#SHIT I FORGOT HIS SCAR IN THE FOURTH PANEL

[whatwooshkai]

contrarian

[the-acid-pear]

Scarface was too fucking boring, didn't make it past chapter 3, but that's good, because that means Baki-Dou time 😍

Time to read the fourth book in this series! Excited to see Musashi <3

Chapter 1

COLORS

Baki please stop flexing

A FELLA SAYING THE SAME I SAID WHEN YUJIRO PULLED HIS SOB STORY, FR GO TRY SOMETHING ELSE! What happened with that whole "i don't care about fighting" eh Baki?!

Chapter 2

HOHO ALI JR???

ah no :/

HOLY FUCK is this quality bad!

He wants to taste defeat i see

TOKUGAWA PLEASE STOP SMOKING

Oh they removed the... Egg in the back of the neck, nice

God this guy's tits so fat 🥵

FINALLYYY HOW LONG SINCE WE SAW A FIGHT IN THE ARENA? A PROPER FIGHT I MEAN

Chapter 3

He doesn't even know 🐍

DON'T BRING THAT FELLA HERE RETSU KICKED HIS ASS IN TIME. RECORD

Oh i saw fanart of this scene

Baki, it's your fault that you are bored, you fucking teen

This shit boring ME

Chapter 4

Oh, goroukou is a title

I like how the prime minister is becoming a recurrent character

I thought he said babe for a sec-

That little "oh~" is a bit sus, are the old men... No, it can't be 😳😳😳

I'm fucking choking fuck

GOD ALMOST READ THAT AS JOHN CENA 😭

"yes <3"

These ppl never learn

Chapter 5

What a way to go, a la gamzee /j

This dude so weird lmao

FAHDGAHDH king

Dude he has huge round eyes tf you talking bout?

IGDUFSUEASEUURSS he's such a freakkk 😭😭😭

This is the most wtf thing Baki has pulled, remember when this was about fighters fighting? I don't know enough about science for this shit either man

Okay so their hug wasn't Tokugawa being touchy like he is, this guy is even worse, se juntaron el hambre y las ganas de comer HSHAFSFG

Chapter 6

Baki's dead

Katsumi about to kill get killed by my grandpa i see

ALSO KATSUMI OG HAIR WOOO

Katsumi bro don't be so happy over nearly killing him-

I love seeing him get better tho

Uwaadgsgsjdga 😍😳🤤 twisting my hair irl,,, 🥴

Finally Motobe remembered he was a character here 😐

FSGSHDAHDA KOSHO PLS

I LOVE that they got dark lips again

IM SORRY GOUKI HOW DO YOU KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT EVERYONE?! LTDKFsjyrd 😭

Jack's scar looks cool ngl

Retsu living the good life lmao

AND HOW DO YOU KNOW, GRANDPA?

Hana just doesn't care, smartest Baki character lmao

Idk what they talking bout but good for em <3

Cum basement

Chapter 7

SHOW US MUSASHI'S COCK

Obsessed he thought his heart was failing 😭

Dude you can just hear the heart beat of your friends/opponents just like that? 🤨

Notice Gaia in the top left 🥴

WHY CAN HE RECOGNIZE EACH OF THEIR HEARTBEATS AAHSGA

Thick 🥵

Unironically built different

Chronic back pain if you ask me, that's how I stand to relieve my agony

Did. Did you just call him a femb-

STOP SHOWING ME PANELS FROM VAGAMOND

I love John sm lmao

Mr Musashi has 2 (3?) dads

Chapter 8

HAIRY LEGS 🥴

Those things look like boobs

Bet you would know eh SHAFADB

They jerked off the mummy?

Reminds me of eye surgery

AFjshAFDGAJAHAF

Mf came out the tube ripped af 😭

Chapter 9

Everyone is so feminine lately good ol Kureha fell behind 😭

I like his bandana tho it's cute

OH HE TOO? AND HE'S NOT EVEN THAT STRONG

Fat tits 🥴

Eheojeudkshs 😖😳👉👈

JACK STOP YOU ARE BIG ENOUGH ALREADY

HOLY FUCK

You know like i understand Baki, he is at the highest he can be rn, NO ONE can defeat him, but the rest? Like c'mon y'all just beat each other up or something

Ah, the miracle of birth 😍

Chapter 10

I love how all these two do is hang out together in bars, boybosses

TF IS UP WITH THAT ICE? AHDHS

I love what they have

Hana thinking of getting his 4 limbs broken again i see

WOOO!! Nice cock Mr Musashi 😳

HANAYAMA PLEASE 😐

Chapter 11

I love those freaks

I just now I'm seeing the little scars on his cheeks from the fight with Spec ☺️

I love the fact that Musashi has hair in his legs BUT not his arms like ??? Okay king

Heated scientist moment

HOHO POGGERS 👀

Chapter 12

UTSURAARSDFAFA sibling goals

GIRLBOSS 😍

URAURUSYRSAESGA IN LOVE???

Holy shit she's amazing

Chapter 13

And his ass is very thick too 😳

Those fucking sunglasses, obsessed

Debatable, he got struck by lightning :/

HE WAXES HIS HAIR? OMFG OBSESSED

WHY IS HE WEARING THAT LMAO 😭

Nooo they censored the cock again 😔😔😔

DO IT QWEEN 💅

STOP SAYING SHE'S GONNA FUCK THE CLONE

"I'm exciteddddd" "ok."

