#fabulous (non)winks of | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

americasass81 · 1 year ago

Text

Toys 'R' Us

Warnings 18+ for the following:- Non-Consensual Sex, Dubious Consensual Sex, Kidnapping, M/F Penetrative Sex (vag & anal), F/F Oral, M/F Oral (f receiving, everything else implied), Implied M/M, Choking, Very Mild Language, Restraints, Fingering, Fisting, Anal, Squirting, Use of Pet Names. Seriously do not read if any of this upsets you, the warnings are there for a reason. Feedback is welcomed and any mistakes are my own.

By proceeding you are acknowledging that you are over 18 and are consenting to the content below the cut.

Pairings:- dark!Steve Rogers x Female Reader, dark!Tony Stark x Female Reader, dark!Natasha Romanoff x Female Reader

Author’s Note 1: This is my submission for @jtargaryen18 Halloween Challenge 2023. Having chosen the prompt below, I’m kinda hoping I pulled it and the spooky sense of the season off. Even if I didn't, I most definitely had fun writing this. Thank so much for hosting this delightful challenge Jamie, you’re an inspiration to so many of us here. Hope anyone who reads this enjoys ��

Challenge Prompt:- (The Portal in the Pumpkin: You carve one of the pumpkins Tony ordered, but this one turns out to be a portal to somewhere else...)

Author’s Note 2:- As always, all images have been found through google search.

Synopsis:- Whomever told you Halloween parties were supposed to be fun never heard of those involving Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. What will happen when you accept an invitation to Tony Stark’s latest shindig?

Total Word Count:- 8,278

The invitation showed up in your mail just like it did every year you had worked for Tony Stark. But this year should have been different. Oh sure the heroes had stopped Thanos and things had pretty much gone back to normal. But what it had cost humanity seemed to have been forgotten by everyone but you. And here was the proof.

Looking at the red envelope with its gold writing you still couldn't believe this was happening. Tony was dead after all. Steve had chosen to abandon his friends and those that cared about him to live in the past with some British dame who promised him a dance but had no idea of the man he had become. And Natasha? Well Nat had willingly sacrificed herself knowing that no power in existence could ever bring her back.

So whose idea was it then that this Halloween should be celebrated in the same fashion Tony celebrated every occasion ... with a fabulous party that people talked about long after it was over. Opening up your door now and heading inside your home, the shocks continued to rock your system as you ripped open the envelope and pulled out the invitation you were now so used to receiving.

Except this wasn't anything like the previous ones.

Appearing now in ghostly holographic form and coupled with the time of year it was, Tony's voice sent a shiver down your spine as he reached out from beyond the grave and reminded you just how prepared he was for anything life threw his way. "Hello darling." Ugh there it was again you thought, that cringe worthy endearment that even in death was still such an integral part of who he was. "If you're seeing this then I am no longer among the living, but that hardly seems like a valid reason to let my legacy crumble. Therefore in true Tony Stark fashion," he continued with his hand upon his heart, "your presence is hereby requested at the last Stark party to be hosted by yours truly. No need to R.S.V.P., it's not like you would deny a dead man's last request after all."

Watching now as he winked back at you before the recording disappeared and left you on your own once again, you dropped onto the couch behind you and tried to think through your options. You hated parties after all. In all honesty it had to be the only part of being Tony Stark's assistant that really grated on you. Long hours. Tedious requests. His never ending flirtatious ramblings. All of these you took in your stride and even laughed off some of them. But these parties were definitely something you could do without.

Which you figured was why Tony always insisted you show up. Mixing with humanity was, according to someone who preferred to bury himself with machines, the only way to experience all the thrills life had to offer. God even now the thought of Tony lecturing you on always choosing books over partying made your eyes roll. He really knew how to annoy you it seemed.

Yet even in death, the man still had a point.

You could never deny him anything in life and you weren't about to cheat him out of his last request now. No matter how painful it would be to attend knowing that the man of the hour wasn't going to be there, you would always show up for him. Giving one last look at the invitation now and acknowledging that you at least had two day to prepare for this blessed event, you then headed off to bed and figured tomorrow would give you plenty of time to track down something suitable to wear. After all one couldn't show up to a Stark Party in any old rags.

Greeting the world again on what you thought was the following morning, you were beyond horrified to discover that you had actually slept a whole day away. Trying to remember now if you had actually gotten out of bed at all, some empty water bottles on your bedside locker and some vague memory of trips to the bathroom comforted you at least with the knowledge that you had left the bed. But that seemed to be all you did. Thinking back now on the last activity you could remember accomplishing, throwing yourself into bed after a long and exhausting day at work somehow convinced you now that the invitation you recalled receiving was simply a dream brought about by far too many long days and sleepless nights. However, rising from the bed and leaving the room, the envelope and its contents waiting on your living room coffee table told you the summons was real. Tony Stark was causing you problems once again.

Picking it up and now reading through the finer details his holographic presence and your tiredness had previously caused you to overlook, you now confirmed with a deep sigh the last thought you had that night before sleep knocked you out cold ... nothing in your closet would qualify for this event and you would definitely have to go shopping. Sighing now with the realization that two days notice had disappeared to become the day of the party, you figured you better get a move on.

Calling a taxi then to pick you up in half an hour, you hurried off into the bathroom to shower and dress before heading outside to catch your ride. Sitting into the taxi then and telling your driver Devon exactly where you wanted to go, you tried to focus on him talking to you about mundane things like the weather or the last football game he watched but the list of various Halloween outfit shops popping up on your phone as you scrolled through Google proved too much of a distraction to really take in much of what was being said. After all, with the party taking place tonight this shopping trip was the very definition of last minute. And you despised last minute chores.

Which you guessed explained the headache that was now beginning to form.

At last arriving in the center of the city, you promptly paid and thanked your driver before exiting the taxi and heading off towards the nearest costume shop. Hoping for a one and done kind of experience, stepping inside the front door at least brought you some comfort when you were greeted by a throng of adults and children milling about through the huge array of colorful costumes stretching as far as the eye could see. You weren’t the only one it seemed that the spooky season had crept up on.

Walking through the shop now around excited children, harried adults and even more stressed out shop assistants, you made your way to the adult sections and carefully pawed through every single costume without any of them really screaming out ‘pick me.’ Giving up at last when nothing really grabbed your attention, you left the shop and headed to the next one and the next one and the one after that. Eventually tired out and wondering why you were unable to find a simple costume for a simple Halloween party, you figured a spot of lunch might allow you to clear your head and start over when suddenly a quick glance down a side alley revealed a small shop decked out in pumpkins, spiders and all manner of ghost and ghoulie.

Glancing around now and observing that no one else seemed even remotely aware of the shop’s existence or where you were even looking, you took a few extra seconds to ponder this revelation before swallowing your concerns, placing one foot in front of the other and heading off towards its door. Placing your hand on the knob then once getting within its reach, you held your breath and pushed forwards.

Stepping inside the first thing that caught your eye wasn’t the smoking cauldrons or the various supernatural creatures displayed throughout but the actual interior of the place itself … it reminded you of a forest. Decked out with a moss like carpet, the night sky overhead contrasted beautifully with the leaves cascading down the walls in all the glorious colors of fall. It took your breath away. In fact you were so mesmerized by the whole scene before you that you actually let out a shocked scream when a hand landed on your shoulder as the owner of the shop made her presence known to you.

“I’m sorry my dear, I didn’t mean to frighten you,” she apologized politely as you smiled back tenderly while you tried to reassure her that no harm had been done. Starting a conversation then regarding how amazing her shop looked and at the same time how empty it was compared to most of those on the main street, she simply smiled and reassured you that she still turned a nice profit through those that were destined to find this place. Taking no notice of her exact words however as your attention now fell to the lack of costumes on display, you wondered if she could actually read your mind when she walked over to the door, locked it and then turned her attentive gaze back on you before speaking. “Now dear, how about you follow me to the back room and we’ll see if we can find something to bring out your spooky spirit.”

Glancing at the locked door now as she simply walked past you while motioning for you to follow after her, your mind quickly debated what you had gotten yourself into before the memory of why you were even on this trip reminded you that you were terribly low on options. The party was fast approaching and all the other shops you had tried had been woefully disappointing. This one really couldn't be any worse, right? So silencing your reservations then and following behind her step by step, thirty minutes later had you endlessly thanking her as you finally had a costume that suited you and the occasion perfectly. She truly had delivered. Saying your goodbyes then, picking up a few essential items and grabbing a quick bite to eat, you next hailed a taxi to get you back home to begin preparing for the night ahead.

Opening up the door to your apartment and stepping inside, you put away your other purchases before heading into your bedroom and dropping the bag containing your costume onto the bed. Sinking into the chair in the corner of the room then, you contemplated one more time about not going to this party before you finally chastised yourself for hiding yourself away from your former work colleagues. Sure Tony’s death had been hard on you, so hard in fact you sought out a new job even as the Avengers now rebuilt the compound at a completely different site and Pepper had offered you a lucrative position as her own personal assistant. Still it would never be the same. It couldn’t be. Tony may have been a colossal pain in the ass after all, but he did make things fun. And it was that fun you missed most of all.

Taking off your shoes now that your mind was beyond changing, you then reached for your phone, booked a taxi for an hour and a half later and finally headed off towards your en suite to start your preparations. Stripping off your clothes then as the shower heated up and sent its soothing sounds throughout the room, you now stood beneath its warm spray and washed off all the grime trying on the various costumes had deposited on your skin. Grabbing a towel then and heading back to your bedroom, you dried off before retrieving the costume and looking it over once more. It really was impressive.

At last feeling all the excitement of the evening ahead, you slipped on the black and red leather bodysuit along with the knee high boots before standing in front of the full-length mirror just inside your closet door. Admiring the way the suit hugged your figure while cupping your breasts in a way that honestly had you feeling all kinds of sexy, you had to admit that nothing looked as good as your legs leading down from the bodysuit to nestle snugly within the boots. As Tony would say you were indeed a looker.

Genuinely smiling now for the first time since receiving the invitation, you next went about securing the high collar with the adjustable straps provided before taking out the accompanying belt and securing it firmly around your waist. Watching now as the four sheer drapes cascaded down your thighs and ass, the light make-up and fake blood you then applied finally finished off the look splendidly and you had to agree that the shop owner was indeed correct. This was most definitely your look. Checking the time on your phone one last time, you then picked up your jacket and the invitation and walked out the door just in time to sit into the waiting taxi and head off to see what adventure lay ahead.

Pulling into the parking area of the new Avengers Compound twenty minutes later and handing over your jacket and invitation at the door, arriving at the entertainment floor confirmed that you had made the right decision despite the fact that for the first time since you had come to work for him Tony would not be here. In fact, it suddenly hit you now standing in this room that Nat and Steve also had to be added to the list. It just didn’t seem fair. Setting aside these depressing thoughts however in favor of living life large just like your former boss was notorious for, you plastered on your best and brightest smile and walking towards the bar, ordered the reddest drink they had in honor of the vampire princess your costume declared you to be. Sipping on it slowly then as the taste assaulted your senses and whatever alcohol it contained burned your throat, you took a few minutes to look around the floor and study the lay of the land until a shiver traveled down your spine and a voice in the back of your mind told you you were being watched.

But that just had to be paranoia, right?

This was a party you were actually invited to, you were no one in particular and everyone looked to be enjoying themselves way too much to zero in on you. No, you figured now with the outfit you wore the shiver was simply your body adjusting to the changes in temperature and as for the voice well, that you were going to write off as your imagination when a cursory glance around the room proved not one single person here was looking in your direction. You were just another body. Gazing out across the sea of faces more closely now bathed in the eerie glow of lighted pumpkins and multi colored billowing smoke, another sip of your drink to calm your nerves and it actually warmed your heart to see so many people - superheroes and Stark employees alike - just hanging out and enjoying the spooky season in all manner of costume that now made you feel right at home.

At last leaving the safety of the bar and venturing forth to mingle, talk and get a closer look at some of the activities, you not only discovered Thor’s dark talent for telling terrifying stories that appeared to be frightening even grown ass adults, but it actually made you smile even more to find Bucky and Sam thoroughly outdoing each other in an ever increasingly degrading game of Truth or Dare. They really seemed to be embracing the spirit of the season. Which you figured was something you should be doing.

Thinking now to yourself however of just how much Tony and Nat especially would have enjoyed the festivities on display, you were just about to join Wanda, Pepper and some of your former colleagues from before you left Stark Industries to work at the Avengers Compound for a game of 7 Minutes In … when a glimpse off to your left revealed Carol, Clint and Bruce in the throes of carving pumpkins and having a heated discussion as to which one of them was doing a better job. Deciding there and then that this actually looked like far better fun and also using the excuse to get your hands on a knife, you placed your hand on Pepper’s shoulder and gave her a warm smile in greeting before making a beeline for the three Avengers currently trying to decide what exactly Carol was after creating.

Stepping up beside them now in the hopes of not only settling the argument but also just to see what each of them had accomplished, you too had to agree that the pumpkin was not something recognizable on Earth to which Carol now threw her arms around you and thanked you for stating the obvious. Apparently she had indeed carved out some alien creature none of you had ever even heard of and neither of the guys had actually realized it. Deciding now that your detective skills merited some type of reward and pointing out, to his dismay, that it made you smarter than the great Doctor Banner, Carol now reached behind you and picked up the nearest pumpkin for you to try out your skills on.

Taking the knife now offered by Clint, you waited until all three of them nodded their heads for you to begin and so you did. Slicing off the top and scooping out the insides, you then carved slowly and carefully and fifteen minutes later a tea light nestled inside revealed the Kraken from Norse mythology devouring a ship and dragging it down to the depths of the ocean never to be seen again. Grumbling between themselves that you were hiding talents from them, the three superheroes now admitted defeat and walking away left you thinking of what you wanted to do next. Deciding that as grand, successful and fun as your first pumpkin carving attempt had been, it was a bit too dark in your opinion despite the season that was in it and so reaching for the biggest pumpkin you could find you made the first cut thinking that this time you wanted to try something simple and cheerful.

But alas it wasn’t meant to be. Sliding the knife in and drawing it back out, a gust of wind simply loud enough for you to hear emanated from the pumpkin and as the knife plunged back in and created a larger cut, a portal formed before your eyes and sucked you forwards into the unknown.

Rising to your feet now having been unceremoniously dumped out wherever the portal had ended, you took a few steadying breaths before beginning the task of figuring out where you were and how you were going to make it back to the party. Realizing also in the same breath the mistake it was to have left your phone in your jacket pocket, you now focused instead on where you might be and the revelation shocked you. You were standing in what appeared to be a darkened toy store. Massive beyond belief and covered in cobwebs, debris and all the eerie spectacle of the season, your hopes of getting out of here began to soar as you cautiously made your way down the nearest aisle and headed towards the front of the building. But that hope did not last long.

Being greeted by boarded up windows that let in just enough light for you to see by, this revelation coupled with a nearby phone that proved to be lacking an active dial tone told you all you really needed to know. The place was utterly abandoned and you were trapped inside. Panicking now at the situation you found yourself in, you checked and rattled every window and door you could find for any possible way out but no exit appeared, so you now began searching the surrounding area for anything that might help you escape or at the very least alert someone outside that this place was not as abandoned as it appeared. Failing miserably however as everything you tried chipped away at your sense of preservation, you finally sent your gaze upwards along the height of the shelving and wondered if you could climb them, reach the roofing system and manage to get out that way.

