#but my golly I was so familiar with him from Rise

[anonymous-harpy]

I manage to be both intimately familiar with the various monster roars in MH but I also couldn't correctly guess any roars that aren't Zenogore, Gore Magala, and Mitzune.

I couldn't identify the damn Rathian but I knew I knew her voice jeez XD

[arcplaysgames]

God Margaret you are like so pretty?

So yeah on the final day of the game, I'm gonna shoot my shot, why not

.... oh. dang. /tugs collar

I mean, I expected nothing less from her, she was the one who started the Empress SLink really, not me. She had that fucking incredible line, something like "Entangle me in your string of fate," it was gorgeous.

I'm mostly sad Margaret isn't even more of an option because I find her really interesting and very, very charismatic. Being around her feels like being around someone who is much more important than you are but she still decides to grace you with her attention.

As an Empress, she's an interesting choice. The Empress is seated, is passive in her observation of her kingdom, but holds a wand aloft. And Margaret's was certainly instrumental in using power to illuminate the path for Reverie. She makes for a rather cold temperament, but her efficacy cannot be argued with.

Also she KISSED REVERIEEEEEEE. gosh. golly.

Character Accuracy to Their Arcana: Six out of Ten.

OH RISE. You know I have no idea if I would say I "liked" Rise but my got was she like.... the exact chaos the group needed. Teddie and Rise both brought a tremendous amount of energy to the team, both joining at the same time too.

I really admire how decisive Rise is. Which, of course, Lovers, obviously. She may struggle to figure out what exactly she wants, but once she does, she already has her shoes tied tight and is headed forward. And her journey being set up from the start with her Shadow, how there is no such thing as the True Self, and how that continues to be the core of her arc was really very fucking good.

Character Accuracy to Their Arcana: 10 out of 10, honestly.

Marie is great but does suffer a lot from being added into the game. There is a very inorganic element to her. However, given what we learn about her, that she's a creature of the other world meant to doom humanity, that she's almost a cuckoo bird in the human nest, it... sort of makes perfect sense, doesn't it? That she feels so Off.

That's making excuses for the game honestly but I'm gonna do it because while the way she fit into the game was always very pasted on, her voice acting was honestly great and smoothed over a LOT of issues I had with her. Like, I could sit here and point out the flaws but why? I like her enough.

Character Accuracy? Abstain, as I'm not very familiar with the Aeon.

I feel like i don't even need to say anything about Kanji. I'm willing to wager if you could make a pie chart of every dialogue box I screencapped, Kanji would have an outsized percentage.

I came into Persona 4 Golden with carefully calibrated expectations. I Fully expected to be deeply disappointed in Kanji's writing. But he started out amazing and he literally never ceased being amazing. This is the guy who punched his own shadow and affectionately told him to get up because any shadow of his could take a punch. This is the guy who makes "very elaborate" dolls for sad children. This is the guy who is willing and ready to beat up someone if that'll save them. He's the heart of the fucking team and he hits like a mack truck. I love Kanji.

IF ONLY HE WERE ROMANCEABLE. GODDAMMIT.

Character Accuracy to Their Arcana: Solid 7 out of 10. I still think Dojima would have been a better fit but Kanji's dedication to taking ownership and care of his community is very Emperor.

shut up kanji you aren't allowed to make me cry twice in one playthrough

Best Girl Yukiko.

God, she is so weird. She's so heartfelt. She's so funny. Her arc makes a tremendous amount of sense. She's selfish and mean, she's generous and kind. She got drunk off the atmosphere in Iwatodai. She never talks about Chie as much as Chie talks about her. My heart aches for her, and I hope she's made the right decision to stay. I hope she'll have the strength to leave later if she discovers it wasn't.

I hope she and Kanji become best friends.

Character Accuracy to Their Arcana: 0 out of 10, she and Yosuke shoulda swapped.

[moonlight-alphafemale]

Where the sand and water meet

(Part 10)

Omega!Garra x Alpha!Chojuro

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

Good golly gosh, we've reached 10 chapters

(I should never say good golly gosh ever again...)

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

Garra sat there quietly, slowly rocking back and forth in his rocking chair, just enjoying the silence. Every one in a while the baby would move a bit.

“Sayo...? Or Eimi...?” Garra asked himself, rubbing his thumb gently against his stomach.

Garra smelled the familiar scent of sea grass begin to fill the room, a calming presence behind him. A pair of gentle hands cupped his face, tilting it upwards.

“Hey baby...” Chojuro muttered, planting a soft kiss on Garra's forehead.

“Hey...” Garra reached up and rested his hands against Chojuro's larger hands.

“How are you two doing...?”

“We're fine...” Garra purred, enjoying the feeling of Chojuro referring to him and the baby as "two".

Garra grabbed Chojuro's hand and pressed it against his stomach. Chojuro felt a small kick against his hand, Chojuro's face lit up immediately after he felt it.

“Hey sweetie....” Chojuro said gleefully.

Garra smiled softly to himself, watching as Chojuro sweetly to the baby as she kicked.

“Saimi...” Garra said quietly, rubbing his stomach.

“Saimi...?” Chojuro echoed questioningly.

“Yeah, "Sa" from the name "Sayo" and "imi" from the name "Eimi"...”

“Saimi, the child of the sand and the ocean.” Chojuro said with a smile.

“A perfect name...” Chojuro muttered, planting a soft kiss on Garra's stomach.

“I got you some ice cream...” Chojuro said sweetly, resting a gallon of Neapolitan ice cream in Garra's hands.

“Aww... You know me so well...” Garra said with a purr.

─────────ೋღ 🌺 ღೋ─────────

“Are you sure you're ready...” Garra asked and took a spoon full of ice cream.

“What do you mean?” Chojuro asked, gently stroking his hand against Garra's stomach. “Are you having second thoughts...?”

“...A little bit...” Garra took another bite of ice cream, he felt his anxiety rising. “I thought I could do this, but I can't...”

“We don't have to if you don't want to, we don't have to tell the public.” Chojuro pressed a soft kiss against Garra's cheek.

“But I feel like we should...” Garra pressed his nose into Chojuro's broad chest. “Wouldn't it be nice to not having something like weighing on your chest...”

“Yeah... It would...” Chojuro ran his hand along Garra's back. “It would definitely reduce your stress...”

“You should move in...” Garra muttered. “You and Kagura can move in and wel be closer together...”

“Garra, I can't do that...” Chojuro said solemnly. “I have a responsibility to protect the village, and my nation...”

“Right...” Garra's heart ached at Chojuro's response. Garra pulled away from Chojuro and closed his eyes.

There were so many things that they couldn't do just because they were the Kage of their respective nations. Garra wiped the tears from his eyes and sighed.

“Are you ok..?” Chojuro muttered, gently resting his hand on Garra's shoulder.

“It's just pregnancy hormones...” Garra muttered, pulling away and leaving the room.

─────────ೋღ 🌺 ღೋ─────────

“Garra...?” Chojuro walked up to Garra were he sat on the boarder of Suna and Konoha.

“What is it...” Garra muttered.

“Im sorry, I didn't mean to upset you...” Chojuro muttered, hugging Garra tightly.

“Stop it... I'm fine...” Garra pushed Chojuro away.

Chojuro sighed, Chojuro stood up and got ready to leave.

“Can we make this work...?” Garra muttered, rubbing his stomach. “How are we going to make this work...?”

“We'll find a way... Like our little flower...”

The pink flower that grew where in the space where Suna and Konoha merged together. A little seed growing against the odds, growing in the space of two nations at the same time.

“Just like that little flower, just like Saimi, we can make this work....” Chojuro wrapped his arms around Garra's waist.

“You're right...” Garra's muttered, leaning back against his lover. “We can make this work...”

[everything-person]

Then Came You

A/N: This is my contribution to @cshistfic Historical Fic Event. This is my first time diving deep, just submerging myself into research to make sure I got my time period correct and I had a blast. Sometime I had too much fun and thankfully I had @spartanguard to push me off my high horse. Thank you @shireness-says for making this event and running it. Hopefully my entree is worthy enough. This fic is based in the 70’s and is inspired by Disney Pixar’s Cars. This may have up to 3 parts.

Summary: Rookie of the Year race car driver Killian Jones finds himself lost in a forgotten Storybrooke on his way to the finale race of the season. His world and perspective on what he wants gets turned upside down in the small town.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Where the fuck am I?

was Killian Jones, famous race car driver, first thought as he woke up. Well, first thought after he got over the throbbing pain in his skull. He sat up to see he was laying in a cot. Taking in his immediate surroundings, he realized he was behind bars. His head fell into his hands.

How did I get here?

He recalled being at Pocono in the Piston Cup series finale. He was named Rookie of the Year and was set up to be the first one to win. His only real competition was Ernest “the King'' Triton, Atlantica’s golden boy, who was planning on this being his last season, and Edward Teach, the King's tail biter. They weren’t expecting Killian to come out of nowhere and take the season by storm.

He was set to win it all, ahead by half a lap, checkered flag insight when a tire blew. He struggled but was able to keep control of his car. He could feel his competitors gaining on him as he lost speed. Such events caused a three-way tie, set to be settled in a week in Daytona.

He remembered the interviews asking about him driving without a crew chief; he always had an issue taking orders. The King came walking up to him.

“My man, you are one bad racer. You got more talent in that famous smile of yours than half these dudes got in their whole body but you’re stupid. Let me give you the lowdown: this ain’t a one-man show, young blood. You need to wise up, get yourself a good crew chief and a good team. You ain’t gonna win unless you got stellar people behind you doing their jobs so you can keep being the slammin’ driver you are.”

He thanked him for the advice before they were made to get on stage for the press. That's when Edward Teach decided to try to psyche him out.

“Listen space cadet, that was some fab drifting today. By me. He he he. First one at Daytona gets Atlantica all to themselves. Catch my drift?”

Then he went looking for his team, only to find out from Smee, his truck driver, that he had to make a personal appearance over at his sponsor's tent—Arendelle Chocolates, run by sisters Elsa and Anna Arendelle, most famous for the Apollo Bar.

“A taste that’s out of this world!”

He desperately wanted to get away from his sponsor. He didn’t care for sweets and frankly found most disgusting. He entered the tent to find the other reason he didn’t care for his current sponsor: children all running around with their grubby hands. The sight made him squirm, but Smee reminded him they gave him his big break and it was in his contract. With those inspiring words, he put on a smile, made his way to his sponsor sisters, said a few words that had the tent roaring in cheers before he said goodbye.

“Killian, that was stellar! We are so proud to call you our driver!”

“And we are looking forward to another fab year!”

“Don’t drive like my sister!”

“Yeah, don't drive like my sister!”

He and his crew got on the road not long after that. His crew were in the truck along with his car while he drove just behind them. While his crew pulled off to get some rest, he kept going to be the first at Daytona. But he kept nodding off and got lost.

He remembered pulling out his map to try and find out where he was. He tried to keep his car steady while trying to make out what his map said by moonlight, when he heard sirens. Looking up, he saw the lights of a town. Before he could think about pulling over the sirens were accompanied with sounds of loud popping. He assumed it was the officer firing at him. He tried to dodge the bullets but soon lost control of his car. He ran into quite a few things before gaining control again, only to get caught on something. He gunned it to get free, only to have his car spin out once he was. The last thing he remembered was something crashing into his driver side door effectively stopping his spin out and causing his head to slam into his window; then everything went black.

Groaning, he picked up his head taking another look around. He was on a cot, in a holding cell, in a dusty office. He was taking in the desks and filing cabinets, looking for signs of life, when he heard a voice.

“Well hi,” came an excited, high-pitched voice.

His head snapped back to one of the desks to see a boy he missed sitting just behind it.

“I was wondering when you were gonna wake up.”

Killians faced scrunched up, “What's going on? Why am I here?”

The boy laughed, “Like you don’t know. For being a spaz last night.”

“What's your name, lad?”

“Henry. What's your name?”

“You don’t know my name?” Killian asked, taken aback by the question.

“No; why should I know your name?”

“I’m Killian Jones.” He waited for the moptop boy to put the pieces together

“Killian Jones!” Henry shot up out of his seat as he exclaimed the name before falling back down. “Yeah, not ringing a bell.”

Killian furrowed his eyebrows, “Where am I?”

“Where are you? You’re in Storybrooke, the most rockin’ town on the Potomac River.”

Killian sighed, dropping his head, bringing his hand up rubbing at his forehead. “Great. Just great.”

“Well if you like this place, you should see the rest of the town.”

Killian picked up his head, looking at the brown-eyed boy and spied just behind him the keys to his cage. Focusing back on the boy, he smiled and stood up from his spot on the cot.

“You know, that's a brilliant idea. I’d love to see the rest of your town. If you just let me out of here, we could go cruisin’ the town.” Killian finished his thought as he came leaning against the bars.

“Golly! Really?” Henry sat up straighter with a bright smile that slowly turned into a smirk, “You think you can psyche me out. I’m ten, not stupid.”

“Henry!” a new voice shouted out.

In walked a man sporting a perm and mustache wearing a star at his hip.

“What have you been told about being in here with criminals?”

Henry sighed, “Not without supervision. But he was sleeping.”

The man crossed his arms, letting out a huff, “Well now he’s awake. Want to help me escort him to court?”

The next thing Killian knew, he was in chains and being placed in the back of a cop car. After a short ride, he was hauled out and guided into Town Hall where he was met with shouting and very angry townspeople. He was placed in a chair.

“Oi mate,” Killian looked up at the sheriff, “I gotta skitty. How long is this gonna take?”

The sheriff, Robin read his name tag, crossed his arms, “Do you have a lawyer?”

Killian scoffed, “Aye, but he's probably in Hawaii right now.”

“If the defendant doesn’t have representation, the court will assign one to him.” Robin turned to the crowd behind him bringing his fingers to his lips, letting out a shrieking whistle. “Anyone want to be his lawyer?”

The room went silent.

“I’ll do it,” a familiar voice broke the silence.

Killian turned to see the boy from before trotting up to the gate. Robin quirked an eyebrow at him.

“What? It's not hard.”

“Hmm, alright,” Robin agreed, letting the boy take the seat next to Killian.

Killian looked between the two before landing his gaze on the sheriff.

“Are you serious?”

“Well, our normal defense is at the vet after you clipped his dog last night,” Robin informed him before speaking to the room, “All rise! Honorable Judge Nolan presiding.”

Everyone stood as the sound of a door opening and closing was heard. Heavy footsteps rang out in the silence.

“I want to know who is responsible for wrecking my town. I want his ass on a silver platter. I’m gonna put him in jail until he rots. No, until the jail rots on top of him then I’ll put him in another jail and wait until that one rots. I—”

The man's rants came to a halt as he laid his eyes on the accused. “Get him out of here, sheriff. I want him out of my courtroom and out of my town. Case dismissed; charges dropped.”

Killian let out a breathy laugh, “Woah. You were a better lawyer than I thought, youngblood.”

“Sorry I’m late, Your Honor.”

Killian turned to see a stunning blonde woman come strutting in.

“Bloody hell,” Killian whispered under his breath. He thought the sheriff must’ve found his agent's number and gave him a call. This must be who they sent from his attorney’s office.

As she was walking by, Killian spoke up, “Hello, love. Thank you for coming but we are all set. He’s dropped the charges.”

She stopped and turned to him, her eyes darting to the boy next to him. “What?”

“Aye, we got off lucky. Now all we have to do is speed on down to Florida.”

“Please.”

“I get that a lot. I create feelings in people they themselves don't understand.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Right. Well I’m gonna go talk to the judge.”

“Whatever you gotta do, love. Do be careful though. These cats are a bit feral.”

She pursed her lips, nodding before turning her attention to the smiling child next to him, “Hi, Henry.”

“Hello.”

Killian looked at the boy before looking back at the blonde, who had turned to the crowd behind him.

“Morning everyone,” she called out, receiving greetings in response. She turned, eyeing Killian as she did, before she walked up to the judges stand who was intensely looking at his papers.

“David, you're looking well. Your sideburns are—”

“Forget it, Emma. I already dismissed the case,” he said, not looking up at her.

“He endangered most of the town and destroyed half of it. You can’t just let him go.”

“We are better off with him gone.”

Emma huffed, “Alright; you asked for it.”

Emma turned and addressed the room, “I move for an appeal. Robin, if you will help me escort the accused to the Mayor.”

Robin assisted Killian out of the chair. They followed the woman down the hall and up the stairs. Killian would protest but the walk was giving him a great view of the blonde’s ass.

As they came to a door labeled Mayor, Robin leaned over and whispered to Killian, “May the mayor have mercy on your soul.”

Before Killian could question or even look at the man he was being ushered into a black and white room.

“Ms. Swan, why are you barging into my office?” A woman sitting behind the desk in the middle of the office asked, not bothering to look up at the intruders.

“Judge Nolan ruled to dismiss the charges against our drunk driver—”

“I wasn’t drunk,” Killian interrupted.

“And I moved for an appeal. I thought the sooner the better,” Emma continued.

The woman finally looked up to see Emma standing in front of her desk before her eyes darted to Sheriff Robin, and Judge Nolan standing just behind her with Killian standing in between them.

“What are the charges?”

“Reckless driving, reckless endangerment, trespassing, vandalism, and destruction of property.”

“Why did you dismiss the case?” The woman directed the question to Judge Nolan.

He stepped forward standing next to Emma. “Madame Mayor, what happened last night was a terrible occurrence but I believe the longer this man stays, the more trouble will come.”

“Based on what?”

“I know the kind of man he is. I can see it in his eyes. He’s the last thing this town needs.”

“We let this guy walk, it sends a message to every delinquent in town that you can do whatever you want. The town needs to be fixed—they need this,” Emma stated.

“I think the sheriff's station’s reputation will precede this incident. We are fine without him,” Judge Nolan responds.

The mayor turned to Emma. “What do you suggest the sentence should be if I agree to your appeal?”

“Make an example of him. Give him community service, make him fix everything he can that he broke. Whatever he can’t, fine him for; by the looks of his clothes, he can afford it.”

The mayor sat back looking between the man and woman in front of her.

“Sheriff,” she called, “What say you? Should I let this man go to avoid further disturbance, or have him fix the town?”

“Well, I think the town needs renovation more than it needs to avoid trouble. In fact, I think we could benefit from some,” Robin eloquently answered.

The mayor nodded, standing from her seat, “I’m inclined to agree. The accused is sentenced to community service until everything that was damaged from last night's events is fixed and a fine of six hundred dollars for reckless driving and endangerment.”

Killian’s eyebrows nearly shot off his forehead. He went from walking away scot-free to becoming this town’s new handyman along with being fined six hundred dollars.

The mayor took her seat once again stating, “You are all dismissed.”

Emma turned around with a satisfied smile plastered on her face. “Looks like Florida is gonna have to wait.”

[daemoninwhiteround2]

Clark stretches and luxuriates in the sunbeam stretching across the desk. Gotham is renowned for being terribly overcast at all times, but wealth buys distance, and Wayne Manor is far enough away from the factories that they have clear skies. Stunning sunsets still, however, and he walks out onto the attached balcony to admire it.

"Shepherd's delight," he murmurs, watching the red sky.

He hadn't meant to stay so long - he was only in Gotham to cover the opening of a new branch of Queen Industries. But for all his boss dislikes putting an omega on the hard news, Clark has the instincts of any alpha reporter, and he'd taken advantage of the trip to do a little snooping. One thing led to another and he'd been tossing up what hotel he should attempt to find a room in when he'd literally tripped over Bruce. One thing led to another and then Bruce was inviting him to spend the night.

A noise from the study behind him interrupts his reminiscing and he turns to see Dick slip into the room. Clark smiles, delighted to see him - Dick has been mysteriously absent his whole visit so far.

(He has no idea the image he makes, limned by the setting sun, openly welcoming.)

Dick closes the door but he doesn't move further into the room, instead he presses his back up against the door.

Clark frowns and steps closer. "Dick, what's-?"

The scent smacks him across the face and he chokes.

Alpha.

Rut.

Oh. Oh.

He hadn't known.

He freezes. "Dick?"

"I." Dick swallows thickly and almost claws at the wood. "I. It's my. First."

Clark nods slowly. He... Golly, the last time he was in the room with a rutting alpha, was...

He's not sure. He was the one in heat, when Luthor...

He pushes the memory away with the ease of long practice. He didn't regret it at the time and he refuses to now - he'd got Conner out of it. Conner is worth any amount of slightly creepy attention from an alpha.

"Dick. Do you want me to get Bruce?"

Dick snarls and Clark nods, trying to make himself smaller and also bare his neck at the same time. Some alphas find the presence of their pack alpha comforting when in rut, others view it as a threat to their authority and a challenge to their right to an omega. The rut brain is stupid - Dick knows that Bruce and Clark are platonic, they specifically had a conversation about it after Clark helped Bruce with an emergency rut a couple of years back. Dick's logical brain isn't the one in control right now.

"What do you want me to do, Dick?" Clark asks as he pumps out soothing omega pheromones as subtly as he can.

Dick takes one staggering step forward. "You."

"Yes, what do you want me-"

Dick snarls, frustration clear, and steps forward again. His tail lashes in a way that Clark's dog-brain wants to read as an invitation to play, but the rest of his body language...

Dick presses himself against Clark, wraps his arms around Clark's waist. The tip of his nose just barely brushes the edge of the scent gland on Clark's neck. "You. Omega. My omega."

Clark had automatically brought his hands up to support Dick and when he processes the words he wants to freeze, but he forces himself to go through with it, to run calming hands over Dick's hair and down his back.

It makes sense. Clark is an unmated omega (despite what some people have attempted, not naming any names Lex) and he and Dick are familiar with one another - Clark has taken Dick out, helped with his homework. If Clark's in the area and has free time he always attempts to see Bruce and Dick. This is ... Perhaps not quite to be expected (he thinks of wanting Jimmy, even in the depths of heat, and wants to laugh) but it is normal.

"Oh, Dickie. I... Any omega would be flattered-"

"I don't want any omega, I want you," Dick whines against Clark's collarbone. "I've always wanted you."

(Clark recalls, in rapid succession:

Dick finding Clark sharing breakfast with Bruce after Clark had assisted with Bruce's rut, and storming off, trailing the scent of tears behind him.

Dick pressing close to Clark whenever they're out together and someone unmated approaches them.

Dick always touching Clark. Giving him little gifts of flowers and rocks.

Dick smiling to Lex's face and saying something innocently insulting at the most recent gala - it had been so funny Clark had been forced to duck into a side room and laugh himself sick.

He recalls and represses. Rut brain cannot be trusted.)

"Oh baby," Clark stritches behind Dick's ears. "I know it feels like that, but just wait until your rut is up. You'll feel so embarrassed, saying something like that to an old fuddy duddy like me. Why don't we get you settled into a nest and we'll call one of your school friends?"

Dick growls, all puppy-displeasure, and sets his teeth against Clark's shoulder. He's not quite tall enough to get the traditional bite, and Clark feels rather like a chewtoy.

"Dick..."

"Noooo," Dick whines again and drags his teeth back and forth. It's a strange mix of ticklish and actually rather... Nice.

Clark sighs. He closes his eyes and pushes away the faux-heat that wants to rise in response to a rut, and thinks. There's nothing wrong with spending a heat or rut with someone - he doesn't regret the time spent with Lex, he's annoyed that Lex took advantage of him to try to mate him not that they had sex - and everyone knows someone who tried to go it alone and got sick. First ruts and heats are the worst as well - Clark can get away with spending his heats alone but that's because he's a mature omega who has had a pup. A baby alpha runs a serious risk of hurting themselves from dehydration or a ... Ahem. Injury.

Instincts don't direct you to someone you'll regret. If Dick wants to spend his first rut with Clark, then it's probably because he ... Feels safe with Clark. Or maybe it's because Clark's the omega he feels closest to.

Dick hooks a leg around Clark's, and Clark startles as a very erect penis is pressed against him.

Oh. That's. Hrm.

Big.

Dick rocks his hips and whimpers. Clark bites his lip and definitely doesn't slick up in response. Or maybe he does. He...

He sighs. Presses a kiss to Dick's forehead and then cups his chin and pulls him back far enough that they can look each other in the eye.

"Do you want to spend your first rut with me, Dick?" he asks.

Dick doesn't bat an eyelash. "Please."

"Ok. Ok. Have you built a den?"

Dick squirms out of Clark's grip and presses his forehead to the centre of Clark's chest.

(Oh. Has Dick seen a post-pregnancy omega naked before? Probably not. Clark hopes he doesn't disappoint.)

"Wanna show me to it?"

Dick nods wordlessly again. He steps back, drags his hands around and down Clark's sides until he can grab both of Clark's hands. "Mmh. Wanna show it to you."

Clark purrs, all omega-approval, and desperately hopes that they cross someone on the way. He doesn't know if Dick has stocked up on water and snacks and once he's in the den, if Dick's like most other alphas, he won't want to leave.

"Lead the way."

[highonchocolate]

Take Two: The Guardian in Gotham Chapter 6

First   Previous   Next   Ao3

Notes: 

Trigger warning: self hatred, and demeaning thoughts towards oneself. Skip the bold text if that’s a trigger. Also blood and descriptions of fighting. Skip the first paragraph if that’s a trigger. When the speech is in italics, that means they are speaking in another language. I will say which one it is, so you can know because there are two other languages.

---

The room was shrouded in an ethereal darkness. Marinette looked around and screamed at the ghostly form of Chat Blanc lurking in the flickering shadows of the balcony. His bloodstained white hands reached for her as ice blue eyes gleamed with dark energy. She raised her arm to block the blow before shoving him away and running for the door. Her hands grasped desperately for the handle as a large hand grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the side. She stumbled back into the dresser, and with a snarl he lunged. A flash of light on gleaming claws, and then there was nothing but blood and hurt and the rasping sounds of her shallow, fading, breaths. She heard the ‘whoosh’ of a boot slicing through air, and felt a crack as it connected with her ribs. Knife sharp pain lanced through her chest, and she choked on her blood as he smirked down at her. He tuned and brought one red stained finger to his mouth before smiling at the taste and disappearing from the room. Too late. She thought as he vanished in the warm light of the sunrise. Too late. Then her vision went dark and she knew no more.

