#and nobody is coming to save you either. someone picked YOU to be the one to suffer and die and now you just have to endure it | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

vivwritesfics · 4 months ago

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Everybody Wants To Rule The World

Zac Brown ruled the McLaren empire. His daughter was constantly getting into trouble, getting herself kidnapped and whatnot. But she was pretty good at getting into those situations. Oscar was hired so that she wouldn't get into said situations. She thought he would be easy to break. But there was a reason Zac hired Oscar. He was the best of the best and he wasn't going to fall for her shit.

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Warnings: kidnapping, violence, mafia fic themes, smutty themes and talks of sex (but no actual smut) guns and death (nobody important)

Another dingy warehouse. Another splintering wooden chair. And another ugly man giving her father demands over the phone.

Demands that wouldn't be met. The fact that he was even trying was laughable. Demands hadn't been met since she was fifteen years old. Her father would rather receive her head in a box than meet the demands that would have saved her life.

She tested the rope tying her wrists behind her back. it was a good, sturdy knot; she'd be the first to admit that it was a well tied knot. Grabbing the end of the rope, she tugged. It didn't budge.

She didn't panic. If she was to panic, it would have made things so much worse. Oh, her dad was gonna be so mad when she got home.

Her captor ended the call and let out a breathy, terrifying laugh. He slipped the phone into his pocket and turned on his heel to face her. "Sounds like daddy isn't going to come and save his little princess."

She simply raised her eyebrows at him. Clearly, he hadn't heard of her reputation. That was fine. She wasn't salty about it.

"Should we send him one of your ears? Show him just how serious we are?"

The rope gave slightly, allowing her to slip her hand out. She didn't, not yet, not while he was watching her. "Who is we?" She asked, pretending to look around the warehouse. She knew exactly how many people were watching her.

Barking out a laugh, she slipped one hand out of her bindings and grabbed the rope before it could fall, maintaining the illusion that she was still tied up. She stopped her eyes from moving to the men standing in the shadows. If they had weapons, she couldn't see them.

"Fuck it," she said and unravelled the rope in her hands, keeping it hidden behind her. "Let's do it, let's cute off my ear. Maybe then you'll get your money."

The grin that came across her face was sickening, but she steadied her nerves. He kept staring at her as he reached behind him. "Someone give me a knife," he said.

There was a moment before either of the men in the shadows moved. But then they strode closer and placed a knife into the bosses hands. He whispered something to him, and she didn't need to hear it to know what it was.

"I got it," the boss said, shrugging him off. He retreated to the shadows as the boss approached her knife balanced between his fingers. "Do you think you'll still be pretty without one of your ears?" He asked, his grin showing off his too white teeth. So white and perfect that they couldn't have been real.

She shrugged her shoulders. "Probably," she answered.

A hand hit her cheek. Her nostrils flared as she stared at him, head tipped to the side and cheek stinging.

He leaned down, knife held out. Before the sharp metal could make contact with her skin, she grabbed the rope in both hands and kicked him away. He stumbled back in surprise and dropped the knife as she stood up.

The second she was on her feet, she wrapped the rope around his neck and pulled him towards her. The knife was beneath her high heeled shoe, keeping it away from the men that rushed towards them.

"I wouldn't," she said, tightening the rope around the bosses neck. "I really fucking wouldn't. Holding both ends of the rope in one hand, she pulled him around just enough for her to pick up the knife. "This your only weapon?" she asked as she looked at it.

The other men looked at each other and raised their fists. She couldn't stop her loud, mocking laughter. "You guys are fucking stupid," she said and stabbed the boss in the thigh.

He fell to the floor with a cry. "Here's how this is gonna work," she began, "I'm gonna walk out of here and you guys are gonna get him medical attention." She reached down and stabbed his other thigh. "And if any of you want to stop me, I can always give you guys the same treatment."

Silently, they stepped to the side and allowed her through. She kept a hold of the knife and held her head up high as she walked out of the warehouse.

***

Daniel Ricciardo was so dead. His whole job was to take care of her, and she had disappeared.

He'd turned her room upside down, looking for her. When she got back from whenever she was, she was going to kill him for the state he'd left her closet in.

At least her dad didn't know.

Holding his phone up to his ear, he tried calling her. Again. And again, she didn't pick up. At what point did he start panicking? At what point did he stop searching and inform her father that she was missing?

Daniel didn't have to think about it for too long. His heart leapt into his throat when there came a knock at her door. "Darling?" Came the voice of her father, Daniel's boss. "Can I come in?"

Panic held him in a vice as he climbed over her things, scattered all over the floor, and pulled open the door.

"Sir," Daniel said, holding the door just open enough to show his face. "How can I help you?"

Zac frowned at him. "Tell me honestly, is she in there?"

Daniel's answer was to swallow.

Zac pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're fired, Daniel," he said and strode away, phone pressed against his ear.

She strode into the house just a few minutes later. Feet bare and dirty, high heels dangling from her finger by the straps. Her wrists were rubbed raw and there were splattering of blood on her skin.

"Shit, kid," said Daniel as he pulled her in. "I was so damn worried about you."

She kissed his cheek and then reached up to wipe away the lipstick left behind. "Sorry, Danny," she said with an amused smile. "I got bored."

She grabbed his hand to pull him along. After her evening she just wanted to sit Daniel on her bed and ride his cock until she forgot above everything.

There was a distinctive click, a revolver being cocked. "You're fired, Daniel," came the voice of her father. "Get the fuck out of my house."

She pulled her hand out of Daniel's and looked at him. "You got fired?" She asked, heels swinging as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"He did, Princess," Zac answered, his gun still pointed at Daniel. "His one job was to protect you, and he failed," he finished, pulling his daughter behind him. "He needs to leave before I blow his brains out."

She rolled her eyes. Her dad was so damn dramatic sometimes. There was no way Daniel, or anybody else, would have been able to stop her from sneaking out when she wanted to.

Daniel looked at her, desperation in his eyes. But she was too busy picking at the blood beneath her nails. So, he turned his attention to her father. "Zac, please," he tried, stepping forward. "I just want to protect her."

Zac pulled the trigger and the bullet lodged itself in the wall beside Daniel's head. Daniel knew just how good a shot Zac was, knew he was missing on purpose. He adjusted his aim slightly. "Five." Daniel's eyes went wide. He turned on his heel and began rushing through the house. Zac followed, but he stayed at a walk and kept his aim trained on Daniel. "Four."

She'd had so many bodyguards in the last few years. When she was a little girl she'd had Lewis watching over her. And then she had Jensen for a good few years, and then Fernando. When Fernando left to work under a different boss, to work for the enemy (as her father said), Carlos watched over her.

She'd liked Carlos, had pulled him into her bed. He'd kissed her sweetly and taken her virginity, the two of them hidden beneath the sheets of her big bed.

It had gone on for a year before her father found out. Carlos had been her first everything. The first man to kiss her, the first man to see her in a state of undress, the first man bring her any sort of pleasure. She had really, truly loved him. She had wanted to run away with him.

But when her father was found out, Carlos was sent away. He was sent to work for someone else, someone that they had something of a partnership with. She had loved Carlos, and her father had loved him, too. He'd loved him with a son, and that was why he couldn't kill him. If it had been anybody else caught in his daughters bed, he wouldn't have hesitated.

As her father followed Daniel out of the house, she turned on her heel and marched towards her bedroom, humming to herself. All she needed now was to scrub the other man's blood from her skin and find something to soothe her wrists.

"What the fuck!" She cried as she pushed open her bedroom door.

Her room was a state. Her drawers had been emptied, things pushed from their shelves. Her wardrobe had been emptied, the clothes either crumpled on the floor or thrown over her unmade bed. It was like a hurricane had torn through the room.

If her dad didn't kill Daniel, she certainly would.

She ignored everything but the wardrobe. The rest of it could be dealt with tomorrow, but her poor wardrobe. That was her space, her creative space, and Daniel had defiled it. How dare he.

As soon as her wardrobe was back in order, she walked into her en suite and turned on the shower. A yawn left her lips as she stripped out of her dress and climbed under the steaming water.

The rest of her night was a blur. She yawned again as she washed her body. Ready to sleep, she climbed out of the shower and wrapped herself in a fluffy towel. She fell into bed, crawled beneath her blankets, and immediately found herself asleep.

While she was sleeping, Zac was hard at work. He had people to do these things for him, sure, but he did it himself when it came to his daughter.

There must have been somebody that could look after his daughter. Someone experienced, like Fernando, or Lewis. Or Carlos.

He called Andrea, his right hand man, into his office. It had been Andrea's idea to look into their juniors, to see if any of them would be good enough to protect his daughter. That was how they got Lando, their best man

None of their juniors were. So, they looked a little further afield, at rookies working for other... empires.

Oscar Piastri. He had incredible statistics, stats that Zac and Andrea shouldn't have had access to. But they did, and they wanted him.

Andrea was privy to certain information about the different empires. He kept the secrets about his own empire, the McLaren empire, well guarded, but knew all the dirty secrets about the Ferrari empire, about the Williams empire, and, most importantly, about the Alpine empire.

He knew how staff were treated, knew what was expected of the juniors. That was why Oscar Piastri had such good statistics, because of how hard Bruno pushed him. Andrea and Zac both knew that Bruno was a piece of work. They knew how easy it was going to be to get Oscar away from him.

They sent him one message, holding nothing more than a job offer, and waited with baited breaths. Nobody else got to see this side of the boss, holding his hands together as if he was praying as they waited for Oscar to reply.

Three grey dots appeared on the screen. Oscar's reply appeared, only holding five words. The reply wasn't surprising: What's in it for me? Clearly, Oscar was a smart kid, Zac and Andrea could tell.

They laid it out for him, the benefits this job would come with. He'd be working for a bigger, more powerful empire, he would get paid more than he would working for Alpine, and there was more they could provide him with. Food and lodgings, anything he could have needed.

Interviews in this line of work wasn't an easy thing to arrange. But, as a junior, Oscar operated with a curfew. The interview was arranged for after the curfew. It was awkwardly done, a video call while Oscar hid himself in the junior barracks bathroom.

They outlined the job as much as they could with Oscar being part of the McLaren empire. Zac gave no information on his daughter as he tried to outline the requirements of the job. He made it clear that it wasn't going to be easy, and Oscar made it clear that he wanted the job.

All he had to do to accept the position was to show up at the house. Well, show up at the location provided that Zac and Andrea had given to him. The little café in the heart of town. A sweet little place, not the sort of place he would have expected to meet them.

They set Lando Norris, the best of their men, to pick him up. Lando took his favourite car, his baby. It was fast and sleek and far too expensive. It was an intimidation tactic, and it was working.

He pulled up, sunglasses covering his eyes as he climbed out of the car. The way he looked around was lazy. He pulled out his phone when he couldn't immediately find Oscar. Oscar couldn't tell what he was doing from where he was sitting. But he pulled his sunglasses down his face and looked around again.

Straightening up his tie, Oscar slipped out of his seat. He abandoned his coffee and strode over to the car. He had no doubt who this person was. His number plate was LAN, for goodness sake.

Lando stared at him as he approached. "Good weather we're having," he said, shoving his hands into his pocket.

"I think it might cloud over soon," Oscar answered.

Neither of them were looking up at the sky.

Lando checked him for weapons and listening devices as discretely as he could. When he determined that Oscar was clean, he gestured for him to get into the passenger seat of the car.

Oscar climbed in. He looked at Lando, staying quiet as he looked away. Lando was the best of the best, rivalled only by Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc. Being in the car with him was surreal.

The drive was silent. Lando fiddled with the radio until it played something softly. He tapped his fingers against the steering wheel as he drove through Woking.

He pulled up to the house and parked his car up alongside more expensive cars. His car, which had once been the most impressive vehicle Oscar had ever seen, looked like crap compared to these.

"Good luck with the Princess," said Lando as he climbed out of the car.

Oscar swallowed and followed his lead. He climbed out of the car and walked up to the house. When he raised his fist to knock, he looked over his shoulder at Lando.

"Just go in," said Lando as he stroked the hood of his car.

Steadying his nerves, Oscar walked in.

***

This day was bullshit.

Her father kept her in his office for the day. As hard as she tried to leave, one look and he pulled her back, sitting herself in that little seat just behind his desk.

She could only file her nail for so long before she was completely and utterly bored. Standing up, she stretched her arms above her head. "I'm gonna-"

"Not until your new bodyguard starts," her father said, not even bothering to turn around.

She groaned and threw herself back onto her seat, hands dramatically covering her eyes. "Dad, I'm literally dying of boredom out here," she mumbled and groaned again, this time louder. "When is he starting?"

"Soon," Zac promised as he straightened out a stack of paper. "Andrea is just putting him through orientation."

She groaned again, for the third time in the space of a minute. "Quit bein' so dramatic," her dad said, shaking his head. "We wouldn't be having to do this if you didn't sneak out the other day."

Her gaze settled into a glare. If her new guard didn't show up soon, she was gonna steal her dad's gun and just leave. But her dad seemed to know what she was thinking. He pulled his gun from his belt and shoved it into his desk drawer.

Two minutes later, there was a knock at the door. "Touch my gun and you're dead," he said as he stood up. Still wearing that glare, she threw her nail file at him. It didn't go very far, fell to the floor just in front of her seat.

Her father opened the door. "Oscar Piastri?" He asked, holding his hand out. From her seat, she couldn't see as her dad shook the young man's hand and welcomed him into the office.

He was pretty, she could tell that immediately. He was pretty, but he looked easy. Easy to manipulate, and that was the most important thing. "Oscar," her father said, leading him across the room, over to her. "This is my daughter."

She stood from her seat and folded her arms over her chest. "You're my new bodyguard?" She asked, clearly unimpressed.

"I am," he said and held his hands out towards her. "I'm Oscar."

For a moment, she just stared at his hand. Oscar kept it held out, waiting for her to shake it. "Oh, boy," he heard from his right as her father sat back in his seat.

Keeping her arms folded over her chest, she marched past him, her shoulder hitting his. Oscar allowed himself to be pushed out of the way. With her father there, he wasn't going to dare to do anything but go with what she wanted. As she strode out of the office, her hips swaying, Oscar followed.

He kept his eyes on the back of her head. Don't look down. Don't look at the way she's moving her hips. Don't look down.

She knew what had happened, why she needed a new bodyguard. Even with everything Andrea had told him, Oscar didn't think she could be that bad. He was very, very quickly proven wrong.

"Where are we going?" Oscar asked as she pushed her way into her bedroom. Maids had cleaned up since Daniel had torn it apart in an attempt to look for her. Her pyjamas were on a heap in the floor, one she stepped over to get to her black purse.

"Out," she said, the first word she'd spoken to him, as she placed the bag on her shoulder and strode past him.

Oscar followed, keeping close to him. Too close, and he had five seconds to fix it. But he didn't fix it. He stayed walking far too close to her, so close she could feel him breathing down her neck.

"Fucking hell, stop," she said and Oscar stopped. She turned on her heel, turned towards him, and held out her arms. At first, it was just to see how close he was. When her arms hit him, she pushed so that he stumbled back.

He steadied himself and stepped towards her again. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" She asked, folding her arms over her chest and glaring.

"I've been hired to protect you," said Oscar, keeping himself calm.

Her glare was nasty, vicious. "You need to stay three paces behind me, okay?" She stepped closer to him. "I'm gonna get on and do whatever the fuck I want to do, and you're gonna let me, okay?" They were stood chest to chest. Her fingers touched his chest, danced up towards his neck while she let a coy smile grace her features.

He held his breath until her nail dug into his throat. Oscar reached up and grabbed a hold of her wrist, pulling it away from his neck. "I've been hired to protect you," he said again. "And that's exactly what I'm going to do."

The smile dropped from her face, replaced with a glare. She turned back around and marched away, steps quick to get away from him. Oscar stayed just a pace behind her.

Oscar hadn't been ill prepared for this job. Andrea had given him plenty of warning of just how much trouble she was going to be. But he was prepared.

She didn't speak to him for the rest of the day. That was fine, Oscar was happy to follow her around and watch her antics. He followed her to a café, where she met with friends, followed her out to the park and listened to their chatter and gossip. He didn't take in much of the information, not unless he thought it was important.

Not until they started whispering about him.

His cheeks blushed red, but he stayed standing there. If he wasn't watching her, he was looking around, looking for any sign of danger. She whispered to her friends, giggling behind their hands. What they were saying, Oscar didn't care.

She still hadn't spoken to him as he drove her back to the house. Her car was a dream to drive. She handled beautifully, better than anything Oscar had driven when he was with Alpine. He couldn't hide his grin as he drove towards the house.

As soon as the car had stopped, she climbed out and marched towards the house. Oscar parked as quickly as he could and climbed out of the car, following her up the stairs and into the house.

She disappeared into her bedroom, slamming the door in his face. Oscar let out a breath and raised his fist, knocking on the door. "Hey," he called and tried the handle. "Let me in!"

Nothing. Of course it didn't work. It shouldn't have been surprising. Oscar didn't panic. He did what he was best at and stayed calm. Shrugging off his jacket, he left it by the door and walked out of the house.

It was a gamble, whether her window was open or not. He walked around the back of the house, counting the windows until he found hers.

Oscar wasn't built to climb. He wasn't good at it, but he still tried, using the window ledge beneath to climb up to her own. His knuckles it the glass before he tried to push the window up, but it wouldn't budge.

Fuck.

He knocked away and watched as she turned around. Her eyes went wide but she didn't move, took a moment to watch him. Oscar tried again to open the window.

Finally, she walked over. She pushed open the window, allowing Oscar into her bedroom. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" She asked, heading towards her wardrobe as Oscar grabbed his jacket from outside of her room.

She couldn't deny that he looked good. With his jacket hanging over his arm, she could really see him, and she appreciated it. He was no Carlos, but he'd do.

Grabbing a dress from her wardrobe, she held it up to her body. "Did you ever think that maybe I shut you out of my room because I didn't want you in here?" She asked as she hung it over her wardrobe door and went digging for some shoes.

"Did you ever think that I can't trust you enough to leave you in here on your own?" He responded as he leaned against the wall.

She scowled at him as she stepped back out of the wardrobe, a pair of high heels hanging by the straps from her fingers. "Fucking creep," she mumbled and pulled down the zip on her skirt.

She didn't look away from him as she pushed her skirt down. Oscar didn't look away. She was challenging him, he knew, and he wasn't going to let her win. Once her skirt was on the floor, she unbuttoned her shirt and let it fall away from her shoulders.

She stepped towards him, much like she had in the corridor earlier. "Do you know something, Oscar?" She mused as she stepped closer to him. He kept watching her, eyes locked onto her own. "I always get what I want. Do you wanna know what I want right now?"

His arms were crossed over his chest as he looked down at her. Even when she settled her arms on his chest, moving them up to his shoulders, he remained stoic. "What?" He asked. His wife didn't betray just how nervous he was feeling, just how much he was sweating.

Wrapping her arms around him, she leaned up to whisper in his ear. "You."

Oscar took her arms from around his neck. He kept a hold of them as he walked her back, so that she was sitting on her bed. "You're a brat," he said and stepped back, leaving her there.

Their interactions through the evening were very limited. Any attention she wanted, Oscar wasn't going to give to her. That she caught onto very quickly.

Daniel had been the same when he first started. Of course, he'd never resorted to climbing through her window. Oscar was dedicated, and that made him a problem.

A problem that wouldn't let her sneak out, a problem that wouldn't sleep with her.

She was in agony.

The next day followed much in the same pattern. Oscar walking too close, Oscar watching everything she did. She couldn't escape his watchful eye. When she went to the bathroom he was standing outside, periodically nodding.

On her third day with Oscar guarding her, she was bored out of her mind. When she want to the bathroom, he followed to stand guard outside of the door. This was becoming her normal and she hated it.

There was a window in the bathroom. Small, too high for her to reach without assistance. For a moment she contemplated it. Contemplated how she was going to execute this admittedly stupid plan.

Beneath the sink was a little step stool. It was from when she was younger, when she was too small to reach her tooth brush in the cabinet above the sink. She pulled it out and positioned it beneath the little window.

It didn't give her much height, just enough to grasp the window ledge and hoist herself up.

There was a knock at the door. "Just a minute!" She called back, but it sounded weird. She hadn't been this... polite to him since that first night in her room.

She hurried herself up. Pushing open the window, she slipped out and dropped down onto the gravel below.

The stones bit into her skin. But she didn't care. Pushing herself up and wiping the stones away, she could hear Oscar pounding on the door. When she didn't reply, the knocks became something more. Louder, harsher, his entire body pushing against it.

She didn't stick around long enough to find out. Straightening up her skirt, she walked around from the house.

The cameras were following her, she knew. Security guards must have been watching her, must have been radioing Oscar of her whereabouts.

She didn't bother running. There was no point when the gates would have taken their time to swing open. No, she walked calmly, like she had all the time in the world.

Suddenly, her feet were no longer touching the floor. A grunt left his lips as he picked her up and turned her around. "I don't think so," he said and put her back down.

She stared up at him, arms folded over her chest. He could see the indents of the gravel against her arm, the grazes on her skin. But then she stepped around him.

Oscar picked her up again. He scooped her up and placed her over his shoulder, ignoring her shriek as he carried her back into the house.

"Fucking put me down!" She shouted, fists pounding against his back. "Oscar! Put me down! Now!"

His only response was to tighten his grip on her and march through the house. He didn't care as he took her past her fathers men, past Lando and Pato. When they sniggered at her, she held up her middle finger towards them.

Once he got to her bedroom, Oscar put her down. She glared up at him, arms folded over her chest. "I need to use the bathroom," she said.

Oscar grinned down at her. She looked somewhat embarrassed, unable to meet his eye. "Come on," he said and gestured for her to lead the way.

She walked down the hall, wearing a nasty scowl and looking at the floor. As soon as she got to the bathroom, she turned to shut the door, to try and lock him out. But Oscar shouldered his way in. "Hey!" She cried and tried to push him out of the bathroom. "What do you think you're doing?!"

He grabbed the step stool, folded it up and tucked it beneath his arms. He pulled the window shut and locked it, pocketing the key. "I'll be right outside," he said and placed a single pat to the top of her head. It was condescending as all hell and she wanted to kill him.

***

A year had passed. An uneventful year. For six months she'd attempted to sneak out. The first month of that was to get away from the house, to get out to the club and see her girl friends on the nights that Oscar said no.

But those other five months weren't because she wanted to get away. Whenever she snuck out, Oscar would be the one to carry her into the house. It was like he didn't trust her to walk back on her own. That was how she ended up over his shoulder or in his arms, being carried like a princess.

The kidnapping attempts had stopped, too. There had been a couple sicne Oscar started his job as her bodyguard. But he had thwarted all of them, kept her safe when somebody tried to climb in through her window.

On this day, Zac called Oscar into his office. He gave him a time and Oscar readied himself for it. He spend his morning with her, following her as she ate her breakfast.

She no longer tried to fight him at every turn. Oscar was grateful for it. He was able to see how pretty her smile was and that filled him with warmth. She was cute when she didn't want to kill him, he realised.

"Come on," he said once she'd finished her breakfast. He picked up her plate, dumped it in the sink, and offered her his hand.

"What do you think my dad wants?" She asked as she linked her fingers through his own.

Oscar pulled her out of the kitchen and through the house. He checked his watch. Just fifteen minutes until Zac wanted to see him. He swallowed. "I don't know," he answered and led her through the halls.

Maybe Zac wasn't happy with the work he was doing. Maybe he didn't think Oscar was doing a good enough job at protecting her. Maybe he didn't like that Oscar sometimes held her hand as they walked together.

He took her through the house and to the library. There Lando was sitting, tapping away at his phone. "Hey, Princess," he called as Oscar sat her down and squeezed her shoulders. "You sitting with me?"

"Looks like it," she mumbled and let out a yawn. She watched as Oscar disappeared out of the library, shutting the door behind him.

As soon as the door was shut, Lando leaned forward and snapped his fingers in front of her face. "What's up?" He asked as she turned to face him. "What's got you thinking so hard?"

She shrugged her shoulders and sank down in her seat. "How long did it take for Carlos to fuck me?" She mumbled, resting her cheek against her first. "What, a couple months? Maybe less than that?" She mumbled.

Lando snorted. "It took him a month to fall in love with you," he mumbled, his foot knocking against her own. "And Daniel slept with you on his first night on the job," he answered, finally locking his phone screen and letting it fall into his lap.

"What's taking Oscar so long?"

He properly laughed when those words left her lips. "Oscar is too much of a professional to sleep with you," he said and mockingly wiped at his eyes. She scowled at him. "He's falling for you, though."

Her head snapped towards him. "Huh?"

He nodded. "Yeah, princess." The name was mocking and she flipped him off. "Look, he wouldn't be holding your hand and shit if he wasn't, okay? That boy is falling for you. You need to trust me; he told me himself."

She leaned forward. "Lando, I need you to tell me exactly what he said."

Lando went to reply, but the library doors opened and Oscar strode in. "What now, Sweetheart?" He asked and offered her his hand.

She allowed herself to be pulled out of her seat and grinned at Lando. Sweetheart? He mouthed, and she let her tongue stick out from between her teeth.

***

Another dingy warehouse. Another splintering wooden chair. And another ugly man giving her father demands over the phone.

It had been so damn long since she'd gotten kidnapped, she was almost at a loss for what to do. Almost, but not quite.

The minute she realised she was getting kidnapped, she took a bobby pin from her hair and tucked it into the back of her skirt. The kidnappers slapped cuffs on her wrists and sat her on the uncomfortable chair.

She easily got her hands out of the cuffs, but these guys had weapons. They were certainly smarter than the last guys to kidnap her.

Oscar better get there soon.

She didn't know that as soon as they called to demand money, Zac had Oscar tracing the call. He let his computer do it's thing while he loaded his gun with bullets. He was going to do all he could to get her back.

As soon as he had the location, he set off with Lando and Pato. His knee bounced as Pato drove them, Oscar giving him the directions. God, they'd taken her so far away. There was no telling what they'd done to her for the time she'd been missing.

The outside of the warehouse wasn't well guarded at all. Lando and Pato counted all of the guards inside and Oscar caught sight of her.

The cuffs were still hanging from one of her wrists as she sat there. Why wasn't she moving? Why wasn't she getting up out of her seat and marching out of there like in all of the stories he'd heard about her?

"I'm going in," he whispered and pulled his gun from its holster.

But Lando pulled him back. "Wait," he said and gestured to Pato. "We'll make a distraction out the front and you go around the back," he said and Oscar nodded.

Lando and Pato's idea of a distraction was... interesting. At the sound of the music, several men headed outside. The ones that were left inside were easy for Oscar to take care of. When Pato started dancing, Oscar headed to the back of the warehouse.

He was a damned good shot. While Pato and Lando took out the men at the front, Oscar shot the others in the warehouse. When the first man hit the ground, the one who seemed to be running the operation pulled her out of her seat and pressed his gun to her head.