Looking around once more now at the front of the building which offered no escape and the Halloween decorations adorning this place that now looked far more sinister and creepy the longer they stared back at you, you accepted you had nothing left to lose and so placing your foot on the nearest shelving and reaching up over your head you prepared to climb and get a better view of things above you when the sound of someone chanting off to your left caught your attention. Stopping what you were doing now and focusing more completely on what was being said, you still couldn't distinguish any one word from another but two facts were undisputed. And they totally freaked you out. One, you were no longer alone in this place and two, this new voice belonged to that of the male variety. Which made you even more uneasy. Taking a moment now to contemplate this new information in the context of what you were currently wearing and the time of year it was, you waited a heartbeat more before finally deciding that seeking assistance to get out of here was worth whatever danger may be waiting for you somewhere in the bowels of this disused toy store.

Dropping back down to the floor and moving forward now without alerting your unknown companion, you made it all the way to the action figure aisle where the light of a stationary flashlight illuminated the silhouette of a familiar figure standing before a life size cardboard cutout of The Black Widow Natasha Romanoff. Completely forgetting the unusual circumstances now that landed you in this peculiar location, you hurried forwards and called out Steve Rogers name until a wayward glance beyond him stopped you in your tracks.

Something very strange was happening here.

Looking back and forth now between the man that sparked hope within you and the object that halted your movements, seeing what looked like blood dripping down Natasha's effigy made you want to run back the way you had come when another image caught and held your attention. At the end of the aisle, four or five feet away now from where you and Steve stood, another life size cardboard cutout also stood dripping in the same red substance, but it was still easy to make out. This one was Tony Stark. Moving slowly past Steve now without any interference from him to stand before the image of your former boss, you were just about to reach out and wipe the red liquid from his cardboard helmet when a hand suddenly reached out to stop you and made your skin crawl.

"Please don't do that. Jamie was very clear that their blood should not come in contact with any other living creature," Steve explained and the shadows dancing across his features as you glanced towards him somehow made him far more terrifying than you ever thought possible.

"Who the fuck is Jamie and just what the hell is going on here?" you asked, turning now to face Steve fully while his grip on your wrist and the bloody scene before you frightened you more than you ever willing to utter. Especially to him.

Visibly flinching a bit at your language, tone or possibly both, Steve easily composed himself however before speaking. "Oh I'm sorry sweetheart," Steve began as he now moved both of you away from the figure before you and the temptation you still had to touch it. "I thought after all the time the two of you spent picking out your costume she would at least have given you her name. Guess she didn't," he now finished as his tongue darted out to lick his lips while his eyes took in the sight of you for the very first time.

Following his eyes down your costume now as some of the pieces began to fall into place, you still didn't know for sure what puzzle they were falling into though and part of you questioned if you really wanted to find out given what you had seen so far. But it proved to be a very small part however. Deciding instead after a brief pause that you just had to know what was going on, you turned your full focus back on Steve now and asked the question he failed to answer once again.

"Well if you really must know, Jamie informed me that very little separates the living from the dead on All Hallow's Eve. So using a spell she provided, Nat and Tony can walk this earth once again."

Completely horrified now by this revelation, all that it implied and his seemingly cavalier attitude to what he was proposing, your head screamed at you to run but your natural curiosity won out again as more words tumbled from your mouth without too much thought for what you were saying or the consequences they might reap. "What the hell Steve? Why would you do something like this? Have you any idea the forces your actions could unleash?"

Locking his eyes with you now as he contemplated whether or not to tell you the truth, it seemed the truth won out in the end as America's sentinel of liberty began to speak once more. "What can I say sweetheart? I missed Natasha. Hell even on some level I also missed Tony. I just had to find a way to bring them back. And this is it. Whatever it takes," he finished with a cold, almost lifeless whisper and you knew now that all hope was lost. This man before he was no longer the beacon of hope the world held him up to be and the longer his blue eyes roamed over your barely concealed form the more afraid you became of the circumstances that landed you here and the consequences should you be unable to escape.

Frantic now as your mind wandered back to the feeling of someone watching you as you entered the party, you wanted to tell yourself to shut the fuck up when another round of words left your trembling lips. "It was you?" you stated almost as a question as more pieces of this puzzle made themselves known to you. "You sent the invitation. Organized for Jamie to find me. You were watching me at the party too. Oh god," you shuddered out suddenly as a final thought revealed itself to you, "you left that cursed pumpkin for me to find. You wanted me here."

Backing away from him now as you no longer wanted to hear anything he had to say, you finally took off at a run not caring where you were headed, but only made it three aisles over before a heavy body slammed into you and brought you to the ground. Trying desperately now to fight him off but failing miserably given his power, size and the position you found yourself in, you might have feared for your life as a crazed looking Steve turned you over and brought his hands around your throat if not for the words that settled in your ears as his fingers started to squeeze. "Rest easy now sweetheart, I'm not done with you yet and there's at least one person both of us know who will be overjoyed to find you here."

Clawing at his hands now as your vision began to blur and his words frightened you more than any revelation so far this night, your fingers eventually fell from his as the cold embrace of darkness finally claimed you and his satisfied smirk was the last concrete image your mind captured.

Regaining consciousness some unknown time later to find Steve with his back turned towards you staring into space, you might have been horrified by the fact that your body suit was all that remained on your frame now if not for the fact that being practically naked was not your worst condition. Ignoring the super soldier who seemed to have taken leave of his senses, your eyes now took in the makeshift scene all around you and it was worse than the one before he choked you out. Following the line of your limbs, you quickly discovered that the drapes that earlier fell from your hips now tied you down to what looked and felt like the base of a fourteen foot trampoline. Which didn't bode well for you.

Determined as a result to remain as quiet as possible so as not to alert your unhinged captor, you pulled your arms and legs towards you and while there was some tiny movement allowed, the fabric didn't even tear. Which only confirmed that you weren't going anywhere anytime soon. Meaning you were now in serious trouble. Tired now from all the exertion this information and running from Steve had cost you, you relaxed back down on your makeshift prison and figured it was maybe time to try and reason with the man responsible for your current situation since you had nothing else to lose. “Hey Asshole,” you began as a means of grabbing Steve’s attention though you knew once again that your attitude had not been well received by the noticeable tension that seemed to settle in his shoulders, “you maybe want to tell me why exactly I’m tied down here. Surely you’re not going to go so far as to sacrifice me?” you now asked and you hated yourself for the tremor you knew he must be hearing in your voice.

“Sacrifice you?” Steve now asked as he turned around to face you before jumping up onto the trampoline and kneeling down between your open legs. “Oh sweetheart don’t be silly. Jamie doesn’t practice that type of magic, but you will have to contribute … something,” he now answered and as his fingers began gliding over your bound figure you suspected that his next answer was not going to be something that was going to excite you. Even if you hadn't been tied down.

Listening intently now as the terror began to build, Steve informed you that come midnight Tony and Nat would step through their blood soaked cardboard cutouts and rejoin the world they gave their lives for. All that then had to be done to seal the resurrection spell was for the two of them … well in this case the three of them, to spend the next twenty-four hours ravishing each other's bodies and yours so Jamie could harness the energy of said couplings for whatever purpose she required. Finishing off this revelation then by leaning forwards and placing a kiss against each covered breast, you wished you could headbutt him in retaliation but the other questions swirling in your brain took priority.

Plus there was the fact that your current position didn’t allow you the strength to inflict that type of damage on him. Still, telling Steve in no uncertain terms that you would tell Tony and Natasha what he had planned, you also told him that he had to be even more deranged if he thought the flimsy drapes tying you down would remain strong enough to hold you for that length of time. His answer to this remark however only served to shock you even more.

Glancing at his watch now before releasing a laugh that sent a chill through your very soul, Steve now seemed to take perverse pleasure in settling his lips against your ear before explaining the lengths he and Jamie had gone through to secure your participation. “Oh sweetheart, your little shopping trip to Jamie’s did more than enable you to purchase this delicious covering. The drapes while looking flimsy to you are actually enchanted to hold you forever until one of us releases you. And as for telling tales to Tony and Nat," he continued with a tsk tsk sound, “well … try to reveal anything too detailed about your participation or Jamie’s involvement and all anyone will hear is you moaning, pleading and begging to be fucked harder.”

Rising off the trampoline now and heading back to the spot he had previously been watching from, your mind began to swirl with everything he had just told you but as a whooshing sound now broke the silence settling around you and Steve again, this new development now told you that the time you had left with full control over your voice was just about up. So with very little choice left available to you, you swallowed your fear and asked Steve the one remaining question that haunted you the most now. “Steve, what happens to me after twenty-four hours? Will I actually survive what’s coming?”

Torn between answering you now and giving his full attention to his two friends whose cutouts you just now noticed standing a few feet away, a quick glance at the shimmering effigies and his watch told Steve he still had some time. It couldn't hurt then to give you another piece of information, right? Sighing again at your persistence before turning back to face you, he simply told you now that you would indeed survive but all four of you would then be bound together forever and beyond. Informing you also that the question and answer portion of the evening was now officially over, you would have protested this final statement vigorously if not for the skeletal hands you now watched emerging from the cutouts before you.

This shit couldn't be real.

Following your frightened gaze and high pitched screams now to also witness what you were seeing, Tony and Nat emerging through the blood soaked veils should have been a welcome sight except for what actually appeared in their stead. Disheveled skin, protruding bone and wispy strands of hair, you now felt bone chilling fear for the first time in your life at the prospect of having these creatures anywhere near you. But Steve it seemed didn't care. Moving forward now one step at a time for every one they took in your direction, you ignored Steve’s actions and his previous comments and pulled harder against your bindings until a new phenomenon drew your attention to what was taking place before your eyes.

Craning your neck now around Steve’s considerable bulk, your eyes widened in utter disbelief as you watched the desiccated corpses of two people you thought you’d never see again somehow absorb the blood that previously covered their cutouts and complete their transformations. Reaching their friend and former teammate then, Tony and Nat embraced Steve in all their former glory and as the three friends focused on their own reunion you now wondered how long you had until their attention fell on you and whether this transformation was real or simply an illusion.

Fearful now that the answer to this unvoiced question would end up being the latter, yet not liking the former prospect any more either, you foolishly tried once more to free yourself from your confinement until Tony separated from his friends and locked his gaze on you. “Well now darling, aren’t you a sight these once dead eyes thought they’d never see again. Capsicle you really have outdone yourself,” Tony now added as he walked away from Nat and Steve and closed the distance between you. Feeling your heart now pounding in your chest the closer he got to you as Natasha helped Steve strip out of his clothes, Tony at last reaching the trampoline and placing his hand upon your ankle told you one thing at least. This was no illusion.

Completely naked, warm to the touch and looking every bit as human as he had in life, the smirk you never admitted to loving graced his newly restored features once again as he watched your eyes travel down his impressive physique to settle on his equally impressive package. It was better than your dreams. Calling for the others now to hurry up, Steve and Nat standing beside him equally naked now left you feeling positively fully clothed in the bodysuit that moments earlier had felt like nothing more than a glorified swimsuit. But you knew it wouldn’t last. Watching now as their hungry eyes raked over your bound and covered form, all three heroes nodded silently to each other now before Tony joined you on the trampoline and ripped the bodysuit from you. Begging now for them not to follow through with what they had planned, it was Natasha that set out to put your mind at ease.

“Princess please, look at you. Look at us,” she continued as Steve and Tony reached out and helped her up on the trampoline. Dipping ever so slightly now from the combined weight of all four of you as Tony remained between your legs while Steve and Nat rested on either side of you, the redhead licking a stripe along your neck made you cringe in disgust until she started speaking once again. Then you wanted to vomit. “Do you see Tony’s package princess? Tell me you haven’t fantasized about it buried deep within your flower. And what about Steve?” she asked, reaching across your body then to place her hand around his glorious erection. “Imagine this rod splitting you apart as you beg the guys to fuck your brains out. Not that we'll be able to hear you much with my pussy dripping all over that sweet and talented mouth of yours,” Natasha finished with a laugh before her lips crashed against yours and her tongue invaded your mouth and tickled your senses.

Drawing back to let both of you breathe then while letting go of Steve’s equipment, the three heroes exchanged looks once again as Tony now made room for Natasha between your legs while Steve moved closer to fondle your breasts and replace Nat’s lips with his own. Fighting off Steve’s advances now as his tongue darted out against your lips but failed to breach your oral cavity, he finally managed to penetrate your defenses however when Natasha bent down between your legs and buried her head against your intimate area. Moaning out then as her lips descended over your folds and began to lick and nibble an area no man or woman had ever touched orally before, Steve took full advantage of your slippage and gliding his tongue over yours began to seek out any participation from you on his end.

Squirming now to get away from Steve’s skillful hands and Natasha’s talented fingers and mouth, you actually lost control of your senses when Tony attached his mouth to Nat’s private area and sent her moans reverberating through your pussy in a sensation overload you had never experienced before. One that made your head spin. Grabbing a hold of the drapes now as you and Natasha were pulled apart, you couldn’t tell where you ended and Nat started and at this moment you couldn’t really care. Feeling your orgasm growing stronger and stronger as Natasha's tongue and fingers continued to assault your core, Steve now suckling on your breasts while Tony worked Nat towards her own release confirmed all that they had told you ... it was going to be a fourway.

But it didn't end there. Hearing a female voice chanting in the same language you had heard earlier, a cracking sound joined the slapping, slurping and moaning sounds coming from all four of you and you figured now that this was the energy harnessing part of the spell that Steve had previously mentioned. At least you might have accepted that explanation had your mind been able to focus completely on anything other than the sensations currently pulsing throughout your system. Biting along your chest now so that your mouth was free to give a voice to their efforts, moaning out now just like Steve had promised as their manipulations of your body continued to push you higher and higher, you cried out your release and created a vice-like grip on Natasha's fingers as a powerful orgasm ripped through you and threatened to knock you out once again. But it wasn't going to happen. Continuing to fuck you through your high as Steve now egged her on and Tony increased his eating out of the redhead sandwiched between the two of you, one more powerful, never-ending spasm starting in your head and thrumming downward towards your toes and you felt the dam burst. Literally. Squirting out all over Natasha's face as she in turn released into Tony's waiting mouth, all three heroes now smiled in satisfaction at the moisture leaking from you and dripping down Natasha's face.

Laying atop you now as Steve moved forwards to taste her release on Tony's face, you would have chosen that moment to close your eyes to the scene before you if the redhead didn't have other plans. Moving her body along yours as the guys now watched in rapt attention, her bringing her lips against yours should have made you thoroughly repulsed but instead it turned you on. And the words she uttered next just added to your overall confusion and humiliation. "You taste wonderful princess, don't you think? I'm glad I got to sample you first," she finished with a wink as she then flopped down beside you and began discussing with the guys how all of you should proceed from here. Deciding it was only fair that Steve should get to taste your nectar next, Tony and Nat now snuggled up on either side of you as the super soldier made himself comfortable between your legs. Feasting on your pussy then as Nat and Tony showered your upper body with nips and kisses, you actually began to wonder if Steve required any air to breathe at all as your body responded to his stimulations and his face seemed determined to breach your entrance.

