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wandixx · 4 months ago

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Prompt For Dc-x-Dp With M’gann and Danny M’gann didn't expect to be dealing with Random Lazurus Green Portals forming around mars, but since she's Nearby mars she gets to deal with it... and their's An Alien with snow white hair Fighting A Glowing Vampire who's raving about Fathers and mothers?? Danny Is in such a Mood, He's on mars, which is a plus, but He's Fighting Vlad On Another 'Join me! Let me remove Jack from this plain of Reality!' and Honestly The Portals are throwing him off, Just... Bad memories, And Then, becuase of fucking course Something else happened, Vlad Gets Decked in the face and sent flying. "hey, So im going to guess that The Vampire is The Evil one here?" The Green woman asked, while Looking at Danny. While Vlad is growling and about to Throw A Red Ecto-blast at M’gann Danny gets in the way with a shield and responds. "yeah, arch nemisis and all, how are you even out here? or breathing?" M’gann Just Shrugged and said, "Well Home is home and all." Before flying to go Deck the Vampire and all. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ hope this is enough for you to Work some magic and all. and as for some extra stuff you could use, maybe danny has a Space obsesion, and His Protective stuff is Becuase of the Type of spirit he is half of? And maybe An Ice core Could be fun to go with? Ghost prince territory? with danny not wanting to be ghost king just yet. ideas for ya to use.

It's such a cool concept! I didn’t fit Ghost Prince in, but I hope you'll like what I did

*****

Danny was going to strangle Vlad, all subtleties of ghost powers no withstanding. He needed the brutal power that just wasn't fully there even when using more offensive abilities, like ecto-blasts.

He had been having a good day. Okay, maybe not a good day, it's been a long time since he had an actually good one, but a decent day. One, that seemed to start out calm, with all of his typical rogues stuck in Zone recent enough they shouldn't get out today specifically. It was Saturday, so no school, and for once his homework wasn't swallowing him, so he had a bit of time to breathe. And prepare college applications, because his grades got to an appropriate level again and he actually got a shot in academic career. No chance for scholarship like Jazz, but he could go if he played his cards right.

And then, of course, Vlad had to come into his room to harass him again. This time with the added flair of a portal gun he made for some freaking reason.

This time Danny wasn't even trying to piss Vlad off, in the love of Ancients, he tried to ignore the other halfa even when he showed up in his room, raving about removing Jack Fenton from this plane of reality. Craving to deck the guy right then and there was enormous but Jazz was on him about controlling his ✨️displaced aggression✨️ and his anger in general, so he was trying to tune Vlad out. He carefully didn't even think about transforming into Phantom. Especially since both of his parents were safe, a few states away on some ghost hunting convention that Danny managed to skip by the power of ‘I can't take more days off school, sorry I messed up my attendance early in the year’.

Well, they would be, if Vlad, being the obsessed creep he was, didn't try to follow them with a portal gun.

Danny was still willing to ignore it all, because Vlad was a loser and chances that he made something so complicated work properly were only slightly above chances his parents had. And both of them were tripping hazards in hell.

But then Vlad started blasting around his room to egg him on and hit his Curiosity rover model.

Phantom tackled him before the bastard had time to smirk. They phased through the wall, because otherwise Vlad’s back would smash into Lego Saturn V and boy was not looking forward to even more damage. His white gloved hands pressed Plasmius against the cold floor. It looked promising. Over the years he got to a relatively similar level as Vlad with his fighting abilities so getting advantage so early could in theory mean it would be over soon and he would get back to his applications.

He forgot how to breathe for a moment when he was pushed through a portal. Some most instinctual part of him, deep in his core, fell to the mindless panic because He died this way! He died this way, was he able to survive it again?! Without thinking he lashed out, trying to scratch and bite and blast because he needed to get out, he needed to get away but danger was in front of him and he needed to get rid of the danger before he could escape to safety. And Vlad kept teasing him, like he didn't know fully well what portals did to Phantom, to Danny, like he wasn't breaking the most basic rules of the anarchist ghost society.

So Phantom kept trying to punch and kick and scream, trying to get away from green ovals that just kept appearing around them leading to who knows where.

Powerful blast to the chest sent him flying back, through the portal and down to the ground, which at some point became asphalt instead of wheat field. He was too frazzled to even try stopping his fall, just half heartedly tensed waiting for an impact.

It never came, because he was caught by static. Men in red (Flash he'd realize second too late, Flash) send him a concerned smile and asked about something but Plasmius was trying to duplicate, no doubt to overshadow actual hero and it wasn't the way Phantom wanted to be introduced to the Justice League so he jumped forward, sending both halfas through another portal.

It was easier this time, when he expected it but his hands were still shaking when he put them in fists. He could handle it though. He fought in much worse circumstances.

They spawned through a few more portals, almost threw worried looking Superman off the sky and barely not killed some of Aquaman's dolphins before something changed. Phantom didn't realize it at first, too focused on rapid fire from Plasmius and on the constant lookout for new portals, but something changed.

His next blast hit the target and left charcoal black burn and almost fire in its wake. It wasn't something that happened normally. It wasn't something that happened normally unless Danny's obsessions were being served. He wasn't protecting anyone but himself, which didn't fill the protection obsession, so that left…

Space.

Oh.

He was on Mars. Or well, a bit above.

It was mesmerizing. It was breathtaking. It was everything he wished for ever since he learned about other planets in kindergarten.

Sky was a pinkish red color that on Earth meant a beautiful clear sunset but here was just the middle of the day. He didn't see the sun itself, apparently lucky enough to have his back to it. It wouldn't be brighter than at home, obviously, but it was always nice to not be blinded when admiring the view.

The landscape below them seemed familiar. He probably saw it in some photo, but he couldn't remember which one. He couldn't help but try to remember. He wanted to know where was he, what he'd seen, what he'd touched, later when he was in his room, longing to get out here again.

In his almost trance he just about ignored the blast that flew past his ear like an annoying pest.

He had the name of this rock formation on the tip of his tongue! C'mon, brain, you could do it, you could remem-

Even he couldn't ignore the burning pain of the ecto blast straight to the shoulder.

“Listen to me, Little Badger!” Plasmius yelled before dodging ice javelin. Phantom made sure it evaporated before hitting the ground. He was not letting other planet become collateral damage in whatever mess Vlad wanted to stir this time.

He carefully didn't look around when they teleported next time, aware just enough to know they were still on Mars. It wasn't a good moment to sooth his neglected obsession.

Being mad that this was probably the only chance he got out there helped. It definitely reignited the absolute fury, before muted by the panic and then obsession trance.

Phantom wasn't sure what he was yelling back as Plasmius went on and on about killing Danny's dad and marrying his mom and adopting Danny and how ‘look Little Badger, you and I both see how much better off you'd be if you just joined me and let me teach you’. He just knew there was little other than obscenities, and it was paired with an array of blasts and ice and straight up punches when he got close, which was good enough.

Oh, how he wished he could strangle the pathetic vampire lookalike bastard.

Something green and indigo sent Plasmius crashing into the ground.

“Hey, so I'm going to guess that the vampire is The Evil one here?” Feminine voice asked in clear English. Danny took a moment to just stare, blinking rapidly to make sure he saw what he thought he saw.

Yup, that was certainly The Miss Martian, an alien heroine, whose action figure he displayed at the most honorable place of his room. The Miss Martian he tried to learn everything about when she debuted. The Miss Martian whose powers were so similar he used footage from her fights to learn himself. His biggest inspiration.

Dope.

Wait, she asked him a question, didn't she? It was not the time to be a fanboy, probably.

Yeah, no it was definitely not a time to be a fanboy, he decided, right when he threw a shield in front of her, because Vlad didn't take kindly to being interrupted. It really was the least he deserved.

“Yeah, arch nemesis and all that. If I may ask, what are you doing here, Miss Martian, ma'am? I thought you lived full time on Earth?”

“Well, home is home and all” she just said wistfully and telepathically threw a rock to Vlad's stomach, making it follow until it hit the mark, right before another stone hit him in the unprotected back.

And here Danny thought he got over his celebrity crush back when he was sixteen.

Good thing though, another person in the fight made his protection obsession rear back to life, the fact that she was an alien only helping as his space side zeroed on her too. It was useful to not get distracted by glimpses of the world around them.

Of course Vlad just duplicated to make the chances ‘equal’ once again, so the fight dragged on.

Miss Martian just kept being graceful like a supernova, beautiful and destructive.

Danny hoped he didn’t look as embarrassingly pathetic as he thought he did. What were the chances she didn’t see when he took the blast to the arm because he got distracted by pretty rocks?

Plasmius kept taunting, calling him Daniel because of course secret identities or prefered names don't matter when you have to harass the teenager.

Phantom decked him extra hard for that.

At least he didn’t try to use his portal gun again, too busy with fighting off both of them.

Kick, dodge blast, ice, shield for Miss Martian, ice because how dare he attack an alien, dodge, intangibility.

Was it or was it not a good idea to use Ghost Wail and be done with that.

“I've got an idea, cover for me for a minute, okay?”

“Sure” Did he sound too eager? He wanted to keep it cool at least outwardly, not mess up his first and perhaps last impression.

Wait, shit, Martians can read minds! Miss Martian probably already knows how big of a mess he was.

Shit, shit, shit.

Phantom dutifully shielded heroine as she levitated with her eyes closed, at the same time keeping constant assault on Vlad. It was getting exhausting. At least he could go home fast when the fight ended.

“Do you want me to make him indefinitely indisposed or is it too much for you?” Miss Martian suddenly asked. Danny froze for almost a minute before he choked out.

“What do you mean?”

“I can rip his mind apart, leave his body alive but useless without any thought to lead it, but I know some people find it uncomfortable even when it happens to villains”

For a moment, in the midst of fanboying, he forgot how terrifying set of powers she had.

“Please don't” After all, ghosts are their minds, and despite how despicable things Vlad did, no one deserved fate of completely not existing.

“Alright. Is enhancing his experience of pain okay with your moral code?”

“Yeah, I think”

“Done,” she said with a smile, and despite how terrifying he was of her just a few seconds ago, he had to admit, this smile was gorgeous.

After that, it took, like, three punches before Vlad bailed. Which was good.

What was less good, was the fact that the portal he used to escape closed before Danny could go through it. He just stared for a long moment, blinking quickly. He wanted to scream. Or cry. Or both. Both was good.

“So, Daniel…?”

Danny winced and looked back at Miss Martian.

“Danny. Or Phantom. Nobody calls me Daniel”

She nodded with a friendly smile. Good thing they were flying, because his knees got weak for a hot second.

“Alright. I'm M’gann”

“Should you tell me this?”

“I know your name,” she shrugged. “It's only fair that you know mine. It's not a name I use on Earth anyway”

“Um, sure, okay. It's nice to meet you M’gann” Was this too stiff? He had no idea how he was supposed to interact with heroes who just shared their identity. For no reason too, because c'mon, she didn't know him. Why would she do it?!

“Are you from Earth? You speak English”

“Yeah, USA, Illinois. That bastard teleported us around and of course left me stranded”

“It's your lucky day then, I was about to head back, I can take you with me”

There was no universe in which he wouldn’t agree.

#now imagine justice league meeting to talk about weird metas thet were fighting all over the place #because danny saw only flash superman and aquaman but other could see him in civies or even as heroes and he just havent realized #and they all are kinda stressing over it because danny and vlad could be dangerous and what not #and they try to find them and onky find vlad #meanwhile m’gann and danny are in bioship just bonding #anyway i hope you like what i did with your prompt #im not very good at writing fight scenes #nor do i get this whole “people hot” thing that kinda showed up #so tell me what i can do to do it better in the future #dpxdc #dc x dp #dp x dc #dcxdp #wandixx writes #wandixx answers #spearmint ship #have a nice day dear stranger who got to this part #danny fenton/m'gann m'orzz

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animeshotsh · 8 months ago

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Bullet Proof - Various x Overlord!GunDevil

Notes: Reader has a human/demonic form and a full demon form (pic used). And has similar powers as the Gun Devil from Chainsaw Man, im leaving a link here if you want to read them in detail. Carefull with spoilers!!

Warnings: violence - mentions of flesh eating - Does not connect with other chainsaw man!reader pieces - Platonic and romantic - Grammar mistakes -

On November 18, Hell was shaked up when a portal opened up in the red sky. Demons feared it was another execution but the dates was still away.

What came from that portal was...a figure born from nightmares. With a furious roar a new sinner had came, lucing their back and arms with gun parts. They head was a gun and they chest was full of sckelletons.

Soon the figure started shooting, hitting some and missing others. Sinners ran, screamed and even cried.

The bullets flew in all direction, the new sinner moving fast, like they only wanted to end the circle.

Then a figure that never came out from his big castle was out in the sky, Lucifer wont ever confess how he struggle to finally make you faint, or how him found so....cute? Pretty? It felt like a fallen angel like himself had fallen. His heart beated up so fast he almost forgots to take you back to his castle for questions.

After you got a well nap and woke up in a big bed in a castle you were not suprised or scared, you had been in worse places thanks to your work and evil contract.

Speaking of it...you never guessed you would end being the gun devil in hell, your guess was that after consuming so much flesh from the demon and then dying and ending in its original home then you two became one.

Suddendly the door of the room you were staying opened revealing a small figure dress in all white with a hat and a cane. He eyed you then gave a polite smile.

"Hello Sinner, Im Lucifer Morningstar, yes the devil and yes you died, now i must ask you some questions for your safety"

Well, what a fine way to meet the devil.

~☆~☆~☆~☆~

Lucifer had only read stories of a monster like the Gun Devil. He never once saw it or felt it in hell till a few days ago. Its energy was different. But its way to be was the same, a being without brain that just fired at everything. He did not want to deal with it. However once he saw its human form...he was confused, the old records never mentioned of another form like this one. Much less a form that resembles a human.

He was agitated by it and wondered just what were humans doing with demons to end like that.

After having a small talk with you he discovered quiet the disturning things, no only how demons would accept back not only souls but human flesh, emotions and more, but also how a human would go for power.

Like you, who had consumed lots of the flesh of the original Devil itself to end being a danger to humans who killed you.

Understable, they were scared and you angry. But Lucifer could not really feel much symphaty for you. Still, he knew for hell it was important to keep such a powerfull being alive in order to keep balance.

And so he made you promise him that you would live and not reveal what devil you were.

~☆~☆~☆~☆

For years the secret was down, you were know as only a powerfull sinner who quick became an Overlord, not that you were too interested on it. You just wanted to be able to go back to earth to end humanity or at least end with the lives of these who betray you.

~☆~☆~☆~☆

Carmilla was the first one who became interested in you. Seeing how you during one exterminion took down two angels using some bullets that appear from your fingers. You were even able to injure the wing of one angel that was leaving, almost passing the portal to heaven.

Of course she got curious and wanted to know you and maybe do some bussines with you.

You were reclutant at first, but both became charmed by the other one and soon became partners in crime.

