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butterflyintochains · 8 months ago

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Bubble Playoff Boredom

In which Elias is in Edmonton for the 2020 Bubble playoffs, and his girlfriend is bored out of her mind.

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Elias left yesterday for the return to play in Edmonton. He's been so bored over lockdown without being able to skate or play hockey, so she's glad he can get back to what he does best. Joanna, however, always had something to do. Studying, student union zoom meetings, the odd online chess tournament. They both have just moved into their first home together, a lovely condo roughly in between Rogers Arena and UBC, so have been constantly working on getting the place ship shape for their needs. Now, she's the one left at loose ends. Potentially two months without him, and unable to just hop in the car to visit her friends and family are going to fucking suck. Ever an early bird, Joanna is up at eight, and gets ready for her day. She eats her breakfast, and looks around the condo for anything that needs to be done. She hones in on the bookcase, and decides to rearrange it. Putting her university and non-fiction books on the bottom shelves, all arranged by author, and their novels closer to the top. She keeps the middle shelf for trinkets and pictures, as well as Elias' various hockey mementos. ''Much better.''

That takes her until just before lunch, she didn't know quite how many books she had until now. Next, she makes herself some lunch, and watches something on Netflix. Elias said he'd call her every night, so she has a bunch of time to kill. ''Right, what next?'' She says to herself. Eyeing up her knitting baskets, Joanna sorts through her projects, and places the finished ones in a separate basket. Her needles and crochet hooks are in a box in her desk drawer upstairs. Her unfinished projects are put in another basket, and she sorts her wools out, arranging them neatly into colours and types. She spends the rest of the day getting some of her projects finished, Elias' gloves for winter don't take long, neither do hers. A hat for her friend Jonathan is a quick finish as well, and goes in a special gift bag for him with Chelsea's scarf. Those take her until dinner. She eats, watches some tv, and goes to get ready for bed.

Finally, she gets her facetime with her boyfriend. She almost wants to cry at seeing him again. ''Hi, sweetheart, how are you?'' She asks, relaxing into her pillows. ''Bored senseless, alskling, you?'' Joanna sips her water. ''About the same, what did you do today? Surely there's something you guys can do, right?''

Elias says. ''Well; Brock, Thatch, Quinn, and I got a Mario Kart event going between ourselves. Finished that book you told me to read.'' She gave him her Dark Tower books by Stephen King for the bubble. ''Really? Did you like it?''

Elias nods, earnest as always. ''Yeah, I did. I'll crack open the next one tomorrow after training.'' He asks her, blue eyes sleepy. ''Now, what did you get up to today?''

Joanna says. ''Well, I sorted our bookcase out finally, and got my knitting stuff in order. My desk is a disaster, so that's tomorrow sorted.'' She pauses and sighs. ''I miss having you here, Lias, this place just doesn't feel like home without you.''

Elias sighs as well, running his free hand through his silver blond hair. ''I know, Anna, I know. Believe me, I'm no happier about this than you are. Just, try and sleep for me, okay?''

Joanna nods, swallowing past a tightening in her throat. ''Yeah, you too. I love you.''

Elias says. ''I love you too.'' They hang up, Joanna lies down, and almost forces herself to get some sleep.

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A couple of days pass, and the Canucks have begun their qualifying campaign against Minnesota with a 3-0 loss. Joanna notices the day after that they need some groceries. So, she makes herself a list on her phone. Essential stores are open now, so she'll be fine. Her first time out of the condo since Elias left for Alberta. She grabs her purse, and jumps in her car. She drives down to the store, and heads inside, it is unfairly hot today. The store is all but empty, only staff and a few other shoppers milling about. She swings by the produce section for more fruits and veggies, then grabs some chicken breast and smoked salmon. Next, the dairy aisle for more milk and yoghurt. In the hygiene section, she bumps into her best friend. ''Tessa, oh my God, you are a sight for sore eyes.''

Theresa laughs behind her tiger print mask. ''Bored at home alone, Anna?'' They chat while six feet apart, the two little girls who lived in each other's pockets for two decades. ''God, yeah, with Elias out of town, I'm just counting the days until he's home. Cup or no Cup.''

Theresa says, eyes crinkling with a hidden smile. ''Nate and I had a little wager on, twenty bucks to me if you got bored before qualifying, twenty bucks to him if it happened after. Looks like I won.'' Joanna adds some pads and moisturizer to her cart, along with some of her favourite lip balm. ''Looks like you did.''

Theresa says. ''Anyway, I should get going, I love you, bestie.'' Joanna says, being a touchy person during a pandemic isn't fun. ''Love you too, Tessa.''

Joanna swings by the bakery section for some bread and some of their favourite cookies. Then, she grabs some ice cream. She picks up some cleaning products, and goes to a self checkout.

Once home, she chucks her mask in the laundry, and washes her hands before putting everything away. Then, she finds a knitting pattern for a cute teddy bear, and begins working on it.

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The team go into August 6th having tied the series, and shutout the Wild 3-0, with Elias getting his first ever playoff goal! Joanna watches from home, having to dry her eyes all night. Her boyfriend's first playoff goal, and it was beautiful, and she couldn't see it in person. She quickly readies herself for bed, putting laundry on her to-do list for tomorrow, and jumps on facetime with Elias, who looks radiant. To add to the unfairness, his beard is coming in! Fuck you, Covid. Joanna groans. ''Hey, beautiful, did you see it?'' Elias asks, sounding justly proud of himself.

Joanna laughs, and says. ''Oh, I saw it, darling. I continue to be so proud of you, you know? Here's to many more.'' Elias chuckles, the same way he does when she tells him a joke. ''Your lips to God's ear, alskling.'' He takes a minute to scan her face, he knows her too well by now, when the calm sea hides a tsunami. ''Anna, are you okay? You look like you've been crying.''

Joanna purses her lips. ''Yeah, I'm just happy for you, love, that's all.'' He cocks an eyebrow. ''Anna, please, just tell me. It's okay, Quinn's asleep, it's just us.''

Joanna confesses, because he always knows how to unravel her. ''I'm just... pissed off. You scored, and it was amazing. But, here I am, stuck watching you from home. I pictured you finding me in the stands and blowing me a kiss after your first playoff goal.'' She pauses to collect herself. ''I know it's for safety, and people are dying, but, that's what I pictured.''

Elias sighs, and looks emotional himself. ''I know you did, so did I. Tell you what? That's my celly for my next goal, I'll find a camera, and kiss your rose pendant you gave me.''

Joanna beams at him, what stars aligned to give him to her? ''Sounds good to me.'' They say their goodnights, and hang up.

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That gameday would come against the defending champions - St Louis. Game one of the best of seven. Joanna finishes a deep clean of the house brought about my nerves, but she doesn't miss the start of the game. Bo and Perron score in the first to hold things level at one goal apiece. Early in the second period, however, Elias hammers it to the back of the net, beating out Binnington with grace. He finds a camera close to the net, fishes the rose pendant out from his jersey, and presses a kiss to it for her. Elias mouths to the camera. ''I love you.''

Joanna, barely fighting tears, says. ''I love you too.'' Her phone rings, her dad. ''Hi, daddy, what's up?'' She sniffles.

Her dad asks. ''Was that for you, princess? That celly? Your mom thinks it was.'' Her parents got her the rose necklace for her fifteenth birthday, and she's only ever removed it to give it to Elias before he left for Alberta.

Joanna gleefully says. ''Yeah, dad, it was. I know we're still so young, dad, but he's it for me.'' She watches as Schwartz levels it up again. Her dad chuckles down the line. ''I think so too, princess.'' They talk for a bit, and hang up.

Troy, Bo, and JT lead the team to the win. As Joanna is readying for bed, she gets a text from Elias.

Beloved: Grab your laptop, I have an idea.

She smirks to herself, and replies.

Joanna Rose: Okay. 💓

They facetime each other to sleep that night. Talking about the game, his goal celebration, and the series to come.

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The series trundles along nicely, it's tied by the 18th. Joanna decides to go for an early morning run that day, and showers once she's home. Things are a bit more bearable now that they have the routines down, but coming home to an empty condo is still depressing. Her younger siblings are locked down with her parents at the manor, her older siblings have their partners. Her friends are all living with their partners by now too. She finishes eating breakfast, and works on her teddy bear again. All it needs now is the finishing touches. She sews on some buttons for eyes and a nose, and knits a little bowtie from soft pink wool. Her niece's knitted duck plushie was a hit, Rose never sleeps without it according to Edward and Cassandra. But, this one will be staying here. She may be 21, but she is terribly touch starved.

After lunch, she plays some chess online against some other players, her elo is up to 1200 now, it was a bit higher when she was competing as a teenager. She was even competing against the boys, and winning most of her matches. None of her boys have ever beaten her, and only Elias came close, mostly because he kissed her mid-move to confuse her. And, there it is again, that ache in her heart. That ache that feels so good but so bad all at once. She breathes it in, and lets it go on the exhale, he'll be home soon enough, Cup or no Cup.

After dinner, she fills up the bird feeders she's hung on their balcony. Loading them with seeds, nuts, and dried berries for the little songbirds that come around here. She also fills the hummingbird feeder with fructose water. Joanna heads inside to fetch her book, and reads the evening away.

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The Canucks take a 5-2 series lead over the Blues with a beautiful 4-3 win on the 19th. And, win the series two days later in a beatdown 6-2 game, knocking the defending champions out. Now, they face Vegas. The day before that series begins, Joanna comes onto her period. Always later in the month, so she runs to the store to stock up. Something she could usually ask Elias to do, but he's not here. Her back is killing her by the time she gets home. So, after washing up and binning her mask, she crashes on the couch with some cookies, tea, and Downton Abbey - always a comfort show for her. Life must have been similar for her family back then, an old money family needing to adapt to an evolving world. She's always wondered what her great-grandparents and their parents must have been experiencing. But, she'd say they've adapted pretty well.

She has her laptop facetime in bed with Elias that night. He looks so excited to have won the St Louis series, and a bit tired from training today as well. ''How are you guys holding up?'' She asks him.

Elias yawns. ''I think we're okay, Rouss has been getting extra physio, so has Motter. but, We're doing good, so far. How are you? It'll be that time of the month, won't it?''

Joanna smiles, placing a hand on her lower abdomen to calm a cramp down. ''Yeah, it started literally today.''

Elias tells her. ''The boys miss you too, Quinn and Brock especially.'' Joanna sniffles, hoping it's just her hormones acting up. ''I miss them too, it's so weird not having the gang together.''

Elias hums. ''I know, and we won't be able to have them over until at least next year too, with the way things are looking.'' Joanna gives her boyfriend a tired smile. ''At least we'll be back together.'' Elias nods, and yawns again. ''At least there's that, yeah. I love you, I'll see you soon.''

Joanna says, resting her head. ''I love you too, see you soon.'' They fall asleep on facetime again.

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UBC sends Joanna some materials for junior year of her degree the day after the Canucks get shutout 5-0 by Vegas. The files get saved to her laptop, and the books go on the lower shelves of their bookcase. Still no real news on how semester is going to work yet, the dean and the board are working closely with the provincial government to evaluate things, and should be issuing an email to the student body in a couple of days. She's just fine to study from home, it's union meetings she's worried about. Online meetings sometimes give people excuses not to attend. The orcas right the ship the following day, winning 5-2 with yet another goal from Elias. The next day, Joanna is up early for some yoga before breakfast, and heads out to the store quickly. She spends the afternoon reading over her course materials, classes will be online until after christmas it appears.

Joanna watches some tennis highlights while she makes herself some spaghetti for dinner. Tennis is also back behind closed doors, and the sound of it is amazing, the ball is so much louder with the empty stadium. She's played to very few people on various ocassions, mostly in high school, and the sound is so familiar. She eats while watching tennis, and goes to bed at ten like she always does. She and Elias fall asleep together over zoom again, not knowing when they'll be back in the same bed together.

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Vegas win two in a row to take the series lead over the coming days, Marc-Andre Fleury standing on his head in game four. Joanna spends the day of the 31st of August baking, muffins and cookies are in the oven, and she tidies up after setting a timer. There should be enough there for at least a week. She also goes over some notes for a Student Union meeting for the 9th of September, their first of the new year.

While she's cleaning up the living room, the timer dings, and she takes her muffins and cookies out of the oven to cool off. Everything is baked all the way through. She gets a call from her friend Genevieve. ''Hi, Genna, how are you?''

Genevieve says. ''Hi, Anna. I'm good, Natalia is bored out of her mind, we both are. She misses her soccer, and I miss my lacrosse. How are you, it's been what? Three weeks since Elias left?'' Joanna smiles sadly, her heart aching at hearing about her friends having each other through this. Genna and Nat are a sports couple UBC relies on for results. ''Yeah, it's been rough. This condo just doesn't feel like home without him, can I confess something to you?''

Genevieve says. ''Always, go ahead.''

Joanna fiddles with he hem of her dress. ''I don't care about that Cup, I just want my boyfriend home however he gets here.'' Genevieve says, an athlete herself. ''I know, I've felt that for you, girlie, his place is with you, Cup or no Cup.''

Her boys fight like orcas should the following day. Beating Vegas 2-1 with goals from both Brock and Elias. Then, do it all over again to level the series a dominant 4-0 shutout from Thatcher with the offense firing on all cylinders.

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It's the following day, while she's cracking on with the first load of coursework for junior year, that the news reaches her that the boys will need to isolate for ten days upon return home whenever that is. She rolls her eyes, and accepts the news, it's for the best. At least Elias will be back in BC. They'll also need to return two negative Covid tests. She'll need to return one for Elias to return home. She takes her deep breath again, and gets back on with her work. She'd love to see her boyfriend lift that cup, she knows better than anyone does how much that weighs on this city. How 1994 and 2011 plague this team. But, the selfish part of her just wants him home now. Road trips are bearable, but this has been uniquely painful.