Begging him to stop eventually as you couldn't take much more, an imperceptible look towards his teammates had Tony holding down your hips while Nat placed her lips over yours to easily silence all of your objections. No longer able to do anything now but feel each and every sensation swirling through you, your body finally succumbed to Steve's unrelenting torture as wave after wave of unending pleasure crashed throughout your body and you at last surrendered to the multiple orgasms competing within you for the title of strongest one. Pleased with himself now at the effect he had on you as he collapsed exhausted between your legs, you hoped now they would at least let you rest a bit before starting up again. But this was not to be part of their plan it seemed.

Having followed the rule of ladies first and then rewarding Steve for all that he had accomplished so far this night, Tony had waited patiently to taste your honeypot. But it seemed his patience now had run out. Returning to their starting positions as Natasha whispered in your ear how she had never tasted anything quite as exquisite as your pussy, Steve devoring your mouth once again did nothing to distract you from Tony's mouth attaching itself to your dripping folds. Acknowledging now for the first time that Steve and Nat were clean faced, the feel of Tony's goatee against your oversensitive lips was an altogether different experience. As were his skills. Realizing now that the previous two heroes had pulled you apart without ever actually manipulating your clit, Tony's nibbling on your bundle of nerves along with the tingling burn created by his facial hair added a whole new sensation to the pulses taking place within your core and as every muscle in your body began to tighten you knew you were in trouble. This was shaping up to be your most powerful release yet.

Successfully pulling back from Steve's mouth now as the pressure began to build throughout your system, you fought as best you could against Tony's hold even though it was an action that ultimately proved futile. Adding his fingers now which then became a fist as his tongue, lips and goatee all continued to aggravate the nerve endings his friends had previously sparked to life, you this time welcomed the darkness that surrounded you as fireworks burst behind your eyes and what felt like electricity crackled everywhere from your head to your toes. You had never in your life come so hard and part of you hoped you never would again. It was beyond draining.

Releasing the drapes then that tied your now limp body to the trampoline, the heroes began to use you in earnest now as each of them took turns to become acquainted with all of your holes and each others. Twisting and turning you now in ever more creative ways as each of them tried it seemed to outdo the other, all you could do now was try not to pass out again as one orgasm ended and another one began. In fact, so coordinated and determined were they in their dominance of you that at one stage in this bizarre ritual with Nat sitting on your face while kissing Steve beneath you and Tony somehow also sampling Natasha's nether regions, both of the guys' cocks buried in your pussy at the same time had all four of you joined as one. And it wasn’t the only time this happened. Another time, Steve buried in Nat's ass and Tony buried in yours while you and Nat pleasured each other seemed to you like something out of a pornographic movie. But this too had actually been real.

Losing track of all the times each of you had come now as well as trying not to think about the consequences of all the loads the guys had deposited within your core, you suspected this part of your ordeal was coming to an end however as the crackling energy you vaguely remembered noticing earlier coalesced into a shimmering barrier surrounding the trampoline as Steve and Tony both released one final burst of cum each against your shuddering walls. Exhausted now to the point of being nearly catatonic, yet also eternally grateful that you had indeed survived, your body covered and overflowing with cum could not shut off the new round of questions forming in your brain as Steve and Tony nestled against your sides while Natasha lay down between your legs and rested her head upon your stomach.

Breaking the silence to ask what their plans were now that the twenty-four hour sex marathon had secured their resurrection, no amount of thinking or deducing on your part could have prepared you for the answer Tony furnished you with however. Informing you that a house had been secured in your name somewhere in time, all of you would live comfortably on a secret fortune that Steve had amassed while populating this new time period with the next generation of earth’s heroes.

Strenuously protesting this idea while simultaneously groaning at the thought of all the sex that would be required to accomplish this goal, Tony and Nat peppering your skin with kisses did very little to distract you however as Steve reached under the trampoline and retrieved a bag containing four time travel suits with corresponding GPS wrist straps. Slowly backing away from their location now as you all dismounted the trampoline, arguing with Tony that this whole idea of starting over was beyond absurd as the three heroes proceeded to suit up, a stern look from Steve as he moved to block your escape attempt told you no more insolence on your part would be tolerated going forward. Informing you then as he grabbed a firm hold on your shoulders that you could either get dressed on your own or be dressed, it was Nat now who tried to smooth things over by appealing to your gentler side.

"Princess, forget what happened these past twenty-four hours and listen to your heart. Now tell us you don't want this. This world believes us to be dead so we can't stay here, but elsewhere together a life with Tony, Steve and I awaits where you will be treasured beyond your wildest dreams," she finished and as all three heroes now stood awaiting your answer you simply countered by asking where the exit out of here was and would they even let you reach it.

Smiling at you now as Steve flat out told you you weren't going anywhere but with them, suiting up and following on as he led all three of you farther into the store and back to the storage area, all four of you then stood on the waiting quantum generator, synced up your GPS wrist straps and shot through the time portal to emerge in a wooded landscape with an impressive cabin decked out in all the splendor of the spooky season. Resigning yourself now to the future they promised as Steve confiscated all four wrist straps, a change of clothes inside the house had you wondering how long you could survive this nightmare before you lost your mind and whether or not your new reality came with heroes that could offer some assistance.

Tagging: @jtargaryen18

#jtargaryen18 #JamiesHalloween2023 #dark!steve rogers x reader #dark!Tony Stark x Reader #dark!Natasha Romanoff x Reader #Halloween Writing Challenge

160 notes · View notes

spongeguyandlelouchvibridankia · 16 days ago

Text

And here's the latest chapter of Scandalous Chemistry!:

January 31st, Friday, 1998

Dear Diary,

Well, it’s been a few literally crazy days, huh? Gretchen and I have made buying gum and going on a Spa Date into missions even my darling Pierce Brosnan wouldn’t dare take!

But what matters is that we’re getting closer and closer! I really feel like we hit a breakthrough yesterday! Gretchen actually liked Ashley stuff! Me stuff! You realize what a TOTALLY schway sign this is?? It means that maybe we really could be besties! AAAAAAAAAAA!!!

Of course, there’s still much work to do, especially on my end! I need to prove I can do Gretchen things tomorrow, when I visit her house and we do some science stuff! I’ll admit, I’m… Sort of, kind of, totally, absolutely, literally nervous about it. Like, what if I find it whack? Or worse, what if I’M whack? What if I hurt her feelings again?! Or what if I’m not open minded enough?! I mean, I want to be, and I still think I did a real fabulous job at the museum, but that doesn’t mean I’ll just ace this!

And I really, really want to, dear diary. I already tried to quit Gretchen, and I just can’t! This friendship means too much to me, it’s like Rachel and Ross, just not romantic! Sabrina and Harvey, just not romantic! Charlie and Kirsten, just not romantic! I don’t know why I keep naming romantic relationships, but you know what I mean!

Point is, Gretchy… Means a lot to me. And even though I’m not exactly sure why, I mean a lot to her, it seems. Why else go through all this trouble for me? So I can’t let her down, especially after she tried so hard at the mall! I just need to get into the right mindset. Ooh, I know! I’ll do, like, one of those meditation mantra thingies!

Deep breath… Science. Nerd stuff. Facts. Learning. Experiments. More science. Molecules. Chemistry. Science 2, the sequel. Wait, no, I said science, this is science 3. Science: The Reckoning. No, Science: The Revenge! You didn’t pay attention at science, and this summer, it’s gonna get PHYSICAL. I should tell that one to Gretchen! I bet she’ll laugh! Hopefully that giggle she does, that’s the best one, the one that sounds like she didn’t mean to let it out, SOOOOOOOO aesthetically pleasing!

Whoops, looks like I rambled about Gretchen again! Sorry, dear diary, that’s been happening a lot! Ugh, I’m SOOOOOO lucky I have you, and your 24k golden lock, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to talk about all this Gretchen stuff! If anyone found out what secret soulmates we are, I’d LITERALLY DIE!

‘You never write in your diary on the way to school. What juicy dirt do we have here, and is “Double Your Lunch Money” too low a price for my fellow students?’, Tyler A hissed conspiratorially, grubby little fingers edging towards the book, shifty little eyes locked in on the gossip…

Outraged, Ashley slammed the book on his fingers, making him yelp in pain while she growled like a wolf on her cheat day from a non meat diet stumbling onto houses of stick and straw. ‘Careful, or I’ll add the mark of Cain to my accessories!’

Britney A, busy chewing on the pencil Ashley had accidentally dropped, grunted out a mouthful of ‘Mommy, Ashley is using the bible to make Tyler suffer, can I too?’. She followed her question by slowly and worryingly raising a makeshift cross marked “Tyler”.

Mrs. Armbruster, for her part, laughed all this off as she cruised her 197 Chevrolet C5 Red Corvette down the mainstreet, gazing out of her window at all the appreciative men, winking and biting her lip just to see what she could make them feel. As they all clearly squirmed in overwhelming attraction, she savored it. Power, pure and simple. Even all her wealth couldn’t buy the power that came with her galaxy spanning confidence. ‘That’s rich, girls! Like me! Tyler, reading a woman’s diary is a sin as despicable as Judas, so if you don’t want me to take away your Tamagotchi…’

‘I’ll be good.’ Tyler muttered, afraid and pissed at his sisters getting away with that. Ashley sniffed importantly, heedless of his suffering. She had far more pressing matters. Speaking of… ‘Oh, mommy, by the way, this week’s sleepover is at Ashley B’s. Would you, like, be able to drive me there? I’m afraid the last few days have totally exhausted me. Tyler?’, she lent out a hand, and the boy begrudgingly handed her a cherry yogurt.

Mrs. Armbruster didn’t look back as she answered, and perhaps it was that mystery that helped coat her real tone. ‘Oh, sorry, junior, but I’m literally SOOOO busy! I have more meetings than the number of dreamy boys on Dawson’s Creek!’

‘Dang, that’s a lot of meetings.’, Ashley A whispered to herself, feeling a little guilty. Gretchen would probably have told her now something about how busy her parents could be, so even trying to picture how busy her own mother was was just… Well, impossible! ‘Oh, aiite, I’m, like, sorry, mommy, I didn’t know.’

‘Now, now, Ashley, don’t fret! There’s a long time until you’re running Armbruster Reality!’, Ashley A Sr. strategically placed pressure onto her daughter’s shoulders, wondering if she was closer to her written out destiny yet. Her ears perked up, not dissimilar to the wolf I mentioned before.

Ashley A, meanwhile, gulped audibly, the concept hitting her like a truck, as it always did. The responsibility of the Armbruster name was entrusted on her shoulders, as the eldest child of the CEO of the biggest real estate business in the Philadelphia Tri-State area. What was she gonna do, let her friends run it? Or worse, Tyler?

But it didn’t make her feel any better when she pictured it: Her, wearing furs like her mother, smoking rings and laughing haughtily at business meetings, selling housing and insurance like a real smooth talker. Could she really live up to such a legacy, when she was befriending a freak… A non-Ashley type behind her family’s back?

Still, she couldn’t let them down. Putting on a brave face, Ashley saluted firmly. ‘WHEN I run it, I’ll be sure to remember that!’

Mrs. Armbruster grinned, giddy at the thought of an early retirement. ‘That’s bangin’ to hear, Ashley! I’ll be sure to tell your father to pick you up when I’m done flossin’ my new mini skirt suit and metallic heels! Like, they’re gonna be the next big trend, you just watch!’

That seemed reasonable to Ashley, so she smiled gratefully, happy that her mother could find the time to tell her father to do what she clearly had no time to do. ‘Business comes first, after all.’, Ashley repeated a worn out family statement, nodding gently, as she slowly glanced down at the photographs she had hidden in her diary, photos she was going to hide in her locker when she arrived.

The booth photos of her and Gretchen.

Thumb stroking the one with soft smiles, she felt a bittersweet pang explode into a brilliant kaleidoscope of uncertainty in her heart. ‘Am I a real Ashley and Armbruster anymore? It’s been so long since I truly enjoyed my old company.’

As the car purred to a stop next to the school, Ashley tried to swallow the lump in her throat and wear a brave face. ‘Today is vital. Today is the day I prove I can have my cake and eat it too. Take that, Thomas, Duke of Norfolk!’

A few minutes later, the first test came, as she opened up her locker to hide the photos.

Ashley’s locker was, well, it was just what you’d expect by now, reading Chapter 24 (excluding Author’s notes): It had all the beauty treatments she could have needed, from a mirror to hairspray to hair mascara to nail polish to lipstick to lip gloss, not to mention eyeshadow; hair bows, ribbons, accessories and clothes replacements if a quick change was needed (or she just felt like spicing it up); glitter stickers, glitter pens, glitter anything, for extra sparkle; pink fuzz all over (including the outside), making it a comfy place to rest her head if needed; liner notes of her favorite Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys songs; an amount of Lisa Frank stickers even Gretchen couldn’t probably count, featuring all her favorite animals in puking glorious rainbow colors; Some of her favorite notes from her friends (mostly some great Ashley B and Q zingers about the gang, which in retrospect, she might have regretted. Was there one of Gretchen? She’d check in a moment); Bath and Body Warm Vanilla Sugar (to smell extra Ashley); Her special backpack (equipped with a million other items, and most importantly, Bear Spice, her teddy); Pink scrunchies (if she ever felt like some sort of pony tail, not that she had the hair for it, or the need, but still); and most importantly, posters and pictures, of all the things and people she loved most: Her and Ashley T belting out Mariah Carey on her karaoke machine; her and Ashley Q giggling like crazy after prank calling some loser (probably Gus or Sue Bob); her and Ashley B strutting on a pretend runway, showing off their designer purses and cool sunglasses. There were also photos of her favorite celebs and shows: Dawson’s Creek, Party of Five, Baywatch, Friends, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Hello Kitty, The Lion King, Hercules, Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys, Leo Dicaprio, Katie Winselt, etc. etc. etc.

No wonder Prickly’s budget was always in the red, when four girls got to have such mega sized lockers.

But there was a new addition, one Ashley A was now installing in secret, whilst searching through her notes for an insult directed at Gretchen. Photos of said girl and her, photos that would expose their lie, unless people fell for the excuse “Oh these are for my cousin, her locker isn’t allowed to have photos in it”.

Her hands were quivering alongside her heart, but she couldn’t help but smile when she stared at the photos, placed below a poster of Simba, Timon and Pumba and next to liner notes to “Anywhere For You” by the Backstreet Boys and a heart shaped necklace. You’d miss it if you didn’t look too deeply, thankfully. Ashley stared at it, like a secret in the middle of her personal paradise, and she couldn’t help but sigh longingly, tiny hearts floating above her. ‘It would literally be so fly if I could have 4 BFF’s…’, she mused in hushed excitement, only to suddenly hear the other Ashleys approaching. Shutting her locker quickly, Ashley whistled the theme to “Dawson’s Creek”, hoping her friends didn’t notice the note in her hands.

‘Ooh, Ashley A, you just gave me a great idea! We should TOTALLY rewatch the second episode of “Dawson’s Creek”!’, Ashley T proposed, sighing wistfully as she thought of all the scandalous moments with the girls in the cast… And the boys that were there too, absolutely, but mostly the girls, which didn’t mean anything, shh. She opened her locker, which was packed to the brim with all her Barbie toys, CD’s, and pictures of Ashley Q. Ashley T had decided to place photos of her fellow Ashley’s once a week, but always forgot to replace the Ashley Q ones. Not that she minded. ‘They’re… Aesthetically pleasing. Why fix what ain’t broke, ya know?’, she lied to herself, as she hummed the wedding march just for kicks.

