#Episode: Grand Theft Otto

[toa-archive]

This week's boards are from the Trollhunters episode, Grand Theft Otto by Katherine Lim! Otto is a rare sight in these so you have him and a bonus very sweet Not!Enrique and Toby moment :)

A gremlin with snacks is a happy gremlin.

[sorceress-coffee]

RoA Ch 36 Grand Theft Otto

Ao3 Link

RoA Disclaimer: The Trollhunter universe and characters don't belong to me. River, Eri, Eemeli, Ms. Kamaria/Sylvina, Garridan, Ganieda, and the Eclipse Guard are my own characters (List is subject to change as the story progresses). The lore is a mix of old Arthurian legends, ToA cannon lore, and my own that I've developed for RoA.

Notes:

If anyone is interested, I have a playlist on Spotify called 'River of Arcadia Phase 3' if you would like to listen to it. 'Atlas Falls' by Shinedown is a recent addition and seems to fit RoA very well. There are playlists for River, Phase 1 and Phase 2 as well. River's playlist hasn't been updated since I began separating it into phases.

                                                                                A stakeout the night after we almost drowned was not how I was planning on resting up. Blinky and Claire were sitting up front with binoculars, watching the street as we tried to lay low in the car. I don’t even want to know where Blinky found it.

To my right Toby was munching on as many gooey and sticky snacks as he could now that his braces were off as of this morning. NotEnrique took a spot on my lap as he was bickering with Blinky, wanting to see exactly what kind of changeling we were up against. Draal took the spot on my left, mostly there to make sure I didn’t fall asleep, recovering slower from being a magical battery than Claire was. Whatever happened when our magic melded seemed to give her an extra boost once she slept off the initial exhaustion.

“Do we even know who we’re looking for?” Claire’s question snapped my attention back to the stakeout.

Blinky was watching a police officer pick up litter before walking off. “It appears Strickler corresponded with a German named Otto Scaarbach.”

NotEnrique snickered, pulling himself up from my lap to the back of Blinky’s seat, “That’s his name? Might as well call him ‘Mr. Evil Man.’”

I rolled my eyes, leaning my head back against the headrest, “I know we’re trying to find the cure, but Strickler’s old associate is probably the last Changeling to hand it over.”

“How do you even know he’s going to be here?” NotEnrique asked, laughing as Blinky used ‘interneted’ instead of emailed.

“Silence, you impudent runt.” Blinky huffed, watching the streets as he explained. “I interneted him as Strickler, asking to meet.”

“Again, didn’t he abandon Strickler?” I asked, trying to point out the obvious issues with this plan.

“She has a point, Galadrigal,” Draal huffed, feeling like we were wasting our time with Otto. “The reason Strickler had to come to us for help was because the Janus Order kicked him out. You think one of them will show up to meet him now?”

Blinky pouted, “With Angor gone, Strickler’s presence itself is no longer a threat to whoever he’s around, with that, his contact may believe it worth trying to meet with Strickler. But, when he discovers he’s been stood up, he’ll lead us back to the Janus Order.”

“Couldn’t we have asked Eemeli for directions?” I sighed, unsure why we couldn’t have an easy win for once.

“Sorry, moonlight,” Notenrique chuckled, sitting back down, “Not every Changeling working for the Janus order has ties to every hideout, besides, neither of us were here long enough to be invited before switching sides.”

“If anyone’s hungry, I’ve got peanut brittle, popcorn, marshmallow goop, and 16 flavors of bubble gum,” Toby interrupted, partially trying to cut the tension, mostly just distracted with no longer having braces.

Claire rolled her eyes, looking into the backseat, “We get it Tobes, you just got your braces off.”

“Oh,” Toby chuckled, patting his cheeks, “Did you notice?”

“Keep goofing off and you’re going to need them again,” I huffed, trying to keep his snacks from overflowing the entire backseat.

Claire and Blinky spotted a very suspicious man heading for the streetlight.

Peering past Draal, I rolled my eyes, “Trench coat and fedora, so not suspicious,” I snarked, grabbing Midnight’s collapsed form.

“Slip out quietly,” Blinky instructed, keeping 2 of his 6 eyes on ‘Mr. Evil Man.’ “One false move and we might spook him.”

“Right! Follow him back to the Janus Order. Piece of cake, let’s go!” Toby grinned, throwing his door open and immediately falling out, slipping on all the bubblegum he had pulled out.

Wincing, I turned to see Otto flinch at the noise, trying to locate the cause of it.

Calire shushed Toby as he fell again, letting out a loud yelp, effectively scaring off Mr. Evil Man. “We can’t lose him. You drive, Blink. River, Toby and I will follow on foot.”

“One magic enhanced Changeling chase, here we come,” I huffed, flashing out of the car to avoid Toby’s gumballs everywhere, “Draal, make sure he doesn’t kill anyone with his driving.”

Draal laughed, jumping into the passenger seat as Claire got out, Blinky speeding off before he could respond.

We quickly began following Otto trying to keep a quiet distance, only being ruined by the candy dropping from Toby’s bag. As Blinky drove past him, Otto disappeared, “Can changelings teleport?” I asked, looking around quickly, snarling as I spotted the trench coat heading into a street blocked off for construction. “This way.” I took off sprinting, it seemed Mr. Evil Man knew someone was following him, might as well give him something to try running from.

I could hear Claire telling Blinky we had a new plan, one captured Changeling coming right up. Teleporting in front of Otto, my right eye glowing blue as the markings from my troll form glowed orange with magic, “Not exactly blending in there, are you?” I asked, his eyes going wide at the sight of daylight, he turned down another street, prolonging the chase.

Toby came flying by using his warhammer as a clever mode of transportation. And he ran into a truck. Wincing I saw the warhammer slam into his face. I really hope he knows my taunt about needing braces again was a joke.

Claire paused, letting the other’s know Toby was down. I kept running for Otto, if we were going to have a chance at saving Jim, this was it. Blink boxed the alley in as we approached, slowing down in case Otto tried anything.

I could feel energy near us shift and the sound of spray paint. I grabbed Claire’s shoulder before she could ambush anyone innocent. Walking around the dumpster myself, I eyed how the kid was using the spray paint, noticing how thin the paint looked. “If you actually knew how to use that, you’d know to shake the can first.” I glared down, still on high alert as the teen turned to face me. Shock written on his face before he pushed past me, running into the street.

“Where’s Mr. Evil Man?” Claire asked, watching the kid run.

I kneeled down, picking up the paint can, recognizing it immediately. “If I had to guess, that was him.” This paint was only sold by Ms. Kamaria, and I was the only one who purchased it.

“What do you mean? That wasn’t the guy we were chasing,” Claire looked down, trying to figure out why I was so fixated on the paint can. “River, what’s wrong?”

Draal came running over from the car, worried when he saw I wasn’t making a move to get up. “Why did you bring your paint?” He asked, recognizing the can as well.

I turned the can upside down, snarling as I looked over the bottom, my initials were marked, plain as day, something I did with all my paints in case I misplaced them, a habit I was terrible with growing up. Over the initials someone drew a sun. “The bastard either broke into the house or school to get this.”

“Wait, you thought that was Otto and you let him go?” Claire asked, “This was our one shot!”

I shoved the can against her chest, as Toby and Blinky finally caught up, “This means he knew we were the ones that messaged him, and he still came.”

“Maybe the information James and Eemeli are leaking is working?” Blinky asked, trying to dispel the tension.

“He is gauging how desperate we are for the antidote,” Draal snarled, not liking that Otto was either in my paint supplies at school, or worse, in my room at our home.

“River,” Toby winced, holding his face, “I think I broke my jaw.”

I winced, hovering my hand over the side of his face and pulling back feeling the extent of the damage, “Sorry Tobes, I don’t think you’ll want malformed bones. It’ll be best if you get that looked at by a professional.”

Claire handed the paint back to me, sighing. “We should head out, it’s not like we’ll be able to find him again anytime soon.”

With that, we all split up. Blinky took Claire home before returning the car to wherever he stole it from. Draal and I walked Toby home, making sure he got some ice on his face before heading out.

As we approached the front door, I snarled, feeling on edge knowing Otto could have broken in.

Uncle James opened the door, confused on why Draal and I were just standing on the porch. “I’m guessing the stakeout didn’t go as planned?”

I handed him the paint as Draal and I walked in, flopping down on the couch.

Sighing Draal ruffled my hair before explaining the can to Uncle James. “With all of us being at the learning dungeon or Trollmarket, it wouldn’t have been hard for him to break in.”

“I haven’t smelled anything off, even in his human form he’d give off a strange scent.” Uncle James explained, trying to help calm my anxiety.

Could something cover that though? My eyes widened as I jumped to my feet, running up the stairs and straight for my room. As soon as I opened the door, the stench of fresh paint filtered into the hall. Shuddering, I realized the yellow paint Otto had used tonight was covering the walls of my room. He had literally left a mark, letting us know he was here.

Suns were painted everywhere. It seems Changeling’s were loyal to more than Gunmar.

“Bushigal!” Draal snarled, running in after me, he covered his nose as he took in the paint covering my room.

Uncle James winced, peering into the doorway, “That would explain not being able to smell him,” Walking in, he glared at the larger of the suns painted. “He really had to drive it in, didn’t he?”

“Why would he do this?” Draal asked, not connecting the dots as fast.

“Morgana,” I seethed, letting my claws out and slashing through one of the suns, feeling irritated and violated at having anything to do with her in my room. It was bad enough I had the painting, now stuffed in the back of my closet, that Ms. Kamaria said I needed to make.

“The Janus Order works for her, I thought they were agents of Gunmar?” Draal asked, pulling me from the walls before I could do any more damage.

“To be an agent of Gunmar is to be an agent of the Eldritch Queen, which is why Garridan and I worry about finding the order in Arcadia.”

“Great, so here or the Darklands, I’m a liability,” Growling, I stalked out of the room, not wanting to see the damned suns any more.

Draal frowned, following close, “Are they hunting her?” He asked James, worried about being stuck in his fleshy form, unable to protect me at the moment.

Uncle James shook his head as we settled in the living room again. “My reports state that it is unlikely, at this point, I think it’s more of a calling card. They’re telling us they have what we want.”

“Think they’re willing to negotiate?” I asked, rubbing my temples. I knew Otto showing up to meet with Strickler was too easy.

“I think you’ll have to be part of the negotiation. They know we have the bridge, they know you’re capable of opening it, to some extent. If they want Gunmar released, us opening the bridge to save my son is their best bet. However, targeting you for the negotiation means you may have or can get something they need.” Uncle James explained, showing us reports from his spies stating that, other than Eemeli, there aren’t Witch Hunters assigned anywhere near Arcadia.

“Other than myself, what could they want?” I asked, irritated that we had more questions than answers it seemed.

“A sample of your blood, possibly a stone made of your magic. Honestly, with the information I’ve been given, it could be anything.” He sighed, looking over at Draal and I. “Why don’t you two get some rest, Draal and I can fix your room while you’re at school tomorrow. I’ll keep watch over the house tonight.”

I went to argue but Draal’s hand on my shoulder cut me off, “You’re still exhausted from stealing Killahead Bridge, and after tonight you’ve overdone it,” Even in his fleshy form he could tell I pushed well past my limits tonight. “Besides,” He was cut off by a yawn, also exhausted from our last few adventures, “until I turn back to normal, I’m stuck needing sleep.”

I nodded, heading down to the basement without argument. I flopped face down on the nest, wanting nothing more than to bash Otto’s skull in at the moment.

“You’re angry,” Draal got into the nest with me, nuzzling the side of my face. “And you’re plotting murder or dismemberment.” He chuckled, running his fleshy hand through my hair, taking the braid out so he could play with it, something he realized helped to calm me down.

“Is it showing?” I grumbled, flexing my fingers. I couldn’t feel Eclipse running along my skin, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t leaking out.

“Not literally,” Draal nudged my shoulder, gently pushing me until I let him roll me onto my side. “But you are pouting.”

I puffed out my cheeks, glad I had control on the  Eclipse magic since my revelation with NotEnrique, still mad at the damned Changeling that vandalized my room. “I want to bash his skull in,” I admitted, not liking that the Eldritch Queen was basically plastered all over my room.

“Murder it is,” He chuckled, pulling one of the blankets up, “Now, I’m happy to help, but I don’t think killing our only contact that is seeking us out would be wise.”

My brow knit together, eyeing Draal, “Who are you and what have you done with my mate?” I asked, teasing him.

Barking out a laugh, Draal tugged me close, making sure I had room to move, “I’m filling in for Vendel until her Highness-lady gets kicked out of Trollmarket.” He snickered, knowing we couldn’t go to Vendel due to the Tribunal’s edict.

I groaned, hiding my face against his chest, nuzzling my head up under his chin. “Remind me to bash her head in with that stupid crown she wears, maybe I can use it on Mr. Evil Man too.” I snickered, yawning as Draal and I curled up.

“Will do, but for now, I think you’ll have to settle for dismembering them in your sleep, love.” Draal chuckled, kissing the top of my head. Between our conversation about kisses and him being turned human twice, he’s been increasingly fond of the gesture.

I drifted off before I could respond. Once again, my dreams lead me to a shadowy castle. The corridor I was in looked like the one from my memory of Douxie finding me for my nap. I wandered the halls aimlessly, surprised at how detailed the dream was. A presence made itself known behind me, softly tapping the middle of my back. I turned quickly, having to look down to see a green fae-like creature with antlers.

She giggled softly, waving me to follow her. Odd, I don’t think I’ve dreamt about her before. Deciding to follow, we headed in the opposite direction that I was wandering. She couldn’t be a memory, magical beings weren’t able to freely roam camelot’s halls.

“You’re out of place,” The creature spoke sweetly, looking back with a smile on her face.

Confused, I frowned, “This isn’t a memory?”

“Shadow realm, strange for moonlight to dream here,” She spoke, again, gesturing to the dark halls. Now that she mentioned it, when I last dreamt of the castle it was also dark.

“That doesn’t sound good,” I went to pull the strings of my hoodie, a nervous habit, instead my hand met metal. Looking down, I could see a dark dress, similar to the one in the locket portrait of my family, a metal chestplate the only difference. “That’s new.”

“Memories are shifting,” The creature turned, touching the chestplate, suddenly the metal darkened, the dress I had been wearing was replaced with a shorter red robe, a hood falling over my head. “My memory.” Was all she stated, turning back around and leading me out of the castle.

I stopped short, seeing that we were in fact, in the shadow realm. “I can’t.”

Turning back the creature took my hand, smiling softly. “Taking to memories.” She explained. As soon as her hand touched mine, a comforting warmth spread through my chest.

“My memories, but,” I winced, remembering Angor Rot taunting me about a broken mind, and then when mom pulled up the memory of her death, saying it was messed with. “What if they’re wrong again?”

She smiled, pulling me off the castle grounds and flying off into the Shadow Realm, “Not wrong, taken. Changed.” We flew over memories of battles, forests, Troll villages, and caverns lined with precious gems. “Hidden here, by Morgana.”

I flinched at the name, feeling dread overtake my senses. “No!” I yelled, pulling from the creature, “I’m not letting her mess with my head ever again!”

The creature quickly came to my side, making sure I didn’t drift too far from her so I wouldn’t be lost in the shadow realm. “You are little light,” She spoke softly, using the name Merlin had called me, “She will not hurt you. I won’t allow it, I promise.” Determination filled her eyes, reaching her hand out for me once again, letting me choose.

Slowly, I reached out, settling my hand in her’s. I couldn’t understand why, but I knew if this creature made a promise, it was binding. “Okay, I trust you.”

Smiling softly, we floated down to an island cast in shadows. The only thing of note was the large cave we were heading towards.

“Why would she hide my memories in a cave?” I asked, surprised they wouldn’t be hidden in the castle.

The creature tilted her head in thought, “Primordial magics rest here as they do in your home. This was only place powerful enough to hold your memories at time.” She explained, hand ghosting over the cave wall, causing thousands of illuminating flowers to bloom within, casting green and pink lights over the shadows. “Only place strong enough to hold her.” She pointed up ahead.

My grip on her hand tightened as I saw a woman fully covered in gold armor trapped inside some sort of crystal. “That’s really her? That’s Aunt Gana?” I winced as gold flooded the cave, worried I had somehow released the one being I was truly terrified of. Instead, a golden figure matching the woman in my memories of Aunt Gana appeared, no armor or malice in sight.

Smiling softly, she dispelled the shadows surrounding us. “I had hoped you would reach this place one day, little light.” She spoke, all the harshness and vile I was expecting was nowhere to be found.

A thought struck me then, “You didn’t call me ‘Sunshine.’” I confronted the spirit vessel, confused on why there seemed to be two completely different versions of the Eldritch Queen in front of me.

Morgana’s spirit let out a sigh, turning back to look at her trapped form. “We are the same, though our imprints are from different times. The being you know as the Eldritch Queen was corrupted over time,” She looked to the creature guiding me, nodding to her. “Magic as ancient as the beginning, influenced and corrupted the body you see trapped. I believe your teacher warned you, perfection is not for everyone, it could hold some back,” she waved to the creature, “and destroy others.” She motioned to her armored from once again.

Dread filled me, if this version of Morgana could see me, then so could the one behind her. “You’re able to spy on us?”

She shook her head, pulling out a pale blue orb, it looked like condensed daylight. “I only know what Merlin has offered to tell.”

“Why would he tell you anything? You’re the reason his sister is dead, you separated our family. Hell, you’re the reason I’m in this time!” I snarled, the orange of my spirit-form being overtaken by Eclipse’s red.

Instead of answering, Morgana simply shook her head, “It’s not the time, nor my place to answer those questions.” She reached into the armored body, pulling out an orb of pale blue magic. “This is why you are here. I’ve been guarding these for over nine centuries.”

“Why guard something you stole?” I was so confused. Why would Morgana help me at all? If she took them, why would she give them back?

“I protected them, little light. She stole them,” She sighed, referring to her trapped form. Turning and holding the orb out to the creature guiding me. “They will return slowly so as to not overwhelm your mind, however,” She pulled a small droplet of magic from the orb, handing it directly to me. “This is the one you’re worried about the most. Ganieda’s final fight with the Eldritch Queen. When you feel you are ready, break the crystal. Until then, keep it close, little light.” I carefully took the raindrop of magic, watching it solidify in my grasp. With a final smile, Morgana, no Aunt Gana, began to fade. “I hope to meet you again, under friendly circumstances.”

I shot up in the nest, breathing hard and covered in sweat. What kind of nightmare was that?

Draal instantly woke up, sitting up slowly so he wouldn’t startle me. “Love, what happened? Are you alright?”

“I don’t know,” I winced, hands clenched so tight that my fingers were digging into the flesh of my palms. “A nightmare I think.”

Frowning, Draal took my hands. Slowly he rubbed the right one until it loosened up then began working on the left. As he loosened my left hand, a glowing raindrop fell, landing between us on the blanket.

“Were you in the mana pools?” He asked, carefully picking up the raindrop, just in case it was rigged to explode.

“Oh, no,” I flinched back, realizing exactly what it was. “Don’t break it, I,” I fumbled, trying to wrap my head around what happened. “Dreaming in the shadow realm, little green antlers, memories!” I yelped, trying to keep myself from panicking. I had come face to face with Morgana, the one from my earliest memories.

Draal’s hand froze, careful not to apply too much pressure to the crystal. “Love, you’re not making sense. What do you mean? Were you in the shadow realm?”

I nodded, carefully holding my hand out for the crystal, Draal carefully placing it in my palm. “I don’t know how. I thought I was dreaming of memories, then this little green fae-creature came up, she was so tiny!” I tried reeling my thoughts in, “She told me I was in the shadow realm, should have been obvious with how dark everything was,” I shook my head, trying to think straight. “She took me to where Morgana sealed my memories.”

Draal snarled, pulling me close. Any mention of the Eldritch Queen set him off. It seemed every time we tried to distance ourselves from her, she had a way of crashing back to the forefront of our worries. “It led you astray? How did you come back?”

Shaking my head quickly, I looked down at the crystal in my palm. “She didn’t. We, well, I saw Morgana, two of her actually. The one we’re terrified of, and the one I grew up with.” Holding up the crystal to him again, I frowned, unsure what to do with it at the moment. “The creepy one is sealed in some sort of prison, but the one I knew, she was protecting my memories from being destroyed.” Sighing, I really hated how complicated everything seemed to be getting. Between Merlin’s prophecies and Morgana in general, I didn’t know who was making it worse at the moment. “Something happened to her, she’s split. When she and the creature gave me my memories, she pulled this one out. It’s about mom’s final battle.”

Draal nuzzled the top of my head, having patiently waited for me to figure my words out before responding. “Have you seen it yet?”

“No,” I sighed, curling up against him. “She said the memories would return slowly so they wouldn’t overwhelm me, but she gave me the choice on this one. All I have to do is break the crystal when I’m ready.” I paused, carefully setting the crystal inside the family locket, wanting to keep it close. “What if I’m never ready?”

“One day, you will be.” Draal assured me, wincing as light filtered in the tiny basement windows. While he was human we kept the covers opened slightly to judge the time of day better. “For now, it is probably best to get ready for the learning dungeon. Your uncle and I will take care of the mess upstairs. Take this time to relax, you have most of the day to not worry about magic and monsters.” He chuckled, helping me out of the nest.

Smiling, I kissed his cheek. “Thank you, love.” Flashing up to the second story bathroom, I focused on the clothes I wanted from my room and got to work on cleaning up for the day. Once washed and dressed, I pulled my hair back into a high ponytail and teleported downstairs just in time to see Uncle James and Draal head up stairs.

Grabbing my backpack, I chuckled seeing Eemeli and Claire arguing in his car, slipping into the backseat, I looked over at Toby’s house, “Are we waiting on Tobes?”

Eemeli snickered, taking off before answering, “Nope, Nana said he was at the dentist. One day without braces and he manages to break his jaw.”

“I’m surprised Draal isn’t coming along,” Claire glanced back, having gotten used to our temporarily fleshy Draal accompanying us to school. “Is everything okay?”

“Other than finding out where Mr. Evil Man got the paint from? Yeah, we’re fine. Draal and Uncle James are fixing my room.”

“Wait, you actually ran into Otto?” Eemeli yelped, looking at me through the rearview mirror.

“Told you so,” Claire stuck her tongue out at Eemeli. I’m guessing that’s what they were arguing about. “Wait, what happened to your room? He broke into your house?”

“Yup,” I snarled, sitting back and trying to keep my composure. “After talking to Uncle James last night, I realized the only thing in the house that could cover his scent was probably paint fumes. When I got up into my room, it was covered in spray paint suns. The walls, ceiling, hell he even covered my bed in the fucking things!” So much for composure.

