#because that guy was terrorising him left and right since he got in that red bull

[rickybaby]

Daniel always at the scene of the brocedes divorce

“In my championship years. I was in a direct championship fight with Lewis and I was running second in the rain in Monaco and Daniel Ricciardo was disappearing in the distance and our team rules meant that I would have to let Lewis pass in that moment. So I actually had to let Lewis pass on team orders”

[why-this-kolaveri-machi]

the wolf should’ve been afraid of me.

Titans 3.04

just under the wire! ... i hope.

like with the previous review, i’m typing this up as i see the episode. here we go!

spoilers ahead.

1. ... well. that was an interesting cold open.

1.25. i don’t know whether to admire this show’s restraint when it comes to gotham and its excesses, particularly arkham asylum. it’d be easy to go hammer and tongs, like suicide squad (2016) did, or any number of bat media did, at a tropey, colourful~~insanity~~ that can be quite damaging, casting mental illness in strangeness and criminality. it definitely shows gotham as... separate from the rest of the country, its own ecosystem of heroes and villains, a sort of rogue state. 

but that ecosystem is still human, with its heroes needing to clip parts of themselves away just to survive, growing old and needing to be recycled, its villains languishing in the same kinds of systems that fail everybody else who needs to be helped. it’s a quieter, tenser sort of wrongness: not strange enough that you can dissociate, but not close enough that you can completely empathise. gotham is its own creature.

1.5. i know that the reasoning behind this is more doylist than anything, but i’m so glad that joker was killed off with little fanfare right at the start of the season. he is the one man in the batverse that’s transcended its confines as this sort of ethereal boogeyman/eternal edgelord and to justify his presence in the series would mean giving him this tired, overblown importance and too much of a stab at colourful, tropey “madness” in this otherwise-subdued series. i wish all batmedia would follow suit and get rid of this fucker.

1.75. so jason is bucking scarecrow’s control! or reminding him of who exactly holds all the cards right now. circling back to what i talked about in the last review, it’s remarkable just how little time it’s been since jason’s “death” and he’s already got ‘minions’ and elaborately set up plans to track, break and kill the titans. just how long has he been planning this? when did he first look at WE weapons prototypes and think that’s something i can use to blow somebody up? and the most unsettling question: did he plan his own death at the hands of the joker just so that he could break batman?

at this point it’s obvious that the scarecrow at least started jason down this path, but it’s frightening just how far he’s travelled already.

1.8. aaagh, less than one minute in! i’ll shut up. 

2. conner washing his hands at the sink reminds me that he was directly in the line of explosion when hank got blown up and he’s probably got atomised hank-bits all over his skin that he’s desperately trying to wash off.

... you’re welcome.

2.25. conner, don’t you speak to gar fucking logan like that, sir, no!

2.3. if anything it’s the lex part of him that gave him the knowhow to recognise the weapon and build a de-activator for it. 

anyway, for that ‘half-breed’ and ‘talking tiger’ comment?

(i wish, tho, that we actually see conner more interested in the superman part of his legacy, like maybe listening to stories from gar, or even better, dick, so we get a better idea of the pressure he’s feeling to live up to that part of him and not the part that’s lex.)

((i talked about conner’s stages of moral development in his introductory episode last season, but i wonder if the next stage of his self-actualisation would be to further integrate the parts of himself and realise that they are only parts and he, conner, is an entirely different person unto himself that can make decisions on how to use what he has and what he knows. his superman abilities can be used to destroy. his lex knowledge can be used to save.))

3. oh dawn :((

3.25. is this the last we see of dawn and hank? i mean, we know donna is coming back; would it be a stretch to think they’ll try to have a go at resurrecting hank as well?

3.5. “deathstroke didn’t make us into killers.” good, because deathstroke didn’t make jason a killer either. there’s a missing step there you need to be looking for, dick. 

3.75. dick did try to break the cycle, step away from gotham, run from the possibility that he could turn into batman. it didn’t help; he couldn’t fully withdraw from his vigilante persona the same time he loathed it, and batman literally haunted him both asleep and awake. but maybe gotham doesn’t have to turn anybody into anything. maybe gotham has nothing to do with it at all. it’s about taking responsibility, realising some sacrifices are pure bullshit, and building an actual family instead of merely a team.

anyway: hugs!

(oh, also? mr “i hate flying”? i mean, there’s perfectly valid reasons to hate flying that’s not related to childhood trauma, but then again, this guy was literally a ‘flying grayson’ once. also also, remember that he also gets sea-sick. must’ve a lot of fun stories to tell.)

4. ooh that gar/kory confrontation was brief but cool!

listen, i have never seen a psychiatrist with that extravagant an office and SIR I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW--

4.5. kory’s so unused to reaching out for help and it’s breaking my heart that HPG likely is some kind of impostor that’s maybe causing her symptoms in the first place. 

kory and dick have mostly been apart this season but it’s remarkable how their journeys have paralleled each other; kory processes her grief, isolation and existential dread into a determination to take care of this new family she has, no matter what it takes; dick does much the same, forging ahead with plans and solutions until he has no fuel left in him and spirals into a massive breakdown.

4.25. listen titans this really is a TERRIBLE continuity error. we aren’t goldfish; we can clearly remember that two minutes ago it was gar’s upper arm that was burned, not his forearm. COME ON.

“sensory deprivation tank” *SNORT*

anyway, gar is the BEST

4.5. i wonder where these visions of experimentation took place. was it on tamaran, or on earth, after she came to hunt down rachel/trigon and before she lost all her memories? is HPG a part of the scientist group that experimented on her? ... god, i hope not. i mean, i think he is, but it would be cool to have some positive therapist representation in media. 

5. you’d think the van transporting a dangerous supervillain that only batman could catch would be more secure but... i’m also not entirely surprised. 

5.15. i love dick gives ZERO shits about hiding himself or even ensuring scarecrow is adequately contained. just turns away after kidnapping him in BROAD DAYLIGHT and says ‘let’s go’. I LOVE THIS DUMBASS

6. lmao gar is having a really really shitty day SOMEONE GIVE THIS MAN A BREAK or just a goddamn story arc of his own

6.5. i’m really confused about the timeline here. so... sometime ago, kory came down to earth to hunt down trigon, yeah? at some further point down the line she and her sister were kidnapped and experimented on. THEN she somehow escapes but... loses her memory? a few months pass and then we see blackfire alive and well and free; she kills faddei, can impersonate other people, and is clearly seeking out kory. but now she’s still in the experiment facility...? what’s going on?

i’m not entirely surprised about the facility being mostly deserted. either the biggest investors in this project gave up on it and it was left to the most fanatic to carry on, or they were deliberately trying to lure kory and get her to free blackfire--expand the environs of the experiment, so to speak.

7. hopefully barbara is going to get something to do other than listen to various men give her Attitude

8. how do you terrorise a terrorist? well:

i love when dick is a scary-competent motherfucker.

8.25. ooooh, the attack on crane at arkham a ploy to get crane to blackgate? nice one dick, i didn’t even think of that. but why though? to protect crane from the titans? to intercept the van to blackgate and “rescue” him? seems likely--red hood was there, except dick got to crane quicker.

9. still reeeallly unclear about the komand’r situation. was komand’r captured after s2? is this all A TRAP?? if so, why are you stepping into the only thing that can contain you, kory????

9.25. so... definite parallels between dick/jason and kory/kom here. i’m just. i’m still. really confused. i’ll shut up now.

10. this may be my favourite dick look yet:

woodsman!dick in a beanie.

10.5. i unironically love how titans has made this bizarrely-devoted-to-his-moniker, toxin-spewing supervillain into a tamer version of hannibal, psychoanalysing his victims into submission. it’s of a piece with how inward looking titans is, the way all of its villains are obsessed with how our protagonists’ minds work, to the point where they would actually spend time inside of them. 

there are no big plots to end the world. no apocalypses or endgames here. these villains collect the titans’ insecurities like infinity stones. the way the titans defeat them is by achieving character growth--literally winning by the power of love. literally “the real superpower is the friends we made along the way”!

10.7. anyway, i’m betting dick is used to this bullshit from crane and is humouring him in the service of getting more information. the story about the wolf? an implicit threat, not to mention dick getting to control what crane knows about him and what methods he would use to manipulate him.

am i giving dick too much credit here? i don’t think so. he’s really impressed me so far this season.

10.75. like. there’s a real unreliable narrator vibe coming off with every person that talks about bruce (much like how the various members of the titans talked about jason’s motivations) and to buy into crane’s talk about bruce being a psychopath is to fall for the same manipulation that jason fell for. dick is the only person who hasn’t really psychoanalysed bruce this season, and i think some part of his detective brain is piecing things together into a bigger picture.

11. i’m glad kory rescued kom but did she have to kill the scientist?

(i mean, yeah, probably - the less people know that kom escaped the less likely they’re going to have the fucking govt on their doorstep, but still.)

11.5. dick’s gonna come back to wayne manor, stare straight at komand’r and go, well which room would you like? because the team might as well adopt ANOTHER person, yeah?

12. oh MAN that red hood/nightwing fight was AMAZING! and he did the thing! the boomerang escrima thing! i’m so delighted!

12.5. the anger and disbelief in dick’s voice when he says you told crane EVERYTHING?! tells me that he knew exactly what he was telling crane himself.

12.75. “everything you are is because of him” - oh that reminds me of halluci!bruce from last season. i hope we see halluci!bruce again--he is so vicious but so entertaining... so much more effective at tearing dick down than crane or jason combined. goes to show that dick’s biggest enemy is own fucking head.

12.8. oh no! dick’s shot! crane is in the wind with red hood! blackfire is now with the titans! i love it!

honestly this season’s pacing is such a big step up from the last couple. gold star, show.

[life-rewritten]

Manner of D*eath (MOD); The Little Mermaid and The Warped Prince

This is a fun one, I promise. MOD  continues to be a ride with excitement, worries, and more questions to bring. But you know what after major rewatching and analysis, I have come to terms with how I think the story will go—the whole reason one; word Little Mermaid. I've written a past suspect list (here) before about who I thought the culprit is from episode 1. There's been a few changes to that, but I think I can finally guess who the culprit is that took Jane's life. And it's because of this foreshadowing with Little Mermaid. I'll explain even more. Little Mermaid not only helps me bring up my final suspects, but I also think it is a base for the romantic relationships in the show as well. So without further ado, let's dive into this analysis.

When writing my suspect list, I stated that there were many apparent hints to who the suspect is and why they could possibly do it. I didn't want to believe in my simple theory because it seemed too easy to guess and too simple to be. But after thinking about it, I also said that it's not about who's the suspect that matters but how we get to that information. The show has littered many plotlines making sure we don't feel comfortable about our feelings on who we think the suspect is. We've questioned Tan's involvement, That, Pued, The Mayor, Jane her self and others. So even though the suspect may be easy to guess I think with the way the writers and director made us go through loops slowly revealing the information and leaving some clues that can't be fully vouched for, or 100% agreed on, the reveal will still be shocking and fun to see how it unveils and ends, and there might be a forgotten person that surprises me. The issue I had with the show at first since I hate mysteries was if the plot wouldn't leave enough clues or subtext for us to understand what's going on and the reveal will be out of nowhere. But to my surprise, Jane already mentioned who killed her and why because of her mention of one book Little Mermaid. Let me explain more;

The warped Prince and the Little Mermaid

Little Mermaid, not the Disney one, the one (apparently an allegory to a gay unrequited love by the writer who is also important later for the base of the couples) where we have a depressing ending, betrayals and sacrifice. Here is a summary of that one, and the things we should focus on when reading it.

 Little Mermaid is about Ariel (that's not her name in the original, but I'm going to call her that), Ariel falls in love with the prince after saving him. She is determined to be with him and lets her self be changed to human to join his world, there's a list of rules, she has to be mute, she can't return back to the human world once she takes the potion, and she must make the prince fall in love with her. She goes through a lot of pain once she takes the potion, reunites with the prince who never saw the girl who saved him but someone else, if she wins the heart of the prince she'll obtain a soul, but if he marries someone else she will die with a broken heart and dissolve into sea foam. Alright great, so you're starting to see the difference with the Disney one right? Let's keep going. 

 The prince begins to like being with  Ariel, who is beautiful; their relationship becomes the best. Still, he does not have feelings for her romantically (I know I was shocked, why haven't I read the full story of this before. Poor Ariel she got friend-zoned) But the sad thing is the prince does love Ariel (the girl who saved him that he can't remember). He believes that the person who saved his life is a girl from the temple, the girl who found him when he woke up (sigh), so when his family tells him to marry the temple girl, the prince agrees. All of Ariel's sacrifice goes in vain. She is broken and is denoted by her sisters to eliminate the prince in vengeance to come back to the sea. However she can't do it, she loves him too much, and so she ends her self instead. Luckily the story doesn't end all too bad for Ariel; she obtains an immortal soul and goes up to heaven for her love and selflessness. The end.  

You're probably wondering why on earth I had to read this out to you. But bare with me, listen to the things that you need to see: 

The Little Mermaid sacrifices her self to get to the world of the prince. Her love for him makes her willing to be in pain, bleeding on her feet, stay mute, and lose her home because of him.

The prince is not in love with the little Mermaid despite her sacrifice. He loved the temple girl because he thought she was the person who saved him, and he was pressured into marriage with her by his family too. There's a love triangle.

The little Mermaid feels betrayal at the reveal of who the prince loves. She is forced to wait for death because she cannot speak or go home. 

The little Mermaid is told to get revenge by her sisters and get rid of the prince. But she wants to do the right thing.

She dies for love and selflessness.  

Are you seeing where I'm going with this? Let's look at Jane and how she fits this storyline.

Sacrificing her self for love; 

One of the biggest reveals of the show is that Jane was in love and happy with Pued. They had been a couple that was the talk of the town until one day they weren't. Jane went through a miscarriage that got her to fall into depression. No one knew why or understood why she and Pued ended. We discover that Pued coerced Jane into selling her body to the mayor and others so that he could stay prosecutor and have power. 

One, Pued is a warped version of the prince. The prince was indebted to Ariel for his life just as Pued was indebted to Jane for her acceptance to help him stay in power. Pued viewed his wealth and power as his life. Second, Jane let her self get assaulted, drugged and abused to make sure her boyfriend stayed on his throne. This is the same as the little Mermaid who lost everything of her, her tails were transformed forcefully (bleeding each time) to legs, and she had to deal with that on her own, she lost her voice, and she also lost her home. She gave up everything for the prince. 

It gets worse, Jane got pregnant and was forced to bleed (see the visual?) through her legs by getting a miscarriage. Pued and her broke up then. We can assume, she wasn't okay with what happened and her depression consumed her, I think there's more to it. Just as Ariel lost her voice and right to speak (her tongue was also taken, I know right? this story is wild ), Jane was forced to keep quiet by the higher-ups and the world of Pued. 

Now let's pause, Ariel had to lose her world and her home to go into the prince's. Pued's world was the same as Tan and Por; it was the mafia organisation. This probably was funded and supported by the mayor and the corruption of the justice system. The organisation put each of its members in a high position of power and status as long as they did something for them. Tan is Dam; he's a puppet as I wrote about in my past essay. He didn't mean to go into this life, but his mother wasn't alive, and his father was the one who roped him into taking care of his brother Pued. It's important to see why Tan had to hide and help Pued go into hiding. He didn't know the full details; he was told something different by Pued. I will explain what I think he thought was the reason soon.  Like the little Mermaid for love, Jane joins Pued's world of corruption without knowing how deep and dangerous it was.  She only notices the errors of her ways when another girl is eliminated due to mishap with the miscarriage, and that's Nat. She couldn't as a teacher stay still anymore. But it's more than that as well. Although she's a martyr, I think she also wanted revenge. Why? Let's go into point two.

2 There's a love triangle

You didn't see this one coming, did you? I mean I'm guessing people are starting to jump on the train with this. The first time we saw Jane, she was with Tan, so we assumed the love triangle was between her, Pued and Tan. This was further hinted at when Tan punches Pued because of how he grabs her and spoke to her (we didn't know). Tan protected Jane like a  girlfriend, but he didn't show any signs of remorse when she was removed. He went and covered up the truth instead. Still, moments after her demise, he speaks fondly of her she and him were friends, he did care about her and did miss her despite needing to ensure why she left was hidden. 

He's just a puppet under Pued's lies and instructions. The other love triangle was foreshadowing what we thought in episode 1; Tan, Bun and Jane. Bun thought Tan was straight, and in a relationship, we saw him go through remorse and sadness when he discovered the guy he wanted was already taken by his best friend. However, this love triangle isn't the reason why Jane took her life (or why she was removed because of love). There's one more we haven't seen, but it's been there. And it's upsetting and frustrating. In my first episode 1 suspect list, I wrote that Rutingwa was not to be trusted, but I was going to trust her for now because I didn't understand how she could be the one to pull Jane up the rope etc. However, I did notice her overreactions and over emotions when she walked in and saw her sisters demise. She was in the same clothes as the day before at the event. I found it odd.

 The second thing I called out and remembered is the terrorising of Bun only started to happen when she ominously asked him to keep updating her on her sisters MOD, Bun had gone to her first to say the MOD wasn't sui*cide, but it was actually mu*rder. Lastly, she again showed even more interest and anger once she discovered how the cops were hiding her sisters MOD (it's a red herring she couldn't care less, I'll explain soon) and she vowed to find out what happened. In the current episodes, she showed up again determined to know what Bun knew about the case, and she claimed she didn't know about her sister's reasons for depression. 

She didn't know anything about Pued and her sister's relationship just what others know.  So here is where you hear it from me first; Rutingwa is the person who is the suspect. I'll explain how she did it and how she is involved. But she's the temple girl, the person who misleads the prince into thinking she saved him. If the prince is warped in the show as Pued, then the temple girl is also warped. And it's the biggest betrayal. See why I think Jane had more reasons for why she was desperate to reveal the truth. She wanted to do it for justice (selflessness of the Mermaid) but because of revenge. The prince chose a girl from his world, and I think Runtingwa is also part of the corruption ring, and she is aware of it. 

3 The mermaid victim

Ariel, once she discovers the prince's betrayal at first isn't angry at him. She's just depressed, she cries and cries and waits for her demise. However, that's important to note because Jane also went through her fair share of depression. The reason why Ariel cried was because of loss of her self, and the sacrifices she made for this man, she felt stupid, heartbroken and defeated. She understood he didn't love her, but it felt like she had wasted everything for him. The reason why Jane went into depression in my theory is that she found out about Runtigwa and Pued. 

Her depression stemmed from her miscarriage, but she started to want to say the truth, the reason why she stayed with Tan to be protected because she knew of her sister's betrayal. She may have found out during the period of her depression and Pued may have told her it wasn't the case, but I think what drove her the most to want to reveal the truth at first was revenge. What led to her demise was confronting both Rutingwa and Pued that same night after discovering the truth. However, she kept quiet at first because of Pued telling her not to say anything, and the higher-ups threatening her to be quiet. I believe Pued made Tan keep an eye on her (he didn't know the real reason). 

4 Vengeance and Selflessness

But it's more than just the anger at the betrayal that probably made her break up with Pued. It was also the other factors. She knew what was happening to Nat and she couldn't say anything. She knew about the world of corruption and how it was taking her students and others, and she had kept quiet not because of love but because of fear, once Nat was hurt by the botched miscarriage, she couldn't stay silent anymore. 

I believe she not only uncovered the betrayal of her sister which led her to more anger and determination, to tell the truth, but her sense of responsibility as a teacher made her feel it was no longer acceptable. This is her little Mermaid's choice to be selfless. Instead of choosing to hurt the .prince at first after her sadness (she didn't choose to say something because of the betrayal at the end,  but she had the thought and probably started to gather evidence then), she decided to put her self in danger and unveil the truth about the corruption. (hence risking her life).

 The only issue is because of love for Pued she told him what she was going to do. He didn't take it lightly and warned her not to. She realised who he really was and he lost his temper and hurt her.  Remember that Ariel wants to get rid of the prince because her sisters give her that idea, just like removing the girls she cared about made Jane more determined, to tell the truth.  This is why Tan came and punched him; he didn't like what his brother said or did, even if he has to be a puppet Jane was his friend. This again shows you Tan didn't know what was really going on; he had to follow orders underneath Pued begrudgingly. The reason why he thought he had to cover up Jane's MOD was because he was misled. 

I won't be surprised if he knew about Runtingwa and Pued's affair and that's what he thought Jane was going to unveil and why Pued told him to keep an eye on her. He knew Pued was involved in Jane's demise, but he thought because her MOD would reveal the organisation he has to hide and protect his family, he had to keep their jobs intact. He was a puppet under orders which only started to realise the gravity of the situation once he fell for Bun. 

5 D*ying for love and selflessness 

So Jane, like the little Mermaid, decided to sacrifice her self and reputation. She decided to expose the higher-ups. However, on that night, she didn't expect that Pued would follow through with his warnings and come and try and convince her. Remember how I said I didn't know how Rutingwa would do all this to her sister, or where she got the strength to hang her sister? (Not that women can't be strong) it's because I think she and Pued both got rid of Jane. Now despite Pued being warped and cruel to Jane, I still think parts of him cared for her. The prince cared and felt indebted to the Mermaid; he saw her as a close friend. I don't think Pued meant to end her life. I think he went to warn her and scare her to stop like he made Tan do to Bun. 

I think Rutingwa, however, is the one who convinced him to make her demise look self-inflicted (trying to avoid words is so hard but I have to use all these synonyms not to get flagged on Tumblr haha). Rutingwa knew about Jane's MOD; she was involved in it; she also came to warn her sister. She even stuck by Bun's side to ensure evidence was taken care of, to keep him quiet by snitching. 

