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possum-quesadilla · 3 months ago

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Chapter six of Time’s Arrow, “I hope I cut myself shaving tomorrow, I hope it bleeds all day long // You are my sweetest downfall” is here, just in time for my wisdom tooth surgery! Hope y’all are hungry! Especially you, Beetlands fans.

Please read the warnings carefully and proceed with caution. This chapter is pretty rough.

As always, extras!

- The lyrics for this chapter’s title are from “No Children” by The Mountain Goats and “Samson” by Regina Spektor, for the very different vibes happening throughout it! The first bit reflects how Beetlejuice was relying on pain to distract him from his Feelings, the second is him admitting that the Maitlands are his “downfall”. Also both songs slap so hard.

- “Charles insisted on moving his chair to sit close by, “in case you fall”. (Why would he care if Beetlejuice fell?)” - Get absolutely fathered, idiot.

- “They’d pointed out their own star not too long after they’d all settled down, and found they couldn’t take their eyes off of it. Was it really tied to them? Would it go out if they did? Would they go out if it did? They didn’t really have answers. They weren’t educated on all the ins and outs of demon-.. hood. Their mother didn’t quite care to find the time to teach them, and they didn’t care to learn.” - Wow. Interesting stuff to think about!

- “Mhm. Blood ritual. Carve a bunch of markings in the ground, sacrifice an innocent. Sign your name in… the Big Book. Then spill your own blood.” - Yep! There’s one big, all important “Big Book” that has the name of every demon in it. Juno (that’s not her original name in this fic) killed one of her living children as a sacrifice, and then slit her own throat. Fun!

- “.. there is. You get an invite, and you give something up.” - Very interesting. Also brought back up later in the chapter!

- “… “flying dragon” orange sapling pots.” - “Flying dragon” oranges are the most cold-hardy orange trees, according to google!

- “ “I would also like to apologize for what happened to your mother,” Charles says firmly, glancing meaningfully at Lydia. (Beetlejuice follows his gaze to find her and the Maitlands all lightly shaking their heads at the man.)” - THEY TRIED TO WARN HIM

- “Charles is kneeling beside him, face scrunched up with that same look he’s given him so many times before. He knows it’s concern, from seeing it on the other humans, but why would Charles be making it at him?” - PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT YOU ARE BEING FATHERED.

- “Your favorite movie is “Pride and Prejudice”. The 2005 version only, you think the 1995 adaptation didn’t do it justice. You went to Cornell University to study business, and met Lydia’s mom there. Your favorite flowers are red carnations.” - Emily showed him that movie, since she was an English major, and he cried the first time he saw it. He hasn’t watched it since her death. Red carnations mean “my heart aches for you”!

- “Your bisexual awakening was Ms. Honey from “Matilda”. You love ‘true crime’, but you can’t stomach most bloody movies. Except for “Alien” and “Aliens”, ‘cause you like watching Sigourney Weaver kick ass. Adam’s lived with you since you were both 16, but you two didn’t start dating until you were 19.” - Surprise, Barb is bisexual! Who wouldn’t fall for Ms. Honey, honestly? I like to think she admired her extreme kindness and somewhat tried to follow her example. Also Sigorney Weaver is literally my wife, if you care.

- “You’ve seen “The Terminator” 137 times. Your favorite of those weird little monsters is the big blue one called ‘Lapras’. You had a dog when you were real little named ‘Sawyer’, and it’s in your top 5 for baby names because you loved that dog. You couldn’t get another after he passed away because your mom’s boyfriend was allergic to dogs.” - Beej may not know what is being said, but he loves to listen! Also I wonder if readers should store the name ‘Sawyer’ in their memory for later.

- Adam’s talk with Beej - AUGH. Where do I even start? Someone finally explains to our little demon what love is actually about. And the first hint at… gasp! Self love?! Slow progress, but progress nonetheless.

- “They feel.. the same way I feel about them. Why? How? … They’ll be here for me until I get better. If… if I ever get better. … I.. need to get better? … Something’s wrong with me. They all know it. (They’ve always known. Everyone can see it.) But what? Will it ever get better? Will they still be waiting for me if I do?” - ARRRRGH… the realization that something is Wrong with you, but you don’t know how to fix it or if it can be fixed, and that those who love you can see it my beloathed… not entirely true, but true in Beej’s mind!

- “The demon clacks his teeth repeatedly, stomping a hoof on the ground firmly once. “This is bullshit.” ” - He stomps his hooves when he’s mad sometimes, like a rabbit. Or a ram preparing to charge.

- “Beetlejuice used one napkin to soak up some of the egg yolk from his plate, quickly shoving it in his mouth before either of the humans have time to notice and protest.” - just wanted to highlight this particularly feral moment.

- “ “Yeah. Sorry, Babs. My bad. My memory is… worse than a goldfish.” “Goldfish’s memory isn’t even that bad. You’re just uniquely forgetful.” ” - goldfish don’t have bad memories!! Stop spreading the falsehood pretty please

- “The demon bared his teeth at her, a gesture which she immediately returned. He was still huffing…” - he also huffs when he’s mad, like a cat does!

- “ “Just… try to be mindful of when important things happen with the business and you, alright? Keep us in the know.” The demon slowly nodded, shifting in his seat. “.. I promise I’ll try.” ” - I think most neurodivergent people have experienced this. The best we can do is try!

- Barbara talking about seeing the doctor - a continuation of the Neurodivergent Experience, and also a reference to a similar scene in Stephen King’s “Laurie”. Because that story fuckin’ rocks.

- “Ash’s hair has been properly bleached and cut into a choppy bob.” - Chloe Price-esque cut, since she’s one of the characters who inspired Ash!

- “Beetlejuice’s has been trimmed back to the length it was after the loop, no longer shaggy and falling into his eyes. The grey is missing completely, the brown pronounced and obviously artificial, if one stares at it too long.” - Yep, his hair has been growing out at an exponential rate since they escaped the loop! So has his fur. I wonder if that will be an issue later.

- “ “Thank you. What have you done to my brother?” “Just gussied him up a little for tonight. And showed him the first three and a half “Saw” movies.” The demon was purring loudly, repeatedly shifting his feet. “Someone’s currently getting scalped.” ” - “SAW” MY BELOVED!!! I got Sawtism. So does Ash. She is doing her best to pass it on to Beetlejuice. He doesn’t really get the storyline, but he likes the blood.

- “ “And… wow. You cut, like… a whole foot off. That’s.. crazy.” Lydia went to fidget with their own hair, ignoring Beetlejuice’s interjection of “so did Larry!”. ” - This likely won’t be relevant, but Beej was present when Polaris cut their hair to the length it is now. A little hint to their past together!

- “ Beetlejuice let out a little groan then. “Oh. Okay. I get it now.” “.. get what?” He patted his sister’s arm sympathetically. “You’ll figure it out soon.” ” - he gets it. He sees it from the other side.

- “ “Oh, Ash, c’mon, you didn’t have to get me anything!” Lydia called after the other teen as she bolted to the back room. “Yeah, but I wanted to!” ” - My own response whenever people say “you didn’t have to”. Yeah, I didn’t, but I wanted to!

- “Beetlejuice waits patiently as Ash presents Lydia with some sort of strange, old camera. Something with the word “Polaroid”.” - Ash used the absurd amount of money Beej has been paying them to get Lydia a nice camera! Beej doesn’t know what it is, and I don’t have the energy to research the proper name for it.

- “ “Hello!” Barbara chirped, repeatedly patting her husband’s arm out of excitement. Beetlejuice let out a weary sort of sigh in the silence that followed. Guess we’ll do it the hard way. … The demon was very careful as they gripped the teen’s arm and bit down on their wrist. Ash yelped as their teeth broke skin, yanking their arm away and holding it close to their chest.” - The bite gave them the ability to see the paranormal! They weren’t gifted like Lydia, so they had to be given that gift. Also, WAS THAT THE BITE O-

- “Ash gripped at her wrist, letting out a little growl of frustration. “What the fuck, man?! Why does it sting so bad?” ” - because they’re venomous!

- “ “… Hope ya got your rabies vaccine, Ash!” Ash blanched, hesitantly allowing Barbara to inspect her wrist. “What?” “Kidding! I don’t have rabies anymore.” ” - Not anymore!

- “… he sees his shaky hands playing rounds of “Mario Party” with all of the humans.” - Beetlejuice sucks at “Mario Party”. They main Bowser, like they do in “Mario Kart”. Lydia mains Shy Guy.

- Isopropyl alcohol - partially based on a scene from “Moral Orel”. Do not watch that show. ALSO, DON’T DRINK ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL!!

- “His voice comes out slow and difficult when he thanks Delia for wiping the frosting off his face.” - GET PROPERLY MOTHERED

- “Lydia opens her presents. Beetlejuice struggles to keep track of them. Some sort of framed… butterfly? No, moth. A framed moth from Delia. … A “forest exploration kit” from Barbara. An old book Beetlejuice had kept in his hammer space, which he recently was told was an original print of “Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque”. ” - The moth is a framed, taxidermied Death Head moth! The “exploration kit” is basically just survival/camping stuff. Yeah Beetlejuice had a $100K book in his hammer space.

- “Why is Adam so far from him? He feels some sort of strange, dour sorrow when the ghost sits on the ground rather than next to him, like he and Barbara usually do. His wife sits next to him.” - I wonder if this has anything to do with alcohol related trauma?

- “They watch Lydia’s favorite movie, “Coraline”. Beetlejuice’s head is spinning. “You know that I love you.” He feels sick. “You.. have a really funny way of showing it.” His ears are ringing. It’s deafening.” - He’s watching it for Lydia, but this movie is unfortunately still very triggering for Beetlejuice.

- “ “Yeah. Last month.” He allows the minuscule illusion to slip. “What did you-” Lydia lets out a little gasp, leaning forward closer to the demon. “What happened to your ear?!” Beetlejuice tilts his head so she can better see his right ear. “Had to give up a piece of myself to make up this one. Hurt like a bitch, but it was worth it.” His hands shook horribly as he slowly sliced through the rest of his ear from the notch. Sobs wracked through his body, and he swore he could smell tobacco and brandy. He swore he could hear his mother screaming. But it was worth it for Lydia.” - YEAH CUTTING OFF PART OF THEIR EAR CAUSED A BAD PTSD EPISODE.

- “Beetlejuice carefully thumbed through the Book, past all of the names already written in it. To the page reserved for his coven. For Lydia.” - Hmmm! I wonder what that’s about?

- “He holds it close to his chest, careful not to let it drip onto his… when did he put on pajamas? When the fuck did he get Hello Kitty pajamas? He squinted at Lydia. They were matching? He vaguely recognized the gothic little creature on her pajama pants.” - Ash bought them matching Hello Kitty and Kuromi pajamas, because it’s funny.

- “The room is dim, except for the faint glow of Lydia’s TV. She and Ash had fallen asleep mid-way through some sort of ghost hunting show marathon, bundled up in blankets. They were sat up close together, only held up by each other.” - they fell asleep watching “Buzzfeed Unsolved”.

- “ “I.. I’ll wait for you in the hall. Give you some privacy.” Beetlejuice opened his mouth to ask what she meant, briefly, but shut it again after a few moments in favor of softly thanking her.” - Beetlejuice has no idea why someone would bother to give them privacy.

- “ “Hey, Larry! Long time no see!” They chirped cheerfully. “… Betelgeuse.” They growled, voice low and flat. “You continue to exist.” ” - Based on a scene in “Ready or Not”, one of the funniest horror movies ever.

- “They had not changed in the centuries since they’d seen each other, it seemed. White, fuzzy bear-like ears poked out of their pale, neatly slicked-back hair. A pair of short, plain black horns adorned with a multitude of variously colored rings. Clinical red eyes glaring down at him through a pair of rounded silver glasses, pale brows furrowed and their lip curled in a constant look of neutral displeasure. Their white fur coat, draped over their hulking stature.” - Say hello to Polaris! They are 6’5”. They have albinism, and the features of a polar bear, because their star is from Ursa Minor! Also they have mountain goat horns.

- “Polaris crossed their arms just below sight from the mirror. “I see. Give me a moment.” Beetlejuice shifted his hooves nervously as their aloof crimson gaze scanned his form. “Hmm. Still a clumsy oaf, I see.” They reached up to adjust their glasses.” - Polaris is extremely skilled in healing and such. Yes, they were able to assess what was wrong with Beetlejuice just by looking at them.

- “ “… Pieces of bone lodged in both lungs-” “That happened while I was stuck in a time loop, shouldn’t that have healed?” Polaris let out a growl, much deeper and intimidating than Beetlejuice’s own. “Don’t interrupt me. And no, it doesn’t work like that. Any damage your body sustains in a time loop carries over. Obviously.” “… damn. Like “Happy Death Day”. That explains why my throat still burns sometimes.” ” - YEAH SURPRISE. The damage from the holy water all those times carries over! So did everything else!

- “ “Many little bruises and cuts from… Sirius, it seems. Really now, Betelgeuse, did you not learn your lesson before?” They spoke again before he could hiss at them not to say his name.” - Cyrus’ real name reveal! Not that it was too much of a secret, hehe.

- “ “… That would take me all day, little prince.” Beetlejuice let out an involuntary snarl, stomping a hoof down on the tile floor once. They caught a hint of bright red in their dim reflection. “Don’t fuckin’ call me that.” ” - I wonder what this is about?

- “Polaris flashed him that flat, irritating false smile. They had never properly learned to smile, like Beetlejuice himself, but theirs always seemed more like a grimace. (They were a pair, once. Just briefly. The little demons with big teeth, odd smiles, and poor grasps on any and all social cues, breather or demon. But that was so long ago.)” - They are both extremely autistic, and neither knows how to “smile properly”. They were friends when they were very small, but they had a falling out.

- “I didn’t call you to lecture me, you fuckin’.. Judge Holden lookin’-ass bitch!” - Judge Holden is the main antagonist of “Blood Meridian”, a book I have read quite a few times! He has albinism, like Polaris. DO NOT LOOK HIM UP. PLEASE.

- “ “There. Quite the weight off your chest, no?” Polaris frowned, tapping a finger on their chin. “No, that won’t do at all. I already made that joke after your top surgery, didn’t I?” ” - Polaris did Beetlejuice’s top surgery!

- “ “Th-… thank you, Polaris. That.. I feel much better.” They blinked at him, slightly tilting their head. “Yes, I imagine that’s why you called upon me. To feel better.” They then narrowed their eyes. “Don’t think I’ll do anything else for free just because you thanked me, Betelgeuse. I’m not as soft as you. I just cleared your lungs for free because you amused me.” ” - they do not understand the concept of genuine gratitude.

- “Beetlejuice was.. already feeling better than they had in so long. “.. what will it cost me for you to fix the rest?” But they already knew the answer. “Oh, you know that already, little prince. It’s the same as it has always been.” Polaris grins at him again, curling back their black lips in an offputting manic sort of half-smile, half-grimace. “The cost to remove the Seal that binds you and cure all your ailments is, of course, your most valuable skill: your ability to lie.” Beetlejuice crossed his arms over his chest, gripping at his left forearm. “.. you know I won’t agree to that.” “Of course not. What is the serpent without his silver tongue?” Shame and anger bubbles up in Beetlejuice’s gut. He grits his teeth and sighs. They’re right. You’re nothing but a lying snake. ” - HMMM. I wonder if readers should save this information away for later!!

- “ “If we have no further business, then I will take my leave.” They lifted one gloved hand, presumably to sever the connection, but paused. “.. perhaps consider getting a mobility aid for that leg, Beetlejuice.” Their voice took on an odd sort of wistful twinge. “A cane would suffice, for when it starts to give out on you.” Beetlejuice nodded, giving a half-hearted little smile. “.. thanks, Larry.” ” - Just a little hint at the friendship they used to have many, MANY years ago. A part of Polaris is still strangely fond of Beej.

- “ “About as hard to watch as “Exorcist II: The Heretic”, man.” “… fuck. That bad?” “Maybe even worse.” ” - That movie is one of the worst movies ever. I am not kidding. Watch it if you want to be aware of time passing and death marching closer.

- “ “Aren’t you already dating that… ‘Cyrus’ guy?” “Yeah. ‘M polyamorous, though.” “Oh. Slay.” The demon lifted his head to squint at the teen. ‘Slay’? Before he could ask what the fuck that meant, they spoke again. ” - Beetlejuice has never heard most ridiculous teenage lingo.

- “… god. For a complete doofus, you can be super.. sappy and poetic sometimes. It’s offputting.” - based on something said to me!

- “Lydia caught sight of enormous grey paws under their long skirts, hearing the clicking of their claws on the wooden floor with each step. A wolf in sheep’s clothing, their mind whispered. But that was silly, wasn’t it? Beetlejuice trusted this demon.” - Lydia sees right through Cyrus’ thematic bullshit.

- “His cheeks were still a bright red, the place where Cyrus had placed his lips even having a light tinge of blue to it.” - He got a little bit of frostbite from that kiss.

- “Ash was there as well, sitting on the counter, showing the demon something on her phone that caused them to laugh.” - it was this video.

- “Her green eyes caught the afternoon sun in a beautiful way, reflecting back a golden- fuck, now is not the time for that.” - Lydia’s got her priorities straight! (Well, not straight.) Brothers first, beautiful women second.

- “ “You can’t stand turtlenecks. They’re a sensory hell for you. Why’re you wearing one now?” He’d shook like a chihuahua when Barbara had insisted he try one on in the past. There was no way in hell he’d wear one of his own free will out of the blue. ” - based on my own personal experience with turtlenecks. Why are they literally the worst thing ever?

- “Nearly all of the skin of their neck was bruised a dark purple and blue, from their collarbone nearly to their chin. Just below their Adam’s apple was a line of crudely done stitches holding together what seemed to be a complete decapitation wound.” “Lightly decapitated! My head didn’t come all the way off!” - Yeouch. Just wanted to put all these details together for posterity.

- “ Lydia growled, going to dig through her backpack for her notebook. “No one lays their fuckin’ hands on my brother and gets away with it.” Ash hopped down from the counter and followed her, nodding in agreement. “I’ll get my bat.” ” - Lydia is ready to exorcize a bitch. Ash is ready to bash his fuckin’ kneecaps in.

- “ “I don’t need attack dogs right now, alright? I just…” he hesitated, suddenly looking ashamed. He slumped down into the stool set up behind him. “I want.. someone to be.. here for me.” ” - Sometimes, you don’t need people piling hate on someone who hurt you. You just need them to comfort you.

- “Lydia gently patted his back, speaking to him in as soft a voice as she could muster. “It’ll be alright”, “I’m here”, “You’ll be okay”. She felt the collar of her dress become damp with tears, but she didn’t mind.” - IS THIS FAMILIAR? DOES THIS PARALLEL A SCENE IN TIME IS A FLAT CIRCLE?

- “Lydia feels a soft little smile tugging at her lips as Ash goes on, making plans for what snacks to bring and what creeks to look for rocks in. Beetlejuice chimes in, voice still a little hoarse, suggesting his favorite fallen oak tree for bug hunting. She’s struck with how kind she is, in her own way. How she treats her strange monster of a brother with prickly compassion. She feels a strange little fluttering in her chest.” - 👀

- “.. he and Ash had a stick duel that devolved into an impromptu friendly knife fight,” - Based on a scene in “Night in the Woods”!

- “As Beetlejuice gloated and stuck his tongue out at Ash from a branch a good ten feet above hers, his tail securely holding him up, he felt on top of the world.” - PREHENSILE TAIL USAGE!!

- “He didn’t hit his head that bad, he just needed a moment for the color to return to his vision. Had Ash always had four pairs of eyes?” - Sometimes if you hit your head in just the right place, you temporarily (or permanently, if you’re unlucky) lose the ability to see color. Yes I know this from experience.

- “ He shrugged his shoulders when his daughter asked if the other teen could stay the night. “… I suppose, if her parents are alright with that.” Ash waved their hand and scoffed. “They don’t care. They’re in Massachusetts.” The man frowned, exchanging a brief glance with Lydia. “.. I see. Stay as long as you like, Ms. Swallows.” ” - Charles decided right here that Ash was also his child now too. Father of three!

- “While Lydia and Ash went up to play some sort of… dragon killing game, Beetlejuice decided to retire early to his room.” - Poor guy has no idea what “Skyrim” is.

- “Inside were two little drop earrings with a singular gemstone in each, one a soft, sunshine yellow, the other a gentle, opaque jade.” … “Demons exchange jewelry when they’re courting each other, right?” … “We borrowed some books from Lydia. Read up on demon culture. You weren’t getting the signals the human way, so we decided to try the demon way.” - I JUST. I KNOW I WROTE THIS BUT IT GETS ME, OKAY? THEY PUT IN A LOT OF EFFORT FOR HIM

- “ “… oh!” Finally, a connection. “Oh, yeah, totally, I’m down. You can use me for whatever, don’t even gotta ask permission.” They smirked, feeling a few teeth poking out between their lips. “Bondage, choking, couple bonding over my degradation, knife play, I am down for whatever to spice up your-” Barbara and Adam’s faces both became dark shades of red. Ah. I didn’t connect shit. ” - Both a reference to a “Buzzfeed Unsolved” meme and also highlighting the sad way that Beej sees himself as something to be used by others.

- “They finally forced themself to look down at her, a few rouge tears slipping down their cheeks. Her cobalt eyes were filled to the brim with… love. Care. That same Feeling. Beetlejuice quickly turned their head to find that Adam was the same, his beautiful brown eyes staring up at them the same as Barbara’s.” - WE GOT IT!! IT FINALLY CLICKED EVERYONE!!!!

- “ “… may we kiss you?” Barbara asked in a low, soft voice. Yes. Yes. Yes. Holy fuck, YES. “… Beetlejuice?” “Huh? D-did I say yes?” “You didn’t say anything, sweetheart.” “Oh. I meant yes, b-but my mouth didn’t… speak.” ” - YOU ARE NEVER SAFE FROM AN “Asteroid City” REFERENCE.

- “They didn’t get to finish their sentence. Barbara was cupping their face and pressing her lips against theirs before they knew it. It was electrifying. It was divine. She was warm and soft and perfect and- It was over before they knew it, before they could reciprocate. And before they could stammer out any more foolish false starts to a sentence, Adam was holding their face and kissing them gently.” - WE DID IT BOYS. 88,494 WORDS AND THEY FINALLY KISSED.

#beetlejuice fanfic #loopjuice #beetlejuice #beetlejuice the musical #lawrence beetlejuice shoggoth #time’s arrow #lydia deetz #adam maitland #barbara maitland #ash swallows #cyrus the demon #Polaris the demon #beetlands #beetlelands #charles deetz #delia deetz #LoopJuice chapter #loopjuice extras

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after-nine-at-the-oasis · 9 months ago

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Ayyy honeymoon :D!!

Ooh vlog style :o

Ope o.o

Uhhh xd nah something sus is going on lol

Um o.o

Nope y'all nahh xd

UH OH UM

Nah creepy masks a i n ' t i t .

Aww ay hey guys :D love them :)

Ooh backup 👀👀

We love getting to see some of the others as well :DD

Uh oh guys this is not good o.o

YOO they're actually gonna come yess :DD

OHH GOSH

Y'all cannot just have one normal thing can you xD

Poor babies 😭 they goin through it as always xd

At least it wasn't some terrible big scheme on their wedding itself lol

Just random stuff and a small bad thing xD

OPE GUYS O.O

Okay, that's the last of my promo thoughts, now it's time for the. . .