She was the one who introduced you to Zestial. The tall spider Demon did not think much of you till he saw you in action taking down multiple sinner and demons alike. From close to far distance.

~☆~☆~☆~☆~

Alastor was quick to figure out who you truly were, the change in the air after you appear for the first time was enough to let him know.

He did admit to himself he was jealous you were still so strong, even if know you had a human part you suprassed him by a lot.

He may try to get on your good side and trick you to have a deal. If rumors of you looking for a way to go back to earth were true then he just needed to press that desesperation.

~☆~☆~☆~☆

Oh! Charlie loved you!! Being honest she was warned from her father years back about you, she had read the previous information of you and was so interested!! If she could make the Gun Devil redeem then sinner and heaven would give her a chance, right?

Well all her hope crash down when you politely declined her offer but told her that if she needed help you would do it if she got you a way back to earth.

~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆

The V's wanted to get their claws on you as fast as they could. You would be such a good weapon! Vox had his second thoughts about being able to hypnotize you....knowing your streght, but negotiations were still open.

Till Valentino made a comment that caused you to shoot him on his shoulder ending the meeting and you leaving with a proud smirk.

~☆~☆~☆~☆

Characters who are romantic interest:

Carmilla: she finds your personality to be one to fall for. Your ferocity is cruel but your soft side is likeable to her. She loves how you treat her daugthers.

Zestial: Its a crush but is there! Not lots of sinner gets his attention but he so interested in you.

Lucifer: May not trust you but years seeing you from afar (totally not stalking) made him have a crush. He also likes how you never really revealed yourself to others but it was the others who figured it out. Maybe one day he will invite you over for tea and to try and talk you out of your plans on killing so many humans. Maybe wait till they are in hell to make your revenge.

#hazbin hotel x reader #hazbin hotel x you #lucifer x reader #alastor x reader #carmilla x reader #zestial x reader #vox x reader

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theglamorousferal · 3 months ago

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Persephone's Binding Part 14

Hardcover/Anger Management ship Sacrificial Bride au

AO3 Prompt Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Jazz dismissed herself from the rest of the group, fingers tightening on the strap of the bag on her shoulder. Jason's eyes trailed after her as she made her escape from the group, concerned.

"So, how about we get to that shooting competition that we shelved earlier this week?" Danny asks Jason and Ellie.

"Hell yeah, that sounds awesome, I've been practicing with Dante's help!" Ellie exclaimed. "We should probably change first though, last one to the training grounds has to give Cujo a bath in his huge form!" With that she sped down the halls towards the family residence halls.

"Well you heard her, you can navigate the castle enough to get there yourself right?"

"Yeah I can figure it out, you got some guns I can use though?" Jason asked.

Danny grinned, though there was something sad in his eyes. "Yeah, our parents were inventors and until they realized that ghosts aren't inherently evil they made weapons. I'll show you when we get there, see ya in a bit." He vanished from sight, presumably to go change.

Jason jogged through the castle, resigning himself to losing the race considering the two he was racing could fly at high speeds. He changed into his Hood gear and jogged his way to the training ground where it looked like Ellie and Danny were in a snark-off with each other by the targets.

Danny noticed his first and flagged him down. He led him to a building next to the targets and stepping inside Jason had to tuck in the back of his mind that the parents of the Royal family were mad scientists who saw the aesthetics of 1950's sci-fi and stuck with it. Gleaming chrome with green accents shone from the displays on the walls and from the display cases throughout the room. There were bazookas, sniper rifles, hand guns, a cat-o-nine-tails, and a vacuum all along the walls. In the display cases were tubes of lipstick, bracelets, small rods, grenades etc.

"What's with the lipstick?" he asked Danny.

"Oh, they're lasers. Same with the bracelets. This rod extends into a quarterstaff, this rod has a taser at either end. These grenades form a small portal to a random point in the Realms, these ones stun most ecto-entities." As Danny kept going on about what everything in here does, he would add in little anecdotes about how strong each weapon hits a ghost and it was starting to set Jason on edge.

"How often have you gotten hit with these?" Jason asks levelly.

Danny just shrugged. "Honestly not all that often outside of training, my dad was a bad shot and I mostly managed to dodge my mom. Honestly Jazz is the one who hit me the most when she was still learning combat. She also caught me in the Thermos many, many times." He shivered at the memory.

"Excuse me, thermos?" His previous rage was knocked away at the ridiculousness of the statement.

"Oh yeah, when we were still on Earth I had to capture the ghosts and put them back into the Realms. My parents would build things out of whatever we had when their grants started to run out and so they made the thermos as a capturing device. It didn't work at first, I think it needed more ectoplasm than they had access to because it worked after I charged it with energy. When I found out Jazz knew about me being part-ghost, she ended up trying to join us in taking out the ghosts. It...did not go too well." He rubbed the back of his neck and looked down. "There was a lot of miscommunication, she wasn't listening to us even though we had experience, and we weren't listening to her thoughts on what a specific ghost was up to. She caught me six times that first night I think." He laughed a little. "Eventually we got on the same page and she started training and actually listening to us and we all became stronger for it."

Jason nodded along to the story, glad for more information on the dynamics of the family he's technically at the mercy of right now. He gestured to a pair of pistols on the wall. "Let's get this competition underway, huh?"

Danny smiled at him. "Yeah, let's get to that."

"About time you guys came out here. Let's do this!" Ellie exclaimed when they exited the building. Now that Jason had time to look, he noticed that Ellie was dressed like you would imagine a nomad during the apocalypse would look. She had jeans covered in band patches and other patches and embroidery. She wore battle vest covered in more patches and pins with spikes on the shoulders and a breastplate with the same D-shaped logo Danny had etched into the front of it messily. She had fabric scraps wrapped around her arms under armguards and steel capped boots. Her fingerless gloves also had metal spikes on the knuckles. She also had a pair of aviation goggles over her eyes.

"Well now I definitely need to introduce you to Kon. He's also a superpowered clone who appreciates the Punk culture."

"Really? Hell yeah, that sounds awesome. Hopefully we find your dimension soon then!" They all lined up at the targets. "Now let's see what you can do Lover Boy." She smirked at him.

Jason did his best to not blush. "I'm not gonna push my feelings at your sister. Plus, we barely know each other." He readied himself to shoot, and the competition was off. They all shot true for the short range targets and moved to larger ranges. Ellie misjudged the power on her blast and blew the target apart and Danny sneezed when he fired. Jason was getting used to the fact there was no recoil on these guns as they were energy pistols, but quickly adapted. Once they got bored of stationary targets they moved to skeet shooting and they ended up playing around for a few hours at that before the guns ran out of charge and the two ghosts were starting to get tired.

They all went and changed for dinner where they met Jazz again. She was faintly glowing yellow, her eyes had more flecks of golden light swirling in them and the tips of her hair seemed to be blowing in an unseen breeze. Danny didn't seem to be bothered by the change and took his seat at her right, Ellie next to him, though she looked a bit concerned. Jason took his seat at Jazz's left and Danny began chattering away at Jazz about their afternoon.

"Jason's a pro with the pistols, we'll have to test him against you sometime and see who's better." Danny grinned, all teeth and a spark in his eye. "You're training tomorrow right? You two should spar!"

Jazz and Jason looked at each other and caught each other's eye. After a moment they both turned appraising the other, sizing up their opponent. Jazz grinned. "I think that can be arranged. I do have a meeting with some of the yeti scholars looking into the binding in the afternoon, but my morning will be training yes." She held out her hand to shake Jason's. "Do we have an accord?"

Jason grinned back and clasped her hand, giving it a firm shake. "I can't wait."

#dpxdc #dp x dc #dcxdp #dc x dp #Hardcover ship #anger management ship #jazz/jason #persephone's binding #sacrificial bride au

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oreo102 · 11 months ago

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Yaz is cool as fuck and people don’t appreciate her enough, a very long ramble

TLDR because this is so long: yaz is really cool and a compelling character and not enough people talk about how good of a character she is, both with and without the doctor, enough

In the first episode we learn as soon as we meet her that yaz wants to help people. She is tired of getting parking disputes and wants something more serious, and after meeting the doctor immediately starts helping her even if she isn’t supposed to be, and later it’s implied (I don’t think it was ever confirmed?) that she originally became a cop because one helped her when she had ran away/was suicidal, maybe?

Throughout season 11 we see her be the most empathetic/caring (episode 3 with the racism Ryan specially was facing, episode 6 with her grandma’s first husband, episode 7 with dan from kerblam, 8 with the kid who’s grandma was killed for “being a witch”, 9 with the blind kid), and is also very loyal almost immediately (“more of the universe.. more time with you!” “No. I’m with you, whatever happens” and more I’m forgetting)

She also has a very similar sense of justice to the doctor, practically immediately and comes to share her view on a lot of topics (she was hesitant to take the gun in TPOTD, she wrote wwtdd(which is adorable btw) on her palm, she defended Tesla, stands up to the master, once again more I’m forgetting probably)- hell, when seperated from the doctor without instructions/for a long time she takes 13s place as leader

Circling back to loyalty: she spent 10 months obsessively trying to find the doctor, she slept in the second tardis, she probably (I think it’s implied?) neglected her own health, social life, and job (if she still had one at this point) just to obsessively try and figure out how that tardis worked, to figure out how to get back to the doctor

And that was after she walked into a portal to an alien planet, not caring about danger because it’s what the doctor would do if it were one of them (she was already half way there by the time Graham finished asking who was going first, walking quickly and had a very determined look on her face. I really do believe if it had come down to facing the master or cybermen she would’ve to ensure 13s safety), which btw, is one of my favorite scenes in the show

And then s13. Gods I think I could talk about yaz in season 13 and those last 3 specials for days. A) Dan is more her companion than docs, let’s be very clear- they spent 3 years trapped in an unfamiliar time together with yaz acting as the leader (see above about her taking on the Doctor’s role when the doctor isn’t there to)

She handles 13’s outbursts and venom astonishingly well through the whole series but esp in s13, when she is double guessing her identity and even more unwilling to share than before, like it’s downright elegant that yaz is able to ignore 13s jabs sometimes, cuz personally I would’ve thrown hands. Although she doesn’t let the doctor walk over her, she doesn’t just accept the bullshit, she argues with the doctor quite a bit (telling her she is fully at fault for the situation at the beginning of s13 ep 1, telling her to stop leaving them all the time, shoving her when she shows back up after the 10 months)

As mentioned before the “what would the doctor do” being written on her hand is a really good touch and it does well to show just how much yaz looks up to 13 and how much she loves her (a very much amount, like infinitely)

This is getting very long so I’ll try to wrap it up somewhat quickly. Anyway, I really love yaz’s coming out scene (although I detest Dan outing her), it feels very natural and is filled with a lot of great emotions that we don’t see her have very much- like, she cries! Yaz, while shown having emotions, isn’t shown sad very often (which considering she was depressed as a younger teen and might still be, could just be her repressing those emotions) and is shown as scared much less, it’s nice to see those emotions on display

Speaking of emotions on display: “stop leaving us” is one of my favorite scenes/lines. Getting to see just how anxious yaz gets when the doc leaves, just how much she hates being separated from her, is a really nice insight to how she thinks- the doctor has already left her twice before (neither times were her fault, though) so who’s to say it won’t happen again? Easier to stay by 13 than to be crushed by her disappearing without warning

(Also side note but after that the two don’t separate much/if at all, showing that the doc did genuinely listen to her)

I’ve heard people say that they didn’t enjoy Legend of the sea devils that much but personally I love it- both because holy shit they’re so gay, but also because it again demonstrates that yaz is genuinely so smart and capable and there’s really no wonder 13 fell for her so hard (because she did. 13 fell so hard) I also like that this episode shows that the two play off each other and trust each other a lot, even if they aren’t always in sync

And finally onto the power of the doctor! Yaz’s best episode by far and my favorite of the entire series!

Yaz. Is. So. Fucking. Amazing. In this episode. She really shines so much which is saying a lot because she usually shines anyway. She looks so ready to punch the master if only he’d give her a reason, ready to shoot him (maybe not fatally… maybe) if he threatens the doctors or her own safety

She openly defies him, she leaves him stranded on a planet and if not for the plan she might’ve never came back for him, she flies the tardis! All on her own! We can assume that the doctor helped teach her but how much of that knowledge is from those 10 months? (I like to think that the first time yaz helped fly it was completely by accident)

Do the doctor holograms share knowledge? Cuz if not, that implies that she figured out it can change interface on her own and used it in their/her plan.

She saves the doctor! Multiple times! Runs out towards a fucking laser to make sure she’s safe (another favorite scene), she flies everyone home while the doc rests and recovers, she is just so cool in this episode!!

And honestly, I hate her ending. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fantastic that she survived, really truly fantastic, if they had killed yaz I’d have balled my eyes out and sworn doctor who off for a second time, but her ending? No.

I do not think she should’ve stayed with the doc, I believe she loved (romantically, she’d love every doctor platonically but) 13 only, she’d be traveling the stars with 14 or 15 but I think over time she would’ve slid into that grief, that the doctor is still there but hers isn’t. But just having to go back to normal life? Go back to her family and job and life? That’s bullshit

Graham and Ryan got the psychic papers, yaz could’ve too (which btw that’d make a fun spin off I think), or she could’ve gotten the doctors coat (which would’ve been the cutest thing ever), or even her sonic! (Least likely) but- nothing? Nothing? No!!

She and 13 should be allowed to be immortal space wives together (with river, maybe) and nothing bad should ever happen to them

#doctor who #new who #13th doctor #thasmin #thirteenth doctor #yasmin khan #yazmin khan #outing yaz is bs #she’s underrated #this is so much longer than I meant for it to be #jodie whittaker #mandip gill #she’s great #she is so cool

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localcanadiancreature62 · 3 months ago

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Woe,GF fanchildren be upon ye.

Fiddlestan au but Fidds has children from both Stan and Ford. Lemme explain. Fidds ends up creating a robot child out of his and Ford's dna after losing the custody battle with Emma may and Tate,since it devastated him that much which is why instead of going insane with the memory gun he ends up grabbing hair from Ford while he's asleep and creates a robot clone child from their shared dna. He's already starting to use the memory gun at this point as this is after he quit the project and thus he's beginning to become unstable although he's still sane enough to take care of a child so he figured that he should just replace Tate if his ex-wife won't let him have his Tater. Thus,F-1N53AS aka Finneas "Finn" Mcgucket was "born". Meanwhile the Fiddlestan kid was "born" after Fidds ended up helping Stan with the portal and he suddenly decided to make a kid for them too when they got into a relationship n' the con was talking about wanting to have children lately. And so,F-R4NCH3SKA aka Francheska "Fran" Mcgucket-Pines was born. More under the cut cuz the info for this au is Longgg.