---

Marinette woke up screaming. Looking at the dark room around her she nearly fell out of bed in her haste to turn on the table lamp. As the dim light flooded the room, she sat up and hugged her knees to her chest, eyes flickering to corners in a search for shadows that weren’t there. She stayed like that, trembling and shaking with muffled sobs as the Kwami tried to comfort her, for almost an hour before she felt confident enough to move. 

Even then, when she eased into her wheelchair, she stayed away from the balcony, and kept her eyes firmly on her sewing. The repetitive motions soothed her as she worked, and calmed her rattled mind. When her alarm for 6:30 began blaring, she stopped working and got ready for school. 

Looking in the mirror, she made eye contact with herself and winced at her appearance. Deep bags were under her eyes, and her gaze was shadowed with the memories of her nightmare. She grabbed her concealer and got to work. She moved to let her hair down, and then flinched as the memories of Chat Blanc assaulted her mind.* She knew Adrien would never hurt her, but sometimes she would look at him, and all she could see was a world that had drowned and a shattered moon hanging in the sky.

Shuddering, she hugged herself around the waist before tying her hair into her signature pigtails.

The familiar actions calmed her down enough that she could manage to make her way downstairs. Her body felt heavy, and she was both exhausted and wide awake. She wheeled into the room, and was immediately met with several pairs of blue eyes looking her way. Blue eyes….

Tikki nudged her softly through her pocket. At the gesture, she steeled herself and pushed past the memories to make eye contact with everyone and smile. Then she sat down, and the flood of horrors suffocated her again. Moving on autopilot, she mechanically ate her breakfast before wheeling to the car, not noticing the concerned glances of the family. 

---

Damian was not worried. 

He simply noticed that when Dupain-Cheng had walked into the room, she had flinched slightly upon making eye contact with everyone in the family. Everyone in the family but him and Alfred. She had forced a smile onto her face a second later, and as she ate, she seemed to not notice the rest of her surroundings. Father had called her name three times, and she had not responded even once. Then she had taken her plate to the sink, and wheeled to the car without even looking at any of them. 

So no, he was not worried, just curious.

---

As the car pulled up to Gotham Academy, Marinette felt her fear rise. Would this school be just like her old one? Spoiled bullies and liars getting her into trouble? What if her classmates hated her? What if they called her a charity case? ‘It would be true, though.’ She laughed bitterly to herself. ‘Poor Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Can’t even deal with a single bully, so she has to escape to a county all the way across the ocean.’ She clawed her way out of the self loathing enough to open the door and climb out of the car. As she made her way into the school behind Damian, heard the whispers and glances of the students she passed in the hallways. Saw how their eyes lingered on the bruises that were still too painful to cover with makeup, how they focused on her stitches and glanced at her leg. She felt their pitying stares on her back as she wheeled into the office. 

The secretary, a young woman with long brunette hair, didn’t even look up as she entered the room. “How can I help you?” She snapped, all business as her fingers clacked at the keyboard. “My name is Marinette, um, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I’m a transfer student, and I need my schedule.” She muttered, feeling insecure at the poorly-disguised hostility rolling off the woman in waves. “Right, here you go. Make sure you’re not late, your first class starts in five minutes.” She snapped as she reached out with one hand to give her the schedule. “Thank you.” She mumbled before turning to leave. She didn’t even look away from the screen, only giving her an absentminded “Uh-huh, no problem.” Getting the message, Marinette turned and wheeled out the door.

As she made her way to her first class (Damian having left her at the office with barely a backward glance), Marinette thanked her Ladybug luck for giving her classes on the first floor. She stopped in front of her first class (Physics with Mr. Henway, how wonderful) and knocked twice before rolling in at the muffled “Yes, come in.” she heard. 

Opening the door, she surveyed the classroom and noticed nobody was looking at her-a stark contrast to the hallways where she had felt like an exhibit on display. She turned to the teacher, an older man with a stern grandfatherly air about him. “Hello sir, where should I sit?” She asked quietly.

He looked up when she spoke, and immediately let out a loud gasp that garnered most of the room’s attention. “Good golly child, what happened to you?! You look like you just went three rounds with one of Scarecrow's goons!” Feeling the incredulous stares of the people in the class, she shifted awkwardly in her seat and repeated her earlier question. 

Realizing she wasn’t going to answer, he sighed and motioned to a spot in the front row.

She took her place and tried to ignore her rising blush, and the rest of her classmate’s glances as he began teaching.

The rest of her classes passed in a similar manner: shocked teacher, repeated glances, quiet muttering she tried to ignore. She met a group of four other kids that were quick to latch on and include her in their conversations. She learned their names were Claude, Allegra, Bridgette, and Felix, and she hoped they would become friends. She ignored the voices hissing in her ear: ‘They’re going to abandon you. Nobody loves you. Everyone around you hates you. They all want you to go away. They’re just being polite to the new kid because they pity you.’ as she accepted their invitation to eat lunch with them. Even with her newfound friends, lunch was the worst, as the whole room kept looking at her. Felix and Allegra glared threateningly over her head as Bridgette and Claude tried to draw her into conversation. Feeling anxious, she ducked her head down, and ate quickly, trying to ignore everything. 

By the time school was over, she was drowning in a sea of insecurity and anxiety, and she barely heard Alfred call her name over the ringing in her ears. Latching on to his voice like a lifeline, she hurried into the car, and slumped against the seat with a shaky sigh. 

“What's wrong, Miss Marinette?” Alfred asked as they drove to the Manor. She heard Damian tut behind her and mutter “Can’t even get through one day at school.” Blushing with embarrassment, she quickly answered “It’s nothing. I’m fine.” Seeing his unconvinced stare, she hurried to add to her excuse. “There were just so many people, and it was kind of overwhelming. But I’m okay.” She saw him nod in acceptance, and let loose a relieved exhale as she leaned back in her seat and watched the buildings go by.

---

She wheeled into the Manor, feeling relieved to get away from all the crowding and stares at school.  Making her way through the house, she gave Bruce a small wave as she passed him in the hallway. This day was totally awful. Nothing can make it any worse than it already is.’ She thought to herself as she entered the living room. Noticing Jason, Dick, and Tim watching a show, she lifted her hand to wave, but then brought it to her bag as her phone rang. Checking the caller ID, she smiled to see Chloé’s name flash across the screen. She nodded in greeting instead, and answered the call. 

“Hey Chloé, what’s up?” she spoke as she sat down on the couch next to Jason. “Maribug! Fu’s completely lost it!”  She shrieked over the phone. The sound was so loud, Marinette had to pull the phone away from her ear with a wince. “Tone it down a bit, Chlo. What do you mean?” She asked, trying to speak calmly. “He won’t stop mumbling to himself, and at random times he’ll just stare at the wall blankly!” The girl answered, though at a much quieter volume.  Marinette frowned and switched to French, hoping the others weren’t fluent. “Well, I think that behavior should be normal for a man that just had memories from over 150 years of his life erased.” Someone choked on air behind her. ‘So much for them not knowing French.’ She thought. She was totally screwed. Her thoughts were interrupted by Chloé speaking again. “No he says the Demon is coming!” Marinette paused. “Chloé,” she spoke carefully, “you need to tell me his exact words. Now.” Her voice hardened at the end; it was not a request. Sensing the importance, Chloé immediately became serious. “It was mostly mumbling, and I couldn’t make out most of what he said, but I heard something about Al Guhl, and eternal life.” Forget what she had thought earlier. Apparently there was something that could make this day worse. For being a Holder of Luck, she sure was unlucky. She tried to calm her breathing, and tried to keep the panic out of her voice. “You’re absolutely sure he said that? You weren’t just hearing things?” “Yeah, that's exactly what he said. Is something wrong?” Chloé responded, sounding worried. She let out a laugh, but it sounded strained. “Yes. If I’m hearing you correctly, Master Fu was talking about League of Assassins.” She spoke in the language of the Guardians to make sure the rest of the room didn’t understand her words. Chloé sucked in a breath before cursing loudly. “Yeah, we’re totally fucked.” Marinette muttered an agreement before ending the call. She dropped her head into her hands and groaned loudly at the thought of dealing with assassins on top of everything else. “Mari? Are you okay? That conversation was kind of concerning.” Dick questioned gently, looking supremely worried. Marinette smiled up at him. “No, everything’s good. I got it handled. Just some issues with...a mentor of mine. Nothing big.” She lied, before making up an excuse. “I have a lot of homework to do, so I’m going to go work on it.” She shot the three of them another fake grin, before wheeling out of the room without waiting for their response.

---

Taglist: @laurcad123 (let me know if you want to be tagged)

---

More Notes: *In the episode Chat Blanc, Marinette wore her hair down after the identity reveal, so I’m making that a trigger because she associates that with Adrien’s eventual akumatization. This is not an Adrien salt fic!! It’s just her own trauma making her fear him sometimes. Also, I know her wrist brace came off, but it’s still sore which is why she’s using the wheelchair instead of crutches. And in school we weren’t allowed to carry book bags (students might be hiding guns or weapons) so you had to carry your things around. In Gotham that would also be logical, so with that in mind it would be hard for Mari to get around with crutches and carry her things simultaneously.

[herocentral]

Possible Hero 6

Authors notes: Well folks this is it we’re in the endgame now, so watch as the final countdown to catastrophe begins!

Kim Possible & Big Hero 6 (c) Disney

Chapter 10: Countdown to Catastrophe Pt 3:

It was now daytime over San Fransokyo however all was not well Baymax in his armour was carrying Hiro, not on his back but held him by his left arm. Hiro struggled to get free from his friends grip but couldn’t. 

“Baymax you have to listen to me!” Hiro pleaded but had no response as Baymax’s eyes glowed red he knew it was no longer his friend but he was under the control of someone else. 

Hiro tried reaching for his armour access port so he could remove the chip that was responsible for this but couldn’t reach. Baymax then turned to him. 

“Do not.” He said in a deep voice and Hiro just gave up. 

The robot flew towards a cliff side far from the city and there was a small cave entrance. They flew in and at the end of the tunnel was a steel door which upon Baymax’s landing opened to reveal a tunnel.As they entered Hiro struggled to break free from Baymax’s grip but couldn’t. 

“Resistance will result in further injury.” Baymax advised in a deep voice. 

Hiro looked in surprise just then the door in front of them opened and they walked inside. They passed Momakase who was busy dicing sushi with her graphene katanas she took a moment to look and see their new prisoner. 

Meanwhile Globby and Noodle Burger boy were busy playing poker as Hiro and Baymax walked by. 

“Golly mister, I’ve got a noodle supreme with all the fixings.” Noodle burger boy said as he showed his hand. 

“Gah knock it off with all the fast food jabber its confusing!” Globby groaned. 

Baymax escorted Hiro down the hall of this strange complex then suddenly the young genius heard the sound of a familiar voice.

“Hi Hiro.” Said the voice. “Trina?” Hiro said and he looked to see the head of a brown haired girl with greyish blue eyes sitting on the table near him and there were wires coming out of it. 

“GAH!” Hiro said in shock! “Y, you’re a..” “A robot, obviously” Trina answered as her body tapped Hiro’s shoulder it was wearing a pink shirt with grey pants and dark red shoes and wore black fingerless gloves on her hands. 

Hiro was shocked to see and find out that a friend he met at the bot fighting arena and was responsible for using some of the contestants robots to commit crimes was really a robot the whole time.

“Uh obviously.” Hiro said stuttering “You never figured it out? Thats so pathetic it’s cute.” She said as her body did the gestures. 

Hiro just looked back on the robot and then suddenly realised how her voice sound a lot like Kims a rather strange coincidence really. Baymax and Hiro continued down the hall way until another voice emerged one he was all too familiar with indeed. 

“Well well well look who it is.” Hiro looked to see Shego leaning on the left wall filing her nails and smirked. 

“Are you ever not going to get captured by the bad guys kid.” She said practically gloating. “Still this does make a change from last time doesn’t it, but it’s kind of ironic that your so called family is the one to bring you to the bad guys instead.” She walked over and looked him in the eyes. 

“Yeah why don’t you take a picture Shego it’ll last longer.” Hiro glared. 

“Hm not a bad idea.” Shego said as she pulled out her phone and took a picture of Hiro being held hostage by Baymax. 

“I still can’t believe you decided to work with Obake!” Hiro glared.

“Hey nothing personal kid it’s just business, besides for once I’m on the winning side.” Shego smirked. 

“Yeah and what happens when the winning side cuts you loose.” Hiro said as controlled Baymax pulled him away. 

“Talk to the hand kid.” Shego brushed off. With that Baymax took Hiro to the end of the corridor and saw a glowing green light from the doors window. 

The door opened and Hiro saw standing over a collection of monitor screens showing a map of the city a surveillance footage of his friends, Ron and Rufus in the Lucky Cat Cafe and some schematics for a device and the man watching them was Obake himself. 

“Hiro Hamada, welcome.” Obake greeted as he turned to face his captive. 

Hiro’s Garage Lucky cat Cafe:

Meanwhile back at the garage at the Lucky Cat Cafe the rest of Big Hero 6, Ron and Rufus were present, but Honey Lemon waited at the garage door rather anxious as a certain young genius was no where to be seen. However Ron was worried too he still hadn’t heard from Kim about what happened at Night Market. 

“Oh Hiro was supposed to meet us.” Honey said holding a lock of her hair. 

“Its not just him I still can’t get word from KP do you think she’s okay?” Ron said still brooding over the Kimmunicator.

“Ron relax I’m sure she’s fine she’ll get here soon.” Wasabi assured and Rufus backed that up with a consoling tap on Rons shoulder.

“Its defiantly weird.” Everyone then turned to Fred looking over the conspiracy board. 

“People who make elaborate conspiracy boards are usually pretty reliable.” Fred then said. 

“Uh huh.” Rufus agreed. “Great but it still doesn’t tell us what the bad guys planning.” Wasabi said. 

“There has to be a pattern somewhere?” Gogo said, Ron looked over the board himself and he wished Kim was here as she could figure out the pattern faster than anyone. However when Ron looked over the board he suddenly noticed something and just like that something clicked. 

“Hold the nacos guys!” Ron exclaimed getting their attention. “I think you’ve been looking at this all wrong!” 

“Ron, explain now!” Gogo said simply wanting to know what he was talking about. 

“You shouldn’t be looking for a pattern in the threads, you should be looking at the things that have been raised from the pattern.” Ron explained and it seemed everyone seem to know what he was talking about. 

“Obake has the magnet from the school.” Gogo said looking at the large magnet that was stolen on Halloween night. 

“And he was doing something in the bay.” Fred added. 

“Yeah hence why he helped you guys stop that Baron Von Steamer dude right, but why?” Ron then asked Wasabi then realised something. 

“What if he was turning H2O into D2O?” Wasabi said 

“D20?” Ron asked. “Yeah it’s known fact that sea water if properly converted can be turned from H2O into an element known as D2O.” Wasabi explained. 

“Which means what?” Ron asked again still confused. 

“Heavy water, that can be used as fuel.” Gogo then explained. 

“Uh huh I mean I don’t get it but ah huh.” Fred said.

“Oh right I think I had that on a science test once, I think it was one of the questions I got wrong.” Ron realised. “But fuel for what?” 

“I don’t know but we know he was obsessed with Shimamoto.” Honey said looking at an old newspaper clipping about the city rising painting. 

“Okay okay but what about the energy amplifying thing, Granville said he tried to make one but failed, and you said Yama blackmailed Hiro into stealing that ornament from her desk which we know was said amplifier.” Ron listed. “So what could he want with a magnet, water fuel then trick Hiro into making the amplifier for him? I mean I may not be smart but I’m getting a doomsday machine vibe from this.” 

“Great minds think alike my man.” Fred said and Rufus nodded. 

As they talked Honey Lemon began to think about all the components that their shadowy adversary had stolen in the past few months and what they could be assembled into. Then suddenly a horrifying realisation hit her he’d stolen Shimamotos journal during their confrontation at SFAI and given what they recently just learned there was only one clear conclusion. 

“The Great Catastrophe!” She gasped. “He’s trying to recreate the Great Catastrophe!” 

Everyone looked in horror knowing what said catastrophe did all those years ago to the city and most importantly the people. 

“Wait wait the catastrophe that destroyed the entire city years ago the one Shimamoto said she created in her message that Great Catastrophe!?” Ron questioned in fright.

“Yep thats the one.” Wasabi said in a scared voice. “Oh no!” Rufus squeaked. 

“And he has everything he needs.” Gogo realised, this was Obake’s endgame. 

“Okay it’s official this is the insanest bad guy plan in the history of bad guy plans he’s going to kill thousands of innocent people!” Ron exclaimed. 

Just then the kimmunicator ring tone sounded off which to Ron was a great relief it had to be Kim calling in from Night Market. So Ron hurried to answer it.

“Kim KP you there!” Ron called but it wasn’t Kim but Wade. 

“Ron guys!” Wade called. “Wade whats wrong?” Gogo asked seeing the worried tone in his voice. 

“I’ve lost contact with Kim, she found Obake’s hidden secret but the cellar was drowning the signal!” Wade panicked. “When I managed to get through I could hear some kind of explosion! Somethings wrong!” 

“Oh no Kim!” Ron exclaimed. “Ron put whatever you’re thinking out of your head, lets get down to Night Market square and…” Gogo was interrupted by a groaning sound coming from the garage entrance everyone turned and saw something that made them gasp in shock. 

“Oh my..” Honey gasped.

What or rather who they saw was Kim Possible, not dead and certainly not buried under the rubble of a building. She was panting with exhaustion and was completely covered in soot from head to toe and her left armour gauntlet was cracked and fried. 

“Hey guys.” She breathed before she collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. 

“Kim!” Ron exclaimed as everyone ran over to her unconscious body 

KP P.O.V

Kim was barely conscious but she could see the faces of Ron Honey, Gogo, Wasabi, Fred and Rufus standing over her but then she passed out. 

Sometime later she began to hear voices around her and could faintly make out the voices as her friends and her parents. 

“When she came in she just collapsed.” Honey explained rather worried. 

“Its okay Honey you and the others did the right thing calling us.” Ann said assuringly. “She’s okay just badly shaken and bruised but she’ll come around in a few minutes.”

Slowly her eyes opened to see her parents and friends looking over her.

Normal view

She groaned as she woke up and found herself on the couch in the garage. Her armour had been removed as well as her equipment belt and gloves. She slowly managed to sit up.

“Easy Kimmy cub don’t try and stand.” James warned with care. 

“Uh Dad, Mom guys.” Kim groaned. Just then Ron came through to see her and just wrapped her in a hug.

“KP you’re okay!” Ron breathed in relief. “Ow ow Ron easy.” She groaned as he hugged her too tight and Rufus came and hugged her face. 

“Kim what, what happened?” Ron asked. “Oh you know just another disagreement between me and a mad man you know how it goes.” Kim said casually. “Obake just tried to bring a building down on my head.” 

“What?” James said “Why?” “I’m betting so she wouldn’t interfere with his plan.” Gogo guessed. 

“Kim we just figured out what Obake’s plan is!” Fred then said. 

“Let me guess he’s trying to recreate the Great Catastrophe.” Kim said much to everyones surprise especially Ann and James.  

“How did you…” “Figured it out when he showed me…” Kim answered Wasabi but she suddenly remembered. 

“Hiro!” Kim breathed and suddenly summoned the strength to stand up from the couch. 

“Obake’s got Hiro we need to find them now!” Kim said in a serious tone

“What!” Honey exclaimed. “Kim whats going on?!” Gogo asked. 

“It’s Obake he’s been watching all of us!” Kim began explaining. “He has surveillance footage set up every where at your homes, the hotel where I’m staying, Hiro’s lab at SFIT and the Lucky Cat!” Kim listed. 

“He’s been watching us, but that means..” “He knows who we are!” Gogo interrupted Wasabi who then realised how.

“Noodle Burger Boy! He can scan customers and analyse their food needs Obake must have taken him so he could scan us during the fight and learn our identities!” Wasabi figured. 

“And this mad man plans to create the same catastrophe that destroyed the city!” Ann gasped. “But why?” James said. 

“To make what he calls a new world he won’t care about those who get hurt and he had Noodle do something to Baymax during the fight at Krei tech to get control of him.” Kim explained as she put her equipment belt back on. 

“A sleeper!” Fred gasped. “But how do we find Obake we don’t even know where he is!” Honey said. 

“Yeah without Baymax we can’t track him!” Wasabi pointed out.

“What about the tracking through the data chip thing we used before?” Ron suggested. 

“Obake was the one who suggested that so he’ll make sure we can’t use that to track him.” Gogo shot down.

Kim then put her gloves back on and activated the Kimmunicator to call Wade.

“Kim oh man am I glad to see you.” Wade gasped in surprise. “Yeah likewise Wade, can you get a fix on Hiro’s position?” She then asked. 

“On it!” Wade replied. “Wait you can find him how?!” Wasabi asked. 

Flashback to Granville’s office.

Kim placed a consoling hand on Hiro’s shoulder after hearing Granville’s story but when she removed it a small blue device was now on Hiro’s neck under his hair.”

“I placed a tracker on him just in case something like this happened.” Kim said. 

Present day:

“Wow way to think ahead.” Fred said. Then Wade buzzed in.

“Got him!” Wade said now they knew where Hiro was.

Obake’s lair

Deep in Obake’s lair the villain is showing his captive Hiro some footage shedding some light on what happened during their fight at Krei tech. 

“Noodle Burger boy.” Hiro guessed.

It showed Noodle burger boy swinging down to Baymax’s chest and inserting a certain chip into his data port which caused him to go haywire then later take Hiro straight to the villains lair.

“I should have been there.” Hiro said with a look of guilt realising he was to blame for Baymax being like this now. “but I was…” 

“Doing vital work.” Obake interrupted then showing him the energy amplifier he unknowingly created on his behalf. “For me.”

He gestured for Baymax to let the young genius go which the robot complied. Obake then placed the amplifier into a container for storage then showed him a monitor of a painting done by a certain artist. 

“Lenore Shimamoto?” Hiro wondered. “I’m a big fan.” Obake said as he unveiled her creation as the other villains in the room watched. 

“Shimamoto built a rather unique machine.” Obake moved the visuals showing the schematics of said machine. “It created a star.” He then showed a holo vis of an energy star. 

“A star?” Hiro wondered. “It collapsed quickly.” Obake described in the visual. 

“Th, that would create a giant shock wave.” Hiro then had a horrifying realisation. “Wait thats how she caused the Great Catastrophe!” 

“Oh you are sharp.” Obake complimented then moving the slides to show San Fransokyo in the past and present day. 

“But new San Fransokyo is much larger now, so I need a bigger bang!” He then explained. “I improved upon Shimamoto’s inadvertent discovery, it should be quite a show.” 

“Why didn’t I listen to Granville.” Hiro said to himself in guilt. 

“Because like me you were meant, to push limits.” Obake said to his fellow genius showing him a simulation of the star exploding and destroying the entire city in the process.

Hiro smacked away from the mad genius Obake seeing he really was insane. 

“But everyone will be….Aunt Cass!” He breathed in horror. “ I, I have to warn her!” Hiro hurried to try and exit the room but Baymax stopped him.

“If it’s any comfort, even if she left now she wouldn’t make it out of the city in time.” Obake said coming over giving Hiro false consolation while Globby stuffed his face with sushi but realised what Obake was planning to do. 

“Wait he’s going to destroy San Fransokyo?” Globby questioned. “Even Joes Diner?” He got into Momakase’s face.

She responded by slamming the sushi tray into his face. “Your breath smells like garbage!” She said and Noodle just giggled. 

“Besides Globby, he’s a bad guy this kinda thing goes with the territory thats what you signed up for right?” Shego smirked liking Obake’s ambition more and more. 

However the glob villain bore a rather doubtful look in his glowing green eyes, he never signed up for this, he just wanted to be recognised but not when people he knows are going to get hurt. 

Freds Mansion:

At Freds Mansion the rest of the Team Possible and Big Hero 6 were suited up in their armour. Kim had just set out to try and rescue Hiro from Obake but decided to go solo as this required stealth, meanwhile James and Ann were told to take the boys and look after Aunt Cass at the cafe and be ready to move at a moments notice. This left the rest of the team waiting figuring out what to do next. 

“Hiro, Hiro.” Honey tried on the coms to no success. “Nothing.” 

“There has to be something we can do to help.” Gogo said. 

“If we had Baymax we could scan for him and go help.” Wasabi thought just as Mini Max entered Freds room carrying  a tray of asparagus. 

Then Fred had an idea. “Well can you scan for people Mini Max?” 

“Sure within a mini radius.” Mini-Max answered. 

“How mini is mini?” Ron asked. “This room” Mini Max answered and began scanning. 

“I do not detect Hiro Hamada.” Mini Max said much to Freds disappointment. 

“Asparagus spear.” Mini Max offered which immediately perked Fred up a bit. However Ron had just had enough. 

“Guys we can’t just sit here and do nothing!” Ron said. “What can we do Ron, Kims benched us and we don’t know how we can help find Obake.” Gogo said.

“But we can’t give up, I know sometimes I screw up on missions sometimes and heck I’m not to afraid to admit I get scared!” Ron then began to say. “But I’m still there beside Kim through thick and thin, because you never abandon your friends in a time of need.” Everyone listened to what Ron was saying. “KP’s doing her part now we need to step up and do ours.” 

Everyone was amazed and surprisingly inspired by Rons speech and deep down they knew he was right.

“Wow good speech.” Fred said amazed. “Uh huh.” Rufus said hopping onto Honey Lemons shoulder. 

 “Now come on we have big brains in this room now is there a way we can find Obake or at least his Catastrophe machine!” Ron then said. 

“We know his machine will out put a lot of energy.” Honey Lemon pointed out. 

