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leviathansshadycorner · 8 months

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Hi! I just wanted to say that I love the Cato series!! It’s so good and I’m so exited for the next part! <33

Rope Him In ( Cato x District 10! Reader x slight! Marvel) Pt. 5

Summary: (Y/n) begins training.

A/n: Thank you for the support!!!! I love y'all!! Sorry for the wait lol life has been hard. Sorry for any typos or OOC moments. Again thank you so much for the support it means the world to me especially right now.

Pt.4 Pt.3 Pt.2 Pt.1

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Chapter 5: Training pt. 1

“Do you think they’ll have us fight against each other?” Buckley’s voice interrupted your intense glaring to the careers waking up ahead to the training center.

“Probably not, they’re already making us do that anyway.” You reminded him, scratching the back of your neck since the fabric of the training uniform had a tag that had not been cut off.

All of the tributes were lined up in pairs. Peacekeepers decorated the walls of the building as they carefully observed the tributes making their way into the arena. The doors leading to the arena were that familiar steel material, and white futuristic lights lit the path towards the center. You could hear the careers boasting about how they couldn’t wait to get their hands on certain weapons, and how much they missed training. It was an odd thing to hear and the non-career districts were visibly confused with their behavior.

Everyone was lined up in a semicircle, gathering around a lady with two pigtails. She introduced herself as the overseer of the training arena and began to explain the rules. She mentioned how tributes should not only focus on combat but survival skills as well.

Buckley seemed notably irritated. You had no idea why. Was it something you had said? Deciding to dismiss it, you focused your attention up ahead. Unfortunately for you, all the tributes had to participate in mandatory stations.

“What should we do?” Buckley asked, his eyes scanning the other tributes as they all dispersed around the training center. Some of the tribute pairs stayed together, following each other around and choosing to train as partners. The rest went on to train individually. It was clear that they either didn’t trust who they came in with, or cared less about them. The careers all huddled around lethal weapons. Quickly it was established that Cato was the leader of the pack. Even Marvel didn’t bother to fight over the role of the leader.

It was like they had their own private island. All the other tributes steered clear of whichever section of the room they would move to. You and Buckley were still the only ones who hadn’t moved. It was obvious he was hoping to stick together but you couldn’t risk that. You were already a target in the eyes of the career. Not because of your strength, but because you had hurt their leader’s ego during the parade. You’d practically be leading Buckley to his death if he stayed close to you for too long. Then again, you weren’t going to let fear get in your way.

“Why don’t we stick with each other? That way we can scope out who we have to watch out for.” He nodded, opening his mouth to say something but you cut him off, “Let's start with survival training.”

There were a variety of stations on the leftmost side of the arena. It was dedicated to building shelters, starting fires, and memorizing edible food. The middle part of the training center was dedicated to more physical training. It was where capitol trainers engaged in hand-to-hand with tributes, reflex tests were, and where obstacles to climb and jump over were placed. The right side was where the careers had set residence. It held a display of weapons and training dummies. It was almost too overwhelming for you. The lights disoriented you and the sounds of clinking metal and forceful grunts overstimulated you a bit too much. The arena was cold. The uniform you had been forced to wear didn’t do as good of a job of keeping you warm. Then again, these were designed to fight against sweat, not the cold. As you attempted to tuck your hands in your arms for warmth, you decided to walk around. You needed to scope out the stations that would serve you use to practice. A couple caught your eye, the fire-making station, rope and knot stations, and the station showing how to properly cook prey.

Needing to get out of the hecticness of it all, you and Buckley quickly beelined it towards the fire making station. The girl from 12 had previously been there, although she already seemed skilled at it. The two of you sat directly across from each other. The bundle of sticks in the middle had regenerated themselves. The heated ashy remains were now back to firm little twigs.

“Do you remember what Dolly and Ramsey told us?” You didn’t even need to ask. Of course Buckley remembered.

“Yeah, they told us not to show our strengths.” He replied. “I’m pretty sure that’s what all mentors tell their tributes though.”

“Well not all of them.” You added, eyes wandering to the spartan soldiers across the room. They weren’t holding back. Each hit they dealt whether it be a punch or a spear to a dummy was filled with pride. It was in fact their way of showing everyone else that they were the future victors.

“What’s their deal anyways?” Buckley’s hands were rubbing the stick down on a rock to try to ignite it.

“What do you mean?” You asked, trying to start your own fire now.

“The careers. They look like they’re ready to kill you and the games haven’t even started.” His eyebrows furrowed out of confusion.

You didn’t understand him. Surly he had met one of the career’s gazes at some point during your stay so far. “That’s how they look at everybody.”

“No, it's different with you. It's like- They give you more attention then they do to other people.” He had managed to make the stick smoke.

“Jealous that they don’t wanna kill you as much as they wanna kill me?” You briefly stopped to look at him with a sarcastic smile. His lips turned into a frown, and you realized he was concerned for you.

“I think they’re mad I stole their spotlight.” You offered.

“But that was like a second of time?” Buckley’s tone was in disbelief. “Plus the real star was the girl from 12. No offense.” He quickly put a hand on your shoulder.

“None taken.” You patted his hand and redirected it back to his task.

“Is that really all? They must have really fragile egos.” He stopped what he was doing, curious as to why they were so petty.

“Well, Cato does. The rest of them are like sheep. They follow him around like that anyways.” You both turned to look at the careers. They were deeply focused. Eventually, they moved onto sparring with the trainers.

“What are we going to do?” He wondered. He seemed lost.

“Hope that Thresh takes him out at the start.” It was a morbid thing for you to say, but Cato was a major threat. Especially to you.

The conversation died out to mundane talk. You both found yourselves homesick even though it hasn’t even been a week. You wondered how Amaranto was doing. If your father was alright and not ill. If Clarabell was keeping their spirits up or at least trying to. You thought of the smell. Though it may seem unpleasant to the likes of the capitol, it was soothing for you. After years of living there, you’d gotten used to the earthy scent. The capitol smell was overwhelming at times. If it wasn’t sterile and metallic, it was floral and sickeningly sweet.

As the day went on you and Buckley were getting the hang of things. It seemed like everyone was saving their skills for the arena. The survival section quickly filled up, causing you and a couple of others to switch to the weapons section. Every half hour the tributes would have to regroup and do a series of physical tests assigned by the trainers. The tributes would always go first, wanting to get back to training as soon as possible. It was clear they loved showing off. Even going beyond the one-time requirement and doing the task twice.

The careers made it their job to criticize every tribute. They stood not at the sidelines- but directly in front of the stations, making it impossible for the tributes to have an ounce of confidence. Sometimes they’d look away, bored at the current subject. They’d give looks of disdain to the ones that showed their capabilities. Worse of all they’d laugh at the tributes who showed weakness and weren’t capable of making it all the way through.

It was hard to perform decently when you had eyes glued onto you. Buckley had gone by easily. He struggled a bit with hand to hand combat, but he practically breezed by. He didn’t overdo it however, lucky for him the career pack didn’t look too interested in him. At first they glared at him, probably expecting him to show off, their glares quickly faded and they soon showed no interest at all. When it was your turn you swear you could’ve heard some snarky comment come out of one of their mouths.

You chose to pay no mind to it. Your palms were uncomfortably sweaty. Your vision was becoming blurred. The constant “Whenever you’re ready.” Weren’t helping. Taking a deep breath in, you went forth. You had to climb your way across some bars, easy in theory. You weren’t the tallest person here, not the shortest either, but the fall seemed detrimental. In fact there had been a previous accident. A boy with dark hair had fallen off the bars and injured his leg. You were concerned for him. Did the Capitol have the technology to cure a broken leg before the games?

The group training ended much to everyone’s pleasure. Buckley was examining the knives. You wondered if he’d give it a go. He was pretty skilled when it came to throwing them. You watched from afar. You yourself were at a station dealing with a fishing line. You’re not sure why it was there hence why you chose it. Buckley was swift with his movements. His fingers let go of the throwing knife and he watched as it glided to its target. The knife barely made it to the center of the dummy’s head, if anything it was lodged in the eye area rather than the forehead, but it was still impressive.

“Amateur.” Clove insulted. It was loud enough for you to hear, but Buckley was too far to hear it himself. You watched as she resumed her training, Cato being the one to calm her down. She seemed insulted that Buckley was good at her favorite skill.

Quickly you made your way to your fellow tribute. He seemed impressed by his own skills. “Did ya see that? Right in the eye.” He spoke, his voice proud.

“Buckley, you’re amazing.” You reassured him. Now that you were next to him you could see how far away the dummy really was. If you were to try there was no guarantee that you’d make it. His strength and past experience with throwing really paid off.

“Why aren’t you celebrating with me?” He asked playfully once your demeanor shifted from impressed to on survival mode.

“Clove’s got an eye on you.” You warned him.

“I can tell.” He processed what you had said. Looking at her direction he was met with her deadly side eye.

“She seems unstable.” You spoke truthfully.

“They all do. They are.” He added. “You know, I feel like someone needs to give them a reality check.”

“What do you mean by that?” His words worried you.

“I mean we need to show them they’re not the shit.” He said picking up another knife.

“Buckley!” You grabbed his shoulder and leaned in to whisper and yell at him. “Our mentors specifically told us not to show off.”

“(Y/n), don’t act like you haven't shown off.” His words hit you like a hurricane. He was right. “Worst they can do is kill us.” He joked as you stepped aside to let him prove himself.

Your focus shifted from the careers to Buckley as he lifted the throwing knife to give it another shot. In a sense, Buckley was right. The careers really were on their high horse thinking of themselves as unstoppable. It was getting annoying, and you were starting to get fed up as well. Cato already had his eye on you. So clove’s would be next to nothing.

The thump of wood being penetrated by a knife echoed in your ears as the world froze. The confidence you had a second ago was gone. Time seemed to go by slowly. As if on cue a huff of a laugh came from Marvel. His cheeks round as a smile formed. Buckley had hit a bullseye.

“Nice job 10.” Marvel shouted from across the room. Sarcasm was in his voice, but you couldn’t tell if he meant it.

“Done?” You asked Buckley, hoping he’d be finished causing a scene. Clove’s dark eyes filled with rage. It baffled you how seriously she took the whole situation.

“Oh no, it's your turn now.” He said. Immediately you backed away.

“I think you’re actually going insane. Do you need me to ask for some medication?” You were snapping back.

“No. Come on. Try it.” He said, placing his hands on your back as he nudged you towards the table with knives.

“I’m not good at this. Buckley, If I mess up, they’re going to think I’m weak.” You confided in him.

“But if you do good they’ll think you're strong.” He countered. “Plus, wouldn’t you rather have them see you weak? Maybe then the meathead will leave you alone.”

“Your logic makes no sense.” You were about to back out completely when you caught sight of the career pack waiting on your next move. Glimmer gave you a condescending smile. Clove was still focused on Buckley. Both Cato and Marvel were talking, all of them watching you, taunting you.

“Fine.” You gave in. There was no way you’d give them the satisfaction of rejecting a challenge. You felt like a bull around a red cape around them. They made your blood boil just by existing. The careers had the best lives out of all the other tributes in the game, yet they always liked making people miserable. At times they felt like the enemy. Even though they got here under similar circumstances.

Buckley smiled as you grabbed a small knife. It was the size of your palm, yet comfortable to hold. You weren’t sure what to do with it. It sat in your hand like a glob of honey as you anxiously looked around.

“What am I supposed to do?” You asked him.

He was quick to help you. “Stand upright,” He put a hand on your back to force a good posture. He then tapped your feet with his to give you the correct footing. “You’re gonna want to follow through. Don’t overthink it too much. The tall man stood next to you as he demonstrated what to do with your arms. You mimicked his movement the first time around, soon practicing it three more times. “Remember (Y/n), don’t overthink it.”

You nodded as you prepared your throw. Taking a short breath you threw your arm backward and then forcefully forward, missing the dummy completely, but hitting the one behind it near its thigh. The knife didn’t stay in however, it fell after being stuck for about three seconds.

Your eyes were teary. The warmth in your face grew and you suddenly wanted to be thrown into the games. You stood in place, afraid to move. How dare you embarrass yourself?

“That’s a start,” Buckley said kindly. You turned to look at the careers but Buckley spared you the pain and grabbed your shoulders to look at him. “Don’t worry about them.”

“I. Told. You. I. Wasn’t. Good.” You spoke in pauses. You felt a mix of shame and anger. Shame for not being able to prove yourself, and anger towards Buckley for making you embarrass yourself.

“(Y/n), I’m sorry. But hey its ok! Here lets try again.” Buckley held your arm. You wanted to leave, but you had about three more hours of training. You said nothing and instead looked off into the distance. You were really wasting time by not doing anything, but you were overwhelmed at this point.

“Look I just thought since you work with knives back in 10 you’d be-” His apology was cutoff by a sudden thump of wood. Cato had stealthily moved next to the two of you. The career had thrown two knives at the training dummy. Effortlessly. He turned to face the both of you.

“Giving up already? What happened to the girl who rode a Capitol horse?” He taunted. He was arrogantly fiddling with a throwing knife.

Buckley knew better than to start anything, but he wasn’t going to let you take it. “She just got started.” He came to your defense.

Truthfully, you didn’t want to interact with Cato. You had learned to stay away from him. Everyone saw how he handled the situation with the tribute he thought to have stolen his knife. He was a ticking time bomb. Anything could set him off. You didn’t turn around. Instead you kept staring into the distance. This only seemed to aggravate him. Cato had walked in front of you, knife in his hand as he grabbed yours. He looked at you with intensity as he placed the knife in your palm.

“Don’t wimp out now 10.”

Buckley was preparing himself to end the interaction between you two, but he stopped in his tracks when a knife flew past him. It was a reckless throw, but it managed to actually go through the dummy. This time on it’s side.

“Why don’t you turn around and try that again?” Cato questioned as he leaned against a metal table.

It seemed like the spotlight was once again on you. People around were now tuning into the scene. Cato’s arms transformed as he uncrossed them, his muscles relaxing. You however were far from relaxed.

“What the fuck could you possibly want from me? Why are you here? Do you have nothing better to do?” You interrogated as you stepped closer to him. It was clear he had finally struck the last nerve. Buckley looked confused but pale as his concern for his fellow tribute grew. You weren’t yelling at him, but nobody dared to get within an inch from Cato.

His eyes were void of emotion. “I’m just trying to help out the competition. If I’m going to win this, I want to win because I’m the strongest. Not because everyone else was weak and at a disadvantage.” He spoke back methodically. He didn’t move at all. The two of you seemed to be frozen in time- glaring at each other.

It wasn’t long before he left. Leaving you fuming alongside Buckley.

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Tags: @randomgurl2326

#fanfic #xreader #reader insert #x cato #cato hadley #the hunger games fanfiction #74th hunger games #the hunger games #katniss everdeen #marvel #romance #tribute #district 10 #xtribute reader #peeta mellark #coriolanus snow #jack quaid #x reader

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corpocyborg · 1 year

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Secure Your Soul: A Cyberpunk 2077 Fanfiction

This fic was previously published under the title "Before the Event Horizon."

Summary: Six months ago, V's boss at Arasaka ordered her to assassinate his rival. Instead, with the reluctant but invaluable help of her old friend Jackie Welles, she pushed them both off their thrones and claimed one for herself. Now the new Director of Arasaka Counter Intel has a problem. She's uncovered information that indicates that Yorinobu Arasaka, the heir apparent to the Arasaka dynasty, is a traitor. But without solid proof, she's forced to take matters into her own hands. An AU in which Corpo!V never leaves Arasaka.

CHAPTER ONE: BALLAD OF A POLITICIAN

[read on ao3]

V’s eyes were glued to her leftmost monitor, incessantly rereading the international regulations on lunar base licenses. Her right monitor displayed the bios of every member of the European Space Council; her center refreshed every two minutes with the latest reports from Frankfurt. Assuming the lead she needed existed, it was buried in one of these places. A regulatory loophole, a bribe or blackmail opportunity of a key council member—if there was some potential solution, she would find it.

Without thinking, she opened her drawer and inhaled a cognitive booster. An hour had passed since her meeting time with Jenkins; she wouldn’t be able to put it off much longer. But if she couldn’t present an alternative idea to save the lunar base licenses, she knew he’d go through with his deep clean of the entire Space Council. V was unlikely to shed any tears over a bunch of useless bureaucrats, but Jenkins’ plan was a stopgap at best. They’d gain about a week, and lose more eddies in the cover up than that week was worth.

V used to admire Jenkins’ ruthless efficiency, but ever since Abernathy had fucked him over, he’d gotten careless. A stupid emotional reaction.

V’s fingers hovered over the keyboard, willing herself to come up with some new angle to try, when her stomach gave a sudden lurch. She brought up her biometrics panel on her optics display. Heart rate: elevated. Cortisol level: elevated. Daily intake report: 865 calories below optimal. It occurred to her that she hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and she’d just taken… she counted the empty containers… four cognitive boosters in the last hour? When had that happened?

She didn’t have time to consider it any further because another lurch forced her to run to the bathroom and vomit all over the fancy black marble sink.

—

She received a call just as she was ridding herself of the last bits of her breakfast. She hadn't intended to answer it right then, but the rocking motion she made as she was throwing up caused her optics to register her eye motions as an Accept Call signal. Which meant one of her confidential informants got an earful of vomit noises.

"V," said Jackie Welles. "Are you all right?"

"Fine," V gasped. "Just needed a breather."

"Sounded like you just blew your guts airlock."

V wiped the leftover vomit off her mouth and frowned at her reflection. "Yeah," she admitted. "I barfed."

"Job's gonna kill you.” The translator in her brain had shifted the conversation to English, but it alerted her that Jackie was using Spanish. She'd have guessed so anyway. He tended to do so when he wanted to make a point. A fairly ironic point coming from a street merc.

"Yeah," V said. "Maybe I should've gotten a safe one. Like you did."

"Hey, at least I always know who's shooting at me. Sometimes even why."

V was about to respond, when one of her coworkers walked into the bathroom. She didn't recognize him, but that was no surprise considering the size of Arasaka's employee count. When he noticed her situation, he paused at the door and stared as if unsure whether he still wanted to come in.

V felt the urge to yell at him, but that was absurd. Defensiveness in a moment like this would only make her come off as even weaker. She forced herself to smile in an imitation of graceful humility.

"Sorry about the mess," she told him. "By the way, if you go to the café on level B2, don't order the burrito."

The man nodded politely before walking into a stall.

"Bad burrito, huh?" Jackie continued.

"Look, Jack, is there a particular reason you called me?"

“Damn, V. Just checking in on you. No need to get all annoyed about it.”

“I’m sorry. Just caught me at a bad time, that’s all.” V exhaled, her muscle memory leading her through the neuromotor relaxation exercises she'd learned from her life coach at Quantified Satori. “We had a leak. My boss called. Dragged me in because we had to intervene. Everyone at Night City HQ is on edge.”

“But no way you’re fucked, right? You’re the one who fixes other people’s shit.”

V nearly laughed. “If you work in Arasaka Counter Intel, you’re always fucked.”

She checked the clock on her optics. The Council would convene for the vote within the next fifteen minutes. Her time was up. “Listen, gotta go. Work won’t do itself.”

“Good luck,” he said in Spanish again, then hung up.

V took a second for one last round of the exercises, then headed out.

—

She pretended to ignore the fact that everyone in the hallways was talking about Frankfurt, but, in reality, she listened eagerly. It was as good an opportunity as any to keep her finger on the pulse of NCHQ's emerging consensus on the issue. Most of what she heard was speculation and complaints, but even those details had value. Most importantly, the general chatter confirmed that Jenkins’ reputation had tanked as much in everyone else’s eyes lately as it had in her own. Not for the first time in the last few days, she wished she’d attached her name to someone else, and she nearly cringed when she overheard someone refer to her as “Jenkins’ girl”.

About halfway to Jenkins’ office, a voice called out to her, “Hey, V. It’s been ages. It’s me, Frank. We met during Icefall. East coast, remember?”

He did look familiar. He’d grown a beard since she last saw him, and he’d installed some new cyberware, but you don’t easily forget an agent you used to do fieldwork with. Despite her tight schedule, V slowed down. Frank Nostra was Spec Ops, and there’d never been a better time to expand her circle of alliances.

“I didn’t know you were in Night City,” she said with a slight lilt. “How’ve you been?”

“Ah, you know how it is,” he continued texting as he spoke to her, but V knew better than to take that as a slight. More likely he was too busy to slow down. “A week ago I was still in Cape Town. I heard you’re in Counter Intel. Must have a shitshow on your hands right now after Frankfurt. Jenkins is your lead, right? Is he what everyone says he is?”

V decided to play it coy. “What does everyone say about Jenkins?”

“That he’s effective. Like any psychopath. Apparently, he’s gotten a little crazier lately.”

“Well,” V said. “He’s in an unfortunate position. He thought the director was planning to greenlight his promotion when the Japanese arrived, but she decided against it. I suppose he interpreted that as a betrayal. Even the best of us have been known to crack under that kind of pressure.”

Nostra stopped texting just long enough for her to tell that her insubordination had been noted. “I work for Director Abernathy, actually,” he said. “She’s really good. Came up with the whole Cape Town ploy on her own.”

“She is,” V agreed. “I’ve always thought she was an intelligent woman. You’re lucky to work under her.”

Nostra put his phone away for the moment. “You know, V, Spec Ops is always looking for new operatives. With our history, I could put in a good word for you, let Abernathy know if you’re open to a change in position.”

V smiled. “I’d appreciate that, Frank. I think it’s a good time to explore some new career opportunities.”

“Ah, you do, don’t you?” Nostra asked, his eyes narrowing. “Of course, Abernathy’s looking for the right candidate. Someone who knows how to appreciate being pulled screaming out of a raging dumpster fire.”

In a way, she envied him that lack of subtlety. He could only afford it because of his advantageous position over her. Still, even with a rotten hand, V always found this game exciting. “Of course. I think you’ll find working under Jenkins for two years has given me a lot of insight into his worldview. I’d happily share that with Abernathy.”

Nostra was already back on his phone. “Well, then I think we have an agreement. Nice seeing you, V.”

“Nice seeing you too, Frank.”

V walked away, now running later than she could excuse even in the most severe circumstances. Well, pretty soon it wouldn’t matter anymore. It’d be good to be back in the field again. The boardroom intrigue had its own appeal, but she’d been sitting in a desk chair so long that she felt eager at the thought of physical action.

She passed through the security scanners in front of Jenkins’ door, and stepped into his office.

#cyberpunk 2077 #corpo v #fanfiction #cyberpunk 2077 fanfiction #corpo lifepath #the corpo rat #corpocyborg #wip #secure your soul: a cyberpunk 2077 fanfiction #ballad of a politician #spotify #valerie locke

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daybreak-tkler · 2 years

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❝[11:05]❞

In the meadowverse woosan and their feathery escapade,, requested by the lovely @toomanygiggles

"....what?" Wooyoung trails off, staring at San in a shocked manner as his star-crossed lover proudly presents the offending item. His faerie boyfriend grins widely "It's a feather! It fell off of one of the birds in the forest and it's just gotta be the softest thing I've ever seen!" he chirps, clearly excited by the prospect of him being able to use said offending item. Ever since last year where the two dived into their first ticklish escapade, San has been trying out new things on him. New spots, new methods, new tools. Wooyoung was usually up for it, if not a little hesitant at first.

However, feathers felt like an entirely different territory. His eyes lock with his pretty partner. His iridescent wings shimmer as they softly twitch and flutter every now and again whilst his head tilts to the side. His hair is a lovely light shade of blonde that makes him look cute, soft. Yet, with this fluffy white feather pinched between his index finger and thumb, he looks somewhat dangerous. Not actually dangerous, Wooyoung doesn't think San could ever threaten his safety at all. He was just too nice. The elven male had a rather large hunch, though, that some amount of ticklish torment would commence shortly.

And what a smart elf he was.

San gently takes his ankle. Wooyoung knows that when coming to see his boyfriend in private, he doesn't need to wear shoes. Not that elves were particularly big on shoes, most wore adornments like chains or rings instead, but certainly with how much he and San enjoyed their ticklish moments together - they had decided footwear was unnecessary. San sends him a small grin, it's laced with mischief as he has both of Wooyoung's ankles propped up on his lap. "Ready..?~" he asks with a playful hum.

Wooyoung doesn't think he's ever ready to get the undeniable urge to laugh, but he nods anyway because the stress of the Elven Clan was becoming too much for him. "I'm.. r-reheheeheady,, ohohohoh gohosh!" Wooyoung snorts softly, covering his mouth with one hand as San gingerly strokes his leftmost arch with the feather. San doesn't dilly-dally once he had the reaction he's after, he gently scribbles his fingers over his elven boyfriend's other foot. Wooyoung's laughter grows louder and it goes up an octave as the ticklish sensation grows. "Ohohohohoh, suhuhugar!-" Wooyoung curses "Thahahahaat's bad!!"

Like normal when they try something new, San finds that he wants to see where else Wooyoung is feather sensitive. He swipes the little fluffy feather on the back of his partner's knee, cooing at the way Wooyoung squeaks. The two of them had fell into a routine already where once every few meet-ups,, they'd have a tickle session. Wooyoung would always be the lee, which he preferred, and San the ler. Not that the faerie wasn't ticklish, he just preferred to be the one tickling than the one recieving. He was able to appreciate Wooyoung's laughter more like this.

"I like you like this," San mumbles as he moves forward to peck Wooyoung's lips sweetly. "You're really cute, can i do your tummy next?" there's a little smirk on his face that Wooyoung just can't say no to. San seats himself on his boyfriend's hips and pulls up his linen shirt so that it sits just under his ribcage; his soft, milky tummy exposed. "Coochie coo~" San sings, brushing the feather over Wooyoung's naval. "Mmhmhmhmhahahaa! Eeeheheeeheeek, Sahahahaan!!"

