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fruitycasket · 1 year ago

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So, What Shall It Be?

Synopsis: The lads wander into a truly grotesque trap, but Anti didn't bring them here to kill them… so what does he want?

Word Count: 2,006

Notes: BIG WARNING FOR BODY HORROR AND GORE. You don't see anybody die but boy howdy it's there. This was inspired by Fallout 1, specifically The Master and his liar. The title is inspired by his dialogue! I also learned some fun words like "grume" and "thrombus" while writing this (alas, they were cut from the final). And if you'd like, check this out on Ao3!

The abandoned lab was so humid it was nearly underwater. The smell was somewhere between wet iron and cannabis and maggot-ridden flesh. The air tasted of rotten fruit.

What at a glance was a rust-choked interior was equal parts rust, blood, and flesh that had burst from the wall like haphazard blobs of oil paint and sea slugs. Where Marvin and Jackie stood, the floor was clean, save for a thick layer of regular dirt and grime. At the back of the room, a soft, muscular layer of the gore coated the floor. Though it was eagerly squirming, it seemed content to stay where it was.

That didn’t soothe Marvin much.

This was a trap. The building had started off a little balmy but otherwise normal, and now… It must’ve been watching since they entered, maybe it’d even corralled them to this specific place somehow.

Just my luck, Marvin thought, The one place we need to be and it’s fucking infested. He glanced at the door they’d entered from.

The impenetrable slab of metal had slammed shut once they’d entered and stayed that way no matter what was thrown at it. A closer inspection revealed there was red gunk in the locks and hinges. Any significant prodding caused it to reinforce itself with veins of calcium and fat and sinewy string. Evidently, it was all the same substance as what coated the rest of this room.

Once they saw that, they accepted they were caught. Marvin couldn’t stand it—that he of all people hadn’t been more cautious, hadn’t ensured they weren’t walking headfirst into a deathtrap.

There was nothing to do about it now, though. Steeling himself against the fetid smell and taste surrounding him, he took cautious steps towards the muscle in hopes of gauging its age. He had a lockpicking kit, from which he took the longest, least useful looking pick. He jammed that into the largest looking lump of meat and was alarmed to find that it kept going. Forever. It would’ve swallowed his hand if he let it.

He abandoned the pick to its grim fate.

Jackie was at the far end of the wall but was still all but gagging in Marvin’s ear.

"What is this stuff?" Jackie heaved.

"It's… I don't know," Marvin said, "Just try not to touch any of it."

"It's on everything."

"Do your best."

Jackie didn't reply for a few seconds. “What do we do?”

Marvin scanned the room as best he could in the dim, red-tinted light. A door at the fleshy end of the room lay wide open, torn asunder from its hinges and frozen in place by a web of strings. They stood out, pale white and smooth against the coagulum. “There’s only one way out.”

“Oh god… We’re going to die here.”

Marvin had no good answer to that. He took a step towards the door. “We don’t have any other options.”

Jackie made a few indignant noises before sighing and approaching the door. The floor squelched underfoot as he got ahead of Marvin and took the lead.

The heat was suffocating, the smell and taste and texture of the ensuing halls so viciously opposed to human existence that Marvin wondered if it would even bother coming to kill them itself. Could be they were going to be baked first. It would be uncharacteristic, but the ruddy floors were sucking at their shoes, slowing them down so much they really could be cooked alive before they made any progress. Once, a hand had emerged from the sludge to pull Jackie’s ankle. Jackie kicked it so hard it exploded. They spent the rest of the walk wary about more human appendages emerging to attack.

Most of the doors and halls were blocked off, leaving only one (mostly straight) path to traverse. It felt like they had been walking for hours when they finally reached their destination and saw it.

Jackie might’ve called it a he, but Marvin felt that was anthropomorphizing. This thing wasn’t an animal, or a plant, or even a fungus, it couldn’t be classified by any standards of science or the arcane. Any conversation it made or human behavior it displayed was farce, no different than if Marvin started meowing at a cat to entertain himself. Except Anti took pleasure in more than talk. The fact that it hadn’t shot out to eviscerate them the moment they stepped foot into its lair was as relieving as it was worrying. What was it planning?

“What is that?” Jackie asked.

They were faced with a high-roofed room and a humanoid creature sat at the far end, enveloped in the tissue hewn into this place.

Was that the same Anti that had been trying to kill them for the past week? Was this just his bedroom, where he came to sleep after a long day’s work? Was he a drone of this thing? An extension of the body? An entirely new offshoot, like the cutting of a succulent? Marvin knew better than to try wrapping his head around beings like these but couldn't help it.

It was hard to see exactly how big it was, where it started and ended. The darkness obscured most of it, but he could see bright blue, bloodshot eyes and hundreds of teeth. Glitches—like that of a 3D model being stretched beyond its limits—occasionally erupted on its skin. There was a human face underneath the grime, a trace of lips and ears, a few tufts of soft brown hair. If it had more to its body than a head, neck, shoulders, and arms, it was too difficult to make out from where they stood. Behind it, the remains of what might’ve been a surveillance center lay assimilated, broken open in some places so the innards lay exposed to the air. Even the intact monitors were dark. Marvin realized that the Anti they normally encountered was exceptionally well-groomed.

And exceptionally tiny. Weak, even.

The giant Anti-growth regarded the two humans with an inscrutable expression as the door behind them shut with a soft squish.

Marvin spoke first. Unsure what to say, he defaulted to the absurd choice: Trying to understand. "H-How are you so huge? How did nobody try to…?"

Anti responded with a cackle that shook the foundations of the lab. Its face broke, pieces of it shooting off in every direction while the teeth and eyes remained fixed. The monitors it was rooted to flickered to life briefly, joining in with noisy, stuttering static. Then the laughter ended and everything snapped back into place. "You're looking at everyone that did," it said, gesturing at itself with a bloody hand.

Jackie turned bone white. Still, he didn't vomit.

Marvin would've been impressed if he weren't preoccupied. "That's… certainly a feat."

"I know what you’re trying to do."

"Is it working?"

A chuckle, this time. "Maybe, maybe. But you didn't come here to talk to me. You didn't even know I was here, I could tell from the moment you walked in. Maybe I won’t kill you if you tell me what you were up to."

Marvin got the feeling that this had been its goal from the get-go. Maybe the information they’d gotten was fabricated specifically to bring them to wherever this was. Had he and Jackie really become such a threat to this thing that it’d pull something like this rather than just trying to kill them the normal way?

Jackie glanced at Marvin to gauge his reaction. “We don’t have a choice,” Marvin said.

“U-Uhm,” Jackie stammered, “We were looking for information. For, well…”

“Let me guess,” Anti said, “Something to kill me with?”

The ensuing silence answered its question.

“Whatever. I don’t care. A thing like that doesn’t exist anyway,” Anti was amused by the very thought, its face already shifting as if it were about to laugh. It restrained itself and spoke again, “Really, I’m impressed by you. There are few humans who can drive me up a wall so well as you. In fact, I’m so impressed that I want to ask a favor.”

“Okay…” Marvin and Jackie said in unison.

“Something’s been taken from me. Two of my poppets are locked up in a place specifically designed to keep me out, but seeing as you two are humans, I think you could manage.”

Marvin thought back to the last few places they’d been, the realties they’d willingly entered and accidentally emerged into. He recalled a set of three missing posters. “You mean, the doctor. And that other guy.”

“The doctor. That other guy,” Anti scoffed, “They have names. Henrik and Chase.”

“And you want us to track these people down and, what, give them to you?” Jackie asked.

Anti nodded. Or, it looked like a nod from where Marvin stood.

Jackie looked like he’d accidentally swallowed a piece of the wall. "We're not being asked, are we?"

Anti grinned, and the corners of its mouth kept going upwards until it looked like the maw of a gulper eel. "No."

“How are we supposed to find them? With the amount of moving around you do, they could be anywhere, kidnapped by anyone,” Marvin said.

“I’ll help you, obviously. We’ll make a truce.”

Jackie spoke again, “So you’re saying we do this or you kill us.”

“Yes.”

He mouthed a few curses but otherwise said nothing.

Anti looked between them for a few seconds, as if evaluating their trustworthiness. It must have liked what it saw because the door behind them swung open. “I’ll see you again outside. You’ll be where I need you.”

Marvin found himself hesitating to leave. Would the open door lead to another trap?

“If I wanted you dead, why go through all the trouble of talking?” Anti asked. Marvin hoped that was a lucky guess. “Go on. Shoo. You’re free,” it snickered, “Sort of.”

Jackie took the lead again, and they left as fast as the sticky floors would allow.

As they walked back through festering corridors and into the innocuous dirt-and-cobweb grime of the earlier rooms, Marvin watched the corners where ceiling and wall met. He could see them now that he was paying attention, infected cameras that followed their movements through each door and hall. Anti had an unobstructed view of the entire place. It was as he suspected.

When they finally got to the exit, Marvin stopped to inspect it and found there was a strange magic surrounding it. He had no idea what it was, but it wasn’t visible to the naked eye and it made his hair stand on end. Like radiation, he thought.

When Jackie opened the door it led out to a different place than where they’d entered from. The building had picked itself up and moved.

Tentatively, they stepped out. The air here was fresh and cool, a welcome shock to the senses after the horrorshow they’d been enveloped in. Marvin’s first thought was hoping where they were needed wasn’t mortally dangerous… but the chances of that were slim.

The building, which had been a towering, impossible-to-miss presence, disappeared behind them the moment they both looked away.

“What the hell,” Jackie said, flinching at its disappearance, “How is that possible?”

Marvin understood what had happened to them, then “That place, it didn’t exist inside a normal reality. It was… I don’t know. In its own pocket dimension or something, that’s the only way that could be possible.

Jackie was quiet for a bit. “That must be where it takes people. You know, when it doesn’t kill them, when it… when it poofs them somewhere.”

“It would explain all the blood on the walls.”

Jackie gagged.

“Yeah.”

"How was that even possible? Anti is like. A guy… and even when he wasn't, he was never so big before."

"Whatever it is, it’s probably too strong to deal with by ourselves."

"Jesus."

They were silent for a while.

"Marvin?" Jackie asked.

"Yes?"

"These guys… If we bring them to whatever the hell that was, what happens to them?"

Marvin considered his answer. "Nothing good."

#antisepticeye #marvin the magnificent #jackieboy man #blood #gore #body horror #fanfic #let me know if I missed a warning #postin for Ari mostly ^^

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owen-not-carvour · 2 years ago

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hey y’all guess what. here’s an essay :)

blah blah, Super long post, something something, sorry abt the length (you know the drill by now lol)

“hell, i probably spent as much time hating you as you did”

that line drives me literally insane. the phrasing of it is so fucking important.

this is literally just owen telling curt that a) he knew that he hated himself for what happened, and therefore had a way of keeping an eye on him, but still just decided to Not let him know that he survived (not surprising, if i were him i wouldn’t want to fucking talk to curt either lol) and b) he actually Stopped hating him at some point. sure that doesn’t mean there’s no anger at him still (there Definitely is, see torture tango and the way owen talks down at curt the entire time he’s monologuing) but owen doesn’t hate curt anymore.

because directly after that, he goes on to talk about how he Realized something,, that something being that “perhaps putting the fate of the world in the hands of an arrogant, impulsive brute is simply Not the best option".. owen basically then realizes that it’s not necessarily entirely curt’s fault that he’s the way he is or that owen fell. it’s bc of Spying and all the flaws with the agencies and all that that both of those happened (they gave curt power, and he got too cocky because of it, causing him to make the mistakes which led to owen falling). and Because of that,, owen basically realizes that Both of them are victims because of spying, just in different ways. owen is obviously the one who paid the price for it because he fell,, but curt had basically been being keyed up by the agency because of his reputation and being labeled as the Best,, and true or not that got into his head and made him Too proud and subsequently careless. so Yeah. owen realizes that the Root of the problem is the agencies and spying (chimera’s whole thing) and that they could stop suffering if those didn’t exist anymore. (this also ties into everything owen says during the staircase scene but we’ll get there).

also, by saying “i probably spent as much time hating you as you did” owen thinks that curt has already stopped hating himself for what happened. and while this Is true in a way,, because Yeah curt’s starting to move on (albeit Slowly,, though he’s still doing better than owen…) but i don’t think he has actually truly forgiven himself for owen falling. he’s just started the process to getting there. but owen obviously thinks that he already Has.

side note before i elaborate on this: one of the big problems in talking abt this line like this and trying to make points with it is that spies has the most ambiguous timeline like Ever. all we know is owen falls in 1957, and curt comes back to spying in 1961. this line doesn’t tell me how far into those 4 years owen realized the thing abt spying and stopped hating curt. it doesn’t tell me when he thinks curt stopped hating himself. it just tells me that that’s what owen did and what he thinks.

though i Do think that he would’ve been in chimera from very early in those 4 years bc of the dma and just how he talks abt it,, so tbh i think that owen just overthought Why he hated curt one day and realized that what happened wasn’t Entirely his fault (well. the Fall was,, but the reason he was so careless wasn’t. bc i think owen could see some of the same arrogance in himself- he Did tell curt to set the timers to 4 minutes after all- and then connected it to the agencies yknow) so yeah i don’t think he hated curt for that long… but this also kinda doesn’t add up bc then again curt hated himself for a Lot longer than that so. idk. (maybe owen just wanted to exaggerate to make it clear that he knew curt hated himself for it?? but yeah no clue. this is hard. i have to remember that i’m just (over)Analyzing and that i’m not Supposed to be an expert here lol)

but anyway, back to what i was saying, as we know, curt has only Started to move on,, because that’s why he’s back to spying in the first place (spy again ofc) but he’s rlly still not doing too great with it yet, as seen by how he tries to just Convince himself that everything is fine, and the flashbacks and just. how Not Great he’s doing in act 1 part 6. but then, enter tatiana,, and she Really helps him start to move on in a much more effective way (legit just by Being there and letting/making him talk. curts lonely as hell y’all.)

but because owen says “i probably spent as much time hating you as you did” it makes me think that he possibly saw/heard abt curt coming back to spying and thought that meant curt finally forgave himself and figured he could just jump back into spying to try and act like nothing had happened (which i mean. that is what he Tried to do,, but as mentioned, he lowkey was Not ready to be back Bc he hadn’t moved on or actually forgiven himself yknow. it’s cycles. everything is a fucking Cycle.) and that idea probably made owen even more angry at him.. even though it was just based on a conclusion he jumped to.. but how’s owen supposed to know that?? he hasn’t talked to the guy face to face in 4 years!! (he’s Also lonely as hell yknow) and because of that, now Nothing owen knows about curt is For Sure anymore, even if he doesn’t realize it.

he thinks he knows curt as well as he used to (“i think i know which one you’ll choose” and all) but he Doesn’t. and the biggest place this comes into play is when he tells curt to move on (yknow. the thing that makes curt kill him). because curt Is moving on!! but owen doesn’t know this bc he’s not there and he Hasn’t been there to see it. yeah it’s a really recent development for him but still !! so it’s rlly interesting to see how owen is just trying to use what he used to know about curt to his advantage but it backfires on him because he really Doesn’t know him anymore. he just has the old curt and whatever warped image of him he’s created in his head over the years to go off of. he doesn’t Actually see or know abt how deeply losing owen hurt curt. all he knows is that he hated himself for it for awhile,, but then (owen Thinks) something made him stop. he likely doesn’t know abt the flashbacks (despite torture tango,, either he didn’t hear it or didn’t understand what it meant yknow. but owen never mentions it so idk for sure) or the alcohol or that the Reason curt came back was bc he wanted to be someone owen would be proud of. and then, as mentioned, he Definitely doesn’t know about how much tatiana has helped him. hm. in a way, because of this.. curts one step ahead of owen. bc despite what owen says, curts the one who’s actually moved on more. hmm) bc that’s another thing that supports this, too. literally Everything (or close to it) that owen says in one step ahead.

however, while owen doesn’t know curt as well as he thinks he does anymore,, on the opposite side of this, curt doesn’t Realize that owen doesn’t hate him anymore. remember how i said we were gonna come back to the importance of owen no longer hating curt in the staircase scene later? here it is, this is now Later. so here’s the 2 most important things to note for this scene: owen doesn’t Hate curt (though that doesn’t mean he forgave or even really Likes curt. it just means he doesn’t hate him) and owen hasn’t moved on.

that being said, by the time we get to the staircase scene, owen still cares about curt a little bit, even if he doesn’t want to admit it to himself. he even starts the staircase scene without his gun cocked(?? idk gun terminology but i think that’s it) and only cocks it after coldest goodbye reprise,, so he didn't even go into that fight with the intention of killing curt. (which is Another thing we will get to, as well)…. but curt doesn’t see this. he doesn’t see just how Close owen is to letting go and breaking and giving up at the end of the staircase scene (bc oh he IS you can see him getting more and more Tired and hopeless as the scene goes on!!)

but the biggest thing is that curt just Doesn’t realize that owen still cares the Slightest bit for him bc he gets thrown off by “that secret died the night you left me for dead” and what that actually means. i’ve mentioned it a Lot but like. it’s such a weird way for owen to phrase that he doesn’t love curt anymore,,, so in True over analyzing fashion, i very literally take that to mean that just their Secret is dead (as well as that owen stopped caring abt it bc he knew if it got out, only curt would get hurt bc he’s Dead) but owen doesn’t know wtf he actually feels for curt anymore,, but he knows that he doesn’t care abt secrets or anything, and that he Did lose his love for curt when he fell. so by saying it that way he kind of leaves it just ambiguous enough for curt to come to his own conclusions abt what he means by it,, and it doubles as owen’s attempt to maintain his upper hand (one step ahead) somehow,, though he Loses that power directly after that line bc it backfires on him bc he Again incorrectly assumed he still knew everything about curt and how to manipulate him to make the staircase scene go in his favor,,,,,,,, which Very Much So doesn’t work. (told you it all ties together :))

but i digress,, curt thought that his owen was completely gone and that he was basically only looking at the shell of the man he once trusted and loved (which is what he took the secret line to mean) but that's only Partially true,, bc owen wasn't Completely gone.. he was still in there,, though not by much (see he Thought that part of him was dead. but it’s not!)… it's why he never kills curt. curt kills owen bc he thinks the owen he knew is completely gone, bc why else would he have done Everything that he did, and bc he also tells curt to move on... but curt doesn’t realize that that’s not necessarily true.

owen never kills curt despite the literal 5 chances he gets because he just can’t bring himself to. closest he gets is torture tango (which i Will say is very hard to tie into this bc he made it Very clear that that was his goal) but then tatiana interrupts and saves curt. i think that despite how close he got to killing curt,, he still hesitated. like he played it off as just relishing in finally being able to get revenge (and it was definitely Partly that,, not saying that wasn’t true) but in his mind he was probably wondering if this is really what he wanted to do,, which is also why he was susceptible to tatiana’s blow (too many Thoughts paired w focus on curt. no room for anything else).