"Show yourself!" He demanded. He pushed the gun against her head more until it was tipped to the side.

Holding up his hands, Oscar walked into the warehouse. When he was told to put his gun on the floor and kick it away, he did. "You okay, Sweetheart?" He asked, looking at her.

"Never better," she answered, but her voice was shaking. Fuck, he needed to get her out of there.

"You're the big hero," said the man in charge. "You're here to save the day and ride away into the sunset." His laugh was utterly terrifying. "What if I just blew her head off right it front of you? Do you think this rich little bitch bleeds gold?"

Her eyes shut. This was it, she was going to die.

Red splattered across her face, but it wasn't her blood. The man in charge dropped his gun and slumped forward, the weight of his falling body pulling her to the floor with a shriek. Oscar shouted her name. He rushed over and pushed the dead body away from her own.

"Oh, sweetheart," he whispered and wiped at the blood on her cheek. Tears were falling and Oscar wiped them away as he checked her over for any injuries. Aside from a bruised wrist and trauma, she was okay.

Pulling her into his chest, Oscar looked past her. There was Lando, lowering his gun. His eyes moved to her, eyebrows raising in question. But Oscar shook his head and pushed her hair behind her ears.

Reaching up, she kissed his cheek. "Hey," Oscar whispered, pulling away from her. "C'mon, Sweetheart, not now," he whispered and pulled her to her feet.

She blinked up at him and wiped away her tears. "Come on, Oscar. Let me kiss you," she whispered, her lip wobbling.

His thumbs moved over the back of her hand in such a soothing manner. "I love you," he replied. "Really, I do. But I don't want to kiss you if you just want to sleep with me."

Her head hit his chest. "Don't do this now," she mumbled. "Not in this disgusting warehouse with a dead body behind us." She let her arms settle around his neck, fingers playing with the hair at the back of his neck.

The way he was looking at her, it had her ready to cry. She hid her head against his chest and shut her eyes, ignoring the way her heart was beating. "I don't want to just kiss you to sleep with you," she whispered and sucked in a deep breath. "I-I like you, Oscar."

His fingers touched her chin and tipped her face towards him. "Sweetheart," he whispered and kissed the top of her head. And then he kissed her cheek, the one that wasn't covered in blood.

And then he kissed her, lips slotting against her own. She sobbed into his mouth and Oscar squeezed her tighter. It said all that it was supposed to. I'll watch over you, I'll keep you safe. I love you.

Taking her hand, Oscar led her out of the warehouse. In that moment he vowed to never let anything like this happen to her again.

845 notes · View notes

headkiss · 2 years ago

Text

single thread (pt. 3)

part 1, part 2, part 3

pairing: spiderman!steve harrington x fem!reader

summary: you know steve’s secret, but he has another; he loves you. of course, you love him, too, and things change.

word count: 9.3k

warnings: spiderman!steve au, fluff, smut (thigh riding and a hj), mentions of a car accident (nobody gets hurt), idiots in love!!!!!!

a/n: she’s here!!!! thank u guys so much for ur support on this mini series, i have loved writing it so so much <3 this will be the last long piece, but if you guys have requests for blurbs from this universe, i’d love to have them!!!

/ᐠ(๏‸๏)ᐟ\

You’d never been that great at puzzles, at figuring things out quickly without hints. But for some reason, this was something you’re pretty sure of.

Steve is Spider-man. He’s the one who saved you, who saves people every day, and he keeps it hidden. You understand why he does, and you’d never want to pressure him into telling you something he doesn’t want to, you only wish he knew you were ready to listen. Whenever.

You’re not that strong, but you’d take some of the weight off of his shoulders if you could.

The news plays on your TV now more than ever, as more than just background noise. Your eyes focused on the screen whenever Spider-man is mentioned, analyzing the way he moves, the familiarity of the hand gestures when he speaks, the gentleness when he makes sure someone’s okay.

It isn’t only on the news that you notice things, either. Seeing Steve as often as you’ve grown to, you seem to find more tells constantly. How he can catch a glass before it spills without even looking, the way he’s on edge sometimes, like he can’t focus on one single thing.

You see Steve often, and the clues are there, and he still hasn’t told you about it.

It’s not that you expect him to tell you, or that you’re angry he hasn’t. It’s just been hard to pretend like you don’t know why he’s limping or like you’re still clueless to it all. He’ll tell you on his own time, or maybe he won’t, but you’ll have to be okay with that.

You’ve convinced yourself it’d be best not to tell him you knew. He’s probably stressed out enough, and you didn’t want to add to that if you could avoid it. You’ll be there for him either way, that’s what’s important.

Besides, on top of you figuring out he’s Spider-man, you’ve finally acknowledged the feelings that have been there for a while. The serious ones, the four letter ones. They’ve been on your mind more than anything.

You’re in love with Steve, that’s something you could tell him, in theory, but you can’t bring yourself to. You’d hate to ruin the only real friendship you’ve managed to build since moving.

So, he’s not the only one with secrets after all. He’s Spider-man, you know that he’s Spider-man, and you’re in love with him.

Lately, you’ve actually been thankful for how quiet things have been at work. Your head’s been loud enough. The thoughts of Steve, of trying not to give anything away every time you look at him, of whether he might be going to patrol whenever he leaves.

It’s all-consuming. Pathetic, even.

And it’s what’s on your mind—once again—as you walk home from your morning shift at work. The sun’s out, your eyes squinted when it hits your face. The breeze around you is still chilly, but the promise of spring and warmth is nice.

You glance over to the newsstand you always pass going to and from work, checking the picture on the front page to look for a certain mask. Today, it’s there, and you pause to look at it.

‘Spider-man catches culprit behind string of armed robberies.’

Skimming the article, your heartbeat picks up. The danger this boy puts himself in for the sake of other people. The injuries you’ve seen him come home with. You shake your head and keep walking.

“Mom, look!” A little boy says, urging his mother towards the newsstand. “It’s Spider-man!”

You turn around, a small smile on your face as you see the mother buying her son a copy of the paper. You guess you’re not the only person who can’t keep away from that hero.

Then, there’s a little glow in your chest, the reminder that you’re lucky enough to know the person behind the mask, too.

Steve thinks that telling Robin about you might’ve been a bad idea, because she looks like she might slap him right now.

“You’re telling me you kissed her, then told her it couldn’t happen again, and yet you still have that look on your face when you talk about her?”

Robin makes it sound very simple. To him, it isn’t.

“Well, yeah, but it’s complicated, okay? And I don’t have a look on my face, Robs.”

“You absolutely do, all moony and shit. If I didn’t want you to find someone so badly, I’d say it’s kinda gross.”

Honestly, Steve can’t even tell her she’s wrong. If the way he thinks about you tells him anything, it’s that he probably can’t keep it off his face. At the very least, he hopes that Robin can only tell because she knows him so well, not because it’s insanely obvious.

“Thanks.”

“Steve, I know you like her,” she says, gentler than before, careful not to scare him from the conversation.

I more than like her, he thinks. There’s a better way to describe it and he knows that. He may not admit it, not even to himself, but he knows it all the same.

Robin continues before Steve can reply, “and I know you’re scared, I do, but we both know you’d regret it if you didn’t give this a shot.”

He shakes his head. Somehow, every time he sees Robin, the conversation always leads to this. To you.

“I’d regret it more if I got her hurt.”

“Steve, I’ve known about you since the beginning and look at me. I’m right here, perfectly fine,” she holds her arms out, like it’s some sort of proof that she’s okay. “The worst I’ve done lately is scrape my knee, and that’s just because I’m clumsy, not because I know about you being Spider-man.”

He supposes she’s right, that she has a point here, but it doesn’t stop him from being afraid, from feeling an uncomfortable clench in his chest when he thinks about even the slightest possibility of putting you in danger.

“It’s different with her, though,” he says.

“Come on! Remember in high school when you had like four different girlfriends in a month?”

“That’s an exaggeration.”

“Well, still. Where’s that part of you gone?”

“Um…”

“Shut up, I mean the part that was open to that. To trying to make connections.”

“Maybe the venom from the spider made it disappear.”

She huffs and sinks into the couch cushions. Steve’s always been stubborn, quick to deflect with humor or sarcasm when things get too intense. Too much.

Robin’s a good friend, the best one, and she can see him closing up, so she changes her approach.

“I just want you to be happy, you know?”

“Yeah, Robs, I know.”

“Can you just think about it?”

“About what?”

“Asking her out, telling her how you feel,” Robin lays a hand on Steve’s shoulder, gives it a small squeeze. “Don’t close yourself off to it completely.”

Steve’s hand lands on top of hers, squeezes it back before letting go. He may not have that many people in his life, but having a friend like Robin never makes him feel like he’s missing anything.

At least, he didn’t feel that way until he met you. Now, he thinks about what it’d feel like to fall asleep and wake up with his arms wrapped around you, to be able to kiss you and hold you. To have that intimacy that you can only have when you’re in love with someone.

Fuck. In love.

“Okay. I’ll think about it.”

The good thing about being lost in thought while you walk is that it makes time go by quickly. By the time you’re walking up the stairs to your apartment, you’re not even sure how you got there, your feet having been on autopilot.

Just as you’re fishing out your keys, there’s the sound of a door opening, a pair of voices following. One that’s practically engraved in your head. The other is of a girl, who seems to notice you standing by your door very quickly.

“Oh my gosh! Hi!”

You blink at her a couple of times, because she’s talking to you like she knows you, like you should know her. “Hi…?”

Steve’s leaning a shoulder against his door frame behind her, a scrunch in his brows and a shake of his head. It’s all you catch before she grabs your attention again.

“Sorry! I’m Robin, Steve’s totally, completely plantomic best friend-”

“Oh my god,” he mutters.

“You’re the neighbor,” she continues, saying your name to make sure she’s right, even though she seemed plenty sure of that already. “Steve talks about you all the time.”

“Really?” You can’t help but ask. You try to hide the hopefulness in your voice, the happiness at the idea of him talking about you. All the time.

“Oh, yeah. You have made quite the impact on this guy,” she points towards him with a thumb over her shoulder.

“Robs,” Steve gives her a stare, eyes wide and—if the hint of pink spreading over his cheeks says anything—probably telling her to stop embarrassing him.

“What?” She looks back at him, all innocent.

“Don’t you have to get to work?”

“Okay, okay,” Robin turns towards you again, gives you a toothy smile that’s wide enough to have you sending her a small grin in return. “It was so nice to finally meet you.”

“You, too,” you say, and though she surprised you with a whole bunch at once, you mean it.

She pulls you into a hug and says to you quietly, “thank you for taking care of him.”

And with that, she walks away, retreating down the hall. Steve hears her, Robin knows that. Hell, she probably wanted him to.

He scratches at the back of his neck (that habit of his) and huffs, “I’m sorry about her. She can be sort of a lot.”

“Don’t be,” you shake your head. “She seems great.”

“You’d like her, I think. If you got to know her.”

He still seems nervous, like you and Robin meeting was a really big thing for him. And it is. The two most important people in his life meeting. Of course he’d want that to go well.

“Steve, you don’t need to worry, or anything. I already like her, okay?”

Anyone who seems to make Steve happier is bound to win some points with you. He deserves friends like that, especially with everything he has to carry.

“Okay, yeah. That’s good.”

He still seems nervous, so you step over and place your hand on his arm, giving him the lightest squeeze. He probably wouldn’t have felt it if it weren’t for how focused he is on you.

“I was just surprised, that’s all. Promise.”

Steve’s hand finds yours, intertwining your fingers gently, as if he doesn’t even know he’s doing it.

“Thank you,” he speaks quietly. Two words he tries to tell you as often as he can.

Steve’s been visiting you at work often, sometimes with food, always with enough to brighten your day. Getting to spend that extra time with him is another perk of working when it’s not busy.

Today, he’s decided to surprise you rather than give you a heads-up over the phone. There’s a takeout bag clutched in his hand, and a little ball of nerves in his stomach. He shouldn’t be nervous, it’s only you. Then again, it’s you.

He opens the bookstore door, the small bell above it jingling. For once, there’s a customer at the register. You glance over at Steve from behind the counter, wiggling your hand in a quick wave before helping your customer again.

And just like that, there’s that feeling in his chest.

Steve waits by one of the displays as you finish up, trying not to make it obvious that he’s looking at you. There’s the soft smile on your face, the tone of your voice, the way the lighting hits your skin. It all has his heart going quicker.

“Hi, Steve,” you greet him once the customer leaves. “I didn’t know you were coming today.”

“Hi, honey. Kinda the point of surprising you with food.”

“Well, thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Hopefully I picked something you like.”

From the packaging he’s seen before in your apartment, he’s pretty sure he did alright, but he waits for your confirmation all the same.

You open the bag he’d set on the counter, a small happy gasp that he likes way too much leaving your mouth, “yay! How’d you know I liked this place?”

He shrugs, “lucky guess.”

There’s a second stool behind the counter, and you pull it up for Steve without a word, patting the seat for him to sit down. He does, consumed by the brush of your arms as you unpack the food, the touch of your knees when you shift in your seat.

“Thanks again, Steve.”

“You already know I owe you for all the meals you’ve made me.”

“And you already know, you don’t owe me anything.”

You’re a kind person, Steve’s known that since he met you. So much so that you don’t even see the value in what you’ve done for him, like it’s the simplest thing for you. It’s the simplest thing to help him.

It makes him want to do things he said he wouldn’t. Things like kiss you.

“Anyway,” he shakes the thought away. “How’s your day been?”

You lift a shoulder as you finish your bite of food before replying, “been okay. I’ve had a couple more people come in than usual, which is good.”

“Yeah?”

“I mean, I love the quiet in here, love getting to just read behind the counter and call it work. But, it’s also nice to feel useful at least some of the time.”

“That’s good. What’ve you been reading?”

This is a question he loves to ask you, because you get excited to respond every time. He loves to watch you grab the book and show it to him, to see your hands flick through the pages as you tell him what it’s about, to watch the way your mouth forms the words you speak.

He loves to ask you, because he loves to listen to your voice when you answer. That word’s been in his head a lot lately. Love.

So much that he’s not sure it ever really leaves. It’s a lingering whisper, growing louder when he’s with you. Even after you eat, after the food’s been cleaned, as he walks out the door, the word stays.

“Bye, Steve, see you later!” You say as he reaches for the door handle.

He lets himself look at you again before leaving, his eyes lingering for a second too long. “Bye, honey.”

The bell above the door rings again as he leaves, but it isn’t loud enough to cover what’s rushing through Steve’s mind. I love her. I shouldn’t, I can't. I love her.

God, maybe he should talk to Robin again, he thinks. Or, maybe he could avoid the lecture he’s bound to get and take his mind off things the best way he can: putting on the suit.

Turns out that even when he should be focused on patrolling, his mind still likes to wander. That’s probably why he ends up stationed atop the building across from the bookstore, where your closing shift should be ending soon.

He ends up there most nights he knows you’re closing, really.

Before, when he couldn’t even let himself think about his feelings for you, he’d tell himself he stayed near the bookstore because it was a shadier area, more alleyways and all that. Now, though it sort of scares him, he’s able to acknowledge that it’s purely to make sure you’re safe.

He has a whole city to be protecting, but if his senses aren’t leading him anywhere else, he’ll always end up near you.

It’s sort of ironic. You, subconsciously looking for Spider-man everywhere you go, him being right there, and you don’t even know it. He’s so, so close.

Steve stationed himself across the street from you about twenty minutes before the shop was meant to close. His eyes squinted on his mask to see if there was anyone seemingly dangerous around, just in case.

Sometimes, when he does this, he can’t stop himself from thinking about that night when he found you in that alley. When his ears were filled with pure static until he knew you were safe. When he kneeled in front of you and brought you home. He doesn’t want you to go through something like that ever again.

The click of the bookshop door closing behind you has Steve’s heightened hearing turned on, knowing that you’re about to lock up and head home.

You feel like there are eyes on you as you walk. But, every time you look behind you, there’s nobody there. You’re just being paranoid, you tell yourself. You’re fine. And really, you are fine, because the eyes aren’t dangerous—though you don’t know it—they belong to Steve.

He hops across buildings as discreetly as he can while following your pace. Walking you home in his own, secret way.

The next thing happens in a complete blur.

You’re crossing at an intersection when a car runs a red light, speeding and crashing into another vehicle. You’re in the street, the two cars screeching on the pavement and heading straight for you. Even if you ran, you wouldn’t be quick enough.

But he was.

Steve jumped down before it even happened, his vision tunneling on that car, on you in its path. He just knew he needed to get to you first. He shot the web, swung down, and scooped you up right before the collision reached you. His heart pounding, his grip on you tight enough to knock the air from your lungs.

He lands and sets you down at the back of an alley, hidden from the bystanders that screamed at the sight of the crash, at the sight of him.

It takes you an entire minute of silence, of your chest heaving and your ears ringing to grasp what had just happened. How close of a call it was, how he was there to save you again.

Your vision is blurred by tears when you look up at him, at the red and blue suit, the mask. Your breathing is quick, panicked, but it slows the slightest bit when you look at him. Spider-man. Steve. The best boy ever.

When your eyes lock onto his face, Steve rushes forward, holding your face in a gentle grasp. It’s frantic, the way his hands shake when he reaches for you, the way his head tilts all over to make sure you’re okay. His thumbs brush away the tears that fall from your eyes, back and forth and back and forth.

“Hey, look at me,” he says, dipping his head down to make you focus on him. “Breathe.”

You shake your head, trying to calm down the best you can after coming so close. Fuck, it was so close. If Steve would’ve been a split-second later, you would’ve been hit. The thought doesn’t help you calm down one bit.

Steve can see the fear in your eyes, the quick rise and fall of your chest. It clenches his heart in a tight, uncomfortable fist, and all he wants to do is help you. So he lets it slip.

“Breathe, honey. Come on.”

Honey.

That’s all the confirmation you’d ever need. You were right. This is Steve. It’s Steve holding your face and saving your life.

You surge forward and wrap your arms around his neck, and his go around your waist instantly.

“Steve,” you breathe out so quietly, only he could have heard it.

His heart sinks and flips at the same time, if that’s even possible. It sinks because you know, somehow, and it terrifies him so much, he’s not sure what to say. But then, it flips, too, because there’s a relief that’s clear in your voice.

“How did you-” he starts, but you only squeeze him tighter.

“Steve,” this time, your voice breaks when you say it.

Now isn’t the time to talk about this. Not when you were almost hit, not in public. Not now and not like this, Steve knows that. The break in your voice tells him to push that back for now.

“I’m gonna take you home, okay?”

He can feel you nod against his neck, so he lets go of you with one hand and keeps the other wrapped around you and starts swinging.

Right now, at this second, he’s not worried about how you found out, how you know it’s him. No, he only cares that you’re alive, that he can feel your arms squeezing around his neck, that he can squeeze you back just as tight.

As he swings with you clutching onto him, the realization makes his breathing stutter.

You could’ve died just then. In that fraction of a moment, you could’ve been gone without Steve ever getting the chance to tell you he loves you. He can’t let that happen. He’s gotta tell you.

It scares the absolute shit out of him, but he has to do something. He can’t lose you before working up the courage to tell you how he feels, before having the slightest chance at kissing you again.

He won’t let that happen.

Steve’s very gentle with you, even when he’s swinging from building to building with you in his arms. The sure grip he has around your waist and the smell of his cologne buried under the suit help ground you as wind rushes by.

You’re alive, Steve’s got you, and he knows you know.

Your eyes are squeezed shut the entire way, and in only a couple of minutes, he’s hanging onto the side of his building by his window and thanking himself for (once again) not locking it.

“Hey, honey, can you open the window for me?”

You lift your face from his neck and nod, twisting to lift it open. Steve’s supporting you with one arm and holding the both of you up with the other. The strength he has is incredible, especially when you’re seeing it first hand.

He helps you get into his room with a hand on your lower back, and lifts himself in right after you. You watch Steve’s back beneath the suit as he shuts the window, watch his gloved hands remove the web-shooters from his wrists.

Then, slowly, watch those same hands lift up to the edge of his mask and tug it off.

Your breath catches. You knew it was him, but seeing Steve’s familiar face and its prettiest combination of features be revealed is different, it’s real.

“Wow,” you say, though you hadn’t really meant to. It slipped. “Hi.”

Steve’s had a twist in his gut ever since he found out that you knew about him, and it only tangles more now that you’re looking at him with widened eyes. He doesn’t want things to change with you, and he’s so scared that they will.

What if you don’t want to see him anymore because of this? What if you’re angry with him for keeping it from you? What if you end up hurt because someone wanted to get to him?

“Um, hi.”

You step closer to where he stands by his side table, your hands twisting in front of you like you’re nervous, too.

“You saved me.”

“Just, uh, doing my job,” he says, shrugging it off.

“Well, then, you’re really, really great at what you do.”

You’re trying to be light with the subject, to take it at his pace given it’s his secret, his life. Steve’s quiet for a few moments, a flicker of something you can’t distinguish crossing over his face.

“How’d you know?” Is all he says, but you know exactly what he means by it.

“Saw Spider-man with the exact same injuries as you on the news. I guess I just connected the dots from there.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

You reach for his hand and hold it lightly, hoping that maybe, just maybe, your touch can help to ground him as much as his does you.

“Don’t be, okay? I understand why you wouldn’t. I just want to be there for you.”

“I don’t tell anyone, really,” he starts, his grip on your hand tightening as he speaks. “Robin’s the only other person who knows. I don’t want to put anyone in danger so I… I just keep it to myself.”

You squeeze his fingers, trying to show him in any way you can that you aren’t going to run away from this.

“You don’t have to keep it all to yourself, Steve. You can talk to me or knock on my door whenever you’re hurt,” he shakes his head. “You can. I keep my first-aid kit stocked for you.”

“It doesn’t scare you? That you might get hurt because of me?”

“I’m not scared for myself. I’m scared for you. Going out every night and fighting the bad guys. I’m scared that you’ll get hurt, Steve. I’m not worried about me,” he glances down but you step even closer, making him look at you. “If tonight shows anything, it’s that you’ll save me from getting hurt either way.”

Steve’s hand that isn’t holding yours moves up, pushing your hair over your shoulder before landing on your face. The fabric of his glove rests against your jaw, his thumb running over your skin, his eyes searching yours for a single hint of insincerity.

He doesn’t find one.

“You’re really important to me, honey.”

“You’re important to me, too.”

You’re close enough that you can feel his breath on your lips, his forehead a whisper away from yours. Close enough that you catch the way his eyes flick down to your mouth and back up.

“I know I said we shouldn’t-”

“Kiss me, Steve.”

“Okay.”

The hand on your face tilts you upwards, and just like that, he catches your lips with his. You’ve kissed before and still, there’s a rush of butterflies in your stomach, a warmth spreading over your skin the way a blanket of sunlight feels.

It’s slow, it’s delicate, and it means something. There are a thousand words that neither of you can say buried in this kiss, in the gentle press of your lips. Words spoken with the tilt of his head to get closer, the squeeze of his fingers interlocked with yours.

Steve doesn’t ever want to not be able to kiss you again. Not when it feels like this. Acceptance and reassurance, softness and the sort of glowing feeling he’s only ever had around you.

When he pulls away, he doesn’t go far. Your breaths meet between your faces, mingling in the silence that follows. Steve rests his forehead against yours, your noses brushing.

“I don’t want to be alone tonight,” you say. Because you’re still shaken from earlier, because you need the comfort that Steve seems to provide simply by being next to you, because you’re afraid that if you let him out of your sight, he’ll pull away from you again.

“You want me to stay with you?”

You nod. “Please.”

“Okay, honey, I’ll stay.”

As long as you’ll have me, he thinks, I’ll stay.

Steve did stay that night. After you both showered and got ready for bed, there was a moment where he stood—almost nervous—in the doorway of your bedroom. You lifted the covers for him and patted the spot next to you, and that was it.

He stayed for breakfast, too. This time, it was him cooking for you, stood over the stove in your apartment. It’s a sight you could definitely get used to. Then, like he could get any sweeter, he even called into work for you, saying you should at least get a day after what happened the night before. What almost happened.

Really, as scary as the crash had been, what you’d been thinking about the most was the way he kissed you. The way you’d woken up in the middle of the night with his arm around your waist. The way you fell back asleep easily with him there.

It’s what you’ve been thinking about in the days since. What you’re thinking about even now.

You know that something shifted that night, with him finding out that you knew he’s Spider-man, with you being able to reassure him that it won’t push you away. You could feel that shift, like a tectonic plate.

Despite that, things have been quiet and relatively the same with Steve. You haven’t seen him all that much, but when you do it’s still friendly. Friendly with something lingering between you, unspoken and palpable.

It’s dark out now, the evening news playing on your TV the way it so often does. It’s static to you until you see footage of Spider-man from earlier, swinging around and fighting crime again.

Naturally, your first thought is Steve, and whether or not he’s okay. Before, when he didn’t know you knew, you’d keep all this worry to yourself, letting it build and build until you saw him again. Now, though, he knows you know and you can do something about that concern.

You push yourself up from your couch and head to your door. Knocking on his comes easy, and he opens it quickly, like he knew it was you.

“Hi,” he says. There’s a smile pulling at his mouth.

“Hi. Sorry for bothering you, I just- um. I saw the news and I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Seeing you on the other side of his door already had Steve’s heart doing this silly flutter in his chest. Knowing you care enough to check on him this way does something else entirely. It floods from head to toe, the feelings he has for you. The ones he’s identified as love.

“I’m okay, promise. Not even a scratch this time.”

You nod, a pressure lifting from your lungs. You breathe a little easier seeing him unharmed. Seeing him in general.

“Okay. Good,” you should probably stop there, turn around and go back to yours, but you don’t. “I was just really worried, y’know, ‘cause I’ve seen you hurt and all, so I just wanted to see you and check-”

“Hey,” he grabs your hand gently, cutting off your rambling and tugging you into his apartment, pushing the door shut behind you. “I swear not every Spider-man thing I do is dangerous.”

“Yeah, okay, because swinging from buildings is super safe.”

“I’m a professional at that. Nothing to worry about.”

The wood of the front door is solid against your back, and Steve’s hand still in yours is the same. Solid, reassuring, sweet. Steve steps just a bit closer to you, so that you’re toe-to-toe and there’s nowhere for you to escape to.

His free hand reaches up to fiddle with the ends of your hair, gentle in a way that almost feels like you dreamt it.

“Did you really only come here to check on me?” He asks.

“Yeah, I did. Is that… okay?”

Steve wants to kiss you for that. He thinks you might want that, too. So, he dips his face closer to yours, lets go of your hand only to hold onto the nape of your neck instead. He hesitates, waits for you to push him away, but you never do.

Instead, you tilt your head and meet him in the middle.

You never knew that kissing someone could be so easy, that you could fit together so well that it just works. But that’s how it is with Steve, and you suppose that’s how it is when you’re in love. The pink haze and heart-shaped touches.