Ashley Q, quickly opening and closing her locket, lest anyone see her basketball posters and memorabilia among the makeup and magazines, nodded in agreement. ‘And you know what, I think we should also rewatch the latest “Sister, Sister” episode! Since “Baywatch” is the only premiere tonight.’, she suggested, as she painted her nails black and orange, not considering what that hinted at. If she did, it would be too much to bear. This was just a passing fad of hers, nothing more. Just like that time she enjoyed kickball. And just like the time she “got stuck” watching the World Series final game. And just like the time she accidentally attended a Hockey game instead of a figure skating show. And just like the time she only wanted to watch the Super Bowl for the commercials but ended up watching the whole thing. That stuff happens by accident all the time. Totally. Absolutely. Surely.

Unaware of how deep in her comrades were, Ashley B continued their conversation. ‘Seeing as it’s my turn to host, I grant official approval to those ideas, AND to rewatching the latest “7th Heaven” too. I think that will make for quite the adequate preamble to my little… Plan for this Annual Ashley Sleepover.’, B grinned like a cheshire cat as she finger tented like she was an evil yellow octogenarian nuclear mogul.

Ashley Q and T, aware of the plan, both winked at Ashley B, except the former also said ‘Wink!’ while winking and the latter leaned on her locker and then fell, making it open and drop countless photos of Ashley Q. ‘Oh, I’m so clumsy, gosh I have no idea how I got so many of these…’, she muttered, picking them up and hoping her face wasn’t turning to a tomato. ‘Soooooooo out of season.’

Ashley A, totally oblivious to all this, just like how she was totally oblivious to any romantic attraction for or from spectacled geeky girls named Gretchen, simply nodded happily and added ‘Oh, and maybe we can also rewatch the “Sabrina” episode, I thought it was SO funny and…’

‘Yes, we’ll see, anyway, as I was saying, I have many special plans for tonight’s festivities. So many that I do believe we’ll have to skip our “Clueless” viewing…’, Ashley B pretended to be upset (which wasn’t hard, she DID love seeing that movie too), but deep down she knew it was important. She didn’t care if Ashley A’s own mother was sure nothing was wrong, she couldn’t shake the feeling, and she couldn’t truly love her best friend if she didn’t know her best friend was to be trusted.

Ashley A, confused and miffed (‘Gretchen would have at least let me finish my sentence’), held up a finger in questioning. ‘But… But we ALWAYS watch “Clueless”! And besides, the others got to choose episodes…’

‘Ashley A, please. Why get so hung up on semantics when we can get hung up on all the cute boys at Gym? It’s Dodgeball day after all, and I bet they’re all going to be GLI-STEN-ING! Woo!’, Ashley B cried, startling Ashley A. She wasn’t usually THAT boy crazy. Was this just a lie to get something out of her?

‘Look at yourself, Ashley A! So used to lying to your friends, you just assume they are! I wanted to get Gretchen, not lose my other world too! Snap out of it and play along! If you need to make a sacrifice or two, then make them! That’s what FRIENDS do!’, she thought, feeling pretty proud of her dedication. She knew the other Ashley’s would do the same.

Once she left, Ashley Q and T tilted their heads at Ashley B. ‘Hey, um, you never said anything about not watching “Clueless”...’, they both said at the same time.

‘Girls, girls, please… This is for the greater good of the Ashleys! Clearly, something is up with our supposed leader. Maybe it’s nothing that important, but I want to know! None of us want a repeat of “Purple Day”, am I right?’, Ashley B reminded, and the girls nodded resolutely, terrified of such an occurrence.

‘Exactly. So a few small sacrifices are nothing compared to finding out once and for all if Ashley A still deserves to be an Ashley! And we will, once our night of games commences…’, Ashley B snickered evilly.

The 3 all chanted ‘Scandalous!’, but they couldn’t help but feel like one less voice made one big impact…

‘Randal!!!!!’, The bellow echoed across the school halls, akin to the shout of an elder god cursing the heavens. Every student at school pricked up, except for The Gang, who were sitting pretty in the cafeteria, enjoying the success of another plan. ‘Goodbye, “Tomato Surprise”, hello, free ice cream!’, T.J. smirked as he happily licked his strawberry flavored popsicle. The rest of the gang all enjoyed chocolate ones, but one was a little less into it than usual. ‘Guys, don’t you think that was a little… Too easy? Where’s Randal slinking his way towards Ms. Finster?’, Gretchen commented, her chocolate popsicle melting over the table. ‘You don’t mind if…’, Mikey started asking, and Gretchen simply handed him the popsicle, which was gone in seconds.

‘Gretch, did that Ashley R steal your ears or somethin’? She’s chewing out Randal! Lucky.’, Spinelli muttered, at that moment the only person in the world wishing she could trade places with the old woman. She bit aggressively into her popsicle, as if it was Randal.

Right on cue, Randal raced past the cafeteria and towards Ms. Finster’s office, looking like he was on death row. The Gang sassily waved him goodbye, minus Mikey (who was a little too nice for that) and Gretchen (who was still kind of suspicious). Finishing her note taking about yesterday’s successful experiment segment (and scrapbooking her copy of the booth photos into the journal), Gretchen sighed and mumbled ‘I’m just saying… Literally sooo suspicious.’

The Gang, eyes as wide as the flying saucers they were sure had abducted Gretchen’s brain, all blinked rapidly and rubbed said eyes. ‘Um, Gretch? Did you say what I think you said?’, Vince asked, seriously lost. Gretchen, as red as her 6th favorite planet, coughed violently and fanned her forehead. ‘Oh, I was just, um… Mocking the Ashleys! Yes! I’m sure Spinelli would approve of such banter and frivolity!’

Spinelli chuckled and fired her finger guns. ‘Finally, some sense!’

‘Yep! Anyway, look at the time! Gym any minute! I can’t wait to get my butt kicked! Physical education, truly the finest of subjects! No offense, Vincent.’, Gretchen reassured, Vince nodding. ‘It’s cool. We’ll catch up with you!’

Once Gretchen was out of earshot, Vince turned worried again, eyeing T.J. with impatient concern. ‘What is going on, Teej? Since when does Gretchen mock anyone?’

‘Hey, are we really not gonna celebrate that our resident geek’s got taste? Now if I could just get her to pound Randal just once!’, Spinelli rubbed her hands in glee, but T.J. was agreeing with Vince. ‘It’s definitely weird, but maybe that’s what happens when you hang out with Ashley R! An Ashley’s still an Ashley!’

‘Well, you know what I think?’, Gus started, sounding surprisingly serious and strategic, as he straightened his glasses. ‘I think that we’re approaching this all wrong. If Gretchen won’t just tell us about Ashley R, she must have a good reason. Let’s be honest: What does that girl have that none of us do?’

‘Fat stacks of cash?’, T.J. asked, rubbing two fingers together like he was a smarmy salesman.

‘Jordans?’, Vince asked, sighing enviously.

‘A passionate and spiritual bond that transcends our simple, prehistoric understanding of companionship? Um, that is, wavy hair?’, Mikey nearly let slip, dreamily imagining his dear friend expressing her true self.

‘The name Ashley? No, wait, that’s my name. Um… Her school! She goes to another school!’, Spinelli snapped her fingers, and the rest all nodded in agreement. ‘Oh, I think she’s on to something!’

Gus, startled, shook his head vehemently. ‘Guys, come on! Look, what’s Gretchen’s DEFINING characteristic?’

‘Excellent hacker for heists?’, T.J. proposed.

‘She’s gigantic!’, Spinelli enthused, half impressed, half envious.

‘Her bleeding heart, the soul of a poet!’, Mikey expressed, appreciative of his friend as ever.

‘Everything…’, Vince drawled, giggling a bit, only to recover and blurt out ‘Um, that is, glasses, she has glasses!’

This time, Gus rolled his eyes AND face palmed. ‘Oh my gosh, guys, SHE’S INTO SCIENCE!’

‘Oh, yeah…’, the rest of the gang slowly nodded, remembering.

‘And… Who else is into science?’, Gus encouraged them, his hands motioning them to come to his conclusion.

25 straight seconds passed until T.J. slapped the desk excitedly. ‘Bill Nye!’

‘ASHLEY R! ASHLEY R IS! DUH!’, Gus shouted, only to take a few calming breaths and sit down in his seat again. ‘Sorry. What I mean is, none of us ever really take an interest in Gretchen’s hobbies! We barely helped her out with that telescope for the eclipse a few weeks ago!’

‘Weeks? That feels like a year and a half almost…’, Mikey mused, but the gang simply continued. ‘Okay, and?’, T.J. asked, unused to Gus coming up with the plan, but intrigued all the same.

‘Well, maybe that’s what Gretch’s been so secretive lately! Ashley R allows her to express a side of herself that she can’t with us! Maybe if we showed her that she can, she’d explain to us what’s been going on, and we can put this whole stupid thing behind us!’, Gus excitedly pitched, nearly falling from the seat he was now standing on, only to be caught by Mikey, who smiled at him and shook his head. ‘So close yet so far…’, Mikey thought to himself.

‘Okay, but how? Do we go to her house and do… Science stuff?’, Spinelli voiced, confused at the proposition.

‘Basically, yeah.’, Gus replied, proud of his plan, eyes closed in satisfaction.

‘I guess that could work…’, T.J. slowly muttered, considering it. ‘I mean, anything to help out Gretchen, no?’

‘Absolutely!’, Vince and Spinelli roared in approval, while Mikey sighed, wishing they’d move on from this arc and onto the “Gretchen being cute with her girlfriend” arc. ‘What’s it gonna take for me to see some romance in this place?’, he thought, only for thundering footsteps to be heard, as Penny Bly breathlessly reached them, hair looking all out of place. ‘Thank god I caught up with you! I just saw Gretchen walking towards the gym, and I wanted to know if you want me to spy on her! Normally I wouldn’t ask, but then I thought you guys would be all high and mighty and say…’

‘No, Penny. Like we told you yesterday, we don’t want to spy on Gretchen again.’, T.J. rejected her offer with clear disdain, while Spinelli prepared her fist. Penny gulped, shaking instinctually.

‘But…’, Vince lifted a finger, smirking mischievously. ‘Ooh, a Vince plan! Hit me, buddy!’, T.J. enthused, intrigued by what Vince had to offer.

‘Well, you know, the Ashley’s Annual Sleepover is this Friday.’

‘Yeah, they never shut up about it.’, Spinelli grunted, clenching her fist harder.

‘Yeah, and remember who Ashley R is related to? Ashley A! Despite all our investigating, we still don’t know if we can trust that girl, or if she’s being forced to work for her jerk of a cousin! I’m still not ruling out “Ashley brainwashing”.’, Vince explained, crossing his arms in annoyance. How DARE they touch his… Their Gretchen.

Penny, loving this idea, nodded like a bobblehead and pointed at Vince with her pen. ‘Yes, yes! Excellent thinking, LaSalle! There’s more than one web in this twisted tale of treachery!’

‘Now, we don’t know if it’s treachery…’, Mikey reminded, worried for his friend’s secret. That Penny seemed hellbent on discovering such things. He had no idea if she was the ethical kind of journalist!

‘Treachery or not, we need to know.’, T.J. insisted, and with a curt nod shared with Vince, he turned towards Penny. ‘If you really want to help us out, then go to the Ashley’s sleepover and get all the information you can. Then, we’ll trust you.’

Saluting, Penny slinked back into the shadows. ‘You got it, Detweiller! Penny Bly, out!’

Reaching towards the vents, she crawled in and left them in silence.

‘...Yeah, that’s Library Kid’s big sister all right.’, they all finally commented, continuing to enjoy their ice cream.

Later, at the gym, the kids were sorted into two separate teams for Dodgeball (coach’s favorite torture method).

But whenever have Ashley A and Gretchen let the rules get in their way?

(Mortal Kombat Movie Theme)

‘Ugh, I can’t believe Dodgeball is mandatory, even for us Ashleys.’, Ashley A groaned in frustration as she screamed and ducked from a ball, her custom made pink gym clothes already covered in sweat from that little physical exertion. ‘Eww! I don’t get what Ashley B likes about this stuff, I feel like I got slimed by crying mangos!’

‘That might be the grossest thing I’ve heard in my life.’, Gretchen replied, wearing a simple white jersey with a sweatband and shorts. She looked about as out of place as the music sounded. ‘Well, that and this song. Miyamoto above, Mortal Kombat is a blithering bane of banality.’

‘Yes, I totally know what that means.’, Ashley replied with an eyebrow raise, prompting Gretchen to sigh. ‘Curse my superior vocabulary. Let me translate to Ashley: Talk to the hand because I’d rather play Pat a Cake with Ms. Finster and Randal.’

Ashley shivered, getting the message. ‘That’s gonna haunt my nightmares.’, she then scratched her head in confusion. ‘But isn’t that, like, a video game? I thought you liked those!’

Gretchen shook her head as she just about leaned to the side to avoid an oncoming ball, that struck Upside Down girl and brought her right side up. ‘I don’t like EVERY video game! I mean, do you like every Ashley thing?’

Ashley had to admit she had a point. ‘Not… Anymore.’, she muttered, realization sinking in, as a ball came towards her. ‘Ashley, six o’clock!’, Gretchen cried, and Ashley giggled, shaking her head at Gretchen. ‘Silly Gretchy, it’s just after one o’clock!’

Groaning, Gretchen grabbed Ashley and pulled her down, the ball sailing over and knocking Randal out cold. ‘Nice.’, Gretchen and Ashley both whispered, with the former taking off her glasses. ‘Careful, they can’t see us together. Here, take mine and pretend you’re Ashley R.’

Ashley nodded and took the glasses, now seeing nothing. ‘But how are you going to see the balls coming?’

‘Use your ears and listen.’, Gretchen instructed, and Ashley did so. Hearing a whistle, she pushed Gretchen to the left and held out her hands in hope, grabbing the ball.

The coach whistled, smirking. ‘Nice catch, Ashley A! Oh, wait, you’re the one with the glasses, Ashley R! Nice catch, Ashley R! Hey, where did Ashley A go?’

Ashley and Gretchen gulped, only for Ashley B of all people to come to their rescue. ‘She must have DODGED this lesson! Ha! That’s more like it! A point in her favor.’, Ashley B marked it down in a notebook, having allowed herself to be eliminated first so she could lie down on the bench and get pampered by an army of boys crushing on her. ‘Keep fanning, I’m exhausted from all this physical education!’

Ashley and Gretchen sighed in relief, then got up and kept on dodging. ‘Your left! Wow, look at us, huh? We’re a real team!’, Ashley cried, and Gretchen ducked, hurting her knee on the floor. As she wheezed, she brought Ashley down, crying ‘Duck!’, then nodded. ‘Yeah. All it takes is listening.’

Ashley pouted, feeling heavy all of a sudden. ‘If only it could always be, like, literally that simple.’

‘I mean, it is. It’s dodgeball. It’s pretty whomping stupid. Why else do you think Coach likes it?’, Gretchen explained, feeling like that was pretty obvious.

