one shot at this.” — Rave de Favela (Anitta, Major Lazer, MC Lan)

“Even the hotties struggle, I'm broke as hell.” — GET UP BITCH (Anitta, Victoria de Angelis)

“The world’s falling apart, but we’re running this shit. Mess with me, you’re messing with the whole crew.” — Coisa Boa (Glória Groove)

“Come with attitude, all in, come closer, touch me. Tonight I want it, and you know I like it just like this.” — BANG! (Anitta)

“Hope you understand: my love is a whore’s love. Don’t go catching feelings, ‘cause this love is a whore's love.” — Amor de Que (Pabllo Vittar)

“You’re gonna lose it — I'm messing with your head with this killer body. My lips are fire, babe, there’s nothing like it.” — Corpo Sensual (Pabllo Vittar)

“If I was you and you was me, would you do what I'm 'bout to do?” — Onda Diferente (Anitta, LUDMILLA, Snoop Dogg)

“Don’t bother me, I’m blazing another one so I don’t lose my mind.” — Verdinha (LUDMILLA)

“Bark louder, I can’t hear you from here.” — Beijinho no Ombro (Valesca Popozuda)

“I'm gonna eat you, gonna lick you, and when I'm done, I'm gonna leave you.” — A Dona Aranha (Luísa Sonza)

"From far away, I spotted you, and it clicked. Got lost in the thought, wanting that sweet mouth of yours." — Joga pra Lua (Anitta, DENNIS, Pedro Sampaio)

[dazeddoodles]

I’d love to imagine Raeda discussing baby names.

Raine: my list is, Daisy, Arwen, Eloise, Shirley, Ollie, Jasper, and Aspen

Eda: mine is, Arson, Lucifer, Lazer, Blaze, Jaguar, Wolf, Blade, and Bob

Raine:…

Eda:😀

And none of them are music themed names? 🤨

What kinda Raeda child is that?/j

[seventyeight-moose]

Ok, your turn. Tell me about your favorite OC!

You poor soul. You poor, poor, lost soul.

You know not what you have done.

MARIA "RIA" ABIOLA.

My most recent sketch of her, bcos I'm not at all about to post one of the already-rendered pieces I have of her no sir-ee. Then I'd have to look at my Old Art™

Ria (18/19 EoS, she/her, demi) is the main characer of the Shonen Comic idea I have had permanently take resident in my brain since I was an 8 year old girl who had just picked up a Spider-man comic for the first time.

Without getting into the lore of the world too much; she and 3 of her friends and another girl whom they don't know are given superpowers for massive spoilers, and have to grapple with all the usual superhero stuff, questions about the morality or necessity of violence and its use in progress, questions of power and who should wield it, and ofcourse, battles with dope-ass robots, aliens, and eachother.

Ria specifically is a huge weeb. Like, calls people "-san" in casual english speech. That outfit she's wearing is how she always wears her school uniform, pre-powers too. As such, she's developed the personality of a shonen protagonist, without the infallable heart of steel they have. She believes in Good and tries to always do Good and protect friends. But, truly, she does just kind of love fighting and have temper problems, which aren't exactly helped by the superpowers. Her story is about coming to terms with what it means to actually do good, how much of "Her" is "Her" and what's constructed, and what she can do without and beyond violence.

Her powers specifically are super-strength and durability a few times beyond what they all got, and super-speed. Due to power system minutia (get fucked; it's a hard magic system HAH) this allows her to speed up her mind, and she can effectively do a timestop once she gets to a certain level. Then, when they unlock obligatory Second-Act Climax Buffs, she can manipulate the density of areas of her body, which ofcourse is very useful when you're the Heavy-Fucking-Hitter AND Speedster.

Pre-Powers she was already pretty tall and well-endowed and then gaining powers just kind of. Made her be built like a brick wall. AND taller. Steel-reinforced brick wall. I'm not trying to represent a real body type here she is Broly shaped.

Powerscaling-wise: Start of series: City level AP, Town level Dura, Hypersonic End of series: Dwarf Star level AP (higher with Density and Momentumn, up to Large Star), Planet level Dura (higher on-guard, up to Stellar), Massively FTL.

Aaand here's some free quotes of hers I've written:

Genuine attack name she uses (she names her attacks): Cobalt Blazing Starlight Breaker! After beating SpaceHitler half to death in the climactic final battle: "I don't know. I'm not as smart as May, I'm not merciful like Sam, I can't master myself like Yokai. I've come far, you get me? I can stop myself from stomp your head- or whatever's the closest you have- while you're down. But I don't know. Don't you deserve it? Look, look at all those stars, all those worlds? Look at the one we're on now, and tell me you won't do the same to those if we let you. But I know. If I end you right now, that's it. All I've done is prove that it IS right to kill... Right? I don't know, I was never the one who was good at this stuff, I'm just the one who has to make the choice. Besides. We've got worse for you than death. Come on, get up. Or, I'll drag you. You've got to fucking pay." Explaining her powerset to one of those aforementioned other cast members: "It's like. You know Goku? Hmm. You know Superman, I guess? Yeah, it's like that but without the lazer eyes, or the flying. Nothing like him, yeah. But I basically hit really hard." Comic of her at the start of the fight wherein she punches Antartica into several hundred pieces:

---

Anyways, that's how I got my autism diagnosis.

