#Wrongfully arrested

[blackseafoam]

“set up for failure”

[destielmemenews]

The five men claim in a federal lawsuit that Trump knew he was acting with “reckless disregard” for the truth when he said during the September debate with Vice President Kamala Harris that they pleaded guilty to crimes connected to the beating and raping a woman in New York City, and that the five teenagers “badly hurt a person, killed a person” in the attack.

“Defendant Trump’s statements were false and defamatory in numerous respects,” attorneys for the men, now all in their 50s, wrote in the lawsuit filed in federal court in Philadelphia. “Plaintiffs never pled guilty to the Central Park assaults. Plaintiffs all pled not guilty and maintained their innocence throughout their trial and incarceration, as well as after they were released from prison.”

“None of the victims of the Central Park assaults were killed,” the lawyers for Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron Brown and Korey Wise wrote.

source 1

source 2

source 3

The Central Park Five and Trump, Explained by NPR

[noforkingclue]

A Misunderstanding? (dark!11 x reader)

Summary: It was all just a simple misunderstanding. Right?

Author's Note: I just couldn't help but make this a dark fic! I think 11 really leans well into being a darker doctor

Warnings: false imprisonment, dark fic

You put your head in your hands and rested your elbows on the table. How could this have happened to you? This couldn’t be happening. Stuff like this only happened in TV shows, never real life. Then again, your real life could’ve been a TV show.

You took a deep breath to try and calm yourself. You had an alibi. You were out in London, one of the most heavily CCTV-ed cities in the world. You were bound to be picked up on a camera or ten. You looked up sharply when the door to the room opened. You froze when a familiar person walked in.

“Doctor?”

The Doctor smiled at you but it wasn’t his usual smile. There was something in the eyes. Well, more accurately, something missing. They didn’t hold their usual warmth. You had the sudden urge to run but you knew that wouldn’t do you any good. Running from a police interview room that was a surefire way of looking guilty.

“You’ve got yourself in quite a mess.”

“Why are you here?”

“You called me.”

“No I didn’t.”

“Ah well,” the Doctor smiled and you saw the briefest flash of the old Doctor come through, “I knew you would. Sooner or later.”

The two of you made eye contact but you quickly looked away. The coldness returned to the Doctor’s eyes.

“I warned you,” he said quietly, “I warned you that this would happen if you left. I said that you wouldn’t be able to cope without me.”

Once again you put your head in your hands. This couldn’t be happening and yet it was. Yes, you used to travel with the Doctor. Yes, you left him once he started to get too… possessive? Looking back, the signs were clear from the start but you just shrugged them off. After all, the Doctor wasn’t human. You couldn’t expect him to act like a human when he wasn’t one.

“I warned you.”

The Doctor’s voice snapped you out of your thoughts. You looked up at him sharply.

“I warned you,” the Doctor continued casually, almost as though he was talking about the weather, “that you wouldn’t be able to last without me.”

“You… you did this!”

“Did what.”

“There’ll be CCTV,” you said, “there’ll be evidence-”

“Do you think so?”

You jumped slightly at the harshness in the Doctor’s voice. You had only ever heard him use that tone when dealing with Daleks or Cybermen or any other enemy that had pissed him off too far. You have never, never, heard him use that tone with a friend.

But then again, were you his friend now?

“It’s ok.”

The Doctor reached across the table and brushed some tears away from your cheeks. You hadn’t realised that you were crying until he did that. It was such a soft, gentle gesture that it took you by surprise.

“Come back to me,” he said, “come home. She misses you, y’know? Come back to us and I can make this go away.”

You opened your mouth. You were going to tell him to fuck off. That being in prison was better than being with him. But then you closed it again. Either way, you were trapped but where would you rather be trapped? Locked up in a dingy cell or in a gilded cage. The Doctor seemed to realise this and he leant across the table and pressed a kiss against your forehead.

“Correct decision,” he said, “don’t worry, I’ll get this cleared up as a tragic mistake. Soon you’ll be free.”

[ladtheove]

Twisted version of the wrongly arrested prompt.

Batman interning Jason into Arkham despite he not being mad. (Jason was a killer, didn’t mean he didn’t know what he was doing.)

Always thought putting him in the same place as the Joker was torture, a tragedy of the worst kind.

[aceofwhump]

Whumptober 2024 - No. 3 WRONGFULLY ARRESTED

Hawaii Five-0 5x18 Pono Kaulike Danny Williams is arrested for the murder of Marco Reyes and sent to a Colombian prison but the real reason for his arrest goes much deeper.

@whumptober

[cosmicobubisi]

Cosmic's Malleyuu Whump vs Flufftober Day 3

wrongfully arrested | "I warned you" / Favorite Scent

They didn't know how they'd gotten here.

It had all been a mistake. Just someone in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

Was this an error, somehow? Had they slipped through the cracks of some system, or was this a possible case of mistaken identity?

Right now, it didn't matter. No one was coming to save them. They couldn't call for help, because their phone had been kicked across the floor by their captor.

"Yuu," that very captor grumbled.

What was his intention? To rip them to shreds, devour them whole? To hold them hostage, and random them off? Yuu didn't have anything valuable, any it's not like they were worth much.

"Yuu," that rich voice rumbled again.

They didn't even know if the best move was to fight back, or let their captor have their way with them. Which move would give them the best chance at-

"Yuu."

They jumped a bit in the arms of their kidnapper.

"What?" they bit back.

"What are you thinking about?" he grumbled, straight into their neck. Malleus's breath tickled the hair on their neck.

"Oh, I was just monologing to myself," said Yuu.

Ok, maybe they did have some clue of how they'd ended up here.

Not very many, though. All they'd gotten a few days ago, aside from stood up, was a cryptic text message telling them he wasn't showing up to their usual walk tonight, and not to come by.

Yuu hadn't taken that lying down, and had insisted on having some sort of face-to-face conversation, which had caused them to head to Diasomnia.

They'd believed him to be running from their budding connection, and that had made Yuu awfully upset.

Yuu had already freaked out about it on their own, with their friends. Malleus wasn't allowed to freak out now.

Speaking of their friends, their phone rang, and Malleus gave off an unhappy groan.

"Let me grab my phone. No one ever calls me unless they're dying, or they think I'm dying."

"I warned you," he mumbled, yanking them back quite harshly.

He did. He said not to come by.

Apparently, he'd been hit with some sort of magnetism spell, and needed constant touch. He, and the rest of Diasomnia, knew he'd want Yuu first, so he'd told them not to swing by so as to not create any trouble while the spell worked its way out of his body.

When his dormmates wouldn't let Yuu see him, or even let them wait in the common area, Yuu... may have taken it more than a little personally.

Maybe they'd stomped away, and walked the perimeter of the dorm with Goodram, one of the few beastmen in Diasomnia, heckling them as they tried to look for the third year floor and then for Malleus's window.

It was almost surprising to see how much Diasomina had rallied around their dorm leader, but it also warmed Yuu's heart. They knew Malleus had expressed a lot of insecurity at his role, feeling a distance between him and his perceived subordinates, but at least Yuu knew they were for sure loyal.

Anyways, after calling for Malleus a few times, he'd ended up poking his head out of his window, and Yuu had gotten a glimpse at him. The next moment, they'd been in his room, snuggled up with him in bed, and then Malleus had explained the whole potion thing.

"C'mon," whined Yuu. "The sooner I answer, the sooner it goes quiet. Just let me let them know I live."

Malleus groaned, but summoned the phone in his hands and practically threw it into Yuu's hands. They picked up.

"Hello?" they said.

