#boardin time

[scritchingandscratchingonpaper]

Boards for my post apocalyptic Meat Hell World, Demiurge!

[hail-brod]

The Days To Remember [1/2]

Jack Sparrow x FReader

MASTERLIST || Part 2

Summary: What if Will had survived Davy Jone’s attack? And in return, the captain of the Black Pearl got what he wanted—to sail the seas for eternity. But as much as he desired the thrill of that curse, he was torn between a longing sentiment and his greed for exploration. It was either that or honor his chances. Well, he is a mad pirate. Why not settle for both?

WC: 3.1k

Warning/s: Mentions of gore, battle, and consummation, light cursing, light angst, suggestive themes, kissing, madman Jack, sexual tension, smut (next part).

The battle with Cutler Beckett has met its end. The Black Pearl still stands as your fellow crewmates rejoiced with each other’s cry, voices rumbling out of their chests. Even in your previous state of panic over Jack’s actions to carve his heart out, and ramming it shut into the good ol’ dead man’s chest, your lungs cried out in victory. It was a battle that no man could have ever imagined to happen right before their eyes.

Well, at least maybe just in your case. But you’re damn well sure your mates had the same thought.

This is history.

And as much as you wanted to cling in this moment’s joyous reverie, a single look at the other ship floating right next to yours reminded you of what else your party had gained.

The Flying Dutchman carried itself with a new light, and at the helm stood its new captain, all with his sloppily grandeur demeanor and a wildly pleasant grin. He looked satisfied, and you can’t blame him. This is what he had his eyes on the moment he learned what the ship had to offer; immortality with his beloved sea.

You’re glad that he’s alive and will be around for a very long time and that he got what he desired. That he’s there standing in the presence of his new crewmates who will definitely treat him as a revered captain, heeding his command for it is he who sails it. But as he crossed the deck and towards the plank to bid his farewells on the trusty Black Pearl, his long time darling ship, as well as his loyal crew, you start to feel how much it pained you to see him go as your earlier mirth wisped away into shards of yearning.

You already knew what he planned to do. You were made aware so. And yet, why does it seem like you aren’t prepared yet for this outcome?

There was a falter in your emotions. You have half the mind to not let your bitter smile turn upside down. This is not how you wanted your dear captain to see you one last time.

“No point in hiding it, can ya?” a murmured-like voice speaks next to you. The one-eyed pirate, Ragetti, looks upfront at the sight you were looking at, and points a finger at Jack who’s making the most of his banter with Mr. Gibbs. “If you don’t say it now, ‘tis but a moment you’ll look back on with only regret to accompany it. Well, personally I think you’d regret it more if you’re looking to be with the captain. The Dutchman ain’t worth o’ it all, I tell ya.”

Next to him, his bald-headed companion added. “What the bloody hell do you know? We could take on the ocean and be immortal beings. I’m sure the captain wouldn’t mind us boardin’ in.”

“Go on then! See how it feels to be alive for centuries. It’s just more work ferrying souls—endlessly,” the man bites back with a wisdom you never thought he’d have.

The two bickered on, but you went back to Ragetti’s words. No point in hiding it, can ya? Exactly. At this very moment, you and him are now on a very different footing, on vastly separate worlds. Even if you meet each other at sea whilst he carries on his duty as captain of the Flying Dutchman, it’d be but a fleeting memory that will only tear you away from him before you could even touch the man. So it’s now or never.

It’s either you pursue him or not at all. You have to do it. With only regret to accompany it.

But a line has been drawn, so what in the hells could change once you did so? Wouldn’t that leave you with a broken heart that could easily shatter more into bits?

Jack got what he wanted. What else could he want from you? The helpless woman he saved once from the ocean’s wrath. The torn woman who became a part of his crew even when she had a family waiting for her at shore. The awed crewmate who was only grateful to be a part of his adventure. The teary eyed crewmate who tended to his fatal wound, thinking he would die at her hands.

The appalled crewmate who questioned his choices for choosing her over a hill of wealth—which was very unlike him.

And those were just that. A bond that you will never forget, much less something that you’ll regret. This is what he clearly chose, and you don’t plan to disrupt it. Just like you thought earlier; he’s satisfied.

Yet you see him almost drop his smile from across the deck, a passing gloom that felt so wrong to see on him. It worried you. Nevertheless, his loose smile still hung on as he ran his eyes around the crew, before landing it on you. There was only one thing you could give him, a lopsided smile that you know he’d always return. But this time, it didn’t reach the creases of your eyes and for a moment there, Jack’s expression was that of a relieved one. As if being able to navigate your presence amongst all of the other people onboard was a shining starlight in a vast dark sky. Though, it wasn’t long before he was back at his countenance of flaccidity, elbows at his sides as he sauntered over to you.

“And my darling partner in crime. How could I forget about you?” he teased.

“I’m honestly thinking you did,” you quipped. You then gestured to the docked ship beside the Black Pearl. “With that marvelous thing waiting for you? I’d be over the moon. Well…it could use a bit of color if you ask me.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” he replied, eyes seemingly not leaving you. There was something about his gaze that felt intense, and you couldn’t help but meet it, engraving those gleaming dark brown irises into your memory.

As if he was examining you the same, a slight tilt of his head made you aware of the seconds passing by.

“The sea is yours to sail, captain. There’s a lot waiting for you out there,” you said. Your tongue felt bitter.

“Well, yes.” He nodded nonchalantly. “Dead souls precisely.”

“And an endless round of treasures I suppose,” you added as you smiled. And he returned it all the same as the corners of his mouth stretched up into a genuine grin, his golden tooth peeking through. The way he looked at you—it was heartfelt. Not the usual mischief he'd wear. Not a prickle of anything unserious. But it didn't last long as his grin slowly dropped to a melancholic one, his eyes never leaving your own.

Some swell of pride resided in you, seeing that this separation also bothered him. But you won’t assume the extent of such sentiments. You were a team, and that’s where it lies just as it ends.

“Yes…” he hesitantly says. “I believe so.”

For a second there, the world stopped. It was only him that you could see. And in the process, something cracked within you, but you held yourself up with a tilted and pathetic attempt at an amicable smile.

It was time.

“Fair winds, captain," you bade.

His eyes fell from yours, taking him a moment to respond. “Farewell, love.”

And the next thing you saw was his back turned as he strutted far out of your reach.

This was it. This is your choice, and his. No matter how much it hurts, you know that he cherished you as a crewmate just as much as you cherished him as your captain—the savior who made you see light again into this world.

Jack Sparrow was your beginning, and now it’s time to venture forth where that will take you. You owe it all to him.

But, as the said pirate headed towards the plank ‘proudly’, then catching a glimpse of both Elizabeth and Will, that demeanor of his quickly changed with a tilt of his head, annoyance settling through himself like the many times he had to change his course of action. He was one step up the plank when he stopped, seemingly contemplating on the choices he just made.

You had no clue what irked him so. And as you wondered, he turned to you.

What? 

The next thing you know he was already striding towards your way, and soon smashed his lips into yours.

At first you didn’t know how to react, but by then it was instinct to shut your eyes close as you felt him deepen the kiss with his hand cradling your head from behind. There was no room for rejection, so you melted into it as his other arm banished all distance between your bodies. He held you closer like nothing before. As if this particular split bothered him just as much as you did.

Out of all the women he wouldn’t be seeing for a long time, it’s you he chose to cherish. And you dreadfully feel lucky right now.

Somehow, the kiss felt like flying as you feel yourself slightly tilt back with his support, his lips a passionate maneuver. Not even his beard could hinder anything as it only served a far more thrilling sensation.

Who would’ve thought your dear captain felt the same?

For that single moment, the pirates around you didn’t matter. Although, you didn’t miss the comment given by one of them, pride dripping in their tone. “Aye, the captain must’ve heard me advice.”

Honestly, you’re fortuitously thankful if Jack actually did hear. And even if not, you’re not really complaining. Perhaps you should start listening to Ragetti’s words of wisdom more from now on—if you ever see each other again, that is.

But you didn't dwell on that further; you’re far too busy at the moment. 

When he slowly pulled back, the hand behind your head trickled down to your neck as you met his blazing dark brown ones, and you simply couldn't tear yourself away from them. Your poor heart rammed in your chest wildly.

Gods, your thoughts ran. Mum never forbade me to fall in love with a pirate, didn’t she?

And as if he could read your thoughts, that charming smirk of his surfaced.

Which is actually a sign that he's about to do something mad.

You frown. "Jack, what—"

Before you could complete the question, the pirate beat you to it as he diverted his attention right past you, his voice booming across the ship. "Hector!"

"Oh, mercy," the said man sounded displeased as he replied, seemingly knowing what Jack had in mind. "No."

From a second's moment of confusion, you eventually realized what Jack was trying to ask the feathered hat pirate. And if your memory serves you right, this almost feels like the one you’ve witnessed during the battle in the maelstrom. With the look Jack chanced at the two newly wedded couple earlier, you started to register where this was leading.

And you can’t believe it yourself. He is Captain Jack Sparrow for a reason, and he's as mad as ever.

The said man simply stretched out an accommodating smile at Barbossa, and with his arms still holding you close, you tried to look behind you only to see that the latter was staring down his nose at your captain.

“Come on, mate. Do it for an old friend, will ya?” pleaded Jack.

You immediately turned back to Jack. “Please confirm it to me that you’re asking him what I think you’re asking him.”

Jack averts his attention back on yours, his smile turning soft. “I think it’s perfectly obvious now, love.” His hands held you closer from behind just like before, thrill stirring in his dark-pooled irises. Though, it quickly changed as his brows folded. “Unless you don’t fancy the idea.”

You almost wanted to laugh at that, but you refrained. “With me? Now?”

“Aye.” He courtly nodded, as if he was telling you the obvious. “And I doubt your village would want you to join the Dutchman’s crew, so there’s no other day, is there?”

You chuckled at that. “Yes. Yes, I suppose they wouldn’t.”

There’s a part in you that’s begging to digress—that this is your choice. But you also know that they are waiting for you; the rapport of kinship to your homeland is what you also held dear. Besides, piracy was not your first option into livelihood. You already had your fill of adventure, even though it was only a matter of debt. To you, the soils of a land and the buzz of a lively village is where you belong.

Yet you stall here, thinking of bounding yourself to someone who’s now forbidden to step on land. Even so, you believe marriage has more to it than just living together.

“Marry me?” Your words came out quite impulsively than you let on.

Jack’s brows deepened a frown as he tried to process your question on whether you were asking him about his point—or that you’re actually asking him to marry you. But it wasn’t long before he eventually caught on, the corners of his lips upturning.

“Yes,” he answered, a compulsion he can’t turn away. “Marry you.”

You hear Barbossa mutter something as all the other heads turn to his annoyed form, who’s now stepping down from the quarter deck. Stance as intimidating as ever, the feathered hat captain sneered at Jack. But when he landed his attention on you, it at least subsided.

If you blink, you could’ve missed the somewhat compassionate expression he almost fully wore.

“Are we doing this or ya lot already regretting it?” he plainly asked, standing a few feet away from you and Jack, looking like he’s already regretting it himself.

“Oh, no,” Jack started. He pulls away from you, but his palm met yours, and bends down to place a kiss on your backhand without breaking an eye on yours. “No regrets here…nor will I ever.”

You should’ve been shrinking in embarrassment by then, knowing that you were surrounded by a crowd of all kinds of pirates, or melting on the wooden floor from the way Jack ravaged you with his gaze. But none of that prevailed in overwhelming you when Barbossa started his officiation of this middle-of-nowhere marriage.

Jack gave you all of his attention, and it was clear that whatever Barbossa was saying didn’t matter to him any more than you were. You hadn’t even realized how quiet everyone was—maybe just out of respect. But you thought wrong when you glimpsed both Ragetti and Pintel leaning at each other in a heartfelt manner as they eyed the occasion. It was sweet of them. Even Elizabeth herself regarded you with a wide smile as she rested her head on her newly wedded husband’s shoulder.

“Just get to it, mate,” Jack called out to Barbossa. “Skip it to the ‘I do’ part?”

You swear your officiant looked like he was one word away from shooting Jack. You couldn’t help but lightly shake your head, smiling. Jack didn’t even spare his first mate a look.

“Jack Sparrow,” Barbossa mentions the name venomously, and soon after, actually heeds Jack’s request.

When he was finally asked the question, he answered it in less than a heartbeat. “I do.”

There was no teasing at play, nor the walls he puts up as a captain. This time, he sounded as serious as he could have ever been. The smile he hung wasn’t the same ol’ frisky one he’d give you when he’s wrought with excitement. It was different, and you know where you'd seen it before.

A time where he decided the fate of something he couldn’t bear to lose.

And at that moment, he took your breath away.

You had not even heard what or how Barbossa asked you the question, nor the words you unleashed from your mouth. But you know it’s what your heart desires.

“I do.”

Your officiant didn’t even have to say anything else when Jack himself leaned in, catching your lips on his.

I could get used to this, you said in your head. For whatever time we’ve got at least. You couldn’t think of anything else, aside from realizing that Jack had such softer lips than you would have thought of.

“Somehow I’m surprised I haven’t gone and tried to kiss you before all this,” he says as soon as he breaks away, his forehead leaning closely to yours as his hat casts shadows over your faces.

“Did I actually leave you wanting, Captain?” you replied, reminiscing the ghost of his lips on yours.

“No captain, no,” he folded a brow. “Darling would be rather appropriate, wouldn’t it? And yes. Should I demonstrate my love for you again? Because I’m willing to take me single day at shore with just you.”

His gaze didn’t waver as he said that. Sure, you could identify the lingering sexual desire in the door of his soul, but there was also vulnerability. If this was anything like the ways of his seduction to other women, it was not. Because he isn’t trying to seduce you—you’re already his.

Though, with the weight of what the future holds, along with the fact that he’s bound with his new cursed ship with ten years worth of service, there is only one day of respite given to him from the harshness of the seas.

And to be with you.

Well, you mildly think he’d view the seas as harsh when for all his life he loved it. But only a day on land is just as harsh. A longing desire even.

And it certainly doesn’t change the fact that this is the last day you’ll ever hold each other again like this. Not for the next year, nor five. But for a decade. And just until that single day comes again, will you two be able to burn your hearts out.

Your hold on him tightened without you noticing. Getting eloped so suddenly without thinking it through first was certainly not on your list for today. It was all about surviving Davy Jone’s Locker and the battle with the pirate lords. But by the time Jack incited his desire of marriage, it was pretty much clear you both wanted no regrets. For even how too mad it was for you, it is a decision that you will look back on with gratitude for yourself.