[acronym-chaos]

Gorillaz Themed ID Pack

[PT: Gorillaz Themed ID Pack].

[ID: A purple thin line divider shaded at the bottom. End ID].

Names

[PT: Names].

Ace, Axel, Banshee, Blaze, Blitz, Bones, Brick, Byte, Cipher, Colt, Dash, Decker, Diesel, Drift, Duke, Echo, Ember, Fang, Finley, Flux, Ghost, Glitch, Grit, Haze, Hunter, Jet, Jinx, Juno, Knox, Lazer, Mojo, Neo, Nero, Nyx, Pulse, Quake, Raze, Rex, Riff, Riot, Rocco, Ryder, Shade, Shift, Skye, Slade, Slick, Sly, Spike, Steezy, Storm, Tonic, Trace, Trip, Twitch, Vandal, Venom, Vex, Volt, Vox, Zeke, Zen, Zephyr

Pronouns

[PT: Pronouns].

Amp / Amps / Amps [Amplifier]; Ba / Bass / Bass'; Bea / Beat / Beats; Bit / Byte / Bits; Bu / Buz / Buzz; Ec / Echo / Echos; Groo / Groove / Grooves; Jam / Jams / Jams; Riff / Riffs / Riffs; Ro / Rock / Rocks; Sy / Syn / Synth; Tu / Tune / Tunes; Vi / Vibe / Vibes; Vo / Voca / Vocas [Vocals];

Titles

[PT: Titles].

The Audio Alchemist, The Beat Dealer, The Dystopian Dreamer, The Echo in the Machine, The Glitch in the System, The Pixelated Punk, The Rebel Beatmaker, The Rhythm Renegade, The Sonic Trickster, The Urban Phantom, The Virtual Rebel, The Voice of the Streets, [Pronoun] Who Echoes in the Underground, [Pronoun] Who Surfs the Digital Waves

[ID: A purple thin line divider shaded at the bottom, end ID].

Requested by anon!

Also tagging: @pronoun-arc @id-pack-archive

[nintendocompositions]

finally finished remixing my first fighting game mix, EVERYONE EVERYTHING IS REMIXED!! I had a blast making this and I can't wait for MVC FIGHTING COLLECTION AAAAAAAAAAA thanks for listening!!

Street Fighter Alpha 3 EX (Hideki Okugawa) - Theme of Q Tekken 3 (Nobuyoshi Sano, Keiichi Okabe) - Eddy Gordo Darkstalkers 3 (Takayuki Iwai) - Deserted Chateau (Arranged Ver.) Super Street Fighter IV (Hideyuki Fukasawa) - Theme of Dan Super Street Fighter IV (Hideyuki Fukasawa) - Theme of Dudley Marvel Vs. Capcom (Masato Kouda) - Theme of Morrigan Ultra Street Fighter IV (Hideyuki Fukasawa) - Theme of Poison Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (Namco Sound Team*) - Eternal Paradise (Fiji) Super Street Fighter IV (Hideyuki Fukasawa) - Solar Eclipse (Africa) Street Fighter V (Keiki Kobayashi) - Kanzuki Beach (Malaysia) Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection (Akitaka Tohyama) - Estrada da Estrela (Meteor Shower) Street Fighter 6 (Shigeyuki Kameda) - zilra zilra (Blanka’s Theme) Street Fighter X Tekken (Hideyuki Fukasawa) - Jurassic Era Research Area Tekken 8 (mifumei) - Streak of Blue (Seaside Resort) Tekken Tag Tournament 2 - IT’S NOT A TUNA! (Bountiful Sea) Tekken 8 (mifumei) - Ortiz Farm (Golden Meadow) Street Fighter X Tekken - Cosmic Elevator Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (Namco Sound Team*) - Abyss of Time (Wayang Kulit) Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (Namco Sound Team*) - Siga (Tropical Rainforest) Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (Namco Sound Team*) - What You Will See (Heavenly Garden) (Benton Remix)

SAMPLES: *Akitaka Tohyama, Nobuyoshi Sano, Keiichi Okabe, Rio Hamamoto, Taku Inoue, and Go Shiina 1 9 0 5, Former City Records - Recorddeals 3BallMTY - Inténtalo Amor Satyr & Siu Mata - Nah Anitta - Lose Ya Breath Anitta - Funk Rave Azealia Banks - Anna Wintour BADSISTA ft. JUJULIETE - BAGUNÇA MINHA B***** Bianca Oblivion ft. Thai Chi Rosé & Dyer MC - Bad Gyal Capcom Vs. SNK 2 (Satoshi Ice) - True Love We’re Makin’ (London) Charli xcx - Everything is Romantic Da Brat ft Notorious BIG & JD - Da B Side Kali Uchis - Dame Beso//Muévete KiNK, Kei - Nagore (Original Mix) Lone - Approaching Rainbow Lone - Blue Moon Tree Major Lazer ft Nina Sky & Ricky Blaze - Keep It Goin’ Louder MC Juninho do Complexo - Olhou Sorriu Otira - Take Me Street Fighter III 3rd Strike (Capcom Sound Team) - Beats in My Head (Elena Stage) Tekken 2 (Yoshie Arakawa, Yoshie Takayanagi) - Almost Frozen (Antarctica) Tekken 4 (Yu Miyake) - Kitsch (Beach) Tkay Maids - 24k Zsela - Earlier Days (Sunship Remix)

Also on SoundCloud! Thanks for listening!

