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that-spider-witch · 4 years ago

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On the topic of Book!Edward Hyde

Or rather: The topic of his existence (or lack thereof).

Browsing through the J&H tag, I’ve seen a lot of book readers be spiteful of every single adaptation of the character and its pop culture version because it misses the moral of the book: That Hyde and Jekyll were just one and the same, and that Jekyll was the one doing all the bullshit that went down and that Hyde was just a mask to keep his reputation intact.

Most of these rants go on to imply or outright accuse of any author doing the split personality take on the plot to have never actually read the original book, or that Edward Hyde never existing is something that the book leaves loud and clear, something irrefutably canon.

Having read the book too, I’m here to say: Yes and no. You could read the book and still get a “two character, one body” impression from it. Allow me to explain...

While the plot of “Jekyll is Good, Hyde is Bad” is truly bullshit and the very thing that the original novel rips into pieces, whether Hyde could be considered to have a will of his own is a little more ambiguous and it can actually be interpreted either way.

Note that I’m using the word “will” and not “personality”: Hyde is still Jekyll, they both have the same personality, but while Jekyll is a rational human being, Hyde is Jekyll but without the strings of societal norms, morals and impulse control holding him down.

Book readers who go by the take that Hyde never existed also claim that the book is very clear that the changes brought by the formula are just external: Jekyll is completely himself the whole time and “Hyde” is just a mask.

And this is true... At first. Depending on how you interpret Jekyll’s unrealiable narration, “Hyde” actually slowly develops something of a will of his own as Jekyll’s evil nature, given a body of its own by his dumb experiment, continues to develop.

Here’s a fragment of how Jekyll describes the experiment and the very first transformation:

“That night I had come to the fatal cross-roads. Had I approached my discovery in a more noble spirit, had I risked the experiment while under the empire of generous or pious aspirations, all must have been otherwise, and from these agonies of death and birth, I had come forth an angel instead of a fiend. The drug had no discriminating action; it was neither diabolical nor divine; it but shook the doors of the prisonhouse of my disposition; and like the captives of Philippi, that which stood within ran forth. At that time my virtue slumbered; my evil, kept awake by ambition, was alert and swift to seize the occasion; and the thing that was projected was Edward Hyde. Hence, although I had now two characters as well as two appearances, one was wholly evil, and the other was still the old Henry Jekyll, that incongruous compound of whose reformation and improvement I had already learned to despair. The movement was thus wholly toward the worse.”

“Edward Hyde” (who at this point still doesn’t truly exist as his own being and it’s just a mask for Jekyll to use) is evil because Henry Jekyll himself is evil. But while Jekyll-as-Jekyll has good personality traits as well as bad, Jekyll-as-Hyde is just everything that Jeyll finds evil about himself and nothing else. This paragraph also states very clearly that Jekyll’s intentions were never good.

If this was the only instance in which anything along the lines of “two characters as well as two appearances” was mentioned, then yes, there would be no room for debate on the whole “Hyde is just a fake identity and nothing else” because there wouldn’t be evidence of the contrary. It would be clear text.

Except that Jekyll, unreliable narrator that he is or not, also gives us evidence to support the theory that Hyde, while still not being a completely separate split personality on his own right, does develop a certain awareness of himself and a will to act somewhat separate from Jekyll’s.

Of course, this all still falls on Jekyll’s own fault, and even if we consider Hyde as something of an alter, he’s still nothing but the scapegoat that Jekyll uses:

“The pleasures which I made haste to seek in my disguise were, as I have said, undignified; I would scarce use a harder term. But in the hands of Edward Hyde, they soon began to turn toward the monstrous. When I would come back from these excursions, I was often plunged into a kind of wonder at my vicarious depravity. This familiar that I called out of my own soul, and sent forth alone to do his good pleasure, was a being inherently malign and villainous; his every act and thought centered on self; drinking pleasure with bestial avidity from any degree of torture to another; relentless like a man of stone. Henry Jekyll stood at times aghast before the acts of Edward Hyde; but the situation was apart from ordinary laws, and insidiously relaxed the grasp of conscience. It was Hyde, after all, and Hyde alone, that was guilty. Jekyll was no worse; he woke again to his good qualities seemingly unimpaired; he would even make haste, where it was possible, to undo the evil done by Hyde. And thus his conscience slumbered.”

Something all book readers will be familiar with is that Jekyll’s narration uses “I” when writing about most of Hyde’s actions, while also mentioning both Henry Jekyll and Hyde on third person. Jekyll tries to dissociate himself from his crimes this way.

But... Whether also done by Jekyll to still reflect guilt from himself or not, the text also refers to Hyde as having a nature of his own, albeit one irreversably connected to Henry Jekyll’s own hidden desires.

“Between these two, I now felt I had to choose. My two natures had memory in common, but all other faculties were most unequally shared between them. Jekyll (who was composite) now with the most sensitive apprehensions, now with a greedy gusto, projected and shared in the pleasures and adventures of Hyde; but Hyde was indifferent to Jekyll, or but remembered him as the mountain bandit remembers the cavern in which he conceals himself from pursuit. Jekyll had more than a father’s interest; Hyde had more than a son’s indifference. To cast in my lot with Jekyll, was to die to those appetites which I had long secretly indulged and had of late begun to pamper. To cast it in with Hyde, was to die to a thousand interests and aspirations, and to become, at a blow and forever, despised and friendless. The bargain might appear unequal; but there was still another consideration in the scales; for while Jekyll would suffer smartingly in the fires of abstinence, Hyde would be not even conscious of all that he had lost. Strange as my circumstances were, the terms of this debate are as old and commonplace as man; much the same inducements and alarms cast the die for any tempted and trembling sinner; and it fell out with me, as it falls with so vast a majority of my fellows, that I chose the better part and was found wanting in the strength to keep to it.”

There’s a clear divide here, with Jekyll and Hyde having something of a different outlook on life, something that outright doesn’t make sense if we are to consider Edward Hyde as just Jekyll’s alias.

Something to note here is that the divide between the two personas is not of a moral nature, but something much more mundane and selfish: To Henry Jekyll, his social status is everything, and his main drive to keep transforming into Hyde again and again is to enjoy a life of sin without repercussions. To Hyde, said social status can go to hell for all he cares, but still keeps the ruse because his concealment is ultimately necessary for his continued existence, something that the narration will go back to later.

After this point of the book, which is when Jekyll goes to sleep and wakes up transformed on his other body the next morning, the doctor becomes scared and goes cold turkey for two months, having decided to stop being Hyde forever and return to a normal life. It doesn’t lastlonger than that: Hyde returns not because he takes control, but because Jekyll turns himself into Hyde on purpose once again, by his own free will.

“I do not suppose that, when a drunkard reasons with himself upon his vice, he is once out of five hundred times affected by the dangers that he runs through his brutish, physical insensibility; neither had I, long as I had considered my position, made enough allowance for the complete moral insensibility and insensate readiness to evil, which were the leading characters of Edward Hyde. Yet it was by these that I was punished. My devil had been long caged, he came out roaring. I was conscious, even when I took the draught, of a more unbridled, a more furious propensity to ill. It must have been this, I suppose, that stirred in my soul that tempest of impatience with which I listened to the civilities of my unhappy victim; I declare, at least, before God, no man morally sane could have been guilty of that crime upon so pitiful a provocation; and that I struck in no more reasonable spirit than that in which a sick child may break a plaything. But I had voluntarily stripped myself of all those balancing instincts by which even the worst of us continues to walk with some degree of steadiness among temptations; and in my case, to be tempted, however slightly, was to fall.“

Something fun to note here: Jekyll describes Hyde, and/or himself when he’s Hyde, as being comparable to a child. First by merely noting that Hyde’s body is younger than Jekyll’s, then by comparing him to a “son” and Jekyll as the “father”, and now comparing the murder of Danvers Carew to a child breaking a toy.

Speaking of the murder, Jekyll is 100% guilty of it: Even if Hyde was a completely different being with his own traits and goals, which he is not, Jekyll would still be responsable by virtue of willingly going through the transformation again like an idiot.

That being said, the text continues to give Hyde some semblance of personality:

“Hyde had a song upon his lips as he compounded the draught, and as he drank it, pledged the dead man. The pangs of transformation had not done tearing him, before Henry Jekyll, with streaming tears of gratitude and remorse, had fallen upon his knees and lifted his clasped hands to God. The veil of self-indulgence was rent from head to foot.“

From this point on, everything goes to hell: Henry Jekyll is relieved that now that Hyde is a wanted murderer, he now has no choice but to stay as Jekyll and leave that sinful double life of his finally behind (”Jekyll is the Good half” my ass!). But, surprise surprise! He starts to transform unwillingly, and now he needs to constantly drink the potion to stay as Jekyll.

Fun fact: Do you remember which thoughts are the ones that trigger the first unwilling transformation after the murder?

“I sat in the sun on a bench; the animal within me licking the chops of memory; the spiritual side a little drowsed, promising subsequent penitence, but not yet moved to begin. After all, I reflected, I was like my neighbours; and then I smiled, comparing myself with other men, comparing my active good-will with the lazy cruelty of their neglect. And at the very moment of that vainglorious thought, a qualm came over me, a horrid nausea and the most deadly shuddering. These passed away, and left me faint; and then as in its turn faintness subsided, I began to be aware of a change in the temper of my thoughts, a greater boldness, a contempt of danger, a solution of the bonds of obligation. I looked down; my clothes hung formlessly on my shrunken limbs; the hand that lay on my knee was corded and hairy. I was once more Edward Hyde.“

The thought that he, too, was just like any other man. Something that his Hyde half knows as a fact, but that Henry “I’m superior than all these lazy peasants around me because I’m rich... I mean, because I have active good-will” Jekyll considers undignified, and therefore, cruel or evil. O Sweet, sweet Victorian hypocresy.

And it is from here on out that the narration acknowledges Edward Hyde as being his own character somewhat, somehow, at least as part of Jekyll’s conciousness.

After the transformation and the visit to Lanyon:

“My reason wavered, but it did not fail me utterly. I have more than once observed that in my second character, my faculties seemed sharpened to a point and my spirits more tensely elastic; thus it came about that, where Jekyll perhaps might have succumbed, Hyde rose to the importance of the moment.”

“Then I remembered that of my original character, one part remained to me: I could write my own hand; and once I had conceived that kindling spark, the way that I must follow became lighted up from end to end.“

“He, I say—I cannot say, I. That child of Hell had nothing human; nothing lived in him but fear and hatred.“

“When I came to myself at Lanyon’s, the horror of my old friend perhaps affected me somewhat: I do not know; it was at least but a drop in the sea to the abhorrence with which I looked back upon these hours. A change had come over me. It was no longer the fear of the gallows, it was the horror of being Hyde that racked me.“

It’s curious how Jekyll’s narration uses “I” when looking back at Carew’s murder, and yet it is just from here on out that he’s oh so repulsed by Hyde than he uses He/Him pronouns for him.

And, most of all, when he has locked himself up:

“The powers of Hyde seemed to have grown with the sickliness of Jekyll. And certainly the hate that now divided them was equal on each side. With Jekyll, it was a thing of vital instinct. He had now seen the full deformity of that creature that shared with him some of the phenomena of consciousness, and was co-heir with him to death: and beyond these links of community, which in themselves made the most poignant part of his distress, he thought of Hyde, for all his energy of life, as of something not only hellish but inorganic. This was the shocking thing; that the slime of the pit seemed to utter cries and voices; that the amorphous dust gesticulated and sinned; that what was dead, and had no shape, should usurp the offices of life. And this again, that that insurgent horror was knit to him closer than a wife, closer than an eye; lay caged in his flesh, where he heard it mutter and felt it struggle to be born; and at every hour of weakness, and in the confidence of slumber, prevailed against him, and deposed him out of life. The hatred of Hyde for Jekyll was of a different order. His terror of the gallows drove him continually to commit temporary suicide, and return to his subordinate station of a part instead of a person; but he loathed the necessity, he loathed the despondency into which Jekyll was now fallen, and he resented the dislike with which he was himself regarded.”

And what immediately follows is my favorite part of the book:

“Hence the ape-like tricks that he would play me, scrawling in my own hand blasphemies on the pages of my books, burning the letters and destroying the portrait of my father; and indeed, had it not been for his fear of death, he would long ago have ruined himself in order to involve me in the ruin. But his love of life is wonderful; I go further: I, who sicken and freeze at the mere thought of him, when I recall the abjection and passion of this attachment, and when I know how he fears my power to cut him off by suicide, I find it in my heart to pity him.”

This petty behavior of supposedly destroying and vandalizing Jekyll’s stuff to spite him is mentioned yet again just a few sentences later,along with the following line:

“This, then, is the last time, short of a miracle, that Henry Jekyll can think his own thoughts or see his own face (now how sadly altered!) in the glass. Nor must I delay too long to bring my writing to an end; for if my narrative has hitherto escaped destruction, it has been by a combination of great prudence and great good luck. Should the throes of change take me in the act of writing it, Hyde will tear it in pieces; but if some time shall have elapsed after I have laid it by, his wonderful selfishness and circumscription to the moment will probably save it once again from the action of his ape-like spite.“

This assertion from Jekyll that, as far as he’s concerned, he will be already dead when he transforms for the last time, is what closes the book:

“And indeed the doom that is closing on us both has already changed and crushed him. Half an hour from now, when I shall again and forever reindue that hated personality, I know how I shall sit shuddering and weeping in my chair, or continue, with the most strained and fearstruck ecstasy of listening, to pace up and down this room (my last earthly refuge) and give ear to every sound of menace. Will Hyde die upon the scaffold? or will he find courage to release himself at the last moment? God knows; I am careless; this is my true hour of death, and what is to follow concerns another than myself. Here then, as I lay down the pen and proceed to seal up my confession, I bring the life of that unhappy Henry Jekyll to an end.“

If taken at face value, these lines actually paint Edward Hyde as being somewhat able to think his own thoughts and do his own actions, while still just being the childish, “ape-like” part of Henry Jekyll’s mind. Emphasis on childish, not evil, the evilness is all on Henry. Edward Hyde is still nothing but Henry Jekyll’s psychological scapegoat, and the one that Jekyll technically leaves behind to deal with the mess he himself created by “dying”.

I’m not trying to get more people to interpret the book this way nor am I saying that the ”Hyde is not real and Jekyll is a lying bitch” take is actually wrong, because it is not. I’m just pointing out the book could actually be interpreted differently by different readers, and they’d still have sentences in the book to back their interpretation on.

Now, if we could all stop hating and throwing shade on every content creator out there who “got the book wrong”, that’d be peachy.

#let people have fun. its not that hard.#the strange case of dr. jekyll and mr. hyde #edward hyde #henry jekyll #dr. jekyll and mr. hyde #literature #gothic lit #this came out longer than I thought it would be

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danwhobrowses · 3 years ago

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WWE Summerslam 2021 - Initial Reaction and Review

It's been a big week for wrestling in general, and now we have the Biggest Party of the Summer in the books, uncharacteristically airing on a Saturday.

It's been a while since I've run down a WWE PPV, time and apathy does have a bit to do with it, but since this is a big 4 and given what happened in Chicago there's definitely curiosity over how WWE would respond

Spoilers for Summerslam 2021 Below, I will be discussing the winners and moments so watch the PPV first

As usual I will indicate in the title who was the person I expected to win before the match started, but instead of Bold this time I'll put them in Italics with the whole match card being in bold

Kick-off

A long-ass kickoff was majority promo and interviews, not any contrarion drabble this time which was good. It was kinda sad to see Asuka on the packages but nowhere to be seen on the card.

I did like the sign guy of 'McAfee = Ratings' because he's kinda right, he has been great on commentary. I did not miss that dude in the Fiend Mask though, or the Lily Doll.

I will reiterate though that Sonya Deville is wasted right now, let her back in the goddamn ring, SD's Women's Division does need it and they make her look like a goof as Assistant GM.

Also apparently the Mysterios vs Usos aren't good enough for a promo package, not like it's a title match or anything... plus the disrespect still there, 'I wouldn't wanna work with my dad' they say like Rey isn't a multi time world champion with a huge wealth of experience.

The Miz and Morrison came in with a water truck to a mixed pop of cheers and boos, this moist gimmick ain't great but props for both guys being dedicated to it, it was short enough not to overstay its welcome too.

Ugh, Logan Paul is here...

Big E def. Baron Corbin (Pinfall via Big Ending) We had a new announcer from a Tiktok competition winner called Raine, and you know she was really good at it.

Corbin entered to boos hugging the MITB briefcase he stole, unable to afford entrance music it seems even though he's getting a PPV paycheck. To his credit he looks ultra disheveled, and when the ref had to pry the briefcase from him he looked super forlorn. I dunno why he's wrestling in a shirt though wouldn't that make it dirtier?

When the bell rings E does basically go right at Corbin, Corbin got a shoulder block in but then got caught in a belly to belly - despite protests - then a belly to backp. E missing the apron splash as Corbin senses a countout win, at 7 he leaves the ring to hit E against the ring post to try and eke out more time, demanding that the timekeeper keep the briefcase in his sights. E does return to the ring but his spear goes right is sidestepped into the ringpost, then thrown into them two more times, but only gets 2.

Corbin continues with some momentum with a sidewalk slam for 2, but his chokeslam is reversed into a rollup for 2 then a stretch muffler. He escapes and hits the Deep Six for 2, then 1.8, Corbin then stumbles to the briefcase, considering an exit before being hit with a lariat. E throws Corbin into the ring, but Corbin rolls right out, grabs the briefcase and tries to run around the ring only to be pounced into the barricade by Big E. The cat and mouse chase comes to an end, Corbin elbows E to get some room to roll to the other side of the ring but E catches him with that suicide spear he does, the briefcase is dropped and the straps are off: Big Ending for 3.

Shots of Logan Paul are hilariously met with huge boos as Big E finally reclaims his briefcase to a pop.

It was a nice little match, good palette cleanser and a nice and clean competition, Corbin had no chance in winning but it was a solid way to warm up the crowd for the main ppv.

Our final bit of the kick-off was discussing the UNI main event, though I feel like losing your job is a higher stake than winning your 17th world title. Also they had to force in the shucky ducky which was dumb.

Main Show

Raw Tag Team Championship: RK-Bro [Randy Orton & Riddle] def AJ Styles & Omos (c) [TITLE CHANGE] (Pinfall on Styles by Orton via RKO) Starting the night with some fun as Riddle comes out in a garish snake print outfit with a cerise pink lining, Orton didn't get the fashion memo thankfully but his hologram snake was cheesy. Riddle interacted with the crowd and had the multicoloured holo-doves while Orton mainly kept to himself. AJ and Omos came out together, though Omos had no theatrics, looking like a bouncer being invited to dinner still.

Orton and AJ started the match, Orton with the early advantage and tagging Riddle in for an assisted backflip for a 1 count, AJ rolls out the ring frustrated then tags in Omos, who just ragdolls Riddle; Shoulder Block, big clubbing blow then a delayed powerslam - an interesting glance over to Orton as well as they smile at each other, almost like Orton approved. Omos tries to deadlift Riddle with a wristlock but Riddle scrambles into a sleeper, but is flipped off then flattened in the corner. AJ tags in, platforming Omos for a Tornado DDT for 2, Riddle tries to fight out but runs into a backbreaker as AJ tells Orton 'you're next'.

During the rest hold, the crowd rallies Riddle back into the fight, AJ looks to have reclaimed an advantage and throws Riddle to his corner, but Riddle turns it into a dropkick on Omos, then dumps AJ out the ring. Riddle tries to tag Orton but AJ grabs him, enzugiri by Riddle allows Orton to make the hot tag. Clotheslines on AJ, a forearm to Omos - but it only stuns him, doesn't even fall to the floor, backdrop and another forearm to Omos that again fails to drop him. Clothesline to corner and a powerslam, this time Orton drops Omos out the ring by dropkicking the knees, draping DDT gets Orton feeling the RKO, but Omos drags AJ out the ring, then catches Riddle's dive to chokeslam him onto the apron. AJ stuns Orton with a jawbreaker on the ropes and gestures Omos to finish Riddle, but Riddle escapes the lawn dart and pushes Omos into the ring post. AJ though catches Riddle with his backflip reverse DDT on the outside, he misses the Phenomenal Forearm, but stands his ground against the RKO attempt, he rolls up for 2 and then lands into an RKO for 3.

It didn't last long but it was a fun opener, it was time for a title change and RK-Bro was a good choice. It's a shame Styles has to be the weak link but you can't be surprised that WWE continue to protect Omos.

Alexa Bliss (w/Lily) def. Eva Marie (w/ Doudrop) (Pinfall via DDT) The Lily hologram was fucking horrifying as Bliss carries the doll and puts it on the corner turnbuckle. Bliss weaves Eva effortlessly, she tries a waistlock but gets elbowed off. Eva gets a punch and a hair yank then...poses. She grabs Lily and starts slapping the doll, then slapping Alexa with the doll. Alexa then goes on the attack, clotheslines then a senton for 2, she puts Lily back as Eva argues with Doudrop. Alexa misses the Twisted Bliss and Eva gets 2 twice, a kick to the gut and a DDT finishes off Eva.

Post-match, Doudrop only looks smugly at Eva and grabs a microphone, announcing Eva as the loser, stealing her gown and walking away as Eva insists she made Doudrop.

This match didn't need to happen, in fact it could've just been a segment, but at least WWE were sensible in not having Eva Marie win against a former women's champion. They also didn't do any spooky shit and put the narrative mainly on Doudrop being free to hopefully be Piper Niven again, once again it didn't overstay its welcome.

Mario Lopez (who?) interviews RK-Bro on their title win, Orton cuts his normal promo but gets stumbled by trying to fit 'Bro' into his '3 most deadly letters in wrestling' catchphrase.

US Championship: Damian Priest def. Sheamus (c) [TITLE CHANGE] (Pinfall via Recknoning) Immediately after the interview Priest was already on the ramp, in blue gear with the USA and Puerto Rico flag on his tights, he did his archer pose to set off his tron. The Tron had a bit of an issue with Sheamus' opening, Sheamus wandered in with his face guard and coat. Sidebar, I still don't like the US Title design, it's better than the old one but not by much.

The two start by locking up, some solid chain wrestling shows that Sheamus has the power but Priest has the agility. After a pump kick, Priest hits a Falcon Arrow for 1, he has a bit of a nasty landing with his mid-rope flip senton out the ring, his heel clipped Sheamus' head but Priest's back had a hard landing on the floor, not easy to get distance when you step off the middle rope. Despite a flurry of kicks, Sheamus focuses on the back by throwing him into the ring post, belly to back and also an Irish Curse lead to a Camel Clutch, but Priest escapes that, Sheamus picks him up but Priest elbows out, so then he tries to powerbomb and Priest rana's out of that. Momentum is short though as Sheamus gets a powerslam for 2, a Dublin Smile and a Beats of the Bodhrán but he cuts the count short to slight the crowd's chant. His timewasting is punished by a Tornado DDT from Priest, they trade blows and a lariat floors Sheamus, a spinning leg lariat from the top rope only gets him 2.

Priest sets up the Reckoning, but is picked up for a rolling fireman's carry slam, Sheamus slowly climbs the turnbuckle, giving Priest time to look for a chokeslam, but Sheamus shimmies along the ropes and gets a massive rope-assisted jawbreaker, top turnbuckle clothesline and an Alabama Slam only gets 2. Sheamus angrily talks shit at Priest, Priest slaps him but Sheamus headbutts him back. He sets up the Brogue Kick but Priest gets the Big Boot and the South of Heaven, but it only gets 2. Priest tries the Reckoning but his back won't handle the weight, he tries a Disaster Kick but runs into a knee to the face, it's only a 2. After being furious with the ref Sheamus tries the Cloverleaf, but gets rolled up for 2, he catches Priest in a heel hook in the middle of the ring, with no ropes to reach, Priest reaches for the face guard, ripping it off of Sheamus. Madness in his eyes, Priest unloads on Sheamus' face, causing Sheamus to cover up and release the hold, a flapjack into the top turnbuckle stuns Sheamus for another spinning Leg Lariat and then a Recknoning for 3.

A nice technical match, had some creative spots in there and Priest winning was nice to see after the Miz/Morrison feud lasted forever. I do dislike that they said it was his first title 'in WWE' though, because he was NA Champion in NXT, which is still WWE Cole. I don't think I liked that the face guard is what undid Sheamus, the dude who likes to fight shouldn't really lose to insecurity. But third time's the charm with the Reckoning.

Afterwards we had a promo for NXT TakeOver. We got a backstage talk between Rey and Dom, Dom apologizing to Rey for the SD incident and Rey forgiving it immediately, noting to stay focused on the match right now.

SD Tag Championship: The Usos (c) def. The Mysterios (Pinfall on Rey by Jey via Splash) Immediately after the promo they left the curtain to their entrance, the yellow, white and pink was...a choice, kinda miss the comic book attires. The Usos came out with the Leis and their regular gear.

Rey and Jimmy started lightning quick, Rey setting up a 619 with a rana but Jimmy rolling out of the ring, eating a basement dropkick. Jey's intervening is stopped by Dom who drops him sluggishly into his brother before he's tagged in, Rey hits the baseball slide splash and Dom the crossbody. In the ring Dom's second crossbody gets 2, three amigos by Dom but he shifted Jimmy too close to Jey, who managed to tag a leg, meaning that Jey throws Dom off the turnbuckle when he tries a Frog Splash. Jey taunts Dom after hitting him into the ring post (who has had a lot of mileage already), gesturing him to try and tag his father before cinching a headlock, Dom tries to fight back but is thrown to the other corner, Jimmy is tagged in and they hit a Backbreaker/Ax Handle combo. Jimmy taunts Dom the same way, diving headbutt for 2, the Usos spend too much time taunting Dom in their corner as the younger Mysterio staggers the twins with elbows, his rush for his father is cut off by a very nonchalant uppercut by Jey (McAfee literally yelling HADOUKEN was amazing). Jey continues to posture after suplexes and more taunting, they look for the third suplex but Dom hooks his leg, reversing it into a twisting neckbeaker.