“We are able to scan for an energy surge.” Wasabi added. 

“Let’s pick up our equipment from SFIT, and get to the highest point in the city.” Gogo decided. 

“Find Obake.” Wasabi said determined. “Find Hiro.” Honey said determined. 

“And stop this countdown to catastrophe.” Ron said determined. 

“You know Ron sometimes you are really surprising.” Gogo admitted. 

“Thats what you get when you underestimate the Ron man! A BOOYAH!” Ron cheered. 

“Now if only you could solve the losing your pants problem.” Gogo then said as they took their leave. 

“Aw man way to undo the Booyah.” Ron said rather down. 

“Hey she does that dude.” Fred acknowledged. “There there.” Mini Max consoled. 

Obake’s Lair:

“You’ll be quite safe here with me, two visionaries just hanging.” Obake said as he was typing on the keys to his computer and plugging in Noodle Burger boy.

“Its not about me your going to hurt millions of people!” Hiro tried. 

“Together we’re going to create a star, congratulations Hiro thats some final project.” Obake merely said.

“NO!” Hiro said. “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.” He reasoned but Obake knew where he’d heard that before.  

“Ech thats Granville talking.” Obake just gagged. 

“Because, Granville was right.” Hiro began to see what his teacher was trying to tell him about having limits. “She’s been right all along.” He said in guilt. 

“Nonsense!” Obake disagreed. “Do you know why Icarus plunged to his doom?” He then asked. 

“Because he flew too high.” Hiro answered. “Because he needed better wings.” Obake said putting his hands on the geniuses shoulders looking at him squarely in the eye.

“We have the ability to remake the world!” Obake said. “Starting with this city! The worthy survive” He then said with a sadistic smile, whilst Hiro looked with worry as he was helpless.

Elsewhere deep in the lair near the water filtration system, a grate was raised from the floor and out from it was a certain red headed teen who was now wearing a wet suit with an air tank. She had to admit Obake was smart putting his lair hiding in plain sight under the San Fransokyo bay where no-one would think to look it was a wonder why none of her arch enemies had thought to do that yet.She removed her air mask and goggles then activated the Kimmunicator.

“Wade I’m in.” Kim said. “Right according to the tracker Hiro should be somewhere in the control room some kilometres east to your position.” Wade relayed. “Ron and the others are trying to locate Obake’s machine.”

“Please and thank you.” Kim said as she turned off the Kimmunicator, took off her flippers and as her bare feet touched the cold metal ground she went off to find Hiro. 

Elsewhere in the city:

Meanwhile the rest of the team were in Wasabi’s car heading through the city after collecting their equipment. However, they were going at an unbelievably slow pace probably because the neat freak of the group was driving despite some protest. 

“Wasabi step on it!” Gogo said “Way ahead of you we are currently five percent over the speed limit.” Wasabi said looking at the speedo. 

“Uh dude no offence and all but we are kind of in a hurry so can we please pick up the pace!” Ron said. “Uh huh yeah Floor it!” Rufus agreed. 

“This is a quick enough pace.” Wasabi said. “Okay I can’t believe I’m saying this but maybe we should have let Gogo drive.” Ron said but be careful what you wish for. 

“Way ahead of you.” Gogo said pulling out what looked like a remote control for a toy car. “New driver!” 

With that they accelerated forward with Wasabi yelling in terror as they did swerving round cars and speeding through the streets like something from a Fast and Furious film. Gogo worked the controls on her remote. Not to say there was a side effect to this for one of the passengers in the back seat with Ron, Rufus and Honey Lemon. 

“Uh guys, heads up I get a little car sick.” Fred warned as he started to gag as he wasn’t feeling so good “In the back sometimes.” 

Honey moved a little closer to Ron who blushed a little whilst Rufus hid behind her head to avoid the coming vomit crisis. 

Back at Obake’s Lair:

Obake carried Hiro’s energy amplifier as he Baymax, Noodle Burger Boy and Shego escorted the young genius down the hallway. But Hiro still didn’t know the reason for being here. 

“Why am I here?!” He demanded. “You have my energy amplifier what more do you want?” 

Obake stopped outside a door Hiro then stopped only for Noodle to crash into him and Hiro pushed him back.

“A student.” Obake then answered. “I’m sorry?” Hiro questioned. 

“Granville doesn’t understand your potential but I do!” Obake then said with an evil look. “When my new city is complete, it will be a paradise for learning and research I can’t wait to see what you’ll accomplish!” He said rather eagerly. 

“What we’ll accomplish.” He said calmly. Hiro couldn’t believe what he was hearing Obake wanted him as a student in this new world of his he really was crazy. 

“What!” He said in disbelief. “You’d have to be crazy to think that I would ever join you!” He exclaimed. 

“You’re a bit worked up right now.” Obake observed ignoring his comments and he moved for Baymax to open the door to what looked like a prison cell. 

“But you’ll understand, tragedy has moulded us, intellect has driven us, now we stand at the doorway to greatness!” Obake said with determination. 

“Once it’s all over and theres nothing left to save you’ll see things differently.” He predicted.

“No I won’t!” Hiro disagreed. “I’m not like you!” 

“Aren’t you?” Obake questioned whilst holding up the energy amplifier the young genius made despite the protests from his tutor. Hiro then began to wonder if he was right. Before he could answer Baymax pushed him into the cell and shut the door behind him before he tried to get out. 

“Go set the wheels in motion.” Obake said as he handed the amplifier to Noodle Burger boy. 

“Oo oo oooo!” Noodle cheered. “An order of the secret menu!” 

“JUST GO WILL YOU!” Shego exclaimed. With that Noodle just hopped away to do his job. Obake then turned to Hiro in his cell. 

“Oh and Hiro in case you were thinking that Mrs Possible might try and come to rescue you.” Obake said as he then activated a video of Kim inside the basement of the Night Market Square building she was trying to get out but then a huge explosion consumed the room and then it switched to the outside view and Hiro looked in horror to see the building crumbling down to the ground with her still inside. Shego was in shock too. 

“No!” Hiro breathed in horror. “I don’t deny my method is, harsh.” Obake said smiling. “But winning tends to settle any arguments.” Hiro just glared at the villain in disgust as he left. 

“Hold up glow face!” Shego then said as he turned to see Shego rather angry.

“Is there a problem my dear?” He asked. “Yeah who said you could get rid of Kim Possible Thats my job!” Shego argued as the honour of defeating Kim was stolen from her. 

“Was it though?” Obake questioned to which Shego looked confused. “Time and time again you’ve had the chance to defeat your enemy multiple chances in fact and every time you’ve squandered them.” He explained. “In fact you have the potential to be a great villain yourself but insist on working with amateurs like Drakken instead of pursuing your own path to greatness.” 

Shego was still listening to what her new ‘boss’ was saying to her and began to question herself. 

“I have merely shown you what you should have done from the start because unlike those other so called ‘super villains’ I don’t hold back and let those who interfere get the chance to do so again, and isn’t it clear that you're smart enough to take over the world?” Obake then questioned. “If I didn’t know any better I’d say that you like being the hired help.” 

He then walked away from the scene to his control room but Shego wasn’t letting this freak insult her right to her face. 

“Oh really!” She said as she ignited her plasma blasts but before she fired them they suddenly disappeared. She tried to use her powers even her gauntlets but they didn’t work.

“What w, what happened to my powers?” Shego gasped. 

“Oh I’m sorry did you forget who you’re speaking to?” Obake said then pulling out of his pocket a small remote device. 

“You see I anticipated you would stoop to something like this my dear, so I made sure to take the necessary precautions.” he explained. “Those gauntlets not only enhance your powers, but can also neutralise them with the touch of this remote.” 

“WHAT?” Shego exclaimed. “You see what I have given you I can also take away, see to it you remember that.” He then pressed the button again giving Shego back her powers and left. 

Shego knew she had been duped and she looked to the young genius in the cell and realised he was right Obake would betray her and who knows maybe even cut her loose.

Later Hiro was trying to escape his cell, he charged the door but instead of busting the door down it really hurt his arm as he hopped around in pain. He then tried pulling on the locking wheel multiple times even turning it but that didn’t work. All seemed hopeless until. 

“Looking for a way out?” Hiro looked up and saw Globby sliming into the cell between the cracks. Hiro shrieked as he let go of the handle and fell on the floor. 

Globby then fully entered the room just as Hiro stood back up again. 

“What are you..” Hiro then realised what Globby was trying to do. “Wait, you’re going to help me escape?”

“Yeah I knew Obake was crazy, but I thought it was a fun crazy.” Globby explained. “Plus I don’t want to destroy the city all my friends live there.” he then said. “Felony Carl and urm?” He tried to list his other friends. 

“Felony Carl.” He then said again. “Thats the whole list isn’t it?” Hiro asked with a knowing raised eyebrow. 

“Yeah.” Globby said with a frown. 

Outside the cell Momakase was busy tossing her Graphene knives at the opposite wall just out of pure boredom as she stood guard over the prisoner. Suddenly the door from Hiro’s cell was knocked down by Globby now in the form of a bull she turned and saw him and Hiro together.

“Me and the kid are breaking out!” Globby said and Hiro just smiled and waved. 

“Counter proposal No!” Momakase denied as she drew her katana. She charged forward and sliced at Globby with her katana trying to strike him but every time she sliced at him he just reformed into his original shape. 

“Globby are you okay?” Hiro asked out of concern. 

“Yeah it looks worse than it feels.” Globby replied as the ninja chef keeps slicing. 

Momakase jumps away and draws her second Katana. “Lets see if we can change that.” She twirled them round but before she could attack

KLUNK! Something hit her in the head or rather someone. She fell to the floor and revealed it was Kim in her wet suit holding a piece of piping in her hand showing it was her who knocked her out. 

“What? You never learned a sneak attack in ninja school?” Kim cracked. 

“Kim!” Hiro said amazed as he ran over and instantly hugged her which she just returned. 

“But I thought, Obake?” “So did he but he clearly forgot who he was dealing with.” Kim smiled interrupting Hiro.

Flashback: Several hours earlier:

Kim sees the count down is about to reach zero, and suddenly sees a grate in the ground as she scans the room, she pulls up the grate then jumps into it just as the clock reaches zero and destroys the building. In the rubble some debris started to move and it revealed Kim with her gauntlet shield pushing up the debris to get clear she succeeds and pushes the slab away but the effort shorts out her gauntlet. She coughs in the dust but then walks away to head for the garage. 

Present Day

“Besides, it’s not the first exploding building I’ve escaped from and it probably won’t be the last either.” Kim pointed out.  

“But how did you find me?” He asked and she answered by pulling from his neck the tracking device she placed on him earlier and then he knew. 

“Obake’s not the only one who’s one step ahead.” Kim smirked. 

“Oh clever.” Globby said as he looked Kim was about to attack but. 

“No no Kim it’s okay Globby’s on our side now.” Hiro explained.  “Oh well good enough for me, now let’s get Baymax and get out of here.” She said 

“Yeah but first.” Hiro gestured to Momakase as she was regaining consciousness. “Glob her” They said and instantly Globby fired some of his goop and pinned Momakase to the wall.

“Ha who’s breath smells like garbage now?!” Globby gloated. “Still yours!” Momakase said as she was then gagged with goop. 

The three then headed down the hallway to look for Baymax without being seen but suddenly as they turned a corner they saw a certain green female with energy blasts standing between them. 

“Well well well, I guess Obake’s full proof plan didn’t work, you’ve got more lives than a cat Kimmy.” Shego taunted. 

“This isn’t a game Shego innocent people are going to die I can’t let that happen.” Kim said. “So you can either stand aside or we can go another round.” She warned moving into a battle stance. 

Surprisingly however Shego didn’t take up her own combat stance, instead she powered down her plasma hands then turned to move out of the way. 

“You’re ballon friends down this hall way fourth door on the left, if you plan on saving him you better hurry.” She then said. 

This left Kim, Hiro and Globby confused Shego was letting them pass regardless of the consequences. 

“What?” Hiro gasped in disbelief. “GO! Before I change my mind.” She then warned. With that the three ran past before Globby turned back to the green villainess. 

“Thanks.” Globby said and he left. Shego then looked at herself and wondered why she just let them go like that. 

“Since when did you grow a conscious?” She said to herself and to cover her tracks she ignited her right hand in plasma then shocked herself knocking her out onto the ground. 

Elsewhere:

Hiro and Kim peaked into the room that Shego directed them to and found Baymax powered down in a dark room. Hiro snuck into the room and slowly approached his de-powered friend and reached for his data port to remove the chip. 

“Whoa what are you doing!” Globby whispered. “He’s a bad robot now!” Hiro reached for Baymax but Kim put a hand on his arm to stop him he turned to her. 

“I’m sorry Hiro, but it’s too great a risk right now we’re unarmed and out numbered and it’s to dangerous to escape with a bigger group.” She said then putting her hands on his shoulders knelling down to his level.

“But I promise we’ll come back for Baymax as soon as possible, but we have to go before we’re discovered.” She said and deep down Hiro knew they were right. He takes one last look at his friend. 

“I’ll come back for you Baymax.” Hiro promised as the three took their leave of the room leaving Baymax de-powered and alone in the evil lair. 

They soon arrived in the main control room and looked for a way out of the lair but scanning the room there wasn’t one. 

“Theres no way out.” Hiro said. “And we can’t leave the way I came in I only brought one air tank.” Kim pointed out. 

“Oh isn’t there?” Globby then said rather confident with his glob hands on his hips. 

He reached for the grate on the floor and pulled it out of the floor revealing a potential escape route. Globby jumped down the manhole. But then came up again and grabbed Kim and Hiro with his glob hands. 

“Hold your breath!” He called as he pulled them down the tunnel. “WHOA!” They cried as they went down. 

Outside the lair which was a network of pipes and a circular entrance running straight into the bedrock under the bay Globby with Kim and Hiro inside quite literally escaped through the water pipe that lead from the lair to a pipe cover in the bedrock. The locking wheel turned and opened Globby made himself into an air bubble for his passengers to breath and in an instant they floated up to the surface and emerged on within the bay area. 

Hiro and Kim then began running inside of Globby to make him move in the water towards the shore. 

“You know I swear I’ve seen this once in a movie.” Kim then thought out loud.

 “Did it involve superheroes lost in a jungle running away from bladed discs?” Hiro guessed since he’d seen that film once before when it was Freds turn for group movie night one time.

Upon making the shore Globby swung from building to building carrying both Kim and Hiro across the skyline. They soon landed in an alley way just opposite the Lucky Cat Cafe, with that Kim and Hiro dismounted. 

“Wait here.” Hiro said as he left. “Why can’t I come in?” Globby asked. 

“Are you seriously asking that?” Kim wondered. “I don’t have time to explain to you.” Hiro said as he left leaving Globby with a frown. “Rude.”  

“Come on we’ll go round  back to the garage.” Kim said as she pulled him towards the back of the cafe. “But I get it.” he then said. 

Hiro then entered the Cafe completely drenched in water and was greeted by a welcome sight. “Hiro.” He looked to see his Aunt Cass serving coffee in the cafe. 

“You’re okay.” she said in a relieving voice and Hiro gave a warm look to his aunt as he was afraid he wouldn’t see her again. 

“Aunt Cass.” He breathed with joy nearly tearing up as he enveloped her in a hug. 

“Whoa you’re all wet.” Cass noticed by the wetness of his clothes and hair. 

“Yeah, ah freak down pour.” Hiro explained. “It didn’t rain here?” Cass questioned. 

“Actually Cassie it did.” 

Hiro and Cass looked to see Ann and James Possible sitting at the table enjoying some lunch in the cafe whilst at the same time keeping an eye on Cass should the worst happen.

“Yeah a surprising down pour earlier today, read it on my phone.” James added.

“Uh y, yes it happened three blocks away the weirdest thing.” Hiro agreed. 

“There are fresh towels in the laundry room.” Cass accepted as she refilled someones coffee then had an idea. “Oh we should go out to dinner tonight your pick you know celebrate the end of your first semester.” she suggested. 

“In fact Ann why don’t you and your family join us.” She then said. “We’d be delighted Cassie we’ll buy.” Ann offered. 

“Oh I don’t think…” “Oh come on its our last day in San Fransokyo its the least we can do.” James agreed. 

“Well okay then.” Cass said. Hiro just looked down a little guilty thinking if first finished semester could very well be his last. 

“Thanks Aunt Cass.” Hiro thanked “Love you.” He said hugging her. 

“Oh watch the hot coffee!” Cass warned lifting the two coffee pots in her hand. Then tilted her head embracing her nephew. 

After a minute they broke their hug but Cass couldn’t help but notice the look on Hiro’s face. “Is something…” 

“Uh gotta go.” Hiro said as he walked away to get himself dried off. “Don’t forget dinner tonight!” She called. 

Hiro looked back and gave a warm smile to his aunt then looked to the Possible who nodded and wished him luck for what lay ahead. 

Hiro’s Garage:

Meanwhile in the garage Kim was changing back into her mission outfit and told Globby to wait outside whilst she did. She slipped her black crop top back on and was now fully dressed in her mission outfit. Just then Hiro entered the garage. 

“Hows your aunt?” Kim asked. “Oh yeah she’s fine.” Hiro said in a depressed mood. To which the cheerleader noticed. 

“Hiro, whats wrong?” She asked and in response Hiro just swiped away the tools on his bench in anger.

“This, this is all my fault.” Hiro stuttered almost on the verge of a nervous break down. 

“No this isn’t on you.” Kim tried. “Kim don’t you get it I disobeyed Granville I created that amplifier I set this in motion it is my fault!” Hiro said nearly on the verge of tears. 

“I was so stupid, I wanted to prove I could accomplish the impossible that I didn’t realise that I was just handing the final piece that Obake needed right into his hands!” Hiro cried. “The city’s going to be destroyed and it’s all because of me and my ego!” Some tears started streaming down his face.

Kim sat down on the stool near Hiro’s work bench and put a hand on his shoulder. 

“Hiro, look at me.” She said and Hiro looked at her and listened. “Mistakes are going to happen it comes with the job be it as a super hero or even a young genius in university.” Kim said. 

“Thats easy for you to say, you haven’t made any mistakes that have lead to a catastrophe.” Hiro then said given how perfect she seemed. 

“You honestly think I haven’t made my own fair share of mistakes?” Kim questioned in surprise. “Well guess what I have.” this got the young geniuses attention. 

“You see not to long ago Ron wanted to try out as a cheerleader for an extra curricular activity.” Kim described. 

“The Mad Dog?” Hiro then remembered. 

“Yeah and well as you can imagine the rest of my squad weren’t too fond of the idea and well instead of supporting him I sided with the cheer squad.” Kim explained. “And well it lead to a fight between me and him, since we’ve known each other since pre-k and I didn’t stand by my best friend.” 

“All because he wanted to be a mascot?” Hiro questioned. “Hey he was foaming at the mouth I’m only human.” Kim then exclaimed. 

“Anyway after a fight with Drakken and his Bebe robots I realised that I’d made a mistake that my friendship with Ron was more important than the opinion of the cheer squad and it turns out they liked his act.” Kim continued which left Hiro more than surprised. 

“Then sometime later I made the mistake of suggesting that Ron should get a hair cut.” Kim explained which had gotten Hiro more confused. “But it changed him into something he wasn’t all because I thought what was best for him, and I realised he was better the way he was him and his Ronness.” 

“So you see that was me making a mistake and it wasn’t the only one.” Kim then said. “We all make mistakes Hiro but whats important is how we make right by them.” 

“But it’s not just that, Obake says I’m like him and, I can’t help but wonder if he’s right.” Hiro then explained. 

“You’re not him, thats not the kind of person that you are.” Kim comforted. 

“Then what kind of person am I?” Hiro wondered Kim then scooted closer to the young genius. 

“The kind of person who cares whether or not all those people outside live or die in this visionary world of a deranged mad man.” Kim then gestured to the outside of the garage. “Obake believes he knows whats best for everyone, but you knew that the things that he was doing to accomplish that was wrong” She explained. “You know the difference between right and wrong and are not willing to blur the lines between them.” Hiro listened to what his friend said. “That is the kind of person you are, and thats what makes you different than Aken.” Kim said pointing to his chest. 

“Being smart isn’t a thing you are Hiro, it’s what you do with it.” Kim then said. “The way that Tadashi raised you to do with it.” 

Hiro looked up hearing the name of his brother and in that moment he knew she was right, he wasn’t like Obake at all. Sure he’s done some questionable short cuts and took dangerous risks and heck even made some mistakes but he’s always put right his mistakes. He then remembered his brothers dying words. 

“So what are you going to do?” Kim then asked and after a minute Hiro responded. 

“Theres someone out there who wants to hurt people.” Hiro said with determination. “Someone has to help!” 

“Someone has to help.” Kim smiled. “You know for a moment there you sounded just like my brother.” Hiro noticed and so the two set to work. 

Elsewhere:

Meanwhile high above the city on the city’s highest structure which was a rather tall radio tower, which was actually the place where Big Hero 6 had their second fight with Globby. 

The rest of the team were still trying to track down Obake or his device using a small radar dish scanning for energy surges. Ron held the Kimmunicator attached to the radar as Wade was doing his part too. Gogo was using her tablet to run scans of the city too whilst Wasabi, and Honey Lemon watched Fredzilla meanwhile was looking down from the tall structure

“Wait you’re not scared to be up here Wasabi?” Fredzilla asked. 

“Oh I’m quite terrified.” Wasabi acknowledged. “I’m just more afraid of the city being wiped out. 

“You’re not the only one.” Ron agreed. 

“The tall sky scraper or the city being wiped out?” Gogo asked already knowing the answer. 

“Both.” Ron said. Rufus stayed close to Honey Lemon as he too was a little scared she petted him for comfort.

“Any luck Wade?” Gogo asked. “No nothing so far no sign of a surge of energy.” Wade relayed and then at that moment. 

“Guys are you there?” Called a familiar voice on the coms. “HIRO!” Everyone exclaimed. 

“Where are you? is Kim with you?” Wasabi asked. 

“Yeah she’s with me, listen” Hiro relayed 

Hiro’s Garage:

“Obake has control of Baymax, he used him to capture me.” Hiro said as he was putting his armour glove on and in the background Kim was doing the same with her newly repaired gauntlet.

“I only escaped because of Kim and Globby.” He then said and said Globby then landed next to Hiro.

“I’m a good guy now!” Globby said in joy

“Yay Globby!” Said a joyful Honey Lemon on the coms “I knew you weren’t all bad.”  and Globby formed a glob ear on his left side then stuck himself to Hiro’s helmet and pulled it off his head and he fell over. 

“Hey it’s the tall girl!” Globby said rather happy as Kim helped Hiro up. “She believed in me all along.” 

“I’m really not that tall.” Honey then said. 

“Its probably the shoes she wears.” Kim guessed. 

Obake’s lair:

Momakase is still stuck to the wall by Globby’s goop she struggles to free herself but to no avail. She tries to reach for her katana with her foot only for it to be picked up by another certain individual in the room. Obake proceeded to pull the glob gag off the ninja.

“The idiot glob helped the boy escape.” Momakase explained.

The left side of Obake’s face glowed in anger knowing his future apprentice escaped. 

“And thats not all, the Possible girl is still alive!” She then said. “What!” Obake exclaimed and the glowing part of his face glowed brighter. “Thats impossible she couldn’t have survived that!” 

“Yeah well thats the thing Obake.” Obake turned to see Shego limping towards him looking a little beat up. “Kimmy isn’t one to go down easy guess your plan to eliminate her wasn’t as full proof as you thought.” She said. 

Obake just glared in anger then turned to Momakase and used the katana to cut her free. “Bring him back!” He exclaimed. 

Momakase broke free from her goopy bonds “Why bother?” She then questioned. 

“Yeah he’s clearly a lost cause and doesn’t want to be your student.” Shego agreed. 

“He needs guidance, my guidance.” Obake said as he handed Momakase the katana and took his leave. 

“Does he seem to be losing it?” Shego said to the ninja. “Finally something we can agree on.” Momakase agreed as she departed on her mission. 

Elsewhere a distance from the city:

Meanwhile at a lighthouse a distance away from San Fransokyo Noodle Burger Boy on his hover claw vehicle arrived at  the lighthouse with the energy amplifier in hand. He departs his vehicle and enters the top of the lighthouse. 

“Noodle Burger, we deliver.” Noodle said as he opened the doors inside lay a large looking device and a group of machines surrounding it the machine that Obake built from the specs left behind by Lenore Shimamoto. 

“Helooooo.” He called as he hoped inside the building. “he he he he he.” 

Noodle hopped onto the control console and began flicking buttons and switches turning on the machine. He opened a compartment located in his head and pulled out the energy amplifier and inserted it into its desired slot in the centre of the machine. The amplifier twisted open inserting itself in the console. 

Noodle then jumped from the machine. “This Noodle Burgers gonna ring everybody’s bell! He he he.” He said as he pressed a button and the power began building from one percent capacity and climbing. The amplifier then hummed into life surging power all over the room and so Noodle Burger Boy took his leave.

“Time to fry the noodle!” He sang as he entered his claw vehicle and fled the scene back to Obake. 

Back with the team:

Whilst Gogo studied her tablet with Wade the radar suddenly detected the energy surge they were looking for. 

“Gogo I’ve got something!” Wade relayed. Gogo checked the data and triangulated the location. 

“Hiro, Kim it’s in the Kittyonpoint lighthouse.” Gogo relayed.

“Copy that.” Hiro relayed. 

“How are we going to get there?” Honey wondered. 

“Yeah without Baymax we can’t fly there and I’m not sure these jet packs can take passengers.” Ron agreed gesturing to his armour jet pack.

Hiros Garage: 

Hiro was still trying to pull his helmet from Globby’s sticky face until finally he got it free and puts it back on.

“I’ll go.” Hiro said. “Not alone you’re not I’m coming too.” Kim said to which Hiro nodded. 

“Okay you guys stay where you are.” Hiro said “Globby go be with the others. 

