#causing whatever fuel he was using to ignite and explode

[warning-heckboop]

Going off the assumption that the Extension Corps grew up in Slippenglide (based on their building their base on the outskirts there as adults), I'm choosing to believe that the accident in which Ecks and Ten lost their limbs was the result of a conflict between them and some other kids from Skorcheen, the resulting injuries of which only served to further the divide between the two peoples

[usafphantom2]

I was recently asked what was the plan if you run out of the 16 shots of TEB? The chemical TEB was required every time you started the engine or the afterburners. Kick the tires and light up the engines. 🔥The SR 71 is still the fastest airplane in the world that we know of. What did you need to start the engines? A whole lot of power from the start cart and some TEB.

Usually, 16 shots of TEB were available for each sortie. Triethylborane – TEB for short.– it explodes with contact with the atmosphere. To ignite the JP-7 for engine start and to light the afterburner section, a liquid chemical ignition system was used. The liquid chemical, triethylborane (TEB) had the physical property of exploding when exposed to air,” Richard H. Graham SR-71 Blackbird pilot.

In the 24 years the SR 71 flew, it never ran out of TEB, but there was a plan just in case.

John Olp was a Mechanic on the SR-71 for over ten years; he writes:

The J-58 engine had a unique way of lighting the afterburners if TEB wasn't available for whatever reason.

Inserted into three rings of the flame holders were six catalytic ignitors. If TEB wasn't available, the engines could be manually over-trimmed to increase the exhaust temperature and superheat the ignitors. When the throttles were advanced into afterburner, the glowing catalytic ignitors would light off the fuel, albeit somewhat harshly!

John added these comments:

The catalytic ignitors were in place as a backup if TEB wasn't available. There was a manual up-trim switch in the cockpit to control engine EGT. It was a hard light off if used, but was an option! Overtemping the engine would only be momentary to allow the afterburner light, probably not enough to cause any damage to the engines. That's why the manual up-trim switches were available. I was in the program from 1975-1985 at Beale AFB.

I love it when I find out new information about the SR 71 or any of the Blackbirds. Thank you, John. ~ Linda Sheffield Miller

@Habubrats71 via X

[thequirkdetective]

Investigation 7 (24/7/2020): Navel Laser – Yuga Aoyama

Aoyama’s quirk is an interesting one, that I have been pondering for quite a while. On the surface it’s a simple power; being able to shine a large, wide laser beam from one’s bellybutton, but upon deeper inspection the quirk reveals itself as rather powerful, with enough energy in the beam to launch the user backwards[1]. So how much energy is a laser of those capabilities actually outputting?

The ability of the laser to propel Aoyama backwards is most likely the largest consumer of energy throughout the quirk’s many uses. The basic principle is the same as that of a rocket: accelerate an object in one direction, and you will accelerate in the opposite direction, at a rate proportional to the ratio of the object’s mass to your mass. The problem with this approach is that photons do not have any mass, since they travel at the speed of light. They do, however, still exert momentum, equal to Planck’s constant over the photon’s wavelength. Aoyama’s laser is blue, with a wavelength around 470nm, and so the momentum of each photon is 1.4x10-27kgm/s.

Usefully, Aoyama uses his quirk to move in a race, where we are given his precise time, and the distance travelled. Rather unhelpfully, it takes him two bursts to finish, and the bursts are unequal. Judging by the features of the building in the background, the first burst takes him 43m. When he hits the ground, Mina is about 7m behind him, and since she finishes in less than 5.51 seconds, we can assume she is running at a rather impressive 10m. This means she covers that 7m in 0.7 seconds, and the whole 43m in 4.3 seconds. Since Aoyama crashes down 0.7 seconds before, he covers the 43m in 3.6 seconds, his average velocity therefore being just under 12m/s. Assuming a constant acceleration, his initial velocity would be 0m/s, and his final velocity a rather swift 24m/s. This is reached in 3.6 seconds, so the acceleration given by the laser is 6.7m/s2.

Approximating Aoyama’s mass as 50kg, the momentum he needs is 335kgm/s. The number of photons required for this is 2.4x1029, emitted over 3.6 seconds, with a rate of 6.6x1028 photons per second. To figure out the power output of this laser, we need to multiply the number of photons released by the speed of light, then the Planck constant, then divide that total by the wavelength of light. This gives us a power output of 2.8x1010 watts, or 28 gigawatts. According to Doc Brown from Back to The Future, this is enough energy to travel back in time 25 times over. The Three Gorges Dam in China has the largest power output of any commercial power plant, at just over 2000MW. Aoyama’s laser, if powered solely by Three Gorges Dams, would need 12 to be fired at full power. To get an even better sense of scale, we can show the number of laser pointers Aoyama’s laser is equivalent to: if we lay out laser diodes, each 1x1mm, in a square, with the same power usage as Aoyama’s laser, each side would be over 2.3 million km on each side; 260 times the height of Mt. Everest or six times the distance from Earth to the Moon.

In fact, there is a laser 7000 times more powerful than Aoyama that is currently built and in operation. The Laser for Fast Ignition Experiments (LFEX) is used for fusion energy experiments, and draws 2 petawatts of power. However, it’s only ever fired for 1 trillionth of a second, leading to a total energy output of 2000 Joules. Although Aoyama has a lower power consumption, the total possible energy output is 14 million times greater.

There is no possible way for Aoyama to power the laser due to the eye-watering power consumption, so that must immediately be written off to fiction. So now Aoyama has a 28 Gigawatt laser that can be fired in 1 seconds bursts. What sort of uses does this device have?

Firstly, the laser has a radius of ~1/4m, so an cross sectional area of 0.2m2. Since Aoyama can fire the laser in 1 seconds bursts, he can, at any time, pump 28 gigajoules of energy into any 0.5m radius circular area, be it a tree, a building, or a passer-by. Lets say he point the laser at a large block of ice. How deep would the resulting hole be?

The ice reflects around 2/3rds of the light, meaning in 1 second it absorbs 18.7 gigawatts of energy. Adding together the latent heat of fusion and vaporization, and the specific heat capacity multiplied by 100, gives the amount of energy to melt 1kg of ice at 0°C, heat it to 100°C, and boil it, which comes in at 3008510 joules. Then, divide the energy output of the laser blast by this figure to get the mass of ice that can be vaporized by the laser (remembering to factor in reflection), to find that the laser can melt 3.1 tons of ice. Going back to our ice block example, the resultant hole from 1 second of laser exposure would be 17.2m deep, not taking into account the ice indirectly melted by the cloud of steam.

Now that strange example is figured out, we can take a look at the effects of the same exposure of a human body. The average specific heat capacity of a human is 3470J/kg°C. Assuming a 50kg student or villain took the full force of it across their whole body, they would be heated to 161,000°C, around 1/10th the surface of the sun.  This is of course assuming the student/villain stands there and absorbs all of the energy released. This is improbable, not least because they would be pushed backwards by the force of the light. Also, the laser is much more likely to vaporize a clean hole through them. However, the effects of acceleration, incredible amounts of heat, and a large hole vaporized through one’s torso would most likely lead to death. The problem arises when the careless misuse of the quirk leads to the laser shining on unwanted objects and people. The use of the laser as a method of movement in the 50m race is a good example.

The laser slowly loses efficacy with distance, as the light spreads out and is scattered in the air. Blue light is especially prone to scattering, which is the reason the sky is blue and sunsets are red. However, with a 28 gigawatt laser Rayleigh scattering is pretty insignificant, and the growth of the laser’s cross-section is based only on the focus of the laser. This means that the beam would still be immensely powerful when it met whatever obstacle first crossed its path; and in the case of the 50m race that obstacle would be a patch of woodland. The trees at the edge would be hit first and hardest, absorbing the brunt of the laser, heating up quickly and causing the sap in the wood to boil and expand, exploding the tree outward. This process is repeated a handful of times as the laser rips inwards, splinters and shards of burning wood flying outwards in all directions. Then, once the laser has lost significant energy to heating it would start to burn through a few more trees, setting them on fire and most likely causing a forest fire that burns down the whole patch of woodland.

In addition to woodland conservation, Aoyama’s laser has a few other applications, some that would undoubtedly pay much more than hero work, and would be much more beneficial to the world at large. Since Aoyama uses so much energy and does not need to eat the appropriate amount of carbohydrates (92 thousand slices of cake or 30 thousand servings of pasta) he can violate conservation of energy. With the right apparatus, this could create infinite energy to supply to the whole world, with enough to spare to create wormholes and travel back in time, allowing everyone to live in a post-scarcity utopia (a trait shared by Yaoyorozu, meaning there are now two students who could end world hunger forever but are instead just training to beat up petty criminals). In the short term, Aoyama could get a job in physics, replacing one of the incredible powerful lasers at one of the many fusion power research facilities and supplying 2000x the energy those lasers can, furthering fusion research and helping to create a fusion reactor to supply Japan with huge amounts of clean energy. Or he could look at being a power source for space ships. The idea of beaming energy to space ships and stations has been around for a while, the basic idea being firing a laser at a vessel, which then absorbs the energy with something akin to solar panels, but the issue has always been placing large enough lasers outside the atmosphere to prevent Rayleigh scattering and then finding a way of powering them. Aoyama could solve this problem by either being portable enough to be flown into space or the upper atmosphere and using his quirk there, or even just having a laser powerful enough to still supply enough power despite Rayleigh scattering. This could allow humanity to travel outwards to the stars with minimal need for batteries and no need for any energy generators, in turn meaning less fuel is needed for each vessel. Engines such as ionized xenon drives could be used to propel the ships using only electricity and lightweight xenon gas, making space flight cheaper than it has ever been.

Even in the hero business, Aoyama’s quirk could make quick work of any villain, vaporizing them in less than a second. In offensive capability Aoyama is near unmatched, and utilising mirrors could mean taking out multiple targets at once, or precisely targeting the laser to within millimetres. In fact Aoyama doesn’t even have to move, just fire his laser at a series of precisely calibrated mirrors and lenses, controlled electronically. Orbital mirrors could allow the neutralisation of targets from orbit, with a system similar to the Strategic Defence Initiative developed by the US in 1983, using a system of terrestrial lasers and orbital and ground-based mirrors to take down incoming ballistic missiles. Except this time the laser is much more powerful and created by a high-school student rather than a large nuclear detonation.

There’s not much to conclude about the quirk itself here, apart from the fact that Aoyama can, in spite of all known physics, produce a 28 gigawatt laser from his bellybutton with no side effects other than mild IBS. The practical applications of this laser are immense, and I am just scratching the surface of what this could be used for. However, the used seen in the anime are reckless, and would have caused untold damage and likely significant loss of life.

[1] Season 1 Episode 5: What I Can Do for Now

If you liked this investigation and want to have a say in the next one, then make sure to send a recommendation for which quirk I should investigate!

[until-theend-oftheline]

Ignite

Pairing: Sam Wilson x Reader

Warnings: Explosion(s), Poor Sam   

Square Filled: Trapped in a burning building (marvel fandom) for @badthingshappenbingo and Clothes Sharing for @star-spangled-bingo

Word Count: 1500ish

A/N: This is written for @imhereforbucky cap2 writing challenge. I am so sorry I am late!

Betaed by: @blacktithe7 thank you, sweetie!

***My fics are not to be saved nor posted on any other sites without my express written permission.***

Being Captain America was hard work. It came with a cool costume sure, but Sam was more than aware of the shoes he had to fill. Steve was not only his best friend but also a man he had grown up admiring. He had never once thought he would be carrying the shield and mantel of Captain America himself. 

The title and legacy he was carrying on were stressful enough in of its own, but that wasn’t the only weight Sam had to carry. He was also in charge of turning the remaining Avengers into a team. A lot of people were lost; Tony, Nat, and Vision. Steve, even though he still had a hard time keeping completely away from the facility and probably still could beat down most of the regular soldiers with one hand tight behind his back, was retired. Strange had gone off to some other reality for God knows what reason. Thor had taken off with the Guardians. Bruce, even if capable of fighting, had grown tired of it and mainly remained in Tony’s old labs helping develop new tech as best as he could. Carol had other planets to protect. T'challa, Okoye, and Shuri had a country to lead, and Clint was focusing on his family and training a new girl on his own. 

Sam had been left in charge of the New York compound with Bucky as his second in command. Bucky was a soldier and a great asset to the team, but he wasn’t used to following orders, and on the best day as reckless as Steve had ever been. 

Scott Lang had fought for the Avengers before, but he was excitable. Honestly, his sizing up and down still freaked Sam out a bit. He was never sure when he was gonna nearly fly face-first in an all of a sudden 3 stories tall teammate.

Wanda was as impressive as always, and Sam was grateful for the number of training accidents her powers had been able to keep in check. Then there was you. Another enhanced. New to the team and the world of Avenging, truthfully also kinda new to your powers which were most often the cause of the training accidents, when it wasn’t Scott knocking over half the building sizing something back into its normal size ahead of time. 

You were fire. In more ways than one. You were energetic and eager to learn. You were a great asset to the team, and Sam wouldn’t want you anywhere else. He enjoyed your company more than he cared to admit to himself, especially with Bucky smirking at him every time Sam was training you or spending time alone with you in the company. 

“I’m just trying to help her feel at home,” Sam protested, only for Bucky to roll his eyes at him. 

“Whatever you say, man,” Bucky smirked, tapping the shield on Sam’s back lightly. “Just be careful that thing is not turning you into being as dense as Steve used to be.”

The quiet night sky all of a sudden light up in orange, and Sam was knocked out of his thoughts as the blast and heatwave from the explosion sent him sideways midair. He quickly regained his bearings and took off towards the warehouse where he knew his team had been training while he had been off surveilling a possible HYDRA base. His solo mission had turned out to be a bust but not as bad as his teams training exercise apparently had been.

“Barnes!” Sam called over his comms as he approached the burning building. 

“We’re alive!” Bucky’s voice scattered over the comms, and the Captain breathed a sigh of relief before cursing under his breath. 

“We’re trapped though. Wanda is keeping back the flames,” Bucky explained before continuing. “Y/N had a minor accident.”  

“Accident? You told me to do it,” you snapped back at Bucky in an instant, and Sam sighed heavily as he circled the burning building from above, trying to find a way in or out. 

“I didn’t tell you to blow up the armory! I told you to gently get the door open,”  Bucky grumbled, and Sam couldn’t help but smile as you hissed at his friend again. 

“Gently? When have you ever done anything gently or asked me too? You’re a bull in a China shop Buck!”

“Excuse me, but who set off the explosion, doll,” Bucky’s voice was more teasing than angry, but that didn’t prevent Wanda from releasing an exasperated sigh. 

“Sam!” Wanda’s voice sounded strained, “I can’t hold this forever. Do you have a plan?”

The sound of Wanda’s voice wiped the smile off of Sam’s face as he hadn’t yet found a way out of the building. The fire surrounded his team, and the only way was to push the fire out. 

“Wanda, can you push it out?” Sam asked, looking around the facility already knowing her answer. 

“Yes. But I don’t know where I am throwing it. I could burn the entire compound down,” Wanda warned him just as Sam spotted what he was looking for. 

“Don’t worry about that. Just pushed it out when I tell you, and Tic Tac?” Sam called over the comms.

“Yes. Wait, why am I always responding to you calling me that?” Scott groaned, making Sam smile a little again. 

“Get out here. I need your shrinking thing,” Sam ordered, paying no attention to the grumbles from Scott as he shrank down and headed out of the building towards Sam. 

“What’s the plan?” Scott asked as he returned to his normal size right next to Sam, who had just landed. Sam made a small jump in surprise, much to Scott’s amusement, causing the Captain to shoot him a glare before pointing towards the water truck. 

“Remember Germany? That one is actually water,” Sam explained and Scott grinned, instantly understanding. 

“On it,” he answered, sprinting across the tarmac, only to returned with the now toy seized truck and handing it to Sam. “How’s your arm, Cap?”

“You’re about to find out,” Sam answered before calling out to Wanda. “On the count of three, push the fire out the roof.” Sam grabbed the shrinking device from Scott who made a sound of protest but before he could say anything Sam had taken off hovering directly above the warehouse he started counting ignoring Scott yelling at him. 

“Sam! Have you lost your mind?! She’s gonna hit you!”

“3,” Sam dropped the device and within a millisecond he tossed the truck through it, “2” he spun around grabbing his guns, shooting the back end of the tuck just as it collided with the roof, making the water pour out over the building like a sprinkler system, “1. Wanda NOW!” Sam ordered, and without a second’s hesitation she obeyed his command, and the fire was completely swallowed by the water, leaving his three teammates looking like drowned mice below. 

“That was your only plan huh, Bird?” Bucky grumbled, pushing his hair back and out of his face as Sam landed next to him with a grin. 