Rey gets the hot tag as Jey tags Jimmy, planting the Uso with a tornado DDT for 2. Seated Senton and a forearm to Jey on the Apron leads to Rey walking into a Superkick for 2. Both Usos stalk Rey, looking to do a pop-up Powerbomb, but Rey ranas Jimmy out the ring, Jey gets him with a superkick to the gut, then a superkick to counter Rey's springboard crossbody, he hits the Splash but it only gets 2. Jey looks frustrated and tags Jimmy to set up the double splash, but Dom cuts Jey off, he tries to suplex Jey onto the apron but Jey drops him with a front-facing suplex instead. The delay is sufficient though since Rey rolls away from Jimmy's splash, headscissors setup, 619 for a big pop, he goes for the Frog Splash but Jimmy gets the knees up. Superkick by Jimmy, tags in Jey, double Superkick, splash by Jey and 3.

*sigh* Can Rey stop being pinned? It's not like Dom doesn't know how to take a pin. It's, it's sucky really, I've said it enough times but Rey deserves more than this given his popularity and past title wins, WWE would not do this to the likes of Edge or Cena, Angle or Goldberg, hell they wouldn't even do this to Eddie and yet Rey gets this treatment as thanks for being full time. Granted, it took like 3 finishers to down him but come on, compare the light pop this match got when everyone knew the Usos were winning with the pop Rey's hot tag and his 619 got, he still has it and they won over the crowd, with more time and narrative to their match it could've been a classic. I'm just sick of seeing one of my faves lose so much you know, if the story is Dom's inexperience then surely he would be the reason for defeat, rather than Rey being ganged up on.

Tiffany Haddish (who??) interviews Priest on his title win, apparently Priest hates bullies and he's happy...not as cool as his NA title win in the hot tub though. Summerslam could've fit in a hot tub

Rick Boogs then shreds the guitar as he welcomes King Nakamura. McAfee is dancing like a goof again on the table and Nakamura's crown falls off, but he makes up for it by playing the IC title like a guitar with Pat. He's disappeared after the Belair/Sasha package though...kinda confusing why that was there.

SD Women's Championship: Bianca BelAir (c) vs Sasha Banks CANCELLED As Bianca enters with SD Women's Title prints on her gear, the announcer says that Sasha is unable to compete, so Carmella is fighting in her stead. A shame but obviously not intended.

Bianca BelAir (c) vs Carmella INTERRUPTED Props to McAfee for noting the collective disappointment. BelAir looks disappointed too and tells Carmella that she's gonna dish out her frustration on Carmella. The title is aloft but then

Becky Lynch is here

Cameras are not showing enough of her on her return as Bianca buzzes, the crowd is on their feet. Becky's got a thicker mane than I remember, maybe it's the curls, a new shirt of 'The Man's back in Vegas' is worn by Becky too as she soaks in her pop. When the cameras stop long enough to focus on Becky she is looking extra lean. She attacks Carmella and dumps her out of the ring, she tells Bianca she'll be right back and throws Carmella into the steps, before standing off with Bianca. She grabs a microphone and asks for a title match, BelAir mulls it, but eventually accepts.

Becky Lynch def. Bianca BelAir (c) [TITLE CHANGE] (Pinfall via Manhandle Slam) Both women are amped up, Lynch offers a handshake but the moment they touch, she socks Bianca, Manhandle Slam and 3. Becky celebrates as BelAir looks stunned and a little shafted, Becky does gesture no hard feelings but, BelAir does have hard feelings.

It's a big pop for Becky's return, though I would've rather seen you know, a match. I love Becky, she's been one of my favourite women's wrestlers in WWE before she was even The Man, and I am psyched she's back, but BelAir vs Becky could've been a good match. we didn't need the Carmella stuff either just have BelAir call an open challenge in Sasha's absence. Also as thin as the SD Women's Division was Becky probably would've fit more for the Raw Women's Title situation, since we last saw her vacating it and that shit's on heavy life support, plus I was kinda hoping that Bianca could beat Sasha but Sasha would win later down the line so we could build Liv Morgan for a title win, I guess October's draft could still open it up. But yeah, happy to see Becky back.

Wrestling Olympic Gold Medalists Tamyra Mensah-Stock and Gable Stevenson come out next, I know WWE have been hot on Gable but after the scripts' comments on Simone Biles it feels forced. Tamyra was at least happy to be here.

Extreme Rules promo is next.

Drew McIntyre def. Jinder Mahal (Pinfall via Claymore) Jinder comes out first, Veer and Shanky only able to stand at the ramp and go to the back. Drew comes with his sword to summon...smoke? You can see how dull that sword is too.

Drew starts the match strong by throwing Jinder in the corner, kicks and chops followed by throws, he motions for Claymore but Jinder rolls out the ring, cutting him at the legs. Jinder's attempt to regain momentum is countered with a belly to belly, so next he tries to appeal to their past friendship but Drew isn't having it. He tries the Futureshock but Jinder kicks him in the face, stunning him for 2. Knee drops and knee chokes are followed by clubs to Drew's head and a choke, but Drew powers out and hits a Glasgow Kiss (which they called a Glaz-gao kiss, it's not that hard to say Glasgow), some more Belly to Bellies leads to a Futureshock and a kip up, 3, 2, 1, Claymore, 1, 2, 3.

McIntyre stepped over Jinder as he celebrated, Veer and Shanky tended to Jinder and then Drew grabbed his sword and started swinging...like the face he is trying to murder these dudes for tending to their boss.

Okay. Easy pop having squashed Jinder, did this need to be on PPV? Probably not, this and Bliss/Eva could've been done on Raw, rather than steal time from Usos/Mysterios and a potential Becky/BelAir banger. Nobody really got over or elevated with this.

Raw Women's Championship: Charlotte Flair def. Nikki A.S.H. (c) and Rhea Ripley [TITLE CHANGE] (Submission on Nikki by Charlotte via Figure Eight) Uncharacteristically, Nikki came out first to nothing, not a pop or a boo, it kinda sounded like fake crowd noises when we had one pop. Rhea got a mini pop next, but loud woos for Charlotte? Don't buy that especially given how she's meant to be the heel. She's in kinda Thanos gear too. The pops were louder for Rhea when her name was announced, Nikki's was mixed and Charlotte had some boos.

The bell rings as Charlotte shoves Nikki, telling her to get out the ring. Rhea shoves Charlotte but Nikki dumps Rhea out the ring, a Monkey Flip to Charlotte then a Rollup on Rhea for 1. Charlotte dumps Rhea as the two tussle, Nikki coming back to boot Charlotte off the apron as part of a bulldog on Rhea. Rhea keeps trying to keep a hold of Nikki but Nikki keeps rolling her up. Charlotte throws Nikki into Rhea like a spear then lariats Rhea and exploder's Nikki. Rhea and Charlotte trade advantages around the turnbuckle, Charlotte fights off a Nikki crossbody and powerslams Nikki onto Rhea, she tries the moonsault but Rhea gets her feet up, Nikki rolls her up but Rhea pulls her off, tries the Riptide but Nikki shifts her weight to splash her. Nikki headscissors Charlotte but is booted by Rhea, Charlotte then boots Rhea and taunts her, Rhea then starts finding energy, a Northern Lights for 1 but Charlotte then regains momentum, a huge big boot to dump Rhea out the ring, but Nikki then tornado DDTs Charlotte for 2. Basement Dropkick to Rhea gives Charlotte time to catch Nikki but Rhea german's them both, Missile Dropkick to Charlotte by Rhea only gets 2 as Charlotte flees to the outside. The two trade blows on the outside, to be flattened by Nikki's crossbody.

Pulling Charlotte in the ring, Charlotte resists the suplex, but Rhea comes in to double up on Charlotte, only for Charlotte to reverse it to a double DDT, Flair chops are suppressed but Charlotte still manages to fend off Nikki and Rhea, Corkscrew Moonsault on the outside takes the two out. She drags Rhea in but Rhea gets a boot, Nikki tries to roll up Rhea but only gets 2. Rhea's limping a bit but still kicks Nikki and cinches in her Inverted Cloverleaf, she dodges the Big Boot from Charlotte (perhaps inadvertently) and locks it into Charlotte, but she rolls through and gets the Figure 8, which is broken by Nikki's knee drop. Nikki hits a Purge but it's broken up by Rhea, she sets another Riptide but again Nikki counters this time with a Reverse Tornado DDT, dumping Rhea out the ring. Nikki sees Charlotte prone, setting up the Crossbody, but she misses, Charlotte locks the Figure 8 and taps.

Abrupt finish, it was a really well-worked match selling the chaos of the triple threat. But I never felt like Charlotte was in danger of losing, Nikki wasn't working because they rushed her new character without getting her over, so of course WWE were gonna fall back to ye olde Charlotte title win. The narrative didn't help either, she seemed like the babyface and again, didn't feel threatened, I never saw the opening for Charlotte to lose. In a vacuum it was a good match, as a whole though, since Rhea won the title at mania nobody's gotten over, they made an absolute hash of the Charlotte feud to the point where we didn't even feel invested in Rhea getting a win back, then we fast tracked a cash in. The only one who profited here was Charlotte, who got to add 2 more title reigns to her name on paper, had Becky came here to make it a 4-Way and won, it'd probably have been more hopeful because now, who is next? Asuka's AWOL, Shayna's buried, Alexa's on spooky shits, Rhea's broken, Nikki isn't getting over, who can Charlotte face at this point?

Edge def. Seth Rollins (Submission via Crossface) Dressed like some aristocrat, Seth entered first half smug half focused, it may've dragged on a bit long. Edge didn't come out to Metalingus, but instead he came out in the fires of the Brood, with the dark sunglasses, fire and the elevated platform to boot, but then Metalingus came out to give the people what they want.

The bell rings but there's a long pause to soak in the crowd investment. Edge has the early advantage with a swift punch, every time Seth tries to lock in on Edge he hits back, annoying Seth as he mulls outside the ring. He tries the Pedigree but is again dumped out the ring, this time Edge follows and throws him around the barriaces, Rollins returns to the ring but is knee'd out, but gets some advantage by dodging the Baseball Slide and driving Edge into ye olde Ring Post, then against the steps. Neckbreaker only gets 2 as he continues to focus on the neck with chokes, stomps and slingblades, another neckbreaker leads to another 2 as Seth taunts Edge about it.

A diving knee by Rollins gets 2 as Seth kicks around Edge, he tries another neckbreaker but Edge reverses into a backslide for 2, Flapjack and a tackle into the turnbuckle, Seth fends off Edge at the turnbuckle though and hits the Frog Splash for 2 but for the second time Edge rolls into the corner to avoid the stomp. Rollins pulls Edge to the turnbuckle, but Edge hits him with a top turnbuckle spinning neckbreaker, Flapjack onto the top rope, Edgecution for 2, Rollins stuns Edge by driving him into the Turnbuckle, but he misses his knee strike into an Head Yank for 2. Edge goes up top but Rollins turns it into his Superplex/Falcon Arrow combo for 2, he sets up the Stomp but misses, tries the Pedigree but Edge wriggles out, Glam Slam by Edge for 2, nice homage for Beth there. Seth gets back the momentum though, Jawbreaker on the ropes then a neckbreaker on the ropes, Edge dodges the stomp on the apron though and throws Seth into the ring post (not ye olde ringpost though it's a different one) and then a spear through the ropes into the outside. A bulldog into the apron LED only gets 2, but now Edge is setting up the spear, but Rollins counters into a Pedigree (Pat mustn't have watched Roman vs Seth before because he said he has never seen that counter) but it only gets 2.

Rollins climbs up top looking for the Phoenix Splash, he lands on his feet and rolls away but walks into a spear, 1, 2, No. Edge now looking for the Killswitch but Rollins clubs then kicks Edge in the back of the head, he tries the Stomp but Edge rolls and catches the boot, turning it into an Edgecator, Seth reaches for the ropes so Edge tries to pull him back, but in releasing the hold he gets rolled up for 2. Edge then tries the Crossface, rolling to the center of the ring, but Edge slams his head into the mat and reapplies it for the tapout.

A nicely worked match again that managed to showcase a lot of Edge's past bag of tricks. The second I was wrong about too, I expected Seth to get some momentum to try and challenge Roman like he had been teasing before this feud (on that note, where's Cesaro? Miss that dude), but it was definitely something for the fans to cheer about. The narrative of avoiding the Stomp was also good for the storytelling, Seth doesn't lose anything in defeat either, he's took 2 spears, 2 crossfaces, Edgecator and the Edgecution.

MITB 22 is announced on 4th July at the Allegiant Stadium, Vegas (the same venue as tonight). Expect there to be a Murica match in there. In addition attendance today is 51k. We scope back around to Miz and Morrison's kickoff thing, mostly getting a jobber entrance. The moist jokes were worst this time around as they marketed the 'Drip Stick 2000' which neither had. Who did have it? A very wet and long-haired Xavier Woods with a cocktail stick in their mouth and a 'New Day Order' shirt. Woods convinces the crowd to rally into shooting them with a water gun, though it didn't really get a pop in the act, dumb shit really but whatever Woods' new look is I dig it.

WWE Championship: Bobby Lashley (w/MVP) (c) def. Goldberg (via Ref Stoppage) Lashers out first...no sanctity it seems. He's walking into the ring with purpose, his pose has no pyro though, kinda a lukewarm smoke that'd make Revolution 2020's explosion smirk. Goldberg does his usual entrance, lots of quick camera switching again. Dude looks a bit top-heavy tbh, skipping those leg days. Lashley paces across Goldberg's periphery, it doesn't look like there'll be underestimation in this fight.

They lock up first, a bit of strength testing, Goldberg tanks a shoulder block, grounding Lashley with a flying shoulder block, then a body slam. Goldberg is keeping the advantage with corner attacks and clotheslines but Lashley clubs at the back. He sets up a Jackhammer for insult to injury, but Goldberg keeps his leg hooked, he tries to lift Lashley but can't follow through and gets hit with a flatliner. No sympathy from Lashley as he clubs at the back of the head before uncharacteristically going up top, which Goldberg punishes by throwing him down, Goldberg looks for the Spear but MVP yanks Lashley outside, only for Goldberg to spear him on the outside anyway.

Goldberg sets up a second spear, but as the ref focuses on Lashley rolling out the other side, MVP thwacks Goldberg's knee with his cane, distracting Goldberg long enough to be chop blocked. Chokeslam makes Lashley look for the Hurt Lock, but he can't connect the fingers, as Goldberg escapes though he gets chop blocked again, causing Goldberg to leave the ring. Lashley follows, lifting him up and charging him knee first into the ring post twice. Struggling to stand, the Ref throws the match.

The match is over but Lashley continues to attack the leg with a steel chair. Gage Goldberg attempts to jump but gets wrenched with a Hurt Lock. MVP tries to assure that Lashley wouldn't have known that he was attacking Goldberg's son but it means little, Goldberg insisting he's gonna kill Lashley, meaning this feud isn't over.

The heat was right, the delivery was wrong. We've seen people beat Goldberg clean, I don't see why Lashley, who has beaten people who have beaten Goldberg clean, couldn't do that himself? Needing MVP's help flattens the statement made.

Camera work got a bit wonky there when promoting the Main Event

Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) def. John Cena (Pinfall via Spear) Cena's the first to come out, sporting a Super Mario-esque shirt showing his 16 world title reigns, the reigns also shown on the tron, they actually mentioned Ric Flair this time. The Bronze Statue hologram for Roman is still tacky, but he comes out flanked with his cousins and Paul, smoke again instead of pyro - I wonder if they weren't allowed to pyro. Heyman whispers the Usos to leave Roman to walk the ramp. I spotted an 'Anyone but you Roman' sign in the crowd, before McAfee makes me smirk again by calling Roman an 'absolute stud'.

Roman's a little ginger about locking up with Cena, but is goaded into it, winning the shoulder block. A second lock up leads to a Cena roll up for 1, trying to call back to the go home smackdown, another schoolboy for 2 but Roman laughs it off. Roman doesn't lock up again, kicking and clubbing at Cena while mocking the crowd, a lariat is reversed into another rollup for 2 but gets him back with a reverse lariat (he used the back of his arm, like a chop lariat), a Suplex by Roman leads to a 2 count, then the rest hold. Cena tries to break but Roman smacks him, another suplex for 2 then he dumps Cena out the ring, Cena blocks the punch and tries to flurry back, but is whipped into the steel steps. After some posturing Roman smacks Cena headfirst into the steps again, then posing with the belt as he claims that the crowd needs him, he saunters to the ring but walks into another schoolboy for 2, leading to another punch.

Roman insists that Cena can't win like this, but in his gloating Cena almost lifts him for the AA, which Roman counters into a DDT for 2. Roman almost looks bored, telling the hard cam that he's not apologetic about hurting Cena, Cena once again tries the forearms but when he tries the flying shoulder block he runs into an uppercut. Roman mocks Cena for having only five moves, but again it's a rollup for 2, this time Roman counters with a sleeper, Cena tries to fight but Roman puts his body weight on him, he tries again and Roman uses his weight again, only this time Cena launches him into the corner and follows up with a clothesline. Then come the shoulder tackles, the twisting front drop, but as he tiredly goes for the 5 Knuckle Shuffle, Roman snaps in the Guillotine, Cena tries the Jackknife pin for 2, the hold is broken but this time it's a Superman Punch. Roman wastes too much time though and his spear is countered with a kick, this time the 5 Knuckle Shuffle hits, AA, 1, 2, No. Heyman's having heart palpitations ringside but Cena's locked in the STF, Roman makes the rope to break the hold and leaves the ring, but as Cena looks to follow he's hit by a Drive By.

Roman looks to put Cena away with a Spear on the outside, but Cena counters it with an AA through the Announcer's Table, he drags Roman back into the ring but only gets the 2. Cena goes up top, looking for a dropkick maybe, but he's caught into a powerbomb for 2. Roman seems to be prepping his Superman Punch, but Cena rolls for 2, picks up for the AA but can't lift him all the way, allowing Roman to hit the Superman Punch for another 2. Roman is getting irritated now, Cena's been in his head after all, he goes for the Spear but meets ye olde ring post. Cena pulls Roman up for the Avalanche AA, he lands it, 1, 2, No! Cena taunts Roman this time, quoting his entrance theme then mocking the Oooowaaah, the Spear is cut off though, instead they trade blows, one Superman Punch, two Superman Punch, Roman declares he is WWE and lands the Spear, 1, 2, 3.

Roman stands over the prone Cena, but then the noise is heard. Brock Lesnar is in the building, and he still has the hipster look. Cameras lose control again as Heyman finds a conflict in interest, dude is absolutely jacked though. He approaches Roman in a staredown, but Roman just leaves the ring to close the night. Apparently off-air Lesnar then attacked Cena.

You know what would've made this match better? If the conclusion wasn't so forgone after Smackdown. Did anyone actually think that WWE would let Roman quit? At least before Roman's career was at stake there was a 10% chance Cena could leave as the winner, which would've made the nearfalls much more believable.

As for Lesnar, well, Vince always wanted Roman/Brock to be the main level feud and he's always getting his way. It'll draw, but it only puts paper over the submarine window that is the problem.

Conclusion

A good PPV though. I don't think there was any match that was awful. And that's kinda saying something with Eva Marie involved. Some segments and matches were, legless perhaps, stuff you could've be done with or even just put on Raw which is a shame because that took time from matches, as I said I would've liked to actually see Becky and Bianca wrestle and the Mysterios get more time.

The returns were good, I suppose Chicago definitely had nothing to do with that. But I'm not gonna be sad about seeing Becky Lynch again.

My main problem is probably how despite the big card, there was no doubt, I mean I got all but a couple of matches right on this card and it was because the matches were all built so obviously, those two frankly I predicted because I expected a bit more swerve. Part of it could be the fatigue of all the good wrestling we've seen so far but compared to other PPVs where I've felt on the edge of my seat or shaking in my ribs I just felt cosy, like it was a casual watch.

It was certainly not bad, definitely a good outing with good wrestling, but there is room still to improve on the narrative, and camera work like seriously learn to linger, immediate snap cuts throw people off. New directions are ahead to fulfill that so hopefully WWE can find a course to get back on.

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winterknight1087 · 4 years ago

Text

Hardly the Villains

Summary: Roman is the superhero Prince, who fights against the Dark Sides, consisting of Green Menace, Viper, and Shadow Wing. What happens when Roman discovers the real identity of these villains will change his outlook of them.

Word Count: 4868

Warnings: sympathetic Remus, sympathetic Deceit/Janus, fighting, injuries, cursing

Pairings: eventual romantic LAMP, romantic Demus, brotherly creativitwins, brotherly anxceit

AO3 Link My Writing

@rosesisupposes I am so sorry this is a little bit late! 2020 ended the same way it went. But still, I hope you enjoy your @sanderssidesgiftxchange present! It was a fun challenge to work on a superhero fic focused on Roman and Remus!

"Here hold this."

The masked hero barely had time to catch the thing thrown at him, much less identify what it was, before the stick of dynamite blew up in his face. If it were any other super villain, then this would have been the end of the hero. Yet, Green Menace didn't seem to get the memo that he was supposed to try and kill the hero.

The hero let out a squawk as, for the third time this week, his face and hair were covered in cartoonish ash. He heard the cackle of the villain as Viper told Menace that they needed to go.

"Til next time, Princey." Shadow Wing announced.

“Stop flirting and let’s get out of here.” Viper stated to Shadow, not caring if the hero heard or not. The hero did hear, but he also couldn’t see Shadow’s reaction as the villain scooped up Viper and vanishing into the shadows.

"Well, this was fun!" Menace cackled before pulling a paint brush out of nowhere and painting a tunnel on a wall.

The hero knew better than to go after Menace at that point. All of Menace’s powers followed cartoon logic. He had flown straight into too many walls to know that only Menace could use those dumb paintings to travel. So, the hero sigh and flew off.

****

“Like honestly, does that fiend have any idea how hard it is to get that gunk out of my hair?” Roman scrubbed his hair with the towel around his head.

His boyfriend didn’t even bother looking up from his book. “I highly doubt that he knows considering that he is smart enough not to be here after your fights.”

“Sure, I have to take a shower anyways, because of normal fight dirt, but that fiend just has to give me that dumb stick and I have to spend 5ever trying to get the stuff out of my hair!”

“You could try asking him not to hand you the stick of dynamite.”

Roman gave the book Logan was holding determinedly in front of his face, the glare meant for the nerd. “Right, yeah, sure. Something like ‘Excuse me, fiend I fight at least three times a week, can you like not hand me your explosion gunk sticks? Thanks boo.’ How’s that sound?”

“Sounds perfect, RoRo! Just make sure to use your please and thank you’s!” The third boyfriend said, swooping in with a plate of cookies.

Logan finally lowered his book to glance at his watch. “Hmm, you are getting faster at washing that stuff out of your hair, Roman. Patton usually has eaten half of his baked goods before you return.”

Roman managed to let out an offended squawk before the windows suddenly blew in, knocking the bug screen inside the house. The gust of wind responsible seemed to spin around Patton before vanishing. The man let out a small giggle before the chaos appeared.

Remus was shrieking as he scrambled through the window. Logan managed to count to two before a furious looking goose followed the chaotic man in. Remus was already running down the hall to his room, but the goose didn’t seem to be deterred, even if the goose had to make its nest and raise its chicks outside this fiend’s door. The goose would get its revenge eventually.

This time, Logan got to ten before the front door was thrown open with the other two. Janus barked at Roman to help him before sprinting down the hall. Roman shut his eyes to let out a breath, but a crash and something shattering sent him after his twin and twin’s boyfriend. Virgil let out his own breath before saying something that couldn’t be overheard by a loud beep.

“Patton, stop trying to give me a filter! It’s not going to happen and I think a murderous goose deserves a swear or two!”

“What did Remus do this time?” Logan asked, unnervingly calm about this entire situation.

Virgil ran a hand through his hair. “Jan told Remus to get out more and enjoy the sunlight for once. Remus pulled out his meme skills and informed us he went to the park. Then as Jan was congratulating him on going outside, Ree pulled out the goose and it did not like that. We’ve been following the idiot and goose since 4th Street.”

“I’ll go grab the three of you some water then.” Patton hummed as he went back into the kitchen, ignoring the screeching and thumps from further down the hall.

“I am pleased to hear you are getting exercise at least, Virgil.” Logan commented, returning to his book.

“I swear the rat is going to give me a heart attack one of these days, and then I won’t hear the end of Jan’s whining.”

“I do not whine.”

Logan lowered his book, questioning why he was even bothering to try and continue reading. “Also, why would Janus whine to you if you were the one to have a heart attack? I would assume he would whine to the rest of us, as I doubt he would whine to his boyfriend.”

“Janny, you would 100% whine that I was making the rat look bad.” Virgil stated, rolling his eyes.

“I thought I told you to stop calling me that.”

A voice at the front door cackled. “But Janny makes you go red and it’s cute!”

Logan raised an eyebrow at Remus, who now stood at the door as if nothing had happened. “Did you climb out your bedroom window to avoid the goose?”

“No,” He grinned. “I climbed out to avoid my bro bro twin. Pretty sure he’s still screaming at my door. Where’d Goose Janus go?”