Eemeli stiffened, “That’s not good, they’re calling you out specifically, why waste their time though? You could literally turn them to stone if they tried to even touch you. I don’t think they have the facilities to hold you hostage. Not to mention you’re unlikely to hand over anything to them.”

“That’s just it though,” Claire sighed, realizing last night was a total setup for us and not the other way around. “River would do anything to get Jim back, except go into the Darklands herself. If they want something highly specific from her, and they know we’re desperate, they may think she’ll hand over whatever they’re after.”

“Not completely wrong, though at this point, I’m starting to question if I’m any more dangerous in the Darklands than I am out here. If I have to help power the bridge and if Gunmar does manage to escape, what’s to stop him from using his soul sucking sword on me right there?” I huffed, having been worried about the thought since Jim and I managed to open the bridge together.

“Like Draal will give him the chance,” Eemeli snorted, parking at school. “Come on, let's go play human teenagers for a few hours. Who knows, maybe seeing Steve’s bruised face will cheer you up.”

I groaned, “I can’t believe Draal suckerpunched him after Toby said he wasn’t worth it.”

Clarie giggled, “You’ve got to admit, you’ve got one protective hubby.”

“I thought we were still using fiancé,” I laughed, shaking my head at her antics.

“Is there really a difference for trolls?” She asked, genuinely curious.

I paused at our lockers, “I have no idea, from what Draal explained there’s not-courting, courting, challenging, and mates.”

“See, you’re basically married.” She teased, grabbing her books.

We split off to our classes after that. Art was pretty uneventful. After Eri crashed the first show, we were working on individual pieces for a makeup show. I was planning on using the painting I had done of Ganieda in the mana pools for that, instead I pulled out a new canvas and began working on a dark background, mimicking the cave from last night’s dream. Something itching in the back of my mind.

Instead of Morgana, I began outlining three different creatures. The first was the little green fae-like creature that had guided me through the shadow realm, surrounding her in flowers, her body giving off a pink and green glow. By the time the bell rang for the next class, I only had some basic shapes down for the other two figures, still unsure about them.

Eemli and I walked out to the lockers to see that Toby had finally made it to school. The students around us apparently had a lot to say about whatever the dentist had to do for his broken jaw.

“Hey, Tobes,” I opened my locker, glaring at a yellow spray painted sun. Stuffing my mother’s grimoire in my backpack, I slammed the door shut. “How’d your appointment go?”

“You can hardly notice it,” Claire winced, having her first period with Toby.

Toby pulled back from his locker, closing it roughly before turning to face us. His entire face was encased in metal bars connected to his face. I’m really wishing I was comfortable healing bones now. “I look like somebody tried to build a cyborg, then gave up.

I grasped Toby’s shoulder, wincing at all the nuts and bolts carefully holding the headgear in place. “I can talk with Vendel later and see if there’s a magic option, that way you can get that off faster.”

Sighing, Toby nodded, picking up his bag. “I’m just going to head to class, this day can’t get any worse.” He walked off, even more dejected as the teens around him pulled away at the sight of his face.

“Seriously? It’s just medical equipment, Eli didn’t even faint at the sight of my eye the first time I came to school without the bandages.” I huffed, heading with Claire to our next classes.

Claire shrugged, “Human teenagers, not exactly the most logical people on Earth.” She snickered, heading into her class.

Growling softly, I headed to my science class with Eli, slamming my books on the desk we shared.

“Everything okay?” He asked, ignoring Steve as he shoved past us to his desk.

I nodded, plopping down into my seat, “Having trouble understanding the way teens think.”

Eli chuckled, keeping quiet as the class began, “You say that like you aren’t one.”

I shot him a pointed look before glancing down at the little notes he kept making about me. Alien was the forerunner, not surprising with Eli’s obsession with science and space. “Let’s just say that isn’t the right track.”

Eli grinned, crossing out his alien notes, now making small notes on different cryptids and creatures. Witches, werewolves, and vampires were now tied, I wonder if there are werewolves and vampires, might ask Draal about that later.

Steve shoved past Eli after asking to use the bathroom, glaring at us as he headed out. That boy had a serious hang up over Jim.

“Any other info you can give?” He whispered, hiding the notes whenever our teacher walked by.

I hummed in thought, this might give it away but hey, even Draal’s been routing for Eli to guess it. “We’re very connected to crystals.”

Eli’s eyes grew wide, circling ‘witch’ before going through a list of creatures off the top of his head that could also be connected to crystals, fairies were the only other thing he could list. “You wouldn’t happen to have a pair of wings would you?”

I grinned, picturing Strickler’s troll form as a tiny fairy. “Personally? No.”

Before Eli could ask, the bell rang. “We can continue this later.”

As we walked out I spotted Darci running off in tears as Toby dropped Claire to the floor. “What the hell happened?”

“No Darci!” Toby tried to follow her only to run face first into a locker. As he sat up on the floor he let out a gasp, horror taking over his expression.

“What is going on?” I asked Claire as we quickly went to Toby’s aide.

Claire sighed, upset that she inadvertently hurt her friend. “Toby’s headgear is picking up local radio signals, if you lean close enough to his mouth you can hear it.”

I sat next to Toby, leaning in to hear a woman’s voice, “Nineteen. Seventy-six. Thirty-five. Eleven.”

“It’s numbers?” I asked, confused on what he was listening to now.

“Don’t mess with it,” Toby yelped, “I think Blinky is gonna wanna hear this for himself.”

Now that’s interesting. “Think you can last the rest of the day with whatever that is playing?” I asked, helping him to stand.

“Yeah,” He groaned, not excited to have whatever that was playing on repeat.

As the day wore on, Toby looked more and more like he was gonna snap. “Tobes, have you considered writing down whatever you’re hearing?”

Toby gave me a dull look, opening his notebook to pages that started off as notes and quickly devolved into the message he was hearing. “It happened in every class. I’m just glad I can somewhat focus on Gun Robot. If coach shows this in class again I’ll have it memorized.”

I smiled, glad he was trying to keep his spirits up, even if whatever was happening was slowly driving him insane. It’s like wearing permanent headphones and having no control of what you’re listening to.

Eli sat with us, glancing at Toby’s notebook before opening his own on my desk. “So, about earlier, am I close?” He whispered, keeping the book hidden from Claire and Toby’s eyes.

I looked down to see ‘witch’ written in bold letters, and notes upon notes of why Eli thought that was correct. We really haven’t been as subtle about our Trollhunting as we thought.

I nodded slowly, smirking, “You’re sort of half right. Wrong term but that’s a cultural thing.”

“Half right?” He asked, confused about what he was missing.

“That’s my mom’s side of the family.” I grinned. With that, Claire and Toby went stiff, trying to look at whatever Eli was showing me.

Shaking my head, I waved them off, “Don’t worry, it’s between me and Eli.”

They settled down, but for the rest of class they couldn’t help but cast questioning glances whenever Eli would ask an ‘invasive’ question, and I’d give an honest answer, including that I don’t own a cauldron but I do work with potions from time to time, but that’s not what I’m limited to.

“Are we gonna talk about that?” Claire asked as we were waiting for Blinky and Draal on the roof of the school, Blinky said something about getting a better signal and the staff wouldn’t find us up here while they were closing down the school.

“About what?” I asked, reading through an anatomy textbook and mom’s grimoire to see if I could find a spell for bones specifically.

Toby huffed, plopping down next to me, “That magic talk with Eli. Or did you forget all about your conversation in history?”

“Oh,” I closed the books, looking at Toby and Claire, “Right, that.” I pulled the strings of my hoodie, thinking of how to tell them, deciding blunt was the best option. “Eli’s seen a lot of things we thought no one noticed. He knows Jim is involved somehow. He’s caught us teleporting off of campus, and my eyes glowing. After the battle with Angor and things were really rough, he put two and two together. So, I promised if he could guess what it was, well, what I was, then I would explain the things I could that wouldn’t put him directly in danger. Then he asked about Jim’s involvement, I told him that would have to come from Jim, if he decided to tell him.”

“So he knows you’re a wizard?!” Toby gasped out, careful not to hit his headgear.

“Who knows about Lady River?” Blinky’s voice pulled our attention to him and Draal’s human form climbing the ladder to the roof.

“My friend Eli found out,” I shrugged, “We haven’t been very subtle.”

Draal chuckled, knowing it was only a matter of time, “Does he know everything?”

Smiling, I shook my hand in a so-so manner. “He knows about what my mother’s side of the family is. Nothing specific and nothing that would put him in direct harm.”

“He knows magic exists! That you’re a wizard!” Blinky yelped, starting to panic, “That puts him directly in harm's way!”

“No, knowing me at all would put him in harm’s way,” I argued, knowing that if the Janus Order wanted info on me, they could ask almost anyone I came into contact with. “The same goes for mom, Ms. Kamaria, hell, even Stuart the taco truck owner.”

Blinky pulled his jaw from the floor, slowly accepting my reasoning. “You haven’t divulged any information on Master Jim have you? You promised master Jim you wouldn’t tell anyone”

Draal stiffened, knowing Blinky was about to be torn into, he took a step back from the troll.

Snarling, I got in Blinky’s face, glaring into his six shocked eyes. “Listen well Blinkous. I promised Jim that I wouldn’t tell mom about him being the trollhunter, or ANYTHING about who I AM. I never promised him I wouldn’t tell ANYONE else. If you ever try using my word against me again, then make damn sure you know EXACTLY what I said, or Deya help me, you’ll be a matching statue of Unkar the Unfortunate.”

Blinky paled as much as a terrified blue troll made of stone could. “I see,” he squeaked out, clearing his throat to recover. “Yes, of course. Apologies, Lady River. I did not mean to offend you.”

I huffed, nodding at him before plopping down near the edge of the roof. “You’re here for Toby. Have fun with that.”

Draal came and sat next to me, our feet hanging off the back side of the school roof. “I honestly thought Blinky was going to be a statue after that insult.”

Pouting, I nudge my shoulder into his, looking out towards the mountains a few miles off in the distance. “I thought about it. But you can’t always be my impulse control, gotta do it myself sometimes.”

“Your inner Vendel came out,” he snickered, pulling me into his side, keeping his arm over my shoulders. “The old goat would be proud.”

“That I tore Blinky a new one, or that I told Eli I’m magic?” I smiled, leaning into the hug.

“Mostly Blinky,” He grinned, knowing Vendel would blow a gasket if he found out another human might be on their way to Trollmarket. “I’m proud of you though.”

“Draal, the troll irritated by the mere presence of humans, proud that another might be joining us,” I giggled, thinking back to our first meeting. “Your time as a fleshy has really changed your views on us, huh?”

“No,” He smirked, leaning over to smoosh his face against my temple in his more troll-like ‘kiss’, “you and the trollhunter have changed my mind. Your fleshbag mother as well. She is terrifying.”

Grinning at the ‘kiss’ I turned to look over his human face, “Thank you, it means a lot, love.”

“Great Gronka Morka!” Blinky’s cry drew our attention back to the three other beings on the roof. Claire was pulling Toby around by his headgear, Toby about to fall over at any moment while Blinky held what looked to be a handmade gramophone speaker to his mouth. “Tobias, I believe your headgear is picking up the secret transmissions of the Janus Order!”

“That would explain the ‘Janus initiative’ part,” I huffed, Draal getting up from the roof's edge and offering his mechanical hand to me. Smiling, I took his hand and let him help me up, heading over to the others.

“Where two faces meet.” Claire recited, wondering why that was important.

“It could be a secret combination,” Blinky speculated as he and Claire continued to pull Toby back and forth.

“Why does that phrase sound familiar?” Draal asked, rubbing at his beard in thought.

‘Where two faces meet’? It did sound rather familiar. I used the hand Draal wasn’t holding to grasp my locket.

“Or lead us to a passage in a book,” Claire was throwing ideas back and forth with Blinky, each idea more unlikely than the next.

“Or coordinates!” Toby tried to shout, tired of getting yanked back and forth.

“‘I hope you and Jim never see where two faces meet.’” I recounted the ending of my father’s letter from my 19th birthday, the day I found out exactly what I was. “He was talking about the Janus Order!”

Toby pushed away from Blinky and Claire, coming to stand with Draal and I, pointing to me as I had my revelation. “They’re coordinates! They lead to someplace here in Arcadia!”

“That would explain why your father was worried you’d stumble upon them,” Draal grinned, turning to Toby. “Good job fleshbag.”

“How do you propose we figure out where these coordinates lead?” Blinky asked, “I don’t believe I have any updated maps of this area.”

“Don’t need it,” I grinned, entering the numbers Toby gave me into the navigation app on my phone, “And with that,” I grinned, turning my phone to show Blinky. “We have our location. And I know exactly where it’s located.”

“Can you teleport us that far?” Draal asked, not wanting to waste time, knowing Mr. Evil Man could be a problem if we didn’t deal with them soon.

Nodding, I grabbed Toby’s hand, Blinky and Claire quickly grabbing onto us, I teleported us to Ms. Kamaria’s store.

“Your art store?” Toby asked, confused.

Ms. Kamaria came up behind him as he looked around confused. Bopping him on the top of his head with her cane, she turned to look over Blinky and Draal, snickering at Draal’s form. “Again?”

“Not from Gatto,” He huffed, glaring the old woman down.

Blinky was confused, “Lady River, I do not believe we are in the right location.”

“No, we’re in the location I had the strongest emotional connection to that was near the coordinates.” I explained, showing him the location was extremely close to us.

“And the little shop keeper?” He asked, not having met Sylvina in this form.

Ms. Kamaria smirked, “Does your mind age too fast Galadrigal?”

“Sylvina!” Blinky jumped behind me, obviously scared of whatever Ms. Kamaria could do to him.

Shaking her head in amusement, Ms. Kamari turned her attention to me, sighing softly as she looked across the streets to where the coordinates showed. “I’m assuming it’s time you see where two faces meet.”

“You knew where they were?” Draal snarled, irritated that we didn’t think of coming to the wild spirit for guidance now.

“No, but I had my suspicions, spirits are not all knowing, unless we know what we are looking for, or who.” She grinned, shooing us out of her store as the last cars of traffic left town. “Keep your guard up, the Janus Order uses underhanded tactics, as you have learned.”

Nodding, I led the others across the street to another shop. “And here we are.”

“A travel agency?” Claire asked, confused why the Janus Order would use this as a front. “These places still exist?”

Nodding, grabbing onto the others, I teleported us inside the door.

“Keep quiet,” Blinky instructed in a whisper.

As we slowly walked further into the agency, Toby began to dance and hum along to whatever music he could hear. Everyone turned to shush him as Draal whacked his headgear, effectively shutting off whatever music he was hearing.

Looking around, Blinky fell into trainer mode, giving us directions. “Scour the room. Look here, here, here, and here.” He used all four hands to point in different directions. “This place might hold a clue to the location of the Janus Order.”

We began looking through different sections of the agency, I began carefully pulling books off the bookcase, wondering if this would be like our adventures of breaking into Strickler’s office. As a halfling, could I open a Changeling lock?

I could hear Toby and Claire talking about the fetch, apparently with the headgear, Toby couldn’t look inside, and Claire was too scared to see the place her brother was held captive until we stormed the Darklands for Jim.

“Let me see,” I huffed, taking the Fetch from Toby.

Claire grabbed my arm, trying to stop me, “Wouldn’t that be in direct violation of your word?”

“Do you honestly think my shoulders will fit through this thing?” I snapped, irritated at how many people were questioning my word today.

Her hand dropped quickly, taking a step back from me. “I guess not.”

I stuck my head through, looking around, I realized this was the cell they had been keeping Jim in. “Where the hell is he?”

“Little witch,” A voice spoke, one I never thought I’d hear again. “So the Trollhunter spoke true.” Looking up, I could see the green glow of Nomura’s eyes through one of the holes.

“One second,” I snarled, pulling my head out. “Toby, throw as much food as you have on you into the fetch right,” I moved, making sure it was far enough back in the cell that if Gunmar’s soldiers brought Jim back, they wouldn’t notice it. “Here.”

“What’s going on?” Claire asked as Toby took the fetch and did as instructed, emptying all his snacks and untouched lunch into the fetch.

“We found Jim’s cell, and someone else.” Looking at Draal, I took a seat near the cleared off bookshelf. “Keep looking, I have words for a very specific Changeling.”

Draal nodded, understanding exactly who I was referring to.

Closing my eyes, I focused on Jim's cell. Feeling my body fall away, I opened my eyes, staring down Nomura’s glowing green orbs.

She sneered at my presence, eyeing my orange spirit-form. “You’ve changed, witch.”

“And you’re locked away just like Jim, why?” I asked, in no mood for games or dodging questions. I floated into her cell, catching the changeling off guard.

Eyeing me for a moment, she huffed, sitting back against the cell wall she shared with Jim. “Gunmar had to punish someone for the death of his son, he needs little Gynt alive for you to have a reason to open the bridge.”

“Jim mentioned that Gunmar knew we were coming.” I sighed, feeling as if things just got much more complicated with Nomura involved. “‘Little Gynt’?”

“‘In the hall of the Mountain King,’ the hero boy of the story is referred to as Peer Gynt.” She explained, looking me dead in the eyes.

“Careful,” I snickered, “If you name something that usually means you’re attached to it.”

Nomura let out a gravely chuckle, wincing as she grasped at her chest, she was still injured from whatever punishment Gunmar put her through. “I’ve heard that’s the case with humans, would explain Stricklander’s attachment to you two.”

“Sit still,” I huffed, kneeling next to her.

Snarling, she tried to pull back. Far too weak to move more than a few inches, she glared over my form. “What do you think you’re doing, witch?”

“Well, I was trying to heal you, but if you prefer, you can stay in pain.” I huffed, hands on my hips as I scolded her like a child.

Shock was the first emotion Nomura truly showed during our conversation. She slowly nodded, allowing me to get closer once more.

I laid my hands carefully on her shoulders, pouring my healing magic directly into her. I could feel her tension ease as her wounds were healed until she could sit up straight.

“Better?” I asked, pulling back from the changeling, allowing her space once more.

“Yes,” She eyed me carefully, “what do you wish in return?”

I opened my mouth to deny her request, pausing as my eyes trained on the wall behind her.

“He’ll be back,” She spoke, realizing the only thing I’d ask is for information on Jim. “Not for a while though. The guards dragged him off right before you decided to ‘pop in’.”

Nodding I sat back, eyeing her as I thought over the injuries I could feel when I was healing her. “Do you,” I paused, wondering if Draal might snap if he knew what I was about to ask, Kanjigar will for sure. “Do you want a way out?”

Nomura studied me as if I had suddenly grown three heads. “You can’t be serious.”

“Do you want a way out?” I asked again, not sure how long I could wait for her reply.

She let out a cackle, holding her head in one hand as she stared at me with disbelief. “What are you?”

Smiling slightly, I shrugged, “Honestly, that list keeps growing.” I stood, giving her a slight bow before standing straight, head held high. “I am River Marie Wyllt. Merlin’s heir. Daughter of Lady Ganieda and General Garridan. Half Changeling.” I snickered as her mouth fell open at that, “And as far as the last Tribunal meeting, I am officially the leader of the Changelings of Arcadia. I know, I know, I never do anything simple, do I?”

Nomura kept opening and closing her mouth, trying to process everything. “No, no you do not.” She settled on, shaking her head. “I’m also starting to believe Draal has a type he’s not aware of,” she snickered. Standing, she circled me slowly. “So, if I do take your offer, would that make me one of your ‘Changelings of Arcadia’?”

“Only if you want to stick around without the trolls giving you a hard time.” I laughed, knowing full well Nomura could care less how the trolls viewed her.

“I’m not going to have to call you ‘my lady’ or ‘my queen’ am I?’ She asked, amused at the offer now that she knew it was serious.

I gagged, already hating the idea, “For the love of Deya, please never call me those again,” I shuddered, mind going straight to her highness-lady. “I’m about ready to commit regicide whenever I enter Trollmarket, that is a pedestal I will gladly jump off of.”

Nomura seemed to think over my answer, nodding to me, “Very well little Isolde. I will keep watch over the Trollhunter as best I can, while you work on the path out.”

Why did I feel like the new name was a dig at my previous request? “What, no questioning my word? My honor? Anything?” I asked, surprised Nomura agreed so easily.

Letting out a chuckle, I think my surprise was all Nomura needed to know the kind of weeks I’ve had since Jim crossed into the Darklands. “I’ve had plenty of talks with little Gynt, if you give your word, you’ll make it happen. Come hell or high water it seems.”

“Flooding the Darklands, not a bad idea,” I teased. “Then you have my word, even if I have to come in myself.”

“Curious, the Trollhunter said you promised the opposite.” Her eyes narrowed.

I shrugged, “I promised I wouldn’t come into the Darklands when we were all supposed to be storming this place together, I also promised due to the threat of the Eternal Night. Now, with how close the Janus Order truly is, it won’t matter what side of Killahead I’m on. My existence is enough of a threat.”

Snorting, Nomura gave me a sharp-toothed grin, “Truly a changeling, finding cracks in agreements and promises.” Thinking over my statement she nodded as my form began to fade, “wait for the phone to ring, you’ll know what to say.”

My brow furrowed at her words as I awoke in the travel agency once again, she caught on quickly. “Where’s the phone?” I asked, slightly groggy from the length I was able to stay in the Darklands.

“Phone?” Draal asked, helping me to my feet, it looked like the others were still tearing this place apart. “What happened?”

“Tip from Nomura,” I explained, looking over the room.

“Evil lady?!” Toby gasped out, glad he wasn’t able to stick his head through the fetch now. “What tip?”

“She said to wait for the phone to ring, and that I’d know what to say.” As I finished speaking, a phone on the back desk began to ring. Quickly walking over to it, I glanced at the others before picking it up. “Hello?”

A woman’s voice sounded through the phone, “Welcome to Omni Reach Travel. Where would you like to go?”

Where? Thinking back to my father’s letter and the transmission Toby picked up, I took a deep breath before answering. “Where two faces meet.” The call cut. Was that the wrong answer? Hanging up the phone, I glanced back at the others, shrugging.

The floor under us shook and slowly began to lower. We were standing on an elevator! Draal steadied me as we all took in what was happening. “Looks like she was right.” He huffed, glancing up as we sank deeper below Arcadia. Murals of Killahead bridge and the Darklands stretched on as we kept going.

“What are we going to do?!” Toby panicked, not wanting to face a horde of changelings with just us five. “We have to get out of here!”

“It’s too late to turn back now,” Blinky shushed him. “We must face what’s before us with courage and, beyond all else, a warrior’s dignity.”

