#and he still recognized his old master even in disguise :((

[wolfythewitch]

one last job

[buggyboba]

✦ October 19th | Sharing

AN 𓏧

↳ ○ | Hi I don’t know how this got to be so long….it was supposed to be smut….and just smut….have a whole ass story….i guess...anyway I started writing this twice, and then changed my mind, anyway, I did steal a bit of it for the first Missy x Reader x Simm!Master one I promised, so that is still in the works, and that one is going to be a multipart, so there is also that. I am sure I used they/them for reader, but fem!anatomy. SMUT MDNI

SUMMARY𓏧

↳ ○  While Sharing isn’t in their nature, they have decided to play nice because you looked so cute

PAIRING𓏧

↳ ○ Missy x Reader x Simm!Master

TW𓏧

↳ ○ Established relationship/companion. Fingering, P in V unprotected sex, cum on stomach, eating out. Voyeurism from Missy.

WORD COUNT𓏧

↳ ○ 4000

A03 lINK𓏧

↳ ○ x

MASTERLIST LINK𓏧

↳ ○ x

★𓏧 𓏧 𓏧★ 𓏧 𓏧 𓏧★

It was tea time. She had very set expectations, and you were already in the kitchen preparing two cups of tea; it wasn’t a full afternoon tea set up, but she was busy, and with the appearance of her past self, the schedule had been thrown out the window much to your dismay. Her past self had made himself comfortable over the past few weeks since he had come ‘aboard’ as he called it. Uprooting the nice thing they had going, stealing you away occasionally, as an extra set of hands, you would catch him staring or muttering. He would watch you and banter with you; it felt natural, as natural as how you and Missy bantered; you felt drawn to him, just like you were drawn to Missy. 

It was interesting, to say the least, if you looked deep enough, you could see bits of him in Missy, some of her facial expressions, some of her habits. Regeneration was odd, she had explained it to you, and you understood the concept. It was like dying, but not really; a new person was just left—a new face, a new body. The personality was a bit different, but the core was the same; at least that's what you understood of it, like The Master was eventually going to become Missy, and Missy was once the Master; you could understand that. Sometimes you worried about the vast paradox they were causing like this, but at the end of the day, it wasn’t your problem—not really. If the universe was going to explode, what were you going to be able to do about it? So you just enjoyed it. 

Missy was protective of you, said she knew herself, and well, she did know herself, so you trusted her decision to be cautious of leaving you two alone too often, but you couldn’t just tell him, ‘No, I’m not going to help you with XYZ.’ So you were forced to interact with him. Sometimes he whisked you off all day, kept coming up with excuses to keep you around, and when he was out of excuses, he said it was just to piss lady him off. You didn’t like being a tool to aid in him annoying Missy. 

Another thing about him was he was cocky; then again, so was she, but he was something entirely else. It wasn’t terrible; you found him interesting, just like you found her interesting. He was a younger her; after all, even if he didn’t look younger, Time Lord's age was odd and sometimes didn’t reflect how old they looked. It just so happened you didn’t mind them looking more mature; it was thrilling. 

He looked so dignified; you liked his style, his salt and pepper goatee, his coffee-colored eyes, his silver hair, He was foxy, cheeky, knew he looked good, and you liked it. Of course, at first, you only recognized him as Harold Saxon, which was wild, but you chose to ignore it. You had mixed feelings about Harold Saxon’s run, killing the president, and all that, but that didn’t matter anymore because, at the end of the day, Harold Saxon was a disguise. 

He did confuse you though, because he could say something so vile and off the wall and then be a gentleman in the same sentence. He liked keeping you on your toes and was interested in what his future self saw in you. You knew that Missy enjoyed your company, that you were sassy, that you weren’t afraid of getting your hands dirty, and most of all that you felt something for her. What you didn’t know was that it had started as sole manipulation at first, but she felt something deeper than that now and was trying desperately not to let her former self say anything that would ruin what you two had now. Little did she know, right? 

Since it was tea time for today, you were in the kitchen of her Tardis making tea when you felt a familiar air behind you, and suddenly his arms were on each side of you, boxing you in against the counter.

“I think I’ve got it.” He started. “What she sees in you.” He whispered in your ear, You went to sidestep, but he kept you in place. His eyes were studying you; there was a mix of something behind his eyes, predatory but also like he was trying to figure something out like you were a bug to be studied.

“Okay, let’s hear it then,” you said, staying calm and keeping your body relaxed as you tilted your head to look at him. You knew you had to be careful; after all, Missy had hypnotized you a few times, so you knew he could do it too. 

He laughed a bit and tilted his head, studying your eyes for a moment. "Oh, don’t worry, pet, I won’t hypnotize you, not right now, though it could be fun, and I am dying of boredom here. Who knew I could be so boring?" He shook his head. “You think too loud, and you are so easy to read, my dear.” He grinned at you. You shook your head and pushed him a bit so he would move so you could finish making tea. “It’s not your fault; you are human... "It is fascinating that Lady Me finds you so worthy of keeping around,” he said but moved so you could make the tea. “It has to be what you give her.” He waggled his eyebrow, his smirk widening. “I mean, I smelled you the other night, heard you... heard her... It’s the sex right, and here I thought she was above it; she went on and on about how she was above primal needs... She’s a liar; wouldn’t you agree, my dear?” He nodded and watched as you felt your cheeks heat up.

“What do you mean you smelled me?” You asked carefully, leaning away from the counter and looking at him. Ignoring everything else, he said for a moment and zeroed in on that detail. 

“What I mean is—oh, did she not—Oh, you poor thing... Time Lords have a heightened sense of smell; we can smell the chemicals in the air; we can tell what time period and where we are just by smell. So of course, confined in this tardis, in the room down the way, I can smell your arousal. Just like I can hear every soft hitched breath, every moan you think is muffled enough.” He mused. “And you are so noisy; I can see why she likes you; I always did like screamers. Wonder what you taste like; it must be fantastic if Lady Me goes back for more.” He mused, and you felt scandalized right then and there. He had heard you two, smelled you two; you wanted to disappear right now; you wanted to cease to exist in the same room as him. 

"Oh, shy now? You weren’t shy last night,” he gave you that cheeky grin. “So I have to assume she keeps you around because you fulfill her needs and wants.” He looked you over; you tried to figure out what to say, and you found yourself suddenly wishing Missy would show up. “Which makes some semblance of sense; it is what you humans are good for, you know,” he teased, but it felt meaner than it should have.

"Yeah, well, what can I say? I give stellar head and have a can-do attitude.” You muttered, turning back to focus on the tea. You were trying to stop yourself from burning up with embarrassment, not that you knew why it was embarrassing; it was clear you and Missy were entangled in some sort of relationship, ergo you two would be intimate, and like he was a stranger; sure, he was strange, but not a complete stranger.

“And you smell delicious,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone. “No, I am sure that’s what she likes of you." He tapped his fingers against his chin for a moment watching you, taking in your body language, seemingly pleased he put you on edge, got under your skin. “It’s not so bad, is it? I am very giving. So you aren’t wanting, I’m sure,” he said flippantly. You narrowed your eyes.

“It’s not just sex.” You muttered. Turning your attention to finish the cups of tea, you were already going to have to explain that her former self cornered you in the kitchen, which is why tea was late, so as revenge You had decided to only make yourself and Missy a cup of tea, but it didn’t matter because he ended up stealing yours and sat down to talk to Missy, who entered a few moments after the tea was ready, easily dismissing you. You went to talk back, but Missy held her hand up and motioned you away. You didn’t like this at all; you narrowed your eyes looking between them and definitely called them a bitch in your head before you headed to yours and Missy’s shared room. 

It felt like hours as you lay there quietly, upset at your lack of time with her and how he stole your tea. You sighed deeply and were almost about to get off the bed and go look for her when, speaking of the devil, or devils, she entered, followed by her male counterpart. You sat up and crossed your arms, looking between them; she had never let him come in. You paused and looked between them. 

“We spoke,” she started, “and we have come to an agreement.” She said with a final tone, and you shifted. My younger self understands now what you are to me and us, and if you agree, we would like to... share you.” She said, watching your face for any signs of what you were feeling. 

“Oh well, at least I get a choice,” or at least an illusion of one, you mentally thought. “And why exactly would I want to be shared? I assume you are not just talking about splitting custody of me." You joked a bit, trying to make your own unease go away. You thought he was handsome, and he was technically her, different but still her. You crossed your arms, waiting for him to speak, and he did; it didn’t take long, actually. 

“I know what you think; you are not good at hiding it, pet and I know you have thought about it once or twice, what it would be like, and what I can give you that she cannot.” He started and glanced at Missy, then back to you. “And while we are not prone to sharing what is ours, it’s only fair; if you are hers, you are mine,” he said casually. “So come on, live a little, let's play swingers,” he grinned at you in a cheeky grin that was oh so familiar. “Let me get to know who I apparently adore.” He rolled his eyes a bit but then looked at you studying you again, as if he were actually thinking about how Missy said she adored you to him. 

The statement made you blush a bit. You did know that Missy adored you, and you adored Missy; you also hadn’t been expecting such a proposition. You looked at Missy, who was watching you with an equally cheeky grin, nodding a bit as a go-ahead. You wondered if this was a ploy to get to you sooner by having her past self be involved with you too. It felt very convoluted, so therefore felt like a very ‘Master’ plan to you. 

"So, like, is this you wanting to sleep with me?” You asked, raising an eyebrow, looking at him. 

“Oh no, if I wanted to just do that, I would have told you, and we would have seen where the night took us, but I would be lying if I said it wasn’t a tempting thought; after all, you do make the cutest sounds,” he mused a bit. Right, god, you forgot he could hear you, that he could smell your arousal. Oh god, that meant Missy absolutely could too; that would explain the smirks and glances when you were turned on around her. You didn’t have time to unpack all of that right now; you had to focus on the question that was being asked of you. You had never been in a relationship with two people before, more so the same person. You had a lot of questions about the logistics of it but decided now was not the time for that either. 

“I mean, I guess... it's okay... I mean, you are the same person, just in different places in your timeline, I guess, so by all means it’s fine... as long as neither of you gets jealous of the other, which I know is a big ask.” You laughed a bit trying to lighten the very serious topic. 

The pair were silent. “I think we can manage, Poppet," Missy said and rolled her eyes, moving to sit next to you, her hand lightly patting your knee. “Plus, in the grand scheme of things, you are still mine regardless, and in an off way while we are vastly different, I can’t ignore my past, and he has become...” she paused to think of the correct word she wanted to use. “Smitten.” She settled on, “You are an interesting pet, and while he can be...” she trailed off for a moment once again looking for the right word. “Pushy, cocky…an idiot.” She smirked a bit when The Master bristled and made an annoyed sound. “I think this would be a good arrangement,” she said lightly. “We can try it, and if it’s not what we enjoy, no harm in it…right?” She urged you, and you nodded a bit, though you were almost positive it wouldn’t just go back to how it was if they didn’t like it. You shifted again, and Missy’s hand tightened on your knee. “Trust me?” she asked.

You sighed and looked at her. You did trust her, but it was such a turn-around from her wanting you to stay away from him, and now she wants you to sleep with him? Then again, you couldn’t even begin to understand what she was thinking, so you would go along with it; it was fine. He was right; you had been looking at him; you did find him stunning, and since he would eventually become her, you didn’t think it was too weird. 

“Good, perfect!” he clapped once and started over the bed, flopping on your other side, his arm wrapped around your waist pulling you a bit closer to him. “You know something; earlier, when I said I knew why she chose you being strictly satisfying her, I was wrong, and I don’t often if ever admit when I am wrong, though we will see for ourselves, won’t we? I do bet it’s fantastic, from what I’ve heard anyway.” He smirked, and you wanted to die again. 

“Let’s not talk about it; look, Missy."You looked at Missy and said, “Didn’t explain that the Time Lords were basically fucking bloodhounds, pack hunters... Jesus.” You shook your head. 

“That’s not a bad thing, darling.” She grinned at you, moving her hand up to your thigh more. “And if I had told you before you would hide those beautiful sounds from me and freak out anytime you became aroused, it would have made it more obvious, and you would have hated that even more than you hate us talking about it now. I think it’s nothing to be worried about, plus your heart does this little racing thing, oh, like now,” she poked above your now pounding heart. "Yeah, that’s it, lovely,” she grinned. “I think deep down you like it because it is a turn-on, whether or not you know it.” She said her hand moving up to pull your shirt up, her nails scratching up your stomach, leaving little red lines as she did so. “And don’t worry, I’ll be here the entire time.” She practically cooed at you.

Oh, oh so this was happening now, of course, it was, you didn’t expect them to wait, not when you were there already warm, already thinking about how Missy made your body feel, and wondering how He would make your body feel, you felt your cheeks heat more as his hand slid down to undo your pants, pulling the zipper down his hand grazed against your hip as he pushed the fabric down your hips and past your knees, Missy pressed a soft kiss against your neck, as her hand caught the fabric of your shirt pulling it over your chest showing off your chest, which was covered by a black lace bra, his hands moved to pull the strap down over your shoulder so your breast fell free from the cup, his palm cupped the flesh and his thumb traced against your nipple, coaxing it to harden, you shivered, as you felt Missy’s nails against your bare thigh, trailing up towards the apex of your thighs. 

“They are cute,” he mused. He pinched your nipple a bit, rougher than Missy tended to be. You had a feeling where Missy was rough; he was going to be rougher. You were not getting out of this unscathed, you breathed out as his hand moved to kneed at your other breast, his mouth capturing your nipple; he drew long sucks against it; you instinctively let your hand grab his shoulder as you felt Missy shift to move up on the bed more, watching. The Master moved pushing your pants down and off, dragging you up more, his hand moved to your thigh, spreading you out for him more as he pushed you to lay down; his tongue flicked at your nipple before he licked down your stomach, nipping right above the waistband of your underwear, which caused your hips to arch; you felt Missy move to sit with your head in her lap, her fingers trailing through your hair, as she watched with interest. 

“She particularly likes the thing we do with our tongue.” Missy mused, smirking down at you, and you gave a soft sound as his fingers dragged your underwear down. 

“Who doesn’t?” He smirked. 

“Cocky.” She shot back, watching as he pushed your thighs up, so your legs were over his shoulders; she supported your neck more as he moved you; her fingers massaged at your neck; her other hand moved to trail her fingers up the valley of your chest; your hands didn’t know where to go, one gripped against Missy’s skirt, the other against the back of The Master’s head as his mouth made contact with your core. The sound that escaped you was sinful. Missy’s fingers trailed against your arm as it clung to her. 

His tongue curled and pressed before falling flat against your slit, licking a stripe up, before the flat of his tongue wiggled against your clit, pulling a breathy sound from you, your hips arching again, his hands having to grab your hips so you couldn’t squirm away as his mouth closed around the little bundle of nerves sucking and flicking it with the tip of his tongue. His eyes watching you closely, taking in all your body’s cues. 

"See, I told you.” Missy spoke, “Putty.” She smirked, one of her hands fingers stroked against your cheek, almost lovingly. Her other hand cupped your breast, slowly massaging it. You jolted as he slipped a finger into you, thrusting it a few times before he added a second one to stretch you for him. “Making sure you are nice and ready, puppy.” She purred to you like you needed a play-by-play. Your hand moved to try and pull at her shoulder, wanting her lips on yours, which she obliged, swallowing a few of your groans with her mouth. 

“Oi, I want to hear them; that’s the whole point, isn’t it, the fun little sounds?" He pulled back, and you tightened your hand against the back of his head, whining about him stopping. “What a needy little thing we have.” He smirked a bit. “Then again, I don’t blame them, do you?” He smirked at Missy, who watched him and then looked back to you, nodding after a moment.

“All ours… I think we will keep them.” She mused though she said that every time you two slept together, ‘I think I’ll keep you.' It was as close to 'I love you’ as you were going to get. You felt him sit up, hearing his belt buckle undo and the swift sound of leather being pulled before he undid his pants. His hand wrapped around his length and stroked the already semi-hard member to life. He pressed the tip through your slick folds, rubbing against your entrance. “Deep breath,” he breathed out as he leaned over pressing against you, his chest against yours, as he held himself up with one arm. As he heard you breathe in he pushed in slowly, sinking in inch by inch, feeling your body stretch for him. “That’s a good pet.” he breathed out as he felt you flex and clench around him, “Oh yes, like a glove, like you were made for me.” he purred into your ear, you heard the annoyed tsk of Missy, but her fingers continued to play against your nipple and scratch the back of your neck, watching the pleasure split across your face, as he settled to the hilt, “There we are.” he breathed out, and slowly started to drag out, getting halfway out before he pushed back in quickly, his hand found your hip sliding down it and under your thigh keeping your leg pushed up and out as he rolled his hips, he felt your other knee against his hip as he set a steady pace. 

You groaned out, locking gaze with him as he moved, that grin spread across his lips, he liked eye contact just like Missy did, of course, he did. He felt better than any toy Missy and you had used, one hand moved to grab the back of his jacket pulling at it as he hit every right spot with the roll of his hips. You felt your head cloud as your pleasure started to build, you arched more trying to breathe and not let yourself cum, much like when you were with Missy, you wanted her to cum first, though with Time Lord's stamina you knew he would cum plenty of times before he was tired. You gasped out feeling your thighs strain and shake as he pushed as deep as he could with each thrust now. You groaned out his title, “Master.” there was a moment where his eyes darkened, and he gripped you tighter, the way you groaned out ‘Master’ clearly did something for him too, because he picked up his speed. He could tell you were close and he was close too. He growled out something in Gallifreyan, you had heard Missy say it before, in that same growl. Missy’s hands tightened against you as she heard his growl, her own eyes dark with possession, as she felt your body shudder and jolt as you slipped and screamed out as you came around him. 