“Well, Janus is right there, however, I am unsure what has become of the goose.”

“Nooo, that’s Human Janus. I asked about Goose Janus.”

“Do not call me Human Janus either.”

“VeeVee, your brother is being mean to meeeeeeEEEee!!!!”

Virgil rolled his eyes at the two of them. “Where is the goose, Jan? I don’t want to be running after the rat and a goose across town again.”

“Roman managed to get it into a pillowcase. He had the top clutched for dear life while screaming at Remus. Which means, we should probably get out of here before the goose is released.” Janus commented.

“Oh, you three are already leaving?” Patton asked, carrying three water bottles.

“Patton, you are amazing.” Janus stated, snatching a bottle from him and downing it in a single gulp.

Virgil rolled his eyes at the figure going for a second water bottle. “Probably for the best. Prince Whines a Lot isn’t exactly agreeable after… work.”

“Oh, OK. We’ll see you guys later then!”

With that, Virgil shoved the other two out the door, muttering that he wanted to go lay down and not move for the next year. The two left in the living room could hear their third partner ranting at a door down the hall, oblivious to the fact the resident was gone. There were also muffled goose noises that worried Patton.

Logan sighed, setting his book aside. “I’ll call Animal Control to come get it. You want to go inform Roman that his twin is gone?”

“M’kay.”

***

Roman’s day had been absolutely terrible. He had gotten a flat tire, some dragon witch at the store stole the entire stock of Crofters before telling him off for being in her way, and he accidentally dropped his phone so it now had a giant crack on the screen. So, when he walked in to see muddy footprints and what he would argue was the stench of a dead rat in the wall, in the summer, he was not exactly kind as he turned to face his twin.

Remus was curled around his laptop, furiously typing away on it. Roman noted the muddy boots that made the muddy footprints were hitched up on the coffee table, spreading the filth there too. Remus muttered something about ripping someone’s ears off and shoving them up their butt and that was the line for Roman today.

“Are you serious, Remus! This place is a disaster! When I left, it was spotless! And what is that smell?! Did you run a secret trash dump in here while I was gone?”

“Oooooh, that is an interesting idea.” Remus cackled, still not looking up.

If Roman had the ability to shoot laser beams out of his eyes, Remus would have already been a crisp of a crisp. “What are you even doing?”

“Hacking into a multibillion company for a sweet payday.”

Roman managed to get halfway through an eyeroll before realizing what his brother was actually doing. “Great, I’m going to have to burn that couch!”

Remus finally glanced up at the other, eyebrows knit. But before he could ask, his phone let off a ding and he decided that was more interesting. He snatched it up and started grinning. Roman watched Remus quickly throw everything into his backpack. He jumped up and grabbed a duffle bag that Roman hadn’t noticed. If Remus was covered in mud, the duffle was mud disguised as a bag. Remus sang out a ‘smell ya later, bro bro’ before he was out the front door, leaving Roman in the middle of the mess.

Roman took a deep breath as the door slammed behind his twin. He took another. One more deep inhale and he let out a frustrated scream into the arm desperately trying to muffle it. Now his throat hurt on top of him needing to clean up the mess his idiot of a brother left behind.

“Come on, Roman. Mom is paying off your car payments and rent for letting the bastard stay here. And you like not having to use 85% of your paychecks just to pay for those. Plus, the bastard spends most of his time out of the house with those irritating friends of his. It’s fine! It’ll be fine!”

He kept muttering this to himself as he angrily cleaned up the mud. Once he got as much as he could up, he took a seat (on the opposite couch as he now had to get rid of his favorite couch) to Google how to get rid of the stench. Like honestly, what did that bastard do to make it smell so bad in here? Roman thought it would be a bit better once some of the mud was gone, but nope, still just as bad.

Almost louder than Remus’s snoring, the Hercules song Zero to Hero started blaring from Roman’s work phone. He was instantly on his feet, heading to his room as he pulled it out of his pocket.

New message:

Human Computer: The Dark Sides are robbing the regional Walmart financial offices. That is two streetlights left of the so called ‘lame’ coffeeshop, Prince.

Moral Compass: Aww, I just put on the new episode of Steven Universe Future though!

Human Computer: I am sure they will apologize if you inform them of this. Prince, have you seen the message or am I going to have to hack your personal phone and laptop to get your attention?

Prince: 10-4 nerd

Roman grabbed his katana before rushing out the back door. He grinned as he twisted the watch face and pressed the newly appeared button. Sometimes making Logan watch cartoons and daring him to make cartoon gadgets was worth the mutterings and frustration Roman faced from his partner. The hero costume shimmered around him, concealing his identity as he took off into the sky.

Roman could hear the alarms going off. Even if Logan hadn’t specified where it was, Roman would have known where those fiends were. He knew that Patton would give him the scolding of the century if he knew, but Roman welcomed this attack. It gave him a means to take his frustrations off on some villains who constantly tormented the town.

“Sorry, Princey. Can’t let you go any further.” A voice commented behind the hero as he took in the scene.

“Oh look, it’s the talking shadowling.” Roman commented, turning to see the villain.

Honestly, seeing Shadow Wing always took Roman’s breath away upon first sight. Long wings were stretched out, barely flapping in order to keep the person up. Shadows were cascading down the wings, mimicking black flames falling to the ground. As for the villain, Shadow always reminded Roman of Wesley in his full Dread Pirate Roberts getup from the Princess Bride.

“Ooof, pretty sure you used that insult last week. Running out of creative material there, Princey?” That insufferable smirk!

“At least I have a variety, Raven Boy.”

“Mmm, creativity is not my department. Anyways, what’s up with the big knife you’ve got there? Wanna try slicing shadows?”

Roman had enough time to pull out the katana before the strange ball of frozen darkness was dangerously close. He barely managed to slash it. He still preferred Shadow’s cold blobs over being handed the explosive gunk stick Menace always handed him. Roman watched Shadow take off into the sky before swooping down close to the ground.

A ball of darkness landed right before Logan, or as he was in his own hero costume-the Human Computer. The villain was already rising back up into the air, ignoring the fact that he had just barely missed the hero’s sidekick. Roman threw himself into the fight, angry about the day, sure, but this villain just went after his boyfriend! There must be vengeance!

“Oooooooh, Shadow really does have interesting flirting methods!” A new voice commented.

Shadow threw some of his shadows at Green Menace, who was eagerly cackling. Roman quickly scanned, searching for the last of the evil trio. No sight of Viper. Then Menace’s voice forced Roman to turn back to seeing what the villain was cackling about. He did have to admit Menace and Shadow seemed to be close friends at the very least. Why does that hurt Roman?

“Let’s get this over with. I have SUF to watch.” Shadow commented.

“Okie dokie, bro-kie!”

“Say that again and I am sending you to the bottom of the Mariana Trench and leaving you for the eldritch horrors down there.”

“Pleasssssse, even they would ssssend thissss trash back to ussssss.” Ah, there’s Viper.

Menace was grinning as he pretended to wipe away a tear. “The two of you really understand me.”

Roman twisted the katana, mentally mapping out how to try and take these three down. It was always a difficult fight but Logan and Patton were better ground support while the dark trio kept to the skies, out of reach of almost everyone and thing. And because Roman was certain of this fact, he didn’t see the safety hazard strike him down.

All Roman knew was one moment, he was getting ready to whap Menace and the next, he was in a huge crater, staring up at four figures in the sky. The air was knocked out of him and his body did not want to move for the next year. Before he could reorient himself, the new figure knocked an entire building on top of Roman, trapping him under rubble. Not that the hero noticed as he lost consciousness.

***

The three villains stared in shock at the new figure. The new enemy hummed disinterestedly at the pile where the hero had landed. The new figure turned to look over the three standing before them. He had planned this entire take over and subjecting these three useless tools to his will. Half of his plan was already complete, now just to deal with the amateurs.

All three of them had lost the easiness they had with the hero. Now, they look furious. In fact, Green Menace looked like he was about to rip the world apart with his teeth. The new figure didn’t place much thought on that, expecting that reaction.

“Now then. You three idiots see how a real villain does it.” He stated. “I will be merciful and offer you positions as my lackies, but this is now my town.”

Shadow was already pulling all of the shadows towards him as Viper hissed at the newcomer. “No, you will not. This is our home. We will not let anyone else terrorize our home. We might not be heroes to the people here, but we will not let someone come terrorize the town we have under our control.”

“Shadow, Viper.” Menace’s voice was chillingly serious. “Now.”

Shadows shot through the air, stealing the sunlight and replacing it with waves of fear and terror, as a long snake managed to coil around the newcomer. However, Green Menace was the most terrifying to onlookers and the new villain. Menace was out for blood and would not rest until the bastard was twenty feet under for hurting his twin brother.

****

“…kidding me?!”

“What else were we supposed to do, Vee? Leave him there?”

“Take him to the house the two of you share! Hate to break it to you, but your brother is a complete dumbass; I wouldn’t be surprised to discover that he doesn’t know the truth. So, he’s not only going to wake up after a massive fight, in a strange place he has never been in, he’s also surrounded by his enemies!”

For all the luck in the world, of course this was the first thing Roman heard as he gained consciousness. The hero tensed as he opened his eyes only the smallest amount to see the trio of villains standing in front of him in a dark room. He desperately wanted to look around and see how much danger he was in, but that would require that he open his eyes and if they weren’t torturing him because they thought he was still unconscious, then he wasn’t going to let them know he was awake.

“I agree that he probably hasn’t figured it out yet, but if we left him, rescue services would have found him and if one of our identities are revealed, all of them are. What do you think the government’s first reaction to having the superhero Prince unconscious in some hospital would be? Hmm? We are working with what we can do. We wouldn’t be able to make it to the twins’ house without being spotted. We have our tunnels to get here.”

Wait… That meant… They knew where he lived. Oh no, they knew where he lived. That meant Remus would be in danger as well. It meant Logan and Patton were in danger. It meant that Virgil and Janus were in danger. It meant that everyone Roman knew and cared about were in danger because of these villains.

“I know that this entire situation is bad, but we’re doing the best we can. Even the walking ray of sunshine and nerd said this was the best option.”

Pound. Pound.

“Where is he?! How badly is he hurt?”

Roman’s heart might as well have stopped in that moment. These villains could do whatever they wanted to him, but he will not let these fiends harm a hair on Patton or Logan’s head. In an instant, Roman was on his feet, and shoving the closest figure to him against a wall. As he looked at the face he had pinned, his heart might as well be stopped as that would be a kinder fate than this. The face he saw, was the face of Virgil Storm-Ekans.

Roman stepped back in pure shock as his eyes swept to the other two villains, taking in all three shocked faces. Standing in front of him were both his brother and Remus’ friends, but also the trio of villains, perfectly mashed together. His twin brother in Menace’s sparkling green and black costume probably found in some thrift store, looking like some knock off Luigi. Janus in Viper’s black and yellow suit complete with the dumb cloak and hat. And Virgil in… Virgil in a black Wesley outfit with huge shadow-y black wings wrapped tightly around him.

“I-No… Noo… This isn’t- it can’t”

Patton appeared, blocking Roman’s vision from the three he hated. “Roman, hey, hey. Shhhh. It’s OK. Come on, let’s get you back on the couch. You’re OK, your safe.”

Roman was gently forced onto the couch before Patton started to heal the injuries he had. Soft blue light shone from his hand as each wound healed and vanished. Roman’s eyes were still trying to take in the mess, however. A creak pulled his attention to a set of stairs to see Logan calmly walking down, looking at something on his phone.

“Lo, do you have information on who the hell Orange Traffic Cone was?” Virgil asked, his wings fluttering nervously as they unwrapped from around him.

“I was going to ask the same of you. They were obviously some kind of villain, so I assumed you three would have more information on who or what they were.”

“Well, isn’t this a wonderful situation we have.” Janus grimaced. “I doubt they will be returning, however.”

Logan adjusted his glasses as he glanced over at Roman, pleased to see the boyfriend was healing up well. “Well, after that impressive show of power, I doubt anyone will try to take over the town from you three. I do wonder how the three of you gained so much power though.”

“We were the ones to find the dumb radioactive stone and spend more time around it, Logan. Proximity to the source of all of our powers.” Janus commented.

“Ah, that does make sense. It would also probably explain the extra developments as well.”

“Call them what they are, Lo. Mutations. Freaks like me… us have mutations.” Virgil spat.

Logan looked over the other, noting that the wings were tightening around the youngest of the group. “You are not a freak, Virgil.”

Virgil scoffed, “Yeah, right.”

Logan narrowed his eyes but could tell that it would take a while to improve the other’s confidence, so decided to try and improve the mood. “You are not a freak, Virgil. I know you do not accept it right now, but hopefully in time. Now, Remus, a question I have been meaning to ask. Did you really dump cow manure on the executive’s desk?”

“Wait, was that what was in that disgusting bag of yours?!”

“It was bull shit!” Remus cackled.

“What-what is going on?” Roman intruded, weakly. “Is-is this some kind of prank or a dream?”

“Roman, have you truly not realized who the ‘dark sides’ are?” Logan asked, curiously. “Did it not occur to you that if you got superpowers, at very least your own twin brother would also develop some powers as well?”

“But-but- they’re evil!” Roman screeched.

“Hardly.”

Remus knelt to look his twin in the face, concern filling the red-tinted hazel eyes. “Ro- did- do you really think that? Do you really think us evil?”

Words would not escape Roman’s chocked throat, but that seemed enough of an answer to the rest of the room. Virgil and Janus instantly backed away, granting Roman more space as Logan moved forward and took the seat on Roman’s other side. Remus looked at his twin in so much shock and pain that Roman wanted to lie through his teeth.

“Roman, while these three may violate legal codes, they are hardly evil. They are more like Robin Hood than some evil monster.”

“But today-“

“We were stealing from Walmart to give money to a homeless shelter full of full-time Walmart employees, Ro. What happened with that rando was unexpected. We still don’t know who they were or what their intentions truly were.” Virgil said, softly.

Patton took Roman’s hand into his. “RoRo, have you not even wondered why despite all those fights, you never actually ended up hurt? Not even a bruise most times.”

“That literally every hit that would actually hurt missed? Like I get thinking that of Remus, but of Jan and me?”

“But- what about you throwing one of those dark snowballs at Logan earlier?!”

Logan barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. “Roman, I’m not sure you’ve realized yet, but Patton and I knew who these three were. Virgil was tossing me a flash drive that I designed to aide them in hacking through complex security measures that I was able to use to further hide the true amount they stole.”

“You were helping these fiends?!?”

“Well, it’s not acceptable that a multibillion company lets their employees live in poverty.” Patton softly admitted.

“Why-“ Roman was just so lost and confused. “Why didn’t anyone tell me? Why was I left out?”

“Most of us thought you already knew. Virgil pushed for a verbal confirmation that you knew before letting the idea that you didn’t know rest. It’s not like we made any effort to discuss work out of very specific locations, which rarely intersect between all of us.” Logan answered.

Roman ran a hand through his hair, trying to process all of this. The rest of the room glanced around at each other. A silent agreement to give the hero a moment was passed around. Once they seemed to understand the decision, Janus glanced at Virgil before turning to Patton.

“Hey, literal sunshine. Can you possibly take a look at Virgil’s wing and see if you can heal whatever happened to it?”

“I’m fine, Jan.”

“Bullshit. Don’t make me pull the older brother card on you, little shit. You only hold your wings that close to you when they are hurt.”

“If you’re hurt, I can fix it! You don’t need to be in pain!” Patton said, jumping up.

“Seriously, I’m fine, Princey over there was the one who got hit with an entire building.”

“Vee, let Pat look at your wing. Traffic Cone did a pretty bad number on you, trying to knock you out of the air.” Remus said softly.

“Come on, kiddo. I’ll need access to your back to see if the joints are alright, but you’ll feel a lot better afterword!” Patton said.

“Ugh, I can see the fight is already lost.” Virgil muttered, before taking his black shirt off.

Roman had a lot of information to process, but that didn’t happen as he saw how ripped the other was. He had thought Virgil was hot and Shadow Wing hotter, but seeing the two combined, yeah, Roman was gay. At least he was also poly so could ask his partners if they were interested in romancing a certain shadow. Which if his super gay mind could actually remember anything, he would remember that they were actually already pushing to ask Vee out.

“OK, you have a bruised muscle and some of your feathers are gone. I also think you have a broken bone somewhere around here.” Patton said, pulling Roman out of his gay panic.

Janus immediately moved over, looking over the feathers before letting out a breath. “You are one lucky bastard, Vee. It’s mostly tertiary and a few secondary ones. But that means you were close to getting taken out by that knife.”

There was a small mischievous cackle near Roman. “So bro bro. You crushing hard on Virgil yet, or do Jan and I need to undress him some more for you?”

“REMUS!”

“Whaaaaat, I’m just trying to set up my bro with my hoe’s bro.”

****

2 months later…

“Oh come on, Princey. Surely you can do better than that.”

Roman was glad that most people couldn’t see details of them from the ground. If they could, they would see that Prince had a huge smile as he dodged his boyfriend’s shadow ball. It wouldn’t do him any harm, and in fact all of their boyfriends found comfort in the gentle cool kiss of them by now. No, Roman was determined to tag the sensor on the other’s arm, indicating that he won the game today. Can’t win if Virgil won.

Below, Remus and Janus were breaking into an Amazon warehouse to steal food, blankets, and clothes to donate to various homeless organizations. Once they were done, the two of them would join their third partner in crime to ‘escape’ from the Prince while the Prince pretended to hate them. Prince would fly off, talk to police about what happened, watch the Human Computer bury the actual amount stolen so that the company would just write it off. The Moral Compass would gently push a calm acceptance upon everyone so that there would be less struggle to hunt the villains down.

Then, the three of them would go and change out of their hero costumes and pick up the trio from their downtown townhouse. They would go home, order pizza, and watch movies all night, laughing and having fun. The next day, they would spend the day dropping off items at various homeless shelters. Roman would see how much it meant to the shelters to receive the donations, and it would make him wonder why he ever thought the trio were evil. Then the group would split so Remus and Janus would head to the townhouse while the four boyfriends would head to Roman’s planning a nice night with their partners.

And honestly, Roman wouldn’t have it any other way.

#sage writes #sympathetic deceit #sympathetic remus #superhero au #logan #roman #virgil #Patton #injury mention #romantic lamp #romantic demus #brotherly creativitwins #brotherly anxceit #cursing #fighting mention #sandersidesgiftexchange #sandersidesgiftexchange2020 #rosesisupposes

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sevenincubistolemyheart · 4 years ago

Text

Lightened Shadows Chapter 2

AU: Final Fantasy 4

Tag list: @xsunnyhoseokx @otomehideout-indecentconfessions @file-missing @risefallrise

Rating: M

Potential Triggers: Pretty descriptive fantasy violence this time around(boss fights will hopefully always be this well written; I’m real proud with how the scene came out so I hope you like it).

Pairing: Ever-evolving :)

Genre: Drama, Romance, Angst, Fluff, Hurt & Comfort

Length: 6.2k+

The air was cool from the little you could feel thanks to your armor but you knew it’d heat up quickly thanks to the sun. Thankfully, it hadn’t risen too much given how early it was.

“Shall we stop in town first?”

Yoongi stopped you as you turned in the direction towards where the cave you needed to go through waited with a gentle hand on your arm, your armor clanking at the contact.

“Hm? Didn’t you say you already got provisions just this past nightfall?”

He smirked sheepishly and shrugged.

“I may have forgotten in the midst of the men celebrating my victory in our spat. Apologies. Shall we?”

You nodded, barely holding back a sigh.

‘As if I don’t feel bad enough. Now I have to go get supplies and probably scar a few children in the process with my intimidating appearance. Spectacular.’

You entered the quaint little village just diagonal to the castle gates and looked around, trying to go through the brief list of what you needed in your mind.

‘It should be a short expedition; 2 days at most, 3 if we stop to pitch a tent after delivering the ring to get their explanation once you entered the village.’

You were sure you wouldn’t be welcome there for long. The town of Mist was known for little else than their reclusive nature and had never been particularly fond of those that hailed from Baron, so perhaps best you purchase one just in case they wouldn’t let you stay at the inn as you feared.

Yoongi led the way to the item shop and offered you a wave as he ran off somewhere; probably to attend to some last-minute errand he’s forgotten about.

“How can I help you today, my Lady?”

It was a quick transaction; you luckily had plenty of gil to spare thanks to the 500 gil provisions the King’s guard had insisted you take, along with 5 Potions and a Phoenix Down should the worst come to befall one of you in battle. You bought one more Phoenix Down for good measure in addition to that Tent and exited looking around to see Yoongi’s distinctly teal armor. He’d always hated that ugly green the other Dragoons were forced to wear, so he’d had Jin help him create his own armor once he'd been promoted to Captain.

Having experience building airships was surprisingly helpful in creating armor that could withstand some damn mighty blows apparently.

You exited the shop looking around for Yoongi carelessly as you walked through the town, trying to not draw any attention to yourself; only to look down in surprise at a sudden banging from your armor being hit repeatedly. A small boy was there, angrily pounding on your armor with tears streaming down his face.

“You took my Daddy away!! I hate you!”

A wince graced your face behind your mask and for once you lowered it, kneeling to the boys’ height and gently restraining his hands firmly in your own. You had no choice but to take many people to the guards if they happened to be foolish enough to run into you. It had been one of the ways you’d rose in rank so quickly; catching criminals. But...it never made it any easier to see the carnage left in the wake of your actions.

“...I’m sorry. I know there is naught I can say to soothe your pain, but all I can do is apologize. I had a duty to fulfill, and I did as was necessary.”

The child sniffled, but the hatred once in his eyes had died down to a mere simmer.

“You don’t seem so mean. Please miss...I just want my Daddy back. Mommy said he’s served all his time; can’t you get him for me? I promise I’ll work doubly hard to ensure we’re never poor enough to have to steal again!”

He seemed so proud, puffing his chest out, and as you released his hands he placed them on his hips in a show of how strong he could and would be.

A glance upwards saw his Mother suddenly rushing towards you both and the woman was on the floor on her knees, hands, and head both level to the ground at your feet.

“Please Lady Captain! Forgive my boy! He means no harm!”

Your heart clenched as you stood and the boy seemed distressed, seemingly coming to the conclusion that you were leaving as he grabbed onto your arm.

“Miss, please! His name is Raisoro. Even if it's not today please at least look for him when next you return to the castle!”

You noticed Yoongi waiting as the crowd parted and knew you'd have to make this quick. He'd never been good with this kind of situation.

You nodded resolutely, meeting the boy’s eyes.

"I swear it on my role as a Dark Knight…"

You met the mother's eyes too as your gaze softened behind your visor and you helped her to her feet.

"And as someone who also loves another. I will check and return for you once I next visit the castle. I have a mission to do before that so it may take some time but-"

"Thank you Lady Captain! You're so gracious!"

The mother was barely holding herself together at your words and you squeezed her hand briefly before you pulled away after a ruffle of the boy's hair and made your way to Yoongi who was looking on in solemn understanding.

"...Dare I ask?"

"The boy's father has been in prison past his sentence, caught stealing food for his family. I promised I'd check once we got back."

Yoongi glanced at you from his place beside you as a chuckle escaped him.

You felt your cheeks heat and huffed defensively.

"What's so funny!?"

He shrugged with a fond smile as he shook his head.

"Still too kind for your own good is all. Could have been a lie, an attempt to steal money, or a ploy to stir up rebellion in the town against the King starting with you by using a young boy but you responded so genuinely that even if that's what it was it backfired miserably."

He snickered a bit more, a rare sound to be sure for most but you enjoyed it nonetheless even as you blushed.

"It's my job as Lady Captain. I may serve the Red Wings but the townspeople are my concern too. I guess it probably seems silly since you're of the Dragoon branch, only responsible for protecting the castle and monster patrol.”

His laughter died but you caught the amused smirk at his lips.

“All the better for me. People can be complicated whereas fiends are useful for little more than target practice and exercises to bring my jumps to larger heights.”

You shoved him playfully with a roll of your eyes.

“Alright hotshot; that’s enough bragging. Did you do your little errand? I want to check in with Hoseok’s Mom while we’re here. You know how worried he can get about her when he gets stuck at the castle healing overnight.”

Yoongi seemed to hesitate at that but reluctantly nodded and let you lead him to the small house towards the center of the village where Hoseok’s mom had received her own home after Hoseok had received his white cape as proof he was a Baron White Mage. You knocked on the door and after a moment it swung open to reveal Hoseok’s mother. You smiled kindly, mouth guard already lowered out of respect even as she glared at you disapprovingly.

“What do you two want!?”

“I just wanted to check in on you. Hoseok wanted to ensure you were eating enough and healthy.”

She huffed irritably and leaned against the doorjamb as Yoongi shifted uncomfortably beside you, causing her gaze to briefly shift to him before going back to you.

“I’m doing just fine; no thanks to you. His Majesty’s recent behavior troubles me. I heard you and your boy there have been doing some just terrible things, under his orders or no. All I want is Hoseok to be safe from such gory acts and that’s your job as his lover.” The glare she gave Yoongi did not go unnoticed by you and you noted the way his whole body tensed and his mouth went in a firm straight line. “And that goes for any kind of hurt. Have I made myself clear?”

You maintained your amicable smile even as it felt like you’d just been speared through the heart. Your voice was unbearably soft as you responded, cursing the way it wavered.

“O-Of course madam. I will protect him till my very last breath if I must. I would happily absolve any pain he has experienced or will in the future if I was only able, so he wouldn’t have to shoulder an ounce of suffering.”

She nodded and raised her chin in superior pride at your answer before she nodded curtly.