Finn acts a lot like Ford,being bright and passionate as well as in love with life. Finn is basically Ford but if he was untouched by the Horrors (Bill,portal,brother issues, etc). He is a very lively and enthusiastic boy,he's also into the sciences/research like Ford but instead of anomalies he studies regular plants and animals as he also has Fidds' anxiety (he's terrified of anomalies and monsters),he wants to be an Ecologist when he grows up as he loves how the animals plants and people work together to create such a wonderful,thriving environment. Finn may be a lot like his genetic templates,but he's also drastically different from them as he's shy quiet to the point of being nonverbal most of the time and also really jumpy as well as anxious 24/7.

Ford and Fidds may be generally introverted,but Finn is withdrawn to the extreme,he doesn't talk to anyone but his dad Fidds as he's otherwise pretty silent,so silent that his father usually doesn't hear him or notice his presence. Meanwhile Fran acts exactly like Stan but worse. She's a little shit bully that always blatantly insults adults and children alike, she's brilliant like her dad Fidds but also a delinquent like her papa Stan which often leads to her using her smarts for pranking people rather than for useful things like world changing inventions,she is feisty spunky and always confident but she's also lowkey feral. feral as in she's batshit insane and always uses her inventions to hurt people such as using her makeshift taser on the unfortunate children that annoy her or making a hyperrealistic spider robot army to scare her teachers. she ended up getting Fidds' pettiness,she commits crimes but at a smaller scale than her papa Stan. she isn't really into the criminal thing except for wanting to get into arms dealing one day,and Fran's specialty is weaponry rather than machinery. she often creates makeshift BB guns death rays and flamethrowers for fun. Also this is called the Mommy Mcgucket au (because Finn thought that since Fidds "gave birth" to him by creating him,he must be his mother after the hillbilly explained the birds and the bees to him when he saw a billboard of a pregnant woman in town. Fidds tried many times to correct him,but the kid's code is faulty and he wouldn't listen so he just let him call him "Mom". out of universe reason though,i thought it would be funny if Fidds a man was called Mommy loll and the term rhymes with his surname too sooo). Fidds ends up getting married to Stan after the grifter falsified documents of him as a woman and they pretended that "Stanford Filbrick Pines" was married to "Fidelity Mcgucket" since gay marriage wasn't legal yet,so even when it's under a fake name and identity,they're still technically married (Fidds was perfectly fine with everyone thinking he was married to Ford,as he knew that he married the con and not the insufferable bastard). Being with Stan was the happiest Fidds has ever been,he was married to a wonderful man and had two amazing children. He had finally achieved stability after that whole fiasco with Ford and the memory gun as well as Emma may,he was finally happy after so much suffering. Or was he? 😏.

While Fidds may have been a great husband,he was.. lacking as a father. Finn had various defects as a result of him being a quick snap decision made by Fidds' in order to save his sanity soon after the portal testing and him losing the custody battle with Tate,thus he wasn't given the careful planning and blueprints that a regular robot would have which meant that he malfunctions often and he has various disabilities (creating a child out of your and your ex's dna to cope with shit obviously ended up horribly). He's literally blind in one eye,his right leg gets stiff a lot due to the scrap metal used for it being very old and rusty,fingers from both hands fall off a lot as the screws were also rusty and didn't fit his model,he is Very sensitive to touch and both cold/hot temperatures as his sensors are fried from overuse (testing. too much testing) which is why he flinches at the slightest poke or warmth,and he gets tired very easily and thus he needs a constant battery change (physical disabilities,autism,and chronic fatigue syndrome allegories..). Due to how much attention Finn needs with his fragile condition,Fidds ends up spending more time with him instead of Fran. This leads to Fran acting out and being more chaotic than she usually is just to get her dad's attention. Plus Fidds thinks that Finn is Ford,as in he views his own son as an idealized version of Ford that is perfect and has never betrayed him ever nor will ever have the capability of doing so (he may have gotten over his feelings for Ford. But he never got over how Ford betrayed his trust as a friend,as a partner with him making it clear that the portal and the darn triangle are more important to him than the one person who has supported him since day 1). Whenever the boy acts negatively,he is verbally abused and given the silent treatment because "My Ford wouldn't do that",Fidds is entirely deluded by the fact that since his son acts like Ford he could shape him into the idealized version he has of his best friend/first love who would never betray him and always be nice to him. Finn is simultaneously degraded while also being praised for being a better man than Ford ever was,and Fidds outright discourages him from having any dreams or ambitions as he figured that if he got rid of the root cause of "Ford's" betrayal of him i.e his lofty ego and ambitions then he could live peacefully with his new genius.

Except the worst part is,Finn never wanted any of that whole "achieving a great destiny" thing that his other genetic template/daddy Ford sought after,he just wants to live a normal life while pursuing his passions and leaving a mark on the world instead of being an overachiever. Fidds never knew about this,or more like he did know but he ignored his son's explanation in favor of his idealized view on things. Fidds is actively encouraging the glass (disabled) child and normal child/golden child and neglected child dynamic with his insane view on things. He may not be insane from the memory gun as he quit soon after getting into a relationship with Stan,but he's insane from his trauma with Ford. Finn and Fran become distant from one another because of Fran secretly being jealous of her older brother (older cuz he was born a year before her) being their dad's special little boy while Finn thinks that Fran is useless cannon fodder just like Fidds does despite being close with her as kids as the hillbilly figured that the "lazy delinquent" was less important than his little Finny (also the fact that Finn is technically a replacement of Tate as well makes this worse. he constantly coddles and spoils Finn the way he was never able to do so with Tate due to the whole "leave your family to study cryptids in the woods" thing),congrats Fidds,you became an even worse version of Filbrick.

Also the other horrific part about this is that,BOTH Finn and Fran are brilliant like their father Fidds except Fran doesn't use her genius properly due to her being a little shit who favors making killer weaponry instead of helping people and making money with normal gadgetry while Finn is a total nerd that wants to study most of normal non anomaly flora and fauna (he loves animals plants and bugs. he's a real hippie-esque nature boy) in order to help the environment and deal with things like climate change when he's older. Also it's so painful that Fidds' new family was made through choice instead of it being forced on him (i hc that Emma may and Fidds were an arranged marriage by their parents) yet he destroyed it with his obsessive behavior,he chose happiness and didn't let others dictate his life this time yet he also chose to ruin it for himself. Fidds is a loving father,he cares about both of his kids deeply yet he also fucked up a lot.

Him fucking up his kids so bad is the reason why after college,Finn and Fran stay in Gravity Falls but they don't contact their father ever again. They only ever talk to their papa Stan and arrange hangouts with him because he was the only parent out of their two dads that actually felt like a parent and did his job of raising them instead of whatever insanity Fidds subjected them to,Stan often tried to stick up for Finn and make Fidds stop being so strict on him but he stopped trying after he concluded that his hillbilly husband is insanely stubborn while he also tried his best to support Fran and take care of her when Fidds failed in doing so. Stan realizing that Fidds is basically doing the same thing that Filbrick did to him and Ford to their own children made him become distant from the hillbilly as well,but he didn't once try to divorce him. He stayed throughout everything,as he knew that the southerner was doing this because he was hurting although he didn't know how to help when the man was so deluded by him thinking he was doing the right thing.

Everything else basically goes exactly the same as canon,except Fidds never went insane from the memory gun (although he still went insane but for a different reason) Stan has two robot children that often visit him stopping by at the Shack a lot plus the twins have a robot aunt and uncle as well as a third hillbilly Grunkle. Also Finn and Fran have to deal with Weirdmaggedon as well,but it's worse for them as they end up discovering that the man that their father destroyed their family over also ended up making a deal with a demon that caused the apocalypse. Fidds has a lot of explaining to do,and apologies are long overdue (woah that rhymed).

Bonus - The kids technically still "grow up" but via Fidds making new models every year and then transferring their code within the new bodies,thus they still technically go through puberty. Finn and Fran used to act like exact copies of kid Ford and Stan respectively the moment they were created as a 5 and 4 y/o since their code was made to replicate the Stans on purpose but after two years,they started to gain sentence and thus develop their own personalities. Finn and Fran are NOT twins,they were "born" a year apart from each other,they only have matching names because Fidds wanted to make it clear that they were his children (F letter names like him). The Mcgucket Siblings still look human despite being entirely machine,this is because they have silicone "skin" that feels and acts exactly like normal human skin with it being soft being able to get punctured etc and their hair is made out of fine wires that are made to look and feel like normal human hair. Finn and Fran are only as brilliant as they are because Fidds programmed his 30 years worth of studying the sciences into a 5 y/o and 4 y/o in order to make it clear that they're his children. Finn is the only one that calls Fidds "Mom" as Fran calls him "Dad",and he stops calling him that by the time he starts getting verbally abusive and switches to calling him "Fiddleford" although he returns to calling him "Mom" by the time they reconcile,by the time Finn is older at about 12-16 he actually recognizes the man as his father and not his mother but the nickname sticks. Finn and Fran are actually half siblings,as they have the same father but a different other parent. Stan is technically Finn's uncle,but growing up with him and being raised by the con instead of his own father throughout the years made him see the grifter as a father figure,Stan is proud to have him as a nephew since he greatly reminds him of Ford when he was younger but unlike Fidds he doesn't twist it into something messed up.

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hurtmehurtmeluv · 10 months ago

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Vast Error and Splatoon fans, how do we feel about these? (custom kits and some explanations under cut!)

Sova (Defensive Utility) - Reef-lux, Splash Wall, Baller I don't really know her that well so this one is probably the most shaky out of all of them. I was hoping to give her a more defensive play style here (Splash Wall and Baller)

Dismas (Evade Skirmisher) - .52 gal, Toxic Mist, Triple Splashdown The .52 is here since it takes 2 shots to hit (in reference to 2xbladekind). Toxic Mist and Triple Splashdown don't have too much reason to be on here except that this all together makes a nasty .52 gal kit.

Arcjec (Tank Skirmisher) - Tentabrella, Autobomb, Taticooler Arcjec would tend to use Autobombs the most while hiding behind the huge shield the Tentabrella provides. Taticooler is in reference to not only his obsession with Code Red, but also how he recovers quickly when pushed down (respawn buff from Taticooler). He's also meant to be paired with Ellsee in a way, since her Squid Beacon's can support this specific play style greatly.

Jentha (Special Utility) - Bloblobber, Angle Shooter, Wave Breaker She just feels like it. Like she just feels like a Bloblobber and I can't really explain it too much. Source: just trust me bro. Angle Shooter would be something she'd use in a panic to try and find someone, just a quick 'throw it out' thing while revealing her location at the same time. Wave Breaker suits the non-aggressive play style that I'm trying to go with her.

Ellsee (Evade Skirmisher) - Inkbrush, Squid Beacon, Ink Storm The Inkbrush is meant to be similar to her staff in a way! Also the movement made with a brush flick reminiscent of dancing, nothing too deep with this choice just that it fits the best out of all the weapons. Squid Beacon is in reference to her portals and goes along with Arcjec (see the desc. of his kit for details). Ink Storm is probably the weakest here since I added it only because her last name is Raines (like raining.... storms.....).

Albion (Crossfire Utility) - Heavy Splatling, Ink Mine, Booyah Bomb The Heavy was picked out mostly because its Deco version is very sparkly and shiny, like her quirk! Ink Mine is mostly to tie the kit together and Booyah Bomb is her sort of 'calling upon her friends'. I think this kit fits her a lot more towards the start of the comic but could still be applied later on.

Serpaz (Special Utility) - Big Swig Roller, Sprinkler, Ultra Stamp I tried to sort of play into the idea that she uses toolboxkind so that's why she has a paint roller and a hammer! The sprinkler is to help her build her special.

Laivan (Trick Skirmisher) - Squiffer, Splat Bomb, Triple Inkstrike A Charger for Laivan felt like the obvious choice since he's known to wield a gun (not sure exactly what kind since he doesn't have a confirmed strifespecibus from what i can tell) but I wanted him to contrast Occeus with quirk charges and shorter shots which is why I ended up giving him the Squiffer. Splat Bombs and Triple Inkstrike don't really have a big reason but I think they overall fit as a simple but effective kit.

Occeus (Anchor) - E-Liter Scope, Toxic Mist, Stingray All of these have reasons, mostly relating to the fact his strifespecibus is lazerkind. E-liter is slow charging but has a very high range, with the scope providing greater accuracy. I considered giving him the Tri-Stringer in reference to his three eyes but I feel like the E-Liter Scope feels more true to the way lazerkind works. Toxic Mist is a bit silly as it's entirely there to reference the fact he's a scientist that works with a lot of weird vials and bottles with potentially dangerous substances inside. Stingray basically works the same as lazerkind, cutting through everything around it to hit its targets.

Taz (Slayer) - Luna Blaster, Burst Bomb, Ink Armor The Luna Blaster is fast, powerful and if the direct hit doesn't get you the splash damage will! Powerful, destructive and makes sure to not leave anyone behind, that's how Taz fights. Burst Bomb isn't a reference to anything, just an effective combo with any shots with a main weapon and helpful when you need to ink something quick. Ink Armor is meant to reference how her chucklevoodoo is always active with the 'glint' in her eye, as well as how she's someone who supports others at heart.

Murrit (Slayer) - Tetra Dualies, Point Sensor, Triple Splashdown (plays Bloblobber sometimes just to piss Jentha off) This was the guy who started this whole thing so lets get into it. I chose the Tetra Dualies to allude to the fact that he uses 2xknucklekind. I was thinking to myself "what feels like getting punched in the face when playing a splatoon match?" and it 100% the Tetra Dualies. Point sensor is meant to not only portray how she keeps tabs on everyone but also how she seems like the type to hunt down her targets. Triple Splashdown is mostly because that also feels like a punch in the face (and also how the animation is literally a punch). Overall, I wanted her play style to come across as high risk, high reward.

Calder (Anchor) - Ballpoint Splatling, Curling Bomb, Kraken Royale I tried to find the best way to portray his fighting style (with three different strife specubus's) but the common theme seems to be that they're very long weapons that directly confront the target and have quick 'jabs' at the target. I think the Ballpoint with its ability to have short range bursts accompanied with long range hits, as well as the fact that the fire can be interrupted for continuous fire, portrays that. Curling Bombs feel the closest to golf balls, bouncing around the stage and being able to control how far you put it out (similar to how hard your swing is). Kraken Royale is mostly to allude to the fact that Calder is royalty. He also tends to seem commanding and in control, which is suitable for an anchor.

Obviously, there's plenty of other kits and roles that they can fit into but this is more a kit that reflects bits of themselves rather than the one they would realistically play or would be the best at. I would love to hear some of y'all's opinions on this and your own kit ideas! Here's my attempt at making Murrit in Splatoon.

#Splatoon Kits are kind of like my version of classpecting #vast error #splatoon #sovara amalie #dismas mersiv #arcjec voorat #jentha briati #ellsee raines #albion shukra #serpaz helilo #laivan ferroo #occeus coliad #tazsia poemme #murrit turkin #calder kerian

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the-unknown-void · 3 months ago

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Murder Drones? Half-Life? More likely than you think. (MDxHL2 AU)

So I don't kill my brain trying to come up with summary to this AU. I'm just going to tell you about the characters here, note that nothing is solid yet but I am going crazy for this AU, I'll most definitely change things. So consider this a bit of a W.I.P.

