#This whole ai stuff is just a whole mess if I can’t look something upon google images

[yamchabrobtw]

Update. Not exactly proud of the hair being so bright. But I’m imagining the light is so bright it makes the helmet hair more intense. More pink instead of red? I’m not sure. When I don’t have references for what I’m drawing, I just make stuff up.

[ryosei-hime]

Sex and Therapy: The Life Reaffirmation

Fizz and Concord have some quality time together to reaffirm life after their ordeal. This is probably the longest it's taken me to write a chapter. Partially due to some life stuff, family stuff, medical stuff. But for some reason it also proved a bit difficult to manage all the different emotions going on all at once. There's still parts I feel I could have spent more time on but at this point, I decided it was better to just get it out. There is some life reaffirming sex in here. : P Also available on AO3.

Concord buzzed with impatience as he waited in the living room with Lannah, leg bouncing. He hunched forward, holding himself. He would surely spill upon the floor like the mess he’d become if he didn’t. Cog hadn’t told him how long this would take and every tick of the clock killed him a little more. Lannah tried to fill the anxious silence, but Concord couldn’t focus on her words. He just nodded and made little noises where it felt appropriate. Lannah never caught on or if she did, she chose not to call him out on it. 

He tortured himself with thoughts of what-if. What if Fizz reset? How would he nurture and care for a whole new version of Fizz while still mourning him? Would he still be Fizz if he did? Did someone lose who they were when they suffered amnesia? How was this different for an AI? And what if he didn’t survive at all? Scenarios raced across his mind and jumbled together. It made him dizzy and sick to his stomach.

When Cog finally emerged, he jumped up in surprise, hurrying forward. As she approached, Concord tried to rush by her, but a hard slap to his shoulder with the back of her hand made him stumble backwards. He shrank from her furious glare. Judgement that could put Heaven itself to shame burned into him like hot coals.

“What is wrong with you?!” Cog demanded as he cowered. “What did I tell you before I left? He deserved to know! He needed to be prepared for that to happen! He could have disappeared and never had a chance to say the things he needed to say! I know this has been hard for you, too, but you’re a therapist, Concord! You should know how to put your own shit aside when you have to!” 

“I’m a therapist, but I’m also a person,” Concord stated, eyes cast down. “I got scared and I made a mistake. I’m acutely aware of it, I promise you. Hit me again if it makes you feel better. But I can’t change it now.” 

Cog balled her fist up as if she might, and he tensed, but she relaxed it with a defeated sigh. He almost wished she would do it. A part of him needed someone to punish him for this. But she just stared off to the side, refusing to look at him.

“He’s out of danger now. Don’t call me unless something goes wrong. I’ll let you know when I’m ready to start working again.” 

Cog stormed by him and slammed the door on her way out. Lannah ran after her with a quick, apologetic glance in his direction. Concord could hear her calling out to Cog, trying to offer her a ride she didn’t want. He stood and listened until they’re voices disappeared down the hall.

Concord should have run to Fizz as soon as the door closed behind Lannah. He felt the pull to, but his hooves were rooted to the spot. Cog’s words weighed too heavily on his mind, the guilt settling into his chest like an anchor. It took Fizz calling out for him to move. Nothing could stop him answering that voice. He opened the door and stepped in with a cringe, expecting Fizz to take his turn at punishing him. 

Instead a hand touched his and he looked down as Fizz’s fingers closed around his own. His eyes followed Fizz’s arm all the way back to the bed where he waited, fully stripped and ready to go. It was so unexpected, Concord actually felt a little embarrassed for a moment. But Fizz just grinned .

“Guess what I can do now.” 

Concord let out a little laugh as Fizz started pulling him towards the bed. 

“Cog said you could?” 

“Mm hm.” 

“You sure?” 

“Would I lie?”

“You might.” 

“Fair,” Fizz assented as Concord reached the bed. “Want to call and check?” 

“No. I’ll trust you this time.”

Fizz’s fingers slid over his cheeks, cradling his face as he stared deep into his eyes. Concord could gaze into those bright eyes forever, like a moth to a flame, but such a lingering stare wasn’t normal for Fizz. Not without the accompaniment of his tongue exploring Concord’s mouth or the euphoria of afterglow, anyway. 

“Do you have the energy for this?” Concord asked gently. “We can sleep first.” 

“I’ve got all the energy I need now. I just wanted to look. Is that okay?” 

“I like it. You have beautiful eyes.”

“You, too, baby.”

Concord felt warmth creep up his cheeks. It felt almost like the first time again. Or maybe like the first time for the first time. So much weird nervous energy ran between them that hadn’t been there in the beginning. Fizz seemed as slow to make his move as Concord. 

“Do you need more sleep?” Fizz asked. 

“Mm mm. I want you.” 

Fizz’s hands released his face to grab him around the waist and pull him closer. Concord straddled his leg now, a knee up on the edge of the bed.

“How do you want me, my love?”

Concord let his hands rest on Fizz’s shoulders, smiling shyly as he slid his fingers around to grip his neck. He leaned in, touching his forehead to Fizz’s.

“Well, since we won’t be getting out of bed for days anyway, why don’t you just wreck me?”

Fizz grinned deviously. 

“Well, you are very cute. And that does make me want to wreck you.”

Concord let Fizz close the distance. His lips were soft at first, becoming hungry and demanding as his good arm wrapped around his waist. Concord released a soft sound of surprise as Fizz lifted him and rolled them over onto the bed before releasing him. With that little toss, the anchor in his chest had been flung free. He landed at Fizz’s side and laughed happily, grabbing his face and pulling it in for another kiss. 

Fizz’s fingers were cool and slick, sending a shiver down his spine as they ran up his back. Concord’s slipped around to his neck as he hooked a leg over Fizz’s hip. Fizz’s hands raced back down to grip Concord’s, pulling him closer, grinding against him. Concord moaned into the kiss, the feeling of his fingers digging into his hips reminding him of their first night together. 

Nervousness shot through him, ricocheting through his guts and between ribs. He stared into Fizz’s eyes again as their lips parted, losing himself in the glow. They smiled at one another for a moment longer than usual before Fizz rolled him over onto his back and positioned himself between his legs.

He lifted the hem of Concord’s shirt and he shifted so Fizz could pull it off. As he pulled it up over his head, he stopped halfway, leaving Concord trapped in a dark cotton prison. With an evil chuckle, Fizz descended on his stomach, blowing raspberries up and down his sides. Concord let out a surprised laugh and started kicking his legs but they just flailed uselessly around Fizz without hitting anything. 

“Stop!” he cried between peals of laughter. “Fizz, please! Mercy!” 

Fizz released the shirt sleeves, allowing Concord to pull it the rest of the way off, but he kept blowing raspberries into his stomach mercilessly. Concord grabbed one of his jester tails and pulled his head away as he sat up, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. 

“Stop,” he repeated, trying to catch his breath, a stray laugh escaping here and there. “Why?”

“I wanted to hear you laugh.” He stuck his tongue out and leaned in toward his face. 

“Next time try a joke,” he stated, pushing his face away. 

Concord’s amused tone softened the shove, only making Fizz chuckle again.

“But I like your surprised laugh best. It’s the cutest.” 

Concord blushed and Fizz pushed him back onto the bed, hands on his shoulders. There it was again. His heart beat like a bee in a jar, thumping erratically against his ribcage. His breath caught somewhere between his lungs and his throat. It felt like falling in love with him all over again. 

He tilted his head as Fizz began his usual conquest down his neck and across his shoulders. But every kiss and nip felt like fire, warm and sharp, burning a line straight down his chest and into his loins. His hands slid up Fizz’s arms as his breath finally escaped in soft gasps of pleasure, fingers stumbling over the kink in his broken arm. He ran a thumb over the injury gently, letting his hand rest there. 

“Own me,” he gasped out as Fizz bit down on his shoulder. “Make me yours.”

His teeth sunk in, piercing flesh. Concord gripped his arms, claws scratching against metal as he hissed in a breath and let out a moan. A sinister laugh dripped from Fizz’s mouth as he released Concord’s shoulder. 

Concord really wanted to be shown he belonged to Fizz, but he also wanted to give Fizz back some sense of control after all that had happened. They both needed this. Fizz tasted the pinpricks he’d left behind before sitting back to smirk down at him. He brushed his cheek gently before sliding off.

“On your knees.”

Concord kneeled with his back to Fizz as he tied his hands with the rope still floating around their sheets. Concord bit his lip as the rope tightened around his wrists. He waited for Fizz to push him down, but it didn’t come. His hands glided over his shoulders instead, fingers trailing down his arms delicately. He could almost feel the pressure of his gaze as it traveled over his body.

“Is something wrong?” 

“Just admiring my little plaything,” Fizz breathed against the back of his neck. 

Concord felt a shiver go down his spine. Satan, he never got tired of hearing that. He leaned forward, letting himself fall face first into a pillow. He turned his head to look over his shoulder and shook his ass, tail swishing back and forth. 

“Like what you see?”

“I don’t know,” Fizz replied with a chuckle. “I think I need to come in for a closer inspection.” 

Fizz’s fingers ran over his sides lightly before slipping around to cup ass. Concord watched his face as he made an appreciative sound, eyes following his own fingers as they roamed. He had a playful smile, but his eyes were genuinely focused. 

“Looks pretty sturdy to me.” He pulled at the waistband of his pants. “But let’s take a look under the hood.”

Concord gave a little laugh and slipped his tail out, waving it distractingly in Fizz’s face. Fizz grabbed it and traced the edges with his tongue before very gently biting down. Concord turned his face in towards the pillow, muffling a shaky moan. Fizz knew just how to play with his tail now, pointed teeth raking across sensitive skin so carefully. 

His tongue slipped out and twined around his tail to hold it as he sucked on the edges. His hands returned to Concord’s hips, one slipping around to find him already fully aroused. He had to release his tail or risk having him go off too soon and Concord let it curl around his leg instead. 

He flexed his fingers, pulling at the ropes a little as Fizz’s good arm coiled around his waist once more, lifting his upper body. He leaned over him and Concord enjoyed the familiar feeling of being enveloped by his taller lover. It made him feel safe to be tucked up against him, Fizz between him and the rest of the world. He pressed his lips to the base of his horn, tracing the skin around it lightly with the tip of his tongue.

“All mine,” he purred, the arm around his waist pulling him back into Fizz, positioning him. “Every last inch.”

Concord groaned as the hand that had been lightly holding his cock started stroking, slow and steady. Fizz savored the little sounds of pleasure coming from beneath him, taking his time before picking up the pace. He ran his tongue up Concord’s horn and around the curve at the end. 

Concord cried out as he thrust into him suddenly, biting down on his horn. He didn’t bother building up the pace here, starting off fast and hard. He used the coiled arm about his waist to pull Concord back into his thrusts roughly. Concord knew he could be loud at the best of times, but he had the neighbors banging on the wall today. Satan help him, he couldn’t care. His whole world revolved around the exquisite feeling of Fizz slamming into him with all the finesse of a mac truck. 

He took him more times than Concord could count in his current state, their soft words and touches between contrasting so sweetly with the rough sex. But Concord finally had to put a stop to the fun. His body could only take so much abuse, though the spirit was certainly still willing. Fizz laughed when he voiced this and held him close, spreading kisses over his “weak little flesh prison,” the phrasing of which had Concord laughing with him.  

Concord nuzzled his face into Fizz’s chest as the laughter died down and sighed happily. The lack of sufficient sleep had made them a little ridiculous towards the end, he theorized now that their energy began to come down from a buzzing delirium to a soft exhaustion. But they deserved it after the past few days.

Fizz’s fingers played restlessly over his horns and through his hair, making Concord hum softly at the sensation. They laid that way for a while, Concord listening to the sounds of Fizz’s machinery whirring softly, near silently, deep in his chest. It comforted him to hear everything running so smoothly.  

“Concord,” Fizz started. 

His fingers stopped and rested on his horn now. Concord gave him a moment, but he didn’t seem like he would continue. 

“Yes, my love?”

“Do you like it...when I call you a good boy?”

The hesitancy in his voice on this particular subject concerned Concord. He’d never known Fizz to be nervous when talking about sex. Especially not after a day like this.

“Of course, I do,” he replied with a touch of desire in his voice. “I love pleasing you and I love when you tell me I’ve done a good job at it.”

“And you like when I tease you, right?” 

“Mm hm,” he said with a lusty lilt. “It makes everything so good when you finally give it to me.” 

If Fizz’s intentions were to get him all worked up again, he was well on his way to helping Concord’s spirit convince his body it could take one more round. But that thought went out the window at his next question.

“And the biting doesn’t bother you?”

Something was very wrong if he felt he had to ask about that. Concord made his voice gentle now, reassuring. 

“Fizz, if there were anything you did that I didn’t enjoy, I’d tell you.”  Concord ran his hand up and down his arm soothingly. “Do you wanna tell me what’s bothering you?”

“It’s just...I noticed that I do some of the things he did. I say things to you he said to me.” 

An instant rage bubbled up in Concord’s heart at the thought of his abuser, but he carefully put it aside to process later. Fizz didn’t need that right now. He needed comfort and understanding.

“He was your first, wasn’t he?” 

Fizz nodded. 

“Then of course, you’ll have some similarities. But I like when you do those things. And if I didn’t, you wouldn’t do them. Otherwise you wouldn’t be asking me about them now. That’s a very big and important difference. You’re not like the ones who hurt you just because you learned from them.”

Fizz didn’t respond so Concord went on after a moment.

“But if any of those things do make you uncomfortable, we don’t have to do them.”

“I want you to be happy.” 

“I don’t need any of that to be happy. I only need you. You never have to do anything you don’t like with me. You deserve love and respect. And you know I love it when you set boundaries so I can give it to you.” 

The last part he said a little playfully, though he certainly meant it. The arm around Concord’s shoulders tightened and the one on his horn dropped to join it.  

“How are you so perfect?”

Concord felt a pang of guilt at the question.

“I’m not. I make mistakes.”

“I’m not mad,” Fizz answered back immediately. “That you didn’t tell me.” 

“It’s okay if you are. I’d understand.”

He shook his head, fingers playing over his arm gently. 

“You didn’t do it to hurt me. You would never hurt me.”

Tears gathered in the corner of his eyes, but he blinked them back. Fizz’s forgiveness somehow hurt him. He didn’t want it to be that easy. Fizz deserved to be angry. 

“I got scared. If I said it, if I told you, it would be real. It would mean it could happen. I know that’s stupid.”

“It’s not stupid, baby.”

Concord went on, words tumbling out quickly, stumbling over one another.

“I always want you to feel safe when you’re with me but I couldn’t keep you safe from this. There was nothing I could do. So I lied. It was wrong and selfish. And I want you to be mad at me. Why aren't you mad at me?”

Concord hid his face in Fizz’s chest, lip quivering. 

“You want me to pretend to be mad?” Fizz asked and Concord couldn’t tell if that was a joke or a sincere question. 

“No. Your feelings are your own.” 

“Then I’m not mad. I’m just happy to still be here with you. To hold you and love you.” Fizz pushed him back from his chest and tilted his head up to look down into his eyes. “You can’t always keep me safe. But you will always make me feel safe. You have no idea how good it feels, knowing you never want to see me hurt. And maybe that’s a low bar, but you pole vault over it everyday.”

“I know. I overdo it. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. I love that about you, Concord. I love that you care so much. I love that you exist. And I love that you’re mine.”

It felt so good to hear those words. He wrapped his arms around Fizz’s neck.

“And I love being yours,” he whispered back. “Keep me always.” 

“I will.” 

“You’ll never get tired of me?”

Fizz shook his head. 

“Even when I’m old?”

“You’ll still be mine. It’ll be even harder for you to get away by then.”

Concord laughed at the mildly ominous sound of that. 

“Good. Never let me go.”

“Never.”

Fizz wrapped him up in his good arm fully, hand resting on his hip at the end of the coiled limb. Concord closed his eyes, all the exhaustion catching up with him at last. 

“I love you,” he muttered one last time.

Sleep took him before he could hear Fizz’s response. But he felt it in the way those coils squeezed him softly, fingers pressing into bare skin as he drifted off. Letting it all go and succumbing to the darkness felt so good in those arms.

[amazingorangedangantrash]

The only ending everyone seems to ignore is v3 because it’s just... it’s just a mess.

How do feel about this game survivors? And do you think that everyone woke up from the simulator or tv show like sdr2 or only the survivors?

Hoo boy...

Honestly nonny, having only finished the dang thing yesterday I... don't know.

(I kinda went off into a spiel, so feel free to skip to the part where I talk about survivors and what I think happens next)

I understand the mixed response a LOT. I mean- I see what they were going for. The 4th wall break was cool, and the (sorta?) reappearance of past characters was pretty damn awesome. I like that the creators are definitely self aware- and there's a kind of 'learn to laugh at yourself' sort of thing.

On the other hand it can almost seem a little too mocking?

I get the whole yaknow. 'Fictional characters are aware they're fictional and rebel against their creators' thing but- like-?

As I mentioned before, thing is, Tsumugi is not us? We aren't exactly intentionally cruel? There's a BIG difference between the kind of fiction in our world and in their world.

What does Tsumugi call it? "Real fiction"?. Yeah- thing is- we don't have that. We don't have the technology for it, and I certainly hope we wouldn't abandon ethics for it either!!! We can't have 'real' fiction, because in our world, all fiction is fake! The closest you have is fiction about real people, perhaps, but- that's not even remotely the same thing?

So it does come across as a little... um- preachy.

We're supposed to represent the audience but... like- the audience fucking suck! What was that they said during the argument armament? "This guy should have died instead of Kaede!" Like- fucking hell. Imagine saying that to someone, who can HEAR you say it, and who's MURDER you could potentially watch unfold before your very eyes as a result of YOUR actions. I mean- look how empathetic some of us are to ACTUAL fictional characters. Could you imagine if we were in a similar situation to the outside world in V3???

Maybe it's because I keep imagining the v3 cast as like- sentient AI, instead of "just fiction". Because I can't imagine anyone being so sadistic or apathetic otherwise.

So uh- yeah. I don't... know how I feel about that. It's not- very satisfying?

With sdr2, the whole "none of this is real, the killing game is all a lie, you're in a fake world!" felt like a relief ! Whereas here it's more like- "what?? It's all fake? What the hell was the point then?!"

"Nothing matters!" vs "nothing matters..."

The whole HOPE VS DESPAIR, FUTURE VS PAST thing worked, because, well, it's something we can all understand. We have all felt hope and we have all felt despair. We've all, at some point in our lives, felt stuck in the past, unable to or scared to move on.

(Hey- some of us still feel like that now, even).

The first game was very simple- hope and despair. Still relatable, but fairly basic- effective to set up the foundation for the follow up.

The second game made things a little more complicated. Sometimes it's more complicated then just- choosing between Hope and Despair. We refuse to fall into Despair, but we can't just blindly have Hope.

So we choose the Future. We can't promise it'll be a good one OR a bad one. But whatever happens- we need to move on. The only way we can make things change is by making that choice, to create our OWN future.

V3 felt very... complex. It started to get kind of... uh... philosophical? And- don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with that. It just... it kind of shifted from TRUTH VS LIE to FICTION VS REALITY. And whilst the latter definitely sounds interesting- I don't really know if I liked the direction they took with it-? I wish they'd kept the focus on TRUTH VS LIE a lot more.

(Fiction and Reality are like extensions of Lie and Truth but- only to a certain extent? Really?)

It's kind of harder to get into the final fight in V3 because... what are you fighting? The outside world? I mean- I can't speak for the rest of you, but as far as I'm aware I'm not a fictional character.

(If I am- then wow someone's a reallly bad writer huh?)

I can relate to Hope. I can relate to Future.

I can't relate to Fiction.

I THOUGHT maybe the message was a warning of the dangers of escapism ('please dont go as far as to erase your own personality just to be a part of a type of fiction you like' definitely seems fitting for this fandom)- but the message "fiction has the power to change the world!" kinda contradicts that. I mean- I do like that message, but- I don't like the idea of a series about killing games being heavily influential-!

The whole problem was that people grew so obsessed with the series that they threw away their lives! Is that not the point you should be focusing on-!!!!

The outside world in this universe fucking sucks. So they changed their mind, big DEAL! that's not comforting knowing they let this shit continue for 53 seasons-! I mean, maybe Makoto and Hajime were all 100% fictional, but at some point they started putting real people into these games, and everyone was ok with that!

I just-

I'm glad Shuichi got through to them at last but...

Someone said something which resonated with me- "in a vacuum, this is good". Like... on it's own, I thought the ending was great! It was entertaining, for sure. And the whole concept and stuff was unexpected and interesting. You gotta give em points for originality.

The problem comes with it being the 3rd game in a series. (Ignoring UDG I mean-). When a series becomes a Trilogy, you gotta make it good. This is presumably the last game in the (main) series too. And- after the UTTER NARRATIVE DISAPPOINTMENT of dr3- can you blame people for wanting more? People fell in love for THH and SDR2 (and UDG even if its not part of the main series) for a reason- and, for me at least, a biiiig part of that reason was the continued storyline. The last chapter of sdr2 was the hypest shit EVER. when you see glimpses of the previous game bleed into this one, only for it to turn into what's like- a full crossover???? The previous game isn't just mentioned, it's a straight up sequel!!!! I had absolutely no idea Makoto and co would return (i thought the games were separate) so when i saw that they'd be interacting with the new cast- yoooooooooooooooo-!

Hell, even seeing alter ego again made me go WILD.

V3 plays upon these expectations, and subverts them, but... not necessarily in a good way? You- kind of feel cheated? (Idk if you're an avengers fan, but- it's like expecting *Endgame* and instead getting...

Well- Endgame).

The ending isn't bad persay it's just- not quite what one would expect? I can definitely understand why people are disappointed. The problem is, instead of standing alone, you can't help but consider it as part of the series. Individually, I don't think the ending was that weak or bad, but in comparison to the series as a whole?

Meh.

SURVIVORS

(Oh my- I really got off track, oh dear. I'll- get back to what you asked now.)

KEEBO

W H Y

They rllly gonna rub salt in the wound huh?

(Whilst i dont dislike the other survivors, there are a LOT of people i really really wanted to see make it to the end, and it's just the final god damn nail in the coffin to kill off the last of the few characters I came even close to liking the most-)

Killing keebo was dumb

Maki- I liked Maki quite a bit! She's a bit cold, yeah, but I warmed up to her after hearing her backstory.

