#and thus the emergency button was created just for him

[resvarie]

silly

[florestalio]

HUMAN, OR NOT? — p.sh

finding a job in the current state of the world was a hassle, but given your skills, it wasn't hard to find a decently paying job as a doorman. your job is to distinguish the doppelgangers from the real humans. simple enough, right? right?

GENRE— that's not my neighbour au, dystopian au, doppelganger au

WARNINGS— noncon/dubcon, mentions of killing, blood, guns, unprotected sex (please don't), big huge dick!sungho, monster fucking, meandom!sungho, implied munch!sungho, nicknames (slut, doll, princess, etc.), dacryphilia, fingering, manhandling, bondage, lot of slick (an almost concerning amount), marking (hickeys), cum eating (not oral), missionary, mating press, bulge kink, degradation, praise, possessive!sungho, let me know if I missed any!

WORDCOUNT— 6.9k

NOTE— i'm well aware that a similar fic has already been published by a different author, but mine was almost completely inspired by this video, so it's extremely different from the fic that had already been posted. this is a revamp of this enha fic.

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT

IN A WORLD WHICH WAS SLOWLY, but steadily getting overtaken by doppelgangers, finding a job is one of the hardest tasks — even if a lot of new jobs have been created for this purpose.

‘Doorman’, a post that was one of the more frowned upon jobs with a very low salary, had now become one of the most high paying jobs — since it was their skills and abilities that would determine whether the people in an apartment or complex lived or not. The job sounded fairly simple — figure out if the person wanting to enter is a human or a convincing doppelganger. Let only the humans in, get rid of the doppelgangers with the help of the D.D.D — another job created for the purpose of eradication of the doppelgangers from the world.

While the job of doormen did sound simple, it obviously wasn't that easy. Doppelgangers could be very convincing, their morphing abilities weren't a matter of joke. But, no matter how human they seemed, at the end of the day, they weren't human.

While detecting them could be very hard, doppelgangers… aren't the smartest tool in the shed. They always have some kind of imperfections, no matter how minor, in their appearances, in the way they behave — and many more. This is where doormen step in. They are skilled people with extremely sharp observation skills, which they use to figure out these imposters, and thus save the lives of a lot more people than they think they do.

You were one of these people with sharp observation skills that got chosen as a doorman of an apartment complex, situated near the suburbs. While you weren't getting a salary as high as the skies, it was still pretty high, considering that people from remote locations were impersonated a lot more than people from the cities, as these people are easier targets than them.

According to your job description, the old doorman was taking a long, well-deserved vacation. You were supposed to replace him for as long as he was on vacation, after which, you had no idea what would happen. Would your job be gone? Were you going to keep your job? Would you work alongside the old doorman? So many questions, yet they all remained unanswered.

You shook off those thoughts, focusing on the present. You looked around your new office, trying to make yourself familiar with your surroundings. Everything you needed as a doorman seemed to be exactly where you needed it; a telephone, checklists to grant entries, an entry list, records of all the people that lived in the building, their phone numbers, the D.D.D phone number, and whatnot. There was even an emergency button on the wall, which was attached with a metal partition that covered the window in front of the desk when activated.

The presence of all these faculties just made your work a lot easier. You took a seat, right in front of the desk. As soon as you sat down, the phone rang. You picked it up, only to hear a recorded message from the previous doorman. Turns out, his name was Taesan, and he had recorded it for you to listen to, since he didn’t wish for any mishaps to happen to you. As thoughtful as he was, he was also extremely repetitive. After several ‘do not let them in’-s, did the recording finally end, making you breathe out a sigh of relief.

Now comes the tough part. Doing your job.

IT WAS A QUARTER TO MIDNIGHT. After a hard day’s work of letting in the actual residents and calling the D.D.D upon the impersonators, the entry list had only two more people left. Namely, a businessman by the name of ‘Myung Jaehyun’ who lived alone in the third room on the first floor, and ‘Park Sungho’, the milkman who lived alone in the second room of the third floor.

Over the course of the day, you had seen doppelgangers of all kinds, some a lot better at impersonating than the other. There were several times when you had almost missed a sudden flash of an extra pair of arms, or different eye colors — as impressed as you were, you had immediately called the D.D.D on them.

Sometimes the doppelgangers looked completely, utterly, perfect copies of the person they were impersonating. Had it not been for a slight difference in their ID’s or entry requests, you would have probably let them in.

Suddenly the sound of footsteps alerted you. As you looked up, you were met with the face of Jaehyun. He gave you a half smile. “Sorry for bothering you this late, a client of mine was giving me a lot of trouble. Honestly, how is it my fault that the delivery was being delayed? Do they not realize that in the present situation, it is hard to navigate through the innumerous doppelgangers that are just waiting to pounce at any given moment of the day? It's truly very inconsiderate of–”

You interrupted his rambling. “Sir I require your ID in order to let you in. As you mentioned, it is already extremely late, so please, let’s not delay this any further.” You felt a little guilty for how you were acting towards him, but his rambling was taking up too much of your precious time.

His eyes immediately widened, before he started rummaging in his pockets. “Right — I'm really sorry, I'm not sure why I started to rant to you — here's my ID–”

You took a close look at the ID, trying to find any kind of faults in it. You heard him start to rant again. “—and honestly it was such a lovely day too, but this stupidly inconsiderate client had to ruin it.” You looked up at him, watching him continue to rant about the most random topics, which… didn’t really make any sense. “—so many ice cream trucks, but all of them had crashed into each other. The amount of people going up to those and stealing ice creams from them was actually insane–”

Suddenly you noticed something amiss on his face, protruding from his hat. Without missing a beat, you asked him. “Sir, what's that on your face?”

Jaehyun immediately stopped his rambling. “My face? Wh– What’s wrong with it? It– It's just a normal face!–”

Your hand started to creep towards the emergency button. “There are tiny hands on your face.”

Jaehyun panicked, watching you reach towards the emergency button. “Wait!– I have an explanation for this — see I was talking to this little girl called Rei right? So I called out to her ‘Hey Rei! Can you give me a hand with this?’ and she came and put her hands on my face! No wait don't–”

It was too late. You had already pushed the emergency button, watching the metal partition fall into place, blocking your view of him. You could hear the doppelganger wailing about how it was ‘a perfect disguise’. You quickly contacted the D.D.D, letting them know of the situation. Within five minutes you heard them arrive, screams of ‘get away from the door you filthy animal!’ and ‘but I don't wanna’ filled up the air, along with the sounds of guns going off, before it all went silent.

The partition suddenly went up again, a bloodied yellow hazmat suit with the D.D.D logo coming into your view. The person in the suit spoke. “Cleaning protocol has been completed. Please feel free to carry on with your job.”

You whispered a small thanks, watching them leave. It was almost midnight now, and you still had to let in two more of the apartment’s residents. It almost annoyed you, but this was in your job description when you had applied for it, so you had to suck it up.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps reached your ears again, along with a voice. “God, I'm so sorry for coming this late, Taesan, I swear I'll come earlier next time–” The voice stopped short, and so did your breath.

Good fucking gracious. You did look at the profiles of all the residents in the building, but none of them looked as good as Sungho did up close.

Sungho, a milkman by profession, was absolutely drop dead gorgeous. Even with his tired eyes and exhausted appearance in general, he looked so fucking… ravishing.

He cleared his throat. “I'm so sorry, it's usually Taesan who sits here — are you new?”

You nodded, licking your lips nervously. “Yeah I am… Taesan went for a vacation, a long one apparently, so I'm here to replace him for the time being.”

He nodded in understanding. “That makes sense. Good thing he went for a vacation, god knows he needed one. We all need one, given the state of the world at present — how are you liking it at the new job? Is it giving you too much trouble?”

You shook your head. “Oh no, not at all — there were a lot of posers, but I handled them just fine. I think I'll be alright.”

“That's good. Oh, I remember my first experience with a doppelganger — it was almost terrifying. See, there was this — this woman, who lived here and… it was a very convincing disguise. The only thing wrong with her was that… there was a mole on her right cheek, except that it was supposed to be on the left side. When the D.D.D was called on her, she… kept screaming and screaming — all that just… it takes a toll on you. Not being able to recognise them, that is.”

You gulped, barely hearing what he was saying, too focused on the movement of his lips. “Yea… that's — yea, it's scary.”

He offered you a half smile. “It is. But what you're doing is important. You're saving a lot of lives this way, and that is all that matters. That's what is important.”

“Thank you — I appreciate that, I truly do.”

“You're welcome. I may not know you personally yet, but I can tell that you're an honest person. People like you… they tend to overthink these things. So always remember that… what you're doing is great. These doppelgangers are evil, and they deserve what they are getting.”

You gave him a grateful smile, once again thanking him for his kind words. He gave you one back. “Not a big deal… princess. Here's my ID… and my entry request.”

As you took his ID and his entry request, you froze, suddenly aware of the nickname that he used to refer to you. “P-Princess?–”

Sungho had a tiny smirk on his face this time. “Yea? Do you not like the nickname? I can stop–”

You were quick to deny it. “No I didn't mean — uhm — I do like it…”

An amused glint was present in his eye. “I see. So… are my documents in order, princess?”

You nodded, feeling heat creep up on your cheeks. “Yep, all good.” A sudden idea struck you. “Actually wait… there is something wrong.”

His smile vanished. “What?– Something's wrong?”

You nodded. “Yea… with your face.”

He raised a shaky hand to touch his face, something you missed. “M– My face? What's wrong with it?”

You smiled at him, your eyes twinkling with amusement. With as much cheesiness as you could muster in your voice, you replied. “Yea, it's called ‘handsomeness’.” You immediately cringed at yourself. What kind of a pathetic attempt at flirting was that?

However, it seemed to sway Sungho. He immediately blinked, before letting out a relieved grin, a faint blush coating his cheeks. “Oh?– You got me there. Thank you — you're extremely gorgeous too.”

Now it was your turn to feel shy. Your cheeks were aflame, heat creeping up your neck. Were you seriously flirting instead of doing your job? This late at night?

You shyly smiled at him, thanking him. He gave you another smile back, this one seeming a lot more cocky than the last. “Can I go now, pretty girl? Or do you have more tricks up your sleeve?”

You giggled a little, pressing the green button to let him in. “Nope! Go right in.”

He gave you a small smirk, tipping his hat towards you in the same manner a cowboy would, before disappearing through the door.

Around three minutes after Sungho went in, the sound of footsteps reached your ears again, only this time, it wasn’t exactly the sound of a person walking. It sounded like someone was running. Fast.

You heard the sound of panting, before… Sungho came into view. Only this time, he had blood all over him.

This was obviously a doppelganger, but before you could reach for the emergency button, the fake Sungho spoke. “Oh my fucking god — hey I’m guessing you’re new? Listen, this is really important. Did you see… me earlier?”

You raised an eyebrow at him. This was a new strategy. No doppelganger had used a strategy quite like this one earlier today. “Uh-huh.”

He banged on the glass partition with his fist, making you flinch. His eyes looked crazier than before. “I’m not playing around here. Did you or did you not see me earlier?”

Your hand quickly went to the emergency button. Noticing that, he started panicking. “No no no — don’t press that, just listen to me. I was knocked out — he stole my keys! — everything, he stole everything… even my face! Please tell me you didn’t let him in.”

Your hand hovered over the button, his words making you hesitate from pushing it. “I did let him in…”

His eyes widened. “Oh fuck — this is bad, this is bad, this is bad — listen, you have to call the D.D.D — right now. Do it! Call them right now!”

You gazed at him, conflicted. He sounded so… convincing. But so did the first Sungho. Which one of them was telling the truth?

You almost wanted to scoff at yourself. You were supposed to have some top tier observation skills to be able to figure out who is a doppelganger and who is not. So why was it so hard for you to tell in this case?

You didn’t even realize when your hand fell on the button, pressing it by accident. As the alarm bells sounded and the metal barrier began to fall, several shouts of ‘No!’ could be heard from the outside. You sat there rigidly, not even aware of when the door to your office opened, the person on the other side of the door slipping inside. It wasn’t until he put a hand on your shoulder, causing you to flinch, when you realized that Sungho, the first one, was inside.

You relaxed for a moment, before he bent down, whispering in your ear, causing you to freeze. “You did a good job princess. Such a good job. Now continue to be a good girl and sit here quietly like a good fucking girl would, yea?”

As he spoke, the realization dawned upon you, the cold dread that came with it washing over you like a bucket of ice. The second Sungho was the real one.

As you sat there frozen, Sungho — or rather, the doppelganger — called up the D.D.D, informing them of a ‘doppelganger’ situation. Within five minutes, they had arrived, screams and sounds of gunshots once again filling up the air. Once they stopped, the metal partition opened, once again revealing a yellow hazmat suit stained with blood.

The D.D.D agent recited the same words that it did everytime, before walking away. As soon as the D.D.D had evacuated the building, ‘Sungho’ clicked the emergency button again, quickly pressing another button to deactivate the alarm bells, so that only the metal partition fell down. He gripped the handles of your chair, spinning it to make you face him. You gulped as you faced him, the sinister smirk on his face filled you up with a fear so intense, that it gripped you in an almost vice-like grip. It was terrifying — he was terrifying.

His eyes raked over you, drinking in your fearful expression. The shaking of your body, the pleading in your eyes, the nervous gulping — all of it filled him up with a foreign emotion — an emotion that made him want to devour you whole.

He lifted up a hand to your face, holding your chin between his fingers, leaning your face upwards. He himself leaned down, stopping just a breath away from your lips, causing your own breath to hitch. Whether it was from fear, or anticipation, he didn't know — not that it would change anything.

He tilted his head to the side ever so slightly, maintaining eye contact with you. “Are you surprised? That I'm not who you thought I was?”

You gulped, too afraid to speak. Although the shaking of your eyes told him what he wanted to know.

He smirked lightly. “Does it make you feel angry? To know that you have been finally bested by a — what do you humans call us again? Ah, a ‘doppelganger’.”

‘Anger’ was the last thing you felt. Fear was all you felt — fear for both yourself, and everyone else whose life you had endangered. You were absolutely terrified, dreading your fate.

You had seen pictures of the real form of the doppelgangers — albeit just drawings; derivations from people who somehow lived to tell the tale. They were described to be completely monstrous, with yellow eyes and sharp teeth, greenish skin and huge claws that could easily rip anyone to shreds. It was only natural for you to feel terrified of your fate. Were you going to be torn to shreds by him? Or was he going to eat you? Do doppelgangers actually eat humans?

Turns out, he did plan on eating you. Devouring you actually. Just… not in the way you thought.

He traced his lip with his tongue, practically undressing you with his eyes. He was going to fucking ruin you.

He traced your lip with his thumb, forcing your mouth open. He pressed his thumb down on your tongue, watching the tears gather at your waterline and the saliva on your tongue. You were already so much fun to play with.

You wanted to cry, scream — anything to get out of this situation. You weren't trained for something like this — all the instructors just said “Catch them, or they catch you. If you're caught, consider yourself dead.” None of them ever prepared you for a situation like this.

You needed to use your own tactics, and you needed to use them fast. You stared at his eyes, trying to make sure your facial expressions didn't give away your thoughts, when suddenly, a brilliant — okay, not brilliant, but still better than nothing — idea struck you.

Your eyes suddenly fell on the door, your eyes widening slightly with a glimmer of hope. He frowned at your expression, looking backwards at the door as well, taking the bait.

You immediately pushed him off you, catching him off-guard, before quickly running to the door. But just as you were about to reach for the handle, you felt him grab your shoulder from behind, pulling you backwards in a not-so-gentle manner. He shoved you to the floor unceremoniously, causing you to scream from the impact — not that anyone would hear you, since the walls were soundproof as long as the metal partition was pulled down, and you had no way to reach the button to deactivate it.

You tried to get up, but were immediately shoved back down to the ground, with him climbing up on top of you, pinning your arms above your head. If looks could kill, you would have already been six feet under by now.

For a moment he just glared down at you, your lips quivering, your eyes shaking with unshed tears. Your chest was rising up and down erratically, downright terrified with what he was planning on doing to you. Was he going to strangle you to death? Tear you apart by hand? Break your neck? Or was he going to–

Your thoughts were suddenly interrupted by him. His voice was cold with a sinister undertone. “You know princess, I was going to be nice to you — go nice and slow, appreciate everything about you, take my time with you, make it memorable for you. But after this little stunt that you just pulled? I don't think you deserve kindness. If you want to be a fucking brat, acting like you weren't ready to spread your legs open for me just ten minutes ago, then I'm going to fucking treat you like one.”

Your blood ran cold. He was going to what?

You couldn't even understand where he was coming from. You were ‘acting like a brat’? Was trying to run in order to save your life a crime now? You were getting ready to ‘spread your legs for him just ten minutes ago’? First of all, it was some harmless flirting with a nice guy who you thought was human, not a fucking monster. So what the fuck was he even trying to say?

None of it mattered now — not now, when he was sliding the belt that was just there for design purposes through the hoops in your skirt. It didn't matter now, when he started to tie the belt around your wrists, ignorant to your struggles to break free. Not now, when he was grabbing the ends of your shirt, roughly shoving it up.

He couldn't shove it off you, since your hands were tied, so he proceeded to tear it off with his hands. It was an expensive shirt, but there wasn't any time to mourn the loss of your shirt — not when his hands had already moved to your skirt. He didn't even bother trying to get it off this time, simply ripping it apart like paper.

The tears finally broke free. This was it. This was your fate. You were going to get used like some pathetic doll by some monster and then tossed away once you were useless. Even death would have been a kinder fate than this.

You screwed your eyes shut when you felt him touch you over your panties, disgusted by yourself when you realized that you were, in fact, wet. You heard him let out a menacing chuckle, causing more tears to fall from your shut eyes. You felt his finger just barely trace over your covered cunt, making you squirm. He was quick to hold your legs down, before shoving a finger through your panties, causing it to stick inside your wet folds, drenching it further. You felt him leaning down towards your core, a whimper of utter despair leaving you.

He ignored you, taking a whiff of your scent. As soon as it hit him, he let out a loud groan, a quiet ‘fuck’ accompanying it. He definitely needed to eat you out, but first, he needed to stretch you out.

He gripped the waistband of your panties tightly, before ripping it off. The sound of the cotton material tearing brought a fresh batch of tears to your eyes. “P-Please — don’t do this, please–”

He quickly interrupted you by grabbing your throat, applying just enough pressure to cut off your oxygen. “Shut the fuck up. You don’t get to decide what I’ll do or not do. I gave you a chance, didn’t I? I was nice to you initially, wasn’t I? You clearly took advantage of that and tried to run, so why the fuck would I listen to you? If you don’t want to make matters worse for yourself, take what I give you like a good little slut would.”

That ruined whatever tiny hope you had of avoiding this fate. More tears fell from your eyes, causing you to bite down on your lip to conceal your sobs. For some reason, the sight of you biting your lip, paired with your tears, turned him on a lot more than it should have, causing him to grab your chin tightly.

Your eyes flew open in shock, releasing your lip from the abuse from your teeth. His eyes landed on your swollen lips, his pants growing tighter and tighter by the second. Before you could register what was happening, he smashed his lips on yours, swallowing your surprised gasp. He kissed you harshly, his movements sloppy. Saliva dripped past your mouths, smearing onto your chins, but he could care less.

He bit down on your lip, pulling it slightly with his teeth, causing a whimper to leave you involuntarily. He let out a quiet groan at the sound, before diving back inside your mouth, shoving his tongue inside your mouth. He hungrily explored your wet cavern, his hands moving to take his shirt off, the heat radiating off the two of you becoming unbearable. He grabbed your jaw tightly, tilting your head to kiss you deeper, his legs planted on either side of you.

Even if you didn’t want to enjoy it, any of it, your body couldn’t hide its true reaction. You kept letting out whimpers and moans, squirming under him. He gladly swallowed each and every sound of yours, little grunts and groans of his own leaving him. He badly wanted to grind down on you, but he had enough self control to not do that. Instead, he slid a hand down, collected the slick that kept gushing out on his fingers, before shoving his middle finger inside.

Your reaction was immediate. You let out a sharp gasp into his mouth, your hips bucking up into his. He bit down your lip at your reaction, breaking the skin and drawing out blood. He plunged his finger in deeper, feeling even more slick gushing out of you. He sucked the blood off your lip, licking the cut, moaning at the taste. Your blood ignited a fire inside him, the heat spreading to every part of him, the need to completely, utterly, ruin you for everyone else spreading to his finger tips, taking over his brain. He thrust his finger impossibly deeper, before pulling it out, causing you to let out a desperate whine into his mouth, one that was quickly replaced by a shocked moan when he plunged in two fingers at once.

You could feel your cunt stretching to accommodate his fingers, which were long and slender, allowing him to reach parts of you that no one ever did. His fingers dragged across your walls, allowing you to feel every inch of them. His fingers hit every ridge and bump perfectly, making you clench around them tightly.

He felt your pussy walls hugging his fingers, causing him to fasten up the pace of both his fingers and his mouth, swallowing up your whimpers, listening to the wet sounds of his fingers sliding in and out of your cunt.

He curled up his fingers, feeling your entire body shake under him. He let out a victorious smirk against your lips, having finally found your spot. He increased the pace of his fingers, making sure to curl up his fingers every time, hitting that spongy part in your walls every time with ease.

Your breathing sped up, your whimpers increasing, your wrists becoming red from how much you were struggling to get out of the tight grip of your belt wrapped around them. You could feel yourself becoming wetter and wetter, yet being so far from the edge. Something was missing, something that you desperately needed to finally teeter off the edge.

Even if you couldn’t understand what exactly you needed, ‘Sungho’ sure did. He broke the kiss, taking in the sight of your bruised and swollen lips, before shifting his attention to your neck, immediately latching his lips on your pulse point, sucking on it harshly. He pumped his fingers into your pussy faster, his thumb moving to rub at your clit harshly. You almost screamed at the added pleasure, your walls clamping down on his fingers in a vice-like grip.

Within seconds your pussy started to convulse around his fingers. Your release gushed out of you in huge amounts, coating his fingers in a creamy white. He helped you ride out your high, shallowly pumping his fingers in you. He stopped sucking on your neck, looking at the newly formed purplish hickey on it proudly. Once you came down from your high, he slipped his fingers out with a wet ‘pop’, watching your walls flutter around nothing.

He brought his fingers to his mouth, slipping them inside, tasting your release. You watched him with hooded eyes, your chest rising up and down slowly as you tried to catch your breath. His eyes screwed shut when the taste hit him, a deep groan leaving him, one that traveled straight to your core, despite having just had one of the best orgasms of your life.

He opened his eyes, his gaze darker than before, making you gulp. He leaned down again, maintaining eye contact with you. He ran a hand through your hair, before gripping it tightly, ripping a whimper out of you. He bit his lips, whispering “God, you drive me fucking crazy” before smashing his lips onto yours. He shoved his tongue inside your mouth almost immediately, making you taste yourself.

Fuck, he would be lying if he said he wasn't dying to eat you out, but the problem in his pants would probably kill him before he had his fill of you — which was why he was furiously trying to get his stupid belt off, something which proved to be quite a challenge for no apparent reason.

When he finally managed to get it off, he threw it away somewhere in the room, out of reach. His shirt was sticking to his skin uncomfortably from how much he was sweating, so obviously that had to go too. Once it was off, he quickly shimmied out of his pants, his boxers quickly following them.

As soon as his boxers were off, his bare cock slapped on his stomach, standing tall and proud. His mushroom tip was an angry shade of red, leaking a generous amount of precum. He was both long and girthy, almost ridiculously so, making you a little concerned about the stretch — or if it would at all fit.

Of course you were anticipating it — how could you not? Yes, he was taking you without consent, but did that really matter anymore? Your morals were thrown out of the window the moment he shoved his pretty fingers into your hole. You couldn't help how much you were leaking for him then, and you certainly can't help it now. You were practically gushing down there, a puddle of your sweet slick starting to form in between your thighs. God, it was a miracle that he hadn't started eating you out like a starved man eating his first meal in days. But then again, he also couldn't wait to finally sink into your wet heat, and fuck you till all you could think about was his dick.

So that's what he did. He spread your legs further apart with his knees, settling down between them. He aligned himself with your entrance, but instead of directly pushing in, he decided to toy with you a little. After all, you were just a toy for him, weren't you? The perfect little toy — a doll if you will — for him to use, break, destroy and dispose of as he wishes.

A little whine from you caught his ears. He looked at your face, almost taken aback by your expression. Your eyes were hooded, lips swollen and glistening from your sweat — possibly a result of you biting down on them. Were you… enjoying this? Did you want this?

It was hot, so undeniably hot of you to like this — not just your body, but you. There was no fucking way he was ever going to let go of you now — no, you were too perfect to lose.

He swallowed thickly, trying his best to subdue his desire of immediately plunging inside you and railing you into your next life. No, he had to be patient, in order to make it fun for him.

He tapped the head of his cock on your clit, watching even more slick pour out of you, joining the puddle on the floor. It was truly magnificent how much your body craved this — how much you craved it — almost as much as he did.

He rubbed his tip over your slit, gathering the slick from it, ripping out pitiful whimpers from you. He almost caved in to your sinful sounds — almost — before continuing to gather your slick on his mushroom tip.

He watched as your slick and his precum mixed together, forming a beautiful white mixture, something that looked almost delicious — of course he had to taste it, and make you taste it as well. You would like it anyways.

He gathered some of the mixture on his fingers, before popping them in his mouth. He closed his eyes, savoring the sinful taste. When he opened his eyes, he was surprised to see how much the taste affected his body, even more precum having dribbled out of his tip, falling into the puddle of your slick.

He swirled his finger in the mixture, before bringing it to your own mouth. He watched as you eagerly wrapped your lips around his digits, sucking the mixture of your wants greedily. He let out a groan, wondering if you would suck his cock the same way. But he had plenty of time to find that out later.

He pulled his fingers out of your mouth with a loud ‘pop’, ignoring your whine. He pushed his hand into the puddle of your slick, before wrapping the same hand around his ridiculously large dick, slowly pumping it. His eyes were dark as he maintained eye contact with you, taking in the way you gulped slowly. It was so cute, the way you wanted it as much as he did, and yet were afraid of it actually happening.

If he stared at your cute little lips or your pretty little eyes that were filled with both hesitation and desperation, he would definitely cum even before he had the chance to be inside your — by the looks of it, extremely tight walls.

He grabbed your legs again, spreading them even further apart, before slowly starting to push into you. He was immediately met with a lot of resistance from you, loud gasps and whimpers falling from your lips in a beautiful melody, your pussy walls clamping down tightly on his tip alone. He hissed at the pressure, gripping your hips tightly as he slowly started to push in.

The sounds of your whimpers and choked gasps increased two-fold, your walls stretching to an alarming extent as they tried to fit him. You were well aware that the ‘Sungho’ that was fucking you wasn't the real one, that he was a monster — but you didn't realise that doppelgangers were this hung. He was big, huge even — way bigger than the average dick size. It felt like he was splitting apart your insides, but you couldn't deny the enormous amount of pleasure that accompanied the pain.

He had to suck in a breath when he had finally buried himself to the hilt inside you, your walls clamping down on him painfully. It almost felt like he willingly buried himself into a dick guillotine, that’s how tight you felt around him. It wasn’t like he could blame you either — he wasn’t human, even if he was impersonating one, all of his physical features were obviously not perfect. As for him, his imperfection happened to be his dick, which was way larger than the average human dick, almost monstrously so — not that he was complaining… and he knew you wouldn’t be either in a while, once you got used to his size.