A while ago I had thought, I was originally thinking about Portal/MD AUs because well funni robot go brrr. But there's about a million ways you could do that and there's likely plenty out there already.

But.. how many would realize how fitting Murder Drones is with Half-Life 2!?

I mean..

Inter-dimensional fascist alien military government that takes over worlds in order to siphon its resources and kill off all the native fauna in the process?

with all the biomechanical stuff going on, you could easily shove disassembly drones in their place!

and that's where it began.

this ended up a bit longer than expected and may still be edited many times lol.

Welcome, welcome to City 9, one of our finest urban centers on Copper 17!

~ Citizens ~

Any worker drone that is not part of the resistance, and is not conscripted into the Combine. Live openly in the city under the harsh rule of the Combine, disassembly drones watching their every step, scanning for even the slightest sign of disobedience.

~ The Combine ~

Disassembly drones, basically. Except for metropolice who are worker drones who choose to work for them.

They still have most of the canonical built-in weapons like claws, SMGs, blades, missiles, and B E A M. All drones converted into DDs have their memories wiped entirely. Special exceptions to this are J, V, and N, who still have their memories but they are suppressed.

Serial Designation J - puppet Leader - Role: Dr. Breen Taking orders from Cyn, she acts like a sergeant. But she isn't really designed for fighting as much, she mostly spends time in the Citadel unless something (such as a massive uprising) is threatening the Citadel and Combine control, in which she will come down and strike down anyone who opposes them in nearly an instant.

Weapons/Tools: - Disassembly Drone Stuff (Some listed weapons may be built-in) - Revolver - Grenades - Tau Cannon - Laser tripmines

Serial Designation N - Elite of Combine Air Defense He follows/leads hunter choppers or he can pilot hunter choppers. He is specifically designed for long flights and in-flight combat.

Weapons/Tools: - Disassembly Drone Stuff (Some listed weapons may be built-in) - Pulse Rifle - Can deploy manhacks

Serial Designation V - Soldier of Combine Land Defense She guards the borders of Combine territories, making sure no unwelcome creatures from the outlands get inside. Also sometimes deployed to guard places like Nova Prospekt. She is still able to fly but not for as long as N, as she's mainly designed for being able to traverse various terrain. She can also drive APCs, set up mounted guns and turrets.

Weapons/Tools: - Disassembly Drone Stuff (Some listed weapons may be built-in) - Shotgun - Crossbow - Grenades - Hoppers - Can deploy roller mines

~ The Resistance ~

Worker drones who have decided to rebel against the Combine, refusing to submit to their abuse. However, since the death of their previous leader, Nori Doorman, their movement has been dormant. As Khan decided that everyone should go into hiding in the bunker for the sake of their daughter(him and Nori's).

Yeva - Deceased Was almost just as important to the resistance as Nori, playing a large role in getting them out of the city. Unfortunately she was killed by V along with her husband not long after the uprising fell.

Weapons/Tools: - Absolute Solver powers - Revolver - Pulse Rifle - Can hack roller mines

Nori Doorman - Former Leader(dead?) - Role: Gordon Freeman? The initial starter of the resistance movement, which actually got pretty far. But all her ruckus alerted J to the scene, killing Nori and many of those by her side just before they could make their final push against the Combine. At least she's dead to everyone's knowledge..

Weapons/Tools: - Absolute Solver powers - SMG (an uzi lol) - Crowbar - S.L.A.Ms

Khan Doorman - Current Leader - Role: Eli Vance After Nori's death, he decided it was best to go into hiding with his daughter, fearing the Combine would begin hunting for them even more aggressively than they did before.

Weapons/Tools: - Wrench - Pistol - Shotgun

Uzi Doorman - Role: Alyx Vance + Gordon Freeman? Infuriated by her father’s cowardice for stalling the resistance movement, believing it nullifies everything her mother worked for. She decides to take it upon herself to finish the job her mother started, sneaking out of the bunker and eventually leading the next uprising. Can drive the airboat.

Weapons/Tools: - Crowbar (same one as Nori’s) - Railgun (The one from the show) - Alyx’s gun (Modified Pistol) - RPG (Rocket Launcher) - Gravity Gun - S.L.A.Ms - EMP Tool - Absolute Solver powers (acquired much later)

Thad - Metrocop - Role: Barney Calhoun He’s another metrocop but he’s not in on Doll’s scheme. He’s just a metrocop for spying and it’s useful to have rebel drones who can use Combine tech. But no one's seen him in a while..

Weapons/Tools: - Disassembly drone headband (A headband with the 5 small extra eyes that disassembly drones have. Unlike actual DDs tho, the headband is only wired into the head instead of welded) - Fingerless gloves with retractable blades (Wolverine hands basically, when the user makes a fist, 3 blades protrude from their knuckles) - Booster Boots (Increase user’s agility and jump height, also protect the user from fall-related injury) - Arm & Leg armor (To look more like the disassembly drones and protect those limbs as they will NOT regenerate) - Stun Baton - Pistol - SMG - Baseball Bat

~ Ambiguous Alliance ~

Who these drones are allied with or what they stand for isn't quite known.

Alice - Role: Father Grigori ??????

Doll - Double agent, Spy on the Resistance - Role: Dr. Mossman (Mitchell HDTF) Lives in the bunker with the resistance, has some kind of deal with J to provide information about inner rebel activity. It’s unknown what her bigger plan is. (Aka I don’t know yet)

Weapons/Tools: - Absolute Solver powers - Metal Pipe - Revolver

Lizzy - Triple agent, Metrocop Works with Doll, doesn’t know her entire scheme but she goes along with whatever Doll tells her anyways. Like joining the metropolice under the guise of being a spy on the Combine, but to the Combine she claims to be a spy on the resistance and giving them information to back it up. Can set up turrets and mounted guns.

Cyn - True leader of the Combine - Role: G-Man + Overwatch No one knows there’s anyone above J since Cyn only gives orders to her. She is the one who made the Combine and put J in command. She let J, V, and N keep their memories, however.. They may be wiped if any of them begin deviating.

Weapons/Tools:

- Absolute Solver - Sword - Revolver

Tessa - ??????

~ Outland Creatures ~

Eldritchs - Disassembly drones who’ve been damaged beyond what their regeneration is capable of fixing, requiring material from outside sources. Sometimes this is viable, but usually it is advised to just destroy eldritchs immediately as they will violently massacre and destroy anything that contains the material it needs, even other disassembly drones. These beings take on many forms and can create very convincing holograms of those they kill to lure prey, so one should never approach random figures in the outlands.

Note: because of this, disassembly drones have a fail-safe trigger that disables regeneration if it detects a certain amount of weight lost. (indicating severe damage that could lead to becoming eldritch.) Of course this fail-safe can fail to trigger or trigger unnecessarily(falsely detecting significant weight loss) sometimes.

Heartcrabs - The cores of disassembly drones and solver-afflicted drones that can no longer return to their bodies(likely entirely destroyed). Similar to the eldritchs, they may start looking for a new body by attacking living drones; this doesn’t work well and creates aggressive zombie-like drones. (Might be scrapped Idk)

Anti-Drone Sentinels - Quick, aggressive robotic raptors that emit bright flashes of light to boot-loop any drone who looks at it, rendering them immobile until a reboot can be done. They move in packs in the outlands, it’s rumored a few drones have learned how to tame them.

FEEL FREE TO SEND ME ASKS ABOUT THE AU, PLEASE I WOULD LOVE TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS. IT CAN ALSO HELP ME FLESH THINGS OUT SO PLEASE 🥺🥺🙏

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raayllum · 1 year ago

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I honestly can't imagine Rayla not dooming the world for Callum if the situation required it. She literally called going to dark places an "act of love."

I mean, there's a few things:

The opinions of anyone working on the show (cast, crew, etc.) are not gospel and not the default, nor do they need to be treated as the be all end all. You can disagree and that's more than gouda

People will give misleading answers and/or answers that are true in the moment (i.e. would S5 Rayla doom the world for him? Maybe not. Would S6 Rayla after some development? If the answer's yes, that's gotta stay under wraps) to avoid potential spoilers

I was actually honestly pretty surprised 1) someone asked such a direct question and 2) even more surprised that it got directly answered, since it feels like it could skirt into spoilery territory potentially for next season given the possession plot line. (I was personally gunning for a "what do you think Rayla and Claudia would think of Callum's S5 dark magic use, if they knew?")

I will admit Paula's response was, admittedly, what I've leaned to for Rayla as a whole in terms of that World vs Loved One binary. One of the things that makes Ezran and Rayla interesting to me was the uncertainty of "would they risk [insert thing here] for their immediate circle of loved ones" routinely being a "I don't know." Not that they necessarily 100% wouldn't, but just that I was genuinely 50-50 split on whether they would, or leaned towards No or Yes but could see the other way being plausible too. That uncertainty paired with the certainty I had that Callum would, and that contrast, has always been one of my favourite things about the Trio as a unit and Rayllum as a duo. It's one of the reasons that Heart vs Duty conflict for Rayla as a character has always been so compelling to me and why 4x07's introduction of the "You have to kill me" conflict was so (and is) exciting!!

But I digress.

I don't think that Rayla's letter is the best example of what I think you're trying to illustrate (I'll raise something I think that is perhaps more indicative in a moment) purely because the whole reason Rayla ultimately left was to protect the world. I've talked about this before in my "Priorities in Through the Moon" meta from ages ago, but Rayla does not go into the portal because she's primarily concerned about finding her parents. Callum researches the portal and helps recreate it and his whole side of things because he wants to help her with her parents, even being the one who brings them up when they resolve to go ahead. Rayla's concerned primarily with Viren, stating her reason for going into the portal even after finding out it requires facing water:

"Listen, Callum. Soren was worried about Viren too. Worried that we never found his body. We need to know what happened to Viren. He's a threat to the whole world! This might be the only way to be sure he's actually gone."

This is in line with how Rayla operates and references her parents in her letter to Callum, given her goodbye exchange for her parents:

Rayla: Surprised you even noticed, considering you've got more important things to do. Lain: Nothing is more important than our favourite child. Rayla: I'm your only child, and you're still leaving me behind for the Dragonguard. Tiadrin: We have to leave, Rayla. For you and for all the other Moonshadow children as well [...] This is our duty that we're doing for Xadia. For you. Someday, I hope you see that.

Just as trust and love are not necessarily synonyms to her, duty and love are not necessarily exclusives. Her parents left out of love for her and for the world, even if that meant prioritizing the world over her in the immediacy of their choice. Rayla leaves to go kill Viren out of a similar mutual desire to protect Callum, yes, but that's mostly there in the fact she left alone and didn't want him to stop her. Not necessarily that she went to hunt down Viren in and of itself, but that she went by herself ("I was trying to protect him. I knew I had to be strong alone"). Protecting the world - and a Viren-less world being one Callum would be safer in by proxy - was worth blowing up her relationships to her.

Going to dark places wasn't what she was doing just to protect Callum - that played a part, too, but her primary goal was to hunt down Viren (going to said dark place) alone and by leaving Callum behind, hence the "Stay safe, and stay in the light. Don't look for me, and don't follow me" - a sacrifice she was making on her own so that Callum wouldn't have to, but still for a collective cause that she deemed meaningful: "I have to make sure Viren never hurts anyone ever again." (Which is also why she goes after Viren again in 4x09, tbh)

That doesn't mean leaving in TTM wasn't also an errorful, self-destructive choice to leave (see like every other TTM meta I've written) but that the goals she could conceptualize was to protect the world, full stop. Anything else along the way (getting closure with her parents, protecting Callum) were extra stops and bonuses to help her have the courage to go through with it, maybe.

This is also in line with how we see Rayla treat other scenarios where it's a choice between individuals / individual relationships vs the potential to help or harm the greater good

Prioritizing the world / new mission of stopping the assassination mission > her relationship with Runaan ("This is a miracle, a chance for peace!") in 1x03

Being willing to and convincing Callum to let Ezran search for the egg under the ice in 1x06

"Then it's time to go. War's coming like the world's never seen, unless we get the wee dragon home to his mom" (2x01)

"Callum, I know you trust them, but by the time we know the truth, it'll be too late. Do you understand? We'll lose everything" (2x03)

"So please, allow him to pass into Xadia and help bring the Dragon Prince home. Because I don't think I can do it without him" (3x01)

Do I even need to specify 3x09? Or TTM?

"I hate it too, but we have to keep moving [...] We can't save everyone, Soren. There's too much at stake. I'm leaving, and you better be right behind me" (4x05)

"If I threw the coins in the lava, would it release their spirits? Or would they just be trapped in some of eternal burning agony? Let's trade. You let him go, and I'll give you the coins." "I'm not making a deal with you!" (4x09)

"I love you, and I haven't forgotten about you. But I can't help you yet. Because right now, the world needs me. Callum and Ezran need. There's a great evil trying to return to Xadia, and we have to stop it, at any cost" (5x01)

"It hurts me to know they're trapped like this. It's agonizing. But I know our mission comes first. The world is in danger, and you can trust me to stay focused" (5x04)

This is, arguably, the strongest core trait she has in common with Viren, just for the record, especially in arc 1. He's very greater good centric as well, just with the push of his own ego and thirst for power + he only considers humanity's concerns, whereas Rayla has minimal pride and arguably not enough ego, and she wants to improve situations for everybody on a collective scale post-1x02 onwards.

The exceptions to this consistent behaviour is largely 2x07 and 3x08, which I've talked about more in my Dragon Quartet meta (from Dec 2019 good god??). These are arguably two of the times, in addition to TTM in some ways, where Rayla is operating the most out of her emotional core ("My allegiance is to my heart" —Tales of Xadia) and what feels 'right' on that level. For better or for worse.

"That dragon was defenceless, and I just left there." / "So I have to stay, and defend the Dragon Queen."

I say Rayla is at her most emotional largely because in each scenario she's abandoning the mission of keeping Zym safe (and thereby her own identified "world's best hope" for peace) in favour of protecting a different individual dragon. This seems to go completely against the "mission first" if indeed, like in 1x03, Rayla can abandon one mission she's devoted herself to in favour of another one just like that [snaps fingers]. If she cares about the world first, why prioritize these individuals, neither of whom she particularly knows or personally cares about? BH also spells this out for us, since it's likewise a mirror to her offering to go up into the tower with Callum to defend Harrow even though the egg should technically be her first priority:

But to Runaan and those like your parents, love is rooted in all families, all creatures. Souls like that feel called to protect everyone as fiercely as those they hold close.

