#another thing i remember is being able to go into the main room where they held services and being so fucking bored when we were doing

[keferon]

Chapter 2 of Blurr storyline >:D

“Actually” says Swerve ”I'm an alien.”

“Heh” giggles Blurr ”sorry, my head is all cloudy, I thought you said you were an alien.”

Part one

Holy shit I actually managed to finish it…..Oh. My god.

Under the cut⤵️

Is it stupid to miss someone who doesn't even exist?

Probably yes, but hey, Swerve already has several degrees, might as well get another one. A degree in Stupidity or something. Who cares?

For the first few days after waking up from his coma, he feels like he's going crazy. Everybody has realistic dreams, right? The ones where you can scrutinize every angle, memorize every face and smell and sound. The ones that make you lie still for a while after waking up, grasping at every thing you can. Trying to memorize everyone you meet, imprint them in your head.

Because apart from your mind, they don't exist anywhere else. So that's your only way to keep them.

It never works. Obviously. Details slip away. Impressions fade. Just a couple days, and you won't be able to recall anything but the main events from memory.

Wait, hell, not days. Cycles.

His life is a weird, pathetic, fantastical circus. Earth term. Heh. There are no circuses on Cybertron, haha!

But Swerve remembers. And the word circus, and the smell of asphalt, and rains that were made of water not acid. Remembers the English language. Can speak it fluently, even if you wake him up in the middle of the night.

Remembers his work schedule and remembers which company makes the best details. And Tailgate with his bright blue uniform and Wheeljack with his endless experiments and Swindle with his expensive coat and of course...yeah, no, don't think of Blurr, don't think of Blurr, don't. Don't.

He'd heard about it. Read about it, too. Mechs waking up from comas and doing wild things. Some forgot how to speak at all, some gained a new skill, some lived a whole life while they slept.

Articles tell Swerve, don't worry, what you've experienced isn't unique. The doctor tells Swerve that the same thing has happened to others before you, it will be okay, it will pass.

Swerve isn't sure he wants it to pass.

He's been in a coma for who knows how long. The medic said it was caused by an internal trauma that decided to suddenly get worse. One minute he's recharging , the next he's gone. Internal injuries are insidious.

So it turns out. One day he just disappeared from the world because he was busy slowly dying in his room and no one noticed until a thief tried to sneak in. The only one who came to him was a Mech who wanted to steal his stuff. Huh.

That feels revolting. Swerve liked to think he had enough friends. Or at least enough good connections. Enough those who should have noticed his absence, right?

Apparently not. His shifts at work were reassigned, his contacts never texted him first, his...

His small persona wasn't important enough for anyone to notice his disappearance.

Would his human coworkers notice? Would Tailgate have noticed? Or Jazz? Swindle?

Jazz would have noticed, he was always surprisingly attentive when it came to his friends. And he was friends with just about everybody.

Swindle would probably get upset about the money he'd lost.

It's amazing how much his brain-- wait, no, his processor. How much his processor could create to entertain him. It's a more elaborate world than the most complex series Swerve has ever known. And that scrap had forty-six seasons and fifteen encyclopedias!

People, Earth, a bunch of new languages and rules and all for the sake of the end being like, OOPS! ...it was all a dream. Hilarious. Worst plot twist ever. Swerve hates it when stories go in this direction even more than when they kill off their characters.

In his humble opinion, death is better than the revelation that none of the experiences made sense or had any value. In terms of writing scripts obviously. Haha.

He's busy roaming haphazardly through his own memory. He's looking, comparing, trying to find inconsistencies or things that don't make sense. All the stuff that usually gives away the fact that what happened was a dream.

Most of his memories are occupied by--No. Frag.

Don't think about Blurr, don't think about Blurr, don't think..

He's thinking about Blurr. A lot.

Blurr occupies a surprisingly important role in his comatose dreams.

In the time he spent just looking at him, you could hand-build an entire Mech. Maybe even three. Swerve remembers picking up every bit of merch he could reach with his paycheck. Watching hundreds of videos and buying every new themed drink even if it was a flavor he didn't like.

Then spent a surprising amount of time resenting Blurr for not living up to his fantasies.

Blurr's behavior hadn't helped either, of course, but now, looking back at the past himself Swerve thinks that.. Oh wow. You weren't just annoyed at him. You blamed him for ruining your beautiful fantasy. You were having so much fun entertaining yourself with thoughts of this marvelous image, and he came along and corrupted it. Poisoned the well you drank joy from.

But that's not quite true, Swerve thinks.

Blurr was more complicated than that. But exactly how, he'll never know. All he has are his memories, and those memories are cut short at the most interesting point.

Swerve knows this plot twist. The asshole character that no one loves at the last second turns out to not be what everyone thought, but it's too late.

Oh no, he's not an evil jerk, he's actually traumatized. Oh no, he wasn't bad, he was actually secretly helping everyone. You thought he was awful? Well now you're going to feel awful reading fanfics.

Serevus Spayne didn't actually betray the main character's dad, no no, he was in love with him! Bam. Drama.

Swerve isn't a big fan of this stuff. He likes his characters developed properly. But he can't deny the appeal of a character leaving behind a bunch of questions you thought you knew the answer to.

Uggh.

The doctor was wrong. These thoughts don't go away. These memories don't dull.

Swerve just boils in them, constantly getting stuck in his own head. Sometimes he puts English words into his speech and everyone looks at him strangely. Sometimes he reflexively says some inside joke and no one gets it and he's left standing there with an awkward smile. Because. Guys, you don't understand, if my coworkers were here they'd think it's hilarious. I promise, in my fantasy world, it's funny.

When he gets a job on one of the Autobot ships, he accepts it thinking it might be a good distraction from his thoughts.

When he happens to see Prowl with a tiny human on his shoulder in the corridor of that ship, he thinks he's lost his mind.

The whole thing. The whole load-bearing structure on which his picture of the world has been held suddenly gives a lurch. Living your life in a super realistic dream is wild, but meeting a character from your dream in real life??

Freaking cursed.

Jazz looks puzzled by his reaction, but all Swerve can think about are two things.

One, if Jazz is here, does that mean everything else was real, too???

Two - holy shit, Jazz is tiny.

It never occurred to him. But he didn't really know what size humans were. Well, sure, he could measure it in numbers. But he was among humans himself. And about the same size. He was generally even shorter than most of them.

If Jazz is so small, he can't imagine how tiny Tailgate would be. Or--

He can feel his spark freeze. In fact, he can almost hear the sound of a string breaking in his processor. Does that mean Blurr is real too? Real and just as tiny and currently dead? Because Swerve was there but was too convinced it was all just a dream to help?

He's going to get sick.

He needs to talk to Jazz right now.

____________

Swerve taps his fingers nervously on the countertop. Come on. You're good at talking. Talking is your greatest skill. All you have to do is tell someone else about your comatose hallucinations and hope they don't think you're crazy.

They're sitting at a table at the bar. More specifically Swerve and Prowl are sitting at the table, and Jazz is sitting right on the table. (God he's so small).

“So uh. I got injured a while back and...uh...well, it got worse, turned out important systems were affected and I kind of. I was in a coma. For a really long time.”

Jazz frowns

“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.”

He speaks in a mildly wonky Common, Swerve notes to himself. He waves his servo a little too cheerfully in response.

“'Ay it's no big deal really. I saw a whole other world while I was asleep and like. See, I thought it was just my fantasies, but it seemed very real and...”

Swerve mentally crosses his fingers.

“And it was about this planet called Earth and about people who were building their own inanimate huge robots to fight huge aliens and their boss wanted to launch Mechs into space, so he picked the best of the pilots named Jazz and sent him on this test mission and...”

Jazz looks at him with huge eyes before switching to English in surprise.

“Mech, what the hell?”

“...And we lost him...” finishes Swerve with a sad smile.

Before thinking for a bit, and adding.

“I'm going to show you a trick I can do.”

And then projects his holoform onto the table in front of him.

This. It's weird. Not in a way that would tilt it in the direction of unnatural. More like walking around in his comfy indoor pajamas right in the middle of the street. Being human is familiar to him, but being human amongst huge Cybertronians? Strange. And a little creepy.

Prowl looks confused.

Jazz looks absolutely frantic.

“SWERVE????”

Swerve doesn't even manage to respond, only to smile in relief before Jazz rakes him into his arms. In his holoform, Jazz feels right again. He's taller than Swerve and oh boy, he's alive and unharmed. To think everyone thought he was dead, staying up nights trying to find what was left of him, and he was on the other side of the universe the whole time?

Swerve chuckles into Jazz's shoulder. Then picks him up and spins him around a couple times just because he needs something to get his energy out. Man, it's nice to hug people. Warm and soft, eight out of ten.

Jazz pulls away but still stays standing very close. Swerve can literally see the happy stars in his eyes.

“Dude, I'm not complaining but what...how???? You just kinda..."

Swerve laughs and twitches his eyebrows playfully.

“I still speak English, you don't have to torture yourself with Common.”

“Oh thank fuck.” Jazz throws his hands up dramatically “you're my favorite person right now.”

There is a polite click of the vocalizer resetting above their heads.

“I” Prowl says “very glad you two are happy but I'd like some explanation”

Swerve presses his head into his shoulders guiltily. Prowl has the unique ability to always sound like you've done something wrong in front of him.

Although Jazz doesn't seem to feel the same way?

“Short version - I sleepwalked my holoform to another planet.”

He pauses dramatically.

“The long version is...”

Jazz raises his hand

“What's a holoform?”

Swerve sighs.

“It's a holographic avatar that I can project using a holomatter generator. Sort of like a remote controlled game character.”

Jazz whistles impressed. And then immediately turns back to Prowl

“Have you been able to do that all this time too?“

Prowl hums

“I can create an avatar, but it takes a lot of practice to make it at least believable. And to fully perceive the world through it takes even more. It's a whole new technology. What Swerve does is essentially an art form. Sophisticated and impressively detailed may I add.”

Swerve shrugs shyly. He's still using the holoform to stand on the table next to Jazz. Looking up to speak to Prowl isn't exactly comfortable, but Jazz definitely looks like he's been missing the human presence. Swerve isn't human, but he might as well be.

“Thank you. Yes! Uh. Anyway, it seems while I was in a coma my processor projected my avatar onto Earth and I...let's just say I lived there for a while.”

Jazz laughs

“Dude. So you're telling me you were basically sleepwalking the whole time?”

“ I was.”

Prowl frowns.

“But the range limit of the holomatter generator is only four hundred miles...”

“.... I had a lot of practice...”

Jazz claps his hands.

“You learned a whole other language! Got an ID!. You had a job!!!”

“I got carried away,” Swerve admits.

Jazz scratches the back of his head, still looking very amused

“How many degrees did you get? Haha wait no, I have a better question, did you pass your driver's license?”

“Two. And I failed my driver's exam.”

“Dude you are literally a car without a driver's license!” collapses Jazz on the table with laughter.

Swerve blows the hair out of his face

“Says you who retook the physical several times. You couldn't pass the "being human" exam.”

Jazz just wheezes incoherently in response. Prowl looks alarmed.

“Don't worry, that's him getting excited. So...where have I been...”

Swerve nervously shoves his hands into his pockets

“...Do either of you two know where Earth is?”

Prowl twitches his door wings

“No. Since Jazz was teleported we don't have much clues.”

Swerve grimaces. Scrap. Of course nothing's going to be that easy. He's also been, like,....teleported.

He stands there for a couple minutes and just feels fifteen different emotions rise up in his head at once. A crooked, unsteady smile creeps across his face.

He's thinking.

Oh hell, yeah! I knew it wasn't a dream!

Then he remembers the mess he left behind.

Oh, no, it wasn't a dream.

Jazz puts a hand on his shoulder.

“Swer... Swerve? Dude, are you okay?”

“Ah frag..” Swerve says weakly ”it wasn't a dream.”

Jazz looks...puzzled.

“Is that bad?”

Swerve remembers his friends. Remembers the Mecha program. Remembers fire and smoke and screams and rumbling and crackling flames. Ashes flying through the air and the smell of burnt wires. He remembers blood and debris and...

“It's...complicated.”

This wasn't just a stupid plot twist he'd dreamed up because he'd watched too many shows. This wasn't a hallucination or a disembodied fantasy that just happened to linger in his head. This was real. His friends exist out there somewhere. His work and his collections and his little apartment...

And Blurr. Was real. Or still is? Swerve doesn't know. Blurr wasn't a product of his imagination. He was real and what he did was real and Swerve left him there alone, bleeding and trapped in rubble and tiny and...

Hahahahah oh fUCK.

He doesn't like this plot. It's too much. Too much to handle, too complicated, too ambiguous.

It's also probably too late.

But he can't leave it like this, right? Blurr went into the damn burning building just because of the possibility that there might be someone alive in there.

And Swerve doesn't even have to go through the flames. He has to look. He has to try at least.

Jazz glares at him with a worried look on his face

“ That expression you have...”

Swerve puts the smile back on his face.

“I need to get to Earth.”

___________________

Swerve is not an idiot.

Or maybe more accurately an idiot, but with several degrees.

He's well aware that finding Earth in space with only a description of it is impossible. Which leaves him with two options.

Ask the Quintessons. Or look for it himself.

The first sounds like death. The second like coma. Swerve has exquisite enough taste to know which is better.

He just needs to do some preliminary reserch.....

Jazz, now back inside his Mech looks doubtful.

“You're not going to die suddenly and for no reason, are you?”

Swerve laughs.

“Pfffff what, no of course not, would I kill myself hah. No no, look I'll just put myself in stasis for a bit. Send myself to Earth. And try to figure out where it is from there. Get the coordinates. If I'm lucky, I can see what Space Bridge the local Quintessons use. All you'll have to do is wake me up after a while.”

“It's not harmful?”

Swerve makes an uncertain gesture with his hand...servo.

“If I have enough fuel. And an additional connection to an external generator.”

Jazz tilts his head

“ Why are you so eager to get to Earth? Don't get me wrong, I miss it too and want to go back, but.”

Swerve bites his knuckles.

“ I have some unfinished business?”

“Pshhhh you sound like a ghost.”

Swerve only laughs in response.

_______________

Concentration is tricky.

Swerve tries to think about Earth. And not to think about the fact that he doesn't know where it is. If he's already been there once, he might as well go there again yes? In theory? Perhaps?

Except for the possibility that his sleepwalking just takes him to random planets. That would be very inconvenient. It would be a whole new level of lost

Shit. No. Earth. Think Earth.

What's he even gonna do when he gets there? How far away is it? Swerve is very talented with his holomatter generator, but if it's really far away... maybe he should reset some settings.

He mentally starts going through his options. Does he need tangibility? Probably not. Come to think of it, it would only make him more vulnerable and take a lot of energy. Yeah, the tangibility has to go. What else? Touch, too. Sight and hearing should stay, that's not even a question, but colors and textures are not really necessary.

The amount of detail and picture quality can be reduced as well. His holoform will become colorless and grainy and will probably ripple with static, but he'll survive it.

After he finishes making changes to his holoform he thinks about his old stuff left in his house. Then about the posters. Then reminds himself that he needs to focus on the goal or he'll never find Blurr and...oh FUCK his phone! Where was his phone when he disappeared? Was it found?? There were so many personal things on that phone, he's hoping the phone was burned under the rubble. Either that or the arriving investigators will find his browser history and he'll go into another coma from pure embarrassment.

He blinks dazedly when he realizes he has loads of rocks in front of his eyes. Oh..Did he screw up? Did he end up on the wrong planet? Is it a cave or--

Then he notices the odd shape of the “rocks” and. Oh, no. It's not a cave. It's charred concrete debris.

This is the place where he was last.

He hastily looks around. Anxiety creeps up the back of his neck, makes him feel like something slippery and cold is crawling over his skin. There is nothing but ruins all around.

Blurr is not here. The place where his Mech was lying is empty.

Which means he was at least found and dragged out. Dead or alive.

Swerve's bites his knuckles. Okay.

All right.

He's got things to do.

_______________

He's trying to stay out of sight. Which isn't hard, considering he's just a hologram. At first, he just sneaks around in the quiet areas. Then proceeds to do a facepalm and start teleporting. Think, Swerve. Did you read all those comic books for nothing? Superheroes who couldn't really use their superpowers creatively always annoyed him. And he does, in fact, have a superpower. Gotta get creative, right?

He stops and looks at himself again. His holoform is going static and is a dull white color. He thinks for a bit, and then shrinks himself. Thinks some more, and makes himself almost transparent. There's no way he could pass as a normal human right now, so he'd better just do his best to avoid being seen by anyone.

He looks around thoughtfully. Hmm. Even if he's going to be absolutely tiny, he needs to make sure no one sees him, otherwise the whole base will think the Quintessons are now spying on them through holograms or something.

Breaking the rules feels...it's exciting.

All his ..human life here he hadn't thought about it, but if he threw away the rules he was used to about what people could or couldn't do...

He looks up in a sudden rush of sly genius. All people look under their feet when they walk, but how many look up? And how many of them notice the barely visible tiny holoform hiding just behind the blinding lamps?

The answer is probably none.

Swerve projects himself onto the ceiling and mentally pats himself on the shoulder for his impressive intellectual accomplishments. A creativity degree should definitely be a thing.

A degree in spying on the Quintessons' ships wouldn't hurt him either.

Fortunately sneaking onto their ship turns out not to be that difficult. Swerve makes himself absurdly tiny and hides in the darkest corners that no one would ever think to look into. Why hasn't anyone thought of using holoforms for spying before? Could he be the first to think of it? He doesn't know, but he mentally decides to patent the idea.

Finding the Space Bridge is surprisingly easy. The local Quintesson fleet is clearly used to being the dominant force in space. And that's generally logical. Even if humanity collects a mountain of money from somewhere to throw a dozen Mechs into space - there will be thousands of monsters waiting for them. In such a situation, you don't have to hide, the guards are enough.

Well done, well done, don't hide, Swerve thinks, copying the coordinates and address of the space bridge to himself. You have absolutely nothing to fear here, he thinks, so stay where you are and don't move. Please and thank you.

Once the coordinates are obtained, he... has some freedom to explore. And he uses it for probably the most boring-sounding thing in the world. He returns to his usual workplace.

It’s simple. As damning as the Mecha program was, Swerve loved his job in it. He loved his position in the assembly shop. And he missed his friends.

He quickly teleports through several rooms, continuing to hide close to the lamps. Tailgate is here. Alive and unharmed. Wheeljack is too, though his face has some scars added to it. It's great to see them again, even if he can't talk to them right now. No one will probably react well to a grainy unexplainable hologram. He's just glad to know they're okay and honestly, the last thing he needs is paranoid Onslaught installing extra signal jammers.

It takes time to find Blurr. Partly because Swerve is terrified of what he might find if he started looking. So he goes to check the death lists first, and only after flipping through and re-reading them three times does he finally exhale in relief.

Blurr's name isn't there.

So his smug, shiny ass must be around here somewhere.

He checks the hangar. Flips through the Mech launch logs and feels an uncomfortable knot begin to form in his chest. Blurr's Mech has never been repaired or launched even once since the incident. Its plating has been replaced with new, well polished, and put in a prominent place where anyone who wants to can take a picture of it. But all the internal systems are destroyed. This machine hasn't been used for anything other than being a beautiful exhibit.

That's...something's wrong.

He checks offices and schedules as well as eavesdropping on a few conversations and ends up secretly following Swindle, who is arguing loudly with someone on the phone. He says something about deals and how he doesn't need anyone meddling in his business. Then he talks about how he's got everything under control and the person on the phone is “a dumbass who's making drama out of nothing” and that “he doesn't need anyone's handouts". Then he sighs and says, “you know how celebs are. Dumb and dramatic. You can't take their words literally.”

Then drops the call and for a couple seconds looks like he's just had a large bill taken right out of his hand. Curses again, but in a quieter voice. Leafs through his contacts and stops at the one signed 'free ice'.

“Blurr? Where are you? Wha...ah, no wait. No, the advertising agency called. No, liste...Can you shut up for one second?Where are you?

Uh-huh....... Uh-huh.Okay.

Give me half an hour...okay, yeah.”

This is it, Swerve thinks.

He shrinks himself further and teleports under the collar of Swindle's coat.

He wants to take a look. Just. Just a peek. Make sure everything's all right. Then he can go about his original mission in peace. He watches Swindle get in his car and drive off somewhere. Swerve doesn't recognize this part of town. The houses here are much nicer than where he lived. The streets are cleaner.

He tucks himself further under the coat collar. He's not going to be a stalker or anything, but he's worried and he doesn't have time to wait for Blurr himself to show up for work. Just one little look and that's it.

Swindle's car stops outside a beautiful, shiny hospital. Swerve nervously tries to bite his knuckles, but remembers he's disabled touch in his holoform. Shit? Shit.

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shi

Blurr looks like a mangled corpse.

Okay, not really. His left side that faces the door to the hospital room looks like a mangled corpse and that's the first thing that catches Swerve's eye when he's inside.

Blurr is pale and thin and his hands are covered in bandages. The left side of his face has been turned into an absolute ugly nightmare. A piece of his ear is missing. In the place of the left eye is a creepy empty hole.

Suddenly Swerve realizes why Blurr didn't show up for work. You can't even show him to his coworkers like that, not just to the public.

Blurr turns his head and the spell breaks. His lips stretch into a cocky smile.

“'Got bored without me Swindle?”

Swindle doesn't show the slightest emotion at the gruesome sight. He casually pulls a chair over to the hospital bed and sits down.

“Shockwave is trying to sneak a new project into the program. And he's slowly swaying investors to his side, using you as an excuse. Tells everyone you're a poor martyr he can save if only he's given the green light from above.”

Blurr wrinkles his nose.

“Not that he's wrong. The doctors say I need to pick a new career because with this...” he jerks his head to the left implying his damaged half, ” neither racing nor piloting is an option for me anymore. I'm out of your project.”

Then he stops talking for a few seconds and raises an eyebrow curiously.

“You wouldn't have come here in person just to say that. Why are you really here?”

Swindle adjusts his glasses

“Have I ever told you why I made the contract with you?”

“Because you like money” Blurr says without hesitation.

Swindle lets out a quiet chuckle.

“Fair point. But money wasn't my only priority.”

He pauses for a second. Gets up. Draws the curtains in the room. Checks to make sure no one is outside the door.

Goes back to his seat.

“You didn't see what the Mecha project was like before. Brutality and absolute disregard for human rights multiplied by a thousand. People were desperate and no one cared to maintain any decency.”

He raises his hand when Blurr rushes to say something.

“No no, listen to me. If you think things are bad now, you're right. But it used to be much. Much, much worse.”

Swindle sighs and adjusts his glasses again

“Vortex was taken as a boy. He wasn't even out of high school when they shoved him into the lab. Me and Onslaught were pulled right out of the college exams. The others were no better, although they were usually a little older. My point is that it was allowed. It's what the superiors could do and no one told them no.”

Blurr tilts his head and gets a little all turned around to see Swindle better with his right eye.

“But you... found a way to change that, didn't you?

Swindle rubs the bridge of his nose

“I have no power over my own superiors. But Onslaught and I have come up with a plan. Look. I'll put it in simple terms for you. Above me is my boss, and above him is another boss, and so on but at the very end of that chain are people from the government. The investors. So we figured out a way to cut through the chain of command and influence them directly. Make them worry about us. It's a kind of social shield. Onslaught is a genius.”

Blurr blinks.

“Why are you telling me all this.”

Swindle takes off his hat and just. Crumples it in his hands. The back of his head shows numerous scars and the glint of tiny metal implants barely visible behind his hair.

“You're that shield right now, Blurr. You can't leave.”

Blurr's eye widens

“Is that why you insisted on ‘befriending’ me with all those bullshitters?”

“I needed to make sure that in their minds we weren't just a military unit. To keep them thinking that we're as human as they are. So I gave Project Mecha a face.” He tugs on the hat again, “Your face.”

Blurr runs his fingers through his hair

“Shockwave can't do whatever he wants cause...because of me his efforts would risk going public and people wouldn't like it and it would ruin the reputation of our investors-and-they'd-cut-off-his-funding.”

Swindle puts his hat back on.

“Exactly.’ That's why he's being so persistent right now. He knows you're vulnerable and he wants to capitalize on the opportunity. Make you part of his new project and tell the world about it. Make publicity his weapon, too.”

The lamp above them flickers faintly. Blurr takes a breath. Long and tired and exhausted and. a bit doomed.

Swindle puts a hand on his shoulder.

“Please. Don't leave. At least not now. And don't let Shockwave get to you. That would open the way for him to get to the rest of the pilots you represent.”

They just. Sit in silence for a while. Blurr quickly taps a finger on his knee. A rapid tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap.

Swindle moves his hand away and gets up from his chair.

“There's a press conference coming up. I need you to be there. I've told everyone who needs to know that the problem is exaggerated and you're fine but they need to see you.”

Blurr smiles sourly.

“My lawyer is going to charge you such a handsome sum for that stunt.”

Swindle laughs, but his cardboard advertising smile doesn't reach his eyes.

“We’ll see about that. Seriously though. I need you there.”

Blurr bites his lip.

“I..don’t know...”

Swerve...doesn't know what to think of that.

Blurr shows up for the press conference. Late, but he makes it. Just as Shockwave is presenting his new project in his amazingly well-pitched voice. Blurr swings the door open and waltzes lazily inside, skillfully pretending not to notice the many cameras and eyes instantly directed at him.

Swerve, whose memory is still fresh thinks for a second that no, no this can't be the same person. Past Blurr looked like a wreck. Past Blurr was tense and tired and hunched over. Present Blurr couldn't look more alive. His shoulders are squared proudly, there's that cheerful springiness and grace in his stride. He moves with ease and confidence. Smoothly.

The left side of his face is neatly covered with fresh white bandages. Carefully, without leaving the even the slightest gap through which his injury could be seen. His hands are hidden under a fancy jacket. He smiles wide and bright and squints playfully toward the table.

The very embodiment of nonchalance. The few pilots sitting in the audience roll their eyes.

Swindle breathes out a barely perceptible sigh of relief. Swerve, once again using Swindle's collar as a tactical cover, can't help but let out a silent triumphant laugh. Maybe slightly more nervous than he is supposed to be.

Blurr sends Swindle a sly, sharp smile and even knowing it wasn't meant for him, Swerve feels his cheeks heat up.

Ah, damn it.

Swerve breaks the rules. He tells himself that peeking is fraught with consequences when it comes to military organizations, but he can't stop himself from being curious. And from worry, too.

And now that he knows where to look, he sees things he'd rather not see.

Blurr ... is crumbling.

Swerve doesn't know all the details and consequences, but that incident did leave a mark.

But every time Swindle calls him and says “I need you at some place in two hours” he gets up and assembles himself into a human being. Like a goddamn puzzle. Tapes and covers the burned half of his face. Covers up the bruises and hides the stitches. Fixes his hair and sets off on shaky legs to pretend he's fine.

He smiles so bright and carefree, laughs so sweet and beautiful that no one would ever think that even standing up sometimes hurts.

And continues to act like a jerk of course.

The only difference is that this time Swerve mentally gives him the presumption of innocence before he starts judging.

Blurr does a lot of things that seem rude. He also does a lot of things that are actually rude and figuring them out without resorting to alien superpowers would be nearly impossible.

When the pilots see Blurr sitting right on the table while negotiating with investors, they roll their eyes and make comments about his terrible manners. Or when he stops showing up for even the most basic, rudimentary training.

Or when he develops that stupid habit of leaning his elbows on people standing next to him.

It's the model behavior of a rich, spoiled brat.

It's also an inconspicuous way to stay upright.

Employees say “that dumbass has never heard of personal space.”

Investors say, “I think he likes me.”

Blurr leans on Swindle's shoulder and through a charming smile says “Don't move or I'm gonna fall.”

Swindle also keeping up the smile discreetly holds him back, pretending it's a friendly half hug.

Swerve feels like yelling at both of them, but he's not sure what for exactly. For one thing, Blurr in his condition is very VERY VERY contraindicated to even get out of bed, let alone participate in social activities.

On the other hand, without Blurr, everything is going down the pit.

Without Blurr, all the government sees are dry reports and spreadsheets. Without him, all the high command has is numbers and a sense of impunity. Swerve is sickened by how easily people tend to forget that numbers represent other people.

Most pilots are able to draw a parallel between deteriorating working conditions and Blurr's sudden fondness for staying home instead of working. But they think the rich jerk got scared and ran away. Considering the way Blurr has always behaved at work - Swerve can't even judge them too much for it. They assume Shockwave getting more freedom is the cause of Blurr's absence, not the result.

Blurr's influence only becomes noticeable when it slowly starts to fade away. It's like switching from expensive tea to a cheaper one. The awful flavor only becomes noticeable in contrast.

Blurr doesn't lead the development of new technologies or go out to fight in the field. He doesn't make plans and reports, he doesn't participate in drills, he doesn't cover anyone's back in battle.

But he's the one who puts his hand on the government's shoulders when they're about to sign the next piece of paper. He's the one they have to look in the eye before they have a pen in their hands and a document authorizing Shockwave to stick more needles in people's brains.

It makes a difference. Small one. But still.

It turns a disembodied imaginary “combat units” into a tangible person.

From “do you want to accelerate the combat training of new soldiers” to “are you willing to tell the living, breathing guy standing in front of you that shoving poison under his skin is an idea you approve of.”

More importantly (And Swerve actually admires Swindle for this) Will you be able to explain anything to your families later on, when this same guy is on TV all over the country saying that's what you did to him?

There have been two fronts here all this time, Swerve realizes.

While the pilots were protecting people from monsters wearing teeth and armor, Blurr was protecting the pilots themselves from monsters wearing ties and lab coats.

After another conference, Shockwave stops Blurr in the hallway.

“Good show.”

Blurr laughs. Soundly and proudly.

“Thanks darling~ Sorry I interrupted you. Your speech sounded like something important, but I don't really know much about nerd stuff.”

Swerve, hiding on the ceiling again, snorts.

Shockwave doesn't move. Doesn't give any indication at all if he's offended or upset or whatever.

“It must have been hard getting here with your injuries.”

Blurr shrugs and lazily turns his head around distracted.

“It's just a few bruises here and there. Not the end of the world.”

Shockwave nods slowly. His voice and posture and all, Swerve thinks, looking very uncomfortable.

“Of course it isn't. But hardly good for your career.”

Blurr freezes.

No, Swerve thinks. Shit. No, don't listen to him, don't listen to him, don't listen to him, don't

“Your brilliant achievements have always been a source of admiration to me” continues Shockwave “it would be a pity to lose them.”

Blurr makes an indifferent face and tucks his hands into his pockets.

“Like I said. Not the end of the world.”

Swerve imagines choking Shockwave. Dropping a lamp on his head. Maybe jumping on top of him himself. Shut up, he thinks. Shut up, shut up, stop fucking talking.

Shockwave with a nice, slow gesture pulls out a notebook from somewhere and flips a couple pages.

“Multiple burns, cracked ribs, poisoning from carbon monoxide and combustion products of toxic chemicals...”

Blurr visibly shivers and looks away.

“...loss of vision on one side...” Shockwave continues reading, ”and partial hearing loss. Finally, the impact of neural link malfunctions. And this, if I'm not mistaken, is on top of the already existing memory problems?”

Shockwave takes a step closer. Not fast enough to make it look threatening, but enough to hover.

“It may not be the end of the world, but it is the end of you.”