Joanna stops for a lunch hour, which she takes on the balcony, and goes to get back on with her work until four pm. She makes herself a small fish curry, something her friend on the union, Rajeev, turned her on to ages ago. It's since become one of her favourite dinners, she's tweaked his recipe to add salmon instead of haddock.

That night, in bed, she jumps on zoom as usual, and gets cozy. Elias looks just exhausted from it all, she's pretty tired herself right now. ''Hi, sweetheart, how are you holding up?'' She asks him.

Elias slowly blinks a few times, like a cat would, if only to keep himself awake. ''Hanging in there, how are you doing, beautiful?'' Joanna yawns, twirling the end of her braid around her finger. ''Getting back to university work, but looking forward to having you home.''

Elias also yawns, running a hand through his hair. ''I'm looking forward to being home, Quinn's a great room-mate, wouldn't trade him for anyone. But, that is our bed you're sleeping alone in, know what I mean?'' Joanna nods, putting her head down, she knows exactly what he means. ''Yeah, I do.'' The conversation trails off from there, until both fall into sleep together.

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Game seven is a washout, the Canucks are eliminated 3-0 in a shutout from Robin Lehner. Ending their run in the second round, a good showing all things considered, and no one in the bubble got sick, which is nothing short of a miracle. So, the Canucks must clear out the following day, and fly home to BC. Then, the ten day isolation begins. Joanna receives a text from Elias on day five of BC isolation while she's working.

Beloved: Took my test today, all clear!

She smiles, clicking her pen a few times, and replies.

Joanna Rose: Great! Do you know when I should take my test?

He must be texting management, because his answer takes a few moments to come through.

Beloved: Day nine, same as us.

She nods, and makes a note on a pink post-it.

Joanna Rose: Cool, I guess I'll see you soon! 🌹

He replies quickly.

Beloved: See you soon! 💙

Five more days! Five! And, she can have her boyfriend back from hockey for a while. Still no news on next season, by rights it should start in october, next month, but she can't see that happening.

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Day nine comes, and she takes her Covid test after dinner. The sting in her nose and throat is the most uncomfortable thing she's probably ever felt. This must be what taking a pregnancy test feels like, she thinks as she washes her hands. The test is done, and thankfully negative. She bins it, and texts Elias.

Joanna Rose: Took my test, negative!

Elias texts her back.

Beloved: Also negative!

She's so excited to hear that news, one more day then.

Joanna Rose: When are you being released?

Elias takes a moment to answer her this time, probably just checking with Benning.

Beloved: Tomorrow evening, just after dinner.

That's gonna be an agonizingly long day. She replies.

Joanna Rose: Cool, I'll be up. See you tomorrow!

He replies, seeming excited too.

Beloved: See you tomorrow!

Finally, she's getting him back, these past few weeks have sucked being here in their home without him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She's up early to tidy the condo the next day, there isn't much to do, but she wants the place to look neat for Elias returning home. Once that's done, which takes her through a lunch break, she gets on with some homework while listening to some music. That takes her until dinner, the hours feeling like years all of a sudden. She eats a quick bowl of pasta with some fruit juice, then, she waits. Half-watching something on Netflix until she hears the familiar sound of a car outside, and footsteps on the stairs. The door clicks open and closed, Joanna springs up, and bolts through to the foyer to greet him. Elias laughs behind his team mask, and says. ''Hang on, I just need to wash up.''

He washes his hands, and chucks his mask in the laundry. Then, at long last, he can sweep her into his arms for real. He holds her close, and breathes her in, he's home, at long last, he's home. Joanna also inhales his scent, savouring the feel of him in her arms again. Her friends can never understand how this feels, her family can't either. This feeling is all theirs. ''I've missed you so fucking much, alskling.'' Elias says.

Joanna sniffles, overcome by it all. ''I've missed you too, darling.'' Finally, they kiss, brought back together after far too long apart. This is the best feeling on earth, it must be.

Joanna gets the kettle on, and makes them tea with her cookies. And, finally back together in their home, they talk late into the night like they always do.

#vancouver canucks #hockey rpf #elias pettersson x oc

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myloveforhergoeson · 1 year ago

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That's All She Wrote - Chapter 25

Chapter Index

Find me on wattpad + ao3

Chapter 25: Living Dead Girl (2.5) ~ 12k

It wasn’t often Roxy came home from a long day so tired she had fallen asleep in the middle of a task. However, between her date with James and her hour-long FaceTalk with Jo to decide on a Halloween costume for her and Kendall’s party tomorrow night, the writer had been beyond exhausted, accidentally going to bed clutching the piece she had been working so hard on.

After finally finding the time to have a dish session about her newfound relationship with James, and having enough information to exchange to hear all about Jo’s last date with Kendall, the FaceTalk was just what she needed. Roxy hardly cared anymore about what Camille might think, considering the two were still on the outs, so she decided not to let that be a determining factor in her relationship with Jo either. Camille would hear about all of it sooner or later - Once she felt confident enough to march to her friend’s door and issue a great big apology for breaking the unspoken girl code.

They’d stayed on the phone far past Jo’s assigned curfew, whispering ever so quietly to keep her dad from hearing her as the pair pulled items from their closets to try and put together a makeshift Halloween costume for the party the boys were putting on for Roxy and Kendall.

While Jo hadn’t found anything to her liking, much preferring to hear all the juicy details about why her best friend had been kicked out of Griffith Observatory, Roxy had discovered an old, white, forgotten dress she had picked up at one of her favorite thrift stores a few hours over from Duluth in Anoka, Minnesota after a small day trip with her dad.

The floral lace designs across the portrait neckline bodice had called her name, though the skirt was far too long for her liking, extending almost down beyond her ankles. When she purchased it, at the low price point of five whole dollars thanks to a wine stain by the left shoulder, she had full intentions to alter it to fit her height better to wear to a school dance eventually, but never got around to it. All she could manage at the time was an impressive stain removal thanks to some bleach and detergent.

Roxy hadn’t remembered packing it to take with her to California, but she was glad she did; As she told Jo about the beautiful charms James had gifted her, she took a pair of kitchen scissors to the fabric, cutting the intricately designed skirt up to look frighteningly tattered and damaged.

Maybe I’ll drag the bottom through Palm Woods Park in the morning to dirty it up, she had told herself as she finally tried on her creation to show off to Jo. That’ll make me look even more like a ghost girl.

With her friend’s seal of approval on her alterations, the pair finally hung up the phone after the blonde mentioned speaking to Camille about her immense costume wardrobe. Just the thought of those two interacting, plus Roxy’s long day, had tired the girl out enough to sleep like the dead.

***

Glancing over at her bedside clock as her eyes slowly fluttered open, Roxy learned it was well past noon, so it would probably be a good idea to go check in with the boys to see if they needed any help setting up for the party. Getting out of bed was easy thanks to her excitement, though the writer was dismayed to find out she had fallen asleep in her dress.

Hopefully, I didn’t wrinkle the train… She thought, absentmindedly puffing the fabric up with both of her hands. No use in changing now if I’m just going to change later. Besides, so many actors live here anyway, it’s not like I’ll look out of place.

As she passed by her mirror, she noticed the state of disarray her hair was in from rolling over her covers all night and gently smoothed it out with her fingers as best she could, taking in the sight of the rest of her features. Forgetting to wash her face had done a number on her makeup, but the dark, black circles around her eyes from the crumbling mascara and leftover eyeshadow mixing actually added to her spooky costume.

I can always redo it later…

As her eyes fanned out to the rest of her costume, it had turned out beautifully; The length of the dress and the way the strips of fabric curled around the floor almost gave off the illusion she was really a floating ghost.

There was just one small issue - well, honestly, a rather large one - as her gaze popped back up to her neckline. Almost as fresh as the day she had bought the dress, the stain dripping down the shoulder was back, though, instead of the deep crimson color she remembered extensively scrubbing away at, this new stain was tinted a much darker brown.

That can’t be…blood? Inching closer to the mirror, she pulled her hair off her shoulder, examining her skin around the site of the dress’ discoloration to find it perfectly smooth. I’d be…

Roxy couldn’t stand to finish the thoughts she had about a potential blood stain that considerable dried up on the side of her clothing. I must have spilled my soda while I was working.

It was at this time, that she caught note of something else as she looked back at her reflection in the mirror. The necklace her father had bought her was tightly clasped around her neck, proudly displaying the heart pendant, but the three charms her boyfriend had given her last night weren’t dangling beside it.

Instantly, her hand flew to her chest, too terrified to even feel her heart skip a beat.

“No, no, no…” She muttered, trying to keep herself from falling into a full-blown panic attack. For a moment, she felt like she didn’t even need to breathe as she moved back to her bed, searching over the covers to see if they had accidentally broken off. “I knew I shouldn’t have slept in this…”

When she couldn’t find any of the charms on her covers, or the surrounding floor, she reached for her red duvet to pull it back…. And her hand went straight through.

She stopped.

She stared at her completely vanished fingers.

She almost cried at the tingling sensation running up to her wrist, like her entire hand had lost circulation and fell asleep.

So, Roxy did what any rational person would have done - Pulled her hand up, wiggled her fingers around for a moment to wake them up, and reached for the covers again.

Same result; Her hand sailed right through the comforter as if it wasn’t even there.

Once again, it felt like her fingers were growing numb, but this time, she couldn’t pull away. Mind completely blank as she blinked a few times, the only thing she could focus on was the sound of someone screaming.

It wasn’t until a few moments later, when she heard the door connecting her apartment to 2-J open, then her bedroom door as Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and James came barreling into her room, did Roxy realize she was the one who was screaming.

“Roxy! What’s-” James, dressed in one of the most ornate gothic costumes the writer had ever seen, looked concerningly toward her, then to the hand she had lost to her bed before breathing out a sigh of relief. “Don’t scare us like that! You had us thinking that the spider was back…”

“Scare you?! Spider?!” The girl spat back, utterly confused, as she slowly realized Logan and Carlos were in their costumes too. “My bed is… a hologram or something! And- and I lost-”

Helplessly, she wiggled her arm around to show off her new vanishing ability, emphasizing the point she was trying to make about her strange situation. As if the covers weren’t even there, her hand easily cut through the space in which her mattress was, despite it looking as solid as it had the day she arrived in Los Angeles.

“Ooh! Hologram is a new one!” Laughed Kendall, bundled up in as many layers of clothing as he could comfortably fit in, as though they were back in their hometown - freezing cold Anoka, Minnesota. “I think you said illusion the last few times.”

Anoka… We’re from Anoka?

Roxy didn’t know what was worse: This prank or her inability to believe her own intuitive memory and recall information as basic as her hometown.

With a nod, Logan, made up as though he were a zombie, agreed, “It was ‘smoke and mirrors’ at one point I think…”

“For the love of God,” Roxy pleaded, earning a hiss from James on her last word. That little move allowed her to notice two large, porcelain fangs hanging where his canines should be. Had she not been so presently terrified, she probably would’ve been all over him by now if he planned to continue wearing his vampire attire. “Will the four of you tell me what’s going on, please? I don’t mind when you play tricks on Gustavo or Bitters but on me? That’s just cruel!”

Unexpectedly, it was Carlos who spoke next, though his vocalizations were a garbled mess of grunts and groans that complimented his Frankenstein’s Monster costume well.

It took Roxy a moment, but eventually, as she processed the noises coming out of his mouth, she was slowly able to understand what he meant. It was almost like being stuck in French class back at Mountain Aire; She had to concentrate very hard in order to translate.

“Yes, Carlos, I know I’m a ghost. Not even one of you thought to compliment my outfit by the way…” She trailed off before she moved over to where her boyfriend was standing by the doorway, practically pleading with him to put an end to this stupid prank. “James, seriously, this isn’t funny just tell me what you did to my stuff-”

When she reached out to place her hand on his cheek, Roxy was expecting the heat that normally radiated off of him - she always loved how warm he felt - but instead, she watched her hand dematerialize through his entire face.

At her touch, he let out a little, “Woo!” and that mostly covered up the second small scream the girl let out as she abruptly pulled her hand away, grasping at her wrist with her other hand as though she were holding some sort of dangerous weapon.

“If my heart was still beating that would’ve made it skip… I only feel the cold when you touch me you know,” He murmured, though his hands didn’t move up to her waist like they normally would with his flirty comments. Instead, one traveled up to the left side of his chest and thumped against his skin a few times to imitate a heartbeat. “I always hate how bad ghost memory is - trust me, we re-explain this to you every few months - but I feel better every time because you always remember we’re together.”

“Months? We’ve been together for less than three weeks.”

“Yes…” Kendall jumped in, sliding his palms into the sleeves of his flannel as though he were trying to hastily cover something up. “You’d been together for three weeks before you… died. But it’s been a little over a year now, right guys?”

“One year and one day exactly,” Logan informed her.

“But don’t worry, boo!” With a wicked flash of his fangs, James waggled his eyebrows. “I made sure our anniversary was super special.”

Carlos also added his own chaotic, “Every time you forget your memory, we get through it together - So don’t worry!” she understood him a bit quicker than she had before.

Did the bolts sticking out of his neck just… spark?

About a million questions running through her mind, all Roxy could do was stand there and stare at her friends, mouth slightly agape. However the more she took in her surroundings, doing her best to understand what they were telling her, she was beginning to believe the illusion she thought her dress gave of her floating wasn’t actually an illusion.