“I thought the first rule of Trollhunting was to always be afraid,” I quipped, still irritated with Blinky’s earlier comments on the roof. Out of all the people who wouldn’t question me, Nomura was like, second to last on my list. Gunmar was probably last.

Toby yelped as we came to a giant mural of Gunmar, falling back into the desk chair as we reached what looked like elevator doors. Changelings were very advanced compared to Trolls.

“Welcome to the Janus Order,” a robotic female voice greeted us as the doors opened, revealing a hallway lit by a statue of an eye, the iris changed out with two side profiles of faces, one troll-like and the other human-like. Scratch that, I think Changelings are a bit too over dramatic, looks like Strickler got it honestly.

I pulled Toby up as the pathway lit up section by section. “Keep quiet, we don’t know how close anyone is.”

Blinky rubbed his stone chin in thought. “The Janus Order. This must be one of their bases of operations. By Gorgus, we were seeking a trail of breadcrumbs and wandered straight into the baker’s oven!” He panicked slightly, a little too loud for my liking as we exited the elevator.

“You think?” I asked sarcastically.

Draal nuzzled my cheek, holding my hand tight as he took up watch over my left side. “You seem calm.”

“Otto wanted negotiations with me, now he gets them express delivered to his doorstep.” I shrugged, at this point, Changelings were no longer the boogeyman Trolls pretended we were, even if the majority was working for Gunmar.

“We will have to improvise to keep Lady River safe, the antidote must be in this building.” Blinky seemed to ignore the part about the negotiations, or he was just ignoring me specifically at this point. “We’re in the den of spies, so try to walk lightly. Now fan out.” He ordered, taking off on his own before anyone could stop him.

“He does realize we have no idea how large this place is, right?” I asked, glaring at Blinky as he disappeared around a corner.

“Not a clue,” Draal rolled his eyes. “And neither do they,” sighing as he caught the last glimpses of Toby and Claire rounding another corner. “So how do you want to do this?”

“I was gonna go the direct approach seeing as that’s what Otto did,” I sighed, heading in the same direction as Claire and Toby. Before we could catch up, they walked through a door that locked behind them.

“You could teleport after them, but if there are changelings on the other side, they’d recognize you right away.” Draal offered, smirking as he saw the mischievous glint in my eye. “Direct approach?”

Grinning, I teleported us to Claire and Toby, “Since we were invited, shouldn’t we try asking for Otto?” I suggested as Toby was petting a tapestry, startling him enough that he ripped it down, revealing a communication room filled with changelings. “There you go,” I snickered.

Claire marched over, using a thick Spanish accent to yell at Toby as a woman ripped her mask off and marched over to us. “You’re right, Don Carlos.”

I arched a brow at her, confused by the charade.

She slapped the back of Toby’s head, “The Janus Order deserves a bigger banner than this toilet paper.” Was that supposed to ease the marching Changeling or insult her? “All hail Gunmar!” On second thought, we might be down two Trollhunters soon.

The woman approached us, eyeing all four of us. “I don’t recognize you four. What command post are you from?”

Claire glanced back at me and I only shrugged. She started the charade, she could finish it.

Draal glanced between the changeling and me, confused on how she didn’t recognize me.

Squeezing his prosthetic, I tried letting him know I thought it was suspicious too.

“Tapachula, Mexico.” Claire answered, hoping confidence would work here.

“You,” The changeling glanced back at me before looking down at her clipboard. Oh yeah, she definitely knew. “Must be the new transfer, Esmeralda!”

“Si, I am she,” Claire answered, not realizing her charade was already over.

“Esmeralda! Oh!” The changeling began to fangirl, “This is a huge honor!” The other changelings looked around the room, looking like they were just as confused as I was about whatever the hell we were watching. “You were the one who destroyed the dam and killed hundreds of fleshbags to protect our base!” She quickly shook Claire’s hand, glancing back at me again.

“Ugh, that was a crazy day.” Claire answered, obviously having no clue what the woman meant. “Not gonna lie, they had it coming.”

“You’re late for your orientation,” The changeling smiled sickly sweet, ushering us all further down the hall. “I’ll take you there now.”

Draal and I followed silently, either she was going to trap us or take us to Otto. Turns out, there was an actual changeling orientation. She handed us matching black masks and directed us to our seats.

“Well this is awkward,” I held the mask tight as we settled in our seats. Watching Strickler on a giant screen, the film looked ancient as it was now discolored. “Never thought I’d be seeing him again so soon.” The way the film played out, it looked like one of those silly documentaries you’d show elementary school students.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Otto speaking with the changeling that lured us here. Looks like I was also right, she brought us directly to Otto. My attention was pulled back to the screen as Strickler began to speak of the Pale Lady. I could feel my sclera change at the mention of the Aunt Gana I was most familiar with, the murderous rage witch.

“We gotta go,” Toby grabbed our attention.

Looking past him, I could see security and Otto smirking at us, their eyes going wide at the sight of my sclera. Since Strickler had no idea until he went rogue, they wouldn’t know either.

Every changeling around us turned, eyes glowing gold as they glared at our group. You know, Otto may want to talk to me, but Draal and the others? They might want them dead.

I grinned, sclera glowing bright for the changelings to see, “Adios!” I grabbed the others and teleported out of the room in a random hall.

“What happened to the direct approach?” Draal asked as we began to run, going to look for Blinky.

“He wants me, don’t know what they’ll do to the rest of you.” I explained quickly. “I can come back once I get the rest of you out of here!”

“Stop them!” The woman yelled, apparently I teleported us closer to the orientation room than I had meant to.

“You’re tired,” Draal pointed out, seeing the irritation on my face. “Spent too much mana in the Darklands.” He remarked, having seen the change in my magic when I healed Nomura.

“I’ll decide if it was worth it later,” I huffed, heading back towards the elevator, keeping Toby and Claire in front of me.

They came to a halt as the P.A. system announced that there were intruders in Wing B. Two changelings stood between us and the elevator. Before they could get close, Toby threw the remainder of his gumballs on the floor, causing the changelings to slide past us and hit the Janus Order sign. Claire opened a shadow portal behind them, causing them to fall out who knows where.

We quickly ran and hid behind the statues of well known changelings, listening as the mob from the orientation room passed us.

NotEnrique came by, waving us into a room.

Claire and Toby took after him, before Draal followed, I grabbed his wrist, sniffing the air. “Not him,” I snarled, we hadn’t stopped to get NotEnrique on the way, and he didn’t know where the Janus Order hideout was, if I was correct about Otto, Claire and Toby had just followed him.

“We’re still going,” Draal pulled me up, tense now that he knew for sure we were walking into a trap. As we entered the room, Otto was tying up an unconscious Toby and Claire to chairs, next to an already incapacitated and bound Blinky. “Bushigal!” Draal let out a yelp as the woman from before knocked him out, having expected us to follow behind.

Snarling, I quickly stood between the female changeling and Draal’s unconscious form. “You fucked up.”

“Really, now?” A thick German accent asked from behind. “It seems all your allies are out cold, and you’re surrounded by changelings that are actually loyal to Gunmar.”

I glanced back to see a smug smirk stretching over Otto’s face. While smug, he was still cautious as he pulled Draal’s unconscious form to another chair, tying him up with the other Teens. “Gunmar? And here I thought he was a means to an end.” I snapped my teeth at the female as she drew closer, gloved hands carrying metal shackles.

Otto seemed taken back by my answer, nodding to the female changeling. “If you want your friends to survive until they wake, you best behave.”

“Really?” I grinned, knowing he was avoiding my question. “Well, if you don’t want to talk about her, I might as well play along.” Glaring at the female in front of me, I held out my wrists, allowing her to close to the iron cuffs around them, instantly burning my flesh.

Looking up, the female changeling seemed to be shocked that I hadn’t reacted to the burns, glancing over my shoulder to Otto. Burns from Daylight hurt much more than iron burns ever could, that or it’s because my stone skin was helping my fleshy form.

I turned to face Otto, glaring down the changeling that led us on a chase specifically to send me a message. “When it comes to negotiations, you’re not very subtle about who you want to speak with.”

Otto glanced at my wrists, color draining from his face as he realized the iron was definitely burning my skin, and I had yet to react or acknowledge it. “What are you really, Sunshine?”

“You know, if you’re going to use Morgana’s name for me, then you really can’t ignore my questions pertaining to her, can you?” I tilted my head in confusion as Otto and the female Changeling went stiff, turning swiftly to a vintage record player with a gramophone speaker.

“Do you think because you hold her favor that you can speak her name?” The female changeling snarled, holding a sharp object to my back. I assumed the sharp object was a blade.

“Favor?” I snarled, teleporting behind her, quickly slipping my bound wrists over her head, pulling back till the iron was held tight to her throat. “I call her Morgana because she is my aunt, and that is her name. If you don’t want to hear it, that’s your problem.”

Otto put his hands up quickly, glaring at the changeling that I know had in a chokehold. Good thing I wasn’t holding a gaggletak to her throat. “Now, now, Sunshine, there’s no need for violence.”

Giving him a blank stare, I pointedly looked at each of my friends he had knocked out and tied up. “You really want to go with that? Fine.” Even as the burning from the shackles intensified, I poured my magic into my hands, grabbing the female changeling’s face. I focused on the feeling of falling asleep and poured the magic directly into her. Not a moment later, the changeling passed out, slumping out of my hold and down to the floor. “Now for you.” I bared my teeth at Otto, letting my right sclera burn.

Otto seemed to choke, the glow of my eyes catching him off guard again. “You’re truly a changeling?”

“‘Halfing’,” stalking forward, the least I could do is answer a question or two before I tore him apart. “You know my mother, my father on the other hand? General Garridan.” Is it bad that I found the look of pure horror on Otto’s face funny? Probably.

“The heir of Merlin is half changeling,” He let out an exasperated laugh, backing us as I drew closer. “And you fight as the human Trollhunter’s pet?” He sneered, trying to get a rise out of me.

I grinned, tilting my head. “The trollhunter is my cousin by blood. Tell me, has there ever been a ‘halfling’ trollhunter before?” This news seemed to scare him just as much as I had. “Don’t worry, Strickler only found out after you abandoned him. Now, this ‘pet’ business, what put that in your head?”

“You’re stronger and older than the Trollhunter, yet you take orders from him,” Otto glared, trying to take charge of the conversation again. “We know he’s asked you to lie to your guardian after he almost got her killed.”

“Stricklander and Angor Rot almost got her killed, not Jim.” I snarled, the burns were starting to get on my nerves.

“So you’re fine with lying to her?” Otto smirked, thinking he hit a nerve. The bastard did, but I didn’t have to let him know that. Just needed to keep him talking till the others woke up.

My grin turned malicious, my iris narrowing as I allowed more of my trollish features to slip through the glamour. “Aren’t all changelings exchanged with their human counterparts as babies? Did you ever feel bad about lying to the family that ‘raised’ you?”

Otto stiffened, not expecting his questions to be thrown back in his face. “If you’re half changeling, why do you fight the Pale Lady? Why turn your back on your people?” He sneered, sounding almost desperate.

I lunged, picking him up by his collar and holding him off of the ground. “She tore my mother apart in front of me as a child, used me as a bargaining tool to kill Merlin in their final fight, and separated my father and I from our true time. Take your pick.” My right iris glowed blue with daylight, a silent threat to the changeling hanging in my grasp.

“If you turn me to stone, you’ll never get the antidote,” Snarling, he tried pulling away from my hands.

I dropped him suddenly, my grin replaced with a dead stare. “Then stop wasting my time and patience and start negotiating. You wanted to speak with me directly, so what the hell do you want?”

“That simple?” Otto glared at me from the floor, knowing on his own he wouldn’t be able to stop me, not while he was cornered.

Snarling, I thought of the burns on my wrists and the feeling of fire. I know I’m pushing it, but scaring this jerk would be worth it. My hands lit up as I pulled on the Eclipse magic, black flames spread from my palms up over the iron cuffs, melting them off of my wrists.

Otto stared at the puddle of molten iron bubbling between us in shock.

“Never seen a wizard use their brain?” I rolled my eyes, flicking off what little iron remained on my wrists. “Now, about that antidote.”

“Why do you want it?” Otto asked suddenly.

I thought Eemeli and uncle James fed all the information out. “To cure Arrrgh.”

“Why?” He pressed, eyes finally shifting from the iron puddle to me.

Tilting my head, I tried to get a read on whether he was fishing for lies, or if he hadn’t gotten all of the information. “Let’s get straight to the point Mr. Evil Man,” I walked back over to my friends, seeing the first stirrings of them waking up. “You want a chance to free Gunmar, so you can free Morgana. And don’t try lying to me, I’ve already spoken with her.” I glared, over my shoulder, seeing he was about to interrupt me. At my words, he snapped his mouth shut hard, eyes wide in shock. “Gunmar has Jim captive, and because of that, we can’t open the bridge, and no, I can’t open it on my own.” My jaw tightened, realizing how much changelings withheld information from each other, even when they’re on the same side. “So, your only hope of getting Gunmar, is that antidote. We heal Arrrgh, Kanjigar uses him as a vessel, and we open the bridge. So, I’ll ask again. What do you want?”

Otto seemed to contemplate my words for a few moments, “Are you guaranteeing my Lord’s freedom?”

I arched a brow at him, “No.”

He seemed to have expected it. “Once we deal with you friend, I will tell you what I want in exchange for the antidote.” He got up, heading straight for Toby.

Glaring, I stood between them, snarling at Otto, “You think I’ll let you touch him?”

Otto held his hands up in defense, “Perhaps I misspoke, I meant that I would deal with how you tracked us down.”

Toby and the others began to wake up, all coming out of their sleep induced fog quickly as they realized they were tied to chairs. Draal seemed to notice Otto and me first.

“If you lay a hand on her, I’ll gut you open like a fish!” He snarled, pulling on his restraints.

Turning, I went and stood by Draal’s side, mostly to keep him calm until I had answers.

“My deepest apologies,” Otto smirked, moving the record player near us before turning to Toby. “You must understand our irrational fears when discovering intruders crashing our private party.” He tried to seem threatening as he waved his finger towards the rest of us. Deya, I miss Strickler’s overdramatics compared to this. “You did not get an invitation.”

“You’re not like the others, are you?” Claire asked, trying to pull Otto’s attention from Toby, confused on why I wasn’t stepping in. “You changed into NotEnrique.”

Otto’s form was surrounded in light before the teen we caught in the alley stood before us. “Yes. I am a changeling polymorph. I can take the form of anyone. It was surprising to realize that the heir of Merlin saw right through it.”

“Next time, don’t use my paint.” I glared, keeping my hand on Draal’s shoulder.

Otto chuckled, turning back into his normal form. “One of the perks of being the Grand Commandant.” He picked up a screwdriver, heading back for Toby.

“I don’t care who you are! You can torture us all you want, we’re not talking!” Claire glanced at me, hoping I would jump in.

“I’ll talk!” Don’t listen to her!” Toby tried to bargain, terrified of what Mr. Evil Man could do to him. “I have loose lips! I’m a chatty-fatty!”

Draal glanced up at me, having no idea what those sequences of words meant. I shrugged, mouthing ‘later’. At least he was calm now that Otto didn’t seem to be threatening me directly.

Claire scoffed, turning a full glare at me, “Aren’t you going to do something?”

Leveling her with a blank stare, I lifted one of my wrists for her to see the fresh burns. “Already did. Congratulations, you’re not dead.”

“Lady River, I don’t believe this is the time for jokes!” Blinky panicked, surprised that this seemed to be the one time I wasn’t running into something head first.

Otto shushed the others, shaking his head, “So much noise.” Turning his eyes back to Toby I zeroed in on the polymorph changeling. One wrong move and I’d turn him to stone. “Now, let us discuss what we should do with you.” He turned to the record player and began winding it. Distorted music was playing, then Morgana’s voice began to speak through the gaps in the music.

A cold chill ran down my spine, my grip on Draal’s shoulder tightening as I realized this was the Morgana trapped inside gemstones, not the one I grew up with. This was the voice of the woman who tore my mother apart.

A malice filled voice whispered out, just loud enough for me to catch whispers in the old tongue, “Sunshine is the key, keep her happy and I will be free.”

Otto nodded, seeming surprised by the words, yet willing and ready to follow them without question. So, he really didn’t care about Gunmar, he just needed the warlord to free Morgana.

He pulled out the screwdriver again, going back to Toby. “It seems there is a change of plans.” He smirked, looking over to me, “The Janus Order would like to propose a trade.”

So that’s why he wouldn’t answer the question. He had to wait for her to tell him what to do.

“A trade for what, Mr. Evil Man?” Blinky asked as Otto walked past him. A changeling outside of the room, reached in, handing Otto a book similar in looks to ‘A Brief Recapitulation of Troll Lore’ Vol. 1, I haven’t had a chance to read the other volumes yet.

Thumbing through the book, Otto paused, “The antidote for creeper’s sun. Correct me if I’m wrong, Sunshine,” he looked over at me, waiting for a moment before looking back at Blinky, “but you’re stone friend, Arrrgh, needs this.” He smirked, knowing the only reason he had that bit of info was because I told him.

“What’s the catch?” Calire asked, glaring up at Otto.

“Such a clever one,” Otto said sarcastically, getting into Claire’s face. “For the life of your friend, we wish only Vendel’s walking staff.”

“A piece of the Heartstone,” I interrupted, “Why do you want that?”

“His staff is sacred!” Blinky broke in, glaring at Otto, “It was forged from the center of our Heartstone!”

“And therefore, exceptionally rare,” Otto brushed Blinky off.

“Not to mention, potentially powerful, given to the right person.” I sighed, having a bad feeling where this was going. If I was right, we’d all but be handing over an energy boost to Gunmar, if the similarities we share run that deep. I can draw more magic from the hearthstone now that I’ve somehow merged with it. Since he was born from one, could he draw similar powers from another?

“Consider it a one-time offer,” He grabbed a standard dental tool for removing braces and headgear, and returned his attention to Toby.

Toby began yelling out, trying to get away from Otto as the changeling began removing his headgear. The others wincing and looking away.

“Torture?” Otto smirked, holding Toby’s headgear up, “This is just to take the headgear off. We can’t have you listening in on our secrets anymore, can we? Besides, we’d never hurt friends of Sunshine, the Pale Lady wishes to stay in favor with Lady River.”

Toby licked over his teeth, sighing in relief as he realized he wasn’t going to be torn apart. “Thank you.”

Otto untied the humans and Blinky, ordering the Changelings outside to escort us back to the surface. “One last thing, Lady River.”

I glanced over my shoulder, glaring at the polymorph. Now what?

Otto’s face split into a sadistic grin, “You have given me much to think over, and I do hope I have given you something to think on as well, yes?”

Instead of responding, I turned and followed the others back to the elevator. A masked changeling taking us on a slow ride back to the surface.

“What was that about?” Draal asked, staying on my left and eyeing the changeling.

I glanced at our escort, smirking, making sure to speak loud enough for them to hear. “Seems like Otto didn’t get all the information, which means someone here is withholding valuable information. Strickler wasn’t the last traitor Otto had to worry about.”

“And the other part?” Claire asked, tone clipped as she was still mad I hadn’t stepped in earlier.

“Otto’s under the impression I’m fine with being some sort of ‘pet’, fighting alongside his master’s enemy. I gladly informed him that Jim and I are related by blood. If one of us is a halfling, so is the other.” I explained, shrugging off her anger. She can be mad at me all she likes, the only thing I care about at the moment is figuring out a way of getting Vendel’s staff without him knowing it’s us.

Glancing at the changeling, Claire elbowed me in the side, “Why didn’t you do anything?” She whispered. Apparently she wasn’t okay with me passing over her anger.

“I did, you were unconscious.” I glared down at her, irritated now.

“The changeling on the ground?” Draal asked, glancing between me and Claire.

I shrugged, trying to ease my own tension, “I got bubbles down, figured I’d give knocking someone out a try.”

Humming, Draal looked down at my wrists, having noticed the burns while he was threatening Otto. “Iron?”

“Shackles, they honestly thought that would hold me.” I winced, mind tuning back into the pain I was still in. I should deal with that.

“It should have,” Blinky interrupted, eyeing the burns on my wrist, “Iron hurts magic, it’s why trolls, changelings, and sorcerers can’t escape iron cages, unless you had something like the shadow staff on you, but even then, you wouldn’t have enough magic to use it.”

“I melted them,” I shrugged again, healing the burns just enough so that the pain wasn’t too noticeable. Blinky got one thing right, you’re really drained of magic after coming into contact with iron.

“Melted?!” He gasped out as the elevator came to a stop. The changeling waited for us to get off of the platform before heading back down. “How in Deya’s name do you melt them?”

“Fire wasn’t hard, Eclipse made it easier.” I huffed, holding my palm out, focusing on the flames again. Black fire came to life in front of Blinky’s eyes.

“Whoa,” Claire leaned over, anger seemingly forgotten at the new spell. “You can make shadow flames? Can I do that?”

“SHE shouldn’t be able to do that!” Blinky gestured to all of me, exasperation filling his tone. “Shadow magic does not conjure flames, that’s elemental magic!”

“And yet I’m holding black flames,” I huffed,  my ‘rule breaking’ making Blink slowly go insane.

Blinky huffed, glaring at the flames, “Right, because nothing about you can be normal? Can it?” He asked, not having meant it as an insult.

I winced, pulling back from Blinky quickly. Closing my hand to extinguish the fire, I started walking towards home.

“Not cool,” Toby huffed at Blinky, following after me, Draal close behind him, staying back long enough to growl in Blinky’s face. “River! Wait up!” Toby ran up to my right, knowing Draal prefers to be on my left now. “Look, Blinky was being a jerk. There’s nothing wrong with you.”

I looked down at him, right iris glowing red as my emotions ran rampant, “Isn’t everything?” I asked, moving to walk faster.

“No, it’s not!” Toby ran in front of me as we reached the dirt path that would take us to the back of my house.

Surprised at his outburst, my steps faltered coming to a stop. “Toby, everything about me is wrong!” I snapped, red lines glowing over my arms. “I’m in the wrong time, I was raised the wrong way for what I am, I’m using the wrong magic, I use said wrong magic the wrong way. Hell! Depending on who you ask, I’m on the wrong side of this war. So tell me, how is all that not wrong?!” I gestured to all of me, the red and black of my Eclipse magic showing, even through my clothes.

“Because you’re you!” Toby huffed, refusing to back down. Apparently a wizard on the verge of a mental breakdown with fluctuating magic was less terrifying than Otto with dental tools. “You don’t do normal, sure. But, normal to who? A bunch of teenage humans? Trolls stuck in tradition? Changelings that run on deceit, who’s only goal in life is to free the witch that hurt you?” He asked, crossing his arms over his chest as my face fell in disbelief. “You’re not human, you’re only half wizard, and you’re half changeling. You’re different and you get to do things your way!”