Pued went into hiding to avoid being seen as a suspect he faked his kidnap. Rutingwa could get away with hers by feigning ignorance. Now I really tried so hard to prevent a girl from being a villain in another BL, but I think Rutingwa is a brilliant villain. She has shown that she's heartless and determined to get her way if she is the villain. She's a plot twist because she's been hidden under layers and layers of other red herrings as we uncover the plot, and she and Pued hardly interact. When she feigned her ignorance about her sister's condition, it made sense to us seeing her fight for the police to expose her sisters MOD, but that's because she knew he was one of the corrupted people involved. They had planned to get Bun of their case. To make her self seem innocent. It's fantastic. 

The most obvious clue is that she is the closest person to the victim, just like Bun said in episode 1; it's always the ones closest to the victims that are the suspect, he just didn't deep how close it was, he was right it was her boyfriend, but it also was her sister who was putting on a show, in clothes she wore the night before and was acting naive about her sister's depression and spiral to her demise. Rutingwa is someone to keep an eye on. She'll go to lengths to be seen as innocent, and I think she's the main head of this, not Pued. Pued is just as Jane said spineless and weak, he's just spoilt and wanted to stay in power, he didn't care about Jane enough because he was in love with Rutingwa and they both sacrificed her to let him stay in his position and she in hers as his lover. It's messed up, but hey it's a brilliant plot. 

To Love or Not to Love: Little Mermaid a foreshadowing device for the couples 

So that's the first way the little Mermaid is connected to the foreshadowing of the plot. The second is the base of the romantic couples.

Two worlds apart; the little Mermaid and the prince are prevented from being together because of separate worlds until she joins him sacrificing her self and voice and then life for him to be there. 

To k*ill or not to k*ill. After discovering his betrayal, the Mermaid has to choose to save herself, go back to her world, or leave for love. She decides to sacrifice her life for love.

Misunderstandings and Regrets: The prince misunderstood the temple girl as his saviour he couldn't move on from that mindset, and so he didn't let himself love Ariel. Until the end, he never knew Ariel was the one he truly loved. 

Two worlds apart: Justice vs Corruption

As you can see, one of the themes of the love stories with everyone who is in a romantic relationship on the show (not the subtext ones) is being two worlds apart. Let me explain. 

Jane is torn by her ethics as a teacher vs her love for Pued, and she chooses to sacrifice her self to get to his world and be with him. 

Bun is torn by his morals as a pathologist and determination for justice ( due to past experiences with the police) vs his love for Tan who is part of an organisation that does crime and is linked to corruption. He sacrifices his suspicions and fears to get to his world and be with him despite being afraid he could be just like the people he hates. 

Sorowit is torn by his innocence and also determination for justice to his friends vs his blooming love for Tat who is connected to violence and the corruption ring that hurts him. He sacrifices his worries and resentments (because Tat even injured him when they first interacted for his friend) to get to his world and be with him. 

In all these love stories, the characters end up unveiling a betrayal, which makes them feel used with wasted hearts and love because their love was never real. In my theory, Jane discovers that Pued is not just spineless and heartless, but he also didn't love her, he loved her sister, and before she could do what was right she was eliminated. 

Bun has to come to terms that Tan may be the suspect and has lied and used him just to hide the evidence and the truth. Their love was never real, and he wasted his trust and heart on him. Sorowit will also come to the same terms when he discovers that Tat may be working for someone who knew about the corruption that is affecting all his close friends and Jane. (Nam, Nat, Jane). He also would force himself to question if Tat has a heart because of how cruel he can be. Bun is the person to warn him about Tat. 

Whilst Pued is warped prince, That and Tan are puppets forced to follow orders of an organisation that they can't escape. Without meaning, they both fall in love with Bun and Sorowit despite the danger and the fact that they're meant to stay emotionless and unfeeling since all they can do is be loyal to the organisation to remain taken care of. Tan has had no choice in the matter, and because Tat works for him, he also didn't have a choice and was probably forced into it at a young age. 

2 To maim or not to maim. 

The issue is that all couples had entered a dangerous situation, in order for one of them to survive in their world; one must be removed. For Jane, to return back to her world of responsibility and justice, Pued has to be exposed, and his reputation had to be ruined. If she told the truth, the whole town would be ruined. It had to be a decision between her and him and the rest. She chose to go to him selflessly, and he decided that she was the one that had to go. 

This is why it's a sad foreshadowing at some point Tan will have to make the same choice. Bun's life or His. And Bun will have to do the same after discovering the truth. They are both in a situation where one of them can't survive if the other does. If Tan survives, the organisation survives, the higher-ups win and the town is not ruined. But Bun is silenced. If Bun survives, Tan will be hurt and taken care of by the higher-ups and framed. Tat and Sorowit are the same. Sorowit's curiosity has got him involved in this too, the more he knows and stays with Tat the more his life is also in danger, the more Tat would also have to follow orders to get rid of him. Sorowit has to decide like Bun if he can sacrifice Tat for the truth to be revealed. In Little Mermaid, you know what path she chooses, she chooses love. Bun and Tan will choose love; what that means? I don't know, Tat and Sorowit are the same. 

Misunderstandings and Regrets

That's why we're in a sad predicament. Right now, the misunderstanding and lack of recognising Tat and Tan's innocence is going to drive a wedge in the relationship and case. Bun will believe Tan is the suspect, and Tat was the one who threatened Bun. They're both going to get framed. Just like little Mermaid was framed in the opposite as not the person who saved the prince. There's a lack of clarity happening at this time that could lead to fatal consequences; unfortunately, same as what happened with the prince and the Mermaid. For Pued and Jane, I wonder if Rutingwa framed her, could Rutingwa have been the person to make Pued stop loving her or trusting her? I don't know how, but like I said, she seems to be the strongest and scariest villain/suspect. She does what she wants to get what she wants.

 Could Pued have loved and cared about Jane the way the Prince cared about Ariel and the girl who saved him but somehow got lack of clarity on who she was in his life? Did Rutingwa seem more like the better person to help save his life and career? If she's involved in the corruption ring then yes. She probably seemed like a better wife or choice. But again Pued is the warped prince, Tan and Tat aren't. Their love is genuine and authentic. Bun and Sorowit will later come to terms with that, and choose to be the ones that sacrifice everything for them I believe just like the Mermaid did. Luckily the little Mermaid may not be a happy ending for Jane in the way she wanted, but it is a happy ending in the tale. She is rewarded for her love and selflessness. Jane's reward is the truth getting uncovered by Bun. Saving more girls from the situation she was in.  I also believe Tan and Bun whoever sacrifices would be rewarded, I believe this will have a happy ending, but that's just me.  They'll reunite at the end, finally unveiling the real villains and surviving. That's what I believe. 

So Manner of Death is about to become my favourite just from seeing the next episodes unfold. I could be wrong about this, but I don't see how yet, there are so many clues hinting to Runtingwa as the badass villain she is, as much as I hate girl hate, I commend her on her villainy, she's stone-cold,  if she is, she doesn't mess around, and I like seeing flawed women sometimes. I just want her to be the head of the whole thing, not just doing this because of love for Pued. But because of power and greed and determination to have a good reputation. I want her to be more cunning and stronger than Pued as a villain, even if he's the person who did it, I want her to be the one who suggested it. I don't know sometimes I like seeing women in this role, she's not an ex-girlfriend of the Bl couple who is determined to ruin them, she's not even the villain because of jealousy Pued wants Jane, she's doing it for power and reputation. Like Yes, you show how evil you are, and you own it. She'll be a great villain if she is as cunning as I think she is. Pued in my mind is a wimp, even if he hurt Jane, I don't think he meant to do it. But we'll see how cruel he can be.

I know the mayor, and police detective could be the ones, but with their reveal now, I don't think Jane was tricked or eliminated by them, they are red herrings to the story. Disgusting corrupted people who have power and control, but it's a puppet who did it because of fear. It's Pued. But maybe I'm wrong, and it is them, it wouldn't make sense with the foreshadowing of d*ying for love. They didn't eliminate Nat; she was eliminated because of the botched miscarriage, that's what I believe anyways. Let me know what you think? Any other suspects I'm missing?  You can check out my other analysis of the show in my masterpost. Let’s discuss about the show.  

[duman-anon]

I made a Winx Villain

I have always wanted to make a villain, ironic with me obsessed with villains but has a hard time making one. But this is a beginning!

This is Ogbe the technology villain!

Sources Picrew; You find it HERE

Yes, Technology villain. Meaning this would focus MOST around Tecna and her home planet Zenith

Ogbe is a hacker and since technology is big part of Magix (and Earth) they decide to now hack down internet and take control of every technology advice

Yes, this villain goes by They/He

They are PART robot, part human. How that was made? Magic, but mostly data

What his goal is; He want to be the most powerful robot-human, and since Magic is combined with regular life and technology (in Magix most), he will try take the magic down to data so he can control it along with technology advices.

Would it be possible to download magic? Not so sure, but if we think about this;

The cars in Magix get help to fly thanks to magic, if now a technology car would be hacked, the magic would still be within it. You would be able to download information from a car and as well with it you could possibly download the magic since the magic has been passed down to the techno advice.

As well on Earth, with Love & Pet, costumers could download their pet with help of magic. So basically the technology comes with magic.

How it all starts:

Everyone in Magix and Earth get one same message; “I’m Hungry” and it is a pixlr picture of Ogbe

yes just like in Digimon Movie yes sorry I couldn’t be more original

He start to hack around the world. Some get their phones shut down immediately and as well computers.

Why he start to take the phones and computers first; this is to get a bit of magic a bit by bit. The more they can store the magic the better. But of course their main goal is to control every device.

Winx get to handle this mission, Tecna who has a lot of technology powers get right in to this. Tecna’s first idea is to download themselves to the computer

“Just like back at Earth when we went to Virtual Park, we will download ourselves and try to find this guy. Internet is one big connection to everyone and if we can track this one down, we can destroy this computer virus.”

They do find the virus after downloading themselves, but it is just a small virus among many. They learn that Ogbe has made small virus machines and they hack even faster to computer devices. Ogbe is actually in another place and is almost watching above them. And he has robot arms yes.

Would Winx need another transformation for this villain? I would say no, but Rainbow would still add something. Which would be more like computer transformation.

When they realise they can’t track down with help of viruses and they are too fast and too many of them, they come back to real world and have to come up with a plan how you beat someone on the internet.

But it would be chaos everywhere. Red fountains all ships has turned against them and they can’t control them and shoot at every thing. Cars in Magix is now haunting down the owners and all machines seem to have come to life and turned against the humans.

How would he be stopped?

Tecna comes up with a brilliant plan;

“Programs are made DAILY on the internet. And he has to hack them down as well. If we make a new program we can set a trap for him. Not all viruses can get through codes, sometimes a real person has to come and solve it. And Ogbe will certainly have to come to hack through it.”

“So how do we get his attention to hack our program?” Musa or Stella would ask. “He has moved away from Phones to bigger stuff now to hack down.”

“Exactly. We are going have to pretend it is something useful for him to have.”

Since Tecna’s home planet is heavily depending on technology, I think their home planet has some sources for magic that helped them to come this far with technology as they have. They will make a program that seem to leading to that sources.

“And how do we stop him?” Bloom asks “He is much more faster than his viruses and us as well. He moves almost impossible fast.”

“We are making sure he is getting slow,”

During their process and have been on internet the whole time, a big audience around the Magix and Earth has followed Winx and seen all the virtual fights. A reason why Winx are slower is because they get spammed from EVERYONE who is watching them. Audience is writing “you need to be faster” and “you are totally screwed winx”.

So Winx makes a new program/website and download themselves to it. As expected, Ogbe is trying to hack in to their website and take the sources from Zenith. Thanks to Tecna, she had made a code that was a tough challenge and Winx had started to gain a lot of audience already, waiting for the final battle.

When Ogbe has passed it through, he get of course mad and send his viruses at Winx but he is staying as well to fight them. Tecna’s plan is to send all the mail and the chat to Ogbe. And she does it and Ogbe who hasn’t got any spam or mail before in such big scale all at once, is starting to lag. Ogbe can’t move quickly and is now slower than Winx. All his viruses get destroyed and it is only Ogbe left.

Ogbe will of course praise Tecna for how intelligent she is and that she would be able to take down the whole internet and technology if she would want to. If Tecna and Ogbe had done this together they would have been unstoppable, doesn’t Tecna want to find all the secrets that are hidden on internet? All the material for sources for each planet? Doesn’t she want to have control over all technology?

“You’re right Ogbe,” Tecna would say. “I would want to know all the information, solve all the codes and see more programs. But for the good sake, not for selfishness. I am intelligent, and I’m smart enough to understand what is right and what is wrong.”

Since Ogbe is part Robot, he get turned off. And to be extra safe, they freeze him down in Omega.

Back at Zenith (a random person I guess?) they will tell that Ogbe was the first original robot that was the most human like and could think on it is own (bc he got DNA from human). But already then was he dangerous, before he could do any damaged they destroyed Ogbe by smashing him and left his parts in a jail. But he wasn’t turned off. For decades Ogbe started to rebuild themselves and when he was done, he escaped. And that was the last time Zenith scientists would build Human Robots.

It all end good! Technology is now working alongside with humans/aliens again, cars and ships are now back to their normal state, and it seem everyone is much lesser on internet.

“How come that everyone spends now lesser time on internet?” Stella would ask. “It is safer now when Ogbe is gone.”

“Well,” Tecna would start. “perhaps everyone realised that you don’t need to do everything on internet. All friends and family exists outside of internet. Besides, I think everyone is a bit scared of data viruses.”

The end.

This is how it would be with Ogbe! A robot-human that wanted to control all technology in the universe and terrorise people.

Yes a lot of this is inspired by Digimon movie because I love Digimon.

[littlespoonevan]

i think you’ve done one before where ian and mickey run into trevor? but i’d love another one like that. or caleb. or kash. or literally anyone from the earlier seasons (could even be an old school mate who we don’t know!) and who has a shocked reaction that they are still together/married.

anon said:prompt: ian and mickey introducing each other as husbands at a group event scenario

so because i combined two prompts here, have two blasts from the past!! (though idk who’s gonna be happy to see caleb lmao hopefully the 2nd guest makes up for it) i hope u like it!!! :D

*

Mickey loosens his tie as he scans the room, idlywondering when exactly he’ll stop putting himself in uncomfortable socialsituations for Ian’s sake. Then again, Ian walking towards him in his fancyblazer with the top few buttons of his shirt undone and a bottle of beer ineither hand is a very particular fantasy he’s enjoying right now.

“How’re you holding up?” Ian asks, handing one of thebeers off to Mickey and sliding his free arm around Mickey’s waist. It’s prettyfucking ridiculous how quickly it makes Mickey relax but he figures he marriedIan for a reason.

When Ian had first told him about the benefit all theSouth Side emergency services were holding to raise money for a new hospitalwing Mickey had thought it sounded like his own personal version of hell. Buthe’d realised pretty quickly it was also Ian’s personal version of hell so he’dagreed to go.

Now that he’s here he’s gotta admit it’s not so bad.The charming, confident persona Ian used to wear back when he’d drag Mickey toafter-club parties back in the day seems come back to his husband easily enoughwith Ian flashing everyone hundred-watt smiles and schmoozing with thehigher-ups. There have been a few moments where Mickey’s felt uncomfortablestanding next to him but only because of his total lack of understanding aboutall the medical bullshit everyone is spewing rather than him actually feelinglike he’s being excluded from the conversation.

Plus, he can’t help the way he inwardly preens everytime Ian introduces him as his husband.

“’m surviving,” Mickey tells him, leaning into Ian’sside. “This place’s got good beer.”

“Its one saving grace,” Ian jokes, dropping a kiss onMickey’s temple. “Sorry, I know you’re probably bored. Just another hour or twoand we can hit the Alibi.”

The last thing Mickey wants to do is stay out evenlonger when Ian’s standing next to him looking like he does but he hums in acquiescenceanyway. Not like Ian’ll be complaining later on.

“It’s fine, man, I get it,” Mickey says, turning intoIan so they’re facing each other and putting his free hand on Ian’s hip. “You’restill on probation and it’s a fuckin’ miracle your old job even took you back.You need to stay here and act like employee of the month – I know the deal.”

Ian’s beaming at him by the time he’s finishedtalking and Mickey clears his throat, aware his ears are probably turning red.

“You’re the best,” Ian tells him, the words half lostto Mickey’s mouth as he darts in to kiss him.

“Yeah, yeah,” Mickey huffs when he pulls away, tryingnot to act as flustered as he feels. “You can show me how much you appreciateme later.”

Ian’s smile turns devilish and he uses the arm aroundMickey’s waist to draw him in closer. “Oh, I plan to.”

Mickey’s just about to incite a game of chicken whenIan suddenly freezes and Mickey raises his gaze from Ian’s mouth to his eyes.Turning to look over his shoulder he attempts to follow Ian’s gaze but there’stoo many unrecognisable faces around for him to tell who Ian’s looking at.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, squeezing Ian’s hip to gethis attention.

Ian blinks, looking back to Mickey with an expressionthat’s some weird mix of panicked, apologetic and determined. “My ex is overthere.”

Mickey whips around again to look before he remembershe has no clue what Ian’s ex even looks like. “The firefighter?” he guesses.

Ian nods, offering him a tight smile. “Caleb,” hesays. “It’s fine, I don’t think he saw me.”

Which is probably the stupidest fucking thing Iancould’ve said because, of course, five seconds later someone’s calling out adisbelieving, “Ian Gallagher?”

Ian plasters a fake smile on his face and Mickeytakes a moment to pray for patience before he turns around to eye up the guymaking his way towards them. He’s attractive, in that clean-cut all-American way.He looks like the very definition of normal which Mickey knows just translatesto boring in Ian’s brain.

Ian had told him a little about him when they’dtalked shit through in prison. Said he’d been Ian’s attempt at a “normal”relationship that didn’t require all that much emotional effort because he’dpretty much been trying to haul himself out of a depressive episode when they’dmet. He’d also admitted he’d been trying to shove Mickey out of his mind at thetime which had hurt but he gets it, he thinks. God knows, he’d tried to drinkIan away in Mexico. It doesn’t hurt all that much now with Ian’s arm around himand Ian’s ring on his finger.

“Hey Caleb,” Ian greets half-heartedly when Calebreaches them and Mickey takes a drink of his beer to hide his laugh. It’s astark contrast to the enthusiastic friendliness Ian’s been sporting all night.

“How’ve you been?” Caleb asks, all earnestness thatMickey doesn’t trust for a second. “It’s been what? Nearly four years?”

“Yeah, I guess about that,” Ian agrees, voicecompletely neutral. “I’ve been good. I’m-“ he pauses and looks down at Mickeywith a smile that makes his knees weak. “Well, I’m married now,” Ian  says proudly, arm tightening around Mickey. “Thisis my husband, Mickey.”

Caleb’s mouth drops open in shock as his eyes flashto Mickey and Mickey immediately feels himself puffing up his chest. He’s readyfor whatever bullshit this fucker tries to throw at him.

“Wow,” Caleb splutters after a beat. “Congratulations.I- you’re his ex, Mickey, right?”

Mickey clears his throat and rubs at his eyebrow,pointedly using his left hand so he can show off his rings. “Not exactly his exanymore.”

“Right!” Caleb says quickly. “Sorry. You get what Imean, just- you two were broken up before.”

“Yeah, almost the biggest fucking mistake of my life,”Ian cuts in and he’s over-exaggerating a little for Caleb’s sake but Mickey canstill tell he means it. “No way am I letting him go again.” He directs the lastpart to Mickey and Mickey can only hold his gaze for a couple of seconds beforehe has to look away, throat feeling thick with emotion.

Caleb looks at a complete loss for words and Mickeyfeels privately vindicated. Yeah, gocrawl back to whatever hole in the past you came from, he thinksmutinously.

“That’s um- I’m glad you’re so happy,” Caleb says finallyand Mickey’s just narrowing his eyes to try and figure out if he means it whenhe hears another familiar voice calling his name.

“MickeyMilkovich?”

And Christ, Mickey never thought he’d ever be happyto hear a fucking cop calling hisname.

He promptly turns away from Caleb, hearing Ian’sexcuse of, “Sorry, an old friend,” before he turns with him and then they’reboth standing face to face with Tony fucking Markovich.

“Don’t tell me you’re a cop now,” Tony jokes andMickey had not expected him to lookso happy to see him.

“I don’t think they let ex-cons join the force,” hesays, blinking in surprise when Tony only laughs. Huffing an unsure laugh ofhis own, he nods in Ian’s direction. “Nah, I’m only here for Ian.”

“He’s my arm candy,” Ian cuts in, moving his arm fromMickey’s waist to drape it around his neck.

Mickey rolls his eyes but watches Tony carefully forhis reaction.

“Glad to hear you two worked shit out,” Tony says,looking painfully sincere, and since when the fuck did Tony the cop know theywere even together? “I was always rooting for you two.”

“I’ve got him locked down all official now,” Ianboasts, flashing his ring proudly at Tony.

“No way!” Tony exclaims, grin becoming impossiblywider. “That’s amazing, congrats! Let me get you two a beer later, consider ita belated wedding gift.”

Ian barks out a laugh beside him and Mickey is soconfused right now. “Hey, how’s your boyfriend?” Ian asks then. And what thefuck?

“We’re living together now,” Tony admits sheepishlyand before Mickey can stop himself he blurts out, “You’re gay?”

Tony laughs, rubbing his neck awkwardly. “Yeah, Ian hadthe same reaction when he discovered that little revelation a few years ago.”

“It’s Fiona’s fault,” Ian tells him conspiratoriallyand Mickey finds a laugh bubbling out of him unexpectedly.

“Dan’s around here somewhere,” Tony says, craning hisneck to scan the room. “Hey, how about I find him and we get that drink? I haveto hear the proposal story.”