Whatever may come, you know that you love and will love this madman.

So as you brushed past the flutter his words had given you, shamelessly suggesting the idea of consummation, your toes pushed you up as you tasted his lips once again. “Shall we make it worthwhile for the next ten years then?” you softly muttered to him after.

Recovering from the kiss, he fluttered his eyes open, grinning. “As worthwhile as can ever be, love.”

>> Part 2

A/N: Thank you so much for reading! As what I've typed above, this will have a pt. 2 which I've already written and been moving onwards to finishing it with a wee bit of editing (jk not wee actually). Here's to hoping I'll be able to settle that next week. I'm just excited because it's been fun writing this >.< Especially the next spicy part— Do don't expect too high on my smut prowess. It has been awhile since I wrote one but it isn't for naught. Because even I shocked myself with what I've just written (´。＿。｀) And lastly, if anyone wants to be tagged for the next one, feel free to comment about it or anything!

Ko-fi?

[darkbluekies]

https://www.tumblr.com/darkbluekies/767206399177523200/i-just-came-up-with-an-idea-alternative?source=share

Reader awkwardly watching Hedwig and trying to mimic her to fit in. Making off handed comments about being so rich and getting gifts from her parents all the time but the way she says it is so over the top that everyone just thinks she's a weirdo :( she don't know how to interact with so many rich people who don't understand her situation.

Hedwig dosent like that you pretend or that her friends judge you and think your lying so she starts leaving you expensive gifts and accessories to wear. Pretty boxes tied with a bow on your bed in the dorm, all from your secret admirer.

She takes real pride in seeing you wear the things she bought you, it feels like she's laying claim to you even if you don't know they're from her

Honestly? Hedwig might be the perfect choice for yandere... if you ignore the isolation part shed probably do later on 😬

hedwig is a really sweet girl, i agree. I feel kind of bad that she's related to Edmund

If she went to this boardin school, it mean that she was a bit more out of touch with reality than she is in the canon storyline. but she would still be as nice, like:

"Oh, my God, don't you have this *ridicolously expensive designer bag*?" "No, I don't, actually." "Why not? It's very practical!"

And once she realises that you don't have money to buy it, she would get it for you, because 'the bag is so comfy and practical and you should have one too to carry all your stuff and avoid pain'.

It reminds me a bit of the scene in Young Royals where the girls buy Sara new, expensive riding pants because she was too poor to buy them.

She would kind of claim darling by her things. Because if the others see that Hedwig accepts you, they'd warm up to you. At least a bit. Thankfully, in a school where everyone is rich, they wouldn't care about impressing Hedwig and would leave the two of you alone

[coffeewithcocoa]

HIIIIIII OK SO HERE I AM, I wanna ask if maybe you could write like angel x male reader (trans or not up to you) where the reader comforts him maybe after a hard day of work or smthng? My boy needs love and affection😭💗

HERE YOU GO! 🫡

YES ANGEL NEEDS LOVE AND CARE!! I threw a mental breakdown in here:)

Comforting An Angel

Angel Dust x Male Reader

I put male, hope that’s okay!

Summary: You give him comfort after a hard day of work.

(Look at the precious Ange)

——————————————————————

You were waiting in your lovely boyfriend’s, Angel Dusts, room for his return. He told you that he was going to come back late since Valentino wanted to shoot some more stuff with him. Which you understood but you still felt bad for him, especially since his boss is a creep.

You hated Valentino with all your guts. You hated him so much that you would sell your soul so Angel didn’t have to deal with him. He’s told you countless of times though that everything’s fine and that he’s fine, which didn’t make you feel better at all.

After some time of just zoning out and playing with Angels pig, fat nuggets, you got a text from him saying that he just got back and he’s heading to his room. Though you didn’t want to wait anymore so you hopped out of his bed, grabbed Fat Nuggets, and ran straight to the stairs.

Fat nugget oinked at you. “I’m not slowing down!” You told him as if he could talk. When you got halfway there you saw Angel with a liquor bottle in his hand and a tired expression on his face. Your face turned soft as you approached him, letting fat nuggets go and surprise him.

A small gasp left him as he went on his knees and had Nuggs just into his arms. “Awh hi my fat nuggets! How was your day with your other daddy, huh?” His went to a baby voice making you chuckle.

“How was your day Angel?” You gave him a smile. He sighed, grabbing the liquor bottle and standing up. “Stressful.” Your face changed to a softer one, grabbing his hand. “Let’s go to your room and you can talk about it, okay?” He nodded with a weak smile.

The walk back to his room felt quicker when he was actually with you. You opened his room door for him just as a kind act for him. He took a seat on his bed, placing Fat Nuggets In front of him. The liquor bottle being placed on his nightstand.

You took a seat in front of Fat Nuggets, petting him as you looked at Angel. “Could we maybe…cuddle?” He moved his legs so they were to his chest. You nodded, “Of course.” You grabbed Fat Nuggets carefully and sat closer to Angel.

He moved himself so he could easily grab you. Fat Nuggets was in the middle of you guys. “What did Val do this time?” Your voice came out stern.

“He’s into this water boardin’ shit now. He says it’s a kink..” He shrugs, his attention mostly towards Fat Nuggets. “So he’s been drowning you all day?” You rose an eyebrow at him. He nodded, “he gave me some breaks..only around a few seconds.” He tried defending Valentino.

Angel had told you the shit that he does behind closed doors away from the public. It sickens you. “Why’d you sign the contract?” You looked up at him, him doing the same to you. “‘Cause before then I loved him.” You furrowed your eyebrows.

“Oh Angel.” Tears flooded his eyes, quickly spilling out as he hugged Fat nuggets tightly. You moved behind him so you could lay on his bed. He moved his head to the crook of your neck.

You hugged him towards your body. “I wish I hadn’t signed that fuckin’ contract.” Angel said between sobs. “I know, it’s okay..shhh.” You gently rubbed his back, giving him kisses on his forehead.

A few minutes later the sobs stopped. You moved yourself back to see his sleeping face. He was hugging a sleeping Fat Nuggets that was in between the both of you. You chuckled as you kissed his damp cheek, “Have a nice rest love.”

With that you closed your eyes and fell asleep with a smile on your face.

———————————————————————

ITS A BIT RUSHED AT THE END IM SORRY😭 Hope you like it though.

Who else hates Valentino?:D

•Have a nice day/night!•

[nightrae13]

Don't know why I watch when I know the endin' Wanna skip right to the part it doesn't hurt Thinkin' that night, boardin' that flight With a bruised up heart and a carry-on bag A long-lost love that I'll never get back, wanna get it back

Maybe next time I'll be enough You'll give me everythin' instead of givin' up Maybe next time won't be a waste You'll be the one and not the onе that got away So, I count down the days 'til I won't have to say

Maybe next time - Jamie Miller

-------

Tell me this isn't Rui singing about leaving Makino, taking that flight, missing his one-chance in a lifetime with her, and never getting it back no matter how much he loved her IN EVERY NEXT TIME.

This song is the tragedy of how fate was never in his favor no matter how many "next time"s he wishes and gets. It's his song about her, and no one should tell me otherwise.

[jungle-angel]

The Students Become The Masters (Calvin Evans x Reader)

Summary: D'Nadi clearly made a mistake picking on you and Cal and your students couldn't have made it clearer than that

Tagging: @floydsmuse

Warnings: Pregnancy, D'Nadi being an asshole etc.

Calvin re-emerged from the kitchen with a hot mug of homemade tea to help calm your nerves. God it had been a day. Never in his life had Calvin seen you so upset about D'Nadi approaching you and not giving you a reason as to why you had been sent home from the college. He had felt terrible about cancelling his other classes for the rest of the day, but he knew that you needed him now more than ever.

"C'mere love," he said, gently lifting your tired head into his lap.

You sniffed a little as the tears stung your eyes. "God I hate D'Nadi," you croaked.

"I know, I do too sweetheart," Calvin said, running his fingers through your hair. "Try not to stress so much. I don't want anything to happen to you or the baby."

"I know," you croaked again. "I have an appointment at the teaching hospital tomorrow."

You snuggled into Calvin, a little too tired to drink the tea he had made, until he had finally convinced you to drink just a little. His hand trailed to your now noticeable bump, gently caressing the little life that grew within. A knock at the front door had startled you both and threw Six-Thirty into a barking fit until Calvin shooed him back to his bed near the fireplace. When Calvin opened the front door, he was a little surprised to find Father McDowell standing there on the front porch.

"Sorry to be disturbin ya laddy," he apologized. "I know it's late and you and the missus are probably settlin in fer bed."

"It's alright Padre," Calvin said. "Just a bit of a rough day is all."

"Ah so I can tell," Father McDowell said, seating himself in the old wingback near the living room window. "How are ye (y/n)? Still feelin a little blue are ye?"

You nodded.

Father McDowell sighed as Six-Thirty put his paws up on the chair arm, the priest gladly letting him have a few scritches. "Tis a damn shame we ain't back in Cork," he said. "If he'd have been attendin me old boardin school, the nuns would've lashed'em so hard he wouldn't be able to sit for at least a week."

You and Cal both chuckled a little. Despite his salty nature, Father McDowell's presence was always welcome at times like these as well as his rather twisted sense of humor.

"One way or another m'lamb, ye'll get through it," he assured you, lighting his pipe. "All will be right with the world......somehow."

And you and Calvin had hoped so.

***************************

Dark night had fallen over the college campus, but that didn't mean the halls were dead. No, they remained brightly lit, the rushed footsteps of students feet on the tile and parquet floors, hurrying to an out of order bathroom at the very end of the hall.

Two students, one of Father McDowell's theology students and his girlfriend, knocked on the door of the bathroom which was promptly opened by Sandy Levenstein, one of your assistants in the classroom.

"You two here from the Padre?" she asked.

"Yep," the young man answered.

"Get in," Sandy told them.

The bathroom was crowded with students and TAs alike, everyone packed elbows to assholes in that small little room from all walks of the campus life, bookworms, jocks, exchange students, chemistry majors, nursing majors, art and art history majors and everyone and anyone in between.

"Alright, you wanna take this Mei? Or should I?" Sandy asked from her perch on top of the garbage can.

"I'll do it," Mei told her. "Marshall? Wanna gimme a hand?"

"Hell yeah honey!" he answered, hoisting Mei up onto his big shoulders.

Mei began pounding on a metal garbage can lid with her Nainai's wooden cooking spoon. "ALRIGHT EVERYBODY SHUT UP FOR TWO SECONDS!!!!"

She waited until the whole room fell silent before speaking again. "Alright, now that I've got your undivided attention," she said. "Marsh, you can put me down now, thank you."

Marshall lowered her down to the floor, letting Mei stand amongst the eager to listen crowd.

"It seems to me that some foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach, had a bone to pick with our dearly beloved professors," Mei explained. "So I ask you, good people of this university.......what the hell are we gonna do about it? Are we gonna stand by and watch him pick on them again?"

"HELL NO!" everyone exclaimed.

"Are we gonna stand for this shit?" Mei asked.

"HELL NO!!"

"Are we gonna let that slimy little schlemiel get away with it?!" Sandy declared.

"HELL NO!!!!"

"I don't care how any of you have to do it," Mei told the crowd. "I don't care how long it takes, what methods you have to use, orthodox or not as long as it's within legal means.........but all of you, get out there and show the little cockroach who really runs this place!"

The crowd in the bathroom cheered, high-fiving and slapping the overhang of the door on their way out.

"You think this is gonna work?" Sandy asked.

"It's worth a shot," Mei laughed.

*****************************

Calvin was in his office, working on the grant proposal for the college's chemistry program, the typewriter clicking away as Six-Thirty came back with a note from the college president. It had been almost a week since D'Nadi had pulled his little stunt, the both of you worried sick about work and how things would turn out. Calvin was an anxious mess as he opened the letter and read it, but relieved beyond words when he saw the response.

Dear Professor Evans,

I apologize for this being so late in coming, but I wanted to let you know personally that you and your wife will continue to teach at this establishment. I will allow her full benefits and time for when the baby is born and you as well. Give my best to (y/n) and we look forward to seeing her when she returns.

Regards,

William B. Hayes III, University President

Calvin was relieved and knew that you would be too. He shoved the letter into one of the pockets inside his briefcase, eager to show you when he got home, when the quiet in his office was suddenly broken by a knock at the door.

"I'm not to be disturbed!" He warned loudly.

"Doc it's me! It's Marshall!" answered a muffled voice from the other side of the door.

Cal quickly rose from his desk chair and opened the door. Marshall Ray Thomas, Eugene Walsh, Cindy Bianchi and Sylvia Patton, all students of his and yours, entered his office, each with a cheeky grin on their faces.

"What did you idiots do?" Calvin asked, suspicious of the reason for their visit.

"Oh ya'll are gonna wanna see this," Marshall laughed, handing Calvin a stack of polaroids.

Calvin flipped through each and every one, his eyes bugging at a few, particularly of one where D'Nadi had been strapped to the surgical gurney in one of the nursing classrooms, the students all surrounding him wearing surgical gear and wielding the tools as though they were in a horror movie.

"Jeebus fuck!" Calvin chuckled, going bug-eyed.

"Oh, wait until you see the ones we took in the chemistry labs," Eugene chuckled, adjusting his glasses. "Sonny Ortega had fun with that one."

Calvin had to stifle a laugh when he saw it. Eugene hadn't been lying, seeing as he and Sonny had been cohorts from day one. What Cal hadn't been expecting was a full recreation of the lab scene in "Frankenstein" and the photographic evidence that had come with it.

"Oh my God," he laughed. "This is just.......wow."

A collective cheer and the chanting of students and teachers alike, soon reached Calvin's ears. Marshall, Eugene, Cindy and Sylvia made their way into the hall where the entire faculty seemed to be chanting "walk of shame" and clapping as loud as they could. Calvin caught sight of a sneering and sulking D'Nadi carrying a box of his things out of his office as the students and faculty kept it up, including Mrs. Petty, the elderly receptionist, who hated D'Nadi with every fiber of her being.

Calvin couldn't help the broad grin that was beginning to crawl across his face, especially when Dr. Powers and Professor Broussard clapped their firm hands on each of his shoulders.

"Mon amie," Professor Broussard said to him. "It seems justice has been served on your behalf."

Calvin laughed as he joined in, everyone cheering loudly when D'Nadi rounded the corner, never to be seen or heard from at the college again.