“My way?” I asked, shaking my head, “There are rules to magic, to everything.” I tried to argue with him, but apparently Toby wasn’t going to hear it.

“Rules written by people that didn’t know you would happen, rules that apply to how they do things. What about the rules to being a Trollhunter? Rule number two is to always finish the fight, every troll before you and Jim took that as killing their opponent, and what do you two do? We have a gnome living in my Nana’s dollhouse,” He gestured to Draal, “Your husband is still breathing and not a pile of rubble at the bottom of whatever surrounds the forge,” Huffing, he pointed his finger in my face, “You spared and befriended a changeling witch hunter who was hunting you, you trusted NotEnrique before anyone else, and you safely escorted Strickler out of Trollmarket when everyone else wanted to kill him!”

I blinked, staring at his finger in my face. Truly at a loss for words.

“So, yeah.” Toby shrugged, pulling his hand back. “You may be different, but you’re the only person who’s gotten this far. If Blinky thinks that’s a bad thing, or if Claire wants to be a jerk, whatever. You have me and Draal. I’d say Jimbo, but I still think you want to give him a left hook on sight.”

I rushed Toby, hugging him tight. Draal grasped my shoulder, just letting me know he was there.

Tobes was right. It doesn’t matter what others think, there’s no one else like me. “Thank you.”

[queen-of-writing-bad-things]

Henry Danger Reader Insert | Captain Man x Reader: SEASON 5 Masterlist

Status: Complete!

Main Masterlist

Synopsis: Five years have nearly passed since thirteen-year-old Henry Hart agreed to be a superhero's sidekick. He threw himself into the role, sacrificing his childhood to keep Swellview safe, make new friends he would never have met, do things he never thought he could, witness the greatest love story of all time, and find the family he never knew he was missing. It's only a matter of months before Ray and (y/n) finally make their vows, but time in the Man Cave is running out. Soon, Henry will have to leave his found family and set off on his own…

This story is mature in places with adult themes and language and uses she/her pronouns for a female reader. However, anyone is free to read and enjoy :)

Seasons 1, 2, 3, and 4 are also available now.

Episode 1: Henry's Birthday 

Episode 2: Whistlin' Susie 

Episode 3: Thumb War Part 1

Episode 4: Thumb War Part 2

Episode 5: Great Cactus Con (SMUT) 

Episode 6: A New Evil Part 1

Episode 7: A New Darkness Part 2

Episode 8: A New Hero Part 3

Episode 9: Broken Armed and Dangerous 

Episode 10: Knight & Danger (SMUT)

Episode 11: Grand Theft Otto (SMUT)

Episode 12: The Whole Bilsky Family 

Episode 13: Secret Room 

Episode 14: My Dinner With Bigfoot (SMUT)

Episode 15: Charlotte Gets Ghosted 

Episode 16: I Dream of Danger 

Episode 17: Holey Moley 

Episode 18: Love Bytes 

Episode 19: Double-O Danger (SMUT)

Episode 20: Massage Chair 

Episode 21: Henry Danger: The Musical Part 1

Episode 22: Henry Danger: The Musical Part 2

Episode 23: Sister Twister Part 1 

Episode 24: Sister Twister Part 2 

Episode 25: A Tale of Two Pipers (SMUT)

Episode 26: Story Tank 

Episode 27: Captain Mom (SMUT)

Episode 28: Visible Brad (SMUT)

Episode 29: EnvyGram Wall 

Episode 30: Holiday Punch 

Episode 31: Mr. Nice Guy (SMUT)

Episode 32: Theranos Boot (SMUT)

Episode 33: Rumblr (SMUT)

Episode 34: Cave the Date (SMUT)

Episode 35: Escape Room 

Episode 36: Game of Phones (SMUT)

Episode 37: Remember the Crimes 

Episode37.5: A Trip Down Memory Lane

Episode 38: The Beginning of the End 

Episode 39: Captain Drex 

Episode 40: The Fate of Danger Part 1 

Episode 41: The Fate of Danger Part 2 

Epilogue Part 1: All’s Well That Ends Well

Epilogue Part 2: To End Up With You (SMUT)

[wheretwofacesmeet]

Things that Are Probably Canon:

1. Strickler is a fan of Billy Joel

( quoted him to Jim in first episode)

2. Esmeralda died before she could reach the Janus Order headquarters

( that Changeling lady mistook Claire for her in Grand Theft Otto)

3. Strickler shoved the amulet down the back of his pants to hide it

( looks like he's pulling it out of there when he says he got what was most important)

4. Jim sometimes tries to call Claire but gets Strickler instead

( they share the same phone number of 555 - 0101)

5. Ryan George 's lawyer character lives in Arcadia

( Arcadian numbers start with 555 , as Claire's number and the Wizards " We've Lost Our Marbles" missing cat poster proves ; the Lawyer Guy's number starts with 555)

6. Back in the Third Age of Middle Earth, Gandalf taught Merlin, that's why he's such a powerful wizard; also , LOTR languages are mentioned by Douxie in Wizards : Elvish, Orcish )

7. Barbara's dad was in the military

( painting in the background suggests this )

8. Skrael was once an Akiridion

( suffered a magical metamorphosis,like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly; he looks a lot like one,and has very similar eyes,and actually resembles Krel

[heyimtavia]

THE POST FINALE HENRY DANGER OPINIONS TAG:

Hey party people! Sorry I’ve been a bit out of the loop. Due to what’s going on in the world, adulting sorta got in the way and I have to DVR the final episode. No one tagged me, but I just wanted to add my two cents since this is officially the end and this is a really cute tag.

1. Who was your overall favorite member of Team Danger and why?

Charlotte hands down. She was brilliant, sassy and just a great friend to Henry no matter what. She’s one of the main reasons why I decided to tune into the show. I saw a lot of myself in her. I was once that little smart black girl that no one listened too. But it’s okay though, but that GLOW UP is real! I know from experience lol.

2. Who was your favorite non-team danger character and why?

Y'all know I love Fran the security guard. She should’ve gotten more air time. I just think she’s hilarious! I’d loved to see her try to wrestle a dolphin any day!

3. Who was your favorite villain and why?

Dr. Minyak & Nurse Cohort. I just gotta respect his hustle. Other than Rex and Rick Twitler, I feel like he’s the only everyday villain who always came close to defeating Captain Man & Kid Danger. He always had unique plans; from capturing and brain-altering Charlotte to taking Piper and the man fan hostage, he was always creative. Plus I love his little temper tantrums he sometimes throws. 

4. What were your top five favorite Henry Danger episodes of all time and why?

1) All time Fav would go to The Great Cactus Con. From the dopeyness of how everyone can do a backflip instead of Ray. How Charlotte gets to show off her fashion design skills. How Piper unofficially works with Team Danger. Plus I love the cute romantic bit between Jasper and Patina. 2) Rumblr- That whole episode was just comedy gold for me. They should’ve brought Kyle back for the finale and had him show up at kid danger’s funeral  3) I dream of Danger - Its Char’s episode. I like how it alluded to Charlotte’s dream might come true but it doesn’t. However, I don’t like how they just moved on like the episode never happened even when Jasper thinks that char likes him. 4) Flabber Gassed- I love that char got to show off her fighting skills and how happy Jasper was to be a superhero. 5) Holey Moley- I straight up die for laughter every time I see that episode. I love how Henry kept saying, “oh look, a downside.” I feel like that episode would have been a sketch on All That or the Amanda Show. It just felt like good ole Nickelodeon comedy.

5. What were your top five least favorite Henry Danger episodes of all time and why?

1) Henry’s Birthday- Call me a diva, but if anyone treated me like that on my birthday, the party is OVER! 2) Captain Makini (I think that's what it’s called). Sorry, I'm not really a fan of Frankie Grande and though he was great for the musical, I really don’t think he needed a second episode. 3) Meet Cute Crush- I’m sorry, anything involving Piper is just physical and emotionally draining. All that girl does is yell. Thank u, next. 4) Sick & Wired- Because I got sick and tired of Ray’s shenanigans. 5) JAM Session- Now Piper isn’t my favorite character, but how that girl was manipulated all over a bet was just stupid and disrespectful.

6. What was your favorite running gag and why?

1) Fran’s line, “There’s only one in the whole world, and we got it!” Swellview must be a fun, mysterious place that always gets amazing things lol. 2) When everyone says “Click” before hanging up their phone. I find it funny because I’m pretty sure the kids had never owned a flip phone in their lives.

7. What was your favorite one-off throw away gag and why?

When shwoz referenced his song from the musical when he said, “Science, science, science, I’ve said this already.” I think he said this in Theranos boot. And also the grammar fights and how grammar rules don’t apply to Charlotte lol.

8. What episode, which character and which duo made you laugh the most?

I think Holey Moley & Rumblr both made me laugh the most. Those were great episodes. Jasper would have to be the funniest. That boy says the darndest things lol. Hensper. Because of how Henry loved Jasper’s mustache and wanted to get one too. And when Jasper and Henry were both “Dude. Bro. Dude. Bro. DUDE!” Over the Patina situation and Charlotte had to break them up.

9. What episode, which character and which duo made you the most emotional?

I think it was Second episode of the finale episodes, when Henry was freaking out at the end because he was alone and Rex had sent Ray A Million and one years into the past. The fact that he literally had to think like all of his friends because obviously that’s what he was used to, everyone being there to help figure out a plan and keep swellview safe. And the fact that for that moment he was kid danger and all alone was really scary for him.

10. How would you rank each season from 1 to 5, one being the best and five being the worst?

I would rank season 5 as 1. It overall had great episodes and delved into different genres and fun tv and movie tropes. It made it a joy to watch, though some episodes leading towards the end didn’t quite catch me. Season 4 would be like a high 4 but not exactly a 5. Season 3 was sorta Meh to me. So maybe a #.  Season 2 would be a 4 and season 1 would be like a 4 because it was a the beginning to a great show and was still working out the kinks a bit.

11. Who was your favorite duo in the show (romantic or non-romantic)?

Chenry 100%. The friendship that those two have is great! Now I must say, I hate that Nick was still posting about them on their youtube page for clout knowing that it wasn’t gonna happen. I felt like they did that just so people would watch the final episodes. I was gonna watch regardless, but really Nick? Really?

12. What was your favorite Henry and Ray moment/episode?

The bro song! Plus I love that it kept getting referenced after the musical as well.

13. What was your favorite Chenry moment/episode?

 When Char was controlling  Henry in flabber gassed, she made him jump up and down while clapping! I love that even shwoz joined in too lol. And when Henry was concerned about her after she ate bad meat from the auto snacker.

14. What was your favorite Hensper moment/episode?

The mustache scene from Grand Theft Otto, “dude if I had one, I’d be Man Danger!”

15. What was your favorite Chensper moment/episode?

This also kinda includes Ray but when they were all stealing Joss Ross’s gift from her birthday party and they were just casually leaving. And how Jasper kept saying, “It’s not stealing if it’s from a criminal.” Plus I like the episode when Hen and Char have to pretend to date just to see if Jasper would keep their secret. The boy poured a whole bowl of pees down his shirt lmaoooo!!

16. If you could go back and change one element of the show, what would it be?

 Have Ray grow up and stop fawning over Henry’s mom. It was just plain creepy! Oh and put some respect on my girl Charlotte’s name.

17. If you could say one thing to each main character in the pilot, what would it be?

Life isn’t always about one day getting a statue, (I’m looking at YOU Captain Man). Crime-fighting is fun and being a sidekick could literally every kid’s dream. But don’t forget to be a kid. Hangout with your friends, go to school, go on dates. Do the whole growing up thing. But at the end of the day, you have to do what’s best for you.

18. If you could say one thing to each main character in the finale, what would it be?

Thank you for sharing your lives with me and I am so so sooo proud of you all! 

19. Were you satisfied with the finale? What part was your favorite and what part was your least favorite?

 Honestly, I think it was okay for what it was. My fav part was when Jasper literally had to carry Char out of the mancave because she refused to leave Henry behind. I love that they decided to stick together. They did leave a lot of storylines open. I thought Joss Moss would be revealed as the real Mob boss. I thought Rick Twitler would regain his memory. Where the heck is Gooch? Caitlin? Chenry (for obvious reasons). I'm just spitballing here. Was it good? Yes. could it have been better? Hell yes.

20. What would your ideal Henry danger spin off look like?

 Charlotte and Henry have powers and Jasper can fight! Dystopia. That was the spin-off that I wanted! I don’t really care about the new kids as much. They’re college-aged too? Just imagine the shenanigans they would get into! But we need to kick the Charlotte hating writer off the staff though. Can The CW pick this show up?

21. Where do you personally see the characters 10 years from now? What are they doing, who are they with, where are they in their lives - what do you think happened to them? Most importantly, are they happy?

 I honestly haven’t thought about it. But I believe no matter what they do or where they may end up, they will be happy. They’ll probably always be a team.

22. What was your favorite part of the show and why did it initially draw you in?

It became an escape from my normal adult life. (I’m saying like I’m old. I’m only 23.) I randomly flipped it on one day, I can't remember what episode it was, but from then on, I was hooked. I used to watch it a while back, but I fell off, but at that moment on time, it was easy for me to fall right back into it.

23. What was your favourite part of the fandom and why did it initially draw you in?

The friends I’ve made, the people have met! They are the best out of all the fandoms I’m a part of. I’ve been on tumblr for years and never had I have a group of people be so nice, supportive and just incorporate me into things. I love you guys so much!

24. Describe your overall emotions/feelings regarding the show being over and the show in general, looking back on it as a whole, with one quote from the show.

It’s a bittersweet feeling. I hate to see it go. But all good things must come to an end. But I guess there’s nothing better to say than, “Feels Good.”

25. If you were able to add one scene in the finale, what would you add?

 I don’t know honestly. Maybe we could have seen him reunite with his friends and family. Especially Charlotte and Jasper, Afterall, they probably thought that their best friend was dead for all they knew.

26. Favorite outfit/hair style?

 Charlotte’s Date outfit with Jack Swagger. Sis was rockin that romper. Also when Jasper and Charlotte were helper bunnies! Those outfits were hilarious and cute.

27.Least favorite character?

I'm sorry but Piper. She was worse than the whole annoying little sister trope. I swear all ash did was yell through most of the seasons and then they gave this chick a driver’s license, I mean what?? Plus i think her reaction to finding out Henry was kid danger was better in Broken Armed and Dangerous, than in twisted sister. 

28. What is question you would like to ask the writers/ producers?

Im tagging @adorkable-blackgirl @chenoahchantel

[ciara-knightly]

What are your favorite episodes for Charlotte & Henry moments?

Sorry for the late response, I totally forgot about this ask! Here’s a list of my favorite episodes for Chenry.

I Dream of Danger (S5E16)

Grand Theft Otto (S5E11)

The Great Cactus Con (S5E05)

Brawl in the Hall (S4E2)

JAM Session (S3E13)

Dodging Danger (S3E08)

Indestructible Henry, Part 1 (S2E10)

The Time Jerker (S2E06)

The Beat Goes On (S2E02)

The Bucket Trap (S1E23)

Kid Grounded (S1E21)

Dream Busters (S1E20)

The Secret Gets Out (S1E03)

This list accidentally ended up being a bit backwards with the most recent episodes at the top. But this is it! Looking back on it, season 1 and 2 Chenry hits differently, but I love to see how they’ve grown. This doesn’t really explain the moments I like though, so if you want that, I can do that, too. Because to be honest, some of my favorite moments aren’t necessarily in the episodes on this list. Like I really like their convo in Mouth Candy, or when he asks her what’s wrong in Budget Cuts. 

[famousflowermagazine]

THE POST FINALE HENRY DANGER OPINIONS TAG:

i was tagged by @mychenrymadness  this is my first time making a post for this fandom so i’ll give it a go 

1. Who was your overall favourite member of Team Danger and why?

oh this is a difficult question i love all of them, but i would have to go with Charlotte i just love the way she cares about her friends even when i feel as they don’t always listen to her as they should. i love how smart she is at getting henry and ray out of trouble as i see her as the most level headed and comes up with the best solutions.

2.  Who was your favourite non-team danger character and why?

i would have to go with newscaster mary gaperman as i felt that being in a profession where it’s mostly a male dominated i felt that she was overshadowed by her co-host i hated the way that he would interrupt her whenever she tried speaking always rubbed me the wrong way.

3.  who was your favourite villian and why?

i’d have to go with Frankini i just loved his overall impeccable fashion sense, to me he was one of the fun villains who made me laugh a lot.

4.  What were your top five favourite Henry Danger episodes of all time and why?

1. toon in for danger: i was laughing throughout the whole episode especially during the studio's cartoon that was given to captain man and kid danger by accident. it was just filled with ridiculous shenanigans that made it hard to breathe as i was laughing so hard.

2. i dream of danger i mean chenry centric can’t get better than that, i felt for Charlotte throughout the whole episode especially when she kept not being able to speak full sentences when Henry was around with using the word kiss, i loved the running gag of the elevator not coming up on time and Charlotte turning around and seeing the kid danger cardboard cutout either punching or throwing it out of reflex. jasper turning invisible and annoying ray. schwoz injecting himself with tiger medicine dressing up as Elton john as a peacock. 

3. captain man-kini  i loved the whole ray swapping bodies with frankini was hilarious especially when ray had to walk and talk like him and forgetting at one point that he was not in his own body. what i loved most about this episode was that since ray was captured albeit as frankini but it gave henry a chance to save the day himself with the help of frankini and schwoz. it also gave us more independent Henry that we don’t usually get.

4. spelling bee hard   Charlotte centic which is a plus my favourite part was when Charlotte was trying to spell a word dr minyak tried distracting her trying to get her to spell the word word but like the badass she is without even looking i might add she hit him in the face with the mike made me laugh hysterically. the bet between captain man and dr minyak was silly but hysterical having to bike on really small bikes to California and back. i loved that knowing how important the spelling bee was to charlotte ray ended up letting her win which was actually, really sweet of him.

5. grand theft otto    jasper’s marvellous mustache i love how he was so protective of it, this episode gave me chensper vibes with jasper telling henry and charlotte to stop kissing with them say at the same time were not kissing and he replies with in a way your both kissing me since charotte had jasper’s retainer stuck in her mouth. my other favourite moment was when the parrot kept on repeated henry is kid danger.

5 What were your top five least favourite Henry Danger episodes of all time and why?

1. man of the house  i didn’t like rays crush on henry’s mom was more prominent in this episode which rubbed me the wrong way as it always has and felt it had gotten worse in the later episodes especially considering she is a married woman and you really should not flirt with someone who is married.

2.  sick and wired i didn’t like that ray didn’t trust Henry when he was sick as i felt that he was not being very sympathetic and having schwoz put spy camera’s in henry’s house was an invasion of privacy and had jasper go undercover with a wire to try catch Henry in a lie when he didn’t even lie in the first place.

3. henry and the woodpeckers it wasn’t a bad episode i just didn’t find it as interesting as the others.

4. meet cute crush  i didn’t like the basis of this episode with piper having a crush on the new boy in her class i just rubbed me the wrong way, how she basically created a ruse just to get close to him and i all did not like how she got her own brother hurt when he was thrown through a wooden table in the cafe from an adult not even thinking about the consequences and wanting to try again when henry didn’t even want to do it in the first place.

5.  the bucket trap it wasn’t a bad episode i just hated that they had jasper tazer himself it did not look very safe and why would piper even have one it’s not exactly suitable for a child to have.

6.  What was your favourite running gag and why?

whenever scwoz introduced himself with i am schwoz and captain man’s i’m okay. whenver the man cave elevator decends it sends people falling to the floor when you get to the man cave.

7.  What was your favourite one-off throw away gag and why?

not a running gag but henry liking flower camp gave us a look into things he does when not doing hero work it’s nice to have a hobby.

8.  What episode, which character and which duo made you laugh the most?

whenever Charlotte, schwoz and jasper were paired together or Charlotte and jasper in flabber gassed when they worked together to help ray and Henry when they were sprayed with flabber gas and having to control them through the suits. as members of the team without powers they are still part of team that i wish was explored more.

9.  What episode, which character and which duo made you the most emotional?

the finale episode got me the most emotional that Charlotte, Henry and jasper could not live without the other, i was in tears when they had to leave the man cave especially with Charlotte being adamant on not leaving Henry. and jasper having to pick her up and carry her out not knowing if they would see each other again. i liked how the show ended with them leaving and ending up in a different town being a crime fighting trio was all i ever wanted.

10.  How would you rank each season from 1 to 5, one being the best and five being the worst?

to be honest i like every season to a degree while there may have been some episodes that was not my favourite but i liked the seasons overall.

11.  Who was your favourite duo in the show (romantic or non-romantic)?

Charlotte and schowz team science because they understand each other on a level that others may not be able to as they came up with the solutions to solving the problems that the team  face.

12.  What was your favourite Henry and Ray moment/episode?

in the early seasons before ray’s characterisation went downhill i’d say license to fly with ray acting like a nervous parent when teaching henry how to fly shwoz’s helicopter. 

13.  What was your favourite Chenry moment/episode?

i dream of danger a no brainer the most peak chenry content that we had ever gotten the mutual pining in this episode was top notch. their interaction in the lions den.

14.  What was your favourite Hensper moment/episode?

love muffin episode with henry flirting with jasper was hysterical complementing his hair being very clingy.

15.  What was your favourite Chensper moment/episode?

the scene in the man cave in the finale  Charlotte, Henry and jasper could not live without the other, i was in tears when they had to leave the man cave especially with Charlotte being adamant on not leaving Henry. and jasper having to pick her up and carry her out not knowing if they would see each other again.

16.  If you could go back and change one element of the show, what would it be?

have the adults actually be there for their children, have them actually be proud of their children. i hated that when jasper’s nose was broken his parents could not be bothered to see him.  basically anything the parents did i would do differently.

17.   If you could say one thing to each main character in the pilot, what would it be?

look out for each other, keep each other safe and make sure to always include each other .

18.  If you could say one thing to each main character in the finale, what would it be?

keep in touch no matter where you are you will always be in each other’s hearts.

19.  Were you satisfied with the finale? What part was your favourite and what part was your least favourite?

yes it ended in a satisfying way , my favourite part was Charlotte , jasper and Henry being together, seeing how much they cared for each other and how they couldn’t live without each other. Henry's growth and independence living his life on his own terms. Charlotte being able to live her dream. found family with each other. my least favourite part was not seeing Charlotte and jasper finding out that Henry was alive because the last time they saw him they were not sure if he had survived. getting a so happy your alive group hug.