Chapter 14

You just hate seeing a girlboss win

She truly is amaizing

Also i just realized spirits have been showing up since the first book so this isn't so crazy lol

MF HOW IS THAT GONNA HELP 😭😭😭

THE LITTLE BUBBLES AND SPARKLES... I BET HE DID 🥺

Chapter 15

WHY ARE HIS TITS SO ROUND AND FAT GODDAMN IT,,, 😳😖

Glad seeing some things never change

He looks so much like Jun

IGSITSURAURZES EPICCC

Someone question if Yujiro knew how too write obsessed,,,

Chapter 16

Goddamn it you got even older in the past 3 or so chapters bro

Mouth to mouth soul transference

OHHH

HIS EYEBROWS FELL HOW IGDUTSITDIYDIGD

Some mf got turned on by this HELP 😭

Chapter 17

I love how Yujiro and Hana are still getting ready to throw hands while this happens lol

Okay yeah that was super disrespectful honestly, guy is having a chat :/

HAHAGSJAHA obsessed

God i thought it was Hana the one grabbing some random lady for a second AFDJSJSSJS

He cute af ngl

POOR GUY MUST BE SO CONFUSED OMFG,,,

Fsr I'm surprised he can talk, like it should be obvious but in all the fanart i saw he never said a word, also, he's so damn respectful 😍

Chapter 18

Idk he was never that clever /hj

Hehehe blood

I love how John can only sit that way

The size of his balls lmao

Coward won't even fight with his dick out smh :/

God he mad cute-

Chapter 19

I MISS THE DEATH ROW FELLAS FUCKKK

Hm i think this random tiny bald man is not Tokugawa but someone that looks awfully similar to him

YEAH NO SHIT I FEEL SO BAD FOR HIM, HE MUST BE SO DAMN OVERWHELMED

Apparently there was a cameo, i don't know enough about anime to know or care

Chapter 20

He's tripping balls

Tokugawa should have gone a bit slower with this poor guy, this is like a lot to process at once <:/

Nvm he's doing better than me

Oydirsusefs look at himmm

WAIT A FUCKING SECOND OMFG DIDN'T DOPPO FIGHT THIS GUY?!

SOMEONE ELSE RECOGNIZED HIM HE ISSS

Chapter 21

OHDIRAYEASURRSUURS HE DOESN'T KNOWWW FFS

Musashi be like °_°

LOOK AT THAT SMILE LMAO

He's just chilling, mentally killing this dude

Murder baby

Chapter 21

The way his eyes are drawn is so cool

YRAURSUFSIDTGA

And he jokes too! Wow I'm in love 😍

(nsfw) CAN YOU HANDLE DICK LIKE THAT TOO? 😍

WOW

I TAKE BACK THAT QUESTION

I remember a show where you would bring your own knives and swords and go thru a bunch of test, Musashi should have been one of them

Mf truly is like :]

I love how he didn't buy it

I can't wait for him to fight Yujiro 😍

Chapter 23

He truly is 😌

ATFJAIDQYSF OBSESSED

He was happy this time at least, 5 times he lost already btw

Tokugawa truly in unhateable lmao

Chapter 24

IM SORRY, HIS LEG???

Oh I forgot Musashi does that

JAGSKSGSKSGS HIS FUCKING FACE I CAN'T 😭

I miss when translators would add notes i don't want to google shit myself :/

"I'm hard as rock" /j

Chapter 25

Look how happy he issss

MUSASHI POG MUSASHI POG-

I love how Tokugawa can't believe he got it first try and it's trying to lie now sjdakdyv

This mf is actually making me insane what the actual fuck i don't know what he has but he's gonna make me act up 😳

Mf be shadow boxing too dammit /j

Baki please

Chapter 26

OLD MAN JUST WANTS A PUBLIC TO SEE THIS LMAO

Look at the size of Baki's eyes holy fuck lmao

He's gonna yeet him!

OH NOOOO

FIRST HIS DAD NOW MUSASHI, THIS GUY CANT CATCH A BREAK LMAO

Chapter 27

How little time passed? They have barely moved

Yeah you did it last book too Baki

King shit

Chapter 28

AKSGSKGSJSGS KING

I love how he only now realized

Okay no he has a point

I love how he just calls him boy

Look at that smug face

I trust Musashi but at the same time he, really should be walking around this new world alone. Now, if i were to accompany him... 🥴/j

Baki please

Chapter 29

I love how soft the artstyle suddenly got, like if done big a big brush

Yujiro you just insulted every single anime character in history

Baby Baki's just like "Ok."

I like how Yujiro looks here

AUGHHJF HE'S SO BABY 🥺

HOHO badass

Chapter 30

He died 😔

Idiot hasn't even beat he 0.5 reaction seconds lmao 🤣

HOHOOOOO?!? 👁️👁️

"my curiosity exceed my fear!!" I RESPECT THIS MAN SO MUCH??

Chapter 31

AMAIZING HONESTLY

Fighter to fighter communication

SHIT LOOK AT THE STATE OF THAT HAND

He's just gone now LMAO

I honestly don't mind Baki being weak against this, he never fought against a two handed swordman, this is new territory

Chapter 32

Oh his really tripping balls now this is why he shouldn't be alone

NVM HE'S STILL DOING BETTER THAN ME ON A DAILY BASIS, I HAVE A LOT TO LEARN FROM THIS MAN

I just now realized he's barefoot

Nice ass king

The policemen are quite nice

He's very cooperative but i can't blame the cops either

Chapter 33

Yeah no shit that must be so insane

IF YOU HADN'T DROPPED OFF SCHOOL THEN...

That's kinda funny but idk man he's right i think

He's just like :3

I love how he isn't picking up a fight out of malice but rather just instinct like, he can't understand shit that is going on

YOU ARE SO RIGHT BAKI IT ISN'T BORING FOR ME EITHER

Chapter 34

Don't you fucking dare shave him Itagaki

It's funny how it took 2 books and a half for Baki to start being a protagonist

Holy fuck did Baki add height or is Miyamoto that big?

Wow how perfect i ran out of space just now!! Having fun with this book ngl :]

[funkymeihem-fiction]

He Don’t Mean It- Chapter 7

The back of his hand slammed into the tabletop with such force that the whole metal table rattled, and he groaned and rubbed at his sore arm. The first round he had won by her slipped elbow, but she had put up more than a worthy fight after that. She won the next two, lost the fourth, won the fifth, and by that time he had forgotten if he had upped the bet or not, and whether or not he had to accept her help or she had to kiss his rings.

Zarya was certainly…different. She’d always seemed so somber and responsible on the field, but that had been the only times he had ever truly paid much attention to her. During competitions, even little ones like arm-wrestling, it turned out she was a vivacious and enthusiastic braggart, and loud enough to rival Junkrat himself. Wiping away the sweat on her forehead, she sat back, and rolled her arm, still smirking and ready for another.