((oh also, speaking of that,, i Definitely think that owens main goal for curt wasn’t to kill him, despite him Wanting otherwise, but to just Hurt him. really fucking bad. yknow. to show him the horror of staying alive :). it’s the same thing,, he Thought he wanted to kill curt but then after torture tango kind of revised the Plan yknow. like that’s why he doesn’t kill curt at the gala or when he kills the informant.))

but Yeah by implying that he no longer hates curt, owen is basically Saying that he hasn’t moved on (well that and the legit obsession w destroying everything curt stood for kind of says it too) but like. he didn’t make it Clear enough to curt,, so curt didn’t realize this and stopped caring about owen.. and that’s why he Took His Advice instead of keeping him alive and trying to reconcile Something. (bc that’s another thing. no way was he gonna let owen go. it was either he killed him or he took him somewhere. and we know what he chose.)

this isn’t a great conclusion but like. you see how long this post is? you can come to your own conclusion based on alllll of that lol. i am but a vessel for. whatever the Fuck this is :)

if you read this whole thing, and even if you didn’t, thank you for your time.

#enjoy me reading WAY too far into a single line from spies :)#i really hope i made this make sense #this is even longer than my usual posts bc SO MUCH OF IT TIES TOGETHER!!#this is legit like 4 posts in one lol #idk if there’s an evident Point that i’m trying to make here but here’s all the Thoughts i had abt it #this took me 2 hours to write out lol #the biggest things i’ve picked up from spies:#This.#and the significance of the horror of staying alive stuff #which i still mentioned in this #woww #i know i’m not saying anything that’s never been said before but. i think it’s interesting #like yeah we Know but like. here’s my thoughts on it.#but yeah :)#spies are forever #agent curt mega #owen carvour

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murdercouple · 3 years ago

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Tiffany's Birthday; an Ask The Rays Fanfiction

A little birthday present for the lovely human being @asktherays is. I love this version more than canon, i think. It's so... i don't know, light hearted! And yet she manages to keep the horror elements alive! If this ain't witchcraft...

All kidding aside, i hope you like it, Bria, dear. I've only been writing fanfiction for a short time and english is also not my native tongue, but i do my best 💖

PS: Slowly coming back, loves!

___________

It was a September day. Tiffany, Chucky's equally homocidal wife, would turn 60, but her appearance wouldn't change a bit. She would stay gorgeous and her health would be the same as when she was 20. That was one of the advantages of being a doll: eternal youth!

Actually, she hardly seemed to realize what day it was, busy as she was. She was a housewife, you know. That morning, she went out for a trip to the grocery store and saw Glen around. He was selling his favorite manga comics and videogames, much to his mother's surprise. She tried to call him, but he couldn't hear her, or pretended not to.

"Why would he do such a thing? I thought he loved that stuff.." she wondered on the way home.

When she got there, she found Glenda doing the laundry while whistling and singing like a songbird. She wasn't very good at doing the chores, but at least she tried. Tiffany was ready to intervene.

"Glenda, honey, you need to wring the clothes, they're dripping!" said her mom, her perfectly manicured fingers trying to reach for them.

"Don't you worry, mom, they're supposed to. Leave me be, you're interrupting my work!" returned Glenda, keeping the wet clothes away from her mother's longing hands.

"As you wish, sweetface.."

She couldn't find anything better to say in the face of such determination.

Just then, the blonde smelled burning and dashed off to the kitchen, where she found her husband, Chucky. He was cooking! Immediately, Tiffany turned the stove off, before turning to her significant other. "You foolish, you burned everything! What the hell is going on here, will you tell me!?" she scolded.

"Absolutely nothing! Now, get out of the way, will you?"

"I don't believe you! Tell me all about it, Chucky. I will not be kept in the dark!"

"Now, why don't you wanna see us work?" he asked in his most wheedlesome tone. "You don't trust us, do you?"

"Now, i didn't say that"

"We don't need you to tell us what to do all the time, ya know. We can take care of ourselves!" he said as he crossed his arms defiantly.

Tiffany burst into laughter hearing that.

"Now that's funny!" she said while holding her sides.

"Don't tease me, i can't stand it!" he returned, shaking his fist.

"You treat us like a bunch of snivelling children, which VEXES us!" said Glenda, who had just entered the room, followed closely by Glen.

"Yeah, but we shall prove otherwise!" he declared, passionately.

"Really?"

"Yes!" they said in chorus.

"I see..."

With that, she went out again. She never enjoyed chores so why not take the oppurtunity?

As soon as the sun started to go down , Lottie got home with Glock, the family dog. She was eating red licorice, and her blue eyes widened with surprise when she saw the rich banquet in the middle of the room.

"They made an excellent job! I hope mom likes the flowers i handpicked just for her. She always smiles when dad gets her roses on Valentine's day" she said as she put a magnificent bunch of peonies in the "Annabelle" flower pot.

Just then Glock took the packet of Twizzlers from Lottie's hand.

"Glock! Give it back!"

She chased the dog across the whole room. As a result, they ended up turning everything upside down.

Chucky and the twins rushed in, demanding breathlessly:

"What is going on here!?" And they screamed when they saw the mess Lottie and Glock had made.

"My culinary masterpieces!" groaned Chucky, kneeling over the mess.

"Oh Jiminy crickets, what disaster!" said Glenda, with a tragic gesture.

"I just cleaned the floooor..." whimpered Glen.

"Who on Earth would care to... A-HA!" exclaimed the family man as soon as he took notice of Lottie and Glock.

"So, who's responsible for this, huh!?" he scolded as he lifted her from the ground.

"Dad, put me down! I'm not a cat!" she whined.

Just then Chucky turned to Glock. Scared, the latter withdrew and the short tempered dollman was down upon him in a second.

"You! You stupid animal, do you realize what you've done!?"

Chucky took a cane and was ready to hit poor Glock with that. His wife arrived just in time to stop him.

"Chucky! What are you doing to Glock!?" she yelled as she snatched the cane.

"That... that horrid beast... it has... it ruined..." he stuttered. His hands shook and he was so angry he could barely speak.

"Go on, what did he do!?" she said.

"I want to punish him, because he's always causing trouble! I don't know what keeps me from directly ripping his mongrel's arse!"

"Stop it! Your attitude is simply intolerable!"

"Oh, yeah!? What if he did that to YOU!?"

"Now i see. I'm leaving, and i'm taking Lottie and Glock!"

"What!?"

"Your dad and siblings say i'm in the way and that my presence here is completely unnecessary" she said sadly as she turned to her youngest daughter.

A short moment of silence followed her words, before Chucky snapped:

"What are you saying, have you gone nuts!?"

"How dare you to speak to me that way!?" she returned.

Chucky let out a heavy sigh.

"I'm sorry. But there's something i have to tell you: you see, all of THAT was for you.." he said, his finger darting towards the mess.

"ME!?" she exclaimed in astonishment.

"How can you forget about your own birthday? This proves how absorbed you are by duties. We slaved away morning and afternoon to make this day perfect. We even bought you a wonderful present"

"And we split up the chores between us so that you wouldn't have to worry about it. But Glock fucked everything up, no wonder we're angry!" said Glenda.

"Sorry mom. I guess it's all my fault.." said Lottie, bending her head in shame.

"But... you must have spent a fortune! How did you do that?" she asked, already a bit touched.

"We've been saving the money for a while" said Chucky with a pleased look for his kids and a loving smile for his wife.

"As for me, i've even been pottering around.." said Glen as a small blush spreaded across his pale face.

"Oh Glen, now i see why you were selling your stuff! I.. i'm overwhelmed..." and a few tears wet her rosy cheeks before she even realized it. Luckily, her makeup was cry proof.

"I don't know what to say. Oh, i'm so happy.."

All flashed affectionate looks at her.

"Oh, please, go away. Don't stand there looking at me.." she said, a delicate finger drying her eyes.

"I love you all, so much.."

"And i you, my queen" said Chucky brushing away the last tear with his thumb and kissing her on the lips. Her black lipstick stained his own lips.

"C'mon, let's clean this shit up. I'm taking you out! Let's make sure we bring weapons with us: they might turn out to be useful, ya know"

And the unfortunate birthday ended gaily, between laughter, hugs, kisses and... blood.

#asktherays #chucky #tiffany #glen #glenda #lottie #charles lee ray #tiffany valentine #glen hercules ray #glenda duchess ray #charlotte elaine ray #fanfiction

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alwaysdaenerys · 3 years ago

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The consequences of King Bran

I had this sudden thought about the end of Game of Thrones, in comparison to the theorized end to ASOIAF, in regards to King Bran. I’m not a huge fan of this ending, and yes this is obvious because of my username, I’m aware! But at least in the show, it was lackluster and not foreshadowed in the slightest. Things may be different in the books in any case, though this is not truly what I want to put on the table for others to discuss and analyze.

I’ve read and talked about with other fans about how making Bran king at the end of the book series may be advantageous, because the realm is healing from the significant massacre of its citizens during the Long Night. And if this is the case, the showrunners and writers missed a huge opportunity to kill more people. I’m not necessarily saying more main characters—though this is another problem I have with the show—but actually more smallfolk, more un-named or lesser lords, etc. The fact that D&D decided that the War for the Dawn was only going to last one fucking night is preposterous for many reasons, but the main one is: the Others and their wights would have never tired because they don’t need food for water or rest, and could have totally swept through the weak and depleted Riverlands, Reach, Stormlands, Crownlands even, with ease.

And because the writers did not extend the Long Night, because they didn’t kill half the humans in Westeros like the Others had the means to do, there are so many contenders left for seats of power. There is a logical argument in saying that Bran may be a good leader because there is literally no one else to take on the mantel; I will concede to that. But there are SO MANY CHARACTERS LEFT AT THE END OF THE SHOW. Bran has no army to defend him from all these people who command thousands of noticeably-alive soldiers. Who, if they were in character in the last season, would have had more to say about this tiny kid who they just met today being king of the fucking world.

And because he just hands the North its independence without asking anyone else if they’d like to petition the same thing, it will snowball out of control quite quickly.

Yara remains: the Iron Islands have a long history of coveting independence and now that their last liege, Daenerys, is no longer living, it won’t take them long to realize that they have no opposition on the high seas, or the battlefield. Who cares if land is not their strong suit? It will be against, you guessed it, an army of Tyrion and a wheelchair-bound Bran. Yara will raise her men, who, once again, are not walking dead, and they secede from the mainland for good. And Bran cannot do a thing because his faction has neither strength at sea nor land.

Dorne and its unnamed prince: another example of a region in Westeros that was continuously on the outs with the rest of the Seven Kingdoms. They were not truly “conquered” until the Daeron II married a Martell princess. The dragons were never able to hold Dorne on the battlefield so what makes anyone think that Bran Stark and his lack of dragons will? They’ll be the first to go, in my opinion, because at least Yara had a previous somewhat-working relationship with the Crown, whereas the unnamed Prince of Dorne has no obligations to a single person at that Great Council.

Edmure and the Riverlands: this region, in the show and in the books, is always the most affected my war. If the Others would have made it past Winterfell, the Riverlands would be next. The smallfolk suffered during the War of the Five Kings and Edmure knew it and wanted to help. I always thought it was clever of GRRM that he chose Edmure Tully to be one of the only lords that actually cared about his people, because of his region’s proximity to the conflict. Yes, Ned Stark may have cared for his people as a whole, but we never see him do anything as protective as Edmure is by letting the smallfolk into his keep, for the poor of the North. And in the show, since the Others did not even glimpse Riverrun and its vassals, the Tullys have the army they do at the end of season 6. Edmure won’t like that he was insulted by the Queen in the North, and will take his next move from Yara.

The Stormlands are a toss-up for me: Gendry owes his legitimization to Queen Daenerys, not Bran. So either he will be overthrown and/or killed by the other Stormlords immediately upon entering his keep, or they will persuade him to secede as well. Arya jilted Gendry and if we are to believe she plans to never see him again, there’s a pretty good chance Gendry won’t care about the consequences of his actions because he has nothing to lose. It seemed pretty obvious that he didn’t want to do all this lord stuff without the love of his life, so it’s not much of a leap to assume he wouldn’t care about the trappings of royalty anymore. Storm’s End is nearly impregnable and Bran has no army to besiege the castle like Mace Tyrell did during Robert’s Rebellion. I have no doubt that with or without Gendry, the nobles or the Stormlands will not be appreciative of Bran or Tyrion. Maybe they haven’t flirted with independence quite as much as others have since Aegon the Conqueror, but it will feel monumentally better than watching all the other kingdoms secede and stay silent.

The Eyrie seems to the most realistic example here, as far as what the regions will be like after the defeat of the Others: the Knights of the Vale participated in the War for the Dawn, therefore the fighting force has been depleted. And I would argue that they have a very similar situation to the Stormlands; Rhaenys was only able to bring the Arryns into the fold by flying her dragon to the castle. Once again, without dragons, I don’t see how Bran is going to be as successful. Robin Arryn doesn’t know Bran; he was all in for Sansa. But since Sansa decided to leave him in the lurch to declare independence, I don’t think he and his advisors are going to stay besties with her. Sitting out the War of the Five Kings makes it even easier for me to theorize that they would be just fine on their own.

The state of the Reach is the most embarrassing thing that happened on Game of Thrones: the fact that we have to watch Bronn of the fucking Blackwater sit in the Queen of Thorns’ seat of power is a travesty. I always liked him on the show and in the books, but this, I cannot forgive. He is woefully ill-equipped to be lord of a keep, let alone Highgarden, and putting him on the small council as MASTER OF COIN when he can’t read or understand loans was beyond lazy. As far as the state of the Reach, they are pretty depleted from the sack of Highgarden, but even so, it seems painfully obvious that his lack of support from the other lords in the region will be his downfall. Maybe they weren’t 100% supportive of the Tyrells either, but there’s no way any of them will allow some up-jumped sellsword who’s best friends with Tyrion Lannister to lead them. Since Bronn has no army of his own, he’ll be dead soon enough and someone who was decidedly not killed during the Long Night, will take his place and give a middle finger to the Iron Throne, just like Olenna.

The Westerlands are the weakest of the remaining Six Kingdoms, I think: they don’t have much of an army after the Battle of King’s Landing. I think they’d be the only support of Bran after he is crowned, and that’s because Tyrion is the Hand. After Daenerys took Casterly Rock, most everyone bent the knee or died, so Tyrion doesn’t even have a suitable army to defend him, let alone the castle. I can’t imagine the soldiers remaining after all this would be enough to take on all the rebellions that are destined to occur after the secession of the North.

Lastly, the North: how will Bran react when his home region is starving and begging for aid? They have nothing to feed their people in the cold, white North. Yes, a lot of people died in the war, but there are plenty who didn’t participate and since it didn’t get past Winterfell, only those involved in the Battle—and the Umbers—were affected. Will the new king give it, even though they have no right to ask for it? Will he defy the laws of the realm for his sister? Because as far as I’m concerned, the North cannot sustain itself without the help of the other kingdoms. It’s not warm enough for farming, while the livestock trade was probably diminished when the Boltons were Wardens. Sansa would rather be in the Queen in the North than actually take care of her subjects; because by choosing independence, she has doomed everyone. Nothing changes for the smallfolk; it’s just another feudal overlord.

In conclusion: if Bran becomes King, there would have to be an apocalypse for it to be successful. There definitely wasn’t on the show, therefore several events will cause his coronation to be all for naught before Tyrion’s ten years are up. As GRRM has stated, the Others are the focus of the story and who sits on the Iron Throne is a secondary plot to distract from the actual horror. I’m not usually someone to ask for more horror, but when it comes to the future of Westeros under King Bran, things are looking terribly bleak without more of it.

#anti got #anti d&d #post s8 speculations #king bran #bran stark #asoiaf speculation #got

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winterscaptain · 4 years ago

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caught out.

Aaron Hotchner x Gender Neutral Reader

a/n: i am SO excited to share this installment with you! There are a few key developments in this chapter, so get excited! we fly through route 66 and in the blood in this part, and we might get a ring..... :)

an ajf fic that requires little to no context!

words: 5.3k warnings: canon-typical injury, medical setting, some really soft stuff

summary: foyet’s scars leave more than trauma in their wake, but aaron finds he has more to live for - a future, a life, a family. (au!october 2013)

masterlist | a joyful future masterlist | requests closed!