In 2x07, Rayla is at her best, if least logical, whereas in 3x08 she is at worst (until arguably S4) and likewise her least logical ("I know you feel guilty, but you're not thinking straight"). In each scenario the boys stand a Much better chance of survival and of accomplishing their mission with her from just an objective point of view (they don't know Xadia's terrain at that point and circa 2x07, neither could really be combatants in a fight since Callum didn't have a weapon or primal magic). We could slap an easy "you're being a dumbass and dooming the world" label on it and be done with it. But not only does Rayla think the boys are fully capable of completing their mission without her ("I believe in you") but 'the world' as a stake never enters her mind.

Instead, Rayla looks at each as an individual last stand where the only neck on the chopping block is ('rightfully') hers. Whether she's right or not to do so regardless of how she frames it is debatable (I personally view it as understandable, admirable, but more than a little short sighted or guilt ridden considering The Stakes), but that very much seems to be the thought process.

She's not risking the world, in her mind. All she's risking is herself.

And that's perfectly acceptable to her as a trade off. It always has been. It's one of the perfect kind of microcosms of the cognitive dissonance she lives under, where why should she care about herself when there's bigger fish to fry ("Don't worry about my hand; the egg is all that matters now") ignoring the fact that 1) she can & arguably should let herself care about two things at once and 2) she's going to be much less effective as a team member / dual wielder if she's recovering from a messy at best recent amputation.

This path of "Rayla works to save Callum because she doesn't care about what happens to herself" is admittedly probably the option I leaned towards most when it comes to Rayla in S6, even if I do wonder how it might be streamlined time / arc wise cause it does elongate her arc further. Either way, this is the route that lets her not kill Callum, working free him instead while also being able to justify trying to free him to herself, because she's not conceptualizing the Big Picture. She's narrowing it down to him and her and deciding if one of them has to get hurt in order for him to be freed, it's gonna be her.

It's not the Character Development route as I call it, but it sure is consistent.

TLDR; While I still lean towards Rayla having an ultimately positive impact (i.e. breaking Callum free from potential brainwashing) in s6, it would not surprise me at all if from her perspective it is framed as a self-sacrificial move on her end > a big picture risk to the world, even if that's how Callum may see it.

More thoughts on Rayla + the possession plotline in S6 here, here, and here.

#thanks for asking #anonymous #tdp rayla #i need you to kill me #my heart for xadia #analysis series #analysis #christ this got long #it's like. rayla's act of love is also filtered through callum's request to murder him as well #whereas viren lost sight of his love for the individual or the collective #and callum prioritizes the collective until it's his two ppl on the line #none of them are perfect avenues (altho viren's is defs the worst) but c&r are all coming from Valid Places

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baenyth · 6 months ago

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Bethany's Bizarre Miraculous Reviews: The Paris Parallel Universe Special

Big news! Parallel Universe time! Except it's mostly just visitors from another universe! Just the multiverse plot I like! In the episode 2 timeskip, I'm guessing!

Also I thought about it and decided in my rewrite AU Marinette instead falls into an alternate timeline that's my attempt at giving reason to salt fics combined with a dream I once had. The current issue I'm having is figuring out how Lila can coerce and befriend both the class members that worship Hawkmoth and Alya, who still is a massive Ladybug fan and therefore would be against said Hawkmoth worshipers. It's a dark timeline, to say the least.

I don't think being a fashion designer is a normal life, honestly.

Holy fuck, this really is an alternate timeline! Gabriel Agreste's the one doing the singing!

So why is it Kamiko instead of Akuma? I always felt like it would be Tenshi for the angel/demon parallels, not to mention how Tenshi meaning "heaven messenger" works well with them being empowered and in a way controlled by the butterfly wielder. What does Kamiko mean, anyways? I know Akuma just means "evil demon," considering their only purpose is to wreak havoc and get the Miraculouses,

Oh right. This scene again. The lighting looks different, though.

"Turns your best friend into a dimensional portal and pops out of it"

Evil fucked-up Ladybug and Chat Noir

Nope. Still not believing this is real Paris.

Wouldn't it be funny if she said "Unlucky charm!" instead? To enhance the evil reverse situation!

Alright, so how does "Tikki living in all parallel universes at once" work, anyways? Is each Tikki a small component in a grand semi-autonomous hivemind that all relay back to the Master Tikki? Does Tikki ever get messed up at what part of the universe she's talking to? Is she aware and feeling the misery of her Shadyverse counterpart I know will appear?

Claw Noir is corny as hell and feels like he's forcing himself and not being who he truly is. You can tell this isn't who he's meant to be because he's still a boy.

Honestly Claw Noir turning his staff into nunchucks is cool as hell. I hope regular Chat Noir does that sometime.

Same with Shadybug's lucky charms being guns and weapons and tools. Helpful stuff!

No way! Angel Chat Blanc!

Those two dumb jackasses are the kind of people to say "Bad morning" and "No we can't" to Bob the Builder.

Monarch's really thinking with portals now

Doomreading about her alternate self's better life and friends

So why are there evil phrase versions for the Miraculouses anyways? What purpose does it serve?

Long forms

Oh hey! This happens in my rewrite as well!

Broken

Yep, the giants are illusions.

Despite this being a timeline where bad is good and good is bad, Chloe is still evil? Honestly I think she should be a sweetie pateetie. Also because it's funnier that way.

Eh. The old outfit looked better. Just get rid of the dark makeup and make the hair tidier.

So have they been up all night?

And Ladybug has become Hatsune Miku!

Get his ass! Get his ass! Also different timelines having different appearances is very useful knowledge to me.

Nooroo's used to this shit

Yep, this never happened!

Oh god they did stay up all night

Damn, these specials are getting better and better! I'll admit, the reconciliation scene felt campy in a way I didn't like and it feels weird that even in another timeline Gabriel Agreste redeems himself more than Chloe, but other than that, good stars! Also the animation was good!

#miraculous ladybug #miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir #miraculous #marinette dupain cheng #miraculous marinette #ml ladybug #adrien agreste #miraculous adrien #chat noir #ml chat noir #shadybug #claw noir #toxinette #toxinelle #griffe noire

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skypxllar · 1 year ago

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A Return to Form (ft @mxstball)

Hera was in her room in Sky Pillar as she continued to reflect on the past five years. She remembered the day that she regained her memories, only to bitterly understand the realization of the loss of her home....

---

"…F–Freya…. Mother…. Wh–where— wh–why…?"

---

Hera took a sip of her coffee as she remembered the attack against her trainer, and the final words of the dragon that murdered her granddaughter in an attempt to right what it thought was wrong....

“What had occurred to this… ‘Violet’… What was supposed to happen to the Lorekeeper… What shall occur to me… such shall be but a mercy compared to what all of you shall endure. The World Cleanser will become active once more, and she will destroy this world, whether you attempt to fight back or not. I… pity you all.”

Hera turned on her computer as she continued to look though schematics and documents of her recent inventions -- the Move Gun, the Portal Gun... so much has been done in the name of research and in the name of protecting this world from harm...

...she remembered Helen's warning to her as their research came to an apex.

---

"There is something that you must know, Hera. Completing this... 'RKS Forme' as you call it, will tie you to the Infinity Energy of this world. In plain speak, while you are a Latias today, this world will treat you as my suceessor. Thus, while I do not plan to die any time soon, you will become like an Arceus should the unexpected occur with the same responsibilities as well. You must abandon your existing life, divorce your husband and then live as I do today."

"However, should you still accept this risk and should we succeed at protecting this world, then I promise that I will do everything in my power to find a way to work around this risk. You are my daughter, as much as one as Rayquaza, Giratina or Zygarde. As such, I will do anything in my power to mitigate any harm done to you, physical or otherwise."

---

The unexpected never came. Helen never met an unfortunate end. Instead, with the risk undersood, Hera and Helen worked together to create a new form -- Hera's RKS Forme.

Hera logged off of her computer and looked at her phone camera. She went back and played some of the footage of her training as the new successor to the world.

She started to remember the final battle between her and Freya.

---

RKS FORME - UNLOCKED

"Freya. I have finally made my final choice. I will continue to be the light of this world. The people and Pokémon here are my friends and family. Even if I may not have been born here, they have shown me love and kindness to me and all of my siblings that have survived from the day that you destroyed our home. Even if I did not remember who I was, I was welcome here with open arms, treated as a native Legendary Pokémon with respect and dignity. I will return their favor... I will return their kindness... by defending this place with my very life. If that means defeating you, then so be it."

"Then let this be a battle to remember, Hera."

Freya would lose that day. The battle was tough, rougher than she ever had faced against any other creature before her, but with some of the last of her strength, she was able to best her All-Mother, the very creature that threatened to destroy the world.

Hera remembered Freya's last words....

---

"...You... urg... have fought well, Hera. May your... determination never falter...."

---

Hera mourned her All-Mother's death for months. She buried Freya in her Hall of Origin, leaving her and Freya's blade as a sign of respect for the Arceus. The world was recovering from the threat. The Legendary Pokémon returned to tending to their own devices as the threat of destruction no longer loomed on everyone.

And yet, Hera had a feeling that not everything was over.... that there was something else going on.

"You can call me Hera, and I can call you Lacey, sure! Hehe. Oh? Well... think of me sort of like... a life checkpoint if you will! I'm so proud that you were able to protect your family, though also saddened that it had to come at the cost of Freya's life. Anyway, I'll occasionally be checking up on you from now on. I won't get involved in anything, but if you want someone to talk to that's not your family and want someone that understands your perspective a little deeper than usual, then feel free to call me. We may be alternate selves but think of us as... sisters!"

"..."

"Huh? You want to know if there are others like us out there? Well... let's just say to keep your phone open later, okay sis'?"

---

She wondered what Hera's whole deal was. Who exactly was this Arceus, and why is it that she was insistent on keeping her phone open? Hera wanted to figure it out now, but all she could do was wait.

....

!!!

RIIIIING!

Hera's Rotom Phone rang! Rotom flew over and answered it for her. Hera checked the phone as she changed forms. It was from a... Heidi?

"Sky Pillar, this is Hera speaking."

"Hello? Hi, this is Heidi. I'm... you from another world. Is it okay if we can talk?"

...? Was this the reason why that Arceus told her to keep her phone open? "And how do I know that this is, in fact, another me? How did you get my number?"

"...Yukin gave it to me. He told me to tell you that I'm from Izanami's world."

"...." Oh, of course it's Yukin. Well, may as well entertain this just in ca--

Wait. Did she say Izanami? Wasn't that the Arceus that Helen mentioned that she was friends with? "Yukin sent you, huh?"

"Yeah. Is it... okay if I can stop by? I can meet you anywhere in your world that you'd feel comfortable."

"Hmmm... Well..." Hera wasn't sure how to address this, but if this truly was another version of her, she may as well get Rayquaza in on this. "Alright, but my husband's going to be involved in this, if that's alright with you."

There was a silence on the phone for a moment before, "That's fine. We can talk with him around. Can uh... Zinnia join the conversation, too? Your Zinnia, not mine."

"She'd eavesdrop in anyway, so sure. Do you need me to ping you my location for your portal gun?"

"That would be nice, yeah. Else I'd have to trace the signal to this call."

"Alright." Heidi sent a location request. "Well, come over any time after 10 minutes from now. I have to let Rayquaza and Zinnia know that we're expecting some... interesting company."

"Fine with me. I'll use that time to tell Mel and Nergal that I'll be back. See you then."

The phone hung up and Hera returned to form.

"Never a dull moment in this world, huh?"

#muse lacey #mxstball #long post #// OH BOY I HAVE SOME EXPLAINING TO DO #// hi guys i'm back #// ooc post coming up

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stewardofningishzida · 1 year ago

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Stephen Strange Meta-Fic Sequel Chapter 8: Tibetan Witch Project

We’re baaaaack!~ Sorry for the delay! Life happened to all of us. Without further ado, here we gooooo! Agatha Harkness coming in hot with full witchy glory!

TRIGGER WARNING: Scary situations, mental breakdown, kidnapping, implied torture, death threats

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*With Agatha Harkness now at large, it’s only a matter of time before she finds out who warned the sorcerers about her and Wanda. The sorcerers brief the others on who Agatha is. Keeping this in mind, Tear, PrettyWitch, Trix, and I now need to be put under guard. Otherwise, the witch will hunt us all down. We’re overwhelmed by the situation and virtually frozen in terror as the heroes catch up and discuss what to do with us.*

Fury: So we need to set up protective custody then… *looks at the others* I’m assuming you don’t want to do so here.

Tony: *Scoffs* Please, SHIELD cannot even stop any sort of portals from opening inside their premises. You really think you can fight against a four-hundred-year-old crazed witch? It’ll be a bloodbath, Fury.

Steve (worried, but also having a nasty feeling about what might happen): We might need to close the interdimensional portal in case Agatha decides to try and take hostages from your home world.

Tony: *He points at Steve, seconding his concern* Your families are still safe for now, and we’ll work to ensure they remain so. But it’s never a dumb idea to take precautions.

Stephen: Kamar-Taj is a magical stronghold. We can conceal the girls there and our sorcerers can defend the place.

Wong: I will alert our forces.

Tony: You’ll need backup.

Fury: I need as much information on this rogue as possible if she can do this amount of damage. Get the ladies to safety then we’re going to have a chat. *he looks even sterner than before*

Stephen: I’ll provide the info. Girls, go with Wong.

Tear: Wha–? Right now? Stephen, you’re literally bleeding on Fury’s white floor. Both you and Wong should be back at Kamar-Taj too.

Stephen: It’s better if we make sure you’re all off the playing field as quickly as possible. If we hide you now and fortify Kamar-Taj, it’ll be harder for Agatha to find and get to you. Don’t worry about me. We’ve both had worse. Go.

Trix: *looks at the others* I think we might’ve fucked shit up in a different way than we expected.

*I nod at Trix numbly.*

PrettyWitch: Ah, don’t say that. How could we have known?

Wong: Come. I will lead you to the safest chambers of Kamar-Taj.

*He beckons us and we follow him through the portal as Stephen stays back to brief Fury, Tony, and Steve. The mystical compound is swarming with activity as the sorcerers fortify the place. Wong leads us deeper and deeper into the buildings. It truly is enormous and seems to burrow into the very stone beneath the mountains. We have to stay close to keep up with him. Otherwise, we would easily be lost in the labyrinth of chambers and corridors*

Trix: This is starting to feel eerily familiar and I swear to god we are getting rid of any reflective surfaces because I am not about that scary bullshit. *she’s incredibly nervous and fidgeting but is trying to at least act brave*

Me (grasping at straws): We all remember at least our basic shield spells and a couple of offensive ones, right?

Tear: …Are sorcerers allowed to carry guns? Shotguns usually work against those that just refuse to die.

Me: Honestly, I have no idea. Unless we catch her off-guard, I don’t think it would help much.

PrettyWitch: We’re gonna die, aren’t we!?

Wong: I will personally see to it that there will be no way for Agatha to get through.