“Will nobody else challenge Zaryanova! Must I bring Doomfist himself to the arena!” She raised both arms and cupped a hand around one ear as if she could hear a cheering crowd yell back at her.

“…Only lost the most important one,” Roadhog pointed out, snorting a laugh at the dirty look he received in reply.

“Eh! You are the one who extended the bet. Although…Wait, how long have we been doing this?” She was brought back to reality, glancing to the door again. “I thought they would be here by now. I am sorry, my friend, but we cannot wait any longer. The Junkman and Mei are still unaccounted for and hurt, we cannot ignore that. Up. Up.”

He lifted one scarred brow at the words ‘my friend’, but merely nodded slowly. “Mm…”

She stood, and he watched her head for the communicator panel by the door. She was right. They didn’t know the extent of Junkrat and Mei’s injuries, and that had been at least an hour ago. He liked to think the two were probably off arguing or…doing other things…as they often did. But there was always a very high possibility of Junkrat laying injured in a ditch somewhere, at any given point in time. And Mei…She hadn’t deserved this. But, a lot of things seemed to happen to her that she never really deserved. Junkrat too, the idiot. And the way Zarya spoke, probably her as well. Didn’t really deserve their misfortunes, any of them.

Unlike him, who deserved everything he got.

She paused very suddenly, her hand just above the control panel for the door. Turning back to him, she shook her head. “Oh. I almost forgot. We did not speak of the prizes.”

“The prizes?” He had almost forgotten them completely.

He’d won the first round and most important one, but had kept the bet going after that. He wasn’t entirely sure where they had ended up, but at some point he’d been on the losing side a few times in a row, and likely had lost the third out of five…Which would end with him allowing her to ‘help’ him get back into Overwatch’s good damn graces again, even if it was mostly because she wanted it more than he did.

He doubted that only a few of them really gave a shit as far as Junkrat’s health, or his own. But he’d hurt Mei. Of all people on the base, he’d hurt one of the smallest and most beloved, because of course he would. He still wasn’t entirely sure why the Russian was bothering…She could likely get a lighter punishment just by staying out of things and being the good soldier she was supposed to be.

The pink of her hair was flecked with little speckles of reddish-brown as she tilted her head. “The prizes. I did not forget. We will…exchange winning bets, yes?”

He remembered her words keenly. ‘ If you win, I will kiss your ring, your boots, and whatever is beneath that pig mask,’ she had said. If she had been anyone else, he might have really taken her to task for it. Her overconfidence and boastful nature had driven her to promise all those things to him, after all. He had never much considered himself a gentleman, even before he was Roadhog, but likely it would just be better for them to both to just demand the first part of their bet, just the bit with the rings-

“Which part do you want first?” Zarya said impatiently.

“…Hm?” He turned his massive head to her, blinking behind his lenses.

“I remember our bet,” she replied, folding her massive arms and pulling down her blood-spattered track suit sleeves. “I am holding you to your end, you must hold me to mine. Which do you want first?”

That was surprising, to be sure. For a moment, even he wasn’t sure how to answer. Finally he shook his immense head, waving her off. “Hmmm…Don’t wanna kiss these boots. Not where they’ve been.”

She shrugged. “The rings, then?”

“…The rings, yeah…Grrrngh…” He rumbled, feeling strangely…uncomfortable? He was often uncomfortable, yes, but not in this particular way. He never put himself into situations that would ever result in him feeling this way. Those green eyes were staring at him in a very expectant sort of way that he hadn’t seen in…how many years had it been?

Awkward. That was the word. When was the last time he’d felt this awkward? He didn’t want to think about that right now.

“Uhr…Hmm…” He was unsure why he felt this way, seeing as he was the one who had decided on that particular prize in the first place.

She looked a little smug at his sudden hesitation, even rolling her eyes a little before gesturing to his enormous hands. “Put them on, then.”

Something inside him rankled a bit. Nobody truly ordered Roadhog to do anything he did not wish to do. Even Junkrat, who was technically his employer and tried in vain to be ‘the boss’ persona inside his addled head, had never truly been the one in charge. If Roadhog wished to do something, he did it on his own terms. So why was he reaching over the table, gathering up the golden rings in one palm and sorting through them, before swiftly slipping them back into place around his fingers? They covered the tan lines and pale bands across dark flesh that had been long scorched by the sun, the clinking of metal and gold paint clacking against one another giving him a curious sense of comfort and familiarity. It felt right to have them back on.

What did not feel right was the way her hand was suddenly upon his, taking his immense fist into her grip and starting to rise it to her waiting lips.

Shit. No, that wasn’t supposed to be happening, was it? Behind the protective blank glass of his lenses, his eyes widened slowly. Her lips, painted a lighter shade of magenta pink, slowly lowered and pursed, and he watched as silently as ever as their softness was pressed flat to the embossed golden surface of the L. They stayed there for just a moment, before peeling up and away. Then they moved downward once more, to the E. Tilting his fist in her much smaller grip, the F and the T soon followed, their golden surfaces marred by the scattered patterns of pink. Such a pretty mouth against his jewelry, and for once it didn’t involve flying teeth or crunching bone.

L. E. F. T. The rings were done, and he sat there like a big fat fucking idiot as she suddenly chuckled and then abruptly pitched his fist back at him. He looked down at the rings in a very stupid way, muttering something or other about ‘that being done’, and then looked back at her, clearly expecting her to open the door and get on with it.

No go. She was just staring at him in that expectant manner again. “If not the boots, then the rest of it? I do not back down from my bets.”

She was serious, then. Well, best to get on with it. It might have been…a while…and perhaps she really was just doing this for that silly wager she’d made in the heat of the moment, although there was a very light flush to her cheeks that hadn’t been there before. Fear? No, not fear. Desire? Surely not. Embarrassment? Probably embarrassment. Maybe. Although that did not explain why she had stepped forward and gotten very close to him all of a sudden.