*****************************

You laughed as you went through the polaroids again with Calvin as soon as he got home, relieved that you still had your job at the college.

"So wait, tell me again," you laughed. "They seriously did that in the nursing classroom?"

"Photo evidence is right there," Calvin answered.

You snorted when you saw it. "Oh my God what are we gonna do with them?"

"Who knows my love?" Calvin said, kissing your forehead.

You couldn't have been happier than at that moment.

[bugswapau]

Interview Snorpy!

Time to ask the athlete a few questions.

“Have time for an interview?”

Ooh, gonna quiz me, brah? I’m gonna CRUSH your questions!

“Who are you?”

Snorpy Fizzlebean! I skate.

“Skateboarding is a job?”

It's a way of life, dude. And I don’t just skate! I lift every now and again. Anything that needs to go up; logs, buildings, balls, Chandlo — that’s what I do!

“Why come to Snaktooth island?”

To push myself to the max, I gotta go somewhere gnarly. I heard nobody ever comes back from this island... sounds like the ultimate challenge to me!

“That's fine for you, but what about Chandlo?”

Hey, I'm always looking out for Chandlo! I know that roughing it ain’t his thing, but... there’s no way I’d come here without him!

“How did you two become a thing?”

I dunno what you mean, brah. We're like the moon and the sun; we’ve been together since the dawn of time!

“Thoughts on Bugsnax?”

Bugsnax are strong! Like, a primal kinda strong! Like, they’re the kings of these jungles, and I gotta respect that!

“Why did you leave town?”

Dude, Snaxburg was a disaster without Eggabell! I couldn't stop all the fighting with boardin’ OR wisdom... I had to keep things chill for Chandlo’s sake. He's got a buncha that social anxiety.

“Any info on Eggabell?”

Eggabell is top notch, ya feel me? She really inspires me to push it to my limit. But uh, that's about it. I'm more tighter with Lizbert.

“Alright, well, what can you tell me about Lizbert?”

Lizbert’s a sweetie. She was always lookin' out for us. She showed me how to stay safe while still pushin' my limits. But she always forced herself wayyy outta her comfort zone.

“She worked out with you?”

Yeah, she asked me to train her. Surprised the grump outta me cuz I never thought she’d be interested in that kinda stuff. We'd go runnin' every morning and liftin' after lunch. Though, she’d get pretty hard on herself. But she never gave up and I respect that.

“What happened to Lizbert and Eggabell?”

Beats me. Those two were strong together. I can't think of anything that could knock 'em down! They gotta be okay out there somewhere.

“Thanks, Snorpy, you really 'slam dunked' my questions! Eh? Eh? Get it?”

Dude, that's not — just... don't.

Anyway, I was recording Lizbert's progress while we worked out. She shared some pretty personal stuff, so maybe this’ll help you get her back to us.

Don’t let me down, dude!

[kaitaiga]

OC Interview

G'day! I felt like doing some writing tonight and I remembered I saw this OC Interview thing going around, so I thought I'd give it a crack! I did something like this a while back but in an ask game. I had so much fun with it so why not do it again!

It's pretty long and is written from your pov (the interviewer!). I hope you enjoy and I'd 100% recommend you give it a go yourself with ur own ocs!

August 2022

You trailed behind a tall man with a thick moustache and cap, trying your best to keep up with his quick pace and long strides.

“You, wouldn’t think he would mind, right?”

“Hm?” He glances over his shoulder at you. “What? Nah. You’d actually probably make his day more than anything. Bit of time off trainin’ would make any bloke ‘ere happy.”

You were visiting the main barracks of the 2nd Commando Regiment in hopes of interviewing a special forces operator about his life outside the military for your class assignment. A brother of a friend of yours just so happened to be an acquaintance to one, and he agreed to meet you.

The man, who introduced himself as Lachlan, lead you over to a quiet corner overlooking a large grassy field with soldiers running about, fitted with a small round table and two chairs. He gestures his head for you to take a seat.

“Right. I’ll be back for ya with Damo in a moment. Don’t go runnin’ off now, will ya?” He says firmly.

“O-okay.” Not like you were, anyways.

Ten minutes go by…

Sigh. He is taking an awfully long time. You skim over the questions you had prepared on your laptop once more, making sure everything was in order. You didn’t want to take up more of the valuable training time of that soldier. When suddenly…

“G’day,” startles you and you swivel around in the chair, looking up at the tall, blond man as he places a hand on your shoulder to ground you. “Haha! Sorry darl’ didn’t mean to scare ya” he says with a warm smile.

He moves past to sit in the chair across the table from you and as he does so, you could smell the overwhelming scent of men’s body spray, deducing that he just applied some before coming to see you out of consideration.

“You must be Damien, right?”

“Yep, that’s me, love.”

“Alright! Are you ready to answer a few questions?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

Basics

Name:

“Damien Whitlock. You can just call me Damo though, that’s what most blokes refer to me as. Sergeant in the Second Commando Regiment.”

Are you single?

“Woah! Crackin’ onto me ‘ere, are we love? We just met! *laughs* Buy me a drink first, would ya? Haha. Nah yeah, I’m single alright.”

Birthplace?

“Was born in Sydney, though was raised on a farm in the countryside for most of me life. Only really came up to Sydney to go to boardin’ school.”

Hair colour?

He reaches up and tugs on a chunk of his hair. “What colour does this look like to ya?” he snorts. “Red? You callin’ me a ranga? Don’t insult me. Blond.”

Eye colour?

He hums and leans forward so you can get a better look into his eyes over your laptop screen. “Blue. Blue, Gray. Something of the sorts, I reckon.”

a/n: puppy eyes…

Birthday?

“7th March. 26 right now…gettin’ bit old now, aren’t I?”

Gender?

“Male, last time I checked.”

Mood?

He shrugs, “Eh. Livin’ the dream, honestly. Not much to whinge about right now, and not much to be over the moon about either.”

Are you happy?

“Pleasantly. It’s because I’m not havin’ to do what those fellas down there are doing right now” he says whilst peering out of the window besides you.

Are you angry?

“Nah. Cool as a cucumber.”

Summer/Winter?

“How ‘bout neither. I’m an autumn man. Not too hot and not too cold to get shit done. If I had to choose though, winter. Nice to rug up in layers of clothes or walk anywhere without bustin’ a sweat.”

Morning/Afternoon?

“Mornin’. The air feels nice and it’s quiet. Just the way I like it, believe it or not.”

Eight Things About Your Love Life

Are you in love?

“Can confirm that I am indeed, not in love.” He nods. “Maybe with my ute though.”

Who ended your last relationship?

“Uhm,” he clears his throat and looks away at the floor, “Reckon it was me? Given I did in fact catch her with another bloke, in me own bed may I add, and kicked her out. You could also argue that she ended it when she started havin’ it with him. I dunno, really.”

Have you ever broken someone’s heart?

“Probably.” He shrugs, “Look, like I’ve turned down people for sure, but they were mostly some randos you’d find at the pub. Not someone I’ve known for a while.”

Are you afraid of commitments?

“Uh, probs not. They sure as hell scared of me though, that’s for sure. Not one relationship I’ve had where I’ve caught the misses doing dodgy shit behind me back. Can guarantee ya that I’m a very loyal person, even when I’m away. Marriage? Not gonna beat around the bush ‘ere, I do wanna get married it’s just…*sigh* never mind...”

Have you hugged someone within the last week?

“Nope. Would be nice, though.” You look up and notice he’s staring intently at you.

Have you ever had a secret admirer?

“Yeah, this one chick over in the US. My mate told me ‘bout ‘er. I reckon I only had about one convo with this chick and all of a sudden, she starts anon sendin’ me things and placing things near my gear. Though it was nice until I found out she was literally tryna do a ritual on me or somethin’. Crazy stuff.”

Six Choices

Love or Lust?

“Love.”

Iced Tea or Lemonade?

“I would absolutely kill for a Lipton right ‘bout now. Iced tea.”

Cats or Dogs?

“Doooogs all the way! Love ‘em to bits. Cats are just lil pieces of shit that try to scratch me whenever they can. Also, I’ve been told I look like a dog, can you confirm- “

A few best friends or many regular friends?

“Couple close friends will do. As long as they’ve got my back and I’ve got theirs, that’s all I need.”

Wild night out or romantic night in?

“Night in, thanks. Piggin’ out on food with my misses and watchin’ a movie sounds fucking mint to me.”

Day or Night?

“Love the night. So peaceful and beautiful when you walk around the city, lookin’ at all the lights or when you can see the stars clearly in the country.”

Four Have You Evers

Been caught sneaking out?

He laughs. “Yeah, this one time back in school, Daniel and I snuck out of our dorms to go grab some grub. We were raaaavishing! The food they served us in that school was criminal. They caught us jumpin’ the fence ‘round back.”

Fell up/down the stairs?

“Yeah. Ate shit tryna run up ten floors of stairs during PT. Never seen ol’ Lachy boy laugh so hard, so I guess it’s a win?”

Wanted something/someone so badly it hurt?

“…Physically? Yeah, probably joining commandos. Christ, I couldn’t even tell you how much pain and suffering I went through in training and the selection course. Worthwhile though, look at me now.”

Wanted to disappear?

“Yeah…For sure. Losing Daniel was hard, but what came after, the grievin’ and the possibility that he could’ve been saved…*sigh*...I’ll stop there for now.” His voice subtly cracked, and you noted seeing his eyes water before he turned away.

Four Preferences

Smile or Eyes?

He pauses to think, staring at the table. You notice a pink tinge appear across his cheeks. “That’s hard…can I pick both? I can get lost in some beautiful, big eyes…the way they look at ya…” He notices himself getting carried away and clears his throat, “B-but a nice smile always makes me heart melt also…”

Shorter or Taller?

“Shorter. Love to just pick ‘em up for the shits ‘n giggles, throw ‘em over my shoulder. Also, great arm and head rests.”

Intelligence or Attraction?

“Intelligence. Love me a smart woman, like yeah tell me about the thermodynamics of a kettle. Draw me the free-body diagram while you’re at it, too... Don’t ask how I know all this.”

Hook-up or Relationship?

“Relationship for sure. Lookin’ for my misses. Not sure if I’ll ever get one the way things are going but oh well.” He shrugs, “Not gonna sit here and pretend that I haven’t had my own fair share of hook-ups, though.”

Family

Do you and your family get along?

“I get on well with my sisters. They’re probably the ones I keep most in touch with, the rascals. Parents I do keep in touch with but…even less than before. They’re still not happy about me enlistin’. Brother fucked off years ago without a trace.”

Would you say you have a ‘messed up’ life?

“Nah. Well, before joinin’ the army at least. No real issues growin’ up but after enlistin’…Let’s just say I’ve seen and done some shit that only so little have the balls to do.”

Have you ever run away from home?

“Nah. Where would I run off to anyways in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere?”

Have you ever gotten kicked out?

“Again, no. I’d like to think of myself as a good boy.”

Friends

Do you secretly hate one of your friends?

“If I did, I wouldn’t be friends with any of ‘em now, would I?”

Have you considered all your friends’ good friends?

“For the most part yes. To be fair, we’re all in the military so we’re all a little fucked in the head, honestly. We’re just here to do our bit and clean up a mess.”

Who is your best friend?

“Ah…” His smile fades, “Daniel. Danny, Dano. Doesn’t matter. He’s…long gone now…went to school together and enlisted together. He passed a while ago, tryin’ to save me. Smart fella he was.”

Who knows everything about you?

“Again, that would be Daniel. We grew up together so, he’s seen all the embarrassing stuff. I don’t think anyone else knows me on the level that he did, could be Lachlan but even I’m hidin’ stuff from him.”

--

“Well, that’s all of the questions I have for now, Damien! Thanks for letting me interview you!”

“Ah, no worries. Thanks for takin’ me outta PT.”

[darkwitchoferie]

Accidentally in Love

Steve and Eddie have been dating for months, but neither of them have noticed until Robin and Nancy confront them about it.

Read on AO3 here.

Steve and Eddie sat on the floor in front of the couch, pressed into each others’ sides while they watched tv in the Munsons’ new living room. It was about 5:00 am, but it wasn’t all that unusual for the pair of them to be awake together the whole night. The whole group had nightmares, which had thankfully gotten less in the six months since Spring Break, but Steve and Eddie both had insomnia on top of that. So when they couldn’t sleep, they were often together.

They were just getting to the end of Kiss Me, Stupid on the Movie Channel, when Wayne pushed open the door. “’Mornin’ boys,” he greeted them.

In a move he saw frequently, they turned to look at him in unison, “’Morning Wayne.”

“Look what I got,” Wayne announced, pulling a worn horseshoe out of his coat pocket.

“Excellent,” Eddie grinned, jumping up to rummage under the kitchen sink until he came up with a hammer and nails. He dragged a kitchen chair to the door and stood on it to hammer nails through the shoe his uncle held above the door. “Where’d you get it?”

“John, at the plant, his sister and her man have a horse boardin’ stables not too far off. Guess he was out there a couple days ago and remembered me sayin’ somethin’ about needin’ a new shoe.”

“Why do you need a horseshoe?” Steve asked.

“To hold luck,” Eddie said, as if it were obvious. “See, you hang it like this, so the points are up, and it collects good luck for the household.”

“We lost the old one, went down when the old place was sucked into that hole. And we made sure to get a mirror this time, neglected it last time,” Wayne said, tapping the small, age-spotted mirror they’d found in a thrift shop, that now hung beside the door. “You hang a mirror by the door to protect the house from evil spirits,” he explained to Steve’s puzzled look. Eddie finished hammering, hopped off the chair, then hurried to the bathroom, leaving the hammer on the counter.

“Is that why you and Eddie pour out some of your first beer too?”

“Mm, no. That’s an offerin’ to our dead. His ma, my wife, my pa, I think he pours out for Chrissy too, though he’s never said so. But it’s a way to remember and honor your dead.” Wayne looked puzzled. “Do your people not have traditions like that?”

He shook his head. “I don’t have family, not the way you and Eddie do. I think my dad’s parents are dead and I’m not sure about my mom’s. Neither of them ever talked about their parents or aunts or uncles or anything. The only thing I know about either side is that Mom’s family’s Italian and my grandma gave her a recipe book of her own recipes when they got married. For all I know, they could be alive and well in Italy. So I have no idea what any of my family was like, except my parents.”

“And your parents suck, Stevie.”

“I know,” Steve smiled just a little as Eddie rejoined them. He sat back down on the floor, running his fingers through Steve’s hair and gently scratching the back of his head as he did. Steve sighed, closing his eyes, and leaned into his hand.