Steve doesn’t think he could ever get sick of kissing you, of feeling so light when things are often so heavy for him. When you pull away, he chases your mouth and steals two, three pecks from you.

Then, to answer your question, he says, “it’s more than okay.”

You only notice now that you aren’t distracted by his mouth on yours that your hands had found their way to his shoulders. It’s impossible not to notice the muscles under his skin, the clear evidence of his strength. Heat spreads through you, and you have to pull your hands away to speak properly.

“You sure?”

“I’m sure,” he tells you. His hand, still on your neck, squeezes so, so lightly. “I know I’ve said that we should only be friends, but that was before. Before you knew, and I was terrified of what could happen to you.”

“What about now?”

“Now…” He takes a deep breath, and focuses his eyes on yours. Whatever he’s about to say, he wants you to know he means it. “Now I can’t stop thinking about you and how it feels to kiss you.”

“I think about you, too.”

“Yeah?”

You nod, and though being honest makes you nervous, the smile that spreads over his face makes it worth it. So does the slight blush of his cheeks.

“I want to take you on a date. If that’s something you’d like.”

“I would really like that, Steve.”

Right then, there’s another shift, a bigger one. You both know there are feelings here. Big, scary feelings that you can’t say out loud yet.

Steve took care of planning the date. He wanted to surprise you, to impress you and do something for you this time. You do enough for him already.

Though Robin assured him—after all of her ‘finally’s and ‘I told you so’s—that it would be great, perfect, even, he’s still nervous when he knocks on your door. He’s shuffling on his feet, puffing out a breath as he waits, and then he sees you and the rest sort of melts away.

You open your door to find Steve with a picnic basket in hand and a slightly windswept bouquet of flowers in the other. You smile as he hands them to you and try to hide it by smelling the flowers.

“Thank you, these are beautiful.”

“‘Course.”

“I’ll just put them in water and then we can go.”

Your stomach is a mess of flutters and nerves as you fill up a vase with water and put the flowers in it. Sure, you’ve spent time with Steve alone time and time again, but never like this. It’s exciting and it’s scary, but the welcome kind of scary that comes with new things.

“You’re taking me on a picnic?” You ask, locking your apartment door behind you and then falling into step next to Steve.

“If that’s okay with you?”

“Sounds amazing.”

“My cooking isn’t as great as yours, I have to warn you,” Steve says, holding the door open to the stairwell.

“I’m sure I’ll love it.”

“It’s okay if you don’t, I’m just saying.”

He holds the door at the bottom of the stairs open for you, too. And then the one to exit the building.

As you walk along, Steve leading the way, your nerves fade, replaced with the familiarity and comfort of Steve’s company. Replaced with the feelings that sweep inside you like a huge bubble of pink bubblegum, so close to popping and spilling it all.

You talk aimlessly about anything and everything, and Steve does the same. You both try not to make the little catch in your breaths obvious when your hands brush.

He takes you to a park, one with big trees and a walking trail, with scattered flowers and the fresh smell of nature that makes you feel like you’re not even in the city anymore. He keeps going, and you keep following him, until he finds the spot he’d found before. A small clearing between trees, shaded by their leaves and just enough space for him to spread out the picnic blanket.

“Why have I never found this place myself?” You ask, looking up at the sky through the leaves.

“You like it?”

You nod, sitting down next to him on the blanket he brought. “Thank you for bringing me.”

He shrugs, “thank you for coming.”

You share a smile, a slow spread across your mouths as you look at each other for a moment. A smile saying this is real. Then, like it didn’t even happen, he starts to unpack the food.

Steve can’t even remember the last date he went on, but he knows that it wasn’t anything like this. He’s never felt this light around someone before. Somehow, you turn the bricks that weigh him down into feathers.

You’d thought it before, but you’re sure of it now; Steve is the absolute best boy you’ve ever known. The effort he put into making and packing up the food, the shyness he has about it all, like he should be embarrassed for being sweet to you. You feel unbelievably lucky that you moved into the apartment across from his.

The date goes by in a blink. You and Steve subconsciously moving closer and closer on the blanket, your thighs touching and your arms brushing. The food eaten between conversation and giggles. The picnic basket is now packed up again, the containers empty this time around.

You rest your head on Steve's shoulder and say, “thank you for this.”

Steve’s eyes close for a second, trying to memorize how this feels. He opens them and presses the gentlest kiss onto your head. “You’re welcome, honey.”

You stay that way and breathe each other in, once, then twice. That’s all you allow yourself before you stand and brush yourself off even though you weren’t dirty in the first place. Steve folds up the blanket and places it in the basket, and he stands, too.

This time, as you walk back to your apartment building, when your hands brush, you and Steve feel just a bit more confident, enough to reach your pinkies out to each other and lock them.

Steve’s the one who fully grabs onto your hand, letting your fingers intertwine. It’s how they’re meant to be, he thinks, two pieces of the same puzzle that just happen to fit together. You don’t let go for the entire walk.

Outside your building, neither of you really want to say goodbye, to end the date that feels like the beginning of something really, really good.

But, just as Steve lets go of your hand to reach for the door, he feels it. The tingling over his skin, the goosebumps, the static in his ears. He blinks and turns to you.

“I’m sorry-”

“Stop, it’s okay. Just be safe.”

He’ll never understand how you’re so understanding, how you accept it so quickly. All he knows is he loves you for it and so much more.

“Thank you, honey.”

He presses the quickest kiss to your cheek, sets down the picnic basket, and then runs into the alleyway on the side of the building. When he emerges, he’s in his suit and swinging off.

He’d been wearing it under his clothes. Always prepared.

You pick up the picnic basket and walk up to your apartment half convinced that the last few hours have been some sort of dream. Too good to be true.

The issue that had Steve’s senses coming alive didn’t take long to handle. Still, he stayed out to continue patrolling, worried that something else could happen. Worried that it might be too soon to go back and see you again.

Not seeing you didn’t erase you from his thoughts. Not one bit. He spent the hours in the suit waiting for the city to die down, waiting for the moment his senses would quiet down enough to let him know he was done for the night.

All because he wanted to see you, kiss you. God, he’s so fucked.

You were faring pretty much the same. Only, you’d changed into your pajamas rather than a superhero suit, laying around on your bed with a book in hand to hear knocks on your door. Or, at the very least, to hear him get home safe.

When the knock comes, it isn’t on your door. Instead, there’s a tapping on your bedroom window by the fire escape. As soon as you hear it, you shut your book and turn towards your window, and there he is.

Steve hangs upside down, his head level with yours when you open the window to talk to him. If you weren’t so busy being in love with him, the sight would be sort of funny.

“Well hello, Spider-man,” you say, leaning your hands against the windowsill.

“Hey, honey.”

“You aren’t hurt are you?” You ask, moving your hands to hold his face, because you’ve seen him injured enough times to be worried about that, to know it’s a possibility.

“I’m completely fine.”

“You’re really okay?”

“Nothing hurts, I promise,” he says, shaking his head. How could it when you’re holding him like that, looking at him like that. Pain isn’t what he’s feeling in the slightest.

You’re not really thinking when you lean in and peck his cheek over the mask, but it’s enough to scorch his skin, to leave an invisible mark.

And Steve isn’t really thinking when he speaks, “have I ever told you that I think you’re really pretty?”

“You’re upside down,” you tell him, fighting a stupid, lovesick smile. “You must be seeing wrong.”

He ignores that comment and twists himself upright, then climbs through your window into your apartment. You have to back up to make room for him, and when his feet hit the hardwood floors, he’s only inches away.

“I’m right side up now. Still think you’re pretty.”

You’ve never been good at taking compliments, never really thought that people meant them, only that they were trying to be kind. Steve is different. You still don’t believe it yourself, but you can tell that he does. His voice holds enough emotion to do that.

Bashful, you walk around him to shut your window and then lock it. You try to keep your feelings off of your face when you turn back around and find him already facing you, his mask now off and clutched in his hand.

His hair is a mess on his head, his cheeks flushed from being upside down and maybe, just maybe from being so close to you.

“So, what brought you to my window?” You ask.

“I wanted to say sorry,” he says, scratching at his neck. That habit of his. “For leaving the way I did earlier.”

It’s a half truth. He wanted to apologize for that. But, mostly, he wanted to tell you he loves you. He’d been thinking about it his whole patrol. Thinking about when the right time would be then remembering how quickly things can change, how you’d almost been hit not so long ago.

With that, he decided that there wasn’t a right time, that he could lose you just like that and he swore to himself that he wouldn’t let that happen. Especially not without telling you how he feels.

But, he’s always been more courageous with that mask on, and now, he just can’t get the words to leave his mouth. They hover on the top of his tongue, sticky and heavy.

“I told you it’s okay, Steve. I swear,” you step closer to him and reach for his hand, tugging the glove off before lacing your fingers with his. “I know that you had to, that this is a part of you and I’d never expect you to change or ignore it. I-“ love you, you almost say. But the words get stuck for you, too. “I care about you so much. Spider-man included.”

Every time Steve worries, even the slightest bit, that you’ll feel differently about him because of this, you prove him wrong. You say all the right things to make him feel better, to make him want to fall into you completely and never look back.

You’ve proven to him over and over that you’re in this, that you’re this dream of a girl that somehow ended up in his mess of a life. A mess you’re willing to join, helping him clean it without even trying.

You’re a dream, his dream, and he has to say it. He has to say it so he does, those sticky words forced off of his tongue in a breath.

“I love you.”

He squeezes your hand on the second word, like he’s emphasizing it. Love.

“I love you,” he says again, and you realize you’re not dreaming. He really said it, and he’s really looking at you that way with those soft, brown eyes. “You don’t have to say it, I just needed to tell you. I’ve never had someone make me feel the way you do. Never.”

“Steve?”

“Yeah?”

Your heart pounds, thumps.

“I love you, too.”

“Serious?” He checks, because he thinks he dreamt it just like you had.

So you repeat it for him, “I love you, Steve.”

He leans in, not so afraid anymore, and places a hand on your neck, his fingers in your hair. The other hand squeezes yours again before letting go to frame your jaw and tilt your mouth to his.

It’s an easy rhythm to fall into now. Kissing him. And you feel yourself melt into him, your muscles relaxing, your body pushing towards his. Your arms are thrown around his neck, and all you feel is him.

It’s a delicate push and pull, a kiss that’s familiar but now has something new behind it. That acknowledged emotion, the reality of it. It has his tongue sweeping against the seam of your lips and dipping in when they part.

His hand is tangled tighter in your hair, and you’re not sure how long it’s been before you both pull away, breathless, chests heaving, matching smiles on your lips. Your noses still brush, and still, it doesn’t feel close enough.

Steve’s hands shift to run down your shoulders, then your arms, and back and forth.

“Does this mean I’m your girlfriend?” You ask, still breathing heavy, still feeling his breath fan across your lips.

“I’d like to think so,” he says, his hands now settled around your forearms. “If that’s what you want.”

You nod, kiss him quick. “Does it also mean you’ll stay the night?”

“As long as I can use your shower first,” he says.

“Good idea.”

“You saying I smell?”

You shrug, shoulder to your cheek. He smiles, and in turn, so do you, and it feels like the closest thing to perfect there could ever be.

Steve emerges from your bathroom with damp hair falling over his forehead and your clothes on instead of his suit. You lent him a t-shirt and a baggy pair of sweats that are still a bit too short at his ankles. You grin when you notice that.

And Steve grins when he sees you. My girl, he thinks. And it’s for real this time.

You’re sitting with your back against your headboard, knees bent and your book in your hands yet again. You needed to occupy yourself while he was showering, after all. Otherwise, you’d just think and think and think about him in the next room, his mouth on yours. His voice saying the words ‘I love you.’

He walks over and sits on the bed by your feet, his side facing you, but his head turned to look at you. Seeing him in your clothes, in your space, you think it’s something you’d like to see forever. Seeing you waiting for him in bed, Steve’s thinking the exact same thing.

“Hi,” you say.

Steve wraps a hand around your bare ankle, his thumb smoothing back and forth. “Hi.”

Though everything’s out in the open now, there’s a shyness there. Like two kids with crushes wondering what to do next. You’ve never loved each other out loud before today. It’s brand new territory.

But with that shyness, there’s so much more. There’s the knowledge of how it feels to kiss each other, to hold each other. There’s want to do it all again.

Steve’s other hand reaches for your book and sets it open and face-down on your nightstand. Then, he pushes your knees over so that he can lean in. He’s not fully thinking about what he’s doing, he’s simply listening to this thread that pulls him closer and closer to you until he’s kissing you again.

It starts with a couple of pecks, innocent, soft, quick. It turns into more and somewhere along the way you’re tugged into Steve’s lap, your knees on either side of one of his thighs. And somewhere along the way Steve’s hands have ventured under your shirt, running across your waist and up and down your back. He groans into your mouth when he notices the lack of a bra.

Steve tugs you impossibly closer to him, tugs you down so that you’re straddling his thigh with all of your weight. You inhale sharp and quick through your nose when he does.

It’s not long after that before you’re panting, unable to keep up with his mouth, and though Steve’s chest heaves, too, he doesn’t take the break to breathe properly. Instead, he dips his head to kiss your jaw, then your neck.

Your head tilts for him easily, an arm wrapped around his shoulders and the other tangled in the hair at the bale of his neck. You gasp when his teeth scrape against the skin behind your ear, your hips hurting unconsciously to rut against his thigh.

“Sorry,” you say, worried it was too much. Still, it comes out breathily.

He pulls back from your neck, looks into your eyes, his brown ones just a bit darker than usual. “Did that feel good?”

Your eyes search his face for an ounce of discomfort, of uncertainty. All you see is the kind of warmth that spreads through you, the kind of intensity that only comes with lust.

“Yes.”

“Do it again,” he tells you, his hands slipping down to rest just above the waistband of your shorts. He encourages you to move, his hands pushing and pulling. You move with him, slowly at first, letting out the smallest whimper when the angle is just right. At the sound, Steve says, “keep doing it.”

“Steve.”

“You’re okay,” his hands urge you forward again, his thumbs running back and forth soothingly. “I wanna make you feel good. Okay?”

“Okay,” you agree, because how could you not when it already feels so good, when he’s looking at you with kiss-swollen lips, messy hair, and wide pupils. When he’s looking at you like it feels as good for him as it does for you.

You move quicker, his hands encouraging you still. He kisses you again, kisses you until you have to pull away, your mouth dropping open, a moan slipping out before you can stop it.

Steve wishes he could bottle up the sound and keep it, listen to it over and over. Because he’s the one who’s making you feel that way, he’s the one who has your hand tight in his hair. Because he’s thought about you before, and it’s nothing compared to the real thing.

The sweatpants you lent him grow a bit tighter, and his hands don’t stop guiding you over him. He wants to hear you make that noise again.

You drop your forehead to his shoulder, your thighs tightening around his, your clit catching on the fabric of your shorts and his (your) sweatpants enough to make you moan again.

“That’s it, baby. Doin’ so good.”

It’s the first time he’s ever called you ‘baby’ and you hope it won’t be the last.

“Steve.”

“I’ve got you.”

The hand that isn’t in his hair trails down his torso and rests above the waistband of his pants for a second. Your hand cups him over his pants, squeezing lightly and finding him hard. Watching you was enough to turn him on, and the thought makes you whimper again.

“Fuck. You don’t have to,” he says, taking a hand from your waist to pull your face from his shoulder, to look at you.

“Want you to feel good, too.”

There’s nothing but honesty in your words, want in your eyes.

“Shit, honey.”

“Will you let me?” You ask, your voice slightly strained from the stimulation you feel, your hips still moving.

“Yeah.”

Your hand slips under the waistband with his consent, and you wrap it around him, your thumb running over his tip. He groans and leans his forehead against yours.

You’re breathing the same air, moving at the same pace, and you don’t think it’s ever felt this right with anyone before. With Steve, you’re not thinking about how you might look and whether or not he’ll like it, you’re only thinking about being with him.

“I’ve thought about you before. Like this,” he says, a quiet confession broken up by heavy breaths.

“Me, too,” you reply in a gasp.

His hands are both on your waist again, squeezing your skin tighter because you have a hand wrapped around his cock and it has his head spinning.

“You getting close, baby?”

“Yeah, Steve. So good.”

“I know. Keep going. I wanna see you.”

His voice is tight, and he’s holding himself back though it hasn’t been long. Your hand is soft, running up and down and he hasn’t been with someone in so long. The fact that it’s you, right now, doesn’t help him last. Just kissing you would be enough, he thinks.

Your rhythm stutters, your eyes squeezing shut, and just like that, you’re tipping over the edge and coming on his thigh.

“That’s it, sweet girl,” he hums, low and scratchy. “That’s it. Look so pretty coming on me.”

Your hand pauses where it was jerking him off, too caught up in your orgasm to keep going. You say his name, say it again, and he keeps you moving over him through it all.

“Fuck,” you open your eyes when the last wave draws away, your legs shaking slightly.

It doesn’t take you long to start stroking him again, up and down and back again. Steve grunts and his hips stutter upwards, chasing your touch. It’s your turn to work him through it.

“Gonna come, honey,” he warns you. “I’ll ruin your sweats.”

“Don’t care,” you say, kissing his cheek, the corner of his mouth. “I want you to.”

You run your thumb across the tip again and then his fingers are digging into your skin. He’s groaning and you feel the warmth of his come spill onto your hand. Neither of you had taken any clothes off and still, it’s the best you’ve ever had.

“Shit, honey.” This time it’s his head that rests against your shoulder. “I’m gonna need another shower now.”

You laugh breathily and pull your hand from his pants, wiping it off on the thigh you’re not sitting on, ‘cause they’re already ruined, anyway.

“I’ll get you another pair,” you say.

“In a minute. Can’t move.”

A minute is closer to five, and eventually he lets you go. You hand him a new pair of sweatpants, then clean up in the bathroom and change into different shorts. When you come back, he’s laying down under the covers in your bed. Twin smiles spread on your faces.

“You’re cute,” you tell him.

“So are you.”

You shake your head and flick your light off, the street lights flooding through your window the only thing left illuminating your room. You join him under the covers, and he doesn’t hesitate to wrap an arm around you and pull you into his chest.

Your head rests by his shoulder, one of your legs thrown over his. Having him laying next to you is much more comfortable than being alone.

“I love you,” Steve says, his lips pushing a kiss into your hair.

“I love you,” you say right back.

And then, just like you’d imagined so many times before, you fall asleep cuddling Steve. And just like he’s imagined so many times before, you wake up that way, too.

/ᐠ(๏‸๏)ᐟ\

thank you guys so much for reading spidey!steve i hope u liked it!!!! pls pls consider reblogging and letting me know what you thought, i promise it makes a difference <333

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tenjikyu · 19 days ago

Note

It has been an illegal amount of time since I've been on tumblr (like a week and a half), but I'm back.

Hope you're doing well!

Anyways! Provided you're not busy (take however much time you need, whether that be a week or whatever), I have thought of another Tokyorev request since I've been rewatching the anime. There is a staggering lack of m!reader x Rindou on this platform, so therefore, here is my request.

How about m!reader x Rindou (romantic/fluff, whatever) where reader is a lesser known delinquent in Roppongi (2005 for reference) who constantly gets into fights, and winds up fighting Rindou and Ran. I'll leave it up to you if he wins or loses, but basically he catches Rindou's eye. I'm trying not to make my requests super detailed so I can leave space for creative liberties.

Well, there's the request, do with that what you will. Also I will probably be dropping a BSD request on you soon, so fair warning.

— 🎭

𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 ( 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐝 ) 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭

🎐rindou haitani x m!reader ‪‪ ༄

🎐fluff, headcanon format bc i’m struggling, lowercase intended, possibly ooc bc i haven’t touched any tokyo rev content in months but ill do my best. ‪‪the fight scene is WHACK bc i suck at writing it so im begging yall to ignore ༄

🎐 you were a rambunctious little shit growing up, and it was to nobody’s surprise you ended up roaming the streets of roppingi, picking fights with anyone you could see

🎐 you were smart though, choosing to grief on people you knew you could take on and people who were interested in fighting. you had no interest in bashing innocent passerby’s and people who could clearly stomp you into the concrete.

🎐 boxing and martial arts was something your parents had put you into as a way to vent out all that energy (it didn’t work, you still beat the shit outta the kids in your school), so you had both a good technique and a strong fist whenever you threw yourself into battle a fight.

🎐 this all changed the day you encountered the haitani brothers, rindou and ran.

🎐 their reputation was nothing exaggerated, and their eye for fashion was also nothing short of perfection. they were flashy and had total control over roppongi before they were even adults.

🎐 you never thought you’d have to end up laying hands on either of them, let alone both at the same time, until last week.

🎐 you were much less known then the brothers, however that doesn’t mean you didn’t have friends and alliances on the streets. you were a fun and energetic character, who had no problem stepping up if someone worth saving needed help. and that gave you a good reputation between the other lower gangs in the area.

🎐 so, when you saw the haitani brothers beating the shit out of your friends forehead, you wasted no time jumping in.

🎐 it was a shitty battle, with a 2v1 (your friend was fucked UP, bro was no help) , however your martial arts techniques prepared you for rindou’s quick movements, and your boxing provided a good punch to his pretty face.

🎐 in the end, it was clear you were going to lose. you bet if only one were there you might’ve stood a chance, however on the verge of passing out, decided to accept your fate and hope you don’t end up dead.

🎐 however you find that as you collapse, you watch them both walk off into the distance.

🎐 wait wtf.

🎐 they weren’t gonna torture you ? or break your bones ?

🎐 if you were a little more conscious, you might’ve been able to hear the conversation between the two brothers, however you knocked tf out not a minute after.

“so why are we letting that boy off the hook? he jumped into a fight that wasn’t his” ran curiously asked his little brother.

“to jump into a fight you know your gonna lose is honorable, however if he does it again then we can shatter his arms!” rindou perclaims, a flushed face that clearly wasn’t coming from the fight he just fought.

as ran looks back at the two bodies behind him, he thinks to himself…

nah i’m kidding ofc bro speaks his mind.

“nah, we’ve beaten up plenty of dudes doing the same thing. you just think that kid back there is hot huh.”

“ran what the FUCK-”

#rindou haitani #ran haitani #rindou haitani x reader #rindou x reader #rindou haitani x male reader #rindou x male reader #tokyo revengers #tokyo rev #tokyo revengers x reader #tokyo rev x reader #tokyo revengers x male reader #tokyo rev x male reader

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zoropookie · 9 months ago

Text

HOW HATERS ARE BORN (HHAB)

♡ chapter seven — omfg 💋

It was like the entire convention had their eyes on you. And who knew it’d be at the very same booth that you said you wouldn’t go near.

You sat there with an irate expression on your face, coming up with words for the man in front of you that you didn’t think you could muster until now. An aroma of roasted beans clung to your shirt like an unwanted companion.

You were motioned not to say anything else. You were being put on the spot, and you didn’t need to say anything else to him. And in hopes that you smart, you would just apologize like a normal person and move on.

But you weren’t a normal person, and by the looks of the entire crowd around the two of you, Scaramouche wasn’t either.

“This is what you get off on?” You asked him in a low hiss. “I bet. Your streams are full of it.”

“I get off on things worth my time.” Scaramouche bit back a snarl and yet somehow he still made you flinch by how close he was. “Who even are you? You did an entire bit on the internet so my fans would like you more, but nobody's here to see you. You thought showing up would give you a better impression? All I see is a bitch and their whore friends parading around like children.”

“You talk a lot of shit for someone who doesn’t consider me important. Don't talk about my friends like that.”

“Aw, you want to be seen as important? To me?” Scaramouche said in disbelief, to the point where he made himself smile, newer to his usual scowl. "You faded into irrelevancy once you did your little callout. How did that go for you, by the way? Still losing sponsorship?”

“I’m important enough to get under your skin about it, huh?” You replied, a little too snippy that you inwardly cringed. But you couldn't stop. "You're one to talk about drama dying after two days all the time, just get over it."

His violet coded eyes stared down at you, expressionless, a face that you couldn’t read too well. There was a distinct way that his hands balled and unraveled, the creases on the corners of his mouth twitching. He was furious, and you reveled in it.

But as you proudly gave a testing smirk at him, he grabbed the rest of the coffee that you attempted to save and took the lid off, turning it to pour all over you. Your mouth dropped open, feeling more of the warm liquid trickle down the fabric of your clothes and your face. He threw the cup with a simple, hostile, aggressive shoot of his hand towards the crowd.

"People like you keep buzzing in my ear until you get what you want. You waste your breath on useless shit, pick at your ass, and expect to be coddled.” Scaramouche scoffed, his eyebrows furrowing in disgust. "In front of so many people, you had to make an ass out of yourself just to get attention. I can do it by walking out of my room, we are not the same in that calibre. Don't act like you are, creepy fuck. I shouldn't have even gave you the time of day on that tweet."

You felt like his tone of speech was rather familiar, but while you were listening, you couldn’t quite put your finger on it. You also couldn’t stop the constant ringing in your ears, and it only got worse at his consistent berating.

“Get your shit, and get the fuck out of here.”

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YOU ARE on your way to being one of the hottest streamer in your nation at the moment, racking a monthly average of 10 million viewers, but something specific bothers you about it. you know that a lot of people hate you, but there's this one account. one account that's been following you since the early days of your career. they leave a flood of rude comments in your stream, your moderators banned each account they made, but they keep making more. you are at the end of your tether. but you are yet to find out that this persistent cockroach is none other than your friend's friend (and the only other streamer that's bigger than you), scaramouche.

taglist ♡ @thystarsshine @veekoko @gumickajolli @simonisferal @kamiboo @justpeachyteastea @feiherp @pinkismyfavcolor @aether-darling @melpomenelurks @keiiqq @mine-lu @featuredtofu @danhenglovebot @k4zushi @kyon-cherri @1lellykins @iiinaurate @quacking-simp @auroratumbles (bold users means i'm having trouble tagging you)

#zoropookie #hhab #scaramouche #scaramouche x reader #genshin scaramouche #genshin #genshin impact #genshin smau #genshin x reader #genshin fanfic #genshin x you #genshin x yn #scaramouche x yn #scaramouche x you

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deancasbigbang · 2 months ago

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Title: In Through the Out Door

Author: AlleiraDayne

Artist: Lotrspnfangirl

Rating: Explicit

Pairings: DeanCas, Sam/Eileen developing into but not really depicted Sam/Eileen/Rowena/Gabriel

Length: 39076

Warnings: MCD (temporary), Graphic Depictions of Violence

Tags: Depression, suicidal ideation, alcoholism, prolific profanity, polyamory, ambiguous ending

Posting Date: October 10, 2024

Summary: Castiel was dead. Again. And it was all Dean's fault. After failing to drink himself into an early grave, Dean finds a little resolve to pick himself back up and do the right thing: save people. With Sam and Jack by his side, and a little help from a few other survivors, they take on Chuck, restore the world, the multiverse, and everything's back to the way it oughta be. Everything but Castiel, that is. Dean clings to a death wish five miles wide after that. And he gets it, dying on a hunt. But the worst is yet to come when he wakes up and finds himself in the Empty. And he's not alone.