"Yuu! Are you ok? What's wrong?" It was Ace's panicked voice.

"Oh, I'm all good now! Thanks for checking in," they quickly replied.

"Yuu." They thought that tone was trouble. "You said you were arrested."

"Well," they said, "I was being detained."

"Ugh. Whatever. Call me back later."

"Bye," they said, "and I really am glad you called."

Ace didn't say anything before the phone clicked, but Yuu could basically hear his sideways smile.

"Mmmmm," said Malleus. "Finally. You know, your intoxicating scent drives me to madness."

"Yeah," said Yuu, as Malleus started nuzzling at him. "I can tell."

[ssa-neeks-prentiss]

It's all lies.

Whumptober: Day Three!

BAU!team x reader.

Tw: Wrongfully imprisoned, feelings of betrayal

Word count : 1.4k

You were standing in a cell. You never thought you would. But you were. But you hadn't done anything. But they didn't know that. They thought you did it. But you didn't. But you had no alibi. You were asleep, on your own, after declining to go to a restaurant with the team. The evidence was piling up against you, and if it was someone else from the team where you were, you would think it was them too.

As the door clicked open, you didn't bother lifting your head. You couldn't bear the look in their eyes. The betrayal you would see. You didn't know who walked in until they spoke.

"We know you did this. No point in denying. Just give us a confession so we can get it done."

Your eyes watered at the coldness in his voice. The coldness that was once warmth. You never thought Spencer could sound so cold. You didn't speak. You didn't do it. And you wouldn't get thrown into prison for something you didn't do. You heard a sigh escape from him.

"I trusted you. I want to know why. Why did you do it?"

Your heart broke as his voice cracked; you could almost see the tears fall in your vision, and you decided to speak.

"I didn't do it."

Your voice wasn't like his. You weren't cold. It wasn't in your nature. And how could they not know that? They saw you cry whenever you hurt someone, even an unsub. They were there when the sobs wracked through your body. And they thought you were capable of this?

Spencer simply stood up and left, and that's when you lifted your head. You looked directly into the mirror, where you knew someone from your team. Or well... Ex... Team... Now...

You sat there, gaze fixated on the'mirror' until someone walked in. They were trying someone new. Okay. You looked down again. You couldn't look them in the eye. You couldn't look at those you loved. They thought you did it. You knew who walked in. The glimpse of him was enough as you looked down.

Derek. You thought back to when it was'revealed' that you were the murderer. You couldn't push it out of your mind. How quickly he moved his gun to you. How quickly he pushed Spencer back. The way there was nothing but coldness in his eyes. You didn't want to see that look in his eyes again. Even if it meant never looking him in the eyes again.

"Come on. Just give us an answer. You did it. We know that. You know that. You have no alibi."

You kept your eyes on the floor. His voice was just as cold as Spencer's. Probably even colder. You just couldn't deal with that. Knowing that those who you loved the most. That they thought you were a murderer. They thought you had killed innocents. You could never.

You lifted your head slightly as he was called out; it sounded urgent as he scrambled up and left. Tears pricked at the back of your eyes. He was so eager to leave. To be away from you.

He turned the gun on you so easily.

He turned the gun on you like he was prepared.

He turned the gun on you like he didn't trust you.

He turned the gun on you like he didn't know you.

But he did. He knew everything. Because you trusted him. But he didn't trust you.

You let your head rest on the table. You were debating whether or not you would just.. Confess. They didn't believe you when you said it wasn't you. So what was the point. You didn't move your head as someone walked in. The cracking of heels signified it was either JJ or Emily. Probably Emily. You were right as she spoke.

"What is wrong with you?"

The accusation in her voice was everything you had to listen. You hummed.

"What?"

"I thought I could trust you. And you.. You turn out to be this."

The disgust was clear in her voice. She didn't even try hiding it. You lifted your head slightly. Looking up just enough to look her in the eyes.

"I didn't do it."

You repeated. Because you didn't. But they wouldn't believe that. You were the suspect to them. To them it was so obvious. They were probably discussing your betrayal behind that mirror. That wretched thing. You hated not knowing. You zoned back into reality at the sound of Emily's voice.

"Don't bullshit me. You did it."

You sighed softly. What was the point.

"Fine then. I did it."

The surprise in her eyes surprised you too. You narrowed your eyes at her. She knew something you didn't. You just dropped it as you dropped yout head.

"I did it. So just take me to whatever shithole you're planning on taking me to."

Emily let out a scoff.

"You're gonna stand up for that asshole who really did it?"

Your head snapped up in surprise.

"What?"

Emily looked at you.

"You didn't do it. We found another body. But why? Why did you say you did it?"

You stared at her. Oh. So they knew? Had they known this whole time. The softness in your gaze turned to coldness.

"You knew?"

You didn't even let her respond as you yanked yourself out of the chair.

"YOU KNEW?!"

Emily flinched at your raised voice and the abrupt standing up.

"You."

You didn't finish the sentence as you dropped back in your chair. You refused to meet her gaze. Just, this time it was for a different reason.

"Let me go."

You spoke shortly. She knew. They all knew. And they stared at you with that coldness. Emily accused you. You had heard the disgust and accusatory tone she had used. You had seen how quickly they had turned the gun on you. Especially Derek.

You didn't look at her as she uncuffed you.

You didn't look at the others as you stalked out of the police department.

You didn't look at them when you picked up your go bag and left.

You didn't look back when you got in your car and left.

You stayed in your apartment for a few days. You didn't do anything. You just thought and thought. You had had enough.

You stood up. You were tired of what they had left on you. You went and had a shower. Maybe that would make you feel better? And it did.

You decided to finally read all the voice mails the other had left you. You started with the first one you got. Hotch.

"Y/N? Hello? This is.. This is Hotch. I wanted to.. Apologize. But.."

You heard a sigh.

"Strauss wants you back at work in a week."

You paused the voice mail to look at the time that he sent it. Five days ago. So you had two days to get your shit together and get back to work. You unpaused it.

"I'm sorry. I don't know why I believed it was you. I guess. We all knew deep down it wasn't you."

You paused it again and shut your phone off. Bullshit. It was absolute bullshit. You had heard them. They wholeheartedly thought it was you. But you knew you couldn't hold it off forever. Especially not when your door rang. You lifted you head to look at the door and you trudged over to it and opened it.

To your surprise, it was the whole team. They were all here. And before you could say anything, Penelope barelled into you, engulfing you into a hug. You could feel her sobs and your gaze softened. You couldn't be mad at her. It was Penelope. You looked up and smiled softly. They all looked guilty at least. You awkwardly moved to the side with Penelope still wrapped around you.

"Come in."

And as they all sat down, apologies left their mouths.

"I'm sorry-"

"I don't know how-"

"I don't expect you to forgive me but-"

You shushed them.

"It's okay."

They all stared at you. Derek being the first to speak.

"It's.. What?"

"It's okay."

You repeated. You didn't have it in you to be mad at them for long.

"I understand."

"But you shouldn't."

Spencer spoke. The guilt clear in his voice. You knew you shouldn't. But it was them. You loved them. They were like your family.

"But I do. I would've done the same."

You smiled at them. A soft smile.

They smiled back. You let out a laugh when Spencer barelled into you.

"Is this an on going trend or something? Trying to take me out?"

They all laughed. And you smiled. A genuine smile. This was your family. So. Even if they didn't really trust you. You would still love them. No matter what.

That's what a family does.

And they were your family.