“What? You’d prefer to have been roasted instead, Tinman?” Sam teased, and Wanda shook her head, taking off, airlifting you with her out of the building, leaving Sam to give the sulking super soldier a lift. 

“Are you all okay?” Sam asked looking around before his eyes landed on you. You instantly looked down to your feet, mumbling. 

“I didn’t think it would explode.”

“Hey, it’s okay. That’s why we train,” Sam assured you, pulling his jacket from the truck he had parked near the warehouse earlier in the day. He wrapped it around your shoulders and smiled when you looked up at him with a surprised look in your eyes. 

“It’s just a lesson in never doing as Bucky says again,” Sam sassed, and you felt your face heat up as Bucky pointed out the obvious.

“Whatever you say, Cap. Where are our dry clothes, or are they just for your girl?” Bucky grinned as Sam shot him a glare, and Wanda giggled as she began pushing Scott and Bucky backward towards the compound. 

“Let’s give them a minute. And we need to dry off too,” she ordered Bucky and tapped Scott over the hand as he reached for his belt, no doubt hoping to linger around to spy for a bit. 

Sam mouthed a thank you to Wanda before turning back to face you, now smiling softly up at him. 

“Why do we need a moment alone Sam?” you asked, and Sam’s smile widened as he looked to your lips and back into your eyes. 

“Cause I have been putting something off for way too long now,” he replied, leaning down slowly, giving you time to step back if this wasn’t what you wanted. You didn’t, instead, you wrapped your arms around Sam’s neck, standing on your toes helping him close the gap before your lips met in your first kiss of the rest of your lives. 

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[imdoingthismspaintadventure]

WORM 1.5 : In which we are saved by the bestest of good boys

You don’t properly appreciate what superhuman strength means until you see someone leap from the sidewalk to the second floor of a building on the far side of the street.  He didn’t make it all the way to the roof, but he came to a point maybe three quarters of the way up.  I wasn’t sure just how Lung kept from falling, but I could only guess that he just buried his fingertips into the building’s exterior.

Holy shit.

He just mega jumped to the building where Taylor is and is hanging on the outside wall by his claws!

You better come up with a way to escape or to do something, cause you seem preeetyy dead right now.

I heard scraping and crunching as he ascended, and looked to my only escape route.  I didn’t harbor any delusions as far as my ability to get down the fire escape before Lung came over the top of the roof and deduced where I’d run off to.  Worse, at that point he could probably just beat me to the street level by jumping off the roof, or even just shoot fire at me through the gaps in the metal while I was halfway down.  The irony of the fire escape being anything but didn’t escape me.

Yeah that’s kind of a disadvantage of being in high-up places if you can’t fly or teleport or something. Pretty easy to get trapped.

I wished I could fly.  My school offered the choice between Chemistry, Biology and Physics, with Basic Science for the underachievers.  I hadn’t picked Physics, but I was still pretty sure that no matter how many I could gather together, jumping off the roof with a swarm of flying insects gripping me would be just as ineffective as the 9 year old superhero wannabes you heard about in the news, jumping off ledges with umbrellas and bedsheets.

 I really don’t think they can carry your bodyweight, or even slow down your descent. You would splat on the floor like a, well, bug.

Also holy shit that is kinda dark and probably a likely consecuence of powers in our world. Poor kids.

For the time being, I was stuck where I was.

Home BuildingStuck

Reaching inside the convex armor that covered my spine, I ran my fingers over the things I had buckled in there.  The EpiPens were meant to treat anaphylactic shock from allergic reactions to bee stings and the like, and likely wouldn’t do a thing to Lung, even if I could get close enough and find a point to inject.  Worst case scenario, the injections would supercharge his power by prompting a surge of whatever hormones or endorphins fueled his power.  Not useful, dangerous at best.  I had a pouch of chalk dust that was meant for climbers and gymnasts, I had seen it in the sports store when I was buying the lenses for my mask.  I had gloves and didn’t think I needed the dryness and extra traction, but I had gotten the idea that it could be useful to throw at an invisible enemy, and bought it on a whim.  In retrospect, it had been kind of a dumb purchase, since my power let me find foes like that with my bugs. As a tool against Lung… I wasn’t sure if it would explode like regular dust could when exposed to flame, but fire didn’t hurt him anyways. Scratch that option.

...Fuck yes

I love characters that think about what they could do best in every situation with the resources they have. If Taylor is like this for the rest of the serial....God I’m gonna enjoy this.

The problem is that I don’t think she has many options at all

I tugged the little canister of pepper spray free from my armor.  It was a black tube, three inches long, not much thicker around than a pen, with a trigger and a safety switch.  It had been a gift from my dad, after I had started to go on my morning jogs for training.  He had warned me to vary my route, and had given me the pepper spray for protection, along with a chain to clip it to my belt loop so it couldn’t be taken and used against me by an attacker.  In costume, I had opted not to keep the chain for the sake of moving quietly.  Using my thumb, I flicked the safety off and positioned the tube so I was ready to fire. I crouched to make myself a smaller target, and waited for him to show himself.

Hmmm could pepper spray work? Maybe if he doesn’t have his eyes or face fully armored...

Also I find the mental image of this possibly hilarious.

Lung’s hands, still on fire, were the first thing to show up, gripping the edge of the roof hard enough to bend the material that covered the roof’s raised lip.  His hands were quickly followed by his head and torso as he hauled himself up.  He looked like he was made of overlapping knives or spades, smouldering yellow-orange with the low temperature flame.  There was no skin to be seen, and he was easily seven or eight feet tall, judging by the length of his arms and torso. His shoulders alone were three feet across at the very least.  Even the one eye that he had open looked metallic, a glowing, almond shaped pool of liquid-hot metal.

He probably looks more like a daemon than a dragon now. At least he doesn’t seem to have wings...

Just a veritable inferno of molted metal and flame and a looot of anger

I aimed for the open eye, but the spray fired off at a sharp angle, just glancing off his shoulder.  Where the spray grazed him, it ignited into a short lived fireball.

Taylor used improvised flamethrower against the fire demon! Doesn’t seem very effective...

Hopefully the spray doesn’t ignite before touching his face because I think a pyrokinetic can handle himself otherwise...

I swore under my breath and fumbled with the device.  While he brought his leg over the edge, I adjusted my angle and shot again.  This time – with a small tweak of my aim mid-shot – I hit him in the face.  The ignited spray rolled off of him, but the contents still did the trick. He screamed, letting go of the roof with one hand, clutching the side of his face where his good eye was.

AAGH MY EYE! WHY IS IT ALWAYS THE GODDAMN EYE??!

Taylor could be an excellent markswoman, she seems to have a lot of precission and nuance in aiming.

It had been vain to hope that he would slip and fall.  I just counted myself lucky that however metallic his face looked, there were still parts of it vulnerable to the spray.

At least for now...

Lung hauled himself over the edge of the roof.  I had him hurting… I just couldn’t do anything about it.  My bugs were officially useless, there was nothing left in my utility sheath, and I would hurt myself more than I hurt Lung if I attacked him.  Making a mental note to pick myself up a concealable knife or baton if I managed to live through this, I bolted for the fire escape. 

Time to use the Joestar’s secret technique then!

Also yeah some hand to hand weaponry could be useful for the future. Probably not with this warp-demon, but with regular joes, so that we can be less squishy wizard in our approach

“Muh… Motherfucker!”  Lung screamed.  With my back turned, there was no way to see it, but the roof was briefly illuminated before the wave of flame hit me from behind.  Knocked off balance, I skidded on the gravel and hit the raised lip of the roof, just by the fire escape. Frantically, I patted myself down.  My costume wasn’t on fire, but my hair – I hurriedly ran my hands over it to make sure it hadn’t been ignited.

Oh fuck!

Yeah the fact that the costume is not yet fully complete came back to bite you it seems. Let’s hope we don’t end up with too severe burns in our first night out, christ.

Small mercies, I thought, that there was no tar used on the roof.  I could just imagine the flames igniting the rooftop, and just how little I’d be able to do if it happened.

That... would have been unfortunate. 100% fucked instead of the .... 87% we are at right now.

Lung stood, slowly, still covering part of his face with his hand.  He walked with a slight limp as he approached me.  Blindly, he lashed out with a broad wave of flame that rolled over half the roof.  I covered my head with my hands and brought my knees to my chest as the hot air and flame rushed over me.  My costume seemed to take the brunt of it, but it was still hot enough I had to bite my lip to stop from making a sound.

The costume seems to be fire resistant! Mostly.

Spider silk is fucking badass.

Lung stopped advancing, slowly turning his head from one side to another.

“Cock.  Sucker,” he growled in his heavily accented voice, his cussing interrupted by his panting for breath, “Move.  Give me something to aim for.”

Actual perfect recreation of trying to hunt a fly at 4 am in the morning when you can’t sleep, and aren’t a white hot metal terror.

I held my breath and stayed as still as possible.  What could I do?  I still had the pepper spray in my hand, but even if I got him again, I was running the risk that he would lash out and bake me alive before I could move.  If I moved first, he would hear me and I would get knocked around by another blast of flame, probably before I could get to my feet. 

Eeeh your options are...

1) Spray him in the face, get blasted

2) Stay quiet.... probably get blasted as well.

3)Try to get away, and get... I’m starting to see a pattern here

Lung moved his hand from his face.  He blinked a few times, then looked around, then blinked a few more times.  It was a matter of seconds before he could see well enough to make me out from the shadows.  Wasn’t pepper spray supposed to put someone down for thirty minutes?  How was this monster not an A-Lister?

Well ain’t that a fucking horrible thing to think about.

Either:

1) He’s way stronger than he should be and he’s basically content with being small-time thug, even with the potential he has in the larger world stage

or...

2) He’s a big fish in a small pond and the people out there make him look silly by comparison which is.... holy shit.

He suddenly moved, flames wreathing his hands, and I screwed my eyes shut.

At least he’s not saying feel the heat over and over

And also how the fuck will you get out of this one

When I heard the crackling whoosh of the flame and wasn’t burned alive, I opened my eyes again.  Lung was firing streams of flame, aiming for the edge of the roof of the adjacent building, a three story apartment.  I looked to see what he was aiming at, but couldn’t make anything out in the gloom or in the brief second of light Lung’s flames afforded.

!!!!!

Reinforcements!! Someone has come to help!! Or at least to fight AGAINST Lung!!

Yes!

With no warning, a massive shape landed atop Lung with an impact I could swear people heard at the other end of the street.  The size of a van, the ‘massive object’ was animal rather than vehicle, resembling a cross between a lizard and a tiger, with tangles of muscle and bone where it ought to have skin, scales or fur.  Lung was now on his knees, holding one of the beast’s sizable claws away from his face with his own clawed hand.

OH FUCK

A GIANT FUCKING METAL-LOOKING BONEY FERAL BEAST JUST FELL FROM NOWHERE AND IS FIGHTING AGAINST THE INFERNAL DRAGON MAN

Lung used his free hand to strike the creature across the snout.  Even though he was smaller than the beast, the impact made it rear back.  It took a few short steps back in reaction, and then rhino-charged him off the edge of the roof.  They hit the street with an audible crash.

AND THE TWO BERSERKERS ARE HURLING THEMSELVES OFF OF THE BUILDING TO THE STREET BELOW

This is glorious.

I stood, aware I was shaking like a leaf.  I was so unsteady on my feet, from the mixed relief and fear, that I almost fell over again as two more impacts shook the roof.  Two more creatures, similar to the first in texture, but slightly different in size and shape, had arrived on the rooftop.  These two each had a pair of riders.  I watched as the people slid off the backs of the animals.  There were two girls, a guy, and a fourth I identified as male only because of the height.  The tall one approached me, while the others hurried to the edge of the roof to watch Lung and the creature duke it out.

THEY WERE JUST THE RIDES FOR THESE PEOPLE

What a fucking entrance

“You really saved us a lot of trouble,” he told me.  His voice was deep, masculine, but muffled by the helmet he wore.  He was dressed entirely in black, a costume I realized was basically motorcycle leathers and a motorcycle helmet.  The only thing that made me think it was a costume was the visor of his helmet.  The full-face visor was sculpted to look like a stylized skull, and was as black as the rest of his costume, with only the faint highlights of reflected light on the surface to give a sense of what it was.  It was one of those costumes that people put together out of what they can scrounge up, and it wasn’t half bad if you didn’t look too close.  He reached out a hand towards me, and I leaned away, wary.

Damn he looks cool. He’s giving me ghost rider vibes in his outfit, but without the flaming skull part. Just badass biker energy

I didn’t know what to say, so I stuck to my policy of not saying anything that could get me into a worse situation.

At least you are not on fire, even though mr black leather and his zombie behemoths aren’t really giving me heroic vibes

Withdrawing his hand, the man in black jerked his thumb over one shoulder, “When we got word Lung was aiming to come after us tonight, we were pretty freaked.  We were arguing strategy for the better part of the day.  We eventually decided, fuck it, we’d meet him halfway.  Wing it.  Not my usual way of doing things, but yeah.”

Oh! ooooohhhh.

So the “Killing kids” part wasn’t actually murdering random civilians for the evulz

It was probably a territorial dispute! Cause these are totally villains or anti-heroes/vigilantes. Either/or

Behind him, one of the girls whistled sharply and pointed down at the street.  The two monsters the group had been riding on bounded across the roof and leaped down to the street to join the fight.

Seems like that one is the trainer.

The guy in black kept talking, “Wouldn’t you know, his flunky Lee is there with a half dozen guys, but Lung and the rest of his gang are nowhere to be found,” he laughed, a surprisingly normal sound for someone wearing a mask with a skull on it.

He doesn’t seem to consider us a threat at least so that’s a relief

So they fought his underling while our girl here, on her lonesome, straight up picked a fight with bossman.

“Lee’s no slouch in a fight, but there’s a reason he’s not leader of the ABB.  He got spooked without his boss there and ran.  I guess you’re responsible for that?”  Skull-mask waited for a response from me.  When I didn’t offer one, he ventured towards the edge of the roof and looked down, then spoke without turning to look at me, “Lung is getting creamed.  The fuck you do to him?”

Oh shit the venoms or the eye-injuries are making a difference in helping the hell-mount win!

“Pepper spray, wasp and bee stings, fire ants and spider bites,” the second of the girls said, answering the question for me.  She was dressed in a skintight outfit that combined black with a pale shade of blue or purple – I couldn’t tell in the dark – and her dark blond hair was long and windblown.  The girl grinned as she added, “He’s not holding up too well.  Gonna feel a helluvalot worse tomorrow.”

She can know all that with just a look??

Information-based powers!! Intuition? Clairvoyance? Omniscience? Those always seem crazy OP to me in terms of offering support!

The man in black suddenly turned to look at me, “Introductions.  That’s Tattletale.  I’m Grue.  The girl with the dogs-” he pointed to the other girl, the one who had whistled and directed the monsters.  She wasn’t in costume unless I counted a plaid skirt, army boots, a torn-up sleeveless T-shirt and a hard plastic, dollar-store rottweiler mask as a costume. “-We call her Bitch, her preference, but in the interests of being P.G., the good guys and media decided to call her Hellhound instead.  Last and certainly least, we have Regent.”

Grue? Huh, I can’t really guess what he could do based on that. Isn’t it like an urban legend or fairytale monster?

Tattletale...so her power IS information based! I also like the simpleness of her costume which I hadn’t mentioned

Bitch (Hellhound think of the children! ) looks really butch and badass from what I can hear. She seems to be the one with the beast power, cue the “Bitch” in her name

Regent...hmmm, something nobility-related?

I finally caught up with what he was saying.  Those monsters were dogs?

Abyssal doggos!!

“Fuck you, Grue,” Regent retorted, with a chuckle and a tone of voice that made it clear he wasn’t really that offended.  He was wearing a white mask, not quite as decorative or made up as the ones I associated with the carnivals in Venice, but similar.  He’d placed a silver coronet around his short black curls, and wore a ruffled white shirt with skintight leggings tucked into knee-high boots.  The outfit was very renaissance faire.  He had a build that made me think more of a dancer than a bodybuilder.

He looks really theatrical. I really like his aesthetics. I still wonder what his power is.

Introductions done, Grue looked at me for several long moments.  After a few seconds, he asked me, “Hey, you okay?  You hurt?”

“The reason she’s not introducing herself isn’t because she’s hurt,” Tattletale told him, as she continued to lean over the edge of the roof and watch whatever was going on at the street level, “It’s because she’s shy.”

Damn omniscients and their lack of privacy!!

Her power is actually scary though. No secrets with her around..

Tattletale turned around and it looked like she was going to say something else, but she stopped, turning her head.  The smile she’d been wearing faded, “Heads up.  We’ve gotta scram.”

Bitch nodded in response and whistled, one short whistle followed by two long ones.  After a brief pause, the building was suddenly rattled by impacts.  In just moments, the three creatures of hers leaped from the alleys to either side of the building and onto the roof.

