#but now YOU'RE ON TOP. that's kinda terrifying!!!! now YOU'RE the powers that be. use responsibly!!!! 🤗👍

[moe-broey]

I HAVE. SO MANY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS. I am STRUGGLING. To find The Words. But you capture it all so brilliantly, Same Divine Visions.... just more aptly put. But I am thinking about this all of the time!!!!

I think about the stark contrast, between the way the Summoner speaks vs how any given Hero speaks. More often than not, you can tell who came from what background -- the royals carry themselves a certain way, those who have close connections to royalty (retainers, knights, ect) carry themselves a certain way, and you can spot someone from a common background pretty easily. But even then, Kiran stands out as an anomaly. Because they don't come from Fantasy Medieval Class System, they come from a modern world. Which still has a class system but WE GOTTA STAY ON TOPIC. MAIN POINT! Kiran is fucking weird because they come from a system that's completely alien to what any given Hero is familiar with, that Seems universal across any world the Order stumbles into or pulls Heroes from (nearly all of them set in the fantasy medieval world, with some exceptions!)

ANOTHER POINT. I am always thinking about. You captured it really well, saying it's almost like a dialect! And also, all the Heroes lacking the cultural context as to why Kiran talks like that, and ALSO. This is the biggest thing I wanted to talk about!!!! The differences, in speech patterns, and phrases/idioms that don't translate very well. Something you could say to anyone here, and most likely they'd recognize immediately what you're talking about and what you mean when you say it. Like saying, "I lost my train of thought", or "Some wires must have got crossed", or maybe you compare a physically unpleasant groggy feeling to feeling "jetlagged". What's a "train"? "Wires"? What do you even make of the word "jetlagged". HERE'S the thing... I don't think whoever Kiran is talking to, (Alfonse, as an example here?) would ask for clarification Every Single Time they say something like that. He might! But in the moment, he might choose to try and pick up on context clues, instead. What is the core of what my friend seems to be communicating to me, here? He can put it together, even if there's blank spots. Just like you could, if you heard a phrase or word, you've never heard before.

But in the event that Alfonse DOES ask, "What is a train?" I think it hits Kiran. Like a truck. Or perhaps a train. Very suddenly, Kiran is EXTREMELY reminded of the fact that they are so far from home. The profound sense of isolation that comes with that. Literally, worlds apart. THAT'S WHAT I'M ALWAYS THINKING OF.... the unique form of isolation, Kiran must feel. The only other characters who may know exactly what they mean are the Tokyo Mirage Session guys. And there's like four of them. One of them is a baby.

Now add some Weirdness in there. Add some referential humor. Add a dash of being chronically online. Add possibly having a wealth of knowledge about something so specific and niche that's completely and utterly inapplicable to anything in Askr. Add some Oddities that may be unique to That Specific Summoner themselves, shit that would get them flagged as a fucking weirdo even in their OWN world. This is just SUCH a funny concept to me... as anyone who Isn't The Summoner, you just have to play the guessing game of Is This Just A Cultural Gap Or At Least Common Knowledge In Your World, OR Is The Summoner Just A Fucking Weirdo. Because, in my Summoner's case anyway, it is. It very much is.

I am ALSO always thinking about the insane amount of power dropped into the Summoner's lap, how in the WORLD are they meant to use this ethically, ect ect ect. I have no notes/additions there, you've absolutely captured the core of what I'm always thinking! Can somebody like, get this guy a coffee or something. Maybe some tea or hot cocoa, if the jitters are gonna kill them. Badly.

What do u think Kiran is

How do u think the order sees kiran

*slowly sits up in my chair*

I think Kiran is a very normal person. This is someone you and I have met before. Be that from the other side of grocery store cashier, waiting in the same elevator, or walking by on a crosswalk. Kiran is a civilian from our world trying to roll with the punches of being warped somewhere completely alien. And you can see it in how they conduct themselves.

I always have a lot of fun writing Kiran’s dialogue because their casual modern speech almost feels like a dialect in comparison to the more formal fantasy tone everyone else speaks with. An “ain’t” will never exit Alfonse’s mouth, you know? And there’s a difference in “Do you have gold?” vs “You got gold?” To me, this gives Kiran an air of unfamiliarity to anyone they interact with. Let’s use Grima as an example, because it doesn’t sound like this grammatical change would make much of difference until Kiran has the audacity to hit Grima with a bro mid sentence. But that’s just how they talk. And as sweet and friendly as they are, there’s always moments like that to remind that no one has the cultural context to fully understand Kiran. Except for the audience, who can realize that Kiran let the customer service voice drop to talk to Grima like he’s an actual person.

And that’s just about how they talk! This view is only emphasized by every other thing about them! They’re a lovable goof, which is normal chill person behavior in the audience’s eyes but feels REALLY ODD to the characters of FE’s medieval fantasy war setting. There is this air of unknown about them that the more socially perceptive will pick up on and will try to come to a conclusion about. Example, I imagine Soren would interpret a lot of this as a dangerous and deeply annoying lack of intelligence from someone he has the displeasure of sharing a tactics table with. Or looping back to the Grima example, he would totally think Kiran has greedy ulterior motives behind that pleasant facade. It takes a lot of work for those types to realize that the discrepancy present isn’t really any of those things. But I also wouldn’t be too surprised if Kiran doesn’t try to directly prove any of those assumptions wrong unless they have to.

Why? Well now it’s time for the implications! Oh how we love the implications.

Because the Summoner is a different story. No one has any fucking clue what that is.

I can tell you what Kiran has pieced together so far. Summoning people from across time and space is apparently not easy. It’s not some school of magical study that some mage could pull off with enough time and research. Trust, Eitri tried. It’s a lot of complex moving parts. For example, the contracts. The contracts Kiran automatically binds their summoned to don’t even compare to the ones Veronica used in book 1. They are far more intense and infinitely harder to break. The only way out of them is if Kiran wills it so. Not even death is an option, because Kiran can come in for the revive. If they had to guess, it’s an older, more completed version of the art. Something lost to time. But no matter the case, Kiran has the ability to take full control of whoever they manage to summon. From a lowly farmer to the divine. And their power only grows.

In a similar vein, if there was any character to canonically see the hud, I think it would be Kiran. It’s genuinely part of their power set. I have previously described Kiran as the party mage until Veronica shows up to be the actual mage, but it would be way more accurate to call them a mystic/seer. They see the map, everyone’s stats, and is doing a fast amount of math to give the combat forecast. Then, upon processing all this information their enemies couldn’t dream of having at their disposal, Kiran can telepathically communicate any change in plans to anyone under contract. Kiran is not inherently some great tactician the moment they touch ground in Askr; they simply can do things no one else can. They’re learning the actual tactics part on the fly. This makes them simultaneously the largest ace up the Order’s sleeve and potentially its biggest liability. If they fall, it could cause a whole system cascade. By that same token, some of the biggest threats the Order has faced are the ones who do their research and rightfully target Kiran.

Now. Thinking critically about all that. That’s downright terrifying. A ridiculous amount of power has been dropped callously into Kiran’s lap and they have to work extremely hard to be moral with it. It’s terrifyingly easy not to be. It would actively take less effort to ‘take the reins’ as it were. But in order to be able to sleep at night ever again, they go the extra mile to not invalidate the will of their summoned. To take over like that. To make a colony of worker bees out of people. Because oh dear god they just summoned a child and the fact that they could easily force them to fight and die for them, only to be revived and do it all over again, is HAUNTING. No. No the Order has an in house orphanage now. This kid is getting adopted and cared for god damnit or Kiran might just pop a blood vessel. And sure that child is going to be a child and there will never be a world where they get along with everyone else, but that’s just going to need be a problem they address when they get there and not an excuse to use Hubris; the power set. Now replace the word child with everyone they ever summoned and you have the wider philosophy they apply to the entire Order.

They’re hyper aware of the power imbalance. They hate it with every bone in their body. They work really hard to correct it in whatever way they can.

So Kiran might not jump on the opportunity to correct those who think lesser of them. It’s… oddly comforting to know someone is keeping a critical eye on them. Holding them accountable. Especially since so much of the order just thinks of them as this quirky yet well meaning host. And, really, what can they even do about that? They have gone over the contract with every hero they summon and despite that they still choose to stay. So, what, do they try to inspire more mistrust? The problem with that they would have to actually do acts that intentionally inspire mistrust. And even if that was successful they can’t just waste the extra man power because every other month there’s some new divine asshole who wants them all dead. And if they fail that means they have to start their life from square one and god they can’t do that again so—

Just breathe Kiran.

It’s fine. You’re fine. Just breathe.

You have work to do.

[lovemyromance]

You're telling me, if your 23-yr old ass got dunked into a freezing iron crockpot after you were stolen from your bed in your cute lil coquette nightgown and suddenly you were now stripped of your humanity and forced to become a creature you'd been raised to hate your entire life -

And then one of those said creatures - whom you've never met but was standing alongside the ENEMY that was responsible for this trauma - suddenly swoops in and claims you in front of everyone (never mind that you actually have a fiancé whom you loved)-

And then you are suddenly taken from the room and thrust into an unfamiliar world with the only person you know being your sister and kinda these 3 terrifying warriors who you met once or twice-

And on top of all that - you are now assaulted with random images/visuals/sounds/who knows what - that you cannot explain. Are you going crazy? Are you suddenly like schizophrenic? What the fuck is going on? Is this what it's going to be like forever now that you're fae?

Not to mention, now that you're fae, you know your fiancée isn't ever going to be with you now. You lost him, and your human life all in one go. You only have your sister to cling to, and your other sister is god knows where.

That's so much to go through in the span of like a week.

I don't think people are understanding how traumatic that would be to someone. There's nothing worse than the feeling that you're going crazy - like it's some kind of divine punishment. People are always so quick to call Elain Archeron weak or stupid or depressed - as if she didn't just lose everything she knew and cherished basically overnight.

They're so quick to dismiss her wants and needs and trauma and criticize her for not wanting to take help from her "fated mate" - even though that term probably means jack shit to her anyways.

The poor girl was trying to figure out why she was being assaulted with visions and y'all are out here claiming Lucien fixed her by telling them to "take her outside, make sure she gets some fresh air".

Nah, Elain Archeron has the willpower of steel - she fixed her damn self. As soon as she discovered she was a Seer, Miss Girl pulled herself together and started to make use of her newfound powers.

She found the Suriel.

She rammed Truthteller into KoH's neck.

She asked Greyson to turn his manor into a safe haven for the humans.

She refuses to be near Lucien, but is sneaking around with the Spymaster in the dead of night.

Who knows what else she's been doing behind the scenes? Who knows what she has up her sleeves, in that mind of hers?

Out of any possible storyline SJM could write, Elain's is the only one right now that I'd pay to find out about.

[melkyt]

Oil Rig Doctor Law with Luffy as an eldritch creature somebody unleashed through a ritual on this poor unsuspecting boi xd

Alot of horror-games like this have vibes of the non-human eldritch being pick one guy and be like

'I like that one, I am going to put it through unimaginable horrors but in like a flirty way, and at the end we're gonna kiss'

So yeah Law, those weird eyes and hands reaching out as you're running about terrified trying to survive are just flirting, when he breaks down crying and screaming at the top of the oil rig as he realises that there is no way out. Despreate, scared.

Luffy feels a little bad and shows up in the approximation of the human form, still some uncanny valley to him, picks Law up and carries him to the beach.

Law passes out and doesn't remember how he escaped, just remembers it felt warm

This would be the second game/book, where this once respected doctor goes off the deepend as far as his friends and colleagues are concerned as he looks for the creature.

Taking a boat out to sea or some uninhabited island that worshiped Luffy/Nika, and slowly uncovers the truth.

Luffy at this point has been watching and probably on his crew. Nobody knows who he or where he came from so they assume Law hired him, and the kid is fun and excitable but kinda gives the seasoned sailors and professionals the creeps but they know enough that anything that creeps you out on the ocean needs to be respected or risk death.

Luffy laughing the entire time he watches Law fumble with trying to find out his lore, and sometimes just being thinking so much about the mortal, his power effects Law with weird hallucinations that feel like thoae intricate hidden object and puzzle games point and click horror gamez love xd

Law is kinda having alot of fun even if he is just a little unnerved everythingnis happening and questions if he is loosing his mind

Eventually the two of them meet in the depths of the mansion/world that Nika Luf's power creates. And it just tells him thats its a bored god and its not that deep, and that it likes him.

It could ask normally, like 'lets date for your short human life' but thats not its vibe

Luffy Nika leaning in, brushing his fingers over Law's jaw, so small and fragile. He could break the human with ease.

Its not words, its more a feeling that Law translates to 'Do you wish to feed my insatiable desires in eternity'

Law nods, he didnt come this far to back up from making out with a concept beyond his understanding.

They kiss

Luffy is just 'score, tottally knew this would work on the rig'

Law blinks and hss to come to terms that his love language is actually terrifying, and it will be something to get used to. And he will now that he is not losing his mind xd.

Others going to his office might not share the same chill attitude about the eyes staring from the ceiling or the walls that move sometimes. Nor the doctor's boyfriend whose eyes are a little to wide, and teeth a little to sharp.

[unluckyservice4]

Out of curiosity, what are the other remnants of despair like in your universe?

Oh, uh. Hmm...good question. I don't....really socialize with most of them these days for reasons, but uh...

Sonia's in Novaselic committing global domination and colonialism. She's one of the Big Three. The remnants who hoard power over the entire globe, minus Junko herself. Gundam's usually with her, or at least aligned with her. Last I heard he was in the Americas stampeding and ruining their cities. They don't really need the help tbh after the cults took over.

Imposter's in the states too, they're considered one of the other Big Three, they're impersonating some important governmental figure, though I'm not sure who. They're a big reason why the cults got out of hand and run a huge faction in that area, at least that's what I last heard. I dunno the state of that location so they might've moved on.

Fuyuhiko's got most of southeast asia, pretty much this whole place is his Territory, though Towa's a provence under it's own power. That's part of the deal Towa made with the Remnants after all. He also doesn't have much control over where sections like the Future Foundation and other such corperations have settled. FF's got it's tendrils riddling all throughout everyone's territories, so far they've set up a kind of hit and run strategy of coming to a place, outfitting people with supplies and weapons and then dipping, when they aren't trying to go into all out mini wars with one of us. They've mostly been Fuyuhiko's headache since the lions share of their force is in Japan, though Sonia and Imposter have to deal with their own headaches, especially Imposter. The next Hope's Peak building was meant to be in the states but now that means Munataka's got connections over there. I hear there's an underground rebellion in New York or something.

Next is the smaller forces, most of us are still in Japan physically but the influence can still reach global. Mahiru's got a radio station, it's surprisingly practical past the propaganda, gives you updates on what we're doing or any public plans and about famous killers-there's like a top ten serial killer hitlist it's...uh. Graphic. Ibuki and Hyoko are doing their concerts, which end in death or brainwashing or spreading more propaganda. Oh, Peko's still with Fuyuhiko, though I hear she might branch out now and again. She's a trained hitman so personally I am......not eager to look too deeply into her exploits.

Akane is........I honestly don't know where she is. She spent some time with Nekomaru's training area-he runs a training area, but it's extremely dangerous and unhealthy. Steroids, extremely dangerous diets and workout routines, he's got a whole subset of cult members who're like, super beefed up and probably ready to burst a blood vessal at any moment. It's.......It's honestly horrifying. Anyway, Akane spent a while with him and then she came out extremely weak and malnourished and yet somehow still a terrifying powerhouse. She wanders around leveling buildings for fun, I think. I think it's for fun. It's...um....it's like getting hit with a natural disaster honestly.

And Teru-ah....Teruteru's in the party business. And by party I mean sex party. And by sex party I mean you get a full course meal that makes you high and then you end up either dying in very horrificly gruesome ways or you end up going crazy and tear each other apart. um. Sometimes in even more disturbing ways than I just described. Don't go to his parties.

OH I almost forgot Souda. Probably because he doesn't actually do much himself, but he's got his machines set up everywhere and if you try to tamper with any of them you're probably going to set off a trap. That's all he does though, his machines are awful, the entire reason the sky's scorched is because of him, but beyond his machines he's actually harmless. All he wants is to bury his head in a project, it's kinda...kinda sad.

I think that's everyone....?

[fatass-adam]

Fuck, fav things about misc. Adam ships time:

AdamsApple:

Luci being 100% daddy as fuck and completely dominating and/or topping the shit out of Adam with Adam being SO FUCKING FLUSTERED over it because who the fuck does this twink think he is??

And/or Luce being this handsome, charming-ass little fucker while Adam is a gross immature asshole to counter him

Brat Adam with plenty of punishents~

GOLD CHAINS GOLD CHAINS GOLD CHAINS

Lucifer just owning Adam in general (both literally and figuratively speaking)

Cute love/hate banter

On the other side? HATE SEX

Just all that good rivalry shit

GuitarSpear:

Lute being flustered as all fuck but not showing it

Bonus points if Adam sees through it and teases the shit out of her knowing she won't do shit back

On the flipside Lute being dominant and feral as fuck making Adam her bitch (meanwhile Adam is totally into it despite being absolutely terrified)

Adam "OH NO I JUST LEARNED SOMETHING ABOUT MYSELF" Firstman if you will

GreedyGuitar:

Mam being larger than Adam whether just massive enough to carry him princess style or fucking giant as shit and can hold Adam like a little squeeze toy

Adam being an absolute brat to Mam and Mam getting rightfully pissed over it (though he's probably too lazy to administer punishment tbh)

BUT ALSO Mam putting Adam in his place afterwards (and Adam loving it)

Mam fatshaming Adam despite being bigger than him in most cases which ultimately gets Adam flustered

When Mam uses his extra limbs to get extra handsy (usually catching Adam off guard)

GuitarGate:

Top Peter because it's unexpected and funny as fuck, plus I'm just a slut for bottom Adam (which we all FUCKING KNOW lol)

Even if a top though I still love Peter being soft or flustered toward Adam (good service top shit okay)

Adam just being a huge bully to Peter (and Peter secretly being really into it, maybe even to a masochistic point)

Adam and Eve:

Ex-spouses who still fuck occasionally because while they hate each others' guts the sex is still good if not better now

Adam is still horribly in love with Eve (usually against his will) and it fucks him up really really badly

That or they're rekindling after all this time and Adam is worried Eve won't love him anymore due to what he's become

They still have little lovers quarrels

Especially if they still fight about the kids

Eve being dom but only by "coaxing" Adam through praise or anger (either she's gonna butter him up and make him give her what she wants or piss him off to the point that he's SO GONNA DO THE THING NOW JUST YOU WAIT-)

Adam and Lilith:

The ex-spouse thing again but this time WITH VIOLENCE

Honestly?? Toxic as fuck shit like I shouldn't even admit to it

HATE SEX TO THE EXTREME

And yes Adam is subbing whether he's topping or not (force that man on his knees and make him work for it)

Adam hates it (he's totally into it)

Adam "FUCK ME THERE'S ANOTHER NEW THING ABOUT MYSELF" Firstman that is to say

Overall:

Smaller partners climbing/standing/sitting/etc. on Adam

Larger partners freaking him the fuck out by treating him small like he is to them because "HOLY FUCK I'M USUALLY THE BIG ONE-"

Adam being a huge brat to more powerful partners who can (and should) teach him to show a little respect

Brat Adam realizing the exact moment that he fucked up-

Smaller partners just being unhinged as fuck like "yeah you're cute but I'm kinda worried for you mentally"

Dominant female/feminine leaning partners because BOY does he owe them that for how misogynistic he is

Partners that are probably way too cheerful for him "GOD you're annoying good thing the sex slaps"

There's probably a lot more and it probably only gets weirder from here but I'll make another post about it later once I've gathered my thoughts lol

[handsome-jacks-toy]

Hindsight

"You know Rhysie? I'm so friggin glad you talked me out of that endoskeleton plan."