Excerpt: “I love you.” The memory replayed clear as a bell that time. More than Castiel’s death, his last three words haunted Dean like a restless spirit. And yet… that wasn’t it, either. The words themselves? Yeah, that tracked. Of course Castiel loved him. Duh and, or hello. No, what had left Dean feeling like the biggest asshole to have ever assholed had absolutely everything to do with the fact that, in Castiel’s most vulnerable moment of his entire existence, Dean had balked. “Don’t… don’t do this, Cas.” What a stupid fucking response. Who says that to someone as they’re carving their heart out of their chest and handing it over to you on a silver platter in a last-ditch effort to save your stupid fucking dumbass from your own stupid fucking dumbass plan? Dean. That’s who. He had to make it right… Dean opened his eyes and breathed. “I love you, too, Cas.” There. Done. Did he feel any better? Nope. Not really. Not at all, in fact. Castiel was still fuckin’ dead. Deader than a doornail. But he’d said it. And dammit all to hell, he’d meant it. That was all that mattered. He shoved the key in his pocket with a defeated grunt. At least Billie was dead, too. Gotta pick out the positives where he found them. Right? He’d keep telling himself that until he passed out at the bottom of another bottle. If he could find one. The walk back to his room passed in a blur. He swung the door closed, but never heard it latch. Not that it mattered. Nobody needed him, really. Sam and Jack were busy enough trying to find a solution to the real problem. He’d only slow them down. Dead weight. Or just dead. If only. Eternal rest in Heaven sounded nice right about then. Reliving his favorite hits from his best cuts. No piece of shit monsters, no asshole demons, no dickbag angels… That last thought brought him up short at the edge of his bed in a sudden rush of clarity. A Heaven of reruns sounded awful. He shuddered, gagging against that rancid taste rising in his throat again. A drink. One more ought to do the trick. Dean tore open the drawer in his bedside table and withdrew his flask. The cap spun with a practiced flick of his thumb and forefinger. Then he threw his head back and downed the entire thing. Yup. Close enough. The flask clattered on the nightstand as he dropped it and collapsed onto his bed. With his face buried in his pillow, he reached for his lamp, slapping haphazardly as he searched for the switch. If he ever found it, he couldn’t remember. But he must have. Oppressive darkness filled his room, and he closed his eyes, hoping he could at least sleep like the dead. Dead. Castiel was dead. Again. And it was all Dean’s fault. It was the last coherent thought he had before he finally, blessedly, passed out.

DCBB 2024 Posting Schedule

#dcbb 2024 #fic preview #2024 promo #deancas #destiel

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toysrguts · 10 months ago

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Jeff the Killer Headcanons!!

literally nobody asked for this but these have been sitting in a doc for like a year so i wanted to share :)) (I WILL DRAW HIM ONE DAY!!!)

•19 yrs old and 5'9

•multitude of piercings: 14mm ear gauges, along with snake bites, nips, a navel, an eyebrow piercing on either side, second lobes, and an industrial on the right side

•is naturally brunette but dyes and cuts his hair himself. usually uses the cheapest black box dye he can find at the drugstore, and has a classic 2000s emo cut but messier and slightly below shoulder length (when hes lazy he just hacks away at his hair with a knife and calls it a day)

•picked up guitar playing cuz he thought it was cool and sexy but he totally kinda sucks at it (he cannot keep a hobby to save his life)

•raspy voice from smoking so goddamn much; in the morning hes practically whispering

•nails are always painted black but theyre always chipped cuz he picks his fingers when hes bored or anxious

•kind of a twink but has some muscle mass in his upper body (still skinny to the point where you can see his ribcage) (i guess hes more of an otter 💀)

•has a trampstamp he got while absolutely WASTED

•his car floor is completely covered in cans and bottles and garbage

•and it smells like cigarettes and is practically falling apart

•actually everything he owns absolutely reeks of weed and cigarettes and also blood

•bisexual and usually prefers he/him pronouns but he seriously couldnt care less

•TRANSGENDER.

•cant go a whole 5 seconds without making a sex joke or mentioning his huge dick

•has a really bad temper and would literally pull a knife on you for beating him in mario kart

•favorite band is BMTH and enjoys hardcore, deathcore, and most metal genres the most

•ADHD

•insane pyrophobia due to trauma related to fire

•absolutely no shame whatsoever. literally wanders around the slender mansion wearing nothing but boxers and dirty socks with a cigarette in his mouth and a bottle of jack daniels in his hand

•wears crop tops occasionally just to show off the belly button ring (AND HE LOOKS AMAZING)

•really bad at showing affection but tries his best. he doesnt usually like showing his softer side and hes very defensive but you can tell he cares deep down

•super impulsive when it comes to killing. if something small sets him off he will not hesitate to go on a rampage. if someone looks at him wrong he'll overthink it and wont rest until they're bleeding on the ground gasping for air

if this does well i'll do part 2 cuz theres a lot more where this came from :D OK BYE HOPE U LIKE

#creepypasta #jeff the killer #jeff woods #creepypasta fanfic #headcanon #headcanons #creepypasta headcanon #jeff the killer x reader #creepypasta x reader #jeffrey woods #jtk #creepypasta jtk #jtk x reader #jtk headcanons #slenderman #slender mansion #creepypasta hcs #jeffery woods

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beelzebuddy-catan · 2 years ago

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Obey Me Headcanons - Part 4

Mammon became luckier when the exchange program started. Not because of MC but because of Luke.

Satan is in an improv group but if you ask no he isn't.

Asmo gives people he's modelling with backhanded compliments to throw them off their game. Of course he'll look better but you can never be too sure. Right?

All of the brothers, except Satan sleep with lights on because they can't fall asleep in full darkness after living in the Celestial Realm.

Beel can't tie a tie. Satan tied his once and now he just loosens and tightens it.

Belphie can't tie his shoes. They're either Velcro, slip on, or untied.

He will never admit it.

Which is why he buys lace up shoes and just tells people he's too tired to tie them.

Levi wears heelies religiously and will just zoom out of the room when he's had enough.

Simeon pronounces lmao like LUH-Mayo but nobody will correct him.

Once in a fight when Satan was getting pissed™, MC turned to walk away and he said something under his breath.

MC spun around and slapped him.

It happened so fast he immediately snapped out of his rage fit from surprise and started laughing.

MC sells Mammon's stuff that he's forgotten about (you know he's got storage lockers full of things he doesn't even remember buying).

They save it for when he asks for money and pretends to loan it to him, know he won't pay them back.

MC has said "oh I thought you were the Avatar of ____, not the avatar of being a bitch ass" to at least one of the brothers.

Mammon was fucking around and chased some baby geese only for the mom to beat the shit out of him.

If Lilith had fallen with the brothers and become a demon, her sin would have been wrath.

Any being that can see ghosts/spirits can catch glimpses of her having violent reactions to coinciding with Satan's if he gets mad.

When MC drinks too much and needs someone to pick them up, they voice text Mammon asking for him to come.

Except half way through they always go: oh never mind Solomon just walked in. I'll just have a sleep over with him.

Mammon is ALWAYS there faster than a pizza delivery guy promising 20 minutes or less or a free pizza.

While Levi had his nickname long before Satan, it only really became commonplace when Satan was young because he couldn't pronounce the TH in leviathan.

Asmo can't French braid his hair, it always turns out as a Dutch braid.

Levi, however, is amazing at all different types of braids, so now he has to braid Asmo's hair

Diavolo thinks the funniest joke he's ever heard is the updog joke.

Mammon has gotten tricked into several multi level marketing scams.

He tries unsuccessfully to get his brothers to join each time.

Solomon started one just to mess with him.

It's the only time Mammon has been successful at it.

#on this page we believe Satan had to literally grow up and wasn't created as a full ass demon #toddler Satan brought new meaning to terrible twos #obey me #obey me memes #obey me headcanons #my headcanons #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me Levi #obey me Beel #obey me satan #obey me mc #obey me diavolo #obey me belphie #obey me like #obey me simeon #obey me solomon #obey me lilith

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clanwarrior-tumbly · 2 years ago

Note

Reader being spared by an Alternate and straight up letting them stay in your home, perhaps?

"...oh who am I kidding? It's pointless..nobody's gonna pick up..."

Holding the phone with one slightly trembling hand, you strongly considered dialing the number for the police department, hoping someone could come and get rid of the Alternate hanging around your house.

Yet you couldn't bring yourself to do it.

Of course, you knew that stupid "THINK" principle broadcasted throughout Mandela County was a lie. All of it was. It didn't stop the casualties from drastically rising. Nor did it stop the population from falling as people either moved out, died, or went missing.

As of right now, you were in none of those groups, and you prayed that by the end of tonight you'll be able to keep it that way.

Instead you chose to stick it out and protect your home, refusing to let some demonic presence ruin the life and memories you've built here.

You've seen sci-fi films on how mankind rallied together to combat the alien threat and save the world growing up, but sadly...that's all it ever was: fiction.

What was happening in Mandela County right now was reality. Nobody was coming to help...and the "plan" to combat this threat was only made-up to stop the public from freaking out.

All you could do was learn how to survive on your own.

So that's exactly what you were doing, as you put the phone down and checked your computer. It was hooked up to the few hidden cameras around your house, which you've installed long before the invasion ever began.

However, you started wondering if these devices that once gave you peace of mind could possibly be the death of you....considering Alternates can tap into electronics and torment their victims that way.

Rather than shut them off, though, you realized that this one in particular didn't seem...all-that-concerned with hunting you down at the moment.

If anything, it seemed almost confused. As if it stumbled into the wrong house.

As you observed the creature's movements, you saw it walking around the living room, gazing at photo frames featuring yourself and your family.

Despite the video's shitty quality, you could see it was in a purely black form--a shadowy figure with white eyes that never blinked. But the fact that its neck remained very elongated was the most unnerving detail.

Aside from that, it didn't seem to be aware of your cameras, which meant you hid them exceptionally well.

However a minute later, the Alternate suddenly began shuffling down the hallway that led directly to your room, causing panic to seize your body. You got chills as you watched it blend in with the darkness, essentially becoming one with it.

You held your breath and quickly killed the program, shutting off the computer before sneaking over to your bed. There, you hid under the covers and hoped that it didn't realize you were home.

You'd pray for protection, but...the officials advised not to turn to prayers, as the Alternates were known to wage heavy psychological warfare against folks with religious connections.

Then again you weren't sure who to trust anymore..

Regardless, this internal debate didn't last long as you heard light knocking on the door, nearly jumping out of your skin upon hearing a voice that was--and yet wasn't--your own coming from the other side.

"Nobody's gonna pick uppppp....."

Your blood ran cold.

'Fuck, fuck...it heard me..it knows I'm here...'

Every part of you was trembling as you laid there, wishing you didn't have to deal with this all on your own.

About an hour passed before you heard the knock again, as well as light scratching sounds against the closed door. You didn't realize you almost fell asleep...considering how exhausted you were.

Didn't help matters when you noticed it was 2 AM.

'Damn, I'm in for a long night...' Throwing the covers off, you sat up and glared at the door as the knob began to clatter and shake, sighing in annoyance.

How long was it going to keep playing this game?

If it wanted to kill you so badly, why didn't it just get it over with? Did it have some other plan for you?

You'd snap at it to leave you alone, but...that's probably a bad decision that'll drop your chances of survival to zero.

Maybe it's best that you don't acknowledge it.

After a few minutes, it stopped jiggling the doorknob around, although you tensed upon hearing some sort of sad groaning noise coming from the creature.

'The hell? It sounds like a kicked puppy-'

Wait...

Why were you thinking that?

It's only mimicking what a human in pain or sadness would sound like. There's no way in hell you were falling for that bullshit.

But it apparently thought otherwise as it continued whining; and you grew more and more irritated, wishing it would just shut up and go away already.

It continued for about five minutes straight, before falling silent.

And then...ten minutes passed without another sound coming from it, leading you to suspect that it finally gave up.

For a moment, you smiled in relief, thinking it was all over--

Until your computer screen somehow flickered to life and showed you the Alternate itself, looking just as it did on the cameras....wearing the same clothes you had on right now.

Your eyes widened in horror, heart sinking into the pit of your stomach.

"What the-?"

It began typing, words appearing on the bottom of the screen. Despite every part of you screaming to ignore it, you were drawn to the computer, slowly getting up out of bed and walking over to it so you could see the message more clearly:

BE NOT AFRAID

Then the screen switched off.

And you heard a hushed whisper over your shoulder.

"Sorry...it was the only way I could reassure you..."

Gasping lightly, you spun around and finally saw the Alternate face-to-face, with its neck straining to gaze down at you, white eyes staring into your very soul.

Yep..your chances of surviving this were basically in the negative.

But rather than immediately shriek in terror and brace for death, you stood in silent bewilderment, realizing that it actually spoke in its own voice, rather than yours. And it didn't sound malevolent at all despite its threatening form.

Not to mention, it...told you not to be afraid of it. Why is that?

'Well..guess there's no use in ignoring it now..'

"R-Reassure me...of what?" You hesitantly asked, palms sweating as you clasped your hands together.

Its gaze seemed to soften as it spoke something that changed your whole perception of it:

"I don't follow the flock."

It simply didn't have that drive in it.

Seeing your confusion, the Alternate elaborated, explaining that it had a "change of heart" shortly after its creation.

For reasons unknown even to itself, it refused to kill or masquerade as any human victim like the rest of its kin.

Because of this, it felt deeply flawed and became scared, afraid of what its maker would think as "he never made mistakes". So it searched for a place to hide, realized this was your home, and....ultimately chose to spare you, refusing to follow "his" doctrine.

In exchange for refuge, it promised you protection from the other Alternates should they intrude, allowing you to live your life (or at least as safely as you could in this county) and shelter you from symptoms of MAD.

While you were hesitant at first, you wanted to believe this Alternate was being genuine with you.

So you allowed it to stay under your roof under two conditions: No sabotaging your tech except in emergencies, and no mimicking any of your friends or family members. If either rule was broken, you'll report them immediately.

As for its mimicry, beyond whatever clothes you wore on any given day..it didn't try to copy your appearance or voice it all. It admitted to liking your taste in fashion, asking you more about it.

Surprisingly, it complied with them both right away, becoming your "guardian" of sorts ever since and keeping their word.

Somehow you've found yourself being able to sleep better at night, seeing the shadow in the corner of the room as more of a comforting presence than a threatening one.

It's not like you can just say "no" to a demonic shapeshifter. That's just plain rude.

In the end, you found the most unlikely friend in this hellhole that was Mandela County:

A pacifist Alternate.

Ironic as it was, you're just relieved somebody out there heard your silent prayers.

#ngl ive been watching a lot of alternate watch gameplay so yeah--#took some inspiration from that #clanask #anonymous #the mandela catalogue x reader #mandela catalogue x reader #tmc x reader #alternate x reader #platonic

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storiesfromafan · 1 year ago

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Dandelion

A/N: Back with Part 2! If you haven’t read Traitor, please do :) Hope this one lives up to what I wish it too. Haha. There will be a Part 3, just not sure when it will be up. As I haven’t started writing it yet. Been in a bit of a writers burnout.

Feel free to comment/message me with idea’s or anything.

Pairing: Mattheo x Fem!Reader Ravenclaw

Out of all the season’s Spring had always been your favourite, Mattheo recalled as he found himself out in a small field of wildflowers, that was a reasonable distance from the castle. It was a spot you both had spent every free moment at in Spring together. But now he was here alone, no you by his side. And it was his own responsibility you weren’t, for he ended it with you over four months ago. He had done it for the right reason, saving you from his father. From getting hurt because of him. Saving you from his darkness. Yet he missed the light you brought to his life. He missed who he was with you.

Brushing his fingers over various wildflowers that surrounded him, Mattheo recalled their individual names. Such as oxeye daisy, lesser celandine, cow parsley, dandelion. The last one being a mix of yellow flowers and the seed heads, most commonly picked and blown, its white sprouts flying off into the sky. A past time you enjoyed, claiming to make a wish with everyone. Nearly everything in his everyday routine and life reminded him of you.

When someone would say his name. Mattheo recalled how you would say his name; be it when you were happy, sad, angry, scared, breathless, sleepy, laughing. Or when he flirted with Anna. He remembered the first time he flirted with you, you had either been oblivious to it or playing hard to get. Because he knew you liked him, as he liked you too. You’d been a bit of a challenge, but in the end you both won when you got together. He hadn’t known anyone like you, still didn’t. He knew there would never be another you. He was glad about that. There was no one like his Y/N…or rather was his Y/N, he had to remind himself of that a lot.

Maybe, it's the way you say my name

Maybe, it's the way you play your game

But it's so good, I've never known anybody like you

But it's so good, I've never dreamed of nobody like you

You had come into his life during a hard time. His father and the Death Eater’s had been plotting and planning their next move and possible future moves. His father had been continuously hard on him, and only getting worse. The expectations he had to live up to were great, greater than anyone his age. But then there was you.

And I've heard of a love that comes once in a lifetime

And I'm pretty sure that you are that love of mine

Meeting you at a Ministry party that he attended with Lucius and Draco. Your father putting the three of you together. You all knew each other, or rather knew of each other, rarely your path’s crossed. There were a few classes together, but Mattheo had never talked to you. But he was glad he had been placed with you, for talking to you was a breath of fresh air. You treated him and Draco like any other student. You tried to make conversation, and he tried to return it, which you were grateful for. And from there it only became more. Once back at school he seeked you out, making time to chat with you. Talking turned to flirting, and flirting led to dating. Then you became his Ravenclaw beauty, then Ravenclaw Princess after you helped him through so many spiraling moments because his father.

Mattheo picked one of the dandelions with the fuzzy white seed heads, bringing it up and examining it. He never saw the fascination you had in the weed. It didn’t hold any real beauty like a rose, but it had a unique quality.

'Cause I'm in a field of dandelions

Wishing on every one that you'll be mine, mine

He recalled the first time you’d both came to this spot. You had named the wildflowers before laying down on the grass, the wildflowers surrounding you. He thought you look breathtakingly beautiful; you were made for wildflowers. From how your soft locks sprawled out around you, to the content smile that graced your tempting lips.

Then there were your eyes. Your bright E/C orbs staring up at him, a warmth and admiration shining in your eyes as you looked at him. It brought a soft smile to his lips, as you returned his smile. In that moment Mattheo felt comfortable, at ease from how your warmth brought him happiness.

And I see forever in your eyes

I feel okay when I see you smile, smile

Mattheo slowly twirled the dandelion between his fingers, as the memories crossing his mind of you reminded him of what he missed. Silently praying he had kept you by his side. Anger slowly began to build, anger at himself for hurting you. But he slowly let it go, reminding himself over and over it was to save you.

Wishing on dandelions all of the time

Praying to God that one day you'll be mine

Wishing on dandelions all of the time, all of the time

I think that you are the one for me

You. The brightness in that darkness of his life. The tether that kept him grounded. The one who showed him compassion and love, knowingly or unknowingly. You were everything to him. You were the one for him...but he couldn’t allow that.

The memory of the Yule Ball came to Mattheo’s mind. The first time he’d seen you dressed like the Princess you were. The dress you’d had chosen to wear was the perfect shade of F/C, fitted your frame perfectly with a skirt that flowed to the floor like water. The neckline was tasteful and the straps just thick enough and perfectly adjusted against your skin. Your neck and shoulders were on display, as your hair was up.

'Cause it gets so hard to breathe

When you're looking at me, I've never felt so alive and free

When you're looking at me, I've never felt so happy

Mattheo, watching you walk towards him, left him speechless. And with some tempting thoughts. Upon coming to stand before the Slytherin male, the bright smile you gave him caused his heart to skip a beat. This beauty before him had chosen him. You took his arm, while greeting him. The happiness and pride Mattheo felt as he led you into The Great Hall, eyes looking at you both, had him standing taller and confident.

That night you had both danced the night away; be it a formal dance or when the Weird Sisters took over the stage, and you both just let go. Mattheo was able to let go, a night to be free. You were just as free. Laughing, dancing and showing Mattheo attention. From dancing together, holding hands or little kisses. He had wished that moment could have been forever.

And I've heard of a love that comes once in a lifetime

And I'm pretty sure that you are that love of mine

'Cause I'm in a field of dandelions

Wishing on every one that you'll be mine, mine

Being the gentleman that he was, and wanting every possible moment with you, Mattheo had walked you back to the Ravenclaw house door. During the walk you had both tried to take as long as possible. First taking a long route to the door, walking slowly, taking moments to appreciate paintings or sculptures on the walk. Anything and everything to make this moment together last.

And I see forever in your eyes

I feel okay, when I see you smile, smile

Eventually you made it to your destination. You both looked at each other, neither wanting to unlock your hands from the other. Mattheo brought his hand up to brush some of your framing hair behind your ear, before cupping your cheek with that hand.

“You look so beautiful tonight” he said softly, eyes locked with your own.

“Yes...you already told me that” you replied just as softly, scared if you were any louder it would break the moment.

Mattheo smiled. “I know, but you deserve to be told every minute of every day how beautiful you are”.

Those words of his made your breath hitch, before shakily exhaling. These were the moments you treasured. The reassurance of Mattheo’s feelings. He might not speak of his feelings for you, but words like this, with the looks he gave you, spoke louder than anything.

Moving closer, Mattheo finally dipped his head down and captured your lips with his. The peck was soft, testing the waters. Pulling back, he looked to your eyes, and seeing the joy and restlessness in them, he went in again. This time he was firmer, tongue coming out to run along your bottom lip for permission. You didn’t waste time, opening your mouth to him. Mattheo took the lead, his tongue dancing with your own, in a breathtaking kiss. You both could feel how the other felt.

Pulling back when air was needed, you both watched the other with a blissful smile on your faces. Mattheo continued to caress your cheek as you watched each other. But time was fleeting, and you both had to part ways. With one final peck to your lips, Mattheo stepped back, his hand leaving your cheek.

“Goodnight Princess” he said softly. “Till the morning”.

You nodded your head, “goodnight, Theo”.

Reluctantly you turned from him and stepped up to the Ravenclaw door. Briefly you stopped and looked over your shoulder at him. He gave you a cheeky smile and a final goodnight, and you then passed through the door. It closed with a small noise. And Mattheo was left alone, but he felt on top of the world.

Tossing the dandelion from his hands, Mattheo scrunched up his face at the weed. How silly it was the believe making a wish on the weed would come true. It was childish. Yet you did it. You believed in it. You had confided in him that once you’d made a wish on the weed, asking to do well in Snape's class once, for the potion you’d be making was tricky. And you had managed to not ruin it. So, it became almost a ritual of yours, making wishes on weeds.

Wishing on dandelions all of the time

Praying to God that one day you'll be mine

Wishing on dandelions all of the time, all of the time

Looking at the dandelions around him, Mattheo contemplated taking a page from your book. But then the rational side of him told him too not be stupid. So, he turned from the weed and back to the school in the distance. But the curiosity of making a wish crept up, and with a sigh Mattheo picked another dandelion.

He glared at the weed, silently telling it to work. Drawing in a breath, he blew the white fuzzy seeds from the weed, and thinking ‘I wish my father doesn’t hurt her...’

Dandelion, into the wind you go

Won't you let my darling know?

Dandelion, into the wind you go

Won't you let my darling know that?

Mattheo put everything into that wish. He didn’t want anything to happen to you. He wanted to keep you safe, from his father...and from him. With what was to come, he would wish on every weed on the grounds if he had too. If anything happened to you, Mattheo wouldn’t be able to forgive himself.

I'm in a field of dandelions

Wishing on every one that you'll be mine, mine

Picking another dandelion, he intended to make the same wish, hoping to make it come true. But before he blew the fuzzy white seeds, you came to mind clearly. And as he released his breath, freeing the seeds, he found himself wishing to see you right then.

He watched the seeds float up in the sky, dancing from the breeze before floating off back towards the castle. For a moment he watched them float before disappearing, and an approaching form came into his line of vision. As they got closer, Mattheo’s breath caught in his throat, as he saw who it was. You. If his wish had been answered so soon, would his first wish come true too?

When you drew closer you finally realized your spot had been taken. For sitting there among the wildflowers was the last person you wanted to see; Mattheo. The look that crossed your face was sour, which Mattheo saw. You went to turn around and head back to the castle before he got up quickly, calling your name.

“Y/N! Wait” Mattheo called standing a meter behind you.

You looked over your shoulder, “what?” You spat.

Mattheo sighed. “You...you can have the spot” he said softly, looking down at the ground. “I was going to leave anyways”.

He walked around you slowly, and once he was five steps from you, Mattheo stopped before turning back to you. You had been watching him the whole time, studying him closely. You noted the sullen look upon his face, how his eyes lack any shine and how he seemed to have no fight. He was a shell of himself, like you had seen time and time before.

“Are you alright?” You found yourself asking, not thinking. For he was meant to be the bad guy.

Your question caused his heart to ache. Even after all he had done you still asked if he was alright. You may not entirely care, but still took time to ask him. Sighing Mattheo looked away from you. Unsure how to answer you. He didn’t want to lie, nor did he want to upset you. Damned if he do, damned if he didn’t.

“I’m...okay” he breathed, trying to convince himself. “Things have been...hard lately, with home”.

You nodded. “Understandable” you said softly, watching his every movement. Not fully believing his words. For there was truth but also a bit of skirting around it.

Silence took over after that, the spring breeze picking up in that moment. You watched as the breeze tossed Mattheo’s curls around. How you had missed combing your hands through those curls. It was something Mattheo had enjoyed; it soothed his mind and relaxed him. The temptation to do it now growing strong, for the boy before you were in turmoil. You shook your head at the thought of being close to the one who broke your heart.

You had thought it was the breeze playing tricks, but seeing his moving lips showed it was Mattheo who spoke. “I’m sorry” was what he said softly, almost missed by your ears.

At first you were shocked by his apology, followed by a small warm feeling in your chest. Before it died and a slow burn of anger began to take hold of you. How could his words make up for everything? How could he so bluntly say sorry.

“Excuse me?” You questioned, tone a little sharp.

Mattheo looked to you, and seeing your reaction to his words, he was shocked. He had hoped it would have helped. “I’m sorry” he repeated turning to face you. “I didn’t mean to hurt you like I did”.

You blinked a few times, blood slowly coming to a boil. “How can you just say that?” You questioned a little loudly. “How does apologizing make up for what I’ve been through?”

Valid questions Mattheo noted. “It doesn’t. But I want you to know that I am sorry-”

You scoffed. “Yeah right. The Mattheo Riddle I know would never say sorry. He might show it, but never openly apologize”.

He frowned. “That is true, but I wanted to put it into words. I at least owe you that”.

“You owe me nothing! Nor do I want it!” you yelled, hands clenching. “You hurt me. Simple as that. And for that I don’t want your apology. So, keep it”.