Grue turned towards me.  I was still standing on the opposite end of the roof, by the fire escape. “Hey, want a ride?”

What?? Oh god is someone else coming as well?? What now?

I looked at the creatures – dogs?  They were bloodied, snarling creatures out of a nightmare.  I shook my head.  He shrugged.

The dogs look like something you would see on doom and it is amazing

“Hey,” Tattletale said to me, seating herself just behind Bitch, “What’s your name?”

I stared at her.  My voice caught in my throat before I was able to get the words out, “I don’t… I haven’t picked one yet.”

“Well, Bug, a cape is gonna show up in less than a minute.  You did us a solid by dealing with Lung, so take my advice.  Someone from the Protectorate shows up, finds two bad guys duking it out, they’re not going to let one walk away.  You should get out of here,”  She said. She flashed me a smile.  She had one of those vulpine grins that turned up at the corners.  Behind her simple black domino style mask, her eyes were glittering with mischief.  If she had red hair, she would have made me think of a fox.  She kind of did, anyways.

It’s true she doesn’t have a name yet! I guess bug would suffice for now.

And yuup they were bad guys, I knew it. Seems they have mistaken Taylor for one!

Well when you take into account the possibly too-grimdark edgy-lite costume and what she fucking did to Lung with her bugs in his eyes.... yeah I could see how they can draw that conclusion

With that, they leaped over my head, one of the three beasts hitting or stepping on the fire escape on the way down, eliciting a screech of metal on metal.

When I realized what had just happened, I could have cried.  It was easy enough to pin down Regent, Tattletale and Bitch as teenagers.  It wasn’t much of an intuitive leap to guess that Grue had been one too. The ‘children’ Lung had mentioned, the ones I had gone to so much effort to save tonight, were bad guys.  Not only that, but they had mistaken me for one, too.

Happy first day out as a hero, Taylor! Well done!

And it still might not be over yet, let’s see what happens with this hero arrival. Let’s hope they don’t reach the same conclusions this time.

But we will see that next time! See you in the next update!

[kalinkaooc]

Issue 2-4 rewrite (4)

As promised my next comic rewrite. I haven’t proofread it yet but I wanted to get it out to you guys today.

Rock looked around the oil rig he was sent to.

“Can’t believe we still have these. Didn’t oil fall out of fashion decades ago?”

Dr. Light readjusted his com set. “Yes while oil as a fuel source has mostly been replaced by much more efficient and environmentally friendly methods it is still a valuable resources for the production of many different products, including many of the durable plastics used to make you and your siblings.”

“Heh, guess Oil’s not out the job yet. Just tell me witch way to go.”

“He’s probably at the center. From what I can tell he’s at least two stories up from your current position.”

Rock glanced up the structure. “Huh, not a problem. I’ll be up there and blasting before Oil Man even knows I’m here.”

Unfortunately getting up there was easer said than done as it turned out Oil had covered large parts of the floor with oil, causing him to slide around and fall quite a few times. Not to mention the Mets with cactus like structures on top of them that shot spikes in every direction. By the time Rock go to the top he was covered in oil and small scratches.

“Yuck and I thought getting lightly sprayed with circulatory fluid was gross.”

“It’s only going to get worse when fighting Oil Man. His main function was redirect oil leaks, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Dr. Wily modified his tank to be more high pressure.”

“Meaning?”

Roll was the one to answer this time. “Meaning you’re probably going to be hit with a lot of oil flying at you really fast.”

“Great, better make this quick.”

He activated the Fire Storm and walked into the next room.

Oil Man was waiting for him as expected.

“Hey there little bro. Can’t say I’m thrilled this is the way we’re meetin’”

“Can’t say I’m happy about this either but this is the way it’s got to be.”

Rock sent off a blast of fire and Oil bolted out of the way, true terror on his face.

“What? No one told my you had fire!”

Rock smiled. “What the matter, scared?”

Oil Man shakily took a step back. “Now Rock maybe we can talk about this.”

Rock sent another blast at him and Oil let out an “EEP” as he ducked.

“I’m done talking. I just go you and Time let and this will finally be over.”

Oil’s optics widened then scrunched in anger. He launched himself towards Rock faster than any blast could hit and pinned him against the wall.

“Don’t you dare hurt him!”

Rock simply placed his buster against Oil Man’s torso and fired. The blast sent him back as the fire ignited his tank and sent him instantly offline.

Rock rubbed at his shoulders where Oil had grabbed him. He’d been gripping so tight he’d nearly dented him. “Well at least I didn’t get high pressure oil flung at me.”

He walked over to Oil Man and copied his weapon’s data before being sent off to the next location.

“A clock tower huh? Let me guess Time Man’s at the top.”

“Yes, probably near the clock face so you’ll have to clime through some of the mechanisms to get to him, are you sure you’re up for that?”

“Roll please, after what I’ve been through a few spinning gears sound like a walk in the park.”

Rock then felt something under his boot give way and he looked down to see a device slowly counting down. He stumbled back just it exploded, only just getting out of the danger zone.

“He installed time bombs!”

He then saw something out of the corner of his eye and ducked just in time for it to swing over his head.

“And electrified pendulums!”

“Walk in the park huh? Sure you don’t want to come back for a tune up?”

Rock growled before standing back up.

“I’ve gone through 7 fully armed Robot Masters; I’m not quitting at an unfinished prototype.”

“Rock!”

Rock didn’t reply and just kept going.

-

Roll turned off her mike and looked to Dr. Light.

“It’s getting worse and I can’t get him to come home.”

“It’s ok Roll after he beats Time Man, we’ll be able to get him home and fix this.”

“But Time Man is so fragile and unarmed, Rock could really hurt him.”

“Don’t worry, Rock may be having a hard time processing his actions, but he is still Rock and would never truly harm anyone.”

Roll nodded and turned back to the monitors.

-

Rock had made it to the top of the clock tower now and was facing off against time.

“Hmm, you’re here earlier than expected.”

Time Man’s face was neutral, no hint of fear or worry of his situation. He simply stood there waiting for Rock to make his first move.

Rock switched over to the Thunder Beam and took aim. He let loos a bolt right at Time, but he rang the bells on his head, and everything slowed down. Time than walked out of the way of the shot just as everything went back to normal speed.

-

Roll and Dr. Light stared at the screens in shock.

“Did he really just…?”

“I don’t believe it. Albert actually got him working, but how?”

“If Time Man can actually control time then how is Rock supposed to beat him.”

Dr. Light narrowed his eyes as he looked as the monitors. Rock tried to hit Time Man again, only for the same thing to happen.

“Or maybe he didn’t.” He adjusted his microphone and started talking. “Rock, I don’t think Time Man is as in control of time as he wants us to believe. He’s only able to slow time, not stop it, and needs to focus when he’s doing it. If you can distract him even for a few seconds you might be able to hit him.”

-

“Got it.”

Rock saw a small gear laying on the platform that was probably a spare part for the clock. He grabbed it and cucked it at Time who reflexively used his Time Slow to avoid being hit. However, in his attempt to avoid the gear he stepped right in the line of Rock’s next shot. As soon as he realized what was happening, he switched his Time Slow to the bolt, but it was too late. Even with the Time Slow it was already too close and would hit him regardless.

However, there was still plenty of time for this realization to sink in and for Time’s mask of boredom to shatter. First to shock, then utter fear, and Rock was in fell view of all of it. Time was flung back like he was nothing, sparks flying across his body before he fell to the ground with the sound of damaged internal structures.

Rock was stunned for a few moments before taking a step towards Time. However, he didn’t get far as he was forcefully teleported back to Light Labs.

When he arrived, he noticed he was surrounded by a force field on all sides. Angered he started banging on the sides of the field and letting off several attacks before he turned to see Dr. Light and Roll looking at him with heart broken expressions. That was when everything sank in.

He collapsed to the ground fully powering down to his civilian form. Dr. Light quickly turned off the force field and Roll ran over to her brother.

“Stop!”

Roll stopped only a few feet away.

“Rock.”

“Please, don’t get any closer. Not until Dad takes these weapons away from me. I’m too dangerous with them.” Tears started to fall as he curled in on himself. “Guess it wasn’t that hard for our brothers to believe I’d become a bad robot.”

“Oh Rock.” Dr. Light came over and scooped his son into a hug. “No, you were never a bad robot, you were just a child given way too much power and responsibility at once. That is a lot for anyone to process.”

Rock buried his face into Dr. Light’s chest.

“I don’t understand.”

“I mean that you took on a great task and despite your courage and strength you needed help. And that’s what I’m doing now.”

“So, I’m not a bad robot?”

“Hardly, you wanted to help despite knowing the risk and did everything you could to make things better. I’d say that’s pretty good.”

Rock smiled and dried his eyes. Dr. Light smiled back.

“Now how about we bring back your brothers and find out where Dr. Wily is hiding.”

“Sounds good.”

Roll then cut in.

“Um there’s one problem with that. I went back to see where Rock left the others but they’re not there anymore.”

“What?”

“Some Skull like drones came and took them away.”

Dr. Light frowned.

“Dr. Wily must be bring them back to him so he can rebuild them and keep using them for whatever plan he has.”

Rock looked down at his hands before taking a simulated breath and powering up his armor again.

“Not if I have anything to say about it. Can you track where those drones are taking them.”

Roll placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Rock are you sure…”

“I am. I know I didn’t handle things well when I was fighting our brothers, but I understand what I need to do now. I promise it won’t happen again.”

Roll looked him over and crossed her arms.

“It better not. The drones are heading for the factory Dad and Dr. Wily used to build all of us. You should be able to teleport right in.”

“Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Knowing Wily he probably put a dampening signal around the factory. No teleporting in or out.”

“I don’t care, get me a close as you can, and I’ll make my way on foot. I’m not letting him use our brothers like this anymore.”

“Ok, but please be careful. You won’t be able to teleport out if things go wrong.”

“I know, I promise to come back safely, with all of our brothers.”

[shan282-ao3]

The Devil Has Come Ch6

Originally posted on Archive of Our Own [x]

Chapters: 12/? Fandom: Far Cry 5 Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Female Deputy | Judge/John Seed, Female Deputy | Judge/Jacob Seed, Female Deputy | Judge/Joseph Seed Characters: Original Female Character(s), John Seed, Jacob Seed, Joseph Seed, Faith Seed, Staci Pratt, Nick Rye, Sharky Boshaw, Female Deputy | Judge (Far Cry), Original Male Character(s), Kim Rye, Boomer (Far Cry), Joey Hudson, Earl Whitehorse Additional Tags: Canon-Typical Violence, Torture, Fluff, Minor Character Death, Recreational Drug Use, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Eventual Smut, Character Death, Slow Burn Series: Part 1 of Bottom of The River

Summary: They should never have been there. Whitehorse and Pratt were right when they spoke against going to Eden’s Gate. They should have left The Project alone. They’d started something and there was no going back now. The lamb had broken the first seal and the deputy had been helpless to stop her.

Read below:

Hope County had been hit with a heat wave, the last two days had been passed in agony with the air-conditioning inside whatever car they traveled in. The only sound inside the pickup was choir music drifting softly through the radio. Sarah sat in the passenger’s seat counting ammo and reloading her weapons as well as Rook.

She’d told Rook about John when she’d gotten to the Rye's. Thankfully she’d still been there so Sarah had been able to pull her aside and tell her everything. Well not everything, she’d left out the weird baptism and the softer details from her two encounters with him. She’d had been rightfully pissed off that Sarah hadn’t told her sooner, but aside from that, she didn’t seem too worried. She had, however, decided that they stick together from now on if they went out to do something for the resistance they went together.

So they now found themselves sitting in the car on the side of the road waiting for a fuel truck to drive by. Falls End was running low and Mary May had tasked them with bringing some tankers back. Of course, that was easier said than done.

“You ready?” Rook asked and pointed down the road to a fuel tanker driving slowly towards them. Sarah nodded and loaded the clip into her sniper.

She grabbed the outside of the car and pulled herself out of the car so she was sitting on the open window, her shoes leaving boot prints on the seat. She twisted and raised the scope to line up her shot. She took a breath as she centered the crosshairs on the driver’s chest. Normally she would go for a headshot but if she did that they risked the tanker careening off the road and crashing into something.

She held her breath and fired, watching through her scope as the bullet impaled the man. The brakes squealed and it veered towards a ditch on the side of the road but came to a halt before going over. Sarah finally let herself breathe.

She dropped back into the car as Rook drove towards the tanker. They stopped next to it and Rook climbed out. Sarah waited in the passenger seat with her AR-C trained on the road in front of them in case some cultists decided to crash the party.

Something caught Sarah’s eye near the truck, Rook was dragging the dead Peggie away. Sarah jumped out of her seat to get closer, unsure of what it was she’d seen. When she got close to the tank she gagged, the smell of gasoline was sickening. Her eyes widened when she realized what it was she had seen. A stream of flame was shooting out from behind the driver’s seat, her bullet must have gone through the guy and into the tank. She hadn’t switched out of the armor-piercing bullets.

“Run!” Sarah shouted at Rook, turning on heel and sprinting back to the car and leaped into the drivers. She flipped it into reverse and skidded backward, stopping long enough for Rook to get in.

“What the fuck is going on?” Rook’s voice was frantic and demanding.

“I shot the tanker. When I shot the Peggie I hit the tank and ignited the gas.” Sarah craned her neck to look behind them as she reversed away.

“What?” Rook shouted, panic and anger coming across clear. “How the fuck?”

Sarah didn’t answer, a Resistance car drove past them towards the tanker. They both watched helplessly as the car got closer just as the tanker blew. The women screamed as the force of the explosion caused their bones to rattle.

Sarah couldn’t hear anything and there was a massive spot in the center of her vision. She fumbled around until she grasped the door handle and pulled it. She tumbled out of the car to the hot asphalt below. She swore and rubbed her head as she sat on the ground.

Rook stumbled around to the driver’s side and grabbed Sarah’s arm, yanking her up and pointing in the direction of the Resistance members, she was saying something that Sarah couldn’t hear. The van hadn’t exploded in the blast but a thick black smoke was pouring out of the engine.

Sarah followed behind Rook, trying to keep her bearings as they got closer. The vehicle’s occupants were passed out, Sarah followed her partner’s lead and opened one of the doors to drag someone out. The engine caught fire and Sarah tugged harder on the woman in her arms, there were still two people left inside, one in the passenger’s seat and one more in the backseat. She pulled the woman to safety and took a few steps towards the van again.

The explosion that followed sent her flying back onto her ass. Her hearing had been starting to return, extremely muffled but it had been coming back. Now the only thing she could hear was a high pitched ringing. Her head screamed at her to stay down as she shoved herself into a sitting position. The bright spot in her vision was worse now, she could see it every time she blinked.

Somewhere deep down she knew she should check the van, see if anyone survived. She should look for Rook, should check on the woman she’d pulled out. Yet once she’d pushed herself to her feet she found herself stumbling away from the explosion down the road. All other thoughts gone from her mind, she dragged herself past the car chasing safety, home.

It wasn’t long before cars rolled up. Sarah wasn’t surprised, she barely blinked an eye at the white trucks with the Eden’s Gate symbols painted on their doors. Someone tugged on her arm, hazy, confused, shocked, Sarah turned painfully slowly and made eye contact with Rook. She was saying something, Sarah just shook her head and pulled away to resume her walking.

A Peggie jumped from their car and walked towards Sarah, she stopped and looked down at her gun, safely tucked in its holster. She could draw it, she had time. She didn’t, just stopped moving and watched the man as he got closer. He grabbed her and slammed her against a nearby truck, she was numbly aware that it hurt. The barrel of a gun pressed against her neck and she took a sharp inhale if this was how it ended then so be it. She pushed against the gun and felt hesitation in the man.

Pain enveloped her chest and she looked up, past the man with the gun at her throat, to see another had shot her. Rook lay on the ground not too far away. Star and sparkles swam around her vision and the ringing in her ears got softer. Bliss bullets. Sarah closed her eyes and breathed as the bliss took over and she collapsed to the ground.

“Why the hell is she here?” Someone shouted and the sound of something breaking drifted through the doorway.

“She was with the deputy, I thought—“ Another voice, it sounded scared.

“You thought? You thought?!” Sarah groaned, the voices assaulting her ears made her headache worse. “I ordered everyone to leave her alone. You were just supposed to take the rookie not her.” Someone cried out in pain, Sarah tried to care but she couldn’t find the effort in her.

She opened her eyes hesitantly, grateful for the shitty lighting in the room she was in. It was dark aside from the few dim yellow lights hanging above, it was supposed to be menacing she was sure, but to her just felt comforting in a way. There was no one else around, she was finally alone. Except she wasn’t.