Only Junkrat had seen what lay beneath the swinish veneer he always wore, and even then he often forgot and had been surprised all over again when Roadhog removed his mask. Even Dr. Ziegler had not been able to get him to relinquish it, though she had fervently tried, and had remarked more than once on his complete lack of hesitation on removing his pants compared to removing his pig mask. But none of them understood its meaning. How could they? And Zarya was just another of them.

He held up one thick finger. “Wait.”

“You do not want-?”

“Fine. But. No looking,” he said, gesturing to his face. He saw her about to roll her eyes and protest, but cut her off before she could do so, yet again. “No.”

“Then how will I know where to-”

He lifted up from his slouched posture, rearing over her. He could tell she was not used to such things. Zarya was a large woman in almost all aspects, and clearly used to being the one doing the looming. But she held her ground, merely looking up at him with her jaw set in determination. Fine. If this was how she wished to play things, he could play along…to a certain point.

“My win, my terms,” he said, in a low tone which barred any more nonsense on the matter.

“…Very well, Mako Rutledge,” she said evenly, her gaze unmoving.

He narrowed his eyes a little behind the mask, but nodded. With both hands, he reached up and slowly undid the latches, clicking one by one until he felt them give, holding the mask in place. She looked on, unflinching and waiting.

He leaned forward slowly, lifting one huge hand as his calloused palm settled over her face, thick fingers curling to cover her eyes. He didn’t have as much feeling in his hands as he used to, more accustomed to having bruised knuckles and dried blood under his nails… but he could swear he felt a wetness there. Or perhaps it was merely his imagination. But she didn’t need to see his face and he couldn’t stand to see those eyes of hers, as he slowly brought up his other hand to push up the bottom of his mask, peeling away the swinish veneer just enough to free his mouth, holding it up above his lips and blocking his own vision. The comforting presence of the mask’s gas filters gave way to the burn of real air and the smell of her, and he kept her eyes covered as he brought his scarred lips to brush against hers in a rusty and ill-practiced kiss that would have shamed his younger self.

She tasted like anger, pain, and cheap lip gloss that didn’t resemble any real fruit he knew of. And she was eerily silent, barely breathing as her posture remained tense. That was no good, and he knew he could do better. When he kissed her again, her lips pressed back against him. So he tried again, and he should have ended it there. But as with so many other foolish decisions, he did the exact opposite of what he should have done.

Her mouth opened and he took the invitation, pushing his tongue forward and finding hers. Her mouth was sweet and more than a little bitter, overpowering the taste of the the stale hogdrogen from his mask. Whatever he might have tasted like to her, she didn’t seem to mind. At all. When he felt the scrape of nails against his chest, he realized she was trying to pull herself on top of him in a very different way than before.

He swallowed. Hard.

Wasn’t the first time he’d had people throw themselves at him, both men and women. But usually theirs was an act of desperation or sabotage or some misguided notion that they might endear themselves for his protection. When he’d been younger, he’d taken a few of them up on it before tossing them aside, after being done with them. But this was one woman he couldn’t simply toss aside, especially after she’d physically tossed him earlier.

She sat astride his lap, leaning on the curve of his wide belly, pressing in with both massively strong legs on either side of him. She kissed him again and he started to bring both hands up towards her face as he shifted uncomfortably beneath her. The armored belt he wore, with the license plate grill and buckle at the front of his trousers, suddenly felt very tight and restricting. Especially with the way those legs, stronger than iron shackles, kept him in place as she started to very subtly grind against him. Safe to say that he felt stirrings of a sort that he had not felt so strongly in a long, long time.

Maybe just a little bit would be all right. Something quick and without passion, before they went on with business as usual? How long had it been? Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad if he had a little fun. It had been such a long time, after all. If he did this. If he did this… would it feel anything like her?

Mako, take care of yourself out there.

…

That’s what she had said.

But this wasn’t her. And Mako was dead. Everyone was dead and he had killed them. And here he was, kissing a woman nearly twenty years his junior and entertaining some foolish notion that it would be anything like the old days. There were no old days. Not anymore. This had been a bad idea, just one more bad idea to add to all the other bad ideas he’d ever inflicted on the world. The old Mako was gone, and only Roadhog was left. And Roadhog cared nothing for this.

He pulled his lips away and tried to ignore the way her face moved to follow his, as hungry and touch-starved as they both were. He started to sit up, and loosened his grip until he let her go altogether. Her grasp on his vest faltered, and she slid down from him in a clear mixture of resignation and disappointment. She sat up quickly, cheeks rosy and embarrassed and almost the same shade as her hair, as she smoothed her locks back to have something else to do with her hands.

“Ah. Sorry,” she said. “It was my mistake.”

“Hrmm…”

“Извини, что я нагрубил… Sorry, I should not have done that. We shouldn’t… Da, it was nothing,” she said more assuredly, still refusing to look at him.

“Wait,” the junker said quickly, lifting a hand. “It’s not that. It’s not you. It’s…” He trailed off when he realized there was nothing he could really say.

Zarya laughed bitterly. “You just used ‘It’s not you, it’s me’ line on me, Mako Rutledge?”

She had him there, and he withdrew with a low sigh. “...Yeah.”

“It is fine. Strange night, everyone acting crazy. Even me, kissing a pig mask man... Acting crazy, that is all.” She buried her face in both hands, rubbing them down her tired features and grasping her chin as she looked at the TV. It had gone into standby mode long ago and she hadn’t even noticed. “Put on that funny show, please. Give me a minute. Then we can go.”

“Ghhm,” he grunted, glancing around for the remote. “Listen, it’s not-”

“You are right, it is not anything. I agree, it is nothing,” she said, a little more harshly. “No sorries needed. None of my business, just like before. You were in a bad place, I should not have done anything. I was just acting crazy, it is a bad night, got carried away. Always. I get too carried away, I kiss too hard, I start to go too crazy, come on too strong or I say what I do not mean, it is too much, and then they leave. You are not the first, think nothing of it. Put on the show, please.”

“Wasn’t bad,” he said, and cringed inwardly at how lame and weak it sounded, how patronizing. “Wasn’t bad. Just…can’t. Now.”