REVIEW

Not quite as fancy as my 911 or tgd ones lol, more like the normal ones, just with the end of a liveblog as well :).

I made a post about this before coming back to this one, but happy 100th episode all!! Lowkey forgot this was the 100th anniversary lol. But it makes so much sense and it was a GREAT 100th episode :D.

I love that everyone had their little moment (at least): James with the music, Wesley with Oscar, Luna with her college classes, etc :). And just Randy, Chastity, Oscar, and Henry BEING there lol. Though to clarify Oscar was not at the wedding xD. But seriously, I really loved all the cameos and little character moments this episode :)).

Also CHENFORD AAAHHHH!!! Their MOMENTS this episode y'all I was losing it xD. I do kinda wish it hadn't been that Tim isn't supporting her despite thinking he is, though? Because the vibes last episode were just really on Tim's side, I guess, and now they're just tossing him into "bad guy" a bit. But, I think it'll work out in the end. I'm also glad Chastity brought up that Lucy could also be scared! I think that's a real possibility :). Anyway, they were ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE and whether it was the first time in universe or not, WHOOO FIRST I LOVE YOU!! And it was so cute :'D. Also the dance 😭😭😭❤️ stop I'm not okay :').

BAILEY AND JOHN ARE MARRIED!!! WHOOOOOO :'DDDD!!!! 🥳🥳🥳🥳🎊🎉🥂🎂🥂🥰❤️❤️🥰. I'm so happy for them :'DD

They might not be my favorite couple on the show but I still love them and this has been a long time coming. I'm also glad that despite all the issues they still had the wedding and everything was okay and beautiful 🥰🥰. Thank goodness they actually had it and we saw it lol (looking at you Wopez - still mad at the writers for that). Also I'm SO EXCITED for the next episode with their honeymoon :D.

I felt so bad for Celina and Aaron this episode 😭. Aaron because poor boy is going through it and misreading signals/situations xd, and Celina because she's trying to be there for him and do what's best and she as also, you know, kidnapped and beat up xD. But, I think they'll make it through it :).

Really though Aaron you need to talk to your therapist 😭. It's dangerous going out when you know you're not healing :(. Hope he learns it soon D':.

I loved all the togetherness moments this episode!! The bachelor and bachelorette parties (y'all I can't articulate it beyond loving individual characters and them all hanging out but oUAGH chomping on it)/last minute preparations xD were SO GOOD!! And the wedding, especially the dancing :'D. AUOGH, I love them <333. And of course the final mission at the end - they slay together :DD. Also, I'm glad Celina's okay :')).

Don't even get me started on the Wopez/Wesley angst. Y'all I'm about to have so many thoughts about them moving forward (even more than usual/always xD). Like! AUGH! OSCAR!! SITTING ACROSS FROM HIM!! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I'VE WAITED FOR THIS

Where's the panic attack Rookie <33

Where's the panic attack writers 🥰🥰 where is it :))

I'm kidding xD kind of lol. But seriously, the angst thoughts are turning (the wheels are turning) :DD. And don't forget about Angela either lol

Anyway! Everybody slayed this episode and I REALLY enjoyed it :D. I'm SOO excited for the next one :)). Also, again (mentioned it in the liveblog or just before), I don't know that I've ever gotten to watch it live before, so this was the perfect episode to get to do it :D.

Loved the episode!!!

Happy 100th Episode guys 🥂🥰🥰. I love this show and you all so much :DD.

See you next time!!

#the rookie #oasis's the rookie chatter #oasis's rookie chatter #the rookie 100th episode #the rookie 6x02 #loved it :DD #honestly such a good episode #and loved the hunor throughout all the drama :DD #honestly despite everything it was mostly humor and I really loved that :))#it was needed lol #not like in a yikes �� way but just to get right tone across I think :))#especially because bailey and nolan's storylines are usually (at least) a bit silly anyway so it really fits them :)) :D #anyway I love them so much and I'm so happy for them :)) they totally deserve this 🥰🥰🥰#see y'all later for episode 3 :D!#happy 100th episode 🥳🥳🥂🎂#I love you all :DDD ❤️❤️❤️❤️!!!#byeeee :))) 🥰🥰🥰 <333!!!!

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aseioh · 4 years ago

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Of Cakes and Late Celebrations

Author’s Notes: This was supposed to be posted on Mother's day. But just like this fic, I got derailed and ended up being late. (picture taken from the internet)

It was Mother's day.

Or to be precise it will be Mother's day in 15 hours 25 minutes. It shouldn't be a problem for Alcina, she usually just buys something from the Duke to give to Mother Miranda.

Unfortunately, such a thing is not possible right now. The Duke was delayed with his routine arrival at the castle opening, something about a spooked horse and lycans trying to get a nibble.

Honestly she lost interest after the word delayed was spoken through the phone. How is she going to remedy this. The gift itself was one of the finest silk she was able to obtain, she was sure Mother would appreciate a new ritual robe.

This is bad. To show up without a gift on this special day. She was sure she would be made a mockery during the gathering. Whats worst was that fool Heisenberg would be the first to lead with his pathetic insults.

Just the thought made Alcina's blood boil.

”I should send Bela to switch that man's shampoo with dog shampoo. Although the man still smells like wet dog. No. I'll think of something more devious.“

But back to the matter at hand. It's almost Mother's day and she doesn’t have a gift. Taking a deep drag off her cigarette, she considers her dwindling options.

At western part of the village

Donna is also facing a similar problems.

"What do you mean you're not coming?! Where am I supposed to find a present at this hour?!" Angie's raspy voice filtered through the phone "do you know how hard it is to find a 1st edition book on occult and rituals."

"Apologies Miss Angie, but the horse spooked and the carriage suffered a broken wheel. Even if the servants manage to haul themselves your house to the Duke's location and back it would still be too late." The main servant said trying to sound as apologetic as he can come across.

"This would not do" Donna said finally in her normal voice.

Somewhere inside the Stronghold.

Karl Heisenberg was having a meltdown.

"YOU STUPID LYCANS! I GAVE YOU ONE JOB AND YOU COULDN'T EVEN DO IT RIGHT!!" Heisenberg paces around the small assembly hall. Ten Lycans looked very apologetic, although it was very hard to tell from their looks. One even lets out a soft whimper.

“I told you to stall The Duke for a while. I didn’t said to derail him completely. The man has a package for me, now how am I supposed to get it!?” Heisenberg seethes.

His plan was a simply one really. Stall The Duke so that he would arrive at Castle Dimitrescu late, that way Alcina would not get her package and present it to Mother Miranda. That would show her, a little payback for calling him a child.

What he didn’t count on was the utter incapability of the Lycans to follow simple directions. Now even he doesn’t have a gift. Oh Miranda’s gonna blow a gasket.

“Augh... I hate the consequences of my actions” He lamented

At Moreau’s Reservoir

“NOOOOOOO!! That’s not fair, that’s not fair!!!” Moreau starts throwing his stuff on the floor. He had finally saved up his money to buy Mother Miranda that nice jewelry that would go perfectly with her black wings.

“Someone’s gonna pay” He vows to take revenge on the Lycans responsible for his problem.

After all his pet fish has been hungry for some Lycan meat.

Castle Dimitrescu (13 hours until Mother’s day)

“I have gathered you here today for a very important meeting” Alcina starts looking at the sad (Donna) and tearful (Moreau) faces of her so called ‘siblings’. Heisenberg is surprisingly calm which puts Alcina on high alert, but lets it slide in favour of the more pressing matter

“We have a big problem. The Duke will not arrive on time for Mother’s Day. That means all the presents we bought for Mother will not arrive”

“We need a solution, any ideas?”

“We kill the Lycans responsible and feed them to my fish”

“Yes Moreau, but that’s after we solve this problem” Donna said and tries to placate a Moreau by patting him at the back.

“Whoa, that’s a bit dark but I like it. And Moreau is right, we’re gonna make fish food out of those Lycans” “Better off those basdards, after all I don’t want to implicate myself” Heisenberg thinks

“People, you’re missing the point here” Alcina says pinching her nose to ward off an incoming headache. “Listen, we don’t have time. You know Mother Miranda, She’ll say she wasn’t really expecting something and then low-key punishes us for missing the day. We don’t want a repeat of the 1967 incident do we?”

Moreau whimpers from the trauma.

Donna goes into a slight trance and starts to shake.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough” Heisenberg stands. “Why don’t we just bake something and say it’s from all of us”

*beat*

“Do you know how to bake?”

“I work at the Factory, I make steel molds for a living how hard could it be?”

“That doesn’t answer my question Heisenberg”

“We could make a small doll” Donna pipes up

“Sorry Donna that would still take time. And I don’t think we have the right materials on such short notice.” Alcina says

“For someone who’s looking for a solution you sure are shooting down all of them”

“Because it’s not feasible Heisenberg.” Alcina huffs “Can you gather all the materials in less than 10 hours? No? Of course not”

“And I keep telling you just BAKE A CAKE!”

“I don’t know how to bake, child! I’m a BLOODY COUNTESS not hired help” Alcina bellows at Heisenberg

“I know how to bake”

Everyone turns to Donna.

“Really?”

“Of course, I used to watch my Mother bake cakes before the accident. I just need help decorating. I never got a hang of that part” Donna beams with pride as she explains the basics of baking

“And we can gather the ingredients no problem. You have a pantry here somewhere right Alcina?” Moreau asked

“Of course. We always have a full pantry for the servants.” At that Heisenberg looks at Alcina with a hint of disbelief

“What? We need them healthy to serve us. I’m not a complete monster.” Alcina defends

“In any case we should start early. It takes time to cool and decorating is hard”

Castle Kitchen (12 hours 30 minutes before Mother’s Day)

It was truly a sight to see. In a way it was enough for the Castle’s servants to wet themselves in fear when they saw the 4 Lords gathered at the kitchen in various forms of concentration. Needless to say, everyone was warned to steer clear of the kitchen for now.

Moreau was together with Donna supporting her with mixing the wet ingredients. Meanwhile, at the other side of the cooking station Alcina and Heisenberg are charge of measuring out the dry ingredients.

“You need to be precise, don’t put too much. Remember what Donna said and look at the damn recipe”

“I know what I’m doing you damn woman. I’m all about precision. Why don’t you move away and get that mixing bowl at the top shelf.” Heisenberg grouched

“I’m not your servant. And I certainly will not start fetching stuff for you” Alcina shot back

“Alcina, we need to work together. We don’t have time and you’re the tallest of us all. Please cooperate with Karl just this once. Please?” Donna implored

“Once. I’m helping him for this one time only. When I get my hands on the Lycan responsible for this problem, I’m gutting him and throwing him at Moreau’s reservoir.” At Donna’s admonishment of Alcina, Heisenberg gives a shit eating grin, showing some rather very pointy canines.

“And Heisenberg, stop provoking Alcina.” Donna adds

“Fine, you’re no fun Donna”

Suffice to say, the baking went well. Who knew that the 4 Lords working together would be a great success? If only Mother Miranda saw her children working together peacefully she might have had a heart attack and thought that she suffered one as well.

Or she might have been dreaming.

Castle Kitchen (6 hours before Mother’s Day)

“Alright, the cake has cooled down completely, So what color will be the icing?” Donna asked

“Yellow” “Cream” “Light Blue” the other three said simultaneously.

*beat*

“Light blue? Really? Not everything needs to be manly Heisenberg”

“And not everything needs to be boring like your color, Alcina”

“It should be yellow, like Mother’s sunny smile” Moreau explains

“And in which ever universe has Mother ever smiled like the sun?” Heisenberg counters Moreau

“Hey now. No need for that tone!”

“Tsk, sorry Moreau” Heisenberg apologizes to a quiet Moreau

“Fine, let’s do pastel yellow it’s easier for the eyes anyway” Donna supplies, getting ready to start coating the cake with the yellow cream

Inside the Sanctuary

“Happy Mother’s day”

“We hope you like the cake Mother”

“Yes, we poured out our love in baking it. I hope you appreciate it” Heisenberg said

“Why thank you loves. This is a wonderful surprise. And Moreau said that you all worked together in baking it. How wonderful!” Mother Miranda said grateful for once that her children worked together without collateral damage (that she knew of).

“Although Heisenberg, I heard something interesting from Urias” Mother Miranda looks pointedly at Heisenberg, who for some reason starts to sweat and turn pale.

‘oh shit’ “Really Mother? Good news I hope” Heisenberg tries to bluff his way out.

“Why it was quite peculiar really. He said that you got 10 of his Lycans for a special project. I wasn’t aware that you have some side projects”

The 3 Lords turn to Heisenberg

“Wait what?”

“I KNEW IT!!” Alcina unsheathes her claws

“You’re responsible for this mess in the first place!!”

“Really guy relax, if anything I just proved that we need more than one traveling merchant in the village for a successful and on time delivery” Heisenberg starts to carefully ease his way to the nearest exit.

“GET HIM”

In the end, Alcina was more than ready to feed Heisenberg to Moreau’s pet fish. Only Donna stopped her, citing Moreau would probably be inconsolable if his pet got indigestion from all the metal.

And that is how Heisenberg saw himself in doggy jail for a week along with his Lycan cohorts. Mother Miranda did get her Mother’s day gifts from her children although a bit later than expected.

And the cake?

The cake was surprisingly delicious.

#resident evil village #re8 village #alcina dimitrescu #donna beneviento #karl heisenberg #salvatore moreau #mother miranda #Late Mother's day fic #in which the 4 lords learn to cooperate for their own good #because no one wants to be in Mother Miranda's bad side

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buzzyandbadatmath · 3 years ago

Text

Abrasive Outflow of Desire

3k words

warning: fight scene, threats of violence, gets pretty intimate but nothing explicitly sexual, just some steamy fluff

Everything had changed. One minute, the Republic claimed victory over the Separatists and the war was over, and then another, the Empire secured its suffocating grasp on the universe.

The Clones turned against the Jedi and executed them for alleged acts of treason against the Republic, which was absurd. No, the Jedi weren’t friends of yours, you believed their order was corrupt and their morals were questionable, but a mass execution of Jedi had to be the work of the Darth Sidious’ manipulation.

Your master was indifferent to the chaos that brought about this new order, he was Sith yes, but his unrelenting hatred for his old master had him writhing in pure loathing for everything in the universe. No matter where he looked he was always behind it. The Sith, the Jedi, the Empire, all of them were to be considered his enemy.

The only thing that brought him consolation, that could give him a sliver of comfort, was you. You were his apprentice, the one who was so eager to learn everything you could from him and his teachings. You were no Sith, he knew that from your disposition when he first met you, but you were also no Jedi. You had honor, passion, serenity, and also a taste for chaos.

The universe was born from and ran by chaos, and it was a fool’s errand to try to impose the delusion of order on it. Maul liked this aspect about you, it gave you a level of spontaneity that was useful in combat, and was just an endearing trait of your personality.

Maul would have never considered taking an ex-Jedi as his apprentice in the past, that was until he met you and sensed the power you possessed. Not only could you wield the powers of the Sith, but you also had the discipline of a Jedi, which aided you in your pursuit for knowledge, and knowledge was power.

Glowing yellow eyes pierced through yours as you took your fighting stance, lightsabers humming as you and your master stood at a standstill. His lightsaber was not ignited and stayed at his side, his hands folded behind him and his posture perfectly straight.

"Your move Master." You smirked. Your master's eye glinted with mischief at your words, and within a fraction of a second he was mere inches from your face, lightsaber headed for your neck.

You blocked his attack just in time, pushing the blade away and doing a back-handspring away from your master. "You're too slow," He cooed, the soothing tone of his voice making you lose focus long enough to give him an opening to swipe at you.

In a flurry of lunges, blocks, dodges, and kicks you finally had your saber trained at his forehead. "I got you." You said, panting from the fight.

Maul tsked. "Haven't I taught you to be aware of your surroundings apprentice?" You felt the hilt of his lightsaber pressed into your stomach.

Retracting your weapons with a sigh of defeat, you hooked them onto your belt. "I can never get past you, huh Master?" He shook his head and did the same with his saber as he gave you his thoughts on your fighting.

“Not until you learn perceptiveness, My Apprentice. Come, I have but one last lesson to teach you before the day ends.”

The location of this lesson was further away than you realized, and your master didn’t want to take the ship, so the two of you had to walk about a click away out in the middle of nowhere.

A groan escaped your lips out of exhaustion, and you couldn't help yourself from voicing how tired you were to your master. "Master, where are we going?"

The irritable Sith lord was growing quite annoyed at your moaning, and he contemplated what he would do to you for such behavior. "Augh, patience is a virtue Apprentice, something you will do well to remember." He said with an irk in his brow.

“I’m sorry but, I don’t know if you know this or not, I don’t have cybernetic legs that don’t get sore after walking for an hour.” Maul was on his final straw.

“It would be wise for you to stop talking, or I will give you the opportunity to have cybernetic limbs, such as these, myself.” Those words followed by a low growl deep in your master’s throat shut you up real quick, and you stayed silent for the rest of the trip. Daring not to utter a single word for fear of your master fulfilling his promise.

Finally, the walking stopped and you had reached your destination. The exhaustion from walking for so long overtook you, and you collapsed onto a nearby rock that was oddly comfortable. That or you were just exhausted enough to think anything that you could sit on was comfortable.

After a few long breaths to regain your composure, you took in your surroundings. Maul had taken you to a rock formation in the middle of a clearing of moss. The air was smelled as if it was about to rain, a crisp, earthy smell engulfing your olfactory nerves and filling your lungs with its replenishing effects.

The rocks made a triangle around a marble platform, the irregular and unnatural shapes of each rock seemed to change slightly every time you looked at one, and with every change the shape got more and more bizarre. Their color and their texture seemed to be the only thing that stayed consistent.

Maul stood on the platform, patiently waiting for you to join him. If you didn't know better, you would think he was going to challenge you to another sparring match, but why did he have to take you all the way out here just for that? Probably to make you tired.

Once you regained enough energy to stand up, you did so and walked over to the platform. You were hesitant to step onto its shiny surface for fear that it would swallow you up and you would never see the light of day again. It was silly, and your master taught you to not let your anxieties get the better of you, so you cleared your mind took a step onto the platform.

As soon as you stepped on, Maul stepped off, raising his hand as the ground began to shake. “You are to listen to my words carefully Apprentice, no matter what,” He said.

“What’s that supposed to-whoa.” An object nearly hit you in the face so you ducked to avoid it.

Pieces of the rocks started breaking off and morphing into different shapes before hurling after you in an attempt to knock you off the platform. For a moment you weren’t able to dodge most of them, but after you got your bearings you began to successfully avoid the projectiles through a series of flips and jumps.

You reached for your lightsabers in hopes you could deflect the rocks with them only to find that they weren’t clipped to your belt, instead they were with your Master’s who was waving them tauntingly in his grasp.

The smug look on his face earned him a scowl from you before a rock smacked you in the face. “Gah!” You grunted.

“That looked like it hurt.” He teased.

“No Master, not at all.” Another rock ran into the back of your knee causing you to lose balance and fall on your back and you let out another pained grunt.

“Focus Apprentice, be aware of your surroundings.” Maul yelled as you kicked yourself back onto your feet.

“How am I-“ A rock flew straight for your abdomen but you swung yourself into the air, narrowly avoiding the impact. “How am I supposed to do that while I’m supposed to listen to you?”

Rocks formed into a cluster and hammered down onto where you were standing, so you summersaulted out of the way, smirking when you got back up crouching. Your smirk soon faded as the cluster broke up into smaller pieces and started swirling every direction. “The force will guide your movements and your ears.” He answered.

You grunted in frustration, but proceeded to hone your senses, blocking all noise except for your master’s voice, everything else was left up to your subconscious, reflexes, spatial awareness, all of it.

“Yes, that’s it,” Maul commended. You closed your eyes and allowed the Force to energize and guide you, and your nerves began to calm down along with your heart-rate and breathing.

Your Master began to speak, but you didn’t let it distract you, and you simply listened to his words. “I told you earlier that patience was a virtue,” He recounted. “But I have found my patience to be wearing thin with you and your insolence.” A lecture? Was he really lecturing you right now? Your thoughts distracted you and a rock slammed into your shoulder.

Refocusing, the force guided you once more as rocks whirred past your ear, never missing an inflection of your master’s words. “You have been fighting by my side for so long, but something hinders you from your full potential, from your ability to truly be worthy of my teachings.” Maul grabbed his chin thoughtfully as he stared at the ground.

“What is it? I will do anything to be a worthy apprentice to you master.” You pleaded, pausing your movements for a moment to show your master your dedication to him. The hesitation allowed for a rock to nearly crash into the back of your head, but you caught it with your bare hand, a dark expression mirrored in its glossy texture before you threw it at another rock headed for your rib cage.

“I know you will apprentice, I can see the lengths you’ll go to gain my approval.” Maul smirked at this, sensing the turmoil in you his words had caused.

“What? No, no I- I don’t need your approval. That’s not what I-“ You weren’t quick enough to avoid the massive stone that smacked you in the face and knocked you onto the ground again.

“So you don’t crave the approval of your teacher?” Maul inquired. “What would be the point in me teaching you?” Your face began to heat up as you regretted telling him that bold faced lie. And it appeared he knew of your lie, with the sly smirk pulling at the corners of his lips that would make you collapse onto the floor if you weren’t already rolling around trying to avoid the rocks raining down on you.

He was bringing to light something you’d been repressing for a long time, pushed so far back into your subconscious that you nearly forgot about it. Hoping that it would go away, it only festered and manifested as the annoying remarks you used to prod at him with. It was a miracle he still put up with you and your petty insults.

You didn't like it when he prodded back, not only was it distracting you from the situation at hand, but it was also stirring something in the pit of your stomach that you didn't know if you liked or not. "I sense your distress Apprentice, perhaps I could alleviate some of that distress, only if you so desired." Suddenly the rocks ceased their hurried soaring and returned to their respective misshapen columns. You sighed in relief as you laid down on the cold platform that somehow wasn't scratched by all the flying rocks slamming into it's surface.

Nothing but the sound of your heavy breathing echoed throughout the clearing, which was soon accompanied by the sound of Maul's metallic limbs clacking against the platform. He peered over you expectantly, but when you failed to get up when he wanted you, to he rolled his eyes and outstretched a hand to you.

Giving him a coy smile, you took his hand and allowed him to pull you up onto your feet. But instead of letting go of your hand, like you expected, he gripped it tightly and held you close to him. His intense glare felt as if it pierced through your soul, it searched your eyes first.

It was like he was searching for a memory, a conformation for some question he harbored deep in his two hearts, but it didn't feel like he was in your mind. He's used his powers with the force to peer into your memories, to try to find any emotions or insecurities that he could exploit, but now all he was doing was gazing into your eyes with a sense of urgency that you could sense yourself.

After he was finished scrutinizing your eyes, he did a once-over of your entire frame, drinking in every aspect of your body in search of a nervous tick, a bead of sweat, a shuffle of the feet. What he didn't expect was the softness of your skin under his fingers, the alluring effect of your aura that he could see through the force, the sweetness of your scent that he was sensitive to because of his enhanced olfactory senses courtesy of his species.