This is far too complex a prank… Even for them, She thought, reaching out to try and poke James in the arm. He let out another involuntary, “Brr!” as she watched her finger disappear into his paled skin. The James she knew would never allow himself to be such a pasty color, especially with the abundance of sweet sun at the Palm Woodsylvania. Not unless he can’t go out in the sun…. Wait, Palm Woodsylvania…?

There she went again, unable to trust her own fuzzy memory.

Nodding in agreement, Logan sighed, “It’ll all come back in time… But man, you couldn’t have picked a worse day for a reset! We’re performing at Griffin’s big Halloween party later and Doc Rocque is breathing down our necks about a perfect performance!”

Inspecting closer, Roxy’s eyes raked up and down his beaten and discolored form, noticing a small shard of creamy ebony connecting one of his fingers to his hand and an even larger one connecting his arm to his shoulder socket. I know Camille’s a good SFX artist, but she’s not that good.

Something certainly wasn’t adding up, but she knew that her friends would never joke about a topic as serious as her own death. Roxy had known she could trust them since the moment they had met in their audition back in Anoka when she had forcibly inserted herself into their conversation and handed Logan back his arm after it had fallen off.

That’s what happened?

By now, the boys just stood around her room, cautiously eyeing each other before looking back at their assistant. It unnerved her greatly, but she did her best to ignore the way their gaze bore into her as she recalled more and more things that had happened to them after moving across the country to their spooky residence.

The first full moon she had spent with Kendall after learning he was a werewolf, her short-lived fling with vampire Dak Zevon, keeping her favorite candles out of sight whenever Carlos came over, and of course, the very first time she had James had kissed backstage at the first ever Big Time Rush concert. Her memories were so vivid, replaying in her mind as though she was experiencing them for the very first time except… She was alive.

Roxy could feel it too, the fear she had experienced when she accidentally tore Logan’s foot off at one of BTR’s dance practices, the cool plastic of her favorite guitar picks in her hand, and the marble-like feel of James’ fingertips tracing the outline of her face that made her heart completely stop. Things she would never be able to experience again; A fact she knew to be true, solely based on the completeness she remembered feeling in her past and the vast emptiness she felt inside of her now.

That seemed like everything - Everything up until the night she supposedly shed her mortal coil and crossed over into the land of the dead. After that, everything was completely blank. An entire year of her life, gone.

Those were her memories, the essence of who she was, and there was no way the boys could plant such ideas in her head.

“So… We’re caught in some fucked up supernatural version of 50 First Stakes?” She finally asked, glancing at herself in her full-length mirror, trying to memorize every feature that made her so ghost-like in the first place. For a moment, she swore that wasn’t the name of the movie about the playboy vet trying to woo the artsy, vampiric amnesiac, but what else would it be called?

Eyes casting downward momentarily, James cleared his throat, “It’s a pretty similar situation to ours, yeah.”

“And we’ll get through this together, because we always do?”

At the emphatic yes the boys shared, Roxy grew a bit more relieved at the situation she was facing, figuring that if she had been through this many times before, this time would be no different.

If they told her everything was going to be okay, she knew everything was going to be okay.

It wasn’t long after that, Kendall, Logan, and Carlos muttered different things they had to do in order to prepare for the party that night, quickly heading out of apartment 2-H, leaving the not-so-newfound ghost alone with her vampire.

There was certainly a lot to process, but like most things related to Big Time Rush, there wasn’t any time to make heads or tales of her situation before moving on to the next issue to solve.

Not quite sure how to move forward, Roxy sighed, longingly glancing toward her bed. Maybe if I just go back to sleep this will all be over…

Eventually, her gaze shifted back to James, who was leaning on her dresser. Trying not to make it obvious she was jealous he was able to even touch it, she attempted to lighten the mood. “Well, they sure got out of here pretty quickly.”

“Mhm,” The vampire responded, taking a step closer to his assistant. A small smirk formed on his lips, one fang sticking out just a tiny bit. “That’s because they know you always ask me the same question when your memory resets.”

“If this happens to me so much, don’t you ever get tired of it?”

That sure wiped the smirk right off his face.

With a hesitant hand reaching out to run through his slicked-back hair, James faltered, “O-okay, that’s a new one. New question, new question…”

Roxy would feel bad for catching him off guard if she could remember what the question he was referring to actually was.

“Um, no, boo, not at all. Not if it’s for you. We wouldn’t even be Hollywood’s first monster boyband if not for your support, so, we’ll always put in the work to help you out.”

Had she been able to conjure up some tears, they’d probably be welling in her eyes right about now. It felt a bit tragic all she wanted to do was seek comfort in the arms of a boyfriend who wouldn’t even be able to hold her.

“Are you mad I lost the charms you gave me?”

“Oh, wow, another new one,” He breathed, glancing toward the mirror on her dresser like he was expecting to see his own image in the reflection. If she didn’t know any better, she’d say he was even a little panicked. “The charms? No, of course not. They’ve… They’ve been gone for a while, but it’s alright! Don’t even worry about it.”

So forgiving, Roxy thought, though she vowed to keep searching as hard as she could to find them again. How the ghost necklace situation would end up was as mysterious as the state she had found herself in, but they’d be able to find a solution.

Nervously wringing her hands together, the ghost did realize she had one more question for her boyfriend, though it was quite an awkward ask.

When he noticed the tension in her mannerisms, James’ eyes lit up before he took another step forward. Gently he held his hand up, palm to the ceiling, and Roxy took this as her cue to hover her fingers over his. Not quite touching, but still able to connect in some manner.

“Since we’re together… Are we able to…?”

If Roxy had a stomach it probably would’ve dropped when James shook his head.

“Not like we used to.” His tone was solemn, but there was a hint of something else twinging his words as if not all hope was lost. “So, we make do with second best.”

When James leaned in slowly, Roxy actually found herself wanting to pull away - a feeling she had never experienced around him before. Though he was more the ghost expert in this situation, she had already determined she wasn’t able to touch things without phasing through them, so just what exactly was he trying to prove?

So, she floated there, petrified with wide-open eyes as his lips reached the space where hers were.

Jumping a bit at the frigid cold feeling on his end, James knew this to be the right place to stop so he didn’t end up any farther in her form.

By her standards, this kiss - if she could even call it that - didn’t feel like anything they’d shared before, the same tingling sensation she had felt in her hand as it passed through her comforter now rushing through her entire body.

It made her gasp, accidentally filling James with an even more freezing sensation before he laughed and pulled away with a shiver.

“Not too shabby, first timer…” He joked, causing his girlfriend to playfully shove at his shoulder, only for her hand to go clear through his body and make him cackle even harder.

***

One lap around the hotel with Logan, Carlos, and James, and Roxy’s memories of the grounds began returning to her. She had lived there for almost nine months before she had her accident, so many of the halls and places on the property were still just as familiar to her.

While the pool wasn’t as enticing as it used to be - who knows what might happen to a stray, floating ghost if they got sucked into the drainage system - the cemetery was just as beautiful as it always had been. The neat headstones were well maintained by the maintenance people and the whispering willows were still doing their fair share of gossiping. Few things had changed, except for the addition of a few new undead residents.

Roxy had half expected to see her own grave out there, but she wasn’t looking all that hard. Since the boys had brought it up earlier, she hadn’t had time to process what being dead meant to her and she certainly preferred to keep avoiding such thoughts. To her credit, she tried to bring it up again and ask what had happened, the three of them simply whisked her away to their apartment and changed the subject entirely.

I’m sure I’ll remember eventually.

Still getting used to her ghostly transparency, Roxy reached for the door handle to 2-J without thinking, only to have her hand wave clear through.

“Ugh!” She vocalized, resigning to float through the wood as James opened it for the rest of them, “This is going to take forever to get used to.”

“I know what’ll make you feel better! Watching me go talk to the new hot guy down by the pool.”

Rolling her eyes as she spied Kendall aggressively trying to shave off all the fur forming on the back of his hands with a handheld razor while his mother and sister worked on their witch’s brew in the kitchen. Roxy sarcastically punched, “Wow, you always know how to cheer me up, James. Besides, you were the only one who saw him, so we don’t even know if he’s real.”

“You’re right! I mean - I saw him first, I’m a hot vampire… and I will bite you!”

Glancing back over her shoulder, she learned that the comment was meant more for his other friends, but she didn’t find the joke to be all that funny. Though her memory was still very hazy, from her time as a human she remembered having to be very careful around her vampire boyfriend; He wasn’t very good at exhibiting control once blood was involved in a situation.

Though… Do Carlos and Logan even have blood? She wondered before Logan ended up changing the subject entirely.

“Hey, Teenage Lycanthrope, want to practice our dance moves for tonight?”

Mrs. Knight and Katie’s worried glances over to Kendall confirmed the answer Kendall’s friends knew was coming. “Can’t! Gotta shave my arms and meet up with Jo.”

The wolf’s words confused Roxy, who slightly narrowed her eyes before looking over to her other friends to gauge their reactions. She was pretty sure Jo knew that Kendall was a werewolf. Back before, or so Roxy believed, she, Jo, and Camille had their own little “Supernatural Boyfriends” club as some of the few non-supernatural humans to live in the Palm Woodsylvania.

“Alright, but you’re going to look like a real idiot when you can’t do this!” James scoffed, whispering a small countdown from three.

He, Carlos, and Logan all demonstrated the moves they had been learning for Griffin’s big party perfectly in sync until Logan went a bit too hard and his right arm popped clean off.

The five of them watched as his detached limb soared across the room before landing smack dab in the middle of the Knight’s brew.

“Ooh, that’ll add some flavor!” Katie giddy cried, grabbing onto the arm and stirring the contents of their large cauldron with it. Whatever liquid was inside bubbled a bit, popping on the surface to release a bit of spooky fog on the top of the mixture.

Since there weren’t any other witches at the Palm Woodsylvania Katie’s age, she and her mother were very close - Even going so far as to match their gigantic, black witches hats and adorable pumpkin aprons.

As fast as his hobbling legs could carry him, Logan made his way over to the two of them in protest, before pulling his arm back out from the young witch’s hand. “You can’t use Righty for one of your smelly witch potions!”

“For your information, we are making a cake!” Mrs. Knight bit back, right before dumping a bucket of eyeballs into the cauldron.

Sniffing at the air a bit as Logan reattached his arm, Roxy realized she couldn’t smell anything - disgusting or not. Time to cross smell off the list of potential ghost senses.

A bit of indistinct grunting to her left startled her a bit, but it was just Carlos trying to come up with a practice plan for all four of them.

“That’s a great idea!” Roxy beamed once she finally translated what he had suggested, “One of the conference rooms downstairs could totally be converted into a practice room.”

While that didn’t convince Kendall, it was enough for her to get the other three boys out of the room before anyone else became an ingredient in the Knight’s cake.

As they traveled down the dark hallowed halls of the second floor to the screeching stairwell, the band’s assistant tried to learn more about Griffin’s event, though James, Carlos, and Logan were all too distracted with their own thoughts to consider hers.

Roxy’s “Which song are you even singing tonight?” was overshadowed not only by the screams of the living staircase but by a multitude of text tones going off from Carlos’ phone as they reached the lobby.

Like before, the boy grumbled something about Dr. Rocquenstien and Kelly wanting to see him before their performance began in about four hours.

“Well, I’m coming too!” Chimed Logan, “Maybe Doc Rocque can keep me from falling apart.”

As if on cue, Logan’s right arm fell off again, eliciting a small gasp from James and Roxy. Hers at the sight of her friend’s literal arm falling off and his at the cold jolting through his body as Roxy reached for his hand without thinking.

“See?” Logan went on, ignoring the couple. “You okay, Righty?”

From the floor, the disembodied arm shot his owner a thumbs up.

Barely even giving the zombie any time to pick his arm back up, James quickly pointed someone out as they walked through the lobby. “Hey! There he is!”

Cutting across from the vending machine to the pool was a taller, incredibly handsome teen, waving at each Palm Woodsylvania resident he passed by. It was hard not to notice how perfectly his black tank top and camo cargo pants went together, complimenting his olive-toned skin and long, black hair. The only thing about him that seemed out of place was the large orange pool bag he had slung over one shoulder and the dark green duffel he took with him out to the pool.

Yeah… Now I get it.

Putting his phone back in his pocket, Carlos mumbled about going to make a new friend and moved to head to the pool, but James’ hand quickly shot out to grab his shoulder and hold him back. “No, no, Flathead. You’ll just scare him off.”

“Don’t call him that!” Roxy hissed, sending one of her fingers through James’ cheek for a bit of temperature therapy before her boyfriend shot off after the newcomer. “Well, I guess that just leaves-”

Arf! Arf!

Making his presence clearly known as he raced through the lobby, Lightning the TV Wonder-Hellhound shot under the bottom of Roxy’s floating dress. While she remembered him to be a bit of a troublemaker, it appeared scaring her wasn’t his only plan - Lightning did a circle around Logan as well, catching the zombie off guard before he picked up Righty in his teeth and darted away.

The exasperated gasp Logan let out would’ve hurt Roxy’s eardrums if she could still feel them. “Lightning, drop it! That’s my bone, not yours!”

As quickly as he could, the singer limped off after the hellhound while Carlos headed to the front doors to catch a car to Rocquenstein Records, leaving their assistant all alone in the lobby of the Palm Woodsylvania.

So much for doing this together.

It certainly felt strange to be floating by herself in a space that felt so foreign and so familiar at the same time. Roxy remembered the first time she had walked through the lobby doors with her band, how their first few months in town had been exceptionally rough as they proved their place alongside the human boy bands, and all the chaos they had caused in the hotel in their wake… She wanted to see James again, alone, and ask him a few more questions about the gaps in her memory and her ghostly abilities, but as she looked out the glass panes to the darkened pool exterior, she noticed he was sitting by the new resident as close as vampirically possible.