“You sure?” Mickey scoffs. “It’s a long one.”

“Eh these things are always boring anyway,” Tonyshrugs, gesturing to the banquet hall at large. “It’ll keep me entertained forthe night.”

Ian snorts beside him and waves Tony away. “Go findDan. We’ll meet you at the bar.”

Tony nods before taking his leave and Mickeyimmediately twists to face Ian once he’s gone. “What the fuck just happened?”

Ian barks out a laugh, depositing his beer bottle ona nearby table to wrap both his arms around Mickey. “The cop that you used toterrorise as a teenager just saved you from an awkward encounter with my ex.That’s what happened.”

Mickey shakes his head in disbelief. “I’ve had a lotof fuckin’ weird social interactions when you’ve dragged me to this kinda shitbut that has to be the weirdest.”

Ian laughs again, hugging him close and pressing hislips to Mickey’s forehead. “Just accept the free beer and remember it’sprobably good for us to have a friend who’s a cop.”

“A gayfriend who’s a cop, apparently,” Mickey scoffs, leaning his forehead againstIan’s shoulder a moment later. “Tony better not cheap out on the beer.”

Ian rubs his hand across Mickey’s shoulder blades, breathinghim in. “Pretty sure he’s on better pay than both of us so I think we’re good.”

“Come on,” Ian says then, catching Mickey’s hands anddragging in the direction of the bar. “I’ll buy you a shot of tequila first tocalm you down.”

“I can think of something else that’d calm me down,”Mickey says pointedly, nodding in the direction of the bathroom and raising hiseyebrows.

Ian halts, sizing him up for a moment and Mickeyknows he’s won before Ian even opens his mouth.

“Tony won’t miss us for a couple of minutes, right?”

Mickey grins, triumphant, and begins towing Ian inthe opposite direction.

He could get used to these benefit things.

*

[yandere-society]

Please do a yandere! Sugar daddy au where the OC does not need them anymore. Thanks 💜💜💜

Admin/Writer- Chinkbihh

Trigger warnings- yandere, manipulating, invasion of privacy

Words- 2.3k

Postponing a Farewell

You had to hurry.  

The alarm and frenzy that rushed through your body in reckless waves was reminiscent of a prey trying to outrun a predator.  

You supposed this situation wasn’t that much different either.  

God only knows what would happen if you slowed down enough for him to catch you.  

Clothes?  Check. Money?  Check. 

You bit your lip and went over the mental checklist once more, pacing wildly in the master bedroom and keeping one paranoid eye on the time.  

If your escape plan went well, then you should be able to leave about an hour before he got back home from work.  That should be plenty of time to cover enough ground between the two of you. Or at least keep him away from you until he would eventually give up given your head start.

If he would ever give up.

You pushed that doomful thought to the back of your mind and tried your best to focus on the task at hand.

You just needed to grab some hygiene products and the little possessions` you would be able to shove into your mini suitcase.  

You ran into the marble granite bathroom, shaky hands grasping for your toothbrush and other necessities.  

However a sound caused you to halt your frantic scavenging.

The familiar ring of the front door to the luxury condo being opened caused your heart to drop.  

He was here.  

There was a time when you would have been thrilled to hear of Namjoon’s arrival.  

But there was no joy to feel this time.

You were frozen in place as you heard his weighted footsteps beckon closer and closer, the terrorising sound echoed within the expensive dwelling that was empty besides the two of you.  

Despite the walls that separated you and muffled the noise...you could still hear him loud and clear.  

You couldn’t bring yourself to move.  

Namjoon’s presence alone was paralyzing.  And it was closing in on you at rapid speed.

So you stayed still, awaiting the domineering man with the pathetic will power of a cornered animal.  

“Y/n?”  his baritone voice called out, the closeness of the sound hinted that he was now in the bedroom the was connected to the bathroom you were in currently in.

Your mouth wouldn’t move to respond.  

A few seconds later he materialized in the doorway, sculpted face showcasing confusion and some relief for having found you.  

That relief was quickly melted off his face when he quite literally caught you red-handed.  

It was obvious what was happening, the panic was in your eyes and the items in your hand only confirmed his suspicions that without a doubt formed when he saw your suitcase on the bed.

You were trying to leave him.  

Namjoon’s face was a beauty within itself.  It’s oval shape was the canvas for his dusky and gold tinted pores, sat upon it were his features; strong and prominent from his plush lips to his downturned yet long and regal nose.  His eyes were always somewhat hooded, confident and smoldering as his raven orbs bored intensely into whatever he set his brilliant mind to focus upon. Above those two eyes, were darkly arched eyebrows that naturally took on a shapely nature.  

He was wearing a suit, as was his custom, and glasses that he often relied on after staring too long at the pixelated screen of the computer in his office.  His black tie was loose and untucked around his neck, revealing his frustration as he must’ve pulled at it in response to aggravation.

But...Namjoon didn’t get aggravated.  

It was one of his traits.

He got clever.

His expression was indifferent as he took one step closer to you, eyes never leaving your hands and the objects they held.  

He was a very intelligent man, very little got past him.  Of course, this too wouldn’t be any different.

He arched a brow.  

“....and just what do you think you’re doing?”  

You opened your mouth to answer the alpha-like man, but the words got jumbled in your throat causing you to release stupid splutters.  

How could you be expected to explain that you were just going to flee him without explanation?  That was a sure deathwish. Yet, lying was also out of the question….

The silence suffocated the room for another moment, neither of you willing to make a sound or move too hastily.  

Then he spoke,  “I sure hope you weren’t trying to leave me baby.  Because that’s what it looks like.”

You shook your head crazily out of instinct, although the dread in your eyes told another story.

Namjoon grinned, although this sentiment didn’t reach the inky seriousness of his eyes.  

“Well….I want to believe you but the suitcase on our bed sure is damning.”  He purred, stepping closer with a mock thoughtfulness as if he was a parent lecturing a child.  

You licked your lips as cold sweat gathered on your forehead, shaky orbs glancing at the doorway that he was blocking with his much larger frame.  You hadn’t planned for this to happen, you had planned leaving a letter or a text for him to read after you had left. But suddenly your throat was coated with sticky tar given you couldn’t form the words you needed to say now that he was staring at you, eyes almost begging you to give him a reason to snap.  

But, you couldn’t let him get to you.

You had to advocate for yourself.  Because if you didn’t, no one else would and you’d be left with Namjoon for as long as he’d like (forever).  

Despite it being the farthest emotion you felt, you slapped on a brave face.

“N-Namjoon, I think this arrangement needs to end.”  

He chuckled at this and casually leaned against the doorway, as if he was preparing to be there for a while.  “And why is that? That’s kind of a big decision for a small babe like you to make all by herself.”

Your brow ticked in annoyance at him calling you too young and stupid for you to make choices on your own.  

“That’s why Namjoon!  You always degrade me and treat me like a child!  I know I call you ‘daddy’ sometimes but it’s not okay for you to literally treat me like a 5 year old.  I’m a grown woman-”

“A grown woman that is dependent on me because you cannot take care of yourself.”  Namjoon interrupted, voice smug.

You scoffed and glared at him.  “That’s low.”

“How so?  I didn’t say there’s anything wrong with that.  I enjoy being your sugar daddy and it’s a mutually beneficial relationship.  It would be idiotic to end it all over nothing.”

“Namjoon I think you have serious issues.  It’s not healthy how you treat me.” You weakly confessed.  He just quirked a brow in signal for you to elaborate. “You have me under constant surveillance and won’t let me talk to anyone you deem ‘untrustworthy’.  You freaked out when I had a study date with someone because you’re so obsessed with me only relying on you for everything! I live in fear that you’ll snap at me just for looking at someone too long.  It’s borderline insane.”

He stood there for a moment, staring at you with a odd gleam in his eyes as your words and heavy breathing penetrated the walls of the bathroom.  

Then he chuckled in that deep voice of his.  

“You take one psychology class in college and think you’re a qualified enough to call people insane.  Trust me, you haven’t seen crazy.”

Your jaw dropped at the sheer disrespect.  He literally just downplayed your entire argument as if your thoughts were too immature for him to even bother considering for a second.  He was past the point of reasoning and it terrified you just as much as it angered you.

You didn’t care that he was blocking your way to the door, you briskly pushed him aside as you ran into the conjucting bedroom while tears blurred your vision.  You had to get out of here….he was not only crazy….he was a narcissist.

“Where are you going to go Y/n?”  He called out from behind you. “Who is going to take care of you while paying for your classes at the same time?”   

You were rushing and shoving the last of your belongings into the suitcase.  “My parents reached out and said I can stay with them.”

You didn’t know why you answered him, it’s not like he deserved a response.  But you didn’t want prove him right by letting him think you were just a child who was storming out and ‘running away’ without a plan.  

You heard footsteps sound behind you as he approached the side of the bed, watching your accelerated packing with a look of confusion.  “Your parents? Y/n….they can barely take care of themselves, much less you.”

Your breath hitched as the subject of your parents was brought up.  Your mother and father were not rich in any means, and when you left for college; it was completely up to you to support yourself.  But a shitty part time job wasn’t helping much, especially since you were a full time student so your availability for work hours was very limited.  That’s how you met Namjoon. You had a friend who said she would hang out with this guy she met through a sugar daddy website and get a weekly allowance in return.  You were envious of this and thought it was worth a shot, so you signed up for the same site and met Namjoon through it. He was by far the most handsome and wealthy man on the platform, so of course you responded to his messages.  But slowly you became more and more dependent on him and he became a weird hybrid between a boyfriend and a sugar daddy to you.

You told Namjoon about your parent’s lack of wealth, and he spoiled you in an effort to make up for what your parents were never able to give to you.  (Also he just loved doing it anyway.) But it didn’t take long until you began to notice his odd compulsion of needing you to only depend on him and no one else.  And whenever you tried to bring it up to him, he would always condescend you and your thoughts before shutting the whole observation down all together.

“I rather stay with them than you right now Namjoon.  I’ll pick up a job if I have to but nothing is worth staying.”  You told him while zipping up your suitcase

You felt Namjoon wrap his arms around you and rest his head upon your shoulder, brushing his nose against your neckline.  “Y/n, I don’t know how I feel about you staying with them. Remember when you visited for Christmas and their power went out because they couldn’t pay the bill?  That’s no place for you baby. At least with me you wouldn’t have to worry about trivial stuff like that.”

You huffed.  “It’s not like that anymore, Joon.  Mom said she got a new job and they’re doing better.”  

“They could be doing better just because it’s only two of them right now.  But if you move in and they have another mouth to feed….are you sure they could support you?”  

You froze because Namjoon did have a good point, he was a lawyer after all and he argued like one.  You knew your mother got a better job but it still didn’t pay that well given they were barely over the poverty line.  

Namjoon tightened his hold on you and nuzzled you before whispering into your ear;

“Listen, I know I can be a bit….possessive but I promise that’s an issue I can work on.  But just because you’re mad at me right now doesn’t mean you should up and leave to abandon all the stability I have given you so far.  If you really need to be on your own for a bit, let me get you a hotel room where I’ll at least know you’re getting the shelter, food and comfort you need.”

You sighed as you began to feel his distinctive lips nibble on your neck with precision towards your weak spots.  You were melting like butter on toast as this man manipulated you like it was the only thing he knew how to do.

“I-I….you promise me you’ll work on your attitude?”  You asked, voice foreign sounding given the distraction of the pleasure you were receiving.  

“Of course.  Now, text your parents and let them know that you will stay at a hotel instead.”  He purred.

Well…..technically it wasn’t that bad of deal.  

You would get the space you needed while you and Namjoon would work through your relationship problems.  Plus he could continue to fund you so you could focus on your studies, a luxury you probably wouldn’t get if you went to live with your parents.  

You nodded your head and reached for your phone to send the text.  

When all was said and done, Namjoon suggested going out for lunch before taking you to whatever 5-star hotel he deemed fit for your stay.  You agreed due to your hunger and went to exit the room to head to the garage. Namjoon reached into his pockets and handed you the keys before telling you to start up the car because he had to use the bathroom.  

Only when he heard your footsteps descend down the hallway did he allow himself to smirk.  

So you really thought that you were a grown woman?  

How laughable.  

Namjoon still found it hilarious how you didn’t question why he left early from work coincidentally at the same time you were preparing to leave.  

Namjoon crossed the bedroom and approached the bookshelf pushed to the corner, he bent down and quietly tapped the hidden camera between the books ‘Lolita’ and ‘The Beautiful and the Damned.’  

It was perhaps the smartest purchase he ever made, given it allowed him to keep tabs on you at all times and you still haven’t suspected anything.  Namjoon quickly repositioned the camera to ensure it’s secrecy before standing up and exiting the room to follow you.

He would always have the head start.  

(So this was kinda….idk lemme know what you thought.  Namjoon is daddy to me and I think he would be very manipulative instead of being a very loud yandere. Comment below and thanks for reading - chinkbihh)

[maluminspace]

Genre: fluff/light angst

Pairings: Reader/Michael Clifford/Calum Hood

Word Count: 2.5k

Requested: by @trick-r-teeth​ for spooky!sos 2019

Trigger Warnings: haunted house attractions/jump scares/mild panic attack/strong language

A/N: This is my first attempt at writing a polyamorous fic including the reader 🙈 I hope it came out alright! I’m excited to know what you think ❤️

——

The queue for the haunted house attraction was as about as long as you’d expected it to be... ridiculously long.

Luckily for you, one of your two wonderful boyfriends had friends in high, albeit spooky, places.

Boyfriend number one, Michael Clifford, was currently having a long chat with one of his buddies at the ticket kiosk for the attraction, whilst you and the long suffering third party in your triad, Calum Hood, waited on a bench cradling warm cider drinks. 

“What’s taking him so long?” You grumbled, resting your head on Calum’s shoulder. “He’s only meant to be asking if we can go in yet.”

Calum wrapped an arm around you and pecked a kiss to your forehead. “Patience, sweetheart.” Your blue haired boyfriend chuckled. “With any luck, Luke will have changed his mind about letting us in for free and we can go home.” He shrugged.

“I wouldn’t even be mad about it.” You confessed, cuddling closer into Calum’s side. “We could just go home and drink hot chocolate whilst we watch scary movies and make out..”

Chuckling softly, Calum tightened his arm around your shoulders. “There’ll be plenty of time for that later, sunshine.” He promised.

You grinned at the pet name Calum had used for you since the day he’d declared your triad official. He had one for Michael too, one that you’d found yourself adopting too, as time went by. Not that ‘Angel’ seemed all that appropriate for the blonde ball of excitement that you were currently waiting for.

As you say there with Calum, you couldn’t help thinking that the whole ‘being chased around a spooky house’ thing wasn’t really your idea of a perfect date. You’d agreed to it now, though, even if it was only because you wanted to get into the Halloween spirit more this year.

As Michael finally turned to head back to you, he had the biggest smile on his face. It seemed like your vague hope that Luke had changed his mind about letting you in, was slipping away by the second. 

“Luke booked us a slot at eight.” Your eldest boyfriend grinned as he jogged up to the bench and plonked down beside you. “Just enough time for us to finish these ciders!”

Calum passed Michael the cup that was resting on the bench beside him. “Good, maybe this whole thing will be more fun if I’m a little drunk.” 

The blonde man pouted, his impossibly pink bottom lip jutting out like that of a stroppy toddler. “You don’t want to do this?” He asked, a note of genuine disappointment in his voice beneath the sympathy craving whine.

Calum’s expression softened a little as he deliberately brushed his fingers over Michael’s when he passed the cup of cider. “We’ll do it for you, angel.” He replied gently. “It’s only fair that we all choose an activity to share with the other two.”

Nodding, you reach out to hold Michael’s free hand, tangling your fingers with his. “Yeah, I’m gonna make you watch every 80’s slasher movie I can think of.” You grin, excited to share one of your favourite parts of Halloween with your boyfriends for the first time.

“Yeah?” Michael asked, his smile brightening a little when you hummed your confirmation. “We should do that this weekend! I’ll order pizza and Calum can make us some spooky themed cocktails.”

Your youngest boyfriend rolled his eyes fondly as he grabbed Michael’s shoulder to pull him closer.

The blonde man giggled as he snuggled into your side so that the three of you were pressed together as closely as possible. “This is another reason why three is better than two.” You grinned as your boyfriends fixed you with confused glances. “Snuggle piles are even warmer!”

***

Ten minutes later, the three of you headed over to the ticket kiosk and the guy that Michael had been chatting to earlier grinned mischievously. He was dressed as some sort of ghostly butler, his grey face paint and spooky demeanour making you realise just how much you were going to hate this experience.

The bright smile on Michael’s face as he took the tickets was more than worth a half of hour of something you hate, though. He looked like a kid at Christmas as squealed between you and Calum, taking one hand from each of you. “This is gonna be fun.” He squealed.

“You’re ridiculous...” Calum huffed but the fondness I’m his tone betrayed just how much that spooky dork meant to him. 

You understand Calum’s feelings. Yours are pretty much identical. Both of your boyfriends have their quirks and flaws but you wouldn’t change a single one of them.

It comforted you, to know that Calum was just as apprehensive as you were about this whole experience. At least you had someone to share in your misery.

As the three of you made your way inside the attraction with a bunch of other Halloween enthusiasts, Michael’s growing enthusiasm almost made you forget how much you were destined to hate this.

“This is going to be so much fun!” The blonde grinned, dragging both you and Calum closer to the front of the little crowd. 

You exchanged a sceptical look with Calum before the two of you burst into nervous laughter. 

Luckily, Michael seemed to assume that you were both just as excited as he was for this little adventure.

Some woman dressed a floaty, old-fashioned white nightdress and ghostly make up gave a quick health and safety talk before a heavy wooden door was opened.

Thanks to Michael’s eagerness, you and your two boyfriends were among the very first to enter the dark room. Once everyone had filtered through from the entrance hall, the heavy door swung shut, plunging the entire room into complete darkness. 

After a few seconds there was a seemingly sporadic flash of light that illuminated the open space for a second. You just about managed to make out the shape of some ornate picture frames on the wall and what appeared to be large pieces of furniture covered with dust sheets.

It was only when Michael chuckled that you realised that both you and Calum had subconsciously clung to him, gripping an arm each. 

When the lights flashed again your were aware of faint figures moving erratically around the outskirts of the room, darting behind the large sheet-covered furniture.

Now it was completely official, you fucking hated this.

When the lights flashed for a third time the vague figures had become solid silhouettes. You had to remind yourself that they were only actors... They were just people dressed up and contorting their bodies into grotesque shapes. 

Upon the fourth flash, the actors scattered their ‘victims’ by running at the group, groaning, screeching or laughing maniacally depending upon their character. 

The lights finally stopped strobing after that. Settling into a dim red glow that cast eerie shadows and left far too many dark recesses for your liking.

You clung to both Calum and Michael as if you’re life depended on it. Every time you walked past something that appeared solid, an actor would jump out and it scared you every single time. 

The whole thing seemed far too funny to Michael as he led your little triad into the next room. At first it was pitch black, although you could hear footsteps and other eerie sounds echoing around you. 

When the dim red lights flickered to life you realised that it was a hallway that you’d stumbled into. There were various doors set into the wall as well as more sheet-covered items of furniture. 

Your heart sank as you realised that most of the passageway was too narrow for you and your boyfriends to continue walking side-by-side. The thought of walking through this hallway in single file was almost enough to make you cry. Michael was enjoying himself, though. You knew that this was a small price to pay to make him happy. Calum would agree with you, too, that was a given. 

A little group of giggling friends ran past your little triad, squealing giddily as they scampered down the corridor. You watched as they too, got chased onto the same room as the couple you’d seen a moment ago.

Deciding you just needed to stop being a baby, you straighten up, watching carefully as a couple up ahead of you got chased into one of the rooms by a gory ghost. 

As the three of you stepped forward, Michael took the lead, stretching his hand out behind his back for you to hold. Calum then manoeuvred you in front of him so that you were effectively sandwiched between your boys. 

It felt marginally safer to have a boyfriend to protect you from the and the back but you still couldn’t wait to be out of this fucking hallway. 

As you traipsed through the near-darkness, you tried to remember the exact spot that the actors were hiding in before they chased those other people. It was really hard to tell, but you thought you remembered and were somewhat relieved when you walked passed the little recess without incident. Maybe those actors had some compassion after all. 

Your relief was very short lived, however. As you neared the end of the corridor you noticed that the light was disappearing altogether and the sounds of other people being terrorised by actors were becoming fainter by the second.

“Mike are you sure this is the right way?” You asked cautiously. “Everyone else went into one of those rooms...”

“It’s like a maze in here, babe.” Michael replied. “There’re lots of different ways to get to the end.”

You had no reason not to trust him but you had a terrible feeling that you were going ‘off track’.

When it became clear that your group couldn’t go any further Michael was forced to try the one remaining door set into the wall beside him. You really hated the fact that it had a huge red ‘X’ pained in the centre of it.

You clutched both of your boyfriends’ hands as Michael led the way inside. The room was entirely black. There were no flashing lights or eerie red glow in this one.

“Mike I don’t like this...” you whispered as the door swung closed behind Calum. 

“Yeah, I don’t think this is right, baby.” Calum agreed. “Take us back to where those other people went.”

Michael huffed. “Fine, spoil sports!” He signed as he let go of your hand in order to head back towards the door. 

“We just want to get this over with, okay?” Calum groaned. 

“You two just have no sense of adventure!” Michael whined and you could hear the pout clearly in his voice. 

Calum made a disgruntled sound that also oozed impatience. “Just get us back on the right path, or I’m putting you on a sex ban for a week!”

As Michael made a distressed noise and began arguing why that shouldn’t happen, you heard a scampering sound and a faint giggle. 

“Can you two argue about this later?” You hissed. “I want to get out of here please!”