20.  What would your ideal Henry danger spin off look like?

seeing what danger force will have in store when it starts

21.  Where do you personally see the characters 10 years from now? What are they doing, who are they with, where are they in their lives - what do you think happened to them? Most importantly, are they happy?

that charlotte, jasper and henry are happy fighting crime together maybe adopt a pet or two. when henry’s not fighting crime i’d like for him to have his own flower store like a nursery. for jasper he could have a successful podcast. for charlotte i think she has the imagination to write children’s books maybe as a veterinarian as i feel that she would have a connection with animals  and loves helping people i’m not really sure but i think she can do anything that she puts her mind to.

22.  What was your favourite part of the show and why did it initially draw you in?

i have always loved superheros so i guess that’s what drew me into the show just randomly came across it after watching the thundermans.

23.  What was your favourite part of the fandom and why did it initially draw you in?

i saw how welcoming the fandom is seeing all the amazing meta and gifsets @mychenrymadness was actually when of the first blogs i found who’s love of max thunderman and Charlotte made me watch every season of the thundermans  and he became one of my favourite character’s after charlotte and is the reason why i ship them in the first place, chenry will always be my otp but i love thunderbolt too even though i’m not sure if they interacted with each other in the thunderman and henry danger crossover.

24.  Describe your overall emotions/feelings regarding the show being over and the show in general, looking back on it as a whole, with one quote from the show.

i feel sad that it’s over but i have loved the main trio’s journey  especially Henry's growth as a superhero it has made me laugh and cry.

25. If you were able to add one scene in the finale, what would you add?

seeing henry, charlotte and jasper reuniting after thinking their best friend died when they decided to live together away from swellview.

26.  Favorite outfit/hair style?

charlotte’s hands down she had the best hairstyle and the best outfits. and for the clothing i have always loved whatever henry wore since i can relate to that style.

27.  Least favorite character?

 Henry's parents especially in the finale 

i won’t tag anyone because i’m not sure who hasn’t done this as i’m new to the henry danger tumblr fandom so i don’t really know many people.

[littleladybaker]

📜💕🍀 for the media hiperfixation ask game. :3

I hope you don't made that it's a bit of an essay... Sorry...

📜 TOA starts Trollhunters is about a kid named Jim and his friends fighting evil trolls called Gumm-Gumms. It eventually leans into the Arthurian legends, introducing Merlin, Morgana, and the concept of King Arthur. Then came 3Below introducing the Acoridians and their royal family, namely Aja and Krel. They also implied that Acoridians and Trolls may have once been the same or at least connected. Up next is Wizards which hasn't been released yet but is dead to tie everything together and even bring old characters back from the DEAD!

Doctor Who is about an alien, Galifreyan, man named ‘The Doctor’ as he travels threw time and space. He fights intergalactic enemies with the help of his trusted and beloved companions. When I talk about Dr. Who, I’m usually referring to the fourth Doctor (Tom Baker, hence the name :D) or the ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston).

💕 For TOA it’s definitely Otto Scaarbach. I don't really know why because when he first turned up I despised him. He seamed like just another ‘Evil German Guy’ stereotype and reminded me so much of one of the Indiana Jones villains that he made my skin crawl. After about two episodes of actual personality, I decided that he was actually really funny and his relationship with Walter and the Goblin Fragwa made me smile. Finding out he was a Polymorph shapeshifter sealed the deal for me as I realized this character had initiate possibilities. That, and a bit of influence from the fandoms Headcannons about him and the other two Changlings, definitely changed how I looked at this character. By the episode ‘Grand Theft Otto’ he was my favorite character and I had already decided his role in my fanfic Changling Families.

For Doctor Who, it is UNDENIABLY the fourth Doctor. For one thing, I adore the dynamic between him and his companions. He really helped me with some issues I was going threw in my last two years of high school. He’s friendly without being blindly trusting and will even work with enemies to save the universe. But, don't you dare threaten his companion because he will DESTROY  you if you do. The fourth Doctor would do almost anything for his companions. That and Tom Baker held a bit of familiarity when I first started watching, though I didn't know why at the time. I later discovered that I had spent much of my early childhood watching his version of The Silver Chair.

🍀 No kins but I kinda don't know what that is so... My comfort Characters are basically the same as my favorite characters. Moreso with the Fourth Doctor. Like I said, his character helped me threw some difficult times in High School. There was just something about him that made me feel safe when I felt like my whole world and everything I knew was falling apart. The light humorous parts made me smile and the soft caring parts made me feel warm and happy on the inside. Even now that I'm done with those times, The Fourth Doctor is one of the most relaxing things to me.

[dictatiousmaximusgaladrigal]

Gunmar GIFs - 2 TrollHunters Season 2 Episode 3: Grand Theft Otto

[lireetoile]

Trollhunters Rewatch

Starting tomorrow, I’m going to re-watch one episode of Trollhunters a day and post about it. 

The posts will be divided into these categories: 

-synopsis (a recap of what happens in the episode)

-review (my thoughts about the episode)

-favorite line

-first appearing (which characters show up for the first time and tracking the development of other characters)

-number of blinkys--a numerical rating of each episode out of six, to match the best mentor’s eyes.

I’m really looking forward to the project and I hope some of you lovely people will come along with me. 

Episode list with posting schedule and links below!

“Becoming:  Part 1″ (1/25/2018)

“Becoming:  Part 2″ (1/26/2018)

“Wherefore Art Thou, Trollhunter?” (1/27/2018)

“Gnome Your Enemy” (1/28/2018)

“Waka Chaka!” (1/29/2018)

“Win Lose or Draal” (1/30/2018)

“To Catch a Changeling” (1/31/2018)

“Adventures in Trollsitting” (2/1/2018)

“Bittersweet Sixteen” (2/2/2018)

“Young Atlas” (2/3/2018)

“Recipe for Disaster” (2/4/2018)

“Claire and Present Danger” (2/5/2018)

“The Battle of Two Bridges” (2/6/2018)

“Return of the Trollhunter” (2/7/2018)

“Mudslinging” (2/8/2018)

“Roaming Fees May Apply” (2/9/2018)

“Blinky’s Day Out” (2/10/2018)

“The Shattered King” (2/11/2018)

“Airheads” (2/12/2018)

“Where is My Mind?” (2/13/2018)

“Party Monster” (2/14/2018)

“It’s About Time” (2/15/2018)

“Wingmen” (2/16/2018)

“Angor Management” (2/19/2018)

“A Night to Remember” (2/20/2018)

“Something Rotten This Way Comes” (2/21/2018)

Part One Review (2/22/2018)

“Escape from the Darklands” (2/28/2018)

“Skullcrusher” (3/1/2018)

“Grand Theft Otto” (3/2/2018)

“KanjigAAARRRGGHH!!!” (3/5/2018)

“Homecoming” (3/6/2018)

“Hiss Hiss, Bang Bang” (3/7/2018)

“Hero With a Thousand Faces” (3/8/2018)

“Just Add Water” (3/9/2018)

“The Creepslayerz” (3/12/2018)

“The Reckless Club” (3/13/2018)

“Unbecoming” (3/20/2018)

“Mistrial and Error”

“In the Hall of the Gumm-Gumm King”

Part Two Review (4/5/2018)

Part Three Discussion (5/1/2018)

“A Night Patroll” (6/19/18)

“Arcadia’s Most Wanted” (6/19/18)

“Bad Coffee” (6/20/18)

“So I’m Dating a Sorceress” (6/21/18)

“The Exorcism of Claire Nuñez” (6/22/18)

“Parental Guidance” (6/25/18)

“The Oath” (6/26/18)

“For the Glory of Merlin” (6/27/18)

“In Good Hands” (6/28/18)

“A House Divided” (6/29/18)

“Jimhunters” (7/2/18)

“The Eternal Knight (1)” (7/3/18)

“The Eternal Knight (2)” (7/4/18)

Part 3 Recap (7/5/18)

Series Wrap Up (7/6/18)

[toa-archive]

This week's storyboard sequence is a very different moment from the Trollhunters episode Grand Theft Otto. How about some Jim action by Daniel Lafrance? This has his original pitch which is pretty unusual!

If you fullview the video it's one of those players that needs to have no movement for 30 seconds before the pause icon disappears just as a heads up.

Link here

Don't think he cares Dicky boy.

[queen-of-writing-bad-things]

Henry Danger Reader Insert | Captain Man x Reader: SEASON 5

Episode 11: Grand Theft Otto (SMUT)

*heyyyyyyyyy, guess who's bringing sexy back? and two chapters in a row no less. this smut was born from my inability to think of how else to start the chapter, a reluctance to write eight whole minutes with no (y/n) present, a trip to victoria's secret and a lot of piano music with ambient rain sounds (my secret to writing freestyle). 

word of warning, this smut does include some even more mature themes than usual that are discussed but not fully played out (not yet) and i know they're not for everyone, so just be aware of that, exploring different things for different people :)

as always my dudes: don't like the boom-boom then skip ahead until the next warning because this one uses bad words, bad ideas and a lot of the stuff grown-ups do in the real world. Have fun :) *

There was something to be said about couples who lived through the night and slept all of the day. 

They were made of tough stuff. It was almost essential, anyone who went against the body's natural clock needed a certain level of resilience just to struggle through the inconsistent sleeping patterns. That's why (y/n) sometimes liked living underground; you can sleep at any time when the sun doesn't shine. 

But not always.

She missed windows. She missed nice scenery. She missed having a front door and porch, a backyard most of all. How nice would it be if she could wake up in the morning and let the fresh air in instead of a mound of dirt and earthworms?

Maybe it was petty; after all, the Man Cave was great and she'd been promised compensation later down the line. Ray wanted his sweet girl to live in a palace but his bank account would never stretch that far, so a quiet little house in the country would have to do. One where their family would have space to grow unhindered. That was a far-off dream but he swore that the next place he had would have a great view. Maybe a mountain or the cityscape. Something that spoke a little more than stone walls.

And yet very occasionally, not too often thanks to their patchy sleep schedule, there came a day where the view in the Man Cave wasn't so bad after all.

The past two weeks had been hell. Emergencies left, right and centre, people begging down the phone line for help, which sometimes Captain Man, Miss Danger and Kid Danger could give and sometimes they couldn't. Like, when the old lady phoned up asking if they could help her play bingo, they had to grit their teeth and politely say no. But when there was an explosion at the paint factory, they had to go check it out... and discover that once household paint goes on, it doesn't come off.

Fast forward another thirteen days of many showers and a bottle of paint stripper, things had calmed down, leaving Henry a free afternoon at home and the loving couple to crash until midday. For fourteen hours, they slept, dead to the world to the point where when they finally did wake fully rested, they realised how they hadn't had any personal time.

A man couldn't live without his sweet girl and a woman couldn't live without her doofus, so as Ray pottered around the bathroom, having dragged himself from their pit of blankets muttering something about needing to shave the last two weeks off, (y/n) found herself feeling...generous. 

Of course, she was a patient woman. Hell, she'd waited ten years for her perfect man, so she knew when the right time to strike was. But goddamn, normally, she would've called herself an animal, a degenerate, because standing in front of the mirror with a new set of lingerie on, waiting for her husband-to-be so she could give him a heart attack was just not how things usually ran.

However, (y/n) had to admit, she looked hot—and it was a great confidence booster. 

White lace and silk smoothed over her boobs to push them in and upwards, creating the illusion that they were naturally sculpted to give her a perfect cleavage whilst also revealing taut, hardened nipples. Running down her waist and tummy was yet more lace, sheer and soft as it formed a corset to highlight her shape. 

She hummed softly in her throat when the underwear was pulled high over her curves, her core getting slick at the mere thought of Ray mouthing over her clit just to pull it down and have his fill. She'd chosen this set with him in mind; garters and stockings weren't her thing but seeing him lose his mind was too good to resist, so they sat mid-thigh, clipped to the corset where they'd inevitably stay since he fucked with them on, no exceptions. 

Once upon a time the girl who stared back at her would think she was mad and strip it back off along with the light coat of mascara and lipstick she'd put on, but now, she was loving it. And the best thing? Ray would lose his mind. 

No mad scramble to the bed, no way. She'd never seen a Victoria's Secret Angel jog down the runway so she delicately placed herself on the bed, thinking about how she should sit—lie—pose—how did people do this? Laying down made her feel dumb, after all, she wanted to see Ray's face. Sitting felt too formal, like she was waiting for a board meeting or something, so she went for a mix of both, which she guessed was posing. 

In the middle of the bed, she stretched out her legs, crossing them at the ankles to make them seem longer and her hips even more mouth-watering. Her chest pushed out as she leaned back with her arms behind her to stay propped up and it felt like an eternity spent waiting for the faucet to turn off and the humming to finish. 

The thong was starting to dampen and her hips rolled by themselves in response, thighs rubbing together because it had been so long since she felt his breath between her legs, his hands roaming up her back, his cock between her lips. She was desperate but patience would make everything worthwhile.

In the bathroom, Ray had spent the last half an hour in limbo. He'd started shaving, just as he'd promised since Captain Man didn't look as appealing sporting a hobo beard, despite his precious girl's insistent pleas that it made him look tough and rugged. 

More like it would make her thighs burn when he finally got a chance to settle himself between them and taste that sweet pussy of hers. God, her thighs, her tight cunt, her perfect tits, he'd missed them. 

He'd missed her in general; even though they'd still spent every waking second in each other's presence, it was hard to be romantic when you were driving to an accident, getting a fat guy out of a drive-thru window, eating on the way back, napping for half an hour, only to go out again. They'd barely had enough energy to talk, let alone fuck, and dear god, he was desperate. 

He wanted to roll her over and push into her blazing heat that morning, wake her up right and pull orgasm after orgasm out of her until he'd caught up on every one they'd missed, but he'd held back. It didn't matter if he was hard, leaking, and in need of attention; he figured that, after such an arduous few days, (y/n) needed rest, and even his gentlest pace wouldn't give her that.

Not that it would be gentle. He wanted it hard and fast and dirty, so he'd removed himself from her arms before her bleary eyes and fuzzy mind could remember that his aching cock had been pushed up against her slit all night.

One cold shower later and he was fresh-faced and smooth-cheeked, but not a satisfied man. He'd tried to take the edge off, had wrapped a hand around himself to find release but had bitten his lip to smother his frustrated groans when it just wasn't enough. He needed wide eyes, soft moans and a perfect hole to empty his balls into, so he just had to wait for his hard-on to go down under the freezing spray since he wasn't prepared to bear down on his sweet girl simply because he had the libido of a seventeen-year-old.

So, when he left the bathroom with nothing more than a towel around his waist, he certainly didn't expect the sight that awaited him. 

"Hey, sweet girl, should we make some pancakes or order Sushi Dushi? 'Cause it's lunchtime but I'm feeling like—holy shit..." Food was no longer on his mind as he entered the bedroom and took in the vision that was waiting for him on the bed. 

His sweet, sweet girl, sat on the bed like a goddess clad in lace and silk with her doe-like eyes trained on him as her lower lip was pulled between her teeth. Her breathing was shallow as he watched one hand trail from the comforter, snake between her thighs and into her panties to begin teasing her clit, all the while maintaining eye contact. 

All the blood in his body rushed south as he watched with a dry mouth and empty brain, wondering what he did to deserve an angel like her before snapping out of his trance. 

As much as he loved the sheer eroticism of it, that job was his and his alone and any of her pleasure came from his mouth, his hands or his cock, which was back to being like granite now that his eyes raked down her form. Shit, her tits looked so good, he wanted to bite, suck and squeeze them until she was writhing, begging for him to move onto her soaked pussy.

"Fuck, baby—I—fuck, is this all for me?"

"Mhmm, wanted to look pretty for you...and I'm so wet too. You took too long, Captain," she whined, intensifying the stroking of her fingers to increase the heavenly pressure on her clit, which seemed so swollen and throbbing after sitting on the bed for too long. Ray swallowed thickly at her words and stared darkly at her clothed pussy, watching until his mouth was set into a firm line. She knew his rules.

"This is pretty, little one, you look so fucking hot. But that's my pussy you're touching," he murmured, stalking towards the bed as she continued to work herself, only to drag it from her panties at a slow, teasing pace when he was within touching distance.

"'M sorry, sir, I couldn't help it. I woke up and knew I needed your cock in me...but you weren't in bed," she smirked and raised her slick fingertips to her mouth, tongue dipping out to taste them as he leaned down to loom over her, eyes never leaving hers. However, a soft gasp fell from her lips when strong fingers curled around her wrist, the sudden skin-on-skin contact feeling like fire, and he pulled it up to his mouth instead. "Where were you? Why did you leave me when I'm so needy?"

"Needed to shave, sweet girl. Although I have to admit, the idea of fucking you did cross my mind," he whispered smugly before closing his lips around her digits, moaning when his tongue caught her sweet taste as he sucked it off, much to her delight. 

(y/n) smirked as his eyes fluttered closed, aching already from the small glimpse into the pleasure he'd been denied, and she saw no problem in reaching up to his hidden length that was twitching under the towel and tracing her fingers over the leaking head. The reaction was instant, a guttural groan that vibrated against her fingers and a fire in his eyes when they finally met again. 

"I needed it, still do. It's been too long—and I've been saving this to try and seduce you," the woman breathed out as he pushed her shoulders gently down to the mattress so he could trap her against the soft cotton and explore the gorgeous number she'd donned. It had been shoved in her wardrobe for a special occasion rather than a boring, Saturday afternoon, but it would still be thoroughly enjoyed and that's what mattered, especially when his hands started twitching from not knowing where to start.

It was like he was a child struggling to contain his Christmas excitement; he wanted to leave her cunt until last, that way it would draw out the pleasure until it was painful for both of them to wait any longer. Her tits looked almost too perfect to grab roughly and he was torn between keeping them trapped in the white material or freeing them for his use. He wanted to run his tongue over them as her legs with those fucking hot suspenders closed around his waist, wanted to take her over and over again until she was ruined for any other cock.

"It's working, darlin'. I wanna fuck you so bad, wanna make you remember who you belong to—who belongs to you." A squeal left her throat when he pinched her nipple through the lace, a slap landing on the same tit, not a second later, which had her back arching into him. 

Her hand reached for the towel still tied around his waist and with one hard yank, its knot unravelled, freeing his cock so it rested on her clothed cunt with its underside rubbing against her slit. Ray hadn't expected her to be so sudden and his hand closed around her throat loosely, allowing him to tilt her head up until she had no choice but to look him in the eye for what she'd done.

He roamed down her body, biting the top of her breasts and licking to soothe the flesh when his teeth pierced it, her fingers tugging at his hair when he kneaded her tits roughly. It wasn't enough to satisfy the burning in her core, not even when he leaned down to mouth at her nipples through the lace but when she begged him to remove the barrier, thinking that it had done its job of making her look beautiful, he refused.

"Take it off, Ray. I—I need—-it's not fair that I can't feel you!"

"Fuck, no, sweet girl. You look so damn hot in this, I ain't taking it off. I'm gonna fuck you like this and you'll take it, won't you?" He growled at her whining and trailed a hand over lace and silk, over her hips, over her tummy and her mound to the soaked, sorry excuse for underwear. "You'll take anything I give you and love it because I know this little pussy just needs filling. That's what makes you run your mouth at me."

Ray had always known that he leaned more towards lace than leather, preferred innocence over sex kitten, but damn, he couldn't help but fall in love with the way she exuded both sexuality and purity. Had he not taken that innocence over and over again since that first night, he wouldn't have known that she was as dirty as he was, as shown when she pouted innocently even when he rubbed sudden, rough circles over the satin and her clit. 

The ensuing moans that fell from her lips were downright sinful, so was the wetness that aided his finger in pushing into her pussy and how she clamped down immediately, whining when he pulled it straight back out so cruelly. Her already bruised lip was tugged between her teeth again as she propped herself on her elbows to watch him slither down her body to come face-to-face with her most intimate area. His view was blocked by the thong but his eyes remained dark with his dilated pupils as he nuzzled against the soaked material, hot air blowing over her quivering thighs.

"Don't tease—don't tease...please."

"Just admiring what's mine, sweetheart," he murmured, taking his time to pull the thong tightly up her hips until the silk's stitching was snapping and popping, just so he could see how it cupped and pressed into her lips before pulling it aside to begin his assault. 

His mouth found her clit instantly, groaning when the sweetest honey taste flooded his mouth and his tongue ran through her folds to collect more. It danced around her opening before plunging in, tearing a scream from her throat as she held the thong for him in one hand, his hair in the other, allowing his hands to pin her thighs to the bed. 

She noticed how his fingers couldn't stop trailing and snapping the suspenders so they pricked at her skin, something she'd add to the long list of kinks he had when her mind was back in reality. A brief second of respite came when his tongue ceased exploring her walls to suck and slurp at her lips and then her clit harshly, only to return to fucking her not half a second later. She thought a punishment would be in line for her when her fingers left his head to rub her swollen nub furiously, chasing her orgasm as he got off on her wrecked gasps of pleasepleaseplease and hoarse moans of moremoremore. But it was actually quite the opposite.

"That's it, sweet girl. Rub this cunt, get it nice and wet and ready so I can drink you up when you cum," he growled from between her legs, stare pinning her down so she could do nothing but obey, "You want to cum, don't you?"

"Yes—yes, fuck, I wanna cum so bad!" "That's my good girl..." And so, Ray dived back in, wanting to see her wriggle and writhe under his grip so he could use the tidal wave of slick to push into her pussy with no resistance. She always came at least once before he did and the knowledge that she'd be left trembling but satiated gave him the strength to ignore how his cock and balls were begging for release. 

Honestly, he was surprised that he hadn't creamed the sheets yet like a teenager. Seeing her clad in so little lace should've made him, but he staved it off, reasoning that it would be better to cum deep in her pussy and feel her walls tighten around him than the soft nothingness of blankets. 

(y/n)'s fingers flickered harder as he increased his movements tenfold, moving his tongue in and out of her hole as he would if it were his cock, aiming for the spot that made her squirm and whine. He could feel it, her oncoming release, just from the way her walls quivered and her thighs juddered, trying to fight against the iron grip keeping them spread wide. 

A gentle shudder and then it was all over, core clenching tightly and gushing for his awaiting mouth as she kept stimulating her clit through her orgasm, screaming his name until her voice was ruined. Even when the wave mellowed and started to settle, he stayed drinking what he could, licking at her sensitive lips for the last drop of honey he could find because he had been starved and he was finally ready to have his fill again.