I found it annoying (if understandable) that no one trusted her at first. I thought it was sweet that her, Kaito and Shuichi had this friendship trio. They really trusted each other- it was very refreshing. I also love me a strong girl. Her romance thing with Kaito was a little... forced. I'd have found it more meaningful if they kept it more subtle/ambiguous (though i suppose they needed smth to use against her in the final trial sooo-).

Himiko-

I-

*sigh*

Ok I'm going to say this once, and once only.

Someoneonthedrteamhasabigthingforlolis

OK! I SAID IT- AND IM NEVER SAYING IT AGAIN

No judgement here of course. Just. Uh. Y-yeah-

(I'm mainly kidding of course, idek if Himiko counts as a loli but-)

I mean... I'm not... the fondest of very small, childish girl characters (Saionji intensifies). I like a bit of childishness in a character but- i mean- it depends.

(I'll never recover from the "seductive whisper" thing from the love suite event

Never.

Never ever.)

Himiko comes across as like An Actual Child at times and at the start it was VERY annoying. Surprisingly, I warmed up to her eventually. I knew in advance she'd be a survivor so i kinda thought "well she's gonna stick around so might as well try to like her". I do appreciate that she underwent a character arc too, and it was sweet to see how she became a more active, determined person. I wish it hadn't taken Tenko's death for her to finally start changing but whatever. She is quite a cute character and after a while became more endearing then annoying.... (for the most part).

Was she in my top 3 picks for a survivor? No.

The top 10 even?

N-no-

I'm glad she's still alive though. SOMEONE damn well needs to be.

Tsumugi- ah. She's not a survivor, is she? I knew well in advance she was the mastermind so I didn't really warm up to her all that much during the final chapters, for obvious reasons.

Shuichi- if shuichi hadn't survived I think that would have been the breaking point for me, honestly.

Overall- uh... they aren't... the ideal picks. Shuichi is the only one I really wanted to see survive, I was neutral towards the others. Tbh I was just happy anyone was alive by the end of that.

Waking up- for the sake of my sanity, I like to think that after the survivors wake up, they threaten to sue and/or maim the shit out of the dr team if they don't start on reanimating their 'dead' friends right fucking now. Surely they gotta keep their consciousness' somewhere in those memories banks right? I mean- what if they ever wanted a "surprise return from the dead" plotline? Surely they gotta keep em somewhere? Right?

Whether or not they reawaken as their in-game or pre-game selves, who knows. Whichever you prefer, I guess. Maybe a mixture of both.

[docfuture]

Princess, part 12

       [This story is a prequel, set in an alternate 2012, several years before The Fall of Doc Future, when Flicker is 16.  Links to some of my other work are here.  Updates are theoretically biweekly. Next chapter is partly done so I’m going to try to get it out early in September.]

Previous: Part 11

      Recovery--and a start at change and learning.       Flicker thought about the wrap up of her first session, and Stella's comments on paying a bit more attention to the ways other people were already helping.       "... and I just suppressed thinking about it at all because the frustration got real bad when I didn't," Flicker had said.       "Understandable," said Stella.  "Did you consider talking to Armadillo?"       "I talked to her about some general stuff, but she's... old."       Stella nodded slowly.  "I can see how the Database might have given you the impression that sex was invented sometime in the 60s.  And Armadillo was already middle-aged by then."       "That's not fair.  It just that the primary sources were so indirect and coded about it.  And left so much out.  The Database doesn't..."  Flicker frowned, then sped up to check a few things.  After a while she slowed back down.       "Well, crap," she said.  "I learned most of my 20th century history when I was randomly bouncing around the Database reading whatever caught my interest when I was 11 or 12.  So I missed stuff.  And I didn't go back, and made some implicit assumptions."       "You might find a discussion with Armadillo illuminating," said Stella.  "Have you considered that Doc might not be the person contributing the most to the collective judgement of your social maturity level that the Database uses to set your default access levels?  He seems willing to delegate to people he trusts, and of those, Armadillo clearly has had experience with children."       "Oof.  No, I hadn't thought of that."  Flicker sighed.  "Sometimes I wonder about the amount of time I spend mentally running circles around things without looking at what's at the center."       "Don't be too harsh on yourself.  You blame most of your social difficulties on mental differences, poor references, and lack of practice.  But the form of your education mattered, too.  You never went to school before your graduate work, and you did most of that remotely.  You learned from Doc, the Database, and direct observation--primarily of static scenes because of your speed.  And the bulk of educational material in the Database was written by and for typical humans, with all the embedded assumptions that entails."       "I really like the Database.  And the summaries help."       Stella shook her head.  "Not always.  Not if you don't know what's missing.  The Database AI made judgements when you were younger about what was appropriate at the time.  This shaped your knowledge map, which was already going to be very different from most humans.  So do your Database access restrictions.  Information revealed selectively or out of order can harm.  And if the Database can't reveal A to you--for, say, privacy reasons--and revealing B without A would cause harm, it will restrict B as well.  I'm sure Doc must have warned you about that."       "Yeah, but a lot of his restrictions seem arbitrary."       "Many will, if done right.  Database restrictions can and do cause bias problems, but overriding them is inherently risky.  The Database AI has to balance that, and there are no optimal choices, because the whole idea of the Database as an 'objective' knowledge map is a illusion.  The Database is biased by what gets recorded.  Your access to it is further biased, and what you actually do access is even more biased.  But the idea that you are necessarily getting closer to impartial truth when you override a warning is dangerous."       "So I can mess myself up with overrides."       "You already have.  Repeatedly.  Information shaping is one of my more powerful tools.  Cruder forms of it are in widespread use and getting more effective every day.  But perceptions come pre-shaped."  Stella had sipped from her cup of coffee before continuing.  "For example, you are highly proficient in many math-heavy technical subjects not usually mastered until graduate school, and awkward in areas typically covered by early childhood education or peer group socialization.  So when you made your implicit assumptions?  Of course you missed things.  However."       Stella was good at an 'I have a secret to share--eventually' style of speaking that was both mildly annoying and very effective at focusing attention.       "Yes?" said Flicker.       "Anyone would.  You just missed different things.  Others might have helped with some of them.  But no one could predict them all.  Not Doc, not the Database, not me.  So do what you can, but don't be too hard on yourself when mistakes happen."       "Ah.  I'll try to remember that."       *****       Flicker tried to follow Stella's initial guidelines, which focused on short term recovery, stabilization, and 'stop making this worse'.  Avoiding patrols was the most important and hardest to follow advice.  Physical therapy and exercise were tedious, but not difficult.  The dietary changes... were trickier.  Flicker had lost weight from the accident and the isotope exchanger sessions which she really couldn't afford.  And her kind of pseudo-shapeshifter healing depended on adequate body mass.  Stella forwarded some funny essays on cuisine and recovery for shapeshifters supposedly written by a French werewolf, and had the Database reset her food and drink related warnings, with an eye to both mental and physical health.       She'd also pointed out to Flicker that it only took a few early incidents of plasma in the GI tract while pushing the limits of her entropy dumping to cause lasting aversion to eating much while on call.  So when she later started to feel like she was on duty almost all the time, she stopped eating proper meals except with friends.  Staying off patrol for now made it possible to change that, but not easy.  Theoretically, she could eat like an Olympic athlete in training while exercising appropriately, and recover quite quickly, but that wasn't realistic.  She was stubborn, but so were her habits.       She couldn't patrol, but she could keep busy by surveying--updating Database geographical and obstacle data--and doing interior construction and finishing work on her house.  Back-ordered materials had piled up.  Flicker used power tools mainly for precision and delicacy; she had custom hand tools for speed and power, and boxes of regular hammers and screwdrivers to replace the ones she wore out or broke.  Superspeed and robotic help let her make rapid progress in the half days she was putting in to it.  Common areas and guest rooms were finished, and recreation areas, a wider variety of workshops, and Database node expansion rooms were all taking shape.       Making time to talk and eat with friends wasn't sophisticated advice, but it was obviously helpful.  She'd had dinner with Jetgirl and her husband yesterday.  Good food, carefully non-specific sympathy, then after dinner, 'girl talk' with Jetgirl.  Which meant tech geekery--they spent a few hours discussing the instrumentation and results from Speedtest, and Jetgirl's suggestions for some issues Flicker had encountered expanding her robotics workshop.  Reliable comfort.       The aftereffects from the cybernetic interface withdrawal were finally mostly gone, and Flicker's metabolism and appetite seemed to be responding to her exercises.  She was definitely putting on muscle faster than a human could.  And she'd mentioned her problem to Stavros, the owner of her favorite Greek restaurant, he'd gotten a look on his face like he'd been personally called upon to save the world, and now she had enough takeout in her fridge to feed a starving pseudo-mythological extradimensional being for a week.       Today, a visit with Armadillo.  She had promised something interesting.       Flicker had once asked Armadillo why she hadn't picked the name Glyptodon instead, because that seemed closer in size and fearsomeness to her appearance.  Armadillo had laughed and said she'd never heard of them at the time--the late 40s.  The two of them were at Armadillo's house, sitting at a table with an impressive feast.  It was not unusual for Armadillo; with super strength, near invulnerability, and half a ton of mass, she ate a lot, and saw no reason not to enjoy it.  Armadillo was cheerful and a good friend, as well as effectively family.  And at an age of 98, she knew a lot of history, especially the kinds that didn't usually get recorded very well.       The main reason Flicker didn't visit more often was an embarrassing one: When she'd been younger she'd had episodes of severe insomnia.  But Armadilo knew how to spin a story to help.  So when the biological part of Flicker's brain was working, it associated Armadillo's stories strongly with drowsiness.       Which didn't mean they were boring.       Armadillo was sharing some anecdotes from the late Pre-Net era--the 50s through the 70s--when Luce Cannon, Belle Tinker, and One-eyed Jack had been prominent superheroes.  They had set precedents that ended up shaping the way the Database had been assembled.  The norms Luce had established as a practical way of preserving relationship privacy and security without centralized infrastructure required narrative indirection and implication in order to discuss certain subjects at all.  Armadillo was very good at the style needed.  Unfortunately, that and the lack of unrestricted Database references hindered the usual ways Flicker updated her memories, so she was having trouble with details.  But there were definitely differences from the way she'd thought about the origins of the Database.       "Huh," she said.  "I always assumed that Doc decided everything important when he first built the Database, and the rest was just legacy format and historical records."       "Not entirely," said Armadillo.  "Luce knew all about records and careful access--she built her own intelligence operation, after all--and Belle was already starting to convert some of them to electronic form and building early bots in the fifties.  But reliability for anyone but Belle was always a problem, and she didn't have the level of conscientiousness about documentation that Doc did."       "Um.  Doc isn't always that great about documentation.  He gets--"       "The Database AI or someone else to do a lot of it.  I know.  But someone does.  Heck, I've done my share.  Belle was way ahead of her time, but we never found anything but cryptic notebook scribbles for some of her weirder stuff.  Left a bit of a mess after she was gone.  Doc brought in organization, documentation, robustness, and speed, and then extended it to everything.  But the first Database grew out of what he built for Luce not long before she died.  And Luce set some access conditions, which Doc won't change without a good reason.  So don't blame Doc for all of them."       "So the age restrictions are from Luce?"       "Some of them, yeah--but they aren't hardcoded, they're more flexible; we knew they'd have to accommodate aliens and extradimensional beings and whatnot.  It's really a maturity threshold."  Armadillo smiled.  "But I have a treat for you."       "Oh?"       "There are a few things I have personal discretion about.  And you've hit a block involving one of them twice now.  It's a good example of how we handled a few things back in the day, and might help you understand some of the ambiguity.  I can show it to you, but you'll have to put your visor on locked standby or take it off--no unrestricted electronic images of this are allowed."       Flicker frowned, but arranged a protocol with the Database and pulled back her hood.  Armadillo pushed back a plate, picked up a small case, opened it, and pulled out a large photographic print.       "This is a copy of the last known good photograph of Belle Tinker.  The original is in my family photo album in one of Doc's vaults."       Flicker moved her chair closer to get a better look.  It was a group photo, centered on a younger Armadillo.  "What's that blacked out area?"       "Non-superheroes with living relatives.  The photo is from my 60th birthday party in 1974."       Given the date, Flicker wasn't surprised that Armadillo was a bit narrower--she'd still been slowly adding mass.  But...  "Head spikes?"       Armadillo laughed.  "Yeah, that was my last try at regrowing them.  I'd been on a trip to Tokyo the previous year, and there was a translator around during a Kaiju attack.  I ended up stopping it by talking to the big fellow about the relative effectiveness of head spikes for challenge bellowing.  We had a nice talk, and everyone went home happy.  No property damage, even.  So I decided to give them another try.  But mine were only a little stronger than steel, so they kept breaking off--same kind of problem you have with your hair.  I finally gave up in 75?  Or maybe 76?  But really, I'm the least interesting person in that photo.  I'm curious what you think about the others."       "Okay," said Flicker.  "But that goblet you're drinking out of...  Is that a demon skull?"       "Yep.  The goblet was a birthday present.  It would have been rude not to try it out."  Armadillo nodded towards a nearby cabinet.  "I still have it, but I hardly ever use it anymore.  Little call for it, and it's tricky to clean."       "Um, okay."  Flicker studied the image of the woman with red hair, a lab coat, safety glasses, and an expression of indulgent patience.  "Belle has the same kind of 'I could be in my lab working on something cool' face I've seen Doc make.  Most of the contemporary sources I found in the Database were really bad at describing her.  She'd have been, what, in her late forties?  She looks younger than that, fit, and tough, I don't understand what was going on."       Armadillo smiled.  "There were a few that treated her reasonably--but they tended not to emphasize appearance.  Belle did not fit any 'feminine' stereotype back then, there were a number of media bigwigs who really didn't like her, and she didn't humor patronizing reporters.  So it was common for them to distort or belittle her intelligence and accomplishments, insult her appearance, attack her character, or just use bad pictures.  If they had to write about her at all.  That's one reason why the quality of much of what you found about her is poor."       Another woman with short dark hair was leaning against the table with a relaxed smile, but a very clear presence.       "Did Luce Cannon always look like she was in charge?" asked Flicker.  "I mean, it was your party, but..."       "She could hide it, but she was keeping an eye on someone who could get overenthusiastic."       A girl wearing a black outfit was smiling intently at the camera with a predatory look.  She appeared to be around eleven; it was hard for Flicker to judge ages.       "Is that a toy sword?" asked Flicker.  "It looks awfully realistic."       "Nope.  That was Katya's first magic sword.  She outgrew it; it's in the vaults now."       "Magic sword?  Wait... Katya?  That's Jumping Spider?"       "Oh, goodness no; she wouldn't use that name for years.  That's Katya the... Hunter, I think?  She switched from the Devastator sometime around then.  This was only a year after Luce started teaching her."       "Did... What... Why is she waving a sword around at your birthday party?"       "It was a compromise; she wanted to make a little pyramid out of the other skulls for the picture, but Luce vetoed that as unsanitary.  Just as well; Belle said they smelled pretty manky."       "Other skulls?"  Every time Flicker got a question answered, she immediately had several more--and she couldn't speed up and check the Database because her visor was off.       "Besides the one Jack and Belle turned into the goblet for my birthday present.  It was Katya's idea, so she got to hunt the demons, and she went a little overboard getting spare skulls.  Jack took her to the dimension where they lived--nasty place, but they were immune to poison, which was handy."       "...it's a magic goblet."       "Oh, yeah, it detoxifies anything in it," said Armadillo.  "If I ever want to be absolutely sure I can't be poisoned or I'm worried about contamination, I use it.  But it's usually overkill, it makes most non-alcoholic beverages taste kind of funny, and properly cleaning the precipitate chamber is a pain."       "Doc never let me hunt demons when I was ten," muttered Flicker as she studied the figure standing next to Belle in the photo.       "Mores change, and your adoption process wasn't complete yet.  It would have been awkward to explain."       "Did One-eyed Jack ever show any sign of aging?  It doesn't look like his appearance changed at all in pictures."       "Nope," said Armadillo.  "At least not from when I first met him in '50 or so until he disappeared in the nineties.  White hair, neatly trimmed beard, and the eyepatch.  He almost always wore that hooded robe and carried that staff with the magical doodad on the end.  Occasionally he'd switch to a really old style suit and a dress cane--he could do an impressive Offended Aristocrat act.  But his apparent age never changed.  I suspect he was some kind of shapeshifter, and I know he could create illusions, though, so I'm not sure anyone really knows for sure."       "Wait.  Disappeared?  The Database lists him as 'presumed dead' with supporting evidence; someone found his eyepatch and a scrap of robe near a small crater in the Topaz Realm and Doc verified they were genuine."       "Yep.  Doesn't mean he died.  He might have just decided it was time to stop being Jack.  Hard to believe someone as careful as him would botch a portal like that, and it seemed awfully pat that it happened somewhere with enough ravenous scavengers to ensure the lack of remains wasn't suspicious.  If he was a shapeshifter, there could be someone with his memories who looks quite different running around somewhere.  And he had a saying: 'Sometimes you see something coming and all you can do is get out of the way.'  I think that's what he did."  Armadillo grinned.  "But then, I've been accused of being sentimental from time to time."       "Okay," said Flicker.  "If you're suspicious about Jack, what about Belle?  She was declared dead, but all the Database says is that something catastrophic happened to her portal generator late at night and she was gone afterwards.  Jack is recorded as testifying that as far as he could tell, she hadn't been murdered or kidnapped, definitely wasn't alive on Earth, and he wasn't able to tell quite what happened with the portal.  But Doc said that if she really wanted to burn her bridges, she could have set the portal generator to self destruct, then gone through to somewhere before it blew.  He still has the remains of it in the vaults."       Armadillo looked out the window.  "All true.  She seemed kind of withdrawn for a while before that.  Well, withdrawn for her--she was always full of more ideas than she had time to try.  She'd had a disagreement with Luce and the Volunteer for a couple of years over... I guess you could call it public policy.  She made some predictions that turned out to be pretty accurate, and the first part of one of them had just happened--that was '80.  It's conceivable she might have just been tired of Earth.  But then she was kind of close to Jack, and he was pretty down afterwards--and if she went somewhere else, I don't know why he wouldn't be able to visit.  I tried talking to him about it once, and he just shook his head.  So I really can't say."       "Were they a couple?" asked Flicker.  "Database is ambiguous--they at least pretended a few times, but it wasn't clear what was going on.  I assume it's okay to ask about that now that they're both gone?"       "Heh.  It's not forbidden to ask, and they worked well together in the lab when Belle wasn't out causing trouble with Luce.  I'll say this; Belle never showed interest in most men--she'd roll her eyes at most of my jokes--and Jack never showed any interest in anyone but Belle.  But it could just have been cover; a convenience for both of them."       "Oh."       Flicker frowned at the last figure--a middle-aged man in nondescript clothing, leaning back in the chair beside Armadillo.  His glasses were perched precariously on the end of his nose, his fingers were laced over his chest, and his eyes were closed.       "Who is the guy beside you, and why is he asleep?"       Armadillo smiled.  "Oh, he'd had a long day, then a nice meal, so he just was catching a little nap.  He sometimes answered to the name of Chandler Devon."       Okay, now I know I'm being tested.  Flicker sped up.  The name was vaguely familiar--why?  She glanced at Luce again, then remembered.  Chandler Devon was connected to Luce Cannon in some way, perhaps one of her agents, or possibly romantically linked--but that had been a shaky source.  Documentation about him had been really spotty, with large gaps.  He'd been a skilled enough amateur geologist to get a few articles published, later in life.  But his fondness for volcanoes had apparently done him in--he'd disappeared during the Mount Pinatubo eruption a few years after Luce's death.       That made the third nominally dead person in the picture with a missing body.  The only person who was definitely dead and buried was Luce--she'd died of cancer in the late 80s.       There were several odd things that required explanation about 'Chandler Devon'.  Why was he even at Armadillo's party?  Had Luce brought him?       Why hadn't anyone woken him up for the picture?  It was a memorable occasion.  Was it a prank?       Wait.  Armadillo had said she was the least interesting person in the photo.  What could possible make him more interesting than her?  If he--       Oh.       So that's what he looks like when he's asleep.  But how did he manage...  Luce.  Of course.  She was the original super spy.  Jumping Spider's teacher.  If anyone could cover everything he'd need, it would have been her.  That explained so much.  He'd gone more than fifty years without anyone--       Idiot.  Everyone in that picture probably knew.  He'd always had a family.  A family of choice.  They just never, ever gave it away.  Even when they disagreed with each other.       But still, a few years after Luce died, he decided it was time to stop being Chandler Devon.  Could he still maintain cover?  Probably; Jumping Spider was 27 by then, and Doc was 17, with the Database up and running.  But the Lost Years were about to start, and Doc had seen that coming.  No longer worth the trouble, maybe?  How much had Luce meant to Chandler Devon?       A lot to think about, most of it not even about Belle.  But there was etiquette to be observed.  And as far as Flicker could tell, it was to indicate obliquely that she'd guessed, but not say anything unambiguous.  She could come up with something.       She slowed back down--and found herself blinking back tears.       "He looks like...  someone who works very hard," she managed.  "And doesn't get a chance to relax very often.  I'm glad no one woke him up."       Armadillo nodded slowly.  "So was I."  She started to put the picture back in the box.       "Wait," said Flicker.  "Who took the picture?  I thought I knew, but now I think I was wrong."       Armadillo paused.  "Another time, maybe.  You probably have enough to cogitate about today already."       "Yeah.  Yeah, I do."

Next:  Part 13

[bluepenguinstories]

Happiness Overload Epilogue III

After a while, we finally won. It took more effort than we were told, but about as much effort as we expected. There was still much ground to cover even after the conflict died down. Like, I hated to admit it, but for a while I would just watch the fragmented remains of the world I once resided on. Meaning, there was a long gestation period where no new timeline was created. There was a lot of weight, y’know, and it was hard to remember the person I started that journey as, and whether I was different now that that journey had just about come to an end.

Beside me, at the front, was my girlfriend, my lover. Sometimes she’d shower me in kisses, but other times she would get annoyed with my antics. Couldn’t say that I blamed her, as it’s not like my growth meant I had to let go of my humor.