“Good. Ensure your feelings forever remain so stalwart; as do your ideals or the world may lose one Dark Knight.”

With that, the door slammed shut, and the sting of her obvious distrust bordering on rejection cut deep as you all but stumbled away with Yoongi hot on your heels as you made your way through the little alcove at the back of the village to the river where you knew no-one would be.

You were barely maintaining the lid on your emotions but at the sight of your glassy gaze, Yoongi couldn’t withhold his ire and hissed through gritted teeth as he clenched his fists.

“Who does she think she is talking down to you like that!? Hoseok and you have been together for how many years now? 3?”

He snarled as he whirled to grip your shoulders unintentionally being a bit rough, not that it made a difference thanks to the armor guarding your shoulders, careful to avoid the spikes.

“She even dared to imply you of all people would be unfaithful. After everything you’ve been through with Hoseok and me, it just-”

He inhaled sharply to try and gather himself and his eyes rushed to yours at your watery giggle.

“Is something humorous?”

He certainly didn’t find any amusement in this.

You smiled weakly.

“I just find this all morbidly ironic. I told Hoseok just last night how cowardly I was and it seems even his mother agrees.”

Yoongi wrenched himself away from you with a hiss, eyes narrowing.

“You? A coward? That is comical.”

“I knew you wouldn’t understand. I obeyed His Majesty’s orders without a second thought. I harmed innocent people-”

“Except they’re not innocent. You seem to be forgetting that. His Majesty explicitly said they knew too much of the Crystal and its secrets-”

“And what gives him the right to decide that!? It’s not our culture or our way of life!! We’ve been focused on technological advancement rather than the power of the crystals for decades...why now does His Majesty seem so intent on them!?”

You covered your mouth in horror at the treasonous words that escaped your lips, and Yoongi had gone eerily still as well before he quickly looked around for any potential eavesdroppers.

Seeing none, he lowered his voice and frowned seriously at you once again placing his hand on your shoulder. You could see the weight of your words had made their mark from the grim look in his eyes. So it troubled him too. You always knew he was a good actor but his emotionlessness towards this subject, in particular, had admittedly made you feel isolated in your beliefs. Sure, you’d heard the rumors, but they hadn’t been raised by His Majesty as you had. Their opinion simply didn’t hold the same weight as Yoongi or Hoseok’s would. In any case, Yoongi’s low drawl of your name made your eyes lock onto his.

“They were deceitful and thankfully His Royal Highness caught it in time before they began a rampage against the whole Blue Planet. Let us be grateful for that and move on. Yes?”

Hesitance shown in your eyes but you swallowed back the bitter taste of betrayal on your tongue and nodded. No time to wallow in any case; you had Hoseok to get home to.

“Enough talk. Let us depart for Mist."

Yoongi finally seemed appeased and he watched as you raised your mouthguard once again though he didn’t comment on it as you both exited the little alcove at the back of the town, only for Yoongi to bump right into a familiar girl.

“June! How’re things?”

You easily put on a mask of ease, though at the younger girl’s giddy grin you found it wasn’t difficult.

“Oh, it’s been just peachy! You know Jin...always working! But he came home last night so to reward him I’m baking him his favorite pumpkin pie for when he finally wakes up.”

“He still hasn’t awoken? It’s only a little past dawn but I’ve seen him working well past this just last week…”

Yoongi mused and you saw the twist of a smirk on his lips when you shot him a knowing glare.

June huffed at that, shaking her head in disappointment.

“I’m gonna wring that old man's neck one of these days, mark my words! He works too hard...we’re not that hurting for gil.”

Her last phrase was little more than a mumble but your hand was already reaching for your gil pouch before you could even consciously think. As if anticipating your movements though, Yoongi took a step forward, hand already outstretched with a small pouch, filled to the brim and neatly tied off.

At June’s wide-eyed hesitance, Yoongi cut her off as she opened her mouth, no doubt to refuse.

“You’d best take it before a pickpocket does. I’ll remain standing like this until the gil is taken.”

His voice was a low rumble, despite his words as he clearly wanted her to have it, not some thief, and all three of you knew even should he keep his word like you knew he would, he’d merely reclaim his gil and find some other way to give it to the family, perhaps by smuggling it into Jin’s biweekly wages.

June finally took the pouch, and you felt a little misty-eyed as you watched her throw her arms around Yoongi, taking the Dragoon Captain by surprise and making him stumble and fumble to return her gesture of affection with an awkward pat on her back.

“Y-Yes yes of course, now just release me, will you? People are staring.”

He grumbled, and you were sure without his mask he’d be red as a beet by now.

Yoongi grew serious, however, and gently caught June’s hand as she went to run off after thanking him profusely.

“I want you to be sure you go right on home and hide that somewhere nice and secure. Only take what you need and then return to the markets. I don’t want you being targeted for fraternizing with the likes of us. And…” He hesitated but finally handed her something else you couldn’t see as he stepped into her space as he abruptly tugged her into a proper hug.

“Take that as well. Use it only if you must.”

He mumbled something else by her ear and then just as quickly pulled away. June looked flustered as well, a little nervous and as Yoongi rejoined you, you side-eyed him with a hint of mirth in your gaze. You were positive he could feel it and eventually after a minute of walking towards the exit he hissed only once you’d both been alone for several minutes.

“What?”

You offered a simple hum.

“Hm? Oh, I’m just recalling a certain Dragoon mocking me not an hour ago for being too kind. Yet here you are, giving away money I know you’d been saving up for that new lance you wanted. You even gave her a weapon by the looks of it.”

Your voice quieted for that last part as you drew closer to him to whisper and he merely sighed in resignation at that.

“Of course you noticed. Always so knowing, aren’t you? June deserves to eat. Did you not also happen to notice the flatness of her gil pouch? You know how much they’ve been inflating prices.”

You blinked at that in surprise.

“The item shop charged me the same rate as always. I had no idea…”

Yoongi snorted at that, cool and sarcastic.

“Of course they would. You’re the King’s guard dog, they know better than to draw your, or my ire. But the townspeople? They are not so lucky. There is a reason people like that family who pleaded with you have had to turn to stealing and they are but one of many.”

“And here I thought I was knowledgeable on the way our people were treated...how do you know all this?”

Yoongi shrugged.

“My men have families here; unlike the Red Wings who’re typically born into the military, the Dragoons have always been expected to be enlisters. The practice may have died some with the passage of time but it is still a thing of the present and I asked a few of them to report to me. I pay them a little extra on the side and they know I’m not a turncoat despite being close to His Majesty. You’re the first one I’ve told, actually and I know well enough you’re as good for your silence as I.”

This new information made dread sit heavy in the pit of your stomach. First a degradation of the King’s morality, and now even Baron’s shopkeepers were turning against civilians? You froze for a moment and swallowed nervously. Your King. He was your king still. The just and firm but kind man who’d raised you into the woman you had become. Deep breaths. All would be forgiven and explained when you returned. You were sure of it. Yoongi had said so and he was always right. You just had to have faith. You and Yoongi reached the gate and you looked to him as you ensured your armor was tightened and your sword scabbard ready to give you access to your sword at a moment's notice.

He too had done his checks and nodded at you, mouth now in a stern frown as he readied himself with grim determination for the journey ahead.

After a shared nod at one another, you both stepped out into the overworld and began making your way to the Cave of Mist.

The monsters had been gradually growing more and more feral as the years had gone on. Now they were violently beyond reason, willing to strike at a moment’s notice; including those who didn’t pose a threat. You remembered a simpler time where more docile monsters had been used to train even children, including yourself, Yoongi, and Hoseok. Now, it was a risk of death every time trade happened. Perhaps it was a good thing tensions were so high between the nations nowadays.

In any case, Yoongi and yourself were trained to fight and take out even the most intelligent of monsters thanks to being taught the ways of the sword and lance respectively by your King. Yoongi also had his father for a time to fall back on before he perished. Most monsters seemed to catch onto this and kept their distance from you both, but those either too foolish or too hungry to care still attacked. You remained unscathed, your armor keeping you safe from a particularly volatile Sword rat, the purple beast expelling it’s sharp spines your way. Even bringing up your shield, a few broke through your defenses and you couldn’t help your wince as they made contact with a harsh reverberation as they hit your chest and legs.

Yoongi took a risk and threw his spear at the beast and thankfully it cried out in pain before finally going limp. He retrieved his weapon and shot a smirk your way, and claimed you’d owe him a drink once you returned to Baron.

That was the only incident you had come across until you reached the cave itself. Since most monsters knew better than to start a fight with you both, you hoped those dwelling within the Cave of Mist would have the same ideas.

Oh, how wrong you were.

The larvae and eyewing moths inhabiting the cave were particularly irritating. The moths liked to blind you and the larvae loved to use slow, only prolonging their inevitable deaths. Blind was always a pain to deal with; you both being melee attackers and all. Sure, spell casters and mages were affected as well, but oftentimes they could locate the monsters or other teammates thanks to locking onto their energy if they were fast enough. No such luck here.

Still, you managed to take them out. However, something strange had occurred, twice now which was not to your liking.

A voice had called out to you, ghostly and ominous, ordering you both to return whence you came. It had no discernable gender, but the lilt underneath the words made you guess it may have been female.

Could this be the Eidolon you’d been sent to slay?

Despite the constant feeling of being watched, the journey through the cave was not a difficult one and you sensed no malice from the entity. Not until you reached the cave’s exit in any case.

“You are not welcome beyond this point, swine of Baron. Return to your castle and leave this place in peace.”

You frowned at that, ring sitting heavily in its own dedicated pouch at your hip and the image of Hoseok’s worried face in your mind.

“We can’t do that. Please, I beg you allow us refuge. We have a mission we must see through!”’

“As do I. I take it you mean to refuse my plea then?”

The voice had gained an aggressive but defeated edge and Yoongi stepped forward, all cocky indifference.

“We have given you your answer.”

“...Very well. Then you leave me with no choice. Forgive me.”

With that, the mist that had not aided your journey in the least began coalescing and you both drew your weapons in preparation.

A pink scaled dragon had appeared in front of you, and you and Yoongi could both sense the difference in power compared to the weak monsters thus far. You’d used up what little Eye Drops you’d had in stock, and now only had 2 Potions after healing at the slightest injury earlier, thinking you’d had plenty. Luckily you still had both Phoenix Downs should one of you fall unconscious before the other.

You shared a look with Yoongi and he nodded in understanding, before hopping up and continuing to move from rock to rock, trying to get as much height as possible to come down all the harder on your enemy. Not one to be left out, you turned your attention to the battle, knowing full well you were the only remaining target, and steeled yourself, letting dark energy surround you as you carefully fed just enough of yourself into your attacks to power them up while not causing too much physical damage to yourself.

It still made you wince and caused an off sensation within your soul whenever you chose to use Darkness but the King always said the payoff would be worth it if the enemy went down.

Said enemy roared in frustration and swung a large claw at you which you barely managed to dodge before slashing, watching as darkness coated the wound you’d left, seeping in and making it hurt all the more. Your eyes widened in surprise as before you could hop back the creature snarled and jumped, shoving you to the ground with its claws and holding you there as its face lowered towards your vulnerable frame.

Yoongi couldn’t have chosen a better time to come, slamming down onto the back of the beast, spearing the Eidolon with as much force as he could muster. You watched as blood gushed, ignoring the confusion that hit you at seeing the substance to instead take its momentary preoccupation with Yoongi as it tried to bite him off of its back to get ahold of your sword and stabbing its foot to make it release you.

It let out a wail of pain, and you knew you were close. Yoongi deftly hopped off and dragged you out from under the creature, tossing you a Potion before he unleashed a flurry of passionate slashes to keep the monster engaged and focused on him. You quickly slammed your mouth guard down and chugged the bitter liquid with a gag and a grimace, feeling the physical aching and the toll on your soul both fade as you regained full lucidity.

You shook off your daze and felt the power of Darkness fade as fast as it had arrived. Better not to use it twice in one battle and from the way the beast had slowed it seemed the battle was finally coming to an end.

Yoongi was holding his own quite well; he’d always been the more nimble out of the two of you what with having to find the perfect openings to Jump and all and he’d already managed to push the creature back some so you could recover in peace.

“Shall we finish this?”

He asked gruffly, panting.

You nodded, but as you went to strike now that it was cornered it suddenly...dissipated into mist?

Well, that just wasn’t fair.

“You will pay for that…”

The ominous threat was made good on and you gasped as a snow-like substance slowly fell around you and Yoongi. You fell to your knees at the freezing cold that enveloped you. Damn. This was why you loathed magic attacks. No matter what armor you wore it mattered not.

You saw Yoongi go down out of the corner of your eye and lunged with a cry of pure, unadulterated fear as the monster came into existence once again and made as if to strike him.

Claws raked across your back and again, your armor or no, you felt the impact and the pain shortly after, even with the adrenaline coursing through you. You were both going to die entirely if you didn’t do something now.

You tossed a Phoenix Down over Yoongi, knowing it’d take a moment for the bird of resurrections feathers to revitalize his life force once again, and stood defensively in front of him. A snarl turned your face to something ugly and you hissed at the monster.

“You want him? Then you’ve got to get through me first!!”

Your cry clearly met its mark as the creature roared in ire at being provoked and you neatly dodge rolled to avoid being hit as it attempted to catch you in its claws, scrambling for your item pouch. You shoved the last Potion’s contents down your throat before you let the power of Darkness surround you one final time, ready to sacrifice whatever was necessary of yourself to ensure Yoongi survived. He wouldn’t have much HP left - that Phoenix Down would only get him conscious and all it would take was one good hit for him to go down permanently. Just as you narrowed your eyes in concentration and went to swing downwards, Yoongi let out an abrupt shout and finished his final Jump; using the last remnants of his own power to finish the battle once and for all before you had the chance.

The creature roared, in agony this time, and you watched in cold satisfaction as it collapsed to the cave floor in defeat.

Without so much as a look at the monster that had nearly killed your closest friend you ran over to Yoongi and forced his arm over your shoulder.

“What are you-?”

“Don’t pretend you aren't barely hanging onto consciousness right now you idiot. I know how Phoenix Downs work. It may revitalize you but it’s only enough to get you off the floor unless you also have a Potion or more on hand.”

You began trudging to the cave’s exit, squinting into the dusk.

“We’re making a tent for the night, understand? We’ll go to Mist at first light. You’re in no condition to do anything right now besides recover. I’ll take watch after tending to your wounds and you’ll go right to sleep.”

Yoongi chuckled under his breath until he was forced to cough in pain and you frowned in annoyance at him briefly as fresh air greeted you both. It was a welcome change to the musky cave scent you’d both been stuck with for the past many hours you’d been stuck there. That damn mist had definitely cost you time and from how dark it was outside, you’d been there at least half a day. You'd made good time, if nothing else.

“What’s so funny?”

“You can be such a parent sometimes. I’m fine. Being knocked out happens in fights sometimes. Besides, I managed to save you, didn’t I? I’d say I recovered just fine.”

He muttered cheekily, his voice gruff from being drawn unwillingly out of his unconscious state earlier.

You grumbled at that.

“I had it under control. And anyway...it’s dead. That’s all that matters. The only thing left to do now is to give this ring to Mist and see what they make of it. Surely one of them must know, else his Majesty would not have sent us here.”

You gently set Yoongi down onto a grassy hill you’d found, spotting Mist awaiting you both at the bottom. You were a little winded from carrying his weight; like it or not you were smaller and still weaker than him when it came to straight strength. A quick glance around made you relax a little as you sat down as well, taking off your helmet and letting yourself gulp in the fresh air with relief. It really had felt stuffy in that damn cave. Yoongi meanwhile was stripping himself of his armor, and you nodded down towards where a stream flowed steadily into the town.

“Don’t be afraid to go wash up a little if you’d like once you feel well enough to stand. We can go at dawn as well if you’d prefer, given we’ll be sleeping outside tonight and all.”

Yoongi leveled a glare towards Mist and grumbled as he ran a hand through his messy locks, brushing away the dirt from the cave clinging to his undershirt and pants.

“It’d be nice if we could just go rest at the inn but I know that’s an impossible venture. Say…”

He winced as he examined a few of his wounds, mainly scrapes, and bruises but he had a nice long gash on his arm and head bled a bit as well, most likely from when he’d fallen unconscious.

You could feel your own body aching but tried not to dwell on it, instead rummaging around your item pouch and grabbing a small loaf of bread you'd stashed away and a handkerchief Hoseok always made you carry. A small fond smile twitched onto your lips at the thought of him and you removed your helmet to see better.

Yoongi had turned his gaze to you curiously, expecting you to stay in your armor in the case of monsters but you sighed at his inquiring gaze as you stood and merely walked over to the log he was sitting on, kneeling in front of him and beginning to dab at his bloody forehead.

"Silly Dragoon. When will you learn to stop putting yourself at risk huh?"

You pushed the bread into his hands, with your free one continuing to dab at his wound gently.

"Eat. It'll help you recover faster."

"But what about-"

"I'm not the one who got knocked out."

You yelped as he suddenly grabbed your face and tilted your head to meet his steely brown gaze.

"...You'll eat half or I won't so much as touch it."

You groaned as you smacked his hand away, grumbling at him as you uncorked the only Potion you had left and spilled a little onto the cloth to dab onto the cut on his head, the ghost of a smirk tugging at your lips as he let out a hiss of pain and clenched his hand into a fist.

"You're such a child sometimes. Fine, you big baby. Just eat, will you? Honestly, sometimes I wonder if I should've picked up White Magic as well just to make up for your recklessness."

Yoongi eyed you over the bread as you sat back and sprawled out on the soft grass and nibbled at your half.

"Don't act like you're the paragon of strategy. I saw how you were going to foolishly put yourself in a critical state to try and take the Eidolon out. Armor off. I know you're injured too and we still have ¾ of this Potion left."

His eyes narrowed with a little playful sadism and you knew he was looking forward to tending to your wounds as well.

You smiled with a tinge of nervousness and shook your head.

"No, I'm fine rea-"

"I will come over there and tug it off myself."

"Y-You're too weak to!"

You challenged in disbelief, calling his bluff.

His eyes sparkled again and a cheeky grin now adorned his lips as he moved to stand, causing you to squeak and scramble away from him as you fumbled with your armor.

"A-Alright alright! Sheesh!"

His low voice snickered in amusement as you blushed and reluctantly tugged off the heavy armor pieces. They'd been dented something awful in that fight; you’d need to get it fixed at a blacksmith once you got back to Baron. Still, you had to admit having the added weight off of your tired body was a welcome change.

You were indeed injured as Yoongi and yourself had both noted and you winced at the gash in your side, not having noticed that the Eidolon must’ve managed to graze your side with its claws, fairly deeply. Your black t-shirt was tattered, barely sticking to your body from sweat and a bit from the blood as well. Your head was pounding too, the cool night air alerting you to just how hard you must’ve hit your head as you went down.

“Come. Shirt off; that looks deep.”

You jumped a bit in surprise at Yoongi’s voice right by your ear, turning to frown at him over your shoulder.

“I can take care of it myself Yoongi, you should rest.”

He stared you down until you caved with a huff and shucked off the remnants of your shirt. You made a good choice wearing your more flexible undergarments for activity today in anticipation of fighting. Made this all much more bearable, but Yoongi was resolutely focused on your wound in any case even so. You knew he wouldn’t lay down, let alone sleep until he knew you were at least taken care of. It warmed your heart that he cared for you so.

That warmth faded to a whimper as gentle fingers brushed along the wound assessing the damage.

“Apologies. Hm...Come. I want to clean this with water first. It’s deeper than it looks. It’s a good thing I brought that extra shirt with me after all.”

You felt a little woozy truth be told, but you were still trying to keep yourself together. Yoongi had been knocked out after all. He had to be in worse shape than you. You had to be strong for him.

Yoongi wasn’t buying it though. His gaze locked onto the way you swayed and when he saw you stutter a step as you went to start moving towards the stream nearby, he was quick to grab his shirt and rush to your side where he steadied you with a warm hand on your upper arm.

“Idiot. How did you not notice you were losing this much blood?”

You laughed weakly, through the dizziness as Yoongi helped to guide you to the water.

“Adrenaline is a powerful thing, as Hoseok says. I didn’t even feel it until you made me take off my armor.”

Yoongi growled at that, frustrated as he rushed to clean the wound, uncaring as you flinched at the icy water against your skin.

"Well, we'll have to pray my actions are enough to keep you from meeting an early demise. I know you're strong but even you are Mortal."

The wound now as clean as it could be without magical help, Yoongi reached over for the Potion at his side and poured ¼ of the contents over the wound itself making you yowl in pain.

He was too focused on his task to pay much attention, however, pouring the other ½ of the bottle onto his shirt which he pressed tightly to your side. He frowned seriously at you.

"Hold it there, understand? I'll be back in a moment; I have to grab your armor piece. It'll hold the fabric tightly against the wound for the time being."

You meanwhile were trying to cope with the unbearable stinging. The wound had been deep indeed. You could feel the Potions remnants trying to stitch your body together, to slow the bleeding. It was working, however slow, but Ashura above it hurt.

Yoongi returned after a time and you were surprised to see he was holding another Potion in hand.

"How-?"

He frowned coldly as he crouched at your side and you registered he was now fully adorned in his teal armor save for his helmet which he'd taken off once he saw you.

Your suspicion was confirmed when he wordlessly pressed a familiar earring into your hand.

"You bloody idiot!!!"

Your voice was a poisonous whisper, not wanting to draw any sleeping monsters as you scowled at him and he numbly handed you the Potion.

"Drink."

You shook your head.

"I can't believe you went back to loot that Eidolon Yoongi. What if you'd awoken a monster and-"

Your voice cracked and Yoongi sighed heavily as he saw angry tears make your eyes glassy. You could be so overemotional. You wore facades well around others but he and Hoseok had always been exceptions. You had no need to worry over him.

"I'm here, alive and well, am I not? My wounds are light enough that a good night's sleep will be enough. But yours are more serious. I’m not risking losing you for the sake of your pride. Now drink or I’ll make you.”

His voice lowered an octave at his last sentence and you glowered at him one last time before tossing the Potion back, wincing at the disgusting taste, but sighing in relief as your wound knitted itself back together, speeding up your body's cell regeneration a bit. It was no Hi or even X Potion, but it had sped the process up enough to be sure your body would be fully healed by tomorrow, and at least the bleeding had stopped. A touch of your head and you noted the tingling sensation had faded. Hopefully, any injury you had there had ceased to be as well.

Yoongi had busied himself with attaching just the armor for your side into place so that the Potion soaked fabric would be held against your skin but he turned his gaze to you as he stood and stretched, once again discarding his armor.

“Well; that’s enough excitement for one night. I’m going to go rest until we have to rise at first light. Call if any particularly threatening monsters arise.”

You also stood, your own armor halfway back on as you gently called his name.

“Yoongi!”

He paused, halfway up the hill. His hair was mussed from his rush to loot the Eidolon for your benefit; his long blond ponytail trailing behind him. Long hair has been a part of Dragoon culture for nearly as long as the profession itself had been. It was as characteristic to the culture as the Monks wearing it short, braided, or not at all. Yoongi had mentioned his father had explained that it was a demonstration of the freedom Dragoons symbolized and always fought for. He turned to look at you and his perceptive brown eyes locked onto your own.

You smiled kindly, gaze sincere.

“Thank you. I know I can be…”

You sheepishly rubbed at the back of your neck.

“A bit difficult sometimes. I appreciate it, and you.”

Yoongi scoffed but you could now clearly see his cheeks turning red in embarrassment before he whirled to finish his journey back towards camp to hide it. You still caught the fondness of his tone though, despite the playful words.

“Always so soft…”

You watched until you could no longer see him and turned back to your armor, finishing putting it on and tugging your darkened helmet over your head once more. Luckily the night was still with the only sounds you could hear being the stream beside you and the chirping of harmless bugs. The twin moons were both full tonight, illuminating the Blue Planet brilliantly.

Nevertheless, you decided to do a quick perimeter check deciding your newly healed body could use the movement. It was a peaceful night and you heard the faint crackling of torches as you neared the entrance to Mist. You couldn’t help your curiosity as you watched a young girl run to the river, bucket in one hand and a cloth handmade doll in the other haphazardly sewn together.

She seemed panicked and you faintly heard her voice carry to where you stood just beyond the tree line.

“Agh I can’t believe I forgot to restock!! Mom’s gonna kill me!!”

She finally managed to get the bucket full but you winced sympathetically as in her rush she tumbled over the bucket and sent water spilling everywhere; soaking her to the bone. Just as you debated emerging to help, an older woman with the same hair and eye color ran out of the town and up to her, a worried frown on her lips.

“Jenjia just what do you think you’re doing!?”

Her voice was much quieter you noticed thankfully; it would’ve probably been bad if any fiends had been awoken earlier.

The girl, Jenjia as you now knew her, looked sheepish and beamed nervously up at her mother, clasping her hands behind her back.

“I’m sorry Mom, I just realized we didn’t have any water to boil! You like to have your tea at night with Daddy and I forgot when playing with Cheryl earlier…”

She scuffed her worn looking loafers on the ground as her mother shook her head.

“Well then that’s a day well spent, isn’t it? I’d rather have my daughter home safe and sound than a cup of tea Jia. Your father will feel the same. Leviathan will keep our water flowing clean until tomorrow to refill the stores. Come along now; I’ve already put some beef stew on the stove and I’d rather it didn’t get cold.”

Your heart warmed at the gentle interaction even as a bitter twinge you didn’t want to acknowledge made your chest hurt. You had His Majesty, and that was enough. You never would’ve found Yoongi or Hoseok without him. You turned away as you recalled Yoongi and the girl grabbed her Mother’s hand to be led inside.