Before he could lose control, he let go of your hand, but he couldn't help himself from teasing you and getting under your skin with his words. "I can feel your past being the very thing that prevents you from fulfilling your desires," He said lowly, and started circling you as you were frozen in place.

His words, his actions, they all had you feeling like worms were swimming in the bottom of your stomach. The retched emotions you worked so hard to keep from even your knowledge were now rocketing up to the front of your mind like someone sinking to the bottom of the ocean and suddenly pulling the string to inflate their safety vest and rapidly floating to the surface of the ocean, the threat of decompression sickness looming ever-closer.

"I don't know what you mean Master." He laughed, taking a deep and dramatic sigh at the end of his bellowing laughter. "Oh how ironic, even in the face of opportunity to have all you have ever wanted..." He paused and brought his mouth to your ear. "...All you have ever needed."

The teasing lilt in his voice, the feeling of his breath on your ear, it had to be deliberate, he knew what he was doing to you.

"You still cling to the teachings of the Jedi, despite your claims to having let go of your past." What he was referring to was obvious, but you didn't dare give him any indication that he was right.

A shiver ran down your spine as he retracted from your ear, and he looked you up and down again, his eyebrow raised in an almost disapproving look. "Your lesson was more than just being aware what's around you..." He was so tantalizingly close, the desire to drown in his scent and his embrace growing more and more intense by the second. "It was also to be aware of your intrinsic desires." You could feel his breath on your lips, and before you gave in to your craving for his touch you looked at his lips and then back up to his golden eyes. He did the same, looking for a sign that you actually wanted this. Despite his outwardly appearance and persona, he would never want to do something to drive you away from him.

You nodded slightly and he promptly grabbed you by the waist and brushed his lips against yours, giving one last moment to tease you, and keep you on the edge of your seat.

Growing impatient, you stood on the balls of your feet, closing the miniscule distance between the two of you and finally feeling his warmth engulf your entire being. The warmth of his embrace, while searing and abrasive, characteristic of a Sith Lord, was inviting and comforting. You felt safe with his arms around you, and the abrasiveness only made you crave for more of it. It made you feel powerful, and while you failed to admit it to even yourself, you yearned for power like this. However, Maul could definitely sense it within you, so he happily indulged you in it.

The force of the kiss knocked you back, but luckily you stumbled into a nearby column, allowing Maul to pin you against it. The muffled growls of the Zabrak shot tremors down your throat as you allowed your hands to desperately roam under his tunic and feel the beating of his hearts. His incisors nipped at your lower lip, and his tongue entered your mouth. The gentleness of his touch had you weak at the knees, it was like he was afraid to hurt you. It was sweet, and you reveled in this new side of him that he’d never shown anyone else, it was reserved for you now and forever.

Maul broke the kiss and grazed his lips delicately and deliberately across your jaw and to your ear. “Does my touch send shivers down your spine Apprentice?” His question was confirmed as you shivered from the hot air tickling your ear. He laughed lowly at your reaction and began trailing kisses down to your neck, earning a surprised gasp from you at the new sensation.

This position gave your perfect access to peer at the zabrak’s horns sitting atop the crown of his head. Curiosity overtook you as you caressed his horns thoughtfully, oblivious of effect it had on him.

It was like a switch that had flipped, deep in his most primal instincts, and he growled into the skin of your neck, his teeth grazing the skin before biting down into your flesh, only putting enough pressure to leave a significant bruise on your neck.

He laced his fingers with yours as he pinned both of your arms near your head, pushing closer into you desperately trying to sink deeper into you, your scent, your warmth, your everything.

The display ended with the two of you staring into each other’s eyes as you panted. It was no sparring match with Maul but it sure took the energy out of you, especially after training.

Maul stared back fondly, and found his hand cupping your cheek. This moment solidified your bond to the Sith Lord, crudely speaking, both of your scents were on each other. Intertwined til the end of time.

You gave each other a final kiss before beginning your walk back to the ship.

#Darth maul #Star Wars #clone wars #darth maul x reader #Star Wars oneshots #Oneshots #this man is too hot

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mimik-u · 4 years ago

Text

“The Future” Thoughts:

Okay, ngl, I’ve been putting this watch off because I wasn’t quite ready to end the show, but 😭😭😭 y’know, that’s part of the series’s overarching thesis in a way. Things end, but life goes on and changes all the same.

So let’s do this. Let’s finish Future.

AUGHDHHDHDHS. The exercise callback!!

Djddjdjskeksjjs, Lion transporting directly onto the boombox and breaking it.

“They’ve been so protective of me these last few months since my meltdown.” 🥺

Cookie cats! The Crewniverse is already pulling out all the nostalgia stops. (Lmao, do y’all remember that meme where it was like Episode 1: Steven summons his mom’s shield by eating ice cream. And then Episode X: Steven discovers his mom was a war criminal. EIORIDDJDJDJ.)

Pearl delicately eating a bite of Cookie Cat and going scrumptious dieidjdjsjsjs.

THE GEMS SINGING COOKIE CAT AND THEN GARNET DEADPAN SAYING, “He left his family behind.” JESUS

Because I’m assuming she sees what Steven’s future holds in that very moment.

Steven anticipates the Gems to make a huge fuss of protest, but Pearl proffers an understated, “When are you leaving?”

“Uh, tomorrow!” “Oh, so soon! Well, all human adolescents need to seize their independence eventually. I’m so happy for you.” JSISJSSJ

The gems proffer their well wishes and walk away, leaving a bewildered Steven. They’re affecting a casualness that they absolutely don’t feel to try and be supportive to Steven, but it’s not exactly what he wanted. 🥺

OWOEFJDJJSSJ, PERIDOT AND LAPIS’S EXPRESSIONS AS BISMUTH FRETS.

“Listen to me, Steven! You can’t run away from yourself. Wherever you go, you’ll be there—trust me, I know.” The delivery on this is so funny, but also, yikes!! JEJDJDJS.

Peridot crying. 🥺 “Where am I going to find a Steven as good as you, huh? I like this one so much.”

AWH, STEVEN GIVING PERI ONE OF HIS SHIRTS!! I think this is a really subtle callback to “Catch and Release” when she asked what a shirt was, lmao

OH, MY GOD!! THAT ART SET FOR LAPIS!!!!!

AUGH THE ORIGINAL CRYSTAL GEM FLAG BC ONCE UPON A TIME, BISMUTH WAS INSECURE ABOUT REALLY BEING A CG AFTER WHAT SHE’D DONE. AUGSHHDHDHSHSHSHSHS

This world doesn’t deserve Steven Universe omg

“You make me so proud to be a Crystal Gem.” I love Bismuth with my whole ass heart

“I’m going to use my tears to make a watercolor painting of you.” KWOEOFIDKDJJDDJJDJSJSNSNSNJS.

Where’s that spongebob tears of sweater meme when u need it

JASPER JUST BULLDOZING THROUGH THE WALL ROROROCOFIEJJSJSJS

Okay, as much as I love Jasper breaking through the wall again just to make an exit, I really wish we could have seen a bit more of both Steven and Jasper processing the accidental shattering. Hhhhhhh, maybe in a comic someday lmao

“Whoa, even Jasper’s more upset than my own family.” 😭😭😭😭😭😭

Amethyst trying to deflect by being all rambunctious and mischievous. 😭😭😭😭😭

Golf Quest Mini is that game Steven played the first time he went into Rose’s room, wasn’t it?

Pearl playing the bass 🥺🥺 I mentioned this in my movie write up, but I really love this new bond she has with Greg over music.

And Pearl doing a good job of deflecting, too. Hhhhhhhehshshhshshs, y’all. 😭😭😭😭

“Well, bust my britches. It’s Steven Universe.”

AWH, THE WEDDING SCRAPBOOK

“And I hope that one day, you can help me plan my own.” 🥺🥺🥺🥺

Steven crying as Garnet warps away has me emo. Y’allllllllll. Have a proper emotional reaction, pl e a s e

I know it’s coming. I know that’s the purpose of this episode, but oh my. Go d 😭😭😭 My poor boy.

The emptiness of his room now that he’s almost done packing. 😭😭😭

“You’re allowed to have feelings, even petty ones. They love you, kiddo. They’re probably just trying to be supportive.” 😭

Ugh, I love Greg Universe.

HHHHHHHH, GREG MOVING INTO THE BEACH HOUSE. THE KERRY MOONBEAM POSTER SUVH SMSNJSJSSJJSS

“I guess the Gems are going to swap one Universe for another.” There’s definitely a double meaning in this sentence. 😭

“It makes a kinda karmic sense that I just can’t resist.” 😭😭😭😭

Connverse kiss. 🥺

STRVEN YEETING THE BACK FUCK UP EKEOOEODJDKSOWISSIWOODOCOSOWKEMSKKSSKSN

“What’s wrong with you, guys?! Aren’t you sad I’m leaving?!”

THERE WE GO @ THE GEMS BURSTING INTO BIG ASS TEARS.

“Pearl agrees.” KWOEOFOFOIDIEKDIIDDIIDJSIDIDISIE

Oh, god okay. Them crying and hugging each other is all I needed from this episode 😭

“In fact, I’ve already planned over 363 versions of it.” KWKEKDJDJDS

“And we are a part of all of them. Wherever you end up, we will visit you to talk, to listen, to be there, whenever you need us. We love you, Steven.” I’M EMO 😭😭😭😭😭

I’m so glad that Dee Dee Magno Hall gets one more sob cry in 😭😭

THE TOWNIES SND THEIR GOODBYE BANNER AUSHSHJSHSHS

And Steven drives off into the distance as the sky glitters brilliantly above him.

His future is bright, full of stars.

This series—all of it—fundamentally changed my life. Thank you, Rebecca Sugar, and thank you, Crewniverse.

As thank you all so much for coming on this journey with me as I’ve wrapped up Future. It’s been amazing. 🖤

Final Ep. Thoughts: Kdeoksjdjsjs, this one really needed to be thirty minutes long, but my god, did they pull off a perfect last few minutes.

Final Future Thoughts: I might write more on this later, but overall, not only do I think Future was an amazing installment in the series, but it was essential for the incredible work it did in showing the consequences of deep, lasting childhood trauma. That’s not a storyline you often see in media, especially as laid bare as the Crewniverse did with Steven’s story. I think it was a little rushed at times—I would have loved to see some more fallout from the bigger arcs (the shattering/Greg and Steven’s fight/more of Steven’s recovery), but I absolutely understand that the Crewniverse was working with time constraints. It’s an imperfect work, but as our very own Greg Universe said, if every porkchop were perfect... then we wouldn’t have hot dogs.

#steven universe #garnet #amethyst #Pearl #bismuth #lapis #peridot #connie maheswaran #greg universe #s: future #mimiku

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andrewmoocow · 4 years ago

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Steven Universe Alternate Future chapter 13: Bismuth Casual (originally posted on April 12, 2021)

AN: This chapter may seem innocent, and it is, but after this it'll only be two more chapters till we see Black Rutile again. But enough about her for right now, let's give Bismuth some lovin'! And a certain Rose-like human will be along for the ride too.

Synopsis: Bismuth learns how to forge relationships when she becomes Pearl's wing-Gem on a roller-rink date.

Cast:

Zach Callison as Steven

Deedee Magno Hall as Pearl, Brandish

Grace Rolek as Connie

Uzo Aduba as Bismuth, Khadijah

Lamar Abrams as Jaime, Daniel

Tahani Anderson as Patricia

Brian Posehn as Sour Cream

Dan Castellaneta as Skate Rental Guy

Featuring Kristin Chenoweth as Sheena Synstylae

And Emily King as herself

One night on a road away from Beach City, Steven was driving his Dondai Supremo with Connie next to him in the front seat and Pearl & Bismuth sitting in the back. Bismuth was dressed for a night out in a white dress shirt and her multicolored dreadlocks being done up in a ponytail. As the four continued driving, Connie began to turn up the radio.

"Oh, I love this song!" Connie cheered before she started singing along to the Emily King music on the car radio. "You can't hold me now, hold me now, ooh."

"And that was "Can't Hold Me", by Emily King." Sour Cream's voice came from the radio as the song ended. "Just one of many songs you can request your beloved host to play at the Starlight Roller Rink every night! And now a word from our sponsors."

"I'm so excited that you're coming along with us to the roller rink tonight and experience some interpersonal relationships." Pearl said to Bismuth while rolling up her shirtsleeve, causing the blacksmith to blush. "Ooh, don't be afraid to show off your gem." She added, opening up Bismuth's shirt to expose the gem on her chest. "Everyone's going to love you there."

"Hope I can keep up." Bismuth chuckled lightly. "Can't wait to meet your date too."

"Well, she's not really my date, we just talked to each other on the phone a few times in the past and now we've decided to hang out tonight." Pearl stated. "But the most important thing is-"

"Are you tired of shady mechanics bleeding you dry?!" a commercial suddenly interrupted Pearl and got her excited. "Then come on down to Cam's Camshafts!"

"Turn it up, I love this!" Pearl cheered.

"What, you mean this car salesman ad?" Steven chuckled at Pearl's excitement over a commercial of all things.

"Yes, turn it up!" Pearl answered as she reached over to turn up the volume and began singing along to the jingle. "Cam's Camshafts is the place to bring your wreck, get your car repaired for cheap and fair without risking your neck! Cam's Camshafts!"

"Pearl, you absolute dork!" Bismuth roared happily while Steven and Connie laughed just as the car drove up to the Starlight Roller Rink. "Hey, here we are!"

"You got that right Bismuth." Steven declared while parking his Supremo in the parking lot and the four got out of the car. "Come on everybody, let's get inside."

As the group made their way to the rink's entrance, Bismuth turned to Pearl with a question. "So Pearl, what's your mystery girl like?"

"Well, she's rather quiet and bears a shocking resemblance to a certain Rose," Pearl answered. "but she did like how forward I was about fighting to defend the Earth thousands of years ago and gave me her number."

"Wow, sounds like she could be nice to hang with." Bismuth laughed.

"Here we are!" Pearl exclaimed as she, Steven, Connie, and Bismuth stepped inside the Starlight Roller Rink and looked around at the humans and Gems skating around the very 80s-like establishment.

"Wow, so humans can pay to have wheels attached to their feet for fun?" Bismuth wondered. "That is really something else."

"Hey, there's Sour Cream over there!" Steven pointed over to the Cool Kid running the DJ booth.

"I don't know about this you guys." Bismuth said uneasily while Pearl began looking around the rink. "I've never really skated before."

"That's okay Bis, I never skated before either." Steven comforted his mother's old teammate. "Once I discovered my powers, I never really had time for all these popular human activities myself. But hey, I'm sure it can't be that hard, right?"

"Yo Pearl, over here!" a woman's voice called out to Pearl.

"Oh, there you are!" Pearl exclaimed as she skipped over to four human women awaiting her. One of the women had dark skin and a pink Mohawk, another had blue hair and a punk style of clothes, the third looked like an elderly hippie, and the fourth bore a striking resemblance to Rose Quartz.

"So that must be Pearl's little fan club, huh?" Bismuth asked as Pearl gave the mohawked girl a roll of toilet paper from her gem and the Rose lookalike a kiss on the cheek. "They seem so friendly and interesting."

"Steven, Connie, Bismuth, I'd like you to meet some of my human friends." Pearl called her three friends over to meet her human pals. "This is Khadijah, Jaime, and Brandish. And Steven, I think you might be familiar with Sheena here."

"Yeah, you were at the Big Donut when Pearl made a fool of herself trying to hit on me." Sheena chuckled as she shook Steven's hand. "Yeah, the name's Sheena, Sheena Synstylae."

"So, you guys have known Pearl long?" Khadijah asked Steven, Connie, and Bismuth.

"I've basically known Pearl my entire life." Steven answered.

"Pearl taught me how to use a sword." Connie added.

"And I've known Pearl for like, a few thousand years." Bismuth said.

"That's right, Bismuth's an architect!" Pearl exclaimed in response.

"A builder, huh?" Jaime asked with great interest as she and the rest of Pearl's human posse took Bismuth to the rink, leaving Steven & Connie by themselves.

"Anything you've built that you're proud of?" Sheena added.

"Little Homeworld for one, with a little help." Bismuth answered.

"Ooh, tell us more!" Brandish said excitedly.

"Come on Steven, let's get our skates." Connie said to Steven as she walked him to the skate rental desk.

"Okay." Steven replied before they turned to the man handing out roller skates.

"Welcome to the Starlight Roller Rink. Can I get anything in your shoe size?" the squeaky-voiced young man asked the duo.

"Um," Steven muttered as he looked down at his feet, trying to think about his shoe size before picking up one of his shoes to hand over. "Got anything in this size?"

"I'll see what I can do." The teen at the desk answered before he turned to Connie. "And as for you young lady?"

"Same for me." Connie replied, handing over one of her shoes as well.

"Alright then, enjoy your night." The teen said before he handed over some pairs of roller skates that were just the right size for Steven and Connie.

"Okay, are you ready?" Connie asked Steven after they laced up their newly rented skates.

"Yeah, I'm ready." Steven replied, then the two stood up as two other kids around their age skated by and noticed Connie.

"Then let's get skating!" Connie declared before one of the kids called out for her.

"Hey, is that Connie?" a girl in a pink hijab and red-framed glasses exclaimed before she and a boy skated over to Steven and Connie.

"Patricia, Daniel!" Connie exclaimed, then she turned to Steven. "Steven, I'd like you to meet Patricia and Daniel, they're some friends of mine from cram school."

"Hi, I'm Steven." Steven introduced himself to Connie's friends. "Uh, how's it going?"

"Going good." Daniel smiled at Steven.

"You should've seen Daniel earlier," Patricia smirked. "his mom really tore into him for some bad scores on a test, and he's all bent out of shape about it."

"Augh!" Daniel groaned. "I was doing real fine until you brought that up."

"I know what that's like." Steven laughed awkwardly. "One time, White Diamond tore into me by taking my gem out of my body." Patricia and Daniel just stared at Steven, having no idea what he was talking about until he revealed his gem on his belly. "I'm part-Gem by the way. When I mean she took my gem out, I mean she pulled it out like a splinter."

"Ooookay then." Patricia replied with a raised eyebrow. "So, what grade are you in?"

"Grade?" Steven, having not been given a proper education like most humans his age, began getting grades mixed up with age. "Uh, I'm sixteen!"

"Sixteen?" Daniel gasped.

"So you're taking AP classes then?" Patricia guessed.

"Uhhhh, AP what now?" Steven asked, now having no idea himself.

"You want to skate with us?" Connie offered Patricia and Daniel.

"Heck yeah!" Patricia laughed and the three friends rolled to the rink, leaving Steven alone and embarrassed.

"You really blew that one Steven." Steven groaned to himself. "I bet if they were Gems trying to kill me, we'd treat it like water under the bridge after a fun song or an inspiring speech."

"Hey Steven, you're missing out!" Connie called for Steven as she entered the rink, where she started laughing and hanging out with Patricia & Daniel.

"I'm coming!" Steven replied and tried to skate himself, but he unfortunately slipped and fell on his face.

"Are you okay?" Connie asked comfortingly while skating over to her half-alien friend.

"Yeah, it's only my first time." Steven reassured Connie while trying to get up. "But I'm sure I'll get it right somehow. Just go on without me."

"If you say so." Patricia said while she and Daniel skated away.

"Call us if you change your mind." Connie added as she followed the pair.

As his friend departed, Steven slowly got back up again and tried to skate. This time, luckily, he was finally able to take it slow.

"I'm finally getting the hang of this." Steven muttered happily to himself.

Meanwhile, Bismuth was skating with Pearl, Sheena, Khadijah, Jaime, and Brandish, and started showing off some skating moves of her own, to the humans' excitement.

"Dang Bismuth, you're already, like, a natural at this." Khadijah complimented Bismuth's grace.

"I love your flow." Brandish added.

"And you said this was your first time!" Sheena chuckled in response before she turned to Pearl. "Though she's still not as graceful as you are."

"Oh stop Sheena!" Pearl blushed at her human lover's comment.

"Well, y'all ain't seen nothing yet!" Bismuth yelled before she picked up Pearl and began swinging her around on the rink, cackling all the way.

"Bismuth, you're a natural!" Pearl yelled happily as Bismuth put her down. "Here's another thing you should know. When humans want to see each other again, they exchange little codes called "phone numbers". You should try it yourself sometime, it's fun."

"What you talking about Pearl?" Bismuth laughed. "I'm having fun already."

"That reminds me." Pearl realized before she plucked a roll of toilet paper from her gem and placed it in Bismuth's big purple hand. "Every human has at least one of these in their homes. Sometimes it's even used for vandalism."

"Oh Pearl, you're so bad!" Bismuth chortled just as Pearl began skating away with Sheena. "Hey, where are you going?"

"I've taught you all you need to know for the moment Bismuth, now go out and have fun!" Pearl exclaimed as she skated with Sheena to a nearby old man. "Sheena and I are going to make some connections of our own!"

"Excuse me, sir," Sheena tapped an old man's shoulder and presented him a toilet paper roll from Pearl's gem in her hands. "could we interest you in some TP tonight?"

"Uh, okay?" the old man reluctantly accepted the offer before skating away. "Dang young people these days."

"Um, I'm actually thousands of years older!" Pearl corrected the gentleman.

"Have fun?" Bismuth muttered while watching the happy couple skate around and hand out toilet paper to other attendants of the rink. "I mean, Pearl's friends already love me."

"Hey Bis, wanna show us some more of your moves?" Jaime asked as Pearl's human friends skated over to Bismuth.

"Well, if you insist." Bismuth shrugged and began to show off more moves for the humans to cheer about.

Back to Steven, he had just made it back around the rink to the entrance, and he stumbled back onto the shooting star-patterned carpet in exhaustion. "One lap around the rink. I think that deserves a break."

"Hey, Steven." Connie greeted as she skated back to Steven.

"Hey, Connie." Steven responded tiredly while grabbing onto the edge of the railing to pick himself up. "Hey, where are Daniel and Patricia?"

"They're still out there on the rink." Connie answered, thumbing back to her cram schoolmates having fun. "Did you want to hang out? You know, we could just return our skates and chat."

"No, you're here to have fun." Steven wheezed. "You're so busy studying, so you should just take this time to be with your friends."

"You're my friend too." Connie comforted Steven. "You want to sit down to some tater tots?"

"No, this is your night." Steven rejected the offer. "Just forget about me and go have fun."

"Okay then. Catch you later." Connie replied as she skated back to her friends.

"What am I doing?" Steven groaned in defeat before Bismuth saw him depressed.

"Something the matter, my lil' lion?" Bismuth asked Steven.

"Can't believe I'm saying this Bismuth," Steven responded. "but I think I've forgotten how to talk to humans. Crazy, right?"

"Yeah, that is pretty nuts." Bismuth agreed before she presented Steven with toilet paper. "You want one of these? Pearl and Sheena keep handing these out cause they say they're supposed to help."

"Maybe later." Steven responded sadly.

"I mean, how could you say that?" Bismuth asked. "You're so dang great at talking to everyone, like your dad or Connie for instance!"

"Greg's my dad, so he doesn't count." Steven stated while looking at Connie, Patricia, and Daniel from afar. "As for Connie, I was perfectly fine when it was just us. But now that's she got those two with her, I have no idea how to talk anymore. You know what I'm talking about, right?"