Jack stands up from his desk, one of two now in the large office, and walks over to Rhys.

"I mean, look at us! I have a new body. You're Co-CEO of Hyperion. And quarterly profits are through the friggin roof baby!"

Rhys chuckles at that. "Yeah Jack, not airlocking half the R&D department every month will do that."

Jack throws his head back and groans. The kid has a point, but it doesn't mean he has to like it.

"Yeah well, I still say the numbskulls had it coming."

~~~

"Aaaand that'll do it."

Jack closes the Hatch on Rhys' arm and gives it a pat for good measure. The kid lifts his arm, inspecting it this way and that.

"What, ya don't trust my handywork cupcake?"

Rhys tilts his head at him. "Nah, it's not that. I'm just, kinda surprised you know how to fix it? I know you're more of a programmer than an engineer."

Jack can't help but laugh at that one.

"Did you forget I used to be code living in your cybernetics pumpkin? The first thing I did when I got access to Hyperion systems was learn how to repair you. Couldn't have you breaking down on me."

"Helps that you got the top of the line stuff too. Holographic palm interface. Echoeye with AR overlay. 200 year internal power supply. The works. Must have cost you a pretty penny."

Rhys slips his shirt back on as he nods, "Yeah, it definitely wasn't cheap. Cost my entire yearly bonus. I was eating instant noodles for months." He shudders at the phantom taste of noodle before looking Jack in the eye.

"It was worth it though. Without it I never would have met you."

~~~

"Hey cupcake, do you remember the time you first trusted me? When you let me into your subsystems?"

Rhys pauses from reviewing the contract and looks over at him. "Yeah, how could I ever forget? It's still the most terrifying, yet exhilarating, thing I've ever done."

"More terrifying than facing down a hoard of bandits and psychos in a race to the death?"

"Oh for sure. I didn't really have a choice. I could watch my friends die, or trust you. And let's be fair, your reputation preceded you. I mean, when you woke up, the first thing you tried to do was strangle me."

Jack couldn't help but grimace at the reminder. He'd never admit it out loud, but there was a lot he regretted about how he'd treated the kid in the early days.

"So why do you ask anyway?

Jack looked back down at the contract he was writing. "Just thinking about how far we've come, you and I. And this business deal were working on feels like that moment. For me it was pure exhilaration. It was then I knew that we could do anything, and I mean anything, if we worked together. We make an amazing team pumpkin."

Jack looked up to see the fond little smile the kid had. He was directing those at him more and more these days.

Jack clapped his hands together. "Alright, no more sappy shit or I'm gonna get a rash. Back to cracking skulls and writing loopholes."

"We're not cracking any skulls Jack."