You choked out, as he kept moving, Missy said something in very stern Gallifreyan, to which he replied, but slowly pulled out stroking himself as he splattered hot seed against your stomach, and looked at Missy with a look of ‘Are you happy now’, you couldn’t even form words for a moment, but you knew they must have argued about where he could cum, you felt Missy press a few kisses against your temple as you breathed trying to catch your breath. 

“I think it’s my turn pet,” she smirked a bit waiting for you to come down. It was going to be a long night between you three, and you weren’t sure about all the implications, but you didn’t care all that much, because this opened a whole new world for you, and you did want to explore more of it. 

★𓏧 𓏧 𓏧★ 𓏧 𓏧 𓏧★

Taglist𓏧 ↳ ○ @bees-fart-too , @bakusquadobsessed , @anastasa-mslfedit , @cabinedepapel , @asteria237 , @suckerforcate , @bingewatchingmylifegoby , @toastvogel , @starbucks-06 If you want to be added to the rest here is the l x

[nekohime19]

Mini Mac # 47 : Monkey in the doghouse

Wukong has a plan. It's not his best plan.

Wukong was fuming with anger. His blood was boiling with repressed rage. He longed to let it go. To let it explode. But he held on.

Winter had just begun to peek from its slumber when the pilgrims reached the kingdom of Bhiksu, re-named the Young Master City by the villagers. Many things were odd in this city. It was strangely empty and young boys no older than a few years were kept in geese coops. Wukong didn't like this. Everytime something was amiss, it meant some fiend was causing chaos beyond the scenes. He saw more troublemakers in this journey than he ever saw in his entire life. He swore to take vacations after this. Because even for him, who was the master of chaos, it was beginning to be too much.

They soon learned that those boys were sacrifices. Apparently, the King was sick, touched by an unknown disease, and his father-in-law made him believe that 1,111 young boys hearts would lengthen his life.

Wukong wanted to beat this so-called father-in-law to a pulp. As a King, protector of a tribe, protector of pups, he found this revolting. As a father of two cubs, he found this to be the cruelest thing someone could ever do.

“Did we get them all?” Asked Wukong as he secretly carried the young boys out of the city. He made a flurry of clones to help him. Macaque was on his shoulder, ears fanned out to localise all the babies.

“Yeah, that was the last.”

Wukong sighed in relief, he looked down at the darling boy snuggled in his chest and smiled. He brushed aside the bangs falling on his forehead and gave him to his clone. Geez. Having cubs of his own really made him soften up with children.

Macaque and Wukong got back to the rest of the pilgrims.

Bajie was running after Savage, the lil devil stole some pieces of fruits, she was old-enough to eat something else than milk. Savage jumped on Sanzang and hid in his neck, she looked up at the monk with puppy dog eyes.

“Aw, come on Bajie. She can have a little snack, no?” Cooed Sanzang as he patted the lil devil.

“Master, she's manipulating you.” Huffed Bajie as he regained his breath. Savage was a fast one.

“But the piece she took is so little.” Argued Sanzang as he looked at the tiny crumb of peach Savage was holding.

“It starts with the crumbs and it ends with her devouring our entire stock.” Replied Bajie.

“She wouldn't eat our stock Bajie, she's too tiny for that, aren't you?” Cooed the monk as he took Savage in his hands. “I say you can eat that crumb.” Savage chirped in delight while Bajie grumbled about “niece privileges.”

Meanwhile, Rumble was nestled in Ao Lie’s hair. The dragon-horse mane was one of the fluffiest around when the monkeys weren't here, and Rumble, as a bed-seeker, claimed it as his personal bed when the arms of his dad weren't avaliable. Ao Lie didn't mind. More often than not he would answer Rumble's mrrps with his own set of odd noises.

Wujing was settling the camp and folding their clean laundry, he perked up when he noticed the two monkeys.

“Everything went alright?” Asked the river demon.

“Yeah… We still have to confront the King tomorrow though.” Answered Wukong, he will not let that poor excuse of a King slaughter children like that.

The confrontation with the King did not begin well. As expected, the father-in-law was a demon in disguise, Wukong recognized him at one glance. The demon told the King that Sanzang's single heart would replace the 1,111 young boys hearts. Wukong gritted his teeth, he disguised himself as Sanzang to fool the demon, while the true Sanzang along with Macaque and the cubs were hiding behind a pillar.

Wukong plan was simple, really. He’ll cut open his belly, fool those people with numerous hearts and then grab the demon to beat him and reveal his true appearances. He didn't account for his daughter to chirp like mad the moment he put the knife on his belly. He had hoped Macaque would take the cubs and prevent them from seeing this, but, really, his daughter was just too slippery. Wukong, disguised as Sanzang, turned towards Savage. He tried to look reassuring.

It was alright.

This was nothing but an act.

Pa wasn't going to be hurt.

But Savage was one stubborn monkey, she refused to back down. She paced a lil before rushing towards Wukong and climbing on his shoulders. She clawed at his cheeks in frustration. Clearly not understanding why her Pa was pointing a knife to his belly.

“No, Sav. Baby. This is alright.” Mumbled Wukong, quietly enough to not be heard by the rest of them.

“There is something on the monk's shoulder.” Noticed the fake father-in-law.

Savage looked at the disguised demon. And somehow, she must have made the connexion that he was the one responsible for this, she growled at him. Wukong was about to reassured her and hide her form view. But then Savage eyes glowed bright and a laser shot out of her pupils. It hit the demon and broke his disguise.

Wukong was at the same time very proud and very confused. Savage just chirped in satisfaction.

“Huh, good job baby!” Congratulated Wukong. He broke his own disguise and took his daughter in his hands. “You did good, yeah. And it's your first power!!! That's something! My girl is growing! Look at you being all tough now.” Cooed Wukong, Savage appreciated his pets and leaned in his touch.

It was rather easy to convince the King after the demon's disguise was revealed. The pilgrims were able to resume their journey peacefully. At night, after Macaque put the cubs to bed, he turned towards Wukong and glared at him.

“You and me need to talk.” He growled with barely restrained anger.

Wukong gulped. He was in trouble.

Both monkeys went to an isolate place. Macaque mentioned for Wukong to shrink, which the sage did without complaints.

“Look Mac, I know you're mad because I was going to be hurt and all, but it was for the-” Macaque didn't let him finish. He punched him square in the face.

Yeah, maybe he deserved that.

“IN FRONT OF THE CUBS!?” Shouted the black-furred monkey. He began to pace, throwing heated glare at Wukong every now and then. “You were going to cut your belly in front of the cubs!?”

“I thought you would shield them and-”

“What if Savage saw you huh!? What if you didn't stop and she saw her own father cut his belly open!? Did you think of this?”

Wukong winced and withered at his mate's glare.

“I'm sorry… I didn't… I thought…”

“No you thought nothing! I already told you when you cut your head to face the fake Daoist that I didn't want you to hurt yourself like that. And now you do it again? I don't care if your immortal Wukong I don’t want you to-” Macaque stopped and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Promise me you will never do this again.”

Wuking gulped, he stood up and walked towards his mate with a lowered tail. “I promise.”

“If you break this promise, I swear I'm gonna beat you to a pulp myself.” Growled Macaque.

Wukong hugged him from behind, Macaque didn't hug back.

“I promise, moon.” The black-furred monkey softened at the nickname, he patted Wukong's arms reassuringly.

“You're still in the dog house buddy.” Added Macaque.

+ cut scenes

Bajie *watching Mac drag Wukong away* : Oh this is karma 🤭

Sanzang : I will pray for his soul 😔

 

Wukong *doing something reckless that will harm him*

Savage : not on my watch 😡

 

Fun fact : Savage was glued to Wukong for three days after that. Rumble too, even if he didn't see clearly what happened he still feel his sister distress over their Pa.

+ I did some doodles of the cubs

But Like first time I ever tried to draw digitally, it's so hard 🫠

Ch1 / Previous / Next

[bloopitynoot]

Reading SVSSS: Chapter 18

For those who don't know, I am reading SVSSS for the first time and sharing my thoughts!

If you have not read it, there will be spoilers! Consider this a warning.

Also- if you want to follow along, I am aiming to post updates daily. You can find all the posts in the tag bloopitynoot reads SVSSS. You can also check out the intro post for context on my read.

New chapter, new cup, and back on my tea drinking! Today is another past year ren faire hand made cup with a Blueberry Jasmine tea.

This is present me rn - having finished this chapter- I WAS NOT PREPARED WHAT THE FUCK; what a goddamn jump scare of a read! D:

let's get ready for the notes journey so you can see me descend into a cacophony of sound:

Okay the visitor from last chapter was not Luo Binghe, and I really thought it might have been- it is in fact Liu Qingge! p159

Where is Luo Binghe though?? p159

Side note: unrelated, but a little bit related- adjacently related if you will - to the plot -> Big Same Shen Qingqiu! When I see a fan I too have to give that baby a firm crack! p159

Also real as fuck. LQQ: "what's up with you and Luo BInghe?" SQQ: I don't really know, but here we are LOL" p160

What did Liu Qingge see in the room that made him trip up/pause??? (I am sure we will find out later but still what the heck) p162

I'm crying at the strike out over here "His current attire and appearance was exactly identical to the Luo Binghe from before the Immortal Alliance Conference: the model of flawless and pure disciple of a major sect, the image of a pretty, diligent, and competent young wife, it really...really...was..." p162

Why am I so suspicious about the breakfast service Luo Binghe has for SQQ. p163

I love how the two of them in disguise in this very obvious trap of basically every powerful cultivator and sect is Luo Binghe changing his facial expression and SQQ being like "well I've been away for a while they will never recognize me" stealth check natural 1 for sure for sure p168

ewwww. anything to do with Old Palace Master. I really hate this guy, this story is so fucked. honestly poor Luo Binghe rn. pp171-172

oooo! New quest from the system: Raising Righteous Image Points! p176

more me appointed points to my 'SQQ is the damsel/love interest narrative', "In conclusion: So the female lead's role was going to be Shen Qingqiu again, huh?" p177

THANK YOU! This guy is the only one talking sense. Tianlang-jun really did nothing to start this whole war. He was only tricked and then essentially had the shit absolutely beat out of him. I dont even think the rumour he was going to wreak havoc and kill a bunch of humans was true- probably made up by butt hurt Old Palace Master. p181

ugh. Poor LBG having to hear all these people talk about his parents, their story, and how his mom hated him so much she tried to abort him. what the fuck, that's enough to mess anyone up quite badly. pp181-183

LBH: SQQ: my heart!!! pp 186-187

OFC LBH would be blamed mid Menty-B for the random demons being present. p189

Also so valid! the sects really are using the same tricks they used on Tianlang-jun. You know what, i'm really starting to stand with these demons - they have been done so dirty! p190

Hell yeah Yu Qingyuan stepping in! p191

Everyone here wants an explanation- how tf are they going to explain any of this tho LOL p195

Oh fuck, oh fuck! He hit zero points! p196

wait...alternate punishment? p197

Oh dang, he really just collapsed p197

AH! What's happening in the dream punishment. Is the punishment SQQ having to live with the original novel Luo BInghe and forever pining for him LOL? pp 198-199

Oh shit. Luo Binghe is totally figuring out that Shen Qingqiu is not his original Shizun p201

HE TORE HIS ARM OFF?! P202

MORE LIMB RIPPING P203

WHAT WHAT WHAT!!!!

THIS IS WILD.

What a horrible punishment OMG.

[ridreamir]

Setting: Tears of the Kingdom/Breath of the Wild and Pre-Calamity

This is a condensed reader insert, no gender is ever specified in my writing. (Various x Reader with focus on the Yiga Clan/Master Kohga) Edit: I didn't have time to proofread. I'll keep fixing the post each time I spot a mistake.

So what if, one hundred years ago, there had been a forgotten member of the royal family (by blood or by adoption?) This could be because of a timeline erasure or time split, but this person somehow still exists in the BOTW timeline before the events of the Calamity.

That person just so happens to be you.

Forgotten by the world, you're left to be a wandering traveler in a now post-apocalyptic Hyrule, but you still have a small connection to the power that saved you from certain death/erasure from existence.

Along your travels, you meet members of the various races, and those who were once aware of your existence can no longer recognize you, but those of significant bloodlines too carry faint traces of power not unlike that inherent in your own family. You hide your identity, but you meet old acquaintances and quietly resolve potential threats before they happen before leaving as quickly as you came.

This, of course, is met with no thanks, as you try to avoid being noticed as anything more than an insignificant traveler. Gentle rains, warm breezes, the air that follows feels vaguely reminiscent of a time before the kingdom's fall, and those old enough to remember those times now long past feel melancholic for the brief moment you pass through their lands. The light of the sunrise is stark upon the land, even in mist or morning fog.

During your time passing through the domain, a somewhat young Sidon might find you standing before Mipha's statue with your hands clasped together whilst everyone is sleeping, silently communicating the tales of your adventures through prayer.

He's easily caught spying with his large size, but you pretend not to notice as it makes no sense for a stranger like you to dwell on the memory of a long-passed princess. It probably looked like a passerby paying respect to the spirits. Eventually, he did come out of hiding to join you in paying your respects to the statue. Seeing her face immortalized in stone did stir unrestful feelings within you. You don't know why you survived when everyone else had perished, but you had a feeling there was still something here you must do. You weren't supposed to be alive, but having awoken with limited memories, you realized there were no records left of your existence as a member of the royal family, nor were you sure what role you were meant to play now that your existence had been nothing but a faded memory that only you had held onto.

As you traveled, you also slowly regained pivotal memories of the timeline you had hailed from.

Ironically, you had met your end at the hands of an assassin in disguise. It was just after the revelation of the divine prophecy given of a hero and the crowned princess, your death surely nothing more than a mistake that could have been avoided had you been important enough to protect.

Worse was that you had later realized that you had befriended a strange and silly traveler who had quite the personality, and would sneak away in disguise to meet with him. Sharing snacks purchased together in the market and getting up to shenanigans had become a frequent occurrence, and not once did you think that you'd be caught as the isolated member of the royal family that bore no importance to the monarchy or the crown. He was carefree, mischievous, and had a strange sense of humor that did not fail to amuse you. He might've not been the most pious person before you met, but he learned to pay for the treats you shared. He might have also been the only person to actually like you as a person and not hold contempt for you as a discarded royal.

But it seemed that friend of yours that became dear to you had also been lying about his true identity.

In this new life, you would find yourself desperately stranded in the middle of the desert, just after a violent sandstorm had brought you to a canyon strangely decorated with hanging talismans. It seemed to be the only place safe from the whipping winds that shredded your clothes and cut your skin. You'd felt compelled to see what had become of Gerudo town after the war, as the Gerudo and the Rito had all but cut themselves off from the rest of the world given their difficult-to-reach positions and the danger that now shattered this land.

But just as you thought you were safe, an arrow came flying past your shoulder. A piercing pain coursed throughout your veins, and it became evident that your assailant had not missed his mark. You were awake long enough to watch the world turn sideways before a pair of boots kicked the sand up and obscured the last of your vision. You awoke in a jail cell.

You could not see who stood before you, but you heard as he asked your reason for coming this far through the harsh desert sandstorm.

Of course, this was an interrogation. You were in an unfamiliar place, but something about here had been far too familiar for comfort. This man before you had been the cause of your death.

And this time, he seemed to really think you were just some poor, unfortunate traveler who happened to get swept up in the storm, and not the forgotten royal of a deposed family.

So, you played into his misconception. You supposed it wasn't far from the truth now that you were really just a nobody, but in the back of your mind, you kept looking for signs that this man before you had been the scoundrel who stole from stalls and offered up his spoils to you, his dear friend. His deep, dark eyes and kind smile had probably been a lie as well. The Yiga were known for their disguises, and you were a fool even up until now, holding the memory of him in fondness. That reality of yours was never true to begin with.

He was now introduced to you as the Head of the Yiga Clan. This was "Master Kohga."

[cantsomeoneelsedoit]

Ch 59: Tetsuzanko

Little Shen negotiating his demands with his teacher is just so wholesome and pure. Here's this kid who is wearing rags and robbing adults for money all while telling his sister that he's the strongest in the world, and he enters a tournament and gets beat, thus proving he's not the strongest, but it doesn't affect his self-confidence at all.

He's still so confident that he proposes conditions for allowing someone to teach him, and it's not that he's being egotistical or delusional, because he admits he got beat at the tournament.

His leverage in this negotiation is offering the opportunity to train the boy who will become the world's strongest. That's how sure he is that he'll achieve his dream!

Shen: "Do it for the exposure! It'll look great in your portfolio!"

It's still not clear what kind of person Shen's teacher is at this point. We know he's interested in strong students and that he's smiling at Shen, but he seems eager to push Shen to his limits.

FENG?! That Feng?! It all makes sense now!

Feng is waiting on his student to surpass him and needs him to get as strong as possible so that he can have a fitting opponent someday. You know, like a certain other "Best in the World" from another series:

Each of them promises to wait as long as it takes for their student to reach their level, too! Feng has an even more Mihawk-ish quote later in the story, one that almost matches word for word.