Ashley, however, pressed on with her fears. ‘No, Gretchen, I mean… Ugh, never mind, okay?’. She crossed her arms, while Gretchen helped her up and slapped a ball away from her face. ‘Take two steps to the right. Now, what’s up?’

‘What do you mean, what’s up? The ceiling?’, Ashley said with a hint of edge, but Gretchen ignored it and stepped closer to her, only for Ashley to push her back. ‘Ball your way.’, she explained, and Gretchen ducked again. ‘Well, Ashley… Quick, jump up. Well, because you always pout and cross your arms when you’re REALLY upset. And your whole body gets all heavy, you lose all your ridiculous amounts of energy. I don’t need glasses to tell by now.’

Ashley sighed, jumping over a ball. ‘Okay, you got me. I can’t lie to you. Just like I can’t… Oh, wait, come over here. Just like I can’t lie to myself. I’m worried about the Annual Ashley Sleepover today.’

‘Is it because it’s at Ashley B’s? I concur, that’s like stepping into the lion’s den.’, Gretchen agreed, as the two made a chain with their hands and pulled each other back and forth depending on where the ball was.

‘Well, that doesn’t help, but it’s more than that, Gretchy! I just… I think The Ashley’s are STILL suspicious I’m frontin’, even after yesterday! And worse, Ashley B still seems really down to frown at me! This party’s supposed to be off the hook as always, but I’m worried it’s gonna be lame! Lame because somehow we’re STILL not the way we used to be and all that!’, Ashley explained, spiraling further into a teary rant. She could feel her eyes begin to water. Any minute and she’d tarnish Gretchen’s glasses with her stupid selfish feelings.

Gretchen, sympathetic despite her own problems, tried to offer a silver lining. ‘Now, now, let’s not short circuit, Ash! Maybe you’re just being paranoid! It’s been a while since you felt truly comfortable with The Ashleys, just like my friends and I! Maybe we need to use this break from the friendship experiment to reaffirm our old friendships too! After all, it’s not like we’re only gonna rendezvous with each other!’

‘That’s true…’, Ashley admitted, slapping a ball away from Gretchen. ‘Plus, I’m kinda fiendin’ for the B household grindage. She can bulk order Kid Cuisine and Bagel Bites! My dad at least insists on cooking once in a while, her parents don’t care!’

‘I’ll admit, that sounds more concerning for her family situation than cool, but hey, whatever floats your boat.’, Gretchen smirked, dipping her away from the ball. ‘See? You’re already excited! Plus, I bet you can gossip and watch TV and, um, compare nails? Whatever you girls do at a sleepover.’

‘Heh, heh, we compare nail polish, Gretchen, not nails! But you’ll learn that soon enough next week…’, Ashley smirked, and Gretchen gulped. ‘Don’t remind me. I’ll have less stressful trips to the surgeon's room.’

Ashley giggled, and instantly, Gretchen felt better. She hated seeing Ashley like this. Their friendship wasn’t supposed to ruin all the other ones! As they rose up, she squeezed her hand in solidarity. ‘We both need this. Let’s make the best of it, huh? No need to get all worried about lies and cover stories and whatnot. Just you, me, and our old friends. Except, you know, we’re not gonna see each other, but you get it.’

‘Which is a shame! I have to wait a WHOLE day to see this secret project of yours? How did you even get any work on that this week?’, Ashley grinned, impressed, and Gretchen couldn’t help but brag a little, enjoying the attention. ‘Oh, I have my ways, Ms. Richter.’

Ashley’s grin slowly shifted into a grateful smile. She squeezed back. ‘You’re right. I’m literally overthinking this. I’ll just take a chill pill and raise the roof in that crunk. And you do the same, girlfriend! Live up that unpopular life! I wanna hear all about how happy your loser… I mean, cool friends make you!’

‘Now there’s the Ashley I know! Blindly optimistic in front of the rules of physics!’, Gretchen cracked, though she also smiled appreciatively at Ashley’s words. She really hoped this would work, she missed her friends and wanted a break from lying to them. Ashley nudged her. ‘The rules of physics ain’t got nothing on Gretchley!’

‘Gretchley?’, Gretchen questioned, confused. Ashley was quick to explain. ‘It’s like, our names together! Gretchen plus Ashley, Gretchley!’

‘Ah, like a team thing?’, Gretchen nodded, understanding. ‘Yeah!’, Ashley explained, happy Gretchen was accepting it. ‘Where’d you get that from? I never heard of that.’, Gretchen asked, curious. ‘Oh, I heard someone use it for those two from that dumb X-Files thing, I thought it was cute!’

Gretchen, well aware of what that term now meant, decided that dying in a gymnasium from being given a shipping name by her totally platonic friend would not be ideal for her plans that weekend, and so, just pretended she didn’t hear anything. Suddenly, they heard Gus cry out next to them ‘Stop holding hands and move aside, rookies!’. As the duo blushed a little at how long they held hands, Gus rose up and spiked a ball right towards Ashley Q, who was busy talking to Ashley T and spiking it back without looking. Gus roared to the song’s tune and hit back, and Ashley Q responded with another strike back. The two hit the ball back and forth over and over while the rest of the gym just stared in confusion at this unlikely final, outside of Ashley T and Cornchip Girl, who were very much enjoying the spectacle. ‘What a man!’, Cornchip Girl fanned herself. Ashley T covered Barbshley’s eyes. ‘Lord forgive me for my unholy thoughts, I’m just… Practicing for when boys… Do that. Gulp.’

‘...Yeah, perhaps we’d all benefit from a break.’, Gretchen voiced, as Ashley nodded. ‘Damn, skippy.’

Later that day, before the sleepover but after school, Ashley B had much to arrange at her house.

So she sat in her bed and had Menlo do it.

‘Did you arrange last minute details on the landline?’, Ashley B asked with her back to Menlo, busy arranging something.

‘Yes, Ashley B…’, Menlo started, frustrated as he climbed up the stairs, only to be interrupted by Ashley B, who chided him like a mother. ‘Ap, ap, ap!’

‘...Yes, President Ashley.’, Menlo gagged out, shivering like he just said a forbidden word. ‘What would my dear Ashley A think?’

‘Ashley A better get used to it like you. Because even if she DOES prove herself today, I am far more fit for the presidency. I don’t need to constantly prove I can be trusted.’, Ashley B reminded, still fiddling with something Menlo couldn’t see.

As he sighed and placed spice girl plates full of creme savors, face twisters sour candy dough, crazy dips, spray candy, fun dip and pop qwiz down on Ashley B’s mega tea party set (pink table, chairs, saucers, etc.), he couldn’t help but voice a niggling question that bothered every wrinkle of his brain. ‘...Why?’

‘Why? Why what?’, Ashley B asked absent mindedly, getting her special fit for the party ready and trying out each accessory in front of her personal mirror. She was going to out glamor Ashley A or die trying.

‘Why does she have to prove herself?’, Menlo asked, arranging the Cosmopolitans by date. He was STILL Menlo. ‘Didn’t she already do so? I remember you were pleased with how she handled the project with Gretchen, not to mention you wouldn’t stop bragging about how your Annual Ashley Sleepover two weeks ago was the best one ever. Why does she need to prove herself again?’

‘You mean, besides the fact that you were dressed like her in her room?’, Ashley B’s reply was laced with impatience and venom, and Menlo instantly regretted protesting in Ashley’s defense, but B still provided an answer. ‘You can deny it all you want, Menlo. Something is up with her. I don’t know what, and maybe yesterday was a fluke. But I’m a lot smarter than people think. I’m second in command for a reason.’

Suddenly, Ashley B’s father and mother, both pacing back and forth outside the room, constantly yapping on their phones about work meetings, looked into the room for a moment. ‘We’ll be out all night, Armbruster Reality first quarter planning sessions. Brittney and Tyler are with friends. You’re fine on your own, right?’

Before Ashley B could answer, the parents took it as a yes and began to depart. As if possessed, Ashley B suddenly raced towards them and blocked their way to the stairs. ‘Hey, um… What do you think of my new look? For the party? Pretty fly, huh?’

‘It’s great, Ashley.’, they remarked, marching downstairs like two robots on the run. The echo was obscene, ringing across the practical mansion of a house like volcanic eruptions. Everything in the house was remarkably clean, shiny, pristine and untouched. The dinner table didn’t even have chairs next to it, and there was a disturbing lack of family photos. To all intents and purposes, this was a ghost family. Here, Ashley B held no position. The Ashleys clubhouse was different. There, you’d know Ashley B existed.

Ashley B stood there for a moment, fists clenched so violently you could have sworn she’d explode, before marching back into her room and to her other project: a huge Polly Pocket collection with 4 specific houses that bore striking resemblances to her and the Ashleys. ‘...I’m second in command for a reason.’, she repeated, as if under a spell, and Menlo wasn’t sure if pressing on was wise, so he decided not to.

They worked a little more in silence, while Ashley B focused specifically on her and Ashley A’s lockets, positioning the two little dolls next to each other. ‘Ashley A, I know you must be fed up with me by now. I’m sure you think I’m some… Some power hungry scrub. But I’ve worked SOOO hard to get to where I am, to earn my place on the Ashleys, and it’s all thanks to you. You held me to high standards and got the best out of me. I’m just… Returning the favor.’

In Ashley B’s mind, she was truly doing the right thing. In Ashley B’s heart, she felt a void, a void not filled since Purple Day. Call it best friend intuition, but she knew that Ashley A was… Different. Perhaps that different wasn’t a bad thing. Perhaps she was just going through some… Phase!

But phase or not, understandable or not, even if she came across like some greedy, selfish bitch, Ashley B knew that one fact reigned supreme, one fact made her life worth it, made this big empty house worth it, made this big empty family worth it…

‘Ashleys literally before all.’, Ashley B whispered, as she stared in hopeful desperation at her notebook, taping Ashley A’s doll onto it as a prison till she proved worthy of escaping, stuck underneath a headline simply titled “Ashley Trials”.

‘So, to recap…’, Penny asked, jotting words down a mile a minute like she was faster than the speed of light. One could tell writing was a passion, alongside sneaking around for a story. One would have thought Penny had tickets to Disneyland. ‘While you 5 go to Gretchen’s to work your “Special Interest theory”...’

‘I prefer Operation: Hobby-steria, but you do you.’, T.J. commented, leaning on a street lamp. The kids were in the middle of the street, with the orange afternoon sun casting shadows all over them. It was like a scene out of a shady western.

‘I will shadow the Ashleys to the party and listen in to the whole thing with my “toys”...’, Penny chuckled conspiratorially, revealing her bugs and lockpicks. She wiggled them around her fingers like a yo-yo.

Mikey sighed, clearly doubtful about this plan. ‘Isn’t this worryingly similar to what Richard Nixon did?’

‘Didn’t he do the V-sign? That means peace, that’s good, no?’, Spinelli asked, missing the point. ‘Yeah, I’m not a crook!’, T.J. impersonated, making her laugh and nudge him.

Mikey sighed, emotions swirling around his stomach, as he clutched it. ‘It just don’t feel right. Not even to the Ashleys. It’s one thing to spy on them when we know they’re doing something wrong, but they’re just having a sleepover! We don’t even know if Ashley R will be there! Plus, she sounded, um, quite trustworthy!’

‘And what makes you think that?’, Vince asked, crossing his arms. ‘Where’s your evidence, man?’

‘That’s what I gay, I mean say, okay?’, Mikey protested, holding his real reasons back as much as he can. ‘Big Guy, I get it, honest, but sometimes you gotta bend the rules a bit for your friends! Think of all the times we’ve broken school rules! This is for Gretchen, not for ice cream or balls!’, Gus reminded, patting his friend’s back. ‘I know that, Little Guy, but…’, Mikey protested again, before Penny (desperate to keep the operation going) grabbed his hand and tightened it hard, like a handshake of life or death importance. ‘Mikey, look at me.’

Mikey did, and he was startled by the steely determination in Penny’s eyes, mixed in with something curiously innocent, the moral code of a well meaning child. ‘There’s nothing I value more than exposing the truth. If Ashley R is innocent, then I will see to it that your friends come to terms with that fact. But if something is afoot, I will sniff it out with no discrimination.’

Something about the promise felt true and genuine, and despite his brain’s worries, his gut feeling told him that deep down, Penny could be trusted. With a slight nod, Mikey allowed her to try. ‘Okay. I’ll trust you, Penny.’

Penny nearly opened her mouth when hearing her name, but stopped herself. With a salute, she squirreled away, riding on a bicycle towards Ashley B’s house.

And with a curt nod shared, the gang began walking over to Gretchen’s house, hoping to finally crack the mystery of her heart.

Ashley had never understood the term “Butterflies in my stomach”. First of all, how did they get there? They only lived for one day! Secondly, butterflies were too cute to ever be somewhere as gross as the human body!

Most importantly, Ashley didn’t get nervous. Nerves were for losers with no class or style. An Ashley had to control every room she walked in, to be the center of attention. You couldn’t do that if you were afraid of said attention!

And yet, for the first time in her life, Ashley felt this strange and worrying sensation, as her father drove her ever closer to Ashley B’s house. It was almost 17:00, and the sun was beginning to set. Soon, all of the town would be bathed in the inky night, except for the Annual Ashley Sleepover, that would only be cast with shadows of deception.

Ashley hated this nervous feeling, it felt so… UnAshley. This was supposed to be fun, like Gretchen had said. She looked forward to all the activities they’d be up to. What was wrong? What was off?

Mr. Armbruster, overhearing her small, nearly imperceptible whimpers of concern, smirked and made his voice deeper to sound like he was landing a plane. ‘Um… Attention, passengers, this is your, urrrrr, captain speaking… On your left you can see houses featuring background characters no one cares about… ummm… On your right you can see the Boulet residence, our final destination, where you’ll find the lovely Ashley Armbruster situated for tonight. Make sure to fawn over her and maybe you’ll be blessed with a smidge of her beauty.’

Ashley perked up, and couldn’t help but smile, rolling her eyes affectionately. Her daddy was always finding silly ways to make her smile. Usually she didn’t pay much attention to it, but now? Now it was worth its weight in gold.

Opening her car door and slinking out like a cat (fittingly enough, considering who was napping in her backpack), Ashley turned back to her father, who had lowered the window for her to speak, and with a voice uncharacteristically quiet, whispered ‘Thanks for driving me, daddy.’

A simple sentence, really. Ridiculously simple. And it spoke to the problematic Armbruster family dynamic that such a phrase was so very rarely heard.

But for Xavier (who was doggone tired from a long day at work, and was unfortunately going to have to drive back for the first quarter meeting), those words worked better than any cup of coffee.

‘You enjoy yourself, princess, okay? These are the best years of your life, with the bestest friends you’ll ever have. Live it up for me, will ya?’, he asked, softly, and Ashley nodded, even giving him a little kiss on the forehead.

Waving goodbye (as did sleepy Ashley M from the backpack), Ashley A took a deep breath and stared up at the Boulet mansion, a green two story house with trees as far as the eye could see. It was so large and imposing, you could only just about see the beginnings of the moon hide behind the shed. Ashley thought of what Gretchen and her father said, and determined to make the most of it, stepped onto the patio and rang the doorbell, that echoed like church bells on mass. Dingggg, donggggg, dinggggg, donggggg… Dinggggg, donggggg, dinggggg, dongggggg…’

So enamored she was with the sound that Ashley didn’t notice the door open, until Ashley B cleared her throat loudly, eyes glazing in annoyance.