Someone cried out to her left, frantic and muffled. Sarah looked to the source, her eye’s fixing on Hudson who was tied to a chair in the corner of the room. She opened her mouth to say something but found she couldn’t, her mouth was taped shut. A touch of panic set in, Sarah looked wildly around to get her bearings, the binds on her wrist cut in every time she moved. Groaning from her right alerted her to Rook’s presence in the room.

The sound of metal squealing caught Sarah’s attention and she watched the door closest to Rook swing open. John stepped through, violence and rage painted on his face and obvious in the way he stalked into the room. Hudson was screaming, Sarah wanted to tell her to shut the fuck up, it was hurting her head.

John paused by Rook who was only now starting to stir but continued on until he stopped in front of Sarah. He grabbed her chin with a grip much harder than she was comfortable with and forced her head up to look him in the eye, turned her this way and that as his too blue eyes looked for something. His body language threatened cat violence, cruelty, all the pain to come, but the eyes that looked with her for a moment betrayed a certain softness, maybe even a bit of regret. It was gone as soon as she saw it though and he let her go, shoving her back a bit.

He bent down and picked up a toolbox of some sort before talking towards the workbench across from her. He dropped something onto the table beside Rook, who was now awake and obviously a little in shock at their situation.

John walked like he had an audience, his movements emphasized and drawn out. It worked to his advantage, all three of his captives watched intently. He stood still for a few seconds, Sarah wasn’t sure why. Hudson had stopped watching him and instead looked down submissively at the floor. He finally pivoted towards Rook and started to speak.

“My parents were the first ones to teach me about the Power of Yes.” He drew the last word out, there was a ghost of a smirk on his lips. “One night, they took me into the kitchen, and they threw me on the ground,” He wasn’t looked at Rook anymore, he had his back to her and was stapling something that looked like skin to his bench, “And I experienced pain after pain after paid—“

His stapler slammed onto the bench, everyone in the room jumped. For the first time, Sarah felt genuine fear when she looked at him. Before it had only been momentary panic or a sense of unease, but now, rage and cruelty lacing his voice and actions, she could barely breathe. She felt like a cornered rabbit staring down a hungry cougar, her instincts screaming at her to run but her body trapped against her chair.

“And when I didn’t think I could take anymore, I did.” His eyes darted to Sarah for a second as he walked towards Rook. “Something broke free inside. I wasn’t scared. I was… clear.” Sarah watched his every moment, partly out of fear and partly out of some sick fascination. He sounded so at peace, and somewhat cocky, as he continued. “I looked up at them and I started to laugh. All I could say was… Yes.” Again he drew the word out and Sarah finally understood what Nick had meant when he said John Seed probably had a ‘yes’ kink.

Sarah kicked against her bounds and John looked at her sharply before continuing his little speech. Sarah had stopped listening, she tried to block him out and looked around the room, searching for some way out.

“Giving takes courage. The courage…” He stepped away from Rook and walked back towards his bench. He held eye contact with Sarah as he continued. “To own your sin. To etch it on to your flesh and carry its burden,” He turned his palms up in some guise of holiness and directed his attention back to Rook. “And when you have endured— when you have truly begun to atone— to cut it out like a cancer and display it for all to see. My god that’s courage.” The image brought bile to her throat. He grabbed a screwdriver and stalked towards Sarah. There was a purr in his voice as he stalked towards her. “I’m going to teach you courage. Teach you how to say ‘yes’ so you can confront your weaknesses.” There was a manic excitement in him and he turned back around, his focus darting all over the place as he continued his rant and he voice got louder and louder. “Confront your sin. You will swim across an ocean of pain and emerge… free. For only then can you truly begin to atone.”

He stopped in front of his bench and leaned back against it, screwdriver held like a weapon. His arm tattoos were on display, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up. “So. Who wants to go first? Hm?”

Rook and Sarah looked eyes, Hudson refused to look at anyone but the wall behind Sarah. No one said anything and John’s anger bubbled. “Which one? Hm?” Nothing. “This is lesson number one.” Hudson whimpered and struggled against her bonds, Sarah didn’t break eye contact with Rook. “Someone’s got to choose.” His voice was strangled, drawing Sarah’s attention. He looked at her with a mix of violence and what might even be fear. She said nothing, just watched him.

John’s patience broke and he turned around faster than Sarah had expected and threw the bench backward. “For fuck's sake we’ll start with you!” He practically screamed and walked menacingly towards Rook. He sounded so happy and at peace before he grabbed Hudson. He pushed her towards the door behind rook, she let out terrified shrieks as he told Rook about what he was going to do to her.

All Sarah could do was watch helplessly, her blood cold with terror. Someone came into the room and took Hudson’s chair out the room while she kicked at her bindings and screamed. “We can’t forget about our other deputy.” John pivoted and grabbed her chair, pushing her in front of him towards the door out. “I’ll be right back.” He told the Rook as he passed, he was practically squatting as he pushed her chair.

John didn’t say anything for a few minutes and Sarah didn’t bother struggling. Hudson’s faint cries could be heard carrying down the hallway until the eventually stopped and the only sound left was air hissing through vents above.

Sarah let her eyes wander, taking in the halls that John pushed her down, as she tried to sort out her thoughts. She was terrified, that was a given, but a small part of her deep, deep down knew that she’d be fine, she’d make it out of this relatively fine. Above the pain, she felt anger, anger at the cult and John. Not sure because he was planning to torture her, but also because he’d kidnapped her. Barely three days ago he’d promise he wouldn’t force her into confession and yet here she was. She shouldn’t have trusted him, she was an idiot.

“I’m… they weren’t supposed to take you.” John finally broke the silence when he’d pushed her into a room and closed the door behind them. He pulled the tape from her mouth and Sarah squeezed her eyes shut as is pulled at her skin. “I meant what I said last time.”

“Fuck off,” Sarah swore, struggling uselessly at her restraints for a few seconds. Her hair was in front of one eye and he moved his hand to brush it away. She flinched back like she’d been attacked. “Don’t fucking touch me.” She practically spat, struggling again and her chair moved back away from him, she felt a small bit of triumph.

John looked a little hurt and pretty offended, but his anger quickly came up to mask it. He clenched his fist and kicked her chair away, it spun and banged against the wall. She had to physically spin herself back around to face him. “I’m trying,” He was practically seething, “to help you.”

“Help me?! You said this was my decision! You said I didn’t have to atone until I was ready!” Her voice rose with every word and she glared daggers at the man who she’d only days ago shared pleasant conversation.

“I know what I said.” He snapped and pulled the sunglasses off his head to run a hand through his hair, it left it looking disheveled. “There’s nothing I can do about it now.”

“Nothing you can do? You can let me go you asshole.” She wished she wasn’t tied up right now so she could punch his stupid, beautiful face.

John looked at her with almost sad eyes and pulled her chair close again. He crouched in front of her and rubbed her wrist with his thumb. “I can’t, word has already spread that I both deputies. If I let you go, Joseph would know and he…” He trailed off and Sarah felt the fight in her die.

John looked absolutely terrified at the mention of Joseph. She remembered a conversation she’d had with Rook about the first time John had grabbed her. She’d mentioned that when Joseph had shown up John had looked about ready to piss himself. Sarah’s heart broke for him, his life had been shit enough without Joseph adding to that.

“John?” Her voice was soft, almost maternal, and she wished she wasn’t bound so she could comfort him in some way. He looked up at her with what seemed like disbelief, why would she suddenly be nice to him? Sarah wasn’t sure why, but she leaned forward as far as she could and bumped his forehead with hers. “John?” He didn’t say anything, just pressed against her and just breathed for a few minutes.

Sirens shattered the silence and John shot away from her like he’d been burned. He looked wildly between her and the door before bolting out, radio in hand.

“The deputy escaped.” A voice crackled through the window and carried through the partially open door into Sarah’s room.

“Which one?” John’s voice was frantic and furious.

“Not Hudson.”

“Dammit! Find her!” John’s stomping footsteps carried down the hall and Sarah looked around for something to help her get out. She resorted to pushing herself slowly towards the door, it was a tiring process but soon she was at the gap. Except it wasn’t open far enough for her to get through and she couldn’t shove it open like that, the thing was fucking heavy.

Familiar panting hit her ears and Sarah breathed a sigh of relief. “Rookie? Tessa?” She called out the gap and soon her savior stood in front of her and shoved the door open. “Took you long enough.” Sarah quipped half-heartedly as Rook cut her restraints.

“Sorry, I fell down some stairs.”

“Why?”

Rook gave her a deadpan look. “It seemed like something fun to do before leaving the torture bunker.” Sarah hummed in mock understanding and rubbed her wrists. “Did you see where Hudson went?”

“Nope.” Sarah shook her head and Rook swore. She handed Sarah her knife and the two went out into the corridor, running towards hopefully an exit.

[angermanagementcoache]

I control of my Anger switch

Anger Management

12 Ways To Calm Down When You're Pissed Off And Don't Want To Be

For when you know you're way too angry, but can't seem to turn it off.

Have you seen the animated movie Inside Out? There’s a character in it, Anger, whose head literally explodes every time he gets too worked up. It’s a great visual and it definitely doesn’t seem overly dramatic — we’ve all been there. Spoken over in a meeting, denied a raise or passed over for a promotion after going way above and beyond at work, let down by your partner when you needed them — you can probably feel your anger bubbling up right now just thinking about these things.

But is feeling angry — and expressing your rage — really the best way to move your life forward? Sometimes, yes. In the face of injustice, drawing on your anger may help you to fight for what’s right. According to psychologist Dr. Lauren Appio, anger “gives us energy to defend ourselves and others in the face of unfair treatment.” It’s a valid emotion, and judging ourselves for feeling angry isn’t the answer.

But in your interpersonal relationships, there’s usually a better way to communicate. As the great author Toni Morrison once said, anger is “a paralyzing emotion. You can't get anything done. People sort of think it's an interesting, passionate, and igniting feeling — I don't think it's any of that. It's helpless. It's absence of control."

So the next time you start to feel angry and want to soothe yourself, try one of the following expert-approved techniques.

1. Ask yourself if your anger is reasonable.

This may be hard to do in the moment — head on fire, and all of that — but if you can take a few deep breaths and check in with yourself about why you’re angry, you may be able to calm yourself down without invalidating your feelings.

“Before you try to make your anger disappear, see if you can identify what is reasonable about your anger,” Appio tells BuzzFeed. “Would it be okay for other people to be angry in your situation? If it’s okay for them, it’s okay for you. Validating yourself does not mean you are going to lash out angrily. It simply allows you to check in with yourself about what you need and consider how you can get your needs met.”

2. Identify other emotions that your anger may be masking.

Your anger may be standing in for an emotion that makes you feel less powerful, says Appio, such as fear, hurt, or embarrassment. Try to breathe through your rage without acting on it, and talk yourself through the feelings that are buried beneath your anger. “Once you address those other feelings (either through self-validation, changing your situation, or communicating your needs), your anger should subside, too,” she notes.

3. Leave the room.

In her book Anger Management Essentials: A Workbook for People to Manage their Aggression, therapist Anita Avedian recommends “changing your scene” if you’re getting worked up. Leave the room, take a walk outside, just get yourself out of the situation that’s fueling your rage — and then try applying tips 1 and 2 from this list. Avedian says that taking a walk outside is particularly helpful when you’re angry because it releases endorphins, the “happy hormone,” which can “reduce the perception of pain.” If you’re fighting with another person, don’t just leave the room; be sure to tell them you need some time alone and that you’ll be back in 20 minutes (or whatever) to talk.

4. Talk to your inner child.

If your knee-jerk reaction is to scroll past this tip because it’s too “woo-woo,” hear me out: Psychologist Dr. Margaret Paul tells BuzzFeed that feeling angry at someone else can be an indication that you’re not taking care of yourself in a situation, so talking to your inner child can help you to not only calm down, but also to identify what’s wrong and be nicer to yourself.

“Imagine the angry part of you is a child within you having a temper tantrum, but who is really needing compassion. Imagine holding that angry child with kindness, caring, and compassion,” she says. “Ask that angry inner child what he or she is angry at you about. Are you not speaking up for yourself? Are you being compliant instead of honest? Are you ignoring your deeper feelings of heartbreak, loneliness, or helplessness over a person or situation?”

5. Learn to identify signs you might be angry without realizing it so it doesn’t catch you off guard.

Have you ever exploded on someone and then been shocked by your own behavior? You probably haven’t yet learned how anger physically manifests in your body.

“Many people don’t realize they’re angry until after they’ve reacted with anger,” psychologist Dr. Sari Chait tells BuzzFeed. She recommends “noting if your shoulders get tense or you clench your jaw or make a fist. Taking note of your thoughts and feelings is also important. Are you unable to think clearly? Do you have tunnel vision?”

Write these things down, then clock them when they start to show up in your body; to help the fires die down in the moment, take deep breaths or leave the room.

6. Do a body scan and release the tension in your body.

Most of us experience some physical manifestation of anger, so try this technique from Avedian: “Squeeze or tense up various areas in your body three times per section, for five seconds in length, and relax. Common body areas include shoulders, arms, hands, legs, and feet.” That should help to ease the physical tension and, in turn, calm your anger.

7. Watch something funny.

Have you ever been in the midst of a fight with a partner when suddenly they crack a joke and it instantly makes you feel lighter? Depending on the seriousness of the argument, this can be a recipe for disaster. But sometimes it really helps. Avedian recommends watching something funny, like a favorite stand-up comedy clip on YouTube, if you’re starting to get angry — especially over something relatively minor, like a sink full of unwashed dishes. “Learn to laugh at yourself,” she recommends.

8. Check in with yourself.

That “hangry” feeling is real — science says so. That’s why checking yourself in a heated moment is so important, says therapist Patrice Douglas. “Are you having a bad day? Are you hungry? Are you tired or just not feeling yourself? When feeling like this, we are often on edge and can take what someone says or does the wrong way, causing us to react in anger,” she adds.

9. Ask yourself if the person you’re angry at is really trying to hurt you.

We’ve all taken a friend or partner’s comment the wrong way, especially if we’re hungry, tired, or stressed. So taking a minute to think about the true intention of a seemingly hurtful remark can cool a situation down pretty quickly. Says Douglas, “When we get angry, our mind is perceiving someone as a threat and we must protect [ourselves], but sometimes, we take things wrong or hear it incorrectly.”

10. Write a letter.

Avedian says that writing a letter to the person who’s making you angry — a letter you’ll never send — is an effective coping method because it “allows for the child in us to act out, but constructively.” Just don’t write an email, she says — you don’t want to accidentally send it. Instead, write by hand or in a document on your computer.

11. Turn on some tunes.

According to therapist Sherry Shockey-Pope, co-founder of Central Counseling Services, listening to a favorite song — especially one that’s attached to happy memories — is a great way to dissipate anger. “Music is transforming, in that it is tied to many emotions,” she says. One minute you’re raging, and the next you’re singing and bopping along to Beyoncé’s “Love on Top.”

She also notes that songs with a speed of 60 to 80 beats per minute are soothing to the body, so she recommends making a playlist of those tunes and hitting play at the end of a hard day.

12. And remember to take care of yourself.

If you’re perpetually exhausted, overworked, not eating well, not exercising, and not spending time with people who love and support you, the likelihood of going from zero to 100 real quick is high. That’s why Shockey-Pope says good self-care habits are key to a more even-keeled you. So make time for yourself even when it feels impossible. Ask for help. Get outside. Go to bed earlier. Look for a new job if your current work situation is making you rage-y. You deserve to feel a whole lot less angry.

More Like This:

10 Tips For Any Judgmental Person Who's Said "Ugh, Why Am I Like This?"Stephanie Hallett · Nov. 24, 2018

11 Things You Might Not Realize Can Be Signs Of AnxietyStephanie Hallett · Nov. 2, 2018

40 Self-Care Ideas For People Who Aren't Really Into Sheet Masks And BathsRachel Wilkerson Miller · Jan. 9, 2019

[zippdementia]

Part 69 Alignment May Vary: Demon Trains and Were-Houses

Situation: Having escaped the horrors of the City of Ghosts, Imoaza, Aldric, and Carrick rally back on board The Arc. 

Aldric wants to take a little break to go catch up with his Goblin fuck buddies but all three of the companions are severely injured and so Tinia gets started on caring for them. After a long rest, she turns her attentions to the complicated process of healing Jacobs with Puck’s begrudging (but promised) help. Geth fixes up Aldric and Carrick’s energy weapons, making it so they won’t blow up in their hands, and recharges their ammunition. Krisp lays out the situation for the companions.