As for how we defeated the organization once and for all...we had some help. Some people went back to their time willingly. Some were less friendly. I didn’t really care to remember all those fancy little details. Only a few really stood out to me. Like after we booted Dr. Humble and Dr. Modest into some odd timeline in the year 1907 with just the clothing on their backs. Why 1907? Maybe that’s the time they thought they could pick up the pieces from and start fresh from the ashes, but when they told us that’s the time they were from, we just went with it. At least we gave them nothing.

Then, Coriander and I ran, firing away at guards along the way. There was a bit of a mess to clean up eventually, but that was neither here nor there.

Down some long sets of halls, we regrouped with Juniper, and were surprised to find she had made some new friends. With one in particular seeming rather close to her.

“Juniper! Thank goodness you’re okay!” I cried out in relief.

“Guys! I’m so glad to see you!” Juniper also looked overjoyed.

“Who’s this?” I asked.

“Hi, I’m Dr. Hepburn,” the taller figure answered. She extended her hand. I shook it. “I’m from the HR Department. Or was! It’s pretty cool that I can use past tense now!”

“Huh. What was your job, exactly?” Coriander asked.

“I mostly suggested things to departments. Though they usually got twisted and the way they got interpreted was a little out of my hands.”

“Really? How so?”

“Like, I thought we should have a Morale Department because I couldn’t help but notice our members had some pretty low morale. So I brought it up like, ‘hey, right now everyone’s kind of bummed out and demotivated, but I think if we had some kind of mascot, our company morale would be so much better. For example, Hatsune Miku is really popular and it’s a scientific fact that no one’s unhappy when Miku is around. So maybe if we got an AI to encourage us, we’d benefit. The same could be applied to humanity as a whole!’ Then later I guess they added a dash of evil to the proposed AI, but by then I was already suggesting things to other departments.”

“Dang,” I groaned. “Sucks when intentions get misrepresented like that.”

“Yeah, well this place is big so it can be like a giant game of telephone around here. I don’t blame anyone, really! Besides, at least they gave me credit on the project.”

“They did?” I was confused. I never heard of any Hepburn being factored into the plans.

“Well, I was actually named after the Mt. Etna in Italy. I later changed my name when I became a doctor, of course!” She informed me. That sounded like a potential shocker for information, but I didn’t know how.

“There’s a lot to dissect there, but I’m no scientist, so let’s put that aside for now. We still have much work to do!”

Coriander meanwhile, trying to show off her attitude as ever, grunted.

“So are you and her like a thing now?” She asked Juniper.

Juniper rolled her eyes. “Come on, guys! I’m not thinking about that stuff right now! I’m just glad to have made friends! Really!”

“All right. Can’t blame you. We can’t declare victory just yet.”

Indeed. Our reunion had to be cut short so we could round up more people. Thanks to the collective effort, though, at least it didn’t take ages, like many would have thought. I took it upon myself to destroy all time travel devices after someone left. Every little time cube in the room full of time cubes and then some.

All but one.

The same one I had pocketed. On the off chance that Coriander and I could ever leave that ship (or whatever it could be called), I wanted to hold on to it. For a while, we lived out our days on the ship, but we didn’t really seem to age. Not really, anyway. Maybe if we made it back to Earth, some version of it, we would find ourselves aged many years over. Or be just as young as we were before we entered The Flashbulb’s headquarters.

Before long, it was just a few of us. Coriander, Juniper, Dr. Hepburn, Dr. Katsushika (she said she’d leave eventually, it was just hard for her to leave all her art supplies behind), and I. Everyone else parted ways with us in some capacity or another. Many we grew to be friends with, but had to leave them behind all the same. That was fine with me, as a good few people always made me more comfortable than a whole crowd. Even with the company, it really was a lonely existence. Enough to drive anyone mad.

But we kept searching.

I would look around on a screen which displayed a nigh-endless supply of timelines. I narrowed it down to the year we lived in before we left home. Then, I looked for a place where Coriander and I didn’t already exist. At long last one day, I found such a place.

“Oh my god! Spicy! Meatball!”

“For the last time, don’t call me spicy meatball!” Coriander retorted. Yeah, yeah, so not all of my nicknames for her stuck, but I was excited enough to try.

“We can go back home!” I cheered.

Coriander leaned in close. “What?! Really?!”

It was decided long ago that if we ever decided to go back to Earth, it would have to be in a timeline where we didn’t already exist. I didn’t quite like the idea of killing myself off just to live on. I don’t know how it would have worked for Coriander, but she agreed that was for the best. What pained me was thinking that when this new timeline from the ashes of our destroyed world came about, was the uncertainty of not knowing what the version of Blanc would be like. If the version of me in that world would ever meet them or not. I think I would be content even if that Velvet didn’t meet that Blanc, but would I be content with the possibility that the Blanc of the new timeline wouldn’t be happy?

I didn’t want to focus on that. I really didn’t. I had my life, and my journey, and as painful as it was, I had to let such a possibility occur. It was better than no possibility at all.

“Hey Juniper!” I called over through the microphone. “I think I found a way to get home!”

If I had to guess, it was like an hour later when Juniper came through the doors, but time within those confines wasn’t something we really kept track of, as much as I wished we would. She was out of breath, having ran, but she was just as cute as a button as ever.

“Really? Guys?” She huffed, hunched over her knees. Jeez, I really should have told her to take her time.

Time...that was a strange word to use. But one that seemed unavoidable.

“There’s just one problem,” Coriander pointed out. “Apparently Juniper already exists on that version of Earth.”

“What?!” I balked. “That’s not fair!”

Popsigirl/Dr. Katsushika fell down from a ceiling vent and landed doing a cartwheel.

“That’s the way things go! You’re going to have to make a compromise to get your happy ending!” She snapped her fingers and grinned.

“Argh! I hate compromises, and I hate this ‘no perfect ending’ bullshit!” I turned to Juniper. “I wanted you to come along with us wherever we ended up.”

That was enough to get me to sulk. But Juniper just smiled.

“Aw, it’s okay, guys. I think it’s more important that you two get to go. Don’t worry about me!”

“But I’ll feel bad just leaving you behind like that.”

She shook her head. “Don’t think like that! I’m really glad to have met you guys, really. It’s not that I don’t want to return to Earth one day, it’s just that I’m fine with waiting. I always knew we would probably have to split, anyway.”

“What about you, though?”

“Honestly,” she looked away, still smiling, but she looked a little more nervous. “I’m not sure how my journey will continue, and I really will miss you guys, too, but I still consider you guys my friends and I’m more now that one day, I’ll have something of an idea. For now, I’m happy just having gone on this journey.”

“You say that, but I’m still worried about you being safe…”

“Please have a little more faith in me than that.”

I let out a long sigh. There was a handful of emotions attached, but when I drew in a new breath, I managed a smile.

“All right, then,” I said at last.

“So it’s decided, then? You guys are gonna go?” I could feel Dr. Katsushika’s excitement on her breath as she leaned in close to me. I wanted to shove her aside, especially when Coriander still couldn’t stand her presence, not that I blamed her for that, either.

“Not just yet,” I grimaced. “I want to make sure you’ll go home first.”

She flashed a grin, then wrested control of the monitor from me and with fervent motions, searched away until she found a time and place.

“I understand that I can’t really be forgiven for the stuff I’ve put you two through, but I think I’m going to enjoy being with nature again! Maybe I’ll be a sage or something, or take a vow of silence, or become a hermit who feeds ducks?”

“I’m sure you could pick up art again, too,” Juniper suggested. “You just gotta take it easy, is all.”

That got Popsigirl worked up into a storm of laughter.

“Hun, ‘art’ and ‘taking it easy’ don’t belong in the same sentence. But...I’d like to draw and paint, yes. And maybe I’ll get it right in time.”

I used the time travel device to open up a portal to the timeline Dr. Katsushika selected. I wasn’t sure which name she would choose in her timeline. Maybe she’d drop the doctor. Maybe she’d drop having a name entirely. There was a fondness I felt thinking about the possibilities, even if I couldn’t really forgive her.

When five became four (Dr. Hepburn, Juniper, Coriander, and I) I waited for Dr. Hepburn to enter the room, then I bade Juniper and her our final goodbyes.

“Hey, I can’t promise a perfect ending either, but for what it’s worth, I hope you the best,” Coriander told Juniper.

“I second that,” I added. If Coriander didn’t say it, chances are I would have. It was becoming more and more difficult to find the right words, so I was just glad Coriander could sometimes fill in the blanks for me.

“I would like to inform you that I had a board meeting with myself and it was unanimous that whatever happens, we’ll have fun,” Dr. Hepburn assured. I refrained from asking. Really, when you got down to it, she was a last minute character.

Juniper reached into her pocket and handed me something.

“Here, I made it. It’s a little invention of mine.” I looked at the object in my hand, a small metallic sculpture of a beetle.

“I call it a june bug! It can light up in the dark, but only in the month of June! That way you won’t really have to worry about leaving me behind too much.”

I laughed, though it almost came out like a cry. I had to wipe my face, even though it was more humorous than anything.

“That’s so dumb...I love it,” I told her.

I set the time travel device on the desk I had been sitting at. Coriander was the first to walk through the portal. I was sure I’d see her in just a little bit. But before I would, I turned to Juniper and Dr. Hepburn once again.

“If you guys do find a timeline you wished to go to and decide to leave, please destroy that for me. Or, if you decide to stay here...destroy it, too.”

Was it really necessary to do so? I mean, I could trust them, and all access to the headquarters from outside had been blocked off. Still, maybe it was the paranoia in me that told me it was better to be safe than sorry.

Wherever Coriander and I may end up next, with a good, a bad, somewhere in the middle as an ending awaiting us, I was just glad I would be brave enough to face it. No, that wasn’t just it. It meant even more to me to be able to spend the rest of my days, however that looked, not being alone.

[malereader-inserts]

Non Omis Moriar [2]

Fandom: Avengers Pairing: Tony Stark & Son!Reader Summary: Not all of you shall die, so it’s all or none.  Word Count: 3,762 A/n: ANGST ANGST, I hope this makes sense plot line. Also, I apologise for like basically writing the plot out again, you get the gist. Part one here!

“That’s not how time travel works,” You responded dryly.

Your eyes on your new suit as Scott tries to grab your attention, but you give him no consideration. He sighs as he watches you rewire your suit, stats on the screen for you. 

“In Layman's terms, it means you're not coming home,” You continued as you sighed, put your tools down and looked at Scott.

“I did.”

“No, you accidentally survived. It's a billion to one cosmic fluke,” You responded, sighing, “Look, Scott, as much as I want to believe, this whole time heist is laughable, it’s a pipedream.”

“You have to be optimistic, (Y/n).”

You looked behind Scott and see Bruce, glowering over the two of you at the Avengers base, specifically in your dad’s lab. Bruce smiles at you as you shake your head, scoffing.

“Bruce, I’m not the one to preach about optimism, that’s Steve’s sort of rodeo but what have you been doing for the past year? You’ve lost to Thanos both times in both forms - look at you.”

“But, I’m willing to do something if it means we can save people, I know it’s not you or your thing to save people, but we’re the only people left. Remember what Natasha always says?”

“Whatever it takes.” Sighing, you shake your head, “I can’t, Bruce, I’m sorry.”

Bruce nods, leaving as Scott sends you one last look but as he watches you play with the screens of the stats of your suit - he leaves you be. A year had passed since the snap and all you’ve been doing is fixing Avengers’ equipment, updating the little things as you don’t have their suit. 

Isolating yourself.

You made your own suit, the one you and your dad made was hard for you to work on because you made it with your dad. It’s didn’t feel right for you to work on something you and your dad made.

Within the year, you’ve been taking medication for sleep too. Nightmares of the time on Titans kept you all night and when you’re sleep deprived the voice and vision of your dad appears. No matter how much you want to see your dad, you were not going insane.

Within the year, the bond between you and Bruce had become strained, you don’t call him uncle anymore, not out of malice, but a family doesn’t seem complete anymore in your heart. 

“I’m blaming Strange,” You muttered to yourself.

“Sir, you’re talking to yourself again.”

“It’s okay, Fri,” You reassured, smiling to yourself.

Friday has been ultra protective you, she may be an AI but in a sense, she was like your sister as Tony created her. Protecting her big brother from losing himself. Friday lost Tony, Pepper, Rhodey. She was not going to lose you in any circumstances. 

“Hey, Fri?”

“Yes?”

“New project,” You called out as you watched Bruce and Scott figure something out across the building.

Glass walls work wonders, you move your suit to the side and Friday brings up a new slate of holograms for you to mess around. 

“Hey, kid,” You hear your dad’s voice next to you, you could sense him probably leaning against the table to examine what you’re up to, “What are you doing?”

“Sir, what is this new project?”

You looked off to the distance as you smile to yourself, a mirror across the way. You looked at yourself and the hallucination of your dad next to you, you look too much alike. Same snarky smile of pure happiness and a confident stance.

“Thanos knows Stark men, he invaded my dreams since I was a child and corrupted my dad’s mind, if Strange says I’m needed then I’ll damn well avenge my father.”

“Hey,”

You jumped at the sudden voice of your dad in your ear, rubbing your eyes out of sleep as you realised that you’ve been sleeping in the lab,

“What day is it?”

“You’ve been passed out for two days sir, you fell asleep the moment you sat down, you haven’t even started your new project.”

“Way for a dramatic flair,” You commented as the AI buzzed in amusement, “What’s going on with shorty and Professor Green?”

“I believe they are ninety per cent in finishing what you have called time-heist.”

You nodded, “I’ll start it after I get food.”

When you had returned back to base Bruce and Scott was nowhere to find as you sat down and got to work. You didn’t know how long you were in the lab for as you reclined in the chair, groaning, your head hurts.

“By the looks of Scott and Bruce out there, Scott turned into a baby?”

Friday didn’t respond as she pulls up the video of Scott and Bruce wild attempt of time travel, as you chuckle as they were entertaining, you shake your head. your shoulders tensing. Getting back to work into the nightfall.

“Look at a mod inspiration, let me see what check out. So, recommend one last sim before we pack it in for the night. This time, in the shape of a Mobius strip, inverted, please. 

”Processing...”

Friday was processing as you wandered around the lab, kicking a soccer ball into the glass walls, you could hear your dad scowling at you for leaving ball prints on the clean glass.

“Give me that eigenvalue. That, particle factoring, and a spectral decomp. Gotta take a second.”

“Just a moment.”

“And don't worry if it doesn't pan out. I'm just kinda-” You were interrupted by Friday.

“Model rendered.”

In a complete shock of amazement, the render comes back as successful. You smacked the ball so hard into the glass that it bounced back into your face, but you didn’t care because you were too bewildered by this discovery.

“Holy fuckin’ shit,” You breathed, then laughing in joy, opening the door of the lab, “Bruce, Scott!”

They peaked out, seeing a stupid grin on your face, Bruce couldn’t help but smile. It’s been a while since you smiled like that, it’s been a while since you got excited over something.

“Call Nebs, we’re doing a time heist...”

“Aw hell yeah!” Scott celebrated.

Bruce looks over to you, watching smile to yourself, you glanced up and did a small nod to his way.

“I’ll make suits, it’ll be the four of us and we need a test run, Scott, you’re up for it?”

“Hell yeah, I am,”

“Okay, so the "how" works. Now we gotta figure out the when and the where.” Bruce speaks as he looks at the three remaining people of heroes.

“That’s easy,” Bruce looks at you with a raised eyebrow, “With all data collected throughout the almost ten years you guys have been Avengers, it has the location of most Infinity stones.”

You looked at the blank face of the green giant, you scoffed as Bruce shakes his head, “I’m confused.”

“Am I seriously the only one who reads the paperwork after your missions and I’m not even part of the team, man.”

“Well... You and your dad are very much alike,” Bruce offers weakly as you pulled a face.

“Anyway...”

As you started your rambling with Bruce trying to write everything down despite Friday recalling your words and putting on the hologram, two stones were talked about by Nebula, after a short silence of awkwardness as she mentions that her sister was murdered by their dad, Thanos. You, Nebula, Bruce and Scott examine the screens.

The holograms displaying the different location, the Soul and Power stones in space in 2014. the Reality stone in Asgard, 2013; and the Space, Mind, and Time stones in New York City 2012.

“Bruce, Scott, you two will go to New York City, Nebula and I will go to Asgard and space,” You initiated s they all nodded.

You never thought you would come to a point that you were a leader, in fact, you hated taking responsibility, you hated leading stuff and people looking up to you for direction - it was too much greatness upon your shoulders in your eyes.

“Don’t fuck it up,” You narrowed your eyes, “I mean it-”

“Yes, sir-” Scott says as you looked at him weirdly, “I mean, Mr Stark, er, no, (Y/n).”

As you suit up, you stare at the old suit that you built with your dad, packing it up into a compressed case and held it together on the transporter. Nebula and Scott give you funny looks but you decided to ignore it. 

“Alright, simple in and out mission,” you called out one last time, “Whatever it takes.”

“You know, to obtain the soul stone you have to sacrifice something, Nebula came back with you,” Bruce says as you looked at him annoyed as you tried to assemble a gauntlet.

“The suit, dad and I made together,” You responded, you shoulders deflating, “Technically, it’s last thing I have of him, not the lab, not his tools, not even Friday. Scrap metal of memories left of my dad. I have nothing left of him. I need my dad back, even if it’s the last thing I do.”

Bruce nods, “Carol hasn’t responded to your messages.”

“It’s fine, I’ve been updating her anyway,”

“You talk to her?”

“She’s a good listener,” You shrugged your shoulder, “Even if I’m talking to her through a hologram. Now, uncle Bruce, silence would be nice.”

Bruce opened his mouth before shutting it closed when you give him a pointed look, you cast your eyes towards the gauntlet again as you picked up the stones gently. With nervous precision, you manipulate the machine and carefully places all six stones into the gauntlet.

“Alright, the glove is ready, the question is who will wear it and bring everyone back?” Bring the iron man like gauntlet out to show to Scott and Bruce, “Where’s Nebula?”

“Toilet?”

“Androids can go to the toilet?” You asked Scott, tilting your head at the man who answered your question.

“It’s 2019 man, anything is possible.”

You gave it some consideration as you agreed as you looked at the two men, you placed the gauntlet down on the table to suit up for any accident, your new suit is something you’ve been working on a few months, full of your ideas and ideas that you found from your dad’s blueprints of your old suit. 

“I’ll do it,” Bruce calls out as Scott and you looked up at the half man half hulk, “But the radiation's mostly gamma,” He takes a good look at the gauntlet, “It's like...uh...I was made for this.”

You nod as you helped Bruce place the gauntlet on, watching the metal adjust to the size of his big hand. Scott and you took a few steps back as Bruce lets out a shaky breath.

“You remember... everyone Thanos snapped away a year ago and just bringing them back to now, today. Don't change anything from the last year.”

“Got it.”

“Hey, Friday, do me a favour and activate dad’s Protocol 8,” You called out as the facility goes down into lockdown.

You bring your mask down of your metal suit as you watch Scott do the same thing. Bruce starts to bring his thoughts into what he wants, electricity running through, Bruce was grunting in pain. You wince to see him in pain.

“Uncle Bruce?”

“I’m good!” Bruce managed to spit out, “I’m okay!”

Bruce screams, fighting through the intense pain coursing through his body courtesy of the gauntlet, and manages to snap his fingers. He faints and the gauntlet slides off his arm. You kick the gauntlet away as you and Scott looked over the giant.

“Brucie?” You asked, your mask coming down as you cooled down his burnt arm.

“Did I do it?”

Scott looks outside, it was brighter and birds were chirping, Bruce managed to open his eyes and see your smiling face.

“The grass is always greener on the other side,” You say as Scott laughs, looking relieved.

You looked over to Scott with a smile, hoping you’ve completed what you wanted to do, hoping you have your dad back as you looked back at Banner, a smile had fallen off his lips. Looking up the skyline and seeing the Sanctuary II up in the sky and a single missile heading towards the base blowing away Scott away. Then a continuous array of missiles destroys the base completely.

“Sir?”

You groaned at the voice of Friday, you get up to your feet and see Thanos sitting by. You breathed heavily, your suit covered in ash and dirt.

“Bruce, Scott?” You called out to your comm, it felt funny for you to be participating in hero action as you were not a hero yourself.

“We have the gauntlet,” Scott calls out, he sounds drowned out, “We’re underground but we can make it out.”

“Keep that damn thing away from Thanos,” You growled.

Your suit whirling, tightening. You breathed heavily, it all or nothing. You started to make your way down there, Thanos smirking as he recognised you when he has been invading your dreams as a little boy.

“You could not live with your own failure. And where did that bring you? Back to me. I thought by eliminating half of life, the other half would thrive. But you’ve shown me that’s impossible. And as long as there are those that remember what was, there will always be those that are unable to accept what can be. They will resist.”

You rolled your eyes at his monologue, “Yeah, we’re all types of stubborn.”

“I'm thankful. Because now, I know what I must do.” He stands up, “I will shred this universe down to its last atom. And then...With the stones you've collected for me, create a new one. Teeming with life, but knows not what it has lost but only what it has been given. A grateful universe.”

You put your mask up as he placed his helmet on, “As long as I’m alive, I’ll be damned.”

“I’ve admired you, (Y/n) Stark, from your pretty little dreams, I find a lot of interesting information about you. You are courageous, I commend you for that. But, unfortunately, as much I would love to keep you around, I can’t have you stand in the way.”

“Tough.”

You weren’t a skilled fighter, but you knew the basic of the Iron Man suits. You were able to hold him back off, and in fact, you were surprising yourself in how well you were fighting a Titan. 

Smacking you into debris as you stumble to stand up, using energy to blast Thanos before he gives you one last kick to the ground. Spitting blood into your suit as you pant, struggling to get onto your feet.

“In all my years of conquest...violence...slaughter... It was never personal. But I'll tell you now... what I'm about to do to your stubborn, annoying little planet... I'm gonna enjoy it. Very, very much.” 

Thanos’ entire army is summoned to the ground which includes the Children of Thanos, Chitauri, Outriders. Upon seeing the army descending on Earth, you straighten your back with a fierce determination, you allowed your suit to self-repair and stand against Thanos' giant army alone. Suddenly, a crackling comes in on his communicator.

AC/DC blaring in your ear.

“Hey, kid!”

You stopped, now is not the time to have a hallucination of your dad.