Wayne cleared his throat as he lifted the chair and slid it back under the table. “You boys get any sleep last night?”

“There’s still a chance for sleep,” Eddie commented. Wayne just raised an eyebrow, knowing they both had to leave for work at the video store by 9:30. “It could happen!” he protested.

Despite being cleared by the local police, and the FBI agents that were brought out, a fair number of people in town were still suspicious of Eddie. That had made Keith reluctant to hire him when Robin and Steve first broached the subject. Then he realized he had no other options – very few people wanted to work in the video store and those that did were still in school. Monday mornings and early afternoons were almost as busy as Friday afternoons just in the opposite direction. While more people were checking stuff out on Friday, most of them were returning those same videos early in the day on Mondays. This made Fridays and Mondays the only two days all three of them worked at the same time. Robin suspected that parents came in early on Mondays to avoid their kids asking for more movies.

On Mondays, since Steve drove them all in and Eddie only worked a short shift, Nancy came in around 2 o’clock and hung out for the remaining half an hour until Eddie was clocked out and ready to go home. Things had started to slow by then, as always, so the four of them usually hung around the counter with each other.

Eddie pressed himself against Steve’s back leaning over and around him, so Steve had to bend forward a bit, to put a hand on the counter. “Good afternoon, Lady Wheeler. How is the wide world this day?”

“Hi Eddie,” Nancy smiled at him, well used to his dramatics. “Hawkins is… Hawkins, nothing new to report there. The kids have apparently formed some after school study group on Mondays, so I have extra time before I have to pick the boys and El up.”

“Why? Like, they see each other all the time, why bother creating a study group?” Steve wondered, still bent slightly forward since Eddie hadn’t moved at all.

“Ah, I asked Mike the same thing this morning. If they’ve got an official study group, they have to have a teacher there for any help they might need. Apparently, it’s aimed at helping El catch up on stuff without her needing to ask during class since that makes her nervous because of a bully back in California and without making it obvious that it’s all for her.” While she spoke, she watched as Eddie’s free hand wrapped around to the front of Steve’s hip and he slid his thumb into the slightly shorter man’s belt loop.

“That’s sweet,” Robin commented.

“Mm, they can be, when they want to,” Nancy agreed, referring to the four boys. “But other than that, nothing new. Unless there’s something new from you?” She and Robin turned expectantly to the two men.

“Mm, nope,” Steve shrugged the shoulder Eddie wasn’t leaning on. The two turned together as the phone rang. Steve reached for it under Eddie’s arm, who barely moved out of the way. “Thank you for calling Family Video. How can I help you today?”

With Eddie no longer paying attention to her, Nancy turned to Robin with a raised eyebrow. She just shrugged and shook her head in response, causing Nancy to roll her eyes and mouth today. Robin nodded once.

“Dingus, you love me, right?” Robin asked as soon as the Wheeler family station wagon pulled out of the parking lot.

“Of course I do. Did I not tell you today? Sorry. I love you, Robs.”

“You did tell me, but I appreciate it again. And I love you too,” she smiled, leaning in for a hug. Enough close calls with death made them all the more willing to tell each other how they felt. “My point is,” she continued, stepping out of the hug, “people like us, soul mates like us, they tell each other everything, right? I mean, especially the big things in life, like when they start dating someone new.”

“Did you finally ask Vickie out?! Rob, that’s amazing! When?”

Robin was almost sad to wipe the excited look off of her best friend’s face. “Not me, Dingus! You! You and Munson and all your touchy-feely-mushy so-in-love-we-can’t-hide-it crap.”

“Huh?”

She knew he got confused easily, but this was too much. “You don’t actually think the two of you have been doing a good job hiding your relationship, do you? Because you’re not. You’re so not. You’re like one step shy of renting a billboard or a marching band to proclaim your love to the whole state.”

“Robin,” he said, reaching out and putting his hands on her shoulders. “I love you, but you’re crazy. And very wrong. Eddie and I aren’t dating.”

“Really? And that little possessive hold he had on your hip earlier was… what? ‘Cause I know platonic, and honey, that wasn’t it.”

“What are you talking about? Eddie’s tactile with everyone.”

“No he is not. At least, not the way he is with you. And! Did you or did you not let him read those two books to you? The um… the ones by Terry Whatever-his-name-is?”

“The Colour of Magic and the new one – The Light Fantastic?”

“Yes! Those.”

“Yeah? I mean, he was really excited about them. Read the new one as soon as he could get his hands on it, in one night. When I told him about my issues reading since the head trauma shit, he offered to read them to me. So?”

“So, as said, soul mates,” she waved her hand between the two of them. “But you don’t take an immediate interest in my stuff like that. No, that came out wrong. You are interested in my stuff, come to band shows and you let me ramble your ears off about the stuff I like, but it’s different. Not bad different,” she quickly reassured him, noticing the apprehensive look starting to form on his face. “Just different. And then there’s the dates.”

“We have not been on any dates.”

“Uh-huh. So you wanted to go see Invaders from Mars, in the theater. And decided to pay for both of you and snacks. When usually, if you and I go together, one of us gets tickets, the other gets snacks. And you can’t say it was because he couldn’t, because he’d been working with us for like two months.”

“That… wasn’t a date.”

“Mm. What about that baseball game? Ya know, the one he bought tickets to? Eddie, who we all know loves sports, happened to buy tickets for you two to see your favorite minor league team like a week after you mentioned that you hadn’t been able to get to see a game in years. That was totally a coincidence, right? Definitely not a date. Just like the Judas Priest concert he took you to in August definitely wasn’t a date.”

“Uh….”

“Or, how about your standing Wednesday evening date? Everyone knows that is your date night but, if there’s an emergency, you two can be found at Judy’s Diner, in your usual corner booth, with separate meals but sharing a strawberry shake. Steve, you are literally wearing one of his Metallica shirts, right now,” she plucked at the material under his Family Video vest.

In shock, Steve dropped to the floor. “We’ve never even kissed though, we can’t be dating,” he said softly.

“Wait, seriously?” Robin dropped to sit in front of him.

---

Meanwhile, Nancy parked her car in front of the Munson’s replacement trailer. “Eddie?” she asked before he could open the door. She twisted in her seat to better face him. “We’re friends, right? Me and you.”

“Of course we are!” he swiveled to face her “Wait, why?”

“I just… friends tell each other when they’re dating someone. Or not dating someone.”

Eddie gasped. “Did you and Jon break up? Did he break your heart? Do I need to –”

“Jon and me are fine,” she interrupted. “I’m not talking about us. I’m talking about you and Steve.”

“What about me and Steve?”

Nancy groaned in frustration. “How long have you and Steve been seeing each other and why haven’t either of you said anything to at least me and Rob?”

“There’s nothing to tell, we’re not dating.”

“You are though.”

“Nope. Pretty sure I’d know if I were dating someone, Nance.”

“Okay, but hear me out. Steve likes his personal space, Eddie. Sure, he hugs people and is happy to do it, or other little stuff like that. But he doesn’t cuddle during movies. Or, let people drape themselves over him while he’s doing anything.”

“He does to.”

“He doesn’t. He doesn’t even let Robin do that. Have you ever seen her cuddled up to him like that?”

“That’s gotta be a her thing then.”

“It absolutely is not. There is only ever one person who’s… allowed, I guess? One person who he is totally comfortable being all over him whenever and it isn’t Robin. Do you wanna know why it isn’t Robin?” Eddie nodded his head. “Because he only does that with someone he’s dating. Trust me on this, I know the difference between how he acts when he is and isn’t seriously dating someone.” He still didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t look quite as disbelieving either. “Okay, I know you’ve eaten his cooking, we all have. But, has he ever made anything he calls ‘fussy’ for just the two of you? No Robin, no kids, and probably at his house, so no Wayne either.”

He started to shake his head then stopped. “He made… something that sounded like bologna, but was pasta? He called it fussy,”

“Bolognese?”

“Yes!”

“Insisted you eat at the kitchen table instead of in the living room and even served it on the good China?”

“He said all that work meant we had to appreciate the food and sitting in the living room with paper plates isn’t appreciating.”

“He’s not wrong about that. Point is, that’s his grandma’s recipe. And that was a date.”

“What about the lasagna?”

“Meat or veggies? Canned sauce?”

“Spinach and mushrooms, not canned sauce.”

“Date.” Eddie stared at her, wide-eyed. “Has he ever made spaghetti…,” she hesitated, trying to remember the name of the dish, “carbonara! Spaghetti carbonara for Wayne? It’s spaghetti noodles, with an egg sauce and crispy bacon. Like, made it at the trailer on a day that he knew Wayne didn’t have to go to work so the three of you could have dinner together?”

“Yeah,” he said hesitantly.

“That’s his winning-over-the-parents meal. It’s another of his grandma’s recipes – they all are – but he told me the carbonara looks and tastes fussy without looking like he’s trying to overshadow my mom’s cooking.”

“He made a cake for Wayne’s birthday.”

“That is just because he likes Wayne, not because he’s trying to impress him.” Nancy reached over and squeezed his arm.

“I’m dating Steve?” he asked softly.

“Yeah, sweetie, you are.”

“Since when?! Does Wayne know? Why didn’t I know? Did I miss him asking me out?” his eyes widened in horror. “Did I ask him out and then forget?”

---

Steve did not immediately go over to Eddie’s after dropping Robin off like he normally would. It felt odd to him to not drive out to the trailer park, but he made himself go home. Inside, he took the stairs two at a time then just stood in his bedroom doorway, looking around. There were the jeans and t-shirt Eddie wore two days ago, dropped in front of the laundry basket instead of actually in it because he’d tried to toss them in, missed, and hadn’t bothered to pick them up yet. He knew if he looked in the basket, he’d find a mix of both their clothes. Eddie’s acoustic guitar sat propped against the wall beside his window, the notebook he was currently using to plan a DnD campaign was sitting on the nightstand under the book he’d been reading on his side of the bed. He had a side of the bed, same as Steve did at the trailer, that’s how often they shared a bed. He knew without looking that if he opened the dresser drawers, nearly half of his stuff wouldn’t be in there, but would have been replaced with Eddie’s. The missing half of his clothes were in Eddie’s dresser. He looked down the hall at the open bathroom door and could just make out the two toothbrushes in the toothbrush holder.

“Are we living together too?” he asked himself quietly.

He spent a while longer cataloguing all of the things in his house that were Eddie’s or that had some connection to him. The polaroid of the two of them at the Indianapolis Indians game, where Eddie was actually wearing one of Steve’s baseball hats. Steve’s ticket to the Judas Priest concert, taped to the mirror on his closet door, along with a couple movie tickets that he remembered going to with just Eddie. A look out into the backyard at the bonfire pit Eddie had helped him dig reminded him of several evenings spent by the fire, just the two of them, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows and Eddie telling him stories about the constellations they could see. In the dining room, the China cabinet reminded him of dinners he’d cooked especially for Eddie. In the living room, there was a staged family picture where Eddie had drawn X’s on the glass over his parents’ faces, but a heart around Steve’s face.

Did he even want to be dating Eddie? A sharp pain stabbed through him at the mere thought of not being around Eddie constantly. He stared up at the portrait, not really seeing it but picturing Eddie – his long fingers wrapped around the neck of his guitar or threaded through Steve’s own while they walked into the diner; his curls escaping the messy bun he’d tried to put them in and blowing in the wind from the open car window as they drove aimlessly around; his wide smile and infectious laugh; the easy, simple affection in most every interaction; the feel and sound of his voice as he lay spooned behind Steve, telling him some story or other or just talking.

He wasn’t sure how long it had been since he got home when he heard the front door open. “Stevie?”

Steve spun around from where he’d been staring at the family portrait. “We’re dating,” he blurted.

“Oh, thank God!” Eddie’s shoulders slumped in relief. “I thought it was just me who didn’t realize! ‘Till Nance confronted me in the car, anyway. Ya know, Wayne knows too? Said ‘it’s obvious, boy’ and he ‘assumed everyone knew’ and that’s why we weren’t outright telling people. How can everyone know something about us that we didn’t know?”

“You don’t even like baseball.” Steve wasn’t sure why that was what came out of his mouth, but it was too late to take it back.

“Eh, the game wasn’t too bad. Maybe it’s high school sports I have issues with? Plus, you were so excited the whole afternoon. You don’t like Judas Priest.”

“They aren’t bad. But you do. You had a blast at that concert, and I had fun watching you have a blast. We have a standing date night.”

Eddie looked perplexed for a second. “Wednesdays, at the diner. We split a strawberry shake. Who…?”

“Robin. Right after you and Nance left. I think I’m still processing,” he turned to look back at the portrait. “You drew a heart on my face.”

“Hm,” Eddie stepped up behind him, pressing against his back like always. “Yeah, I did.”

“We basically live together.”

“Huh. Yeah, I guess we do.”

“I’ve never dated anyone this long without kissing them,” Steve said softly after a moment.

“We can fix that,” Eddie responded, matching his tone.

Steve turned around, his arm brushing Eddie’s chest as he did. Their inch in height difference usually wasn’t all that noticeable, but then, Steve usually didn’t have to tip his head back to kiss someone. For just a moment, they stared into each others’ eyes. Then Eddie grinned, tapped Steve’s nose with the tip of his, and leaned in, pressing his lips to the younger man’s. Steve surged forward, gripping Eddie’s hips and pressing their chests together.

Some time later, they lay in bed together, Steve half sprawled across Eddie’s chest and Eddie’s fingers gently combing through Steve’s sweaty hair.

“Important question,” Steve asked after a bit.

“Shoot.”

“Do we count today as our anniversary since it’s when we realized we were dating, or mid-May, which is when Robin thinks we started dating?”

Eddie chuckled. “Well, we don’t actually have a day for mid-May, do we? But we know today.”

“Mm. Good point,” he leaned up to kiss his boyfriend again.

[elm-writes-stories]

Cuphead: Isle of Shadows (Rewrite)

*Hey guys! I'm back with the last episode of Cuphead: Isle of Shadows rewrite! Yes, that's right! This is the last episode! We're at the end guys! WHOO!!! Been a long journey. This is published on August 18, 2023. If you guys enjoy this final chapter/episode, don't forget to leave hearts, reblog, and comments! That would be appreciated! Warning: blood and gore. Enjoy!*

Episode Thirteen: The New Devil

In the bright morning, Brineybeard spied on the three submarines docked on shore with Ribby and Croaks to see some assassins still guarding the docks.

“There’s a whole lot of them,” Croaks uttered in shock.