Ashley, startled by the sudden sound, jumped, as did Ashley M from out the backpack, landing on the girl’s head, both laughing nervously. ‘Heh, heh… Sorry, Ashley, I was just distracted by your door bell. It sounded SOOOOOOO nice!’, she tried complimenting, sure that it was a very adult thing to compliment.

Ashley B, however, simply got more annoyed. ‘I’ve had that doorbell my entire life.’

‘...Just goes to show how much taste you had even as a baby!’, Ashley A tried to save, her smile growing more and more awkward, as she swung her fist from one side to the other to emphasize the taste.

Ashley B sighed, shaking her head. ‘WhatEVER. Let’s just get this party started, girl.’

Taking this as an invitation to enter, Ashley wiped her shoes on the mat (just in case) and strolled in, amazed as always by how wide and all encompassing Ashley B’s house was. To her, it looked like a palace out of a fairytale, the white decor nearly blinding.

So was Ashley B’s ensemble: Alongside an absolutely sparkling honey yellow dress with bumblebee earrings, she was sporting pretty butterfly clips in her hair, shiny black platform shoes that made her seem taller than any of the Ashleys, and a sequined belt that glimmered like 500 suns encrusted with diamonds. Ashley had to block her eyes at first, so taken aback by the look. ‘Like, shut up, girl! You look LITERALLY Milano! Literally!’

‘Thank you, thank you. It is quite the SCANDALOUS look.’, Ashley B took the praise, but focused back on her mission immediately. She could value the praise later. ‘Now, until Ashley Q and Ashley T arrive, make yourself comfortable, treat yourself to our state of the art Diet Coke fountain.’

Ashley gawked at the fountain, a new addition to B’s reportraire. She happily scooped up some with a ready glass engraved with Ashley B’s face, and savored the flavor, making happy humming noises. ‘That’s SO yummy! I think I can taste my dentist’s disapproval!’

‘15% more industrial. We Boulet’s have high standards. It’s how one survives in this cutthroat business.’, B explained with a smug grin, stabbing a barbie kitchen knife onto the table (the knife falling flatly on the side). Smirking, she whispered to the still drinking Ashley ‘Make the most of this rest, A. My plans are gonna make this an unforgettable sleepover, and you need to be at your peak Ashley performance.’

This gave Ashley pause, and she stopped drinking greedily to voice her concerns. ‘Um, yeah, like, about that? I was wondering… What ARE those plans? I’m sure they’re TOTALLY schway, but you know, a girl likes to be prepared.’

Ashley B grinned maliciously, sending a shiver down Ashley A’s spine. ‘That’s for me to know and for you to find out. But don’t worry…’, she remarked, as she left the table and looked back menacingly, snapping her fingers. ‘A proper Ashley would pass this with her eyes closed.’

With that, Ashley B retreated to the kitchen to prepare some things, while Ashley A now found herself very small and alone in the gigantic living room, surrounded by a whole lot of white nothingness, and a diet coke fountain that was suddenly less enticing.

As if to answer her scared shaking, Ashley M climbed out of the backpack and meowed at Ashley A, who bit her lip in fear and whispered like she was hiding from a monster. ‘Ashley M, baby, listen: I think Ashley B is trying to prove my loyalty again. We don’t know what she’s capable of, and honestly… I don’t know if I can do it alone.’

Ashley M instantly saluted, ready to help, and Ashley A smiled slightly and rubbed her head in appreciation. ‘Thank you, Muffin.’

Shifting into a serious stare, the two conspiratorially planned their survival. ‘Here’s what we’ll do: I’ll take on her silly game, while you warn me each time of what’s gonna happen. If you think it’s too much for me too handle, or you see me struggle, then rush over to Gretchen’s house. It isn’t far from here, thankfully.’

Ashley M nodded curtly, and sneakily prowled towards the kitchen, ready to find out what Ashley B’s twisted mind was concocting.

Ashley A, meanwhile, took another swig of diet coke, feeling the total opposite of relaxed and “living it up”. ‘I knew this was a bad week to quit.’, she voiced, taking a bubblegum cigar and puffing on it as if it were a real one.

‘So, are we all clear on the plan?’, Gus asked, still surprisingly in charge, as the gang marched down the street, Gretchen’s house in their sights. Opening the fence and letting everyone through first, Mikey nodded, albeit reluctantly. ‘Oh, I’m clear. We’re emotionally manipulating Gretchen by feigning interest in her area of expertise, you know, something she’s probably been secretly hoping for for years.’

‘I’d word it a lil nicer…’, T.J. remarked, struggling to deny that that was what it was in a nutshell. Pure motivation or not, they were still using dirty tactics. Was this a new thing for them? No, no it wasn’t. But it was hard not to at least feel a bittersweet taste to the whole sordid affair.

‘I’d word it “necessary”. If we’re Gretchen’s friends, then we have to do everything in our power to find out if something is wrong with her. If she won’t be straight with us, why should we be straight with her?’, Vince countered while stepping across Gus to take the closest spot to the door, his words oddly prophetic all things considered.

‘Guys, are we still debating this? We all agreed Gretchen’s been acting all coco for coco puffs lately! We absolutely HAVE to investigate this! If that means a little acting, so what, big deal! Gretchen would know that it came from a good place.’, Spinelli doubled down, looking back for a moment. She was expecting Randall to pop up, but he wasn’t there… Yet.

Mikey sighed and rolled his eyes, displeased with his friends activity, but too non confrontational to go any further in protest. He stuck to a simple crossing of his arms. ‘I’m just saying, what if Gretchen wants to keep this private?’

‘Why? You know anything?’, Vince asked, suspicious of his friend suddenly, raising an eyebrow and staring him right in the eyes. Mikey averted his gaze, worried his cover would break.

Suddenly, a sharp whistle sounded, and everyone turned to Gus, who shook his head at them, steely and serious. ‘Guys, focus! We’re here to help a friend, not turn on each other!’

Vince eased up, instantly filling with shame. Why had he jumped like that? ‘Sorry, Mikey.’, he said, leaving the rest unspoken.

Mikey didn’t need to hear it. He simply nodded. ‘It’s cool, Vince.’

Everyone now prime and ready, Gus flashed a thumb’s up and knocked on the door.

Gretchen, who had spotted them earlier from her window, was already at the door, grinning from ear to ear. It had been a while since anyone had seen her THAT happy, at least, anyone whose name didn’t start with A and end with Shley Armbruster/Richter. ‘Greetings, friends!’, she beamed, her feet beginning to descend to the yard below. ‘What’s on the agenda? Did you bring your frisbee, Vince? Because I was considering some modifications to soup it up a little for you! I read this fascinating article in Metal and Wood about how the likelier a head injury, the more fun one has…’, the scientist ranted, only to be stopped by Spinelli, who shook her head.

Confused, Gretchen swiveled her head back to T.J, who elbowed Gus, reminding him it was his plan. Gus, suddenly shrinking a little, attempted to cough out the pitch. ‘Oh, um… Well, you see, Gretchen, the gang and I were just thinking about, um…’, he trailed off, and realizing he needed help, T.J stepped in. ‘About HOW we do all kinds of things, but we don’t really do YOU things, you know?’. Gus, relieved, nodded enthusiastically, subtly fist bumping T.J. ‘Yes, exactly, that! You things!’

‘Me things?’, Gretchen tilted her head, confused at first, only to understand, as she snapped her fingers and clicked her tongue. ‘Oh, of course! You mean my scientific endeavors, right?’

Vince, who was smiling a little too hard, flashed a thumb’s up. ‘Uh huh! I mean, you’re part of the gang, right? We’re supposed to respect every group member’s interests! I personally think that it’s really, um, wizard, how you’re a woman of science and stuff.’

Gretchen blinked at that adjective, long enough for Spinelli to push her back into the house. ‘So why not show us that ol’ lab of yours, huh? Any cool projects you got going on? Any that involve violence? Because that would actually be intere…’, she began, only for T.J to shake his head violently, making Spinelli stutter and rephrase. ‘That is, um, that would be… Surprising! Since you’re not really that cool VIOLENT… I meant violent!’

Gretchen shrugged, confused. ‘Since when are you this obsessed with hurting people?’

‘I haven’t given Randall a good beatdown in ages, okay? I’m in withdrawal, gimmie a break.’, Spinelli explained, shuffling her feet. Perhaps she was just feeling a lil bad about lying. This was so much easier on TV, when it was obvious who was the good guy and bad guy. Why couldn’t life be more like WWF?

Moving on from that, Gretchen stared at the gang, who were all smiling widely, except for Mikey, who just seemed kinda down, and bit her lip, uncertain at this odd display. ‘Since when do they care? They don’t really find my gadgeteering interesting. Not that I’m complaining, but this is sort of out of the blue.’, she thought, measuring the possibilities, only to remember her own advice for Ashley. ‘What am I, a hypocrite? My friends are being nice, and here I am, suspecting the worst! Especially after all the lying I have done, what place do I have to consider other motives? No, no, I said I’d have fun, and I will!’

Playing up the part a little to truly get into it, Gretchen put on a big smile again (just with more effort needed) and waved onto the stairs. ‘I’d be honored to share my latest works with my dearest companions! Free admission, just try not to ruin the carpet!’

Making up the rear of the group, Gretchen’s smile grew a little more genuine. ‘I sure hope Ashley’s getting this lucky!’

Meanwhile, outside of Ashley B’s house…

(to the tune of “In the Hall of the Mountain King” by Edvard Grieg)

Penny Bly, armed head to teeth with notebooks, cameras, lockpicks and chicken liver and onion omelets (hey, a person gets hungry) crawling from one bush to the next, from one tree branch to the next, sang aloud to a theme song she cooked up for herself just a few hours earlier, as she got closer and closer to her target destination:

“I was born to chase a lead,

I’m a sly, sneaky stead.

Except I’m not a horse

But you must know what I mean!

At the paper office, yes

Where I work, but I digress

I expose, dirty lies,

That harm democracy!

Call me smarmy, call me snitch,

Call me a dirty, rotten bi…Stitch

Cool it, dude, I’ve got the ‘tude to blow up this whole sitch!

So I’m slimy, all alone,

I’ll be read, tome to tome

I’ll win ya over, like Augustus won over Rome (I’m smart, see?)

Love isn’t shared, it’s earned

Got no wings? Just twist and turn

Be the one to spoil the fun and laugh as it all burns!

This is it, this my chance, this my moment to entrance

Fear the truth? No, Fear the sleuth

Penny’s gonna dance!

Fear the truth, no, fear the sleuth,

Penny’s gonna danceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”

And just as she finished singing, she swung from one branch, missed the next, and smacked into the mirror, smearing over it as Ashley A drank her diet coke sadly.

Despite the pain, she still managed to cheer for herself. ‘Yay… Penny’s number one, baby…’

Fainting onto the ground, Penny quickly got up and set up her spy equipment, starting off with a simple listen in from the window. ‘Let’s see what our sound quality is like…’, she muttered, straining her ears. Unfortunately, she could barely make up any words, unless Ashley A had had a stroke, of course, and had said ‘Flicka bliga smagga wagga ding dong’.

‘I guess it’s not very… Sound.’, Penny joked, suddenly pushing a button on her boombox, which played a laugh track. ‘I told her it was a SOUND investment!’, she quipped again, pushing the button once more. ‘Yep, worth every PENNY.’, she joked one last time, before slapping herself with a hand puppet made of mops. ‘Penny, this is serious! Focus on your mission!’, she imitated a gruff voice, before saluting. ‘Aye aye, captain.’, she narrowed her eyes, and tiptoed towards the other side of the house, searching for a ladder to climb onto the window.

While she did that, the two other Ashley’s finally arrived from very different car atmospheres: Ashley T was sent off with a drawing of a rabbit’s foot, her mother buried knee deep in astrology magazines while her father kept turning the key the wrong way to stop the car. As she simply rolled her eyes at her parents interesting interpretation of human thought, stepping off carefully so as to not get any mud on her sea foam green dress (she was told to dress very importantly for the challenges), she took note of the other arriving car, hoping it was Ashley Q being fashionably late too. It would make them similar, and for reasons Ashley T just couldn’t yet truly comprehend, that would make her giggly for the rest of the evening.

Ashley Q had nothing to feel giggly about, however. As she unbuckled her seatbelt, the cold metal momentarily sending a chill through her palm, she felt nothing out of the ordinary. After all, this was the sensation she felt every second spent with these people. Her father, a rigid wall of muscle that couldn’t be moved by Zeus himself, slowly parked the car and refused to turn his face to her, as did her mother, who was about the most elegant and esteemed company one could hope for, akin to meeting a nymph. Ashley Q had to take people’s words for it.

‘...Well, I’ll be going…’, Ashley Q started, only for her father to do that gruff cough which meant “Listen up, child”, and so, she reluctantly froze, awaiting the inevitable scolding.

Her mother started, still refusing to turn, the shadows of their “concern” the only visual spared for Ashley Q. ‘You spend far too much time partaking in such trivial pursuits, daughter.’

‘Quite.’ her father agreed, gripping the steering wheel like it was made of play-do. ‘You’re a growing girl. You need to start thinking of your future in Armbruster Reality. COO is a serious position. It requires commitment and effort. Qualities you lack in spades.’

Ashley Q bit her lip. This was no unusual thing. In fact, if Ashley T ever let herself notice the girl’s lips more, she would have noticed the scar that had developed by now from years of biting. Opting not to speak, Ashley Q simply nodded.

‘Tomorrow, we expect you up for a tour at 5:30 sharp.’, Mrs. Quinlan coldly stated, Mr. Quinlan nodding slightly.

Ashley Q balked at this, however, her fighting spirit unable not to protest. ‘Ah… What? It’s Saturday tomorrow! And Armbruster Reality doesn’t open until 8:00!’

The death grip her hand suddenly received made her bite her tongue this time instead, drawing just a spot of blood. There was no light behind the eyes that stared her down, but that wasn’t news to Ashley Q. ‘We can always drive home.’, her father “gently threatened”, and Ashley Q shook her head, fear flaring up in every hair on her body. ‘I… Don’t know what came over me, father. I’ll follow your orders.’

‘You better.’, was the chilling response.

Stumbling out of the car, Ashley Q nearly ruined her sky blue dress, the wet grass in Ashley B’s yard shedding dew tears onto the hems. She breathed deeply, trying to ignore how they ignored her by leaving without so much as a goodbye.

Suddenly, she felt the presence of a hand in front of her face, which instinctually made her flinch, until she realized whose hand it was. Soft and sweet, a chocolate milk brown swirl that was as natural and soothing as mother earth’s proudest lands. But it wasn’t natural enough… It wasn’t the way things were meant to be…

Ashley Q reluctantly took the hand, and did everything she could to ignore the electric sparks bursting from every fingertip shared with Ashley T. If she did notice, she would burn like a forest fire, and then perhaps no one, not even her parents, could douse her down to reality.

‘Literally schway evening, huh, Ashley Q? Perfect for an Annual Ashley Sleepover!’, Ashley T cheerfully greeted, unable to contain her joy at seeing the ginger trendsetter.

