#ancient guardian of the vault

[mischievousblade]

Ancient Guardian of the Vault

Ghost iksars are a common nuisance in Kunark dungeons nowadays.

[t-a-a-1]

The Darkest Hour

Ch.4: Guardian

Summary: After being labeled as crazy for trying to report that robot aliens exist on national television, you lose your job and move to Jasper City. In a drastic turn of fate, you meet Optimus Prime. You and Team Prime get together to find ancient relics that are vital to the Autobot's cause.

Along the way, you and Optimus start to develop feelings that go beyond comradeship.

But what happens when he discovers you've been lying all of this time?

For a better reading experience you can read this story on Ao3:

>>>

https://archiveofourown.org/works/60642838/chapters/157365316

Ch.4: Guardians

     It was rather quiet at the base. Ratchet sometimes would look at the hangar's elevated floor. He thought he would see you there. He didn't find you as annoying as other humans. You were rather curious. Asking about all things Cybertronian. It was like talking to a child sometimes but he didn't mind explaining especially when you had questions about Cybertronian biology.

    He didn't want to admit it but he-

Beep. Beep.

"Oh? I got a video from (Y/n)!"

    Ratchet hears Jack exclaim from the sofa and this immediately gets his attention.

"I don't have enough time. I have been abducted by Decepticons. I'll lead them to the relic located in Fingal's Cave, Northern Ireland two days from now. Retrieve my cell phone from my house. I am sorry."

.

.

.

    You didn't have time.

You rapidly click 'sent' before breaking your laptop in half. You know they were coming for you and as soon as you heard the doors open, you quickly grabbed one cigarette.

    Two Decepticons dragged you across the Nemesis. You couldn't walk a lot, probably due to a broken bone or something else.

    It took about three minutes to reach another door. Everything looked the same except for a few purple colors and other doors that had guards.

    One of the doors opened and the two Decepticons pushed you inside, making fall to the floor.

"What is our status with the machine?"

"We still need to make modifications. The human mind is different from that of a Cybertronian," Knockout tried his best to figure out a way to make his machinery work. "Getting into her memories will be difficult without the proper materials."

"Then I trust that you will be making progress soon, Knockout."

    The lights in the room blinded you.  Not because they were too bright but due that you were deprived of light for two days.

    Two Decepticons carried you by the arms, you were too weak to walk, your stomach hurts, your head too and your energy was low.

"Prisoner was seen scavenging on the vault."

"I was looking for food!" you muster all the strength you had to defend yourself. "I've been here for two days and haven't eaten a thing."

"Wasn't the Energon cup I left on your cell enough?"

    The Decepticon was an automobile that you found a bit strange but you didn't have the right mind to question it. Things were just the way they were.

"Humans don't eat Energon, I'll die! Shouldn't you be smart enough to know that?"

    A taller figure walks in front of you. His steps made the entire floor move but you had gotten used to the feeling of it. He studies you, walks around you and his optics pierce through your soul.

"The fact that you are still standing after yesterday's event is admirable. I wouldn't expect anything less from Optimus' pet."

    You didn't like the sound of that but you were too tired to fight it. Your body is in pain from all the bruises and maybe a few other injuries. They had beat you up after you refused to speak. It wasn't for a long time, Megatron seemed to know that you would be a difficult one.

"What were you looking for in the vault?"

    Megatron asks and you don't say a word. You look away.

"I won't ask again," he gets closer to your face. So close that you could see his optics and the mechanics behind it. There wasn't a single thing that didn't move as small as it seemed. Everything had a function and it fascinated you. "What were you looking for in the vault? Was it your bag? Anything of importance in there?"

    You took a few seconds to respond and you raised a hand. You slowly opened it, putting one cigarette in front of his face.

"What is this ... artifact?"

    Megatron takes the cigarette in his hand, inspecting it.

"I was looking for my bag ... because I wanted that. It makes me less hungry."

    The Decepticon leader drops the cigarette on the floor and steps on it. Crushing your hopes.

"Pain may not be enough to make you speak," Megatron keeps looking at you and as much as you would like to keep the eye-staring contest, you struggle to keep your eyes open.

"But let's wait and see how you react after hunger takes over you."

"I won't talk."

    It hurts to even do so.

"Oh, but all of this would be so much easier if you did," he turns around and walks towards a berth. One that is not completely functional. At least it doesn't work with humans. Yet. "Regardless, we'll get what we want. Talk or do not talk, the choice is yours."

...

    It has been a couple of days since you had left the base. It has been quiet around here without you. The kids can be a bit nosey but nothing the Autobots couldn't handle.

    Optimus wonders what you would do if you were here. Would you be on your laptop? Maybe have a conversation with him? If you wanted, he could talk to you for hours, giving you information about Cybertronian culture. In exchange, he could ask you about human traditions. After the talk you two had about the human process of creating life, he was particularly curious about the human body.

    He had just come back from patrol duty with Bumblebee when he heard a lot of talking between his Autobot friends.

"Optimus!"

    Ratchet's preoccupied voice was something he wasn't fond of. It could mean two things. One, someone had messed up with one of his experiments. Two, bad news.

"(Y/N) has been captured by the Decepticons!"

Or three. Horrible news.

....

Bombs. Guns. Granades.

Screams. Fire. Blood. Pain. 

    When you were told that you were going to report on the war in a faraway land, you were excited. This was going to be your big step. The thing that will mark your career forever.

And it did mark you. Forever. But in ways you thought unimaginable.

It wasn't until you saw men, women and children being killed that you truly realized how stupid the world really is. It's a war and no one ever wins. So why? Why?

"Will I ever stop ... being so useless?"

    Another day of not eating.

You didn't know when you were going to start to hallucinate. Maybe you already were. You wished you could smell the outside air. You had not realized how different the air is when the majority of living creatures occupying the area are alien robots. It's a different type of smell. Clean and sanitized, kinda like the smell of a hospital but with a more metal element to it.

    The doors from your prison cell open. You are thankful because you hated the dark. Not really a phobia but many thoughts cross your mind when there is no light around you.

    Megatron slowly makes his way towards you.

He is not that intimidating. Are you afraid? Yes, of course. But if you had to compare, Optimus had a more menacing frame. Although Megatron's eyes could frighten anyone, the way he moves and presents himself does not imply any harm. You won't underestimate him. Not a bit.

"I won't say a word."   

    You say as you look at him. You sat in a corner, nothing was tying you down. Not like it matters, it's not like you could do much against giant robots.

"I did not come here for that," his voice is way less intimidating. In different circumstances, Optimus could very well have been the villain. "I have come for a small conversation."

"If you think you can manipulate me into talking-"

"I would rather like to call it ... convincing you with words."

    You knew this was going to be an interesting conversation.

"Words are powerful."

    You say as he stands in front of you. You don't stand up, having a nice view of his posture. You can tell so much by the way someone moves.

"Agreed."

    You wait for a few seconds, keeping eye contact. The room didn't look so dark now as Megatron had this purple aura that surrounded him.

    You didn't know what he wanted but you were waiting for him to speak. But he was also studying you, trying to find the best way to talk to you.

"Eons ago, I was a young gladiator trying to survive."

    Out of everything, you didn't imagine Megatron to be a storyteller. Oh, but how much you loved a good tale. Especially the ones about myths and legends of great warriors doing the impossible. Even if it's a story about a bot becoming a destroyer of worlds.

"Every day, as I exited the pit after killing comrades, I would watch the upper classes cheer for me."

    He seems to remember the cheers, the chanting crowds. But his optics had changed, for a second, he was lost. Going back to those moments. There is some fear in them and you didn't know if he was being honest or it's another manipulation tactic.

"But what was there to cheer for? I had massacred Cybertronians. Someone like me and them."

    You didn't doubt his words. At least there is some truth to them, you could tell as much.

"I would kill as I watched them eat the best kind of Energon. Drink the rarest of oils and wear the highest of tech accessories."

    Megatron gets closer to you but he never kneels. He still believes he is above you. It's comical. Telling you stories about the inequality he suffered when there will never be a time he will see you as equal.

"Do you know what that feels like? Being tortured if you failed? Your spinal cord breaking and have no spare parts to repair it? While I see others throw parts into the pit, like their lives meant nothing."

    Rage. He is filled with it. Finally, an emotion you could sympathize with or at least recognize. You didn't break eye contact nor were afraid. If he wanted to kill you, he had done so a very long time ago. You are more curious and in awe at the being in front of you.

    His metal was damaged and scratched, his tall figure and spiky demeanor. He appears to be fierce, he had to be, otherwise he wouldn't be here. But you can't help and wonder if he had been allowed a different life, would he be different?

"I don't fight for freedom," Megatron says. "I fight for my survival."

    You sigh heavily and your eyes show nothing but exhaustion. You muster the strength to speak. You can't give him anything but your sympathy.

"... You must be so tired."

    You must be hallucinating because for a moment you could have sworn you saw something else in those red eyes.

    Megatron turns around, no longer allowing you to see his face.

"Optimus was just like those Cybertronians I hated and he continues to be one. The system I fight to break, he continues to fight to repair it."

He steals a glance your way and he notices your concern.

"He was part of the crowd. Enjoying every match, every death. Laughing as it happened. How did you think we met?"

    He walks back towards you but you notice his steps have become slower. The floor didn't tremble as much as if he was being careful without knowing.

"Oh? Didn't he tell you?"

    You part your sight away from his. After a heavy sigh, you take up the courage to look at him again.

"We've been looking for ancient Cybertronian relics," you don't have another option. You had to sacrifice a little bit of truth to survive. "We don't know their function yet but we believe that they might be parts of something bigger."

"And do you know the location of these relics?"

"Just of one, the rest of the information is on my cellphone."

    He seems to be interested now or rather atypical about your wording. He probably doesn't know certain terminology.

"And where is this cellphone you speak of?"

    You muster a smile. You know Megatron can be a great negotiator, but so are you.

"If you want to know, I'll have my bag. With my cigarettes."

....

Fingal's Cave, Northern Ireland.

    The night is dark and full of mysteries. Especially in dark caves where the waves of the sea clash against the rocks. It would have been a perfect vacation, had you not been kidnapped by evil alien robots. This might be nothing for them, maybe just a nice bubble bath. But to you? It's a certain death. You don't even know how to swim.

    You stand next to Megatron. Behind you, there are a few warrior Decepticons. It was cold and humid and your intrusive thoughts made you want to jump into the crazed waves.

"The relic should be right there," you point to one of the walls and Megatron quickly looks at his army. It took only one look for them to know what they were supposed to do. Excavate.

You waited for a few seconds and noticed how fast they were putting away rocks and dust. Soon they will reach the relic and once they have what they want they will take you back to the Nemesis.

    Suddenly, a green moving circle appears on the other side of the cave. You are a bit relieved. For a moment you genuinely thought they wouldn't appear.

    It's the first time you see a ground bridge. It's beautiful and even more the aliens coming out from it. Tall, big, strong. Everything you weren't and for a moment you feel guilty. They shouldn't be here. They shouldn't be worrying about an insignificant life such as yours.

"Took you all long enough."

    Optimus stands in front of his team. A battle mask covers half of his face, he looks fierce. You had never seen him like this before. He was intimidating and you were a bit scared of what he could do.

"Let (y/n) go, Megatron."

"Did you bring her cell phone?"

    A shiver runs down your spine. You look up at him and he looks at you. Your eyes and his optics meet for a second. Unable to control your confusion, your voice betrayed you. With Megatron, showing emotion is a fatal mistake.

"What? How do you-"

"Nothing happens in the Nemesis without me knowing. Or do you think I was careless enough to leave your cell-door open?" his voice resonates within the containment of the cave. Not even the waves crashing could subside his voice. "I wanted you to contact them so they could do all the work for me."

"I am sure you must have led them to other relics. If they want you, they must turn them in as well."

    You began to panic, your plan was crumbling. It was your fault for believing you could outsmart a million-years living creature.

"It's not true! They don't have them, I never-"

"We have one."

    If looks could kill, your eyes would have killed Optimus. In fact, the Autobots have two relics. Optimus is lying and although a part of you is glad to know he could lie, right now you wish he had stayed quiet.

"Then you know what you must do."

    Megatron suddenly picks you up, putting you a few meters above the water level.

    You didn't know what to say. There was no guarantee that after receiving the relic, Megatron would let you go safely. Most importantly, you didn't understand. Why would the Autobots risk losing a valuable item over a human? There were many of you and only a few of those artifacts.

    Optimus doesn't hesitate and uses his comm-link. Speaking clearly, he calls Ratchet, ordering him to bring one relic through the ground bridge.

    Meanwhile, you see the Decepticons work on obtaining the other relic. They must be close as their excavation has become slower, maybe due that they do not want to damage the relic.

    You try to find a way to break free but Megatron's grasp is too strong.  Your body has started giving up, you haven't eaten in four days and your mouth tastes like cigarettes.

    After a few tense minutes, Ratchet comes from the groundbridge, holding the white pot that contained the relic. You instinctively move your head from side to side. You didn't want to be the reason they lost it.

"Starscream, retrieve the relic and the cell phone."

    You didn't notice the Commander before. Your senses must be failing you by now. He passes by Megatron and you know that if he could, he would push the leader of the Decepticons into the water.

"My pleasure, my liege."

    And as he passes by, you can see Ratchet's disappointed face. All of their faces, as a matter of fact. You hated being useless and being used. You thought that staying quiet was the best option. But after seeing Optimus hand down your cell phone to Starscream and his cocky smile, you couldn't have it.

"Just go!" you scream, hoping that your voice is loud enough. "I'll figure it out! You don't have to do this!"

    But it's like they weren't paying attention. Like your opinion didn't matter at all. Like you were a liability that had to be taken care of, not listened to.

    Ratchet hesitantly gives the white ceramic pot to Starscream who aggressively takes it in his claws. He happily walks back to his Master as if he had finished completing the hardest of missions.

"You have what you wanted. Now let her go!"

    Optimus threatens Megatron but it only amuses him. He looks at you, taking a few seconds to appreciate your face one last time.

"Lord Megatron, we have retrieved this place's relic."

    Starscream says as the army of Decepticons had successfully extracted the artifact and that's everything Megatron needed to hear.

"A deal it's a deal," Megatron crossed optics with Optimus.  "But this is for lying."

    He opens his claws, letting you go and dropping you into the wild waves.

    Megatron watches as Optimus jumps to save you. A selfless act, very much like him. What he was doing for you, he would do for anyone else. But there was something about it. Something that Megatron knew would catch Optimu's attention. Whatever it was, he would figure it out eventually. For now, he will let Prime have you. To let him enjoy his human pet as much as he can. Before taking you away.

"Next time, bring me all the relics you have, Prime. Or she will pay the price."

    Bulkhead, Arcee and Bumblebee didn't even hesitate to go after him. They focused on helping Optimus and it was too late regardless. Megatron was already one step inside the groundbrige, ready to go back to the Nemesis.

"How did you know they had more relics?" Starscream walks behind Megatron, curious about his actions.

"I didn't," he says. "It's all a bet. Besides ..."

    Megatron stops walking and quickly glances back. Getting a glimpse of Optimus coming out of the water, holding your fragile body.

"She's not half bad."

....

    The first thing that crossed your mind after waking up was ... work.

Fowler told you to not worry about it and that things had been taken care of.

    You didn't want to ask any further.

Especially after learning that you could no longer go back to your home.