“Things are bad and I don’t mind telling you that and thank you to keep any snarky responses to yourselves,” he says in his auctioneer’s voice at a “ we’re off to the races” pace. “As long as your souls are fresh and still in your body, they are like a beacon to everything here, a bright, big, beautiful light begging to be devoured by the forces of darkness. Or at least by a fiery devil who wants to rip apart from limb to limb. Our best option, and by that I mean only option, is to get off this rock and post haste! I’ve taken the liberty of fixing up the horse you rode in on, by which I mean that goddamn huge spacecraft. It’s a wonderful thing, at least when it isn’t all smashed to pieces. And to be fair, it was in better shape then I thought it would be after the crash it must have had. Still, even the prettiest wench has to eat from time to time and this girl is hungry! She needs fuel, and the only fuel she’ll take are crystals, the special ones that Alyss has been hunting down for months. We always knew the crystals held the answers, but we thought we’d have to build an engine capable of using them. Now, we’ve got the engine, we just need the gas, and the gas is the crystals, and they are being stored in the vault at Mammon Tower, seat of the President of Hell. To get in there, we’re going to need a little help.”

To break into Mammon Tower, Alyss planned to free the Demon Train from its bonds using Heartcarver and by speaking the demon’s secret name, which she has discovered. Now she has been captured and thrown inside the train to whatever fate the Yellow King decries for her. It’s up to the players to make it to the train and free her. Without her, they can’t get the train. Without the train, they won’t get the crystals from Mammon’s vault. Without the crystals, they will never escape Hell.

The Demon train makes its way across Hell’s blasted landscape, looking like a living train, with dozens of arms erupting from its front and constantly building new tracks for it at blinding speed. To catch up to the train, the players are going to have to use experimental rocket packs to jet over to it.

How does it go: The players strap into their rocket packs and are slingshot off the deck of The Arc. Only Aldric’s launch goes well: Carrick is sent spinning around and around as he turns to say something clever to Krisp right before he launches. And Imoaza’s rocket pack fails to ignite and she free falls towards the ground while the other two try (and fail) to catch her. Eventually she gets her pack working, but there is something wrong with it, and the whole contraption catches on fire on her back.

While all this is going on, the players are suddenly transported (in spirit) to Mammon’s tower, their minds pulled there by Mammon himself, who proceeds to try and banter with them in a lame attempt to find out what they are up to and whether they are willing to join his cause. His negotiations are hurt by the fact that he doesn’t really have anything to offer the players or even any idea of what they want. He ends up failing to impress them at the moment, and the players break free of his grasp to find themselves way off course and heading straight for a cliff side. And Imoaza is about to explode. Aldric banks sharply to avoid the cliff; Imoaza discards her rocket pack and free falls; Carrick grabs Imoaza and just barely manages to pull up before smashing them both to jelly against the cliff. They spot the Demon Train only a small ways away. In the last rush to the Train they are chased by Spiney Devils also wearing rocket packs. This leads to a crazy fight where Imoaza, hanging in Carrick’s grasp, is firing Eldritch blasts back at the Devils while they jetpack forward and attack with laser rifles. She ends up hitting their rocket packs and rupturing them, causing them all to explode.

The players land on the Demon train, Imoaza nearly falling off the Train but saving himself by digging Drosselgreymer into the Train’s roof and using it to halt her momentum. Drosselgreymer opens up a hole in the train’s roof and the three slip inside, only to find themselves not inside a train compartment, as they expected, but inside an entire city.

Notes:

Krisp isn’t especially thrilled to see they’ve brought Puck with them, and seems especially displeased when Puck refuses to try some of his cereal. There’s some odd interaction here, but the players don’t roll high enough to catch it.

Puck fills them in on the history of Arbeyach, telling them that he used to be a powerful devil, known the world over as The Yellow King. He is a corrupting force and famously corrupted Ia’fret (whose name will sound familiar to lovers of Abenthy!), turning the angelic knight into one of his lieutenants. But Ia’fret later betrayed him and took over his original domain and Arbeyach never truly recovered his political power. Now Ia’fret is gone, too, lost during the final assault on the Abyss during the Blood War, having gone in at the side of Asmodeus.

The players end up completely hating Mammon, which is not unexpected. I’m playing him here to be more annoying (complete with an exaggerated Southern accent) then truly threatening. Like I said, he doesn’t really have anything to entice them with, so this scene is meant really just to show how prevalent in this world he is and to give them a further challenge with the rocket pack. But the antics they get up to in his chamber are pretty funny. Aldric quips ridiculous insults and inane puns. Carrick and Imoaza ignore him completely, talking to each other the whole time. Imoaza realizes before the others that this is their psyches being pulled here and tries to snap Carrick out of it by punching him in the face. After, he gets a brief glimpse of what’s happening to their bodies and reports to Imoaza what he sees: “By the way, you’re on fire.”

Situation: The inside of the demon train is a maze of broken down warrens and crumbling infrastructure. In truth, it is a deteriorating version of Old Hell, the Hell that the scholars write of, remembered and loved now only by Arbeyach, who has made the Demon Train his domain and has full control over it. He’s populated his domain with vermin folk, most of them either humanoid rats or bugs (the bugs seem to have superior ranking in the hierarchy) and takes what precious souls he can capture for torture and sustenance.

The players have to find Alyss and free the Demon train, but first they have to get their bearings. They start exploring the rooftops and Carrick loses his footing and falls, smashing down through a halfway broken roof to land ungracefully on a poker table, surrounded by three rats and two bugs. The bugs call for backup and everything erupts into a fight. Bugs from outside, who were guarding the game, fly up to the roof to confront Imoaza, while Abenthy drops into the hallway outside of the poker room and cuts down anyone who tries to flee. Surprisingly, the rats turn on the bugs (well, one flees entirely), led by one in particular named Ratticus, who tells them that the rats and bugs don’t really get along: rats are treated like second class citizens, while the bugs work closely with Arbeyach, The Yellow King. The other rat left, Scampers, is extremely nervous to be helping the players, but Ratticus says it’s “every rat must band together if we want to survive!” He’s very curious to see “living souls” wandering through the Belly, which is what they call this city, but doesn’t seem to wish them harm. He decides to take them to Vaermin, his king, a huge swarm of rats that share a single mind. Vaermin shares some of his cheese stash with Aldric (who gobbles it up) and tells the companions that he can help them hunt down Alyss, but in return they must do something for him. Time is of the essence: captured souls don’t stay alive long in The Belly before their souls are drained and the remains of their being reshaped into either bug or rat. Despite this, Vaermin tells them it will take some time to hunt down their friend and insists they  all take a short rest inside his dungeons to prepare for the upcoming challenge, and the players uneasily oblige, and spend their short rest eating cheese and drinking mead supplied by Vaermin, and reflecting on how strange their circumstances have become.

The mission: The players have to infiltrate a rival gang, made up of Were Rats instead of “proper rat folk” (as Vaermin puts it). They are to find the leader of the group, a powerful wererat called Fernifang, and dispose of him. The wererats have been clever, never keeping to a single base, but moving constantly around the city. However, Vaermin has a plan. The wererats have been collecting a large amount of souls and that requires storing them somewhere. So he sets a trap. Scampers (whom it turns out Vaermin doesn’t like since he chickened out on a mission recently) is dispatched with a large tank of “soul stuff” to gather more from the territory the wererats were last seen in. Ratticus and the party quietly follow.

The companions moved in a half crouch along the rooftops, Ratticus keeping an eye on the sky to spot any “flyers” as he called the human sized bug creatures that frequently patrolled the skies. This part of the city was less their domain, he explained, pointing out how the buildings here were mismatched in terms of size and shape. “It’s hard for them to navigate,” he explained. “They like the wide open, where they can rule the skies. Places like this were made for us rats.”

Eventually, Rartticus motioned for them to stop and join him at the lip of a rooftop. He pointed excitedly below, where they could see an alley, and in that alley Scampers was standing next to a literal pus boil in the street. The boil pushed out from under cobblestone, pushing the cobblestones aside in a grotesque growth clearly filled near to bursting with a pink fluid. Scampers pulled a large needle from the pack at his back, the needle the size and length of a human arm, and stabbed it into the boil then began to pull on the needle’s plunger, sucking the pink juices up.

“Soul stuff,” Ratticus whispered to Carrick, who was looking on in disgust. “A lot of wayward souls drift to the train. Most of it gets picked up by Arbeyach, but some gets left behind and it eventually manifests like this, gets worked to the surface. We harvest it. A lot you can do with soul stuff. But watch now! Our quarry approaches!”

Indeed, Scampers did not notice them, but two large and hairy rats were silently climbing down the wall of the building that helped form the alley. At the last moment, Scampers realized his danger, lifting his head and sniffing madly, his whiskers bouncing every which way. Then he tried to run, but he was not fast enough. One of the wererats caught him, lifted him off his feet, and jabbed the harvesting needle into his eye, piercing his brain in a sudden lobotomy. The two Wererats then fell to a grisly feast, tearing Scampers apart right there in the street and devouring his flesh while he almost idly tried to remove the needle from his eye. Eventually, he stopped moving and the feast was finished. The Wererats grabbed the tank of soul stuff and began to move quickly out of the alley.

“Now the hunt is on!” Ratticus announced.

The Situation: The players follow the wererats back to their underground hideout with some minor difficulty (see below). They overhear the two wererats talking to a third, a guard at the warehouse entrance, about this being “the final day” they will be spending in the warehouse before moving on, on Fernifang’s orders. They also complain about the ventilation system being broken and it getting bloody hot in the warehouse. This gives the players a plan. They round the corner and proclaim themselves maintenance men, Aldric pointing to his leather jacket (the one he stole from Bones) and calling themselves the Hell’s Angels maintenance crew.

Amazingly, the ruse works, thanks to this wererat not being the brightest, the players having information about the ventilation system from the overheard conversation, and Aldric making an incredible deception roll.

“That’s a damn fine jacket,” the guard says, shaking his head appreciatively, as he directs them to a ventilation cover nearby. Ratticus (who nearly shit himself with fear during the ruse) climbs up and opens it, then ushers them all inside, everyone but him having to get on hands and knees to fit in the vent.

The vent I’ve designed with several different passages, each one of which will take them to a different area in the warehouse (one leads down to an incinerator and is a bad dead end). There’s a lot of elements to the warehouse itself. The vents leading to different spots, a possible gas leak in the vent, the possibility of parleying with the Warlock Wererat, Fernifang. Also the soul jars, if they are broken, will release shadows and (occasionally) wraiths, as the angered souls of the dead fight back against the living. Then there’s shelves and shelves of these things, which could create a lot of stealth possibilities, and a catwalk for snipping. In short, there’s a lot that could happen here.

Combat: What does end up happening is that the players sneak down beneath the main floor and overhear a conversation that the were rats are getting ready to move out with this mighty haul they got, biggest one yet! The players watch the movements of these wererats until they think the coast is clear, then come out of their cover. This doesn’t last long, though: while scouting the area by flying above the shelves, Carrick is spotted by Fernifang’s paramour, a wererat cleric who doesn’t give a name but simply shrieks a warning and the room erupts into combat.

The fight goes easier than I thought it would. Fernifang is swarmed immediately by the players and his biggest move, a polymorph into an abominable yeti (unique to his skill set) is disrupted by a dispel magic cast by Imoaza. After that, the fight is pretty much done. But things still get harry because the wererats, while climbing up to fight the flying Carrick, knock over the shelf they use to climb on and dozens of the soul cannisters shatter in the resultant domino chain. The souls burst forth as angry spirits and the players barely escape with their lives, while the spirits feast on the wererats left behind, snatching Ratticus as they go from the clutches of the doorguard, who proclaims one last time even as he tries to strike them down: “That’s a damn fine jacket.”

Notes:

Aldric and Carrick stand out like sore thumbs in the middle of the crowded bazaar, which is why the wererats realize they are being followed after a bad stealth roll from the players, and flee into the crowd. But Imoaza has taken on the disguise of one of the bug people and uses her fly spell to fly above the crowd and track the were rats to a secret entrance to the sewers, hidden in an alley. It’s a cool use of disguise self!

Aldric is charmed by Fernifang before the players take him down, using a strong suggestion spell to plant the idea in his mind that he must attack the Rat King, Vaermin, when they return to him. In fact, the suggestion is worded such that Aldric doesn’t even want to fight the Wererats: he immediately wants to rush back to the Rat King and deliver his “message.” But he is able to be convinced to fight when Imoaza convinces him that they can’t leave until Fernifang is dead; thus, he has to kill the wererat or never deliver his message.

The Situation: the players return to the Rat King and Aldric, charmed by Fernifang, suddenly attacks the King, prompting a combat! Aldric plays it perfect: insisting that he did nothing wrong. He plays it so well, the others don’t even realize he was charmed and suspicion grows in the party. There is little time to discuss, however, because even as the Rat King falls the Yellow King arrives, taking control of Ratticus, who desperately gives the players some vials of soul-stuff which he tells them can restore their health. He also tells them, before he loses his mind, that the Rat King knew where Alyss was all along but didn’t want to tell them until they’d helped him. He did intend to share the information until the players attacked him (here Carrick and Imoaza glare at Aldric, who innocently asks “what?”) but that it would have been a bit of a slap to their proverbial faces: Alyss is about to be executed and there is no way they can get there in time. He does tell them where the execution is to occur: at the central hive, a huge structure they can’t miss in the middle of the city. The players know they have to reach her before she is killed, or else her knowledge of the Demon Train’s name and their only escape from this foul place goes with her. The players flee through the sewer lair of the Rat King while Arbeyach gives chase.

The figure proceeding down the tunnel behind them looked like a sallow-skinned old man, with wispy white hair that hung in greasy tendrils down to his knees. His eyes blazed with a yellow light that matched his outfit, a worn, often patched coat that hung far past his knees. Underneath it was more yellow clothing: the striped pants and finery of nobility, but raggedy and greasy. He was surrounded by swarms of biting, flying insects, and as he drew ever closer to the fleeing group, they could hear voices speaking to them through the cloud of buzzing: “This is my domain,” the voices said as one. “You cannot win here.”

The chase takes the players out of the sewers and through the city. During the chase, both Aldric and Imoaza are caught briefly and infected by the King’s disease, which drains their health and will eventually kill them if not cured. Carrick is not affected: immune as he is to disease, being a Paladin. 

Out in the city the chaos continues as Arbeyach seems to be everywhere, stepping out of doorways into the path of their flight, even smashing through a window to grab at them as Imoaza casts fly again and they soar out over the broken city. Aldric stands his ground for a moment and manages to “kill” Arbeyach with a couple decisive sword strikes to the head, but there always seems to be another one ready to take his place, appearing with a taunting word and deadly smug smile. He knows there is no escape from his realm. He isn’t taking this too seriously: he is toying with them. Like Mammon, he doesn’t consider them a threat. Like Mammon, he is deadly wrong.

The players have no trouble, once flying, locating the Central Hive. It is a bulbous, horrible thing, growing like a cancer out of the center of the city and surrounded by crawling, flying, and chittering humanoid insects. The bugs are preparing Alyss’ public execution on a ledge constructed from their hardened saliva and debris on the edge of the hive. Here, three humans have been hooked up to a horrible machine of tubes and wires and needles, which is sucking the soul from them. Alyss is still intact, just being hooked up, when the players descend on the ledge. They cut her free and flee, Arbeyach now so angered by their impertinence that he has decided to kill them. But just as the army of bugs arrises behind them and The King in Yellow in front of them, Alyss wakes enough to call out a single, unspeakable name. The Yellow King screams in fury as a tunnel appears in the floor of the city, a tunnel leading out of this constructed reality and to the heart of the Demon Train, which is bound round with chains. A single stroke from Oathbreaker and the chains shatter!

Notes

When the players approach Alyss, there are too many bugs to handle. Something surprising happens here: Aldric grabs the Rod of Storms at his side and tries to use it... and is successful! This is strange, because it can only be attuned to and used by a magic user and Aldric has not an ounce of magic power in him. But nonetheless he unleashes a lightning blast at the ledge that scatters the bugs, dropping several dead from the sky. This use of the rod will have complications later.

Meanwhile, Carrick saves Alyss. Aldric is not super happy about this. He’s hoped to foster a relationship with Alyss so seeing her suddenly throw her arms around Carrick and cling to him while they all fly off, humorously disgruntles him.

Next time, we conclude our hellish adventures!

[usafphantom2]

I was recently asked what was the plan if you run out of the 16 shots of TEB? The chemical TEB was required every time you started the engine or the afterburners.

Kick the tires and light up the engines. 🔥The SR 71 is still the fastest airplane in the world that we know of. What did you need to start the engines? A whole lot of power from the start cart and some TEB.

Usually, 16 shots of TEB were available for each sortie. Triethylborane – TEB for short.– it explodes with contact with the atmosphere. To ignite the JP-7 for engine start and to light the afterburner section, a liquid chemical ignition system was used. The liquid chemical, triethylborane (TEB) had the physical property of exploding when exposed to air,” Richard H. Graham SR-71 Blackbird pilot.

In the 24 years the SR 71 flew, it never ran out of TEB, but there was a plan just in case.