"Too—too much, baby—" "S'been two weeks since I last tasted this pussy, darlin'. Still fucking delicious," he said against her folds, practically raking his face through them one last time, focusing on her clit to electrify the nerves there, before pulling away to kneel on the mattress. Hungry eyes raked over her dishevelled form, ravished with her cunt exposed and twitching. It was fucking beautiful, but there was one thing missing.

"As gorgeous as you look in this, sweet girl, I wanna see those tits," Ray said gruffly and no sooner than he did, she scrambled to unfasten the corset and throw it to the side, but he stopped her, "fuckin' keep it on—that's it, push it down. Can't let you take this off, you pretty little thing, might just keep you in it permanently."

"You want the whole world to see me like this? Want them to see what's yours?" (y/n) asked, her eyes innocent but her smirk teasing as she carefully freed her chest of the lingerie, pushing the straps down her shoulders so the corset bunched around her tummy. 

And then, unable to stop herself as his gaze impossibly darkened further, she reached forward for his hard length, giving it a teasing tug, licking her lips when a choked moan and stuttered thrust betrayed the control he loved to have. Thin ice.

"Dirty girl—" he snapped and brushed her hand away, although she didn't have to pout for long, "hands and knees, ass in the air for me." 

A smile broke out on her when he flipped her over with ease and she scrambled to do as he said. Arching her back, she wiggled her hips for him, unashamedly presenting her needy cunt for him just as he'd asked. She looked over her shoulder so she could see his every twitch when shown the hole he was going to fuck raw. 

"You ready for me, sweet girl? Ready for this cock that belongs to you?" Ray snarled, rubbing his dripping head from her clit to her entrance, coating himself in her slick. It was always a squeeze trying to get his fat cock in there but when he was finally balls deep, it was always worth the effort. She fit like a fucking glove, still tight as though he hadn't fucked her nearly every day since the day she said yes but it was definite that she was ruined for anyone else, almost moulded to fit him.

"Yes, so fucking ready...always," the woman whined, holding the thong to the side for dear life as he broke into her, splitting her apart inch by inch until he was at the hilt, balls pressed tightly to her clit as he gave her a moment to adjust to being so full.

"Fuck—fuck, you're always so tight, little one. Like you've never even been fucked—" he said throatily, snapping his hips into hers in small thrusts, trying to stay deep and go slow until he couldn't resist the temptation to go harder, faster, give her what she needed, "But we both know that's not true, right? We both know that you're not innocent."

It didn't even register in her mind that one hand had stopped kneading her jiggling ass until a loud crack broke through the symphony of flesh slapping flesh, grunts and quiet yelps. His hand came down hard on her right cheek and she clenched around him unintentionally, proving him right. She loved it, loved being his dirty little girl underneath her kind smiles and helpful nature, loved relinquishing her sharp mind to be his slut for hours on end. 

Her arms collapsed as he kept up the relentless pace, cock being squeezed in a vice-like grip that had his vision clouding until nothing but her and his end were in mind. A soothing hand ran down her back and pushed her head into the mattress and she knew that he wanted her to stay down and keep showing him her pussy and allow him to fuck it how he wanted.

"Show me this pussy properly, darlin'. Y'know I love this getup but fuck—gotta see it," he rambled, clawing at the thong that was so small that it made fire lick up his spine, but it was in the way. He wanted her bare and shaking after weeks of nothing, so he reluctantly pulled out of her warmth for a brief moment and teased it over her ass. Frantically, her hands came up to her sides to help him yank to about mid-thigh, just enough for him to continue freely, but damn, if the sight of her didn't do something to him.

"Fuck..." he groaned lowly as he pushed back in and began a slow, deep pace, building up to what they'd been going at before when he felt a familiar urge come over him.

It was filthy, taboo, even wrong perhaps, something they'd joked about when drunk but never discussed because it was the thing for young couples to try out or pornstars to show off. Not something he'd ever expect a girl as sweet as her to consider or allow. This was his primal urge to bury deep down and keep to himself, but fuck, when she curved her back again to push her ass up further, he couldn't restrain himself.

His hand ghosted over her asscheek as it normally would, squeezing at her supple flesh as he rocked into her, balls slapping her clit as they swayed. And as his thumb pressed into the crevice, that's when it brushed over her forbidden, puckered rim. His abs tensed as he did, imagining what it would be like to fuck her there, not that he ever would because he respected her far too much, but he still gulped. Especially when she hummed a high-pitched whine and clenched the halo of muscle. Fuck...

"S-sorry, shit—shit, god, I...sorry—" he stumbled an apology, picking up her curiosity and interrupting it as discomfort or even fear. So, naturally, he backed off, stuttering his thrusts as he jerked his hand away like it had touched fire. He hoped that in the haze of pleasure, she'd forget about the slip-up--forget about how he almost lost it when he had both holes on show in the warm light, but how could she? 

(y/n) swallowed thickly, having felt the minuscule touch and found herself...interested.

Ray had a list of kinks and preferences as long as her right leg three times over; he loved being on top but he also loved being ridden. He loved taking her anywhere, anytime. He loved using the filthiest, most vulgar dirty talk, and he adored making sure his partner felt safe.

But this—this was new and hell, he didn't need to be sorry or scared. She was up for trying anything with him once.

"No..no, s'okay, s'okay—you can touch it," she whispered and angled her hips backwards, pushing her pussy further down his length and also offering herself up. She wanted this, wanted to explore and try it out.

Ray almost fainted at her words, having anticipated silence or rejection but never acceptance and it broke the frayed thread that his self-control had been hanging onto. If the spank from earlier had been hard, this one was rough, harsh, brutal, sounding like lightning the moment his hand hit her ass because fuck; he knew she was filthy but not this filthy.

"Dirty—dirty fucking girl. Never thought you were such a filthy, cock-hungry—never thought you'd let me touch it," the hero punched out, his voice wrecked and gravelly and so damn hot. His pace increased to a soul-shattering bangbangbang, forcing the air from her lungs as he abused her slobbery cunt and more. 

He traced over her back entrance, teasing it lightly, never using any pressure so she could get used to the sensation and he kept an eye on her every movement, looking for any sign that she didn't like it, but judging by how she seemed wetter than before and how she was whimpering and suffocating his cock, she needed more, not less.

"I'll let you do anything—anything—shit, you can put a finger in there if you want—" she offered, not expecting him to take her up on that offer because this was a new idea after all, but Ray...Ray thought he'd died and gone to heaven. 

His hips slowed down and a hand cradled one side of her pelvis as the other ran up the curve of her cheek, trembling from how turned on he was. It truly was a miracle that he hadn't cum yet given how tight his balls felt but dear god, he was gonna hold off. Maybe for only five seconds or less, but he was gonna because his thumb was circling her asshole.

"Hottest girl I've seen, sweet girl, so damn sexy..." he muttered, thrust quickening to increase the pleasure as he pressed against the tight hole, breaking through the natural resistance until he was poking in, "Fuck—so tight, just like your pussy. You ever take it back here, sweetheart?"

There was a hesitant edge to his voice like he wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer because it would mean that she'd once had a similar level of trust with someone else, but he couldn't help it. He had to know.

"N-no. Dre—some have tried but I would—wouldn't let them... I'd let you, though," she whispered as he suddenly slid all the way in, right down to the last knuckle until his thickest digit was buried deep inside of her. The impropriety of it was eating her up alive and she clenched, feeling deliciously stuffed full as his cock split her open and his thumb gave her something else to squeeze. 

Ray was certain that he was moments away from orgasm, reeling from how...dirty it felt, how...right, not just from the image of fucking a hole that would be tighter than her tiny pussy but knowing that he was the only man she'd ever let near her—and he knew most of the men she'd dated, some more than others.

"That right? You'd let me fuck—let me fuck your tight, virgi—" He choked at the idea and slammed his hips into her ass jaggedly, feeling his thumb rub against those forbidden walls and a wave of panic washed over him when he felt his end appear on the horizon, hurtling towards him. No one else had ever made him cum uncontrollably but a squeeze of her core muscles and a grinding undulation of her hips to feel him brush up against her every wall and his hand was dashing to her clit to madly circle it.

"—Shit, shit—not gonna last, darlin'—need to cum in your pussy...can you cum on my cock?"

"Fuck, yes—gonna cum with your thumb so fucking deep and this perfect cock filling me up," (y/n) whined and began rocking backwards to meet his thrusts, not caring if her skin was sore from the constant slapping or if his fingers were sliding around her slick lips and frustrating her clit from the poor stimulation.

"F-fuck—-I love you—" was the last thing he said, garbled and stuck in his throat until he came with a devastatingly hoarse cry. Her pussy strangled his length as he made sure the snug fit couldn't be any closer and her body sucked him in when cum was pumped onto her walls as deep as it could go. The feeling of warmth flooding her womb caused her walls to flutter as she went over the edge too, rambling the phrase back as her cheek smushed against the mattress, body turning limp.

What felt like hours passed. Seconds, really, but eventually, Ray cleared the fuzziness in his mind, swept away the cobwebs and blink one, two, three times so he could see properly again. His sweet girl was slumped into the comforter, her body ready to fall if it wasn't for his brushing grip on her waist, which he instantly relinquished when he realised just how hard it was.

His thumb was slowly and gently removed from her second entrance, him being mindful of the pain of resistance now that they were coming down from their highs. A whimper left her mouth, probably unintentionally when it finally slipped free, and next came his cock. The moment the tip was away, he was quick to pull the thong up her thighs, intent on keeping his precious load in there for as long as possible, although he doubted it would stay with that string barely covering her folds.

And then, at last, she was released to snuggle into the bed, ass slumping with a bouncing crash. Her doofus returned from his dominant, dark side, keeping his sweet girl warm by cautiously spooning her. It was so cosy; her back was against his heaving chest as they laid there for a while before anyone spoke and when they did, it was his baritone in her ear.

"You okay?" Ray asked, his voice gruff but full of its usual goofy friendliness as he nuzzled into her neck and lovingly squeezed her breast—nothing sexual, just him holding whatever flesh he found.

"Yeah...that was intense," (y/n) replied, her voice also sounding raspy from the excessive screaming but still, she sounded happy as well. A content sigh left her lips as her eyes slid shut and although he didn't show it, she knew that the noise made him relax. Every time they tried something new, her lover always freaked out a little afterwards, but she was fine-- fucking blissed out, but how was he to know that?

"Yeah. Yeah, it was. Are you sure it was okay? It was...good?" Ever the worrier and people say she had problems with nerves. 

"I would've told you if it wasn't, doofus. I loved it like always...just didn't know you were into butt stuff," the woman held a light tone, trying to not sound negative or anything like that because he was trying so hard to make sure she was comfortable, a trait that made her fall deeper in love with him when they first started fucking.

"Not massively but...yeah. I've only ever wanted to do it with you, no one else was ever—y'know—curious. But if that was enough for you then, that's fine, sweet girl. We can stick to lingerie and handcuffs if that's what you wa—"

"Raymond, hush," she rolled in his arms until she was on her back and he was on his side looking down over her. Her poor lip was back between her teeth as their faces stayed close, noses brushing as her hand came up to lace their fingers together because they were in this together, after all, comfort came for both parties. "The lingerie is definitely staying since nothing gets you harder—"

"Seeing you naked gets me just as hard, sweetheart." Cocky bastard. Where was the fun in that? It was true that if she came out of the bathroom, fresh from the shower without a towel, he'd be all over her like a rash with any excuse to grope her but she enjoyed dressing up and waiting for him more than a surprise pouncing. She was a patient lady and the real fun happened when the roles were reversed and he was her prey.

"Whatever, you dork. My point is that I meant what I said. I'll let you do anything and that includes fucking me there too. As long as you don't forget my pussy when you do." An irresistible offer by all accounts and Ray's smirk grew in tandem with hers as her words sunk in. His perfect girl; sweet angel and little devil rolled into one.

"Don't think I'll ever forget this pussy, sweet girl. Not ever," he whispered his reply before placing his lips delicately on hers, his hand sliding down to rest over the lace bunched across her stomach to remind her that he never lost sight of what he adored.

The moment was peaceful. Tongues explored their mouths and tastes, remapping known territory lazily as they basked in their mid-afternoon, post-sex glow...right up until a rumble across his palm reminded them that it had been a good fifteen hours since they last ate. And the protector couldn't have his future wife hungry.

"What was that you said about pancakes earlier?" (y/n) asked as he pulled back with an amused smile, her wide-eyed, innocent look returning that had his cock twitching at the thought of them staring up from between his legs as she sucked—no, they were not doing this again. Down, boy. 

"Stay here, darling. I'll go make some," he promised her, pressing a kiss to her forehead as he untangled their lips and reluctantly rolled off the bed to find wherever he tossed his jeans last night when they fell into bed exhausted. Ray only bothered to tighten the belt after yanking them up, even forgoing underwear since he'd strip out of them and into fresh laundry when he returned with a tray of enough food to feed an army. 

First, he just had to make sure she was fed first because it was his instinct to. After all, this was merely practice for when they finally owned that quiet house with nice views, windows, a front door, a porch and a backyard, although he hoped that by then, they'd only be exhausted from running around after a few children.

*welp. that was a thing. i hope the more adventurous types enjoyed that, i did tbh. it's nice to do something different but from this moment forth, WE ARE SAFE AGAIN. fear not, the light will return and maybe even Ray's interest in "stuff "👀*

~

"Mmmm, god, these are good," (y/n) moaned as she shovelled mouthful after mouthful of fluffy pancakes and toppings into her face. Technically speaking, they were Ray's famous mancakes, fresh from the pan and made tall with all manners of syrups, fruits and chocolate chips. 

She was certain that there was way too much for one person on her plate but saw it as a personal challenge to finish the lot since it had been her doofus who'd made them just for her and it's not like she could feed him. He'd eat the odd mouthful she offered him, but how could he take food out of his starving girl's mouth? That was unthinkable.

"Keep making sounds like that and I'll make sure they taste even better, sweet girl," the hero smirked as he placed his plate on the couch table and came to slide in next to her. In the time it had taken the pancakes to cook, he'd gotten properly dressed and she'd replaced her slightly wrecked, definitely crumpled ensemble with simple cotton shorts and one of his huge t-shirts, stating that crime was low that day and it was not like they had places to be other than the Man Cave, so comfy-casual it was. 

Plus, Ray was a sucker for his sweet girl in his clothes, so he was happy to let her wander around taking in the beauty that was his fiancée, happy in their home with the food he'd made her, ready for a chill day.

And she hadn't followed his command of staying in bed, far from it; after ten minutes of scrolling through her phone, answering texts, emails and checking trashy news sites, she'd grown bored of the bedroom and wandered through to the kitchen to find her doofus cooking up a storm. He pouted when she hugged him from behind, saying that he wanted to make his beautiful future wife brunch in bed, but one comment about how she felt lonely apart from him and he was sold. 

They'd danced in the refrigerator light and said good afternoon to a smug Schwoz, who looked like the cat who got the cream for some reason until he made some reference to the entire hideout shaking from the way Ray fu—he was lucky he didn't get a punch to the teeth for that. So, now, they were in the main room, set to wait until they were needed, which meant an afternoon for movies. Or so (y/n) thought. 

"Come between me and my pancakes and we will be at war, doofus," she giggled and pointed her fork in his direction with the best serious face she could muster. No one could ruin this for her, but it was impossible to glare at him for so long when he was such a dork with his floppy hair, so a smile soon cracked the seriousness.

"I surrender, baby. You can keep the pancakes if it means I get a kiss," Ray fluttered his eyelashes like the lovable idiot he was and grinned when she quickly kissed him without hesitation, leaving the taste of honey and syrup to linger on his lips. The sweetness was enough to satisfy him for a while and as Schwoz pottered around the room, calibrating and tinkering, they fell into easy conversation, talking about anything and everything just as they had always been able to.

It wasn't until they were on their last pancake each that (y/n) said something that broke the peace and caused the universe to shift in a way that she could never have predicted. After all, who cared that much about moustaches?

"Hey, you know Jasper?"

"Yes, unfortunately, I know Jasper," Ray replied through a mouthful of pancake, his tone turning dark at the mention of the boy he loved to dislike. It wasn't even dislike at this point, it was just how their relationship functioned, but nevertheless, it made her roll her eyes.

"Whatever, doofus. Anyway, apparently, according to Charlotte, he grew a moustache when he was in Idaho," the heroine told him, not thinking anything of it since it was Jasper they were talking about and males grew facial hair every day, it's not like it was a new phenomenon. So, it wasn't until the clattering of Ray's fork on his plate that she looked up and saw her lover's wide-eyed, dare she say awed expression, complete with a trembling bottom lip. Was it something she said?

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Jasper, as in the Jasper, our Jasper, grew a moustache?" Ray blinked a few times and his hand came to circle his wrist in a firm grip. It wasn't enough to hurt but it captured her attention completely and (y/n) frowned at his strangely over-the-top reaction.

"Uh, yeah... I mean, I know it's weird because he was gone less than a week and one minute, they're our babies, collecting buckets and doing stupid stuff to impress girls, and the next, they're pubescent teenagers on the verge of adulthood and they have facial hair, but—" 

In all honesty, (y/n) could feel herself tearing up a bit at the thought of the teens growing up so suddenly because it had only felt like yesterday since they were still proper children. Now, they were grown, ready for their own lives and it's not like she was stupid—it had always been on the cards that they'd move on and become independent at some point but since when did she care like a mother losing her children? Someone needed to pass her a tissue but by the time she looked up, Ray was scrambling off the couch.

The last scraps of his breakfast were left to go cold when he rushed to the holo-caller as if his life depended on it. His very confused fiancée watched with knitted eyebrows as he punched in the code for Henry's watch and impatiently waited for the kid to pick up. No, no, it was fine, she wasn't sniffling over the idea of losing three family members because of life's natural flow, everything was good. At least she could distract herself when the boy finally picked up, looking all tall, and handsome and grown up. 

"Hey, what's up, man? We've got a little bit of a situation here—" Henry answered rather quickly, not at all phased by how excitable his boss seemed. After the disastrous afternoon he'd had, he wasn't in the mood for quick chitchat but there was something about the art of growing hair on their faces that made men go nuts.

"(y/n) told me Jasper has a moustache now. Lemme see it!" The hero exclaimed excitedly, not even picking up on the boy's hurried tone. (y/n) perked at the mention of the situation, wondering what the hell it could mean and found herself wandering from the couch and over to the machine, dipping in and out of frame as Ray shuffled from one foot to the other.

"Yeah. Jasper, come here," the kid looked at his friend and upon hearing his name, Jasper stepped across Henry's bedroom and smiled at Ray's grainy little body. 

Immediately, the hero laughed and clapped his hands in amazement, thinking that for once in his life, the weirdo was actually the coolest of his employees. He was a man who needed to be clean-shaven nearly all of the time and it was always thrilling to witness the power of testosterone pumping through a boy's veins to give him body hair. Definitely thrilling.

"Aw, Captain Man, that's a sweet 'stache! Sweet girl, have you seen Jasper's moustache?! Isn't it great?"

"Are you kidding me?!" Charlotte facepalmed at her boss' reaction, sounding like she had something in her mouth but (y/n) ignored it as she analysed his facial hair and came to the conclusion that yep, that thing right there, that was a moustache. Hair. On his lip. Good stuff. The professor was in the house tonight. 

"Yeah, awesome... Sorry, doofus, I can't lie to you, it's just a moustache. What's so great about it?" 

"Thank you, (y/n/n)! At last, someone has sense!" The woman's confused face put Charlotte at ease for the first time that night. Ever since Jasper had walked through the door and interrupted her and Henry's study session, it had seemed like the entire universe loved it. Henry, Piper, the police, everyone gave it high praise for reasons unknown to her, so it was nice to find a common ally. Ray, however, was unfazed by their unity and still sat happily on the opposite side of the fence.

"Schwoz, I just saw Jasper's 'stache! It's sweet!"

"Raymond, I have ears!" (y/n) winced as her doofus bellowed unnecessarily to the genius across the room, who quickly downed tools to scurry over and see this mythical creature for himself. Henry rolled his eyes at how his boss reacted and at how he didn't hesitate in bringing his sweet girl into a side hug as a subconscious apology, but it was the suddenly very crowded holo-call that took the biscuit.

"You like?" Jasper asked, stroking his upper lip with a smarmy expression.

"Yeah! That is a very manly lip schweater!" Schwoz nodded enthusiastically, the same wonderstruck look on his face as Ray, who was near the point of drooling as if he had his lover stood in front of him wearing his favourite dress on her. Their eyes were fixated, unable to look away as the girls' eyes met through the digital divide and it was like they shared the same thought at the same time.

"Has the whole world gone crazy?"

"Apparently so, yes..." (y/n) wrinkled her nose and shrugged, not at all impressed that her romantic breakfast—lunch—dinner—had been left for something as trivial as a moustache. She was also kicking herself for not getting dressed properly earlier as now that she wasn't being chased around the kitchen by Ray and a handful of pancake batter, the chilly AC of the Man Cave was giving her the shivers. The cotton t-shirt and shorts combo had been a mistake, so had forgoing socks and the mention of sweaters was a cruel tease.

"Crazy for Jasper's 'stache! You're getting a raise, buddy."

"Yes!" For Jasper, winning his boss' approval was a dream come true and it was certain that Ray was deadly serious. But, it wasn't just impressive that he'd forgotten about their love-hate relationship so easily, the way he seemed to sense his fiancé's discomfort was straight-up uncanny. 

Without looking down, it was like he could sense her goosebumps and unashamedly wrapped himself around her in a bear hug; long arms brought warmth to her body as they crossed her chest and the heroine sighed contently at the heat from having him pressed against her. That was better but not for long.

"Look, later on, we can all give some love to Jasper's lip sweater," Henry butted in, sounding a little too serious for (y/n)'s nerves. He was one of the lads, shouldn't he have been acting like a child too? And yet, as ever, Ray didn't pick up on any tenseness, he merely made plans to worship the little patch of fuzz as he'd worshipped his sweet girl that morning because both were a thing of beauty to be revered.

"Can and will!"

"Right now, we got a problem, okay? 'Cause Piper's talking bird found out that I'm Kid Danger, so now, we're hiding it in my closet so it doesn't tell the secret to everybody in Swellview!" The boy blurted out, spilling every last bean to his boss because he'd learned on every past occasion that lying about things like this made everything worse. 

Look, it wasn't his fault, technically, it was Charlotte's. When Piper brought her class parrot home, she'd warned them that it was capable of mimicking sounds, so the girl just had to open her mouth and say the dumbest phrase in the history of dumb phrases, leaving them with a massive problem on their hands. And to think, Ray and (y/n)'s afternoon had been so pleasant.