From his tummy, San traveled upwards... and upwards again until eeevery area had been explored by the little feather. Wooyoung was out of breath and sweetly asking him to stop, and how could San deny him really? "Hhaah.. Sannie that was so mean," the elf pouts up at his boyfriend who's still grinning down at him. "Watch the pout, honey, if you aren't careful I might just tickle it off of your face~" San teases him, wiggling the feather at him. Wooyoung's cheeks bloom with a soft rouge and he huffs. "Someone needs to put this little faerie in place..."

#cute tickles #kpop tickling #tickle community #ticklefics #tickle #kpop tickle #tickling #tickle fantasy #ateez tickle #lee! wooyoung #ler! san #in the meadowverse #thanks for the request <3

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aerialsquid · 1 year

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FFXIVWrite Day 28: Blunt

Continuing from the CidNero voidsent AU here. You know that thing where there's a guest star on a show and the spotlight focuses on them broadly disproportionate to their actual role in the plot because they're notable IRL? That's how it feels when I cameo a favored OC in a fic. In my head, they show up and the studio audience immediately starts cheering.

"You can't just call up one of your Reapers and ask their voidsent?"

"Most of my family's partners are weaker voidsent. They rarely speak, and have little on their mind but the hunger."

"Ah. And unfortunately for us Nero continues to be in his talkative stage."

"Fall in a ditch, Garlond."

Nero had been getting more and more twitchy the further they walked through the undercity tunnels of Ul'dah, following behind Drusilla and her lantern. He kept staring at the shadows, as if expecting something to jump out at them.

There were built-over passageways and walled off apartments all through the city, as the residents built over the old world again and again through the millenia. At the start they'd passed actual humans living in the tunnels, watching with wary milky eyes as they huddled in the careful assemblies of tarps and rubble they'd built their makeshift homes from. This deep, Cid couldn't even hear the sound of rats anymore.

"The advisor you're hunting," Drusilla said, "would need to be a voidsent who's well-fed enough that it can have more on its mind than consuming and hiding. One that's been in our world for quite some time without revealing itself."

"And I take it that's who we're going to visit."

Drusilla gave a curt nod, watching the floor for debris.

"In the void, its name was Plasmatore, but the Uldahns took to calling it Dollmaker."

"Charming moniker," Nero commented. "I'm sure it portends something dreadful."

Drusilla didn't confirm or deny the statement. "It's been here over 200 years, by its own account. Far long enough to sate itself back into sanity. I've arranged an audience, but it's up to you whether it likes you enough to be of any help."

They passed through a few metal grates, into an open area where a rusty chain hung beside a large, round slab of dark metal. Drusilla hefted the bag over her shoulder, balanced the pot of irises she'd been carrying on her hip, and yanked hard.

From the other side of the slab, Cid could just barely hear the sound of chimes.

"We don't need to do this," Nero was muttering, one arm around himself, the purpling in his skin dimmed as if to make him less visible. "I could find a solution myself."

"The last thing I want is to wake up to you tearing my throat out. Wasn't this your idea?"

Nero scowled and muttered something under his breath about holes in the air. Cid was about to ask what the hell that meant when the slab of metal slowly rolled aside on hidden tracks.

"Hello, Dollmaker."

"Drusilla."

The creature was long and massive, its body a glistening jet-black like an obsidian gemstone. The back end of its body was bulbous with two pairs of limbs ending in clawed feet jutting out to the side, like a Desert Peiste that had eaten far too much. The long thick neck held two additional sets of smaller limbs, and at the very end of its neck rested an unmoving porcelain mask, eyes closed and mouth sealed.

The mask stared down at them and then said, without moving any visible lips, "I thought you were coming in the evening." Its voice was almost comically high pitched for such a massive creature, and sounded like a large man doing a falsetto in a pantomime show.

"It is evening," Drusilla said. She offered the flowers, which the creature took with the topmost pair of limbs.

"Are you sure?" it asked, the mask canting to one side.

"Quite sure."

"Ah. I may have lost track of time. I was having–anyway, come in, come in." The leftmost upper hands gestured towards them.

The doorway led into a large room lit by lamps in the center and cloaked in shadow along the edges, with more light coming from a door to the next chamber. The floor was bare and worn stone, but there were several pieces of surprisingly nice furniture scattered about, as if guests were meant to be entertained there.

Dollmaker carried the pot of irises to the back of the room, where crystal lamps illuminated a small fountain, reminiscent of those that Cid had seen in the foyers of Ul'dahn merchants. The shelves above and around the fountain were ringed with potted flowers in various stages of life.

Dollmaker set the irises among them and ran a delicate fingertip over one blossom. The color drained from the tiny flower and it wilted on its stalk into a lifeless grey. Dollmaker brushed a fond hand over the other flowers, contemplating them, but their colors remained intact as it pulled away.

"It's…it's like a whirlpool," Nero muttered. He still had his arms around himself, as if the room were somehow chilly. "All of the aether going into that…that maw."

"You can see it feeding? Or–him, feeding?" Cid figured anything formal enough to have furniture counted as some sort of person type being.

Dollmaker called back over its shoulder, "Both are fine, friend. I rather like the 'it', gives me that exotic flavor."

"No. Yes? Sense the currents of the aetherial flow. Like how my third eye senses, but…there's more color. I wonder if I could chart…" Nero trailed off, lost in thoughts of scientific treatises as he stared at the massive voidsent conducting pleasantries with Drusilla. Drusilla proffered the sack, whose contents Cid couldn't glimpse before a wide slit opened down the length of Dollmaker's throat and a thick red tongue lashed out to consume the contents. A shrill animalistic shriek was abruptly cut off as its jaws closed with a wet crunch.

Everyone had to eat, Cid supposed.

"So this is the hybrid, yes?" Dollmaker said, delicately wiping at its neck. "Goodness. I've not seen anything like this in quite a long time. Let me have a look at you." The neck lowered, eyes on the porcelain mask squinting to inspect him. When two of the neck hands came up to touch him Nero flinched away, then reluctantly returned to be touched.

"Cold," Nero muttered. "Cold, but…"

"Not cold. Void. The emptiness in you feels the emptiness in me. Were we in the void, I might try to fill my own emptiness with what little life is left in you, until once again I grew hungry."

Cid saw Nero shiver in the voidsent's grasp and coughed hard, lest anyone else's eyes notice it. "You've seen this before?" he interrupted.

"Rarely, yes. When one's body is destroyed in the void one does not die, as mortals here are blessed to do." It turned Nero's arm over, pushing his sleeve up to inspect the veins of amethyst running up his arms. "Your soul is shredded into tatters on the wind. If you are left alone, you may slowly coalesce and return to form in time. If not, another voidsent will consume you before you reconstitute, and your essence becomes part of theirs."

One long fingertip traced a line of soft purple up to Nero's elbow. "Those tatters infected you through wounds incurred here, as they mindlessly followed your leaking aether back into your body. Weak as they were, they did not consume you, but rather you consumed them, and now their tatters and their hungers live in you. Which is a shame, but that really is a lovely shade of purple on you."

The hands were lingering more than might have been strictly necessary for an inspection. Nero tugged away hard, backing away into Cid.

"So can you cure me or not?"

"Blunt little thing, aren't you?" Dollmaker chuckled.

"It wasn't as if I intended to wind up like this. I wasn't even intending to be in the void to begin with, and I certainly didn't want any contract forged with Garlond. I want this contagion expelled from my body. Just tell me how to fix it."

Dollmaker set its lower limbs in a wide, huffy stance. "Let me trade blunt for blunt," it said, the falsetto voice growing harsher. "The tatters have merged with your mortal essence, little hybrid. To release them, you would have to release every soul stored inside you. The cure for your condition is death."

"Wh–" Nero staggered, focused, his colors flaring. Cid felt his chest tighten, and bit down on his tongue.

Dollmaker sidled its huge body around, putting its back and thick tail to Nero as it made to leave the room. "Count your blessings that you even keep your mortal will and form, and you have a patron ready made for you. There are others not so lucky." It turned to look at Drusilla, who herself was avoiding his gaze and staring into the floral fountain.

"Well, I refuse!"

Dollmaker, already turned around, craned its neck back over its shoulder to glare at him. "You refuse the laws of metaphysics themselves?"

"Frequently and with enthusiasm!" Nero shot back.

"It's sort of our thing," Cid put in, smiling despite himself.

Another look to Drusilla gave Dollmaker her shrug and then begrudging nod. The wide slit of its maw opened in a laugh that made the voidsent's entire body tremble like a gelatin mold.

"Ah, mortals and their many hungers, you're so adorable. Let's at least start at helping you understand your partnership, yes?"

Dollmaker sauntered up to a tall door, engraved and fillagreed in a way that outshone the rest of the room. One hand hesitated on the knob.

"You are both well-traveled mortals, if you have touched the void itself, yes?" Dollmaker asked. Anxiousness made the falsetto go a half-octave even higher.

Cid and Nero both nodded.

"Not prone to being easily shocked or offended by harmless oddities? Slow to judging the hobbies of others?"

"...depends on the hobby, but yes?" Cid offered.

The neck-limbs curled in on themselves in a way that Cid almost identified as embarrassment.

"And I am helping you, so bear that in mind," Dollmaker added in a low grumble as it finally convinced itself to open the door.

Cid found Nero standing closer to him, one foot before Cid's. "Something's odd in there," Nero whispered. "Something about the aether. It's…it's not moving. It's not right."

The door opened into a long, high-ceilinged corridor lined on either side with shelves that went up even higher than Dollmaker's head. Carefully arranged on the shelves were rows and rows of still figures lit up by spotlights. They ranged in size from broad-showed Roegedayn to pudgy, diminutive Lalafell. Many were standing but some were arranged on chairs or couches as if they were captured in a moment of pleasant idleness. They were dressed in an array of high fashions, trending towards ornate dresses with full poofy skirts and crinolines, but all of them were adorned in a veil or mask that hid most of their features.

With a sinking, almost resigned sense of dread, Cid whispered to Nero, "Those aren't mannequins, are they?"

Nero gave a short, jerky little shake of his head, his eyes wide as he stared at the shelves.

"Ethically sourced, before you get yourselves in a twist," said the voidsent walking in front of them, defensive. "Your city throws the corpses of paupers over the walls to feed the jackals, at the very least this gives them more dignity. I even pay the fee to Thal. And of course there are many who are happy to trade the part they don't want for the part they do."

"Why is their aether so…unusual?" Nero asked. "They don't all seem to match, either, and none of them are decaying." He stopped at one figure arranged as if it were having tea with its companion, a cup delicately grasped in its fingers. Cid also reluctantly stopped to look, following Nero's gaze. The fingers were Sea Wolf teal, but the hand was the color of tanned leather, and those were definitely Xaela horns poking out from the sides of the veil.

Cid was abruptly put in mind of a business trip he'd taken a few years back. He'd visited a specialist in dress-up mammets to discuss an Ironworks partnership, and she'd taken Cid into the back room to show off her personal collection of dolls. The menagerie had ranged from ancient, carefully preserved relics of past eras to dolls that wore miniature versions of the same fashions that Radiant Rose had in his shop windows.

Some, the specialist had confided, were one of a kind art pieces that she carefully built from scavenged pieces of other dolls, customizing them to resemble mythological figures or storybook heroes. The care put into their tiny earrings, perfectly coiffed hair, and delicately painted faces was more than most actual women put into their day to day appearances. Cid had never been much for dolls even as a child, scorning everything feminine in his overcompensating quest for masculine affirmation, but he had to admit the craft was impressive.

Dollmaker stretched out one of its topmost hands towards the figure Cid was inspecting. Cid jerked backwards as the figure slowly unfolded itself from the chair, grasping its skirt in one hand to give a low curtsy before sinking back into its chair and going still.

"It's my unique trait," Dollmaker said, with some amount of pride."I control the flow of aether in mortal bodies, or I freeze the aether in place, the better to rearrange the individual components. I can do it to the living, too. It's quite painless, and my fees are very reasonable, if you'd ever fancy being taller…"

"I'll keep my legs all the same, if you don't mind," Cid said, swallowing the discomfort in his stomach. "It's the one thing Nero gets to lord over me and I'd hate to deprive him of the opportunity."

Nero was a lot less appalled, or at least better at hiding it. "You swap out body parts like we swap out parts on an airship engine? Fascinating."

Dollmaker preened a little. "And an essential service! I have contracts with so many that I never want for aether *or* coin, and I may maintain a far more comfortable lifestyle than most of my contemporaries. Why, some of my dolls were even left to me in their owners' wills, so grateful were they for our business relationship in life. And I do so love seeing them in their pretty dresses, and playing with their soft hair, and painting up their faces…"

It shook its head firmly, opening a cabinet in the wall and shuffling through its contents. "Ah, but don't let me be caught rambling or we'll be here all day talking about my lovelies. All night. Whatever time it's supposed to be. What you want is a different doll. A lovely and very open-minded gentleman from your very homeland came by about forty, sixty years ago? Fascinating man, amazing creative mind, not a clue where he ended up, but he did leave me one of his Galatea. They used them for training Reaper and voidsent partnerships back in your country, so I'm sure you'll find its familiarity quite the comfort!"

And there went the flipping in Cid's stomach again. He was beginning to regret having even had dinner in the first place.

#ffxivwrite2023 #cidnero

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ghoulfriendfangs · 2 years

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APPRENTICEMBER DAY FIVE: Delphi AND Iliad Edition!

{Art by @governmentfundedvampiresex! In the center is xer oc Garlic! Leftmost is @fishyreject’s Rhett, and rightmost is Delphi!}

Day One: Do they have any other friends outside of canon? What about the minor characters?

Delphi AND Iliad Edition! (So I’m not tagging my friends 100 times)

Oh man there’s. A lot.

I have a bunch of aus/roleplays with my friends where our apprentices interact with each other… so I’ll just use this day to describe some of the relationships between my apprentices and my friends apprentices, alongside minor characters!

The only minor character that Delphi has a very close relationship with is Maz, who essentially fucking adopted them onsight. They took one look at this scrappy little blue pup and went “is nobody else going to feed this poor little thing some soup?”

A joke I’ve made countless times before and will make again is that, prior to meeting Delphi, Maz had heard lots about them from Julian. Thanks to his… exaggerated descriptions, Maz was expecting a 6 foot tall, broad chested, bold and intimidating warrior wizard with a 16 pack.

When they saw Delphi for the first time, she had to hold back a laugh.

@fishyreject’s Rhett (art by him as well)

Delphi’s been friends with Rhett for as long as they can’t remember. They look up to Rhett immensely, secretly wishing they were as brave as he was. Rhett sees them as the sibling he’s never had (rip 2 his sister but she sux). Though they had a complicated relationship when Delphi was a court magician (thanks to Lucio playing favorites), they eventually felt confident enough to leave the well paying position and attempt to run the shop full time, and it was thanks to his support. They are… buddies.

If we are talking about the roleplay lore… Iliad and Rhett had an extremely rocky start. As in, “Iliad as a mecenary was tasked to hurt Rhett and all his friends” rocky. Though it was exposed that she was fed false information, and chose to join the side of the heros (not the anime ass redemption arc), Iliad… never fully forgave herself for her actions against Rhett and his family. However, she considers her and Muriel her closest friends because they’re have a similar calm, quiet nature, and they feel comfortable discussing their honest thoughts with each other.

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

@governmentfundedvampiresex’s Garlic

Auuhaaouughha… the notorious Thripple…

There’s a lot to be said about them! In the thripple au, Garlic is Delphi’s boyfriends boyfriend, and the three of them share a unique warrior’s bond (and something else too, but that information is cursed)

Garlic is the most calm and supportive of the three, helping soothe Julian’s anxieties and Delphi’s stubbornness. He also cooks the best dessert of the three, to be honest. He’s a bit shy and sometimes doesn’t say aloud what he wants or needs, and Delphi wants him to be more bold and outspoken, so they encourage him heavily!

Iliad is the same, though in a less… pushy way. She wants Garlic to find confidence in himself, too. Additionally, Iliad has many hobbies that she shares with Garlic such as knitting or cooking, though she has little time to indulge in them… but the two often find time to work together!

@l0veal0t’s Faline

Before leaving for Vesuvius, Delphi and Iliad grew up on a small island off the coast of Olyth called Swami. It’s a rather secretive island, not appearing on most world maps. People often go there if they want a peaceful place to live in community, and not be found. Delphi and Iliad’s parents fit into the latter, but Faline’s parents simply wanted to live a quiet life on the small, independent island. But perhaps the wealth they accumulated through owning Swami’s sole trading port had much to do with it.

Delphi, Iliad, and Swami met as small children, and became fast friends, almost inseparable. They played together as well as doing chores. They whispered secrets to each other. Faline soothed Iliad when Delphi was missing, and assumed drowned at age ten (though she thought it odd that Iliad never seemed to recall that they had died, often speaking of them as if they were still alive).

…but during the destruction of Swami, Iliad mistakenly thought Faline was killed by the raiding pirates.

When they reunited, Iliad was probably overjoyed by the sight of her childhood friend, and immensely relieved that she was safe and sound.

@teeth-farie’s Salem

We have an au where Salem and Delphi do a little kissy… maybe even a smoochy.

They’re a fun dynamic together, considering that Salem looks uncanny and terrifying but in reality they’re very cuddly and sweet, whereas Delphi is the human equivalent of a poorly socialized Pomeranian that bites ankles.

They hold hands everywhere. Delphi likes to carry Salem around. Salem has tasted their skin.

Iliad is so terrified of them, very worried for Delphi at first but quickly sees how happy they make them.

#apprenticember #fan apprentice #arcana apprentice #apprentice oc #apprentice #the arcana #delphi #apprentice delphi #delphi knox getmutlich #Iliad #iliad oide #apprentice iliad #fishyreject #governmentfundedvampiresex #l0veal0t #teeth farie

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theraspberryler · 3 years

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Slime Primers

Another fic done! I actually really like how this one turned out, I am unbelievably soft for this pair. Based on this prompt here!

Summary: Tommy is stubborn and won’t admit that he may be in a mood, but Charlie is a teasy bastard and decides to put an end to it.

~This is a tickle fic! If that’s not your jam then please move on!~

TW - none I don’t think, let me know if I need to add any

The Tommyinnit was absolutely not in a lee mood. You’d have to be crazy to think that a big man such as him could even get lee moods. In fact, he was so not in a lee mood that Charlie’s teasing looks and wiggling fingers weren’t even affecting him in the slightest.

Totally.

Tommy huffed and looked away from the other’s stupid grinning face and dumb wiggling fingers, turning his attention back to the ores he was smelting. Now, usually a task as simple as smelting ores wouldn’t really require much attention or effort, but Tommy had a rather complex system of eight different furnaces lined up, and he was constantly going to each separate furnace and collecting the one or two smelted iron ingots from them, crafting them into blocks, and then carefully arranging them in the double chest sitting next to his furnaces.

When Wilbur walked by and asked him what the hell he was doing, Tommy had replied in a very usual Tommyinnit fashion that he was working on a craft of true expertise and precision, and that it was, in fact, very important. He immediately glared daggers at Charlie, sat on the other side of the room, who snickered in response to Tommy’s explanation.

Because what Tommy was refusing to admit, was that early on in the day, Charlie seemed to almost instantly catch onto his (not!) mood, and took it upon himself to be the most teasy, annoying little shit he could, and Tommy was finding anything and everything to distract himself from the butterflies he felt in his tummy whenever he saw Charlie’s wiggling fingers, or heard his teasing remarks.

Tommy knew that he was just making this more difficult on himself; Charlie knew him well, and had witnessed Tommy in multiple lee moods before. He knew exactly what got to him, and practically had every spot and reaction to every little thing memorized. But Tommy was proud, dammit, and he wasn’t going to make Charlie’s job that easy! (Well, that, and Tommy may have enjoyed the way Charlie has always been the best at getting the best reactions out of him, and wanted to prolong the fun.) He was gonna have to try harder if he wanted to break The Tommyinnit!

So, there they were, Tommy fussing around the furnaces desperately trying to fight down his embarrassed flush, and Charlie lounging around on one of the chairs in the room, immensely amused by every little squeak Tommy let out when the boy foolishly spared a glance over his shoulder at the other.

But, Charlie did have to admit, he was pretty surprised by how long Tommy had managed to keep this up. He was poking fun at and teasing the boy for the better part of the last two or so hours, and while Tommy did look like a blushy, embarrassed mess, he still hadn’t cracked.

Though Tommy had been holding out well so far, Charlie was always up for a challenge. Especially if said challenge involved breaking through the stubborn, cocky personality of a particular blond teenage loudmouth.

“You’re looking awfully red, Tommy, maybe you should take a break from working over the hot furnaces, yeah? I’m sure the iron would smelt just fine on it’s own.”

“Fuck off,” Tommy growled under his breath, willing himself to not react as he saw Charlie shift in his seat in his peripheral vision, despite his heart rate picking up at the downright evil looking smirk on Charlie’s face. He forced the image out of his head, busying himself with emptying the furnaces again as he felt his mind begin to wander.

“Really, Toms? That wasn’t very nice. You know there’s no point in resisting, because at the end of the day I’m still gonna get to scribble my fingers all over your sides, and how I’m gonna press my thumbs in between every single space in between every single ticklish little rib. And no matter how long you prolong the inevitable, you’ll still be stuck in my grasp until I decide that you’re done, no matter how much you kick and squirm.”

Okay

Fuck

Fuck Charlie Slimecicle and his stupid face and his stupid dumb teasy words, and Tommy could feel his insides turn to goo as he set down the iron ingots in his hands, covering his face and letting out a dramatic whine.

“Awe, why don’t you just come here Toms, make it easier for yourself, hm? We both know you want to bud, come on” Tommy whined again, shaking his head and wishing the ground would just swallow him whole. He didn’t think his legs would be able to carry himself over to Charlie even if he tried, so he found himself sliding down to the floor, wrapping his arms around himself.

Luckily, Charlie seemed to understand the predicament Tommy was in, and decided to have a bit of mercy as he walked over to the other, sitting down on the ground next to the younger boy.

“Hey, Toms.” Tommy just shook his head again, unable to stop the nervous giggles from leaking out of his mouth, and slumped down until he was practically laying down, despite the fact that Charlie literally hadn’t done a thing.

“Shh, it’s alright Tom, come here,” Charlie said in a sweet voice, opening his arms for the other. Tommy briefly peaked out from behind his hands only to quickly return them to his face. He took a few deep, stuttering breaths, before deciding fuck it. Without moving his hands from his face once, Tommy sat up and shuffled into Charlie’s arms, immediately burrowing into the other’s chest.

Charlie smiled at the adorable boy that was practically in his lap, wrapping his own arms around him and rubbing his back. Tommy jumped at the contact despite Charlie not having any intention of tickling him yet, his anticipatory giggles flowing freely from him.

“Ready?” Charlie asked in a soft voice, and Tommy, not quite ready to attempt to use his words, just nodded in response, bracing himself.

So, Charlie wasted no time in sliding his hands up Tommy’s red and white t-shirt, unleashing all his fingers along the blond’s sides. He figured the boy had waited long enough, not having the heart to drag it out any longer.

Tommy squealed before snorting, honestly not expecting Charlie to go all in right away, leaning further against the older boy and allowing himself to laugh freely. After being in a constant state of anticipation for the past couple hours, he really didn’t have the energy to attempt to hold his reactions back.

Charlie felt himself melt at his sweet, unrestrained laughter. This was the exact reason he enjoyed messing with him like this, there were very few things that brought him more joy than Tommy allowing himself to act like a kid and be happy without worrying about his ‘image.’

Tommy hiccuped as Charlie trailed his fingers up to his ribs, planning on keeping true to his previous promise.

“You know the drill by now Toms, I’m gonna go to each individual little rib you got, and every time you try to push me away we start over. Ready?” Tommy didn’t bother trying to hide his excitement, both boys knew how much he’s always enjoyed this game. Tommy put enough space between the two of them that Charlie could reach the front of his ribs with relative ease, but still facing towards the other so he could keep his face pressed into the crook of his neck, his arms winding themselves around Charlie and gripping the other tightly, in order to keep himself from pushing him away.

Charlie cooed at him for obeying so quickly, making sure to let Tommy know how good of a job he was doing. At the praise, Tommy’s giggles went high pitched and he arched his back, grabbing a fistful of Charlie’s shirt and rubbing it between his fingers as a way to stimulate himself, and help keep him from squirming around too much.

“Alright, here we go! Ready?” Charlie pressed his thumb into Tommy’s bottom leftmost rib, massaging into it. Tommy snorted, breaking into pitchy, childlike, loud giggles that were regularly interrupted by snorts and squeals.

Tommy did a pretty good job of staying still for Charlie, his only real movement was the jolt he would give every time Charlie moved on to a new rib.

By the time Charlie reached Tommy’s top left rib, Tommy had all but gone limp in his hold, his body shaking with adorable, happy laughter. And by the time Charlie had gone to each and every one of his right ribs, Tommy had tears in his eyes from laughing so much, hands repeatedly clenching and unclenching Charlie’s t-shirt as a way of grounding himself.

Charlie took in Tommy’s disheveled, tired state and figured he should probably wrap it up for the day.

He effortlessly scooped up the still giggling boy in his arms, who instantly allowed him to and wrapped his arms around his neck. With one hand still supporting Tommy, Charlie used his other to take the unsmelted iron out of the furnaces, not wanting to leave them running while no one was in the room to watch them. He carried Tommy back towards his room, using his hip to push the door open and closed.

By the time he set Tommy down on his bed, the boy was already fast asleep. Charlie gently untangled Tommy’s arms from around his neck, and stood there for a moment, feeling his chest swell with pride as he watched Tommy’s relaxed, sleeping face.

Before he left the room, he made sure to snap a picture, turning the lights off and gently closing the door, taking one last glance at the sleeping boy, making sure he was still alright.