Your plea went unnoticed as your boyfriends continued to bicker. Before you had chance to ask them again, A faint light sprang to life at the other end of the room. It appeared to be the beam of a touch. 

“See!” Michael huffed. “We can go this way!” He swept off, his pace fast and determined as you scampered after him. 

You’d barley made it five steps when the silence of the room was broken by manic laughter and scurrying footsteps that echoed around the seemingly large open space. 

The torch light was moving now too, as though the person holding it was running away from you.

Even Michael seemed creeped out and broke into a run. You struggled to keep up with him and you hated not having his or Calum’s hand in your own anymore. 

For once, Michael proved too fast for you to keep up with. It was hard enough to see him in the first place, but when he veered off behind a stack of crates, you lost him completely.

Panicking a little, you turned around to try and see Calum but he seemed to have been left behind in your haste to keep up with Michael.

The torch light chose that moment to go out completely, plunging the whole room into total darkness as all the sounds stopped too.

You froze, listening to your own rapid breathing whilst you told yourself not to panic.

Just as you were about to call out to your boyfriends, a tiny voice whispered your name. It had to be Michael or Calum so you followed the sound cautiously. 

“Over here...” the voice hissed. “This is the way out...”

Your scared brain instinctively trusted the disembodied voice. You followed the sound behind a large pile of crates, hoping there’d be a hidden door there. 

“That’s right...” the voice whispered before calling your name again. It definitely wasn’t Michael’s or Calum’s voice, you could hear that now. 

Before you could call out to your boyfriends the torch light reappeared but this time it was right in front of you and it illuminated a distorted face - the gaping mouth, peeling grey skin and manic eyes pulled a loud, terrified scream from you. 

Before you’d even managed to gather your senses enough to run, all of the ceiling lights sprung to life, illuminating the large room fully. 

You were faintly aware of people laughing as you regained your senses. “That was great, Luke!” Michael giggled, appearing from the other side of the crates with a livid looking Calum.

“Thanks, man.” Luke smiled proudly, you guys were amazing subjects.” He laughed glancing between you and Calum. “I wish I could have filmed you.”

“That wasn’t funny, assholes!” Calum hissed angrily. 

“It was, though!” Michael argued, still laughing. If his smiling face wasn’t so beautiful you’d have been tempted to rip it off. 

“Your ban’s just been upped to two weeks, you little shit.” Calum growled, stepping forward to wrap you in a hug. “And I won’t even let you watch us either.”

Michael protested with a sulky noise but Calum silenced him with a look. Fuck, that man was hot when he was stern and/or angry. Luckily, Michael knew when to back to back down.

“Tough luck, mate.” Luke smirked at Michael. “Looks like you’ve got some grovelling to do.”

Calum turned to face Luke, his expression still foreboding. “Don’t even get me started with you, Hemmings!” He huffed. “I’ll find a way to get you back, too!”

Holding his hands up in surrender, Luke’s smile dropped a bit. “It was Michael’s idea...”

Your blonde boyfriend looked terribly guilty as his smile also faltered. “I promise I’ll make it up to you both!”

“Yeah, you can start by driving us home and making us hot chocolates, after that I’ll decide exactly what all of your punishments will be.” Calum sniffed as he pulled you close and lowered his voice so that only you could hear him. “We won’t let him get away with this, baby.” He promised, aiming a cheeky wink at you.

Tag list: @clffrd​ @byxthexway​ @afuckingunicornn​ @lukesahoy​ @thrillchaser​ @moonchildsblack​ @calumbbyyy​ @h0tsos​ @valentinelrh​ @sexgodashton​ @megz1985​ @myfalsedevotion​ @aulxna​ @honeyedlashton​ @tea4sykes​ @spookymashton​

[eliza-writes-stuff]

Our Sweet Guardian Demon: Pilot Episode

Hey, guys! I have been working on this pilot for a few weeks now.

Now, for the fanfic, it will take me a few months. Our Sweet Guardian Demon will be released somewhere in the fall or early winter.

It’s strange that this idea came from “Imagine Your OT3″ XD

And as always, I hope ye enjoy!

Dogs barking, cats meowing, and parakeets tweeting their away. The pet store can be busy either way with people or animals in general. The phone vibrates in a man's pocket. His hand reaches for it and accepts the call. His other hand is scratching the dog's fur.

“Brian, do you need something?” The man in green apron asked. “I'm at work right now.”

“Yes, I know Brock, but can you stay over for the night?”

Brock hummed, “Why?”

“I know yer scared of this shit and don't want to get involved because my magick can hurt ye.” Brian ramble. There was some rustling in the background. “So, do ye, I don't focking know summon a demon with me?"

A demon? That is dangerous even for Brian's standard of black magick. Does he need to curse Evan again for coming over at his place without permission, but Brian isn't really angry at him. Did he got dared again on his group chat again? Brock thought he told him not to interact with them.

"Why do you need me?" Brock questioned. The dog barked next to him with curious puppy eyes. It laid down its head on Brock's lap.

"Yer the only one I can trust. Evan might touch me things without my goddamn permission and Nogla's a bit of a dumb-ass figure this shit out." Brian sighed. "I'm sorry ye don't want to do this and-"

"I'll join." Brock giggled at the stutters and 'whats' Brian said. "Just buy me lunch after this okay? Also, we better get out of this alive or I'll be stuck with you."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Maybe."

Brian chuckled on the line, "I'll see you tonight Brocky."

When Brock's shift is over and he told Maxi watch over the shop tomorrow because he might be dead. Well, he left out the dead part. He says he has personal reasons. Maxi didn't pressure him and they were nice about it. They say that their sister and his two dogs, Oli and Nico  is coming over. Brock took an uber and tell the driver for the locations to the apartment.

The urban life is always bustling and chattering among the citizens. If he rolled down his window, there could be the smell of cooked processed fast food or baked chocolate chip cookies. At least the shops has a nice smell.

The uber driver came to an abrupt stop. There's the apartment building. Brock gave some money to the driver and gave him 5 stars since he didn't care about the rating. He got out of the car and hoisted up his backpack. This is it. His stomach sink, but his heart lighten up at the thought of Brian. He could protect him, right? Only one way to find out is to go in.

Brock pushed the glass door opened. The manager with pink hair is sitting down with his eyes seem to be always closed. The manager's expression light up and eyes slightly opened. When the glass door light out a creak. He gave a small wave to him and continue writing down. How can he see without his eyes opened? Never mind that. Brock has a date-hangout with Brian.

Both of them has to come out alive.

He stepped into the elevator and took a shaky breath. Maybe the ritual is a fluke. His trembling fingers pressed the buttons to go up on the fourth floor. The lobby was his view before it closes on him. Don’t chicken out now.

-

The candles are set up, the sigil is draw on the floor, and his other magic items are there. His hand wiped off the remaining sweat on his forehead. Thank god, Brian read the instructions. It has to work or it will be not worth it. He got out of the side room of his bedroom, which you should never have. Brian pulled out his phone and checks the text again.

~

Teh Terroriser: are u sure this would work?

Sarah: yes

Sarah: he’ll give you a special item that will reveal brock’s s/o

Sarah: but it’s for a price

Sarah: good luck :)

~

Brian knows he shouldn’t do this to reveal his friend’s secrets, but his friends tells him that Brock likes him back. No matter what they say, his brain denies, but his heart yearns. For years, he has considered practicing black magick as a hobby and finds it especially when it comes to pranking Nogla.

His hands gripped around his phone. Brian sighed and put his back in his pocket. A loud two time thud from his front door. It must be Brock. He ran from the bedroom to the front door and opened to see a small smile from a man.

“I thought you weren’t gonna join.” Brian said in disbelief.

Brock’s erupt into small, cute giggles, “Can’t let my friend die.” Brian lets him and hangs up his coat. “So, when we are summoning?”

“Either 2 or 3 in the morning.” He nervously laughed as Brock crossed his arms. “But in the meantime, wanna play Mario Kart 8?”

-

You had plenty of money in 1922.

A song from the jukebox softly plays throughout the tavern. Fairy lights almost covering the ceiling. A few folks chatting among themselves, either about rumors or sweet-talk. People had strange taste when it comes to alcohol. Vodka with orange juice? Now, you’re a true drunk toddler. At least there’s mineral water. A distinct smell came through the noses. Smoke. People aren’t allowed to smoke in the bar, so they had to take it outside. Strange.

You let other women make a fool of you.

Luke Patterson is the owner of Mystic Drinks. With his charming nature and sultry voice, it pleases the women and men. He’ll throw a smile, it swoons the ladies in the back. However, despite his seductive personality, you don’t want to leash the beast out of him. Well, he did in bed, but if someone ticked his long beard off. They’re either kick out or never be seen again. When Luke found the source of the smoking problem, he grabbed them by the collar. Kicking and yelling, people stared at the two. Finally, the door slams shut as the person got kicked. Luke’s eyes order to ignore it.

Why don’t you do right, like some other men do?

“That’s the third time you kicked out someone.” The man in glasses giggled.

Luke sighed and ruffled the man’s tied up bun. “Look I want to make a safe place for y’all and this is the thanks I get? People treat this like a dumpster fire Ohm.” Luke’s shoulders tensed, but calm when another bartender put his hands on it.

Get out of here and get me some money too?

“Don’t let that asshole get to you. He can take that nasty cigar and shove it up his ass.” The jiggly man retorted.

“Thanks Anthony.” 

Ohm enjoy his friends. Hearing Anthony laughed every time he makes a dumb, somewhat sexualised jokes. He knows Luke longer than Anthony. Some say they were friends with benefits, which it is true, but it’s over when Luke found a special someone, or two. They all became a couple, and they own a bar called Mystic Drinks. It’s a safe place for humans and creatures as well. Creatures, such as demons, wendigos, avains, lizard-folk, and dragons. Luke is a Lust demon, he and Anthony are Wrath demons, and Mini is an Envy demon.

“Hey, where’s Mini?”

“He got summoned.” Luke explained. “He said there’s this bitch who got jealous of this other bitch.” He let a breathy laugh, “Humans are so dumb.”

“Yep. I got summoned one time by this guy. He said ‘hey uh I want you to kill this asshole’ and I thought ‘you kill himself!” Anthony complained as he grabbed the mixer and shakes it. “Does it look like I’m your bitch?”

Ohm and Luke laughed at his story, “Sorry, but you and Mini are my bitches.” Luke put his arms around Anthony, but he shoved him off.

“Treat me first, you bottom bitch.” Then he pours the drinks in the blonde woman’s glass. Ohm laughed and takes a sip from his mineral water.

Humans meant nothing to demons. Just an object to toy around and maybe take souls from. At least a few souls because there’s an overpopulation going in the Nine Circles of Hell and they can’t handle more new souls coming to hell. What about humans who are satanist? They’re wannabes who thinks they know their emotions and what they’re going through. Some demons think it’s funny and plays along or can be their friend.

Why would Ohm be friends with a disgusting human? He gets a tug on his wrists, and he rolled down to see his sigil flashing.

“I have to go,” He sighed as he got up from his chair. “It was chatting with you guys.” Ohm walks away from the two and went outside. The guy who got kicked out because he was smoking. The man grumbled, but Ohm quickly snaps his fingers and the man is now in the trash can. He struggled while Ohm chuckles silently. He disappears from sight.

-

The red candles lit up and surrounds the circle. Inside of the circle is a sigil. The room faintly smells of raspberries. Brock and Brian sit crossed legged. The room doesn’t have any windows or one of those air vents. Not to mention it’s quite small. The phone glowed out the locked screen with the time of 3 in the morning.

“We got this set up, now what?” Brock asked. His eyes darting around the room.

“Now, we get to say the magic words.” Brian wiggled his fingers out, his friend giggle at the actions. He gives him a piece of paper. “This is what I’ll be saying and it’s not focking Latin. Thank god.”

“Wait, you’re doing this alone?”

“Well, yeah.” As much he wants Brock around, but he can’t join in because the demon might want something from him as well. He can’t risk it. “But ye get to drag me out in case shit backfires.”

“So basically I’m dragging your ass out of hell.”

“Yep.” He laughed. Then stares at the circle. It’s time. Brian took a deep breath and closed his eyes. 

“Lord Satan, by your grace, grant me, I pray thee the power to conceive in my mind and to execute that which I desire to do, the end which I would attain by thy help, O Mighty Satan, the one True God who livest and reignest forever and ever. I entreat thee to inspire Ohmwrecker to manifest before me that she may give me true and faithful answer, so that I may accomplish my desired end, provided that it is proper to his/her office. This I respectfully and humbly ask in Your Name, Lord Satan, may you deem me worthy, Father.” 

A few minutes and still is in the air. Brian took a shaky breath and opened his eyes. This has to work because all that black magick he learn has gone to waste in the dirt.

Within the circle, the sigil glows bright red. Little red candles fire up more and sways. Then spreads in the circle. Brock gasped while Brian is shocked in disbelief. It’s supposed to glow pink, not red. Did he mess up the sigil? Oh god, what kind of demon would it be?

Fire and smoke rose from the ground, causing the two to scoot back. Brian wrapped his arm around Brock. Smoke fades when a man wearing a white t-shirt. Red marks on his arms when he crossed. His eyes are covered by a blindfold with an omega symbol on it. The demon scowled on the cowering men. If you look at another angle, you could see a small bun near his neck.

“Jeez, you humans are so irresponsible. Don’t you know I can end you?” Despite his tense aura and vexation, his appearance alone is heating up the room. Literally, Brian cheeks rushed with flushed and it appears that Brock’s cheeks has become too. “Just tell me what is the problem?”

Be respectful and welcoming, “Ye see, I accidentally summoned ye-”

“Accidentally?” His voice booms and the room almost shakes. A small desk in the corner almost felled.

“I wasn’t supposed to summon ye! I was trying to summon another demon. I must’ve got the sigil wrong or said the name wrong.” Brian explained. His sweat soaked his forehead and armpits. Surprised, it didn’t stink.

The demon clenched his nose before pointing fingers at Brian, “At least I know you waste my precious time and pissed me off even more.” He gives a low chuckle. “I supposed you deserve to be perish.” He raised his hand as Brian stands up to floating above his toes. Before the demon could grab his collar, Brock stands between them. “Mortal human get away or you’ll end up like your pathetic friend.”

“I could do that, but aren’t we supposed to make a deal?” Brian could almost hear his friend’s heart beat getting louder. “How about we find something you greatly desire: money, food, or heck even animals. Just don’t kill Brian please.” Brock begged, his voice wavering. Before you know it, Brian dropped onto the ground. He scrambled up to his feet and quickly hold his hand.

“Anything?” The demon rubbed his imaginary beard. “Fine. In order to save your soul, you must find a certain group of people and when you do. Kill them.” a shiver ran through their spine. “No matter depending on your morals or alignment, you still have to kill them. Including you cutie.” he points at Brock.

“You can’t do that! Don’t involve Brock into this bullshit. This is between me and you, ye cu-”

“Brian.” Brock gave a soft smile, “Please, you created this mess and I’m always the one who has to clean it up. You did promise to buy me lunch.”

 “Enough with the sappy talk. I have to make sure the both of you won’t try and escape.” With the snap of his fingers, visible chains on Brian’s right wrist and Brock’s left wrist. It’s connected to the demon’s wrist. “It’s better that way.”

“Sorry, but can you please tell us your name?”

“I’m quite sure ‘Brian’ knows who I am, but I let it pass since you do have a good soul.” Before he could introduce himself, he kinda stop. He seems to be his thoughts while glancing at two, but shake his head. “I am known as Ohmwrecker, but my companions call me Ohm.”

[0ldsold1ers]

can’t wait to go home with you

Reaper76 week, TUES: keep yourself alive/ Omnic Crisis

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17850008

Reinhardt is stiller than Gabe’s ever seen him. There’s blood dripping from his collarbone, seeping through a bandage which is just hours old but he sits still and quiet, letting the healers take care of him.

They’ve taken cover in an evacuated set of flats. This portion of the city had been emptied a couple of days ago after the first attacks, so now they’re waiting for an emergency evacuation of their own - the closest aid had been forty minutes away. Things had gone wrong, really wrong this time around. It was meant to be a simple strike mission, destroy a bunch of the Bastion units which had been terrorising central Berlin from an abandoned hospital, and get out fast before they could summon other units. The intel had come straight from the Crusaders and the mission was top secret. Only Gabriel, Ana and Reinhardt had known any details.

Or it was supposed to be top secret, anyway.

Somehow the Omnics had known, they’d been prepared. The hospital had been swarming with them. And they were lucky so many of them had gotten out alive - his retinas are still burning red from the blood and his coat is stiff and stained dark. His shoulder is aching where a bullet wound has already been patched up. He doesn’t even want to think about how he must smell. He couldn’t think, even if he tried.

Because Jack hadn’t made it out with them.

He doesn’t know where he went or what happened - one minute they’d been fighting back to back, the next he’d vanished, running to a scream for help from across the corridor. Gabriel had tried to follow before Reinhardt had grabbed him and pulled him behind his shield - just in time, as a spray of bullets had almost reduced his face to mincemeat.

In the chaos, Gabriel hadn’t had the chance to look for Jack - he hates himself for it now, is plotting out a million different things he could have done to save everyone - but as commander, he had to get as many out alive as he could. There hadn’t been any chance to scout the area as they beat an immediate retreat, carving their way out through the mass of enemies. Staying would have meant death.

He tries not to think about what that means for Jack’s chances.

“He could still be alive, Gabriel.” Reinhardt says quietly, and just the fact that the German is so quiet tells Gabriel how weird and fucked up and unlikely the situation is. He nods once but doesn’t reply. He doesn’t trust himself to speak right now and keeps pacing.

The door crashes open once more, and Gabriel turns for the millionth time, hating himself for being disappointed when he sees black hair, not blonde.

Ana looks at him, angry and grieving and a million other things but still determined. “Choppers are five minutes out, Gabriel. We have to get ready to go.”

Gabriel feels his heart break a little. This can’t be the way they end. They’ve been through so much already, it’s not fair. There’s so much Gabriel never got the chance to say, so many unsaid words, unseen films, unspent moments they’ll never get to see now.

“Get the troops outside together. I’ll do final perimeter sweeps.” ‘I have to make sure he’s not coming.’ is what he doesn’t say. They both hear it anyway.

There’s nothing though. No signs of stragglers, no flash of gunfire, thankfully no Omnics in pursuit.

He keeps staring back at the smoke of the hospital over the skyline, waiting for a flash of blonde hair, a panicked cry for help, a blast from that insane rifle he insists on carrying - but there’s nothing. The air is thick with something which isn’t quite silence but drowns him all the more for it.

Until the insistent shuddering of helicopter blades breaks through his reality and it really hits home - he’s going to have to leave without Jack. His eyes are burning but he’s got another six troops in this old apartment building who need to get home and see their families again.

He scrubs at his eyes and is about to return to his squad when his wrist unit beeps once to let him know he has a message.

from: boyscout

message: fukc

He blinks once. There’s relief, so intense he thinks his hearts going to burst and he laughs out loud. He’s going to strangle the stupid motherfucker when he gets his hands on him. The device beeps again insistently.

from: boyscout

message: i fucked up, are you guys still here, need extraction, at church opposite hospital

Gabriel doesn’t blink again before he’s tearing back up the stairs to where Ana’s assembling the team on the roof and onto the helicopters.

“Jack’s still down there,” he starts, and Ana’s relief matches his own.

“You’re going back.” It’s not a question. She knows him too well.

He nods. “If you hear nothing for fifteen minutes, leave without us.”

She looks at him before dipping her head once. He knows he can trust her to do things in his stead - he wouldn’t try and do this if it was anyone else. But it’s Ana.

And this is Jack.

He’s flying down the stairs and out the building before he can catch his breath. He knows he has to be quiet, but also fast - it sounds like Jack is in trouble and he briefly wonders how he’s going to be able to get him back to the others. Or why he didn’t just activate his location tracker.

The hospital comes into sight soon enough, and Gabriel thinks for a half second before running down a back road. The Bastion units might not be able to get heat signatures yet, but some of the other Omnics have infra-red sight modes.

The church Gabriel thinks Jack means is old - really old, and the grand architecture is obvious even from the tight alleys hidden in central Berlin. If Jack was going to pick an obvious place to hide…

There’s a tiny door at the back of the building his HUD informs him, and he eases it open before slipping inside. He’s hidden in a quiet chapel, carved stone saints peering down at him, and feels a prickle of discomfort. He’s never felt too comfortable in these places. He’d sworn off religion a long time ago.

He scans the interior of the building with his HUD display but there’s no trace of any other machinery in the vicinity. Which means that a) no Bastion units but also b) Jack’s tech is either offline or c) not here.

Neither of the latter options are great.

He leaves the chapel carefully, listening closely before he hears it.

There’s laboured breathing coming from the front of the pews and finally he lays eyes on the golden hair he’s been searching for, a fallen angel before the altar.

Something is wrong. He realises with a creeping dread just how much red is smeared into the gold, and drops any pretense of stealth, sprinting up the aisle.

“Wondered when you’d get here.” Jack says, strain clear in his voice.

The room spins for a moment as he lays eyes on him.

There’s a really nasty cut along his temple which would explain the HUD not showing up in the scan - it looks like the Omnics have gouged out the implant from his head. He’s holding a hand over his stomach, and from the copious quantities of blood, Gabriel would guess he’s probably been holding his intestines in since he left the hospital. He can’t see any other obvious injuries but the left leg of his pants is badly ripped up and stained as well, and he doesn’t seem to be focusing too well when he looks up at Gabriel.

He’s seen some nasty injuries before, but this… this is awful. Even SEP applicants have died from less.

“What the fuck happened, Morrison.” He breathes, not really expecting an answer. He’s guessing a pretty bad concussion from the lack of focus in the usually sharp blue gaze. Hell, he’ll take it right now, it’s better than the alternative. He pulls off his coat and starts ripping it into bandage strips as he places a call to Ana from his wrist unit, no longer caring if the Omnics can track his location from it.