“Wait, why are we stealing a submarine?” Ribby questioned with a brow raised.

“Legends say that thar was another way o’ boardin’ Davy Jones’ Locker ‘n that was toward t’ the bottom o’ the ocean floor. That means that we could use the submarine t’ go down further ‘n get into Davy Jones’ Locker,” Brineybeard explained while taking out his swords.

“Wait, Davy Jones’ Locker?” Ribby repeated with a brow raised.

“He must have meant the underworld,” Croaks whispered to his short frog brother.

“Oh, right,” Ribby responded. “So, how do we approach this?”

Brineybeard took out his swords. “We take ‘em out. Are ye wit’ me?”

Ribby and Croaks exchanged glances at each other and then smirked, looking back at Brineybeard with nods.

“Let’s do it,” Ribby said while clenching his fists in his big red boxer gloves.

Croaks did the same except he raised his red gloves up as if he was boxing. The three charged towards the assassins, who saw them coming.

With guns raised, they were about to fire the bullets until Brineybeard stab into one of the assassin’s chest and used him as a shield once the rest of the assassins pulled their triggers. Ribby and Croaks hopped over two of the assassins. Ribby smacked the assassin in the jaw, breaking his jaw in an instant. Croaks raised his fist under the assassin’s chin vertically, breaking multiple of his teeth.

Brineybeard swooped in and slit three more assassin’s throats at the same time, using his other sword to stab the incoming assassin in the chest. He noticed the assassins getting up on top of submarines, raising their machine guns towards him. Ribby and Croaks noticed and they looked at each other once more, their ideas becoming one. With nods at each other, Croaks picked Ribby up and threw him over at the first machine gun. Ribby kicked down the assassin before he could fire the bullets use the machine gun to fire at the assassins aiming their guns at Brineybeard. The assassins noticed Ribby using the machine gun to his advantage and aimed the guns at him.

Croaks and Brineybeard hopped onto the submarine when the guns were not aimed at them and took out two assassins before they could fire at Ribby.

“Is that all of them?” Croaks questioned before hearing more footsteps within the submarine.

“Nope!” Ribby said while hopping into the submarine he was on top of.

Croaks jumped into the hatch of the submarine he was one and Brineybeard did the same.

Within the submarine Ribby was in, Ribby stormed through, throwing his fists and knocking out every assassin that came his way. He dodged the bullets fired at him and then charging towards the assassin shooting at him with only tears on his tight green suit. He put the assassin in the chokehold and yanked him around to face the other assassin firing bullets at him. Ribby chuckled evilly and pushed the assassin towards them before taking them out with his boxer gloved fists.

Croaks was able to tackled four assassins down in the submarine he was in. He managed to lift all four of them up to throw them at the incoming assassins. He slammed his fists against their stomachs once they’re done on the ground. He pounded his gloves against the jaws of the assassins, breaking every facial bone with every crack he could hear.

Brineybeard had blood covering his gray ragged shirt within the submarine he was in. He used the sharp tips of his swords and slashed every assassin who dare came near him. The pirate didn’t think twice before slicing the assassin’s heads off. He charged towards to the control room, dodging the bullets and killing the assassins swiftly. He breathed heavily once all of the assassins were dead.

He sheathed his swords and heard more footsteps coming from behind the pirate. He glanced over to find Ribby and Croaks entering the control room with sweat and heavy breaths.

Ribby nudged Croak’s ribs with his elbow and a smirk on his face. “Hey, hey, you shoulda seen what I did to those assassins in the submarine I was in!”

“You sayin’ you better than me?!” Croaks argued with his brows drawn together angrily.

“So what if I am?!” Ribby argued back as an imaginary bell rang and they smacked each other in a fighting matter.

“Shiver me timbers, lads! They got files about us!” Brineybeard gasped and showed the files.

Ribby and Croaks stopped their petty fighting and hurried over to the pirate to peek over his broad shoulders.

“Did it say anything about us?” Croaks questioned the pirate.

“Aye, that’s why I said they got files about us—”

“Look!” Ribby screamed in fear, hurting Brineybeard’s ear.

“Could ye nah yell so loud?” the pirate groaned while rubbing his ear.

“It’s the picture of us as tadpoles!” Ribby pointed it out to his brother. The picture was of their deceased mother, protecting her boys from the monsters that had Tremaine inside of them.

“Oh yeah, that was from the east side of the city. We was young when we was livin’ there,” Croaks pointed out.

The pictures progressed further and further into the days where Ribby and Croaks used to be champions…their mother disapproving of them in the shadows.

“Wait, have they been stalking us since childhood?” Ribby uttered, his tone mildly freaked out.

“It looks like it,” Croaks said in shock.

Brineybeard let the frog brothers look over their own file while he searched through files that had everyone’s name that was involved with the Tremaine incident years ago.

Cagney Carnation.

Hilda Berg.

Sally Stageplay.

Rumor Honeybottoms.

Djimmi the Great.

Goopy Le Grande.

Wally Warbles.

Grim Matchstick.

Werner Werman.

Dr. Kahl.

Brineybeard arched a brow at all of the names on the files. “The Night Stalkers ‘ave been stalkin’ us this whole time? Well, they didn’ ‘ave t’ make thar cult name so obvious then.” He widened his eyes when he saw the last two files.

Cala Maria.

Captain Morgan Brineybeard.

“Shiver me timbers,” Brineybeard uttered.

“Hey, Briney, they got the files on King Dice and the Devil too,” Ribby called out to the captain.

“Strange,” Brineybeard uttered. “Why would they spy on us? Wha’ did we do that warrants ‘em t’ spy on us? Was it power? Was it...influence? Thar has t’ be answers.”

“Then let’s find out by breaking into Hell and rescuing our friends,” Ribby determined with a bright smile.

“Aye! Ye’re right! Hold on fer a moment. I needs t’ know how t’ control this submarine.” Brineybeard examined the controls of the submarine. “Ah, here we go!”

Brineybeard was able to control the submarine with the help of Ribby and Croaks, backing out of the shore of the Inkwell Village and drove towards the open ocean.

They descended down further into the ocean, going through the darkness with their hearts racing terribly fast the deeper they go. They could see something big on the screen, indicating something was nearby. Ribby looked through the periscope and gasped in shock.

“What is it?” Croaks asked.

“See for yerselves!” Ribby said while handing the handles to Croaks, who looked the periscope too only for him to see a huge underwater facility camped outside of a hole that stretched far enough to swallow a medium-sized island if there was any island above it with the orange glow.

“Holy—” Croaks gasped and let Brineybeard see through it.

“Shiver me timbers! ‘tis worse than I thought!” Brineybeard gasped while the submarine was parked in front of the edge of the hole.

“Now what do we do?” Ribby questioned with a brow arched. “Wait, what if there assassins in those buildings and they’ll come over and see all of this bloodshed?”

“That’s when we make our escape. But how are we goin’ t’ get down thar without drownin’ ourselves?” Brineybeard asked mostly himself.

“Hey, I think I found something!” Croaks said when he was looking through the closets to find scuba tanks, snorkels, dive lights, diving suits, and fins. “It’s mostly for you though. Ribby and I can handle underwater.”

“Right!” Brineybeard responded with a smirk.

Moments later, Brineybeard put on his diving suit, scuba tank, goggles, snorkel, and held a flashlight used for diving into the water.

“I can nah believe I be doin’ this.,” Brineybeard said with deep breath into the oxygen mask.

“You can stay here and we could go down there—”

“No, I’ll be okay . I jus’ needs t’ get down thar without suffocatin’,” Brineybeard determined.

“Then, let’s go,” Ribby said with a bright grin while holding a rope for them to use.

~.~

Everyone had been quiet since Natalie’s outburst.

Dice hummed a tune while shuffling the deck of cards and playing rummy with Porkrind and Jerry while Tabitha stood against the wall with a bored look on her face. Porkrind couldn’t help, but stare at his red feline daughter sulking in the corner of her cell that she shared with Natalie, Aurora, Elder Kettle, and Murray. Dice looked up to see Porkrind staring at his daughter while shuffling his cards and then shifted his gaze at Cassidy. Dice glanced over at Porkrind and then back to Cassidy, sighing softly.

Dice cleared his throat, getting Cassidy’s attention. “Hey, do you want to play rummy with us? We might need a fourth player. What d’ya say?”

Cassidy hugged her legs and isolated herself more, earning soft gazes from the three men in the cell next to her.

“Good luck getting that piece of—”

Dice used his ace of spade card to cover Tabitha’s mouth before she could get to say anymore that might make Porkrind, Jerry, and Cassidy more upset either with her or with everything else.

“We don’t need your opinion.” Dice glanced back at Cassidy. “Don’t worry about what she’s about to say. You do what you want. I just thought you can join us.”

“A-Are you sure?” Cassidy said, her voice trembling.

Dice softly smiled at her while flicking his cards. The cards sparked to life and walked over to her, hugging her with bright smiles. She blushed a bit in embarrassment and looked up at Dice to see him giving her a reassuring grin.

“I’m sure,” Dice replied softly. The three men scooted over to join Cassidy while Cassidy was guided towards them by the cards. She sat down and watched the cards go into Dice’s purple sleeves, flicking them from one sleeve to another. He shuffled and mixed them, making the deck a bigger pile than before.

Cassidy watched with fascination, her eyes sparkled when she watched him shuffle the cards. Dice passed the cards around to give each of them seven each, summoning the card away from Tabitha’s mouth. He wiped the ace of spade on his purple suit that was already wet and damp and placed it on the stack in the middle of the group.

The rounds throughout the card game consisted of them trying to get numbers in order while trying to get rid of cards as much as they could. Cassidy seemed confused by the gameplay at first.

“S-Sorry, I, um,” Cassidy stuttered in fear. “I’m not sure if I should put this down.”

“Let me see,” Dice said while peeking over to look at Cassidy’s cards while nodding his head in approval. “Oh yeah, definitely, you can go out with these cards.”

“What cards?” Jerry asked.

“Hey, I ain’t tellin’ ya,” Dice teased Jerry and Porkrind. “It’s confidential between me and Cassidy.”

On cue, Cassidy laid her set of matched fours that went up to four cards and laid one card down, running out of the cards for that round.

Porkrind and Jerry groaned playfully at losing to the round while Dice chuckled.

“Up top,” Dice put his hand up for her to high-five. She gave him a high-five shyly through the cell bars. “Great job! You’re doing great!”

She smiled more, forgetting about the pain from Natalie’s outburst temporarily.

Meanwhile, Natalie watched on with a guilty-look on her face to see Cassidy having so much fun with her father, Jerry, and Dice. She shifted her attention to see her little sister staring at Cuphead’s soulless body.

“Is Cuppy coming back, Sissy?” Aurora asked innocently.

Natalie bit her lips, trying to keep herself from crying. Why was she crying for Cuphead? It wasn’t like she cared about him. I mean, he must have meant something more for her to cry over. Maybe it was more from her outburst against Cassidy. What would Cuphead think when he saw what she said to Cassidy? Why would she care what Cuphead thinks? He was dead…what else could it be there for him to think?

Natalie glanced over to see Mugman staring at Cuphead’s lifeless body, his own body twitching and shivering from Tremaine slowly trying to take control. Mugman whimpered in both grief and pain. She noticed Elder Kettle and Murray keeping an eye on Mugman, watching the boy writhing.

It was sudden they noticed two assassins coming into Mugman’s cell. Mugman scrambled away from them, but his back hit against the wall.

“Hey, where are you taking my son?” Murray growled, gaining everyone’s attention.

One of the assassins picked Mugman by the handle and carried him outside while the other assassin held the door open. Cassidy quit her card game and rushed over to the cell.

“What are you going to do to him?!” Cassidy cried, her grip on the bar shaking.

“Get back, you piece of burden,” the assassin kicked the cell to scare Cassidy.

“Hey!” Dice growled while standing up on his feet. “You have a lot of nerve to do that!”

Porkrind was shocked by the sudden aggression shown in Dice’s eyes, but he let it roll off of his mind and glared at the assassin who dared kicked the cell to scare his daughter.

“Be lucky that your fate is prolonged,” the other assassin snarled at the former gambler.

“What does that mean?!” Dice barked while watching them walk away with Mugman limped in one assassin’s hold. He couldn’t struggle much, his body limped.

“HEY! WHERE ARE YOU TAKING MY BOY?!” Mugman could hear Murray’s voice echoed through the hallway.

Mugman could’ve sworn that he was slowly blacking out. Then he closed his eyes, letting the darkness consumed him temporarily before he was suddenly slammed on the metal table. He snapped his eyes open to see that he was strapped on the metal table. He didn’t have the muzzle on anymore and he wasn’t in the straitjacket. But…there was something off. He could feel something on his arms. Before he could question what was going on, he could feel the switch on while some liquid getting into his arms. He widened his eyes, clenching his teeth. His veins glowed brighter orange, letting Mugman assume that more Tremaine was put inside of him more. Why? Was it to battle the Eternal’s Orb inside of him?

Mugman screamed in pain, tears trickling down. His body convulsed on the table and cried out loud. He was pretty sure everyone down in Hell and above could hear him. The Most High would probably hear his cries. Should he beg for his life? Should he pray and pray for life to the Most High? Maybe it was a perfect time to do so. Maybe it was too late to pray these things to Him.

He could feel his mind spiraling down from sanity, his visions of a destroyed land laid out in front of him. Switching over the next vision quickly, he could see fire and many souls suffering in agony being one day freed by the bright light. The next vision took him in someplace isolated.

Mugman’s screams were in the background…but he thought that it was strange that he wasn’t screaming now as he was in the background. The place around him was dark, hearing nothing but whispers around him. The big blue light was behind him.

“Please, don’t turn around…I don’t want to scare you,” a soft voice uttered behind him.

Mugman obeyed and looked ahead into the darkness, searching something…anything there.

“What are you doing here? What are those screams I hear?” a soft voice asked.

“Those are mine,” Mugman said timidly.

“My boy, are you in pain?”

“Y-Yes…Please, help me—”

The vision was cut short when Mugman gasped as if he hadn’t breathed in so long for his screams. He blinked and realized that everything in the lab was destroyed…dead bodies of the assassins in the room with him with their heads exploded. Mugman was confused at what just happened around him until he saw Hunter coming into the room.

Mugman, breathing heavily in fear, started to struggle in his restraints. “No, no! Leave me alone!” He could feel his teeth sharpened and his eyes getting bloodshot. He felt Hunter gripped around Mugman’s throat, choking him.