Slimey Boi

*attachment - one image*

suck on that soot, I’m clearly the superior brother

Wimblur Suit

I hate you

so fucking much

*Wimblur Suit saved one (1) image*

#tickle fic #mcyt tickle fic #mcyt tickle #lee!tommyinnit #lee!tommy #ler!charlie

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river-bottom-nightmare · 3 years

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Nightwing #81 Review

i swear i actually thought no one was interested so i didn’t write one but a grand total of two (2) people said they wanted to read it, so here it is. honestly, my opinion’s been going a bit downhill, but the art is really cool and there are some decent parts so. holding out i guess? i really hope taylor has an end goal or at least a cohesive plan, otherwise i don’t see this series going anywhere i’ll particularly enjoy

the cover is very straightforward in its imagery, this villain has nightwing in the palm of his hand, easily manipulated, easily controlled no matter the action dick thinks he’ll take.

what i find interesting is the colour: both previously and heavily in this issue, the colourist has chosen to make pink this villain’s main colour, with different shades of pink as accents. so why the red in the cover? possibly to just make it more eye-grabbing, though one could argue that pink is even more eye-catching than red. maybe to convey a sense of dread or fear that pink won’t fully get across. either way, it’s definitely a decision i’m curious about.

so melinda zucco is in a high enough political position within bludhaven that she is next in line to become the mayor after the previous mayor died and dick just,,,,didn’t have any idea she existed? dick didn’t know anything about her? forget dick’s own brilliant detective skills, forget his doggedness at anything zucco related, you’re telling me bruce never found her and told dick about her? maybe he wouldn’t have now, but back when dick was a young kid, he definitely would have at least made dick aware of her existence, to let dick know and ask if he wanted to interfere with her life or anything.

i have a thought about zucco’s facial expressions. she is very much stone-cold poker face throughout the entire issue. the only time i see her pull a different expression is near the end when dick corners her against a wall with an arm around her throat.

this is most certainly intentional, what with the varied and intense expressions we see on other characters, dick most prominently. i’m wondering what exactly is the creative team’s reasoning behind this. in these panels, zucco is meeting with the most dangerous, powerful, near-bloodthirsty man in all of bludhaven and becoming the mayor of the city respectfully. in both of these panels, there is barely a hint of emotion in her face: no fear, no determination, no satisfaction. it’s just odd, considering the circumstances she’s in, regardless of any training recieved.

just spitballing here but. like. from what i’ve read so far, dick doesn’t really seem like bludhaven’s guardian angel. more like when peter parker first put on spandex and blindly stepped out into new york.

dick, how exactly can you underestimate someone from one move. so he caught your escrima. anyone with enhanced reflexes can do that. you still don’t know how he can actually fight, and this is shown in the next set of panels.

i just don’t like the wording here. dick’s “underestimated” him, but beats him up easy in the next page. in addition, i don’t know much about combat, but i would assume it would take more than one move to determine exactly what an opponent’s skill level is, made even more complex when you add physical enhancements and metahumans and aliens into the mixture.

idk my first thought when i saw that he caught the stick was “ah ok he’s enhanced” because obviously he couldn’t have reacted fast enough if he wasn’t (as there are few people trained enough to catch it on human reflexes alone.) then the wording in the next panel, i’ve underestimated him, made me think “oh no ok so he’s not enhanced, he’s just a really good fighter and can give dick a run for his money in a fight.” then, it turns out my first assumption was proven correct in the next panel. it just comes across as misleading to me.

(also sidenote but his curls are cute.)

have i praised the art enough in this series? no, i have not.

i adore the way this is laid out and illustrated. without even having to read the text, the action sequence is visually engaging and intense, and easily followable from one panel to the next. dick’s physical expertise comes through quite efficiently, and i love the special attention shown to draw our attention to dick’s escrima in the bottom right corner.

also that move in the middle row leftmost panel that’s the mcu black widow move to get up off the ground it was the first thing i noticed and it made me laugh; thought it was worth noting

i’m really loving dick’s escrima sticks in this run. they’re just so multipurpose, it’s hilarious and exhilarating. kinda reminds me of bruce’s belt, the way the button in the middle does eevveeerrryyytthhiinngg.

got a problem? don’t worry! dick’s installed a feature into his escrima that can fix that! (i like thinking dick helped make them it makes me happy and makes my engineer!dick side satisfied)

yawn. your big heart is your one true weakness yadda yadda the fact that you care will be used against you blah blah we get it. jesus can the villains please find a different weakness to exploit, this is getting old.

i need dick’s capacity to empathize and care and love to stop being a weakness that villains sneer about. bonus points if dick saves everyone anyway, either because of or despite his great big heart and the villain is surprised by the goodness of mankind or some shit like that.

i need it to be a strength, right from the get-go. the fact that he cares so incredibly much should be an asset that dick has and will use. he’s a very complex character with years of background, it can’t possibly be that hard to find another weakness of his.

ooooh this is cool, gosh i absolutely love this.

because what exactly is the reader doing? we are seeing the fear in dick’s face, just as this villain intended. even better, we’re seeing the reflection of it from the villain’s glossy mask, telling us exactly what we’re seeing and exactly what he likes so much about it.

dick’s standing up straight, shoulders drawn back, looking up at this villain’s face with determination and resolve, but his suit is tattered. one eye looks to be swollen. his hair is falling limply around his eyes, as opposed to the curls from earlier. his escrima aren’t even part of the main focus, instead blending into the side of the mask in the outer corners of the mask’s eyes, which tells you exactly how big of a threat they are to this villain.

poor bitewing’s quite alarmed.

also on second thought why would you bring your puppy out like this, when you know you’re gonna end up fighting someone in the suit. a) how many grey three-legged adorable little puppies live in the bludhaven area dick? and how easy will it be to connect the doggo running around with nightwing with the doggo that dick grayson owns? and 2) is this puppers trained? does she have fighting experience? how exactly can you ensure she will survive this highly stressful situation?

dick take better care of your dog

you know what? i was with tim on this one. why exactly is dick so optimistic and trusting about the people of bludhaven? bludhaven, which has been described as gotham’s smaller, smellier, more corrupt sister city once or twice. it’s not just the corrupt people in power, the entire system needs to change and people need to have faith and hope in order for them to come together, espcially if they’ve been living in conditions like how bludhaven has been described. from how clueless dick is about his own goddamn city, i can tell he hasn’t been here long.

it was a nice moment of hope, i’ll admit. but it was a tad unrealistic for me.

also it was in a weird place in the comic. this sort of confrontation and big get-together of the people to rejuvenate hope in each other feels like it should come near the end of a run, if not the end of an issue. certainly not in the first third of an issue. the pacing’s a bit off to me.

loyal little puppy patiently waiting for her human to wake up. i love her so much.

no it’s not. it’s bitewing.

living for this t-shirt honestly. do comics of dc characters exist in the dc universe? they must if the mug and the shirt are any indication

(now i’m imagining the first batman movie that came out in the dc universe and bruce just. being so offended at who they chose to play him.)

well, yes. but when a group of people are put through hellish conditions over and over again, they soon become desensitized to the pain and terror of their everyday lives in order to both stay sane and keep their life relatively stable, and part of that becomes ignoring or blocking out anything that isn’t directly important to you or your loved ones. having a bleeding heart will most likely get you killed in a city like bludhaven if you don’t have the same skills that vigilantes have.

and of course, people are more than capable of coming together and rallying under their city’s vigilante after seeing the good they’ve done and how they’ve helped the people, but that sort of trust takes time and effort to build. dick also had the whole ric arc and was gone for a while, which has been referenced several times in this particular issue in fact. that’s not going to make bludhaven’s citizens any more likely to trust him.

maybe i’m being a bit harsh but this comic is comic off as a bit too idealistic for the amount of change nightwing can do in a city given the present and past circumstances as well as nightwing’s own abilities. even dick grayson can’t pull off everything.

ok seriously this needs to stop this needs to stop.

right now, dick reminds me of oliver queen in the few episodes of the cw’s arrow i watched. he does the punchy-kicky-fighty and occasionally has smart insights due to the skills he gained from his past that he certainly definitely totally has but only ever exhibits once, while his team does all of the background research and information gathering and actual work.

this is dick’s city. if he has the same intelligence, worth ethic, and stubbornness in this run that he’s been shown to possess all his life, then he knows this city inside out. he’ll have meticulous notes organized in a ridiculously efficient system, he’ll have scouted out zucco long before this started, he’ll have known when anything big happened in the bludhaven political landscape in an instant.

i’m really not liking exactly how much dick’s relying on babs and tim in this series. sure, he loves them and cares for them and likes working cases with them. but he always pulls his own weight, has always been a mentor figure to tim instead of what’s weirdly becoming the other way around, and takes point on the cases in his own damn city.

what kind of weak-ass oracle is this?? redacted fbi files are child’s play. babs used to hack into the fbi for fun. this one particular picture is so out of character i want to laugh.

reading this series has unfortunately made me confront that, despite the tiny fluid acrobat dick that lives in my head 24/7, canon dick is impossibly 5′10 and muscular at that.

mmm. titties.

tim said hydrate or die-drate bitch

love how dick’s doing all this intense brooding and stuff meanwhile bitewing is curled up in a soft comfy post having the time of her life.

you don’t understand i would legitimately kill myself for her.

also the lighting in this one scene is cool. the blue tones come off so well.

they’re just. so multipurpose!! they can become a bo staff. they can cut glass. they can become a grapple hook/line. they can electrify someone. they’re a funky colour. i’m becoming really attached to these things. absolute solid choice in weaponry.

if you’re gonna write up every rookie mistake dick has made during this series to head trauma, then dick shouldn’t be out and about at all, much less in costume.

see this? this is just straight up wrong. dick most definitely should have spotted her, and would have immediately moved to take her down.

scratch that, dick would have done a full check of the building, because he knows not to break into places uninformed, especially if the owner of the apartment was raised by the maroni family. someone as highly trained, experienced, and competent as dick wouldn’t have done this.

and if you chalk it up to head injury, (which is probably true), than his ~love interest~ and his little brother should have done a much better job making sure he stays in his house.

zucco looks so awkward it’s fucking hilarious

are those shadows that mimic a domino mask, to both reflect and hide the fact that his mask is missing? are those bruises around his eyes, to show how, despite what good he’s doing, being nightwing is hurting dick right now?

(isn’t his domino mask supposed to have an electrifying feature that keeps people from removing them?)

it’s a little odd how the three known villains of this series are all coloured in warm shades, more specifically pink. meanwhile, in earlier issues, dick’s fondest memories were in pink, memories of him and alfred in particular. why has the colour pink changed from signifying something benevolent to something malicious? idk i hope this gets explained later.

this i did like. either it’s just a display of brute force in anger, or dick slipped the ties and pulled them off once untied. both ways, it’s an unintentional display of power, and i think that’s kinda cool.

again. dick is,,,tall? sort of? weirdddd

i’m so glad most readers are unified in the notion that this was the absolute dumbest fucking thing.

i’m hoping this gets disproved or something soon. and i hope dick doesn’t fall for it, because he definitely knows better than to take something as important as this at face value.

what exactly is taylor trying to accomplish here? why is he trying to go back on what we all knew was a happy, loving childhood and throw strife and disharmony and (what i’m assuming will be) infidelity? this will not end well at all.

---

,,,,,this review got way longer than expected lol. and i realize most of it just became me ranting. i guess i didn’t realize how ticked off i was originally. fingers crossed it gets better.

tag list: @woahjaybird @birdy-bat-writes @anothertimdrakestan @subtleappreciation @screennamealreadyused @bikoncon @pricetagofficial @catxsnow @thatsthewhump @xatanna-troy @red-hood-redemption @capricorn-stark @batshit-birds @comics-observer

#nightwing 81 #nightwing #dick grayson #dc #nightwing 81 meta #nightwing meta #dick grayson meta #dc meta #river thinks too hard

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whatifxwereyou · 3 years

Text

The Oncoming Storm Part 22: Anxiety

Liu Kang x Reader and Kung Lao x Reader (gonna do both, two paths!)

You are such a mess but Liu Kang might be the most understanding man ever, Lol. Bad day for me, but hope you guys are all doing okay! Good vibes and much love. Thanks for reading <3 Update for the new one tomorrow, update for this one on Tuesday. Smooches!

Part 21 Part 23 Chapter Index

The hike up the mountain was tiring but serene. You kept their eyes peeled for the fork in the path and caverns that may have been hidden along the mountainside. The few that you encountered were either inaccessible or had no signs of water. You lost track of time, but you caught the branch in the path and the sign that explained where each path went. It was as good a place as any to regain your bearings, you figured. You wished it told you the altitude. You were winded. Beyond you was the path to the leftmost that the attendant had told you to take, the trees were growing at funny angles on steeper parts of the mountain.

The sign explained that this was one of the more interesting phenomena taking place in Huangshan. You remembered them vaguely from your vision but couldn’t recall their significance, if any.

The thought of your vision twisted your stomach into uncomfortable knots. You rubbed the bruise on the side of your neck and shivered. This was all too familiar. That uncomfortable feeling that had overwhelmed you in Japan. Knowing a place without having ever been there. It was enough to make anyone sick.

“Do you need a break?” Liu gently touched your arm and you huffed, defensive immediately.

“No.”

“You’re out of breath.”

“We’re hiking! That’s normal. The altitude is probably crazy.”

“It is also normal to need to take a break and you had a long day yesterday. Your throat…”

“I’m fine. Stop worrying so much.” You didn’t mean to say it like that. Oh no.

“I just…”

“No, really. Stop it.” You grabbed his arm as he reached to touch the bruise on your neck. He knitted his brow in confusion. “It’s really sweet that you worry about me so much, Liu. But maybe you worry a little too much. I’m not a porcelain doll. I’m not going to fall over and break.” He averted his gaze, but his back straightened and he was uncomfortable. “I know it’s hard. Your only experience with me so far is my being wounded and needing help. But I’m capable and strong and have been on my own for years, so much so that it’s hard for me to be with people constantly. Your worry is… it’s a lot.” You hadn’t meant to sound so harsh or unappreciative and you could only hope that he didn’t take it the wrong way. You didn’t want him to have to worry about you and in a very stupid circuitous way it worried you that he worried so much. It ate you up to see his energy so wasted on worry. You weren’t worth the worry. You shifted your gaze. That was a bad, unhealthy thought. Oh no.

“What?” Liu seemed in disbelief.

“Sometimes you look at me like if you take your eyes off of me for a second then I’m going to disappear.” That fear that you had an unhealthy attachment to him in a time of crisis was there again along with your questioning your worth suddenly. And what if his attachment was unhealthy too? Your brain was scrambled. Kung Lao had put his messy fingers in there and smooshed it all about and now you were so confused.

“I didn’t mean to.” He tilted his head curiously as if trying to understand. “I don’t think you’re easily broken, Y/N. I simply wish to take care of you. That’s all.”

“That is… ridiculously sweet but you expect me to trust you when you’re hurt, don’t you?” You purposely shoved at the shoulder that you’d bruised. He mouthed ‘ouch’ and rubbed his shoulder comically. Then he nodded. “You have to trust me too. That’s all I’m asking.” He was quiet for a long time, and you felt selfish and stupid for having said anything at all. You’d complained that he cared about you too much? Really? What was wrong with you? You were overthinking. Your brain needed silence.

“I didn’t realize my worry was having that impact on you. Perhaps my concern for your well-being has been a bit pushier than I realized.” He spoke finally and not in anger which was a relief. “I understand that it might seem as though I don’t trust but I assure you that it’s quite the opposite. I trust you more than I trust almost anyone, Y/N. I can’t help that I worry for you, it’s part of who I am. I care about you.” That was direct. Alright. “I can’t help that. If I can protect you then I’m going to. It has nothing to do with how capable you are. That’s who I am.”

“I get that, Liu.” You swallowed that persistent lump in your throat to no avail. “And you can worry about me. I’m sorry I brought it up. But I might just… be mildly annoyed with it sometimes. That’s who I am.”

“What’s gotten into you?” He laughed but his face was still riddled with concern. “You’re not yourself.”

“There’s the worry again!” You were defensive and you knew it, but you couldn’t stop it either. You hated that your brain was feeling one way and your mouth and body were responding another. Why couldn’t things come out the way you intended them to? You wanted to tell him that you were worried that you’d attached yourself to him and had become a burden. That you had been through a lot and weren’t processing any of it in a healthy way. Instead, you accused him of being a worry wart.

“Yeah, because you’re not being yourself. I need you to relax, Y/N. It’s been nonstop stress for weeks. Come with me.” He grabbed your arm and you fought him as he continued up the path to the left.

“What? No! What are we doing? Wait, what?” You pulled your hand back and he pulled on you again then nodded behind him.

“Come now, jump on or I’m going to just pick you up and throw you back there.”

He was going to carry you on his back? Is that what was supposed to make you relax? Having about your legs wrapped around him? That was not going to help.

“Liu, wait, we’re hiking.” You yelped in surprise as he did as he said he would. He lifted you up and pulled you right onto his back, grasping your legs and urging them to wrap around his middle. You threw your arms around his shoulders on instinct with wide and panicked eyes. He’d done that way too easily. Oh no, you’d thought about the legs wrapped around thing but not the body pressed against him thing. You were not prepared.

“Have some fun, Y/N.” He laughed, adjusting your arms for you so that you weren’t choking him. “Death grip, jeez.” You relaxed your grip a bit. “Better.” Then he continued up the path, hands beneath your knees to hold you up. This did nothing for your stress even if you did laugh in disbelief that he’d done it. You supposed that his body was warm and comforting and his shoulders and back were incredibly strong and impressive beneath you. “We have much to do Y/N and who knows what will happen when we find what we’re looking for. Enjoy the ride and the view.”

“Please, for all that you believe in, Liu… don’t phrase it like that.”

“Wow, Y/N.” He laughed, stealing a quick glance over his shoulder at you. You gave him a reassuring squeeze and then tried to do as he asked. You really did need to relax. When had you become so opposed to having fun? You were on your guard constantly and had to find a way to put the shields down for a few seconds. Kung Lao hadn’t helped, that was for sure. You relaxed and rested your head on his shoulder, feeling his hair tickle your cheek as you watched the mountain pass you by.

You couldn’t let him do this for long. He was carrying an adult human on his back up a mountain and that was no mean feat, no matter how strong he was.

“Okay. Time to set me down.” You sighed after a few minutes.

“Why? This is nice and you finally seem relaxed.”

“You are literally hiking up a mountain with me on your back and you’re asking me why?”

“Oh?” Liu Kang gasped comically, and you immediately realized your mistake. “Are you worried about me, Y/N?” You smacked his arm in mock horror. He grabbed you and swung you from his back, and you yelped again at how quickly it had happened, then blew your loose hair from your face. He helped steady you and then stepped closer, hand brushing down your arm carefully. You’d been here before and you stiffened up and felt his warm hand engulf your cheek. It was addictive, like caffeine, and the warmth of his palm sent shivers down your spine that you fought. His fingers traced the lines of your face and there was your stomach full of butterflies again. He slipped the rest of your rebellious hair behind your ear, something that he had done so frequently now that you’d grown fond of it. His hand slid down to your wrist, and he urged your hand to rest on his chest, over his heart. “It’s fine.” He spoke just for you, and his lips were bewitching. “Trust me like I trust you.” He was teasing you, and it was magnificent.

“I trust you,” you assured him but you felt small again and not in a bad way. He made you feel like you were something precious and important, something worthy of that protection he wanted to offer you. Maybe you had overthought it. Not maybe. You had definitely overthought it.

“It’s okay to worry about me, Y/N. I like that you worry about me.”

Boy, you needed to say something. Anything. And even more so, you wished that you didn’t want to kiss him instead of talking about it. But his lips were right there, and you knew that they felt nice. You also knew you would get carried away. This tension had been killing you. You had to break it soon and you weren’t sure how much self-control you had left. Lao and Liu had worn it away.

His fingers brushed over your jaw, and he held it carefully and tilted you up to meet his lips. You stepped back with a jolt. His hand dropped from your face, and you instead walked past him, eyes wide and feeling as though you had just ripped off an incredibly painful and large bandage. Oh, you regretted it! Immediately at that!

“We should keep going or we’re going to be here all night.” Your heart was screaming in your chest, and it felt difficult to breathe. Liu didn’t follow you. He stood there, almost stuck in place, eyes wide and confused. “Liu?” You tried not to sound awkward or forced. You wanted to kiss him. More than anything you’d wanted that kiss. But you had to talk, and you were afraid to talk. He closed his eyes tight, regained his composure, and then jogged to catch up with you. He didn’t say anything, but his expression was extraordinarily tight for someone who was usually so calm and composed. The silence was miserable. You couldn’t let it stand for long. “How are you healing up?”

“Huh?” He didn’t seem to understand what you were talking about and took a second to process it. You’d broken him, oh no. “Much better. Bruising is still pretty ugly in some parts, but it’s begun to fade.” You felt guilty for a thousand reasons. You had hurt him so terribly when he’d been protecting you and now, you were acting like an insane person. You knew you were acting off. You opened your mouth instinctively to apologize, but he cut you off. “Really, Y/N. You can’t lecture me for being worried about you and then fret over me because of your misplaced guilt in the next breath.” And he called you out on your bullshit.

“I… uh…” He wasn’t wrong. Crap. How were you going to fix this?

“I was there to protect you. It was exactly where I wanted to be. It hurt, yes, but I am grateful that I was there. Trust me. Please.”

“I guess it doesn’t feel great for me to… be a hypocrite about it. I’m sorry.” You regretted the whole conversation about worry more than you had ever expected but you weren’t perfect. You were trying but your head was mixed up. Liu took your hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, then he laced his fingers between yours. He was brave especially after you had straight up walked away from a kiss seconds ago.

“I love that you worry about me. I love that you think about me at all.” He threw that word around like it was no big deal. Then he let go of your hand and walked off the path to where he’d spotted a cluster of white flowers just barely in bloom, kissed with dew. He picked one of the flowers, careful of its stem and then much to your surprise, he returned to you and wove it into your hair, so that the flower tucked right above your ear. He’d recovered from your awkward moment much faster than you had. “Perfect.” He touched your cheek again and the addicting warmth of his hand made you shiver. You didn’t fight it that time.

His eyes searched yours, but you saw nothing but adoration behind his. You didn’t deserve him. Then he pulled his hand back and walked past you, leaving you stuck in place. You were lucky that he was being so understanding with you, even a bit playful as you waged war in your head. You turned in the right direction, at least. The clouds hung low above them, and it was amazing to be so close to them. You’d almost forgotten where you were and what you were doing.

“The attendant said that the cave should be around here somewhere, didn’t he?”

“If he wasn’t lying to us to get rid of us because we frightened him.” You recovered. The clouds had helped. You’d never thought you’d get to see them so close with your own eyes, nonetheless consider touching them the way that you thought you might get to.

“Let him think what he wants. We paid him and got what we wanted.”

“Sure did, moneybags.” You teased.

“Does that bother you, Y/N? To have people think what he thought about us?”

“Wha-uh no? No! I was just surprised by how you handled it. It was very funny.” You stuttered and thought it sounded like a lie even if it wasn’t. You weren’t bothered by that. It had been comical how poorly the negotiation had gone. He’d far overestimated whatever womanly wiles he seemed to think you possessed.

“Y/N?” He stopped walking and sighed. “You’re being weird.”

“Am I?” You knew you were. He stepped close again and adjusted the flower that he’d given you.

“Yes. Very unlike yourself.” He smiled despite the concern on his face. “What’s on your mind?” You hated comparing them, but it was difficult not to. Kung Lao was very much like you in some ways. He avoided serious conversations like the plague and deflected with sarcasm and humor. But Liu didn’t want to avoid the truth. You didn’t want to, either. In the same breath, you were terrified to tell Liu that you’d kissed Kung Lao. You hadn’t been afraid to tell Kung Lao. Why was that? It was eating you up. You were afraid to lose Liu Kang. In a way, you knew Kung Lao better and knew that losing him would be harder to achieve. With Liu Kang it was different. “Really, Y/N. You can talk to me.” You’d said that exact thing to Kung Lao and now here the tables had been turned dramatically. Liu Kang wanted you to be vulnerable with him when that was exactly what seemed to frighten Kung Lao.

You had to say something and maybe this was your biggest worry. Not the kiss, but the rest of it. “I’m worried that maybe I put too much on you.” It was on the list of the three thousand things you needed to say but you hadn’t been sure how to phrase it. Liu Kang was surprised. Well, you’d taken the plunge so, you might as well adjust to the waters. “When I first woke up in the temple, I was sick and scared. I can’t remember much of it except for you. You were there for me. I worry that maybe I attached myself to you a little more than I should have because everything was so beyond my control. And now I’m worried that this has become unhealthy.”

“Do you think that our friendship is unhealthy, Y/N?” Liu didn’t sound accusatory or affronted, but curious. God, he was so understanding. You did not deserve him. Did you really think it was unhealthy though? It hadn’t been you clinging to him. You’d laughed. You’d joked. You’d bonded. Stayed up all night sharing stories. Fell asleep in each other’s arms. He’d held you when you’d been in pain and you had offered him comfort when he’d needed it. You were crazy. What had you been thinking? How did you get that awful thought in your head? Your relationship wasn’t unhealthy. It was beautiful. It was just like you to take something wonderful and ruin it with overthinking.

“No, I don’t think it is.” You sighed, and it felt as though a weight had been dropped from your shoulders. “I don’t. I just… I know that you worry about me, and I don’t want to be a burden to you, Liu Kang. You don’t deserve that. You deserve more than having to worry about someone you met who was going through a difficult time and…”

“Y/N… Y/N, come here.” He gently urged his hands to your arms and pulled you close. Then he gestured to the side of the path. “You’re getting in your own way. Overthinking. Please, come sit with me.” He waited for you to agree, and you did so with a nod. Then he led you to where he had gestured toward. He urged you to take a seat and then sat in front of you, knees just the tiniest gap away from yours. “Close your eyes.” You did. Meditating was not a bad idea. “Take slow and even breaths. In through the nose and out through the mouth. Be aware of your body. Find your balance in your posture.” He took deep breaths with you. His voice was soothing and calm and brought you almost immediate peace. “Feel the crisp and cool air of the wind. The mist of the clouds falling gently upon us.”

You did and while your heart was still racing and your mind was still at war, your body was at least calming a little. Your hands throbbed. Your blood pressure had been through the roof.