Before this moment, you’d never fully considered what it would be like for Aaron to die in front of you. You’d certainly come close before - between close calls with unsubs and a fair few stupid decisions, close calls weren’t unheard of by any means. But even in those moments, as scared as you were, there was always part of you that knew he’d be okay. A part of you that knew he’d come home to you.

Right now, that knowledge is universally absent as he collapses out of nowhere in the conference room.

“Aaron!” You shoot out of your chair and drop to the floor beside him, immediately reaching for his wrist. You’re relieved to find a pulse, albeit a weak one. You know you’re already crying, absolutely terrified.

Somehow, you manage to look up at JJ, meeting her wide, scared blue eyes. “Call EMS. They’re in the building and faster than an ambulance.”

She snaps to, running to Aaron’s office for the direct line.

“Hang in there, baby.” You wrap his hand in yours, and Derek helps you turn him over. Aaron’s halfway in your lap now, your body bowed over him.

He stirs a little, and you shush him, brushing the hair off his forehead. His breath rattles in his chest, struggling, as he reaches for you.

“Don’t leave me. Don’t you dare leave me.” You don’t realize you’re talking until Derek lays a hand on your shoulder.

EMS arrives, and you’re not sure how much time has passed by the time they get him onto the gurney and down the stairs. You keep up with them for as long as you can before Anderson and Derek snag your arms, holding you back.

Derek tugs you once, gently, by the wrist, and you fall into him. He’s already moving, guiding you to the elevators and down to the car. He repeats the same things, over and over, every minute or so, as you make the long journey to the hospital.

“It’ll be okay, kiddo. He’s tough. Hotch isn’t going anywhere.”

+++

A doctor opens the doors, a clipboard in her hand. “Hotchner?”

You rise, approaching the doctor. “Yes?”

“Are you his next of kin?”

You nod, reaching for your wallet.

The doctor smiles at your obvious agitation. “No need to show your credentials. Agent Hotchner is out of surgery and resting comfortably.”

“What happened?”

She sighs. “The scar tissue from his previous wounds tore, causing slow, but significant internal bleeding. It was touch and go on the table, but he’s a fighter. Something kept him here. Your attending will have more information for you once you’re settled with him.”

You swallow, trying to keep your throat clear as your eyes well up again.

She presses a hand to your arm. “You can see him now. He was asking for you before we put him under.”

“Thank you.”

When she disappears behind the doors again, you return to the chair you’d been glued to for the previous six hours.

Dave stands with you as you gather your things. You look at him and he leans forward to kiss your cheek. “Take your time. We’ll be reachable. Let us know when he’s awake.”

You nod. Pulling your phone out of your pocket, you mentally draft a text message to Jessica before sending it off. JJ let her know what happened after she called EMS, and she’s been standing by ever since.

As a pair, you decided to keep things from Jack until you were certain of an outcome. No need to make him worry longer than necessary.

4:27pm Aaron’s out of surgery. Not sure how long they’re keeping him. I’ll let you know when it’s a good time to bring Jack over.

She replies right away.

4:27pm. It never ends, does it? 4:28pm I’ll have my phone on me. Thank you. 4:28pm Love you.

With a little tug at your lips, you reply.

4:28pm Love you too. Kiss our boy for me.

A little whoosh sounds as she replies.

4:28pm Of course xx

You’re finally able to breathe when you see Aaron. Though he looks shockingly small in that big bed, hooked up to intimidating machinery, he is alive.

Bar’s on the floor, today.

He’s still out, like the doctor said, and probably would be for another few hours. You cross to his side - the one without the IV - and sit beside him. When you get there, you take his hand and press his palm to your forehead, leaning into him. Even among the sharp, antiseptic smell of the hospital, he smells like himself.

His touch, as it always does, heals you from the inside out. You can feel your blood pressure drop, your heart rate slow. The warmth of his hand sinks into your head, your chest, letting you take deeper breaths that are far more satisfying.

After you're sure he’s well and truly alive, you wrap his hand in both of your own and scoot your chair so you can drop your head against his pillow. Uncomfortable in the extreme, you close your eyes, happy for the weight of his hand in yours.

+++

When Aaron wakes, he’s confronted with a few things that confuse him (the ache in his ribs and the pounding in his head, to name two) and a few that don’t (the smell of your skin, the familiar feeling of your fingers laced through his). He decides to address the less confusing elements first.

He turns his head, a shockingly difficult maneuver, and finds you out like a light - your head on his pillow, your arm tucked under your face. Even in sleep, your brow pinches and your mouth draws a tense line.

There’s an attempt to move his hand so he can touch your face, but you wake and startle before he even makes it a quarter inch.

Your eyes meet his and you heave a sigh of relief. “Aaron.”

His lips pull at the corners. “Hi.” There’s a scrape in his voice, raw from disuse.

You haul yourself up, bringing one of your hands to his face, mindful of his nasal cannula. “You scared the fuck out of me, you know that?”

“I’m sorry.” His sincerity breaks your heart, and he tries to sit up, but you shake your head, reaching for the remote.

You prop him up a little and he reaches for you again. You meet him halfway, pressing your lips to his.

He whispers against your lips. “I’m so sorry.” He leans back, his thumb brushing over your cheekbone. “Did they tell you what happened?”

You nod, your eyes still roaming over his face. “Well first of all, they lost you twice on the table, but before that, the scar tissue from your stab wounds tore and caused significant internal bleeding. They’re sure it was a slow bleed - over the course of hours, maybe days.”

You swallow, and a fresh set of tears fall down your cheeks. It’s frustrating.

“If you didn’t go down when you did, when you were awake, it’s possible you could have bled out in your sleep without even realizing it.”

You’re proud of yourself for getting through your thought, even if you were shaking toward the end. It’s close to unbearable to consider the possibility of waking beside him, finding him cold and unmoving beside you. The horror of it pushes at your eyes and a sob rips through your chest.

For some reason, you apologize.

He shakes his head, his brow crumpling. “Come here, honey. Come here.”

“I don’t want to hurt you. I -“

He shushes you and moves over, leaving space for you to shuffle onto the bed beside him. “You’re not gonna hurt me. Come here. I’m alright.” You tuck your face into his neck as his other arm wraps around you the best while attached to his IV. “You aren’t getting rid of me that easily.”

You kiss the skin you can reach, placing a hand over his heart. “I love you.”

“I love you too, sweetheart. So much.”

One of his hands traces up and down your back, dancing in patterns you don’t have the brain space to follow, while the other covers yours on his chest. Soon enough, you’re asleep again.

+++

When Dave comes back to check on you both, he finds you curled together - as much as you can be - in the hospital bed. Aaron’s cheek is smooshed against your head, his cannula knocked out of place, your leg hooked over one of his on top of the covers. Your hands are still clasped together over his chest, his IV easily accessible to the nurses that flutter in and out as the day passes.

The tear tracks are still visible on your face, the exhaustion still pulling at your eyes.

In all his years of knowing you, Dave had never seen you as distraught as you were when Aaron went down in the conference room. Up to that point, he thought you both somewhat invincible, even at your weakest.

Though you both had your fair share of hospital stays over the years, none of them ever broke through that ceaseless calm that arced between you and Aaron. When you’re in the room together, there’s a pervasive comfort, almost moving as two halves of the same person at any given time, hardly capable of the wild panic he saw in your eyes this morning.

Satisfied you’re both alright, he takes his leave. There is a case to solve, of course.

+++

Jessica brings Jack over the next morning, and he’s quick to gingerly crawl into his father's lap, wrapping his arms around his neck.

Jack says something you can’t hear, but Aaron’s response carries across the room in his low, murmuring baritone.

“I’m okay, buddy. We’re alright. I’ll be home soon, and off work for a little while, so we’ll get to spend some time together.”

You meet Aaron’s eyes over Jack’s head before his flicker to Jess’s. He nods once, and holds Jack tight to him.

When they part, Jack trots back to you and you rake your fingers through his hair, pressing a kiss to the crown of his head.

He looks up at you, and something passes between you.

I’ll take care of him. He’ll come home safe to you, bud.

Jack sighs and tucks into you, wrapping his arms around you. “I love you.”

“I love you too, baby.”

+++

“I saw Haley.”

You look up at him, your chin propped on his shoulder. “What?”

“I saw Haley. We -” he laughs a little, with only the barest hint of a wince. “We were dressed like old Hollywood movie stars and we were in this...theatre.” He shakes his head a little and you know he thinks it’s absurd.

“Don’t do that. Tell me. What did you see?”

He throws you a grateful look and continues. “She found me in the lobby and we went inside. Foyet was there too, but she wasn’t scared. They were almost friendly. It was...strange.” He squints, remembering. You gingerly place your hand on his chest, feeling the heat from his healing wounds. He places his hand over yours again, his thumb tracking back over the back of your knuckles. “There was this massive screen and she had popcorn...and then a bunch of little scenes from our,” his arm flexes around you, “life since she died started rolling. We talked - about Jack, about you, the way you are with him.”

He’s holding something back. “What did she say?”

“She said,” he swallows thickly, “that you’re good with him. She looked really happy watching you two together.”

You smile, but there’s an edge to it, something long-suffering and raw. “I’ll never be her, though.” You know he misses her and you know it’ll never be the same. But even then, you know you aren’t a replacement, either.

Aaron closes his eyes and presses a desperate kiss to the top of your head. “You’re just what we need, sweetheart. You’re everything.”

You look at him and he looks at you. There’s something at work behind his eyes. You blink once, slowly. “What are you thinking about, over there?”

The thing playing in his eyes sneaks down to his mouth, dancing at the corners. “Marry me.”

A hysterical laugh leaves you, but there’s no anxiety in it, just disbelief. “What?”

“Marry me.”

He’s dead serious. Weirdly, that observation doesn’t send your heart racing like you thought it would. Nevertheless, you find yourself without speech. You open and close your mouth a couple times, struggling.

Of course you’d talked about this before. You already lived together, already co-parented Jack with teamwork and consistency - almost every step accomplished completely out of the traditional order of things. There were moments where you brought him a beer or cashed in some favor or another in the bedroom and Aaron would say, “I could marry you, just for that,” but there was always a playfulness to it. You always told him you’d meet him in Vegas by way of response, only half-kidding.

Marriage was always on the table, always the implication, but you always figured you’d get around to it later. It never seemed to be the right time and you’re happy right where you are, so it never mattered much.

But here you are, suddenly sitting at the proverbial table, staring engagement in the face.

Aaron Hotchner just asked me to marry him.

Well, actually he told you to marry him.

True. I mean it’s not like he has to ask. He already knows the answer.

So answer him, stupid!

He waits for you with an endless patience. There’s not a hint of concern or anxiety in his gaze - just a soft adoration you’ve seen thousands of times before. He knows what your answer will be. He always has.

“Okay.”

Aaron snorts. “Okay?”

Your face breaks out into a grin. “Okay, Hotchner. I’ll marry you.” You shrug while he gingerly lets out another laugh. “I’m more than happy to be more than your quasi-spouse and Jack’s quasi-parent.” It’s obviously a joke and he mirrors your grin. “So...okay. Final answer.”

He shakes his head and presses a kiss to your forehead. “Do me a favor?”

“Anything.”

“Go into the back pocket of my go-bag and bring me what you find in there.”

You frown at him, but follow instructions, clambering off the bed.

There’s a little, flatish box with the smallest of code-locks securing the lid in the pocket. It’s made of something reinforced, and it’s heavier than you anticipated.

Returning to the bed, you sit on the edge, handing him the box. He adjusted while you were shuffling about, now sitting up almost all the way in the cocoon of pillows you built for him.

With a sly smile, he rolls the code into the lock, and the box springs open. He turns it around toward you, and you’re confronted by a simple, gorgeous ring.

You blink rapidly, your eyes shifting from the ring to Aaron, and back to the ring.

“I bought this after I installed Derek as unit chief, four years ago. You rightfully tore into me after I pulled that stunt with that unsub, and I…” he trails off, thinking.

You can tell he’s choosing his words carefully, picking around years and years of feelings.

“I don’t know. I knew something I didn’t know, if that makes any sense at all. I knew it was yours, too, when I got it, but I didn’t acknowledge it even after I tucked it in my old go-bag for safe keeping and kept it there, ever since. The only time I didn’t have it with me was in Pakistan. I left it in a locked box in the office at home.”

He laughs at himself, looking down at the cable-knit blanket over his legs.

“I’m an idiot, and of course you set me to rights after Pakistan, and Haley told me I was still an idiot not fifteen hours ago. She said you’re the best thing that’s happened to our family, she misses you, and I’ll only be four years late if I ask you to marry me now.” He looks back at you with a little smile. “I love you. It’s not enough, but I love you.”

There’s nothing to say, so you just let him take the ring from the box and slip it in your finger. The silver shines against your skin, the tiny diamonds casting rainbows against the wall in the morning sunlight.

It’s gorgeous.

When it’s in place, you scoot closer to him. He takes your face in his hands and kisses you, smiling against your mouth.

“Your flair for the dramatic never ceases to amaze me,” you say against his lips. You lean back, carding your fingers through the hair at his temples. “You couldn’t have proposed to me in the absence of a near death experience, could you?”

He shakes his head. “Where’s the fun in that?”

+++

Wearing your ring around the house feels right. Jack was, of course, in on the whole operation and was absolutely stoked when he saw the ring on your finger as you helped his father through the door.

You take a few days off together before the next case. Much to your surprise, Aaron lets you help him as he recovers, taking it easy until all of his wounds close back up and his whole regimen of pain meds are almost completed.

He’s home for a few more days while you return to the field. The team asks after him when you return, and you keep them abreast of his recovery without mentioning your change in status.

“They’re gonna figure it out eventually,” Aaron said, putting his toothbrush back into his toiletry bag.

You roll your eyes, throwing your pajama shirt over your head. It’ll likely be removed once you actually get into bed, but it’s the thought that counts. “Yeah, but I’d rather handle that when we’re not actively solving a murder without you, don’t you think?”

His brow quirks and his head tips the slightest bit - a concession. “Fair point.”

When you lean over to grab your jeans off the floor, the ring and chain slip out of your collar and hang down, swinging a little. It falls back against the center of your chest as you straighten, bouncing against your shirt with the lightest of clinking sounds. You find Aaron’s eyes on it when you look over at him and offer him a small smile. “Hey.”

He startles and his eyes jump to yours.

“I love you.”

A wide smile and an eye roll return your sentiment.

Wearing your ring on a chain seems like the best way to keep it safe in the field. Aaron doesn’t mind, and you like to have it close to your heart anyways. The indent it leaves in your skin when you remove your vest brings a smile to your face.

“What’s with you?” JJ asks. “You’re all smiley.”

You shrug. “I just feel good. It’s nice to have Aaron home and safe, you know?”

She nods, squeezing your shoulder. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.”

+++

When you get to the door with Aaron and Jack in tow, Penelope opens the door with a wide grin. “I didn’t think you were going to make it!”

She wraps Aaron in a tight, but careful hug, presses a kiss to your cheek, and ruffles Jack’s hair. Her all-intents-and-purposes nephew jets past her, finding Henry and Spencer in the dining room playing cards together.

“We were feeling up to it, and Jack’s friend offered to pick him up here for a last-minute sleepover, so we figured we’d come crash the party,” you tell her.

She snags Aaron’s sleeve as she steps back into the house. “Oh, happy almost-birthday, sir.” You glance at Aaron with a suppressed smile, and he presses a finger to his lips. “I’ll keep it on the DL, don’t worry.” With another wide smile at the both of you, she ushers you into the house. “Alright everyone .”

Emily rounds the corner to get Spencer, leaving the boys to play. You have your photo ready, as does Aaron (but he cheats - he always has his photo with him), when you all step up to the beautiful altar Penelope has set up in the middle of the living room.

Penelope grabs a glass of wine with a fake eyeball in it for Aaron, and one with a fake ear floating in it for you.

“Uh... I want to thank everybody for doing this with me,” Penelope smiles at you all, “and our altar's burning, and I just feel so blessed to have you all here. I will start. Uh…” She pulls a photo out of her dress. “This is my mom and dad. I miss them.”

She places another photo, this time of a cat. “And this is my cat Simba with his usual bowl of soda pop. He's a weird cat.” Everyone laughs, and she passes it to JJ.

“Uh, ok. Well, uh, this is my sister Roslyn.” She sets a photo of her sister on the altar. The resemblance between them is uncanny. “Ros. She always dreamt that someday she'd live in Paris, so, um...it didn't happen, but I thought this would bring her some happiness.” Careful fingers drop an Eiffel Tower trinket beside the photo and it draws a little smile to your face.

Dave steps up, pinning a photo of two smiling young men in Vietnam and two tickets on one of Penelope’s tiny easels. You recognize one of the men as a very young Dave.

A much older Dave tells you the other man is, “Private First Class Darryl Jenson. We lost him during the Tet offensive.”

Derek looks around, trying to get a better view. “What are the tickets?”

“Opening day next season, Wrigley, right behind the home dugout. Jenson was a die hard Cubs fan.”

“Sweet.” Derek claps Dave on the shoulder and you all direct your attention to Alex.

“Um... My mom.” Alex places a photo of a smiling older woman next to Roslyn, propped up with a fountain pen. “She was the one who got me into crossword puzzles-- no erasing allowed-- which got me into linguistics.” She looks over at Spencer, who pulls two photos out of his pocket.

“You said we could bring more than one, right?”

Garcia nods vigorously. “Oh, yes. This is a come one, come all altar.”

Aaron pulls you close, and you loop your pinkie through the belt loop at his hip.