Ashley Q, unable to uncontain her joy at seeing the bashful brunette, directed all her resentment and frustrations at Ashley A, the girl ruining her one escape from life. ‘That depends on Ashley A, doesn’t it?’

Ashley T gulped, nodding quietly. ‘I’m sure B’s plan will work.’

Ashley Q would have liked to be certain. But right now, she was experiencing the only thing worse than falling into hell: Falling into hell and not knowing if there’s a level below.

‘Come on. Let’s make sure B’s just paranoid.’, Q expressed, and she and T silently walked towards the house, hands begging to touch again but ripped away by the nature of their forms.

‘Dingggg, donggggg, dinggggg, donggggg… Dinggggg, donggggg, dinggggg, dongggggg…’

The door was swiftly opened, but not by Ashley B. It was instead Ashley A, who beamed uncontrollably at her friends, a necessary lighthouse in the storm that was building in her mind’s eye. ‘Girls! SOOOOOO schway to see you! Totes da bomb! Ooh, you are lookin’ hella fine! No one told me there was gonna be a dress code.’, she enthused, then chuckled in embarrassment, feeling very out of place in her casual “Hello Kitty” pink Tee and comfortable brown skirt. Was this not a slumber party?

Ashley Q ignored her spiel, walking right past her to talk to Ashley B in the kitchen. Meanwhile, Ashley T offered her an awkward smile, knowing full well what was about to happen. ‘Yeah, um, it’s just part of Ashley B’s plans!’

‘Ashley B seems really excited about all this. You think it’s gonna be our best crunk of the year so far?’, Ashley A asked excitedly, eyes sparkling, and Ashley T decided to let her have this moment at least. ‘Yeah, I’m… Literally sure.’, she lied, hoping against hope that Ashley B was wrong, since she already wanted to apologize to Ashley A for all that was about to transpire.

Alas, it was too late. Out of the kitchen stepped Ashley B and Q (the former signaling T to join), the three Ashley’s now looking quite a bit more… Important than Ashley A, who was feeling sillier and sillier just in her casual clothes. It didn’t help that B’s mansion was so enormous, with wide open spaces. It was as if the far away walls wouldn’t even close on Ashley, so unimportant she was.

Standing in a row in front of her, the three Ashley’s slowly raised a CD player and put on “Wannabe” by the Spice Girls. Ashley A would normally have instantly begun dancing to the hypnotic beat, but she could feel that this was a solemn moment, and stood still, growing increasingly anxious about all this pomp and circumstance.

‘Ashley Armbruster the second, present yourself to the rest of the club, please.’, Ashley B commanded, voice brimming with authority. For a moment, Ashley A had thought her own mother was speaking. Walking up to the three, she awkwardly presented her clothes and sheepishly grinned. ‘Um, present! Not as… Prim and proper as I’d prefer, but…’

‘Ap, ap, ap.’, Ashley B silenced her with a finger to the lips, before snapping her fingers to order B and T around. The duo snapped (ha) into action and raced to the side cabinet, which had the landline phone atop its white and green doily, and by the sunflower vase. While they did this (well, Ashley Q did, Ashley T was already gasping for air), Ashley B stared down at Ashley A, and while the former was the same height as the latter, somehow, Ashley A felt like a dwarf next to her.

‘You must be wondering what all this is about, aren’t you?’, B whispered, perhaps enjoying this position of power a little too much. Ashley A definitely thought it was odd how much fun B was having when all she had done so far was act weird, but she decided to play along. It wasn’t like she had a clue what was going on, anyway. ‘Totally.’, Ashley replied, hand reaching out towards a recently laid bowl of creme savors.

B slapped her hand away, making A gasp and kiss her pain away. ‘Owie! What was that for?!’, Ashley protested, startled at the attack. ‘That’s not very stylish, or…’

‘On the contrary, dear Ashley! This is all ABOUT beauty, style, and attitude! Specifically, yours!’, Ashley B explained loudly and enthusiastically, waving an umbrella around like a cane as the landline phone was placed next to the slightly less confused fashionista. She was starting to realize what was going on.

‘Oh no… Are you still… Unsure of my loyalty to the Ashley’s?’, Ashley A asked, tears stinging her eyes. Half because they didn’t trust her… Half because she knew they truly couldn’t.

‘Oh, it’s FAR more complicated than that!’, Ashley B seemed to reassure, which made Ashley feel better. She really didn’t wanna stain the gorgeous cashmere carpet with her tears. B put an arm around her, allowing her just a little bit of human contact before the trials began. ‘You see, we just think that an organization like ours should be extra sure after a SCANDALOUS disaster such as “Purple Day”, don’t you, Ashley A?’

Ashley A gulped, unable to deny the concept proposed by B. ‘I… I suppose…’, she stuttered, fingers shaking in fear. Wasn’t this supposed to be just a fun lil sleepover?

As if to answer her question, Ashley B continued speaking of the plan. ‘Now, now, we’ll get to the fun parts soon enough, I promise. After all, if you have nothing to hide, truly, then this should be a walk in the park, no?’

Ashley A again had to agree with B, and she nodded obediently. Only problem was she DID have something to hide. ‘But, um, if I may… What makes you think that… That I still need to prove myself? I kinda thought I already did.’, Ashley nervously laughed, wishing this was a dream, wishing she could just wake up and it was Purple Day again and she could start all over…

‘I don’t think you need to!’, Ashley T spoke up, only to get death glares from B and Q. Yiping, she contradicted herself, nodding her head and shaking her hands. ‘That is, um, I’m like the judge of a hot boy contest featuring the Backstreet Boys: Undecided!’

B explained her reasoning, as the phone cabinet wheeled closer and closer to A. ‘Oh, it’s VERY simple, Ashley. We DO want to believe you, but there are still a few odd loose ends that make us want to be extra sure. You know how high our standards are. We cannot afford any weak points, can we?’

Once more, Ashley A agreed, ignoring how terrible she felt inside. She wasn’t weak, she just liked Gretchen, that’s all! She could be both! ‘I can be both, damn it!’, she thought, but B had an ace in the hole to make sure she complied with the challenges.

‘Besides, just yesterday we were all quite surprised when we walked into your room and found Menlo playing the dollar store version of you.’, B hissed in her ear, and now Ashley A knew she had no choice. She had to do this, she had to pass this, or else her friends wouldn’t love her anymore!

‘...I have nothing to hide. I’m an Ashley, through and true. Like, talk to the hand, because this girl ain’t leavin’ anywhere!’, Ashley pumped herself up, hoping it would at least lower some of the pressure.

Ashley B certainly seemed to deem it an acceptable answer, glare noticeably lowering a bit. Nodding at Q and T, the two finally handed the phone to Ashley A, who was confused. ‘So, um, do you want me to order pizza, or…’, Ashley started, making everyone laugh. ‘I see your humor hasn’t been lost, at least.’, Ashley B grinned, shaking her head. ‘Of course we’d give you a harder challenge than that! Plus, don’t you remember what we use the landline for?’

Ashley A’s eyes glinted as she flashed back to the picture of her and Q in her locker, realizing what they were implying. Despite herself, a small sinister smile grew. She was STILL Ashley A, after all. ‘Oh, you want me to prank call someone? Wow, like, that’s literally soooooooo funny! You really had me going, guys! I could do this in my sleep!’, Ashley bragged, spinning the receiver like a plate in a circus. Eyes closed confidently, she whistled as she hovered over the numbers (of course, she had memorized every phone number in her class). ‘So, like, who are we gonna mess with? Sue Bob? Cornchip Girl? Oh, oh, how about we do Spinelli? It’s been ages, and she really isn’t that smart, after all, unlike me.’, Ashley A cockily sniggered, slipping back into bad habits. Perhaps it was the relief. This WAS going to be the usual Ashley business, and in a way, she missed it a little. Plus, she wasn’t actually hurting anyone she liked (like Gretchen) or was culpable in her recent deceptions, like…

‘Menlo. I think Menlo would be a FABULOUS candidate, don’t you, Ashley Q?’, Ashley B’s smirk could have peeled off the paint on every wall. Ashley Q nodded, adding ‘Literally the best freak for the job, isn’t he, Ashley T?’. Ashley T, still a little guilty about all this, flashed two thumbs ups and hoped those sufficed as an agreement.

Ashley A’s heart dropped like an elevator allergic to heights. The color drained from her cheeks and lips. Somewhere out there, her mother was tutting in disappointment, sensing her genes tainted by slightly less attractive fellow members.

Pointing at the phone weakly, mouth so dry she could just about cough out the letters, she wheezed ‘M…Menlo?’

‘Yes, M…Menlo!’, Ashley B mocked, earning a snide laugh from Ashley Q and a forced one by Ashley T. The de facto leader tapped the numbers for Ashley A, who had frozen for some reason. ‘Why not? Menlo isn’t exactly winning any popularity contests with us. He’s not exactly a cover star on “Seventeen”, is he?’

Ashley A obviously agreed, but her hesitation came from a different area. ‘I just mean, do we HAVE to? He’s such an EASY target! Like, BO-RING ville called, they want your target, heh heh. Why not go for someone far less vital to my plans I MEAN BORING like, um… Gelman!’, Ashley tried, but B sneered. ‘No one CARES about Gelman, Ashley A!’

Somewhere out there, Gelman cried into his pillow again. But he’s not important to the story, so we move.

Patting her shoulder with glistening honey nails, Ashley B buzzed around Ashley A, pestering her to go on. ‘Come on, Ashley A, this is in your BLOOD. I thought you said we had nothing to worry about? I thought you said you’re full Ashley, all the time?’

‘I am, I am!’, Ashley A insisted, getting a little angry for a moment. Just because she liked Gretchen didn’t make her any less of an Ashley.

‘Then it shouldn’t be hard to prank Menlo, right?’, Ashley B posited, and Ashley A, after a moment, nodded resolutely. Not like she liked him, after all. Plus, what did she have to do? Tell him she might let him carry her books if he did something menial like her homework?

But as she began dialing the numbers, Ashley B chose this inopportune time to call the challenge, in order to REALLY test her allegiance. ‘It’s SOOOO simple, Ashley A! You just have to call Menlo and flirt with him and ask him out for tomorrow!’

Ashley A could have died on the spot. In fact, she might have for a moment. She was sure she could see a bright light, and a bearded figure scratch his head, going ‘Hey, you’re not due another 90 something years!’

When she shook her head back to reality, she found herself growing even paler (unfortunately, she couldn’t enjoy how that matched her nightwear). Gulping, Ashley A tried to find some sort of excuse to get out of this for now, just to plan ahead a bit, but by the time she swallowed the lump in her throat, the voice on the other line responded. ‘Menlo residence, Menlo speaking. Files filed, numbers sorted, misdemeanors alphabetized. Would you like me to write down a message?’

Ashley B snickered evilly, rubbing her hands in glee. ‘Oh, this is perfect! He’s SUCH a dweeb! Come on, Ashley A, clown him!’

Ashley Q nodded vehemently, desperate to see someone who wasn’t herself suffer right now, while Ashley T kept herself busy with the spray candy (which definitely didn’t tick off the hungry Ashley A).

Ashley A gripped the receiver, stuck between a rock and a hard place. She didn’t like Menlo, not one bit. He was weird, a little creepy sometimes, and definitely far too obsessed. He was also a dry, boring, lifeless loser with no style, who unlike Gretchen, was also kind of a jerk to others. Hadn’t he worked with Randall one time?

But Menlo had never ACTUALLY hurt her. Never went too far, never forcibly held her hand, never took no for a yes. He was in love, yes, but he wasn’t a stalker, nor a harasser. At worst, he had flirted a lil much. Plus, he had actually helped her out with this whole mess. He hadn’t ratted her out, too, apparently.

‘But none of that matters right now, does it? Right now it’s pranking Menlo… Or losing the Ashley’s.’, Ashley A realized, and if she was honest, there wasn’t much thought needed after that.

Still, her hand shook as she answered the phone. ‘Like, um, hi, Menlo! Sup, you fine… Thing you?’, Ashley sputtered out, already feeling noxious just saying such things to Menlo. Why couldn’t he be a different boy, like… ‘Well, I’m on the spot, I’m sure I could think of someone else later.’, Ashley muttered to herself in denial.

‘Ashley? Ashley A? Is that you? My, you sure sound different! You almost sound glad to talk to me!’, Menlo replied, making the other Ashley’s laugh. Ashley A uneasily joined them, but slower, less inclined to. ‘I was sure you’d be angry after…’

Ashley, panicking, interrupted him with an alarmed and all too loud ‘Moi? Angry? You straight? I’m just fiendin’ to yap to a… Handsome guy such as yourself.’ It was ridiculously hard to say all that, but Ashley figured it was like removing a bandaid. The faster she got it done, the faster she could finish crying.

‘Are you okay? You’ve never called me handsome before. Not that I’m complaining! Just… I was kinda starting to lose hope that you’d ever like me.’, Menlo sadly recounted his earlier feelings, making Ashley want to bite something. ‘You’re telling me I was THIS close to ditchin’ your whack ass… I mean, um, heh heh, of course not! In fact, this entire, um, experience outside of the Ashley’s has made me realize how it’s time I took the next step and, you know… Found a boy toy to call my own.’, she cringed at every syllable, eyes pleading Ashley B to cut her torment, but Ashley B mouthed ‘Go on’, and so, she did.

‘And you’re telling me because…’, Menlo asked, confused. You could hear his eyebrow raise all the way from there. Ashley A face palmed, groaning in anguish, nails scratching her cheeks by accident. This was like nails on a chalkboard! Why couldn’t this idiot just get it so this could END?!

‘Ha ha… Yes, well, you see, when a girl calls a boy and tells him she’s down for some dating action, that usually means something, feel me?’, she muttered through gritted teeth, whispering ‘GET. A. HINT.’

‘...Oh, I think I get it!’, Menlo announced, prompting more laughter. Ashley, sighing in relief, smiled tiredly at Menlo, after what felt like the longest conversation of her life. ‘Yay me. That’s a relief. Thank you, Menlo.’

‘You want ME to find a suitable boyfriend for you! I’ll admit, I wish I was a candidate, but I commend both your cold efficiency and your initiative! After all, I know everything about everyone in school!’, Menlo congratulated her, already sifting through heavy sounding folders that smacked down on his desk like bombs. ‘Let’s see, Lawson’s available, as is King Bob if you wanna try an older boy. Oh, T.J., that could be pretty spicy!’

Ashley’s heart pounded like a tin drummer, and her eyes set on fire. If tone of voice could kill, Menlo and his entire block would be six feet under. ‘NO, YOU LAME ASS CRUSTER! I WASN’T ASKING YOU TO FIND ME A BOYFRIEND, YOU WHACK FART KNOCKER!! I, ASHLEY AMBRUSTER JR., AM ASKING YOU, TAYLOR MENLO, IF YOU’LL BE SMART ENOUGH TO BOUNCE WITH ME FOR SOME ICE CREAM, ON THE REAL! NO PSYCHE! NO NOT! YOU BOUT IT, HOMIE?’, Ashley screamed, louder than she had perhaps in her entire life, spitting venom at the receiver. It was a miracle it didn’t melt from the concentrated resentment lacing every word.