“You are starting to get on my nerves, you know that,” Hunter growled at Mugman.

Mugman breathed heavily, whimpering in pain.

“You and your little ‘protector’ are getting on my nerves! If I have to inject you with more Tremaine just to get whatever it is protecting you out, I shall! But that plan isn’t working!” Hunter growled, gripping Mugman’s throat tighter.

Mugman could barely breathe, wanting to do nothing but sonic sob uncontrollably.

“You keep vomiting out the extra Tremaine we gave you and your screams ruined the lab. Maybe it’s time that we do something a little different,” Hunter growled at Mugman, releasing his throat.

Mugman breathed heavily while watching more syringes with Tremaine inside of them injected all over his body. Before Mugman could let out a scream, Hunter put a muzzle back onto the mug’s mouth and untied him from the table as soon as the syringes were empty from injecting Tremaine into him. The mug was picked up by the handle and had the straitjacket put on him. He was thrown into a solitary cell with his arms wrapped around his waist and his muzzle covering his mouth, preventing him from throwing up extra Tremaine out of his systems. His body was twitching from Tremaine as he tried to scream and throw up, but he couldn’t. He sobbed uncontrollably into the muzzle, his veins glowing brighter orange than before.

“PLEASE!!! MAKE THIS STOP!!! MAKE THIS PAIN GO AWAY!!! PLEASE!!”

Mugman wanted to scream that so loudly that the whole world could hear him and help him out of this situation. But the truth is…there was no one to help him now…he’s all alone now. His brother was dead. His lover out of sight. His father and Elder Kettle couldn’t reach him. He’s truly alone…and he hated that feeling more than ever now.

Unbeknownst to Mugman, Henchman witnessed the whole thing, shaking his head as he kept running through Hell and hoping to find the dungeons of Hell soon.

~.~

 King Dice tried lock pick his own cell he shared with Porkrind, Jerry, and Tabitha with his cards.

“That’s not going to work,” Tabitha said with a bored sigh.

“Hold on, it might—” Dice noticed three assassins coming over to patrol the dungeons, causing him to withdraw the cards into his sleeves immediately. Dice faked a smile.

“Where’s my boy?!” Murray growled at the assassins.

“Somewhere you’ll never find him,” one of the assassins teased coldly, causing Murray to glare at the assassins.

“You’re lucky he’s not looking into your memories right now,” Elder Kettle snarled at them.

“You’re lucky to be alive beyond this point,” the other assassin told the group.

Cassidy had her ears pinned on her head with her brows drawn together and a low growl.

“Hey, something’s over there!” one of the assassins pointed at the looming shadowy figures.

It was sudden that the sword was thrown, plunging into one of the assassin’s chest. The two remaining assassins watched their comrade fall back from the sword stabbed through his chest and attempted to load their guns. Ribby and Croaks appeared out of the shadows and knocked them out with their fists to the two assassins’ faces. Brineybeard followed them out of the shadows and plucked the sword out of the assassin’s chest.

“Ribby! Croaks!” Cassidy gasped happily.

The frog brothers grinned to see Cassidy alive and well.

“Cassi, you’re okay!” Ribby responded.

Croaks checked the two assassins’ bodies to check and find the keys to the dungeons. “I don’t see anything on them so far.”

Brineybeard checked the other assassin’s body. “It ain’t here either.”

“Where are we going to find the dungeon keys?” Ribby questioned.

“D’uh right here,” a familiar voice uttered.

Everyone glanced over to find Henchman, standing by the doorway entering the dungeons and holding the dungeon keys.

“Henchman?” King Dice recognized while gripping the bars. “What happened to Devil?”

“B-Boss…um…H-Hunter—” Henchman uttered, barely trying to get a word out without choking into tears.

Dice groaned. “I’ve told him many times that there’s something off about Hunter! So, he finally listens, huh?”

“It’s a little too late though,” Henchman said sadly.

“Figures,” Dice grumbled.

“Take him out,” Ribby said with his fists clenched along with Croaks. Brineybeard gripped his swords with a glare at Henchman.

“There’s no need,” Henchman said, trembling.

“What?” Ribby probed.

Henchman used the dungeon keys to unlock Dice’s cell which was shared by Porkrind, Jerry, and Tabitha. Dice watched Henchman unlocked the cell Cassidy, Murray, Elder Kettle, Natalie, and Aurora. Then Henchman unlocked the cell where Cuphead's body was laying there.

“Okay, now we knock him out!” Croaks shouted.

“Wait, wait, hold on,” Dice said. “Henchman, do you know where Mugman is—?”

“He’s in the lone cell, near the library,” Henchman answered immediately. “You know where the library is, right?”

Dice nodded his head. “I know this place like the back of my hand.”

Henchman sighed and looked at the group. “You have a five minute head start before I find the boss and release him.”

“Oh, we’re going to need longer than that. Croaks,” Ribby responded.

Instantly, Croaks punched Henchman in the face, knocking him out.

“What the heck?!” Dice shouted at the frogs.

“What?! This will give us an extra time to free both of the boys,” Ribby responded.

“Let’s get Cuphead’s soul back into his body,” Murray said with determination.

“Wait,” Dice responded. “To get Cuphead out of the prized vault, we need to destroy the contract where his name was on it. That’s in the library.”

“Perfect! Let’s split up into groups. If we travel together, it would take longer. So, I’ll go get Cuphead’s soul wit’ Murray ‘n Elder Kettle. Ribby ‘n Croaks, ye go wit’ Dice, Porkrind, ‘n Jerry t’ get the soul contracts ‘n burn ‘em. Along wit’ gettin’ Mugman out o’ the cell,” Brineybeard determined.

“Mugman might not be himself by the time we reach him though. What if we’re already too late?” Croaks questioned.

Murray shook his head. “Mugman is still in there.”

“Aye, but we shall run out o’ time if we stand around here any longer. Chalice ‘n Canteen are workin’ on gettin’ a cure fer Mugman,” Brineybeard informed the group.

“Then what are we waiting for? Come on!” Ribby determined.

Cassidy decided to go with Porkrind, Jerry, and Dice along with Ribby and Croaks. Natalie went with Tabitha and Aurora to follow Murray and Elder Kettle along with Brineybeard. The team split up, hurrying through Hell as fast as they could. 

~.~

Saltbaker sat alone in his cell, wiping off the sweat from his first day of doing community service with a sigh. It had been a long day and now, he wanted to breathe and just relax. He heard the phone ringing from his cell and the bug policemen answering the call.

“Hello?” the policemen uttered. “Really? Him? And your name? Okay…”

The police officer walked over to Saltbaker’s cell, causing the former chef to widen his eyes in shock.

“You got, uh, Ms. Chalice on the line,” the officer said.

“Oh, uh—”

“She said that it’s urgent,” the officer said before Saltbaker could deflect the call.

Saltbaker sighed. “Alright.”

The officer unlocked the chef’s cell and guided him towards the phone. “You got fifteen minutes.”

Saltbaker nodded his head. “Uh…hello?”

“Saltbaker!” Chalice’s shout nearly caused him to be deaf. “You gotta help us—!”

“Whoa, Chalice, Chalice,” Saltbaker replied while trying to calm Chalice. “What’s going on here?”

“We need to make the cure for Mugman and we need to make it fast. How much time do you have on the phone?”

“Uh…fifteen minutes?” Saltbaker said with unsure tone.

Before he knew it, Chalice squeezed herself through ear phone rapidly.

“Perfect!” Chalice responded.

“Good gravy!” Saltbaker yelped while having his hand over his heart. “You gave me quite a fright.”

“Canteen, the coast is clear,” Chalice called.

Canteen appeared besides Saltbaker’s feet, causing him to jump.

“Golly, are you trying to scare me twice?” Saltbaker grumbled. “You two can’t be in here without scheduling visitation.”

“We ain’t got much time for any kind of scheduling. We need your help,” Chalice pleaded with Saltbaker.

“You want my help? After all I did to you and your friends?”

“Let’s say that you’re making it up to me and my friends by helping me make the cure for Mugman. I got the ingredients, but we need your talents in cooking,” Chalice responded.

“Chalice, there’s one little detail that we are missing. I am banned from the kitchens,” Saltbaker pointed out. “Since the Wondertart incident, I am not allowed to cook and—”

“Just this one time, Saltbaker. Just this one time. Please, for me,” Chalice pleaded.

Saltbaker noticed Chalice pleading him with those innocent eyes that he remembered her finding her. He sighed.

“Alright. Just this one time. But this can extend my sentencing here longer,” Saltbaker said softly.

Chalice and Canteen nodded their heads.

“I’ll distract the guards,” Canteen whispered to Chalice. “If it takes longer, I can help buy you both more time.”

“Thanks, Canteen,” Chalice said with a small smile.

Canteen blushed with a smile, but realized that Saltbaker was watching him with a brow raised.

“How’s your ankle, chap?” Saltbaker asked.

“Uh, it’s fine, thanks,” Canteen responded.

“Good, cause you’re going to need it to run from the police,” Saltbaker informed.

“I know,” Canteen said while holding Chalice’s hands. “Good luck.” He then realized he held Chalice’s hands and removed his grasp. “Haha, sorry. Um…hopefully, I’ll see you again.”

Canteen turned and walked away from with a blush on his face. Saltbaker noticed this while watching Chalice chuckled quietly to herself while staring at Canteen. He smirked at her.

“Oh, I think someone’s having a crush on you,” Saltbaker pointed out.

Chalice blushed madly and shook her head. “What?! No, he doesn’t have a crush on me.” She hurried towards the kitchen with Saltbaker following behind her.

“Oh, he’s totally crushing on you,” Saltbaker teased her. “And you are having a crush on him too, huh?”

“What? No, let’s just make the cure.”

“You got the ingredients?”

“Yep.”

“Perfect,” Saltbaker said with a mischievous grin and his eyes turned yellow.

~.~

Saltbaker and Chalice snuck through the prison, avoiding the guards patrolling around them. They soon arrived at the doors of the kitchen and saw two bug cops patrolling the doors.

“So, what’s your future boyfriend going to do as a distraction again?” Saltbaker asked.

“Whatever he can use to—wait, my what?!” Chalice answered with a blush.

“Shh!” he shushed her, covering her mouth. “I’m just wondering if Canteen had anything to do as a distraction.”

She shoved his hand away from her mouth. “Yeah, whatever he can—”

They heard the radio crackling from the bug cops as they took a look at the bug cops. One of them answered the walkie-talkie.

“What’s goin’ on?” one of the bug cops talked in his walkie-talkie.

“Uh…I think some weird goggle-wearing canteen set our padi-wagon on fire,” the voice of another bug cop came from the walkie-talkie.

“Oh, okay, we’re on our way!” the bug cop responded without hesitation. The two bug cops headed away from the kitchen doors.

Saltbaker smirked to himself. “What a little gremlin.”

Chalice, as a ghost, phased through the doors while Saltbaker looked around to make sure no one is looking at him and entered the kitchen.

Chalice transformed back into her physical form and looked around the kitchen area to find milk and honey.

“Alright then, what are the ingredients?” Saltbaker said after he barricaded the doors with the metal chair.

“Milk and honey.”

“That’s it?”

“Yep…well…that and one other thing, but I’m not sure how well you’ll take it.”

“What’s the other ingredient…? It’s not a soul is it?”

“No. It’s…my blood,” Chalice said nervously.

“Wait, what?”

Chalice pulled out a syringe from the medicine cabinet and showed to Saltbaker. “If you mix honey, milk, and my blood, it makes the cure to Tremaine.”

“Why your blood specifically?” Saltbaker probed, almost terrified at the thought of taking Chalice’s blood to make the ingredients.

Chalice frowned. “I—I am…ugh.”

Saltbaker softened his gaze.

“The cure needs the blood of a warrior of Calix Animi and I…have it,” Chalice said sadly.

Saltbaker blinked. “So, you’re a part of Calix Animi?”

She nodded her head.

“Oh yeah, I knew that.”

“Wait, what? You knew?!”

“Chalice, I raised you. You don’t think I noticed how you look like the Legendary Chalice? Your name is literally Chalice. That’s how you first introduced yourself to me. You two don’t look so different.”

Chalice clenched her teeth. “You have to promise me you won’t tell anyone about this.”

“Not even your friends?”

“No.”

“…Not even your future boyfriend?”

“Would you stop calling him that?” Chalice said blushing.

“Well, I can’t help but think you two would look cute together. Sorry. He looks like he’s a good kid.”

“Yeah, he-he’s a good guy. Besides, he already knows,” Chalice uttered.

“OOH! And he’s the first to know,” Saltbaker teased. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell him that you have feelings for him.”

Chalice’s face got redder. “I don’t have feelings for him.”

“Oh come on, you know I’m teasing.”

Chalice rolled her eyes playfully and gave a determined smile. “Well, we ain’t got time to tease. Let’s get cooking.”

“You’re speaking my language. However, there is a problem.”

“What?”

“There’s no amount of milk, honey, or your blood to make this cure. And I’m not going to take all of your blood.”

“You won’t have to do that,” Chalice said while extending her arm. “Just take as much as the syringe can take.”

“Are you sure? Shouldn’t we get a smaller syringe for you?”

“Please, Saltbaker.”

Saltbaker stared into her pleading innocent eyes and sighed heavily. “You know, if you were to con me for money, you would’ve had it.”

“Yeah, I know.”

He sighed again and stuck the syringe in carefully to not hurt her, but he noticed her clenching her teeth. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

Saltbaker drew the blood from her arm with a frown on his face. Once he got the blood he needed, he pulled the syringe out carefully. He placed it aside and got out the bandages from a nearby drawer, wrapping it around her arm.

They heard someone pounding on the door, scaring them both.

“Oh no, they must have known we got in,” Chalice panicked.

“Hold on,” Saltbaker said, his eyes turning yellow while picking up the syringe and hurrying over to the milk and honey. He got out a small bowl and two measuring cups from the cabinet. He poured a cup of milk in a measuring cup and poured it into the small bowl. Then he poured a cup of honey and poured it in with the milk. He stirred them up with a wooden spoon as quickly as he could while the cops pounded the door.

“HEY! OPEN THIS DOOR!!” the cop shouted.

“Saltbaker, hurry,” Chalice urged in fear.

“I’m trying, I’m trying,” Saltbaker responded while pushing the blood out of the syringe into the small bowl with milk and honey. He stirred it up in a quick motion until the glow exploded into a blue color, blinding them in the kitchen.