*We eventually reach a small room nestled within several other rooms, each one giving off its own peculiar energy. Putting two and two together, we realize that we’re passing through several layers of magical wards. The room itself is small and well-lit with no mirrors. It has a couple of bunk beds, some emergency supplies, and a radio. There is also a sink, chemical toilet, and a shower curtain for modesty and hygiene purposes. Otherwise, there isn’t much to minimize any risk of the room’s integrity becoming compromised.*

Me (sincere, in case I don’t get to say it again): Thank you, Wong. Also, extend our thanks to Stephen, the Avengers, and everyone else working so hard to protect and help us and our home world. Please do your best to get out of this in one piece. We really do look up to and care about you all. *I’m grim, scared, and trying to stay composed. Though I really am terrified that this might be the last time we see someone.*

Trix: Yeah, we greatly appreciate everything you’ve all done for us and our universe. I just wish we didn’t make this so difficult for you all. *she continues to fidget and honestly feels incredibly guilty for what’s going on since she’s the one who explained what was going on in Westview*

Tear: Yeah, please be very careful. When we first met Stephen, we never expected any of you to be so kind and supportive. We’ll never be able to repay you how much you’ve done for us.

PrettyWitch: I’m not sure what else to add but thank you, Wong for everything you’ve done for us. It’s been an honor to meet you. Stephen is truly lucky to have you for a friend.

Wong (surprisingly gentle): We are simply performing our duties. Thank you for helping Stephen and for being cooperative and kind. We shall meet again. *He says the last part to reassure us. Even then, seeing as there is an afterlife, he isn’t exactly lying if things go badly.*

Trix: *she kind of inches closer to Wong* Depending on how things might go, can we at least have a hug from one of our best teachers? *makes puppy dog eyes at Wong*

Wong (sighing): Very well. Then, I must go back and finish preparations. After I shut this door, stay here and do not leave until either Stephen or I come get you. Do not open the door from the inside under any circumstance. Understood?

Me (shakily): Yes, sir.

Trix: Absolutely! *she absolutely takes advantage of this rare opportunity and goes for a bear hug because not only is it Wong, she is genuinely terrified*

*I’m still shy, but join in the hug. After all, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to do this again.*

Tear: *I quickly join the group hug* We love you, Wong. Please don’t let Stephen do anything stupid.

PrettyWitch: *She joins in the hug, too.*

*After we let go of him, he gives us a respectful nod and shuts us into the room together. Now, we wait.*

Trix: Guys, I honestly feel really horrible that we accidentally kicked off Multiverse of Madness. Hell, us jumping universes to escape crazy monsters should have been our first clue. *she flops onto the nearest bunk bed face first and groans loudly into the pillow*

Tear: Not one of our brightest moments, in hindsight…

Me (grim): It seems the timeline was going to progress in one way or another…I said plenty as well. All of this to avert it and now look…

PrettyWitch: Hey, don’t be like that. If it didn’t happen this way, it would’ve happened another way.

Trix: *she sits back up on the bed* I mean, it’s either better or worse that it’s Agatha. Better in that she isn’t as instantly powerful as Wanda. Bad in that she knows the darkhold and her magic so well over the centuries and we don’t know exactly what she’s capable of. Coven of Chaos didn’t even have leaks yet. She isn’t like the comics either.

Me: How long before you think she’ll find out?

Trix: I give us a week, tops. If even that long. With a lot of the major superheroes disappearing at once it might raise red flags that something is up.

Tear: I’d give it less than that. If she’s really studied the Darkhold for centuries, then she must be well versed in the existence of alternate universes already. Actually getting to visit the multiverse rather than dreamwalking must be really tempting for her.

PrettyWitch: I hadn’t even thought of that.

Me (peering at the “bathroom”): At least the sink has a matte finish…Small mercies.

Trix: I miss our Chupacabra.

*The sorcerers have fortified Kamar-Taj. It’s a long, tense wait. Yet, it seems, the attack never came. At least, it doesn’t seem like it. If anything, this apparent calm only makes Stephen and Wong feel even worse. They know something is coming, but have no idea when or how. Several days pass. Caution fatigue is beginning to take root in the guards’ forces. A few of the more skeptical members of the Order are starting to become complacent. Meanwhile, in our sanctuary; we’re cooped up, wracked with guilt over what’s happening, and beginning to get on each others’ nerves thanks to being stuck in one room together with no real privacy or way out.*

*I’m currently sitting on my bed with my headphones on since they were in my purse. I’m playing music in an attempt to distract myself and tune out from everything. With what’s going on and the helplessness we’re experiencing, I’ve begun to disassociate as a defense mechanism. It feels like the only way to stay remotely calm right now. I’m numb and have been partially blaming myself for not seeing this coming.*

*Prettywitch is beside herself. On the one hand, she’s terrified. On the other, she feels a sense of calm, like somehow this will all work out. Unfortunately, it’s the fear that keeps coming back to her, like an endless feedback loop. She does have one idea forming in her head that’s positive, one that might help them and their friends.*

*Trix has been doing her best to practice meditating the past few days and seems to be having a better time of it. She has been getting more and more paranoid that she is bothering the others by doing anything so she tries to stay as inconspicuous as possible and is barely talking or eating at this point.*

*Tear has spent most of her time sketching to pass the time and studying from the spellbooks Wong allowed them to bring in with them. Her bout of insomnia returned with a vengeance, but the longest things stay quiet outside in the temple the more confident she feels that Wong and Stephen have had plenty of time to heal, strategize, and set their defenses. She has kept relatively quiet so as to not aggravate the others, who seem to be getting antsy after being holed up for so many days.*

*While we take refuge, Agatha has been plotting from the shadows. She has slowly managed to compromise some of the more complacent and skeptical guards, until she is finally ready to strike. She subtly nudges them towards leaving their posts for a break. While she has an opening, she slips in, all the while, mentally scanning for any anomalous magical signatures. Deep below the complex, she detects 4 magical signatures that are slightly “off”. Bingo. She locks onto the girls and enters the lower levels, taking care not to cast anything yet to avoid detection. Once she’s within a reasonable range to affect us and remain hidden, she conceals herself and begins to concentrate, using our own magical energy as a conduit to mentally penetrate our sanctuary. While doing this, she looks for a weakness. Any weakness will do.*

*Trix is trying to meditate but as the days have gone by, intrusive thoughts can’t help but creep into her mind. Why is she even here if she’s just a liability? The others are already a lot better while she falls over at someone talking or even just a book. She frowns as her thoughts get even darker. Were the others just putting up with her since she could be dangerous to herself? She was just a tag-along after all and couldn’t even pull off spells that weren’t defensive. Wong and Stephen probably pitied her and put in the token effort so that she didn’t kill herself accidentally. At these thoughts, Trix’s eyes shoot open and her lip quivers as she tries not to react. She doesn’t want to bother the others after all. She would be annoyed with her too. Trix scrambles to her feet and begins to pace the room, unable to stay still but hating herself for needing to do so.*

*I notice Trix’s pacing, but don’t react much more than simply looking up to watch her silently, my music still on. My expression is as empty and emotionless as it has been for the past couple of days.*

Prettywitch: You okay, Trix? You don’t look so good.

Trix: *she just sort of whines quietly for a moment before pausing and just grabbing at her hair* Yes- yes I’m fine. Don’t worry about it- just…ah. You don’t have to worry about me. I’m the least of anyone’s problems here. *She starts to get aggravated again and begins biting at her lip enough to draw blood*

Tear: *I look up from a sketch of Wong I’ve been working on, curious over the commotion* Are you feeling claustrophobic?

*I silently put my headphones away to listen.*

Me (plainly): You’re biting your lip.

Trix: *her eyes are wide and slightly crazed* It’s fine! It’ll heal! There are much more important things to worry about right now. Besides, it’s not that bad! You guys don’t have to worry about me at all! *she laughs slightly but it dies off awkwardly as she realizes the others are still staring at her*

Tear: You say that as if worrying is an activity that could actually accomplish something. It’s not as if us caring about you will make us unproductive.

Me (offering, though not feeling anything): Music? *I offer my headphones.*

Trix: *getting a bit more worked up* No no no no, if the headphones are helping you I don’t want to take that away! I’m not worth the trouble. You focus on feeling better and if you need me to do anything I can help! *mutters to herself and starts pacing again* it’s not like I’m worth doing something over anyway, I might as well keep myself useful… *she gets stuck in her own spiraling thoughts again and keeps pacing*

Me: Mm’kay. *I watch Trix for a while before my eyes unfocus and I stare blankly into the middle distance.*

Tear: *I tilt my head to the side, thinking* Here, I do need some help. Could you please quiz me on how to draw these transmutation circles? I can’t really do it alone.

*Trix is too lost in her thoughts to respond but sits down next to Tear and begins absent-mindedly looking through the notes*

Prettywitch: *Taps Steward’s shoulder to get her attention while the others are distracted.* Hey. You think we should call Stephen and Wong about Trix? I know we’re all freaked out, but…I think something might seriously be wrong with her.

Me (emotionless): How? No cell signal below all of the rock and any spellcasting won’t make it past the wards.

Prettywitch: Oh. Right. *She places her chin in her hand to think.* Well, what if we tried telepathy? That’s gotta work.

Me: I guess. We haven’t touched it much yet, but it’s worth a shot. *I shrug*

Prettywitch: Awesome! Okay, let me try. *She places her fingers on her temples and starts rubbing them.* Stephen Strange! Stephen Strange! Portal to girls! Portal to girls!

Trix: *she starts flinching uncontrollably and grips her head as her thoughts begin to spiral even more. She drops Tear’s notes and shoots back to her feet to get some distance between them. She leans up against the wall and slides down it as she begins to hyperventilate* I don’t even know why everyone is even bothering! *she laughs and begins to rock back and forth* I’m not worth it! I’m the weak link! You would all be further along and safer without me here! I just happened to stumble into all of this because I happened to see Stephen back at the house originally like a creeper! Now you all have to deal with me! *she is becoming more and more unhinged as she is falling deeper into a pit of depression and anxiety*

Me (slowly starting to return to reality): Trix…? N-No, it’s not like that. You’re fine. We’ve all got strengths and weaknesses. *I’m finally starting to look concerned.*

Tear: *I put my work aside and stand up but don’t crowd Trix. I’m clearly alarmed now, but I keep my stance and tone kind* I know impostor syndrome can feel overwhelming sometimes. We’ve all been there. What brought these thoughts up right now?

*Meanwhile, PrettyWitch doesn’t feel or hear any answer. It’s uncertain if the message went through or not.*

Trix: *her eyes are almost glazed over at this point* It’s always been the truth! I’ve just been a coward No- I refuse to bring you all down with me. You’re going to save the universe! I’m just going to faint when I see a book or go anywhere outside! The last things that I love I can’t even do anymore! I can’t do this anymore! *she scrambles to her feet* Agatha probably isn’t even coming anymore and this is just a test to see if we can handle ourselves like this! Well, surprise surprise: I failed again! I give up! I’m done! *she marches over to the door and begins to open it*

Me (snapping back to paying full attention): Whoa whoa! Wait. WAIT. *I get up quickly to try and stop her.*

PrettyWitch: Trix, don’t!

Tear: Trix, you’re not yourself! *I jerk her arm back from the doorknob and attempt to drag her away from the door, but an unexpected scratch to the cheek makes me instinctually drop my grip on her*

Trix: *she yanks open the door and it’s almost like opening a door outside in negative degree weather in her brain. An absolute cacophony of noise of hundreds of voices crashes into her mind and she doesn’t have her mental barriers up, too wound up from both her own thoughts and the onslaught of negative thoughts and intentions that have been weaving themselves into her head. Trix’s eyes roll back into her head as she collapses but disappears into a cloud of purple smoke before she hits the ground.*

Prettywitch: *She starts running towards Trix.* You wanna get killed!? Get back in here, you boob!

*I’m at the threshold of the door and dive over to try and catch Trix, but her body disappears into purple smoke. I fall flat on my face, through the smoke, and am stunned for a half second. All around us, the dainty ringing of bells signals the breaking of a seal.*

Me (realizing what just happened): Oh God…*I look back at the outer walls of the room. The wards are gone, having been broken by the opening of the door.*

Tear: Wong’s spell… *I pale to a ghostly white in horror, still holding a hand to my stinging cheek*

PrettyWitch: *She takes a deep breath, trying not to panic.* Fuck! We’re boned, aren’t we?

Me: She knows where we are…and the wards are broken…She has Trix…I’d say yes. *I have a big “well, fuck!” expression plastered across my face.*

Prettywitch: So what do you think we should do?

Me (grim): Head up, I suppose. That’s the only place we have backup. Agatha will need Trix alive to really get any info, I’m sure. So, if we can get to Stephen and Wong in time, we can figure out a way to get her back.

Tear: Wait. Wong and probably even Stephen must have been alerted when the spell broke. If they make their way down here and we move to look for them, we might end up missing each other.

Me: Though it also took a long time to get down here in the first place. If Agatha wants to snag or kill another one of us, she could very well have plenty of time to do it. More if she messed with the hallways. If we stay put, we’re sitting ducks. If we leave, we might run into each other or at least be less of an easy target. Dead if we do, dead if we don’t. Might as well try to find them.

Prettywitch: *Smirks at Steward.* You took the words right out of my mouth. Alright, let’s go! *She runs out of the room.*

*We follow PrettyWitch. There are already several corridors that open up to our chamber, each just as dark and foreboding. Compared to our brightly-lit area, the hallways are pitch-black.*

Me: Crap…Do we remember which way?

Tear: It’s been over a week! And these corridors definitely looked different when they were lit up on our way down.

Prettywitch: I think we take a right first? I can’t remember.

Tear: That is if Agatha really hasn’t been able to overcome Kamar-Taj’s magic…

Me: True. Though with all of the sorcerers here, plus the Sorcerer Supreme AND the ex-Sorcerer Supreme, maybe that part is less likely. She probably had to sneak in and probe through. Let’s put it to a vote. Everyone point at which way to go on the count of three. One. Two. Three!

*We choose our respective corridors. Two out of the three of us chose the northeast corridor.*

Me: Guess it’s that way…Are we all comfortable with this?

Prettywitch: Yeah.

Tear: I don’t think we have much of a choice, anyway.

*We head into the dark hallway. It’s cold and damp like a cave. Since we’re still novices, we end up using our cell phone lights to shine a path.*

Tear: This is really bringing back bad memories, oh lord. *I hunch over slightly, tense as flashbacks of the mine Steward, Stephen and I visited come rushing back to the forefront of my thoughts*

Me (grim): Yep…Everyone stay close and be careful, okay? *I get in front of us protectively.*

*Meanwhile, at the surface, Stephen and Wong have detected the wards’ failures and rush to re-enter the basement. However, they’re stopped by a handful of frenzied guards.*

Guard (staring wide-eyed at the two of them): CONTACT! TO YOUR STATIONS! GO! GO! GO!