“Take the thoughts racing in your head, the confusion and hurt, the fear that comes with it and let it go. Let those thoughts leave you in peace.” His voice grew quieter, again just for you. “Focus on the moment and your breath. Nothing more. Focus on the sound of my voice and think only what you know is the truth. Not what might be.”

He was right. You’d met at a difficult time, but you had been happy when he was there, and he seemed happy too. You came to enjoy Your time together and it was more than trauma and the moment. He wanted to be there for you, and you wanted to be there for him. Your head had gotten so confused and full of pointless, meaningless anxious thoughts that you had forgotten what was true.

You opened your eyes and suddenly felt exhausted. The buzzing in your brain had stopped and the frantic, panicked thoughts had flatlined. Liu was watching you with some concern in his eyes, as if he’d seen the invisible war you were fighting.

“I treasure our friendship, Y/N. I don’t know how you got it into your head that I could be anything but happy to get to know you.”

“You’re right. I was overthinking. I didn’t realize how anxious I’d become. I’m sorry, Liu. Did I hurt you? I’m really, really sorry.”

“Not at all, Y/N. You’ve been through some trauma since we met and more before that. Trauma that you have barely talked about. I know that you aren’t ready to deal with it yet. But I want to be there for you when you do. If you’ll let me.” He smiled softly and you melted. “I didn’t doubt what our friendship has become. I knew the moment you said it that your inner voice was speaking louder than the truth. It happens to the best of us. This has been hard for you. And for me.” He looked up to the low hanging clouds. “I don’t usually worry like this, Y/N. But Raiden doesn’t misspeak, and I can’t get it out of my head.”

“Oh.” Your stomach dropped. You hadn’t been thinking. Raiden had said that in front of all three of you, not just you. That if you didn’t figure this out soon then it would kill you. You hadn’t considered how that would impact him. You hadn’t talked since then, you supposed. You hadn’t had the chance. He’d kissed you and begged you to stay in bed with him that morning and you hadn’t. Then Raiden had read your vision and announced you wouldn’t survive the shadow hanging over you. It felt like a lifetime ago. How insensitive of you. A shiver went up your spine.

He urged his hand to your cheek and forced your gaze back to him. “We have to find these artifacts and hope they unlock some secret that might help you. I won’t lose you without a fight.”

“Liu.” You didn’t know what to say. You wanted to offer him encouragement, but you had avoided thinking about the harsh reality. Liu Kang and Kung Lao’s affections suddenly seemed far less complicated when put into perspective. You had to be more active in your choice, less letting them kiss you and more deciding who to kiss. He got onto his knees and leaned to place a soft kiss on your forehead. Then he stood up and offered you his hand.

“Come on. We have work to do.” He looked weary. You couldn’t blame him. You’d been a handful today. You got to your feet with his help. “Are you feeling any better?”

“Very much so. Thank you, Liu. I needed that.” You offered his hand a squeeze and held onto it. “Japan had me really mixed up. I needed clarity but instead I fed the buzzing thoughts of anxiety.”

“Being with Kung Lao for extended periods of time is enough to make anyone need to take a breath.” He smiled and you laughed, grateful for his levity. “You’ll be okay. We all will. Come.”

You walked together, hand in hand. Meditating even for that short moment had helped you silence the anxious inner voice. Kung Lao had unwittingly fed the inner voice and you had let it happen. You were frustrated with yourself still and it bubbled just beneath the surface, but you were coming to terms with the things that truly mattered and didn’t. You had no idea what would happen next, but you were not alone. You were grateful to have both Kung Lao and Liu Kang and no matter where you wound up, you were thankful.

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kaitoujokerscans · 3 years

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The Night the Silver Cape is Set Ablaze CH8

<8> Battle Between Rivals

"Hmm, I don't get it..." In the Riviera HQ corridor, Joker tilted his head.

"Same here. Should we do a magic square or rock-paper-scissors like we did before?" Beside him, Hachi tossed out a random guess.

"The magic square and rock-paper-scissors... Ohh! I know!" Joker suddenly exclaimed.

"Joker-san, did you figure it out?"

"Yep, thanks to your hint. You have to combine the magic square and rock-paper-scissors for this puzzle. We just have to work out which one wins every time when going horizontally, vertically, and diagonally!"

"Really?" Hachi examined the numbers.

Joker took out a notepad from his pocket and copied down the 16 numbers. "First, going vertical. The leftmost column is {5, 0, 0, 0}, which works out to paper, rock, rock, rock. Paper wins. That means all the 0s lose," Joker said and crossed out the three 0s.

"Next is the second column. This is {2, 5, 2, 5}, making it scissors, paper, scissors, paper. Scissors wins here, so the 5s lose," said Joker, crossing out the two 5s. "Do the same for the third and fourth columns and X out the rest like this, see?" Joker crossed out the 2s in the third column and the 5s in the fourth column.

"I get it. So any of the numbers that lose here aren't the one we're looking for, right?"

"Yeah. Now go horizontally. Do the same rock-paper-scissors conversions we did with the columns, and..." He went across the rows crossing out one number after another, and in no time, there were only two numbers left out of the sixteen. The other fourteen were all crossed out. The remaining numbers were the 2 in the top row, rightmost column, and the 2 in the second column.

"Which of these two is stronger?" asked Hachi.

Joker puffed up as he answered. "There's still the diagonals, right? The line going from the top-right to the bottom-left is {2, 0, 2, 0}, rocks and scissors, so the scissors lose!" Joker crossed out the top-right 2 last of all.

"Which means..."

"Right. The 2 in the top row, second from the left, is the 'number that doesn't lose'!"

"I see now. That was incredible, Joker-san!"

"I got it because of your hint, you know. All right, time to push the button!"

"Okay! Right on!" Hachi jumped up and pushed the "2" button. There was a low beep, and then the clang of something unlocking. The door slowly opened, revealing the door of the safe holding the Riviera recipe behind it. It certainly looked like a sturdy door.

"Let's get to opening this thing up!" Joker pulled a giant electric saw out of hammerspace.

"Joker-san, what's that...?"

"Hm? This baby can crack open any door or safe. It's my custom Joker electric saw!"

"Then couldn't you just have used that from the start!?"

"Ha ha, now that wouldn't be any fun. A phantom thief uses his brain wherever possible when breaking in." Joker smiled from ear to ear, just before hitting the electric saw's power switch. After a LOT of noise and rattling, the safe was quite literally busted open.

Joker fished the recipe page out of the safe where it had been kept. But he didn't exactly look pleased. "Sheesh, what a letdown. And here I thought I'd finally get back at him for what happened with the Crimson Crystal."

What he said confused Hachi. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"This is where Noir works."

"Whaaat!? Really!?"

Joker picked up an empty popcorn bag off the ground and started to explain. "Yeah. After Noir quit being a spy, he ended up in charge of security at Riviera HQ. If you wanna protect an international secret, get yourself an international spy."

"That makes sense. So he got a job where he could put his spy skills to use... But then why is Noir not around? It's unsettling how there's nothing here."

"You've got that right. I thought sure he'd have a trap set..."

They looked around at the safe room again. It was stark empty, not even a desk or table in sight. Save for a small security camera in one corner, there didn't seem to be much of a security system at all.

"Well, whatever. Let's blow this joint."

Joker and Hachi were just about to leave, when...

The door that they had just come in through budged.

"It's gotta be Noir...!" Joker reflexively pulled out his cards. But the one who came in wasn't the person he had expected.

"Spade!"

"Spade-san!"

Right in front of their eyes were Spade and Dark Eye, who had opened the last door and entered the safe room. They looked surprised to see Joker and Hachi as well.

"Joker!?"

"Kyo kyo kyo!"

"Spade, what are you here for?""

"I could ask you the same thing? Wait, what about Noir...?" Spade asked, darting his eyes around. Apparently Spade had also learned about Noir's link to this place and had come to steal the treasure.

"He's not here. You were a step too late, besides. The 'Riviera Recipe' is mine!" Joker dangled the recipe page and waved it about.

"...Oh, so that's what you were after. Where's Noir? There's something I have to return to him," Spade said, taking an object out of his pocket.

When he saw what it was, Joker was shocked. "That's my Crimson Crystal!"

Spade held up the bright red gemstone and turned up the corners of his lips. "That's right. Noir left it with me because he wanted me to return it to you. But my pride won't let me do that."

"Pride? What exactly did Noir tell you?"

"Well..." Spade clammed up. Noir had said something that injured his pride, no doubt about it. Joker had some idea of what it was. Noir had stolen his treasure.

Then, realizing something, Spade inhaled sharply. "Now I get it. This is Noir's strategy."

"Strategy?"

"He damaged our psyche and provoked our anger, all so that we would come across each other like this."

"You mean he knew that we'd come here?"

"Yes, exactly. And we each have the treasure that the other wants..." Spade's gaze focused on the recipe in Joker's hand. He probably also wanted the recipe so he could put Noir to shame. And in Spade's hand was the Crimson Crystal which Joker had stolen from Kaneari. The two of them stared each other down.

"Joker, this is a great opportunity. How about whoever wins gets the other's treasure?" Spade shot an incendiary look at Joker. He recalled what Noir had said: "Go ahead and chase behind Joker forever..." I'll prove him wrong...!

Joker whipped out his cards and readied himself as well. "Fine by me. Let's do this, Spade!"

"Here I come, Joker!" Spade swiftly unholstered his Ice Shot and aimed it.

A low bellow droned through the dark sky. An enormous ship floated upon the endless night ocean. It was one of the world's most luxurious passenger crafts, Urban of the Sea. The ship, which was 3000 meters long, housed over 1000 guest rooms as well as all kinds of recreational facilities. With its own pool, restaurant, theater, multiple liquor lounges, an ice-skating rink, and even a rock-climbing wall, it was like an entire city stuffed onto a boat. It hosted over 3000 passengers per voyage and visited tourist destinations all over the world.

Tonight, this enormous ship was filled with silence.

The ship had been rented out to VIPs from the Kingdom of Lachla. These VIPs were staying in the best guest room there was, and it was in this room that the Lachla Crown was being kept under heavy security.

This guest room was near the fore of the ship. Spaced away from it, at the aft of the ship, was a huge structure. Though "huge" is an understatement — it was as tall as a five-story building. This cabin, with its obtuse angles, curved up to a circular floor at the top. It was meant as an observatory deck where one could survey the outside scenery. A man stood atop the observatory deck, his black cape fluttering. It was Noir. He was quietly awaiting Silver Heart. Soon, I can have my long-awaited revenge...

"So you're here..." murmured Noir, sensing a presence. A man had come up behind him. His white double-breasted suit was smartly buttoned, and his silver cape fluttered. His straight, upright bearing hardly suggested his age. This was the legendary phantom thief, Silver Heart!

"It's been a long time, Noir."

"Yes. I wanted to see you, Silver... or rather, you're Silver Heart now, aren't you?"

Strangely enough, Silver Heart didn't feel at all wistful as he observed Noir. He had certainly aged, but Noir's face hadn't lost the keenness from when he had known him as a spy. Silver Heart glared at Noir. "I heard, Noir. So you've become a phantom thief."

"Yes, I retired from being a spy. Because of you. Now I'm the head of security for a beverage manufacturer."

"Because of me?"

"You heard me. You ran away from me and kept being a thorn in my side..."

"You're right. I was probably running away from you... from my responsibilities as a spy. I couldn't put up with the ruthlessness of it anymore. I couldn't become as cold-blooded as you..."

"Heh heh heh, are you so sure that's the case?"

"What...?" Silver Heart continued to stare down Noir.

"We'll fight once more, with you as cold-blooded as you once were. Whoever wins the match can take the Lachla Crown," said Noir. He pulled the cloth off a table set up on the deck. Lying upon it was a crown studded with brilliant jewels. Noir had already stolen the Lachla Crown!

"I've already put the Lachlans to sleep. If you want this, you have to steal it from me."

"So that's what you're after..."

"This brings me back... you and I once infiltrated Lachla in order to destroy this. But it was your fault that the plan went awry. Now that I think about it, we've been at odds ever since..." Noir mused, his eyes focused on the crown.

But Silver Heart lowered his voice and spoke. "I will never again be like I was. There's not an ounce of spy left in me."

"Heh heh heh, humans don't ever really change. You're a cold-blooded spy. And if you aren't, you'll never be able to win against me..."

"That's not true. I'm going to fight against you as a phantom thief." Silver faced back to Noir and strengthened his grip on his rod. "Noir, our long-overdue reunion wasn't so emotional after all..."

"I expected as much. Here I come, Silver!" Not even a moment later, Noir kicked off the ground and lunged at Silver Heart.

The floor split open with a bang, and Joker and Spade plummeted down towards the floor below.

"Joker-san!"

"Kyo kyo, Spade-sama!"

Hachi and Dark Eye peeked down over the edge to see them lying on the ground, still squabbling with each other. The lower floor was a recreational sports center with a pool, exercise machines, a running track, and more. They let each other go, took their distance, and stood off against each other.

"Been a while since I fought you like this, Spade."

"Yes, but that's because you never take me seriously."

"Not true!" Joker took an advance notice card out of his pocket and quickly scribbled something on it. "Spade, I'm gonna take the treasure from you, no two ways about it!"

"Heh heh heh, now that's more like it. Then we'll face off in a minute-long match, like the one you lost to Noir in."

"Ghh..." Joker bit his lip bitterly. So Spade had known about Joker and Noir's match after all. "All right. I'll steal the treasure from you in one minute, no more than that!"

"And if you can't?"

"I can!" Joker pulled cards out of his breast pocket and threw them at Spade. "Emblem Fire!" The cards caught fire one by one and flew straight towards Spade.

"Ice Shot!" Spade used his Ice Shot to closely target and freeze the cards.

"Not bad! Emblem Fire!" Joker tossed more cards out. A flurry of cards scattered to every corner of the room, sticking into the walls and sinking into the pool. While Spade was shooting down the cards that were coming his way, Joker jumped to the side. He flipped around and leapt toward Spade. Once he was in front of him, he fanned out his cards. "Straight Flash!"

"Not good enough! Ice Shot Mirror!" Spade spun his Ice Shot around and made a small mirror of ice in midair. It reflected the light from the Straight Flash, blinding Joker.

"Gwah!"

"Ha ha ha! Your attacks are so repetitive!" Spade froze the pool with his Ice Shot, slid the blades out of his shoes, and skated onto the makeshift rink. "Catch me if you can!"

"Gah! Says the guy who only ever uses Ice Shot!"

Going after Spade, Joker stepped onto the makeshift rink. But he slipped and fell right onto his back with a magnificent thud. "Owwwww...."

"It's been almost a minute. There's no way I'm going to lose to you...!" Spade spun about on the ice and faced back to him. He was saying this not just about Joker, but about Noir as well.

"Say that again...?" Joker glared hard at Spade.

Spade was looking down at Joker with cold eyes. "Now that I'm standing before you like this, I feel a bit of pity. For myself. I hate how bothered I am by your existence."

"..." Joker listened quietly.

"Well, it's just about time. Fifteen seconds left... if you admit your loss here and now, I'll at least acknowledge you have the skills to be my rival." Spade silently pointed his Ice Shot.

But Joker shook his head with a derisive laugh. "No thanks. I'll decide my rivals on my own. And Spade, you're my rival in every respect."

"I'm what...?"

Just then, the ice under Spade's feet cracked loudly. "What!?" Spade involuntarily lost his balance. Joker immediately ran up to him and swiped the Crimson Crystal out of Spade's hand. At the same time, he pushed against the ice and jumped over to the poolside.

"Waaaugh!" The ice surrounding him split, and Spade splashed into the pool. Thoroughly soaked, Spade poked his head out of the water with a gasp and scowled at Joker. "W-What... did you do!?"

"It's simple. I set up my Emblem Fire inside the pool."

"You what...!?" Sure enough, when he looked at the ice, there were ashes from the burned cards. "...But the fire should have gone out when it was underwater!"

"Didn't you know? Gunpowder doesn't need external oxygen to burn, so it can stay aflame even underwater. There's a substance in fireworks that lets them keep burning even when they're immersed."

"You're kidding..."

"As soon as I saw the pool, I knew you'd freeze it over. That's why I shot Emblem Fire into it in advance. Then I just had to wait for the spot you were on to melt."

"You... predicted my attack..."

"Heh heh, you're pretty repetitive too," said Joker, spitting Spade's words right back at him. "Just as warned, I've stolen the Crimson Crystal in under a minute!"

"Ghh...!" Spade bit his lip and balled up his fists.

"Spade, you can challenge me any time," grinned Joker.

Just then, they heard a scream from outside the window. "KYAAAAAAAA!"

Looking out, they saw a blob of pink in the night sky approaching them at high speed. It was Queen, holding onto Balloon Gum.

"Queen!?"

Carried by powerful gusts of wind, Queen was hurtling their way.

She's going to crash into the window glass...! Joker used his Emblem Fire and Spade used his Ice Shot to break the glass, and Queen was forcefully swept into the building.

"T-Thanks."

"Queen, what's up?"

"Trouble. Noir sent out an advance notice. He's going to steal the treasure that Grandpa is after!"

"He's what!?" Joker and Spade exclaimed in unison.

Then there was a series of loud rumbles as reinforced shutters rolled over each wall and the ceiling.

"Oh shoot...!"

The three of them were trapped on this floor.

#kaitou joker #light novel

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batarella · 4 years

Text

The Bullet: A Sequel to The Commander - Part 7 *FINALE* (Jason Todd x Reader)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH THIS FUCKING FINALE I SWEAR. HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOY BECAUSE THIS IS THE MOST ACTION PACKED FINALE I’VE EVER WRITTEN.

WORDS: 14349 WARNINGS: FIREARMS, VIOLENCE, DEATH

MASTERLIST

THE BULLET MASTERLIST

-----

Strapped onto the wheel chair like a rabid circus freak, Y/N knew exactly where she was headed. She just didn’t know what for.

With her neck being held back she could only look at the bulbs of white fluorescent light that continually passed by her and couldn’t do so much as look at the ground. Plenty of guards were around her as well. She didn’t bother struggling, nor did she speak. But there were even more armed guards lining up, going to wherever she was going as well. All the way up to a white room.

A mission. Her first mission with the squad. Just delightful.

“Deadshot?” the guard near the door asked. When the ones carrying her wheelchair gave him her files, she was let in.

She was the last one to arrive. Because everyone had their eyes on her the moment she graced them with her presence.

The first one that caught Y/N’s eye was, of course, Amanda Waller. With the room littered with her goons and guards, the woman stood at the very front, against a blank wall with her hands behind her back and her eyebrow quirked up right at Y/N. Y/N squinted her eyes back at her, some sort of a decline to her superiority, and Waller looked amused.

Then when the guards parted to make way for her, she was brought to the very center of the room, where there were five rather familiar faces giggling and snarling at the newest member of the squad. The one at the center, Rick Flag, ordered his men to place Y/N on the leftmost side.

Those faces, the ones she’s seen more often than she wished she had. Some already knew her. Some hated her. And some simply didn’t care.

Harley Quinn. Of course, out of everyone else in the room, was the only one bubbling with laughter and other nonsense spurting out of her mouth. She was waving her legs around the wheelchair like a little girl would on a swing. And she was staring at her, laughing. “WE GOT A NEW GIRL ON THE SQUAD!!!” she bellowed out. “WHAT?! DEADSHOT’S NEICE. THAT’S NEPOTISM RIGHT THERE.” Y/N ignored her.

The one beside her was someone she didn’t know personally, someone she’s never even met. They said this guy came from Australia and robbed almost every bank there was. Captain Boomerang. He, too, was strapped to a chair, though he wasn’t as loud as Harley. Y/N saw him eye her head to toe while he bit his lip, and she shot Boomerang a knife-like scowl before his eyes got too comfortable.

The next one. Killer Frost. A beautiful woman with ice-white skin and the hair of an arctic fox. She didn’t give Y/N so much as a glance. Most probably because they had her stored in a coffin-like chamber with only a glass window where her head could be seen. On the inside, she could see the glass covered in frost, and the chamber looked cold to touch. She was calm, reserved. And looked on at Waller’s direction.

The creature beside Frost was the one she really wouldn’t want to mess with the most. The largest in the room, with blue skin and a body ten times the mass of any human being possibly could be. He had the head of a shark, eyes red like her optics. He even had a fin sticking out his back. and he was muzzled and strapped standing upright with five more guards around him. Y/N could hear him growl, wordless, and when she caught his eye, he snarled at her.

Finally, El Diablo. The quietest out of the bunch. His wheelchair looked just like hers, except his hands were completely covered by iron cylinders, probably filled with ice cold water. The man was covered in tattoos, and he didn’t have a shirt on. His face looked like a skull’s, which made the way he looked at everyone else look more menacing than his supposed behaved demeanor.

These were the dangerous people she’s stuck with, most probably for the rest of her life if all else fails and she’ll never be able to get out. The people that Floyd had worked with. And they were a few of the most maniacal villains there were in the whole country. She wished she could tell herself she didn’t belong. But she actually did. In fact, she had no business going about pretending to be better than all these people. When it came to how much blood they’ve shed, she probably wasn’t too far off from Harley. Maybe even more.

Y/N was right where she truly belonged. Today, she is welcomed as the newest member of the Suicide Squad.

Waller stepped out to the front. “Y/N, your team. Let’s cut to the chase. We don’t have much time. Bring out the files.”

These files were then projected onto a holographic screen against the wall behind Waller. It was a photo of Scarecrow.

“Some of you probably have heard. Just yesterday, Dr. Jonathan Crane released his new toxin in the National Bank of Gotham.”

The screen started to show footage of what went on in the Bank.

“Our first mistake was thinking Scarecrow had launched the same kind of toxin as the last time, but as the surviving victims were brought out to the stations, they continued to showed the side effects of the toxin, including mania, hallucinations, homicidal tendencies, unnatural human strength, and even cannibalism. Even after being held for observations for more than twenty-four hours, they, unfortunately, could not be brought back.

“Which means that Crane had finally developed a fear toxin that causes permanent effects to anyone who does so much as inhale the gas…”

She heard guards shuffle and hold their guns tighter.

“I have a question!” Harley screamed, holding her hand up despite it being strapped to the chair.

“Flag. Muffle her.”

“Muffle me!? What do you-MMMMM!”

“As I was saying. The victims were forced to be euthanized when none of the doctors could bring them back. One hundred-twenty people died in the incident and the whole country is in a state of panic.”

“MMM MMM MMM?!” Harley asked.

“Yes. The whole country. Months ago, Dr. Crane had blackmailed the crime syndicate Carmine Falcone, who he instructed to forge buy outs of several other Gotham businessmen, stole almost all their money before hiring a certain hitman-“ she stared at Y/N. “-To assassinate them all one by one before his shortcomings are detected. That placed Falcone’s total net worth to be almost two hundred billion dollars. Or so we thought.

“After Falcone’s death, Crane had already taken all the money for himself and had used to build what might be the end to all of mankind. A new Cloudburst weapon. This time large enough to engulf the whole country in his new toxin, as well as a brand-new militia army of hundreds of men guarding his device. Mankind as we know it will be haunted with his obsession with fear and we will all be nothing but goddamn zombies.”

“MMMM!” Harley thrashed about in her chair, then she spat out her gag. “Yuck! That was disgusting! I was about to say that gag had a bug and it crawled down to my throat but it actually wasn’t that bad!”

“Harley!” Rick Flag screamed. Harley pouted and stuck out her tongue.

“And what is it you want us to do, Waller?” Boomerang asked with his heavy accent. “You want us to go there and possibly inhale this bloody toxin!?”

The screen turned to a helicopter’s sight. “Last night, we managed to tracked down a dome-shaped building in the deserted areas outside New Jersey with more than five hundred men guarding it inside and out. It is suspected that the weapon might be hidden somewhere in its center. Your job is to go there, eliminate Dr. Crane and his army, and destroy that weapon with whatever means necessary.

“And as for your concern, our teams have developed a mask for you all to wear. It has the filter to go against the toxin. We found it on one of the Arkham Knight Militia’s men and developed our own.”

Oh. Shit. That. She totally forgot. Man, how time flies.

“Let’s not waste anymore time. Flag. Take them to the airport and give them their gear.”

“Weeeeee!” Harley squealed as they started wheeling her out of the room.

Y/N had no idea where to start, if she even had a place to start.

Everything Waller mentioned, it could all be traced back to her. In so many ways. And she knew it. Everyone in the room probably knew it. It was only fair that she be involved in trying to correct it at all. She had no business complaining or thinking she should be somewhere else. This was Waller’s way, hell, this was the whole goddamn world’s way of handing to her what she truly deserved. And she was so tired of constantly being the cause of hurt and pain. So many mistakes, costing her everything she’s ever known to love. She really, truly belonged here. More than Harley. More than Killer Frost. More than anyone else in the squad.

Because without her even knowing, she’d been involved in this mess before any of Scarecrow’s plans were even thought of. With the militia, the Cloudburst, Falcone’s assassinations. In so many ways, none of this would have happened if not for her.

But did she even have the time to blame herself? When it would barely do her any good?

As Y/N was taken to the plane, beside the other members of the squad, she focused on the buzzing and Boomerang’s rants and Harley’s cackles. She even caught the eye of King Shark and didn’t budge.

Because of course, in a way, she was to blame. She knew Crane had something planned when he almost had her killed that one, terrible night trying to lessen the odds of her ruining his plan once more. And another one of her stupid mistakes was to completely forget about it.

They arrived a few hours later. On the military base somewhere in the interstate, even more soldiers and guards waited for them in the barren grounds surrounded by their tents.

She was the farthest behind, the last one to be wheeled out of the plane. When Rick Flag met them at the center where suitcases and crates were being brought out. He waited until most of the squad members had settled.

“Everyone. Stand your ground. Unlock them and give them their gear. If you idiots do so much as look at me differently, I will detonate the bombs.”

“We know the drill, mate,” Boomerang spat at him.

“I know. I was talking to the new girl.”

Y/N’s wheelchair stopped. Then, they were all released from their straps, from their chairs. Harley hopped up and stretched out her arms, then took out her clothes from the crates and her enormous hammer. Boomerang fixed his coat, then he had a single boomerang from his case. He threw it in the air, and a few seconds later, it came flying back.