“Kid? You hear me? Sonny boy?” The playful tease of your dad called into your ear. “(Y/n), incoming!”

You pulled down your mask in confusion as you looked around, seeing a yellow portal open up at your left. Three members walk out with two flying above. The original team. Your dad landing on your right with Cap on your left. Natasha on Steve’s left whilst Thor stood on a rock behind you with Clint comes next to your dad.

Another portal opens up, three figures step through; Okoye, Shuri, and Black Panther, fully restored and ready to fight with Sam zooms in from above in his Falcon armour.

Dozens of more portals opening up all around the battlefield. Through one of these, we see Doctor Strange descend in. He is joined by Drax, Mantis, Star-Lord, and Spider-Man.

Everyone watches in confusion and awe as more and more heroes arrive from all corners of the universe, all backed up with forces of their own including Black Panther and his Wakandan army, Valkyrie and the Asgardians, Wong and the Masters of the Mystic Arts and several Ravager ships.

Amongst the throngs of heroes, we see Bucky, War Machine, Rocket, Groot, the Scarlet Witch, the Wasp, and Pepper Potts (clad in her own iron suit) arrive. Nearly every hero has magically been transported to the battlefield to face Thanos' hordes.

“Please, say I’m not hallucinating,” You muttered to yourself, but Tony puts a hand on your shoulder.

“You’re sane, (Y/n).”

You huffed out a burst of laughter, Tony smiles missing your smile and laughter, “Scott? Bruce?”

Giant-Man emerges from the rubble of the Avengers facility with Professor Hulk. The Avengers, Guardians, Wakandans, Asgardians, and Ravagers take up battle positions. The heroes standing across Thanos' forces.

“Your call, kid,” Steve says to you, patting your shoulder, he figured that you were taking lead.

You pulled your mask up, taking your stance as your side looking at the other side. Thanos makes a fist of fury, angry at the outcome. You saved people, you brought them back, you were not letting them go.

“Avengers Assemble!”

“That thing needs to go back where it belongs!” You shouted in the midst of the fighting, Scott had dropped the gauntlet and with Clint, “He might have broken the quantum tunnel but we need another time machine!”

“The van!” Scott calls out as your team hears you groan.

“Anyone see an ugly brown van anywhere?” You yelled, punching one enemy away from you.

Valkyrie answers back it’s whereabouts as Cint passed the gauntlet over to T’Challa, who was far quicker than Clint. 

“Hey kid,” Tony greets, pausing in his fighting to lift his mask up, you do the same.

“Dad,” You breathed out, embracing him into a hug, “I’ve missed you,”

“I missed you too, bud,” Tony sighs happily, kissing your cheek, “I love you son.”

“I love you too dad.”

The gauntlet managed to get into Peter’s grasp as he flew on the back of Valkyrie's Pegasus. Wanda keeping Thanos preoccupied as the cannons of the ship starts aiming towards the battlefield before it all turned up to the sky.

“What’s going on?” Steve calls out.

“Friday, what are they firing at?” You hear your dad through the communication, as you paused your blasting, looking up to the sky.

“Something just entered the upper atmosphere,” Friday replied.

You smirked, “Hey Carol!”

Captain Marvel flies through the ship, and it results in an explosion and the ship crash-landing in the lake, she hovers over and waves at you.

“Hey, little guy,”

“We need an assist here, Carol!”

As Carol makes her way to the van, you, Tony and Peper form a hovering triangle, blasting in each angel as you spin in a circle, having your back faced to each other. You, Tony and Steve all head over to where Carol was. She flies through all of them easily and reaches Thanos. She keeps punching him, but he knocks her to the ground, wears the gauntlet and tries to snap. But Captain Marvel arises again and stops his fingers from snapping. 

Thanos headbutts her, but it does nothing. 

Thanos pulls the Power Stone out of the Gauntlet and uses it in his free hand to hit Captain Marvel away, then puts the stone back into the Gauntlet.

“(Y/n)!” You turn to see Strange with a questioning look, “You’re needed!”

Strange simply raise one finger, reminding you that the one win over Thanos he foresaw is now at risk. You breathed heavily, everything sounded muted out as you watch the team you grew up and admired struggle. You could hear in the background Steve shouting orders as well as your dad.

You just got your dad back, and yet you were easily going to make the decision that he will live. You nod and attack Thanos, pulling on the Gauntlet before Thanos punches you away.

“(Y/n)!” Tony shouts in desperation at the attack. 

You were on your knees, back straight as you looked at the Titan King, “I am the new beginning.”

Thanos snaps his fingers, but nothing happens except a metallic "clink." He sees the Infinity Stones are missing. You have the stones on your own gauntlet, to Thanos' shock

“I think not.”

You snap your fingers with a loud "CLANG" and a blinding flash of white. Rocket fires at a Leviathan and before it devours him, it crumbles into ash. The Black Order starts crumbling to ash. T'Challa and Quill look around in surprise; Steve looks on in exhaustion, knowing that they won. 

Thanos, in horror, looks around and sees his entire army disintegrate. He looks at Steve, who just stares at him. Thanos sits down and mourns before slowly being erased from existence himself.

Tony snaps his head over to you, your metal suit releases you from inside as you crumble down onto the floor. 

“Kid? Buddy? (Y/n)?” Tony frantically calls out as he gets out of his own suit.

He runs up to you, pulling you into his arms. Your breathing is shallow and your right side is completely destroyed as he clutches you tight in desperation. Pepper, Rhodey and Peter all fly over to you.

“Come on, (Y/n), you’re gonna make it,” Tony’s voice cracked, crumbled, tears forming and staining his cheeks.

“My sweet boy,” Pepper coos, fixing your hair as tears were building up in everyone eyes.

Peter gasping, unable to breathe, he found a family, a brother who would tease him and love him no matter what, fading quickly. Rhodey looking at his godson, Tony was not a religious man but they all pray for a God now.

“I did....” You croaked out, you stare at your dad, “it for you, dad...”

“You’ve done me proud, you always make me proud,” Tony chokes, pulling you closer, allowing you to rest your head on his shoulder, your face buried into his neck, “I love you.”

He could see your mouth move, but nothing seems to come out but he hears one last thing, Tony Stark breaks down. He gets you back, you did it for him, only for him to hear your last breath.

Not all of you shall die, Tony decides, your legacy will continue. 

[weartirondad]

Sometimes Home Is A Mess

Prompt: “Please don’t leave me, I can’t do this without you.”“(With bby Peter and Tony) The Avengers are paroned from the according and return to the tower but haven't really asked for forgiveness. Baby Peter remembers days his dad returning with a limp and dent heart. Peter being a little genius connect the dots is now clinging to his father he felt he could have lost. Seeing the avengers gives no only Tony anxiety but to Peter as well. He scream and cries when he's so much a inch away from his farther heart. begging him not to go or leave his side.” (Anon)

A/N: Set after You Made Me A Believer. You don’t hafta read it together but you could.  Also check out this amazing song Home - by Stefanie Heinzmann 

Summary:  When the Avengers break apart, Tony is tired and worn and broken but Peter is there and it helps. -- When the Avengers get pardoned a year later because the world decides they need their heroes back Tony is worn from the fights he fought to get them there and Peter is still there.

FF.net I ao3 

--

There’s a dull ache behind his temple when his fuzzy mind clambers back into consciousness and a throbbing pain sits right behind his sternum. The feeling of his chest split open and his every muscle battered and bruised is a distressingly familiar one and for the briefest of moments the air around him feels too humid and dirty.

He can taste the blood and the sweat and smells the burned flesh and metal. He hears the crunching of sand between his teeth when he moves his jaw. He sees red and feels cold.

He’s not there, though, he knows that. Knows it by the way his ribs are cracked in a meticulously designed half-oval and by the memories he can’t push away.

His near death experience years ago in that cave in Afghanistan feels small, manageable, compared to the new betrayal. The new incision cut open scar tissue he’s been trying his hardest to forget but it’s different this time, somehow, more personal.

A humorless laugh slips past his dry lips at the thought of something being more personal than what Obie did to him and soon after he starts coughing, wincing when each and every fiber of his body is cataloging more pain until he feels it’s all he is.

“Jar?”

The name is out before he can think better of it and when it is – warm and familiar and soothing on his tongue – the wrong voice replies, hesitant in a way JARVIS wouldn’t have been. But Jarvis is Vision now and doesn’t have to answer to him anymore – not like that at least. Just another soul slipping from his desperate fingers that are always searching for a meaning, closeness, a family.

“You seem agitated, boss. Do you want me to call for help?”

He wants to scoff at the notion but thinks better of it, eyes still closed, mouth still dry.

“No,” he croaks out eventually because he doesn’t want help – doesn’t deserve it either. If he has to keep living, he wants to do it like this – in darkness and alone. He wants to embrace the shadows that have been hovering at his doorstep for as long as he can remember.

Some famous dead guy once said ‘We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone.’ and that’s exactly what he wants to do. Somewhere without the hurt, the constant betrayal and disappointment. He just wants peace.

That's all he’s ever wanted.

It’s all he’ll never get.

When F.R.I.D.A.Y. stays quiet he feels tears burn in his eyes. JARVIS would’ve ignored his orders.

He’s close to drifting off again when a small commotion startles him awake – survival instinct kicking in, even in a tower better secured than Fort Knox he’s always alert, always expecting something to attack.

This particular assault, though, makes his heart lighter and his muscles relax for the first time since… since that bunker probably. Since that god forsaken video.

“Peter is here to see you, boss, he asks if you’re up.” The AI’s voice is fond and it eases the pain of missing his old friend. F.R.I.D.A.Y. and Peter are getting along. Peter loves the Irish voice and the way she’s coded. To him she’s family just like Vision is.

“Let him in.”

It’s only been a few months since that fatal shooting that lead him to the boy and his aunt but ever since then they have taken up such a huge part of his life that he can’t remember a time when he didn’t have a kid running through his living room, dropping pens and paper and Lego everywhere.

When Peter is there, every corner of the empty tower is filled with life and laughter and love. He drives the ghosts and memories away, replaces them with new ones – better ones, purer ones – without realizing what he’s doing.

The squirt comes barreling into the room, arms clutching a lime green notebook to his chest, eyes twinkling and lips moving with rambles Tony’s dazed mind doesn’t quite catch.

He is young. He is life. He is hope.

He is everything Tony isn’t.                                                          

But then he stops and takes him in and his mouth slams shut, the audible click of his teeth like a gunshot in the sterile room. The smile in his eyes drains like a plug being pulled and there’s something wary in them now – a mind trapped in a memory – and there’s fear and hesitation.

“Tony?” he asks, voice eons away from the happy one he craves to hear. “Wha – What happened?”

Peter doesn’t drop the notebook like Tony might have. Instead he clutches it more tightly to his chest when he slowly steps closer to the bed, entire posture guarded and tense, ready to bolt at any second but not really wanting to.

“I,” he sighs because he hates lying and then tries not to wince which goes less than successful, “I got into a fight,” is what he settles on but he can see by the frown forming on Peter’s forehead that he’s suspicious. “You know how the super hero life goes – criminals don’t like being stopped.”

It’s a pathetic attempt at a joke and he knows that even with six years Peter can see right through his façade. Damn this kid and his emotional intelligence.

“Normal criminals don’t get that close,” he retorts quietly and then adds, voice dropping: “Pepper said you went out to help Captain America.”

Ah. Well, that’s just unfortunate.

“I did.”

“He hurt you.”

“Maybe I hurt him too.”

That makes the boy pause and look down, gaze stopping on his bruised hand that is connected to an IV stand next to his bed. Somehow, when he looks up again he looks older.

“Mister Vision had to fly out to get you back. If Captain America was that hurt he would’ve brought him back, too.”

Tony hates the matter of fact way he says it and the distrust that swings in his voice when speaking about one of his child hood heroes. He wants to take it all away but he finds that he’s too worn to lie, too tired to comfort, so he does what he does best and deflects.

“I thought you didn’t like hospitals.”

Peter shrugs like it’s not a big deal but his knuckles are turning white with the force he uses to clutch his notebook and when he mumbles a reply he doesn’t meet his eyes, “’S not a real hospital. ‘S like home. I was –“ He breaks off blushing and voice small when he finally looks at him again, “Are you okay?”

A small smile graces Tony’s lips and, to his utmost surprise, it doesn’t feel fake. He likes it when Peter calls the tower home. It feels like a spark of hope that it might be one again one day.

“I’m better now that I’ve got my favorite person in the whole world around to blow kisses on my booboos,” he grins and scoots over to make room on his bed for Peter.

It’s what they usually do when he gets back from a mission and is resting on the couch or his bed and Peter doesn’t waste another second to comply, jumping up and nestling into his side like a cat like he always does.

Like clockwork Tony’s arm winds around the boy’s back despite the pain the movement elicits and Peter leans forward to receive the usual kiss to the top of his head. When he leans back to scrutinize Tony his nose is adorably scrunched up and he looks slightly indignant. “Y’ know, booboo is a baby word and I’m a big boy.”

“Oh, you’re a big boy now, are you?” The offended puppy eyes melt away the last of the Siberian ice and he yields to the little boy. “Okay, okay. You’re a big boy,” he acquiesces, “So what kind of big boy stuff have you been up to while I was gone?”

Peter jumps right into it, pulling up his notebook and showing him how he has been practicing writing cursive. It became a thing just before Peter started school in summer that Tony would start to teach him the art of cursive writing. The moment he saw May’s awful handwriting for the first time he knew he couldn’t let the poor boy learn on that alone, so he took it upon himself to coach him on the intricacies of it.

Despite popular belief he actually loved writing things by hand and he had a good handwriting – it was just impractical most of the time and when did he ever do things for fun?  

The kid is still flicking through his book looking for a particular page when Tony startles both of them with a laugh.

“Did you,” he snorts and blinks away the moisture in his eyes that he’s not sure comes from the pain or the laughter, “Did you really write my name on there? C’mere, show me that!”

The hand not holding Peter in place tugs the book out of his hands and flicks to the side where he had painted a big Iron Man helmet and had written his superhero’s persona’s name next to it for Peter to practice writing the capital I. Peter, being Peter, though had decided to defy him on all accounts and had written his name – Anthony Edward Stark – over and over until the page was full. Ending on a half- finished Anthony Edw –

The writing is shaky and awkward because some of the letters they haven’t even practiced yet but all of them are correct and in that moment Tony loves Peter more than he could ever put into words, more than he ever thought he could love someone and he laughs again and this time he knows the tears are from both the pain of what he’s lost and from the bliss – the future – he’s holding in his arms.

“You think you’re being really funny, don’t ya?”

Peter scoffs and sticks his tongue out at him. “I am funny.”

Iloveyouiloveyouiloveyou

“I really love you buddy, you know that?”

“’Course I do. You tell me all the time.”

 -.-

When the Avengers get pardoned a year later because the world decides they need their heroes back Tony is worn from the fights he fought to get them there.

He’s scared and anxious and angry but when he steps out into the penthouse Peter is sitting there – the picture of a content child – working on a LEGO set Tony is sure is above his age range and his inner storm calms when he approaches and sits down cross-legged next to him, watching him align the pieces carefully and with his tongue tucked between his teeth.

Maybe it’s selfish to break him out of his concentration, maybe he should just let him be but he needs Peter’s strength right now, needs his smile to build up his own because he’s tired and he’s wary and he needs to be reminded what he’s doing all this for.

“Hey bud,” he greets him with a hair ruffle and presses a kiss to the top of his head, lingering an instant longer than he normally would to breathe in the familiar scent. It’s home and it’s safe and it’s wonderful.

“Whataya up to?”

Peter beams up at him and somehow it makes his heart lighter and heavier at the same time. “May got me an AT-AP Walker Set! Pepper promised to help me build it but Morgan was hungry and I think she pooped herself,” he sniffs as if thinking back to a truly awful memory and Tony can’t help the smile forming on his lips. “Do you wanna help, too?”

“I would love to,” he sighs dramatically and leans back against the couch, watching Peter with a lazy smile. When he’s here like this he can almost forget what comes after. “But I still got an important meeting in, uh, five minutes and just wanted to drop by to, uh, say hi.”

Almost.

Slowly Peter puts down the grey bricks he has been working on and eyes him critically. “You never come home early when you still have a meeting,” he notes, “Unless you’re not going to the meeting but I think Pepper’d be mad if it’s important.”

“Shush,” he rolls his eyes and reaches out again to ruffle his hair. A part of him just wants to hold his boy close and never let go but the bigger part doesn’t want to worry him and to keep him as far away from all of this as possible. Which might not be very far for long.

“I promise I’m going. I just wanted to see something cute before I spend the next few hours with all these boring old folks.”

“I’m not cute,” the squirt quips back and goes back to sorting his bricks, “Morgan is cute. I’m –“

“Yeah, you’re what, Petey? Adorable? Precious? As sweet as the marshmallow fluff that’s giving you cavity? Delightful, maybe? Or what about-“

Suddenly his mouth his covered by a small sweaty hand and he can see how Peter is trying to be serious but he’s failing to suppress a giggle. “I’m not cute.”

Seizing the opportunity he tackles the kid into a hug and holds him close, “Okay, whatever buddy,” he breathes into his hair, “You know I love you, right?”

Soft curls tickle his nose when Peter nods dutifully and he knows he has to leave soon, knows he’s already running late and he can’t be – not for this. But suddenly letting go is so much harder than just getting his muscles to release the small body. The conference room suddenly seems so much farther away than just two stories down, it feels like they’re worlds apart and he likes this one better.

“Steve Rogers is requesting entry to the penthouse,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. interrupts his musings and just like that he feels Peter freeze in his hold and look up at him, eyes wide and betrayed and scared.

“What’s he doing here?” he demands, “What does he want? Why’d you let him in? Wh –“ Then, suddenly, he stills and glares, pushing away from Tony’s grasp and crossing his arms in front of his chest in a way that looks less like defiance and more like he’s shielding himself.  

“He’s your meeting, isn’t he?” he all but spits out and it sounds like the ultimate betrayal. His voice is shaking with anger and his doe eyes, usually soft and loving, are as closed off as Tony has ever seen them.

He pushes himself up to sit on the couch instead of on the ground so they’re eye-level and leans forward to rest his elbows on his knees. Without looking away from Peter, he raises his voice to talk to his AI.

“Tell him access denied and I’ll be with them in just a sec.”

“Them,” Peter narrows his eyes, “Who’s them?”

“The Avengers, Peter, I’m sure you’ve heard of them,” he retorts and immediately feels guilty when there’s a flash of hurt in his eyes. He sighs, head hanging, “Look, I’m sorry, Pete. I’m –“

Before he can decide on what to say, he’s being interrupted, something Peter rarely does and never when it’s important but the boy in front of him who dropped his arms and has his hands clenched to fists, shaking with fury isn’t the boy he usually deals with.

“Why are they here?”

“To talk.”

He wants to walk over to him and take him in his arms again to stop him from shaking like a leaf but he doesn’t want to tower over him, doesn’t want to crouch to be on his level either. This conversation is important and he knows he needs to stay put for now.

“The world needs the Avengers, Pete. We need them to protect the world. I need them to protect Morgan and – and to protect you. To protect my fa-“

“NO!” He all but screams and it has Tony mentally take a step back and stare when he’s stomping his foot and pulling his hair.

“No! No, no, no, no, no. NO!” he yells again, “I don’t need them! We – We don’t need them. We have you!” He scowls angrily. “You’re – You’re Iron Man! And they – I don’t trust them! I hate them! I want them to – I want them to go! Tell them to go away!”

Now, without trying to be braggadocios, Tony would say after helping raise Peter for almost two years and having a toddler of his own he has a pretty good grip on the whole parenting thing but – for fuck’s sake – he’s had it easy so far and never really had to deal with an actual tantrum before.

Sure, Morgan fusses and cries and wails like the world is ending sometimes but a four-month-old tantrum is much different from Peter having a meltdown in front of him. Peter, the most well behaved boy on the planet who rather screams into his pillow than at people and who, for reasons he tries not to dwell on, never ever pushes May or him away in fear of pushing too far and losing too much.

Peter is a good kid. Sometimes he’s angry, sometimes he’s sad and sometimes he has so many emotions he doesn’t know how to deal with that he shuts down but the last time Tony has seen him this helplessly angry was the night he found him in a dark alleyway bend over his uncle’s dead body.

The entirety of his small body seems to be filled with rage. He’s trembling with it, overflowing with fury and what looks like something that’s much too close to hatred for Tony to ever want to see it in his boy’s eyes ever again.

He remembers the first time he had to calm him down, remembers the blood and the pain and the harsh light of the streetlamps and he hates it. Hates the Rogues for making Peter feel that way again more than he hates them for leaving in the first place.

“Kiddo,” he murmurs and slides down from the couch, sitting cross legged and with open arms in front of the shaking kid. He doesn’t scoot closer even though he wants to and tries to beckon him towards him with his voice alone. “They won’t hurt you, I promise. I would never let anyone hurt you.”

“But they hurt you.” Peter hasn’t moved yet but his voice has dropped a few pitches and some of the anger is seeping out of his shoulder. Tony would only count it as a half-win, though, when it’s instantly replaced by sadness and fear. Those he knows how to deal with at least.

“I don’t want them to hurt you again,” he whispers, taking a timid step forward and letting Tony reach for his hands that are hanging listlessly by his side. He watches him uncurl them quietly and when he looks up to meet his gaze again there are tears running down his cheeks. “You have to take care,” he demands reverently and takes another step forward, dropping into Tony’s lap and throwing his arms around the older man’s neck.

“You have to take care and come back,” he presses into his collarbone, “You can’t – Please don’t leave me all alone. I only have May and you and I can’t do this without you. I can’t. You have to promise!”

Oh Peter.

Tony pulls the small boy impossibly closer, rubbing a hand over his back and pressing a kiss to his temple.

“I promise I’ll always come back home to you, kiddo.”

And maybe that’s an unfair promise to make when he can’t ever be sure he’ll be able to keep it. Maybe lying makes him a bad parent. But right now he has his kid crying into his t-shirt and he’d do anything to make it better and so he promises himself that he’ll always do his best and fight his hardest to make sure he’ll always be there to make it better.