He writes a set of numbers on the same page, tears it off, and hands it to Blurr.

“You are broken. I can fix you.”

Blurr frowns, but takes the piece of paper.

“That fixing would involve giving you consent to mess around with my head, wouldn't it? It's brave of you to think I'd go for that.”

Shockwave tucks the notepad into his pocket.

“I can assure you, neither I nor anyone else is interested in your brain. I just want to give you back what you're truly valued for.”

Blurr flinches.

“I don't need your help.”

“ If you say so,” Shockwave agrees easily. Nods, slowly and smoothly. Then starts to walk away “But you do need your fame.”

...

“By the way, you might want to wipe the blood off.”

Blurr waits until Shockwave's back disappears around the corner, then quickly pulls a tissue from his pocket and brings it up to his nose.

____________________________

Swerve wakes up looking up at the ceiling of his room. The high, metal ceiling, of a metal room on a metal spaceship.

Holy shit...

Jazz pokes him gently on the forearm

“Are you alive? You've been gone for like quite a while...Did it work?”

“Hey Jazz” frowns Swerve “what do you know about Blurr?”

Jazz laughs

“What are you fanboying over him again? Still??? Dude's smug and arrogant. Good boss though. I was hired to perform at his parties before I became a pilot.”

Swerve sits up and rubs the back of his head.

“Ah...”

“So it worked?”

“Wha...ah! Yes! Yes, it worked! I managed to get the number and codes from the space bridge the Quints used on you. We just need to find another space bridge and we'll have a pretty much direct route to Earth...well. Or rather, to the Quint ship that's located near Earth. You get the idea.”

Jazz rubs his hands together happily.

“I'll take it.”

Swerve jumps to the floor and heads to grab an energon cube. Man, these holoform exercises are burning energy like crazy.

He stares at his metal hands like an idiot for a couple minutes. Just...Contemplates how non-human they are.

He has eight fingers again instead of the human ten. Huh.

Prowl downloads the information he's gotten and immediately runs off to plan a route to the nearest working space bridge and for a while Swerve is just.

Left to himself.

He tries not to think about Blurr. What would he even say to him? Hey, look, I'm sorry I accidentally set you up, see, I'm actually an alien who was sleepwalking and thought you were fictional, surely this won't affect our non-existent strictly professional working relationship? Nah, screw that. If he's going to sound crazy, he needs to at least come up with a good presentation for his insanity.

....

Is it weird to think humans are beautiful if you're not human? If you're kind of human, but only in your soul and only half human?

He looks at Jazz and Prowl.

“You two get along really well.”

Jazz chuckles, sitting on Prowl's shoulder.

“Right now, yes. But we got on each other's nerves quite a bit when we first met.”

Swerve looks up at Jazz's chattering legs from his height and thinks. This is working somehow.

On the other hand, Jazz is the exception rather than the rule. He's friendly with everyone, he's easy to get along with, he's the soul of any company and most importantly, he was a little too much into robots before he discovered they could be alive. If anyone could find common ground with the Cybertronians, it would definitely be Jazz.

_____________________

”Are you a ghost?”

Swerve shrieks in fear and gets covered in static. He hadn't planned on talking. He hadn't planned on being noticed at all. Blurr was supposed to be asleep! And Swerve just wanted to close the curtains and leave, because there's some noisy party going on outside and bright illuminations are very bad for a patient already suffering from neural connection withdrawal.

He freezes in place like that dude from Jurassic Park. Like if he's still enough, he won't be noticed. Oh, or was that from another movie?

“I'm just uh” he awkwardly reaches up and closes the curtains “Lights. Bad for...you...now.”

Blurr chuckles. It sounds suspiciously joyful. His whole posture and facial expression. He looks very relaxed for someone who had a ghost materialize into the room out of thin air.

Swerve traces the line of the IV with his gaze. Oops, that looks like painkillers.

“Yes I am. Uh. A ghost watching the curtains. And now the curtains are fine, so I guess I'd better go?”

Blurr squints amusedly.

“You can walk through walls?”

“Uh, I can teleport into the next room?”

He backs up his words by making himself disappear and reappear in another corner of the room.

“Cool!” says Blurr cheerfully.

Swerve is involuntarily infected by his mood and makes a couple dramatic bows as if he were some kind of magician.

“ Show me more?”

“Hehehe okay eh” Swerve spreads his arms like he's presenting something and then makes himself the size of a soda bottle and teleports to the edge of Blurr's bed “Ta daaaa~”

“Wooooo look at you, you're like an action figure~”

Blurr immediately makes an attempt to touch him, but fails to reach and drops his hand back on the blanket.

Swerve chuckles and steps closer. It's funny to see the usually incredibly agile Blurr struggling with something so simple and ridiculous.

“They really drugged you huh?”

“It's not the drugs” snorts Blurr ”...it's my eye.”

He raises his hand once more and hesitantly pulls it towards Swerve until it bumps into his hair

“... depths Per…percen.. ah, shit. I can't tell how far away things are.”

Swerve just. Lets Blurr fidget at himself, while starting to feel really bad at the same time.

"If you can't tell how far things are, how are you going to drive?

Race???”

He must have a plan right? Something? Let’s-prove-Shockwave-wrong tactic???

Blurr drops his hands back on the blanket

“I won't.”

He freezes when the all too close fireworks rumble outside the window. Then points to his head.

“With this. I can't drive, I can barely walk at all, and I look like horror movie material. Pathetic heeh.”

Swerve sits down quietly cross-legged on the blanket.

“Well...at least you're alive....”

Blurr shakes his head.

“If I had died, it would have been epic. You know? Dharm...dramatic! It would be big news and everyone would be talking about what a hero I was or...or something...”

“...”

“Swindle would be so angry, but he'd figure out a way to make money out of it. He'd make a commercial about how people should be heroes. I'd be remn..remembered for being cool and brave and stuff.”

Fireworks can be heard from the street again. Swerve notices that there is a thin slit between the closed curtains through which a slim, flickering strip of multicolored light streams into the room.

Blurr frowns and leans back against the pillow, looking up at the ceiling.

“I've turned into a boring wreck. My records will be beaten, my career forgotten , and all the guys from work will remember me as a brat. In a--in a--in a way, it's worse than death. Shockwave's right.”

Swerve isn't sure what exactly would be an acceptable gesture of comfort, so he kind of just. Places his hand on the blanket covering Blurr's lap.

“Hey, don't say that. I think what you're doing is great.”

“Liar” smiles Blurr crookedly ”You hated me. I saw your posters collection.”

Oh shit. The ones he ripped off the walls and destroyed in a fit of fan frustration? He didn't even hide them, just shoved them in the back corner. Aw, man...

Swerve folds his arms awkwardly across his chest.

“I can be mad at you and think you're cool at the same time. I'm a multitasker.”

“You're a very specific kind of ghost.” says Blurr. Then, apparently inspired by the painkillers, decides to drop the conversational equivalent of an atomic bomb on Swerve's head “You died because of me?”

Swerve stiffens.

“I...Wwhat?”

“You know.” he makes a gesture with his hand that's ..unclear what it's supposed to mean. “You were working there with everyone else, and then there was that fire and I was sure I saw you down there under the rubble.”

He's silent for a couple seconds before he hesitantly continues

“And then no one could find you so most assumed you either burned or ran away. And now you're here with all your weird ghost stuff, so you must be dead.”

Swerve has.No idea what to think about it. And what to say? He's been so busy blaming himself for Blurr getting hurt that it hasn't occurred to him to think about what it looks like from Blurr's own perspective.

“Actually” says Swerve ”I'm an alien.”

“Heh” giggles Blurr ”sorry, my head’s all cloudy, I thought you said you were an alien.”

Swerve wants to run around and bang his head against the wall.

Instead, he gets up from the hospital bed. Carefully.

“You're high. I'm not going to explain things to you while you're high, you won't understand or remember them. Go back to sleep. It's the middle of the night.”

“You'll tell me later?”

Swerve hums quietly and pulls the curtains all the way closed.

“If future, sober Blurr would want my company.”

---------------

Jazz looks at him. Very intensely.

“Are you going to tell me who this mystery person you keep coming back to Earth for?”

Swerve snorts.

“What makes you think it's anyone in particular?”

“You're right, you're right~” raises his hands in surrender Jazz “So are you going to tell your friend the whole thing?”

Swerve crosses his ..metal arms over his metal chest.

“Is it that big of a deal? He thinks I'm a ghost or something.”

Being a ghost...somehow better, he thinks. If you're a ghost, it kind of automatically implies you're human. Or was a human.

“Sooner or later, he'll put the facts together~” says Jazz in a chant.

Swerve laughs.

“That's unlikely. He's got a pretty bad memory.”

_______________

His plans to stay out of anyone's sight combust with a dramatic pop the next time he projects himself to Earth. He doesn't plan to interfere, he doesn't even plan to linger. He just wants to see what's going on.

He actually just quietly sneaks into the hospital to make sure nothing's happened to Blurr since last time, but when he finally finds him then...oh shit, is that Pharma in the same room with him??? This can't be good.

They don't speak, but Pharma has clearly locked his eyes on Blurr and starts making his way towards him with the relentlessness of a industrial metal press.

Swerve does some rough math in his head. If he briefly gives his holoform back its detail and voice, will that be enough to fry his processor? He's not sure.

Pharma gives a believable impression of a shark getting close. The staff, as if sensing something untoward is about to happen, leaves the room in a hurry.

Blurr looks indifferent, but Swerve's attention is drawn to the way he squints tensely. Man, the lamps are too bright in here.

Pharma smiles sweetly and reaches out for a handshake

“Mind some company?”

Swerve's mental processes fly out the window. Oh no no. Not Pharma. Not in his fucking fanfic. He quickly changes his work clothes into a slightly more business-like looking shirt. Thinks for just a moment and adds a cap to his head to blend in more strongly with the attendants and hide his face to an extent. And then projects himself around the nearest unoccupied corner and runs out of behind it looking as anxious as he feels.

“Blurr!!! Sir, there you are!!! I've been looking everywhere for you!”

Pharma wants to say something, but Swerve doesn't even let him start. He stands in front of Blurr separating him and Farma expressively waves his hands trying to keep his head down.

“The guys you were talking about didn't bring the new hydraulics! It's a disaster, we'll have to use the one on the old models!”

Blurr, to his surprise, backs up his act almost instantly

“Really? But I thought there was nothing to take from the old models?”

“That's exactly the point! I got the paperwork this morning and...oh those assholes are going to screw it up if you don't step in as soon as possible!”

Pharma tilts his head

“Can it wait? We were actually talking here!”

Oh no, thinks Swerve I'll show you who's talking.

“Sir, no offense but this is a matter of extreme urgency. Are you implying that the safety of your patients is not important?”

“What do you mea...”

“Old faulty hydraulics, that's what you want?” raises an eyebrow in horror Blurr.

“No I'm just...”

“I had a better opinion of you, to be honest.”

“I...” opens his mouth Pharma “...WHAT...?”

Swerve shakes his head.

“And I thought his profession was to help people, can you imagine?”

“Wh..”

Blurr rolls his eye.

“Any idiot can get an important position these days.”

“Wait..”

“Tell me about it. Especially doctors.”

Pharma looks like he's about to start pulling the hair out of his head.

“Can at least one of you shut up??”

Swerve adjusts his cap in a businesslike manner

“Sir, I understand you're a bit detached from reality spending so much time in your department, but you need to take better care of your reputation.”

He raises his eyebrows knowingly

“Wouldn't want the rumors about you to turn out to be true. You know what I mean?”

Pharma doesn't even answer anymore. Pharma just looks like a discarded fish.

“…..Wha....there's rumors?”

“Of course” shrugs Swerve ”Ask Norman, he usually knows everything about everyone. And about your interesting tricks with safety, too.”

He leans in conspiratorially, effectively pulling all of Farma's attention to himself

“So if I were you, I'd stay out of any more things you don't understand.”

Pharma wants to say something. Swerve can tell by the look in his eyes. Pharma tries to come up with a witty and context-appropriate response, but this whole conversation has no more context than a typical episode of Teletubbies.

“Where does this Norman guy work?” finally finds the ground beneath his feet Pharma

Swerve shrugs.

“Block C, if he hasn't been transferred yet. He's already been fined several times for spreading harmful information you know? The guy can't keep a secret.”

Pharma throws his hands up angrily and storms away. Probably looking for context. Or revenge.

A quiet cough sounds behind Swerve's back.

“So. Should I be worried about Norman's health?”

Swerve feels the hair on the back of his neck shiver and slowly turns to face Blurr while still looking somewhere on the floor.

“Uh...only if you're concerned about the fate of fictional characters. I made up Norman's wife, she'll be upset if he gets fired for gossiping.”

Blurr chuckles. Then goes silent. Then, after a couple seconds, starts laughing again. That's a good look for him, Swerve thinks. It's not like Blurr's usual velvet-smooth laugh that he uses at social events. It's more like a quick, jerky giggle, and in Swerve's subjective opinion, it's pretty damn cute. He can't help but grin.

Blurr snorts one last time, cutting off the laughter.

Then he reaches out his hand to him.

Swerve reaches back, expecting a handshake, but Blurr ignores his hand and instead goes for his cap and lifts it by the brim.

Swerve, not expecting this, freezes with his hand outstretched.

Blurr freezes as well, still holding the cap in his hand and looking...like he's rethinking his life. A little.

Ugh, and how to explain it all to him....

“Uh...you...uh...probably don't remember me. I...it's...”

Blurr shifts his gaze from Swerve to the cap in his hand. Then back to Swerve.

“You're real???”

Swerve awkwardly waves his hands in front of him

“Ah not.., not really. Do you know why Pharma was looking for you in the first place? He doesn't work with patients anymore, he's been reassigned to the research department, right?”

Blurr shrugs.

“Last time I saw him, he said I might have implant rejection in the third ..uh..what? stage? or something? I think he's trying to get me in for a checkup.”

Swerve twitches.

“Third??? How are you still standing???”

He then quickly reaches up with both hands to Blurr's head and tilts it so he can see his face better. Using one thumb, he pulls his lower eyelid slightly and mentally catalogs. Temperature normal, pupil normal, eyes are steady, no darkening or trace of blood on the eyelid. Implants? He puts both palms up and gently feels the places behind Blurr's ears. No signs of rejection or malfunction.

“No no no” sighs Swerve ”You're fine, it's only stage two. I mean, second sucks too, migraines and all, but you just need to rest and no bright lights and...” he finally notices his hands are still on Blurr's head and pulls them back as fast as if he's been burned ”I MEAN I'm uh...sorry, I didn't mean to, I...”

Blurr laughs quietly.

“I'm glad you're back.”

_____________________

He wakes up in his quarters and can feel his face burning.

When he goes out to get the energon, Jazz throws him a look.

“Is something wrong? You're all kinda...shaky.”

“Hhhhhhuuuuuuuuuuuu” imitates signs of life Swerve “Say, doesn't it bother you that Prowl isn't human?”

Jazz smiles

“ Oh, I went crazy when I found out. But we figured it out.”

“Like...on a scale from ‘bad grade in school’ to ‘an asteroid is coming to Earth’ how crazy was it?”

“Worried about what your human friends will think?”

Swerve swings back and forth on his heels

“Pfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff. Whatnooooo, no of course not. I'd be worried if I planned on telling them at all.”

Jazz frowns

“No offense, but keeping secrets isn't your strong suit.”

“Haha” Swerve waves his servo “ Watch me.”

[karaeilish]

౨ৎ wild mustang; b. eilish

౨ৎ military!billie x wife!reader ౨ৎ angst & fluff & smut ` ౨ৎ warnings; slight daddy kink, strap, oral, breeding kink, manhandling…???

⋆˙⟡ being a military wife is hard, especially when separation forces you to bring another man into your house ౨ৎ wc; 4,5k

one year, three months and two days.

that's how long it's been since you last saw your wife. when you last felt her gentle touch, saw her smile live, felt her skin under your fingertips. exactly one year, three months and two days ago, you woke up in the morning, finding your bed unusually cold and her side empty. too empty, as if she'd been gone for hours.

but that wasn't the main thing when you suddenly hear a quiet mooing in the next room. maternal instincts override curiosity and you slowly stand up, blindly searching for your house slippers with your feet. the cool air envelops your sleepy body and you shiver slightly, wishing you could go back to bed and let the warmth of the comforter warm you up again. but it doesn't matter as soon as you enter the nursery, noticing your five-month-old daughter lying in her crib, fidgeting excitedly.

taking your baby in your arms, you left a gentle kiss on her tiny forehead, and the girl smiled, proudly showing her two baby teeth. holding her against your chest, you finally got rid of the fog of sleep in your eyes, now intent on finding your wife.

the journey down the stairs to the first floor was silent, apart from the adorable yawns your daughter let out as she weakly grasped the strap of your nightie with her fingers.

looking around the house, you feel a strange emptiness in your chest that spreads like poison ivy through your body with each passing moment. as soon as your feet touch the floor, you swallow hard, taking a few more steps to lower your child onto the soft couch in the middle of the spacious living room. biting your lower lip, you glance around the space, which is filled with simple but harmonious furniture, some of which billie made herself. a faint smile tugs at the corners of your lips.

as you continue your wife's 'search' through the small house, you come across the kitchen table where you used to eat, noticing a small piece of paper. wrinkled, already scribbled with a pen; apparently one on which billye had already made notes earlier. your eyes narrow at the increasing paranoid thoughts that immediately fill your mind. you remember that you cleaned up the kitchen last night, and billye wouldn't have left trash on the table. she liked order in her house, where her family lived. you shallow.

as you unfold the note, you notice the small written text. billye's handwriting, only more sprawling, shaky, some of the letters unfinished. she was in a hurry, a great hurry, while writing this. and it didn't bode well, knowing her job and her superiors. knowing her dedication to her duty and her country. it was something no one could ever take away.

your eyes finally focus on the text. but you better damn well never read it, because your heart shatters into a million pieces as soon as you read the first few words.

“i'm sorry, my love. i don't know what happened. i don't know when i'll be back. kiss lily and tell her mommy loves her. i'm so sorry, i love you.”

your eyes ran over the lines dozens, hundreds of times until you finally realized what had happened; she’s not here. but what was scarier? how suddenly and spontaneously she left. had something terrible happened? was she in danger? would

she even be able to come home? the questions swarmed in your head, but none of them could be answered by you or the universe. none of them could, because you were a military wife. because she was involved in covert operations.

“gosh” you whisper to yourself as your thoughts dart from one corner of the room to the other. besides your wife, you have a daughter to worry about. or rather, you should worry about your daughter first, but it's so hard to even take a full breath right now, your chest clenched so tightly it feels like it's been pulled with thick barbed wire.

the seconds seemed like an eternity, until you were gripping the kitchen counter with your hand, trying to stay upright on woozy legs. your head was spinning, and so were your thoughts that you couldn't concentrate on any of them for more than half a second. the world seemed like an abyss into which you were about to fall until you saw her face again. her blue eyes, her plump lips. until you knew she was all right.

but now, when there's a baby lying a few feet away from you, your baby who is completely defenseless without you around him 24 hours a day, you realize that you shouldn't feel sorry for yourself. you have no right to. you knew who you were marrying when you said yes to billie, looking into her eyes with tenderness and promise. you promised that you could survive every moment of separation, no matter how long it lasted. no matter how many lonely days you had to fall asleep in a cold bed. she swore that she would come back. no matter what happened, she would come back to you. with a broken head, without a limb, covered in scars, but she would come back to you. you knew it, you always knew it, it's just that sometimes the waiting is exhausting, it ruins the hopes of coming back, the hopes of a happy life, but no waiting lasts forever.

a month ago lily turned one and a half years old. the little girl already speaks some words, understands basic requests, and with such sadness, like you, looks at the pictures of billye, standing on some shelves in your house, as if she really understands that her mother is not around for a long time, even if she barely remembers her.

but you don't consider yourself a single mother, not since the moment your close friend alex started helping you with lily. and no matter how skeptical you were at first, he really helped you, he was always there for you, supporting both you and your daughter. lily loved him, loved him very much, almost considered him daddy, but when she first called him that, you corrected her, explaining that alex was a friend, that she has a mom, she was just far away now. you didn't wanna think about the fact that billie might not come back and alex would really be your daughter's daddy. you loved him, appreciated him endlessly, and were always grateful to him, but he wasn't lily's parent, and he never would be, no matter how much he wanted to.

darkness creeps up quickly, and you both don't notice the sun hiding behind the horizon and the cool evening setting in. lily stops actively crawling, yawning, mostly staring at one point, or lazily trying to climb into your arms. her little head rests on your chest, her fingers grasping the edge of your silk robe.

"let me put her to bed. you're already tired" alex says quietly so as not to wake your daughter, who apparently passed out in your arms in a matter of minutes, and you, knowing that you are wildly exhausted, decide not to resist, carefully handing the girl into the man's arms. he tells you to go to sleep before disappearing to the second floor.

as soon as you were alone, your thoughts were once again filled with the one person you missed so sincerely and deeply. although you probably miss a very different billie. it's been a year and you've both changed a lot.

as luck would have it, you notice the only unwashed plate from dinner resting on the dining table. your perfectionism doesn't allow you to leave it until tomorrow morning, so you get up, dripping a few drops of detergent on the sponge and scrubbing the frozen mashed potatoes off the ceramic surface in a couple of minutes. you're not as tired, but you can still feel your eyes closing, deciding to go to bed as you'd been advised. until the unexpected ringing of the doorbell interrupts your plans. you sigh heavily, not realizing who could have been brought to your doorstep close to midnight.

without much enthusiasm, you open the front door, and your expression immediately changes and the blood drains from your cheeks. you see your wife in front of you. with a different hairstyle, a different build, a more tired face, but still with the same eyes, the same look. a downpour is roaring outside, and it has a strong effect on her clothes, which are now completely soaked, her hair, part of which was covered by her military cap, although her long curls were drenched. for the first seconds, which seemed like an eternity, you were silent, staring into each other's eyes, until billie finally dared to break the silence.

"can i come in?" she asked quietly, but you notice immediately that her voice has changed; colder, rougher, and hoarser probably from the number of times she's had to shout out her companions. you snap out of your daze, muttering an apology to yourself underneath before stepping aside and letting billie pass, then closing the door behind her.

big boots clang on the floor as she takes a few steps and places the heavy bag of belongings on the wooden floor. her gait has changed too; it has become heavier, weightier, her posture is perfect.

but as soon as she inhales the smell of her home, you can see her shoulders relax and a sigh of relief escapes her plump lips. you still stand by the doorway, looking at your wife with tears pinching your eyes. as if sensing this, billie finally turns around, looking at you, seemingly without a single emotion on her stern face.

"baby…" as soon as the word escapes her lips, you cover your face with your hands, trying to suppress the sobs sitting in your chest. you missed her so much, but now that she's a few meters away from you? you're still left with the same nasty feeling that you're thousands of light years apart.

you can hear how hard she's sighing. not out of annoyance, but out of fear. what if you pushed her away and told her to get the hell out of this house? she was afraid.

"please say something" she takes a hesitant step forward and you can feel her perfume, no, her cologne hit your nose. it was intoxicating.

the silence between you stretches for an eternity before you can speak.

"i thought i'd never see you again" you confess, finally removing your hands from your face to meet her intense gaze filled with longing, regret and melancholy. you didn't need to speak, you just read each other's eyes.

she moves closer to you again until she's close enough for your body to be caged between her body and the wall. a forgotten but so familiar warmth spreads through your veins, making your heart beat again, beat for her.

it's only now that you realize how much she's changed. her hair is cut short, but it still reaches to her shoulder blades. her body has grown larger, even in her military uniform you can see how tight the fabric is around her biceps in some places. the veins in her neck are more prominent, her freckles are clearly bigger, her palms are covered in calluses. you feel it when her hands gently touch your cheeks, gently holding your face.

"i'm so sorry, my love" her nose scratches yours in an affectionate touch, letting you feel each other's breaths on your lips. there was so much you wanted to say, but right now those words were enough to make you remember what it was like to feel loved and desired by a woman again.

"i wanna kiss you so badly" billie whispers as her lips hover millimeters from yours. "i beg you."

you give in forward, finally forcing your lips to touch in a languid long kiss. your hands travel up her body, first clutching her shoulders, then wrapping around her neck, scratching her scalp as you pull her head closer to you. her fingers clutching your waist move further to wrap their arms around your waist, tightly, forcing your body against hers. you let out a quiet whimper against her lips as your bodies sink into each other, being as close as seems impossible.

"god, i missed you so much," she moans against your lips, making you clutch harder into her hair. you're lost in each other until there's not a drop of oxygen left in your lungs. you try to pull away to take a single breath, but billie bites your bottom lip, not letting you move an inch away. when she said she missed you, she meant it; not a day, hour, or minute went by that she didn't think of you, or hum to her companions about what a wonderful wife she had. and she never forgot to mention that you gave her a daughter. the most beautiful, beautiful little girl.

"so you're like a milf?" one of the men suddenly asks billye, distracting her from ranting about you. she smiles, running her tongue over her white teeth. "yeah, i'm a mom" she says proudly, popping the last piece of saltless boiled beef into her mouth; it tasted lame, but she didn't have much choice.

"wife was pregnant? bet she's not that hot anymore" the other man's comment, although joking, billye never, absolutely never let anyone insult you in any form. "shut up, asshole, you're talking about my wife" she leans closer, a mischievous smile playing on her face "and man, she looks like an angel—no, like a goddess. every damn day" she made it clear to everyone without exception how proud she was to have you.

"billie…" her name coming off your lips in a way that made her feel like a moan was about to escape her throat. it was unbearable thinking about you every night, breathing heavily and dreaming of your touch as her hand snaked under the elastic band of her boxers.

as soon as your lips separate, you rest your cheek on her chest as her face burrows into the corner between your neck and shoulder. wet lips touch delicate skin, weightlessly at first, but then it transitions to a trail of kisses down from your jaw to your collarbones. billie's body immediately tenses as she hears a strange man calling your name in her house.

"uh—oh…" alex sighs as he catches the picture in front of him. you'd have to be a fool not to realize what's going on here.

billie frowns, removing her hands from your body to turn to face him, her back almost completely covering your more frail figure. her arms cross over her chest, and you can both notice alex's gaze lowering to her arms. to where her uniform is stretched tightly around her biceps.

"and who are you?" billie asks sternly, and you almost can't understand how she went from loving wife to company commander in a matter of seconds. sexy but amazing.

realizing that alex is a little scared, you step forward to introduce them to each other. "billie, this is alex. my… friend. he's helping me with lily—"

"helped" she snaps, and you both look at her in bewilderment. "what do you mean?" you ask quietly, trying not to stoke the fire further.

"he helped you with lily, and now.." she pauses, opening the front door and clearly showing the man that it's time for him to go home. "we don't need your help anymore."

your mouth opens in silent protest, your gaze running between an equally stunned alex and your obviously disgruntled wife. blinking a few times, you grab billye's hand, not hard, but you need her to pay attention to you "you can't kick him out! most of his stuff—" but billie doesn't listen, only boils harder.

"oh, you don't think i can kick him out?" the question sounds like a challenge, and you know better that she very well could kick him out of your house like a yard dog. your eyes narrow as you look at her, realizing that you have nothing to fight back so he can stay.

about a minute passes in silence between the three of you until alex coughs, realizing how much tension is in the air and that he is clearly interrupting something. and he was very reluctant to leave your house with billie's help.

"you know babe, i think i'm gonna go home" he calls you 'babe' on purpose, and before either of you can process it, he's lurking behind the threshold, closing the massive wooden door behind him on his own.

billie's mouth is ajar as she looks up at you. "baby? did he fucking call you baby?" and before her hand reaches for the doorknob, you intercept it, trying to pull her to you, but it's a harder task considering she's standing still like a goddamn rock. you swallow. not a single one of her muscles tensed.

"just leave him alone!" you have to raise your voice, just slightly, so as not to wake your daughter sleeping on the second floor. billie's fatigue is mixed with frustration and anger at the situation at hand, and she has no choice but to push you against the wall with one hand, causing your back to bang against the ceramic brick. not hard, but enough to assert her dominance at this point.

"let me get one thing straight, princess" she places her hands on either side of your head, enclosing you in a makeshift cage. not that you're trying very hard to get out. "you. are. mine" her voice drips with possessiveness, so sweet and long awaited, making your thighs press against each other slightly harder. "you're my wife, my woman, you're the mother of my child" her intense gaze never leaves your eyes, making your lips flush and your pupils dilate with arousal. the way she said those words with confidence and authority, fuck, it was too much for you and your poor pussy.

"and when i go back to my wife after a year of separation, baby, i don't want to hear a word against mine" and as manipulative as those words sound, you only nod slowly, causing a satisfied smile to slowly spread across her face. predator. "that's my good girl."

a whisper is heard right at your ear, and you let the first whimper slip through your lips. this is exactly what billie wanted. to see his sweet little wife again, looking at her like she was the whole world.

"fuck" she exhales heavily, not wasting another moment and lifting you in her arms as if you weigh nothing. your stomach collides with her shoulder as she takes a measured stride towards your bedroom, shamelessly groping your bare thighs. the silk robe and short pajama shorts didn't help in any way, only encouraging your wife to continue spreading her arms.

once you're on the second floor, billie's footsteps become slower and quieter so that the baby in the next room definitely won't hear how much her mommies missed each other. the thought of having to be quiet sent a wave of frustration through your body.

as soon as your back hits the soft mattress, you relax, letting billie hover over your body, leaving soft, then more passionate kisses until her teeth begin to embed themselves in your skin. dark trails blanket your neck and collarbones. you moan in quiet, sweet, unison. she from the bliss of your taste, you from the feel of her tongue on your pulse point. there was nothing you could ever miss.

"you're like a damn drug, baby" she mooed, moving to rid your body of the extra clothing. in a minute you were completely naked, completely for her hungry gaze while she was fully clothed. you embarrassedly tried to cover your breasts with your hands, but she immediately grabbed your wrists, pinning them above your head. her one hand was enough to hold both of yours. even if you did try to escape, you wouldn't stand a chance.

"don't make me tie this lovely body up, yeah mamas? you'll be my good girl, won't you?" your body wriggles, your hips rising desperately, wanting to feel even the slightest friction. billie sees it. of course she fucking does. her uniformed body moves closer to you until her knee presses against your bare pussy, which immediately drenches it with your arousal. you try to rub against her, but she lowers her hand, holding your thigh tightly. "answer the question, then you can ride my thigh like the desperate slut you are."

you whined again, again because of how sexy her voice dropped when she talked to you like that. as if you were her goddess and nothing more than a one-night stand. the way she skillfully did it made your legs shake in ecstasy.

"i'll be your good girl, i promise.." you whisper, swallowing hard, knowing she's waiting for the cherished word. "..daddy."

in that same second, your bodies flip so that you find yourself on all fours, supporting your weight on your elbows. billie steps back, starting to fumble through a box lying in the bottom drawer of the dresser. her hands work on the heavy belt buckle, then the zipper of her pants. she doesn't bother to pull down her boxers, attaching the strap right over the thin fabric.