Mattheo nodded his head. “I deserve that”. His face fell, eyes looking at the ground. He looked so weak.

You took a step back. Taking in his demeanor. You could see cracks of how effected Mattheo was. You wondered how long before it would shatter. The want to hold him, run your fingers through his curls while telling him that he was alright, was strong. And though you didn’t want to, you decided to say the next words.

And I see forever in your eyes

I feel okay when I see you smile, smile

“It’s alright” you sighed. “I don’t entirely forgive you, but I half accept it” you said watching his face.

Hearing your words, Mattheo’s eyes snapped to you. His dull brown eyes, now shinning with confusion, looked right into your E/C orbs. He could see how unsure you were in their reflection. But with it was a small familiar look; admiration. After all he’d done, you still admired him. Part of you wanted him to apologize but majority of you wanted to punch his pretty face.

“You do?” He choked out. “Why?”

Your face softened, thinking over his words. “I won’t lie. I was hurt. I was angry” you looked him dead in the eyes. “But what has it gotten me? Where has it gotten me? It has left me bitter, and it’s gotten me no where”.

He nodded his head slowly.

“So, I’d rather accept some of it than nothing. Because I look back at our time together and I know I was happy” you said fondly, memories coming to mind. “You made me happy Theo. And I would love to see you in as much agony as me, but part of me still hates to see it”.

“Just part?” Mattheo said with a small smirk, trying to lighten the moment. Which you softly smile at.

There might be so much, good and bad between you both, but some familiarity was there. As well as some closure. He said sorry, and you believed me meant it. You had half accepted his apology, which lightened Mattheo’s worries.

You both continued to stare at the other. Unsure what to say, or what to do. But you were the one to break eye contact when you turned, planning to take the spot Mattheo had been occupying. He looked at you, mind thinking so many things. But the one thought screaming to him was your safety. He had to make sure you were safe.

Wishing on dandelions all of the time

Praying to God that one day you'll be mine

Wishing on dandelions all of the time, all of the time

“Would it be strange if I asked you to stay away from Hogwarts next year...to not come back?” Mattheo was unsure but voice a little panicky.

You turned back to him, confusion on your face. “Huh? What are getting at?”

Mattheo moved from foot to foot. “Next year, don’t come back to Hogwarts. I can’t say anything...but I need you to be safe”.

You studied the Slytherin, unsure if he was pulling your leg. But his eyes told you he was serious. “Answer me this; will you be safe here next year?”

He shook his head. “Probably not”.

You gave a short nod. “Then I can’t promise you anything. I will be here next year, no matter what”.

Mattheo’s heart ached at your words. Not what he had hopped. But you were honest. And he didn’t give you a reason why not to return to school. He just hopped you wouldn’t be in the cross fire of what’s to come.

With that, you took your spot amongst the wildflowers while Mattheo took a moment watching you. He was taking in the sight before him, putting it to memory. With it all said and done, Mattheo turned from you and started to head back to the castle.

He wasn’t sure what was to exactly come. But he would make sure, as best to his abilities, that you would be safe from it all. Mattheo needed you to be safe, for no harm to come to you. Be it his father or him, you would be safe.

Tags: @iheqrtaustin @ash-whimsicalfanfic

I'm in a field of dandelions

Wishing on every one that you'll be mine, mine

#mattheo riddle x reader #mattheo x reader #mattheo riddle x you #mattheo x y/n #mattheo riddle x fem!reader #Spotify

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ghost-bxrd · 7 months ago

Note

You know, just read that prompt about Timmy quietly accepting his own death at Jason's command...

I kinda want the opposite.

I want a furious, yelling, fighting Tim, with a major broken pedestal as far as Jason is concerned.

Okay, he can get why Jason blames him, for taking the Robin suit. And maybe Bruce deserves a bit of it too.

But what he absolutely can't and won't forgive is Jason going after Dick. Especially since Dick forgives it so readily, since Dick is the one pleading for forgiveness.

Tim was there. He saw what Jason's death did to all of them. And he can't believe Jason would ever doubt Dick, that Jason would turn up to hurt him worse.

Tim being like... "You know, all the time I was trying to keep them from killing themselves, I kept telling myself, telling them, that you wouldn't want them to hurt like that. But you wanted it, didn't you? Want it. You never wanted them to heal. You never wanted them to move on. Maybe, if you had come back then, come back when B was trying to get himself killed, when Dick was catatonic curled up on your grave and trying to starve himself to death, maybe you'd have been happy at last? Or would you have decided that isn't enough either? Not enough punishment for not making you his absolute top priority for once, just once, in his life?"

And Tim going "I hate you. But I'll pretend to love you, because everyone knows Dick will choose you anytime. And I daren't leave him at your mercy."

I want post-Red Hood Jason working to earn Tim's forgiveness and trust again.

Oh yes, that’s also an interesting take! And one that (I think) comes closer to how he would react in canon. Tim is a spitfire and we love him for it 💚

And while I definitely want to explore this version of him eventually, I think it wouldn’t tie into how the Owl Song verse is set up.

Although if Owl Song does get its continuation, I think there would be some struggling on Tim’s part. Not for himself (never for himself) but for Dick and Bruce. A struggle to make Jason understand that nobody ever wanted to replace him.

In this universe, Tim wouldn’t be able to scrounge up the anger that would result in him hating Jason. Jason did too much for him to do that. He brought Tim into the family fold. Without Jason, Dick would have never accepted him. Jason, though it wasn’t his intention and he genuinely loved Tim, built the stepping stone that resulted in Tim becoming Robin.

Because any other kid trying to be Robin after Jason? Dick wouldn’t have stopped his mad pursuit for anything. Tim having “hatchling” status (ie family) is literally what saved him.

If you look deeper than surface level, the Owl Song verse is pretty twisted in its own way. And Dick could very quickly become a real monster if nobody keeps him grounded at least somewhat. With Jason gone and Bruce being someone Dick now borderline despises— yeah, it’s very lucky that Jason met Tim in school and went “must protect” and had Dick pick up on that. 🦉

#sorry I’m not very coherent rn I think my brain is sorta fried oops #owl song #very dark in its own way #altho we mostly see the happy parts #but the codependency between Jason and Dick is potentially terrifying #the depths of which Bruce is only now starting to grasp for real #talon dick grayson #Jason todd #Tim drake

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tobiasdrake · 13 days ago

Text

Digimon Adventure 01x52 - The Holy Swordsman! HolyAngemon / Piedmon's Last Jest

Previously on Digimon Adventure: Yamato and Sora picked the worst time to go spelunking. Fortunately, Jou vanquished Sora's insecurities through reason and logic and Gabumon vanquished Yamato's with indignant toothmarks. They returned just in time to stop Taichi from getting himself killed, as tends to happen when he's left unsupervised.

Now, together, WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon stand against Piemon. Which you may think will go either very poorly or very well, depending on which spoileriffic episode title you read.

We open on the Chosen Children taking cover behind a ridge, sending the two Ultimates out into the fight.

Yamato: Get him, MetalGarurumon! Taichi: WarGreymon! This all ends after we defeat Piemon! Piemon: But can you defeat me? Ahahahahahaha!

Piemon is very amused by his terrible comeback. He forms a ring of fire over his head while he mocks the children. MetalGarurumon is less amused, however, and takes the obvious bait.

MetalGarurumon: We will defeat you!

MetalGarurumon rushes Piemon. Piemon tosses out the ring of fire he was flagrantly telegraphing, which MetalGarurumon flies straight into. It constricts around his midsection, burning him and bringing him to the ground.

WarGreymon: MetalGarurumon! Piemon: And this one's for you.

Piemon summons a large ball, which emerges from the ground under WarGreymon's feet. He tries, futilely, to balance on it for a couple seconds before slipping and falling on top of MetalGarurumon. Piemon laughs merrily at his jest.

(WarGreymon, you can fly.)

In the dub, Tai uses the establishing shot to lead us in and remind us of what's happening.

Tai: Now that we have two Mega Digimon, let's destroy Piedmon once and for all! Matt: Go get him, MetalGarurumon! Tai: Come on, WarGreymon! Take care of this clown! Piedmon: So... I'm a clown...? Then I'll act like one! CLOWN TRICK!!! (Piedmon forms the ring of fire) MetalGarurumon: I'll get him! (lunges) Piedmon: Try jumping through this hoop! (Fire ring takes down MetalGarurumon) WarGreymon: Whoa, are you okay!? Piedmon: Why don't you join us? We're having a ball! (Balancing ball appears under WarGreymon) Piedmon: Hahahaha! Bravo! Sorry if I caught you off-balance! Round and round he goes; Where he lands, nobody knows! Hahahahahaha!

Dub Piedmon is chewing all of the scenery and it's fun. XD

In the original, MetalGarurumon flew straight into a telegraphed attack because he was baited by the worst comeback in history. In the dub, he's acting on Yamato's plan of "Get him". They changed his motive, but retained the pure essence of dumbness permeating the doomed charge.

Piemon's attacks here don't have a name in the original, but the dub calls them Clown Trick. Which makes more sense than last episode, where Clown Trick was their name for his finishing move, Ending Snipe.

I was initially a little peeved that Tai didn't say "Let's finish this clown once and for all," but then it turned out he was saving it for his next line. Calling someone a clown is a child-friendly burn in the U.S. so you obviously can't pass that up.

So, round 1 to Piemon. Time to regroup and figure out a plan for round 2.

Koushiro: He's toying with us. Taichi-san! Taichi: Hang back for now. Yamato: Agreed. Let's gauge the situation first.

How sick do you think Koushiro is hearing that? Taichi was telling him that all last episode and was nearly beaten to death for it. Fortunately, Taichi seems to have forgotten that he was on death's door between episodes so he's all good now.

Maybe MetalGarurumon brought him back to life too.

Piemon: I think it's time I struck the final blow. TRUMP SWORD!!! Taichi: Careful! We don't know where they might come from!

At the end of last episode, the boys vaporized this attack with a combined assault. But Piemon's got more where that came from, and this time he makes it trickier. The swords separate and flicker out of visibility to make it--

MetalGarurumon: Sensor Catch! WarGreymon, left by 45 degrees! WarGreymon: Got it.

Oh, never mind then. With MetalGarurumon backing him, WarGreymon easily deflects the first incoming sword with his Dramon Killer.

MetalGarurumon: Next, to the right! WarGreymon: Whuh!?

WarGreymon whips around in time to deflect not just one but all three of the other swords, flanking him to try and capitalize off the first's distraction.

(Clever trick. Clever clown trick, if you will. Ahaha ha ha.... Oh no, where did this sword come from?)

MetalGarurumon: I'll handle the rest.

The four swords regroup for their next pass. Firing blue beams from his snout, MetalGarurumon vaporizes them all.

In the dub, Izzy's exchange with Tai and Matt is less argumentative.

Izzy: He thinks this is just a big game! Tai: Well, I'm tired of playing around! Matt: Let's not be hasty. He wants us to make a mistake.

Here, it's Tai getting impatient and Matt coolly telling him to chill. In the original, it's Koushiro getting impatient with both Taichi and Yamato presenting a united front on where we go next.

You know. Because. Taichi and Yamato being united is kind of the big thing going on right now.

Piedmon: What's the matter? Don't want to play with Uncle Piedmon anymore? TRUMP SWORD!!! Tai: Be careful of the swords! Hey, wait... Some of those swords aren't real! MetalGarurumon: WarGreymon, I'm picking up the real swords on my sensors. Over to your right! WarGreymon: Cover me! (WarGreymon deflects the first sword. Then, without a word from MetalGarurumon, whips around and deflects the other three.) Piedmon: (triumphant) WAHA!!! MetalGarurumon: METAL WOLF SNOUT!!! (vaporizes the other swords)

Metal Wolf Snout. XD They are absolutely taking the piss with that one. I swear the dub is written like an Abridged Parody sometimes.

This fight is completely different. First off, the dub interprets the swords suddenly disappearing to mean that there are a bunch of extra illusory swords floating around alongside the four real ones.

I'm not going to bag on them for that. That's a cool idea and it still plays into the idea that MetalGarurumon's sensors will be the key factor in winning this exchange.

But... then the action kinda goes to shit. I don't like that they took out MetalGarurumon's precise instructions as well as him redirecting WarGreymon's attention to deflect the other three swords.

It's a small moment but super important for the theme of Yamato's arc. Remember "There are some things only you can do"? Both Yamato and recently Jou have been about it lately.

We saw WarGreymon face down Trump Sword on his own last episode, and he got decimated by it. He simply can't keep his attention on all of the swords at once. This moment is here to demonstrate how MetalGarurumon's unique abilities can push WarGreymon through an encounter that he can't win with his own strengths.

This is thematically important choreography.

From here, the boys go on the offensive.

MetalGarurumon: That attack won't work anymore!

WarGreymon nails Piemon with Gaia Force, sending him flying.

Taichi: We've got the upper hand! No more waiting around, Koushiro! Everyone, evolve and attack him together! Koushiro: Here we go, team. SUPER EVOLUTION!!! Tentomon: Let's go! Gomamon: Count me in! Andromon: Wait!

Andromon cuts in, warning the others. Piemon is up to something.

In the dub:

MetalGarurumon: Looks like the joke's on you, Piedmon. (WarGreymon hits Piedmon with Terra Force) Tai: Alright! Nice shot! Izzy, have everyone DIgivolve and attack! Izzy: You heard him, guys! Now it's our turn! Tentomon: I'm in! Gomamon: Me too! Andromon: Caution!

Taichi calls out Koushiro here because he and Koushiro have been having it out since last episode over keeping Tentomon in reserve. Koushiro's been chomping at the bit to get in this fight, so Taichi singles him out to say, "Okay, finally, now you can jump in."

The dub version of this is absurdly redundant. Tai tells Izzy to tell the team to evolve and fight, rather than just... telling the team to evolve and fight. They're all right there next to him; No need for a middleman.

In any case, Piemon's up to something. He holds out a simple white cloth.

Jou: What the? Is he waving the white flag to surrender? Sora: That pose... Is he saying there's no trick involved?

Calling Piemon out as setting up a magic trick, Sora seems to have hit the nail on the head. Piemon slowly turns the cloth back and forth, revealing it to be a plain white cloth with nothing on either side.

Taichi: Is he going to pull out a pigeon next? WarGreymon: PLAYTIME IS OVER!!! Piemon: Is it, now?

WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon rush Piemon. He tosses the cloth out in response. It expands in the air, growing into a large sheet that blankets the both of them. After a short crackle of pink energy, the sheet falls flat on the ground.

Taichi: WARGREYMON!!! Yamato: METALGARURUMON!!!

The boys run out onto the field to check the now-flat sheet. Piemon tosses another cloth, taking them as well. As before, it blankets the two boys and crackles with pink energy. Then it too goes flat.

Hikari: ONII-CHAN!!! Takeru: WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM!?!? Piemon: Allow me to show you!

Piemon lifts the two sheets and throws them into the air. The boys and their Digimon are gone! It's magic! What a performance!

Oh, shit, this is bad for us.

In the dub:

Joe: A white flag? Maybe he's trying to surrender to us. Sora: I don't trust him. I think he's got another trick up his sleeve. Tai: Hey, why don't you make yourself disappear? WarGreymon: PLAYTIME IS OVER!!! Piedmon: But I'm just getting started! (Digimon get cloth'd) Tai: WARGREYMON!!! Matt: METALGARURUMON!!! (The boys run out there and get cloth'd) Kari: What happened!? T.K.: I don't know.... Piedmon: (revealing) TA-DAAAAAAAA!!! Thanks for coming; Next show's at 7:30. You've been a GREAT crowd! Goodnight!

"Why don't you make yourself disappear!?" XD That one got me.

Also super love Piedmon's expanded last line. He's doing a fantastic job this episode.

On the original's side of things, I like the casual and unimpressed "Is it, now?" retort to WarGreymon over the more indignant response in the dub.

Now for the burning question: What exactly happened to Taichi, Yamato, and their Partners?

Jou: THEY VANISHED!!! Tentomon: WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!?!? Koushiro: (furious) WHERE DID YOU SEND TAICHI-SAN AND THE OTHERS!?!? Piemon: They're still right here, are they not?

Piemon feigns ignorance over Koushiro's accusation, then holds out his hand to show them what he means. As he opens his hand, he reveals a pair of keychains in the image of Taichi and Yamato.

Piemon: Look. And these ones too. Look!

Holding out his other hand, he reveals keychains of WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon.

Sora: H-He's turned them into dolls! Piemon: That's right. To reward them for trying so hard, I've made them part of my collection. Ahahahahahaha! So, who wants to go next?

What a dick! So, on a scale of 1 to Oh Shit, losing both of our Ultimates in the fight against the strongest Dark Master rates about a 13.

Yamato and Taichi's dramatic reunion after Yamato finally accepted himself and self-actualized made such a difference in this battle. XD

I jest. If Yamato hadn't come back, then Taichi and Agumon would have died last episode. Just because they didn't strike the final blow, that doesn't mean their reunion didn't matter.

Piemon may have had the keychain trick in his back pocket this whole time, but it was only Yamato joining the fight that pushed him hard enough to use it and sent us on to this next stage.

In the dub:

Joe: HE MADE THEM ALL DISAPPEAR!!! Tentomon: Well, at least he didn't saw them in half. Izzy: What did you do to Tai and Matt, Piedmon!? Piedmon: I hold the keys to their existence. And I need a place to put them, so I made a couple of keychains. (Piedmon reveals Tai and Matt) Piedmon: I think I'll hang these two on my backpack. (reveals the other two) Sora: What kind of sicko turns people into keychains!? Piedmon: I'm not a sicko! I'm a collector and these new items have such sentimental value to me. Ha! Haha! DAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Now, who wants to be next!?

Dub Piedmon is a lot more menacing here, rather than the playful tone that Piemon strikes. They also use his final declaration, "Who wants to be next!?" as the cliffhanger for the first commercial break. Good timing.

Cut to the fire cave. ...fire cave? Yes, that's right, the fire cave.

It's a cave that fire shoots out of. Alternating between horizontal flames and vertical flames pouring out of two separate holes. Gennai approaches, piloting that Mekanorimon from the flashback.

(...that was a Metal Empire goon that he temporarily hijacked. How are they friends now? There is an offscreen redemption arc that I need to see.)

Gennai: Centarumon, is this it? Centarumon: Oh! You managed to come? Yes, that's right. This is the Wall of Fire from the prophecy written in File Island's ancient ruins. (Gennai opens the hatch to see for himself) Gennai: But could it really have come through these flames? Centarumon: That's what the prophecy said. Gennai: Unbelievable!

Ominous! Obvious firewall pun aside, something has breached said firewall.

We, uh, need to revisit Centarumon's name for a second, because the situation there's a bit fuckier than I previously understood when I was doing his original episode.

So. Officially, his name is ケンタルモン Kentarumon. The intent here is clearly "Centaurmon". But. That's not. The correct spelling of Centaurmon. It should be ケンタウルモン Kentaurumon. In the process of turning this Romanized Greek word into Japanese, they missed a letter.

Wikimon calls him Centalmon while the dub goes for Centarumon, both for the same purpose. They replace the hard K with a soft C as is appropriate for the word "centaur" but leave the end misspelled. I'm siding with the dub on this one because the "Centaru" does a better job of looking like a misspelled "centaur" than "Cental" does.

The dub returns from commercial here to a bit more lighthearted tone than the original.

Centarumon: LOOK AT ALL THIS FIRE!!! This is terrible; I didn't bring a single marshmallow! Gennai: Centarumon, I came as fast as I could. Centarumon: Oh, Gennai! I'm glad you made it. Gennai: Is this it? Centarumon: Yes, this is the mystical wall of fire the ancient prophecy on File Island describes. Gennai: Really? What do you say we barbecue? (Gennai opens the hatch to see for himself) Gennai: Incredible! Is it really true that he had to make it across these flames? Centarumon: I know it sounds crazy, Gennai. But that's what the prophecy says. Gennai: Unbelievable!

This scene's a little dry, so the dub adds some levity. This has the effect of removing the ominous tone of the original, however. They're having a serious conversation about something bad that's about to happen, setting the stage for our final adversary.

The more casual tone fails to capture that vague sense of foreboding. We don't know what they're talking about but they're super friendly about it, like they're chatting about a friend's achievement.

"Oh, yeah, Tai jumped right through the electric fence without hesitation." "That's CRAZY!"

Neither of them seem too perturbed by the idea of something coming through here.

Back at the fight, Piemon has clipped his new keychains to his coat. They aren't attached to anything but instead awkwardly clipped to the fabric itself. The kids beat a hasty retreat.

Piemon: Hahahaha! Andromon: HIDE IN THAT CAVE!!!

The children run for a small cave entrance under the roots of one of the darkness realm's dead trees. However, Sora realizes that Andromon is not among them and turns back.

Sora: ANDROMON!!! Andromon: I'll hold him off. Sora: But-- Andromon: SPIRAL SWORD!!!

Before she can argue further, Andromon whips around and launches his Spiral Sword at Piemon. Piemon deflects the projectile with his sword, then closes distance.

For a short time, Andromon's metal armor allows him to deflect and parry Piemon's strikes.

Jou-senpai grabs Sora by the arm, forcing her to retreat.

Jou: RUN, SORA-KUN!!! DON'T LET ANDROMON'S GESTURE GO TO WASTE!!! Sora: (anguished) AUGH!!!

For Andromon, things are going well. He even manages to go on the offensive between blows, missing two punches but landing a solid hit with his third and pushing Piemon back. This buys him an opening to fire his Gatling Missiles,

For a moment, it seems as if they hit Piemon dead-on. But then Andromon sees the edges of the cloth coming down around him.

In the dub:

Piedmon: Huhuhahahaha HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Andromon: Get into that cave! (Sora realizes) Sora: ANDROMON!!! Andromon: Don't worry! I'll hold him off! LIGHTNING BLADE!!! (Andromon and Piedmon briefly fight) Sora: (anguished) Andromon! Joe: (pulling Sora) We've got to get out of here, Sora! Andromon's buying us more time! Sora: (wailing) WAAAAAUGH!!!

In the original, it's a little ambiguous as to what happened when the missiles landed. We didn't see Piemon get away, but the way he suddenly enshrouds Andromon in his disappearing cloth from an unseen location seems to imply an answer. He probably did that shonen anime thing where the dust clears and the bad guy's eerily not there because he dodged so hyper-fast you didn't notice.

But it's also possible he took the hit and tanked it with his Ultimate 'mon strength.

The dub has Piedmon grunt in pain when the missiles hit, indicating that not only did he tank the attack but that it hurt him. Still won the fight thanks to the cloth, though.

Inside the cave, the children find things are not so safe as they may have hoped.

Their path comes to the edge of an overhang above a great cavern. The path gives way in this massive room, with the only exit being a similar overhang across the ravine. Curtains are hung along the cavern's walls, with only a pair of trapezes offering a means of passage.

Tentomon: W-What is this place? Sora: It looks like a circus ring. Koushiro: It seems the path continues up ahead. Jou: But how do we get over there!?

Tentomon flies across, gesturing at the trapezes.

Tentomon: You'll have to swing across using these. Hurry up! Tailmon: Hikari, hold on tight! Hikari: Mhm!

Hikari holds onto Tailmon while the latter uses her natural agility to cross the trapezes. They make it across with ease. Tailmon deposits Hikari on the opposite cliff, then goes back for the others.

Takeru makes the jump to the first trapeze by himself. Jumping off at the midpoint, he grabs onto Tailmon's paws and she delivers him safely to the other side. Patamon flies across to join him.

Sora goes next, with Piyomon unhelpfully clinging to her back. Then Jou and Koushiro throw Gomamon to Tailmon, since the poor little sea mammal can't jump himself. Then, the last two on the ledge, Jou loads Koushiro up on the first trapeze to--

Piemon: You won't make it.

Piemon enters, holding Andromon's keychain in front of him.

Jou: ANDROMON!?!? Koushiro, GO!!!

Piemon casts one of his disappearing cloths, but in the moment before it takes him, Jou-senpai gives Koushiro a hard shove on the trapeze. Then he's gone.

Koushiro: (tears in his eyes) JOU-SAN!!!

It's for nothing. A second cloth wraps around Koushiro on the trapeze. By the time it reaches Tailmon, Koushiro is gone too. Tentomon furiously charges at Piemon.

Tentomon: WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO KOUSHIRO-HAN!?!? GYAH!!!

Predictably, Piemon takes him too.

Piemon: (singsong) Look, I ca~ught it, I ca~ught it! It's u~useless to run!

In the dub:

Tentomon: What kind of place is this!? Sora: It looks like a giant circus tent! Izzy: Whatever it is, I don't like it. Hey, there's a way out across this canyon! Joe: My only question is, how do we get to it!? Tentomon: (flying across) The only way is to use these swings like a trapeze artist. But don't look down! There's no net! Gatomon: Kari, hold me tight and don't let go! (Gatomon takes Kari across) Tentomon: Not so easy to fly, is it? (T.K. goes next; Gatomon grabs him) Gatomon: What do you carry in that backpack!? Bricks!? (Gatomon delivers T.K.; Sora's turn) Sora: Ow! Gatomon, you've gotta trim your claws! (Joe and Izzy launch Gatomon) Joe: Away you go! (Joe prepares to send Izzy) Piedmon: Don't you want to take your friend along? Joe: ANDROMON!?!? GO, IZZY!!! (Joe pushes Izzy and gets taken) Izzy: DAAAUGH!!! JOE!!! (The cloth takes Izzy next) Tentomon: Don't worry, Izzy! I'll save you! (Tentomon rushes in and gets taken) Piedmon: Now you see them and now you don't! They're dropping like flies.

The dub adds in some quips to break up the silence when the kids make the trapeze jump. Apart from that, it's mostly the same.

As a villainous boast, I like Piemon's entrance line asserting bluntly, "You won't make it." There's something bone-chilling about a monster stating matter-of-fact that it's too late to run and then immediately proving it when you try. 10 out of 10 on the horror movie scale.

Meanwhile, the playful taunt of "Don't you want to take your friend?" in the dub is also a great entrance line. Tonally, they're very different, but they're both solid "Oh shit he's here" announcements.

Meanwhile, there's one last person who's finally ready to join this party.

Mimi's nakama doesn't get to "But how did we get up here?" their way onto the big bowl-shaped platform at the top of Spiral Mountain or fly on Birdramon's talons. No, they have to fucking climb with ropes.

We join Mimi with Lilimon shoving her butt to try and help her climb.

Lilimon: Nnggh... Yegh... You're too heavy... I can't push you up! Mimi: Liar! I'm not that fat, am I?

It seems Mimi has amassed a small army of Gekomon and Otamamon now, not just the pair. Some have made it to the top and are working at pulling up the ropes, but many more cling to ropes around her.

Gekomon: Mimi! It looks like the fight's already started geko! Mimi: There's so many of us! Isn't there someone in our nakama who can fly!?