His grip on your hips was tight enough to bruise, as he slowly pulled out almost completely, leaving only his tip inside, making you let out a sigh of relief. But that relief was short lived, because he almost immediately slammed himself back in, knocking the air out of you. It felt as if he somehow managed to fit another non-existent inch inside of you.

The squelching sound from the slide however, encouraged him to continue. You were liking it, he knew you were. That’s why you were getting even wetter than before, weren’t you? Yep, that was it. That was why your walls were clamping down on him so tightly. Your body didn’t want him to stop. You didn’t want him to stop.

He pulled out almost completely again, before ruthlessly slamming right back in, ripping a scream out of you. But the slick that kept pouring out of you, past his cock, told him all that he needed to know. He thrusted into you mercilessly, without caring about how you felt — he knew you liked it, he was sure of it–

Your loud whimpers of pain broke him out of his daze. “P– Please, it h– hurts so much–”

His hand grabbed your neck, squeezing down on it as a warning. “Don’t fucking lie to me — you’re leaking past my cock, and you expect me to believe that you aren’t enjoying this? Stupid, fucking slut, lying to me to my face? Absolutely pathetic.”

He grabbed both of your thighs, pushing them up to your chest, before starting to thrust into you again, the ruthless pace of his hips almost bruising your thighs. The new angle allowed him to hit even deeper, your cries of pain only increasing in volume. He ignored them, focusing on how his hips snapped into yours with every thrust. “Fucking take it — you know you like this, you fucking painslut. It hurts, does it? How adorable, you fucking love it, you know you do.”

He continued to ram his hips into yours, uncaring of your discomfort — unbeknownst to you, your cries only caused him to grow harder, his cock bulging through your stomach. The bulge on your stomach appearing and disappearing inside you caught his attention, causing him to groan. He fisted your hair tightly in his hand, pulling you up. “Look at that, princess, look at it — look at how I keep disappearing inside you. Fucking perfect for me, aren’t you?”

He didn’t wait for an answer, continuing to slam his hips into yours. He let go of your hair, pressing down on the bulge in your stomach instead. The added pressure caused him to groan, his pace increasing. Your slick made it easy for him to pound into you, your cries having started to turn into loud moans. He found it almost cute, your switch up.

He pushed your thighs up higher against your chest, his hips snapping painfully into yours, balls slapping on your ass with every thrust. It felt so fucking wrong, but even you couldn’t deny how good it felt. “I’m gonna fill you up, till my cum is dripping past your legs — gonna make you walk around like that. You would love that, wouldn’t you? Walking around with my cum dripping down your legs like a fucking slut?”

If the way you clenched around him at his words wasn’t a dead giveaway to whether you liked what he was doing or not, then he didn’t know what else could possibly be it. He increased his pace. “Yea? You like that? You want that? You’re my precious little cumslut, aren’t you? My sweet little doll, so eager to be filled up to the brim.”

He brought a hand down to your clit, rubbing it harshly. The added pleasure sent shockwaves to your brain, your back arching, eyes rolling back. You could feel the coil in your stomach continue to tighten, the harsh pace of his assault on your clit only making the coil tighter and tighter.

He suddenly pinched your clit harshly, the sudden sensation causing you to let out a choked gasp. The coil in your stomach finally snapped, causing you to gush around him. He groaned at the feeling, your walls clamping around him, triggering his own release. He buried himself deep inside you, spurts of cum sprouting from him, slowly filling her up to the brim. He gripped your hips tightly. “Take it, take all of it, fucking take it — you’re mine to fuck, mine to breed, no matter when I see fit. So fucking take it–”

He kept on and on cumming, your walls clamping around him, milking him dry. He hissed, pulling out his softening length. It was so hot, the way his cum dripped out of your hole. It was the perfect time to eat you out, but that had to wait.

He grabbed your hands, finally undoing the belt on them. As soon as you were free from the restraints, you tried to flex your wrists, to fix the blood flow. He smirked at your antics. He grabbed your chin tightly, making you face him. “Listen up sweetheart — from now onwards, you do what I say. If I tell you to stay, you will stay. If I tell you to sit and look pretty, you will sit and look pretty. Got it?”

You gulped thickly. You were absolutely terrified of him. Why shouldn’t you be? Given what he had done to you, you would have no other choice but to obey him.

So you nodded. Albeit hesitantly.

He wrapped his arms around you, pressing another hungry kiss to your lips. He whispered against them. “Good girl — my good girl”

[queen-of-writing-bad-things]

Henry Danger Reader Insert | Season 4 Episode 7: Meet Cute Crush

pairing: Ray Manchester/f!reader

summary: Piper has a crush on a boy at school. She wants to meet him, so she turns to the Man Cave's romance expert - (y/n) - to help her create the perfect meet-cute. Henry and Ray are along for the ride.

rating: F - friends to lovers, slight steaminess, some adult language, Ray and (y/n) being cute :)

word count: 13.6k

Thank you for reading! I (respectfully) yearn for likes, comments, and reblogs. Click for vibes

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~In the Man Cave~

"Remind me again why we're watching this crap?" (y/n) asked Charlotte as she sat next to the girl at the supercomputer, staring at some crappy, online makeup tutorial up on the screen.

The room was quiet, peaceful, tranquil compared to the usual hustle and bustle of several males stampeding through the Man Cave, so they were taking the time to chill out – just having some quality girl time with no silly boys around to cause chaos.  

Schwoz was off doing God knows what, and Henry and Ray were off on an emergency call, leaving them to do whatever the hell they wanted. That just so happened to be some critical research on new makeup tips from chronically online, teenage, wannabe gurus.

(y/n) missed her boyfriend, no matter how nice the peace felt. It was unnatural in the Man Cave, where noise and drama went hand in hand, but she sent him and Henry on their way, regardless. She was sure three superheroes were a little excessive for a playground problem, and thus, Miss Danger stayed behind, even if Captain Man pouted like the man-child he was. 

"Because! It's fun and, you never know, you might get some ideas for wooing Ray," Charlotte replied cheekily, scrolling through several videos until she found one that looked pretty good, a smiling, brown-haired girl in the thumbnail. 

The woman rolled her eyes, trying not to let the sly comment get to her, but her cheeks warmed anyway. She felt bashful, knowing the teen loved to tease her about her relationship, and she didn't miss how her shoulders shook with laughter. "He's plenty wooed already, just play the video." 

"Now, to save money on eyeshadow, I suggest using...paprika!"

A sweet yet deluded girl called Lauren appeared, smiling into her camcorder with a deranged optimism. Blink twice if you need help. (y/n) and Charlotte frowned when she began smearing it over her eyelids, making the older woman cringe at how crusty and patchy it was, not forgetting stupidly dangerous. 

"If her eyeball isn't on fire now, then it will be when she gets conjunctivitis." (y/n) snorted, watching the girl rub the powder all over to create a smoky eye. Or so she thought.  

With her face looking...questionable, Lauren moved on to her next tip. The girls hated to think what she'd try next, but they couldn't look away, staring in horror and confusion when she grabbed a pot in plasticky, supermarket packaging. 

"And instead of foundation, which is really expensive, you can use...hummus!"

(y/n) despaired. She swore it was satire or a prank because there was no way that anyone would willingly smear a thick, lumpy, chickpea-y mush on their cheeks. But when Lauren actually started doing it, rubbing the hummus in small circles, she realised the teen was serious. 

Charlotte slumped in her seat, quirking an eyebrow as her finger hovered over the exit button – ready to switch the crap off. Not before the final top tip, though... "Oh, and notice how I'm not using a sponge! This is just an old tissue found in the trash."

"Yeah... I'm not putting hummus on my face," Charlotte said dryly, and she clicked off the video. That was enough stupidity for one day, with her friend silently agreeing that any price for real foundation was better than walking around with a picnic on their faces.

It left them in silence, bored for a few moments since they had nothing to do, but luckily, as one door closed, another one opened. 

An alarm sounded as the tubes dropped, signalling the triumphant return of Captain Man and Kid Danger. (y/n) immediately spun her chair around, smiling brightly as her boyfriend and his sidekick descended, and to her surprise, they both had Slush Puppies. 

"Hey, doof! Back so soon?" The woman asked teasingly, her grin growing as she walked across the room to meet Ray halfway.

His gaze softened at the sight of her happily skipping towards him, and the hero quickly pulled his sweet girl into his embrace with his free arm. A couple hours apart, and he ached to have her by his side again. 

The kids rolled their eyes, gagging at the icky sight they made – noses nudging and smiles wide. "You make it sound like a bad thing." 

(y/n) eyed the slushie in her boyfriend's hand, licking her lips at the thought of the saccharine, strawberry flavour. Mark her words: she'd be sipping it in a few minutes. "Never." 

Rising on her tippie-toes, she pressed a kiss to his lips, which Ray deepened hungrily, tilting his head and humming in appreciation. It meant Henry and Charlotte had to stand and wait patiently, hands on their hips as the hero cradled his sweet girl's head. It was like he was eating her face. 

Fortunately for them and their stomachs, (y/n) was the first one to let go, giggling at whatever her doofus then whispered in her ear – a flirty, filthy line that made Ray smirk, and butterflies soared in her tummy. He nuzzled her neck and pecked her pulse point, sighing softly when he smelled the perfume she dabbed there. 

Ugh, couldn't they get a room?

"So, what happened?!" Charlotte swatted their shoulders, frowning exasperatedly at how they thought they were the only people in the room. "Come on, put her down! It's only been two hours." 

The woman pulled away with warm ears, ignoring how her lover whined at the loss, but she didn't leave him cold and lonely. She pressed herself into his side and wrapped an arm around his lithe waist, so the hero had enough reach to press endlessly to her soft cheeks. That, and his slushie was so close. 

"Oh, well, we showed up at the playground..." Ray started, and he blindly passed the cup to his girl once he caught her gaze on the cup.  

He instantly knew her quirk was back with a vengeance – where he never got to finish any sodas, coffees, slushies—anything. She had to share his, not have her own because that wasn't the same. 

Henry nodded, eyeing how the woman took a long slurp from the straw before passing it back to her doofus – Ray sip, (y/n) sip, Ray sip, (y/n) sip, Ray sip, (y/n) sip. Disgusting. "Yeah, and there's like a bunch of second graders playing in the sandbox." 

"They were playing the sandbox!" The only time he stopped was to kiss his girlfriend's hairline or to slip in the odd, helpful line. 

"Yeah, I just said that--stop kissing your girlfriend!" Said the kid, with his frown meeting Ray's as he burst their happy bubble. "She's not gonna disappear, dude." 

(y/n)'s cheeks were permanently on fire at this point, but she didn't bite back or plead her case about being young and in love. Henry knew all about that, and a sneaky smirk creased her warm face. All she had to say was New York, and the kid would back down – a little secret about a budding romance between the two of them. 

"All right, all right, we're breaking it up." She soothed the boy and lead her boyfriend over to the couch, although they didn't sit down just yet. "Continue, doofus..."

"Right, but what the kids didn't realise was..." Ray grinned, squeezing her hand at the hilarity of their mission. He had no idea why his sidekick was so tetchy – had been for weeks now – but he ignored it. His sweet girl always got to the bottom of things much better than he did. 

"There was a nest of scorpions right in the sandbox!" Henry said—like it was something to celebrate, and he and his boss giggled like hyenas. 

The girls just stared in horror, with Charlotte at a loss and (y/n) left looking up at her handsome idiot in disbelief. 

She was beginning to remember why she never left the boys to their own devices; they always ran wild when Miss Danger wasn't around to keep them in check. "Scorpions?!"

"And they were crawling all over them, and they were freaking out!—"

"Oh, yeah, arghhh, they're on my face! Arghhhh, for the love of God—" They screeched, mimicking how the poor, little children screamed and scratched in abject terror – all while the brave heroes stood idly by.  It was all in a day's work for those idiots, who slumped onto the couch as if they'd earned that day's wage, still smiling from ear to ear. 

(y/n), however, was not so impressed. She plonked down next to her boyfriend, not sitting in his lap like usual and tucked her feet under herself. Yet, he swung his arm over her head to rest on the couch's back, opening up his side for snuggles, and she – the sucker – couldn't help but get closer. 

Her head leaned against his chest, breathing in his cologne as Ray rubbed his stubbled cheek against her crown, using the slushie like a peace offering. 

"So, the innocent kids were covered in deadly poisonous creatures. What next?" The woman asked, guiding the straw into her mouth again for a quick sip before he spoke again. 

With her hand stroking his chiselled pec, smiling sweetly, Ray didn't have it in himself to complain, not even if she drank the whole damn drink. He just shrugged with Henry. "Then we just grabbed a fire hose."

"A big, old fire hose." 

"Just sprayed the scorpions of the kids." They concluded, chuckling like it was some inside joke the girls could never understand. 

But before they could give them a grilling, with Charlotte thoroughly disgusted by how they sniggered, the computer beeped. It wasn't a major alarm – not another emergency – but just a soft peep-peep-peep, telling them someone from Junk-N-Stuff was trying to get in contact.  

"Hey, that's Jasper, calling from upstairs," Charlotte said,  and she wandered over to answer the call. 

The three on the couch swiftly straightened out, knowing the boy always needed their help, even for the littlest of things. It meant one of them would inevitably have to venture up to Junk-N-Stuff, and it had Ray grumbling. "Oh... Great."

Outwardly, he rued the day he took that kid into his employment, but Jasper wasn't as irritating as he used to be – improving every day at his job, not that Ray ever admitted it. The kid had a knackfor interrupting movie-watching, napping, kissing, cuddling, chatting, gym sessions, and other...physical activities.

"Hey, what's up?" 

The line opened, and they saw the teen cowering in the storeroom. He was calling from his phone – very odd since he could've just used the cameras near the counter and cash register, so no one knew why he was in the back. 

Unless... someone was on the shop floor, and he didn't know how to deal with them. This was his way of calling the cavalry. "Hey, it's me, Jasper."

"Yeah, we can see that, Curly." (y/n) replied teasingly, although she gave the boy a bright, kind smile as she snuggled with her boyfriend. 

Jasper nodded slightly; glad someone was around to help – thank God. He'd been working in peace before a monster appeared, hissing demands and making his working life hell for half an hour. "Cool. So, Henry..."

"Yeah, what's up, big dog?" Asked the blond boy, walking over to the computer from the couch with the lovebirds, who still held hands – they couldn't sever their connection. 

"Your sister is here!" Jasper hissed, making everyone frown, except for (y/n). 

Piper Hart of all people was in Junk-N-Stuff, and Ray's hair stood on end, knowing he had a brat on the premises. It was worse for Henry; he had no idea why his sister would drop in—it wasn't like they were friendly. No, she was just at his workplace, where there were all kinds of super-important, super-secret stuff lying around, and Piper was especially nosy. 

"Wha—why? What does she want?"

"I don't know!" Answered Jasper, sounding half-terrified and half-exhausted – a feeling his best friend knew too well when that girl was involved. "I told her you were busy and then she got mad and said she's not leaving until she talks to you." 

"Are you sure she's mad?" He asked hopefully, praying for an easy problem, but Jasper just shook his head.  

"Yeah. Look at her pacing angrily."

He turned the camera, poking it through the beaded curtain to see the young girl as she wore a groove into the floor, marching like a headless chicken. She was undoubtedly in a terrible mood, and Henry would be her human punching bag. 

"Look," said the kid, and his shy gaze fell to the floor, not wanting to blurt out his secret, but it was his only argument, "Just tell her that I'll see her at home before I leave for New York."

That titbit had Ray's eyes sparkling, riddled with curiosity as he heard about the little trip. His sidekick never mentioned it—never said anything about who was waiting for him in the Big Apple, and he yearned to know, turning to him with wide eyes. "You're going to New York?"

"He sure is! For a whole weekend!" (y/n) squealed, and she squeezed the breath out of him because of the romance of it all. 

To think, her little baby wanted to fly out for Valentine's Day and see the Game Shakers girl – a grand, loving gesture if she'd ever seen one. 

As much as he was smitten, Henry was petrified, realising why Ray was always clammy and cowardly whenever he wanted to profess his love to his girl. Yet, with (y/n) by his side, the number one cheesy rom-com expert, he couldn't possibly fumble, and thus, he bought his ticket to New York, planning on delivering a rose to Babe's doorstep.

"Why?" Ray asked, wondering what all the hype was about, despite the beautiful, golden delight on his sweet girl's face. Was this the thing they'd been whispering about? Why his girlfriend had been all excitable, smiley, and starry-eyed all week?

"'Cause...you don't need to know why. That's why!" Henry told him sassily, and his boss huffed at his prickly, standoffish attitude.

Jasper cleared his throat, pulling their attention away from whatever girlie his friend liked and back to the stomping, fuming problem in Junk-N-Stuff. Unlike Henry's crush, she wasn't a few states away. "Hey, I already tried telling Piper you'll talk to her later." 

"And?"

"She grabbed my earlobe and yanked it! Really hard!" The curly-haired boy whined, and they could see the slight, reddish tinge of his abused flesh. "And then, she started asking all sorts of questions about Junk-N-Stuff—why you're never here, why there's no customers..."

"Well, that does sound like a problem..." muttered (y/n), rubbing two fingers against her temple since they couldn't have people rooting around. "That girl is surprisingly inquisitive." 

She had to go, even if the woman felt rotten about kicking Piper out, who she'd always thought was a nice girl underneath all her Piperness. 

Jasper gasped silently, suddenly remembering something important, and he looked at his friend. "Oh, and then, she asked to speak to (y/n), the nice lady who works here with her dumb boyfriend. Don't know why though."

Ray grumbled as the boy hung up, honoured to be known as the boyfriend, but he wasn't dumb. Well, not much, and (y/n)'s giggle was music to his ears. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her forehead, gazing at her with a dopey smile, and he supposed if anyone could go upstairs and sort out that brat, then it was his sweet, sweet girl – the nice lady. 

"All right, sweet girl. You and Henry better go upstairs and get rid of his sister." 

"Sure thing, handsome. We'll be back in a sec." The heroine smiled, giving him a parting smooch for a split-second before she pulled away with a final slurp of the slushie. It would be long gone by the time she returned, and the icy sweetness melted on her tongue. 

"Will I ever be able to drink something without you drinking it too?" Asked Ray, acting like he was annoyed, but for all her bashfulness, (y/n) grinned, believing wholeheartedly that his stuff alwaystasted better. 

"Nope—sorry, doofus! Come on, Hen." She giggled and gestured for the boy to follow. He was still in uniform, but the heroine assumed he knew, one moment away from popping a gum ball, but Henry looked gormless. 

He kept going, walking toward the elevator without a care in the world, unknowingly about to give his sister the shock of her life... (y/n) stopped, and the boy wondered why. 

"Uh, kid?" Ray said, stirring the rapidly melted slush in his cup as he shared an amused look with his girlfriend. 

To say he'd been in the job for three years now, it was like Henry had learned nothing, looking at them blankly. "Huh? What?"

"Maybe you wanna chew some gum before you go see your sister?" The man asked, which only deepened his sidekick's frown.

"Why? Is my breath bad?"

"Yeah, it smells like Kid Danger." (y/n) replied dryly, and finally, Henry clocked it – the fire truck red pants, blue tunic, utility belt... 

They weren't exactly subtle, and he glanced between the adults with a bashful, giggly smile. "Ohhhh, yeah! Nice one, nice one, (y/n/n)! It's why you guys are the bosses." 

Flattery would get him nowhere, making (y/n) roll her eyes and drag him off to the elevator with a final wave to her boyfriend. The door slid shut as Henry threw some gum into his mouth, quickly changing into his normal clothes – now, a simple boy, who (y/n) felt another rush of affection for once they were alone.

"Oh my god, you're going to New York! I'm so proud!" She shrieked, curling around him in a bone-crushing hug, squeezing the air from his body.

Henry didn't have the heart to stop her, not when she openly adored him, stamping little kisses all over his face, which made him thankful for privacy. He wasn't the cute, little kid looking for a job anymore; no, he was nearly an adult, big enough to tower over her head like Ray did, but she'd always feel protective over him. He was her baby. 

"Can't...breathe...."

"Sorry..." The heroine relented and released him, but her grin never faded, even as they reached the top floor. "I just can't wait for you to go and see Babe. It's gonna be like every romcom I've ever watched--and I'm the orchestrator!"

"You know, I'm so glad you convinced me to go, 'cause I was thinking of...not going," Henry told her sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck until she placed a gentle hand on his arm – so very different from the hug attack he'd endured.  

(y/n) offered a sympathetic smile, knowing better than anyone how daunting love could be. It was all about taking a leap of faith, daring to fly if feelings were returned, but also bracing for impact in case they fell flat.  

But for all the trouble and heartache she endured on that fateful, muffin-filled day, she took a leap—and she soared. It was the best chance she ever took, and it became her blessing. What she wouldn't give for Henry to experience the same happiness. 

"Just be yourself and do what feels right," she told him quietly as they hovered in the back room. The sound of Jasper and Piper bickering filtered through the beaded curtain, making the kid chuckle as he nodded at her words. "And then tell me every detail when you get back because I want to know everything!" 

The trip still felt surreal and nauseating, and Henry's palms became sweaty at the idea of getting on that plane, but he'd do it. God knows (y/n) would kill him if he didn't, and so, feeling a little bit braver, they casually walked into Junk-N-Stuff, where they'd also need a dash of courage. 

"Well, where are Henry and (y/n)?!" Piper yelled as they walked in, fed up with waiting. 

"Right here." The kid announced, looking grim as he eyed his sister, although (y/n) mustered a genuine smile. However foul the girl's mood was, she and her infinite patience could handle it, hoping to get through to the sweetness under her sour exterior. 

"It's about time!"

"Hey, Piper! Nice dungarees--real cute." Piper brightened a little at that, glad to have a feminine opinion in the room because her brother was as dumb as they came. Useful, in his own way, but (y/n/n) knew romance and relationships – she was really the one she needed to see. 

Meanwhile, Henry ordered Jasper to turn off whatever stupid sitcom he was watching at the counter, already annoyed by his summons – the last thing he needed was the blaring noise from the PearPad. All the boy did was whine and pout, but a single, stern look from the woman in charge made him hit the off button. No one messed with (y/n).

With quietness resuming, Henry and (y/n) returned to Piper, who was as impatient as ever, glaring at her brother with daggers in her eyes. 

"What?" The boy asked tiredly, thinking he'd rather be doing a million other things than standing in the fake store. 

"I need you guys' help," Piper replied simply, looking between the two, but they couldn't imagine why. Not even (y/n), who knew they were friends in a way, but she'd never come to her like this. 

Henry was equally baffled, having never thought he'd see the day his little sister came to him for the H-word. It had to be a trap, but either way, he instantly knew he didn't want to be involved.  "Uhhhhhh, no."

"You don't even know what she wants us to do. Give her a chance," (y/n) chastised him, judging her elbow sharply into his ribs at how he just dismissed the girl instantly. 

"(y/n), we have jobs here." He said it like she wasn't the one who wrote his paycheck, but the boy waggled his eyebrows suggestively and wandered the room pretending to take stock.  He wanted her to pay along. "Okay, Piper? We're—we're working." 

"Really?" The girl scoffed, and suspicion and scepticism crept into her voice because she'd seen things over the years. Nothing tangible, but the place didn't make sense. "'Cause every time I come here to see you, you're never in this store! So, what is it that really you do around here?" 

"Well...I sometimes...work in the back," stuttered Henry, looking at Jasper for help, but he was no use. 

So, he looked to his superior – the lady who ran the esteemed establishment, and even she had to lie through her teeth, feeling her tummy flutter with nerves at the interrogation. "Right, he works with me...in the garden. A lot." 

A filthy, black lie, if she'd ever told one. As if anyone had a garden with flowers, bushes, and trees in Downtown Swellview. There was no room for vegetation, and she was pretty sure Schwoz's lab-grown specimens didn't count. 

"There's a garden in the back?" No, but they had to go with it. 

"Yeah! It's—it's a rear garden and I work there with (y/n) so...rear garden." Henry gulped, paling when his sister leaned in and scrutinised his fearful eyes. 

He prayed to some unknown deity that she bought it, not knowing what they'd do if she didn't. But luckily, fortune was on their side—or rather, Piper had her mind on other things, and she quickly let it go. "Whatever! You guys gotta help me." 

"What can we help you with, Piper?" Asked (y/n) kindly, unfazed by her glare, and it was that kind of attitude and willingness that eased its frostiness. 

"Get a boyfriend!" The girl replied excitedly, and to her brother's disgust, a lovestruck smile grew on her pretty face.

(y/n) couldn't believe her luck. Two Harts needing her romantic advice in one day? Sign her the fuck up; if anyone could play matchmaker, it was her. It was what she was destined to do—aside from marry Ray and have his babies. 

"Gross," Henry muttered, shuddering at the thought of some poor soul being ensnared by his sister. He didn't even think she was capable of love, considering a girlfriend had to be friendly if she wanted her boyfriend to like her. 

"Hey, boyfriends aren't gross," answered (y/n), who heard his utterance and frowned. She begged to differ, allowing her mind to wander to the gorgeous, doofy, Greek God who was her soulmate, and she and Piper sighed dreamily. "They're magical..." 

"Look, Piper, I don't know how to get you a boyfriend," he said, not that it was anything new to Piper. Her brother had an awful relationship history, so she stared at him boredly. "Talk to (y/n)! She's got one, so maybe she can give you some tips." 

"I know—you don't know how to do anything! That's why I have it all planned out, and why I need (y/n) to give me lots of boyfriend advice." Piper replied, making (y/n) pause for a second.

What exactly was her advice? It had to be child-friendly, nothing too grown-up, because this was merely puppy love. 

"Be yourself, communicate, even if he's a man-child, trust works both ways, make time for him as well as yourself, and don't overcomplicate it because you're twelve and have a lot to learn." She said happily, picturing her doofus downstairs, and how they'd come a long way since they first started dating. 

As she sighed and smiled dopily, Jasper crept over from the counter after eavesdropping the entire conversation. He was as much a sucker for romance as the woman was, watching all the sappy romcoms with her. "Ooooh, what's the plan?" 

"Okay, there's this new boy at my school, right? And his name is Jackson Bartell." Piper began, her cheeks dusted with pink as her crush flashed up in her mind. 

(y/n) saw how smitten she was, and the dungarees made sense; very chic – the perfect outfit to be around her potential boyfriend. "Oooh, great name, I bet he's real cute, right Hen?" 

Henry didn't care, giving his friend a flat look as he folded his arms and yearned to go back to work. Anything was better than listening about his little sister's love life. "Can we go back to our rear garden, please?"

"No, listen!" But Piper insisted, growing more infatuated with this Jackson kid by the second. "Every day after school, Jackson goes to that coffee shop on Pinehurst." 

"Downtown Brown?" Jasper asked, and the girl nodded.

"You know, they have great Wi-Fi and hazelnut lattes." (y/n) grinned, looking as giddy and flushed as her, with the same twinkle in her eye. Yeah, she was definitely thinking about Ray, who never said no to treating his sweet girl. "Me and my doofus go for mini dates all the time!"

That's what Piper wanted! Mini dates, full dates—all the dates with Jackson, and a relationship that made her heart race.  

"Yeah, he never stops talking about it," Henry said flatly, his arms crossed tightly across his chest. He had Ray blabbing in his ear all day about how pretty (y/n) is, or how smart (y/n) is, or how he can't wait to marry her. He couldn't wait to have that filth at home, too. 

"So, this Jackson guy... Does he like you?" Jasper asked, and for some reason, Piper's cheeriness faltered – just a smidge. (y/n) didn't miss it, too used to scrutinising villains to ignore how her face fell or how her azure eyes lost their spark.