“Okay but what are you and red going to do?” Globby asked. 

“Something I’ll probably regret.” Hiro said. “I was afraid he’d say that.” Kim said to the fourth wall knowing where this was going. 

 “YAHHHHHHH!” Hiro was screaming as he rode his Skymax pod towards the lighthouse something he defiantly regretted as Kim flew along side with her armour jet pack. 

“Your right you would regret it!” Kim called. “I MISS BAYMAX!” Hiro exclaimed. 

The head of the Skymax pod turned to face Hiro and just blinked if it had a face it would probably raise and eyebrow at that remark. 

“S, sorry heh heh.” Hiro chuckled innocently. 

They approached the lighthouse to see it surging with bolts of purple energy. Hiro dismounted from Skymax and Kim landed and retracted her jet pack. They looked through the open door and saw the amplifier hooked up to Obake’s Catastrophe machine. They then saw the power was up to ninety two percent power. 

“Oh no!” Hiro panicked. “Wade! The amplifiers linked to Obake’s machine and its building power, can you hack in and shut it down?!” Kim asked on her visor Kimmunicator. 

“I can’t get through the firewalls they’re too thick, Obake made sure of that!” Wade relayed. “You’re going to have to remove it manually!” 

Hiro moved forward to try and remove it but a bolt of energy shocked him back sending him flying off the lighthouse railing.

“HIRO!” Kim exclaimed as she fired her grappling hook from her gauntlet which Hiro caught with his magnet glove and was pulled back onto the railing. Hiro then noticed how the power surge was attracted to his magnetic glove then an idea sparked from this. 

“Kim I’ve got an idea, get behind me.” Hiro said and Kim complied standing behind him. 

Hiro then proceeded to activate his magnet gloves by rubbing his hands together and drew the energy towards them and and tossed it away before they overloaded. This enabled them to move forwards clearing a path. As Hiro flung the bolts away Skymax moved to avoid them eventually hiding behind the door. Hiro kept pressing forwards and eventually he and Kim reached the amplifier and he tried to pull it free from its mountings. However it wouldn’t move and the power kept climbing to ninety five percent. Kim then leaned in to help and together they pulled and pulled trying to free the amplifier. 

“Together now!” Kim growled as they tried to pull it free but it still wouldn’t move and time was running out. 

“Skymax!” Hiro called and the unit popped out of its hiding place at the sound of its name. The bot revealed its limbs as it pulled on Hiro’s waist in an attempt to pull the amplifier free. 

The power climbed to ninety six percent and rising, the heroes growled as they kept pulling and pulling until with one final tug as the device reached ninety seven percent the device was pulled free as they and Skymax were flung out of the lighthouse. The machine lost power and deactivated. 

Skymax lifted Hiro into the air and Kim activated her jet pack to hover in place and saw they had succeeded. 

“Whew oh that was so close.” Hiro breathed in relief. “Yeah that was kinda cutting it close.” Kim agreed as they flew away with the amplifier in hand. 

However, all was not as it seemed for in the mounting where the amplifier once stood a bolt of energy slowly materialised and powered the machine to ninety eight percent and rising. 

Meanwhile:  

Hiro rode Skymax to the tower where the team waited with Kim close behind on her jet pack. They landed on the tower and hurried to them.

“Guys! We did it!” Hiro exclaimed and they were greeted by Fredzilla leaping onto them and hugging them.

“AW YEAH!” Fred congratulated. “Up high Hiro!” Hiro granted Fredzilla a high-five as Ron rushed up and gave a high five to Kim. 

“BOOYAH I’d call that situation resolved!” Ron cheered. “yeah!” Rufus agreed as he flew onto Rons shoulder. 

“Great job guys!” Honey Lemon said hugging Hiro and Kim. 

“Thanks Honey but we’re not finished yet.” Kim reminded. 

“Yeah now we get Obake.” Gogo agreed. However their joy was short lived. 

“Uh whats that?” Globby asked and everyone looked to the lighthouse that from a distance was still surging with power. The top of the lighthouse suddenly exploded in a blast of energy and within a circle of smoke they saw a small glowing object, it was the star that Obake wanted to create. 

“Uh that shouldn’t be happening, why is that still happening?!” Ron then pointed rather afraid. 

“The reaction became self sustaining.” Honey Lemon explained in horror. 

“Oh no.” Rufus squeaked in horror. 

“Obake did it.” Gogo said horrified. “We were too late.” Hiro breathed in horror. Kim looked in horror too they thought they had thwarted the bad guys plan but it was far from over. 

“Wade, are you seeing this?!” Kim breathed. “Unfortunately yes that stars building up power and at the rate it’s going it’ll collapse in on itself and explode taking the city with it.” Wade analysed from his computer screen.

“How long?” Hiro asked. “At this rate, I’d say an hour.” Wade estimated. 

“What do we do?” Fredzilla asked. “We need to evacuate! as many as we can!” Gogo suggested. 

“We’d never get them all out in time.” Kim disagreed. “What about Global Justice?” Ron asked. 

“No they’d never make it!” Wade relayed.

“They’re right we have to stop that shockwave!” Hiro said. 

“Theres no way to stop something with that much force!” Wasabi questioned. 

“Yes there is” Hiro explained. “with an equal opposite force.” 

“He’s right thats the only way to stop that thing!” Wade agreed doing the math. 

“But with what?” Ron questioned. “We’d need something enormous.” Honey Lemon explained. 

“Enormous!” Hiro said having an idea in his head. “We got that.” He said turning to the group. 

San Fransokyo Docks:

Honey Lemon, Gogo, Wasabi, Ron, Rufus and Kim stood waiting for something at the harbour then emerging from the water in front of the docks was the Mega Kaju mech. The mech kneeled down and the cockpit opened to reveal Hiro and Fred at the controls. 

“If we use the amplifier to make the Mega Kaju super jump into the bay…” “The giant wave will counteract the stars shockwave.” Gogo finished Hiro’s sentence. 

“Then its bye bye star!” Ron said. 

“Guys the city needs us, we were the ones who decided to be super heroes nows the time, to be super.” Hiro declared. 

“Hiro’s right we can do this!” Honey Lemon agreed. 

“We stopped Drakken’s Destructo Yamas and we will stop Obake’s Great Catastrophe remake!” Kim said.

Soon everyone was in Wasabis car driving down towards the fishing village that was within the exploding stars path standing between two large rocks in the bay entrance. 

“Globby, Honey Lemon you guys need to create a breaker to protect Fish Town.”

Globby swam towards the two giant rocks whilst Honey lemon created a path of ice with her chem balls across the bay. 

“Wasabi, Gogo, Kim, Ron keep people away from the shoreline!” 

On the shoreline Kim, Gogo, Wasabi, Ron and Rufus evacuated the civilians away from the docks. A small child was holding onto the dock crying in fear, Gogo skated over and held her hands out to the child which he accepted as she carried him out of danger. 

“Hiro we’re nearly done getting the people out.” Kim called on the coms. “Good we’re almost ready.” Hiro relayed. 

“Hiro, I know we need to protect these people but they aren’t safe as long as Obake’s out there and he still has Baymax.” Kim reminded. 

“I know but the stars going to blow we can’t let it happen” Hiro relayed. 

“I know thats why I’m going back to get Baymax you and the others focus on your tasks.” Kim relayed as Ron and the others listened in on her conversation. 

“If you’re going after Baymax then I’m coming with you KP!” Ron announced. 

“No Ron you’re needed here.” Kim said “He’s right Kim you’re going to need someone watching your back inside that lair.” Hiro relayed. 

“Yeah cause I’m pretty sure you miraculously rising from the dead is gonna attract his attention.” Wasabi agreed. 

“If it hasn’t already.” Gogo agreed. 

Kim took a moment to consider and they were right by now Obake knows she survived his trap and will more than likely suspect an attempt to rescue their absent companion. 

“Okay Ron let’s do this!” Kim agreed to which Ron nodded then turned to Rufus on his shoulder. 

“Rufus stay with Gogo and Wasabi.” Ron instructed to which Rufus nodded and used his armour jet pack to fly onto Wasabi’s shoulder. 

“Kim.” Hiro called on the coms. “Promise you’ll get Baymax back safe, he means the world to me.” 

“To all of us.” Honey Lemon agreed.

“I will Hiro, and I’ll make sure I bring Obake back in handcuffs.” Kim said with a determined voice. 

With that Kim and Ron fired up their jetpacks and took to the skies. From their vantage point they see Globby expanding himself to create a water breaker between the two rocks.

Honey Lemon ran along the ice path she created and fired from her Chem purse blue chem balls which created blobs along the top of the breaker reinforcing it. 

She then arrived to see Globby's glowing eyes and face. “You’re very brave Globby.” Honey said admiring his courage. “Good luck.” 

“If I don’t make it, tell Felony Carl that..” Globby struggled to say this next part. “..He was my whole list.” He smiled. 

“I don’t know what that means, but I promise.” Honey said as she fired a red chem ball from her purse and threw it at Globby which created a heart shape which made him smile and surprisingly blush. 

Kim and Ron flew the skies seeing the star grow larger and larger then Wade called in on their visors. 

“Sitch me Wade.” Kim answered.

“Kim, Global Justice is about two hours out.” Wade notified. 

“That’ll be too late, did you run the search I asked for?” she then asked.

“Yeah I’ve run scans of the area round the bay for traces of vapour trails given off from Baymax’s wings and jet boots and I’ve found an identical set that lead into a cave entrance near your current position.” Wade relayed looking at the radar screen showing Kim and Rons icons on the screen. 

“Okay that just screams secret entrance.” Ron called. 

“Yeah Hiro did say when he was captured he was taken through a cave, that must be it.” Kim realised. 

“So thats the plan sneak in the same way you did before?” Ron guessed. 

“No, we have to assume Obake knows we’re coming so he’ll expect us to break in the same way I did before.” Kim relayed. “So no surprises or stealth this time, we’re going in through the front door.” 

“Good enough for me let’s do it KP!” Ron called shooting his hand into the air which caused him to nearly lose his balance in his flying shaking slightly. He regained his balance and followed Kim downwards. Behind them the star grew ever larger in the gathering clouds. 

Meanwhile in the cockpit of the Mega Kaiju Hiro was pushing buttons and moving switches which moved the mech into the bay and towards the star. 

A distance away Gogo was skating away carrying two children in her arms with Rufus close behind as they continued to evacuate the area. She carried the kids to a school bus where everyone was being loaded onto. 

Wasabi helped the children get on board the bus. Gogo skated off to find some more but suddenly without warning a certain ninja came in slicing at Gogo with her katana it knocked Gogo off balance and she fell to the ground. It was Momakase who couldn’t have picked a worse time to pick a fight. 

Rufus flew in front of Gogo in a fighting stance. “Bring me the boy and you’ll be spared.” Momakase simply demanded. 

“Ugh.” Gogo groaned as Momakase had the worst timing. 

“No way!” Rufus squeaked in defiance but then Wasabi stood in front of them both. 

“You and Rufus stay with the bus and protect the kids.” Wasabi said as Gogo skated away with the naked molerat close behind. 

“I’ll take care of Momakase.” He then said to which the ninja smirked and drew her katana blade. 

“We both know you’re no match for me.” She smirked as her hair blew in the wind. 

Wasabi energised his plasma blades. “Actually since we last met I watched some instructional fencing videos online.” 

The scene cuts to Wasabi watching online videos about fencing in the darkness of his lab looking at a computer screen. The video informed him how to block and attack. 

“So bring it!” Wasabi said as he took up a fighting stance and the two engaged in combat just as Gogo drove the bus away. 

The two clashed blades and Wasabi blocked Momakase’s incoming attacks then slid past her as she tried to strike him with her katana. He’s about to attack her from behind but she is quick to turn and attack but he blocks the attack. Wasabi then makes multiple blade swings at Momakase who tries to block them but forces her back towards the village and Wasabi sets off in pursuit. 

Meanwhile in the bay the Kaju mech begins its walk towards the star and in the cockpit Hiro sat ready for the plan. 

“You ready for this?” He asked his co pilot which was Fredzilla who came in on his own chair.

“Yes I am.” Fred answered with seriousness in his voice. 

“No you’re not!” Called a voice and then flying into the mechs cockpit was a certain small robot now clad in his blue armour as he flew into the cockpit. 

“Not without Mini Max at your side.” The little robot declared and gave Fred a high five.

“Sweet dramatic entrance Mini Max, you’re getting the hang of this.” Fred complimented. 

Hiro then took the controls and pulled the control levers which stopped the Kaju a distance away from the star. He inserts the amplifier into a holding frame, but does not activate it yet. 

“When that star implodes we jump.” Hiro said and waited for their moment. 

Back in Fish Town:

Momakase slashes down her blades from the air cornering Wasabi into a wooden wall as he blocks her attacks. She breaks through his attacks and kicks him into the wall and he stops himself from falling over by digging his blades into the ground. 

Momakase slashes her blades at Wasabi which seemed to do nothing but in actual fact it sliced off his right shoulder pad and some of his dreads in his hair. 

“AH MY DREADS!” Wasabi screamed. Then a piece of Wasabi’s right gauntlet lost a pice exposing its inner circuitry rendering it useless.

Momakase tosses away her katana leaving her with only one blade, and Wasabi readied his remaining plasma blade preparing himself as the ninja raised her blade ready to finish off her opponent. 

However before she could strike a certain armoured naked Mole rat flew up in front of her. 

“Hello.” Rufus squeaked. “What?” Momakase said confused. Rufus then performed several kung fu poses before he kicked Momakase in the face which did hurt. 

“Gah!” She growled and swung her blade at him trying to slice the mole rat to pieces but missed every time. 

“Irritating rodent!” She growled and performs one final slash which seemed to do nothing however it did as Rufus’s armour was sliced clean off and he had nothing keeping him in the air. 

“Uh oh!” he squeaked and dropped to the ground. He was then met by the blade of Momakse she raised the blade waiting to finish the rodent and Wasabi off. Suddenly speeding in was a mag lev disk which bounced off the walls and Wasabi ducked to avoid it as it headed to the ninja the disk split in half with cables coming from it tying her hands. 

“Gah!” She growled and the owner of the disk came skating into the scene and threw her remaining disk at the ninja who was fleeing the scene only for the disk to tie her legs together causing her to trip up and fall to the ground on her back.

“YEAH!” Wasabi cheered and Rufus squeaked with joy. “BOOYAH GOGO!” 

Behind her the occupants of the school bus were cheering for their heroes and Gogo smiled with pride whilst Wasabi looked at Gogo with a raised eyebrow and arms crossed. As Rufus scurried up Gogo to reach her shoulder. 

“We got bored waiting on the bus.” Gogo shrugged. “Right Rufus?” She offered her finger for a tiny high five which the small mole rat accepted. 

“Oh yeah we bad!” Rufus squeaked. 

Elsewhere: 

Deep in the gathering gloom of his lair Obake oversaw his accomplishment grow in power as he typed on the keyboard of his computer. Shego and Noodle Burger Boy watched the show as well. 

“Wow mister, your plan seems to be working.” Noodle burger boy observed. 

“Seems?” Obake questioned rather loud. “I bet a song will..” Noodle burger boy was then shut up by a blast in the back compliments of Shego’s plasma blast from her finger. Noodle Burger boy then fell to the ground deactivated.

“Hm you read my mind.” Obake mused. “He was getting on my nerves.” Shego just shrugged. 

Obake then looked to a certain red clad armoured robot in the room with them. “Perhaps you’ll be better company.” He mused as he pressed a key on his keyboard and Baymax’s eyes returned to their normal black circles bringing him back to his old self. 

“Hello I am Baymax.” He greeted in his normal voice but found himself unable to move his arm. “I am unable to move.” 

“Well I can’t have you running off, but I thought a chat might be nice.” Obake said. 

“Oh great the only chat he’ll get is about health advice.” Shego groaned to herself. To which Baymax blinked. 

He took a scan of Obake and highlighted a certain part of his brain which was shown in purple and red as he spoke.

“I’ll be remembered forever because of whats about to happen.” Obake said in a rather happy tone. “Impressive isn’t it.” 

“You are in need of medical care.” Baymax noted. Which did get Shego’s attention. 

“Oh this?” Obake said as his face glowed purple when he touched it. “A souvenir from a childhood mishap.” He dismissed. 

“Uh what kind of childhood mishap?” Shego asked the healthcare robot. 

“The damage is significant and growing.” Baymax diagnosed from the scan. “it is affecting his temporal parietal junction.” 

“The part of the brain that allows one to tell right from wrong, I know” Obake said but didn’t look concerned. 

“Well that explains a lot.�� Shego said to herself. 

“Your condition is treatable.” Baymax then diagnosed only for Obake to laugh to himself. 

“Why would I want to do that?” Obake said as he turns his chair round to face Baymax and Shego and they see his face glowing neon purple. “Its been quite liberating.” 

Baymax tilted his head in confusion, however Shegos attention was focused on something else on the monitors. 

“Heads up looks like we have guests.” Shego pointed out and Obake turned to see on the monitor of footage showing Kim and Ron enter the lair through the lift and ran down the corridor. Obake just smirked at this prospect. 

Kim and Ron ran down the hallways of the lair in search of their missing companion. They found the room he was previously in but he was not there now. 

“Wait where is he?” Ron questioned. “He must be in the main control room, and I’m betting thats where we’ll find Obake.” Kim guessed. 

“I must say Mrs Possible you never cease to impress me.” Called a voice on the intercom then a hologram of Obake himself appeared and they could see that the left part of his face was glowing. 

“Whoa Freds right that is a creepy dude!” Ron grimaced. 

“Surprised to see me Aken!” Kim smirked. 

“A little I’m a little surprise you survived my trap.” Obake admitted. 

“Uh what part of she can do anything did you not comprehend?” Kim said in a gloating way. 

“I admit I have made a number of miscalculations involving the two of you, but your presence cannot stop the tide of progress.” Obake mused. 

“Dude you call murdering millions of innocent people progress your delusional!” Ron exclaimed.

“Which by the way is so not happening, Big Hero 6 will stop your exploding star, and when they do Global Justice will be waiting for you with hand cuffs!” Kim said pointing at the mad man. 

“I doubt it, but why not entertain yourself whilst you watch a new world being born.” Obake said chuckling. 

At the other end of the hallway illuminated by a glowing green light from her hands was Shego standing in their path.

“I’ll leave you to your work my dear.” Obake said as his hologram disappeared. The two opponents stared each other down like a pair of wolves ready to attack. 

“Ron, go find Baymax I’ll take care of Shego.” Kim looked to her sidekick with a serious look in her eyes. Ron nodded and took his leave and Shego let him pass which left the two women completely alone. 

“I don’t get it Shego, you let me and Hiro escape and knowing what you do now you’re still working with him!?” Kim questioned. 

“What can I say princess I’m a complicated girl you of all people should know that.” Shego smirked. 

With that the two take up a combat stance then charged forwards as their fists met each other in the air. 

Back at the Bay:

Inside the Kaiju mech, Hiro, Fred and Mini Max continued to watch the star grow but did not act as it was not the right time. 

“Is it time now?” Fred asked eagerly. “Now? how about now? oh oh I know how about now? 

However they still waited then right before their eyes they began to see the reaction taking place. The time was now. 

“Now!” Hiro slammed a button on the console and activated the energy amplifier which surged with energy inside the cockpit Hiro buckled himself in the seat and the buckle had the Big Hero 6 logo printed on it. Hiro looked with a determined glare. 

“Its Kaiju cannon ball time!” Hiro said determined and moved the lever forwards bringing the mech up to full power its eyes glowed purple and it prepared itself for a jump raising its arms in the air then taking off into the sky like a rocket. It ascended into the air leaving the city nothing but a spec below.

Hiro, Fred and Mini Max looked forward with determined frowns until Fred spoke up. 

“I just want you to know, that being a super hero with you had been an honour.” Fred smiled to which Hiro replied with a smile of his own. 

“You guys are the best.” Honey agreed on the coms. 

“I’m proud of what we’ve done.” Wasabi said as he buckled himself into the drivers seat of the buss. 

“Same.” Gogo merely said. 

“I’m glad we met you guys,” Kim said as she blocked Shego’s attack with her gauntlet shield. “And I know Tadashi would be proud of all of you if he could see you now.” 

“Yeah and no matter what happens next, if we go out we might as well go out with a blaze of glory together!” Ron agreed as he ran through the base. 

“Uh huh!” Rufus agreed on the coms. 

“Inspiring words.” Mini Max agreed. 

“Guys, I know I’ve made some mistakes but…” Hiro confessed. 

“We’ve all made mistakes.” Honey Lemon said. 

“Yeah some big, some little and some that can’t be forgiven.” Ron agreed as he continued his search. 

“But we get through it because we’re a team.” Wasabi said determined as he drove the bus away tires screeching with the evacuated citizens on board. 

“Whats important is how we make right by those mistakes and not let them define who we are.” Kim mused as she jumped to avoid blasts from Shego who then formed her plasma blades from her gauntlets and charged towards Kim who formed her shield and blocked the blades. 

“Not bad words, but kinda pointless, you think those losers can stop this plan thats being a bit optimistic isn’t it?” Shego questioned. 

“They have more courage then you or Obake will ever have and they have what he doesn’t a real reason for what they do!” Kim glared with effort.

“Oh please.”Shego said as she then generated a giant plasma blast which catapulted Kim across the floor and damages her armour destroying her left shoulder pad and leaving her with one gauntlet on her right wrist. 

“You know we’re even right?” Shego said. “We’ve both been armed by geniuses with toys to further our potential.” 

Kim groaned as she tried to stand up and could see her shield wasn’t working but when she reacher for her pocket she felt something and she instantly knew what it was. 

“We’re practically a couple of walking armouries!” Shego exclaimed. 

“Maybe Shego.” Kim said standing up. “But lets see how well you do without your toys!” Kim turned and fired her laser lipstick at Shego like a wave and she blocked the blast with her arms but it wasn’t her Kim was trying to hit. 

Shego looked and saw the laser blast had destroyed her energy enhancing gauntlets she saw them crumble to the ground. She growled as she lit up her hands with plasma energy and charged at Kim like wise Kim charged back and flipped over her with a jump then performed a leg swipe tripping Shego up. 

High above, the kaiju mech shot through the cloud bank and inside the crew readied themselves for the big one. 

“Lets make some big waves!” Fred said waving his arm for empathises and he grabbed a large lever above his head and together Hiro and Fred pulled the levers which commanded the mech to curl into a ball just as they reached the atmosphere. The mech came crashing down from the sky back down to the sea. 

Honey Lemon was still reinforcing Globby’s breaker with her blue chem balls. She looked up and saw the mech falling from the sky. However she then turned to the collapsing star which began to collapse in on itself shrinking down into a smaller humming star. 

On land Gogo was gathering up a cat as she looked to see the star collapsing and Wasabi saw it from the bus window as did Rufus as the two looked at each other. Wade was watching everything from a satellite view of the area and was sweating like mad with nervousness. Honey looked with great concern, Fred’s look changed from a confident look to a concerning one. Ron stopped in the base and looked up into the air knowing the star was nearly ready to blow. Kim struggled against Shego but looked considerable worried. Hiro looked with determination. 

In a flash the star collapsed and disappeared and silence fell over the whole area. With an almighty bang the star exploded letting out a shockwave of energy causing an explosion equivalent to that of 10 million Hiroshima bombs just as the Kaiju mech crashed down into the bay with a huge splash letting loose a powerful wave. 

Gogo knelt down as she shielded the cat from the gale force winds that followed the explosion. From a distance away Wasabi watched the star explosion and the wave forming around it as Rufus stood on his right shoulder with a concerning hand on his face and Wasabi placed a hand on his. He then felt someone holding his hand and it was a little girl who looked on. 

Wade was watching everything unfold from his room as he sat tensed up on his chair. 

“Please please please please please.” he begged with crossed fingers hoping and praying this would work. 

The wave had just covered the entire explosion and the reaction happened the entire explosion was cancelled out and the waves retracted carrying the Kaju mech with it and the massive tidal wave headed for the water breaker.

“I’m questioning all my life choices!” Globby said rather scared. 

“You got this Globby!” Honey Lemon encouraged which brought a determined look on the glob monster turned heroes face. 

The wave crashed into the breaker with devastating force and Globby growled with ferocity as he tried to keep the wave back Honey Lemon pushed on the other side as the water built up, when suddenly the breaker sprung a leak and another one  which Honey quickly sealed up with her chemballs generating blue goop balls. 

Globby reformed his face just as a boat crashed into him and he looked rather horrified he closed his eyes as he held out. Then slowly the water receded and swept back into the sea just as the dawn broke on sunrise. The catastrophe was over. 

Globby opened his eyes and saw it was all over and he survived. “Ha ha ha! It worked!” He laughed with joy.

“OOO I knew you could do it!” Honey Lemon said hugging the glob wall. On land the people cheered with praise knowing the heroes had succeeded in saving not just their village but also their lives.

“Yes!” Wasabi and the girl cheered. “YES!” Rufus squeaks as he hugged Wasabi’s face with joy. 

“You know I shouldn’t but what the heck.” Wasabi said. “A BOOYAH!” He cheered. 

Gogo came out of a wooden house behind a door hat fell to the ground still carrying the kitten in her arms. Then just behind her more kittens emerged meowing in joy knowing they were safe and Gogo bore a smile of relief. 

“YESSS!” Wade cheered from his room practically spinning on his chair. “IT WORKED KIM IT WORKED ITS ALL OVER! YOU DID IT GUYS!”

Obake’s lair:

Inside the lair it began to collapse the shockwave from the wave also hit Obake’s underground lair as a result the structure was becoming unstable and began to collapse.in the hallways and during the fight Shego stopped and saw this happening. 

“What, what just happened?” Shego questioned.

“He did it!” Kim gasped knowing what had just transpired. “Its over, Hiro did it! He saved the city!” she exclaimed in joy. 