[psychologeek]

Whumptober #3:

SET UP FOR FAILURE | Fingerprints | Wrongfully Arrested | "I warned you."

index Part of "The Cyclist AU", where Jason never went back to Gotham, instead went living a quiet (sort of) civilian life. He later joins Tim on his Brucequest, as "Paracosm"

“Seriously?”

The voice comes out of nowhere. If Tim wasn't Bat-trained, he probably would have freaked out. As it is, he only tenses and listens closely for any clearer sign of approach.

“I warned you,” the voice continues. “I left you with clear instructions. What did I tell you?”

“To stay out of trouble,” Tim sighs.

“And what did you do?” Paracosm questions.

Tim stays quiet as the handcuffs are taken off. This is a rhetorical quotation.

The older man just sighs.

“You're lucky I speak French, kid.”

“What –?”

“Your fingerprints are already off the system, Alvin. Now let's go, before they realize I'm not actually from the Interpol.”

(Like it? I have more mini-fics Whumptober index | And full size fics on ao3. )

[newbornwhumperfly]

ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves…

sorry for this day’s entry being late! i wasn’t happy with it for a while but perfection is the enemy of progress, so! here it is! i promise the next installments will be in quick succession, it’ll be a fun time for all 😈💖😈

whumptober2024 • day 3 • set up for failure • fingerprints | wrongfully arrested | “i warned you”

CW: blood, dehumanization, conditioned whumpee, allusions to xenophobia

title insp. by “ruthlessness” from epic: the musical

~

He knew it. 

He knew it, he knew it, he knew it, he fucking knew it. God fucking damnit. Jorah’s hands are steel-balls, every muscle coiled, spring-loaded, because he’s not fucking shaking. 

He’s not - he’s clear-headed and he has to be, doesn’t he, because nobody else in this goddamn base is. Nobody else is seeing or thinking or using their fucking brains because Morja is not in cuffs already (or, better, with a bullet in his head), just standing, standing, before their Captain’s desk, still soaking wet with Claudia’s blood.

“I warned you.” Jorah breathes, hands planted on Brax’s desk, knuckles bleach-white with holding himself still. “Captain, I asked you not to let him go without me, without a goddamn security expert-“

“There was an expert, Cuthbert.” The Captain breathes, their hands pressed flat on the fine wood grain of their desk, “The expert was Morja.” 

“And you thought- I’m sorry, you thought he’d be good enough?”

Claudia is in surgery, getting head stitches, and what if she dies- 

Jorah clamps down on the chilling twist in his stomach, all that cold going back to his veins. That’s not useful to think about right now, Sarai’s got her, she’ll be fine. She’ll live. She’d better live. 

Or Morja is dead. 

“Yes, Cuthbert, I used my discretion here. Morja was the only one who knew where the training facility would be.”

“And that wasn’t, maybe, suspect to you, did you not think of security, Captain?-“

“He was the best choice to keep everybody safe.”

Jorah reels, chest heaving, the sharp fire of rage pressing down on his lungs. He’s so betrayed. This is such a betrayal because the Captain is standing there, tall and pristine and behind that desk which represents their country, their title, and Jorah can’t believe that someone like them could be so stupid. How could they have made such an error?

“It was my call.” Jorah grits out. “I’m this base’s security liaison, I am second rank, I review all potential security threats, this motherfucker is a security threat-“

“Easy, Commander-“

“Brax, I- how else do you want me to put it, this is a fucking lapse in protocol, those are supposed to be my fucking calls to keep us safe!”

Jorah’s voice rising to a shout, his professionalism unraveling, hands emphasize his point by laying on the desk. It rattles, the trinkets rattling together, a cup in its saucer. Brax’s glasses flash, their glasses pushed up, as they stand fully behind their desk.

“If you are suggesting I had poor judgement, Cuthbert, I trusted everyone on that team.” 

Their voice is cold, sharp, and Jorah has gone maybe too far, he can see that, but they aren’t listening. Jorah can see those dark, sharp eyes keep glancing over Jorah’s shoulder, keep trying to seek out that rat fuck, why does Brax care what comes out of him? Is this balance? Is this trying to be fair, to be measured? Can’t they see the threat?

They aren’t listening. 

“Captain.” Jorah rears back, a stagger of a step, his eyes burning. Throat clicking. He goes to attention in respect for their station, but his head shakes back and forth, jaw spasming as he tries to unclench his jaw. 

“Captain?” His eyes blur as he blinks, frustration choking him, voice pitched soft, shaky. “You- you didn’t trust my judgement? You didn’t trust me?”

That makes Brax seem to remember themself, drawing themself up to full height, their expression, so tight and narrow-eyed, seems to falter. They reach out to him and Jorah pulls away, wounded. 

“Jorah, that isn’t why I didn’t consult you before they left-“

“I just wanted to keep my friends, my unit, safe, Captain.”

“I know that, Jorah, I know that and I would never have let them all go if I had known there would be this much danger.”

“He hurt Claudia.”

Jorah’s voice crests on a pitch of tension, cracks with rage, a frigid ocean storm frothing inside him, and Brax’s jaw tics visibly, sucking in their breath sharply. 

“…You don’t know that, Jorah.”

But they don’t sound so sure anymore, their eyes flicking from the asset, stock still as bloody stone, and him, and Jorah digs in, presses, urgent and hoarse, leans over the desk again to plead.

“Just ask him.”

They both spin but Jorah is watching Brax as their hand comes up to touch the gold wire of their glasses, to steady the frames again, peering at Morja with a look that makes even Jorah go still. Searching, probing, an excavation tool, razor sharp attention all on one object, one singular foci. There is a hardness to their mouth which means disappointment, pondering, doubt. 

“Morja?” 

Asset, Jorah wants to scream, but he bites his cheek somehow as the fucker thuds to his knees, filthy, on their beautiful carpet, whimpering like a dog when he folds, hands (the red blood barely dried, caked and browning) clasped crosswise in front,  playing dead. 

“Stand up, Morja, I’m talking to you.”

“I’msorryCaptain.”

As with their usual platitudes that grate, sugar on a broken tooth, Brax corrects his apology, a that’s alright, Morja, stomach-turning reassurance for a killing machine. The stains of small red fingerprints on the asset’s cheek, bright in the lamplight, make Jorah’s nostrils flare. Claudia’s handprints. 

Did she clutch at Morja before he bashed her over the head? Did she claw at him in self-defense? Jorah imagines Morja and his fucking scar-gnarled hands looming over her and he wants to put his boot against that throat and watch his fucking eyes bug as he crushes and crushes and crushes until he’s no longer playing at going limp.

“Morja, listen to me carefully. Are you responsible for Claudia’s wound?” 

Their icy calm could cut steel and even Jorah feels himself straighten up as the asset wheezes. 

“Y-Yes, Captain.”

Jorah warned them all. 

“Did you…try to harm her, Morja?”

“I’msosorry.”

“Morja, tell me you didn’t hurt her?”

“Yes- y-yes. Yes, Captain, s-sorry, was m-me.”

Brax’s hands slip into their waistcoat and Jorah is close enough to see their fingers clench into fists, rounded knuckles pressing against the silk. 

“What happened, Morja?” 

Their voice is so soft and Morja whines like a dog scratching at the door and Jorah wants to vomit.  The asset sways like he wants to collapse, silence stretching between them, taut and humming. He shakes his head, more a jerk of his chin, and lowers his chin to his chest. 

Look them in the fucking face. 

“I failed.”

His arm wraps around his stomach, head turned away, for all the world like a penitent child confessing his candy theft. Red handed. Sorry for being caught, blood still under his nails. 