She still wasn’t really looking at him, or the blank-screened television. She didn’t seem to be looking at anything, gaze far away and a little downcast behind her ink-darkened eyelashes. She muttered something in Russian that he couldn’t really hear nor understand. Frustration, perhaps. It didn’t even sound like she was angry at him in particular so much as something else…herself, maybe.

He knew what that was like.

“You don’t have to tell ‘em,” he suggested.

“Tell them?”

“About that. Any of that. You don’t have to tell them anything.”

“Hmph. Maybe. Maybe not. It was just a kiss, part of the bet. Besides, what good is there in keeping secrets now? Maybe I’m tired of secrets, Mako Rutledge.” She fumbled with the sleeve of her track jacket, looking down with some dismay where she found several popped threads and a tear from their wrestling earlier. “It was foolish, to make you do that. To make those wagers. Apologies for that.”

“Didn’t make me,” he admitted. Which was true enough. Some part of him had wanted to. Definitely wanted to, and just couldn’t.

“You do not have to tell them about it either, you do not have to come with me. I will go.”

“The hell’s that?” he grumbled. “I don’t back down from my bets. You don’t, either. You held up your end.” He slowly tilted his masked head at her. An unexpected turn of events, to be sure. She was at least being honest about this being a very strange night. He lifted one enormous hand, hovering over her tattooed shoulder for a moment before finally coming down. “…Still gonna go with you.”

It wasn’t really an honor thing. Honor didn’t matter much in the Outback at the end of the day, and he left such things to the people who cared more about it, like the German and his squire. But they’d made their bets and she’d been good for it, and she’d even manage to best him a few times. He could still taste the sour cherry-like flavor on his scarred lips from her loss, was only fair and square to take his part of the loss as well. Besides…it unnerved him to see her so frazzled and vulnerable, best thing to do was fix his part in it. Might be the only decent thing he’d done in a long time.

She had her own problems. Apparently this wasn’t the first time she’d come on to someone like a goddamn charging bull, just like she’d said. And with very bad timing. Likely she was wrestling with her own proverbial demons, whatever they were. Zaryanova was strong, there was no doubting that. But he was strong too. He knew what it was like to be strong, but just never strong enough. Strong enough to snap the bones of all the little ones gathered around them, but just not strong enough to keep them safe. Going through life from one challenge to the next, with so many of them ending in failure or tragedy, because they just didn’t have enough strength when it truly mattered.

Perhaps this was a recurring issue with her, pursuing other strong people that she should not have pursued. Maybe in some misguided notion that they would be strong enough to handle her, and finally be able to scratch the itch she couldn’t reach herself. She was still young, after all, even if war had made her older in some ways. It did that to people, left them lingering in some weird in-between place, a dark place that he’d been in since he was around the same age.

She glanced to his hand, but then looked away again, still frowning.

He usually liked the quiet, but for once, he had the overwhelming urge to fill it with words. To tell her that it was no idiotic placation, that it really was not her. It was just…him.

She still wouldn’t look at him.

“Her eyes were green too,” he finally said. In the ensuing silence, he added a low, “But no scar.”

“…What?”

“Hmmm…My…” He trailed off again. Didn’t wanna have to say it.

She blinked several times when she realized what his unspoken words were, clearly having not expected such candid honesty from the mercenary, especially not so suddenly. Several expressions crossed her face all at once, all jumbled together; understanding, anger, sadness, resentment, embarrassment… but then settled on a kind of tired resignation. It was an expression that perhaps seemed a bit overly familiar on her features, even if few others ever saw it on her.

With that look still on her face, she approached him again, and for a moment he worried that she might try to kiss him again. He wasn’t sure what he would do if she did. Not a second time. But he did not have to worry, when instead she put both arms around his thick neck and embraced him. Bowing her forehead until he could feel the rough patch of scar tissue against his collarbone, she simply rested there against him in silence for a while before mumbling one low, soft phrase.

“I am sorry.”

Couldn’t be entirely sure what she meant; whether she was sorry for coming on too strong, or sorry about his wife, or the color of her eyes, or what she had done, or a billion other things. He had a strong feeling that it could be encompassed by ‘everything’. Sorry for everything. Still processing that, he just stood there, still unused to contact that didn’t involve bloodshed. The grinding of his mask filters was the only sound, until he finally responded with the same affirmative rumble he used for most everything.

“…Mmmm.”

One massive arm lifted up to place itself on her back, holding it there. He was glad she didn’t start crying or arguing or asking him questions about her. She didn’t need to know about his wife, or their daughter, the mask, or anything else. And thank fuck she didn’t try to comfort him on the matter, like Mei or the others might have done. She also didn’t launch into anything he didn’t need to know; what she had done, the hardships she had endured as well, who she had killed… She said absolutely nothing at all, and that was much better. This, he could handle, just standing there with his hand on her back and her arms around his neck and saying nothing to each other.

Her grip loosened and she slid just a step back from him, hands still on his shoulders as his masked face tilted down at her.

She offered him a half-hearted, still sad smile, and he could see where the pink paint had come off most of her lips. “Come, my friend, we still need t-”

There was an abrupt whooshing noise as the front door slid open, and Junkrat was standing there on the front stoop.

“Oi! Roadie! Y’won’t bloody believe it, mate, she won’t e…ven…talk…”

His words faded away as his good eye glinted radiant gold and widened, and the other one could be seen trying to do the same, stopped only by being surrounded by dark blue swollen flesh squeezing it shut. His gaze darted from his bodyguard, to the Russian woman he was currently holding to him in what looked to be a lover’s embrace. To make it worse, Zarya stepped away from him in a very panicked way, straightening her posture and uttering a little formal coughing sound. Roadhog was left to stand there, his arm dropping away from her back, and looking very, very guilty.

For a moment he just stared, before Junkrat twitched very strangely, eye ticcing as his lips pulled back to reveal sharp bared teeth, still missing his gold one. Even through the swelling bruises, his expression contorted from surprise to rage. Lifting one hand, he pointed at them, jabbing his index finger like he wanted to stab them both with it.