“I’ve got him, Ana. He’s in a bad state, I don’t know if I can get him back like this.”

The audible sigh of relief is quickly taken over by a hum of concentration. “You might have to, Gabriel. There’s no way we can bring the choppers closer, it’ll be an obvious giveaway where you are. How bad are the injuries?”

He quickly lists off what he can see. “I don’t know if he can walk.”

Jack pouts at him. “You could ask, you know. I’m right here.”

Any other situation, Gabriel would have laughed at his childish expression.

“Do what you can, you might have to carry him. Keep me updated with progress. We might have to leave and arrange for a secondary evacuation if you can get far enough away.”

Gabriel nods, then remembers it’s a phone call. “Wheels up in fifteen minutes.”

Ana begins to complain, but he cuts across. “That’s an order, Captain.”

She goes silent, before a stilted “As you wish, Commander,” and then she hangs up. It doesn’t escape his attention that she hadn’t suggested for a second leaving Jack behind, and he’s beyond grateful.

Gabriel doesn’t think as he works, letting instinct take over as he wraps wounds as tightly as he can. He re-sets Jack’s leg - he’d cried out, the pain overwhelming the delirium for a second - but the healing factor would hopefully be able to do enough that they could walk out.

He pulls Jack to his feet, dragging one heavy arm across his shoulders. Gabriel staggers - Jack isn’t holding himself up properly, there’s still too much blood and he’s holding himself together with his hands at this point.

“Come on, you big lump,” he grumbles, pulling his best friend from the church, “there’s no way I’m dying in this hell hole.”

Jack sighs dreamily, and Gabriel really doesn’t like the sound of that. “Can’t wait to go home with you.”

Gabriel chuckles. “We don’t go home together, pendejo. You’re moving in with Vincent aren’t you?” Jack had spoken briefly about his plans a couple months ago, but Gabe hasn’t heard anything since. Delirium does funny things to the head anyway.

“Wish we could go home together though. Love you.” Jack sighs, and Gabe freezes for a second, heart pounding, before realising: he must have thought Gabe was Vincent. He almost laughs again, in relief, in love, in despair, but Jack won’t understand any of those.

So he just says, “Love you too, golden boy.” He wishes it was a lie as he drags him back to the apartment building.

*

“Next time I tell you to evacuate a war zone, you do it. Understood?” Gabriel stares down his unimpressed Captain from the sick bay lobby.

“You were on your way back. If Jack didn’t get immediate attention he could have died, from what you said.” Ana replies, mulish as she refuses to drop eye contact.

She’s obstinate and stubborn and determined, funny and deadpan and sometimes edging on rude. Gabriel wouldn’t have her any other way.

“How is he?” he asks instead of reprimanding her like he should. The doctors had ordered him to ‘fuck off and get some sleep,’ in their own words, and the doors had been programmed not to let him in until his brain was functioning at a certain level of activity again.

“He’ll be fine,” she says, mouth twitching up just a little, “but the doctors are a little worried about the head injury. They think removing the implant could have caused some long-term brain damage, but they won’t know until he wakes up. And he’ll have to stay in for a couple of days until his gut has healed anyway.”

Gabriel sits down heavily. That recovery time is slow for them but at least it’ll be fixed. But brain damage? Jack had been acting very strange, and the doctors had confirmed multiple concussions. His implant as well… it allows them to interface with their tactical visors without speaking, allowing everyone to see where the rest of the squad is. That the Omnics knew to rip it out is both awful and really worrying. They’re getting smarter.

“Gabriel?” he looks up at Ana as she crosses over and sinks into the seat next to him. He sees just how tired she really is in the sink of her spine, the tightness around her eyes. How she’s still so composed, he’ll never understand. He must look like a mess. “It’s not your fault. It’s because of you he’s even alive. Stop beating yourself up.”

He gives her a tired smile. “Shouldn’t have left him in the first place.”

She scoffs, shaking her head. “A saviour complex doesn’t suit you. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and tell him how you feel before you lose the opportunity again.”

He gapes at her for a moment, but why is he even surprised? Ana doesn’t really need her cybernetic eye when she sees everything anyway. She stands and moves to the door. “I need some sleep, I’m done babysitting stupid men for the day.” More softly, she smiles at him, properly this time. “I want to know the minute he wakes up.”

Gabriel just nods once before entering the ward. The scene which greets him is infinitely preferable to the one from twenty hours ago.

Jack is breathing, peacefully now, and Gabriel could watch the soft rise and fall of his chest for the rest of his life. All of his limbs are smooth, straight lines once more (he’d missed the broken arm in his rush to get the man back to safety), his hair is gleaming a soft yellow in the sunlight streaming from the window, and the heart monitor he’s hooked up to steadily beeps at his side.

He lowers himself into the chair next to the bed and tries not to frown as he sees the jagged scar running over Jack’s temple, narrowly avoiding the corner of his eye. “Dumb blonde,” he mutters, running his eye over the rest of his face, “why have you gotta put me through this bullshit?”

Jack’s always had a hero complex, it’s how he got picked for the SEP, throwing himself in front of his squad to protect them from an explosion. As soon as he’d been patched up, his CO had volunteered him for the programme – ‘mental fortitude’, the report Gabriel had read had said. And he sure does have buckets of it. If anyone will make it out of this…

He takes Jack’s hand on impulse, weaving their fingers together. “We’re gonna get through this, punk. You’re gonna see Vincent again, you’re going to move in together and go home with him. Just like you wanted.” He pauses for a moment. Ana’s words are ringing in his head. “That’s what’s gonna make you happy. That’s all I want for you, Jack. I wish…” he stops. “God, if you weren’t unconscious I wouldn’t even be saying this. I don’t know. I just wish I could be the one to make you happy.”

He looks up to find an unnervingly blue gaze watching him. Shit.

“How much of that did you hear.” He demands. It vaguely registers that he’s still holding Jack’s hand.

Jack clears his throat and smiles his shit-eating grin. Fuck, he’s so far gone for this dumb bitch. “Everything since you called me punk and held my hand.”

Gabriel refuses to drop that, it would be proving a point if he let go now. “And you just laid there and let me talk? Puta.” He makes a point of looking away and sniffing.

Jack laughs croakily and starts coughing immediately. Gabriel look at him with concern. “Damn, feels like I got put through a meat grinder.”

“You did. You lost. I had to pull your dumb ass out afterwards.” Gabriel deadpans. He’s alive, and now he has to suffer the consequences – endless mockery.

Jack smiles sheepishly. “Thanks, Gabe. You saved my life.” He stops for a moment and looks unsure. “What you were saying-“

Gabe cuts across him, “Don’t, just pretend I didn’t say anything-“

“Shut up, Gabe.” He smiles up at him and Gabriel feels his heart flutter a little. “You do make me happy. I got separated from the group and all I could think while I was trying not to die was seeing your smile when I wasn’t dead. And then you ripping me to shreds yourself.” He manages another wheezy chuckle, and Gabriel feels his heart squeeze. This man is going to be the death of him. “You’re my best friend, and sometimes… sometimes I wish we were more. Even if you don’t feel the same.” He’s thoroughly avoiding eye contact with Gabriel now, who can’t believe what he’s hearing.

“Maybe you have got brain damage,” he says, watching the five stages of grief cross Jack’s face before he bothers to continue, “If you think I don’t feel anything for you.” The realisation blossoming in his mind is beautiful to watch.

“You… you feel the same?” Jack asks faintly, and Gabriel scoffs.

“Even Ana noticed what was going on. What about Vincent though?”

Jack looks confused. “What about him?”

Gabriel is staring at him. He was joking earlier, but maybe there is some memory damage or something. “You’re his boyfriend? You wanted to go home with him? I thought you were moving in together.”

Jack stares at him like he’s the one who’s being ridiculous. “Vincent and I broke up a month ago.”

“What.” Gabriel stares at him. How had he possibly missed that?

“I only spoke to Ana, and she wanted to tell you straight away for some reason…” It’s satisfying in the most frustrating way to watch realisation settle on his face. “Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh.” Gabriel echoes, disbelief on his face. What an idiot. Why did he have to fall in love with such an idiot.

“No, but I knew you’d have been too sympathetic and close, and I couldn’t have handled that when I was already heartbroken!”

“So when you said you wanted to come home with me…”

Jack looks at him nervously. “I did mean you.”

“And the other thing?”

Jack licks his lips nervously. Gabriel can’t look away. “Yeah, that too.”

Gabriel leans forward and kisses him. It’s warm and slow and relief and ‘you absolute dumbass’, a knot slowly coming undone in his lower abdomen which he didn’t realise had been there for so long. Jack responds eventually, shakily placing a hand behind Gabriel’s head to deepen the kiss. He’s warm under Gabriel, and he has to brace himself on the bed with his hands so as not to lean on broken ribs.

They have to breathe eventually, and Gabriel stares at Jack, lips red and cheeks flushed. He notices now a small mole hidden just above his left eyebrow and raises a finger to stroke it without realising.

“You’re an idiot.” He idly comments.

Jack grins bashfully. “I know. But I’m your idiot, if you’ll have me.”

He tries to ignore the grip around his heart. “Does that mean I have to keep carrying your ass out of danger?”

Jack flashes him a boyish grin, and Gabriel feels dizzy for a moment. “Only if you want to.”  

“Good thing you have a nice ass,” he grumbles, and Jack beams back at him like he’s smiling at the sun.

[i-am-thedragon]

Repairs

Here’s a DHMIS fanfic I wrote back in March 2016, but never uploaded for whatever reason. I recently rediscovered it and I’m posting it now, because I’m on a bit of a DHMIS kick and I honestly miss being active in the fandom. I considered editing some bits of this fanfic, but I decided to leave it as is in all its “my pretentious 2016 writing style” glory. Also note (to those unfamiliar with my fanfics) that I referred to the characters as Red(Redmond), Donnie, and Crowe at the time, before their names were confirmed(?) as being ‘Red Guy’, ‘Yellow Guy’, and ‘Duck’.

Story description: After the events of DHMIS 4, our three beloved protagonists are left with an aggressive (but slowly dying) computer they do not know what to do with. But of course, one puppet’s trash is another’s high-value collector’s treasure. 6331 words, mild mentions of gore.

Without further delay, here is Repairs.

Donnie stood silently in the hall, pouting at a seemingly inconspicuous closed door. The door led into the games room, in which the board games, the laptop, and other knick-knacks were kept. The child let out a whine as he slouched forward unhappily, his orange nose almost touching the door.

His attention turned to the sound of approaching footsteps from the end of the hall. It was his friend Crowe, peering at him with curiosity.

“What’s the matter?” The green-feathered duck asked. “Why in the world are you staring at that door?”

He had a feeling, however, that he already knew the answer.

“I wanna play Money Win.” Donnie grumbled, scuffing his foot dejectedly on the ground. “But the scary computer’s in there.”

“Oh, he’s not that scary.” Crowe responded with a chuckle. “He’s just a box of gadgetry, all made up of buttons and wires!”

“Well if you’re not scared of him, why don’t you get the Money Win game for me!” Donnie retorted somewhat defensively. “…Please?”

The smile was wiped from Crowe’s beak as he thought about actually going in there. He didn’t want to admit it, but Colin the Computer did unnerve him. The ‘games room incident’ had only occurred a couple of days earlier, and that room had been an unpleasant place to be ever since. Whenever someone went in there Colin would act up, making strange noises and asking increasingly nonsensical questions like “Did you drink a orange today?” or “How many egg are you?”, and growing unpredictable and aggressive. Still, it wasn’t like he could get hurt in there, right? Colin was just a bunch of buttons, wires, and circuits after all.

“Alright, fine!” Crowe huffed. “But I get first turn when we start playing!”

 Crowe tried to hide his hesitation as he turned the door knob and pushed the door open. The games room stood before him, in its usual presentable state. On the table in the center, however, stood that computer, gazing back at him with gritted teeth and that square-eyed stare. Traces of a mysterious dirty-yellow liquid trickled from his eyes and mouth. Colin began emitting a low-quality whining noise upon being noticed. Crowe gulped as he stepped inside. Lucky for him at least, the board game he was after was on top of the shelf right near the doorway, so he wouldn’t have to pass Colin to get to it. Not so fortunately, it was far too high for him to reach.

“I’m sorry, Donnie, you’ll have to ask Red to get it.” Crowe spoke, shaking his head.

Donnie simply gave a sad nod and walked away, leaving Crowe alone. The bird’s attention wandered to the desk at the other end of the room, on which sat a quill and ink. One of his beloved possessions! Oh how he’d missed it those past few days. Crowe wanted it back… But he had to make it past Colin first. Surely that wouldn’t be a problem, or so he hoped. With slow, steady steps, he paced past the table. When he glanced at the computer watching over him ominously, the two locked in a gaze. It seemed Colin’s stare was growing more malevolent and his voice increasing in pitch and volume with each passing moment, until he finally snapped.

“WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT MEEEEEEEEEE-“

Crowe nearly jumped right out of his feathers before turning and bolting out of the games room, slamming the door shut behind him.

 At that moment, Red and Donnie entered the hallway, stopping when they noticed how panicked their friend looked.

“It’s the computer, isn’t it?” Red sighed.

“Well, I uh, I got a little startled, that’s all!” Crowe squeaked shakily with a sheepish grin.

Donnie folded his arms with an ‘I told you so’ smirk as Red pondered what to do.

“I think he’s dying anyway.” Red decided with a shrug. “Just leave him ‘til he stops moving and making noises.”

“So… No Money Win?” Donnie asked.

“Not yet.”

 -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 A few days passed and Red simply couldn’t handle it. He hardly cared about that creepy computer anymore, he needed his laptop. He longed for that pristine screen, those data-filled files, that sweet, sweet, internet connection. Colin could scream and flail all he wanted, Red was getting that laptop back.

Upon opening the door, Red was greeted by a warbled screeching as Colin flailed his cord-like arms around. That nasty yellowish substance was still leaking from the computer’s eyes and mouth, staining the tablecloth. Red knew that Colin hated him the most, and was particularly aggressive in his presence.

The long-haired figure ignored the screeching and flailing, turning to a nearby shelf and gently removing a closed laptop from the top of it. What a superior piece of technology it was. While he was there, Red also collected Crowe’s quill and ink from the desk and the Money Win game from atop the shelf. He would come for the rest later. Colin’s screeching tried to form itself into words, but all that came out was an enraged digital mess.

After pushing the games room door shut with his foot, Red trudged into the living room and placed the board game on the book shelf.

“I wonder if Donnie will notice it’s there when he comes back into the living room.” Crowe chuckled, watching Red from his rocking chair. “He’s in his bedroom playing with his toys at the moment.”

“Oh, I got this for you.” Red stated, turning around and holding out the quill and ink.

The duck sprung from his chair and darted over gleefully, taking his beloved possession with a smile.

“Ah, thank you so much!” He exclaimed. “I heard that nasty computer screaming bloody murder while you were in there. Golly, that must have been frightening!”

“Not really, it’s not like he can do much other than that anymore.” Red replied with a shrug. “Give him a few more days and he’ll be pretty much dead. Anyway, I got our laptop back, too. I really need to check my emails.”

 -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 A few further days passed. Although he rarely admitted it, the deep web was one of Red’s favourite places to explore. That’s where a lot of the stranger sites were. He wasn’t into the completely depraved and grotesque content, of course, but by now he was mostly desensitised to it anyway. Red mostly came across websites made by people with unique obsessions; the kind of people with entire websites dedicated to rocking chairs and video segments of themselves describing and analysing every chair in their collection.

It was one of those sort of sites Red had come across that evening, one made by someone with a deep fascination with old computers. He shook his head as he scrolled down, wondering how anyone could deal with so much painfully outdated technology. Whoever this person was, they possessed not only a large collection of those vintage machines, but just about every manual or advertisement piece relating to them. Clicking on a page for any of this person’s computers would lead to long page with in-depth descriptions of its history, functions, maintenance, and so on. Perhaps it wasn’t so much how frighteningly comprehensive the site was that made Red just a little uncomfortable, but rather the sight of all those old, outdated computers. They all reminded him so much of Colin. Still, credit due where credit was due, he was impressed with the effort the owner of this site had put into it.

Red was thinking of logging off for the evening when he came across something that made his heart jump. On a web page detailing the few vintage computers not in the site owner’s possession, there was an advertisement with an all too familiar face on it.

“It’s that darn thing in the games room…” Red muttered quietly to himself, taking a sip from his mug of coffee.

The advertisement, scanned from some old magazine or newspaper, featured that blocky machine with those square eyes and gritted teeth.

The Smart Boy Industries ALL NEW Computery Guy!

The pinnacle of modern technology! Comes with Doors ∞ pre-installed!

Can count at incredible speeds, tell the time with pinpoint accuracy, and remember personal info!

All thanks to Smart Boy Industries’ patented DIGITAL MIND!

Now Red was both disturbed and curious. He wanted to know more about the digital beast terrorising the games room. Luckily, this deep-web site didn’t fail to deliver.

I’ve been wanting to get my paws on one of these beauties for ages, but I don’t think it’ll happen. I’ve searched far and wide all over the web, but no-one’s selling one! I wouldn’t blame them, really. Can you believe only 50 of them were ever made? They were discontinued pretty quickly after their release on June 19, 1985 and became a real rarity. Chances are most, if not all of them, have either been thrown out or simply stopped working by now. The Computery Guy line was incredibly controversial due to the inclusion of the ‘digital mind’- A piece of REAL brain or brain-like tissue that was supposed to make the computer smarter and more functional. I can see how that raised a lot of ethical issues. In fact, three months after the release of the Computery Guy they were banned in 19 countries. Smart Boy Industries took a huge hit from the controversy, they almost got shut down entirely! I am fairly sure they’re still around, but much smaller and they don’t make computers anymore. I heard they do make printers and other electronics now, though. Anyway, here are some of the Computery Guy’s unique functions…

Red didn’t read beyond that point. That computer was a rarity? Possibly the last unit of the model! That wasn’t what surprised him the most, though. Colin essentially had a real brain. That might have explained some of his odd behaviour.

 “Red, may I use the laptop briefly when you’re done with it?” Spoke Crowe from nearby, startling Red. “There’s an old song with a title that escapes me at the moment. I was hoping I might find the answer online.”

“Sure.” Replied Red. “But first, you should take a look at this.”

He swiveled the laptop around and showed it to his friend. Crowe looked at the screen with disgust at first, then the same morbid curiosity Red had felt before.

“I’m surprised anyone would want one of those.” The bird scoffed. “Though I suppose ours isn’t exactly… Functioning properly.”

“I wonder what the computer was like in his better days.” Red thought aloud with a shrug.

“Where did you find this anyway?” Crowe asked. “Have you been exploring the deep web again? I heard it’s a dangerous place.”

“Relax, Crowe, it’s just a site about old computers.”

“How much do you think this person would pay us for our Computery Guy?”

Red did a double-take upon hearing that question.

“You think we should sell him to whoever owns this site?”

“Yes. Well, we need to get him off our hands somehow. And surely you know by now that disposing of computers and other electronics in landfill is terrible for the environment! Besides, if this mysterious person is that much of an avid enthusiast for vintage computers, we should get quite a bit in return.”

Red dwelled on the idea for a silent moment or two. Receiving Colin could make this person’s day, or possibly ruin it, too. Either way, they’d probably pay big money for him. Unfortunately, it seemed the Computery Guy in the games room was in his final days anyway. While a non-functional model might still be worth something, he probably wouldn’t be worth a whole lot.

“Alright Crowe.” Red decided. “I’ll see if I can contact this person tomorrow. Whoever they are they need to know what they’re getting into, first.”

 -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 Hello. My name is Redmond. I was browsing your vintage computer website the other day and I saw you had interest in the Smart Boy Industries’ ‘Computery Guy’. It looks like you haven’t updated your site for quite a long time, but I was wondering if you were still interested in owning one. My friends and I have one in our games room we’ve been meaning to get rid of, and we were thinking you might be interested in buying it. Unfortunately, the computer is pretty broken at this point. Please respond if you’re interested.

-Redmond

Red sent the email to the contact address given on that deep-web site. He hoped he would get a reply within the following week or two, but if not, then so be it. It was worth a shot regardless. He ended up receiving a reply early the next day.

Hello Redmond! I’m Pillars Cloudfoot. I’m very excited about your offer! I’ve yet to make contact with someone owning a Computery Guy, let alone someone offering to sell theirs! Wow!

Which one is he? Someone on one of my forums told me they all have a unique name- Caleb, Curtis, Clyde, Carl, Chris, Connor, Colin, Cameron, Craig, Colby, Clarence, Calvin, Corby, and Claude, to name a few.

Don’t worry about him being broken, I’d imagine they all kicked the bucket a couple decades ago. Even if I can’t find a way to repair him I’ll be glad just to have him in my collection. All I ask is that you show me a photo first, just so I know you’re being legitimate about this. Don’t take it personally, there are just too many scammers out there, y’know?

-Mx. Cloudfoot

 Red was pleased with the response he received. This ‘Pillars’ seemed like a pretty decent person, and they were certainly happy about the offer. When Red stepped into the games room with his laptop in his hands, Colin began emitting a low, droning whine comparable to a toy with a low battery. Other than that, though, he didn’t do anything. He simply sat in place, his jaw hanging open and his eyes filled with malice despite his drooping eyelids.

“Be quiet, you won’t have to deal with us too much longer.” Red said as he turned the laptop to face the computer.

He clicked a button and took a photo of Colin using the laptop’s in-built webcam. The image quality wasn’t too great but it was good enough, and it saved Red having to get the camera and go searching for the USB cord to connect it to the laptop.