[gumnut-logic]

okay so i have been having bad brain lately and struggling with life but i just took a deep dive into your ao3 to catch up on all your wonderful words and needed to let you know how brilliant you are (again) bc it’s been a while. thank you for writing the dentist. it’s such a beautiful heartbreaking story and you handled the mental health stuff so very tenderly and carefully and the way virgil’s brothers care so much and so differently, my heart just !!!! (1)

i know we’ll be home for christmas wasn’t my secret santa gift but it truly feels like it when you bless us with injured virgil and beautiful scenery and pure unadulterated fluff. what a beautiful world you have created. sotto voce is just. phenomenal. there are no words for how much it blows me away every time i reread. the prince who would be king?? i don’t normally read medieval stuff but this???? is everything!!! (2)             

shooting star hurts so much but in the best way, you are TOO GOOD to us. finally. i will stop soon dw, but listen, live, lie, laugh, learn & love??? honestly probably my favourite fic ever. i come back to it often and just weep every time because it’s a masterpiece and virgil is so perfect in it, i am just so in love with your writing style. every time you post i get a happy leap in my chest & i get inspired to write my own so thank you for making me love writing again. you’re the best xoxo (3)        

-o-o-o-

I woke up to these this morning and oh my god, I have just reread this so many times trying to work out how to do justice and answer such lovely words ::hugs you so much::

I really couldn’t have written what I have without this wonderful fandom to keep me going. You, in particular, have always been so encouraging and amazing to me, how can I not keep writing?  I stumble across your comments from time to time while rereading fic and they are just so encouraging ::hugs you madly::

I’m sorry to hear that life is being nasty to you ::offers you a Virgil to hug:: I hope things improve as soon as possible. ::more hugs:: I’m glad my fic helps just a little bit. I know I’ve used fanfic in the past to get through rough patches, so I’m really just returning the favour.

Regarding the fics you mention: (wherein Nutty babbles about behind the scenes of her fics)

The Dentist - My most recent actually started out as supposed to be funny, but I’m never in control of these things. I drew from my own phobic experiences (though not of dentists and certainly not caused like Virgil’s). I grew up in a, shall we say, unsympathetic environment to a sensitive child (I am sensitive to a whole bunch of things - side effect of my artistic abilities, I guess, has it’s up and down sides) and developed at least two phobias that messed with my life. The only thing I ask is if someone says they are scared of something, please respect that and assist them in working with it rather than mocking them. It may seem stupid, but the fear is real and terrifying. And yes, Scott Tracy, I’m looking at you - treat Brains with a little more respect, you arrogant flyboy. Not everyone has the same talents. Thank you so much for your kind words and for reading through what turned out to be a very emotional fic ::hugs you lots::

We’ll Be Home For Christmas - I feel Secret Santa is really a gift to everyone. We all enjoy reading each other’s fics and I’m so glad you are enjoying this one. This one has been magical for me. I have learnt so much researching it and I feel I’ve been on the voyage with the boys. Poor Virg, though, I had to injure him just to get the plot moving. I am so mean to him :D I will finish this fic. It has to be finished. I’m enjoying it far too much for it not to be finished. As to the world, I didn’t create it ::hugs:: The beauty of it is that it actually exists just north of New Zealand. I have watched so many videos of this amazing place, I will have to share when the fic is finished :D

Tales of Sotto Voce - This series will always have a big place in my heart as it impacted on my writing like no fic before it. I learnt so much and enjoyed it so much. I really need to finish The Price because John needs to have the last say in this saga and boy, does he have a lot to say. Thank you so much for rereading it. It is always wonderful to hear that my archived words are still being read ::hugs::

The Prince Who Would Not Be King - I’m a little scared of this one. It could essentially become a novel and it would be a steep learning curve for my writing skills. The amount of work involved is daunting and honestly it is tempting :D But not until I finish Shooting Star, We’ll Be Home For Christmas and The Hero :D It seems I can write things at the drop of a hat, in fifteen minutes, at lunch, before work, early in the writing piece, but each story gets to about the three-quarter mark and then I really have to start thinking hard to make sure I tie up all the loose ends and deliver what the story demands - this can’t be done at odd minutes, so gets relegated to time off work where I can focus, hence the delays. Plus my frickin’ muse often refuses to behave ::glares at it:: I’ll wrangle with it and will win eventually ::glares at it some more::

Shooting Star - I was looking at this one yesterday. I have the conclusion worked out, I’m just trying to segway into it. Muse wouldn’t co-operate so I wrote Together instead. This was supposed to be a simple Virgil-John chat fic. It blew up in my face. The emotions in this one just hurt. But I feel it is a conversation the boys had to have. Scott would not just leave his brother up there with a potentially murderous AI. There has to be a reason why it all worked out...and some how or other I now have to illustrate exactly that ::headdesk:: How do I get myself into these situations? But anyway, some more is written, I just have to make it work properly. Thank you for sticking with me as I stumble through my brain working things out :D

Listen, Live, Lie, Laugh, Learn & Love - I have always loved the 5 + 1 fic format, but had never written one. At this point I wasn’t sure I could finish such a challenging format (yeah, look at my long fics now, but back then I was terrified I didn’t have it in me). I also had no idea where the fic was going until about halfway through, was totally new to the fandom and to Virgil’s character and to this day still worry I bent his character oddly with the choir boy bit. It is true that canon Virgil has never sung on screen (that I’ve been able to discover) so this fic is possible, but I’ve never been entirely confident I pulled it off well. So yeah, lots of doubt hovering around this early piece, so your words mean ever so much to me, particularly about this fic ::hugs you lots::

But most of all, the best thing you’ve said in all this is that you are inspired to write. I couldn’t ask for more. There is never anything more wonderful than knowing I have helped another artist pick up a pen or brush or take that step to push their ideas out into the world. The world is so much better the more art and creativity unleashed upon it. The world is crazy about science and technology, but the truth of the matter is that art and creativity and innovation underpin everything our species has ever achieved. That and art can offer such relief from a crazy world that does not lend itself to the natural rhythms of life.

::grin:: I’m not a coffee drinker like the Virg, but you wanna see Nutty devolve into a similar bearhead to the sans coffee Virgil, just see what happens when I’m denied my creative time. You get fic cos Nutty needs to exercise her creativity everyday. It keeps me healthy. It comes in many forms and media, but at the moment it is writing and TAG and yay, lots of fic :D

Aaaand, I’m babbling. Apparently I like to talk about myself ::ducks head shyly:: Sorry :D

But thank you ever, ever so much for all your support. It means ever so much to me and the only way I can really express it is to write more fic. :D

Which reminds me - I do take prompts, do you have something in particular you would like me to write? I’ve just come up on my 100th TAG fic on Ao3 and I should celebrate. I don’t think I’ve written you a special fic. Would you like to make a request?

::Hugs you ever so madly and sticks marshmallows down your shirt::

Thank you so much for reading and being so kind and putting up with my crazy.

Nutty

(off the edge, learning to fly, ignoring that damned migraine I had this morning and worshipping the almighty paracetamol)

[deck-of-cards-arc]

♠ - ♦ -🌹

He turned around, his line of worried sight broken just to face me. The twilight hair spilt over his eyes, only being brushed aside after he heaved his breath.

🌹 “Hey”

♠ “Hi, Rose. Oh, is your arm okay?”

“It’s fine, not the first time I’ve been struck with a sharp object in the same place.”

♠ “You saying it like it’s nothing is still worrying.”

🌹 “There’s more to be worried over, honestly. I can tell from here…”

Lou looks away, his finger twirling a strand of hair. His eyes trail back to the meeting room beside him. I feel compelled to look away as well, just to peek.

♠ “…I’m more worried for him if anything…He’s not the kind to simply stand there””

🌹 “Like a clueless child no less.”

♠ “Lost for words, I’m stunned. I don’t think he’s faced a loss this big. This isn’t like the ones before, we’re surrounded everywhere we go”

🌹 “He’ll be okay, Lou.”

♠ “You sure?”

🌹 “Positive”

I turned my head to Ai, only spotting the empty space beside us. I turned my head further, to see her besides the Joker-bound. They seemed to have stopped, head of the blonde in their hands while her own rubbed circles into their back.

Ai…she’s done well in the field so far. I’m proud of her, she’s grown quite a bit. Still…

This…this was only the start of her fight in this world. Significant scars on her back, arm and legs were the few traces of the battle from just now. They weren’t too deep, but it was a lot to patch up.

And the battle was a brief one too. Who knows how much more she might sustain if it went on for longer. If I weren’t here to drag her out in time…

And Jacques…

I never have seen them so in shambles. Hair a mess and tears welling up in their normally sparkling gold and lavender eyes. Yeah, what happened back in the house, it did happen. But seeing Fia’s bloodied body was nothing compared to the hundred from before.

The atmosphere feels heavier, with the heavy breathing echoing. One couldn’t breathe without it choking you in an iron fist.

♠ “…this one really shook us for good, hasn’t it?”

🌹 “Things are very much different now, we’ve been gone for too long. And it feels like just days”

Just as the sound of my sighs passed, sounds of clicking, clacking echoed. It bounced off the cave walls, turning all of our heads to further into caverns. With her flat heels from her burnt umber boots, a tall figure with sleek features ambled her way over to them. Her hands rested at her front, clasping ever so gently onto her long staff as if the object did not weigh anything in her palms. Her dress, dark cadmium cloth layered over pure white and black accents, was flowing behind her. The shape of her skirt was long enough to form a path behind her. Along with the dark red cape draped over her shoulders, under the curls of her long scarlet hair that outlined her chin like the frame of an artist’s finest work. Looking ahead to the group, the ethereal presence of a Hearts Sister already brought Lou a smile to his lips.

♠ “Miss Le Fond!”

♥ “Your highness.”

-To which Evequeline answered with a bow.

Lou scrunched his face for only a second. He wasn’t so keen on the royal salutations but he put on a smile anyway.

🔥 “Hey, Miss High Priestess, haven’t seen you in a while...” Ai greeted as well, tone as flat as ever

♥ “Me neither, little one. I’m glad to see you all safe and sound” She brushes her hair from her cream milky skin like it hasn’t been so groomed enough.

🌹 “Safe, yes. But not exactly sound.”

♥ “At least all of you did well to fend off the armies so we could retreat. We appreciated your efforts just in time.”

🌹 “Thanks, I guess.”

♥ “Do any of you need any medical attention? Or perhaps food, there should be plenty from the neighbouring town. Blessings upon them for being generous to let us stay in the vicinity.”

🔥 “I think some of us need a rest…just for a bit…”

♥ “Very well, come with me. I’ll bring you to the quarters”

Ai nodded, helping Jacques up from the wall to follow. I began to take a step forward before I realised I didn’t hear any steps behind me. Lou barely had moved from the entryway, his head back to looking longingly away.

🌹 “You want to stay?”

♠ “I don’t want to leave him yet.”

🌹 “Can’t fault you for that, I guess…Well, if you’re not leaving then so am I”

♠ “H-Huh?”

🌹 “Or do you perhaps want some alone time?”

♠ “O-Oh, uh, I don’t want you to push you away if you want to see Morgan after this. He’s your friend too, after all.”

🌹 “I’m fine with leaving you two love birds alone, you two could use it”

♠ “Ah, eh…it’s okay, I’m fine with you staying”

🌹 “Settles it then”

I turned back around, pressing my back again to the cave wall. Charcoal hair spilt over my shoulder, ice blue eyes looking back and forth between the stone floors and the source of the babble just beside me. Soft candlelight illuminating the space, warmness to contrast the chilling crawls up my spine. I could just hear the frosted words coming from the second-in-commands in the room, every piece of news they laid upon was another cut. I couldn’t imagine how Morgan must’ve been thinking. I could have a general silhouette formed in my head but it was too much of a blurry shadow than anything. He spent a day dancing under the glorious sun while the rest of the resistance caved into the fell step of the Rouge Kingdom. And so, they resorted to caves because of it. Looking over to Lou, I couldn’t fathom what ran in his head either. They let what they cared for be reduced to almost dust. Though unlike Morgan, I could try to sharpen the blurry silhouette.

🌹 “Lou…are you doing okay?”

♠ “Not really…I’m thinking over everything. How are we going to get the resources we need? How are we going to make out next move?… How the king is going to react to this…”

🌹 “He’s not going to be positive towards it, that’s for sure”

♠ “Obviously. I’m over him taking control of my life but…he’s definitely going to drag me back as soon as he knows I’ve returned from Earth”

🌹 “He won’t, we won’t let him at least”

♠ “…thanks, I really appreciate that”

🌹 “Hey, if that dick thinks he can just come to collect you and hurt you again, he’ll get it”

♠ “That’s at least a consolation in such trying times. Right now, I just want my focus on just one thing”

He turned back to the room, his lips tightly pressed together.

🌹 “Let me guess, him?”

♠ “I’m predictable, aren’t I? I just…I just want him to be okay. Level-headed at least through this. Maybe not now, but soon.”

“He better be. The resistance needs him to be, more than anything”

♠ “I just…am hoping for the best for him. All eyes are on him, after all.”

🌹 “I’m hoping too…but he’s confident. He’s clever and he’s crafty. I’m sure he’ll pull through. After all, you’ve seen how he is, haven’t you?”

Lou lifts his head, his sapphire eyes focused onto me. I could’ve sworn I saw the shines in the jewels return, glisten like the fragment of the stars they once were.

♠ “I have. And he impresses me more than anything. Yeah…he’ll be alright”

I feel the smile creep back to my face. At last a glimmer of hope, in this dreary dark cave. And soon, it becomes darker, the candlelight fading. With that, the steps of the people trotted right of the room. I had to pull Lou aside so he wouldn’t get trampled by them. Left and right, their scampers echoed. Their faces passed us both, all going in their separate directions. But none of their faces was the one we recognised. Lou peeled himself from the wall, head of the twilight peeking around back to the meeting room. And within it, was a space already attempting to thrive of flora.

The commander had already tossed his seeds around, with the flower vines crawling up the stone. And there he was, standing with papers scattered over the makeshift table of crates. Holding down the papers were the cutter of instruments strewn about. Sticks of chalk, callipers, compasses, rulers, quills and many, many pots of ink. A map was held up loosely by vines pressing the sheet of parchment against the wall. In the middle of the room, darting between each crate of the papers, was Morgan. Grassy green cape tossed aside, revealing his leather and black cloth under armour. Twirling his brunet hair, his head kept whipping to every possible direction. The mutterings under his breath were repeated and much faster than before. I turned to my side, seeing Lou helplessly watching as the commander raced past him multiple times. It wasn’t until I made a simple coughing sound that Morgan stopped for a second. Mere second to whip his head around and eye the prince and the earth dweller standing awkwardly in the entryway.

♦ “Oh hey, you two!”

♠ “Morrie, how did it already get so messy, the rest had just left the room-“

♦ “Can’t answer, trying to focus…Were you waiting outside this whole time?”

🌹 “Yes, we have”

♦ “Aww, that’s sweet. But uh- Chérie, Rose, you should probably sleep? It’s late out, isn’t it?”

♠ “And you?”

“Oh, I’ll be fine, I just gotta plan for our next move. The essence of time and all that. After all, our sources to the rest of the lands are cut off. We can’t receive any sort of help from the Noir kingdom without them being trampled too. I’ll uhh, brief you all in the morning once I have a solid plan in place-“

♠ “Morrie, how much you have to plan”

♦ “Uh…hmmm. Well…”

🌹 “Morgan.”

♦ “There’s a lot of aspects to consider, lots of options to play. But this is fine, this is fine, I can ma- Whoops!“

♠ “M-Morrie, careful! You’re rushing everywhere!”

🌹 “Jeez, Mona, what are you even doing?”

♦ “Just have to think, just have to think, it works better when I have plants around at least”

🌹 “Explains the seeds everywhere-“

♠ “But you should be sleeping, we have the morning to do something.”

♦ “But-“

🌹 “Okay, Morgan, calm down. You’re panicking. And it seems like you’re not thinking straight. Not really a benefit for planning”

♦ “No, I’m not? I’m fine, just let me work stuff out“

♠ “Morgan-“

♦ “I’ll be fine!”

🌹 “Morgan…”

♦ “It’s going to be fine, Just lea-“

***THWACk***

It…well wasn’t the best of choices to hit Morgan in the head with the hilt of my sword as he ducked away for parchment. And it didn’t help that Lou was standing there horrified, eyes widened as he stared at the unconscious body on the cave floor. Understandable reaction afterwards, though-

♠ “EST-IL MORT? QUEL GENRE DE MERDE AS-TU FAIT??”

🌹 “He’s fine…for now at least.”

♠ “Y-you sure???”

🌹 “As I much as I can be, it was just a blow to the head. Do you know where the sleeping quarters are?”

♠ “Yeah, I do. I think I passed his a few steps ago. Uhm...Are you going to-“

🌹 “Carry him? Yes”

As I said, I lifted him up and draped him over my shoulder like a rag doll. For someone taller than me, he’s to fireman carry, at least when the living daylights were forcefully smacked out of him. The Spades-bound simply gave him a head pat for reassurance, tousling his unkempt brunet hair before his steps lead me away. Heaving, I traversed down the caverns with him.

We all travelled deeper into the cave, me only being distracted by the stalactites looming over us. Normally, one would be amazed by the spacious caverns. Maybe by the flowing streams of the water through the walls and the like. But my mind was adrift elsewhere, wandering the spaces far beyond the cave. How could I not, as I twirl my charcoal black hair in my fingers? I would be here much longer than expected, not that I wanted to leave any of them behind. This resistance would need everything to get back on its feet.

Not before long, the stepping sound on the stone came to a halt, so did I. Lou stood just adjacent to the open entry to the quarters. Since it was a cave, after all, the “room” was an open floor plan, one could say. The considerably small beds were simple, strewn and strung together hay clumps packed together by whatever solid building scraps that were salvaged. Pillows were substituted with sacks of more straw and blankets were seemingly replaced with the crew’s rags. The floor was ornamented with few wooden boxes, filled with rations, a leather quiver of arrows and a crafted bow. The only other attractions were the unlit candle just beside the bed and the spilt sacks of seeds dumped so dispiritingly in the corner, with only some sprouting early. Overall, not something I was used to but what else did I even expect?

I hobbled my body over to the hay bed, dumping the body onto the golden pile. I sat down at the edge of the wooden frame, releasing and taking in a long deep breath. I could hear the planks creak as Lou gripped the frame next to me before settling on a seat. Us both sat in the silence that hung above us, like the haunting shadowy shapes of the spikes on the ceiling. I gulped the awkward tension down my throat, barely swallowing it just to say at least something to him.

“You should sleep first. I mean there’s not much of room to spare on this one, so I guess you can take this one”

♠ “R-right...”

🌹 “Is…something wrong? He’s going to be fine when he wakes up, Lou”

♠ “It’s not that, it’s…just now…”

🌹 “That was…a whiplash to witness, yeah”

♠ “Normally, yeah, I do care a lot for his well-being and safety. But now, that conviction feels…heightened. Like more, a lot more, after seeing that”

“He might just need some rest, he did just come back after the dance and fighting off the Rouge Armies. Just be with him when he wakes. After all, I don’t know anyone else he might like to see first thing in the morning”

♠ “What? No, I’m sure there are more people he’d like to see once he wakes. You're his friend, he’d like to see you. I think? Or Jacques, the two became closer since he was tasked with the resistance. Oh, Ai? They seem like buddies”

🌹 “No- Lou-, you know why it's you he wants to see. Specifically you.”

…

♠ “Oh it's because I kissed him”

I didn’t even notice my hand automatically on my forehead for just a second as he finally pieced it together.

“He loves you, Lou. You're technically his boyfriend now, ohmygod-“

♠ “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I’m still getting used to that! The whole love thing, I still don’t get much of it”

🌹 “It’s okay. If it helps, I can guess that you’ve loved him for a long time. Just took you a while to realise it, no?”

♠ “I suppose, that’s right…And I think he's loved me for a long time as well, so it shouldn’t be so different from the usual.”

🌹 “Just go sleep with him, you goof”

♠ “Okay, okay, I’m getting to that.”

🌹 “Night, you two”

♠ “Au revoir à demain!”

Stood up from the wooden plank frame, I made my way over to the exit whilst my hand fluttered a wave goodbye. And with that, I resided back to the caverns amongst the drops of shimmering water that dotted the walls like precious stones from a mine. I couldn’t help but feel the need to touch them, excavate them as if they were the gems they appeared to be. My breaths were nothing but cold clouds that brushed my face as I navigated the caverns. I couldn’t help but brush my hand through my charcoal hair again, to be lost in the sea of the thoughts again. I didn’t even know where my legs decided to drag me to whilst my mind ventured elsewhere. Still, I couldn’t think of much else.

What happened earlier, and what happened before that…

Now that I thought more into it, there weren’t many good options to pick before the resistance could crawl out of the corner they were thrown into.

It was already unexpected enough that some of the Hearts-bound still were within the control of the king, driving them away was already a hassle in it of itself.

Even the High Priestess of the Hearts couldn’t have expected their betrayal of their fellow sisters and brothers, as she said.

I could only wonder as I wandered the cavern. To find me back to the meeting room before long. The room was still the cluttered mess as we had left it. I heaved a sigh. If he were to come back here in the morning, then I suppose he’d prefer it to be clean. Was a good thing that at least magic worked in this world, I thought as I snapped my fingers. I watched the pens pick themselves up and marched into a collective neat pile on the cracked open crates. The ink pots lifted from the ground, the spilt darkness from those pots too. They arranged themselves in their spot in between the orderly dancing chalk and rolling pencils. I picked up the parchments with the scribbled letters on my own. I took my sweet time with those, using that time to look upon the written scratches on them. I didn’t expect such disorder sprayed across the page like a half-assed toss of salt into the pan. But the words and diagrams I could make out were nothing short of fascinating. Lists of notes of tiny details, in such tiny handwriting. The small drawings on the sides were illegible at best but they were a treat nonetheless into the commander’s head. Taking the papers and neatly packing them together, I set the pile aside. As I did, I noticed the streaks of green crawl up the stone. They moved so quickly on their own, but their frail forms couldn’t reach so far ahead. I touched a vine, letting it slither past my finger.

♠ “MOOOOORRRRRRRRIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

I whipped my head around, hearing the ever familiar voice and nickname reverberating just behind her

🌹 “Lou?”

♠ “ROSE! ROSE! WHERE’S MORGAN?”

🌹 “He’s, uh, not here. Wait, did he just disappear?”