"You got that right." Bismuth replied. "Sheena, Khadijah, Jaime, and Brandish are all great, but they're not what I'm here for."

"Then who are you here for?" Steven asked. Bismuth just answered by shifting her pupils over to Pearl, which gave Steven a good idea of what she was talking about. "You're here for Pearl?!"

Bismuth shushed Steven by covering his mouth while waving over to Pearl, who merrily waved back before she started slow-dancing with Sheena. "In case you're wondering, I am a bit jealous! But I don't wanna admit it because Sheena's a great gal and I'm happy Pearl's found someone."

"Are you trying to hide this from them?" Steven asked as he moved Bismuth's hand off his mouth. "Why can't you just join in on their relationship? I mean, I saw a few couples like that around here made up of more than two people."

"I just don't want to take away from what Pearl's got." Bismuth answered morosely while spectating on Pearl having the time of her life. "She's got her own thing going on, perfectly happy with her life with lots of human friends and even a girlfriend. She's like the Pearl I remember, but a bit happier. I just needed to catch up."

"Yeah." Steven sympathized with the Gem veteran. "When Connie and I fought side by side to save the universe from the Diamonds, things were a lot easier between us, barring some infractions. We were fighting the same fight, but now it's like we're living completely different lives now. I wonder if she even wants to be my best friend anymore."

Bismuth slammed her arm on the edge of the rink in shock, giving Steven a little fright. "How long has this been going on?"

"Past couple of months." Steven revealed. "I think it started when she went to space camp before Spinel came to Earth."

"Listen, Steven," Bismuth comforted her former leader's son. "Pearl brought me here to set me up with her friends and to be with her girlfriend, but Connie came here to be with you. You got nothing to mope about."

"But her friends probably think I'm weird." Steven admitted. "You should've seen their faces when I told them about what White Diamond did to me."

"Of course you're weird, you're a Crystal Gem!" Bismuth declared. "The Crystal Gems were all a bunch of Gems deemed too weird by society to fit in, and the same goes for you! Connie's known that, she's always known, but that never stopped you two from being buddies!"

"You're right." Steven began taking Bismuth's motivational speech to heart. "Connie knows who I am. She's my friend, and she always will be!"

"So what do you want to do?!" Bismuth kept on pumping the boy up.

"To spend time with Connie!" Steven answered with determination.

"And what are you gonna do?!"

"Skate with Connie!"

"Well, what are you waiting for?!" Bismuth roared triumphantly. "Don't let your dreams be dreams, so JUST DO IT!" With that, Bismuth shoved Steven back onto the rink and he skidded rapidly towards Connie. "Gotta thank Peridot for showing me those motivational vids later."

"CONNIE!" Steven screamed as he zoomed towards his human friend, but then he skidded past her and began to trip & fall flat on his face yet again.

"Steven?" Connie heard Steven call her name and raced over to find him on the ground. "Steven, are you okay?"

"I'm sorry Connie, I just didn't want to hold you back." Steven apologized while he was helped to his feet.

"I don't mind, I just wanted to hang out." Connie replied earnestly.

"You've got cram school and new friends." Steven admitted. "You're going places and I'm proud of you for how far you've come since that time I got us stuck in the bubble, but I feel like we've been drifting apart. I wish we could reconnect but," Then he started to get nervous and abruptly changed the subject. "I don't know how to skate!"

"Skating's what you're worried about?" Connie laughed in disbelief just as Sour Cream turned on his microphone.

"Alright skaters!" Sour Cream announced. "It's time for our nightly skate contest. The skater with the sickest moves in the rink will be crowned skater of the night! Any takers?"

"C'mon, I know just what to do." Connie declared as she took Steven's hand, causing the pair to glow pink and emerge as Stevonnie while Sour Cream prepared some music for the competition and turned the lights from blue to pink.

"In the night, in the middle of the day." Emily King's voice began singing as Stevonnie handed over Connie's skates and got some new ones that were just their size. "Used to tell me we should leave it up to fate. I call you over, but you always hesitate. Now I know that I'll never have to wait."

Despite some initial stumbling, the fusion found their footing and began showing off their moves with utmost grace & style. "Close my eyes, let down my hair. I'm thinking 'bout what I want, gonna take me there.”

Patricia and Daniel gasped in wonder as Stevonnie whizzed right past everyone else at the rink and towards Bismuth. "Turn the dial, on the on the stereo." When they reached Bismuth, Stevonnie leaped over the Gem and gave her a midair high-five. "And I'm thinking 'bout who I want, and I won't let go."

"Who's the new kid?" Sheena asked Pearl before her alien lover was spun around by Stevonnie as the chorus began. "You can't hold me now, only I can do that. You can't hold me now, only I can do that. You can't hold me now, only I can do that. You can't hold me now, hold me now, ooh."

With a split by Stevonnie that would make an entire gymnastics team blush, the other skaters applauded loudly at their skill while the lights returned to normal. "I know them!" Pearl cried out to the crowd.

"I think we know who the winner is," Sour Cream declared from his booth. "unless someone wants to one-up them."

"Who can possibly top that?" Sheena commented as the crowd shook their heads.

"Well, guess that means the winner, by default, is Stevonnie!" Sour Cream congratulated the fusion of Steven and Connie before they defused into the two youths, each of them wearing a skate on one foot.

"Thanks, Connie." Steven said gratefully. "I really needed that."

"Steven, Connie, that was amazing!" Patricia exclaimed as she and Daniel skated over to the two.

"What the heck was that?!" Daniel inquired excitedly.

"That?" Connie responded with a blush. "That was fusion. It's kind of our thing."

"Just something I got from my mom's side of the family." Steven added.

"The one thing I got from my mom was tons of stress!" Daniel joked.

"Same." Steven laughed.

"Yo, Steven!" Sour Cream called for Steven. "You and Connie get to pick the next song as your prize for the contest."

"Next song?" Steven wondered while looking Bismuth's way as she skated over to Pearl and Sheena. "I think I got an idea. C'mon Connie."

As Steven led Connie away, Bismuth stopped to talk with Sheena. "Hey, Sheena was it? I know you might find it weird, but I have a bit of a thing for Pearl too, though I've had it longer than you have, but I'm just a bit jealous of how happy you two are together yet I didn't want to admit it. Hope you're not mad?"

"Eh, at least you're taking it better than some of my last dates." Sheena laughed. "Maybe we can make room for one more."

"Excellent idea." Pearl agreed with her human girlfriend and let Bismuth sandwich herself between the two just as an announcement was made.

"This next song is a request from Steven and Connie." Sour Cream declared. "And they're dedicating this to some special friends of theirs." With that, a certain commercial was played and brought a smile to Pearl's face.

"Bismuth, it's my favorite song!" Pearl cheered, causing her two loves to laugh at her taste in music.

"Cam's Camshafts is the place to bring your wreck, get your car repaired for cheap and fair without risking your neck!" Bismuth started singing along with the ad.

"Cam's Camshafts!" Pearl and Sheena added in harmony before the three gazed lovingly into each other's eyes and skated off with Khadijah, Jaime, and Brandish following behind.

Once again, the music changed as Steven and Connie began skating arm in arm, followed by Patricia & Daniel, and they began laughing.

Well, that's one relationship taken care of! After all, Pearl has two hands and has the power to make more of them. But with that out of the way, next chapter will also feature a certain relationship, but this one is a little more controversial. Can you guess which it is? If you already looked at the episode list on my DeviantArt page, you already know what's coming. See you next week!

#steven universe #steven universe future #fanfiction #steven universe alternate future #steven quartz universe #bismuth #pearl #connie maheswaran #mystery girl

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inkyfishesii · 3 years ago

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for the fic writers ask (because I adore your writing): 10, 11, 17, 18 and 19 <3

;_____; thank you franger this is super sweet of you to say

10. Do you enjoy writing dialogue, exposition, or plot the most?

Ooh, they're all quite interchangable, really! My favourite part of writing is editing the exposition after the whole thing is finished. I go back over a whole fic and then putting in little through-lines. Like in Going Down, I had an echo of "going up / going down" which I added about half-way through when I realised drug use would be a good metaphor for heaven/hell.

"Yeah, yeah." Hugo exhaled around the cigarette, clasping it between his teeth. He wrangled something out of his jacket. Julian ran over, hands outstretched, just short of chanting gimmie-gimmie. "But if you’re going up, I’m going down. You’re fucking infuriating when you’re rolling."

And then...

"But if I’m going down, he’s got to be going up." Julian fought against the instinct to tighten his fingers in the Captain’s hair. "When he’s ready, of course. It’s my only condition, and I’m afraid it’s absolute. Do we have a deal?"

No fucking idea if any reader noticed tbh, but I love when I notice that kind of shit in stuff I read.

11. If you could only write angst, fluff, or smut for the rest of your life, which would it be?

Angst, I think. I like writing smut, but it's not as satisfying to get right. I'm not that into fluff; the show's fluffy enough!

17. What fic are you most proud of?

Augh, overall it's probably "Universal Truths" which is my Big Bang for Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (rip). It's the longest thing I've ever written and has a somewhat coherant plot, so there's some pride there. I'm usually a crash-and-burn participant in Big Bangs.

For BBC Ghosts, it's probably Performative, just cause everyone liked it so much :3

18. What is a line/scene you’re really proud of? Give us the DVD commentary for that scene.

/_\ so embarrassing to be proud. I just scanned through Performative at random to something that I don't absolutely hate and it's probably this bit:

There was a sound from far away; familiar voices shouting which indicated something was happening. Julian could see the tension rise in the Captain's shoulders as he whipped his head around to follow the noise. Being called into active service once again.

Julian was quite happy to let it all happen without him, to take a day off from being part of the collective. He moved to settle back into the bench, but stopped as the Captain cleared his throat to speak.

"If this was my time. We would have never attended such a party as that."

The Captain hadn't turned back around, so he was facing the other direction, toward the noise. But he was speaking so clearly to Julian, it felt more intimate than if he had been whispering it into his ear. Julian held himself, midway between sitting and standing, suspended in the moment, unwilling to break it.

"There - perhaps - wouldn't have been anywhere to go. There was a war on. And it wasn't. Well. It was what it was. We could have gone to the pictures, I fancy. Or walking in the forest with the dogs. It wouldn't have been glamorous. But I think. Perhaps. You may have enjoyed the truth in it all. Would have been happier with the fight outside your head, rather than in it."

DVD commentary: I struggle a lot with the Captain's characterisation, partly because I usually gravitate towards characters who are very open and loud with their feelings and he's deeeeeeeeeeeply repressed, but this is a bit where I really think I nailed it.

I knew the Captain needed to offer an olive branch, to crack open just a little of himself to Julian, but he's such a closed character that it had to be just the tiniest glimpse. I also don't like creating too much backstory for the Captain - I think part of his character is how little you know, plus I get irrationally annoyed when canon comes along to steamroll over my fanon (OH HI THERE SERIES 3 JULIAN DEATH, HOWS IT GOING), so I try to avoid speculation as far as possible. The only thing I've made up here is that he has dogs and he went to movies - not exactly a reach. It just gives the reader a little hint of that idealised 1930/40s England.

He's not looking at Julian, so we get the impression that he's effectively talking to himself, with Julian (and the reader) as an audience. The alternative past he describes is less "this is a world Julian and I could have had" and more "this is a world I could have had". It's probably something he used to daydream about with Havers - Julian certainly doesn't fit into this perfect past.

I think the final line is the strongest one I've written for a long time. The Captain used the war as a focus so he didn't have to deal with his own turmoil - it was and still is his sanctuary ;_;

19. Who is the easiest/hardest character for you to write about? Why?

As per the above, the Captain! Partly because the knowledge I have about that time period is from a childhood watching Dad's Army, 'Allo 'Allo and Goodnight Sweetheart, which are all extremely light-hearted and don't exactly prepare ones self for the kind of deep-digging angst I like writing.

Plus, this language of the military is absolutely beyond me, and I feel like you need to weave all that in for a level of authencitity? Compared to Julian - as I have established I Know Far Too Much About Parliament - I am dripping with tidbits and references I can drop into his speech or internal musings to make his personality feel fuller. Like "the division bell" or "being three-line whipped" or "consituency Fridays" or "John Major shtooping Edwina Currie". I have absolutely none of that for the Captain and it fucks me off something royal.

#anon asks #writerly woes #ask meme #ask game

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tfw-no-tennis · 4 years ago

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mtmte liveblog issue 34

lets get itttttt

I'm reading this in physical paper comic form unlike all the issues I’ve read so far and this is SO BLESSED

its the trade paperback and the cover is that sexy roller drawing w/the juicebox. ty for that one milne

WHY is the volume cover a drawing of megatron standing over trailbreakers dead body. that's like a huge spoiler hvudbsfjkasnf

I nearly forgot about this issue - gotta catch up with the first aid crew

the scenery IS very nice

I like all the background stuff that goes on w/aliens like the galactic council and the black box consortia, it really makes the universe seem vast and not centered around the protagonists

I love first aid so muuuuch

oh right they must be on the Smartplanet™

oh first aid, you're morally correct in choosing not to dig deep about the mystery victim’s affiliation and fix him no matter what, but in this particular case maybe you should do a little oath avoiding and try to figure it out first

OHHHH I FORGOT THIS WAS ALSO THE MEGATRON FLASHBACK ISSUE YESSS

FUCKGIN FROID he’s such a weird looking gibbon robot

kinda funny that the datapad is in english one panel and then cybertronian(or w/e) the next panel lmao

REALLY like the panel of megatron mining with all his thoughts/writing in the background. visually excellent

oh god trepan. he and froid make quite the Little Bitch Squad

lmaooo they moved the busted up guy, thats like medical no-no #1 c'mon guys

HHHHHHH the vos reveal is very cool...oh boy...but also in the panel where we finally see a full-body shot he looks completely undamaged lmao

mannnn the page-long text-only script of megatron’s writings...pheww.....listen I love it. AUGH

MANNNN functionism is like, one of my fav tf concepts ever bc like...it makes so much damn sense that cybertronians would create this taxonomic system based on alt modes, when they're robots who turn into things, and also that that system would become rigid and corrupt and create huge class divides....in terms of fantasy/sci-fi oppression concepts this one is real good imo, bc it makes so much sense based on how transformers work, and its not bogged down by a ton of weird parallels to real life systems of oppression like so many other fantasy oppression storylines are

I love also that religion has a place in it - as in, the system pretty much says that dissenters are rejecting primus’s vision for them as a person, and therefore you risk being smited for your heresy, and whatnot

the whole ‘retroactively giving new meaning to the decepticon movement’ thing is, from what I can tell, pretty controversial in the fandom and all, but I personally like it, and I like the way it was done, especially here in this issue

especially considering that the nature of comics means that they're written by a whole bunch of different people who have different approaches to the characters/storylines - and by the time jro got mtmte, there was already a huge backlog of comics establishing stuff

so I don't really fault him for doing his own thing and molding canon into what he wanted, while taking the previously established stuff with a grain of salt - that's why I feel pretty comfortable ignoring a lot of the pre-mtmte stuff (or at least what isn't written by jro) and seeing mtmte as its own little canon

AUGHHH I just love that whole page. REVOLUTION!!

ANYWAYS. having terminus here also does a great job of showing a personal, firsthand way that megatron experiences how fucked the system is - terminus isn't injured beyond repair, or even THAT badly all things considered, but their society deems him unimportant enough that he doesn't have access to those repairs

oof i forgot how Baby megatron looks in these flashbacks

ohhhh man the bit ‘every member of the manual class is one accident away from redundancy - and redundancy is one step away from death’ MANNN that hits, its such a similar sentiment to the whole ‘the entire working class is one bad day away from homelessness’ thing that people have talked a lot about recently...anyways, guillotine and eat the rich

oh I really like the parallels to megatron saying ‘if you can save someone, you should save them,’ and first aid refusing to care about the injured guy’s affiliation...you could also get deeper and make the connection between megatron being the one presenting that sentiment in the past, and then first aid enacting it towards vos, a member of megatron’s djd, to terrible consequences

‘I'm not a figurehead’ oh, megatron, we’ll see about that...

I love this look at truly pacifist megatron - we really needed to see this after being told over and over how much of a pacifist megatron used to be, up until he clearly wasn't anymore

‘you are being deceived’ is still such a fucking cool tagline. also it does a great job in establishing a good reason for them to be called ‘decepticons,’ bc as many people point out in other continuities, that sounds evil as hell, who would name themselves that other than a bunch of evil idiots

back with the modern day crew...things are getting morally dicey...first aid is just such a good boi I love him. but also oh my god SO much dread

but even first aid balks when he realizes that that's a djd member right there - as he should, bc jesus vos, u really cant stop saying ‘find, kill, cleanse’ for 3 seconds even now??? yall really have no chill

trailbreaker is so good and that makes what happens to him EVEN SADDER jesus

oh man also the parallel of megatron donating his energon to terminus, and trailbreaker to vos....

OH GODDD I can SEE the chair in the bg in tbs bubble....HHHHHHHHHHHH

also im kinda distracted by the fact that this artists draws fingers all the same length vbjkshdfksajnbfjk so hands look kinda weird, and this issue is a bit hand-focused so its noticeable

first aid’s alien ambulance mode is cool

vos looks like he’s doing a peace sign lmao

OH NOOOOO KAON IS HERE. AUGH

god trepan just looks so absolutely creepy. like his design on its own isn’t that creepy (unlike, say, froid or sunder) but his expressions and the shading on him just make him looks like the total freak that he is

and here we see where megatrons aversion to mnemosurgery came from!

like, trepan, dude, did you really have to remove the top of his head and go into the brain raw like that. admit it, that was just for the drama of it all

AUGHHHH the successive panels of megatron with his writing in the background, but the second panel is missing a bunch of words...mannnnnnnnn so good and so awful

and then OH SHIT ITS RUNG

...here to enforce (new) hipaa laws, which is surprising considering his history of hipaa violations. maybe he hasn't done most of them yet?

no, I will not stop talking about Rung The Hipaa Violator sorry

also I stand by my assessment that rung and froid are the ONLY psychologists on cybertron so their entire department is Just Them. imagine how funny that would be

SENATOR SHOCKWAVE HHHHHHHHHH OW OW OW

oh boy the alarms, wonder what that could be...a power surge you say...👀👀👀

and then smash cut to trailcutter gruesomely dismembered, jesus. that went south really fast

also where's his spark/spark casing? we see his entire spinal column here - and that's the design we see later w/the whole mutineers thing iirc - but earlier in the story when ratchet was all dismembered, his spark casing seemed to be attached midway down his spinal column...or maybe his spine was behind his spark, and still w/his body? not sure

also now that I think abt it its kinda funny that this issue was all like ‘oh man vos is gonna die unless he gets an energon transfusion’ but ratchet was just fine chilling without his body and therefore without most of his energon circulating. maybe ratchet is just that powerful. whatever I'm gonna disregard alien medical inaccuracies bc I love mtmte

anyways. poor trailbreaker he didn't deserve that

also goddamn first aid cant catch a fucking break, he has to deal with ambulon dying in front of him via his batshit old boss and now this. let him rest already

what the hell DID happen to terminus I don't even remember. yknow that's ok ill get to rediscover that later which is always cool

GODDD the panel of megatron running away w/all his datapads and the background is just ‘I'm sorry’ over and over again....It Does Hurt Doesn't It

AND THEN THERES BRAINSTORM!! MAN OF THE HOUR!! WHATS HE UP TO I WONDER....

also I thought the the power surge was brainstorm arriving but maybe not?? so what was it then? just like, mine bs?

also. I love brainstorm did u know

hhhhh I'm so excited for time travel. I've been saying that for ages but rlly I love this arc sm and this issue is such a strong start. I really like the ways that the two stories - megatron in the past and first aid & trailbreaker in the present - are connected

it shows a nice beginning and end in a way - megatron at the very start, where he’s still a very idealistic and pacifistic budding revolutionary, and then the far future, where he isn't actually present in that story but his presence is very felt, in tb talking about his writing (plus tb’s new attitude basically coming directly from megatron putting him on a different track), and of course the djd

and my interpretation is that this issue shows how something like the decepticons (and specifically megatron) had a beginning full of good intentions and morally solid ideals, but it still turned into something completely different that resulted in something like the djd existing

also I feel like the megatron flashback portion pairs quite nicely with the upcoming look at functionist cybertron, which I'm rlly excited to revisit bc I forget a lot about that honestly.

so yeah up next: time travel and functionism, oh yeah!

#lj rereads mtmte

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levyfiles · 5 years ago

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helloooo!!!! since you are my fave blog about shyan content, i must ask: what are your favorite fics???

AHhh! I–OK well, Lately I’ve been finding more and more fics that fill my heart right up with every gorgeous headcanon there is, but If we’re talking all-time favourites, I have finally compiled a List from the moment I started reading shyan fic in 2018 of fics that have ruined my life; all of them here in no particular order.

Be All My Sins Remembered by spoopyy

Summary: In every lifetime, they find each other.

Review: This fic manages to take you on a long journey through what feels like a series of AUs and they all weave in and out of the wealth of their relationship with some vivid descriptions of the historical settings their journey takes them through. As someone who grew up reading Anne Rice’s epics through historical events, this fic is right up my alley. A vampire Shane passing through the wave of human society’s climb searching for a reincarnated Ryan again and again, trying to hold on to him and keep him through great tragedies and timeframes that just don’t let them be together. This was one of the first fics I read when I was only a lurker and to be quite honest, I need to give this one a nice re-read, maybe for the book club which would be loads of fun. Either way, 10/10. Would be Hurt in the heart again.

Perfect Fit by @beaniegara

Summary: There’s a legend that says anyone able to take all of statue Shane’s cock will summon the god to the mortal realm. Given the statue’s excessive size, no one has ever succeeded to prove or disprove the story.Until Ryan that is.

Review: Listen. You wanna talk actual fandom legends. This fic is one of them and it pulls out all the stops on being delicious and evocative. Also features one of my favourite incarnations of size queen bergara. Good stuff and you’re really rooting for Ryan in this lol.

Everything’s Weird and We’re Always in Danger by the beethechange

Summary: Ryan perches on the edge of the bed, an indistinct shape that Shane can only just make out in the dark, so he turns the lamp back on. He wants to see Ryan’s face, wants to know that he is alright. Ryan’s cheeks are damp, his hands fisted in the hideous flowered duvet.

“It won’t go away,” Ryan says miserably. “I’ve been like this since we got here, basically, and it won’t fucking—”

“Ah,” Shane says. “Well, you know, sometimes fear…adrenaline…they can affect people. Physically.” He waves his hands indistinctly crotchward. “It’s a, a scientifically known phenomenon.” Shane feels a little better staying in the realm of scientifically known phenomena.

Review: Word of advice. You see a fic is authored by beethechange, run don’t walk because you’re absolutely always going to be treated to the best of banter, the best of prose, chemistry, organic execution and feels right up the bottom end of your heart. This fic, this changed everything I thought I knew I wanted out of a bed-sharing fic. It’s got a little bit of two treats here. You got a sex-pollen-esque situation mixed with bed-sharing and holy fucking damn that is more than you think you deserve, but read this because you do deserve the best of the best. The build up, the dialogue, the surprisingly hilarity of it, the hotness woah, and The Aftermath. When you think you know what you’re in for, you’re wrong and you’re most pleasantly surprised. Get this fic in your life and honestly? while you’re at it, you could do a clean sweep of every fic in her list of works and while my less than adequate reading time management may still be short on some of her most well-recommended pieces, I have an adamant faith that Bee doesn’t disappoint. Go get y’all juice.