But unlike my beloved Mihawk, Feng specifically promised not to age, which is a bit of an odd thing to say unless it's related to his negation ability.

Back to the battle, Shen immediately uses Untruth as he and Feng charge at each other with the sun shining over both of them as in the panels from the previous chapter.

Oho.

Feng is surprised, but Untruth doesn't seem to throw him off his game too badly. Narration boxes explain how Shen's ability isn't foolproof. He has to keep in mind everything he knows about his opponent's skills, tendencies, mood, and the chances of his ability backfiring--all in real time during a fight. He basically has to think for two people during a battle.

That last panel is so pretty!

Shen realizes that this guy is going to be more trouble than he'd thought! He begins to put the puzzle together:

Andy and Fuuko hadn't had a chance to tell Shen about Life Is Strange and its anti-aging abilities because the battle started almost as soon as they arrived.

Feng's style name is written on his outfit. It has the Under symbol and then 八极 "baji" in simplified Mandarin.

Baji is short for Bajiquan, a Chinese martial arts style. Feng has his own variant style of baji, but we haven't yet learned its name. When Feng uses the Zhen Jiao step-in, Shen recognizes it as one of the fundamental moves of baji and it adds to his suspicions that this mystery opponent has the same fighting style as his old master.

It's a quick, explosive, close-quarters kind of combat that's honestly terrifying:

After escaping with the step-in, Feng soars high above and shields himself with one of the jiangshi. Shen remarks that using a "human" shield to block attacks is something his old master would do--we're slowly learning more and more that Feng might not have been a very caring teacher...

Feng, wearing a hooded robe the entire time and concealing his identity from almost everyone in the series: "Heh, I suppose it's no wonder you don't know who I am!" Yeah, no shit. That's how disguises work!

Shen proves once again that he has no sentimental reservations about punching the zombified corpse of his former rival, but Feng spins away from the punch and lines up for his next wicked sick move.

Bajiquan's most famous move is the tetsuzanko 鉄山靠, "iron mountain lean," a kind of shoulder check/throw/battering ram. Feng's version is called hakkaizanko 捌廻山靠 "eight cycle mountain strike/lean."

It's a well-known baji move with Feng's own spin on it. He hits Shen so hard that he has a flashback!

"Aren't schools supposed to be free of dummies" is hilarious, but in just a few pages, Shen says that he can't go to school because he's a dummy. Poor kid! He doesn't even think he belongs in school! He has a lot of confidence in his strength, but not in his smarts. It's especially sad because we know that Shen's actually not dumb at all! T.T

Was Feng really joking though? He's so hard to read!

The siblings go outside to train under the full moon. Mei learns the tetsuzanko and appears to master it in a short time-- but the sfx covers up her joyful moment in the last panel, and it continues across each panel of the flashback as Feng's true nature is revealed.

"Rather than having three disciples, what if I just have one extremely traumatized disciple?"

Feng was never interested in training Shen for Shen's sake. He wasn't trying to get all the glory for himself, either. I mean, he could've won that tournament hands-down if he wanted to, but he didn't even try (and we see here that he could easily beat the current champion). All that Feng wanted was to train someone who could get strong enough to give him a good fight, and he was willing to hurt that person as much as he could in order to make them into a meaner, stronger version of themselves.

The story cuts back to the present and we FINALLY see Feng's face! Noooooo, he's handsome! How can I hate him now?!?!

I don't think we've ever seen Shen look like this before. He has the same wild look in his eyes as he did when Feng first recruited him! Now Feng is hoping to use that wild side of Shen to create his ideal opponent. Is Shen just taking the bait?

Masterpost

[justwantedtowrite]

SOUKOKU (kagome & inuyasha) the idiotic geniuses

BSD Inuyasha AU post

Dazai as kagome who's the heir to the port mafia (his grandpa, the old boss, is currently reigning) his next mission entails overseeing a drug base disguised as a shrine led by odasaku w/ the orphans (higurashi family) (the old boss recognizes the oda's skills and finds it wasteful to kill him just because he doesn't wanna kill anymore) who gives him a tour. As he wanders the area near the well, his book (the complete manual to suicide) starts to transform into The Book, the words disappearing and cover changing and as that magical transformation finishes, he's dragged into the well by a huge centipede. He escapes (he's got a gun and he knows how to use it) and then stumbled across hirotsu (kaede) who then explains things to dazai.

Chuuya as inuyasha who was freed by a bandaged guy who wields a... (what even is that??) and keeps muttering about how that dumb centipede always regenerates every shot he makes! (chuuya can sense spiritual powers from this guy though?? Why not use it??) he helps defeat the demon anyway because this is not the best way to wake up and he's still so very confused. Hirotsu explains the situation (and huh, he's so old now, how much time has passed? he used to take care of him and the sheep and the village as a whole) but another demon shows up and takes a book.... Wait... that's THE BOOK he carries dazai and they try to shoot the bird down.

Dazai misses and hits the spine of the book, scattering the pages (on purpose) because he thinks he'll finally find them meaning of this meaningless existence called life if he has this chibi puppy by his side (he's got a crush, sue him)

Chuuya's choker as the beads of subjugation which was handed to him by shirase (kikyo) because shirase wasn't really powerful and if chuuya ends up betraying him, he has to have something to use against him. For some reason though, shirase didn't end up being the word-sayer despite him being the one to put it on chuuya (here, it's because he simply does not have the spiritual power to pull off the commands). When Dazai saw Chuuya wearing the choker, he made fun of it and jokingly said "sit". It ended up working and dazai always makes sure that chuuya never lives it down.

Gun and bullets as bow and arrows, dazai is already a master at it, so why switch into an old fashioned weapon (chuuya: master? Why'd you miss the book then??) Hirotsu tried to teach him how to use bows though so he decided to try it out and bring it to their travels because he likes making hirotsu proud (in exchange, dazai teaches him how to use a gun, and dazai can see that it's growing on hirotsu)

Dazai brings things from the modern era as well, so far chuuya's favorites are: portable music and wine.

Kagome's bike has no equivalent. Because is there a better alternative to being carried by chuuya? NONE.

(dazai, muttering: shame it's not bridal carry though)

[echoghost1]

All You’ve Ever Wanted Chapter 3

Summary: Not everyone who dies is gone for good. Not everyone who comes back, comes back as a ghost.

Sometimes, if just the right criteria are met, they become something much more powerful.

Chapter Word Count: 1,201

Prompt: Instead of becoming a halfa, Danny became a genie upon his death. He gets captured and enslaved by Vlad who uses him to fulfill all his wishes but Desire eventually notices the disturbances caused by another genie and rescues him. She becomes his mentor/mom.

For: @ghostboidanny

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

You can read on AO3 or down below the cut

The month leading up to the reunion went by in a blur.

Master was meticulous in his planning and going all out for the occasion.

He made sure the decorations matched his old school's colors, the exact colors pulled from memorabilia he had saved from his time there.

He hired an amazing catering company and taste tested everything on the menu before he approved anything.

Another detail was with Danny himself.

Master had taken great care to pick exactly how Danny was going to look, act, and even a fake backstory for him too.

It took hours for Master to settle on how Danny would look. He couldn’t just be a little older, he couldn’t be too big or too small. He couldn’t look too much like his old self either.

He ended up with light blonde hair, green eyes, and a slightly darker skin tone, like he had a permanent tan.

His age was vaguely late teens early 20’s, he was taller than he used to be but still shorter than Master was.

At one point while they were going through the options, Danny had made himself a red-head but for some reason Master got angry.

Before he changed to something else, he noticed he looked a lot more like his mom.

He wondered if that’s why Master had gotten angry. Not that it made much sense to him.

But since he wasn’t allowed to ask questions, he probably wouldn’t ever know.

Once his look was finalized, and the workers hired for the reunion, Master made sure Danny was seen by the other people working in the mansion.

He said it was to have proof that he existed.

Not that they really needed to do all that extra work. All Master had to do was wish that everyone already knew about him having a personal assistant and poof, they would know.

Then again, he always liked to do things the most dramatic way possible.

==============================================

Finally it was the day of the reunion and Danny could tell Master was excited.

“There is something I need you to do later, a wish I’ll need granted and I need you to be ready.”

“Of course, Master.”

“Until then, greet the guests as they arrive.”

Danny nodded and started to head towards the door.

“And one more thing,” Master said having waited just long enough for Danny to have to turn back around to hear the addition. “When the Fenton’s gets here, come get me so I can greet them myself.”

“Yes Master.”

Danny left as fast as he could without running or flying away.

Somehow, in all the lead up to the reunion, he had forgotten his parents were going to be coming. They’d probably bring Jazz too.

He was starting to get anxious but he wasn’t sure if he was scared or excited.

He knew they wouldn’t recognize him with his current disguise but he’d be able to see them.

He’d hope they were doing okay.

That they didn’t miss him too much.

Until then he had work to do.

He walked over to the front door and opened the front doors just as the first guests started to arrive.

==============================================

It was hours later and all of the other guests had already arrived when a familiar RV made it’s way up the long private road.

He watched for a bit longer than he meant to before turning to see where his Master had gotten to.

He doubted Master wanted him to shout over the chatter of the guests and the music, but he needed to alert him as soon as possible.

Luckily one of Masters many lessons was finally coming in handy. He looked around to see that no one was paying attention to him and he created a duplicate of himself.

Unfortunately his duplicates could only take on his true genie form, no matter how hard he tried.

A form that couldn’t pass as human even if it had legs instead of the whisp of a tail. 

His blue tinted skin only reminded him of all the breaths he could no longer take. Even if his skin had stayed the same his eyes were now filled to the brim with a toxic looking green light that his master couldn’t stand the sight of.

He wasn’t sure how to feel about it.

That green was the last thing he ever saw, but it somehow felt right seeing them like that. 

The duplicate vanished from sight and floated off to find his master.

Danny scanned the room for his target and locked eyes with him just as his duplicate delivered the news.

With the task completed, his duplicate dissolved into nothing.

Master made his way over to the door just as the Fenton family was exiting the RV.

“I shouldn’t be surprised that the vehicle is just as obnoxious as the driver,” Master muttered in annoyance.

Danny was starting to worry that he was missing some crucial information and it was much too late to get it.

“You know, I suppose now is as good a time as any.” Master said mostly to himself.

Danny readied himself for whatever wish Master was about to make but he didn’t take his eyes off his family.

“I wish Jack Fenton was dead.”

Danny felt as if the whole world screeched to a halt.

He couldn’t have heard that right.

Surely he meant something else.

“I'm sorry Master, I must have misheard you. It sounded like you just asked me to kill my father?”

“No you heard that right.” he said completely nonplussed, “And make sure you do it before he gets inside. I don't want to deal with that kind of clean up.”

“I can't.”

“Can't or won't?”

“Is there a difference?” Either way Danny wasn’t going to grant this wish.

“Either you are physically unable or you are simply unwilling.”

Danny froze.

He couldn’t bare the thought of what Master wanted him to do but it was a wish.

Was he really going to have to grant it?

Could he resist?

“Please?”

Please don't make me do this.

Please just ask for something else.

Please just let me go.

“And so you have wished it, so shall it be!” An unknown voice declared.

There was a woman Danny didn't recognize standing behind his sister. She had long black hair and green skin.

She also radiated power.

The same kind of power he did.

The mystery woman's hands began to glow as she granted the wish. Danny couldn’t quiet tell if she was pointing at himself, Master, or just the mansion in general.

He could feel her magic in the air. The energy surrounding him felt warm like the sun.

He closed his eyes and basked in the feeling.

It had been a long time since he felt warmth like this.

It had been a long time since he felt warm. It almost felt like living.

The moment was over just as quickly as it had begun, but it had brought change.

He opened his eyes and noticed several things.

He wasn't in disguise anymore, but in his true genie form instead.

He was holding his lamp.

And, most importantly of all, he was free.

[m1d-45]

kaeya having his mandela catalogue moment seeing the copy of his brother… can’t wait for him to meet shade! that definitely won’t fuck him up at all! - teddy anon

oh he’ll totally leave that interaction 100% sane (lying)

brief note, diluc and shade would be over in .2 seconds. putting aside the impossibility of shade leaving your side willingly, diluc has long since memorized the microexpressions on kaeya’s face, and knows that he isn’t him.

brief note two, shade is much better at passing as kaeya than red is diluc. aside from the very obvious detail of red borderline growling at people all the time, red carries himself differently. diluc, while often awkward and sometimes unintentionally cold, is still approachable, a trait that red could never manage. shade, however…

shade is a bandit. a master of disguise mixed with kaeya's already clever personality, able to mask himself as kaeya—and has, on occasion, to lead a patrol away or to snatch some medical supplies from the city for you or nikki. the difference is that he has a diluc to fall back on, one that he can trust with his entire self. kaeya can't let himself be honest with diluc and vice versa, but shade and red can. who better to tell your homicidal urges to than your fellow reflection?

imagine with me. post hunt. you're entering mondstat, without red at nikki's request. you, nikki, momo, and shade, making your way toward the gates. everyone knew about the old copy of diluc you had made, about the mirrors your friend taught you to use to summon the archons of old. even night, elusive as she was, was known throughout the knights.

but shade was new. shade was quick on his feet, always swift to pull you through the impossible tangles of forest, into thickets that would knit behind you so the patrols couldn't follow. shade was a well kept secret, only glimpsed in rumors throughout the city that the cavalry captain was occasionally seen in a new set of formal wear.

kaeya had heard these rumors. he'd also known that your 'diluc' was your closest guard, and had himself witnessed him going into the city. he'd thought nothing of it, assuming the people had simply seen someone that looked like him. they hadn't.

once youre close enough for him to actually recognize shade, its like his whole world falls apart.

"divine one..." jean, at his side, likely also recalling the rumors. "your company..."

"this is momo and nikki," you introduce, "and this is shade."

shade. some part of that feels ironic.

hes not surprised by the talking cat, barely registering nikki's polite hello as he locks eyes with shade. same height, same hair, same patch over the eye and sharp smile when he knows he's won.

"shade, say hello."

shade blinks, then flashes a fake smile. "greetings."

the meeting is a blur for kaeya. all he can see is shade, shade and how clearly you and him are attached. his hand held in yours, the adoring look in his eyes as he watches you speak-

he'd passed as kaeya. his mask was so paper thin someone he's never even met could imitate it flawlessly, putting on his identity like a costume on the world's stage and doing it better.

shade was the one at your side. shade led you away with a polite smile—you didn't see the way it dropped so he could shoot kaeya a glare—and a hand around your waist. shade was the one that believed you, that kept you safe.

kaeya had invented the frostwind swordsman. he'd crafted his persona by hand, making a shield out of his words and behavior, and yet it was somehow shade that had perfected it.

[peridot-tears]

Time Travel AU: Be Gay, Solve Crimes

"Oi, is it true what they say? That you Frenchies are always raring for a good murder mystery?"

Time travel!AU where after Jacob kills Maxwell Roth, he blacks out from sheer exhaustion and smoke inhalation, only to wake up during the French Revolution. He quickly tags along with one Arno Victor Dorian, who's hot on the trail of whoever killed Jean Paul Marat, and he can't keep away even after Charlotte Corday is behind bars. In fact, he especially wants to stay when Arno teams up with Elise De La Serre -- "She doesn't want you as much as you want her, Arnie!"

After a revolution ends and a new era begins under Napoleon, Arno finds himself turning to Jacob as his closest confidante. "Though you may be boorish and reckless, there must be a reason that you're somehow still miraculously alive to bother me."

("This coming from the man who killed a bunch of men just for wine," Jacob scoffs.)

After a long and tumultuous courtship that they try to label as "frenemies," except in 19th-century French, they become dual Master Assassins who serve the people of France -- and the people of England, because fuck Napoleon and fuck the King too -- and make their relationship official.

And they were dual Master Assassins. Oh my God, they were dual Master Assassins.

They spend the rest of their lives sneaking and assassinating, trying to bridge the gap between Assassins and Templars, and though they ultimately fail, their attempts were so influential, even the biggest fanatics of both sides speak their names with respect.

Once they've retired to the Alps as old men, they spend their days in leisure, until the day they go to bed holding hands, and never wake up.

Except Jacob does wake up.

Evie is at his bedside, scolding him for his recklessness, and it's 1860s London again.

He recovers quickly, considering the tragedy that just befell him. Maxwell Roth is dead. That's a pity. Jacob has known better love and a better man than Maxwell Roth.

Even if that man was just a dream.

Until the day he breaks into the rest of Twopenny's personal collection, where he sees several original portraits of the French Revolution. A sharp-eyed painter from that time had managed to spot two men in the crowd -- Jacob finds himself staring at his own face, hiding in plain sight, and though the head of the man beside him is turned, he would recognize that scar anywhere.

And what sharp eyes that painter had. Jacob sees himself in this painting. That painting. Several paintings throughout the years, given away by small tells that only Jacob himself would recognize: The familiar swoop of Arno's frame as he sidestepped a guard. Jacob's godawful sans-culottes disguise. In the blurry distance, Arno performing a leap of faith, given away only by a gold and blue plumage unusual for a bird in Paris.

I'm here, he thinks. I'm really here.

Familiar steps sound the hall behind him.

Jacob ducks behind the painting; it's merely a worker in the building, coming to make sure the collection is as untouched as it has always been. He looks bored. He looks like Arno.

His hair may be cropped, and his scar may be gone -- the sign, perhaps, of a life that's dealt him a kinder hand -- but that bored look has not changed. It's Arno. He's been reborn, somehow.