    It took you a couple of days to recover.

Falling into the wild waters of Fingal's Cave had done more injuries than the ones the Decepticons inflicted on you. Your body crashed a few times into rocks before Optimus rescued you.

     But the pain in your body did not compare to the disappointment you feel.

    You couldn't even look at the Autobots without feeling ashamed.

Now you can't even go home now.

"I apologize as for you now have to remain here. But it must be in your best interest to stay since the Decepticons know of your home location."

    You didn't hear Optimus come through the rooftop door. Even with his massive steps and weight. Maybe you had gotten used to the sound of walking bots too fast.

"You may not be too fond of sharing a home but I promise you we are not too loud."

    The top of the hangar gave you the best view of the Nevada desert. With sad rocks and a few cacti... alright maybe it wasn't that visually appealing.

    But the night sky made up for it.

"I don't do good with people ... and bots," you pull out a cigarette from your jacket's pocket and light it up. Hearing Optimus coming closer and sitting down on the cliff with you.

    You immediately move away for a few centimeters, feeling uncomfortable at the closeness. You didn't notice your body had acted this way but Optimus did.

"I can sense some hostility emitting from you."

    Optimus optics lay on you but you wouldn't spare him a look.

"Optimus was just like those Cybertronians I hated and he continues to be one. The system I fight to break, he continues to fight to repair it."

    You didn't know if you should bring up the matter or just keep it to yourself. But after the events at the Nemesis, you find yourself unable to look at Optimus the same. Not like it matters much, but deep down, a part of you wanted to trust him ... to believe in him.

"If there are any concerns-"

"Megatron told me," you interrupt him, the act feels disrespectful but you hope he didn't feel like that. "That you used to enjoy watching him fight and kill others in the gladiator's pits. That you fight to bring the caste system back."

"While is true that I used to attend such activities, I never supported it," subconsciously, Optimus wanted you to look at him. He needed your acknowledgment, something you refused to give him at the moment.    

    "Megatron and I used to share similar ideologies. But he believed that equality could only be obtained if the other classes were eliminated."

"And you?"

"I believe that every sentient being has the ability to change."

    You let out a subsided laugh, looking down at your lap and then up again at the desert night.

    "So what? You were hoping to change a whole social class with pretty words and inspiring speeches?"

"We cannot build a new world founded on violence."

"And where has that led you? To a strange planet and your race almost extinct."

    He had good sentiments, you admired that but at some point you consider naivety to be stupidity.

"Cybertron will be rebuilt on tragedy," you say.

"And what am I supposed to do? Let him have his way?"

    You have noticed that Optimus speaks less formally when he finds himself in a tough spot. Now, it was one of those moments. Your words had hit a circuit but you didn't want for this to turn into an argument. Not when you wanted to gain his sympathy.

"I am not saying I know what's best. What I am saying is that I thought you..."

    You couldn't continue with your sentence. Because what you wanted to say was stupid and based on old ideas. Maybe deep down, you wished Optimus was that hero the world needed. But he was a leader. The leader of a war where there is no winner. He could only do what he did best. And that was making the hard decisions no one else could.

    You had put too much expectations on his shoulders. He can't be a hero and a leader at the same time. If he were to be a hero, he would have been dead long ago. But his team needed him alive, he couldn't afford to die a martyr. He must know that.

"Listen to me Prime," you called him by his first name. Now more than ever, you believe there will never be a time when you will call him by his first name. "Everyone is a slave to something. Even you are enslaved to your own stupid ideologies of hope."

    You were always precausious to never show your beliefs. Maybe years ago, you shared similar sentiments as Optimus. You saw yourself in him and you wanted to save him. Save him from the disappointment of the real truth of your world.

"But let me tell you this; you have those views because you lived through better times. You have tasted peace and solemnity," you had no stand to be lecturing him. Yet, you didn't see it that way. You were just speaking your feelings.

      "But them? Working as miners, being gladiators just for your entertainment? They never had what you did. This is their hope to have better times."

    You sigh heavily and feel your lungs struggle to breathe.

"And you just took that from them."

    Seconds turned into minutes and you thought Optimus would stand up and leave you alone. But he instinctively got closer to you. He probably didn't notice his actions.

"I used to really enjoy watching your old reports."

    The leader of the Autobots looks back fondly at the younger version of you. A few years back you had done a story about a small town that had been struck by a tornado. Many died and homes were destroyed.

    But instead of focusing on the downside of things, you talked about how the community came together to help each other build back their town. The resilience and strength. Optimus was inspired by how such small things could build things bigger than themselves.

     "Even when the report was about a catastrophic event, you always ended things positively."

"In the days where I had doubts, where I thought I couldn't do this anymore, I ... "

    He pauses, he can't understand the feeling in his spark but his voice box struggles to process words.

"I would watch you on TV and you would give me inspiration to continue my mission."

    His formality had dropped drastically and you wonder if this was his way to let his guard down and open up to you.

"But now that you are telling me this ... I think you are right," his voice cracks and your world crumbles.  "What is left worth fighting for?"

You didn't know Optimus could feel doubt and hesitancy. You are reminded of the power of words. How you, a small insignificant human could make a robot full of wisdom question the truth of his life? It was too much power and you didn't want it. You didn't want Optimus to view life the way you do. So pessimistic, so gloomy.

    You didn't believe in any of it, hope, love. None of that was enough to change the world. But Optimus didn't have to know that.

You wanted him to keep believing. To belive he could change the world with just words.

Fuck the truth.

"Megatron is full of rage," you say. "And sometimes rage allows us to live. To survive."

    You decide to overstep boundaries and you put a hand over his servo. But you don't look at him, too shy to do so.

"But faith does too."

    You were no one to question his beliefs. If you were completely honest, you would like to keep enjoying the company of this Optimus. The optimistic one, resilient, strong with unbreakable morals.

But in the back of your mind, the question still remains. There's no victory without sacrifice.

What if to win the war, to give meaning to the lives of fallen ones, he has to sacrifice his ideologies and beliefs?

What would you do ... Optimus?

"(Y/n)," Optimus calls your name so sweetly you feel your body shake up a little.

    He holds your hand, so delicately, so softly as if he is afraid of hurting you. As if he is afraid you might break. You had never been held so fondly,  your heart feels like melting.

"I have failed miserably in protecting you," He looks at your body and you feel like his optics pierce through your soul.  You feel seen but you didn't mind it one bit. "The injuries in your body are proof of it."

"I am aware we are strangers to titles but I would like to establish a new relationship."

    You didn't understand how he could make you feel in such a way. In a state of warmth and peace. How his presence alone was enough to comfort and heal wounds that go beyond physical pain.

"If you accept me as your guardian, I'll protect you and no harm shall ever find your way. I'll give my life for you if necessary. I'll do as you ask and have your safety as one of my purposes for living. Under these stars as a witness, I swear this to you."

    Like the stars above, there were many mysteries you didn't understand. You thought that maybe Optimus was one of those mysteries as well. Otherwise, you didn't understand how such a beautiful creature would ever put your life above his own. Does he see you as a bothersome being? Probably. But you don't mind. A part of you wanted to be protected by such a powerful creature. A righteous one at least. Maybe he does see you as a pet to be taken care of.

    But now that you think about it ... You don't mind devoting yourself to him either.

"I accept but under one condition," you wish you could be closer to his face, you feel a need to look closer at his optics.  "If you protect me ... then I'll take care of you."

"Care for me?"

"If you ever have doubts, if you feel lonely, or if you just want to talk,"  all of a sudden you feel shy and you quickly part your sight. You didn't have the time to think the reason why. "I want to share the burden of your decisions with you, please."

"You will do that for me?"

    He blinks multiple times, unsure of your words and you find this cute.

"You are willing to give up on your life for me," you make a small pause before continuing. "It's the least I can do."

    Looking at a desert wasn't fun. But talking always was. Especially with an alien robot with millions of years' worth of wisdom. It's strange how you always felt better after talking to Optimus. He doesn't seem to be the type to judge and that's what you appreciated the most about him.

"(Y/N), You have proven to be more than meets the eye," you hear his voice closer and immediately turn. He had slouched significantly to be able to see you face to face. It must be an uncomfortable position but he still made the effort to see you at an eye level.

    Maybe he also had a certain need to be as close as possible to you.

"I am glad the universe allowed us to encounter."

And before you could have the time to blush again, your brain replayed his words.

"Don't you mean optic? You guys don't have eyes."

    Optimus straightens his back, no longer looking at you. This time he looks up at the sky, he looks curiously at them. Putting a servo on his chin, he looks to be in deep thought.

"That is true. But that is an ancient saying of my people."

"If it's an ancient saying then can we assume your kind and mine have met before?"     You tilted your head, imagining the possibilities. You move your feet into a yoga position, feeling more comfortable.

"That is an interesting theory although I don't remember reading such things back at the archives. Maybe it's something worth investigating."

    Optimus also thought of the possibilities, maybe this could be tied to the relics.

"Oh! Do you want to investigate it together?" this could be an important piece to your report. It would also be more credible if you had an actual Transformer help you write on what is probably one of the greatest discoveries in human history.

     "We could write a report on it and give an informative presentation to the kids and the Autobots."

You put your hands up and them move them slowly in a parting motion.

"Cybertron and Earth: A Deeper Look Into Cybertronian-Human Relations and Why Our History Is Longer Than We Think."

The topic sounded more interesting to Optimus and the archivist in him started to show. You knew this by the way he would blink more often. It happened whenever something excited him.

"That sounds like a remarkable and revolutionary subject. I could try to look into Cybertron's' old archives and see if I can find something related to the topic."

If Optimus could always be excited like this, you wish you could hear him talk forever. Could he tell you all the stories and tales of his people. But would it hurt him to speak about them? To reminiscence the past may open old wounds and you didn't want to be the cause of it. You won't push it but you'll wait until he is ready.

"And I'll interview Fowler and see if he knows something or knows someone that knows more of the topic." That will be a challenge but there hasn't being a single person who never gave you an interview. Of course, you find your way. Ethical or not, it didn't matter as long as the truth was revealed.

"I  am looking forward to hearing about your findings."

"I am excited to look at your research too!"

That night you learned many things. About Optimus especially. About how he would blink a lot whenever something got him excited. About how he loses his formality in words when he gets comfortable, excited or angry. Things like this made him feel closer to you as if he wasn't from an alien race but rather just another living creature existing in the same universe. And that's exactly what it was.

One hour turned into two, then three, four. Time passed by so fast, just talking and enjoying each other company. You smoked a few cigarettes and promised Optimus to buy a few gallons of oil for him to enjoy next time.

Although you were still downhearted for being unable to return to your home, you tried to look at the bright side of things. It was something you weren't used to do. But being with Optimus, his optimism rubbed off on you.

    You two talked endlessly until you fell asleep on his servos. Optimus watched the sunrise; grateful to have met you, thinking how beautiful it was to love the ordinary. For at least, and with all the certainty in the universe he knew ... he was worthy of this.

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A/N: This chapter took longer than I expected and I think after this one I am going to work on another fic (from another fandom) because I am so close to finishing that story and I just haven't uploaded in sometime. But! I'll be writing one shots for tumblr. I'll start working on a one shot for Christmas! The poll is over and we have a winner. Thank you to everyone who voted and all the comments, notes and likes. I'll take my time to respond to each of you :) My inbox is always open for any comment, ideas, concerns or prompts ideas.

I definitely want for Reader and Optimus to have chemistry. I think it's very important to show interaction with each other and show why they are attracted instead of them just having them fall randomly? Like I want to show Optimus and Reader have similar interest and passions but having contrasting ideas. I'll probably have them dancing and being silly together at some point.

On the next chapter I'll have Reader do some actual work. She's gonna be undercover (she has to dress seductively to fit into the world of car racing where she meets a hot mechanic who teaches her a lot about cars and Optimus has to follow her around cause that's his job as his guardian. His circuits go crazy cause he can't understand why all of a sudden he finds a human attractive-)

I want Optimus to feel like he has something of his own, something only he can protect and take care of because he can and wants (by choice) and it's not forced upon him nor a responsibility to bear (like the matrix) and that lovely thing being you ofc.

Sorry for an errors and grammar mistakes, I don't proof read.

I also feel like I haven't used much of the other bots so I'll make sure to use them more often now if the plot requires it.

I think that's all for now. Thank you so much for reading and see you in the next chapter!

Previous Chapter:

https://www.tumblr.com/t-a-a-1/768513873838030848/the-darkest-hour?source=share

Next Chapter: Soon

[anyamaris]

Secrets of the Heart

Pairing: Guardian!Baekhyun x Guardian!F!Reader

Dark Academia Career: Mystical Guardians/Keepers of Ancient Knowledge

Summary: For ages, a secret society has kept the darkest, most dangerous mysteries hidden from the world to keep it safe. By training guardians who show the capability to fight and protect these ancient relics from falling into the wrong hands, two compatible students are placed in hidden vaults after extensive training. You've longed for this your entire life, but then you find yourself trapped with the one man you never wanted to see again.

Word Count: 4827

Genre/Trope: Dark Academia/Non Idol AU, smut/angst, magical au

Warnings: Adult language, magical references, reader is a grump, Baek is Baek 💕oral (f. receiving), implied rough school years, overarching ideas of dark, dangerous secrets in the vault.

Tags- @lapydiaries @ksmutsociety @cafekitsune for the amazing dividers!

Thank you @pars-ley @yoonguurt and @frenchkisstheabyss for beta reading and helping me get this done!

A HUGE thank you to @potatomountain for the gorgeous banner, you're amazing!

A/N: This is for the @ksmutsociety Dark Academia event The Velvet Vault. This is part one, so I hope you all enjoy and I want to thank all the other participants for all the fun we had together working on these! I can't wait to read them! Check out other authors here!

It has taken you days to decipher the clues, but you’ve finally arrived at your destination.

Your heart almost leaps from your chest in excitement as you walk through the unassuming doors before you.

The tension in your shoulders seems to abate the tiniest bit as you take in the vast interior of the actual vault.  

From the outside, it only appears as a maintenance door in an otherwise abandoned area.

Yet here, beneath the acres of wilderness in the middle of nowhere, lies a wealth of knowledge and secrets that only few in this world will ever even be aware of.

You think back on the letter you’d received for your posting weeks ago.

“Guardian 1485, you’ve been assigned to your post. Consider this your final test, and thank you for your service.”

From the outside, such a letter would give nothing away, but everything you needed to find your way lay in the inconspicuous note.

Using everything you’ve learned during your time at the academy, you’d left the populated world to inhabit this subterranean utopia.

It didn’t need to be said that failing would result in the very treasures of wisdom you’re now raking your eager eyes over to be locked away from your gaze forever.

You’d descended the timeworn stairs for what felt like ages, until you found yourself before the ancient doors that symbolized the culmination of your hard earned efforts.

The vast open room before you looms stories high, shelves of books appearing to disappear into the reaches above you, rolling ladders positioned here and there to take you up to the next little balcony to access small areas.

Makes sense now why I went down so many stairs, you think to yourself as you take in your new home.

Home…you think, your eyes fluttering closed at the comforting thought.

Hitching the strap of the duffle bag higher on your shoulder, you smile softly to yourself as you slowly turn around in a circle once more, enjoying the beautiful view of what is likely just the surface of what hides down here.

A large table sits amidst the open space in the middle of the cavernous room, as well as small alcoves here and there to perch and work.