Roxy didn’t have a stomach, but she felt something in her unpleasantly turn, getting gnarled up and knotted at the sight of her boyfriend speaking to someone so human. There were many things about James she couldn’t get enough of, one being his penchant for physical touch. When they were alive, he could hardly keep his hands off of her, but in her present state, the two of them know that to be an impossibility.

Could he be looking for another avenue?

The second the thought entered her mind, she shook her head as though she were physically trying to shake away her doubt. It wasn’t fair for her to doubt him, not after he had spent a year taking care of her.

Watching on, Roxy saw the new resident laugh at something James had said, bringing a satisfied smile to the boy’s face as a little bit of fang made an appearance.

It reminded the ghost of the first time she had ever met James, at the Paramount Theater in Anoka.

“Excuse me, but are you from Tennessee? Because you’re the only 10 I see.” and his other lame pick-up lines hadn’t charmed her the first time, especially since her father had kept her sheltered from the supernatural almost all her life despite choosing to settle in the Halloween capitol of the world. It was only after she moved to the Palm Woodsylvania and grew closer with the band did she realize what a caring vampire he could be. Eventually, she finally allowed herself to be taken “For a bite” and one thing led to another…

Am I insane for thinking that’s what he’s saying to the new guy right now?

Someone grumbling her name pulled her out of her thoughts, whipping her head from her view of the pool back around to the monster in front of her.

With a sad smile, she cocked her head to the side, “Hey, Carlos, what’s up?”

Through an assortment of groans and rigid hand gestures, Roxy was able to gather that he was upset because the taxi driver he had flagged down didn’t speak his language and he needed someone to translate for him to get to Rocquenstein Records.

“Oh, no problem, bud! I can help… I just… Don’t think I know how to sit in a car… or otherwise.”

After he reassured her it was easy, and a lot like hovering over the floor, he laughed a garbled little laugh that made her feel much better after sharing such a vulnerable feeling. It brought a smile to her face too, a real one this time as she reached out to pat his shoulder and guide him back toward the front of the hotel.

At the contact, a few sparks shot out of the bolts on his neck, and he made a noise as though it tickled him a bit.

“Whoops… Sorry.”

The garbled laugh came again, before a bit of clearer speech, “It’s okay, Roxy, I don’t mind!”

***

Long before arriving in the studio, Roxy and Carlos could hear Doc Rocque’s tell-tale evil laugh echoing down the long hallways of Rocquenstein Records.

Like most days, the building was filled with an eerie fog emanating from whatever experiment their boss had been putting together. Normally, it was just a harmless potion or useless contraption made to appease his boss, the literal devil, Arthur Griffin, but something about the air told Roxy whatever he had been cooking up today was far different than usual. The bolts on Carlos’ neck sparked with each stiff step he took, suggesting the presence of more electricity in the space they typically used to record their songs or learn their new choreography.

The short ride over to their place of employment had given Roxy a bit of time to further reflect on the memories she and Carlos had shared over the years as she watched him grow from a younger, playful simulacrum just tagging along to a pop star audition with his best friends to a dedicated, talented performer. It was almost like he was a brand new person on stage, trading in his rigid movements for smooth dance moves and rumbling words for perfectly pronounced lyrics.

From their time hanging out in the cemetery together, she had learned so much about him, his creation story, and his three older monstrous sisters, but those were all memories she had from her time among the living. She had no idea how Ghost Roxy got along with him or the experiences they had been through together - Beginning with his challenge with doors and her inability to open them.

Roxy had been so caught up in her own thoughts she hadn’t even realized they’d made it to the studio doors until Carlos walked straight into the glass; She was equally just as helpless to open the solid object.

Thankfully, Kelly had heard the clatter from across the room where she stood with Dr. Rocquestein in front of a large machine and made her way over to assist. Beautiful hair in an updo today, Roxy admired just how big and poofy her curls were as two electric white streaks shot up the side.

Does she know how perfectly those match her lab coat?

Neither she nor Doc Rocque spared them any greetings before the mad scientist lied about whatever scheme he had cooked up in order to get the boys to participate.

“Okay, Frankencarlos, time to play in the pretty funhouse!”

Normally, Roxy would’ve objected to this, but the contracts the boys had signed on their first day of work granted them recording rights and permissions under Rocquenstein Records as long as they acted as willing participants in his mad science experiments. As long as Carlos voluntarily walked into the machine their boss had built, there wasn’t much she could do for him.

The contraption itself looked to be some kind of large, silver chamber with plenty of colorful lights, long pipes and wires, and fog emanating in the small room behind the sealed door. What it did was anyone’s guess, but Roxy was sure she was about to find out.

Hesitantly, Carlos shuffled toward it, and Doc Rocque hit a large button on the side of the aluminum chamber to open the glass door for him. The sound it emitted was high-pitched, scratching at the ghost’s ears, meaning it was even more disorienting to her sensitive friend, who startled and began to slink back toward the door.

Kelly’s quick thinking kept him in the room, pulling out two fresh corn dogs from the pockets of her lab coat and throwing them into the machine, “Get the corn dogs, Frankencarlos! Get ‘em!”

Even he wasn’t immune to bribery, especially at the promise of one of his favorite treats, so once the food sailed over his head and into the machine Carlos was quick to 180 and step into the foggy chamber.

Once he was fully inside, the lab assistant screamed “Now!” prompting Gustavo to close the door, sealing Carlos inside.

This was always the worst part of Doctor Rocquenstein’s experiments; The moment the boys realized they had fallen into his clutches and were helpless to stop whatever was coming next.

Covering her ears as Carlos began to scream in terror, banging loudly on the glass door to the chamber, Roxy winced, keeping one eye open just to survey the situation and find out what her boss was about to do next.

“I give you…” Dramatically flipping a large switch from a control panel next to the machine, the room dimmed as a handful of the lights around them let off blinding flashes. “Hot singing normal boy!”

Normal boy?

After a few seconds of electrical flare-ups thanks to copious amounts of harvested lightning from the storm outside and a few ear-splitting mechanical noises, Doc Rocque threw the switch again and everything went back to normal.

Not even bothering to check the state of his frazzled lab assistant or his band’s assistant, he hit the button to open the door once more and waited to see what emerged from the fog.

That is… What didn’t emerge from the fog: A hot singing normal boy.

As the chamber cleared, Kelly waved her hand around inside to see if she could drag Carlos out, but her hand never made contact with anything.

When the three of them looked around, they spotted a black bunny rabbit on the floor, lazily munching on one of the corndogs Kelly had thrown into the machine.

“Well… He’s cute,” Roxy commented, trying to figure out how Gustavo was going to get himself out of this mess. With their performance in less than three hours, Big Time Rush was now down a band member.

Picking up where the assistant left off, Kelly rolled her eyes before looking over to her boss “But not a boy.”

“I know that!” The mad scientist yelled back, beginning to understand just what he had done to Carlos on one of the biggest nights of his life.

Unexpectedly, a fourth voice jumped into the conversation, a high-pitched, “You wanna be famous!” coming from the rabbit at their feet.

The ghost sighed, wishing she could crouch down and cradle her little friend, “At least he can still sing.”

“Not like that he won’t,” Gustavo interrupted before calling to no one in particular. “Try again!”

Once more, the door to the chamber was thrown and the switch beside it flipped but this time, Roxy didn’t find her concern to be focused on Carlos anymore.

How many buttons off from ‘hot singing normal boy’ is ‘hot guitar playing normal girl?’

Of all her thoughts today, that one was almost as profoundly crazy as the situation she had found herself in. Waking up as a ghost, having a year of memories stolen from her, worrying about her boyfriend sneaking off to talk to some other guy… If she were normal again, certainly she wouldn’t have such things to worry about.

And now she was thinking about James, wishing to run her hands over the soft velvet reds and blacks of his favorite cape, wanting to feel the marble-like coolness of his touch. Roxy could only hope he went off to help Logan or Kendall after talking to the new guy - Not taking him to any fancy restaurant to talk about their embarrassing allergies or the dumbest pasta shapes.

Ugh… He’s gorgeous, but certainly not the best conversationalist…

As she fondly began to recall one of their first fancy dates together, she was thoroughly interrupted by the sound of one of the panels blowing off the side of the transformation machine, paired with two sets of footsteps filing into the room behind her.

“Doc Rocque, you gotta help me!” The familiar sound of Kendall’s voice let her know he had arrived, and she turned to find Logan hot on his heels.

No James. Of course. She thought, not bothering to hide her scowl as the pair made their way over to the machine.

About halfway to Wolfman, it was clear the frontman was having a bit of a meltdown. “I need to be turned into a normal for the concert. No more werewolf!”

“And I need a new foot!” Logan added, pointing down to the one he had lost somewhere along the way.

Their assistant even managed to float over to Gustavo and Kelly, throwing her hat in the ring, despite watching what the machine had done to Carlos, “And I need a corporeal body!”

Typically, when the band began to demand things of their producer, he didn’t take it well, but today, he just let out a maniacal laugh, “I gotcha covered because, with my new hot boy band machine, you will no longer be monsters for Griffin’s Big Night of Fright!”

While she didn’t like the emphasis Gustavo had put on “boy band,” Roxy wasn’t ready to give up hope just yet.

“Observe!” He continued, pointing to the glass door. “New normal Carlos!.. I hope.”

Throwing the switch again, a wave of force blasted through the room as the lights dimmed, causing Roxy to throw her hands up in defense; A byproduct of still believing she inhabited a human body.

When Doc Rocque had enough of his fun, he turned it back and the door slid open, but there were no noises from inside. Anxiously, the five awaited a human Carlos to walk out of the smoking chamber.

Instead, a beautiful teenage pageant queen stepped out, a large poofy dress, a rose bouquet, crown, and all, took a few hesitant steps from the fog.

Of course, it didn’t take long for Logan and Kendall to turn to each other, waggling their eyebrows before facing the girl once more.

“Ooh,” The two of them chorused. “Who’s that?”

With a roll of her eyes, Roxy coughed, “Pigs!” before poking the both of them. Much to her surprise, it made Kendall’s hair - normal and wolf - stand straight up on end while Logan’s left arm fell clear off.

“It’s Carlos!” Kelly cried angrily, driving a hand into Gustavo’s side.

While the boys cringed, the supermodel spoke out in a series of grunts and groans as if to say, “Hey guys, it’s me!” before the lab assistant shoved her back into the machine.

“Okay, too much pageant queen…” Doc Rocque thought aloud, typing something into the keyboard of the computer unit attached to the machine. “Alright, now we just press the red button and add more ‘y’ chromosome… Yowza!”

Again, the switch was thrown, and again the five waited to see the outcome.

Half expecting a fuzzy green monster to pop out, Roxy watched in anticipation as the door opened up and her simulacrum friend came stomping out. If they couldn’t tell from his violent screams, his reckless, destructive motions toward Doc Rocque’s machine told those remaining all they needed to know about how it felt to be the test subject of this experiment.

Carlos was going berzerk, crying, “No more machine!” over and over as he violently unplugged the keyboard Doc had been taking his notes on before turning to face his three friends.

“Carlos smash!”

Roxy, Logan, and Kendall were quick to get out of his way as he upturned another table in the lab, sending a smattering of medical tools across the floor of the studio - Making a mess the assistant instincticly felt she needed to clean up before realizing she wouldn’t even be able to grab the equipment off of the hardwood.

On his way out of the studio, he was sure to knock one of the white, leather couches on its side, completely shatter the glass coffee table in the lounge, and throw the posters off the walls for good measure before escaping down the hall onto destinations unknown - Agitated and aggravated beyond belief.

“Okay… Who’s next?” Doc Rocque tried to ease the tension, but none of his other three subjects were exactly willing.

“I think I’m gonna pass,” Kendall replied, with his assistant nodding in agreement.

Logan held up a decaying finger, pointing over to his rampaging friend, “Yeah, big pass here.”

***

The ride back to the Palm Woods was completely silent, Roxy, Logan, and Kendall all worrying about their own separate issues while Kelly and Gustavo tried to work out a plan to get Carlos under control. All the while, still trying to figure out a way to get them seemingly normal before their big appearance at Griffin’s party tonight.

Why would he even fund a monster band if he wanted a normal band anyway? Roxy thought to herself, but she knew her four friends had more talent squeezed into their monstrous bodies than any normal boy she had ever met. Though, she supposed it was just fortunate timing Doc Rocque had conveniently made this machine the day she had determined she wanted to be normal again too - If it was even at all possible.

There were still many lingering questions she had about her situation and unfortunately, none of her memories from her death or her year as a ghost had ended up occurring to her throughout the day. All she got were flitters from the past, things about her band, things about her dad, things about her exceptionally ordinary life before she was whisked out of Anoka and out to the Palm Woodsylvania - Nothing that helped her at all.

Once they arrived back at the hotel, everyone went their separate ways, leaving the ghost in the lobby once again. I hate it when they do that.

However, it didn’t take long for her to spot James, running through the pool area as he was being chased by the handsome boy from earlier.

Oh, he better be a vampire slayer or I’m going to be so upset.

One perk of her ghost abilities, she discovered, had been the ease at which she was able to travel thanks to her floating, transparent form. While she hadn’t bothered to wiggle the fabric of her dress around and discover if she had legs or just a gaseous cloud under there, she was thankful regardless for the time walking through walls saved her as she shot off after the two, ready to give her boyfriend a piece of her mind.