"No, 'cause he's never met me," Piper answered, trying not to seem too disappointed, but unrequited love was rough. The heroine knew that too well, but it was a bit confusing – at least she knew her doofus when she pined for him.

Henry paused, frowning and scratching his head to work it out. Nope—it didn't make sense, and he'd already brought two hopeless cases together with Project Lobster; that ship had sailed. "Wait, I thought he goes to your school?" 

"He's new! I told you that!" Piper snapped, not needing her dopey brother to rub it in anymore.

"Okay, okay, if Jackson doesn't know who you are, then I'm gonna need to hear the whole plan, 'cause this Cupid isn't stupid, but I've got my limits, all right?" (y/n) said, stopping their arguing, but she needed details. She was good, but she couldn't work miracles.

"The plan is that we create the perfect meet-cute."

Jasper and (y/n) loved that idea, grinning at each other because Piper really had thought of everything. It was an excellent plan. "Ohhh, yes, yes, a meet-cute!"

"Whoa, wait, wait, what is a meet-cute?" Henry asked, only to receive three unimpressed stares for his denseness. He was surrounded by romantics every day; how could he not know? 

(y/n) limply slapped his shoulder and shook her head, jokingly disappointed to know the kid didn't listen to her love lessons. "Okay, now I know you don't pay attention to my romcoms when we watch them together."

"You watch most of them with Ray, and they're all boring," answered the boy, offering a weak smile at being rumbled. "Sorry, (y/n/n) but they are." 

She rolled her eyes, pretending to take it to heart, but (y/n) didn't really care. Henry was right; she had her doofus to watch those movies with, and they always had happy endings. "Well, I am deeply wounded by your admission, but a meet-cute is when the main guy and the main girl meet in some cute, funny way, and later in the movie, they fall in love." 

"Yeah, so what I need now is a meet-cute with Jackson Bartell." Piper nodded, looking at her clueless brother since (y/n) was on board, but he looked repulsed. 

"I don't know anything about meet-cutes, so..."

"I know, that's why I need (y/n)'s expertise and why I made an animatic to explain my plan." The girl smiled and moved over to the table in the corner with a PearPad in her hand. 

She sat down, and the three gathered around her, and in fairness, the animatic looked impressive, showing a bunch of customers in the café, all cartoony and cute.

"Whoa, Piper--you animated Downtown Brown. It looks really good!" (y/n) told her, recognising the cosy coffee shop where her boyfriend bought muffins to woo her over. She had a lot of good memories of the place. 

"Thanks!" The girl grinned, flashing a rare glimpse of her inner sweeteness, but that could've had something to do with a handsome, cartoon boy. "Now, watch. See that kid sitting and doing his homework? That's Jackson." 

"Ha! I knew it! I knew it when I saw his name flashing!" Jasper exclaimed, nudging Henry as he and (y/n) gave him a dry stare. It wasn't such a brilliant deduction, given how Piper sighed and cooed at a mere drawing, one that looked too boyish to be a nobody. 

"And that's me and (y/n) coming in the door there." 

Piper pointed to a girl and a particularly glamorous woman walking through the front door of Downtown Brown, making (y/n) smile softly at their movie star entrance. It looked like they were there to order a drink, not expecting anything bad to happen, and that's where Henry came in. 

"And Henry, that's you over there in the corner."

"Why is my hair brown and curly?" The kid asked indignantly. It didn't even look like him – that was a chocolate mop on the character's head, not his beautiful, blond locks.  

Piper looked at him with a small scowl, and her sharp eyes told him to stop nitpicking. "Because I animated it brown and curly."

"But why?" 

"I guess I never really liked your hair, so I tried something new."

"Hey! Guys! Can we please focus? My soul is craving a romantic setup, come on!" (y/n) snapped, holding her hand up to make the bickering siblings shut up, and Jasper winced at her volume. 

"I like your hair," he whispered to his best friend, who didn't know whether to feel flattered or disturbed by the compliment. 

"See, as I walk past Jackson's table with (y/n), you come running at me like a crazy person and you yell, hey! Give me that phone! And then you grab my phone right out of my hands, and when you have it, I say, ah! That jerk just stole my phone!"

Henry ignored whatever Jasper said, which was probably for the best, focusing on his sister as she continued her grand plan. The rest of the video was his part, and the boy watched with knitted brows as Piper explained.  

"At which point, Jackson will jump up and yell, hey-hey, whoa, man! And then, he will punch you, rescue my phone and give it back to me. And that's it—questions?" 

Well, it was creative – anyone could see that. (y/n) wasn't too sure about some parts, amused and chuckling when Jackson the twelve-year-old hero showed his rippling six-pack, but she got the gist. Piper wanted it to be cheesy and cliché – exactly what the heroine loved.  

"Yes, when did you learn how to make animatics?" Henry questioned, always thinking digital art wasn't her thing, but the girl just sneered. 

"That's not the point!" She hissed, but her gaze was vulnerable and hopeful. She had no one else to turn to—no one who could stop her turning into a lonely, crazy cat lady. "Will you guys help me?" 

"Yeah, I'm game!" (y/n) nodded eagerly – all too happy to help since she loved this sort of thing. Romance and destiny, and she had nothing better to do. "It's not like a lot's happening in the rear garden. What'd you say, Henry?" 

Henry sighed, painfully aware his morality wouldn't let him say no. He couldn't say no to someone in need, even if that person was Piper, but he had his reservations. "Come on, even if I say yes, how'd you know Jackson is gonna do all that? I mean, how do you know he's gonna do anything to help you?"

"Love Maybe," Jasper replied, making (y/n) gasp and gawp at the boy with pride. 

She thought the plan sounded familiar, but she couldn't put a finger on it. Now, it made sense; she and Curly watched the very same movie, and unlike someone, he actually paid attention. "Ohhhhh, I thought I recognised the plan! See, Henry? Someone enjoys watching romantic movies with me!" 

"What?"

"Yes! That's Jackson's favourite movie, Love Maybe!" Piper squealed, glad to see she wasn't insane – other people actually knew what she was talking about. 

"Such a good film..." Jasper nodded, and they fell into an appreciative silence as Henry wondered what the hell they were talking about. 

"Okay, wait, what am I missing here?" Quite a lot; the kid had never been so out of his depth. 

Luckily, (y/n) was on hand to explain, and judging by her excitable grin, she loved this one. She rewatched it every year. 

"Okay, so, in the movie, Love Maybe, the girl and guy meet exactly like how Piper wants to meet Jackson. Some dude tries to steal Emma Stone's phone, but Channing Tatum, who I love by the way, tackles the dude, gets Emma's phone back and they fall in love on a green boat." 

"But there's no boat in Piper's animatic," Henry argued, and like the dummy he was, the whole point flew over his head. 

"Forget about the boat, okay? You let me worry about the boat!" Piper hissed, looking up from her PearPad to glower with her usual frostiness. Of all people to go to for help, she just had to pick him...

(y/n) got the sense that it was going to be a very long weekend with the Hart siblings, rubbing her temples whenever they argued – and that was every five minutes. "Okay, same principle as before--the longer we stay here, the longer this will take. Can we please go and do this meet-cute?" 

Henry flat-out refused, earning himself their deepest frowns and objections for raining all over Piper's parade. He glared at Jasper mostly, wishing he'd pick his side and hers, but it wouldn't work with the woman. She looked so disappointed, and when they asked why, he felt like throwing a tantrum.

"Why so harsh, Hen?"

"No?"

"Why no?"

"Because!" The sidekick exclaimed, wandering around to fiddle with the stuff on display as if it was his job to stack the junk and stuff.  "I'm—we're working—-okay? Working, working. (y/n) and I gotta separate these nuts and bolts, all right?" 

It took every (y/n) had in her not to snort at such a terrible lie. She folded her arms and stared at him plainly, fully prepared to make that his job if he kept being difficult. "Bullshit! We're not doing that."

But Henry had a trick up his sleeve, one the heroine had to give him. "I have to leave for New York tomorrow, so I don't have time for your meet-cuteing. Sorry." 

"Oh, come on! You can't take half an hour to help your sweet sister—" Piper wasn't so sympathetic, scoffing when he tried to fight her romance with his own, putting (y/n) in a difficult position. 

She wanted them to be happy, willing to help both, but once Piper raised her voice, that was it. Another fight erupted, leaving her and poor Jasper stuck in the middle as the siblings fought for their love lives. 

"My sweet sister? My sweet sister?—"

"This is so important to me, and I am sweet—"

"When I was nine, you pushed me down the stairs!—" 

It went on and on and on, with dirty insults being thrown left, right, and centre from little things that happened years ago. Their shouting merged into one long, grating racket, making their friends sigh and lean against the counter because it was better than getting involved. 

(y/n) tried that, stepping in to break them apart, but they just screamed louder, damn near tearing lumps out of each other. "Oh my god! Stop arguing! Hey! You're both being ridic—okay, they're not listening..." 

Jasper shrugged, telling her any intervention was useless. What they didn't know was how entertaining the spectacle was for those below, with a certain girl and doofus watching Henry and Piper shriek on the supercomputer. But even they could only take so much – the yelling practically made it down to the Man Cave. 

Ray burst through the beaded curtain, a frown on his face as he shoved a fistful of popcorn into his face. Oh, he looked hot, and (y/n) practically swooned. Her mouth frothed upon noticing how he'd changed out of his super suit, now wearing an alarmingly loud, orange, fish-patterned shirt that really accentuated his muscles and gave her a slither of his chest underneath. 

"SCHRUT UPPP!" He wasn't happy, speaking through his mouthful of popcorn whilst glaring at the noisy children who disturbed his business. "NWOW, KNWOCK WIT WOFF, I MWEAN IT!" 

Pressing a kiss to his sweet girl's cheek, he dropped some popcorn into her hand and stared down the Harts. God, she loved it when he took charge, giving her food and showing everyone who was boss. It might have been prehistoric, but she loved his alpha side, practically fanning her warm face.

"Now, I don't wanna hear any more arguing in this junk store!" 

"Fine." Henry huffed, conceding to the man who paid his wages. He respected him enough to shut up since arguing was unprofessional, even if he had to give in to his little sister. She didn't get the memo.

"You're not the boss of me, even if I'm friends with your girlfriend!" Piper hissed, and she showed no fear of the man three times her size. She was a customer; she had rights...or at least, she thought she did. 

Ray Manchester might've been an idiot, but he wasn't stupid. No, this was the king of pettiness, and he turned to the cocky girl with a confident air, tossing the last of his popcorn onto the floor. 

"That's true, but I am the boss of your brother, Henry," he began, conjuring all the legal jargon he knew to bamboozle the brat. "And since you're directly related to Henry via the transit of property, ex post facto, as long as you're standing in this commercial property, vis-à-vis, I am in fact somewhat...the boss of you!"

"What?"

"Uh, Piper, you're creating a disturbance in my workplace," Henry said tersely, feeling rather humiliated after Ray came all the way upstairs just to tell his sister off for the trouble she caused.  

He didn't even have it in him to gag when (y/n) wrapped her arms around Ray's waist, rubbing her face into his back and sighing in contentment. It was sweet how he held her hands in place, not wanting his girlfriend to pull away, but Piper still scoffed. 

"Oh, please! I've never seen anybody work in this place except for (y/n) and all she does is clean!" The girl retorted, squinting at the beefy man in suspicion. She certainly never saw him doing any work. "Look at Jasper! Just sitting there, doing nothing but stuffing his face full of popcorn." 

She had a point, and the idle, curly-haired boy glanced at them, mid-stuff, much to Henry's frustration. "Piper, go!" 

She didn't go. Instead, to everyone's confusion, she turned to Ray, no longer glaring at him but looking at him curiously. "Hey! You're his boss."

"Dang right!" Ray nodded and smirked at Henry - just so he got the message. 

It made (y/n) roll her eyes, knowing he loved relishing in that title. She unwrapped herself from his back, making the hero pout slightly at the loss of her warmth, but he soon perked up when she held his hand and leaned against his arm.

"Then tell him that when a guy's nice little sister needs help to make a meet-cute happen, her nicebrother should say yes and do his best to make her dream come true!" Piper exclaimed, causing Henry to sigh at how dramatic she was being.

Yet, Ray didn't laugh at her childish delusions, much to his sidekick's shock. He turned to him with a scowl on his face. "Yeah, man, what's wrong with you?"

"What?!" 

"She needs a favour, man--she's your family! She's your sister!" Ray argued, which only made the boy feel worse. Everyone wanted to gang up on him, looking at him in disgust for saying no, but he had the best of reasons.  

"I get that, but—"

"Do you have any idea what I'd give to have my sister back?" The hero sniffed, weirdly getting all teary-eyed as he stared off into the distance. "But I never will... All because of a dark, rainy Wednesday in Kansas, and that terrible, awful farm accident." 

Henry didn't know what to say; he was used to his boss being a cry-baby—all emotionally stunted, but perhaps this was why. This was his tragic background – he was sure of it...until (y/n), the one who he spilt his secrets to, piped up, looking thoroughly perplexed. 

"Ray, I know literally everything about you, and I know you've never had a sister." 

"Oh my god, seriously?" Henry glanced between them, not knowing who to believe. He had the overly dramatic mysterious hero, and the sweet girl who crept into his bed every night for midnight pillow talk. Friends do that. 

"No, but it happens!"  But he should've known that Ray was a liar, his mood flipping from sombre and crestfallen to his usual grin in a split-second. "So maybe you should appreciate having a sister who's still here and breathing and not under a dirty tractor wheel in Kansas." 

"Okay, what planet have I landed on?!" 

Piper growled, and her killer glare found her brother again, making everyone wince when she screeched in the boy's ear. "You know, you've spent more time whining about why you won't help me, when if you had helped me, we'd be home by now, and I'd have a boyfriend named Jackson!"

"Look, Piper, I wanna help you—" 

No matter what Henry said, Ray jumped in. He had an arm around his girl's waist and let her head rest on his pec as he looked at his sidekick, unafraid to use his authority. "You're gonna help her."

"I can't! I have to pack for New York! (y/n), tell him!—"

"That's an order!" The man didn't want to hear excuses, nor did he want his sweet girl to be dragged into the matter. He just snapped his fingers and plunged Henry into silence, playing his boss card again to make him do as he was told. 

When the kid looked at (y/n) for help, she found her face smushed into Ray's chest, voice muffled against his pecs in a very sneaky embrace. She couldn't move – as per her doofus' antics - so Henry turned to Jasper instead.

He was the next best person, receiving an imploring, pleading gaze from his best friend...to which the boy simply shrugged. "I'm on my lunch break, man." 

There was only one thing left to do. Henry had no choice. No matter how much he hated it, speaking through gritted teeth. "Piper, (y/n)... Come on, let's go."

"Oh, yay! This is gonna be so great!" The girl cried, skipping after her brother happily as he plodded through the door, so excited for the great afternoon. He passed his boss on the way, who wore a shit-eating grin after getting the kid to comply like a good boy.  

"Yeah, so great. Ray, put (y/n) down, so we can get this over with." He called over his shoulder.

"Okay, I'll see you later, doofus." (y/n) smiled and wiggled free of her lover's tight hold, much to his displeasure. He knew she had to go, but he still didn't like it. "Promise you won't miss me too much?"  

"I always miss you, sweet girl," he replied softly, cupping her face and stroking over her cheekbones tenderly. "Just stay safe, 'kay? I love you." 

He pulled her in for a long, slow kiss – he'd need it to survive their long separation. She melted against his body, sliding her fingers up his chest and into his hair as their lips lazily moved together. 

Jasper averted his eyes, feeling a little awkward when Ray groaned and tilted his head, so his tongue could explore deeper. He swiped it over her bottom lip and squeezed her hips, threatening to get lost in a make-out session that would inevitably steal her from Piper's plans, so the woman pulled away. 

The boy at the counter was grateful for that. 

"I love you too, handsome. Don't get all pouty when I'm gone, all right?" (y/n) giggled as the childish expression grew on her doofus' face, hating how he lost her honeyed taste before he could re-memorise it. 

Desire smouldered in his lower belly, but neither could do anything about it, and Ray grumbled as his girl grabbed her purse and jacket. She blew him a kiss as she opened the door, blushing when he caught it and brought it to his chest, exactly where his heart lay under his rib cage.

With Jasper hiding his grin at their lovey-dovey grossness, Ray waved her off as she walked through the door and ran after the kids halfway down the street. No matter what she said, he was gonna be a pouty nightmare without her. 

~Downtown Brown~

Henry led his friend and sister into the coffee shop, still pretty grumpy as they chatted excitedly about how it was gonna go. They were gossiping about boys, gross stuff, makeup, gross stuff,how cute Jackson is, gross stuff, how cute Ray is--oh, and gross stuff.

"There!" Piper said once they were inside, standing in the doorway with the smell of coffee and pastries tickling their noses. "He's over there! See him? The cute boy in the blue jacket?" 

They saw him all right: a kid sitting at a table for one, doing some homework and sipping a drink. He was a sweet-looking boy, undoubtedly very popular at school since he was dreamy by tween girl standards, but he looked like any old seventh grader to (y/n) and Henry. 

"We see him, cute boy in a blue jacket, sat over there." 

Piper swooned, pining after the boy when he did the littlest thing, from scratching his face to scribbling something down. She was down bad.  "Isn't he cute?"

"I have no opinion on that," Henry answered, wishing he was somewhere else, with someone else. She lived in New York – so very far away. 

"Well, trust me, he's super cute." Piper grinned, and Henry just went along with it. He nodded and agreed, hoping that would make time go faster until he could catch his flight. 

"All right, cool. Okay, boy, blue jacket, super cute—now, can we please get this over with?"

"Okay, hold on! I'm giving you a disguise!" He leaned back in surprise when his sister pressed a fake goatee to his jaw and chin, stammering and protesting. "Hold still and be quiet."

"What? Why's this necessary?" Henry spluttered, his head jerkily pulled to Piper's direction as she worked on masking his identity. 

(y/n) chuckled at his confused face, watching as the little girl bent Kid Danger to her will—or rather, she yanked his chin wherever she needed it to be. "Don't you think Jackson will be confused when Piper takes him home as her boyfriend and he learns her own brother tried to jack her phone?" 

"Wha-oh—what—okay, that makes sense." He nodded, realising it had to be done, but once the moustache was in place, they weren't done. "We good?" 

"No, bend down." Piper grabbed a scarf from her bag , and he stared at it blankly. For someone who worked as a super-secret sidekick, he wasn't very good at disguises, earning a glare from the impatient girl. 

"What? Why do I have to—?" 

"'Cause I said bend down!"

(y/n) smothered her giggles as she watched the bandana wrap around his head, hiding his blond hair and his identity – sort of.  In a quick scuffle, no one would notice him, but she did. Oh God, the woman wished she had a camera. "Nice look, Hen. You suit a goatee, seriously."

Henry didn't look so convinced. "Yeah, I don't know about this."

"Do you remember the animatic?" Piper asked, hating how he questioned her ingenious, foolproof plan. The only thing that could go wrong was him – the coward.  

"Yeah, how'd you make that?"

The heroine rolled her eyes at how he dodged the question. She knew Jackson wouldn't loiter forever, watching as he paused his work to go on his phone, so she shoved the kid into the fray. "Ugh, she can tell you later! Just go hide and get ready while I order a hazelnut latte. Go!"

It seemed he had no choice. 

Henry crouched next to a couch, using a cushion to cover his face – or make himself invisible to the crowd – while Piper pulled out her phone for the attempted robbery. 

(y/n) was by her side, glancing at the wallet in her purse because their cover would be her buying a coffee and muffin at the counter. Of course, she wanted those anyway, but it helped them blend in. Just like they rehearsed, she escorted Piper across the room, acting like a bored older sister, with the girl pretending to talk on her PearPhone. 

"No way--your mom got a new car?!" She gasped and giggled, really playing up the conversation and earning a few glances from those close enough to overhear her shrill voice.  "Does it have a sunroof? It does?! Oh my god! When you open it, can you see the sky? You can!"

That was Henry's cue, and he swooped in, snatching her phone just as the animatic had shown. "Hey! Give me your phone!" 

Acting like every villain he'd ever faced, the siblings played a tug-of-war, yanking to and fro as Piper pretended to resist. People around the room gasped as they watched the child struggle against a bully, clutching at imaginary pearls when (y/n) grabbed her fake sister's waist. 

She pulled too, pretending to be weak and pathetic against the thief. "Leave her alone, you asshole!"

"Hey! Help! That jerk just stole my phone!" Piper cried, drawing her crush's attention, much to her delight. He stood up with a concerned grimace, channelling his inner Channing Tatum as he said the exact line from Love Maybe.

"Whoa, hey man, give her back her phone—"

It was all going to plan. Until it wasn't. "WHAT THE BUTT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

(y/n) gulped and instinctively tugged Piper back in fear when a very large, slightly masculine yet very intimidating lady jumped out of her seat and shoved Jackson out of the way. She was enormous, and with a scowl like that, the heroine didn't want to get on her wrong side. 

The lady wasn't one for injustice either, grabbing Henry by his collar and yanking him up to her sneering face. Her breath hit his face, and the boy gulped, suddenly flying across the room, landing harshly on a table. Ouch. 

The cute boy awkwardly sat back down as Piper and (y/n) stood frozen, wondering where it went wrong. The girl stared at her saviour, not having it in her to smile back at the kindly lady because she'd ruined everything, even if she was very nice about it.  

"Here's your phone, kid."

"Great, thanks so much," Piper replied quietly, and her heart plummeted when she watched Jackson return to his homework. She stared at him sadly, wondering what it would take to make him notice her, only now she was out of ideas.

(y/n) heard the barista call her name. As she grabbed her order, the girl wandered over her to her brother, silently feeling bad for causing him so much grief, but she'd never admit it. That would be admitting failure, and her heart couldn't take that right now.  

"This was not covered in the animatic," Henry muttered as he struggled to lift his bruised body, with some waiter coming over to see if he was okay. 

He wasn't. Everything hurt, everything ached, and he was pretty sure he had some internal bleeding. Remind him never to help Piper ever again. The pain isn't worth it.

~Junk-N-Stuff~

Back at the store, Jasper, Ray and now Charlotte were sitting at the counter, watching the boy's dumb show. 

Growing tired of sitting downstairs by herself, she went to them for entertainment—God knows that would come when Ray and Jasper were together. The sitcom was fine – mildly entertaining at best, but any boredom quickly dissipated. 

Piper had arrived. 

She stomped into the store like a rampaging bull, her feet thudding with each step as the door slammed on (y/n)'s arm. She'd helped Henry limp home, and as much as the slam hurt, he was the one to be worried about. 

"Uh, you wanna help us?" The boy asked his sister as (y/n) struggled to get him inside with a coffee in one hand and his broken body under the other. 

Yet, Piper wasn't in the mood for being nice, not for him. She had nothing against the woman; she'd done nothing wrong, but Henry? He was the architect of her heartache.  "Why? Did you help me? No, you ruined my meet-cute!"

"Hey, handsome, you pout much without me?" Brushing past the hissy-fit and leaving the kid on his own, (y/n) smiled at her boyfriend and hurried over to him. 

Ray's arms swiftly curled around her, mindful of her latte, undoubtedly her favourite brew, and he sweetly kissed the top of her head. She grinned at the affection, swapping coffee-flavoured smooches in between gooey whispers, but Jasper and Charlotte didn't notice. 

"Oh my gosh, Henry. What happened?" 

"Henry, you okay?" 

They gasped, watching how he limped and stumbled without (y/n) to help him walk – the kid who was used to getting beaten by bad guys. Even Ray frowned as he stiffly hopped down the steps, wincing every time his ribs pinched. 

"No! I'm not!" He replied sharply, swearing he had a broken pelvis, femur and a collapsed lung.(y/n) had promised he was fine, even if everything ached, which wouldn't have happened if he just stayed at work like he wanted. 

"All right, tell us what went down," Ray told him as he and (y/n) wandered over. The woman offered her latte so her doofus could take a sip - a peace offering after the slushie debacle. 

The cup hit his lips with the ridiculously sweet taste of the milky coffee. It wasn't his favourite flavour, but knowing his pretty girl gave it to him—a sign she loved him enough to share her favourite things—was enough to change his mind. He loved the flavour – it was sweet just like her. 

Before Henry could retell his woeful tale, (y/n) jumped in, a gasp falling from her lips when she remembered something. "Oh, I bought you a muffin! Red Velvet, your favourite." 

She pulled a brown paper sack from her purse and offered it to her boyfriend. Ray's heart almost burst from the loving gesture – so simple yet it meant he was on her mind. She knew his go-to order, she got the waitress to write his name with a little heart on the bag, and she flashed him a blinding smile when handing it over. 

"Precious girl," he mumbled, gently accepting the muffin like it was the most exquisite gift anyone had ever given to him, not a mere, two-dollar cake. It meant everything to him. 

(y/n) giggled as he brought her into another tight hug, and he had no intentions of letting go soon. Charlotte and Jasper smiled warmly at the sight of the woman happily snuggling into his chest, relaxing fully and sighing contently. 

Henry and Piper would've cooed at the couple too, but they were too blinded by their anger to notice. So, Ray and (y/n) kept listening through the embrace.

"Oh, I'll tell you what went down," said Henry, circling back to what his friends asked earlier – before the ickiness. "My body. Down. Through a table. Onto the floor!" 

"What's this green stuff?" Ray asked, glancing up from his sweet girl's shoulder when he saw a streak of green mush in Henry's hair.

He reached out and plucked a chunk of it, checking the consistency and smell. It was sticky, thick, and slightly acidic, the pungent odour hitting (y/n)'s nose as he held the mush close to her face. It looked so familiar...

"S'probably avocado. Y'know, for toast," she mumbled against his chest, burying her nose further into his shirt so she could smell his cologne and not some musty, old avocado from the floor. "They serve it to all the cool kids at Downtown Brown."

Ray flicked it from his fingers, grimacing at the ide of his sidekick being covered in food and dirt. He hit the table pretty hard – and someone's lunch, apparently.

"So, Piper's animatic didn't work in real life," said Jasper, folding his arms as he put the situation together in his head – a brilliant bit of deduction for him. 

"It would've worked if Henry had done his part right!" Piper snapped, staring accusingly at her brother, but he just glowered back. It was like her bruises and welts meant nothing to her, the one he'd tried his best to help.

"Well, what was I supposed to do?!" He rubbed his sore back and growled, knowing he looked like an idiot in front of his curious friends. "I ran across the room, I grabbed your phone, I said my line! Before Jackson could run in, some powerful woman grabbed me and hurled me across the room! Jeez!"

"Well, why'd you let her throw you across the room?" Asked Charlotte, only to get a frosty look and robotic reply. 

"She didn't offer me another option, Charlotte."

"Whatever! Get cleaned up, so we can go back to Downtown Brown and try again," Piper told him, and her tone didn't leave room for arguing, not when the love of her life still didn't know who she was. 

Henry just groaned and scoffed, shuffling over to the loveseat coach in the window. He desperately needed to rest his weary bones. "Are you insane?! I'm not trying again." 

"We have to try again!"

"I dough-not, I dough-not!" Henry whined, getting his vowels sounds all wrong because it paled in comparison compared to how his limbs ached and intestines throbbed.  

He didn't care. Charlotte did, though. "You said dough."

"I meant do! Everybody here knows I meant do!" He snapped back, slumping grumpily as (y/n) pulled away from Ray, feeling as though she'd hugged him long enough. The children needed help, and she was one of the grown-ups. 

"I have a question," Ray said first, watching his sweet girl down the last gulp of her coffee. She licked its sweetness from her lips, turning the man's mind to filth, but he had to resist. 