Killer Frost, with the air suddenly becoming a little chillier when the chamber opened, walked out and grabbed her icy-blue suit. She didn’t have any more weapons. El Diablo was slow to move, but when the chains were unlocked, he got a single hoodie jacket and hid himself from everyone else.

King Shark, on the other hand, put up most of a fight. Terrified soldiers had their shields up when they released him from his confines and he roared directly at Flag’s face. Flag didn’t budge.

Y/N stood up from her chair, stretched her neck, then cracked her knuckles.

As an entire arsenal of guns was brought to her, she stared vacantly at her red and gray suit and the white mask at the bottom of the crate.

That wasn’t her. It didn’t call out to her anymore the way it did just a few days ago. It was a layer of skin laid over her flesh that wasn’t hers at all. She wasn’t Deadshot anymore.

She can't wear this suit.

Y/N eyed another crate nearby. It must have belonged to the other gunmen in their army.

She can make something out of these.

Nobody batted an eye when she started scavenging for parts.

Black body armor, covering her chest, shoulders, and knees. Dark pants covered in straps and holsters on her hips and thighs. Boots that went up to her knees, covered with the pads. And underneath the armor was a dark blue body suit, making her look completely different from her uncle’s red one. Her wrist gun, spray painted blue. And lastly, a black hood with a mask that covered her nose and mouth.

Around her neck was a small silver chain with the diamond ring through its loop. Y/N longingly stared into its crystal, looking back at everything Jason had promised her. How she believed them even when they weren’t so possible. How much she missed him.

She stuffed it under her suit and placed the hood over her head.

Already, she’d shed off that foreign skin. This was her. This was Y/N.

When everyone was ready, Flag came up to the crowd.

“No longer Deadshot, are you?”

“No,” she said.

“Then what do we call you?”

She simpered.

“The Bullet.”

-----

This had to be all theatrics. Not to mention completely unnecessary. Jason got off his motorcycle and parked it right outside the gate.

Somehow, they kept it. Even the fence. And it still had ‘Wayne Manor’ on its wrought iron bars even when the field behind it had been completely emptied out. The ruins and everything left behind after the manor exploded had been cleared out and demolished. Still, they chose not to do anything with the land, even when millionaires fought over it and maybe a few intruders with metal detectors breaking in to look for the Batcave.

Dick told him to meet him and the rest of the family there. He had no idea where, but when he stepped into the gate, Dick was there leaning against the vine-covered fence behind it. Jason wasn’t so sure how to greet him. the last time they saw each other, they were at each other’s throats. Literally. Now at their mercy, he wasn’t so sure what was the quickest way to let his pride down without looking too much of a desperate asshole.

“Uhm. Hi,” Dick said.

“Hey.”

They stared at the grass.

“Are Babs and Tim coming?”

“Yeah. They just got out of their honeymoon.”

“Oh yeah. Congratulations to them.”

“You can tell Tim when we get to them.”

Of course. Tim. The replacement. He can totally congratulate him on his wedding without it sounding too awkward.

“We talk here?”

Dick wrinkled his forehead and laughed. “You thought we were gonna plan this whole thing out on an empty field?”

“This place sure looks like one.”

He threw his head back. “Come on. Follow me.”

Hands in his pockets, he trailed behind Dick. All the way over to the center of the field where there wasn’t so much as a porta potty for them to go into.

Then Dick pulled out his watch, which wasn’t a watch at all, and started to press onto its buttons.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Jason sighed when the ground underneath them suddenly started to rumble.

“What? You thought the cave went out with the explosion, too? Bruce wouldn’t let it go to waste.”

Then the grass, which turned out to be fake, had split into a large, rectangular shaped ramp that slowly descended down onto the undergrounds for them to walk onto. When it stopped, Jason pressed on his nose. “I can't believe I didn’t know about this.”

“Come on.”

They started walking down. “Barbara’s the one in charge. She practically runs the place.”

“I can see that.”

When they reached below ground, the Batcave was exactly as they had left it. The last time he was here, he was with Y/N, the Commander. And although they’d changed its entryway, the Batmobile and the Batwing were still there, the computers were still up and running. How massive it was and how bats were still up on the rocky ceiling looking down on them with their beady little eyes. Jason and Dick walked down the driveway and he let his hand run onto the batmobile’s surface.

Barbara and Tim were at the computers. They turned to the two and the way they looked at Jason wasn’t something he particularly liked being stared at.

“Hey, Babs.”

Barbara was the first to smile at him. “Hi, Jason.”

Then when he looked at Tim, who didn’t share the same smile, he stopped himself from scratching an itch on his head.

“Hi… Tim…”

“Jason…” he coughed.

“Congratulations, by the way.”

“Thank you,” Babs said, then she reached out to Jason’s hand. He took it, for a while, then he pulled away.

“Sorry to hear about her,” Tim said.

“I know. But if you help me… and I thank you for helping me now… we can break her out.”

“Did you come up with a plan?” Dick asked him. Jason, arms crossed, turned over to the computer. Barbara had already gone ahead with looking up Scarecrow.

“If the squad is being sent out to deal with Crane, they might be going after that new weapon of his. We can go after them there and get her out before anyone sees.”

He stared at his hands. “I was hoping Babs could come up with some sort of devise that can disable the bomb in her neck.”

“Dick already told me. Don’t worry. I came up with something this morning.”

The three men followed behind her as she wheeled over to the table next to the keyboards.

“This,” she held out a device shaped like a thick pen. “If you can get her to settle down, you stick this thing to the back of her neck and it will send shocks right up to the nanite bomb. It should give it the voltage it needs to be disabled. It’s going to hurt. But it can save her.”

She was an angel. A literal angel. Just the thought of it gave him that little flutter of hope he definitely needed.

“Babs, I don’t know how to thank you…”

“Don’t worry about it. We’re here to help you.”

Two years ago, he had this woman kidnapped and sent to Crane, gave her the death scare of a lifetime and almost had Tim killed when Scarecrow had him captured.

It was too much. How none of their faces looked the least bit bothered. Dick held the pen and took off the needle cap, flinching, then he gave it to Jason.

Jason looked down on it, clearing his throat.

“I’m sorry…”

Dick, with his arms crossed, Tim leaning against the table, and Babs looking down at her hands, they all didn’t have much to say.

“I’m sorry for everything I did to you. All of you.”

“Jason…” Dick rubbed the back of his neck. “We used to be brothers-“

“No, I… I couldn’t. When this is over, I’ll be out of your way. And I owe you. All of you… But I shouldn’t stay…”

“You can. And you will. No matter how much you push yourself away… We’re here for you…”

Tim never looked up. But Jason knew, that if he were in his place right now, he’d be all over him with the ‘I told you so’s’ and the snide remarks. But the younger man was silent, didn’t even look at him the wrong way.

And that’s when he really felt like shit.

“We’re happy you came to us for help,” Babs said.

Jason hadn’t figured this part out when he reached for their help, but he knew something like this was about to happen. It was the entire reason why he didn’t want to. Because somehow, when it did, these guys won't hate him anymore, and he’ll end up hating himself instead.

Dick placed his hand on his shoulder. For a moment. Then when Jason’s body tensed, Dick pulled away.

“Now,” Babs went over to the computer. “Time to hack into the government.”

-----

The helicopter landed some distance away from the dome. The Bullet still had no idea why it was shaped that way. Just that it was new and humungous and completely littered with army men guarding every inch of it.

She, Harley, Boomerang, Killer Frost, King Shark, and El Diablo stepped out at the front lines, with Rick Flag right behind them, followed by their own army of men, though a number considerably less than what they were going up against. They had to be smart with this and break in.

They went into the forest, out on the fields. The dome was in a level ground lower than the lands around it, shaped in a circle, much like it was on a pit that was about two or three stories below ground. They crouched down on the bushes when they started reaching the edges of the pit and Flag looked out on his scopes.

“They’ve completely covered the perimeter.”

“Do we just attack?”

Flag put down his binoculars. “We are. To keep them distracted. When everyone’s backs are turned you six go in there and finish the job.”

“You say it like it’s so fucking easy,” Boomerang snarled. King Shark gritted his sharp teeth and growled staring at the armed men around the building.

A hand grenade. Right at one of the trees. It got their attention enough, especially when Flag started firing at the guards stationed just outside the entrance. Crowds of Scarecrow’s men, armed to the teeth, ran the outside grounds to go after Flag’s men. They drifted down the pit, outstretched their legs, and handled them at close range, while some stayed at the trees firing from afar.

The Squad, on the other hand, were all the way over to the other side. Almost all of them had ran off, except for two who stayed behind guarding the backside.

“Bullet,” Frost placed her frosted hand on her shoulder. It made her shiver. “You're up.”

The Bullet took out her sniper and shot down those two men almost at the same time. Then they slid down the side, King Shark rolling down with his immense weight. When another of Scarecrow’s men ran out the door, a boomerang landed on his head.

The door was locked. “I’ll take care of it,” Frost said. Boomerang scoffed, “Fucking metas.”

Holding out her hands, fumes of ice shot out from Frost’s palms and froze down the locks. King Shark kicked the iced hinges down, then the door fell to the ground.

“That was easy!” Harley skipped inside with her mallet over her shoulders. Diablo was still silent, still with his hands in his pockets.

“Don’t jinx it, Harls.”

It looked more like a warehouse by the entryway. And there was absolutely nothing inside save for a few cylinders and water tanks and a whole lot of pipes being guarded.

“We should probably sneak inside.”

“Sneak!?” Harley snorted at the Bullet. “Honey, we don’t do that here.”

King Shark growled at her, then he walked straight up to the center of the room.

“Intruder! Open fire!” the soldiers screamed.

“What is that thing!?”

“Just shoot!”

King Shark walked slowly towards those men, and the bullets just bounced off his incredibly thick skin. He held out his hand, stopped the bullets from reaching his face. Then when the soldiers had backed too much away and reached the wall, Shark grabbed them by the face and actually hurled them all the way across the room.

“Time to play!!!” Harley screamed, then she held out her mallet and started swinging it over at the guards.

Killer Frost had the ground frozen over, slipping the guards off balance, then shards of ice rose up from the ground to impale them. Boomerang had a more melee approach but had his trusty weapon to go around when he needed it.

The Bullet. The new, almighty Bullet. She pulled up her hood and mask and took out her AK.

She fired at the dozens of men going after her. Jumping on top of the cylinders, standing on the highest ground, she shot down anyone who came remotely close to her and had their bodies on the floor before they could even touch her feet. Over and over, she changed the magazines, took out more ammo. She let the gun take charge of her hands and head. A lot of the were swarming her, from different directions. Eventually too many of the soldiers were surrounding the pile of crates she stood on and the others started climbing up.

She couldn’t escape. Even if she were able to take them all down.

Until a raging fire shot out like a car-sized flame thrower and took out the guards that were climbing up. The water tank didn’t seem to have been damaged, but the men on it were burnt like a crisp, and they all started to run away. “Jump!” Diablo screamed.

She did, and she landed on the fire as well. She rolled on the floor to put it out before it got to her skin and Diablo helped her up. “Thank you.”

“Just go.”

She nodded, then with her pistol and wrist gun, went on to keep firing. Frost had a wall of the men being stuck to the block of ice, some completely frozen inside it, then King Shark let out an animalistic shriek before he punched the glass, destroying it into shards and impaling everyone inside.

Harley, on the other hand, just went on spinning around with her mallet, screaming, manically laughing. The bitch was insane.

“A little help here!” Boomerang called out. He was being held back by two men while another was punching at his chest. The Bullet pointed her wrist gun and fired at his attacker.

Even more men were coming. From the doors to the inside.

“We have to keep moving!” The Bullet cried out to them. To the door where the reinforcements kept coming from, she kept firing as she backed away. The whole squad moved, onwards towards the door. Then when they’d all reached it, Frost froze over the door with more than five layers of ice.

There were sounds of bashing and hitting against the icy door, but it should be enough to hold them back. Before them was a long, seemingly endless hallway. It should probably be leading them to the inside of the dome, where the weapon is.

“Ahhh. The Suicide Squad…”

“WOAH WOAH WOAH where the hell is that comin’ from!?” Harley screamed.

The intercoms. Scarecrow was watching them. The Bullet put on her optics, now shining blue light, and looked around.

A camera. Right at the corner. She shot it with her wrist gun.

“And you have the Commander with you.”

“FUCKING SHUT UP!” The Bullet shot another camera hidden away.

“The Commander, huh,” Killer Frost looking at her head to toe. “You work with him before?”

“Shut up.”

“OH MY MOLLY,” Harley placed her hands on her mouth. “YOU'RE the Commander of the freakin’ Arkham Knight!! I remember you!”

“We should go-“

“I have so many questions. Huge fan. HUGE fan. Ya know she’s drove the first Cloudburst?”

Boomerang crossed his arms. “And they sent her to help us? The fuckin’ nerve of this scumbag coming up here actin’ all hero.”

“You watch your mouth, kangaroo.”

Diablo snorted and chuckled. Boomerang held out his weapon. “You want a piece of this?”

“A kid’s toy?”

“Don’t you fuckin-“

King Shark roared at the two with his mouth wide open for a good ten seconds and deafened their ears. The Bullet wiped his spit off her face and scoffed.

Frost led the way, all the way down its halls. When they reached a large gate, she froze it over once more and Shark beat it down with his fists and his foot.

They didn’t know they’d reach the center of the large dome. They thought they had more rooms to cover.

With the building so big, they thought it would have taken so much more time to reach the core.

But already, they were met with a cylindrical glass tank that was almost as thick as an entire building in itself, and it lit up the room in a menacing red light, all around. It was swirling, even boiling inside. And it shot all the way up to the roof, three stories high.

It was the fucking toxin.

The squad backed away.

Dozens of men surrounded them, all around the dimly lit room. And it was larger than any of them could have expected. It was circular, and there was only a suspended walkway that went all around the sides. There was a runway to the center, where there were controls. A man stood by them. A man with a rag on his head.

All of them with their hands up.

Scarecrow’s voice was on the intercom, and it echoed all throughout the dome loud enough to rattle their eardrums.

“I assume this wasn’t what you’d expected?”

No. Not even a little. This wasn’t what they expected at all.

They didn’t expect to already reach the weapon.

Or rather. Stand on top of the weapon.

The weapon wasn’t a ray gun or a tank or even a satellite. It wasn’t something so small that it would have been easily taken down by a tank or even King Shark’s fist. Even when it was to engulf the whole of America in its toxin.

No. it was none of that.

The Bullet trailed her eyes down the numerous pipes going up and around the walls, through the floor and over to the room where they just came from, where even more of the toxin was stored in tanks and the pipes that went around it.

The Cloudburst wasn’t inside the dome.

The Cloudburst was the dome.

-----

It didn’t take too much time. It wasn’t the first time Barbara had to hack into the American Government. In fact, it was the easier to hack into than some people’s private accounts.

She went into Amanda Waller’s files.

“Here. Finally.”

Dick, Jason, and Tim stood behind her.

“It looks like they’ve already sent out the squad. Just a few hours ago.”

“Who are in the squad?”

The files on Task Force X. Babs took out the profiles on all their subjects.

Harley’s picture was first to come up. Her blonde hair and vicious eyes staring at the screen. “Harley Quinn, of course. We got Louise Lincoln, also known as Killer Frost.”

The boys watched on.

“El Diablo. Captain Boomerang. King Shark. Rick Flag’s being sent out there as well.”

Then she stopped scrolling when Y/N’s picture and profile came up.

Jason’s heart broke. It did every time he does so much as look at a photo of her. And with that one, a mug shot, the mug shot that was going around every news station in town, the brokenness in her face, the darkness in what used to be the brightness in her eyes, how much rage she had for everything around the world, he hitched his breath.

‘Y/FN Y/LN

Age: 23

Alias: The Bullet’

He smiled at her new name. A sad smile. The most painful kind.

He missed her so much.

Setting his head to the side so they couldn’t see the tear that had seeped out, Jason swallowed and shut his eyes.

“Jason…”

“I’m alright. Can you find out where they were headed?”

Babs smiled at him, then went back to her keyboard.

Zooming in on the helicopter footage on the dome, she traced its coordinates.

“Is that-“

“Scarecrow’s base? Most probably.”

“Jesus,” Jason sighed. “I used to work with that guy.”

“This is the weapon, alright. The sensors are through the roof. We should be heading out there.”

“Do we have a plan?”

“Not exactly. We’ll know when we get there,” Dick said.

“We have to hurry. Who knows when that mad man actually detonates his bomb?”

“How? It’s two hours away.”

“Man,” Dick pat his back. “You really have to get used to working with us now that we’ve got Bruce’s old toys.”

Of course.

What else could he have possibly thought? Get there on his bike?

The Batwing was staring right at their faces, almost taunting them with its silent growl. Dick, Tim, and Jason walked up to it side by side.

“You think he’ll be happy with that?” Jason said.

“Not at all. He even threatens to kill us if we get anywhere near the wheel-“

“Which is why I’m here to drive, Master Dick.”

No.

It couldn’t be.

The sweet old butler, came up from behind the computers where there must have been a room for him to stay in, he held out a tray of four glasses of water for them to take. Setting it down on the table, he gave Jason the sincerest smile.

“I’ve missed you, dear boy.”

“Alfred.”

He wanted desperately to go up to him, give him the biggest bear hug until his bones crack, but Alfred held his hand up to him and just handed him his water.

“It’s better if we skip the ol’ reunion. We catch up after we’ve saved your girl.”

Everything was here. Everyone was here.

Clearly, it wasn’t the time to get emotional. And goddamn, he wasn’t the one to get emotional.

And all the more did they look like a family when the three boys suited up. Dick with his black and blue Nightwing suit and domino mask, Tim with his bo staff and red and yellow suit and cape. And Jason, with his hooded jacket and red visor.

Facing each other in a circle, Nightwing, Robin, and Red Hood took in how they were all now in one team, possibly for the rest of their career. No longer will they fight. No longer will they run.

Oracle smiled at the three. “You all look great together when you're not at each other’s throats.”

“You sure you won't let me drive, Alfred?” Robin said to the butler.

“I had specific instructions from Master Bruce that if you were to inherit the cave, no one was to drive the Batwing but me. You have until I die, Master Dick.”

“Awe. Even in his death, Bruce still doesn’t trust us.”

Laughing as they went in, Alfred had the Batwing soaring into the sky. Silently.

They were going to save her. Them. His family. The one he’d left. The one he thought he hated. The one he almost got killed.

He couldn’t possibly have done anything to deserve this.

With his visor up, he went up to Dick.

“Dick…” he choked.

His older brother turned to him, smiling. He knew what Jason was thinking.

And he didn’t let him speak to make things unnecessarily dramatic. He knew he had his brother back. Dick pulled him into a hug. A sweet, sincere hug that tore out every part of him that wasn’t already consumed by that string of humanity he once had left inside him.

“Thank you,” Jason said to him. Dick patted his back.

“We missed you, Jaybird…”

Jason closed his eyes.

When they pulled away, with Tim watching, he never actually got the change to get to know him. But one of these days, he will. And he’ll be a brother to him, too.

Jason nodded at him, smiling. Tim nodded back.

He never, ever would have thought they’d accept him like this, to help him like this.

And if Bruce were here, he’d have no idea what to tell him. But Jason did forgive him. He forgave him before he even knew he did. Maybe, if Bruce were anything like Dick and Tim, he would have accepted Jason back into his house. He would have helped him, as well.

He let himself think that. For his own sake. For his own peace.

Not long after, they reached the site.

Nightwing, Robin, and Red Hood stood at the Batwing’s exit doors.

-----

Harley must have had the worst of issues for her to be laughing this off, whistling as she marveled over the room. “I have to admit, Ragdoll, you cer’ainly out did yourself than the last time! I remember when all it took was Ivy’s tree to get rid of your toxin!”

Boomerang scoffed. “A tree?!”

“Gag her.”

“Awe, come on! What is it with you people and the gaggi- MMMMMM!”

Held back by a dozen of Scarecrow’s gunmen, with so many of their guns pointed right at their heads, they stood on their knees, hands tied to their backs. They watched Scarecrow walk over to them from his place near the glass. He chuckled, that low, dark, breathy, and utterly disgusting laugh when he went over the squad.

“MMM! MMM? Mmm…” Harley said to him when he passed by her. All he did was glare. When he passed by Frost, he eyed her body and how icy smoke was coming out of her pores.

“Ya know, this ain’t personal. I’d totally be into this. But we got an explosive stuck to me spine here, mate, and I really just don’t want to die,” Boomerang said. Scarecrow ignored him and walked over to Diablo.

She looked over. Diablo had melted away the ropes on his wrists and no one even noticed. He stood still, watching Scarecrow, then the rag-headed man went over to the next one.

The Bullet. The only one who actually hated this man to the bloody core.

Scarecrow looked amused at the darkness of her glower. He leaned over, pulled down her hood and mask with his disgusting fingers before she flinched away.

“Lovely to see you once more, Commander.”

“Don’t fucking call me that.”

“I thought I left you for dead. Turns out you survived your own bullets. Perhaps you're not as good as you thought you are-“

“Go to hell-“

“This is hell, Commander. At least, it will be.” When he stood back, he eyed the creature next to her.

“An animal? They brought an animal to the squad?” Scarecrow laughed.

King Shark roared. The loudest, more nightmarish roar. Then he charged after him with his large mouth littered with almost three rows of teeth on each side. The guards pulled him back, shot a taser to his arm, but it didn’t do much damage.

Scarecrow backed off and immediately he was guarded by his men.

“Kill him.”

“No!” Killer Frost screamed, but even she was held back by three guards.

And it was the most cruel thing they’ve ever seen. The Bullet watched on, as her fellow squad member was shot with three tranquilizer darts. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

Then Scarecrow’s men took out a grenade.

Shit.

They stuffed it into King Shark’s mouth.

And the squad looked away when it detonated not even two seconds later.

His head was blown off. Much like it would have been if Flag had done it himself.

Five of them left.

Against an army of hundreds.

“Now. You all get to watch as the entire country slowly descends into their deepest, darkest nightmares…”

Scarecrow went over to the center, over to the controls where she saw a bright, beeping light coming from one of the screens. She didn’t have so much as an idea about how this was going to blow. Will the building be going along with it? Is everyone going to live through it?

She should know. She was the one who detonated the first Cloudburst.

They were two hours away from the city. And the government already had most of the people in the area evacuate to shelters underground. They didn’t have much else to hide.

The guards around them had masks as well. They were going to sit it through, fight even with the gas all around them.

She had no idea what was going to happen. But all she could do was sit and watch.

Scarecrow pressed the final button, and on the screen, it showed a minute’s countdown

The Bullet closed her eyes.

There was a heat coming to her wrists. Out of view from the guards. A little flame, floating about. It melted away the chains that were around their hands, and suddenly, she could move them around. She looked over at Diablo and thanked him with a nod. Harley and Boomerang were free as well. Frost, on the other hand, rejected that fire and instead froze over the chains herself. They could charge.

But the guards were too many. She couldn’t just attack.

Time was running out. There was nothing they could do.

But they can shield themselves. At the last second when the guards couldn’t react.

“This is… the Cloudburst!!!”

Three.

Two.

One.

BOOM!!!

“EVERYBODY, GET YOUR FUCKING MASKS!” Boomerang screamed. The five of them grabbed their filter masks from their suits and held it against their mouths. Everything was shaking, an explosion large enough to almost take down its walls, then the glass started to break. The gas was leaking on the inside.

Scarecrow didn’t move. He just stood there, amused, all the while his guards started to panic, panting and coughing and tearing the masks off their faces like it only hurt their skin. She ran out of the way before a guard fell to her body, clutching his throat, before he started screaming the ghostliest noises a human could possibly make.

Then their skins. No longer did they look remotely human. They looked like they were burnt out. Their whole body turning into scabs and burnt flesh. The toxin was eating them from the inside. And their eyes. She’s never seen the look on someone’s face like that when they were looking straight at their deepest, darkest fears. Not even when she’d imagine it.

No.

He couldn’t possibly-

No.

These men. These trained soldiers promised with almost million dollars each.

Scarecrow didn’t hire them here to defend the Cloudburst.

They were here to serve as victims for his horrible toxin that turned them into vicious, mindless zombies. And they looked exactly like they would have in their visions of fear, the ones you’d merely hallucinate with his old toxin. This time, they weren’t hallucinations. The nightmarish creatures of the dark, Scarecrow had turned the people’s fears into something real.

The squad, with their masks on, held tightly onto their weapons, watching the horror in front of them unfold.

One of the creatures ran after Harley, so she swung at it with her mallet, crushing his body against the wall. It didn’t even look like it had human bones that cracked when it was hit.

No. No. No.

Everyone started firing at the creatures coming after them. At their heads, at their animalistic mouths. Frost on one side, freezing the incoming animals into an ice block, and on the other, El Diablo, firing at them with an enormous raging fire. They had to get out of here. There was no possible way they could win this here. Not with the Cloudburst looking like it was about to break.

The Bullet fired at everything she could see. With her AK on one hand and her pistol on the other. But the seemingly endless array of lifeless minions came crawling and pouncing right at her. One of them scratched her arm. She hoped this fucking toxin didn’t work through cross contamination.

Scarecrow, he was still at the center, watching it all unfold.

Scarecrow.

Fucking Scarecrow.

The Bullet screamed out, even with her mask, then opened fire as she made her way into the center walkway. She ran to him and pushed everything out of her way, blowing their brains out, jumping onto the railing and running on top of it. She took out a grenade and threw it at a crowd.

Jonathan Crane caught her eye. And with the deathly look on her face, he lost his amusement.

Then the coward started to back away.

She growled and tore through everything, running after Crane. He didn’t have much else to go.

So in a split second, she fired at his leg. The Bullet could have easily fired at his head.

But she wanted him to die from a bullet right between his eyes, that were to look right into hers in the last few moments of his life.

Scarecrow was on the ground, crawling. The Bullet walked right up to him and grabbed him by the collar. Then she aggressively slammed him against the glass where his horrible red toxin was leaking out.