When she finally caught up with them in one of the hallways to the first floor guest rooms, she noticed the other boy had James pinned to the wall, wooden stake nearly driven into his unbeating heart before the vampire smirked a bit.

“A vampire and a vampire slayer walk into a bar-”

His superhuman strength managed to give him the upperhand as he reached out to grip the hunter by the arms and easily flipped their position. As the slayer hit their head on the back of the wall with an unpleasant thud Roxy was able to catch some sort of glint in his dark, smoked out eyes as he gazed over at James.

Ugh! Just his type, tall, dark, and broody.

“The bartender says, ‘What can I get you two?’” The boy replied, before flipping the script once more.

With James up against the wall again, Roxy had about enough of watching this all play out. She didn’t like how much he looked like he was enjoying being hunted.

“And the vampire says-”

“‘I have a girlfriend!’” Roxy interrupted from the end of the hall, crossing one arm over the other as she cleared her throat. “‘And she’s just about tired of watching whatever the hell this is.’”

The two boys snapped their heads in her direction at the sound of her voice, seemingly forgetting all about their tasks at hand.

“Oh, man, time out!” James cried, flipping the slayer onto his back once again - this time holding him down from an arms length away - before addressing his ghost girl angrily floating toward him. “Hey, um, boo, now’s not really the best time. Kinda fighting for my life here.”

“I can see that, asshole. Having a good time?”

“Aw, don’t be like that, Roxy. I’ve gotta have a little fun with it! This is like the sixth hunter your dad’s sent after me this month.”

From his position on the wall, the hunter watched the vampire and ghost argue in front of him, brown eyes darting back and forth like he was following a tennis match. “Wait… Roxy? As in Somerset? Declan’s daughter?”

“What’s it to you?” The girl spat back, a bit creeped out the hunter knew her dad’s name, but her eyes still remained trained on James. “And why’s my dad sending slayers after you anyway?”

At that, her boyfriend nervous-chuckled like he usually did when he was anxious or didn’t want to answer one of her questions, still holding down his adversary as best he could. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe because I’m the reason his daughter moved far, far away from home and also maybe…” His eyes shifted back and forth between the two people facing off against him before sighing, “And maybe I’m also kind of the reason she died? Time in!”

With that, he took off running for the pool again and Roxy had half a mind to grab one of the stakes from the slayer beside her and hurl it through his back.

I would if I could at his stupid cliffhanger, she angrily told herself before crying out in frustration. Without thinking, she found herself reaching out, placing her palm directly over the slayer’s face. Based on the reactions she got from her monstrous friends at her touch, she figured the consequences were probably a bit worse for a human.

Even back in freezing-cold Minnesota, Roxy had never seen someone’s skin turn so blue at the cold temperatures. It scared her a little bit, the small but mighty power under her fingertips, before she pulled her hand away in shock, letting the slayer groan out a cry of pain before she shot off to the pool after James.

The reason I…?

Suddenly, the blood stain dripping down her dress from her neckline began to make a little more sense. There were a few fuzzy bits of a memory fighting the way to the forefront of her brain as she brought her hand to her now-tender neck, one of the only physical sensations she felt all day, only to pull it away and find her fingers covered with a vicsus, green-black substance.

“Oh my, God,” She managed, passing into the open space as she continued after her boyfriend, trying to keep herself together at the disgusting sight. There was a faint hiss from ahead, meaning James had heard her words, that told her she was rapidly gaining on him. “Ew!”

Maybe she was lucky he stopped to talk to a decapitated and dismembered Logan on one of the pool’s many outdoor couches or maybe James was just tired from all the running he had been doing that day. However, she overheard Logan mention the Hot Singing Boy band machine and watched as James scooped up as many pieces of his friend as he could carry.

As the band’s assistant, she was still inclined to help, but once again couldn’t manage to carry anything herself before she finally managed to catch her boyfriend’s attention by sticking a few fingers in his back.

“Agh!” James startled with an intense shiver, dropping Logan’s head back down onto the couch. His friend let out a high pitched whine once he made contact with the cushion again

“James! Explanation! Now!”

When he spun around to face her, his already pale face paled even more, eyes flickering down to her neck and dress, as he shot her a weak smile. The little flash of his fangs almost made her forget why she was so mad in the first place - That was, until he opened his big mouth. “I really hate ectoplasm… Boo, did you get any on my clothes just now?”

“You’re going to have a lot more than ectoplasm to worry about in a second-” She threatened, before the head on the couch beside them cleared his throat.

“Um… Why is there some guy with two wooden stakes sprinting in our direction right now?”

Logan’s nervous laugh was honestly a tad adorable, but he brought up a very important point: They needed to get out of the Palm Woodsylvania fast if they wanted any chance at getting back to normal. A hunter stopping them dead in their tracks would certainly throw quite the wrench into their plans.

“I’ll explain later, boo. Promise,” James managed as he reached down to grab Logan by the hair.

Though she could tell he meant it by the sincere tone in his voice, she still wasn’t happy to wait. “Fine, I guess we can head out.”

“Not funny, Roxy!” The zombie reprimanded as he was being carried away through the lobby of the hotel. “Not funny at all.”

Well, she was certainly laughing when James turned into a bat, almost dropping Logan’s head to the carpet before clutching his black hair with his tiny little claws. The image of the zombie’s head flying down the sidewalks of Los Angeles, being carried by a bat and followed by a hovering ghost was one Roxy hoped she would end up remembering.

***

By the time Roxy, James, and Logan’s head barreled into Doc Rocque’s laboratory most of the smoke from the experiments earlier had cleared and it appeared as though someone had made an effort to clean up after the mess Carlos had made.

Based on the groan of annoyance their boss let out upon seeing his three employees, Doc wasn’t all that happy to see them, but it looked like he had finally managed to put his machine back together again.

“Doc, you’ve got to make me normal!” James cried, mirroring the statements his friends had made earlier. “A vampire slayer is chasing me and Roxy is really upset with me-”

“Oh, boo-hoo, okay?” Logan’s head interrupted from his space tucked under James’ arm. “A hot guy is chasing you and your ghost girlfriend got some ecto on your cape… I’m just a head!”

The vampire’s eyes widened, turning to face Roxy, “I thought you didn’t get any on me!”

She stuck her hand into his side, fully covered with as much goo as she could slather on as Doc Rocque pointed to the inside chamber of the machine, “Get in!” “May I?” Roxy asked in ernest as she watched her thoroughly-chillded boyfriend and best friend enter the machine. “I’d like to be… normal again, too.”

Doc shrugged, typing a new command into his computer, “Only one way to find out if it works.”

In a flash she soared through the aluminum paneling to land herself inside, praying that this would reverse her undead curse and solve all of her problems.

As James placed Logan’s head at his feet, he managed to scoot back a bit to stand by his girlfriend, shooting her an extremely apologetic look as Carlos and Kelly entered the room, dragging a sleeping, fully-wolfed out Kendall behind them.

“You remember now, right?” James whispered to her. “You normally do after I mention it, just tell me now if you’re going to break up with me.”

Blinking a few times at his words, Roxy felt the fuzzy memories she had been focusing on so hard before finally unlock, the complete feeling she had sensed before rushing through her and telling her everything she needed to know about the night she had died.

Clear as day, she saw herself spending her seventeenth birthday with her vampire boyfriend - a trip to the beach, window-shopping downtown, the observatory, and their time spent laying on the hood of her car as they watched the sun set over Los Angeles.

As they talked about this and that, James had reached into the pocket of the cloak he had loaned her to keep her warm and handed her a small, wrapped gift.

Almost as if she were watching a movie scene play itself out, not knowing what was coming next, she watched as she pushed it back into his hands, whispering into his ear that wasn’t the present she wanted this year as she pressed a trail of kisses down his neck.

He had tried to tell her it was a bad idea, that he had never done anything like that before, but she wasn’t listening to a word he said, insisting over and over that she wasn’t interested in growing any older or wasting any more of her time as a human.

We can be young and free and together forever.

In the chamber, Roxy nodded as she remembered the promise she had made to him, ghostly hand desperately trying to clutch onto his only to pass right through.

“It wasn’t your fault,” She told him, watching blankly as Carlos dropped Kendall to the floor of the machine. “I completely coerced you, and you tried to warn me-”

“I just need you to know it was an accident, boo. I really did want to be…. together forever.”

“Well,” Roxy trailed off a bit as she watched Carlos step into the chamber and Kelly and Gustavo make their final touches to their code. “Regardless of how this experiment turns out, I think we’ve still got a shot. Forever just might look a bit different than we planned.”

From the corner of her eye, she saw him nod and the faint smirk that allowed a bit of his fang to pop out returned. “The charms are in your dresser drawer by the way, still wrapped up in that cute little box. I won’t ask how you know what was inside, though.”

Roxy just knew but she wasn’t able to explain how. “I’m sorry about all the ectoplasm on your cape.”

“I’m sorry about the whole being dead thing,” James echoed.

Doing her best to float just a few inches higher off the ground, she pressed a ghostly kiss to his cheek as the chamber door slid closed, “It’s not all that bad. I’ve still got a lot to live for.”

The light dimmed through the opaque glass, though Roxy didn’t remember the floor rumbling quite so much during the first few trials as Doc Rocque flipped the switch.

It was hard to describe the effects the machine had on her and her friends, feeling as though she was being completely torn apart while simultaneously being put back together. None of her time spent in the land of the living or the dead had prepared her for any such sensation and though she felt the need to scream, she had no way of doing so as the chamber worked its magic.

After what felt like ages, there was a blinding flash of light before…

***

Roxy’s eyes flew open, flinging the comforter off her shivering body before letting out a few gasps for air, hands clutching tightly at the fabric of her costume in her hands.

Eyes darting around her room, she noticed the sunlight peeking its way though her closed blinds, illuminating small spots on the collection of band posters she had up on her walls.

She was there, in the present, entirely whole, and most important of all, not dead.

Just to make sure, she patted at her mattress a few times, entirely ecstatic when her hand didn’t go straight through and she could feel the soothing silk of her red sheets under her palm.

What a weird dream… I can’t stay up that late to make a costume ever again.

When she glanced into her hands, the dress she had fashioned for her and Kendall’s party was right where she had left it after her FaceTalk with Jo. The fabric wasn’t stained, the strips at the bottom didn’t curl, and she still needed to run the bottom through the park to get it all dingy and gross to complete the look.

Maybe her dream had just been wishful thinking to have the best costume at the party. It certainly had been odd, however, she couldn’t remember a time she had ever had one so vivid and detailed.

On the nightstand beside her bed, she grabbed her journal and pen before scribbling out everything she could possibly remember so she could relay the message to her friends later while Big Time Rush’s newest demo “Big Night” ran through her head.

I wonder if Jo will tell me to lay off the vampire romance novels for a while.

As she wrote down the key parts of her dream - the epic ghost look she would certainly do her best to replicate with make up tonight, the way her dad hired literal assassins to take out a guy who had hurt her, and the significance of the charms James had given her for her birthday - Roxy felt a bit childish when she reached up to her necklace to make sure they were still there.

Feeling out all three, right next to the pendant where they should be, she felt an odd sense of relief before getting out of bed and walking into her living room. For a moment, she stared at the door connecting 2-H and 2-J, realizing just how early she had woken up.

Roxy wanted to tell James every single thing she could remember of her imaginative monster world but knew him well enough that he would be sound asleep at this time… That boy always bragged about his strict “beauty slumber” routine to keep his skin looking as refreshed and young as possible.

Just like a vampire.

Besides, since they’d started dating, Mrs. Knight made a rule they couldn’t be alone in each others bedrooms - If they wanted to be in the apartments, they could only hang out in the common, open spaces where anyone could see them at any point in time.

Ugh. Stupid adult rules.

Though she heavily respected Mrs. Knight and the boundaries she had set for her defacto son, Roxy figured that she remembered what it was like to be a teenager. She probably had weird dreams she wanted to tell her boyfriend about too, and for now, that required the writer to go inside James’ bedroom.

I’m sure she’d understand.

So, she quietly pulled open the door to 2-J and walked down the hallway as sofly as she could, poking her head into the living room to see if anyone was awake.

Much to her surprise, all of the Knights were up and eating breakfast. The smell of fresh pancakes, delicious fruit, and bacon wafted through the room as the three of them entertained a pleasant conversation about the party being held later.

It was just her luck Katie and Mrs. Knight were sat with their backs toward the hall, so Roxy was tucked just out of sight, but as Kendall got up to grab some more orange juice from the fridge, she caught his eye.

Silently, she tilted her head in the direction of the room he shared with James and held up all ten of her fingers. In response, he subtly nodded, before glancing at the digital clock on the oven and back with a wink.

Both of them had understood the other perfectly.

I need to talk to James, can you give me ten minutes?

Of course, take all the time you need.

As quickly as she had come, she ducked down the hall and made a right at the door to 2-H and then an immediate left to open up the door to the room the two boys shared.

Since coming back from tour, she hadn’t been in James and Kendall’s room at all, but the boys had returned it to its former glory after the brief period Big Time Rush had spent broken up. Though Roxy shivered at the thought, she was pleased to see all the hockey posters and pictures with Jo on the walls and sports trading card binders littering Kendall’s desk and nightstand, along with a few clothing items on the floor the frontman probably definitely didn’t want her to see.

I’ll make fun of his Minnesota Wild boxers later.

On James side, there he was, tucked perfectly between his pillow and his duvet snoozing away without a care in the world. This was a rare time in which his girlfriend got to see him, completely unaware and perfectly content. He’d probably freak out if he knew his hair was messy, sticking up in a few places from the way he was laying, not that she’d ever tell him.