She stayed close to him, chucking the empty cup over to Jasper so he could toss it in the trash can by his feet. He asked his question to distract himself, pining for a moment alone with his girlfriend. "Why's it so important for you to have this meet-cute?"

"Huh?" Piper's eyebrows furrowed, wondering why he, the random guy in love with her grown-up friend wanted to know. 

So, Ray elaborated, suddenly acting like he was a fellow romance expert like his sweet girl. Even Piper knew he wasn't – the lonely guy who dated hundreds of others to get over the one girl his heart wanted. 

"Why can't you just go over to Downtown Brown, walk up to this, uh—this boy you like—"

"Jackson Bartell."

"Okay, him. And just say, hi, Jackson. My name is uh—" He snapped his fingers, struggling to match a name to her face, even though he'd known her for a few years now.  

(y/n) coughed, trying to cover up his forgetfulness, not that it worked. The girl still glared, still clueless as to where he was going with this. "Piper..."

"Piper! My name is Piper, and I really like you, so...what do you think of that?" It wasn't the worst thing he could've suggested – actually very sensible for him – but he obviously forgot what it was like to confess his love. He was as much of a scaredy cat as anyone.

"Oh, Ray, come on!" Charlotte exclaimed, chuckling at the advice he never followed himself.

Piper nodded, and she raked a judgy eye over the man. She'd heard everything about him and his love life. "That would never work in the real world, except maybe for old people." 

"I'm not old!" Ray replied harshly, his hands on his hips at the mention of the O-word. His eyes found his girlfriend, and she smiled at him warmly, never seeing an old man, just her soulmate. 

He hated his age, and not just because it meant his youth was slipping away. There were too many years when he could've been married, could've had children, could've spent so much more time with the love of his life if he'd made his move at the beginning.  Ten years was a long time to wait. 

"Oh, please!" Piper scoffed, amused by how the man reacted so passionately. "What are you, like, thirty?" 

"No! I'm not—yeah, yeah, I'm, uh, I'm, like, thirty." (y/n) rolled her eyes at how he rolled with it, knocking a handful of years off his actual age. She knew better than anyone how old he was, and she was fine with it – found it hot, if anything. 

"Whatever—just tell Henry that he has to help me, and I need you and your girlfriend to help me think of a new meet-cute plan," Piper told Ray hurriedly, not really caring about his age because she liked Jackson a lot more. 

The kid wouldn't wait in the café forever, and she wanted action, much to her brother's disdain. He just wanted to sit quietly and rest, but she had other ideas. "No!"

"Yes!"

"Look, Paper!" Ray interrupted, stopping their bickering before it could start. He still didn't know her name, unfortunately.  "I know you're, like, seven, and you think you know everything..." 

"Okay, Ray, her name's Piper, and she's twelve, 'kay?" (y/n) told him carefully, resting her palm on his bicep to reign in his temper. He had to remain calm, no matter how much the brat irritated him. 

"Be that as it may, sweet girl, I'm gonna show her that young love can begin with something as simple as a good, old-fashioned nice to meet ya--how do you do?" 

Henry liked his plan. He liked it a lot. It didn't involve him or any disguises or any scary ladies who could snap him in two – the perfect plan, really. "Yeah, try that!"

"Uh, one small problem, Ray." (y/n) begged to differ, though. She looked at her doofus sceptically, wondering how he planned to coach Piper on love when it eluded him for years. "It took you ten years just to tell me you love me, and even then, you had to be tricked into saying it! And you were terrified—don't deny it!" 

"Yeah, I was terrified because you said, oh... after I said I'm in love with you!" He replied instantly, but he didn't sound mad or accusing, grinning at the memory of their clumsy confession.  

Everyone had fond memories of that moment—when (y/n) said the first thing that came to mind when she heard the words she'd dreamt of for years. It damn near killed Ray, turning him pale and horror-stricken after assuming she didn't feel the same. But not really. She was equally in love. 

"The man of my dreams had just confessed to me. How else was I supposed to react?" She grinned, cheeks warming at obvious their mutual pining was, resulting in the best hug and kiss of her life. "And anyway, I said it back three seconds later before you had a heart attack, silly doofus," 

"Yeah, and I'm so glad you did, sweet girl." Ray smiled at his girl, taking her hand as they shared a quick kiss – still as sweet as it had always been. "Now, let's show Plopper that she can just talk to this boy. Come on, let's go." 

He led her toward the door and gestured for Piper to follow them, but the girl refused. 

She needed a solid plan, one where everyone had a role and nothing could go wrong. Yet, there he was, stealing her wing-woman and turning her into a dopey, lovestruck idiot since (y/n) couldn't stop staring at the guy. 

"No! I'm not going until (y/n) comes up with another meet-cute plan and then, I have to make an animatic of it!" 

"When did you learn how to make animatics?!" Henry exclaimed, still hung up on his unanswered question. 

"That's not the point! Look, we're going to do this my way, so that I—" Piper argued, sounding as bossy as ever. 

She looked around the room - from Charlotte to Jasper to (y/n) with a stern gaze, but Ray didn't want to hear any more yapping. He took out his remote control and zapped Piper with a green laser – the one that made her head spin and eyes snap shut. 

She collapsed into unconsciousness, and the hero hauled her limp body over his shoulder in a fireman's lift. (y/n) gasped, staring in disbelief at the audacity of her doofus, who just smirked and adjusted the child in his arms. "Ray! What?! Why?! Huh?!"

She had no idea what his plan was, yet she still grabbed her purse again so she could follow him out of the store. His muffin remained on the counter, where it wouldn't be touched until he came back. He'd kill them for taking a gift from his girlfriend – no one wanted to know what that was liked. 

"All right, I'm gonna carry her over to Downtown Brown," said Ray, turning to (y/n), who was all smiley and ready to head out again. "Come on, sweet girl, I'll buy you a blueberry muffin, your favourite."

He needed to return the gesture, not to prove anything but because his precious girl deserved it. And, since they were heading back to the café anyway, he saw no reason why they couldn't have a mini-date, too.

"Good, take your time. Have fun with your girlfriend!" Henry called after them, and the couple didn't need to look back to know he was smirking cheekily. 

He knew they'd make the most of it, and they were welcome to be all gooey and gross outside the Man Cave. Now, he could relax in peace for a few hours, something he'd been wanting to do all day. 

Why couldn't Ray solve Piper's problems all the time?

~Downtown Brown~

"We look like kidnappers!" (y/n) hissed to her boyfriend as they approached Downtown Brown. 

Yet another person stared at them weirdly – one of many after they walked to the café from Junk-N-Stuff, and she couldn't blame them. They saw some huge, hulking man, accompanied by a nervous, skittish woman and with a child slung over his shoulder. That's how most kidnappingsworked.

"It's fine," the doofus insisted, and he held the door open for her like a true gentleman, "in you go, sweet girl."

He made it look easy, even with Piper on his back. Judging by her wriggling and twitching, she was coming to. "Wha—what's going on?!"

"Ah! Look who's waking up." The man grinned when he heard her mumbling, and he placed the girl back on her feet now the laser's effects were wearing off. 

She was still a bit dizzy and incredibly wobbly on her feet, and the minute she was on her own, Piper collapsed onto the floor like a limp noodle – faceplanting the tiles of Downtown Brown. 

"Oh my god, Piper! Are you all right?" (y/n)asked instantly, cringing at the rough impact. She swiftly helped the girl up from the floor, vaguely aware that more people were staring, but (y/n) ignored them.

She patted down her arms – nothing broken – and Piper quickly found her feet. Her brain was still fuzzy, and she blinked at her surroundings and the adults in pure shock.

"How did I get back here?" Piper asked the woman as she shined her phone's torch in her eyes; no one wanted to meet their boyfriend with a concussion. 

(y/n) didn't have an explanation, but luckily, she didn't need to say anything. Ray would handle it, with all his philosophical brilliance. "Look, life's not about how we get places. It's about what happens at those places after we've gotten there...here." 

Piper just stared at him with her mouth wide open, confused as to why he looked so fuzzy. "Huh?"

"So, where's this allegedly cute boy you wanna meet so bad?" Ray asked, and it snapped the girl out of her daze. 

She remembered why they were there and quickly scanned the cafe for Jackson. Her heart sank for a split-second when she didn't see him at first – no longer sitting at the same table – but then, she spotted him, tucked away in a quiet corner. "Oh... he's right over there in the cool, blue jacket."

"Okay, so I'm gonna go order (y/n) a hazelnut latte with extra whipped cream and a blueberry muffin," said the hero, and a smile crept onto his face while he talked to Piper, feeling his girl link arms with her. "I want you to walk right over to that boy and say, hi, my name is Paper Hart, and I would like to introduce myself to you, so that we can be—" 

He was such a doofus, and (y/n) rolled her eyes at how adorkable he was. She was fairly certain he got her name wrong to be annoying, but she couldn't be mad when he looked so cute. Piper wasn't the only one smitten.

But before the doofus could continue his love lesson, the café erupted into chaos. A woman jumped up from her seat and shrieked, pointing at something big, black and ugly as it scurried on the wall. "There's a big bug on the coffee bean display!"

"Oh my god, it's a scorpion!" Another guy yelled, causing mass panic. 

Everyone near the creature ditched their lunch, coffee, tea and pastries to scramble towards the door, not wanting to be hurt. It probably hitched a ride on one of the kids from the playground, not scared off by Captain Man, Kid Danger, and their hose.

"Okay, okay, everyone, let's just calm down!" (y/n) shouted, trying to prevent a stampede, and it wasn't like the scorpion was near anyone. It was pretty chill on the wall. "Very few scorpion species have deadly stings, so it's highly unlikely that anyone will die. If we just stay away from it, we'll be fin—" 

But no. Ray was her boyfriend, the doofiest guy in Swellview, and the world's biggest show-off. He had to be the hero of the hour, even if his girl knew it was a bad idea. 

"You know, I used to be a better than average tennis player back in my day. You mind?" He bragged, looking to his right, where a man with some tennis balls and a racket was standing.

(y/n) looked at him with wide eyes and clutched his arm, praying he wasn't thinking what she thought he was thinking. Squishing the scorpion with a tennis ball was a bad idea – on a million levels. 

Not that Ray saw anything that could go wrong. "All right, Mr Scorpion. Don't take this personally, but game, set and—"

"Ray, no, don't do it! Think before you—!"

"SMASH!" Too late. Those beefy arms packed a punch, blasting the ball across the room at a blinding speed.

"What was that?!" It whizzed over Jackson's head and pinged off the display. The scorpion fell as per the hero's plan, but the cabinet was old and rickety, too weak to withstand the powerful impact. It fell on the unfortunate soul beneath it, and that just happened to be the cute boy.  

Piper screamed as her crush blacked out, taking the full brunt on his head. Ray gulped as the boy groaned on the floor, and he didn't miss how everyone watched. His sweet girl looked so disappointed, shaking her head and pinching her eyes at his finest moment.

"Jackson!" Piper screeched, realising no one was helping her love as he bled on the floor. "Quick!Somebody call an ambulance!" 

"Why don't you get a better tennis racket, guy?!" Ray snapped at the tennis guy and pushed the racket back into his hands, not wanting to be caught with guilty weapon.

He looked at (y/n), pretending to be her loveable idiot like usual, but she just tutted and shook her head. 

To his dismay, she comforted Piper, ignoring the hands squeezing her hips and shoulders. He wanted her attention – the whole reason why he impressively dealt with the scorpion. That was impressive, right? Dumb, but impressive!

The ambulance arrived promptly, and a flying squad of paramedics burst into the building. Ray, (y/n) and Piper observed mournfully, with the poor girl nearing tears as the lead medic barked orders to treat the patient. Another turned to them, needing specifics to understand how best to treat the boy. 

"You guys see what happened?"

"Yeah, there was a big scorpion—" Piper began, only to be swiftly silence by Ray. He didn't fancy explaining himself to the cops, keenly aware they wouldn't see the funny side of a grown man hurting a child. 

"Uh, I'm the adult. So, apparently—" 

(y/n) jumped in at that, smothering a chuckle at her boyfriend – the adult. She chuckled nervously but offered her sweetest smile to lie through her teeth. 

"I'm the real adult here, and as my slightly idiotic but very loveable boyfriend was saying, apparently, that poorly constructed display just fell off the wall for no reason whatsoever. We didn't even see it, so no one can prove anything...'cause it was just an accident, so have a nice day..." 

Thankfully, the paramedic bought it, shrugging and walking off since she had better things to do – like patching up Jackson. No one was more hurt than Piper, whose miserable face broke both of their hearts. This wasn't supposed to happen. 

"Listen, Popper. I know you're sad, and I'm sorry that you didn't get to have the meet-cute that you wanted..." Ray sighed, giving the girl the most remorseful face and kindest words he could muster because he knew he'd caused her heartache.

He tried to make light of it, using the wrong name again, but it didn't really work. Piper sighed, feeling rotten, and she looked at her favourite grown-up for comfort, tugging on (y/n)'s sleeve. The woman looked weirdly distracted, staring at the medics tending to Jackson and ignoring her friends. Very strange.

"Hey, (y/n), what's wrong?" Ray gazed at her too, worrying she was mad or upset with him, and it turned him into a sad puppy. He pawed at her arm, but the woman didn't hiss or slap his hand away. 

"Do you think that paramedic lady is the same height as Piper?" She asked her boyfriend, gesturing to the woman and smiling at their baffled expressions.

"Yeah...so?"

"So, Piper... I've come up with another meet-cute." She grinned and grabbed the girl's arm, turning her toward the medic. 

Piper had no idea what was happening, but she was excited. The smile returned to her face, and Ray placed his large, warm hands on his girlfriend's shoulders, squeezing them lightly. He liked the mischief on her face, but his heart felt all fuzzy at her kindness. 

"You're gonna take that paramedic over to that cupboard with the private sign on it and you're gonna borrow her uniform," (y/n) explained, rubbing her hands together like an evil mastermind. "Then, you can sneak onto the ambulance and be there when Jackson wakes up, just like Scarlett Johansson in Breakfast at Brittany's!"

It might've been devious, but the delighted gasp that fell from Piper's lips was worth it. She hugged the woman tight and squealed, hiding her grin in the fabric of her dress."Thank you, thank you, thank you! It's perfect!" 

She didn't waste any more time, sneaking away as the paramedics put Jackson on a stretcher. The couple watched as she sauntered up to her prey, looking like a perfectly innocent angel when she smiled and batted her eyelashes. 

"Uh, 'scuse me, can I show you something behind that door over there?"

"Uh, yeah. Okay..." 

They didn't know what happened in the cupboard, and they didn't ask. All Ray and (y/n) heard was the ruckus as the girl wrestled for the woman's uniform, but strangely, it left them in peace. She felt the plan fall into place, and when her doofus pulled her against his chest, the heroine sighed happily. 

"You're so bad... I love it," he mumbled against her neck, and since no one bothered to notice them, he had no shame kissing his way up it. 

"I prefer being sweet," she replied quietly, smirking when she felt him smile against her throat. 

Ray wouldn't have it any other way, swearing he was drunk off her sweet perfume and the sensation of her warm, soft body against his. He fell in love with her kindness, her shyness, her uniqueness, her silly sense of humour, her quirks and funny rituals--her everything, and he never wanted her to change. Sure, he liked when she was mischievous, but it was sweetness that had him addicted.

"I love that even more," he answered, and she melted against him, twisting in his arms until she could see his handsome face. "I love you."

(y/n) blinked back tears, wondering how it was possible to feel so much love for one person. She reached on her tiptoes and brushed her lips against his, smiling when his fingers twitched on her hips – they were in public. He had to remember that. "I love you, too, doofus. You wanna have that mini date now?" 

Ray couldn't nod quickly enough. After a day of helping others, with Piper waltzing out of the café with the other paramedics, he wanted nothing more than to be alone with his soulmate, holding her hand, chatting away, and swapping kisses. 

She slipped away to the counter, and his gaze remained on her angelic figure with a lovestruck stare. He could hear her sweet voice talking to the barista, ordering two drinks and something to eat as he eyed one of the cosy loveseats. He could get handsy in one of those—close enough to lose himself in his future wife's eyes. 

It was a moment, but it wasn't the moment, even he had a ring box obnoxiously poking out of his pocket, practically begging to be let out. It didn't feel right, making him nervous to see so many people around the room – strangers, who had no business seeing the best moment of their lives. He wouldn't get down on one knee just yet, but he would. God, he would.

It wasn't the right moment, but he was damn sure that it was getting close.

[procreate02]

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[brazenautomaton]

you can pair a Devil Hunter and a Style or a Devil Hunter and another Devil Hunter. All of them can add more colors if you want, you don't have to pick a Style of the same color as your Commander. That's the whole point, so you can really customize it.

Starts at D.

You know what, I had it at 3, and I don't remember why I changed it to 2, but I will change it back.

ETB cost means "there is no window of time between paying the cost and the thing entering the battlefield. even if you cheated it into play, you have to phase out a legendary creature. if you can't do that, then it doesn't enter." you're allowed to be less precise in reminder text, see: Enlist referencing summoning sickness which is not actually a rules term. Also since it doesn't target, they can respond to kill whoever you were going to save with your DT, but you can transform another creature if you have another legendary on the battlefield.

You think so? I mean it is impossible to remove only if you're bleeding yourself to death. And for a Commander deck aggro creatures have to be really, really good. The only other formats would be Legacy and Pauper, and while Death's Shadow would like this, I don't think it would really make a splash in Legacy given what else that deck has. I'll shift it to uncommon, though.

Jester blocks one guy, he can't tap to stop someone from attacking him that turn (since they already did), I don't think he's really more powerful than other goad-enablers.

(already) means "You can't copy the copy you made, since the thing it targets doesn't exist yet and thus you do not already control it." She used to be able to copy multiple times for two mana, and it was redonkulous. Auras are the primary use case, and as implied by the Bestow creatures in her colors also from DMC4, she can copy Bestows to get a token with the Bestowed aura. But the kind of thing Zada likes in terms of "single target spells that get something else neat not directly related to that creature" will also be good for her, though not nearly as degenerate, and she can copy Credo's trigger to make 1/1 shielded guys or copy Agnus's ability to proliferate twice.

I didn't think it was a pie break since it was specifically only for creatures you already had on the battlefield. You still can't bring out something surprising.

So you can't stick your nose in a combat that doesn't involve you, which would make the board math way more complicated.

That is the idea!

He's supposed to be paired with Nico, that's what his precon deck will be -- Nico is the one who builds all his gear in DMC5.

Yeah, because every Empower is someone's Devil Trigger / super mode, Nico's has to be her van, but she's the one driving it so it just is always crewed. Oh, you know what, I can actually give it a crew ability, and then make it get something every time it's crewed, so the more people pile in the more it does.

You can cast it from exile no matter how it got there. It's like Misthollow Griffin. You can also reanimate it, and probably should. V's ability makes it very easy, since V can exile Nightmare to an escape cost; Nightmare is V's ultimate summon and they're designed to work well together but you don't strictly need V to us it.

Good point, I'll change

Do you think it should be changed? Because of the Stylish Ranks, and how you can lose 1 every combat, when you are doing well you will draw a lot of attacks, so you need some really good emergency block buttons.

Karn doesn't let people drive because he's a narc

Just like any other "can't be" effect. If a card effect or SBA says to do something to a creature, and another effect says that thing can't happen, it doesn't happen. It's like Indestructible creatures staying out while they have lethal damage. It doesn't even create an infinite loop like Bog Serpent and Assault Suit: a creature with negative toughness tries to go to the graveyard as a SBA, True Power stops it, SBAs did not cause anything to change, so priority goes to the next player. SBAs will try and fail to kill creatures with 0 toughness or lethal damage after every single action for the rest of the turn, but won't hold up the game. (They used this in the Theros boss battle against Xenagos, it wasn't an official card but it does work in the rules.)

"And he's got that! And that is the end of -- OHHHHHHHHHHH! God Dammit!"

Stylish Ranks say (once per player per combat), first strike and double strike won't double-dip. Multiple attack phases will, though.

yay, I'm glad you're interested, I will post it when I finish them!

the problem of course is there isn't any goddamn deck builder that lets you use custom cards and also allows you to do tyhings like "sort by card type / mana value" that deck builders do, even if just for real cards. tappedout.net has the ability to add custom cards to a deck but what they fail to mention is that once you do, that deck cannot be edited in any way until you take all of them out since it causes errors.

edit: also Quicksilver Style is overcosted because it is a command zone counterspell. same for Royalguard Style.

an entire 125-card set, with new mechanics (Stylish Ranks and Empower, which is a "fixed" Champion), Battles, Sagas, co-op partners, and the goddamn enemy color tango lands why have you not made those yet.

I'll be making up actual deck lists next, using these cards and existing cards to make 100-card preconstructed decks.

[shiny-jr]

I LOVE THE HEATHERS AU!! Do you have plans for the other TWST boys as well or will you be keeping it around the ones you just wrote? Also, where is Grim?

Sorry if I'm bombarding you with too much questions. If the AU is still in it's early stages, feel free to ignore this!

- a lurking gremlin anon

Thank you, anon! I don't really have any particular ideas for the other characters, since there aren't a lot of characters in Heathers. Plus having so many students involved in the story would make things chaotic and too busy, thus hard to write. So I'll be keeping it to the ones I wrote and established already (no Grim), but I have imagined some of the other characters in the same setting too. Here's a few descriptions I came up with for some characters that aren't included. 

Cater Diamond, local fan of Vil Schoenheit and friend of Rook Hunt. He's a member of the yearbook committee and unlike some of the others, he isn't some cultish fan that worshipped Vil's trio. Cater is actually fairly fashionable, even if he couldn't always wear the high-quality clothes like the infamous clique, he could still look good in his own way. The photographer was often seen wearing a cute sweater usually with white jeans and a headband for his orange hair. And of course, a photographer like him couldn't catch photos and juicy moments without a camera hanging around his neck. Believe it or not, Cater is pretty friendly, even if he does have a habit of tricking newbies to do his tasks around the school. Don't tell him a secret though, because by the end of the day over half of the school will know it because of him.

Leona Kingscholar, head of the football team. Don't assume just because he's the leader of a bunch of dumb jocks that he's dumb too. Far from it actually. He's conniving and smart for someone of his position, and also creates strategies to lead his team to victory. If it weren't for Vil and his clique, Leona and his gang would surely take the crown for top of the hierarchy. When not wearing a varsity jacket, he prefers to wear a denim jacket or a black leather jacket over either a plain shirt or button-up. The most intricate thing about his outfit would be the colorful bandanas he wears for some control over his wild mane and the golden chain around his neck. Be wary of Leona, he certainly is not very friendly or forgiving, you don't want to mess with him at all for he's been in his own share of fights and he always emerges victorious.

Jack Howl, a rising star on the football team. He, a freshman like Ace and Deuce, was chosen for the team. Although even more than the two previously mentioned, he’s gaining a bigger reputation for his intense skills at athletics and never starting conflict. If there’s conflict with him, you can be sure he didn’t start it but he will definitely finish it. You can spot him from across the hall with that build and height. When not wearing the varsity jacket, he settles with a plain white shirt and either a leather jacket or bomber jacket over it. If you happen to see him during practice, he will have shed his jacket and just wear the white sleeveless shirt that reveal his toned arms. Yeah, his muscles aren’t just for show. Jack may just be a freshman but do not pick a fight with him. 

Azul Ashengrotto, another “nerd.” However, this nerd has more influence and power. Azul may be a nerd, but he’s certainly not bullied, he actually has a lot more power than most are willing to admit. He knows everyone’s business, he knows everything about everyone and uses this to his advantage. You would think that the skinny glasses-wearing guy wearing a freshly-ironed shirt with clean pants and suspenders, socks, and polished shoes would be an easy target to bully, but oh no. One wrong move and Azul will expose your dirtiest secrets. He uses this power to avoid being bullied and to gain favors and such. Yeah, he has students around campus doing odd jobs and chores and other strange tasks for him, just to avoid their secret getting out. So do not cross Azul. 

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird: Assassins

( Don’t forget to come see my on my new patreon and support me for early access to stories and personal story requests :D https://www.patreon.com/NiqhtLord )

 The soft light of the morning dawn slowly filtered into the room through cracks between the lavish curtains. Streaks of light bounded off the polished gold detailing of the rooms furniture and made the room appear as if the very stars themselves had come to adorn themselves upon the walls. So bright were the reflections that it managed to find their way underneath several layers of bed sheets and directly into the face of ambassador Glifin.

Roused from his seemingly peaceful sleep Glifin slowly pushed off the sheets one by one and rolled to his feet. The loud thuds of his hooves touching the floor sent a shudder through the room as he stood and stretched out, his general grogginess slowly shaking off. With a loud yawn finally leaving his throat he rose and shambled over to his desk to begin his day’s work.

Tonight he was hosting a party honoring visiting royalty from his home world on Argon. The prince had decided he wanted to visit this miserable planet he had been stationed on, though why anyone would want to visit this world was beyond him.

Glifin’s posting on the human homeworld had been sold to him as a great honor but in reality it had been a means to keep him from continuing his political rise. On Argon he had been a senator whose mere whisper was enough to make generals and minor nobles quiver in fear. His star struck ascension didn’t go unnoticed however and just before he was to be elected into the office of Artock Supreme and reside over the entire senate the royal family had stepped in and given him the position of ambassador to humanity.

Within the spam of a solar month he was shipped off the throne world and sent to this backwater dump of a world; were he had to smile and feign sincerity to these miserable sacks of flesh all the while his political powerbase slowly began to crumble in the senate.

Now fully consumed by feelings of dread over his situation Glifin did not hear the sudden knock at the door. Only after several more knocks did Glifin look up from his paper work.

“Come in.”

The door slowly opened and Glifin’s aide Jafal walked in and bowed.

“My apologies for disturbing you at this early hour, but Mr. Robinson has arrived with your evening wear for tonight’s event.”

Glifin nodded and shuffled his papers back into his desk and locked it just as a new figure entered the room.

“Say what you want about Argonian fashion, but they do have such a wonderful sense of aesthetics when it comes to room decoration.”

A slim human emerged from the doorway pushing a small cart with a metal rod built in holding up two clothing bags.

“You have a problem with Argonian styles?” Glifin said as he rose to his feet and walked over to Robinson as he pulled out a tiny box device and casually threw it down on the floor. The moment of contact it sprung open and in an instance a large set of mirrors emerged from it giving an impressive view from all sides.

“Oh far be it for me to question ones culture, “ Robinson continued as he opened the first bag and stepped aside for Glifin to see the contents, “but some would consider the amount of dead mammals your people adorn on themselves to be a tad morbid.”

From the corner of his eye Glifin saw Jafal’s face redden from anger but with a motion from his ambassador kept his tongue still.

“I would find it surprising for a human to find anything morbid with the amount of toxins you willingly consume.”

Robinson flashed a brief smile and shrugged. “You do have me there; personally caffeine will most likely be the end of me one day, but we’re not here to talk about my eventual demise.”

“An end that will come much sooner if you continue to waste my time with idle chatter.”

Humanities incessant need for small talk and idle conversation was something Glifin had never come to terms with; and this human fashion designer was by far the worst example he had ever put up with. Part of him viewed it as a challenge to see how long he could endure before snapping the tiny man’s neck, and though such a moment would no doubt bring him great pleasure the other part of him realized that Robinsons work was well regarded among prominent members of society. Not just with other humans, but with other alien dignitaries who had embassies on the human homeworld. It had been surprisingly an ambassador from the Hive that had recommended the human’s services when it was suggested that Glifin update his style to match his new role.

Walking up to the first black bag that Robinson had opened Glifin inspected the wardrobe.