“BOOYAH! THATS MY MAN HIRO!” Ron exclaimed with joy as he heard it over the kimmunicator line. But was snapped back to reality when he saw the falling rubble. 

“Oh yeah right find Baymax now celebrate later!” Ron said as he kept running through the base. 

“Thats it I’m out of here!” Shego said running from the collapsing lair leaving Kim in the dust. 

“Yep defiantly bad.” Kim agreed as she hurried to find Ron and Baymax. 

From the control centre of his lair Obake watched the events unfold on the monitors which were blacking out one by one as his lair collapsed around him. He had seen Big Hero 6 had succeeded in stopping his grand vision. 

“Hiro, how could he possibly?” Obake said in disbelief and utter shock. 

“Hiro is clever and resourceful.” Baymax pointed out as Obake looked completely distraught. 

The rest of his surveillance monitors blacked out and he faced the reality that his so called visionary scheme had been undone, by one who he thought could be his very equal but he was wrong. He was completely despondent. 

“My new city, my dream.” Obake said in loss. “They still remember Shimamoto they revere her.” He stumbled backwards from the collapsing rubble around him. 

“My scan indicates that, this structure is sustaining damage.”Baymax diagnosed the lair falling apart around them and some rubble bounced off his head. 

“This wouldn’t have mattered!” Obake said as he touched the glowing area of his face. “I would have lived forever, the man who remade the city into something perfect!” He said in disbelief and anger that he was denied his glory. 

He lowered his head down and lost all sense of hope realising his dream was shattered and that there was nothing left for him now. He turned to Baymax opened his access port and removed his Obake chip reactivating all of the healthcare robots functions including his movement. 

“There there.” Baymax said patting Obake’s shoulder. 

“You should go.” Obake said releasing him. “You are in danger.” Baymax noted. 

“Yes I’m aware of that!” Obake said almost as if he didn’t care. “Do I have your permission to help you?” Baymax questioned. 

“Go to him go to Hiro!” Obake lashed out before looking down. “Tell him, I still think we would have done great things together.” 

“I am a personal healthcare companion, I cannot leave until you say you are satisfied with your care.” Baymax explained as Obake turned around and took a seat in front of his console and after a minute of silence. 

“I am satisfied…with my care.”He said simply and that was the command for Baymax to leave. 

With that Baymax turned around and began to leave the room, but he turned his head to take one last look at Obake who sat in despair as his world collapsed around him. The healthcare companion wanted to help him despite everything he’s done but the robot had to do what his programmed command tells him to do. And so he left the control centre as the villain accepted his decided fate. 

Elsewhere in the base Kim was running from hallway to hallway looking for any sign of Ron in the hopes he had found Baymax or Obake. The lair was collapsing faster and faster in a minute this would be a collapsed wreck at the bottom of the bay. She turned a corner and found what looked like an escape pod it maybe their only means of escape. She hurried and tried to open it but it was locked and it turns out with good reason. 

“Ah ah ah.” Said a voice and Kim looked in the window of the pod to find a certain green villainess standing inside it. 

“All full I’m afraid Kimmy, its been a blast!” Shego said as she powered up the pod and it rocketed off into the air and out of the collapsing base.

“Great.” said a rather sarcastic Kim. “A perfect end to a perfect day.” 

“Kim!” Called a voice and she turned to see Ron running towards her. 

“Ron! Wheres Obake?” Kim asked “We can worry about that later this lair is falling apart and Shego took the only escape pod.” 

“Oh no she didn’t, look what I found.” Ron said and they soon heard footsteps approaching and Kim saw something that made her gasp with joy. 

On the surface Hiro and Fred were having problems of their own. The Mega Kaju mech was in pieces sinking to the bottom of the bay after the hit it took from the shockwave. In the cockpit Hiro, Fred and Mini Max were trying to get out before they drowned kicking the cockpit doors/eyes of the mech to force them open. Hiro tried and tried again to force the cockpit door open but it was no good it was jammed and the water level kept rising. 

Fred emerged from the water and looked to Hiro. “Everything’s jammed!” Fred relayed. 

Hiro kept kicking and kicking the door with all his strength but it still wouldn’t shift. He looked to Fred shaking his head there was no way out, in saving the city it looked like they doomed themselves. 

All of a sudden a red armoured hand dug into the porthole and tore it off the mech and it was Baymax who ripped off the porthole entrance and then tossed it away. He then turned to his compatriots. Then appearing on his back were Kim and Ron in tow. 

“Hey boys, look who we found.” Kim smiled and Hiro gasped and laughed with joy as his friend was safe. 

“I was alerted to your need for..” “Baymax!” Hiro interrupting him and wasted no time in hugging him. 

“Hiro.” Baymax returned the hug, whilst Kim and Ron put their hands on the young genius too. 

Fred escaped from the mech and hopped onto Baymax’s left arm and Mini Max used his own armour jet pack to fly out. 

“We are still sinking.” Mini Max pointed out to which they were. 

“It is time to go.” Baymax agreed. “Then let’s fly big guy!” Ron said.

On the shore the rest of the team, Rufus and Globby waited for the arrival of their friends hoping they were okay. Honey Lemon paced with worry whilst Globby looked out onto the open water. 

Suddenly Globby noticed something on the horizon and he could instantly see what it was. 

“THERE THEY ARE!” He called out and flying in  from the distance was Baymax carrying, Hiro, Kim, Ron, Fred and Mini Max. 

Globby laughed in joy to know they were safe whilst the rest of the team looked with faces of joy whilst Rufus jumped up and down with happiness to know his friends were alive. 

Baymax landed and everyone dismounted as his wings retracted. “You guys are okay!” Honey Lemon said with joy. Hiro met with his friends for Honey Lemon to pull him into a hug, and did the same for Ron and Kim. 

“We did it we saved the city!” Honey lemon cheered. “Was there ever any doubt!” Ron agreed as he hugged Honey Lemon too and Rufus hopped over and hugged Rons face. 

“Nice job genius.” Gogo said to the young genius rather harshly. “You helped the bad guy create a star.” 

“Way to ruin the moment Gogo.” Kim said. “Yeah I I know” Hiro stuttered only to receive a hit in the arm.

“You also saved the city.” Gogo said happily. “Aw yeah thats the attitude we like to hear!” Ron said pulling Gogo into a hug. 

“Ron no hugs!” Gogo said with a strict face.

“Thanks but, none of this would have happened, if I hadn’t been so…me.” Hiro admitted with some guilt still. 

“True being you did put the city in danger.” Kim pointed out much to everyones surprise. “But being you also made things right and saved the city, and I learned a long time ago that being yourself is more than enough to save the world.” 

Hiro then gave a smile to that sentence. “Tadashi was right,” Baymax said hugging him. “You are a good kid.” 

With that everyone joined in a group hug to share the moment and even Globby joined in wrapping himself around the group of heroes with a smile. Despite Wasabi being a little grossed out. They enjoyed the moment and then broke off from the hug. 

“Yeah we saved the city but Shego got away.” Kim then said. 

“What about Obake?” Hiro asked. “I don’t know man I didn’t see him get out.” Ron said as they all looked out over to the rising sun. 

“Do.. do you think he survived?” Wasabi wondered. “I wish I knew Wasabi, I wish I knew.” Kim said as her hair blew in the wind. 

Lucky Cat Cafe:

In the cafe a newscast about the near catastrophe was broadcasting on the television by Bluff Dunder. 

“It was a countdown to catastrophe, but thanks once again to the combined efforts of Big Hero 6 and teen hero Kim Possible I am fine.” Bluff reported but then realised what he just said. “A, and the city is too which is what I was worried about.” He covered up

“Who are these mysterious do gooders?” Bluff then wondered to the audience. 

“They did it.” Ann said with pride. “Thats our girl.” James agreed.

Mochi let out a meow whilst Aunt Cass was eating a cup cake in worry her fifth one. Then the tweebs noticed a certain young genius, his health care companion and their sister and friend arrive at the cafe in their casual attire, enter the store and the sound of the bell got their attention. 

“Aunt Cass.” Hiro breathed in happiness, Cass turned to see her nephew standing in the doorway. 

“Hiro!” Cass startled as she tossed her cupcake to Mochi and hurried over to her nephew. “Kimmy!” Ann said as she and James hurried over too. 

Cass embraced Hiro in a hug whilst James and Ann embraced their daughter in a hug too. 

“You’re safe where were you?” Cass said rather worried. “There was a star and and this huge wave and the city almost..”

“I saw it.” Hiro said “You saw it?” Cass asked and Hiro acted quickly to cover it up. 

“Uh I saw it on my phone while I was safely hiding at school.” Hiro explained the best he could. 

“Yeah uh where me and Ron took him to hide at school before we went to help those Big Hero 6 guys.” Kim covered up too. 

“Yeah also my phone battery died at school.” Hiro added smiling innocently but Cass wasn’t sure she felt like her nephew was hiding something. 

“Is there something your not telling me?” Cass asked. 

“Yes.” Baymax said with a knowing finger “We are..” 

“Starving!” Ron then covered up quickly. “Well I’m starving.” Hiro added. Baymax then looked over Hiro and Ron and diagnosed their ‘hunger’

“Starvation is not imminent,” Baymax showed a calendar on his viewing screen. “It would take weeks without choleric sustenance to…” 

“Okay let’s have some breakfast.” Cass decided stopping Baymax’s sentence. 

“Ah thanks Aunt Cass.” Hiro said thankfully. “Its good to be home.” He then hugged his aunt. 

“I don’t suppose theres room for us in that breakfast?” Kim asked. 

“Oh of course there is for all of you.” Cass said kindly. “Well I help with that.” Ann said. 

“Really if I recall in home mech back in high school you were always second to me?” Cass teased. “Hey Cassie I’ve improved since then.” Ann teased back  heading up stairs to cook. Followed by the rest of the family and their friends. 

“You all did good kids, you saved a lot of people.” James whispered to Hiro and Kim. 

“We saved a lot of people.” Hiro agreed as they headed upstairs. 

The following afternoon:

Kim and Hiro arrived at SFIT and stood outside the door to a certain deans office, and Hiro held his energy amplifier in hand but was nervous about what was to come. 

“Hiro, you ready for this?” Kim asked. “Yes I’m prepared to accept the consequences of my actions.” Hiro said knowing he’d probably lost his place at SFIT. 

“I’ll be waiting outside for you.” Kim said and Hiro knocked on the door.

“Come in.” Granville’s voice called and Hiro looked back to Kim who gave a thumbs up in response as he entered the office. 

He found Professor Granville typing on her computer at her desk and he approached a little nervous. 

“So uh, about my final project I..” “Getting an A.” Granville interrupted turning her computer around to show Hiro what she was looking at and it was photos of Big Hero 6, Kim and Ron with the civilians they saved.

“For showing ingenuity, and for saving the city.” Granville said smiling as she scrolled down the photos. And Hiro was amazed despite everything he achieved his passing grade for the semester. 

Hiro then looked up to his tutor with an apologetic look. 

“Thank you Professor Granville, uh for everything.” Hiro thanked. “For trying to teach me about limits, I I think I get it now.” He handed his amplifier to the professor smiling. 

“Its a lesson I’ve had to re learn a few times myself Mr Hamada.” Granville admitted. “Everyone makes mistakes.” 

“But, it’s how we learn and make right by them that matters.” Hiro then realised to which Granville did crack a small smile knowing he was learning well and took the amplifier to her safe. 

Hiro cracked a small smile as Granville placed the amplifier into her safe in the wall and typed in a code to seal it away for safe keeping. 

“But don’t get too comfortable.” Granville then pointed out which changed Hiro’s look a little. “Next semester will be even more of a challenge, I hope you can handle it.” 

With that Hiro looked with a confident smile and nodded as he took his leave of the office and Granville did crack a small smile as he did, however.

“Hiro.” She then said getting his attention as it’s the first time the professors ever called him by his first name. 

“Do you or miss Possible know what happened, to him?” Granville asked wanting to know the fate of her former student. 

Hiro looked to the professor wanting to answer that question but he himself wasn’t sure about the fate of Obake after stopping his Great Catastrophe. 

Later in deep beneath the bay:

Sometime later Baymax and Hiro donned their aquatic gear which was coloured black and Prussian blue Baymax’s suit had some red lines on his suit and some jet propellors on his shoulders with red pipes leading to his chest. His head was his normal face encased in a glass bubble. Hiro wore similar armour with fins on his helmet and a rebreather on his helmet with a jet pack to move him through the water. 

The two were searching what was left of Obake’s base looking for any signs of life before Global Justice could arrive to salvage the wreck.

Baymax ran a scan with his sensor but could detect no signs of life on the ocean floor, not human life anyway. 

“I do not detect Aken comma Bob.” Baymax relayed as Hiro swam with his tablet scanning the area with Wade. 

“He’s right Hiro I’m not picking up anything.” Wade agreed.

“He couldn’t have survived this it’s impossible.” Hiro doubted as they swam and continued the search. 

“As you have said nothing is impossible.” Baymax mentioned as they kept searching.

However they didn’t notice on the bed of the ocean floor close by some sand blew away to reveal a certain chip lying in the sand, could Obake have survived I guess we’ll never truly know the answer. 

Authors notes: The city is safe the catastrophes over but is Obake truly gone for good? Who knows.Upon watching the final part of the episode I thought it would be a good idea for Hiro to have some form of nervous breakdown given he’s been building up a lot of guilt over his part in Obake’s master plan. But Kim reminded him that being smart isn't what he is its what he does with it.

The story not over yet folks see you at the epilogue and post Epilouge.

[atomicwedgienerd]

From Naughty to Nice

Dirk pulled his motorcycle up to the Nine Knives biker bar and took a long drag on his cigarette. He got some angry glances from neighbors. Nobody in the neighborhood liked the biker bar but that wasn't Dirk's problem; it was theirs. He adjusted his leather jacket and entered the dingy bar. The only other person in there was Shawn, another hellraiser, who Dirk considered almost his equal in how tough he was. In the corner, someone had set up a Christmas tree. It looked completely out of place in the dirty biker bar. Underneath the tree were two immaculately wrapped presents.

"Yo Shawn," Dirk yelled. "Did you get us a fucking christmas tree?" Shawn glanced at the well decorated but out of place tree.

“Nah bro, got no idea where it came from.”

Dirk grabbed a beer and popped the cap off it using the edge of the pool table. He took a long slug and walked over to the Christmas tree. The presents underneath were clearly labeled "Shawn" and "Dirk" in elegant calligraphy.

"Yo dude, these gifts are for us. Get over here!"

Shawn walked over, a skeptical look on his face, as he drew a long swig from his longneck. But as he approached, and saw his name in that elegant gilded script, his look changed to one of incredulity.

“No freaking way,” Shawn said as he peered down at the gifts. “Hmmm, it doesn’t say who they’re from.”

"They’re from Santa, ya pussy," Dirk said with a laugh. He grabbed the present marked "Shawn" and shoved it in his friend's arms. "We might as well open them." Dirk grabbed his and shredded the wrapping paper carefully. Inside, was a small wooden box. He opened the lid and was sprayed in the face with red and green glitter.

"Dude, what the fuck?" he said, a little confused by how nasal it came out. Shawn had opened his gift with equal quickness and was hacking up a mouthful of the same green and red glitter.

“What the hell is this?” Shawn asked

"This is preposterous!" Dirk said, again confused by the nasal tone to his voice and the word choice. Inside the box was a letter. "You have been very naughty this year and Santa is displeased. These presents will ensure you remain on the "nice" list... forever!" Dirk glanced at the letter again to make sure he hadn't hallucinated when suddenly everything went out of focus. "I can't see!"

"Golly gee,” Shawn said, his voice rising an octave before stuttering out “Wh-wh-what do you think that means?" Shawn thought that maybe they’d been drugged, though It didn't feel like anything trip Shawn had ever experienced before.

Dirk instinctively reached for his sunglasses but when he grabbed them, they felt much heavier and looked... different. He threw them on and found the entire bar came into crisp view. Unfortunately, so did his reflection. He gasped when he saw himself. The lenses in his sunglasses had gotten much thicker and turned clear. He looked like a total four eyes with them on. "Golly gizmo what a headscratcher!" he said in his new goofy voice despite wanting to curse. With his new, crystal clear vision, he glanced at his friend, shocked by how he was changing.

Feeling a sense of vertigo, the room began to spin around Shawn, coming in an out of focus. His whole body felt weird as though it were being squeezed, his muscles ached and seemed to contract, growing weaker with each spasm. His skin crawled as though a thousand ants were walking across his body. He tried to see what was happening, but much to his chagrin everything close up seemed a blur. Then suddenly the room comes back into focus, and he felt a weight on his face. Reaching up, he felt the obstruction, and discover it to be extremely thick rimmed eyeglasses with huge lenses that magnified Shawn’s eyes.

Shawn was worried when the tingling reached his arms. He looked down shocked to see his muscles rapidly disappearing, replaced with a thin layer of flab, years of hard work stripped away. His once hirsute arms quickly thinned out, making his lack of muscle tone even more apparent. "Oh golly” he said, putting his hands over his mouth, only to make another discovery, His facial hair was gone, leaving nothing but baby smooth skin.

Dirk was shocked by his friend's lack of a beard until he rubbed his hands through his and it came out in thick clumps. He gasped, and then gasped again, and it quickly turned into a wheeze. He looked down at this pack of smokes and found they had changed into a bulky plastic cartridge. He picked it up and realized that they had become an asthma inhaler. But Dirk had never had asthma. He had always been a natural athlete. A tough guy. A real bully. He had won so many fights but then his memories of the fights began to change. Suddenly, Dirk remembered himself being on the receiving end of all this bullying. Getting punched, wedgied, knocked over, swirlied. He remembered being a timid child who grew up into an even more timid adult. He started to get faint, and pressed the asthma inhaler to his lips. The medicinal blast tasted familiar, like he'd done this thousands of times. He glanced at his hand as he took a puff and gasped again. All of his tattoos were gone. From his entire body! He took two more puffs from the inhaler as he felt himself starting to panic.

Looking at his friend Shawn was shocked by the changes he saw, but in the back of his mind new memories began to emerge, ones of a different life, a different person. Again the world seemed to swirl around him as he felt his mind being rewritten. At the same his body was being subjected to further changes. The squeezing feeling returned, but this time it was focused on his torso and legs. His abs melted away to be replaced with pudge. While his legs muscles disappeared and began to shorten. Dropping him from an impressive 6'3" to a smaller 5'5" As he shrunk the room seemed to grow more imposing. His confidence and bravado was slipping away to be replaced with timidity and shyness. No longer was he a star baseball player. Instead new memories surface of playing the clarinet and being captain of the robotics and computer club. No longer had he studied kinesiology, but instead mechanical engineering. Feeling another round of changes, Shawn watched as his nice tan faded to be replaced by pasty white. Followed by a sea of freckles that soon dotted his arms and face. "No, ple...please stop this." he pipes

Dirk’s confidence continued to drain away as he puffed on the inhaler and his hair became full of grease. His memories of Shaun started to change too. No longer had the two met smoking pot under the bleachers at school; oh no. The two of them had met at the inaugural computer building club meeting at school. Only the two of them had shown up and they became fast friends. Sure, the jocks at the school beat them up regularly but at least they had each other. As the new memories filled Dirk’s head, his leather jacket turned a bright yellow plaid and turned into an ill-fitting suit jacket. At the same time his jeans turned into khakis and rose and rose and rose up his torso until they were almost to his armpits. He didn’t think it was that weird; after all, his friend Shawn dressed the same way. 

As Shawn’s head became hazier and hazier, he too needed to take a puff from an inhaler that he pulled out of his pocket. The two friends wheezed loudly as their new reality took over. Memories of all the ladies that Shawn had banged and left in the cold disappeared as they were replaced with nights alone, or playing Magic the Gathering with Dirk, his only friend. The thought of even having sex made Shawn nervous and he took a few extra puffs from his inhaler. In fact, he kind of thought his friend Dirk was cute, even as pimples broke out all over his face. He was of course too shy to ever say anything about it. 

Dirk had a brief flash of his old life as a tough biker guy and started to panic. He ran to the window of the bar and glanced out the window, certain the sight of his Harley would change everything back but when he glanced out, he saw something different. Shawn’s motorcycle had been replaced with a beat up Volvo station wagon and, worse, Dirk’s had become a Walmart-bought Huffy bicycle that still had training wheels. That’s right, he had always had balance issues, he remembered. He turned to Shawn but tripped and immediately fell on his nose, which swelled to twice the size. Dirk glanced in the mirror at his thick glasses, dorky outfit, big nose, pimply skin, and greasy hair and found it impossible to remember any other life. He glanced at Shawn who was just as dorky and things felt wrong. His friend wasn’t named Shawn, no, his name was Sherman. Sherman Shrimpledink. And he wasn’t Dirk. He was Dilbert Dinglesquirt. 

Shawn, or was it Sherman, felt the room spin once more and suddenly all the pool tables, the bar stools, the neon lights, the beer, the road signs--everything that made it clear this was a biker bar--disappeared and were replaced with computers and computer parts, work tables, magnifying glasses, soldering irons, and cables as far as the eye could see. No longer was this the Nine Knives biker bar that the neighborhood loathed. It had become the Neato ‘n’ Nifty Computer Donation Center where Dilbert and Sherman worked long nights to fix computers and donate them to families in need. Everyone still made fun of them non-stop but the two dweebs worked tirelessly to make the community like them. They were still the laughing-stocks of the neighborhood, but at least people thought they were nice. 

“Golly jeepers,” Dilbert said to Sherman, “It’s almost 9pm. We should get back to our parents’ basements and get to bed.”

“You’re absolutely correct, my one and only pal,” Sherman said with a snort. “We don’t want Santa to pass us over, HYUK!”

The two dorks turned to leave, both tripping and falling over the feet and letting out a braying guffaw. On their way out, they glanced at the awards hanging on the wall from the local news station. Every year, they were put on the station’s “Nice List” for their contributions to the community. 

“Gadzooks,” Sherman said as they locked up, “I sure do love being so nice and well behaved.”

“Jiminy Christmas,” Dilbert said with a wink behind his extremely thick glasses, “Me too.”

Who knows how long tumblr will be around? Join us on the nerdification discord!

[novantinuum]

From Gallifrey, With Love

Fandom: Doctor Who, 11th Doctor era

Rating: K

Words: 3100~

Story Summary: The Doctor genuinely didn't expect to leave Trenzalore alive, that long night. Doctor's POV of the clocktower regeneration + missing scene.

It's hard to find any fics that go into much detail about regeneration and that's a shame really, because I love weird alien biology stuff like that. So I got really indulgent and wrote one myself.

Far above the clock tower, the Dalek flagship hung in the lower atmosphere like a hunter crouching in the brush, waiting for its prey to die.

“Sorry I’m a bit slow,” the Doctor said as he hobbled up the last of the stairs, clinging to the railing like a lifeline. His right knee protested, having not exerted this much effort in a very long while. “I may not be at my best right now.”

Drones identical to those he remembered from the Time War whizzed around the tower in an endless threatening display of might. They fired upon the small town as he watched, powerless to stop them, decimating homes and shops and gardens in a blaze of ash and smoke. Screams cut through the night. They sliced directly into his weakening hearts, already beating slower with every day. His body was shutting down, and he genuinely didn’t know if it was due to age or guilt. He leaned into his cane as he lowered himself onto the chair he’d placed up here years back.

“You are dying, Doctor!” one of the Daleks broadcasting from the flagship proclaimed, as if he didn’t intimately know that fact already.

He grimaced as a dull spike of pain radiated up his thigh from his other knee, from where the rest of his leg had been severed centuries earlier. “Yes, I’m dying. You’ve been trying to kill me for centuries, and here I am,” he declared, voice dripping in cynicism, “dying of old age. If you want something done, do it yourself.”

“You will die, and the Time Lords will never return.”

A younger man might have rolled his eyes at this. Daleks, they never ceased to state the obvious, now did they? He almost felt disappointed that they hadn’t killed him yet. “You still can’t work up the courage to shoot me, can you?” he mumbled, growing louder with every word. “You’re still worried I’ve got something up my sleeve!”

For once, his arch enemies restrained themselves to silence, taunting him by cutting circles around the tower. He huffed, dropping his head in failure.

“Well, you knock yourselves out, boys. I’ve got nothing this time.”

The Doctor sniffled, despite himself, and prepared for the end. Below, children were crying. Wailing. The sound of gunfire split through his ears, a gift from the last remnants of the resistance. Explosions rang in response as the Daleks ruthlessly attacked the populace. He aimed to die, the last time he was caught in a war with an impossible end. Perhaps in some twisted, poetic way, he’d finally gotten what he wanted. At least this time around he wouldn’t die committing double genocide.

He thought of Clara, standing somewhere below. Probably outside, because she was never one to do as he told. He sighed heavily. At least this time, if he had to die, he wouldn’t die alone.

All fell to silence, beyond the Daleks’ fury. The universe beyond their stars, holding her breath. And then… a roaring clamor as loud as thunder split the skies of Christmas in two. His hearts seized as he whirled around to look, to seek out the source of this disruption.

Impossible...

His eyes blew wide. Far above this petty skirmish, the crack in time opened its gaping maw. He squinted in confusion, knowing this was the Time Lords’ doing, but not knowing why. Why would they risk their safety now by revealing themselves after over 900 years of trying to quietly wait this threat out? Stupid, stupid! He didn’t spend all his lives working to save Gallifrey for them to all but commit suicide!

Admittedly his sight was far from adequate these days, but he could swear he saw something emerging from between the milky white light of the crack, something tangible. Something… gold and fine as silk, and gliding straight towards him. He didn’t dare move. His joints locked in place, he watched it advance with a sort of mesmerizing wonder, watched with eyes nearly crossed as it passed between his lips. It settled within him much like the warmth of a satisfying supper, much like— oh. Oh. The Doctor knew then in his hearts exactly what this offering was, even if he still couldn’t explain to himself why.