"Hey, a man can dream can't he?"

~~~

"Wake up Jack. It's time to get up. Today's the big day!"

Jack rolled over and cracked an eye open. Ugh, he'd fallen asleep with the mask on again. Sometimes he wished he hadn't opted for it on his new body, but he just didn't feel like himself without it. The man before the mask was dead and gone, and he wasn't coming back. He was Handsome Jack now.

Rhys snapped him out of his introspection with a small shake to his shoulder. "Jack, come on. You gotta get up. The meeting's in an hour."

Right, the meeting. The most important one of his life. Jack was definitely awake now. As he sat up he realized he could smell greasy goodness wafting in from the kitchen.

Food was one thing he never took for granted anymore. Go for as long as he did without a sense of taste or smell, and you really learn to appreciate the little things.

He padded into the dining room and Rhysie turned and smiled at him.

"I know you were up late working on last minute revisions, so I made you breakfast. I hope bacon and eggs are alright. There's a pot of coffee brewing too."

Jack sat at the table and took it all in. Sometimes he couldn't believe this was his life. He never thought he'd be so domestic again.

"You're a godsend cupcake, you know that? I could just kiss you."

Rhys froze as he was plating the food, before setting it in front of Jack with a smile.

"I'm glad you like it. Now hurry up, we have a busy day"

Jack dug in gleefully. It was the best thing he'd ever tasted.

~~

"Looks like everything's in order. Pleasure doing business with you gentlemen. We'll talk again soon."

Rhysie turned towards him as the holo-call ended, business facade broken. The kid was downright giddy. It was contagious if he was being honest.

"We did it Jack! We really did it! I can't believe it!"

He thought the kid was gonna faint he was so hyped up. Instead he did something Jack never expected. He reached up, grapped his lapels, and pulled him foreward into a kiss.

Jack froze in shock, before melting into it. This was better than anything he'd ever imagined. Rhysie was a surprisingly good kisser. Finally they ran out of breath and pulled away.

"I can't tell you how long I've wanted to do that. Now just felt like the right time. We made this deal together Jack. Can you believe it? Hyperion is now the biggest company in the univer-

*CRASH*

Jack's eye flew left and right, searching for the source of the noise. He couldn't see anything though, and the mic wasn't picking up anything else. It must have just been more wreckage from Helios setting.

Jack hadn't seen another living soul since the crash. It'd been years, and he didn't want to think about how many more it could be.

That daydream was nice though. He wished it hadn't ended there. But he could always start over again. Wasn't like he had much else to do.

He flexed the arm again, trying to reach the eye, but it was a futile effort. Just like every other time. He couldn't help but look again at the scattered remains around him. The eye had long since rotted and fell to the ground. The bones were all he could really see. Everyday, reminded of his greatest mistake.

"God, I miss you Rhys..."

[telleroftime]

Okay so I'm just spitballing here for a sec but

I was listening to In the Dark of the Night from Anastasia and it got me thinking about a scenario where the reader is some kind of magical entity, born with powers or gifted them, either way, Bowser wants you. His initial plan being to kill you and steal your magic. And of course you're used to being chased by others but Bowser is just beyond terrifying.

Something something he can't bring himself to kill you and come to find out from Kamek later he's trapped under some kind of curse that's forcing him to crave ultimate power. And then you get to help break it.

Music truly does the best for my creativity cause now I'm imagining Bowser singing In the Dark of the Night with his soldiers as the backup singers-

Something about "In the dark of the night she'll (they'll) be mine" get my gears turning.

Oh my gosh wait because I can build on top of that!

So, not only is Reader wanted by Bowser, but there's an even larger power above them. Kinda like Hawkmoth and all the villains he makes just to get the miraculous. Just an evil power that's kind of on the same plane of existence as Reader that - where Reader spreads good - they spread evil and Bowser just gets caught in the crossfire of it all. Well, less crossfire and more like the entity sees Bowser as a good source of negative energy and kinda uses him to spread fear and stuff.

And then news of Reader reach Bowser and his craving for power kinda gets worse. He himself seeks them out and gets more desperate with every passing day.

And just imagine Bowser and Reader trapped somewhere where they need to work together, but Reader is just terrified and Bowser is still trying to capture them, but in that moment he also has this small moment of clarity. Where he knows there's something above him. Like Garmadon from Lego Ninjago being evil not because he wanted to be but because of that snake venom coursing through him. (Dragging all the fandoms into this post).

So it's kind of an uphill battle for both Reader and Bowser as they try and break Bowser from the hold of this higher evil whilst at the same time Reader needs to avoid Bowser's tyranny and thirst for power.

And for the sake of it - you mentioned "In The Dark of the Night" and my mind went to straight to Jonathan Young's cover of it. That much more metal theme to it that would fit Bowser so well. Then again, I'm also biased towards his covers since they're all rock and metal covers of songs.

Oh, and quotes like 'Come my minions fly for your Master, let your evil shine' could be both Bowser and whatever is making him evil kinda echo through.

'My curse made each of them pay'

And if you wanna overlay songs, once again I'm gonna mention Jonathan Young's covers. His rendition of "Phantom of the Opera". It'd fit perfectly. Honestly. It has that clash of vocals almost, with Young having this deep and raspy voice, and then Reese has this typical opera, smooth voice. I'm totally not biased. Totally. Okay, I'm biased. It's the typical metal style. Drums and electric guitar and stuff that fits Bowser so well.

But yes! That's my input. I love this idea so much. Time to add it to my list of maladaptive daydreams to, well, daydream later.

[kavalyera]

Someone said headcanons? (Most of these are John cuz I'm literally him in the same way you're Marquis) I guess some of these are not really queer specific but it's the John Wick universe so everything is queer by proxy. - In my hc John is bi but I mean any interpretation that is not straight is correct in my mind. All the sexualities exist in him simultaneously. He's everything. - Helen is also bi btw so these two are this type of couple that appears straight at first and then you learn Helen had a girlfriend of five years and John used to go to bars to suck di- - I'm pretty sure people have said it already or at least partially, but I'll repeat because JOHN IS A SWITCH. He also gives of service-top so yeah do with that whatever. - They would tell each other their past experiences and fuck afterwards. I don't know does it count as swinging if it's memories?? - I can see John being into choking, on both sides. Something about working with your life constantly on the line and then having enough trust to let someone have control over your literal source of life is...kinda hot. - John still has a leather jacket full of old queer pins somewhere in his closet. By old I mean something you'll see when you type "vintage queer pins" into google yes he probably has those. - John is good at pick-pocketing, he just doesn't do it much anymore. Although he would sometimes steal a friend's wallet and give it right back to be cocky. - He probably listens to Soviet punk rock like "Grazhdanskaya Oborona" and "Kino". - A bit of a reach buuuut. Marquis tried fencing to hit on someone he liked. - And she fucking FAILED because of course. - So now he's not only alone but is not good at fencing either. Failed at both. - Also I imagine Caine had some sort of existential crisis, because for most seeing people loosing sight is terrifying. So he would touch John's face as a way to calm himself because he can't look at him anymore. - He stopped with the face touching but he will still grab or at least try to touch someone next to him when stressed - That probably also applies to sex somehow. This bitch will grab you and REFUSE TO LET GO. - Also power-bottom vibes, do with that whatever.

Okay I should stop or I'll break the website bye bye

John is good at pick-pocketing, he just doesn't do it much anymore. Although he would sometimes steal a friend's wallet and give it right back to be cocky.

Bro changed for the better i fear😭😭 imagine being john’s friend when he was younger you reach into your pocket and the wallet is NOT there whatsoever. this man is a menace even when he was YOUNGER he just grew more refined and professional

John still has a leather jacket full of old queer pins somewhere in his closet. By old I mean something you'll see when you type "vintage queer pins" into google yes he probably has those.

brother needs to drop where he got these because damn i need this in my life like actually

A bit of a reach buuuut. Marquis tried fencing to hit on someone he liked. And she fucking FAILED because of course. So now he's not only alone but is not good at fencing either. Failed at both.

STOPPPP😭😭😭😭 her villain origin story fr😭 how are you gonna be a FRENCH NOBLE and be bad at both RIZZ and FENCING⁉��⁉️⁉️⁉️ this is insane pls get him a wingman

He stopped with the face touching but he will still grab or at least try to touch someone next to him when stressed. That probably also applies to sex somehow. This bitch will grab you and REFUSE TO LET GO.

Its CAINE so i would let him hold onto me and idk like grab my arm because my oh my papi😍

[gameideas-111]

Soulslike Cyberpunk setting

This is admittedly an idea I've been letting rattle around in my head for a while. It's not fully thought out, but I have thought about how it work for a while.

Basic Idea

My idea is to combine the concepts of blood born with cyberpunk ethics. With some inspiration from Overkill. You wake up in a cyber city overwhelmed by a medical power source called "Spark" by the company who discovered it, Steven Cyberware. Your very existence is considered an affront to company policy and an unwanted factor the corporation doesn't want to understand or use (Think of it similar to Far Zenith from Zero Dawn). So they send a clean-up crew to destroy the isolated island lab you're on. You likely die (And rise out of a light blue sea of geometry onto an island with a lighthouse observatory known as Shoreline) or run away (you'll be invited to the Shorline, a cyberspace isolated and hidden in the network where people like you may hide). In Shoreline, a chip and jovial person known as "S.k.I.E." will meet you. A friendly and acts as a shrine made of the game. You'll also find other NPCs here who you can meet in the real world as well. Other NPCs who've come here for one reason or another.

The shoreline is a hub world, With it largely being where docs amongst the small coastline with small huts and shops. on the boats With the centerpiece of S.k.I.E.'s Lighthouse and observatory. Where she can use concentrated Spark and data you get from enemies to upgrade your stats. Further on in the game, This place will slowly change. The Sea will start to show faces and limbs of glitching complexions of grey, boats trying to prepare to depart. At the end game, the sea will be red as the sky sparks and sputters. Boats in the distance or at the docks wrecked or sinking. The place is now marked and surrounded by beings wanting to feed. S.k.I.E. Now showing some worry, as she tries to hide their fear behind a smile. Trying not to think about what could happen to her. (Here, you could possibly catch her crying, to which she'll stop and say she's fine if asked. If you can listen to her out of sight though, you could hear her talk to herself in private. trying to focus on anything but the fear of oblivion she might be subjected to, or worse, she stays conscious as she's torn apart by eldrich things. You may even see her mind degenerating as bits of it go away. eaten by uncaring gods. Her anger and sadness at not being able to remember the faces of people they care for. She's terrified and trying to hide it so you may complete her mission of helping you, the thing she was made to do. But she also doesn't want to die).

The Save system is made up of transition nodes. Massive cell towers that many have plugged into so they can escape the nightmare inflicted upon them by corporations and spark. With Ancient beings coming from another realm to feast upon spark. Some plugging in and never coming back. You need to activate these nodes to fully create systems online (Kinda like how you need to unlock towers to fast travel in breath of the wilds). Around the area, there are fabricator Nodes. Acting as the primary save points. Where some will actively be around these Nodes to top up on spark. A vital resource to survive outside the Corporations and the City Council. With Many enemies are robots or cybernetically enhanced guards and creatures from one of those two factions, or gangs. Later on, spark creatures will emerge. Often around unoccupied Spark nodes.

The goal of the game is to either destroy all five Spark capacitors, or your original mission of getting to the top of Marigold Tower, a luxury tower for the high society in the past, now a fortified fortress where the companies keep the portal open and keep harvesting Spark from the grey world. The High society doing nothing but maintaining their lifestyle and power. To them, they'd rather rule the world, even if it's nothing but ashes than ever lose power. They'll die eventually, so what about the consequences. They also want you and others like you gone. To them, you're spit in their face by someone who defied them, and an unknown variable. Some smarter ones will try and use you for their own ends (connected to one of the endings). But in the end, they will prioritize their power and pride over others.

Lastly (For now), there would be "The Spark Beings". Those Eldrich gods mentioned earlier. These are otherworldly beings who consume Spark. Alongside having some intelligence and motives you don't get to fully know. They do want to eat though. Which can collapse the entirety of society and everyone who has spark even remotely near them (Everyone who still lives). This is actually something your creator is interested in. I should explain your Creator.

Your creator and by extension creator of the shoreline is named Alisa Burg and her persona is "Hustin Hills". A former tech billionaire who helped build up the corporate society and its reliance on spark. However, she was kicked out of high society and forced out of the oppressive corporation she helped found. Alongside being forbidden to continue her research which was deemed company property. However, as soon as the eldrich beings where dicovered, she started drafting up plans. Eventually becoming one of the most wanted people in the city as a result of body snatching from the morg, illeagal experimentation with trademarked technology, and other such crimes. One of which was you. (With your purpose not being to save the world, but to instead assign yourself or your creature into one of these eldrich gods).

Combat

Combat focuses on dodging and striking. With All enemies holding the resource known as "Spark". A resource that acts as your health. You can even recover health by bathing in the Spark that spews out of enemies. The most spark is gotten either by striking an enemy during an attack where you can get a slight healing, or striking a death blow that gives you some Hp and refills a charge of your Spark Charg (Estice flask equivalent). You can also recharge weapon abilities with these. With quick weapon changes and modifications also being key.

Cybernetics act as special talismans or charms that can help certain things happen. With Chips acting like spells, your caricature can be used for spells. With Extra spark being restored by either attacking an enemy right after they make an attack. landing a death blow, or by getting a reacharge.

it'll largely be melee-based, with range weapons tacking sparks. With most everything ranged needing it to power up, or use as ammunition.

[savagebisand]

I saw it be said a few times that Boeing is mature and whilst that man is a lot of things that have me questioning if I'm like... Mentally okay to have such a carnal desire for them. Mature is not one of the traits I'd assign. This is a man who is literally playing games with not just one now but two of his exes. He's spent what months? years maybe? being Tops go to call when he doesn't want a lonely night, the second he feels threatened of his security in Tops fucked up life, he makes a move on the so called threat aka Mew. He's master manipulating. Everything he says is double edged and eery and unsettling. Just how much does he pull strings on Top? You see it in how he talks to him, how he touches him.

Boeing doesn't care for Tops boundaries, he may have even been the start of Tops issues with fighting for his own boundaries being respected. Boeing does this thing where he keeps Top coming back to him for more, and he lords it over him. How long has it been, are you still sticking to the three month rule? He knows exactly the power he has and by god does he wield it. Sabotaging Tops other relationships so he can keep number one spot. Deceiving Mew so easily into believing it's a revenge that won't bite him in the ass, that he's a friend and not a wolf in sheep's clothing.

And as if that's not enough, he then next episode targets Sand again, purely because he hears about how Sand has moved on. Kinda like how he doubles down on his position in Tops life because he thinks Top can finally move on with Mew. Like he's terrified of someone replacing his legacy as The Best Option. Boeing likes pulling puppet strings, he likes keeping people stagnant in a place he can leave them and come back to peck at what's left later like a vulture. And the worst part is he does it because he needs attention.

There he is simpering to Mew and Sand about how he thinks he can be a better boyfriend than their current partners. Using Mews history against him, spinning this tale where Top is selfish and Boeing is "The Good Guy", then using his own history with Sand to delude Sand into this vision where he's blameless and just wants him back bad enough he's willing to be "The Bad Guy".

Funny how Boeing only starts caring if he still stands a chance when he thinks his position is threatened as Sands most important ex. He's still got his little revenge plot with Mew in the works but he wants Sand on his belt too. Also, all this man does is talk about his exes. He tells stories of the past where he and Sand played quiz nights at the bar, where Top took him wakeboarding and made him a pro. Constantly trying to undermine what his exes newest partners may see as special time for them because oh hey btw I did that first. The sheer audacity to bring up dates Sand and him used to do whilst at the same time he was prioritising Top over Sand? As if they're like fond memories?

Boeing presents himself as this true friends stab you in the front archetype but he's just a lost, lonely man desperate for even a shred of someone's attention and value. And that's kind of sad actually. Like babes move the fuck on? Get a life outside of these men's business and stop bothering them?

We love Boeing because he steps on the scene and emits this mean girl Regina George energy where you're like oh this vindictive little bitch is truly a supreme conniving pussy slaying cow. But when you peel back his layers it's like you are the most pathetic man to ever breathe sir. How hard is it to just move forward in life?

Boeing is that smart and that pretty and that good at pulling strings to get to high places and he wastes his time circling the flakey little meal that is this group of men. He literally invented gaslight, gatekeep and girlboss specifically for his exes and even Boston would shake in his leather studded cunt serving boots at the sight of Boeing. And yet, he's insignificant. He means nothing to anyone. He's indisposable at any time and he Knows it. He knows one day Top will say he no longer needs Boeing to play ghost of his past still haunting. That Sand will eventually see why Boeing was never the right one. So he claws for control by removing options. Because he'd never be a first choice all on his own.

I'm obsessed with him, I crave him carnally and viciously. I'd do truly wicked things to that maleficent poisonous man. But he better leave Sand tf alone. It's about time someone tells Boeing they want someone whose actually willing to change for them, to see past what is so say "not enough" within them to make Boeing truly loyal or commited, to choose someone who genuinely tries rather than someone who clings to falsified memories of a past with a significance that didn't and doesn't exist.

And yes I do want Sand to be the one to say it because my biggest fear is that Ray will go in all guns blazing when he overhears Boeing making a move on his man, take over the situation and then Sand will lose his chance to get closure and put autonomy back on Boeing for his part in the downfall of their relationship. If ray interferes, it's a loss of a chance for sand to make a point that he chooses ray no matter what in a way Ray can witness and feel the significance of. Because Ray knows but he's still learning that Sand will choose him over everything and he needs to hear Sand of his own volition, let go of such an important part of his past because Ray is the future he picks.

Top got the chance to clearly tell Boeing he picks Mew and now I need to see Sand do the same for Ray without Ray "forcing his hand" to use Rays expression from the ep when it came to making Sand make a big choice the first time around.

[aquadestinyswriting]

Happy Muse Monday!

For any one of your characters, or even all of them if they all feel like answering, what is the scariest thing you have encountered so far in your adventures?

(Answering this for the 'Main Cast' since I have a bunch of stories for this question. All of it is under a cut because this is going to get long due to banter. Tagging @druidx and @blind-the-winds because you're going to love the answers here.)

Meredith: Hi there, sorry it took so long to get back to ye. There was some sort of lurgy making the rounds this past week. We're all fine now, so we can finally get around to answering this. I'll start us off then. The scariest thing I've encountered? Well, I have two things that're tied fer that... honour? Dishonour? Eh, whatever. The first one is flooded mineshafts. Our entire party kinda... forgot that our kit would weigh us down when we decided to tak' the quickest route to Torg's lair the first time. Needless to say two of our party drowned and the rest of us almost followed suit. It's not an experience I'd like to repeat at any time in the near future.

Yoruk: Ye did what?!

Meredith; *cringing* Ah, aye... I forgot I didn't tell ye that bit...

Yoruk: ....

Meredith: Anywho... The second one is that damn giant Dire Weasel. If ye don't know what a Dire Weasel is, it's a weasel, but bigger and spikier. They're generally around... two, three feet long usually. This one was around 5 feet long, spikier and with tonnes more teeth. It's a bit disconcerting when there's a rat-like face full o' teeth that's at the same level as yer face chasing ye through the Underpass. That one is tied in top place because it did manage to kill one of our party pretty much outright and just days after we lost Alphonse and Lorcian, so it wasn't the best time.

Yoruk: *muttering* Moradin give me strength. Are there any other instances ye almost died that I don't know about?

Meredith: noooooo....