Inside was a finely trimmed suit of Rygonian Leaper fur of a dark blue with a sash of Haponi tongue and a dashing pair of pants metal grey Roller Worm hide.

It was custom in Argonian culture to wear the skin of that which you have killed, thus the outfit before him was a prime example Glifin’s traditions.

“A fine work indeed,” Glifin said as he ran his fingers across the material, feeling the roughness against his skin. “For a human” he finished as he turned and smirked at Robinson.

“With the effort it took to obtain the materials you requested I would say it is nothing less than an example a miracle performed before your very eyes.”

Glifin stopped his examination of the attire and looked at the human. “For a miracle you sound so…displeased with your work.”

Robinson crossed his arms for a moment and pouted as if considering his next words.

“My work is perfection, I can assure you, but a man in my trade is not just meant to listen to the specifications of their client but their intention as well.”

“And your point?” Glifin queried.

After a moment he outstretched his hand and casually gestured to the Argonian clothing. “Is this really the message you want to be sending?”

Glifin looked at the suit again then back at Robinson. “I don’t understand.”

“If you go to the event dressed like this it will send the message that you still value your traditions, but I worry that it shows a disconnect with your current situation; almost as if you are attempting to relive the past.”

“You would appear as an old war hero trapped in past glories that the other guests would acknowledge, but not make to engage in conversation.”

Glifin opened to rebuke the human but stopped himself as he pondered the man’s words. Robinson stepped forward to the other black case. “Now this,” Robinson said as he slowly pulled down the zipper revealing the contents, “this would make you not only the talk of the party, but would make you the talk of the after party all the way back to your homeworld were many people would no doubt be very much interested in your on goings.”

“Each piece has been designed by some of the most dangerous animals on this planet, and in some cases far more ravenous then anything back on your respectable homeworld.”

Robinson went about and pointed out the specific materials used one by one.

“The body is made from a powerful species that inhabits the various swamps and wetlands around the globe with jaws so powerful they could cut you in two with a single bite.”

“Each of the buttons along the coat are the fangs of the most poisonous reptilian creatures on the planet; each one capable of killing a human let alone an Argonia ten times over with a single drop of their venom.”

“Now the pants I am particularly proud of as they are the skin of the deadliest hunter of all the planets seas. They can smell fresh blood from miles away and commonly take on prey twice their size.”

Gliffin heard Robinson go through the list of creatures but his expression remained emotionless.

“Why would these creatures be any more interesting than my own worlds?”

Robinson smiled. “Because everyone from your world already knows about them and have hunted the same creatures for generations. Yet I would be so bold as to wager my humble shop that none of them have ever faced down the black eyed stare of a great white shark, nor wrestled the deadly crocodile demons of the swamps, and most certainly have been quick enough to pluck out the teeth of rattle snakes just as they lunge to strike.”

“Neither have I,” Gliffin said with a hint of disgust in his tone, “and you would make a liar out of me for saying so.”

“My dear ambassador, who but you could say what you do or don’t in your free time?”

Robinson leaned forward and whispered into Gliffin’s ear “I am no doubt sure many of your females would find the idea of a striking Argonian such as yourself sneaking off to go hunting the unknown for sport a rather attractive quality.”

Glifin looked at the new set of clothing and then back at the original set of traditional clothes. He went back and forth for several moments before finally settling his gaze on the traditional garments.

“Take these away.”

_______________________________________

The lights outside Robinson’s humble shop slowly went off one by one as he walked between the displays straightening out garments and folding tossed aside pieces customers had casually put aside when the door rang.

“I’m sorry but we are closed for the night.” Robinson said as he returned behind the counter with a stack of clothes.

The figure slowly approached the counter and took off their hat. Robinson looked up from the register to see the figure was a Rohanan; a species known for its gel like appearance yet could collect random bits and bobs to create a sudo skeleton and present themselves as humanoid.

“That’s alright,” the Rohanan said, “I am here to pay for a set I ordered for a….friend.”

“Then they are most fortunate to have a friend such as you then.”

Robinson’s smiling nature unnerved the Rohanan but nonetheless they placed a small envelope on the table and slid it across. Robinson placed a hand on it and tapped his fingers several times against the contents inside before opening it and spilling the credit chips on to the table.

“Is it satisfactory?” the Rohanan said, their nervousness building as the human finished counting the chips.

“Oh yes indeed; I believe you have paid in full for your order.” With a swipe of his hand the human pushed the chips back into the envelope and sealed it. “Always a pleasure to deal with such an honest and upstanding man such as yourself during such troubling times.”

Robinson leaned in towards the Rohanan, his expression shifting from smiling to one of mild concern. “I heard there was a most unfortunate incident up at the Argonian embassy several nights ago.”

“Several guests including the visiting prince and ambassador himself all died from poisoning.” The Rohanan confirmed.

“How gruesome!” Robinson said as he recoiled in shock and finished putting away the remaining clothes while he talked over his shoulder.

The Rohanan regarded the human for a moment before continuing. “The strangest thing was that the poison was not native to this world, but is most common in the Hagar system under Dovorian rule.”

“A most embarrassing situation I am sure considering the Dovorian and Argonian people despise each other.”

“Indeed; one might wonder how such a toxin came into contact with them.”

Robinson shrugged and turned as he finished placing the final shirt back into the display. “With all of those fangs, bones, and animal skins I would not be surprised if someone grabbed a tooth or two that hadn’t been fully drained of its contents.”

The Rohanan laughed and placed their hat back on their head just as they stopped at the door.

“You were worth every penny, assassin.”

“An assassin you say?” Robinson’s smile returned and he casually waved to the departing customer “You must have me mistaken for someone else, as I am but a simple tailor.”

[florestalio]

THE PERFECT COPY — y.jw

finding a job in the current state of the world was a hassle, but given your skills, it wasn't hard to find a decently paying job as a doorman. your job is to distinguish the doppelgangers from the real humans. simple enough, right? right?

GENRE — that's not my neighbour au, dystopian au, doppelganger au

WARNINGS — noncon/dubcon, mentions of killing, blood, guns, unprotected sex (don't!), big huge dick!won, monster fucking, meandom!won, implied munch!won, nicknames (slut, doll, princess, etc.), dacryphilia, fingering, manhandling, bondage, lot of slick (an almost concerning amount), marking (hickeys), cum eating (not oral), missionary, mating press, bulge kink, degradation, praise, possessive!won, let me know if I missed any!

WORDCOUNT — 7k

NOTE — i'm well aware that a similar fic has already been published by a different author, but mine was almost completely inspired by this video, so it's extremely different from the fic that had already been posted. bnd ver here!

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT

IN A WORLD WHICH IS SLOWLY, but steadily getting overtaken by doppelgangers, finding a job is one of the hardest tasks — even if a lot of new jobs have been created for this purpose.

‘Doorman’, a post that was one of the more frowned upon jobs with a very low salary, had now become one of the most high paying jobs — since it was their skills and abilities that would determine whether the people in an apartment or complex lived or not. The job sounded fairly simple — figure out if the person wanting to enter is a human or a convincing doppelganger. Let only the humans in, get rid of the doppelgangers with the help of the D.D.D — another job created for the purpose of eradication of the doppelgangers from the world.

While the job of doormen did sound simple, it obviously wasn't that easy. Doppelgangers could be very convincing, their morphing abilities weren't a matter of joke. But, no matter how human they seemed, at the end of the day, they weren't human.

While detecting them could be very hard, doppelgangers… aren't the smartest tool in the shed. They always have some kind of imperfections, no matter how minor, in their appearances, in the way they behave — and many more. This is where doormen step in. They are skilled people with extremely sharp observation skills, which they use to figure out these imposters, and thus save the lives of a lot more people than they think they do.

You were one of these people with sharp observation skills that got chosen as a doorman of an apartment complex, situated near the suburbs. While you weren't getting a salary as high as the skies, it was still pretty high, considering that people from remote locations were impersonated a lot more than people from the cities, as these people are easier targets than them.

According to your job description, the old doorman was taking a long, well-deserved vacation. You were supposed to replace him for as long as he was on vacation, after which, you had no idea what would happen. Would your job be gone? Were you going to keep your job? Would you work alongside the old doorman? So many questions, yet they all remained unanswered.

You shook off those thoughts, focusing on the present. You looked around your new office, trying to make yourself familiar with your surroundings. Everything you needed as a doorman seemed to be exactly where you needed it; a telephone, checklists to grant entries, an entry list, records of all the people that lived in the building, their phone numbers, the D.D.D phone number, and whatnot. There was even an emergency button on the wall, which was attached with a metal partition that covered the window in front of the desk when activated.

The presence of all these faculties just made your work a lot easier. You took a seat, right in front of the desk. As soon as you sat down, the phone rang. You picked it up, only to hear a recorded message from the previous doorman. Turns out, his name was Sunghoon, and he had recorded it for you to listen to, since he didn’t wish for any mishaps to happen to you. As thoughtful as he was, he was also extremely repetitive. After several ‘do not let them in’-s, did the recording finally end, making you breathe out a sigh of relief.

Now comes the tough part. Doing your job.

IT WAS A QUARTER TO MIDNIGHT. After a hard day’s work of letting in the actual residents and calling the D.D.D upon the impersonators, the entry list had only two more people left. Namely, a businessman by the name of ‘Park Jongseong’ who lived alone in the third room on the first floor, and ‘Yang Jungwon’, the milkman who lived alone in the second room of the third floor.

Over the course of the day, you had seen doppelgangers of all kinds, some a lot better at impersonating than the other. There were several times when you had almost missed a sudden flash of an extra pair of arms, or different eye colors — as impressed as you were, you had immediately called the D.D.D on them.

Sometimes the doppelgangers looked completely, utterly, perfect copies of the person they were impersonating. Had it not been for a slight difference in their ID’s or entry requests, you would have probably let them in.

Suddenly the sound of footsteps alerted you. As you looked up, you were met with the face of Jongseong, Jay for short. He gave you a half smile. “Sorry for bothering you this late, a client of mine was giving me a lot of trouble. Honestly, how is it my fault that the delivery was being delayed? Do they not realize that in the present situation, it is hard to navigate through the innumerous doppelgangers that are just waiting to pounce at any given moment of the day? It's truly very inconsiderate of–”

You interrupted his rambling. “Sir I require your ID in order to let you in. As you mentioned, it is already extremely late, so please, let’s not delay this any further.” You felt a little guilty for how you were acting towards him, but his rambling was taking up too much of your precious time.

His eyes immediately widened, before he started rummaging in his pockets. “Right — I'm really sorry, I'm not sure why I started to rant to you — here's my ID–”

You took a close look at the ID, trying to find any kind of faults in it. You heard him start to rant again. “—and honestly it was such a lovely day too, but this stupidly inconsiderate client had to ruin it.” You looked up at him, watching him continue to rant about the most random topics, which… didn’t really make any sense. “—so many ice cream trucks, but all of them had crashed into each other. The amount of people going up to those and stealing ice creams from them was actually insane–”

Suddenly you noticed something amiss on his face, protruding from his hat. Without missing a beat, you asked him. “Sir, what's that on your face?”

Jay immediately stopped his rambling. “My face? Wh– What’s wrong with it? It– It's just a normal face!–”

Your hand started to creep towards the emergency button. “There are tiny hands on your face.”

Jay panicked, watching you reach towards the emergency button. “Wait!– I have an explanation for this — see I was talking to this little girl called Jiah right? So I called out to her ‘Hey Jiah! Can you give me a hand with this?’ and she came and put her hands on my face! No wait don't–”

It was too late. You had already pushed the emergency button, watching the metal partition fall into place, blocking your view of him. You could hear the doppelganger wailing about how it was ‘a perfect disguise’. You quickly contacted the D.D.D, letting them know of the situation. Within five minutes you heard them arrive, screams of ‘get away from the door you filthy animal!’ and ‘but I don't wanna’ filled up the air, along with the sounds of guns going off, before it all went silent.

The partition suddenly went up again, a bloodied yellow hazmat suit with the D.D.D logo coming into your view. The person in the suit spoke. “Cleaning protocol has been completed. Please feel free to carry on with your job.”

You whispered a small thanks, watching them leave. It was almost midnight now, and you still had to let in two more of the apartment’s residents. It almost annoyed you, but this was in your job description when you had applied for it, so you had to suck it up.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps reached your ears again, along with a voice. “God, I'm so sorry for coming this late, Sunghoon, I swear I'll come earlier next time–” The voice stopped short, and so did your breath.

Good fucking gracious. You did look at the profiles of all the residents in the building, but none of them looked as good as Jungwon did up close.

Jungwon, a milkman by profession, was absolutely drop dead gorgeous. Even with his tired eyes and exhausted appearance in general, he looked so fucking… ravishing.

He cleared his throat. “I'm so sorry, it's usually Sunghoon who sits here — are you new?”

You nodded, licking your lips nervously. “Yeah I am… Sunghoon went for a vacation, a long one apparently, so I'm here to replace him for the time being.”

He nodded in understanding. “That makes sense. Good thing he went for a vacation, god knows he needed one. We all need one, given the state of the world at present — how are you liking it at the new job? Is it giving you too much trouble?”

You shook your head. “Oh no, not at all — there were a lot of posers, but I handled them just fine. I think I'll be alright.”

“That's good. Oh, I remember my first experience with a doppelganger — it was almost terrifying. See, there was this — this woman, who lived here and… it was a very convincing disguise. The only thing wrong with her was that… there was a mole on her right cheek, except that it was supposed to be on the left side. When the D.D.D was called on her, she… kept screaming and screaming — all that just… it takes a toll on you. Not being able to recognise them, that is.”

You gulped, barely hearing what he was saying, too focused on the movement of his lips. “Yea… that's — yea, it's scary.”

He offered you a half smile. “It is. But what you're doing is important. You're saving a lot of lives this way, and that is all that matters. That's what is important.”

“Thank you — I appreciate that, I truly do.”

“You're welcome. I may not know you personally yet, but I can tell that you're an honest person. People like you… they tend to overthink these things. So always remember that… what you're doing is great. These doppelgangers are evil, and they deserve what they are getting.”

You gave him a grateful smile, once again thanking him for his kind words. He gave you one back. “Not a big deal… princess. Here's my ID… and my entry request.”

As you took his ID and his entry request, you froze, suddenly aware of the nickname that he used to refer to you. “P-Princess?–”

Jungwon had a tiny smirk on his face this time. “Yea? Do you not like the nickname? I can stop–”

You were quick to deny it. “No I didn't mean — uhm — I do like it…”

An amused glint was present in his eye. “I see. So… are my documents in order, princess?”

You nodded, feeling heat creep up on your cheeks. “Yep, all good.” A sudden idea struck you. “Actually wait… there is something wrong.”

His smile vanished. “What?– Something's wrong?”

You nodded. “Yea… with your face.”

He raised a shaky hand to touch his face, something you missed. “M– My face? What's wrong with it?”

You smiled at him, your eyes twinkling with amusement. With as much cheesiness as you could muster in your voice, you replied. “Yea, it's called ‘handsomeness’.” You immediately cringed at yourself. What kind of a pathetic attempt at flirting was that?

However, it seemed to sway Jungwon. He immediately blinked, before letting out a relieved grin, a faint blush coating his cheeks. “Oh?– You got me there. Thank you — you're extremely gorgeous too.”

Now it was your turn to feel shy. Your cheeks were aflame, heat creeping up your neck. Were you seriously flirting instead of doing your job? This late at night?

You shyly smiled at him, thanking him. He gave you another smile back, this one seeming a lot more cocky than the last. “Can I go now, pretty girl? Or do you have more tricks up your sleeve?”

You giggled a little, pressing the green button to let him in. “Nope! Go right in.”

He gave you a small smirk, tipping his hat towards you in the same manner a cowboy would, before disappearing through the door.

Around three minutes after Jungwon went in, the sound of footsteps reached your ears again, only this time, it wasn’t exactly the sound of a person walking. It sounded like someone was running. Fast.

You heard the sound of panting, before… Jungwon came into view. Only this time, he had blood all over him.

This was obviously a doppelganger, but before you could reach for the emergency button, the fake Jungwon spoke. “Oh my fucking god — hey I’m guessing you’re new? Listen, this is really important. Did you see… me earlier?”

You raised an eyebrow at him. This was a new strategy. No doppelganger had used a strategy quite like this one earlier today. “Uh-huh.”

He banged on the glass partition with his fist, making you flinch. His eyes looked crazier than before. “I’m not playing around here. Did you or did you not see me earlier?”

Your hand quickly went to the emergency button. Noticing that, he started panicking. “No no no — don’t press that, just listen to me. I was knocked out — he stole my keys! — everything, he stole everything… even my face! Please tell me you didn’t let him in.”

Your hand hovered over the button, his words making you hesitate from pushing it. “I did let him in…”

His eyes widened. “Oh fuck — this is bad, this is bad, this is bad — listen, you have to call the D.D.D — right now. Do it! Call them right now!”

You gazed at him, conflicted. He sounded so… convincing. But so did the first Jungwon. Which one of them was telling the truth?

You almost wanted to scoff at yourself. You were supposed to have some top tier observation skills to be able to figure out who is a doppelganger and who is not. So why was it so hard for you to tell in this case?

You didn’t even realize when your hand fell on the button, pressing it by accident. As the alarm bells sounded and the metal barrier began to fall, several shouts of ‘No!’ could be heard from the outside. You sat there rigidly, not even aware of when the door to your office opened, the person on the other side of the door slipping inside. It wasn’t until he put a hand on your shoulder, causing you to flinch, when you realized that Jungwon, the first one, was inside.

You relaxed for a moment, before he bent down, whispering in your ear, causing you to freeze. “You did a good job princess. Such a good job. Now continue to be a good girl and sit here quietly like a good fucking girl would, yea?”

As he spoke, the realization dawned upon you, the cold dread that came with it washing over you like a bucket of ice. The second Jungwon was the real one.

As you sat there frozen, Jungwon — or rather, the doppelganger — called up the D.D.D, informing them of a ‘doppelganger’ situation. Within five minutes, they had arrived, screams and sounds of gunshots once again filling up the air. Once they stopped, the metal partition opened, once again revealing a yellow hazmat suit stained with blood.

The D.D.D agent recited the same words that it did everytime, before walking away. As soon as the D.D.D had evacuated the building, ‘Jungwon’ clicked the emergency button again, quickly pressing another button to deactivate the alarm bells, so that only the metal partition fell down. He gripped the handles of your chair, spinning it to make you face him. You gulped as you faced him, the sinister smirk on his face filled you up with a fear so intense, that it gripped you in an almost vice-like grip. It was terrifying — he was terrifying.

His eyes raked over you, drinking in your fearful expression. The shaking of your body, the pleading in your eyes, the nervous gulping — all of it filled him up with a foreign emotion — an emotion that made him want to devour you whole.

He lifted up a hand to your face, holding your chin between his fingers, leaning your face upwards. He himself leaned down, stopping just a breath away from your lips, causing your own breath to hitch. Whether it was from fear, or anticipation, he didn't know — not that it would change anything.

He tilted his head to the side ever so slightly, maintaining eye contact with you. “Are you surprised? That I'm not who you thought I was?”

You gulped, too afraid to speak. Although the shaking of your eyes told him what he wanted to know.

He smirked lightly. “Does it make you feel angry? To know that you have been finally bested by a — what do you humans call us again? Ah, a ‘doppelganger’.”

‘Anger’ was the last thing you felt. Fear was all you felt — fear for both yourself, and everyone else whose life you had endangered. You were absolutely terrified, dreading your fate.

You had seen pictures of the real form of the doppelgangers — albeit just drawings; derivations from people who somehow lived to tell the tale. They were described to be completely monstrous, with yellow eyes and sharp teeth, greenish skin and huge claws that could easily rip anyone to shreds. It was only natural for you to feel terrified of your fate. Were you going to be torn to shreds by him? Or was he going to eat you? Do doppelgangers actually eat humans?

Turns out, he did plan on eating you. Devouring you actually. Just… not in the way you thought.

He traced his lip with his tongue, practically undressing you with his eyes. He was going to fucking ruin you.

He traced your lip with his thumb, forcing your mouth open. He pressed his thumb down on your tongue, watching the tears gather at your waterline and the saliva on your tongue. You were already so much fun to play with.

You wanted to cry, scream — anything to get out of this situation. You weren't trained for something like this — all the instructors just said “Catch them, or they catch you. If you're caught, consider yourself dead.” None of them ever prepared you for a situation like this.

You needed to use your own tactics, and you needed to use them fast. You stared at his eyes, trying to make sure your facial expressions didn't give away your thoughts, when suddenly, a brilliant — okay, not brilliant, but still better than nothing — idea struck you.

Your eyes suddenly fell on the door, your eyes widening slightly with a glimmer of hope. He frowned at your expression, looking backwards at the door as well, taking the bait.

You immediately pushed him off you, catching him off-guard, before quickly running to the door. But just as you were about to reach for the handle, you felt him grab your shoulder from behind, pulling you backwards in a not-so-gentle manner. He shoved you to the floor unceremoniously, causing you to scream from the impact — not that anyone would hear you, since the walls were soundproof as long as the metal partition was pulled down, and you had no way to reach the button to deactivate it.

You tried to get up, but were immediately shoved back down to the ground, with him climbing up on top of you, pinning your arms above your head. If looks could kill, you would have already been six feet under by now.

For a moment he just glared down at you, your lips quivering, your eyes shaking with unshed tears. Your chest was rising up and down erratically, downright terrified with what he was planning on doing to you. Was he going to strangle you to death? Tear you apart by hand? Break your neck? Or was he going to–

Your thoughts were suddenly interrupted by him. His voice was cold with a sinister undertone. “You know princess, I was going to be nice to you — go nice and slow, appreciate everything about you, take my time with you, make it memorable for you. But after this little stunt that you just pulled? I don't think you deserve kindness. If you want to be a fucking brat, acting like you weren't ready to spread your legs open for me just ten minutes ago, then I'm going to fucking treat you like one.”

Your blood ran cold. He was going to what?

You couldn't even understand where he was coming from. You were ‘acting like a brat’? Was trying to run in order to save your life a crime now? You were getting ready to ‘spread your legs for him just ten minutes ago’? First of all, it was some harmless flirting with a nice guy who you thought was human, not a fucking monster. So what the fuck was he even trying to say?

None of it mattered now — not now, when he was sliding the belt that was just there for design purposes through the hoops in your skirt. It didn't matter now, when he started to tie the belt around your wrists, ignorant to your struggles to break free. Not now, when he was grabbing the ends of your shirt, roughly shoving it up.

He couldn't shove it off you, since your hands were tied, so he proceeded to tear it off with his hands. It was an expensive shirt, but there wasn't any time to mourn the loss of your shirt — not when his hands had already moved to your skirt. He didn't even bother trying to get it off this time, simply ripping it apart like paper.

The tears finally broke free. This was it. This was your fate. You were going to get used like some pathetic doll by some monster and then tossed away once you were useless. Even death would have been a kinder fate than this.

You screwed your eyes shut when you felt him touch you over your panties, disgusted by yourself when you realized that you were, in fact, wet. You heard him let out a menacing chuckle, causing more tears to fall from your shut eyes. You felt his finger just barely trace over your covered cunt, making you squirm. He was quick to hold your legs down, before shoving a finger through your panties, causing it to stick inside your wet folds, drenching it further. You felt him leaning down towards your core, a whimper of utter despair leaving you.

He ignored you, taking a whiff of your scent. As soon as it hit him, he let out a loud groan, a quiet ‘fuck’ accompanying it. He definitely needed to eat you out, but first, he needed to stretch you out.

He gripped the waistband of your panties tightly, before ripping it off. The sound of the cotton material tearing brought a fresh batch of tears to your eyes. “P-Please — don’t do this, please–”

He quickly interrupted you by grabbing your throat, applying just enough pressure to cut off your oxygen. “Shut the fuck up. You don’t get to decide what I’ll do or not do. I gave you a chance, didn’t I? I was nice to you initially, wasn’t I? You clearly took advantage of that and tried to run, so why the fuck would I listen to you? If you don’t want to make matters worse for yourself, take what I give you like a good little slut would.”

That ruined whatever tiny hope you had of avoiding this fate. More tears fell from your eyes, causing you to bite down on your lip to conceal your sobs. For some reason, the sight of you biting your lip, paired with your tears, turned him on a lot more than it should have, causing him to grab your chin tightly.

Your eyes flew open in shock, releasing your lip from the abuse from your teeth. His eyes landed on your swollen lips, his pants growing tighter and tighter by the second. Before you could register what was happening, he smashed his lips on yours, swallowing your surprised gasp. He kissed you harshly, his movements sloppy. Saliva dripped past your mouths, smearing onto your chins, but he could care less.

He bit down on your lip, pulling it slightly with his teeth, causing a whimper to leave you involuntarily. He let out a quiet groan at the sound, before diving back inside your mouth, shoving his tongue inside your mouth. He hungrily explored your wet cavern, his hands moving to take his shirt off, the heat radiating off the two of you becoming unbearable. He grabbed your jaw tightly, tilting your head to kiss you deeper, his legs planted on either side of you.

Even if you didn’t want to enjoy it, any of it, your body couldn’t hide its true reaction. You kept letting out whimpers and moans, squirming under him. He gladly swallowed each and every sound of yours, little grunts and groans of his own leaving him. He badly wanted to grind down on you, but he had enough self control to not do that. Instead, he slid a hand down, collected the slick that kept gushing out on his fingers, before shoving his middle finger inside.

Your reaction was immediate. You let out a sharp gasp into his mouth, your hips bucking up into his. He bit down your lip at your reaction, breaking the skin and drawing out blood. He plunged his finger in deeper, feeling even more slick gushing out of you. He sucked the blood off your lip, licking the cut, moaning at the taste. Your blood ignited a fire inside him, the heat spreading to every part of him, the need to completely, utterly, ruin you for everyone else spreading to his finger tips, taking over his brain. He thrust his finger impossibly deeper, before pulling it out, causing you to let out a desperate whine into his mouth, one that was quickly replaced by a shocked moan when he plunged in two fingers at once.

You could feel your cunt stretching to accommodate his fingers, which were long and slender, allowing him to reach parts of you that no one ever did. His fingers dragged across your walls, allowing you to feel every inch of them. His fingers hit every ridge and bump perfectly, making you clench around them tightly.

He felt your pussy walls hugging his fingers, causing him to fasten up the pace of both his fingers and his mouth, swallowing up your whimpers, listening to the wet sounds of his fingers sliding in and out of your cunt.

He curled up his fingers, feeling your entire body shake under him. He let out a victorious smirk against your lips, having finally found your spot. He increased the pace of his fingers, making sure to curl up his fingers every time, hitting that spongy part in your walls every time with ease.

Your breathing sped up, your whimpers increasing, your wrists becoming red from how much you were struggling to get out of the tight grip of your belt wrapped around them. You could feel yourself becoming wetter and wetter, yet being so far from the edge. Something was missing, something that you desperately needed to finally teeter off the edge.

Even if you couldn’t understand what exactly you needed, ‘Jungwon’ sure did. He broke the kiss, taking in the sight of your bruised and swollen lips, before shifting his attention to your neck, immediately latching his lips on your pulse point, sucking on it harshly. He pumped his fingers into your pussy faster, his thumb moving to rub at your clit harshly. You almost screamed at the added pleasure, your walls clamping down on his fingers in a vice-like grip.

Within seconds your pussy started to convulse around his fingers. Your release gushed out of you in huge amounts, coating his fingers in a creamy white. He helped you ride out your high, shallowly pumping his fingers in you. He stopped sucking on your neck, looking at the newly formed purplish hickey on it proudly. Once you came down from your high, he slipped his fingers out with a wet ‘pop’, watching your walls flutter around nothing.