Looking at the photo he’d just taken, and then back at Colin, he realised just how much of a nasty condition the computer was in. Remnants of a strange yellowish fluid had dried in his mouth and eyes, and in pools beneath him, and his face seemed stuck in a weary but vicious scream. The grainy quality of the photo didn’t help. Red had a feeling Pillars wouldn’t appreciate that.

 Thanks for responding to my offer. I’ve attached a photo of the Computery Guy- His name is Colin- and as you can probably tell he’s not in such good shape. I should point out that he wasn’t originally ours, he appeared in our house less than a fortnight ago out of nowhere and was actually mostly functional at the time. We’ve no idea where he came from or who owned him before us. All we can tell is that Colin was really aggressive and kind of rude, too. He managed to scare all three of us. That’s why we’re selling him. I hope that doesn’t put you off buying him, Pillars. It’s not like he can really do anything now anyway. I’ll try to get that dried fluid cleaned up, too. I don’t know what it is, though.

-Redmond

A response came only several hours later.

Yikes! I see what you mean! Good grief, poor Colin!

Actually, you have me very curious and a bit concerned. If what you say is true, Colin’s been functioning for almost three decades! Incredible! But you said he was aggressive? How so? From what I know the Computery Guys were never meant to be aggressive or disobedient in any circumstances. That’s really strange. Now that he’s dead you can’t run diagnostics, but I think you should take a look at his digital mind anyway. Just see if anything looks abnormal.

In case you don’t know how, here’s how to get the digital mind out:

Press the green, red, and blue button on the back of the monitor simultaneously, hold for six seconds, and then turn the knob beside it until you hear a click. That should eject the digital mind cartridge. You can open the cartridge to inspect the digital mind but I highly recommend not leaving it open for too long. It’s bad to expose the digital mind for too long. Then slide the cartridge back in when you’re done.

I’ve also attached a couple of scans uploaded to one of my forums. You’ll probably need to take some bits apart to properly clean Colin so these couple of pages from the manual should detail how to do that. Apparently Smart Boy Industries knew the Computery Guys were prone to small leakages around the eyes and mouth, but I don’t know how yours got THAT bad.

-Mx. Cloudfoot

Cleaning all that bizarre dried gunk off Colin would give Red something to do over the weekend. Maybe Donnie and Crowe would help, though he wouldn’t blame them if they didn’t want to. Heck, even he was hesitant about touching Colin again.

 -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 Donnie peeked his head through the doorway timidly, gripping at the door frame with his fingers. He watched as his two best friends sat themselves down around the table with a toolbox, the laptop, and some rags and cleaning supplies. The child nervously eyed the subject of interest, the now lifeless computer in the center of the table. Colin was still in the same state as when Red last saw him, only quieter. His jaw still hung agape, his eyelids droopy and his cord-like arms limp. That residue around his eyes and mouth only made his appearance more morbid.

Red began by placing one hand on top of Colin and firmly grasping the computer’s jaw with the other. With a pull and a slight jiggle, the jaw detached and Red handed it over to Crowe. Without a word, Crowe began cleaning Colin’s jaw, scrubbing away the mysterious yellow residue from between the teeth. Red pulled a screwdriver from his toolbox and began unscrewing the frame around Colin’s monitor. That part needed to be removed so Red could properly clean around Colin’s eyes.

Donnie watched on with cautious curiosity. Even if he wasn’t as afraid of the computer as he had been before, he still didn’t want to be in the same room as him. Besides, cleaning dirty computer parts didn’t sound like much fun anyway. It was rather interesting to watch, though.

 Red and Crowe finished cleaning Colin more quickly than they had anticipated. Red had expected those strange leaks to have from a bit deeper within Colin, yet neither he nor Crowe had any luck finding the source of it. It was if the substance had just appeared at the computer’s eyes and mouth. As red screwed the frame of Colin’s monitor back on, Crowe spoke.

“Weren’t you advised to check the digital mind?” He reminded.

“I was about to get to that, actually.” Red answered.

Red placed the screwdriver back into the toolbox and turned Colin around. As told by both Pillars and the instruction manual scans, there were three buttons- a red one, a green one, and a blue one- and a knob beside it, among other things. As instructed, Red held down the three buttons simultaneously and waited.

One… Two… Three… Four… Five… Six!

He then gently turned the knob beside the buttons until a loud click broke the silence. A small compartment had ejected itself slightly from the back of Colin. Red carefully pulled out a box-shaped cartridge about the size of the palm of his hand. It felt… Sticky. When Red turned the cartridge over to investigate, he found traces of dark crimson residue built up on the underside. He sighed as he thought about how he’d have to clean that too, but in the meantime he needed to check what was inside the cartridge. Without wasting any more time, Red opened up the cartridge, and he and Crowe peered inside.

 What they saw was not what they expected. Inside the cartridge was a small piece of brain-like matter covered in crimson slime. It had broken, frayed wires protruding from it and a cluster of off-colour boil-like growths on the front of it.

“Oh, that’s… Something.” Crowe remarked uneasily. “Well, you know what Pillars said, you ought to put that back. All this exposure won’t do it any good.”

“Hang on, can you take a photo of it with the laptop first?” Red asked. “I’m not sure if this is right, I should really show it to Pillars and ask for their opinion.”

He had reason to feel that something wasn’t right, too. The digital mind he held looked nothing like the one depicted in the instruction manual scans. Even if the one in the manual was only a stylised interpretation, it looked a lot less off than Colin’s.

Red held the open digital mind cartridge in front of the laptop’s webcam as Crowe took a photo. Then the cartridge was closed and Red began to clean that build-up off the bottom of it.

 -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 Thanks for the manual scans, they helped a lot. Pillars, I’ve cleaned Colin out and I took a look at his digital mind. I attached a photo of what I saw. I get the feeling something’s a bit off about it, but that could be just to do with age. Do you think that might be why Colin acted aggressively? When we found him he was singing, but he interrupted a lot and wasn’t a good listener. He kept asking a load of really irrelevant questions and completely flipped out when I hit his keyboard. There was also some stuff involving warped reality, existential crises, and my head exploding, but I won’t go into detail. Anyway, I thought I’d make sure you knew fully of Colin’s condition before we negotiated a selling price.

-Red

 …Oh boy. Redmond, that digital mind is an absolute wreck. Now, I’d expected the Computery Guys’ digital minds to deteriorate over time, but this looks like more than time-related deterioration. Looking at this photo you sent me, I wonder if Colin’s previous owner took Colin’s digital mind out of its cartridge, poked it with their unwashed fingers, threw it at a wall, and spat on it. Heck, that wouldn’t explain half of what I’m seeing.

Redmond, don’t even put that back into Colin. If you already have, consider taking it out and throwing it out. Heck, if I were you I might even burn it. Yikes, it’s no wonder he was acting up.

Well seeing as though the digital mind is a no-go, there won’t be any way for me to fully repair Colin. No big deal, though, as long as I have the rest of him in my collection I’ll be happy enough. What a shame though, with proper maintenance Colin could still be functioning today. There’s no way of getting a replacement digital mind now. Smart Boy industries apparently offered replacements at the time, though.

Also, I ought to mention that I’ll be gone for a week. My birthday’s coming up and I’m going on a little holiday with some family, so I won’t be able to keep in contact after today. Until then, all the best to you and your friends!

-Mx. Cloudfoot

 -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 Even though it was of no loss to him, Red couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed by the turn of events. It did seem like quite a shame that he had to give his online acquaintance a dead computer that could never be fully repaired, even if they were happy to accept it. Still, anything to get Colin off his hands and out of the house was good enough. Not that Colin had been a threat in the slightest since he stopped functioning, mind you. All Red and his friends could do until Pillars returned to the web was wait.

Red tapped his foot lightly to an imaginary rhythm as he channel-surfed from his green armchair. Crowe was outside with Donnie lighting a bonfire in the backyard, so they could 'properly dispose of' Colin's old digital mind. Red wondered if perhaps he should’ve be out there with them, making sure they didn't burn down the yard and half the countryside with it, but Crowe insisted he had everything under control. As Red contemplated the current situation, he gave a heavy sigh. Not a saddened or frustrated sigh, but an 'oh well, what'll one do about it' sigh.

“Are you okay, Red?” A voice suddenly spoke, startling Red.

Donnie must have heard the sigh, as he now stood at the other side of the living room with his head tilted in curiosity. Red hadn't even heard him re-enter the house.

“Yeah.” Red replied with a shrug. “It's just a bit of a shame we don't have a digital mind for Colin, that's all.”

Donnie couldn't quite comprehend why Red would want to but a brain back into that nasty broken computer. Colin was far better off without one! Without a digital mind he couldn't frighten anyone or ask too many strange questions. However, the boy had trust in his friends above all else, so Red surely had a good reason for what he wanted.

“Why don't you just get another one?” Donnie asked innocently.

“They stopped making ‘Computery Guys’ a long, long time ago.” Red explained, scratching his head. “Back then Smart Boy Industries probably had replacements, but there's no reason for them to still have any if no-one's using Computery Guys anymore.”

Donnie nodded in acceptance of the explanation, but his brow was scrunched up in doubt as he pondered it. People were still using the Computery Guy! He and his friends were, at least. What reason did Smart Boy Industries have to not keep the replacement digital minds around, just in case?

“Anyway, how's the bonfire going?” Red asked, interrupting Donnie's train of thought.

“Good!” The boy replied. “But I think Crowe needs your help. He's having trouble getting the computer brain to melt like it should.”

Red switched off the television and stood up from his armchair, figuring whatever was going on out there was probably much more entertaining than the re-run rubbish being passed off as television. Watching the tall, hairy figure leave the living room, Donnie thought of a plan. A rather simple one, but a plan that wouldn't hurt to try- Though there was the risk of losing his pocket money for nothing.

 Donnie tore a piece of paper out of one of his empty scrapbooks and grabbed a green crayon. He thought for a moment about what to write, before putting the crayon to the paper and beginning his message.

Dear smart boy industrees

My name is Donnie and me and my friends have a computer guy. his name is Colin. his brain was broken and he needs a new one. May we please have a new computer brain for Colin?

From Donnie Gribbleston

The boy held up his letter and looked over it with a smile and a nod. He was sure this would do just fine, he just needed to figure out where to send it. 'Smart Boy Industries', he'd heard Red and Crowe mention a few times. Where had Donnie heard that name before, or rather, seen it? The printer, of course! The games room printer had 'Smart Boy Industries' written on the label on the back of it. He'd discovered that when he'd accidentally locked himself in the games room several months back and needed something to pass the time. He'd spent hours investigating the room's most easily overlooked details, before realising the games room door didn't even have a lock.

 However, despite his naivety and childlike foolishness, Donnie could be quite clever when he needed to be. After fixing a spelling error in his letter, he took the unoccupied laptop from the living room and opened it up. Searching up 'Smart Boy Industries' wielded a variety of results, such as the company's sketchy history, the range of products they didn't offer, and about a dozen product recall articles. One result, however, was the one Donnie was looking for. It was the company's website, and on it was a list of operating locations. Taking a note of the address of the nearest location, he closed up his work and put the laptop back in its resting spot before continuing with his plan. After shoving the creased scrapbook paper and a pocketful of pocket money into an empty envelope, the boy scrawled the address, along with his own, onto the back of it and headed outside.

 Crowe poked impatiently at the cartridge with a stick as flames flared up around it. Nasty crimson goo leaked from it, producing a horrible smell in the heat of the bonfire.

“It just won't burn!” The duck growled, smacking the offending object repeatedly with the stick in frustration.

“It's been in there for too long.” Red replied casually. “Maybe we should just call it quits and bury it, or throw it into the ocean.”

Just then, Donnie walked by with his bicycle, but his two friends didn't pay him too much mind.

“I'm just going to go post something.” He stated. “I'll be back soon!”

Red nodded and continued watching Crowe roll the digital mind around in the bonfire, inspecting it for any signs of fire damage.

 -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 A few days later, a package arrived at the friends' front door. It was fairly small and had arrived entirely unexpected to Crowe, who had found it on the doormat. He cautiously picked it up in his feathered hands and inspected it, wondering what could possibly be inside, and from whom it had come. When he found the name of the sender, his eyes widened in a mixture of surprise and mild fear.

“Red?” Crowe called out. “Red, I think you should see this!”

Sensing a slight urgency in his friend's tone, Red made it to the front door fairly quickly, where he saw the duck holding a small package in his hands.

“Oh, who's it from?” Red asked, unperturbed.

“Smart Boy Industries!” Crowe replied.

Now Red could see why the duck seemed a little bit worried. Red had only recently been involved with anything relating to the company, and he wouldn't have thought they had even known about it, let alone cared. Perhaps they had caught wind of the attempted revival of perhaps the last remaining Computery Guy, and it was enough to elicit a response from them. He just hoped this package wasn't a bomb, or anything else malicious. Stranger still was who, specifically, the package was addressed to.

 “Donnie?” Red called out.

“Yeah?” The child's voice called back from another room in the house.

“There's something here addressed to you, some sort of package. What have you been doing?”

There was no verbal answer from Donnie, only the quick pattering of footsteps as he hurried over to the scene. When he saw the package, his face lit up with excitement.

“It worked!” He exclaimed. “It’s here!”

“What’s here?” Crowe asked sternly. “You haven’t been using Red’s credit card again, have you?”

Donnie snatched the package from Crowe’s hands and tore it open before the duck could protest. From the tightly-wrapped cardboard box he produced a styrofoam casing, and from the styrofoam casing he pulled out a very familiar-looking beige cartridge.

“Wait, is that…?” Red asked, his eyes wide in disbelief. “I thought we threw that into the ocean.”

“No, it’s a new one!” Donnie corrected.

“What?” Crowe squawked. “How did you get Smart Boy Industries to mail you a digital mind?!”

“I asked nicely.” Donnie replied with an innocent smile. “And I gave them my pocket money.”

“Never mind that.” Red spoke. “I just want to know if they actually sent us the real thing, or they’re just humouring us.”

 The games room door gently creaked open, revealing the somewhat familiar scene of Colin’s lifeless form resting upon the table. As lifeless as he was, that mild aura of unease remained. Red approached the computer with the cartridge in his hands, but hesitated to insert it. The cartridge looked just like the one he had pulled out of Colin several days back, but it seemed so much… Cleaner. There were no leaks or sticky residue. With noticeable apprehension, Red gently pulled the lid of the cartridge open, allowing himself and his friends to peer inside.

The contents of the cartridge were very different to what they had seen before. While Colin’s digital mind had been a mess of wires, boils, and mysterious fluids, this one was clean. It was simply a small pink brain-like mass wrapped in a teal wireframe. It was a real digital mind, just like the one Red had seen in those instruction manuals.

Red clicked the cartridge shut again, heeding Pillars Cloudfoot’s advice not to expose it for too long. Without another word, he inserted it into the back of Colin, where the previous digital mind had once resided, and turned to his friends.

“Well, I guess Pillars will be happy to hear that we-“

In the middle of the sentence, Colin abruptly began emitting a cheery chiptune song that nearly startled the three friends out of their skins. Red jumped back from the table, fearing the computer would grow aggressive once again.

However, once the cheery tune ended, Colin did not yell, or even speak. He opened and closed his eyes and mouth a few times, lifting his cord-like limbs and then resting them at his sides. His eyes shifted back and forth, observing the surroundings, before resting on Red and his friends.

 “Hello!” Colin greeted. “Thank you for choosing the Smart Boy Industries Computery Guy. My name is Colin, and I will be your guide into the digital world, a place of information and fun for the whole family! Before we begin, please enter your name. Then I will tell you some more about myself, and we can continue your registration of the Smart Boy Industries Computery Guy.”

Red, Donnie, and Crowe exchanged frightened glances. They hadn’t expected Colin to come to life again! Though they hadn’t expected him to reset, either. The computer that had once loathed and terrorised them was now happily introducing himself like a new acquaintance.

“Redmond Spaghett.” Red answered nervously.

“Hello, Edmond Spaghetti!” Colin greeted. “Is this name correct?”

“Wait, wh- No. It’s not.”

“Please repeat your name, or use my keyboard to type it in.” Colin suggested, pointing his blocky hand at the keyboard rested in front of him.

Red reached forward, hovering his furry hand over Colin’s colourful keys. The computer’s eyes were locked onto the hand, watching, waiting for him to begin typing. Red, however, decided not to risk it. Colin might have been reset, but he wasn’t ready to trust him again just yet.

“Redmond Great News Spaghett.” Red repeated clearly.

“Hello Edward Great News Smith!” Colin greeted again. “Is this name correct?”

“Yeah, Cloudfoot’s going to have a riot with this one.” Red muttered, turning to his friends.

“Great! Would you like to save this information before we continue, Mr Smith?” Colin asked.

Red shook his head and sighed at Colin’s misinterpretation of his words. He thought about responding once again, but he stopped himself, seeming lost in thought. After a lengthy moment of contemplation, Red spoke again.

“Actually, you don’t belong to me, or ‘Edward Smith’.” Red stated, reaching his arm around to the back of Colin

“I’m sorry, I do not understand.” Colin responded. “Please repeat your response, yes or no, or type ‘yes’ or ‘no’ with my keyb-“

Colin’s arms fell limp and his eyelids shut as Red pressed his power button. Now the computer was just as lifeless as he had been mere minutes ago, but functional.

 Crowe watched skeptically as Red slowly and shakily lowered Colin into the large cardboard box.

“I don’t understand.” The bird stated, scratching his head. “Mx. Cloudfoot would’ve paid goodness knows how much money for this… Thing, and you’re simply going to give it to them?”

“Yeah.” Red responded bluntly. “For good karma. Maybe if we do something kind we’ll get some peace from the you-know-what for a while. That, and I don’t want to wait for Pillars to get back, then go through all the price negotiations and whatever, to get rid of Colin.”

Crowe folded his arms and rolled his eyes as Donnie rocked back and forth restlessly beside him.

“I guess it’ll be a birthday present for them.” Red continued, filling the empty space around the computer with styrofoam beads. “I might throw a few birthday candles into the box too. Anyway, this has all just gotten too strange for me. I wanna get it over and done with, payment or no payment. For all I know Colin could still be, well, Colin, and I’m not the kind of person who makes people pay for things that are out to cause pain. Unlike whoever sold us that clock in the living room.”

Red sealed the box up and began labelling it with the address given on Pillars Cloudfoot’s website. As Donnie grew bored and left the room, Crowe hung his head somewhat dejectedly.

“You know what, Red?” He began with a sigh. “I think I might miss the old Colin a little. Sure, he may have been aggressive and incoherent at times, but he had personality, and that’s not something one gets from computers very often.”

Red finished packing and labelling the computer and turned to face the duck.

“Shut up, Crowe.”

[hella-slow-writer]

Beautiful Flower

omfg this is like, the longest oneshot i’ve ever written in any fandom so yall better appreciate it. Fic is based from Flower of the Plateau by Hatsune Miku because i’m unoriginal and set in a kinda gang au universe so obv it involves some death and stuff.

Pairing: Terrornuckel/Terrorknuckel/Terrormoo Characters: Terroriser, Moo, Vanossgaming, Mini Ladd, and some other characters that only get mentioned. Rating: T+

If you look at Brock, all you could see is an ordinary florist.

The man moved from the city to a quiet, peaceful little town months ago. He quickly adapted to the new environment and built a little flower shop in that town. The flowers in his shop are always so beautiful and neatly arranged. In no time, the shop became popular among the townspeople. Brock's sweet and caring nature also helped boosting his popularity.

Brock became so popular and liked, the townspeople dubbed him as a 'Flower'. Just like the beautiful, delightful flowers he handled.

His charm even attracted a local man into dating him. Brian, the town's baker, had been eyeing the florist since he first appeared in the town. He would visit Brock's flower shop almost everyday to talk with him and give him free food that he made especially for him (although he didn't say that to Brock).

At first, Brock didn't know why Brian would gave him so many (delicious) cakes or pastries and talked with him for hours. Their talk is mostly filled about their favorite games, activities, business, and sometimes Brian would talk about his brother (who he always dubbed as 'Irish potato') who is currently in an 'ambiguous relationship' with his American 'friend'. He admit though, he’s always looking forward to spend more time with him. He likes to talk with the younger male, and the pastry Brian made is the best one he ever had.

It took a few weeks after that to make the florist realized that the happiness and the pleasure he felt when he saw Brian's face, when he talked with the baker, or when he heard him laugh or groans because of his (terrible) puns, is what they called 'Love'.

He never had this feeling for someone before, especially for a guy. He didn't know what to do.

Thankfully, a week later, Brian decided to just man up and ask the other guy out. When they both talked about the new battle royale game they've been addicted to after Brock closed his shop, the baker prepared himself mentally to ask him out. He looked nervous, red blush decorating his face as he grabbed both of Brock's palms gently. His heart pounded so hard in chest while his mind’s channeling courage to say the words. "I... You... D-Do you want to go on a date with me?"

Brock's heart was filled with glee as he heard those confession coming from his crush. His face flushed to bright red as he nodded. "Of course, dummy."

Brian's expression changed from surprise to relief and joy. The baker leaned closer over the counter and planted a soft kiss on Brock's lips, before leaning back while mumbling apology for kissing him so suddenly.

Brock, however, pulled Brian closer and kissed him back. The kiss went more than a soft, gentle kiss. It was heated and intense, tongue dancing for dominance as Brian deepened the kiss. It would be a problem if someone walked into Brock's shop and see them making out, but they didn't care. They both are lost in their own world, together and full of love. That's all they cared about right now.

The news about them dating was spreading out quick, since it's only a little town. So many townspeople congratulating them and are happy for them, wishing their relationship will be so much more as the time pass. Some of the townspeople however, was kinda angry at Brian (because of jealousy, they also want to be as lucky as him).

Brock was happy.