Selene: *steps into the middle of the incoming domestic* Scariest thing we've ever encountered you say? Well, I could say something about losing my original library to the Hellmouth, but honestly? The scariest thing I've ever encountered was actually a trap in an abandoned temple. If I recall correctly we made it past the first trap ok (a simple corridor-long pit trap, nothing too challenging), but the second one was... well. I don't like spells that affect the mind, especially if they're malicious. And the trap in that second corridor was both. Now, I didn't end up getting trapped myself, so I was spared that particular trauma. Unfortunately, out of our whole six person party, I was the only one who wasn't. Do you have any idea how terrifying it is to see all of your friends fall into a catatonic state with no idea how to snap them out of it in a place that has so many other dangers and is hundreds of miles from the nearest village? I can handle physical dangers just fine, throw a big enough fireball in its face and it'll probably run off with its tail between its legs. Mental ones? *shudders*

Edwin: *blinking* Ok, that just makes my scariest thing look like peanuts in comparison, but I might as well say what it was. Frankly it was the demon scorpion - or was it spider?- thing that burst out of Granny Apple at the start of the Demon War. Now it wasn't that I was afraid of the demon itself. It was more the fact that it had been able to infest then kill one of the most ancient Treants on Titan that also happens to be a direct creation of Galana Herself. Being faced with a creature that could kill something that was so powerful was a bit terrfying.

Yoruk: *sighs* I mean, mine is going to be a wee bit cliché by now, but for me it was seeing what my birth-giver became once she had the opportunity to amass as much power as she wanted. I mean, she was always probably more demon than dwarf, but seeing that physically was... aye... Were it not for my friends and remaining family, I'd begin to think her line was Cursed or summat and worry about heading down the same path.

Meredith: I honestly dinna think that's anywhere near cliché, love. It'd be a wee bit worrying if it was. Anyway, I hope all that answered yer question.

[tsuki-sennin]

Don Don Donbrothers!  Don Don Rolling and going!  Don Don Donbrothers!  Don Don Don Don Don Don Don... Yeah! 

Rampagin’ through the streets  Everyone does their part  No other, better chance Our party’s about to start!  Going ape in the club with the hardest beats  Clock strikes, it's time to dance...  Follow My way! 

Feeling your soul blaze, so wild and free!  Swift wings strong as a howling breeze!  I run out swinging, better watch yourself!  Go all out for prizes on the top shelf! 

Right now we Go! (Go!) Go! (Go!)  Let’s show ‘em all our power range now, Avatar Change!  Go! (Go!) Don’t matter when now, don't cry!  Your heart’ll still be shining bright!  Blast your sorrows far away! No way you can't say, "I am the Only One"!

Don Don Donbrothers!  Don Don Rolling and going  Don Don Donbrothers!  Don Don Don Don Don Don Don... Yeah!

That, my dear readers, was an attempt at "localizing" Win Morisaki's "Ore Koso Only One" using the approximate translation of the TV length version of the theme put on the Ranger Wiki as a base. I spent a few days on it, and I understand it's hardly perfect (what with the creative liberties I took), but I felt it's only fitting that I go big for such a force of personality as Don Momotaro.

Episode 50, of Avataro Sentai Donbrothers. Can't believe it's finally ending. Our festival's about to as the clock strikes midnight on this town. I'm obviously gonna miss this series. But like... for how bittersweet this feels, I'm not sad at all. This is the best festival I've ever been to, and we've all made some truly unforgettable memories.

There ain't ever gonna be another series like Donbrothers, but I truly hope that it inspires some absolutely batshit insane stories to be told for years to come.

So, without further ado... Spoilers, I guess...

-Oh my God.

-Haruka was a self-insert for Toshiki Inoue all along!

-Haruka wins all the things. And you know what? She's more than earned it.

-WHAT THE FUCK THAT IS INOUE

-H-Hello, Inoue-sensei!

-He and Sonoza are so proud.

-Everyone's so happy for you :)

-Ohhh, Tarou...

-No opening today, just gotta jump right into it.

-Hatanaka-san...

-Oh no, Tarou's forgetting everything

-"...did you like me putting your life on the line constantly?"

-"...I mean, at first I didn't, but then I did, y'know?"

-Haruka's seen the best and worst of humanity thanks to these weirdos.

-"Man, nobody's gonna try to claim that but you."

-Goodbye?

-Ohhh...

-Shinichi, of course, absolutely doesn't regret it.

-A fun little learning experiment.

-As transient as the clouds.

-Ohhhhh shit.

-"The most beautiful woman in the world... is me!"

-Sonona~! Our final boss.

"GIMME THAT, NERD! You're welcome, scrub lord!"

-There he is! Murakami!

-Sonoya~!

-OH SHE CAN JUST

-STEAL POWERSETS, OKAY

-He can too, okay! That's terrifying!

-Flattened like a beer can.

-Ah, yep. Relationship drama.

-I don't blame her at all, tbh.

-"Shit, this ain't a good time."

-How delightfully anti-climactic.

-A bit of self-reflection would do ya some good, doggie.

-"I'll do it full time. So other people's relationships can flourish where mine didn't."

-Murasame-kun!

-Where ya goin' buddy?

-Momoi Jumpscare.

-Hello, Tsuyoshi.

-"Oh come now, it's okay! I'm a Donbrother, remember?"

-Tarou's so proud of his little losers.

-"Sonoshi-chan."

-W

-Wiggly, what the fuck

-Sonoshi's so fucking terrified, they're about to shit gold.

-MURASAME-KUN NO

-"Our boss!"

-RESET

-WHAT

-Oh okay, Papa Jin's just free now

-There's no need for a Momoi Tarou in the current age.

-"Not my boyfriend!"

-"It's tasty. You should try one, Dad."

-HE EVEN FORGOT HIS DAD AAAAAA

-Good work, Tarou.

-Sonoi on the street corner. What will he do?

-"So like... can you help me remember everything?"

-OHHHH

-That Murakami grin.

-"You seem kinda off, man."

"H-hey, Tarou!

-Oden :)

-"Kitou Haruka. She makes manga."

-Momoi-san...

-"He's a timid little birdie."

-"Good night, Tarou-san."

-Who...

-Sonoi aaa

-Oh no

-The Condor Signal!

-Holy shit, these guys are strong.

-"Well, if it isn't little Sonoi! Where'd your boyfriend go?"

-Ewwwww, don't lick those

-He's goin' on. Leavin' us all behind.

-The executioners.

-"Tarou's left me in charge! It's my chance to do him right!"

-"The author of this manuscript wanted you to read this. ...don't worry, my name is Kaito, I run this cafe."

-Tsuyoshi and Tsubasa! CGI in arms.

-YOOOO MURASAME

-"I hate you. I'm gonna be with my friends!"

-Holy shit, Haruka was thorough.

-His little sister, his boyfriend, his friends, and himself. Don Momotaro.

-God, brutal.

-HERE HE COMES

-Hahahahahahahaha~!

-Laugh, you gotta laugh! The festival is here!

-Up on your feet! It's time to shout it loud, shout it proud!

-Absolute integrity personified! Sonoi!

-A beautiful rose has its thorns... looking to know love, Sononi!

-When something catches my interest, nothing gets in my way! Sonoza!

-The jaws that've snapped awake! Don Murasame!

-Don Dragoku! And Don Torabolt!

-Farewell, transient world! Saru Brother!

-The manga master! Oni Sister!

-The fastest getaway of all time! Inu Brother!

-Faithful pheasant! Kiji Brother!

-Here it comes

-Born from the peach! Don Momotaro!

-Yo! Nippon Ichi!

-Avataro Sentai! Donbrothers!

-TIngly tingly!

-Literally the hypest shit of all time.

-Momotaro Slash!

-He's gone.

-He vanished as he lived. In a fiery explosion brought about by his grandstanding lunacy and obsession with the people he loves.

-Criminal Couple~!

-Oh fuck, Natsumi-san.

-Damn girl, you bounced the hell back!

-Motherfucker broke the fourth wall. to give his scarf away.

-My friends! Getting the Inoue Award! ...I suppose Murasame didn't feel quite like getting up on stage today. It's alright, he's his own man.

-Oh? Who might be at the door?

-Oh thanks Auntie Yuriko.

-The delivery man :)

-We made a bond :)

-The handoff :)

-My heart feels like it's shining today.

-...I suppose whoever Mother and Don Kaito really are is a bit irrelevant, but to be honest I think I've had more than my fill.

-Thank you, old man Inoue. You're an odd fellow, but I must say, you steam a good ham.

-Big shoutouts to literally every person on this cast and crew for going far harder than they ever had any right to. The action directors, the editors, the stuntmen and women, the cops,

-And of course, thank you for watching and following along with me.

-It was a weird path, one fraught with weirdos minor and major, insane bullshit left and right, things that just happen, extremely satisfying sound design, fights like you've never seen before, plenty of love and kindness spread about, and lots of screaming. It was all worth it.

-I expect big things from you, KuwagataOhger. A supposed "King of Evil".

[l3m0ncyan]

New to Life | Chapter 11

Steven Grant/Marc Spector x hispanic! Teen! Reader

Masterlist

Next Chapter

Warning: Almost SA event at the end

—————————————————

Y/N walked through the automatic doors wearing a grey hoodie, sweatpants, and sneakers. Her eyes felt puffy but not in the way that one does after crying. It was more of her eyes feeling so tired, that she was able to feel her eyebags. Because of this, she probably seemed like she would yell at you or rudely speak to you if you were to exchange a word. She scanned the grocery store for the aisle where she could start shopping. She grabbed a red plastic basket near the entrance and made her way through the crowd of scattered people.

After last night's incident, she was rather paranoid about there being a murderous god roaming around. Oh and of course to top it all off, she finds out her powers are some kind of leech. Sadly, she couldn’t even tell her friends since they were threatened by the very creature. Coming back home, she couldn't rest knowing that at any moment, that thing could go and bite her head.

She only got a few hours of sleep due to the lack of it and awoke with a migraine. She walked to her fridge, thinking it was because all she needed was a nice breakfast, and lo and behold. Her food was all moldy and expired. It made sense since she was gone for a week. Groaning, she decided to go grocery shopping with the last of the money she had saved.

Which is what she was doing now.

She grabbed a can of ravioli while browsing the select items on the shelf. She could buy actual groceries and ingredients, but she was looking for something quick to make. As per the square price tag on the shelf, if you bought four, you would only pay about 2.44 pounds. It sounded like a good deal, well to her at least, she didn't know if it was worth it or not.

She put them in her cart and proceeded down the aisle to see if there were any other items she could buy. As she stared at the packets of dry pasta, she considered making soup like her mother used to make. It would mean her calling her for instructions on making it, but it's worth a shot. She kinda wanted to get Steven's and Marc's reactions to foods she grew up eating. She went to the next aisle and discovered a variety of cereal.

She moved on to the cereal boxes aimed at children, who wanted something sweet. Is she concerned? No, it wasn't childish if it meant she could eat. A familiar deep voice came into her ears as she looked at two boxes and thought about the taste.

“Food”

“What do you think im doing?” She whispered in an annoyed tone.

“Not that, I am talking about those”

Puzzled, she turned to her right side and saw a woman probably in her 30s. She had a toddler in her cart who pointed to the items she thought were tasty. Y/N's eyes widened and she returned her gaze to the shelf.

"You are not going to murder a mother and her child! Plus, I need t buy actual food for myself, not you," she said quietly.

As she continued to browse, she noticed the price of (favorite cereal) which was a little higher for her taste. Sighing, she returned it to the shelf and examined the off-brand items. Her 'friend' seemed to notice.

"Why don't we team up? You take whatever food you need, and I eat any guards who try to stop you. It's a win-win situation"

"You want to rob the store?" She says it loudly, which causes the mother beside her to look at her strangely.

She quickly pulls out her phone and implies that she is on a phone call. Making it appear as if she was on the phone with a friend who was cracking jokes. The woman nods and returns her attention to her shopping.

“…we aren’t about to do that” this time she says it in a hush tone.

“It is a good plan though”

“Thats a terrible plan”

“How?”

"Because you're still going to be murdering innocent people!" She becomes quiet as she realizes her words were too loud.

The mother looks at her, shocked and terrified. She moves quickly away from the aisle with her child and away from Y/N. Y/N groans and runs her hand down her face while gripping the basket handle.

“Great, now I look more of a crackhead than I already did” she mutters.

She grabs the cheapest box and heads to the milk aisle to get out of there as soon as possible. She started walking back to the apartment building after she paid. She looked over the bag of groceries she had purchased, relieved that she had purchased enough items.

Moving through the crowd of people who were most likely late for work, she calculated that she wouldn't be home for another block and ten minutes on the bus.

As she walked down the street, she noticed a homeless man sitting on the ground with a cup in his hand. Most likely, asking for money.

“How about him? He does not look innocent”

"Jesus, are you still talking about eating people? No," she said, her face scrunched.

“But you said innocent people were the ones I couldn’t eat”

"That's an innocent person, dude," she said as she looked at the man who flipped her off for staring, "maybe innocent."

“You are changing the rules”

"I haven't changed a thing. How about I ask you questions instead because I need a very good explanation," she gestured with her hands, drawing a few pairs of eyes to her.

“Why did you decided to show yourself now instead from the beginning?”

“You were busy with other matters”

“Like?”

“Those animal beings with powers”

“You mean the Egyptian gods? You were scared of them?” She scoffed

Y/N arrived at the bus stop, where many others were waiting, most of whom were dressed in business suits and carrying briefcases. She waited away from the crowd, however, because she was speaking with the symbiote.

“I was not scared, I just did not want them to know about me. Especially the female one”

“You mean Hathor? She was sweet though”

“She was not”

When the bus arrived, everyone shoved each other. As the last person to arrive, Y/N pushed her way through the crowd in search of a seat. Finding one, she rushed over to it as if a spotlight was shining on it, but it was won by a man. Her shoulders sagged and she groaned, continuing to stand while clutching the bus's handle.

Surprisingly, Mania remained quiet on the bus ride, which Y/N quietly thanked. She didn't want to risk appearing even more insane on the bus, and she was still tired. So this was a welcome relief from dealing with the symbiote.

The bus came to a screeching halt at Y/N's stop. Her feet led her down the path to the apartment, hopping off. She shoved her hands into her pockets as the cold air blew in. She quickened her pace to get home faster, grateful that she had decided to wear baggy and warm clothes. The building was visible in the distance, as was the merchants' who were outside of it.

She walked past many sellers as she approached. Most of them she recognized, and some of them recognized her. Before the trip to Cairo, people would say things like "good morning" or "afternoon." The greeting was always returned by Y/N, but that was it. It was the same in this case, one said 'hello' and she would say it back.

She looked at the number screen as she passed through the pair of doors and into the elevator, waiting for the 5th floor to appear. She returned her gaze back to her grocery bag and placed a hand on the milk to ensure it wasn't warming up. But who was she kidding? It was cold outside, so the milk had to be fine.

The doors opened and she stepped out as the elevator chimed. There was no one walking down the hall, so she could talk to Mania if she wanted to. However, Marc and Steven would be suspicious if they were in their flat. And she didn't want them to be a part of her problem. So she decided to keep her questions until she went inside.

Opening the door, she walked in and made her way to the kitchen. She placed the bag on the table and began putting the items back in their proper places. It was quick because all she had to do was put away cereal, ravioli cans, milk, and other items.

She then walked over to the couch and took a seat. Her hands were on her lap, and she was staring at the wall. She was considering the questions she wanted to ask. She began at the beginning in order to gather as much information as possible.

“All right, so what really happened at the alley? You know the day we met"

Mania stayed quiet before it started to speak.

"The body I was controlling was physically weak, and I needed a replacement. That's when you passed by."

"And you picked me? Why? Also, what was the deal with the red explosion?"

"...I lunged at you, trying to eat you. Because your human mind couldn't comprehend, it created that image of a blast. Also, I did not choose you; it just happened that you were a good fit for a body."

"Wait, you're telling me I was about to die that day, but I survived because we were a match?" Y/N paused.

With that piece of information, her life changed a little more. Yes, she had the option of dying at the tomb, but she chose to return. She would not have returned if she had died at the start. That would have been the end of the story.

“So when I blacked out, did I actually die?”

“You did, but when I took over, I healed your body”

“Wow…so I died three times” she swallowed the thick saliva in her mouth. Her mind went blank.

“It is two actually”

“Doesn’t matter. Okay wait then why didnt you heal me back at the tomb?”

“When you were hurt, I decided to get out of your body and leave. You were not the effort”

Y/N scoffed offensively, “Oh so you just decided to leave me behind?”

“I came back didn't I?”

Y/N leaned back on the couch, her arms crossed. Knowing she wasn't as important to hurt her a little, even if the opinion came from some creature. She imagined what would happen if she died that night in the alley, and how everyone would react.

Of course, her family would be devastated. Her siblings would be blaming themselves for not making an attempt to better her home life. Her parents would probably be distraught and believed they should have tried to convince her to stay in California.

But Steven. He'd probably be bewildered, wondering how he could have let that happen. He would be saddened to learn that his friend had died. Marc would probably feel terrible for leaving her to die. He wouldn't forgive himself.

Speaking about those two, she still wondered about how she was able to hear them through reflections.

“By any chance, are you the reason why I was able to hear Steven and Marc in mirrors?”

“Perhaps”

“What do you mean perhaps?” She mocked it.

“I realized you were not so capable, so I went to them multiple times, but they were...unexpected. That lead me back to you"

That still didn't answer her question, and she was irritated at being called weak. Marc and Steven, on the other hand, would have dealt with it. Their stress level would have most likely skyrocketed and who knows how they would have changed.

"I assume you're confused. When I returned to your body, I believe I brought some traits from their mind with me. That is, their ability to communicate through reflections."

It made more sense to her that the 'ability' Mania was referring to was most likely Marc and Steven's disorder. The disorder was like tracking mud into the house, and Y/N's mind was the floor. All that was required was to clean it or, in this case, wait for it to fade away.

It was a bad analogy, Y/N shook her head and rested her face on her palms.

She kept asking it questions, trying to wrap her head around it. One of the most important was where it came from. She knew Hydra had to be to blame but was it created or did it come from somewhere else?

It turned out that it wasn't even from this universe. It explained how one day it ended up and, in the words of Mania, "A place that a human can get a type of liquid to feel numb." To say it another way, a bar. It explained how it had no recollection of being there, only that something similar existed like it.

After being found by scientists, it was stolen by Hydra and then used in experiments. Hence the man who was in the alley that day. When it was easy to understand, the next piece of information made her queasy.

"So what happened to that guy?"

"If I tell you, you won't like it”

She readied herself, not expecting what could have happened, “What?”

"After I took over your body, I needed nutrients...He was the closest thing”

Her lips parted and she looked down at the floor, unable to imagine how. But she did, and it was terrible.

“You’re saying I ate him?” Her breath quickened.

Her mouth began to water, and her stomach began to squirm. She dashed to the restroom, slamming the door open, feeling something come up her throat. She knelt by the toilet and gripped the seat as her body pushed out her last meal.

She murdered a man. A man who was attempting to flee danger, but her idiot self had to stumble into that alley. If she hadn't, she might have been able to save him.

“Even if you didnt check on him, he would have still died”

She scowled, raising her head. It didn't explain how it could read her thoughts which freaked her out more. She stood up to the sink, wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her sweater, and poured water onto her palms. She splashed herself with the cool liquid after rinsing her mouth.

She stepped back into the living room, biting on her tongue in rage. She thought having these powers would be cool and something she'd be able to show her family, but she couldn't. It would only mean putting them in danger.

"I need you to leave," she said as she stood in the middle of the room, her gaze fixed on the floor.

“Leave? Why, when there are so many heads, torsos, and legs around me?"

Y/N wrinkled her brow as if it smiled at the fact.

"Plus, if I did, you'd just be a loser again."

She laughed and shook her head, recalling Hathor's advice to keep an eye on her power. She did, and now she has to deal with a symbiote. Hathor could have at least given her a heads-up that her powers seemed more like a curse.

"Alright, if we're going to call each other names, you got to be pathetic because you need someone just to move around," she flailed her arms and slapped them to her side.

“I can move on my own just fine”

"Are you sure? If you can, then just go and look for someone else or go back to your weird planet!" she remarked sarcastically. "Before you can do that, you're still a fucking parasite!"

“Parasite?!”

Tentacles rushed out of her back and onto the wall, slamming her body against it. Her head shook and she grumbled from the pain. When she opened her eyes, she saw that she was pinned up against the wall, her feet dangling. She looked at her arm and tried to pull it away from the wall, but the same tentacles held her back

"Let me go! I get it! You're sensitive to the word parasite!" She yelled, still attempting to remove her limbs from the wall.

Her shoulder tingled and another tentacle emerged, but this one was different. It was much thicker than usual and moved between strands. As it approached her, the tip began to morph teeth and eventually became a head.

The same figure she saw in Stevens' bathroom stood in front of her. It had sharp white eyes and long sharp teeth that formed a smile this time. It returned her stare as the stem moved and squirmed around.

“What the hell?” She breathed out.

"Listen carefully, Y/N; I am smarter and stronger than all humans combined. I'll use you as a ride, and in exchange, I'll keep you alive; that's my deal."

"What if I say no?"

"Then I'll kill everyone you care about, beginning with those two neighbors, that woman, and your family, and saving you for last."

She had no choice; she was being threatened, but that didn't mean she was going to let it win.

"Are you still going to be eating people?" she continued to make eye contact with it, fearing she would irritate it.

“Very much”

She leaned back and looked up at the ceiling, both sides seemed like there would be killing. Panic slowly built up in her body, wondering what would be the best approach.

“Since you, won't be leaving anytime soon, how about we add to the deal?”

“I'm listening”

“I'll let you eat people if you promise its only bad people”

“How would I know the difference? All you humans are horrible”