That can't be it. Arno's gone. Jacob died with him. But Jacob is here, Jacob thinks to himself.

It's too much. And besides, Twopenny's paintings are rubbish, anyway. But Arno-not-Arno won't leave. He's lingering at the paintings, eyeing the details of the brushstrokes with light interest. He always was incorrigible when it came to purveying the arts.

Jacob tries to sneak past him -- Arno-not-Arno's ears practically prick, sharp as the man Jacob married, and Jacob finds himself grabbing him from behind, knocking him out gently.

He lingers just long enough to prop him up by the painting, smoothing out his hair, tucking him in with a nearby tarp because it's winter, Arno will get cold. He can practically hear Arno scolding him for his poor choice of fabric. "That barely insulates anything," he would say.

"It's the thought that counts," Jacob says.

He tips his hat, and escapes the building.

[malarkay]

Too Real Is This Feeling of Make-Believe

When the Storm Hawks intercept a transmission claiming that Master Cyclonis is going to Terra Neon, they assume the worst. Determined to stop her before she can carry out any nefarious plans, they head straight for the terra. But things go differently than how anyone had planned.

“Remind me again why I agreed to this,” Master Cyclonis prompted, and Ace suppressed a sigh as he took her by the shoulders and turned her around to face the mirror again. 

“Hold still,” he told her, just forceful enough to gain her compliance without sounding too commanding, which ran the risk of earning her ire.  He was well-versed in the art of wrangling his mercurial empress.  Combing her hair out of her eyes with his fingers, he deftly began to work it into a single Galean braid.  “You agreed because you wisely recognize that you need a day off to decompress from all the stress you've been under lately.”  

He’d been trying to get her to take a vacation for the past month and a half, ever since he’d endured a tirade from a fed-up Ravess who declared that working for Cyclonis was becoming, quote, a fucking nightmare.  Something had to give if they didn't want a mutiny on their hands.  He’d begun by suggesting two weeks on Tropica, which she rejected outright.  He hadn't had any luck getting her to agree to take a week off, either.  Finally, she had agreed to one day off.  It was better than nothing.  He’d been quick to suggest Terra Neon.  She was the perfect age for it, and the terra provided the most bang for your buck.  

A disgruntled hum was her only response.  She was clearly second-guessing her decision.  Finishing with her hair, he handed her her Chroma Crystal necklace.  She slipped it on, tucking it under her shirt, and they both took a moment to gaze into the mirror, studying the effect.  Her braided hair was now a sandy brown, her eyes a light blue that matched the shirt she wore under a royal blue zippered hoodie.  She’d ditched the black nail polish and had opted for a thinner, subtler eyeliner.

“Your own grandmother wouldn't recognize you,” he assured her as she moved to gather the rest of her things into a black backpack: a telescopic staff in case she needed to defend herself, an Oblivion Crystal in case she really needed to defend herself, and a Warp Crystal in case she needed to make a quick getaway.  More cash than she could possibly spend in a day was tucked into a zippered pocket hidden inside her hoodie.  “You’ll be shadowed the whole time by undercover Talons, and I’ll be here making sure the place doesn't burn down in your absence.  You have nothing to worry about.”

“I'm not worried,” she told him.

“Voice.”

She rolled her eyes with a sigh before clearing her throat.  “I’m not worried,” she repeated in a lighter, much less intimidating tone.  

Satisfied that she looked and sounded like any other fifteen-year-old kid and not like one of the most hated and feared people in all of Atmos, he told her he hoped she had fun today and sent her on her way.

~*~*~

The Storm Hawks were on their way to Terra Neon, and Finn couldn't be happier, even if they were technically on a mission.  They'd intercepted an encrypted Cyclonian transmission earlier.  Piper had managed to partially decrypt it, unscrambling it just enough to learn that Master Cyclonis herself was supposedly going to be on the terra today.  They didn't know when or why, but as Aerrow had said, she couldn't be up to anything good.  Their job was to find her, figure out what her intentions were, and ultimately stop her from carrying out her plans.

They would have to be sneaky about it.  If Cyclonis caught on that they were after her, she could bail, coming back later to finish what she started when they weren't around to stop her.  Or she might decide to stay and fight, which could lead to innocent people getting hurt.  They couldn't risk that, so they'd have to catch her by surprise.  That meant disguises, but Piper only had three Chroma Crystals.  It was decided that he, Piper, and Aerrow would be the ones to search the terra while Stork, Junko and Radarr would remain aboard the Condor to monitor the radio for any more Cyclonian chatter.  To cover more ground, they were going to split up.  Finn rubbed his hands in anticipation.  This was going to be great!  Without Piper breathing down his neck, he didn't see why his search couldn't include going on a ride or two.  What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

They changed into civilian clothes as they approached the terra, him tossing on a black leather jacket over a dark green t-shirt before raiding his piggy bank for spending money.  Meeting back up with the others, he accepted his Chroma Crystal, making sure it was securely tucked into one of his pockets.

Crossing his eyes, he looked up at his hair to see what colour it had turned, frowning when he saw that it was black.  He looked over at the other two, Aerrow with his bright blue hair and Piper with her pink hair, and huffed.  “Aww man, why’d I have to get the boring hair?  Do my eyes look cool, at least?’

“These crystals aren't the best quality,” Piper admitted, sounding a little embarrassed.  “Your eyes didn't change colour.”

He looked at the other two closer to see that their eyes hadn't changed, either.  That made him feel a little better.  Not enough to stop his disappointed whine, though.

“You look fine,” Junko reassured him, messing with his hair a little to style it differently.  “There, no one’s gonna recognize you now.”

“Thanks, Junko,” he smiled, making a mental note to try to win his best friend the biggest teddy bear he could find.

Piper gave him one of her knowing looks like she could read his mind.  “Just remember, you're here to find Cyclonis, not to goof off or chase girls.”

“Cyclonis is a girl,” he pointed out, and Piper rolled her eyes so hard he was surprised she didn't hurt herself.

“You know what I mean!”

“Yeah, yeah.”  He crossed his arms.  “I get it.  We have a job to do,” he said, showing the others that he understood the assignment.

“Okay, so here's the plan,” Aerrow said.  “We’ll keep in touch through our earpieces.  If you see her, don't engage.  Let the rest of us know, and follow her until we can get to you.  Our weapons are too conspicuous, so we’ll leave them here.  Junko and Radarr can bring them to us once we’ve found her, and we’ll go from there.  Got it?”

They all agreed, and, at last, it was time to have some fun.

~*~*~

Have fun, Ace had told her, and she fully intended to meet that challenge.  It would just take a little planning and strategy first.  Armed with one of the cutesy little maps they handed out at the park gates, she claimed an empty bench and started plotting out which rides and attractions she wanted to check out, meticulously charting the most efficient route between them so that she didn't waste any time.

Once her day was planned, she got up and headed toward her first stop.  She’d almost made it to her destination when she felt someone slip their arm around her shoulders and loudly say, “There you are!  I've been looking all over for you!”  She stiffened and stopped walking, only to have her overly friendly assailant prompt her to keep moving as he whispered, “Just play along.  You've got someone following you.”

Ah.  So a would-be rescuer, not an assailant.  She glanced over her shoulder just long enough to catch sight of one of her plain-clothed Talons in the crowd before the boy with his arm still wrapped around her said, “Don't look!  We don't want him to know we’re onto him.”

She decided to play along.  The sooner this was over with, the sooner she could go about her day.  So she let him lead her through a turn or two.  He’d sneak a glance toward their shadow every time they changed directions.  After a few minutes of that, she gestured behind her back, ordering the Talon to withdraw.  It worked.  Once he noticed they were no longer being followed, her rescuer relaxed, letting his arm drop.  

“That was one scary-looking dude,” he said as he shuffled to a stop.  “I’m glad we lost him.”

She couldn't disagree with his assessment.  That particular Talon was a very large, intimidating man.  She wasn't sure what Ace had been thinking with that pick.  If she were ever forced to take another day off, she'd be sure to choose more inconspicuous-looking Talons as security.  

“Thanks for looking out for me,” she said, finally able to get a good look at him.  He was about her age, with bright blue eyes and tousled black hair.  No taller than she was, and slightly built, he had to have been either very brave or very stupid to think that he could have done anything to stop the behemoth of a Talon from hurting them if that was his goal.  Probably both.  Surprisingly, it wasn't the suspicion that he was an idiot that bothered her.  It was that there was something vaguely familiar about him, but she couldn't quite pinpoint what.

He gave her a grin that was clearly meant to be flirtatious, which made the feeling even more pronounced.  Why was he so familiar?  This was really going to bug her until she could figure out who he reminded her of.  “Well,” he drawled, “if you really want to thank me, we could hang out for a little while.  Go on a couple of rides, maybe have lunch together later?”

“No.”

He wilted at her flat rejection.  She almost felt bad.

“How about one ride?” he suggested, looking so hopeful that the second no she had prepared died in her throat.  She sighed.

“Fine.  One ride.”  She looked around to figure out where they were, then consulted her map.  “The StarFlyer’s that way,” she said, pointing.  “That's where I was going first.”

“The StarFlyer?” he said, making a face.  “That's for babies!”

“No, it's not,” she said, defending the swing ride.  It may not be the most thrilling ride in the park, but anything that dangled you a hundred and thirty-five meters into the air and then spun you around at seventy-five kilometres per hour was hardly what she'd call a ride for babies.  

“Yeah, it is,” he said dismissively.  “I wanna go on that!” he said, pointing to the giant roller coaster off in the distance.

She looked back down at her map.  Not only was it out of their way, but it wasn't even on the list of rides she wanted to go on.  She'd overheard that it was the most popular ride on the terra and that the lines were always long.  She didn't want to wait in a long line.

“We’re going on the StarFlyer,” she told him.  “Take it or leave it.”

“Ohhh, I get it.  You’re scared,” he said obnoxiously.

“What?  No.”

“Why else would you say no to the best ride on the whole terra?”

“Because, in the time it will take us to get through that line, we could have gone on three other rides.”

“We?” he grinned, stopping just short of waggling his eyebrows.

She narrowed her eyes at him but otherwise ignored his comment.  “It’s an inefficient use of our time.”

“You sound just like one of my other friends,” he groaned.

“Well, your friend sounds like they have a good head on their shoulders.  Look,” she said, holding out her map, ready to explain her carefully laid plans in detail.  He took one look at the map and the little annotations she had made in the margins and shuddered.  Snatching the map away from her, he crumpled it up and tossed it into the nearest garbage bin.  

“That took me an hour!”

“And in that hour, you could have gone on the roller coaster instead!  Listen, you can’t plan a day at Terra Neon.  You have to feel a day at Terra Neon.”

“I feel,” she drawled out emphatically, “like that sounded better in your head.”

He scoffed.  “I’m going on the roller coaster,” he said and started walking.  When she didn’t follow immediately, he stopped and turned around.  “You coming or not?”

With a sigh, she followed.  “Don’t look so smug,” she told him when she caught his satisfied little smirk.  “I agreed to go on one ride with you.  I’m just keeping that promise.”

“Uh-huh,” he said as they walked, still grinning.  “So, what’s your name, anyway?  I’m Fi…” his words trailed off in a cough, and he thumped himself on the chest a couple of times before continuing.  “Felix,” he finished.

Names.  Right.  She hadn’t thought she’d need a name when she came here, not expecting to pick up company.  She considered using Lark but dismissed that idea.  She didn’t like how things had ended the last time she gave someone that name.  She’d have to come up with something else.  It didn’t take long for one to bubble up from the darkest depths of her subconscious, and she blurted it out without thinking.  “Andy,” she said, and nearly winced.  When she was younger, and her grandmother was still alive, there was a boy whose father was governor of Gale for a few years until his assassination.  She couldn’t remember his or his father’s name, now.  It wasn’t important.  What was important was that he insisted on butchering her name whenever she saw him.  Ignoring her repeated requests that he refer to her by her preferred middle name, her surname, or her title, he had instead glommed onto her hated first name and then managed to make it even worse by shortening it.  Thus, Calandra had become Andy.  Ugh.  Well, there was no taking it back now.  For as long as she was stuck with Felix, she was stuck with this stupid name.

“Andy,” he said, smiling over at her.  “I like it.”

~*~*~

It turned out Andy was even more impatient than he was when standing in lines.  While he bounced on the balls of his feet as they slowly inched their way forward, hardly able to contain his excitement, she stood with her arms crossed, scowling, radiating major stormcloud energy.

Maybe he shouldn't have insisted on the roller coaster after all.  She was definitely going to ditch him the moment the ride was over.  He was going to blow his chances with a cute girl again!

‘You could try talking to her,’ an exasperated voice in his head told him.  It sounded suspiciously like Piper.  Duh!  Of course, he should talk to her!  It would distract her from the wait.

So he asked her where she was from.  After a moment’s hesitation, she told him she was from Terra Greemus.  

“Cool, what's it like there?  I've never been.”

There was another pause before she answered breezily, “Oh, you know….”

He didn't know, but he laughed like he did.  “Oh yeah.  Totally.”

“What about you?”

It only took him a split second to come up with an answer.  Piper would be proud of his quick thinking.  “Terra Rex,” he told her.  A part of him felt bad about lying to her, but he had to keep up the undercover act.  If Cyclonis was around here somewhere, there could be other Cyclonians around, too, and he couldn't afford to have any of them overhear who he really was.  It could ruin the whole operation.  

“Huh.  For some reason, I always thought everyone from Terra Rex was blond.”

Well yeah, he thought so, too.  That's why he…crap!  His hair wasn't blond!  It was fine; he could salvage this.  He could if his mind hadn't gone completely blank, anyway.  Come on, man, say something!  Anything!  “That's racist!”

She stared at him for a moment before bursting into laughter.  After a second, he started laughing, too, his face burning.  “It's not racist,” she insisted between bouts of laughter.  “A stereotype, maybe.”  Getting her laughter under control, she said, “It was stupid of me to believe that everyone from an entire terra would have the same hair colour, now that I think about it.  Sorry.”

“It's okay.  I get that a lot.”

The conversation became easier after that.  He learned that she was an only child and that it fell on her to take over the family business.  When he had asked what kind of business it was, she had waved a dismissive hand.  “Logistics.  Boring stuff.  I don't really want to talk about it.”  Fair enough, he didn't really want to talk about boring stuff, either.

He told her he had three brothers, a sister, and a very smart dog.  That made her smile, but it was kind of a sad smile.  She'd always wondered what it was like to have siblings, she told him.  And a pet.  She claimed she didn't have time to take care of a pet, though.  He suggested a cat.  Cats were supposed to be pretty easy, weren't they?  She shrugged.  “Maybe someday.”

She asked him what his plans for the future were, and it was his turn to shrug.  He couldn't tell her that he was already part of a Sky Knight squadron.  “I dunno.  I like helping people.  Maybe something that lets me do that.”

She grinned and asked him if he had ever considered trying to join the Rex Guardians.  He laughed outright at that.  “Join those stuck up windbags?  Dude, not on your life!”

That seemed to amuse her more than anything else he'd said.  

At last, they got to the front of the line, and soon enough, they were in the front car.  “Best seat on the ride!” he said excitedly.  “When we get to the top of the first hill, you gotta raise your arms in the air when we drop,” he instructed, suspecting that this was her first time on a roller coaster.  She had neither confirmed nor denied her roller coaster experience level when he’d asked her on the walk over.

“Why?”

“Because it’s fun?”

She looked skeptical but agreed.  The ride operator came around to yank on their restraints to make sure they were secured, and then away they went!

She was surprisingly chill throughout the ride.  Besides an initial yelp when the first drop came, there wasn't much screaming and yelling coming from her side of the car.  He thought she maybe hadn't enjoyed herself as they got off the ride, but when he asked her how she liked it, her smile and the way her eyes sparkled put that fear to rest.

“Wanna go again?”

“Yes!” she said without hesitation.

As they made their way back to the end of the line, he spotted two teenage boys about a third of the way from the front.  They looked pretty cool, which gave him an idea.   Grabbing Andy’s hand, he led her over to them, ducking under the railing to get in line behind them.

“Hey guys, what's up?  Thanks for saving our spot,” he told them.  Sure enough, the boys played along, fist-bumping him and acting like they were friends.  The person they had cut in front of grumbled a little but didn't make a big deal out of it.  Success!

“That was sneaky,” Andy told him approvingly.  He just grinned.  He’d just shaved so much time off their wait.  He didn't think he'd hear any more Piper-like complaints about 'inefficient use of time’ from her after this.

~*~*~

Cyclonis wasn't sure how it happened.  She wasn't sure how she had gone from counting down the minutes until she could ditch Felix for good to standing in line with him to go on their fifth ride of the day.  After their second time on the roller coaster, they had gone on the Gravitron, then something called the Pendulum, which she had not enjoyed.  Not that she was going to admit that to Felix and have him make fun of her.  Honestly, it had started out fine, simply rocking back and forth.  No big deal.  But then the ride had flipped them upside down and let them hang there for what felt like an eternity before it creakily continued on its arc.  And the restraints?  A joke.  They had been hung upside down with nothing but a frayed lap belt to prevent them from falling out!  The cursed thing was part torture device, part death trap.  Someone had definitely died on that ride before, no one could convince her otherwise.  Felix, obviously, loved it.

One thing was for certain, she was never going anywhere without a levitation crystal ever again.  Just in case.