Maelstrom by thewindupbird

Summary: Here’s the thing about driving halfway across the country to see someone. You can’t really deny, after that, that you’re pretty much head over heels for them.

Review: Listen. One morning on a day off, I just laid in bed and read this– all 40k+ words– while lying there clutching my pillows, hurting and loving every moment of it. The descriptions of Americana, the slow steady metronome rhythm of Ryan’s feelings as frightened and helpless as they feel when you’re relating deeply to them juxtaposed with the deep-seated struggle of understanding what it is to be with someone you love so much but your mental health is burning quiet holes in your ability to express it in a way that can be understand. Ryan’s fierce determination, breaking through the silence of their non communication is really Everything to me in this fic. i think I really left my heart in the scene in Shane’s parents kitchen. That finished me. Read this fic and understand the deep relief you get when you’ve finished a fight with someone you fiercely care about and they understand you and you understand them and it’s OK; it’s gonna be all right. Augh.

A Burial on Box Hill by InkStainsOnMyHands

Summary: The Celtics believed that the yew flower symbolized both immortality and death. Meanwhile, for centuries, the buxus flower was seen as a symbol for safe passage into the afterlife.

Or,Shane and Ryan were never the same after investigating the Black Forest of Germany alone.

Review: Let me just quote my bookmark comment here. Usually I flee from tragedy like a cat spotting a cucumber but the brevity and the prose dragged me in and now I’m a functioning mess. Bless this fic. Oh my god it’s short and reads like one of those quick horror stories you’ll read to your friends just as the scary stories are transitioning from the urban legends to the ones that feel real. Big warning for main character death but still read it if you appreciate a good story told.

Body Farming by shiphitsthefan

Summary: Failed suppressants and a surprise heat: the worst of cliches, and here Ryan stands, living the trope on location with the alpha he’s hopelessly in love with. Even worse, they’re spending the night in the famous Bell Witch Cave, completely alone and with no way to contact the outside world.

Ryan knows he can survive and keep his preheat a secret, as long as Shane will stop being so protective and concerned. After all, it’s not like Shane wants to bond with him.

Right?

Review: Now judging from the reactions of many people I’ve spoken to, big heavy ABO kink is not popular here but guys, GUYS. This one. Let this one in I promise it is not what you think it is. The dynamic is organic and the worst side of the trope is subverted in all the best ways and lord help us, the smut is hot, like swelteringly smoking. It’ll stay with you.

Believer by cellard00rs

Summary: Some demons and otherworldly creatures love climbing up the power ladder. Shane is not one of these. He likes where he is (thank you very much) and has no interest in moving up. All he wants is to give his friend Ryan a nice birthday gift. So, naturally, everything goes to hell.

Review: This fic is another fandom legend. When I think demon!Shane. It’s this and one other one that always pops right into my mind. This was my first exposure to the bureaucracy meets the supernatural!Shane trope and I was sold from the get-go. The Shane in this fic is everything I imagine a demon!Shane is and his ginger care for Ryan, the concept of their bond and how even though Shane is a demon and responsible for keeping the supernatural a firm secret from Ryan and the rest of the world, his skepticism is relayed through his status as a demon. I want to talk more about it but I think so much of the enjoyment comes from the surprises as the plot unfurls.

Heartbeat by quackers

Summary: So the guy Ryan sits next to at work is a vampire. That’s no big deal, right?

Review: I could talk your literal ear off about this fic. Vampires, man. I love the trope; you don’t know me as a person if you don’t know this at least. And this fic kept me fed all damn year. It was a readable garden. If there is one thing I can guarantee about quackers’ work, it’s that their world-building is a festival of detail. The realms and alternate universes they work with while still managing to keep Shane and Ryan’s voices so familiar and real is a talent not attributed to your everyday author. This fic propelled me into wanting to write more and more because quackers makes stories so much fun! Reading their work is, to me, not unlike the feeling I got when I was younger and finding series that speak to my need to escape this crummy existence, made me want to believe in fun spicy things like a vampire that lived through centuries, cynical but still searching, navigating a world where people are still people, adjusting to differences and prejudices, finding comfort in a guy that understands that and more. I’ve talked about this fic in more than a few different posts so I’d just be reiterating a lot of things I loved about the more historical aspects of Shane’s journey, the way Ryan is so firmly curious and inventive in ways to connect with Shane. Look, even if vampires aren’t your thing, I can promise that if you visit quackers list of work, you will find something for your supernatural-lovin’ palate that speaks to a gentler side of your own curiosity about monsters and the jocks that love them. lol.

I’ll Crawl Home by carrieonfighting

Summary: “Shane was almost unnerved by how quickly he’d settled into this body, this name, this life - his friendship with Ryan was the most time he’d spent with any human before, and yet the man fascinated him.”

Review: This is the second fic I think of when someone says the words ‘demon!Shane’ to me because ohhhh my word, this fic is a masterpiece. I really am hard pressed to find anything better than the feeling I get when I think of demon!Shane headcanons interwoven with the irl Buzzfeed reality and the idea of the Ryan as we know him being protected and watched and loved so deeply by a demon that found him so long ago and wanted nothing but to protect him. I feel an almost vicious glee reliving that moment when Ryan and Shane are on goatman’s bridge and man, I just really love canonical fic mixed with a slight twist. The writing in this makes it work so well with lines that still haunt my heart and soul like “Ryan liked popcorn. So did the demon. Genuinely, not just out of a desire to please the human – he liked the way it crunched between his vessel’s teeth. There were some aspects of taking a corporeal form that were…nice; laughing, coffee, feeling warm. Ryan made him laugh.” FUCK! The beautiful agony of it, watching the demon fall in love with Ryan through the eyes of his vessel. Just stark with pain and unspoken, well-written angst and pain with a perfect ending, I wouldn’t change for anything. I love this for us as a fandom and will always love that author crafted this piece and shared it with us. (Also every time I hear Work Song by Hozier, I think of this fic again and sigh).

Like I said at the beginning, thanks to @skepticbeliever-bookclub I’ve been discovering and re-discovering some fics I hadn’t had the chance to read and or have never even heard of before and my bookmarks list is growing with each new week. So if you get through this list and need more in your life, here you go. Every fic in my bookmarks deserves the community’s attention. If I can just make one special request of you guys? If you do happen to click any of these and enjoy what you read, please take the time and tell the author what you loved about it. It really changes the game out here for fanworks and fan-creators like you wouldn’t even believe and the people who shared these works with us worked hard to make the stories what they are and put a great deal of emotional investment in sharing it. Share more than your silence in return.

Hope you find something you like here, nonnybabe..

#shyan fic #shyan #skeptic believer #recs #love tag #Anonybae

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onthevirgeofdestruction · 4 years ago

Link

Dreaming While I Wake

Sanders Sides Foster Care AU - Roman-centric Angst & Hurt/Comfort & Abuse Recovery

Roman tries to be upbeat and hopeful despite all the shit that’s happened to him. And a lot of shit has. Luckily, his new foster home is with two literal rays of sunshine (and a sarcastic asshole).

Words: 3,314 Triggers: spoilers in warnings Characters: Roman, Thomas Universe: Dreaming While I Wake Genre: Power Angst

Chapter 14 (Check end notes for trigger warnings)

chapter 1 for new readers - ffn mirror

Roman slowly blinked when he woke up again. It was dim in here and a pleasant temperature. There were soft windy trees and cricket noises playing. Despite the soreness in his everything, it was a pleasant way to wake up. He yawned and blinked the sleep away from his eyes again to try to focus them. He was laying in his own bed at the Sanders’ house, which he was extremely thankful for. Somebody must have closed the curtains for him and put on the noisemaker app. Probably Thomas. He didn’t remember getting back to the Sanders’ house at all, which meant he either blacked out again or fell asleep. It also meant Thomas managed to carry him up the stairs while he was out. Roman knew he didn’t weigh too much, but honestly, he was still a little impressed. He used to have to carry little kids up the stairs to bed all the time and it was hard to balance.

A glass of water was also left out on his nightstand, which he drank its entirety as soon as he realized it was there. Everything still hurt and he was still tired, but he was awake enough to feel kind of gross. Kind of very extremely gross. He wanted to go take a hot shower. Hopefully, he was still allowed to. He couldn’t be sure since he’d never been punished by them before. Roman couldn’t figure out where the line was, but there’s no way he wasn’t grounded until they kicked him out on Friday. If he was already in trouble, he was already in trouble. He could at least sneak one shower before they had a chance to tell him he couldn’t take a hot one or ban him from the shower altogether.

He crept out of bed silently, very practiced at this. His feet hurt like shit when he put weight on them, but he couldn’t take being this filthy anymore. He couldn’t make the shower be silent, but nobody would know he was in there until he was already safely locked in the bathroom. He only had one house where they had a key to the bathroom door, and that was kind of a whole fucking deal that he had trouble picturing the Sanders doing. He may have fucked up, but they weren’t that fucked up even in this scenario. Roman shifted and moved silently across the hall to the restroom, locking himself in and turning on the showerhead to start the hot water.

Roman definitely deserved like seven ass-kickings for ending up at the hospital, though, and he wasn’t sure exactly how that was going to play out. Roman sat in the tub when it was hot enough and showered facing the back to try to keep his feet away from the water as much as he could. They were probably the one thing on him that was clean and Roman knew you had to keep bandaged things dry already, even if he was iffy on why they were bandaged at the moment. He was still half asleep and didn’t really care much about trying to remember something that involved him getting bandaged. Roman cleaned off slowly, and the hot water was amazing on his back.

What punishments would he get for his stupidity? No food? No showers? Not leaving his room? No electronics? Yard work at 6 AM? A super strict schedule? Tight rules? Yelling? Not leaving their room? Having to go for a run on these bandaged up feet? Nothing fun and he just has to sit there and do nothing? That one’s his least favourite. He’s really, really bad at sitting still and doing nothing. The punishments always got worse after that. Maybe Roman pushed their limits and they will hit him.

He didn’t want to think about that. Roman was the biggest fuck up in the universe if he could break two nice people like that. Maybe that’s why Virgil does asshole stuff. He’s looking for their limits. It is kind of scary not knowing their boundaries. There’s always some arbitrary line somewhere Roman couldn’t understand. Roman finished off his shower and got dressed in fresh pajamas. Some bandages on his feet were loosened in the shower, but bending forward hurt so much that he couldn’t imagine trying to fix them right now. He cracked open the bathroom door, and nobody was waiting there for him. Maybe Thomas didn’t hear the shower. Roman sneaked back across the hall and into his room, closing the door slowly so it wouldn’t click.

It was late enough in the afternoon that Roman wasn’t tired anymore, so he needed to do find something quiet to do before he wasn’t allowed to do it anymore. Roman sat on his bed, getting off his feet and looked around the room. He certainly wasn’t doing his homework. If he was going to be banned from doing everything he’d be damned if the last thing he did was homework. Oh, god. He was going to have so much more homework after missing today. How did going for a run escalate so badly? It was just a run! Well, it wasn’t completely just a run. If he didn’t fall asleep under those bleachers and get- Oh god. Roman’s breath hitched with the realization.

Did- the cops caught him. The cops definitely caught him. Oh, he fucked up really, really bad if the cops got involved. Never involve the cops. Never, ever. No cops, he’d always been told ‘no cops’. He’d learned the ‘no cops’ lesson hard and painfully. And Roman go caught by the cops! Oh shit. Roman pulled his hands through his hair and stared at the floor, started rocking slightly, feeling like he couldn’t process this. He was so overwhelmed. He was caught. It was all too much. There was too much.

• “Roman?” The bedroom door cracked open as Roman’s heart leaped into his throat. He stared blankly forward and held himself, digging his nails into his arms. “Roman, woah, woah,” Thomas stepped into the room quickly. Everything- everything was too much. “Roman, look at me. Roman, let go, you’re bleeding!” Thomas said, but Roman wasn’t able to respond. He only barely heard the words. “Roman stop scratching! Shit, augh, I’m stopping you, okay?” Thomas pulled Roman’s arms off himself and held them. “Can you hear me?” Roman swallowed, but he couldn’t find it in himself to say anything. He didn’t feel like he was there anymore. Everything felt very distant and surreal.

“Roman, look at me,” The voice said more firmly. He saw Thomas. “Shit. Okay, hold this,” The voice sounded panicked, and there was something red in front of him. Something put his hands on the thing. “No more scratching, hold the blanket. Do you know where you are?” Where was he? The thing was soft. He examined it. “Can you not talk?” The red fuzzy thing was nice. Roman ran it between his fingers.

“Pat, he’s not talking, and he’s barely responding. I don’t know what to do. Are you serious? Yeah, okay, I’ll try. Will you please keep your phone with you? Thanks, I’ll let you know. Roman, look at me,” Roman saw Thomas again. “Pat says you might be disassociating. Do you know what that is?” Roman just stared blankly at him. “Would you sing a song with me? I bet you know Oliver & Company,” That tugged at something in him, but he wasn’t sure.

“One minute I’m in Central Park. Then I’m down on Delancey Street. Said from the Bow’ry to St. Mark’s. There’s a syncopated beat,” He sang. It did sound kind of familiar. “I said, Whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo. I’m streetwise. I can improvise. I said, Whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo. I’m street-smart. I’ve got New York City heart,” Thomas kept singing. He remembered this song. He liked this song. “Why should I worry?” Roman joined him and Thomas smiled slightly. “Why should I care? I may not have a dime. But I got street savoir-faire,” Roman and Thomas sang together. It almost felt like something clicked in him as they kept singing the song.

“Are you finally back with me?” Thomas asked after finishing the song. He leaned down to look Roman in the face.

“I, uh, think so, I’m sorry,” Roman muttered sheepishly.

“Are you able to tell me what happened?” Thomas asked, looking concerned. “Why you… started doing that?”

“Th-the cops,” Roman’s breath hitched as he tried to explain and his throat threatened to close on him again.

“No, they’re not here, you weren’t arrested, you’re not in trouble. You’re perfectly safe,” Thomas insisted. He looked like he meant it, but Roman just couldn’t believe it.

“The bad stuff can s-still happen a-after the cops leave,” Roman choked out. Like being punished for being caught.

“No ‘bad stuff’ is happening. You’re safe, I promise. They aren’t coming back and you aren’t being punished,” Thomas insisted again. What? No. No, he didn’t deserve this. He was supposed to be punished. Why wasn’t he being punished? The cops caught him!

“No, no, I fucked up spectacularly! I deserve it, I do! I don’t deserve all this niceness, Thomas! The cops were involved! I know I deserve-” Roman started rambling and rocking again.

“Roman, no. Stop. I don’t know what happened, but I don’t think you intended for any of this. Nobody deserves to be hurt over making a mistake,” Thomas said firmly, putting a hand on Roman’s shoulder while he shook.

“What if it wasn’t a mistake? What if I ran off and committed dangerous crimes intentionally?” Roman said angrily. Why wasn’t he being punished? He was supposed to be punished!

“Did you?” Thomas looked at him intensely.

“No! I just ran! Nothing else seemed to make sense at the time!” Roman shot. “You’re just so fucking nice and I don’t deserve any of this and I’ve fucked up so many times already and all this nice stuff freaked me out! It felt like the only thing I could do was run! I was scared! Why aren’t you punishing me?” Roman asked angrily and wrung the blanket in his hands.

“I mean, I’m not happy you went for a barefoot run in the middle of the night, but it sounds like you weren’t thinking straight. Why do you think you messed up?” Thomas said, not exactly chidingly, but maybe something adjacent to it. Which was still too nice for Roman.

“I did!” Roman shouted. “33 times! I keep talking back and being rude and upsetting you and Patton and breaking the rules and I made a scene and cost you money and I’m not doing enough around the house and I fought with Virgil and I literally ran away from you yesterday, Thomas! And that’s not counting being caught by the cops and the ER!” Roman could feel the hot tears running down his face.

“Roman. You’re not in trouble. None of those things are actually problems. Things got out of hand, but it’s not your fault. You haven’t done anything wrong in my eyes,” Thomas said seriously. “Would you have come back when you went for a late-night run?” He asked carefully.

“I-yeah, I was just so tired. I think I sprinted all the way to the school, I don’t know, it was kind of a blur. I was just taking a break under the bleachers. I passed out, I guess. It was already past dawn when the cop found me and kept trying to wrongfully arrest me,” Roman squeezed the blanket as he tried to explain what happened sheepishly. But Roman barely knew what happened. He just remembered freaking out, running, freaking out, and then everything after that was all fuzzy and garbled and senseless.

“Wrongfully arrest you?” Thomas asked incredulously, sounding concerned.

“He didn’t actually catch me breaking any laws and tried to get me to incriminate myself,” Roman mumbled. “I mean I did break curfew and trespass but he didn’t actually see me do any of it. I was always warned about cops like him. I tried to leave and walk home before you should have been up, but he wouldn’t let me go and when he told me to get into his car, I blacked out… I don’t remember much after that,” Roman explained sheepishly, feeling like a fucking idiot, wringing the blanket in his hands.

“See, you made a bad judgment call, and it spiraled out of hand. I’m here to protect you from things like that. If anything, I’m the one who messed up last night for not making you feel safe enough to come to one of us when you were struggling,” Thomas said, critically of himself. What? That’s the wrong person! Thomas didn’t do anything wrong! Roman fucked up!

“What? No! I freaked out because you’re so nice and this place is so nice and I just don’t deserve any of it! I’m a bad kid! I’m an awful kid who ran off at one in the morning because I’m so much of a terrible fuck up that I couldn’t take it anymore!” Roman shot bitterly, feeling his eyes burn from the tears that kept escaping despite himself.

“Why do you think you’re a bad kid? We’ve never told you that,” Thomas asked, looking terribly sad. No!

“You don’t have to, I already know I am! I’m shit in school, I’m always in the way, I’m annoying, I do stupid shit without realizing, I’m rude, I can’t sleep, I can’t keep track of time, I can’t do anything I’m supposed to do! You have to see it! You have to see I don’t deserve any of this and on Friday send me off to another shit home I actually deserve to be in!” Roman shouted, clenching his fists around the blanket.

“Like the Halls?” Thomas supplied, his eyebrows furrowed. Roman looked down in shame.

“Maybe? I don’t know!” Roman choked on a sob. His nails dug in through the blanket, he was grasping it so hard. He felt the tears roll down his face and drop on his blanket and clenched his eyes tightly shut, trying to stop it.

“Did somebody there pull a gun on you?” Thomas asked and Roman’s eyes shot up to his face in surprise. Thomas looked intensely at Roman and he froze.

“How-how did…” Roman trailed off. Fuck. Holy fucking shit. “In general, having firearms means you fail the foster care pre-checks,” Roman tried to dodge the question nervously and looked away enough that he wasn’t looking Thomas in the face but still able to keep an eye Thomas’s reactions.

“What job did you have while you were with the Halls so you could support yourself?” Thomas looked very concerned, and Roman recoiled back slightly. He… he didn’t know what to do. Did Thomas know? He thought no one would ever find out. Nobody was supposed to find out! It was supposed to be a secret Roman was taking to his grave. Roman took a shuddering breath and tried to focus.

“I… I ran errands for Jet, my older foster brother,” Roman offered. That was close enough, right?

“Errands that got a gun pulled on you?” Thomas asked, somewhere between disbelieving and distressed.

“I never meant to hurt anyone. I was just… running errands,” Roman looked down at his hands twisting on the blanket instead of seeing that expression anymore. He swallowed and there was a tense moment of silence between them.

“Fine, what did your foster brother do for work?” Thomas tried changing tactics. He didn’t look annoyed, but he did look kind of desperate and maybe a little sick. Roman could relate. Though he wouldn’t say ‘kind of’ or ‘a little’ about how he was feeling. Deeply and inconsolably desperate and close to throwing up was much more accurate.

“He was in sales,” Roman said firmly, shaking a little. That was the truth. He told the truth. It had to be enough.

“I’m sure that’s what he told you to say. But what did he actually do?” Thomas questioned him again.

“He sold things that make people happy,” Roman tried dodging the truth again with something else Jet said.

“Roman, I’m not taking you to the police. You’re not in trouble. It was in the past and it’s staying there. But I’m very worried about what kind of errands they were and I need to be able to take care of you. I can’t do that without knowing what’s going on. What did they make you do?” Thomas sounded really firm and clearly wasn’t going to drop it. Roman didn’t feel like fighting it anymore. He was sick of pretending it never happened or that it was okay.

“Drugs,” Roman whispered. “I… delivered drugs and made pickups for Jet. I was fast, and they didn’t think to look for kids, so…” Roman trailed off and carefully glanced up for Thomas’s reaction. Thomas’s eyes went wide, and he leaned back slightly, looking completely blindsided.

“Holy shit, Roman,” Thomas whispered back and Roman broke down crying again. Thomas came forward again and Roman took his shoulder this time. Thomas silently held him for a bit while he cried. It was so relieving to finally admit it, but at the same time, it hurt so bad. Now Thomas finally knew how much of a fuck up he was and he’d make the right choice. But he hated knowing that Thomas knew how bad Roman really was. The crying hurt his ribs, and he kept flinching from the pain, but he just didn’t know how to stop it.

“Listen, Roman, it wasn’t right that they made you work to pay for yourself, and it wasn’t right that they forced you to go through any of that. You’re not a bad kid for trying to survive in a terrible situation,” Thomas said softly, holding on to him gently. What? No!

“I am though, people got hurt because of me. You weren’t there, Thomas, you don’t know what I had to do!” Roman cried and clenched Thomas’s shirt tightly. “And there were all kinds of other stuff I did, too, it wasn’t just the drugs! All the talking back and broken rules and-” Roman tried to rattle off the list but Thomas interrupted him.

“Roman, I think you were unfairly punished for that stuff. And while I don’t know the whole situation, I don’t think it was really your choice if you did what you did to survive. If you really wanted to do it, you wouldn’t be so upset right now. You are not a bad kid. I’m so sorry you’ve had so many voices in your past telling you that you were,” Thomas interjected, and Roman couldn’t help but cry harder. Thomas reached up and rubbed his back. That couldn’t be right and he was so nice and Roman didn’t deserve any of this. He knew he was a bad kid. He thought this could finally be over if he just admitted it to Thomas and he could go be bad with other bad people again like he’s supposed to.

“I forgive you for anything that happened that you thought hurt our feelings, okay? We were just worried about you. We didn’t mean to make you feel like you did something wrong,” Thomas apologized and it sounded so sincere and…

“No, no, please,” Roman choked. “I don’t-” Roman tried to stop him.