As Mimi exclaims that question, the shadow of Unimon passes over her and the many hanging Gekomon and Otamamon.

In the dub:

Lillymon: Ugh! Mimi, I'm getting exhausted! Mimi: Really? That's strange; I feel fresh as a daisy. Gekomon: Mimi, get up here! It looks like the battle's started! Mimi: Oh, it's just my luck! I finally bring all the reinforcements and all they want to do is hang around!

This is a goofy scene in both versions, with the Lilimon exchange having punchlines predicated in Mimi's vanity in the original and her ditzy screwball tendencies in the dub.

But for the second part, the dub's gag doesn't really engage with the scene. She riffs on the animation, with Unimon's passing shadow now entirely divorced from the context of the scene.

Back in the trapeze room, Piemon inspects his new keychains.

A pair of sparkles under his eyes reveals that Koushiro's keychain is locked in the crying expression he had when he was taken.

Piemon: My my, you're still crying even after becoming a doll? You must be lonely without the rest of your nakama. Just wait; You'll all be together soon.

Skipping the trapezes, Piemon leaps across the gorge in a single bound. He pursues the Children into what appears to be a building interior, with brick walls and wooden floors. He calls out into the building, his voice and his footsteps echoing through.

Piemon: I told you it's useless to try and escape. Why not accept your fate and come quietly?

The children don't answer. They're hiding beneath the floor, silently waiting for him to pass.

Piemon: (receding footsteps) That's strange. Maybe they're over here.... Sora: (whispers) I think he's gone to another room--AHHHH!!!

Without warning, Piemon's sword thrusts down through the floor, splitting the air right between Sora and Hikari. The girls shriek, flinching away from the attack.

Piemon: HEY, I FOUND YOU!!!

He conjures his other swords to stab down through the floor as well, scattering the children who are forced to try and dodge in their tight confines. Hikari, terrified, buries herself in Sora's arms.

Piemon: Try this! (more stabs) Hikari: IT'S OVER!!! Sora: NO, IT'S NOT!!! Piemon: (jovially) It might be.

Nobody asked your opinion. XD

In the dub, Piedmon doesn't comment on Koushiro's tears. Additionally, as usual, the sound design misses some details. His echoing footfalls setting the isolating tone of the scene are gone, as is the eerie silence punctuated by a lack of music. He steps silently and the usual "We're in danger" BGM plays.

Piedmon: (mocking) "Hello, my name is Izzy and I'm very smart. Although I didn't know how to stop me and my friends from being made into keychains!" Wahahahaha, I love a good puppet show! (Piedmon jumps across) Piedmon: Ah, so you want to play hide and go seek? Mm, okay, I love a good game! Now, let's see... if I were a little pest, where would I hide? ...maybe you're in this room over here.... Sora: (whispers) I think we're out of danger for now--WHOA!!! (She is stabbingly wrong) Piedmon: PEEK-A-BOO!!! (More stabbing) Sora: RUN FOR IT!!! Piedmon: OLLY OLLY OXEN FREE!!! (stab stab)

Aww, they cut the funny exchange between Hikari, Sora, and Piemon.

"Olly olly oxen free" is an old phrase used during children's games like hide and seek, back in the day before children were banished indoors by a changing society that no longer welcomes them in public. It indicates that the game is over and you can come out now.

Piemon raises his sword for another strike. Thankfully, he's not the only one offering unsolicited opinions at this time.

Angewomon: HOLY ARROOOOOOOW!!!

(I love that she makes a finger gun when she shoots Holy Arrow. I never noticed that before. It's a consequence of using the joint where her thumb connects with her hand to steady the arrow while she aims it, I think, but the result is fantastic.)

Angewomon's arrow strikes the blade, shooting the sword out of Piemon's hand.

Piemon: What the--!? Angewomon: Run, Hikari! Garudamon: Hurry, Sora! Hikari: Angewomon! Sora: Garudamon!

Standing there excitedly shouting their names is neither running nor hurrying. Let's see some hustle, ladies. A man is trying to stab you. :P

Garudamon and Angewomon engage Piemon to try and buy time. Garudamon hits him dead on with her Shadow Wing, which he casually tanks. He does, however, move when Garudamon tries to crush him with her talon. She buries herself in the weak floorboards, and he lays down one of his disappearing cloths on her from there.

With Garudamon out of the picture, Piemon turns his attention to Angewomon. His Trump Swords pin her to the wall by her wings, and he collects her from there.

(Speaking of small details I just noticed, the Trump Swords have different handles. In the shot of Angewomon getting pinned, you can see a heart, a diamond, and a club. Presumably the other one is a spade. That's neat.)

The dub does a great job with the surprise Celestial Arrow too, though they might have overlooked that the arrow doesn't hit Piemon directly. That's a very tiny thing; It's interesting to me that they change his reaction of shock and surprise to a pain grunt.

Piedmon: NGGHH! Angewomon: RUN, KARI!!! Garudamon: Hurry, Sora! Kari: It's Angewomon! Sora: Garudamon!

From there, the fight plays out with no extra dialogue or censorship.

Sora, Hikari, and Takeru emerge from the floor in another style of building entirely. They crawl out from under a huge floor tile in time to hear Angewomon's final scream echo down the halls.

Sora: Takeru-kun! Takeru: W-What? Sora: Take Hikari-chan and get out of here. Takeru: Eh!? But what about you? Sora: Listen to me very carefully. There's no question at this point that Garudamon and Angewomon have both been made into dolls. You are the only one who can protect Hikari-chan now. Do you understand?

She's right. They have two Digimon left: Gomamon and Patamon, and Gomamon's Partner is already gone so he can't evolve. Takeru is the last Chosen Child standing with the ability to fight.

Takeru: But Sora, you-- Sora: Don't worry about me. Do you understand? Takeru: (reluctantly) ...yeah. Sora: No matter what happens, you have to get out of here. Takeru: (more confidently) Got it. I'll make sure to keep Hikari-chan safe.

Sora turns Takeru around and gives him a push to get him going.

Sora: Now, hurry up and go! Takeru: Let's go, Hikari-chan!

The youngest children make their retreat, leaving Sora to face Piemon alone.

In the dub:

Sora: T.K., come here. T.K.: What is it? Sora: I want you to take Kari and get out of here! T.K.: But what about you? Sora: Listen to me, there isn't much time. Piedmon has the rest of our friends and if he gets us, we're doomed. T.K., please, you're the only one who can protect Kari. You have to be brave. Now get going! T.K.: I won't leave you! Sora: Don't worry about me; I'll be fine! T.K.: (reluctantly) ...alright. Sora: No matter what happens, just keep running. T.K.: Okay, Sora. I promise I'll do whatever I can to protect Kari. (Sora turns T.K. around and gets him moving.) Sora: Right. Hurry, go! T.K.: Come on, Kari! Let's go!

"If he gets us, we're doomed" is a terrible line but setting that aside.

In the original, there is no question that Sora is going to sacrifice herself. She lets that hang over the conversation, engaging with Takeru with the expectation that he's strong enough to face that reality.

She's still clearly acting with intent to protect the youngest among them, but she talks to him as one of their nakama.

Dub Sora lies to T.K., adding in the false reassurance that she'll be okay so that he doesn't have to think about her fate. She also adds in the line, "You have to be brave," which isn't something that Takeru needs to be told. He faced down an angry puppet with a magnum revolver and won. His bravery is already well-established.

Sora's conversation with T.K. has the vibe of a parent's last words to their helpless child in a disaster film or something before they die. You have to be strong now, keep your sister safe, I'll meet up with you later (lies), get going and don't look back. Which, as an interpretation of Sora and how she interacts with younger children, is a vibe that works pretty well.

But it comes at the cost of once again downplaying T.K.'s strength and conviction in a scene that's partially about his strength and emotional fortitude. This late in the game, he doesn't need to be lied to and puffed up. He knows what the stakes are and what's about to happen to Sora, and he can make the hard choice.

While Takeru, Hikari, and Patamon go on ahead, Gomamon makes a few short hopes to try and keep up, then stops. He looks back at Sora.

Gomamon: Sora! I'll fight with you. Sora: Don't be stupid. You can't even evolve, so what can you do here?

Harsh. Uh, he can summon infinite fish out of seemingly thin air even without a clear source of water. I'm not saying that's going to be enough against Piemon. but I'd give it better odds than your proficiency at soccer and adequacy at floral arrangement.

Maybe if we throw enough fish at PIemon, some of them will manage to swim away with his swords. He'll probably summon new ones but it will feel like we're doing something!

Gomamon: Sora! Sora: If you get made into a doll here, how will you face Jou-senpai and the others later, knowing that they risked their lives to protect you!? Now get out of here! HURRY!!!

Reluctantly, Gomamon turns back around to go. But it's too late. Piemon bursts through the floor, holding up Angewomon and Garudamon's keychains.

Piemon: Hahahahahahaha! Did you not have time to run away? Well, it's only a matter of time before you become dolls anyway. Gomamon: THAT WON'T HAPPEN!!!

Suddenly, Gomamon lunges for Piemon's coat, snatching Yamato's keychain away.

(Maybe if you attached them to something sturdier than coat fabric, this wouldn't have happened to you.)

Gomamon: SORA, CATCH!!! Sora: (catch) TAKERU-KUN!!!

Gomamon throws the keychain to Sora. Sora prepares to throw it at the same time Piemon prepares a vanishing cloth. In a difference of microseconds, Sora wins the quick-draw and sends the keychain onward an instant before he takes her.

(That shuts me up for shit-talking her athleticism. Her sport doesn't even let you throw things like that! That's raw ability.)

This should be a meaningless gesture. Takeru and Hikari went around and a corner a moment ago so Sora should not have line-of-sight on them anymore. Fortunately, because a plot hole has opened up to warp time and space, Takeru and Hikari are now straight ahead down the path trying to open a huge door. Takeru can not only see what she's doing but receive the keychain in his hands.

(Did the creators change their minds mid-scene and forget to alter Takeru and Hikari's escape path?)

In the dub:

Gomamon: Sora, I wanna stay and fight with you! Sora: Don't be ridiculous! You can't even Digivolve without Joe so go before Piedmon gets here! Gomamon: But Sora-- Sora: Gomamon, Joe risked his neck to protect us and if Piedmon turns you into a doll, his sacrifice will mean nothing! Now please help T.K. and Kari; There's not much time! NOW GO!!! (Piedmon arrives) Piedmon: WAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Look, I only need five more keychains for my collection and then I'll have the whole set! Gomamon: NOT IF I CAN HELP IT!!! (Gomamon swipes Matt's keychain) Gomamon: SORA!!! Sora: (catch) T.K., CATCH!!!

XD Piedmon excitedly sharing his new keychains like a neurodivergent kid info-dumping about his hobby, to one of the "keychains" he's trying to collect. Perfect. Perfectly written, perfect delivery, 10 out of 10. Hahahahaha.

With Sora gone, Piemon turns his attention to Takeru and Hikari.

Piemon: Now, where do you think you're going?

Piemon asks, and the camera slowly pans down to show Gomamon beneath his boot. It's unclear if he's talking to Gomamon or to the kids, but he isn't wrong either way.

They don't answer him. They push the huge door until finally it opens, releasing them back outside. Unfortunately, all that awaits out there is a balcony overlooking the realm of darkness far below. They're up in the observatory now.

Patamon: Oh no! Takeru: It's a dead end! Hikari: What now!? Piemon: Ahahahahahaha!

Piemon laughs us all the way to the commercial break.

The dub riffs off Piedmon having Gomamon underfoot.

Piedmon: In order to succeed, sometimes you have to step on people along the way! Wahahaha! (T.K. and Kari get the door open) T.K.: Quick, let's run! (Balcony) Kari: We just ran out of room! T.K.: This isn't the escape plan I had in mind.... Patamon: Now, what!? T.K.: Can we jump? Kari: It's too far! Piedmon: Nahahahahahaha! Welcome to the dead end! Come be a keychain like your friend.

"Can we jump?" Yes, T.K. Don't worry, the jagged rocks will break our fall. Among other things.

Piedmon is having so much fun right now. XD

We return from commercial to Takeru and Hikari trying to make plans.

Hikari: W-What do we do? Takeru: We have to go down. Hikari: It's too high! I won't make it down without falling. Takeru: But we can't climb up.... Patamon: Hey, Takeru? What's that?

Patamon calls Takeru's attention to a woven basket with a lid sitting in the center of the balcony.

Takeru: What is that?

Takeru approaches the basket, pulling off the lid to reveal a rope coiled up inside of it.

Takeru: Ah! It's a rope! We can use this to get down!

Unfortunately, the rope has other plans. Of its own volition, it uncoils from the basket and ascends into the sky, climbing up into the dark clouds above.

Both Kids: Wha--!? Patamon: Ah! Takeru: What is this!? Hikari: How far is it going to go? Takeru: It keeps going up....

Finally, the rope seems to reach its destination, affixing to somewhere beyond the clouds and holding tight.

So. You know. That seems super untrustworthy but desperate times and all....

The dub skips the commercial break and keeps the scene right on going.

Kari: We can't just sit here! T.K.: We've got no choice; We have to climb down! Kari: It's too high, T.K.! If we slip, we're goners! T.K.: Kari, we're going to have to try! Patamon: Look, T.K.! Where'd that basket come from? T.K.: Who put that there!?

Uh, that basket has been sitting on the balcony since they got out here. Though we don't know exactly what it is, we see it a couple times in wide shots of the balcony. Its origins are not the mystery; Its contents are.

The dub accidentally invented a mysterious benefactor whose identity will never be revealed because the basket was here the whole time.

T.K.: A rope! We can use it to climb down the side of the mountain. (Rope ascends) T.K.: Uwah!? Patamon: Whoa! I didn't know you were a snake charmer, T.K. Kari: Do you think we should climb it? T.K.: I dunno. Mom always said never to take candy or rope from strangers.

That is a weird thing for her to specify. Sound advice, but still weird. XD

Tonally, these quips don't vibe well. This is the height of tension. We could die sort-of in the next ten seconds.

Takeru tests the rope to see if it will hold.

Takeru: It's fine. The rope is holding steady. Alright, climb up, Hikari-chan. Hikari: But.... Takeru: Don't worry. Just climb. Hikari: (reluctantly) Okay....

Hikari takes the rope and begins to climb, with Takeru following up after. They only make it part of the way before Piemon blows open the doors, and our very last Digimon steps up to fight.

Patamon: I'll hold off Piemon!

Takeru's face says everything you need to know about this plan.

In the dub, T.K. backtracks over his awkward comical naysaying a second ago.

T.K.: (thinking) What am I thinking? We have to climb it! Sora told me to be brave no matter how scared I get. T.K.: (frightened) Looks dangerous; You go first. Kari: (disappointed) Oh. (Kari starts climbing) T.K.: That's it, Kari! Pretend you're in gym class! (T.K. climbs up after her) T.K.: LISTEN!!!

...nothing happens after T.K. shouts listen. We hang silently on them for a moment, then cut from there to Piedmon slowly approaching the doors. It takes about ten seconds between T.K. saying that and Piedmon blowing off the door.

So unless he could somehow hear Piedmon's soft, barely audible footsteps through the very heavy door from halfway up the rope, I have absolutely no idea what he wanted Kari to listen to.

Piedmon: OPEN!!! (Piedmon blows the door off) Piedmon: I must quit this. It costs me a fortune in new doors! Patamon: Keep climbing! I'll distract him!

So, yeah, the dub of this scene sucks. T.K. lets Kari go up first because he's too scared to do it himself. That sucks. I think they're trying to do the "(eyeroll) My hero, how brave" gag, but either way, it's pretty much the peak of the dub disempowering Takeru.

The reason Takeru sends Hikari up first is pretty clearly so that she can be the first to reach safety. He's doing what Andromon, Jou, Koushiro, and Sora all did before him: Sending someone else ahead first. So that if only one of them makes it out, it will be Hikari.

Evolving, Angemon throws himself into melee with Piemon.

Angemon's always been fantastic at hitting above his weight class, able to hang with the Perfects in fights with Vamdemon and his goons, and he shows it again here. He parries Piemon's sword strikes with his Holy Rod before taking a hit to the side and backing off. That's when things happen quickly.

Piemon tries to follow up by throwing a sword into Angemon's face. Angemon ducks under the blade and counters, coming in and slamming the tip of his Holy Rod into Piemon's forehead to knock him off-balance.

Before Piemon can recover, Angemon closes distance. Piemon jumps to try and escape, but Angemon swings his rod and slams the side of it into Piemon's gut. The hit takes the wind out of him, sending him stumbling for a second before he falls on his back.

Takeru: Now, Angemon!

With Piemon on his back, Angemon takes the opportunity to back off and prepare his signature attack, Heaven's Knuckle. But, before it can hit, Piemon puts up an energy shield and pushes the attack back, repelling it back into Angemon himself.

Hikari: Angemon!

The dub censors a bit of this fighting. Piemon landing a hit on Angemon and Angemon thocking Piemon in the forehead are both cut. After Angemon's parries, they cut to the sword toss, then cut the scenes together to segue straight into Angemon hitting Piemon in the gut.

Credit where it's due, the splicing's pretty good. It comes through like it's one fluid motion; Angemon ducks under the sword and then swings his rod and hits Piemon's gut. If you didn't know another move was supposed to be between these two, it'd be easy to miss that they did anything. Still, I'm left once again wondering what makes certain hits acceptable but others not.

T.K.: You get him, Angemon! Piedmon: CLOWN TRICK!!! (Piedmon repels Hand of Fate) Kari: Angemon, no!

So I guess this, too, is Clown Trick. What a versatile attack.

Kinda surprised the vanishing cloth isn't Clown Trick, now that I think about it.

Once Piemon's retaken control of the fight, he puts a hard stop to it.

He's got another bolt of energy waiting when Angemon lands, hitting him dead center and throwing him from the balcony. As Angemon falls, Piemon's Trump Swords pass through at once, clipping his wings.

Takeru: ANGEMON!!!

Leaving some feathers behind, Angemon falls from the observatory, hitting the ground far below. His Holy Rod clatters to the ground beside him.

Takeru: (crying) ANGEMOOOOOON!!! Hikari: Takeru-kun! Takeru: Hikari-chan!? Takeru: (thinking) I have to pull it together, or I'll scare Hikari-chan. Takeru: Angemon will be fine, so keep climbing! Hikari: Okay....

Hikari starts climbing again, but it's too late now. One of Piemon's Trump Swords slashes the rope over her head. There is no escape now.

Hikari: AHHHH!!! Takeru: Hikari! Piemon: I told you, there's nowhere you can run to. Hahahahahaha!

Panning down, we see that Piemon has begun to climb the rope after them. They can't go forward and Piemon is behind. There truly is nowhere left to go.

In the dub, Piedmon calls his Trump Sword attack when the blades hit Angemon.

T.K.: DON'T GIVE UP!!! (Angemon falls) T.K.: ANGEMON, NO!!! Kari: I'm scared! T.K.: It's okay! T.K.: (thinking) Great, now Kari's afraid. I can't let her see that I am too. I've got to be brave! T.K.: Angemon will be fine, but you've got to keep on climbing! Don't let that joker Piedmon scare you! Kari: Okay.... (Sword slashes the rope) Kari: AHHHH!!! Piedmon: You've reached the end of your rope! Ahahahahaha!

Sorry, T.K., but I think that joker Piedmon is doing a pretty good job of scaring her. Boy practically asked for this to happen.

Since coming out onto the balcony, the quips have been pretty bleh, but I liked Piedmon's rope quip.

Piemon climbs the rope, closing in on the two helpless children.

Angemon lifts his face out of the dirt, straining weakly.

Angemon: Takeru....

But it's too late for Takeru. Piemon grabs him by the ankle, pulling him downward on the rope.

Takeru: Augh! Piemon: See, I've caught you! Hikari: Takeru-kun!

Hikari turns around, grabbing onto Takeru's wrist to keep him from falling.

Takeru: Let go of my hand! He'll get you too, Hikari-chan! Hikari: No, I'll never let go! Piemon: Hehehehe... THEN FALL TOGETHER!!!

Piemon releases Takeru's leg and swings his blade, severing the rope behind the pair. With no magic rope above and no magic rope below, Takeru and Hikari scream and plummet to their doom, with Hikari still hanging onto Takeru's wrist.

Angemon: TAKERU!!! HIKARI!!! Piemon: NYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Then Hikari loses her grip and they fall separately.

In the dub:

Angemon: T.K...! (Piedmon grabs T.K.'s leg) T.K.: NO!!! Piedmon: Sorry if I gave you a wedgie! Kari: Let go of him! (Kari grabs T.K.'s wrist) T.K.: Let go, Kari! Or he'll get you too! Kari: No, I won't let you go, T.K.! Piedmon: Sounds like you two are falling for each other! (slash) Angemon: T.K.!!! KARI!!! Piedmon: Ahahahahahahaha!

As T.K. and Kari fall, the dub finally takes their second commercial break.

Piedmon, don't ship it. They're eight.

I mean. People do ship it. It's one of Adventure's most popular ships. I think it might be the most popular, at least since 02 took Tai/Sora out behind the sports shed and gave it the Old Yeller. But wait until one of the shows where they're older!

As Takeru and Hikari fall to their doom, Takeru suddenly notices his new fashion accessory.

Takeru: AHHHHHH!!! Takeru: (thinking) It's hopeless!

The Yamato keychain clipped to his backpack jingles as he falls. He opens his eyes, turning his head to see where the sound is coming from. Unclipping Yamato, he holds his brother in his hand and examines him.

Takeru: (thinking) Onii-chan....

Takeru hears the sound of his brother's harmonica, and Yamato's voice. It's unclear if he's imagining what Yamato would say to him in this situation, or if the keychain is communicating with him in some way.

Yamato: Takeru. Don't lose hope. Takeru: Onii-chan! Yamato: As my little brother, you can't give up no matter what. You have to muster all of your strength, until the very end. Takeru: I won't give up! Until the end, I'll never give up! If we die, then this world and our world will die out with us! THAT'S WHY WE CAN'T GIVE UP!!! ANGEMON!!!

Over in the dub, as usual, they don't pick up on the little details buried in sound effects. Rather than the jingling of Yamato's keychain, they write in their own reason for T.K. to suddenly notice it.

T.K.: (thinking) I'm sorry I let you down, Matt! ...wait a second! (T.K. grabs the keychain off his backpack) T.K.: (thinking) Matt! What would he say? Matt: T.K.! Don't ever give up. T.K.: ...Matt!? Matt: You can do it, T.K. I have faith in you. But it won't help if you don't have faith in yourself. No matter what happens, you have to fight to the very end. T.K.: I promise you, Matt! I'll never give up the fight! Kari: AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! T.K.: If I don't do it, then this world and our world will be destroyed! I have to do it for Matt, for Angemon, for everybody!

I see the way you carefully talked around the phrase "If we die" but it works. I also love how they opted to have Kari scream for four straight seconds rather than find a way to pad the dialogue out, since they had too many lip flaps to pace it the same way as the original.

Though I am a little irked at the line, "I have faith in you but it won't help if you don't have faith in yourself." Filthy rich coming from Matt when, historically, the problem was always Matt's faith in him, not his own faith in himself. More deflection, I guess.

In any case, I hope that pep talk was real because it shows remarkable character growth and pays off Yamato's cave revelations in a big way. Whether it is or not, Takeru refuses to surrender even in the face of the impossible. And finally, at long last, the Crest of Hope shines.

Angemon: (reinvigorated) TAKERU!!!

Takeru's hope fills Angemon with power, and it's time for the very last new evolution sequence of the first Adventure. Angemon CHO-SHINKAAAAAA!!!

HolyAngemon catches Takeru and Hikari in his arms.

Takeru: Angemon Super-Evolved!

HolyAngemon says nothing in reply. He smiles down at Takeru, then ferries the children safely to the ground below. Time for the rundown.

HolyAngemon is a Perfect-stage Vaccine-type Archangel Digimon. From what I can tell, HolyAngemon was created for the anime. Specifically, the earliest appearance for him that I can find is the anime's tie-in Digivice V-Pet, released in July of 1999 and featuring evolution chains for all seven original Partner Digimon going up to Perfect.

Which is right around the time the kids were invading Nanomon's pyramid and finishing off the Etemon arc. Japan does not give a fuck about spoilers. "We're going into the arc where everyone gets Perfect evolutions. Buy this toy to find out early what they all are! If you don't buy it, don't worry, we'll put them all in the new closing credits."

He wouldn't make his first appearance in the regular V-Pet series until Virus Busters, released one week after this episode debuted, nor in the TCG until November of 1999 when the kids were fighting Vamdemon's Odaiba siege in Tokyo. So he's in a kind of a funny place where the TCG got to him before the anime did but the anime kinda got to him before the TCG.

Narrator: HolyAngemon. On his left arm is his Beam Shield. On his right, the holy sword Excalibur. An archangel Digimon with eight glittering wings. His special attack is Heaven's Gate.

If you're hoping for more information on what "Beam Shield" means, I have none. Those words are in English. That's just what it's called. I guess it blocks beams? He has Excalibur, though, so that's pretty neat. It's a laser sword that comes out of a wrist-mounted beam emitter.

So Excalibur is a beam, but the Beam Shield is not a beam. It's a hard chunk of material that's more of a pauldron than a shield.

I have no idea what's going on with this Digimon.

In the dub, he's called MagnaAngemon. Because... Angemon is fine but Holy is forbidden, I guess. Same reason Holy Arrow had to become Celestial Arrow. The word "magna" is Latin for "great" or "large".

This makes both of their names funny. The redundancy of "holy angel" implies that his prior form has secretly been Insufficiently Holy Angemon this whole time so y'know maybe he should work on that. Meanwhile, in America: "Big Angemon. The biggest."

T.K.: Angemon! I knew you could Digivolve! (MagnaAngemon sets T.K. and Kari down) MagnaAngemon: (rundown) I am MagnaAngemon. I have eight shining wings and a Beam Shield. I wield the mighty sword Excalibur and my devastating attack is the Gate of Destiny.

Between "Hand of Fate" and "Gate of Destiny", it seems the team has settled on predestination as their go-to swap-out for Heaven.

With the children safe, HolyAngemon turns to confront Piemon.

Piemon: What.

Piemon angrily throws a vanishing cloth to capture HolyAngemon.

HolyAngemon: Take the sword of judgment!

Excalibur slices through the cloth. Because it is cloth and Excalibur is a sword.

(This is what the others were missing: Sharp edges. Always bring a pocket knife on survival excursions, kids. ...super embarrassing for WarGreymon, though.)

With his second swing, HolyAngemon slashes Piemon's midsection, cutting all the keychains free and sending Piemon hurtling to the ground below.

In the dub:

Piedmon: Chew on this! (cloth throw) MagnaAngemon: I'm not hungry. (MagnaAngemon slashes the keychains free) MagnaAngemon: I guess my sword trumps yours.

"Chew on this!" "I'm not hungry!" is a pretty weak replacement for a line as raw as "Take the sword of judgment!"