[strato-viper-raven-blog]

What is your favorite SHMUP game(s) for all time?

First shmup that I played that is still my all time favorite is the Sonic Wings/Aero Fighters series from when I was a kid. Started falling in love with the genre around 2018 and quickly got some faves.

Raizing is my all time favorite shmup company for the gameplay and cool characters. Favorites are Battle Garegga, Armed Police Batrider, the Mahou series and Soukyugurentai.

Loved Capcom's 1942 series despite 1942 being super long. XD

Also love Treasure's Ikaruga and Radiant Silvergun and wished Treasure made more shmups.

Love, love, love the Raiden series and wished the Western shmup fanbase wasn't so harsh towards Max and Eshiria. (But then again Western fans tend to ignore the plot and characters so that's a bummer. :( )

Favorite Cave games are Dodonpachi, Deathsmiles, and Mushihimesama both for the bullet hell gameplay and awesome story and characters. (Still really, really want to play Mushihimesama Futari.)

Favorite Taito games are Metal Black for the unique aestethics and gameplay and the Darius series, which is my favorite sci-fi shmup series of all time, it has some of the most memorable bosses and music of all time.

Loved Sega's Fantasy Zone and Konami's Twinbee because I love the Cute-em-up style and both Opa-Opa and Twinbee are adorable sentient spaceships.

Liked Hot-B's Steel Empire for it's Steampunk vibe and Naxat's Recca because it's a fun hard shmup. Also liked Blazing Lazers.

[seeyouguyslater]

thinking of blaze and lazer blasting her with my mind

[skinnatblr]

Hello, I'm once again trying to decide who to vote for, this time between you and @oddogoblino. Would you kindly tell me more about your Gaia Born AU? Anything and everything you feel comfortable sharing about your excellent story! And if you want some more specific questions I would like to ask:

What would it be like if Gaia Born Sonic was born of Light Gaia instead of Dark Gaia?

How does Sonic feel about Dark and Light Gaia?

Is there any mythology surrounding Dark and Light Gaia?

You once mentioned that Sonic has a metal counterpart, what are they like in terms of appearance, personality, and abilities? 

Does Blaze exist in this AU? If she does, is she also a Gaia Born as she is meant to parallel Sonic to a degree?

Thank you for your time and regardless of whether you win or lose I think your story is excellent :)

Hi! Thanks for asking for the @au-sonic-smackdown!

1. I think if he was born from Light Gaia he would look like he was mixed with a tiger. I’ve heard that tigers represent the sun but I could be wrong. He would be a little bit slimmer, more agile, nimble. Maybe he’d have Saber teeth like a sabre tooth tiger.

2. Sonic loves chip if that what you meant. Dark Gaia well, he has to come to terms with somethings.

3. Light and Dark Gaia used to be one and the same, a whole. But something occurred to split the two a part thousands of years ago. Light Gaia sacrifices themselves over and over again to seal Dark Gaia away while also trying to figure out how to become whole again.

4. Ah yes, good ‘ole metal sonic. Metal Sonic has think plating from his wrist to his elbows, while the upper arms have spring like metal to replicate Sonic’s elasticity. His eye on his forehead is able to shoot lazers so it has a proper function than just decoration to look more like sonic. He is powered by chemicals from chemical plant zone that can be seen through glass stored in his chest. Can he fly? No. But that doesn’t mean he’s not faster. Often Metal Sonic’s personality is calculated, he wants to be better, but often gets animalistic when he fights.

5. Blaze does exist. But I never really thought of her being parallel to Sonic before. I would have to think about what her character is in this au as I thought way ahead to Silver. But if she was I would go with I stated in question 1. She’s taller, more agile and nimble so she’s faster than him. Stripes on her fur, maybe longer fangs. But that does not mean she is born from her worlds version of light Gaia. I have plans for light Gaia energy.

I hope you guys like my answers I know they’re a bit short but I still hope it gives you some insight.

[mewintheflesh-2]

(All of this was written over half a year ago, I just never got around to posting it, so the writing is likely to be a little outdated or strange. Once again im just posting from my drafts before i leave.)

NEW GIRL ALERT! Connie “Vira” Keristan

Leader and main member of Team Venom, whose goal is to take out any and every Evil Team at any costs necessary. She may or may not be able to travel realities.

Is an Assasin, she only works together with a select few people, and will kill to get people off her trail. Does not take clients.

Has quite the haul of impressive tech and gadgets, including but not limited to: Invisibility tech (including cloaking large areas), lazer beams, teleportation tech, and a WHOLE bunch of medical torture devices she should NOT have access to.

Main base is in the Pokémon world equivalent of Antarctica. Any other places she stays bare the possibility of being destroyed to pieces, so she sparsely takes residence in anywhere else but her main base.

Loves to torture people for info, and especially loves to torture Evil Team Leaders until they eventually give up their position or their lives.