Chalice hurried to grab a clean new syringe. She absorbed the new chemical made in the small bowl into the syringe and grinned. “This is perfect! This can cure Mugman. I—”

Before she could take off to go, she was embraced by Saltbaker, which shocked her given to the fact that he hadn’t done it in a while since she moved to the big city.

He smiled softly. “I’m proud of you, Chalice. You know that?”

She smiled and hugged him back. “Thanks, Chef.”

He let go of her. “Now, go save your friend.”

She nodded her head with a newfound determination. She turned into a ghost with the new glowing syringe in hand and phased through the wall before the cops broke down the door.

“Get him!” The bug cops handcuffed Saltbaker and dragged him out of the kitchen, but he willingly went with a small proud smirk on his face.

~.~

Brineybeard walked through the tunnels of Hell, searching for the prize vault. Murray carried Cuphead’s soulless body with Elder Kettle walking next to him. Tabitha held Aurora in her arms with a tired glance ahead while Natalie stayed behind, her mind being swallowed by her guilty conscious.

Brineybeard could hear the souls sobbing. He knew that they must have gotten close. Brineybeard led the group into the room where the big soul vault made of metal held the souls with more souls going into it daily.

“Shiver me timbers,” Brineybeard muttered to himself.

They looked over at the small metal cage to see a familiar small cup with his red straw bent sobbing in his cage.

“Cuphead!” Murray called, gaining his son’s attention.

“D-Dad?” Cuphead uttered, gripping the bars. “H-Hunter…he—”

“We know what he did,” Elder Kettle reassured Cuphead. “Come on, let’s get you back into your body.”

Cuphead’s soul attempted to get out of the cage, but got electrocuted. “Yowch!”

“I guess the other group hadn’t reach the library yet,” Murray assumed.

“They better hurry up,” Tabitha replied with a groan. “It’s getting hot in here.”

“Welcome to Hell,” Elder Kettle grumbled at Tabitha.

Meanwhile, Dice led Ribby and Croaks through the hallway with Porkrind, Jerry, and Cassidy sticking close to them. They managed to find the library on the left and Dice opened the door and looked inside.

“Coast is clear,” Dice replied to the group and noticed many contracts on the shelves to the left next to the fireplace. “There they are.”

Jerry whistled lowly. “That’s a lot of them.”

“They’re organized in alphabetical order, so the C’s should be on the very top shelf,” Dice explained with a smile until he soon realized that the top shelf was hard to reach without a ladder. “Oh…right…”

“Is there a ladder in this room?” Porkrind questioned Dice.

“Uh, no. Usually, Devil floats up here to get the soul contracts if they were that far up,” Dice answered.

“Well, that’s just great,” Ribby said with a groan. “Now we won’t reach it without a ladder.”

“We can hop up there,” Croaks suggested.

“Yeah, I don’t think we can jump that high,” Ribby said.

Porkrind groaned. “Darn it. There has to be someway we could just get up there—”

“Uh, Porkrind?”

“Yeah?”

Jerry pointed up to the shelves as Porkrind looked up to see Cassidy jumping up towards the highest shelves.

“Be careful, Cassi!” Ribby shouted from below her.

“I will!” Cassidy said when she looked down, but once she looked down, she could see how high she really was. Her red fur spiked up in fear. “Oh geez, okay, just don’t look down.” She managed to reach the high shelves and dug out the contracts from the top shelves.

“Wait, what are you doing?” Dice questioned.

“If we can save the souls without trading our souls for it, we can do it this way!” Cassidy replied with a bright grin.

“Well, yeah, at least that’s safer than releasing souls from the soul vault,” Jerry said with a shrug.

She managed to get all the soul contracts out of the shelves until she reached back down on the floor.

Her feet hit the ground while watching the rest of the men sorting through soul contracts.

“So, we can burn these?” Porkrind asked Dice.

Dice shrugged. “Let’s see.” Dice took one of the contracts and held it over to the fire to realize that it wouldn’t burn. “Huh, Hell fire won’t even burn it.”

“Do we shred it?” Jerry probed.

“Yeah, those soul contracts are hard to tear through and shred. There has to be some way we can burn these contracts,” Dice responded.

“So, you’re now into burning soul contracts?” Porkrind questioned.

“What? I…um…”

Porkrind softly smiled at Dice. “Guess you’re not as shallow as I thought.”

Dice blushed at the words and looked away. “Heh, I guess not.” He looked to see upside down crosses around the room. He tilted his head in curiosity. He got up and pulled one of them near him out from the wall.

“What’s that?” Croaks probed.

“Devil always kept these things upside down for some reason,” Dice responded while turning it right-side up. As soon as he turned it right-side up, the cross glowed bright enough to blind him. “Ow! Ow! It’s burning my hands!”

The men quickly gathered the soul contracts.

“Put it here then!” Ribby called.

Dice dropped the glowing cross on the papers, watching it burn the soul contracts. He could even see his own father’s name on it, causing him to gasp in shock. Once all the soul contracts were turned to dust, a ghostly cross was formed and ascended to Heaven.

Ribby and Croaks blinked in shock.

“What the heck was that?” Jerry questioned.

Porkrind tilted his head. “Huh, I guess preachers ain’t lying about a supernatural being above us.”

Dice could feel chains that had been wrapped around his wrists for too long released his wrists. He no longer had the Devil owing him his soul. He…He was free.

Dice breathed heavily in both fear and joy. What could this mean for him? He could no longer served the Devil. He could no longer delivered souls to Devil, even if he wanted to. Dice had no idea.

“You okay?” Porkrind asked Dice.

Dice breathed heavily. “I-I can’t believe this…I-I’m free.” He started to tremble. “I’m free and…I don’t even know what to do.”

“Uh…live?” Porkrind uttered with a brow raised.

“Yeah, you’re going to have to be more specific than that,” Dice responded.

Back to the others, Cuphead’s soul was able to phase through the cage he was in and flew back into his body, causing Cuphead to gasp for breath in his brother’s arms.

“Ugh! What the—?!” Cuphead shouted until he felt his father’s warmth for the first time in a long while.

Murray cried tears of joy. “I’m so happy to have you back, son.”

Elder Kettle smiled softly. “Let’s go save your brother.”

“Is he okay?” Cuphead asked.

Murray and Elder Kettle frowned.

“Your brother hadn’t been the same since he knew about you switching places with Cassidy,” Elder Kettle responded.

“Meaning?”

“Meaning that Tremaine is slowly taking over him. The cultists took your brother somewhere by the library. We need to get him and get out of here,” Murray urged the others.

“Then let’s go!” Cuphead said with determination as he sped ahead of the rest of the group with his newfound powers.

“Cuphead, wait!” Brineybeard called while the others were running after Cuphead.

~.~

 Cassidy watched everything unfold until her pointy ears could hear someone familiar sobbing nearby her. She looked outside of the library and then back at the group she was with. She figured she could get Mugman out and guide him back to the group immediately.

Cassidy snuck out of the library and hurried towards where she could hear her lover crying. It took only a hallway and few doors down to see a lone cell where she could hear him crying. She used her claws to lock-pick the locks and opened it, revealing her lover in a straitjacket and a muzzle, letting out pained whines through the muzzle.

She softened her gaze, stepping towards him slowly. He scrambled his feet away from her, shaking his head to try to tell her to get back.

“Mugman?” she uttered sadly.

His body trembled and shook his head. He tried to gesture her to go and get out. She frowned and shook her head.

“No, I’m getting you out. We’re going to cure you and we’re going to get you out, okay?” Cassidy reassured him.

He shook his head before she stepped towards him and took the muzzle off of him. He puked out extra Tremaine inside of him, causing her to wince back.

“C-Cassi,” Mugman stuttered, his body shaking violently. “G-Go. Please. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t hurt me,” Cassidy reassured him.

“You don’t know that,” Mugman whimpered.

“I do,” she said softly while kissing his big blue nose, calming him down a bit.

“C-Cassi—”

“It’s okay. It’ll be okay—”

“Behind you!” Mugman shouted before shoving her off of him with his body, the bullet bouncing off a wall next to his ceramic head.

Cassidy looked up behind her to see a hooded assassin raising his gun at her. She growled and rushed towards him, wrestling him and the gun. He grunted and slammed her against the wall.

“Get off of me, burden!” the assassin growled and thrusted Cassidy against the wall, leaving her cornered.

Before he could raise the gun to shoot her, Mugman attacked the assassin with his yellow eyes and his irises red. He burned the straitjacket off of him and tore into the assassin’s stomach, ripping out of his insides and tossing them out of him.

“Don’t you call her that! You hear me?!” Mugman growled and started to laugh maniacally. “Yes! Yes!!! You better not call her that again!”

Cassidy watched in horror at what her boyfriend was doing, seeing him tear through more of the assassin’s insides with his teeth now and eating them away. She trembled in fear.

“Mugsy?”

Mugman perked his head up and looked at her, his mouth bloody along with his hands. She looked at him more in horror, making her regret even calling his name. He crept towards her in his monster form, his black fur dirty and mangy. She backed herself against the wall, listening to him breathing heavily.

“Mugsy, please…”

Mugman’s eyes reverted back to normal, causing him to let out heavy breaths in panic. “C-Cassi!” He looked down to see himself covered in blood. She soon realized that he was fighting back control, his body shaking.

“Cassi! Go! Stay away from me!”

Cassidy stood up and shook her head. “No, it’s okay. We’ll fix this.”

“Cassidy, please, go! I don’t want to hurt you!”

“Mugman, please—” It was then a bullet crashed straight through her skull from the side. She fell over on her side, her head bleeding.

“C-Cassi!” Mugman cried, kneeling down beside her. He cradled her limp body, despite his hands being bloody. “NO! NO! PLEASE, COME BACK TO ME!! COME BACK!!! PLEASE!!! NO!!”

He heard the gun cocked and he looked up to see the assassin gripping his rifle, ready to shoot him. He growled, his teeth sharpened. He set her down while his claws sharpened.

He laughed maniacally, finally letting Tremaine take over. He lunged towards the assassins, tearing through his insides as well. He hunted down assassins, tearing through them when he found them.

Meanwhile, Dice, Porkrind, Jerry, Ribby, and Croaks heard the commotion and hurried out of the library to find Mugman tearing into the assassins with a sense of vengeance and anger. His veins glowed orange in front of them while they stood there in terror. He dashed the other direction away from them, ripping body parts off of the assassins.

“Hey, where’s Cassi?” Jerry questioned, noticing the red feline missing.

“She must have found Mugman,” Croaks guessed.

Everyone widened their eyes in fear.

“I hope that mug didn’t tear into her like what he was doing to those assassins,” Porkrind growled while going off to find his daughter.

Everyone followed after him and entered the hallway to see a silhouette of the Devil holding Cassidy’s dead body in his arms.

Porkrind gasped. “HEY!”

Devil disappeared with Cassidy in his arms.

“HEY!!!” Porkrind barked and hurried towards where the Devil is. “He’s got Cassidy!”

“Oh no,” Ribby uttered.

“He might teleport back to his throne,” Dice guessed.

“Then let’s go!” Jerry determined.

The group hurried towards the Devil’s throne room from the hallway. 

~.~

Mugman couldn’t stop killing. No matter how much his mind screamed that it was enough, he couldn’t stop. More blood was on his small body, eating guts and intestines like food. He managed to kill every single assassin in Hell without stopping until he got to the Devil’s throne room.

His vision red when he saw the tiger sitting on the Devil’s throne chair. He growled and glared up at Hunter.

Hunter took out his gloves and squeezed the buttons, causing Mugman to cry out in pain as if it was electrocuting him.

“Aren’t you a hungry little animal?” Hunter said with a smirk before managing to control Mugman’s veins to the point where he kneeled. “You can rule by my side in this world. I can grant you whatever wish you want—”

“I want my life back!” Mugman managed to scream out. “I want Cassi back! I want my old life back! I don’t want to be here anymore! Hahaha hahaha!!! But you took that all away!!! You took my life away! You took everything from me!!! HAHAHAAHAHA!!! So, now I’m taking everything from you!” Mugman lunged towards Hunter despite having his veins crushed by the telepathic powers of Hunter’s gloves. Hunter threw Mugman onto the ground. Mugman bit his ankle and yanked him to the ground, dragging him around. Hunter kicked his feet into Mugman’s face until Mugman ripped off his foot kicking him with his sharp teeth. Hunter screamed in pain as Mugman jumped right on top of him and clawed him through his stomach, ripping out guts and intestines of his. Mugman clawed his facial skin and fur off out of pure anger and hatred for the tiger. Hunter screamed in agony while there was fear of death in his cold green eyes finally.

Cuphead arrived at the scene and watched it unfold in front of him. He witnessed his own brother eating dead Hunter’s guts. Mugman was now covered in blood, from the liquid in his cup head to the soles of his brown shoes.

“Mugman?” Cuphead uttered shyly.

Mugman whipped his head up and stared straight into his brother’s eyes.

Cuphead raised his hands slowly. “B-Buddy, it’s me, Cuphead. Remember?”

Mugman smiled sadistically while lunging towards his brother, attempting to eat him until Cuphead kicked him in the gut and flipped him over his head.

“Mugman! Snap out of it!” Cuphead cried. “I know you’re still in there! Please!”

Mugman growled and gripped his brother’s throat, pinning him down on the ground and choking him.

Cuphead tried to fight but he could feel water drops on his cheek. He glanced up to see Mugman in tears while being in a maniacal beast.

“Bu-Buddy, I know you’re still in there…fight it,” Cuphead choked out.

Two groups arrived from opposite sides of the throne room, watching this unfold in front of them.

Chalice arrived at the scene and saw this with a glowing blue syringe. She gave a look in determination as she flew towards the brothers. Out of the corner of Mugman’s eyes, he noticed her turning into her physical form as she tackled Mugman to the ground away from Cuphead.

“This is for your own good, Mugsy!” Chalice shouted while jabbing the syringe into Mugman’s shoulder. Mugman yelped in pain as she pushed the blue liquid inside of him. She backed off of him while Natalie hurried by Cuphead and helped him up.

“Are you okay?” Natalie asked.

Cuphead gave her a thumbs up. “Yep. Ain’t too worried about it.”

Everyone watched Mugman throwing up Tremaine, including the guts and the intestines he had eaten from the assassins down in Hell. It happened for a while until Mugman breathed heavily, his eyes going back to normal. Instead of his veins glowing orange, it glowed blue causing him to scream more in pain and electricity rising from his body. The pain was so unbearable that he collapsed on the ground, mumbling some incoherent words.