“ARE YOU FUCKIN’ KIDDING ME?!”

***

“YA DRONGO! YA DIPSHIT! YA ABSOLUTE FUCKING CUNT!”

“Rat…” Roadhog warned.

“CAUGHT YA IN THE ACT!” Junkrat surged forward, eyes still blazing as he stretched up to his full height and went to face Roadhog head on, grabbing onto his vest and slamming his already bruised forehead into the pig mask so he could stare right into the lenses, even though Hog knew he couldn’t see through them. The boy’s voice rose to a screech, pitch going up and down at random and making him sound even more deranged than usual. “You beat the piss outta me, mate! Again! And who gives a shit about that, but you hurt my Mei! Was this all part of your plan?!” He jammed his good eye against the glass. “You were just mad, weren’t ya! Mad cause I had a girl and you didn’t! Caught ya in the act, I did! S’not fair! I leave you alone for five fuckin’ minutes and you go and seduce the big Russian dill while I’m bowing and scrapin’ to mine, and she won’t even talk to me!” Rat turned on Zarya next, bellowing at her as well. “SHE WON’T EVEN TALK TO ME!”

“Rat,” Roadhog said, a little more firmly but not moving to push him off. “No.”

Zarya frowned severely, folding her arms. “Where is Mei? She is not with you? Is she all right?”

“I wouldn’t fucking know, would I?” Junkrat snarled, peeling himself off of Roadhog’s chest and turning on the woman with no small amount of ferocity. “She won’t come out of her room, won’t even talk to me. Tried everything, I did, I did all the things y’said! Tried to be nice, and groveled and begged and apologized, and even-”

He froze suddenly, eyes narrowing at her as he took a step forward, as Zarya tensed up and brought one arm up in clear defense, leaning away from him.

“Y’gave me bad advice just t’fuck with me, didn’t you?!”

She glared back. “What? I did no such th-”

“Didn’t like that I was rooting your little pal, s’that it? Jealousy, that’s the rub! Or maybe you was just trying to get me out of here, so you could put th’ moves on my best mate!” He jabbed a finger at her again, and snarled a little when she brusquely slapped it away from her.

“Do not touch me, junk man!”

Roadhog uttered a grinding sigh as he stepped forward. “Zarya, don’t…”

“Oh-ho-ho! First name basis now, is it!” He turned on Hog once more. “S’clear now! You’re in cahoots! You planned this together!”

“Do you ever listen to yourself, Junkrat?” Zarya asked with a clearly frustrated snort.

“Of fuckin’ course I listen to myself! Nobody else listens to me!”

The calm mood from earlier had been thoroughly ruined with all the screeching, and the pounding in Roadhog’s head had returned. Dealing with Junkrat was already difficult enough when his mood was like this, and now the younger junker was in a rare form of crisis mode. Although there might have been very good reasons for that, especially with Mei going into hiding to get away from him…from both of them. Hog was the cause of this, yet again. Doing a pretty shite job as a bodyguard, really.

With a low rumble, Roadhog reached into his pocket, pulling out Junkrat’s lost gold tooth. Pinching it delicately by the root, brushing away the dust and a chunk of pink gum still attached to it, he offered it out to his cohort. Junkrat’s wild gaze flickered from between his mask and his missing tooth, and when he bared his teeth at him, there was a black gap where the missing fang ought to have gone. With a violent swing, the younger junker knocked the tooth away, sending it bouncing with humorous little plinking noises across the cement floor, finally rolling to a stop near an abandoned engine block.

Hog watched it go, slowly lowering his massive hand back to his side.

Junkrat backed away from him, shaking his head. Even worse than the half-feral look in his eyes, something much more human and stricken bubbled underneath his surface, only kept at bay by his addled brain’s inability to form a cohesive thought of anything. His voice was choked with a mix of sorrow and anger. Mostly anger. “…Y’fucked me up somethin’ good this time, mate…”

Hog nodded. “Yeah…”

Neither of them said anything more for a few moments.

Zarya lifted both hands in a placating motion. “Listen, Junkrat, calm down. We must calm down. We can still fix it. We will go find Mei, and go tell them about-”

“What’s this ‘we’ stuff? Who’s gonna go find Mei! Who gives a shit about Mei!” Junkrat snapped at her before she could finish, though his own words sounded like they caused him pain to say. Trilling a whine through his broken teeth, he seized at his hair and pulled, stomping in the other direction. “Who gives a shit about any of ya!”

“Rat.”

“No! Fuck! Fuck you, Roadhog! The deal’s off, by the by! Was gonna give you a tidy 50% share, no foolin’. That’s a king’s ransom, that was. But I’m takin’ it back, and even then it ain’t gonna do shit to pay for what you done! Stay here with your new lady pal, and you know what, you can have my old lady pal while you’re at it.” He kicked open the door to his room, vanishing inside. There was a loud series of crashes and bangs, followed by cursing, from within.

Zarya gave Roadhog a rather helpless and awkward look, wincing very slightly at every new noise emanating from Junkrat’s den. “What…is he doing…?”

Roadhog shook his head and waited.

A few minutes later, Junkrat re-appeared, with a heavy leather duffel bag slung over one shoulder. Hugging it to his side, he sidled along the far wall and eyed the garage’s two other inhabitants with seething, wary hatred. Roadhog looked again, and saw what it was. Rat always kept an emergency on-the-lam bag ready to go, wherever they went. When they were on the run from the law together, they’d had to rely on those supplies more than once. Only this time, his employer was only holding enough for one.

“Rat, don’t,” Hog said again.

Junkrat ignored him and passed right on by, limping rapidly for the door and slamming it open with one palm. It hissed open, a light gray on the horizon promising the first light of false dawn. He turned on his peg, fixing his once-partner with that piercing yellow stare, which turned all the darker when Zarya reached out an arm as if to comfort his erstwhile ‘protector’. Growling softly, he stood in the entry.

“Ya know somethin’, Roadie. I know it ain’t your fault,” he said, voice still strained. “Know ya don’t mean it.”