Best you were on your way in any case; it wouldn’t be good if Yoongi woke to find you missing, or if a monster snuck up on your camp.

The rest of the night watch passed uneventfully and Yoongi awoke, as he usually did, at first light.

You offered him a capful of water from your flask and he drank it gratefully. You’d used up all the food last night; you really should bring more than simple bread next time. Honestly, it had just slipped your mind...this was why Yoongi and Hoseok typically took care of provisions. You always managed to miss something.

You fiddled absentmindedly with the new earring Yoongi had presented you with last night. It was common practice within Baron to claim trophies from particularly tough monsters and wear them as badges of honor. Typically; you felt pride in a kill and yesterday your mind had been preoccupied with panic and anger but now that it was the next morning you felt no joy, no sense of victory, There had been...no malice or hate that you typically felt from monsters. And it had bled too. It was...odd.

Still, Yoongi had risked his life to get it for you, and King Odin would surely be pleased with the sight of it upon your return. Best to keep it on for now.

You jumped as a pair of armored hands abruptly clapped in your face and offered a weak smile to Yoongi as he held out his hand to help you up.

You grasped it, and he easily pulled you to your feet.

“How are you feeling?”

You couldn’t help the worry seeping into your tone but Yoongi waved you off.

“I told you last night I’d be fine and I am. I feel fit as yesterday before we’d even departed. Rest can often be even more healing than a Potion or Cure spell. Now then, shall we go? I’m sure you must be exhausted and the sooner we return home the sooner we can get you some much needed and deserved rest.”

You nodded at that, and after making sure you both had snuffed out the fire and that your weapons and armor were properly set you began your short trek to the gates of Mist.

It was a tiny village you knew, unlike Damcyan, Fabul, Troia, or Eblan there was no castle, and even Mysidia was more bustling and lively than the few houses dwelling here. It was humble to be sure, but there was a peace and a sense of sincerity here that you doubted you could find anywhere else.

You fingered the box holding the ring in your pocket, a bit nervous now that you were here. Baron and Mist had never had particularly good relations. You prayed that the King asking for their input would establish a rapport and help you maintain a good relationship. You lowered your face visor, figuring being able to see some part of you that was human behind your demonic looking armor would help put them at ease.

As Yoongi and you both entered the village you noticed the civilians within already began side-eying you distrustingly and couldn’t help but wonder if word of Mysidia had already spread but quickly reminded yourself that that was impossible. After all; Troia was the only neighboring kingdom and they would’ve had to have taken an airship here just to inform them. A general lack of airships besides Baron aside, Troia was always neutral anyway and pretty much entirely isolated.

Guess tensions with Baron really were high then.

You suddenly noticed a woman approaching you and recognized her as the mother from last night. Her daughter clutched at her skirt, observing you with curious if shy eyes. You smiled at her while Yoongi offered a respectful nod to the mother.

“Good day ma’am we were just-”

His words were cut off by your pained yelp as you ripped the now searing box that held the ring out of its pouch. You’d been so preoccupied with calming down the young girl you hadn’t noticed the rising temperature until it was near scorching.

“The ring!”

The box was rustling wildly of its own accord as it hit the ground, and Yoongi frowned deeply in confusion only to roughly pull you back several feet as he too jumped back.

The woman too had shoved her daughter behind her and was examining the box before recognition lit her eyes.

“This is-!”

Boom

The box exploded open and Bomb monsters hidden inside didn’t waste any time as they began setting fire to anything and anyone they could. In seconds the village was burning and the smell of burning flesh was everywhere. You could do little more than watch in horrified shock as smoke already was causing your eyes to burn at the spot the woman had just been. That initial violent opening of the box had scorched the poor woman...and her daughter you noted numbly, where they’d stood. The girl-Jenjia you reminded yourself, she had a name- all that remained of her was her doll, slowly burning away to nothingness in front of your very eyes. Suddenly, an abrupt realization hit you.

The bombs were carefully not targeting Yoongi and yourself.

You shook violently as words escaped your lips in hushed horror, taking in the carnage caused in the wake of your visit. It had to be a mistake, it had to. Yoongi would be truthful with you. You must’ve missed something. This wasn’t happening.

“This is what we were sent to do?”

Yoongi looked around with detached and grim determination.

“He wished this village torched.”

Tears streamed down your face and evaporated just as quickly, whether from the flames and smoke or the horror and disgust coursing through you; who could say? You trembled with rage and clenched your fists so tightly your already dented armor creaked a bit more from the force of it.

“But why?”

You raised your head to the sky and let out a guttural raw of pure primal agony.

“Why!?!”

Yoongi remained silent beside you, but you could feel the tenseness coming off of him in waves. This upset him too, you were sure. You numbly looked back down at the ground and it took you a few moments to register a new sound amid the now silent town besides the crackling of the fire and the creaking of buildings as they collapsed in on themselves. Destroyed in mere minutes.

A young boy sobbing.

You grimly raised your head and began walking towards the sound hearing Yoongi’s steady footsteps beside you.

You came across a mint haired boy, hysterically gasping over a woman’s body. Luckily the child was beside the only water source in the town; a small pool which seemed to have kept the Bombs at bay.

As Yoongi and you approached, he clung all the harder to his mother, not even noticing both of you. You barely managed to make out the words between his heart-wrenching sobs.

“Mother you can’t die! J-Just because your dragon did!!”

Yoongi’s eyes suddenly lit with understanding behind his visor and you turned to him in confusion as he nodded to himself.

“I’ve heard of their lot. Men who can conjure Eidolons...Summoners.”

It suddenly hit you and you mumbled to yourself as it all seemed to come together.

“Then the dragon we slew...was...his mothers?”

The boy gasped at the sound of your voice and turned to glare fearfully at you and Yoongi making you wince as you met his gaze behind your visor in reluctant admission of your guilt. He stood in an attempt to appear more intimidating even despite the tremor in his voice showing how petrified he was just underneath the facade.

“You...You’re the ones who killed her dragon!?”

You swallowed the bitter taste on your tongue as you pleaded with the boy. Moon above, he couldn’t be more than 10.

“Forgive us. We’d no idea this would happen to your mother.”

It sounded exactly what it was. Weak and pathetic. There would be no forgiveness. Not for this. Nor for Mysidia.

You forced your gaze to his deceased Mother and sent up a prayer. As if that would help him now.

Yoongi looked around and finally spoke up, tone matter of fact.

“His Majesty sent us to eliminate every last one of these people.”

Your legs finally gave out, unable to take the weight being placed upon you.

“No…”

Yoongi frowned as he looked down at you, assessing your condition before he began to move towards the boy with grim determination.

“Foul work to be sure. But we’ll need to kill the boy as well.”

At that you lunged, just before he reached him, hopping to your feet and pushing against his chest plate in horrified desperation.

“Yoongi!!”

Up close as you were, you could feel his breath on your skin, could hear the hateful sense of begrudging duty in his tone.

“It’s him or us ____!”

You pushed him with all your might, making him take a step back even with the weakness coursing through your shaky body.

“He’s a child!”

You turned to look down at the still sobbing boy who was too preoccupied with trying to wipe his tears to pay attention to you both.

“You’d betray your King?”

Yoongi’s voice now held a note of finality,

You turned to fully face him, clenching your hand into a fist and drawing it close to your chest.

“Betray him? Any King who’d wish for this is no King of mine!!”

You snarled, harshly swinging your arm out in a subconscious show of disgusted frustration.

Yoongi smirked at you suddenly and you found yourself startled as he scoffed in humor.

“Hmph. I thought you might say that.”

Your eyes searched for him just behind your visor as you grew hopeful.

“Then…?”

He looked off into the distance for a moment and then turned to you with sharp determination.

“I owe his Majesty much but not so much I’d soil the Dragoon’s name in his.”

He planted his spear down with finality.

Your eyes widened and you stepped closer to him in excitement.

“Then you’re with me?”

He made sure to meet your gaze and wordlessly nodded twice in support before he turned, this time towards the destruction, and walked past the boy as he spoke, looking out at it.

“Baron’s army is the mightiest in the world. Our flight means nothing if we remain alone; we must treat with other nations, share what we’ve seen…”

He hesitated and then turned to look at you once more.

“And Hoseok, he must share our flight.”

Your tone softened in affection for him and you nodded, stepping closer.

“And he will. Thank you.”

He turned away for a moment and mumbled to himself.

“...I’m not doing this for you.”

You didn’t hear him and tilted your head.

“Huh?”

Yoongi ignored you however and turned to nod towards the boy.

“Quickly, we mustn’t linger here! What of the boy?”

You didn’t even hesitate.

“We take him with us.”

After hesitating a moment you approached him where he was still crouched protectively over his mother’s body as Yoongi watched uneasily but stayed where he was.

“Come, it’s not safe here! Take my hand.”

You asked gently, holding out your hand to the boy.

He hopped away from you with a glower.

“No!!”

Yoongi growled low in his throat at that.

“We’ve no time; use force if you must!”

He joined you as he ran over and Jimin cowered away in fear disguised as anger.

“Stay away!”

You held out your hand as Yoongi and you both froze.

“Wait!”

The child began running in earnest and Yoongi and you both followed, hot on his heels when he suddenly curled in on himself with a choked sob.

“Leave me alone!”

He suddenly screeched as blinding white light surged up from beneath his feet and you could feel the magical energy emanating from him. Yoongi had faltered but you kept running, refusing to be responsible for the death of another child. If he harmed you so be it...you deserved it anyway.

“I HATE YOU!!!”

You felt the earth shake violently and you glanced up to see a massive Titan made of pure earth. The Eidolon raised its hands, your eyes widened and you lunged curling your arms around the boy as you crushed him protectively against your chest as hard as you could just as he fell unconscious from exertion. You felt the Titan’s hands come down onto the Blue Planet’s surface hard and your body flew into the air.

If you were to die then so be it, but let this child survive at least.

He need not share the payment for your sins.

You slammed against the ground hard several times, but curled your body inward all the more around his tiny body in spite of the pain, praying your armor would be enough to absorb the impact as you finally, mercifully joined the child in unconsciousness.

A/N: Welp, I hope those that actually read this series enjoy it; I’ve only gotten one rambly review on AO3 that inspired be to keep posting this so thank them if you enjoy this series and I’m not talking to myself. Anyway! Onto fun notes about this chapter! :)

I find Yoongi’s characterization and his relationship to Reader to be one of the most fun parts to explore thus far for me this chapter as well as how they fight together in a serious battle. I also delved into status effects some as well as the various uses of Potions! Expect more explained uses of items and such as the series goes on! Yoongi’s look hair wise in Daechwita perfectly fits both the OG character Yoongi is based off of(Kain Highwind). Luckily it hit me as I was going through mvs, trying to decide if there was anything that matched Kain’s lucious locks and there it was!

Also yay!! Official intro for Jimin! I know he’s never had mint hair before but I just had to include the nod to the OG game after doing Yoongi’s so...please bare with me. These are the ones I felt most fit what I was imagining.

Hope you all enjoy and please leave feedback it’s a huge motivator for me! Much love hope ya’ll are enjoying the influx of content from me lately! <3

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thelittleredheadedmusician · 4 years ago

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Halloween prompt: Alfred is getting increasingly annoyed at whoever is eating the halloween candy. No one will confess. (Bruce is sitting in a corner somewhere with a bag of... [insert Batfamily appropriate candy here])

Three Musketeers

Rating: G 1,844 words Gen AO3

Bristol was technically in Gotham City limits. Though the gilted mansions and private woods with pastures and stables seemed like a whole other world in comparison. The residents liked to think so too, especially because – despite Gotham’s robust public transportation system – it was almost impossible to reach the rich suburb from the city proper. It was because they lived in this separate world that Bristol’s wealthy residents often fought to receive special treatment or even secede from the city all together.

Except when it came to Halloween.

The residents of Bristol were more than happy to hold their trick-or-treat night during the same time as the rest of Gotham. Mostly, because it discouraged the city’s poorer residents from coming out to ask for literal handouts from them. The time it would take to sit in train stations and bus stops to get there ate up a large chunk of trick-or-treat’s two-hour window. And the walk from the last stop and between the houses took up the rest.

Despite all this, many made the trek out to Wayne Manor and its residents always made it well worth the work.

It was known that the Manor didn’t simply give out full-sized candy bars, no, they gave a whole bag of king’s sized bars. And from the entrance way to the ballroom off to the side were decked out and fitted to be a haunted house with games and entertainment and even more snacks. There was no reason to go anywhere else when you went to Wayne Manor.

Except, this year the seemingly endless supply of candy was mysteriously missing in the week leading up to the big night. Which was ironic considering the Manor was populated by detectives.

Alfred was suspicious. And annoyed. But mostly suspicious. He had raised the world’s greatest detective and then helped raise the current world’s greatest detective. In addition to the other seven vigilantes he’d actively cared for over the years. And countless others who hadn’t lived under his roof. Which meant that he was extremely hard to pull something over on. Extremely.

Yet, his stockpile of trick-or-treat candy was gone. Completely. And his list of suspects was long and skilled.

First, was Barbara because he loved the young woman dearly but she was a bit of a chocolate fiend. Also, if he could rule her out then he could enlist her assistance. It was easy enough to make her coffee just the way she liked and message her to come to the kitchen when she was working in the Cave one evening. She was happy enough to come up, thinking it was just for a chat but knowing something was up when Alfred passed her the mug.

They studied each other from across the long wooden table that took up the far side of the kitchen. Alfred sipped his tea from the good china that after the last family debacle was his alone to use. Barbara narrowed her eyes as her glasses slipped down her nose. They were playing a high stakes game of chicken and they both knew it.

Barbara broke first. “Is there something you wanted to talk about, Alfred?” she asked sweetly, setting her coffee down and pushing her glasses back up in the same movement.

“Now that you mention it, yes. I was wondering if you happened to know where my trick-or-treat supply is disappearing to?” Alfred’s lips turned up in kindness, but his eyes were hard and steady as he held her gaze.

An adult, a seasoned crimefighter, an honest to god superhero and yet Barbara wanted to wriggle in her chair, knot her fingers in the hem of her t-shirt, under that look. Pure willpower was the only thing that stopped her. Though it didn’t extend to her mouth. “No, I’ve been out of town most of the week.”

This was true, Alfred knew, but not necessarily an airtight alibi.

“Besides,” Barbara continued, “I have a Costco card. The Birds and I split it. If I wanted to eat a whole bag of candy, I’d just buy my own.”

Alfred nodded, lifting his tea to take another sip. He accepted that answer, she knew better than to lie to him. “In that case, might I enlist your skills to uncover the real culprit?”

This was what Alfred had truly wanted to ask, they both knew, and Barbara smiled in delight at the prospect. “I’d love to.”

The next suspect was Tim. He knew exactly how to cover his tracks and misdirect their attention. Tim was sly, smart, and still technically a teenaged boy so sugar was irresistible. Barbara set the trap, crashing the Batcomputer one afternoon when everyone else was out. This forced Tim up, out of the Cave and to Alfred lying in wait in the kitchen.

Tim had climbed up onto a kitchen chair to get at the stash of poptarts on the top shelf of the cabinet above the stove. Proving that he had means, motive, and a record.

“Master Timothy,” Alfred drawled as he stepped out of the shadows. Bruce had to learn the skill from somewhere.

Startling, Tim whirled around and nearly fell from the chair. Dropping the silver packet in the process. It landed on the tile with a crunch. “Look I need the brain power to get the computer back up,” he said hastily, glancing guiltily between Alfred and the fallen junk food.

“I am not here to reprimand you about the poptarts,” Alfred said and Tim immediately relaxed, shooting him a relieved little grin. “But I may have to reprimand you for sneaking something else,” Alfred continued, causing Tim’s face to fall.

“I swear, I only had the one Monster the other week. And I split it with Kon ‘cause we were trying to keep Bart from drinking it. Me and him on an energy drink bouncing round the Tower is way better than a speedster on an energy drink.” Tim’s eyes were wide and the blood that had drained from his face made the boy almost impossibly paler.

Alfred lifted an eyebrow at the confession. Not what he was looking for but good to know all the same. “And what of the candy for trick-or-treat?”

Tim’s brows drew together in confusion. “Uh, I don’t know? I suggested we get milkyways but if you got snickers again then I’m not going to complain.”

“So, you did not eat the supply?” Alfred confirmed, though the fact that Tim was already feeling guilty and hesitant to lie on top of the fact that he had no idea Alfred had purchased boxes of three musketeers cleared him of the crime.

“No?” Tim shook his head as he shrugged.

Satisfied, Alfred nodded. “Enjoy your poptarts, Master Timothy. I shall be moving them shortly.”

“It wasn’t Jason,” Barbara said over the phone. “I have a couple different angles of him being in Paraguay all last week.”

“I never suspected him to begin with,” Alfred admitted as he pushed the shopping cart, restocking for the big night tomorrow. “He never liked three musketeers. Dark chocolate kit-kats are a separate story.” He smiled at the memory of a young Jason carrying a huge box of the candy bars to drop in the cart during his first Halloween with them.

“Cass and Dick are out too,” she continued. “Cass laughed at me when I even suggested it and then confirmed Dick was telling the truth when I questioned him.”

Alfred hummed. Richard had been his next guess, though he was more likely to take them to hand out while on patrol or pass on to his friends’ children than to eat himself. “Master Damian is innocent as well. He scoffed at the implication he would, quote, ‘stoop so low as to steal candy from children.’ He also vouched for Master Duke and neither were anywhere near the spare pantry recently to begin with.”

“Security cameras confirm that.”

“That leaves Miss Stephanie,” Alfred frowned. Stephanie tended to decline any offers of assistance from the Manor’s residents that weren’t directly related to masked vigilantism. Though she recently had allowed Alfred to slip her gas money when she visited during daylight hours. The thought of her taking the Halloween candy just did not sit right with him. It was almost as impossible to imagine as Damian taking it. Cassandra was more likely to be playing a trick on them all, having hidden it for some soon to be revealed reason. “Are you positive Miss Cassandra is not the culprit?”

Barbara chuckled. “I mean, not really. But at the same time why would she? Though why would Steph either? I don’t think it was either of them but I can vouch for Steph. She hasn’t been anywhere near the Cave or the Manor since last month. What with school she’s been staying close.”

“Which leaves us back to the beginning,” Alfred sighed and got in line. “We could create a sting operation though I’d loathe to lose this supply as well. There’s nearly no candy left in the entire state.”

“That I believe. Alright, I’ve got the feed from the events kitchen running on one of my screens. I’ll keep an eye on it for the rest of the night, see if anyone stupid enough to try it again.”

“Thank you, Miss Barbara. I really appreciate your assistance in this matter,” Alfred told her before exchanging their goodbyes. He had plans for a little stakeout of his own.

Placing the boxes in the spare pantry, Alfred settled himself on a stool next to the industrial fridge in the dark. He typed out a careful message in the family’s groupchat informing them all that the missing candy had been replaced and politely asking that it not disappear again before the next night. They would all be getting ready to go out for the night so there is no doubt they would see it. And he would have plenty of time to wait for them to strike.

Hours later, the family was returning and Alfred was still lying in wait. A creak echoed in from the ballroom where decorations were mostly in place. The light padding of rubber soles on the marble tile came closer and closer. Alfred leant further back into the shadows as the door swung open. He held his breath, waiting as the guilty party walked into the kitchen proper, headed directly towards the pantry. Alfred slipped from his hiding spot, keeping low as he crept around the island to come up behind the culprit.

Alfred contained his gasp of shock and annoyance as he flipped on the light. Forcing the candy thief to whirl on him. “Master Bruce!” Alfred scolded. He hadn’t thought his first charge would do such a thing and hadn’t even considered him as a suspect.

Having the good sense to look ashamed and like a ten-year-old boy again, Bruce offered a wavering grin in apology. “You bought three musketeers,” he said as his only defense.

Alfred frowned as he crossed his arms. “And your penance will be handing them out tomorrow night.”

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magneticmage · 4 years ago

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Man, just thinking some more about my Baldur's Gate OCs;

Rune and Lucine are Folk Heroes. He is a Moon Circle Druid after a brief brush of lycanthropy (they were misplaced for the problems below and Rune and his sister don't know that yet) when their village was attacked by an unknown plague that was actually brought on by a devil, their tiefling paladin father Riven's Cambion father, in retaliation for killing him before the twins were born, and so he could transfer the "illness"/curse to their mother, a tiefling bad named Lunara, by making a deal with her to "save" her child in exchange for her taking on the illness. It's actually caused by an artifact buried in the nearby ruins that causes whoever dies on the "illness"' soul to be shunted off to the Nine Hells to fight in the Blood War. Luckily, most of the town was "cured" when they ousted the werecreatures and their father returned from his adventures to help nurse their mother back to health while they went off in search of a longer term cure for their home. They instead got kidnapped by mind-flayers and tadpoled into shenanigans. Anyways, his sister is a cleric of Selune (Light Domain) after they were saved from an ambush of the aforementioned weres by a passing cleric of the same faith (who, amusingly enough, turned out to be an ex-flame of their dad's before he met their mother) who stopped to help them defeat the worst of the "plague" at home.

Lyr(e/a/an) Lovemoor and Saga Musehart (who occasionally goes by her stage name of Muse) grew up as a pair of criminals under the tutelage of Lyr's crime-lord and human father (his Seladrine drow mother-named Elissahanna Lovemoor-having died from pregnancy complications surrounding his stillbirth twin and his births), Wilber Musehart. Saga, however, always dreamed of grander things and so pursued an education in the finer arts and eventually became a Bard of a Lore-based College. She even managed to teach Lyr a few things about illusions and glamors and other arcane tricks to aid in their heists (Lyr's an Arcane Trickster). She graduated with honors and had a bright future ahead of her, having finally escaped her darker beginnings. That is, until her foster father demanded one last job before letting her and Lyr go off on their own. The pair were eager to cut ties with the dangerous and shady life they grew up in and so agreed. The job was a set-up as Wilber refused to let anyone leave his guild of assassins and thieves and other criminals, especially his children. He bribed the guards of their prison to blind and maim and torture-but not kill, oh that'd be such a waste of talent-Saga in order to break her spirit and finally crush the hopeful defiance she'd harbored for years. They partly succeeded before they were interrupted by a fellow criminal and Lyr's elder human half-sibling Nel Silosen. Nel helped them escape from both the prison and the city, having faked their deaths and told them to only return when they were ready to help them end their evil father. They were headed to a private house Saga had bought years ago with a portion of her earnings from her performances during her school years when they were accosted and abducted in the night.

Faenerys (her child name was Gaell) was born the secret love child of two feuding wood elven noble families, with her parents names being Helefina Elendir (mother) and Faeris Rosandoral (father). She was raised by her maiden aunt (her mother's sister and baby half-elven cousins whose human father had died in battle, Keynala Iliren and Mialas and Aeven) and given her mother's surname. She spent much of her life sheltered in seclusion and passed the years by studying the magical tomes and scrolls between proper lessons by her Archmage aunt, quickly proving herself to be a prodigy in the Abjuration School. However, one night, a pair of strangely pale and red-eyed men arrived and demanded Faenerys. Her aunt sent Fae and the twins away but a mishap landed them in a parlor room of an unknown house. Worse, one of the twins had gotten stuck in a wall and their arm needed to be amputated. The resulting screaming brought a disheveled looking old elven woman to the room. After things had calmed down and the twins had been put to sleep, Fae discovered this was her grandmother and that her father had become a vampire spawn of powerful and dangerous vampire lord, who went by the name of Roxeiros, who had been hunting down all of his lover's family to kill them in vengeance for murdering his love for her affair. Faenerys set off to find him and hopefully spare whatever was left of her family. Instead, she was abducted and spent half a century as a prisoner and plaything of Roxeiros, who kept the knowledge of her existence from her father by ensuring he was either away on missions or, much later, simply dead. Shortly after her escape, she was taken prisoner yet again and this time was tadpoled by mind-flayers.

"Sable Shades" is the alias of Risdaer Ilaeliom (given to the heavy black clothes and veils he often wears), a Lolth-sworn drow Warlock bound to an Archfey. He was a Szarkai or a rare albino drow. He was born to the leading noblewoman named Matron mother Nhildra of House Ilaeliom but was nearly sacrificed at his birth, were it not for his father, Seladril who shared his condition, volunteering to become a drider. His two older brothers, Rizal and Quilyraen, never let him forget the great loss to their family. His three eldest sisters who were all also Szarkai or albino drow, Haelkiira and Elvandia and Charris, kept them in line from outright killing him but did little to make his life any easier. To that end, he spent much of his childhood learning how to blend in and become what others expected and wanted from him, always masking his true motives and intentions to get what he needed and wanted, a Charlatan in all but name. This behavior earned him the chance to become a spy and was as much to prevent him from causing further trouble (he'd seduced both a High Priestess of Lolth named Menzonae and a rival House's heiress named Lyzrima Baenoth and let them fight over him at his matron's request, which resulted in both's deaths and nearly destabilized the city's power structure in the process due to both calling on various alliances to "win") as well as to gain valuable arcane knowledge and items and wealth on his family's behalf to use against their rivals. He obeyed and, after a few years of adjusting and adventuring to surface life, met a mysterious elven woman who wore a crown and gown made of wintery ice. His attempts to charm and seduce her failed spectacularly. It was only when he admitted that he no longer knew who he was beneath the personas and masks he wore that she acknowledged him. She promised to aid him in his journey of self-discovery in exchange for a century's worth of service. He agreed and set out. Needless to say, he was surprised when Roan stumbled on his camp during the day-and then again moments later when they were both captured by mind-flayers.