He splayed out his hands in front of him. His double heart rate increased as that hauntingly familiar golden glow spread through his varicose veins, excess energy wafting like dust off his skin, the telltale sign of impending regeneration. But this was impossible, absolutely impossible. He was dead, he saw his grave, he was—

“You will die now, Doctor. This is the end of you!” the Daleks above taunted.

—he wasn’t going to die today. The realization hit him with a bit more numbed shock than he anticipated, nearly knocking the breath right out of him. When had he grown so complacent in his supposed destiny that he’d forgotten how to hope? He slowly rotated his wrist in front of his face, feeling the Time Lords’ miraculous gift resurrecting him moment by moment.

“The rules of regeneration are known. You have expended all your lives!”

It was making him more than a little giddy, coursing through his tired body like a maelstrom of lifeblood. Suddenly he could stand without pain radiating in his joints, without his remaining leg weakening under strain of supporting his full body weight. He could think without his mind growing cloudy and distant, lost amongst centuries of stagnant memory.

“Sorry, what did you say?” he said, rising to his feet once more. “Did you mention the rules? Now, listen. Bit of advice! Tell me the truth if you think you know it, lay down the law if you’re feeling brave, but! Daleks never,” he punctuated his words with a tap of his cane, “ever tell me the rules!”

He lifted his closed fist, still grasping the cane, back to the sky, allowing his enemy to see the impossible golden energy brimming under his skin. Below, the clock struck twelve, its bell tolling the first chimes of midnight.

The hoard of insolent metal drones seemed to swell in panic, picking up speed as they buzzed about the town. “Emergency! Emergency! The Doctor is regenerating, the Doctor is regenerating!”

“Oh, look at this! Regeneration number thirteen,” he exclaimed, swinging his cane as he gaily traipsed atop the platform. “We’re breaking some serious science here, boys! I tell you what, it’s gonna be a whopper, ho ho!”

“Exterminate, exterminate the Doctor!”

He paused for breath, for a moment drinking in the scene, drinking in his surroundings. The Dalek force reduced to pleading desperation, pathetic creatures, and not even one brave enough to face one ancient, solitary Time Lord. His body, surging with a fresh-from-Gallifrey cocktail of power he hadn’t felt washing over him in a thousand some odd years. These were impossible circumstances, but the first impossible he’d played company to for over half a lifetime.

“You think you can stop me now, Daleks? If you want my life,” he bellowed, and threw his arms outwards, letting his cane drop from old, weathered hands, hands that glistened mischievously with the light of renewal. “Ha, ha! Come! And! Get it!”

He sucked one final breath between his chapped lips. Digging his feet— both flesh and prosthetic— into the dense concrete of the clock tower’s platform, he willed the dam to burst. This time, however, he wouldn’t allow the explosive mixture of hormones and artron energy running rampant through his veins to progress on automatic, oh, no, no, no. The Daleks were still advancing, faced with the prospect of a regenerating Time Lord in the middle of their battlefield, which— so shoot him, it couldn’t be helped!— one should never do in any circumstances if they valued their continued existence. His one advantage? They still expected a standard regeneration. Instead, he was about to do something far, far worse. He clenched his fists in solid determination.

The Doctor swung his right arm in a fast, wide arc as if fancying himself an air guitarist, mentally willing the energy pooling under his skin to surge towards his extremities. He partially let go, shooting his fingers outwards and allowing the golden light to surge outwards in a dense, fiery fury. His teeth clenched together so hard they ached as he desperately attempted to channel this wayward energy through the ashy sky, directly at an advancing Dalek drone. It didn’t take more than a split second for the strike to hit, instantly reducing the rust-gold drone to burning shrapnel plummeting towards the shingles below. Emboldened laugher bubbled up within his chest despite everything else, despite the mortal danger of this whole scenario.

He’d seen other Time Lords carry out this sort of weaponized regeneration before, of course. On the front lines of the Time War, in the heat of battle, there was often no alternative but to regenerate out in the open, under fire. In such a scenario, one could theoretically push their regeneration to become dangerously explosive, and in doing so neutralize advancing enemies while healing oneself. It was a risk, though, oh golly was it a risk. A very grave one. He himself had never needed to take it, always lucky enough to drag himself to the TARDIS or another safe place before finally succumbing to death. Stubborn, stubborn man he was. But even a thousand years past the War, memories of young Time Lords regenerating in the open only to be gunned down dead by Dalek fire in the middle of it still haunted him. Only luck would keep him from facing the same fate. Well, luck and the fact that this was no ordinary regeneration in the first place.

Hearing the whiny approach of another small Dalek craft to his left, he threw his other arm to the wind, using his fingertips as a sight as he willed the energy buzzing with an almost electric tang in his veins to burst forth. It flowed off of him in violent waves, dense droplets of gold spilling from his hands almost like liquid. Another direct hit. His eye tracked the descent of the burning Dalek shell to the square of the war ravaged town below. Time seemed to creep at a maudlin pace as he drank in the scene one last time. One last time, with these old eyes. The townsfolk were screaming in panic, advancing to any shelter they could find amidst the chaos. And amongst the faces, dozens upon dozens of faces he knew he’d seen every day for decades but had failed to remember in his advanced age, there was one he knew he could never forget. One woman who would always keep a tight hold on his hearts, for all the sacrifices she’d sewn through the threads of his time stream. Her hair pooled around her face in smooth ribbons as she yelled for the others to take shelter. His focus jittered at the sight of her, regeneration almost tussling conscious control from him.

Clara.

He— his breath hitched, and his nerves tingled as he wrestled to retain restraint— he couldn’t, no, no, no, not yet. He had to give her a few more seconds. A few more seconds to lead the rest of the children inside, before he let go completely. Wise, clever Clara, of course she’d understand what he was about to do. Daleks whizzed in circles in an endless gamble, none daring to cross too close in the wake of the power threatening them should they edge just a few meters more towards the clock tower. Once more, giddiness over the sheer impossibility of this scenario hit him with a vengeance, teasing his mouth into a devilish grin. He laughed without abandon, arms spread wide in the fires of renewal.

Echoing far above the roar of regeneration and the chaos of the Dalek hoard he head the front door of the church slam shut. Time enough to let go.

“Love from Gallifrey, boys!” the Doctor proclaimed at his lifelong foes, voice steeped in contempt. He swung his arms and hands inwards, folding into himself, and then gave up his last shred of conscious control.

From there, caught in the throes of biological process, his memory of what happened was a bit sketchy. He recalled surrendering himself to regeneration, feeling every cell in his body flooded with the explosive mix of hormones and artron energy all at once. A peculiar tingle ran from his left knee down, as he regrew a limb he’d learned to live without for centuries now. Somewhere along the line, he must have gnashed his teeth together.

The burning intensified. The Doctor could feel new hair follicles growing from atop his scalp, muscles tightening and regaining strength. And then, as unexpectedly quick as this limit breaking regeneration had emerged from the crack, the energy bathing him in an ethereal glow of gold and orange grew thin and dissipated into the night. He stumbled backwards, nearly blacking out from the repressed shock of all that had just happened.

When he finally came back to himself, to the world at large, he was met by smoke, and rubble, and… confusion. His ears rang, a high pitched whine that threatened to snap the last threads of cognitive thought currently cartwheeling through his mind in free fall. But no matter to that, no matter to the state of his own physical condition— somehow he’d blown the entire roof of the bell tower to smithereens with the sheer destructive force of his regeneration! A small part of him— the part not currently fussing over the shrapnel from the Dalek craft that was still plummeting from the sky, impaling roofs and making a disastrous mess of the streets— silently thanked the stars that he hadn’t regenerated inside the TARDIS for once. She’d likely never forgive him.

Speaking of the TARDIS…

His hearts seized as he nervously eyed the wreckage of the buildings around him and desperately tried not to imagine his old girl in the same state. Tough as she is, even she wasn’t fully immune to shocks as rife as that. Far past thinking first and acting later at this point in his life, he climbed over what was left of the stone balcony and lowered himself to the roof. He needed to check on his ship, to ensure she was all right. He slid down the shingles, as delicately as one could. When he reached the lowest point of the eave, he ground his heels to slow himself down, and then slung himself over the edge, dangling only a measly few meters in the air.

He let out a shallow huff as he dropped to the ground, distantly acknowledging with a jolt of surprise that the timbre of his voice was the same, that his hands were smooth but his body was the same— centuries younger, but the same. Absolutely identical. What was up with that, hmm? Why hadn’t he changed? He carded his fingers through thick locks of hair, no longer scarce and paper thin. Was it because this was the start of a brand new cycle? Whole new set of regenerations, a whole new set of silly Doctors? Set… A reset. Brow creasing, he brought his hands in front his face, flexing his digits as gold dusted his skin. He swallowed hard, trying his best not to feel a rush of disappointment over this revelation. So that’s what it was, what all this must be. Not a get out of jail free card. Not a bargain. A good old fashioned factory reset.

The Doctor skirted to a stop in front of his TARDIS, reaching out with a shaky hand. He inhaled, deep. Pressed his palm to the blue stained wood. She thrummed under his touch, reassuring him. Not damaged. A tough girl, see, exactly like he said. Well, like he thought. But then, he’s always getting those two mixed up.

“How ‘bout it?” he whispered, gently stroking her outer shell, affectionately, reverently. “Time for our last hurrah, eh?”

He reached for the cord strung around his neck and pulled it free, slotting its key into his ship’s lock. The door swung open. Her engines hummed in a baleful sigh as he crossed the threshold, recognizing the presence of artron energy within his system. He felt her presence brush against his mind. A delicate whisper. What might she say if she could talk, he wondered? They’d talked once before, hadn’t they? Long time ago...

Both feet inside the TARDIS. A gasp for breath, as if awakening from an impossible dream. Over nine hundred years, taking the slow path on the same demure planet, growing old, growing frail. God, how he’d missed this— the promise of tomorrow, a doorway to all of time and space. He glanced back once, only once, at the ruin he’d brought to the town called Christmas. He never looked back. Almost never. The Doctor, weary warrior, let the image of this place burn itself into his mind so that he’d never forget it. Not ever. Not for a second. His parting burden was that he would always remember those days, each battle, the full weight of his struggle. The reason he did it, the reason he stayed for years and years and never gave in, not even if it killed him… the trusting smiles of the children he failed to save, the keening sobs of villagers who’d suffered losses far beyond what any of them deserved...

Because sometimes, on his very good days…

Everyone lived their lives, and they were all happy. And after what he’d done today, they’d be able to live those silly little lives for as long as they pleased.

His fingers trailed across the inner door frame, twitching to slam shut the doors and whisk himself into the greater cosmos. A soft hum from his old girl reminded him of why he had to wait, just this once.

“Clara,” he breathed, peering at the church the townsfolk hadn’t dared emerge from yet. She’d be the first to dash into the square, to search for him. His impossible girl, still looking out for him centuries later. “My Clara…”

Suddenly he gasped, clenching his teeth to ride off a wave of discomfort rippling through his body. His hands flared with gold, the shimmering energy wafting off his skin.

“One last bow,” he murmured, exhaustion catching up with him again. Didn’t have long. Not long, before—

He opened the cabinet housing the phone on the TARDIS’ exterior and dialed her mobile. If he could only hear her voice, one last time with these ears, then-

The Doctor pulled the corded phone through the doors, shut his eyes as it rang through, and waited.

[staygoldtrash]

 @theoutsiders-girl04

Request: You are a new addition to the gang and in a way act like Dally. Cold, rebel, etc. the rest of the guys find you really attractive but your really interested in Dally and then Dally find out. I was thinking of leaving the end for you to decide if you liked the idea.

WARNING(S): Swearing

-

“Hey, Y/N?”

“Yeah, Pone?”

“What do ya think of Dallas Winston?”

You began to cough hysterically, the smoke from your cigarette puffing out of your mouth making you look like some evil dragon. You quickly recomposed yourself, you shot Ponyboy a dangerous look through your watering eyes. He raised an eyebrow at you, probably very confused by your response to his simple question.

“Uh… okay…” He chuckled.

You cleared your throat, “Why do you care what I think about Dallas Winston?”

“I dunno, the both of you fight like cats and dogs, so figured y'all just didn’t like each other. I wanna know why.” He shrugged.

“Because he’s a pig.” You spat. “Kid never has anythin’ remotely nice to say at all! I never did anythin’ to him either.”

Ponyboy smirked, “Since when does the big, tuff and bad Y/N care about what anyone thinks about her?”

You rolled your eyes and looked away from him, trying to hide the embarrassment evident in your expression. “I don’t.”

Silence fell over the both of you, you stared at your beat up boots as they slapped on the cracked cement with each step you took. Why would I care what anyone thinks about me?  You thought. You never have, but why would it be any different now?

“You like him?” Ponyboy asked.

You raised your eyebrows at him, “I just made it perfectly clear that I don’t like him.”

“No…” He shook his head. “I mean do you, ya know, like him.”

“Are you askin’ me if I’m attracted to Dallas Winston?” You asked skeptically.

He nodded.

“Pft. No." 

He stared at you has you crossed your arms, glaring at nothing in particular as your pace sped up as you walked. The tint of pink on your cheeks was becoming noticeable to him, he snickered making you whip your head around to face him.

"What’s so funny, Ponyboy?” You asked through gritted teeth.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell him.” He teased.

You punched him hard in the arm, he yelped but laughed whilst somehow grimacing in pain. Did you like him? You had admitted to yourself that Dally wasn’t… well, ugly. You thought he was… alright looking. And to you, he’s basically the tuffest guy you knew. But he was a a.sshole, and you were beyond confused as to why you were attracted to him.

Oh god, you thought, I’m attracted to him. 

“You best not tell a soul. Or I swear I’ll wring your neck.” You threatened.

“Alright, alright.” Ponyboy sighed.

“I’m serious–”

“Relax! I already said I won’t! I’m not gonna tell anyone about your lil crush on Dallas!” He exclaimed.

“Lower your d.amn voice.” You hushed him. “And I don’t have a crush on him. Please don’t use that sissy word ‘round me.”

Finally, Ponyboy decided to change the subject and talk about a movie he had seen recently at the movie house. You were honestly relieved, but sort of glad you had that conversation with him instead of anyone else. Sure, Ponyboy was a kid, but you felt like you could loosen up and let your walls down a bit with him. He was probably the only person you could actually trust, and it took a whole lot to put your trust in anyone.

The both of you were about a block away from the Curtis house, when all of a sudden you felt a hand roughly slap against the back of your shoulder. You and Ponyboy shrieked, the both of you have been jumped by Socs plenty of times, but you could never get used to it. You swung around   and shoved the person with all your might making him stagger back a few feet.

You had pulled out your brand new, never been used switch. It flicked open but you froze once you heard a familiar, deep chuckle erupt from the boy.

“Geez, take it easy, doll. You’re not gonna actually use that on me are ya?” Dallas said cooly.

“Golly, Dal. Why’d you sneak up on us like that?” Ponyboy asked him, you could tell that he was just as shooken up as you.

“I wasn’t sneakin’ up on you’s. Y'all are just paranoid, and pretty clueless. I was walkin’ behind the both of you for like ten minutes.”

You had put your switch back in your pocket, but your heart fell into your stomach as you realized what he had just said. Ten minutes? He could’ve heard the whole conversation!

“Stalker.” Ponyboy grumbled.

Dallas scoffed before he began to walk with us, him and Ponyboy were talking to each other while you strayed behind them. You were never nervous about anything, especially when it came to guys. Yet the anxiety was eating you alive, you were literally praying to god in your mind that he didn’t hear a thing.

After a few minutes the three of you finally made it to the Curtis house, as you began to follow Ponyboy inside, Dallas grabbed your arm making you stop in your tracks. Both you and Ponyboy shot him a confused look, Dallas simply rolled his eyes and he let go of you.

“Go on in, kid. We’ll catch up.” Dallas shooed Ponyboy with the wave of his hand.

Ponyboy seemed to realize what was going on, so he quickly made his way inside. Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion as you turned to face Dallas. You watched as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and began to light one up. He silently looked down at you, blowing a cloud of smoke at your face. He smirked as you just stood there, staring right back at him bravely, a lot of the girls he’s done that to usually flip out or break out into a laughing fit. You were different, he had noticed that when he first met you. Whether he’d admit it or not, he found you attractive.

It took everything in you to keep your tuff facade up at the moment, but it was slowly crumbling as he studied you. Why isn’t he saying anything? The suspense was tearing you apart.

“So, is there anythin’ you wanna say? Or did you ask me to stay behind just so you could stare at me like a creep?” You asked him.

“Heard you got a crush on me.” He stated.

Your whole confident demeanor shattered right then and there. He did hear the whole conversation. And for the first time in your life you wanted to just crawl into a hole and hide. 

“W-What are you talkin’ about?” You tried to play dumb, but it was failing miserably.

“You know exactly what I’m talkin’ about, Y/N.” He replied.

Your nervousness was beginning to turn into frustration and anger, oh how you wanted to slap that stupid smirk off his face and call him every rude name in the book. Your hands balled into fists, jaw clenched as you narrowed your eyes at him. You became even more infuriated when you saw your anger was only fueling his cockiness as his smirk turned into a big grin.

“Me? Like you?” You scoffed. “Why the hell would I like you?”

“You tell me. I could hear Ponyboy yellin’ all about it from a mile away.”

“God damnit.” You grumbled underneath your breath.

He chuckled, “So it’s true. How sweet.” He said sarcastically.

“Go piss up a rope!” You snapped at him.

You began to walk away, the embarrassment was getting to be too much for you. To your dismay he grabbed you again and made you face him.

“Why didn’t you tell me about it?” He teased.

“Because I don’t want to like you!” You shouted at him.

“Why’s that?” He asked.

“You know exactly why.” You said. “You’re not the person any girl would want to get into a serious relationship with! Dallas Winston doesn’t love or care about anythin’. And even if that ain’t the case you don’t like me. Hell, you hate me! I don’t even know why, and yet I feed into all the bulls.hit you throw at me everyday just so I can interact with you somehow!”

By the end of your little rant the both of you were honestly in shock at your words. Dallas’ eyebrows were raised as he had an unknown expression on his face. You were breathing heavily, chest rising up and down at a fast pace, you stared at him with wide eyes whilst regret flooded over you. You were hating yourself for letting him get you riled up like always, and even more angry that you showed weakness. You felt so stupid and vulnerable, the things you were feeling were scaring the s.hit out of you and you didn’t know what to do.

“Oh my god.” You sighed deeply before running a hand through your hair roughly. “Please just do us both a favor and forget this conversation ever happened.”

You turned around and speed walked away from him, you were already thinking about where you could hide out for a few days so you didn’t have to face him or the gang. Maybe Angela would let you spend the night over at the Shepard’s house.

“Who said I didn’t like you?”

Your fast pace halted to a stop, you looked over your shoulder to see him still standing in the Curtis’ front lawn.

“No one did… but judgin’ by the way you treat me every time I see you says enough.” You replied

“Oh jesus, doll. Don’t be so d.amn sensitive I’m just foolin’.”

You crossed your arms and turned around, he slowly made his way towards you and stopped once he was standing directly in front of you on the sidewalk.

“You’re pretty sexy when your angry, ya know that?” He flirted.

His compliment caught you off guard, but you couldn’t stop the dumb smile that crept it’s way onto your face.

“Flattery ain’t gonna get you anywhere, Winston.” You mumbled.

“How about…” He rubbed the back of his neck and looked up at the sky like he was thinking about what to do next. “I take you out for a coke tomorrow?”

“Is Dallas Winston actually askin’ me out on a date?” You asked.

“Is Y/F/N Y/L/N actually showin’ emotion?” He fired back.

“Well played.” You huffed.

“I just figured I’d fulfill a poor girl’s dream of goin’ on a date with the legendary Dallas Winston so she’ll stop whining.” He said cockily.

“F.uck you.” You said as he walked past you.

“I’ll meet you at the Dingo tomorrow at two.”

-

So so so sorry for the wait! I hope you liked it!

[thegreatgayescape]

Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom: It Will Steal You Away, And Get Away With A Lot

Six of Crows and it’s sequel, Crooked Kingdom, by Leigh Bardugo are a treat to read, like watching Ocean’s 11 or The Italian Job. However, these characters are a bit more original then George Clooney being suave, or Marky Mark pretending to be George Clooney. I’m here because there is a gay romance subplot and an ace romance subplot.  

These novels take place in Bardugo’s magical Grishaverse. Unlike her Shadow and Bone series, which mostly took place some time ago in Ravka (fantasy-Russia,) for these two books, we are in post-industrial revolution Kerch, (fantasy-Netherlands.) If you have read Bardugo’s original Grishaverse trilogy, you are rewarded, but they aren’t required reading.  

Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom are heist books. Are they perfect? No. Will rereading them ever be as good? No. Do they adhere to a strict formula? Yes. That’s the genre.

Book one is about breaking into the impenetrable Fierdian Ice Court to retrieve a prisoner, and book two is about stealing from a prudish Kerch businessman. In the course of the two books, the crew inadvertently saves the world, very Suicide Squad, very need-little-evil-to-stop-big-evil. 

If you are familiar with the heist genre, you know the structure. Act one: assemble the crew of outcasts. Act two: reveal the plan, using each outcast's skillset. Act three: everything goes wrong. End with a double-cross. Bardugo strays from the model about as far away as she can, while retaining a comfortable predictability. If you love Dungeons and Dragons, these might be your thing. The party is nothing, if not balanced. 

One of my main gripes about these novels is the party is too balanced. We have six, (well, really five,) loveable, broken characters, each on their own redemption arcs. Each get romantically paired off, based on their mirroring baggage. It does the characters a disservice to make their love interests so very dichotomous to themselves. Zero main characters don’t fall in love. Really. Like a Shakespearian comedy.

We have team rogue, made of Kaz, the mastermind, pickpocket and lockpick, and Inej, the spy and assassin. (Jeez. Fifth edition much?) I could just as easily call them team no-touching. More on that latter. 

We have team daddy-issues, made up of Wylan, the demo-expert, who’s got a rich dad that hates him, and Jesper, the gunslinger who’s got a poor dad who loves him. Spoilers: one of them gets a sugar daddy by the end of the book.

We have team WWII soldier, made up of Nina, who uses magic, and is from Ravka (fantasy-Russia,) and Matthias who hunts magic-users, and is from Fierda (fantasy Germany.) 

Which brings me to my second gripe, Matthias, as a character, doesn’t work. When we first meet Matthias, he is trying to kill Nina, his beloved, with his bare hands. Cringy but not a deal-breaker. Even Buffy could make the whole “do-I-want-to-kill-you-or-kiss-you” thing work twice. 

But Bardugo leans heavy into her Nazi-allegory, straight into gas-chambers. Bardugo wants you to fall in love with Matthias, a duty-bound soldier who got indoctrinated with hate, while Matthias deprograms himself from said hateful doctrine. But it’s unearned and it's uncomfortable. @reading-while-queer sums it up better than I can here: https://reading-while-queer.tumblr.com/post/168221649969/six-of-crows-leigh-bardugo

Those are big problems. Bardugo kinda gets away with it? 

Give me the gay: His name is Kaz Brekker. Also called Dirty Hands. And he’s my touch-repulsed, sex-repulsed, hard-asexual boyfriend. He’s the second in command of The Crows, one of Ketterdam’s rising gangs. He’s canonically dashing, wears finely tailored charcoal suits, has a huge bad-boy thing going on, and he’s disabled. Yes! Give me a heart-throb, who is disabled and asexual. I’m here for it. 

Kaz delights in his well-earned monstrous persona. But when we see him interact with Inej, he stops to get active, verbal, enthusiastic consent. And boy gosh golly, it is everything to read about how much he loves Inej. Yes! Give me stories about asexual people where they are passionate, desperately in love, and not the robotic automatons they are so often portrayed as, if not completely ignored. 

Both Kaz and Inej have their own trauma about being touched. I can’t personally speak to the authenticity of the ace experience, but I can tell you Bardugo got much of the PTSD right. And it was super cool reading about two characters struggling to navigate boundaries and trauma in the middle of a heist.

I have less to say about Inej’s queerness. I read her as demi, and figuring herself out. Nina and Inej have a trusting and affectionate relationship. Their romance is not canon, but popular on the internet, and not canonically untrue. Nina’s sexual appetite, much like her appetite for cuisine, delights in a lot of everything. Both Inej and Nina did some kind of sex work, which bonds them further. While Nina chose her profession based on a lack of better options, Inej was trafficked. 

Inej talks about how being Suli, fantasy-Romani, she was actively fetishized and commodified before Kaz saved her from the whore-house. Bardugo really pushes her luck with that troupe. Arguably, Inej saved herself, using Kaz as an exit. Inbetween Inej’s agency and Kaz’s asexuality, Bardugo, the real master of misdirection in these books, gets away with it. 

Wylan and Jesper are our canonically gay couple. Jesper is a useless bisexual and a corrupting force of Wylan, our innocent, soft, gay ray of sunshine. They do feel like more of an afterthought. But so does everyone compared to Kaz. While it’s fun to watch them flirt, if they were the only queerdos in these books, I wouldn’t bother reviewing them. 

Big picture, Matthias is the only straight character of the main six. Both Inej and Jesper are people of color. While race affects the plot, whiter characters are not better, as we see with the fantasy-Nazis. Nina talks openly about enjoying food and being big, and no one doubts that she is both large and beautiful. Kaz’s disability affects the plot, but it’s impossible to predict how before reading. These books are delightfully anti-capitalist, which tastes queer to me.

They read like a straight-cis-white-woman writer doing her best to write diversity, queerness and body positivity into her fiction. And it mostly works, considering I have lower standards for straight-cis-white-women-writers. And heist novels. And New York Times Best Sellers. 

Berdugo is a great world-builder if allegory doesn’t bother you. Her timing and tension were spot on. I could hardly put these books down. Yes to queer stories that are action-fantasy-adventure-heists. Overall, I give it 5/6 crows. Literally. Bardugo gets away with a lot but I draw the line at Matthias. Luckily, Kaz is everything. 