Sconces adorn the dark paneled walls, allowing you to appreciate how vast the massive room actually is. 

Before long, you find yourself wandering away from the library area, noticing the small halls branching off in three directions from the large room.  

The first hall seems to lead to kitchen and dining areas, so you head towards the middle hallway.

You pause briefly before you head down that way, eyes drawn to the third hallway.  

A shiver runs down your spine as your thoughts run wild about what lies that way, as there's a scrawling script carved into the threshold.

Both excitement and apprehension mix as you decide to settle in first, before getting swept away by your curiosity.

I wonder if my partner has arrived, you think to yourself as you finally set your feet on the path to your new lodgings.

An open framed doorway shows off a common area, filled with comfy looking couches, a few small tables as well as some bookshelves that appear to have board games, and much more modern books for leisure reading.

A small television adorns the far wall and you smile as you notice there are even a few gaming consoles on the shelf beneath.  

You can only assume that your unknown companion is either already further down in a room, or hasn’t arrived yet.  

Turning to continue down the hall, you take in a dining room, what appears to be a small storage area, then two doors opposite one another at the end of the hall.  

As you head towards them, a soft humming fills the silence, and you realize you’re not alone.

Ah, they must be here already, you think to yourself as you notice the door on the left is open a crack.

The melodic voice draws you in, and you can’t stop yourself from taking a peek through the gap to seek out the owner.

Wide shoulders grace your sight, short dark hair skimming the collar of a black shirt.

The figure looks to be unpacking his own personal duffle as he sings, and you feel yourself enraptured by his lovely song.

You know that the assignments are random, so this man could be from any of the academies around the world.  

Hopefully he’s-

Your thoughts die in your mind as the figure turns, and you notice you’ve pushed the door open further without even realizing it.

It wasn’t the abrupt end of the melody that has your entire being sinking into the depths of despair opening up beneath you. 

No, it was the man that the glorious ballad belonged to that has you begging to be swallowed whole by the void.

The dark brown eyes dance merrily, completely freezing your tongue as a voice you know all too well shatters your dreams.

“It’s you! What a surprise!” 

It’s as if your very soul slowly seeps out of your body, as his voice knocks you right back to the life you’d left behind at the academy. 

Of all the people, of all the Guardians you could have possibly been assigned with….

His big goofy grin breaks you from your frozen trance as he approaches you, looking as if this isn’t the worst thing to ever happen.

Finally managing a weak semblance of a smile, you just let out a soft breath.

“Yeah…great.” you all but groan.

The one person you thought you’d finally been rid of.

Byun Baekhyun.

Weeks have passed and you’ve done your best to settle into this new, fascinating environment.

This was everything you’ve longed for, worth every agonizing minute spent in the harsh preparation you were subjected to at the academy.

Solitude, tranquility, exhilaration.

All things you feel as you inhale the ancient parchment of the script before you.  

Diligently translating the forbidden text, you find yourself lost in reverie, pondering what type of person belonged to the hand that had penned this.

The chime of the large lock startles you from your focus, drawing your gaze from the yellowed pages before you.

Arching your back as you look up, your jaw crack open in a large yawn.  

Midnight already? You think, rolling your shoulders as you rub your eyes with a fist.  

It was sunlight before you’d sat down with this set of tomes, but clearly the day had gotten away from you.

Smiling to yourself, you gently place the silk ribbon between the pages, closing the heavy tome before standing to allow your blood to flow a bit better to your legs.

“It’s like we’re right back at the academy.” A cheerful voice breaks the silence, and it takes everything within you to not groan out loud in annoyance.

Baekhyun just grins at you, perching in one of the narrow alcoves with his legs extended, a laptop resting on his thighs.

“Not quite.” You mutter, turning to ignore the man as you ponder when the last time you ate was.

“Did you want to eat?” Baekhyun’s voice seems to pluck the very thoughts from your mind, raising your irritation even more.

“Fine.” You grumble, not even turning to look his way as you head towards the kitchen hall.

Even though it’s been weeks since you’d walked through those doors, you’d barely spoken a handful of words at the man.

He acts as if we’re friendly, as if he’s completely clueless that it’s better not to interact with one another.

“Did you want to try the-” He starts.

Finally feeling your frustration build, you snap at him,“Will you please just stop?” 

Your voice is soft, yet cold, not even turning to address him.  

The air stills around you as a moment drags by as a small twinge of guilt teases at your heart.

There’s nothing to feel bad about, you think.  

“Alright.” 

His voice is hushed, almost sad and you can’t help but feel as if you’ve kicked a puppy.

Goddamn it, you think, why’d it have to be him?

Taking a breath, you shake your head, back still to him.

“I’m just hungry and tired.  I’ll cook something.” 

“Awesome!” 

There it is, that god's awful cheeriness that seems to come so easily to him.

Weariness washes over you, making you sigh as you head to the kitchen, hearing him bouncing along behind you.

The large restaurant style kitchen is a dream, you think as you head to the large walk in cooler to see what you can find to throw together.

Gathering ingredients, you do your best to ignore the man who is now kicking his feet from the tall stool he’s sat on, watching you curiously from the island in the middle of the room.

At least he seems to get that I don’t want to hear his annoying voice, you think as you start cooking.

It was a long way from the big dining hall you’d eaten in at the school.

Your thoughts drift back to all the times you’d longed to be invited into the groups of kids who were talking and laughing with one another; bantering about the rankings, coordinating meetups, discussing classes.

It’s not that you’d necessarily chosen to eat alone, solitary and quiet as you watched on, but it’s also not as if anyone had even made an attempt to-

That’s not true, a small part of your brain reminds you.

The twinkling eyes of the man watching you cook just brings back all the frustration you felt as you recall that very look from across the dining hall.

He was always smiling, laughing, bright and bubbly.  

Uncaring.

Must be nice to not have to work for anything, to not have to prove yourself…

Old resentment churns in your gut, as you try to put it all out of your head.

It doesn't matter now, and you’re stuck here with him no matter how you feel.

The least you could do was attempt to coexist.

He finally breaks the silence between you, his voice heard easily over the noises of the pan on the stove.

“You don’t talk much.” he observes, “I was always curious about that. At the academy  students used to say you don’t like people, but I always thought-” he rambles, as you tap the metal spatula, clanking it loudly against the pan,, clearing your throat, you feel your old instinct to run away creep in.

“You always thought what?” You ask softly, your shoulders tense as you wait for him to say the worries in your mind.

He pauses before continuing, slowing down and seeming a bit more subdued by your sudden gesture.

“...that you just really liked to study and focus.”

Blinking at the odd words you hadn’t expected to hear, you finally glance over your shoulder at the man staring back at you.

His big dopey grin only confuses you more, as it always has, as you release a soft breath.

He didn’t say the words in your head, the words you always heard whispered amidst your “peers” at the academy.

“Why doesn’t she speak to anyone?”

“I heard her gift was strange, I’m surprised she got in here…”

“I’ve never even heard of her family.”

“Family? I heard she’s an orphan, she doesn’t even have a surname-”

They didn’t even have the decency to laugh at you or giggle at your expense as they said these things.

It was the horrible pity behind those condescending eyes, the whispers of doubt as they seemed to avoid you.

Well…all but the strange man currently tilting his head at you.

“I did. I still do.” You tell him, unable to break his gaze as he beams at you.

Shaking off his weird conversation and unwelcome memories, you turn back to check the food.  

“Ah, well that’s good! I mean, I don’t know how you don’t lose your mind after hours of that, but if you like it…” He shrugs.

“It’s my task, as you know.” You state simply, turning back to the food, then grabbing some plates to serve it to him, then your own.

“Of course. I just figured…we could get to know one another more” he says, looking at you with hopeful eyes.

“Ask anything you want about my work here, I’m happy to answer.” you tell him, taking a seat, making sure there’s one between you.

His hopeful smile falters as he slowly nods, turning to eat his meal.

“Ah…well…okay, we can talk about work,” he says.

Shaking your head, you dig into your own meal, not understanding why he’s going so far, even here, to pity you. 

You just didn’t know how to tell him he didn’t have to bother.

You both eat your meal, mostly in silence, not quite sure what he wants from you.

Things have been quiet in the common area and you can’t help but find it almost stifling.

Who knew you’d end up craving a break to the monotony, when usually you relish in it?

Despite your resistance to his attempts to get to know you, you find yourself searching Baekhyun out as you glance up from your vial.  

More and more as time passes, you find your gaze straying from whatever it was you were doing to seek him out.

It was just curiosity, seeing as he’s the only one around.

It definitely isn’t interest in him, as much as the distracting man tries to get to know you.

You’ve been employing some of the chemistry from your transmutation book for a few hours now, but you can’t seem to focus enough to get it right.

Blowing out a frustrated breath, you try to stop yourself from wondering what he’s doing.

Maybe I’ll go check my plants, you think, gently placing the glass vessel back in its rack.

You stand and make your way down the long hallway, idly pondering what lies behind some of the locked doors.

As you brush your fingers across each door frame, you can feel the shimmering tension of strong magic protecting the secrets within.

Suppressing a shiver, you finally reach the glass doors that lead into the underground garden where the herbs grow.

A smile already plays across your lips as you slip inside, breathing in the fragrance of the thriving plants.  

How they did so well down here was a mystery-

Your thoughts are cut off as you hear the familiar soft melody of singing, eyes immediately seeking the only other being that resides here.

A gentle white light illuminates an area off to the right, down a pathway overhung with branches from the trees.

Furrowing your brow, you slowly approach the crouched figure of Baekhyun.

White light glows from his outstretched hands as he seems to almost caress the plants growing in front of him.

Your breath catches as you watch the tiny sprouts react, seeming to almost lean towards his open palms, stretching to bask in the light.

Taking in a rare moment to observe, you can’t help but admire the way his dark hair falls over his brow, the muscles in his broad shoulders flexing as he gently sings to the growth.

Without even looking at you, his song trails off and he speaks softly.

“This particular patch was infected with a blight,” he informs you, “I’ll likely change the setup a bit so they aren’t getting affected by the fungi nearby…”

Blinking yourself out of the little trance his voice has put you in, you just swallow and nod, feeling silly as it’s not like he can see you.

“Okay,” you whisper, finding yourself drawn forward to crouch beside him and watch the process.

Within the academy, it was forbidden to share any personal powers amongst your fellow students; it was ingrained in you from the start that the most important thing was keeping your posts safe.

That included never knowing what others were capable of, until you were placed.

You had wondered why you weren’t told who your partner was, and weren’t informed about his powers.

Everything is a test, you think wryly, sighing.

As always, it was for you to find out on your own, as he was likely not informed about yours.

“How…?” You ask him, still whispering as if speaking in any tone louder than a whisper will break the spell he seems to be holding over the plants.

Your eyes are locked on him as he finally looks away from his work, his eyes caramel in the glow of his magic as they meet yours.

A gentle smile plays on his lips, and he studies your face for a moment before responding.

“Photosynthesis...it’s a lucky side effect of my gift.” 

“I had no idea that you were the reason they were thriving.” You feel the strange warmth of something in the pit of your stomach as you watch him return to tending the fragile herbs.

Minutes tick by, and what should feel awkward as you watch him only feels calming and comfortable.

You’re unsure how much you like this unexpected feeling.

The oppressive darkness cradling you in its grasp is suddenly broken by a sliver of white, cutting through the comforting cloud.

Groggily, you open your eyes to see a shadowy figure in your now open doorway.

Before reacting on impulse, you take stock of everything around you like you were trained.

You are lying in your bed, deep within the vault.  

Counting the beats of your heart, calming your breathing, you watch as the figure slowly steps forward.

“Baekhyun?” You whisper softly, hoping desperately that it’s the only other person that resides here with you.

The figure doesn’t utter a word, but a soft white glow begins to emit from his palms, then almost forms a soft aura around him as he slowly approaches your bed.

Sitting up, you furrow your brow in confusion.

Certainly, something has happened, he wouldn’t come into your room otherwise.

“Say it again.” he hums, finally reaching your bed.

Yet instead of stopping and waiting for a response, he’s climbing onto the mattress with you, one knee at a time as he slowly crawls his way up to you.

“What-say what…Baekhyun, what are you-?” you manage, before his lips are on yours.

He takes advantage of your open mouth when you gasp in surprise, his tongue searching for yours.

The fugitive muscle ignores the logic of your mind as it meets his eagerly, as do your arms as they wrap around his neck.  

A soft whimper leaves your throat as the man pushes you back onto the bed, dragging the covers off of you before settling his weight between your wantonly parted legs.

“Shh…” he hums as he breaks the kiss, his lips skimming along your jawbone to nip over to your ear, “I can’t stop myself, I want you…”

Warmth pools between your legs as you feel the stiff bulge grind against your core.  

“Baekhyun-” you whine out as he tears at the flimsy nightgown, his hands kneading and grasping your breasts, your sides, touching everywhere as the tiny buttons give or fly off to gods knows where.

“Yes, my name…keep saying it…” his voice has dropped to a lower tone, his heavy breathing causing your hips to lift.  

Mind swirling with desire, you can’t help the way your body reacts to his touch.

As much as the academy prepared you for, this was not one of the things you had ever expected to encounter.

You didn’t have the will to stop him.

This was exactly what you wanted.

The realization has your eyes flying open, looking down at the handsome man as he parts your gown, exposing your naked body to him.

Even his eyes seem to glow with that heavenly light as he looks up at you, letting his gaze rake slowly down your body.

“I may not be able to get you to talk to me, so I’ll make you scream instead…” He rasps out, then your legs are over his shoulders as he slips his hands under your ass, lifting your cunt to his face like you’re his feast.

Whatever words you could have responded with are lost as his lips wrap around your sensitive clit, tongue flicking gently in a circle as he stares up at you.

The glow surrounding him allows you a full view of what he’s doing and it causes your eyes to roll back in your head.

Reaching down to grasp tendrils of his hair, you use your other hand to grab at the pillow under your head; unable to stop your hips from bucking up towards him, and encouraging his wicked mouth.

Shadows flicker along the edges of his light as you feel the need to touch him, to return the same pleasure but he only doubles down, burying his face into you.

His tongue slips down to tease at your entrance as his nose nudges your delicate bud, and you should feel shame at the pooling moisture he’s gathering and swallowing up.

Yet his eyes are brazen, silently pleading with you to let go and scream for him.

So you do.

Your thighs tighten around his head and his eyes blaze with heat like you’ve never seen, white hot and burning as he moans into you.

It doesn’t take much to make you lose complete control.

Just one finger replacing his tongue, his teeth nipping gently at your throbbing clit before he’s sucking and licking you into insanity.

Thrusting deep within you, his impossibly long finger curls and you’re crying his name for all the slumbering creatures beneath the earth to hear.

Hips lifting, thrusting into his face, his palm cups your ass as he helps you ride your way through your orgasm.

“Baekhyun, fuck I-”  

His glowing eyes flicker, your head swimming as confusion overcomes you.

“Hey…hey-” you hear, and startled, you feel yourself gasping for air as you sit up.

“Hey, you were screaming for me? Is everything okay?”

Blinking, looking around, you realize that you're still in your bed.

But looking down, your nightgown is still intact, buttons perfectly placed.

Covers are drawn over you, and Baekhyun hovers near the door, looking confused and concerned.  

“Was it a nightmare?” He asks tentatively.

Trying to calm yourself, you merely nod, taking in a deep breath.