“Cap-Captain, I- I am sorry. I am sorry for- for obeying my- the enemy, an- Captain, I didn’t know-“

Poorly trained dog with sharp jaws. 

“I just obeyed, I followed orders, and- I’m sorry, I tried to- I did hurt her, it is my f-fault, and I did try to- I didn’t want to hurt her, I did, I did-“

Rabid.

“Someone on the other side told you to hurt her?”

“Y-Yes, anotéros. Captain, I’m sorry.”

“Morja…who’s side are you on?”

Teeth at all of their throats.

“…Idon’tknow.”

A knock at the door makes them all startle, the silence spiderwebbing from the pressure of intrusion as Cobi steps into the room, Pfeffer still bloody, those big hands trembling, eyes red and swollen, streaming snot and tears that he keeps swiping away. 

Jorah’s chest spasms, cold, no-

Cobi catches his eyes and shakes his head, sniffling hard, using a heel of his palm to scrub at his cheek. 

“Sarai kicked me out, to- to work better.” He croaks. “I- Um. Dunno how she is yet, sorry, J-man. Just dunno yet.”

His lips are trembling, sniffling even harder, and Jorah cannot fucking handle any weakness right now, not from any quarter, spins to Brax, rigid attention and crisp readiness. The only one in this goddamn base who’s prepared to handle a goddamn difficulty. 

“What would you like me to do with him, Captain?”

Three sets of eyes flash to Jorah, the only source of clean and calm in the room. 

Brax tugs at the buttons of their vest, hands smoothing and adjusting, a magnet to Jorah’s lodestone, and when their jaw sets, he feels a surge of pride and relief that they’ve made the right choice.

“First Lieutenant Cuthbert, Private Pfeffer, Morja will be remanded into custody until further testimony from Private Williams i- when she awakes. Morja, please accompany them until further notice. We will get this figured out.”

The asset’s blank eyes go wide as he gasps a little whimper that Jorah and his tools could never wring out of him, face blossoming open in a look that Jorah doesn’t have to guess at: fear.

Good.

Motherfucker should be afraid - he should remember what he is. They should all remember what he is. It might be bittersweetly bought but now they will. Now they know that Jorah is right about him. 

~

oh no, what will happen to morja now, i wonder? 😨👀🥺

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[guardian-of-da-gay]

The Law Won

Read on Ao3

For Whumptober 2024 Prompt 3: Wrongfully Arrested

tw for mentioned murder, kidnapping, and wrongful imprisonment

Maddie had forbidden Tom from harming the raccoons around their house.  Tom was of the mind that raccoons were varmints that didn’t belong around the house.  Maddie was of the mind that no matter the messes they made, the outdoors belonged to wild animals first.  Inside their house was another matter.  When they realized there were raccoons in their crawl space–even squeezing into their basement–Maddie agreed to set some live traps.

Except somehow, someway, the raccoons managed to steal the bait without setting off the traps.  Repeatedly.  They tested and retested the traps themselves and they worked perfectly.  The raccoons were just too smart!

Tom suggested asking Tails for help.  Their youngest could probably build something no raccoon on Earth could outsmart.  But they had yet to involve their children in the fight.  Mostly because Maddie was nervous that if Knuckles, their resident warrior and hunter, knew they had a pest problem she’d one day be presented with an unsolicited pile of raccoon pelts.  Besides… Tails would probably build something that sent the raccoons to space.  As much as Tom seemed to relish both of these scenarios, Maddie was against them.

She was frustrated, but she was not at Tom’s level.  The raccoons were not her enemies.  They just had a lot of diseases and parasites that absolutely didn’t belong in her home.  And she explained as much to Crazy Carl when Tom brought him over.

Apparently, while trying to catch the ‘Blue Devil’ Carl had become an expert in custom-built live traps… Which was a little disturbing.  Maddie asked Sonic if he was okay with Carl being in his space and Sonic looked at her like she was crazy and declared ‘Don’t be weird, Carl and I go way back!’

So Carl came over and built something that Indiana Jones might struggle to get out of and Maddie paid him what he asked: a homemade dessert.  The Wachowskis went to bed that night, with Tom and Maddie feeling pretty good that their creature problem would be solved by morning.

They were all woken by what sounded like a metal avalanche.

Ozzie immediately sounded the alarm.

“Carl didn’t say it would be so loud!” Maddie complained as she staggered out of their bedroom.  A well-practiced vet instinct had her reaching out and snatching Ozzie’s collar before he could go running ahead.  She wheeled him back into the bedroom and shut him in.

The noise was still going.

“Carl didn’t say what would be so loud?”  Sonic darted in front of them.

Tails flew after him, fur puffed.  “What’s that noise?”  He asked.

“Carl set a raccoon trap in the basement!”  Tom said, tone bordering on gleeful.  

The sound changed.  The banging was getting closer.  Then it was in the kitchen.

“Oh no, not in my kitchen!”  Maddie yelped.  She ran down the hall, imagining her kitchen covered in roundworms and leptospirosis and salmonellosis and toxoplasmosis and–

“I’ll get them out!”  Sonic dashed ahead of her, Tails in hot pursuit.

“Wait, Sonic they can have–” parvovirus and distemper and “-- rabies !”

But Sonic was already gone.  She and Tom rushed to follow.  Up ahead, Sonic started cackling.  They entered the kitchen just in time to see Knuckles ushering the last of a family of raccoons out the back door.  He slammed the door behind them and moved in front of it.

He was, for some reason, covered in fishing line and empty tin cans.  The look he leveled on all of them was simultaneously ferocious and sheepish.

For a moment, they all stared at one another.  None of them expected for this to be the situation they would face tonight, but here they were.  Then Sonic started giggling.  Maddie didn’t find the situation that amusing, but Tom was smiling.  Tails looked nervously between them all.

“ Knuckles ,” Sonic wheezed between his fingers.  “What the hell?!”

***

“So you see,” Knuckles explained.  “I did not break my oath to protect this world with you!  I merely sided with the raccoons in this instance.”

Maddie frowned as she grabbed another snarl of fishing line from between two of Knuckles’ quills and cut it free.  They’d moved him to the dining room while Sonic cleaned the kitchen floor at warp speed.  Maddie knelt beside him, painstakingly removing the tangle of line from his quills and wishing she had her surgery lights from the clinic.

Beside her, Tails sat on a dining room chair, occasionally offering Maddie scissors or tweezers as she needed.  Maddie tugged a strand out of Knuckles’ quills and Tom held out the trash bag for her to drop it in.  Ozzie had gone back to sleep, but this time beneath the dining room table so he could still feel included.

Sonic snapped another picture with his phone and Maddie shot him a Mom Look™.  Beside her, Knuckles offered a less potent, but still effective Knuckles Glare™.  Sonic was really close to being assigned the second fishing line snipper and put to work digging through Knuckles’ quills.

“So you’re the reason the raccoons were getting out?”  Tom clarified.  “Why?!”  He shook the trash bag as he gestured his confusion.

“Why were you so determined to capture them?”  Knuckles asked petulantly.

“Because they carry diseases and parasites,” Maddie answered.

“That can get inside your brain,” Tom tacked on.

“Yes.  Really bad parasites.”

“Oh,” Knuckles frowned consideringly.  “Well… that’s not their fault.”

“Yes, that's why we were going to capture them and release them elsewhere ,”  Maddie explained, exasperated.  “Now they might come back.  And they walked through the kitchen .  Knuckles, we eat here!”

“I didn’t know all of that!”  Knuckles crossed his arms and looked away, inadvertently tugging some fishing line out of Maddie’s hands.  “I have been captured before and I was never once released safely elsewhere!”