Roadhog just seemed to stand there, and Zarya was the one to try to stop him again. “Junkman. Junkrat. Do not do this. Your friend here, he is staying, Mei is staying, you should stay with them. There is still time-”

“Just ‘cos he don’t mean it…he still did it. S’all fucked up now, ain’t it? S’all gone. Blown all to hell, and for once I didn’t set the charges.” His lanky shoulders slumped for a moment, then he straightened back up with fierce conviction. “Well, nothin’ left for a bloke here! I’m off!”

Lifting his metal hand, his middle digit flashed at them both, before he shouldered his bag and left. The door slammed shut behind him.

***

“What now! Can he just leave? He cannot just leave!” Zarya motioned frantically to the doorway yet again. “Go after him! Do you want me to drag him back! I will go get him!”

Roadhog shook his head. Going after him would be a fool’s errand and he knew it. They were both too large and too slow. Junkrat was not an easy rodent to catch even at the best of times, much less now. Besides…couldn’t really blame him for leaving. Not really.

“We will put the base in lockdown so he cannot go,” the Russian was saying, apparently not understanding. “I have to go find Mei and see if she is all right. Where is your communicator? I will call the gorilla and the medics. We cannot wait anymore.”

Hog still just stood there, seemingly frozen.

Zarya’s frantic words were instead interrupted by a knock at the door. Her expression fell into one of visible relief, striding over and pressing the controls to open it. “Rat Man! Good, you are…Oh. Oh no.”

Her faltering words made Roadhog look over, and he saw why. It was not Junkrat standing on the stoop, but the much smaller and somehow more imposing form of Ana Amari. Lifting her chin slightly, the former Captain took a step inside, her single eye roving about the little room. Everything was still a mess, with overturned furniture, strewn tools and garbage, and blood splatters all over the floor. And of course, her gaze was immediately drawn to the glint of the tooth on the floor.

Zarya took a step away, straightening back into her guilty military composure and staring straight ahead. “…Captain Amari. Um.”

The old medic tutted softly, stepping over a puddle of red on the ground as she looked between the two. With a smile that didn’t entirely reach her eye, she folded her arms behind her and cleared her throat.

“So,” she said, in that gentle and grandmotherly tone that nobody in their right mind would ever dare challenge, “…Who would like to start explaining first?”

[ursapharoh05]

Redemption (Erik Killmonger)

This is the fourth and final part of my Dadmonger series. It took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to do with this and where I wanted it to go. I hope you like it, I could use some inspiration so hit me up with asks or anything, I’m even down with doing sleepover saturdays now that schools out. Tell me what you think. Thanks for sticking with me

A trial, years and years of therapy, ancestry, and teaching and it all came down to was a single day and a panel of elders judging her fathers deeds. She’d been summoned some week before as N’Jadaka’s last request. Her uncle, a title the hesitant and bashful king had used to introduce himself, had tracked and her down to present back to his cousin and now she was in Wakanda.

She’d been told the stories when she had arrived, servant girls were quick to exchange tales of America for stories of the Tyrant prince that ruled for two days and now was being integrated into their society. She’d engaged in teenage giggling and gossiping, ate the snacks that they had brought and waved from her door as they’d left. It had been a foreign but enjoyable interaction to learn more about what she had missed. She still wasn’t sure why she was there.

Upon her arrival she’d ran all over the palace,soaked in as much beauty and art, and architecture as possible. She walked until she was hopelessly lost and out of breath and her beat up sneakers made her feet throb. She knew her assigned Dora had kept up with her easily and eyed her oddly but she couldn’t bring herself to care. She found a garden, kicked off her shoes and socks and had slept on the grass long passed the sunset and nearly passed her first dinner with the royal family. She’d flinched when it was the King to wake her up and had to scrub tears from her eyes when she realized this was real.

But now, it had been a week and she had grown weary of the grandeur of this utopia. She was a marvel to this place as much as this place was a marvel to her. Being an oddity loses its charms rather quickly.

She was prepared for the cautionary tales of her father, it was expected, failure breeds learning experience. She was not prepared for the complete contempt for her father and of her, the way their whispers twisted to snap out at her, a failure,ruined American half breed, proof of the worlds failures, just another bastard heir that the King had collected, they didn’t call her by her name or even her birthright Wakandan title. They forgot to ask if she spoke their language, she kept it to herself, after all she’d been called worse than ‘the plague of the Jaguar’.

The morning the King came for her, she knew it was for something other than his usual invitation to join him for some aspect of his daily routine. Which is a shame because she does like being with him.

One of her favorite things since her arrival in Wakanda was the kings friendship, though she made him work for it. The King’s eyes were just that shade lighter than her fathers, more golden, less worldly, good for expressing emotions other than rage and hurt. She sees his lips move, knows this is important, that he’s trying to bond with her for whatever reason and stands to follow him out when he bids her to.

The King keeps his stride even and he summons an easy smile “If you would like, after your meeting you could accompany me to the Jabari tribe, or we could practice your Xhosa and go to the market” She shrugs. The King instead stops them walking and places a hand on her shoulder “You will not be there any longer than you wish, little cub. Your father asked for you during his healing process, and throughout much of his rehabilitation. I am sorry we could not come for you except as a last request before his trial”

The beast inside of her tears apart her stomach with nerves, growling out hurt and fear. Her hands shake as she shoves them into her pockets “You sure you got the right guy? Daddy isn’t one to ask, he just...”

“Takes” The King fills in with a sad smile as she tries to shrug “I have learned much from my cousin in his time here, it is why I work so hard to right the wrongs befallen the lost—“

She chuckles then, “Forgive me, your majesty. Our losses in America are different to the losses of Wakanda. I lost a past, I wander along the unknown of a heritage I wasn’t raised in, and I’m not invited back to. You” she glances at him before looking to the large vibranium door “ are suffering through knowing you let your brothers and sisters be dragged away to hell in the name of your own preservation, your future is at a loss because you are unsure where you belong in a world that does not treat you how you deserve, but as a tool.”