Spencer places a picture of Maeve near a red rose, and your heart breaks for him. He doesn’t say anything until he’s got the second of his photos ready in his hands. “Nikola Tesla. I figured he's probably been inventing things on the other side, so hopefully he'll bring something to us.” You smile as Spencer meets your eyes.

I love you.

He smiles a little back. Love you.

Derek’s next. “I guess that's me. Ok. I brought... My pops.” He props a photo of his dad against a candle, keeping him secured with a cigar. “He was a cigar aficionado, big time.” He laughs a little, as do the rest of you. “And, actually, Rossi, he was also a huge Cubbies fan, so I was thinking maybe he and Private Jenson over there, maybe they could go to the game together.”

Rossi smiles, and tips his glass to Mr. Morgan. “They can sort that out when they get here.”

They look at you, and you slip the photo out of your back pocket with your right hand, keeping the other tucked against Aaron. “This is Jenny. Some of you know her as the late Director of NCIS, but she was a mentor of mine for the entire time I knew her. She was killed in the line of duty back in ‘08, protecting a friend.” You laugh a little. “Once, over lunch, she told me to chase what I wanted, to push hard, and advocate for myself.” You throw a glance at Hotch and he catches it with warm eyes. “The next day, I asked the SSA in charge of my NAT class to consider me for a unit placement to complete my case hours.”

A little smile pulls at your lips. “I wouldn’t be at the BAU, I wouldn't have my life,” My Aaron, you add to yourself, “if it wasn’t for her.” You place her photo next to a candle on the other side of Roslyn. Jenny’s red hair and bright smile match the flame.

Wordlessly, Aaron pulls the photo of Haley out of his wallet and places her beside Jenny while the team looks on with quiet eyes. He carefully places an opalescent barrette beside her. You recognize it from her box of jewelry - the same one that holds her engagement and wedding rings - that lives in his bedside drawer.

He tucks you under his arm and kisses your temple. You rest your head against him, wrapping an arm around his waist under his sport coat, winding your fingers in his shirt. You’re wearing your ring, but nobody’s noticed it yet.

Dave takes the proverbial stage again as he raises his glass. “Well, I guess this is proof positive that ancestry ain't all bad.”

Garcia follows suit, raising her glass as you all share fond looks. “How about a toast to the... 30 or 40 of us?”

You all cheers, and drink to those in the room and out of it. Haley and Jenny smile back at you. You look at them both, for a moment, before meeting Aaron’s pensive gaze. The same thought floats through your head.

These are the women that lead you to each other. These women built your future, your present. One to guide you to Aaron and the other to guide Aaron to you.

It’s only when you absent-mindedly reach over JJ for a snack, after Aaron abandons you for Dave, that the levee breaks.

“Oh my god.”

Finally caught out.

Instead of looking at you, her head whips up toward Aaron, who’s watching her with a smug smile on his face. Her mouth drops open and she grabs your hand, looking at the ring in the low light. It’s all happened within a split second, but Penelope is the next to catch on.

“‘Oh my God’ what? What’s going on? What did I miss?” She turns, trotting over in her heels to see what JJ’s going on about.

Her squeal almost deafens you, and you crane your neck to look over at Aaron, who’s taken refuge by the fireplace.

With a squint, Asshole.

What? His brows say. I’m just standing here. I didn’t do anything. He takes a sip of his wine and you roll your eyes.

Help me!

You can see him snort. Not a chance.

“I can’t believe you got engaged and nobody told me!” Penelope’s indignant shout carries across the room, and Derek’s the next to whip his head toward you.

“What?”

She turns toward him, her hands on her hips. “Hotch proposed and nobody said anything.”

You bite back a smile as the rest of the team advances on you. Your hand seems to fall into everyone’s palm once or twice as they look at the ring. They all coo over it in one way or another before the information actually sinks in.

“Wait, hold on.” As usual, JJ is the first to bring everyone back down to the ground. “When did this happen?”

Two hands land on your waist, and you tilt your head, giving Aaron space as he slides his arms around you. “There’s nothing like a near-death experience to straighten your priorities, don’t you think?”

Alex laughs. “Don’t tell me you proposed in the hospital.”

You give her a yikes expression, and she huffs.

“C’mon Hotch. Really?”

He chuffs good-naturedly. “Like I said, I experienced a certain...clarity regarding the direction of our lives.” He squeezes you, and you laugh. “Don’t just jump on me for this, though. This one,” you know he’s gesturing to you with his chin, “just said ‘okay’ when I asked.”

You twist around to glare at him. Traitor bastard.

He looks way too smug.

“No you didn’t,” JJ insists. “No you didn’t!”

“Oh come on, Jayje. You left Will hanging for three years. You don’t have a single leg to stand on.”

She rolls her eyes, but you know you’ve got her when Will steps up beside her and kisses her cheek. “Got you there, darlin’”

Rossi, of course, takes your face in his hands and plants two kisses on your cheeks and then does the same to Aaron while Derek pulls you to his chest.

“I’m so happy for you,” he says. He looks over your shoulder at Aaron, still holding onto you. “Hotch, if you fuck this up, I’ll make your death look like an accident and cry at your funeral.”

Aaron laughs, and you duck out from under Derek’s arm while they embrace with some manly back smacks.

Alex gives you a hug, followed by Spencer, who offers you a quiet congratulations. Jack and Henry wander out after a few minutes, drawn by the commotion. Henry goes straight to his mom, while Jack runs to you.

“Did you tell them?” He asks.

You nod, running your fingers through his hair. Both Hotchner boys have the best hair - thick and soft - and it's nearly impossible to keep your hands out of it whenever one of them makes themselves available for head scratches. It also helps that they’ll do anything for head scratches.

Win-win, by your standards.

Dave taps a fork against his glass, getting the attention of everyone in the room. “We have much to celebrate tonight. Not only do we celebrate the lives of people no longer with us, we celebrate the love between two people who are.” He raises his glass. “To our past, to our present, to our future.”

The rest of you toast, clinking your glasses together. A sense of something you can only describe as normal winds around you all as you drink and chat and laugh in Penelope’s living room.

Aaron steps up beside you and kisses your temple. “Having a good time?”

“Mhmm.” You lean into him as he wraps his arms around you, pressing his chest to your back. “Really good time.”

There’s music playing - one of Dave’s playlists - and you sway back and forth, only loosely connected to the beat. You tip your head back, letting your weight rest in his arms for just a moment before remembering he’s still healing, pulling away from him all at on

You can feel him pull you back toward him. “I’m fine, honey. Relax.” After a moment, you do, melting back into him. You almost feel silly for pulling away from him. If you’ve learned anything in the years you’ve known Aaron, he’s anything but fragile.

tagging: @arganfics @quillvine @stxrryspencer @agenthotchner @wandaswitxh @hurricanejjareau @ange-must-die @ughitsbaby @rousethemouse @criminalsmarts @shrimpyblog @genevievedarcygranger @ssaic-jareau @good-heavens-chris-evans @davidrossi-ismydad @angelsbabey @gublergirls @writefasttalkevenfaster @venusbarnes @hotchsflower @micaiahmoonheart @ogmilkis @marvels-agents100 @hotchslatte @risenfox @mrs-dr-reid @captain-christopher-pike @joemazzello-imagines @pinkdiamond1016 @pan-pride-12 @hotchlinebling @lee-rin-ah @sunshine-em @word-scribbless @jdougl-love @sageellsworth05 @nohalohoseok @giveusbackourbucky @writerxinthedark @bauslut @yourlovelynewsbian @dreila03 @forgottenword @aaronhotchnerr @ssa-morgan @a-dorky-book-keeper @hotchnersgoddess @buckybau @sana-li @tegggeeee @abschaffer2 @ssacandice-ray @dontkissthewriter @ellyhotchner @lotties-journey-abroad @mrs-joel-pimentel-23-25 @laneygthememequeen @ahopelessromantic @violentvulgarvolatile @andreasworlsboring101 @mooneylupinblack @ssareidbby @violet-amxthyst @bwbatta @roses-and-grasses @lcvischmitt @capricorngf @missdowntonabbey @averyhotchner @mandylove1000 @garcia-reid-lovechild @cevanswhre @colbyskoalas @qvid-pro-qvo @jeor @spencers-hoodrat @infinity1321 @zizzlekwum @katiejuliana @popped-weasels @evee87 @nuvoleincielo @this-broken-band-girl

#aaron hotchner x reader #aaron hotchner #hotch x reader #hotch #aaron hotchner imagine #criminal minds x reader #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds imagine #criminal minds #tali writes fanfiction #tali talks cm #a joyful future #a joyful future fanfic

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fiddlepickdouglas · 3 years ago

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Viva Las Vegas, Pt. 19 - The Masters

Summary: Sunset Curve Alive AU, Willex, what are they up to?, 3.6k

@trevor-wilson-covington is the bestie who makes these lovely edits, we stan supportive friends

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18

Willie was back in Vegas, wandering through the street late at night. He was just leaving the hotel, like he’d just dropped Alex off by the front doors, knowing that he was saying goodbye and couldn’t stand to leave it on a heavy note. Still, he moved onward without looking back. He was just going to enjoy the memory that he had of the green eyes and the waves and the way he’d been nestled against Alex’s chest with fingers in his hair and wearing the hat and feeling like a handsome prince at the look on Alex’s face and - yeah, he was just going to cherish it forever. Without ever having another chance. Rock stars didn’t keep promises like that, no matter how much they meant to. The second Alex made it big, he would forget him, Willie was sure.

The journey from the hotel back to Caleb’s house was incredibly short. He looked back toward the street in bewilderment, unsure what could have happened. Sure, Willie knew his shortcuts, but he’d definitely clocked that journey numerous times.

As he walked up the drive, he rounded the corner and to his horror found the shed already ablaze. Stepping back in terror, Willie stiffened as he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, Caleb loomed over him with a monstrous look in his eyes. He seemed to grow larger by the second and his face became twisted and grotesque. Then he opened his mouth, letting out a cry of rage as his eyes began burning a fiery purple and he raised his arm as if to strike.

“I told you to clean up this mess!” he cried.

Running away from the house, Willie was only just able to escape his attempted blows. His feet seemed to slam against the pavement, and his breathing was too loud. Looking up momentarily, he somehow had already arrived at the diner, and that was in flames too. Willie couldn’t help the small cry of distress that released from his throat, almost like a sob. Changing direction, he eventually came to the hotel and watched as it was already crumbling apart as it burned. Fear and confusion consumed him as Willie continued running with tears streaming down his face. The bodega was on fire too. And so was Roy’s. Anywhere that Willie tried to run to roared in fiery destruction.

He was sitting inside the truck, but it was empty. Nobody sat in the driver’s seat - nobody smiled back at him. All Willie could see was that the truck was burning but he couldn’t open the door to escape. He tried rolling down the window but the flames got too high and he had to roll it back up. The door wouldn’t unlock or be forced open. Willie could feel himself suffocate in the confined space, feel his pulse rising. The ever encroaching doom of never making it out shrouded him like it was its own force.

“Willie!” A banging could be heard on the window and Willie looked up to see Alex frantically trying to open the door on the other side. Pressing his hands up against the glass, Willie shook his head, telling him it was no use. Alex just kept tugging on the handle and pounding his fist on the window in desperation, and didn’t seem to be affected by the flames consuming the truck as he did so. All Willie could hear was his name striking against the glass with every fistfall, but no change in Alex’s ability to save him. The agonizing sound repeated, slowly fading back as everything darkened and became more muffled, and then finally his mind regained consciousness.

Sitting up in bed, Willie sucked in a breath and huddled himself close. Taking a few seconds to try and let his pulse calm down, he looked over and found Sheldon had been curled up in sleepy contentment against his stomach, and was already stretching to find another place to sleep. Picking up the cat and cuddling him into his chest, Willie scratched his favorite spot behind his ears, hoping to convince him to continue sleeping at his side. Hearing Sheldon purr helped slow his excited heart rate.

Thank goodness it had just been a nightmare. But why had it been so terrifying and bizarre? He had already been through the loop with the one that went backwards, and now having everything go down in flames and being teased with the hope of rescue? Willie didn’t think he wanted to know what it meant. It was beginning to be a pattern now that dreams like that had a significant meaning. He was afraid of what the meaning of this one might be.

Sheldon took advantage of his loosened grip while he was caught up in his thoughts, and scuttled off of the mattress into the dark. Sighing heavily, Willie laid down and pulled the covers over himself, trying to get back to the same level of warmth and comfort as before. Nothing was bringing him back into a state where he could easily drift back to sleep. The wonder of the ocean in Alex’s green eyes didn’t help this time because it only brought the echo of his voice crying Willie’s name. He could only focus on missing the feeling of his cat curled up beside him.

“It’s gotten worse,” Alex said over the phone. Willie was just finishing another shift at the record store when he’d gotten the call. It’d been a few weeks since their first date and Alex hadn’t even been able to call in that time. He didn’t know how he’d been able to handle months without him after that whole day filled with absolute bliss. It was great to hear his voice again.

“How much worse?” Willie asked.

“He’s been doing this thing where he criticizes the tiniest things, but then he uses every bit of persuasion to make us nod and say yes to what he wants. At first we fought it, but now we just do what he says and then hate it later. It sucks.”

“That’s how he started with me,” Willie told him. “I didn’t know any better, so it was worse.” So much worse - his mind had been so addled with the loss of memory and new information had been frightening for a while. He’d merely been a toy in Caleb’s puppeteer hands.

“Yeah, and now he’s watching us like crazy. He’s never stayed in L.A. this long. He’s there from the second we’re in the studio to when we leave.”

“Huh,” Willie replied. “I think I might be to blame for that.” A cruel memory arose of all the times he’d ignored Caleb’s imposed curfew and then been asked what he’d been up to.

“It doesn’t even feel like we’re doing music anymore,” Alex lamented. He’d been fired up when he had started the conversation, but the way his energy flickered out pained Willie too much. Alex hadn’t had a chance to be open with him about why music was so important to him, but Willie was able to take a few guesses.

“So what are you going to do?”

“Well, the guys and I have been talking…”

Willie rode in the back of the van with Alex and Reggie as the guys carefully rolled up into the alley behind the studio. They all remained hushed, but the anticipation in the atmosphere was electric. Each of them scrunched their faces at the sound of squeaky brakes as Bobby slowed to a stop and parked beside a door. He hadn’t spoken a word for the entire drive, but Willie shared a glance with Alex, both of them full of nerves and adrenaline, and they each held in awkward laughter. Luke got out as quietly as he could, made a careful sweep of the premises, and then unlocked the door before signaling everyone to get out.

“So you want to be in on this?” Alex asked. He had just told Willie their plan to get back at Caleb and it immediately got him excited.

“Of course!” he told Alex. “I’d give anything to make him pay back for everything he did.”

“That’s what I thought you’d say,” Alex said. Willie could hear his smile from the other end.

As they each carefully entered the back end of the studio, Willie caught the stench of cigarette smoke in the first place they entered and covered his nose. While they continued further in, Bobby lit a flashlight.

“Ow!” Reggie immediately covered his eyes from being accidentally blinded. Bobby winced as he moved the beam away from his face.

“Sorry!” he whispered. “It’s hard to tell what’s what in here, it’s so dark.”

“When are we going?” Willie asked.

“Next Sunday night.” Alex told him. “Caleb should be out of town that weekend. Plus we have a few things that need to be ready first before we go for it. But I wanted to make sure you were totally in before we put all the plans together.”

Willie smirked. He wasn’t sure if Alex was aware he was tickling his rule-breaking side, but he wanted to think that maybe he did know. For someone as sweet as he was, it sure was nice that he didn’t try to stifle that side of Willie.

“Are you and the guys gonna pick me up?”

“Yeah. We’ll come around...eleven? Does that work for you?”

“Yeah, that works perfectly.”

“Okay. I can’t wait to see you.”

Willie had to suck in a breath at those words, already wishing he didn’t have to wait an entire week.

“Can’t wait to see you either.”

They had gone all out with wearing black together and everything. Luke had been really vocal about it because Willie guessed he’d always wondered what a heist would be like. Did this count as a heist? It didn’t involve taking money or precious gems or anything - not even stuff that didn’t already belong to them, technically. In any case, it was definitely somewhere past midnight and due to the circumstances the guys had to break in to get what they wanted.

Willie followed them through the hallway, intrigued. This was where Alex had been spending a good deal of his time. Where Caleb had come and continued to spread lies. What the man wanted with them Willie was still unsure of, but he wondered if he’d been part of drawing Caleb’s attention to them. He didn’t like the possibility of having dragged them into his mess, but maybe it would be over soon. Alex put a hand on his shoulder and he immediately responded with an encouraging smile as warmth spread all over him.

Luke was shuffling through the key ring. He hadn��t explained where he’d gotten it from and Willie honestly didn’t care to ask. The fact he had one instead of picking every single lock was impressive.

The door opened to reveal the studio they’d spent the past months recording in and Willie looked around at all the strange things he’d never imagined inside. So many different kinds of microphones and cords, stands for all sorts of things, smaller rooms to the side, headphones hanging everywhere. It seemed so different from just playing a show somewhere. Alright, maybe that was the point, but still, Willie was in wonder about how this somehow meshed with Alex’s rock n’ roll world. He didn’t want to laugh, but this place seemed so...wrong for the guys of Sunset Curve. Not because it was just any recording studio, but this particular one made him picture a bunch of guys in pressed business suits making some easy listening record. He would’ve tried to tell them not to sign here even if Caleb weren’t involved.