“Whoa, whoa, wait.”  Sonic held up his hands to signal for a time out.  “How many times have you been captured?”

Knuckles threw out his arms.  “I just said ‘many times’!”  Maddie clicked her tongue as he once again tugged a fishing line out of her fingers.  She wasn’t sure how Crazy Carl was planning on them getting a raccoon out of all this… But it probably would’ve worked on the Blue Devil.

“Yeah, and I asked how many?”

“I don’t know!”  Knuckles shrugged.  “I was caught by scavengers on my homeworld.  I escaped.”  He shifted his arm as Maddie plucked at a stray string.  “Then again in Sandopolis by the Dingo Regime–”  He paused and actually spat on Maddie’s dining room floor before carrying on as if nothing had happened.  “Then I went to Prison World and then the arena–”

“Wait.”  Tails perked up beside her.  “Prison World?”  That’s… Knuckles, that's just prison .  You weren’t captured, you were arrested!”

Maddie paused her work and leaned back, both brows raised.  Knuckles didn’t look defensive or ashamed as she might expect.  He looked thoughtful.  Like it hadn’t occurred to him that being put in prison was a result of his own actions.

“Uh… I think we are getting off topic.” Tom said.  “The raccoons–”

“No, I think we’ve found a disturbing new topic…” Maddie said.

“Arrested?”  Sonic gasped.  “Actually, why am I gasping?  I’m not even surprised!  What did you get arrested for?  Was it something cool?”

Tom and Maddie both gave him a disapproving look.  Knuckles just shrugged.  “They didn’t say there was a reason, so I assumed it was a normal ‘capture the echidna’ situation.”

Maddie forgot her task entirely as she crossed her arms.  There were a lot of things wrong with that statement but first and foremost: “Yeah, there’s no such thing as a ‘normal’ capturing situation.”

“There is for me.”

“Wasn’t there a trial?”  Tom asked.  “Did you get a lawyer?”

“No.  And I don’t know what that is.”

“What about a sentencing hearing?”  Tom persisted.  “Did they tell you how long you’d be in prison?”

“No.”

Tom looked between Sonic and Tails before settling on Tails.  “So, was there just… no justice system?  Not even a really flawed one?”

“Oh!”  Tails started.  He fiddled with the tweezers in his hands.  “Um… well, we definitely had a really flawed justice system where I’m from but… Well, a lot of planets use Prison World and not all of them work the same.”

Maddie thought that was the most flawed part of the system then.

“How old were you?”  Sonic asked suddenly.

Maddie looked to Sonic, surprised at the question.  Then she looked to Knuckles, who once again, looked thoughtful.  She was forcibly reminded that despite Knuckles’s deep voice and the way he carried himself, he was a teenager.  He must have been even younger when he was arrested.

“I don’t know,” Knuckles said.  He glanced at Tails and stared at him a moment.  “Around your age I think.  It was not long after I lost my tribe… and the uniforms we had to wear!  Mine was the smallest they had and it was still too large.”

Oh, Maddie hated that.  A glance at Tom confirmed he was feeling the same revulsion.

Knuckles just shrugged though.  “Honestly I could have been arrested for anything.  I had no money.  Anything I needed, I stole.”

“Valid,” Sonic cut in while Tails nodded along.

“Not to mention all the places I broke into in search of the Master Emerald.  I never found it, of course, but you can trade jewels for food so–”

“Knuckles, did you rob jewelry stores ?” Tom gasped like a pearl-clutching church marm.

Knuckles nodded matter-of-factly.  “And the homes of wealthy individuals.”

“Nice.  Eat the rich,” Sonic said.

Knuckles did a whole body pause, eyes widening.  “Uh…… I did not–”

“Figure of speech!  Not literally!” Sonic said quickly.  “Don’t worry about it.  Carry on!”

“Maybe that’s why you got arrested?”  Tom proposed, getting them back on track.  “Rich people really don’t like being robbed.”

Well, nobody did, but Maddie got what he meant.  She could see some snobby rich person sending a little kid to jail for spite.

“No…”  Knuckles shook his head, his expression still thoughtful.  “No, now that I have context, the people who took me to Prison World must have been law enforcement agents.  The Dingos–” he spat again, “--took me from Sandopolis to another world with the intent of selling me, but I got loose and killed them.  Then the police came and I destroyed a lot of their vehicles.  So… it was probably either the killings or the vehicle damage.”  He tapped his chin thoughtfully.

The statement was met by a resounding silence.  Tom stared at Knuckles like he’d just grown a second head.  Sonic looked like he was mentally flipping through how he could spin this so it didn’t look so bad.  Tails stared at his shoes, clearly regretting bringing any of this up.

Maddie tried to emotionally undo the knot in her stomach.  It disturbed her to learn Knuckles had killed people.  Maybe this was somewhat offset by the fact the people he’d killed had been planning on selling him, she wasn’t sure.  She loved watching her hashtag girlboss favorite characters kill off everyone who wronged them, but in real life?  Her feelings were way more complex.  Further complicating things was how disturbingly callous he was about what he’d done.  Like taking lives meant nothing .

“I have said the wrong thing,” Knuckles’ eyes narrowed.

“No, no!”  Sonic tried, waving his hands like he could dispel the bad vibes.  “I mean…”  He winced.  “Kinda?  Just!  You might not want to mention k-wording people around anyone other than us, okay?  The average person on Earth doesn’t have a body count so… yeah.”

Knuckles was unimpressed.  “I do have a significant ‘body count’,” he emphasized.  “Killing was part of my life.”

Sonic chuckled nervously, his eyes darting to every member of the family and back to Knuckles.  “Well, if we ever need a hit man…”  He visibly suppressed a wince at his own bad joke.

Knuckles eyes narrowed to slits.  “You will find someone else,” he said sharply.  They all tensed as he stepped into Sonic’s space, towering over him.  “I will not be used as a weapon by my tribe.  If killing is necessary in my mission to protect the Emerald or this planet then so be it, but never by a whim or for your amusement!”

“Okay!  Okay, bad joke.  Sorry.”  Sonic took several steps back, holding up his hands in surrender.  “We wouldn’t really ever ask you to kill anyone.”

“The opposite actually,” Tom cut in.  “No killing anyone on Earth ever.”

Knuckles’ eyes slid to the side.  “What if I have… already possibly killed some people on Earth?”

“What?!”  Tom gasped, dropping the trash bag.

“Knuckles!”  Maddie yelled.

“They could be alive!”  Knuckles said quickly.  “Two disappeared, I don’t know where… but possibly to the next life.  The third, I simply did not check if he was alive or not.”

“You killed three people?!”  Tom threw up his hands.

“Did you not listen to what I just said?  I don’t know for certain!”

“When?”  Sonic demanded.  “ Where ?”

“What happens in Reno, stays in Reno.”

“Wha–”  Tom sputtered.  “At the bowling tournament?”

“Where was Wade?”  Maddie asked.  “Does he know?”

“What happens in Reno–”

“Nuh-uh.”  Maddie held a finger up in front of Knuckles face so she knew he was on thin-fricking-ice.  “Does Wade know?”

Knuckles sighed the most teenager-like sigh.  “ Yes .  He was there when it happened.”

“Oh my god,” Maddie said, turning to Tom.  “I’m going to kill him.”

“You just said that’s a bad thing!”

“I’m not actually going to kill him!  Because killing is bad!”