John Olp was a Mechanic on the SR-71 for over ten years; he writes:

The J-58 engine had a unique way of lighting the afterburners if TEB wasn't available for whatever reason.

Inserted into three rings of the flame holders were six catalytic ignitors. If TEB wasn't available, the engines could be manually over-trimmed to increase the exhaust temperature and superheat the ignitors. When the throttles were advanced into afterburner, the glowing catalytic ignitors would light off the fuel, albeit somewhat harshly!

John added these comments:

The catalytic ignitors were in place as a backup if TEB wasn't available. There was a manual up-trim switch in the cockpit to control engine EGT. It was a hard light off if used, but was an option!

Overtemping the engine would only be momentary to allow the afterburner light, probably not enough to cause any damage to the engines. That's why the manual up-trim switches were available.

I was in the program from 1975-1985 at Beale AFB.

I love it when I find out new information about the SR 71 or any of the Blackbirds. Thank you, John. ~ Linda Sheffield Miller

@Habubrats71 via X

[thecoroutfitters]

Kim Jong-un’s hermit regime in North Korea has been grabbing a lot of international attention lately, with their ongoing string of missile tests. He’s been launching a missile a week, with each of the latest ones performing better than its predecessor.

Kim Jong-un is not someone you’d want in charge of a country that has around 20 nuclear warheads. We have all the reasons not to ignore the North Korean nuclear threat, but to stay aware and prepare! 

Just a few short weeks ago I wrote to you that they had launched their first successful two-stage ICBM, which gave them enough range to reach Alaska and possibly Seattle. That launch has since been trumped by one with a potential range of 6,500 miles.

What that means is that Denver and even Chicago are now theoretically within reach of North Korea’s missiles. I say theoretically mostly because one launch doesn’t prove that they have a viable system.

Launching an ICBM and having it hit its intended target is one of the most complex undertakings mankind has ever done. So there may very well still be a host of technical details that North Korea has to correct before this can be called a viable weapon.

The biggest of those hurdles is mating a nuclear warhead to the missile. For this to happen, the nuke has to be “miniaturized.” While not on par with the type of miniaturization we find in modern electronics (like smartphones), compared to the original nuclear bombs, which were huge devices, they are tiny.

We know that North Korea has somewhere around 20 nuclear warheads; but we don’t know how big they are. So, while they are working hard on developing both their nuclear weapons program and missile program, we don’t really know if they are ready to mate the two together yet. But even if not, at the rate they are working, it probably won’t take them long.

There is also the issue of aiming the missile. While nukes make a big enough bang that being a mile or two off target really isn’t going to make much of a difference, a one percent error factor works out to 60 miles if they shoot at Denver from North Korea. That’s enough of a difference that chances are that the bomb would go off in some farmer’s field, rather than over Denver.

While these two issues are enough to cause North Korea considerable trouble, they have already overcome a number of monumental technical problems to get to where they are today. With their national policy of putting the military first, they are investing an incredible amount of time, effort and money into pushing towards becoming a nuclear power.

That alone would be something to be concerned about; but the real concern is the rhetoric coming out of Pyongyang, much of which is filled with threats to attack the United States with those nuclear weapons.

Video first seen on Fox Business.

Whether they are actually foolish enough to think that they could survive such an attack is, of course, at question. But it’s not one that we can afford to take for granted. When the discourse between countries centers around threats and counter-threats, it’s something that must be taken seriously. To do otherwise, is flirting with disaster.

You and I really don’t have much to do with whether there is an attack or not. Nor are we in the position to do much about intercepting those missiles, if they ever fly in our direction. The government has to take care of negotiations with North Korea and the military has to try to stop the missiles. We are incapable of doing anything about it.

But there are aspects of this in which we can and do have an impact; most specifically on our own ability to survive. Since we won’t be able to depend on FEMA’s assistance, we will have to depend on ourselves.

So, what are you and I to do?

If There’s a Conventional Nuclear Attack

While Kim Jong-un has not been specific about how he plans on using his nuclear arsenal to attack the USA, he has made it clear that he intends to. With no specifics given, it’s easy to assume that he is talking about taking out some major cities or military bases with a conventional nuclear attack.

That would be devastating for the lives of millions of people, but it would actually be better off for the country as a whole.

In a conventional nuclear attack, the missiles would most likely be aimed at major population centers. Which ones would depend a lot on the type of message he wants to send. If he wants to show off his military and technical prowess, he’d be more likely to pick targets that are farther from the launch point. But if he wants to do the most damage possible, he’d pick the largest population centers he can reach.

In either case, it’s not a good time to be living in a big city. If you do, you might want to consider moving if at all possible.

This smart device will help you slash an excess of 70% off your power bill overnight…

With a typical air burst over the center of a city, we could pretty much count on any major city being totally destroyed and everyone within a ten mile radius of the blast dying instantly. At a slightly larger distance there would be some who lived, but with major injuries that would shorten their lives and cause considerable pain.

A nuclear blast releases three major components of energy; heat, the shock wave (wind), and nuclear radiation. It is the combination of the heat and shock wave that will kill people who are closer in towards, the blast. The radiation will cause burns and sickness for those who are farther out, as well as those who are downwind of the blast, who must contend with the risk of fallout.

If you are actually far enough away from the blast that you see it happen, there is a fairly good chance that you will survive.

While the nuclear radiation will reach you instantly, it will take some seconds for the blast and heat to arrive where you are. This gives you a chance to seek cover. Ideally, what you want is something like a low concrete retaining wall, which you can lay down behind. You want to be cautious about buildings, as the blast wave can destroy them and the heat can cause them to ignite.

If you are in a building, you’re best off being in the basement, where you are protected from the direct force of the blast. But even in the basement there is a risk, as it could collapse upon you.

Once the blast has passed, you’ll need to move to a better shelter where you can wait out the fallout from the explosion. This means having a prepared shelter, preferably underground, stocked with enough supplies to meet your needs for 30 days. After the 30 days are over, it will be safe to come out.

If at any time during the 30 days you experience any symptoms of sickness, you should leave your fallout shelter and seek medical help. While it may not be anything serious, it could be the onset of radiation sickness.

There will probably be military hospitals established in the area, in addition to the normal medical services which are available. Any military or emergency service personnel could direct you to the nearest medical facility.

If There’s an EMP Attack

The bigger risk to us is if North Korea attacks us with an EMP. While a conventional nuclear attack will kill millions, an EMP would indirectly kill as many as 290 million people. The bulk of those people would die of starvation, but there would also be many who would die from the spread of disease or from the lack of medicine to treat their chronic conditions.

Ultimately, this is a much bigger catastrophe than the death of a few million people killed by a nuclear blast taking out a city. It’s also one that is easier to prepare for, giving us each a much better chance of survival.

Since generating an EMP by nuclear explosion requires exploding the bomb above the atmosphere, the energy leaves the bomb in its original electro-magnetic form. So there is no blast wave and no heat to contend with. While there will be nuclear radiation that reaches the earth, it will be dissipated across a large enough area that it won’t cause radiation sickness and there would be no fallout to worry about. The biggest thing we’ll all notice is a sudden loss of electrical power.

At first, hardly anyone will understand what has happened, as there will not be any obvious signs of the EMP, other than the loss of electrical power. Since communications will be down, we won’t have any idea that it is more than a localized event. Few will realize that communications are usually intact during a blackout, which should indicate that something more serious is happening.

By the second or third day after the event, pretty much everyone will know what had happened and will be trying to come to grips with the situation. Stores will be looted for whatever people can get and mass demonstrations will happen, with people demanding that the government take care of them. But the government won’t be able to help them. What’s left of the government won’t even be able to take care of itself.

This is the survival scenario that we are all supposedly working towards. Whether or not you believe that an EMP is a true risk to us, if you are working towards self-sufficiency you are preparing for it. More than any other scenario we can imagine, an EMP will require that self-sufficiency. The total loss of electrical power will mean that pretty much everything we depend on will be gone. We will be on our own.

That’s why it’s so important to develop a long-term survival plan. Just stockpiling food and water to get you through a few months won’t do it. For this scenario, you have to assume that the power won’t come back on and there won’t be any resupply. If there is, it will be far enough into the future that it won’t matter for the 90 percent of the population that dies.

More than anything, preparing for an EMP means developing the means to provide your own food, water and fuel, even after your stockpile runs out. Even if you have enough of a stockpile to last a year, it won’t be enough. Restoring some semblance of normality to life will take much longer than that year. But the year will be enough time to allow you to plant and harvest food to continue eating.

Your biggest concern during that year will be protecting yourself and your family from attack. All the starving people out there will be desperate and will be willing to do anything in order to eat. Killing you, so that they can steal what you have could easily be seen as a small price, when compared to their own lives.

While you might be able to fight off a small group of people on your own, you can’t continue to fight off attack after attack. You will need help. This is why it’s important to form a survival team; a group of like-minded preppers, who are all investing in surviving such an event. Together, your chances of defending yourselves and surviving will be greater than your chances will be alone.

The survival team also provides you with more hands to work together in the business of survival. While there will be more mouths to feed, there will also be more people raising food. Ultimately, this should work out to a more efficient operation, with greater harvests and more for everyone to eat.

But it will have to be carefully planned out. More than anything, you’ll need some sort of compound where everyone can live and work together. Unless you all happen to be neighbors, this probably means a place out in the country, where each of you build a shelter for your family, as well as communal buildings that you can use for meetings, storage and shared tasks.

This is the one error I have seen with most survival teams. While they might have a goodly collection of skills between them, they usually don’t have a good place to retreat to. But it’s one that needs to be resolved, if the team is going to be able to survive.

Take action on those, and you’ll be ready for whatever comes your way! Being ready to survive a blackout is one big step to take!

GREEN ENERGY – Click here to find out how you can build your own energy generator.

This article has been written by Bill White for Survivopedia.

from Survivopedia Don't forget to visit the store and pick up some gear at The COR Outfitters. How prepared are you for emergencies? #SurvivalFirestarter #SurvivalBugOutBackpack #PrepperSurvivalPack #SHTFGear #SHTFBag

[astrcldust]

of captive souls and broken bonds- chapter 1

Read on Ao3

Summary:  He was in Zarkon’s clutches. He may have felt like giving up, but Lance knew he had to push through whatever was coming his way. For himself. For his teammates. For Voltron.

Words: 3,761

tw: violence

Notes: Coincidentally published on @vldangstweek‘s captured/imprisoned day!

For him, it had just been a normal battle. Well, no battles were “normal” for the Defenders of the Universe. But Lance didn’t think it’d change his life. He didn’t think it’d change him forever.

“Paladins, we need to get out of here!” Allura yelled over the intercom. Lance swerved his lion to avoid a shot from one of the ships. He breathed heavily and could feel his heart pounding in his chest. It was true that they weren’t doing too well. Their only choice was to retreat.

“Allura, make a wormhole as soon as you can! We need to leave!” Shiro said. Lance watched as the four other lions struggled in front of him.All of a sudden, a Galra ship started to fly towards him. Lance quickly dodged the shots and turned around, shooting the ship in the process. He had a mini celebration when it exploded, but it was cut short when he heard Keith’s scream over the intercom. Lance immediately moved to get a view of what happened. The red paladin seemed to be cornered by four different ships. He was almost pressed against the giant Galra ship, making it extremely hard to avoid the shots. Lance flew towards him, shooting the four ships in a swift turn, making them explode one by one. He smiled at his shots, feeling pretty proud of himself.

“Thanks, Lance,” Keith said, sounding pretty out of breath as he flew away.

“No problem, mullet,” Lance replied, smirking.

“Paladins!” Lance could hear Allura’s voice again. “I will be able to create a wormhole, but I need you to be close. I won’t be able to hold it for long.” “Gotcha,” Pidge answered.

“We’re coming, Allura,” said Shiro. The lions all turned to and zoomed towards the castle ship, fighting off Galra ships while at it. Lance started to join in, but it was difficult. Galra ships seemed to be crowding him more than they did the other paladins’ lions. They were surrounding him. Lance struggled to fight them off and quickly fell behind. Soon enough, all the lions were near the castle except Lance.

“Where is Lance?!” Allura yelled.

“I got held back by Galra ships! There’s way too many!” Lance cried out, practically begging for extra help.

“Lance are you okay?!” Hunk inquired. “Somebody should help him.”

Lance’s instinct was to agree with Hunk, but he thought to himself for a moment. No. He knew what he was doing. He wasn’t going to let himself be weak. He always felt like the team never saw him as important. He wanted to prove them wrong. Lance was important and he was capable. He’d show them. He’d get out of the mess. He could do it.

“I got this guys! Don’t worry!” Lance shot at the ships, hitting a couple of them as he spun. He still didn’t hit all of them. Now that most of the paladins were farther away, Lance was left alone with most of the ships. He grunted as he struggled. “Come on girl,” He whispered to Blue. He was starting to doubt his abilities, but there was no way Lance was giving up.

The number of ships increased and increased, exacerbating the problem. Lance began to feel extremely overwhelmed. He also felt so tired, he could shut down at any moment.

“We need to send in help!” Keith yelled! “We can’t leave Lance!”

“Keith, it’s too dangerous!” Allura replied. “Lance, you need to hurry! We won’t be able to idle for much longer!”

“Allura, I’m coming!” Lance said. He managed to make his way through some ships and began to fly closer to the castle, dodging the blasts coming at him.

“We can’t stay still, or else the Galra will capture us all. I am making the wormhole now, we’re counting on you to make it in time.”

“Okay Allura!” Lance took a deep breath. He had to be quick. He couldn’t mess up. Not now. Not if he wanted to stay alive. He could feel his heart pounding, and beads of sweat racing down his forehead. He’d never felt so anxious. He knew his life was on the line, which fueled his nerves. But, it also seemed to motivate him. Lance flew as fast as he could. Soon, he could see the wormhole in the distance. “I’m close!”

“Hurry, Lance! I am going through the wormhole now. It will close in 30 ticks.”

Lance felt a sense of relief wash over him. He was going to make it. He smiled as he flew towards the wormhole, ready to be reunited with his teammates. Ready to be safe. However, that smile faded when five ships flew up in front of him. Lance got ready to shoot, but he suddenly froze in midair. He pulled the trigger. Nothing. He tried to fly forward. Nothing. His lion started moving, moving backward. Lance had a bad feeling that he was being pulled towards the giant Galra ship.

“Allura!” He yelled. “Shiro, Keith, Hunk, Pidge?! Anyone?!” A feeling of dread washed over Lance as he realized it. They couldn’t hear him. They’d gone through the wormhole. And it’d be closing in about five seconds. Lance screamed, pulling the ignition. He pressed all the buttons he could find. Nothing happened. “Blue, come on!” But it was too late. He was being pulled into the Galra ship. He was going to be captured. He’d failed.

_______________________________________________________________________

Keith ran out of his lion and straight to where Allura was. The wind whipped through his hair, causing it to fly into his face and disrupt his vision. He didn't care. He needed answers about Lance. Lance had to have made it. Keith wasn't sure if he could live with himself if he didn't.

The boy suddenly skidded to a stop when he reached Allura in the center room of the castle. Soon after him, the other paladins arrived. They all looked as anxious as Keith did.

Keith was the first to speak. “Did he make it? He has to be behind us or something.” Any second now, Lance would appear. He'd walk into the room, bragging about his achievements. He'd tell Keith about how he saved his ass. He'd do what he'd always do. Any second now. Any second.

“I must track his lion. He is not in the castle, but that doesn't mean he didn't make it through,” Allura explained. “He simply may not have reached the castle.” Keith felt his heart skip a beat for a moment. Allura had to be right. She had to be. Keith looked around at the other paladins, looking for some kind of relief from the panic. They didn’t help. Keith didn’t blame them for being worried as well, but he really needed comfort at that moment. He turned his gaze back to Allura, just in time to catch her face fall. Keith’s eyes widened and his heart seemed to stop as he realized what had happened.

“He...didn’t make it,” Allura said solemnly. A chorus of gasps erupted through the room. Keith stayed quiet. Coran walked up to Allura and placed his hand on her back. He didn’t look too good either. It was common knowledge among the paladins that Coran favored Lance. Pidge was looking down, her hands held in front of her as if she didn’t want to speak. Hunk seemed frozen. The look of defeat on his face broke Keith’s heart even more. Even Shiro looked distressed. Something was definitely messed up when it visibly affected the team leader’s emotions.

Hunk was the first to speak. “W-what are we going to do? We can’t….form Voltron without Lance. And...what will they do to him? We need to save him.”

“I-I don’t know.”

Shiro walked up next to Allura and began to speak. “It’s too dangerous to try now. We can’t form Voltron and even if we didn’t want to, we have one less lion. That’s just too risky. We need to wait, find a good time to attack. As for Lance, I don’t know either. We can only hope he’ll be alright.” Keith wanted to speak, but couldn’t. He felt like he was being held back, like claws were gripping at his neck, preventing him from uttering a single word. He couldn’t believe it. He felt so guilty. Lance had saved Keith back there, but Keith didn’t save him. He wanted to save Lance. He so desperately wanted to. But he didn’t. And now, Lance was gone.