*He starts casting offensive spells at them. Both sorcerers immediately put up their shields at the escalating barrage of trigger-happy guards. Their eyes are wide and glazed over, indicating that they’re in the throes of panic.*

Wong: Snap out of it! *He barks as he telekinetically slams one of them against a pillar to stun them, hoping the sudden jolt will wake them up from whatever spell Agatha has them under.*

Stephen (snarky, but rushed): I don’t think they’re going to have a breakthrough anytime soon!

*There’s a cackle of laughter before Agatha appears in a cloud of smoke between Stephen and Wong*

Agatha: Come on, they’re just doing their jobs! Clearly I am a very serious threat and have impersonated you to try and sneak down to where you have the girls! *she grins*

*Wong grunts as a particularly powerful group of spells gets barely deflected by his shields. The guards are clearly not holding back. Stephen ends up having to intervene and portals one of them on top of the others.*

Agatha: If anything you should be proud they’re trained so well and following your initial orders! You sorcerers are always so loyal *she sneers before disappearing again, reappearing behind the group of crazed sorcerers*

*While the group is untangling themselves after landing on each other, Stephen attempts to ensnare Agatha using the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak. No time for banter. He has novices to protect.*

*Agatha disappears into smoke as the bands hit where she just was. She reappears a couple feet to the right with a mocking shocked look*

Agatha: Wow, so rude. I’ve always heard you were a great conversationalist but I guess mama bear has to go protect his cubs. Too bad you’re already missing one. *she laughs again and disappears a final time, the smoke trailing into the entrance of the caves*

*Wong and Stephen exchange a stony look of dread and rush into the caves to find us.*

*Meanwhile, Tear, Prettywitch, and I are fumbling through the dark with no idea where to go when a cackle cuts through the darkness.*

Agatha’s voice: You know, your mama bear would have hid you better if he didn’t make a dead spot for me to find. Almost like an X marking the spot. *she sounds amused and her voice is echoing around them, not coming from any particular spot* For baby magic users, you’re certainly interesting, especially being adopted by Camp Sorcerer and the Avengers right away. You would have loved me as a teacher! In fact, let’s start with lesson one: How to survive.

*The hallway we’re in rumbles and it begins to shift like a Rubik’s cube. We fall against each other and onto the new “floor.”*

Me (landing roughly): OOF.

Prettywitch: Well, that’s just great! Now what are we gonna do!?

Tear: If she’s really powerful enough to be altering reality outside of the Mirror Dimension, then I don’t think there’s much we can do.

Agatha’s Voice: Y’know, I’ve never had acolytes before. I haven’t even been in a coven in ages. If you agree to tell me what you know, I’ll teach you everything that I know. Fair’s fair, ladies!

Me (angry): Unless you return our version of Trix to us healthy, alive, and sane; that’ll only be in your dreams!

*A cloud of purple smoke appears directly in front of me and I’m suddenly staring into Agatha’s amused face.*

Agatha: No can do, sweetums. I can’t promise that because unfortunately she’s already broken. It’s why I wouldn’t mind a new gal pal or two. My new toy isn’t in mint condition anymore, but I suppose that’s my own fault. *she glides backwards into the darkness* Those wards were pesky to get through, and I had to use a bit more power than normal. Bad things tend to happen when you overpower a spell… *she visibly disappears but is still lingering in the hallway*

PrettyWitch: Jesus Christ, does she ever shut up!?

Tear: Even if she’s not bluffing, why do villains always think we’ll believe anything they say?

*I angrily throw a rock in Agatha’s direction. Seeing as we’re not strong enough to continuously use magic yet, it’s the best I can do at long range. Admittedly, I’m also just angry at this point.*

Agatha’s Voice: It’s entirely up to you whether you believe me or not. Not my funeral. Although if you don’t want to hear me talk anymore, I have plenty else to keep you busy.

*As she speaks, multiple pillars of purple smoke begin to form and begins to reveal classic horror movie monsters such as Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Mummy*

Agatha’s Voice: You’ll have to forgive me but I’m still in a bit of a TV mood from Westview before you meddling kids decided to send the wizard cops on me. *she sounds genuinely grumpy*

Me (raising an eyebrow): Really? I’ve seen scarier episodes of Scooby-Doo…*I scoff, unimpressed.*

Tear: *I quickly move my hands up to cover my mouth and nose* Ugh, she could have done without the smell though.

Agatha’s Voice: Sounds like you have it handled then. *She sounds amused and absolutely knows something the girls don’t* I have to go for now but I’ll check in with you ladies later. Hopefully your corpses keep the latent magical energy signature to study… *her presence seems to disappear but the three monsters begin to advance on the girls*

*Agatha’s tone raises some alarm bells in my mind.*

Me (quickly): …We should choose another way. Now.

Tear: What way? We are literally standing on the ceiling!

PrettyWitch: I don’t know! Let’s go back and take a left!

*As we turn to race back down the corridor, we’re stopped by Dracula blocking the way.*

Me: Crap…Wait a minute…*I grin widely for a second.* Bye-bye!~

*I open a portal and move it to sweep up Frankenstein and the Mummy, dropping them out in the middle of the Mojave Desert before closing. Though that large, mobile portal cast took a lot out of me. Now, I have to take some time to recover before I can do anything like that again. So, now there’s Agatha’s version of Dracula in all of his cheesy, cartoonish glory.*

Dracula (dramatic): I VANT BLOOD!

Tear: Is this supposed to be scary? It feels like this bat is just offensive…

Prettywitch: *Her eyes widen.* Wait, is it…?

Me: Don’t make eye contact, guys! Hypnosis!

*The vampire turns into a bat and attempts to dive at me. I duck, unable to use any magic at the moment.*

Tear: Quick, close your eyes! *I quickly perform one of the many spellcasting motions Wong first taught us. The golden spell thrums with energy in front of me before it releases a blinding flash of real sunlight. I’m unable to sustain it for long, but I hope it was enough against the cartoon villain.*

*Prettywitch and I shut our eyes as soon as Tear warns us. The bat screeches in agony as the light causes it to begin to burn and smoke. It rapidly bursts into flames before falling into a pile of ashes.*

*Meanwhile, Stephen and Wong have descended into the next few levels of the Kamar-Taj dungeons. The corridors are shifting and they know it. Stephen orders Kamar-Taj to keep the remaining girls safely away from Agatha.*

*Agatha is still lurking around the labyrinth, however, she gets more and more frustrated as even her shadows are having trouble making it through the constantly shifting paths. Ever since the wards dropped it had been a free-for-all and while she isn’t tired, Agatha is getting more frustrated at being thwarted by essentially a home alert system. She recalls her shadows in order to track down at least one of the girls.*

Wong (low voice, to Stephen): Stay alert, I sense Harkness’ presence.

*Stephen nods in acknowledgement, orbs of magical light drifting around the pair to keep the corridor illuminated as they descend.*

*It’s faint at first, but purple smoke begins to roll down the floor of the halls the deeper they go into the corridors. The air becomes more oppressive and heavy while the two sorcerers get the feeling they’re being watched*

Agatha’s Voice: Y’know, we can all walk away from this peacefully without getting hurt if I’m allowed out of here. No tricks, no mess.

*As she talks, Agatha emerges from the shadows with her arms outstretched in a ‘what can you do’ motion and a cocky smile on her face.*

Stephen (growling): As if you’d keep your word. You took a hostage. *He glares at her, poised for a fight if needed.*

Agatha (trying not to laugh): And she’s physically unharmed! I just need a little insurance to get out of here and my own little baby sorcerer to learn about. Her magic and her friends are so…delicious. I just can’t help but want to know more. *she grins* Call it a favor for preventing me from stopping the rise of the Scarlet Witch.

*Wong steps forward, keeping his cool.*

Wong: You know as well as we do that the Scarlet Witch is a multiverse-level threat. *While Wong is talking, Stephen subtly attempts to scan the area for any traces of one of the girls in an abnormal location.*

Agatha (scoffing): And you goodie-two-shoes sorcerers wouldn’t have had to deal with her if I was just allowed to take care of it myself. Wanda Maximoff is a ticking time bomb of PTSD and magic. She was isolated and I was working on it but nooooo. *she makes a disgusted face at the men*

Stephen (dripping with sarcasm, knowing how it would have played out): Sure. You had it handled…

*She turns to him, her mood flipping like a switch so she’s serious once more*

Agatha: See, that’s the interesting thing. You weren’t supposed to know what was going on. You got a sneak peek at the spoilers with no Time Stone. It just so happens that four baby sorcerers with no history here happen to appear out of nowhere after the Sorcerer Supreme in training had disappeared? Oh, that is an absolute gold mine and honey. I am feeling like a settler in 1850’s California.

*While Agatha monologues, Stephen feels something faint, but familiar. One of the girls is here. Somewhere…Stephen glares at her, seemingly looking up and down her person suspiciously.*

Agatha (coy): Why Doctor Strange, at least ask a lady to dinner first! *She then frowns* Since it looks like we aren’t going to do this the easy way, let’s do this the hard way!

*She gathers two orbs of purple smokey magic and fires them at the sorcerers and almost seems to flood the hallway with energy before she launches forward to attack.*

*Deeper in the tunnels, we hear the rumbling of the dungeon again and suddenly the entire corridor lurches; twisting, bending, rising, falling, closing, and opening in several directions. In the flurry, Tear, Prettywitch, and I get separated from each other. It feels like we’re falling back down into the abyss. Despite the event only lasting a few seconds, it feels like it will never stop. Then, as suddenly as it begins, it stops. It’s silent and the hallways look as though absolutely nothing happened. Yet, there we are, lost and alone in the dark.*

*Prettywitch is surrounded by pitch-black with no sounds or signs of her friends. She was knocked over while the corridor shifted. So, she can at least feel the cold, hard floor underneath her.*

Prettywitch: Where am I…? *She looks around to see if she can see anything else. Nothing. Just pitch, dark blackness as far as her eyes can see. She sighs and gets up.* Well, let’s see if I can find an exit.

*She gets up and decides to create some light. She thrusts out her hand and thinks of conjuring a small, fluorescent orb to hold in her hand. It works, though just barely.*

Prettywitch: *She raised an eyebrow.* Hmmm…Close enough, I guess.

*There is a faint sound, barely audible. It seems to be coming from just out of range of the light. It’s too hard to make it out.*

Prettywitch: *She turns.* Who’s there? *She thrusts the ball up in the direction she heard the sound coming from. Nothing. She pouts.* Okay, this is starting to get annoying! *She sighs.* Why can’t I magic a deck of Clow Cards and a wand into my hand!? That’d be so much better, right now!

*The sound is back, slightly louder, but muffled. It’s still soft so she has to strain to listen. It seems to be coming from the left-hand corridor. The sound appears to be a male voice. Maybe Stephen or Wong? It’s hard to say.*

Voice (muffled and distant): Girls! Girls!

Prettywitch: *She gasps* Wong!? Stephen!? Is that you? *She moves forward, cautiously.*

*It goes quiet again for a moment. Then, she hears it again, very slightly clearer.*

Voice: Help!

*She jumps, scared at the voice. She catches her breath and moves forward slightly, again.*

Voice (just beyond her sight): Please. Come here.

*She’s still not convinced.*

Prettywitch: Not until you tell me who you are.

Voice: Show me your face. Are you the witch? *As she listens more, there is something “off” about it.*

Prettywitch: What do you mean?

Voice: It is dangerous here. Step forth and reveal yourself, mage.

Prettywitch: *She remains firm in her resolve.* Not until you tell me who you are!

Voice (weakening): Please…*It sounds almost like one of the men in pain.*

Prettywitch: *She rolls her eyes. Clearly, this was getting her nowhere. So, she slowly walks a little bit closer, hoping to see something but prepping herself to run. Just in case.*

*There is a faint, alluring glow at the end of the corridor. It’s…compellingly interesting.*

*She decides to take one final step forward. If she likes what she sees? Great! If not…? Well, she’ll cross that bridge when she gets there. She holds the ball up higher to get a better view.*

*The glow of her ball seems to diminish the tantalizing glow of whatever is at the end of the corridor. Somehow, it seems to want her to keep moving forward. What could be there? The curiosity is starting to play on her mind.*

Prettywitch: *Shakes her head.* Yeah, I’m running. *She starts running the other way.*

*She runs, but it doesn’t seem like she’s going anywhere. The floor seems to move with her, attempting to drag her towards the even-more compelling and intensifying glow behind her.*

Prettywitch: *Whines terrified.* What do I do!!!!? Why can’t I just have a magic staff or something…Hey, wait a minute. That’s it! *She gets up, wobbling a bit from the force of the floor moving, and presses her hands together to create a magic weapon. Her weapon? The bird wand from Cardcaptor Sakura. She gets starry-eyed.* Hey, it worked! *Until she notices one of the wings is fading in and out like a blinking light.* Sort of. Oh, whatever! *Next, she creates a magic construct in the form of a Clow Card; The Light Card, specifically. She twirls the wand in her hand and holds the card out with the other.* Reveal to me the path that will take me to my salvation! Light! *She taps the card and it activates. Unlike the anime & manga, where it takes the form of a beautiful woman in white, it merely creates a ray that shows her which way to go. She smiles.* Thank you! *She starts to run in that direction.*

*Prettywitch breaks free of the moving floor by changing direction quickly. After the adrenaline rush wears off, she feels exhaustion hit her like a wall. Her limbs feel like they’re made of wet cement and the ray of light begins to fade. It takes a massive amount of concentration to keep it visible. She has exhausted her magical energy with such a strong cast. Though it was commendable for a novice.*

Prettywitch: *She stops to catch her breath.* Curse me for a novice…I forgot I’m not used to exerting this much energy. Oh wait…I am a novice!... *She looks up at the road ahead of her.* Well, the light was clearly pointing me in that direction, so I’ll just keep heading that way. *She takes one, long stride forward…only to nearly fall over from exhaustion.* You know what? I’ll just walk the rest of the way. *She begins walking in the direction the light told her to go.*

*Meanwhile, somewhere else within the labyrinth, I get back up after being sent tumbling down a short staircase.*

Me (grumbling): Ow…

*I listen for the others and attempt to look around. It’s silent and pitch-black.*

Me (grumpily): Wonderful…

*I turn the light on my phone for now to save magical energy in case I need it and pick a direction to go. I stick to the right wall to follow so I can at least orient myself that way. In the chaos, I dropped my spiritual shield. Yet, the clingy ghost who follows me doesn’t snark at me the way he usually does. It’s more or a stony silence on my end, but the ghost seems…resigned.*

Ghost: Look, could you please talk to me or even look at me again? I feel like I’m back to being completely invisible.

*I ignore him.*

Ghost: I’m sorry, okay? I’m a huge dick! I was bored!

Me (bitter): Are you, though? *Referring to his apology. Words are cheap, after all. He didn’t seem sincere to me.*

Ghost: What do you want from me, woman?!

Me: I don’t want anything from you. Just leave me alone.