“Yeah…” you answer, covering your face with your hand at the memory…and the soaked panties you’re currently concealing beneath the blanket.

“Yeah…nightmare…I’m fine.” you tell him hollowly, and he just nods, pausing a moment before he’s turning to close the door behind him.

“Fuck…” you say, flopping back on your pillow, cheeks heating with the memory of the “nightmare.”

What the fuck is wrong with you?

The following days, you swear Baekhyun senses something is off.

What the hell possessed you to dream of him in that way? 

Why the fuck are you upset, it was only a dream??

You find yourself going over the same line for the 15th time, still unable to comprehend it and you just lean back in your chair to run your hand over your face.

Before, you’d have heard something from Baekhyun like, “Is something wrong?” or “Is everything okay?”

But now…

You glance over, catching him looking away right as you do, going back to whatever it was he was documenting.

He’s been especially withdrawn, not his usual exuberant self since the garden…since the night you woke up screaming his name.

Feeling the heat travel up your neck at the thought, you clear your throat and rub the spot as if that will help it disappear.

Who knew you’d be missing his normal annoying banter.

“I can’t focus…I…maybe I should eat…” you say out loud, eyes darting to him as he sits in his little alcove.

His eyes meet yours, seeming to search for something, but you have no idea what.  

“Come if you want...I’ll likely make more than I can manage anyhow.” You toss out, turning to walk towards the kitchens.

Not sure why, but your heart sinks as silence meets you, but then seems to bob right back as you hear his feet hit the tiles and he slowly follows behind you.

It’s just a meal, you think, chastising yourself as you go about pulling out ingredients.

You can feel his eyes on you as you set about preparing your meal, and you glance over to study him.

“I’m sorry again about waking you the other evening.” You say, flinching at how your voice shakes.

He merely shrugs, settling his elbow on the counter and placing his hand on his palm as he studies you.

“Nothing to be sorry about.  It happens.”  

Frowning, you just turn back around to pay attention to the food and not burn anything.

“When we were at the academy, you used to do this late at night.” He finally breaks the silence.

Turning to give him an odd look, you try to think about all the late nights you ended up in the kitchens there.

“How…how do you know that?”  You ask him softly, swallowing at how his cheeks redden and his gaze drops, suddenly finding the counter interesting.

“I used to have nightmares too…sometimes I still do.” He whispers, fingernail tracing the patterns in the glossy marble.

“Occasionally, I would wander to clear my mind.  One night…I came across you in the kitchen cooking and humming.”

A smile teases at his lips, his eyes unfocused as if remembering, “I got curious and looked inside to see who was up so late.  I’d…never seen you smile before.  No matter how many times I tried to talk to you…but that night…” he shrugs again, his eyes flicking up to meet yours before looking away again.

Raising an eyebrow, you can only wait for him to continue, oddly fascinated to be told he’d been spying on you.

It doesn’t feel invasive like it should, no…it just has you wondering what he thought, what he saw…what he felt.

“I smiled?” You ask him gently, encouraging him.  

He looks up at you, eyes flicking back and forth as they study you, his corners of his lips lifting slowly.  

“Yes…you were beau-” he starts, but then his eyes widen, standing abruptly as he points behind you.

“Oh shit!” you exclaim, turning as you finally register the smoke pouring from the dry, burning food in the pan.

“Hold on, don’t panic-” he says, yet before his words get through to you, you’re grabbing the metal handle with your bare hand.

The clatter of the pan hitting the burner echoes through the room as you gasp, your hand throbbing with searing pain.

“Oh god, fuck, I’m stupid-” 

“Wait, don’t move.” He hums, calmly turning off the burner before turning to grasp your wounded hand.  

“It’s so fucking cliche, burning my hand, I’m an idiot-” you find yourself rambling.

“Shh…” he whispers, turning your palm up in his hands, studying the long angry burn on your skin.

Swallowing heavily, you can only nod, heart beating quickly at his proximity, at his gentle touch as he leans down to softly blow on your injury. 

The soft glow that surrounds both of your hands is warm, then cool as you feel relief.  

Startled, you watch the welt that was forming slowly fade until only unblemished skin remains.

“You…you can heal?” You ask him, stunned into stuttering your words.

His eyes are still on your palm, his thumb gently tracing the memory of the now healed burn before he nods.  

“Please be more careful.” He asks, glancing up at you as his fingers linger on your skin.

Blushing, you just nod back at him, your brain racing with confusion.

“How cliche of me, grabbing a pan without a mitt, of course I’d do something like that.  I don’t normally burn food, you know.  Now I’m going to have to-” you rant, pulling your hand from his as you attempt to turn around and clean up the now ruined food.

“You are beautiful when you smile. I wish I could see it more.” He blurts out, freezing you in your tracks.  

Eyes wide, you turn slowly to stare at him in disbelief.

It’s his turn to go beet red, fumbling for his own words as he seems to realize he said that out loud.

“I mean, you’re beautiful anyhow but I like when you seem happy…fuck…I just don’t want you to hate me like you do and I don’t know how to make you more comfortable…” 

Dumbfounded at the outpouring of confusing words, you can’t manage to get a syllable out before he’s rushing from the room.  

“I’m not hungry, I’m fine, I’ve got things to do-” the door swings shut before he finishes, leaving you standing dazed and staring off after him.

You’re not sure what is going on here, but things just got that much more confusing.

[girlcrushart]

Of course I had to post Alysha Newman today. For starters, it would be unpatriotic not to. She did, after all, win a medal for Canada yesterday. Yay! Also, @whoiwanttoday would spin a web of lies about how I don't like girls or athletes or washboard abs, which is all terribly untrue and I need to get ahead of that. Alysha is a pole vaulter, which is why I chose this Pole Vault Warrior photo, even tho it covers up those aforementioned washboard abs, which I guess just means I'll have to post her again sometime soon. Pole vaulting is honestly super weird to me—impressive of course. But like, what a strange super-specialized skill to have?! It feels ancient in some way, like it comes from a time where it was important to be able to scale a castle wall quickly and attack. It does also seem to attract remarkably hot women (I mean, Allison Stokke. like, seriously), so I'm all for it. And it added to our medal haul, which is always nice. These are just a few of the reasons why today's girlcrushart guardian is Alysha Newman.

[rw-repurposed]

Scavenger Chieftains

They are the chieftains who served their people within Chasing Wind's facility ground. For more of their tribe lore, you can check Chasing Wind's log regarding the tribes.

Recorded Broadcast #004 - 1700.115 - Chasing Wind

Each of these chieftains is regarded highly within their tribes.

Sama-Sama is the KING of the Megakarta Kingdom. He leads his people well and wise. He is a long relative to Kami-Kami, the chieftain of the Urbaningrum Tribe.

Kami-Kami is the chieftain of Urbaningrum Tribe. Urbaningrum was the old city of CW's ancients before they moved up to Megakarta, now it's inhabited by Kami-Kami's tribe.

Kaya-Kaya is the greedy chieftain of the Old Mine Tribe. This tribe is the richest of all scavenger tribes- living within old mine vaults filled with pearls and minerals stored tightly by their elites.

Rawa-Rawa is the elusive Chieftain of the Swampland Tribe. He was a young Chieftain for a scavenger, but he leads the Swamp Tribe fairly and hunts food in the swamp alongside them- making him popular amongst the tribe.

Baja-Baja is the cruel leader of the Scavenger Pirates that dwell within the Garbage Disposal Region. These pirates are outcasts from the 10 scavenger tribes that formed into Pirates under Baja-Baja that steal resources and kidnap younglings from the other tribes to grow as their own. They are violent and hostile toward anything.

Poho-Poho is the fearless leader of the Giant Forest Tribe. The tribe lives in the dense giant forest filled with the most dangerous creatures in the facility ground. Which is why they are the most athletic and combat-trained tribe of all. Their outfits are all camouflaged and they used Grapple Worms and tamed Cyan Lizards to swing and boost from branches to branches.

Tani-Tani is the Agriculture Complex Chieftess with the choir of an angel. The Farmers (As they called themselves) Are experts in musical instruments, controlling the plants to their will using the sound of music. This is how they overcame the carnivorous plants all over the complex.

Buki-Buki is the wise chieftain of the Upstream Tribe. She led the tribe over cliffs and waterfalls of the freezing cold Upstream, where they insulated themselves with their natural fur and warm fur cloaks they shaved from the Wool Deers.

Jaga-Jaga is the Elder Monk of Mt.Everhigh Scavenger Monks. The Mountain Monks are a secretive group of Scavengers that live on the peak of Mt.Everhigh, there, they praise and pray to the Echoes. Self-immolating their limbs and wearing Echo Masks and were enlightened by the presence of Echoes. They are the only tribe that practices the religion of the ancients of the past.

Huta-Huta is the Guardian of the Sanctuary Protectors of the Green Sanctuary. The Sanctuary Protectors are a group of Scavengers that were engineered and trained to protect the Green Sanctuary by CW's admin, Stains of Shadow Over a Realm's Sorrow. The sanctuary keeps all kinds of creatures and plants that over time spread throughout the facility ground, and the Protectors must keep it balanced.

[M.I.A]

Aku-Aku is the brutal Commando of Chasing Wind's Skyvenger. He serves CW as his Commando of the Skyvenger troops patrolling the Facility Ground, Defending their outposts, and quenching any attacks from the other Scavenger tribes. The attached wings and limbs gave the Skyvenger advantages over the other Scavengers.

Character List

[direwolfrules]

Rebels crack AU where Ezra and Kanan keep dragging the Ghost Crew on field trips to do mythical Force Stuff TM and on almost every one of these field trips Sabine stumbles over an ancient Mandalorian artifact or completes some rite of passage.

Like, they go to some random moon to commune with an ancient Force deity, and Sabine trips over what at first glance appears to be a rock, but upon further inspection, it turns out to be the kriffing Mask of The Mandalore. Just lying there. In the dirt. The original symbol of Mandalorian Rulership is half buried by sand on some nowhere rock.

Hera decides to go to the local markets on some Outer Rim planet while Kanan and Ezra do some Force nonsense in an abandoned temple and drags Sabine with her. In this run-down antique shop Sabine sees the most famous tapestry of Mandalore the Binder’s life story, one woven by Mandalore the Binder himself.

They go to Jedha to complete a trial for the Guardians of the Whills and because these things seem to take forever, Sabine goes to a restaurant to get lunch. She trips over an old man on her way back to her table with her food, and before she can finish apologizing he just smiles at her and tells her it's alright before walking away. Later, once they are all back on the ship Sabine opens her bag only to realize there's a holocron in it. She gets Ezra to open it and it's Tarre Vizsla's holocron.

They go to Tatooine to fight a Darkside ghost and Sabine gets poisoned by Tuskens. She manages to fight her way into their camp and get the antidote, with minimal help because the only crew member left outside the ancient Darkside vault beside her was Chopper. Later on Sabine talks to her parents about how weird of a day it's been and Ursa's so proud she went through that ancient trial, her many times great-grandmother would be so pleased. (This was my least favorite Tatooine quest in SWTOR).

[tinycheesecakedetective]

INTRODUCTION

 "Deep within the bowels of Beast-Yeast rests a forest unlike anything you've seen before. Walls of ivy weave through abandoned settlements. The canopy of trees looms above you, each branch buckling and interlocking with another as they block your path. Dirt roads litter the floor, always ending at the same place."

 "What was once a solace for many has twisted into a refuge for one cookie only. Those that enter her woods are at her mercy."

 "She is relentless, she is cruel, and she is desperate. And you're the only one who can stop her."

  ~~~~~~~~

Hello everyone! I'm back to ramble on some more about things I made. Today I would like to talk about Wilted Lily Cookie! Of course, I won't be going too deep into her. This post will be covering her general vibes, as well as a bit about her area and her backstory. This will not be covering her relationships with other cookies, her arc with Fleur de Sal, any other motivations, etc. All of those topics will be covered in future posts.

Now, without further ado, let's begin.

GENERAL INFORMATION

  Once the witches' most promising protégé, Wilted Lily was revered and adored by her peers and followers. But after an attack from wild witches, the growing tension on Earthbread, and a confrontation turned violent, the Silver Guardian turned her back on everything she knew. Now known as the Witch of the Ravenous Wilds, the beast became hellbent on making the witches atone for their actions.

While her overall demeanor appears meek, do not be fooled. Her cruelty knows no bounds, and she can upend societies with a single hum. Her word is a disease that plagues the hearts and minds of her followers, and her confidants remain loyal to her and her madness alone. Don't bother reasoning with them, they can't be saved.

Wilted Lily is the fourth ancient to become a beast.

She's naturally gifted at phytokinesis, but leans more on dark magic.

Back when she was the Silver Guardian, Elder Faerie would show her a special vault of spells, giving her a wide access to faerie magic.

Her relationship to the beasts as a whole is neutral, viewing them as a necessary demonstration of the witches' neglect. Once she stops them, well... The other beasts won't be an issue.

LOCATIONS

The Ravenous Wilds   Beyond the borders of Faeriewood lies the Ravenous Wilds, a no man's land overrun by plant life and dark magic of all kinds. The forest is almost impossible to enter by normal means. Wilted Lily has ensured that herself. Those that try to enter never return, or rather don't return whole.

If you manage to enter despite that, you'll be met with a heavy fog and gnarled, overgrown vines mimicking trees swaying in the wind. The sky becomes a light crimson, and no stars are visible to the naked eye. Many strange and new creatures wander the wilds, and they won't attack unless they deem you a threat, so keep your head low and your weapons lower.

The deeper you go, the more distorted the wilds become. Nerves of vines pulsate as the first trees appear, sickly and grey and weaving within each other. They tower over you, blocking the red skies with their canopy of branches. Bugs larger than you skitter up and down the chafing trunks. Eyes begin to watch you, some curious, some malicious, and others still apathetically.

The Nest   The first set of buildings appear, shaped like cages and whittled out of silver branches. They fractal, everything bleeding out into lines and lines of houses and branches. It's incredibly easy to get lost here, as the beginning looks exactly the same as the end. The wildlife here seems to appear... calmer. Several types of docile animals appear, as well as a wider variety of plant life. But don't let your guard down. The threat here isn't the flora or fauna, it's the legion of Fae that live here. Avoid them at all costs. They don't take too kindly to visitors.

The Calamity Point   At the epicenter of it all is Wilted Lily Cookie's "kingdom," If it can even be called that. A few vanilla orchids can be seen scattered near the ground alongside other shrubs. Jagged sets of silver branches reach down into the floor, making up each spire's walls and rooms. Webs of white moss line the windows in numerous patterns. Lilies grow from the dirt floor and clear water flows throughout the kingdom.

At the center of it all is The Heart, made up of every vine in the forest. It hangs over the center of the room, pulsating and beating life into this cursed realm. Mucus seeps out and drips onto the floor, birthing many abominations that terrorize the land. Many Fae tend to it, patiently awaiting the reawakening of The Calamity herself. If you look closely, you can see the faint silhouette of Wilted Lily Cookie within.

BACKSTORY

The Death of the Silver Guardian

  As the herald of Solidarity, Wilted Lily Cookie acted as the Faerie King's most trusted advisor and as a guide for lost and wandering cookies. Perhaps her most notable job, however, was as the Witches' Apprentice. When she first was created, Lily herself sought to study under her creators and learn their ways. In return, she would benefit all of cookie-kind with her newfound knowledge and skill. Of course, working so closely with the creators meant Wilted Lily was restricted with what she could share and do. Under their careful watch, she would never become a ruler, and she could never venture outside of their watchful eye.

But rules were meant to be broken, and Lily often traveled beyond her creator's boundaries despite their warnings. Until one fateful day. She had made her usual rounds outside of her range, researching the creatures and wildlife that thrived there, when she was ambushed by wild witches, savage and cruel. Unlike the benevolent witches, these hags cared not for her life; the only thing that they valued was how she tasted. With her power, she managed to escape within an inch of her life and ran back to her creators. The witches, benevolent and kind, forgave her for going beyond their sight, and reassured Lily that as long as they lived they would never let harm befall their beloved cookies.

For the time, this was enough to satisfy Wilted Lily Cookie. True to their word, she never saw those wild witches again. But doubt isn't rational, and it began to creep into her heart like a thorny vine. Had they really stopped those awful savages? What if her creators, blessed they be, also ate cookies? The lunatics at the edge of the world were still witches, weren't they, surely they wouldn't be so easily stopped, right? And if they couldn't, then was she actually learning anything of use? What if they were lying to her?

                 What if they lied about everything?

  "...could I trust them? Should I trust them?"

This seed of doubt overtook her mind, and she paused her apprenticeship. Her fears manifested into plotting all sorts of schemes and defenses for the worst case scenario. To help prepare the world, Lily broke her silence about the incident to some of her followers and noted the... very unique reactions to her plight. She had tried to tell her friends, the other guardians, but by now many of them had become unreachable. The only two willing to listen were her lover and a haunted wraith, and even then they could only do so much. Times were getting worse. More and more cookies came fleeing from the other realms. Attacks on the Faerie Kingdom became more frequent, and armies counting up to the thousands came like floods. Wilted Lily did the best that she could, but it wasn't enough. Where were the witches? Why weren't they helping them? Discouraged and frustrated, she came to the rational conclusion that this problem was something only she could handle. After all, she knew the witches better than anyone.

One fateful day, she went to confront them herself. A single cookie against the world, armed against the only gods she ever knew. She demanded answers. She demanded to know why they weren't acting. Their answers felt hollow, scared even. Wilted Lily could've never imagined they'd look so helpless. How disgraceful. Lily steeled her nerves, glaring with disdain before rushing to attack them. Even with the power of her soul jam, she knew this would be no easy feat. But she never expected to lose this quickly.

She felt her body quickly being cast down, feeling cracks run along her back. She couldn't move. The pain seared through her dough like none before and none ever would. She blinked a few times, seeing the deep regret the witches had on their faces. A bitter laugh echoed from her aching body. Everything blurred. One second she was on the ground, the next in her lover's embrace. Lily dove in and out of consciousness before finally stabilizing in Pure Vanilla's kingdom, accompanied by him and other healers working to help her.

The days melted into each other. Her recovery was swift, but nothing could heal the wounds carved into her heart. When she finally returned home, Pure Vanilla asked if he could stay by her for a bit longer. She didn't remember what she told him, not like it would matter. Wilted Lily forced him out, ignoring the thumps against the thorn wall and drowned out his pleas with her sorrow. One day, he would understand. But she couldn't afford any distractions. She was going to get her vengeance. Even if it meant becoming the very thing she swore to fight against.