“Wait, wait, hang on!”  Sonic zipped forward to stand between Knuckles and the rest of them, spinning his hands like he could physically rewind the conversation.  “ Wade saw you maybe kill some people and he was just… fine with it?”  He turned around and looked between Tom and Maddie to see if they understood the significance of this.

“Well… sort of.”  Knuckles rumbled.  “They were trying to sell me.  Or use me for some sort of weapon?” He shrugged like this was no big deal.

Wade was dead.  He was so dead.

“He acknowledged that it was a difficult situation.  Then the Whipple matriarch, Wendy, was concerned that if they went to any sort of authorities, that I would not be able to claim self-defense since I do not legally exist and have no ‘legal protections’.”  He scowled at the memory.  “Apparently my strength is not enough protection because it is ‘different’.  She was quite sure I would be imprisoned in a government laboratory forever.”  He held out his mitts and shrugged once again.  “We all agreed to leave Reno in Reno.”

The Wachowskis sat with that for a moment.  Knuckles was right.  He wasn’t just an illegal alien he was an illegal extra-terrestrial .  There was no justice system to represent him here.  Not even a really flawed one.  Just like that world that asked no questions and threw a little kid in jail for killing his captors, he would likely wind up in some G.U.N. holding cell.

Assuming they didn’t know and hadn’t already let it slide.

“Okay,” Tom broke the silence.  “From now on.  Avoid killing people at all costs.  Like never, ever, ever do it.  If you’re in trouble like you were in Reno, you call us okay?  Call your tribe.”

“The family that slays together,” Sonic muttered under his breath.

“Sonic,” Maddie admonished.

“I mean, Dad’s right!  Sonic said.  “We’re stronger together.  There’s nothing we can’t fix–in a non-lethal way–if we work together.”

Tails nodded beside him.  “We all look out for each other,” he said.

Some of the tension eased from Knuckles’ shoulders.  “That is agreeable,” he said.  “I am a proud echidna warrior and always will be!  But… I do not want killing to be a part of my life.  Not even our neighbors, the raccoons.”

Maddie let out a breath.  He’d been so casual before that she’d been afraid… But no, he’d been casual about stealing too.  To him it was the same: stealing to eat.  Killing to escape.  Just parts of his life.  Parts that he didn’t want or need anymore.  Just so long as the Wachowskis could keep their promise to stay by his side and protect him as his tribe.

She readjusted to kneel before him.  “I promise, it won’t be,” she said.  She took his hand because she felt she should and gave it a squeeze.  “No more stealing for food. No more being captured.  No more killing, okay?”

Knuckles stared at her hand.  He never fully relaxed, but she did see a degree of tension ease from his shoulders.  He offered  her a small, almost wistful smile.  There was a part of him that didn’t believe her.  But he wanted to.  “I would like that.”

[the-bar-sinister]

Crocodile turned Doflamingo's vivre card over in his fingers as it guided them to the marine warship. They had both known that their arrangements with the World Government– their status as 'warlords of the sea'--- was temporary, and fragile.

As warlords, by definition nothing they did was illegal. And yet first Crocodile, and now Doffy had both been arrested and stripped of their titles easy as you please.

It was a stern reminder– the World Government didn't care about justice, or even about the law. All that mattered was power. And that was what he and Doflamingo had both lost.

-

The seastone manacles bit and chafed the tender flesh of Doflamingo's wrists as he sat sprawled in the warship's brig. It had fallen apart. It had all fallen apart so fast. Doffy's body bruised and ached from the beating that Luffy had given him, but little was more bruised than his own ego.

History was divided into winners and losers, nothing else, and for now at least, Doffy was one of the losers.

Canonfire and the sudden rocking of the ship cut through his melancholy and he scrambled up, smiling bright, to find out who was coming to his rescue.

-

In the wreckage of the brig Crocodile held up the key for the seastone chains, and Doflamingo's already huge grin got even wider.

"You came!" He lumbered up despite the unnatural weight of the chains bearing him down.

"What was I going to do, let you rot?" Crocodile grunted. "At Marineford you were still a government dog. And in my way."

He grabbed Doffy's wrists roughly, making him wince as he twisted the key and pulled the cuffs off, casting them away. Doffy rubbed his raw skin and shook his head, still grinning.

"We're both off the leash, now, Crocco-babe."

-

Whumptober Day 3: Wrongfully Arrested

AO3 link

[moonlight0934]

Wrongfully Arrested

Atsushi and Akutagawa walk down the sidewalk together, not trying to kill each other for once. Instead just walking to a mission like normal partners.

“What did Dazai tell you about this mission?” Akutagawa asks, sounding tense.

“Not a whole lot. He said that it was really important that we catch the ability user. Said that they have a hallucination type ability, but he didn’t give me anything else. Why?”

“The only thing he said to me was that he wasn’t asking me to kill an ally of the mafia. As vague as he normally is, it’s not usually this bad. Something feels wrong, but he hung up before I could ask any questions.”

“If it felt wrong, why did you even come?”

“That is a stupid question, Jinko. You know why I’m here.”

“Yeah, I guess I do. Anyway, what’s our game plan? If they have an illusion ability, then anything can be fake as soon as we get into range. I don’t know how large that is, but how do we go about that?”

“Easy, I cut the air right before actually hitting the target. Rashomon cuts abilities, so that close, it should disappear. If not, I can just go for a non-lethal cut. A small one just to make sure that whatever it is is real.”

“Like a paper cut? Do you have the precision for that?”

“Yes, of course I do, you fool.”

“Stop being so persnickety. I was just making sure. I don’t want you to accidentally take off any of my limbs again.”

“Oh, believe me, if I do that, it’s on purpose.”

“You are so mean for literally no reason.”

Akutagawa smirks, showing off his teeth.

“Yeah, no reason at all.”

Atsushi makes a face.

“Please never smile like that again.”

“Can you please shut up?”

“Aw, you asked so politely.”

Akutagawa glares at him as they come up on the district that Dazai said their perp would be hiding in. Atsushi’s phone rings, causing him to pause.

“Do you want me to stop?” Akutagawa asks.

He glances at his phone.

“Nah, you can keep going. It’s Dazai, so I shouldn’t be long. Text me if you find him, but don’t engage by yourself.”

Akutagawa nods, tucking his hands in his pockets as he continues on.

Atsushi answers his phone with a cheerful, “Hey, Dazai, what’s up?”

“Are you with Akutagawa, or did you send him on without you?”

“I sent him forward. Do you need me to get him?”

“No, I wanted him gone. I needed to talk to you alone.”

“What did you want to talk about?”

“The perp. I wanted to tell you a little bit more.”

“Why wouldn’t Akutagawa be here for that?”

A weird suspicious feeling starts to take root the longer the conversation goes on. He looks around to see if Akutagawa is still in view, but he’s not.

“I just think that Akutagawa wouldn’t be able to be impartial.”

“Impartial?”

“Yes, I know that he hasn’t killed anyone because of your deal. However, I don’t trust his temper to hold forever.”

“What did this guy do? Can you get the point already? I have to get going.”

“Right, I can do that. He attacked an orphanage in a specific town. Got them to kill each other. That happens to be where Akutagawa grew up before I took him in. That’s why I don’t trust him. He can be very rash.”

“You think he’d really care about that? Anyone he knew wouldn’t be there anymore. He doesn’t seem like the sentimental value type.”

“I know, but he can be. I’ve known him a long time. Trust me on this. I’m only letting you know in case he figures out. Just to make sure that you’re ready in case he attacks you too.”

“Are you stalling?”

“No, but you should be prepared.”

Atsushi hangs up before Dazai can convince him to stay on the phone. He runs in the direction that Akutagawa walked in.