If Fuse and her ever met I think they’d want to study each other like a bug under a microscope. Got forbid they actually get their hands on each other cause only one of them is coming out alive and I can’t tell you who. (Actually I can, it’s Fuse.)

And wrote a little something under the cut. :)

(The stuff under the cut is what all the whump and warning tags are for

Hanging from a grappling hook on the outer walls of Team Nightsky’s base, a woman peered through the window of Nightsky’s office.

Covered in a long, dark, hooded cloak held shut together by a belt beneath her chest, underneath was a dark purple uniform with the ensigna of thorny vines forming a point, dark purple shorts held up by a black and silver belt, baring a gun holster on each side of her body. Just beneath her shorts, a holster for a knife on her thigh, and beneath that, thick, black, heavy duty boots up to her knees. Her hair tied out of the way of her face in a bun, her face covered with a porcelain masquerade and a black cloth face mask.

She stared through her mask. Her prey, right in her sights. The only issue was how to get inside without being noticed… Or she could just go in guns blazing. Grabbing the rope dangling from her grappling hook, she hoisted herself upwards and began to speed up towards the roof. Pushing herself off the corner or the rooftop, she used the grappling hook to pull herself on top of the roof. Unhooking it from its place, she swung it in circles beside her as she walked.

It wouldn’t be easy to get to her destination without consequences, but she was prepared, and it was making everything so much more trivial than it should be. Who’s to blame for that other than *him* though? Not her fault he didn’t plan for people with invisibility tech and laser beams. Or if he did he sure as hell didn’t do a good job. Not a single guard even felt any motion from her walking right through their security.

Grabbing a gun from her right holster, she loaded a bullet sized vile of red crackling energy into the gun and pointed it at the floor beneath her, pulling the trigger.

The ricochet of the white hot energy bursting from the gun nearly knocked her down, but she quickly adjusted to the force and guided the lazer, cutting a hole in the floor beneath her. 

The circle of the roof that’d been cut by the lazer fell inside the room beneath it with a bang, dropping in along with it, Vira. 

Standing up tall on her “stage”, she stretched, “You know, if you’ve heard of me you’d know I’m not a fan of big fancy entrances like this, so let’s make this quick and easy.” She spat, though it quickly came to a halt when she realized her prey was no longer in the room she thought he was in. “Hm.” 

“Hello, Vira.” A voice came from behind her, prompting her to snatch her knife from her leg holster and slice at the speaker.

A hand grabbed her arm before it could reach the persons neck. Vira took this opportunity to get a look at who she was fighting. Her eyes widened as she yanked her arm from their grasp and flipped away from them. 

The leader of Nightsky himself. 

She exhaled sharply, putting the knife back in its holster. “Of course a target like you wouldn’t be so easy to snatch. Just gotta make things difficult huh.” She grinned. “Let’s make this fun, shall we?” 

“If you could even get close to harming me, sure, let’s.” The man of the Dark huffed, frustrated.

Slowly, they began to circle each other just around the broken piece of ceiling.

“So, you *have* heard of me. Flattering!” Vira said, hovering a hand over her left gun holster.

“How could I have not. Do you think I live under a rock? A World renown assassin only known for going after “evil team leaders”. You think nobody’s tried to warn me?”

The man slowly began reaching to his side, moving his long coat, revealing a gun holster of his own. Of course. Should’ve known someone like him always had a weapon on hand.

“Listen, I’m just a little flattered you know? Mister I’m The Only Person In The World That Matters, thinking about me! How sweet.” Vira smiled and chuckled sinisterly and she used her other hand to reach into another pocket.

He huffed again. “Don’t make it weird.” 

Vira reached for a syringe and a vile in her right pocket, and landed her left hand on the gun in her left holster.

The Man of the Dark quickly drew his own gun and pointed it right at her head, still continuing to circle eachother. And before she could take another step, he pulled the trigger and shot.

But… she wasn’t… there?

The man, unnerved, held his position and scanned the room. Suddenly he felt something tapping his shoulder, he immediately pointed his gun towards whatever it was and shot. But there was nothing there.

“Where…” Nightsky mumbled frustratedly, glancing around the room frantically,

Vira erupted into laughter. “Oh how fun! It’s like playing whack-a-diglett isn’t it?” Vira’s voice rang from everywhere in the room at once. “Except, not really, like at all! Not sure why I said that!” She chuckled as she slipped the vile she had in her hand into her syringe. 

“Why don’t you just show yourself already.” The man growled.

“Gimmie a sec will you?” Vira flipped the syringe in her hand and got in a ready position, just to the left of him, not too close, not too far away. 

“Ready?” She whispered sinisterly, excitement evident in her voice. 

Unveiling her location, she made a mad dash towards her prey, syringe in hand and ready to stab. The man’s eyes widened as he heard her footsteps, turning sharply toward her and grabbing her wrist right before she could reach him.

Before Vira could do anything to counter this, the man kicked her hard in the stomach across the room, her back slamming into the windowsill on the wall sending shape pains into her spine, the kick causing her to go into a coughing fit which intensified the sharp burns in her back.

“Using my missing eye to your advantage huh. How cruel are you really?” He tilted his head at her.