“You deserve forgiveness. You deserve to be happy. You deserve food and shelter and clothes being provided for you. You’re a kid, Roman. I’m so sorry you had so many bad things happen in your past that hurt you so badly that you don’t think you should be allowed to be safe and happy,” Roman didn’t have any response to that. Just what felt like painful, unending tears.

personal taglist: @bunny222 @elizabutgayer @prinxietyforever @kanene-yaaay-o-retorno

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High school: @dragonwithproblems @starlight-era @averykedavra @potatsanderssides

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literally everything sanders sides: @katelynn-a-fan @dwbh888

#tsss #sanders sides #tsss fanfiction #sanders sides fanfiction #tsss fanfic #abuse mention #abuse referance #trigger warnings above #angst #power angst #roman angst #fanfiction #teen!roman #dad!thomas #dreaming while i wake #ayri writes

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antics-pedantic · 4 years ago

Text

RALLY CO. #4: THE GATE TO WITHIN, PART 1

Dieter was getting on in years. He scrambled to open another bottle of some vigor or tonic promised to grant greater vitality. He went through these quickly—it had been a guilty pleasure of his to indulge in formulas for prolonged youth. But nothing could compare to his true goal: To return to the secret place he had begun his work in. A place on Earth, yet unlike it.

But here he found himself in hiding, at the Harbortown ports. It was not so long ago that he had been in Arcadia, Harbortown’s neighboring concrete jungle of art deco. And Dieter had yet more distance to travel. He had to get overseas, away from here. And after that, an even more tremendous distance the likes of which the world had never known.

“Bumbling oaf!”

Dieter cursed all the while: Money could buy him the strong arm of thugs. But these local toughs were too clumsy for him. Unforgivably so: He was far more forgiving of his creations. Mankind squandered its potential, where his creations only had the capacity to keep learning. And without complaint!

“Be careful with my shipment! One wrong move and everything will be ruined!”

“Cut us some slack, Prof!” wheezed a goon, as they and their gang carefully brought the wide crate down in front of Dieter. “This thing weighs a ton. What’d you get, a new fridge?”

“Hardly. Once it’s assembled we’ll be home free.”

The thing in the crate was an archaic archway. The goons were more than a little annoyed at this bout of admiring archaeological findings: They had been expecting something more obviously capable of helping them out of their present situation. That is, until Dieter had started to use his instruments to toy with the stones. The tracing of his instruments over the stones revealed etched grooves. Symbols patterned into each face of the archway’s stones rather than alphabetic characters. Patterns that Dieter had studied for some time now.

“Dieter Leistung…”

Even in his anger, the voice that Dr. Dieter Leistung heard now gave him chills. He turned to look in every direction. But could not pinpoint the source of the sound. Nor could his hired goons, who were getting to be on high alert. A prankster would hardly pose a threat to such a watchful bunch.

But this was no prankster. It was however, one of those times where misdirection made bedfellows of folks and foolishness: For the sting of .45 caliber bullets knocked away any melee weapon or firearm that might have been brandished.

“Justice finds you, Doctor.” the voice from no discernable direction continued.

“Impossible! Though I abandoned my work, I left no trail!” thundered Leistung.

The voice offered laughter. Mocking laughter.

“Think of me as the guilty conscience you thought yourself above having. Ever-watching, ever-judging.”

A fist lashed out to send one of Dieter Leistung’s men a couple of steps back. It wasn’t an immediate knockout. But it had them startled, ready to lash out at the first sign of another person close-by. It served to scatter them, despite their boasts to the darkness. If the shadows did not heed them, would they fare any better with their vigilante tormentor?

“An extra thousand to the man who can gut The Junker!”

Leistung set about introducing some chemicals and copper wiring to set points on the gate and activating a portable generator. All the while behind him, several of his thugs were knocked around, fighting with their phantom foe. They scored a few punches but only blindly so, never with consistency.

“I’ve got him!” one goon exclaimed, gesturing to a white scarf he’d grabbed. “Someone grab the tommy gun while I’ve got him all choked up!”

Another goon dived for the weapon that they’d been disarmed of earlier, preparing to fire. They caught the briefest glimpse of a raven-haired figure in an aviator’s jacket, the white scarf, and goggles. Goggles whose lenses gave off a light green glow. Even for the darkly colored ensemble, this hardly seemed a figure that should have been able to escape their sight. And yet he did, along with all the other senses.

“AUGH!”

A swift motion from two gloved hands locked the arm that had held the scarf. What few features of the mystery man that were visible only offered a minute displeasure at having his breathing briefly constricted. This prompted the goon with the tommy gun to cut loose, showering the area ahead with gunfire. The bullets stopped abruptly following two clicks: One of the submachine gun’s ammo drum being suddenly removed, and the second being as the goon reflexively continued to shoot. At least, until he was hit in the mouth with his own ammo drum.

The Junker loomed over this body, drawing his dual pistols once again to threaten Leistung. But the mad doctor was already going through the archway, as a shimmering effect occurred in the space beneath and between the stone archway that caused his disappearance, before the generator shorted out and damaged the arch.

But, that wasn’t to say the Junker lacked for an idea as to where Leistung was going. Junker did after all, recognize the patterns of the archway…

Elsewhere, world-renowned occult detective Solomon Callahan awoke from his slumber. He had recalled that he’d traveled to the markets of Morocco after some such artifact or trinket of interest. Perhaps inquire about any local issues with the paranormal, or other exceptional forces that might have been troubling folks. And he did so with the company of his students, all of whom drew closer and closer to being professionals under his guiding influence.

Almost all of them, at least. Solomon didn’t wish to dwell on that, at this moment where there was little he could do about the past. Not when he was needed here and now as a guide. To put forth all his learned skill as a mystic to use against the forces of evil, as was the trade of investigators and explorers—the noble adventurer.

“Monsieur Callahan, are you well?”

Where Solomon’s hair turned snow white from stress, Katrina Kafka’s hair was more of a silver, accented by her favorite red hairband. Her eyes and complexion were like the paled terror of one who appeared haunted. But in spite of that, the former Parisian inhabitant had traveled overseas with her mentor to stay with him while she honed her psychic abilities.

“I can’t hide much from you, can I dear?” chuckled Solomon.

But Katrina shook her head. “This is not being the most ideal state, let alone just before important actions are to be taken. And I know it is made worse, by hearing of the Junker.”

Solomon frowned.

“That vindicator is all the way back in Arcadia, stateside. I can only hope he’s not stirring the proverbial hornet’s nest.”

“Yes, but—”

Katrina meant to ask Solomon more about his ties to the mystery man, before there came a familiar pair of dueling voices: Returning to their shared hostel were two lively sorts: A tall, umber-skinned woman whose pockets were lined with a couple of test tubes, and her shorter companion who might have passed for an escaped orangutan with his messy reddish-brown head of hair and full side-burns about his round cheeks.

“And I say to ye again, Ez!” bellowed cryptozoologist Tycho Gallagher. “That ye be missin’ out on some mighty fine Turkish coffee. That ladle-thing set in the hot sand. Makes for a stronger drink than most sell it as such elsewhere.”

“And I say to you, my hirsute accomplice.” spat emininent bio-chemist Esmerelda “Ez” Broughton. “You may enjoy your deplorable bean waters without bringing me into it! Just as I was set to find fine fabrics with which I might set upon making my own fashions. Katrina dear, I’m so sorry that Tycho prevented me from finding a proper souvenir!”

“Th-that is quite alright, Esmerelda!” chuckled Katrina, nervously. “Might we perhaps resume our original goal first?”

“Yeah well, I don’t see much stock in it.” said Tycho, as he stuck a tongue out at Ez. “Shooing a lion from a movie theater was all the action I got to see. Nary a true disturbance by cryptid or any other manner of monster. I shoulda stayed back in Arcadia and continued at the university!”

“Indeed, save us the trouble.” Ez playfully jabbed, as was her custom with Tycho. The two were always friends beneath the taunting. “I for one, have done splendidly on my analysis and restoration of artifacts. Say, has anyone seen Felix?”

Felix Basra was a very serious Pakistani woman, in training since adolescence to become a detective like her aunt Malika, or Solomon. Versed in the martial arts, preferring the use of a hooked rod known as the jutte, perfect for catching blades and striking foes bluntly. And maybe, Felix also had taken to leadership well. For it was her efforts that brought together and now kept alive the adventuring alliance known as the Rally Company. She was following in the tradition Solomon and his colleagues had begun, righting wrongs and using specialized knowledge and skills to tackle strange situations.

And that included this one, in which she had personally set about finding back alley leads on the crime cult of the Golden Shadow. A supposed necromancer, but for certain a gangster of mystery. Felix specifically wanted revenge against the assassin that injured her aunt, forcing her out of investigative work. Felix owed this to her after Malika cared for her like Felix was her own daughter.

She deftly avoided the thrust of several daggers, their steel clanging against that of her jutte. The battle was back and forth for a time until finally not one, but two of her would-be slayers erred and got their blades caught on the hook of the jutte. A strong twist later, they were disarmed of their knives. The remainder sought to throw their blades, Felix just barely catching their glint in the light as she drew her revolver and fired. When the gunsmoke cleared, every cheap hitman in the room had been subdued.

“The Golden Shadow. Who are his most favored assassins?!” demanded Felix, huffing all the while from her exertion, as well as her anxiety over finding answers.

“We don’t know! They come and go so swiftly through our neutral grounds.”

“And outside of it?”

“Fool! Rival assassins are at each other’s throats all the time. Any who might know would never live to tell the tale.”

“Then why did your lot work so intently on those?”

The assassin turned: Nearby was a large set of large, lidded vases. And Felix pointed to them, seemingly for no reason.

“Have you gone mad?”

“When I walked in it was the only container with holes drilled into the lid.”

Just then, the container in question tipped over and was smashed open to reveal a fellow wearing a poncho over surplus military gear.

“You oaf…” grunted the assassin. “I can’t believe we paid him so much to come here—AGH!"

Felix shoved aside the assassin to address the foreign mercenary.

“The mercenary, Duke Luke, I presume?”

The man threw his poncho at Felix in the hopes it would give him the chance to get up to his feet. He lunged, trying to go for a pistol hidden under a desk. Felix dived for cover behind a sofa, revolver in hand. Duke Luke was at a disadvantage: He was afraid. If Felix hadn’t gotten such a workout from fighting off those assassins just now, she might have captured the mercenary by now.

“Give it up. Even if these killers weren’t writhing in pain, I’ve smashed your illusion.”

“The hell you have! I’m a soldier of fortune. I’ve fought in conflicts around the world!”

“Mm. And always lived to tell about it. You’re a smart little chicken, aren’t you?”

Duke Luke roared. He emerged from his hiding spot to fire. There were only a couple reports from his weapon, bullets drilling through the furniture Felix was behind as she gave off an anguished cry. Duke Luke’s laughter was boisterous, as he approached to confirm his kill. So boisterous that he almost missed the sound of Felix’s foot kicking the gun from his hand.

“Damn you! I’m going to make it out of here! They swore it!”

“Swear all you want, Duke. You’re going to tell me all about your time as an employee of the Golden Shadow.”

Felix finally had a lead. This was it! While the rest of Rally Co. had managed to find the artifact being smuggled, she had pressed the possibility that the Golden Shadow’s gang was behind this caper. She did have to wonder why Solomon was not as forthcoming with that information as he should have been though.

And then a velociraptor broke through a padlocked door.

Duke Luke screamed, Felix’s own vocal chords freezing in fear. She turned her gun to fire, grazing the beast. Duke Luke saw something in the room it emerged from, and sprinted towards it while Felix rolled out of the path of the raptor, adrenaline pushing her to avoid its tooth-and-nail attacks, as she received a few fresh cuts and some spots on her jacket were torn. Finally, Felix forced a chair into the jaw of the beast, before running into the room after Duke Luke.

And there stood the carved stones in an arch, not unlike the one she’d seen the Golden Shadow attempt to use not so long ago. Within the center of the arch was a shimmering light that also seemed to move like the surface of troubled waters. She could make out greens—even purples and other shades of jungle foliage along with craggy rocks and dimly lit tunnels. There she saw Duke Luke sprinting with no regard for his own safety.

The wooden chair Felix had used to stave off the velociraptor was broken to splinters. The dinosaur charged ahead at her, aiming to whip her with its tail. Felix dived to the side as the tail lashed upon the stone arch, with sufficient force to damage it as it stumbled through the portal just before it closed.

Felix would have to find the nearest payphone or teletype: The others had to get here immediately to examine this before it was too late. The trail couldn’t end here, and perhaps it was leading to something bigger.

#Rally Co.#Rally Co. 4 #Web Fiction #Antics-Pedantic

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naruwitch · 5 years ago

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Code Geass: Paladins of Voltron Chapter 7: Some Assembly Required

All was quiet and peaceful in the Castle of Lions as the sun began to rise over the Arusian horizon slowly. No sign of the Galra anywhere and one of the few precious times to relax and process all that happened the day (days...? How exactly did time work in space?) before.

After dinner, the Paladins went to some halls aligned with several bedrooms on the side. It wasn't too far from two large bathrooms, which looked similar to the P.E. showers and locker rooms. One was for the girls and the other for the boys. The bedrooms mostly consisted of a single bed, a simple set of drawers, and a couple of other hidden compartments. From the sheer number of them, the Castle must have had a tremendous amount of servants and workers or hosted a large number of visitors reasonably often. They all decided to pick their rooms in the same hallway. Best to stick together after all. Lelouch's was the closest to the intersection leading off in other directions, with Rivalz, Shirley, Kallen, Rai, Milly, and finally Suzaku taking up the rooms past him in that order.

Shirley sighed as the warm water from the Altean shower streamed down her form. Despite the similarity of the locker rooms, the showers were just as fancy as the rest of the Castle. It took about fifteen minutes for her to make her way through the many buttons lining the shower wall. They varied from dumping flower petals to what smelled like some sort of lemon-lime juice that almost got in her eyes. That would have stung! Despite the confusion though, the Orange Paladin had to admit that the Princess had excellent taste in regards to hair products, taking her sweet time lathering her locks with the sweet vanilla smelling shampoo-

*BEEP*BEEP*BEEP*

-Which promptly ended as a resounding shriek echoed through the bathroom, which was joined as one of her own tore through her throat, nearly causing to slip and fall on her face! She only managed to catch herself by bracing her legs on the sides of the stall.

o~o

Rivalz jumped in shock as he tumbled out of bed and tangled himself in his blanket. He struggled to get up for the door, only for the same blanket culprit to trip him by the feet and face plant on the hallway floor.

o~o

"Everybody up! Zarkon's attacking."

Suzaku looked up from mid-push-up, Paladin armor already adjourned, leaping to his feet and racing out the door.

o~o

Milly hummed as she shifted deeper into her cushions, Mozart ringing in her headphones, and a black charcoal face mask soaking up her pores.

o~o

Lelouch tsked and put done the datapad he was looking over. He could tell this wasn't a real attack even without looking at it, but he also was in no mood to get on a 10,000-year-old princess's wrong side.

o~o

"The castle's about to be destroyed!"

Kallen yelped as she all but threw on her turtleneck, snatched up her Bayard, and scrambled out into the hall.

o~o

"Go, go, go! We need Voltron now!"

Rai jumped, and almost hit his head against the cryo-pod he was dozing against, the laptop sliding off his legs. The Green Paladin hadn't even bothered to go to his room, wanting to question the prisoners they'd picked up the second he could.

But considering the urgency in Allura's voice, it would probably be a bad idea to stall any longer. Pushing himself up, he rushed out the door, Rover trailing behind him.

o~o

"Hurry! We can't survive much longer!"

"You've got to sell it a little bit more," Coran said, taking the device out of Allura's hands.

Clearing his throat, Coran wailed, "Oh no! Allura is dead! Oh, it's horrible! Her head fell off!" he collapsed to his knees, still very much in remorseful character, "A-! Wait! He-Her severed head is trying to speak to me! What is it Allura's head? What are your final words!?" Tears gathered in the advisor's eyes.

"Coran…"

"Oh yes, Princess, I'm listening!"

"It's over." she deadpanned.

Not even realizing what she meant, Coran continued and nearly dramatically collapsed onto the floor again, "Oh yes, I know! Augh! If only Voltron had been fooooorrmmmed."

Coran finally looked up, to see the very annoyed faces of the Paladins waiting for him to finish his soap opera. "Oh! TIME!" he shot up, accidentally tossing the com behind him in the process.

"Can I assume from the theatrics, that this isn't an actual attack?" Lelouch remarked, arms crossed, lips pulled back in an annoyed frown. The other present Paladins looked just as irked. Besides Suzaku, Lelouch was the only one in full uniform and guessing from the state of Kallen's shirt; she had just been getting dressed when the alarms went off. But she had been wise enough to bring her Bayard in her rush.

On the other hand, Rai and Rivalz still looked half-asleep, the former in his casual dark blue shirt, grey jacket, and black jeans, the later only in his pajamas. Shirley was shivering and blushing cherry red in embarrassment. The only garment of clothing she wore was her orange bathrobe with a towel wrapping up her soaking wet, shampoo-filled hair.

Allura didn't seem to notice the annoyance as she stared sternly at them. "And it's a good thing it wasn't because it took you- Coran?"

"Seventy-five degrees," he answered. Allura blinked. That wasn't a time slice. Coran seemed to notice too, as he registered the device he was holding in his hand, "Oh! Sorry! No, this is a meat thermometer."

Allura sighed in annoyance, "However long it was; it was too long! You must always be ready to battle against Zarkon. Look at you! Only Lelouch and Suzaku are in uniform, and at least Kallen brought her Bayard! Rai, Rivalz, Shirley, where are your Bayards? And where's Milly?"

As if on cue, the Yellow Paladin came strolling through the door, sporting cute lion-headed slippers, pajamas, and bathrobe, holding a cup of tea in her hand. Her hair was already styled in her signature curls, and her face smooth and pimple free. "Good 'meow'ning everybody!" she greeted with a small yawn, "What's going on?"

"Coran and I have been up for hours getting the Castle back in order," Allura explained tartly, "We had to run a test on the alarms, and we decided to test you as well." The princess glared daggers at Milly while folding her arms behind her back, "Guess which one failed?"

"Well, you could've given at least a day to process all that's happened!" Shirley blurted out, still flabbergasted from having her shower interrupted.

"Yeah, what Shirley said!" Rivalz agreed, "You-" he yawned, "you got to sleep for ten thousand years! Monday, we were ordinary school kids on Earth, and since then, a magic lion has flown us through space, we've fought some evil alien named Zarkon, and eaten goo in some weird sci-fi castle. that's a lot to process in, um, I don't know what day is it today?"

"It the third quintant of the spicolian movement. Hump day!" Coran cheerfully replied.

'Wednesday,' everyone thought in astonishment. They'd been missing from Earth for two days already!?

"What Rivalz means to say is that this is simply a lot of process for only a couple of days," Lelouch stated in slight annoyance. Though the prince himself had many experiences with only days to process, this was a bit much as well.

Allura sighed again, not in annoyance this time, but more out of concern and fatigue.

"You must understand the stakes of our mission," a holopad appear by her head and pushed a few buttons on the screen. "Over the last ten thousand years, the Castle has picked up distress beacons from the following locations," the screen disappeared to reveal the star map from their first day. Instead of blue planets, stars, and comets, however, ominous red glows covered almost all of them with a few still blue ones in the outer edges of the holograms. "So we have to assume that Zarkon has conquered almost the entire known universe," she swiped her hand to the right towards the more blue area. She stopped on a small bright solar system only about a foot or two from the red border. "Earth is here, an attack on your planet is inevitable."

"Oh, no!" Shirley gasped in horror, similar expressions plastered on the other paladins' faces.

"Exactly," the princess nodded as the holomap pixelated out, "our mission is to free all those planets. Coran and I are getting the Castle ready to leave Arus. During that time, you have to learn to form Voltron, so that we can begin fighting Zarkon."

"The princess is right," Suzaku said, turning to Lelouch, who nodded, "let's get to the Lions and start training."

"Wait!" Rai protested, "But I want to talk to the prisoners we rescued from the Galra ship."

"Ah, negative Number One-I have you all ranked by height, okay?" he missed the slight wince Kallen and Lelouch gave at the proclamation. "The prisoners need to remain the cryo-replenishers until tomorrow."

"That's right. Now, get to your lions." Allura ordered.

"Uh, hold on!" Rivalz piped up, "What exactly are we going to be doing in them? We're not gonna be shooting at each other, are we?"

"Yeah," Shirley said, trying to tighten her robe to preserve her modesty, "Unlike most of you, we've never even stepped foot in a Knightmare, so how's this supposed to work?"

"GUTS!" Milly suddenly shouted, making Coran and even Allura jump.

"The 'Guts' spell again, Prez?" Kallen asked in annoyance.

"Yep! We may not be in Student Council anymore, but Allura does mean well, we'll never figure out how to work the Lions if we don't practice!"

"Spell?" Coran asked inquisitively, "I did not know that humans were capable so such feats."

"It's just something Prez has done to try to motivate us; it's not real magic per se," Suzaku tried to explain.

"Actually!" Rai grinned, "It's got me going already, Milly!"

"Subtle and willing, that's what I like to see!"

"Very well, now that you're all motivated, get moving!" Allura ordered, pleased to see that some of them were willing to take charge.

"That's not exactly what I was going for Princess," Milly suddenly smirked. The hair on the back of Shirley and Kallen's neck stood on end.

'Why do I have a bad feeling about this?' the Red Paladin asked.

"You're a ten," Allura blinked in confusion. What on Alaaran did that have to do with anything? Then she followed where Milly's eyes were looking. "At least at first glance. For someone who's over ten thousand years old, you're filling out in all the right places, aren't you, Princess?"

Shirley and Kallen turned beet red while Rai and Rivalz struggled to hold back laughter. Lelouch could only pinch the bridge of his nose while Suzaku shared an equally mortified look with Allura.

"Why you-!"

"I am being left out of something?"

Allura's confounded response was interrupted when C.C. trudged into the room — adorned in her straight jacket that she had been wearing the previous day. Lelouch made a mental note to ask Allura for some extra clothes for her. The mysterious woman had been quiet the last day, not even going through the trouble to bother Lelouch before bed. Come to think of it, Lelouch wasn't even sure where C.C. had decided to sleep.

'I guess even immortal witches need time to process chains of events.' Lelouch concluded.

"Besides questioning prisoners," Suzaku said, turning his attention back to Lelouch again, "you still need to explain to us who she is and what she's doing here."

"You do realize I'm still in the room, right?" C.C. asked, now leaning against the wall.

"Yes, I know Suzaku," Lelouch exhaled, "but that'll have to wait. All of you, to your lions now... After, of course, you've changed Shirley," giving a sympathetic look at the Orange Paladin, who only blushed harder in embarrassment.

"No need for that!" Coran said, "once you step through the elevators leading to your lion's hangers, if not dressed in it already, you'll be dressed in your uniform automatically!"

"Okay, uh, handy!" Shirley squeaked. The thought of being dressed automatically like that made her skin crawl for some reason, but a magic alien castle. Who knew?

"Enough," Lelouch said in finality, "to the Lions, now!"

The Paladins each marched into the elevators positioned conveniently next to their color-coded seats. Except for Lelouch. His lift was in the center of the bridge. Lowering the Paladins (all now fully clothed just as Coran said, much to Shirley's relief) down, it took about 10 seconds until an opening appeared, revealing a zip line. They zoomed through a brightly colored tunnel for each respected lion and paladin. The zip line by far was a new experience for all the Earthlings. They'd heard of a couple of famous and fantastic zip lines back on Earth. Some that came to mind were in the continent that used to be known as South America before Britannia took it over and split it into different areas to govern. Ones that zipped through leafy treetops and colorful birds and other wild beasts roamed freely. Some of them lasted for several long minutes with only the wind in your hair, and the green scenery flitting past.