Now they were waiting to go on something called The Orbit.  Round cars were attached to a central pole that swung them around the wavy track while the cars also rotated.  Felix explained that there was a wheel they could turn to control how fast the car spun.  The majority of the cars spun at a relaxed pace, while a few were barely moving at all, and one was spinning so fast it looked like it might fly off the ride entirely, its occupants screaming bloody murder the whole time.  She already knew by the way Felix’s smile grew manic as he watched that that would be them soon enough. 

They had stopped along the way to get some cotton candy; yet another thing that she'd never tried before that Felix seemed so casually familiar with.  As they waited in line, he offered her some first.�� She pinched off a bit of the fluffy pink candy, popping it into her mouth.  It dissolved instantly, and she couldn't help but make a face.  “It tastes like pure sugar,” she said.  She wasn't sure she liked it.

“Not true,” he said as he ate some.  “There's also food colouring.”  After a brief moment of deliberation, she took some more, giving it a second chance.  Knowing what to expect this time helped.  It actually wasn't that bad.  Between the two of them, they finished it all by the time they got to the front of the line.

~*~*~

They were on their way to grab some lunch when Aerrow’s voice came through his earpiece.

“Everyone check in.  Are we all doing okay?”

Oh no….

He quickly scanned the area on the off chance he might spot Cyclonis somewhere in the crowd.  It was the first time he’d given the matter any thought in…a while.  Nope.  No Cyclonians here.  But there was a bathroom.  Perfect.  Smiling apologetically to Andy, he excused himself as all the others sounded off that they hadn't seen anything suspicious all morning.  “All good here,” he told everyone as he entered the bathroom, turning a blind corner and running right into Aerrow.  Literally.  

“Ahhhh!” he screamed, startled.  Aerrow yelped, stumbling back a couple of steps before catching himself.

“Finn!  What the heck?”

“Nothing!”

That earned him a suspicious look.  Honestly, where was the trust?  But whatever suspicions Aerrow had, he didn't voice them.  Instead, he said, “I'm about to head over to the food court for lunch.  Do you want-”

“No!”

He could have kicked himself.  Now Aerrow really did look suspicious.  It wasn't like him to turn down food.

“Is everything okay?  You're doing what you're supposed to, right?  Because Piper thinks-”

“Pfft, come on, Piper always thinks I'm slacking off, but I've got this!  If….” He looked around, aware that they were still in a public area and easily overheard.  “If she's here, I’ll be the first one to find her.  Guaranteed.”

“Good,” Aerrow smiled.  Giving him a quick hug, he told him to be careful and left.  Finn waited a full sixty seconds for the coast to clear before walking back outside, wondering how they were going to avoid running into Aerrow again.

~*~*~

Less than a minute had gone by since Felix disappeared into the bathroom before one of her Talons casually sidled up to her.  Luckily not the big, brutish-looking one who had caught Felix’s attention this morning.

He crossed his arms, carefully looking away from her before he spoke.  “Everything alright?” he asked respectfully.  The ‘Master’ part was left unspoken but implied.

“Yes,” she answered, watching him out of the corner of her eye.  

“That boy isn't bothering you, is he?  He can be made to disappear.”

So eager.  He must be gunning for a promotion.

“That won't be necessary.  I find him amusing for now.”

The man gave a nearly imperceptible nod.  “We stand ready to assist you should you need us,” he reminded her.

“Of course.  I expect nothing less.”

With that, the Talon disappeared back into the crowd.  Soon after, Felix returned to her side.  “So, change of plans,” he told her.  “My stomach doesn't feel so good between all that cotton candy and crazy rides.”

Gross.  She shifted a little bit away from him, and he rushed to reassure her.  “No!  I didn't…I wasn't sick in there.  I’m fine!  I just thought we could ride the StarFlyer first before lunch.”

“You want to ride the baby ride?” she teased him.

“Yes,” he smirked.  “I wanna ride the baby ride.”

“Okay,” she agreed.  She shifted her backpack so that she could get at the outside pocket, unzipping it and pulling out a pack of peppermint gum, offering him a piece.  Hopefully, he was telling the truth about not getting sick in the bathroom, but just in case….

“To help settle your stomach,” she prompted.  

Slipping the gum back into her bag once he had taken some, she shouldered her backpack, and they headed off to the StarFlyer.

~*~*~

So, Andy might be onto something with the StarFlyer, now that he’d given it a proper chance.  Okay, three proper chances.  It was actually really relaxing.  It was like flying on a Skimmer, but not really.  Flying took concentration, always running calculations and making little adjustments to make sure nothing bad happened.  This felt more like falling, only no, because falling was scary, and this ride wasn’t scary.  It was somewhere in between the two.  He could just sit back and enjoy the view of the sky and the wind whipping through his hair without a care in the world.

“Wanna go a fourth time?” he asked once they were back on the ground.  The other great thing about this ride was that there was almost no wait time.  The walk to the ride and three trips through the short line had only burned half an hour.

“Nah, I nearly fell asleep this last time,” she confessed.

“You, too?” he laughed.  “It’s so…” he trailed off, trying to think of a better description than ‘relaxing.’

“Meditative,” she finished for him.

“Really?  My friend, the one I said you remind me of a little bit, meditates.  I tried it once, but I couldn’t get into it.”

“It takes a lot of practice.  No one gets it right the first time.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.  Are you feeling better?” “100%.  Ready to eat whenever you are!”  

She nodded, and they started off for the food court.  “I just don’t get how you’re supposed to clear your mind of all thoughts,” he said as they walked.

“You don’t,” she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.  

“No offence, but I think you’re meditating wrong.”

“No, you are.  You can’t just stop thinking altogether.  That’s stupid.  You’re going to have thoughts.  Meditating is about learning how to not dwell on those thoughts.  It’s kind of like watching a leaf float past you.  You have no control over the wind that blew that leaf towards you.  You can’t stop the leaf from approaching you.  But you can watch it pass you by without reaching out and grabbing it.”

“Whoa,” he said.  That made way more sense than how Piper had explained it.  “So you think the thought, but you don’t really think the thought?” he asked, putting more emphasis on the second ‘think.’

“Exactly.  Like I said, it’s not easy at first, but you get better at it the more you try.”

He watched her out of the corner of his eye as they walked.  He was so confused by this girl.  She’d obviously never been on a roller coaster before today, but she also hadn’t been scared riding it.  She didn’t know what cotton candy was, but she could wax poetic about meditation.  And who the heck came to an amusement park alone, anyway?  Had he befriended an escapee from a monastery?  Was that a thing?

They got to the food court, and he watched her study the menu boards, her brow furrowing more the longer she stared at them.

“Problem?” he asked.

“Do they not have anything healthy here?”

Oh yeah.  She had definitely escaped from a monastery.  He was sure of it.

“No, everything here is terrible for you.  That’s what makes it fun.”

She hummed indecisively.  After another full minute of silence, she asked, “Wanna split one of everything?”

“Umm, I don’t think I have enough money for that.”

“That’s okay.  I do.”

Seriously, who was this girl?!

~*~*~

In the end, they didn't get one of everything, but they came close.  They'd settled on a sampler platter that came with chicken strips, potato skins, fried zucchini, and mozzarella sticks.  Then they'd added some nachos, a giant slice of pizza that they cut in half, a side of fries, and a couple of sodas.  

Cyclonis didn't think they'd end up finishing it all once she saw it all laid out on the table between them, but she had been wrong.  After one of everything from the sampler platter, her half slice of pizza, a quarter of the nachos and a handful of fries, she was uncomfortably full.  

Felix, meanwhile, was still going strong.  She watched in horror and fascination as he polished off the rest of the food.  Hadn't he complained about feeling sick just an hour ago?  Were all teenage boys like this, or was he some sort of freak of nature?

“Maybe we should hold off on going on any more rides for a while,” she suggested as they cleared their table.  She would hate to have to murder him if he threw up all over her.

“Okay.  They have a really cool arcade here.  We can hang out there for a while,” he suggested, and she agreed.

Forty-five minutes later, she decided she wasn’t a fan of arcades.  There were way too many flashing lights and blaring sounds, all jumbled together into one big discordant mess, and it didn't take long for it all to start getting on her nerves.  On top of that, Felix had obliterated her in basically every game they'd played together.

Yeah, she wasn't having fun.  

At least Felix took his wins gracefully.  Now.  The first time he beat her, he had started dancing around, exalting himself and mocking her in turns.  Eventually, he noticed the look on her face, and it instantly shut him up.  Gulping, he had called her scary before suggesting they try a different game.  Since then, he'd wisely kept his opinions about how badly she sucks to himself.

“There's a laser tag arena next door,” Felix told her after another fifteen minutes.  She wasn't sure if he had gotten bored or if he had finally noticed her discomfort.  Either way, she was grateful to get out of there.

~*~*~

It didn’t take long for them to get suited up and join a bunch of other smaller groups who would all be playing together.  They had the arena for an hour and would get to play as many rounds as they could fit into that time.  Once the rules had been explained, they broke into two teams of ten.  He and Andy were on the same team, their red armbands distinguishing them from their blue-banded enemies.

It was a simple game of Capture the Flag.  Respawns were allowed, but if you were hit, you had to go back to your team’s base before rejoining the game.  A whistle blew, and the game began.  The arena was huge, dimly lit, but not too dark, with multiple levels and plenty of obstacles to hide behind between them and the opposite team’s base.  

“Follow me,” Andy told him, sounding like she had a plan.  It didn't take him long to regret his decision to do so as she led them up to one of the upper levels, found a person-sized foam pyramid to conceal them behind, and then…decided to camp there?

She flattened herself against the ground in a spot where she could watch the chaos going on below.  He had to admit that it did give them a really good view of the entire arena, but if all she wanted to do was watch the game instead of play, she could have saved her money.

“Watch our backs,” she told him.  After five minutes of dutifully doing as he was told, he got bored.  Only one other player had come up to their level the entire time, and he easily took the kid out.

He had had enough of sitting on the sidelines.  “Okay, well, you have fun up here.  I'm gonna go actually play the game now.”

“Hold your position,” she ordered.  

“Andy, seriously, this is so boring.  I wanna play.”

“Hold.  Your.  Position,” she said, glaring back over her shoulder at him.  Scary Andy was back.  

“Okay, fine,” he told her, holding up his hands in surrender.

Two more minutes passed.  He got to shoot one other enemy player who had tried and failed to sneak up on them, but that was as exciting as things had gotten for him.  He was considering shooting himself so that he’d have to go back down to where all the action was when she spoke.

“What's the range on these laser guns?” 

“Uhh, I dunno.”

She hummed in thought, pointing to a player who was pinned behind another foam pyramid on the lower level.  “Shoot her.”

“She's on our team,” he protested.

“So?”

“Do you…do you get the objective of this game?”

With a sigh, she aimed her laser gun at her chosen target and fired, hitting her on her second try.  

“Andy, what the heck?”

“That was fifty meters,” was all she had to say for herself.  She pointed out another player, this one on the opposite team.  “Would you say that's a hundred?”

“Give or take,” he agreed.  He took aim, fired, and hit his target on the first try.

They tried a hundred and fifty meters, followed by two hundred, registering a hit at both distances.  Anything beyond that appeared to be out of range.

“You're a good shot,” she complimented him.

“I know,” he grinned, which made her roll her eyes.

She watched the battle rage below them for another minute before announcing, “I've seen enough.”

Getting up, she led him back down to the main level.  Their flag was gone by the time they got back to their base, and less than a minute later, the whistle blew again, signalling the end of the game.  The blue team had won that round.

Once the red team was back together, Finn just about had a heart attack when Andy lit into their teammates.  “That was pathetic.  There was no cohesion, no strategy; it's like you all wanted us to lose.  So let me tell you what's going to happen in the next game…”

“Who the fuck died and made you queen?” a disgruntled older teen who had nearly thirty centimetres and fifty kilos on Andy interrupted.

Showing an alarming lack of fear, Andy stepped closer to the almost full-grown man who had spoken out against her.  She had to tilt her head back to look him in the eyes, but when she did, the guy took a nervous step back.  “Oh, I'm sorry.  I wasn't aware you wanted to keep losing.”

Ohhh.  Scary Andy had a scary voice to match now.  That was new.  And vaguely familiar for some reason?

The guy looked over to him.  “Bro, control your girl,” he blustered.

“I dunno, man, I think we should hear her out,” he said.

Thankfully, no one else on the team seemed to have a problem with injecting a little strategy into their gameplay, so they all agreed with him.  He gestured, prompting her to continue.  

“Now we don't have much time, so I’ll keep things simple,” Andy said as if the interruption never happened.  “Luckily, the blue team’s tactics are laughable, so we should be able to win pretty handily if everyone sticks to the plan-”

She quickly and succinctly laid out her plan, breaking the team into pairs and giving each pair a specific role to focus on.  As for them, they’d be the ones responsible for capturing the blue team’s flag.  “You wanted to play,” she told him with a smirk.  “Let’s see what you got.”

The whistle blew, starting the game.

One pair stayed behind to guard the flag, while another split up and headed off to opposite sides of the upper levels.  Andy said she had seen them both make some pretty impressive shots during the first game and decided they should be their snipers.  The other two pairs stuck to the perimeters of the arena, moving to flank the enemy.  The middle of the arena was all theirs.  They moved from pyramid to pyramid, him covering her when she was on the move, with her doing the same for him.  They each landed a few good ‘kills’ and made it to the last pyramid before the enemy base unscathed.  A member of the blue team was guarding the flag, perfectly positioned so they couldn’t get a clear shot of her target sensor without leaving the safety of their cover and putting themselves at risk.  

Andy waved up at the upper levels, trying to get the attention of one of their snipers.  They didn’t have to wait long.  No more than ten seconds later, the flag guardian’s vest lit up, indicating a hit.  They both darted forward, him reaching the flag first.  

“Go, go, go!” he said as he grabbed it, and they full-on sprinted back towards their side of the arena.  Andy got hit along the way, but it didn’t matter.  He got the flag back to their base before whoever had shot Andy could get him, too.  The whistle blew, and the match was over.  Their team had won, with enough time left for one more round.  A tie-breaker.

Before the third round, Andy ran a whole new strategy by the team.   They couldn’t use the same tactics as last time, she said, because the blue team was probably busy right now coming up with ways to counteract them after their success.  Just as she was assigning roles, Aerrow’s voice came through his earpiece. 

Seriously?  Now was so not a good time.

“Hey guys, I don’t suppose any of you have had any luck locating the target?”

The poor guy sounded so hopeful and so bored at the same time.  He glanced at Andy, thinking fast.  “I call dibs on sniper!” he told her.

That seemed to throw her off for a second, but she recovered quickly, restructuring the team so that they were the snipers for this round.  Once the whistle sounded, he ran up to the upper levels and wedged himself into a corner where he could see anyone trying to come at him.  Alone, he could finally speak freely.  

“Nope, still nothing.  Also, I vote that the next time we come to Terra Neon, it’s to have fun.  Today has been a real drag,” he said, shooting a blue team member who had immediately shown up looking to take out the snipers.

“Finn, where are you?  Why’d it take so long for you to answer?”

“I think the better question, Piper, is where are you?”

So he could avoid it like the plague….

“Right now?  Outside the theatre.  Now answer the question.”

“I’m near the carousel.”

“Really?  I’m near the carousel, and I don’t see you,” Aerrow said.

“Uhhh….”

“Finn!” Piper said disapprovingly.

“Okay!  I stopped to play a game of laser tag.  I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have lied.  As soon as the game ends, I’m heading right back outside.”

He winced to himself.  Technically, he wasn’t lying?

He heard Aerrow sigh through the earpiece.  “Listen, at this point, I don’t think that the intel we got was right.  So how about this?  Stay undercover, keep a lookout for Cyclonians, but if there’s anything fun you wanna do, go ahead and do it.”

“Dude, do you mean that?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re the best!”

“Thanks, Aerrow!” Piper said, all traces of her earlier irritation gone.

The line went quiet again.  

Finn grinned to himself.  “Alright, time to bag me some-” 

The whistle blew.

“Aww, man!”

~*~*~

She was in a pretty good mood as they left the arena, her team having absolutely slaughtered the blue team in back-to-back matches.  

“So, what kind of logistics business does your family run that requires you to know battle tactics and strategy?” Felix asked her teasingly.

“Just one of the many perks of a classical education,” she joked.  “Where'd you learn to shoot like that?”

“Well, since you asked,” he smirked, “follow me.”

He led her to the carnival game section of the park and right up to one of the booths.  It was one where you shoot little duck targets as they move along a conveyor belt.  

“Seriously?” she laughed.

“Hey, don't knock it until you try it,” he said, slapping down enough money to buy them into the game.

They spent the next hour playing every game there.  Felix won a stuffed bunny that was nearly as big as he was.  He asked the game operator if he could leave it there and return for it later, and the man gave him a ticket to bring back when he was ready to claim it.

“What're you going to do with that thing?”

“It's for my brother.  He was disappointed he couldn't come today.”

She couldn't help but smile a little at that.  Felix seemed like a genuinely good guy; she was glad they had met.  He'd made the day a lot more fun than it would have been if she had spent it alone.

She won a goldfish from the last game they played.  She emulated Felix, asking if she could claim it at the end of the day, and was given her own ticket.

“You did say you wished you had a pet,” Felix grinned.

“I said I don't have time to take care of a pet!”

“Well, you're in luck, ‘cause none of these fish look like they're gonna live past the end of next week, anyway,” he pointed out, and she scoffed.