She’s overstepped, she can tell by the way the Kings inviting smile wanes slightly, she’s ruined another moment because she can’t tell a challenge from a simple reassurance. She wants to apologize, honesty without tact is just cruelty and she has no use for cruelty anymore.

She’s too late though as the hand on her shoulder squeezes softly and he motions to the guards on either side of the large Vibranium door.  She is pulled into a tight hug by the King as he murmurs “I will wait for you here, I will give you your heritage back, and you can guide us in this dangerous world, eh?” She can’t remember a time someones held her after she’s thrown something so blatantly into their face, she clutches onto him before entering the room.

It...is not a prison cell as she had imagined, no bars or dirt floors. It looks very much like a well lived in apartment, homey American style highlighted with Wakandan decor.  The mantle is covered in pictures, daddy and the King, daddy with the princess, daddy and...a woman. She feels like she’s entered into a strangers home, and her childhood apartment all at the same time.

Soaking in the photographs she turns at the sound of a deep clearing throat, takes in the man in deep blue royal attire grinning with the golden fangs. She doesn’t move “Should I call you Daddy, Erik, or Prince N’Jadaka?”

“Daddy, sounds good to me, c’mere lil girl, let me see you” he moves forward, takes her hand and spins her around before she can protest “Surprised you didn’t let them dress you up right, look attchu, slummin’ it”

She huffs a laugh looking at her worn jeans, and filthy high tops, her accompanying Dora isn’t so amused “I’m workin’ with what I got, not everybody workin’ as the newest royal advisor.” She hugs him tight “You look...” alive, unrepentant, happy without me “So good.”

Erik moves away from her after a firm slap on the back “Eh, you know how I do. Take a seat, tell me what you’ve done with your time” she does, although it’s less personal than her talks with the king and sounds rehearsed even to her own ears. She tells him about all he’s missed, about his other children, about her school, about how she’s applied her lessons.

She shows him the bracelet of scars on her wrist and watches his face turn from polite interest to stone as she explains “The big one was for you, this ones for mama, and cousin Emmit and Trevon. These are for some of the—the other kids you got. There’s four in all, three boys and another girl, I got letters back in my bag from them, pictures too if ya wanna—“

He reaches out and rubs a finger over each mark almost reverently “Oh, girly. Whatchu done.”

She shrinks for a moment before standing her ground “They aren’t dead if that’s whatchu think. These are people I care about, not people I hurt. It’s good”

Erik pulls away, ignoring her defensive tone “I want you to see sumthin’ “ he moves to lead then to a door off to the side. she  follows him around the lavish apartment as he walks them to a room, gives two loud knocks summoning the woman from the photos. The woman’s hair is wrapped, exhausted bags under her eyes. She’s beautiful, strong, and holding a sleeping infant.

Her smile is bright as the sun as she meets Erik’s eyes “Shhhhh, silly man, I just now get your child to sleep and here you are stomping about. Have you finished your meeting?”

He leans in and kisses her softly, like she’s his whole world before pulling her and the infant tight into his arms. He looks down at his first daughter, motioning her closer to look at the sleeping baby. He whispers in adoration “You wanna see the future Lil girl? A black baby raised right. Gonna know of the hardships of the American Nigga and the power and pride of Wakandan royalty. This lil shits gonna change the whole world.”

The woman frowns “N’Jadaka, you mustn’t speak like that, you’ll scare the poor girl away. My husband is a visionary, we are looking first for a nanny, not a revolutionary.  We can give you a place to live with us, and an allowance. You’ll be taking care of our child while I and Prince N’Jadaka are working with the King to help America. Will you accept?”

She recoils from the sight of such a perfect family “But, But what about the trial I thought—“ her voice breaks as her eyes stay on the sleeping bundle, the curly hair, and the little fists.

“Nah, more like a ‘welcome to society’ party, I jus’ needed a way to get you here.” All the air in the room seems to be avoiding her lungs, she wasn’t brought here as anything more than a glorified babysitter and it’s very clear that he meant it that way “I was tellin’ my better half, that our kid needs some perspective. Who’s better to have perspective than someone who’s lived it, besides, Ain’t nobody I trust more.” She wonders if the grin is meant to be reassuring and prideful. It’s not.

She finds her head shaking back and forth, and a laugh bubbling out of her mouth “I—I think I hate you” she gasps for breath around  giggles “I really hate you, I’m glad the others never met you. I’m glad I saw this, I’m done with this weak shit.” She turns to the woman with a predators grin“You better run and take the kid with you. If you need anything, ever, find me.”  She turns to leave, the beast still restrained.

Erik catches her arm and frowns “Where you goin’ lil girl? This is the place to be, Imma change the world from this spot right here. You mine,and I want you here.”

She growls, looking for a fight, praying for one. Shaking her head and ripping her arm free she starts to back him up “Nah, you different. You changed for them, you ain’t my daddy, not anymore.” She sniffs and lets her defenses go up, she strides back for the exit “Congrats on the kid, Prince N’Jadaka. Wakanda fits you.” She takes a deep breath  ”Let’s go, Dora, I’m ready.”

Her Dora is waiting at the door for her, spear in hand as N’Jadaka follows closely behind “Im doing this for you, this is gonna change things, it’s bigger than just a few centers and programs—“ he reaches for her again as she crosses the threshold.

She stops just outside as the two crossed spears stop him short from leaving the room, the beasts roar soaks her words as she bears her teeth in a wicked grin, fingernails digging into her palms like claws “what did you think was gonna happen to us? Huh?! You think if you can’t bring Wakanda to us, you gonna bring us to Wakanda, bitch, where?! I’m goin’ home, and I’m gonna work and claw and fight my way until I got the power to cause the change you couldn’t and then I’m going to shove it down your throat and up my enemies asses! Like you taught me! I’ll burn before I let you or anyone else dictate where I belong! I’d kill you for leaving us to die there, for leaving us to our chains. But it looks like you sitting pretty in chains gold right here.”

She doesn’t stay in Wakanda for the trial that night. She ignores the pleas of the King to stay, and the constant messengers from the Prince. Instead she goes home, gets some sleep, and gets to work on the plans for her new world.