But then he comes back with the Trump Sword burn and that's fantastic.

As an aside, I love what the dub does with MagnaAngemon's voice. HolyAngemon's voice sounds about the same as Angemon's in the original, but a bit sharper and more commanding. MagnaAngemon's voice gets a lot deeper and has an eerie calm about it. Additionally, his words sound artificially synthesized and his lines echo, as if they were coming through a speaker in an empty cave or something.

It all comes together to give MagnaAngemon a profound "Booming Voice of God" resonance in his line deliveries.

Watching Piemon fall, HolyAngemon does not follow up. He prioritizes healing the party instead.

HolyAngemon brings the keychains down to ground, then calls Holy Disinfection. His wings shimmer with rainbow energy, shining a healing light on the keychains that purges them of this strange status ailment.

Taichi: Guys... We're back to normal!

OH GOD THEY WERE CONSCIOUS DURING ALL THAT. Well, that's fucking horrifying.

Again avoiding the H word, the dub calls this Magna Antidote.

MagnaAngemon: Now to bring our friends back to normal. MAGNA ANTIDOTE!!! (MagnaAngemon heals everyone) Tai: Wow! What a weird dream! I had an incredible urge to carry some keys.

Time for some team reunions.

Takeru, Hikari, Yamato, and Taichi run to each other, both pairs of siblings cheerfully embracing one another.

Takeru & Hikari: ONII-CHAN!!! Taichi: HIKARI!!! Yamato: TAKERU!!! Thank you! You were amazing. Takeru: Only because my big brother was there to cheer me on! Yamato: (confused) Eh?

I think Yamato's confusion confirms that Takeru was imagining what he'd want Yamato to say to him. He was having a one-sided conversation with a conscious Yamato doll, who only saw Takeru suddenly burst out with a surge of confidence.

Tentomon, meanwhile, gushes over HolyAngemon.

Tentomon: WHOA!!! When did you evolve!? You look so cool-- Piemon: Haha, is that right? Tentomon: EE-YEE-YEE-YEEP!!!

Angemon whips around in the direction that voice came from, while Tentomon falls to the ground in a flailing panic. This isn't over yet.

In the dub:

Tai & Matt: KARI!!! / T.K.!!! Kari & T.K.: TAI!!! / MATT!!! Matt: You did a great job, T.K. T.K.: If it wasn't for your advice, I don't think I would have been able to do it! Matt: Huh? Tentomon: Wow! When did Angemon digivolve!? You look great! Turn around, let me see! MagnaAngemon: Very well. (MagnaAngemon turns to the side looking worried. A second later, Tentomon flails and falls to the ground.) Tentomon: AUGH!!!

The animation doesn't line up with the joke the dub's trying to make here. But the idea of the gag seems to be that MagnaAngemon turned around at Tentomon's behest, inadvertently swatting Tentomon with his wings and knocking him to the ground.

Piemon, furious, storms towards the children.

Piemon: I had planned on mercifully keeping you as my dolls instead of killing you, BUT YOU'RE SO DETERMINED TO DIE!!! SO BE IT!!! I'LL GIVE YOU WHAT YOU WANT!!! DAHHHHHH!!!

I mean. He says that but "mercifully keeping them as dolls" was Plan B after murdering them all one-by-one failed. I don't think Taichi's barely conscious near-corpse at the end of last episode appreciated Piemon's mercy very much.

Piemon raises his hand, and the ground erupts all around them. Countless strange little gremlin Digimon emerge, filling the sky and the terrain around them.

Tentomon: GYAH!!! They're coming out everywhere! What are these creatures!?

To answer his question, those swarming creatures are the rather bluntly named Evilmon, an Adult-stage Virus-type Imp Digimon. They're from the Sega Saturn V-Pet, the same one that debuted Angewomon and LadyDevimon.

Narrator: Evilmon. A darkness-type Digimon that loves to fight. Their special attack is Nightmare Shock.

And there's like a hundred of them so. Y'know. Have fun with that.

The dub names them Vilemon. Uh, okay. Evilmon may be a bit on the nose but Vilemon isn't that much better.

Piedmon: So, those DigiDestined think the Dark Masters are that easily defeated, hmm? Hahahahaha! Well, guess again! You're not the only ones with an army of friends that can help you! TA-DA!!! (Piedmon summons the Vilemon swarm) Piedmon: This is more fun than a barrel of flying monkeys! Piedmon: (rundown) DigiDestined, meet the Vilemon! Their Nightmare Shock will give you a rude awakening!

Very different vibe with Piedmon. Piemon is losing his shit right now, ranting furiously and vengefully about how he's going to slaughter them all. Piedmon, on the other hand, remains cool and collected, and is still making merry jokes.

He also isn't talking directly to them, courtesy of the reframing from last scene, so they only seem to become aware that he's still around when the Vilemon swarm moves in around them.

Speaking of which, the swarm of Evilmon surrounds the children. There are so many of them.

Jou: We're surrounded! Koushiro: There's nowhere left we can run. Takeru: But we aren't going to lose! Yamato: Yeah! We're turning this around! Taichi: That's right! As long as the Chosen Children and Digimon stand united, these little freaks-- Mimi: WAIT!!! DON'T FORGET ABOUT ME!!!

Mimi charges into the fray atop a gleaming white Unimon, leading her army straight into the carnage.

Sora: (shocked) Mimi-chan! Lilimon: Thank goodness! We made it in time!

Ogremon makes the first move, swiping away three Evilmon with his club.

Ogremon: I hate enemies that swarm. EVERYONE, THIS IS WHAT WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!!! HAHA!!! Taichi: ALRIGHT, TEAM!!! IT'S THE FINAL BATTLE!!! Digimon: YEAH!!!

It is not the final battle.

Together, Mimi's army and the Partner Digimon pour into the Evilmon horde. MetalGarurumon begins the battle, scattering a group with a stomp.

Elecmon shocks a cluster of Evilmon, incapacitating them long enough for Unimon to fire his Holy Shot, an exploding ball of energy shot from his mouth, into the crowd. The successful combo attack prompts Mimi and Sora to high five each other.

Mimi & Sora: YES!!!

Ogremon slams his Haouken into another trio of Evilmon.

Jou and Koushiro watch from behind a rock with their Partner Digimon, while Mimi's army continues to work together surprisingly well. The Gekomon and Otamamon lure in a trio of Evilmon and retreat, right into Yukidarumon, Meramon, and Andromon.

The latter of whom is not part of Mimi's army but he counts now.

In the dub:

Joe: We're surrounded! Izzy: Oh no! We can't escape! T.K.: Come on, toughen up! Matt: I'm with you, T.K.! Tai: Our only chance is if we all combine our powers together! But the problem is, we're still missing some of our friends.... Mimi: Wait for me! (Mimi rides in on Unimon, leading her army) Mimi: Sorry we're late! Sora: It's Mimi! Lillymon: Are we too late for the party?

Tai's line here is totally different. In the original, he is all set and ready to try and do this with the seven of them. Taichi's not thinking about Mimi here because. Like. She left a while ago and he's made peace with that. He has no reason to be thinking of her now. He's thinking only with the resources they have on-hand, and he's got his game face on. He's ready to fight.

In the dub, Tai doesn't think they can win this and queues up Mimi's cavalry charge by implying that her impending return is their only hope now.

(Ogremon swats three Vilemon) Ogremon: PUMMEL WHACK!!! Nice slice! I guess I'm gonna have to work on my swing, huh? Hehehe! Tai: Alright, gang! Give them the full Digimon attack!

During the combo attack, Elecmon and Unimon call their attacks as Super Thunderstrike and Horn Blaster respectively.

Sora & Mimi: (high five) NICE SHOT!!!

Ogremon's Haouken is also, as usual, renamed Pummel Whack.

Not to be left out, Tentomon and Gomamon quickly evolve and then Super-Evolve so that Zudomon and AtlurKabuterimon can join the fray.

Zudomon obliterates a group of Evilmon with his Hammer Spark. Piemon chooses that moment to get in the thick of it, casting out his Trump Sword - only for AtlurKabuterimon to see him coming and blast his swords out of the air with a shot of Horn Buster.

This is followed by the goofiest-ass shot of Jou, Sora, Mimi, and Koushiro rising from the scenery doing V for Victory poses. XD

With the army engaging the Evilmon, the Partners move in together on Piemon. It's time for the Chosen Children's most powerful technique: dogpiling on an asshole's face.

Lilimon gets the first shot off with her Flower Cannon. Piemon deflects her shot, then tosses his vanishing cloth. But that's not happening this time; Angewomon's Holy Arrow tears through the cloth and narrowly misses a hit on Piemon, who sidesteps quickly.

He can't dodge everything, though. As he's evading the Holy Arrow, Garudamon lets off her Shadow Wing, which hits him dead on and sends him flying from the blast.

Piemon: DOWAAAUGH!!!

Piemon's face in the instant before the Shadow Wing hits him is priceless. A picture truly is worth a thousand words.

Up in the sky, HolyAngemon calls Heaven's Gate. He carves a circle in reality using Excalibur, which opens up into a huge golden door.

Taichi: What is that? Takeru: Ah! It's opening!

As Heaven's Gate opens, the hordes of Evilmon are pulled inside of it. HolyAngemon explains.

HolyAngemon: Evil things are drawn inside the Gate, where they will be consigned to oblivion. Piemon: Eh!? WHAT!? WarGreymon: Let's wrap this up. MetalGarurumon: Yeah!

WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon hit Piemon together, blasting him with a simultaneous Gaia Force and Double Tomahawk. The blast throws him into Heaven's Gate with the rest of his forces, which closes and seals around him as soon as he's inside.

(Y'know, given that he spent most of the episode chasing the kids around with an Instant Kill move, it's fitting that Piemon himself falls victim to an Instant Kill in the end. Ultimately, HolyAngemon collected him.)

Then, explaining what "consign to oblivion" means, the Gate disintegrates into pixel dust as if it were a dying Digimon. A wave of golden dust ushers outward from the disintegrating dust, washing over the Dark Masters' platform and down into the Digital World below. As it goes, the stripe of Piemon's darkness realm recedes from Spiral Mountain.

The dub explains Gate of Destiny like this.

MagnaAngemon: GATE OF DESTINY!!! (The gate pulls in all the Vilemon) Tai, Matt, T.K., and Kari: Wow! Piedmon: Huh!? WarGreymon: Hey! Remember us?

They...

Do not.

Explain Gate of Destiny. At all. They remove all dialogue referencing the gate beyond a simple "Wow" and leave it completely ambiguous as to what the fuck happened to the show's penultimate villain.

Weird choice, guys.

With the very last Dark Master finally defeated, the Chosen Children take a moment to savor their victory. Their long ordeal is finally over.

Taichi: (smiling) It's over. Yamato: Yeah... Both: Huh?

Taichi and Yamato turn and notice Mimi's army cheering their victory and waving to the children. This is their big moment too. Taichi and Mimi wave back, but Taichi's a little confused.

Taichi: Eh? Ogremon is here? Why and how? Mimi: Oh, yeah, you don't know what happened. You see.... Koushiro: Huh? A message from Gennai-san.

Once Mimi's caught Taichi up on the events of her sub-arc, the group gathers around Koushiro's laptop.

Sora: Might be a congratulatory email. Taichi: (griping) Oh, what is it now? Koushiro: (reading) Nonsense! Taichi: (annoyed) What did he write? Koushiro: Our true enemy is not the Dark Masters. Taichi: HUH!?!?

That gets Taichi's attention. He whips around, shocked.

Koushiro: Our true enemy is a creature whose very existence creates the distortions in the world. The Dark Masters merely drew their power from those distortions. Taichi: Then... who's our real enemy--WHOA!!!

Suddenly, the ground beneath the children's feet shakes violently.

Lilimon: What's happening!?

A fissure opens in the ground between Lilimon and Angewomon, forcing them to fly from their positions. A spray of red energy pours out of Piemon's observatory, and the sky turns as black as it was before. The episode closes on the ominous implication that something worse is about to happen.

In the dub:

Izzy: The last remnants of Spiral Mountain are disappearing! The Dark Masters' control over the Digital World is finally gone! Tai: Good riddance!

The final commercial break comes here and we return on the shot of Mimi's army waving. In the process, Matt's line and his and Tai's sudden surprised faces are cut.

Digimon: BYE!!! / TAKE CARE OF YOURSELVES!!! HOPE TO SEE YOU AGAIN!!! Tai: You know, I'm starting to think we have a strange looking group of friends. Mimi: They might not have the best fashion sense but they're the best friends we've ever had! Izzy: Hmm... We have email from Gennai. Sora: What's it say, Izzy? Tai: Not now! I need a nap! Izzy: It's coming in now. Tai: Is he congratulating us? Izzy: Gennai says here that the Dark Masters aren't the real enemies. Tai: HUH!?!? Izzy: It says here that the real enemy is an evil force whose very existence warps the Digital World and created the Dark Masters. So according to this, I don't think we're out of the woods quite yet! Tai: Wait a sec! If it's not the Dark Masters, then who do we fight next--wh-WHOA YAHHHH!!! (Earthquakes) Angewomon & Lillymon: What!? (Fissure opens and red energy blackens the sky) Mimi: WHAT'S HAPPENING!?!? Narrator: What is the evil force that Gennai was warning the DigiDestined about? Find out on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters.

The funny "Wait, why Ogremon" exchange doesn't make it into the dub, which is a shame. Plus side, they do capture Taichi's annoyance at hearing from the useless old codger, as he sees him.

An interesting note: The dub says that the True Enemy created the Dark Masters, which isn't quite accurate. The True Enemy created the distortions in reality, as a passive consequence of existing within it.

This creature's existence is steadily breaking down the fabric of reality itself. This is what the "distortions in the Digital World" that we've been hearing about since we first met Gennai have been all along. The true nemesis was never Devimon or Etemon or Vamdemon or even the Dark Masters; They were all just evil Digimon who drew power from the distortions created by this thing.

We've been battling symptoms all this time. Evil Digimon made stronger by drawing power from the distortions. But there's no implication here that they are in league with the source or even that they are aware of its existence. Only that they found reality straining and breaking down, and promptly went, "Fuck yes, I can use this!"

Something is happening that is destroying both realities. And all of these guys have been opportunistic parasites riding its coattails who thought they could profit off the end of the world.

Assessment: Can you imagine if Piemon won here? This is the guy. Leader of the Dark Masters. When Homeostasis conceived their plan to create the Chosen Children, this was what it was for. It was Piemon they were afraid of. It was Piemon they were right to be afraid of, as it was Piemon who broke through their defenses and nearly strangled this entire countermeasure in its crib.

This was Homeostasis's last, best hope for thwarting the Dark Masters and the growing instability in the Digital World. What a victory this would have been for Piemon to not only vanquish the Chosen Children, but to collect them as memorabilia. To store them on his trophy case as a reminder of the desperate, futile lengths the world went to in order to try and stop him.

This. Right here. This fight. This is what it was all for. I mean, it's not really, the next fight is what it was all for. But so far as anybody knew, this was what it was all for.

There's an interesting implication that Yamato's behavior towards Takeru was suppressing his Crest this whole time. That he needed Yamato's validation, needed his brother to believe in him, before he'd have the strength of will to achieve Super Evolution like the others.

Mimi's cavalry charge gives me life. I legit spent the entire episode wondering when she'd get here. I remembered HolyAngemon and the Heaven's Gate finisher, so when Angemon Super-Evolved and Mimi still wasn't here yet, I was beginning to worry that they'd make her a punchline or something by having her show up after the fight was over.

But nope. Mimi's army to the rescue!

#digimon #digimon adventure #revisiting digimon #revisiting digimon adventure

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immajustvibehere · 1 year ago

Text

Spark (8/8)

Arthur Morgan x fem!Reader - Enemies to Lovers

Chapter 8 summary: Found and taken in by the Natives, Arthur is walking a fine line of living and dying. In the grip of illness and fever, he often imagines seeing you by his side.

This is a long chapter, so I gave it sub-headings. Easier to manage if you can't read it in one go :)

link to my masterlist

chapter one, chapter two, chapter three, chapter four, chapter five, chapter six, chapter seven

7500 words, +30 minutes reading time

I. The Downfall of the Gang

A prevailing notion circulated in the gang that you and Molly shared culpability for the Pinkertons’ decent upon Lagras. They nearly razed the settlement to the ground, and the frustration about the new location of camp being found out so soon certainly didn’t help to improve the general mood. With you gone, there was no way you could justify yourself and nobody was keen on defending you either, though some people were convinced of your innocence either way. Notably, Abigail, though somewhat resenting you for having left, given Jack’s affinity for you and John’s confinement, was sure you wouldn't send the agency to shoot at them. Artur knew that you wouldn't do such a thing, as you had absolutely no reason to. Many people in the gang knew that it was way likelier that the Pinkertons picked up the trail from some of the boys coming back from Guarma, considering the gang was worth almost nothing without its leader anyway.

Dutch readily agreed that it must have been you, his main intention probably being to silence Micah, whose ceaseless prattle on the matter had grown unbearable. Micah spit phrases like: "She probably thought that she could get rid of us so we wouldn't go after her for the betrayal."

This went too far, even for Dutch’s taste, who was aware that they had other battles to fight. It was useless to hunt either you or Molly down and just a waste of resources and guns that were scare to begin with.

Arthur was distraught that you were gone. When he rode out with Charles, to search for a new camping spot up North, Charles handed Arthur the gun that he had borrowed you. The gesture resonated with a finality surpassing all preceding farewells…though there hadn’t even been proper good-byes.

"She uhm...she said anything? 'bout where she's headed?", Arthur asked as he let the gun slip into his saddle bag.

"I'm sorry", Charles shook his head, "She was a great help when we moved camp, but she disappeared soon after. She gave me the gun and told me to hand it back to you if I get the chance. You know, we weren't even sure if you had survived."

And the topic was left at that. The gang moved to Beaver's Hollow and Arthur felt a sickness nagging on his body. He started boiling with rage, every time your name was mentioned in a negative sense. Mostly by Dutch and Micah. Soon after, Bill started to complain about you too. Arthur would be lying if he told someone that he wasn't looking for you. It wasn't an active search, but whenever he was in town, he'd ask a few men at the bar if they had seen a woman of your description. Though the answers were barely trustworthy most of the time.

At the saloon in Annesburg, he spoke to a drunk man, who, as answer to your description mumbled a "fierce little creature" before he fell asleep on the table. This was the best lead Arthur had, and it wasn't nearly enough. He was roaming the country, avoiding collecting the debts, suffering under how sluggish his body was willing to comply to what he wanted it to do.

The first time Arthur was happy you had left, is when the doctor had told him, that he had tuberculosis. Until then, Arthur had mixed feelings. He appreciated that you left the gang to save yourself, because it took no genius to understand that whatever had bound the gang together was a thin thread that threatened to snap any moment. When he saw how Molly ended, however miserable he felt for her, he had been glad it wasn't you that had come back to die in the dirt. And still he had harboured feelings of resentment for you. Leaving without a word, without showing yourself ever again, when on that ride back from Guarma to Shady Bell he had hoped for you to be there, for some hug or any sort of gentle sign that would have soothed his aching soul and body. He realized soon that he was foolish to hope for that. And that Micah was right to accuse him of having become soft, if your gentle hands was all he could think of, despite your hands being mostly anything but gentle.

But as he sat outside camp, wheezing and wiping the blood off his lips that he had coughed up, he was glad you weren't here. Whatever urges he had to be comforted, to see something else but a bitter and angry face, the feelings of having failed and paying for his sins was the stronger force. He deserved it, after all. And he shouldn’t wish for comfort.

He, as many others, tried to avoid camp as often as possible. In those two weeks, when the hostility between him and Dutch was especially high, because he and Sadie had rescued John from prison, he spent most of the days roaming the country and helping strangers. It wasn't that those trips took his mind off you, quite the contrary.

It was when he was out fishing with Hamish, a veteran with an impulsive horse, that he mentioned you for the first time to anyone that wasn't Charles or Mary-Beth (not counting Jack, who regularly asked where you where and why you had gone).

"Ya know. There's this girl...we went fishing a while ago and she couldn't deal with the waiting."

Hamish felt that it was dangerous territory, so he considered Arthur's pondering face for a while before he finally said: "You should take her here sometime. While we wait for the fish to bite, I can tell her stories so interesting, she' gonna hope that nothing bites."

Arthur chuckled sadly and shook his head: "She left, 'm afraid. She was right to do so. Ain't especially lucky to be around me."

As if the universe heard those words, Hamish was pulled into the water only moments after by the gigantic Pike they were after. It gave him and Arthur something to laugh in the aftermath.

"I'll draw them away from you! Go!", Arthur yelled, desperate pulling the reigns of his horse as John dismounted his.

"Come with me", John implored, "We can make it out of here!"

But Arthur understood he couldn't. The train heist only hours before and Abigail’s rescue had drained his strength. His body was tired, no, it was surrendering. He knew he couldn’t keep up the pace. His horse was his only support now, if he abandoned it, his legs would betray him. It wasn't just the tiredness of his limbs, he felt nauseous, sick, the sweat was on his forehead, causing his hat to cling uncomfortably.

"No. I pushed all I can”, Arthur’s voice was strained, “I'll buy ya some time, keep them off your back a while longer, you run and join Abigail and Jack."

"You're my brother!"

"I know", and with those words said, the brothers turned their backs to each other, John fleeing up the mountain, Arthur desperate circling the small area with his horse, firing round after round until he had shot himself a path of escape. The horse’s pained bucking under the impact of a bullet seared through Arthur’s heart, yet he urged it on. The loyal animal complied, carrying its master through thicket and woods as bullets whizzed past. Finally, it collapsed, half of its heavy body falling on Arthur who had ungraciously been thrown off.

The head of the horse was weirdly twisted, but Arthur still heard its heavy breaths. That aside, it was silent in the forest. Killing it would be the noble thing to do. But his vision was already blurred when his hands crept to his gun that was long out of bullets. And before he realized that it was silent in the forest and he had managed to shake the Pinkerton’s, Arthur closed his eyes, not being able to fight the exhaustion any longer.

He was dead. Or dying, at least, because every time he gained consciousness, his whole body felt like it was on fire. With immense effort, he pried his eyes open, only to be greeted by a hazy image, his pounding headache blurring his surroundings. Arthur struggled against his own lethargy, he wanted to gain control of his body again. Neither of his limbs moved, no matter the effort he was putting into it. His eyes wouldn’t focus, his chest no rise enough for a proper breath. Every time however, without failure, weariness washed over him and unconsciousness reclaimed him before he could even form a thought about the state he was in. It was a cruel cycle.

When Arthur woke up for the third, maybe fourth time – there was no way of keeping count of those seconds of consciousness – he thought only one thing: Namely, that if that was dying, he hoped it would go a little quicker.

At some point, Arthur stirred awake. He felt stronger than before and finally had enough wits to take in some of his surroundings. It was nighttime, he perceived the nocturnal chorus of crickets. His attempt to open his eyes was met with a revelation, his vision, though fatigued, offered him a somewhat clear image. It was exhausting to look; he barely blinked a few times. He was in a tent, or something of that sort, he noticed. And it rocked around, like a boat or a waggon…or maybe he was just feeling dizzy. And when he managed to move his head just a little, to glared to the side, there were you. For a second, Arthur thought nothing. Then he concluded that he must be dreaming or was indeed dead and this was some funny way to pay for his sins. He closed his eyes. His arms felt too heavy, he wouldn't be able to rub his eyes or pinch his nose in concentration. But he simply opened them again. And the image of you was gone. So was Arthur's consciousness, a few moments later.

II. The Recovery

Over the next couple of days, Arthur would wake up from time to time. Sometimes seeing you, sometimes faces of women he didn't recognize. Dark skin and dark hair, Indians, he thought. Then he'd have nightmares that sometimes took his breath away and he'd wake up, feeling like a heavy weight was crushing his chest. And there would be someone - you, another woman, some strange man - pressing wet rags to his face and he wasn't strong enough to complain about it. To tell them to stop because it kept waking him up from dying, from sleeping, from unconsciousness. Whatever that black void was he'd fall in, but he much preferred it because then his body didn't hurt so much.

"You're going to be alright, mister."

Arthur opened his eye to look into the face of a dark-skinned woman. Braids falling from her head that was dangling right onto his face. There was the wet rag again, but it didn't feel so crushing this time.

Finally, his vision was…almost clear.

It was she who explained that he had collapsed and now was with Rains Fall’s people, as they were heading North to escape. The women that took care of him, Arthur caught glimpses of three different faces and though his headache was mostly gone, a persistent cloudiness lingered over his senses. Maybe it was because he sometimes seemed so confused or because he still lacked some control over when he fell asleep out of exhaustion, but when they talked to him, it was always very vague.

"Your friend will return soon. He's securing the perimeter, but he'll be back in a day or two", one of the women explained to him. They must mean Charles, he was certain. But when he wanted to ask, he found that it was hard forming words. His throat was parched and the attempt to speak yielded only a hoarse croak. A sympathetic smile from the woman conveyed understanding, at least.

….

You had sat at his side for four hours. It was late at night, but you couldn't bring yourself to leave his side. You had been running errands the last couple of days and had missed him waking up. Well, waking up without fever and therefore capable of forming thoughts. Tonight, he was restless, dreaming maybe.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes and grabbed your wrist. His hand was clammy, still remnants of his sickness and probably his latest nightmare, but this time – for the first time ever – he was fully awake.

"It's okay, I'm right here", you reassured him.

Arthur simply stared at you like you were a ghost. Then his eyes narrowed to one of his signature contemptuous stares. It was a terrifying expression that you had seen a couple of times before. His nose would scrunch in disdain and his facial muscles were coiled with tension – a sign of irritation. In a firefight, it marked the precipice of drawing his gun; in a brawl, it forewarned of the impending launch of his first punch.

"Yer real" Arthur stated, his assertion hung in the air. His voice was low and quiet. It sounded like he needed something to drink, something to oil up his throat that has dried up from weeks of not using it.

"Unfortunately so, yeah", you said. Your heart sped up. He was awake. Finally. After all those days of not knowing if he'd make it, he was okay. Far from fit or fully recovered, but he wasn't dying no more. The thought made your eyes wet and forget about Arthur's sceptical glance.

Arthur blinked slowly. Those weren't dreams. They never had been. You had been there all this time.

Arthur closed his eyes again without saying something. His hand slipped from your wrist and onto his chest. He didn't want to talk, no, he didn't even want to see you right now. A swell of emotions came over him and he wasn't sure how to feel about your presence. For his inner turmoil, he kept silent on the outside, giving you the impression that he had dozed off again.

Eventually, he really fell asleep. Though when he awoke and pled for water before even opening his eyes, it was you who led a bowl to his lips. Whenever he woke up, you would be there, ready to jump at his commands. You didn't speak about why you were here or where you had been. Nothing of that matter. Nothing about Dutch or Micah or little Jack. It was always just handing him water or soup or helping him change his clothes.