The next couple of hours went by in a flurry of more rides.  They’d ridden the bumper skimmers, the carousel (where she had managed to snag a brass ring, winning a free ride), a ride that took you to the top of a tall tower and let you free fall from there, braking just a meter or two before hitting the ground, and the roller coaster for a third time.

Around sunset, they decided to go on the Ferris wheel.  The cars faced west, giving them a spectacular view.  She found herself enraptured as the disappearing sun painted the sky and the surrounding clouds orange, pink, and purple.  “It’s beautiful,” she breathed.  

“Yeah,” he agreed.  He didn’t sound like he found it nearly as impressive as she did.  Then again, why would he?  On Terra Rex, with its clear blue skies, he’d probably seen hundreds of sunsets like this before.  Maybe even thousands.  Still, he didn’t tease her over her enthusiasm, and his smile was soft when she glanced over at him.  At some point, he’d managed to drape his arm around her shoulders without her noticing.  She was surprised to find that she didn’t mind.  She was even more surprised when, without even thinking about it, she leaned into him.

~*~*~

Finn tried to play it cool when Andy leaned into him, which wasn’t easy when his heart was pounding as hard as it was.  He really hadn’t been sure if she’d welcome his arm around her or not.  Sure, he thought they’d had a lot of fun together, but did she feel the same way?  Then there was the fact that he was lying to her about everything: who he was, where he was from, what he did for a living.  He felt really guilty about that, even more than he had when he had lied to Aerrow and Piper.  It was almost bad enough to convince him to keep his hands to himself.  

But then they had gotten to the top of the Ferris wheel, and she had gotten lost in the beauty of the sunset, and she just looked so….

Pretty, for sure, but it was more than that.  It was like walls he hadn’t even noticed were there before had disappeared, and he was seeing a side of her that not many people got to see.  Yes, she could be standoffish, sarcastic, hyper-competitive, and downright terrifying at times.  He didn’t think any of that was a front.  She was definitely all of those things.  But right now, she just looked so vulnerable.  And a little sad, like she was seeing something she really wanted but couldn’t have.  And it made him want to put his arm around her even more than he already did, to be her shield while hers were down.  

He had expected her to reject him; he really had.  He’d expected her to pull away, push his arm off of her, and make some kind of comment that would pour ice water all over these new feelings.  So when she leaned into him instead….

Oh boy.

This was bad.  

It made his whole body feel like it was buzzing.  And his heart was beating too hard.  And he was very aware of all the places her body pressed against his.  And she was warm?  He wasn’t sure why he was surprised by that.  Maybe because of the times she’d looked at him in a way that made a chill go down his spine?  That was probably it.  She gave off cold vibes.  But not now.  Definitely not now.

And it wasn’t fair, man, because this wasn’t real.  It’d never be real because, at the end of the day, he would go back to the Condor and give the Chroma Crystal back to Piper.  He’d go back to being Finn, not Felix, and never see Andy again.  Or if he did, he wouldn’t be able to tell her who he was.  She’d never want to talk to him again if she knew that he had spent all day lying to her.

The ride ended too soon.  He asked her if she wanted to grab dinner, she said yes, and then she took his hand!  His palm prickled as it pressed against hers, but he didn’t let go.

~*~*~

Something had happened up there on the Ferris wheel.  Cyclonis wasn’t sure what.  Felix’s whole demeanour had shifted.  He seemed anxious, upset even.  Had she done something to mess things up between them?  She couldn’t think of anything.  Then again, he wouldn’t be the first person she’d ever upset without intending to.  It was frustrating when that happened.  She much preferred upsetting people on purpose.  

Comforting others wasn’t really her strong suit, but she decided to try, reaching out to take his hand.  He clung to it like he never wanted to let go.  Okay.  Not something she’d done, then.  Good to know.  After a few minutes of walking in silence, she decided to come out and ask him about it.  “Are you okay?  You seem unhappy.”

He seemed to debate with himself whether or not to answer her question.  “It’s just…do you think we’re ever going to see each other again?”

Oh.

“Probably not,” she admitted.  Her chest felt too tight when she said that, and she realized that she wished it wasn’t true.  She just wasn’t sure how to make that happen short of kidnapping him, which was an option she disregarded immediately.  That wouldn’t go over well.  Besides, she’d only known him for a day.  She wasn’t even sure she liked him well enough to keep him forever.  

But what other options were there, really?  She couldn’t keep playing the part of ‘Andy’ indefinitely.  And a Free Atmosian, especially one from Terra Rex, probably wouldn’t be thrilled to learn that the girl he’d spent the entire day with was the Master of Cyclonia.  She couldn’t tell him that, he’d freak out, and that would ruin this perfectly good night.

No, they definitely weren’t going to see each other again.  Which was why they might as well make the most of the time they had left.  Which was what she told him next.  He had thought about that for a minute or two as they walked before nodding his acceptance.  

“I guess that’s the best way to look at it,” he agreed.

~*~*~

Strangely, Finn felt better after their talk.  It made things easier, knowing that this was a casual, one-day-only thing and that they were both okay with that.  Not that a part of him wasn’t still disappointed about that, and he could tell that a part of her was, too.  But it was better this way.  Way less complicated, too.  

The easy companionship they had shared for most of the day returned.  Neither of them was starving, so they each just got a corndog and another soda for dinner, not even bothering to sit down.  They ate as they walked, just taking in the sights and sounds of Terra Neon at night when the place really got to show off the lights it was named for.  When they were finished and had found a trash bin to toss their corndog sticks into, they went back to holding hands.  

They stumbled upon Ghost Carrier, the haunted dark ride, and Andy insisted they go on it.  He balked at first.  She really wanted to go on a scary ride?  After dark?  

“It’s a dark ride.  What difference does it make if we go on it during the day or at night?” she reasoned.

“Because at night, it’s still going to be dark after we get off the ride!”

“If you don’t want to go on it, that’s fine.  I can go by myself,” she sighed.

He gave her an unimpressed stare.  “That’s low, even for you,” he told her, and she laughed.  “Fine, let’s go.”

The ride ended up being eventful.  Tense music played throughout the entire thing, though it did nothing to drown out the various screams, growls, howls and maniacal laughter that punctuated every animatronic jump scares.  So many jump scares!  The music did nothing to drown out his screams, either.  

They emerged at the end with him clinging to Andy.  He’d practically crawled right into her lap by the end of the ride.  She had her face pressed against his shoulder, her own shaking as she laughed herself silly, he guessed at his expense.  So that’s where the maniacal laughter had been coming from.  

“I hope you’re happy,” he told her once they had escaped from the ride’s demonic clutches.

“Oh, I am,” she said smugly.  

They stopped by a food cart to get dessert, then walked some more until they found a quiet little spot by a water ride.  Not many people ventured into this section of the park after dark.  They leaned against the fence that separated the walkway from the manmade river, staring out over the dark water for a few minutes while they finished their churros.  Once they were both done, he leaned over and nudged her with his shoulder.  She turned to lean back against the fence, smiling at him.  “What?” she asked, making it sound like she already knew the answer to that question.  

He pushed away from the fence, moving to stand in front of her.  Reaching out, he tucked a strand of hair that had escaped her braid behind her ear, grinning.  He hoped his grin didn’t look as awkward as it felt.  “So, uh, when you said we could make the most of the time we had left….”

Her smile turned into something dangerously close to a smirk.  Dangit!  He knew his grin looked awkward!  “Well, maybe not the most,” she said.  Did she sound nervous?  Why would-

What she meant caught up to him, and he blushed furiously.  He hoped it was dark enough to hide it.  “Dude, no!  No, no, I know that!” 

They both laughed.

“I didn’t expect that,” he assured her.  “I am so not ready for that.  But I would really like to kiss you.”

She nodded encouragingly, and he leaned forward, closing his eyes as he pressed his lips to hers.  It was a gentle kiss, and after a moment, he pulled back, looking at her to make sure they were both still cool with this.

“I think we can do better than that,” she said, and he grinned.  Emboldened by her egging him on, he leaned back in for a more adventurous kiss this time.  That one kiss turned into many kisses before they decided that they should head back towards the main part of the park before it closed.  

That had been a lot of fun.  There had been a few less-than-great moments.  Neither of them had much (okay, any) experience kissing someone like that, after all.  Unsurprisingly, Andy was not shy about letting him know when he was ‘being gross.’  He retaliated by letting her know when she was ‘not being gross enough.’  That nearly ended things right then and there, but they were able to laugh it off.  They were never going to do this again, after all.  They didn’t have to take it too seriously.  In the end, they had both learned a thing or two and enjoyed themselves, which was their goal all along.

He collected Junko’s stuffed bunny rabbit, then walked Andy over to the ring toss booth to pick out her goldfish.  She chose one that was all black, with creepy googly eyes and a permanent frown.  Y’know what?  It suited her.  

“What’re you going to name it?” he asked as they went into a nearby store that they were told sold goldfish stuff.

“It’s a fish, it doesn’t need a name.”

“Aww, come on, every pet needs a name!  Wait, I’ve got it!  Gillbert.  With two L’s.  Get it?”

She snorted, shaking her head.  He watched her pick out a twenty-gallon tank, which he thought seemed a little excessive for one goldfish, but she insisted.  The store clerk agreed with her, saying that the type of goldfish she had chosen was larger than your average goldfish and needed extra space.  Andy had given him such a smug look at that.  She picked out purple and black gravel to line the tank, several scraggly-looking fake plants, and a haunted castle ornament big enough for the fish to hide inside.  A tank filter, aquarium maintenance kit, and fish food soon joined the pile.

“All this for a fish that’s gonna be dead in a week?”

She shrugged.  “Might as well make it the best week of its life.”

“Are you going to be able to carry all that?” “I’ll manage.”

Loaded up with bags, she led him back outside.

“Do you want me to walk you back to your ship?” he asked her.

She shook her head.  “I’ll be okay on my own.”

There was an awkward silence as they stared at each other.  He put down the stuffed bunny and gestured for her to do the same with her bags.  Once their hands were free, he stepped forward and gave her a hug.  

“Today was fun.  I’m not gonna forget it,” he told her.

“Me neither,” she said, hugging him back.  They both took a step back when he let go.  “Well, have a nice life,” she told him, which made him laugh.

“You, too,” he said.  Picking up the stuffed animal, he made his way back to the Condor.

~*~*~

Cyclonis watched Felix walk away.  When he was out of sight, two of her plain-clothes Talons materialized from wherever it was they had been lurking.  She picked up Gillbert while the Talons gathered the rest of her bags and followed her back to their ship.  

She was all too aware that they had seen everything that had transpired between her and Felix that day.  That was confirmed when she noticed that one of them couldn’t quite hide the way the corners of his mouth twitched up every time he glanced at her.  A pointed look from her sobered him right up.

“You will not breathe a word about today to anyone,” she commanded.

“Of course, Master,” they said in unison.

~*~*~

“Have a fun night?” Aerrow asked as Finn sauntered into the room with a grin he just couldn’t shake.

“You know it!  Where’s Junko?”

“In the engine room with Radarr.”

Shooting him a thumbs up, he headed to the engine room.  “Junko, buddy, got you something,” he said as he handed off the gigantic rabbit.

“Aww, thanks, Finn!  You didn’t have to do that!”

“I know, but I felt bad you’ve been cooped up here all day.  Anyway, I’m beat.  Gonna head to bed.  G’night.”

“Night!” 

“G’night, Radarr.”

Instead of wishing him a good night, Radarr sniffed at the air, looking a little confused.  Shrugging it off, he headed for his room.  Surprisingly, Radarr followed.

“Uh, you okay?” he asked the little guy as Radarr barged into his room right on his heels.  There was no answer as Radarr scaled him like he was a tree, sniffing at him carefully.  Suddenly, Radarr squawked, his hackles rising as he leapt back down to the floor, chittering and pointing accusingly at him.

“Whoa, slow down.  What’s the problem?”

Radarr pointed to him again.

“I….”

Radarr nodded, then dramatically mimed sniffing, looking disgruntled.

“I smell?  Gee, thanks, Radarr.  Listen, I’m too tired to shower right now.  I’ll be sure to do that first thing in the morning.”

Self-consciously, he sniffed himself, just to make sure it wasn’t an emergency.  He didn’t smell anything.

Radarr shook his head, stomping his foot.  

“I don’t smell?”

Radarr made a so-so gesture.  How was he supposed to interpret that?

“I kinda smell?”

Another head shake.

“I smell like something?”

Radarr nodded emphatically.

“Okay?  Oh, wait!  I smell like someone?” he guessed.  Another nod.  “Okay, listen, I kinda met someone today, but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell any of the guys.  It didn’t…well, it’s not going to work out.”

Radarr smacked his forehead, then really started carrying on.  He had no idea what Radarr was saying, but he knew a lecture when he heard one.

“Seriously, what is your problem?  I hung out with a girl.  It’s not a big deal.”

Radarr was growing more frustrated by the second.  Finally, he put his hands up to his shoulders, fingers pointing upward.

“Feathers?”

Radarr rolled his eyes and tried something else, rubbing his hands together menacingly while doing a pretty good job imitating sinister laughter.

“Evil villain?”

Radarr touched his nose.

“Radarr, I don’t….” he trailed off as what Radarr was trying to tell him hit him like a ton of bricks.

“Dude….”

Radarr chirped yes.

“Dude, no!”

Radarr chirped yes again.

Suddenly, so much about Andy made sense.  And didn’t make sense!  How could he have spent the entire day with Cyclonis and not know it?  How could he have spent the entire day with Cyclonis and have fun?  

His knees went weak, and he sat down hard on his bed.  He had made out with her!  It was too much.  This was all too much.

“I need to lie down,” he told Radarr, who by now looked more concerned than angry.  “Please, Radarr, just keep this to yourself.  I didn’t know!”

Radarr sighed and waved a hand like, ‘Fine, they won’t hear about it from me.’  Then he awkwardly patted him on the knee before leaving the room.

Finn stared at the ceiling, way too many thoughts swirling through his head.  Well, he had told Andy…Cyclonis…that this had been a day he’d never forget.  And he sure as heck wasn’t going to forget it now!

He wondered if she had known who he really was and decided she hadn’t.  She wasn’t that good an actor.  And she hadn’t tried to recruit him to her cause or anything.  And if there had been any Cyclonian attacks anywhere, Aerrow would have told him, so this hadn’t been some elaborate plot to keep them distracted.  So, what?  She had come here in disguise to have a fun day out?  And had been as clueless about his identity as he had been about hers?

He grinned a little.  Oh, he was so going to use this the next time they came up against her.  He couldn’t wait to see the look on her face when he did.  If he had to live with this knowledge, then he was damn sure going to make sure that she had to live with it, too.

[theblackbookofarkera]

Adid Goj

In the sweltering ports of the Jayat Free Cities, where the air hangs thick with spice and salt, Adid Gol has built an empire on smoke and scent. The son of a humble incense merchant, Adid inherited not just his father's modest shop but also his cunning understanding that true power often lies in what others overlook.

Origins

Born to the Gol family in the southernmost of the Jayat Free Cities, Adid spent his youth learning to distinguish the subtle variations in frankincense harvested from different groves, the proper aging of myrrh, and the secret ratios of mixing that would produce scents capable of masking even the most pungent corruption of the post-Judgement world.

His father, Gol the Elder, had maintained a respectable if unremarkable presence in the local bazaar, content to serve the temples and wealthy homes of their city. But Adid saw beyond the traditional markets, recognizing that in a world still scarred by the catastrophes of ages past, pleasant aromas were more than mere luxury—they were necessity.

The Alligium's Shadow

Where others might have sought the backing of the Sharoo Magyar Alligium to expand their enterprise, Adid recognized early that their patronage was a gilded cage. He watched as fellow merchants grew wealthy but bound, their decisions dictated by distant masters in Shadowpool. Through careful observation of their methods, Adid learned to navigate the spaces between their influence, building a network of independent suppliers and traders who shared his desire for true autonomy.

The Magickal Markets

Adid's true genius revealed itself in his recognition of an untapped market: the practitioners of the magickal arts. Where traditional merchants saw only temple devotees and nobility as worthy customers, Adid understood that those who walked the paths of power required specific scents for their workings. Among his most sought-after creations is the Smoke of Clarity, a mixture of rare herbs from the cloud forests of Khamphaar, said to enhance divination. His Veiled Mind blend creates an atmosphere conducive to communing with spirits, while the powerful Judgment's Mask can neutralize the lingering miasma of corrupted lands.

Methods of Success

Adid's success in avoiding the Alligium's grasp lies in his distributed approach to business. Rather than establishing a central warehouse or trading company that could be easily controlled or acquired, he maintains a loose confederation of independent craftsmen and traders. Each knows only their part of the greater whole, making it impossible for any single betrayal to compromise the entire enterprise.

He pays his suppliers well but never so well as to draw undue attention. His merchants travel in humble ships, their precious cargoes disguised among more mundane goods. The truly valuable formulas are never written down but passed through an oral tradition among trusted apprentices.

Present Standing

Today, Adid's incense burns in the temples of a dozen nations, his special blends sought by magickal practitioners from the frozen wastes of Gromurg to the steaming jungles of Etoa. His success has not gone unnoticed by the Alligium, but their attempts to gain control have foundered against the seemingly simple yet remarkably sophisticated structure of his business.