He had managed to get all his posters back up too, a few with sports people, but mostly those of hot, young movie stars to look at before he fell asleep, almost similar to the arrangement of his assistant’s posters in her room. Just to the right of his head, she noticed a few pages of sheet music tacked up, and she inched a bit closer to figure out what song it was for at the risk of waking him.

Just as she read out the title “Boyfriend” a lock of her hair fell over her shoulder and tickled his face, causing him to shift in his sleep and lift a hand to scratch at his nose.

Roxy held her breath, wanting to watch him sleep for just a little bit longer before she woke him up, and waited.

Smacking his lips a few times, James shuffled again but didn’t open his eyes, giving her a bit more time to snoop.

Beside the sheet music, she also spotted his ticket to American Idiot, their ticket to the planetarium, and when she dared to peek at the place his mattress met the wall, she noticed the small stuffed animal she had won for him at the carnival.

It filled her heart with so much love she thought she just might burst.

Young and free and together forever… She thought, reaching out to lift up the solid blue comforter before she crawled under to lay beside him.

Her movements, of course, woke him slightly, and he popped one eye open to make sure none of the guys were playing a prank on him while he tried to get his beauty rest. When he noticed it was his girlfriend, he let out a relieved sigh and simply scooted toward the wall to give her some more room to lay.

“Morning,” He drawled as his eye popped back closed, voice still so full of sleep Roxy had to really concentrate on the sound as she wrapped her arms around his waist, hands finding the hem of his shirt to slip under.

Letting her hands splay out across his back as she squeezed him tighter, she settled into his side, she shared her own, “Morning. I had the craziest dream last night and I wanted to come in here and tell you all about it because I think this dress I bought in Anoka cursed me… but I’m suddenly really sleepy again.”

A few waves of laughter rolled out of him at how ridiculous her statement was, which she could feel coming straight from his chest. One of his arms caught her waist to pull her a bit closer while the other began to run through her hair as he told her, “That’s because you didn’t get a proper eight hours, babe.”

The assistant let his words settle, ringing in her ears as she focused on the boy beside her, trying to take in every little ounce of touch he could give her. Even though it was just a dream, she hated not being able to be close to him, so she did her best to compensate for now.

“I had to finish my costume!” Roxy defended, though she felt her eyelids growing heavier with every stroke of his hand through her hair. “If we were having a best dressed contest I’d certainly win.”

“That title just comes with being the birthday girl…” He joked, though his words were starting to blur a bit. “And also… Just being you in general.”

Burying herself deeper into his chest, Roxy smelled a faint hint of tropical fruit and lime as she poked him in the side. “Well, just you wait and see! I’ll have earned the title through hard work, jerk.”

“D’ya…” Roxy felt James’ hand flex at her waist, trailing a bit down to her hip. He was trying very, very hard to stay awake. “D’ya know what you’re gonna wish for when Mrs. Knight brings out the cake?”

“Of course I do, but if I tell you it won’t come true.”

“Whatever you… Say… Babe…” And with that she knew she had lost him, shallow breaths turning even shallower as he dozed back off.

Relishing the warm feeling under her fingertips, Roxy resigned to shutting her eyes as well, focusing on the rhythm of her boyfriend’s heartbeat.

Young and free and together forever.

thanks for reading <3 likes, comments, reblogs etc are always appreciated. i love to know that you think!

i'll be switching up the order of some of the episodes and taking a few out of the second season from here on out! just to help make a more time cohesive story :)

#thats all she wrote fic #big time rush #btr #james diamond #james maslow #kendall knight #kendall schmidt #logan mitchell #logan henderson #carlos garcia #carlos penavega

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sihaya74 · 2 years ago

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NEW The Lessons of Bryan Fuller's Hannibal S1:E3 -- THE GOOD SHIP WOLF TRAP

Lessons of Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal

S1:E3 – THE GOOD SHIP WOLF TRAP

As metaphors go, boats are fabulous vessels of meaning. If you think about it, boats are one of humankind’s greatest inventions. From the humblest rowboat to those massive cruise ships the size of small cities, the fact that humans, who are inherently sinkable, found a way to float on the surface of the water is truly amazing.

And boats don’t just float – they sail, they fly, they carve out their passage through the waves like a giant, power-driven blade. A beautiful description of a boat as a presence of power is in Thomas Hardy’s “The Convergence of the Twain,” his poem about the cruel fate of the Titanic and its passengers and crew. While discussing the construction of the Titanic, which Hardy rivets with mythological imagery, he calls the ship a “creature of cleaving wing” (17).

A boat is a thing that can cut as well as it floats. It can be a home, an escape, a bridge, a cage; ships are many things to many people. Even the ships that science fiction authors launched into the skies, like Star Trek’s Enterprise and Battlestar Galactica, come to mind – sailing through a sea of stars filled with symbolism and significance.

Human beings once looked out over the grey-blue waves of an ancient ocean and saw nothing on the horizon but water and clouds. To all appearances, there was nothing past the horizon. Word was, if you sailed far enough, you would sail right over the edge. But still, in different locales all over the world, humans said, “Fuck it. I wanna see what’s out there.” And they built boats and went to go have a look see.

Authors love to use boats as metaphors and symbols – just check the works of Homer and Coleridge, Shakespeare and Dickens, Melville and Hemingway. The list goes on and on.

In Season 1, Episode 3 of Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal, we are introduced to the concept of an important boat; it is inside the hull of that very boat that our lesson is stored, wrapped up lovingly in a water-proof tarp and tucked away under our feet. But first, let’s discuss how we come to this lesson, through the tempestuous sea of Hannibal’s characters – namely the turbulent emotional lives of Abigail Hobbs and as always, my darling Will Graham.

S1E3 is called “Potage.” A potage like the English word, “pottage,” is a thick soup – similar to a stew. Potage can be fancy, but its origins were with the peasantry, who threw whatever odds and ends they had left over from cooking into a pot with broth and let it simmer on low for a few days, or a whole week even. The result was a thick, hearty, highly concentrated meal, redolent with the scents and the flavors of its many and varied ingredients.

With “Apéritif” and “Amuse-Bouche,” Fuller and his fellow chefs teased our palates and stimulated our appetites. With S1E3, we are indeed served a potage, a hearty issue that has been simmering since Episode 1 – the issue of Abigail Hobbs and what she knows about her father’s life as the Minnesota Shrike.

“Potage’s” story is credited to David Fury. The script was written by Fury, Chris Brancato, and our creator and visionary, Bryan Fuller. It was directed by David Slade.

At the beginning of the episode, as we dig our spoons into the bowl, we are gifted a large chunk of significance. Now in an upscale mental hospital, Abigail Hobbs awakens from her coma. She has emerged from a nightmare about her father – one filled with hunting and gutting and bleeding. She is frightened and confused when she wakes up, and we as the audience cannot blame her. The last time we saw her, her father had killed her mother, then slashed her throat. As she lay exsanguinating on her family kitchen floor, a strange, trembling man shot her father to death. The strange man tried to save her life but was too shaken. Thankfully, another man with a very strong hand clamped down on her wound until help could arrive. She eventually loses consciousness, but not until after she sees Will Graham kill her father and Hannibal Lecter save her from the flood of crimson darkness that awaited her.

Only a scene later, the audience is given another tasty morsel to chew upon. This being Will Graham standing out in front of his quaint, clean farm house in a t-shirt and underwear – garments that cling in all the right places and make me personally thankful for Hannibal’s costume and wardrobe department. Alana Bloom has come to inform Will about Abigail’s reemergence into the waking world. Will wants to go see her immediately. Alana convinces him that she should test the waters with Abigail first. Alana very rightly concludes that the first person from the BAU’s team who approaches Abigail should not be the man who killed her father or the man the who saved her life. That’s a lot of baggage to start off with. I have to say that I feel that poor Abigail is never really given a chance – that she and her fate have its own message attached to it – something about victimhood and patriarchy that I will discuss much later in this series of blog posts. Still, Alana is right – (she often is) – and she heads off to visit Abigail in the mental hospital with a bunch of clothes and music and gift cards.

In their exchange, as Alana examines Abigail’s state of mind, in an effort to build rapport, Alana admits to Abigail, “I’ve got a stack of gift cards. I don’t do well redeeming gift cards;” Abigail replies, “Probably says something about you” (Fury et al. 10). I am also a person that doesn’t do well at redeeming gift cards, and I would love to know “what it says about me.” As far as I can tell, I think it means I work too much, but any other deep meaning is lost on me.

Soon, Alana, Hannibal, and Jack Crawford have a conference about Alana’s impressions of Abigail and whether she should be exposed to Will yet. It is very apparent from this scene that there are two people who definitely suspect Abigail of having helped her father kill his victims: Jack and Hannibal. Jack’s belief is based on a cop’s instinct; Hannibal’s is based on a killer’s. You get the feeling somewhere deep inside that Alana believes it too, but she will not allow that belief to manifest. It is also apparent in this scene that because Hannibal is convinced that Abigail helped her father commit his crimes, that he automatically begins deflecting suspicion away from her saying things like, “I would suggest she can be practical without being a murderer” and that the impression of secrecy she radiates may “simply be her trauma” (Fury et al. 11). The fact that Hannibal begins tossing out red herrings this early on is important considering the end of the episode and how Abigail and Hannibal come to understand each other.

Hannibal talks quite a lot about God – in Harris’ works and in all on-screen depictions. Hannibal is not an atheist – he lives in defiance of God. He continually dares the deity to stop his reign of tasty terror and continually God chooses not to. So, Hannibal goes on killing and eating victims knowing he is doing so either because of God’s indifference or with God’s tacit approval. Even though later in Season 3, Will Graham says that “Hannibal’s not God. Wouldn’t have any fun being God,” Hannibal perseveres in the same actions as God, namely making others in his image (Vlaming and Fuller 11). He persists in the nurturing of fledgling killers. Murder is Hannibal’s answer for all things that ail you, especially for the people he finds interesting enough to invest time into.

He believes Abigail has assisted her father in his slew of murders and so Hannibal encourages Abigail to carry on a life of killing; to Hannibal, it only makes sense. Randall Tier is sad and depressed and thinks he’s a beast who wants to ambush, kill, and gnaw on people – Hannibal gives him the go ahead. Bedelia has a troublesome patient – trouble courtesy of Dr. Hannibal Lecter, but still… Neal Frank dies with Bedelia’s arm down his throat and Hannibal is pleased as punch. Margot Bloom has a sadistic, abusive brother? You know Hannibal’s answer. Will Graham thinks exactly like a killer. But Will Graham is a murderer who doesn’t murder – a sad, specter of himself like a vampire living on animal blood. Will can’t sleep; he has nightmares. Will is barely comfortable in his own skin. Hannibal’s answer – walk down to the dark end of the street with me and never feel pain again, Will. So many people Hannibal attempts to make in his own image – at a certain point, we must assume it’s because he’s lonely. Since Mischa, Hannibal has had no family. That’s why in Seasons 1-2, he tries to make himself one.

It's agreed upon that Will should now be allowed to interact with Abigail, as long as Hannibal goes along for the ride. When Hannigram arrive at Abigail’s hospital room, they find it already occupied by the persistent, nosy Freddie Lounds, who is attempting to scoop Abigail’s story by endearing herself to the confused girl. Whether or not Freddie truly cares about Abigail is immaterial, but I think she ultimately comes to care about Abigail. Freddie is a creature of ambition and as such, is one of the most honest characters in the story, even in Harris’ original male Freddy Lounds – both Loundses are clever, dogged, and can often be extremely annoying – that’s the paparazzi for you. Freddie has already begun trying to turn Abigail against Will Graham, hence Will’s snippy dismissal of her.

After the visit at the hospital, Hannibal, Will, and Alana escort Abigail back to her family home in Bloomington, Minnesota. As the group arrives, they discover that vandals have spraypainted the word “CANNIBALS” on the doors of the house. There are two important moments in this homecoming exercise: 1. Abigail reveals that she knows Hannibal is the man who called her house on the morning her father was killed and 2. Abigail crosses paths with Nick Boyle. While they go through items in the family’s living room, Abigail asks about recreation of the crime. She indicates that in this portrayal, Alana should play her mother, Will should play her father, and she turns to Hannibal and with a piercing stare says, “And you be the man on the phone” (Fury et al. 26). I remember gasping the first time I saw this. Even after all my rewatches, it still gets me. It’s a great moment.

Later, Nick Boyle has come looking for Abigail, who he blames for his sister Cassie’s murder. As Abigail stands in her backyard talking to her one remaining friend, Marissa Schuur, Nick appears from the woods, accusing Abigail of helping her father pull Cassie’s lungs out as she died. For repeat viewers of the series, this scene is always rife with irony because we know good and Goddamned well who pulled out Marissa’s lungs, and it sure ain’t Abigail. It’s the plaid-suited meow meow who stands in the winter sun looking as innocent as a kitten. Marissa throws a rock at Nick and tags him in the head – a piece of convenient carnage Hannibal will use to maximum benefit later.

Then, the whole BAU crew take Abigail to her father’s hunting cabin. Abigail explains that her father believed that the only way to “honor” a kill, speaking about deer and other game, was to use every part of the animal. She details the process, saying, “He sold the pelts on Ebay or in town. He made pillows. Carved knives out of leg bones. No parts went to waste. Otherwise it was murder” (Fury et al. 31). She then comes to the realization that her father was feeding his victims to she and her mother. Immediately after this, the whole team discovers the mostly nude body of Marissa Schuur impaled on a stag’s head in the antler garden of an attic Hobbs crafted for himself. Abigail is whisked away by Alana. Jack, Hannibal, and Will examine the crime scene.