"Oh, I believe you, but there are some worse. Like Harrow and Hydra. Those are the people who want to cause harm to others for power and shit like that"

“Hmm, that is difficult”

She sighed, “Ill tell you which ones are good and bad, deal? Oh, and I don't want to be bossed around too much. I just want to live normally, alright?”

Before Mania could say anything, there was a knock at the door and they both turned. Y/N had a feeling who it was but before she could say, Mania won her.

"It's those two," it grumbled

There was more knocking and Marc spoke up, "Hey, are you busy?"

Y/N widened her eyes and asked Mania if they had a deal. Mania appeared hesitant, but Marc's constant knocking rushed them.

"We need to talk about last night. You were acting weird and rushed out on us before we could talk about the news" Marc, on the other hand, was very concerned. He felt helpless without his powers, especially with a killer and her acting strangely.

He continued to knock as the pair inside tried to negotiate.

"Come on! He's gonna get suspicious and he's gonna know" she whispered.

Mania looks at her before returning her attention to the door. It couldn't believe some insignificant human was going to force it to agree to her terms. Its head nodded, groaning.

"Fine"

Mania dropped Y/N, causing a large thud. Marc paused and began to shake the doorknob.

"Hey! Is everything alright?" With her silence, he began to panic more. Holding back from kicking the door down.

As she struggled to get up, she felt pain in her knees. Mania instructed her to hurry up and open the door. She opened the door, almost slipping, to see Marc standing there with his leg raised. They both stood there, taking in the situation.

"Were you about to kick down my door?" She looked him up and down.

He immediately planted his foot back down, "I was uh, what was that thud?"

"Oh," she scratched her head, "I slipped..trying to do a pushup"

Marc nodded and asked if he could come into her apartment. She nodded and stepped to the side to allow him to enter. He looked around and his gaze was drawn to the wall to his right.

"What happened there?"

When Y/N looked at what he was talking about, she noticed a large dent in the area where she was pinned down. She cursed in her head, trying to come up with some lame excuse.

"I don't know. It was like that when we came back. Probably an earthquake" she shrugged.

"I don't think an earthquake could cause that"

Marc nodded and continued eyeing the white wall. This caused both Y/N and Mania to grow nervous. For Y/N, it felt like that one episode from Spongebob where he and Mr.Krabs think they killed a health inspector.

"They are on to us. Lets kill them!”

“No!” Marc looked over at her, wondering why the sudden burst.

"No...pues que raro verdad?" she gave an awkward smile.

Marc just stared at her, puzzled, knowing something was wrong. Instead of prodding any further, he decided to discuss last night's event. Maybe it was that that was causing her to act weird.

"Right, anyways about last night," he moved to the couch and took a seat, "How are you feeling?"

Y/N followed and sat a seat away from him to give each other space, "I'm alright you know, honestly feel better now that they are gone"

She was referring to both Harrow and Ammit, and Marc felt the same way. Worry was eating him up, knowing that Harrow would soon unleash Ammit again. That he would then go after Y/N as well. Fortunately, Harrow was killed not long after.

"Same here, but I still want to know how he got killed" he crosses his arms and leans back.

Y/N nods and looks to the side, attempting to round up all suspects. Hathor would not waste her time attempting to kill him. Layla and Tawaret didn't seem to like the idea of killing him, and she would have called if she was in London. Khonshu was the only one who made sense, but how did he find an avatar so quickly?

"I am hungry, have them leave so we can find bad people"

Her shoulders sagged as her thought process faded. They both haven't eaten in a long time. Y/N would have eaten at home, but she didn't want to keep Mania waiting while she ate. She was afraid that if she did, it would try to devour Marc right here. So she had to excuse herself and say she had to go shopping for the last item on her college shopping list.

"I'll go with you" Marc began to stand up.

Y/N panicked and shook her head, "It's alright, it's just a few quick things you know. Waste of time for you, just go and sleep or something"

Marc waves her off, "I'll be fine, and like you said its only a short trip"

"A short trip that is like an hour long because of the walking and the ride on the bus. Yeah no, you stay at your place" she grabs her wallet from the dining table.

"That's cool, going out can give me some fresh air"

"She's acting weird"

"He's persistent"

"Then just open a window or something" she gestured to hers.

He raised an eyebrow, "Why do you want me to stay so bad?"

"Why do you want to go so bad?"

"Whoever killed Harrow is probably still here and you might come across them" he says with a serious tone.

"That's where I use my powers" she raised both arms.

Seeing this was becoming a loop of some kind, Steven suggested Marc to let him front. Maybe he would be able to convince her to let them tag along. He sighed and nodded, his body tensed up. Y/N already knew the signs for when one switched, so seeing this wasn't surprising for her.

“Great, the smart one is here”

"Oh love, you look pale, is everything all right?" Steven asked as he took in his surroundings. He approaches her closer to inspect her further.

She had just finished vomiting, so she was obviously not fine. She hasn't eaten either, which irritates her because she was hoping to eat the canned raviolis. But not anymore, because she now has to go hunting for bad guys while keeping the boys away from her. Who knows what Mania would do to them.

“I wouldn’t do anything”

“Im fine dude, just let me go to the store and you guys relax at home. I promise I can handle myself” she said, not trusting Mania still.

"I know you can handle yourself, but shopping would be exciting! Let us join you!" He almost claps with delight at the idea of going shopping with his friend.

“Make the journey there sound like a waste of time!”

"I'm literally just getting a backpack," she says, her head cocked to the side. "And, knowing how indecisive teenagers can be, we go through each one and analyze every detail. Yes, that does sound boring."

“Nonsense! I would be delighted to help you with choosing one, and I may know of a few stores to visit. That way, you can be the sharpest-looking student at your university! Oh! We can even go shopping for clothes! What do you think?" He laughs.

It warmed Y/N's heart but she couldn't let him join. She was more concerned about telling an adult man to stay at home at this point than she was about her finals. Mania continued to rush her out of there, adding to her anxiety.

“If I don’t eat at least one head in the next few minutes, I’ll be eating both of yours”

"Can you be quiet?" She whispered to her side, hoping Steven wouldn't hear. But he did. And she felt her heart drop as she saw his expression of hurt and sadness.

He frowns but speaks calmly. "Y/N, I know we are being clingy, but all we want to do is spend time with you before a new problem sweeps us off our feet."

Y/N felt guilty, despite the fact that her remark was directed at Mania. She could see the two attempting to bring peace to her life, but she was sadly pushing them away. It wasn't on purpose; it was all to protect them from the symbiote inside her.

It hurt her to see Steven hurt by her words. Marc was probably in there hurting too because he saw her wanting to stay away from them.

Sighing, she looked back to Steven.

——

“Pussy”

After feeling bad about herself, Y/N decided to let Steven tag along. Mania, of course, did not like this idea, so Y/N created a plan to escape Marc's and Steven's watch and go look for trouble. She had no idea how she would find bad people, but she would try.

She wondered if some of Harrow's followers were still at the London hideout. Or if some of those Hydra people were still out there looking for their experiment. She hoped one of them was walking around here, that way she can get this task out of the way.

Steven's voice awakens her from her trance. He was listing all of the stores and what he had purchased from them. The last one Y/N catches is a store where he purchased his bag and mentions how many options they have. She decided to go with that one, and Steven was delighted to show her one of his liked stores. She assumed they were going to a tailor for leather backpacks from how Steven was explaining the store. Where an old man would show her his best creations, each with her name engraved on it.

Like she said, it sounded like a dark academic-style building, but when they arrived and walked to the location, it was nothing like her expectations.

It was just a large grey square building with posters advertising their big sale. A blue square sign with the words 'Poundland' in yellow was placed in front of the building. It honestly looked like a mixture of Walmart and Ross.

She knew at this point that she had to stop stereotyping everything in England as old and medieval.

Inside, it definitely reminded Y/N of the store Ross. The memories of her mom leading her to some random aisle and then waiting almost an hour just to move to the next one came to mind. Fortunately, she was with Steven who she hoped did not act the same way.

"The bags should be around here...There!" he lead her to an aisle where many backpacks were hung.

Right, she was supposed to buy an actual backpack now with her low funds. She was honestly planning on just using one of the bags she used to travel to England, but not anymore it seemed.

Steven grabbed one of the bags and looked at it then showed it to her, "Look at this one, it's waterproof and you can charge your phone!"

Y/N grabs it and looks at the size of it, "Its nice, but.. it looks too small for my laptop"

Steven gives an 'oh' and continues to examine each backpack, realizing that it must be larger than the one he previously displayed. It was honestly quite difficult trying to choose one because most of them were either for children or too small.

After about ten minutes of searching, Steven brought Y/N a large leather backpack. It was a caramel color with two side pockets and one square pocket at the front that you could zip up. The top flap was black leather with a long piece with a magnet that could be clipped onto the second one to close it. It was also large enough to hold her laptop.

Grabbing a hold of it, her eyes took in the small details, "I actually like this one"

"I did tell you I would be of help" he chuckled

Y/N rolled her eyes and looked at the price tag, 33 pounds. That was twice more than what she carried. Placing it back, Steven was confused and looked at her puzzled.

"Was something off about it?"

"Nah it was just...more than I can afford" she shrugged, "Is there a clearance area?"

Steven nodded but he was still disappointed in the fact that she couldn't buy something that she liked. Where would be the fun if she could only get items that she didn't even want in the first place?

"She really liked it, did you see the look in her eyes?"

"I don't mind getting it for you," Steven said, returning his gaze to the leather bag.

Y/N looked at Steven, surprised, "No, you don't have to…"

"I insist," he said as he snatched the bag from the hanger, "how about we get you a jacket before we leave, I heard it'll be quite chilly tomorrow."

She nodded, enjoying the idea of going shopping with Steven. In fact, just hanging out with him. Every time she went shopping or went out with someone, she felt obligated to focus on that person's happiness. Usually, she rushed shopping because she thought the other person got bored. The action was returned this time though, and she was happy about it.

Sadly, today wouldn't go as normal. She still had to go and feed Mania whoever she found on the street.

"Sure, but I uh, need to go to the restroom first"

She quickly walked to the restrooms after excusing herself. Normally, there would be an emergency exit or a way out nearby. Looking back, she noticed Steven walking towards the men's aisle, looking for something for himself, while still carrying the bag she had chosen.

Sighing, she looked straight ahead.

"So how many bodies do you need? 10? 20?" She quietly asked, wanting to quickly come back.

"You exaggerate too much. One would do for now"

She breathed out in relief, "Okay good, I'll take you to...man I don't even know"

She thought of the many places that might have criminals. Prisons she didn't know where they could find one. Mafia hideouts, hell no. The closest thing she could think of was an alley in the sketchiest place.

"Why not look for that building where you found Arthur Harrow and his minions?"

"I really don't remember where it's at"

"I do, I can locate the surroundings from your memory"

"That... is actually useful. I guess we can head the-"

The yelling of others cuts her off. She turns her head to the sound and sees many people fleeing or hiding. That's when she heard several guns go off. She walks toward the source of the commotion, using the aisle shelves as cover, and sees six men at the front wearing only half a mask.

"What the hell?" she whispers.

One of the men orders the customers to sit down and not move. Other men yell threats and the like while pointing their guns at everyone. That's when she notices Marc, who is crouching, glaring at them. She wonders why he isn't suiting up, but remembers how powerless he is now. That won’t stop him in fighting though, he was probably planning a way to take them down.

Seeing that the majority of the people in the store are either at the front or hidden, Y/N enters an aisle and crouches on the floor.

"Looks like the food came to us"

"Yup, the thing is we can’t get to them without Marc seeing you, and I know you want to stay hidden still, right?" Y/N considers using her powers, but knowing that it's just Mania doing the work, she lets it take the stance.

"We can go after them while being hidden”

Y/N stands up and notices herself growing taller before she can even ask anything. It's not her actual body though; instead, it's the same black goo she saw on Mania. It covers her from her feet to her torso, and her head is soon enclosed in the dark substance. An abstract white figure of a spider appears on her chest. Three spikes adorn her head, giving her a punk look.

A pair of white glossy eyes and a smile with long sharp teeth adorn the face. The smile line begins where the mouth opens wide from where the ears should be; it was like the Jokers in other words. Mania doesn't give Y/N time to take in the appearance before leaping out of the aisle and toward the men. The same men notice, and their face is filled with fear.

"What the hell is that?!"

"Shoot it!"

They begin to rapidly shoot but Mania's body deflects the bullets, causing them to fall.

"Where was this trick back at the tomb?" Y/N who was able to see what is happening from inside.

"I wanted to use it in a more badass way"

It grabs one of the men's guns and crushes it with only one hand. Mania smiles seeing the man's eyes widen.

Marc, bewildered, looks at the black creature who just came out of nowhere. What he doesn't anticipate is the creature devouring a man whole in one bite.  It doesn't make a bloody mess despite its long teeth. Deciding to back down, he looks around to see if Y/N is anywhere on sight.

"What the hell is that, Marc? Do you think Y/N is safe?"

"...I-I don't know" Marc doesn't say it but he feels like he's seen that same black goo from somewhere.

With only two men left, Mania walks over to one of them and lifts him up from the ground. The man tries kicking it but it’s no use. Up close he can see the thick saliva drooping out of its mouth while it’s eyes had an iridescent look.

"Eyes, lungs, pancreas. So many snacks, so little time" Mania growls.

The man tries to free himself from Mania's grip, but it tightens even more. Mania licks the man's cheek with its long tongue which he cringes at. Another man shoots it from behind before it can eat him. Mania chokes the man and throws him across the store. It then chomps on the man who shot it, decapitating him and leaving his body on the floor.

Before Mania can pursue the other man, police sirens and officers yelling to shoot are heard. As bullets fly, Mania runs to the back of the store, breaking through the wall and escaping. Mania detransforms as soon as they reach the outside and Y/N hides at the side of the building. The officers are perplexed by seeing the opening it made. The creature is gone. Y/N can hear them discussing setting a perimeter to look for it, which makes her panic.

“There’s a door”

When Y/N looks to her right, she notices that Mania is correct: there is one. They go through and see the flickering lights with the mess of items knocked down the shelves.

Many people are either fleeing or frozen in place. A few officers patrol the area with their guns drawn, looking for Mania. They had no idea they had just walked past it.

As she walks through the store, she hears Marc call out for her. She follows his voice and finds him still holding the backpack. Despite being in a hostage situation, he still kept the bag she liked in hand. His gaze is drawn to her, and he rushes to embrace her.

"Oh, thank God you're fine," he exhales, "come on, we should go."

He drags her out of the store and through the crowds of police officers. Some of them ask if they need to be checked by EMTs, but Marc says they're fine and walks away. News cars surround the place and there are people talking about the incident.

Y/N looks around and notices the last man attempting to rob the store being handcuffed. His face contorts in great shock as he mutters a few phrases about a demon before being placed in the backseat of a police car.

Once away, Y/N looks at the bag in Marc’s hand, “Did you-“

"Don't worry, I paid for it," he says reassuringly, "Did you see what happened back there? ”

She nods, “Yeah, creepy ass monster thing”

“Fuck you”

“Yeah” Marc replies, “Good thing the police came in before it tried to kill everyone”

"It didn't look like it was trying to hurt us, more like trying to save us…" noticing Marc's suspicion, she shifts her perspective, "But if it did, I would have used my powers"

Marc shakes his head, “No, it would have been dangerous. You don’t know what it could have done, I saw it. It ate those guys in one bite”

Y/N gulps, she remembers. She remembers everything that happened while she was being controlled. Rather, while her body was being used as a vessel. It felt strange like you were wrapped in a blanket while watching television. She recounts how powerful she felt as they defeated the group of men.

The two walk to the bus stop, which is thankfully already there. They walk in, find seats, and lean back. Y/N was relieved as the sun began to set for the first time. She just wanted to get to sleep so she could be ready for her first day of college. Forget about the hostage situation and Mania.

“I don’t think you have eaten, have you?” Steven asked her. Guess Marc's job of keeping them safe was over.

“Nope, was planning on just eating some canned food that I bought earlier”

"Canned food?!" Steven almost screamed. "You mean you'll eat processed food instead of home-cooked meals? ”

“Yeah?”

"I'm not going to let it happen; you're having dinner at my apartment.  I'll prepare my famous spicy and baked cauliflower for you," he declares.

Y/N smiles, “Sounds good, I won’t pass up food that I don’t have to cook”

“I didn’t”

Y/N bit her cheek, trying not to tell Mania anything. It laughed at her reaction and decided to remain silent. Y/N wouldn't lie, she was beginning to see Mania as less of a burden. Her friends and family would be safe as long as there was a surplus of criminals. Well, that's all she thought she had to worry about for now.

—

The bus ride was quick, but walking to the apartment was even faster. Y/N and Steven ate together at his place, discussing her schedule and when she would return from university. It turned out she only had four classes to complete three days a week. That means she'd have a lot more time to herself.

"Seems like you need to pick up a hobby for now" Steven took a bite from his bowl of food.

Y/N did the same, "More like a job, I've applied to like five and none called"

Steven hummed in response, "There will be an opening you'll see, plus its only been the second day"

Steven's phone rang and he looked at the caller ID, his eyes widened.

"It's Donna" He said in a hushed tone, showing her the screen.

"We hate her!"

Her fork dropped from her grasp, and she exclaimed, "Fucking she-devil or something we didn't know about?"

"What do I do?" He looked at her for guidance.

"Answer her! Wait, give it a second to ring. Don't wanna look desperate you know"

Steven nodded and let the phone ring for a few seconds longer. He returned his gaze to Y/N to see if it was good to go, and she nodded. He cleared his throat and responded with his best 'Good Afternoon.'

"Put it on speaker," Y/N said quietly, and Steven did as he was told. Donna's voice echoed throughout the apartment.

"Finally you bloody answered!" Her voice pierced their ears.

“Sorry-” Steven was perplexed when Y/N abruptly shook her head. She motioned her hand to Steven, implying that he didn't need to apologize. He cleared his throat and nodded.

"Right, I mean, I was really busy, I didn't even know you called," he said almost sarcastically. Y/N almost laughed, forgetting that Steven had a habit of getting an attitude when someone irritated him.

"What are you even busy with? Anyway, I'm not here to strike up a conversation. Although it irritates me to ask," Donna huffs, the two of them wondering what kind of news she despises so much. "I hope therapy has been doing both of you well...Would you and your niece like to work at the museum again?"

Steven looks at Y/N, and she returns his gaze. Among all coincidences, they now have the opportunity to reclaim their job. It was a pain if they were honest, mostly because the entire staff was rude. Most of them pretended to be friendly with them while they talked shit about them in the break room.

Aside from the people, Steven and Y/N enjoyed working there. They enjoyed working in an Egyptian museum, particularly Steven. It was fun seeing artifacts and seeing the different kinds of people who held an interest in Egypt. Furthermore, the pay was higher than in other places.

Steven placed his palm over the microphone portion of his flip phone and turned to face Y/N. "What should I say?" He mouthed.

"Don't agree yet! It'll make us look weak"

She agreed with Mania silently and thought about keeping the option open, “Say we’ll think about it for now”

He removed his hand, nodded, and said, unimpressed, "We will think about it.  I'll let you know later tonight."

“…Fine. But hurry because we are short on staff” Donna then hung up and the pair were met with the beeping of the phone. They both made annoyed faces, "Damn, would it kill her to be nice for a change". Y/N grabbed her fork again and began eating aggressively.

"She literally begged us to come back at the end." Steven continued to eat before pausing to ask, "Do you think we should go back?"

"And deal with her again?"

"And deal with the looks we'll get when we come back"

"Deal with J.B's bullshit"

"Don't forget the dirty looks from my failed date"

As the two named the cons of the job, they could agree on one thing.

"…The pay was good, though," Y/N said as she fiddled with her food.

"It was good..." Steven said as he stared down at his phone.

That was what tipped the scales in their favor. They waited about 20 minutes before Steven called Donna and agreed to return to work. They discussed Y/N's schedule and such, and Donna hesitated to agree. When told that they would begin tomorrow, Y/N declared that they should drink to the news.

"I don't think it's such a good idea to drink the night before your first day of classes and work," Steven said, taking his and her plates after they had both finished their meals.

Y/N sighed in defeat, "I hate that your right"

"Let's just drink back at your place"

"We don't have wine back over there" She whispered.

"Did you say something?” Steven turned around, holding the bowls in his hands.

Y/N scrunched her brows, “…No?”