Roan Roarke was born to a pair of farmers in a small hamlet. The local noble press-ganged the young and able-bodied into an army for his own gain and Roan was forcibly conscripted in order to spare the razing of the family farm. In the military, he quickly distinguished himself as a capable tactitian and Fighter (he's a Battlemaster). While he was out on campaign, a horde of goblinoids led by horned man who called himself Velkan (whose believed to be a Cambion or other demonkin) killed and looted his hometown. Unable to enact vengeance due to his noble patron having plotted with this Velkan in exchange for powerful magics and his family buried in the ashes of his childhood home, he moved on to grow strong enough to defeat his enemies. To that end, he became a Mercenary Veteran who took on whatever job he could, his morals fighting with his practicality for a time. One time, he took a job that involved hunting down a renegade drow named Jarimar Araburden with the aid of his elven comrades, Nymlil Tarn and Rhysyldrin Baeloth (sadly both of whom later perished when the illithid ship crashed) and received word that a mysterious white elf named Sable knew his whereabouts.

~For the Companions backgrounds, here's my best guess based off their skillsets+some of my headcanons and thus it may change as we discover more of these companions~

Shadowheart is a Half-High Elf Cleric of Trickery Domain with the Urchin background.

Wyll is a Human Warlock of the Fiend Pact with the Noble background.

Astarion is a High Elf (also Vampire spawn) Rogue (gave him the Thief archetype for fic purposes) with the Noble background.

Gale is a Human Wizard (gave him the Evocation School for fic purposes) with the Sage Background.

Lae'Zel is a Githyanki Fighter (gave her the Eldritch Knight archetype for fic purposes) with a Solidier background.

#my baldur's gate 3 ocs #Roan Roarke #Lucine Mistsea #Rune Mistsea #Saga Muse #Sable Shades #Faenerys Elendir #Lyran Lovemoor #my ocs stuff

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aliciameade · 5 years ago

Text

High-Speed Connection

Title: High-Speed Connection Author: aliciameade Rating: E for Every Lady Gets an Orgasm Pairing: Beca/Chloe...oops and Aubrey Summary: AND THEY WERE QUARANTINED. And Beca’s an exhibitionist. While Chloe’s Skyping Aubrey. Oops. (It was a prompt that I ran with.)

Also on AO3

“Beca is now obsessed with collegiate cheerleading.”

“She is not!”

At the sound of her name, Beca stops in the hall outside their office and then wanders in to find Chloe sitting at their desk using Beca’s massive iMac. “What about me?”

“She said you’re obsessed with collegiate cheerleading. But there’s no way!”

Beca smiles at the sound of Aubrey’s voice and crosses the room to put herself in-frame of the video chat a couple of feet behind Chloe. “It’s true, I am,” Beca says with a shrug. “It’s not my fault that Jerry deserves to be on mat.”

“He really does, though!” Aubrey says, eyes big and sad as she clutches at her heart. “I love him so much.”

“Obviously we’ve been binging Cheer,” Chloe says after agreeing with the sentiments. “What are you doing to pass the time?”

“BRB,” Beca says and then wrinkles her nose at actually saying ‘b-r-b’ as she leaves the video chat for a few seconds to grab another chair and swing it around to sit next to Chloe.

She listens to the two best friends talk and though they’re actively trying to not talk about the health crisis affecting the world, the conversation keeps drifting back to it and how Los Angeles is handling it compared to Mykonos. Beca lets her hand rest at the back of Chloe’s neck, a small bit of comfort in what are proving to be increasingly unpredictable times.

“What happened to that guy you were seeing?” Beca asks, hoping to find a topic that won’t be tainted by a stupid virus.

Admittedly, she isn’t super interested in Aubrey’s romantic life but it’s something to talk about and they have nothing better to do do with their time anyway.

She does kind of tune out, though. She’s been a little distracted all day. Her day had begun by waking up to Chloe’s fingers between her legs and despite the swift orgasm she’d been gifted, her body has been humming all day. Maybe it’s because Chloe had declined her offer to return the favor, citing that it was ‘just for [Beca]’ but she’s never quite satisfied if Chloe isn’t satisfied.

Maybe it’s because their sex life, which Beca would have already described as “more than sufficient” has gone off the charts in the last week. She never would have guessed that being forced to stay home with her girlfriend for days at a time would turn them into sex fiends, but in hindsight, she doesn’t know why she was so unassuming.

There’s something freeing about having no responsibilities but each other. Chloe isn’t exhausted from a long day at the clinic. Beca isn’t tired from flying back from New York or Paris or London. They aren’t stressed out about tomorrow’s schedule or bickering because they both want to spend more time with each other but their individual lives are making it difficult.

The most important task on their daily to-do list now is each other.

And man...they have really been completing those tasks.

Chloe shivering beneath her fingers gets her attention, pulling her out of her daydream of the way a strap-wearing Chloe had bent her over the dining table last night before dinner. She hadn’t realized her fingers had started wandering with her thoughts and her fingernails are drawing goosebumps to the surface of Chloe’s skin where she’s absently stroking her neck and shoulder.

Chloe glances over and kind of smiles but falls right into the conversation.

It’s the trip down memory lane that spurs it. She’s always been easily convinced to try risque scenarios when she’s turned on, and she’s maybe not proud of how willing she is to get caught by a stranger when Chloe has her within an inch of her sanity, but she’s accepted it’s just who she is.

She scoots her chair closer to Chloe’s under the guise of wanting to simply be close and lets her fingers travel up into her hair to scratch at her scalp, something she knows Chloe loves. She watches her eyelashes flutter and feels her lean back into it. Beca doesn’t know what the conversation is about anymore; she’s not listening. Her focus is on Chloe but she’s still acutely aware that they are on camera and their very good friend Aubrey is on the other end of the line.

Maybe that’s why she’s already so turned on. They have an audience. A known audience. Aubrey is no stranger. They’ve all seen each other naked, more than once. Hell, she even made out with Aubrey once at a college party on a dare. She also knows Chloe hooked up with her a few times in college, too. Nothing more than drunken fun, but enough fun that it happened more than once.

It’s a distracting thought and Beca lets her hand backtrack until she’s rubbing the back of Chloe’s neck in a gentle massage.

Aubrey’s words finally register in her brain. “You guys are so gross and adorable.”

“What can I say?” Beca says with a shrug and a smile at the camera. “I’m whipped.”

It makes everyone laugh and she uses the break in conversation to guide Chloe’s face to hers with a touch to her chin for a kiss that is better meant for the bedroom and not in the middle of a video chat.

“Get a room, you two,” breaks through after a few seconds of Beca trying her best to steal Chloe’s breath.

It works because Chloe’s breathing quickly when she pulls back, eyes wide in surprise at the unexpected enthusiasm.

“Sorry, Aubs,” Beca says with another smile at Chloe before turning to offer the same smile to Aubrey. “What were you just saying?”

It’s a legitimate question; Aubrey had been talking when she interrupted herself to comment on Beca’s physical affection and she has no idea what the conversation was about.

She doesn’t care, though. She just wants them talking again so Chloe remains distracted, but she can tell Chloe is already distracted, but not by Aubrey. It’s clear Chloe’s on edge with the way her jaw is firmly set, the muscle in it twitching now and then as Beca excuses her hand from where it’s been caressing Chloe’s neck and shoulders to move it decidedly lower.

She does check the screen to see how she and Chloe are framed first. The camera angle them cuts off around their chests which works for her intentions.

Her relocation is quick and masked by a routine shifting of the way she’s sitting. If Aubrey’s aware that her hand just moved between Chloe’s legs, she’s doing a good job of pretending she’s not.

There’s a quick, sharp inhale from Chloe followed by a cough, another action meant to conceal something. Which tells Beca that Chloe is okay with this.

If the cough didn’t, the way her knees tip further apart would have.

Chloe’s wearing thin cotton shorts and at the first touch of her fingers, Beca knows there’s nothing under them.

She can feel Chloe’s body through them distinctly, though she keeps her touch light. Nothing more than a slow graze up and down, not enough motion to be noticeable. It’s just her middle finger stroking back and forth and she smiles when Chloe’s hand moves to her knee. They always have a need to be touching, mutually. It’s not enough for Beca to touch Chloe; Chloe needs to be touching Beca, too.

Beca’s heart is racing and she hopes she’s not flushed. A glance at their small inset video preview tells her she’s not, but Chloe does look a bit feverish.

It only emboldens Beca to stop being so gentle and press two fingers against her firmly. She just holds them there for a few seconds because Chloe’s entire body twitched with it. Plus, she’s savoring the way she can feel wetness slowly soaking through the material.

Chloe’s blunt fingernails dig into Beca’s thigh, but Beca really doesn’t care. She’s too busy beginning to massage her fingertips into Chloe’s clit through her now-soaked shorts and watching her attempt to keep up a conversation.

It’s not as though they’ve never done something like this before, but it’s never been like this. They’ve definitely touched each other below tablecloths at restaurants with others present at the table. In movie theaters with people sitting in the same row. And the number of orgasms Beca has had on commercial airliners is quite literally illegal.

This feels much more intimate. There’s not the hustle and bustle of waiters and other patrons around them. There’s not a loud action movie muffling the sound of a chair squeaking as Beca’s hips push themselves up into Chloe’s fingers again and again or a dark plane, a blanket, and the drone of jet engines.

It’s startlingly quiet save for the conversation that, she can tell, is becoming more and more difficult for Chloe to maintain without stuttering or losing her train of thought.

“Chloe? Are you okay?”

Beca bites her lip to not laugh because Chloe’s flat-out failed to speak. She waits for her to notice and slows her fingers to give her a chance to catch up.

“I’m fine!” Chloe says with too much enthusiasm than is necessary.

“It’s not like you space out in the middle of a conversation,” Beca says brightly, fingers moving in slow, slow circles. She can feel Chloe trying to move against them. “I’ll go grab you something to drink. It’s important to stay hydrated,” she adds, directed at Aubrey.

She doesn’t know what’s gotten into her.

But it’s some evil sex monster, apparently.

She stands up and starts to walk away, earning a not-subtle whimper from Chloe at the loss of her touch.

But instead of leaving, as Chloe clearly thinks she is, Beca turns around and puts a finger to her lips to shush her. It happens to be one of the fingers she was just stroking Chloe with so she slips it into her mouth while she has Chloe’s attention, her taste faint but evident.

She kneels as she does it and Chloe has to fight to rip her eyes away from Beca who is definitely no longer in the room and return to her conversation while Beca crawls back over, out of frame, until Chloe’s lifting her left leg a bit so Beca can crawl under it and tuck herself into the space beneath the desk.

She gets herself comfortable, regretting a lack of kneepads on this hardwood floor (which they do own for possible needs like this) and smirks up at Chloe who keeps glancing down at her with nervous excitement.

Beca waits, though. She needs to know Chloe is okay with this, and if she’s not, she’ll sneak out and return with a glass of water as promised and wait patiently until the call is over for Chloe to give her what she’s asking for.

A minute or two passes and then with a particularly boisterous laugh, Chloe’s lifting her ass off her chair just enough for her to slip her own shorts off.

The way she spreads her legs and looks down at Beca is obscene in its own right.

Beca puts her hands around Chloe’s knees and pushes her open wider, more for the show of it than out of necessity. She wants to see Chloe up-close, see how aroused she’s become thanks to Beca’s little game. Wetness is already streaked high along her inner thighs and her clit is swollen and peeking out, but Beca already knew that. She could feel it. But it’s something else entirely to see it.

She’s not sure how much time they have, really. Aubrey might have something better to do and hang up, which in all honesty would be totally fine. Beca will see this through regardless. But the fun, the game, the challenge, the kink is to do this while Chloe is on a live video call.

She doesn’t wait or go through her usual teasing build-up of working her way closer and closer until Chloe’s begging.

She leans close and runs her tongue through Chloe, entrance to clit, and hears Chloe stop talking mid-word for a solid two seconds before she can continue.

Beca has to struggle not to moan herself. She’s outrageously turned on and tries to channel it into her attention to Chloe.

And she lavishes that attention.

Making love to Chloe is always an experience, but some are more heightened than others. Beca has no shame in the knowledge that she would happily sit and lick Chloe for hours and then ask for permission to do it for several more. She loves it. She loves it more than she loves most things in life. If she had to rank the things she loved, Chloe would be first and eating Chloe’s pussy would be second.

Everything else is after that.

It’s almost startling how wet Chloe’s getting. Beca feels it on her chin and cheeks and laps at Chloe like she can’t get enough (she can’t). Her tongue slips higher to stop avoiding the type of focused attention she knows Chloe needs and flicks it against her clit, now fully swollen and on display for Beca to worship. Which she does. Chloe keeps inching away from her as she struggles to stay still but Beca just follows, not letting her mouth leave Chloe for even a second.

Her tongue flicks and swirls and when she knows Chloe’s not expecting it, she lifts her hand and sinks two fingers into her to give her something to squeeze.

A moan gets her attention and she glances up to see Chloe’s head thrown back just as fingers slide into Beca’s hair to start guiding her.

The sight makes Beca moan, too, and whatever semblance of discretion they’d been exercising gets thrown out the window. She didn’t remember Chloe telling Aubrey goodbye or hearing the sound of the call disconnecting, but it’s hard to hear with Chloe’s thighs pressing against her ears every few seconds as she writhes in her seat.

She’s just starting to set a pace with her fingers when she hears another moan. Except, it’s definitely not her own, and it’s definitely not Chloe’s.

Her whole body freezes on reflex and Chloe’s head snaps up.

“Baby, don’t stop.”

“Yeah, keep going.”

Beca’s head whips around, hair pulling uncomfortably where it’s still tangled in Chloe’s fingers, to look up at the computer screen.

She was so focused she had no idea they’d migrated so far away from the desk or that what they were doing was in full-frame, right down to where it cut off just below Beca’s ass.

If that wasn’t enough of a surprise, the fact that Aubrey’s chair has rolled back enough for it to be obvious that she’s touching herself, hand down the front of her leggings, was definitely a shock.

But the screaming arousal shoves away the shock and the sight makes Beca groan. She hadn’t expected this; she’d expected to get Chloe off quickly while their friend was none the wiser. That was the game.

This was...a threesome?

“Holy fuck,” Beca says, watching Aubrey (who didn’t stop touching herself with Beca’s discovery) for a few seconds before turning back to Chloe following a sharp tug on her hair. “Holy fuck,” she says again before leaning back in to take Chloe’s clit between her lips and start sucking as her fingers start thrusting.

Her mind is reeling. Every time she glances up, Chloe’s eyes are either locked on her, locked on the screen, or her head is thrown back. She rearranges a little, no longer having to be discreet, and uses her free hand to lift Chloe’s leg over her shoulder. The other stays planted on the floor for leverage, Beca realizes, so Chloe can rock her hips up into Beca’s face.

She’s never heard Aubrey like this before. Her moans are loud and breathy and Beca can tell by the way they’re stilted that she’s touching herself hard and fast.

She does the same for Chloe, fingers starting to pound into her in fast, short strokes as she sucks harder and harder on her clit.

Chloe’s moan of, “Shit, I’m so close,” sends Beca’s hand down the front of her own shorts to thrust three fingers into herself and start riding her own hand.

It’s a move she didn’t think would have any effect on but herself but she hears Aubrey react, a moan of Beca’s name that almost sends Beca flying over the edge.

“I wanna watch you come together.” Aubrey’s breathing hard. “Make her come, Beca.”

“Oh, my God,” she groans into Chloe before she pulls hard on her clit with her lips and curls her fingers to grind into the spot inside Chloe that will make her see stars. Her own hips and other hand move fast; she’s so desperately horny that she doesn’t actually want to come. She just wants to maintain this level of arousal forever.

But Chloe’s moaning her name and swearing and she feels her cunt tightening around her fingers so she fucks herself— and Chloe— harder and harder until Chloe’s moans are so loud they’re creating feedback on the call.

She feels Chloe explode from within and lets go, too, both of them moaning and bucking, wetness dripping down both of Beca’s hands.

And then she hears it.

She hears Aubrey coming and she takes her mouth away from Chloe, still fucking with her fingers, so they can watch it happen together.

It’s really a sight to behold to see Aubrey in a state of pure ecstasy. No hang-ups or stress or worries, just pure and utter release.

“Shit,” Chloe whispers but it’s more than loud enough to reach Beca’s ears.

She doesn’t look away from the screen but she does slip her fingers out to move them to her clit to start rubbing because she knows Chloe always comes twice in a row. And she kind of really wants to watch Aubrey, still breathing hard and still clearly touching herself, watch her make Chloe come since she missed it last time.

It doesn’t take long.

And she gets way more bang for her buck than she expected; apparently Aubrey’s into being watched, too, and as soon as she notices Beca watching her and touching Chloe she’d fallen right back into the same rhythm she’s kept on herself, one that’s hard and fast and tells Beca that Aubrey’s as impossibly turned on as she knows Chloe is.

She doesn’t have to turn around to see that, though. She has ears and as much as she’s watching Aubrey, she’s watching herself and Chloe in the picture-in-picture display.

It doesn’t take long—it never does—for Chloe to be on the edge again. She falls quickly, no prolonged plateau with how overstimulated she is, and Beca watches Aubrey watch Chloe fall apart on screen until Aubrey’s falling apart again, too.

Beca turns back to Chloe once Aubrey’s moans have subsided to bury her face between her thighs. Not to make her come again, though she knows she could. Instead, she licks at her slowly, trying to clean her up (a futile effort) and prolong their intimacy.

Eventually, the bubble of sexual tension surrounding them pops and she feels Chloe stroking her hair and saying her name.

It pulls her out of her reverie and she hears Aubrey’s voice say something, but she doesn’t catch what it was. The reality of what just happened slams down on her and she leaps backward, slamming the back of her head on the desk before groaning it and ducking beneath it to hide.

“Oh, my God, baby, are you okay?” Chloe says, rolling herself forward to check on her.

Beca feels like she’s on fire, and not in a good way. Everything had been so hot in the moment but now she’s mortified. That was Aubrey. Aubrey whom they’ve known for so many years. Who they’ve lived with and cried with and would probably be Chloe’s doula whenever they finally got around to the whole having kids thing.

“What happened? Was that your head? Beca, are you okay?!”

Beca just groans again and lets her face fall into Chloe’s naked lap, though there’s no licking this time. “I cannot believe that just happened.”

She hears Chloe laugh and feels hands on her head feeling the throbbing spot on the back of it. “It’s not a big deal,” Chloe says soothingly.

“We literally just fucked in front of Aubrey.” Her voice is muffled and it must be amusing for Chloe because she giggles again.

“I don’t think she minded, babe.”

“I really didn’t. Will you come out from under there so I can see you?”

Beca sighs and lifts her head so Chloe, still nude from the waist down, can roll backward to let her out. She ends up sitting in Chloe’s lap even though her own empty chair is right there, but she has a desperate need to feel protected right now.

She glances at the screen and tries to ignore how flushed Aubrey’s face still is. How flushed all three of them are if she’s honest. “What?” she says flatly.

“Look, Beca. I can pretend this never happened if you need me to. Chalk it up to cabin fever.”

“I’m okay with everything that happened,” Chloe says with a squeeze of her arms around Beca’s waist.

“Of course, you are,” Beca sighs. “Well, I really only have myself to blame here, right?”

Chloe and Aubrey both make sounds of agreement.

“But just so you know,” she continues to Aubrey, “I really didn’t intend for things to...for things to go that far. You weren’t supposed to know.”

“It was pretty obvious the second you ‘left’”—she uses air quotes—“to get Chloe something to drink and she could barely string a sentence together ten seconds later. I’m not an idiot.”

“Well, it’s not my fault this one can’t keep her shit together for five minutes,” she jokes with a playful pinch to Chloe’s cheek that earns her a slap on her hip that would have been on her ass if the angle was different. “What?! It’s true!”

“Yeah, well,” is all Chloe argues, “what are ya gonna do?”

“Well, I’m going to say good night. This has been sufficiently...sufficient,” Aubrey says with a bit of a laugh.

“Sleep well, Bree,” Chloe says with a wave before the call ends and Aubrey disappears.

“Oh, my God!” Beca crows, covering her face while Chloe bursts into hysterics. “How long did you know she was watching?!”

“Oh, a long time,” Chloe says through her laugh. “Wait, are you mad?” she asks, suddenly sobering.

“No, I’m not mad,” Beca sighs. “I just cannot believe we fucked in front of Aubrey. On camera!”

“Would you have preferred it to not be on camera?”

The suggestion makes Beca’s brain short-circuit and her hesitation must be obvious because Chloe gasps and bounces her in her lap like she’s a damn child.

“Oh, my God, Beca do you want to have a threeway with Bree?”

“Stop it,” Beca says, shoving her finger in Chloe’s face only for it to be captured in a fist and pushed away.

“You do!”

“I—no! Look—this was—” she struggles for words. “This was an accident! It was just hot and everyone was turned on and it was...it was an accident,” she finishes weakly.

“Which is why you watched her get off the second time instead of me?”

“I was watching both of you!” she yells in defense and then immediately regrets it. Instead of claiming her easy victory, Chloe just grins at Beca until she crumbles with a groan. “Shut up.”

“It’s okay, baby; it’s hot,” Chloe says and Beca has no choice but to give in when Chloe guides her down and into a kiss that reminds Beca’s body she didn’t get to come a second time like Aubrey and Chloe did.

She whines into it, feeling every bit the pathetic person she is when she’s in this state and feels Chloe smile against her lips.

“Okay, okay, let’s relocate and I’ll take care of you.”

“Thank you,” Beca says before stealing another kiss and climbing off Chloe’s lap. “And we tell no one of this.”

“Scout’s honor,” Chloe says as she holds up three fingers that Beca knows are going to be buried in her in the next few minutes.

“But maybe we find out if Aubrey has plans tomorrow night,” she says. “Probably not, right? Who has plans anymore?” “We do,” Chloe says as she snags Beca around the waist to lead them to their bedroom.

The End

#triple treble #bechloe #beca mitchell #bechloe fic rec #aubrey posten #SIN #THIS IS SIN #and it was a prompt #fanfiction #pitch perfect

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diddlesanddoodles · 5 years ago

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Dumpling ch. 17

(author’s notes: I’M NOT DEAD!)

Keral sent along his message to Hev the blacksmith informing him of Nenani’s need for a new marker with a servant who came to replenish the wine decanter and deliver a few papers and notes to Maevis. Once a fresh post of tea had been brewed and Keral’s wine glass filled, they got to work.

In no time at all, the number of books being taken down from the shelves were taking over the table and along with them came seemingly endless rolls of parchment upon which Maevis furiously scribbled as many notes and citations as his quill and ink could produce. Keral, for his role, thumbed through various books and whenever he came upon something, he slipped a small piece of parchment in the page and sat it before the magician. The library had taken on an air of solemnity.

However, as was his nature, Jae did not much care for the weight of the room and did his best to keep the mood from sinking any further.

“So a smoke mage,” he wondered aloud to to one in particular, lounging against a stack of books. “What makes a smoke mage so dangerous? Because by the name alone, I think the fellow may have drawn the short end of the magic stick.”

“No mage is inherently dangerous,” Barnaby said. “But we do not know this mage’s intentions and what we do know is that they are violent and not above meaningless killing.”

He was on his second cup of tea and comfortably seated on a cushion close to where Maevis was working. After trying to aide in the research himself and suffering a slight dizzy spell, Maevis all but demanded that the old archivist sit and rest.

“It won’t do to tire yourself, my friend,” the magician had told the human gently in an attempt to mask his worry. “Best rest a while.”

“I am fine,” Barnaby replied with a disregarding wave, but he still lowered himself onto the cushion nonetheless. “Just a bit over excited, mind you. I’ll be right as rain in a bit.”

“Not very nice t’be worryin’ old Meeves now,” Keral added. “He already frets over ya like a hen. Won’t be helpin’ ‘im much to be actin’ fragile, eh? Let us do the heavy liftin’ and if ya remember anything, we’ll write it down.”

Barnaby huffed mildly at being accused of acting fragile, but stayed put and did not refuse Jae when he handed him his tea. Nenani watched with confusion as the two giants worked and fussed and Jae fidgeted. She knew very little of magic and prior to meeting Maevis, she had never seen it used.

“What’s a mage?” she asked.

All at once, she became the focus of the room and she felt her face flush. Perhaps it had been a silly question.

“Well,” Maevis began thoughtfully. “A mage is a person who uses magic.”

“Like the kind of magic you do?” she asked.

“Not exactly,” he replied patiently. “I learned magic from studying it in books and from other magicians. A mage does not learn magic, they are born with it. Sometimes they are called Elementals, because a mage’s magic often times coincides with a particular element.”

“Like fire?” she asked. “Fire mages?”

“Correct,” Maevis replied. “Though it is also important to note that while all Elementals are considered mages, not all mages are Elementals.”

Nenani made a face. “I...I don’t...huh?”

Keral laughed at her as he sat a book down. “Elementals are human, but one of us big folk could be a mage. We just wouldn’t be called an Elemental. Like that Bertol fellow.”

Now it was Maevis’s turn to make a face and Keral released a loud bark of a laugh.

“Oh, come now,” Keral replied. “Don’t y’know Bertol is the greatest prophet who ever lived?”

“Bertol the bumbling buffoon,” Maevis replied dryly, “Is as much a prophet as that tea pot over there and not nearly so useful. And only by the skin of his teeth does he have any right to claim himself a mage.”

Keral grinned, laughing. “Don’t care fer his ramblings either then? Hm. Neither does the King.”

“I would not blame King Warren if he should one day decide to place that idiot in the stockades and conveniently forget him.”