Those who know him say he maintains the same humble demeanor of his merchant father, though his rings are finer and his robes of better cut. He can still be found some days in the original shop, testing new blends and teaching promising youngsters the art of scent, even as his agents carry his precious incense to the farthest corners of Arkera.

A Note on Sources

This account has been assembled from various merchants' tales and port rumors, as Adid himself maintains a purposeful obscurity about his operations. Some say he has access to Old World formulae discovered in the ruins of Rar Jung, while others insist his success stems from a supernatural sense of smell. The truth, as with most matters in Arkera, likely lies somewhere in the shadows between fact and fiction.

[enigmaincrimson]

Sitting here and thinking how Avalice would view both Light and Void Dragons.

If there was any records of Light Dragons from Avalacian history, it would have been lost with the demise of Water Dragon civilization... Leaving little more than myth in it's place if at all.

A "goddess of light" coming to teach and learn would be very difficult to forget otherwise... The vaults left scattered all over the planet are the only remaining proof she was there at all... And those aren't opening until her descendant follows the same journey.

By timespan, anything the Earth dragons still know at this point would becoming from the Pallandian Empire, post vanishing and pre collapse... So any records left would be full of errors and imperialist propaganda.

While someone wanting to get into the vaults for all that juicy technology would be tempting to most, exposing what actually happened back then not so much.

_

Void Dragon encounters are far more... Abstract. They are talented masters of disguise as much as they are wise and cunning, so... Any actual documented encounters would be attributed to many different individuals across history.

As in you would never know they were there unless they went out of their way to make it clear... And the rest is lost in the hazy chaos of myth and legend.

For example, there might be a story of of a king of Shuigang having a fateful meeting with a wise old sage that changed the course of both his life and his people for the better.

Or it could just be that Gong met a passing traveler that suggested he try out for the Battlesphere.

They never show their true faces, opting to hide among the peoples they desire to guide and teach... Not that there were only tales of benevolence as there were cautionary tales of what happened to people who didn't follow their advice.

At the same time, you'd never know they were dragons, let alone as unaging as they are.

_

In the end, even with there being less to say and most of what was being lost, it is still easier to recognize a Light Dragon of the imperial bloodline than that of a Void Dragon... Even if it isn't exactly accurate and the biggest piece of evidence is a somewhat faded full-page print of the Empress.

What that means for Evelyn outside of someone trying to use her as a hostage and a backup power source is still up for discussion.

Like... Would someone push for her to sit in the Magister's seat, even if it is clear she does not want it?

[joylinda-hawks]

In the Tian Chuang archives, it is only written that "The Sanbai warrior Zhao Jing married the only daughter of the previous Zhejiang Observer and is very rich, but I didn't think he was that rich. WOH, episode 5, part 4. ZZS mentally states that in the Tian Chuang archives, it is written that ZJ married the only daughter of the previous Zhejiang Observer and is very rich. ZZS himself did not think he was that rich. He adds mentally that it is no wonder that people say that he is like Meng Chang. ZZS calmly drinks wine. Meanwhile, ALZ and a group of young students run through the streets of the city at night. The old man tells them to rest. ALZ coughs and the students are worried, and the man sits down on the ground exhausted. One of the students asks if he is okay and ALZ replies that he is fine. Another young boy says that the Five Lakes Alliance is a sect with a good reputation. Although the SS is still pressuring them, they are right. The boy adds that they wouldn't dare to publicly kill powerful warriors from Jianghu. ALZ points out that publicly maybe not, but quietly yes. He adds that even if SS doesn't do it, he asks if the boy doesn't remember what the older couple said. ALZ says that since the information about Glazed Armor has come to light, Jianghu won't know peace. Since the storm has started, there will be riots in Jianghu. Everyone will suffer because of it. ALZ explains that life and death are not as important as keeping promises, that's the duty of his generation. ALZ says that his life is not important. The master states, placing his hand on the shoulder of the student, that the students should lead a good life and continue the legacy of the Tai Peak Sect and the Danyang Sect. The students listen to the master carefully. ALZ explains that if they bring glory to his sect, the leader Lu and he himself will smile even after death. The students ask the master not to say that. The boys' attention is drawn to some rustling, a gust of wind is heard that swings the lanterns. Fog gathers at the end of the street and ALZ asks who is there. The master and students stand up and take a defensive position. ALZ and the boys run forward, and from the distance comes the voice of a young man calling for help. At the end of the street appears the silhouette of a man calling for help all the time. ALZ warns the boys to be careful. The young man approaches ALZ's group. Terrified, the young leader of the Court of the Broken Sword Mu Jun Ge falls to the ground. ALZ tells the students to retreat. MJG runs further calling for help. He runs up and grabs ALZ by the arms. He begs ALZ for help, and the master recognizes which sect the young man is from. MJG explains in a terrified voice that a ghost is chasing him. ALZ is surprised and the man confirms that it is a ghost. ALZ asks what ghost. At that moment, a terrifying laugh is heard, and yellow pieces of paper fall from above. ALZ and the others look around. The party at ZJ's is a moment when ZZS doesn't have to say much, he can just observe the surroundings and the people there. He tries to remember what he knows about ZJ as a leader. He is surprised by the wealth of their host, but he doesn't show it. ALZ and his young students slowly understand that their decision to wander alone was wrong. ALZ has his principles and wants to follow them even at the cost of his life. However, he also cares about his students and doesn't want anyone to hurt them. He also wants to pass on his values ​​to them. He doesn't expect that Ghost Valley will appear on their path, and an attempt to defend MJG will end tragically for him and the students. ZZH even in the disguise of a hobo ZZS looks beautiful. This disguise cannot hide ZZH's beauty. His posture, body movements, gaze - all of this attracts attention.

[bellsofblueficlets]

These Lines Blurring

"There is one core rule to this magic we practice, my little apprentice," the words played through his head, again, again, again. He doesn't try to push them away anymore, but refuses to let them distract him.

"...What is it?" Words, echoed by the memory of a voice he didn't even recognize as his own anymore.

Gyre's mouth tightens into a thin line. The conversation had been repeating in his memory more often lately. At least he hadn't been having more dreams of his lost friend. He couldn't bear losing him over and over again, night after night-

With the tips of his claws, he traces the broken lines of magic carefully across his dust's chest. Soot no longer even needed to remove his hoodie for this part, their frequent sparring matches having left the thing in such tatters that it was more like the suggestion of clothing at this point than actual clothes. Claws of impossible sharpness, left gently brushing fraying threads aside...

"A binding must never be done on a person, against the will of the one being bound." He remembered the gravity to the old mage's words, and even now, he felt the weight behind them. How long ago had it been? They felt so fresh, and an ageless lifetime behind, all in one. "To do so is an unforgivable act. And one of great evil."

He couldn't have known how first hand he'd learn the truth of those words. Couldn't have known the nightmares that would gradually become more frequent, reliving the demon's tortures as they began supplanting his own painful memories more and more often. He'd seen the faces of only a handful of 'masters' so far- None, so far, being Rantrum's. Thankfully.

"So, only evil mages do it." The words sounded so confident in his memory, still secure in the certainty that things could ever be that simple.

The pause that followed his question though, he remembers it well, along with the pained look that had crossed his mage's face. "...No."

For an instant, just an instant, suspicion had risen in the nightmare's chest... but no. Not him, he'd assured himself. Never his Rantrum. He wouldn't. He must just be misunderstanding. "But you said-?"

"I said that the act is evil," The mage had denied, interrupting his surprised apprentice firmly. "Not that only evil people do it."

"...There are many evil acts in life, my little apprentice," Rantrum had continued quietly, "And one thing that I fear is inevitable, is learning just how many are done by people who are themselves generally good."

"Then... why do evil things?"

Why. Why. The one question that haunted him still. Would he ever learn the answer? Did he even really want to? Wouldn't it be easier, holding onto the memory of the eccentric old mage he'd known, with warm smiles and gentle hands, and that air of absurdity- which, the more he learned, became less absurd with every day.

"Because life is complicated," Had been his only answer.

Gyre had been left squinting up at him dubiously, he remembered it still so well. "That just sounds like an excuse."

He fully expecting denial, or some snippet of supposed wisdom from the mage disguised in riddle upon riddle. He already suspected that half of said 'wisdom' was bullshit, and constantly prodded to find inconsistencies, to find holes- Rantrum encouraged it, even-

Which was why the simple, subdued, answer of, "It is," From the mage had caught him so off guard. And just maybe, why the words still echoed so deeply.

There. One more broken point that needed repair. He draws the bit of remaining hoodie that still covered the place aside, and using his own corruption, drew a simple sigil on the dust bitty's skin.

Soot shuddered softly, breath catching as Gyre's magic traced almost immediately behind his touch, most of the corruption burning away... But traces of something else was behind, deep and cold, that seemed to soak into his skin, before vanishing.

Gyre felt the waves of revulsion, wrongness, and fear, that accompanied the intrusion of mingled magics into his body. He felt the stubbornness of his dusty as well, as the other rode it through the unwelcome sensations without protest, dutifully letting his nightmare continue.

...He can't help but wonder in some distant part of his mind if this kind of loyalty and duty was something common to dust bitties, or if it's only his.

So far, mapping the breaks and weak points in Soot's magic was the extent of what he'd done, marking each as he found it, to make it easier to keep an eye on in the future. At first, finding them had only gotten easier with time, but the more time passed, the fewer new breaks he'd found. That was a good thing...

...Except it meant he wouldn't be able to stall much longer. Soon, he'd need to start taking steps to actively repair the problem-

{Now, in fact,} The demon chimes in helpfully, a low purr in it's- well, not throat, though Gyre's hand briefly goes to his own, certain for an instant that he felt the phantom rumble there. {Took you long enough, though. Still, all you need to do now is reach in, grab all those neatly marked frayed bits, and see what happens when you give it a good pull! I mean, probably nothing good the first few times, but-}

The demon stops here, realizing that Gyre is ignoring it, and there's a moment of blessed silence, while this sinks in, before it speaks again. It's words are offered softly, but laced with venom. {You've been doing this more often- Tell me, do you really think it's a good idea to ignore the demon coiled around your soul?}

{...Keep doing it little drip, and you're going to regret it.}

Gyre's jaw tightens, and he straightens, rocking back to rest on his haunches. "Say something worth my time, then." The words are flat, cold. They sound... almost wrong to him. Was that even him? How much of him was still even him?

And what did it mean, if all of it was?

"You know by now that I'm not going to turn around and start tearing him apart to see what makes him tick," A mutter, his gaze tracing the magic he'd mapped so far. "And I'm not interested in being baited for your amusement."

He had a feeling that the demon was right about having mapped the last weak point though, and soon finds himself distracted, examining the markers he'd set. If there were no more, then-

The silence should have warned him. Instead, what 'warned' him was a sudden panic surging through him, and a sudden awareness of the demon's magic just reaching out like it was nothing, grabbing every marked point on every frayed bit of magic he'd traced-

How didn't matter, and maybe, in the demon's own twisted logic, that was the point. Before it could pull, Gyre seized it, and there was a sensation, like claws curling within claws, and water as it flowed through water, and-

Like it was the most natural thing in the world, he reached out himself, through the demon's magic, and... stopped it. It's grasp fell short, and Gyre just sat there, his hands curled into tight fists, and dark laughter echoing inside him. {Is that what it takes? Pathetic! How weak, ridiculous-!}

Gyre's hand opens, and again, without thought, his claws curl in the smallest way- And the laughter stops. In his mind's eyes, threads of rich blood red are coiled around his claws, leading straight from him, to the demon, and in that instant, they both hold it's magic.

"Do that again," There is a merciless ice to the words that drifts silently through his mind like falling frost, but there is no question whether the other hears him, "And I tear both our souls apart." In that instant? He'd never meant anything more.

He knows the demon can feel it. And right now? It's gone silent.

"...Have you ever bound someone like that?" How long ago? How long ago, those words? At the time, he'd been certain of the answer. At least, he'd wanted to be.

In retrospect, the answer had been inevitable. But, maybe he'd already known, even back then. "I have."

He'd climbed up... something. He can't remember what. Rantrum's vest? A stack of books? Funny, how the smaller details fade away. In the end, just a nightmare bitty, looking up with earnest eyelights, certain that his mage was better than that. If Rantrum had done that, then- "You- you had to have good reason, right?!"

A slow, acknowledging nod, and a gaze that he misses still. "I did, yes."

Here and now, the silence stretches. He'd overridden the demon's attempt, just like that, and now it was silent. The nightmare bitty breathes out, and his socket opens. It seemed he had just as much access to the demon's magic these days as it did. He wasn't sure whether it had already known this, but he doubted it had meant Gyre to find out. For now, he files it away-

Soot hasn't moved, waiting. He had to know. Had to have felt it. But no attack. No, he's unmoved. Not so much as-

...Oh. Gyre had asked him to stay still, hadnt he? He watched though, and oh, his eyes were madness, fury, violence- And yes, yes, he definitely knew. But despite all that, he'd never budged.

Stars. He needed to be careful with that one. He was the sort to walk right through the gates of hell, if his nightmare asked him.

Once, he'd started to relax a little, hearing his mage's answer. Reassured. It was the one he'd needed, so maybe he should have left it there, but he'd still wanted to hear the words from Rantrum, himself. "So... that means it wasn't evil, right? If you did it for a good reason?"

There had been a sigh, and a running of his fingers through wiry beard bristles, bowing his head a little, as if in contemplation of the question. Or, maybe, to not have to meet his bitty's eyelights.

"...No," He'd denied at that, a weight to the words that said he'd borne the burden of this for far too long. "It was still evil. Some would call it a necessary evil, but an evil act for the sake of a good outcome doesn't cease being evil."

"But," Gyre's arguments had been running out at this point, but he'd pressed on, if with far less certainty than before, "You- you had to do it... right?"

To this? Rantrum had just shaken his head.

An evil act. Gyre's soul feels heavy as a sense of realization settles within him. When it had come down to it, was what he'd done any different than what Rantrum had warned against?

At the time, the nightmare bitty had felt... a little lost, at his mage's answer. He hadn't had to do it. He had done it though, just the same. "But... it's better, that you did it?"

A sigh, as Rantrum had leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. He'd rubbed his hands, thinking for a few seconds. "That depends on better for whom." He decides at last, "And it changes nothing. There are times when the ends can simply never justify the means."

"Using an evil to prevent an evil remains an evil," This, a quiet, simple truth, as if there simply was no escaping this, "It is not absolved, nor justified."

The nightmare bitty took his time, taking care to ensure that each and every last frayed trace was exactly where it needed to be, before one by one, imfusing them with healing magic. It offered a support to a weaking framework that he knew couldn't be more than temporary, but it gave him time to find something better.

...Something that didn't entail poking and shoving blindly at his dusty's magic until something broke.

He remembered how confused he'd sounded, asking at last, "Then, why did you do it?"

"Because," Had come the answer, "No one else should have to." As if that might actually be answer enough. He'd stood then, offering his hand to his bitty.

Gyre had climbed onto it, eyelights still fixed on his mage, brow creased in a troubled expression. "I- I don't understand."

"A thing can be evil," His mage had told him, solemnly, "But still need to be done. And another soul should not have to bear the weight of that burden in my place."

"That... doesn't make sense," But even then there'd been a hesitation in the nightmare's voice that wasn't before, no longer sure himself if this was true.

"Perhaps not," Rantrum had admitted. Gyre vaguely remembered the sound of his biggie's foosteps as the other had carried him, soft leather on ancient stone. He'd always had such a light step, the nightmare remembered, for one so big. "But sometimes it's the only way to prevent an even greater evil."

With a soft sound, Gyre finished his self imposed task, and sat back to admire it. There. Soot would be okay, at least for a while. It was enough. It gave him time.

"That's... That's wrong." His own words rose up to haunt him, the memory now a lifetime gone, regardless of how much actual time had passed. "That has to be wrong."

Rantrum had muttered, "Exactly," under his breath, nodding solemnly.

"N- No, I mean..." That sense of confusion still felt so fresh to the nightmare bitty, but at the same time, hearing those same words again, now? He didn't know he'd still feel it. Not anymore. "There has to be another way, right? It can't... it can't-"

"...Then," Softly, "Maybe you will be the one to find it."

Had his mage had really once believed that? Gyre wished he could ask the old man, about that, about all of this, about everything. Who he really was, what he'd done- What he knew? Maybe what he'd really intended for his apprentice?

Because in the end, if the demon was telling the truth, then Rantrum had always intended to offer his soul up as a sacrifice... Whereas if Rantrum had been telling the truth, and actually been able to read the lines of fate, as claimed...

Then, he'd known this would happen. All of it.

...And he'd done nothing to stop it.

---

This was a new dream. Strange, for once, knowing it was a dream, even before it started. He was shapeless, confined, like before. The barrier hurt when he'd leaned against it, like before. But one, all important thing, was different.

He wasn't alone.

His 'guest' held up a book in front of him, pictures of vast oceans and wild creatures, painted in beautiful, horrible detail. Little could be seen of him beneath the hood that half obscured his face, but judging by that, and the hands all but lost in the sleeves covering him, patched and stitched a hundred times over, holding the book? Surely this was some nameless urchin who'd managed to sneak into the arch mage's fortress, and had the misfortune of wandering into the last place anyone should be.

Yet, the pull of his blood, that promise of binding, was unmistakable. This child was the same line that had enslaved it for more generations than it cared to remember. This specific child, in fact, grubby face, skinny frame, and hand me down clothes notwithstanding, was the arch mage's own son. Not the next in line to own him, no, it already knew that one, hateful bastard that he already was, but his son just the same.