"You got yourself into quite a pickle, my friend!" Ray chuckled, although he was more nervous than amused. Releasing a sigh, (y/n) massaged her temples and tried to take in as much comfort as she could from the idiot behind her to try and fight the migraine she knew was coming. Accidents would happen but for once, she wanted one day off without some form of disaster falling into her lap, be it professional or personal. Would that be too much to ask?

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, here's what I'm thinking," Henry said, having had time to think long and hard about their plan of action, "all right, I'm going to go to a pet store. I'm gonna find a bird that looks exactly like the one that—"

"Ehhhh, that's stupid," the large man floating above his wrist replied dryly, not even letting him finish because it was that bad. Messing about trying to find an identical bird was dumb and a waste of time, which they didn't have since Piper was already in a tizz over losing her parrot and understandably, it was only a matter of hours until her search party took it into their heads to start sniffing around Henry's room.

"Okay..."

"What you need is a bird clone," Ray suggested instead. He was a strong believer in the idea that science could solve every problem on Earth and even though he didn't understand how it worked, he employed two people who did. Well, he was in love with one of them, but she'd do it as a freebie since she couldn't resist his cute face. For the teens, though, that sounded like madness.

"What?" "Can you two clone a bird?" Ray ignored Henry, looking at Schwoz for a second before nuzzling his nose into (y/n)'s hair and ear, planting a kiss on her cheek just for the hell of it.

"Yah."

"Well, identical cellular reduplication isn't my strong point but in theory—"

"They can clone a bird," Ray confirmed to Henry, not wanting to hear one word of his sweet girl being unsure. It would be fine, he trusted her when it came to smart things and it's not like she'd be doing this alone. If anything, she'd be more like an assistant to Schwoz since biology wasn't her specialist science and whatever the outcome, he'd proud of her anyway, whether they made a monster or a bird.

"What do you need? A feather?"

"Yah."

"Anything containing genetic material, really. But a feather's good," (y/n) nodded, feeling a little uneasy at the idea of her first cloning experiment. There was the unethical side of it, the danger, the possibility of something going wrong, the pressure and the need for perfection to worry about but apart from that, this was a learning opportunity and from the very best, no less. After all, Schwoz had cloned many things over the years, including some things that were better left unspoken about.

"They need a feather," the hero instructed his sidekick, who couldn't that the team was about to do this, but what choice did he have? Face his sister's wrath and risk his identity being revealed? That was off the table, so it had to be a cloning job. He just hoped Schwoz and (y/n) knew what they were doing.

"We can get a feather."

"Great. You bring us a feather, Schwoz and (y/n) clone a new bird, that don't know nothin' from nothin', we kill the old one, swap in the new one, badda-boom, badda-bing, me, my sweet girl, Schwoz and Jasper go to the batting cages," Ray made it sound so easy...and horrible. Everything apart from the killing part was perfect; it wasn't the parrot's fault that it had heard something that shouldn't have been said in the first place, so murdering it was just cruel.

"Yes!"

"No! Raymond, we are not killing the poor bird!" The girl in his arms scolded him, trying to be firm even though she had no idea where the old parrot would go. It was kinda difficult, though, what with her flaming cheeks and everything. 

In her experience, a trip to the batting cages often meant leaving Schwoz, and now the lucky Jasper, to hit baseballs into the night whilst he dragged her off to one of the secluded, shady corners so they could make out like teenagers. It was never about the sport, it was about getting her alone in such a risqué place and pressing her into a wire until she saw stars, so the sooner they cleared this mess, the better. 

Hey, no one ever said she wasn't a teenager too.

"But sweet girl..."

"Yeah, let's not kill the old one," Henry joined her argument, not wanting to hurt Otto the class pet, but it was a big mistake cutting into the longing gaze of a man and his fiancé.

"Potahto, potato, just bring us a feather."

"It's potato, potahto," the boy corrected him, earning himself yet another glare for being pedantic. Ray was a master with words, often getting them muddled in his head, so he didn't appreciate it when he was mocked for getting one tiny detail wrong, especially from a kid who he was trying to help.

"Potahto, potato, potato, patahto, just bring us a feather, you spicy tomato!" He snapped and left it to Schwoz and (y/n) to wave goodbye to the kid as he stomped off to go and pick at his pancake leftovers. They were slightly soggy by now and chilled from the cool air, but still sweet enough to soothe his anger, or maybe it was the way he could stab his fork into them that was therapeutic, who knows? 

Either way, the real stress relief came from the angel who floated over with her learned calmness, being the only thing that could ever truly make him feel better.

"Y'know, one of these days, we're gonna have a day where nothing goes wrong..." (y/n) sighed and sat on the edge of the couch's back, hands resting on his shoulders. They began to massage away the knots that lay beneath his skin, thumbs drawing tight circles in thick muscle and Ray groaned at the pressure. His head lolled back as the pancakes were forgotten again, no doubt those remnants were destined for the incinerator now that she had his full attention and loving gaze.

"One of these days, I might just marry you and we can go live someplace where no one will bother us," he replied softly and her heart squeezed at the sudden turn from her lighthearted joke. He'd never leave Swellview behind, not until he was certain that there was someone to take his place but the notion made her smile all the same. Peace would be a change, but maybe not an unwelcome one.

"Careful, doofus. Offer to elope again and I might just take you up on it."

"We could. Doesn't have to be much, just enough to let me call you my wife," Ray whispered, hand coming up to lay on top of hers on his shoulder so he could feel her engagement ring, present on her finger like always. He knew she wanted a wedding, but god, the thought of finally having someone make it official sounded so damn good. If she was his wife in his heart, what difference did it make? He'd take her either way.

"Sounds nice, but it'll be worth the wait, Ray," (y/n) whispered, swallowing the lump that formed in her throat as she denied him what he sorely wanted. She'd marry him even if it killed her and maybe some part of her wanted to be married so badly that eloping had crossed her mind, only to be shot down. 

They'd regret it in the end, that she was sure of, and whilst she didn't have many fears for the future, regretting marrying the love of her life was one of them. She never wanted him to be sick of the sight of her, so a wedding day it was, even if they still had nothing ten months down the line. "I promise."

Ray said nothing and they went back to an easy silence as they waited for the feather delivery. He'd hold her to that promise but he knew he wouldn't have to. His girl was worth waiting for.

~An hour later~

"Come on, come on, come on, come on, pick up, pick up, pick up, pick up, pick up," Henry said under his breath as the annoying drill of his PearPhone's dialling tone rang in his ear. It was safe to say that his situation had gone from bad to worse after Charlotte collected one of Otto's feathers and now, he wasn't just facing his sister's weather but the entire neighbourhood's.

He didn't understand why there was such a big fuss over one bird. Otto was just like any other parrot but there was a police presence in his house, a prayer vigil outside his door, and a man wanting to hunt down the bird with a snake, which would end badly he just knew it, and he started to panic about the mob growing on his porch. Just because they were peaceful now didn't mean they wouldn't lynch him when they found out about how he was the birdnapper, the one they'd been praying for.

So, the kid was desperate for any news from the Man Cave, where Charlotte had scurried off to with the feather once she'd been grilled by the cops and their pathetic sketch artist. Of course, in the hideout, things were progressing quite well, Schwoz and (y/n) were on the ball, cloning away, Ray was sitting on the couch staring dreamily at his sweet girl as she floated around the place and Charlotte was waiting for the moment the cake was out of the oven. So to speak.

"Hey, Henry. What's up?" She answered in a semi-chirpy tone that grated against her friend's sour mood.

"Hey, did Schwoz and (y/n) clone a new Otto yet?" Henry asked, praying that they already had a new bird ready to be substituted in. He couldn't hide in his bedroom forever; eventually, the birdman and his snake would come sniffing (do snakes sniff?), and then, they'd find their prize stashed in his closet. And that would be game over.

"Uh, hang on," Charlotte told him and looked over at her fellow smarties as they poked around with science that was beyond her education, "Are we close?"

"I think so..." "He just needs a couple more minutes," they answered. Honestly, (y/n) wasn't that good at cloning...or anything to do with biology but she saw it this way. Otto's DNA, the stuff they'd pulled from the feather, was like cake batter and all they were doing was shoving it in a very special oven, turning up the heat and waiting for the cake to rise. Any deviation from that plan would ruin the cake...or something to that metaphor.

"They say we're close." "All right, well, tell Schwoz and (y/n) to hurry up because there's a bird-sniffing snake on its way and they're gonna find Otto in my closet and they're gonna hear—" Henry panicked and opened his closet door to reveal the little red bird still sat on its perch, only this time, it didn't say it's favourite phrase, much to everyone's surprise.

"The moon landing was fake!" It said in its helium-like chirp and for a glorious moment, Henry thought their problems were over because hallelujah, it didn't say his biggest secret.

"Hey, wait a second, Otto's stopped saying that—" "Henry is Kid Danger!" Charlotte cringed as she heard the shrill squawk of the parrot, that hadn't learnt to say something new. 

"Dang it!" For a moment there, the boy had thought that Otto could be returned to Piper with no worries because if he didn't say the K-D word, then everything was fine. Or not. He just had to go and spoil it.

"Well, why can't you sneak Otto outta the house before the bird-sniffing snake even gets there?" Charlotte questioned, wondering what was stopping her friend from leaving before he got caught. In the background, she was trying to ignore how her boss was giving her friend goo-goo eyes, turning her back on him so she didn't have to see him blow a kiss only for her to sweetly catch it. If Henry thought he had it bad, she had it worse.

"Because my house is surrounded by people holding up picks of candles on their phones and donating to Piper's GoFundYourself account. I need a new bird!" He snapped in reply and angrily ended the call. His voice was so harsh that it even broke Ray out from his (y/n)-induced haze to make him frown at the racket. What could the kid possibly be worried about that it meant he had to stop staring at his fiancée's pretty face, hips....butt? 

"Henry says you gotta hurry up and clone a new Otto!" Charlotte told the genius and his assistant as she shoved her phone in her back pocket and gave them a firm stare. Ray stood up from the couch and wandered over, seeing that things were starting to get exciting but for all the glares in the world, perfection couldn't be rushed. Did she want the cake to sink if they opened the oven door too quickly? Did she want Otto to be a mutant freak?

"Okay..." Schwoz shared a chuckle with (y/n) before looking at the girl kindly...and rolling his eyes a bit at how Ray leaned over to cup the woman's cheeks for a quick smooch, "Anytime you say hurry up and clone, that's when the mistakes happen."

"But it's safe, right? Like you two've cloned stuff before?" "Well, personally, no, but Schwoz has a lot of experience...and by the way, you need to get some antiseptic on those scratches," (y/n) replied truthfully before commenting on the frankly awful injuries that Charlotte had sustained after fighting Otto for a feather. They looked particularly sore but nothing that wouldn't heal fine without a little care and attention, but it was the clone that Charlotte was bothered about, not the state of her face. It was a good thing that Schwoz had been practising for years, more than anyone was aware of.

"Schwoz?" "Yeah, I've cloned myself—" he said when the girl looked at him, spilling the secret that he promised he would never let loose because he knew that it would piss Ray off. After all, it would piss (y/n) off. Cloning people was unethical and irresponsible in her eyes and once she told her lover that, it would be bye-bye cloning machine for him, so he resolved to keep it quiet so he could have lots of little helpers about the place. "I mean...I, myself, have cloned many things that are not me!"

Looking at him suspiciously, the little man's friend's lined up to stare at him judgementally, (y/n) stepping next to Ray so she could analyse his facial features. She knew a liar when she saw one but how was she supposed to prove that with no proof? Schwoz was very careful with his clones and so, they were never caught. Not yet anyway.

"Schwoz, did you clone yourself?" Ray asked, his arm sliding around his girl's waist as he stared down at his handyman. He was the boss, so he had a right to know what was going on in his Man Cave, right? It was bad enough dealing with one Schwoz, let alone, two or three or five or ten yet he didn't know that those other Schwozs were the reason that so much stuff got done around the place.

"Ummmm, noooo...." "Yeah, see, the way you're saying ummmm, noooo, makes me think you really have cloned yourself," Charlotte told him, seeing straight through that fake innocence and folding her arms. She knew something was going on, she wasn't stupid, but perhaps all three of them were deaf and blind because as they stared down the original, low and behold, a clone Schwoz snuck through the secret door. 

He happily waddled into the main room as he snacked on an apple. Clone Schwoz had no idea what was going on with his boss and friends but Real Schwoz wasn't about to let their secret be revealed. 

"Yeah, that's what I'm thinking too. The long no makes it seem like he's lying, right?" (y/n) looked up at her doofus and then at Charlotte, both of whom agreed that Schwoz was talking out of his ass. However, they were so busy debating whether he was or not, that they didn't see the second genius slope off when urged to by his counterpart, who thanked his lucky stars that they didn't look at him or behind them.

"Oh, totally, sweet girl. The short no is always true. The long no, that means he's lying," Ray pointed out, too wrapped up in the loving gaze of his fiancée and how it made his insides feel warm and fuzzy to notice the sound of the door opening and closing again. Rather, the only thing that was capable of breaking their trance-like staring was the ding of Schwoz's Clone-u-Lator, which he assumed meant something had happened.

"Oh, good! The clone is done! Everyone can move on!" Schwoz exclaimed and rushed to open the door of the machine. Talk about saved by the bell or the ding or the machine, whatever, he was saved. For now...

"Yeah, sure..." (y/n) gave him a pointed look and tucked away a small thought about investigating his lab in her mind. He might have thought he'd gotten away with it, but she'd get him one day and everything would become clear. Y'know, the day they didn't have a mouthy parrot to deal with.

Slowly, Schwoz opened the door on his cloning device and there, sitting on the small perch, was a parrot. And not just any parrot. It had a red and brown plumage, a glossy black beak, beady eyes and every claw on its foot; the perfect clone of the bird Charlotte had left in Henry's closet after wrestling for one of its feathers. She had to give it to the genius, the likeness was uncanny and it was a weight off her shoulders as Otto Two hopped out of the chamber.

"Oh, wow!" "Ooooohhh!" "He looks exactly like Otto!" Ray exclaimed as (y/n) grinned at their handiwork, happy to admit that most of it had been Schwoz just so she could admire him more. As he sat there on Schwoz's wrist, Otto squeaked happily and she would swear that it was the same bird if she didn't know better, so switching them would be fine and Piper would never know the difference.

"Yah, that's the point, schweetheart," Schwoz replied to Ray sarcastically and the man's face fell into a grumpy frown. There was only one person who was allowed to call him that and she never used such a bitter tone. Stupid clever people and their smugness.

"Hey, it's exactly the same in every way?" Charlotte asked, wanting to make sure that there was no stray feather or distinction that would make Piper smell a rat. She loved that bird and so did the rest of her class, so there couldn't be anything wrong.

"Mmm, pretty much. It just hasn't learned to say Henry is Kid Danger," Schwoz said, pointing out the key difference that was sure to save them. But, as per the universe's unfair way, the moment he said that forbidden phrase, Otto Two learned what they'd been trying to avoid. He should've kept his mouth shut, what did he think would happen?

"Henry is Kid Danger! Henry is Kid Danger!" Otto Two squawked and the four felt their stomachs drop. As Ray, Charlotte and (y/n) glared at him, Schwoz's gaze dropped to the floor as his cheeks flamed red, embarrassed that he'd said something so stupid when they didn't have much time and now, their saviour was their new executor. Not such a genius, after all.

"Nice going, schweetheart...." Ray quipped dryly and gave his handyman and cold look as he sheepishly handed the bird over to (y/n) for her to hold. He'd have to start again, that bird was now tainted with that phrase and wouldn't unlearn it, so they'd just have to keep baking until they got it right, which would be fun and easy and stress-free.

"Well, what are we supposed to do with this one?—All right, we get it, feathers," (y/n) asked as Schwoz quickly thumbed a few buttons and slammed the door shut on the cloning device, smiling at her nervously as the parrot bobbed its head and said Henry is Kid Danger, Henry is Kid Danger a million more times. She wasn't one for birds, rabbits, yes, dogs, definitely, but not parrots, they flapped and squawked and were so damn annoying, especially the talking ones, so what were they supposed to do with the spare? 

Releasing it was one idea, but that would mean Otto Two would blab his beak all over town and every Henry in the land would be hunted down. One of these days, she'd swing for Schwoz.

"Pluck it, roast it, stick it in a pot pie!" Ray smiled at her and began sizing the creature up for his dinner, which earned him a few mortified looks from his sweet girl and friends. Parrot pot pie? They weren't even sure if that was legal and more to the point, why would he want to eat the poor thing? The wasn't even enough meat on him for a full meal and everyone knows that Ray always ordered enough for two, just in case he could share with his dearest fiancée.

"Raymond! We are not eating Otto!...Or his little Ottolets!"  "But baby—" "No buts! Someone call Henry, see what's happening with him and that snake man," (y/n) put her finger on Ray's lips to silence him before looking at Charlotte, who nodded wordlessly and began scrolling through her phone. The boy was probably getting worried since they'd said they'd be over any minute, fifteen minutes ago. It wasn't their fault that Otto Two had gone wrong, it was Schwoz's, so due to that technical hitch, they had to start again and in the hurry, they'd forgotten to broadcast that update. Oops. 

Charlotte paced impatiently as her phone tried to connect to Henry's and in the meantime, Ray pecked at the finer on his lips, moving down to her engagement ring, her palm and then, on the pulse point of her wrist. (y/n) was giving him a faux-annoyed look as she tried to juggle the bird and his advances, but that morphed into a smile when he leaned down for a proper kiss. Looking at them through his eyelashes, Schwoz scoffed and watched his invention impatiently, wishing it could go faster without ruining the process. 

"Henry! Hey, we—" the girl exclaimed when she finally got through to her friend and in her haste, she didn't give him a chance to say hello. But Henry was quick to speak first because, in the brief time since their last con-flab, shit had hit the fan at his house.

"Hey, what the holdup?! The bird-sniffing snake is here!" He asked impatiently, worry coating his every word. The man who'd brought the snake was thankfully a massive gunch and as such, was too busy showing off and hyping the crowd to get straight down to business, so nothing had happened. Yet. That snake was practically begging to be let out and Piper was getting antsy and shouty and dear god, his nerve was beginning to slip from the stress it was under.

"Yeah, we had a little problem with the first clone—" Charlotte told him nervously and tried to mask that to no success. She wasn't inspiring much confidence in the boy, but just as she started speaking, the oven went ding, indicating that Otto Three was ready to go. Maybe this time, they'd have more success. "But the new-new clone is done and we're leaving right now."

"Right, no one say the word and we'll just back away to the elevator slowly..." (y/n) said quietly, pretending to put her hand over Otto Two's ears so he couldn't hear the plan and possibly spoil it. They all nodded solemnly and Schwoz carefully opened the machine to reveal yet another perfect Otto, one that hadn't been corrupted yet.

"Wait, wait...what was the problem with the first clone?" Henry asked as the party carried on outside his front door. He couldn't help it if he was curious and neither could Charlotte help it if she wanted to be honest. A little too honest, which led to being forgetful and loose-lipped.

"Schwoz said, Henry is Kid Danger, in front of it and—" "Henry is Kid Danger! Henry is Kid Danger! Henry is Kid Danger!" she explained, thinking nothing of her mistake until it was too late. Otto Three hadn't even made it out of the box when he started chirping her exact words, which were very attractive for a copycat parrot. As with Schwoz, she suddenly felt very stupid and knew that her ears and cheeks were growing warm as her friends' eyes twitched and their faces fell. 

"Oh, come on! I literally said don't say it!" (y/n) cried in frustration and her hands raised to pull her hair as Otto Two flapped off to join his twin in their annoying symphony. Now that one was saying it, the other couldn't resist and it was certain that what should've been simple was gonna take a while.

"We'll call you back," Charlotte said to Henry with a sigh and much to the boy's reluctance and maybe fear, the call was ended. Come on, he was on the verge of being hung, drawn and quartered, what were they playing at? It's not like cloning a parrot is difficult.

~Half an hour later~

So he thought. Henry was beside himself at the house as he waited for his dumb boss and dumb friends to get to his dumb self but as the seconds ticked by, he was starting to lose hope. He had no idea what was keeping them and it was starting to look like he'd just have to be murdered by the prayer vigil because help wasn't coming from the Man Cave.

By Otto Number Five, even Ray, (y/n), Charlotte and Schwoz were losing patience. Every time a bird had come out, that which must not be said was spoken and they had to start all over again. It was annoying but manageable when it was their fault, like when the heroine said it when she thought Otto Four was still cooking but when the birds themselves started squawking it like everything was one big game, things were starting to become unbearable. 

As they waited for Otto Six, they were praying that they all stayed silent. It was quite a collection now, all five were lined up on the computer monitors, looking down on the scene as if they were waiting to say something to piss the humans off, and of course, they chose their moment when their new friend—brother—self dinged to be done.

Absolute silence. With their fingers on their lips, the group held their breath as Schwoz opened the door, wanting Otto Six to not hear anything to do with Captain Man or Kid Danger or Miss Danger, so it was easier to just say nothing, apart from the odd parrot squeak. The door inched open and there he was, as perfect as the other five, totally pristine and innocent as he was lifted out, onto Ray's hand and into a new world where nothing could go wrong and no one could teach him anything because no one was saying wor—

"Henry is Kid Danger!" Otto Two or maybe it was Four chirped as they snuck towards the elevator and with panic flashing on their faces, the four ran to the elevator, (y/n) almost pushing Ray over in their mad dash. Perhaps if they got him in there quick enough, he wouldn't hear what his predecessors were saying and it would all be okay...

"Henry is Kid Danger!" Too late. The elevator door didn't open quick enough and as Ray rapidly tapped the button, Six opened his beak and let loose the four most annoying words in the human-bird language. Above the repeated Henry this, Henry that, some several shouts and groans bordered agony as they turned on their heels to reset the cloning device for the seventh time and for the man-child of the Man Cave, it was difficult to stay calm.

"Shut up! Shut up all of you! Why?! Whhhhyyyy?!" Ray glared at the parrots and squashed the urge to launch the one that sat on his fingers at them. His sweet girl would never forgive him if he did that and besides, he had her shoulder to sob into angrily as she came to hug away the pain, mumbling something about calming down, being better than a temper tantrum and plucking, roasting and Potpie-ing them later.

~

"Hurry up, Schwoz! Henry is freaking out!!" Charlotte exclaimed as Schwoz muddled through their seventh attempt at cloning Otto. She didn't want to rush the genius or his experiment since (y/n) had told her that shit goes wrong when you try to botch science, but for once, she was rushing. 

Halfway through the baking process, she'd received an incoming flurry of texts from her friend ranging from asking where they were to ones of a more dramatic nature. Namely, that Henry thought he was gonna die or something to that effect, which meant that it was imperative that this time, they got it right and quick, but Schwoz wasn't a man to be hurried, not when said hurrying could have disastrous results.