"don't even need lube to stretch this cunt" you feel the tip of her cock graze over your ass, teasing. your arousal started to flow down the inside of your thighs, so she really didn't have to use anything else to slowly plunge the thick nine inches into your tight pussy. "so perfect around my cock."

waiting for your permission, she begins thrusting, slowly at first, watching her length disappear into you, then thrusting sharply into you until she establishes a steady fast rhythm, making sure that with each thrust she enters all the way that she reaches your cervix, causing you to lower your head and bite the sheets to at least somewhat contain the dirty sounds that fly off your lips.

"fuck, so noisy" her left hand goes up to your neck, squeezing and pulling back until your back arches perfectly for her, until you're fully seated on her lap, feeling her cock get in even deeper. her fingers are replaced by her hand, her biceps and brachialis muscle straining around your throat, leaving little room for oxygen to enter. "feel how deep i am, baby? gonna put another baby in you."

her hips moving at an inhuman pace, the headboard of the bed banging against the wall with each thrust. you really had no idea how much more a year in combat had worn down her body, making it steel. but right now all you had in your mind was her cock, buried as deep as it had ever been before.

"will you give me another baby, mama?" she asks, but the question seems rhetorical, given that your mind is completely blank. the way her hand presses against your thigh, leaving bruises under your fingertips. the way her lips hover over your ear, the way her grip on your neck tightens every time she tenses her bicep. it's made your smart head a dumb mess. "can you carry my baby in this perfect body again?"

tears run down your cheeks as you whimper something resembling a 'yes', clutching her hand tightly, resting your head on her shoulder, starting to bounce on her cock on your own as she clutches your body tightly, feeling every shudder. she always knows when you're close.

"come on, my love, cum for me. cum on this cock" her words act as a lever for your body and you unravel on her strap, making no extra sounds only thanks to her other hand covering your mouth as you shake hysterically, stunned by the intense orgasm.

billie slowly lowers you down, back on all fours, her chest pressed against your back as you feel her warm cum filling your pussy, dripping onto the crumpled sheets. your body already seems exhausted while your wife's energy still boils.

"lie on your back, mama, let me see that pretty pussy" she mumbles in your ear, pulling back and slowly pulling out, mesmerized by the way her cum leaks out of you. you move on the bed barely trusting your cotton-wool legs, slowly lowering yourself onto your back, immediately spreading your legs slightly, inviting her in. billie hesitates, positioning herself between your thighs, using both hands to spread them wider, shamelessly gazing at your swollen cunt, covered in her and your own arousal.

she dives in without another word, moaning hoarsely when she feels your sweet taste on her tongue again after all this time, ready to devour you like a starving woman. "fuck, so fucking perfect" she moozes into your flesh, sending electrifying vibrations that make you squirm on the bed, now covering your mouth with your own hand.

"i'd burn the whole world for that pussy, do you hear me?" she pulls back, replacing her tongue with her thumb, rubbing your sensitive clit in slow circles, but it's enough to make your legs shake and your hips rise in search of more friction.

billie bites her lower lip, lifting and pressing your knees against your chest to change the angle, watching your frowning eyebrows for a few more seconds before returning her mouth to your wet folds, licking greedily, plunging the tip into your tight hole, making you shriek, which only encouraged her to push it in deeper.

her tongue worked tirelessly, flattening out in time, circling around the sensitive bundle of nerves as her two fingers slipped into you, pumping at a natural pace as if they were designed to fuck that perfect pussy.

she pushed so deep, curling her thick fingers, hitting that sweet spot that made you see stars. she didn't ask — you didn't speak, coming on her tongue and hand with a strangled moan. her hips flew up, pushing her face further between your legs, and you couldn't hold back a whimper, realizing how sensitive you were right now.

"mm, just like that, that's my girl" she praises, crawling up to hover over your body and leave a deep kiss on your lips, letting. you taste your own release.

after a few seconds she rolls onto the bed next to you, not taking her lips off your neck. "i wanna see our daughter," her melodic voice is muffled against your skin, and you giggle, starting to replay the shared memories in your head until she interrupts them with another nibble on your pulse point.

"and then i wanna fuck that pretty pussy of yours again. and i'm gonna do it every goddamn day, my love."

౨ৎ tags; @billiesbabygirll, @amara-eilish, @st0nerlesb0, @bxllxebxtch mystiquemm, @bilswifee, @dragoneyelashart, @bilssturns, @chrissv4mp, @allyeilishh, @bitchesbrokenpromises, @too-sapphic-to-function, @thefeverburningalive, @peytonglazesbillieeilish, @1nn3rthOughts

[nonsscrapheap]

TFP: Universal Observations

YES YES HELLO I AM BACK!

so sorry for the delay! i was very busy irl, i had to move into a new place and things are still just settling here but i have FINALLY finished this next chapter of alien mecha! took longer than i thought but here we are!

another reason why it took so long is because this chapter OVERTOOK the last chapter's 6k+ word count... it is 11.8k long. so i really hope you guys enjoy this one!

ALSO! while this is DEFINITELY in the Aligned Continuity and based on the Transformers Prime show, i took more than a few liberties for their worldbuilding and lore. just to make things more fun for me and hopefully you guys.

anyway, here we go!

ACT I: Alien Mecha - II -

[ ----- TP : UO ----- ]

The Nemesis

After the… Actor? Universe? Thing? (After Lord Megatron got pissed at his own counterpart/actor for speaking uh, for disrespecting him. (Wow.)) And after that bot, the orange one- his name was… Ri-no, it was Rung? Rung, right, Rung. After Rung's one-sided conversation, which left all of them on edge, there was a moment of reprieve as the Autobots and their humans tried to figure out the sphere.

Observer.

Thing.

Breakdown had no idea what those guys were doing, and unfortunately, neither did Soundwave or Lord Megatron. It obviously grated on the warlord and even their communications officer, being unable to control the Observer as they wanted but there wasn't much they could do.

Anyway, while they were doing that, Lord Megatron had sought fit to move all of them to a meeting room with chairs so they didn't have to stand around and do nothing but gawk oin their pedes the entire time.

Now they get to sit around and gawk instead.

Not that Breakdown was complaining, it was just a little boring to just- watch whatever the frag was going on with the Autobots, humans, Observer while listening to the speculations from his fellow Decepticons.

Surprisingly Knock Out and Starscream were collaborating with Soundwave to figure out more of the Observer, at the start, mostly on Lord Megatron's orders but as they watched the Autobots somehow pull up blueprints of the Observer's inner mechanisms- well, Breakdown was lost when Starscream said something about 'alternate-universal planar' something, something.

The ex-wrecker had forgotten that Starscream wasn't just a vain second in command seeker, but had roots in science. Vaguely he remembered Knock Out mentioning that Starscream once went to an Iaconian Academy- impressive, really.

There wasn't much to do while the main processors were hashing slag out about the Observer but to passively listen and do a little vehicon management through some commlinks and such.

Sometime later, seemed like the Autobots were finally continuing as Soundwave, Knock Out and Starscream came to the conclusion that the Observer was capable of self-repair but needed to be in use to be able to do so.

Which meant watching more universes where things were weird and different.

Well, this was going to be fun.

Breakdown didn't even mean that much sarcasm, he was genuinely interested in what was going to happen. It wasn't everyday you get to watch other universes after all, sure, all of them so far were weird…

Decepticons acting chummy while the Autobots were actual menaces with con-like malice. Actors who were playing out their universe, fragging Unicr—

But honestly, it's more entertainment than Breakdown's had in a while on this hunk of rock. Reminded him of holovids and such, and he knows Knock Out is more than enjoying this since it also reminds him of the human media that they both tend to watch in private- some of them Breakdown doesn't really like but eh, they had their preferences.

( As an ex-wrecker he did like the demolition derbies and action movies, but only Knock Out would know that he had a soft spot for nice, well done romanctic movies and shows. )

[ KEY WORDS ; ALIEN MECHA ]

Alien Mecha?

He had to wonder just what was going on in the Autobot base, he knows the Observer was busted inside so the whole 'Key Words' input thing was probably fragged as well but seriously, just what led to those pair of words becoming literaly key words into looking in another universe?

And of course it starts weird.

Slow motion, edges frosted over, and a small human- a child, human equivalent to a sparkling- just standing there. Confusion was the first thing that came to mind as he watched things progress, before his plates bristled at the sight of an unknown creature standing so menacingly in front of the young human.

Look, humans were weird. Humans were weak, and squishy and he didn't have the best impressions of them especially because humans were the reason he lost a fragging optic. But as much as a Decepticon Breakdown was, he never approved of going after sparklings, regardless of creatures.

Even when he taunted Bulkhead over his female human pet, it was posturing and battle-focused taunting at best.

Also? He was with Knock Out, whatever the frag that was, it was hideous.

Imagine his surprise though, when he sees another human suddenly appear with a small metal stick of all things and bash the canine-like monster in the fragging face. Clearly terrified but mostly furiously protective over the young child, who Breakdown would learn was actually the much younger self of one of the Autobot's humans.

Arachnid apparently recognized her, muttering, "What a contrast, I had that woman cocooned helplessly yet here she is, trying to take on something beyond her size."

Breakdown hid a snort, Arachnid has never been around creators then. Organic or not, there was clearly something akin to the creator-protocols that demanded their young's safety overall. Breakdown watched curiously, only having seen such feats from humans in movies and shows, and though this felt like watching human media, this was undeniably real. Just set in another universe.

"Did I watch that right or did that tiny human manage to kill one of the- whatever the frag that was?" Breakdown asked aloud, in disbelief and slight awe at the sight of one of the monsters actually down despite the size-disparity and the clear danger that the monster was.

"She shoved her arm and weapon right through the mouth, unorthodox yet effective. Unfortunately not without its demerits." Huh, even Lord Megatron seemed impressed- just the tiniest bit, but that was saying something.

Carriers.

Breakdown never wanted to go against one, regardless of species.

Anyway, it turns out to be a dream. Or maybe a memory by the looks of things. The human, Jack, Breakdown was actually going to have to address the organics' names at this point since there were going to be other humans, wakes up then shortly after the other human, Raf, wakes up too.

Honestly the next few minutes are a bit boring, and he distantly hears Starscream grumbling over the fact they were watching the Autobot's humans. As much as he agreed a bit with the seeker, Knock Out's answer was the reality of things.

The Autobot humans were the ones in control here, so of course the Observer would focus on them. At least in the beginning, back in that other universe, the one with the blue-eyed Lord Megatron and malicious (yet hot) Optimus Prime, the focus had started out on the children before it drifted over to a Decepticon vs Autobot showdown.

Cut short because of—

"- My name is Rung -" Breakdown tried not to look at Soundwave, tried not to remember the other Prime cutting the mech's fa—

Give m—

Breakdown shuddered, shaking his helm and focused on the screen. The humans were walking now, down a hall and- wait a fragging minute. He recognized those uniforms! "Those're the humans that nabbed me and my optic!" He hissed, his glare at the screen shortly turned towards a chuckling spider-bot.

Finally Bulkhead's human comes unto screen, looking far different from usual- the pink of her hair was extremely faded, not to mention said hair was short. Weird. He could see Knock Out making a face at the faded human paint job, probably comparing it to his own paint job or something.

Then comes a name that no one expected— "SHOCKWAVE!?" Everyone exclaimed, even Soundwave! Although his exclamation, was of course, a recording of someone else shouting the cylcoptic mech's designation.

"What did happen to Shockwave?" Arachnid asked lowly, eyeing the way Lord Megatron glared at Starscream.

Breakdown shrugged, disgruntled at the question but not really blaming her for asking. She'd been out of the loop of the Decepticons for a while now. "Dunno, something about a bridge explosion back on Cybertron?"

"Or so Starscream says." Knock Out added in, smirking. "Who knows how reliable that information is."

Alarms blare from the screen, grabbing their attention again. Breakdown narrowed his optic at the 'callsign' being used, "Wrecker?" he couldn't help but mutter. Being an ex-Wrecker, hearing the callsign was definitely something.

Did Bulkhead consider his human charge to be part of the Wreckers? Did she think she was one of them? Hah! Breakdown wondered if this human, Miko, the other one on the screen, truly earned the callsign of Wrecker.

Whatever that meant in this universe anyway.

His amusement turned into a seething anger as he caught sight of him. Silas, on the screen. Looking not too different from the counterpart he'd met not so long ago. "That puny little— next time I see him, I'll smash him to bits!" He snarled, still not over his missing optic.

Arachnid laughed, sneering at him, "Do you need a hand with that, Breakdown? Or sorry, an optic?" Breakdown bristled, threatening to stand up if it weren't for Knock Out holding his arm and soon enough-

"Enough! Both of you, silence!" Lord Megatron commanded, glaring at the bristling cons who were quick to back down.

"Yes, Lord Megatron." He and Arachnid muttered reluctantly, though Breakdown didn't stop glaring at the bemused spiderbot. Damned Arachnid…

Wait a klik, that was Shockwave?! That human was Shockwave?!

"What the slag?!" "That's Shockwave?!"

There was a sound of a click among the voices, Breakdown glancing over to see Soundwave taking a picture of the humanoid Shockwave.

"Other universe people!" Knock Out exclaimed, reminding them of what was happening. "Remember, this is another universe! We don't know what's in store for any and every universe, safe to say this universe's Shockwave is human! In fact, maybe we're all human."

"Insidious." Starscream hissed, dramatically shuddering at the sheer possibility of such a thing.

"Well, at least Shockwave's… human? Self? Fits the mech. Can't really imagine myself as one." Breakdown grunted but sent a smile to his conjunx. "You'd look great as one though."

Knock Out preened, "Naturally."

They watched as the universe continued- they'd been too focused on the surprising appearance of Human Shockwave to notice the bodies- no, the mecha in the room. Watching in stunned silence as the three humans were lifted to their respective robotic… suits??

"… Okay, I think I know where this is going." Knock Out deadpanned, hiding how uncomfortable he was at seeing the mecha. It was uncanny really, how Cybertronian-like they were yet weren't. Each one reminded Breakdown of bots who underwent empurata… Thinking about it, that human Shockwave was wearing a mask, they didn't see his face. Did he suffer a face-injury? Did the humans have empurata there??

He really hoped not. Cybertronian empurata was bad enough, he'd rather not think of humans doing that to their own kind- too organic and squishy for Breakdown's tanks. Ugh.

They watched the humans 'clock in' as they said, stunned to see each human having to plug into their mecha via wires to neck port. Breakdown can't recall the last time someone had that type of mod installed- Breakdown may have above average medical knowledge thanks to being Knock Out's assistance but even he couldn't think of any procedure or reason for anyone to have ports on their necks like those humans.

Lord Megatron made a noise of intruige, "If only Shockwave was here, perhaps he could give some insight of what's happening." Starscream wilted over the pointed, displeased look the warlord leader gave him. "Even though his counterpart is human there, I'd imagine he would've had an inkling to his counterpart's thought process regardless… It's truly a shame that he died on Cybertron."

"Hahaha… i-indeed..."

Starscream seemed so nervous, enough that Breakdown had to wonder if the emotionless scientist was dead… Then again, Breakdown couldn't really care less? Shockwave was terrifying, even to the average Decepticon.

"Cortical Psychic Patch?!" Lord Megatron hissed the moment it was mentioned, soon afterwards the screen paused- the Autobots no doubt pausing because of its mention. And remembering the last time that thing was in use; the Autobot scout that once housed Lord Megatron's mind while the warlord's body was in a coma. Hand't that been a wild thing to learn about?

"Could a human recreate cybertronian technology like that?" Breakdown asked Knock Out, though surprisingly it was Starscream who answered.

"Technically, it isn't cybertronian technology- not in that universe. It's human, though Shockwave's involvement isn't a surprise. He did create it here, although now I'm curious as to what is going to be subjected to a patch-link." The seeker muttered, squinting at the screen, "These humans have mentioned these 'XTRs' multiple times already, perhaps that? That would beg the question as to what they are and if they're capable of patch-linking with a cortical psychic patch in the first place…"

"The monster from the start." Arachnid hummed, clearly more interested in the viewing now than earlier. "The one that almost attacked young Jack and no doubt, killed Jack's mother… what was her name again? Ah, no matter. Perhaps those are the XTRs."

"Big robot bodies for such small things." Knock Out pointed out dryly, seeing the disparity between the hound-like creature that was, sure, bigger than most humans but that other human's mecha, Raf? Senscript? That was surely big enough to deal with those…

So why build bigger ones like Ja-Tailbreaker and M-Wrecker's mecha?

The answer would come as the screen suddenly played, the Autobots no doubt wanting to know just as much as they did.

[ A series of clicks and deep beeps, mostly unintelligable even by Cybertronian standards was heard as the scene shifts to a rocky terrain. It wasn't exactly a natural type of rock as something was attempting to bore into the side of a gigantic clifface. Sharp, curved spade-like claws dug at the thick rock, connected to heavy muscled and plated limbs from lumbering giants that had comparatively smaller heads that had no mouths, just slitted eyes that held no intellgence whatsoever.

Around them, a small group of familiar hound-like creatures patrolled alongside a bigger group of gigantic, even somehow more monstrous versions of themselves. A group of heavily muscled and plated humanoid soldiers stood by guarding a smaller, in comparison, creature that seemed just as techno-organic as the rest of them. However, instead of being humanoid, it wasn't as such- it had crab-like claws on one set of large tentacles, smaller ones lining its sides with six insectoid-like legs supporting its weight. Its head was oval-shaped, bulging out of its oblong body with two-faces on its front and back. ]

( "Children, pause the screen right now!" Nearly everyone in the base jumped at the commanding and severe tone the Prime said.)

The screen paused just as Lord Megatron began to swear. Heavily.

"Of course. Of course, that's why that creature looked familiar at the start." Megatron hissed, glaring at the screen with caution that had everyone in the room instantly on edge.

"An explanation would be appreciated, Lord Megatron." Arachnid said dryly, though she was just as tense as the rest of them were.

The silver ex-gladiator invented sharply, "… What you see on the screen, that thing with two faceplates, half-organic, half-cybernetic… That is a Quintesson." He doesn't even wait a moment, doesn't glance over to their confused expressions as he continues. "Not many cybertronians would recognize it of course, it's an old, old race. From even beyond the Golden Age of Cybertron. During the age of the Thirteen Primes and its tribal era, not long after Unicron's downfall, shortly after a new generation of our people were just beginning to crawl out of hotspots, a cyber-organic race found our planet and introduced us to the stars… Only to try and take us to said stars in chains and boxes."

"The Quintessons had came to Cybertron looking for fodder, servants, slaves. Unfortunately for them, the Thirteen Primes were still in the apex of their rule, of course they weren't going to let our ancestors get taken and enslaved by such creatures like that. So they retaliated, and wiped out the Quintessons once and for all. The invasion was short-lived, so short-lived the records of the Quintessons were sparse and few, and the knowledge was deemed unnecessary in regular historic education."

"And yet you know of it." Starscream states, for once sounding genuinely curious.

Lord Megatron's optics didn't stray from the screen, narrows and trained on the now-identified 'Quintesson'. "… I had a contact who worked in the Iacon Hall of Records, an archivist that shared what he deemed as 'interesting' material to me back before the war." He replied in a stiff yet oddly quiet tone.

Knock Out frowned, about to open his intake when Soundwave shifted, a series of glyphs and pictures going over his visor before transferring it to a nearby screen within the room for a better look. Right, Breakdown forgot that they had access to the Iacon Hall of Records- most of it was encrypted of course, the important stuff.

But the information, or what little there was, about the Quintessons hadn't been deemed important enough to encrypt fully. Breakdown squinted at the file. There wasn't an actual photo of Quintessons, just old sketches and drawings that depicted a similar looking creature to the one on the screen right now.

"Astute as ever, Soundwave." Megatron complimented, finally looking away from the Observer's screen. "Although not a one-hundred percent accurate depiction, the similarities speak for themselves… They even tell of beasts that the Quintessons attempted to use to subdue cybertronians of old." A screen blinked, depicting a hound-like creature that was indeed, very similar to the one that had attacked Tailbreaker's human carrier at the very beginning and the creatures they could see right now.

"By the looks of it, the Quintessons weren't wiped to extinction in this universe, or perhaps they never attacked Cybertron- if it even exists there considering Shockwave's current… species." Arachnid theorized with a grimace, she didn't like the idea of being a human. None of them did.

Well, most of them.

The ones who didn't mind would never voice it aloud though.

( "So we're fighting actual alien enslavers and stuff? Sounds like a pretty good reason to build giant robots for ourselves and kick their afts!"

"Miko! This is serious! You heard Optimus, the Thirteen Primes had to wipe out the Quintessons and they were like- demi-gods or something, We aren't them, Earth is in serious, serious danger there!"

"You don't know that! I mean like, ugh- I know this is serious and dangerous, but we got this! Humanity isn't going to roll over and let those- crab-like things take over the Earth! By the looks of things, we're pretty experienced in kicking Quint-butt! C'mon just- let's watch it! You'll see, we are going to be awesome here, I just know it."

"Miko—"

"Jack, Miko's right- in that, we should probably keep watching. We do seem like we know what we're doing, and, uh, we do need to keep watching to repair the Observer… So, continue!"

A worried Prime quietly speaks with his old medic-friend before going silent as the screen continues to play. )

[ Hidden on an outcropping far above and away, Senscript hunkered down, spying on the group through his cameras. "Found them, sending coordinates and assessing troops… Hound units, scouts and K9s, six groups, two scouts for every K9. Soldier units, class 6 and 7, three of each in pairs circling the Commander." Senscript reported dutifully before frowning, "New XTR identified, unnamed and unclassified. Size comparible to a class 8, looks like a tank but doesnt have the proper armor or equipment, two of them, digging into the cliff… They're looking for something." ]

On one of the screens of the Nemesis, Soundwave was writing down information- XTR, K9, hound units, soldier units, class 6-8. As expected from the communications and information gathering officer and Lord Megatron's third-in-command.

Even had the whole thing alphabetized with accompanied pictures from the screen. Meticulous as ever.

[ Silas' voice came through comms. .: Any additional forces hidden among the ranks? :.

"Searching now…" Senscript replied, tensing in his chair as his mech froze in place. The back of his mech's head began to open, like a flower blooming, it reached all the way to the base of his mech's head as the sensitive sensory panels glowed dimly.

A wave of information and data flew across Senscript's mind and screens, not just there, but across the screens of MECH's main base as well as Tailbreaker and Wrecker's screens as Senscript transmitted the data.

In the shadows of the clifface, an outline of several invisible things were perched against the rocks. Hundreds of them. "Confirmed; swarm type 3 hidden within the area. Numbering to the hundreds but not surpassing two hundred." ]

Breakdown tilted his helm when the back of Senscript's head, the mech's head just- opened. It looked very familiar. "That's a sensory crown, huh, humans built that too? Freaky." He muttered aloud, continuing when he saw Knock Out's questioning look. "Had a couple of miner friends back before the war, lotsa' them had one of those. Helps them sense through the mines for energon and minerals and slag."

He was surprised to see Lord Megatron glance over to him, faceplate unusually tense yet thoughtful, considering. He didn't get why before his processor provided him a clip of a memory from earlier on—

"That's not the gladiator of Kaon! That's not the Decepticon Warlord who waged war for millions of years against Optimus Prime! That's definitely not the revolutionary who wanted to break free from his masters in his backstory back when he was a miner!" 

Oh slag, hadn't that actor guy said- had Lord Megatron really been a miner? Breakdown hadn't known that. So did that mean…

Breakdown's optic quickly glanced away when he realized that he was staring at the back of Megatron's helm with too much curiosity, the warning look his leader gave him was enough to remind him that he only had one optic left and he'd rather keep it that way.

Meanwhile, Lord Megatron could almost feel his own sensory crown twitch underneath his helm. It wasn't possible though, considering it was offline, he rarely used it anymore… seeing this human, this child that he had nearly killed in an offshoot future regardless of fictionality, ( his counterpart dared to call him disappointing?! ), seeing Senscript's unsettling human-made mech reveal his sensory crown…

It was unnerving.

It reminded him of memories he'd left behind eons ago.

( And elsewhere, a Prime remembers but keeps silent, glancing at the youngest human in the room before continuing to watch the screen. A medic explains to a curious boy about it instead, which leads to an epiphany.

"Oh! I think that is why my other self is so hypersensitive to light and sound!"

The medic pauses and worries. )

[ .: Ugh, swarms. :. Came Wrecker's reply, though it was quiet and swept aside for Shockwave's voice instead.

.: Mission parameters unchanged, deal with the rest of the XTRs and subdue the commander. Leave nothing else alive, test the cortical link and extract whatever data and information you can get from its processors. :.

.: Confirmed, engaging shortly. :. Tailbreaker replied, .: Wrecker focus on the Soldier units, I'll deal with the Hounds, when the swarm hits—:.

.: We wreck 'n ruin! :. Wrecker grinned ferally. ]

Breakdown couldn't help but mirror the grin- what can he say? He may be an ex-Wrecker, but the familiar phrase was pretty much etched into his spark. He was a Wrecker through and through.

And, okay, he can see why Bulkhead was so attached to the pink-haired fleshling if this was what she usually was. Pits, he can see his alternate being attached to her for good reason in that weird universe where Opti- uh, where Lord Megatron had blue optics. Yeah. That universe.

Maybe the little squirt was Wrecker material after all.

Just maybe.

( A girl cheered with her guardian, the green Wrecker practically preening and puffing his chestplates proudly at the phrase being used. )

[ Tailbreaker snorted, .: Not my style Wrecker, but sure. Senscript, you'll provide long-range support, keep us posted and keep your distance. Remember the mission. Things get dicey, fall back. :.

Senscript nodded, sensory crown closing once more. "Copy that." ]

Breakdown frowned.

The plan's basic, simple. But sometimes that's all you really need for a mission, however there was still the problem that the three humans, pilots? Were vastly outnumbered compared to the Quintessons. MECH had sent only three of them against what was essentially a large company of soldiers- regardless of classification.

That usually meant two things; they were overconfident and were being stupid. Or their confidence was justified.

Breakdown, biased as he was against humans, especially MECH, wanted the former to be true. But with how things were looking… might be the latter.

He kept a sharp optic on the screen, time to see for himself on which it was.

[ The screen shifted to the pair of digging XTRs, the commander was right behind them, barking orders with clear authority and a certain level of urgency. ]

"Just what could they possibly be looking for?" Knock Out couldn't help but ask aloud, squinting at the screen.

“Whatever it is, it seems important. Enough to require heavy enough protection yet discretion.” Starscream muttered with a critical optic, scheming as he was, there was a reason why Starscream was Second-In-Command, other than for Lord Megatron to keep an optic on him anyway. The Seeker was actually quite the tactician, especially in the air. "Is that their language? I don't suppose there's a possible translation lexicon or program somewhere in the Iacon Archive database for it? Uh, Lord Megatron."

Quintesson language sounded weird, even to them. It was both mechanical yet completely organic- a contradiction that seemed to fit the cyber-organic species that were more organic than cybernetic. Trying to understand it by audial went something akin to— { Exclamation - Negative - Positive - Urgency - Exclamation }, or something like that, which meant… nothing really understandable? To Breakdown at least.

For once, Lord Megatron didn't give Starscream his usual sneer- just a thoughtful expression as he looked over to Soundwave. The silent mech was still for a moment before an 'X' symbol made itself known on his screen. "Shame, although perhaps the screen will show us a way to translate the Quintesson language. Keep note Soundwave, and attempt to translate yourself if possible."

There was the tiniest nod, honestly Breakdown can't believe the amount of work that Soundwave accepted on Lord Megatron's orders. Wasn't he already cataloging the Quintessons, attempting to find the Autobots base based on whatever transmission connection the Observer had and stuff?

Soundwave was scarily good at multitasking.

[ One unit of Hounds were patrolling nearby, the scouts- the larger, more monstrous versions of K9s, sniffed at the air while their smaller counterparts were sniffing the ground.

Suddenly, both sets of grotesque alien dog creatures froze before growling lowly in warning, muzzles splitting open as if to alert the rest of the XTRs- but it was a little too late for that as—

BOOM

The ground shook when the massive form of Wrecker collided hard against the nearest Soldier Unit with a thick, bone-shattering, metal-denting sound. Tailbreaker was right behind her, bladed arms digging into the sides of the Hound unit that had almost alerted the rest of the XTRs just a few seconds sooner.

Not that it mattered as immediately Wrecker and Tailbreaker started to carve their way towards the commander who shrieked and shrilled at the sight of them. ]

"Woah."

The word spilled unconsciously from his intake as Breakdown watched both false-cybertronians essentially slaughter through the pack of Quintesson soldiers and scouts. For being such big, mechanical human-made machines- they were far more fluid than Breakdown had expected them to be.

Especially because they were, unfortunately, much bigger in size. Lord Megatron (and Optimus Prime maybe) was the size of Tailbreaker here from Breakdown's estimations, while Wrecker was heads taller.

However from the looks of it, there was a very good reason as to why they had to be bigger- the Quintessons were huge now that they were on the same screen as the piloted machinery, mostly towered over even Wrecker.

For being human-made, unsettlingly cybertronian-like mecha, they were functioning pretty much flawlessly as Quintesson killing machines.

Which was the entire point, Breakdown realizes as he watches with intrigued yet somewhat disgusted optics when Tailbreaker lived up to his designation when he grabbed the spiked tails of the large Hound units and broke it- tearing the sharpened tail off of a dead Hound just to accurately throw the spikes at the snarling smaller K9s that threatened his pedes.

"Ugh, I think I'm going to be sick." Starscream gagged at the sight and sound of organic flesh and bone breaking and tearing, disgust clear on his faceplate yet like the rest of them, he couldn't take his optics off of the horrifyingly compelling sight of the humans in empurata-like false-cybertronian bodies going against the Quintessons who were definitely more organic than expected.

If Breakdown hadn't been used to the sound of organic flesh being broken and torn apart from the human media that Knock Out had forced him to watch in secret, his tanks would've been roiling like Starscream's. Knock Out himself was only mildly disgusted, the look in his optic told Breakdown he was watching with a medical-intent of fascination, taking in what little Quintesson biology he could see and guess in his processor on what the insides of the cyber-organic creatures were like.

Only Lord Megatron, Arachnid and Soundwave didn't seem as disgusted, looking far more fascinated instead- with the exception of Soundwave for obvious reasons.

"Impressive, the humans must have been attacked by the Quintessons long enough to create adequate weaponry to counterattack. These… mecha, are all essentially war weaponry, Quintesson killing machines." Arachnid commented, chuckling when Wrecker started wrestling with a large Quintesson soldier only to lift the thing and slam it into another.

"Indeed." Lord Megatron agreed, optics narrowed with clear interest- it wasn't a one-sided battle, both Tailbreaker and Wrecker suffered hits and such, but their mecha were certainly made with tougher material that they had expected coming from the planet they were on. And by the looks of things, the young humans piloting them were very experienced in combat against the alien threat.

( Among the three humans, only one of them can watch with glee and minimal disgust, cheering on her alternate self while the her friends struggled to watch the carnage- cool as it was, it was far too graphic for their tastes. Still, for the eldest among them, it was cool to see himself piloting a giant robot and fighting aliens.

The Autobots on the other hand were disturbed and somewhat disgusted but were far too used to war to be truly affected by the carnage… however the fact that these were the alternate versions of their charges fighting head on, it made them worry.

A certain scout did try to shield his charge's view of the screen, but the young boy protested heavily, insisting he could handle it much to the chagrin of the others. )

[ The scene returns to Senscript, who was watching nearby, still hidden among the boulders atop the lower cliffsides. His mecha's sensory crown was revealed once more, data flying across his screens and mind as the XTRs numbers dwindled- though it was clear he was still keeping an eye on his teammates and the hidden swarm.