Steven let out a 'hmm' and said how he thought he did. She ran up to Steven and helped him wash dishes, hoping to distract him from thinking about the subject any further. He kept telling her she didn't have to, but she shrugged. They just kept washing dishes until there were none left.

Y/N then walked over to the dining table to gather her belongings before returning to her flat. Steven motioned for her to wait as she was about to walk out the door. She sees him holding out the leather backpack she bought earlier. She had completely forgotten about it, and she felt somewhat guilty about it.

Taking it from Steven's hands, she smiled at him, "Hey thanks for getting me it"

"No problem, me and Marc saw you eyeing it back at the store before all that happened," he said with a small laugh.

"I didn't realize I was, guess I'll have to watch my body language next time," she joked. "Anyway, I'm going to start going, good night to you, and good night to Marc if he's here."

Steven's body tensed up and out came Marc, "I'm here, good night kid"

He ruffles her hair, and she moves her head to avoid his grasp. She waves goodbye as she walks to her apartment.

__

She began brushing her teeth after showering, this time more paranoid. She kept looking in the mirror, thinking Mania would pull the same stunt again. She glanced at the mirror, still on edge after cleaning her teeth. She exhaled thinking Mania wouldn't try to scare her while looking at her eyes, lips, and the few spots on her skin.

That was until Mania's form came on the reflection, giving Y/N a smile.

"Boo"

Y/N recoiled and let out a small scream. Her reflection returned to normal, but Mania continued to laugh as it came out of her right shoulder.

"Fuck you, man," Y/N groaned as she exited the restroom. She went to her backpack, which sat by the bag of materials she had collected a week before, and brought them to the couch. She then began organizing each piece on the inside.

"You are easy to scare, Y/N"

"You are so funny," she said, mocking its laugh. She kept putting the last items inside. She finished by extending the backpack away from her body to inspect it, making sure she removed all tags. She placed it on the couch, nodding in approval.

After turning off all the lights, she walked over to her phone to make sure that it was charging. Setting up her alarm, she laid on her bed and went under the covers. Falling into a deep slumber.

—

“I don’t know why you are rushing, we still have 3 hours to go”

"I'm rushing because I still have to try to find where my classes are," Y/N said as she hurriedly put on her black boots and jacket.

She dashed to her backpack and checked to see if she had everything; wallet, notebooks, pencils, and so on. She swung her backpack on her back, satisfied that she was all set. She took a step back to check herself in the mirror before heading out the door.

It was a simple outfit, she wore a white t-shirt and a gold necklace. She wore simple jeans with a black belt and an oversized coat that she found while thrifting. As for shoes, they we’re just leather boots.

She walked over to the door and out into the hall, nodding in approval. Steven appeared in a matter of seconds. He was dressed for work in a button-up with his signature jacket and jeans.

“Are you nervous?” Steven asked.

She shook her head, “No…maybe”

Steven reassured her by patting her back and telling her she had nothing to worry about and that she would do great.

As they exited the apartment and boarded the bus, they were forced to stand once more on their way to work and school. The two could only exchange quick exchanges because they were pressed together by the large crowd.

“You think this looks fine?” Y/N continued to examine her clothes.

“It looks fine, love. Do you have all your materials?”

"Yup, double checked last night and this morning," she said, nodding. "Do you think they made any changes at the shop?"

"I don't think they would have after only a week. Honestly, I think what changed was everyone's perspective on us," he sighed, slumping.

"Eh, who cares," she shrugged. "They had no idea we were saving their sorry asses."

Steven nodded and kept his grip on the bus. Steven's stop finally appeared after about ten minutes.

“That’s you” Y/N gestured her head to Steven.

“It is. Okay, well wish you luck in your classes, focus, make new friends, and, most importantly, have fun. Oh! And be careful!" He said this as he took a step back from her.

“Got it” She snapped her fingers and pointed a finger gun at him.

He smiled and shook his head, that’s when Marc switched over, “If anything happens, call us. Even if some kids are picking on you”

“Dude, everyone on the campus is over shit like that, but I appreciate your effort” she lightly bowed her head.

“Right, anyways be safe and let us know when your on your way”

Y/N nodded, “Of course, later gators” she grinned.

Marc paused and smiled, “In a while-“

“-Crocodile” Steven then switched in.

They waved goodbye to Y/N before exiting the bus. Now it was just her and her thoughts, with Mania thrown in for good measure. There were many seats left empty after a wave of people left, so she decided to take a chance.

Her stop was still a few blocks away, but the ride was relatively short. She spent the majority of it staring into the abyss until Mania spoke up.

“What is the point of college?”

Y/N would sigh and take out her phone, acting like she was in a phone call.

"It turns out that the world has made it so that you have to pay thousands of dollars just to get a piece of paper that says you're qualified to work.  And that work usually earns you a shitload of cash." She came to a halt after finishing and considered whether she still wanted to be a nurse.

“I just made you rethink life” Mania laughed.

It did, and now Y/N was wondering if working 12 hours a shift was worth it.

—

Y/N stood in front of tall buildings after finally finding the entrance to the university. Each one had its name plastered on its side. In all honesty, they looked exactly like she imagined them to: old and medieval. Each light pole had banners in the colors of the school which were red and white.

Many students were rushing to class as she walked in. There were many stands along the walkway with people attempting to recruit others into their fraternity or sorority. She made a mental note to stay away from them since she grew to be scared of those groups. She checked her phone's time and realized she still had about an hour before her class began. She began walking around the campus, pulling up her schedule to see which building her classes would be in.

--

After about 30 minutes, she was still no closer to locating her class. She could feel her brain pounding in her skull and was on the verge of crying and quitting. Perhaps college isn't for her. Is it too late to drop out and come back to America? No, she couldn't do that; she liked London and its relative peace.

She also had a real good friend, or rather friends who cared about her well-being. Back in California, most of her friends were fake and only concerned about themselves. Some of them would even go out of their way to bring her down. Apart from them, she had one friend who resembled Steven, Marc, and Layla. Except they stopped talking after they graduated high school.

She sighed and walked to a nearby bench, where she sat, still analyzing Google Maps. Perhaps there was a secret path or something, similar to Harry Potter.

"This is boring, let me just help you find the room"

Checking her surroundings, she quietly said, "What's making you help me out of nowhere?"

"I rather not see you cry and make yourself look like a total loser in front of everyone"

"Oh, well I guess that's kinda nice in a way-"

"And so we can hurry up and eat more bad people"

"There it is, anyways how can you even help me?" she crossed her arms.

Mania said nothing else and began to emerge from Y/N's lower back. "What are you up to?" Y/N almost panicked as she turned and followed the black trail with her eyes.

"Stop doing that, you'll make my existence known if you keep staring at me"

She turned around to see a few people passing by, a few waving or smiling at her. She'd return it and then return to talking to the air, "You didn't answer me though," she'd say.

"Found it"

"Wow, that was fast. Where is it?"

"...You'll probably get angry for what I'm about to do but it's the fastest way"

"Wait, what do you mean?" she asked quickly as her body was yanked away from the bench and launched into the air. She felt like she was being dragged away by a rope. She screamed as she flew through the air before being thrown against the side of a building.

She opened her eyes slowly, her back aching after falling to the ground. She looked up from behind the bushes that surrounded her to see if anyone was coming to see what was up, but no one seemed to notice. Mania poked her head out of her shoulder again and looked at her.

"You could have fucking told me!"

"If I did, you would have said no and we would have walked more"

Y/N groaned and stood up, "Are we even at the right place?"

She looked up to the wall of the building and read the name, it was. Mania commented on how it was faster than she was and was expecting a thank you. Y/N rolled her eyes and thanked it, getting up and cleaning herself up.

Quietly getting out of the plants, she speed walked away and out to find her classroom now. Before Mania could tell its idea again, Y/N put a finger to her lips.

——

Y/N finished her first day of college after nearly five hours of classes. It didn't go as planned because Mania was occasionally whispering in her ear. It would ask on how long class would last and whether they could go in search of its next meal. As a result, Y/N had to write notes on her notes in order to communicate with Mania.

Aside from that, Y/N was now late for work. She wasted time by getting lost on campus and trying to find her way out. This resulted in her missing the bus and nearly having an anxiety attack. She was now attempting to run the next four blocks before her shift began in ten minutes.

Her legs were burning as she pushed herself to keep moving. Her chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath. Passers-by would simply stare at her as she was a gasping mess. If it was cold before, it was no longer so because she was sweating.

"At this rate, you aren't going to have the energy to work"

"Shut up..." She breathed out, wiping her forehead with the sleeve of her coat.

"Let me help you"

"Last time you helped me, I almost got a concussion"

"This time you won't, I promise"

Mania sounded genuine, which surprised Y/N. She paused for a moment, taking in the distance she still had to cover. She'd be late because of the numerous traffic lights that would keep her waiting until it was her turn to cross the street. She reluctantly allowed Mania to help her.

Mania instructed her to go into an alley without anyone seeing. Y/N walked into one and hid beside a dumpster, looking around if everything was clear.

"Ready?"

Y/N took a breath in and shrugged, "I guess"

Mania then transformed Y/N into the same black figure from the store. Mania ducked to make sure no one was nearby before piercing its claws into a nearby building. It launched itself up and landed on the roof of the same building.

It then started running, jumping from one facility to the next. It kept doing so, and the people below didn't seem to notice. In Y/N's opinion, she appeared to be on one of those rollercoasters with many ups and downs. It was actually rather enjoyable for her to just jump in the air and not see anyone be eaten. Especially since Mania knew exactly what it was doing and would not let them die from fall damage. So her stress was low and she was able to sit back.

She wouldn't tell Mania, or perhaps it already knew, but Y/N had taken a liking to it. Even if it's only been two days since she has been able to communicate with it. A part of her is relieved that she has someone or something to talk to when she is alone, even if it means that same thing not wanting to be a part of her social life.

The building of the museum came into view and Mania jumped onto the roof. A loud thud occurred and Y/N felt her body cringe, knowing that it was heard from inside.

She was right, Steven and the rest of the staff heard it. They exchanged glances, and some speculated on what it could have been. Some speculated that it could have been a pipe exploding or something. Others speculated that it could have been the monster from the news.

Donna who was unfortunately by Steven began to talk to him, "Did you hear what happened at the Poundland by Sterling? Crazy things are happening around here, ever since those Avengers defeated Thanos"

“Yeah, I think everyone has heard” Steven said in an uninterested tone.

"Honestly, you'd think they'd gotten rid of all extraterrestrial life here on Earth, but no, now we have to deal with all this crap," Donna says as she leans against the counter.

"Technically, we are also seen as extraterrestrials by other extraterrestrials," he pointed out, which Donna rolled her eyes at.

"I forgot all about your attitude, hope your niece lost hers in the week you two were away. Speaking about her, where is she? She usually arrives on time, but it's almost 3 o'clock," she checks her watch.

This made Steven nervous, especially after the previous conversation about the monster from yesterday. Y/N was usually early because she was always worried about being late. Perhaps her last class lasted longer than it should have. Maybe there was traffic. It was probably some reasonable, normal thing that occurred.

Or perhaps that black slimy creature chose to specifically attack the bus she was riding on. Maybe she was already on her way here when that thing took her. She most likely tried to use her powers but they didn't work, so she called for help but no one answered. He didn't respond. He wasn't there. He should have been. 

All these thoughts were freaking Steven and Marc out.

“Relax, I’m sure she’s fine…..try calling her”

Steven quickly pulled out his phone, ready to dial her number, until he heard someone run into the museum.

“I’m here!” Y/N slid inside and came to a halt.

"Look here, it's the long-lost gremlin." JB teased, and Y/N walked by him, flipping him off.

Steven sighed in relief and put his phone back into his pocket, “Glad you made it on time, thought you might have gotten lost on the way”

“Technically we did”

"Uh, yeah, I kinda got lost, then I missed the bus, and then I had to run all the way over here," she said as she straightened her clothes and combed her hair.

Steven approaches her and pulls a feather from her hair, "I see, did you happen to run into a flock of birds?" He chuckles.

“Probably...”

In reality, while she and Mania were on the roof, they landed near a nest of baby birds. Awestruck by the sight, Y/N approached them and cooed at them. That was until their mother arrived and began trying to pluck her eyes out. As a result, she has a feather in her hair.

Of course, she couldn’t tell Steven this since she would also have to explain how she ended up there.

-

The day went on, and the two continued to work their shifts. They didn't get any training for obvious reasons, and Donna just wanted the pile of work to be done. Y/N and Steven were a little rusty at first, misplacing things or not understanding how to use the cash register. That was quickly resolved, and they both worked quickly.

Aside from actually working, their predictions about the rest of the staff and their opinions were correct. There would be whispers about both of their "manic episodes" and how crazy runs in the family. Steven would be concerned about Y/N, but she would laugh it off, pointing out how, despite the fact that they are unrelated, they are living in people's minds for free.

"Not to burst your bubble, but don't you gossip about others behind their backs?" Steven inquired.

Y/N would give him a half-lidded look, "You taking sides now? Besides, you would talk shit about people all the time"

It was dark outside now and most of the visitors were gone. The museum's lights gradually went out, leaving only the gift shop's lights on. The two were almost finished with their tasks and were eager to get home and rest. Steven was finishing up inventory on a clipboard while Y/N gathered all the scattered items.

"I believe that is it for today, you almost done?" He clicked his pen and placed it on the holder of the clip.

She nodded and straightened out a stack of fact cards on a shelf. "Let's go ahead and clock out. I was thinking we could stop for food on the way?"

"That sounds like a good idea" Steven smiled.

Donna interrupted their conversation while carrying two boxes stacked on top of each other "I have bad news for you two. These have just arrived, and I need you two to put them on display for tomorrow. This includes taking inventory."

"But our shift is almost over" Y/N crossed her arms.

"Almost, meaning you have time. Either way, you two will be paid for the extra hour. So take advantage of that” She placed the boxes on a table and then walked away, leaving the two exhausted bodies standing there.

Y/N groaned, "Fucking piece of shit, I swear”

Using the scissors from the counter, she aggressively tore through the tape that sealed the boxes. Steven avoided trying to calm her down because he knew it would irritate her even more.

Inside the boxes were both cardboard displays that needed to be assembled with a sheet of how the end piece was supposed to look. Plus the new items were many jewelry pieces with hieroglyphics engraved on fake gold. Some of the jewelry pieces were necklaces, rings, and earrings.

Y/N double-checks the sheet to see how the display should look. It turns out that she needs to build a whole shelf, which includes putting every single jewelry piece in its proper place. To make the display more visually appealing.

It appears to be tedious work, but she does not dwell on it. She takes one piece and then another, putting them together but discovering they don't fit. She reaches for another piece, but it, too, does not fit.

"I think it's this one" Steven hands her a navy rectangle shape.

It was a match when she held it up to the other piece. She thanks him and continues to try to get everything set up.

Steven counts the packages and records them on his clipboard. Although it may appear simple, he must also write down the item number of each jewelry set after counting how many there are. So this is also exhausting work, and at this point he is scribbling whatever comes to mind.

After about ten minutes of trying to keep the pieces together, Y/N throws them down on the table. "Bro, God fucking dammit! Esta pinche-!" With frustration, she groans and bangs her fist on the table.

She now understood how Marc felt after trying to put together the constellation map back at the desert.

"Don't strain yourself," he says sympathetically, "just finish inventory and we'll deal with this cardboard situation."

She nods and he continues to work on his task. He notices that there is no blue ink coming out of his pen as he writes. He tries again and again, but nothing comes out. He shakes it, but nothing happens. He walks over to the counter to see if there are any more pens, but there are only pencils.

He couldn't just change the color pattern on the sheet, so he asks Y/N if she has one. She raises her head from the table after studying the image of the display.

"Don't have one...but I think JB has some" she grimaces.

"Great, let's see if he doesn't do that thing where he hands me one and just as I'm about to grab it, he pulls it away," Steven groans.

"Good luck" she sings.

Once he leaves, Y/N continues trying to put the display up but she is starting to lose patience. It seems like Mania is too.

"I am tired of this, let me do it"

Y/N's elbows to hands are covered in black goo, and they begin working quickly. She sees the shelf on the table being built and soon enough, finished in the blink of an eye.

"What the fuck? You did that fast" Y/N is taken aback.

"I memorize everything, but you're doing the rest"

Before Y/N can respond, Steven comes back.

"I finally got the pen. I was right about his move; it lasted about five minutes. Marc grew tired of it and fronted, grabbing it from his hands" As he got closer, he noticed the tall display on the table and his eyes widened slightly. "Wow! How did you finish it?"

"Eh, I got the hang of it. Anyways let's hurry cause I want to go home"

Steven nods, and the two start wrapping up their shift. He quickly finished the chart and began assisting Y/N in hanging all of the necklaces and such.

With the display and work ready for tomorrow, the two exit the museum and make their way to the bus stop.

"Do you still want to go eat?" Steven looks to Y/N who shakes her head.

"I don't know about you, but I kinda just want to go to sleep"

Steven agrees and they head straight home.

--

Y/N has returned to her apartment and is dressed in her oversized clothes, ready to sleep. She covers herself in her bed sheets after checking to see if the door is locked and her phone is plugged in.

"Since we are only working tomorrow, can we go and look for more bad guys?"

Y/N sighs, "Not really possible since were working almost the whole day"

"During break"

"That would be hard since we only get like thirty minutes. How about in the weekend?"

"No!"

"Jeez, alright alright! I'll see what we can do, are you sure humans are all you eat?"

"...I might have kept things out"

"Mania..."

"...I also eat this sweet thing that you humans call chocolate"

"…Are you saying we could have just bought chocolate instead?" She gave a deadpan look up at the ceiling, as if it were Mania.

"...Yes"

"I can't believe you, yet I do. We'll just get chocolate tomorrow, yeah?"

"Now!"

This time she sits up and asks, "What store is open at…" She takes out her phone and checks the time. "Twelve o'clock in the morning"

"The store down the street, I saw their times and they are open 24 hours, meaning forever!"

"...You're not gonna let me sleep huh?"

"Nope"

-

So there you have it. They arrived at the same store where Y/N had gone before meeting Mania. With that coincidence, she purchases various chocolate items, such as chocolate bars, chocolate chips, chocolate milk, and so on.

After they pay, the wind picks up, causing Y/N to zip up her hoodie. Despite her fuzzy pajama bottoms, the cold was getting to her.

As she walked down the block, she had a flashback to how she had walked the same route around the same time a while ago. Speaking of which, she notices a woman walking quickly in front of her. Behind her, it seemed like she was being followed by a group of men.

What the fuck?, Y/N thought to herself.

The woman then dashes into an alley. The same one where Y/N and Mania fused.

The men then follow behind, and Y/N feels her stomach move, as if her gut was telling her something terrible was about to happen. As she gets closer, she hears the same woman plead and cry.

"Bad guys right?" Mania growled

"...yup"

Y/N wanted to flee and pretend she hadn't heard anything, but the other part of her wanted to charge in and beat the crap out of those guys. Her feet moved by themselves, and she found herself a few feet away from the crowd. The guys surrounded the poor woman, making catcalls and such.

One of the guys notices Y/N and smiles, motioning for the others to approach her. "You want some too?" they all ask, with wide grins. The woman looks down, feeling guilty for involving Y/N in her situation.

She shakes her head, "Nah, just wondering how fucking pathetic y'all are"

They frown and approach her. One of them reaches out a hand to grab her, but a black tentacle wraps around his arm and snaps it.

The man screams as he looks down at his arm.

Mania snatches him up and swallows him. The others try to flee, but tentacles from the back grab them and pull them in.

One man looks up in terror as he witnesses all of his friends being devoured by the black creature known as Mania. Finished, Mania makes its way to the last man, a sharp grin on its face.

"You come near her again, in fact, you go anywhere in the city, preying on innocent people," Mania grabs the mans neck, "We will find you and eat both your arms and then both of your legs, then eat your face right off your head, do you understand?"

The man shakes his head and asks for mercy.

"Yes, so you will be this legless, faceless thing, won't you? Rolling down the street, like a turd, in the wind" Drool falls from Mania's mouth. "You feel me?"

"...What the hell are you?" The man asks.

The right half side of Mania's face peels back and reveals Y/N's. Black veins grip on the side of her face as she stares at the man.