  ~~~~~~~~

[retro-stars]

Honestly can someone please explain how New Rome functions to me like I'm five Because this is a demigod settlement with an economy that has all the standard commodities and financial systems of a city, a university, a school system, and if their general hesitation towards outsiders says anything, most likely an in-built program to welcome, settle, and accommodate the extended families of any new demigods or legacies, plus the literal vault of gold they have, so realistically the population is pretty big, no?? It's likely possible for them go unnoticed even with a big population considering how spread out most of the USA is and while we do know that New Rome almost definitely doesn't continue past the horizon when we hear descriptions of it from characters looking down from the Argo II as they land (so it's probably less than 36 km across in all) that's still a pretty fucking big area capable of housing upwards of 1.5 million people. Or hell, look up the actual Ancient Rome (the city that is) which is estimated to have had somewhere around ~500k residents at only about 16 square kilometres, by modern estimations And what makes this even harder is that the hand-wavy descriptions of what the architecture actually looks like beyond "classical" means that for all we know the entire city's living in 19th century apartment buildings (or hell, if the mist is strong enough, high-rises, though that's unlikely as one of the characters probably would've taken note of that), which creates a wildly different population estimate as opposed to, say, if New Rome was primarily made up of the average American suburbs. And mind you, both of those are entirely valid options for how New Rome could look like seeing as we have little to no way of knowing what the standard living situation and/or family unit might look like It gets more confusing when you consider that the 10-years-serving-the-legion rule likely functions like economic immigrants, with the serving of one person allowing for their family to come with and/or them getting rich enough to sponsor people getting in without heading through the army first We also know that they do not have a public transport system and don't use cars so New Rome would've been built with the idea that any necessities (medical, housing, etc.) are within a 15-30 minute walk of you and the city is constructed around the political centre, with any shopping/trading areas, shrines, or entertainment areas such as a theatre also being in the centre So all things considered they could totally have a population in the hundred thousands, though realistically since the city has to be at least 90% Roman legacies and demigods if we account for the mortals brought in through familial relation (spouses, parents/guardians of demigods, etc.) puts a cap of about 50,000 on the population and the actual number at around 20,000, give or take a few thousand

And then fucking Rick jumps in and goes "Oh the population is only like a 1000 people :D" and refuses to elaborate on how or why

[vodika-vibes]

Since Fives is a really good investigator (evident with him finding about Order 66), can I request an x reader fic where he investigates a string of heists involving Jedi artefacts committed by the reader, who is a flirty master thief, and he tries to pursue her across Coruscant to bring her to justice?

Knew You Were Trouble

Summary: When ancient artifacts start vanishing from the Jedi Temple, stolen from right under the noses of both the archivists and the Jedi Guardians, Fives decides to investigate.

Pairing: Pre ARC Trooper Fives x Thief F!Reader

Word Count: 2484

Warnings: Reader is described as having a feminine body, and wearing makeup. Reader is given the codename Shadow for ease.

Tagging: @trixie2023 @n0vqni @imabeautifulbutterfly

A/N: Sorry that this took so long! I've had it sitting open in a Doc for days, but I finally got an idea! Reader's outfit is similar to this outfit from Persona 5 Royal. Though without the weapons. There may be a part two of this, if I ever get the motivation.

“General Nu-”

“Master,” The older woman corrects, as she glances at Fives out of the corner of her eye, and then turns back to her work, “What can I help you with, Corporal?”

“I think a holocron is missing.” Fives replies as he looks at the open spot on the shelf. There’s some discoloration, as though something had been sitting there for a long time.

The older woman hurries over and glances at the spot, a severe frown on her lips. She stares at the spot for a moment, and then releases a heavy sigh. “Again?”

“Ma’am?”

Jocasta Nu shoots him a severe look, and Fives fights the urge to quail under her glare, “How are you at investigations, Corporal?”

“...decent enough, I suppose.”

“Good, follow me.” The older woman leads him through the archives until she reaches her desk, and then she turns a monitor towards him, and she navigates to a file of saved videos, “Watch. This was recorded 5 months ago.”

Fives focuses on the screen.

It’s security footage of the Archives, and he watches as someone, a woman based on her body shape, slips in a window.

She’s dressed oddly, almost in a leotard, with thigh high boots, a long overcoat, and a sharp looking domino mask covering the upper part of her face hiding her features from the camera.

She locks her gaze on the camera and presses a finger against her lips, as if shushing someone, and the camera feed goes fuzzy.

“This next one was taken three weeks after that.”

The monitor flickers, and then there’s an image of the same woman opening one of the vaults before the feed cuts out.

“And last night.”

The monitor changes one more time, and the exact same person, dressed exactly the same, is shown blatantly taking a holocron from the shelf, before she, again, disconnects the cameras.

Fives pulls away from the monitor and focuses his gaze on General Nu, “The same person has broken in three times-”

“She’s broken in a grand total of a dozen times…we’ve only caught her on camera thrice.” General Nu corrects.

“...and the Temple Guard haven’t done anything?”

“They are of the opinion that she doesn’t exist.” The older woman scowls, “Honestly, I don’t even know why she’s targeting us. It’s not like we keep gems on hand.”

“You keep knowledge on hand though. And to some people, that’s worth more than all the gems in the galaxy.” Fives points out.

The woman bristles and then her shoulders slump, “Yes. I know. I want you to try and find her and bring her to justice.”

Fives exhales through his teeth, “With all due respect, ma’am. I’m due to ship out with the 501st tomorrow-”

“I’ll handle it. Will you help?”

Nervously Fives rubs the back of his neck, and then he sighs, “Yeah, alright. Assuming you can get permission, I’ll help. Do you have any evidence for me to go on?”

Master Nu smiles, it’s a sharp little thing and for a moment Fives wonders why she isn’t in charge of the war effort. “The holocron she stole has a tracking chip inside it. And, since holocrons can only be opened by force sensitives, it means she couldn’t have removed it.”

“Why didn’t you tell the Temple Guard about it?”

“Because, again, they don’t believe she actually exists.” General Nu presses a small datapad into his hand, “Here, this is what you need to track the holocron.”

“Thanks.”

“I’ll let you know what the Council says about your deployment.”

“Thanks for that too,” Fives replies as he powers the device on and waits for it to scan for the tracking fob that it’s keyed to. As soon as the screen lights up, he grabs his helmet and pulls it on and leaves the archives.

The fob is located in a warehouse only a short speeder ride away from the temple. 

And a quick search of the net tells him that the Warehouse is supposed to be abandoned. A deeper search of the net tells him that the warehouse was slated for demolition several years ago, but it just never happened.

“We have arrived at your destination.” The taxi droid chirps, “Thank you for your patronage.” Fives steps out of the speeder and glances at the datapad one more time.

“Seven warehouses,” He murmurs, zooming in a little bit, “I’m looking for building A-2478/23.” The speeder zips off while he’s not paying attention to it, not that he minds, really.

Fives wasn’t planning on returning to the temple right away anyway.

He glances at the datapad one more time, and then looks up and around. The buildings have to be labeled, right?

Ah! There, the closest building, is A-2475/23.

So odds are on the left side and evens would be on the right, assuming that this place is designed with any sort of logic. He jogs over to the first building on the right until he’s able to see the white letters on the side of the building.

A-2474/23.

So two down then.

The warehouse he’s looking for is a little more rundown than the other ones. Boarded up windows, rust replacing the green paint in places, leaking pipes…

And yet-

Fives moves to where the door is located, his eyes narrowing. The lights over the door are new. The broken windows are broken in such a way that it looks intentional. The doorknob on the door is also new, all of the rust is painted on.

He walks over to a rusty patch and he tugs off his glove to touch the rust with his bare fingers. It’s not real. 

Someone has gone to great lengths to make this place look like it’s been condemned. 

He walks over to the door and lightly touches the doorknob. How long has it been since he’s seen a building using a door like this, rather than the more mechanized ones that are seen everywhere.

Clever.

If he wasn’t looking for something out of place, he’d likely think that this building was ancient and wouldn’t give it a second thought.

Luckily, he’s smarter than the average bear, so to speak.

He pulls his hand away from the doorknob and pulls his glove back on. There’s no way he’s going through the front door. That’s just asking for trouble. 

He circles the warehouse, thoughtfully. Considering all of his options.

Opening the bay doors isn’t an option, he’d never get them open on his own from the outside. The ground floor windows are also out, anyone inside would see him immediately.

His gaze lands on the fire escape. Like the rest of the building, the ladder doesn’t look like it would carry the weight of a small child, let alone a man full grown. 

However, Fives has already seen evidence of someone going out of their way to try and make this place look more dangerous than it is. So he walks over to the ladder and jumps up to grab the bottom most rung.

Fives hangs there for a moment, waiting, and when the fire escape doesn’t dissolve under his weight, or even shake, he feels comfortable hoisting himself up to the fire door.

The door looks rusted beyond belief, and Fives is sure that it’s all fake rust. But he’s not so stupid to try and touch the door. Fire doors are notoriously sensitive, he remembers that from ARC Training.

So he ignores the door, and instead jumps up to grab the ledge of the roof, and he pulls himself up to the ledge.

A quick survey tells him that there aren’t any sensors on the roof, and he huffs out a quiet laugh, “You’d think that a thief would put sensors on the roof.” He mumbles to himself as he steps onto the gravel roof.

A second quick glance around leads Fives to side-step the roof access door, a door that he’s sure is rigged to an alarm, to crouch next to a window. And this, right here, is all of the proof that he needs that everything about the building is a facade. 

These windows are brand new, and made from blaster proof material. A material that Fives knows was only invented in the last few years.

He can’t see through the windows, not well at least, but he is able to see that there isn’t any movement on the upper walkways. So carefully, very carefully, making sure that none of the windows are wired, he opens one.

One final check that he’s not going to land on anyone, Fives drops into the warehouse, making sure that the window is closed behind him.

Silently he moves from the wall to peer down into the main part of the warehouse. 

There, sitting on a table, is the holocron that was missing. Well, presumably. There are a lot of holocrons on the table. 

On another table are some statues. Some books actually made of flimsy are lined up on another table.

There’s an entire shelf filled with weapons of all types.

And there, pacing between the tables, is a Devaronian man. Fives isn’t able to see the look on his face, and, even more clearly, he’s not the actual thief.

A contractor, perhaps?

Maybe the thief was hired by him to acquire all of these things…though Fives can’t think of a reason why. There’s nothing in common between any of these items that he can see, save for the fact that they’re old.

He scans the warehouse one more time, and then movement catches his eye.

There, perched on a wooden crate, is the thief.

Without her mask.

Fives’ immediate thought was that someone as pretty as her should probably be making a living as a model or an actress or something, not living as a master thief. His second thought is that she’s far too young to have stolen all of the things in the warehouse.

“My darling Shadow,” The man is speaking to Shadow, the thief, and Fives pulls himself out of his thoughts, “You’re so talented.”

“Yes,” She agrees, her voice light, “I am.”

“You’re almost as good as your father.” He continues.

“My father never managed to get into the Jedi Temple. I managed it 12 times in the last year.” Shadow replies, sounding bored out of her mind as she examines her gloves, “But please, do continue telling me how talented my father was.”

Her contractor opens his mouth to say something, and then hesitates, “My dear,” he finally says, condescendingly, “No one is as good as you think you are.”

The young woman lifts her head to say something, and then she pauses, her gaze sliding to the upper walkways. Her gaze locks onto his face, and she smiles, slow and pretty. “We have company.”

The Devaronian jerks, “What? Where!?” He spins around and looks up, and Fives, knowing that he’s been busted, moves a little more into the light. “Kriff! It’s the GAR!” The man yelps, before he shoves all of the holocrons into a bag and sprints away.

Shadow, however, doesn’t bother to run. Instead, she smoothly gets to her feet and pulls her mask on. “‘Won’t you step into my parlor?’ said the spider to the fly?” She coos.

It’s a trap. It’s clearly a trap.

But Fives can’t help but smirk, as he leans over the railing, “Does that make you the spider in this scenario, Miss Shadow?”

“Why don’t you come down and find out, little soldier boy.”

He should go after the contractor. He should. That would be the smart thing to do.

But no one’s ever accused him of being smart.