"Wrecker, four o'clock- Soldier unit heading towards Tailbreaker. Swarm activity rising, brace for it!"Senscript warned, the silhouettes of the hidden XTRs beginning to move, carapaces and plates shifting to reveal fast-flapping insect wings. "Commander seems urgent, but it's not retreating, whatever's buried in the cliff- it's not leaving without it!"

The intelligent XTR was barking order after order, urging its digging subordinates to dig faster into the rocky wall. Discretion was no longer an option, nor was stealth. ]

"I've asked this before, but what the frag are they looking for? What's so important that they're willing to risk it all just to uncover whatever's in the cliff?" Knock Out frowned.

"Must be something useful, powerful." Arachnid theorized, helm tilting with interest as the swarm began to ripple in and out of regular sight.

[ "Swarm activity; rising!"

.: Make sure the commander can't call in reinforcements. :. Shockwave commanded, .: Activate Signal Blockers. :.

"That's going to block everything other than local comm systems, are you sure about that?" Senscript asked a bit worriedly.

.: We cannot risk escalating the situation beyond what it is, having a commander on field with such little protection is a rarity, we can NOT let it call in reinforcements. Prioritize testing the Cortical Psychic Patch and scavanging data from its processors. Wrecker and Tailbreaker, remember your orders and ensure the commander is subdued and Senscript is safely able to extract information from it. I will not tolerate failure. :. Silas interjected, .: Deactivate the Blockers only after you've tested the link and extracted data. Is that understood?! :.

.: Yes sir. :. Tailbreaker replied tersely.

Wrecker snorted, .: Loud and clear. :.

Senscript noticed the swarm's movement and immediately began to pull some levers and activate some programs from his mecha. "Swarm incoming! Activating Signal Blockers!" Two antennae slid out at the side of his head, right before the edge of the sensory crown, sparking with power as Shockwave and Silas' voices disappeared from the communication line he, Wrecker and Tailbreaker were in.

.: Wrecker! :.

.: I know! Senscript, block shit out- I'm getting out the big guns! :. ]

Breakdown had wondered if the humans had weaponry installed in those gigantic suits of theirs- so far they'd done nothing but basic servo-to-servo combat. Which was admittedly already impressive enough.

But then the large servos of Wrecker's mecha shifted alongside the shoulder pads- not by much, thick plating shifting back to reveal strange circular indents- subwoofers? Meanwhile, the arms of Tailbreaker's mecha shifted to let out sharp serrated blades that reminded Breakdown slightly of the Autobot femme's weaponry.

Arachnid was thinking the same thing, looking at the blades with interest and annoyance. Because of course Jack's counterpart's mecha would have weaponry resembling Arcee's own blades. They were longer and serrated at the end though.

( A femme scout smirked, commenting on Tailbreaker's weaponry, saying it was a good choice. Her human partner grinned in turn. Meanwhile a certain teenage wrecker hollered at the subwoofers, suspecting what was to come. )

[ .: WRECK 'N RUUUUUUUIN! :. Wrecker screamed with excitement as the subwoofers of her mecha let out a deep, frame-shaking noise towards the majority of the swarm that flew towards her and Tailbreaker. Tailbreaker positioned himself right behind Wrecker, wincing in his cockpit at the noise, adjusting his auditory sensors and trying to brace from the ridiculously effective sonic weapon.

Senscript had hastily retracted his sensory crown, but left the Signal Blocking antenna out. Even with his sensors fully blocked out, he flinched in his cockpit, pressing his hands against his helm.

The swarm faltered, blown back by the sonic wave that messed with their senses. Some even beginning to smoke and fall from the air. They, along with the other units, the Soldiers and Hounds, were temporarily stunned from the auditory attack.

Which was all Tailbreaker needed to start his own attack. ]

Alright, so the human girl was definitely Wrecker material. He could see how she got her callsign, but it was another thing to see if she deserved to keep it. Sonic attacks weren't exactly common among Wreckers- though he does know of a mech who did that. Blaster… Never knew the mech personally, he had joined after Breakdown had left the Wreckers, but they did fight on a few battlefields.

"Hm, reminds me of an old weapon my scientists created- what was it again…" Lord Megatron said aloud, turning when Soundwave let out a ping, showing a picture of a weapon on his visor. "Ah yes, the resonance blaster. It was a fine piece of weaponry… unfortunately it got stolen by the Autobots and locked away in the Iacon Vaults."

"There are similarities, however so far it's not on par with its capacity and power. The only commonality is that its a sonic weapon." Starscream muttered, unimpressed with the screen. "With the actual blaster, that swarm wouldn't have stand a chance."

"You know of it, Starscream?"

The seeker bristled at the condescending question from the arachnoid con, "Of course I did! I oversaw its creation!"

"As well as oversaw as one of the ones who lost it and the blueprints to the Autobots." Starscream's intake shut firmly, torn between withering underneath Lord Megatron's sneer or indignantly glaring back. Self preservation won out and the seeker grumbled silently in his seat.

"Hm, to think that humans could create such suits with that much fluidity and motion. You'd be hardpressed to see even some average cybertronians move in such way." Knock Out commented, watching with interest as Tailbreaker weaved, slashed and hacked his way through the swarm. Targeting not only the insects but the stray Hound or Soldier in his way. His suit was almost elegant in its movement, "No doubt, Shockwave, human as he is in that world, had a hand as to why and how. But still, it's impressive."

( A pink-haired girl whooped and cheered at the sight of her and her friend absolutely wrecking the swarm and the Quintessons. Shaking the older teen besides her as his other swiftly moved through the swarm like a living blender almost. )

[ Wrecker's subwoofer weapons stopped, the young woman taking a deep breath as her screen showed that the wave had been set to 45% output damage and that the integrity of her mecha suit was now at 80% with fuel just at 78%.

She looked through the cameras of her mecha to see Tailbreaker slicing through groups of the swarm. Dodging soldiers attempting to attack him and even using a Hound to launch himself up into the air to get to the higher flying XTRs.

Her attention shifted back to the commander, who was snarling, tentacles whipping around it but was unable to do anything but bark more orders- this time at the unknown digging XTRs. One of them halted from its task of digging into the wall, joining the rest of the living Soldiers and Hounds, pointing right at her with a clawed tentacle.

"Oh you want a piece of this huh? COME GET IT FUCKERS!" She cackled, adjusting her output to 52%, aiming all of it into her mecha's hands which slammed into the floor as the XTRs rushed towards her. The ground shook, cracking underneath the sound of the deep bass sound, the vibrations moving the very earth underneath her hands, making them stumble in place. ]

Breakdown had to wince at the deep sound those subwoofers made- though it seemed like it was mostly muffled through the screen compared to the damage it was actually making. So it looked like that despite using sonic weaponry, their audials weren't being blown up so thank frag for that.

And it looked like her subwoofers were adjustable. He had to wonder what it would look like if she cranked it all the way up to 100. Probably nothing good.

( Continuous cheering, a green-painted Wrecker watched on with pride. Grinning and cheering alongside his charge. )

[ Wrecker quickly stood her mecha up as fast as it could, which wasn't as fast as Tailbreaker but with the XTRs trying to regain balance- it was enough. She joined into the fray, going back to hand-to-hand combat in dealing with the XTR but this time with the occasional sonic attack from the subwoofers in the palms of her hands and her shoulders. Occasionally letting out a big sonic attack against what was left of the swarm which had dropped from its two hundreds to less than even one hundred.

Tailbreaker was swiftly dealing with the rest of the Hounds and taking out more of the swarm that was trying to avoid Wrecker.

The commander seemed extremely frustrated, body turning around with both faces snarling and shouting in its language as it stomped its pointed legs and lashed out with its tentacles. Crab-like claws gouging the rocks around it. Finally it raised its tentacles in the air, as if to summon something… Only for nothing to happen and finally shriek with something akin to panic. ]

"Lord Megatron, not to put in any doubt to the information you've provided us. But are you sure these were the aliens that once tried to enslave our ancestors?" Arachnid couldn't help but ask a tad snidely, sneering at the pathetic display the Quintesson 'commander' was showing from its tantrum to it finally showing panic from its situation. "After all, it took the Thirteen Primes to deal with the Quintessons, yet this one is struggling with the humans. Granted, the humans have those mecha suits but still…"

Luckily, Lord Megatron was sneering at the screen as well. "They have the resemblance of Quintessons, but after this unimpressive display… I am starting to have my doubts. However keep in mind that this is merely a small group of Quintessons- soldiers, hounds, a swarm, a single commander." His optics narrowed. "We have yet to see their full armada nor see the full extent of they can do. The humans built entire false-bodies to deal with the Quintessons, complete with class-typing and unconventional weaponry and tools. There must be a reason for that."

The femme fatale made a face before conceding with a reluctant nod, sharp digit tapping the table in thought as they continued to watch the screen.

[ Wrecker's palms slammed into the small head of the digger XTR, which had been flailing wildly- clearly it was not created with combat in mind. The digger had no chance against Wrecker even as it tried slamming its spade-like claws into Wrecker's mecha frame, merely scratching the plating before dying when Wrecker activated her subwoofers directly against the digger's head.

The head contorted from the vibrations before splurting with blackish blood. Wrecker was quick to grab the now limp body, hauling it into her grip just to use it as a shield against the more combat-oriented Soldiers that aimed their weapons at her. And from a shield, she turned it into a ram as she charged right at them.

Tailbreaker was getting closer to the commander, who seemed far too busy to notice his gradual approach. .: Senscript, confirm- how many XTRs left? :.

Senscript had been gradually moving closer to the field, having climbed down from his perch at the cliff edge but keeping discrete and stealth in his approach. His antennae pinged, helm unfurling just a bit, .: Majority are dead and injured. Two Soldier units by the commander, four Hount units, twenty-seven- ah, twenty-four insects from the swarm and the other digger. Wrecker just needs to finish off the Soldiers she's facing :.

.: Alright then, Wrecker, wrap it up! We need to secure the commander ASAP. :.

.: Roger that. :. ]

Breakdown hadn't really thought much about the Autobot's humans outside of whenever they appeared. They were humans after all, why care? Other than the fact they could be used against the Autobots, not that Breakdown usually thought of that anyway. Not exactly his type of thing to do, but he knows mechs like Starscream, Arachnid and even Lord Megatron would think of such things.

But now the Observer was pretty much making him think about the humans beyond of what they were, first with the 'Shattered Glass' world, then the 'Actor' world, and now with this 'Alien Mecha' world.

The three humans were doing a solid job as a three-man team.

Wrecker was the muscle, Senscript was the support and it was clear that they took to Tailbreaker who was their leader. Breakdown had to wonder if that was the dynamic the humans took here as well, and if it did… Breakdown will have to keep an eye on that.

The ex-Wrecker watched as the other humans made quick work with the rest of the Quintessons, even if Arachnid was right earlier on- even she would have to admit how impressive it's been that the humans have been dealing with the invading alien forces. Though Breakdown did want to see them going off a bigger group than this one.

Lord Megatron muttered something quietly as they finally reached the Quintesson 'Commander', disposing the remaining Quintessons with relative ease. Wrecker ended up pinning the shrieking creature down, however it kept moving. Struggling. Flailing to get Wrecker off of itself. Tailbreaker ended up intervening and cutting off the flailing tentacles that tried to las out as well as the legs. Essentially dismembering the Quintesson alive, leaving only the torso and the head in tact.

Yikes. Brutal. but effective.

The humans here didn't have any giant robot suits, at least not to Breakdown's knowledge, but still. Just in case.

He's already underestimated humans before.

HIs empty socket twitched, and he frowned deeply.

He was never making that mistake ever again.

( Multiple bots winced at the dismembered Quintesson, expressing from disapproval but it wasn't like they could say it to the other humans. And their own humans were expressing their own disgust at it, it seemed unnecessarily brutal. It may be a Quintesson but to be dismembered yet left alive… It certainly disturbed them all. )

[ .: Commander subdued. All yours Senscript. :. Tailbreaker said, gesturing to the smaller mecha.

"Right. Commencing first field testing of Cortical Psychic Patch created by Doctor Waltz Stein, callsign 'Shockwave'." Senscript said aloud, a screen within his cockpit showing that he was recording the moment. ]

"Waltz Stein." Knock Out repeated with a rear of his helm, faceplate twitsted as he tested out the name. "I'm sorry but, I just cannot see Shockwave having a human name. It just… feels wrong."

Starscream looked perturbed, nodding his agreement. "Even as a human, I feel like his 'callsign' is far more suited for him… Waltz Stein, hmph."

None of the Decepticons present could ever see Shockwave referred to as 'Waltz Stein', even if the Shockwave of that world was human. It just didn't fit right. Shockwave was Shockwave, that was that.

If that was Shockwave's human name, Breakdown couldn't really imagine what name he and the others would have… Great, now he was thinking of what name he would have as a human.

( There was a similar reaction for the Autobots, the thought of the mad scientist having a human name was… incomprehensible really. The humans just shrugged. )

[ Wrecker leaned back against her chair, "So this 'Cortical Psychic Whatever' is what you've been working with Doc Shock? The one that's going to make a whole new class?" She asked Senscript, watching with interest as Senscript's head unfurled once more. In the middle of the sensory crown, at the very middle of the back of his mecha's helm, something shifted, a tentacle-like cord with orange ring-lights slid out with a sharp looking point at the end. "Oh, wicked."

.: Yes. And again, it's Doctor Shockwave at least. Anyway, the Cortical Psychic Patch is supposed to link my mecha to the commander's processer- the mechanical part of it mostly but we're hoping to translate the biological aspects of it as well. That way, we can find out more information about the XTRs and figure out just what they want from Earth and humanity. Please keep the commander's head still, I need direct access to the top of its head. :.

.: Woah, hold on. Wouldn't this also link you to the commander's processor? You're clocked in with your mecha. You've got four ports Senscript. :. Despite the worry Tailbreaker had, he still complied, he and Wrecker gently but firmly holding on to the squirming XTR's head, with the larger mecha making sure its body didnt squirm too much.

.: Five, actually. I needed a new port to accommodate the new cord in my mecha. :.

Wrecker sat up, suddenly alarmed. "Wait what? Raf! You're already on four ports, you don't need five!"

.: Callsigns! Wrecker! But- I-I'm with her, Senscript, you were already too young for more than three ports but now you're on five in your second year of piloting? That's not good, you're going to end up Crashing at any wrong point, which will be WORSE for you considering you have FIVE connecting ports! When did you even get that fifth po— Shit, two months ago you were called to California. That's when you got it didn't you? Fuck. :.

.: I was the only one strong enough for the prototype which needed a port of its own to fully control and search for important information. I know you're both worried but I worked this out with Doctor Shockwave, I know the ramifications, the risk, but I can handle it. If this works, we'll be creating a new sub-class of mecha. Hackers, intel-focused pilots that will get vital information from these XTRs and help the Earth. It's worth it. Now shut up, I need to concentrate and keep holding him still. :. ]

Knock Out's optic ridge raised in interest, "Oh? Do tell." He said, leaning forward. "How interesting, naturally I knew there would be side affects to these humans hooking up their biological systems to a mechanical suit like that but whatever this 'Crashing' event is, it seems dire."

"Seems like it also involves and is exacerbated by the amount of ports one 'pilot' has. The other two humans have two ports so they seem relatively safe from this 'Crash' but the youngest is the most at risk." Starscream muttered, optics narrowed in thought over the tidbit of information provided.

Lord Megatron hummed, "Intriguing… Looks like they're about to test human Shockwave's cortical psychic patch link, let's see how this Shockwave's human intelligence and ingenuity fairs. And just what information he'll be able to uncover from the Quintesson."

( In a base elsewhere from the Nemesis, the Autobots were not liking the information that was given to them. Glancing to their youngest human charge in worry, said human smiled lopsidedly in hopes of reassuring them. He was fine, his other was… well, it was worrying, what was said. But there wasn't much they could do about it.

He also couldn't help but apologize to his friends who waved it off, feeling the same concern for him as the bots.

A medic grumbles and bristles over every word, indignant words masking over the concerns he had for the youngest pilot on the screen. )

[ Senscript's cortical patch link stationed itself over the top of the XTRs head, Tailbreaker and Wrecker keeping the commander still despite their concerns. "Field testing commencing. Engaging."

SHRLK!

Immediately Senscript tensed in his cockpit, alien data and symbols flying over most of his screens as the orange lighting of the cord glowed brightly. The XTR roared once from both faces before falling limp underneath Tailbreakers and Wrecker's grip.

.: Senscript? Senscript, come in! Senscript, are you conscious? :. Tailbreaker asked after a few minutes of silence, getting worried over Senscript's silence and stillness.

Both he and Wrecker let out sighs of relief when they heard his voice over their comms, .: S-Shut… up I'm— processing, ugh, processing- the data. Translating… Give… give me a few… minutes… fuck… :.

All over most of Senscript's inner screens were alien symbols and glyphs, rapidly flashing over before changing from one thing to another. On another screen, a program was being run, the words 'PROTOTYPE TRANSLATION SOFTWARE ACTIVATED; TRANSLATING XTR LANGUAGE…' flared before more words in English were being added underneath.

Unbeknowst to the pilots, even Senscript himself, his nose began to bleed slightly. Leaving a thin trail down his face. ]

"Hm, it's working." Arachnid said, a bit surprised but definitely intrigued.

"Seems like it." Breakdown couldn't help but reply, optic narrowed at the sight of presumably the Quintesson's written language being shown- it was going too fast for Breakdown to understand. Soundwave seemed enraptured, recording the entire sequence to no doubt look at later on on his own or by Megatron's orders.

"It's different from our Shockwave's actual Cortical Psychic Patch Link," Lord Megatron said with a purse of his derma. "However it is working… just not like what ours does… Again, if only Shockwave was here to make sense of what is happening. Visually dissect how they've managed to do this." He didn't bother to look Starscream's way this time but the seeker still avoided looking at the warlord anyway.

"It's working… but not without its side effects." Knock Out said quietly, seeing the blood beginning to drip from Senscript's face.

( "Raf!/Beep!" "Guys I'm fine! I- oh forget it. C'mere Bee." "Beep…" )

[ Wrecker grunted, turning her mecha's head towards where the XTRs had been digging. Curiosity started to bleed in as she thinks she sees something embedded in the rock. "Hold him down Tailbreaker, I think I see something…" She ignored his protests, releasing the XTR to stand up and head over to the cliff wall. "Hey Senscript! Think you can figure out what they were trying to dig up?"

.: I… m-maybe? Why? :.

"'Cuz I think I just found whatever they were trying to find." With a short cry, she launched her fist at the wall, just to break the rock a bit more. Afterwards she dug into the wall a bit more, prying apart sediment and rocks to reveal something silver buried in the wall. "C'mon… Aha!" She lurched backwards, yanking with her something that had been lodged deep within the cliffside.

It was a silver disk with blue lights, it was barely the size of Wrecker's servo. To Wrecker, it meant nothing, but to the XTRs? It meant something. ]

"The Apex Armor?!" Starscream blurted out in shock, standing from his seat at the sight of the disk. "That's- that's the Apex Armor! But how?! That's a Decepticon invention! It looks exactly like the Apex Armor's de-activated form from this world!"

It definitely looked identical to the Apex Armor of their world, it looked of Cybertronian make. Not one difference whatsoever.

They all stared at it in shock, thankfully it seemed that the Autobots were just as shocked as they had paused the viewing.

( "Pause it! Pause it now!… Primus, can it be?" "That is… the Apex Armor…" )

"How is that possible? I thought we were all humans in this world!" Arachnid exclaimed, puzzled.

"When we saw Shockwave we just assumed we'd be human as well, but perhaps that isn't the case." Lord Megatron murmured, "It seems that our race does exist in that world, however they have yet to find Earth. However it seems that some of us are not Cybertronians, but humans. Which makes me wonder…" Just who were humans and who stayed Cybertronians?

It's not a question that Breakdown and the others had been expecting to ask today, or ever. But with the new info, the possibility of Cybertron and their own species existing in that world yet seeing Shockwave as a human…

"Another good question would be why is the Apex Armor on Earth? And if it's on that Earth, then is it here as well?" Knock Out wondered aloud.

"Soundwave, figure out where they are and see if you can find its location here." Lord Megatron immediately ordered, "If the Apex Armor is indeed here, possibly launched from the vaults of Iacon Archives after our attack on it, then we must retrieve it before the Autobots."

"Easier said than done." Starscream grumbled.

"What was that Starscream?"

"Nothing! Nothing…"

( "But how are we going to find it? It's not like we know where it is! Besides, it might not be here, or at that exact location! It could be somewhere else for all we know."

"It's still a risk we cannot allow to be known, we mustn't let the Decepticons know of the Apex Armor's whereabouts. Possible or likewise… Perhaps we can find out more by watching."

"Alright, observer! Continue!" )

[ Tailbreaker leaned closer in his cockpit though his mecha did nothing, still holding down the commander who was still limp underneath him. "Doesn't look human-made. Think it's one of their tech?"

.: No idea, but why would one of their tech be here? Did they lose it a long time ago or what? :. Wrecker came back to their side, holding on to the mysterious silver disk. .: Got a clue what it is, Senscript? :.

The smaller mecha finally moved, Senscript lifting his head while still connected to the XTR. .: That's… hold on, retrieving relevant information- found s-something. Translating… :. It cuts to within Senscript's mecha, a screen showing a picture of the silver disk in question. .: It's called… 'The Apex Armor'? It's not… not theirs I think, it's from- someone else? :.

Wrecker held up the disk, her faceless mecha couldn't convey the bewildered puzzlement that was on her face. .: Someone else? What? Who? Also 'Armor?' How's this thing supposed to be armor? It's a disk! :. ]

"It's not just a disk, girl." Starscream huffed angrily, "Humans… honestly."

"To someone who doesn't know what it is, it is just a disk though." Breakdown couldn't help but point out, rolling his optic at the bristling look he got from the seeker.

"Are you defending a human Breakdown?"

Breakdown snorted, "I'm not defending slag, just pointing out the obvious… Woah, hey. I don't think humans are suppose to bleed that much blood." He comments, a little bit alarmed as more blood seeped from Senscript's nose on screen. That had always been depicted as a bad thing in the human media, hadn't it?

"Something's happening." Knock Out's servos clenched slightly in anticipation as all of a sudden, Senscript's screens flared red and the little human cried out in pain.

( "Wait, what's happening?!" "Rafael! Humans shouldn't be bleeding that much blood from their nasal area!" "Uh, no duh, Ratchet! Something's wrong!" "B-Bee, I'm okay! Please don't tighten your grip." "B-Bweeooo…" )

[ .: Senscript! :..: Senscript?! What's wrong!? :.

Senscript's hands flew to his head, both his actual hands and his mecha's. "Agh- AUGH! M-My head! Something's- i-in my- head!" His screens flared red, alarms going through his mecha's internal sound systems as he could feel something interfering with the link. Blood slipped into his mouth but he had no idea, too preoccupied with the pain that lanced through his skull. "You're- you! Get out! Get OUT!"

On his screen, a few lines were typed out in English.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHEDOBJECTIVE: APEX ARMOR - LOCATED AND RETRIEVEDENEMY ACTION DETECTEDSIGNAL BLOCKERS DETECTEDDEACTIVATING SIGNAL BLOCKERSACTIVATING SPACEBRIDGELOCATING COORDINATESCALLING FOR REINFORCEMENTSENEMY PRESENCE DETECTED WITHIN INTERNAL SERVERBEGINNING MENTAL DE—

.: That's it! :. Senscript felt a large spike of pain, crying out as Tailbreaker yanked the cortical cord's out of the XTR's head, finally noticing the wide, unnatural grin on the twin faces of the XTR. .: You bastard—:. He interrupted himself, moving to catch Senscript's swaying mecha before it could fully fall over. Senscript was limp in the chair, it wasn't clear whether or not he wsa conscious and he was only propped up thanks to the seatbelts that kept him from fully slumping over.

.: Wrecker! We're done here, retreat! Now! :. He barked, lifting Senscript's mecha- it was a bit awkward but he did his best to make it work. ]

"The cortical psychic link is usually a one-way connection," Lord Megatron commented with a surprisingly soft voice, "however if one isn't careful, that one-way connection can easily become two-ways… They should have prepared for such an outcome." He finished with a low smirk, remembering how he managed to hitch a ride with the Autobot's beloved scout to free himself from his coma.

He wonders if the Quintesson had managed to do the same here… But then again, it was one thing for the mind of the same species to share a space- the young human was an entirely different species than the Quintesson. Would it be compatible? Or would there be other side-effects? Only time would tell.

"Considering it's Shockwave who created the link, I'm sure he thought of it… Only whatever defenses he prepared with Senscript clearly wasn't enough." Starscream said with a small smirk, taking some delight that a version of Shockwave's efforts had been for naught.

Arachnid hummed, optics glittering with delighted interested. Having found the last few minutes very entertaining and interesting, "It seems the Quintesson's mission was to retreive the Apex Armor with discretion… I don't know about considering the mission accomplished when the Quintesson is missing all its limbs and its forces are wiped out, but it seems to have a back-up plan."

"One involving a spacebridge." Knock Out said, having noticed the later texts.

( A young boy yelped as he was handed over to a medic, a scout angrily beeping and shrilling at the screen while gesturing heatedly, possibly rudely, at the grinning Quintesson. His fellow scout and friend grabbed his shoulder, trying to calm him down while trying to quell her own anger.

The medic couldn't help but carefully prod the young boy, who whined and reassured all those who listened that he was alright but paled as he listened to the possible injuries his other could have thanks to the cortical link he had with the Quintesson. No one was happy at the moment. )

[ Before any of them could even move from their spot though, light bloomed above them. Startling them as they suddenly found themselves underneath a colorful swirling vortex that grew to encompass them all. .: W-What the— :.

.: NO! :. Wrecker suddenly shrieked, panicked as she grabbed Tailbreaker's mecha with her own, tugging and trying to escape the vortex only for both of them to suddenly lift in the air, they were heavy though and so their ascent was unfortunately slow but steady. .: No- nonono! MAYDAY! MAYDAY! Wrecker to MECH HQ! We are being sucked into some sort of vortex portal! It's the thing that took Ja—:.

Abruptly, the speed of their ascension was accelerated, interrupting Wrecker who shouted in surprise as Tailbreaker was desperately trying to hold on to Wrecker and Senscript, the younger pilot was still seemingly unconscious.

.: —me in, come in— —aker, Senscript, Wr— — —ome in! Status report! Do you co— :.

The screen showed Wrecker's pin-prick eyes before something, a series of images? Flashed in quick succession.

A mecha, smaller than Wrecker's, a different build and clearly holding a sword, painted white, green and red, standing in front of a swirling vortex before something pierces through it, dragging it inside.

"WHEELJACK!" Wrecker screamed before the screen went dark. ]

"Wheeljack?" Breakdown and Starscream chorused together in varying tones of disbelief.

Lord Megatron raised an optic ridge, "Wheeljack? I know of him, he was part of the Wreckers who took down Shockwave's tower back on Cybertron… It seems like he's a human here. Interesting."

"A human who seemed to have died in front of Wrecker's optics." Arachnid snorted, smiling at the way Wrecker had screamed the Autobot's name. Or 'callsign' in that world. She has to wonder how the Autobots themselves were taking this reveal… How she'd love to see the look on their faceplates right now.

( A Wrecker and his charge shouted together, concerned and worried. After a moment, with the help of a Prime, they calm down. The Wrecker promises to try and contact his friend before marveling at the fact his friend's other was a human.

The same goes for his charge, the tiny human cheering at the fact that she knew him but was worried after remembering how he disappeared. )

[ The scene abruptly shifts, no longer the desert area of Earth but a strange city under attack, smoking and smoldering with the sounds of screams and roars in the distance. Buildings were crumbling, smoke was all over the air and fires were starting or being put out.

It was a war zone on another planet. ]

"Praxus."

Breakdown has no idea who said it, too busy staring at the burning, crumbling city with a heavy spark. There it was. Cybertron.

Cybertron that was still alive by the looks of it, there was still a city to burn. His servos clenched as he heard the distant sound of screaming and blaster shots, it made him slip into his memories of… orders faintly being shouted, the sharp hum of seekers in the air, bombardments on each and every corner. Autobots and Decepticons alike scrambling through the streets, firing shots at each other at every opportunity—

Breakdown shook his helm, a tense silence was in the air as it was official; Cybertron existed in that world.

And the war was still going on on that version of their planet.

( For a moment, it looked like someone was going to ask to pause the screen. But in the end, no one did, all the bots watched on with heavy expressions on their faceplates and when asked about it. They would simply tell their human charges, that the city they were seeing was Praxus, a city on Cybertron which fell early on in the war.

Though it begged the question, how was it still standing now? )

[ A mech runs through the desolate but burning and cracked streets, his paint was scuffed but was clearly red, blue and silver. A double-headed axe in servo, .: Optimus Prime to Prowl, Optimus Prime to Prowl, do you read me? Does anybody read me? :. He asked hurriedly through his comms, blue optics narrowing as he heard nothing but static from his comm. Which would make sense considering there was a clear dent on his helm where his comms were supposed to be. One of his finials was even snapped off while his battlemask was partially broken.

He kept running, jumping over fissions in the ground the best he could, he kept moving even as the ground began to shake and explosions went off in the distance. ]

"Optimus Prime…" Lord Megatron growled, yet there was a look of nostalgia as he sees the axe within his arch nemesis' servo. "I suppose it wouldn't be fun to have him as a human, but oh. That axe, I haven't seen that since the bombardment of Iacon!" He cackled, grinning wildly. "I almost miss that treacherous weapon."

Breakdown winced at the sight of the axe, the Prime had a mastery over that thing and quite frankly been more than just a pain in the aft than usual, more than one Decepticon had cheered at the news that he'd lost the damn thing.

"Hm, I don't remember what battle this is… perhaps it's something exclusive to this world." Lord Megatron pondered, optics narrowed at the sight of the other Optimus Prime running through the exploding streets of Praxus. Trying to find the memory of the attack from his memory bank.

( "You wielded a two-headed AXE?! WHAT?! Optimus! That's amazing! What happened to it?!" "Unfortunately it was lost a long time ago, Miko." "Aww… Why couldn't you get another one?" "That axe was rather special to me, and I never had the time nor were there available resources to recreate it or find a replacement." "Awww…" )

[ Out of nowhere, a bomb dropped from the sky behind Optimus, sending him flying for a brief moment from the explosive shockwave. It send him nearly over the edge of a large fissure in the ground, looking more of a canyon as the bottom couldn't be seen whatsoever.

Optimus' optics narrowed and he grunted, using his axe to prevent himself from being sent over, dangling from the edge with only his weapon keeping him from falling. He struggled to reach for the edge with one servo, pedes scraping the side for purchase.

Something heavy landed in front of his axe, kicking up dust that made Optimus close his optics for only a brief moment before opening to see silver pedes standing at the edge. Blue optics roamed up to meet a pair of red optics glaring down at his.

Megatron stood before him, armor scuffed and dirty yet looking all too intimidating as the fire gave him light from behind. The Decepticon symbol clear on his chestplate. ]

Lord Megatron brightened, his grin turning sharp and wild at the sight of himself. "Yes! There I am, with Optimus Prime at my pedes!" He roared, standing from his seat, slamming a servo on the table with eager bloodthirst. "Kill him! Kill him now!"