“You killed my son…”

“You did that yourself-“

“No,” she tightened her hand around his neck. “No, I didn’t.”

A pistol. Right against his head. She ends this now. His story ends now. His reign on earth. His madness. His nightmare.

She couldn’t hear the bullet fire out of her hand.

But she did feel the blood spatter when it entered Jonathan Crane’s skull. She heard the crack, and the impact against the glass. She saw the look on his eyes, staring right into her. Taunting her. Waiting for her to pull the trigger until it stayed that way until the worms eat up his body.

The Bullet threw the body on the floor.

She was never, ever going to kill another human being again. She made that promise. To Jason and his family.

But if she were to kill just one last time…

She wanted to make it count.

-----

“Holy…”

“Shit…”

“We were too late.”

“Or the squad failed…”

“No,” Red Hood choked. “No, they can't be dead.”

“They might still be alive. Get your masks on. Come on.”

They put on their masks, Red Hood’s under his visor. As they ran towards the enormous mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke that was spewing violently out of the dome. The ground was quaking enough to feel like it would eventually erupt. And if they were to stay, it might actually split open. They ran towards the center.

And before they could go down the pit. They saw them. Right when they stepped into the are completely engulfed in the horrible red toxin.

They saw the creatures.

In army uniforms of what used to be humans, the creatures were screaming, running and clawing their way around the grass and bushes like they were rabid wolves under a full moon. The bodies, or what used to be bodies, looked like undead carcasses that were walking on their hands and feet. When they caught sight of the three, they started going after them.

Someone grabbed Nightwing’s shoulder.

Rick fucking Flag. He had a mask on.

“You kids better stay away. This is our mission.”

“You really want your boss’s goddamn pride to get in the way of actually saving the world? We’re here to help!”

Flag fired at one of the monsters coming right for them.

“Scarecrow’s baited his own men and turned them into these fucking shitbags.”

“Then let us help,” Robin said. Red Hood, on the other hand, was already shooting at the creatures with his two pistols.

“Red Hood!”

“Oh, don’t give me that! These guys aren’t human!” He fired at one almost flying for his visor. “They never will be again even if we destroy this thing! So get your asses here and KILL THESE GUYS!”

Rick Flag had went on to shoot them with his AK. Nightwing and Robin stared at each other, holding onto their escrima sticks and bo staff.

Flag, despite his guns, didn’t see one of the zombie-like monsters that had grabbed him from behind. It started tearing at its face, claws sharper than a cat’s. Robin and Nightwing went over to get it off him, but it was too late.

Rick Flag’s mask had fallen off.

He stared at the two, with his eyes glowing red and bloodshot from how he was desperately trying to hold his breath. He started clutching at his throat, and his mouth looked like it was about to blow up.

Flag couldn’t handle it. He gasped for air.

Then he turned into one of them. Right in front of their eyes. Nightwing gripped on his escrima sticks.

Then he slammed it against Flag’s head, destroying what was left of his skull. The guilt started to eat him away, but Red Hood was right. He wasn’t human anymore.

“Come on,” Robin said.

Then they attacked everything that came their way. They had to go into the dome. Find the Squad. Hope for the best. But the creatures were running out of the doors like they were in need of air. Hundreds of them in a stampede going out into the field. The trees had cleared, blown off from the explosion. Everything was barren and had fallen under a thick red cloud of his fucking toxin.

Red Hood managed to run all the way to the center. He shot one that had wrestled Nightwing to the ground before he slid down the pit, hands and legs outstretched, and even then, he continued to fire. He reloaded his guns and started firing at the ones going out of the dome.

----

They couldn’t possibly take them all.

So as the Squad rushed down the hallways, out into the first level where it had gone complete barren and destroyed, El Diablo continued to shoot his flames from his hands at all the incoming creatures.

Finally, they reached the door and they all raced outside.

Frost barred the door with her ice, as much as she could, and the monsters were pounding themselves against it with their own bodies and heads. The Bullet, facing behind them, fired at the incoming creatures that must have been the reinforcements waiting to be called. Fuck, there were a lot of them.

Killer Frost couldn’t handle it and the creatures had broken her wall of ice. Unnatural strength. One of the side effects of the toxin. Harley screamed her battle cry and started swinging her mallet around. El Diablo with his flames. And Captain Boomerang with, well, his boomerang.

The Bullet, with her machine gun, fired at ten of the creatures in under a second. She flew in the air. She dodged their incoming attacks. She fired directly at their heads and took out more of them than anyone else with a gun. She fired relentlessly until their heads were blown off, their bodies exploding onto the floor.

She climbed on top of a nearby truck, dropped her carbine, then used her wrist gun and pistol to fire at everything that moved.

“WOOHOO! GO NEW GIRL!” Harley screamed. The Bullet smiled, then went on with her alternating shots until she’d taken down dozens of them.

Everything that moved. Everything that moved. Everything that-

A red hood. Red visor. Gray jacket. And a red bat symbol on his chest.

Oh God.

The asshole.

“Jason!!!”

Red Hood turned around.

A wave that had crashed on the shore, violent and forceful, a wave that tore through everything in its way. Every tree. Every bush. Every doubting thought. The Bullet jumped off the truck, ignored the sting up her knees. She ran to him. She ran to him so fast that two of the monsters smashed into each other when they were going after her. Red Hood recognized her and dropped everything he had on him and sprinted to her way.

The wave was there. A crashing, powerful wave. When they landed in each other’s arms so painfully tight she could have almost fallen over if she hadn’t already clung to him with all her might. All that was left of it.

Yes.

Yes…

Everything lit up. Everything was here again. He was everything. He will always be everything.

It was a miracle they lived through it. Red Hood, with his arms shaking as much as the ground was, buried himself into her and didn’t let go until they heard the world calling out to them, demanding that they give them their attention back. But even then, they held on. Not when they thought it could have been the last. Not after they’ve just been apart. Jason pulled away, raised his visor so she could look into his eyes. He wore a filter mask underneath. And if he could see her smile right then, she was sure he was grinning his face off as well. She could tell with the way his beautiful eyes crinkled up.

“I fucking love the suit-“

Then she held out her arm and shot one of the monsters coming for them.

“We should move.”

“Yeah.”

Side by side, having each other’s backs. She knew something felt wrong fighting with the squad. No, she didn’t belong there. She never fought as well as she possibly could when she was with her partner. Now the Bullet and Red Hood, they fired and shot at everything that came their way.

“Throw me!” She screamed at Red Hood. She run up to him, and he grabbed her legs. Red Hood flung her up at the air and she fired relentlessly at twenty creatures hidden behind the truck. She got to the ground.

Then the fucking Batwing flew in and started firing.

“Woah!” The Bullet yelled.

“How cool is our butler!?”

The monsters started running towards the Batwing, and their attentions were slowly taken away from Red Hood and Bullet. Alfred had them covered.

“We have to get that bomb off you.”

“Where’s Flag? He’ll blow up the bomb if he sees me-“

“He’s dead. He can't blow it up. But we still need to get that off of you before Waller does it herself-”

The Cloudburst dome exploded once again, this time a thicker cloud of smoke blew out of it like a bomb. They held onto the ground, eyes shut. Red Hood grabbed onto her and she swore by her life that she was never going to let go.

When it subsided, they stood back up. “Come on.”

The Bullet stared at him dumbfounded, then the Red Hood grabbed her wrist, pulled her to the back where they could find Nightwing.

“Dick!!!”

Nightwing saw them, slammed his sticks into the creature’s guts, then ran towards them.

“I found a chair at the back. She needs to sit down.”

They moved fast. Waller will find out Flag is dead and detonate all their bombs before they’ll have a chance at escaping.

So they put her into a chair, and she gripped onto the arm rests. The Bullet watched Red Hood give Nightwing a pen-shaped device that had a needle on its end. She swallowed. “Hey, hey…” Red Hood leaned in and held her face. “You're gonna be okay… Scream if you have to… It won't take too long.”

She wished she could see his face. It was the only way she could ever be comforted. But his touch was enough. She held his hand, squeezed it, then Nightwing held her neck.

“Ready.”

Alfred kept firing at all the creatures coming after them. They had a few good minutes.

Y/N screamed out into the air as the needle went into the back of her neck and electrified that one spot by her spine. She gripped onto the wood. She forced her eyes shut. She never felt so much pain from being tased down but with it came the relief feeling that bomb actually stop beeping in the inside of her flesh. The shocks were excruciatingly painful, and it made every agonizing second pass by as long as a minute would have taken. Red Hood turned his head away before the look on her face broke his heart even more.

But the moment it stopped, with her body up in light smokes, she felt everything inside her calm.

It was gone. The bomb was gone. She could actually feel it. Red Hood grabbed her and pulled her to a hug immediately.

“You're safe now…”

“I love you.”

“I love you…”

Robin suddenly jumped at them and took out three incoming creatures with his staff. “Come on guys, Alfred can't handle all this by himself!”

Nightwing. Robin. Red Hood. Bullet.

Like they were all made to fight by each other’s side.

Nightwing smashed his weapons against a monster’s head, threw its body up in the air with his knee, then the Bullet fired at it with her wrist gun all the way down to the ground. He helped her up, gain higher ground, then she fought at Nightwing’s side when he took out the ones coming for her back. Robin, with his bo staff, slammed one right at the gut and let it fly through the air until Red Hood slammed its torso with his elbow, before shooting it in the head.

Red Hood shot three with his pistols, but one of them grabbed him by the head. And man, was it inhumanely strong. Nightwing slammed his stick right through its skull, just inches away from Red Hood’s head. Red Hood elbowed it away, then shot it. The Bullet kept covering them, now with her machine gun. She fired at one going after Robin, at another that had Nightwing in a headlock, and another two that were about to surround Red Hood.

So many were coming to surround her. And as the boys fought them off, she fired at them relentlessly with her gun. She jumped to the ground and fired at them with her wrist gun.

The Batwing was above them, swerving around as it took out everything that stood their way.

The Bullet looked back out at the pit, where the squad was. “We have to help them!” she said.

“What?!” Red Hood screamed. “Are you insane?”

“They just want to live! We all want this nightmare to end! You can go back to being enemies after we’ve saved the world!”

The world. Of course. By now the gas should have dispersed out of the state. They had to move.

The Bullet shot off a creature coming for Harley. And another coming for Boomerang. The man was barely holding up. El Diablo, now a raging monster completely made of fire, tore through everything in its way and burnt down all the monsters to a bloody crisp. Frost was still holding up, doing whatever she could with her ice. And the look on her face when Nightwing came along and hit one of them in the head before it could grab her, she couldn’t describe it.

And it was that way for hours on end. The creatures kept on coming. The fires started raging. The Batwing had landed on the ground but kept its bullets spewing out of its guns in a frenzied attack against the hundreds that were still around them.

But somehow, the dome acted as some sort of beacon. Because there were more incoming. From far away. She had no idea if they were still Scarecrow’s men or if they were people from the countryside that weren’t so lucky…

As far as everybody knew, they were dead.

And they were all going after the dome like flies surrounding a light.

Frost had them in a block of ice, then Diablo fried them up like fish. Harley kept with her hammer and almost hit Nightwing in the head. “Harley!”

“Sorry, handsome! Kinda got used to aiming for your pretty head!”

Jason, standing with his back right up against the Y/N’s side. They shot at the creatures with their guns not knowing if their ammo was going to take it.

“Y/N! You think we’re gonna make this!?”

She shot down a foot, an arm, then eventually a head. Y/N screamed. “It’s not looking good but I sure fucking hope so!”

Red Hood grabbed her shoulder and turned her around, firing at one she didn’t see. Y/N got a circular lid off one of the manholes and flung it into three bodies.

“Y/N! MARRY ME!!!”

She could have been grabbed by the head if she didn’t hear it coming from behind. She held out her wrist gun and fired directly behind her.

“I THINK I’VE ALREADY ANSWERED THAT QUESTION!!!”

Y/N used Jason’s body to haul herself up, swinging her leg in a circle around her before she shot all of them on the ground. Jason grabbed a creature’s head with his bare hands and squished it into its bloody bits.

“NO. I MEAN MARRY ME. RIGHT NOW!!!!”

“WHAT?!”

Almost losing her arm, she slammed her fist against its head, throwing it to the grass and slamming her boot onto its face. Jason kept firing with his two guns, faster than he ever could have fired.

“IF WE’RE GONNA DIE, WE’RE DYING TOGETHER!!”

“WHAT?!?!”

Jason grabbed her arms, flung her around him so she could repeatedly kick them down before they got anywhere near them. She fired her wrist gun and cursed when she almost missed. He started handling them by hand, punching, swerving, kicking them down with his awfully strong thighs.

“YOU EVER SEEN PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN!?” He smashed drove his gun into a skull and kicked him off. “THE THIRD ONE???”

“JASON, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!!??”

Y/N pressed her back against Jason, and they didn’t stop firing.

“THEY GOT MARRIED IN THE MIDDLE OF A FIGHT. IT WAS FUCKING EPIC.”

“WE’RE GOING TO FUCKING DIE-“

“EXACTLY MY POINT. I WANT TO GET OUT OF THIS WITH YOU AS MY WIFE. DEAD OR ALIVE. I DON’T WANNA WASTE ANYMORE TIME.”

She leapt up in a backflip over Jason and they switched places.

“THIS NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF WALLER COULDN’T LEGALLY FORCE ME TO TESTIFY AGAINST YOU. I’M NOT ABOUT TO LET THAT HAPPEN AGAIN. IF ANYONE WANTS TO KEEP US APART, THEY’LL HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE FUCKING LAW!”

“JASON, YOU'RE INSANE!!!”

Five down in a single shot. Y/N kicked them down, grabbed her grappling gun, then shot it at a crate to haul it over to the monsters incoming. Jason went through the whole row of creatures climbing down the pit, and when he had the slightest window, he raised his visor.

“IS THAT A YES?!”

Y/N faced him. and Jason faced her.

It wasn’t even a fucking question. The beautiful asshole.

“YES!”

As they kept firing, Jason pressed on his communicator. “ALFRED!!!”

He tossed Y/N a communicator so they’d both be able to hear him. The butler was still in the batwing, needless to say still firing at all the monsters that have made a mountain coming after it hovering in the air.

“Yes, sir?”

“YOU STILL AN ORDAINED MINISTER?!”

He could hear Alfred sound confused.

“I do believe that is a lifelong thing-“

“MARRY US. RIGHT NOW!!!”

Alfred took out a bazooka gun on the Batwing, a new one no doubt. He didn’t remember Bruce having that when he was still alive, then stook out a crowd of twenty coming after him.

“I’m afraid I’m rather busy at the moment, Master Jason.”

“THEN MAKE IT QUICK. PLEASE, MARRY US!”

“TIM, YOU HEARING THIS?” Dick cried out into the comms. Everyone could hear it.

“I KNOW. IT’S FUCKING ROMANTIC.”

Alfred kept his calm. Then they heard a sigh.

“Alright. Do try not to get yourselves killed, Master Jason.”

“CAN DO!”

Y/N grabbed Jason’s arm, held onto him as tightly as she could, then they turned to meet each other’s eyes. Not after shooting a zombie coming for his back.

“Dearly beloved we are gathered here today…” Alfred fired another bazooka at the crowd. “To join this man, and this woman, in holy matrimony.”

Her wrist gun on a frenzy, she shot at the surrounding monsters and helped Jason kick one down with his knee. They stuck to each other’s backs, firing with their pistols.

“Jason Todd, Red Hood, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

Jason’s pistol ran out of ammo, so Y/N threw him a magazine.

“I DO!!!”

She grabbed him, hurled him to the side so they’d switch places, then she started firing at a gun powder barrel she found and it immediately exploded.

“Y/FN Y/LN, Deadsh-“

“THE BULLET! I’M THE BULLET!”

Jason smiled at her with his eyes.

“Ah yes, I do apologize. Y/FN Y/LN, the Bullet, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

Alfred fired at the creatures coming up to her just as she spoke. “I DO!”

Endless bullets, flying out of their hands, they fired at everything that came their way, protecting each other, shielding each other from harm’s way.

Alfred cleared his throat.

“Then with the power vested in me by the city of Gotham, I now pronounce you husband and wife.”

“DICK, COVER US!”

“I GOT YOU!” Dick screamed.

“You may now kiss the bride…”

Before they’d die. Before it all ends.

They only had a minute before their lungs would give out.

So they ran into each other’s arms, taking off their masks and held their breaths to the best capacity.

Jason grabbed Y/N’s face, pulling her to his lips. Then an explosion happened in the far-off distance that blew off almost everything around them in the air. All except them.

They were one. They were together. Forever. She was his. And he was hers. For as long as they both shall live.

“IS THIS A FUCKIN’ WEDDING?!” Boomerang screamed.

Harley smashed her hammer. “I LOVE WEDDINGS!!!”

Jason leaned down and kissed her despite his chest starting to twist. She grabbed the back of his neck, pushed him back as well. Never has a kiss been more powerful, more meaningful. As far as they knew, they were alone. They were themselves. They were together. And nothing, not even the world, was ever going to pull them apart ever again.

From their first kiss in the meeting room, to the one at the Batcave, to the kiss in her quarters that one rainy night, to the kiss they shared up on that bridge. Everything had boiled down to now. Finally. Finally.

They were fucking married.

They pulled away, stared at each other, and finally they could see the largest smiles on their faces. The places the masks back on and gasped to breathe.

“Shall we?”

“We shall…”

Not a lot more to cover. The fucking monsters were finally starting to run out. And they moved in a dance only they knew. On each other’s side. Never leaving.

They shot, kicked, slammed, tore through the lifeless bodies coming after them and she cried out as another bomb exploded that she threw from her hand. She fought with her fucking husband and man, did it sound like the most beautiful thing in the world.

Nightwing and Robin came up to them.

“CONGRATULATIONS!!!” they both screamed.

“THANK YOU!”

Then Y/N handed them both guns and they started firing at the creatures.

It worked so well.

Finally.

Twenty left. Then there were fifteen. Then another ten died.

Finally.

Gone. All of the monsters. Wiped out.

The Squad was intact. Thankfully, they smiled at the Bullet and they all gathered to the center.

“I can't believe this,” Nightwing said. “But thank you for having our backs.”

“Don’t get used to it, pretty boy, when we wake up tomorrow mornin’ I’m back to slicing your head off with a-“

“Okay,” Red Hood stopped them. “Now we have to figure out a way to stop this.” He pointed up at the beacon.

“Hood,” the Bullet gulped.

“Yes, wife?”

A few of them groaned at that. Red Hood ignored them.

But the Bullet, Y/N, she didn’t look to happy.

She was staring right up at the top of the pit, shivering.

Everyone looked back to what she was looking at.

No.

No…

It wasn’t possible.

Hundreds more. Hundreds of the creatures. From all over the city. Ones with long, blonde hair. Ones that were as tiny as a small child.

It had reached civilization.

No. they couldn’t possibly handle all of them.

Robin looked at Nightwing, whose look on his eyes definitely lost that glimmering enthusiasm that sparked the hope they needed to go on.

And Red Hood.

Well, he made the right choice marrying her.

Jason held Y/N’s hand, and she took it so tightly between her fingers.

The look on their eyes, watching each other, memorizing the looks on their eyes before they go on to their inevitable deaths.

They couldn’t even see each other’s faces.

Harley slumped to the ground. “Well, this is it, ladies and gents.”

Frost screamed in frustration, releasing a large block of ice and slamming it onto the pit.

The monsters had surrounded them now. All in a complete circle. Trapping them.

And they took their time watching them squirm like worms in a tank full of fish.

This is how they die.

Y/N tightened her grip on Jason’s hand when one of the monsters roared and they all started crawling down to the dome.

“T-Tim?”

Their communicators. It sounded like Barbara.

“Yeah?”

“I hope you weren’t saving that favor for anything special,” Oracle said.

“Favor?”

“You know. That favor with Bruce’s friends…”

“What do you mea-“

Like a lightning bolt striking a tree, their eyes shot up at the brightest flash of light.

A golden, glimmering lasso, coming down from something they hadn’t seen flying in the air. The lasso grabbed onto five of the incoming beings and hauled them up.

Y/N’s never seen her up close.

But goddamn, she was nothing like the pictures.

Wonder Woman slammed against the ground on her knee and her balled up fist, letting the soil ripple at her impact. She didn’t have on a mask, but it barely wrinkled her nose. Her striking beauty was made even more obvious when she smirked up at the four, standing up, then took out her shield and sword from her back. She winked at them.

The four were too dumbfounded to move. As victims exhausted or as fanboys and fangirls watching it all unfold right in front of their eyes. Boom tubes coming from different parts in the air, and out of those circles came the heroes they’ve looked up to their whole lives.

Superman tore through a whole row of that were crawling after them with his powerful laser vision, flying through the sky faster than any of Y/N’s bullets could speed through. He grabbed one by the head, flew up to the sky, then threw it against the ground so hard that dozens of others blew up along with it.

Green Lantern made his own machine gun with his ring. He fired at everything that came close to the dome.

The Flash couldn’t even be seen. All they could see was a buzzing red light, powering all around them in circles and taking down everything that was in his path.

Green Arrow started raining down more than five arrows at a time. Ones from above. Ones from the ground. Black Canary ran up from behind them and let out that famous ear-piercing scream that took out everything that was in front of her. Even the grass.

Aquaman came up with his trident, and with Mera following behind, she let a stream of water pierce through the air like shards and a fucking shark was in it eating the heads of everything the water passed through.

Hawkgirl held her mace up in front of her and let her wings force her through the hundreds in the crowd, smashing their brains out with a single hit.

Shazam slammed on the ground, with sparks coming out of his body, then he screamed at the sky and let the biggest lightning bolt they’ve ever seen clear out a whole patch of the land the beings were standing on.

Martian Manhunter transformed into his true alien form then grabbed the monsters with his bare hands, threw them out of the way, and stomped on them with his feet. Or what looked like feet.

Cyborg. Supergirl. Zatanna. Doctor Fate. Huntress. Hawkman. Vixen. The Atom.

They were all here.

They were all going to live.

The fucking Justice League had come to save them.

Never have they seen them all in action. To them, it might have just been another day. But to them? To Batman’s wards. It was everything they ever wished to become.

It was the best, most beautiful thing they could possibly see their whole lives.

Bruce. How much he would have loved this.

Then the ground started to shake once again. The Cloudburst. It let out another load of the toxin.

They had to destroy it now.

Alfred hovered the Batwing above them and opened up the entry way. He waved his hands for them to come in. Robin, Nightwing, Red Hood, and Bullet ran into the Batwing and took their masks off.

“We can't just run off.”

“We have to go help them.”

“Actually,” Alfred said. “I’ve taken instruction from Ms. Prince.”

“She wanted us to leave?”

“No.” Alfred lead them to the windows and the looked out.

Superman, Green Lantern, Cyborg, and Supergirl were all facing the top of the dome, firing their lasers at the concentrated spot at the center. The heart of the Cloudburst. The whole building had gone up in flames, but it continued to fire up in the toxin.

“The Batwing has one more rocket bomb in its ammunition. When the League has the Cloudburst’s core exposed, we only have one shot at firing right at its center, destroying the Cloudburst for good.”

“I’ll do it,” Dick said.

“No I will!” Tim cried.

“Who said it was your turn!?”

“Who said it was yours?!”

“This isn’t a fucking argument, this is the world’s fate in our hands!”

“Exactly, which means I get to fire the Batwing.”

“Well, who exactly has the best aim in this fucking ship-“

Every pair of eyes stopped wandering around. Then they turned to the woman they called the Bullet.

No.

Fucking no.

“I can't-“

“Y/N-“

“Jason, I can't do this-“

“You can.”

“I don’t trust myself-“

“You never miss-“

“Jason.”

She grabbed his hands that were holding her face, finally she could look up at his eyes and see his lips in a smile.

“The last time I handled a tank, it was the Cloudburst… and I missed.”

“It doesn’t matter. That wasn’t your fault. You have no idea how sorry I am for being upset at that, but I know you can do this. Besides, this isn’t a tank. This is the fucking Batwing.”

“Jay…”

“Please. You're the only one who can do this.”

“I’ve never handled anything like this before.”

“You. Can. Do this.”

Looking up at Jason’s eyes, she saw just how much hope he had for her. Then he leaned in and kissed her.

“Man, is he dramatic today,” Tim said.

“Shut up, they just got married.”

When Jason pulled away, the heaviness in Y/N’s chest had slowly started to fade.

Yeah. He was right.

Her husband was right.

She does have the best aim in the room.

Alfred gestured for her to take the seat at the cockpit. And with Jason holding her hand, leading her to the front, she slowly took the front seat.

Everything was at her control. It didn’t look too intimidating. She pressed onto the buttons and breathed in. Really breathed in.

Breathe. Breathe.

Jason stood back, but not without squeezing her shoulder.

Breathe.

She opened her eyes.

Flying the Batwing over to the top of the dome, right alongside Superman and Supergirl with their lasers still pointing at the center. It won't be long now.

Everything looked brighter. Everything felt hotter. The center of the Cloudburst, at the dome that was once its protective shield.

Irony. She always thought it was what’s going to get her.

Driving the Cloudburst, using it to take down the Batmobile.

Now she was driving the Batwing to take down the Cloudburst.

Yes. Irony certainly did come out to bite her.

But it was in the fucking best way possible.

Doctor Fate and Zatanna had joined in and fired their magical beams at the same spot at the center. Slowly, after each second that passed, she could see its shield slowly start to fade away. A ball around the glass tank of the toxin collapsed. And finally, it was seconds away from its very heart exposed.

Breathe.

The Bullet turned on her optics.

Further. Closer. Brighter.

NOW.

The rocket shot through the Batwing’s bazooka and it came flying out into the air. She waited for that half a millisecond watching it fall to the very spot she aimed at.

Everyone flew out of the sky before it landed on the Cloudburst.

Then the entire dome exploded like a massive nuclear bomb tearing out into the sky with its violently flying debris. The Justice League and the Suicide Squad had cleared out, and with the explosion it took away all the remaining nightmare creatures, dissolving them into the air as nothing but ash.