"We, are Mania" a mixture of Y/N's and Mania's voice comes through. They both smile at the man and then Y/N's face is covered again in black goo.

"On second thought..."

"No, please"

Mania licks it's teeth before chomping down on the man. The woman from before stares in horror as she sees Mania finish the last of the men who tried to hurt her.

Y/N is transformed back and she cracks her neck, trying to relieve tension from the transformation. She looks over to the woman and raises her palm to show she won’t harm her, “It's okay, you're safe”.

She then walks away, grabbing the bag that held all the chocolate inside. The woman doesn't do anything but just stares at the teen walk away.

“That felt great”

“I mean yeah, you just filled your belly with bad guys dude” Y/N continues to walk down the block.

“Not that, I meant saving that woman”

Y/N blinks, “You liked helping her?”

“Yeah, we should do this more”

“You want to become heroes?” She said it in a joking way and cocked her head to the side.

“Yes! Let’s become heroes!” Mania yelled enthusiastically.

Y/N laughed, “Okay, okay. We can think about it at home”

They continued walking, the apartment building coming near view. That’s when something told her to look up. The same sense she felt at the glass pyramid at Mogart's.

On top of a building was a dark figure and all she could see was a pair of white glowing eyes. She paused and stared before it disappeared into the night.

“You saw that right?” She breathed out.

“Yup, bad guy?”

“…I don’t know”

She took one last look before she continued to make her way back to her apartment. She put her hood up and kept her eyes down.

Whoever it was, they didn’t seem to want to harm her. That’s what she hoped. They probably now knew who she was and what power she held, which scared her. She didn’t notice, but as she made her way home, that same person kept their eye on her from a distance.

——————————

I’m sorry if it doesn’t make sense or it seemed rushed 😭

Also scenes i drew for more visuals ;)

Taglist: @itsjusspele @dustyinkpages @scoliobean @moonywritings

[toast-is-ticklish]

Weaknesses

Lee! Wukong Lers! Macaque, MK, and Mei

This is based on the giggle glow AU for Wukong which I originally saw in Sparkling Laughter by KinbariTeaHeathen (it's super cute and you should read it) but may have originated somewhere else I am not entirely sure

Basically, Wukong glows when he laughs.

Also I have decided that Sun Wukong cant handle baby talk because he has literally been an OP scary monkey that terrified heaven with his laser eyes since birth so who the hell would baby talk him? Obviously only his emo ex husband.

___________________________________________

During dinner, the group always chatted around the fire.

The kids would bring up random conversation starters or whatever and everyone would tell stories, and laugh, and it was nice.

And Wukong being you know, immortal, and a lover of attention always had many tales to tell.

But this was a subject of conversation he refused to participate in.

"Well, Monkey King? You've been awfully quiet." Mei said, looking very mischievous.

Yeah, no thanks.

"Luckily for you dorky mortals," he said, jabbing his chopsticks in their general direction, "I have no weaknesses." He made sure to add an air of finality to his tone. No questions necessary.

Macaque apparently had to pipe in at that. "Oh my gohod, Wukong!" He said in between laughs,

"That's what you're going for? Hahahah!"

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" Monkey King puffed his chest out and crossed his arms.

"It means," Macaque said, giving Wukong a look that said you are very very dumb, "That's like, in the top ten dumbest things I've heard you said in the past five hundred years," he snorted, "So congrats on being a record breaker, I guehehess!"

What would've have been an extremely witty and amazing retort from Wukong was very rudely interrupted by his successor.

"Ooh! Ooh! Do you know any of Monkey Kings weaknesses, Macaque?!" MK looked over with sparkles in his eyes and why were the kids getting so excited about this?

"Any? I would say almost all." He said, looking Wukong directly in the eyes now with a devious, stupid, little smirk.

The kids pleaded in unison, giving their best puppy eyes, "Please, please, please, tell us!"

"Hey, hey, hey! Why do you guys even wanna know so bad?!" Monkey King gasped dramatically, "Are you planning my murder?!" He was definitely not trying to desperately divert the topic of conversation.

"I wouldn't turn down a chance to embarrass Wukong."

Goddamnit. He was totally ignored.

Monkey King must've looked about as mortified as he felt because Macaque apparently felt the need to reassure him.

"Its not like I'm gonna tell them anything bad. You dont have to look like I'm about to kill a puppy or something,"

"I'm just gonna bully you a little." He added with a toothy grin.

"I am going to throw you out of a tree and straight into the afterlife if you say anything."

Macaque snorted. "Ohokay."

"Anyway!" He clapped, grabbing everyone's attention.

"Tonight, I will tell you three of your oh so powerful  Monkey Kings weaknesses. How 'bout that?"

Everyone in the group nodded enthusiastically except Wukong, and christ was Tang pulling out that book of his?

"Number One." 

Monkey King couldnt help but bristle at how much Macaque was preening under the attention. Sometimes he couldnt tell if that guy was more of a monkey or some kinda cocky bird.

"Since Wukong is made of stone, he's not exactly buoyant. He sinks, really fast, and it is absolutely hilarious." He snickered, "And he gets really pouty about it."

"I do not pout! And I don't sink either."

"So what do you do then?"

"Hmmm. I would say...gracefully aqueous. I am a king after all."

The group almost died laughing at that.

Normally Wukong would feel annoyed at being mocked like that, but it was just so lighthearted that he couldnt help but feel a smile of his own pulling at the corners of his mouth. They weren't laughing at him anyways. They were laughing with him.

And that was nice.

"Alright your majesty. Whatever helps you sleep at night." Macaque snarked.

"Ooh. Here's a fun one. When we were kids, whenever he laughed Wukong would just, naturally start glowing. Like a little flashlight. And the harder he laughed, the brighter it was. He was nearly blinding everyone every five seconds."

Wukong was now elaborately planning Macaques murder in his head. Why that?! That wasnt even a weakness! Either way he couldnt help but cover up his face, knowing he was probably blushing, which definitely made it worse.

That got some reactions from the group.

"That. Is. Adorable!" Mei exclaimed, "but I think you might have killed him."

"Dont worry Mr. Monkey King! Thats nothing to be embarrassed about!" Sandy said, giving the monkey a clap on the back.

"But why doesn't he glow anymore?" MK looked over at Macaque, puzzled.

"I grew out of it!" Wukong said too quickly, peeking over his fingers. "I cant even do that anymore!", he chuckled nervously.

"Yeah your everything is telling me the opposite right now," Macaque rested his hand against his cheek in thought, "My best bet is that he was embarrassed by it and learned how to hide it. But I bet if you really got him going, and he knew that you knew, he would go straight from Monkey King to lightning bug."

"Lightning bug?" The monkey king sputtered, cheeks flaring, "Y-you! I'm!...Ugh." he gave up, settling on hiding behind his hands again.

"Uhhhhhh, Macaque? I think you broke my mentor." MK said, poking Wukongs head repeatedly to no response.

"Ehhhhh. He's just bein' a dork he'll be fine."

Suddenly, a straight up devious and borderline evil smile spread across Macaques face.

"I have the perfect number three."

Everyone's attention snapped back to Macaque.

"Monkey King," he paused dramatically, "is ridiculously ticklish. Almost everywhere. And he gets very, very, flustered about it as he is probably making a lovely demonstration of right now."

He gestured to Wukong, whose hands had lowered enough to see his raging blush. His eyes were snapped wide open in shock and his tail was flicking nervously behind him. You could basically hear computer crashing noises just looking at him.

So, if you wanna see him glow tickling is probably your best bet."

Everyone's eyes shot over to Wukong with varying levels of mischief. As Wukong tried and failed to not fidget under the attention of everyone he began to ramble frantically.

"Hey, wait! I dont know if that's such a good idea, I mean first of all I'm not even t-ticklish so it's the dumbest thing I've ever heard and I would TOTALLY accidentally hit one of you in the face if I was which I'm NOT but-"

MK and Mei suddenly pounced on top of him, rolling around in an attempt to pin the monkey down although they weren't as physically strong.

"Sandy!" MK yelled, "Come help!"

"Ehhhm. I dont know if that's such a good idea, friends." Sandy said, looking hesitant.

"What? I didnt know you were one to turn down a great team bonding activity, blue guy!" Macaque suddenly appeared in front of him.

"I dont wanna cross any boundaries..."

Macaque lowered his voice so just Sandy could hear, "I'm gonna be honest big guy, he totally likes being tickled. He has since we were kids. And to be honest, I think he kinda needs something like this now."

Sandy opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by another call from his friends.

"Sandy!" Mei said through gritted teeth, "Put the monkey in arm jail!"

So he just turned to give Macaque a nod and a smile before running off towards his friends.

"Arm Jail?" Monkey King looked bewildered.

He was even more bewildered when he was scooped up into the arms of Sandy, who pinned him in a sort of upright sitting position against the gentle giants chest, restraining the monkeys arms.

"Hey! Cant we talk about this big guy?!" Wukong complained while noticeably not struggling.

"Talkings over, Monkey King!" MK smirked, "Now, prepare to be defeated!" The kid even added a cartoonish 'Mwahahah!' At the end for good measure.

And so finally, wiggling fingers descended on Sun Wukong, MK attacking one side of his torso and Mei going for the other.

He desperately tried to hold in his laughter, as he squirmed in Sandy's hold.

Being immortal, he didnt need to breathe, so all he had to do was focus and eventually the kids would lose interest and leave him alone.

He very deliberately ignored the part of himself that didnt want them to leave him alone, who wanted to have fun and be vulnerable.

He had to be strong, he had to stop craving touch like this, he had to stop being weak and path-

Monkey King was so lost in his own thoughts he didnt even notice Macaque appearing in front of him.

Until the darker furred monkey leant in close to his ears as he started to tickle them.

He whispered into Wukongs ear,"You have nothing to be ashamed of, Peaches."

He pulled his head back and looked at Wukong, who was biting his lip and scrunching up his nose in effort to not make a sound, shoulders hiked up in an attempt to block out the tickles.

"Now, are you going to give in and play with your kids? Or do I need to take drastic measures?" He said, smirking.

Monkey king merely shook his head.

Macaque shrugged. "Your funeral."

And his smirk was replaced with a sickeningly sweet smile.

Oh gods.

"Awwww. Is the wittle monkey too ticklish for his own good?"

This had to be some kind of psychological warfare, it was downright immoral. Monkey King could feel his blush growing in intensity, why did baby talk affect him so much?

"Poor little guy. Tickle, tickle, tickle!"

Wukongs concentration was slipping as he grew more and more flustered, stomach doing somersaults at the teasing.

He couldnt stop himself whining which was something he'd have to process later, but then he completely screwed himself by letting a little giggle out. He flickered, just for a moment and so softly you wouldn't even notice if you weren't looking for it.

"Was that a little giggle I just heard? And you flickered! How adorable. Coochy coochy coo!"

His focused slipped even more. Coochy coochy coo echoed in his head as he felt the butterflies on his stomach increase tenfold.

Wukongs chest started shaking with restrained laughter as he hid his face in his shoulder.

"Awww, don't hide that blush from me! Show them your glow, giggles!"

And the dam broke. As Monkey King burst into childish laughter with a snort, he started glowing like a goddamn beacon, casting everything in a warm light.

You could hear a couple wows of disbelief from everyone at camp. It was like everything was enveloped in this golden sunset glow.

"Mahahac! I hAhahaHAHAHTE YOUHUOU! HAHATE!"

"Yeah, sure peaches." Macaque snorted,  "Anyways I got him out of his weird funk so have fun kids!" He said, sauntering away.

Mei burst out in disbelief, "You're embarrassed by that?!"

"Ihihihhiits lahahahame!" Wukong bemoaned through giggles, flopping his head back dramatically.

"Its not!" Mei and MK said in unison.

While Mei stuck to the torso, MK went down to his mentors knees and skittered behind them.

Monkey king squealed and burst into squeakier laughter, his light growing a little bit brighter.

He kicked out his legs and folded over a little.

"NohHohoh! Behehetrahahayahal! AHAHAH WHYHAHAHAHA!" And now Mei was scritching at his armpits and Monkey King was thrown into belly laughter.

His light became significantly brighter, so much that the kids had to squint a little. It even started to flicker a little.

"Woooowww. Macaque was right! You are like a lightning bug!" MK said, looking very excited.

"DOHOHNT SAYHAYAHHA THAHAHAT! FAHAHAH!" He managed through laughter, shaking his head in mirth as his blush spread a little more.

"Are you embarrassed by your giggle glow, Monkey King?" Mei asked teasingly, lightening up the scribbling on his armpits to a fluttering which somehow wasnt any less torturous.

"Ahahaahah! Nooooo! Dohohont cahahall ihit thahaht!" He said, once again trying to hide his face in his shoulder. Not super productive considering his blush had spread up to his ears and neck by now.

"Ooh! Mei! I have an idea!" MK said, yanking her over. He whispered in her ear, "I wanna see if his tail is ticklish too. Can you hold it down?"

Mei only grinned devilishly and gave a nod.

"Hey, wait, kihids whahat are you dohohoing?! Mei why are youhou grahahabbing ahat my tail?! MK? MK! waitwaitwaitwait-"

And Monkey King went into hysterics. He squealed before falling into loud, full, belly laughter. Even snorting which was frankly, adorable.

"OHHOHOOHO MYHYHYHY GOHOHOHAHAHAHA! IHIHIHIHIHAHAHAH- HAAHHAHAH!"

Wukong didnt even know what he was trying to say.

He squirmed and kicked violently before just going limp with laughter, tears of mirth springing in his eyes.

He literally couldnt think. He was in ticklish heaven hell.

"MK I think he's actually dying."

"I knew it would be a good spot! I'm a big brain boy!" MK said proudly before continuing, "But yeah I'm getting a little concerned.

Also his light was borderline blinding at this point, it was starting to hurt everybody's eyes a little.

MK slowed the tickling down to a stop.

After letting him catch a breather, Mei scootched over to Wukong and said, "Hey Monkey King."

"W-whahat?"

"Admit that your giggle glow is cool. Or else." She teased, raising wiggling fingers at him.

"But-but its-"

"Its what?" Gods she was evil. Smirking at him with her fingers posed to start drilling into his hips at any second.

"Waitwaitwait! Ihits...ihits cool!" He managed, pointedly avoiding eye contact.

"What's cool?" Ohhhh he was so going to get her back for this.

"You know what!"

"Do I?" She said, adjusting her hands slightly.

Wukong wished he could sink into the floor right about now. "Ah! Dont! Mhyhy... g-giggle-" he struggled mumbling with a little bit of a pout, "giggle glow. Its cool."

"Yaaaaay! He did it!" MK cheered, as Monkey King was released and everyone headed back towards the ship.

"You okay, friend?" Sandy asked, seeing Monkey king laying on the ground instead of getting up with everybody else.

"Yep. Just taking a breather big guy."

Macaque would go out later to find Wukong fast asleep on the ground with a big dumb smile and blush on his face, tail wagging in his sleep.

"Whahat a dork. Could you get anymore obvious?" Macaque would say to himself as he picked up the monkey and brought him back to the ship.

[smikkle-fish]

Diseased Equilibrium

AO3 Link

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Next

"My queen! My queen! There's been-"

"Wait one moment, dear." Mothra was looking off into the horizon. Infant Island was her beautiful home, but it was lonely. No other titans besides Godzilla and Angurius were allowed to come here. It was a rule she would never get used to. All that she could do was bask her grand wings in the sun. She sighed. "What did you want to tell me, Anguirus?"

Said titan was looking everywhere but her. Anguirus was the only other ally Godzilla and she had. His nervousness around her was concerning. It only made her heart ache to see what Godzilla's rule had done to their friends. Or what was left.

She barely recognized Goji.

Despite the guilt boiling within her, Mothra tried her best to appear regal. She walked towards Anguirus with her sharp, mantis-like legs and let out a soft chirr. If she pushed any further, the other titan would roll into a ball of hardened spikes. He had once been her and Godzilla's best friend. They did everything together. Now, he seemed terrified of her.

"It's...uhm...well's its kinda like...so..." Angurius stammered. His head was bowed so low that his green-grey snout hit the dirt. The single horn on his nose uncovered some of the earth. This was strange. While the crocodilian titan was awkward at times, he never got flustered like this. He was an incredibly fierce fighter. Any opponent that underestimated him for his smaller size would be met with a carapace of spikes. This submissive side of him was new.

The moth kaiju chirped. "Please, my friend. Tell me. It is clearly of upmost importance, and it is troubling you."

Anguirus lifted his head from the ground. His teal eyes hardened. "Ghidorah has returned."

Her bright blue eyes began to emit a crimson glow in anger. "That's impossible. Every cell of their's was incinerated in Boston."

"Not the head King Godzilla left in the ocean." Both titans grew silent. The fangs on Angurius' top jaw were fully revealed as he snarled. "The other titans felt the same thing. It's the same energy we felt during the Awakening."

Mothra knew exactly what the titan was talking about. That energy she had felt back then. It was dark and cold, demanding for nothing but destruction. But. Why hadn't she felt it if the others did?

"There's something else, my Queen."

"What would that be, dear?"

"Rodan has gone missing."

Everything around her stopped. The sun no longer felt warm. The birds no longer sang. The grass no longer swayed in the wind. Her mask of calm broke and her antenna quivered in fear.

Near the beach, Mothra saw it. There was ocean of being illuminated with a blue glow. A pulsing, blue glow.

And it was getting closer.

.

.

.

.

.

He couldn't stop. He couldn't stop. He. Couldn't. Stop.

Each flap of his powerful wings disturbed the clouds around him. The tunnel was forming. It would transport him to his true home. A place where he would finally be left alone. No pesky humans and no Godzilla.

The heat within his body increased exponentially. Any normal being would have died or turn to ash, but not him. Without this step, the tunnel would not be complete. Magma replaced blood, and it was boiling. He only flew harder, not caring that fire was beginning to engulf him. In fact, it felt great.

Rodan was f r e e.

Within his talons was his new purpose. The calls had only been getting louder and destroying cities could not keep them at bay anymore. Godzilla's warnings soon lost their effect on the giant pteranodon. He didn't care what the old lizard would do to him for defecting. Would he make Rodan take a nap for thousands of years? Against his will like last time? Yeah, because that is totally in character of him. Consent doesn't matter when you're the alpha. Why bother asking if you can just command everyone to do you bidding? Like killing your entire race just because they posed a threat.

Or murdering his own mother for being an alpha titan.

A thunderous screech was let out of him. His rage made the heat within him explode. Magma rose into his throat and he roared. It erupted from his beak like a volcano and it went straight into the tunnel. It made the entire sky turn a dusty red. The tunnel was complete. Home.

Yellow lighting hit the red skies. Rodan smiled at that, he gently pecked the skull. "I'll bring you back. I promise."

With no further hesitation, the winged titan flew into the flaming tunnel. As soon as it began, it was over. The skies and the clouds turned to normal.

But it was enough for every titan in the world to have seen it.

----

"It might be a glitch!" Coleman squeaked from his chair.

After the fiasco in Hong Kong, the outpost they had made there was abandoned. The news that the alien titan that had nearly destroyed the entire world had possibly returned was much more important. Immediately, a meeting was called and all factions were to meet at the ARGO. Needless to say, their military faction was not happy.

Colonel Foster slammed her hands on the glass table. "What the hell do you mean 'a glitch'?! Your highly advanced systems accidentally picked up a false reading of Monster Zero's very specific bioacoustics?"

The screen in front of them did nothing to calm to woman's frustrations. It was just like 2019. Monarch called all of them to this big boat to discuss a fucking eco-terrorist kidnapping a scientist and their daughter. Before she knew it, half her squadrons are dead and ancient monsters now roam the planet. Seeing that creature's name again should have been impossible.

"All we know is that he appeared when Rodan disappeared." Stanton stood up and walked to the screens. His joking nature was gone. "We know Hollow Earth exists thanks to Kong. However, we would have known if our big fire bird was with Kong already. I believe Rodan made a tunnel to a separate section of the Hollow Earth. His radiation must have awakened Ghidorah in some way as well."

Laughter was heard from the soldiers. Most were still relatively new after the grand losses Monarch took when fighting Ghidorah. The only ones that did not laugh were Colonel Diane Foster, Staff Sergeant Anthony Martinez, Chief Warrant Officer Jackson Barnes, and First Lieutenant Lauren Griffin.  In other words, the G-Team. All of them had been the few survivors of the Monster Zero's wrath. All of them had seen what nature could truly be capable of.

Only a knife could cut the tense atmosphere. Monarch was used to being laughed at for their theories, but it still stung. Chen gave a nasty glare at the ones who were laughing. It had little effect.

"SHUT UP." Martinez barked. At once, silence fell over the base. The man was only thirty, but he now looked like he had aged by decades. He looked friendly with his freckled face, but he knew every way to hurt someone. "We all know what the titans are capable of, so stop fucking laughing. I saw what Rodan could do back on Isla de Mara."

He sighed. "I was there. The winds that demon created where stronger than any damn tornado. Buildings, cars, people were lifted off the ground like they weighed nothing. The entire town was destroyed in a matter of seconds. And we all saw the footage of him going after our air squadron. I don't think a dumb animal would know how to execute an aileron roll in midair perfectly."

"Damn straight. I doubt making a portal or some shit is a stretch for the giant turkey." Barnes said from his seat next to Martinez. He remembered the evacuation of the island inhabitants well. The only thing that you could hang on to was the ground and pray that you'll live.

Stanton smiled at the G-Team. He nodded his head in thanks before turning back to the screens. "We were never able to find Godzilla's resting place until we went through that underwater tunnel. It was in the Hollow Earth. How do I know this you may ask? Well. When we returned to the area to examine it after the nuke, we found nothing. I know the nuke would have destroyed everything, but I am talking about radiation. We experienced lethal levels of radiations the last time we were there. The second time we went, there were no traces of radiation." The doctor showed the different graphs they had taken. Several years ago, the levels were incredible high, shown on the graph with a curve. On the other hand, the curve completely disappeared for the newest recording.