Shiro must have noticed what Keith was feeling since he turned his gaze towards him. “Keith? Don’t beat yourself up. We did everything we could.” Keith clenched his fist. They didn’t do everything. They could’ve saved Lance. He deserved to be saved. Keith was tired of everyone acting like Lance wasn’t crucial to the team and only just realizing how bad it was to have him gone. He then realized how hypocritical he was. He never told Lance that. He never outright told him he was a necessary part of the team. Damn, Lance must have felt worthless. Keith and Hunk made eye contact for a moment. They exchanged looks of sadness. Keith knew Hunk understood his feelings. Hunk felt them too. Shiro spoke once more. “Keith?”

“I-I’m going to get some rest. Goodbye.” Keith turned and headed for his room.

“Keith, wait!” Pidge suddenly piped up. Keith ignored her and continued to walk on. He knew he wasn’t being fair to the other paladins. At least they were trying to hold it together. But he couldn’t help it. His mind kept wandering to how Lance must be feeling at that moment. Was he feeling scared? Regretful? Did Zarkon already get to him? Surely they’d try to get information out of him and not just kill him right away. Keith winced at the thought of the Galra torturing Lance for information. He didn’t know what would happen. He didn’t know what they were going to do to Lance. But he did know one thing. He was going to save Lance one day, no matter what.

_______________________________________________________________________

The halls were quiet except for the pounding feet of the soldiers. Lance didn’t dare make a sound, for he didn’t know what could happen to him. His hands were held firmly behind his back by cuffs that had been put on by one soldier. The others surrounded him in a menacing manner, making sure Lance had no route of escape. Lance felt tired, drained. Like he could barely walk. He just wanted to collapse on the floor and sleep. He wanted to be at the castle, safe and sound. He wanted to be with the paladins.

But he wasn’t with them. He was in Zarkon’s clutches. He may have felt like giving up, but Lance knew he had to push through whatever was coming his way. For himself. For his teammates. For Voltron.

The group of soldiers stopped at a large door, stopping Lance with them. The door stood tall above Lance, a dark shade of purple like the rest of the ship. Lance could tell where it lead before they even went in.

One of the soldiers placed their hand on a scanning device. It lit up for a moment, and then turned green and made a beeping noise. The door slowly opened, sides of it disappearing into the wall and exposing the room in front of where Lance stood. Before Lance could process what was inside, he felt a sharp push on his back and fell over. Having no hands to do so with, he wasn’t able to stop the fall and hit the ground sharply. The boy ignored the growing pain and sat up as fast as he could. On the floor, blood dripping from his nose, and in handcuffs, Lance stared at the room before him. The very front of it consisted of mostly windows, showcasing the outer space before them. Galra soldiers were scattered around the room, but what really grabbed Lance’s attention was the figure in front of him. Zarkon. He stood in front of his throne (or at least Lance thought it was a throne) facing Lance. He glared at Lance with his menacing purple eyes, his face void of emotion. His fists were clenched at his sides and he towered over Lance intimidatingly. His stomach dropped. Lance felt like the smallest thing in the world. Like he could be crushed under the emperor easily.

“Well,” Zarkon snarled with an evil tongue. “It seems as if we have the blue paladin with us.” He reached towards Lance, and the boy retracted on instinct. Zarkon only reached further and held Lance by his chin, lifting the boy’s face towards him so he could examine it. “He will most certainly be useful to us.” Lance struggled against Zarkon’s grip, trying to break away. The handcuffs just made it harder. He didn’t realize it at first, but his eyes began to well with tears.

“No need to fret...Lance, is it? I have heard the other paladins say your name before. We will not kill you. Not yet at least. No, we need you for something more.”

Lance mustered every amount of courage he had left. “Get the fuck away from me!” He spat. Zarkon wasn’t fazed. He just tightened his grip. It seemed as if Lance’s heart was trying to eject itself from his chest. This wasn't happening.

A smile stretched across Zarkon’s face. Lance could hardly call it a smile. It looked so menacing, so evil, so cold. Suddenly, Lance was pushed away. Zarkon’s grip loosened as Lance fell backward, landing on the floor once again. Zarkon turned to the guards. “Take the paladin to his cell. I will call on someone when it is time.”

“Time?” Lance inquired. “Time for what? What are you doing to do to me?” He wanted to yell, but it came out as more of a plea. A voice cracking beg of mercy. Zarkon ignored Lance’s words, though he stared straight at the boy. Lance kept asking the question, the volume of his words slowly rising, as the guards grabbed him and began to drag him away. “Please!” He yelled through tears. “What are you doing? Someone help me! Anyone!” By the time Lance was taken out of the room with Zarkon, he realized any slim chances he had of being okay were taken from him. Lance hung his head. He didn't bother to try and stand as the guards dragged him through the halls. There wasn't a point. There was nothing he could do.

The soldiers had dragged Lance for some time before they reached a hall full of doors. They pulled him through, leading him to the end of the hall. Lance overhead a cry coming from one of the rooms and shivered. Prisoners must be kept there, and Lance was a prisoner now. But, he had a feeling he'd be in a cell alone. His suspicions were proven correct when the guards stopped at the last cell. A soldier put his hand on a screening device identical to the one before, opening the door. Lance turned his head to look in the room, but he was soon stopped by the pull on his back.

The soldier that had grabbed him pulled him up until he was standing. Lance grit his teeth. He wanted to kick the asshole, but that wouldn’t have been a good idea. He was surrounded. To Lance’s surprise, the soldier uncuffed him. He stood in silence for a moment, unsure of what to do. He didn’t even move his hands, in fear. The guard began to push him, leading him to the wall at the end of the room. It was mostly empty. A chair on the right. A table meant for a person to lay on was on the left. Lance felt unsettled at the sight of it. Straps were attached and it was obviously meant for interrogation. The soldier had skipped those two things, though, and headed straight for that hall. Nothing was on it, except one single chain. Lance assumed it was for him. The strong push from the guard that made him hit the wall and slump down told Lance yeah, the chain was definitely for him. The guard attached it to his right hand. It allowed Lance’s hand to reach the ground, but that was about as far as it went. Without a word, all the soldiers left, locking the door behind them.

Quiet. That was the word Lance would use to describe the moment. Actually...maybe it was eerie. Strange. Unsettling. Ghostly. Whatever word used, the quiescent vibe of the scenario did anything but put Lance at ease. Everything seemed...surreal. It took a moment for the information to settle in. And that’s when the tears came. It wasn’t that Lance didn’t know why he was crying. He sure as hell knew the reason. More so that he didn’t want to be crying. He didn’t want to be so vulnerable. So weak. He wondered how his teammates would act in his situation. They probably wouldn’t cry like him. They’d be brave. Lance couldn’t help but wonder, did the other members of Voltron really....care what happened to him?

He wanted to say sure, of course they do, but Lance was unsure. He knew his capture was partially his fault since he said he could handle the fight himself and all but if Lance didn't say that, would they have saved him? Were they trying to save him? Lance knew it would be extremely challenging without Voltron. And they couldn't even have maybe Allura pilot Blue for a bit just so they could save Lance. Blue was in the Galra’s hands too. Lance concluded that any sort of rescue mission was going to take longer than he hoped

So he sat and let the tears flow. There was really nothing he could do, being chained to the wall. It felt good to let it all out. The pain that had been encompassing him from the moment he entered the Galra ship. And maybe some from before then. Lance had a feeling it was going to get worse anyways.

He put his free hand on his head, tugging on the hairs in frustration. Lance then screamed. A loose, guttural yell that echoed throughout the room and made his voice sound oddly raspy. He brought his knees up to his chest and buried his head in them. The tears continued to slowly trek down Lance’s cheeks, although his crying was beginning to lessen. Lance gasped to catch his breath and closed his eyes. Hmm, that was nice. Maybe he could just...stay like that for awhile. Lance felt himself begin to drift off, and he was completely asleep by the time the last tear rolled off his cheek.

Lance didn't have to imagine what would happen to him. He didn't have to worry about his team. He slept. He slept in those brief moments of relaxation that he could get.

_______________________________________________________________________

Whispers. The whispers were the worst of all. They crept up Lance’s spine, murmuring little nothings into his ears. Getting inside his head. They snarled, nobody is coming for you. They don’t want to save you. Nobody even cares.

No, no no. Lance felt himself choke on the words. They seemed to wrap around his throat and squeeze tighter with every syllable. They’ve all forgotten about you by now. What will you do? You can’t depend on them to save you anymore. You are weak.

“No!” Lance’s head flew up with a yell. He could feel his heart beating out of his chest. Heavy breathing seemed to take up all his effort. He let himself calm down slowly, gasping here and there. The boy slowly placed a hand on his cheek. He hadn’t realized he’d been crying again in his sleep. He quickly wiped his eyes, ashamed of being so very weak once again. Lance pressed his hand further into his cheek, squishing it the slightest bit. The voices were wrong. They had to be wrong. But what if they were right? He recalled the feeling from his dream. The feeling of the words clawing at his skin, eating him up from the inside out. There was no reason he should believe them. He’d been with the Galra for barely 24 hours. What was he expecting? He knew a rescue would take a long time, certainly not a day. But Lance couldn’t help feeling terribly lonely as the feelings from the other night returned.

The team rarely showed the boy any appreciation. Or at least it seemed so to him. He remembered hearing compliments at the ends of missions. “Nice job Shiro.” or “Great work Hunk.” or “That was amazing, Keith,” or “How'd you do that Pidge?” Lance would say “Great job, everyone,” but then they'd all move on. What was Lance’s purpose on the team? Everyone had a reason they were there. Wasn't Lance the sharpshooter? Then again, anyone could learn how to shoot. Hunk’s weapon was also a gun after all. Maybe he was just average, the seventh wheel.

Lance looked up at the sound of the door opening, being pulled away from his lingering insecurities. He stared up at the being before him. It was Sendak. Lance shivered at the sight of him. His glowing red “eye” seemed to pierce Lance’s vision with its brightness. His eyes couldn't help but wander to the large mechanical arm. He knew only of some of the abilities it held and he really didn't want to find out if there was any more.

“Sendak,” Lance growled, his eyebrows furrowing.

A smile spread across the Galra’s face. “Hello, Paladin,” he snarled. “It's time.”

“Time for what?!” Lance barked back. He struggled against the chain on his arm. Sendak walked closer until he was only a foot away from Lance, towering over him.

“Do not worry. If you answer my questions, harm will not come to you. I need to know about the paladins.”

“I won't tell you anything!” Lance struggled against the chain. He kicked Sendak’s leg in frustration, but it had no effect. He froze when he saw Sendak’s expression. It looked cold, heartless.

“Okay then,” He began. “We’re doing this the hard way.” Lance’s eyes widened when he saw the sparks of electricity on Sendak’s hand. He felt his heartbeat speed up along with the creeping anxiety and fear.  He knew what was going to happen, and he couldn't do anything about it.

“No please don't d-AGH”

[thatothercosplayer]

Re:Blaster/83 2nd Movement : Last Divination

Hikari sat forwards in the cockpit, flicking several switches before leaning back and flipping another few behind him. He pulled down the mic on his headset. “This is Green Earth to flight tower. You copy?” He asked, as mecha’s engines began to whir to life. 

“Hearing ya loud and clear, Green Earth! Hey! Shoot those Jark Matter bastards down, alright?” Ikura shouted over the intercom. 

((I suggest you listen to this, reader.))

“Pre-flight checks are complete. Open the gates, Ikura.” Hikari coldly answered, ignoring her comments. Hitting a switch above him, the shutters on the mech’s main cameras opened up. The panels on the displays filled with information, showing the current placement on known charts of the area, as well as his current heading, the system’s output, and other important information a pilot needed to know. 

“Roger that! Good hunting, Green Earth!” 

The launch deck’s gates slowly opened, revealing the reaches of space beyond. Hikari narrowed his eyes, taking a deep breath. The fleet of ships weren’t going to wait for them to get ready. It was do or die time. 

“Green Earth, launching!” He declared, grabbing the joysticks on either side of him and pushing them forwards. There was a jolt as the mecha shot forwards, propelled by the rocket sled it was standing atop. The sled reached the end of its track and it threw the black framed giant forwards, causing the pilot to grit his teeth. The rows of switches behind him receded into the walls as the 360 display booted up, showing the rest of the fleet’s forces deploying, with him in the lead. 

“Rogue Squadron, this is Green Earth. I don’t have much to say....go out there, tear those aliens up, and come home in one peace. Green Earth out!” 

He kicked the afterburners into overdrive, the mecha flying forwards. It extended an arm, a beam saber igniting out of the top of the arm. 

Ahead, the Jark Matter forces, with their imposing silhouettes, spiked shoulders, and mono-eyes swarmed forth in hordes, looking to eradicate all life on Earth.

Not today.

Green Earth met its first foe, stabbing the saber through the mecha’s head and laying its free hand on its chest. The pilebunkers embedded in it’s hand went off, crushing the cockpit. It severed the head, grabbing the body and chucking it at another nearby grunt suit. 

His comms crackled. “Hikari! I whipped up something brand new for you that should give you the edge.” He furrowed his brow, glancing over the dashboard to see if there was some new feature she’d put in to better augment his piloting skills. 

“It’s called the TOQ System!” She declared proudly. 

Green Earth split another mech down the middle before kicking its remains away. It raised its beam saber, slicing up a missle that had been fired at it. The two halves spiraled behind it, exploding and lighting it up in silhouette. 

“TOQ System? What the hell is that?” Hikari asked, somewhat frustrated she was cutting off his focus from the allied chatter and surrounding area. 

“It stands for Time Oscillation Quantum System! It’ll displace you in time so you can get the drop on your foes!”  

He growled. “Just get to the point!” 

“You can warp around and be stealthier. Sheesh. You’re no fun.” She signed off, the muffled chatter of ally units returning to full volume. A cap on the right joystick unfolded, revealing a green button.

Upon pressing it, the black paneling of the Green Earth opening up to reveal neon green lights. The eyes flashed blue, and it disappeared. The Jark Matter units that had surrounded Green Earth glanced around in confusion, before one seized up and exploded, the haze from the destruction clearing some only for aquamarine eyes to pierce through the screen. 

Green Earth dashed forwards, igniting the other beam saber and beginning to slice and dice its way through enemy forces. Elsewhere, the rest of the allied forces were struggling to keep up- the mass produced frames, while having strength in numbers, had inexperienced pilots at the wheel. As a result, they were getting torn up....

Until a new contender arrived. 

A sharp, knife-like ship jumped out of warp, throwing enemy forces into disarray as they maneuvered around it in an attempt to not get skewered. Five flaps opened up on the top, kanji painted across each one that read “マジスカロボ隊” (translator’s note: Majisuka Robo-tai, “tai” meaning squadron).

Five suits erupted out of them, leaping forwards into the fray.

“You didn’t think I’d let you hog all the action, did you?” A cool, feminine voice rang over the human comms. 

“Sis!? What are you doing here?!” Hikari shouted, Green Earth looking up from impaling yet another Jark Matter grunt. 

The pilot- Sado- smirked. “Heh...what else? Saving the world. Alright, girls! Let’s show these bastards from outer space how we do it back home!” 

The first suit- the leader- was white, and it had extra thrusters on the back. It was a perfect design, all around- capable of doing anything. It held its arms out, energy arcing between the two fists. It tensed up, before striking a karate pose and running forwards (somehow, despite not touching solid ground) and kicking a Jark Matter mech in the head, before following up with a rocket propelled punch. Blood red text on its shoulder read “00 -  サド “ (Translator’s note: Sado)

Energy coalesced into the shape of a sphere in its palm, before releasing. The white mech grabbed a colossal hammer off its back, swinging it like a baseball bat and smashing the energy sphere, which careened forth...right through several more grunts.

“Grr! Get the fuck out of my way!” 

Another Majisuka unit grabbed the head of a Jark Matter mech, its arm pivoting around several times before it launched the grunt forwards into a horde of mechs, using the thrown one as an imprompteau javelin. The sharp head pierced through not one, not two, but three units, all of them erupting into flames. The thrown unit was stunned, having taken a beating after flying through three of its allies.

This mech that had thrown it was salmon pink, and while smaller in stature it had plenty of thrusters covering its body. In blood red lettering on the shoulder, it read ‘01 - 渋谷 ‘ (Translator’s note; Shibuya). Not only was it maneuverable, but it was able to add some extra power to its attacks. It wasn’t armed with any weapons...just its fists. “Tch! I’m not done with you yet! Get back here!” 

She shot forwards, flying above the stunned suit, before heel dropping onto it, all the thrusters on the suit angling downwards. The suit was torn in half, and the attack continued, going through several more suits that were also obliterated.