So Fives grips the railing, and he jumps over the edge.

A quick activation of his jetpack allows him to land lightly on his feet only a few feet away from her. “I’ve come to reclaim the items you took from the Jedi temple.” Fives announces.

Her red painted lips turn up, “Have you? How do you intend to do that?”

“I already caught you.” Fives points out.

She laughs, it’s a pretty sound, “Sweetheart, I haven’t been caught.”

“Yet.”

“Oh, you do think highly of yourself, don’t you?” She murmurs. Her eyes, the only part of her upper face not hidden by her mask, sweep down his body, “Of course, I suppose you have every reason to.”

“You could make this easy on both of us and just turn yourself in.”

“Now, why would I do that?”

“You clearly recognize that I’m an ARC Trooper.”

Her smile widens, “The best of the GAR…on the battlefield. And this, darling, is hardly a battlefield.”

Fives sighs, “You’re going to make me catch you, aren’t you?”

She scans him once more, “Well, I’m always happy to submit to a man in armor-” Fives inhales sharply, and he can feel his face heating under his helmet, “But you haven’t made me submit yet.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“So you’re going to let me go? How nice of you~”

“I didn’t say that.”

Her smile doesn’t waver as she moves. Fives curses, she’s faster than she looks, especially for someone wearing heels that high.

Then she’s right in his space. His helmet lifts, just a little, and warm lips press against his jaw. “Catch me if you can, handsome.” Then she’s gone, balanced on the rafters of the warehouse and smiling down at him, “I’ll let you have the stuff in the warehouse, as a treat.”

It takes him a moment to gather his thoughts, “Let?” He rasps.

Her smile is pretty, “Let. After all, you found me didn’t you. Think of it as…incentive to keep looking for me.”

“If everything is here, then why would I do that?”

She produces a datacron from under her jacket, “I like information, sweetheart. And so, over the last dozen visits to the temple, I made copies of every bit of information that I could. And I have it right here.”

Kriff.

Double kriff.

If that information gets out-

There’s a flash of pink as she licks her lower lip, “Are you motivated yet?”

“Well, I guess I don’t have a choice, do I?” Fives’ jaw clenches, “I am going to catch you.”

“I look forward to it, handsome.” And then she really is gone, out the same window that he entered through.

Slowly, shakily, Fives comms General Nu, “I found…a lot. But the thief got away.” He says as soon as she answers.

“How much is a lot?”

Fives looks around the massive warehouse filled with stolen objects, “A whole warehouse full.” He pauses, “There’s more, too.”

“Tell me when I arrive. You and your…twin…have officially been transferred to me.” General Nu says, “I hope he’s as good an investigator as you.”

The comm cuts off and Fives looks around with a sigh. Well, he never really wanted to fight in a war anyway.

[gachawolfiebloom]

Two Hearts In The City of Love

Chapter 9: Miraculous SMG4

Cover is made by me and Puzzlevision selection is from Smg4. Please do not repost artwork.

Many centuries ago, magic jewels that bestowed extraordinary powers were created. These were called miraculous. Throughout history, many heroes have used these powers for the greater good. Two of these miraculous are more powerful than the others. The earrings of the ladybug which provides the power of creation and the ring of the black cat which grants the power of destruction. There is a legend that says whoever wields both jewels at the same time can achieve the ultimate power and they are granted one wish.

A ominous man in the dark studies the legend and says "I want that power so I can fulfill my wish. I must find these miraculous." He turns to an adware with moth wings that told him "Nobody knows where they are master."

"I found you though."

He picked up a purple broach and said "Tell me, what can you do?"

"The moth broach allows you to give someone their own powers and make them your devoted follower."

The man clasped onto this new miraculous of his and said "Well if we need to lure these so called heroes out of hiding, I'll give them some supervillains!" This adware concernedly said "But I was not programmed to be used for evil purposes." The mysterious man stomped his foot hard on the ground and said "I MUST HAVE THIS ULTIMATE POWER! YOUR MIRACULOUS IS NOW IN MY CONTROL!! I AM YOUR MASTER NOW AND YOU WILL OBEY ME!!!"

It sighed and said with a cold expression "Yes master." With nothing left, but the urge for a wish that so desperately belonged to him, the man put on the broach and said the transformation command. "Adware, Let my wings rise!" A bright white glow surrounded him as the adware got sucked into the miraculous.

Mr Puzzles stepped out of the shadows with a grey suit, cane, and mask. "Let the show begin!" He laughed manically and awaited his first victim. All he needed now was a negative emotion.

"SMG1! SMG1!" The blocky meme guardian was concentrating on some deep breaths when his partner ran into the room. "Smg1! The moth broach! I felt it's aura!" He turned around with a perplexed expression. "I thought it had been lost forever!"

"But Smg1, it's a negative aura. I fear it might have gotten in the hands! of a dark power!" Smg1 shook his head and said "We must find the adware and his miraculous. If it has gotten in the wrong hands, there's no telling what evil will come upon the world!" Smg2 feared how strong this guy might be. "Smg1! We are only guardians! How will we know what this person is capable of?"

"You're right Two. We can't do it alone. We'll need some help." They went over to a vault with an arrow marked on it and inputed a code. The doors opened and revealed an ancient box, filled with pretty jewelry. They grabbed a ring and some earrings, then went out to look for someone that would soon go on to protect the universe.

A few hours had passed and...nothing. The guardians were about to give up when Two got an idea. "Maybe we should test them by putting ourselves in a dangerous situation." One actually liked that plan. "Good idea! We can see who is willing to risk their life for us!"

Three had gotten a late start, rushing to school as quickly as possible. While waiting at a crosswalk, something caught his eye. Two strange, blocky people were about to be hit by a car. Three didn't know what to do. He was always the one who couldn't bother about anyone, but deep down he actually liked to care about others. Screw it! He jumped out and pulled these strangers back to the sidewalk before anyone got hurt.

Unfortunately, he tripped on a curb and fell flat on his face, along with some treats he was carrying. "Thank you sir!" One of the blocky strangers said with relief. The other one nodded and noticed Three struggling to gather any remaining treats. "Oh dear. Do you need help?" He brushed it off and picked up his bags. "Nah. I'm used to stuff like this. I've still got a few left."

The two of them grabbed some cakes out of the box and tried them. "Wow! These are good! Did you make these?" He smirked and said "You're looking at the best chef in all of the Mushroom Kingdom!" He then heard a bell ringing and his eyes widened. "Oh crap, I'm going to be late!" He rushed off as the two waved goodbye to him. One took out a small case and they both nodded.

Arriving in his classroom, Three found a seat that wasn't too far in the back and sat by himself. The teacher said "Mario, why don't you sit in the front this year?" A red, mustached man in the back complained "Whyyyy? Mario doesn't want to!" He groaned and trailed his bag slowly to the front row. Three got out his treats when a fist slammed onto the desk. He looked up to see his mortal enemy, Bowser.

"Smg3..." Three rolled his eyes and whispered "Here we go again..." Bowser stuck a finger in his face and said "That's my seat!" Three looked around for a second and said "I don't see your name on it. Besides, this is MY seat!" Someone next to him piped up "Not anymore!" He found Wario next to him, crossing his arms. Bowser told him "Why don't you go sit besides that sucky new girl over there?" and pointed to someone with orange hair and a beanie on that was sitting in the front.

Three didn't move an inch as he crossed his arms and said "Buzz off Tubby!" Bowser started getting emotional as his eyes started to fill with tears. "Tubby...?" He growled, shaking off these feelings and sternly told the man "Smg4 is arriving today and since that's going to be his seat, this is going to be my seat. GET IT!" He slammed both hands on the desk this time. Three blinked in confusion and asked "Who the hell is Smg4?" Both of them looked surprised at first, but they soon started laughing hysterically. "Can you believe he doesn't know who Smg4 is! What rock have you been living under bro!"

Wario told Three "Smg4 is only a famous creator!" while Bowser continued. "And I am his good friend. He adores me. Now go and move!" The orange haired girl got up and said "Hey! Who elected you the president of seats!" Bowser looked at her with faux panic and mocked the girl by saying "Ooooo look Wario. We have a goody two shoes in our class this year." He got up in her face and said "What are you gonna do, little miss athlete? Shoot ink at me with your blaster?" 

She narrowed her eyes and said "Wouldn't you like to know?" He pushed past the mean turtle and grabbed Three's arm, pulling him over to where she was sitting. Three spilled the last reaming treats on the floor and sighed. "Thanks for helping...I guess?" The girl smiled at him and said "It's okay. Not a big deal."

They sat down together and the girl went on and on about her hobbies such as splatfest, sports, and her favorite food, instant noodles. Three was quite skeptical at first, but lightened up a little as he shared a little bit about himself as well. "Hey, do you like bombs?" Her face lit up and she gladly replied "I love using explosives! I don't mind a little danger!"

Three gave her a soft smile and took the last reaming cake to share. He handed her half while introducing himself. "Smg3." She gladly took it and said "Meggy." While the teacher was talking, Bowser kept staring at the empty seat in front of him. "Shouldn't he have been here by now?"

A boy in a blue shirt and white overalls was running towards the school when a car parked next to him and two men stepped out. "Smg4 please stop! You know what your partner wants!" Four was sick of always letting Mr Puzzles control his life. Ever since he teamed up with him, the guy was so focused on creating engaging content that he didn't care what Four wanted. Well not anymore. "But this is what I want to do!" He was just about to go inside when he saw two strangers being pushed down by people walking by.

Four ran over and helped them up carefully. "Thank you young man!" Four gave them a heartwarming smile, but turned around to see his bodyguards, Chris and Swag with unfazed looks. He sighed and told them "I just want to go to school like everybody else. What's wrong with that?" They led him back to the car and went back home. One and Two gave each other the same nod from earlier and followed them.

The bell rung and everyone was about to go off to their next class when someone from the back said "Bob! Stop it!" Boopkins was looking at a mean note that Bob had gave him while he was laughing. "LOL! YOU LIKE AN ANIME GIRL!" The fish heard multiple giggling voices behind him as he balled up the note and ran away, crying.

"Finally, a negative emotion." Mr Puzzles, using his newfound powers, felt the anger and sadness  that the little fish felt. "This is perfect. Just what I need." He concentrated on a butterfly and injected evil energy into it, letting it fly away. "Break his heart my akuma and evilize him!" The butterfly flew into the city to find the victim of this TV man.

Boopkins found a spot in the corner to sit by himself. He held up the balled note in his hands when a dark grey butterfly flew into it and Boopkins heard a man speak right in his ear. "Spikestrike! I am Mr Puzzles! I give you the power to seek revenge on those who have wronged you." Boopkins got a mean look in his eye and said "Okay, Mr Puzzles." A goopy substance covered his body as he transformed into a fearsome foe.

Meggy and Three were chilling in the library when a giant rumble shook the floor and they fell out of their seats. As Three picked himself up, Meggy grabbed him and said "Come on!" They looked outside to find a giant lizard monster with spikes on its back and a long, sharp tail. It also had jagged teeth and was roaring "BOB!!!"

Three was in shock. "What's going on? Did he have Boopkins voice?" Meggy pointed out "Well if it is him, he now has the strength to destroy the whole kingdom!" She pulled out her splatshot and ran out the door. "Where the heck are you going!?" Three yelled. Meggy called out back to him "I'm going to stop him! Someone has to do something!" 

Four was back in his castle, laying down on his bed, groaning. It wasn't fair. All he wanted was to go out and make friends, but Mr Puzzles kept him from doing so. It was almost like he wanted something from Four. Then a massive thud was heard outside. Four pushed open the castle doors to find a fearsome monster that looked like a dinosaur. "BOB!!!" Swag was defending their home as he had a bunch of tanks lined up. "FIRE!" They shot at Spikestrike, but it didn't seem to have any harmful effects as he grew taller. Swag ran away in fear as the monster destroyed the tanks.

Four was just as panicked induced as he ran back to his room and shut the door, locking it. Three was also hiding back home at his cafe. "Stupid first days..." Both boys then noticed a strange case in front of them. Upon opening it, balls of purple and blue surrounded them.

The earrings looked like ladybugs, but a purple furred dog with wings and antennas barked at him. "WHAT THE HELL!?" Three backed up into a wall, screaming "THERE'S A BUG! DOG? Bugdog?" The dog just kept barking at him as if to say he shouldn't be scared. Three began grabbing things off his shelves and threw it at the strange thing. "Keep away you freak!"

Three finally grabbed the Eggdog and interviewed it with suspicion. "Okay what are you and how can I understand you?" The dog barked to let Three know his name was Eggdog and that he was a kwami.

After a few minutes, Three had put on the earrings and confusedly said the activation command the dog had told him. "Spots on?" The ear wear glowed purple and Eggdog got sucked into it. "Wait! What's happening?" Three watched as his clothes were transformed into a purple spotted suit and a mask of the same pattern covered his face.

~Meanwhile with Smg4~

When the light finally settled, a strange creature that looked like him emerged with cat ears and a tail. Four slowly approached and was intrigued. "Wow...what are you?" He inched his hand closer, but the creature let out an angry "EUGH!" Four backed away and said "Okay...?" Luckily the creature calmed down and let out a bunch more happy Eugh's.

Four waved with a friendly smile. "Oh nice to meet you Beeg. I'm Smg4!" The thing then started wandering around his room trying to eat anything that looked interesting to him. "Hey! Come back!" Four tried to catch him, but Beeg was much faster than he had anticipated.

He was chewing on a remote when Four finally caught this slippery thing. "So what are you doing here?" Beeg rolled his eyes and went "Eugh!" to tell the boy that he was a kwami that granted him the power of destruction. Four didn't really getting the whole superhero thing. "I'm stuck here! What good is a superhero that's imprisoned in his own house!?" Beeg was starting to get annoyed with him and pushed the ring towards Four.

Four placed the ring around his finger and Beeg gave him the key words. "Alright then. Beeg, claws out!" Just like Eggdog, Beeg got pulled into the ring and Four got a black suit with cat ears and a belt that was made to look like a tail. Four looked at his sharped claw gloves and said "Cool!"

Three took a second to look at himself and said "Okay, I'm done. How does this thing come off?" He tried pulling on the suit when his computer showed a report of Spikestrike, terrorizing the city. Upon closer inspection, Meggy was running after it, clouded by her pride. "Meggy!?" She wasn't being careful and that thing was getting bigger by the second.

Three took a breath and went upstairs, then outside of his cafe. "Okay, I've got these weird powers and...a freaking yo-yo?" He grabbed the weapon off his waist and looked disinterested in it. He tossed the yo-yo and it flew across the city, pulling him with it. Four was crossing roofs with a stick that came with his transformation when a faint scream could be heard in the distance. He turned around to be met with a guy in a purple costume, collapsing onto him and they both got tangled in the yo-yo string.

"Uh...hello?"

Three began struggling through while mostly just trying to get away from this strange boy. "GET OFF ME IDIOT!" When they got out of the tangled mess, Four said "You must be the partner that Beeg told me about! I'm...Super Glitchy Cat! You?" Three was pulling on the string while avoiding the question. "I'm not telling some random idiot my name!"

Four looked surprised. "Okay then?" He mumbled "Could have at least given me a nicer partner." Their introduction was put on hold when a building in the distance collapsed. Four grabbed his stick and jumped up onto the roof. Three called out "Hey! Where are you going!?"