♠ “He did, he did! I just woke up and he was just GONE. And he left his card with me, that breaks the first rule of the Card-bounds. AND HE NEVER BREAKS THAT.”

🌹 “Well shit, I don’t know if the guy can catch a break-“

♠ “I thought so too, that’s why I ran over here. You haven’t seen him in here?”

“No? I didn’t see anyone in here since I came in. If he teleported here, I couldn’t have known though. The place was a mess”

♠ “Oh no, what if he teleported to somewhere dangerous? WITHOUT BACKUP!?”

🌹 “I don’t think he'd run away, not when we need him now. So he shouldn’t be far…but this is a cave.”

♠ “Right, right…”

🌹 “Okay, I’m going to teleport around the cave and see where-“

♠ “Wait…wait, I think I know he might be.”

🌹 “You do? Already?”

♠ “Remember what he said in here? When he was panicking?”

🌹 “When there were seeds everywhere…”

♠ “Can you teleport us to outside the cave, I know where a bunch of them are.”

I nodded, placing a hand on the Jack of Spades’ small shoulders and snapping my fingers with the other.  A blink later, and the sky was open to us. The darkness above us, painted with blue and pale white streaks of midnight across the clouds. The soft luminance of the moon, coupled with the splatter and splash of the stars across the canvas. But it was no time to be distracted by the night sky just yet. Not even by the soft winds whistling by or the lights of the night owls in the town just far off in the distance. Not when my arm was already being dragged away to the west. Crinkling the grass beneath our feet as Lou led me away, I heaved my short breaths trying to keep up. For someone so small, he was fast on his feet. And it didn’t take long before we reached a forested area. It wasn’t too heavy with trees, but the ones that did grow there were taller than what I've seen before. They could pierce the painted sky above us so easily. Their branches stretching far and wide, hugging the spaces below in the gentle shade. I didn’t even notice the trees were here. Nor did I notice the rustling of leaves just behind us. It was only when the arrow had flown past us, stabbing the trunk of the tree in a flash that I realised he was here already.

♠ “MORRIE!”

Out from the side of another lumbering tower of nature, the aforementioned poked his head out

♦ “Oh, shoot, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

🌹 “I thought you were a good shot, Mona”

♦ “I am, I am! I wasn’t going to kill both of you with that, I’m not that crazy!”

🌹 “Okay, dude chill-“

♠ “You were already going to kill me with worry… Running off without me knowing, really?”

♦ “I thought you were tired, guess not. Heh, I suck at even guesswork.”

♠ “Morrie, what's wrong, you're not…like this. You don’t disappear without warning…you don’t just leave your things like your card out…And you don’t just leave me like that…”

♦ “Chérie, I’m fine, I just…I just can't stop thinking-“

🌹 “About the Rouge kingdom? About what they did.”

♦ “…yeah”

🌹 “Morgan, none of it was your fault-“

♦ “THEN WHO ELSE JUST LEFT THE RESISTANCE TO FALL APART LIKE THIS? I let my self get too comfortable in Earth, I let everyone be defenceless and look what happened. I got complacent. I lost almost everyone. I’m a horrible leader, Rose, now everything is has gone to shit.”

Lou backed up, shoulders dropped and sapphire eyes widened. I still stood rooted to the ground, though my feet were willing to back away too.

🌹 “Morgan…you did all you could from Earth. It was a quiet period, no?”

♦ “Quiet doesn’t mean peaceful, I should’ve known that. I should've known more. Instead, I’m a reckless idiot who abandoned everyone…”

🌹 “There's no use beating yourself over your mistake, Morgan. If you weren’t a good leader then, be a good leader now. And trust me, you are one.”

♠ “Morrie, she’s right…and please don’t worry, we’re still here.”

♦ “I …I lost half of them, what if I lose you all too…”

♠ “You won’t, we’ll all be here. We’re not going to leave you…I won’t ever leave. I promised that to you, didn’t I?”

♦ “…that you'd stay with me, even against your father’s wish?”

♠ “Even against the world…Morrie, I’m not going anywhere. We’ll win this war together. I’ve seen you do amazing things, even as only an Ace. Even before you were bound! So I know…you’ll do great.”

♦ “…chérie…”

The Diamond-bound let out a heavy breath, making his steps towards Lou and ruffling his twilight hair. Pressing his forehead to his, I knew I could see the gentle smile peeking through.

♦ “I love you”

♠ “I love you too, Morrie.”

I felt a little guilty for being an audience to the two, simply standing there with arms crossed and a smile spread across my face. But I wouldn’t lie by saying I wasn’t heart warmed by the sight. I was going to step away, snap my fingers back to the cave. But-

♠ “Hey, c’moooon, you get a hug too”

🌹 “Wh-, Who me?”

Before I had much more to retort with, the winds “mysteriously” pushed me to the pair. A little too forcefully, as I crashed both of them to the grassy dirt. The night was less quiet now, filled with our laughter erupting all so suddenly in our hug pile. It was strange really, to be so happy now. With whatever to be scheduled tomorrow. But none of us was going to complain after all. It was a good night. A good night which we were happy enough to sleep through once we finished our pile

---

> Next morning

[imgaygremlin]

Left in disrepair

Chapter 1- The one where hearts are broken

A golden bunny- well- an anthropomorphic one, shoved a girl- no more than 4, into a small back room, with no witnesses and nothing to protect her. Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, the newest place kids loved to go to, had several back rooms not mapped on the robot's sensors, or the cameras, making the perfect place to hurt- or worse, kill- someone.

The small girl breathed heavily, scrambling against the wall as a first resort. She whimpered, and decided using her voice would be the best way to ensure her safety. “What are you doing?” Her voice was shaky, and cloaked in a thick lisp, making her almost inaudible. She heard her friends running around outside, looking for her. “Gabriel?” She called, but to no avail. Nobody heard her.

“Shush, Susie. Just give up, they’re not coming to help, and you’ll soon be dead, too" he laughed, it soon turning maniacal and evil, and pulled a knife out from somewhere inside his suit. There were no pockets that Susie could see, so it had to have been on the person inside it.

“You aren’t really a robot, are you?” Upon seeing his reaction, a nod, her eyes flashed between almost every single emotion- sad, that she was alone; happy, that the robots weren’t trying to kill her; anger, that she was letting herself die like this. Her eyes eventually settled on a emotion that was particularly hard to describe, but to put it simply, was betrayal. Betrayal of the adults she thought she could trust. Betrayal that she couldn’t put up a strong fight.

“Good job, kid, you aren’t completely useless.” He chuckled, putting on different voices. Even though they were already almost pitch black, the man- the human’s eyes- seemed to grow darker with bloodlust and he lunged towards the girl, knife swinging outward. It missed her, by a fraction of an inch, and while he was distracted by the recoil and pressure on his arm, his breathing getting heavier- a bad sign- she threw a punch towards his face, and hit him square in the nose. His head got pushed backwards, not by much though. He stood back upright, his smile showing through his gapped teeth.

“That’s the best you can do? You’re weak.” He rocked on the balls of his feet, and made a split second decision to get rid of the Bonnie head, leaving it discarded on the floor. He could no longer act like someone he wasn’t, or rather, something he wasn’t. He smiled, a sweet, sadistic smile which had no traces of regret, or remorse, or really any emotions.

“I’m not the weak one, you are. I might be young, but you’re the stupid one, for attacking me. Don’t get me wrong, I love a fight, but only if it’s fair.” She managed to distract him with her mini speech, and took her chance to duck out behind him, only to find the door locked. Tears growing in her eyes, she fumbled with the door handle, trying to force it open. Eventually, she gave up, sinking back to the ground, sobbing. “I’m sorry, Gabriel, I’ve failed you...” her voice trailed off.

All the while, the man was just staring, knowing she couldn’t escape, and if she could, he would take the defeat. He took his chance, stabbing her in the side while she was crying, her eyes widening in pain. “You can’t get out that easily, Susie. I won’t let you.”

She screamed in pain, one hand holding onto the door handle weakly. The other hand moved towards her side, and she curled in on herself. He simply laughed, watching her futile attempts to save herself. “Welcome to the Afton family, Susie" his smile widened.

“Y-you won’t get away with this, William” she got stabbed in the neck and could not ignore the pain. She collapsed on the floor and bled out.

William climbed out of The suit and stepped over Susie’s body. He dropped his knife, his purple ponytail bouncing behind him. Snapping back into character, he went over to Henry Emily, the person he’s worked with for several years, and faked some tears.

“Henry- I just went into the backroom for some storage and- there was a girl in there- she- she was dead-" he got cut off by Henry dragging him into a private room, alone. He looked almost impressed.

“You can’t lie to me William, you can’t.” That last phrase- you can’t- was one that Henry said a lot, in different tones, but it was always the same phrase. “I know you killed her. Tell me who it was and I’ll tell her parents she went missing.” He smiled, not meaning anything malicious by it, he was just a bit messed up after his daughter died. Henry got on his tiptoes and kissed William, quickly.

“Susie Chirah. She’s strong" Afton laughed slightly, before going on to explain his reasoning. “ You know how Elizabeth, and Chris, and Michael- all either died or left me, right? And for you it’s Charlie? I was thinking-" His face shifted, his eyebrows going down and his smile fading. “We can make a new family, one that’ll never leave us.” He pushed his hair out of his face.

Henry stared up at the 6”2 man, his eyes wide. His oversized sweater had gotten even more oversized as he lost the weight, almost unhealthily, and his hands were covered in ink and oil. Despite this, William loved him. For Henry, William was his only comfort after everyone in his life had left him- not even his sister stayed in contact with him. “Does that mean- Charlie- could come back? In the same way these new children will?”

“In theory, yes.” He paused. “But it might not, as we don’t know what happened to Charlie.” When Charlie- and Sammy- were around, William saw them as his children, and he looked after them like he was their father, but then they started taking too much of his time, so they had to go.

“Oh, speaking of Charlie, come with me!” Henry grabbed William's hand, and dragged him into one of the other back rooms- the safe room, to be specific- and showed him the work-in-progress robot he made, which was almost indistinguishable from how Charlie looked when she was alive. “I haven’t made the ai yet, but it looks like Charlie, doesn’t it?”

“Yes-" he paused, “it looks just like her.” He seemed to rock on his feet, his usually confident facade broken down into- admiration? Love? Jealousy? All of William's emotions were a jumble right now, he couldn’t tell what was ‘William Afton, the businessman’ or ‘William Afton, the broken man’.

“Are you okay? You look upset.” Henry reached towards his hand, but he pulled away.

“I’m fine- I’m sorry- I just remembered something” William quickly looked around the room, before looking back towards Henry. “You’re really beautiful...”

“Should we go back outside?” Henry reached for his hand again, and this time, William didn’t pull away. He gently nodded, and began to leave the safe room. “So.. Susie Chirah?”

“Yeah, that’s her. Have you ever seen a 3 year old so strong? It’s unreal.” William chuckled, sounding more human than he ever had done.

“We’re getting a new night guard tonight, right?” Henry looked around. “’Cause we both have stuff to do, right?”

“I believe so. I think his name is Warlock...”

“Odd name" Henry got the phone he always used, the cheap one. “Wanna help me record a tutorial message for him? This place isn’t too easy to navigate on those cameras.”

“But that means we have to do 5 nights worth of tutorials for one person.”

“Not necessarily. What if something happened to ‘phone guy’ on night 4? Like, being attacked by the robots?” Henry began to chew his nail, out of anxiety, or a whole load of different emotions.

“Or, just let Warlock make them. We can give him extra pay.”

“You’re a genius, William.”

“No, I’m William.” He giggled slightly.

“You need sleep, sweetie.” Henry, being surprisingly strong, picked him up, and walked around the back way, avoiding Susie’s parents, and only put him down when they were in the office. “Go to sleep, and I’ll sort out Susie’s parents"

“I love you, Henry...” And like that, William was asleep.

“I love you too...” Henry left the room, a smile on his face.

He walked towards the main room, where he could see Mrs and Mrs Chirah “Uh- excuse me- you’re the mothers of Susie, right?”

“Yeah...?” One, with a short, half-shaved pixie cut spoke with a thick Japanese accent

“I-I’m so sorry, but... your daughter has gone missing... Me and William can’t find her anywhere... I’m sorry..”

The two wives almost burst into tears, and they left the pizzeria quickly.

Henry sat down, and zoned out.

Meanwhile, William soon woke up, and got to work on increasing the size of his new family. He found his trusty suit, and lured a couple kids into the backroom with their own drawings. “Come here, kids, I found your missing drawings, and I even made them better!”

The oldest child, Cassidy, being almost 6, was the hardest to get trust from, and so he relied on blackmail. Since William had known them all for basically their whole life, he knew what to say to get her to behave. “If you don’t come here, your brother won’t love you anymore.”

“G-Gabriel wouldn’t do that, I know... I think...” She began to question what she knew. Without knowing what she was doing, she began to walk towards William, where her brother, and the Styke siblings were- that is, Fritz and Jeremy.

“That’s right, I won’t hurt you..” He lied. As Cassidy approached him, he grabbed her by one of her short ponytails and dragged her backwards into the safe room with everyone else. William locked the door behind her.

“What are you doing? Why did you lie?” Cassidy started crying, but tried to stay strong.

By this time, Gabriel and Fritz were already dead, on the floor. Jeremy had blood running out of the back of his head, and appeared dead. “You’ll soon be my new children, poor Cassidy. But that’s not a bad thing, you’ll forever be, well, young.”

“I won’t let you hurt anyone else! You’re the reason Susie is missing, aren’t you?” Cassidy almost screamed, her voice sore in the back of her throat.

“Oh, stupid girl, Susie isn’t gone, she’s right here!” He waved his hand and the figure of Susie’s ghost formed next to him.

“That isn’t Susie! That’s just a trick you’re using to kill me!” Cassidy was in tears at this point, and sunk down to the floor, hugging her knees.

Afton took the chance, stabbing her in the chest. He missed, but swung again, and hit her head.

Her hands fell to her side, and her head lolled open, her mouth slightly open. William went to step over her.

Jeremy, unknown to everyone else, was still alive, and went to chase after William. Unfortunate for him, he collapsed over Cassidy's body, his spirit giving up.

William returned, with the suits from the stage. Susie in Chica, Gabriel in Freddy, Fritz in Foxy, and Jeremy in Bonnie.

“Dammit, I need another suit...” he thought for a second, before running off and returning. He then stuffed Cassidy's body into the Golden Freddy suit, more comfortably fitting than the others, as there was no endoskeleton in Golden Freddy.

William, satisfied, left the room.

[apex-academy]

Chapter 3: Down Down Down and the Flames Went Higher (#21)

“Um, hello! Good morning! I’ll be unlocking the cafeteria now, so feel free to have breakfast at your leisure and let me know if you need anything! Have a nice day…!”

“...”

Oh, it’s morning, huh. Definitely a good idea to drink the coffee last night. Yep. Slept perfectly fine. 

Well, no use lying around complaining about headaches and heavy eyelids. Time for the breakfast meeting.

...

No announcements besides Mahavir spelling out who’s allowed in the pool on what days. Not sure how he’s going to check for trespassers on the girls’ days if he wouldn’t dare glance in there, but it’s the thought that counts.

I say hi to Aki as I dump my tray, but she’s about as talkative as usual. I’ve pestered her enough for a good while, I think. For now, I approach Kaichi.

“Can I see your notebook?”

“I’d just ask if you found anything, but...”

“Yeah, I sure haven’t.”

He glances at the table in front of him, then the empty stretches of bench on either side.

“Which notebook, again?”

“The one in your surfboard.”

“What?”

He examines his surfboard but comes upon the hidden compartment a little quicker than last time.

“Oh, hey, ’s a good idea.”

“I guess most notebooks wouldn’t fit in your pockets. Otherwise I’m not sure why it has to be in your surfboard.”

He pulls out the journal and leafs through it rapidly.

“ ’d end up setting it somewhere ‘n’ leaving it, prob’ly. No reason t’ assume a random notebook I spy on a table ‘s mine, either. But this guy—” he waves the board a bit—”I know is mine, so.”

Seems logical enough. Almost.

“The notebook's got your name across the front of it, though.”

“What, there couldn’t be another Kaichi?”

“...”

He shrugs.

“Nah, just might not be able t’ tell ‘f I’m too far ’r at th’ wrong angle, yeah?”

“But whatever. What’m I looking for?”

“...”

I guess I need to explain everything all over again. This is going to get old quick.

...

“...And please take better notes on the situation. I don’t want to explain this a third time.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

He flips through the last filled-out pages.

“Not seeing anything useful, though. Dunno why there would be.”

“Prob’ly not gonna write stuff down ‘bout m’ attackers while I’m passing the heck out.”

“Fair.”

“I was hoping for something more on move-in day. The rest of us may have had our memories messed with by the knockout drugs, but if the person responsible didn’t know about your notebook...”

“Doesn’t look like any pages got ripped out ‘r erased, ‘t least. S’ they either didn’t know it was here ‘r didn’t see anything threatening.”

“Guess so.”

I start to take a step back but pause.

“And your talent’s not even in there?”

He doesn’t even paw through it again.

“Nah.”

“...”

Whatever. It can’t be that important unless he turns out to be Super High School Level Robot Hacker or Demolition Expert or something.

Speaking of demolition...

I wind my way to the stairwell. Might try to get a better look at that brick before I start plotting its demise. It’s a little shadowy in that crawlspace, but my student ID should provide enough light if I aim it right. Otherwise, I can grab a flashlight from the student store. Maybe get started on some actual art, too. Give me an excuse to be in there.

I exit the stairwell and start down the hall, but...

“What?”

I run up to it, but the door is suddenly just as boarded up as the nurse’s office. Wedging my fingers under, I pry at one of the boards, but it won’t budge. As expected.

None of us did this, and I seriously doubt Monochap suddenly boarded up an open access room without good reason. The obvious reason would be the almost-hole in the wall. Meaning he probably knows about my attempt yesterday.

“...”

I spin on my heel and run. If Monochap's set on punishing me, fleeing the scene of the crime won’t help, but hanging around it sure won’t, either. I don’t get the chance to hesitate at the stairwell door at this speed—

So I slam straight into Mahavir as he tries to step out.

“Crap, sorry—!”

“Er, it’s fine?”

He pushes himself away from the door frame that I so politely shoved him into and straightens out his suit. He steps aside before looking past me.

“What’s going on? Are you all right?”

I take a deep breath, but my heart is still pounding.

“I’m fine, just...”

“...”

I might as well tell the truth, right? If Monochap’s going to hunt me down, then Monochap’s going to hunt me down, whether I fess up or not. And if I was going to be punished, it would have happened already, right? Maybe the mastermind knows I was making an attempt, but the cameras don’t catch that area well enough to prove it?

I don’t know. I can’t come up with anything else to tell him, anyway.

“Okay. Here’s the short version.”

I cover my mouth and talk as quietly as possible. He’s clearly lost on how the wiring could have affected the mortar, but he seems to hear me all right.

“And the art room is closed off now?”

“Yeah.”

I walk him over there, but he can’t budge the boards, either. At least not without seriously injuring himself or possibly me.

“Does this mean it was a real threat to the mastermind’s plan?”

“That seems likely.”

“...”

He glances around the hallway before taking a step back.

“One moment.”

He hurries down the hallway before turning the corner and vanishing from sight. Nothing for me to do but wait. When he returns...

“That’s... a big barbell.”

He must have stopped in the weight room. He’s not going to kill me with that thing, right? I wouldn’t expect him to, but it’s hard not to be a little nervous. How much does that weigh?

“The head should still fit between the studs.”

“Between...”

“Wait, what are you doing?”

He steps up by the art room door and gives the wall beside it a few taps before holding the barbell like a battering ram.

“This is an interior wall.”

With that, he slams the weight into the plaster. I fling my hands up as chips go flying.

“Grrrah!”

After a few more whacks, he ducks through the hole to smash through the other side of the wall.

Is he going to bring the whole building down on us? Hope not, because I don’t think I can stop him. He’s making so much noise I can barely hear the thumping noises approaching us. I hold my breath and turn around.

“Stop, stop!!”

I stagger back before Monochap can run straight into me. Mahavir freezes before backing out into the hallway. Dust and chunks of plaster patter onto the floor.

“Wh-what are you doing?!”

“Nothing against the rules!”

“It sounds suspicious when you put it like that.”

“But it really isn’t...”

“I-I-I’m not sure you should be doing that, still...! That’s school property, you know...!”

“There’s nothing in the—”

I wince and hold an arm out like he’s about to charge for Monochap.

“That’s enough.”

“?”

If we get a rule added saying no destruction of school property, that’s a heck of a lot of stuff we suddenly can’t do. Better not to push it.

“Mahavir mentioned it earlier, if you didn’t hear—that’s an interior wall. The rules only prohibit damaging the exterior walls.”

“So this shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Um, um...”

“I-I’m gonna go check...! Just give me a minute...!”

He scampers off into Room 203, closing the door behind him. I sigh and turn to Mahavir.

“Guess we’ll just have to see what happens.”

“I... probably should have waited.”

“Yyyyeah. I don’t even have the flare on me.”

“Ggh.”

I wave it off.

“I doubt this was going anywhere, anyway. Not without too much risk to our lives.”

“Right.”

He tosses the dumbbell from hand to hand until Monochap returns.

“U-um, okay! It’s all figured out now! There will be an announcement over the televisions in a moment, but, um! You can go ahead and check your electroIDs!”

Just as he finishes saying that, a ding comes from my pocket. I pull out my ID.

“Rule number 9: You may not attempt to enter any rooms that have been blocked off.”

“Okay! That one settles it, right...?!”

Mahavir falls silent for a while, but he doesn’t put his ID away yet.

“...Is that a room?”

“What do you mean...?”

Mahavir nods at the hole he made.

“It’s open to the hallway. Is it really a separate room?”

“H-huh?!”

“U-um... Um!”

Are we getting too philosophical for Monochap’s logic circuits? Guess that’s one strategy to break him. There has to be a way to mess up his AI programming or whatever, right? If we succeed, would he just shut down?

“W-well, it’s the art room!”

“So of course it’s a room! It says ‘room’ right there!!”

...Unfortunately, I guess there was a simple solution.

“...”

“So, um, those are the rules now! I-is there anything else I can do for you?”

“I was in the middle of cleaning the windows, so, um...!”

“We don’t even have windows?” Unless he means the coffee shop.

Mahavir sighs.