“Oh, please-” She choked up something that tasted of metals. “Couldn’t be cruler than you. And besides, we all know your eye isn’t really missing-“ interrupted by her own coughing, she began to shake a little. “You don’t have to lie.” She lifted her head to look at him, grinning underneath her mask.

The man could feel a rage begin to burn inside him. “Really now?” He grinned furiously as he began to walk towards her. “Then why don’t you tell me what really happened since you seem to know.” He bent down to firmly grab her by her neck and hoist her into the air. Vira choked on from her blood and his hand as she dangled from her neck. She reached her left arm up to his wrist, firmly squeezing it. Her right arm was still free, holding the syringe.. “I suggest you choose your words wisely.” He hissed.

“No-“ she squeaked out, smiling “No thanks.” Her right arm moved suddenly and sharply towards him.

Nightsky suddenly felt a cold, sharp stabbing sensation in his side, causing him to hiss. His grip on Vira loosened. “All this chatting has made me tired. But you’re about to be dead asleep.” Vira chuckled, injecting the syringes fluids into his body.

“…What…” He said, in an almost hushed tone. He suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion and burning pain wash over him, causing him to groan in agony. He ripped Vira’s arm away from him along with the syringe. Nightsky threw her to the ground as his breathing began to heavy, black beginning to spot around his vision, stumbling and struggled to stand.

Vira looked up at him and grinned underneath her mask, oh how beautiful the sight was. He stumbled forward and sideways, clutching his side. “What…. Did- didj you… DO-“ He hissed between gritted teeth, struggling to keep his eyes open, overwhelmed by the burning coursing through his veins.

“Nothing you need to worry about for now-“ She spoke quickly, interrupted by her choking. “Sleep tight,- Nightsky. You’ll be lucky if you ever- wake up again.” She erupted into a simultaneous laughing and coughing fit.

The man suddenly lost all feeling in his body, causing him to fall over onto his side. He struggled to keep his eyes open even barely, and as he did, he saw Vira as she struggled to stand and walk towards him. Right as she reached him, he passed out completely.

———

Nightsky’s mind began to stir awake after what felt like days, but what had really only been hours. There was something very cold beneath him. He shivered fiercely, opening his eyes to a blindingly bright light overhead. He tried to move his arm to block it from his eyes, but he found himself restrained. He tried getting up, but again something was holding him down. Something leathery. Rubbing directly against his wrists, ankles, neck, forehead, and chest. What happened to his coat, his shirt?

“Good to see you awake, mister.” A voice spoke as she moved the light away from him. As his mind began to clear slightly, he recognised the voice.

The man blinked, his eyes opening wider. “��Vira?”

“Mhm! Though I prefer Connie when I’m not out and about trying to, yknow, steal people.” Connie smiled, waving her hand around with vague gestures.

Memories of before he passed out came flooding to his brain, sending a rush of adrenaline through his system.

“What did you do to me? Where am I?!” He yelled, trying to make eye contact with Connie, but failing as she left his vision.

“Hey, hey! No need to yell! You’re just in my operating room.” She paused for a second “…I’d day you’re in good hands but knowing my track record with these things you absolutely aren’t.”

“Say, why don’t we play a game?” She spoke quickly after finishing her last sentence, as if trying to pretend she didn’t say anything. “I put you through hell until you give up being Ruler of Everything, and we see how close to death you get before you do!” Her smile was evident in her voice. “Or you can just give up right now, but where’s the fun in that?” She chuckled lightly

“Oh yeah! Be glad I didn’t remove your eyepatch. Well, I did for a second. Put it back cause it’s like… really gross under there, you know that?”

“You… What-?” Shame and rage washed over him, for a split second it felt like he wanted to curl into himself in some attempt to somehow hide himself. Instinctively, he tried and failed to cover his eyepatch with one of his hands.

Yes, he knew it was disgusting, he *lived* with it. The way she tried to tell it to him like he didn’t know made him want to rip hear skin off.

She smiled wickedly. “What did you not hear me or something?”

Just as Nightsky was about to speak, she interrupted. “Whatever. So what’s it gonna be, mister?” She asked as she opened various cabinets and drawers around the room for “medical tools.”

Despite his more sensible side telling him to just give up right then, and kill her when he’s out, his ego decided to play the long game. “Neither. You won’t be able to get much done before somebody comes searching for me.” He put on a fake, albeit convincing smile despite wanting to rip Connie’s own left eye out.

“Aww is that true? What about- Oh! You remember that one time you got so sick you nearly died and nobody knew for an entire week because everyone just thought you were having another episode?” She spoke from far beyond anywhere he could see.

His eyes widened, taking a second to respond “How did you-“

“Was all over the news! I’m surprised you didn’t know.” She interrupted. “I know so much more about you than you’ll ever be able to guess, sweetie.”

“Don’t call me that.” He hissed

“You’re not in any position to be making demands of me,” She interrupted, furrowing her brow as she pushed a cart next to the operating table the man was strapped down to. She picked a hair tie from her pocket and held it in her mouth as she grabbed a bunch of her hair, “Sho, rdy to get shtarted?” She pulled the hair tie from her mouth and tied her hair into a bun.

The man began to feel slightly nauseous. Nothing had even happened yet, why was he already feeling like this, he was stronger than this. He felt like an idiot.