At the end of the table, Madison and her father were engaged in an intense staring match.  He was very upset when he heard that Rodan had been spotted in Hong Kong. Mark had been so terrified that he ran out of the court the second he got his daughter's text. She never texted him that she was okay unless she was trying to hide that she wasn't, in fact, okay.

The man wanted to keep his daughter away from the titans. Far, far away. Despite his best efforts, Madison only got more drawn to them as she got older. It was impossible to keep her away from Monarch or Godzilla or the idiotic podcast she listens to religiously. She made it clear that she wanted to work along side him and his colleagues when she got out of college. With all of her previous knowledge, Madison wouldn't need much training. All she would need to learn is to not throw herself into danger at every given  opportunity.

In the background, Stanton was talking about a new mission: Find Rodan and Monster Zero. Mark already saw the glint in Madison's eyes, she wanted to go. His hard stare already answered the question. No.

He wasn't losing anyone else.

Just as the teen opened her mouth to retaliate, alarms blared. The Argo was bathed in red light as the staff and soldiers all sprang into action. Everyone knew that the alarms only signaled for one thing- titans. However, the base was not shaking like it usually does when a titan approaches. It was too quiet.

Running to his computers, Stanton frantically typed in a few commands. "Godzilla's bioacoustics don't match up. He's not underwater."

"But he's the only aquatic titan!" Colonel Foster shouted.

"That we know of!"

"Are you saying there are more of these monsters-"

"ENOUGH, BOTH OF YOU." Mark ran a hand through his already messy hair. He ran to Stanton's desk, placing a hand on his chin. "All animals use bodies of water in some way. It isn't restricted to the ones with gills. Polar bears aren't aquatic, but they have been seen swimming for days to find new hunting grounds. Hell, we saw that Kong could swim."

Within the many files of titan names, there was one that stood out among the rest. Scylla.

She had been residing in both the North and South Pole. With her help, the melting of the ice caps slowed drastically. The Arctic Ocean had been frozen over again, giving the animals  their home back. If any titan was able to travel through the water, it was her.

After telling this to Stanton, the sonographer put in her bioacoustics. In an instant, the alarms stopped as they were replaced with the steady heartbeat of the titan. She was calm.

"Can you fly us up before she turns us into popsicle sticks?" Rick said to Foster. The colonel nodded and ordered her team to get into positions. Flying the Argo was a feat of human ingenuity. It took five pilots, four for each engine and one to lead.

"Let's do this." Griffin smirked. She was the best pilot on the G-Team and in Monarch. That title was truly earned when she piloted a plane with a malfunctioning engine with civilians on board. Not only that, Griffin had to fly through the hurricane that Ghidorah had created and the winds of Rodan's deadly wings.

The other pilots went in there seats with Colonel Foster at the helm. Slowly, the moving base rose out of the water and into the sky. Each roar of the engines shook the ground like a titan normally would. "Steady." The women spoke. "Be prepared to fire the canons. We don't know if this 'Scylla' is aggressive or not."

As the Argo breached the water's surface, everyone was met with a magnificent scene. A 341 foot tall titan with six crab-like legs and a head with ten pink tentacles and a grey shell. It was Scylla in all her cephalopod-spider crab glory.  Each step she took caused a thick layer of ice to develop over the ocean. However, the real site was behind her.

Titans of all shapes and sizes walked besides her. Including Scylla, the humans counted seven titans. And they were going in the same direction.

It left an uneasy feeling in the air. At least, the titans didn't seem to pay any mind to the Argo flying above them. The fact that Monarch's sensors did not alert the staff of this mass awakening was enough to scare the scientists. This wasn't good. That much was obvious. In a matter of days, everything that could go wrong was going wrong. Rodan had been their top priority with his attacks, and he is now gone without a trace. Godzilla was not anywhere near his territory, so he could be destroying a town right now. The titans  were supposed to be hibernating, yet they're here on the now frozen Pacific Ocean. And apparently Monster Zero is alive! Is he the one calling the titans again? Will the Earth be under attack again?

"They are being called by Gojira." Chen's soft voice broke through the chaos. She kept her eyes on the titans, they moved as calmly as she spoke. "He has sensed Ghidorah's energy like we have. Godzilla has told them to come to Infant Island immediately."

"How the hell do you know that? Did Miss Cthulhu tell you?" Rick asked incredulously.

Both doctors looked at said titan. She was letting out various chitter and squeals. It was similar to Mothra's calls, but it was in a deeper tone.

Chen laughed, shaking her head. "No." The scientist then pointed at a larva titan. The being was covering in black plates that had red spots with yellow outlines. Its many legs and horns were golden in color. "He did."

Everyone gathered around the window to see the creature. They had never seen him before. No files matched his description.

"Mosura's ani. Mothra's older brother." She touched the window and closed her eyes. Chen pressed her forehead against the cool glass before turning back towards her very confused coworkers.

Doctor Chen had a glaze in her eyes when she spoke once more.

"Titanus Battra. God of Vengeance."

.

.

.

.

.

Volcanoes erupted as Rodan flew over them. The land seemed to glow with the amount of lava covering it. All the creatures of his home didn't seem to mind the magma nor  smoke. They were are impervious to heat as Rodan was.

He needed something hotter.

Rodan beat his wings as much as he could to clear the volcanic ash in the air. His true home was well hidden, only other members of his species could find it.

It didn't take long to locate the place. The giant pteranodon recognized the unique stones that made up his ancestral nest. His kind spent years forming each rock with the magma and dirt of the land. It was built against a giant cliff and seemed to blend seamlessly into it. However, he knew that if you generate strong enough winds, the rocks would be pushed back. An entrance into the cliff would then be revealed.

So, the fire bird did just that. He was in his element when he was in the sky. The feel of the wind against his hardened magma armor felt great. It was so strong that he felt it underneath the plates. His feathers.

That was the old him. He didn't need his feathers anymore. In fact, he didn't want to see them ever again.

They were a reminder of his mistakes.

"I'm home." He whispered. Rodan then went inside the cliff opening. He placed the skull in his beak and walked around the empty caverns. Well, his version of walking. It involved him crawling on all fours; his legs and wings. The three claws on each wing helped him grip against the smooth stone.

Energy was surging through him like never before. Not even the hottest of volcanoes could give him the same amount of pure fire as his home. The radiation soothed his tired body. His puncture wound from Mothra's venomous stinger finally stopped hurting. It had caused him great pain for the past few years, ever since the Queen stabbed him. All this time, the hole that went through his shoulder never closed. It remained open, no matter how much he submerged himself in lava. Relief washed over him as tissue closed the injury once and for all.

Because Mothra had pierced through Rodan's armor, his skin was vulnerable. In other words, his feathers could be seen. Fortunately, the amount of expose skin was small, so it would be hard to notice the blood red feathers.

He wanted to pluck them out, but he had more important things to do. The skull in his beak practically vibrated with power, telling him to find find find need energy now now-

The command focused the bird and he made his was to the center of the nest. Rodan simply followed the increasing warmth, ignoring the many sculptures of his species and the many perches he once rested on with her. He didn't have the time.

When the heat reached its peak, Rodan looked down. An amber jewel was underneath him. It was in the shape of a pillar and barely the size of his claws. Carefully, he grasped the crystal pillar in his talons and began to pull. He flapped his wings until he was airborne, still holding to structure. He tugged as hard as he could until a click was heard.

From that click, the pillar lengthened until it was taller than him. The ground around him rumbled as ancient stones moved for the first time in centuries. He had to move away from the center as the rocks separated into six circles. As the stone circles span slowly, Rodan saw they were moving down. A liquid too hot to be lava filled the cavity. Its color was a mix between orange and white. Titan Essence.

Through the cracks, the liquid spread. The floor that was once dull was now ignited with precious light. It looked like veins of fire running through the stone and it kept going. It went to the walls, statues, perches. Everything. He even saw an several smaller pools be filled with the substance. In the center, a hole in the wall appeared and suddenlty jutted out liquid energy like a waterfall.

It was beautiful.

Rodan crawled towards the center pool. It was so big that Ghidorah could stretch out his wings and there would still be extra room. Speaking of them...

Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it. Please. Energy. Need it. Need. Brothers. Brothers. Yes. Yes. Yes.

He leaned over the pool with the skull. Everyone said that Ghirdorah would be gone forever, yet here they were. Alive.

The titan opened his beak, dropping Ghidorah's left skull into the deep pool below.

Now, he would wait. Rodan didn't care if he had to wait for millennia for Ghidorah to reform. No one could come for him here. He had all the time in the world. The titan was more than used to being alone.

Then that alien came into his life.

Right off the bat, he knew Ghidorah was crazy and should not be trusted. They had met many times before only for the King to send the hydra back to space. But they always returned. When Ghidorah got unfrozen, Rodan was warry about the three brother's intentions towards him. However, each of them wanted his help. He would be their warrior and partner.

You are very strong, birdie.

We have not seen any other creature fight with so much ferocity.

Help use destroy the Weak King and the vermin he protects.

If you pledge your loyalty to us, we will repay your efforts a million times over.

And he did. The humans destroyed his nest. His parent's nest. Those bugs labeled him a monster while they kill millions of creatures every day. It wasn't fair.

R              E              F             O               R                  M

"What the fuck?!" Rodan squawked.

The pool began to bubble. It them started to boil. Not good. Rodan quickly stepped back from the edge. They can't regenerate that fast, can they?

Suddenly, a spiked tail emerged. It released a deafening rattle to scare off any potential threats. The second one seemed to be missing. A malformed wing them breached. It was leathery and lacked any scales. There were still holes in the tissue that were slowly being closed.

Three horns poked through the hot liquid. Finally, a snout was seen

Instantly, Rodan recognized the head. "San! Can you hear me?"

No response came from the left Ghidorah head. He shook his head from side to side, getting the essence off of him and onto the walls. His yellow eyes looked around the temple with curiosity.

"San?"

"Birdie?" San's voice was ragged and pained. It hurt to hear. "Is that you?"

Rodan cooed to the scared hydra. It was strange seeing them like this, but his need to comfort overpowered his discomfort. The larger titan snapped his head towards his voice and locked eyes with the Fire Demon.

It was then that Rodan noticed the deep scar on San's neck. It was jagged and was located exactly where his head was torn off by Godzilla. As his body rose from the pool, the smaller titan noticed the two lumps. Ichi and Ni had not reformed yet.

A whine left San. He bent his long neck to nudge Rodan's warm body. "The humans. They wouldn't let me die with my brothers. I was turned into this disgusting monster."

While it was true that San was the more emotional of the three heads, he never cried or whined. He was just as lethal as his brothers. Seeing him act like a hatchling was disturbing. What had the humans done to him-

Mechagodzilla.

Rage filled the titan. That hunk of metal used San. No wonder Hong Kong smelled so familiar and wrong. He had found the skull hooked up to so many machines, it took several tugs to get it out. The vermin had degraded Ghidorah's body and did not let their spirit to rest. There was nothing more insulting.

"I can feel them. Ichi and Ni. They are alive and they're angry." San spoke with a shaky voice, far from his usual bravado. His eyes then darkened. "I'm angry."

"Good. We can get rid of the humans once and for all once you've healed."

"No. That would be too general. This is personal, birdie." The alien titan started to groom Rodan's horns. A deep rumble came from him, purring. "I love that bloodlust of yours. However, we should first go after the ones that aided in Godzilla's victory and the ones who turned me into a lab rat. How does that sound, hm?"

"Monarch and Apex." Rodan responded with a snarl. "I know the names well."

Sans purring grew louder in volume. "Such a smart bird. We'll kill them all and then go after Godzilla. This time, he won't have any pesky humans to aid him. He will grow weaker and weaker as we grow stronger."

"We?"

"Yes, love. We. You will deliver the killing blow. The tyrant that you have been under for so long will die under you claws." San rubbed against Rodan's neck, scenting him. The nickname was new and the volcanic titan did not know how to feel about it. "Do you agree?"

Rodan went silent for a bit. He lost everyone he loved because of Godzilla. It was his turn. The fire bird chirped a reply.

The king will fall one way or another. By Ghidorah, by the humans contraption, by Rodan, or by himself. Godzilla was an expert at self sabotaging. He pushed everyone away until they no longer wanted anything to do with him or feared him. This time, the giant lizard's death would be his own fault.

"Yeah. I do."

[rare-and-beautiful-things]

Hi!! I dunno if you’re still taking requests or if you already got this one, but how would the boys (any you feel like writing for!) react to their s/o getting caught up in/injured in the cross fire of a fight?

Yes I do! And no, I haven't got this one before! Thank you for it 💙 and thanks for letting me decide on the characters. Your avatar image kinda suggests you don't mind the Union bastards, so... Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed doing the writing~

S/o getting hurt in a fight

ft. Donald Na, Wolf Keum, Grape, Forrest Lee

Donald Na

With Donald, more than with any other person on the list, his reaction will largely depend on your fighting skill, personality and the severity of the injury. If it's nothing serious and you aren't making a fuss, there won't be much of a reaction. I mean, it's just how the world is, you're bound to get hurt sooner or later. Maybe he'll plaster a bandage on it or something when you're alone. And I can't imagine him being with someone who blows things out of proportion, so let's say the injury you got is a severe one - think broken bones and internal bleeding.

If you're good at fighting and still got hurt, he's going to be a little shaken. It can occur either if you were caught unaware, if your opponent was just that good or if you protected someone (him? why would you protect him? he's Donald Na ffs. but maybe from some unexpected blow, and maybe the attacker had a bat or something, now that would be plausible). For drama's sake let's say it was all three.

In the moment he's going to take the opportunity you gave him and finish the bastards you two are fighting. He will notice you falling but it'll be more 'they are out now. I must win on my own' and less 'oh no! are they alright? what should I do?' (probably none of this tbh). He'll win as quickly as possible but will still take time to degrade his opponents, hurt them some more, break their spirit. He'll be especially cruel in that kind of situation. So when he goes to you you may as well already be unconscious.

He'll be anxious when he sees your injuries but won't let his emotions override his judgement. He'll take you to a hospital and make sure you live. If you need an operation you'll get one, and if you need meds or anything else to get better you'll get them too. He won't visit much, maybe once or twice in your whole stay, but he'll call and talk to you often. He'll get hung up on money and power even more, because if he was powerful enough, terrifying enough, perhaps those bastards wouldn't dare attack you, and money can be used to save you if something dramatic happens among other things. He'll work more, sleep less, be more violent than ever. He'll be grateful to you but also angry at you and at himself, because none of you was able to prevent that shit. When you're out of hospital he'll whip you back into shape, and he will be merciless with the training and the assignments. He won't hide you from the world and treat you like a porcelain doll, he'll make you strong enough to stand beside him.

Now this can go differently if you're not the fighting type. If you get hurt it'll probably happen while you're on your own, and Donald will only know about this after the damage is done. He'll cover your medical expenses if you need him to and will interrogate you about the attackers. You better be ready to tell him where they study/work, how did they look, what exactly did they say to you, because if you can't give him any info he's gonna be rather angry at you. Like, what did you do while getting your ass beaten? Counted the birds or something? He'll know who they are one way or another, he'll plan their demise and execute the plan in a couple of weeks tops, most probably a few days. But he's going to feel like you've let him down, like you're a vulnerability anyone can use. So I think he'll either make you learn to fight or minimize the contact between the two of you, making it something of a secret relationship.

Wolf Keum

Wolf starts fights rather often, so you might as well be caught up in one of the fights he started himself - let's go that route for the sake of angst.

Imagine him all wild and excited, beating up annoying people and enjoying every second of it. If you can fight you're probably fighting beside him, if not then you're just hanging around until suddenly someone swings at you despite the unspoken rule saying you're untouchable. You fail to understand what's happening in time because fights are chaotic, you just see movement, feel pain and go down.

Wolf only notices that you got knocked out after the fight is over. And he's like 'oh great, now I gotta wait until they're conscious again'. But then he sits beside you and sees that you're not just knocked out. You're injured. Maybe you're bleeding, or maybe your bones are broken. Broken. There's something broken in your body, some systems barely functioning, and he doesn't even notice when he starts freaking out. It's mostly physical for Wolf, his heart beating painfully fast, his hands shaking, blood draining from his face. He looks at his hands and he's like 'huh. am I freaking out? is that what it is?' because the feeling is so new to him. He knows the adrenaline rush, the anger, the spite, the numbness, but this? This is new.

He'll manage to pull himself together and get you to a hospital, and you'll be fine. His underlings would expect him to become more violent, cruel, aggressive, but Wolf will get quiet. Contemplating. He'll think back to the fight, analysing, trying to understand what went wrong and when. When did you get hurt? Who did it? But he won't be able to remember. Did he do it in the madness of a fight? Is that on him?

He'll visit you at hospital, all calm and collected. You'll be able to smell cigarette smoke from the other side of the room. He'll ask you what you remember, but you don't remember much either, so you'll probably just end up sitting together in silence until the visiting time is over. He'll come again, often, maybe every day, but probably won't be particularly talkative most of the time.

Wolf is all about acting on instinct but this time he'll face real physical consequences of that type of behaviour. He won't change much, won't stop fighting but he'll become more aware, especially of himself.

Also the people who injured you are dead.

Grape

Grape is hyperaware of his limits (and he likes to think that of other people's limits too, but he's wrong), and he's always full of doubts. Perhaps what got you hurt was just him being unsure.

Did he fail to act in the moment, intimidated by some big name? Did he decide your last minute idea wasn't going to work and refused to cooperate? Did he get caught up in his own superficiality and couldn't bring himself to stand up for you in fear of damaging his reputation? Either way, he's going to have to deal with the consequences.

And the consequences are that you are injured, hurt and quite possibly mad at him. He wants you to be mad at him because you being nice and calm and understanding is going to hurt him so much more in this situation. If you're mad he can get mad too, get defensive - why did you go there anyway? If you can't handle yourself you should just stay home, play safe! Do you want to die? But if you don't spit any accusations, if you try to hide how hurt you are, it's going to be unbearable.

He's going to be so angry at himself, it can as well develope into self-loathing. He'll think about it for days, loosing the little sleep he actually had before, the word 'coward' repeating in his head. It's what he is after all, isn't it?

He won't visit you at hospital, won't call you or text you, will reject your calls. He'll re-read your messages endlessly.

Now all this angst might actually push him to do something. Do better. He might try to take on your attackers, will probably lose though. But I think this kind of situation is one of the few things that can get him to make some progress, become a tiny little bit more true to himself. And I mean, even if he fails to get revenge the first time, there's always the second one, y'know?

Forrest Lee

Forrest is a naturally protective partner, so if he wants to protect someone he gives it his all. He can be fearful, sure, but he's also capable of overcoming his fears and acting in spite of them. He's interesting because if his s/o got seriously hurt in a fight it was either without him being present (and that's a boring thing to write, like, yeah, he'd comfort you of course and be there for you, but where's the angst??? the drama???) or because he did everything he could to prevent the harm - and he failed.

He failed. His condition when the fight is over is most likely just as severe as yours if not worse, but if he's somehow mostly unharmed he's going to hate himself fiercely for it. So you're both going to spend some time hospitalised.

He'll feel utterly worthless. He did everything he could and it wasn't enough. Perhaps everyone was right and he's really just some shit-talker with no real skill, no brawn, weak and useless. You'll probably leave him, and you'll be right to do so. You deserve better.

Also him losing will probably lead to some repercussions from the Union which will make life harder for all Hyeongshin, and it's also going to weigh him down.

You'll have to support him as much as he is going to support you. Training together will help greatly regardless of your current fighting skill. He can teach you something, learn something from you. Talking and showing your appreciation is also always good. Forrest is no doubt going to try his hardest to make you feel better and to keep you safe and happy.