“We don’t require anything else.”

“O-okay! Um, I’ll see you later! Bye-bye...!”

He leaves, with silence in his wake.

“...”

Mahavir rubs his eyes with his free hand.

“I hope I didn’t just waste the opportunity Doppler gave us.”

I shake my head.

“If he was sure it would work, he would have actually told one of us about it. I don’t think there was much to waste.” Or at least that’s what I’ll choose to believe.

“More importantly, he gave us the opportunity to live another day. That’s the one we won’t waste.”

“...Right.”

[BACK] [NEXT]

[backtodc]

As fun as it is to throw salt at Gosho I think this could be a good time to talk about some good DC cases. So, which are your top ten cases so far?

Hmmm, this took some thought–presented chronologically because I couldn’t pick preferential order XP

Billion Yen Robbery (013-016): Even disregarding its long-term impact on the plot, this case on its own had a good twist in how Akemi disguised herself and the lies she told to track down her robbery partners. I’m always a fan of people, rather than going for big heavy-duty disguises, just using little details of makeup and presentation to completely change their appearance. Ran’s big heart was evident in this case and how strongly she felt about “Masami”‘s safety after just meeting her twice, and this one also what is still one of my favourite ninja-Ran moments to date. Potential kidnapper/murderer across the street? Maybe we should call the police, or run down the stairs OR I GUESS WE COULD JUMP OUT OF A FIRST FLOOR WINDOW AND CHASE HIM ACROSS THE STREET AND DO A FLYING KICK TO DESTROY HIS CAR WINDOW AND ALSO HIS NOSE

Akemi’s death opens up a shitton of plot, and, despite how it gets slightly overused later on (not quite to “did you know Bruce Wayne’s parents got murdered” levels but definitely a biiiiit overused) it’s still one of the most genuinely tragic deaths, especially since Shinichi admitted his real name to her to try and offer her some comfort as she died. TEARS Q_Q

A Haunted Mansion Murder Case (017-019): The case that introduced the Ayumi, Mitsuhiko and Genta. I always think of this one quite fondly. It had a genuinely creepy atmosphere–the “haunted” mansion looks the right side of cliche-creepy, especially once it turns out there’s actually someone around, and honestly I can forgive the incidents of the kids wandering off alone and vanishing because they’re six, of course they’re gonna do silly shit like wander off alone in a haunted mansion. And the truth of the matter is something that’s vanishingly rare in Detective Conan, something I wish we saw more often: a crime of passion. 

There’s no clever trick to the murder: the son, Akio, just loses the rag under a torrent of verbal abuse and smashes his father’s head in with a candlestick. There’s no clever trick to the cover-up, either; his mother messed with the crime scene a bit and reported it as a robbery, and given that the family’s obviously very wealthy, money probably changed hands if any investigating officer did think to suspect anything other than a robbery. All she’s thinking about is protecting her son from the consequences of his crime; all he can think about is his guilt and horror over the murder he committed. The case goes from genuinely creepy to honestly tragic. It’s a proper emotional story, and at no point do any six-year-olds have to witness a human corpse, which I’m always in favour of. And I like Genta, Mitsuhiko and Ayumi and I’m glad they were introduced shut the fuck up

The Hatamoto Family Case (020-025): This was another case with good creepy atmosphere, a solid closed circle situation, classic big fucked-up family situation but at the heart of it, Natsue and Takeshi are a genuinely sweet couple who really don’t deserve all this bullshit and you spend the case really hoping for them to be safe and things to turn out okay for them, the traumatic deaths of several close relatives aside. The murderer is pretty sad, though I feel like Gosho intended him to be more sympathetic than he actually was–he certainly could’ve done with less abuse from his grandfather and been allowed to emotionally invest in his art more, but the cousins thing aside, murdering multiple people over a girl you’ve never even approached marrying somebody else with whom she’s had an actual relationship and is in love with is… not sympathetic. But I’m also glad that the nice chef uncle came out alright too, and that all three of the sympathetic family members reappeared in later cases since they were all very likeable characters. 

Moonlight Sonata (062-067): This one sticks in a lot of people’s minds, and I think it’s for the same reason that the haunted mansion case sticks in mine; atmosphere. This is another one with a good, genuinely creepy atmosphere from the immediate sense of “small town with a dark secret” we get as soon as the Mouri Detective Agency arrives on the island. Gosho was very good at building these atmospheres once upon a time, I would’ve liked to see him write a horror manga. The case is deeply tragic from start to finish, from the murders of the Asoh family, to the fact that Seiji/Narumi got the idea for the “curse” from playing a funeral song for a man who’d just had a heart attack after admitting to murdering their family, to the complex nature of Dr Asai’s grief and guilt that they felt the need to avenge their family but simultaneously called for a detective in the hopes that they’d be stopped, to their suicide at the end because they can’t live with what they felt obligated to do. There are Gosho’s usual… issues… with gender, and given the bigotry that became obvious later he probably had no clue at all what he was doing with Dr Asai’s gender, but I feel like they weren’t handled unkindly for an AMAB character living as a woman? I could be wrong and I wanna open this one up to the trans folk in the audience because I’ve never found a trans fan’s commentary on Dr Asai and how they think they were handled, but goddamn I still cry thinking of their suicide at the end and I appreciate that this was a one-off case that had a visible long-term emotional impact on Conan.

Magic Lovers’ Murder Case (192-196): As well as being an interesting murder involving some quite sympathetic characters, this is a really good case for seeing what Kaitou Kid’s like under the mask (or was like; I feel like he’s lost depth since this?) as expressed through Katsuki Doito. He came along to investigate suspicious user activity, but he joined the magic-lovers’ forum because he is a nerd for stage magic and stage magicians and enjoys nerding out about stage magic and stage magicians. He gets to unapologetically fanboy over his late father with other magicians, with is pretty goddamn cute imo. He also gets to show off knowledge and fondness for other magicians, and his knowledge of magic tricks is useful in solving the case, even though, by his own admission, he’s no detective, and it led to tragedy. We don’t really see how Kid felt about being unable to prevent that murder, since he was still being played as pretty mysterious at the time, but it was a good choice for his second appearance in DC imo since it cemented him as Not A Bad Dude. Also, Conan gets to be one of Those Shonen Protagonists by running across a burning bridge, which, y’know, is always cheesy, but also always kinda cool (the artwork was particularly effective imo)

Twilight Mansion (299-302): I genuinely enjoyed the gathering of the knock-off famous detectives and was pleasantly surprised by Hakuba’s appearance (back when I still held out hope that that kind of thing meant that Kid would get more involved in the plot). The mansion itself is actually quite gorgeously designed and rendered, especially at the end when the exterior crumbles, and again, DAT CREEPY ATMOSPHERE. I guess it’s officially plot-important now, too, which I just wanna say, I officially called nine years ago, but also I was hardly the only one calling BO involvement with Karasuma. 

Most of all, in general, I just really like watching and reading things involving skilled people being very competent at what they do, so the fact that ALL of the gathered detectives (save that one dead one) figured out what was up and were able to communicate and come up with a plan without revealing themselves to the brilliant detective BEHIND the whole thing, and the execution of that plan, were all very, very good and I liked it. I might reread this one right now, actually, while I’m thinking about it, I really do enjoy it top to bottom.

Golden Apple Case (350-354): PEAK interesting backstory on the part of Vermouth and Yukiko, a reasonably interesting murder, Yukiko’s RAD driving scene, and one of my favourite Ran moments ever. The confrontation with the serial killer/Vermouth is tense as hell, and the fact that Ran reacts instinctively to save his life and just can’t bring herself to drop him and let him die, to be responsible for a death, no matter whose, is a very powerful statement on the integrity of her character. She’s just to her core, and Shinichi does steal the moment a bit by helping her pull the serial killer up and getting the really good “you might need a reason to kill, but you don’t need a reason to save a life” line, but this still feels entirely like a Ran moment for me. We find out later that this incident had a profound effect on Vermouth, too, and is possibly the entire reason she’s hiding Shinichi’s secret from the BO and explicitly the reason she doesn’t want Ran to come to harm. Shame we haven’t had much Vermouth character development in a while because this stuff was JUICY.

Two Cases Under One Moon (429-434): An ICONICALLY good Bo-fightin’ case where everybody involved is putting in Maximum Effort. Heiji puts on an extremely good show as a fake Shinichi (the boy’s an extreme drama queen and Heiji does that very well), Yukiko’s disguise skills are valuable and well-used, we finally get the revelation that Vermouth has been Dr Araide for a while AND that she’s maybe immortal (…not… that we’ve gotten ANYTHING on that since..) AND we get the VERY interesting nature of her feelings concerning Shinichi and Ran. Also, we get Ran so concerned about Ai’s wellbeing that she hides in a car boot and then jumps into gunfire in order to protect her, GOD that’s SUCH a good Ran moment. Shinichi, Jodie and Akai all also get to be very brave and very smart and very badass, and ugh really I just wanna go back to everything about Vermouth in this case and explore more of that forever. Please. Also more Jodie, whose backstory we finally got in this case after revealing that she’s not Vermouth. What is it with interesting women disappearing as soon as their backstory is out MOVING ALONG 

Clash of Red and Black (595-609): This case is a cracking case. This one was long and complicated and many-layered and everybody involved was on their highest gears and it was great. Akai and Conan work as a fantastic team and Conan gets free reign to do some very good detective work for the FBI (I still believe he told Akai who he was during this case, it would make sense and undercuts how concerned I am with all of these grown adults letting a six-year-old run all around an active incident). We get a good look at the incredible power and cruelty of the Black Organization when they cause immense collateral damage just to flush the FBI out. We get the story on both Akemi and Akai’s relationship AND the Hondo family, and OH BOY THE HONDO FAMILY.

It’s also one of the most interesting Eisuke cases, imo, where not only does he do some solid investigation to find Mizunashi Rena, we get a glimpse of some real deep trauma over losing his last family member that’s driven him to be willing to attack Rena with scissors out of desperation to get answers about what happened to his father and sister. I mean, I am most definitely not advocating stabbing coma patients, but for Eisuke a lot of the trauma of your whole beloved family dying or disappearing was just implied and not explored, and then he got booted from the series immediately after things got interesting with him, so bleh. We also barely see Hidemi after this, and ?????????? because she’s a CIA agent who’s in DEEP to the BO after surviving a HORRIFYING situation where she has to proudly boast of murdering a man who was secretly her FATHER, who SACRIFICED HIS LIFE TO PROTECT HER… why are we dicking around so much with Mystery Family instead of exploring this one??? This case is kind of the last hurrah for anything interesting happening with the Hondos so I love it for that.

And I love the complicated counter-bluff involved in delivering Kir back to the Black Organization without looking like they were delivering her. Again, this was apparently in exchange for her assisting the FBI and she barely appears after this…? Nope this isn’t about salting at Gosho moving on

The Life-Threatening Broadcast of Love (804-808): I love this one solely and 300% for the part where Miwako Sato jumps out of a helicopter, shoots a noose off of her boyfriend’s neck, grabs him, wraps her coat around him to protect them and knocks both of them out of the range of a bomb blast at the last second, like the goddamn action hero that she is.

So in no particular order, those are my top ten: how about the rest of you?

[sometimesrosy]

The person that send the ask about JRoth refering to Echo and Madi in the past had/got made me take a sec and think because i understand refering to E in the past because i think that BE are going to break-up but why would he refer to Madi in past tense? and then i remembered aa spec that you sai regarding Madi staying in the planet and Clarke leaving with the others, i think? do you really think that would happen and can you talk more about it? 1/2

2/2 i mean i just don’t see Clarke leaving her daughter alone in another planet, altough there is always the whole flame thing, idk how that is gonna affect their relationship but i mean, would Jason really take away her daughter? that’s a new low, even for him lol

He might just have spoken about them in the past because he was speaking about what happened to Clarke and Bellamy over the time jump. That was all in the past. What happened OFF screen affected who Clarke and Bellamy were in the current timeline. 

As he’s writing, or storyboarding, that means that he’s developing THEIR story based on the past. It might have been a mistake just based on his focus as he writes. None of what they say in cons is edited, you know? You can’t expect them to be perfect or precise.

My speculation about them leaving Two Suns Planet is PURE speculation and just something they COULD do based on certain themes and foreshadowing and tropes and archetypes. It doesn’t at all have to be story they go for. Just ONE story path. 

But you say that taking a characters daughter away and leaving her on a planet alone with others is a new low for JR?

I think that is the EXACT SET UP OF THE 100. Abby Griffin lost her daughter, who was sent down alone onto a poisonous planet with 100 delinquents. 

New low? Or, hey, what this show is about?

Oh. Is it different because Madi is so young? 

Charlotte. Tris. Baby Lovejoy. Aden. Ethan. 

Kids don’t escape violence, loss or death on this show. This is BUILT IN to the narrative. 

Don’t confuse a plot line that you don’t like with something that doesn’t fit. Because it DOES fit. It’s pretty standard that kids on this show grow up a LOT faster than kids irl. And Madi HERSELF was left alone at the age of FIVE. So the concept that JR wouldn’t POSSIBLY leave a child alone is ABSOLUTELY FALSE. BTDT. Pay attention.

In many ways, this show is about the new generation, THE KIDS, learning to find their own power and stand up and change the world for the better. All our delinquents except for Bellamy were kids when they landed on earth. That is the NATURE of this show.

You identified with the kids, so you didn’t notice, except for occasionally, that our kids were actual kids, because you were inside their heads and instead you saw the freedom and the power and the challenges and the heroism. When we looked at the PARENTS, we saw them as characters who did stuff TO the kids, who abandoned them or abused them or sent them to earth or betrayed them or whatever it is. Maybe you didn’t notice because all the actors were playing younger than their real age, because the show WANTED you to think of them as active adult principals. But Jasper and Monty? What were they? 15? That’s only a few years older than Madi. And they had NEVER been left alone to survive by themselves. They weren’t as capable. Maybe the subtle shift of adults playing kids to kids playing kids means that the writers want you to think about what it means to grow up, to be responsible, to be an adult or a parent. Remember, their initial thought was to make the commander a child. They’ve actually gone BACK to their original concept. 

NOW you’ve got YOUR kid as the parent, as the person who is the hero with the motivation and desires and goals. So you see Clarke as the active principle and Madi as the passive one. But it’s the SAME story. 

Clarke raised Madi to be independent, she was driving and going off alone at 11. Hunting and gathering and facing a post apocalyptic earth alone. That’s how she raised her. Now that people are back, Clarke is clinging to Madi and trying to keep her safe when before she’d raised her to keep HERSELF safe. 

We’ve already seen Clarke struggle with the same thing Abby struggled with. Learning to LET HER DAUGHTER GO TO MAKE HER OWN DECISIONS. The audience is sometimes outraged that anyone would allow Madi to make these life or death decisions intended to save Clarke, but Clarke was making life or death decisions from ep 1, and we were outraged that Abby would try to stop her and keep her a child.

So what I’m saying here? This is a THEME we’ve seen in The 100. Madi is a bit younger, but she is also just as capable as Clarke. We have SEEN her be capable. 

Would JR have Clarke lose Madi? 

He had Abby lose Clarke, didn’t he? So yeah. He would. It isn’t some worse horror inflicted upon her. It is a cyclical story. The parent must release her child to her own future as her parent released her. The youth shall inherit the earth.

Actual literal line of dialogue. They PASSED THE BATON. 

So, we need to pay attention to these things if we want to understand something more about the story. 

so my theory about return to earth? ok

so the idea is that they will have to leave planet two suns, that they will have to DESTROY the comfortable, peaceful human society on the planet because it is, like MW, evil. I think we’ll have a parallel to MW. We already know that the eligius 4 mission was a colonization mission, intent on USING the planet for resources because the earth was used up. This is the bad kind of colony. 

We’re also contrasting “doing what is good for you people” with “doing what is right,” and I’m afraid that joining Russell in a peaceful world where their people can finally live life, which would be GOOD for their people, will actually be harming the planet and either another segment of humans OR the native aliens on the planet. 

So in order to do the right thing and be the good guys, they’ll have to destroy this “peace” and sacrifice and easy life for their people.

This would help Clarke and Bellamy resolve their trauma in MW, where they had to DESTROY an entire people, and never made peace with the fact that they HAD to because those people were not JUST another society, but a TOXIC one who was using other human beings as cattle and torturing them, and intending to take over the surface. 

So while this made her think maybe there were no good guys, the truth is, that even though they committed genocide, it was because that society was EVIL. They WERE the good guys. Sometimes you HAVE to do harm. 

So I think we’ll see this again and this time they will recognize that the choice is to let evil flourish through passive inaction and possibly benefit, or GIVE up the soft life and save a planet and a people from subjugation and STOP the cycle of violence that humanity spreads.

See, we’re working on making sure that Humanity DESERVES to survive. So being faced with a pretty, peaceful society that does not DESERVE to survive, means they have to make active choices against it.

The thought here is that they are subjugating or enslaving the aliens or alien/human hybrids or lower class humans of this planet. ECHO, being a child soldier and slave for the throne, while not feeling like she belongs to spacekru, will feel a kinship with the slaves on the planet and she will stay with them.

The other possibility is that Becca has given an ALIE AI to the new planet, so the flame is not irrelevant. Because the flame was created to STOP ALIE. So if there’s another ALIE helping to subjugate these new people, then the FLAME, aka Madi, is there to stop that. COULD someone else take the flame? Yes, because they’re all going to have to be nightbloods. But it’s possible that Madi herself feels too much responsibility and wants to stay to help the new people. but the story here would mean that Madi wouldn’t be alone, but Echo would be staying with her, as her protector. IDK. 

I don’t know it’s an idea. I got it when I realized that Raven said, “Just once I wish I could take off of a planet without it being on fire,” and she did that TWICE, which means the magic number three might have that coming true. So then I imagined raven taking off of this new planet, NOT on fire, but still needing to leave because they destroyed the “peaceful” society. Like breaking the cycle means they leave it a better place, rather than the earth, which humanity has killed. 

Also with the way the time is going, it took 75 years to fly to the new planet. If they go back to the earth, that’s 200 years total, which is the ORIGINAL speculation for how long The Ark would have to stay in space before Earth would be livable. That’s just too neat a coincidence for me. Makes me think that in, maybe s7, they might be back on the earth again. 

All just ideas. I know it’s wacky. But I’ve had a lot of wacky ideas, like using Cryo sleep to escape praimfaya. Or the exodus after they lose Eden. Heck, I told y’all after hakeldama that this show requires Clarke and Bellamy to be TOGETHER in order to work. So I have wacky ideas that I put together when I think about various narrative elements. So here. Have some more.

Also. Because we’re all responsible for our monsters when we let them out, right? Well humanity destroyed Earth. Do they really get to just ditch it and find .a new planet to ruin? I feel like they need to go home and face the mess they made of their planet. To EARN their survival, they have to fix what they did. They have to make amends. Stopping it from happening on another planet might do that, but also, taking care of the planet they hurt. 

[darkzorua100]

I have to give it to episode 64. Not only did we get the first half to the backstory to how Yusaku and Kusanagi met and teamed up, this episode was just hilarious in general, even during times when it was supposed to be serious but I still got a good laugh out of them for the Easter eggs and just how ridiculous some scenes were.

For example, the beginning of the episode. Takeru’s expressions to Naoki just appearing out of nowhere while Yusaku goes from “I have to deal with this on a normal bases. I’m honestly just used to it by now.” to “Boy, if you start talking sh*t, I will flat out murder you.” Then we cut to Ai flying around the city and what does Kusanagi do? He takes advantages of it and makes Ai a living advertisement. I feel like this is A.I. abuse but this is kinda what they are made to do so...you’re the one that decided to turn Yusaku’s duel disk into a helicarrier, Ai. You really should have known better if you thought that Kusanagi wasn’t going to use that to his advantage against his competition XD

Speaking of which, Takeru goes out of his way to buy Kusanagi a thank you meal from a hamburger place for saving him from Blood Shepherd only for Ai to crash land right into him and I love how Takeru and Flame’s first reaction to this is “Huh, duel disks fall from the sky here! No wonder everyone is a duelist here!” But after finding out that it was Ai, and that he upgraded Yusaku’s duel disk to be able to fly him around, Flame gets the bright idea to turn Takeru’s duel disk into a vehicle. Takeru’s reaction to that was basically mine. Thanks Ai, you gave Flame ideas. I won’t be surprised if he somehow is able to actually do that in the future. Also interesting thing to note, it looks like Takeru might still be living with his grandparents after all since Flame says that if they turn his duel disk into a vehicle, he wouldn’t need to take a train home anymore. I know Japanese schools work way differently then the ones in the U.S. so him going to a different school to improve his education greatly after slacking in it for so many years seems like a good excuse to actually go to Den City to help Yusaku but wow, I have to give Takeru so major credit. He really is going out of his way to help Yusaku since he’s going through all the trouble to what I assume is back and forth trips each day from his home town to Den City. We don’t even know how far these two places are either so that train fare can’t be cheap. Where is he even getting the money for this anyway? Well I guess his grandparents I should assume. Since he’s finally going to school again, and making friends since I’m sure he told them about Yusaku, they probably pay as much money as they can to keep Takeru happy like this after so many years of being completely shut off from the world. Just something I found neat.

And then we cut to this and I seriously just want to know what was going through Yusaku’s head when Naoki said this. Apparently murder judging by his facial expressions he made during this scene. Naoki, Yusaku already has to explain the whole Takeru situation when him and Ryoken meet back up. You really need to stop trying to make this whole thing into a love square because it seriously is never going to happen. I do like how the show is just running with the whole soulmate line now. Sure they weren’t being settle before about Naoki being super gay for Playmaker but now they are just not even trying anymore. And what did I tell you guys about the Naoki blackmailing Yusaku should he find out he was actually Playmaker? He actually would do it apparently. Does he actually know that Yusaku = Playmaker though? Hell no. I’m sure this is just going to end in another fake out just like the Go situation, which now thinking about it we never actually got an answer to that question, and Naoki is just going to pull a fast one on Yusaku and states that he knows that he is actually Playmaker’s number 1 fan or something. In which case, yep totally, Naoki. He loves Playmaker so much that he dresses up as him in his free time. You discovered Yusaku’s dirty little secret, please don’t tell anyone!