Check out Leigh Bardugo here: https://leighbardugo.com/ or follow her on twitter @LBardugo or on here @lbardugo . You can buy Six of Crows on Amazon here:  http://a.co/d/5eJmmx2 and Crooked Kingdom here: http://a.co/d/cojkPSr.

[patchwork-wings]

Meet the Writer Tag

Thanks to @power-of-ages-writeblr​ for the tag! I don’t have anything for my OCs up yet, so this might be a bit of a crash course. The main squad is from a sci-fi set 300 years in the future: Sergei is an (ex-)hitman, Dex is a systems administrator, Lauren is a diplomatic envoy, Hawthorne is a former Marine and bodyguard.

1.) If one of your main characters appeared in the real world, which would you like it to be, and why?

Sergei has been various different OC’s in different stories since I was in middle school. He’s just taken on different names and backstories for the setting. I’d like to meet him, for all the time we’ve spent together.

2.) How familiar are you with the Star Wars Holiday Special? What are your thoughts on it?

I am (I think fortunately?) only tangentially familiar with the Holiday Special. Many have threatened to force me to watch it, but none have been bold enough to try. Yet.

3.) If you could only listen to ten songs for the rest of your life, which ten would you pick?

I was going to put a lot of thought into this, because I'm practically glued to my headphones, but unfortunately I seem to have already published this post and can’t call it back to a draft. So. Here’s a list I’ll probably regret:

Mercury - Sleeping at Last

Earth - Sleeping at Last

Cold (But I’m Still Here) - Evans Blue

The Long Defeat - Thrice

Roadside - Rise Against

Come Home - Jon Foreman

Empty from the Start - Noah Gunderson

Zzyzx Road - Stone Sour

The Dance - Garth Brooks

The Drifter - Devour the Day

(This is mostly a list of the songs that I get stuck in my head most frequently. It could have safely been “Space” by Sleeping at Last, just that album, but variety is the spice of life, right?)

4.) Have you ever been in love?

No.

5.) Which of your characters would be most into memes? Which memes would have an affinity for?

Dex is actually the walking personification of big meme energy.

Sergei would come in a close second - he’d be confused by the idea of memes in general but end up bonding with Dex over the “How do you like this, Elon Musk?” meme. (Hawthorne would find it funny, but wouldn’t tell anyone.)

6.) “Wake me up…?”

    a.) before you go go 

    b.) when September ends

    c.) INSIDE

CAUSE I AIN’T PLANNIN’ ON GOIN’ SOLO

7.) Which character would you commission art of, if you could?

I’d commission the whole crew for my main WIP, if I could. Actually, my cowriter and I were considering commissioning realistic artwork of settings and characters for our website for when we start seriously releasing content. If you’re open for commission, @ me and I’ll show it to him.

8.) What is the cruelest thing you’ve ever done to one (or more) of your characters?

Uh... golly. I went through a grimdark phase in Middle/early High School, so I’m awkwardly well versed in medieval torture. A previous iteration of Sergei had intentionally disabled vocal chords. The current iteration of Sergei is dealing with the aftermath of forced addiction. 

9.) Which youtube video do you most regret clicking on?

I don’t tend to regret much on YouTube. The more you know, right?

I do regret getting into the rabbit hole of political... harassment, I guess is the right word. I enjoy listening to political commentary, but last year I started listening to vloggers that spend a lot of time taking cheap shots and going ad hominem. I’m just not getting those hours of my life back.

10.) What colour are your eyes? Do you like them, or is there another colour you’d be happier with?

My eyes are blue. I like the color a lot, but I also wouldn’t mind hazel.

I’m tagging you wonderful few who’ve already hit the “follow” button. Feel free to look at the tag, give it a cool-guy nod, and return to your regularly scheduled programming if you don’t feel like filling it out. But if you feel like joining in:

1.) Which Avenger would you want to be, and why?

2.) What is the last book you read, and did you like it?

3.) How did you get started as a writer?

4.) Do you speak any other languages? If not, which one would you want to speak if you could?

5.) What is your guilty pleasure band? (You know the one - it should have been a phase, but Spotify keeps reminding you how many hundreds of hours you’ve listened to them.)

6.) What is your favorite food, either to make or to eat?

7.) What is your favorite thing you’ve written to date? (Bonus points if you link it.)

8.) If you had to watch the same movie or TV show once a week for the rest of your life, which one would you pick?

9.) What is your favorite thing about the place you live in?

10.) If you could put any phrase on a billboard, what would it be? The catch is that it can’t be an advertisement.

@haroldosaur, @sammyjoejames, @holystudenttree-things

[chronicparagon]

⁇ - Ghost walking in on Harmony bathing. Maybe she was staying with him at his home, perhaps to comfort him by proving she wasn't going to abandon him?

@iamghxst

Send in ⁇ for my muse’s reaction to walking in on yours while bathing. 

 Harmony believed Ghost was asleep, giving her time to slip away for a bath. Her plan was simple: Get in, get cleaned up, then return to the bedroom before he wakes up. She uses the shower in the large bathroom since it’s quick and easy.That was her plan until she discovered an array of bath oils and bubble baths. That made up her mind on whether to use the shower or try the tub. Though the tub is rather large, ideal for more than one person. 

How peculiar...How could one person need this much space? 

 Curious, but her mind didn’t dwell on it for too long. With that, she picks up her selection and filled the tub. Time ticks away as she remains in the bathroom. The water went up to her waist when she slipped in and silently wash herself. Silver eyes watch the water’s smooth surface gleam from the dim light beneath the mounds of foam and notes of roses. As she watches, her mind drifted to what transpired. 

It’s been days since she first arrived in Ghost’s home. She wasn’t sure what to expect, but an opulent manor never crossed her mind. She isn’t sure how Ghost got a place like this but chalked it up as an inheritance. Those were questions she didn’t believe were appropriate to ask about. Her reason for moving in? Ghost didn’t seem to believe that Harmony wouldn’t abandon him. She told him, over and over. She swore to every star in the heavens, but it never mattered. So she relented and gave up her home to be with him. She thought it would be the start of healing him. The girl has no idea that his ailment is more severe. There is so much more about him, so much Harmony doesn’t know. There is a darker side to the man she grew to love. Yet, she knows he isn’t normal. There is something off about him. Something very, very wrong. But what could it be?

Golly, what have I got myself into? 

There so much sadness here. So much sadness and darkness in the heavy air. Despite the manor’s gothic grandeur, she can tell something isn’t right. But what could it be? 

Suddenly, the door swings open, revealing a familiar face entering the luxurious bathroom.

  “Aah!” Harmony gasps with her body sinking into the water until it went up to her shoulders. It is her only means to cover her body from Ghost’s gaze. “H-hey there, Ghost!” Her hand rises from the water’s depths with a small wave. “You looked like you were asleep, so I thought getting cleaned up wouldn’t hurt. I planned to come back before you were up.” Color stains her cheeks, finding the situation more awkward as time went on. “Is there something you need? If you were just looking for me, I didn’t go far and I’ll come back soon.” 

[journeysintowebcomics]

Worm Liveblog #50

UPDATE 50: Parasite

Last time Shadow Stalker was baited and defeated by the Undersiders – all of them, including Skitter. Yeah, looks like she has reconciled with the Undersiders enough to work with them! It may be the first time they cooperate, because the Protectorate’s information stated Skitter worked alone. Let’s continue with a new arc: Parasite!

Yeah, now that the interlude arc is over, it’s back to Taylor’s point of view! Or more like Skitter’s point of view, because she is in Supervillain Mode right now, so to say. The Undersiders are inside a building filled with trash bags and litter. The services in this city aren’t active right now – for the most part – so the trash is piling up. The quality of life in Brockton Bay is pretty low right now, golly. Is everything like this in cities where major disasters happen? I’d suppose so. I think if I ever were in a situation like this, I’d be at a loss of what to do. Moving out of the city would be the option I’d like to do, but moving away and starting a new life requires a lot of money, and even more if you lost your possessions and home.

The reason why they are in this building is because they’re bringing Shadow Stalker here, Grue has her over his shoulder like she is a sack of potatoes. She’s going to be so happy to know her, hm, rival is the one carrying her, hah! Imp, whose ability, identity and backstory are still unknown to me so she’s more like a big question mark, is here too. Planning anytime soon to tell what’s going on, Mr. Wildbow?

You mean to say Heckpuppy hasn’t been a bundle of joy lately? Wow, who’d have guessed? She was never the cheeriest person in the team, but the loss of all those dogs must have been a rather rough emotional blow. They’re like her closest family, leaving aside the Undersiders who are, uh, not as close to her as her dogs are. At least I can say for sure that she isn’t the type to be mournful or get shellshocked by grief, she’s going to channel all that into rage.

Of course, I couldn’t deny that a big part of her attitude was me and the fact that I was here.

...right, that’s a—that’s a problem too. She sure must hate your guts right now.

The apartment they have decided to stash Shadow Stalker in has been abandoned. Everything that was useful or valuable was taken by the people that used to reside there, all that’s left is furniture. Good enough place to stay.

Tying Shadow Stalker to the chair is easy. Of course, they made sure to search for any weapons and ammunition she had – I’m convinced she’ll have a way to injure them even without her preferred weapons, so they better still be careful. The smartphone and earpiece provided by the Wards are taken by Tattletale, she’ll keep a watch on those, it seems, fiddling with the smartphone and making sure the GPS is turned off. All in order, but will everything be okay in a few hours?

Imp sure is talking to Grue with a lot of familiarity, mocking him, while Grue sighs and seems kind of...exasperated? Quite daring for a newbie, this Imp. Did Coil hire her like she did to the rest of the Undersiders? I doubt the situation was the same than how they found Skitter, so yeah, I think it’s likely she was hired. She can annoy everyone all she wants, but I’m pretty sure she would stay on the team unless she seriously botches a mission, which is pretty much impossible: no way Coil would hire someone who wasn’t good at villainy in every way possible!

The team is setting up the most basic appliances for a short stay. For a moment I thought they’d try to hook up Shadow Stalker to the generator somehow, I was already going all ‘what the heck’, and then I remembered her weakness to electricity. Say, by the way, Heckpuppy isn’t happy at all, and indeed, the more Skitter talks about this, the more convinced I am it’s because of her presence – and she’s raising some very good points as to why Heckpuppy would be so pissed off at her, leaving aside the whole betraying part.

I couldn’t blame her for being angry.  Her dogs, some of her closest friends in the world, had died because she had been saving me, only for her to find out shortly afterward that I had been a traitor.

Oh, definitely! Sacrificing her beloved dogs to save someone who had once intended to betray the team? Anyone would be angry! I wouldn’t be surprised if Heckpuppy came to the conclusion that was a stupid move, that she should have left Skitter die, but...yeah, I think she wouldn’t have left her no matter what, back then. Whether it’d be out of obligation to the team or because she didn’t want Skitter to die is up in the air, though, but I think...it’d be mostly because of the first reason, with a little bit of the second.

Get ready, Undersiders, Shadow Stalker woke up. You guys got a way to stop her from escaping at the first chance? Ah, right, they used extension cords to tie her up, cords they then connected to the generator and to the fridge. They weren’t getting ready for a short stay. It was to maybe keep a constant electrical current going through the extension cords. Wow, I should have realized that sooner. One more time I fail to notice something that seems obvious in hindsight.

As expected, Shadow Stalker isn’t scared or anything like that. She’s groggy, what after everything she went through. She doesn’t even deny she tried to kill Skitter, although...yeah, I think anyone can figure out why she’d try that. So what now? They can’t keep Shadow Stalker here forever, so what’ll happen now?

They all turned to look at Regent. This seems to get Shadow Stalker to freak out for once in her life.

Her eyes went wide behind the eyeholes of her mask, and she pulled hard against her bonds, “No!  Fuck! Have you seen his files?  You don’t know-”

...huh. Looks like I’m out of the loop in this. Now that I think about this, it was mentioned Regent has some sort of secret weapon, something he couldn’t use against Leviathan. That must be what has Shadow Stalker so scared. What does it entail? His power gives very momentary control of a person’s nervous system, making the target do involuntary movements, so...eeeeeh...maybe it’d be something along the lines of a much more powerful version of his power? Controlling a person’s entire body?

The problem about that is that I’m not sure why they’d bother to take control of Shadow Stalker. What’s their objective, what would they intend to do? That’s what puzzles me the most.

To make this work, Regent needs to be alone with Shadow Stalker, to make her comply, it seems. How long whatever he will do depends on how cooperative she is.

“Depends on her.  Could be fifteen minutes, could be three hours.”

She’s not going to go down easy. It surely is going to take hours, and by then I bet the Wards would already be alert, thinking something went wrong.

Looks like it’s time to play the waiting game. So...what’s up, guys? Feel like giving exposition about what has happened since the whole problem with Skitter happened? It has been, what, a couple weeks since then? Clearly a lot happened, what with the new team member and the loss of the place at the Docks and the other gangs rising to power. What has everyone been doing so far?

The part about the dogs shedding excess flesh never stops being gross.

Imp clearly isn’t very good at playing the waiting game. She wants to watch television, but since this apartment is supposed to have no electricity, they can’t. It’s imperative they go unnoticed. It doesn’t stop her from insisting, almost...whining. Hm. I’m not entirely convinced yet about this new development regarding Imp being a new part of the team...

Grue waited until Imp disappeared from sight before groaning, “It’s tiring, dealing with her.”

“All of us irritated each other when we first joined the team.  Give it time.  We’ll find a rhythm.” Tattletale reassured him.

Skitter didn’t irritate anyone! She blended quite well into the team. Looks like Grue thought the same, but refrained from actually saying it. I imagine that when the Undersiders formed for the first time, it took quite a while before they actually started behaving like a team...

...you know, now I’m wondering how each of the people here would be faring if they weren’t in the Undersiders. Would they have been in another team? Would they have stayed as rogues, committing minor crimes? Hm...

Tattletale and Skitter will watch out for anything strange while the rest sleep and try to kill some time. Good time as any to reflect on what’s going on, eh, Skitter?

We were doing this to Sophia, I told myself.  The same girl who had abused, insulted and tormented me almost every school day since I’d started high school.  She’d punched, kicked and shoved me.  Had ruined my belongings, insulted me, thrown food at me, humiliated me, and had goaded others into doing much the same things.  She was the one who had pushed me to that do-or-die point where my powers manifested.  If that wasn’t enough, she had tried to kill me less than an hour ago, not because I was a criminal that deserved the death penalty, but because I had seen her unmasked. I was inconvenient.

And with all that in mind, I couldn’t be sure that she deserved this.

Depends on what ‘this’ is. Having her body be controlled? Hm...hard to say. Sure, why not. It’s not like Shadow Stalker is some sort of saint. She has piled a lot of bad karma, to say the least. All she has done has been cruel, and it’s not like Taylor has been the only one who has suffered here, she has treated a lot of people like dirt. She doesn’t deserve death, so that’s out of the question, but personally I’m not going to feel any sympathy towards her.

The good thing about Skitter’s power is that it allows her to use them as sentinels, just in case someone comes. She can sit back, read a book, muse about how peaceful Heckpuppy looks among her dogs...

Nobody is having a relaxing time, Shadow Stalker is suffering in the kitchen, flickering between her shadow state and normal physical body. A way to try to resist against Regent’s power, perhaps?

Imp, I could sense, was taking apart the teenager’s room, finding CDs and DVDs and holding them up by the window, maybe to see them in the light, as I was with my book.  I hadn’t known her to rest in the three days I’d known her.

Ah, I see. So it has been three days since Skitter returned to the team. Yeah, her need to rest would depend on her power, there are characters already shown whose power makes them not need as much rest as other people. I can’t seem to deduce what power Imp has. Usually a cape’s name could be a good indication of what it could be, but with Imp I’m clueless. Imps are known for being...well...impish, so I’m expecting a trickster type of person. She kind of has the right personality for that, but I’m not sure what power she’d have.

Some time later of waiting and worrying, Skitter checks her insects’ reports. All in order...except that now Regent is unmoving and Shadow Stalker disappeared. Alarmed, Skitter stands up, says ‘fuck!’ and alerts everyone just in time for Shadow Stalker to appear behind her, shove her to the ground, and aim an arrow directly to Skitter’s eye. Nobody makes a move to stop her.

Shadow Stalker started laughing, then stood, holstering her crossbow.  I felt Regent stand in the other room.  When the kitchen door opened, he was laughing as well – the exact same cadence as Shadow Stalker.

...success! He did it! He is now controlling Shadow Stalker, and by the looks of this, he can even use her powers, judging by how she got all the way behind Skitter without anyone being alerted. The only way I can see that happening is if she was in her shadow state.

But yeah, they have done it! Way to go, team! You now have a Ward under your control. I really doubt it’s permanent, so I’m expecting there to be some sort of time limit. What I’m not sure yet is what’s the objective of all this. I doubt they’re doing this out of vengeance for Skitter, because no way she’s going to waltz back into the Undersiders and request their help to have revenge on Sophia Hess. Not only that, Skitter also was hesitant about all this. No, there must be something else going on.

It has been a while since I did more than one chapter in one single update, but since this one was shorter than others, I’ll go to the next one now.

The first line already makes this promising:

3 Days Ago

As I read just a moment ago, Skitter has known Imp for three days, so...looks like this is back to the beginning! I wonder...could it be that this chapter shows what has happened during these three days? Since the arc is called ‘Parasite’, I think it’ll be focused on Shadow Stalker being controlled, but I doubt Mr. Wildbow will summarize these three days in a paragraph or two and go for the current events.

This is going to be the first encounter with the Undersiders since Skitter left the team. Lisa, being as supportive as usual, reassures Taylor she will be with her. As long as Lisa is here I don’t think it’ll turn too ugly, although...I don’t have high hopes for Rachel’s patience. They go in. This building is...a temporal base, perhaps? It’s at the Docks, so yeah, it may be.

Aisha is here? Why is she here? Could it be that she is Imp? Hmmm...so, Alec’s reaction when Taylor enters isn’t welcoming, he sounds either in disbelief or annoyed, which is more than I had expected from Alec. I thought he wouldn’t react much. I’m more concerned about Brian and Rachel...better brace for impact, just in case.

Oh, there she is, the person I was dreading to see! Rachel strides forward and doesn’t waste any time in punching Taylor right in the face, knocking her to the floor.

“I deserved that.”

Hm, you may want to be careful, Taylor. I’m sure it isn’t your intention, but if they perceive you as you trying to make yourself look like some sort of martyr, they’re not going to like that. A lot of people don’t like when someone who betrayed them acts like a martyr.

Bam! A kick to the shoulder, Taylor is on the floor again. Thankfully, Lisa intervenes, telling Rachel to stop. I’m sure nobody expected her to listen, she’s not going to let her fury dissipate so easily. Also! Before I forget!

It spoke volumes that while Lisa stepped forward so she could defend me, Grue and Alec didn’t.

Oh, it speaks volumes alright! I can’t say I know what exactly is going through their minds, but not trying to stop Rachel is almost like tacit approval, isn’t it? They’re allowing her to hit Taylor. I’m pretty sure neither of them is as angry as Rachel is, but they’re not going to get in the way to spare Taylor. It sure must be horrible...to see the friends you trust not bothering to help you when another friend is kicking you while you’re down.

Nobody’s enthusiastic about talking to Taylor. Brian, who in the past would have been warm if a bit subdued, is far from welcoming. Sure, he stops Rachel from attacking further, but that doesn’t mean much once Rachel was allowed to hit Taylor a couple times.

He’s going to believe Lisa’s testimony – I’d hope so!

He leveled a serious look at me, “Lisa said you were, and when it comes down to the two of you, I’m going to choose her.  What Armsmaster said made too much sense, and a few of the little things about you suddenly made a lot of sense.”

Yeah, anyone would trust what Lisa says, and she has been in the team for longer than Taylor, anyway. I don’t think Brian expects Lisa to defend Taylor and advocate for her, though. You know what I’m a bit worried about? That even if Lisa vouches for Taylor’s honesty, they don’t believe her, thinking she just wants to cover for Taylor and get her back in the team no matter what.

Even though Taylor insists she did once want to betray them and then changed her mind because Armsmaster is a jackass – true as truth – and that she thought of them as friends, nobody is in a hurry to believe her. Only Aisha and Lisa refrain from glaring at her. Man, maybe...maybe Taylor should have talked about this when she changed her mind. Sure, it would have damaged the friendships and I’m sure Rachel would have been just as pissed off, and Brian would be disappointed, but maybe at least she wouldn’t be treated like trash a dog brought in. I’m still unsure how Alec would feel. He’s angry too right now, that much I can see.

Taylor is being as sincere as possible, but they don’t believe her. Even after she pours her heart out, Brian is dismissive and even stops Lisa from speaking, insisting in making Taylor explain herself with her own words. Come on, Taylor, you can do it!

I turned to Brian, “You remember when we were on the way to your apartment, what happened?”

...huh? I’m not sure what idea she just got, nor where this is going. I hope Taylor knows what she is doing.

She is bringing up the awkward conversation from when she told Brian she was interested in him, and is forced to spill the details for Aisha and Alec’s benefit. She doesn’t go in much detail, but she admits what she told Brian back then.

“Ahhhh,” Alec responded.

“I knew it! Totally knew it from the second I saw you at his apartment!”  Aisha cackled.

Haha, everyone saw it coming! It’s a shame it didn’t lead anywhere, and I think it’s unlikely they’ll be in a relationship in the future either. Oh well. The thought of Brian and Taylor being in a relationship will have to be a nice thought, I guess. Somehow, this scores a point on Taylor’s favor, as far as Alec is concerned.

“I said bullshit,” Alec repeated himself.  “Taylor said it herself, she sucks ass when it comes to lying and being smooth.”

Goodness, blunt as usual! I mean, it’s true, but Alec sure didn’t mince any words! He argues that Taylor was sincere, that she can’t lie and be deceitful intentionally. The most she can do is lie by omission. Yeah, despite everything, Taylor has trouble lying, especially to someone she cares about. I remember the awkward and almost heart wrenching conversations she had with her father. I’m pretty sure a couple times she was close to telling the truth back then, partly because she didn’t know how to lie more.

Alec added to his earlier comment, “I don’t ever pay attention to that team drama shit, and I picked up on the fact that she liked you.  It was so obvious it was irritating.”

Yeah, it was. If even Rachel picked up on that, then it was very obvious. This defense isn’t the most flattering, but at least she has Alec starting to lean towards believing her, and that’s a win, isn’t it? Brian continues insisting her interest in him was an act.

“You don’t really believe that,” Lisa replied, “You’re pissed at us.  I don’t blame you.  I’d be pissed at us, too.  But you’re only calling her a liar because it’s a hell of a lot easier to be angry at her if you think the person you befriended was a fake.”

Denial does make a lot of things much easier to deal with, but in the end it’s not going to lead anywhere. I don’t think Brian is ever going to believe she was sincere, even if he forgives her for what happened. But yeah, the sides are clear now: Rachel and Brian are much more reticent to allow her back, and Brian even makes clear things won’t be like they were before.

I already knew that Dinah is the one thing that got Taylor to realize how deep she was getting in her role as a supervillain, and what the consequences of some of her acts were. I also knew that was the cause of the disagreement that led to Taylor parting ways. So where does all that lead? To Taylor’s current plan of action:

Lisa had convinced me.  I would only solve this by getting in Coil’s good graces, talking to him as someone he could respect and listen to.

...huh. Well she’s not wrong, it’d be much easier to do this while being inside Coil’s organization than while she’s outside. The problem I see is that Coil’s power will make it much more difficult to get away with it. This is going to need a lot of planning, ways to ensure you’ll succeed, some way to make sure any action you take won’t lead to a dead end. One misstep could mean the end.

Also...hm, respect? Eh, maaaaaaaybe. But listening to Taylor? That’s not so likely. It’s going to take ages before Coil listens to her, and I don’t think Taylor has the time to let everything continue for long.

So yeah, to achieve acceptance by Coil, she’ll have to work for him. It’s not going to be pretty but yeah, what other option does she have? She’s even willing to forgo her pay! All she wants is to be back in the team no matter what, because she can’t do anything while she’s out. Her personal feelings are a big reason for this, too. At least this time Taylor was honest about part of her intentions for returning, that’s once another point in her favor.

Alec is officially on Taylor’s side! Great!

“You’re wound up, Brian, maybe it’s Taylor being gone, maybe it’s Aisha and your dad getting attacked, maybe it’s the general situation with the city, but it’s getting miserable to be around you.”

...oooooh, I think I get it now. So Aisha and her father got attacked recently...did I get it right? If that happened, could it be that she had a trigger event, something that has turned her into a parahuman soon to be known as Imp? That’d explain why she is here, and why she was acting so flippantly towards Brian in the last chapter. Have a tentatively ‘welcome to the team’, Aisha!

It’s time for a vote. Aisha doesn’t get to vote, Alec and Lisa are voting ‘yes’, Rachel is voting ‘no’, so it’s up to Brian.

Brian shook his head, “I don’t know what to tell you, Rachel.  Alec’s right, for once.  We need her.  We need the firepower, out there, at the very least.  Looking at this objectively, I think I’d have to say we should keep her.”

So he chooses to leave aside emotions and focus on this from a purely pragmatic point of view. It’s undeniable Taylor is a force everyone in the city will have to watch out for, and her synergy with the team is pretty good. Having her in the team would increase their chances of success a lot. Those are Brian’s reasons to accept her back, and nothing more than that. Welcome back, Taylor!

“Thank you,” I said, quietly, to Brian.

Brian shook his head, “Don’t thank me.  Alec’s right when he says that we’ll probably get over this.  Maybe we’ll even become friends again and get to the point where we can talk about it.  But that isn’t going to happen today, and definitely not right here and now.”