“Gonna take that as a yes!” She smiled, picking up a small scalpel from the large cart in front of her.

Dramatically she raised the scalpel high above the man’s right bicep and slowly brought it down to touch his skin.

The contact from the blade made him shiver.

“We haven’t even gotten started yet and you’re already shivering, that’s just adorable!” She laughed at him.

“Shut. Up-“

He was cut off by Connie slicing the blade into his skin, causing him to tense up and inhale sharply through his teeth. 

“Yknow,” She spoke, pushing the scalpel deeper into his muscle, taking his sweet strained groans of pain. “for someone like you I expected more of a challenge. To snatch you, I mean. You didn’t even have anyone there with you! How sad is that.”

She release the blade from his skin for a second before stabbing it directly down into his arm, causing blood to splatter all over her hand. He moaned loudly in pain, tears springing to his eyes, his breathing began to quicken.

“Oh that sweet, sweet noise~” She smiled wickedly, watching his open wound bleed around the scalpel and drip down his arm. Letting go of the scalpel, she grabbed a small glass bottle of sea salt from the tray next to the table. Taking the cork from the bottle, she hovered it over the wound, looking directly into Nightsky’s eyes, still smiling.

Nightsky looked at her through the involuntary tears in his eyes and froze a bit.

“No-“

“Hmmmm sorry what was that? Couldn’t quite hear you.” She taunted, dangling the bottle of salt just over his bleeding wound.

Much to Connie’s dismay, he didn’t speak up. She frowned. “Cmon, you’re no fun.” she paused for a second.

“No, actually, thats a lie-“ she interrupted herself by pouring a decent portion of the salt into the gaping wound.

Nightsky yelled loudly in pain, all of his muscles tensing up as the salt absorbed the moisture inside his wound. “-this is a great time so far!”

Little “fireflies” began to circle his vision as he blinked away tears that trickled down into his ears.

“Stop- get- get the salt out-“ He hissed through clenched teeth. The tears in his ears muffling any sounds but his own voice

“What, you want me to dig it out with my bare hands? Ooh maybe I should.” She spoke, unaware all the man could hear was nothing but garbage noise.

Nightsky didn’t say a word, clenching his teeth and hands, trying not to feel the pain of the salt as intensely in any way he could.

“Now, I know we literally only just got started, but I’m giving you a chance to give up right now cause it’s only gonna get worse from here for you. I’m gonna be real upset if you agree because I’ve been waiting to do this for months, but I don’t want you to say no either. My own selfish desires or the sake of the world! So hard to choose, haha!” She said, still smiling gleefully. 

The man didn’t respond, only trying to regulate his breath. Fear and embarrassment taking over his mind 

“Aw, what? Run out of quips already? Looks like this is gonna be a standup comedy then.” Connie sighed disappointedly, ripping the knife out of his arm. The man let out a strained groan of pain once again and slowly began to speak. “If… if you think.. that’s going to get me to back down… you’re wrong.” He took a deep breath, composing himself and bracing for anything that could come next. He wouldn’t let her get him vulnerable again. Not as long as he was trying his hardest. 

“Ooohhh, so you didn’t run out! Looks like this’ll still be fun!” She chuckled, lightly dragging the scalpel down his arm to his wrist.

“Damn. Tied your wrists down the wrong way. Uhhhhh, alright I’m gonna unrestrain your wrist for a sec. Don’t move okay?” She paused for a second. “Who am I kidding you’re gonna move anyways.”

She unfastened the leather straps holding his wrist and forearm down and quickly backed away from him, which was the right call for her because as soon as he was free, he reached for whatever he could grab on the large tray cart next to him. He grabbed whatever he could reach and held it out towards Connie, not even registering what it was until a few seconds later. A butcher knife. The man stared in horror at what he held in his hand.

“Come on, that was supposed to be a surprise, y’know?” She smiled dissapointedlu, not threatened by the knife in her face at all. 

“You. What kind of sick shit are you into.” He glared at her, furious.

“Nothing that sick, just justice! And torturing people, obviously, but like what does that matter.” She paused. “Oh, that matters a lot to you right now doesn’t it?” She laughed. “Whatever! I gotta take care of that loose arm of yours and I know just the solution. E-let-tri-ci-ty!” She spoke, saying the last word in a sing-song tone. 

Before the man could react, she ran over to a lever behind his head and yanked it down, sending high voltage electricity into the metal operating table. What felt like burning lightning coursed all through Nightsky’s body, causing him to scream in agony, all his muscles tensing as much at physically possible. The tears from his eyes conducting the horrible sensation directly into his ears.

Connie, however, was struggling to get the lever back up again to shut off the electricity.

“Fuck- Just give me a second I’m trying to turn it off!” She yelled out over his screaming. “Please don’t let this be the way he dies that would be so annoying, please.” She whispered to herself and she struggled to push the lever back up. 

The man felt himself on the verge of passing out, spots of white lining his vision even as his eyes were shut tight. He could feel his hearing begin to disappear.

Unfortunately for him, just as he was about to get some sense of freedom via passing out or worse, Connie flipped the switch back up with a loud yell of exertion.

The man’s ears rang loudly as he felt his body twitch and writhe. It was the only thing he could hear. He felt numb. He couldn’t move, other than through the various muscle spasms all throughout his body. 