Everything was loud. Everything was bright. They shielded their eyes away before it blinded them and hid as the dome continued to explode.

They were so high up in the air that they could see the stars up in space despite it already the morning.

And as the bombing sounds had faded…

So did the toxin.

The once red cloud that had covered the sky had dwindled away to its natural white. Everything fell down in beautiful pink ashes. The same ones from when Ivy destroyed the first Cloudburst. They looked up at the sky, and with tears down their faces, everyone leapt in joy and cheered when everything looked as peaceful as it once was.

On the ground where the dome used to be, a crater of soil was left behind. No more creatures. No more darkness. No more Scarecrow.

Everyone took off their domino masks and visors. Dick took Tim and they screamed in happiness, jumped in the air, hugged each other until it hurt like girls at a sleepover. They took Alfred in as well and gave him the biggest bear hug there was.

“DID YOU FUCKING SEE THAT, BABE!?” Tim said into his comms.

Babs was just as ecstatic as they were. “I’M SO PROUD OF ALL OF YOU!!”

“WE FUCKING SAVED THE WORLD!!!” Dick leapt for joy.

“I THOUGHT WE WERE GONNA DIE OUT THERE.”

“I KNOW. THEN FUCKING WONDER WOMAN CAME IN AND DESTROYED EVERYTHING I MEAN HOW CAN ANYONE GET AS AWESOME AS THAT?!”

“YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE,” Tim screamed. “IT’S LIKE YOU SAW HER AT FUCKING COMIC CON.”

“ALFRED.” They pulled him in. “TELL ME. DID BRUCE EVER DO ANYTHING LIKE THAT IN HIS LIFE?!”

“Well, other than the ten times he’s defeated Darkseid over at outer space, no I don’t think he has.”

“ WE STILL WIN. WE FUCKING DID IT!!!”

“JASON, DID YOU SEE IT WHEN GREEN LANTER- Jason?!”

They looked around. Jason hadn’t joined them in their little celebration.

Jason and Y/N were over at the back, kissing for what seemed to have been the last ten minutes and completely ignoring everything that went on around them. She was holding his face, and he was hugging her waist. Didn’t even stop when Tim cleared his throat.

Dick, on the other hand, had went up to one of the compartments and had grabbed a bottle of champagne they had stored there for purposes like this.

“Can't believe we almost forgot. CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NEWLYWEDS !!!”

Everyone in the Batwing clapped for joy and the couple finally stopped kissing, turning their heads over to smile at them.

“THIS CALLS FOR A CELEBRATION!”

“CHAMPAGNE FOR EVERYONE.”

Jason thumbed her cheek. “You alright with our reception being held in the Batwing?”

Y/N shrugged. “I mean, I wanted to book a caterer, but-“

Jason pulled her face again and kissed her with their hearts light and their spirits so high up in the sky.

A future. She could see it. It was all flashing in front of her eyes now.

Finally, something good had happened out of the series of darkness.

They drank, cheered, partied in the Batwing while it went in a really slow autopilot on its way back to the cave. They hung out like any group of friends would have. Like any family would have.

Jason held her hand the whole time. And Y/N held it even tighter.

This was the end. And it was beautiful, peaceful, promising.

And above all else, it was fucking epic.

-----

EPILOGUE

As if the world hadn’t already stopped surprising them, they continued to go through that very same day bringing them almost to the brink of a heart attack.

When the grounds to the Batcave descended, when the Batwing parked itself in its spot, when its entryway folded down for them all to walk down to, everyone was still in their high, laughing, skipping when they walked down the ramp and out into the walkway.

“Babs!”

Barbara wheeled right towards them and Tim held her in his arms, pulling her up to his level so he could carry her. They all cheered.

“I can't believe you thought of calling the League!”

Babs laughed. “Obviously, you needed help.”

Everyone started talking at the same time, each of them telling Babs one side of the story and how it happened. Explaining in detail how Wonder Woman did this and how Aquaman did that. Even Y/N was so excited she couldn’t stop talking about how Green Arrow’s aim was something she’d admired for so long. A bubble of noise, happy noise. Kids being together.

Like no time even passed. They continued on and on about everything that happened.

Then Jason looked behind at the computers. He stopped talking. His smile faded away. His heart stopped. His whole body stopped.

Everyone saw the look on his face and turned to look at what he was seeing.

At first, he looked just about as regular as any tall man.

And if you hadn’t been expecting it, like practically everyone in the room didn’t, no one would believe it at first glance.

Black shirt. Basic jeans. A jacket over his shoulders. Hair so long it had gone down to his neck pushed back.

But it was him. So undeniably him.

“Oh my god…” Babs whispered.

Bruce Wayne smiled at all their faces. Jaws on the ground. Eyes so incredibly wideset. He didn’t look the least bit bothered.

He walked on over closer to them, hands in his pockets. He stood a few yards away so as to not startle them.

His children.

“Dick…” he greeted.

The eldest choked on his breath. “Bruce…”

Bruce looked over at the girl with fiery red hair.

“Barbara…”

“Oh. My. God.”

Bruce grinned, then he looked over at the man beside her.

“Tim…”

“You're alive…” Tim breathed.

Then when Bruce met Jason’s eyes, everyone parted to give him his way. Bruce started walking towards him, and Jason swallowed on his tongue.

He hadn’t prepared for this.

Not by a long shot.

He thought he was never, ever going to see him again.

He never thought he’d have the chance to make things right.

And now, he did.

Bruce stood in front of Jason.

“Welcome back…” Bruce said. “My son…”

Jason pulled him into a hug, much to Bruce’s surprise. Much to everyone’s surprise.

But he wanted to skip all the thinking and the doubts and the holding back to everything he’s ever wanted to say to him.

Jason forgave him. Already after two years. And it meant so much that Bruce had forgiven him too.

Bruce hugged him back.

Bruce never hugs anyone back.

But he patted Jason’s shoulder and held him as tightly as any father could possibly hold his son. Jason was crying. Hell, everyone in the room was crying. Even Alfred was shedding a tear. Everyone watched on as they fell into each other’s embrace longer than they’ve had with anyone else.

Eventually, Bruce had to pull away.

“I’m so sorry…” Jason cried.

Bruce held his shoulders.

“Jason…” he said. “You have no idea how proud I am of you…”

Jason realized he’s never heard those words before.

He hugged him again, just because he couldn’t hold it back anymore. Y/N dried her tears with her shirt and met Jason’s eyes from over Bruce’s shoulder.

“Bruce…” Jason pulled away. “There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

Y/N stood straight up. She dusted off her suit. She straightened her neck.

“This is Y/N,” Jason said with his hand on her back. She stretched out her hand, and Bruce took it.

“I’ve heard of you. Your girlfriend-“

“Wife.”

Her smile was so beautiful when he said it.

“My wife.”

Bruce shot up his eyebrows. “I see. Well, it would have been better if we had a talk-“

“Don’t. Do that.”

“I’m kidding,” Bruce laughed.

Y/N cleared her throat. “Such a pleasure to meet you, sir.”

“Y/N… I know who you are and who you were…”

“Bruce…”

He nodded at Dick.

“You were the Commander of the militia army. You were Deadshot. You took over your uncle’s old jobs.”

“Bruce, you don’t have to-“

He didn’t even look at Jason’s direction.

“And you drove the Batwing today…”

Y/N was scared shitless shivering on her own two feet. It wasn’t because she was talking to Batman, someone she almost had killed. It was because she was talking to her freaking father in law.

Jason swallowed.

“And I also happen to know… that you worked with my sons like a perfectly trained team and singlehandedly saved thousands of lives…”

Everyone’s eyes lit up. Especially hers.

“What do we call you now?”

“The Bullet,” she swallowed. “I’m the Bullet.”

“Well, Y/N,” he smiled. “The Bullet.”

Then he stretched out his hand.

“Welcome to the family.”

-----

MASTERLIST

THE BULLET MASTERLIST

-----

TAGLIST

@everyartistwas-firstanamateur

@sarcasmismyfirstlove

@damned-queen-of-gotham

@idkmanicantenglish

@wunderstell

@birdy-bat-writes

@get-loki

@everyday-imfangirling

@comic-nerd-dc

@multifandoms916

@icequeen208

@offendedfishnoises

@egdolan

@xemiefx

@arkhamtoddler

@elsenthal

@mythicbitchx

@supremehaunter

@lucy-roo

@roseangel013bf

@loxbbg

@reclusive-chicken-nugget

@l-inkage

@http-cherries

@shadowsndaisies

@river9noble

@zphilophobiaz

@annoylinglyaries

@knightfall05x

@flowersgirl02

@hyp-oh-critical

@satan-s-ass

#Jason todd #jason todd x reader #jason todd reader insert #arkham knight #arkham knight x reader #arkhamverse #suicide squad #floyd lawton #deadshot #the bullet #the bullet series #batarella

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whumperscorner · 3 years

Note

Hello, my dear Rasko. I would like to order a bit of Pinned to the Wall for the bthb, thank you. 👀

Hello, my dear :3 Your whump is here as ordered

With Nyx, because I know you like him :>

BTHB #4- Pinned to the Wall

Fandom: Final Fantasy XV

Characters: Nyx Ulric, Crowe Altius, Libertus Ostium

Whumpee: Nyx Ulric

Word count: 2775

Warnings: None

Can also be found on ao3

The plan had been very simple. In short: infiltrate the building, get the hostages out and defeat the bad guys. The usual. And admittedly the first two steps had gone pretty well, but if Nyx had learnt anything from being a glaive for as long as he had been it was that plans rarely went off without a hitch, even the simple ones. A small team of Nyx himself and a few others had entered the building undetected and assumed position to await further orders. They had been called to go in, which they did, and that was about when things had gone off the rails.

Nyx's eyes scanned through the chaos of the compact hall they were now in, and chaos really was the word for it. Glaives and members of the opposing group scuffling over each other in disarray. Different weapons shooting from every direction, fists and feet hammering against each other, and residual glimmer from warping still hanging in the air. Nyx cursed under his breath; this was a lot more difficult than it should be. It had gone so well up to this point too, the hostages were all evacuated now, but there were more members of the group than anticipated. Some had been disguised as hostages and some flat out hiding around the building. His team was outnumbered, which meant a change of plans. Ducking under a fist thrown his way, Nyx brought his hand up to the comm in his ear and it crackled to life.

"So how long did backup say?" He asked, voice breathy as he swiftly grabbed the arm of the man who'd punched at him and brought him down. He landed hard on the wooden floor as Crowe's voice sounded back over the comms.

"10- maybe 15 minutes?" She said, her voice also slightly strained from the fighting on her own end. "They want to bring these guys in for questioning, so keep them in this room."

Nyx hummed back in affirmation, swirling around in time to see Libertus a good few feet away felling one aggressor, and two more charging at him. Adrenaline rushed through Nyx's veins as he prepared himself, aiming his kukri above the moving crowds to ensure an uninterrupted warp. In one quick throw he was there, bracing himself and taking one of the assailants down with him as he landed. The guy's head smacked hard into the floor, and he stayed down. Libertus let out a bark of a laugh and brought the second one down himself with couple well placed punches.

"Never a dull day at work huh?" Nyx posed, to which Libs shook his head and chuckled a response. Though Nyx could barely even hear that, narrowly ducking as some blurred projectile whirred past their heads. The two exchanged smug grins and a quick handshake, before turning back to the task at hand and warping their separate ways through the mayhem.

Nyx made his way over to the leftmost side of the room, where one of the few exits were, thinking that if their current objective was to keep the group's members contained that would be the best place to be. And he was right. The area was swarmed and the amount of people there, both friend and foe, made it very hard for anyone to get a proper view of anything. Nyx held his own though, even as his breathing quickened and he was starting to get tired, probably bleeding from various cuts and scrapes as well. Having just finished dealing with one of the many foes Nyx turned, but didn't have time to react fully before someone else jumped forward and tackled him to the floor. The back of his head made contact with the hard surface and he groaned, slightly dazed, but gathered himself soon enough. Using the momentum from the person's tackle to roll back and kick them off overhead, Nyx was quick on his feet again. They just had to keep this going until backup arrived, and he was not going to let up before that.

"Oh, we've got a runner!" Libertus' voice sounded through the comms. "Nyx, he's headed your way."

Nyx swirled around to look and sure enough there was a large, burly man quickly making his way through the crowd, eyes fixed on the exit closer to Nyx. Without a second thought, and without acknowledging the aching of his body, Nyx began running. Ducking and evading fists and weapons as he did so. Someone else charged at him from straight ahead and blocked his way, but Nyx didn't stop, throwing the kukri in his right hand across the floor where he saw an opening. It slid along under multiple pairs of feet, some even jumping to avoid getting nicked by the blade, and Nyx warped after it. He landed only a few short feet away from the open exit, just in time to see the man running ahead down the narrow hallway outside of the room.

"Shit, I'm on it!"

"Nyx wait!" Crowe yelled for him through the comms. "Stay with the team, he's-" but the rest of what she had to say was cut off, and Nyx had already taken off down the hall.

His heart pounded in his chest as he ran, and he was getting a bit dizzy. Nyx cursed inwardly at that, maybe that last warp hadn't been such a good idea. He would need to wait a bit before the next one. Nyx caught a glimpse of the man up ahead right as he took a sharp left turn into another room, and he followed suit. It only took him a few seconds to enter the room after the man, and it took him even shorter to realize what a colossal mistake that had been. He saw it right as he crossed the threshold into the room. As if in slow motion, out of the corner of his eye, bouncing a few times on the floor as it rolled towards him. He realized on instinct what it was, and not being able to warp Nyx's eyes widened and he threw himself to the side. The hand grenade went off, and though Nyx had thrown himself as far away as he could in such little time the blast hit him almost head on.

He felt himself being flung through the air, then hit the floor hard. White hot pain shot out from his right shoulder on impact, and the kukris clattered out of his hands and across the floor. The force of the blast sent him rolling for another few meters until he came to an eventual stop. Nyx was breathing hard and coughed as he tried to gather himself. Shit, his shoulder really hurt when he moved, that was never good but especially not now. With considerable effort Nyx staggered to his feet, clutching the shoulder with his other hand. There was a ringing sound in his ears as he tried to steady himself, and it took him a moment to realize it wasn't just from the blast as Crowe's disjointed voice came through the now busted earpiece.

"Nyx! What… as… at?... yx-" then a head-splittingly loud ringing came from it, and with a low curse Nyx removed it and tossed it aside. It wouldn't be of any help to him now anyways, he decided.

He had just began searching along the floor for his kukris, when the man he had followed appeared out of the shadows by the door where he had been standing, and presumably where he had thrown the grenade from. Nyx's body tensed up, despite how much that hurt. Now looking at close range Nyx recognized the man's face from the mission briefing earlier in the day. He was one of the designated leaders of the organization they were fighting now, hostile to the Crown and reportedly a highly dangerous individual. Not to be engaged with alone if Nyx remembered correctly. Well, he thought somewhat bitterly to himself, bit late for that now.

The man approached slowly and carefully, and Nyx retreated in the same way, careful not to lose sight of the man or lose his footing. The he charged, and Nyx let out an involuntary gasp. He was fast, unfairly so, and Nyx's injuries would only hinder him if he tried to fight. So Nyx dove to the side, hissing in pain and trying to roll on landing to minimize any further damage. Then ensued something Nyx could only describe as a horrific kind of dance around the room. With the man on the offense, rushing at Nyx and attacking repeatedly and himself retreating, ducking and evading as fast as he could. Nyx would pride himself on managing to evade this man in particular for as long as he had but he was growing more and more tired, his injured shoulder was getting progressively worse, and at every turn his exit was blocked. There was no way he could keep this up in the long run. Then finally, Nyx thought he could see an opening. Cornered against the far-right wall of the room, Nyx readied himself again and ducked under and to the side of the man.

For one glorious moment he thought he had made it too, then something tugged harshly at his hair and he was yanked back. Nyx felt is back hit the wall behind him hard and let out a pained cry through grit teeth. A hand was quick to grab around his throat, and when Nyx instinctively pushed back against it, sharp dizzying pain shot out from his shoulder.

"As much as I've enjoyed our little cat and mouse game, I'm going to have to end it here glaive." The man started and tightened his grip on Nyx's throat until tears started prickling in the corners of his eyes and the edges of his vision grew blurry. Then something new came over his face and he loosened the grip just slightly. Something Nyx was grateful for as he coughed and wheezed in the grip. It looked almost like a flash of recognition or a realization of sorts had washed over the man's face, and his expression changed. It got somehow more dangerous. Like he had something planned, and Nyx did not like it. Then he spoke again, and his voice was lower, but no less dangerous. "Nyx Ulric. Of course it had to be you of all people giving me trouble, Hero of the Kingsglaive."

Those last words were almost spat at Nyx and his heart picked up its pace, but he was determined not to let that show. "Ah, so my reputation precedes me then!" he spluttered, putting on a defiant smile and somehow managing to sound way more playful and confident than he actually felt. In response the man put his other hand against Nyx's wounded shoulder threateningly, and before Nyx could protest or struggle hot glowing pain exploded down his side and arm. It radiated from his shoulder. Nyx's head jerked back. The smile dropped almost instantly from his face as he shut his eyes tight and groaned. He didn't open his eyes again until the pressure was let up, and the pain had calmed down to an uncomfortable warm throbbing. What met him then was a stone cold, calculated face, with the mouth twisted into a gross pretend-courteous smile.

"Pleasure." The man said, sarcasm dripping from every syllable. Then, with seemingly no warning except the slightest twitch to his face the man clenched his free hand into a tight fist and let it collide violently with Nyx's stomach. Nyx's eyes went wide on impact, but he couldn't see, the pain and shock reverberating through him was blinding. Without Nyx even realizing what happened his knees gave out and buckled under him, but the hand around his throat didn't budge. It kept him upright and firmly pinned to the wall as he gasped for air that wouldn't come. His vision was getting blurry, with the man's facial features swirling together into an unclear blob of colour. He felt himself being shook slightly, then a sharp pain across his cheek.

"Oh no no, you don't get to pass out just yet Hero." Nyx heard the man speak as if under water. The voice seemed unclear and far away, and he scrunched up his nose in effort, trying to focus on what was going on. "I can still-"

Then something happened that caught the man's attention, and he stopped talking. The blob that was his head turned. Nyx followed suit and saw more blobs entering the room, blurred swabs of black pooling in from the door. Then multiple things started happening all at once, leaving Nyx no time to be relieved that backup was finally there. Noise exploded through the room. Voices yelled over each other. Nyx was let go of, and with the only thing holding him up now gone he slid unhindered down to the floor, where he stayed. Clutching his shoulder and heaving for breath. Then there were sounds of a fight, and something in the back of Nyx's tired mind told him to get up and join in, but his body wouldn't do what he wanted it to. So he winced and instead opted for trying to gather himself and blink away the blurry edges from his vision.

It worked somewhat, and when two of the blobs broke off from the main blob group's fight and rushed towards him it didn't take him too long to see who it was. And finally, finally Nyx let the tension in his body go, and sighed heavily as Crowe and Libertus reached his side. He offered them both a tired smile and an attempted laugh that was interrupted by a coughing fit.

"Let me look at you," Crowe said as she knelt down next to him, not wasting time waiting for his response before moving Nyx's own hand away from his shoulder and examining it herself. "How is it?"

"Bad." Nyx said, cringing slightly as her hands moved over the throbbing shoulder. "Dislocated maybe?"

"Oh definitely, we're going to have to set it properly before using any potions. Can you manage until then?" Came her answer. Nyx sighed, but nodded. Of course he knew she was right. Crowe kept going, moving on from the shoulder after noticing the blood filtered through Nyx's hair. "And the head?"

"Fuzzy." said Nyx, no point in hiding that. He was managing, but now that the adrenaline was disappearing ignoring the throbbing pain became near impossible. Crowe clicked her tongue and sat back a bit to look him in the eyes.

"Should be fine." She said dryly. The she kept going, deeming Nyx's physical state good enough for her to jab at him. "Now, what was that! The hell do you have to go get blown up for?"

"It's not like I did it on purpose!" Nyx laughed back. He looked up at Libs, who had been watching from the side with a worried crease to his brows, seeking verbal protection of some sort. But his friend just snorted out a laugh and shook his head.

"Jackass." Crowe said, finally letting her expression soften a bit. "Medical team's just outside, can you stand?"

Nyx sucked in a sharp breath. He wasn't entirely sure he trusted his legs to carry him, but he did give it a valiant try. Though as soon as Nyx was standing upright the world started spinning around him and Libertus rushed forward to steady him. They stood still like that for another short moment while Nyx breathed heavily to gather himself before Libertus asked if he was ready to go, and he nodded.

"So what'd you do to make that guy so angry?" Libs asked as they slowly and carefully made their way froward. He gestured his head towards the centre of the room, where the rest of the glaives they'd entered with were working on taking down the man Nyx had fought.

"Well, you know me and my dashing charms." Was Nyx's answer. He sent Libertus a smug smile, to which Libertus groaned and rolled his eyes.

"In that case I'm surprised the worst you got was a dislocated shoulder." He shot back, and Nyx laughed. A genuine laugh despite all the aches of his body.

"Oh, screw you-" He began cheerfully, but another coughing fit interrupted him.

"No, screw both of you," Crowe chimed in. She huffed and shook her head. Though Nyx could swear there was a small smile on her face as she joined in supporting Nyx on his other side, careful not to further aggravate the injured shoulder.

#whump #bthb #bad things happen bingo #final fantasy xv #pinned to the wall #rasko's bthb #ffxv kingsglaive #ffxv whump #nyx ulric #nyx ulric whump #crowe altius #libertus ostium #my writing

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s1i9d · 4 years

Text

AMPHIBIA: SEASON 2B SPECULATION

So! Since ‘tis the season to be jolly, we have new confirmation from the creator of Amphibia himself, Matt Braly!!! He’s given out the Episode titles for all of Season 2B as a Christmas gift, and has confirmed that the episodes aren’t done enough for a trailer. You can find the video link here.

Now I’m giving you a warning! These will contain spoilers and discussion for Season 2B. If you are trying to avoid spoilers, I suggest leaving now! If you’re cool with spoilers and speculation, stay for the ride!

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR AMPHIBIA: SEASON 2A!!!

END OF SEASON 2A - WHERE ARE WE IN THE SHOW?!

Currently, the last episode of Season 2 we’ve had was “A Day at the Aquarium,” with Anne and the Planters are heading to Wartwood for the Harvest and to collect the Calamity Box to take to the Temples. Marcy has a sketchy deal with King Andrias offered, and Sasha and Grimes haven’t been checked up on since “Toadcatcher” where they said they’re going to storm Newtopia.

We have new information on the Calamity Box with the three temples, and even more information on the colours representing the three girls. The Robot following Anne and the Planters to Newtopia (revealed as “Frobo” by Disney Amphibia promotional game) is still stuck at the edge of Newtopian Land, not entering the water as seen in the first minute of “Lost in Newtopia”. It’s still unknown what the glowing coloured eyes represent, since we’ve only seen them twice: Anne’s eyes with “Handy Anne,” and Marcy’s with “Marcy at the Gates” when she saved Sprig.

The Season 2 opening with the new animated sequence of the Sasha vs. Anne sword fight seems to take place in the location of one of the temples. In the end credits, the temple in the leftmost corner with the fallen pillars seem to be where Sasha and Anne are fighting as the sequence zooms out to Marcy holding the Music Box.

This means that Sasha and Anne are going to have a altercation at one of the temples, seemingly at the Third temple, since that location is the closest one to the Volcano temple. It could even be during the return to Newtopia, and Sasha and Grimes try to seize Newtopia like the Fire Nation did with Omashu. And we know the order of the temples from King Andrias’ book from “A Day at the Aquarium.”

It’s unclear which temple represents what jewel, but from the image above seems to infer that it goes in the order of green, blue, and finally pink. Meaning Marcy, Anne and Sasha. From a visual perspective with shape language, that correlation of people with the temples would make sense! Since the first temple seems more like a pyramid which usually has booby traps and requires wit (Marcy) to solve it. The Second Temple is represented by an arch, giving a sense of safety and welcoming. (Heart)

The Volcano...? Definitely Sasha.

No more information on Sprig’s mom or the things in the Castle’s basement (the Jelly Ghosts, the Chained Moss Men, or even the torn painting of young Andrias’ with the Toad and Frog).

That’s where we are in the hiatus. So now let’s dive into the episode titles.

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR AMPHIBIA: SEASON 2B!!!

EPISODE TITLE SPECULATION

These are all my ideas and speculation based off of the episode titles. These are not confirmed summaries, loglines or events of the episodes.

S02E11 - Night Drivers/Return to Wartwood

211A - Night Drivers: This episode seems to mainly be a returning travel episode. I don’t know what we’re getting here, maybe a nightmare creature? Or perhaps an actual nightmare? My guess is something with Anne and Hop Pop since they’re the only "Riders” who know how to drive Bessie. I do expect some talk or at least mention of Frobo since it’s outside the Newtopian area.

211B - Return to Wartwood: It’s here! The return to Wartwood! I don’t think Hop Pop will immediately unearth the Music Box and show it to the kids to give an exposition dump. I think this will talk more about people catching up with the Planters and asking how is Newtopia. Some shenanigans happen, maybe a monster, but I see this being kinda lowkey too. Perhaps the Calamity Box plot at the end as a short stinger, but nothing more really.

S02E12 - The Shut-In!: Halloween Special

212 - The Shut-In!: This episode is already out. It doesn’t fit in continuity-wise and could be placed anywhere in the season. There’s not really much to speculate upon, especially within the season. The only real speculation I see is that Hop Pop probably hasn’t told the kids yet, because I don’t think they would be as calm as they were in this episode if Hop Pop explained.