I have faith that will happen. Who knows, maybe I’ll even be able to read it in person while it happens. What I don’t know is how soon it will be. I doubt it’ll be anytime soon, so...yeah, maybe in a few arcs? If it even happens on-screen. This will be something to look forward to, the possibility things will return to normal between Taylor and Brian. I don’t think Rachel and Taylor will be friends again, and Alec and Taylor seem to be on okay terms, so...yep, all is more or less back to normal except for Brian’s behavior.

And that’s what happened three days ago! Now it’s time to return to the present, to the times when Regent has been controlling Shadow Stalker. Should I take this as meaning this is a job from Coil? Since it clearly isn’t for Taylor’s personal gain, and I doubt the Undersiders decided to torment Sophia out of revenge and protective feelings towards Taylor.

Oh, looks like I was wrong. What they’re doing now is watch a building where desperate people who are affiliated with the Merchants are at: looters. They have provisions and stuff. So then does this mean Shadow Stalker is like a backup fighter? Do they intend to make her a, um, “honorary Undersider”, at lack of a better term? Like using her to have an advantage over their enemies. Besides, if word gets out that Shadow Stalker is cooperating with the Undersiders, that’d damage her reputation.

Desperation is quite the incentive for the looters to fight back. The Undersiders will have to be careful.

Apparently the looters stashed a small fortune here, surely under the orders of the Merchants. Somehow I find a bit hard to believe a bunch of desperate people and looters would stash a small fortune anywhere. They’d be likely to take some of that for themselves out of desperation.

Fighting them was really easy, and once the situation was under control, Shadow Stalker appeared and shot tranquilizing darts into people. Well, Regent is making her do that, Shadow Stalker isn’t so “kind”. One single superhero defeated a group of villains! That’s going to be a bit hard to believe, given how hard the Undersiders kicked the heroes’ asses during the dinner a few arcs ago, but hey, people gossip. I bet once the Undersiders are gone, the looters will spread the word about what just happened.

Once everyone was...sedated, or at least pretending to be sedated because it’d be hella stupid to sedate yourself when you’re in middle of enemy territory, Shadow Stalker calls for reinforcements, the PRT arriving soon. Shadow Stalker acts as dismissive and angry as usual. Can’t be too hard to act like that.

“Protocol states we use containment foam, especially when there’s an unknown.”

“The girl with the horns?  Mover three, teleports through shadows,” Shadow Stalker lied.  “None of them can escape restraints on their own.”

Lied, huh. So she can’t teleport through shadows...does that mean she can teleport through something else? A teleporter could be useful for the Undersiders, yeah.

“But if Grue uses his power-“

Shadow Stalker turned, then fired another dart into Grue.  “Satisfied?”

We’d drained the darts of the sedative, of course.  Still, I was betting Grue would have words for Regent after this was over and done with.

Oh, pffft, as if Regent would pass the chance to hit Grue gratuitously with a dart. So classy, that was. I bet he’d do it again if he wanted.

Apparently it’s still the same night Shadow Stalker was caught, it’s well past midnight now. Shadow Stalker rather rudely talks to the captain of the PRT group who came here, telling them to listen to her already and just shove the team in the truck.

So many ways this could go wrong.

We had safeguards, of course, including but not being limited to Coil’s assistance.  Still, there was something profoundly unsettling about allowing myself to be cuffed and imprisoned.

Ah, so their objective was to be arrested by the PRT without being subdued by the foam. That’s what Shadow Stalker was for, as a Ward, she’d be able to capture villains and call the PRT. The looters that were in the area saw Shadow Stalker defeat an entire team, and they will testify about it to the PRT. All in all, it’s not a bad plan, but I still fail to see what the point of this all is, because it’s very risky! The payoff better be amazing, they’re putting their freedom on the line here, even if they have Coil backing them up with his power!

Everyone is okay, if a bit roughed up. They’re taken to the PRT headquarters, the Wards came to see Shadow Stalker and receive the group she captured singlehandedly. It doesn’t seem like any of the Wards suspect there’s something off, maybe she wasn’t gone for as long as I thought she’d be.

“They were distracted, I picked them off.  That little freak that saw me with my mask off was wearing armor, so I had to resort to CQC,” Shadow Stalker made it sound matter-of-fact.

I had to look up that term. Close quarters combat, apparently. Good touch, the Wards are well aware Shadow Stalker wouldn’t have missed the chance to resort to that. Not all is good, though, Weld is sharp and demands to hear this week’s password. They have passwords in case someone is impersonating a Ward? Alright! Also, good to see Weld is being careful. This password thing would almost be a problem, if it weren’t for Tattletale being here. If there’s someone who could have guessed the password, it’s her, even if she can get it wrong.

Yep, that was easy. Not bad! Also!

“So,” Weld said, “Keeping in mind that Regent is the highest rated Master in the city”

He is? I did expect him to be known and feared, but I didn’t think he was the highest rated Master in Brockton Bay. No surprise there, though, his power’s ultimate move is scary.

Everyone starts bringing the Undersiders into the building. If their objective was to get in, then they managed to do it. Do you know what the problem I see is? Getting out. That can’t be easy, what with the Wards being here.

On one level, I wasn’t surprised to hear that.  I knew, cognitively, that she had that kind of personality.   But emotionally?  I hadn’t really believed it.  It caught me off guard to hear she was that big a problem in the Wards, as well.

It’s every bit as bad as you’d think it is, Skitter. To say Shadow Stalker is not a team player would be an understatement.

It’s rather good to see that Shadow Stalker’s earlier assault on Vista will bring consequences of some sort, even if it’s just a slap on the wrist. Or maybe not, this may be just to fool Shadow Stalker/Regent into revealing what’s going on, because Weld tells her to apologize to Kid Win. This guy is good! He’s actually making it more difficult to pull this off!

Lucky guess, Regent. Well done. It’s not enough, though, Weld demands to hear who exactly Shadow Stalker slighted earlier. Three options, 33% chance of getting it right. Let’s hear the answer!

“Clockblocker,” she guessed.

...welp. This mission is already going badly. It was nice to have things going according to plan for a while. Good luck, guys. Time for a rematch, just that the Wards are a bit different now than they were during the bank heist.

The chapter ends with Weld alerting everyone this is a trap. I’ll continue next time!

Next update: four updates

[justangrymacaroni]

Rachel Elizabeth Dare: An Essay

(a.k.a. a discussion of the portrayal of strong female characters and their relationship with fandom, canon, and a whole bunch of other shit i wanted to scream about at 1:50 am)

it really Rattles My Gears that a character as cool as Rachel Elizabeth fucking Dare is constantly thrown under the bus.

“Percy Jackson and Rachel Dare had a really genuine and cool friendship that became obsolete as soon as Rachel was no longer a potential love interest for him” -- @ofswordsandpens​ 

i’m gonna take it a step further and argue that Rachel stopped being a relevant character in the story as soon as she “lost” the role of a potential love interest. not to mention the fact that fandom seemed to collectively h a t e her ass because of that potential love interest. WHY THO? 

let’s fucking discuss.

unfortunately, no discussion about Rachel can occur without the mention of the ship of the century. percabeth. i’m going to assume that percabeth shares its origins with the pjo series itself, allllll the way back in 2005. (holy shit).

2005 fandoms were a LOT different than the fandoms we see today. remember, this was before DashCon, the Mishapocalypse, “fandoms grab your weapons”, and everything else that sort of.....gave fandoms a bit of a wakeup call. not that there was anything inherently wrong with it initially, but there was a shift.

2005 was before that shift.

the original pjo series percabeth romance followed a familiar young adult romance trope: boy and girl meet. girl is strong willed. boy is relatable. girl hates boy. they are thrust together through magical/extraneous circumstances. they become friends. then best friends. then hopelessly in love--BUT WAIT THE WORLD IS ENDING OH NO.

but what makes percabeth so popular? what makes it different from the other tropes we’ve seen? i think the answer lies in the characterization. sure, the tropes are there, but the characters sort of rise above them. annabeth and percy exist independently of each other. their relationship is healthy in that they are able to support each other without completely being reliant one another. 

but i think the most significant part of all this, especially in concerns to Rachel, is that annabeth and percy grew up alongside the readers. as the characters  aged, their actions and thoughts--a.k.a the writing style over time--became more nuanced. the stakes rose, the conflict became complicated. and their relationship progressed relatively slowly, meaning the ship had plenty of time to grow in canon and fandom.

enter Rachel Elizabeth Dare. her character at the very beginning didn’t have any obvious romantic implications. percy runs into her, they chat, there’s a monster, she gives him her number, and BAM. done. she’s gone until the next book.

but within that short amount of time, she is brilliantly characterized. her actions and thoughts are unique from what we’ve seen. she’s funny, demanding, sarcastic, and brave as fuck. 

next book comes out and “uh oh, she’s a love interest!!!! KILL HER BURN HER FUCKING ANNABETH AND PERCY ARE FOREVERWELHKWJGBKHWKJEK”

wtf.

let’s talk about annabeth and Rachel. i argue that fandom loves annabeth for the same reasons they hate Rachel.

she doesn’t put up with anyone’s shit 

annabeth: she’s tough and kicks ass!

Rachel: she’s mean.

she doesn’t put up with PERCY’S shit

annabeth: she’s so funny lol she’s the yin to his yang

Rachel: she’s mean and wrong for him.

she fights, even when people tell her no

annabeth: (example--not wanting to be given dummy questions from the sphinx) she’s smart and independent, she has her own mind and she uses it

Rachel: (example--flying into a demigod battle to warn the others) omg she’s a MORTAL why is she constantly bursting into this story? she’s annoying!!!

sadly, most of the reasons behind the fandom’s dislike of Rachel lie with her relationship to percy, in that people don’t want her to be in a relationship with percy.

but let’s fucking stop talking about percy FOR JUST ONE SECOND.

Rachel is an awesome character. she can see through the mist, and it’s because of this that she wants to learn more about half-bloods, not some hot guy she ran into once. like she says herself, percy was only such a fascination for her because he opened a door to an amazing world. she didn’t need him to be a part of that world.

(ok now we’re done talking about percy)

Rachel Elizabeth Dare has shown time and time again to go above and beyond what was needed from her. examples include walking into the labryinth to help some kids she barely knew, getting in a fucking helicopter and flying into a monster god battle, and allowing herself to be possessed by an ancient prophet spirit-ghost-thing.

she does all this because she wants to, because that’s who she is. she’s the girl that covered herself in gold paint for an art movement. she’s the girl who demanded to learn more about terrifying monsters and kids with swords. she’s the girl who threw a blue hairbrush at kronos.

not to mention how compelling her story is. a mortal who can lift a curse on an ancient prophet??? WHAT??? as soon as the love triangle is over, she’s gone. and i’m So Mad About That because she was so interesting! she goes off to private school while possessed, and thaT’S ALL WE KNOW????

it pisses me off how a character only seems to exist for a romantic subplot, but i’m used to it.

now, what’s really interesting is how this affects female characters in fandom. i can’t say male characters, because while they can be entirely subjected to this “i exist for the romance” trope--gayle from hunger games, bella’s high-school guy friend from twilight, hermione’s quidditch boyfriend holy shit i’m forgetting his name--when it comes to fandom, the girls are treated worse.

i’m going to cut to the chase and tell you why. internalized misogyny is a tricky thing. it can lead you to see a female character solely through her relationship to the male counterpart. it does not matter if she has wants, aspirations, or independent thoughts outside of that relationship. 

when it comes to shipping, she’s not even a character. she’s a threat. female characters are trashed mercilessly in canon and fandom when it comes to this.

look at mary watson’s and irene adler’s treatment in the johnlock fandom.

look at how lavender brown was viewed back in the old harry potter days.

look at all the dead girls from supernatural.

look at martha from dr. who.

skyler from breaking bad.

betty from mad men.

meg from supernatural.

rachel from glee.

guinevere from merlin.

mercedes from glee.

lana lang from smallville.

iris from flash.

terra from young justice.

and on and on and on and on and on

just. Yikes.

from now on, whenever i see a female character hated on because of whatever fucking “threat” she poses, i’m calling it the Rachel Elizabeth Dare Effect.

The Rachel Elizabeth Dare Effect: When a female character is treated poorly in canon and/or fandom, for reasons including any to all of the following:

-- she poses a “threat” to a popular ship

-- hypocrisy for hatred of traits (traits loved in one character but hated in this one)

-- a shallow refusal to see character outside of romantic pull/ties

-- pitting female character against another female character in a bizarre attempt to prove one is superior

not all of the ladies i listed strictly apply to the Rachel Dare Effect, but are worth mentioning because it brings up a topic that needs to be addressed in concerns to storytelling.

look. i love rick riordan’s stories and universe. the pjo characters mean a lot to me. i also love percabeth. do not mistake this post as a way to proclaim my hatred for certain characters and ships. that’s the exact opposite of what i believe. if you don’t like Rachel outside of the reasons i’ve shown above, then by golly, you do you. but this is about more than a personal preference.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare, and characters like her, deserve so much more than what fandom has thrown at them. please, take pride and care in what you write and read. it has a scary effect on young minds.

[wordsofawitheringwriter]

The Key That Binds Us

Summary: Earth Land is dying. The Erlking are rising. At the height of the war, an unconscious and dying Natsu is unknowingly thrust into a celestial portal by his friends in a last-ditch effort to save him. It'll take an old lighter and the remains of a rusted key to get him home, but with his travel cost him his memories. How does one get home when they don't know they're missing? Nalu

Prologue, Part I, Part II

Part I: The Beginning

The heat had always bothered him.

Natsu went up for a layup, already beginning to feel that he was sweating through his cutoff tee. His shoes were rubbing blisters where his socks were rubbing thin.

Ever since he could remember, he'd never been one to handle warmer temperatures.

He kept his weight light, shifting from one foot to the other to prevent the soles of his sneakers from melting to the blacktop as he caught the ball that slid smoothly through the torn net. Around him it was quiet; the school playground behind his house empty for the summer months. The air was dry with not a cloud in the sky to soften the sun's rays.

Just one glance at the scar on his upper left arm and you would know that he and fire had never mixed.

Drops of sweat began to collect at the top of his brow and at the base of his neck, causing the hair there to stick to his skin as he raised off the ground to attempt a three. The ball bounced once, twice, three times on the pavement after knicking the rim.

His palms slapped his knees as he doubled over to catch his breath. From the corner of his eye he could see the ball roll until coming to a soft stop at the edge of grass that bordered the asphalt. Natsu took in a deep breath through his nose, held it, then let it out in a heavy, drawn out sigh.

The heat had always bothered him.

He straightened up and crossed the court to where he left his bag on the wooden bench beneath a large oak. Igneel had nagged him enough over the years to where he never forgot to bring a bottle of water with him, and as he rummaged for it, he felt his phone go off and illuminate the inside of his bag.

The text was from Gray: where the hell are you?

Natsu checked the time and cursed. He was going to make them late for work.

Sorry, he typed. At the court. Lost track of time. On way.

He threw the straps of his bag over one shoulder and sprinted toward the tree line that separated his house from the playground, scooping up the ball as he went.

Waiting for him in the driveway was Gray, his Jeep running. Natsu hurried into the house just long enough to grab his work boots and drop his bag on his bed before finding himself out the door again.

"We're driving there with the windows down," Gray said as Natsu's seatbelt clicked into place. "You reek."

"Can it and drive," Natsu replied, flipping him a lazy bird, "or I'll tell Igneel you decline his next batch."

Gray mumbled a curse as he jerked them in a hard reverse out of the driveway. "Damn that man and his spicy jerky."

Natsu wrinkled his nose as they flew down the road, the trees soon giving way to the interstate. He and Gray were working a summer job with a landscaping company that took them anywhere from down the street to several counties over. The current project had them working roughly an hour down the main highway where a quarry had once been, before the water was removed and the land graded over so that they could be contracted. Several years had passed in the time it took for everything to be approved, however, so some people had used the downtime as a place to throw their trash. It was a work in progress for sure, but the job paid well and the hours were decent. The only downside was the occasional long commute, in which he and Gray would carpool to save on gas.

"I don't know how you guys can eat that stuff," Natsu shuddered. "It's like eating straight fire."

Gray snorted. "Like you would know what that's like."

"Excuse me for not wanting my tongue to taste like charcoal."

His friend had merely rolled his eyes and flipped on the blinker, coasting over into the fast lane to make up for lost time. The rest of the ride consisted of Natsu playing with the radio and Gray complaining about the stations he chose, and Natsu staring out the window to keep from getting carsick.

He stuck his arm out to feel the air at one point when traffic landed them in a near standstill. Clouds had gathered and Natsu wondered if he was only imagining the static charge in the air while Gray cursed their bad luck.

A storm was coming.

Natsu's foster dad was a worrier. He hovered, was constantly checking and rechecking the expiration dates of everything in the fridge, and would text Gray asking if they had made it places when Natsu would forget or leave him on read.

It wasn't really his fault. Natsu couldn't remember much about the years of his life before coming to live with Igneel, but he knew the mother hen act was a result of hearing about the accident that had led Natsu to his front door.

That aside, Igneel seemed to have no problem allowing his son to spend hours outdoors under the sun doing hard labor.

"It does a young man well to get out there," he'd say. "Put some hair on your chest. Rough up those hands. Some hair on your b-" but by this point, he would normally be cut off by Natsu chucking the nearest object at his old man's head.

Now, looking up at the pale sky with its overlapping clouds that billowed out into deeper patches of gray, he could at least be thankful that the sun was no longer beating down on him.

But with dirt caked under his nails and the rough handle of a cheap shovel rubbing against torn callouses and open blisters through his gloves, that was about as far as his thanks would go.

The boy digging beside him grunted, shoving the head of his shovel into the dirt so that it stood upright; as good a stopping point as any. He was taller than Natsu and a few years older, if he wasn't mistaken. His hair was ruddy and flew in different directions, and his glasses always sat awkwardly on his crooked nose that had been broken at one time but never set properly. "I'm off to take my break," he nodded to Natsu. "You coming?" Lewis was his name.

Natsu waved him on ahead and continued his work, praying for rain so they could all be dismissed for the day. Even then, however, he doubted that he'd be so lucky. Boss was a decent guy who paid his workers fair, but he was also a man who liked to exceed any and all expectations. If he promised a client that a job would be done in a week's time, then by golly it would be done in half that. He was like Igneel; he thought the work was honest and built character and was not a leading cause of scoliosis.

Natsu was distracted from his thoughts when his shovel hit something that made a ting and most certainly wasn't dirt. He mumbled a curse when the action jolted his bones after all his weight fell on whatever it was that some moron had planted there.

He huffed and tossed the shovel to the side, dropping to his hands and knees to brush the dirt away.

The first drops of rain began to fall as he unearthed the brass box that was tarnished from years spent beneath the soil. It wasn't large, just barely larger than his palm. He turned it over in his hands a few times and heard the contents shift around beneath the lid, but he soon discovered that opening it was futile at the moment. It was sealed tight.

He brushed some of the loose dirt aside to get a better look at the detailed etching. The carefully crafted indentions were packed with dirt and made it difficult to make out, but he ran his thumb along the design and had the strange sensation that it should feel familiar.

A crack of thunder clapped overhead. Natsu faintly registered the sounds of different conversations around him as others left their posts to seek shelter, but he remained on his knees by the small hole he'd created that had housed the small box. He sat, lost in thought as he grazed his thumb over the etching. The rain was slowly turning the dirt into mud that was easier to wipe away with the heel of his hand and the hem of his shirt.

He squinted at the faint lines, trying to figure out what it was supposed to be. It held a small resemblance to a type of bird, but he was at a loss as to what kind it could be. It certainly looked unlike any bird Natsu had ever seen.

"Natsu! Come on, man!" He was suddenly yanked to his feet by the collar of his shirt and dragged to the overhang where the rest of the guys were taking their breaks and cracking open lunch sacks.

"What the hell, dude?" Gray panted, and only now that he was out of the rain did Natsu feel wet. Soaked, actually. His bones were being washed clean by the rain water as he stood there shivering with the box safe in his hand. Gray had yet to notice it; too preoccupied with his friend's impression of a lighting rod, but Lewis did.

"Yo," the older boy said, raising to his feet. He tried to adjust his glasses, but they remained off-centered. "What's that in your hand?"

"I found it," Natsu replied. "Right after you left."

Someone that Natsu had never spoken to before asked, "Well? What's in it?"

"It's probably his time capsule," his buddy retorted, elbowing his friend in the ribs as the two cackled.

"I don't know yet," Natsu responded, ignoring the two strangers. "Doesn't open."

Lewis grinned, his canines sharp. "Everything with a seal can be opened, my friend."

Someone snatched the box from his hands before Natsu could decipher the boy's words.

"Give it back," Natsu growled, lunging for the man who had made the joke at his expense and was more than a few years Natsu's senior.

"We'll give it back," he chortled, "just as soon as we find out what's in it." He tutted at the sight of Natsu's balled fists. "You wouldn't want to keep all the treasures for yourself, now, would ya?"

"Yes," Natsu replied simply.

The man threw his head back and laughed as though it was the funniest joke he'd ever heard.

"Rimmer!" he yelled, cupping the side of his mouth with a large, meaty hand so that Natsu could see fat fingers and several scars etched into the sun-stained skin. "Get your tools so we can crack this baby open!"

Thunder drowned out the cheers of the men involved while Gray put a hand on Natsu's shoulder to keep him from following.

"Dude, what's it matter? It's just a box with a weird-looking logo. The old bastards probably won't find anything inside other than a kid's old trading card collection."

"I found it," Natsu said. "It's mine." It was more than that, though, and Natsu could tell he was doing a poor job of convincing Gray otherwise. Maybe it was nothing more than morbid curiosity, but Natsu did want to know what was inside the box. He just didn't want everyone else knowing too.

Lewis clapped a hand on his other shoulder, his eyes following the small crowd that was convening around an old picnic table that sat in the far corner of the overhang. His expression was odd, unlike any that Natsu had ever seen come across the boy's features in the weeks they'd been working together.

"Lewis?"

But the older boy merely shot him a smirk and tapped the temples of his glasses before slinking off to join the others.

Gray and Natsu stared after him.

Natsu cocked his head to the side. "Am I wrong for thinking he's a little weird?"

"Probably leftover from whatever happened to his nose. No one can get hit that hard in the head and not be left a little scrambled."

"Nice guy though."

"Oh, totally. Lent me his pair of gloves once."

"Did you use them?"

"Gross, no. If I ever feel like sharing sweat I'll borrow something from your gym bag."

Natsu gave his friend an affronted look, followed by a deadpan, "Gross."

Gray shot him the finger before moving to stand at the edge of the concrete slab they were all gathered on, looking up at the clouds. "Looks like they're rolling out. Storm should be over soon, but the ground will be too soft to get any work done. We're probably done for the day once this lets up."

"Want me to drive home?"

"The day I let you drive my baby is the day you spit fire."

Natsu, having already known the answer, merely shrugged. "Figured I'd offer."

They found a spot nearby where no one was sitting because the wind had blown a little rain in that soaked the concrete, but it was nothing detrimental. They'd left their lunches in the back of Gray's Jeep, so they didn't have much to do other than look around. There was a small commotion breaking out on the other side of the overhang where everyone was waiting to see what was inside his box, but Natsu didn't have the heart to check it out.

"So," Gray said, picking at a callous. "You gonna tell me what's so important about this box that you were ready to throw hands with Wick?"

"You wouldn't of had to jump in."

Gray snorted, "Of course I would've jumped in. I'd just like a heads up when you feel like you're about to be a dumbass. I feel like it's common courtesy."

Natsu scratched at his arm to keep his hands busy. "I dunno, man. I know it's probably just a piece of junk, but…" he trailed off. He couldn't find the words to convey the feeling of familiarity he'd had when he first saw the symbol, not in a way that his friend would understand. Hell, Natsu didn't understand it. Why should he expect Gray to?

"Well, forget them. They can keep the trash inside if that's what they really-"

But Gray was cut off as the commotion on the other side of the overhang was quickly turning into the uproar of a mob. Men were surging forward with their hands raised over their heads as they scrambled for something that neither boy could make out from their sitting position. They both shot to their feet just as something broke the link and sprinted in their direction, the figure's glasses skewed to the side of his bleeding, re-broken nose.

"Lewis?" Natsu asked, but the boy didn't answer immediately. He shoved something hard into Natsu's chest and grinned, the look almost made maniacal by the trail of blood along his hairline and the ambiance of the storm around them.

"It was my fault that everyone noticed the box to begin with," he offered his hurried explanation. "Figured it was only fair if I got it back for you. Now go!" He ushered both boys out into the rain and towards the parking lot. "They still think I have it. I can buy you a little time."

"It's just a damn box!" Gray yelled, but sprinted after Natsu while fumbling in his pocket for his keys.

Natsu jerked the handle and clambered inside as Gray stuffed the key into the ignition and brought the roaring engine to life.

"You're more trouble than you're worth," he groaned, once again yanking them into a hard reverse as the tires spun on the loose gravel before finding purpose.

"Remind me to thank Lewis."

"I'll do that," Gray said, rolling his eyes. "On the card, be sure to include the part where he lent me those gloves. I'm sure he'll love reading it from the hospital bed those jackasses are going to put him in over this."

Natsu pressed his nose against the window to try and make out the crowd in the dense rain, but they still stood in the cover of the overhang, not a redhead in sight.

Natsu flipped on his lamp, illuminating his room and dousing the wooden tabletop in a hazy orange glow that warmed his skin. Mindful of newly applied bandaids on his fingers, he wiped once at his tired eyes and pulled out the top drawer where he'd stuffed the box when he first got home, before Igneel could call him down for dinner and turn it into a game of Twenty Questions.

While he was still nowhere near thankful to the assholes who had knicked it from him earlier that day, at least they had broken the seal. The way the dirt was still caked around the hinges led him to believe that Lewis had retrieved it before they could open it, which would explain the mob mentality.

Curiosity killed the cat, temptation brought it back, and God be with Lewis should those assholes decide for a little retribution come tomorrow at work.

He took a deep breath, wiped his hands on his flannel pajama bottoms in an attempt to stall, and then braced his fingers on either side of the metal.