Because nobody in that town knew about the sins he did.

You see, the man actually has a secret.

Brock WAS a member of an influential gang in a city far from the town. Almost everyday, he would commit crimes numerous times along with his comrade. Killing, stealing, deceiving so many people for their own needs, and other illegal things... it's all what they do. Even the cops are kneeling under them. It's not that like he liked doing it. He had no other options besides obeying what his 'leader' told him to. All because his parents had sold him to them, his own parents who’s supposed to care for him. It's a hell on Earth for him.

Everyday they will tell Brock what he must do. And before Brock did the job, he would convince himself that all his victim deserves it. That all his victims are a bunch of bad people, people who are sinful and unforgivable. And the gang is what 'punishment' for them. It's a little thing that made Brock felt that he was different from those cold-blooded, violence-thirsty maniacs.

He knew he's just being pathetic, being in denial. After all, there's no way in hell he can justify them (and as much Brock hated it, 'him') killing a child. Just because that child was born from someone who’s considered a 'threat' to 'them’. And that's only one example of many viscious things he did.

Time passed.

As Brock did what they told to, he began to feel his sanity slipping away. The cruel things he did, the thing he saw, all of it began to affect him. It drove him mad, and if he stayed longer, he would lose his emotions, something that differentiates him from the rest of the gang. Brock didn't want that to happen. He didn't want to be one of them. So he did what he was supposed to do from a long time ago.

He ran away.

He traveled far from the city, living in fear and paranoia of the gang capturing and killing him. Eventually, he arrived in the small little town, hoping that it's far enough for the gang to not track him down. In that town, he began to settle down. Opening a little flower shop from what left of his money to start a new life. A new life where he would finally be happy and free.

That's the story of his past, the sins he tried so hard to hide from the townspeople, especially Brian.

If you think about it, it's not really his fault. He was forced to be one of them, and he really didn't want to do anything they told him to. But the townspeople definitely would freak out and possibly banish him, because they don't want to risk some sadistic people coming to their town.

So he buried his past deep inside him. Hoping nobody would know, and his blissful life would continue forever. After all, a flower has to be beautiful, right? It must not be 'unsightly'.

Weeks has passed since Brock accepted Brian's confession. Nothing really changed between them, they would still spend time together like they always did. But the difference is, now Brian (or him) can kiss the other whenever they want, sometimes the kiss would even turned into something more 'intimate'. They also have their little 'date' every Sunday night.

The older man’s always looking forward to the time he spend together with the younger man. It made him bleaming with happiness and pleasure. This is the life he wanted, a normal life surrounded with someone who cares about him and loves him.

However, something different happened one day.

It's said that a new face had arrived in the town. This stranger also came from the city, although they don't really know which city he is from. Brock is curious, so he decided to meet the stranger after closing his shop. He spotted the stranger in a bar and, as a good man he is, prepared to give the stranger a warmth welcome like the townspeople did to him.

When he looked at that stranger however, he is shocked. That stranger, is someone familiar to him. Someone who knew about his past, about his sins.

It's someone from the gang he feared. A young male by the name 'Vanoss'.

The guy smiles at him when he spotted the dumbfounded Brock, his hand signaling the florist to sit in front of him while his other hand grabbed a glass of alcohol.

"What are you doing here?!" Brock's voice is low like a whisper as he take the seat in front of Vanoss. He glanced to the left and right, worried someone might overheard their conversation. But the other townspeople looked like they're having a pleasant conversation themselves, and not sparing the two of them a glance.

Vanoss just shrugs. "Drinking." he replied before sipping alcohol into his mouth.

Brock realized that the other's eyes looks tired, as if he haven't fall asleep in days. No, he looks tired in general. And if this guy in front of him isn't a maniac from the malicious gang he hates, he would shower him with compassion and concern.

"That is definitely not the only reason you're here right now." Brock's remark made the young guy tugged the side of his lips upwards, forming a mischievious smirk that Brock used to see in his past. He can feel a sense of fear slowly creeping through his body.

"I see you've built a pretty good life here, Moo." he sips another alcohol, ignoring Brock cringing at the name. "A cute little flower shop and someone to keep you company. You're lucky."

Brock didn't answer. It's been a long time since he talked, or even met Vanoss. Just when he finally got the happiness he was searching for, a ghost from his past had to show up. A past that he intended to bury deep inside. His anxiety and fear began to pilling up more as he prepared himself for what Vanoss’ going to say after this. Is he gonna take him back? Is he gonna kill him?

Neither of that is heard from Vanoss' mouth however, but it is something that made him jolted in surprise. "Don't worry, Moo. We're the same. I also ran away from them."

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah." the younger guy nodded. "I think it's been two or three weeks since I escaped."

The answer didn't satisfy the older male, however. Against his fear, he decided to press further. "But, why?"

When the expression on Vanoss' face turned into anger, Brock regretted asking him that. The grip on the glass of alcohol he held tightened, Brock pretty sure the glass cracked. "Those son of bitches murdered someone important to me."

The young guy took a deep breath before he started explaining. "I fell in love with this guy. I didn't even know how, but when I saw him... my mind is filled with him. And my heart just, skipped a beat whenever I heard his voice or saw him. There's a strange feeling in my chest when our fingers met, or when I saw his pretty blue eyes. You know that feeling, yes?"

Brock thought about his same experience with Brian and he nodded. For the first time ever, Brock sees a small smile formed on Vanoss' face. A normal, happy smile of someone reminiscing his pleasant memories. But then, he glanced down. Expression changed into sadness, something that Brock never saw before on Vanoss' face either.

"The problem is, he's a police officer. Someone who’s working on the side of Justice. Someone who 'they' absolutely hate. They found out about him and they just... put a bullet in his head. I didn't even had a chance to say..."

Vanoss stopped, taking a big sip of alcohol before he let out a long sigh. "I had enough, and I just ran away. I'm not going to do whatever shit they told me to after that bullshit. Fuck them, they all can rot in hell for all I care."

Brock gave him a look of pity. The soft side of him wanted to wrap the guy in front of him in a hug, giving him a comforting words. But then he remembered that this guy is also a murderer, a thief, basically a criminal. A monster from 'that gang'.

'Cruel' side of him wanted to say, "That's karma for you" but Brock is too nice to tell Vanoss that. Vanoss would definitely kill him if he said that anyway.

"What are you going to do now?" Brock asked, and another smirk plastered on the guy's face.

"Well, I see you’re already settled pretty nice here. This town is full of good people, huh? I got this free alcohol from that friendly guy right there to welcome me, and as a 'gift' because I looked 'like a zombie'." He pointed his now empty glass towards the blindfolded male behind the counter, who is giving a kiss to the bearded guy beside him.

Brock looked at the direction Vanoss pointed. That's Ryan, someone who had been living in this town since birth. He lives with his non-blood related siblings named Momo and Mike, along with his husband Luke. He's the owner of the only-bar in the town, and Ryan is one of the friendliest people Brock ever met. He's a good man, although some of his 'jokes' can be lame (even more lame than his puns!) it made him groans (like some of the townspeople when he told them a bad puns).

"So I’m thinking of staying in here for a while." Vanoss announced, and that made Brock look at him wide-eyed. His eyebrows furrowed in anger.

"No, you are not!"

"I am actually. Someone already offered me to stay in their place free of charge until i can 'get back on my feet'." Vanoss countered, enjoying the angry look on Brock's face. "The 'i became homeless on the street since forever because my parents didn't want me' story works everytime, Moo. You should try it."

Brock's left hand bailed into a fist. How dare he deceived the townspeople, 'exploiting' their kindness for his own need. He knew it, this guy is STILL a monster from that gang. He can't trust him, nobody should trust him. His presence here must be putting him and the town in danger because he's still a fugitive! Or, this might be a trap from ‘them’ to bring him back.

"They would come here if you stay. Leave now and never come back." Brock responded, voice shaking with anger. He’s never been this angry before in his life, this is a first. And the feeling kinda scares him a bit, but this is for the town's safety.

Vanoss still looked calm and composed, his annoying smirk still on his face. Brock had to hold an urge to punch the guy in the face. "Relax, I'm sure no one from the gang would know that i'm here. Besides, we're the same. You're luckier though. Successfuly escaped with their money, without being tracked down."

"We're not the 'same'. I left because i'm not one of you monsters. And no, I bet you're still on that gang's radar." Brock spat, eyes glaring at the man in front of him.

Vanoss chuckled. "Oh, Brock. What can you do then? Banish me? It's not like you're the leader of this town or anything."

"I can tell everybody the truth. They would believe me and forcing you to go." Brock retorted, but more chuckle can be heard from Vanoss, who still looked calm as if the older man in front of him isn't giving him a death glare.

"That's nice and all, but I can also do that too. Telling everyone how Moo used to murder children and other people." Vanoss replied with a shrugs, before he continued. "Or if that isn't enough, I can also tell the gang that I found their sneaky eagle if they found me."

That actually made the look and feeling of anger on Brock gone. His eyes stared at Vanoss in fear, and that made Vanoss smile smugly. "Oh, you can imagine how happy the gang would be and how sad the town’s gonna be when they know the town’s florist is actually a horrible person."

The younger guy gets up from the seat, looking satisfied when Brock's mouth agape, trying to say something back but can't because of the threat. He pats the older guy's shoulder before he go. "Well, then. I'm gonna go. See you around, Brock."

Brock glanced down in defeat. His mind jumbled in sheer panic because of what Vanoss just said. Not only that he will tell everyone in the town about his sinful past, but he will also tell the gang about his whereabouts. He can't let that happen, and he can't let Vanoss stay in the town either. Both options seems to led to the same outcome, of his past being discovered and the gang would take him away. A bad 'ending' that he never wanted.

He worked so hard for the happiness he finally got, a pleasant and joyful life he always dreamed of. He can't let Vanoss destroy it, he can't let that guy take his happiness away from him.

As he tries to think about the solution of his problem, he can hear whispers from deep inside of his mind.

"A flower mustn't ever be unsightly ."

"It must forever remain clean."

"A flower mustn't ever be unsightly ."

"It must forever remain clean."

"A flower mustn't ever be unsightly ."

"It must forever remain clean."

Brock nodded. "Yeah. Yeah. The flower has to be beautiful."

He digs his fingertips into his palms. He knows what to do.

It still blows his mind when he can tell the others that Brian, the love of his life, is now his 'fiancé'.

Not just a boyfriend, but FIANCÉ.

A few days has passed since he got engaged with Brian. After dating for years, they both realized that they're ready to take their relationship further to a more serious, intimate relationship.

It's a funny story, actually. After Brock asked his friends, like Ryan, Luke, and Marcel (the town's postman) for advice and everything, they all encouraged him to propose to Brian ONLY if he's certain and is ready for bringing their relationship to the next level. And Brock is ready. He loves Brian, so much. He is the only person he ever met who made him feel what 'Love' felt like. He loves every little thing about Brian. Just, the thought of spending the rest of his live together with the baker... it made him filled with joy, to the point of tearing up (a little bit) because he never thought he would be this happy in his life.

So on Saturday afternoon, both of them were having a little walk in the park like they always do. Brock had already bought this pretty ring which cost him a lot of money, but it's for Brian and he would do anything for him. He intended to propose him in the middle of garden of his favorite flowers that he grew months ago (with the help of Ava, the town's gardener), a garden full of red roses to symbolize his love towards the baker.

Brock quickly brought Brian to the garden but before Brock could say anything, Brian started talking about how grateful he is to meet Brock, and how the older guy accepted his confession. The baker then explained that he loves Brock so much, and it's coming from a guy who swears himself that he won't have a comitted relationship years ago, but then that decision changed because of Brock. All the sweet talk is making Brock flustered, his face as red as the red roses. The baker always know how to make the florist become a stuttering mess because of his appealing, romantic words.

What made his eyes widen and moved his hands to cover his mouth in surprise, however, was Brian who suddenly kneel in front of him, pulling a small black box from his pocket. And what inside that small box is... a beautiful ring. With a small smile the baker asked the big question he’s been meaning to say tonight, endearing tone yet shakiness apparent in his voice.  

"Will you... will you marry me, Brocky?"

The older man stared at both Brian and the ring. He can hear his own heart pounding hard in his chest as tears started to well up in his eyes, and for a moment he can see Brian started panicking. But then, Brock erupted into laughter and Brian's expression changed to confusion.

The florist then pulled a small white box from his pocket, giggled when he saw Brian's mouth agape in surprise. He explained to the baker about his plan, about how he's going to propose him tonight in the same place but of course Brian had to propose him first.

"Guess we both being impatience, huh?" Brock said in a playful tone, taking and inspecting the ring from Brian's hand before putting it on his finger. "I wonder how much you spend for this ring, it's beautiful."

"So, does that mean you accepted my proposal?" The baker stood up, grinning as he regained his composure back.

The florist rolled his eyes. "I don't know, Bri. Maybe i'll think about it first." he chuckled, before pulling out a ring from the small, white box he bought.

"I'm not buying this so i can keep it."

Brian only stared at him, holding back a laughter when Brock started to put the ring on his finger. "God. I really love you, Brocky."

The statement caught Brock off-guard for a bit. He let out a small laugh with reddish face, a sight that Brian always loves to see. Both are staring at each other for a moment, eyes sparkling with happiness before Brian pulled the other into an embrace.

Brock can feel the younger's warmth, can hear how his heart’s beating fast. He reached forward, giving him a kiss. A kiss that was gentle and chaste, a kiss that made time around them stopped as they enjoyed every moment of it, a kiss that felt right, a kiss which signaled their feelings and how much they love each other.

"I love you." the older man wrapped his hands around the other's back, head resting on his broad shoulder.

"Me too." Brian gave him a small kiss on the florist's temple, radiant smile plastered on his face. "I love you, Brocky."

News about their engagement spreading quick in the little town. And like the good people they are, the townspeople are congratulating both of them about their relationship. They're giving them their blessings and wishing everlasting happiness for both of them, and Brock's heart is pretty much 'moved' by their kindness and support, it's amazing how nice the townspeople are. He never met a bunch of people who are very supportive and happy for each other until he arrived in this town, and Brock is very grateful for that.

All goes well.

Nothing disturb his perfect happy life.

Even now, Brock can't stop staring and smiling at the ring on his finger. It looks really pretty, possibly more expensive than the ring he bought for Brian. The memory of that special night keep replaying in his mind, an euphoric and funny memory that will be forever burned in his mind in perfect detail.

However, he got pulled back to reality as he heard a bell rings from the door, signaling someone entering his shop. He quickly greet his customer with his bright smile. "Welcome!"

It's someone he’s never seen before. The guy looks decent, like a normal young guy. Although, Brock finds it a little... odd because the guy glanced left and right when he stepped into the shop, then looking at all the flowers and arrangement in his shop without saying anything. Brock feels like he's a cop finding evidence or something, and it kinda makes him feels a little uncomfortable.

So with a big question mark on top his head, the older guy asked. "Um... is there anything I can do to help?"

The guy jolted in surprise. Brock can see how the guy's eyes widen in shock for a second before his expression changes with a friendly smile on his face. "Oh, sorry. Just looking at the flowers here."

"Do you need help?" Brock asked, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling inside him. The guy is his customer, so he has to give him a satisfactory service!

"Oh, not really." The guy replied, before he started looking around the room again. Brock just shrugs, what an odd customer.

However, not until minutes has passed, the guy walked up to his counter.  "Unless... you know a flower which symbolizes deception? Or betrayal? Or something like that?"

Brock pondered for a second. He found the guy's request to be a little weird, because people are usually searching for flowers that symbolizes positive words or energy, because it's meant to be a gift for someone he cares about. But it seems like this guy wants to give his enemy a flower or something.

Well, he actually has a couple of flowers that have darker meaning to it. He brought it and put it on his shop out of pure curiosity, just in case someone might buy them. He never thought there's someone who really wanted it.

"Uh... I have snapdragons. Snapdragons' meaning are said to be deception." he pointed at the colorful snapdragons on a pot behind the guy. "I also have petunia, which means resentment. And um... yellow lily's meanings are also said to be lies."

The guy lets out a hum of acknowledgement. "You sure know a lot about flowers huh." he said with a small smile, and Brock feels a little proud.

"Well, of course! I'm a florist, after all."

"Now that flowers really screams 'you', huh."

The friendliness tone on his voice fall, changed into more cold, serious tone. For a moment, Brock felt a slight intimidation vibe coming from the guy in front of him. "Huh? What do you mean?"

The guy chuckled as if Brock just said something funny and confusion starts pilling up inside of him. "You said that yellow lily means lies, didn't you?"

Brock nodded at that, eyebrow raised questioningly and the guy's smiles grow wider. "That's what you did to this town, right? You lied to them about your past."

That remark made the older's man face flushed to surprise and fear. "I..."

"Yeah. I know who you really are. A criminal from that gang. A fucking psychopath, that's what you are."

How can this guy know about it? Brock's mind is filled with buzzing panic, trying to figure out who the hell is the guy standing in front of him. He doesn't remember anyone from the gang who looks like him, yet this guy knew about his sinful past. And judging from the way the guy look and talk to him, he doesn't seem to be a person who will ignore his past.

"Who... who are you?" As soon as that question left his mouth, the guy let out a mocking laugh. A laugh that made Brock shudder a little bit.

"Oh, pardon me. I'm Craig, an investigative journalist. A friend of someone you murdered years ago."

That statement struck him like a lightning. Suddenly, he remembered his past. He remembered when he was pointing a gun to a bunch of people, he remembered the horrible feeling he felt when he heard their plea of help, he remembered their despair-filled gaze, he remembered when he had to pull the trigger and saw their life drained from their body. It's something that he had to do, a job from 'them' that he had to obey. It makes him even more scared when he realized he doesn't really know exactly who his friend is, since he basically had murdered more people than he can remember.

He stares at him wide-eyed, unable to say anything. Again, someone from his past coming to get him. Someone who won't let him live a normal, peaceful life.

"I can't believe it. I've been waiting for years. Waiting to find one of you fuckers, someone who had murdered my friend." His left hand bailed into a fist, eyes staring right at the florist with burning gaze. "And I found him. Having a 'happy life' in a cute little town and deceiving everyone while I suffered."

"Wait, wait! I-I'm not what you think! I-I'm differ--" Brock tried to protest but his sentence is cut off by Craig's empty laugh.

"Different? How... how the fuck can you call yourself different when you fucking murdered people and lied to literally everyone in this town?!" he said, voice growing louder.

Brock could only stare at the floor, refusing to meet Craig's gaze. His eyes started to water. This is horrible, because deep down he knew he deserved it, Craig's resentment towards him made sense because he took someone's life, someone who is important to him. But at the same time, a small part of him still refuses the guilt in his heart because it's not his choice to kill them. He never had a choice, he had to obey everything they told him to do. And if it's his job to murder someone, then he had to do it.

"I-I'm sorry, i'm so sorry! B-But they told me to do it and i-i didn't had a choice!" Brock tried to explain, voice shaking from panic. Cold sweat began to pour as his heart pounded faster and faster.

"There's no excuse for what you did! You can just, ignore their command or whatever! Or you can just call the police! I-God, you can do anything other than killed my fucking friend!" Craig snapped, and Brock can feel himself flinched at his voice.

The journalist suddenly glanced down, and Brock can heard soft sob coming from him. It's the worst feeling that Brock ever feel. He can't say anything because he's afraid of the guy's response. All he can is listening to the guy's breakdown, while remorse keeps pilling up more and more inside him.

"Lucas... I-I told him that messing with you guys is not a good idea. I told him that he can be a target anytime by doing that, but he wouldn't listen. "I'm going to expose them because no one else would apparently." he said. He's really stubborn that guy." Craig said, hands wiping tears that started flowing down his cheek.

"A-And then, I was right. Found dead in an alleyway. Everyone said someone robbed him a-and killed him because all his stuffs are gone, but I know what truly happened. I know that you people," Craig pointed his finger to Brock's chest. "Fucking killed him, because you bitches are afraid of someone exposing you."

"I spent my whole life researching and trying to find out who murdered my friend. I knew your gang had a bunch of hitman or whatever, but there's only three of you being dispatched the day my friend died. You, someone named Vanoss, and Nanners." he continued, before taking in deep breath.

"But Nanners was sent to spy on some other gang. Vanoss was in different area than where my friend was murdered. So there's only you. You are the one that murdered my friend."

He admits it. Craig's deduction is pretty impressive. But the thought of this guy spending his whole life in anguish to avenge his friend, someone that he murdered, made him speechless. It made him nauseous, the anxiety kicking in.

"How could you? How could you do that? Can you imagine how destroyed his girlfriend was when she knew about her boyfriend death? How his mother wailed and went hysterical at her child's funeral? Can you imagine how I feel to lose someone important to me?!" Craig's cried out, and Brock genuinely feel so horrible.

"I... I-I'm so... I'm so sorry..." Brock muttered, eyes closed as he feel Craig's heated gaze towards him. He feels so uncomfortable right now, and he can't think about anything except sheer panic and remorse.

"You know, I can just fucking kill you right now." Craig snarled. His hand reached for something inside of a vest he wear, and that  'something' is a gun.

Brock wants to run. He wants to escape now before something worse happened. But the feeling of fright and panic rendered his body frozen in fear. Is he really going to die? Murdered by this guy as an act of revenge?

"But no." Craig hissed, voice still shaking with anger and distress. He took a deep breath to calm himself down. "If I do it, I will be like you, a vile monster. I don't want that, nor Lucas."

Hearing that made Brock sighed in relief, his whole body became more relaxed. "T-Thank you, thank you so much."

"However," Craig continued, ignoring the older man. "I won't let you walk free from your sin. Instead of killing you, i will tell everyone in this town the truth about your past."