He brought his fingers to his mouth, slipping them inside, tasting your release. You watched him with hooded eyes, your chest rising up and down slowly as you tried to catch your breath. His eyes screwed shut when the taste hit him, a deep groan leaving him, one that traveled straight to your core, despite having just had one of the best orgasms of your life.

He opened his eyes, his gaze darker than before, making you gulp. He leaned down again, maintaining eye contact with you. He ran a hand through your hair, before gripping it tightly, ripping a whimper out of you. He bit his lips, whispering “God, you drive me fucking crazy” before smashing his lips onto yours. He shoved his tongue inside your mouth almost immediately, making you taste yourself.

Fuck, he would be lying if he said he wasn't dying to eat you out, but the problem in his pants would probably kill him before he had his fill of you — which was why he was furiously trying to get his stupid belt off, something which proved to be quite a challenge for no apparent reason.

When he finally managed to get it off, he threw it away somewhere in the room, out of reach. His shirt was sticking to his skin uncomfortably from how much he was sweating, so obviously that had to go too. Once it was off, he quickly shimmied out of his pants, his boxers quickly following them.

As soon as his boxers were off, his bare cock slapped on his stomach, standing tall and proud. His mushroom tip was an angry shade of red, leaking a generous amount of precum. He was both long and girthy, almost ridiculously so, making you a little concerned about the stretch — or if it would at all fit.

Of course you were anticipating it — how could you not? Yes, he was taking you without consent, but did that really matter anymore? Your morals were thrown out of the window the moment he shoved his pretty fingers into your hole. You couldn't help how much you were leaking for him then, and you certainly can't help it now. You were practically gushing down there, a puddle of your sweet slick starting to form in between your thighs. God, it was a miracle that he hadn't started eating you out like a starved man eating his first meal in days. But then again, he also couldn't wait to finally sink into your wet heat, and fuck you till all you could think about was his dick.

So that's what he did. He spread your legs further apart with his knees, settling down between them. He aligned himself with your entrance, but instead of directly pushing in, he decided to toy with you a little. After all, you were just a toy for him, weren't you? The perfect little toy — a doll if you will — for him to use, break, destroy and dispose of as he wishes.

A little whine from you caught his ears. He looked at your face, almost taken aback by your expression. Your eyes were hooded, lips swollen and glistening from your spit — possibly a result of you biting down on them. Were you… enjoying this? Did you want this?

It was hot, so undeniably hot of you to like this — not just your body, but you. There was no fucking way he was ever going to let go of you now — no, you were too perfect to lose.

He swallowed thickly, trying his best to subdue his desire of immediately plunging inside you and railing you into your next life. No, he had to be patient, in order to make it fun for him.

He tapped the head of his cock on your clit, watching even more slick pour out of you, joining the puddle on the floor. It was truly magnificent how much your body craved this — how much you craved it — almost as much as he did.

He rubbed his tip over your slit, gathering the slick from it, ripping out pitiful whimpers from you. He almost caved in to your sinful sounds — almost — before continuing to gather your slick on his mushroom tip.

He watched as your slick and his precum mixed together, forming a beautiful white mixture, something that looked almost delicious — of course he had to taste it, and make you taste it as well. You would like it anyways.

He gathered some of the mixture on his fingers, before popping them in his mouth. He closed his eyes, savoring the sinful taste. When he opened his eyes, he was surprised to see how much the taste affected his body, even more precum having dribbled out of his tip, falling into the puddle of your slick.

He swirled his finger in the mixture, before bringing it to your own mouth. He watched as you eagerly wrapped your lips around his digits, sucking the mixture of your wants greedily. He let out a groan, wondering if you would suck his cock the same way. But he had plenty of time to find that out later.

He pulled his fingers out of your mouth with a loud ‘pop’, ignoring your whine. He pushed his hand into the puddle of your slick, before wrapping the same hand around his ridiculously large dick, slowly pumping it. His eyes were dark as he maintained eye contact with you, taking in the way you gulped slowly. It was so cute, the way you wanted it as much as he did, and yet were afraid of it actually happening.

If he stared at your cute little lips or your pretty little eyes that were filled with both hesitation and desperation, he would definitely cum even before he had the chance to be inside your — by the looks of it, extremely tight walls.

He grabbed your legs again, spreading them even further apart, before slowly starting to push into you. He was immediately met with a lot of resistance from you, loud gasps and whimpers falling from your lips in a beautiful melody, your pussy walls clamping down tightly on his tip alone. He hissed at the pressure, gripping your hips tightly as he slowly started to push in.

The sounds of your whimpers and choked gasps increased two-fold, your walls stretching to an alarming extent as they tried to fit him. You were well aware that the ‘Jungwon’ that was fucking you wasn't the real one, that he was a monster — but you didn't realise that doppelgangers were this hung. He was big, huge even — way bigger than the average dick size. It felt like he was splitting apart your insides, but you couldn't deny the enormous amount of pleasure that accompanied the pain.

He had to suck in a breath when he had finally buried himself to the hilt inside you, your walls clamping down on him painfully. It almost felt like he willingly buried himself into a dick guillotine, that’s how tight you felt around him. It wasn’t like he could blame you either — he wasn’t human, even if he was impersonating one, all of his physical features were obviously not perfect. As for him, his imperfection happened to be his dick, which was way larger than the average human dick, almost monstrously so — not that he was complaining… and he knew you wouldn’t be either in a while, once you got used to his size.

His grip on your hips was tight enough to bruise, as he slowly pulled out almost completely, leaving only his tip inside, making you let out a sigh of relief. But that relief was short lived, because he almost immediately slammed himself back in, knocking the air out of you. It felt as if he somehow managed to fit another non-existent inch inside of you.

The squelching sound from the slide however, encouraged him to continue. You were liking it, he knew you were. That’s why you were getting even wetter than before, weren’t you? Yep, that was it. That was why your walls were clamping down on him so tightly. Your body didn’t want him to stop. You didn’t want him to stop.

He pulled out almost completely again, before ruthlessly slamming right back in, ripping a scream out of you. But the slick that kept pouring out of you, past his cock, told him all that he needed to know. He thrusted into you mercilessly, without caring about how you felt — he knew you liked it, he was sure of it–

Your loud whimpers of pain broke him out of his daze. “P– Please, it h– hurts so much–”

His hand grabbed your neck, squeezing down on it as a warning. “Don’t fucking lie to me — you’re leaking past my cock, and you expect me to believe that you aren’t enjoying this? Stupid, fucking slut, lying to me to my face? Absolutely pathetic.”

He grabbed both of your thighs, pushing them up to your chest, before starting to thrust into you again, the ruthless pace of his hips almost bruising your thighs. The new angle allowed him to hit even deeper, your cries of pain only increasing in volume. He ignored them, focusing on how his hips snapped into yours with every thrust. “Fucking take it — you know you like this, you fucking painslut. It hurts, does it? How adorable, you fucking love it, you know you do.”

He continued to ram his hips into yours, uncaring of your discomfort — unbeknownst to you, your cries only caused him to grow harder, his cock bulging through your stomach. The bulge on your stomach appearing and disappearing inside you caught his attention, causing him to groan. He fisted your hair tightly in his hand, pulling you up. “Look at that, princess, look at it — look at how I keep disappearing inside you. Fucking perfect for me, aren’t you?”

He didn’t wait for an answer, continuing to slam his hips into yours. He let go of your hair, pressing down on the bulge in your stomach instead. The added pressure caused him to groan, his pace increasing. Your slick made it easy for him to pound into you, your cries having started to turn into loud moans. He found it almost cute, your switch up.

He pushed your thighs up higher against your chest, his hips snapping painfully into yours, balls slapping on your ass with every thrust. It felt so fucking wrong, but even you couldn’t deny how good it felt. “I’m gonna fill you up, till my cum is dripping past your legs — gonna make you walk around like that. You would love that, wouldn’t you? Walking around with my cum dripping down your legs like a fucking slut?”

If the way you clenched around him at his words wasn’t a dead giveaway to whether you liked what he was doing or not, then he didn’t know what else could possibly be it. He increased his pace. “Yea? You like that? You want that? You’re my precious little cumslut, aren’t you? My sweet little doll, so eager to be filled up to the brim.”

He brought a hand down to your clit, rubbing it harshly. The added pleasure sent shockwaves to your brain, your back arching, eyes rolling back. You could feel the coil in your stomach continue to tighten, the harsh pace of his assault on your clit only making the coil tighter and tighter.

He suddenly pinched your clit harshly, the sudden sensation causing you to let out a choked gasp. The coil in your stomach finally snapped, causing you to gush around him. He groaned at the feeling, your walls clamping around him, triggering his own release. He buried himself deep inside you, spurts of cum sprouting from him, slowly filling her up to the brim. He gripped your hips tightly. “Take it, take all of it, fucking take it — you’re mine to fuck, mine to breed, no matter when I see fit. So fucking take it–”

He kept on and on cumming, your walls clamping around him, milking him dry. He hissed, pulling out his softening length. It was so hot, the way his cum dripped out of your hole. It was the perfect time to eat you out, but that had to wait.

He grabbed your hands, finally undoing the belt on them. As soon as you were free from the restraints, you tried to flex your wrists, to fix the blood flow. He smirked at your antics. He grabbed your chin tightly, making you face him. “Listen up sweetheart — from now onwards, you do what I say. If I tell you to stay, you will stay. If I tell you to sit and look pretty, you will sit and look pretty. Got it?”

You gulped thickly. You were absolutely terrified of him. Why shouldn’t you be? Given what he had done to you, you would have no other choice but to obey him.

So you nodded. Albeit hesitantly.

He wrapped his arms around you, pressing another hungry kiss to your lips. He whispered against them. “Good girl — my good girl”

[self-proclaimed-chaotic-good]

Science & Faith | Carlton Drake x Reader (4/?)

Words: 1860

A/N: I wish I could add links to this post, but I'm afraid of it not showing up in tags like it had done several times before. The masterlist for this story should be pinned on my blog and my full masterlist is in my bio.

Warning: This whole chapter is set in an AU until the end, which leads to the end of The Invisible River Part One.

-

The Invisible River Part Two

- Alternate Universe One -

At the end of the conference, Tony managed to find Carlton in the lobby. He turned and opened his mouth at the same time as Tony.

“No, you go first,” Tony insisted.

“Have you-”

“No, I go first,” he interrupted, ignoring Carlton’s glare, “Have you noticed that Rolling Pin and Doctopus aren't here?”

Carlton sighed, pushing his frustrations down to address the situation. “Yeah, they seemed to have left half way through the conference.”

“Honestly, why even bother coming if you’re just going to leave anyways? The beginning part is always pointless, who comes just for that?”

“Maybe he had an emergency,” Carlton suggested.

Tony cleared his throat, looking around to see if there were any more people lingering in the lobby before pulling Carlton on the side. He brought up his watch and projected a surveillance camera, showing Spider-man swinging towards a large building.

“Know which building that is?” Tony said, pointing at it, “That’s a laboratory built under Fisk’s name. What do you think Spandex-man is doing there?”

“Why are you coming to me with this? Aren’t you Iron-man?” Carlton asked, already on the move to leave.

Tony frowned at him, blocking his escape. “Dude, don’t you wanna check it out? Be a hero for once? I know that you were keeping tabs on ol’ Kingpin for a while.”

“I am far from being a hero, Stark,” Carlton said tiredly, pushing past him. Tony sighed, turning to fall into step with him.

“And yet, look at me. We don’t exactly fit the golden boy Captain America role, but it’s good intentions that count, right?”

“My so-called good intentions got my fiance killed, Stark. Look into it with your spider friend if you’re itching for action. I’m not looking for redemption.”

“And yet, you followed me to my car,” Tony said.

Carlton blinked, finding that he was unconsciously following Tony’s lead and was now standing next to his red shiny sports car. Tony pulled out his sunglasses and smirked, climbing in.

“Well, get in, loser, we’re going crime-stopping.”

On the way to Fisk’s labs, Tony contacted Spider-man about any updates on Fisk’s or Doctor Octavius’s movements. He confirmed that they were both in the labs for the past several hours. From the activities that he had observed, they seemed to be building a large machine deep within the labs with power sources leading underground.

“So, we’re just gonna go without backup?” Carlton asked in disbelief.

“No,” Tony scoffed, “We are the backup.”

Carlton sputtered, gesturing to himself. “And what am I supposed to do?”

Tony sighed, digging around the back of his car for a box, unceremoniously tossing a watch at Carlton. He caught it, inspecting it closely before putting it on.

“One button has a taser, the other a communicator. There’s also a little thing I added to check the cameras in the area, then there’s the iron-glove with the same functions of the ones on my suit. Oh, also, a flashlight. Can’t forget that. Plays music, too, if you want. You’re a fellow genius, Drake, you’ll figure it out.” Tony patted his back. “Watch, we’re going to be besties once this is all over.”

They waited until nightfall to start moving. Spider-man updated them on Fisk’s whereabouts, saying that his car was driving away from the building. They all met up and readily agreed that this didn’t have to be a big issue that reached the news. Secrecy wasn’t exactly Tony’s style, but he could take it seriously when he needed to.

Spider-man swiftly subdued the security guards on patrol while Tony hacked into the cameras. One guard had slipped away from his post to check on the others. Carlton quickly lifted his watch and pressed a button, hoping that it was a taser. Bright light blinded the man, making him shrink away. Carlton used this to press another button, successfully tasing him. Tony looked down at the guard and nodded over to Spider-man. He quickly lifted the man and placed him with the others that were wrapped in webbing.

“There’s an elevator near here that goes below ground level,” Tony whispered, “Or we could go through the warehouse. It’s currently empty.”

Tony waved a security guard’s keycard over the reader and Spider-man headed in first. The other two crouched in the corner and watched through the camera on the masked hero, hoping to find something. The way down to the labs below ground went smoothly and it made them feel uneasy. Each floor was brightly lit and suspiciously empty. As he reached the lowest floor, Spider-man paused in his tracks.

“Someone’s here,” he muttered.

Tony activated his iron glove and readied to go in, eyeing the camera through Carlton’s watch. Spider-man entered a narrow hallway leading towards a single metal door. His spider-senses were off the charts as he approached, turning the knob slowly. It was unlocked.

The camera suddenly blurred, followed by a loud smack. A woman in a lab coat, eyes covered by goggles, and four metal arms stretched out from her back, stood in front of him. She smirked, one arm reaching over out of the camera’s view, before pulling back and revealing Spider-man’s mask clutched in its metal claws.

“Ah, that’s a no-no,” he warned.

“Such a young man,” she cooed, an arm holding him yanking him away from the wall and slammed him into a large chair in the room. Metal clamps held his arms and legs in place, rendering him incapacitated as she casually dragged an office chair over. “I’m sure you’re curious about what we’re doing here.”

“It’d be nice if you told me,” Spider-man said.

“I’ve seen the technology you use, so I think you’d appreciate what I’m about to tell you,” she said, standing up and approaching the wide window facing a massive chamber, a large machine in the middle. “Oh, where are my manners? I'm Doctor Olivia Octavius. My friends call me Liv, but my enemies- ” Her metal arms wriggled about, one reaching over to Spider-man to touch his head “- They call me Doc Ock.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Spider-man.”

“Young man with manners. You see, Kingpin commissioned what I call a Super Collider.”

“A Super Collider?” His eyes drift towards the chamber, landing on the panel on the ceiling. Must be where the power source is. If he could just get to it… “And what does this Super Collider do?”

Tony tapped Carlton on the shoulder and they began to make their way down. Halfway down to the chamber, they started to hear footsteps. The guards were resuming their patrols. Carlton activated his iron glove, metal pieces extending from the watch to perfectly wrap around his hand, and the two scientists continued on with caution.

Doc Ock smirked at this question, turning back to her capture. “Since you came all this way, why don’t I show you what it does? It makes a magnificent light show. I’m sure you will love it.”

A few guards got in the way of Tony and Carlton’s descent, but they were swiftly taken care of and hidden. Just as they reached the narrow hallway that they saw through the camera, a booming whirring resounded from the room. They shared a panic look and rushed towards the door with their iron gloves ready.

They were met with the sight of a man that looked to be in his late twenties with ruffled brown hair wearing Spider-man’s suit. He looked to have been beaten around since that last time they had checked his camera. Tony shot a glare at the woman as her fingers fluttered over the control panel, unphased by their entrance.

“Curiosity killed the cat, fellas,” she commented as the roaring from the collider grew stronger. An atmospheric meter lowers down, a tiny light blinking.

“Stop the machine, Octopus!” Tony warned, aiming his iron glove at her.

“Or what?” She raised an eyebrow, making eye contact with him as her finger lowered towards a blinking button. “If you shoot, who knows what that will do to the machine. Could be interesting…”

A metal arm shot out before his glove could charge. He staggered back and shot out a beam, redirecting the arm and causing it to crash through the glass. She glared, whipping around to check on her machine while Tony rushed over to the revealed Spider-man.

“How you doin’, kid?” Tony whispered, releasing his limbs from the chair.

“Been better,” Peter grunted. “Is this a good time to tell you that my name’s Peter?”

“Why are you doing this?” Carlton demanded as an energy beam shot to the middle of the chamber.

“Carlton Drake,” she scoffed, turning to him, “Don’t you wish you had another chance to make things right? The choices we’re given are paths that lead to an endless possible points in our lives. Each path we choose to walk down opens up to new paths to choose from. Thus, creating- “

“Alternate realities,” Carlton finished.

Doc Ock nodded. “What if you had chosen to listen to your dear (Y/n)- “

“Don’t you dare bring them up! I made my choice and I’m living with it.”

“But what if you have access to that other choice. You can go to another reality where you’re living happily with (Y/n).”

Carlton’s eyes narrowed. “Is this why Fisk wanted you to build this?”

She shrugged. “Well, it’s something I’ve always wanted to tap into, but to have a desperate millionaire fund my little project is always a treat.” She flinched and a metal arm shot out towards the door where Tony was escaping with Peter. “You’re gonna miss the show.”

The air in the chamber began to warp, gradually forming into a portal. Doc Ock moved to give the machine more power before being intercepted by a spider web shooting out from Peter. Chaos erupted in the room, a blur of spider webs, energy beams, and metal arms flying around. The lights began to flicker, drawing their attention back to the machine that was almost at maximum power. Carlton attempted to disengage from the fight to stop the machine when one of Doc Ock’s arms swung out and knocked him out of the window.

“No!” Peter shouted, jumping to catch Carlton as he got sucked into the growing portal.

“You’re not going anywhere!” Doc Ock growled, another arm grabbing Peter and slamming him through the door.

Carlton felt the Collider pull him in. It wasn’t like a vacuum, but more like being swept away by an invisible river. He aimed his iron glove towards the ceiling panel to shut it down, then froze as he risked a glance into the portal. He saw a flash of your face, alive and happy.

Suddenly, the portal grew rapidly in an unstable manner and he could just see Doc Ock through the shatter glass with a gleeful grin on her face, a fist gripping onto a lever as she increased the power to its maximum capacity, lights flickering and surging around her. An energy beam from Tony’s iron glove shot out towards the panel before the portal swallowed Carlton completely, his body feeling as if swept away by an invisible river.

[sweetest-honeybee]

Wels and Hels Become Smol

This s what I’m counting as a ‘First Chapter’ but let me know what you think! I’ll write more if y’all like it :D

Summary: Tired of his evil clone, Wels asks Beef to make a new machine to pull Hels out of history. Though....It doesn’t really work that way. Some malfunctions cause a bit of de-aging.

TW: Smoke, sparks, the kinda stuff in terrible machinery. Also brief blood mention but overall not a very triggering chapter.

Characters: Welsknight, Helsknight, VintageBeef, Xisuma

Enjoy!

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It was inevitable. At some point, Wels was going to go back up to Beef asking if by any chance he could get rid of Hels. And at some point, Beef was going to comply and create a whole new machine to test out on the knights. And at some point, Wels was going to drag Hels out of his dimension to use the machine and Hels was going to dread losing his body that he only just got a couple weeks beforehand.

So, that’s where they were now. Underground in Beef’s testing room while Wels discussed the instructions with Beef and how the machine worked, which it probably wouldn’t. Hels on the other hand just sulked against the wall with his arms crossed. He had no sword, no armor, a wrapped arrow wound on his arm from having to be forced down there after being held at bow point.

Beef really wasn’t all too excited if he were being honest. Mostly since he didn’t have a lot of faith in the machine working but surely if he reversed some settings here and there, Hels would disappear and the Hermitcraft server would have one less evil doppelgänger to worry about. Though, his cloning machine was technically successful and Hels really hadn’t done any harm since he just stayed in his dimension. There wasn’t really a need for this.

But, either way, it came down to Wels, who made it very clear that he held such a distaste for his evil counterpart. That being said, Beef instructed both knights to step inside the machine at the same time holding a clock. Really, he intended for it to work like a time machine but without Wels going back in time. Essentially, if it was going to work, he would be able to pick and choose what did and didn’t happen on the day Hels was created and thus Hels would disappear and the whole thing would be forgotten.

Reluctantly, Hels shuffled inside the glass tube connecting from the ceiling to the floor with Wels and snatched the clock from the patiently waiting Beef outside of it. Weld rolled his eyes but who was he to judge. He certainly didn’t want to be erased from history more than Hels did but it had to be done if the evil hermit had ill intentions for their lovely server.

“And you’re really sure you wanna go through with this?” the butcher clarified before he handed Wels his clock. A bit of guilt emerged with what he was about to do, but again, it was Wels’s decision.

Wels hardly hesitated with his answer. “Yes, I do. If Evil Xisuma can escape banning then I’m not risking anything.” The knight eyed his counterpart as he said it, only earning a hard glare in return.

“You were better off just killing me,” Hels replied with a sneer. “Let’s just get this over with.”

Beef shrugged, handing Wels his clock. He took a last glance at Hels who made an obvious commitment to avoiding eye contact. Before the butcher could really dwell on it further, he shut the iron door on the machine and moved behind a newly mined out area in the back of the room. Thick layers of glass separated it from the machine for the sake of his own safety and redstone connected to a leaver trailed from the machine through a small hole by his feet.

“Alright, you guys ready? And again, Wels, you’re absolutely positively 100% sure you want to do this?”

“Yes,” both knights dragged.

Beef sighed. “Okay, here we go then.”

The butcher took the lever and flipped it, almost kind of surprised that it even turned on. Lights and buttons on the wall flashed periodically, the smooth whirring noise lasted more than five seconds, and neither of the knights expressed any unusual discomfort from what he could see. Good signs, that meant that he could open the control panel and begin removing Hels.

Though, he must’ve spoken too soon when the whirring began becoming choppy, sparks replacing its paused seconds. Where the sparks came from, bits of smoke emerged and the moment the other two saw it, they, even Hels, sent Beef very worried expressions.

The malfunctions continued when various beeping voiced from the machine and the clouds of smoke grew larger.

“Ohh….that cannot be a good sign,” Beef muttered, pulling his hands to his hair. Admittedly, he should’ve just shut off the machine but he was too busy freaking out.

“Uh, Beef?” Wels began, his voice sounding muddled from the loud sounds in the room. Yet, Beef could hear him. The knight pointed at his clock. “I don’t wanna assume but I don’t think this was supposed to happen!”

That earned a smack upside head from Hels.

“Just give it a second I think it’ll figure itself out!” Beef decided, still ignoring the lever beside him.

“Oh for the love of- I’m breaking out!” Hels announced. Before his fist even made it to the glass, every light in the room shut off with a loud crack, the machine shutting down with it and the sound of shattering glass.

Startled, the butcher covered his face, only peeking through his fingers when all he heard was silence. No snarky comment from Hels, no attempt at an uplifting comment from Wels. He pulled his hands from his face, trying to look through the thick layers of smoke in the room on the other side of the glass. He couldn’t see the figures of either knight and at that moment, he began panicking, wondering if he had just erased both of them from history all together.

Quickly, he ran into the clouded room, glass crunching under his feet, muttering curses along the way. The entire tube was no longer there, just in shards on the floor. He waited for a second, watching the smoke thin a little more before continuing. Thankfully, some light from the doorway emerged, casting yellow rays into the room. Beef squinted into the used-to-be machine with the new source of light, seeing two much much smaller figures, not hardly a block and a half tall. One stood, wobbling for a second, then falling into the glass from tripping on a wad of something beneath its feet.

And at that moment, Beef heard a child crying.

Oh, oh no. Oh no, no, no, no.

He took off his apron, using it to fan away the smoke. He crouched down near the little figure, letting the light do its work for him. The crying continued, then another child’s cry began and now both of them were crying. As the smoke cleared, two of the smallest toddlers he’d ever seen looked right at him. Sets of the biggest, bluest and reddest, tearful eyes rested on him. The blue eyed toddler notably was covered in scratches from his fall onto the ground.

“Oh my….Wels?” He looked at the red eyed toddler. “Hels?”

For some reason, that only made the blue eyed one, which he’s now assuming is Wels, cry again. Probably since Beef was looking on the brink of a lot of external panic. Hels followed suit, sniffling and then choking on a high pitched sob. The butcher rushed to soothe the both of them, picking them up and moving them upstairs- noting how they were too small for their adult clothes and were now naked. They coughed and choked on the leftover smoke through their tears and that really just made him feel worse.

Finally upstairs, he opted to put the two in the animal farm room. He sat them down on the sandstone and it took a few seconds to get them to release their hands from his shirt. Hels complied, calming down to sniffles and moans. Wels on the other hand didn’t let go. The little knight simply tucked his face into Beef’s chest sadly.

“Wels, buddy, you need to let go so I can get the blood off of you, okay?” Wels moved his head, tilting it up at him. Who was he kidding, Beef’s heart melted at the little guy. Though, the snot running down his mouth was a bit of a pain since he now had it all over his shirt.

“Okay,” the toddler mumbled. Beef let out a sigh of relief, thank god he knew words. When did children even start speaking, he was unsure, but Wels understood him and that was all that mattered.

With that, he sat him on the floor next to his twin, Beef moving to grab some wool from the sheep for makeshift bandages. When he turned back from his crafting table, he found the knights staring at the pigs. Despite their still shared worry and obvious fear, they occasionally giggled at the pigs who squealed and oinked at them.

“That a piggy?” Beef tested. Just to see what they knew.

“Piggy,” the two said back to him. “Piggy, piggy, piggy, piggy, piggy!” At the word, they erupted into a fit of snorts and laughs, momentarily forgetting their previous moods. That was until Beef approached Wels with a bucket of water and the wool cloths.

“Be brave for me, okay? You’re a tough knight,” he ruffled the child’s hair and was pleased when he stuck out his legs to him. “Thanks, bud, won’t be more than a minute.”

With a patience he didn’t know a toddler could have, considering Wels didn’t hardly squirm away from his grip, he finished in no more than a couple minutes. He washed off the little knight’s knees while the other decided he was bored and went to stick his hands up in the glass pig pen. The butcher’s heart warmed at the sound of the little giggles from it when the pigs didn’t hesitate to lick his hand. Hels pulled his hand back with a squeal, grabbing his counterpart’s attention.

Wels pointed at the pigs, looking at Beef. “Piggy?”

“Sure,” Beef exhaled with a shrug. He left the knight to have his fun with his twin, and the pigs. Now, he needed to make them some clothes. Maybe armor? The thought of toddler sized knight’s armor made him chuckle to himself.

He went to the sheep, grabbing red and blue eyes from the chest. With haste, he sheered the newly died sheep of both colors and set off to the crafting table on the other side of the room while the boys moved to the cows. Sewing wasn’t hard, that was a skill he needed in survival. He knew how to make shirts so it was just like making tiny versions of those shirts and with leg holes and buttons. Easy onesies for the twins.