“Who is Bertol?” Nenani asked, glancing between the two giants, feeling more confused than ever. Mages, Elementals, and now prophets?

“Bertol is a Vhasshallan mage,” Maevis replied sourly. “He is thought by many in Vhasshal to hold the gift of foresight. That he can see the future and make predictions based upon his visions. He was the one responsible for the Gold prophecy.”

“Gold…?” she asked, trailing off.

“It’s why Warren’s called the Gold King,” Jae added before biting into a biscuit.

Seeing her confusion, Keral reached for a book sitting on the edge of the table, a smallish black volume with gold lettering, and he flipped it open and began to read. His voice was even and mellow, but the words that sprouted from his lips brought with them a sickening sensation of her guts being pulled and ice dripping down her spine.

“The river runs uphill to the dying songs of the fall of fools and Kings that tear flesh from bone and the crown from the mountain. Water runs red with fire and shall rise when the old blood runs new. The flesh taken will be paid in blood and the dead walls will rise with gold.”

He closed the book with a snap and tilted his head down to regard Nenani with an open expression, but froze, brows drawing together, and he bent down. “Ya alright there lass? Yer a bit pale.”

In depths of her memory, she could feel the cool stone of the catacomb and see the empty hollows that once held eyes of those that had once been a person. Those voices chanting. Her dreams that played out in her mind every night. The smell of smoke, the screams of men dying as the fishing boats burned. A man in black, his face obscured by the skull of a stag. Her Uncle calling to her as he died.

And those words…

“...shall rise when the old blood runs new.”

She felt thick fingers wrap around her shoulders and Kerals voice broke through the fog of her mind. Abruptly she broke free and she was no longer within herself but back at the library. The scent of smoke and ash replaced by that of parchment and ink and tea. And Keral’s body odor.

She met his eyes and was surprised to find her cheeks wet. “I...I don’t know...”

“Oi now, don’t go lettin’ them words scare ya. Yer alright,” he told her quietly. “Nothin’ to be upset about. They’re just words, remember. Besides, it already came to pass. Nothin’ to fear, eh?”

Barnaby and Jae were both studying her with a mixture of expressions from worried to bewildered. Now aware that everyone was intently focusing in on her, Nenani flushed and scrubbed at her cheeks in slight embankment. “Sorry. I’m fine.”

“You’ve had quite a day,” Maevis said, an air of suggestion in his tone. With a gloved hand, he waved behind towards the door just beyond the curtain. “Would you like to have a rest?”

“Best thing t’do would get ya back to th’ kitchens,” Keral added as he rubbed his chin in contemplation. “But if ya showed up without a marker, Farris would have a right apoplexy.”

“Yeah, Hev’s work is good,” said Jae. “But metal working takes time. And it’ll take most of the afternoon for Connor to do the detail work.”

Nenani shook her head. “I’m fine. I don’t need to rest. That poem, er – prophecy. I’ve heard it before, but I didn’t know it was a prophecy.”

Maevis expression of concern shifted into mild disdain. “Yes, well. I wouldn’t put much weight nor worry to those words. The one responsible for that dribble has as much foresight as a week old turnip.”

“First a tea pot and now he’s a turnip,” Jae sniggered. “So which one is he?”

“What has that poor old buggar done to earn your ire, Meeves,” Keral asked. “Didn’t think you had it in ya t’hold a grudge. Even against someone deserving of it.”

Maevis took a moment to take a long and slow breath, placing his folded hands atop the table, and seemed to collect himself.

“Anyone can string together phrases with grandiose words so vague as to be perfectly useless,” Maevis replied, his irritation smoothed over, but still there. “There are many who take themselves for grand prophets and mostly their predictions fall to deaf ears. Bertol has managed to convince people his words are true and by the God’s graces, I haven’t the foggiest inclination as to why they would listen to him, of all people.”

“He had good timing,” Keral offered in response. “Folks were looking for something to cling to. They'll cling to hope if they smell it. Makes ‘em desperate.”

“My meaning, precisely, Keral! Words have power when people make it so. Bertol’s words were hallow and meaningless. Just enough vague enough for opportunistic fiends to take advantage. They see themselves in his words and are convinced that they’re meant to grander things. Bertol’s words are reckless. And therefore, dangerous.”

…………………………………………….

“Tell me master Barnabas,” Keral said with surprise formality. He sat in the same chair, but his glass of wine had been replaced by a cup of tea by Maevis after the ranger had all but drained the pitcher all on his own. Beside him stood a small stack of books. Maevis held his own cup and nursed it. Beside him sat a much more impressive amass of books and tomes.

They had paused their research for a break and Barnaby was looking over the slate he had given to Nenani to draw on, showing her how to hold the chalk and how to use the lines to create an image. Keral had been watching them with an enigmatic expression, though Nenani tried not to let it bother her. Keral had managed to subvert her expectations of what kind of a person he was, but there were occasions she had caught glimpses of something else.

Something that she could not help but feel nervous about. But no one else seemed at all concerned, so Nenani decided she was just being silly.

At hearing his name, Barnaby looked to Keral inquisitively and the ranger continued. “How common was red hair in Silvaara?”

The question was odd. Odd enough to catch the room by surprise and then as a consequence, all eyes turned to Nenani. The only one of them with red hair.

Feeling the weight of their curious eyes, she shrank away from their peering gazes. “What?”

Barnaby turned back to Keral, perplexed. “Not too common. Black or brown is more common, such as young master Jae. I myself had brown hair. When I was young. And had hair. Why?”

“What about the highborns?” Keral asked. “Nobles and the like?”

Barnaby’s eyed widened as understanding struck him. “Oh. Well, red was much more common. A genetic consequence of the blood purity obsession that took over the last decades. Though it was wildly held as truth that those with red hair were born of fire and were more likely to hold the Flower’s blessing.”

Jae watched with mild curiosity and then laughed, eyeing Keral skeptically. “What? You think Nenani’ might be a long lost highborn?”

Keral shrugged. “I get curious. The Hill tribes are all brown and black haired save for the last one Farris picked up from Dornbey. Poor sod had quite the reception when I delivered ‘im to Gregis. It was all m’lord this and m’lord that. Practically swarmed th’fellow. He was already outta his head. Poor bastard.”

“Well,” Barnaby continued, glancing at Nenani. “That was one subject I had hoped to broach with you dear. As Jae may have explained, I am an archivist and I write histories. Whenever a human comes to live here on castle grounds I write down their histories. To persevere what little of Silvaara remains. And after your first visit and all that transpired, I had quite forgotten to ask you about who your parents were as I did not want to upset you any further. And Keral has made a fine point. Your hair color tells me I may be able to find your family history if you can tell me your family name.”

“Family name?” Nenani asked, thinking back. “I don’t think we have one...”

“Oh, nonsense,” Barnaby replied. “Everyone has a family name. We’ll start with your father, then. What was his name? Many families passed down names to the first born sons. I might be able to trace you to a particular family.”

“That’s how I got my name.” Jae added in.

“Hayron,” Nenani said. “Papa’s name was Hayron.”

Barnaby, who had taken up a quill and spare parchment to take notes, paused and he peeked over the top of the parchment with raised eyebrows. “Hayron, you said?”

Nenani nodded. “Yes. My Uncle’s name was Halden.”

He placed the the quill and parchment on his lap and seemed to consider her for a moment as though seeking something in her face. After a long moment, he asked “And you’re mother?”

His tone was quiet and almost...seeking?

“Oira.”

The longing look in his eyes dissipated and he nodded. Almost sadly, as though he was disappointed in her answer. “Oira. Hm. I do not know that name. But I do remember Haryon.”

Nenani blinked. “Huh? You knew Papa?”

“And Halden in some respects, though I cannot recall ever speaking to him very much. He took his duties quite seriously, if I’m remembering correctly. They were junior members of the Thorn Guard.”

“Yes!” Nenani exclaimed excitedly. “He told he once that he was in the Thorn Guard. But I don’t know what that is.”

“Oh, whoa. Thorn guards?” She heard Jae whistle and glanced back at him to find her fellow human grinning. Behind him, Keral was expressionless, but his eyes were sharp and focused and she knew his interest had been peaked.

“Hayron is an old name that is fairly common among the Thorn Guard families. However, I only knew one Hayron with a brother named Halden. They were the sons of Captain Hayier.”

Nenani was quiet a moment. “I remember his sword. It had thrones on it. The one they think killed him.”

Barnaby’s eyes turned sad and empathetic and he sighed. “Your father was a good man. Dedicated to his duty and family. All sons of Thorn Guards were under immense pressure to perform and live up to expectations. Competition for high ranks was fierce and even being the son of the captain was not a guarantee of a rank. He earned his mark. As did his brother. I am sorry to know that fate was not so kind to him in the end.”

“So would that make her a Daelg?” Keral asked suddenly. “Or was it Daeleg? I was never much for studying all them Silvaaran Houses.”

“You had it correct, sir. It is Daelg. Unless there was another pair of brothers named Hayron and Halden in the Thorn Guard,” the archivist replied with a grin. “I would be most confident that you’re family name is Daelg.”

The name did not stir any memories and it felt foreign and odd. However, she was not nearly as curious in regards to the name as the revelation that Barnaby had known her father. She had questions now. So many questions. But mostly, she just wanted to know him more. It seemed forever ago that he died. A whole world away in another time. Another life even.

“So, she is highborn?” Jae asked, glancing between Barnaby and Nenani. “I don’t have to start calling her m’lady do I?”

Keral snorted into his drink and turned away to cough into his elbow.

“No, the Thorn Guards were not nobility,” Barnaby replied, amused. “They were in a caste all their own. Above merchants and below Nobles. Once upon a time, marriage between them and highborns was permitted, but it was almost always for a financial gain or the belief that the two would produce exceptional progeny. However it fell out of favor decades prior to the war and in someways expressly forbidden in the name of blood purity. The King and therefore his court were all obsessed with the idea of pure blood. The more pure the line, the higher chance that they would produce a mage of fire.”

“Fire Mages.” Keral added with a final and disdainful cough to clear the tea from his lungs. “Crazy bunch of inbreds.”

“So,” Jae asked. “Speaking of Mages and all that. What exactly is a smoke mage, then? If that’s what you think might be skulking around the countryside killing Vhasshalans.”

“It is an ancient variety of deviant magic. So rare, there does not seem to be any contemporary sources ever describing the existence of one,” Barnaby replied. “But when I was a lad, I was told that a smoke mage is a fire mage that sinned so greatly that the Gods stripped them of their blessing and their fire and leaving only the smoldering ruin of a person. Cursed to wander the world, creating chaos, and suffering in their wake.”

“Well,” Keral said, standing and stretching out his back. “Smoke mage or not, I’ll be needin’ more to work with than an old folk tale. I appreciate your help lads, but until we know more, the only thing to be done is to be out there scoutin’ and reportin’.”

“You’re going back out?” Jae asked. “You just got back.”

“Not tonight. I’ll be with the boys organizing the routes first. First light tomorrow, perhaps,” Keral regarded the boy with a lopsided grin. “Why? D’ya miss me when I ain’t here to hold yer hand, lad?”

Jae glared at the giant. “No.”

“Yer welcome t’use my room when I’m out if ya be needin’ a place to hold up,” Keral said. “Beats sleepin’ in them moldy tunnels.”

Jae glowered, his cheeks flushed. “No thanks. Your room smells like armpits. Besides, I like the tunnels. You bastards can’t go in after me.”

“Young master Jae,” Barnaby snapped indignantly. “I cannot condone such language. Least of all when a young lady is present.”

“It always amazed me how that for a King’s ward,” Maevis observed with a suppressed grin. “Your decorum lessons never have seemed to find proper purchase.”

“Warren does not keep me around to lick his boot,” Jae quipped with a shrug. “He’s got advisers and the court for that.”

Keral laughed. “Ah, well if ya changed yer mind about the room, the offer stands. Y’know the way in.”

The ranger gave his made his excuses and an apology to Maevis’s for leaving him with all the books to put away, but the magician wave him off.

“Nonsense. You never put them back in their proper place when you do feel inclined to return them, so it matters not. I know you have your duties to perform and would hate to keep you from them. I will let you know if I find anything that might be of use.”

With a grin and a wave, the ranger was gone.

#dumpling #Fantasy Story #Giant/tiny #Magic #Mages

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romiesays · 5 years ago

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Masked Futures

In June 2020, I hand-sewed a series of six facemasks as a textile art project concurrent with the Strange Horizons fund drive, themed around science fiction futures. My objective was to make functional garments: comfortable, breathable, protective to the extent two-layer cloth facemasks are protective, and sartorially appealing similar to the way an expensive suit, purse, shoe, or item of lingerie might give the wearer a sense of dignity without subsuming identity.

Part of my goal was to make masks seem decadent and sumptuous rather than imposed. Given that masks have historically been used to conceal or escape, it was necessary to invent a new visual language of masking, one which supports masks’ current role as a symbol of social cohesion and friendliness. I conceived all masks as unisex; the gender of the mask will be asserted (or not asserted) by the face underneath and above.

Mask 1: Dryad Pollinator Air Corps

Mask 1 echoes a 19th century waistcoat or dressing gown, including the suggestion of a military rank stripe and an illusory watch chain and fob. It alludes to H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine, and to the Neo-Victorians in Neal Stephenson’s The Diamond Age. Each of these works focuses partly on class disparities in access to social comfort and safety during a time of resource collapse.

The mask’s name offers a more fanciful interpretation, allowing the wearer to imagine life as a supernatural protector of nature—and as someone beset by not only viruses, but tree pollen and associated allergies, which might also be combatted with masks if in the near future, the pandemic has ended, but climate change continues.

Mask 2: Emergent Digital Cloud Behavior

Mask 2 fits in the category of “Blank Surface Futures”: the slick, ambiently-lit white and gray corridors of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Alien, Apple computer commercials, and countless video games. These curved, corner-less, ribbed corridors suggest a post-body future, one in which we do not need chairs or paper or windows, and our non-fingers don’t leave smudgy prints on the screens.

I had the notion that the emergence of an Artificial Intelligence, or a Singularity event, would be akin to a wedding, confirmation, or baptism—hence veil-like white translucent ribbons. I kept the mask lightweight as a play on the word “cloud,” and embellished it with a silver diagram which could represent a star map, connecting nodes, or the rotating arms on a mechanized assembly line.

Note the cheeky pop of the same purple color used in the Strange Horizons logo. The future of the Internet wants to be us.

Mask 3: Ambassador to Griffons

Mask 3 follows a Mad Max or Tank Girl aesthetic, the idea of a post-urban frontier in which scavenged high-tech elements are mixed with primitive or natural materials, and the repurposed signifiers of different eras are mixed together. There are feathers, but they’re metal. There is shaggy fur next to tapestry next to chintz. Garnets could be decorative or could mean the wearer draws blood.

Depending on whether the wearer is more fantasy or science fiction oriented, the griffons of the title might be literal mythical beasts in whose court a human needs to appear sufficiently respectful of griffon appearance cues, or the griffons might be a powerful post-apocalyptic gang.

This mask also reflects my futurist speculation that a masked society will incorporate some of the iconographic shortcuts of Internet culture (another face-hider) and foreground personality shorthands like astrological signs, Harry Potter houses, and fursonas.

Mask 4: The Sacred Heart of Solarpunk

Solarpunk is my favorite possible future to write about (and in many ways the most difficult, since it is solutions-oriented instead of escapist). When I read Rob Cameron’s New Modality essay “Promised Land: Religious Ideology and Solarpunk Science Fiction”, I decided to take up its challenge and envision a Solarpunk religious vestment, drawing on my childhood in ethnically blended, religious communities in Texas.

I imagined that the wearer of this mask had made multiple international migrations through the Global South as crops failed, aquifers dried up, and desertification occurred, but had found continuity through religious practice— faith had been a source of resilience, but also a method of community organization. I used bright-colored textiles of several national origins, including Chinese silk and a piece of an Indian sari, to reflect this figure’s overlapping identities, a source of defiant pride and the preservation of a nation’s memory through its disaspora’s rituals.

More directly, I used the blue fabric associated with the head covering of the Virgin Mary, who is said to supernaturally manifest as an intercessor and guide, and an image of the Sacred Heart, a symbol of the love of God through Jesus, a figure of miraculous suffering—existing Catholic symbols.

To these, I added two invented religious symbols: a Triune Heart (three hearts in one), imagining a faith doctrine which called for world unity as a revelation of the Holy Trinity, and a ghostly white sunflower, the Sunflower Soul. The sunflower is a recurring symbol of hardiness in science fiction, from Enter the Spiderverse to American Astronaut to, in a way, Day of the Triffids, and beyond, and it made sense to me that this would be folded into religion in the same way as the holly and the ivy, or the rose e’er blooming.

Mask 5: Covid Vampire

Mask 5 is a nod to our many revenant futures, whether the early sci-fi of Frankenstein and Dracula (a book greatly inspired by then-emerging technologies like telegrams and blood transfusions), midcentury works like I Am Legend and Godzilla, or the more recent glut of werewolf books and zombie television (not to mention the deadly and alluring humanoid robots of Blade Runner and Westworld).

Given our long history of coping with the arousal of fear by interpreting it as desire, I thought “sexy Covid-19″ was inevitable. If we can make tuberculosis, skeletons, and nuclear disaster sexy, there’s no question we will make coronavirus sexy. A bloody throat. A trembling crystal sneeze. Not the real coronavirus, but a fantasy by which we can be temporarily subsumed in cathartic release.

As a tribute, I made this mask in the style of costumer, artist, and filmmaker Eiko Ishioka (Dracula, The Cell, The Fall).

Mask 6: Tentacle Rave

Mask 6 combines the long tradition of undersea SF (mermaids, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Startide Rising, SeaQuest DSV, The Abyss, Atlantis, parts of the Cthulu mythos) with the enthusiastically garish flamboyance of psychedelic New Age futurism (including the works of Aldous Huxley and Roger Zelazny). It’s the dawning of the age of Aquarius.

Flower children, disco fiends, ravers, the Esalen institute, and harajuku decora kids have sequentially suggested we could throw out “good taste” and have more fun being colorful, over-the-top, and sociable, and that this will be the basis for a new and more perfect social order. Perhaps we will decide life’s too short and we should enjoy what we can. Perhaps in our future we will ascend through our minds’ eyes into a higher level of consciousness and will have superpowers, and glowing sea creatures will live on our faces.

#art #masks #covid-19 #Strange Horizons

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falseroar · 5 years ago

Text

Silent Watch Part 5: The Master’s Apprentice

((Y/N has to do something to get through to Jameson while there’s still a chance. Luckily, help is on the way, if it can just get there in time. Also, I’ve decided to post 2 parts tonight instead of combining them together, for reasons that made sense at the time. Part 6 will be going up soon after this one.

Warnings for mentions of blood and possession.

Link to Part 1 and to Part 4.))

“Jameson, please, I know you can hear me,” you said, the words more a desperate hope as you backed away from the actor. Without taking your eyes off of him, you reached into your pocket. “And I know this…thing is making you think every terrible thing it’s saying, but it’s lying. You are more than your movies or your studio or any of all that. Even if they fail, that does not make you a failure.”

You drew out your silver pocket watch, your ward, and summoned up the magic words that went with it as you pressed it into his unresisting hand. The same ones your grandfather gave you when you needed it most.

“You are more than just this one moment in time. I promise, you’re going to be okay, even if it doesn’t seem like it right now.”

You curled Jameson’s fingers around the watch and forced yourself to let go.

Your heart physically hurt to let go, and you fought to keep down the sudden feeling of being open and exposed without your ward to protect you.

As you watched, Jameson looked down and turned his hand to stare at the silver design. After a long, long moment, his thumb slowly moved to press the release, causing the case to open and reveal the face inside and the seconds passing by.

“…” Jameson turned his gaze toward you, and for just a second you saw the same strange silver light in his eyes before he tried to speak.

And then immediately doubled over, the watch held tight in one hand as the other reached for his throat.

“Jameson?!”

You knelt down and had to pause as a wave of nausea rushed over you. Your stomach turned and your hand on Jameson’s shoulder was as much to steady yourself as to try and help him.

He gagged and you could feel the tremors in his shoulders again as his whole body heaved and retched with no relief. A line of blood began to drip from his nose and you briefly saw his eyes flicker black before returning to panic. He was in control, for now, but you both knew that thing was still inside him.

“We need…we need…” you started and stopped, feeling the helplessness spread out around you as your head began to spin.

A dazzling light touched down in the middle of the path, briefly illuminating the woods with a bright golden light before it resolved into the shape of a person.

“I’ve found you, foul fiend! Now prepare to let him go!”

He sounded like a man, although a strange mask hid part of his face, and brilliant blue robes hung down from his shoulders as he brought up a pair of hands glowing with green flames in a fighting stance.

Only to pause and look around, taking in the stranger’s dead body and then you holding the shuddering and shivering Jameson. He looked again at the corpse and let out a long string of swears before lowering his hands and letting the green flames die away.

“New host?” he asked after a moment of silence, pointing at Jameson.

“I—y-yes?” you answered hesitantly, feeling the ache of a major headache coming on. “There was…something inside of that man and it-it went into Jameson and I don’t…I don’t…”

You let the words trail off as the headache worsened, like a pickax driving into the left side of your brain, but the new stranger just nodded.

“No time to waste then. Hold on tight, the first time can be rough.”

Before you could gather your thoughts together to even ask, the man rubbed his hands together as though trying to warm them up before dropping into a crouch, one hand pressed solidly against the ground while the other went around your shoulders to grab Jameson’s shaking arm.

This close, you could just hear him mutter something under his breath, but the individual words swirled together in your mind as you watched the light spread from his hand into the shape of a circle before the ground itself dropped out beneath you.

You cried out, arms reflexively wrapping themselves around Jameson and in turn the new stranger, eyes shut tight to block out the brilliant swirl of light and colors all around until they just as suddenly stopped.

“Normally I wouldn’t stop you, but again, we don’t have a lot of time here.”

You opened your eyes in time to see a bright blue eye wink on the other side of that weird mask and released your grip on the magician so that he could straighten up and walk away. You blinked, eyes struggling to adjust after the darkness of the woods followed by…whatever that just was, and gradually took in the strange place you and Jameson had found yourselves in.

Old-fashioned iron braziers hanging on the stone walls held torches, already lighting the circular room with a flickering glow that didn’t quite reach all the way to the ceiling, where a glass dome overhead put you in mind of an eye looking down, with the full moon overhead nearly at its center. There was a desk on one side, or the suggestion of one underneath a leaning pile of giant books and open scrolls with their ends hanging down to the floor, matching the general disarray all around the room, with more texts stacked around teeming bookshelves and other wooden shelves holding much stranger things, from jars containing liquids and powders varying from salt to a dark, viscous liquid in which floated something you’d rather not look too closely at. There were also several chalkboards near the desk, their surfaces covered in a mix of scrawling handwriting and other shapes that might be a language you didn’t recognize.

Only the center of the room was clear of any of the strange debris, leaving space for a large circle drawn onto the stone floor using chalk where you and the actor remained crouched. You were dimly aware of another, smaller circle nearby, this one a more permanent fixture made using iron maybe, but the more you looked around, the more your head spun trying to make sense of any of this.

“Who are you?” you asked, and then when you felt Jameson’s shoulders lurch as he tightened in on himself again, your silver watch clenched tight to his chest, “Can you help Jameson?”

“Is that his name?” the masked man asked over his shoulder as he practically sprinted over to the desk and grabbed a book left open on top before taking a look at the messy writing on the chalkboards. “I’m Marvin. The Magnificent, if I do say so myself.”

“…Really?”

“Trust me, you’ll be saying the same thing once I’ve saved your friend. Speaking of, look at his eyes, tell me what you see.”

“Uh, they’re…” You leaned closer, trying to get a good look, and Jameson managed to force them open long enough to give you a silent plea before they snapped shut again. “There’s blood, the corner of his eye—”

“Color?” Marvin interrupted. “His eyes, not the blood.”

“They’re back to blue. They were green, when that—what was that thing, what did it do to him?”

You felt a hand on your shoulder and looked up to see the magician standing beside you, the mouth beneath his mask set into a grimace as he knelt to take a look for himself.

“It’s difficult to explain, but there are—spirits isn’t the right word, those are something else entirely—let’s say entities out there, bodiless things loosely attached to our plane of existence that want…well, it varies, but occasionally one of these things takes an interest in humanity. Particularly how the right humans can be…open to, or made to be more hospitable for those entities to hitch a ride in, especially if they’re at their lowest, most desperate point. Like your friend here.” Marvin gently turned Jameson’s hand, just enough so that he could see the watch held tight within it, and a new note of interest entered his voice. “What is this?”

“A ward.”

Marvin hummed but didn’t attempt to take it away from Jameson, not that you would have let him.

“Some kind of ward, if it can hold this thing back for so long. Jameson, can you hear me?”

Jameson nodded, but when he opened his mouth to answer only a strangled sound came out.

“Don’t strain yourself. And don’t worry, we’re going to get you back to normal.” You saw Marvin’s eyes on the other side of that mostly white mask move to meet your own briefly as he added, “Promise.”

“Can you stand up for me, Jameson?”

It took some help from you and the magician, but Jameson managed to get to his feet and remain standing there, swaying softly on unsteady legs. Marvin gestured and you stepped back, outside of the chalk circle on the ground, leaving the two of them standing alone in the center.

“How do you know…Will this work?” you asked, feeling your words tangle together as you struggled to focus, to let all of this sink in while trying to keep away the sense that the room was slowly spinning around you. “Have—have you done this before?”