Jack questions Will’s powers of deduction, and expresses, in a huffy, petulant fashion, that Abigail could be manipulating Will – he is an empath, after all. Will is confident that the same person who killed Cassie Boyle in the “field kabuki” murder has killed Marissa Schuur. They have named this killer the Copy Cat. Both girls have been impaled on racks of antlers. Cassie is displayed horizontally, like a coffee table. Marissa is hung on the wall, a tapestry of murder. Will now theorizes that Nick Boyle is this Copy Cat based on the presence of some of his blood and tissue on Marissa’s front tooth, which he surmises was lodged there when Nick punched her in the face.

The audience thrills with dramatic irony at this point again knowing that Nick’s tissue came from the rock Marissa threw at him that Hannibal cleverly hid and then obviously, absconded with. This is why Hannibal deserves many viewings – the dramatic irony is not fully enjoyed until the viewer has done so. And, the absolute mastery of Mads Mikkelsen’s performance does not truly hit home until you realize how often he is directing the character of Hannibal about like a agile cat, always on its toes, always twisting mid-fall, to cushion its landing.

Jack buys the Nick Boyle theory, albeit reluctantly. He sends Hannibal to retrieve Abigail and take her back to Baltimore/DC. Will stays at the crime scene with Jack.

When Hannibal and Alana return Abigail to her family home before the journey back to Baltimore, Freddie Lounds is waiting for them. And so is Marissa Schuur’s mother, who is driven wild with grief. Hannibal cooly and skillfully deals with both and Abigail is sent inside.

It is in this moment of isolation – the first Abigail has had in a day fraught with trauma and heartbreak that Nick Boyle breaks into her home and confronts her. He says he just wants to talk. Abigail is terrified, shaking with fear. Just as she was taught, she kills Nick – gutting him from belly to chin with a kitchen knife. His corpse is laid out on the floor like an opened deer, his eyes as black as onyx. Alana and Hannibal then enter the house. In a mirror, Hannibal sees the bloody Abigail ascending the stairs and in a moment of almost Bond-like badassness, he knocks Alana’s head sideways against the wall, rendering her unconscious.

Slipping immediately into a paternal role, Hannibal commands Abigail to show him what she has done. His exterior is calm, but the viewer knows that internally, Hannibal is overjoyed. Abigail has natural killer instinct – a thing that cannot be taught. He explains to Abigail that based on the condition of Nick’s body, no one will believe that Abigail was simply “defending herself” when she killed him – and the method of slaughter will definitively signal to Jack that she participated in her father’s crimes.

Then, in a weighty moment, in a line of dialogue that is echoed later in Season 3, Hannibal says to Abigail, “I can help you, if you ask me to” (Fury et al. 40).

The character of Hannibal Lecter, specifically as written by Bryan Fuller, is vampiric in so many ways. One being that he always wants to be asked for help. He offers a lifeline, a way out, but he insists on being asked before he intervenes. He is a Narcissist King of the highest order. By helping Abigail hide Nick’s body, Hannibal locks her into an unbreakable contract with him. She has quite literally made a deal with the Devil. At the end of the episode, when Abigail sneaks out of the hospital and comes to Hannibal’s office, she confronts Hannibal about being the man on the phone the morning her father died. Hannibal explains the circumstance away as a random coincidence, although Abigail knows better. They agree to keep each other’s secrets. But the viewer feels the dreadful weight of the agreement Abigail has just entered into when Hannibal says, “Reassuring to recognize when the bolt of our fates slides home” (Fury et al. 45). The imagery is that of being imprisoned, jailed. Hannibal and Abigail are now locked in a cage together – and as we all know…two men enter, one man leave. In this case, two liars. But the MadMaxian theorem holds true.

Just before the end of the episode, after Nick Boyle’s supposed “escape,” Will sits in a therapy session in Hannibal’s office, discussing the confusing and emotional events of the past few days. And this, my lovely reader, is where the vessel of our lesson rocks back and forth slowly on glass-smooth sea.

Will describes his home – his lovely farmhouse in Wolf Trap, Virginia.

WILL: Sometimes at night, I leave the lights on in my little house and walk across the flat fields. When I look back from a distance, the house is like a boat at sea. It’s really the only time I feel safe (Fury et al. 42).

The original source of this line, along with Hannibal’s comments about “the bolt of our fates sliding home” in from the Foreword to Red Dragon that Thomas Harris wrote when the book was reissued in 2000. This Foreword is a beautiful and astonishing look into how an author works with his characters. In Harris’ case, it is almost like spiritual possession or haunting. He “goes along” with his characters into their fates. He never makes the decisions for them. They decide for themselves and Harris merely bears witness…and takes copious notes.

Harris tells the reader that in the fall of 1979 when he was working on Red Dragon, a family illness caused him to return to his home state of Mississippi, where he was to remain for eighteen months. He was housed a shotgun cabin in the middle of a cotton field, kindly loaned to him by family friend. There, in the dark, cold nights – he and Will Graham journeyed forward into both of their fates. Harris then explains that it was he who walked out into the “flat fields” surrounding his cabin in the bitter oblivion of night and looked back at the little house, which resembled “a boat at sea” (Harris IX). Harris also tells the reader the story of the pack of feral dogs who lived in the fields outside his abode and how he befriended them with pounds of dog food. A Hannibal fan cannot help but tear up a little reading Harris’ description of his pack: “They walked with me in the fields at night and when I couldn’t see them, I could hear them all around me, breathing and snuffling along in the dark. When I was working in the cabin, they waited on the front porch, and when the moon was full they would sing” (Harris X).

Will’s love of dogs comes from Harris’ love of dogs. And in Hannibal, Will’s love of dogs is extended by Bryan Fuller’s love of dogs. And who can blame them? You gotta love dogs. They’re better than all of us.

In the “Potage” script is the addition of the line where Will says, “It’s really the only time I feel safe” (Fury et al. 42).

Will feels safe because his house is like a boat. Will grew up on boats. His father was a fisherman who Will followed to ports all over the Gulf Coast and up to New England. The boat of Will’s home, let’s call it the S.S. Wolf Trap, is adrift in an ocean of snow as a boat is scudding among the waves of sea. The point is, the boat is isolated, alone, away from land. And being away from land – Will is away from people. People and all their words and faces and insinuations and manipulations – all of it rubbing against his empathic nerves. People put him on edge, wring him out, stretch his patience, test his politeness, but mostly, they suck him dry. They fuse themselves into his being and Will becomes a twisted hybrid of every person he interfaces with. It is well documented in both Harris and Fuller that Will’s empathy causes him to take on other people’s speech patterns and mannerisms without even knowing it. He becomes other people. And then they use him. And when he realizes, he feels empty and alone. This idea returns many times throughout the series. Deep down, Will just wants someone to love his INNER MONGOOSE (see my blog post for S1:E1), but people just want to train the mongoose and use it to hunt snakes.

Will feels safest when he’s alone surrounded by a pack of dogs. That says a lot about Will, but it also says a lot about other people and just how truly shitty they can be.

And so, my friends, THE LESSON.

WE ALL DESERVE A SAFE PLACE.

Whether it is a real, physical place or a mental refuge, not unlike a mind palace, some might say… all of us, every one of us deserves a place we can go to get away from the shitty people of the world.

My friends, do whatever you have to do to find that place. To you, it might be someplace you go alone or it might be in a room with thousands of other people.

It could be in your cozy bed under the covers or it could be at a fan convention surrounded by music and noise and laughter. It could in a movie theater by the light of a silver screen or it could be at the gym with only the sound of your pulse drumming away in your head.

In your car, in the shower, behind your eyelids when you lay down your head at night – wherever it may be, be like Will Graham, and find your safe place. And do not feel ashamed of the need to retreat into your personal fort whenever you need to. Life is hard.

We all deserve a little boat of our own.

Here endeth the lesson…

References:

Hardy, Thomas. “The Convergence of the Twain.” Poetry Foundation. poetryfoundation.org/poems/47266/the-convergence-of-the-twain. Accessed 15 Dec. 2022.

Harris, Thomas. “Foreword to a Fatal Interview.” Red Dragon, by Harris, Berkley, 2000, pp. IX-XIII).

Fury, David, Chris Brancato, and Bryan Fuller. Writers. “Potage.” Hannibal, season 1, episode 3, Chiswick Productions, 2012.

Vlaming, Jeff and Bryan Fuller. Writers. “Primavera.” Hannibal, season 3, episode 2, Chiswick Productions, 2015.

#lessonsofhannibal #hannibal #fannibals #fannibalfamilyforever

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virades-shop · 4 months ago

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Step Up Your Game with the Special Tennessee Baseball Champions 2024 Air Jordan 1 HighTop Shoes

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nordinor · 8 months ago

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#etsy #smallbiz #photography #minneapolis #minnesota #minnehaha falls #waterfall #nature #nature photography #etsy gifts #etsy finds #etsy seller #etsy shop #etsy store #shop small

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grannyandgrandpascreations · 19 hours ago

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Mechanic Hourly Rate 20 Ounce Stainless Steel Traveling Drinking Mug Tumbler

Add humor to your daily routine with the Stainless Steel Traveling Mug Tumbler featuring the hilarious "Mechanical Hourly Rate" design. Crafted for durability and practicality, this tumbler is perfect for keeping your drinks hot or cold for hours. Its double-wall insulation and spill-resistant lid make it ideal for work, road trips, or everyday use. The witty mechanical rate chart design makes it a fun and unique gift for mechanics, engineers, or anyone who appreciates a good laugh with their coffee or tea.

Care instructions: Hand wash and air dry or hand dry

Due to different picture lighting settings the actual color might vary a bit from the pictures.

After a package leaves my hands with the post office, Granny & Grandpa's Custom Creations is not held responsible. Current Turnaround Time due to upcoming Holidays - 1-5 Business Days. While we always use priority shipping options, once shipped we cannot guarantee delivery due to the backlog current being experienced USPS/UPS/FedEx. If you have a strict deadline, please message me when ordering so that I can note any rush requests. Ownership of packages turned over to USPS transfers to the Buyer. We are not responsible for lost, held, damaged packages or delayed packages, once your package(s) leaves our Shop it is completely out of our control. Thank you for understanding!

Thank you so much for supporting our "small Granny & Grandpa's Shop", we truly appreciate YOU!

Please visit www.grannygrandpascustomcreations.com/shop to view more of our creations!

LET’S GET SOCIAL & BE FRIENDS! Like, Tag & Follow us for Our new Creations, Inspiration & Giveaways!

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Enjoy laughs and your favorite drinks with the stainless steel traveling tumbler featuring the "Mechanical Hourly Rate" design. Perfect for hot or cold drinks, it’s a great gift for mechanics or anyone who loves funny sayings.

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trivialbob · 11 months ago

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Last night Jack and Ali took me to a Minnesota Wild game as my Christmas gift. I had a very good time, despite Arizona blowing away the Wild.

When we first sat down I inwardly groaned. The guys behind us were very talkative and likely drunk. It could only get worse, I despaired. Oddly, as the game went on, and they kept drinking, they actually were funny. I warmed up to them and even laughed at some of the banter. When one of them accidentally bumped my back he apologized genuinely. We talked a little with other fans around us. I enjoyed that.

There were a few fisticuffs on the ice--and one nearly cooked off in front of me. A young brother and sister started to do what siblings do. Eventually a referee (mom) sat between them. They cooled off as well as they would have in the sin bin.

It was free hat night at the Xcel Energy Center. Everyone received a green and gold stocking cap (or "tuque" for the Canadians among us). A lot of those ended up on the ice in the second period after Arizona's fourth unanswered goal.

Traditionally a Hat Trick is to celebrate a single player's third goal in a one game. Fans threw hats onto the ice. I had been unaware of the opposite version, which protests the home team falling behind 4 to 0.

As much as I watch the on-ice action I note the off-ice activities. Years ago, at Minnesota North Stars games for example, a single Zamboni resurfaced the ice between periods. Eventually pro and college leagues added a second machine. I like watching the two "race" at the scorching speed of 5 MPH. Somewhere along the way jump seats were added and lucky fans get to ride along. Last night was pretty blonde passenger night.

Zamboni #1

Zamboni #2

There was even a Zamboni #3, though this one didn't resurface ice. It was for advertising (for my favorite grocery store) and allowed more fans to ride along.

During commercial breaks rink workers skate up and down with with shovels, clearing snow and making the surface smooth again. There used to be a handful of skaters who did this. They made one or two passes. Now it looks like a full team of skaters, and they completed multiple passes. Two more workers came out with tool bags. They inspect and repair ice at the goal anchors. Are we far off from mid-period Zamboni resurfacing?

#I miss the old scoreboards with little light bulbs that burned out #The new high-tech scoreboards are pretty cool though #Years ago one or two guys wearing sport coats ran the scoreboard from the scorers box #Now it must take a team of a dozen technicians to run the modern ones (and I bet they're all wearing headsets)

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maguro13-2 · 4 months ago

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Darkness Reborn Reboot ~ Origins of the Ink Demon Final Chapter Pt. 8

*At Downtown Minneapolis*

Marie Mjolnir : I can't wait to see what my new ipad can do. This is probably the best of technology in the world. I got it from the Apple Store at the mall of America or even in downtown. But what did Azusa said something about using it properly?

*flashback*

Azusa : That "buying me a tablet from the app store" thing has cost me a lot of money and it's going to make it a month to have some insurance, so you better use it wisely or else that insurance is coming out of your pay.

*flashback ends*

Marie Mjolnir : No wonder I was told by her to look after it. I can probably take care of this right thing if it's cost me money. Don't worry, I'll make it up to her by the end of week. It could be reasoning that the whole Demon Weapon thing has gone out of control. Unless we aren't demon weapons.