"To save Paris right?" Four ran off as Three looked down at his yo-yo. "Let's get this over with." He said while tossing it and got flung across the city for the second time today.

The crew was hanging out at the stadium when a thundering voice yelled "BOB!!!" They turned around in shock to be met with some ferocious beast. "WHO'S PATHETIC NOW!?" Bob and his friends ran away in fear as Spikestrike chased them, but Bob tripped. The evil Boopkins was about to grab him when a stick appeared and some cat like boy stood in front of them. "Y'know it's not very nice to pick on people smaller than you."

Mr Puzzles had an amusing smile through all this. "Everything is going to plan. The ladybug and cat miraculous have been activated. These heroes have come to save the day and now my star villain will destroy them!"

Four tried to hit Spikestrike with his stick, but the beast only grew larger. He noticed that Three was just standing there watching. "What the heck are you doing!?" Four yelled with anxiety. "Letting you do all the work for me of course!" Spikesike took a soccer goal and threw it in Four's direction, but it flew over him and was heading straight to Meggy, who had followed the monster.

Four, thinking fast, threw his stick and extended it to block the goal from crushing the orange haired girl, but he was so distracted that Spikestrike grabbed him. Three's smirk disappeared when he realized that his friends were in danger. Whatever. It wasn't his problem. But-

Meggy snapped him out of his trance when she yelled at the superhero "Do something! Quick!" Three sighed and took a deep breath. He grabbed the yo-yo and wrapped it around Spikestrike's hand and pulled on it. "Let him go you ugly piece of cabbage!" Four fell to the ground as Three came over to help him. "Sorry about that Super Glitchy Cat..."

"It's fine. Now let's kick this fish's butt!" Three quickly stopped him and pointed to the enraged creature. "Wait! He gets bigger and stronger every time you hit him idiot!"

"Well then what do we do?" Four asked. Three tapped his chin in thought as Four got an idea. "Let's use our powers!" He called up his destruction power and started bragging to Three "I can destroy anything I touch!" Three rolled his eyes and grumbled "You don't need a superpower for that." Four wanted to test his power out so he touched the soccer goal. "NO YOU MORON!" Three tried to stop him, but it was too late.

Once the goal collapsed, Four ran towards the monster and tapped his foot, but the power had already been used up. He waved nervously as the monster kicked him back and Three remarked "Good going! Now you've only got 5 minutes until you transform back! We're you even listening to your kwami?" Four scratched his head and said "I might have been a little too excited..."

Three sighed and used his power to call up some kind of leisure suit. Four rolled his eyes and playfully shot back "Some superpower." He then noticed Spikestrike's hand was closed into a fist and he never opened it. That must have been where the object was hiding.

Three lunged Four forward, back into the monster's claws and tied the nozzle of a hose to the inside of the suit. "ARE YOU INSANE!?" Three jumped into Spikestrike's other hand, forcing him to let go of the item he was holding.

Meggy noticed the hose connecting to the tap and ran towards the valve to twist it. The pressure of the water made Spikestrike open his hand by force so Three could grab the stone note and crush it. The akuma flew away and the monster melted back into Boopkins. Four stared at his new partner in awe. "This guy is awesome. Crazy awesome."

"Wha...what's going on? What am I doing here?" Four went up to Three and said "You were incredible...uh..bug boy. You did it." Three was proud, but decided to give this guy some credit as well. "We both did it, kitty cat." Four realized that Three had took his superhero name and made it into a cute nickname, which made a hint of blush rise on his cheeks. They both fist bumped when Four's ring began to flash.

"We should do this again soon! Bye!" Four ran off, waving goodbye as Three watched him leave with a soft smile. "Not too soon I hope." He looked down to the note in his hand and read it outloud to himself. "You are so pathetic for crushing on Miku."

"Bob wrote it...He likes to bully me." Boopkins sighed sadly. Three went over and told him "There's no harm in telling someone you love them Boopkins." He smiled, but then asked "How do you know my name?" Three stiffened as Meggy came out and bombarded him with a bunch of questions. "That was amazing! Are you like a superhero or something?" Three ignored her and walked off. "Nice to meet you...uh" Three tried to think of a clever name and decided to go for something similar to his new partner.

"Call me Super Glitchy Bug or SGBug for short!"

Three was safely back at home, relieved that he had did it while Eggdog did a little dance. Four was watching the news as it announced a huge celebration for their new heroes, SGCat and SGBug. He blushed and said "SGBug...he named himself after me. How sweet."

The akuma from earlier found a perch to take it's rest, but that's not all it was doing. It soon multiplied into thousands of butterflies that spread across the city.

Four looked annoyed with Beeg, who was happily licking an ice cream cone. "Of course he only eats ice cream." Three was streaming when both boys got an alert that dozens of people were being transformed into terrifying creatures that were almost identical to Boopkins's evil form. Beeg and Eggdog looked worried as they gave their owners the exact same look that made them instantly realize they screwed up.

Eggdog tried to tell Three that an akuma can multiply and if Boopkins's feeling became negative again, he would control all these frozen monsters. "So? This isn't my problem!" Eggdog rushed up to his owner and tried snuggling with him, but Three angrily pushed him away. "You and that kooky cat can fix this whole thing without me! I QUIT!"

He looked at the earrings one last time while Eggdog tried to tell him that they couldn't do it without him. "If that moron can't capture akumas then find somebody else!" He took them off and the sweet dog disappeared.

"Eggdog?" Three tried to brush it off and tucked the earrings back in their case to put away. This would just become someone else's problem. Guilt was all he could think about as he collapsed on the floor, crying and whispering "I'm sorry Eggdog..."

Even after this loss, Mr Puzzles kept his head high. "Boopkins has a sensitive heart. It won't be long before his anger and sadness takes control again." The original akuma came flocking back to his lair, awaiting its special victim. "Then he and his army will come alive! We'll see how long you remain hidden so called bug and cat! Once I have your miraculous you will be powerless against me! EVERYONE WILL BE POWERLESS AGAINST ME! I WILL HAVE ABSOLUTE POWER!"

It was another day back at school and Three was getting ready to leave when he saw the case that contained those wretched earrings. He was sick of looking at them, wanting so badly to toss them out of the window, but he didn't. Instead, he tucked them into his bag so he could find somebody much more qualified than him.

Mr Puzzles was back in his regular form, working on a project while waiting for Smg4 to show up. Eventually, his patience wore out and he barged into Four's room. "Smg4! What is the-" The room was empty. His fists began to clench and his face glitched. "CHRIS! SWAG! FIND SMG4 NOW! I WILL NOT LET HIM ESCAPE! I need him..."

Meggy wouldn't stop raving about these heroes. "How cool were those guys! They saved our friend and I even got to help them!" Three scowled and said "I don't see anything in them. Why do you even trust those guys!?" Meggy leaned into his face to get a closer look because something seemed off. "Can you cut that out!? You're creeping me out squid!" She laughed and said "Sorry. I can tell you're scared, but don't be."

"Scared!? Me!?" He pushed past her and scoffed "Yeah right." Meggy was about to run after him when she saw Boopkins being bullied by Bowser and Wario. "Hey! Leave him alone!" Bowser loomed over her in a thundering way. "And what if I don't..."

"You little..." Bowser chuckled and said "What are you going to do? Turn into King Kong? Godzilla?" Meggy stormed off in annoyance. Bowser and Wario laughed when a voice called out "Bowser?" Everyone turned to see Smg4 standing there and immediately started squealing in excitement. "Smg4! You came!" Four awkwardly signed autographs and took selfies with students when Bowser came up to him. "Long time no see buddy!" He took Four by the hand and dragged him to the classroom. "Here! I saved this seat for you!"

"Uh...thanks?" He took a seat next to the red, mustached man and offered his hand out to shake. "Hey! I'm Smg4!" Mario looked at him suspiciously and said "Is the blue hobo friends with Bowser?"

"Huh?" They both turned around to see Bowser, sticking a wad of gum in Three's seat. "HEY! What are you doing!?" Bowser reassured him "Relax. This brat just needs an attitude adjustment." He walked proudly back to his seat with Wario as Four scowled and said "You really think that's necessary?" He went over to the seat and tried picking the gum off.

As Three and Meggy walked to class, Three gathered the courage to ask "Hey Meggy? Would you like to be a superhero?" She replied "YES! I would love going around protecting my friends and showing off my skills! Why?" Three said "No reason." and snuck the case into her bag.

They walked into the room to find a boy with black hair and white overalls, sticking gum onto Three's seat. "OI! What the hell are you doing!?" Four turned around in a panic. "Oh! Wait! I-" Bowser and Wario laughed their heads off while Three frowned at them and said "Ha ha. Nice job you three!" Four urged him "No! It's not what you think! I was only trying to-"

Three didn't let him finish as he sarcastically said "Ohhh really..." He tried pulling the gum off his seat while questioning the guy. "You must be friends with that lizard freak!" Four sighed sadly and went back to his seat. Meggy sat down and said "You know that's the partner of Mr Puzzles right? He's the most popular creator!" Three avoided eye contact and grumbled "Him? Forget it!"

Mario asked Four "Why didn't you tell Smg3 it was Bowser's idea?" Four glumly told him "I can't just snitch on them. I don't have any friends." Mario frowned for a second and said "Mario will be you friend!" Four gave him a small smile and gladly accepted.

Miku was finishing washing up in the girls room and opened the door to find a sweating green fish. "Oh hey Boopkins!" He held up a piece of paper and said "I made this for you Miku..." She was about to take it when he yelled "HATSUME MIKU I LOVE ALL YOUR WORK! MY FAVORITE PROJECT IS PROJECT MIKUDIVA!" The anime girl was so startled that she ran away. "No! Wait come back!" Boopkins balled up the note and curled up into a ball, whining "Wahhh I'm so pathetic!"

Mr Puzzles looked upon this with satisfaction. "Yes, this is the moment I've been waiting for." The akuma in his hand flew away to re-transform the depressed fish. It flew all the way back to the school and the note in his hand. "This is your second chance Spikestrike! Capture the love of your life, but give me what I want in return!"

Boopkins gladly took back the powers and all the frozen monsters throughout the kingdom were brought to life. The teacher was about to start class, but noticed a certain student wasn't in his seat. "Where is Boopkins?" The fearsome beast broke down the door and shouted "MIKU!" Everyone fled from their seats, but Spikestrike locked his eye on the specific girl. He clasped onto Miku with his clawed hand. "Why are you doing this Boopkins?"

"SO WE CAN BE TOGETHER FOREVER!"

He noticed Bowser hiding under his seat like a scared baby. "YOU!" He kicked down the desk and grabbed the brute in his other hand, then took off by crashing through the wall. Meggy watched them and told Three "Let's follow them!" Three shook his head and said "You go and get yourself killed! I'm outta here!"

"But you'll miss all the action." Three held up her bag and said "I'm better off by myself!" Meggy sighed and ran off, completely forgetting her bag. "Oi! Wait!" Three called out while chasing after her.

Meanwhile, Four had already transformed and was already on his way. Bowser just kept kicking and screaming "Do you have any idea who I am? I'll bring in the Koopa army and you''ll be sorry!" Spikestrike was stopped by SGCat, ready for attack. What he didn't expect was that multiple giant beasts surrounded him, all taking orders from the original.

Meggy tried to get closer, but Spikestrike threw a car that she wasn't able to dodge in time. Three rounded the corner and was horrified to find his friend stuck, struggling with no escape. Four tried to save her, but Boopkins caught him and began crushing the hero with his giant claw. Three's heart was pounding as he watched the army of Spikestrikes taking their kidnapped victim and Meggy trapped under the car. "Someone help!" She shouted.

Three's fear instantly vanished in that moment. He quickly took the earrings out of Meggy's bag and told Eggdog "I still think this is stupid, but Meggy's in danger! I just can't sit around and do nothing!"

Meggy squirmed with still no success when someone flipped the car over, giving her the chance to break free from its hold. She looked up to see SGBug who told her "Get out of here! It's too dangerous!" and ran off to save his kitty. He came and pulled Four out of the monster's grasp, allowing him a chance to breathe. Millions of clones surrounded them as Three quickly grabbed Four's hand and they both made a break for it. "Shouldn't we go back?"

"We have to stop the original if we want to save them all! Can't you do anything moron!" They ran all the way to the Eiffel Tower, where Swag and his military lined up around Spikstrike. "LET THE GIANT TURTLE GO!" Spikestrike yelled "You can have this bully!" and threw the giant Koopa who pleaded and screamed like a girl.

Three caught his rival as he sneered. "And what took you so long?" He rolled his eyes as Swag announced "BOOM BOOM TIME! LET'S KNOCK DOWN THIS BOOGER!"

"Wait! You'll only make it worse!"

"OUT OF THE WAY! LIKE YOU HAVEN'T MADE THINGS WORSE ALREADY!"

Three sighed knowing that Swag was right. His carelessness was what caused this in the first place. "Why didn't I just do my job from the start?" Four comforted his partner by putting a hand on his shoulder. "No. He's wrong."

"HEY!"

"They wouldn't make it without us. And even if they don't believe us, we'll prove it to them."

"You're right. Thanks...Glitchy?"

Everyone around them had stopped and Spikestrike's eyes were glitching. "Smg4..." The voice sounded an awful lot like Mr Puzzles. "I need you...come back..." Four looked scared to death as he didn't move an inch. Three reached a hand out to the stiffened man, but once he blinked everything was back to normal and his memory of that scene vanished.

"You'll never take Miku away from me!" Spikestrike began climbing the tower as his army came after the two heroes. Three thought for a moment, remembering where the akuma was and told Four "We shouldn't separate them! We bring them closer!" Both of them raced to beat Spikestrike to the top. They arrived first while Spikestrike was distracted by the military helicopters as he tried shooing them away.

Three used his lucky charm to get a parachute while Four got into position as his partner brought Spikestrike's hand closer. Miku and Spikestrike felt their lips collide with one another, causing him to drop the girl and the akumatized object. Four jumped off and used his stick to hit the note up to Three. He destroyed it and was just about to capture the butterfly this time when-

Boopkins transformed back and both of them fell. Thinking quick on his feet, Three dove after them while catching that slippery akuma. Four caught Boopkins and Three caught Miku as he hooked the edge with his yo-yo and they both safely landed on the ground. Four warmly smiled as he never saw such bravery and talent before. A bright glow wisked around, turning everyone back to normal and repairing the destruction caused as the heroes watched in amazement.

Mr Puzzles chuckled to himself and said "This is just the beginning. You may have won this time, but I will get the source of your power and then my dreams will come true!"

Boopkins awkwardly blushed at Miku when she noticed the crumpled up paper on the ground. He held his breath as she read and said "This is so sweet. Did you really write a fan fiction for me?" Boopkins nodded and asked "Do you like it?" Miku scooped the fish into a hug as they giggled and she twirled him around.

As Meggy and Three walked to class, she ranted on "By the time I got there, it was all over!" He said "I'm sure you'll find something squid." She gave a confident look and said "You're right! I'll find out who that mysterious guy is and ask him to team up!" Three rolled his eyes playfully and said "Good luck with that."

Meggy was about to take her seat when Three stopped her and pointed to Bowser and Wario's seats. Meggy nodded and they both sat down, but Bowser was certainly not glad to see that when he walked in. "Hey! You're in the wrong seats!" Three laid back in his seat and said "Too bad. Go cry about it you loser!"