"Are we really going to see Lord Megatron kill Optimus Prime in another world?" Starscream murmured, a bit stunned to see the moment before snorting. Privately, he thought that something was going to interfere- the Prime had too much luck to just die to Lord Megatron just like that. And in such an easy way as well. Thankfully for him, Lord Megatron was too caught up in his excitement to notice Starscream's doubts and derisions.

Soundwave tilted his helm, a red dot signifying he was recording the moment clear on his visor.

Breakdown and Knock Out shared a look, keeping quiet as their leader called for Optimus Prime's blood.

Arachnid also kept silent, but was eager to see whether or not Optimus Prime would finally die. It wasn't Arcee, but she would never say no to seeing Optimus Prime's death.

( The Autobots and their humans raged and worried, shouting at the screen. Once abruptly confused and stunned at the switch from Earth to Cybertron and the fact that Cybertron existed in that world, they would never stay silent at the scene of their beloved leader possibly dying in front of them.

A medic in particulr was swearing from Cybertron's Pits to Earth's Hell about Megatron, snarling threats in Cybertronian as if to protect the humans' ears but the way he was growling made it clear to them that whatever he was saying, it was nothing nice.

Their leader tried to calm them down, but was disheartened to see his other in such a position. Hoping for the best, hoping that this was not the end, and that the humans and his team would not see his demise…)

[ Megatron glared down at him, before sighing deeply. Reaching down to grab Optimus' servo in his, grunting as he pulled the mech up from his precarious position and into his arms. One arm around his chassis and the other underneath Optimus' knees, holding him bridal style. "What have I said about leaving my side, my Prime?" He growled, leaning in to glare directly into Optimus' optics before smirking. "I can't leave you for even a klik, can I?"

Optimus' battlemask snapped open, revealing a small, fond smile on his faceplate. "I would apologize, but it was not my fault this time my Protector. I am entirely blameless in this endeavor."

Megatron's smirk turned into a charmed smile, "We'll see about that, but for now…" He raised his helm, letting Optimus down from his hold as they stood back-to-back. Surrounded by all sides by large, monstrous creatures with Soldier Quintessons riding atop them. "Let's deal with these mongrels, shall we?" His fusion cannon hummed to life, charging.

Optimus' battlemask snapped close as he readied his axe. "We shall." ]

Complete.

Utter.

Silence.

Even as the screen pauses—

( "PAUSE! PAUSE PAUSE PAUSE—" )

There was nothing but silence for a solid klik before Starscream blurted out what they were all thinking;

"What the frag?!"

[ ----- TP : UO ----- ]

HEUAHEHAEUHEAHEHAEH THE MEGOP REVEEAAAAL admittedly it was short here but don't worry! we're getting right into it next chapter!

AND YES! I TOOK LIBERTIES AND CHANGED THE QUINTESSONS HERE IN THE ALIGNED UNIVERSE! this is my story and i do what i want! if i want the quintessons to be barely known in the tfp uo universe then dammit, i will do that! makes it more fun when i do their reactions anyway hehehehe.

next chapter will take a bit since i'm still debating whether to switch back to twice the primes or dance of the firebot, we'll see which fic calls to me most. dont think ive forgotten them! im just.. letting whatever motivates me into writing take over.

anyway i hope you guys enjoyed! i'll see yall later :D

[NEXT]

[START]

[PREV]

[unhappy-last-resort]

Make Me An Addict

Fandom: Love and Deepspace

Genre: Dead Dove, Yandere, Horror, Angst

Main Characters: Caleb, GN Reader

Relationships: Caleb/Reader

Word Count: 2.3k

Warnings: Dead Dove Do Not Eat, chase scene, broken limb, violence (Reader & Caleb fight each other), implied amputation, I don't say Caleb is Reader's brother but you can def read it that way, implied stalking, Caleb's been obsessing over Reader since he was a kid, Caleb's and Reader's mental states are garbage, toxic & abusive relationship, Reader is very traumatized, sexual towards the end no smut

A/N: I know yandere's are always toxic, but when I specify it in the warnings it's because there's some focus on that kind of relationship and how it feels to be in it in the work.

Light flashed overhead, followed by what sounded like the sky splitting open. Rain pelted the leaves overhead, mud sticking to your feet as you clung to a tree trunk, your nails digging into the bark. Everything around you was pitch black, a complete void of nothingness that pricked at the skin on the back of your neck.

You take a breath, uncontrollable shivers wracking your body as you try to ignore the chill seeping through your limbs. Your leg feels numb and radiates with pain through the bones, you already know it’s broken but, there was no better time. Despite all the windows of your cramped “room” being covered, you knew it had landed, the hours you’d spent on that cursed ship made you perfectly attuned to it. You’ve learned how to differentiate the rumbles through its hull and familiarize yourself with the sound of its engine.

How long have you spent on that flying coffin? Months? Years? It’s hard to tell when even ten minutes feels like ten days. Either way, broken leg or missing limb, you wouldn’t have missed this chance for the world.

A chance of freedom, the chance to breathe without those eyes always watching you, it’s something you’ve started fantasying about. Being able to walk through Linkon freely, wearing whatever you want, talking to whoever you want. You’ll change your name and move somewhere far away, somewhere the Farspace Fleet can’t control. Maybe the N109 Zone could be a good place to start.

Why did things have to be like this? He was always the one you could rely on when no one else was there to help, he was the one who'd hide you away from everyone else when you couldn't stop the tears. You don't remember a time when you weren't together, glued by the hand and tied at the waist. You just wanted to go back to when his constant staring felt like something pure and innocent instead of the sick, twisted feeling in your gut that writhed and screamed at you to run.

Another rumble sounds overhead and you sniffle. Right now, those are some pretty far-off dreams and you don’t know if you should laugh, or cry about that. Slowly, unwillingly, you pry your fingers from the tree and reach for the grass instead. You dig into the dirt and pull, pain tears through your leg but you press on. You can’t afford to stop now, no matter how much it hurts, not when you’re on a timer.

It’s only a matter of time before Caleb starts his search if he isn’t already. You reach and grab at the ground again, a stick digs into your palm as you drag yourself forward another few inches. You hoped you could’ve kept running, pain be damned, but you guess there’s always a point where even adrenaline can’t mask the injury anymore. You don’t even remember the “path” you took if you could even call it that.

You wonder if he'll miss you.

It’s not important. You don’t need to know how you got here, you just need to escape. Just keep dragging yourself forward and you'll get somewhere eventually. You bite your lip until you can feel your teeth tear the skin, to distract you from that all-consuming pit that would rather have you curl up and cry instead.

You have to make this. Your arms ache, but you pull yourself forward again.

Sometimes, you think back to when you were both kids. At the time, and even when he...found you again, you didn’t really think he was like that, but, you’ve been thinking these days. A lot. Since it’s all you can do sometimes, and the more you look back, the more you retraced every memory of him, the more you started realizing...things. That, he wasn’t really the gentle, selfless person you always thought he was.

Grab, pull.

You uncovered a memory recently, something you had buried a long time ago.

Grab, pull.

He was standing there.

Grab, pull.

You didn’t notice at first, because the doors were almost pulled shut.

Grab, pull.

It was dark.

Grab, pull.

You woke up for some reason, you can’t remember why, you’re not sure there even was a reason.

Grab, pull.

And you saw him.

Grab, pull.

He was standing in your closet, staring at you.

Grab, pull.

You only knew because you could see his eye through the space between sliding doors. Then, he said—

Click.

You freeze. You hear someone walking behind you. In the next instant, a hand grips your shoulder and throws you onto your back, you scream before you even fully register the pain.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” He laughs, it’s airy and pained. “This is exactly why I can’t let you outside anymore. You keep doing shit like this!”

There’s a rustle, and you feel his breath hit your face. “Do you have any idea, even the slightest clue of how terrified you made me feel when I went to check on you and you were gone? How it felt having every nook and corner of the ship searched and find you nowhere to be seen?”

“Do you know how much that hurt?” Something gently hits your face, mixed with the heavy droplets from the trees. He buries his head into your shoulder, his hands trembling as his nails dig into you.

This has happened before, when you were teenagers. You opened up about wanting to run away, and the look of pure terror that was on his face stunned you enough that you couldn't react when he lunged for you. Before, you would've said it was an accident, but why do you always have accidents whenever you try to do anything for yourself?

For a moment, your mind is empty. Only the hollow ache and the sound of heavy rain and his shuddered breaths, but then something rises. It boils, scalding as it crawls up from your gut and past your ribs.

You feel around next to you until something hard brushes your fingers, you grip it tightly and muster all your strength, channeling all your fear, anger, hatred, and love into the rock in your palm and you swing. I’m sorry.

You can barely feel where it hit, you only hear him yelp and something twists in your heart. You don’t know where you’re hitting anymore, you’re just following the sound, you think he’s trying to stop you, but at this point, it feels like you’re distant from your body.

You can’t see anything, there are no lights. It’s like you’re sitting in an empty theater all alone, but something has to give. Something always does.

Your leg, the broken one. He twisted it with his evol and a thought creeps into your mind, your brain screaming that something’s wrong and you refuse to acknowledge it. The fear bubbling up your throat into something you can’t contain.

“CALEB!”

“I’m sorry-” He grips your wrist and prys the rock from your hand, he’s definitely crying this time. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,

I’msorryimsorryimsorryimsorryimsorryimsorryimsorry

Space and time stretch to infinity until it starts to converge again and your consciousness awakens. It’s quiet, except for the humming, and it’s...warm. When you open your eyes, you're back home.

Golden sunlight filters through the windows, all your toys are neatly put away as they should be, you're tucked under your favorite blankets, and nothing is wrong. It was just a dream, a nightmare, it's not real.

You had a nightmare, but it’s alright because you’re safe in your bed, in your room with all your books and toys, and Caleb.

Caleb.

All the comfort and safety you've felt for the first time in years vanishes like a flame snuffed out by the wind. You try to throw off the covers, to run, to scream, but instead, all you get are two arms wrapped tightly around you, one made of flesh and the other harder than stone.

Your leg hurts.

“Hey.” He sounds hoarse. “How are you doing?” He shifts and his face fills your vision. His eyes are bloodshot and there are bandages on the side of his head and his nose.

You stare at each other for a while, you don’t feel like talking. He looks away and sighs before turning back to you with a smile that looks so fragile it could shatter in a moment. “I changed your room.” He grabs a plushie and shows it to you. “I thought it must be…boring to be here with nothing to do, so I decorated it for you.”

You look at the window. The wooden sill has a mint plant on it and sunlight streams through the sheer curtains.

Your leg hurts.

He whispers, “It’s nice, isn’t it?” And places a soft, trembling kiss upon your temple. “Just like when we were little.” You can see the closet in the corner of your eye.

There's silence. Only the sound of your breathing and that faint rumble that runs through every wall and floor you've become so agonizingly familiar with.

"Please look at me." He's trembling again.

"Please just say something— anything! I've been trying so hard to do things right for you and you just keep fighting me on it every day! All I wanted was for you to be safe and happy and instead, I have to watch you rip yourself apart and for what? Do you not love me anymore? Am I not good enough? Why can't you just stay with me? It hurts being alone, I don't want to be alone anymore, I thought you were the same, I thought you loved me too. What changed? I don't wanna hurt you again— I can't hurt you again, I can't, I can't, I can't—"

His voice shatters into sobs. As much as you hate to admit it, it still hurts knowing you hurt him. You want to apologize, to say you're sorry, and explain why you felt you had to, but you know there's no point in that.

You know better than to apologize after what happened last time.

You won't apologize, but offering some comfort should be okay, right? He's the one other person in the world you spent the majority of your life with, at least it has to be better than lying here like a doll.

So, you slowly and carefully put your hand on the back of his head; and you keep your touch light, afraid of it being "wrong" somehow. He stiffens, taking a shuddering breath before melting into you.

He wraps himself over you like a cacoon, and you allow yourself to curl into his touch even as your heart hammers in your chest, begging to be free. It's strange to be like this, as if instead of emotion there's a rising static, incomprehensible as it floods your ears as if it was larger than you— larger than you could imagine.

He pulls away and your heart drops into the floor, muscles tensing into fight or flight as your mind races to come up with a contingency plan, an escape route, anything— and then you see his face again. Swollen eyes and lips, exhaustion pulling at his skin, but the glimmer in his eyes is as if he was gifted the sun itself; like there's nowhere else he'd rather be than burning in your presence.

It's like how things used to be again, when he'd let his guard down just enough to be vulnerable, just enough to let you peek into his mind for a moment. You wish these moments would last longer than a day, or a week, but— you tuck a strand of hair behind his ear— you'll indulge this time and again and again and again and

Who else would accept you as you were broken into are if not him? Who else knows how to maneuver all your sharp edges and reach past the thorns to get to you? His name tastes like poison more than it used to, but maybe if you drink it just one more time things will be good again.

You want to hurt him, but you want to love him too. You want to break his fingers and kiss them better, shatter his ribs, and steal his heart. You want him to know the pain of being “yours” as much as he’s made you suffer for being “his”. You think he knows it too because the shine he had in his eyes has eclipsed into something still, pained, and accepting.

Your hands claw for his hair, grabbing a fistful and yanking him closer as a euphoric smile breaks on his face. When your lips meet, it's as hot and cold as death itself, so you spiral deeper, biting his lips until you taste that particular tang you've come to love when it comes from him. You let his hand press and knead your chest through your shirt, your leg burns with pain, but you dig your nails deeper into his skin until the sensation of his kiss feels just as prominent as the pain.

His hands drag to your torso, his fingers pressing into bruises as he uses his weight to pin you into the mattress like a butterfly. You break apart to breathe and see the blood smeared over his face and staining his bandages, he slips his hand to your waist and haphazardly tugs up your shirt the same way he's done it for years.

You're both running from the inevitable crash that will follow, exchanging time for a moment of bliss that will fix nothing and make it hurt more. But while you still have time, you'll believe that nothing other than how he feels in your arms matters, you'll relish the taste of his poison until it kills you again, and you'll charr yourself in his "love" until you can't take it anymore.

In this handful of minutes that you'll gladly drag out for as long as you can, you're his and he's yours, forever.

[wangxianficfinder]

Fic Finder

March 14th

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1. Hi I've been trying to find this fic where wwx went back in time to cloud recess and he freaks out in the middle of the class and ran out and jump off a cliff and he survived and the cloud recess helped him heal and be happy again. Thank you I'm advance ☺️@limaly26

FOUND?🔒 Without end by barisan (M, 69k, WIP, WangXian, Time Travel, Suicide Attempt, Hurt/Comfort, Depressed WWX, Good Uncle LQR, Bad Parent YZY, Bad Parent JFM, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm,   PTSD, Panic Attacks, Yunmeng Jiang bashing, Sentient Resentful energy, Medical inaccuracies)

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2. Haven’t read one in a while, and I’m itmf hardcore angst. Looking for a fic that I read back in 2021~2022. It was post-canon where many still hated the Yiling Patriarch. Some of those people were able to kidnap wwx. They tortured and abused him for days before he was found half dead. Wwx was so injured that I’m pretty sure he even lost his sight for a bit and wouldn’t let anyone touch him after being found. I read it on AO3 and remember it was hurt/comfort (but there was a looooot of hurt before there was comfort). The author’s name was catchy and easy to remember (obviously not easy enough lol) and either the author or the title was like one word starting with a “v” or a “t” maybe? Idk. It was pretty popular, so I’m sure this one has been asked about before. @main-00

FOUND! Silenced by Tasharene (M, 63k, WangXian, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, PTSD, Temporary Blindness, Aversion to touch, Fear of crowds, Panic Attacks, Post-Canon, WWX Whump, Hurt WWX, Whump, Angst with a Happy Ending, world-class troll LXC, see the archive Warnings BEFORE you accuse me of not tagging things!!!)

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3. Hello!! I was looking for a specific fic that I can’t seem to find now, it’s a finished work, it’s about succubus!wei wuxian, or at least I remember it being about him but after looking under the tag I wonder if I missed it, the author didn’t tag it, or he was made to be a creature incredibly similar to a succubus? The plot is that wwx is half succubus who has been ‘tamed’ by lwj, this is just mentioned in the fic it actually begins with lwj being a professor at a school and wwx offers for him to be used as a demonstration for class to see if people can resist his magic, that’s basically the entire fic. Thank you for your help!

FOUND! a sword for a tongue by martyrsdaughter (E, 6k, WangXian, Modern with Magic, College/University, Succubi & Incubi, Consensual Kink, Dom/sub Undertones, Established Relationship, light exhibitionism, Sex Magic, Collars, Roleplay, Sexual Fantasy, Sexual Tension, Light Degradation Kink, Blowjobs, Face-Fucking, Breathplay, Dominant LWJ, Submissive WWX)

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4. Heyy so can someone plz help me find this fic? Its in ao3 the last time l read it it had only two chapters and its a lan wangji x jiang cheng and in it jiang cheng l believe he was poisoned really badly after fighting a monster in a forest but his spiders finds him and gets him to gusu and the last thing l remember was abt him carrying jin ling and finding lan wangji with a-yuan on the other side of the room😭searched up and down for it and l still couldn't find it I'm going nuts😔

Another fic is of JC deciding that his words are a curse and stops talking all together by taking an oath and he starts learning sign language and then he goes to gusu and LWJ sees him and stuff and its not complete either😔

Update: l found the first one, l still need the second one @reader-100

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5. Hi! I'm looking for a fic I read a while ago. I tried looking under the WWX & LQR or the Good Uncle LQR tags on AO3 but can't find it.

It was a Cloud Recesses arc AU, and something made LQR have a change of heart about WWX (maybe morals, maybe time travel, idk). He talks with WWX about why he is acting out and starts teaching so WWX is actually challenged in class, which makes him thrive. A lot or all of the story was from LQR's pov.

I remember a specific part where LQR sees the guest disciples practicing sword forms and realizes WWX is purposefully under performing. He is doing just a bit worse than JWY, to make JWY seem the most talented. LQR reprimands WWX because training improperly will lead to bad habits that endanger himself and others on nighthunts. WWX immediately improves his form. Later LQR discusses WWX's progress with the instructor and says he should spar with LWJ. The instructor thinks WWX has improved, but not that dramatically. But LQR knows they fought the first night of lectures. So LWJ and WWX have an epic spar where WWX stops holding back and goes all out in front of the class (possibly with LQR and LXC looking on from the sidelines).

I don't remember anything after that so it may be unfinished. Thanks so much!!

FOUND? Just Say Yes Series by edenwolfie (T/M, 338k, WangXian, Matchmaking, Pining, Getting Together, Canon Divergence, POV Alternating, Fluff, First Kiss, Declarations Of Love, Humor, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, Good Uncle LQR, Engagement, Hurt/Comfort, Fix-It) but not sure if there is a spar between jc and wwx

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6. Hi. I hope you a well. I am looking for 2 pics. (a) I don't remember well if it's a time travel or what. But wei ying started demanding money for use demonic cultivation. When Jiang Cheng ask him why he doesn't fight he said that jiang cheng told him to stop being a hero. (b) Wei ying saved a man, that man was unhappy about they way wei ying was treated and he directed a play about wei ying and lan wanji and their love story.

6B)

FOUND? The Ballad of Hanguang-Jun and The Yiling Patriarch by Theladyofravenclaw (T, 40k, WangXian, ChengQing, Burial Mounds Settlement Days, Burial Mounds Arc, Canon Divergence, Fix-It of Sorts, Humor, musical theater?, Misunderstandings, POV Outsider, Crack treated seriously)

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7. Been looking for this ao3 fanfic titled "YOUR NAME ON MY CHEST" by anonymous something like that. A wangxian modern au with a military theme. WY got the codename "Mulan" while LZ "Bucky". If I'm not mistaken everyone deemed WY the villain here after the "incident" where LZ almost ended up crippled. Please help, the author likely removed this fic on ao3. @lu-wanji

FOUND? Your Name On My Chest by Director_XuanWu (T, 74k, WangXian, Modern, Heavy Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Feelings, Eventual Happy Ending, These two feel so much, Pining, Break Up, Post-Break Up, Getting Back Together, But it would be almost at the end, Falling In Love, Self-Sacrifice, First Love, Long-Distance Relationship, All other pairings except for Wangxian are backgrounds only) I found it on the wayback machine

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8. Hello! Hope you’re doing well.

I’m searching for a fanfiction where Wei Wuxian is saved by Lan Qiren (though I’m not sure if it’s him or Lan Wangji/Xichen). They are at Karp Tower for a conference when Madam Yu tries to drown Wei Ying after cruelly whipping him. He is found in the lake, barely alive, and Lan Qiren rescues him, bringing him to the Cloud Recesses. Wei Ying is deeply traumatized by the incident, and the cultivation world harshly judges Madam Yu for her cruelty. Thank you in advance for the help! @myukisora

FOUND? 🔒🧡 rain falls and soaks into the earth series by RoseThorne (T, 60k, WangXian, WIP, Near Death Experience, Attempt Drowning, Madam Yu Bashing, Recovery, No war AU)

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9. Hi I'm looking for a fic where wwx and lwj had a yuan but because of (I think abandonment issues) a yuan was scared of planes, i think it was an accidental baby acquisition fic but I'm not sure?

FOUND? The Simplest Way Forward by harriet_vane (E, 70k, WangXian, Modern AU, Accidental Baby Acquisition,Kid Fic, explicit in much much later chapters, green card marriage (but not really), pining for your own husband, endless pining, Slow Burn, Happy Ending, Nothing else bad or traumatic happens to the baby, [Podfic of] The Simplest Way Forward by knight_tracer)

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10. I’m looking for a fic where Madame yu goes to the cloud recess post whim wing punching the peacock and proceeds to punish him with zidian lan zhan catches her in the act and stops her and says she can’t punish him bc they are engaged

FOUND? 🧡 To have and to hold by Moominmammashandbag (M, 78k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Major character injury, CQL verse, Happy Ending)

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11. Hello mods!! Hope you're well ^^ I'm searching for two specific fic.

A) The first one was a time travel fic. The juniors were somehow time travelling into sunshot era (i don't remember much it's been a long time since i read that) and meeting yllz!wwx and lwj. I remember lz and wy getting suspicious of them and discussing things?? The juniors were staying with them for days trapped in time and trying to talk to them to get information?? I dont really remember much. At some point post-canon wwx was finding them and time travelling too. Thats all i remember.

B) For the second one i was 100% sure i had this fic bookmarked but i couldn't find it no matter what T.T It was a dragonji and foxxian fic and it kinda started with wy and lz meeting on a night hunt. They kept coming across each other in random night hunts. I remember lz getting hurt and having to stay in his dragon(noodleji lol) form and wy finding him, caring for him without knowing it's him. At some point wy was joining cloud recesses studies and lz was finding out wy was literally WY (in the earlier chapters lqr was mentioning wy to lz and warning him about wy) It was something like that. I REALLY HOPE IT CAN BE FOUND😭😭

Anyways as always thank you in advance!!😚😚😚 @for13years-i-play-inquiry-foryou

I'm 11 and i actually found B bc yeah i was right it was in my bookmarks lol XD

I still need the first one though!!

11A)

NOT FOUND! 🔒 Forget Myself in Memories by geethr75 (T, 10k, JC & WWX, JC & JL, JL & LJY & LSZ & OYZZ, WangXian, LXC & NMJ, JYL/JZX, Junior Quartet Dynamics, Time Travel Fix-It, Juniors travel to the past, Post-Canon, Canon Divergence, double trouble, Past WWX meets future WWX in MXY’s body, Past JC meets future JC, JL and his jiujiu, Sect Leader JL, Sect Leader OYZZ, Sect Heir LJY, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, JGY dies as Meng Yao, SS and JZn dies, JGS dies, WQ and WN lives, JYL and JZX Lives, no golden core transfer, No golden core melting, The Juniors save the day, WWX saves the day too, Alternate Timelines)

11B)

FOUND! what you have tamed by lianhua_lianzi, Senforza (E, 94k, WangXian, XuanLi, XiYao, Eventual 3Zun, Animal Traits, misunderstandings (not the romcom kind that can be resolved in a 5min convo), Courting Rituals, Pining, Lan family dynamics, Drama, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Arranged Marriage, Wangxian break up but get back together, Eventual Happy Ending, vague biological essentialism (animal species have different mating preferences), Canon Typical Alcohol Usage, Implied Mpreg, Top LWJ/Bottom WWX, Unresolved Sexual Tension, unintentional and eventually resolved “gaslighting”, Dragon LWJ, Fox WWX)

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12. Please help me find this fic! WWX commissioned a tea that tasted like Emperor's Smile so LWJ could indulge without alcohol. I think. I could have been a surprise from LWJ for WWX because he wasn't allowed to have alcohol? I have no idea the story around this scene but there: a fic that invented Emperor's Smile Tea. @mreisse

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13. Hi, I'm looking for an Ao3 fic where Lan Zhan becomes a little boy because of an experiment by Wei Ying. He goes through growth spurts at night. First he's a boy of about 8 years old who doesn't leave Lan Quiren's side. At night he grows into a boy of 13, then about 17, then to the age when he received the lashes and Wei Ying stays by his side comforting him. The next growth spurt is after Wei Ying died and he wants to get him out of the Lan sect for fear that he will lose him again. When Lan Zhan returns to his normal age they do the gogogo because he's jealous that Wei Ying says that his 8 year old uo is adorable.

English is not my first translation I translated this with Google Translate @aome37-blog

FOUND? In Time by Siera_Knightwalker (Not Rated, 13k, WangXian, Underage Sex, Age Regression/De-Aging, Established WangXian, Cute 6 year old LWJ, Cute 11 year old LWJ, Cuter and in love 16 year old LWJ, Obsessed and in love 21 year old LWJ, And continuing in that stream, Underage warning only for 16 year old LWJ, Anything below that is ONLY cute baby LWJ, Family Fluff, Good Uncle LQR, Good Parent LQR, Supportive Sibling LXC, WWX is a Little Shit, WWX is a gremlin, LWJ Loves WWX, WWX Loves LWJ, Everyone Loves WWX, Post-Canon, Gusu Lan Sect, LWJ's 33 Lashes Punishment, Feminization, Public Display of Affection, Sexual Content, Age Difference, Overstimulation, Nipple Play)

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14. Hi I'm looking for a fic where the juniors find an old sketchbook of WWX that's like a guide to LWJ's different minor facial expressions and what they mean. I remember it being pretty CQL-based and even having art in it. There's a particular scene where the juniors realize LWJ's "I like mianmian" face is the same as his "you're an idiot" face" @vivalav

FOUND! ❤️ Important Distinctions by nagi_blue (T, 5k, Background WangXian, Fluff, [Podfic] Important Distinctions by semperfiona_podfic (semperfiona) )

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15. Hey so I have a few fics I read on ao3 but unfortunately my forgetful past self didn't have the mind to bookmark them can you help me find those?

A) 1. I think the title is empire but I don't remember it correctly but the story goes such that lan huan in seclusion goes insane for lan clan being given such bad name and all so like he goes lets time travel and does. He takes nmj with him and when he goes back he tells his bro and uncle but uncle is angry and punish him. Lwj sends for wwx in jiang to marry and he accepts . madam yu is helpful kinda. He gets Lauded in lan clan and all. Ssc goes on and lwj is taking lead. Wax being badass general. Jiang and jin gets destroyed by wen and end result lxc and nie bros want to make the whole jangu the empire and they crown wwx the king. Can u help me fund it?

B) The second one I think is a one shot maybe ? I don't remember the title sorry. It's wangxian. Hurt + comfort. The au where wc doesnt throw wwx into burial mounts but like treats him very very bad. When jc and lwj find him he is being used as footstool for wc. Still they rescue him. In nie fortress he is angry and snappy to everyone and lwj at last is like talk to me but wwx doesnt agree and wwx provokes lwj by saying bad things about himself and lwj is like no, so he strips everything off first his head peice and then his robes at last his ribbon he uses to tie his hands and kneel before wwx and something something. Pretty sure the tag I found it in was wwx needs a hug @feelingsareforweak

15A)

FOUND! Into the Oubliette by Ruixx (M, 124k, WIP, wangxian, JYL/JZX, growing up, fix-it of sorts, time travel, arranged marriage, sibling bonding, adopted sibling relationship, light bdsm, sunshot campaign, war, politics, hostage JYL, visions, LXC redemption, good uncle LQR, empire building)

15B)

FOUND? the dark, the light, the flame by Lirazel (T, 17k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Sunshot Campaign, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Golden Core Reveal, WWX Whump)

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16. I'm looking for a fic I read on AO3 set during the Sunshot Campaign. WWX and LWJ go to a mountain?, where WWX uses Chenqing and LWJ uses his sword or guqin. They do something important to help win the war, then collapse from exhaustion. Jin Zixuan finds them, drags them back to camp, and they’re nursed back to health by Lan Xichen, Jiang Cheng, and Wen Qing. All three fall in love with each other. WWX and LWJ are soulmates?, but are unstable and dangerous, and unintentionally create a forest.

FOUND? Talking is Better than Silence by KuroiWrites (blackcatkuroi) (T, 264k, WangXian, Communication, Fluff and Angst, What-If, Canon Divergence, Resentful Energy is a Thing, Musical Cultivation gets Center Stage, Honesty, Myth Making in Action, Soulmates, Cultivation Healing is Expanded, Lore Creation, Any Rated E for Extra Sexy scenes posted as separate CODA chapters)

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17. I'm trying to find a fic where wwx had an invention and it could detect blood relations he discovered he was related to wen ruhon (idk how to spell it💀💀) and so that wen dude treated him like his grandson?