Connie sighed loudly. “JESUS. Note to self, don’t use that unless I want to instantly kill you.” She spoke as she walked back to the side of the metal operating table the man lied upon, plucking the knife from his clutched hand. 

“Try not to move right now okay? You’ll only make things worse for yourself, and I’ll have to electrocute you again.” She flipped the butcher knife around in her hand. “Or I could cut your arm off.” She spoke, looking into his glazed eyes, hoping to get a reaction out of the man. He didn’t respond. His body continued to twitch violently. 

“Riiight.” She put down the knife on the tray and re-fastened the leather straps around his arm, this time making sure his arm was facing the right way up.

“Think I’m gonna have to call in Bliss on this one and call it a day. Can’t torture you if you’re not even fully conscious.” She sighed “I mean, I don’t think you are? You sure as hell aren’t responding to anything right now.” She waved a hand in front of his eye.

No response.

She sighed again and walked away from the metal table towards a counter behind her. She opened a drawer with a tray of poke balls inside and picked up one labeled “Bliss”. Closing the drawer, she threw the pokeball in the air with her other hand, and out emerged a Blissey.

The Pokémon blinked its eyes open, smiling when it saw Connie and running up to her for head pats.

“Hi Bliss!” She said in a high pitched voice, patting the Pokémon on its head with her non-bloodied hand. “Sorry, but you’ve got work to do again.” She smiled softly at the Pokémon, who frowned chirped sadly in response.

“I know I know, you’re supposed to be on break, but you’re the strongest Blissey I have, and this case is special! We’re gonna be at it for awhile, alright? I promise I’ll take out out for a vacation when this is all done okay?”

The Blissey took a second, but chirped happily at Connie. “Great! Now, I need you to use heal pulse on this man okay? I accidentally electrocuted him a bit too hard.” She drew out the last few words.

The Blissey waddled over to the table, but it was too high for it. The blissed chirped at Connie for help.

Connie looked down at the blissed and then at the table. “Uh, right, hold on.” Walking behind the table again, next to the electrocution lever, she looked at a large panel of controls, one of which being a slider to raise and lower the table. She lowered the toggle almost all the way down, causing the operating table to lower with it, allowing Bliss to preform its heal pulse. Green light emanated from its paws, connecting to the man’s body, and began healing him and his wounds.

Connie frowned seeing the wound on his bicep heal, but if it had to be done it had to be done, she’d just have to… not electrocute him in the future, atleast until she got the lever oiled up and fixed. 

[arsonisticpotato]

So I was just looking through my drive, as you do, and stumbled across a short story that I wrote my senior year of high school and??? It's actually pretty good??? Can't remember the grade I got on it tho :(

I'm also thinking about making a webtoon, but can't decide on the story (I have too many), so thoughts on me adapting this??

“New Blood”

The door burst open, the crash of it hitting the wall echoing around the large room, drowning out the uneven pounding of the teenager’s feet hitting the floor. In the center of that room stood a grand desk, dwarfing the man that sat at it. He looked up at the intrusion, away from a pile of papers and books that were haphazardly strewn out on the wood.

“Ah, Zero! I was wondering when you’d show up.” He grinned at the teenager still storming towards him, his brown eyes retaining their usual coldness.

Slamming their hands down on the desk, a few papers flying to the floor, Zero spat at the man. “Was that part of your plan? What were you thinking?!” Their eyes blazed, teeth bared at the man whose grin only grew.

“Was it not to your liking?” The man asked, already knowing the answer.

“My liking- Darius, my entire team was killed!” Zero fumed. They were still in their uniform, ripped, covered in dirt, and splattered in blood. Their gun was still in it’s holster, but their knives were missing. Most likely lost in the mission. “How could losing your best squadron to try to kill a politician, of all things, be to your liking?!”

“My dear Zero, I did not lose my best,” Darius spread his hands, eyes softening slightly. “You are standing before me, after all.”

“Only because Meave threw herself over me!” The teenager growled, crossing their muscular arms. They made quite an intimidating figure, fresh from battle, but the man was not perturbed.

“Oh, stop whining. They wouldn’t have been able to harm you anyway.” He rolled his eyes.

“Don’t tell me to shut up! Those weapons could have even killed me! It was an absolute bloodbath!” Zero yelled a wordless sound of frustration. Why was Darius being so calm about this! He killed their entire team! Why couldn’t he see his fault?!

The man’s grin turned smug. “Truly? Why don’t you tell me more about those weapons.” It wasn’t a question.

Zero gaped. “You-” They laughed without mirth. “Of course. That was your plan? You made me lead my team to slaughter to learn about their weapons?” They turned, limping towards the door still standing ajar.

Darius rose, face forming a blank mask. “Zero, where are you going.” Again, not a question.

Zero didn't even bother to look back. “The Lab. I can’t deal with you right now.” They frowned down at their uneven steps. Their right foot was still completely shattered, and while the pain could be ignored, Zero knew that healing was taking far longer than it should have.