I told you! When you hurry the cloning process, that's when you get a lot of problems!" He tried to tell her but for Ray, excuses were pathetic because Captain Man and Miss Danger had a date with returning a lost bird to a little girl and they couldn't do that if they had no bird. 

"We are out of time! Just give me something, anything that looks like a bird!"  "Yeah, Schwoz, I know it's a bad idea, but just give us a bird!" The couple hissed, feeling itchy to get moving as they were already so late and on the verge of Henry having a heart attack or never forgiving them or both. She was the semi-scientist, she knew the risks but even so, she was willing to cut a few corners if it meant they could leave sooner. After all, it couldn't be that bad, right? 

"Fine!" Not wanting to be badgered anymore, the genius shrugged his shoulders and stopped the timer early, bringing forth the ding a good five minutes early. "He's not ready yet but here's your bird!" Schwoz glared and opened the door, knowing exactly what they were gonna face but he wanted to prove to them that he didn't make this science stuff up. Bad things genuinely did happen when you ignored Schwozie.

"Oh!" "Argh!" "Sweet cheese!" As the door opened, the unsuspecting trio were expecting to see a slightly ruffled Otto Seven, maybe with a funny eye or something like that, but oh no. Dear, sweet lord, no. (y/n) jumped back into Ray's arms and they clung to each other for dear life, much like the thing in the machine was as it trembled on the little perch.

In the box, was a mutant freak; the parrot had very few feathers left, kinda like he'd been shaved, and he was hunched over with scabby skin and a funny, crazed look to him that made them feel so sorry for whatever chromosomes and genes he was missing. Otto Seven was half the Otto the other six were and (y/n) and Charlotte felt like monsters for opening the door too early, but Ray...he didn't see that big a problem.

"Eh, I can sell it," he shrugged, angling the parrot between his hands and deciding that yeah, he looked horrible but at the end of the day, that was still a bird and the beloved Captain Man could tell the people anything and they'd believe him. After all, he had done them a favour by saving what was left of him, surely a scabby Otto was better than no Otto at all. "Come on, sweet girl..."

"But—but—the—doofus—we—huh?" (y/n) stammered as he took the bird and her hand, guiding her towards the elevator as she failed to articulate what she wanted to say. What did she want to say? The bird? Him? Her? Piper? She honestly didn't know what was happening as Charlotte scurried behind them without hesitation. She wasn't going to miss this for the world, the big moment when Captain Man handed Miss Piper Hart half the bird she originally took home, would be a tragedy to behold. 

But not half the tragedy of Henry getting his head ripped off if they handed over nothing more than Miss Danger's wobbly apologies.

~Henry's house~

It was all going at the kid's place.

Piper was sitting on an upside-down bucket as she watched the snake guy wow the crowd by swinging his bag about, enjoying how their voices went low and high whenever the big and its dangerous contents did. He'd been doing that for ages, goaded by Henry and Jasper since they were trying to drag it out for all of its worth since Charlotte had said that they were coming at some point. He was a massive show-off, though, so it wasn't hard to make him lose track of time with a few praises and Piper's well-wishers were actually just sheep with too much time on their hands so they'd do anything as per the pack mentality.

But Piper, well, she was starting to get pissed off as the rock music played on and as she looked around at her supporters, she couldn't believe that they'd been hanging about for so long. Anything could've happened to Otto in the time they'd been doing nothing, which meant change was in order.

"Okay, okay, stop, stop!" She shouted above the noise and the cheering and music ceased, much to everyone's disappointment and Henry's slight terror. "

"What's the problem?" "The problem is that you've been showboating for ten minutes. Are you gonna let the snake out so it can find Otto or not?" Piper asked the man sternly, who looked a little ashamed at her observations. He felt a bit bad that he'd gotten so carried away and Henry shuffled on his feet as he realised that his sister's insisting meant that his time for stalling was up.

"Yes, I will let it out..." the boy held his breath as the man looked solemnly at his shoes, but all hope was lost, "...after the conga line!!!!"

"YEAH!" To his massive relief, a stroke of luck fell thanks to the man's childishness and lack of professionalism, so Henry thanked his lucky stars and got in the queue for the conga. If it meant that the snake stayed in the bag, then he'd do some dancing, no matter how red-faced and annoyed Piper was getting because he'd been on the verge of a heart attack all day. The least he could do was try to relax as he steered the madman around the porch to keep his mind off of his snake.

"No! No conga lines! Use your stupid snake to find Otto! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" The girl screamed into nothingness, her voice drowned out by the cheers from the crowd and the upbeat music to the point where her vocal cords were sore. It was tough seeing her so frustrated and on the verge of tears but Henry had to stay strong for his own sake...but not for long because here came an even bigger showboat.

"All right, people, heroes comin' through! Make a hole, make it wide! That's right, let the lady through!" Ray announced, suddenly appearing from the darkness like a vision in blue and red with (y/n) shyly leading the way since he was a firm believer in sweet ladies first. 

Now, Henry had never felt this before in his life and he doubted that he ever would again—but dear god, he'd never been happier to hear that bigheaded voice. Just like he'd never been happier to see the lovey-dovey couple still holding hands even as he was preoccupied with what he assumed was Otto in that shrouded cage. He could deal with the cockiness, he could deal with the mushiness, he was just so glad that they'd made it at long last and just before the snake guy ran out of things to show off about.

"Oh, look! It's Captain Man and Miss Danger!" "And they've got the real Otto!" Henry and Jasper exclaimed in stale tones, sounding rehearsed and stupid to boot but no one paid attention as the hero set the bird cage down on the bucket that Piper had been sitting on. No one even noticed how Charlotte snuck into the group at suspiciously the same time as the heroes, almost as if she'd been with them, had anyone bothered to think about it like that.

"Did you find Otto?" Piper asked the heroes with wide, bright eyes that were filled with hope and wonder. Oh, how it would break their superhero hearts when they showed her what had befallen the seventh copy of her beloved class pet. Still, Ray could sell it just as he'd promised because he was a very smooth, charming talker and who could resist Miss Danger's winning smile? Not him, that's for certain.

"Uh-huh, sure did, little girl... He-Here ya go!" (y/n) tried to keep her face pleasant and her voice steady but it was kinda hard what with Piper staring straight at her. Ray's hand squeezed hers tighter as his other whipped away the white sheet that had been covering Otto's grotesque new features and honestly, the reaction of the crowd could've killed her right there. Henry and Jasper were looking at the couple and Charlotte with horrified expressions as they gave the tiniest shrugs and subtlest apologetic looks, but no one was more distraught than Piper as she took him in.

He looked like a half-dead chicken.

"W-what happened to him? It looks like he's been microwaved or something," She asked, not knowing where to look, whether that be his wings that seemed to grow from his backbone or his hoarse, jingling croak.

"Oh, well, y'know...the sickos that bird-napped him did not treat him very well," Ray lied, swapping a knowing look with his sweet girl and Charlotte as the crowd cooed in sympathy. They thought that the poor thing had been hounded and mauled by some cruel psycho but the reality was that they were the ones who were sick, they'd half-baked the cake so it was crusty on the outside but gooey and gross in the middle. Oh well, a sob story always worked in the animal's favour, maybe he'd make Swellview's Got Talent if they milked it.

"But when Miss Danger and I found those people, we beat 'em up!" The hero lied further, earning himself an eye roll from his fiancée that was mimicked by Charlotte because she knew exactly what was going through the man's mind. Oooh, Miss Danger fighting, oooh, she's so hot, ooooh, the people love him. He was loving it, punching and kicking the air as if he really had taken down some bad guys, but at least the crowd bought it. 

"I mean, yeah...we really did a number on 'em! Real bad..." "Otto's back, people!" (y/n)'s lack of convincing enthusiasm was supported by Ray's talent for working a crowd and he happily gave her a side hug as Piper led the crowd in chanting the name of the brave parrot who'd been to hell and back, only to fight beak and claw to return to his mistress. Well, if they were happy then so were they, even if it was a shallow victory.

"Otto! Otto! Otto! Otto! Otto! Otto!" "Captain Man! Captain Man! Captain Man!" And being the bigheaded that he was, Ray couldn't help but slip his own name in there until the kids and various adults were shouting it instead. Piper was a bit confused and the teens thought it was massively cocky of their boss but as always, the Swellviewian crowd just followed the leader and Captain Man was good at that.

"Captain Man! Captain Man! Captain Man! Captain Man!" "There you go..." Well, at least he was happy about it.

"You're a massive ego, you know that?" (y/n) said as she looked up at him with a bemused smile, admiring how he was able to make them do whatever he said so easily. It was conceited of him but she could never do what he did, the leading, the being confident enough to step in and command the crowd to do what you wanted them to do. She was rubbish at that and would never dream of willingly stepping into the centre of attention like that, so it was awe-inspiring that he not only could but enjoyed doing it. Not that she'd ever play to his ego like that.

"You love it." "Oh, yeah, keep telling yourself that," she giggled and squeezed her eyes shut when he pressed a firm kiss to her cheek as she was pulled into his embrace even tighter. Charlotte dared to look to her right a little and pulled a face when she saw her friend squeal and laugh at how many butterfly kisses were being left on her cheeks by the man who was revelling in his two loves; the adoration of the crowd and his greatest love of all. Her.

"Told you I'd sell it," he muttered against the softness of her cheek and for once in her life, (y/n) had to pander to his ego. That was true, he'd done a good job, which even Charlotte had to hand to him, even if she was gagging at the same time. A look over his shoulder to Henry and Jasper and Ray was smirking even more because they gave him a nod and thumbs up. He was smug, right up until the point when their admiration turned into smirks of their own as they made smoochy faces and swirled their tongues in the cool night air.

It was Captain Man's turn to be embarrassed.

~The Man Cave~

After Ray was done throttling them and rubbing his knuckles against their heads, (y/n) had dragged the boys and Charlotte back to the Man Cave, saying something about wanting to get out of her uniform since today had been meant to be a day off of sorts. 

So, back in their home and with the family crowded in one place, the man of The Cave had proclaimed that for the rest of the night, up until the inevitable first emergency call of the evening, they were gonna sit around the TV, watch bad shows or movies and not move an inch. 

So, as the computer's monitors kept an eye on the shadiest parts of town, the TV played whatever was on air and they sat around it. Jasper was relaxing at the computer whilst Schwoz, Henry, Charlotte and of course, Ray and (y/n) were sat/snuggled on the couch in what should have been an idyllic scene. And for once in their lives, the happy couple were joined at the hip but not in paradise, not even when she raked her lips from his cheek to his jaw because there were several guests currently outstaying their welcome.

Those fucking parrots. All seven of them. The original Otto had been brought back to the Man Cave, lest he b left at Henry's house to be discovered, bringing that total of irritating little chatterboxes to seven and they would not shut up. It was impossible to relax fully or enjoy what was happening on the screen because nothing could be heard except for—

"Henry is Kid Danger!" "Henry is Kid Danger!" "Henry is Kid Danger!" "Henry is Kid Danger!" "Henry is Kid Danger!" It was infuriating. They were sat on top of the monitors still and Ray could swear that they were gloating at everyone's suffering, especially his, as he tried to get cosy with his sweet girl, possibly snake a hand where it shouldn't have been but it was hard to be cheeky when every little thing annoyed her to the point of pushing him away. He wasn't hurt, not like you'd expect because he got it. The headache was very real and even he found himself not in the mood as the chirps and squawks continued until it wasn't funny anymore.

Some might say it was comical that they were in that situation but by the half-hour mark of listening to nothing but "Henry is Kid Danger!", it was getting difficult to hold it together.

"The birds are too loud, I can't hear the judges!" Henry whined as he leaned in closer to the set, hoping to catch what the people on the cooking show were saying. This was one of his favourite shows, on the count that they all had cute and hilarious British voices, it would've been nice to hear one line when the judges critiqued something bad.

"Or their funny accents!" Schwoz complained too, which was a touch of the pot calling the kettle black but he had a point. The birds were so annoying, so much that Charlotte was starting to sense the tension between the miserable couple next to her.

"Jasper, will you turn up the volume?" She asked politely, getting the feeling that if her boss got any more frustrated, he'd punch the wall...or Schwoz's head. And it wasn't like (y/n) was gonna do anything; she was currently slumped against the couch table, her face smushed into her arms as she tried to block out the infernal noise and all Ray could do was sling an arm over her back and pathetically paw at her for attention that she wasn't going to give him whilst her head hurt so much.

"Good idea—" "I got a better idea. Let's turn the volume down on the birds!... Permanently," The hero growled, his patience wearing so thin that it was now nothing more than a smear and he had the self-control of a toddler anyway. He wanted to hold his sweet girl and kiss her and hear her whisper naughty things and stupid jokes in his ear but most of all, he wanted her to feel better again. To see her look and smile at him again. 

So, in his head, it made sense to sneak his laser control from his pocket and raise his arm to fire at those damned parrots. One hit and they'd be nothing more than ash on the floor and his lover would be content to snuggle with him again. After all, what kind of protector was he if he couldn't commit a little bird genocide for her comfort?

"What are you talking about, doo—oh my god, Raymond! No!" (y/n) raised her eye with bleary eyes and peered at her lover in confusion as his arm left her back and took its warmth with it. It was only when she looked along to the connecting hand and what was in that hand that her brain suddenly stopped hurting and flipped into action, quick enough to lift his arm and skewer his aim, but not quick enough to stop the firing full stop. Rather, Ray's thumb hit the button and an orange zap left the controller but it didn't hit an Otto, oh no.

"Ah!" Jasper yelped as he felt a burning sting on his lip like a bullet had grazed his mouth, and he looked up at his friends to see their shocked faces but most importantly, Ray's guilty mug as they started pointing fingers.

"Are you okay?!" "You zapped Jasper's face!"

"That was (y/n)'s fault!" "I was saving that damn parrot's life!" "Y-yeah, she's too sweet to be blamed! It was Charlotte's fault, she wanted the TV to be turned up!" When Charlotte looked at (y/n) with an accusing glare, the woman recoiled and frowned because she had merely been trying to do the right thing, not join a game of tattletales. But of course, as always, Ray valiantly jumped to her defence and practically hunched over his lover to bare his teeth at Charlotte for her outrageous suggestion.

"You shot off my moustache!" Jasper yelled at the horrified trio and whilst they weren't big fans of it in the first place, Charlotte and (y/n) felt just as bad as Ray as they saw his bald, slightly sore but definitely red upper lip. Despite having it for less than a week, the teen had grown quite attached to his lip sweater and was fuming to know that it had been lost for something so trivial, like losing a soldier because of a general's poor order.

"Noooooooo!" Henry screamed, his face contorting in pain and anguish as if he was the one in mourning. His best friend had looked so cool, cooler than anything to anyone he'd ever seen, so to see it shaved off was devastating.

"It was an accident! (y/n) hit my zapper!" Ray squeaked and fluttered his eyes innocently, which caused his sweet girl to look at him with mutiny in her eyes. Oh, why didn't he stab her in the heart whilst he was at it? One mean look from Jasper and his shaved whiskers and he was whimpering, leaving her to the dogs to be torn apart and she would be offended if she didn't know that in serious circumstances, he'd never betray her like that.

"What were you thinking?!" "I was trying to save the birds! Which, by the way, are now quiet, thanks to me!" The woman snapped at Henry and then glared at her future husband, both of whom seemed more upset than Jasper at the loss of the moustache. But she was right; since the laser had fired, the birds hadn't made a peep, probably because they were scared shitless by the hulking hero and the silence was bliss.

"Yeah! At least the birds shut up!" Charlotte told her friend, nudging his arm to get him to back off so they could enjoy the quiet and hopefully, the couple next to her would mellow out. (y/n) huffed and flopped back into the couch, ignoring her heart's desire to latch onto the bicep brushing against her arm and hug it for the rest of her life. The fuchsia shirt he was wearing made them bulge and seem extra huge, perfect for snuggling or holding onto when he dragged her off to f—or not. She was sulking, feeling moody after being sold out so his buddy wouldn't get mad over a moustache. 

"At least the birds shut up." Spoke too soon. It must've been something about her voice because the Ottos picked up on the phrase the minute she said it and this time, it was even more annoying. Not because they'd been quiet, although that did grate, but because now it felt like they were being deliberately annoying, mocking even, because they had the power to toy with the pathetic humans who were too soft to do anything against them.

"At least the birds shut up." "At least the birds shut up." "At least the birds shut up." "At least the birds shut up." 

"Ray?" (y/n) murmured darkly to her fiancé, swallowing thickly as her head began pounding again, souring her mood even further. Those little bastards with wings, she wanted to step on every one of them because they were ruining the last scrap of her day off and that just wasn't on.

"Yeah, sweet girl?" Ray acknowledged her in a tight voice, feeling a similar dull pain set in between his temples, meaning any hopes he had of laughing away the tension for his "betrayal" were dashed because neither of them was in the mood for fun.

"Let's make some parrot pot pie." She growled, not even caring about how morbid her idea was and of course, Ray was at the end of her rope just as she was. And obviously, he would do anything for her, so when he began shooting again, it was up to Charlotte to try and keep those damn birds alive again.

In the chaos, as a small girl tried to fend off a man twice her size, as an odd boy stroked his stubbled lip, as a lanky kid walked off, as a genius ducked for cover and as seven birds chirped to their heart's content, (y/n) let her forehead touch the cool table and plugged her ears with her fingers as her eyes slid shut. The world was blocked out like there was an ocean in her head, and at last, there was peace in the Man Cave.

Sort of.

[maier-files]

New Post has been published on The Maier Files

New Post has been published on http://the.maier-files.com/the-creature-from-jekyll-island/

The creature from Jekyll Island

Maier files and the history of Otto Maier is a story about limitless money and hidden global power. Otto Maier finds himself in a high-stakes power game. Was he able to breakaway from the tiranny and machinations of the world’s most powerful central bank and its secret societies?  The answer will have to wait until the last episode. But you reader will probably ask yourself is it possible that there could exist a powerful, conspiring central bank behind the scenes. Well …

[vc_row][vc_column width=’3/4′]For those of you who want to learn more about occult central bank cartels the book of Mr. Griffin, “The creature of Jekyll Island”  is a MUST read!

Did you ever wonder where the money comes from? Where it goes? Who makes it? Mr. Griffin unveils the scam. His book gives a close look at the moneymakers their mirrors and smoke machines, their pulleys, cogs, and wheels that create the grand illusion called money. It reads like a detective story – which it really is. But it’s all true. This book is about the most blatant scam of all history. It’s all here: the cause of wars, boom-bust cycles, inflation, depression, prosperity. Your world view will definitely change. You’ll never trust a politician again – or a banker. Click on the amazon button!In the video’s opening, below, Mr. G. Edward Griffin explains the central banking scheme, past examples of honest banking, theft through inflation, etc. clearly and effectively!

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[toa-archive]

As a rule, every Monday a bunch of websites are checked for the Archive which is generally if new artwork has been snuck up on one that has done so multiple times, vimeo, artstation and speakerdeck. Usually nothing pops up which hey it happens! But just occasionally...

As chosen by yesterday's poll here is very unexpected additional work by Marko Bajic! This was the only Trollhunters addition in the form of Grand Theft Otto.

Look at this nerd. Only the second sequence ever to appear with Otto featured somewhere.

As the poll tied for next week I'm making an executive decision and picking it myself. Look forward to 3Below then!

[dictatiousmaximusgaladrigal]

Gunmar GIFs - 1 TrollHunters Season 2 Episode 3: Grand Theft Otto

[lireetoile]

“Grand Theft Otto”

Synopsis:  Jim hears a fellow prisoner who is clearly in pain.  His first instinct is to ask if they’re ok.  That’s when he discovers the other prisoner is Nomura.  She tries to convince him to give up hope but fails.  Back in Arcadia, Team Trollhunters is on a stake-out.  Toby is thrilled that his braces are off.  Otto appears but gets spooked.  Team Trollhunters attempts pursuit but it does not go as planned.  Toby goes back to the dentist and ends up with headgear.  (Poor boy.  I’ve been there.)  In class, Toby discovers his headgear can tune into radio stations.  Toby is sent to the principal’s office.  He runs into Steve along the way and there’s confusing conflict.  Darci runs into Claire and Toby in the hallway.  They are trying to solve the problem and Darci misinterprets, getting upset.  In the ensuing confusion, Toby starts picking up the secret transmissions of the Janus Initiative.  Team Trollhunters uses that and finds a travel agency.  Nomura offers Jim something she says will help.  Claire uses the fetch and just misses Jim but leaves the last Nougat Nummy behind.  Team Trollhunters stumbles into the orientation of the Janus Initiative, where Strickler is on the screen.  (That implies some fascinating stuff.)  Gunmar is threatening to break and remake Jim.  Team Trollhunters learns they are discovered and try to flee but are caught by Otto, who can shift into a variety of shapes.  Jim fights something terrifying and we see that his armor is starting to falter.  Otto is vaguely threatening, but ultimately removes Toby’s headgear and proposes a deal:  Vendel’s staff for the antidote.  Jim’s fight is not going well, so he uses the fruit from Nomura.  It helps and he’s victorious!  Jim finds the Nougat Nummy and his hope is restored.  But our last scene is Gunmar with another, yet more dire threat. 

Review:  Jim has not been changed by his Darklands experience.  Yet.  In this episode, we start to see the cracks that are appearing.  Jim’s strength is his friends and he’s been isolated from them. Gunmar thinks he can break and remake Jim, which is more terrifying than death.  (What happens to the amulet if that happens to Jim?)   How long can Jim be strong in isolation?  That question gets down to the root of a person and the show does not falter from it.  Jim can still be kind of Nomura and that benefits him in the end.  Nomura seems to have shifted her judgements based on something that we don’t know.  But even Jim can start to falter and he’s at the place in the hero’s journey where he might.  (Good job, show.)

Favorite Line:  “Hope is good, Trollhunter.  Even in the Darklands.”  Nomura speaks wisdom, even though I’m not quite sure she believes it. 

First Appearing:  We see the Janus Order in their fullness.  They obviously have some sort of goal though we don’t know what it is yet.  (Aside from bringing Gunmar back.  But the massive operation that is implied seems to indicate something else as well.)  And Nomura reappears.  She seems...changed.  She helps Jim without provocation and seems genuinely glad that he survived his encounter in the arena.  Steve is beginning to put the pieces together about what is really happening in Arcadia.   He’s certain he saw something in the woods.  (There’s always something in the woods.)

Blinkys: 4/6 (Where did the Janus Order come from?  How has no one noticed their extensive secret base under Arcadia?)

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