FOUND? All Things Belong by kuroi_atropos (M, 93k, WRH & WWX, WangXian, WWX is a Wēn, Abuse, Whipping, Manipulations, Warning: WRH, Smart WWX, Possessive Behavior, Warning: JGS, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Past Rape/Non-con, Society Level Victim Blaming, Victim Blaming) But the blood relation invention only comes into play at the end, after Wen Ruohan already knows he's Wei Wuxian's grandfather

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18. I’m looking for a fic: it’s a modern au, LWJ and WWX are best friends who end up moving in together. They decide to start sleeping together “for convenience” and even end up getting married for tax benefits or something, but even at the end of the fic they never realize they’re in a relationship with each other. It drives JC crazy. @luliaka

FOUND! Six in one hand by deliciousblizzardshark (T, 2k, WangXian, JC & WWX, Modern, Crack Treated Seriously, Compulsory Heterosexuality, POV JC)

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19. Another fuc I want to find is a one shot I think. Wangxian. When wx captures lwj he does something so lwj for gets his life and acts like a whore to serve wwx but wwx don't agree so like pursutes lwj to run away but lwj disagrees and like I will come with u but sleep with me. So wwx agrees and they do The do . lwj and wwx go to nie clan. Lwj still doesnt remember but wwx works hard. In the end lwj gets his memories back and like so broken up. Wwx is like you can have my head for dishonor he caused but lwj is like no blah blah blah and happy ending. Will you please help me find them? @feelingsareforweak

FOUND? Mask by BurningTea (M, 30k, WangXian, Rape/Non-Con, Non con tag refers to activity between WWX and LWJ which WWX believes to be consensual, Bottom LWJ, War Prize LWJ, YLLZ WWX, Canon Divergence, dubcon) I think it matches only partially, though, but it has LWJ being captured, forgetting pretty much everything, then being "given" to WWX, angst and misunderstandings ensue before a happy ending with LWJ's memories intact once more

FOUND? ornament by iliacquer (E, 5k, WangXian, Breathplay, Extremely Dubious Consent, Alpha WWX, Omega LWJ, Implied Mpreg, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Public Sex, Public Humiliation, Exhibitionism, absolutely unhinged ooc smut, Top WWx, Bottom LWJ, Collars, Inappropriate use of resentful energy) Another one for #19 that doesn't fully fit but is also about lwj being gifted to the yllz by wrh. It's probably not the one since it doesn't involve memory loss but. In case there's any imtf for gift!lwj, this is a good one

FOUND? tumblr fic by jingyismom (rated E, warning for perceived dubcon)

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20. Hi hi! There's this fic I've been searching through my bookmarks for but I simply couldn't find it :((

The plot goes that everyone has achieved immortality, WWX, LWJ, NHS, NMJ, LXC, JYL, JC, and JZX. However, Jin Ling was born mortal despite immortal parents so WWX casted an array that transferred his immortality to Jin Ling and died in the process. NHS became a victim to the array due to JGY's machinations. WWX is then reincarnated and becomes A-Yuan's dad and grows up in an orphanage with NHS as his brother. Later on, there's a whole thing where LSZ, LJY and Ouyang Zizhen is on a field trip where a cave collapses on them ans they achieve immortality. The abovementioned immortals (other than WWX and NHS) kidnap the juniors to guide them through immortality but in doing so, forcefully separates WWX and LSZ. Jin Ling feels bad for them and helps them escape from the immortals. He meets WWX and realises that he's alive and reincarnated, that leads to everyone finding out that WWX has been reincarnated. Later on, they all get kidnapped by JGY and XY threatens to torture LSZ so WWX volunteers himself. There's a whole thing where NHS dies in his second life but that gives him back his memories of immortality, so he calls NMJ and they all plan to save them. At the end, JGY kills WWX with a gun but they are unaware that WWX is still alive and just got back his memories.

That's all I remember, sorry for the long message and thank you very much for your help!!!

FOUND! The World We Made by updatebug (T, 80k, WangXian, The Old Guard fusion, Immortals, Immortal LWJ, Angst with a Happy Ending, Reincarnation, Modern AU, The Old Guard AU, Temporary Character Death)

~*~

[fatuismooches]

Can be read as a continuation of this. Fragile reader's journey to understand all the segments continues as this time they set their eyes on none other than Webttore, who is referred to as 02 in this fic. I miss Webby, everyone. Overall, just lots of fluff.

After a few centuries-long coma, when you woke up, the hardest thing to process wasn’t that fact. It wasn’t the fact your lover, who now went by “Dottore” instead of “Zandik” was now a powerful Harbinger. It wasn’t the fact you had to deal with this illness for who knows how long (actually, this was quite hard to process, but you tried your best not to dwell on it.) Rather, it was the fact that Dottore now had copies of himself running around. And if you were to properly adjust to your new life, you absolutely had to make room for them. But that was easier said than done.

They were all Zandik, but at the same time, they felt like strangers to you. They were familiarly enigmatic as you had remembered the original one, but you weren’t sure if you were good enough to puzzle each of them out all over again… However, pursuing Zandik as a student meant that you certainly were a persistent soul, so you would try!

You had already found company in another segment, 24 to be exact. At first, you were unsurprisingly intimidated by him, with his imposing nature and stern voice. However, with a bit of courage, you were able to get to know him a bit more, outside of what you saw of him while he was working. It was a lovely experience, if you put aside how his words made your heart race, and his touch made your body ache for him.

Regardless, now that you had 24 down, it was time to broaden your horizons. It was time to put your newly found confidence to the test once again - which meant it was time for you to woo and get wooed by another one of Dottore’s segments. Which segment was it this time, one may ask? Well, it was none other than the one who donned that white and black mask, with a pink bowtie where that color too lurked in the insides of his coat, with a nature as equally as striking as his red eyes.

02 was his name. Once again, a very intriguing man. He was nothing like Prime or 24, making you quite interested in him. You still remember the few times you met him, it was nothing like the poised elegance 24 carried. He was rough and more outwardly eccentric, yet it was equally as alluring. You wanted to know more. And learn more you shall.

Unfortunately, you did not see much of him in the main lab, as he preferred to stay in his own one far more. So you would need to make the trip there. In fact, you were so prepared that you had walked to the area of his lab numerous times and came back so you wouldn’t get lost this time. However, in all honesty, you had no idea what you were even going to say or do, but you just hoped the situation would flow as smoothly as it did with 24. 

As you got closer to the doors of 02’s lab, your pace slowed and your heartbeat quicked as you realized the door was slightly ajar. This was a good chance to simply… observe the segment. Even though you previously had confidence, the idea of knocking on 02’s door made you anxious still. Carefully, you tip-toed and peeked into the room, biting your lip in anticipation.

It was a very large space, really spacious actually, and yet so much of it was filled with many things. There were numerous desks and tables that had a variety of parts and stacks of papers, not to mention there weren’t just Ruin Machines and the sort either. You could see some dissembled robots that you swore had glowing eyes. Strange. But interesting. Not to mention the size of some of them - you really don’t remember Ruin Guards being so large four hundred years ago… could perhaps these be ones 02 created himself? You were fascinated. Of course, you were no stranger to Zandik’s fascination with Khaenri’ahn machines. You often accompanied him on his unauthorized expeditions to examine them further back in the Akademiya.

Speaking of, 02 himself was standing in front of them, the height and size difference being laughable. His coat had been thrown over a chair, and he was simply wearing a vest with a white shirt, his sleeves rolled up with his gloves still on. Very attractive, you had to admit, but that was beside the point. You could see he was mumbling to himself, impatiently tapping the table next to him that had various tools on it, when his expression abruptly changed. A smile appeared on his face as he began to laugh and then mumble under his breath more excitedly. Perhaps he had a breakthrough? You wished to know what went through his mind.

Eagerly, you leaned forward to try and hear more but simultaneously forgot the situation you were in right now - pretty much spying on him. Unfortunately, you did not account for the uncomfortably loud groaning that came from the door when you only slightly pushed on it.

Oops. Why did these things always happen to you? There was truly no backing out now, from the way 02’s laughter immediately stopped as his red eyes glanced behind him, an irritated frown in place of his previous smile.

“Who-” 02 turned around to face the intruder who would be so stupid as to interrupt him, but his expression changed once again when he realized this was no ordinary intruder, it was you. “It is you. You are here.” There was not a grin or a frown on the segment’s face, rather, he seemed surprised yet intrigued at the same time. You sweated as he began to walk towards you.

“Yes, yes, it is me, [Name]. I am here,” you smiled, as you were forced to step out from behind your protection of the lab’s door. “I wanted to… visit you! It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, so you know, just wanted to check up on you and all,” you said with a rather awkward chuckle. Why did you always seem to have a loss of words during the beginning while talking to these men? 02 continued to look at you unmovingly with those lovely eyes of his. You cleared your throat as you took a few steps further into the room.

“Anyway, I must say that I am quite captivated by this… research of yours. I have never seen such a variety of machines before,” you stated genuinely, another smile etching its way onto your lips. It was then you realized that 02 had gotten closer to you, practically standing side by side merely looking at you, as if silently beckoning you to continue. That stare of his… it was quite cute.

“That one for example,” you pointed to the one the segment was previously preoccupied with, “it’s far larger than any machine I remember from back then. Is it-”

“RG-271.” You blinked at 02’s interruption. “That machine’s name,” he clarified. “Experiment RG-271.”

“I-I see. Is there any particular reason that- oh!” 

“Come.” Once again, before you could finish, the segment grabbed your arm and began to pull you to where he once stood with glee that could not be mistaken. You tried to ignore the slight heat creeping up your neck.

You hadn’t really given the segments the time of day yet, still clinging to Prime Dottore and being nervous around the clones, so to have you here so closely, of your own volition too, was an unexpected yet extremely welcomed course of events for 02. Oh, he knew you would never disappoint him, and of course, the segment was going to reap the rewards of this situation. 

“As I was saying, did you make some of these machines yourself?” 02 presented you with a wide grin, and you could see his pointy teeth on full display.

“Indeed I have. Simply experimenting on the old ones gets boring at times, and I too wish to surpass this ancient technology.” Before you could respond, he suddenly began to dig in a rather overcrowded box of many parts, some of which you recognized and some you didn’t. The collection of Chaos Oculus and Cores brought back fond memories, but these ones seem a bit different from usual. Enhanced by the segment, perhaps?

Regardless, before long he had gathered numerous ones and you had quickly realized that he was really going to explain to you in-depth about every part of this machine. Of course, you had no protest to this. For one, you were interested, and 02 looked so happy to go on and on about his research. Did he have no one else to tell this to? Actually, you don’t know why you asked that, of course he didn’t. (Thankfully, he had a stool for you to sit on, for your poor legs wouldn’t be able to hold you for the length of time he would talk.)

However, his animatedness quickly came and went as he then clicked his tongue in annoyance. “Though, I had yet to make them work. Unfortunately, they cannot move around as authentic machines can,” 02 said in disappointment. You couldn’t help but chuckle.

“I would not worry too much. You are smart enough to figure it out in due time.” The praise naturally left your lips because, well, you wholeheartedly believed it. 02 seemed to enjoy your compliment. It was amusing how you could read his feelings so easily despite that mask of his. Although you wondered if he was like this right now solely because of you.

“I shall.” You gently smiled at him again as he began to tidy up the mess he just made (although the end result certainly wasn’t anything to applaud.) But 02 wasn’t going to let you go yet.

“Would you like to see one in action?”

“You mean, see a Ruin Guard… move? In here? But isn’t that dangerous?” You were having flashbacks to the time you had to fend off a few because Zandik had decided to be a bit too eager in his research. 02 looked to be unconcerned at your worry.

“Worry not. I have control over them.” He took pride in your glittering admiring eyes, pulling you off your seat and leading you over to the other side of his lab. 02 then began to inspect the line of Ruin Guards against the wall, before then snapping his fingers.

“RG-134. Perfect.” You watched as he then began to tinker with it, not really knowing what was going on, but content to watch. But there was not much to watch as he finished quickly, and suddenly the machine stirred to life, the familiar blinking of yellow light signaling its awakening. Instinctively, you took a few steps back, heart racing from the machine that now loomed over you, but 02 pulled you closer.

“Do not be afraid. It will hinder you. Is this not a great opportunity?” You swallowed nervously, but you trusted him anyway. You took some careful steps toward the Ruin Guard, and it paid you no mind as you began to feel the machinery on the pads of your fingers.

“Huh… it really is docile. How did-” Your words were mostly drowned out by the creaking of the Ruin Guard’s leg lowering so that its hand was leveled with your body. You looked at 02 for help, but he motioned for you to go on.

“You want me to get on it? It’s going to be too high up!”

“Do you think I will let it drop you?” 02 seemed amused at your predicament. You pouted - it did seem really cool to have a ride on a Ruin Guard’s hand, but you were still a bit scared, so you placed your hand out.

“Come with me, then.” The segment’s eyes widened, probably not expecting your request, but he agreed with uncharacteristic silence. Thankfully, the machine’s palm was big enough to fit both of you, but your shoulder still brushed with 02’s. And then with some more creaks, you two were suddenly lifted into the air. You couldn’t help but quickly grab his arm as you watched the floor get more and more distant, but 02 seemed as if this didn’t bother him at all.

“Relax. You of all people should know how to enjoy this.” His words weren’t exactly comforting but they still served to help calm yourself. He was right - once you got rid of your fear, it was… super cool.

“Yes, you’re right. Thank you for this,” you giggled, as the machine slowly stomped around, careful to avoid any obstacles. 02 ignored how captivating you looked right now and looked away from the sight.

“I could also show you my Ruin Drakes if-” Before he could finish, the segment felt something soft brush against his cheek. Your lips to be exact, and before he could say or do anything, it ended.

“That does sound lovely, but…” you tried to stifle a yawn, “I am rather tired. I think I need a nap…” That stare you had gotten used to was back on you again, but you ignored it in order to quell your embarrassment. (You did not go for his lips because you were a bit shy to do that so early on, but also because that silly mask of his covered nearly half of his mouth. Good thing you were sitting on the side where his cheek was exposed…)

“I see. Then I suppose I will be seeing more of you, then?” For now, he had to resist the urge to sink his teeth into you after that little stunt of yours. Only for now, however.

“I would like that.”

“Excellent.” Soon enough, you were back on the ground again, but you did not want to return to your room.

“02, can I sleep here?”

“Here?” He cocked his head to the side. “I will not stop you, however, I cannot promise you it will be quiet.” You laughed at his response. It was different from 24’s strict one.

“Not to worry. I believe I will fall asleep anyway,” you hummed as you made yourself cozy on a rather uncomfortable couch (that was already very out of place here). “Mhm… good night, 02.” You did not receive any response, but you were happy.

… But then you remembered something.

“Wait! Wait, I forgot the most important question of all!” 02 turned back with a questioning look.

“Yes?” You passionately placed your hand on your chest as you then spoke.

“You need to show me those flying pointy beaming things of yours. I have never seen a weapon quite like it.”

“...”

From the day he came into this world as 02, to the day you named him to live and die as Beta, he will love you.

[cheshireliam]

"Once Again, An Evil From Which You Cannot Return" Story Event: Liam Evans & Harrison Gray (Liam's END)

This is a fan-made translation solely for entertainment purposes with no guaranteed perfection; expect mistakes, grammatical errors, and some creative liberties. All original content and media used belongs to Cybird. Please support the game by buying their stories and playing their games. Reblogs appreciated.

Read this before interacting

T/N: A word of caution before you proceed? You might want to prepare a box of tissues, especially those who have read Liam's main story route.

(I’ll try talking to Liam again.) 

After several days of mulling it over, I decided to pay a visit to Liam’s room. However,— 

His room was empty. Liam was nowhere in sight. 

…

(He’s not in the dining hall or drawing room either. Did he head out somewhere…?)

That thought lingered in the back of my mind, but my heart was racing like it was urging me to hurry up and find him. 

(Why does it… make me this anxious when I can’t find Liam?) 

Just as I took another step forward, driven by the uneasiness, I was hit so hard by a dizzy spell that I nearly lost my balance. 

(Ugh…) 

An image of a tall tower flashed across my mind.

(— I… I know that place…) 

… 

I ran where my feet took me, and eventually arrived at what looked like an abandoned belfry. 

(This is the place that appeared in my mind earlier…) 

When I looked up at the top of the tower, I saw something that resembled a human figure… 

(That’s—) 

Kate: LIAM…! 

…

I rushed toward the building and sprinted up the spiral staircase. 

(... I… I’ve done this before…)

I struggled to catch my breath, my chest hurt and my legs wobbled. 

(Climbing to the top of a tower while thinking of Liam all the while…—)

…

Kate: … LIAM! 

The walls, crumbling due to age, formed a hole in the stone. 

There stood Liam, silently, at the edge. 

Liam: Kate!? What are you doing here? 

Kate: S-stay where you are! Don’t move a single step! I’m coming over! 

I carefully made my way across the unstable pathway that didn't even have a railing.

Kate: … Whoa— 

Liam: Kate! 

Right as the wind nearly caused me to lose my balance, Liam reached out and pulled me into his arms.

Wrapped in his warmth, my heart finally started to calm down. 

I threw my arms around his back and hugged him tightly. 

Kate: I’m so glad you’re safe, Liam… 

Kate: Every step I took up those stairs, the same fear and anxiety from back then came rushing back… I was so, so terrified! 

Liam: Back then…? Kate! You remembered? 

Kate: … Yes. Back then, that was when I realised I loved you so much that I couldn't bear the thought of losing you forever. 

Kate: I remember everything we’ve been through together, Liam. Everything. 

Liam: … 

At that moment, a flood of emotions washed over me. 

From the warmth of his arms holding me tight, to the beating of his heart against mine, and his trembling breath against my cheek— I could feel everything he was feeling. 

Kate: Liam… your hands… they’re shaking… 

Seeing Liam hold onto me like a child clinging on for safety stirred a powerful urge to protect him. 

Liam: Even after you lost your memories and forgotten everything, I’m still your lover. 

Liam: So I thought, I had to stay by your side. … But when I was all alone, awful thoughts kept accumulating. 

Liam: What if things remained this way? What did you never remember who I am?

Liam: What if, in the end, you fall in love with another man?

Kate: Another man?

Liam: I’ve always thought it’s a miracle that you fell in love with me in the first place. 

Liam: All the things we went through were what brought us together, and those same things will never happen again. 

Liam: This love won’t happen again. 

Liam: I thought that you’d never fall in love with me for a second time if your memories remained missing… and that scared me. 

Liam: But more than anything, I hated myself for not being able to believe in you. 

Liam: —... I wasn’t going to jump.

Kate: Huh? 

Liam: I came to this very spot where you once threw yourself off to save me and told me that you loved me… to make a promise. 

Liam: Just like how you grabbed onto my hand that day and said you’d never let go…

Liam: This time, I’ll be the one to never let you go. I won’t ever… give up on us. 

His voice, strained and trembling, bore the full weight of his emotions…. 

The tears welling up at the corners of his eyes felt so precious to me, and I gently pressed my lips to his. 

Kate: You said it was a miracle that I fell in love with you, but I don't think so at all.

Liam: Huh?

Kate: No matter how many times I were to lose my memories, no matter what happens, I will always fall in love with you again. 

Liam: How can you be so sure?

Kate: Because I believe that our love, that can last through all sorts of hardships… is fated. 

Liam’s eyes glistened like dewdrops on rose petals, and then large beads of tears started to fall. 

Liam: … ggh… *sniffle*

Kate: Liam…

Liam: … Sorry… I- I didn't mean to cry, but… I can't stop. 

Liam: I’m just so happy, so relieved, and I love you so much that it physically hurts. 

Liam: Because you're the only one who knows what exactly I need to hear, Kate… 

With his trembling lips, Liam captured mine in an intense kiss. 

(I’m here for you, and to love the version of you that so badly just wants to be loved.) 

While returning the kiss that tasted like tears, I continued stroking his hair tenderly. 

[hollenka99]

One thing I really love about Detective Beebo is how the timeloops are, for lack of a better word, dynamic. Nothing stays exactly the same except for the location of the mansion and the 10 characters present on the property.

It means Ángel can only warn Oliver so much. Because sure, don't mess with paintings so Eugene Coli can't stab anyone in the clock room. Maybe don't head for the tower because you could fall despite the railings. Ollie, for the love of god, stop wandering off and giving Coli opportunities to ambush you, just stay close to me where I can protect you instead. Ángel can try to keep his friend safe but there will always be things that have changed.

The main reason for this is of course Coli. By having the antagonist be aware of the loops, even be in control of when a loop ends, it means no two loops will ever be the same. It's like how he takes the keys from the aquarium in Round 2 so it's harder for Oliver to get ahold of them. He is frequently waiting in the shadows. He noticed a handful of people were up on the balcony so he set off the bomb there. Oliver went into the shed when he was presumably nearby so he was able to kill Owen then ambush Oliver, hiding the photobook again.

It reminds me a bit of Edge of the 17th by friight (Spoiler warning since they are kinda unavoidable for what I want to say). In the fic, it is revealed that the antagonist, Dream, remembers the loops too and as such, is working directly against Wilbur's efforts to make the events of the day end with minimal casualties. But of course, with each loop, that's another method of stopping Dream that can't really be used again because Dream knows, he remembers and is able to think of ways to counter Wilbur.

The events within the House of Vera aren't particularly akin to this but the sentiment does stand. Coli knows everyone but Ángel is oblivious to what's going on. He can ambush them with axes or detonate a bomb when a small group is in an opportunistic place. Who cares that one of his targets was outside having a smoke at 8pm? It just means he has to be careful not to permanently kill Ángel but as shown by Oliver's death at the end of Round 3, that's something Coli has to keep in mind for all of them.

Compare this to a static timeloop narrative like In Stars And Time or Groundhog Day where everything is exactly the same every loop, only the protagonist is able to change things. This works well for something like ISAT because it's not actually about beating the King like Siffrin originally believes. It's about how their own insecurities are holding them back and literally making them unable to move on with their life. These types of timeloops also lend themselves to higher loop quantities (I think my Siffrin looped 70-80 times and there are literally articles estimating how many years Phil Connors was stuck in Punxsutawney), as opposed to Detective Beebo where they only loop what, 5-6 times depending on the ending? Which I'd say is typical of the shorter nature of dynamic loops in my opinion.

I would argue Detective Beebo would suffer as a narrative if it had a static timeloop. For one thing, Coli's plan falls apart if he can't remember the previous loops and I doubt he'd ever be satisfied if every time he killed his victims was the first time for him. Even if he was the only one to remember until the end, Ángel being another driving force in the plot would be missing. Just because he fails to save Oliver's (or for that matter anyone else's) life for most of the loops doesn't mean he's not using his consistent memory to help Oliver get closer to the answers. And besides, someone needs to be able to remember or else everyone's just looping endlessly.

Anyway, hell yeah to dynamic timeloops. There should be more of them because they're really fun.

[padfootagain]

We’ll figure it all out

Hi!! Answering a request from an anon here!

Hope you like it! It’s kind of bitter sweet. Tell me what you think!

****

Pairing: Hozier x fem! Reader

Warning: angst, hurt/comfort

Summary: You think about the risk of your relationship with Andrew becoming known by the public, and start panicking. Will Andrew manage to soothe you enough to save your relationship?

Word Count: 2047

Hozier’s Masterlist – Main Masterlist

You love him, you really do.

You watch him now, reading in his armchair, by the fire, in his living room. It’s warm, comfortable, domestic, this sight that reveals itself to your eyes. He’s focused, a small frown digging a crease between his brow. He’s been reading Joyce again lately. A story of leaving home, to become someone. The weight of being an individual. Changing. Becoming.

He looks up now, he felt your gaze upon him, insistent and not quite fond. Or rather… it was fond, but not just that. Fond and scared. Yes, when he looks up and catches your eyes, he reads fear in them, and his frown deepens. He doesn’t understand why…

“You’re alright, love?”

You shake yourself, emerging from a daydream. From a scenario your brain keeps on playing. It’s all because of the world outside this house, it’s nothing to do with Andrew, with the love you share with him. And yet…

He tilts his head in a silent question. It hurts. It breaks all of your defences.

You’ve seen another example on twitter and Instagram. You’ve seen the harassment towards someone who hadn’t done anything wrong. She just fell in love with an actor. Someone famous right now, you can’t even remember who. All you can think of is the pain in her eyes as she asked people to leave her alone, the poison in the words commented under each of her posts. You can’t understand it. You physically cannot. Your brain doesn’t have that ability. Why some people think it’s okay to send hatred to a stranger on the internet, a stranger who’s never done anything to hurt them?

Because they’re jealous and full of hatred.

That’s the logical explanation. It doesn’t make the pain easier to carry, the fear disappear.

“Honey? What’s wrong?”

You stare at his hazel eyes, think of how they’re caught in crossfire. How Andrew doesn’t deserve this, but you’re too scared not to act. You can’t ignore it, the banging on your heart, the pain through your skull…

You walk over to him, and he closes his book after nestling a bookmark between the pages. It’s a picture of the two of you, he carries it everywhere. From your first anniversary, last year. When things were obviously serious and yet they were simple too. No pressure. We’ll figure it out as we go. We’ll find something. Hey, we don’t even know where we’re heading, so why worry about what others think? We’ll keep this to ourselves, and it’ll be fine. That’s what he said by then. But a year has flown by, and now you live with him, and everything has changed.

The corners of the polaroid are bent and wrinkled, but your smiles on the picture are unwavering. A moment caught in time. A moment that passed.

He offers you his hand, and you take it. You don’t have a choice, that’s how it always is with him. You can’t resist, you can’t take a logical decision. Not when you love him so deeply.

“I know there’s something off, lately,” he speaks in measured words, in a calm tone, careful not to scare you. “Tell me what it is. Maybe I can help?”

Help? He can’t help. If the world learns about the two of you, you’ll get harassed like everyone else, and there’s nothing he’ll be able to do to stop it. And you’re terrified. You didn’t sign up for this. You signed up for Andrew. You signed up for the lad who blushed and stumbled on his words the first time he spoke to you. For the charm in his bright smile, and the warmth in his voice, and the gentleness in his fingers. You signed up for a man who is kind, smart, and funny in a kind of weird way. You signed up for afternoons spent reading with Andrew by the fire and drinking tea. You had to sign up for the long absences too, the phone calls in the middle of the night, the conversations spoken in a hurry. You had to sign up for hands refraining from reaching and holding in public, for kisses hidden, for lies to be heard in interviews. And it was okay. He was worth it, all of it.

But this… insane hatred? The thought that you could be the next victim on that list, it was making you question everything.

Was Andrew worth that, too? The pain, the violence, the tidal wave?

He pulls you closer, until you’re standing between his legs. On his nose, his glasses are a little crooked when he looks up, and you straighten them without thinking.

“I’m worried,” you admit.

“About what?”

“Us.”

Your answer is more direct than what he expected, shorter as well, and more painful. A dagger straight to his heart.

Us?

“What about us? What’s wrong about us?” he questions, his tone urgent and too revealing to his liking.

You trail your fingertips down the side of his cheek, lost in thoughts, it would seem. Then you cup his jaw, holding him in the palm of your hand.

“Nothing’s wrong about us, but…”

You pull away, take a step back, slip between his fingers, and Andrew’s too aware of how fragile his happiness is now.

He looks for what you’re going to say next in your eyes, but you hide them from him, averting your gaze towards the floor. You’re fleeing, he can see all your pieces folding over themselves. He can feel the wall that you build through the room…

He reaches out anyway, takes your hand, stops you from moving further, so you won’t leave for good, so the gap between you and him will not become insurmountable.

He’s noticed lately, how you spend a lot of time on your phone, how you zone out sometimes, how you sit just a little further from him on the couch in the evening, how you cling onto him almost desperately at night.

He’s been too afraid to ask before. Andrew is beyond worried. He’s freaking terrified. Maybe you have someone else, maybe you’ve realised his lifestyle is unbearable, maybe you don’t love him anymore…

“Baby…”

Your voice is shaking as you speak, but he doesn’t let go. Instead, he gets up, takes a step closer, lets out a shaky breath out of relief when you don’t move away again.

He’s still baby, it has to mean something, right? He never wants to be anything for you but baby, love, honey, darling… He doesn’t want to be back to Andy, doesn’t want the stranger that Andrew has become on your lips.

He takes both of your hands now, holds them tight, clings onto them like hope.

“I know something’s off with you. I’ve been feeling it, lately,” he speaks softly, his voice fragile and deep. “If you tell me what it is, I’ll fix it. Did I do something wrong?”

But you shake your head.

“Christ, love… no, it’s not you. You’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Why are you acting weird, then? Why are you sad? Why are you saying there’s something wrong about us?”

“There’s nothing wrong about our relationship, I’m just… I don’t know…”

You heave a sigh, look up at him again, at last.

“I’m freaking out.”

“About what?”

“About… your fans.”

He frowns, taken aback. He knows what you mean, though, he’s far from stupid. Still, he doesn’t know what to say now.

“Did… did someone harass you? Did people online harass you?”

“No… no, they haven’t. I don’t reckon that anyone knows about you and me.”

He heaves a relieved sigh, but your gaze only saddens.

“But what will happen when they find out? When the world finds out? When I can’t go online anymore because I keep receiving hate and threats? When I can’t live my life as normal because of your career?”

You don’t like the accusation you throw at him, the way you say it’s his fault, when it isn’t. But then it’s not yours either, then who’s to blame?

He clenches his jaw.

“We can figure things out. No one knows for now, we’re not there yet…”

“No, not yet. But eventually, we will… and what then? What will happen then? What’s the plan? What will you do about it? And what if… what if I’m not ready to brace against that earthquake? What if I can’t cope with it? What if I don’t want to have to cope with it?”

He searches through your stare for a glimmer of hope, but he only finds doubt, and his heart drops.

He can’t say it. What will happen if you don’t want to choose him. He can’t say it out loud. And if you do speak those words, he knows that the proper thing to do is to take it in, to accept it. It’s your choice. It’s a lot to ask to another person, and you’re right, he won’t be able to do much about all of this shitshow if it comes to that, he would understand if you wanted to leave. What he should do then is try to make you weigh the pros and the cons, argue with you and try to find a solution, and then let you go with dignity if you decide he’s not worth that risk.

But he knows what he will actually do if you say it out loud. He’ll panic. He’ll start crying. He’ll beg. He’ll throw all self-respect out the window and will do anything to make you stay. He’ll drop to his knees if he has to, he doesn’t care, doesn’t give a shit about his ego…

You’re pulling your hands out of his grasp, but he tightens his hold. He can’t let you go…

If you don’t want to cope with it…

… then you’ll break up with me.

“Y/N… we can find a way out of this.”

“There’s no solution! If people find out, they’ll get crazy and I’m terrified of the violence that could come my way! But what’s the other option? Hiding forever? One day or another, people are going to put two plus two together…”

“We’ll face that storm together.”

“I don’t think I’m strong enough for that.”

“Of course, you are. We’ll just go offline while it soothes down…”

“What if it doesn’t…”

“It will. It’s just stupid people talking shit. They’ll lose interest.”

“After dissecting my entire life!”

He blinks, not quite ready to admit defeat, but there’s no answer to be given to your doubts, no reassurance to your fear.

“All I can do is promise you that I’ll do anything I can to protect you. That I’ll be here, by your side. That we’ll go through this together. I can’t control what people do…”

“I know.”

“You… you have to be the one to decide whether or not I’m worth enduring this. I can’t choose that for you.”

You start crying then, and Andrew knows he’s not far behind, feeling the prickling of tears at the corner of his eyes.

“I’ll make it worth it… I’ll do anything to make it worth it,” he adds, his voice pleading already.

One word, and he’ll fall to his knees…

But you shake your head, and whisper something about all this being wrong. The next second you’re in his arms, holding him so tight he can barely breathe.

“I’m sorry, I’m freaking out,” you whisper.

“It’s alright. Just… please, stay. We can survive this. I know we can. I love you so fucking much…”

“I love you, too.”

“Please, don’t leave me…”

You shake your head, hold him even tighter.

“I don’t want to. I love you.”

He closes his eyes in relief, holds you tight.

“For now, we can keep a low profile. We can still keep this to ourselves, protect our privacy. You know I won’t give anyone details about us…”

“I know…”

“And if things come out, we’ll figure something out. We’ll have to. We’ll have to, because I love you too much to lose you.”

You’re still scared when you nod, but Andrew’s right. You don’t have a choice. You’ll have to cross that bridge when you come to it. Because you love him too much for anything else to be possible.

“I love you too, baby.”

[jcollinswrites]

I just can't stop smiling at Narmer's manner. When he was extremely direct about whether we were interested in him or not, my poor male MC was about to throw himself in the water XD

I just love the fact that Narmer is straightforward about things, it makes my shy MC's life so much easier. Sure, he turns red like a tomato but it makes it easier to avoid paranoia.

I've lost count of how many times I've been frustrated with a RO because he just wasn't direct about his feelings. Like, man, it's not that hard. Just tell me if you're interested or not. Luckily with Narmer I don't run that risk

And I also don't intend to judge his relationship with his wife or anything like that. I just don't like to judge a person based only on part of a conversation I heard and I don't even know the whole context. So suffering on my route? I'll be dodging as much as I can Imao.