While he looked on, the rest of them began taking out all of their equipment. Quickly, Willie aided Alex in carrying out different pieces of his drum set. He had to be especially careful carrying out any cymbals so they didn’t make any noise, moving at a ridiculously slow pace. The rest of the guys packed up their guitars and amps and they managed to somehow place everything in the van so it fit tightly and securely.

“Is that really everything?” Willie asked, peeking inside once they’d hauled everything out.

“We’ve done this plenty of times,” Reggie told him. “Not the breaking and entering thing, of course, but the whole packing all of our stuff into Bobby’s trusty van.” He patted the side of the van affectionately. “It’s like Tetris!”

“Her name is Thelma, thank you,” Bobby teasingly corrected before he disappeared back inside the studio.

Reggie got flustered as he followed him. “I...wasn’t calling her Tetris…”

Willie chuckled as he shut the door and brought up the rear. This time the guys went into the booth behind the studio and began looking into every box and drawer they could find. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was looking for, but Willie still joined them anyway. What were masters even supposed to look like? After filtering through everything they could, Luke and Bobby stood up.

“I’m not finding anything,” Luke said. “Anybody else?”

Alex rose from where he’d been kneeling over a box.

“Nothing.”

“Gonna be honest, I have no clue what I'm looking at,” Willie told them. Reggie peeked over into the box he’d been rifling through. After a few seconds, he shook his head.

“Nope, nothing there either.”

“Ahh, I figured they wouldn’t be here, but I thought we should look anyway, just to cover all our bases,” Luke admitted.

“Where else were you planning on looking?” Bobby urged slightly. He glanced at his watch. “It’s almost one already.”

“Everywhere man, what else?”

“Luke, we can’t spend all night here,” Alex said.

“Okay, guys” Luke defended. “We can split up or something and get things done twice as fast.” The guys looked around at each other, although it was obvious what the pairings would be.

“Okay, Alex, Willie, you two can go together. Bobby and Reggie, come with me.” Willie instinctively took Alex’s hand as they looked at each other, both smiling a little. “Just don’t get stuck in a closet together or something.”

“Really, Luke?” Alex remarked. “Us? In a closet? Choice words, man.”

Luke only rolled his eyes and shook his head with a smirk as he followed Bobby and Reggie. Alex turned to Willie, also shaking his head at his friend.

“Okay,” he said. “Come on, let’s go.”

Hand in hand, Willie followed Alex into another storage room, having difficulty getting his mind off the now-forbidden closet scenario. Maybe they could find the masters and then kill some time? He’d gotten a chaste little smooch as he’d entered the van and plenty of knee touches, but as they were already in the middle of breaking in, why not take the chance to make out in a closet while they were at it? The kind of story that would make for later? The memory? It was too tempting.

“I won’t lie, I definitely thought you guys knew where these masters would be,” Willie told Alex as he pulled open drawers full of file folders. Alex sighed as he shut the drawer he’d been searching.

“I should’ve told you we were guessing at best,” he said. “But we really did think they were most likely going to be in the mixing booth. Or, I guess, all of us excluding Luke.”

“What are you guys going to do if they’re not here?”

Running both hands through his hair, Alex thought for a little bit. It appeared their plan lacked a great deal of thought toward contingencies.

“So next time you tease me for forgetting what busses are, I’m just gonna bring this up - ”

“Shut your face,” Alex laughed, playfully shoving at his shoulder, making Willie giggle. “This isn't even close to that. Anyway, I guess we would just have to come up with a new plan. I mean, no one would even know we came tonight as long as we don’t get caught.”

Willie placed his on Alex’s back assuringly and for a moment they simply shared a look of hope. His hand slowly trailed from his back and held the side of his face, gently rubbing his thumb along Alex’s cheek.

“We’ll find them,” he insisted softly. Placing his hand over Willie’s, Alex’s eyes emanated gratitude and he gave a small smile.

“Thanks for coming,” he said, returning the tender tone he’d been given. Shrugging casually, Willie shut the last drawer, making sure everything remained as it had before. He trailed Alex as they headed back out and almost immediately clashed into the other three boys.

“So we’re thinking it’s in...the office,” Luke told them.

“The office?” Alex asked in disbelief, apparently understanding what that meant. All the guys looked at each other with uncertainty, none more than Willie himself.

“The office?” he repeated. “Is that supposed to mean, like, Caleb’s, or something?”

“You guessed it,” Bobby replied, gesturing toward him dejectedly. “And it’s the one that Luke definitely doesn’t have a key for. So unless you’re good at picking locks, we came here for nothing.”

Willie wasn’t sure what it was, but at hearing Bobby say that it was like lightning struck in his mind. Sitting back on his heels, he looked between each of the guys, landing his gaze on Alex last.

“Actually, I think I can,” he told them seriously. “I’m not sure, but...I don’t know how, but I think I know this.”

“That’s a better chance than none at all,” Luke said with the slightest hint of confidence. “Anyone got something we could use?”

“Ope!” Reggie immediately began digging into the pocket of his pants and shortly procured a bobby pin. As everyone stared in bewilderment, he merely shrugged. “I had to do my sister’s hair this morning; I think it turned out pretty okay.”

“Alright, well hand it over,” Luke demanded. Reggie passed it to Willie and they all gathered around the door of Caleb’s office.

Kneeling and licking his lip, Willie concentrated on placing the bobby pin correctly into the lock, pressing his ear against the door and listening as he slowly turned the pin back and forth. A couple minutes of distilled silence passed as everyone held their breath, watching him carefully work with the lock until they all heard a satisfying click and Willie cracked a wicked smile. The whole band exhaled in relief as he turned the handle and pulled the door back.

“Come here,” Alex said, pulling him into a quick kiss with both hands before venturing into the room. A very twitter-pated giggle let loose from Willie’s throat that he tried not to dwell on because of how embarrassing it must have sounded. Reggie smirked as he passed them, nodding in approval.

“Awww, yes!” Luke cried as he found what he’d been looking for: the master copies of their newly finished album. According to Alex, the mixing and rendering had only been finalized a couple days before and they had more of Caleb’s stamp of approval on them than anything close to their songs. They couldn’t finish ruining his business without them. This was only half of their plan, anyhow.

As Luke filled his hands with the precious records in victory, an alarm immediately began blaring into everyone’s ears. They all looked around in panic before they all rushed toward the back door of the studio again, hands over their ears.

“Shitshitshitshitshitshitshit!” Luke repeated, clutching the masters to his chest.

While they were almost out the door, Reggie stopped as he caught sight of the recording booth again, an odd look in his eye.

“Reggie, come on, we’ve gotta go!” Bobby called to him.

“No, I’ve gotta do this!” Reggie shouted back, heading inside the booth. Willie watched in confusion as he unbuckled his jeans while leaning with his back against the glass of the booth. He lowered the back of them until he could press his entire rear end up to the window, trying his best to make a print in the glass. Bobby sighed in exasperation and shook his head as he rushed to get behind the wheel of his van.

Reggie finally left the window, struggling to pull his jeans back up as he hurried toward the van again. Alex stood back as he climbed into the same seat that he’d had before, and then made to clamber inside himself before bright lights illuminated them from behind. Turning and raising an arm so he couldn’t be blinded, Willie stood petrified at what he saw.

Caleb Covington stepped out of his vehicle, a look of fury that struck his very core. Suddenly, Willie could feel flames beginning to devour him, and the way the man had leered over him in his dream made his blood freeze. He’d once been completely trusting of this same creep who had his gaze fixed on him with pure hatred. He could hear the pounding on the glass. He could also hear the sound of his name.

“Willie!” Alex tugged on him harshly, dragging him backwards into the van and slamming the door shut before Willie even realized what had happened. Snapping out of his trance, he looked up as Alex was gripping his hands tightly and Bobby floored it out of the back of the alley. He couldn’t help but stare back toward the fading headlights where Caleb’s figure was still silhouetted in a desperate stagger, and he thought he heard that same cry of rage.

He felt a sensation on his hands and looked down to see Alex planting a kiss on his whitened knuckles, rubbing them over with his hand. His face was full of concern, and a bit of his own fear mirrored back. They kept wary eyes out the back window of the van, but ultimately didn’t see Caleb following them. After a few blocks, Willie finally felt he could let go of the breath he’d had trapped in his lungs and pressed his forehead against Alex’s. That had been terrifyingly close, but they’d made it out. That’s what mattered.

#julie and the phantoms #jatp #fanfic #jatp fanfic #sunset curve #alive au #willex #willie #alex mercer #luke patterson #reggie peters #bobby wilson #julie molina #caleb covington #viva las vegas #vlv #the masters #fiddlepickdouglas

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thebakedcalicocat · 3 years ago

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All Tomorrow :|: Half way Blog :|:

By C.M. Kosemen

What is the setting of the novel? Is the setting important or could the novel happen anywhere? Why? Would it change the plot? In what way?

The setting of the novel takes place in a very similar universe as us, the setting holds a strong importance due to the impact on humans. It changes the plot very hard due to how it starts out very hopeful for the human race. Then it slowly becomes hopeless and some could even say terror filling.

Describe a problem faced by the main character. Explain how the main character deals with the problem. Make a personal connection to this (either your own experience or that of someone you know).

The main issue the problem faces at least in the first part of the book is mainly that humanity as a whole has an issue of causing long term fights that are meaningless, compared to working together as a whole. I know the pain of asking for help myself, but in this book it shows the idea that maybe the Qu would have lost if humanity had just joined together for a common goal. Even friends I know fight over pity stuff that doesn’t really matter.

Write down a passage that appeals to you and describe why? Does it make more of an impact on your understanding of the book or does it make more of a personal impact?

‘It was a terribly efficient hegemony that would certainly give rise to civilization in a matter of centuries had fate not intervened. As a stray comet obliterated the Temptors' mound forests, one of Humanity's best chances for re-emergence was cruelly swept away. ‘

In the book the Temptors were a strong example of what could have been a strong future for the race of humans. Sadly it also shows how easily things can be taken away. It give us the understanding that life is short and sometimes the most confusing thing can be the ones that will be remembered.

What significance does the passage have in the book

It is meant to show another example of a chance humanity could have returned and how life can be taken away so fast. It meant to also show that in the book time is good or bad to you, it really matters now.

Is there a message or main theme you see emerging? What is it and how is it shown? Are there any other books you have read or movies you have seen that also have this same theme? Explain.

The main message during the first part of the book would have to be the idea of how history goes on, you may struggle. The thing is the universe find a way to keep on going, during the book, when humanity was destroyed. Small parts of the race still remain and fight to stay alive.

Choose a character who is starting to change and explain how the change is being made and what purpose it serves. Are the changes the character is making, plausible or realistic (could/would actually happen in real life)? Why/Why not?

One of my own favorite characters would have to be the snake people, I always found the snake people to be an interesting idea and how it affects the story. In the story, the snake people have used a large example of how anything can start from the bottom and grow to the top.

Write your opinion of a character's action or reaction to a situation in the book. Do you think it was the appropriate course of action and would you have done the same? Why/Why not?

One of the scariest characters in the book would have to be the Qu, the Qu has a race that is heartless beyond imagination. How it dealt with forming humanity into something can not be just described as horror. Of course I would never do the same myself, but in the book it leave up the idea of if these aliens even feel some emotions at all.

Identify and list examples of figurative language - metaphors, similes, symbolism, and so on - and explain what they mean or signify and how they add to the literary merit of the book.

.”gardens of terraformed paradise”.

A strong version of symbolism, detail and imagination to the reader of the books, it is meant to have great meaning to and a detail of how the humanity viewed their land.

.” For theirs was a never-ending quest”.

Another example of symbolism, adding character to the Qu and how they will stop nothing to make sure that they always get their way.

“.Tiny, feeble feet and hands modified for digging were all that betrayed their noble heritage.”

A metaphor showing the strong difference between the humanity of the past and the humanity of today in the book and how much the Qu changed them.

‘.Their hulking stance allowed for a developed brain and gradually”

An shorter example with extra detail of a simile adding an idea to the reader, the cool thing is that it worded in a way that it shows that the Gigantic were always going to gain the same mind as their former humans.

‘.rooted in soil like grotesque carnivorous plants”

Perfect example of a Similes to build character to an race of the newly human race, it is great for the book due to giving some imagination to the reader. Allowing the reader to see what it could look like in their own mind.

Identify and list examples of flashback and/or foreshadowing in the book. What purpose does flashback play in the book? Is it effective? What purpose does the foreshadowing play in the book? Is it effective? Did you ''guess'' what the foreshadowing was pointing to?

There are many flashbacks within the book of “ all tomorrow”, mostly comparing the humanity of the past to the new humanity of the now. During the start of the book, it was shown like a whole flashback showing how humanity even then always fought each other non-stop, damaging both Mars and Earth. We forced on the stuff that didn’t matter in the long term. My best guess it meant to foreshadow the Qu and how if only if we worked all together we would have taken the Qu down straight away. In the end it only turned out worse for those people that fought back against the Qu.

Would you recommend this book to another reader? Why/Why not? What kind of person would you recommend it to? What would you tell the person about the book?

Yes and no, I love the book to death, the main issue is that if you are not into horror or the niche meta of monster designing you will have mixed feelings about it. I would only recommend it to someone who is genuinely curious about the idea and give them the face value to it.

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stendyle · 3 years ago

Note

William Afton and Henry Emily open Fredbear’s family diner

A kid is killed in Fredbears and it closes down

William and Henry start fazbear entertainment and open the first Freddy Fazbear’s pizza

William kills Henry’s daughter and it closes down

Henry realizes what William is doing and believes that he created the monster that William has become

Henry refuses to work with William again

William opens Circus Babies pizza which closes after its first day after William’s daughter is killed by an animatronic that he designed

William’s son witnessed his sister’s death and develops a fear of the animatronics

The animatronics from circus babies go into storage

William opens a new Freddy Fazbear’s along with a Freddy juniors

William kills 5 kids at Freddy’s and stuffs their bodies in the animatronics

His son witnesses his father kill one kid

William’s son meets his end after his older brother Michael accidentally crushes his head in an animatronic’s mouth in 1983

William after losing 2 kids to his own creations becomes obsessed with bring them back using the souls (remnant) of killed kids. He is no longer killing for pleasure.

William is caught on the security cameras doing some shady stuff but is never convicted because the bodies are never found

It is marked as an accident and the restaurant shuts down after the animatronics start to smell and ooze blood

Michael finds the storage facility for the Circus baby animatronics and gets a job there. He finds the spirit of his late sister there as long as the spirits of other killed kids who’s remnant have been infused into the animatronics to bring the animatronics alive. He learns that his father has been torturing and killing kids in his efforts to bring back his daughter and son.

Michael is scooped and used as a body for Enard but his body starts to decay so Enard leaves his body to find a new body. Michael somehow survives

Michael gets a job at Freddy’s junior to investigate his father’s murders. The new (toy) animatronics’ facial recognition mistake Michael for William as William is now on a criminal database and they start to attack him. The souls that haunt the old (withered) animatronics also mistake Michael and attack him as well. The puppet (haunted by Henry’s daughter) has taken a motherly role and thinks Michael is there to hurt the other souls and starts (you guessed him) to attack him. Michael starts to see the apparition of a Fredbear animatronic slumped over. He also starts to see the words “its me” in his vision.

Michael is fired for tampering with animatronics and smelling bad (due to his decayed body)

In 1987 an employee or guest (unclear) at Freddy juniors gets their frontal lobe bitten off by an animatronic and the restaurant closes down

The old (withered) animatronics are repurposed into new animatronics and are used in a new smaller restaurant while the toy animatronics are scrapped for parts

Michael gets a job as a night guard at this restaurant to free the spirits haunting the animatronics

Michael learns that his brother haunts the fredbear animatronic along with another soul named Cassidy

Michael does everything in his power but cannot free them. The spirits can only think about getting revenge and won’t be at peace until William is dead.

William learns that the animatronics are alive and in an effort to harness their remnant he accidentally gives them the opportunity they need to kill him. They chase him into the back room and trap him in an old spring lock suit. The suits mechanisms snap shut and horribly injure William but William’s hatred keeps him alive.

Fazbear entertainment seals the backroom shut with William in it to avoid negative PR

Years later a horror attraction named “Fazbear’s frights” based off the Freddy murders is opening

Michael gets a job there after learning that they are using real props from the old Freddy locations and worrying that the spirits would return

His fears are confirmed after he starts seeing the apparitions of the animatronics

On his second day the phone dude mentions a real animatronic that they found

To his horror it his dad’s rotting corpse inside the spring lock suit

Kinda unimportant but he also finds the puppet there

On his final day he torches the place and hopes that that is enough to finally kill dear old dad

He thinks it has worked until he sees his dad in the background of a picture in the paper

Henry Emily after many years of planning finally has perfected his master plan for disposing of the loose ends. He puts an ad in the news paper for the position of managing a new Freddy’s location and sets his plan in motion. First he creates an animatronic to lure and trap the puppet. Next he lites all the remaining spirits to the location. His plan is to let the manager (who stays over night to do tasks) escape while he seals all exits and burns the spirits but after seeing that the manager is Michael Afton he realizes that Michael has been dong the same thing that he was doing and would want to burn with the animatronics so he throws out the exit plan for the manager. Henry burns the place down with him and all of his past mistakes still inside.

Part of William’s soul latches on to some tech.

William’s soul would have gone to eternal damnation and all the spirits (including Michael) would have been freed except for one small hiccup

William’s first victim (Cassidy remember her) still feels so much hatred that she forces the other spirits to stay and keeps William alive. She forces the other spirits to torture him over and over while he laid in a hospital bed in a coma. Any attempt by the nurses to end his suffering would always be thwarted by Cassidy.