“Akutagawa!” he yells, even though he knows that there could be dangerous people lurking around.

Then he sees them, a group of police men outside of a nearby building. He runs over, trying to see what’s happening.

“Who are you?” one of them demands.

“I work with the Armed Detective Agency. What’s happening over here?”

“We just arrested one of the members of the Port Mafia. He was here to kill someone. We were too late to save them, but we were able to apprehend him with few injuries. Were you sent down on the same mission?”

“No, I was down here looking for a different perp . They weren’t part of the mafia.”

“Do you need help?”

“No, I don’t think he’ll have stuck around after this. I’ll just call my superior.”

The officer nods, and Atsushi rushes off to the side to call Dazai.

“What is wrong with you?!” he demands in a hushed whisper.

“I have a reason.”

“What do you mean? You led him to get arrested! Did he even actually kill the guy?”

“I can’t tell you anything, Atsushi.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit. This is not fair.”

“Life isn’t fair, and this is how things had to happen. I had to handle it this way. You’ll understand someday.”

“How long are you going to leave him there?”

“Oh, I’m not getting him out at all. I’ll leave that to someone else. The reason why this had to happen in the first place.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’m going to do something about this if I have the power.”

“You don’t. Don’t start making trouble where you don’t have any. Leave him alone, and stay out of this.”

“No. I’m not doing that. He’s my partner. That’s your doing too.”

Atsushi hangs up, but most of the police have already left. So, he heads to the nearest police station. He shows them his ID and asks if they had processed any criminals in the last half hour. The man at the front desk looks at his ID closely before proudly telling him that they caught one of the Port Mafia’s top enforcers. They even had fingerprint and DNA evidence pinning him to the murder.

“I want to talk to him.”

“He’s not talking to anyone. We already tried.”

“I don’t care. He’ll talk to me.”

“If you say so. He’s still in the interrogation room anyway.”

He leads Atsushi to the interrogation room where Akutagawa is sitting. Akutagawa has his arms folded, leaning back in his chair with a bored look.

“Akutagawa.”

He frowns deeper as he turns to look at Atsushi.

“What do you want, Jinko?”

“I’m not sure yet. What happened?”

“I showed up at the warehouse that the perp was allegedly last seen at, and there was a body instead. Then the police arrived, and said that I murdered him. I assume that Dazai set me up. They said that they had fingerprints and DNA though I hadn’t touched anything yet. Also, the man was torn up, which I certainly could have done. Not that I leave fingerprints, cause this isn’t amateur hour.”

“Yeah, I talked to him. Why didn’t you just leave?”

“Cause the police were already there, and they were there in droves. I couldn’t just leave without killing at least half a dozen people.”

Atsushi drops back against his chair, his brain fuzzing out for a moment.

“He used me to get you arrested.”

Akutagawa laughs mirthlessly.

“First time? He’ll use you till there’s nothing left of you, or until you die. Both in my case.”

Atsushi looks up to see Akutagawa’s eyes cast downward. They’re dark, his jaw set, and his body tense.

“I’ll figure this out.”

“No you won’t. Not if he doesn’t want you to.”

“There has to be something I can do.”

Akutagawa doesn’t respond, doesn’t even look at him. Atsushi stands up, rushing back out of the room. He can’t take Akutagawa’s silence anymore, can’t take his lack of anger, and his acceptance of the situation. He barely gets outside before he’s throwing up in the grass. Despite everything, there isn’t a single thing he can do in the long run.

[snowshowerwriting]

Only One Warning

Whumptober Day 3: Fingerprints | wrongfully arrested (kinda) | "I've warned you"

Cw: Threats

--

Was it so hard to just focus and work? Apparently, it was for Hero, who had been staring at the paperwork on their desk for hours. Although it was their day off, Hero had taken on a personal project to look into strange activities going on with the Supervillain. Recently, Supervillain had begun to encroach into The Hero Agency's territory, leaving subtle hints and crumbles of the organized criminal activity throughout the city. The activity had only been growing over the past few days. They had to even dig through for files in the restricted section of the Hero Agency.

Heavy knocks at the front door had Hero jump out of their desk. They frowned, glancing at their watch. It was 11pm on Saturday night. Who would be out right now? The hero frowned and got up as another set of knocks banged on the door.

They sighed and opened the door only to freeze as they made eye contact with Superhero. "Evening, Hero," she greeted, stepping past into the door. As she entered, the hero's apartment felt a few degrees colder. Hero moved back as their boss looked around their apartment.

"Uh..hello. What are you doing here?" Hero asked, a frown settling into their expression.

"I heard from some colleagues that you were looking for Supervillain. I don't recall assigning you such a project."

The hero held their breath, looking off to the side. Well, shit.

"No, but you can't deny that there's something strange going on," they said, turning to the Superhero once again. Maybe if they told her everything they've found, they might get access to more resources. "There's been money-"

"Yes-"

"-feeding out of our accounts into the companies that Supervillain backs up."

"Hero, I kno-"

"Not only that but the cases of organized crimes-"

"Hero-"

"-It's increasing amongst the commercial centers. More so than normal!"

"Good gods, just shut up for a second!" The superhero's voice echoed through the apartment and Hero winced. The hero's lips snapped shut and they stared at the Superhero, their blood pounding in their ears. "How do you think the Supervillain managed to get in touch with those companies in the first place?"

"...what?"

The Superhero took a step towards the Hero and rested a hand on their shoulder. "Look, Hero. You're a diligent employee and I wish I had more people like you. I find you incredibly respectable, so I'll tell you this. The Hero Agency needs the connection to Supervillain's Syndicate for a lot more than you can ever imagine. The money is coming out of the agency because we're paying them back. They've been in our territory for a reason, and it hasn't slipped my eyes. I hope you see me as a sharper person than that."

"And you know what? You're an honest person too, Hero. I like that too but... I can't have you spilling all these words to other people either. It won't be some truth you'll be telling people with your heroic grace."

Hero was snapped out of their wide-eyed stare as sounds came from the hallways. They looked down the hallway, spotting two police officers making their way over. "What's this?" The urgency in the hero's voice grew as they looked back over to their boss.

The Superhero shrugged, resting her hands in her pockets. "Don't worry hero," she said, leaning against the wall. "You'll be in detention."

The hero froze up and then was promptly crowded by the two cops who entered their apartment. "Wait, what?! You can't do this! Detention on what accounts?" they scoffed, stepping away from both the superhero and the cops.

Superhero gave them a chilling smile, "You've left your fingerprints behind on practically everything you touched. Rather amateur. Not to mention that the keycard entry system keeps records, even in prohibited areas."

"You can't do this! I'm not the only one who's taken notice of this," Hero tried to threaten, struggling as the cops had suddenly taken hold of them. "I'll-"

"Hero." Superhero's voice was stripped of all warmth, sounding alien and detached from any sort of care or feeling. "If you keep this up, you know where you'll go. I'm warning you only once. Don't push it."

The hero nodded, feeling the cold creep in through their fingertips and cause goosebumps along their arms. They stopped struggling as they stared back at their boss. Has the hero agency always been this way?