Two days later, Charles showed up with a warm: "Welcome back, brother." It was he who explained what had happened. That two Indians had found him unconscious, buried under his horse. That his leg had been bruised from the impact, and he was weak, feverish and on the brink of death. It was an intricate matter, caring for him while heading North with the tribe and he admitted that only after one day with him under their care, Charles had seriously considered staying behind and caring for him. It had slowed down the group that much. Then they ran into you, simply sitting on your horse and watching the caravan of people go, before catching Charles' eye.

Arthur remained conflicted when Charles broached the topic of you. This inner struggle was not lost on Charles, keen observer that he has always been.

"She took good care of you. Without her, your recovery might have been in doubt."

And as this didn't seem to do the trick, he added…

"She sat with you every night. Washed you, made sure you had everything you needed. Even though Rains Fall disagreed, she stole a waggon so you had a comfortable place to get better.”

“She had left, Charles…”, Arthur croaked. You leaving the gang behind had left him with mixed feelings. He had worked through them before and had arrived at the conclusion that it was better for you, and still…seeing you here, healthy and restless, he regretted not having you there at the end. You could have been of great assistance. Could have prevented Abigail from being taken or made John’s prison break easier. Hell, he might have had more fun killing the last of the O’Driscoll’s if you had been by his side. The prospect of your sudden absence when he might have required your presence left a bitter aftertaste in his mind.

“Don’t blame her for that. She had no obligation to stay, she was only with us for little more than a month at this time and she could tell that it was coming to an end”, Charles said.

Arthur thought what might have happened if you had been there at the stand-off. The notion of having another ally by his side, countering the overpowering presence of Bill, Javier, Micah and his two traitorous cronies, weighed heavily on his mind Yet, this reverie crumbled upon realization – there was the cruel possibility that instead of Miss Grimshaw, you would have found your demise. Or considering your proclivity for action over passivity, you might have opened fire earlier and would have caused an even worse outcome. Yes, maybe your absence had been the better.

“She rode hours through rain to fetch you a doctor”, Charles went on as he saw Arthur’s thoughts wander, “She found a nice man with a waggon. The doctor said he knew you and that you helped him one time in Rhodes.”

That put a little smile on Arthur’s lips, because he remembered the Doctor well. He was talking all funny and had had his waggon stolen. “Yeah”, Arthur answered as a sign of recognition.

Even Charles didn’t know what more to say, so he put his hand on Arthur’s shoulder, before he left him alone.

The group had settled down near a creek. You had been on the move for a while now, and food supplies were running low, so they had decided to camp here for a couple of days, until hunting and gathering had provided enough resources to continue the travel. It was then that Arthur left his little nest that had been made for him. A simple waggon really, with some linen span across it to shield him from the weather. Sitting up was exhausting, but he managed to more or less crawl to the opening, sitting there and letting his legs dangle from the waggon. Everyone was working. The horses were grazing, a couple of kids were running around. It wasn’t difficult to spot you, chopping some wood and carrying it to the fire. That’s when you caught Arthur’s eye and approached him.

Seeing him out of “bed” put a big smile on your face.

“Why even bother?”, Arthur asked when you had reached him, jumping up the waggon to sit next to him. “Should’ve shot me when they found me. Tuberculosis can’t be healed, as far as I’ve heard.”

“Tuberculosis? What are you talking about?”, you looked at Arthur curiously. He stared back in silence, furrowing his eyebrows.

"It's what I've got", Arthur explained, a little sceptical as if your gaze alone had made him unsure of the diagnosis.

"You don't have tuberculosis. At least, the doctor we consulted said so", a smile played on your lips. A knowledgeable smile, as if you knew more than him. It was a cheeky smile.

Arthur didn't believe you.

"Y/n, I was on the brink of death when you found me. I cough up more blood than I ever lost through bullets…taking a deep breath was almost impossible.”

"How's it now though? The breathing...", you asked.

Arthur halted and for the first time since he had regained consciousness, he drew in a deep breath. Then another, and another. It was slightly uncomfortable, as though something was constricting his lungs and made it harder for him to let air in, but it didn't hurt. It was only after the fourth big breath that a slight cough stirred from within. But it didn't ripple his airpipe, bringing red fluid onto his lips. It almost tickled. It reminded him of the sensation of pressing upon a spot where a bruise had once been, recently faded. It wouldn’t hurt, but it would tickle, and the skin would be terribly sensitive.

"It's...okay I guess", Arthur concluded.

You smiled, satisfied: "You don't have TB. I mean...maybe you do, but Doctor said if you had, it wouldn't have shown so soon and with such vigour. But he did say you had the worst case of pneumonia he had ever seen. We weren't sure you'd make it. But now that you have pulled through the worse", you shrugged, "I'm afraid you'll have to see my ugly face still."

Arthur didn't know what to say. Was he relieved? Happy, even? He didn't know. He was just speechless.

"Doctor said that in case you recover, you'll have to rest a lot. He knew you, by the way. Black fella with a nice-looking waggon. Weird grinder thing on top. Had to help him fix a wheel when I brought him up here. He said you had helped him some time ago, fighting the people who had stolen his waggon. And then he said you wouldn't be fighting anyone for a while, even when you are back on your feet. You need to rest for months, fresh air,...and especially, seeing that you have lost about half your weight, lots of good food. No smoking, of course."

Arthur’s chuckle rippled through the air as he started to grasp the situation. “That’s quite the relief”, he murmured, chuckled lightly as he finally started to grasp the whole situation: “That’s good news.”

“What? That you look like skin and bones?”, you teased, bumping your shoulder into his.

“No. That I’ll get to see your ugly face for some time longer”, he bumped back, stronger than you had and almost knocking you into the edge of the waggon. You hadn’t been so relieved for a long time. You felt something thick in your throat and tears gathered at the corners of your eyes.

“Missed ya, ya know”, you said quickly before a sob could work its way up.

“I missed ya too”, Arthur looked at you. He noticed the wet eyes and scrunched his nose immediately: “You gone soft while I was out? You crying ‘cause of me?”

The teasing tone alone was so friendly and welcome, it cheered you up even more.

“You ain’t worth crying over, Mr. Morgan”, you lied.

“Damn right I’m not”, he said. He let his eyes roam around the camp again. It felt familiar. The image or Horseshoe Overlook came to him, but this was different, of course. Or was it?

“You hungry?”, you asked.

“Starving. If ya can offer something else but soup”, Arthur quickly added. He only had eaten soup the last days. It was the only meal which didn’t require chewing and wouldn’t immediately choke him in his half-conscious state. This time, you brought him a small portion of stew. Not comparable to the stew Mr. Pearson had cooked. The small pieces of meat that you had granted him in his portion were as soft as they possibly could be, almost melting in his mouth.

“Slow down, god damn it”, you warned him.

“Yes, ma’am”, Arthur quietly mumbled. It was hard to slow down, but he knew he had to, since this was the first time he ate properly in – he later was being told – 13 days.

In the evening, you approached him again. Arthur was lying in his bed, half-recumbent with his journal on his lap. It was closed, Arthur was merely thinking. He had flipped through some entries before, but now he enjoyed being idle and watching everyone getting ready for the night.

“Arthur”, you knocked at the wood before appearing in his field of vision, “got something for you. I almost forgot, I had it stored away.”

You climbed on the waggon and put down a gunnysack. You carefully spilled its contents onto the floor. Arthur recognizes the round glass with the flower first. Then the picture of his mother. The picture of him and Mary. The shot of his father, though big chunks of the little picture were charcoaled and burnt, he only recognized it because he had looked at it so often. Two shirts, one pair of pants and an old belt that he hadn’t used in a while.

“That’s all that was really left, I’m afraid”, you said. He didn’t need to ask, he understood. You had gone back to where they had last camped and had rummaged through what was left after the fire to store it for him.

“Why did you…?”, Arthur started, picking up the picture of his mother.

“I…don’t know. I never had many belongings to my name, but those I had, meant much to me. Figured you feel the same”, you shrugged. Then a cheeky smile appeared on your lips: “Thought it would be nice to bury you with them if you didn’t make it.”

Arthur clicked his tongue. “It was stupid to go there. Might have been dangerous.”

“Felt worth it for me, I guess”, you said.

After a pause, Arthur thanked you. You wished him a good night at let him be. As soon as your frame vanished from the little field of view that the open canvas space granted him, he opened his journal again. He pulled out Mary’s last letter to him. Not reading the neatly written words again, he simply turned the envelope upside down, until the ring fell into his hand.

…

It took two more days before Arthur was strong enough to walk around and be on his feet for more than ten minutes at a time. But he felt fine enough to take a bath in the creek and shave. It was shocking to see his cheeks that have sunken quite a bit due to the weight loss, but Arthur’s appetite was as good as ever, so you didn’t worry about it too much.

Most of the day he spent by sitting in the shade and observing the people. Mostly you, if he was being honest. You played with the kids, helped wherever another hand was needed.

He was trying to get up from his little patch under a tree when Rains Fall approached him. Arthur hadn’t encountered him yet, he had been busy with arranging and managing the move. The last time Arthur had seen him, he had delivered him his dying son.

“How are you, Mr. Morgan?”, Rains Fall’s voice was as gentle as ever.

“Feeling much better now. I can’t thank you enough for taking me in”, Arthur said.

“After all you have done for us, it is I who must thank you”, Rain Falls smiled slightly. Silence ensued between the two men before Rains Fall spoke again, “I recall our conversation when you were my company on the ride up the mountain. You said that some people in your gang still had a chance for a good live and that you wanted to give them that.”

“Yeah”, Arthur said, his eyes fixed on you. You were brushing some horse in the distance.

“What’s with her?”, Rains Fall asked, following Arthur’s gaze, “I heard she took excellent care of you. Charles told me she’s a fierce spirit when cornered, but she seems tame and gentle. I can see that you care for her deeply too.”

“Suppose I do”, Arthur answered, “I’m not sure if that’s what she wants.”

“There are always some uncertainties in life, don’t waste too much thought on those that can be resolved with one simple question”, the chief answered. Arthur nodded, as if he understood, though he wasn’t so sure how much of the situation he had actually grasped. The ring that Arthur had picked out of the letter was in his pocket, and he felt it, when Rains Fall spoke those words. When nothing more was said on that matter, Rains Falls sighed: “Tomorrow, we’ll be on the move again. We haven’t covered much ground yet, but I’m certain we’ll make it.”

It was a statement that needed no comment and Arthur watched as the old man walked away.

The group barely covered ten miles a day. It was a good pace, nevertheless, for Arthur was on his feet again and tried to make himself useful. He tended to the horses, seeing they are well cared for and rested for the journey. All this time, you were pretty much at his side non-stop.

“You used to say ya don’t need me to do babysitting…but now yer the one watching me like I’m gonna do something stupid the second you lay your eyes off me”, Arthur teased.

“I don’t trust you to do no heavy lifting”, you said with a smile. It was a good opportunity to be close to him and help.

All of a sudden, you had started sleeping in the same waggon as he. Because the one you had used was “needed otherwise”. You sat next to him at night, watching him draw in his journal and often fell asleep way before him. Arthur was unsure if this was a sign that everything was like before, that you still liked him, but he was glad about the closeness again. The second night, he held you. The third night, you fell asleep with your head resting on his chest.

“I’m going to leave”, you said. You sat next to Arthur and watched his pencil strokes. They had been shading the horse he had just sketched. The pencil halted and Arthur looked at you.

“What?”

“Day after tomorrow, I’m leaving. I want to head south again. Then west, maybe”, you looked Arthur in the eye. His blue eyes which were warmly illuminated by the oil lamp in the waggon darted around your face. You weren’t teasing or joking, he could tell as much.

“You know I’m not someone who sticks with a group. If this thing goes bad, I’ll feel like I’m responsible”, you offered further explanation.

“Yer gonna head out there alone?”, Arthur asked, his voice strained.

“Was hoping you’d join me, actually”, you swallowed. You had dragged the question out for a while now. You knew that Arthur needed to be somewhat recovered if he was to travel with you, so you had had a good excuse for not asking for a long while. But the last couple of days the anxiety had been eating you from the inside.

Arthur didn’t answer. He watched you; you watched your own hands. As he remained silent, you unwillingly lifted your head to look at him. This was all that Arthur needed. His hand found your chin and lifted it even more, turning it towards him. In the blink of an eye, your lips met. Arthur tasted the tobacco on your lips and figured he missed smoking. Or at least, he missed sharing a cigarette with you.

“I thought you might not like me no more”, Arthur said as the kiss had ended. Both of your faces remained so close, your foreheads touched, and Arthur only needed to whisper the words to make you understand.

“Well, there’s always been lot of nonsense in your brain”, you grinned. You were relieved, because frankly, you had feared the same.

You kissed him again before asking: “Can I take that as a yes?”

“You better”, Arthur breathed, now snaking his hands around you and pulling you into yet another kiss.

III. The Life After

The parting with the Rains Fall and his people unfolded smoothly. Farewells were exchanged without any pressure of time and in good spirits. Charles and Arthur, in particular, enjoyed a more extended exchange of goodbyes compared to their previous parting. Both could go smiling, knowing that the other one would be fine.

Arthur got a spare horse, a young, not entirely tamed one, though Arthur was more than capable of handling it. Your travels back South progressed fast. It took a toll on Arthur, traveling on horseback after he had only been on his feet for a week, but you took care of that with long breaks and early nights. Sometimes, you’d rest for an entire day, also giving the horses some time to recover. You’d take care of food in a nearby town or go hunting, while Arthur watched the little possessions you travelled with. By the time you reached Ambarino, the leaves on the trees had assumed hues of red and brown and the nights were getting colder.

“Shouldn’t we head West?”, Arthur halted his horse. You had just crossed the Grizzlies and had travelled along the Dakota River for a while, before you stirred your horse East. The air was fresh, and Arthur was wrapped in a coat you had bought in a town before crossing the Grizzlies. The sun was still strong enough that the buttons could remain open, but sometimes a strong gush of wind would send a shiver through your spine and remind you that winter would be here soon.

“We can’t continue traveling”, you said. Arthur was exhausted, and so were you.

“So, what do you suggest?”, Arthur rode next to you, stirring his horse into a slow trod next to yours.

“I know a place where we can lay low for the winter”, you said, not explaining further, even though you felt Arthur’s curious gaze. Only when you arrived at O’Creagh’s Run later that day and headed so decidedly for Hamish Sinclair’s cabin, Arthur understood.

“That’s where you wanna live?”, he asked amusedly.

“Nice man lives there. I’m sure he’ll let us stay with him for a while”, you explained. Arthur smiled, but didn’t want to spoil that he knew the old veteran. Hamish was already outside doing repairs on his little boat when he saw you approach.

“Ain’t that a nice surprise!”, Hamish raised his arms, “A visit by two friends at once!”

Now it was your turn to be surprised: “You know each other?!”

“Of course. Arthur Morgan!”, Hamish shook the hand of Arthur as soon as he had dismounted, “You’ve lost some weight my friend, but you look as fine as ever.”

Over hot coffee, Hamish was filled in on the happenings of the last month. When you asked to stay at his place for a while, Hamish was delighted. Almost immediately, you started to build another bed, because it was agreed upon that Arthur would need something more comfortable to sleep on. You would be fine with the floor in front of the fireplace for now and Hamish would continue to sleep in his bed.

It worked remarkably well. The three of you were rather quiet and when something needed to be done, it was done sooner rather than later. Arthur fished most of the time, you were out hunting with Hamish. Hamish would teach you to cook some meals, because, as he put it “A man that has lived alone for such a long time, knows his cooking spoon”, and you’d run errands in town, if something needed to be fetched. The fall of the Van der Linde Gang was still comparably recent, so the posters were still all about and to risk Arthur being seen, wasn’t a risk anyone was willing to take.

As idyllic as most of the days passed, one would think that there weren’t any struggles or that you spent your days hunting and selling pelts. But you would have never been able to sell enough pelts to support three adults, so sometimes, you’d go out and rob a stage or some rich looking traveller. You told Arthur but kept quiet in front of Hamish.

The days became shorter and the chill of winter settled in, Arthur’s recovery progressed steadily. He started to put on some more weight and longer walks or chopping wood didn’t leave him struggling for air any longer. Hamish would sometimes go out for a whole day, granting the two of you precious moments of solitude and intimacy.

In December, Hamish announced he’d be gone for a few days, visiting a cousin in Valentine. He’d be back for Christmas Day, he promised. Arthur and you considered the possibility that Hamish’ cousin was a fabrication, a ruse to give the two of you some more time alone. Nevertheless, you appreciated the gesture wholeheartedly.

Snow had fallen and the fireplace had been ceaselessly crackling in the past few days. So, the hut remained comfortably warm. In Hamish’ absence, you shared Arthur’s bed. Nestled against his chest, you traced circles through the dark patch of hair just below his navel. The only sounds to be heard were the steady crackling of the fire and the hoot of an owl nestled in a nearby tree.

“Ya mean a lot to me, y/n”, Arthur’s words slipped out so unexpectedly that you sat up and looked at him with surprise and suspicion. You were well aware of his feelings. After all, he had demonstrated as much just half an hour ago, in that very bed.

“Yer talking strange”, you remarked and raised an eyebrow.

“I love you”, Arthur said, his tone carrying an unusual weight.

“And…I love you too”, you replied slowly. This wasn’t the first time you had said that to each other, but the manner in which Arthur said it felt different. Arthur gave you a look that was so full of uncertainty and self-depreciation for himself, you lightly slapped him on his bare shoulder.

“What is going on? Did I do something wrong?”, you asked. You even raised the blanket to check if this was a new sort of foreplay that he was trying because he was ready for the second round. It was also an attempt to lift the mood, because the tension of the situation started to prickle your skin.

“Ain’t nothing wrong. I just gotta ask ya something and it ain’t easy”, Arthur complained. sitting up straight.

“Yes. I’m sorry Arthur, but the Gingerbread you baked yesterday is inedible”, you joked. You and Arthur had tried to make some gingerbread yesterday and because you hadn’t felt like baking, he had taken control of the matter. The result was…lacking, to say the least. You had lied that it looked and tasted alright, but you had been sure that by the disgusted face you had made it was clear that it had to disappear before Hamish came back and threw them out for dishonouring his kitchen.

“That’s not it and…”, Arthur looked at you funny, “It wasn’t that bad.” You smiled at him sympathetically.

“I just…god damn it, woman”, Arthur rearranged his sitting position. The he got up and slipped into his pants and shirt. He was somewhat angry, irritated maybe. Or nervous? You watched him confused.

Arthur was still fastening his pants when his voice, low and hesitant, reached your ears: “I just wanted you to know that I love ya…”

You nodded as if it was silly to suggest otherwise. With Arthur’s warmth now absent from your side, your body was cooling down and you pulled the blanked further up. And then Arthur caught you completely off guard because he knelt down besides the bed. His fingers swiftly plunged into his pockets and retrieved a ring.

“I was wondering if ya might wanna marry me”, Arthur voice was firm. He didn’t want to give the impression that he was in any doubt that he wants to spend the rest of the time with you. He was fully aware that he wasn’t the youngest anymore and that the sickness had marked him significantly. Since recovering, he had gained back most of the weight, yet ther were times when his muscles reminded him of their limitations, failing him when he attempted tasks that were once effortless.

You stared at him in disbelief, a thousand thoughts running through your head. When Arthur opened his mouth again, you were afraid that you had taken too long to answer.

“I thought it was too late for me to marry someone. I’m old. And unlovable, mostly”, Arthur chuckled warmly, “If two people ain’t too big of a group for you…” Arthur added mumbling ‘maybe three or four at some point’ before continuing, “I’d want ya to know that I plan to stick with you. Yer still young, so I understand if yer don’t want to-“

“Yes.”

Arthur shut up at looked at you. Was that a yes to “not wanting to marry”? Arthur looked like a kicked puppy for a moment, before you cleared his confusion: “Yes, I want to marry you, you dumbass.”

The ring slipped on seamlessly. The Arthur picked you up, naked as you were and hugged you lovingly. You squealed because of the cold air.

“Are we telling Hamish?”

Arthur mumbled the response into the crook of your neck which he was peppering with kisses: “If ya want. That enough of a Christmas present for him?”

You hit Arthur’s back: “Hell no! The man lets us live in his home. I was thinking about getting him a new rifle.”

Arthur set you down and you gathered your clothes, putting them on slowly, as Arthur was taking his time admiring you.

“Put some money back”, you grinned mischievously, “It was also meant for buying you a present. But I suppose that being my husband is good enough.”

“Oh you!”, Arthur growled and scooped you up, throwing you over his shoulder. For all the strength he had lost, he was still strong enough to do that. Barefooted, Arthur stamped out of the cabin. “Give me one reason to not throw you into the lake!”, he teased and approached the jetty. It wasn’t frozen yet entirely, but the water was icy cold and black.

“I’m your wife!”

“Not yet you ain’t!”, Arthur made a motion that made you shriek, but he only feinted to throw you in, “besides, that is no valid reason.”

“I’ll kill you, if you do!”, now you tried to break free, but Arthur’s grip was firm.

“Ohh. That’s more like it. Though I think you love me too much for that.”

“Many wives kill their husbands!”, you screamed.

“I could drown ya first, ya know”, Arthur teased and swirled around, so you faced the black water.

“You’ll never find out where I stashed the money and won’t afford a present for Hamish!”, you finally said.

“That’s true”, with that, Arthur let you down. As soon as your bare feet touched the snow, you darted inside, shivering violently in front of the fireplace.

Arthur soon followed, having more of a quieter complexion. He closed the door behind him, and the warm and loving atmosphere of the cabin was restored. In many ways, Arthur saw you as an equal. You were just as good as a shot as he was, just as fast when it came to running or riding. There was no need to escape his old live, because you were an outlaw just like him. You didn’t mind if life meant running away from the law. He didn’t need to tread lightly with you. You could take criticism; a discussion or whatever life threw at you. And yet, he found your movements graceful, gentle. Most of the time, at least. Arthur smiled at the thought. When your opponent was a bigger man and it would come to close ranged fighting, you became sloppy and angry, but with a gun you were the definition of accuracy and grace.

“Hello?”, you looked at Arthur wit tilted head, drawing his attention back from his reverie, “Where have you wandered off to?” His daydreams had lasted so long, he had barely noticed that you had dressed yourself.

“Jus’ dreamin’ about my future wife, ‘s all”, Arthur grinned sheepishly. He extended his arms invitingly, and you moved closer, nestling into his embrace.

“Don’t start expecting things I’m not capable”, you said.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know?! Maybe I want my husband to be capable of baking proper gingerbread for Christmas and then you come along and-“, Arthur interrupted you by poking you into the side and making you squeal.

“You do it better then!”, he challenged.

“I suppose I will!”, you grinned back, heading for the little stove, “I bet mine are at least two times more…edible than your sorry experiment.”

“What are we betting? A kiss, Mrs. Morgan?”, Arthur said slimily, his arms crossed and watching you. The name made you feel warm and happy. For all the times you’d been mistaken as a Bell, you like that name way more. But for old time’s sake, you turned around and looked at the man you love.

“Your life, Morgan!”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

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matthewkniesys · 1 year ago

Text

i know it won't work - trevor zegras

summary: You let go of Trevor but why can't he let go of you? You know it won't work so why can't he see that? You're only trying to save each other from more heartbreak than necessary. You just want him to be happy.

a/n: this is the second fic in my good riddance by gracie abrams fic series. you don't have to read the first one for this to make sense. so this is my first song fic so please be nice. idk if i did it right. everything in bold is the song lyrics. i recommend listening to the song but you don't have to. i really do love this fic so hopefully yall will too🫶

pairing: trevor zegras x gn!reader

warnings: angsty and some swearing

good riddance fic series

The last year has been hard for you. Nobody ever told you how hard graduating highschool would be. Everyone paints graduating as this big celebration. You're never warned of the hard choices you’ll have to make and the people you’ll lose. The one person you never expected to lose was your childhood best friend and boyfriend of 3 years, Trevor Zegras. And you could never have predicted that you would be the one walking away. Not him.

I left you there

Heard you keep the extra closet empty

In case this year I come back and stay throughout my 20s

Your body is drained of any energy. Moving into your dorm room has sucked any will to do anything for the rest of the day out of your body. You’re excited for the new chapter that University will bring to your life but you’re also mourning the loss of the life you had before. You feel like a different person since everything in your life did a complete 180 a few months ago.

Leaving Trevor was probably the hardest thing you’d ever done. You didn’t just lose your boyfriend that day, you also lost your best friend. It was what needed to happen though. It was this one day when he made a comment about how he would follow you anywhere and give up hockey in a heartbeat that made you freak out. You had to cut ties. Trevor loved you in an all consuming way. You loved him in a nostalgic kind of way. In the way that you two had been best friends forever. You loved him but slowly you were realizing it wasn’t in that same romantic way his love for you was. It was not purely but more platonic. You couldn’t ever see yourself marrying him and so even though it hurt both of you, leaving was the right decision. If only Trevor could understand that.

Picking up your phone to check social media, you see you’ve got a missed call from a friend, well she’s probably your best friend now, since you walked away from Trevor. You choose her number from your recent contacts and let it ring until she picks up.

“Hey, y/n, how are you? Are you all settled in?”

“I’m good. It was a real tight fit, to get everything in the dorm but it worked out. How about you? How’s your dorm? I can’t believe we are literally on the opposite side of the country now.”

Your friend laughs, “ Yeah, it was quite the tight fit here too. The dorms are tiny. But I’m doing good. I’m excited for classes to start.”

You pause for a second, wanting to ask the question that’s been burning in the back of your mind for weeks now. You wanted to know how Trevor was. Trevor and your friend had always been close. When you walked away from Trevor you didn’t want them to have to end their friendship so they still hang out.

Stuttering, you ask,” Hey, um how’s Trev doing?”

“Are you sure you really wanna know?” Yes, you are sure. At this point you feel like you need it as much as you need the air you breathe. You can guess he probably isn’t doing great, you aren’t either but you need to hear it from someone who knows.

“Yes, I do.”

“Okay, well I’m gonna be honest with you.” She pauses. “He’s fucked up over you. You walking away from him really came out of the blue. He blames himself. He thinks he did something wrong.” Hearing that he thinks it’s his fault breaks your heart. All he did was love you with all of himself and you couldn’t reciprocate that.

“I-fuck. Why couldn’t I just love him back? It’s what he deserved and I couldn’t give it to him.”

“Y/n, it’s okay. In the long run this will be better. At least neither of you will be stuck in a shitty relationship. But if I’m being completely honest I think Trevor still thinks you’re gonna come back. Like you’re gonna realize you made a mistake and change your mind. You probably don’t wanna hear this but he keeps the extra closet empty. You know, just in case you decide to come back and stay for good.”

Hearing that, shatters your heart into a million pieces.

What if I won’t?

How am I supposed to put that gently?

And down the road