So we start getting the backstory part of the episode and wow, Jin was so messed up when he was rescued. Completely shut down. The human mind processes things differently between humans but it really is so fascinating how out of the four kids we know about, they all took in this experience differently. Like I said, Jin’s mind completely shut down, Spectre got a kick out of it and wanted more, Takeru had no drive to do anything and became depressed, and Yusaku tried to move on with his life but when that didn’t work, he sought out revenge against the people that did this to him. I just want to know who the last two kids are now just to know how they reacted to the Hanoi Project. But yeah, after realizing that Jin wasn’t going to get better, Kusanagi took it upon himself to find out what happened to his brother. In doing so, his career plans changed a lot. Apparently he wanted to be an athlete at one point, then became a hacker, and now he owns a hot truck. This guy is all over the place.

We find out that these flashbacks take place during when the Knights of Hanoi were out destroying the Cyberse cards. Revolver said it himself, when Playmaker showed up and he saw that he was using Cyberse, he was shocked by this since he thought his organization had wiped them all out but the question I have to this is just how did Link Vrains get access to the Cyberse-type in the first place? Five years before the start of the show, Ai sealed the Cyberse away and he was on the run since. We learn in the preview for 65 that Yusaku found his Cyberse deck in the ruins but in answering that question leads to even more questions. What are they doing in the ruins? Who was using them before Yusaku got his deck? The Ignises, who created the Cyberse-type, didn’t interact with humans before Revolver showed up but they were clearly in a duel disk, not just laying around on the floor. What kind of aztec stuff is this? There seriously has be a seventh Ignis, the divine one, we don’t know about yet because I don’t know how this is going to be explained otherwise. Add in Yusaku’s Link Sense and how he felt like he has done Speed Dueling before it was even a thing again...oh this is hurting my brain.

Kusanagi ends up witnessing a murder happen and is about to get murdered himself by some Knights of Hanoi goons but is saved by Playmaker...well Unknown at the time. Yusaku didn’t name Playmaker yet in these flashbacks which really makes episode 65′s title make sense. I very much want to see how that name was chosen since Playmaker is a pun of Yusaku’s name and I’m pretty sure at realizing that, Kusanagi is going to suggest the name for him. Because if you are going to be the hero that Link Vrains needs, you need something better then “unknown”. Also, I just loved how much Playmaker was just done with anyone in these flashbacks XD He just wants his revenge but instead he has to save people and beat up goons who can’t tell him anything. 

So against his warnings, Kusanagi returns to Link Vrains and ends up getting into trouble, again, and Playmaker has to save his ass. Kusanagi logs out and Playmaker ends up out right destroying a Knight of Hanoi with a starter deck. Before he used Cyberse, he used the 2018, I believe, starter deck and just wow. Revolver, how bad are your henchmen if they are getting OTK by a starter deck?! Like I said, this episode was just so funny, even for serious moments like these. Also buy the new starter deck apparently. But yeah, afterwards, Playmaker gets outnumbered, even though I pretty sure he can take all of them at once, but just doesn’t because they know nothing that can help him in his quest for vengeance, and this time Kusanagi is the one to rescue him by getting him a way out and afterwards tells Playmaker to meet up with him at Cafe Nagi. And right after that, we get the real life meeting between Yusaku and Kusanagi and can I just say I love Yusaku’s outfit! I’m a sucker for hoodies, what can I say (also copying your boyfriend much, Yusaku? You and Ryoken even have similar ways to approaching others who you wish to team up with (Ryoken to Spectre and Yusaku to Kusanagi) but boy, why can’t you wear this more often or at all?! You look out right ready to shank someone and it is amazing!  I also just loved the way Kusanagi convinced Yusaku to team up with him. 

“If you’re the strongest spear to fight the Knights of Hanoi, I’ll be the strongest shield to protect you!” I really like this quote for some reason and perfectly sums up their partnership. What does that make Takeru then? The armor? Since time and time again, he goes out of his way to protect Yusaku from dueling Go and Blue Girl so he wouldn’t have to worry about them and out right protected him from Blood Shepherd’s trap. I think it makes sense. 

And yeah, the episode ends with them agreeing to work together. Like I said before, the preview shows them working together in their first real mission to get Yusaku his Cyberse deck. Overall, I’m surprised how much I enjoyed this episode. It was just funny and the backstory was just good and gave us answers to questions we needed answers for. I hope next week’s episode is just as good and I really hope we do get a Ryoken/Revolver cameo during it because it makes sense to throw him in there just to foreshadow what Yusaku and Kusanagi have to face off against together in the future. 

[left-myself-in-the-alleyway]

Forever & Always

Fourteen-year old Evelyn has seen a lot over her lifetime.

After years of abuse, she was finally removed from her mother’s custody. She figured she would just become another kid lost to the system, doomed to a life of temporary homes. Instead, she got the shock of her life. Suddenly, she’s being flown to a whole other country- whisked away from her old small-town life and all of a sudden being reinstated in the high-tech Avenger Towers. She’s barely given time to breathe, as her life changes so rapidly over the course of one day.

How will things play out from here?

Trigger warnings: Abuse, semi-graphic violence, swearing. (over whole book)

I own nothing- except Evelyn and other OCs.

Part 2

Suddenly, I realized I had been staring at the tower for... almost a minute. During which, Happy had gone and grabbed my bags and opened my door.

"Oh, sorry." I mumble as I look down to the ground. I pick up my backpack and one duffel bag, which contained most of my travel essentials.

"Happy will bring in the rest of your stuff for you." Tony explained as he started walking into the building. The building that is now my home.

"Uhm. Okay." I say, following him. The inside of Avenger Towers was beautifully clean-cut and unmistakably modern. There were tons of people there too, and all of them looked like they could kill you with a glance.

"This is one of Stark Industries levels of the building. All the people in here are super uptight, don't bother trying to talk to them." He explained, glancing back at me. "But if something ever goes wrong, these are safe people. Mostly."

I nod.

I follow him into an elevator marked "Private".

"JARVIS, could you take us up to the lounge?" Tony asked, speaking to what I assume is an AI system.

"Yes, sir." The AI spoke. I jumped a little. I wasn't used to this, seeing as I'd just come from my quiet country home.

"Thanks, Buddy. Also, add Evelyn into the list of people allowed on our floors." Tony ordered.

"Yes, sir. We have arrived at the lounge now." The British AI says.

The first thing I see Tony do is pour himself a glass of scotch. Great, more alcohol.

Just what I need.

I just stood in the doorway, taking in my surroundings. Even though we were inside, the air was fresh and clean inside this building. I was happy with the silence until my eyes landed on the group of superheroes seated on a dark coloured couch.

Then, my shell that Tony had almost broken rebuilt itself. Shit, shit, I can't do this! Escape route, escape-

No.

I can do this. I don't know what, but I've just gotta do... something.

I couldn't move. I stood there, frozen with anxiety.

"This is your kid?" I suddenly heard someone say.

It was Hawkeye. That means... they saw me.

"This is Iron man's bastard child?" I heard Thor ask. I feel pretty degraded at his choice of words, but I understand that it is the proper term.

"When did you get here, Point Break?" Tony asked, running a hand through his hair.

"Oh yeah, apparently Loki was banished from Asgard after that little... invasion. So, now we have to keep him under our watch and force him to help us out a little." Hawkeye says, seeming uninterested in the conversation that had started.

Loki rolled his eyes at the comment.

"He touches my suits, and he will be banished from earth too." Tony smirked. Bantering back and forth, they obviously forgot about me. I sit down on a far wall, putting as much distance between myself and the heroes as possible. Pulling out my notebook, I flip to an empty page and start working on a sketch. This way I can listen and stay out of the conversation.

After ten minutes into their discussion about the terms Loki would have to live under, I suddenly heard someone speaking to me. I looked up to see Tony looking down at me.

"What are you doing?" He asks. Everyone was watching us. I should choose my words carefully.

Instead, what came out was the semi-sarcastic reply of "sketching."

"I see that, but why are you sitting on the floor?" He specified, chuckling at my reply.

I whisper quietly, "Too many people."

Apparently, that was too quiet. "Excuse me, what?"

I look him straight in the eye then look to the group two times before he gets it.

"Oh yeah, guys. This is Evelyn, my daughter." Apparently he didn't get it.

My dismay must have been very visual, because the next moment, Captain America spoke up.

"Tony, I think what she meant was that she doesn't like us."

"What? No way. We're heroes! How could anyone not like us?"

Then, they started arguing about how in the world someone couldn't like them.

Outside of this debacle, a man with dark hair and glasses looked at them all like they were all complete idiots.

"Guys, why don't we introduce ourselves?" He suggested, obviously trying to switch the subject.

"Oh, yeah. Evelyn, this is Steve, Natasha, Clint, Bruce, Thor, and... Loki, our newest resident. Apparently." Tony introduced them one by one, muttering his last comment.

I squeak out a very quiet, "Hi."

Clint spoke up after a short silence between the heroes and myself.

"Why don't you come sit in the living room with the rest of us, Evelyn?" He suggested.

I put down my notebook and got up carefully, trying not to hurt myself.

I hope they didn't see me wince in pain when I stood up too quickly.

The only open spot on the couch is in between Thor and Steve. Great. just great.

I sit very carefully, and stiffly. I put my hands in my lap and glue my eyes to the floor, trying my hardest not to make eye contact with any of them.

My heart is beating so fast right now. I hope the serum didn't enhance Steve's hearing too, that would just add to the awkwardness of the situation.

"So, what crowd do you associate yourself with? The rockers, nerds, punks, musicians, quiet, shy people?" Bruce asked. I guess he was trying to break the awkward silence that had settled on the room.

"Uh, I don't know... I am a bit of a musician, a lot of a nerd. A bit of a mix, I guess..." I explain, getting quieter with every word.

Looking up, I saw Tony get up and refill his drink. Please don't get drunk. Please don't get drunk...

Steve must have noticed the dismay on my face at Tony's actions. "Hey, Tony! why don't you leave your drink over there?" He suggested.

"And why would I do that?" He shot back.

Natasha, who had just been silently observing everyone shot him a look that, down to its most fundamental message, said; "Do it, or die." "Fine." Then, he mumbled something about killjoys.

I relaxed a bit more after he left it.

He sat down, crossing his legs. "So... this is awkward."

"Why are you living with us, young maiden?" Thor questioned, breaking the silence.

He had glares shot at him from almost every person in the room. They obviously knew what had happened, but somehow neglected to tell him.

"Well, it's-" Tony began. Thor cut him off.

"I would love to hear her explain, if you would not mind." He explained, moving his gaze from Tony to myself.

"I, Uh." I started.

Bruce looked in horror at what was happening.

Natasha almost looked amused, but also worried, while Clint sat back in his chair and rubbed his face with his hands. Loki looked like a mix of the two. He was on the verge of facepalming at Thor's actions, but also looked highly amused.

Tony just looked pissed that he had been cut off.

Steve, tried to intervene, bless his heart. "Thor, don't force her to answer that..." He said, as politely as possible so as to avoid upsetting the Asguardian.

However, for me, all that was happening around me was white noise in the back of my mind. While, thinking about my answer I started to relive the past three years of my life in my head. I clenched my eyes shut, trying to focus. Don't break down, dammit. I tried to keep my breathing even, but it was getting harder by the second.

My breathing was suddenly extremely hard to control, And my face felt hot. I could feel hot liquid streaming down my face. My chest felt tight, and an overwhelming wave of fear washed over me. I've felt something like this before. It was a panic attack. Oh shit, oh shit. Not again.

I didn't even notice, the moment I had started to mutter no's under my breath, over and over, this seemed to drag their attention away from Thor's ignorance back to myself. My eyes shut tight, I felt that I was stuck in the never-ending realm of fear.

-

Sam stepped into the elevator. Earlier, he'd heard that Tony had some sort of long-lost daughter, who would apparently be living in one of the many guest suites at Avenger Towers. He wanted to see this for himself.

He arrived at the avengers lounge to see everyone yelling at Thor. Through the complete disorder and chaos, a soft muttering of "No" seemed to pierce through it all. Upon hearing this, some of the avengers turned to look at her, and the rest followed.

Sam, having just walked into this mess, was a bit disoriented. Even so, he knew a panic attack when he saw one. He rushed over to the small blond figure on the couch.

"Hey, hey. Focus on me okay? You're safe. Nobody is going to hurt you." he soothed, while rubbing small circles on the young girl's back.

"Everything's going to be okay, just focus on me."

Sam looked to the avengers, a worried look on his face. She's so young, what the hell has she been through? He thought to himself.

Thanks to @anger-gang for editing!!!

I would link my first chapter and do the continue reading here thing but I don’t know how.

[justjen523]

Miniature Gods

The Gods Children Series   

(Book 1 - Early Years)

     They were practically screaming. All of them. It had become common knowledge throughout the Heaven’s that the former goddess of fate had gifted the twelve a child carved from her very soul. No one had actually seen any of them however making the gossip overflow. The three of them decided to finally emerge and the goddesses squealed in delight at the vision before them. 

     Ichthys, Teorus and Dui had decided to take their precious one’s out for a stroll in the sunshine. Each of them donned a front carrier with their infants facing forward bright eyed and smiling. Dui’s was the same, just designed for two instead of one.

     “Oh my goodness! Lord Teorus, your son is SO beautiful just like you!”

     “Lord Ichthys over here! Can we see him up close? He’s too adorable!”

     “Lord Dui! Your daughters are absolutely lovely! What’s it like having such gorgeous twin daughters?”

     The Trio gladly allowed the gaggle of goddesses to fawn over the newest additions to the Heaven’s. It had never been easier to pick up women since becoming Father’s. It was not meant to last however as the two department heads for Punishments rounded the corner and saw the spectacle.

     “Eh-hem!” All it took was Zyglavis clearing his throat and a severe glare from Scorpio to quickly clear the area. 

     “What’re you morons try’n to do, get us all mobbed to death?”

     “Geeeze. I SO thought becoming a dad would mellow him out but...”

     “I’m perfectly fine as is, it’s only ‘cause you idiots do stupid shit to constantly annoy me.”

     “Scorpio, while this may prove a difficult task for you, you are going to need to refrain from using profanity from here forward in front of the little one’s.” Scorpio stares at Zyglavis with disdain upon hearing something he considers ridiculous and unnecessary.

     “Do not look at me in such a way, I meant what I said. I do not want my daughter hearing such vulgarity. If you feel you are unable then please excuse yourself from the room first. Is that clear?”

     “Tch.”

     “As for you three-”

     “Oh come onnnnnn! You can’t possibly be this uptight with that little cutie smiling so happily.” Unfazed by Zyglavis’ icy cold glare Ichthys saunters up and bends forward to peer into Elliana’s smiling cherubic face. When she starts squealing with excitement Zyglavis finally snaps.

     “Would you kindly refrain from getting so close to my daughter.”

     “Awww, c’mon Ziggy don’t be like that. After all we’re like family now right?”

     “We most certainly are not.”

     “You knooooow, if you keep behaving like that poor little Elly here is gonna grow up without any friends.”

     “I beg your pardon?!” 

     “I hate to admit it but that pain in the...”butt” is right for once Zig.” That was certainly unexpected coming from Scorpio making the other four stare at him in awe and silence.

     “The fuck you lookn’ at me like that for?!”

     “Language.”

     “Whatever. Stop lookn’ at me like I don’t know sh-.....stuff.”

     “Oh I know! How about we all go visit the garden and let our little one’s interact with one another?”

     “I would prefer not-”

     “-Zig, member what I said bout daddy issues and sh-....stuff? You better fix it now before you do somethn’ ya can’t undo.” Scorpio speaks lowly close to the Minister so only the pair of them can hear. Sighing in frustration Zyglavis reluctantly agrees. The five of them head toward the garden together with high hopes.

     When the group arrives at their destination they find that they were not the first or only to have the same idea. Huedhaut, Tauxolouve, Aigonorous and Partheno are all sitting together under a nearby tree while their little one’s experience the outdoors together. 

     “Heeeey there guys! Looks like you had the same idea we did.”

     “Care to join us?” Lou offers with a million dollar smile. The five join the group removing their carriers and gently setting their young one’s together near the others. Unable to walk yet the little group of tiny gods sit cooing and gurgling happily at the sights and sounds around them. 

     “I must admit, that is one group of gorgeous children.”

     “Don’t say it like that Partheno it sounds....weird.”

     “They ARE super cute though right?”

     “Ichthys you make it sound like they are pets or something.”

     “That’s not what I meant at ALL. Look at them! Little mini us’s.” The nine of them observe their precious treasures and cannot refrain from smiling. Their sweet and heavenly appearances coupled with their innocent curiosity make for a wonderful and comforting sight.

     “It’s like she’s here with us.” Dui offers watching his daughters affectionately as they take in their surroundings. The rest say nothing but also smile and nod wistfully as they too stare at the ten perfect miracles before them.

     “Hey you, just where do you think you’re going?” Leon scooped up the tiny force of destruction that was his daughter. Not that he minded, of course she’d be, just like her daddy. She was quick even though she only could crawl at this point. He knew once she learned to walk the real work would begin. 

     “I must say Leo, fatherhood looks good on you. I never imagined you with kids but you seem to be enjoying yourself far more than I would have guessed.” Karno smiled ear to ear at the sight before him. 

     “Yeah, and I see fatherhood has made you into an ever bigger push-over.”

     “Now now, I meant it as a compliment. No reason to get testy.”

     “Who said I was being testy?” Leon smirked at his friend, his daughter trying desperately to crawl up his shoulder. The adorable view had Karno practically beaming. 

     “You’re being awfully brave tonight, what exactly are you hinting at?” When he grabbed her and held her in front of him she lit up like a candle smiling and cooing merrily. 

     “Pffft. Yeah, you know exactly who I am don’t you?” Her little body wriggled around as gibberish spilled from her mouth making Leon smile.

     “Da-da. Dadadadada!”

     “Tell me you just-”

     “I did! Awww congratulations Leo how precious. Looks like she’s already aware that she’s daddy’s little angel.”

     “I don’t know about that. She’s a great many things but she’s definitely not that. This stinker is always causing me trouble.”

     “You say it like it bothers you but lets be honest, you love every moment of it.”

     “What about you? You seem just fine with your situation.”

     “Of course! I always wanted to be a father someday, who knew I’d have my own wish granted for once.”

     “She looks just like you but she sleeps an awful lot.”

     “Of course, she’s happy, content and safe in her daddy’s arms, what more could she want?”

     “You’re too easy going, you know that’s gotta change when she starts walking and talking right?”

     “Nah, something tells me she’s gonna be the sweetest little princess in the whole wide world.” Karno rocked her as she slept cozily in his strong arms before pressing a tender kiss to her forehead.

     “Sweet dreams my precious girl.”

     Krioff and his daughter sat across from each other on the floor simply staring at each other in silence. A rather impressive feat for an infant. She seemed to love just sitting there and watching her daddy do everything. He on the other hand was constantly tending to her every need. No one would have ever guessed he’d actually be a pretty responsible father. Sure his social skills needed some improvement but she absolutely wanted for nothing.

     “Hey, you poop yet? I’m not gonna bathe you till ya do. I ain’t clean’n that kind of mess up.” She simply stared at him wide eyed and curious. It sometimes made him slightly uncomfortable seeing as looking at her was like looking into a mirror. Same eyes, nose, lips and chin. Even her hair was cute little messy tufts of silver that practically sparkled when the light hit it just right.

     “Errr....yur kinda cute or whatever so, just wanted you to know I uh, love ya and stuff.” Suddenly a perfect little grin spreads across her tiny pink lips making Krioff nearly cry at the sight. Nearly doesn’t mean he actually did, just so ya know.

     “Hey, what’s yur deal all of a sudden? You were fine a minute ago.” Scorpio frowns as he pulls a crying Alex into his arms.

     “Maybe he’s hungry?” Lou offers as Scorpio rather awkwardly inspects his son from every angle.

     “Nah, can’t be it, I just fed him before we left. And I ain’t smelln’ any poop so he doesn’t need to be changed.” It isn’t until Scorpio turns him over that the source of the problem is revealed. 

     “H-Hey! Just waddya think yur doin’ ya little fart factory!” The others erupt into laughter as Scorpio scowls and slightly blushes.

     “It seems it was only some trapped gas, I’m sure he’ll be fine now. I do recommend burping him a little longer if he is having gastrointestinal or digestive issues.” Hue offers though Scorpio says nothing in return as he sulkily sits back down.

     “Oh, well hello there!” Hue smiles at the curious silver eyes and blue hair staring at him in wonder.

     “Zyglavis, may I?” The minister hesitates for a moment but then allows Hue to pick her up. She doesn’t seem to mind being held by a stranger as she touches his face making all sorts of incomprehensible sounds.

     “Oh is that right?” Zyglavis finally smiles and relaxes watching Huedhaut have a “conversation” with his little girl. Meanwhile Tauxolouve covers the dozing daddy daughter duo to his left. 

     “Looks like Ai’s met his match.” Teorus teases before practically getting tackled by the twins.

     “Woah! Hey now there’s plenty of Uncle Teo to go around!”

     “Pffft!” Dui bursts into laughter as the troublesome two fight for Teo’s attention. It isn’t till he sees two eyes barely peeping over his knee that he realizes he has company. 

     “Why hello! What are you doing little guy?” Dui smiles lifting the little fella into his arms.

     “He looks a lot like her Ichthys.” Dui offers rocking the little boy in his arms.

     “Yeah, I mean, I totally see me in there too but yeah, he really does doesn’t he.”

     “How is everything going with him?”

     “I have never been happier man. For real, this kid is everything to me. How bout you Dui, what’s it like having twins?” Dui smiles wearily at his friend before chuckling.

     “Honestly, it’s utter chaos. Those two may look identical but they are total opposites in every way.”

     “Hey, look at the bright side, it’ll make it easy to tell em apart right?”

     “That’s the least of my worries haha!” While Ikky and Dui are chatting, a few feet away Hue’s daughter and Partheno’s son are playing side by side. His son picks up a flower petal and puts it on her head making her giggle. Partheno watches affectionately with a knowing sort of pride that his son is already a lady’s man. Hue on the other hand is not particularly pleased. No one is generally allowed near his princess but he had made an exception today. He will always be the most important man in her life.

     Slowly but surely all twelve gods have begun to adapt to their new lives as proud fathers. Remembering the fun they once all had together is reawakened as the next generation meet who would become their best friends, worst enemies and even potential lovers in the not so far off future.