Meanwhile an indie game developer (probably a hired by Fazbear entertainment as a PR stunt) creates a series of games that bring to light the murders. These games do a significant hit to Fazbear’s PR

Fazbear entertainment then starts a developing VR game to save face and make light of the murders.

They use old cold from Freddy’s to speed up the process

One of their beta tester (Jeremy) starts to notice some glitches in the game, most noticeably a weird glitchy yellow rabbit. He tries to tell the higher ups but they brush him off. The other testers see it as a challenge to find the glitch but none are successful. Jeremy feels like he is going insane. Soon the rabbit starts talking to him and infecting his brain. Jeremy, now insane, cuts off his face with a paper cutter. He dies from blood loss.

A new beta tester (Vanessa) takes his place. Soon she finds the same glitch. She realizes what the glitch is and starts to make virtual tapes to record what she is doing. Soon she realizes that the glitch has attached itself to the tapes and she separates them and hides them in the games code. But she is too late to save herself the rabbit gets into her mind and makes her record a false tape with false information that would lead the next beta tester to come across the tapes to also get taken over by the glitch.

The glitch is William Afton (duh he always comes back)

Vanessa’s coworkers start to notice her acting weirdly. The IT guy especially as he notices that she has been searching stuff like “Help” or “How to induce subservience in human subjects”. Meanwhile a battle is going on in Vanessa’s brain, her free will vs William. She tries to fight him but he is too strong. He gets her fired from the game dev team and makes her get a job at a new Fazbear’s location that has taken the form of a giant mall.

To be continues after Security Breach comes out

NAH CUZ THIS IS IMPRESSIVE...

#u just sent me back to 4th grade with this ask btw #/pos #rapidtgb #rapid !!#askz

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kotalefanzu · 4 years ago

Text

Pitch Pearl ATUS AU- Part 2

so where we last left off, danny has been experiencing some weird stuff. it all comes to a point when he finds a DP symbol drawn onto his fogged-up mirror.

at this point, danny has to come to terms with what this all means. he has told nobody about his experiences in the ghost zone, let alone explain the significance of the cursed symbol, made by phantom as a way to ‘tease’ him about their unity and relationship. the royal insignia is a crown lit aflame with green fire. nobody in the human realm should know about DP. the only logical and possible answer is phantom is back.

he starts panicking

but days go by, then a few weeks and no ghosts have shown up. none at all.

sometimes he finds little trinkets on his desk or under his pillow or other little places where he would notice them. he’d get a few nightmares here and there as well. nothing big though. he can almost pretend like it isn’t happening, like phantom isn’t here at all.

but then at lunch, the lights flicker off and a glowing green fog slowly rolls in from the walls. the students watch in quiet horror as is solidifies into a misty DP symbol. danny throat closes up and he is paralyzed. a haunting whisper carried into everyone’s ears.

“The Tale of the Ghost King”

they sit blankly as the voice tells a story, the fog twisting and condensing into vague shapes like a storybook.

the king used to be a small ghost, it says, a small ghost that just wanted the best for his people. he freed them from the tyranny of the old king and promised them that no longer would they ever have to be treated like the lowest class. he uplifted them higher than they could imagine. it tells about the king finding a new realm, a new place to explore, and how cruel the people who lived there were, treating them like monsters and beasts. the king decided to find an ambassador to show the humans the ghosts’ true kindness. to show the humans just how stupid and foolish they are. the king slowly realized that as long as the desire to return home persisted, the human would never see the truth, and with a heavy heart concluded for the sake of education, people needed to die. the human was too blind and naive to appreciate his people’s sacrifice and tossed the poor king’s hospitality and love in his face, sealing the gateway so that they could never meet again. it was so silly to think the king would never find another way. they have a new entrance now. this time, the king’s dear gullible human would never escape.

as the mist fades and whispers and gasps break out around the cafeteria, people slowly putting together the story that danny never told, danny shakes with fear and anger at the patronizing and misleading way his fears were brought to light. he wants to scream and cry and hide away and as people begin asking for answers from him, he taps into a power he never wanted to feel again and vanishes.

he isn’t seen for weeks on end, held up in his room and only leaving when the coast is clear. the other fentons stop trying to catch him out of his room because he knows when they are there and they rather make sure he stays alive and doesn’t starve himself. sam and tucker make sure to keep him informed about the school by leaving his homework and copied notes at the door and setting down by it, just gossiping. they don’t know if he is listening or not but the homework and notes are always gone when they come back the next day so they have hope.

danny focuses on trying to locate the portal by meditating and practicing his magic again. his back up plan to escape amity and leave town if he gets short on time. the ghosts can’t drift too far from the portal. he will be safe if he leaves, but it would be better if he doesn’t have to.

the trinkets and gifts continue showing up and danny stores them out of sight so he doesn’t have to look at him. each one gets progressively more and more sentimental and personal until one day as he is making his bed, he catches sight of a glinting object he never wanted to see again.

the circlet.

bile rises to his throat and he rushes out to the bathroom, emptying his guts into the toilet. the sound alerts jazz, who peeks in and finds him sobbing over the toilet seat. she kneels downn by him, gently rubbbing his back. glancing over she spies their parent watching in concern from the doorway. their mom gets him water and their dad gets him some fudge to help clean the taste out. when danny comes back to reality he looks at them and starts crying all over again, basking in the comfort of his family. they expect him to lock himself away again when he has calmed down, but instead he site there for a second before telling them they need to talk.

in the living room, danny explains in with as much detail he can handle about what happened when he was taken away into the ghost zone. he tries to communicate how he didn’t like it and he really didn’t want to do any of it, like they would shun him if he didn’t. he confesses to the powers and promsises that he is still human and he isn’t a ghost. finally he opens up about what’s happening now and what he needs to do if they want to avoid the apocalypse. he tells them that if he cant find the portal, he will need to flee and hope that phantom doesn’t change targets.

they listen quietly and reassuringly up until that moment before completely vetoing that idea. danny is not leaving. this is his home and nobody is going to take that away from him. they tell him that its best if he starts opening up more about what he knows so they can actually help him. danny is hesistant, but agrees.

the day he returns to school, an assembly is held for him to explain the events of the infamous lunch period and what it all meant. students listen in fear and rage as he talks. by the end some are terrified that they will die, some are yelling to sacrifice danny for the protectionn of the town, and some are standing their ground and demanding war. danny barely manages to calm them down again, promising that everything can ba avoided as long as they just find out where the new portal is and close it down.

going back to vladdy bo baddy, he finally comes back to town and has managed to power himself up. he is ready to go flirt with maddie and kill jack, however, when he goes to visit them, he senses a lot of ectoenergy radaiting from the house, more than he would expect without the presence of the portal. vlad is very clueless about the current events and doesn’t really even know much about what went down freshman year. he uses this visit as a way to learn a bit more about the current affairs and greets the family, complimenting maddie, giving a backhanded compliment to jack, kissing up to jazz, and-

he freezes when he looks at danny because there is a lot of ecto energy raidaiting off of him and it but scares him a small bit and excites him. potentially another half, he thinks. after a few hours of small talk, he excuses himself as its getting late and invites them over

maddie is hesistant and tries to find an excuse not to go when danny happily accepts vlads proposal. she reads in between the lines and takes danny’s lead on this. if he thinks going to vlad’s mansion will be beneficial, then its best to trust him.

a few days later, they welcome themselves at vlad’s house and danny tries sensing for the portal. after locating the rift he excuses himself to go use the bathroom and starts trying to track it down. his senses say its behind a wall, but he can’t find the door. he starts messing around with some of the books of bookself that seemed peculiar before quiet footsteps catch his attention. turns out its just a cat.

the cat meows at him and guides him over a bit before pawing at him to pick it up. once lifted, it swipes ato some of the books causing some to fall but one stops mid tilt and a door opens to a hidden lab.

in it, is the portal. danny immediately starts preparing the concentration needed to seal it up. the last time he did it, it was instinctual and he didn’t have a clear grasp on what exactly he did. he needs to fiddle around a bit before he can do it. unfortunately, hologram maddie senses someone in the lab and scans them, sending an alert to vlad about an intruder. vlad rushes off to fight them off half expecting it to be another weak ghost crawling through, but instead sees danny concentrating on destroying the portal. he yells at him, causing danny to fire prematurely and only somewhat seal the portal, but vlad launches into combat before he can continue building up strenght.

vlad goes on a tirade about how clueless he mist be about himself and how halfas work if he thought that was a good idea and explains the importance of having a portal fueling you as a halfa while attacking and shooing away danny who is hellbent on destroying the portal. midway through he transforms when he notices danny isn’t catching onto what he is talking about and when danny still shows confusion, balks. the misunderstanding allows danny a slight moment to build up more energy while engaging vlad in a standstill about what he is and how danny is different. he doesn’t expand to much on it, just clarifying that he indeed is a live and not a halfa or whatever it is. vlad notices danny is about to fire again at the portal and redirect at the last second, restarting the fighting again. thoughout the fight he continues trying to convince danny that he is mostly likely dead and he should be able to transform but none of what he is saying is getting through to danny and its getting frustrating at this point.

the turning point hits when the fenton’s stumble into the lab after hunting down the two missing people across the entire mansion. their arrival, mainly maddie’s, throws off vlad long enough for danny to finally seal up the portal and for the fentons to rip vlad a new for the complete indangerment he brought upon them. luckily the portal is sealed and they are safe now.

everything is quiet for about a month.

one peaceful month of no paranoia, no nightmares, not trinkets.

then danny has a dream, more like a nightmare, about waking up in a too large bed, cold and the sickeningly familiar weight of the circlet on his head. the room is the one that haunted his nightmares for the rest of freshman year and the first few weeks of sophmore. he slowly pulls off the covers, he is dressed in too fancy night garb that he never wanted to wear, and tip toes over to the mirror hanging over the dresser.

his skin is sickly pale and his eyes are glowing a bright icy blue. the circlet is there, heavy and silver with sparkling emerald gems and its so cold andhe jsut stares at himself in the mirror, unfamiliar yet familiar and so very afraid.

he is so out off it he doesn’t notice another figure creeping up behind him until cold, tight arms lock him into place. there is a low amused chuckle and the figure leans up to his ear and whispers the name he tried so hard to forget.

“Starlight~”

“Did you really think that was the end? That I wouldn’t have anticipated you were going to seal up the new portal? You are still so silly.”

danny freezes and tries to question him btu no sound will come out. he can’t talk.

“You know, at first there weren’t any more portals. I was determined after the new rift formed to rush through and drag you back before finishing where I left off. However, unlike you, I think ahead. I decided to take my time with it. To guarantee no repeats. You were planning to run away to where I couldn’t reach you if I dared take a step too far and that was out of the question. What would I have done without you, Starlight? DId you ever take a moment to think about me.”

nails dug into his skin and his voice hitched.

“Luckily I thought about you. One of us has to put in effort into this relationship. I came up with something genius. I asked myself, why not tear more rifts? Once a cut was made, it was easy to make more from it. Why not fill you entire realm up with them, so that any place could be accessed with just a hint of energy? It took me so long, I was almost ready to stop halfway, but I have so much patience when it comes to you. Now I’m finished and there is not place on your stupid little earth that I can’t find you.”

danny’s blood froze from the cold and the fear. phantom only laughed and tightened his grip before pushing away. as consciousness slowly faded in, he heard slight whispers of phantoms last words.

“I’ll see you soon Starlight. You’ll come running back into my arms soon enough.”

he woke up in a cold sweat, jazz standing above him with a grim look.

“Sam and Tucker have gone missing.

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surveys-at-your-service · 3 years ago

Text

Survey #460

“i let it fall - my heart / and as it fell, you rose to claim it”

When you were younger, did your mother or father ever let you open a few presents before Christmas or your birthday even arrived? We have a tradition of opening one of the smaller presents on Christmas Eve. If you could receive a 100 dollar gift card for either blouses, pants, dresses, shoes or purses, which would you chose? PANTS. I need new pants BADLY. What is your favorite thing to do after crying? Ex: Sleep, listen to music, have some alone time, talk to someone, etc? It really depends on why I was crying and how hard. Do you think Trump will be assassinated, or will he survive his term? Old survey. I really thought he'd be assassinated more than any other president, honestly. Last time you felt suicidal? A couple weeks ago, but they were only passive thoughts. Last time you had butterflies? Sometime today, thinking about things. Biggest asshole you know? Some relative of my sister's in-laws' is so fucking rude. Literally no one likes him, but because he's family, he comes to events, anyway. Did you ever leave someone because you know you’d hurt them? No. What song did you last listen to? I'm listening to No Resolve's cover of "Set Fire to the Rain" by Adele. I have seriously been into rock/metal covers lately. Ever ridden in a police car? Yes. That's how they transport you from the ER to psych hospitals here. Ever witnessed a murder? JESUS, no. Have you ever lied under oath? No. Have you ever failed a subject before? I failed Algebra I during my last college attempt. Have you ever had a deadly animal as a pet? Noooo. I wouldn't. I want tarantulas, which are venomous (the potency ranging from what side of the world they come from), but even the worst of their venoms isn't fatal. Have you ever kissed someone of the same gender? Yes. Have you ever been in a hot tub before? Yeah. Have you ever been to a movie that sold out? It's possible, idk. What movie last made you too scared to go to sleep? None, I think? When you’re on a laptop, do you hook up a mouse or use the touchpad? I use a mouse. What’s your mom’s mom’s name? Cecelia. Would it be hard seeing someone else kiss the person you like? BOY THAT WOULD SUCK Have you ever been tempted to steal? No. What is the main character’s name in the book you’re reading? Moonwatcher. Do you have a favorite local band? Who are they? No. Who’s the last person you saw naked, aside from yourself? Mom, walking to her bedroom after a shower. Who’s your favorite horror monster/killer? Pyramid Head from the Silent Hill franchise. What kind of music do you prefer to listen to when driving? When I'm driving, no music. I can't focus. Would you ever own a hairless rat, cat or dog? I'd LOVE a sphinx. I doubt I'm ever getting rats or dogs again, but I do think they're cute. Females, anyway. I'm sorry but hairless male animals are just laksdjfk;lajdwkl;wj for obvious reasons. All the people you’ve kissed, what did their names start with? J, T, D, S. What did you and your ex fight about most? "The" ex, uhhhh... I don't really know. We didn't fight a lot. Don’t you love long hugs? YEAH especially if I'm crying or just in general need comfort. And long kisses? If we're serious and the timing is right, yeah. Have you ever purchased condoms? No. Have you ever gone on vacation with your boyfriend/girlfriend? No previous ones, no. Have you ever trashed your ex’s car after an argument? No. Even I wasn't THAT low. Would you leave a note on a car claiming responsibility if you damaged it? Yes. My guilty conscience would eat me alive otherwise. Have you ever used someone's handicapped parking pass to get a parking spot? No, and you're fucking garbage if you have. Are you embarrassed to tell people your job? I'm humiliated to tell people I don't HAVE a job. If you ran over an animal would you keep driving? omfg NO. I would absolutely pull over sobbing, move the animal to the side of the road, and hopefully there will be some wildflowers nearby to rest on it. I'd call whoever picks up roadkill, too. Where’s the best place to eat a romantic dinner? Take me out to Olive Garden like a basic white bitch & feed me spicy shrimp fritas and u have approximately a 90% chance of getting laid. :eyes emoji: What hobby would you get into if time and money weren’t an issue? Ohhhh I know there's one, but I'm blanking. What would be the most amazing adventure to go on? That is like an impossible question. There are so many possible, epic adventures. When people come to you for help, what do they usually want help with? Writing stuff. Has anybody criticized the way your significant other looked like? Yup, in the past. Like shut the fuck up, are you the one dating them???? Have you written or drawn anything for somebody else? I've done this many, many times. Who has impressed you most with what they’ve accomplished? Idk, there's a lot of people I know like that. What is something you think everyone should do at least once in their lives? Fall in love. Nothing matches that feeling to me. What would you rate 10/10? markerplayer What do you hope never changes? My resilience. I never want to give up when something knocks me down. Would you ever have sex with the last person you texted? UM THAT IS MY MOTHER Is there anyone that you’d love to just spill your guts to? Girt. Like. Now. But I'm waiting until I actually see him again. This needs to be said to his face. Where is the person you have feelings at right now? He's maybe asleep or just waking up? I don't actually know his exact hours and I know they alternate, but I think he primarily works the night shift at his job? Are you happy with your relationship status? I'm not anymore. I want to be with ^ like very badly. When did you last cry? What for? Today. I'm terrified of loving someone again in the fear of getting very hurt or plain traumatized again. Do you think you’re wasting your time on the person you love? No. When’s the next time you’ll kiss someone? I usually hate questions that assume I can see the future, but I can tell you I plan to whenever I see He Who I've Mentioned a Gazillion Times In Today's Survey Spam. Were you ever scared to death of anyone you knew? Or are you currently? My dad, in the past. Not currently. What’s the longest you’ve been away from home by yourself? If you wanna count hospital stays, like... a month? Have you ever been made fun of, because of what you look like? I've been made fun of online once because of my weight. The insult never left me. Have you ever made fun of others, because of what they look like? No. It's awful. Do you think it’s cute when you’re leaving a place, and a guy says “no hug?” What a dick move. Some people don't like hugs. Do you wear short shorts (if you’re a girl)? I didn't know short shorts were specific to females. Anyway, no. I hate my legs WAY too much. Who are you the most uncomfortable around? My sister's in-laws and her husband. Who has your heart? I'm never giving that to another person again. I've got it. But to answer the general question that's being asked, I've fallen like head over heels for Girt. Should cloning ever be allowed to happen? I think it's pretty... I don't know the right word. It just seems immoral to me? Especially when you start cloning things with an actual conscience. I can see a lot of problems arising from it. Are you impatient with really shy people? Well no, given I'm one of 'em. Does your house have air conditioning throughout, or do you have one that sits in your window? Throughout. What is the most ridiculous band name you’ve heard recently? Recently? Idk. Would you ever get a fashion mullet? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO mullets are so ugly alsdkfj;aljdl;jwe Do you believe that Jesus lived and is returning? Isn't it historical, documented fact he was a living person? Even if that is true though, I don't believe in his "miracles." Do you believe in spiritual gifts? No. Do you believe in callings? No. If you were rich, would you get a professional photoshoot done? UM hell yeah. Pls take pictures of me that help me believe I'm even just 0.001% pretty.