Also, from what I understand, he is not officially married to his supposed wife, or is he? Considering that apparently no one knows about this woman except those closest to him or maybe Ahmose if he talks about his mother. I confess that I was a little confused in this part but it's probably because English isn't my first language and sometimes my mind just freezes haha. So I didn't understand if he wasn't officially married or the MC simply didn't know this information.

If that were the case, would we be able to marry him or would we be something like a concubine or something?

If he wasn't, and it was possible to marry him, what would your reaction be if the MC left a ring in your room surrounded by flowers with a little card:

Will you marry me?

( ) Absolutely

( ) Of course

( ) Yes

( ) No (Optional)

While hiding behind the door watching your reaction?

⁄⁠(⁠⁄⁠ ⁠⁄⁠•⁠⁄⁠-⁠⁄⁠•⁠⁄⁠ ⁠⁄⁠)⁠⁄

Anyway, I love your IF please never stop with it 🥹💕 I've never smiled as much with a character as I am smiling right now! I can't wait for the next update. As far as I remember, this is the one where we blocked the route, right? Please Narmer, give me more kisses on the forehead and your hand in marriage 🥹🫴

(I got a little carried away and it got bigger than it should have, sorry XD)

Yes, Narmer wanted to be very straightforward in letting the MC know that he is not uninterested, but it's going to be hard to be in any sort of relationship with him for many reasons. So he (and the partner) are either all in, or no deal.

The wife business was probably confusing because I didn't write in detail yet about the king's marriage rights. This will be explained a bit more in Narmer's route, so things will get clearer later if you choose his romance.

The king is the only person in the country who can have more than one spouse. Narmer is officially married to Nefru, but being married to the king doesn't automatically make someone a queen consort. The king has to give out that title. So Nefru is a consort, but she is not the main consort, and was not given any title, nor does he go anywhere with her in public, so that's why most people don't know about her. Simply for being married to the king, her official rank is princess.

Narmer could technically marry anyone else he wishes without getting a divorce. He can also make anyone else his queen consort. It's his right. (for a male MC, Narmer will figure out another title)

It will be possible to marry him, if you manage to reach at least a neutral ending with him. In the scenario you mentioned, Narmer would smile and say, "Let's not get the word out that you were the one who asked me and not the other way around, but... yes, I've been thinking about it too."

Thanks for the sweet message 🥰 The romance lock-in choice will come in the next public update (probably in a few weeks I think), so not long to wait now :)))

[bigtreefest]

Chapter 1: The President’s Son

From: Guardian Angel Series

Pairing: (future) Mafia! Stucky x Bodyguard! Reader

Summary: A longtime client snubs you, causing you to leave the life you know

Word Count: 3,629

Content/Warnings: swears, patriarchy, weaponized incompetence, borderline mansplaining, yelling, fighting, mentions of nose picking, misogyny, secrets, explosions, mentions of weapons, strong female characters, no Steve or Bucky yet

A/N: Okay, here’s the start of something long-anticipated by me. I hope you enjoy! Your feedback is greatly appreciated, can’t wait to hear what you guys think!

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

Main Masterlist | Series Masterlist | Next >

You stood in the back of the banquet hall, eyes surveying the room like they did any other, as you tried to appear as nonchalant waitstaff for the function. That was your specialty: blending in to the background, and you were damn good at it. Tonight’s job was to do so as your were protecting the most important individuals entrusted to you: the First Lady and her son.

You moved with ease throughout the evening, keeping mobile with your head on a swivel, eyes never leaving your two clients for more than a couple seconds. After a cocktail hour, everyone had sat down for dinner and a round of awards and speeches, leaving you here for a relatively easy period.

You didn’t work alone, no. You were here as part of a group. Part of a company, actually, and it belonged to your father. He ran a security conglomerate which focused heavily on government contracting, ranging from secret service duties, to vehicle brigades, to protection and procurement of goods, virtual and physical, and you knew every single part of it. You loved your job, and you loved working with your dad. For as long as you could remember, you would spend all of your free time in his office with him as he went through schedules, and escape plans, and all sorts of strategies to keep his patrons and their assets safe. You were always flitting around, learning new things, earning you the nickname ‘tweety bird’ from him, which correlated to your codename Redwing.

You’d picked it all up so easily, you were a natural, which earned you your first presidential-adjacent gig much younger than anyone else around. Sure, it started as you going to school and posing as another student to protect the president’s son, even thought you were a few years out already, which wasn’t necessarily glamorous, since you were meant to fly under the radar, but it was an independent job. One that was coming to a close, though, as this was your eighth year of doing the same. Soon, the president would be out of office, and the security detail on his family would be greatly reduced, likely no longer requiring your services.

Even as you let your mind wander, blocking out the droning speeches and rich people backstories, you remained on high alert. If anything bad was going to happen, you had a feeling it would be at an event like this one. An event where everyone had their guard down because it was for a universally agreeable good cause. But for some reason, heading into it tonight, something was churning in your gut.

After not being able to ignore the way your stomach twisted and turned, you had gone to speak to your father about tonight, requesting backup in addition to your other two friends, Natasha and Daisy, who often accompanied you to guard shifts associated with larger crowds.

Usually he was on the same page as you, but lately, your requests had been met with more protest, likely due to your little brother’s input buzzing in your father’s ear.

Your brother, Dylan, had just freshly turned eighteen, and with it came more responsibility in the agency. For being so much younger than you, your father was giving him mountains of control, including this event of your two most important clients. With your request of a team came the the caveat that your brother would be leading it.

Dylan was, to put it nicely, an oaf? Incapable of performing a task without crashing and burning, which made your blood boil. Probably from the fires he created and you subsequently had to put out. You had no room to complain, though, as your father dismissed you from his office.

So Dylan ‘led’ your team this evening, packed with his twerp friends who were more capable, but just as reckless as him. They’d listen to some of your orders, but not without the confirmation of your brother, who knew better enough sometimes to listen to your input.

You let him think he was in the lead tonight, executing a plan you had essentially spoon fed to him in your meetings leading up to the event. There were several backup plans and exit strategies that had their own code names, made by you, of course. All Dylan, or ‘The Chief,’ as he liked to go as over coms, had to do was keep an eye out on the cameras for any suspicious activity around the venue, and be prepared to drive away if he called for extraction due to suspicious activity. That was it. You and your two trusty companions would take control of everything inside the banquet, while two of Dylan’s friends surveilled the outside. Should be easy, right?

Dylan had been instructed to give an update through your earpiece every three minutes, on any action seen in the camera footage. Every time he did, though, it was accompanied by music blasting in the car, and the increments kept getting further and further apart. Almost like he was forgetting about his responsibilities and the importance of this event on your shoulders, should something go wrong. You rolled your eyes and kept a watch of the room. If you had such little backup, it was on you now to do this job, without the team you had specifically requested.

Dylan’s friends seemed to go quiet, too, which you were hoping wasn’t due to capture or something worse, but when you heard conversation about a fantasy football draft in your ear, you knew they were at least alive, although not helpful at all.

You were sick of running blind, though, so you casually made it look like your were scratching your ear and turned away from the crowd.

“Chief, status report.” Nothing. You waited thirty seconds. Silence.

You turned back to the room, the gnawing feeling in your stomach growing as you looked out at the crowd. Natasha, code name Widow, was making her way around with a tray of champagne flutes. Daisy, codename Blossom, sat in a vent somewhere, watching from above and monitoring everyone’s trackers. The three of you sighed and continued on, hoping this night wouldn’t be every eventful, but that’s never how life goes, is it?

“Blossom, report on coms. Is everything working?”

You waited a second for the response.

“All is good, Redwing. It’s a human, not technology error.”

You rolled your eyes for the thousandth time that night, but were pulled out of your annoyance by a searing sound. In the next moment, just as you were about to ask for any other possible news from Daisy, a crackling took over your ear.

You fought the urge to wince and draw attention to yourself. It was probably Dylan finally getting back to you, but the voice that came through was one you’d never heard before. It was low and urgent.

“Get them out of there.”

You couldn’t help the way your eyes went wide and you whisper yelled, turning into the fake plant you found yourself nearby.

“Who is this? This is a secure line! What’s going on?”

You were surprised by the warning firmness of the speaker, it was menacing, who did this person think they were? Was that a threat?

“This is Bootleg. Your clients are in danger. What’s about to happen isn’t meant for them. Find a way to get them to leave.”

You sighed and nodded, although the disembodied voice named ‘Bootleg’ wasn’t reassuring. You knew to never turn down a tip, though. You weren’t going to risk it with clients like this. So you let out a sigh and made eye contact with Nat across the room.

“Execute plan beta sixteen alpha.”

She gave you a curt nod and increased her pace in a way only someone with your type of training could pick up. She was circling to make her movements seem undetectable, but she was ultimately going towards the First Lady and her son. Nat tripped, spilling the tray of champagne on their laps, causing them to gasp and look down. You could tell they were ready to yell, but they looked to your face and you nodded, signaling them to get up, brushing away anyone with apologies or offers for help, saying they were just going to clean up. The rest of the rich party goers didn’t pay it a second thought besides whispers of clumsy waitstaff. It’s not like they would bother to remember the face of one of them, though, and were too busy watching a fumbling Nat to see your approach to take your clients out of the venue. You did your best to move slowly to the same exit as them, and as soon as your bodies were behind the closed ballroom door, you were rushing them towards the back service door to get in Dylan’s getaway vehicle.

You ducked their heads under your arms as you rushed them out, and shoved them into the back of the town car, only giving a quick, breathless word to your clients and your brother.

“Take them home, Dyl. Fast. Don’t let yourself get tracked. I’ll take the decoy car. Go, now!”

He nodded like a bobble head, shifting the car in gear and peeling out of the lot as you jogged over to the other vehicle where Daisy and Nat were already waiting in the front seat for you. They moved fast.

You hopped in, Daisy expertly backing out until she hit the street. Just as she put it in drive, you flinched at a sudden noise and looked out the back window to where an explosion happened in front of the venue and soldiers dressed in all black rushed in through the cloud of smoke. This would definitely hit the news tomorrow, but you were sure your father would commend you for the safe delivery of two of his most important packages.

Daisy and Nat had been by your side for as long a you could remember. When you were in elementary school, you remembered a brooding girl sitting at the end of the lunch table, arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed, with the angriest pout you’d ever seen. You walked over and plopped down with your tray.

“Hi.”

She looked up from her meal and to your smile and simply gave a blink of acknowledgment, face unchanging.

“Are you okay? Something wrong with your lunch?”

She shook her head and took a deep breath, sitting up to eat a tater tot.

“No. Something’s wrong with my shirt.”

You tilted your head to the side. “What about it? I think it’s beautiful. I love Daisies.”

She shrugged and continued to pick through her food. “Yeah, I guess they’re alright. But my mom forced me to wear this. I had a plain black shirt picked out and she gave me this. I don’t wanna wear daisies.”

You giggled and looked down at the plain black shirt on your body. “Trade?”

For the first time, you watched the corner of her lip reach a smile, your new friend who would soon earn the shirt flower as a nickname. That little grin was huge compared to the tight line her lip previously held. That was the start of a bunch of mini smirks and teamwork.

Nat had been around since you were in diapers. Her parents had worked for your father’s organization their entire lives, so when they passed as she was in her teens, your family took her in.

She was always incredibly smart, her wit challenging you and Daisy, but the two of you would hit her right back. The timeline of her moving in with you, too, was a few years before the presidential gig started, but she rose through the ranks with you, through every single job, the two of you bringing Daisy on board who caught on quickly. Your grouping was nearly unrivaled. Nearly.

Daisy and Nat physically stood by your sides as the three of you looked on to your father talking on a podium. Your best suits were pressed and tailored perfectly for the special occasion. It was his retirement party in your family’s backyard garden where he was noting the successes of the company under him, including the recent incident from which the two important clients had been saved.

The three of you lightly nudged each other’s arms in commendation for the quick act despite your lack of backup, a small smile on your face, a smirk on Nat’s, with Daisy looking as composed and stoic as ever. You father continued in his speech, noting the valiant effort that needs to be maintained in a generational business like this, one that should be rewarded and carried on for the generations to come. You stood straight, chin up with pride at your hard work and dedication finally paying off.

“I was a young pup, only in my early twenties when I took this business over from my father. He deemed me most fit for the job, so it is my pleasure to do the same, keeping this line of work led by my family. I’d like to name my replacement, someone who valiantly saved the president’s son and wife. Someone who the son has raved about for returning them home to the White House safely. My wonderful child…”

You were ready for the culmination of years being under his wing. He gestured his arm out to the side and you braced yourself for the good news, except the arm wasn’t outstretched towards you. It was directed towards the other side of the stage and everyone’s eyes followed. “Dylan.”

Dylan was jerkily shoved forward by one of his friends, having been zoned out for the entirety of your father’s speech, but at the sound of cheering and clapping, a smile grew on his face. He waved at the crowd, walking over to the podium to shake your father’s hand and give a word of his own.

Meanwhile, your face fell. It was dragged downward in defeat. You quickly pulled yourself together, though, at a squeeze to your arm. You couldn’t even tell which side it came from. Your body was going numb. Shifting to plant your feet and fighting the burn in your eyes, you looked straight forward, no longer at the podium, although you had no way to shut off your ears.

“Wow, wow. Thank you. This is such an honor. At eighteen years old, I will be the youngest to ever run this organization.”

It seemed like he’s was at least doing well and presenting a strong face. That was rare.

“Haha, I beat ya, gramps! Okay, let’s party!”

You outwardly cringed, but your legs were paralyzed as his friends let out a whooping cheer and the party erupted in confetti. It was getting caught in your hair as Nat and Daisy dragged you away and inside, up the stairs to your childhood bedroom, jostling you like a rag doll. You felt almost catatonic.

As soon as you flopped down on your bed, though, you turned over and screamed into your pillow before sitting up, realizing this act of melodrama was going to wrinkle your suit.

You sat up and sniffled, rubbing your eyes and taking a deep breath to give yourself just a moment to think. You looked between your best friends and started pointing.

“Daise, can you pack up anything you think I might need from here? Whatever I can’t live without.”

You then looked to the redhead who was peeking out the window, watching your father enter the outdoor entrance of his home office.

“Nat, can you gather some home essentials? Food, first aid, some of the hidden and spare weapons. Only the ones they won’t sense are missing, okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah. We better do it quick. Your pops just came in.”

You bit your lip and your nostrils flared in anger and thought, rubbing your hands over your face. “Okay. That’s fine, I need to talk to him anyway. That should give you enough time to grab everything. Then we’re heading back to the apartment to get some essentials.”

The three of you were roommates in the city, renting out a place Daisy’s distant uncle owned, which allowed you some freedoms, as well as independence from the possible tracing of your location on government records. Even under a security conglomerate, you could sense things were going downhill, so it was a good choice to move out and detach yourself. At this point, you were barely traceable. Only one thing tethered you here on a paper trail: the company.

You stormed out of your room and down the stairs to the hall that held your father’s office. You were furious. You had no patience left for formality or kindness, this was all rage. You kicked in the strong oak door, splintering the wooden frame, and were met with the view of your father and brother clinking whiskey glasses, an old celebratory reserve poured in them.

You stomped over to the filing cabinets where your file, thick as a novel, was stored. Next to it, you pulled out two more, no less impressive. Your dad, even though he possessed several methods for tech security, still kept employee information on paper in case he accidentally hired a mole. Everything was under lock and key and 24 hour surveillance.

You dug around in the left side drawer of his desk until you found the cigar lighter, hitting the edge of the folders until they caught and throwing them into his metal trash can. It was only then that he and your brother let words come out of their dropped jaws and awestruck faces.

“Tweety Bird, what’s the issue, kiddo? Didn’t wanna celebrate with your old man and little brother?”

You scoffed as you put your hands on your hips.

“Celebrate!? Celebrate what!? Being snubbed? Overlooked for something I’ve dedicated my life towards!?”

Your father’s bushy brows furrowed in confusion, your brother’s face mirroring it in a mini version. “What do you mean? You haven’t been snubbed. Dylan and I agree you’re meant to run teams and operations. You wouldn’t want to be in charge. Plus, it’s tradition that the first son takes over.”

You threw your hands up in exasperation. Smoke was filling the room, but partially getting swept out the cracked windows that pointed toward the back yard. “You didn’t think to ask me, the one keeping your business afloat, to run it!? No one knows it better than me, but it’s so ridiculous. Just because I’m an older sister like Aunt Kay, doesn’t mean I don’t wanna be in charge! She wanted to leave this life, but I don’t!”

You heard a chuckle rise behind you. “What, Dylan?”

He shrugged with a smug smile on his face. “Aunt Kay didn’t want to leave this life. She wanted the company, too. But Gramps gave it to dad. That’s why she fucked off to who knows where and started that bank vault company.”

You gasped in shock and looked to your father but he seemed unaffected. You turned to him now, disgusted with the sight of your little brother. “What!? Do you hear yourself right now!? Just because we aren’t men!? That’s insane!! I’m the one who saved the president’s family. Not Dylan, me! He was too busy sitting on his ass and picking his nose to be of any help. Maybe we would’ve seen the team coming to attack the venue sooner if he would’ve done his job!”

Your chest was heaving and your face was warm from the yelling. Your father still calmly continued. “Dylan returned the family safe and sound. You were nowhere to be seen. He deserves this step of responsibility, but I have no doubt you can guide him like an invisible hand.”

You shook your head, moving back towards the door between the leather couches of the sitting area, pacing on the Persian rug. “No, no. Absolutely not. I refuse to keep performing thankless service. You’ve made a mistake. I no longer want to work for you and I no longer want to be a part of this family. This whole thing is fucked. I’m out.”

Your father sighed, about to speak up. “Bird, we-“

He was cut off by the arm of your brother, though. “No, dad. If she wants to leave, I think she should. I don’t want anyone here questioning my leadership. The president’s son will back me on that. He’s upset the extraction ruined a designer suit and thinks that I’m the best fit, too. I can run this without her.”

Your dad gave a hmph of affirmation, which sent you over the edge. After all those years of service, both your father and the president’s son still didn’t credit your work. You couldn’t stand this anymore, especially not when Dylan was fabricating lies in his own head about the greatness you performed.

“You know what, Dyl? Yeah, let’s have it your way. You guys will never need to see me again. Good luck not running this thing into the ground.”

You turned on your heel and marched out the door. When you turned the corner, you saw both Nat and Daisy waiting for you, double fisting duffel bags. You motioned for both of them to head to Nat’s car, walking quickly, but they were more than capable of keeping up. You heard Daisy speak from over your left shoulder.

“Bird, where are we going?”

As you barged through the glass front door and put on your sunglasses, you took a breath in of the air that marked your new life, outside the stuffy patriarchy of what you thought would be your legacy.

“Somewhere far. And don’t ever call me that again.”

Next >

Bonus A/N: Bruh, could you imagine being betrayed by your own father like that? Also, we’ll be seeing more of Daisy as the reader for Jake’s storyline in the future.

Taglist: @hawkeyes-queen @ronearoundblindly

[persevereforahappyending]

Luck Runs Out |Part 3|

Pairing: Mabel x Reader

Summary: When your luck runs out you unknowingly drag Mabel back into the life, she's so desperate to escape.

Warnings: None

Word Count: 2.7k+

Main Masterlist | Series Masterlist

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Epilogue

The first thing you felt was warmth, your first thought being maybe you weren’t dead. It was dark, you couldn’t feel the sunlight on your face, or any light shining in your eyes, maybe you were dead. Your fingers twitched, grazing against the soft fabric below you, you furrowed your brow, maybe you weren’t dead. You slowly opened your eyes, blinking to adjust to the darkness of a room you didn’t recognize. You started to push yourself up, quickly hissing at the pain in your shoulder making your drop back down, maybe you weren’t dead, there was no pain after death, unless you were in Tartarus, man that would suck.

“Hey,” a soft voice whispered. “Easy.” Then the most gorgeous face you had ever seen came into view, your breath hitched at seeing her beauty, the way the surrounding darkness seemed to bend to her will. Maybe you were dead, maybe this was Elysium, the only place that would be worthy of such beauty.

“Easy,” she whispered again. “My names Mabel.” You tried to smile at such a beautiful name, but the pain was becoming more prominent. “Take this.” She held up little blue pills to your mouth, usually you had better judgement than to take drugs from a random stranger, but you did as asked, opening your mouth just enough for her to pop in. You swallowed them, your body shaking as you quickly began to cough.

“I was going to get you water,” she said, a glass of water in hand. You tried to lean up, your mouth reaching for the water. “Easy,” she said again. She gently rested a hand on your chest, pushing you back down. She put one hand around the back of your head to help prop it up as she gently brought the glass to your lips.

“Thank you,” you finally rasped out after a few drinks. “Y/N.”

“I’m sorry?”

“My name.” You coughed some more needing another drink which Mabel happily provided. “My name is Y/N.”

She hummed and leaned back in a chair where you had to look down to be able to still see her. “What happened?” You asked, your voice still gravelly. You looked around, not recognizing anything in the room you were in. Scratching the soft material underneath you, you determined you were lying on a bed. With your limited vision you would guess that the room you were in was some sort of apartment.

“You don’t remember?” She questioned.

You scrunched your brow, thinking back to what happened, what could have happened to lead you to being in a stranger's bed. “It’s fuzzy.” Closing your eyes all you saw was darkness, feeling cold water hit you, a loud noise, distorted voices yelling but no faces coming into view, then pain. You winced, reaching your hand up to your shoulder, pausing when you saw the bandage wrapping around your entire arm.

“You were shot,” Mabel’s voice sounded far away.

Your eyes stayed on the bandage, flashes of the night coming back to you, you had been at work, you were on the boat. Your face contorted as you strained yourself trying to force the memories to return. You were on the boat, there was a storm, you were arguing with someone, the drugs went into the ocean, then it was just darkness.

“I-I-I was at work,” you said slowly. “We were on the boat,” you pressed a palm to your head as you pinched your eyes shut, “there was a storm, it was nighttime.”

“Sounds like a typical night for a drug smuggler,” Mabel scoffed.

Your eyes snapped open; you dropped your hand as you glared at Mabel. “I’m not a drug smuggler.”

“Yeah, cause the three packs of drugs my friends found with you was a coincidence.”

“I’m not a drug smuggler. I’m just-”

“Someone who smuggles drugs?”

You clenched your jaw, staring down Mabel, seeing that she wasn’t backing down you conceded, slowly letting out a breath. “You do what you got to with the hand you’re dealt.” You held Mabel’s gaze, your eyes suddenly wet, you were going to write it off as the pain meds not kicking in yet. “All I’ve done is try and survive.”

Mabel leaned back in her chair, her eyes never leaving you as she took in your response. You didn’t know Mabel, she might decide to call the cops, if she hadn’t already. Now that you were awake, she could push you out the door, tossing you out in the cold to fend against the wolves yourself. You wouldn’t blame Mabel for any choice she made, you deserved it, you worked for terrible people, and it would be in Mabel’s best interest to avoid you all together. Hell, she could return you to your boss, if they learned you survived you were sure they’d be happy to pay for your return, pay Mabel a pretty penny just to kill you again, not without making sure they were compensated for their missing drugs though.

Mabel suddenly got up from her chair, kneeling down on the floor next to your bedside as she looked for something. She popped back up with more of the same bandages and wrap that were around your wound. She started to reach for you when you instinctively moved away.

“What are you doing?” You asked, eyeing her, trying to decipher her intentions.

“It’s time to change your bandages,” she mumbled, sounding annoyed that you’d ask such a stupid question. “Doc said twice a day.”

“A doctor?” You jolted forward, ignoring the pain shooting through you and Mabel’s warm hand gently easing you back down. Your eyes darted around the place, just waiting for it to be swarmed with cops.

“Relax, he’s not going to say anything.”

“How do you know?” You stared into her eyes, she didn’t seem as annoyed anymore, she almost looked like she felt bad for you.

Her eyes darted to the side; her mouth partially hung open as she decided how much to tell you. “He’s in a similar line of business.” Her eyes dropped down to the clean bandages in her hands, her fingers fiddling with the edge.

“Oh,” you could only mumble.

Mabel cleared her throat, shaking her head as she looked back at you, but you didn’t miss how she was gripping the bandages. “Can you lift up your shirt?” She asked, her cheeks tinting red as the question left her mouth.

You gave a small nod, lifting off the shirt so it hung around your right arm and covered most of your front but left your injured arm exposed so she could change the bandages easily. Mabel got to work, shifting on the bedside as she leaned closer, slowly beginning to peel the old bandaging away. You sucked in a breath when her fingers grazed your skin, the simple touch seemed to warm you, or maybe you were still freezing from being in the ocean for so long and any human contact would feel like the most amazing thing ever.

“How long was I out?” You finally asked. You stared at Mabel, watching as she focused on cleaning the wound, being mindful not to try and cause you to much discomfort. A ghost of a smile found its way to your lips as you saw her eyebrows scrunched together and the way her freckles popped out when she crinkled her nose.

She tossed the dirty bandages into a trash bin, throwing the now dirty rag she used to clean your wound into the laundry hamper. She scrubbed her hands in the kitchen sink before quickly finding her way back to your side, starting to unravel the new bandages. “About a day,” she finally answered. “The boys found you yesterday morning, considering you’re still alive I assume you were shot the night before.” She gently began applying the new bandage and wrapping. “It’s actually late afternoon now,” she tapped her phone checking the time. “You were barely conscious when they got your aboard their boat, so you’ve been out for over twenty-four hours.”

“The boys?” You didn’t like the idea of more people knowing about you, Mabel was already at risk for helping you. You didn’t want more people to be at risk because they decided to save your life, the more people who knew you survived also meant more people who could turn you in.

“My ex, his brother, and their crew,” she finished the last of the wrapping up then slipped back into the chair at your bedside. You got your head back through the hole of the shirt but struggled with your injured arm. Mabel got up and helped gently guide it into the arm hole while you pulled the shirt down.

“They’re fisherman?” You focused on the word crew. You really shouldn’t have been so surprised; besides the coastguard it wasn’t like anyone else would have been out on the water that early after such a big storm.

“The Finestkind,” she smiled. You quickly frowned, your eyes widening at the boat’s name. “You know them?”

You sighed, reluctantly nodding. “They aren’t my biggest fan.” Mabel raised an eyebrow, clearly sensing a story there. “We’re competitors, me and my crew have the nicer boat, bring in larger catches, and they don’t like it.”

“Because I’m sure you never instigate it,” she deadpanned.

You couldn’t help but chuckle at the way she already clocked you. “I mean,” you rolled your head to the side. “Maybe a little.”

“So, what did you do to get yourself shot?” Mabel asked, narrowing her eyes as she watched you.

You sucked in a breath, your fingers began to play with the blanket over you, it was a really soft blanket. “I dropped the shipment.”

Her eyes widened. “You mean…”

You nodded. “The storm was raging, and the load was too heavy, it was going to tip us.” You refused to meet her gaze as flashes from that night came back to you, you could almost feel the cold water coming down again. “I hit the button to release the product and the next thing I know I was in the ocean, sinking to the bottom.”

“You did the right thing.” You scoffed; you almost never did the right thing. “Trying to save your life and your crews isn’t a bad thing.”

“Well look where that got me.” You saw flashes of yourself on the deck, the rain pouring down on you, the waves rocking the boat violently, and in front of you stood your captain, pointing a gun at your head. “My own captain shot me,” you let out a humorless chuckle.

You still refused to look at Mabel, too deep into question every decision you’ve ever made that led you to where you were right now. You tried to do the right thing for once, you tried to save lives, the drugs weren’t worth dying for, you still believed that. The one time you tried to do something good though it ended with you almost dying. You got lucky, you always got lucky, your entire life could be summed up by being lucky. Some would say you were lucky to survive the gunshot, lucky to survive going overboard and being in the ocean for so long, lucky to be found, lucky to be found by the people who did. If that was all due to you being lucky, how much time before your luck ran out? It was only a matter of time and what would be the consequences, who would pay the price?

“What’s with the necklace?” Mabel’s voice snapped you back to reality. You furrowed your brow looking up at her finally before you realized she was talking about your trident necklace. “You worship Neptune or some shit?” She joked.

You laughed along with her. “I guess technically Neptune is his Roman counterpart, but I’ve always been more of a Greek mythology nerd.”

“Of course you are,” she shook her head. You couldn’t help but laugh along with her, no one understood your fascination with the gods and Greek mythology in general, they always just gave you a weird look. Mabel might have thought it was weird, but she didn’t seem to be judging you for it. “What’s your favorite book?” You opened your mouth, but she sat up in her chair, “Let me guess,” she said holding up a hand to silence you. “Percy Jackson.”

You chuckled, shaking your head, it was a good guess, it was usually everyone’s first guess or what they assumed when they learned about your interest. “Percy’s great,” you admitted. “But actually, The Odyssey.”

“Really?” She raised her eyebrows clearly not having expected that.

“The story of Odysseus,” you let your head flop back onto the pillow, unable to stop smiling. “It’s just incredible.”

“I get that it’s a classic but what’s so great about it?”

A large smile broke out on your face, Mabel was going to regret that. “He’s just such a great hero,” you sighed. “He’s just a man but he fights all these monsters, he travels the sea, having to deal of the wrath of gods, he fights against all of it, all just so he can return home.” You paused, realizing you had been rambling, but then you caught Mabel’s eyes, seeing her leaning forward, you had her full attention. “Multiple ladies try and seduce him, he could just stay safe on an island with Calypso, but he doesn’t, because he loves his wife. For ten years he fights to return to his family because he just loves his wife and son that much.”

“Okay, he does sound pretty cool,” she admitted with a smile. “Is that why you became a fisherman?”

You shrugged. “I’ve always loved the water and travel, plus didn’t have many options, couldn’t afford school,” you looked down in shame.

“And the drugs,” Mabel asked, seeming hesitant to shift back to that topic.

You refused to meet her eyes again. “Sometimes despite our best-efforts family just tries to drag you under with them.”

“I get it,” she whispered, you looked up, seeing her nervously playing with her fingers. “I get it.”

“Do you know what happened to the drugs? I know I was floating on a couple packs.” You held your breath as you awaited her answer, silently pleading they just left them in the ocean, destined to wash ashore or be pulled further out to sea.

“They’re on the boat.”

You let out a sigh. “They need to get rid of them, they should get rid of them. If anyone discovers they have them, they are screwed.” You stared Mabel in the eyes, trying to keep your voice from shaking. “I do not work for good people; they will kill everyone to keep the business running.”

“We’ll take care of it when they get back, it’ll be a few days, they’re out on a job.” You nodded, gripping the blanket around you tighter to hide your shaking hands. “Tell me more about Odysseus?” Mabel said softly. You scrunched your brow as you stared at her in disbelief, no one ever asked you to continue. “I’m serious, tell me more about this epic adventure.”

You smiled, your eyes shining as you looked at her. “Well, I consider it more of an epic love story.”

“But he fights monsters and stuff, right? How is that not an adventure?”

“It’s both!”

Mabel playfully rolled her eyes. “I’m serious,” you said, sitting up a little more. “The entire story is about him fighting against all odds to return to his love, despite all his obstacles and despite more than one lovely lady trying to seduce him,” Mabel silently chuckled. “His heart always belongs to Penelope.”