S02E13 - Ivy on the Run/After the Rain

213A - Ivy on the Run: We haven’t seen Ivy this season. The only episodes the audience is reminded of her are “Hopping Mall,” where Sprig bought that ninja pole for her that broke; and, the Halloween special. I think this episode is a follow up episode to Sprig and Ivy’s relationship, perhaps she feels as though Sprig is leaving her again for the Temples arc and is upset by that. Or some shenanigans with her mom and a new suitor for her, since that’s what originally happened for Sprivy in her Intro episodes. I see the resolution being about long distance relationships and how it can be difficult, but they trust each other and they’ll work through it.

213B - After the Rain: This. This seems like the perfect episode for Hop Pop to talk about the music box. Stormy nights are perfect impeticis for reveals and exposition dumps. I see this as an episode where Hop Pop is trying to say his “sources” can’t seem to get the box back because of the rain, or something. Anne freaks out and is constantly bothering Hop Pop. She pushes him to a point where he cracks, and explains everything about the Music Box. Or he just tells them because he thinks that if they know what they’re doing, they should know.

Or a third idea is that it is more like “The Storm” from Avatar: The Last Airbender where Hop Pop explains the horrors of the Music Box to the kids, while King Andrias’ explains to Marcy how he utilised the Music Box and how he’s lied about his age and he’s actually centuries of centuries older than he says. Then King Andrias’ reveals his deal for Marcy, which I believe is stealing the music box from Anne, so he can rescue the people trapped within the portrait from the other worlds. She may not actually steal the Music Box until the Third Temple, where all the gemstones have been recharged. How does Marcy benefit from this? I have no clue. But he’s telling Marcy this because he has to stay to help Newtopia, or because he wants an ally in a time of need.

And Anne ends up saying, “We have to tell Marcy, and warn her!.” But Hop Pop says that they can’t since she may follow the King. A new reversal of Anne having to choose to use her head instead of her heart, which we see her struggle with in “A Day at the Aquarium.” This perhaps starts an arc where she’s acting similarly to Sasha in terms of peer pressure tactics and gaslighting to avoid Marcy learning the truth.

S02E14 - The First Temple

214 - The First Temple: This episode is a freaking two-parter! An introduction to the mythology of the Temples. Discussing the location, Act One is travelling there. Marcy talks to Anne about Wartwood, and maybe a bit more into her own family life. I see Sasha, I think we’ll get hints of Marcy’s conflict from her deal with the King, their only way home. But at the same time, Anne is having her conflict about telling Marcy the Frog side of the Music Box, after learning the secrets Hop Pop reveals.

Act Two is arriving at the Temple, and entering the Temple using Marcy’s big brain skills. Act Three is recharging the Green Gemstone and learning the location of the Second Temple. Something I do find interesting about this is the glowing eyes subplot adjacent to the Music Box. Will it somehow affect Marcy? Will she lose her “Wit”? Or does this unlock a new power within her or something? We’ll see!

S02E15 - New Wartwood/Friend or Frobo?

215A - New Wartwood: I do think this has been a while coming. Wartwood has had issues with accepting change and differences. Like in “Toad Tax,” where Hop Pop makes an off-hand joke that the town’s Motto is “Slow to accept, and even slower to respect.” Even though that is not okay, there have been plants for a change to Wartwood. Redoing and improving on themselves. Or it could just be a plot where the Mayor has to redo everything in Wartwood and making it fancy hotel, and the Plantars have to stop him. Then creates a moral of change is within, not outside.

215B - Friend or Frobo?: Okay, a Frobo episode! We haven’t talked about Frobo, and don’t even know its name from the show itself. This is probably a big mythology reveal. In case anyone doesn’t know, this robot is seemingly inspired by the one from Hayao Miyazaki’s “Laputa: Castle in the Sky.” There are a lot of theories, but I think Marcy’s curiosity would want them to follow Frobo, but her head will say something against that. Anne’s “Heart” will tell her to follow the Frog Robot and lead them to a new area of knowledge unknown previous.

S02E16 - Toad to Redemption/Maddie and Marcy

216A - Toad to Redemption: A possible Sasha episode???? Whomst? Whenst?? Since Season 1, I basically expect minimal Sasha episodes. Sasha and Grimes having two episodes in one season?? What?!

But “Toad to Redemption” is an interesting title. Perhaps Grimes or one of his remaining soldiers of Wanda and Percy change their minds? Or perhaps Anne and Marcy encounter one of the Toads that split up with Grimes post-Reunion. And they’re trying to learn to combat their racist beliefs of Frogs being less than Toads. A bit more of a Hop Pop episode since it deals with moving on from traditions that hinder you, but also realising the things that are necessary. I think the latter is more likely, but a Sasha and Grimes episode would work really well, especially this deep into the season.

If this is a Sasha and Grimes episode, I do believe that Yunnan will come back and try to get payback for them defeating her. And getting Grimes would be her “Toad to Redemption.”

216B - Maddie and Marcy: Yas! Creepy goth-like girl with a sunshine klutz. I think this is going to be a more fun episode after the heavy stuff in the previous segment.

S02E17 - The Second Temple/Barrel’s Warhammer

217A - The Second Temple: Temple Number Two!! The one for Heart. I think this one deals more with the idea of “Pure Hearted”. Therefore, I think that Anne is holding in the secrets of the Music Box, not making her “Pure of Heart” and therefore will have to tell Marcy. She reveals the information here, and Marcy tells her she can trust her, but she doesn’t reveal her deal with the King.

217B - Barrel’s Warhammer: Who is “Barrel”??? Seems like a new side gag character like The Curator or The Theatre Troupe. I have no idea what Warhammer means, either a literal Hammer for War, or it’s the game with the miniature objects.

S02E18 - Bessie and MicroAngelo/The Third Temple

218A - Bessie and MicroAngelo: I haven’t even watched the episode or seen the descriptor, but I know that this is going to be the cutest episode to ever exist on television and I absolutely am here for it. Perhaps on their way to the Third Temple, MicroAngelo is feeling down on his accomplishments as a snail, and sees Bessie as a mentor. I think the episode last season “Children of the Spore” will come back, since the mushroom still lives on that bug. So Bessie and MicroAngelo will save the day!

218B - The Third Temple: I am absolutely terrified for this episode. Much like with Infinity Train: Book 1 with two very specific episodes, and just as a general rule of writing, when you begin with a segment that is happier, it highlights and accents the horror and angst. Especially because this seems to be an episode where Sasha is necessary since she’s the last colour/gemstone.

S02E19 - The Dinner/Battle of the Bands

219A - The Dinner: This episode would make sense. Immediately upon seeing the title I thought of an Adventure Time episode, S10E05 - Seventeen, where a group of characters thought to be gone return at a party. Upon further development, I believe this would be a banquet to celebrate the recharging of the Music Box and returning Anne and Marcy home. Unsure about where Sasha is at this point, but she exists and they’ll most likely find her to get her home as well.

219B - Battle of the Bands: Now this is absolutely bonkers level of random. The penultimate episode of Season 2 is a Battle of the Bands???? The only person that can play an instrument is Sprig, and the only one that has really been seen dancing is Anne.

The only real idea I have for this is that it does what “Anne of the Year” did last season, where it wrapped up the character arc, and the plot surrounding that, but the actual plot is what will get touched upon in the finale. “Anne of the Year” resolved the plot of Anne being a stranger to Wartwood, which was the whole season’s conflict. While the finale, “Reunion” dealt with Sasha and the Toads. So I think “Battle of the Bands” will resolve Anne’s arc of being the Heart, and the finale will deal with the plot.

S02E20 - True Colors: 24-Minute Finale

220 - True Colors: This is a very interesting title. Since we know that the three girls represent three colours, that probably would mean a clash of them. This is probably where the full culmination of all the plot threads come into play. (The Music Box, King Andrias, the stuff in the basement, Sasha and Grimes, Sprig’s Mom, Marcy, and even Frobo) The title could also refer to a truth being revealed, with someone speaking their true colours.

I have no thoughts on the season finale so far, but I do hope this will be as satisfying as “Reunion” or more so. My expectations are super high! I’ll probably update more on my thoughts either when the trailer releases for 2B or the week of the finale airing.

END OF SPOILERS AND SPECULATION!!

That ends the speculation for 211 to 220 of Amphibia! Who knows when the episodes are releasing! (Matt says around February or March 2021! Which is a couple of months away!!!)

Let me know what you think and if you have any thoughts, ideas, responses to the speculation! I’m more than happy to hear you out!

#amphibia #amphibia spoilers #amphibia season 2 #hop pop #hop pop plantar #anne boonchuy #anne amphibia #amphibia season 2 spoilers

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slightlyrebelliouswriter23 · 4 years

Text

To Dance With Danger | Jurdan Whump Fic

Anon asked: “Can you write something about how Jude gets hurt somewhere and the Court of Shadows and Cardan go looking for her”

Summary: “The only thing he knew was the weight on his chest, two boulders sinking into the concavity of his lungs. How furious he was with Jude, and how much that didn’t matter. That her favourite flower was the blue bellflower, and its petals were falling from the throne.” Please forgive me.

Rating: T

CW: Mild cursing. Minor mentions of abuse (~) and vomit (*); Paragraphs containing these sensitivities have been marked with the allocated warnings. Major descriptions of pain and delusions.

Part I | Part III | AO3 | Masterlist

Part II- Follow You Down To the Red Oak Tree

She’d never considered herself stupid.

Foolish, maybe once or twice. But Jude Duarte-Greenbriar was never an idiot outright. So it came as a great shock to her when she found herself bleeding out in a cave in the middle of the Milkwood.

Wouldn’t this be a hilarious way to go? All her life, Jude had been worried about time peeling her right out of her own mortal skin. Yet here she was, dying from a paltry cut.

That last thought, she knew was stupid. This was more than a paltry cut. It throbbed like a second heartbeat and burned like her knee was a plate of scrambled eggs someone was pushing around with a fork.

A small pool of spilled blood darkened the ground near her ankles. Sometimes, her vision narrowed, blurred.

Perhaps this was one last way for the stars to taunt her. Give her everything she ever wanted and more than she could possibly hope for; a grand feast befitting of a Queen, spread out just for her; then rip her away from herself like the tablecloth in one of those mortal magic tricks.

Jude was not afraid.

When you’d lived your whole life knowing the promise of death was the single certainty of your existence, you tended to come to terms with it. So Jude did not fear dying. Only the horrible, yawning oblivion that came after.

☽☽☽☽☽

It was a quarter past one, and Cardan’s feet were flying. Out his chamber doors, down the spiral stairs, right to the little wooden door opposite the library, which he promptly began pounding on.

There was a groan within, some shuffling. Then, “It’s the middle of the day, for Mab’s sake,” a groggy voice came muffled from behind the door. “What could possibly be so—oh.”

The Bomb, all messy-haired, eyes squinting at the brightness of the hall, let the door creak open a fraction before realising who exactly had summoned her from sleep. She opened the door in full.

“Cardan—erm, I mean… Your Majesty,” she said, brows furrowing. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”

“Pleasure?” Another even-more-groggy voice came from inside the room. “I’ve got a mallet hammering at my brain thanks to him. Bloody pusher. You can tell His Majesty to kindly sod off.” The Roach held a pillow over his gnarled green head and a rude finger up in the direction of the door.

“Van,” the Bomb tutted over her shoulder. She pulled her dressing gown tight around her and faced the High King again. Only then did she seem to register the look on his face.

“Liliver,” Cardan said, frantic. His mind was all static, hollow—so very full of nothing. Words felt like they came through a tangle of tree sap and brambles in his throat. “It’s Jude.”

That’s all it took.

The Court of Shadows was moving, the guard summoned. Even the Roach managed to scrape himself together. The Ghost slipped into their ranks just as they were passing through the throne room, and informed the High King he’d done a sweep of the palace, just to be sure.

“And?” Cardan demanded, pivoting on his heel to face the sharpshooter.

“She’s not here,” the Ghost said.

Cardan’s mouth set into a grim line. He gave a curt nod, but his stare lingered on the dais. Where the pair of thrones sat, a latticework of woven roots and blossoms. They seemed to be holding their breath, too.

From the back of the leftmost royal seat, a deep blue flower petal shivered. Then it was falling in listless swoops and dives, whispering across the seat of the chair.

Hurry.

“Get a carriage,” Cardan said, just loud enough to be heard. The room was silent as a snowbank. “Go.”

There was a beat. Then, the din of metal and rushing of boots and they were all moving again.

The High King and his men took to the forests, guarded with crossbows and swords that might as well be spoons for how much they would protect against the glimpses.

Cardan didn’t know why his wife had decided to catch a glimpse. He had even less of a clue as to why she thought she had to do it alone.

The only thing he knew was the weight on his chest, two boulders sinking into the concavity of his lungs. How furious he was with Jude, and how much that didn’t matter. That her favourite flower was the blue bellflower, and its petals were falling from the throne.

☽☽☽☽☽

Night was encroaching. This, Jude only knew because the game she’d invented—finding pictures in the cracks and shadows of the cave wall to beat back the tide of sleep—was becoming more and more difficult.

She shivered. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been lying there, but the fever had set in.

Jude couldn’t even remember the last time she’d had a fever. It must’ve been when she was six or seven. When she was still living in the mortal world, and her mother was still alive to take care of her and getting fevers was the most of her worries.

Eva had climbed into her bed with two washcloths and snuggled up real close.

She’d sat there for hours, pressing the warm compress to Jude’s forehead when she was too cold and the cold compress to her forehead when she was too warm. Telling her stories of magical places. Feeding her saltines and seltzer.

Jude had wholly forgotten how it felt to have a fever. It was as if she was being filled to the brim with hot wax and dunked in a bucket of ice water at the same time.

She’d only recently rediscovered how it felt to be comforted. She wondered if she’d ever feel that again.

Maybe, Jude thought, she could imagine herself some comfort. She was so very good at lying, after all. Maybe she could lie to herself. Just for a little while.

She stared up at the ceiling, listening to the woeful sighs of the glimpses ebb and flow from outside the cave.

She imagined lying next to Cardan in their bed in the Royal Chambers. With nowhere to be and nothing to do, Cardan would cocoon them both in satin sheets, trace lazy shapes around her bare shoulders with the tips of his fingers. Pepper her back with nips and kisses.

He would agree to be the big spoon for once since she was the one in need of comforting.

“Jude,” he would say softly, caressing her cheek, brushing the hair away from her eyes, “You are perhaps the single most important thing in my life.”

She’d turn her head to nuzzle the crook of his neck. “And you, mine, my love,” she’d say. He smelled like fallen leaves. And burnt toast.

Jude crinkled her nose. Odd. He didn’t usually smell like burnt toast. Had they just had breakfast? She couldn’t remember….

“I don’t understand.” Cardan’s voice was dipped in worry, and he paused the soothing circles of his fingers.

“Cardan,” Jude said, rolling her eyes, “We’ve been over this. I want to be here. I want to be with you. I love you.”

Sometimes her husband just needed a little reminding. Sometimes she preferred to give him that reminder in other, much more wicked ways. Perhaps today she would give him both.

A sinful smile curled the corners of Jude’s lips. She turned around in Cardan’s arms to face him fully and was about to seal the morning off with a kiss, followed by further disreputable behaviour, when she noticed the look on his face.

It was the same one he wore when he’d looked at her from the riverbank after pushing her in a lifetime ago. The same one that had graced his face when she’d first placed that crown atop his head.

Now, in the bed they shared, Cardan looked at her with nothing but cold ire. “How could you do it?” he whispered, and Jude’s brow furrowed.

“What do you mean?” She didn’t know why, but something slick like tar settled in the pit of her stomach. She wanted him to smooth the crease between her brows. To kiss her forehead and call her his darling god.

But Cardan’s face remained a glacial effigy of the man she’d come to love. With nothing but disdain, he looked down his nose at her and asked, “How could you kill him? How could you murder my brother?”

*Jude sat up straight and vomited all over the cave floor. Then, she was pulled out to sea by a riptide of sleep.

☽☽☽☽☽

The High Queen of Elfhame was spinning. Round and round, a circle of fever dreams.

It was like sitting on a merry-go-round and looking in towards the centre where all those mirrors usually hang. Watching whirling versions of things and lights and yourself pass you by in the reflective panels moving in the opposite direction.

One terrible vision after the next.

Locke’s water-logged body, blue-green and covered in seaweed, standing at the mouth of the cave. Valerian, dirt pouring from between his teeth as he smiled, walling up the entrance with stones, then filling the cave with blood. Balekin ensorceling her to kiss him, then turning into a giant moth right as her lips touched his. Cardan’s head on a pike with upturned eyes, jaw dropped as if mid-warning. A voice in her head.

Heeding requests, even my own, is the singular skill which evades her grand arsenal.

No key fits every lock.

I do not want Balekin dead.

How could you do it? How could you murder my brother?

Perhaps this is what she deserved. Perhaps she was a monster who couldn’t control herself long enough to keep from hurting those she loved, no better than Madoc. Perhaps Valerian’s curse was coming to fruition, after all.

If Jude could have laughed, she would have. But she could not. Dark waves lapped at the shores of her consciousness; and who was she to ignore the sea?

☽☽☽☽☽

Eventually, there was another voice in her head.

Shit, it said. Yes, she really was in very deep shit.

I FOUND HER, it bellowed, splintering her thoughts. She wondered if she should tell the voice to shut up. Though, it probably already knew that’s what she wanted, since it was in her head, and had probably heard her think it.

It was getting crowded in here. Her head was a swollen, throbbing balloon.

Fucking shit, the voice repeated.

Well, she thought, that was quite rude. No way to address a lady, such as herself. Whoever she was.

Something prodded her leg.

A sudden, violent wave of pain swept over her. It rose and rose and rose, but never fell. Darkness pulled her to its depths again.

☽☽☽☽☽

Can you hear me?

Stay awake. Stay. Awake.

*The voice was urgent. And constant. And very annoying. It felt like a cheese grater running down her mind. Her throat burned. Maybe the voice had run a cheese grater over that, too. Her hand slid into something wet. It smelled like sick.

Then, there was a cold compress on her forehead.

“Mom?” she croaked, her voice like cracked plaster. She lifted the heavy weight of her eyelids.

A figure was looming over her. It was too dark to see who, but her heart thrashed against her chest, all the same. This was another terrible dream. She was not sure she could take another one of those. Then again, she was in no position to fend it off if it decided to come. She was in no position to do anything, really.

“Not mom, Your Majesty,” the figure sighed, removing the compress. “You’re burning up.”

Not a compress. Hands.

“Whose Majesty?” she asked through the haze in her mind. Everything was so confusing. Everything was also spinning.

She heard rummaging. Next thing she knew, a match had been struck, and the room filled with warm light. The figure looking down at her was indeed a woman, though it was indeed not her mother.

She had familiar plumes of white hair circling her head like smoke. Full, wine-red lips pressed into a weak smile. “Hello, Jude,” the woman said.

Yes, that must be who she was. She opened her mouth to thank the beautiful woman for the reminder, but all Jude could seem to do was squint. She knew this woman from somewhere.

“I’m going to pick you up now, okay?”

Jude could not muster the wherewithal to reply. Strong hands gripped her shoulders, slid gingerly under her knees. Then, the world tilted, shifted, until she was right up against something warm and solid.

Jude looked up at the woman. “You’re ethereal,” she murmured, staring up at the soft planes of her face. Blush blossomed a stain of pink across the woman’s cheeks. “Are you god?”

The woman snorted, then. Jude didn’t understand what was so funny. It seemed a perfectly reasonable question to ask. Since she was dying, and all.

“That’s quite enough of that, Your Majesty,” the woman said. “Let’s get you home.”

Home, Jude mused. She’d thought she was home, but maybe… she was wrong? Wherever home was, it sounded nice. She should like to go there someday.

☽☽☽☽☽

She was deep inside a cave. She could see nothing, but echoes of conversation pinged off the walls.

Delirious. Didn’t know who I was.

Reckon it’s the fever?

The infection perhaps?

Could be, but you need to keep her awake.

Can I hold her? Please?

The moon was a Cheshire cat smile above her. It grinned, then shattered into one hundred panes of opaline glass—a dragonfly’s wing, splitting her knee wide open.

☽☽☽☽☽

When Jude woke again, she knew she was home.

She was being jostled around a bit, and her leg felt like someone had set it on fire, but she didn’t mind. She was wrapped in something soft. The sound of hooves on packed earth thundered in her ears.

Her name was being called.

“Jude,” someone said, over and over, a litany. A curse. “Jude, my love, you mustn’t fall asleep. You must stay awake. Can you do that for me, Jude? Please, stay with me.”

She opened her eyes. Blinked slow. The disembodied voice belonged to someone. That someone cradled her in his lap, holding her face between his hands. Everything was blurry, but she’d know those hands anywhere.

“Jude?” he whispered.

She summoned the tattered bits of her strength, lifting her hand to cover one of his. It was shaking.

“I know you,” Jude said, willing her eyes to focus. A keening sound tore from him.

Him. She knew his name. What was it? Her mind was so muddled by exhaustion and the riot of pain in her left leg, she could not remember. She was so angry at herself for not remembering.

Jude frowned. Huffed. Tried to refocus her eyes. It was the most important name, more important even than her own. She was a terrible person for forgetting it. She was pretty sure she was a terrible person anyway, but forgetting his name made her even worse.

She lifted a hand to his cheek. Her frown deepened. “Why is your face wet?”

“Because I’m very worried for my wife,” he said, in a strained sort of voice.

“You have a wife?” Envy billowed, a parachute in her chest. Which was ridiculous. She couldn’t even see this man. How could she possibly know if she was jealous?

He breathed a laugh. “Yes,” he told her, stroking her hair gently. “She is a headstrong, ornery fool who holds a vendetta against my poor nerves.”

Everything was quite difficult at the moment. All Jude could think was how beautiful this man’s voice sounded and how very badly she wanted to go back to sleep.

“Hmm.” She closed her eyes again. “She sounds awful.”

“No,” he said. “She is not.”

☽☽☽☽☽

*Watching his wife being carried off like a rag doll into the Royal Chambers, blood-spattered and covered in her own sick, Cardan Greenbriar had never felt so small.

~He felt smaller now than when Dain had tricked him, and he’d been kicked out of the palace for a murder he did not commit. Smaller now than all the times Balekin had removed his belt. Smaller now than when he was a kid crawling beneath the dining table, scrounging for scraps of food and attention.

The Bomb had explicitly forbidden Cardan from accompanying them further than the ante-chamber.

“If I’m going to heal her,” she’d said to him firmly, pausing outside the bedroom doors, “I’m going to need the utmost focus. Which will certainly not be achieved by you being in there, all blubbering and sentimental. So unless you know anything about mortal biology…”

Cardan had never in his life wished to be mortal; but suddenly, the desire to be one was visceral. He’d never wanted to lie more than he did in that moment. He tried to will the words past his lips, but they snagged in his throat.

He was unable as ever.

So he’d been kicked out of his own bedroom. Away from his own wife. Who may or may not be dying.

The matter was still inconclusive. Cardan read it on the faces of the cycle of people poking their heads out in intervals to check on him or bring him tea. Sometimes, it was the Roach. Sometimes, the Ghost. Only once was it the Bomb, who had been hard at work for endless hours, and needed a break.

Her face was just as dour as the rest.

“I know how you’re feeling,” she muttered, sliding down the wall to sit next to him on the floor just outside the bedroom doors. “If you need to talk—”

“What I need, Liliver, is for you to heal her,” Cardan snapped.

He regretted the words as soon as he’d said them. She was only trying to comfort him. She, too, had once been forced to watch as her beloved toed the line between life and death. Right now, though, the High King did not have the strength to feel sorry for anyone but himself.

The Bomb only nodded. Once, short and curt. She left him to his misery after that. Cardan supposed he’d probably have a lot of apologising to do to a lot of people by the end of this.

A while later, and rather belatedly, he realised he could very well just barge in there and demand to stay. Magical oath or not, he was still High King. They would still listen to him.

But maybe the Bomb had a point. Maybe it would only make him more anxious, to be in there; he did not want to impede on Jude’s progress. Maybe nothing was the most he could do.

All his life, he’d spent doing most every childish thing. He’d tugged on the tails of cats, threw tantrums when he didn’t get his way, threatened people when they offended him.

Now, Cardan sat there on the floor with his head in his hands, doing absolutely nothing, and felt more like a child than ever.

☽☽☽☽☽

Jude was a dragonfly hovering over water, dipping in and out of sleep. She was flying and then sinking and then flying again.

It went like this for a while.

She’d fall asleep in one place and drift to the surface of consciousness in another. Sometimes she felt no pain. Sometimes she felt a great deal of pain all at once. The latter would usually send her careening back into nothingness.

On occasion, she’d awaken just long enough to recognise the faces floating in and out of her vision. The Roach, with his scythe of a nose. The Ghost, with his sandy hair and silent demeanour. The Bomb, who Jude had a strange, vague feeling was blushing every time she looked at her. She even recognised a nurse or two.

Always, there were people. There was one face, however, that she did not see.

“Bomb,” Jude rasped, and the faerie’s eyes met hers. “If I die, would you tell him I hated him? Tell him, that’s why I did it.”

“What do you mean?” The Bomb asked. But Jude was already drifting again.

☽☽☽☽☽

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AN: I am…so sorry. I’ll be the first to say, I am the absolute worst for telling you guys this was going to be a two-shot and then leaving this on such a cliffhanger and making you wait for a third part. Don’t hate me? The good news is, I have a lot of the last part written. The bad news is, the last part is what has been keeping me from updating-- writing it feels more and more like giving birth with each passing day.

So if you enjoyed this part, and would like to give me some writerly encouragement in the form of a comment/reblog/keyboard smash/message/ask, any and all of the above would basically be like giving me a dose of that sweet, sweet epidural and I would be forever grateful :’)

If you’d like to be updated on the next part of this Three-Shot (to come very soon), let me know and I’ll add you to the tag list! Back to the woods now. -em 🖤💫

Title Inspo: Follow You Down to the Red Oak Tree by James Vincent McMorrow

Tag List: @velarhysismine @the-mithridatism-of-jude-duarte @knifewifejude @clockworkgraystairs @jurdanhell @judexcardanxgreenbriar @hizqueen4life @nite0wl29 @mysweetvilllain @thesirenwashere

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