Momentarily, he was distracted by the two mimicking the mooing coming from the cows. He already knew that would get annoying very quickly.

Beef had a thought while he was making the onesies. We’re they potty trained? Did he need to make diapers as well? How on earth do you handle a toddler? Shaking his head, he opted to make some cloth diapers for the both of them, not wanting to be wrong if he guessed they were already potty trained. The last thing he needed was an accident.

Finishing the onesies and diapers, he whistled at the boys, catching their attention. He held up the onesies and they dramatically awed at his craftsmanship. Beef couldn’t help but to feel a bit of pride at that.

Eagerly, they stumbled up to him to put on their new clothes. One at a time, he clipped the diapers on the, with a safety pin. Then, he slid the onesies on the two and marveled at how they giggled at each other happily, poking at each other’s outfits. Gosh, it was so darn cute.

Now, the real question came to mind. What on earth does he do with them? He’s nowhere near fit for fatherhood at the moment and he needed a lot of alone time to fix that machine. He’d have to explain to Xisuma what happened, won’t he. He’s already imagining how that conversation would go. Hey Xisuma, I just turned two of your Hermits into children please help me. That would end in either utter confusion or laughter. Probably both, knowing the admin.

“Alright then,” he began. The knights looked up at him expectantly. “You guys wanna see Xisuma?” They tilted their heads in unison at the question.

“Is Suma?” Wels asked.

“Iggsooma,” Hels added, as if he were correcting his twin.

Beef grinned at their odd little relationship. “Yeah! Xisuma!”

He threw on his elytra from his inventory, dark wings spreading slightly behind his back. Again, the knights awed at him and he couldn’t help but to laugh. The butcher scooped them up into his arms, the two still weighing not nearly as much as he thought they would but working with sandstone was no easy task.

The trio made their way out of his desert village. He moved Hels to sit with Wels on his other arm so that he could fire off his rockets. As soon as he was in the sky, the knights were squealing with delight at the shrinking ground below them. It took no time to reach Xisuma’s jungle, but where the admin was right now, Beef actually had no clue. In chat, he said something about the iron farm so he flew into the landing bay on it.

Letting both toddlers down on the floor, he pulled out his communicator, letting his friend know that there was an urgent meeting they needed to have up there. It took no time for Xisuma to reply with a yes, much to Beef’s relief. Pocketing his comm, he turned to where the knights ran off to. Really, they were quite interested in the assortment of colorful shucker boxes laying on the floor.

Not to much of his surprise, he already heard another set of flapping wings landing on the bay.

“Alright then, what seems to be the- oh my goodness me.” Xisuma paused abruptly at the sight of the toddlers. Who he could only assume was Wels and Hels given Beef’s message. “Why are they children?!”

Ignoring his concern, they ran up to him happily.

“Suma!” the blond yelled.

Xisuma crouched down, meeting their height as best he could. They were just so small, he wouldn’t have ever expected this. They giggled at his silly looking helmet, the white feathers on the sides were certainly a sight to behold. He ducked his head to let them poke and prod as they pleased.

“Beef, what did you do?” the admin asked.

“Ah, long story. Wels created an evil doppelgänger of himself and in attempts to remove him with a new machine I made, I uh….” he gestured at the two. “That happened.”

“O….kay then. Well, what exactly do I do? I can’t really just change their ages through coding.”

Beef’s stomach sank. “You can’t?”

Xisuma chuckled at how Wels sat promptly in his lap, looking up at him with a snort. Hels copied him, sitting next to him. “Hm, no, I don’t believe so. You’ll need to fix that machine of yours.”

“Well, I uh, need alone time for that. I can’t take care of children at the same time.”

Xisuma nodded, wrapping his arms around the toddlers and standing, carrying both of them while they swung their legs. “Yeah, they’re adorable, I’ll admit, but I don’t have a place to keep em’ nor the time to look after them.” He walked over to Beef, plopping them in his arms. The other stumbled, concern spreading across his face.

“Who do I take them to, then?”

The admin tapped his chin thoughtfully. “I believe Cleo used to be a teacher in her older days, I think preschool might’ve been a part of that? If not, ask Stress or, I dunno, Joe? They seem fit for the task.” Finally, he shrugged. “Anyways, I’ll be off then. If there’s any trouble, you know where I am.” He waved, the knights waving back happily.

“Bye bye Suma!” they said. Xisuma laughed, nodding off to them before flying out of the landing bay. Beef in return huffed.

Why did Wels have to go through with such an idea.

[carpenoctemzine]

Carpe Noctem [an original vampire zine]:

Interest Check Results 📊

At long last, the results of our interest check are here!

First, thank you all (again) for your interest in our zine. We were blown away by the amount of responses we got (238??) and in such a short time! We were already at 100 responses in the first 24 hours of posting the interest check; we’re so glad everyone is just as excited as we are!

Moreover, thank you for sticking with us through some early delays. Your continued support means a lot and we’re incredibly grateful.

Some housekeeping: You may have noticed that we’re currently in the process of updating our social media, so pardon our dust. We have however updated our FAQ with some new info. We’re also getting close to launching our applications before the end of the month! Leading up to applications, we’ll be doing some official Mod Introduction posts, so you can get to know us better :’)

⯎ GENERAL BREAKDOWN ⯎

Participation:

We’re looking at an art-heavy zine, with a strong writer showing as well (considering space needed for writing vs. art, we’re aiming for a fairly balanced book)

Price Range:

Main Zine $20-$30 range. Zine + Merch tiers: $30-$40 and above.

Funds:

Split Profit (more details TBA!)

Zine Format:

Both Physical and Digital versions A possible Digital expansion Inclusion of a NSFW / 18+ booklet

Merch:

While final merch will be confirmed later, we can confidently say we will have:

art prints enamel pins sticker sheets keychains large stickers

And that’s the highlights! Keep an eye out for our more upcoming announcements (soon...) and as always, feel free to drop us an ask.

[ Detailed Breakdown and Image IDs below "Keep reading" ].

F A Q   ☽  M O D S  ☆  T W I T T E R  ☾  A S K

⯎ DETAILED BREAKDOWN ⯎

⯈ Participation

Most people are interested in participating as artists, with a whopping total of 156 responses (47.7%). 100 responses are interested in buying the zine (30.6%), and 71 indicated interest in participating as writers (21.7%). 

⯈ Price Range

Survey participants chose from four different ranges: $15-$20, $20-$30, $30-$40, and $50+. The results for just purchasing the zine were closely tied at 114 responses for the $15-$20 tier, and 115 for the $20-$30 tier, with only 9 responses for the $30-$40 tier. For zine + merch bundles, there were 49 responses for the $20-$30 tier, 128 responses for the $30-$40 tier, and 34 responses for the $50+ tier. 

⯈ Zine Funds

Zine funds indicate where the profits would go. We were deciding between for profit, non-profit, and split profit. The results were largely in favor of split-profit (48.7%) with solely for-profit in second place (36.1%) and solely non-profit last (15.1%). We have decided to go with split profit. Specific charitable organization(s) will be decided after final contributors weigh in.

⯈ Zine Format

Most want a physical zine (76.9%) while a lot want both physical and digital formats available (14.7%), and some want just a digital copy (8.4%). We plan on having both a physical and digital option, and depending on the amount of applications we receive, we’re also open to the idea of having an expanded digital version so we can increase the number of accepting contributors while remaining economical.

18+ Booklet?

While the results aren’t displayed on our graphs here, the responses to our question about a possible 18+ booklet were highly in favor. Thus, we will be having a supplemental 18+ booklet along with our main zine and merch. More details on that to come.

⯈ Merch Options

We had a ton of merch options! Note that we may add more types of merch later. To go over our top merch choices:

Small Art prints: 157 (70.7%)

Enamel Pins: 150 (67.6%)

Sticker Sheets: 141 (63.5%)

Keychains: 127 (52.2%)

Large Stickers: 118 (53.2%)

Bookmarks: 102 (45.9%)

Bonus Art Booklet: 93 (41.9%)

Buttons: 90 (40.5%)

Larger Art Prints: 89 (40.1%)

Handmade Mod Bonuses: 48 (21.6)

While our exact offerings will be partially determined by our contributors and what they’d like to create, most of these will likely be available with the zine. We’re also workshopping some ideas for more writing-based merch offerings, so our writers can get in on the merch fun as well~

⯎  IMAGE IDs ⯎

[Image ID: A series of four images. The first image is a black and white Victorian style picture with the words interest check results on it. In the image are three figures. The main figure is a woman-presumably a vampire-with a shawl over her head and back and dark hair. She is reaching over the second main figure, a blonde woman laying on her back in bed asleep, an arm over her head and the blanket pulled part way down. In the background is the third figure, a man in a Victorian style suit with short hair and a moustache. He is entering the room and still part way behind the door, unnoticed by the other two figures. In a hand obscured by the door he is holding a long knife, possibly a sword, and his gaze is focused on the dark haired woman with a serious expression on his face.

The second image is half a black and white picture and half a pie chart infographic, described above under Participation. The picture depicts a Victorian couple, a woman and a man, embraced in a kiss. The woman has long dark hair, a wide hate with a dark feather on top, and a dark dress with a bustle. Her arms and hands are around the man's head and neck as they kiss. The man is wearing a long coat, his back turned towards the viewer so the rest of his clothes are obscured. He has his hat in one hand and the other is obscured. His hair is dark and there are large, bat-like wings emerging from his back.

The third image is half a black and white picture and half a stacked bar graph and pie chart infographic, described above under Price Range and Zine Funds. The picture is a window like image depicting an outdoor scene. There are two main figures, with a large crowd of less distinct figures in the background, watching the two in the foreground. Both main figures are men, both wearing white shirts and wearing hats of two different styles. The one in the front is near the bottom of a hole, kneeling in front of an open coffin with a skeleton inside. He has a leather vest over his shirt and a dark beard with a moustache. He is driving a stake through the skeletons chest area and recoiling as it results in a cloud of smoke, his other hand up to protect his face. The man further back is also recoiling from the cloud and has a very shocked expression on his face. He has one arm up to protect his face and the other hand is still holding a shovel. In the background at the front of the watching crowd is a finely dressed man with poufy sleeves and a large feathered hat who seems to be supervising the event with an indistinct expression. Under the image is a caption that reads “Le Vampire, lithographie de R. de Moraine, tirée des Tribunaux secrets”.

The fourth image is half a black and white picture and half a pie chart and bar chart infographic, described above under Zine Format and Merch Options. The picture is of two figures. The main figure is a woman with dark hair, dark eyeshadow, and a white dress. She is in profile, but glancing down at the second figure. a man who is lying on his back in bed. She is kneeling on the bed next to him, her hands on either side of his chest while she has a seductive smile on, revealing pointed fangs. The man is in a loose shirt, still asleep. One arm is hanging over the side of the be, while his other hand rests on top of his chest. He has short dark hair and a moustache. End Image ID.]

F A Q   ☽  M O D S  ☆  T W I T T E R  ☾  A S K

[im-the-king-of-the-ocean]

Rose Puppetry Ch5: Caught in the Web of Mr. Spider

Summary:

A century ago or so, Atlas set out to conquer the world.  Penny was built to be a spy, an infiltrator meant to find weaknesses in Vale’s defenses before the invasion.

She did.  Then she fell in love.  And rebelled against the kingdom that had created her.

Ch1.  Ch2.  Ch3.  Ch4.

Chapter Content Notes: graphic imagery of spiders, violence, character death, attempted murder, stabbing, references to actual character murder, mind control/possession, comas

I would like to take a moment and remind everyone that this fic is roughly inspired by the Mechanism’s album Once Upon A Time (In Space) and that that narrative’s climax is rather gruesome.  Additionally, this chapter especially was influenced by the Magnus Archives, which is a horror podcast.

Please take those facts into consideration prior to reading.

I would also like to remind you all that there is one more chapter after this one, and thus the fic does not conclude here.

“Ruby?”

Penny speaks her beloved’s name over and over again.  Her voice, a cracking repetition of a broken, almost hopeless recording caught on a looping tape.  The mechanical girl who had come and fought so hard can do nothing but stare.  She hopes the sight before her isn’t real, that she’s mistaken, that this isn’t how their story ends.

Some history books will say it is.  They will narrate the story of a miserable failure of a military project.  One who rebelled against her creators, her masters, and cost not only herself, but the one she loved her life.  These history books will be produced in the harsh, cold printing presses that remain loyal to the faltering Atlesian throne.  A desperate attempt to rewrite history in their favor, but not much more than that really.

Other books, ones with a bit more accuracy, will know better.  For even if there is a ‘happily ever after’ or a ‘the end’ to a story, there’s always a moment after that.  Something that happens next.  Right up until the final end of death comes for the characters.

And neither Penny nor Ruby are quite dead yet.

So it really would be a sad, sorry tale that reaches its conclusion here, wouldn’t it?

The rebels infiltrate the menacing fortress to save the innocent girl and are felled by her hand, now corrupted by the darkness that had ensnared her.  No hope of a happy tomorrow.  Simply a brutal, violent end and a laboratory awash in blood.

For that’s what happens when you wander into a spider’s web.  You tend to get caught by the spider.  And, you know, eaten.

The thing, the crucial detail, that must be taken into account about this tale, though.  The one thing those Atlesian history books will try to wipe away and conceal and keep the public from knowing.  The little detail that keeps this ending from being the true ending of the story.

It’s simply that Ruby Rose is not the spider.

Of course, she is something, and historians (and, after them, archivists) will have quite a wondrous time debating amongst themselves what exactly she is.  But, what she is not, is the spider.  The hungry arachnid who waits so long for its prey to come, who binds its meal tightly in silky thread for later consumption.

Some, and they will have fairly strong evidence for their cause, will argue Ruby was simply the first caught in the spider’s web.  Those ones have a valid, if not entirely understanding of the circumstances as a whole, point.

A spider’s web is a sticky, tricky thing.  When you’re all alone in it, you may see little hope of escape, of anything but the spider’s looming, menacing legs, its snapping jaws, or its eight dark, beady eyes.  But that’s only if and when the spider chooses to focus on you.  They are, after all, creatures that can be distracted.  Ones that can decide to eat something—someone—else.  So, maybe Ruby was the spider’s first chosen meal, but she was one left unfinished due to the arrival of an enticing, delectable follow up.

A spider’s web also happens to be a delicate thing and, if put under too much weight, may potentially collapse.

Let us now return to the scene and become observers, ceaseless watchers, to what happens when this particular web takes on quite a bit of weight.

Are you scared yet?  You’re probably wondering if you should be.  It’s natural, of course.  Debating whether or not you should trust the words you read.  Should you stop here?  What if it gets worse?  But, it’s pretty bad here.  Do you really want this ending to be the ending?

What happens when you don’t stop, though?  When you continue reading the words, bringing them into the reality of being Known?  Didn’t expect to be trapped reading a tale without recourse on how to know if the true end is horrible or not without going along with it until it reaches it’s natural conclusion, did you?

Have you considered that, perhaps, it is you who is trapped in the spider’s web?

So, tell me, how much do you really want to know?  You’re curious, aren’t you?  Driven.  Eager to witness all that happens here.  Why would you remain otherwise?

Let’s see how it goes, shall we?

Our story, our statement, resumes.

Ever so slowly, Ruby turns her head and looks at Penny.  There is no recognition, no emotion of any kind on her face.  Ruby blinks, or, rather, she closes her eyelids and opens them again in a movement that could be perceived as a blink.  A movement that makes her a stranger to Penny.

“Ruby,” Penny repeats, as if the simple utterance of the name will break the spell.  No such enchantment that can be so easily undone exists.  Not here.  Not now.

“Remarkable, isn’t it?”

New footsteps echo through the laboratory.  Penny spins around.  Dr. Watts makes his way over from the door.  Each step he takes is measured and calculated.  His past projects, those horrible menaces whispered about in fear, file into the room behind him.

Cinder looks at the scene laid out before her and smirks.  Tyrian laughs.  Hazel blocks the doorway with his bulk.

“For a super weapon, I expected you to be smarter than to simply walk into what was so obvious a trap.”  Dr. Watts chuckles at Penny.  “Foolish of me to underestimate the weakness of love, I suppose.”

“Let.  Ruby.  Go.”  Penny clenches her fists.  She raises her daggers.  She doesn’t have the advantage here, but that won’t stop her.

“If you insist.”  Watts waves a dismissive hand.  With his other, he takes a remote out from his pocket and clicks a button on it.  The clasps around Ruby’s wrists and ankles snap open.  He turns to walk away, but pauses before he exits the laboratory.  “Do try to leave at least some of them intact,” he tells Cinder, Tyrian, and Hazel.  “It would be a pity for so many good bodies to go to waste.”  He exits.

Penny turns to Ruby one last time.  “Ruby…”  This time it’s a begging sob that escapes her lips.  “Please, no.”

Ruby stands.  She reaches around herself, to the sheath attached to her belt.  Her fingers wrap around the hilt of the blade there.  Ruby withdraws the weapon.  There’s no sign she recognizes the desperate plea in Penny’s eyes.

The sword slashes through the air.

Penny dodges.  She retreats away from Ruby’s attack.  Her daggers hover around her.  She can’t bring herself to command them to retaliate.

“Ruby, please, it’s me, it’s Penny!  You have to recognize me!”

Ruby draws back.  For a brief, hopeful second, Penny thinks she’s gotten through to her love.  A small smile appears on Penny’s lips.  It almost immediately falls away.

Ruby lifts her hand not holding the sword.  Around it, thick, black sludge forms.  It branches out into a limb all of its own.  Bleached white claws emerge at its tips, like grotesque fingers.  There’s a second where the Grimm arm moves and shifts, as if adjusting to its own weight.  A twisted smirk appears on Ruby’s face.  She looks between her new appendage and Penny.

Penny’s daggers come to bear a defensive position in front of her without her telling them to.  The Grimm arm tries to dart around them, but the daggers cut through it like butter.  It disintegrates into dust.  Ruby screams.  Her voice is loud, hoarse, and pained.  Penny hesitates, doesn’t take the opening.  She can’t… she doesn’t…she needs to…but it’s Ruby!  RUBY!

She can’t just kill her.  Penny glances behind her, at where she knows her team is, but there is no aid to be found there.  Cinder, Tyrian, and Hazel are on the attack.  The less said about that carnage, the better.  Penny is on her own.  She turns back to Ruby and, with every fiber of her being protesting, she prepares to fight.

I’ll make it quick, Penny tells Ruby in her head.  You don’t deserve this suffering.  I’m sorry.  I’m so, so sorry.

Penny ducks Ruby’s sword, and feigns to the left.

I’m sorry that this is how it ends.

Penny commands her daggers to cut through the Grimm limbs Ruby keeps painfully forming and sending at her.  She refuses to allow herself to wince at the agonizing screams.

I’m sorry you didn’t get to live a long and happy life.

Penny sees her opening.  Ruby has faltered.  Penny allows herself a second to take a breath, and then she lunges.  Her daggers all are pointed forward, ready to complete the death blow.

I’m sorry you ever had the misfortune of knowing me.

Penny’s killing blow doesn’t make its target.  Ruby faked her out.  Midway into Penny’s attack, she dodges.  Penny has no time to change course.  Her eyes widen.  Ruby’s Grimm limbs surround Penny, grab her, hold her.

Horror takes over Penny’s face.  She knows what’s going to happen right before the final Grimm arm makes the plunge into her chest.  Her mind goes blank with the pain.  Whether or not she’s screaming, Penny has no idea.

Ruby’s darkness, her corruption, seeps into Penny, worming its way to the mechanical girl’s heart, her core.  For Penny can only be destroyed if it is.  The Annihilation reaches its target.  It circles its prey, completely surrounding it.  It surges in for the kill.

In that dreadful moment, Death doesn’t come.  It was never going to.  It has, shall we say, a feel, for these things.  It knew, all throughout this battle, how it would end.  Death knew it would not be necessary to send its Reaper here.

The Silver Eye, which had protecting Ruby’s soul and had waited and waited and watched for its opportunity finally found its chance.  When the Grimm entombing it reached out to destroy the one its guardian loved, the Silver Eye, for the first time in its existence, felt something.

Remember, the Eye, on its own, had never been a whole.  It was forged, by the King of Vale, out of the remaining half of the Staff of Creation.  Though it could exist on its own, it never truly stopped longing to find its missing, stolen part.  And, when its prison made that final, almost deadly attack, through those dark tendrils ensnaring it, the Silver Eye finally felt that echo, that reverberation, that it had ached for for so very long.

In that moment, it wakes up and reaches.

Blinding silver light shines out through the laboratory.  Every vestige of Annihilation’s power, every bit of Grimm, inside a person or out, is disintegrated.  For those who have long since opened their arms to Destruction and allowed its influence into themselves, this means Death finally comes for its dues.  For Ruby, who the Silver Eye loves and cherishes, this means purification from her corruption.  For Penny, this means her life is spared and, from within her, the Silver Eye is answered.

Once upon a time, the General King of Atlas found the blueprints for an old inventor’s creation.  He saw it as a grand opportunity to build a great weapon for the glory of his kingdom.  To fuel it, he saw no better resource than his kingdom’s relic itself.  He split the Staff of Creation in half, stored one part away for later use and fashioned the other into a core for the new automaton.

Unbeknownst to him, in doing this, the General King created a mirror to the Silver Eye; the Winter Soul.  A new entity all of its own, it was.  One curious, fascinated about the world around it, and ever so willing to learn.

Is it such a shock then, that was built to be a weapon of immeasurable power turned its back to this objective and instead chose to attempt to understand and love the world it found itself in?  Is it such a shock that it came to love one who would be later chosen to preserve life itself?

Much has been written and recorded about the Fall of Atlas.  There are numerous accounts of the sudden surge of blinding light that shone across the kingdom.  Many theorize, but they do not know the truth of its source.  What they do know is that it wiped out the city’s mainframe and, for the first time in history, Atlas was left vulnerable.  It didn’t take long for the Rebellion’s ships to rise from Mantle and begin that final, gruesome attack after that.

Later, the Rebellion’s charge into Atlas Academy, of their slaughter of the robotic forces of the Atlesian Military, will be dramatized into something far more glorious and far less bloody than it was.  The retellings will focus on the storming of the throne room, of the General King being forced to his knees in surrender, the capture of the notorious Dr. Watts.  They will applaud the victories of the day, and blatantly ignore the executions of the weeks to follow.

And so, Atlas’s web of power collapses, crumpling into a thousand twisting, tangled threads.  The spider, the warmonger, who sat at its center, weaving and warping the world into something that suited him and only him, and growing fat off the results, is squashed.

Those two who were responsible, who gave the world the chance it needed to rid itself of the boot pressing down upon its throat, they were never known.

For Ruby, now saved from the Grimm but forever scarred by it, looks down upon the sleeping form of her fallen beloved, sees the full extent of Penny’s injuries, gathers her up in her arms, and steals her away to where she can be repaired.

In peace.

[tarithenurse]

If I succeed - 13

Pairing: Geralt of Rivia x fem!Reader Content: Angst? Saltiness? Lore. Tension. Sarcasm. A/N: The mood most of us can relate to a lot these days: BLLLLEEEEAAAARRRGHHHH!! And as such: I didn’t proof read this *shrugs*. Want a tag? Send an ask or reblog! A strikethrough means I’m unable to tag you. I’d love comments and feedback – even if it’s corrections on language or whatever. I’m not picky as long as I know my work brings joy too. (No, the GIF has nothing to do with the story, but I thought it was hilarious)

13 – Reconstrucdead

...   Jaskier   ...

Whyyyy does my head hurt more than after the wedding of Lady Demavend? Careful not to move, the bard considers if the pain would increase by opening the eyes. Then he muses (still with eyes closed) over the reasoning behind the throbbing ache at the side of his skull – there is something thoroughly non-hangoverish about it. What’s the last I can remember? A moment later he tries to forget it is a memory, the figure unfurling from the darkness and straightening up to reveal skeletal limbs and a deformed face with thin, sharp fangs. Let it be a dream. It’s a dream, it’s a dream, it’s a dream...it IS a dream because a real vampire would have killed me rather than tugged me between blankets like a swathed child. The realization confuses Jaskier enough to open his eyes.

The wall he is nestled against in the cave where he finds himself is painted with peach and rose from the sun, warm hues that are not reflected in the temperature of the rays before the sun sinks beneath the layer of clouds and out of sight. The rest of the place is cast in cold shadows, only here and there broken by a bright flame or, further away where a jagged rift runs along the cavern, plumes of coloured smoke illuminated from below and surrounded by stark silhouettes in constant motion.

Trying to sit up, Jaskier’s motions are hampered by tight ropes but not enough to prevent him from looking for his friend. [Y/N]. May the Maiden keep you safe until Geralt finds us.

...  Geralt   ...

Oddly, Roach is standing by herself, ears flat and flanks shivering despite nosing through the few items scattered where the others should be until she hears the Witcher approach.

“Fuck.” Nothing else needs saying nor would it feel quite as satisfying.

Allowing the horse to nuzzle into his chest brings a certain calm to the chaos in the heart. Geralt knows what he must do. I’ve done it a thousand times. Somehow, it feels different. More...frightening.

“You know I’ve gotta go...leave you here, hmm?” The soft sound Roach responds with might or might not only be due to the scratches she is receiving between the ears. “Need to go save the day, kill some monsters. As usual.” Golden eyes do not see the world around him anymore but are tracing the lines of a figure in his memories. “As usual.” Then why does it feel nothing like before?

...

There are plenty of traces to follow. A drag of a heel through the dirt of the path. A downtrodden thicket that has managed to survive the heights until this day. A snatch of fabric with an intoxicatingly familiar scent. A blue, carved button.

Despite the cold of the air now that the sun is setting, Geralt sweats under his armour as he follows the invisible trail upwards. The pace is steady though rapid, ensuring a certain level of stealth because he can school his breathing and find sure footing for the large boots. Among his own weapons, sheathed against his back and in the belt, is the dagger belonging to [Y/N] which he had found on the ground with a few strand of hairs on the blade �� not a colour belonging to either of his companions.

They’re alive. Every trace points to this conclusion, a knowledge resonating in his soul. Alive. Waiting.

A scratching sound alerts him of a presence on the other side of a nearby crest, and Geralt slides out the sword from the scabbard in a smooth whisper of steel and leather. Waiting time’s over for some.

...   Jaskier   ...

“...but they haven’t eaten us.”

“Vampires don’t eat people...they just drink the blood.”

“Charming,” Jaskier persists, “they haven’t done that either.”

[Y/N]’s sigh is barely audible. “No, we’re worth more alive now they know a Witcher’s coming.”

The grating chuckle coming from one of the creatures in question proves the woman right. How can she be so calm before that...gorgeous monster? It has taken a while for the bard to accept that vampires are not restricted to the gangly, animalistic creatures kept further back in the cave but also include the rather dazzling male standing ramrod-straight in front of the captives.

Alright, maybe not captive in the classical sense as neither of them are restrained anymore. As a matter of fact: Jaskier has been provided with an exquisite lute and asked to play whatever he feels like for the other noble-looking fang-owners. [Y/N]? She has refused everything offered so far.

“Your...companion is quite right,” the flint-voiced vampire admits, “we know the true value of life and death. That is why we don’t kill indiscriminately, despite what horrific tales are told among humans.”

“Ah, yes.” Jaskier winces at the sarcasm dripping from the woman’s reply. “Vampires are simply misunderstood.” She glances icily towards the dark recesses where glowing eyes are the only sign of the less sophisticated of the species.