Azusa : Ah, Marie, the Vikings fan of Minnesota. So how do you like that "new" Ipad of yours?

Marie Mjolnir : It's great! It's gonna saved me a lot of money!

Azusa : Good. I'm glad you liked it. Because that thing costs me money! I have to tell the boss that I am needed to get all that paperwork done. Being secretary is really hard work, I get no zero respects that we're no longer working for the DWMA, Truth from FMA is exposing them for personal cover ups around the world.

Marie Mjolnir : So I am 100% sure that all of it's members, it's employees, were actually revealed that the school called the DWMA is really a part of the World Heroes Force, an organization led by Shinra Kusakabe, who had his "heartless" keeping the truth out of the public eye. Now I understand everything from Soul Eater, Shinra's legacy was Soul Eater's beginning, it influenced us to protect humanity, but now I realized that we've been puppets on a string from the start.

Azusa : It's true. Who knew that Shinra was formerly the supreme commander of the organization? So you're getting it, eh?

[Near's theme plays]

Marie Mjolnir : Huh? What do you mean?

Azusa : What i'm saying is, we're not even demons neither Ashley's people calls us. It's simple that us calling the Demon Weapons were actually bones made from the kid, Shotaro. It's coming to the final piece of the puzzle. It turns out that the owner and leader of the DWMA, is actually a enslaved kid from the author's fist manga, the second hero of the Ohkuboverse, Shotaro the Dokeshi.

Marie Mjolnir : So that kid named Shotaro is behind all of that? But why on earth would he create the weapons that are us?

Azusa : Becuase he was uncovering the secrets of Soul Eater's truth. He was going to expose the school as frauds that protected the boy's legacy for over a year. It was hardly the only gift that was ever left from the Ohkuboverse when the Time Eater destroyed it.

Marie Mjolnir : So...It was erased, ceased to exist, but how did we exist here in the Real World? That's an odd conclusion on whatever did to that universe, never made it out alive or perhaps someone manage to escape the Universe's expungement by using the ocaring to play the song of time. Now I'm getting it somewhere.

Azusa : You think so too, Marie?

Marie Mjolnir : I just realized something. Shinra's man-made son isn't a God, it was a heartless that was using as tools or pawns in a corrupt game. Lord Death isn't Lord Death, the Shinigami we knew was his slave, his real name is Darkside Death. That's the entity who was only using us the entire time.

Azusa : You'd think!? So the forces of evil and the conflict between humans and witches...were part of a corrupt game as well?

Marie Mjolnir : Indeed.

Azusa : Why that effin' son of a b*tch! Who does he think he is messing one's people?! We should respect our people too, you know! So this whole conflicting with each of our kind is literally stupid! If wasn't for Maka being in that stupid coma, we would've been dealing with all of that kinda of crap in the first place! Ever since that Legacy made us to defend humanity as the weapons we know, things in the real world starting to get crazy since Shinra's influence made us realize that we were too careless or being self-centered!

Marie Mjolnir : It's preposterous. I agree that we might get it on something. If we can defend something from the true force of evil that is the darkness in all of our hearts, we could find those answers that Truth might win this time. But hey, I can sense a strange feeling...

*Heartbeating+Heart monitoring*

Marie Mjolnir : I can feel it. It's someone's heart.

*DBZ SFX : Surprise*

Marie Mjolnir : It's coming from the cathedral! Down in Downtown St Paul! Quick, Azusa Yumi! We better get there in time! But if we don't make it, Minnesota will be done for! We better find out what's going at the cathedral!

Azusa Yumi : Okay!

*both hop on the motorcycle*

[The Grow Strained Moment by Michiru Yamane]

Marie Mjolnir : Hang on tight!

Azusa Yumi : R-Roger!

*Motor runs off*

Marie Mjolnir : Heh! This is a sweet ride to get to the cathedral on time!

Azusa Yumi : Yeah, but the traffic in the city is down bad!

Marie Mjolnir : But we're about to past through it!

Azusa Yumi : Here goes nothing!

Marie Mjolnir : Yahoo!

Azusa Yumi : Hey, try not to crash this thing, but this is really wild ride!

Marie Mjolnir : Hope you're willing to feel the adrenaline with me, Azusa! Cause it's going for a bumpy ride!

Azusa Yumi : Hope I ain't too nauseated to have a wild ride.

*scene changes to arriving at the Cathedral*

*Tire screeching*

Marie Mjolnir : Alright! We finally made it!

Azusa Yumi : This must be it.

"Cathedral of St. Paul Minnesota*

Marie Mjolnir : Alright. We're going in. Be very quiet, it's the most important sneaky operation to do so.

Azusa Yumi : *nods*

*peaks through the door*

Marie Mjolnir : Hello. Is anyone in there? Hello

Azusa Yumi : Hmmm...The whole place doesn't seem too quiet. Here, I'll get you a direct attention.

Marie Mjolnir : That's my one way ticket. Let's see if anyone's inside the cathedral. Hey, priests. Are you still here. I come from Minneapolis just to see how are you guys doing so well. Maybe, I was wondering if you would--

*opens door all the way*

Marie Mjolnir : *gasped in horror* No way!

Azusa Yumi : What's wrong, Marie? You sound so spooked that the people in this here cathedral are...

[Message by Michiru Yamane]

Azusa Yumi : Sleeping? What happened here? Is everyone in the cathedral all right. I hate the smell of the foul air of darkness, the cathedral hadn't been opened every Sunday.

Marie Mjolnir : We hadn't been coming down to the cathedral since when?

Azusa Yumi : I believe we thought of coming down here in the cathedral on Saturday or Sunday.

Marie Mjolnir : You got that right.

Azusa Yumi : Hey, Yumi. Get a load of this.This must be the priest. He must've died or something before he told us something would might happened at the church.

Marie Mjolnir : So that means...

[Doom's Eye by Jun Senoue]

Azusa Yumi : Everybody's dead.

*Checks pulse*

Azusa Yumi : All of their vital sign dropped to zero. They've lost their light from their hearts.

Marie Mjolnir : But who on earth is doing all the dirty work for the outcomes? Did the Gorgon sisters do this?

Azusa Yumi : No this wasn't by hr Gorgon sisters' doing. It... It's someone else's work.

Marie Mjolnir : But where did anyone get a crazy idea?

Azusa Yumi : This is what we get for protecting that legacy.

*hears footsteps*

Marie Mjolnir : Hey, do you hear that?

Azusa Yumi : Hear what?

Marie Mjolnir : It feels like someone's there.

Azusa Yumi : Hmm? What's this in the priest's hand?

*the dead priest has a Keyblade in his hand*

Azusa Yumi : A Keyblade. I wonder what's it doing here in the cathedral. Why would the priest would want to use a Keyblade to save the others? Hey, Marie? Are you getting something or you got something that is literally bugging you?

Marie Mjolnir : *in horror* No...! It can't be! You were killed in Tokyo six years ago.

Azusa Yumi : Wait, who died in Tokyo six years ago? Come on, Marie. There's no one literally here not even that it's probably just some ghost trying to scare you or something.

Marie Mjolnir : But I don't think that is not a ghost but someone came back to this country to meet us. Yumi, you might wanna turn around and see this.

Azusa Yumi : Alright, Marie! What was it that you wanted to tell me that's--

*DBZ SFX : Surprise*

Marie Mjolnir : Stein!

Azusa Yumi : Stein? As in Dr. Franken Stein!? But what happened to him he did not look like that 10 years ago.

[Mephiles' Whisper by Hideaki Kobayashi]

Stein : Marie. It's me Marie. Good old franken Stein is back from the dead.

Marie Mjolnir : But Stein, you can't be alive, you died! You're dead! How can you still be getting back on your feet?

Stein : I've decided to come back for you.

Marie Mjolnir : Is there a reason why did you come back from the dead, Dr.Stein?

Azusa Yumi : Yeah man! What's the deal? First, I just wanted to know something why did you do all of this? Why did you think that you wanted to kill Medusa that isn't witch, but a heartless born from Darkness. Why would she wanted you to make you go insane? Why protecting Shinra's legacy, the legacy that was the very beginning?

Marie Mjolnir : But...even though that we've been known each other in the past years. I'd still be worrying you about being a russian from a soviet Russia world. But why did you broke up with me? Why on earth did break up with me for Medusa? Why did you care on protecting that legacy, why doing it for shinra?

[Resident Evil 0 OST : ZERO]

Dr. Stein : After our breakup in the 20th century, I realized what the power of the boy's legacy that meant everything for us and Soul Eater. The legacy was the beginning of everything, humans and witches conflicting each other, thought that we were the bad guys. But you're wrong about that. On behalf of the research, I've discovered that the school called the DWMA was part of the boy's former organization, World Heroes Force. But despite the boy's spreading influence, we humans and witches became an arrogant species because of that.

Marie Mjolnir : W-What!? Stein! Do you believe that hurting one's kind is really that bad? Do you wanna risk your life just protect a dumb old legacy!? WHO CARES ABOUT SHINRA!? WHO CARES ABOUT SOUL EATER!? You know nothing about Shinra! His influence was to make us puppets to his man-made son, a heartless who had the keep the truth out of it and make secrets to make the Personal cover ups!?

Dr. Stein : ...

Marie Mjolnir : *clenches fists* Say it...! You're letting these heartless to put an end to this planet! Every story in every world has its end! This is not the difference between me, you, and that heartless snake witch that is ruining our lives! I don't want to work as a tool for the devil's legacy or his son! And I demanded to ask myself to seek into the truth! SPIT IT OUT NOW AND SEEK INTO THE TRUTH! WE ARE TRYING TO SAVE THIS PLANET FROM THE LIKES OF THESE HEARTLESS!

Dr. Stein : ...Maybe you are right. But everyone on this planet is such a fool. Maka, had been too much to be the fool of a hero, her story, her life, her heroism, the shattered resonance within in her heart, everything. She had been risking her own life to be the hero following the boy's footsteps of being a hero. The story, the world, everything in Soul Eater was always a lie, and not just a lie, but a dream.

Marie Mjolnir : A dream? You mean the story and world of Soul Eater was all nothing but a dream.

[Resident Evil 0 OST : ZERO Ver.2]

Dr.Stein : Grim the Hedgehog was afraid that Maka wanted to show how much courage that Shinra had to offer her from his legacy. She was forever to going to be a puppet and was cherished too much. But however, that same day and same time, the Time Eater can have the real Ohkuboverse to be destroyed.

Maka : No please! I just wanted to show the world how much courage I had to offer!

Time Eater : Farewell!

Maka : N-NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

*DBZ SFX : Energy Explosion+Wave*

Maka : SHINRAAAAAAA!!!

*changes back to the present*

Dr. Stein : With the Ohkuboverse expunged, Maka still exists in the real world, but was awoken from a Coma that she was in. Thus, the Ohkuboverse is no more. We it's Inhabitants now lives in the real world for long as we want to.

Marie Mjolnir : Stein...I thought we've been through for around 13 years in the past. It's been so many years. But now, I'm going to take everything back from what Shinra's son stole.

Dr. Stein : Not "steal nor "stolen", reclaiming what is ours for the taking.

[Confrontation with Marcus plays]

Dr. Stein : After the Time Eater and Homura destroyed it, there's only one thing left for me. All of that insanity, all of those crazy stories that lies within the Ohkuboverse, It realize that Madness was just concept from Hercules. But the profound reaches of darkness has finally procreated my only life.

*changes back to Stein*

Dr. Stein : I began to live, thanks to influence of Heartless. Now I have finally began to have our revenge on Homura and the Time Eater, The world and this planet will burn in an spiraling world of hatred! *laughs manically*

Azusa Yumi : You crazy son of a b*tch! You and Shinra's son will pay for what you've done to the truth!

Dr. Stein : If truth was only here, then we'll see which of us is the biggest and somebody on this planet is gonna die! Muhahahahaha--

*suddenly, Dr. Stein goes unstable*

Dr. Stein : *groaning+straining* My...My body! There's something wrong with my body!

Azusa Yumi : Eh?

Marie Mjolnir : What the hell...?

Darkside Death on P.A. : So, Dr. Stein. I entrusted you of becoming Maka's teacher or sensei is what I called what Kakashi sensei is. But you failed to copy him, not even your past mistakes would even call you a mad doctor. But the woman you were in love has broken your heart and now you are forever more human more than what it means to become...Heartless.

Dr. Stein : *strained+retches+vomits out darkness* Curse you, Shinra! This is all your fault for your cursed legacy!! You got me and everyone involved protecting or destroying it! Mark my words, Boy of a devilsh smile, you haven't seen the last of me!

Marie Mjolnir : NO!

Dr. Stein : I thought I would never understand the boy's name. (screams in agony) SHINRAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

*DBZ SFX : Big Aura+Powering up*

Azusa Yumi : Hey, what!?

Darkside Death : Farewell, crazed doctor.

Dr.Stein : *with Dedede's voice* Marie! MARIE, WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME!?! I'M LOOSING MY SELF!!!

*Dr.Stein starts transforming into a Darkside*

Marie Mjolnir : STEIN!!!

Darkside Stein : (distored voice) Dr. Stein is no more. But you can call me, Darkside Stein, the fusion of HEARTLESS AND FRANKEN STEIN!

Marie Mjolnir : No...No...(yells) NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

"It's all burden that the man I used to love...is no more."

"But the darkness in his heart has rotted away"

"Guess I'm forever lonely now..."

"With nobody to love me anymore."

~ Day 7 : Reunion of a Broken Heart ~

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