*He sighs*

Ghost: You know damn well that I can’t at this point. I bound myself to you. Look, if you don’t get out of here, we’ll be stuck together forever. Can we call it a truce?

Me: Fine…

Ghost: …Do you wanna at least learn my name?

Me: Don’t push it. *I sigh, knowing I should at least try to be diplomatic* Fine. What’s your name?

Ghost: Barry.

Me (neutral): Cool. So, any ideas?

Barry: Well, the traps down here and that witch can’t exactly kill me, right? Lemme scout ahead and warn you about anything coming up.

Me: Mm’kay…

*I don’t completely trust him, but he’s been around me long enough. That and I did notice he never actually tried to possess me. He seemed to threaten it before, but when I think about it, that was probably just his idea of a crappy joke. Barry glides ahead, fading into the darkness. I continue to follow the corridor.*

Voice: Help me!

*I look towards the voice, straining to figure out who it is. For now, I stay silent, paranoid that Agatha might be disguised or trying to lure me. So, I freeze and stay quiet. After a moment, I whisper quietly.*

Me (whispering): Barry, are you back? Who or what is that?

Voice: Help me!

Voice: No! Help me!

*I don’t recognize the voice and cautiously inch away from it, getting more paranoid.*

Voice: What’s the matter?

Voice: Scared?

Voice: Stop it!

Voice: No! You stop it!

*I get a weird look and turn to move the opposite direction of the voices. Arguing or not, I’m not touching this.*

Voice: Stop it!

Voice: You have to!

Voice: No. Run!

Voice: What’s the matter?

Voice: I can’t take this!

*There are now hundreds and hundreds of voices I can hear. Some are benevolent, others sadistic, and some just sound crazy. It doesn’t really matter though. They’re all starting to overlap into one, unending ball of sounds.*

Me: Sorry, Barry. *I raise my spiritual barrier and concentrate as hard as I can to try and block the tide of voices as I run away from wherever the voices seem to be coming from. Though it feels like my brain is filling with static from the cacophony.*

*I can still hear the voices. They seem to not only be following me, but getting louder, too. Like they’re in my ear. At least that’s what it feels like.*

*I’m starting to get a headache and know it’ll get worse if this keeps up. This is driving me crazy and I can barely hear myself think. So, I stop and whirl around towards the voices.*

Me: FINE. What do you all want?! I’m just trying to find my friends and get out of here. I’ll be out of your business in a short while if you either help me or leave me alone! Otherwise, do we really wanna deal with each other for all of eternity, huh?! Well? Can we talk this out like civilized entities or not?

*There’s no talking for a moment or two. Then the voices start talking again, this time they’re all saying different expressions that amount to, “Okay.” *

Me (calming slightly): Okay. Good. Since the corridors keep shifting, I’m trying to get my bearings well enough to move in a specific direction. Do any of you know which way two other women my age went? There is also an older woman, a witch, named Agatha Harkness trying to kill us. She kidnapped our fourth friend and we don’t know where she put her. Lastly, we tried to call Wong and Stephen to help us, but none of us know if they’re down here. We’re all trying to find each other, capture Agatha, and get our friend back. If we succeed, we won’t have to be down here any longer and we’ll be out of your hair, provided the witch hasn’t hidden our friend in here.

*The apparitions all start talking again, simultaneously…answering all of her questions at once.*

*I cringe in pain.*

Me (rubbing my temples): Maybe one at a time. I can’t make anything out. If you guys have a leader or chosen representative, can I please talk to them?

*The apparitions answer, “Yes,” all at once.*

Me (cringing slightly again at the noise): Okay. I’m listening. *I’m being polite since they seem cooperative.*

Representative: Yes. What would you like to know?

Me: Which way are my friends located so I can go the right direction?

Representative: Ah, yes. Your friends should be located just west of this wing.

Me: Thank you. Did you happen to see where Agatha Harkness took our kidnapped friend?

Representative: Your friend is with Agatha.

Me: Crud…Okay. Last question so I don’t bother you too much. Are Stephen and Wong down here too? I’ll let you be after this question. *I’m being polite to avoid bothering them.*

Representative: Yes. They are on the top level of Kamar-Taj’s tunnels, battling the witch Agatha as we speak.

Me: Okay. Well, thank you. I’ll leave you alone now. *I nod and attempt to head west. I’m still a bit suspicious of them, but will proceed cautiously.*

*After a minute or two of walking away, I hear a more familiar voice.*

Barry (tinged with sarcasm): Kudos on actually negotiating with people instead of jumping straight to the offensive, I guess. *Raising an eyebrow* By the way, you know you’re not going west, right? Jesus, how did you manage to survive this long anyway?

*He’s grumbling, but attempting to be helpful in his own way. Barry directs me west, drifting at his usual position just behind my shoulder. He knows that hovering so close annoys me. At this point, I let him, attempting to get along with him since he’s actually being helpful instead of trying to troll me or pick another fight. I change direction to properly head west.*

Me: So…The Nirvana t-shirt…You like them?

Barry (humoring me): Yeah. Kurt Cobain is a genius!

Me (uneasy): Erm…Was…

Barry: What?!

*We converse as we travel. I have to gently break the news to him and we discuss the late musician’s memory as well as major historical events since the 1990’s. Seeing as we’ve been stuck together for weeks and he has seen what we’ve all recently been through, despite his many arguments with me, we finally inch closer to a mutual understanding. Although we don’t exactly see eye to eye with each other, we’ve at least agreed to converse with one another and try to be more empathetic. It’s a step in the right direction. A subtle, but nice thing I notice is that he’s giving me personal space after our chat.*

*Tear finds herself alone in the dark, having been separated from the group. She has landed hard on the ground and it’s pitch-black. There are no traces of anyone else around her.*

Tear: Oookay, this is getting scary… *I use my phone’s torchlight to illuminate the tunnel. I feel so close to building a shrine to Tony, Stephen, and Peter for having updated our tech to work in their universe* Steward? PrettyWitch? Are you guys there? *I whisper loudly, not really confident to call outloud in case I end up attracting anything other than my friends. I try my best to look down at both ends of the hallway, but there’s not even a breeze to help me choose which way to head toward.*

___

*I hear different sets of footsteps approaching and freeze, anticipating a potential trap. While silently watching, I see a dim light in the distance down the corridor. It seems to be getting bigger and bigger. I stay in the shadows just in case.*

Prettywitch: Steward!? Is that you? - Wait! Just so I know, tell me something about me only you would know.

Me (emerging quietly from my patch of shadows): First off, I think we may be in a deadlock. How do I know you’re not just trying to get info from me about my friends?

*I’m staying neutral in every aspect in an attempt to conceal details in case this is a disguised enemy. Meanwhile, my eyes never leave her, watching carefully.*

Prettywitch: *She considers this.* Fair point. In that case, let me tell you about how I got out of the trap I was in; I basically conjured up the staff from Cardcaptor Sakura and made a construct of the Light Card…Does that sound like something I would do? *She smiles awkwardly, mostly because she’s afraid Steward won’t believe her.*

*I think for a moment.*

Me: Okay…Sounds like you.

Barry: That IS Prettywitch, o Paranoid One. *He’s still a smartass, but a helpful one, at least.*

*I give him a look.*

Me: If you’re sure…Okay. *I relax slightly.* I’m glad you’re alive and made it here, Prettywitch. I ended up swarmed by spirits and thankfully, they were just guarding the place. So, I was able to talk them down and ask for directions.

Prettywitch: *Breathes a sigh of relief.* Thank Vishanti! Have you run into Tear, by any chance?

Me: Not yet, unfortunately. We should look for her.

Prettywitch: Well what are we waiting for? Let’s go. *Turns to face the hall for a moment, then looks back at Steward.* You know the way by any chance?

Me: Unfortunately, not.

Barry: Maybe go back and ask again.

Me: I’ve bothered that group of spirits enough, I think.

Barry: You forgot the way back to them already, didn’t you?

*I glare at him silently, though he IS right.*

Prettywitch: Well, let’s just go along the paths and use markers. That way, we know which halls we’ve gone down.

Me: Good idea. Want to pick a passage to start at?

Prettywitch: Okay. Let’s go….*She points to the right.* that way! *She magics a black marker into her hand and draws the Sanctum window on the wall. She puts the cap back on the marker and smiles at her handiwork.* There! That should work.

*There is a faint, disagreeable rumble through the complex’s tunnels, but nothing shifts. It feels almost like the building is displeased with something.*

Me (looking around nervously): Erm…Let’s go.

Prettywitch: Good idea.

*The trio make their way down the right corridor.*

*Sooner than expected, we spot Tear heading down one of the other hallways and call out to her, hoping that it’s the real her and not a fake.*

Me (stern, but hopeful): Okay. Show us that it’s really you, Tear…Qilong. *I say the name at the end to indicate to her that it’s really me. Qilong was the name of the deceased miner whose log we found at the bottom of the mine all of those months ago with Stephen.*

Tear: *I brighten up, immediately recognizing the reason why Steward would even think of that name. Reassured, I don’t hesitate to show my own proof.* Okay, so… When people think “tanks” they will most often think about the classic German Panzers or the cute little Somua S35, which was actually one of the best by 1940. But most won’t remember that it was actually the English who begun experimenting with the idea of tanks back in the Great War as a way to combat trench warfare. In fact, they were first designed in 1915 but were first deployed until 1916 during the Battle of the Somme when…

Prettywitch: *She looks at Steward.* Yeah, it’s her.

Tear: *I’m panting slightly by the end of my eager rant* I don’t think Agatha would have much need to know all of that as a witch, right?

Me (curling my lip, mildly amused): No.

*We all chuckle slightly and can’t help but relax.*

Me: Thank goodness…Okay, let’s get out of here. Stephen and Wong are probably looking for us by now.

Tear: So you guys haven’t heard from them either? I was hoping Kamar-Taj had been attempting to bring us closer to them…

*I shake my head.*

Prettywitch: Well, we’re just gonna have to keep going. We’ll find our way back…eventually.

Me: Think we should mark this location as an indicator of our path?

Prettywitch: You know it! *She gets out the marker again and draws the Sanctum window, again.* Alright, let’s go!

*There’s the irritable rumble again, but no shift.*

Me (unnerved): Erm…Maybe Kamar-Taj doesn’t like it…

Prettywitch: *She shrugs.* Eh! We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

Tear: Or maybe Agatha could still be trying to control it? Can buildings feel pain?

Me: Honestly, I have no idea. Which way should we go, then? *I’m getting worried again.*

Prettywitch: Well, we went right before…let’s go left, this time.

*We continue on our way, speeding up a bit. After all, we do need to alert the more experienced sorcerers and get help to rescue Trix.*

*All of a sudden, a blur of purple seems to whiz forward from the darkness of the hallway in front of us and it materializes to reveal, Agatha who is first shocked but then delighted to have run into us.*

Agatha: Well, well, well! What a sight for sore and slightly battered eyes. Some baby sorcerers who wouldn’t disobey mom and sneak out from being grounded!

Me (snarling): Says the traitor to her own coven! *At this point, seeing her has re-ignited my anger.*

Prettywitch: *Groans* Oh great! The crazy lady’s back. Hallelujah!

Agatha (raising an eyebrow): Wow, did this place fuck you up too or are you just happy to see me? *her hands ignite with smokey purple magic* If you want to find out firsthand what happened to them, keep talking.

*I look about ready to explode, but then we hear more running footsteps approaching. Stephen and Wong burst into the corridor and look shocked to see us there. Stephen notices that Agatha is about to curse me and is about ready to cast a protective shield in front of us.*

Stephen (glancing at us and then Agatha): How did you get-? Never mind! Girls, get back!

Agatha: Didn’t you hear? Your ducklings left the nest directly into my waiting arms. It’s not like we’re not familiar at this point. *She sneers at the girls*

*I glare icily right back at the witch. The tension is palpable.*

*Agatha’s necklace starts to glow faintly, immediately catching her attention and her face pales. It is flickering between dark purple, light purple, and hints of orange*

Agatha (cooing to it): Now now, that’s a bit too much excitement for you today. I’m going to make sure we get home. *She pats it and the flickers fade away*

*Stephen notices and turns pale, knowingly.*

Me (quietly): Trix…

*Agatha looks smugly at Stephen*

Agatha: Now then: you have your children to attend to and now I have mine. Though, that could easily change if you decide to follow me *she lifts the crystal of the necklace slightly* so if you don’t mind, toodle-loo! *she disappears into a cloud of purple smoke and peals of laughter before finally vanishing*

Tear: No, Trix!

Me (practically spitting in fury): That bitch…

Prettywitch: Let’s go after her! We can probably trace her magic trail or something.

Wong (protectively): No. You three have been in enough danger as it is. How in the multiverse did any of you make it this far out of the labyrinth?

Prettywitch: Magic Sharpie…*She smiles awkwardly at Wong.* Anyway, the point is, we’ve got bigger fish to fry than me graffiting the walls.

*Kamar-Taj makes a low, disgruntled noise. Wong raises an eyebrow, biting back a sharp reprimand. However, they have more pressing matters at the moment.*

Stephen: We can’t follow her. Our own magical signatures are too obvious. She would shatter Trix’s crystal before we got anywhere remotely close to them. If Agatha shatters it, Trix dies.

Prettywitch: Okay. Then what do you propose we do?

Me: How would we evade detection?

Stephen: I’m sorry, “we”? Haven’t the three of you gotten in enough trouble? *He’s trying to keep us safe, his eyes flashing a warning at our group.*

Prettywitch: *Now she’s angry.* Don’t get snippy with us! We want to help our friend.

Tear: *I throw my arms out in disbelief* You say that as if we sought out Agatha and delivered an RSVP for Kamar-Taj. We sat there, stuck in that room, for one week! *I stomp my foot and point back at the dark hallways. My voice starts raising, even if I never thought I’d dare to stand against Stephen and Wong of all people* We did everything you asked, and that woman still found us. How are we at fault for that? How is Trix at fault for that? *My voice breaks at the thought of Trix and my eyes quickly well up, but I swallow thickly and refuse to think about what she could be going through*

*I glare at Stephen in a deadly silence.*

*Stephen huffs frustratedly.*

Stephen: *Angrily* I know! *He immediately regrets his outburst and calms down again, being sincere in his words.* I’m sorry. However, we’re not about to let more of you endanger yourselves further.

Me (adamantly staring the two masters down): Don’t think we’re just going to keep sitting here. *My tone is icy, a cold rage blatantly obvious.*

*Stephen and Wong stare us all down for a moment and when none of us backs off, Wong sighs.*

Wong: Fine…but if you are going to do this, then you will do so correctly to avoid further harm. *He’s stern.*

Stephen: We’ll have to report this to the other Avengers first. Come on. *He ushers us over so he can portal everyone to the Campus.*

***To be continued***

#doctor strange fanfiction #doctor strange #doctor strange meta fic #multi author #dr stephen strange #stephen strange #agatha harkness #doctor stephen strange #marvel #marvel fanfiction #wong

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