Another one flew forwards, colored wine red. It had gigantic, bird-like wings and a segmented tail. The tail broke up into parts, which flew apart individually and began firing at every Jark Matter unit in sight. White lettering on its shoulder read “02 - トリゴヤ, “ (Translator’s note: Torigoya). 

“Aha...ahaha.....ahahaha! Wel~come baaack~” A cackle resounded over the comms as the bits shot up every foe, locking onto new targets with each successive kill.

This mech’s hands and feet were covered in sharp talons, which lit up to reveal they were actually beam talons. Spinning dramatically, wings spreading to their full width, it flew into the fray, rearing its legs up and grabbing another Jark Matter mech by the shoulders with its feet. It somersaulted, releasing and throwing the suit away. The wings closed up, forming a cone. Raising its arms, the crimson mecha clasped its hands together, forming the tip of a drill. It spun rapidly, piercing through its quarry and coming out, wings unfurling as the suit exploded behind it. 

The next one was black, with a solitary white cross painted on its chest. It seemed plain...at least, at first glances. It had an extended thruster compliment, making it look rather angelic. It became enveloped in a violet aura, the eyes flashing. The unit silently raised its head, before blasting off, becoming a living comet. It tore through Jark Matter units in rapid succession, a chain of destruction following in its wake. White text on its shoulder read “03 -  ブラック“ (Translator’s note: Black.) 

The last mech, colored dark green, had a rather sinister aura to it. It was covered in carbon scoring, smears of oil, and even the residue of the strange, neon fluids that Jark Matter used to fuel its mecha. It twitched as it erratically flew about the battlefield. “Hey....are you mad?” 

Snatching a Jark Matter grunt, it flew towards one of the enemy carriers, slamming it facefirst into the hull. It dragged the enemy suit along the outside. “Kyahahahahah! Can you handle the heat?” Declared the suit’s pilot as it deftly avoided the anti-air fire being directed at it. It smashed the suit into the command deck of the ship, getting bathed in flames as the ship began to go down. The stained white text on its shoulder read “04 -  ゲキカラ“ (Translator’s note: Gekikara).

“What the...” Hikari let out...he shook his head. Whatever! His sister and her friends seemed to be turning the tide. 

“This is Green Earth! I’m going in!” He shouted, pressing forwards on both joysticks. He cut a hole into one of the ships, flying inside and skidding to a halt. He’d entered a staging area, where plenty more Jark Matter units were waiting. They all turned their heads. 

Hikari rolled his neck, popping his fingers before grabbing the controls again. 

Green Earth lunged forwards, cross slicing through one unit before tackling the one behind it, driving a beam saber into its chest. Using the momentum, it hand vaulted off the floor, kicking away another grunt before driving a blade through it. Landing on its head, Green Earth angled its thrusters so it would spin around, knocking away more grunts Matrix style, before pushing off, jumping off the ceiling, and landing on the chest of another grunt, using it to grind across the bay and slashing through anything that got in its way. It Kickflipped the mech before doing an Acid Drop into a 360 Impossible, Ollying out of the ship right as it exploded. 

It was pretty clear to Jark Matter their invasion of Earth was a bad idea- they’d never had a loss this staggering. Regardless, they pressed on, releasing more grunts.

“Grr...they just don’t stop coming! How many of these fuckers are there!?” Shibuya shouted.

“Lemme help thin ‘em out!” A volley of missiles flew forwards, each smashing into a Jark Matter grunt and killing them. The source? Another mech that was colored silver, which was armed to the teeth. It had launchers mounted on both shoulders, on its arms, and on its legs. Its back had extra thrusters, on which even more missile racks were mounted. It released the rocket launcher it had been holding, and spread its arms and legs. Panels all over its body opened up, revealing...even more missile racks. 

“You guys haven’t seen nothing yet! I’m about to show them the Macross Missile Massacre! Taste the fury of the one, the only, Mecha Professor, Ikura-hakase!” The pilot declared. “Fire, fire, fire! IKEEEEEEEEEEEE!” 

Every single missile rack unloaded, releasing a gigantic wall of missiles that were so many, I can’t even begin to describe how many there were! Holy shit! That’s a lot! 

They spiraled and twisted in and out of sight, chasing grunts down and smashing into them, detonating and lighting up the battlefield like Tokyo at night. 

“LAUNCH THE BIG ONE!” 

At her command, a gigantic missile fired from the human fleet’s main ship, about the size of a small cruiser. The silver mech ejected all of its empty missile racks (save for the internally mounted ones) and flew to meet it, landing on it and surfing it like it was riding a wave. “Yeeehaw! Let’s see how you like this! The one...the only! Ikura Deluxe! It’s the order of the day! Bon appetit, ya slimy bastards! Kozue....this one’s for you!” 

The mech dramatically pointed, the missile aiming for the Jark Matter mothership. “Go!” 

A close-up of the missile.

“Go!” 

A close-up of the silver mech.

“GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” 

A close-up of the pilot, showing a cutaway of her helmet as she yelled. 

The missile had punched all the way through the front lines, where everyone else was, and reached the back, where the enemy fleet’s leader was.

The missile slammed into the mothership, a gargantuan explosion erupting as a result, sending out shockwaves that tossed the other Jark Matter ships out of formation and throwing any nearby mechsuits into disarray. The silver mech was tossed into the explosion, and it self-destructed. 

As a result of the explosion, the entire front half of the ship had been decimated; however, it was still operational. 

“CHIEF!” Hikari shouted, sounding legitimately distressed. Sure, she was annoying, but that didn’t mean she had to die! “Goddammit....goddammit! You didn’t have to sacrifice yourself!” 

He began to shake with anger, fists tightening around the Green Earth’s controls. “I’ll kill ‘em all! Every last one of them! I’ve lost enough friends to Jark Matter...no more! NO MORE!” 

The Green Earth’s neon green lights turned red as Hikari became blinded with anger, and it became consumed with overwhelming power. It tore forwards, rampaging its way to the back of the Jark Matter fleet. 

Compared to how he usually piloted, which was calm, analytical, and precise, now Hikari’s piloting was uncontrollable, Green Earth careening around as it tore into anything it could get its hands on. 

Additionally...he wasn’t as aware of his surroundings as he usually was. Which was why a Jark Matter grunt was able to sneak up on him. It lined its shot up, aiming right for the cockpit. It pulled the trigger...

KABOOM! 

The Jark Matter grunt exploded, a silver fighter flying through the destruction. “Hey, kid! Watch your ass!” Shouted the pilot.

“C-chief!? You’re alive?!” Hikari stammered.

“Of course I am! I’ve got too much shit to do to just die like that! Though, I gotta admit, that would’ve been pretty cool. Heh.” The fighter flew in closer. “Anyways, you might wanna clench. I’m about to ride you!” 

“Wait, what--” 

The silver fighter lined up behind Green Earth, before folding up and docking with the mech. The lights across it returned to green, as the silver fighter changed its hues to match the rest of the mech. “Docking complete! Hey, he’s still single, just so you know!”

“C-Chief, cut that out!” He demanded. 

“Right, right. Forwards! We got a final boss to defeat!” She declared.

Laser cannons sprung up, deploying over the Green Earth’s shoulders. 

“Right...let’s go! This is for all my friends....both living and dead! We’re gonna come home today!” Hikari declared.

“Fuck yeah! That’s what I wanna hear! Go get ‘em, kid!” Ikura shouted.

The Green Earth sped forth again, bearing straight for the mothership. It was tailed by multiple grunts, which formed up to chase after it.

The Green Earth dove into the mothership, flying past bulkheads, crossbeams, and other structural nonsense that would just be an obstacle during this final assault. You remember the run on the 2nd Death Star in Return of the Jedi, right? It’s like that! The grunts were unable to keep up, smashing into the various parts of the ship and exploding, damaging it even further.

Occasionally, it had to cut through several walls, but it finally reached the core. Conveniently, it was shaped like a giant arena, with the core of the ship being in a giant column that hummed as it ran.

Inside, a SUPER EVIL looking mech awaited Green Earth, and it had a super big cape that looked really dumb because it was fluttering like it was in the wind despite being in space, which is a vaccuum. I mean, fine I guess it looks cool but it’s dumb.

It tossed off the cape, which fell to the ground- this is really stupid I hate this- and it pulled out a beamsaber, which, when ignited, became a massive broadsword. How the fuck does that work? This guy’s trying too hard to be cool.

The two mechs clashed, and a comm line opened between them.

“Foolish Earthling! I, Zhen, the ultimate conquerer-”  “Hey! Asswipe! Shut up!” Shouted Ikura.

“What!? You dare interrupt me, the glorious leader of-” 

“BITCH, I SAID SHUT UP.” She yelled.

Immediately he was silenced. “Quit your yammering and fight! You think we give a shit!?” Hikari shouted. 

“Very well, then...let us dance!” Zhen cried out, laughing as the two mechs rocketed around, beam sabers repeatedly clashing. Green Earth fired at Zhenmech with its shoulder cannons, scoring a few hits now and again.

At some point the Green Earth, damaged and barely functioning, drove its beam saber through the Final Boss’ chest.

“What was that you called me? Foolish?” Hikari commented. “Well, looks like you’re the fool...’cause you’re dead.” He smirked.

“Hey, kid?” Ikura said.

“Yeah?”

“Don’t quit your day job.” 

Zhenmech exploded, and the explosion also knicked the core, which happened to be made out of a super volatile substance known to us humans as Explodium. Immediately it erupted into flames, and Green Earth began the journey out of the ship, flames licking at its heels as it dodged and maneuvered its way back out. 

However, the path seemed...different. Maybe it was just the alien nature of the ship, but the path had changed.

“How are we going to get out of here!? We’re gonna die at this rate! Dammit!” Hikari yelled. “We’ve made it this far...just to lose at the end!”

Ikura slowly lifted her head. It was like...she was in a trance. She saw an angel appear to her...it was Kozue! 

 “This way...”

“Hikari.” She said, in an uncharacteristically calm voice. Fuck, that was a big word. 

“What?” He asked.

“Fly up.” She said. 

“What?” 

“Just do it!” 

“If you say so...” 

The Green Earth angled upwards, holding out its beam sabers to tear through the hull.

The Green Earth was rocked as it flew through the ship’s husk...but it finally emerged, triumphantly escaping as the ship was consumed from the inside out, before finally being consumed in one gigantic, satisfying, climactic explosion that was really good and super cool to look at. 

Also, there was probably like, a really triumphant fanfare or something.

Okay, I’ve burnt out on this drabble. Hoped you enjoyed reading it.

@boukenuniverse

[askthetriokzt]

What is it like to battle this character?

Kodo: You are going to have very little control over this battle and not a lot of choices. Kodo is a believer that whoever controls the battlefield and the flow, is the winner. So her main goal, most of the time, isn’t to directly fight you but to take away as many options that benefit you as she can, that and sometimes she will play you like a fiddle. What she lacks in strength, she makes up for in her speed, agility, and mind. She’s constantly moving around, twisting, jumping, flipping, running, always on the move, and her mind is moving just as fast as she is.

Her vines give her an extended reach (up to 15 meters), can be used as whips, can fling her into the air and out of range or danger, and can wrap around the opponent to either trap them or throw them.

Then comes her flower, which releases pollen of different colors. Green puts you to sleep (much like Midnight’s quirk), Yellow causes paralysis, Red is highly combustible (usually comboed with Zackery), Purple is poison (though she doesn’t use it often, only for emergencies), and anything else is harmless. She is immune to her own pollen, though the same cant be said about allies so there is a risk.

Finally, she carries around at least a handful of both blast seeds and leech seeds, a little project she’s been working on for a while. Blast seeds explode on impact, much like Bakugo’s quirk though usually the small blasts, and leech seeds crack open to reveal multiple entangling vines that cling onto anything within reach… including Kodo herself. It’s still a work in progress but better than nothing. (Her leech seeds were the main reason she was able to pass the Entrance Exam, since you know, pollen doesn’t work on robots).

Kodo prefers working with a team over solo, and she likes keeping her distance from an opponent, only getting close when needed. She is skilled in hand-to-hand combat but that’s focused more on deflecting and dodging attacks, than actually hitting… she uh can’t hit very hard, so fighting someone like Aizawa, forcing her to fight without her quirk, is nearly impossible for her to win. She cant take hits very well, the cold slows her down, stays away from fire, and she needs to be the fastest on the field.

So a fight against Kodo is something that you either have to brute force your way through or out smart her because she is going to keep you on your toes and force you to make mistakes, yank you out of your comfort zone and capitalize on any and all mistakes and hesitations you make. If you’re faster than her (Iida), or have an ice based quirk (Shoto), then you easily have the best chance of winning in a one-on-one fight with her.

Power: 2/5 Speed: 4/5 Technique: 4/5 Intelligence: 4/5 Cooperativeness: 4/5 Total: 18/25

Zackery: You will feel the heat for sure. Zackery is much more straightforward in fighting than Kodo, preferring to attack directly and make you either face his flame head on, or turn and run from it. He doesn’t like to give his opponent time to think or act, so he charges straight in, breathing fire or throwing punches, no questions asked.

His quirk is pretty simple, deep in his stomach he has a fuel supply that he ignites, with something he refers to as ‘his flame’, to unleash his flame from his mouth, or he can create a smokescreen for cover. His hair can also turn into fire, which he likes to keep long, and that can help with keeping opponents away from him, I mean who wants to get close to someone with fire hair?

His fuel supply is very important though, if he runs out completely, then his whole body feels heavy and he’s just pretty lethargic, so he rarely ever uses it up. His supply replenishes over time, and he can also just eat whatever is flammable if he needs more fuel fast… though you can kind of imagine the issues that can cause.

Zackery can be quick to anger though and he sometimes uses his quirk far more than he should, resulting in using up more fuel faster. Water is the most obvious and biggest weakness he has, as it can actually put out ‘his flame’ and make it impossible to use his quirk at all until ‘his flame’ is relight, which can happen over time, or by having him eat fire, like a lit match. Finally, his smokescreen is another problem, since its still a new part of his quirk, he’s not entirely used to it so he can start coughing and wheezing from using it too much. (Kodo may or may not help Zackery with these issues by 1, giving him leaves and petals to eat to refuel, 2, carry matches for him to relight ‘his flame’, and 3, pills for his smoke inhalation… Kodo is the mom friend).

So a fight with Zackery is a dangerous one… for both parties. He’s loud, fast, high aggro, and unleashing intense flames. If you’re fast enough to dodge his attacks and make him use it all up (Iida… again), or have a water based quirk, then congrats, the battle is in your favor but dont expect it to be easy though. Even if up against the worst possible odds, Zackery doesn’t go down without a fight.

Power: 3/5 Speed: 4/5 Technique: 4/5 Intelligence: 3/5 Cooperativeness: 4/5 Total: 18/25

Tachi: Have fun fighting a tank. While Kodo uses mind games, and Zackery goes full on aggro, Tachi prefers to wait for his opponent to come to him and strike only when needed. He’s sturdy like a rock, taking hit after hit without budging, just waiting for his opening. And when he hits, he hits hard.

One the surface, Tachi’s quirk appears to just be enhanced strength but there’s more to it then just that. While Tachi does have enhanced strength, something he enjoys a lot, he also has some serious cutting powers. His quirk, the Power Slash, has been in his family for generations and it hasn’t changed much. The user gets enhanced strength and the ability to send out a wave of air that can cut but it wont work against living things. When the quirk is fully activated, red spirals and swirls appear on the skin, the patterns are always different for each user, and that is where the blasts of air come from. For more control, the user can wield a sword though.

Regarding his strength, his biggest feat was probably during the Sports Festival where he threw both Kodo and Zackery clear across the canyon, aka the Fall. He often doesn’t use his full strength in fights though, just what is needed to knock someone out or for whatever else the situation calls for.

As for the other part of his quirk, he can, so far, send the blast up to 10 feet away and can send out multiple blasts at once or in quick sessions. Even though he cut living things, the blast of air can still push them back or disrupt attacks.

Tachi can wait too long to fight back though, resulting in taking more damage than he should have. He’s also not as skilled as he should be with both a sword and the Power Slash, as he put down his sword 5 years ago after an accident. He’s only just now trying again, though with some hesitations still.

A fight with Tachi is either going to end quick or take a while, depending on how many opening you give him. If he can land a hit, that might be all he needs, but he’s rather slow and has a major blind spot because he’s blind in his right eye. Because of this, fighting alone isn’t the best option for him at all. If you have high mobility/speed (Iida… again) or can safely attack from a distance (Shoto… again), then you should be fine. But having to fight him up close isn’t something you should do, unless you can dodge his attacks easily.

Power: 6/5 Speed: 2/5 Technique: 3/5 Intelligence: 3/5 Cooperativeness: 4/5 Total: 18/25