#survey #surveys #random questions #lyrics: ''set fire to the rain'' by adele

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hoshiwilluploadstuff · 4 years ago

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In the Spider's Web || Phantom Troupe One-Shot ||

In the Spider’s Web (Phantom Troupe Fanfic)

Summary: She was a regular office worker born with the ability to “see” how dangerous a person is with a number scale of 1-10 above their heads. A toddler would be a 1 and a skilled soldier with a firearm may score a 7. Today, she noticed the reserved new guy at the office measures a 10. *writing prompt*

Warnings: Death, Character Death, and just death- there will always be dead people when its the Phantom Troupe

The offices were mundane as per usual. Yu had been assigned to a new floor to take care of the new employees, or so her supervisor said, but she knew that she had just been given the job because it was exhausting for him.

Lazy prick.

Yu’s eyes drifted off to the people on the floor. Some she knew, some she didn’t, and some just familiar. And just like usual, cloud-like numbers were above their heads ranging only from 3-4. People like her supervisor or those buffy looking fellows were around 5.

Yu had just gotten the ability recently. It helped when she’d walk home alone, who to be wary of, and who to not be afraid of.

“Ah, sorry.” Yu apologized for bumping into a guy. Oh, he was new. He looked like the usual tired office worker trying to get through the day like her. As she was about to introduce herself, her tongue froze.

10.

What?

That couldn’t be possible.

“You alright?” His voice was unusually calm for a new tired guy. He raised a brow.

Calm down, Yu.

Yu managed to wipe off the fear from her tone and laughed it off. “Yea- Yea! You must be new here- I’m Yu Nadmi, your finance manager. I’ll be taking care of helping you around the place.”

She waited for him to introduce himself, but he merely squinted his eyes at her. Scrutinizing her. She gulped. Yep, she was definitely leaving this place. She was quitting the first thing she left the room.

“Right.” He walked past her indifferently. If it hadn’t been for her ability, Yu would have told him off for disrespecting his senior.

But the 10 loomed over his head ominously.

Yu yeeted out of the place immediately. She’ll send in her resignation through email. She was never coming back to that place ever.

Goodbye, promotion.

She hurriedly packed up her stuff- makeup, food, personal documents- everything she owned into her bag.

“Yu, where are you going?” Her co-worker, Lisa, asked. “It’s not lunch yet.”

“My dog died.” was the first thing Yu said. She didn’t have a dog- she had a cute kitten by the name Steve so her parents thought she had a boyfriend or partner or something. Now, she needed to find a new home for Steve so he wouldn’t be murdered like her.

Oh god.

Steve would miss Yu terribly.

“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that.” Yu just nodded, faked a sob, then left. She was on the 4th floor of the building. She quickly pressed the elevator button. It was heading her way. Okay, great. This was just a bad day.

Ding!

The elevator doors opened. She nearly choked in horror. The 10 was haunting her. It was definitely haunting you. Three more people had the 10 over their heads.

What was today?!

The second tallest of the three, a blonde with extremely kind eyes, snapped Yu out of her frozen state. “Aren’t you getting in?”

She couldn’t say no right?? They’d know then. Oh my god.

Yu laughed. “Oh, sorry, I was just dazed.” She entered, feet becoming jelly, and stood beside the small woman with pink hair. She just hoped the fear didn’t ooze out clearly. The doors closed and she pressed the 1st floor. Her eyes couldn’t help but wander over to the floor that was pressed other than hers- 5th. The floor above hers- it led to the boss’ office alongside the other supervisors.

“Do you work here?” The tall blonde asked. You’d have flirted with him casually if not for the 10. Cursed 10.

Yu nodded. “Yea, just new actually.” The lie came out smoothly. “I just finished my interview.”

“Oh? So you’re leaving already? Too bad, you look really pretty.”

May the Lord bless Yu’s poor soul.

“Oh uh thanks… you don’t look too bad yourself.” The elevator dinged just as it stopped at the 5th floor.

“It was nice to meet you, miss. I hope your interview went well.” A bead of sweat rolled down her back as the three left the elevator.

“It was nice to meet you too, sir…” Her enthusiastic smile quickly dropped once the doors closed and her shoulders slumped into relaxation.

Okay, Yu got through that somehow.

But wait, she paused, realizing something.

The number of the elevator flickered to 4.

Only authorized people could enter the elevator from the lobby. And she knew every authorized person in this building. Even if those three were guests, an authorized person would have come with them.

Yu’s shaking hand went over her mouth as she gasped.

The elevator flickered 3.

If one person was at the 4th floor, 3 at the 5th, then...are the other floors even safe? She quickly looked around the small space. Her eyes landed on the square on the ceiling of the elevator.

The elevator flickered 2 and dinged.

“Oi, did you take care of everything on the 3rd floor?” Yu placed a hand over her mouth hearing unfamiliar voices beneath her. There was a pause, she guessed he was talking on the phone.

“Well, Boss should be pleased with how things are going.” Another voice she hadn’t heard of.

Yu held on the metal wire in fear.

“Hm? Did you press this?”

Oh God, if you are there, please let them ignore it.

“They must be done with the 1st floor and are heading up.” Yu’s shoulders relaxed at the other person’s reply.

Yu flinched hearing something wet and heavy drop. A bag, you hoped.

“Franklin’s almost done. Feitan is taking his sweet time getting info on the 4th.” The doors closed and she struggled not to fall over as it moved.

Should she call the police?! Yu didn’t know what to do but she hesitantly took out her phone and pushed it into silent mode. She has seen too many thriller movies that had phones kill them because it wasn’t silent.

She was clearly not going to be one of them.

The elevator dinged, reaching the 1st floor. Yu clenched her fists and looked around her. She hoped there was something you could do to stay on the 1st floor.

“What are you doing here? You’re supposed to head up to the 5th floor and meet up with the rest.” A woman this time. She sounded old, maybe around her early 30s. It was sharp and held a clear air to it.

Yu realized what she could do. She turned on the record.

“Oh, that was me- I pressed that.” A male? She wasn’t sure. But whatever, the police would take care of it if she got out of this alive. “Let's all head up together.”

If she got out of this alive, Yu repeated the thought with a gulp.

The elevator doors closed again and silence took over. Yu paused the recording and looked up. Her next problem…

She carefully, making absolutely no sound, lied on her back. It didn’t take long for the ceiling to appear and Yu clenched her fists as the ceiling came closer and closer and closer.

Then it stopped, several more centimeters more she would have been crushed.

The elevator doors opened, several footsteps echoed out, and the doors closed.

Now, the thing was, Yu would have entered back into the elevator but the amount of space left for her was impossible to even think of moving.

What the frick was she supposed to do? Was she just gonna lie there and wait???

Just then, the doors opened again. But it was rushed panting and pained groans that greeted her ears.

Someone escaped?

“Come on, come on, come on!!!!”

Yu could hear the constant press of the elevator button, most likely for the first floor. She pressed the palm of her hand tightly against her mouth as tears developed at the edge of her eyes.

“Please, please, oh God, please hurry!!!”

The voice belonged to her co-manager.

Her nails dug on the skin of her cheeks when the terrified scream echoed for only a brief second followed by the ‘shing!’ of a blade until the dark silence took over.

“Tsk, noisy cow.” Shaking fervently, Yu resumed recording to get as much as she could. She couldn’t have expected that they were all going to die.

The thought of Lisa, her co-worker, who innocently asked her where she went echoed in her mind. Yu was selfish, a coward, but even she didn’t know it was going to be like this. The tears escaped her eyes and her breathing constricted as a sob, a real sob, tried to break out of her throat. Breathing carefully, she remained motionless again.

Survive, Yu, you can do this. Steve’s waiting for you.

Her constricted breathing finally relaxed at the thought of her little black kitten waiting at home for her to walk and care for him.

Yu was determined to have Steve ready for adoption because even if she did survive this ordeal, the news would broadcast her survival.

She couldn’t have that. She met like four of the guys with that cursed 10 on their heads. They probably remembered her- she had to give Steve a home before she would be murdered.

“Oi, Fei, get that out. We don’t have Shizuku to clean shit up for us right now.” The voice- it belonged to the guy from the 2nd floor, it was deep.

“Tsk.” The other guy replied. Yu’s shoulders shook as the same fleshy bag was dropped heavily on the ground just past the elevator. Just then, the doors closed and the ceiling above her began to grow farther and farther away.

As the elevator descended, Yu paused the record again and returned to sitting upright. She wondered exactly why this was happening.

The office building she was in was called Spectrum that specialized in marketing. It wasn’t famous for that matter, but it did get rare items that could be bidded in auctions. However, Yu was sure that they didn’t have any rare items as of the month. After all, Yu was in charge of the budgets and there had been no significant changes at all. It was the usual low-grade items sold to the public. The last time they even got a rare item was a year ago.

The loud ding snapped Yu out of her thoughts. She carefully descended from the roof of the elevator, careful of making any suspicious sounds, and exited the elevator. Her hand immediately shot up to her mouth as the urge to retch took over her.

Piles of bodies stretched throughout the lobby. Familiar faces, friends, co-workers stared at her with blank and dead eyes, their blood mixed and pooled around one another. She felt sick seeing the red zero that floated just above their bodies. She had never seen her ability show a zero before. She quickly looked away and took deep breaths into her palm.

The faint smell of iron touched her taste and she doubled over holding back her breakfast. Fortunately, she stomached it back in.

Yu carefully walked over the bodies, careful not to step on the blood and even those zeroes and quietly maneuvered her way to the back door exit. She didn’t think twice to go through the front entrance. The less amount of blood dated all the way there meaning they weren’t scared going up front.

Soon enough, Yu was at the back door exit meant only for authorized people to go through. She quickly hid when a looming person appeared at the corner of her eye.

“I can’t believe I’m taking watch here. Shit.” A samurai? Yu was afraid to take out her phone to turn the recording back on. The back area was barely lit, except the lights that came through the windows. Her position would be seen if her phone screen lit up.

“I’m so fucking bored! I can’t believe I lost to those little shits on rock paper scissors.” The man continued to grumble. Yu shook at the 10 over his head.

Seriously, what the hell??? She just wants to go home, drop Steve at her parents place, then be happily killed. Or she could run away and live in the forest and become a naturalist. Yes, that sounded good too.

“Hm?” Yu froze at the knowing tone of the man. She could vividly hear him scratch his chin. “I can hear someone else here.” Hearing that, Yu immediately clasped her hand over her mouth and tugged her bag close to her chest.

Breathe calmly. Her throat constricted. Yu, calm down.

The scratching noise disappeared and Yu quickly buried herself deeper into her hiding spot.

Ba-dum. Ba-dum.

Her heart beat rang in her ears.

Ba-dum.

The sharp ringing of silence accompanied her heart beat.

“Hm?” It was right by her ear and Yu sprang up and ran. But the collar of her shirt was pulled harshly and she cried out.

“NO!” She struggled hard, pressed the heel of her shoe on his foot, and slammed her elbow hard against his chest. She felt it in slow motion, the squish of joints on the heel and the jolt back of her elbow to her hand. There was an audible thump and a pained yelp behind her as she ran for her life.

Yu headed towards the bathroom. There was an open window for ventilation that she knew fit her size because obviously she had gone through there at some point in her job.

“Oi, Nobunaga, answer your damn phone.” Yu’s small frame slammed into a brick wall and she fell onto her bum. Gasping for her life, her frightened state stared up at the man she had seen in the elevator on the 4th floor. Oh God. He was bigger and wider in an open area.

“The little piece of-!” The samurai was behind her. This buff man in front of her.

She thought she was done for when the buff man looked down at his phone then at her.

“Saved us the trouble. Thought we had to search for your home.” The horror in his words didn’t quite register as the panic of trying to survive settled in. Yu quickly sprang up to dart away, but the buff man instantly grabbed her by the waist and threw her over his shoulder.

“LET ME GO! LET ME GO!” was at the tip of her tongue but she bit it back hard feeling the overwhelming strength behind his grip. Her nails dug the palm of her hand, but she tried to think rationally even at this point.

Why’d they need her???

“Lucky girl, I'd slice you open if you weren’t needed.” The samurai, Nobunaga grumbled in distaste. “What is so important about her?”

“Check your phone, idiot.” Yu nearly squealed when the man suddenly laughed, his shoulders shaking making her world go up and down. “What did she do to you to make you so fucking pissed?”

There was the sound of light tapping, Yu guessed was his phone, and a grumble of “Just shut the fuck up and let’s get to the 5th floor.”

Yu felt sick to her stomach as her world swayed around. It didn’t take long for her to be back in that elevator she had been stuck in for what was hours but was merely minutes, and back at the 5th floor she was dying to not go into.

The samurai and the buff man were busy chattering to themselves. Yu was just too dizzy and light-headed at that point to even listen to them. Her bag idly swung back and forth as she was carried away.

“Welcome back, miss~!” Yu was greeted by the enthusiastic blonde man when she was thrown to the ground half-heartedly. She grimaced at his warm smile. “To think an interviewee was actually the finance manager!”

Yu’s eyes met the frightened gazes of her supervisor and the rest of the team leaders. The number 5 floated above their heads. Their faces were contorted in fear and panic with blood splatter on various areas of their tied up forms. She noticed she was the only manager in the group.

“Is that all of them?” her eyes darted to the one who spoke, a blonde woman with a sharp accentuated nose. She knew her voice from the 1st floor.

“Shizuku already got rid of their boss so yea, that’s all of them.”

Why did they need her?

Just as the thought passed, the blonde woman’s eyes flickered over to her. Yu wearily scooched away when the woman approached her.

“Do you know why you’re here?” The woman asked, placing a hand on top of Yu’s head.

Yu nervously looked around her and shook her head. If she was going to die, she hoped it would be quick and painless.

“No…”

“Is the book ‘Melody in the Poison Trap’ familiar to you?” Yu’s brows furrowed, carefully searched her memories, and shook her head ‘no’.

“You liar-!!!” Her supervisor's yelling was cut off by a sharp ‘shiiing!’. Even Yu had to nervously gulp at the samurai’s sharp blade pointed at her supervisor’s adam's apple.

“He told us that you knew of the book’s location.” Yu’s eyes flickered to her supervisor’s angered, panicked gaze and the blonde woman’s calm, indifferent gaze.

Yu carefully looked through her memories but the book that was mentioned wasn’t in any of them.

“The…” Her tongue was heavy as she carefully chose her words. “The only books or compositions that the company was interested in were La Flor Demente, violin piece of the Sonata of Darkness, and the Void Century. B-But the bidding got too high so we were unable to acquire any of them.” She locked eyes with her supervisor when she said the next statement, “There was no Melody in the Poison Trap.”

The blonde woman immediately took her hand off her head and nodded at her companions.

Yu couldn’t even react so much as a gasp when all of the team leader’s bodies were decapitated. Her eyes were still locked on her supervisor’s eyes as the light faded from them.

Once their bodies dropped and their number became a red zero was when Yu couldn't hold back her breakfast.

“Ugh, disgusting.” It was the new guy, supposedly the new guy, who commented while she vomited.

“It was fun seeing them come up with lies.” Yu recognized it as the smaller, softer voice from the 2nd floor. He was the smallest in the group with only his left eye visible from his mop of hair.

“Definitely, especially when they communicated with their eyes.” The enthusiastic blonde chimed.

“I should’ve stayed with the Boss if I knew the fight was going to be as boring as this.” The buff man groaned. Yu wiped her lips as she tiredly gazed at the killers. Her vision was starting to blur but she dug the nails into her palm to stay awake, focused.

“What we do with that? What Boss say?” The new guy grumbled, bringing Yu’s existence back into their focus. She was a ‘that’ now.

Yu pressed herself against the wall and hugged her bag close to her chest.

Why hadn’t they killed her?

Another blonde, but with no eyebrows, spoke this time. “We’re babysitting her.” He said it with a click of his tongue. He was the other guy on the 2nd floor. “Boss said that she’s important.”

“That’s it? Nothing else? Not have Paku over here or Feitan extract the information however they want??” The buff guy looked at his phone then at the blonde, eyebrowless man.

“Nope. We’re babysitting her.” The blonde man confirmed. “So, who’s taking her?” Yu watched as they grimaced looking at each other.

“Not me.”

“Me either.”

“Nada.”

“Nope.”

Or similar phrases were being thrown around like taking turns on who’s supposed to do the dishes for the night, except she was the dishes.

“Let’s flip for it then. Take bets on the majority two who’ll have to babysit her.” The warmer blonde said with a grin. They all confirmed with their own noises.

Yu couldn’t even relax, despite her death not being held by a string anymore. Not because of the dead bodies surrounding her, but because of the haunting 10 over the killers’ heads. All of them were a 10. Even the smallest guy was a 10.

How was that even possible?

The adrenaline from earlier had dissipated once she was dropped there. Her sharpened senses were dulling by the second and exhaustion took over her fright.