"What..." Three stood up and yelled "I'm not putting up with your crap anymore and neither is anybody else so go on and get lost!" Everyone laughed as Bowser growled and slumped down in the front row. Four came in and waved to Mario, who happily waved back. He tried greeting Three, but he just scoffed and avoided eye contact. Mario could sense the tension and leaned over to whisper "If Smg4 wants to make friends then he should go talk to Smg3 about the gum."

"But what should I say?"

"Be yourself!" Four smiled and Thanked his best friend.

After school, Three was heading home, but found that it had started to rain. Four came up and said "Hey." Three still ignored him in annoyance as Four opened an umbrella and said "I just wanted to tell you that I was only trying to take the gum off your seat, I swear." Three's expression softened as he looked surprised. "I've never been to school before and I never had any friends." Four said while rubbing his arm. "It's all so new to me..." He turned around and offered the umbrella to Three with a small smile. Three's eyes widened and his cheeks turned pink while he just stared at Four.

He carefully took the umbrella and felt his heart flutter when their fingers touched. "Thanks...Baka..." Four chuckled a little at this new nickname that Three gave him. "Anyway, see you tomorrow?" He walked down the steps as Three slowly waved back. Eggdog flew around him, barking in excitement. "What!? I don't have a crush on that idiot! Do I...?"

Four was walking to the car when Beeg popped out and made "Eugh!" noises. "Whatever, he's just a friend." He realized what he said as it felt good to have people that he cared about. "A friend..."

Smg1 and Smg2 watched from a distance as Two said "These were excellent choices." One nodded and said "They are made for each other."

End of Simulation

What did you think of today's episode?

Chapter 10: SMG4's Forbidden Love

[ksmutsociety]

The Velvet Vault - Masterlist

Step away from the ordinary and uncover a world of shadowed libraries, where the scent of aged paper mingles with the musings of forgotten philosophers, and candlelit rooms echo with the whispers of timeless secrets and melancholic prose. Toast our one-year milestone by joining this event that promises to immerse you in the ultimate dark academia experience.

 A dark academia themed network event hosted by K Smut Society!

꧁ Secrets of the Heart ꧂ ↳ by @anyamaris

baekhyun (exo) x f.reader

mystical guardians, keepers of ancient knowledge au

𝓝𝓸𝔀 𝓟𝓵𝓪𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰 ▸ cold — corbyn going crazy — exo expose — ztao regulus — onewe this world — ateez

꧁ Shadows Behinds Shelves ꧂ ↳ by @xomakara

yunho (ateez) x f.reader x jongho (ateez)

literature professor, arts professor au

𝓝𝓸𝔀 𝓟𝓵𝓪𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰 ▸ house of silence — bad boys hotel california — the eagles phantom — wayv shadow — beast/highlight fantasy — vixx

꧁ Conspectu Mortis ꧂ ↳ by @hobeemin

christian yu x o.c.

museum curator au

𝓝𝓸𝔀 𝓟𝓵𝓪𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰 ▸ spider — hoshi nerves — christian yu broken clocks — sza coming to my senses — alina baraz obsession — exo

꧁ I Still Want You ꧂ ↳ by @pars-ley

jimin (bts) x f.reader

author au

𝓝𝓸𝔀 𝓟𝓵𝓪𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰 ▸ the truth untold — bts like crazy — jimin not by the moon — got7 who — jimin dopamine — jackson wang

Stay tuned for more exciting project fics coming soon!

[wintersnwnderlnd]

Plot holes in Harry Potter

Off the top of my head

How did Dumbledore just know to send Hagrid to meet Sirius after James and Lily Died

How was McGonagall able to watch the dursleys all day to see if they were suitable guardians when James and lily died not 2 hours before

How did Hagrid find godrics hallow if it was under the fidelius charm?

How did Snape find godrics hallow if under fidelius

How did no one notice a baby outside on the door step in 12°F weather in November

How did no one notice harry never playing with toys or in clothes 3+ sizes too big?

Did Dumbledore tell figg to move to private drive or was she already there and got recruited?

How did the board of governor's never come for the third floor but came for the basilisk?

How did harry as a minor get entered into the tournament unless his guardian(aka dumbledore) approved it?

How did the wards around hogwarts not stop the stone, basilisk, acrimantula, animagus, werewolf attack, blood quill, vanishing cabinet, etc from entering the school grounds?

Why didn't James be his own secret keeper and just hide in godrics hallow until voldie was defeated or gave up?

Why was the statute broken by Hagrid and Molly but they never got warnings?

Why did no one question the 8foot tall half giant in London?

Why did Molly not get yelled at for shouting about the platform

How does no one notice the mystery train as it leaves the station?

Why on a 8hr train ride is only sweets served?

Why didn't voldie keep all his horcruxes on him, in his house, or in his vault?

Why was the stone destroyed and not given back to Nic who kept it safe for 500+ years

Why did the wards around hogwarts allow the dementors

Why are harry and Ron still friends when all they do is fight

Why did harry suddenly develop feelings for "his best friends little sister" who he though of as a sister after she was looking at love potions

Is luna a seer

Why did the twins leave hogwarts literally a month before they graduated

How is olivanders still in business

Why is dark magic bad? Yin and yang, dark and light are both needed for balance

Why did voldie not go the political route and charm/seduce his way to minister

Why did Tom have to go back to muggle London during ww2 every summer why not go to a friend/follower's house

Why did the "Ancient and Noble House of Black" a long line to stuffy purebloods bow to a halfblood

Why do purebloods not realize muggleborns are new family magic and likely children of squibs

Why did no one notice the 4 strongest wizards of the 40s forward were all halfbloods who were abused by muggles[or had siblings that were] (dumbles, tom, sev and harry)

How the fuck does hogwarts legacy fit into the timeline, it shouldnt

How is McGonagall a teacher in the 20s she should have been a student

How the fuck does hogwarts mystery fit into the timeline

Why didn't we see tonks harry first year, she was a 7th year

I have more but can't think of any right now.

[sciatu]

Per quelle leggi siciliane non scritte per cui se hai una goccia di sangue eguale ad una singola goccia di sangue che qualchedun altro ha nel suo sangue, allora siete parenti stretti, io e Natale ci salutiamo chiamandoci “cugini”. In fondo il padre del suo bisnonno era fratello del padre della mia mitica bisnonna “Razia”, quella che componeva poesia senza saper scrivere. Per cui, ogni volta che ci incontriamo ci fermiamo a parlarci anche se io so poco e nulla della sua storia e lui ignora la mia. Eppure io invidio mio cugino Natale, più di mio cugino Mark che è stato top gun nei Marines o di mio cugino Peter che ha una Rock Band o di mia cugina Gilda che guida per ore tra i Nebrodi per visitare vecchiette immortali e neonati obesi. Natale infatti è il guardiano di uno dei più grandi DOC siciliani. È lui che applica il protocollo DOC, levando i grappoli in più per pianta, eliminando le erbacce in modo Bio, osservando il cielo di luglio per vedere se le piogge possono dare sollievo al fuoco estivo, è lui che passa tra i filari innevati a gennaio, o che invoca la pioggia d’aprile per dare forza ai grappoli. È lui che difende i filari dalla grandine di marzo e dalle ciaule affamate ad agosto, lui osserva alto nel cielo le poiane girare nel vento che viene dal mare a dare gusto e intensità agli acini. Lui pota pianta dopo pianta tutte le vigne della Scuola Agraria che produce il vino, ascolta il bollire del mosto e giudica il vino a San Martino nelle vecchie volte dell’antico convento che ospita la Scuola, decidendo con l’enologo se la qualità, l’intensità, la forza del vino appena nato rispettano la fatica spesa a crearlo. Giudica, valuta, considera, poi associa il gusto alle piogge, al vento, al sole per poter scoprirne il segreto e creare qualcosa ancora di migliore vicino a quella perfezione che la sua pelle bruciata dal sole e i suoi occhi pieni di verde e d’azzurro, pretendono.

For those unwritten Sicilian laws that say: if you have a drop of blood equal to a single drop of blood that someone else has in their blood, then you are close relatives, Natale and I greet each other by calling each other “cousins”. After all, her great-grandfather's father was the brother of the father of my legendary great-grandmother "Razia", ​​the one who composed poetry without knowing how to write. So, every time we meet we stop to talk to each other even though I know little or nothing about his story and he ignores mine. Yet I envy my cousin Natale, more than my cousin Mark who was a top gun in the Marines or my cousin Peter who has a Rock Band or my cousin Gilda who drives for hours among the Nebrodi to visit immortal old ladies and obese newborns. In fact, Natale is the guardian of one of the greatest Sicilian DOCs. It is he who applies the DOC protocol, removing the extra bunches per plant, eliminating weeds in an organic way, observing the July sky to see if the rains can give relief to the summer fire, he is the one who passes through the snow-covered rows in January , or who calls for April rain to give strength to the grapes. It is he who defends the rows from the hail in March and from the hungry ciaulas in August, he watches high in the sky the buzzards spinning in the wind that comes from the sea to give flavor and intensity to the grapes. He prunes plant after plant all the vineyards of the Agricultural School that produces the wine, listens to the boiling of the must and judges the wine at San Martino in the old vaults of the ancient convent that houses the School, deciding with the oenologist whether the quality, the intensity, the strength of the newborn wine respect the effort spent in creating it. Judge, evaluate, consider, then associate the taste with the rain, the wind, the sun in order to discover the secret and create something even better close to that perfection that his skin burned by the sun and his eyes full of green and blue , they claim.

[fictional-library-tournament]

Prelims round 2, poll 1

Propaganda

Junior Woodchucks Guidebook, Guardians of the Lost Library by Don Rosa:

"The Junior Woodchucks Guidebook?", you no doubt ask. "Isn't that just a book? A single book does not a library make?" And yes, it is just a book - and at the same time, no, it absolutely is a library. The library, actually. This tiny book is the actual, literal lost library of Alexandria, and contains all its lost wisdom and lore (except, sadly, the plays and poetry) preserved and expanded through the ages as various keepers cared for the library, preserved it by constantly transcribing and transferring it into the newest media and adding more and more content along the way - for instance, Marco Polo added all the books he brought back from China - until eventually, the library came to Duckburg, where it was collected in one single, huge volume - which a bit later became the very first "Junior Woodchucks Guidebook" - with some added modern knowledge and an entire organization dedicated to it's continued safekeeping. So, yeah - Junior Woodchucks Guidebook = Library of Alexandria + more

Endless Athenaeum, Critical Role – Campaign 1: Vox Machina:

The endless library of Ioun, the amazing goddess of knowledge from Critical Role!

Noumenon, Final Fantasy XIV:

This multi storied library is FFXIV equivalent of the Library of Alexandria. Organised by mini robots called mammets, largest repository of written works in all of Hydaelyn and has its own restricted section that would make many people's toes curl from what lay inside.

Kiersau Abbey Library, Pentiment:

You know how libraries these days are places for more than just books? This was one of these 500 years before it was cool. Here you can find old heretical texts, hot nun goss, secret passages, gay sex, delicious symbolism that represents the crumbling of an oppressive religious institution and increased education for the masses... what more could you ask for?

Neo-Gotham Public Library, Batman Beyond:

Mad Stan thinks libraries are just contributing to information overload, and the constant stream of All The Things is hurting people. Terry argues that it's not the information itself that's harmful, but rather the way of processing it, and that's the thing that needs to be addressed - not blowing up all the libraries.

Vault of Knowledge, Sky: Children of the Light:

It's ancient. It's magical. Its employees are all ghosts. There's so much information here and all translations have been lost

[santoschristos]

Hymn to Neith

To Neith who bears the bow and the shaft, I offer my praise.

O fierce-hearted goddess, beloved of Khnum,

you are the red crown, the guardian of the northern lands;

O mistress of Sais, far-famed and long-remembered.

yours is the strength that supports the vaulted sky,

that forbids it crashing mightily to earth;

yours is the wisdom called on by the gods themselves

when fine judgement is needed, when accord must be found.

Older than old, unfathomable goddess,

you were ancient when great Atum came into being;

from the first of floods you arose, O Neith,

you brought up the land from beneath the broad sea,

yours are the words that fashioned the world.

Neith who holds the shield and the shuttle,

I honor your insight, I honor your might.

Art: The Goddess Neith — Georges Clarin

[radley-writes]

Tell me! About the new wip! Yell things! Plz!

mundus transit et concupiscentia eius

Title: DREAMHUNTERS. or SOMNUS SANCTI. or THE SANDMEN'S SCHOOL FOR SLEEPLESS YOUTH. idk hfjfjgfgj

Age range: MG or YA (haven't yet decided the MCs' ages...) Genre: urban fantasy, high school fantasy, light horror Main characters: Zack, white British bi trans boy, 13-15, absolute coward and proud of it. Sour and sneaky, he doesn't know how to do this whole friend thing and doesn't intend to start. Reacts to kindness like a feral kitten to strokes; would lie about getting bitten in a zombie apocalypse. Zoe, Pakistani-British hijabi bi cis girl, 13-15. Fun-loving and adventurous, she's the sunshine to Zack's scowl. In fact, she's a little too eager to throw herself into danger. She has all the self-preservation instinct of a gingernut biscuit and (worse yet, if you ask Zack) a deep-seated desire to do the right thing. Vanderloss, Black British disabled Ehlers-Danlos enbie, 26-ish. An overpowered disaster of a teacher. Despite caring deeply for all xer little brats, xe remains an extremely distractable dork. Has lost children on school trips. Will do it again. I love xem anyway. <3

Every night in Cambridge, the Time Eater clock strikes twelve.

Then it strikes thirteen.

And the monsters come out.

Reality and Dream: two worlds in a locked orbit, converging only at their furthest-flung edges. During the thirteenth hour, when time traps mortals like flies in tree sap, nightmares seep into our realm and devour human minds. They leave comatose victims in their wake, lost to the deadly Sleeping Sickness, as well as a constant, palpable undercurrent of fear.

But the nightmares should be frightened, too.

Beneath the grand Gothic vaults of Trinity and Kings lies another world of academia - one far more ancient, devoted to the arcane. Every year, a hundred humans are born a step outside of time, able to walk through the inverted lightscape of the Thirteenth Hour as if they too are spun not from substance, but surreality. The Sandman Academy gathers these youths, grants them their hourglasses - containing solidified granules of sunlight, the only effective weapon against dreams - and trains them to fight for all humanity.

And to die.

Horribly.

Torn apart by their worst nightmares.

So, when Zack Strange is chosen as one of humanity's guardians, you can see why his reaction is no way in hell. Allergic to risk-taking, conflict, things that go boo in the night (and, some would say, fun) Zack just wants to restart his nice, normal life at his nice, normal school, under his new name. And to find a binder that's comfy for PE class. Is that really too much to ask?

In contrast, when Zoe Ansari received a giant hourglass and was told she would train to slay nightmares, her only question was when do we start? Zoe quickly falls in love with the warped Escher-world of the Thirteenth Hour. She knows no fear. She knows no danger. She knows, if you ask Zack, far less than she thinks she does, and is likely to get herself and everyone in a ten-mile radius dead - which makes it a crying shame that he's her training partner.

Zack grudgingly joins the Sandmen in the hopes that they can save his grandma, who is in hospital after having her mind stolen by a dream. But shadowed secrets lurk in the heart of their new school. When Zack and Zoe discover a dangerous truth about the Sleeping Sickness, they will be forced to question their loyalty to the school and each other, and what it truly means to be brave.