Darius probably said something in response, but Zero wasn’t listening, instead thinking back to their horribly failed mission. It was supposed to be a typical assassination, in and out, their team keeping watch; the lazer guns forcing them to cosplay swiss cheese were unexpected, to say the least. It was a little overkill to protect some no-name politician who cared more about unfairly taxing the labor force than protecting the country from domestic terrorists. Why would they have done that? Did they know they were coming?

Zero paused outside of the Laboratory door, blinking. Was there a mole? They shook their head. No, it was useless to become paranoid right now. It was time to mourn and reevaluate their attack strategy.

The door slid open, revealing a sterile white room filled with medical equipment and sciency stuff. Zero didn’t really know the room’s full capacity was capable of, but it did make them, so it was definitely impressive. The only occupant to the room was a man, a few years older than Zero, at a station looking through a microscope. He looked up at the sound of the door opening.

“Zero! You're back! How was the mission?” He tilted his head. “And where’s the rest of your team?”

“Dead.” Zero sat down on one of the examination chairs, sighing in relief at the weight off of their foot. “Leima, I know you have questions. Interrogate me after you look at my foot? It's all messed up.”

"...Alright then," Leima shrugged. He wasn't all that close to Zero's team, only ever seeing them when they were injured. Although, he knew Zero ever since he had started working in the Lab five years ago, since Zero was practically raised from there.

Rolling himself over in his chair, Leima slid to a stop in front of the teenager. "Take off your boot, show me what I'm workin' with."

Zero complied with a grunt, scrunching their face up in pain as their boot was pulled over the worst of the injury. Leima sucked in a breath at the sight. A gruesome collage of blues, browns, and purples spread across the disfigured foot, contrasting horrifically against Zero's pale skin. Leima looked up, his blue eyes locking with Zero's own red, the worry in them tangible. 

"What happened." Not a question, but unlike Darius' demands, the young man's was made with concern.

"Steel beam fell on it," they broke eye contact, instead focusing on their foot. Zero wiggled their toes, testing the pain. Ouch. "Which, normally, I can just walk off, you know? But I was hit with some lazer thing-- which healed, don't worry-- and then my foot was squished. Now I'm not healing."

"Mm, guessing that's how your team died?" Leima hummed, reaching into a drawer and pulling out a syringe filled with a light blue substance.

"Yep. Probably some sort of biological warfare weaponry." Zero leaned back in the chair, bracing themselves. That shot would hurt, the liquid inside a healing booster made specifically for them. "And can you believe that it was all Darius' plan? He knew they would die! What kind of leader does that?"

"A crappy one." Leima injected them with the syringe slowly, right in their calf muscle. Zero was right, it did hurt. "Ya know, why don't we get a new boss?"

"What, like anarchy? Walk up and take the metaphorical throne out from under him?" Zero rolled their eyes, then winced at the feeling of the booster reconstructing their foot. That was something they could never get used to.

“Why not? I’ve been thinkin’ about it for a while, ‘cause this wasn’t the first suicide mission he sent out.” He pulled out the syringe, frowning. “We’d be better off without him leadin’ us.”

"I doubt that can happen without bloodshed." Still focused on their foot, Zero wiggled their toes again, easier to do this time.

"Do it," Leima met Zero's eyes again, more intently than before. "Zero, he wants to make more of you. More weaponized this time. Blood will be spilt; just make it in our favor."

"What? That's not good." Zero frowned. They were made as a living weapon, scientifically altered at an embryonic state to regenerate almost instantaneously. Anything unnecessary, like reproductive organs and the appendix, were removed before they were ‘born.’ The drawback is that they are highly susceptible to airborne viruses and illnesses. More 'Zeros' wouldn't be ideal, nor very humane. "Wait- are you saying you want me to be the new boss?"

"Well, yeah. You're, like, my closest friend, and even though you just barely qualify as an adult, I know that you'll be great as a leader." Leima smiled. He rose, and patted Zero on the shoulder. "Alright, you’re all healed up! Go snatched that throne from Darius."

The teenager laughed at their friend’s antics, pulling their boot back on. "Okay, okay! I'll be the new leader." With a wave goodbye, Zero left the Lab, already forming a plan on how to take over; something that showed power, but nothing too flashy.

A few hours pass before Darius summons them to a meeting to debrief the mission with the higher-ups. Zero stepped into the large office, this time without a broken foot, and analyzed the situation. On the desk sat three vials in a protective case, most likely ingredients to make more ‘Zeros.’ There were four men in the room, other than Darius, none of which were fighters. Perfect.

"Zero, dear, there you are!" The lead man himself said, standing and spreading his arms in a sort of greeting. "Why don't you tell us about the mission you were on earlier in the day, hmm?"

"No." Zero raised a knife that they had grabbed before coming, and threw it. It embedded itself right in the center of Darius' forehead, knocking the man back onto his seat, killing him instantly. The other men were too stunned to speak, or to do anything other than stand and stare.

"Well then," Zero stated, no emotion on their face, wiping nonexistent dust from their sleeves. The teenager walked around the desk, shoving the corpse off of the chair and onto the ground with a thump. They’ll have to get that cleaned up. That’s why Zero never liked to kill indoors; too messy. Sitting on the leather throne, crossing their legs, eyeing the others in the room who stood there gaping at the scene having just taken place, Zero addressed them for the first time:

"It was about time this organization was led with new blood."