“You lose, Feitan!”

“Haha, loser!”

Her eyes drooped as her vision blurred.

“Fuck you, bastards!”

“Oi, don’t get pissed. We won fair and square!”

Then her eyes closed.

The cold crisp air caressed Yu’s barely conscious body and stirred her senses to awaken. Her arms were numb from being asleep for too long and pins and needles stabbed her from the tips of her toes up to her knees.

“Ugh…” Yu groaned. Her brows knitted together when a splitting headache hit her head.

“Finally up?” She jolted at the irritated and rough voice from beside her. It was the new guy with the 10.

“Yea…” She grimaced and held her head. “Where are we?” They were in a simple room with the basic furniture for a bedroom. Looking around, she found biscuits and a cup of water on the bedside drawer and a growl echoed from her stomach coincidentally.

“Take it.” The guy said before she could say anything. “Prepared for you.” He was playing with his phone. Yu knew it to be one of the trending moba games, Moba Saga. She played it frequently at home and learned about the heroes as well. She looked away immediately seeing how bad he was at handling a basic hero. Her tongue might be the death of her if she wasn’t careful.

She drank a bit of the water first then ate the biscuits then drank the rest of the water. While doing this, she couldn’t stop her eyes from wandering to the screen and her face grimacing every time he made a wrong move.

Maybe he noticed her peering over because he handed the phone to her when his team lost the game.

“Try?” He said, but his words were opposite to the emotion in his eyes. Still, Yu was bored and her only company at the moment was this psychopath.

It’s not like she had a choice.

She shook her head. “I’ll just watch.” He hummed in satisfaction, to which Yu tried hard not to visibly roll her eyes at, and continued to play another PVP game. This time, she didn’t shy away from watching and leaned over to see the game.

He was using another basic hero this time, a jungler. Yu tried not to tell him what to buy, but it was just at the tip of her tongue whenever he just pressed a random item that had good stats. Barely 8 minutes in the game, he must’ve noticed her oozing anxiety.

“What?” He stated, rather than asked, in irritation.

Yu quickly waved her hands. “J-Just nothing. Keep playing.” Actually, she wanted to say- you could’ve dodged that- why did you buy that, your hero is physical not magical- don’t you know the skills of the hero???

She jumped in surprise when he shoved the phone into her hands.

“Then play.” His brows knitted in irritation. He actually looked cute, but the looming 10 was what made her listen to him. While playing, she began to take out one item at a time and replaced it with what she usually bought. In the 5 minutes she was playing, she got a triple skill and two double kills that scored the team their victory.

“Nice.” She muttered, completely forgetting the man beside her. She was about to play again when he snatched the phone from her hands.

“You know the game?” He asked before she could start a protest. Her lips formed a thin line, thinking there wasn’t any harm done, and answered him.

“Yea, I play it at home.” She leaned against the bed rest. “I usually play marksman or mid laner though. I only use jungler when everyone else is being stubborn.”

“Hm. So my play was bad?”

“Yep, pretty much.” She said before the question actually settled into her. In seconds, the man had a sharp knife against her throat. Now, she really was pressing herself deeply against the bedrest.

“So you think you better than me?” The man chuckled, or more like a manic giggle, and slid the blade just below her chin.

Yu really had to forget she just dissed a psychopath that his play style sucked, huh?

“Uh…” She felt the skin of her throat press against the blade as she gulped. “N-No? Y-You just don’t know how to use the heroes…” Her saliva was practically drying up with each word. “Y-You just started…” Seeing the gleam in his eyes, she knew he had been playing for a while. She choked out the “...right?” and prayed that somehow someway something was going to get her out of this situation.

And her prayers were kind of answered.

“Yo, Fei, don’t be a horny bitch. Boss needs her mental state ok.” It was the blonde, eyebrowless male. He was leaning against the open door of the room.

“Tsk.” Yu felt like he wanted to tell his friend ‘Fuck you’ based on his facial expression, but he did take the knife far away from her throat. She wearily rubbed her throat, the sensation of the blade still there.

“You.” She jumped hearing her name. “Let’s go. Boss wants to see you.” Her eyes flickered over to the new guy-why she insists on calling him the new guy? It was shorter than black-haired male-who got off the bed to follow the eyebrowless blonde.

She scurried to follow them as well. In the time she spent on the bed, she realized her work clothes looked awful- dirt, grime, and blood were stuck on the fabric. The memories of what transpired yesterday flashed in her mind.

Wait, how was she so sure it was yesterday? How long had she been passed out?

Her eyes stayed glued on the beige carpet floor while following the shoes of the men in front of her. They weren’t worried at all if she would run. Honestly, Yu didn’t think she could even outrun them.

In two left turns and one right turn, they finally passed a line that led to a room with wooden flooring. The crackle of fire greeted her ears as she looked up to survey the room. Her eyes immediately locked hard on the back plush armchair that was situated in front of the crackling lit fireplace.

A black question mark floated right above it.

She felt all color drain from her face at the sight. A question mark? What did that mean? This didn’t come with her ability handbook- not that she had one, but 1-10 were the only numbers she was told about.

There was no fucking question mark at all!

Yet it floated right in front of her, mocking her.

“Boss, she’s here.” She could faintly hear the eyebrowless man call out to the man called Boss. The question mark moved and she took a small step back when the owner of the dark question mark revealed his face.

Cold. It was as if every fiber of her being was turning into ice. That was the look in his eyes that was locked onto hers.

Beads of cold sweat trickled down her back when he gave her a small smile. Evil. It was as if Satan himself was right before her, chilling her to the bone.

“I hope my subordinates treated you well.” Even his voice was an icy wasteland, tempting to freeze her with every word.

“Y-Ye-Yea, th-th-they did.” Her teeth stuttered as if she was freezing in a pool of cold water.

“Are you alright?” His cool voice, the crease in his facial features, and his body behavior dripped with worry. But it just didn’t show in those cold, blank eyes.

Every moment spent with him felt like being chucked in a bucket of ice.

Her feet turned tail to run but a wide wall of muscle blocked her path. Heavy, panic breathing was pumping out of her lungs now. The screams, the pleads, the begging, and the cries were just lodged in her throat as she racked her brain how to get out of here, away from him.

Going by instinct, she jumped behind the large, burly man and cowered in fear.

“Boss, I think you scared the shit out of her.” The burly man chuckled showing a gleam of his canine teeth.

“Hm…how curious.” The boss’ smile dropped as he held his chin deep in thought. “Well, Miss Nadmi, I apologize for scaring you, but you have something that we are interested in.”

Interested in?

Her hands were still shaking and her breathing was still heavy, but if she didn’t answer him, all other eyes on her would make sure she would. And Yu didn’t want to tread to that scenario.

After licking her cold, chapped lips, she hesitantly answered. “B-Be specific.”

The decapitated heads of her team leaders, the dead bodies of her co-workers, and the horrified scream of her co-manager was fresh in her mind. But the soft meow of Steve, her little kitten, overpowered the dreadful event.

“An antique book, that had just been recently found, was logged in by your company a few weeks ago. The book is called the Dark History. I’m sure you’re familiar with it.”

She was, but not because of her company. She had just curiously searched for it when she saw it to be one of the interesting artifacts wanted by Spectrum. What he said even matched the time she was looking into it.

It was all her fault they even went there.

“Yes… But all I did was search for it in the listings- that’s the furthest I went.” Why? She wanted to ask, but bit her tongue.

The boss smiled. “Well, you see, just after that, it disappeared from the stocks of all markets. Right after you had searched for it.”

A chill ran down her spine from those words. Was he saying that she bought it?

“That book cost like 10 billion jenny- that’s more than 100,000 times my salary for 10 years, maybe even more.” She spat out her thoughts in shock. “A-All I did was check the description, the price, and ask for details from the seller that wasn’t covered in the description.” She clamped her mouth shut immediately. The temperature in the room somehow rose in heat after that.

“What kind of details?” He was still smiling.

Creep.

She gritted her teeth, the chill still on set on freezing her from inside. “The pages of the book, what it was made of, the author…”

“Pages?” The boss cut her off.

“Yes, the original Dark History is divided into sections of the history that was deleted from the world, categories filled of the forgotten past, and are then compiled into a specific set of pages of 777. If the pages are more or less than 777, it is a mere fake copy that wouldn’t sell a jenny.”

“You’re very informative about the book.”

Yu nodded frantically. “My dad was an avid collector of information for stuff like that. But he would go on and on and on about just the Dark History and how if in the hands of a powerful person, they’d be able to bend countries to their will.”

“Is your father still alive then?”

“Yes? He’s in his late stages of Alzheimer’s so even if you wanted to get information from him- you wouldn’t be able to.”

“And how did the seller reply to your questions?”

“He didn’t. I actually forgot about the book until…” Yu swallowed the thick glob of saliva down her throat, realizing just how much she just said. “...you asked.”

There was a long brief of ringing silence after that. The boss held his chin in deep contemplation. Yu was holding her breath wondering if she was dead now or dead later.

Was she useless now? Were they going to get rid of her now that she gave them the information? She couldn’t go just yet! Steve was waiting for her at home! He must be starving and...

“I guess you are free to leave now.”

“Oh God, please let me just give my cat to my parents so they can find a new owner for him!” She cried out and clasped her hands together as if in deep prayer.

A few chuckles and laughs echoed throughout the room. Yu was shaking and jittering like a fallen leaf off a branch that she didn’t find the time to feel embarrassed.

“She’s a riot. You’re letting her go that easy, boss?” The samurai, one of the 10s laughing, said.

The boss chuckled. “Yes. Miss Nadmi, you are free to leave. Don’t worry, my subordinates won’t harm you once you leave.”

Yu blinked slowly. Seeing that they were all just staring at her, was it true? She nodded slowly and muttered a soft breath of ‘ok…’ and left. The building she was in was an abandoned apartment complex that was beginning to decay from lack of use. It was already dark, maybe midnight? Meaning she had been unconscious for more than 12 hours.

She ran and ran until she was out of breath. As she was about to check her phone, she realized she had lost her bag and everything in it.

Still, it was better to be alive.

She was glad to find out that they didn’t actually take her to someplace far off from where her company was so she could find her way home easily.

People that were still wondering about at this time gave her odd looks, most likely from her awful and bloody appearance, but she just wanted to go home and check on Steve. Thoughts of calling the police, her parents, a hospital as a matter of fact- were all thrown out of the hill just thinking of Steve.

He must be starving, scratching and destroying anything and everything just looking for her. The thought made her tear.

It didn’t take long for her to arrive at her subdivision. Thankfully the guard was passed out, asleep, so she could go in without questions. She cursed the heavens above remembering her keys were in the bag, but she climbed up to the 2nd floor of the house knowing she had left the window unlocked in a certain way that would only open in a certain pattern.

“Meow.” The tears clouded her eyes seeing her little kitten at the doorway of the room she entered. Steve must’ve heard her and rushed to greet her. Steve quickly jumped into her arms and purred as she cried happily.

“Steve! I’m home, I’m home.” She hugged and kissed her kitten that smelled awfully like her detergent and perfume, but who cares- she could clean it up.

“Mrow...mm…” The little kitten purred against the spot on her chest that wasn’t spotted in dried blood.

“Yes, yes, I’ll get you food.”

The mess Steve made was grandiose. Yu didn’t know how he managed to spill all of her detergent onto the kitchen floor when it was originally in the upper cupboard in her downstairs bathroom. Her perfume, which was her mistake for leaving there, had fallen off the table and spilled its contents on her living room carpet.

She ignored that and prepared him his food. Steve happily ate and drank his warm milk, purring happily.

Thankfully, the little kitten had done his duties in the various litter boxes around the 1st floor.

“Right, right...I gotta call mom so that I’ll drop you off there…” Yu murmured as she dialed her parents’ number on the telephone.

After a few rings, an exhausted, hoarse voice spoke. “Hello…? Nadmi residence...this is their caretaker...ughh...speaking.”

“Yal! Oh god, I’m going to be heading over there in half an hour, okay? I need to drop Steve over. Something happened, I can’t tell what, but Steve can’t stay with me right now.”

“Is it your supervisor or that other supervisor this time?” The exhaustion in her voice dissipated and became serious.

“N-No, not like that.” She pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Did you drink too much milk again? You know that’ll send you straight to the hospital rather than the toilet.”

“Not that either! Just…I’ll be there ok?”

“Okay, Yu. See you.” The call ended and Yu hurriedly washed up. She prepared everything Steve needed from his bath soap down to his little pajamas. The little kitten had finished his business in the litter box when she finished packing everything.

“Ok. Ok.” Yu looked down at the notebooks and papers strewn about and grabbed them as well putting them in a separate bag for herself.

“Mrow?”

“Come here.” Yu picked Steve and put him in his little bag. Time was dwindling for her. Did they really think she wouldn’t notice them? Their bright 10s were clear from everywhere, even if they were greatly hidden. Their 10s could be spotted.

There was no way they’d just let her go so easily.

She gave Steve one last kiss before escaping through the back door. Yal would notice something’s wrong and check her home so Steve was going to be safe at the least.

Yu was sprinting as fast as she could without any sign of direction. She ran into the dark city with the stinking alleys and quiet roads while clutching the bag to her side. It held documents, notes, and pictures about the various antique books her dad researched, including that of the Dark History.

And it wasn’t something she wanted to sell her life for.

They were closing in on her but not going so far as to reveal their position. This was one of the gratifications of having the ability to see the numbers. Their 10s were bright in the darkness.

Finally, she stopped in an empty alleyway with no windows and no doors and turned to her stalkers.

“Right. You guys have been following me for a long time now. Come on out.” She said this oh so coolly, despite her nerves getting all bundled up into bits.

“Huh, I didn’t think you’d notice us…” A deep, southern voice spoke in the darkness. Two burly men stepped out into the light and revealed their presence. The bright, yet ominous 10 loomed over their heads.

Yu felt a bead of sweat trickle down her brow as her eyes widened in shock. Ok, she was expecting the people that had killed everyone in her company- not some unfamiliar people.

Now, she became unwilling to share the documents in her bag.

“You see, little girl, we’re curious as to why the Spider let you go.” The other one spoke in the same southern accent.

Spider?

“They don’t normally let anyone just leave so you must’ve escaped.” The deeper one said and revealed a large axe from his back. “Just answer a couple of our questions and we’ll let you be on your way.”

“I-I will…” Yu stuttered out and took a step back when they took a step towards her. “Just stay where you are.”

“We ain’t gonna hurt you, little girl.”

“We’re 4-star Blacklist hunters- our boss asked us to take care of the Spider. They must be pretty weak for you to be able to escape.”

Wow, what a day for her. Spider? Blacklist Hunters? What the hay were they even going on about?

“You were ordered to get them, not me.” She clarified with a scrunch of her brows.

The bigger burly man laughed. “We have little to no information on them, sweetheart. No one’s seen them and live to tell the tale.” Yu gulped at the darkness in their eyes. “And then there’s you.”

Yu was about to spout the information they wanted, hoping for the best, like before with the ‘Spider’, but then a question mark appeared right behind them.

Her jaw slacked. It didn’t hold the same ominous presence as the boss but it still made her feel off inside.

“What are you looking at, little-” Yu squealed when a bunch of cards lodged itself into the smaller burly man’s face and his body dropped onto the ground like a sack of potatoes.

“What the fu-?!” The other man faced the same fate and dropped to the ground too.

Her legs were practically jelly and being unresponsive despite her brain screaming her to run right now.

The question mark morphed into a 7 right after, making her eyes widen in surprise.

“Well, the little kitten looks quite surprised.” Yu gasped when the 7 flashed from the darkness and by her side. “The Boss told me to follow you but I didn’t expect you to have any company.” Goosebumps fleshed out on her skin at the toothy grin of a clown.

A clown?

“Wh-What…” She began but felt a sharp stab in her chest. She looked down to see a card, a queen of clovers, as she began to lose her breathing. He took the bag from her as she fell, blood coughing out from her mouth.

“Wh-...” Why? She wanted to say as her vision started to darken and blur. The clown gave a manic grin and flashed her a jester card.

“The Boss simply wanted to see how you turned out~” He cooed. Yu clenched her chest trying to breathe but air was just something she was not given. “You might’ve lived if you hadn’t tried to sell out the Spider. Your honesty really made the Boss curious.”

Hisoka chuckled to himself. “Oh, you’re dead already.” The light in the young woman’s eyes had disappeared and what was left was just a husk of flesh. He looked through the bag and hummed delightfully at the contents. It was what the Boss oh so wanted and maybe the other artifacts too.

His brow raised when a piece of paper that looked quite out of place jotted out from between the documents. Out of curiosity, he picked it up with his forefingers and looked at its contents.

‘Dark History - fake online listings. Don’t trust. Search for man name is Jehovah. Book not available in markets.’

His eyes widened slightly reading this and darted to the dead flesh of the young woman. Huh. A smirk curled at the edge of his lips before he crumpled the little note in his hand. What replaced it were red hearts to which he blew to the dead body.

“Fufufu, it's a good thing I didn’t let you live, weak little girl.”

Breaking News: Spectrum CEO is being sued for murder and the suspect of the missing employees of one of their companies. One employee managed to survive up until 3 am before her body was found in the city just nearby the CEO’s estate where he presided.

“Sh-She said she was going to be there in half an hour… I rushed to her home but her kitten was the only one there. The backdoor was wide open and...and…”

The police are still searching for more information on the missing employees and the gruesome death of young Yu Nadmi.

#phantom troupe #genei ryodan #one shot #i was bored #just to see how my writing's been #dying inside

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