"Is that one you?" Blue eyes, earnest and eager, peered over the book's frame as he jabbed at the picture of a kracken. "Bet that could be you! It's got a hundred arms, and a thousand teeth-!"

{It's not real,} The demon had muttered distastefully, though it's gaze devoured every line and detail just the same. {Just some idiot's drawing. Don't believe everything you read.}

"...Oh." The child had deflated, visibly, and turned the book to look at the picture again. "But, krackens are real, aren't they? Everybody says so..."

{Just because everybody says something doesn't make it true,} The demon muttered, poking at the barrier. It couldn't see the picture anymore... {But yes, kracken are real. They just don't look like that. Some idiot with a brush just decided to draw a picture, and say it was that.}

"Oh." Disappointment gone, curious child back. "Well, what do they look like, then?"

The demon had debated not answering, but for nearly two hundred years now it had sat in this spot, in this library, nothing to do but watch the motes of dust as they danced in those scant rays of light that managed to found their way through the heavy curtain- that, and prod at the painful barrier, reminding itself it could still feel something more than boredom, bitterness, and hate.

Archmage's son or not, it wanted the company, the questions. It wanted something, anything but the same, day after day after day...

{...They have arms, usually eight, all covering in tearing cups, with two long tentacles even longer than the rest. It's has a beak, right in the riddle of all of that, like-}

"Like an eagle?!" The child had leaned forward in his eagerness, his face now far too close to the painful wall.

{...Think more, snapping turtle.} It denied flatly, adding in a sharper tone, {And don't touch that!}

His eyes had widened big enough to promise that he'd at least seen a snapping turtle before, if not a kracken- But the demon's next words give him pause, and he looks confused. "How come?"

There was an innocence to the question, an earnest confusion, and for an instant, the demon felt something it hadn't in a long time- pity. This kid was in for some hard lessons, in this family. Though judging by the way he was dressed, despite his father's influence and power, there were at least a few that he was already learning.

{These walls are to keep me in,} The demon answered, not bothering to hide the bitterness in it's words, {And to make sure no one else tries to 'steal' me.}

Not that they could. It was bound to this family, this bloodline, and blood was one of the strongest bindings there was. For the demon to be bequeathed to someone else, it would need to be passed through a binding at least equally strong.

The boy hesitates, hearing this, and bites his lip, now watching the barrier uncertainly. "Does... It hurt you?"

{...Yes.}

This clearly wasn't the answer the archmage's son had wanted to hear, but he drew back just the same, now visibly unhappy.

{...What?} Finding itself annoyed at the child's shift in mood, it's voice grew gravelly, agitated. {Why are you acting like that?}

The child had shifted, Gyre remembers through the dream, and breathed out, hard, lifting his eyes back to the demon. He wasn't close to tears exactly, but he was very, very upset. "I don't like that it hurts you," He muttered, as if this was explanation enough. "It's not fair. You've barely got any room in there, and you're probably all squished up too, just so you don't touch it- and it hurts you."

The demon had stared at the child as though he'd started speaking in tongues. {So? Why do you care?}

At this, the child had full stopped, but didn't answer. He pulled the book of pictures close to his chest, and looked down at the table for several quiet seconds. "Because, it's mean." He whispers, a new tremble in his voice. "I don't like when people are mean. I don't like when they hurt each other. I don't like it when they hurt you."

"I like visiting you," The book thuds softly to the table as he lets it go, and those earnest blue eyes are watching it. Almost... Almost familar. Like something from another lifetime. "You listen to me, and you don't tell me to go away, and you're not all mean like... like..." He never actually says like who though, just sniffling, and wiping his nose on his sleeve. "I don't like... I don't like it hurting you."

To the demon's credit, it considered, briefly, not saying what he said next. Considered briefly the trouble this earnest eager child would get into if he did as the demon suggested. It considered not saying anything-

But it did. {You could do something about it, you know.} It's tone was... different now. Like despite what the child had claimed, it had barely been noticed him before, but now? Now the young mage to be had his full attention.

"I... can?" The child seemed unsure. "But, I don't think my dad will listen if I-"

{Of course he won't. But you could do it yourself.}

For an instant, it seemed like the boy may have stopped breathing, and he is definitely a few shades paler. But a moment later, he's leaning closer just the same, and whispers, "How do I make it stop?"

Something like a chill spread through the demon at the words, and it was rendered silent for several long seconds. He was listening. He even wanted to help. His father would be furious, if he found out...

So they'd just have to make sure he didn't. {I can teach you how,} It had promised, shifting closer to the glass. It tried to hide the eagerness in it's voice, but, it had been so, so long, since it had last tasted hope. {But first, we have to make a bargain. Just a little one. That's how it works.}

Technically it wasn't, but the archmage's son didn't know this, and mulled this over fir several seconds, even reaching out, just once, and almost touching the glass, before faltering, and withdrawing again. Finally, asking,"What... kind of deal?"

{The kind where we both get something we want,} It promised/lied, watching him intently, {But before we make a deal, there's something else we need to do.}

"...What's that?"

{Introduce ourselves, obviously!} It would be smiling if it could. A name, give it a name, and it would have a handhold, if only a little one. Seeing his doubt, it added helpfully, {I'll even go first, okay?} At the child's nod, it starts to offer something, anything...

But it falters, meeting the gaze of that earnest, hopeful child, and instead, after a moment, it only offers the truth. {Kháry.} The demon introduces itself, {My name is... was... Kháry.} Is, was. Was, is.

Either way, it didn't matter, it had offered the truth. Though when it looked at the archmage's son, it was suddenly strangely certain that the child had known all along.

{...Your turn, then,} Kháry had pressed, just the same, making sure the young mage hadn't forgotten his part of it.

The child looked around the room slowly, even the locked doorway, as if to make certain no one had snuck in when he wasn't watching, before leaning close to the demon again, and whispering, "I'd tell you my name," very familiar blue eyes meeting the demon's gaze...

Not. Not the demon's, no. His. Gyre was looking into the eyes of his mage once more, held gently in his hands as the once again old man watched him, with sadness, with trust.

"But you already know it," He finished softly, "Don't you?"

"I do," He assures the memory of his mage, quietly, "I know you, Rantrum." The worst cruelty of lucid dreams, he'd learned, was knowing they had to end.

"...I always will."

---

[thequietmanno1]

Thelreads, Vigilantes 82, Replies Part 1

1) “The Queen is down, the flames are starting to rise on the background, and the prom is tomorrow! Get ready for Chapter 83: High-speed Hero II

…

Huh… They wouldn’t- no, the wouldn’t. They definitely wouldn’t.”- In this case, the title is actually referring to Nomura’s own attempts to pattern himself after O’Clock as his heroic ‘debut’ in the public eye, which again highlights his lack of creativity with forging his own identity and choices in ways that don’t revolve around Knuckleduster’s old heroic persona. This stand in contrast to Knuckleduster’s actual protégée who, despite having a completely different power set, apparently has it in him to keep up with his Master’s original power in a modified body… 2) “Don`t worry Koichi, Texas red is already far away from here, he knows that he can`t match the ranger and your bigger iron”- That would imply Nomura has more common sense than he actually does. He’s smart at the planning and such, sure, but it’s clear he’s also got a few major blind spots in his thinking process, such as not considering other outcomes to the scenarios that he plans and sets up, which leads him to make poorly-thought out choices and reactions when things don’t got how he thought they would. Unveiling himself to Koichi and giving him a big motive rant is very dumb, but he thinks it’ll be fine to do it because he’s about to kill Koichi and disguise it as a consequence of Pop’s Beeombs going off, not considering other alternatives because he’s on the verge of getting what he wants and he just can’t resist the opportunity to rub it in Koichi’s face how h’s beaten the ‘chosen’ successor. It’s handy for him to be unknown when operating in the shadows, but he wants to step into the spotlight, to be noticed by others, and as a consequence of that, he wants Koichi to he’s got a mortal enemy after him as a final twist of the knife before he finishes him off. 3) “I mean, it`s not like things can get even worse for pop. For that to happen the author would need to give her a fucking break first.”- Well, for starters, Nomura’s determined to kill her no matter what to cover his tracks, and to that end, he’s now put this battle on a timer. Either Koichi can evade him and Endeavour long enough to reach Soga and the rest to extract the queen, of Pop explodes. No pressure. 4) “Oh my- are you actually steering your course in mid air rather than just going a straight line after her? Koichi my boy, did you finally learned how to fly?”- It’s all about Falling with Style, and working on a proper landing strategy. 5) “Now that was a cool landing, but how the hell did your shoes managed to take the impact like that? Did you got reinforced stuff for your soles as well? I at least don`t remember that, just the other protection pieces.”- He has force fields active underneath his feet to help with his speed boosting and direction changes in mid-air, so presumably they stop his shoes from getting too damaged whenever he pulls a superhero landing. 6) “Well, I mean, technically they already knew each other for a long time, he was the manager back at the store, but still, I wasn`t expecting him to actually reveal he was actually Backstabbington to Koichi this whole time.”- Asking somebody to pick Nomura out of a crowd is like asking somebody to pick a particular needle out of a haystack, especially with his facial disguising ability and usual genetic countenance. 7) “KOICHI WHAT THE FUCK HOW THE HELL DID YOU NOT RECOGNIZED HIM YOU FUCKING MORON HE`S USING THE EXACT SAME FACE FROM WHEN HE WAS MANAGING THE STORE”- The exact same dull, unnoticeable, nothing-remarkable-or-distinguishing-about-it face? I don’t blame Koichi for not recognising him, especially since he’s nowhere near close to Nomura in that capacity as Pop’s been. 8) “Well considering hoe lenient all the heroes you interacted with were so far I wouldn`t be surprised if this actually worked.”- Another reason Nomura capped all the heroes chasing after Pop was so nobody could interrupt him when he gave Koichi his little explanation of events before killing him, just to his ‘rival’ would know more about the reason he was being targeted out of nowhere. In a twisted manner, it’s almost considerate of him. 9) “You motherfucker you literally just used that gun to kill three heroes, are you telling me that it also can fire trigger-syringes into targets? what?”- He brought a swiss-army gun, prepared to both remotely detonate Pop from a distance discretely as well as eliminate any witnesses to his unsavoury actions. Granted, bullets to the head are a dead giveaway something’s up, but again, Nomura’s smart, but lacking in common sense.

    (Vigilantes ch 81) 10) “Wait, weren`t the bees about to fucking explode her?

why he had to fucking shot her? He suddenly thought she had broken free from the parasite or something? Well, tough luck, the bees were still on their way to blow up, they respond to the song, and she wasn`t singing at that moment”-He had to shoot her with a special payload to make sure the bees would blow up as flashily as he needed them to.     (Vigilantes ch 81) 11) “Again, why was the shot necessary?

Was to spite Koichi? Or was it to add contrived drama?”-  Technically, it was to do both. Man’s got the grand finale all planned out, and he really wants to make it a doozy of a firework show. 12) “WAIT NO KOICHI WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU FALLING INTO HE`S LITERALLY TELLING YOU EVERYTHING HE DID AND YOU STILL THINK HE`S A HERO HERE TO HELP?

WHY A HERO WOULD HAVE A GUN AND A DRUG THAT COULD CONTROL THE BEES? IF THAT WAS AVAILABLE WHY WOULDN’T SOMEONE ALREADY SHOT HER? AND IT`S NOT LIKE THEY DIDN`T HAD A CLEAR SHOT, IF A FIRENADO CAN HIT HER THEN SO CAN A GUN”- I don’t think Koichi’s falling for it so much as he’s tuning him out after getting lost in the revelations Nomura’s trying to hit him with: disregarding these dramatic reveals and melodrama his enemy’s invoking for the sake of his heroic narrative on favour of actually trying to save somebody’s life. For somebody like Nomura, who wants to be acknowledged by others and stand out, that’s a major insult to him that Koichi’s accidentally delivering, but he doesn’t care because it’s finally his turn to be the hero. 13) “why the fuck did you turned all bishonen all of sudden? And being honest, Pop`s life wasn’t going bad before, things were going far, it just so happened that some changes were occurring, it wasn’t like it was the end of the world, not until you showed up that is.”- He turned bishonen here because he’s disregarded his ‘generic’ appearance in favour of subtly altering his looks into his ‘hero’ face, the appearance he intends to take going forward whilst operating as a hero. And he’s emphasising Pop’s life as a ‘tragedy’, despite that not being the case, because that’s the role he’s got planned out of her, and he’s already colouring the perceptions of those he meets into supporting his narrative. 14) “OH MY GOD PLEASE DON`T TELL ME THAT KOICHI STILL HASN`T FIGURED OUT WHAT YOU`RE TRYING TO SAY

THE ONLY THING THAT COULD MAKE IT MORE OBVIOUS IS A NEON SIGN SAYING “I`M THE BAD GUY DIPSHIT” POINTING AT YOU”- Well, in Koichi’s defence he’s being pretty roundabout in his manner of saying ‘I’m framing you as the villain here, pal’, going on tangents about pop being a tragic villain and admitting he shot her out of nowhere, so it’s clear that Koichi’s struggling to keep up with him…appropriately for a speedster. 15) “NOW PLEASE TELL ME THAT KOICHI ISN`T JUST SITTING THERE GOING “HUH?” AT WHAT HE`S SAYING”- You know our dumbass so well. And as an aside, I think ‘2 O’Clock’ would have been a better name for Nomura to pick. Rolls off the tongue better. 16) “Koichi please can you just fuck off from here while he monologues?

oh my god, he`s going to start explaining his whole evil scheme, isn`t he?”- He needs to kill time for the drug to kick in, Koichi’s just trying to make sense of these out-of-nowhere developments for him, since he’s literally had zero context for who this guy is or what would make him do this to Pop.

17) “Huh… *sideglances to Midoriya and Shigaraki* yeah, I start to think that I know where he`s trying to get to. And honestly, that`s not a problem, that is McBee trying to make himself a shonen hero, but honestly, that was a whole lot of convoluted bullshit to do this

So he wants Koichi to be a villain, and him to be a hero. The guy that is incredibly popular and borderline famous around the neighborhood and has been for the past three years as someone that helps and saves everyone in need, is a villain that was leading on Pop. Sure. If you say so.”- Nomura’s plan comes off as something thought up by a guy who read about comic book heroes and wanted to actually become one, but didn’t realise all the little hurdles and real-life obstacles that would stand in his way of achieving that dream. The principle is sound, but the execution and method is very, very flawed. 18) “Yeah we`re on a tight schedule here McBee, can you hurry up, Endeavor is probably on his way to kill everyone, like endeavor is famous for doing as the number two pro hero.”- Tighter than even that, since Koichi now has to outrun the clock on Endeavour catching up to him, and Pop’s self-detonation, all whilst being targeted by Nomura. 19) “Huh- Okay, because you certainly always seemed like the sort of guy to be crazy-prepared and that foresaw that Pop would falter in the last moment.”- He was always planning to make this a flashy detonation from the start, as befits his narrative, so he’d be prepared enough to achieve that at least, as evidenced by his special syringe-launching gun. 20) “Oh thank god you decided it was better to fuck off

Hell yeah, sliding with two contact points! That`s my boy, we`re in the moment to show what your quirk can do.”-Koichi has zero context for all the backstory that’s gone into this conflict and it’s honestly not relevant to what he needs to be doing right now: taking the opportunity to show off his sick skillz whilst saving Pop. 21) “I-

McBee, you don`t really you`re gonna get to him, do you? And worse, you kinda forgot that Endeavor is around here and he is probably getting closer and closer to cooling down, don`t you?

Like, this plan is pretty much set to failure, you won`t be able to fake a glory here.”- Pride goeth before a fall, and if there’s one major different between Nomura and Koichi is that he’s got a prideful streak in him that make him arrogant and overconfident in his capabilities, whilst Koichi’s humble nature actually handicaps all that he can do with his Quirk, because he doesn’t push himself to show off around others. 22) “Meh, I doubt it, I`d give it a week before everyone forgot about her.

And again, you don`t think you`ll be able to do something while Endeavor is here, do you? You`re fast, but he was like, less than two minutes away from getting back into murder mode. No way you`ll catch koichi before that.”-Nomura seems to have good social skills at dealing with individuals, but he seems completely unaware of how to handle the large-scale media attention and scrutiny that would come with being a Pro Hero. He knows he’s unmatched in one particular area, and assumes this means he’s capable of handling anything else that comes his way, when in actuality he’s over-specialised himself and is far less capable than he believes himself to be.

23) “Also, for someone that blew herself up, Pop sure seems whole in that shot, you really didn`t gave this whole thing much thought, did you McBee?”- Actually, going with the fact that Knuckleduster’s a Batman Expy, Nomura’s ‘O’Clock II’ persona is clearly styled after Nightwing, the superhero identity Robin created for himself after he quit being the boy wonder. Likewise, this shot of his carrying Pop’s body is evocative of the ending of Arkham City, where Batman did the same with the Joker’s body.

Like you said, this obviously won’t happen if she’s in pieces, and is a bad PR stunt for somebody who wants to make a career that’s all about saving people, but it showcases the flaws in Nomura’s thinking. He’s put all this thought into creating an evocative spectacle to make himself look good without really thinking it through, and clearly hasn’t actually considered that being known for failing to save somebody is a bad thing, but he’s too wrapped up in his envisioned imagery of his ‘ideal self’ to realise all this. @thelreads​