EEE I DID IT

i have to write my history paper for tmr now :') SO MUCH WRITING

also hero whumpee and (super)hero whumper r 2 of my fave tropes

[foreverchangingfandomsao3]

naasta ni a taylir gar alii’kote (destroy me to keep your reputation) (6,184 words) by foreverchangingfandoms

Chapters: 1/1

Fandom: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Wilhuff Tarkin, Mace Windu, Yoda (Star Wars), CC-2224 | Cody, CC-1010 | Fox, CC-3636 | Wolffe, Ki-Adi-Mundi, Luminara Unduli, Barriss Offee, Plo Koon, Sheev Palpatine | Darth Sidious, Anakin Skywalker

Additional Tags: Whumptober 2024, Whump, Obi-Wan Kenobi Whump, Emotional Hurt, Hurt Obi-Wan Kenobi, Inspired by the Wrong Jedi arc, Good Jedi Council (Star Wars), Obi-Wan Kenobi Needs a Hug, Obi-Wan Kenobi Leaves the Jedi Order, Technically he leaves the Order, More accurately he's removed, Trials, Sheev Palpatine | Darth Sidious Being an Asshole, Wilhuff Tarkin Being an Asshole, Both are very relevant, Sassy Obi-Wan Kenobi, Wrongful Imprisonment, Also wrongful arrest, Caring Mace Windu, Jedi Council is So Done (Star Wars), Specifically they're so done with Tarkin, Sad with a Happy Ending, Hopeful Ending

Series: Part 3 of Whumptober 2024

Summary:

Obi-Wan Kenobi is framed for a crime he didn't commit, wrongfully arrested and forced to suffer through trials where his guilt is already decided (aka Obi-Wan in place of Ahsoka in the Wrong Jedi arc)

My fill for whumptober day 3 - Set up for failure (fingerprints | wrongfully arrested | “I warned you”)

[whumpninja]

Third piece! I’m catching up! This one features Annabel from my running series The Coven- it’s set decades before the main story, before the girls even meet up and way before Will is ever involved.

Taglist (let me know if you only want to be tagged in full chapters!): @fabled-whump @scatteriskity @ba-bhump

Prompt used: Whumptober, wrongfully arrested

Featuring: this might count as horror???, Annabel is a scary lady, historical whump, vampire whumper, wrongful arrest, chains, gunshot wound, fade to black murder/blood drinking, CHARACTERS DIE IN THIS LOOK OUT

Whumptober Day Three: rosemary

She was a very old woman, in her eighties at the very least. Ezekiel felt a twinge of guilt at the idea of arresting her. But the simple fact was that people were dying of a strange sickness, and when a strange sickness fell on a village, the answer was usually witchcraft. And old women who lived alone...well. They were always witches, weren't they?

Zechariah rapped hard on the old woman's door. "Widow Rosemary!" he called out in an officious voice. "Open thy door! We are from the village militia- we would have words with thee!"

The quavering voice of the widow replied from inside. "Oh, dear- I'm coming, sirs. Just give me a moment to stir my old bones. Oh, dearie me!"

"Hast thou the chains, Ezekiel?" Zechariah said in a low voice. In answer, Ezekiel held up a pair of slightly rusted irons.

The door creaked open. The widow peered out, squinting at the visitors. "Oh, my," she mumbled. "Yes, how can I help you, sirs?"

Ezekiel nudged Zechariah, who held up a parchment and declared, "Widow Rosemary, you are-"

"Just call me Annabel, dear." The widow chuckled.

"Er- Widow Annabel, you are hereby placed under arrest for-"

"Eh?" The old woman cupped a hand to her ear. "Speak up, young feller, I don't hear as well as I used to."

"Witchcraft!" shouted Zechariah, beginning to go a bit red in the face. "The crime of witchcraft! You are under arrest!"

Annabel tilted her head. "Witchcraft? Me? Oh, sirs, I am merely a healer. I do not practice black magic! I only use innocent herbs and potions and the like."

"That's for the council to decide," Ezekiel replied. "Will you come quietly, grandmother? We do not wish to cause a disturbance."

She seemed confused; glancing around her little hovel. "W-well, I- if it is necessary- oh, dear, what about my- I suppose-"

"Hands, Granny," broke in Zechariah, snatching the chains from Ezekiel.

The poor woman went rather pale. "Oh, oh my," she stammered. "I- what are those made of?"

"Iron, of course," replied Zechariah, seizing her hands rather roughly. "Did thee expect solid gold?”

"Zechariah, she be an elder!" Ezekiel hissed. "Here, let me." He elbowed the older man out of the way. "Sorry about this, Widow Rosemary."

The old woman's lip quivered as he secured the irons around her frail, blue-veined wrists. She glanced up at the sky. "Oh, 'tis so grey today- looks as though it might rain, could I fetch my shawl-"

"We haven't time!" Zechariah took her by the arm. Reluctantly, Ezekiel did the same with her other arm.

It was slow going to the village jail. The old woman tottered and trembled and stopped multiple times to tell them about her rheumatism. The villagers, having heard that there was to be an arrest, came out of their houses to watch. Poor Widow Rosemary looked so ashamed that Ezekiel wanted to shout at them all to go back inside.

Finally, they reached the jail, and Ezekiel took the irons off. Zechariah pushed the old woman into a cell and slammed the door.

She glanced around worriedly. "'Tis terribly drafty, isn't it? How long shall I have to stay here?"

"Until the council discerns whether or not thou art a witch," Zechariah replied.

Widow Annabel sat down on the narrow plank that served as a bed, putting her head in her hands. "I told thee, young man, I be not a witch. What is it they've said I did?"

"Caused a plague, old woman. Four have died already, with three more gravely ill. And from most strange symptoms- little holes in their necks, and skin all pale and ashen, and so terribly cold." Zechariah shuddered. "Clearly caused by some dark spell. It will go much easier for thee, widow, if you confess to being a witch here and now."

The old woman shook her head, still not looking up. "No, no, I will never say what is untrue, not if I must be killed for it. I be no witch! And I never caused any plague of- of neck piercing, or ashy skin, or cold bodies, or blood draining, or any such thing!"

Zechariah and Ezekiel glanced at each other.

The widow spoke into her hands. "You did not mention the blood draining, did you?"

"No," Ezekiel replied, beginning to feel alarmed. Zechariah moved slowly toward the gun that hung above the jailhouse door.

"Bugger," said the widow. "I was enjoying that."

"You are a witch, then?" Ezekiel demanded.

"Oh, certainly not." She lifted her head then, and Ezekiel stumbled back in terror.

The widow- witch- demon- monster had kept its form of an elderly woman. But now her eyes glowed a hot, bright red. Zechariah fumbled for the gun and fired off a shot. It sank deep into the creature's chest.

She glanced down at it.

"Ow," she said, petulantly. "You young rogue, shooting an old woman."

Ezekiel's mouth dropped open.

The creature took hold of two of the cell bars and bent them apart with ease, stepping through the gap. She smiled, and Ezekiel saw with horror that her teeth were sharp, pointed fangs.

"Now," she said, and turned that ghastly smile on him. "You've been quite polite, so I'll make it quick for you, and I'm very sorry that I have to do it, but you did see me, so needs must. But this one who shot me- you, you rude little man, shall not have it so easy."

"What- what are you?" Ezekiel gasped.

"A vampyre, silly," she said. "Oh, your kind won't know about us for awhile yet. We are creatures who were once dead, come back to life- and we have a terrible thirst."

It was Zechariah who spoke next, his voice cracking with fear. "A thirst for what?"

The vampyre grinned at him, a grotesque parody of a grandmother's kindly smile. "Blood, my dear. It's all we're ever after. Blood."

She leapt on him.

[thefandomlesbian]

"Chester's harmless," Wild Bill Hickok says. "What's he going to do? Try to fight it out with me?" Then he laughs.

In which Matt is sentenced to hang for a crime he didn't commit, and underestimating Chester is a fatal error.

My first Whumptober story! Super excited to start sharing some of these pieces!