Brock doesn't know what worse, to be killed by Craig right now or having his deep secret, a past he tried so hard to hide, or to be revealed to all of the townspeople. Again, both choices are leading to a worse outcome, an 'ending' that would definitely crumbles all his happiness that he had 'built' for so long.

"N-No, no, no, please! Please don't do that!" he pleads, voice shaking with panic and desperation. He watches Craig turned his back and walked towards the door. He can't let him take his happiness away from him, not again.

But Craig wouldn't budge, ignoring Brock's plea. "This is your punishment for all your sins." he stops right before he turned the doorknob. "Go rot in hell."

And he left.

The older man stares at the door, tears running down his face. Is it the end? Is he going to be banished and hated after Craig tell all the townspeople the truth about him? 

Is he going to lose the peaceful, happy life he always dreamed of? The life he head built for so long?

"No..." he mumbles. Deep inside of his mind, he heard a whisper.

"A flower mustn't ever be unsightly ."

"It must forever remain clean."

"A flower mustn't ever be unsightly ."

"It must forever remain clean."

"A flower mustn't ever be unsightly ."

"It must forever remain clean."

Brock nodded. "Yeah. Yeah. The flower has to be beautiful."

He digs his fingertips into his palms. He wouldn't let that 'bad end' happen. He will create an 'ending' with his own hands, a happy end that he deserves.

He know what to do.

It's the combination of the sound of chirping birds outside, warm sunlight that creeping through the window, and a sweet smell coming from the kitchen downstairs that made Brock opened his eyes. He let out a quiet yawn as he streched his limbs, wincing slightly at the pain he felt on his hips.

He stared at the empty space beside him on the bed, Brian must be downstairs, already waking up before him to make breakfast. Eventually, a rumbling sound coming from his stomach made him get out from warm blanket covering him, even though he wanted to spend more time on the bed. It's Sunday anyway, the only day of the week where he doesn't need to spend his entire day behind the counter of his flower shop. But he's hungry, and he misses Brian's presence, so he needs to get up from the comfy bed. The motion causing soft creak to be heard from the bed.

He picked up a frame from the desk beside his bed. It's a photo of the most joyful memory he ever had, a picture that never stops him from having a warm, fuzzy feeling that made him smile. A picture of him and Brian on their wedding day, surrounded by their friends.

Yes, it's been a month and a half since their wedding and Brock is clearly enjoying the new married life he has. Everyday he would wake up with Brian's arms wrapped around him, pulling his body closer to him and sharing his body warmth that made Brock's heart beating faster, or from the smell of breakfast Brian made, like now. If they don't have any work load, they will spend their day cuddling in front of the TV watching their favorite movies or playing some games together. Everyday, Brian would shower him with kisses and soft touch, making Brock blushes profusely, an action that never failed to make him weak.

But the night is where their favorite at. If they're tired, then they would just cuddling in bed and talk about their day, some news in the gaming world, their work, anything until they're drifting into the dream world. If they're not tired though, Brock would be squirming and whimpering under Brian's touch. The baker is good in bed, always know how to turn the florist into a mess, or say something that’s clearly not 'innocent' or 'pure' which make Brian grin for having to see that side of Brock. Their 'night session' always feels like a fireworks for both of them, the time where they will be lost in lust and pleasure, while keep showering each other with love.

As he went downstairs, the sweet, delicious smell is getting stronger. He could feel his mouth water just from the smell alone, and he can't wait to eat whatever Brian make.

"Morning." Brock said before let out another yawn as he walked to the kitchen where his husband is.

Brian, who previously had his back turned and in the middle of cooking some pancakes, turned to the voice and giving him a wide smile. "Morning, babe."

The older man walked over and Brian give him a quick gentle peck on the lips, causing red tint appeared on the man's cheeks, which made Brian chuckled at the response. The younger guy just love making his husband blushed at everything he do to him.

"I'm not too hard on you last night, right?" Brian asked, teasing tone on his voice.

Brock remembered their last night 'activity', and the blush on his face reddened. He remembered that, an 'activity' that turned make Brock embarrassed to think. "N-No, I'm fine. I like it when you’re being rough anyway." That last sentence was spoken low like a whisper, slipping out from the older man's mouth subconciously.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, what are you cooking?" Brock tried to move the conversation along.

"Oh, nothing special. Just some strawberry pancakes." the younger man replied, truly unaware of the embarrassing word Brock slipped. "Can you help me prepare the table? It's almost done.”

Brock nodded and quickly did as requested. It took few minutes, but everything's finally done, just when Brock's stomach grumbled again. He can't wait to eat, he's just so hungry today.

Breakfast time was filled with joy and pleasant vibe like always. Brock complimented Brian's cooking skill, which made a sense of pride running through Brian's body. The younger man loves it when Brock complimented him. Brian had no work today either, so they would definitely spend more time together today. Maybe they will play some games together or just watch some movies together, or maybe doing 'things' that is 'usually done at night', just like everyday.

It makes Brock so happy that he finally got a peaceful life he always dreamed of. Living with his lovely husband, in a little town with kind and compassionate people, while working at a flower shop he owns... he even thought about adopting a child someday, when both of them are ready of course. For now, they are pretty content of not having a kid running around the house. His life right now is what matters for him the most.

Still, no one in the town ever know about his past of being a criminal.

You see, there's actually a forest near the town. A big, dark forest that only few people ever visit, for hunting an animal living in the forest like a deer or a bird.

It's a perfect place for hiding something.

But Brock doesn't care about that forest. No, he doesn't need to give the forest his attention, he just have to pretend the forest never even exist by not talking about it at all.

To be exact, he doesn't need to think about what’s buried deep inside of the said forest. No, he just have to ignore two dead leaves he concealed in said forest. Two ‘dead leaves’ that tried to reveal his past, dead leaves that tried to make the flower unsightly and dirty.

His life right now is what matter the most. A life that he had 'built' so hard.

And now, he finally gets his happy ending. An 'ending' he deserves after being tortured for so long. That's all that matters. That's the only thing that matters,

No one in the town ever know about his past of being a criminal.

A flower has to be beautiful.

[dracula-in-purple-story]

From Enemies To Friends

CHAPTER ONE

Both of them have nothing in common. She terrorise opponents and teammates alike; he cover turfs and run away from opponents at first sight. She thought it's going to be the solution; he thought it's life or death situation. What makes them become the legendary duo in Turf War History?

Author’s Note : All of this is ENTIRELY NON-CANON. I’m still working on my writing skills. Thank You and Enjoy, hopefully.

“Wow, this is Inkopolis Plaza? It’s so much more cooler than you let on, Nick!” a blue inkling boy, wearing the classic Starting Gears, exclaimed as he looked around the place he’s going to grow up independently. The buzzing crowd, the fresh air, the outstanding Booyah Base and the sleepy cat just outside from the Deca Tower, he love it.

A man, wearing a red yukata with a unique symbol on the back and a matching bucket hat, chuckled as he put downs the last luggage into the pile onto the cart. “I can’t said the same thing though, Erek. After all, I still have that traumatic memory at here. Barely surviving before I met Mistress.” He arranged the luggage to make sure it won’t fall. “Talking about Mistress, she is sure spoil you to the core, kiddo! Making sure you did your best with these sick gears!”

Erek looked at the mountain-like luggage before sighing, “Geez, Grandmama shouldn’t pack this much! What am I suppose to do with all of this, Nick?”

“Well, all of it is to make sure you have a fun time playing.”

“Fun? Do you see this shirt? It’s stacked full with Damage Up!”

“That is the definition of fun for Mistress, kid. Do you want me to take this luggage of food from the pile? You always want to cook for yourself, kiddo.”

“Oh yeah, thanks! Wait... I’m being mean... I really need to apologize to Blan. They put effort to this...”

“Erek, they won’t mind if you take a portion of it for dinner.”

The boy brighten up quickly. Before Nick could push the cart, Erek push him away so he could handle the cart himself. “Sorry, Nick but I want to do this myself. I’m a grown inkling now!”

Nick tear up a bit before drying his eyes on his yukata. He couldn’t believe that the boy that he helped to raise suddenly become independent now. He was so glad to got chosen to help his young master to move out, even though it’s by cheating. “Want me to accompany you? It’s gonna be our last time hanging out with each other, kid.”

“Sure, Nick! Beside, who say I’m going to stay here forever? I would still go back home to visit you guys! After all, we are still family!” Erek exclaimed before pushing the cart. The man almost cried. “Thank you for accepting me, young master...” he whispered before following behind him.

~~~~~~~~~~

In all of Piranha Pit maps, battles are still going on or in the middle of calculating the results. Out of all of them, one of the map catches the eyes of all the people in the Spectators Only Area. The map are almost covered in purple ink and the Yellow team is still inside their base, refusing to go out with that one Inkling girl, wearing the Starting gear and equipped with Splattershot Jr, waiting outside while playing around with her Splat Bomb. She look bored as she glanced through the Yellow team again and again, waiting for at least one of them to come out from their base.

“What in the Zapfish are we gonna do, Skul?! There are only two of them and four of us! We can’t keep this up! We are the cod damn Team B-Rush! Our reputation...” one of the members, wearing SQUID GIRL Tunic, cried in frustration as he plopped down to the floor. Another member, who seems to be cosplaying as one of the Barbershop Quartet, sighed dramatically as he patted his friend on the head, “I know, Fishy. This is a very unfair battle at first, ironically. To think they balance their ‘two disconnected teammates’ situation out with that Monster Rookie... that Stealth boy got lucky.”

The timer struck down to one minute and ten seconds when the girl’s only teammate finally appears. The Stealth Goggles boy seems to be cocky as he squid-taunt towards the team. He stopped before got glared down by the Monster Rookie, whimpering while apologising to her. “Ugh, I want to splat that guy. Can I splat that guy?” another inkling, wearing Squid Nordic, tried to step out before got hold up by the cosplayer. “GG, wha-”

“Choco, that dangerous woomy is still out there. Three seconds out of the base, KERSPLAT, and you are a goner.” GG interrupted as he re-analyse their situation. As much as he didn’t want to admit, Team B-Rush had no hope in winning unless that girl got splatted miraculously. Each time they leave the Respawn Point separately, they ended up getting splatted out of nowhere. Whenever they leave as a group to split her attention, she somehow managed to splatted them all before they could even inked up to their specials. Try to splat her as a group, managed to dodged each hits before splatting them into an oblivion.

“Guys, stop installing fear yourself! Get your act together! Monster Rookie or what not, she’s still a beginner!” the leader of Team B-Rush, Skul with his untied long tentacles, shouted as he nervously looked at the timer. 50 seconds left and that girl is still not moving an inch since she stand there. Team B-Rush have reputation as a team formed with Splatubers and Splartist, and now he fear that this kind of gameplay would make their fans disappointed or even worse, quitting their fan club. Fishy stopped his gibberish tantrums as he glared at Skul.

“Beginner?! Skul, you know better than this! How could she still a beginner?! She debuted two months ago and almost everyone is terrified of her! Remember last week? That devil squid splatted Crystal fifteen times in one match! Fifteen! Splats! Our combined splats against Crystal can’t even best that rookie’s score! And you said she’s still a beginner? When she splatted our ace multiple times?” Fishy stated angrily as he start to pulled his tentacle. What he said is true. That insquid girl really splatted their ace player so much that Crystal is still locked in her own room, drawing disturbing image that portrayed that Monster Rookie a devil under the sea.

Each of them was starting to getting restless as the girl in front of them starting to resemble the drawings in Crystal’s sketchbook. It’s not helping that the timer struck down to forty seconds and half of the spectators are their fans. The Squid Nordic boy suddenly shouted, “Guys, I think I have a plan to overturn this match!”

“It better is, Choco, it better is.”

~~~~~~~~~~

As they walked on, the workers inside the their shops stopped what they are doing and stared at them in disbelief. Few of the shop owners started to shout orders at their employee. Nick knew this is going to happen if he wears clothes with that specific symbol, but he still wears it in order to make his young master to get more respect. After all, Erek have a... unique play style. Despite the fact that the symbol indeed make some difference, he still worries that Erek is going to make friends that have ill intentions. Though it’s so funny to listen the commotion from the outside.

“Waiting for, what are you? Dirty tables, clean you must!”

“Be more representable, sleepyhead! Your messy behaviour might change the fate of this Zekko shop that its company managed to settle!”

“Replace those outdated magazines into new ones, my little darlings! Must not disappoint those unannounced visitors!”

“You three! Better not mess up this time! The Shogun Family gave this place one last chance and I don’t want to see this restaurant get closed down because of you meddling troublemakers! Do I make that clear?!”

“Nick? World to Nicholas!” Erek raised his voice a bit, finally catching the man’s attention. “Whew, got your attention. You zoned out a lot! We reached my place already! Don’t you wanna come inside?” Erek asked before unloading his stuff from the cart. “Man, Suzuki pack a lot of books in this luggage! Do I have time for all of this? I haven’t finished that book for a long time.”

“ ‘Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince’... do you know what will happen to Dumbledore?” Nick smirked as he sort out between gears and daily outfits. It is terrible on knowing how much some of those ugly clothes cost. What were those idiotic designers thinking when they make this? Why does Kevin think this is the peak of fashion? He glanced at his distracted master before slipping all the ugly clothes into a disposal bag. 

“I don’t know, Nick... Is it good?” he finalised his thought before turning to his friend, startling him as Nick quickly closed the bag tightly. Luckily, the boy isn’t aware what’s going on. Nick took a relief breath before answering, “It depends, kid. I need to get out and take out the trash, if you may excuse me.”

“Okay, Nick. Can you throw this as well, please? It’s a piece of receipt that I forgot to throw it and I kinda use this as a bookmark.”

“Sure thing, kid. You have a proper bookmark, right?”

“I think so... I just don’t know where I put it...”

“Okay, Mr I-have-more-than-ten-bookmarks-but-I-don’t-know-”

“Nick...”

“Geez, make it twenty then.”

“THAT’S NOT THE POINT!”

Nick laughed after he quickly ran out of the door, leaving a shouting boy behind as he locked the door. He adjusted his yukata before rushing to the elevator. The door is almost closing but Nick is faster to reach it. When he enter, he met someone he thought he never going to meet again.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey, Tres! Over here! See if you can catch me!” Skul yelled as he inked up a path down the conveyor belt on his left side of his base. The girl seems to took the bait and chase him, not realising that his teammates were on the other side of the map covering turf after they splatted her teammate. It’s like a game of catch between the two of them. Skul is lucky that he have Swim Speed Up stacked fully in his gears, with Ninja Squid to caught her off guard. He was mentally celebrating for his survival when he suddenly got splatted by the Stealth boy, who seem to have respawn. Before the girl realised what’s going on, she heard cans opening.

“SPECIAL WEAPONS! INKZOOKA/KILLER WAIL/INKSTRIKE!” Three members of Team B-Rush shouted in unison as they targeted at both members of the purple team and blast off their special weapons. This is Choco’s plan, and it seems that there’s no way those two would get away from the chaotic special deliveries. 

“Did you all get them, especially her?” the leader spoke through the Speaker Screen. He always have high hopes for his team but not much hope for their plan execution. The plans in his teams are always easier said than done. So, he couldn’t believe how much effort his team is putting for a beginner rather than highly profreshional players.

“Yep, I think so! There’s no way they could make it out alive, Skul. I have that Stealth boy in my Splat ScreeAAAAAH!” Choco screamed suddenly. Another shout and bomb could be seen exploding at the enemies’ base. Before Skul could even react further, Fishy swore bad censored words before shouting, “YOU HAVE THAT BUBBLER READY FROM THE START?! OH COME O-GAH!”

Sound of splatting have been heard from the speaker and Skul was too shocked to speak. And then, realisation hit him. Did he saw her activate her special weapon, even once, in the match? Tres has never been splatted in this entire match, which means that she already inked up her special gauge and find the right timing to use the Bubbler. “That inkling is no beginner... She must been planned everything out from the start... What kind of squid is that girl?!” He plopped down to the floor as the match ends.

Tres looked at them disappointedly before retreating in front to Judd Result Stage.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh my...” a light grey inkling, which had her tentacles tied in a large bow on the right side of her head and wears a black corset dress with three lime green stripes in the front, chuckled lightly in her living room as she watch Team B-Rush stared at Judd in disbelief through her SquidPad. 86.3% to 11.8%, that must be the highest record for some team with two disconnections. “What a powerhouse girl...” she curiously thought, “... no wonder she was named Monster Rookie.”

Another inkling, which had her black tentacles tied in a large bow on the back of her head while leaving the ends to dangle and wears a similar corset dress with pink stripes, came rushing through the main door with plastic bags, shouting, “Marie, you have no idea what happen! Do you know those popular Splatube sensations play against that overpower solo player? Team B-Rush? Monster Rookie? I run back home as fast as I can to tell you that-”

“They lose, Callie? I know, that’s the SquidPad for you,” Marie looked up to her pouting cousin as she turned off her devices calmly, “Tres Perdere won with 30 splats. And she got away from the special chaos with a Bubbler.” Callie quickly settled down her bags and plopped down to the sofa with Marie. “Oh my zapfish! She’s so cool! To think she just debut that start with a BANG like that!”

“I know, Cal. I wonder if we could battle against her... or even recruit her as Agent 3 for Squidbeak Splatoon.” the light grey inkling wondered, “On the second thought, maybe those squiddos are exaggerating when they post things like ‘She’s worse than the devil squid itself!’ or ‘Can’t get out unless you want to suffer’.”

“But, Marie~! She’s like a Holy Zapfish level type of squid! Tres beat up Crystal who was like, the undefeated champion of the Hill of Rollers! I co-host that League for two seasons and Crystal was like ZAM and KERSPLAT to all those opponents! And there’s Tres splatted her like she was nothing!”

“Please, Cal, remember a Dynamo Roller users can’t put their roller fast enough to dodge a Shooter type weapon.”

“Marie, Crystal use her Damage Up gear for that match which make her Dynamo Roller weights like, nothing at all!”

“Well, I prefer not to get that immersed in League players as much as you, Cal. Don’t look at me like that. In the meantime, why don’t we rehearsed for our host debuts for Inkopolis News? Jems sent their regards and congrats gift for being chosen as their successor.”

“Really?! How sweet of them! Is it candies? Or chocolates?”

Callie squealed in delight as she go through the gifts. Her cousin just shook her head lightly before joining her.

~~~~~~~~~~

Team B-Rush was embarrassed as they walked out the lobby to wait for the next announcement. Fans are already started to crowding to comfort them, especially Choco who was starting to tear up, “We had one job, guys! One job! And we screw it up! Badly!”

“I know, Choco, I know! Carp, that was the most horrible match we ever play against unstable connection team!” Skul cried as he threw his .52 Gal Deco to the floor and apologised whoever he accidentally hit. GG was frustrated like Skul is but he kept in his emotions as to not ruin his team’s already damaged reputation. He simply shrugged it off, “Well, we will get her next time, mon ami! C’est la vie!”

“Is this your human language again, GG? It better not be a swear word like that last recording we had or Skul is gonna kill you for tainting his audience,” Fishy warned before accepting donations from his fans through his Patreon Screen. The team were lucky that their fans are still so supportive. Maybe they should film something to honour their supports.

Just then, the crowd literally saw a flying squid, screaming in terror, from the Deca Tower. As the squid slowly turned to humanoid form, they all recognised him as the Stealth boy from the Monster Rookie’s team. Speaking of the orange devil squid, she appears after him with imaginary dark flames surrounding her, wielding plain expression with the eyes of a merlion. The boy tried to crawl away but he got kicked by her, multiple times on the ‘junior’. Skul quickly pulled her off before the orange could do even more holy damage.

“What in the name of The Holy Zapfish did that boy do to deserve this, Perdere?!” he questioned angrily while glances at the poor boy. The aggressive inkling seems to calm down for a while, before glaring at her previous teammate, “He-”

“I’M SORRY THAT I HOGGED ALL THE VICTORY CASH, TRES! I’M SORRY! I WON’T DO IT AGAIN!” the Stealth boy scrambled to his knees as he clumsily scanned the victory cash out of his Cash Screen into hers. “LOOK, TAKE ALL OF THIS. DON’T COME FOR ME!” he run away before the Rookie could stop him. She sighed with a hint of stress, “That’s what happen. Stop grabbing me, wannabe.”

~~~~~~~~~~

The apartment ended up looking great, as Erek said so himself. He managed to do this without Nick too! Speaking of the devil fish, Nick came back with a dreamy gaze. Even though his face is ripe red like he got slapped on the face. The man then composed himself and chimed, “What ever it looks like, don’t question it. Okay?”

The inkling boy nodded as he quickly ran to his bedroom. He is going to assume that Nick have a crush. He never thought his friend is capable on doing that expression. The all-so-in-love expression. But that doesn’t explain about that face that looks like he got slapped.

“Kid?” the man opened the door and peeked his head out, “Dinner or shower?”

“Dinner, please! Can I prepare dinner myself?” Erek grinned as he walked out of the door and headed to the kitchen. He opened up the last suitcase that contains packaged food that Blan prepared. There are lots of varieties that Erek had hard time in choosing. Should he pick that fried sea chicken rice? Or that tasty looking Kimchi? The roasted sea beef looks delicious too. 

“You know, kid? You could just pick a few that you don’t know how to cook, right? Blan probably taught you most of their recipes.” Nick glided over to his young master and looked at the food. The boy immediately grabbed some of the food boxes and set them out to the table. The man chuckled before grabbing some utensils to the table.

After they ate their dinner, it’s time for Nick to go back home. Erek can’t believe how the day end so quickly, and he’s going to have his first Turf War debut tomorrow too! He can’t wait to make new friends! It’s finally his chance to live independently!

“Erek,” Nick took some empty luggages as he went to the front door, “Be safe. Make us all proud on how much you have grown.” He smiled before shutting the door. Erek smiled widely before locking the door. “It’s gonna be fine, what else could go wrong?”