“Well, I’ve never read it.” You gasped in faux offense. Most people now and days hadn’t read it, they heard of it, they knew of Odysseus, but they didn’t know his story, not fully. “But convince me.”

Your eyes lit up, you had a soft smile on your face, you felt your cheeks heat up, here you were injured, a pretty girl taking care of you and asking you to tell her all about your favorite story. For a second you thought maybe you really were in Elysium, maybe you really died the other night. If this were your afterlife though, you couldn’t complain. “So, it starts off with Odysseus being away, off fighting a war for ten years…”

[maleyanderecafe]

Courtin' Cowboys (Visual Novel)

Created by: Mr Fishess, jd

Genre: Horror

I know this game came out a while ago, but I finally was able to play it and man is it fun. It reminds me of a smaller scale DOL or even something like The Snake's Taken a Spouse. There are three yanders that are in this game, though it definitely follows more of a porn game logic for yanderes. I will explain that in a bit. This game has a lot of violence and sex, and is r18, so please be wary if you do play it.

The MC basically starts out staying at a town in Summerfield. They rent a motel there. The game allows you to meet people at the saloon, the store, the sheriff's office, out in the pastures and in the woods. You can also decide to leave at any point as well. There are a lot of things you can do in the game besides interact with other characters, including buying and cooking food, going fishing, foraging and catching snakes for money. You can also buy different outfits and customize your looks.

While there are many characters, we will be going over the three yanderes in the game, Dijon, Jak and Will. I'm not sure if I was able to get everything for them, but I was able to at least get all of the endings, so we'll start with that. A lot of the endings usually involve them competing with other yandere characters so we'll cover those as well.

Dijon is the farmer that lives in the pasture. When first meeting him, he will talk about how he can't tell if he's missing sheep because he can't count higher than 10. After helping him, we go hunt for his lost sheep, which has run off into the woods and then go into the farm to have sex with him (I finally get to be the dom in one of these games, heck yes). Most of his endings generally involve sleeping with another character, only for Dijon to kidnap you and bring you back to his farm, where I guess you can just leave afterwards. Each time, it seems like he believes you are like a sheep, having strayed too far from home, getting a bit more paranoid every time that you leave. He can do this upwards of about three times. After sleeping with the fourth person, Dijon will get angry and chain the MC up in the barn, before the MC is able to escape. Dijon runs after them only to hear a loud noise. Afterwards it seems Dijon kind of just continues what he's doing as if nothing has happened.

Jak is the drunk that hangs out in the bar. If you flirt with him before buying him a drink, the two of you can have sex outside in a camp. If you sleep with enough other characters, Jak will actually kill the last person you slept with before being sent to jail. From what I remember, he is also one of the main characters in the creator's other game, Lover's Trophy, though I have yet to play that game.

Will is a clown man that is found in the woods. The MC will end up trying to chase after him finding a bunch of bones set up in a way that resembles a tea party. Depending on options, Will can either end up killing the MC or growing obsessed when the two talk. We learn that he lives in the woods and wears clown makeup because he's afraid of social interactions and wants to make it easier to approach people (thus the clown makeup). We also see he's sort of the groundskeeper of the woods, burying bodies to let them be eaten clean to the bone. After talking to him and not dying, he ends up stalking the MC. During one of the other interactions when the MC is investigating a robbery, they talk to the dancer, Magnolia. If the MC brings up Will as the possible thief, Magnolia will defend Will, stating their history together as childhood friends before drifting apart. In another ending, Will is able to save the MC from the beast in the woods called the Bastard, a man who basically acts like an unkillable animal and wanders the woods. There is also an event where Will sneaks into the MC's room at night and kind of noncons them. This is a random event.

There are two competitions that occur with the yanderes in the game, one being Jak vs Dijon and the other being Dijon vs Will.

When sleeping with both Jak and Dijon, the two of them will end up attempting to kidnap the MC during the night. Upon waking up, the two will end up forcing the MC to choose one of them. Choosing Dijon ends with Jak attempting to shoot him, with the MC having the choice to push him out of the way, thus getting themselves killed. Otherwise, Dijon will be shot and Jak kidnaps the MC into the forest to noncon them. The MC can run away, causing the Bastard to come and kill Jak. Choosing Jak will cause Dijon to sadly walk away, allowing Jak to take care of the MC. Jak will end up shooting Dijon regardless and once again drag them back to camp to noncon them. Through gun play, I believe the MC can still be shot and killed, and the same bastard ending will still apply.

When interacting with both Dijon and Will, the two of them will end up the MC's room at night. The MC will wake up to the two of them talking at the end of the bed. At first it seems to be some sort of banter, the two insulting each other's ages and their weaknesses before Dijon attempts to take out a gun and kill Will. If the MC warns Will and then takes the gun, they can attempt to shoot as a warning, to which the bullet will miss and end up killing the MC instead, or they will simply threaten them and they will leave. If they don't warn Will, Dijon will end up shooting Will and dragging his dead body out, whereas if you do, Will can end up stabbing and killing Dijon.

As a whole, the game is very well put together and has a lot of features. You can basically date every character except three of them (that being the innkeeper, Mortom and the Bastard), each with it's own CGs and endings, along with various mini games, and an entire cooking and inventory system. On a technical basis, this game is done very well and it is pretty fun running around and doing a lot of these tasks. Still, as much as the individual components are very fun, I feel like there's not really any reason to do any of the mini games for the plot. You can basically ignore the entire portion of it if you are simply just seeing what the character plots would be like, which is kind of unfortunate. The cooking system is supposed to tie in with the stamina system, which is a good idea, but talking to people doesn't deplete stamina, only gathering items. In this way, it feels very disjointed from the rest of the game, as not even stuff like money is really needed to play. I think at least an easy fix for the money system would be similar to how DOL forces the player to pay Bailey, so in this game, you would be forced to pay the innkeeper money for every day that you stay there (which, you know, does make sense if you want to stay at the inn) thereby forcing you to spend time getting money and having to cook food to be able to get energy to make money. Unfortunately with the implementation that I see at least, it seems to be lacking in attempting to make a game play loop with these cool mini games. While it's not the worst thing in the world, I think it does make these minigames kind of pointless since you can basically completely ignore them.

Storywise, while I do think it's very nice that you are able to get more of a solid look at a lot of characters, I do feel like there isn't really anything satisfying for the end of a lot of them. When they are killed, there is no reaction for most of the other characters (with the exception of a handful of them). It's hard to say where certain events will happen unless you have a guide and while there is one on the fandom page, there is none on the itchio or steam page that helps you (which is unfortunate for people like me who generally rely on a walkthrough to try to get everything). I think that was the point of having a lot of characters all with their own story, but I feel like there could have been more to place more of an arc for each them.

Dijion as a yandere is mostly pretty light. He actually is probably the most harmless out of all of them considering that he only really kidnaps the player when sleeping with another character (unless it's with Jak or Will). He seems to delusionally believe that the MC is a sort of "lost sheep", which is why he keeps bringing them back to the barn. It is unfortunate that he doesn't actually end up trying to harm or even properly trap the MC (well, he tries, but they run away again, with seemingly no consequence). He does manage to kill Will in one of the endings, however, it's strange to me that he wasn't able to do so with other characters such as Jak or even any of the other characters that the MC might end up sleeping with. Still, I think I do quite like Dijion as a character, he's very puppy like, similar to a dog herder who is trying to get his sheep back. His running gag of not being able to count (especially when Will calls him out on it) is pretty funny, though I wish it was brought up more.

Jak is probably the most extreme out of the yandere characters considering that he is the most violent and most forceful of the three. When choosing between Jak and Dijon, Jak will outright shoot Dijon if the MC doesn't protect him and he can kill either Magnolia or Jade as well, sending him straight to jail as well as fighting and possibly killing the Bastard in one of the endings. I'm not sure how close he is to his counterpart in Lover's Trophy, but he is very violent in this version, with it often leading to his own detriment, like when he is killed by the Bastard after being taken when choosing between Dijon and him, or when he is jailed for killing either of the girls. He also definitely has a very intimidating presence with the game emphasizing just how tall he is and how generally strong he is. He definitely feels like he fits very well in this type of murder horror type game given his general behavior and intimidating presence.

Will as a yandere generally just stalks the player, and doesn't have nearly as many endings as Jak or Dijion. Still, I do think the scenes we do get give a bigger impression of what he's actually like. From what I've seen, although we generally don't see him in the game, it is implied that he stalks the player quite often, as we see him save the MC from the bastard and sneak into the MC's place at night. Given that he's rather aloof and is uncomfortable with most human interactions, it does make sense that we barely ever see him, only really gaining more insight from Magnolia as the two seem to be friends. I kind of wish that we had more personal encounters with him like maybe hanging out with him with his bone collection (thing), but I do think even with the little information that we do learn about him he's a pretty solid character. Plus if you talk to him wrong, he straight up kills you which is kind of entertaining.

In terms of what I mean by porn game yandere, I basically have to turn again to DOL for this. While I get it's not really fair comparing two of these games as they are going for different things, what I mean in this case is that in general, yanderes are not usually okay with their love interests sleeping with other characters. This usually results in murder of some sort or at least some sort of separation of their lover with the person that they're sleeping with. However, in games like DOL, while Kylar and Eden can get jealous or otherwise kidnap the MC, they aren't allowed to kill the other characters that they sleep with and in essence, the MC can just kind of have a poly relationship with all of the love interests if they want. While I'm not saying poly yanderes can't exist, they generally have certain specifications on how they act (at least in my opinion). Obviously for gameplay wise, if the player is not into any of the yandere characters and ends up sleeping with with by accident or on purpose, it would be a big pain if they ended up murdering or getting rid of the other characters gameplay wise, and considering both of the characters, it also doesn't seem fair to also just exclude them just because you are allowed to sleep with other characters, which is why I kind of call it porn game logic since for the sake of not making the gameplay bad for the player, I will make an exception for it in this context. Anyways, going back to Courtin' Cowboys, while unlike DOL you can have characters killed, they don't usually get that far. A good example is with Jak who is able to kill one of the characters (either Magnolia or Jade if you sleep with them) before getting captured (which is fine). Meanwhile a character like Dijon seems pretty light, having the player sleep with three different characters only leads to Dijon basically telling the player not to get lost again after being kidnapped and Dijon just...letting them go. Will also doesn't have that much yandere actions either considering that outside of the versus, protecting the MC from the bastard and the random encounter of him breaking into the inn and sleeping with you.

Still despite what kind of possible tweaks and missing things I have for Courtin' Cowboys, it is undoubtedly a fun game. There is so much in it that I probably didn't even get to see, plus every time you play you can have a different experience. The customization and general aesthetic of being a cowboy is really nice and the fact that you have all these minigames in the first place is very impressive along with the sheer amount of characters that you can date/interact with is very cool. It's a great entry into the murder sim type genre with a bunch of fun yanderes to boot. If you haven't played it yet, I would highly recommend it.

[l1v1ngd3dgrrl]

Kiss me thru the phone [Daisuke x Reader]

AN: Prompt numero dos from my poll!! This one takes place on the Tulpar, but you're his partner back home. Pink text is Daisuke's, Blue text is yours. I'm so sorry it took this long to get it out, I've been tired as all hell lately. Can be considered a part 2 of Sanctuary if you want?? The ending is probably bad because It's like... almost 2 a.m. when i got done el oh el.

Wordcount: 2,056

MDNI Banner: cafekitsune

Cw(s): phone sex, shitty attempt at dirty talk probably, established relationship. use of the nicknames babe and baby.

Daisuke was more than thrilled whenever he learned there was Wi-Fi on the ship, very shitty Wi-Fi but Wi-Fi nonetheless. Maybe this internship wouldn't be so bad after all.

One of his main concerns outside of not being good at his job was leaving you behind, so once he learned that he could still keep in contact with you he was (literally) over the moon.

Now his texting wasn't super consistent, he was a busy man after all. But he would text your periodically throughout the day to check in with you. Space time seemed to flow faster than Earth time, which ended with him texting you at what was mid afternoon for him and 12 at night for you.

It was confusing and sometimes a struggle but he was determined to make it work!

He was in his sleeping quarters for the night, already dressed in Pajamas and ready to relax. He sent you a message earlier hoping you were awake. Time was hard to tell these days.

When he heard his phone chime he practically dived into bed to read the message.

"Hey you! I miss you"

He grinned widely and hurried to text you back.

"I miss you more, what have you been up to?"

"Sitting around mostly, todays my day off ahaha."

"Lucky, I could really use a day off right now. My mentor has been in a mood allll day."

"Sweeny or whatever his name is needs to chill out."

Daisuke giggled to himself over reading "Sweeny." He'll have to add that to the list of odd nicknames he refers to the crew as.

"**Swansea, and yeah he can be intense at times but I'm actually learning a lot from him."

"That's a plus I guess."

He switched off the lamp from his bedside table and lay back in bed. From the screen displayed on his wall night was just starting.

"What time is it?" If he remembered correctly it should be early morning for you.

"It's like 4 a.m." another chat bubble of yours popped up almost instantly. "I couldn't sleep that's why im up so early."

"Something on your mind?"

"I just miss you."

He felt his heart sink a bit, he too has had some nights where he couldn't sleep because he had gotten too homesick. It was especially bad during the first two months of the haul.

"I should be home soon!" he texted back in hopes to offer you some comfort. That soon wouldn't be coming fast enough.

"Are you able to call?" you had messaged back almost instantly.

The rest of the crew was asleep, and the walls weren't that thin. As long as he was quiet he should be able to get away with it...if he had enough signal for the call to go through. That was one thing he hadn't exactly tried yet.

"Yeah totally, gimme a sec" He grabbed his earbuds from the side table and plugged them into his phone. He pressed the call button and held his breath as it began to ring. Each second seemed to drone on for eternity, worrying that the signal was too weak to do this.

You had picked up on the third ring, greeting him groggily. He grinned to himself and exhaled. Happy that the signal was strong enough for just this little bit. Even if you were worlds apart it felt as if you were in the room with him.. "Hey babe!"

"It's been so long since I've heard your voice." you chuckled. Your voice was somewhat staticky as a side effect of the poor signal. Daisuke hummed in return. "I'm just glad we have enough signal to do this."

"So do you miss me yet?" you asked, he could practically hear the smile in your words. Obviously he did. He missed you from day one. there wasn't a time while he was working where he didn't think about you.

"Obviously, I've been counting down the days till I can see you again." He pushed his hair out of his face with one hand. "I've been imagining all the things we're gonna do once I get back."

"Oh yeah? what kind of things?" you queried. "I wanna take you out somewhere nice." he confessed. "I'd actually have the money to do it this time and you deserve something special."

"got me blushing." you giggle from the other line. "I thought you were referring to something else."

"What else would I be referring to?" he asked genuinely confused.

"I thought you were talking about sex."

His face flushed slightly and he stumbled over his words. "I mean-eventually yeah but that wasn't my main focus!" he stated. "I wasn't thinking with my dick this time I promise."

"Babe it's fine," you snickered. "It's just where my mind went is all. Even though you weren't there he could tell that the atmosphere of the conversation was changing. There was silence and then you spoke again, a slight rasp to your words.

"When was the last time you-" You asked, sentence trailing off for him to fill in the blank. Daisuke knew what you were asking, but he couldn't give you a proper answer. He never really kept track of that sort of thing, though being up in space he noted how much more difficult it was to rub one out.

How long had it been? He was pretty busy most of the time so it's not like he had any downtime to 'take care of himself' if felt the need to. Would it be inappropriate to do since he was technically on the clock this entire shipment? His brows furrowed as he began to dig deep in his memory to remember the last time he had felt relief.

The most recent memory that came to mind was when you had snuck into his room the night before he had to leave.

"Honestly I think it was the night before I had to leave was the last time I got off."

You gasp. "That long?"

He lets out an awkward laugh at your amazement. "Yeah, kinda hard to do anything since I'm around other people most of the time." Now that he was really thinking about it, it kind of sucked not being able to rub one out whenever.

Not that he was constantly touching himself back on earth, but he had his needs. He's only human after all.

"Damn, sucks for you." you teased. He scoffed with fake annoyance. "Oh okay, love you too." another quiet fit of giggles escaped your lips, Daisuke's own quiet laughter joining yours. "I love you too," you paused. There was a mischievous hint to your voice which he picked up on almost instantly.

"I feel like you have something else you wanna say." he hummed. "You're in your room right?" you asked.

"Yes?"

"And everyone is asleep?" you asked again, tone beginning to get more provocative.

"Yeah," he replied tongue darting out to wet his lips. "What are you implying?"

From the other line it sounded like some fabric was being rustled. He listened quietly trying to figure out what you were doing. His phone dinged and it was a text notification from you.

[Attachment one image]

He tapped the notification and his breath hitched. You were practically nude, the only article of clothing being a silk nightshirt that was barely buttoned. Fabric threatening to slip off your skin with the slightest movement.

"I'm up for it if you are." You whispered from the other line. He swallowed thickly. "Y-yeah i'm down!" Biting his lip he debated if he should go ahead and send a photo of his own, or let you take the reins for now.

"I've been thinking about you a lot more lately." you sighed softly, Daisuke couldn't see for himself but you were trailing a free hand up one of your bare thighs, fingers barely brushing the spot closest to your sex.

A shaky exhale left his lips as he slid a hand down to his growing erection, giving it a firm squeeze. "Thinking about me how?" His free hand was tugging down his sweats, kicking them off till he was just in his boxers. Tent standing proudly against the thin fabric.

"Thinking about having you inside me again." you confessed. You began touching your self softly, feather like touches to really drag things out. "I miss feeling full."

Daisuke groaned and let his hand envelop his clothed cock, palming himself somewhat roughly. "I miss you too-mmf you always feel so nice." A breathy groan leaves your lips as you get more deliberate with your actions.

By now Daisuke is fully hard, the strain against his boxers growing uncomfortable. He swiftly tugged his boxers down, sighing once his erection was free. "What do you miss most about me?" You asked.

"All of you," He mumbled, his thumb gathering the pre that began to dribble from his tip and dragging his hand down. "I miss hearing you, feeling you." He continued picking up the pace.

You moaned softly from the other end. Your own slick sounds were echoing quietly in the background. Deciding to test his luck Daisuke opened his camera, aiming it at his dick. With the dim light that his 'window' provided he filmed him self stroking his dick, not for very long. Just long enough so you got the idea of what he was up to.

He hit send and mentally crossed his fingers that it would send.

"Hah-oh wow!" you giggled, a sign that you had gotten the video. "So thick." he continued pumping himself, letting out a suppressed chuckle.

A notification from you popped up on his screen again, this time a video of your own.

Once he clicked it he let out a low moan. Your camera was aimed at your bare half, fingers curled inside of you as you moved them at the same speed he did. You let out huffs which were almost drowned out by the slick sounds. His grip on his cock tightened as his pace grew more intense.

"F-fuck i can't wait till i get back to earth." he babbled. "Gonna treat you so good." you had gotten less vocal, only huffs and soft whines as you listened to him speak. You were close. He knew this and continued talking, dirty thoughts flowing freely. "Wanna fill you so bad-Feel you around me."

Your body was starting to tremble as you grew nearer to your boiling point, fingers curling and moving rapidly desperate for release. You panted wildly, calling his name softly in between breaths.

Daisuke was close too, the all too familiar knot in his lower half twisting tighter the more he pumped himself. "I'm gonna cum-" he gasped, his eybrows knitting together and his mouth falling open breath coming out in loud huffs.

"Me too-I'm there, oh god-" You keened, coaxing yourself through the end.

Not soon after he came with a low whine, cum pooling over his fist and on his lower abdomen. Once the aftershocks were over, both of you just sat catching your breath gasping into the receiver.

"So how was that?" you asked playfully once you regained steady breathing. Daisuke smiled and leaned his head back onto the pillow behind him. "It was good, but not as good as you."

"A little something to hold you over until the real deal," you snicker. "Speaking of, how much longer do you think you have?"

"Maybe like.. another two months?" he said, squinting trying to remember the exact amount that Curly had told the crew.

"Do you wanna do this again sometime?" you ask. Daisuke's grin grows wider. "I'm down." He stares down at his fist that was still wrapped around the base of his dick and grimaces as the now cool cum that stuck to his skin.

Right, he still had to clean up.

"As much as I don't wanna let you go- I gotta get up early and I have to clean myself up." he groans.

"I understand, You'll text me when you can right?"

"Always."

"Alright then-I'll let you go," you yawn. "I'm tired anyway."

"Goodnight babe, I love you." He murmurs.

"Goodnight, I love you too!"

[ryoshiwaah]

chapter 7: MAMA awards

a/n: I know the mama awards were way after the release of armageddon but time is inconsistent just like me.

With the arrival of the mama awards the whole industry was a mix of excitement and determination. It was like graduation day for some and a total nightmare for others. 

One of these people was Y/N. Her biggest problem wasn't being able to remember the choreography or lyrics, but being face to face with a certain Korean girl. 

Her worries didn't fade at all since Danielle told her that she had talked to her manager to make sure Newjeans and aespa were sitting together, which of course they were. 

Bouncing her leg due to stress, Y/N couldn't shake off the anxiety that was eating her up from the inside; a reassuring hand made her come back to reality as it squeezed her knee. 

“It's going to be alright, you'll do amazing” The voice of her leader, Karina, was a whisper in the van carrying them, but not enough to actually calm her nerves. 

“The performance is the last of my worries, it's another thing…” 

“Minji?” The question caught the attention of Giselle who was sitting next to Karina. 

“Again with that name, I thought we wouldn't talk about her.”

“Gigi she—” 

“Hurt you? Yes! I don't get why you keep defending her actions. She wronged you deeply and you're still into her.” Giselle's annoyed and high pitched words reverberated into the vehicle, creating a temporary silence. 

Y/N expected a reaction like that, after that girls night they had in her room the members knew all about the accident and the aftermath of their “little” fight. Minji wasn't a saint, but Y/N wouldn't depict her as the villain of the story either. 

“You don't know her like I do. She wouldn't hurt me for no reason.”

“Then why didn't she text you again?”

“I left her on read”

“And?? You were best friends, she should know how to start a conversation with you.”

Y/N hated how right Giselle was, no matter how she tried to convince herself that Minji had been busy, the voice in the back of her head was well aware of the situation.

Lost in the conversation and drama the girls didn't notice they finally arrived at the destination.

As they posed for photos and asked interviewers’ questions, Y/N took the opportunity to scan the crowd of people near the red carpet. Many groups were getting out of their cars, she spotted some members of (G)I-DLE, and waved at Yuqi from afar who waved back smiling.

“Where are they?” Thought Y/N to herself, impatiently tapping her foot on the ground while scanning the crowd for the fifth time.

From left to right, her eyes moved across the unknown and known faces of her colleagues, until they landed on her.

“She’s gorgeous” muttered Y/N, the fondness evident in her tone and expression, her heart beating like crazy. She felt seventeen again, looking for Minji in the school cafeteria, but this time she couldn't go to her even if her brain was yelling to do so.

The moment ended when she was tapped on the shoulder and dragged to the main room by Minjeong, too eager to sit down.

“I called you 6 times, did you become deaf?”

“No, but I got blinded by Minji’s lethal face card”

Minjeong slapped the back of her head, urging her to stay silent — “Don’t say it too loudly, we’re surrounded by paparazzi and fans.” Indeed, the place was a mix of flashes, loud cheers and music.

“What’s a face card anyway?”

❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆❅❆

After the acceptance speech of their third award, aespa got back to their seats. Y/N was ready for Danielle to hit her shoulder while bouncing on her own chair, telling her how proud she was to have such an amazing and talented friend, but her hopes shattered when she saw that the infamous Kim Minji switched seats with Dani.

Keeping her poker face on, Y/N followed her members and went to sit back in her spot.

“Congratulations” Minji whispered, earning a nod as a response. Y/N didn’t hear her at all due to the shouting coming from the crowd, but she saw her lips moving. A reaction was needed to avoid drama and scandals.

Minji furrowed her eyebrows in disappointment, thinking Y/N was ignoring her on purpose.

Not wanting to give up the interaction, the girl had enough courage (for once) to reach for Y/N’s hand. Startled, the other quickly turned around with wide eyes making Minji laugh a bit.

“Congratulations”  — “Sorry for leaving you on read” They both talked at the same time, silencing themselves completely.

“Thank you” Spoke first the winner (conan gray reference?), her eyes fighting to not look at Minji’s lips.

“First, it's fine. Second, you deserved it, Supernova was so catchy Hyein couldn’t stop playing it" Minji took a deep breath, she was talking fast almost too fast. Was she nervous? Why would she be nervous? — "In the car, in the shower, while taking a walk. She’s obsessed with aespa, but mostly with you. It’s scary.”

“And are you not?”

“Obsessed with aespa?”

“With me, silly.”

“You wish” Said the older girl with a roll of her eyes, her heart beating faster at the teasing words. She didn’t notice how their hands were still intertwined until Y/N squeezed hers.

“Can’t argue with that.”

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[brittle-doughie]

Not gonna lie, this has been on my head for WEEKS now after I read Tales of Sweetness (Valentines Special) over and over again even though Valentines day is already over-

And I read the part where Pomegranate Cookie and Red Velvet Cookie are argueing if Y/n will like their Valentine Chocolates or not (anddd of course, Y/n likes it in the end), and it made me very interested on the title of Y/n Cookie if they join the Dark Cookies Team;

"Lord/Lady of Darkness"

So- I was thinking...

May I request of What is Licorice Cookie, Poison Mushroom Cookie, Dark Choco Cookie, Strawberry Crepe Cookie, Pomegranate Cookie, Red Velvet Cookie and Dark Enchantress Cookie Opinions or Reactions to Lord/Lady Y/n?

And how does these dark Cookies treat Lord/Lady Y/n Cookie, as well as what these Cookies respect obsess/love Y/n cookie?

Also, I won't forget that I read the part where Lord/Lady Y/n Cookie rides a frikin' Cake Dragon- add that part of how these cookies react that Y/n cookie can tame a Cake Dragon too.

I think some of them will go 😲 or 🤯 or 😱 at Lord/Lady Y/n taming AND riding a big Cake Dragon, of course- 🤣🤣🤣

Cookie Details - Lord/Lady Harbinger Cookie (Y/N Cookie) - (CoD Ver.)

“Am I a joke to you?”

In comparison to the other members of the CoD, Lord/Lady Harbinger Cookie is considered the strongest among them, acting as Dark Enchantress Cookie’s enforcer of her will.

They’re slightly larger then the average cookie, Dark Choco Cookie being able to reach up to where their neck is located. Their main weapon of choice is a halberd as they’re decked out in tough chocolate armor while wearing a dinosaur-like skull for a helmet.

One skill Lord/Lady Harbinger Cookie pertains to is their beastmaster capabilities, not too different to Red Velvet Cookie, but cranked up ten-fold. When given enough time will have Harbinger Cookie tame even large beasts such as Cake Dragons.

Dark Enchantress Cookie has complete faith in Harbinger Cookie carrying out her orders, something that the other members caught onto. Did the both of them perhaps remembered each other before?

Relationship Charts Amongst the CoD

Pomegranate Cookie

[Admiration] “I would gladly serve under their reign..”’

Pomegranate Cookie grew to admire Harbinger Cookie to the point where she treats them similarly to Dark Enchantress Cookie, never would any disrespect head their way with Pomegranate Cookie around.

Has a rivalry with Licorice Cookie over favorites, leading to arguments over who gets to do the tasks Harbinger Cookie brings up. It leads to Pomegranate having to be around them often to prevent Licorice from swiping them from under her. You’re often annoyed at their bickering.

Has a portion of her room dedicated to you. Photos, old weapons you won’t miss, the damn body pillow she keeps tucked in her bed. Others may find it a little creepy, but Pomegranate could care less, she was just showing the extent her devotion goes.

[Admiration] “You can depend on me, I’ll never fail you!”

Licorice Cookie is all about trying to be a better cookie then Pomegranate with whatever you want him to, getting your praise and approval is his main motivator!

You get Dark Choco to handle whatever you need, you’re tired of having Licorice and Pomegranate butting heads with frequent arguments over their perceived achievements over one another.

Will have his licorice servants be at your beck and call, ready to take any orders you would like to request. May or may not summon some of them to swipe things from your room.

Red Velvet Cookie

[Trust] “My Lord/Lady has plans for the new world, I’ll be behind them until the end.”

Harbinger Cookie is a valiant fighter in the eyes of Red Velvet Cookie, training him under their wing. It’s an added bonus that you’re considerate of the cake hounds and other critters that you come across.

Nothing gets him more happy then seeing you being a loving caretaker to the cakes, playing around with them and giving them their treats. Endearing these creatures has only made him endear you more in return.

There is this lingering hint of jealousy he has when you’re too busy playing with the cake hounds with not enough time spent for him, then it would be a situation where he has to shoo them away so he could get to you!

Dark Choco Cookie

[Trust] “Me and them are not so different..”

You’re the only cookie Dark Choco could confide in with the darkness that lurks within his very soul. That trust only goes deeper that you understood him with his past…since you used to be a hero yourself, now having your fate lie within darkness.

Like Red Velvet, he respects your strength, believing that any cookie who could challenge you were simply foolish in their efforts, either ending up being crumbs or utterly defeated.

When he eventually leaves the CoD, he feels a sense of sorrow, knowing that your once pure soul has been tainted and corrupted by the darkness all around you. He wants to believe that you can still be saved and be the Cookie you once were, but as time goes by, that hope diminishes…

Poison Mushroom Cookie

[Friendly] “Have shroomies, they’ll make you feel better…!”

Harbinger Cookie can have their off days, this is where Poison Mushroom Cookie steps in. They never fail to put a smile on their face, offering shroomies to them to lighten up their attitude.

This is returned by Harbinger Cookie playing around Poison Mushroom, lifting them up and allowing them on their shoulder. It strikes the heartstrings of Pomegranate and Licorice Cookie watching Harbinger be a parent to Poison Mushroom!

Strawberry Crepe Cookie

[Friendly] “I can’t seem to pinpoint their ingredients, I’ll need further analysis on them!”

Harbinger Cookie was such an anomaly to Strawberry Crepe…and that’s what makes them so interesting to Crepe! The sheer mystery of what lies in Harbinger’s dough means Crepe is always ready for any opportunity to get a closer look.

You did find Strawberry’s shenanigans a little annoying, but you couldn’t fault the young cookie, they were only curious about what you’re made of, hell, you were to. Dark Enchantress wouldn’t allow it though and you couldn’t exactly go against her…

There’s also the squabbles between Crepe and Mushroom, both wanted your complete attention and neither were willing to cooperate with the other for your care. It leads to you and the others agreeing to never keep them in the same room for too long with you, a fight is the last thing you needed with the two cookies on your shoulders…

Dark Enchantress Cookie

[Friendly] “It’s good to welcome you home, my dear Y/N Cookie..”

Dark Enchantress Cookie, the cookie whom you’ve pledged your loyalty to, the cookie who’ll bring forth a new world, the cookie who brought you in when you were at your lowest..she gave you a second chance and you couldn’t have been more thankful for that.

The only cookie to know your “real name”, or at least she claimed it was. It made the interactions between you and her a lot more personal, as well as how touchy she could be with a hand on your arm or shoulder as she spoke to you.

The life you have now was better then the one you had, she’ll tell you. Just stick to her and she’ll give you the world and so much more, all you have to do is take her hand and never let go..