A smile still remains on the vampire’s lips, now stretched thin in an attempt to still appear benevolent. “They’re what you may call...lesser. A cousin-breed with whom we acquaint ourselves merely due to their practical use as...well, as slaves.”

“Very cultivated indeed.”

Jaskier’s hands are gripping the instrument increasingly tighter as he follows the conversation. “[Y/N]! Mayb-maybe not piss off the neatly dressed leech?” One of her eyebrows arches and suddenly it makes sense why Geralt shuts up when met by that. “Pardon.”

“All is forgiven, young bard,” the leech in mention offers grandiosely, “I do prefer my drinks lively. However...I appreciate if it would call me by my name. Leif Nordbergar.”

As he turns the his attention to his bloodsucking comrades sitting around the fire, Jaskier catches the eye of his co-prisoner and wiggles his eyebrows at the flickering fire. Much to his dismay, he is answered by a subtle shake of the head. Why not? Any more attempts at communication could prove fatal, and only the plead from a ravishing young-looking, fanged woman to play a song distract him from falling into sombre misery.

...  Geralt   ...

It is astounding – or rather a sign of presumptuous arrogance – how few guards have been placed around the place. Several seem to be positioned at the far end of the gulch below from where the wyverns’ clamour rises, and the Witcher already reckons that they are of the same kind as the few straggling patrols he has encountered made up of an odd mix of Bruxae and Nosferats. Strange, the label is not often used by someone like him, they seem...enthralled. Their races are intelligent, capable of tactical fighting as well as disguising themselves to blend in in a community (thus creating a favourable hunting ground if they manage to show restraint). The ones that have met their – temporary – demise at Geralt’s sword showed no signs of brain activity other than the most basic.

Creeping onward, following the scent of tainted smoke, he slowly emerges through the cloud that have wrapped themselves around the mountain’s girth. Up here, the view to the waking stars is clear now and would undoubtedly hold a beauty worth admiring if only The White Wolf had the time.

“-ease! ...singi- ...” The words are broken by distance and obstacles, but the voice is easily recognizable due to the shrill tone Jaskier sports in stressed moment.

Never has such an annoying sound been so welcome, making Geralt smile as he slips into the shadows leading to the cave mouth the voice came from. Slowly. Carefully. Vampires have perfect senses and even the disturbingly lessened have shown no signs of exceptions to the rule – one wrong move, and the Witcher will not be able to orient himself enough to come up with a plan.

He leans against the cool stone, allowing the temperature to seep through the leather armour and into the tense muscles of his back. Breathing silently, the pressure against the natural wall grows and wanes. One. A calm seems to enter him along with the chill. Two. It spreads into strong limbs and hand that holds the silvered sword ready behind him Three!

A second is all it takes for yellow eyes to scan the scene around the fire – to see how closely noble-looking Higher Vampires are lounging around Jaskier whom they proffer a glass filled with a ruby liquid; and [Y/N], sitting poised with the hand of what must be the leader of the bloodsuckers resting on her bared shoulder.

After that second, Geralt finds himself short of air as hatred bubbles like bile in his guts.

[soranihimawari]

what he sees...

word count: 1.8k

tagging: @m0nstergeneration20xx​

warnings/genre: gamer friends to lovers [is that even a thing?]// rated F for fluff

<< |master list|>>

hallway meeting [day 0] :

part of kenma’s daily routine was to roam the halls of his high school during lunch break in search for a stronger wifi signal. recently that proved to be a challenge considering the fact the wifi was acting all wonky during the aftermath of the thunderstorm that occurred two weeks ago. the dual-toned setter was about to abandon all hope and just suffer the penalty for using one of his many devices as a hotspot during school hours.

that plan was almost coming into fruition when he heard a rather pleasant monotone voice pleading with the audio visual club members to take on a new second year recruit. with a resounding and stern, “no,” kenma heard the door close when he rounded the corner. he paused long enough to see the girl in the class across from his lower her closed fist before releasing a short lived sigh. for the life of him, kenma could not remember the name of the student he was quietly observing, but that didn’t stop him from staring at the phone you took out from your blazer pocket.

you held your phone in one hand while using your dominant hand as a mischievous smirk carved its way across your features. you swiftly stepped away in the opposite direction of the clubroom with a few keystrokes of code being typed before you pressed enter. you pretended to not hear the screams of horror when you whistled a tune down the hallway. kenma glanced down at his phone to notice his phone switched from LTE to a new closed wifi server nicknamed “chaos fiber.” it wasn’t password protected, meaning the girl’s device picked up his phone’s presence. kenma let out a chortle before he turned on his heels to head back toward his homeroom.

that afternoon on the train ride back to their neighborhood, kenma was rather quiet,even more so than what his best friend/neighbor had been accustomed to.

“kenma, do you think there’d be aliens on mars?” kuroo baited a question to see if his friend would bite.

“mmhm,” kenma replied; his subconscious was busy trying to remember any noticeable detail from lunch. the mysterious tech angel helped him out, but he didn’t want the rooster haired third year next to him cause a raucous over it. 

“you’re acting strange, even for you,” kuroo said when they were heading off the train and taking the stairs outside to the platform leading to their side of the tokyo suburbs.

“you think so?” kenma quipped knitting his brow.

“i don’t know what happened, but i guess it’s alright for now. you probably need sleep. don’t stay up too late, man.”

“ok.”

the next day right before classes were dismissed for the day, you found yourself tinkering with your mother’s old phone trying to breathe it back to life. you decided to take a break to crack your knuckles and stretch your arms when your class vice-representative, sayo-kun, said you had a visitor. Kenma did not come up with a valid reason why he thought his feet to moved on their own at lunch leading him to an impromptu visit to your class across the hall. 

he wanted to know thank you for sharing the closed wifi name with him because he was able to finally play all this games without any interruptions whatsoever, but since he knew himself to be no expert on romance, he decided to text the team. ok, let’s be real, he texted kai and yaku. if kuroo found out, homeboy would have made a big show out of something so small like kenma’s first high school crush. kenma did receive some decent advice after making the vice captain and libero of his sports club team promise to not tell their captain right away for fear of scaring the girl. 

12:05 

ꜰʀᴍ: ʏᴀᴋᴜ-ᴢᴀ ʟɪʙᴇʀᴏ

ᴡᴇʟʟ ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ ʜᴇʀ? ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʜᴀɴᴅꜱ ꜰᴇᴇʟ ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ᴄʟᴀᴍᴍʏ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴀꜰᴛᴇʀ ᴘʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴄᴇ ᴡʜᴇɴ ꜱʜᴇ ᴡᴀᴠᴇꜱ ᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜ? ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ʙᴇ ᴡɪʟʟɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴀꜱᴋ ʜᴇʀ ᴛᴏ ᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴏᴠᴇʀ ᴛᴏ ᴘʟᴀʏ ᴠɪᴅᴇᴏ ɢᴀᴍᴇꜱ ɪꜰ ꜱʜᴇ ʟɪᴋᴇꜱ ᴍᴍʀᴘɢꜱ? 

12:09

ꜰʀᴍ: ᴠɪᴄᴇ ᴄᴀᴘ

ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀɴꜱᴡᴇʀᴇᴅ ʏᴇꜱ ᴛᴏ ᴀʟʟ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇꜱᴇ Qᴜᴇꜱᴛɪᴏɴꜱ ʏᴀᴋᴜ ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ᴀꜱᴋᴇᴅ ᴋᴇɴᴍᴀ, ʏᴏᴜ ᴍɪɢʜᴛ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀ ɢᴇɴᴜɪɴᴇ ᴄʀᴜꜱʜ ᴏɴ ʜᴇʀ. ɪꜱɴ’ᴛ ꜱʜᴇ ɪɴ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʏᴇᴀʀ ᴀɴʏᴡᴀʏꜱ? 

“talk to her, ask her out for some ice cream or pie at the cafe down the street from campus? practice is cancelled today anyways since nekomata has family visiting today,” kenma mumbled the last text kai sent him right before reaching your class’ door.

“can i help you?” your ears were completely oblivious to whomever sayo-kun was talking to while you pressed the power button of the phone on your desk, eyes lighting up with glee as it slowly powered on. You chuckle amused at your own genius turning your mother’s older (and by all means obsolete) phone into an emergency back up of the back up mp3 player.

“hey y/n! kodzume-san’s here to see you,” your classmate said breaking your thought process. 

“thanks,” kenma said quietly brushing past sayo-kun stopping roughly a foot before your desk. He played with his hands a bit as you lowered your arms back on your desk folded on top of each other.

“what can i do for you kenma?” you asked, an eyebrow raised at him. You knew why he was there. you were the one with the wifi server that you closed off to the other audio visual club jerks the other day, but what you didn’t know was what piqued your interest.

“i wanted to say thank you for the other day,” kenma stated in a shy tone. he was testing the waters by taking a step or two forward in your direction. you had this sly smile growing across your face which kenma found kind of endearing. Have you always looked this effortlessly sophisticated? or was that just how nature laid out your kind features every time artificial fluorescent light made your eyes sparkle in the day time.

“ah,” you reply. you bop your head while adding a quick, “i see.”

a fleeting moment of silence passes between you two before you suggest something to him which nearly caused the aloof member of the volleyball team to be caught off guard:

“want to spend a free period with me? a have one coming up right before classes are dismissed today. i’ll be in the computer lab if you’re interested.”

kenma didn’t say anything else, but you took into account the way his pupils dilated in excitement at the invitation right before he accepted your offer. you exchanged contact info once he arrived at the lab an hour later where you helped each other in creating a small network of computers to connect to the fiberware and now password protected “chaos” server from a few weeks ago. every computer that was turned on in the lab had different operating systems running through (of course with the best games downloaded by the seniors beforehand). 

“welcome to the chaos network. wanna play a game?” 

kenma did not have to be asked a second time as he sat down in front of one of the computers and thus began a partnership between you and the pudding haired setter. you brought over an extra wireless keyboard for the game kenma chose to play, laughing with him as he began to design his  lvl 1 character. you did the same when the game prompted kenma to choose to add another member to his party... 

later that evening, when he offered to walk with you to the train station with kuroo saying he had cleaning duty, kenma and you found yourselves headed in the same direction for the platform close by.

“seems like this is where we part,” you say, readjusting your school bag on your shoulder. “thanks for accompanying me earlier. i haven’t been able to play that game yet. i had fun.”

“yeah,me too.” kenma agreed taking out his gaming console again. what you did next, you had no idea why you did it, but you just went with it: you invaded kenma’s personal bubble rather quickly pressing your lips onto the side of his cheek without any forewarning. you retreated back to where you stood in front of him before

“sorry, i should of asked if that was ok,” you apologize in a meek voice admist a now crowded station. kenma shook his head to indicate that it was alright. afterall, his crush just kissed him and his brain had an emergency halt of normal kenma-esc thoughts. “see you tomorrow at school.”

“see you later,” was all he managed to say seeing as you turned to walk to your platform number to wait for your train.

--[ three weeks later]--

A couple of weeks later, you were formally introduced to the rest of the Nekoma Volleyball Club when you mentioned that your gaming partner left behind his switch in the computer room during mid-class break. Needless to say you were bombarded with questions ranging from, “where did you meet kenma,” “what class were you in,” and finally, “are you going to be our manager? You’re practically kenma’s ‘player 2’ already, right?”

Nekomata chuckled at his team, recalling the days of his youth, when something eerily similar happened to his captain at the time.

“Umm,” you cleared your throat before you drew a deep breath in. You closed your eyes on the exhale and tilted your head to the side, curling a hand under your chin in thought. 

“C’mon, you don’t have to answer any of--” Kenma’s voice was pretty even throughout meaning he was getting more annoyed at how everyone else got to ask you those pressing questions, but he had been interrupted. Over the past three weeks, you hung out with kenma more and more, seeing what was his level of comfort around you versus other people. Every time you hung out with him, kenma finally felt himself breathe a little better than before. His crush still clung on to him, so it wasn’t properly addressed until that afternoon when seeing you dropped by unannounced to return his console after you helped free the os for any bugs and malware. 

“I met Kenma in the other side of the hallway where audio/visual club after they shut me down from joining their ‘prestigious’ club, so I launched a virus that killed their LAN party mid-campaign; class 2-5 [college prep]; if you need one, i don’t see why not? I’ve got time to spare. And actually,” your eyes never wavered off Kenma’s beet red ears from the moment you interjected. “I don’t know. You should ask him that when I leave Lev.”

[ The team’s focus switched back to where their setter was standing utterly dumbfounded by your honesty. You’d think you never saw a clowder of kittens look this excited for their ‘brain’ to find someone as wickedly smart (if not smarter) than their captain. ]

Scowling at the tallest first year on the team, Yaku nearly roundhouse kicked his kouhai for the third time that practice. Kai, judging by the way Kuroo and Yamagoto’s jaws went slack after you agreed to be the official team manager right before the prefecture qualifiers were announced, just laughed with a knowing smile. The first years on the team were so enamoured by your bold, yet casual attitude, they could see why their gaming senpai would find someone special like you. Especially since they noticed how Kenma’s usually displeased expressions seemed to have subsided to his version of “i’m not upset, just disappointed,” neutral face during practices lately.

“Do you want to be?” Kenma’s voice was the loudest anyone ever heard him speak, well except for you. This voice you had grown accustomed to when you helped him during a rare monster raid in one of the various mmorpgs you linked your devices to. By now you two were at the half-way point when you were walking toward each other, it was like your bodies just took comfort automatically as though your subconscious knew the other was close. Kenma was facing you and despite his height, you were a little shorter than he was while wearing your ballet flats. 

You extended your hand to hold one of his, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Your thumb rubbed miniscule spirals to calm the tensions in his fingers down. Much to their surprise, their setter rested his forehead against your shoulder muttering a “please?” so you did what you do best, you pat the top of his head gently. you avert your gaze for a split second; you hum while you prepare a straightforward answer.

“I thought we already were,” you say with the utmost sincerity in your voice. “Let me know when you get home. See ya Kodzu-san.” Your lips curled into a hauntingly gorgeous smile as you walked away shaking your head. You chewed your bottom lip to stop from screaming in excitement. You introduced yourself with a slight bow toward the coach, asking him to cut the team a little slack with the remainder of time left for practice; you told him you’d also fill out the manager interest form asap.

“Did we just get my second player to be our manager?” Kenma was given enough time to process what he said aloud a few more times. Before he realized what he truly said,he took a knee covering his mouth in a failed attempt at hiding the widest grin he’d ever show his teammates.

Kuroo chuckled, nodding with his answer. “Yep we sure did buddy. Is she the reason why you were acting so strange that day?”

Kenma glared at Kuroo who held up his hands in the air like he was caught stealing cookies before dinner like when they were kids.  

fast forward four days later, you found yourself in the comfort of kenma’s room. more so, in the comfort of his hoodie you saw lying around at the edge of his bed. you were stealth enough to quietly slip it over your head while kenma went downstairs to grab a plate of cut fruit from the kitchen. you were invited at the request of his grandparent who just happened to be visiting that day after he mentioned your name in passing right before he left for school that day. you were lost in your within your own stream of consciousness, so you were unaware that kenma was standing behind you. the sound of the plate landing on the corner of his desk in his room caused to you to turn around quickly. 

“you look cute,” was all he said slightly lowering his head to kiss your forehead. you hugged him, sweater paws and all, causing him to chuckle when he made his way to his bed. kenma patted the space next to him. 

“oh?” you hum in earnest. your eyes scrunching up when you felt your blush under your eyes glow a little more iridescent than before you sat down next to him on the bed. “glad you think so highly of me.” 

kenma rested his head on your shoulder similar to the way he did on the day you dropped off his switch earlier that week. you raised you right arm in order to have your hand run through his hair and you could of sworn you heard him purr right as he drifted off into a nap. you felt your eyelids grow heavy not too long after, not realizing you were about to lay yourself down on the bed to get more comfortable with kenma’s arms loosely wrapped around your waist (and your hand lost in his blonde hair).

Later that evening/morning:

[bamfoftheundead]

tiny drabble of omega! kurt discovering the joys of errol flynn, i couldn’t create a version of nightcrawler that didn’t love the actor, it wouldn’t feel right 

omega! kurt can have a little Amazon Prime, as a treat

@mikeellee @dannybagpipesarecalling

it starts off weird bc i was in a weird mood earlier

______________________________________

feelings were hard. Kurt had known that since before his conditioning. He'd never been one to say “I love you” nor had he received the words well, they just didn't feel real. 

looking down at the small brunette hidden behind layers of the blanket fort they had built together, he sighs, nothing made sense. Setting his own blanket aside he stands up from their shared creation and walks towards the window, a distant ache within his chest. He didn’t know what love was really, truly. Kurt wasn’t sure he’d ever know what it was. When he really did have it in some semblance it was ripped away from him, taken by Stryker and his men. whatever family he’d had died that day and a part of him with them, sometimes he wished he had perished with them.

lifting a hand to touch his chest he wondered if at least someone was alive, maybe. grimacing he pressed a hand against his chest, the unfamiliar emotion kept rising within him. It felt ....  sentimental, like a need to cry but he couldn’t. Nightcrawler wasn’t sure he had anything left inside of him but his bitter heart.  

a loud snore then erupts from his sleeping companion causing the man to flinch. Kitty had moved from her former position thus completely tearing down the fort. Kurt stands up, former thoughts vanquished as he leans to pick up the new mess. It became harder not to laugh as the little mutant woman rolled around, kicked and stretched. Picking up the last of their defeated pillow fort he tosses the balled up blankets behind the couch between the walls, someone else would pick it up. Throwing himself down next to her he wrestled a blanket from her grasp and pulled it onto him, the greedy little minx. Laying down onto the new pallet he reaches a hand above the couch and feels for the remote, hoping he wouldn’t have to get up again. The side of his hand hits a small plastic object, bingo. Turning the tv back on he channel surfs for sometime, nothing interesting is ever on during the twilight hours. He clicks and clicks until a channel of black and white appears and a title “ The sea hawk “

Leaving it playing kurt sets the remote next to him and pulls the blanket up to his chin.

Within the first twenty minutes he was captivated, his full attention taken away from the existing world around him and given to the electric box in front of him. He found himself later sitting on the couch throwing his hands forward in a poor mimic of the swordplay, hell he knew better than anyone how to handle swords. He nearly jumped from the couch itself as the hero finally rescued his lady. By the time it was finished he was panting on the floor next to a sleeping kitty, his lady. Regaining his breath he immediately searched for the next movie. The channel changed into a boring series of cowboys and native Americans. Rapidly changing the channel in search of a movie similar he is stumped. Remembering the joys of digital media he takes the TV's second remote and begins his search on various movie streaming services. It takes him some time before he comes across an app that showcases all of the finest Errol Flynn movies. Looking down he sees a cost … hmmm.

He clicks onto the button and is stopped when it asks for a credit card and other important numbers. Squinting in the distance he recalls the numbers each x-men were given to access Xavier’s wealth, “only for emergency purposes” the bald man had told him. Whatever, Xavier could handle a few dollars of rented movies, besides he could care less what the psychic fuck had to say about it. Clicking the confirmation button he now officially owned an extensive collection of Errol Flynn movies, hurrah!

Quickly he settles back down onto his and kittys sleeping pallet, eager to experience more of the wonderful actor and his dashing heroism.

____________________

“ huuuh? What “ groans a particular jewish woman. Looking around she spots her wayward compatriot laying next to her in the shambles of their leftover pillow fort.

Kurt, still awake from dusk to dawn stares excitedly at the tv, letting genuine emotion seep through the cracks of his bitter appearance, only around kitty.

“ fuzzy …. Don’t tell me you were up all night watching movies? “

“ shhhh Kätzchen .. this is the part where Geoffrey saves the lady Dona! “ the blue man shushes her and wiggles comfortably further under the blanket to watch the movie.

Sighing the x-woman simply falls back onto their blanket-y hell and lulls back to sleep, she’d deal with whatever problem he’d made in a few more hours.

[gfesgersgersg]

My Thoughts About Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals

I recently revisited a game from my childhood: Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals. I never finished this game when I was younger, because I found it too scary to progress. As strange as it seems, this game’s first hour started my interest in science fiction, and I still enjoy the genre in books and games today, despite never finishing the game.

I played up to what I’d call the start of the end of the first act of the game, getting up to the Corona vortex on the planet Genshi. This is probably a super biased article, as I think about this game a lot. It reviewed poorly with critics and I think this was probably justified. It is also worth mentioning that I did not play the first Spectrobes game.

If you intend on playing this game, spoilers are ahead. The short version is that I enjoy the characters, but the last parts of the game are far weaker than the start. The gameplay is largely uninteresting, and the game isn’t really something I would recommend anyone play.

The Good

The music in this game is fantastic. The game always has some music playing, no matter what’s going on. Among my favourites are the character-specific tracks that play during dialogue, and the track that plays when you solve a puzzle. The music goes a long way toward selling the game’s environments, too. The music on the populated planets in the Nanairo system largely sounds upbeat, and reflects the planet you are on. This contrasts with the music on the planets that are “beyond the portals”, which sound quite alien. The music on Hyoga is calm and slow, fitting with a cold, lifeless planet. The music on Fons is calm but more sombre, and is very foreboding, fitting with the point in the story it is encountered. The music on Darkmos and Nox both fit with the artificial themes of these planets and are opposites somewhat to Fons and Hyoga.

Some good tracks would be: Ready For Action!, Hyoga, Darkmos and Fons.

The environments in this game are pretty impressive for the Nintendo DS. A lot of the backgrounds are 2D, which shows, especially in the city on Nessa, and on Fons. However, they look great in my opinion. Most impressive are the safe areas, such as Kollin and Colony. These environments really sell the Nanairo system as a real place.

The characters in this game are excellently written. By no means is the story a masterpiece, but the game’s characters entirely carry its story. Rallen and Jeena make a great duo, with entertaining banter. They reference each others’ quirks and joke around with each other. The supporting characters are good too. Commander Grant is very serious but clearly likes Rallen and Jeena. Cyrus and Webster are characters Rallen has history with, making for some funny moments and a nice “redemption” for Webster. Hank and Professor Kate are nice, and again, their friendship feels realistic in the sense that they act like they have known each other for a long time. While they’re not particularly deep, the High Krawl are good villains. They’re imposing throughout the story, and the mystery of their campaign against the Towers of Nanairo is intriguing. Maja is the main villain throughout, and she seems equally aloof and desperate in her attempts to get Rallen to side with her. Strictly from a characterisation perspective, she provides a good view into the internal conflicts between the High Krawl. Jado is a (probably intentionally) forgettable character in the early parts of the game.

The Bad

The excavation system is an interesting take on obtaining collectable monsters. This game’s status as a Pokemon clone is a largely inconsequential part of the experience to me. In Spectrobes, I didn’t feel any attachment to my spectrobes by the end of the game, simply using them as tools to get to the end. Partially, this could be because of Rallen not being a blank slate character. They’re more his spectrobes than mine. There is also the issue of the monsters themselves not really being unique. They’re nice designs, and unique to the game for sure, but my spectrobes ended up all looking the same. They’re not that unique from each other mechanically either, with the only differentiations being the typing and the evolution status. The child spectrobes are a good feature, however. Child spectrobes take on the role of searching for fossils, and don’t just sit in your storage waiting to be evolved.

The game’s characters are good, as discussed earlier, but its broader plot isn’t. It revolves around creatures known as Krawl, which feed by eating entire star systems. They’ve done this many times and are now focusing their efforts on the Nanairo system. This is OK, not particularly deep, but I see no issue with this. Beyond the Portals introduces new characters, High Krawl, who are capable of communicating with the humans living in Nanairo. Maja, at least, sees Rallen as an equal by the end of her involvement in the story, but continues to gloat about the inevitable complete genocide of Rallen’s home star system. The others are a bit more aloof, positioning themselves above the humans living in Nanairo. This is all a little far-fetched, but still OK. The High Krawl are seeking to destroy structures on each planet just called Towers. This allows them to open a new portal each time, into another star system. From these portals, Krawl will emerge from their current home on planets they have already consumed.

The first of the High Krawl to appear in the story is Jado, who is shown as being aloof but hapless. When defeated, he simply appears to die. This is a ruse on his part, and he is actually one of the most important characters to the story. Problem is, he barely appears. On Malik, at the very end of the game, he reveals that he has been hiding inside your patrol cruiser for the entire game. This is a bit of a head-scratcher. At this point, you fight him again and he admits defeat. Thus, he appears twice, but seems to warrant more of a presence. Next up is Gelberus, on Nessa. He is pretty inconsequential. He destroys the tower, opens the first portal, and you defeat him on Hyoga. After this is when Maja becomes the antagonist in earnest. She appears after both Jado and Gelberus’ defeats, gloating about how these events make her more powerful. She introduces the concept of Dark Spectrobes, and is first fought in an unbeatable fight on Daichi. After this, you go on a wild goose chase through Fons and Darkmos before beating her on Nox. Maja is more powerful than Rallen, but wants or needs his power for something. Beyond destroying or ruling the universe, this is not specified. Still, it is a good enough reason for her to not just kill Rallen. After Maja is defeated, Rallen and Jeena recover the Dynalium, which is a weapon that can penetrate a planetary shield of some kind. After some fetch quests to make a large Dynalium, an assault is carried out on Malik, where Krux resides. Krux reveals that he is a Spectrobe Master like Rallen, but uses the Krawl for their numbers. The implications of this aren’t discussed in-game. Rallen defeats Krux in hand-to-hand combat and the game ends. None of this plot is particularly interesting at any point. The best part is Maja’s story arc, which seems to build up to a twist that doesn’t happen. The High Krawl are treacherous toward one another in a way that isn’t really used for anything interesting. Internal conflicts within the High Krawl could be a good way to introduce some uneasy alliances between the NPP and certain High Krawl. I don’t expect the plot of this game to be filled with complex intrigue, but its perfectly good characters have wasted potential.

The game has some nasty difficulty spikes around Fons, halfway through the game. It’s mentioned that Rallen should evolve his spectrobes after Fons is cleared, but the Krawl on the planet are much higher level than yours at this point. Up to this point, the game is balanced well, providing good balance with no need to grind. The battling in general leaves a lot to be desired. The type matchups are obvious and shallow, and the systems leave little room for strategising. The real time battling system seems cool at first, but ends up being a matter of running up to an opponent and mashing the A button. The camera in this mode is awful and frequently leaves you facing nothing at all. As such, battling in this game feels like a chore needed to progress, rather than a fun challenge.

The level design isn’t fantastic either. While many environments are visually impressive, they’re often too big, with very little in them. There isn’t anything to find other than randomly dispersed fossils and minerals. Especially later in the game, the constant backtracking through these big, empty areas feels like an attempt to pad for time. This is exemplified by the final planet, Malik. You’re asked to traverse the exact same room around 10, maybe more, times by going through the portal that is spinning to the left in each. This is not fun to play. A lot of the game’s tasks feel like busy work rather than actual gameplay. This should not be an issue. The game has more than enough content to justify itself, without this bad filler. My other issue with the levels is that the Krawl respawn continuously. This creates a feeling that you’re not actually helping these planets. At least, the populated Nanairo planets should be clear of Krawl if you remove them.

Conclusion

To conclude, Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals is not a particularly good game. It is a mediocre Pokemon clone in gameplay terms, and in plot terms has wasted potential. The game has excellent characters and music and a well realised world. It falls short probably due to attempting to ride the Pokemon train, rather than trying to be more unique. The game’s plot doesn’t really fit an RPG formula at all. This game is just one of many obscure Nintendo DS games, and I don’t even really like it, but it will hold a place in my heart forever. I suppose something to draw from this could be that no matter how mediocre a piece of media, it can still have an impact on someone, somewhere.