Murray hurried over as soon as the electricity died down and picked his son up. “Mugman?”

Mugman passed out in his father’s arm, covered in blood.

Captain Brineybeard noticed the throne room shaking around them.

“YOU’RE ALL DEAD!!!” Devil growled at them.

“We got more than a five-minute head start!” Ribby shouted to the pirate.

“Follow me!” Brineybeard shouted while leading the group.

“Wait, what about Cassi?! Devil took her!!” Porkrind shouted to them.

“We’ll come back for her! We got to move now!” Ribby answered back loudly.

They hurried over to where there was a wide hole and climbed up the rope into the water. They all held their breaths and rushed up into the submarine. As soon as they entered the submarine, Brineybeard pulled the rope into the submarine and Ribby steered it away from the wide hole leading to Hell.

Everyone breathed heavily in relief that they were no longer down there.

“We made it,” Dice uttered.

“Not all of us,” Porkrind said sadly as the submarine took off.

~.~

“THAT’S IT!!!” Devil growled and crushed the brimstone near him. “I’M DONE BEING TREATED LIKE A JOKE!!!” He paced around his throne room with Henchman and Stickler besides him, their veins glowing orange from Tremaine inside of them.

“I was so close to getting that cup’s soul! I had him in my grasp! And now! He’s gone! All the contracts were burned! I have enough of this!”

“D’uh, Boss, look on the bright side, Hunter did give you a cool upgrade where you can control anyone that has Tremaine now since…uh, Tremaine is inside of you now,” Henchman brought up.

Devil was no longer angry as he looked at his hands. “You know what, Henchman, you are right. Hunter did one thing right. He gave me more power unknowingly. He breached his own contract…it’s a shame of what happened to him. Now my two number ones are gone…it’s time to find a new one.” Devil smirked and looked at Cassidy, laying there with her head bleeding. “And I think I just found a new replacement.”

Devil’s laughter was small at first until it grew more and more loud and boisterous. He cackled evilly, letting every demon in Hell hear it. 

The End

...Or is it?

[scritchingandscratchingonpaper]

"If after all this you will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over. You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters. I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars and pile your dead bodies on the lifeless forms of your idols, and I will abhor you. I will turn your cities into ruins and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings. I myself will lay waste the land so that your enemies who live there will be appalled. I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out my sword and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste, and your cities will lie in ruins."

Enter DEMIURGE, a world of cannibals and carnivores where it's kill or be killed and you must evolve or die.

Centuries before, a mutagenic plague consumed the world, becoming the very planet itself. Today we see the bizarre environments and inhabitants that dwell in the body of the Demiurge, all struggling to survive another day.

[twilightmalachite]

Raison d’être - The Nameless Girl 3

Author: Akira

Characters: Mika

Translator: Mika Enstars

"That’s what’s cute ‘bout him. I really want Oshi-san to do whatever he wants t’do and shine brightly without havin’ t’worry ‘bout me."

[Read on my blog for the best viewing experience with Oi~ssu ♪]

Season: Winter

Location: Shu’s Atelier (Paris)

The next day at noon. At the atelier near where Itsuki Shu is boarding…

Mika: (Hmm, what to do…)

(Oshi-san seems t’be talkin’ with the landlady where he’s boardin’ at… Apparently, she’s an old friend of Grandfather’s from when he was in Paris.)

(So he thought maybe she’d know a thing or two ‘bout the “MADEMOISELLE” person.)

(That’s what Oshi-san said he had “in mind”, wasn’t it?)

(Still. Like Raffaello-san said, there’s a deadline fer the Funeral Contest. We can’t afford t’dawdle—)

(So t’help out, I’m here t’investigate the atelier.)

(Like where Oshi-san’s boardin’ at, this atelier… It was also used by Grandfather way back then.)

So by lookin’ around here, I may be able to discover some new info ‘bout Grandfather.)

(But, I dunno how t’even start… What if I accidentally knocked and broke some valuable work of art or somethin’ expensive? That’d be horrible…)

(There is a deadline, but it’s a vague one that says it’s whenever Grandfather picks one of the family member’s projects.)

(So we can take our time thinkin’ ‘til Grandfather gets proposed a funeral service he thinks is right fer him. So it feels like we got no time, but we surprisin’ly do.)

(Well, there’s also still the possibility that Grandfather’ll pick someone else’s plan at any moment and make all of our efforts meanin’less, but…)

Mika: (It’ll still be meanin’ful for Oshi-san to get in touch with his beloved Grandfather’s past, right? It’s stimulatin' his curiosity and motivatin' him to create.)

(Even I’m startin’ to get kinda curious!)

(If I can learn ‘bout “MADEMOISELLE”-san, Mado-nee’s look-alike—I feel I’ll be able t’connect with Mado-nee more.)

(I haven’t been able t’talk with Mado-nee much lately, so I’ve been missin’ her a bit.)

Raffaello: “—Found anything?”

Mika: Nnaahh!?

D-don’t talk outta nowhere like that! I don’t like gettin’ surprised!

Raffaello: “My apologies. I hadn’t realized you were so close to me.”

Mika: Ah, so ya were sittin’ on the desk… So ya really did arrive ahead of us, huh? Ya must be tired from the trip.

Raffaello: “My body is that of a doll’s, so I do not get tired. You’re also quite a strange kid, aren’t you?”

Mika: Nnah~, I’m glad t’have someone t’talk to! Oshi-san had left me tellin’ me t’do my own investigatin’ elsewhere, so I was lonely.

Raffaello: “Fufu. My father was like that too, going about his own way with little care about those around him. I suppose it’s in the blood.”

Mika: That’s what’s cute ‘bout him. I really want Oshi-san to do whatever he wants t’do and shine brightly without havin’ t’worry ‘bout me.

I love the Oshi-san who looks ahead and walks proudly with his chest out…♪

I honestly’d rather him to not pay attention to a dirty doll lyin’ out on the side of the road—

Raffaello: “…My father once said something similar.”

Mika: Grandfather did?

Raffaello: “Of course, I didn’t hear it firsthand. It was something depicted in my mother’s diary, now buried alongside her in her coffin.”

Mika: Nnah~… I’d like to also give the diary a look, but it wouldn’t be right t’dig up her grave, wouldn’t it?

Raffaello: “That’s right. But do not worry, I’ll explain as much as I can recall.”

Mika: But I don’t like that, you can jus’ tell lies that are convenient t’ya.

Raffaello: “Fufu. You’ll just have to trust me.”

“Anyways. Unlike you, I am unaware of what is in the diaries you have, so I do not know if you know this or not, but…”

“My mother was a dollmaker.”

“My father was a big fan of my mother’s work, you see.”

Mika: “MADEMOISELLE”-san would make dolls? Like Oshi-san does?

Raffaello: “That’s right. You might find some of my mother’s work that my father purchased on display here.”

“Look, here is a taxidermy wolf—Or so it may appear to be one, that is.”

“It’s not a real taxidermy wolf. You will understand if you touch it. It’s a doll made by my mother, elaborately crafted down to every pore.”

Mika: Nnah, so this ain’t the real thing?

Ooh… Lookin’ at it closer, I can see its eyes are somethin’ like glass marbles! Well, I dunno, maybe real taxidermy animals have those too.

Raffaello: “Yes. Truthfully, it would be much cheaper to buy a real taxidermy wolf, and it would be much more accurate to one as well. It’d make use of the actual corpse itself, after all.”

“Even so, my mother was committed to recreate each and everyone one of these organic objects.”

“To reproduce God’s creations in nature with her own, human hands.”

“No matter how sophisticated the smartphone, no matter how high the pixel count of a camera, humans will never cease to reproduce nature with their own hands. Landscape paintings never become obsolete.”

“Something like that. Unlike my mother, I am no artist, I do not know what I am talking about…”

“But my mother surely felt there was some “significance” to that.”

Mika: ……

[ ☆ ]

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[grumpy-limsan-customs-cat]

#21 - Grave

"…'Ey Clay. It's…'s been a while, eh? Sorry 'bout that."

The Roegadyn sat herself onto the dirt with a heavy sigh, two bottles set down in front of her.

"Jus'…y' know, work 'an stuff. Y' kind of forget th' time when travelin' around."

A low, awkward chuckle broke her words, but soon she spoke up once more.

"Ah, speakin' of work, y' remember that group I settled with? They broke up. Ha, like they usually do, eh? 'S a shame…I made some friends there."

"---I still see some of 'em, though!" She hastily continued before her voice mellowed once more, "Bumped into 'em in th' local boardin' house. I…think they like me, yeah. At least enough t' rely on me once in a while. 'S…it's nice."

The gaze drifted downwards in thought, sturdy fingers idly tapping the cork still keeping the bottle shut.

"An' I could rely on 'em too, I think. If I could. If I…knew how. 'S been…a while since I knew how."

She allowed the silence fall for a moment, her thoughts wandering before she brushed them away with a sharp snort. Her focus was better aimed at the bottles, one of them picked up and unceremoniously uncorked.

"…Well, ah. How's it been here, eh? Neighbors haven't been bullyin' y' too hard? An', uh…"

With an awkward grin, the bottle was lifted towards the stone slab jutting up from the dirt.

"Happy anniversary."

[chaosology]

all I be singing is love songs when I’m recordin 

Her time is something imma bouta be hoarding

Yeah my baby on her way that plane she boardin

Cant wait for her to come and rearrange my organs

(I’m sorry these are just so FUNNNN)

SHUT UP NO ITS SO GOOD WTF

sam come rearrange my organs

[florbelles]

✘: Who do they detest the most? Do they typically avoid this person or antagonize them? ✨: What motivates them? Is it a deep rooted passion/motivation, or is it something they struggle with from time to time? ✪: Have they ever let a rare opportunity slip them by? for Lyra beloved <3

✘ WHO DO THEY DETEST THE MOST? DO THEY TYPICALLY AVOID THIS PERSON OR ANTAGONIZE THEM?

(under the cut for brief gore description bc of lyra lyra-ing).

lyra, funnily enough, has a very difficult time actively detesting anyone; she's a very social creature who very much wants to be liked and who, as a rule, likes others as individuals, in at least some capacity. she doesn't hate the resistance; she doesn't hate the damned, condemned to her judge's domain—they are quite useful and necessary to her, if nothing else, and anyway, is she not taking their sins upon herself to cleanse them in their suffering, to make them purposeful, to make them beautiful? (they are eyeless and tongueless and strung on that beam over there by their entrails for the next poor unfortunate soul to choose to save or leave to their fate in her little gauntlet, but isn't that just lovely? if your right eye causes you to sin...)—and anyway, who is she to judge? she winks coyly. the crowd boos loudly.

the closest she's come to actually loathing an individual, as opposed to an individual's actions or their conflicting ideologies (which is what stokes the deep, undying flame of rage that burns inside her, exacerbated instead of lessened by the fact that she likes, instead of detests, humanity—she would find it far easier to be apathetic and pragmatic if she cared less and disliked the species on principle), comes in the form of her father and his ilk (she spent the ten years prior to the project killing them wherever she saw them in those she encountered, though she fled the entire east coast so as not to harm the originals). she also loves him, in spite of everything, in spite of wishing she did not. in that sense, though she antagonizes them in theory (aforementioned killings and the thefts that preceded them, the instructor she shot while returning from archery and the colleague of her father's whose hand she crushed with a croquet mallet, the party she drugged the night she left for good), she also avoids them — she left, quite simply, because she was afraid of what she would do if she stayed.

✨ WHAT MOTIVATES THEM? IS IT A DEEP ROOTED PASSION/MOTIVATION, OR IS IT SOMETHING THEY STRUGGLE WITH FROM TIME TO TIME?

to make herself, all that she is and all that she isn't, mean something. if she cannot be good, if she cannot be loved, she will be what she is; she will be the monster that hunts all others. she will be the predator the predators deserve. she will be the wrath of god. she's already damned—it will not be for nothing. it cannot be for nothing. arguably she only falters in this the first few years past the collapse, because she had fully intended for her life to end then and there—she did not count herself among those who belonged in the real world, she meant to burn along with the rest of the damned, and that she did not, that she has lost everything, that others have died and she is still breathing, leaves her physically and mentally comatose. (she is pulled from this the only way she could be—the voice returns, and she has a purpose again. her work is not done, and that is that.)

✪ HAVE THEY EVER LET A RARE OPPORTUNITY SLIP THEM BY?

truthfully? no. she will wonder this, of course—might things have been different at this moment, or this one, or this one?—but ultimately she finds little use in it. if an opportunity passes her by, it was likely not by her will, or it was something she did not and never would see an opportunity. on a meta level, sure; she missed the opportunity to use her family's abundant resources before she fled at the age of sixteen to get some goddamn therapy and reframe her thought processes instead of getting herself kicked out of every single boarding school in the country and one or two abroad. alas. otherwise, she is far more likely to seize upon a perceived opportunity she should not have done than to watch it slip through her fingers.

[simiansmoke]

✨ + funky

Send ✨ to see one of my muse's memories.

His first complaint about Candy ignoring him again was met with a pair of purple sunglasses lowering ever so slightly as the golden furred Kong regarded the young prince.

"No offense, my man, but have you looked at yourself lately?" Beckoning DK over, Funky gave his cousin a good peer into the reflective surface of his sunglasses to show his younger cousin the state of his hair and the humidity that left it looking more like a frightened cat's tail than the nice, sleek fur of a well-groomed Kong.

"Ew. Why's it always do this-" DK grumbled, reaching up to poke at the obscene display of split ends. A licked hand a few rubs only upsets the mess more.

"Heh! Come on over to the shop, kiddo. I'll show you the trick to it."

And once the two had arrived at Funky's flying store, it was a short wait for the funky Kong to dig around behind his register before returning to DK with half a coconut shell cupped in his palm.

"Uh- I don't think stuffing my face is gonna help, Funky. Eat my feelings up, sure-" Blinking as Funky wasted no time in dunking his fingers into the gelling cream inside, DK observed the other Kong as he mussed some of the stuff into the golden fur along his cheeks and around his bandana until it seemed a whole lot shinier than usual.

"This stuff keeps the fur outta the way when I'm boardin' round town." Funky explained, then with a grin, dunked his fingers in again and leaned over to slide some through DK's frazzled fur. "Here- just slide it this way...and that. Then a little loop..." Mussing around with DK's hair, he finishes by twirling a finger around the curl he'd created before releasing it with a sproing. "Check it!"

Another glance into the sunglasses showed off the cool Kong's handy work. "Oh yeeeah-...that's gas!"

"Go forth, bodacious one."