Once the zip line ended, they dropped down through a hatch and into what appeared to be a single-personed motorbike, which drove them up to another elevator specifically large enough for it. The Paladins were lifted up until the bikes themselves disappeared into the chests and lower compartments of each lion. It soon wasn't long until the Lions let out a mighty roar and darted out into the courtyard of the castle.

"Alright Paladins," Lelouch's commanding voice echoed in the comms, "we'll fly in tight formation until we're completely in sync."

Allura's smiling face appeared on the screen within each Lion. "Feel the bond with your lions and your fellow pilots until seven become one unit, and you form Voltron!"

"YEAH!" everyone shouted as their lions leaped into the sky, the same formation as they when they first formed Voltron.

Nothing.

"Yeah!" they shouted again as they swooped back around, trying to connect with the Lions… somehow.

Nothing.

Thirty minutes later.

"...Yay…," less than enthusiastic replies followed. The Lions slowed until they came at last to a distal stop.

"Woooo…. Am I the only one who's still pretending to be excited?" Rivalz asked. None answered as mirrored expressions of frustrations and scowls of annoyance presented themselves on each of the Paladins.

"This isn't working," Lelouch admitted, "Let's set down for a little bit."

"Maybe we should be building Voltron from the ground up." Suzaku suddenly suggested.

"What do you mean?" asked Rai, not quite following Suzaku's train of thought. Wasn't that what they were trying to do?

"I mean, let's try literally building Voltron, like, stacking on top of each other."

"What? Like one of those cliche cheerleader pyramids?" Kallen scoffed. That was a ridiculous idea! What even made the Purple Paladin come up with that?

"Well, if you've got a better idea, Kallen, I'm all ears," Suzaku shot back.

Lelouch sighed. He thought the idea was ridiculous too, but he honestly couldn't think of another thing that they could try. They'd been flying around the Arusian plain for almost an hour, or varga as the Alteans called it. The answer couldn't possibly be that simple.

"Fine! We can give it a try," he consented.

The Paladins quickly moved into a position to try and 'build' Voltron. And it seemed to work. Except...

"Rivalz, what are you doing?" Lelouch asked incredulously.

"What do you mean?" the Blue Paladin replied.

"Rivalz Cardemonde, you're supposed to be the lower leg! Down here!" Milly scolded from almost the bottom of the pile. Currently, Suzaku and Shirley were standing side by side. Then Kallen and Milly were on top of them, Rai and the Green Lion perched on top of the Yellow Lion, and the Black Lion semi on top of the Red and Green Lions. And Rivalz... had the Blue Lion parked on top of the Black Lion's wings.

"What?" Rivalz asked, surprised and confused, "No. No, no, no. I'm pretty sure when we did it last time I was the head. Right?"

"You yelled, 'I'm a leg!'" Shirley reminded him.

"Yeah, last I checked we all were yelling a lot of things!"

"Lelouch is the head," Kallen stated a little aggressively. 'Stinkin' Britannians!'

"All the time?" Rivalz almost whined.

Lelouch let out another sigh, "Let's just try it my way for now!"

Rivalz pouted in defeat, "Okay, but next time I call head!"

The Lions quickly shifted into the correct positions as Lelouch slowly lowered the Black Lion down. Rivalz and Shirley were at the bottom, with Milly and Suzaku on top of them, Kallen and Rai over them, and Black on top.

"Okay. Arms and legs, and I'll form the head." Lelouch instructed himself. He set the Black Lion gently on top of the pyramid. Lelouch blew out, "All right, feel the bonds with your lions. Now, channel your energy into forming Voltron. Focus. Focus."

Two minutes later.

"Is everyone bonding and focusing?" Lelouch asked as the Lions had not moved once from their spot in the plane.

Kallen growled in frustration, "Why did this seem so much easier before?!"

"For some reason, I figured this would be more like piloting the Knightmares," Suzaku commented, "but… guess not."

Lelouch breathed out a sigh, "Let's take a break," He needed some time to think about this. Kallen did have a point; it was a lot easier to form Voltron yesterday. Could it have been part of the adrenaline rush and the imminent danger?

His train of thought was cut short though when Allura's face appeared on their dashes again. "Sorry to interrupt, but I may be able to help. Yesterday, you weren't able to form Voltron until you were in the heat of battle."

Lelouch blinked as that was what he had been thinking. The other Paladins all replied in agreement with the concept. The attack had indeed forced them to have to work together and to believe as one being. Practically an extreme example of the fight or flight method. But… something in his gut suddenly plummeted as well. It was a similar feeling he got when Milly was about to spring some completely outlandish scheme onto them.

"Perfect," the Princess smiled as she pushed a few more keys and buttons on the castle's screen, "Because I need to run a diagnostic test on all the Castle's defenses. This should help!"

Lelouch's suspicions were confirmed as the shield sprang to life on the Castle, and then started shooting blue lasers at them!

"RUN!" Lelouch shouted just as the first lasers hit the field. Clouds of fire and smoke enveloped them as the Lions took off in all directions, frantically dodging the blasts.

"Princess! What are you doing?!" Suzaku shouted.

"Running a diagnostic test on the Castle's defenses," Allura casually answered as if endangering the only hope to the universe was normal for her, "and inspiring you! I believe in you Paladins! Let fear be your guide! Form Voltron!"

"Nevermind! I'll take Milly's schemes any time!" Shirley screamed.

"Forget this!" Rivalz exclaimed, "I'm heading back to the Castle!"

"Rivalz, wait!" Kallen called as the Blue Lion bounded up the hill to escape. Upon leaping to the barrier, Rivalz was met with surprise as his lion bounced off it and tumbled back down.

"Princess!" Milly screamed, "Shouldn't you be using a more practical method of inspiration?"

"You think Zarkon's going to be 'practical' with you?" Allura chastised the Yellow Paladin harshly, "He's probably on his way here right now to destroy us all!"

With that final word, the Princess pressed a button on the screen. All seven of the colored dots gained four dark blue arrows pointing at them.

"Auto-lock-on engaged," Allura then left the bridge as the screaming Paladins struggled to survive the new onslaught of 'friendly fire.'

o~o

"You've returned early," a booming voice observed from the main throne room, "Did you complete your mission?"

A trembling Galran soldier knelt before the throne. "Sir, the moon's crust became unstable." he explained with a bowed head, "Staying any longer would have cost half my crew."

Zarkon's scowl didn't leave his face, and only seemed to grow darker, "Hmm, perhaps, but the half that survived would have been stronger."

The commander looked up slightly in shock, "Weakness is an infection, better to cut it off, then let it spread."

The commander blinked. What was the emperor referring to? Two metal arms suddenly seized him and started dragging him from the room, terror filling his eyes.

Not even blinking as the commander was dragged off, Zarkon turned his attention to the woman next to him. "What have you and your druids come up with to capture Voltron?"

"I have been working on perfecting something. Something that will strike fear into the hearts of any that stand against it. Voltron may have surprised Sendak, but he will not be able to overcome my creation."

o~o

"Are we at full power on condenser number five yet?" Allura questioned Coran as the two of them entered the small lounge, both carrying small devices to monitor the Castle maintenance.

"No," Coran sighed, "still just at eighty-four percent."

Allura looked up and was pleasantly surprised to see that most of the Paladins were laid out upon the benches. If they were inside that had to mean-!

"You did it! You formed Voltron!"

"No," Kallen sighed, "The shooting stopped, and the particle barrier shut down, so we just flew in."

The smile on Allura's face vanished, a scowl now in its place, "What?!"

Coran smiled awkwardly, "Oh right, uh, sorry, Princess, I had to turn off the Castle defenses to test the fire suppressors."

"Considering we were fighting for our lives outside," Lelouch commented, walking in with Suzaku, "we issued a small mental break to recover."

"We know you want us to be training Princess," Suzaku added, "but we're not Alteans. We don't understand the Lions as you appear to."

"Yeah, and when are we going back to Earth?" Rivalz asked, almost desperately.

"I'm not going back until I find my family!" Rai declared cold blue eyes narrowed.

"Did it occur to you that there won't be an Earth to return to until Zarkon is defeated?!" Allura demanded.

"We do understand that!" Shirley protested, looking close to tears with frustration and pressure, "But how do you expect us to do this if we can't even form Voltron?!"

"Well, I'm not surprised," Coran said, a thoughtful expression on his face, "You know, the original Paladins fought hundreds of battles together, side-by-side. They were like a pack of yalmors linked at the ears," he pretended to pull at his mustache to demonstrate.

"Normally, that would be us…" Milly admitted as she flopped down on her back, "But considering the events as of late, all of us are off our game lately."

"During the last attack, your survival instincts forced you to work as a team," the advisor continued, "but that will only get you so far. You'll have to become a real team to have any chance of forming Voltron and then beating Zarkon next time. You should try working out on the training deck."

This peaked Suzaku's attention, "There's a training deck?"

o~o

Haggar moved gracefully and with purpose down the hall. She was confident that with the inexperience of the new paladins that her creation would crush them into nothingness. But for this project to come to fruition, she needed some… assistance.

A dark cell door at the end of the hall hissed open as four of her faithful Druids stood guard. Her glowing yellow eyes gazed at the large, boisterous creature in the cell.

"I think I have the opportunity you've been waiting for. How would you like to get your revenge against the Champion?"

Yellow eyes almost identical to her own narrowed in delight before stepping forward. An array of razor teeth shone behind a sinister smile.

o~o

"Two, two, one, two," Coran mumbled after clearing his throat. He was standing in what appeared to be an observation tower, shielded with a thick panel of glass. A Bluetooth-like device with a microphone was attached to his left ear. "Okay, listen up, everyone! The Paladin Code demands that you put your team members' safety above your own."

Coran's voice echoed through the training deck. The seven Paladins were facing outward, away from the others. The training deck's color was similar to the rest of the Castle, consisting of bright blue lights with white and black metal paneling.

"A swarm of drones is about to attack," Coran informed them as a hiss issued from above them. Looking toward it, they saw that a bunch of circular white robots was gliding towards them. It reminded Rivalz vaguely of the drone that Luke Skywalker trained his lightsaber with, in the fourth Star Wars movie. They began to circle them, surrounded.

Kallen, Suzaku, Rai, Milly, and Lelouch all shifted into defensive stances, their blue shields springing to life. Shirley and Rivalz were a little slower but soon followed.

"Get ready," Lelouch ordered, right before the first drone fired right at Shirley's head.

With a gasp of panic, she ducked, covering her head. The blast flew over her, but ended up hitting Rivalz square in the back!

Before the Blue Paladin could even discern what had happened, the floor opened up underneath him, before he fell into it with a shout of alarm.

"Protect your teammate!" Coran ordered again, "Or no one will be there to protect you!" As he said this, another shot hit Shirley in the shoulder, and with a shriek, she fell through the floor as well.

Gritting their teeth, the five remaining Paladins found themselves back to back, shields practically in front of their faces. So far, it seemed to be working though, no blasts hit anyone, the shields efficiently absorbing them.

"Time to increase intensity," Coran commanded as the drones began to spin so fast it became a blur. More shots were firing at rapid speed as everyone struggled to block them.

"You keeping up over there, everyone?" Rai asked with a slightly cocky smirk.

"Just focus on keeping us safe!" Kallen barked back.

"Quit talking and focus," Milly yelled, gritting her teeth, pulling the shield closer still.

The drones then lowered and began shooting at their legs. Most of the Paladins were able to kneel in time, but one shot a very low blast which would've hit Rai's leg, had the Green Paladin not lifted his leg to dodge in his quick moment of panic… which ended up hitting Milly in the back, where she disappeared with a shriek through the floor. Still caught in his shocked stupor, Rai didn't have time to block as another shot hit him in the stomach.

"Rai!" Suzaku yelled, looking behind as the boy fell through. This moment of weakness cost him as another drone shot him right in the forehead, where he crashed into Kallen! After the Red Paladin fell square eagle on her stomach, they both fell through the floor.

Lelouch's eyes widened as he saw that he was now alone. It didn't last long as a shot hit his hand that was holding the shield with enough force to skid backward. And just like with the others, the former prince was joined with the floor.

Coran groaned as he rubbed his forehead. Some of these humans claimed that they were military, but that was anything but military from what he could see. Whatever 'military' experience they claimed to have must be something much different from Altea-

"You know-"

"Yaaaeerrrggg!" Coran shot two feet in the air against the window as a shriek escaped his lips, clutching his chest and gasping for air as C.C. ('How does she sneak around so QUIETLY?!') made her presence known on the control deck. The green-haired human(?) had a playful smirk on her face and looked like she was trying very hard not to laugh.

"Madam!" he seethed as he mustache bristled in fury and embarrassment, "Quit doing that!"

"Doing what?" C.C. asked innocently, cocking her head slightly like a curious toddler.

The Altean huffed as the Paladins were all slowly brought back up to the surface.

"As I was saying," C.C. continued, walking up to stand next to him, "if this were real combat, a couple of them would still be standing. Foot, hand, and shoulder shots aren't necessarily fatal unless hit in a specific location, like an artery or vein. The head, back, and stomach I'd understand. But if this were real life, I believe at least Shirley and Lelouch would still be fighting. Also, considering Suzaku's 'corpse,'" she made quotation signs with her hands to prove her point, "fell on top of Kallen, resulting in her falling with him, we'd still have three Paladins standing. Injured, but standing."

Coran stroked his mustache as he saw the logic of C.C.'s reasoning. Hitting a few buttons on the deck, he began instructing them again.

"Alright, Paladins! Let's try again! This time the floor is programmed to open if the blast hits a vital area. If your arm or leg is hit, you can still technically defend yourself and your team. For example…"

One of the drones blasted an unaware Rai in the shin. The Green Paladin yelped as the shocking pain swelled up his leg. He was able to hop on the other for a couple of seconds before tipping backward, bracing himself for the floor to open up and swallow him… but nothing happened.

"Huh?" a confused gasp before registering he was still on the surface, "Nothing happ-" he attempted to rise up but lost balance again when his leg refused to budge. "What the?! My leg!"

"Afraid you lost your limb Number One!" Coran informed, as Suzaku ran over and slung his arm over his shoulder, "you'd have to make do without it if this was a real fight."

Rai grumbled as the numbness soon dissipated, shaking his now working leg of the pins and needles.

"Alright, everyone, shields at the ready!"

o~o

Now for the record, the last sequence went a little better than the first one. Almost immediately, the team clustered together, shields up, and determined to protect their section of the circle. But as shots continued to fly and small mistakes were made, the formation crumble. This time it was Lelouch that fell first, suffering a blow to the head, jerking forward and tumbling headfirst through the floor. After that, though, it wasn't long before the others joined him.

From what Coran could tell, the team seemed to be relying heavily on the Black Paladin as their foundation. While he admired the trust they appeared to have for Lelouch, in other circumstances, this might not be the best case. They would have to learn to rely on not just their leader, but each other as well. There would be situations where Lelouch would be either out of commission due to injury or otherwise.

Hence the reasoning for the next exercise.

Kallen was standing in the middle of the training deck, surrounded by a vast transparent maze, which soon flickered out of existence. Or so she believed.

"To form Voltron, you must trust in each other. This ancient Paladin maze will teach you that trust. Your teammate can see the walls, but you can not. So, listen carefully, if you touch the walls, you'll get a slight shock."

Kallen took a deep breath as she placed her helmet on her head. For some reason, she wasn't looking forward to this exercise. Maybe it was all the practice she'd had of feigning her identity, but she didn't trust most people at all.

"Okay," she sighed, "who is guiding me through?"

"Take two steps forward," Suzaku's voice rang over the comm.

She growled a little, why was she always partnered with Suzaku?!

Coran seemed to have noticed the hostile expression and spoke up, "Now, just sit tight. You'll get your turn."

"As I said, Kallen, take two steps forward, turn right, and take three steps in that direction," Suzaku repeated.

With a huff of annoyance, Kallen took a step forward-

"GAH!" she cried as the wall she hit electrocuted her, "What the quiznack Kururugi?!"

"Kallen, you're not listening to me!" Suzaku said in an exasperated tone.

"You said 'turn right'!" she shot back,

"But before that," Suzaku corrected in a tone he hoped sounded calm, "I said 'Take two steps forward.'"

The Red Paladin growled in frustration, why did this seem more natural when Zero was giving orders back home? "Two steps-" she screamed again as she hit the wall again.

"WE'RE SWITCHING PLACES! NOW!"

o~o

Despite the small hiccup with Kallen and Suzaku, most of the other Paladins made it through the maze with little trouble, much to Coran's relief.

Now the Paladins were back in their lions and soaring through the atmosphere of Arus in tight formation. The Black Lion in the front, the Red, Yellow, and Blue Lions to the right of it, and the Green, Purple, and Orange Lions to the left.

"You'll never be able to form Voltron unless each of you has a strong bond with your Lion," Coran instructed from down in the castle.

Rivalz grins proudly, "No problem! Me and Blue and are best buds for life, for real!"

"Perfect!" Coran said, "Then you should have no issues with this exercise. Everyone, put your Lions into a nosedive!"

With almost excited growls, the seven Lions dove towards the ground at the speed of a bullet.

"This is an expert-level drill that you really shouldn't attempt until you've been flying for years, but uh, we're in a bit of a rush, so here we go. Activating training helmets," Coran says as another screen pops up with a button that he promptly pushes.

Simultaneously, the Paladins' helmets all went dark. They couldn't even see their hands in front of their faces. Yelps and gasps from all the Paladins resulted.

"Coran, what's happening?!" Shirley screamed.

"I can't see!" Rai yelled.

"You must learn to see through your Lion's eyes. The goal is to pull up right before you crash into the ground. Feel what the Lion feels!" Despite the instruction, most of the Paladins had the same thought rolling through their heads: 'ARE. YOU. CRAZY?!'

Shirley was the first to pull out. Heart pounding so hard she could barely breathe, tears starting to form in her eyes. "Mine feels scared!" she whimpered as she pulled back on the handlebars and slammed on the pedals. The Orange Lion pulled out of formation.

The Blue and Yellow Lions were neck and neck as they continued to charge for the ground.

"You still going, Milly?" Rivalz asked a confidant, but a slightly flirty smirk on his face.

"You know it!" she replied, eyes focused, trying to connect to the Lion, "You?"

"Going? I'm speeding up!" Rivalz challenged as he hurled the handle forward.

Milly raised her eyebrows in amusement, mimicking him, "Oh yeah?"

The two lions rapidly picked up speed as the ground began to get dangerously closer. Due to the Blue Lion being slightly slimmer than the Yellow Lion, Rivalz held the lead by nearly an inch.

"Must be getting close," Rivalz remarked friskily.

"Must be!" Milly replied, smirking almost evilly, "What's wrong? Scared?"

Rivalz mouth dropped, "I'm not scared-!"

The Blue Paladin didn't have more time to protest further as he was almost knocked out of his seat as both he Milly crashed into the dune below, burying them waist-deep, head first!

They both groaned from the impact as the Blue Lion ungracefully tumbled out back down the hill.

"I… win…" Rivalz muttered, his head still spinning. Maybe that wasn't the best idea, after all.

"What was that noise?" Rai asked, alarmed, "Did they crash?!"

Pulse fluctuating, Rai pulled back on the controls, promptly ending the nosedive. The good news was that he didn't entirely crash but unfortunately didn't pull up quite fast enough, and nicked the side of the rocky canyon, taking a good chunk out of it.

Lelouch, Kallen, and Suzaku were the only ones left still participating in the exercise. The three pilots were perfectly calm, eyes closed, and focused. Recalling the sensation they felt when they connected with their lions the other day, they concentrated on reviving the same feeling.

Their eyes then opened, Lelouch's Geass flashing in his left retina. There it was, the simultaneous chill and warmth coursing through them as they felt their consciousness dip into a terrain they never knew existed. The loud purrs of their Lions pulsed through their veins, as they felt their presence overshadow them like a blanket or cape, their souls uniting and lining up with their own.

In a flash of gold, the world appeared before their eyes, racing past them as they continued to dive towards the surface. None of them seemed too concerned about it, though. Flawlessly, as if they had been flying for years, they activated their thrusters, just seconds before they collided with the soil. The thrusters propelled them forward across the plain, dodging over rocks and arches, and riding over dips and hills. They were flying them while their eyes were still closed!

"I think I'm getting this," Lelouch said.

"This is… amazing!" Kallen muttered.

"That wasn't too difficult," Suzaku smirked.

"Lelouch, Kallen, Suzaku, excellent!" Coran praised as they glided back towards the sky.

o~o

After everyone returned to the Castle and recovered from the flight exercise, the Paladins found themselves in the training room once again. This time, the Paladins were sitting in a circle, legs crossed, hands in their lap, and eyes closed. On their heads was a piece of fancy headgear, with blue lights probing their temples and in the middle of their foreheads.

"Now, the most important part of Paladin training is being able to meld your minds and focus on one thing: Voltron." Coran calmly instructed in a soothing tone, sounding almost like a yoga instructor.

As the Paladins focused, small screens appeared in front of each of their faces, portraying different things.

Rivalz's showed an image of downtown Area 11 near where he worked.

"Everything else has to fade away."

Milly's showed Ashford Academy's Clubhouse.

"This technique will be essential every time you form Voltron."

Shirley's was the Academy pool.

"So, relax and open your mind."

Suzaku's was an image of a pretty girl with light purple eyes and long pink hair that past her waist, partially in two buns and circles. She was wearing a white and green blouse with an orange skirt and red flats.

"No walls."

Rai had a picture of his favorite park in Area 11.

"No secrets between Paladins."

Kallen's had a picture of her in a yellow tank top and brown shorts, holding some sodas in her hands. She was smiling next to a boy with short auburn hair wearing a red headband, a black shirt, red jacket, and grey jeans. Next to him was another man with curly greyish-brown hair, wearing a light pink shirt and khaki pants, with a light blue towel draped over his shoulders. The picture, though, was hard to make out as it kept glitching.

"Come on, everyone, clear everything."

Finally, Lelouch's showed a young, beautiful girl with long, wavy, light brown hair, eyes closed, wearing a simple green and white dress. She had a lovely, innocent smile on her face and was sitting in a comfortable looking, power-operated wheelchair. A small, barely noticeable tear trailed down the ex-prince's face.

"Now, focus on forming your lion."

The images glitched out until they formed small three-dimensional pictures of the robots in front of them.

"Bring your lions together and- and form Voltron." All the Lions slowly started making their way towards the center of the circle.

"Keep your minds open; work together."

They were almost there, pieces beginning to mold together…

"Good! Keep focusing!"

Well… all except for one.

"Kallen!" Suzaku barked, peeved, "stopping thinking about your boyfriend!"

"I wasn't!" Kallen growled eyebrows arched down in anger, all the images flashing out of existence, "Shirley was rooting around in my head!"

'And for the record,' she added mentally, secretly deeply offended, 'that was not my boyfriend!'

"I-I thought we were open," Shirley hesitantly argued, "you can look in my head hole."

"Everyone has to able to look in everyone's head holes!" Coran reminded sternly from the observation deck above, "Clear your minds!"