“My master was studying this kind of entity before—” Marvin paused, and for the first time you heard his voice break before he took a steadying breath of his own. “I’ve spent these last few months doing nothing but researching and perfecting the ritual he started, to weaken it and banish it from our reality for a few more centuries, if we’re lucky.”

“Your master?” You leaned against a creaking bookshelf as your mind went back to the woods. Back to the broken body this thing inside of Jameson left behind. “Was he—”

“Yes.” Marvin’s tone was short, clipped and shutting down any chance for more questions. “I need to focus.”

You watched as Marvin began to step around Jameson, hands glowing along with the four symbols on his mask as he gestured, his voice a steady, lulling murmur. Despite everything, despite your concern for Jameson and your pounding headache, you felt your eyes drift, each attempt to open them harder than the last.

Within the circle, Jameson’s eyes tracked Marvin’s movements as the magician prowled around him and the air itself began to feel thicker, charged with an energy that cracked and buzzed with each new whispered word. That is, until Marvin rounded the actor again and found a solid black set of eyes staring back at him, above a twisted smile.

“You…think this will work?” it asked, using Jameson’s voice. “ P͈͕̋̋at͎̯̣͐̈́͊h̠͚̟ͫ̉̋eṭ͙͒̿icͨ. I can’t wait to break you like your piti̤̗f̫͙͚̗̖u̝̰̠͕̲͔ͅl̰̣͍̼͈ master.”

But Marvin saw the way the muscles in Jameson’s face and neck strained, fighting back against the words coming out of his mouth, the way his hand trembled with the silent battle to keep holding onto the silver watch held there.

“You’re going to be waiting for a while then,” Marvin said as he lunged forward, one hand on the back of Jameson’s neck, the other going to the actor’s chest, pinning that trembling hand holding the watch in between his own and Jameson’s beating heart. Marvin didn’t know what kind of magic had been written into the making of that watch, but he was going to need all the help he could get for this part.

((End of Part 5.

And here’s the link to Part 6.

Tagging: @silver-owl413 @skyewardlight @withjust-a-bite @blackaquokat @catgirlwarrior @neverisadork @luna1350 @oh-so-creepy @weirdfoxalley @95fangirl @lilalovesinternet-l @thepoolofthedead @a-bit-dapper @randomartdudette @geekymushroom @cactipresident @hotcocoachia @purple-anxiety-blog @shyinspiredartist @avispate @missksketch ))

#markiplier #jacksepticeye #fanfiction #wkm y/n #jameson jackson #antisepticeye #marvin the magnificent #monster au

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the-fixation-zone · 4 years ago

Text

aaaaaand here it is! the next installment of the crack (ish?) fic I’ve been writing with @queenspinoodle. art will be within the fic as usual and, also as usual, drawn by my co-writer. comments appreciated!! :)

Chapter 1 Chapter 2

Chapter 3

The night is cool, the moon bright enough to see by. It’s the perfect night for a stakeout. It’s late, leaving few people walking the streets. Sock and Zucchini are hunched together in the shadows near Burt’s Jewelry, waiting for their thief to arrive. The Fanned Fiend. There were only a few clues to pick up from the Wanted poster, and they’d picked up a few more eavesdropping on people in town, but the real magic happened when Sock sat down to put the pieces together.

“This has to be where he’s hitting next! I’m sure of it; it just makes sense!”

Zucchini had had no idea how Sock had fit the puzzle together so easily, but he trusted in his partner. So now they waited. And waited. Zucchini doesn’t think Sock is wrong necessarily, but he also hasn’t enjoyed being hunched over for three hours. A quick glance at Sock shows Zucchini that Sock doesn’t mind the wait as much as he does. Sock is practically vibrating with excitement, adjusting his mask as though their perp will arrive any minute. Zucchini sighs silently, resigning himself to scanning the perimeter for the umpteenth time.

Sock sits crouched on the balls of his feet, bouncing slightly. He is ready for their first real adventure. They’ve been waiting a while, but he just knows that, any minute now, it’ll be time. He’s on high alert, waiting for something to happen. A few minutes later his vigilance is rewarded: he hears the crunch of shoes on pebbles nearby and whips his head in the direction of the sound. Zucchini seems to hear it too, glancing over even before Sock elbows him.

A shadowy, cloaked figure is creeping around the side of the building, making its way around to the door. The figure does something they can’t see, and the once locked door opens silently. Sock shifts his position, preparing to move.

Zucchini shifts too, his energy coming back now that there’s something to do. “Follow?”

Sock waits a moment, looking around for potential accomplices, then nods. He sneaks up to the building and peeks through the window, Zucchini right behind him. It’s almost completely dark inside making it difficult to see from their vantage point, so Sock gestures for them to enter.

Zucchini goes inside after Sock, straining his eyes to see where the wanted man went off to. The moonlight filtering in the window allows him to see the outlines of two counters near the walls to his right and left, presumably filled with rings and necklaces. Dead ahead there’s a single glass case on a pedestal, the large gem inside sparkling with the faint light. He thinks he sees some movement towards the back of the shop near the pedestal and gestures, giving Sock a meaningful look and reaching for his knives. They’re not perfect, since he “borrowed” them from one of the circus performers (and when he says borrowed, he uses the term...liberally. If one takes something without permission with the intention of returning it, does that count?) but they’re good enough. He sneaks with Sock, not wanting to hurt this person and hoping they can simply capture him and turn him in.

Sock approaches the spot where Zucchini indicated, grabbing his knife just in case. The figure is turned away from him, standing in front of the prized jewel’s pedestal, seeming to assess it. Good. He’s distracted. Sock sneaks closer, ready to grab him. Without warning, the figure whirls around and punches Sock in the face, knocking him to the floor. It stings, all the more for being entirely unexpected. How had the man known Sock was there?!

“Whoa!” Zucchini tries to grab the assailant, but a fan suddenly comes up between him and his opponent, missing his nose by a fraction of an inch. Guess I know why he’s called the Fanned Fiend now… Zucchini tries for another grab, turning his head for a split second towards Sock. “You okay?”

"I'm fine!" Sock says, his voice muffled by his hand cradling his bloody nose. “Looks worse than it is, let’s just go!” The Fanned Fiend runs out of the door and into the night. Sock gets to his feet and chases him.

Zucchini follows, trying to get ahead of the guy so they can pin him in. “Oh, no you don’t! You’re not going to get away from us!” The Fanned Fiend laughs and keeps running, outpacing him easily.

Sock looks around to see if they can use any of the streets or buildings to their advantage, mentally reviewing the map of this part of town. He breaks away from the chase and runs up a parallel street, coming out in front of the criminal, who slams into him.

Zucchini comes up behind the criminal, blocking his escape. “Alright, you’ve got nowhere to run now. Put down the fan.”

"Yeah, fella, put down the fan," Sock says, one hand on his knife and the other up and ready to attack. His nose is bleeding freely now, but he doesn’t have time to think about it.

The Fanned Fiend looks directly at Sock. "Well, first of all, I'm not a 'fella'" she says in a clearly feminine voice.

"...Oh...my bad,” Sock says, thrown off. He hadn’t considered that the thief would be a woman.

“Oh...oops? Well, lady, put down the fan then,” Zucchini says, gesturing with one of his knives. “You were going to steal Burt’s prized jewel back there, weren’t you? We’ve caught you red-handed.”

She sighs. Now that she isn't moving, Sock can get a better look at her. She’s wearing heavy makeup, which disguises both her identity and her gender. "You’re right, I was. But you should know, it was for a good cause."

Zucchini looks at Sock, then back at the Fanned Fiend with a skeptical expression. “Oh really? And what cause was that?”

The Fanned Fiend’s expression tightens, Zucchini can tell even under all the face paint. “Well, now I don’t know if I want to tell you, if you’re going to be like that about it.”

Sock feels a sudden rush of sympathy for her. He can totally understand stealing for a good cause. "No, no! Please, tell us!"

She looks at Sock and sees he means it. “Well… there’s some kids in my village, they’re sick. The money I’d get from selling that jewel would be enough to get them some medicine. It was for them, honestly.”

Zucchini feels his heart soften, but he still has questions. “And the other heists? The artwork and weapons you’ve stolen? Were they for the children, too?”

"The artwork was to make the medical huts more cheerful, and the weapons were for the warriors, to help them protect the village." She is very convincing. Hearing that, Sock almost wants to steal the gem for her.

Zucchini, on the other hand, wants to hold a grudge. Adrenaline is still singing in his veins from the chase and he’s not ready to give up yet. He was raised to believe stealing was wrong, no matter the circumstances, but she seems so...sincere. He looks over at Sock. “What do you think?”

Sock feels her reasoning deep in his soul, having been in a similar position many times before. "We'll let you go this time but try to find another way to help the children. We wouldn't want you getting into trouble."

She smiles sweetly at him. "Of course." Sock steps aside to let her pass and, as soon as there’s room, she runs off.

Zucchini’s instincts tell him not to believe her one bit and, as soon as she’s gone, he turns to Sock to tell him so. “You know she’s just going to start stealing again.”

"Yeah, I know. But… I just couldn't…" Sock looks upset. "She just wants to help people."

“Well, yeah, but so do we! Do you really not think there’s another way for her to do that?”

Sock starts to feel guilty, which then makes him angry. He did the right thing, dammit! "Well, why don't you run after her, then?" His voice is quiet, but a tad more aggressive now. He begins to walk quickly away, brushing past Zucchini and tugging his sash away from his tunic to lift it to his nose. The bleeding has mostly stopped now, less of a flood and more of a trickle. His shirt’s now hanging open, exposing his middle to the elements, but whatever. It’s a nice night, anyway.

Zucchini sighs hard. “Oh, come on Sock. I’m not going to go after her. Hey, come back here! I’m not going to go after her.” He starts to follow after Sock. “I’m just saying, where are we drawing the line here? Every criminal has a reason. Are we going to pick and choose which ones get away based on how we’re feeling in the moment, how well they pitch to us? What are we doing here, Sock!” Sock stops at his question, so Zucchini stops too, feeling a bit agitated now. He roughly ran his hand through his hair in an effort to calm down. He’s not sure what about this situation is making his emotions spill out, but there they are, splattered over the pavement.

"I don't know!” Sock snaps back. “You're the one who wanted to do this!"

“What?” Zucchini looks at Sock’s back like he’s grown another head. “You wanted to do this as much as I did! You can’t tell me you didn’t love putting together our plan for tonight.” Zucchini takes a deep breath, realizing this is getting them nowhere. “Look. I don’t want to fight with you, Sock. I just want us to establish some rules for going after criminals, so we can be on the same page. Okay? I’m sorry for upsetting you.”

Sock continues to stand facing away from Zucchini, arms crossed across his chest. He knows he probably looks extremely immature right now, but he doesn’t care. "...Fine."

“Can you at least look at me when you say it?”

Sock considers saying no, but ultimately turns around. Most of his face is obscured by his mask, but it’s clear he’s scowling. "Fine," he repeats.

“Oh, come on! You’re really going to be like this? I already apologized, what else do you want? How can I fix this?” Contrary to popular belief, Zucchini is not above pleading. At least when it’s necessary.

Sock lets out an angry laugh. "That's rich coming from the king of sulking!"

“Excuse me? I’m trying to be the adult here!”

“HEY! CAN YOU TWO SHUT UP!” someone yells from a window above them.

Sock looks up, startled. "Yeah, sorry!" He turns back to Zucchini. "Look, I'm going back home," he says, quieter this time. "You can do whatever you want." Sock turns and walks back towards the circus. He doesn’t look back.

#i forgot to put a read more in the last one and then couldnt pick a place to put it so just didnt eep #but here she is!#the boys crack open a cold one and it's an underground crime organization #atla au #fanfic #fix writes with friends #zukka #zuko #sokka #zukka au #i have not been tagging the chapters with consistent tags but i am Doing My Best

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drabblerequestsbyghostly · 5 years ago

Note

For Royal Reaper: "Okay, but that's actually illegal."

Words: 759Idk if Kid, Liz, or Patty are in character, but I had fun doing this nonetheless.

The mission was simple, assigned by the Ancients themselves.

Return the Mask of Vampiro back to Walker’s jail to be locked away. The artifact itself was simple, a glowing green mask mold that looked to date back to the 9th or 10th century B.C., to humans at least.

The mask itself had the power to grant the user mind control powers. That was… just about as bad as Freakshow’s staff, from the stories her dad told.

So she prepared, heavily. And this didn’t go unnoticed by Kid.

After her last few missions landed her with serious injuries—Aragon’s attack had left a large scar on her shoulder, a harsh reminder to keep her defenses up—he demanded to go with her. It was endearing, but she didn’t think she really needed the help for a recovery mission.

On the other hand, if she said no, he’d probably just follow her anyways.

That would… probably end badly because if he came with her she would at least know where he was. These were ghost artifacts. Who knew what they could do to him!?

She sighed and agreed.

He brought Liz and Patty.

They had found it, ridiculously easily at that. The humans kept it under a ghost proof glass case. In a museum. In Amity Park.

This, wouldn’t be as easy as she thought.

“So, what should we do?” she asked as she floated next to the case. Part of her wanted to just overload the power box that fed power to the shield, but it would most definitely set off some sort of alarm, and dealing with ghost hunters were not in her job description today, thank you very much. “About the case, I mean.”

“Break it?” Kid offered.

“Okay, but that’s actually illegal,” she pointed out. “I mean, technically, so is taking it but this also isn’t the human’s to begin with and if they figured out what it did—oh Ancients, we need to get it out of there!”

“Do these Ancients always ask you to do illegal things?” Liz asked from Kid’s right hand. She was in her weapon form, as was her sister.

“Uh… technically they’re not totally illegal?” Rylie tried. “I mean, like, in this case, the Mask of Vampiro isn’t something that should be in the hands of a human, any human. Pariah Dark had it made so he could control minds but he was sealed in his sarcophagus before he got to use it. The Ancients kinda just… Hid it away? And now it’s somehow here?”

“Soooo… It’s like a big game of hide and seek?” Patty asked.

“I mean… If hide and seek had the chance of totally destroying a ghost, i.e. me?” the halfa looked nervous at the thought. She looked to her boyfriend. “Any ideas that don’t involve possibly setting off alarms?”

Before Kid could respond, there was a gasp. A clatter.

Both of them turned to face the noise and—

“Crap. Crapcrapcrapcrap. I did not sign up for time with the Guys in White! No dissection for me, thank you very much!” she covered her chest with her arms. Maybe, if they were lucky, the agent wouldn’t care?

“Gh-Ghost!” The agent shouted, their weapon on the floor. “G-Get away from the artifact you… fiend!”

She sighed. Or the agent was just terrified of ghosts. What idiot worked for government ghost hunters when they were afraid of ghosts?

This person, apparently.

And—when had Kid left her side? He dispatched the agent with efficiency she knew only he had, using Liz and Patty to shoot out their knees.

“Damn it, Mors, what if they had picked up their ecto-pistol and shot you!?” Rylie shouted, her tone tinged with worry. She shot the weapon out of reach of the terrified agent, making sure that there wouldn’t be any attacks from them that the two would have to worry about.

She couldn’t deal with her boyfriend getting ectoplasmic poisoning today, she really couldn’t.

“What if it had hit you!?” she continued. “We’d have to go see my grandparents because I’m certainly not equipped to treat any sort of poisoning on my own,” she was pacing now, the world around her gone. All she could see was the floor below her as she walked, her white boots hardly making a sound. “Or what if—”

“Revo,” a hand on her shoulder made her pause and look up. Glowing green met a supernatural gold. “We should go now.”

“Why? We haven’t even gotten the—”

The Mask of Vampiro was brought into her line of sight, alarms blaring faintly in the background.

“Oh.”

#Danny Phantom (fandom)#Soul Eater (fandom)#Rylie Fenton (character)#Death the Kid (character)#Liz Thompson (character)#Patty Thompson (character)#Royal Reaper (ship)#kinglazrus #Prompt: Okay but that's actually illegal.#Words: 700 #Souls and Ectoplasm (AU)

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corbo-florbo · 5 years ago

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Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn Retirement (Fantasy Booking)

I’ve been sitting on this for a while, but I’ve been feeling the writing and wrestling bug, so I figured why not put this here? This is how I’d envision and book a retirement angle for Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn of the WWE.

So, some context. Kevin Owens is a top guy, a main eventer, having had main evented Wrestlemania. He has essentially stayed the same person, but not as volatile since his face turn against Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre back in early July 2019. Throughout the rest of his career, he has shed more and more of the same Kevin that would turn on his allies and accepted that he is deserving of friendship and teamwork. He lets people in more. Kevin, who knows exactly who he is and has since the beginning, has become the superstar he is meant to be.

That isn’t the case for Sami. Through face and heel turns, it is evident he is lost. He may have found some middle ground in managing Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura, but in this fantasy booking, Cesaro moved on, and Shin turned on Sami shortly after dropping the IC title to Braun Strowman. Incensed by the betrayal, Sami attempts to get back in the ring again, vowing revenge, with the crowds behind him again. I mean, who can hate Sami when he’s such a good guy?

Come a ppv (one of the big four), Sami goes against Shinsuke, and though he does not prevail, the two put on a banger of a match (hopefully making Shin a big deal again and gets him a push). Meanwhile, Sami is still at the bottom. Where does he go from here? His former client Shinsuke is becoming a big deal without him, and Sami is struggling.

Fast forward to Wrestlemania season, Sami has officially moved out of the managerial role and once more back into wrestling. Things look up for him, as he beats enhancement talent, until after one victory, he demands he faces an actual member of the roster. He’s cocky and confident again, and feels he’s ready to make a splash again.

Unfortunately for Zayn, that splash would merely look to be a small raindrop in a vast ocean as he is greeted in this promo by a Firefly Funhouse segment, featuring none other than Bray Wyatt. Bray states that Sami should feel at home beating the enhancement talent. That sometimes it is important to stick with what you know, and to Bray, he sees Sami as “generic”. That there isn’t anything special about him, and that’s okay. But Sami doesn’t agree. It’s not okay, it’s less than okay. Sami was on the fast-track to being a big deal. However, Sami doesn’t express this, as fear has lumped in his throat. “Why are you going after me? I’ve done nothing to you. I’ve no past with you - nothing. When I see you, I only know one thing, and that’s to RUN.”

Bray says that’s exactly the point. Sami runs. “Why do you think you’re always moving from being good to bad so much, Sami? You’ve become stagnant! Wait, Fireflies, that’s the word of the day! Stagnant!”

This taunting continues, until grows tired of the mockery and challenges Wyatt’s alter ego, The Fiend at the Showcase of the Immortals, where Kevin is having a bout against Bobby Lashley, feeling there is unfinished business, from being out of commission through most of 2018 because of him, and becoming embroiled in Lashley’s feud with Rusev, albeit briefly. This is a “Loser Retires” match, which Kevin wins. He’s retired Lashley and is still on the fast-track to the top.

As for Sami vs The Fiend, it goes as expected. Fiend dominates Sami every step of the way. Cue the “Ole!” chants, which inspires Sami. They’ve never left him, the Sami Zayn band has his back and he must fight for them. Then he gets some good offence in. As usual, Fiend laughs it off and continues to shrug it off. Mandible Claw, 1...2...3...done.

The upcoming draft occurs, and The Fiend and the Universal Title is drafted to Raw, the same brand as Kevin, Seth Rollins, etc. Yet Sami is nowhere to be seen. Debuting on the Red Brand is a masked luchador. The audience, those familiar with this man, sing “Ole!” like they did when Sami was around. This masked luchador is thrust into feuds with the likes of Rey Mysterio, Humberto Carillo, and Andrade. They don’t take him seriously, and mock that he doesn’t appear to speak fluent English, OR Spanish for that matter. They and commentary are oblivious as to who he is. As for the World Championship, McIntyre takes that to Smackdown and loses it to Shinsuke Nakamura.

Kevin is back in the Universal Title picture, against his usual rival, Seth Rollins. Kevin and Seth are still worlds apart, yet both are competing at the chance to face The Fiend. Seth wants to redeem himself, Kevin wants to reclaim what was his, what was taken from him by Goldberg via Jericho. Kevin still knows who he is and who he wants to be. Seth is still struggling to find his own identity, his career rife with finding where he stands. As such, Seth loses the title opportunity to Kevin.

SummerSlam approaches, and Kevin faces off against The Fiend, who it seems has finished collecting the debt owed by those who wronged him. None of the mind games got him, none of the usual: “You’ve turned your back on everyone! You’re sick and you’re going to do it again! Jericho, Sami, The New Day! You almost turned on Samoa Joe! You are a Judas, and you know it. And come SummerSlam, HE is going to stop your reign of terror.” Pot calling the kettle black. Despite all odds, Kevin gets the win over The Fiend.

Survivor Series, it is World Title vs Universal Title. Shinsuke Nakamura vs Kevin Owens. A match that starts of slow, but gets more and more intense. Shinsuke targets and takes apart Kevin Owens, yet he doesn’t get up. “FIGHT OWENS FIGHT! FIGHT OWENS FIGHT!” the fans chant. As Kevin gives a Stunner to Shin, his pin is denied as he is assaulted by the mysterious masked luchador, as he also incapacitates Shin as well. Kevin comes to, sees the masked man, and asks loudly, “SAMI?!” A kick to the face knocks Owens out. No contest.

The next week, Kevin calls out Sami. But there is no Sami, just that same masked man. “Cut the crap Sami. You’re not him anymore.”

“I am... I am El Generico!”

“No! No you’re not, you’re not that confused lucha guy from the indies, the bingo halls. You are Sami Zayn. ‘Ole, ole ole, oleeee!’ Remember?”

Nothing decipherable comes from El Generico. Kevin realizes he is getting nowhere right now. He ignores every advance. But he can’t ignore forever, as he puts his title on the line and at #1 at the Royal Rumble of that year. He goes through everyone, and even has his moments against people he had a past with. Joe, Cena, Fiend, Daniel Bryan, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, even Shane McMahon makes an appearance. A quiet Sami Zayn comes in, not seen for the first time in a while, and no number of people in the ring is going to stop them. Owens dispatches them and Sami all the same. Then it comes down to #30. Who is it going to be? Is it a debut? A return? It is the latter, as Generico makes his way to the ring, and the final four are: El Generico, Kevin Owens, Tomasso Ciampa, and Johnny Gargano. Fitting, as the latter two have their own intense history. Ciampa and Gargano do not make it, and neither does Generico. Kevin retains, becoming the third man ever to last throughout the entire Royal Rumble match and win.

Kevin cuts a promo the next night on Raw, stating he feels he’s done all that needs to be done, and that’s to help his friend Sami. He needs to do it at Wrestlemania. If he wins this, he will end his career on this note. If not, he will keep fighting as only he can until Sami gets the picture. He clarifies he doesn’t mean win, as in winning the match. He means winning back his old friend. Generico, still hard to understand, attacks Kevin.

Yet another Wrestlemania approaches, with Generico and Kevin are the main event. Kevin fights long and hard against Generico, and it gets bloody. It gets painful to watch, yet nobody can look away. Tables, ladders, chairs, the ring bell, the stairs, all are strewn about as these men batter each other. After a weak Kevin Owens frog splashes from the tallest ladder, he gets the pin on Generico. Generico, enraged, throws a tantrum. Kevin grabs him, hoists him up and looks him dead in the eyes. Commentary lets this moment breath, Kevin lets this moment breath. Nothing is said verbally, but so much is said in this post-match staredown. Generico backs away from Kevin, looks at his feet, and back at Kevin. Slowly but surely, Generico removes his mask, and now Kevin finds Sami’s eyes looking back. Sami, with tears in his eyes, embraces Kevin in a hug. Confetti falls around them as the two men are surrounded by cheers from teary-eyed fans. Kevin holds Sami’s hand up.

The next night on Raw, Kevin relinquishes the title, riding off into the sunset. Sami starts his own slow climb to the Universal championship, until he finds himself the winner of the Royal Rumble that upcoming January, against the champion at the time, Aleister Black. Through some shenanigans, the Universal Title is defended in the Elimination Chamber. Aleister gets the win and retains his title against Zayn, Fiend, Roman, Ciampa, and the recently Main Roster debuted Damian Priest.

Through it all, Sami still is dead set on winning the title off of Black at Mania. Aleister, confident, allows Sami to choose the referee of his choosing. Who does he choose? Is it Mike Chioda? Jessica Carr? Nope, it’s Kevin. Kevin, though retired, accepts on one condition. That caveat is that Sami retires and lets newer wrestlers get their chance. He’s seen Sami through his ups and downs, and wants this win for him. But he reiterates over and over again that he will strictly call it down the middle. “So don’t mess this up, Sami.”

A hard fought battle at Mania in the second to last match on the card, with both men tired. Has Aleister met his match? Near fall pins and near submissions ensue. Sami has dodged the Black Mass over and over again, with his own color-coded finisher, the Blue Thunder Bomb. This is enough to knock down Aleister. Could this be it? It turns out to be so, as Kevin’s hand slaps the mat for a third time, and Sami Zayn is your new Universal Champion.

Sami and Kevin are in the ring on Raw the next night as Sami thanks the WWE Universe, relinquishes his title and is serenaded by “Ole!” as he and Kevin leave. They are inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame the next year.

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I hope if you’ve stuck around reading this, you’ve enjoyed it.

I want to thank my inspirations, @adriennegabriella for pushing me to execute this idea and @mith-gifs-wrestling for reigniting my passion for writing and wrestling as well as discover the wonders of fantasy booking. I know I don’t know you, Mith, but your passion for this business is infectious! Part of the reason I started watching wrestling consistently, so thank you!

#fantasy booking #wwe #kevin owens #sami zayn

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