Sighing in resignation, Kallen closed her eyes, and this time, the Red Lion's image materialized before her along with the other Lions with the other Paladins.

"Good! Almost there." Coran said as the Lions all began joining together. "Now, form Voltron," Leg joints were attached, a body made up, and arms were slowly locking into place. "Yes!"

Just as the Green Lion was locked into place, though, the Black Lion's images glitched violently.

Lelouch's head jerked up with a violent gasp as if he'd been shocked, eyes snapping open, his left eye glowing red as his Geass flickered. Rai cried out as well as he buckled, his eyes scrunching shut in pain. The other Paladins soon followed as a sharp pain seemed to pierce through their skulls. Their headsets glowing a brighter blue, Voltron falling to pieces as the Lelouch's image overtook it.

When the screen finally cleared an image of a stairway, as if looking down it from the top. Blood was splattered everywhere as three, no, four figures lay in pools of it. Two of them were men dressed in expensive-looking suits. At the same time, the other two, at the very bottom of the steps, was of a woman in an orange dress and long flowing dark hair, covered in bullet holes and blood. Her eyes, presumably a soft, gentle purple, were now faded and dull. In her arms was the trembling form of a little girl, eyes staring forward, traumatized and frightened, hands twitching uncontrollably. Stained glass and the remains of a chandelier were littered all around the sides.

There was screaming, and the Paladins couldn't tell if it was coming from them or this memory. They didn't have time to draw conclusions, though, as they all were suddenly flung backward, the image shattered.

Lelouch blinked, the pain in his head gone. It registered that someone was speaking next to him. Coran's mustached face slowly swam into focus.

"-ladins! Lelouch, are you alright?"

"Coran?" Lelouch breathed, shaking his head to clear it, "What happened?"

"Ah… I wish I could tell you myself. An unexpected glitch with the mind-meld device it seems," the advisor said, doing his best to answer. In all honesty, in his many years of watching King Alfor and the other Paladins train and bond, he never saw anything like this. Though he didn't voice it aloud, he suspected the mind-meld somehow triggered a traumatic memory for Lelouch. And because all the other Paladins were linked to it, they got caught up in it as well, causing some sort of psychic whiplash.

The prince himself quickly realized that the others were talking as well. Anxious and worried expressions plastered on their faces.

"You okay, buddy?"

"Lelouch, what was that?"

"What happened?!"

"Was that Nunnally? What happened?"

"Enough!" Lelouch leaped to his feet, though unsteadily, "I don't want to talk about it, so just leave it OKAY?!"

Every flinched back a little at the outburst but eventually complied.

As everyone watched Lelouch breathe to calm down, Milly and Suzaku were the only ones that looked the least shocked, but no less disturbed. Both of them knew what memory that was. It was one that cost Milly's family their nobility status, as well as what led Lelouch and his sister, Nunnally, being sent to Japan in the first place. Both of them knew the story, but seeing it with their own eyes just now only seemed to amplify the reality of it even further.

The day that Empress Marianne vi Britannia was found shot to death at Aries Villa in the Britannian Palace.

o~o

Coran decided to take the silence as a way to call a break time, handing out small packages of water that looked very similar in design to Capri Suns on Earth. Despite the appreciated rest, Lelouch didn't miss the suspicious and anxious looks that all but Milly and Suzaku were giving him. He even noticed Coran shoot him one before he could hide.

"Fantastic…" he muttered low enough that no one heard, sucking forcibly on his straw.

"You all have been working hard. A small break may help," Coran said, overlooking them.

Their break was short-lived, however, when Allura came tromping through the door, hands on her hips and the four mice perched on her shoulders. "What are you doing lying around?! You're supposed to be training!"

"Just resting a bit," Coran calmly explained, not in the mood to tell as to why they were, "You know, you can't push too hard."

That didn't seem to appease the Princess at all as she shot back, "What do you mean, 'can't push too hard'?" She seemed to miss the exasperated looks that most of the Paladins were giving her, except Suzaku. He was actually quite used to being ordered around harshly like this. Kallen especially looked bitter, almost purposefully slurping her drink loudly.

"Get up, you lazy lumps! It's time you face the gladiator!"

o~o

After her rather harsh order, the Paladins soon found themselves in similar positions for when they were fighting the drones. Their backs were facing each other, but much farther apart now.

"In order to defeat the gladiator, seven Paladins must fight as one," Coran instructed back up in the deck.

A port from the ceiling soon opened up with a hiss, and a giant, slender humanoid bot gracefully fell to the floor, a battle staff clutched in its hands. With a flash of blue light, it charged at the first Paladin it saw, which happened to be Shirley.

With a gasp of panic, Shirley readied her bow and fired a series of shots that she tried to aim at it, only for Kallen to have to throw up her shield to keep them from hitting her. With a fast spin, the gladiator knocked the Orange Paladin off her feet, causing her to fall hard on her back. With the wind already knocked out of her, the gladiator's staff struck her stomach with an electrical spark, knocking her unconscious.

Milly quickly charged it with her kusarigama, only for the attack to be blocked with the staff. It barraged the Yellow Paladin with a series of violent strikes, which she managed to block with the chain part of her weapon. But eventually, with a sharp jab at her ribs, she was also flung backward, hitting Shirley in the process.

Rivalz used this opportunity to fire some shots with his rifle, but the gladiator danced around the shots like a pro, causing Rivalz to have to block and back away defensively. Eventually, it knocked the gun from his hands, and the bot hit him hard on the head before swinging around, almost clocking off Lelouch's if he hadn't ducked.

'How does the Princess expect me to fight?! I don't even have a weapon!' Lelouch ranted mentally as he tried to summon that strange power that he got last time he had fought the weird red lightning. But either that was a one-time fluke or could only be done in specific environments.

The gladiator then hit Rivalz again before also sweeping him in the stomach, twirling him around until he crashed into Lelouch, knocking them both to the ground.

Rai flashed his katar out and knelt in ready position for the gladiator to approach. As it charged, the room suddenly grew dark, bright blue being replaced with vile magenta. No longer a gladiator charging, but a whole legion of sentries. Galra sentries.

With a terrified whimper, Rai froze, eyes blown wide like a deer caught in headlights.

Suzaku managed to jump in front of Rai and block the strike for the Green Paladin with his own Bayard. Kallen was by his side a moment later.

"Rai, what wrong?" she asked, "Are you okay?"

Suzaku grit his teeth as the robot moved, aiming to disarm and trip him, but Suzaku saw the movement and jumped to avoid the strike. Kallen pushed Rai out of the way as the bot leaped over Suzaku for her. Her cestus managed to catch the staff between its claws, and with a quick twist, the staff went flying in the other direction. Suzaku took the opportunity and sliced through the bot's abdomen. With a shutter, it collapsed before dissolving into the floor.

Despite the ultimate victory, though, Allura was not impressed.

"That combat simulator was set at a level fit for an Altean child! You're not even close to working as a team, let alone ready to face Zarkon!"

"Oh, really!" Kallen finally exploded, she'd had about enough with this lady, alien princess or not, "Thanks for a load of confidence! Well, newsflash Princess: We're. Not. Alteans! While we've been in this room working our asses off all day, I haven't exactly seen you participating in any this bull!"

"Kallen!" Suzaku gasped in slight horror, though he had to agree with her partially, his patience simmering as well. But who on Earth was this girl? What happened to the sick, feeble Kallen Stadtfeld they were all used to? From the looks on most of the others, except Lelouch, they were all thinking very similarly.

"Yeah, I said it! Besides, you didn't even give Lelouch a weapon! I get that we don't have his Bayard thingy right now, but you could've at least given him a knife, or a gun, or something!"

Allura, absolutely appalled by the lack of respect, was about to retaliate when another voice beat her to it.

"You know," C.C. casually walked down from the deck she'd occupied with Coran, "if you really wish to know how they'll take this training to the battlefield, I'd recommend a more… strategic approach."

"What are you talking about?" Allura snapped. She'd had just about enough of this nonsense and insubordination.

"Well, think about it," the green-haired woman continued. "Sure, strength and brawn are essential in battle, but they can easily become worthless and overbearing if they know not where to place it. It takes strategy and a sound mind to truly win. All I'm trying to say is that if you wish to know how well they'll survive, you need to test them… mentally as well."

Coran, intrigued with C.C.'s logic, asked for further clarification.

"I'm not exactly sure how your people had risen through the ranks on Altea, but on Earth, it's one's mind and cunning that will get them places. Lelouch, for example, is possibly one of the greatest minds I've ever seen."

"Oh yeah!" Rivalz said in agreement, "All those times I've seen Lelouch play chess, I've NEVER seen anyone beat him."

"Chess?" Coran asked the name sounded familiar, "does this happen to be a game as well?"

"It can be, but there's a lot of people on our planet that play it competitively too," Milly added.

"Hmmm… does it involve black and white pieces that only move in certain directions, depending on the role they play?"

"Wait," Shirley said, voicing most of the paladins' shared shock. "You know what chess is?!"

"Why it's only one of the most ancient games in Altean history!" Coran exclaimed excitedly, "Why I remember when I was a lad, my grandfather, and I would go at it for varga on end! I do recall that your father attempted to get you into the game yourself, Princess."

Princess Allura actually smiled, recalling her childhood. Chess had been one of her father's favorite games. She had never caught onto the game, but she remembered her father would use the game for strategies with the old paladins, calling out individual pieces to represent each of them and other forces they were working with.

"You seem quite versed in the game," Lelouch smirked as he sat up next to Rai.

Coran just grinned, "Ho-oh! Is that a challenge that I'm hearing?"

"Perhaps. Though what Rivalz speaks is true, I can count the number of people who have actually beaten me on the one hand."

"Righty-oh then!" Coran whooped, practically skipping out the door, "Let's see if I can't hunt down that board, and we'll play a round!"

"I'll look forward it," Lelouch chuckled almost deviously.

"What just happened?" Kallen asked, blinking.

"No idea," Suzaku admitted with a nervous laugh.

Shortly after, Coran did indeed find the chessboard, covered in about a foot of dust, but still in one piece and all pieces intact. After setting it up, the Altean was practically shaking in excitement. Lelouch had smirked in amusement, Coran was undoubtedly one of the most enthusiastic opponents he'd ever played as everyone else gathered around to spectate the match.

The match itself had been quite eventful, Coran's attitude was competitive but cheerful throughout the entire game. Lelouch had to admit, despite his silly and overly eccentric demeanor, Coran proved to be quite the adversary on the board.

Ultimately though, Lelouch ended up destroying the Altean, losing only three pawns and a bishop overall. From the start of his signature move with the king, all the Paladins could tell that Lelouch had everything under control. Though secretly, the prince believed the Altean may have been going a little easy on him.

Despite the defeat, though, after the initial shock, Coran openly congratulated the Paladin on an outstanding match and gave his wishes to play him again on a later date, which Lelouch cordially accepted.

"I do have a slight question, though."

"Oh? And what is that?"

"You started the game with the king piece. I assume you understand the risk that takes place by doing so."

"Heh, heh, true," Lelouch had admitted, "however, if a king doesn't lead, how do you expect his soldiers to follow?"

Coran's eyebrows raised in surprise, before twirling his mustache inquisitively. "I see. An interesting mindset you have, Lelouch."

o~o

"Ahoy, young paladins!" Coran said about an hour later. The Paladins gathered around the dining table. In front of them were plates loaded with food goo and even more in bowls along the table as well as small pink packages or what they assumed was… well... more food goo. "I've whipped up a big batch of focusing food. After this meal, you'll be forming Voltron six times a movement and twice on the astral conflux."

"Smells great, Coran," Rai said on behalf of all of them, "Thanks!"

Before the Paladins could even dip their sporks in for a first bite, Coran threw up his arm, which was hiding a remote control. With a swift click of a button, the Paladins' arms were chained to one another from cuffs that appeared from the floor.

"Hold the phone!" Rivalz protested in shock. Similar expressions marred the faces of the other members.

"I saw a lot of solid individual performances today," Coran commentated, expression and tone suddenly serious, "but you're still struggling to work as a team. So, welcome to the final bonding exercise of the day."

"Coran," Milly said in a warning tone after she and a couple of others pulled on the cuffs to see if they'd budge. They didn't, "I highly advise thinking about what you're doing!"

Coran simply grinned, "Oh, this one's a classic. You get to feed each other, like a pack of yalmors!"

Despite the supposedly optimistic attitude, only glares and groans of frustration emanated from the paladins. This was going to be a long meal.

o~o

A hulking device, illuminated by purple light, stood firm and tall. Wires interconnected it and a small floor port. It was not on as the vital source had not transferred yet.

The tyrannical emperor watched from the floor above. He trusted completely in the witch's creation. The Paladins were still young and inexperienced, and this would bring them to their knees.

The witch herself lifted her bony hand, and a capsule containing the muscular prisoner rose to the surface. It was grinning in malicious excitement. Finally, after all this time, it would have its revenge.

She thrust her hands out with a single grunt, her robes and hair billowing in an invisible wind.

The creature roared in agony before all was consumed in the light. The floor and wiring lighting up with life that transferred into the giant mech behind him. Lights sprang on as it opened it's 'eyes,' one yellow, one a slit white.

o~o

"Ah-augh!" Shirley gasped as her food goo went flying from her spork, her fist colliding with her face.

"Sorry!" Rivalz said sincerely. She groaned as she reached down for another scoop, only her to accidentally bite the Blue Paladin's hand rather than the spork.

"Ew!" he flinched back involuntarily, causing the goo to fly in the other direction. This time he tried to move a little more with the Orange Paladin, only to pull Suzaku with him, the Purple Paladin's hand landing flat in his the green goop. "Oh nice Suzaku, you defiled my food goo!"

"It's your fault!" Suzaku protested, "You moved too suddenly!"

"Urgh!" Kallen growled, "This is ridiculous!"

"Do Earthlings ever stop complaining," Allura asked haughtily. She and C.C. had joined the Paladins at the dining table. Only the Princess's royal etiquette training had kept her from bursting into a long stream of suggestive exclamations as she attempted to eat her platter.

"On good days, not very often," C.C. said, poking and rolling her goo about her plate. She wasn't sure where these Alteans learned to cook, but would it have killed them to at least provide something that looked a little similar to pizza? She was ordering herself a lifetime supply once they got back to Earth. She didn't care if she ran Lelouch's wallet and bank account entirely into the ground.

"C.C., the sarcasm is not appreciated," Lelouch said, glaring at the immortal.

"Can't you just give us a break?" Milly queried, her tone highly annoyed, "Everyone's been working really hard today!"

"Yeah!" Rai jumped up, fed up with her attitude, "We're not some prisoners for you to toy with, like… like…" he was drawing a blank with his insult.

"Like a bunch of toy prisoners!"

"Yes! Thank you, Rivalz!"

"Guys!" Suzaku protested, appalled at the others' behavior, "Look, I get that everyone's upset, but that gives you no right to disrespect the Princess."

"Ha! At least one of you has some manners; he's correct!" Coran reprimanded.

"Oh, the princess of what?" Kallen spat, her face almost going as red as her hair with rage, "We're the only ones out here, and she's no princess of ours!"

Kallen probably would've continued her rant had a giant blob of food goo not hit her smack in the face. The culprit being Princess Allura herself, her spork in front of her and her free hand moving away as if she'd just used it to flick something… which she totally did.

The room went completely silent, and still, Kallen was frozen in place, trying to process what the heck just happened, even C.C. paused in between her bites.

'She really should not have done that!' Lelouch noted, silently panicking. He'd seen Kallen when she was angry, and the Princess was walking on some thin ice right now!

It didn't seem possible for Kallen's face to get any redder, but she grit her teeth and practically snarled at the Altean, her eyes drilling holes into her head.

"Oh, it's on!" She screamed as she grabbed the closest thing she could catch, it being Rai's entire plate of goo. Together with the platinum blonde, they both flung it in her direction.

Allura gasped in shock. Just before it could hit her, Coran batted it away with his serving towel, and with a giant, graceful swoop of a ladle, sent a large glob right back at them. It collided head-on with each Paladin at the table.

C.C. wisely lowered herself to the ground and hid in the safety of the underground table.

'Okay, that's IT!' Lelouch roared in his head, before abruptly rising from his seat himself. Now he was mad; his patience had been strained far enough, "PALADINS! I COMMAND YOU TO ATTACK!"

"YES SIR!" they exclaimed in unison, as they grabbed their weapons (plates and utensils) and started hurling them at the Alteans. Even Suzaku, who usually attempted to be as cordial as possible with royalty had reached his limit, as his food fling hit their adversaries square in the face. Allura and Coran quickly returning fire of their own.

Armageddon quickly pursued. Bowls and plates overturned, green goo hit the walls and chairs, proving to be very futile shelters from the sharp aims from both sides. However, the Paladins still found themselves much more exposed as they were still tied together.

By the time calm fell back on the group, nobody had escaped the wrath of the food goo. Plates scattered over the table, and almost all the chairs overturned. The goo clung to their hair and armor, some of it still dripping and sliding down their faces. They would all definitely need showers after this.

The Paladins all blinked, their minds coming out of a haze of adrenaline. They all looked at each other, confused about what the heck just happened… before bursting into good-natured laughter. Sure, they were all still covered in food, but at this very moment, they didn't care. It was actually even fun!

"Enough!" Allura suddenly shouted, bringing the laughter to a halt. And here came the lecture. Not only had they started a food fight and made a massive mess of the dining hall, but their two hosts had been the targets of their uncontrolled ire. "Do you see what you're doing?!"

Here it comes…

Allura lifted her head, a wide grin on her face, "You're finally working together as one!"

They blinked. What happened to the- wait!

"Hey! She's right!" Rivalz realized with a grin of his own.

"I… actually don't hate you guys right now," Kallen admitted, smiling genuinely.

"Yeah! Totally!" Shirley nodded.

"Best bonding exercise ever!" Milly cheered, yanking her's and Lelouch's arm in the air.

"You all thinking what I'm thinking?" Suzaku asked triumphantly.

"Let's go form Voltron!" Lelouch proclaimed.

"YEAH!" Everyone was jumping in the air…. Before losing balance and falling on top of each other.

After taking some time to untangle themselves and wipe off the goo, the team confidently marched to their Lions.

One elevator, zip line, pod tunnel, and a second elevator later, all the Paladins were situated in their Lions.

"Is everyone ready?" Lelouch asked, gripping the Black Lion's controls, eyes lighting up.

"Roger that!" Rai answered.

"It's on!" Rivalz cheered.

"Yes, sir!" Kallen replied.

"I was born ready!" Shirley grinned.

"Up and at'em!" Milly quipped.

"Ready to proceed!" Suzaku said boldly.

"Then let's go!" Lelouch ordered. With a mighty roar that shook the room, the Black Lion flew up and out of the hanger.

"YEAH!"

Just like with their battle with Sendak, the same feeling of 'oneness' washed over the seven Paladins, as their lions converged with eager bellows, appendages retracting and sliding into place. Arms, legs, knees, and at last, the head. Voltron's strong face shown once again as it flew across the sky and landed gently in the field, Allura, C.C., and Coran watching a safe distance away.

"I told you I could get them to do it." Allura said, "They just needed a common enemy."

"It's true. Like the old proverb says, 'A man can be driven to do anything, if a beautiful woman is just really, really mean to him."

C.C. burst into a series of giggles as a peeved Allura scowled at her advisor.

'Oh, if only they knew how true that is!'

o~o

"Man, that was cool!" Rivalz exclaimed in the lounge later, "I'm so charged up, I don't know if I'm gonna be able to sleep tonight!"

"Not me," Kallen smirked, "When my head hits the pillow, I'm gonna be lights out."

"I just want you to know," Shirley said emotionally, sliding between Rivalz and Kallen, "that I realized when we were in Voltron, we're family!" She slung her arms tightly around the Blue and Red Paladins, pulling them close, "You know? Like, we're totally connected. No secrets, no barriers, no nothing. A family all the way. I love you guys!"

"Indeed, we are!" Milly proclaimed, "In this together. The romance of the three kingdoms: 'It matters not that we were born apart, but upon this day we die as one!'"

"Is that your idea of a love quote?" Rivalz asked.

"If one of us goes down, then we all do," Milly smirked mischievously.

"...That's a little dark there, Milly," Rai said, "don't you think Suzaku?"

The Green Paladin gasped as he saw Suzaku's eyes slowly tear up, "I'm glad," he sniffled and wiped the tears that were falling, "that we can all be together, you know like this?"

Lelouch smiled at his friend, very similar feelings rising in him as well.

Rivalz then sprung up and practically tackled Suzaku to the floor, legs and arms wrapping around him, "Oh come on! We're supposed to be unwinding right now!" Everyone laughed at the engagement.

"But that's what's so refreshing about Suzaku, though," Shirley said.

"Yeah, though once in a while, you just want him to get a clue, you know?" Milly answered hands on her hips.

"Oh, sorry about that," the Purple Paladin answered, Rivalz squishing his cheeks playfully.

"Oh, but you love it, don't you puddy tat!" Another round of laughter enveloped them; even Kallen was laughing at the silliness.

"G-forces messing with your heads a little bit?" Lelouch inquired with a grin.

"Maybe a little bit," Rivalz admitted as he and Suzaku untangled.

"Well, I'm gonna head to bed," Kallen said, standing up and heading for the stairs, "see you all tomorrow."

"Yeah, I like the sound of that," Rai murmured, eyes suddenly starting to droop. Most of the team began heading for the exit when Shirley noticed Lelouch still sitting down.

"Aren't you going to bed, Lulu?"

"In a minute," the Black Paladin replied with a small smile.

"Don't stay up too late, Lulu," Milly scolded light-heartedly, "you don't have the excuse of late-night gambling here!"

Lelouch just laughed as everyone exited the room. As he found himself alone again, though, he let out a tired sigh. Lelouch reached into his burgundy pocket and pulled out a small photograph that had been lounging in it since they'd left Earth. He'd only shown this picture to a few select people.

He was about eight or nine years of age in the photo, dressed in a majestic white suit and white cravat decorating his neck. He was standing next to a beautiful woman in a dark navy gown and a large white and blue headpiece sitting on a small bench overlooking a beautiful garden. The woman was holding a little girl's hand, about six or seven years of age in a pale pink dress with puce trimming, her light brown hair tied in two high ponytails.

Two of the space mice that had been in the room with them came closer, squeaking in concern, the smallest, Chulatt, perching on his shoulder and the larger green one, Platt, on his thigh.

"If you plan to keep this charade going, Lelouch," C.C. said, emerging from the shadows, still dressed in her straight-jacket she'd been wearing all day, "you'll have to tell them eventually."

He let out a long, tired sigh, "I know…"

o~o

A ship prepared for launch at Zarkon's main base. Not just any ship. This one carried a weapon that would bring Voltron to its knees.

"This beast will allow us to destroy the Paladins," the emperor himself sneered next to Haggar, "And then, Voltron will be ours."

With a whoosh of fire, the ship took off into the cosmos. The destination: Arus. Target: Voltron.

#Fanfiction #AU #Voltron #Code Geass #lelouch lamperouge #kallen kozuki #suzaku kururugi #rai (lost colors)#shirley fenette #rivalz cardemonde #milly ashford #princess allura #coran #c.c.

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