A long silence followed, as Ashley caught her breath, the other Ashley’s did all they could not to burst out laughing too loudly and ruin the prank, and Menlo analyzed the rant.

‘...So what you’re saying is that you wanna go on a date tomorrow?’

‘FUCK!!!!’, Ashley screamed again, prodding the phone with her finger even though it couldn’t actually hurt Menlo. ‘YES, MENLO, I’M DOWN FOR A DATE TOMORROW, OKAY? DO YOU UNDERSTAND? PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GUCCI, PLEASE TELL ME THAT YOU UNDERSTAND ME! I THINK YOU’RE STRAIGHT UP BANGIN’, AND I’D DIE TO SHOW YOU WHAT LIPSTICK BRAND I USE!’

Menlo, now definitely blushing, stammered into the phone ‘I’m not dreaming, right? I wish you could pinch me.’

‘I WISH SO TOO, HOTTIE! SEE YOU THEN! I’M SO HAPPY YOU SAID YES! SO SO SOOOOOOOOO HAPPY! BOOYAH!’, Ashley finished raving, smacking the phone down and fainting on the floor, breathing heavily, as the other Ashley’s fell on the floor too, from uncontrollable laughter, except for Ashley B, who took the time to snap a few pics of that meltdown before joining in the laughter pile.

‘That was so worth it! That was the funniest thing ever!’, Ashley T admitted, spitting out floss.

‘Did you hear him? He actually things this is happening! Oh, that’s gonna be SOOOOOOOO rich!’, Ashley T guffawed, holding her sides.

‘Oh, yes, now THAT was a classic Ashley prank! I bet you enjoyed that just as much as we did, right, Ashley A?’, Ashley B asked, tears in her eyes.

Ashley A had tears in her eyes too, but she had to pretend they were from mirth. Wiping them, she giggled ‘Yeah… Yeah that was, um, that was some real Ashley shit right there, huh?’

Never mind that Ashley had never had to be forced to do a prank before. Never mind that it never involved this much commitment. Never mind that they actually informed the prankee they were being pranked. It didn’t make some of the nasty pranks she had made okay, but still. This was different. This wasn’t… Fun.

Not even for her, at least.

Still, a wave of relief coursed through her, as she sat down next to the table. ‘Okay… That was literally the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. But hey, I passed the challenge, right?’

‘Yes, indeed, Ashley A, you did.’, Ashley B congratulated, offering her a polite smatter of applause, as did Q and T. Ashley A beamed. It was worth it for this. ‘Yay! I did it! Now can we get this party started?’, Ashley asked, reaching towards a creme savor, only to get her hand slapped away again. ‘Owie!’, Ashley cried, again kissing her hand, while B shook her head. ‘Oh, no, Ashley A, there are 3 more challenges.’

‘3?!’, Ashley asked, aghast and dismayed. ‘Why 3? What do I need to do to…’

‘Do you want to bring things back to normal or not, Ashley A?’, Ashley B demanded, casting a shadow with her disapproval. There was something about her anger there that felt… Too real.

Ashley A gulped, legitimately scared, and she nodded like a good girl. ‘Yes… More than anything.’

‘Good. Then you’ll do what we say. Friends do that.’, Ashley B reminded her, and Ashley A nodded in agreement, following her friends up the stairs to the next challenge.

But as she got bathed by their stiff, lifeless shadows, she couldn’t help but wonder if Gretchen would agree with this.

Back at Gretchen’s house, things were definitely a little odd too. Perhaps that was unfair to feel, Gretchen mused, as she saw her friends all listen attentively (sort of) as she explained what she was currently working on. After all, this was a good thing, no? Her treasured companions were taking a vested interest in the area most central to her core, her love of science, of inventing, of logic and numbers and facts. Could her anxiety addled brain REALLY find a negative here?

‘...Of course it can.’, Gretchen sighed to herself, as she tightened a screw on her, ha, pet project. She chuckled as she made a mental note to make that pun next to Ashley. It would make her do that rolling giggle, and she found it aesthetically pleasing, for reasons she was not yet ready to face.

But that momentary joy concerning her secret friend was soon replaced with the growing worry concerning her not secret friends. Something just felt OFF, and Gretchen couldn’t deny her curiosity any longer. They had rarely ever spent time in her room, and even then it was usually to play a board game or plan out one of T.J’s harebrained heists. Could Spinelli call to mind her wallpaper’s color? Did Gus appreciate her alphabetized book case? Had Vince ever noticed the hoop over her wastebasket, which was meant as a gesture of solidarity over their different interests?

‘Nice hoop, Gretch.’, Vince complimented, tossing a juice box into it.

‘Oh. Okay, point in his favor. But still.’, Gretchen scrunched her forehead, as if to shut down her unnecessary fears, but she just couldn’t. She had to figure this out now. After all, if she was this committed to crazy plans involving secret motivations, how likely was it that her closest friends in the world weren’t capable of that?

Welding the collar tighter onto the machine, then making sure the springs in the legs worked, Gretchen employed some subtlety, and asked, almost absent mindedly ‘Sorry this is taking so long, guys.’

Her friends were mostly quick to reply (she was pretty sure T.J. had fallen asleep for a moment). ‘Oh, what, no, of course not! We wanted to see you at work for once!’, they all answered in unison, which was frankly even more telling. They were individual voices bonded by common goals, not sheep in a herd. Gretchen squinted, stepping back from the table to continue her unfortunately necessary experiment, though the mounting evidence was beckoning her rage. ‘I see. Say, T.J, Gus? Could you assist me momentarily?’

T.J’s eyes widened like a cartoon coyote being notified of the existence of gravity, while Gus suddenly felt as small as usual. The two exchanged worried glances, the kind that spelt “This wasn’t in the plan”. Gretchen knew those well. She and Ashley had probably exchanged those thrice a chapter. That is, day. Whatever.

‘Um, sure, Gretch! What do you… What do you need?’, T.J. asked, a crooked awkward smile gracing his lips. One could tell the boy didn’t know how it felt to be out of control. It must have been disorienting. Right now, though, Gretchen didn’t care for the turbulence being experienced on Air Detweiller. His passengers would have to toughen up.

Unfolding one of her diagrams, Gretchen pointed at the heel of the contraption. ‘Well, see, I think I need to tighten the bolts here, and for that, I need my Torque Wrench. Specifically blue#37. It’s inside my emergency toolbox, which is inside that closet over there. Could you two fetch it for me? I would myself, but I still need to program the self awareness. If it’s too defined, it won’t be its own person… Robot. You know what I mean.’

Despite herself, there was the tiniest satisfied smirk at T.J and Gus’ clear confusion. ‘I’ve felt so bad for lying these last few weeks. I might as well share that feeling if they’re so loose on the truth too.’

‘Oh, um, sure thing, G!’, T.J saluted, while Gus nodded so hard he got dizzy. ‘We can do that! You mentioned it just today, right?’

‘7 times, yes.’, Gretchen muttered from her stiff chair, hunched over the keypad, back straining. How she wished for better back support. But that would be spending money on non essentials.

‘Well, we’re on it!’, T.J and Gus said together, before taking a deep breath and venturing into the closet, where they found multiple tool boxes with no labels. Gulping, they began to sift through them.

Satisfied with the first part of her investigation done, Gretchen moved onto the next one: Removing the innocent member of the group. Gretchen didn’t need to be a genius to figure out Mikey would never willingly agree to deceiving her. But she was a genius, so it was clearer from the first second. His body language screamed “Guilty, unsure, miffed”. She appreciated it, to be fair. Meant that her friends were mostly well intentioned after all. But that didn’t mean she was going to take it easy on anyone but Mikey.

Sitting next to him on her bed (which was far too squeaky, but alas, cest la vie), she placed an arm around her ally in more ways than one. ‘You good, Mikey? Something bringing you down?’, she asked, while Vince and Spinelli behind her smiled awkwardly, trying not to give anything away, even if they were extremely curious about certain objects they could spot in the room.

‘Who, me? Oh, um, no! I’m just peachy! Heh, food pun, I’m into food, how fitting!’, Mikey lied. Badly. So badly it made Gretchen want to apologize to Ashley for all her criticisms. At least Ashley tried. Mikey couldn’t be sadder unless Santa turned out to be fake.

…She really had to acknowledge one day that she saw Santa Claus once. Perhaps when she wasn’t so busy gripping with unnecessary pre-teen drama.

‘Well, that’s a relief! I’d hate to think you were feeling upset, Mikey. After all, you’re probably the person I trust most. I would wanna repay that trust, you know?’, Gretchen laid it on a little thicker, but she still kept on the fakest innocent smile she could muster. Her pats made Mikey’s shoulders slump further and further, and for a moment, she got really worried for her bed’s condition.

But Mikey was easy to crack. It wouldn’t take much more to get him to either squeal or (more likely) run off to avoid squealing, which would make the next phase even easier.

Looking about as comfortable as a fly in a spider’s web, Mikey coughed and sputtered ‘Oh, um, yeah, I know exactly what you mean. Trust. Yes. A key component in any relationship.’

‘Indubitably. Which is why I would trust you to tell me if you guys really want to do this science stuff this afternoon. I would hate to think my friends were feigning an interest just to make me feel better. I’m actually quite fond of the truth.’, Gretchen whispered, making Mikey squirm even more. He was a rat in a trap right now, and Gretchen was enjoying it a little too much. Perhaps she was taking on Ashley characteristics she wasn’t aware she had.

‘Of course, perhaps it’s not to make me feel better. Perhaps it’s something far more… Guileful.’, she pressed further, slowly raising a thesaurus Mikey had once gifted her. ‘Conniving. Duplicitous. Disingenuous. Underhanded. Unscrupulous. Furtive. Surreptitious. Skulky. Clandestine.’

Mikey was practically sweating enough to fill the grand canyon when Gretchen finished on ‘Liar, liar, pants on fire.’

‘I NEED TO BREATHE SOME AIR IN A DIFFERENT LOCATION FAR FROM HERE FOR TOTALLY INNOCENT AND NOT SNEAKY REASONS!’, Mikey announced, rushing out of the house and charging down the street, his footsteps echoing long after he left.

‘And then there were two…’, Gretchen narrowed her eyes, as she saw Spinelli and Vince exchange uncomfortable glances too. She had to figure out what was going on here, and she would. Even if it meant… Thinking less of her friends.

Setting up the final consciousness program onto her machine (and cursing that she couldn’t enjoy a nearly finished robot thanks to her friends incessant curiosity), Gretchen suddenly rubbed her belly audibly next to the duo. ‘Oh, Tesla’s tibia, am I STARVED. I sure you are too, after all this THRILLING science! How about I go downstairs and whip us some yummy trail mix?’, Gretchen raised her eyebrows, tracing their expressions for any hint of deception.

Spinelli, blushing from alarm at Gretchen’s behavior, made an uncomfortable face. ‘Don’t you have anything that doesn’t taste like a squirrel pooped in a pla…’

Vince suddenly elbowed her, blushing for all together different reasons. ‘Hey, it’s Gretchen’s house! I think she should select the snack!’

‘Why, thank you, Vincent. I’ll be right back! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!’, she winked, then stepped out onto the first step and walked in place quickly to make it seem like she dashed down the stairs.

Once she was sure they were sure she was gone, Gretchen went to a certain area of the wall next to her room, quickly listened in for the air pocket, and pushed gently, revealing an open chamber that led inside the walls of her house. ‘I guess there are some small benefits to a house that doesn’t live up to proper safety practices.’, she thought, squeezing inside to place her eyes where her framed poster of Einstein was. ‘Now, to see what my friends are up to.’

Suddenly, a terrible feeling reverberated through her chest, a cold chill that shook her bones. ‘I had to pretend to be myself when I lied about that trail mix. Am I losing touch with who I am?’

She had never been this grumpy with anyone, outside of her pest. Never been this deceitful, barring a plan that usually meant justice for the whole school. She was normally nice, kind, cheerful! She used to feel such joy at the moments shared with her friends! What happened? Was it the friendship experiment? Was it her lying? Was her need to keep it a secret leading to all this behavior? Whose fault was it truly?

Perhaps if Gretchen had been allowed more time to digest these complicated thoughts, she would have gone out there to confess, to explain, to try and fix things.

But before she could, Vince and Spinelli suddenly looked around, and spoke to each other when they thought they were alone.

‘I don’t know about you, but this is taking us nowhere. I say we search the room for clues. I bet you she wrote something.’, Spinelli exclaimed, and Vince snapped his fingers. ‘Of course! That notebook she’s been obsessed with! We find that, we find the problem!’

‘And then, we solve it!’, Spinelli rubbed her fist in her palm with unbridled glee, and the two began searching the room, unaware that two progressively betrayed eyes were watching.

‘I only lied to protect Ashley and to have a friend! A friend I’m more than allowed to have!’, Gretchen thought, turning red from all this… This betrayal! ‘But if they wanna “protect” me from being myself, then I’ve got just the ticket to teach them a lesson.’, she growled, going downstairs to fetch the trail mix, formulating a plot to catch them all red handed.

But if Gretchen thought she was suffering, she had no idea how bad Ashley A was having it. At least she got to act against her friends well meaning if selfish behavior. Ashley A was facing less (though not completely absent) well meaning actions, which were FAR more selfish, and without the benefit of even frowning about it.

Of course, Ashley A wasn’t as cognitively developed as Gretchen, to be honest. In fact, for all her bullying behavior, Ashley A ironically didn’t recognize bullying when it was directed towards herself.

Which is why, when she sat down on a pink chair in Ashley B’s positively beautiful room, littered to the brim with yummy snacks, boy band posters and exact copies of Ashley A’s room (just with a tea table set and yellow and black instead of pink), she afforded a false sense of security. Maybe the other challenges weren’t SO hard… Maybe she was just assuming the worst. ‘They’re STILL my friends, after all! They would never do anything to embarrass me!’, Ashley A closed her eyes confidently, attempting to sip her jasmine tea, only to get blocked from it again. ‘Ah, ah, ah!’, Ashley B wagged her finger like a disappointed pet owner, making Ashley A almost whimper in melancholy. ‘Not until after the challenges!’

‘Can’t I just have ONE creme savor? You KNOW they’re my favorites!’, Ashley A pleaded, hungrily eying the savor. Maybe she could just swipe one quickly, like a cat. She owned one, she could probably try.

But Ashley Q was quicker. She slapped her hand away the moment she reached forwards, the brash impact making Ashley A’s dorsum sting and turn red. Ashley A tried to comfort the hand, but Ashley B was already announcing the next challenge, clinking her rare beehive patterned tea cup with a spoon so golden it was blinding. ‘All Ashley’s be seated for the second challenge!’, she commanded, sounding direct and refined, every word chiming like polished silverware. For just a moment, Ashley A heard her mother in B, and she didn’t know if she was impressed, or offset by that.

Ashley Q was already seated, while Ashley T, bringing the object of the second challenge, bowed and presented it to Ashley B, chanting ‘Sporty, Ginger, Baby, Scary, Posh’ over and over like she was a priest reciting Latin verses in the 12th century AD.

Ashley A peaked from her chair (was it lower than the others?), and managed to catch a glimpse of one of the Ashley’s favorite games. ‘Girl Talk? Ooh, I love Girl Talk!’, Ashley A enthused, so much so that she actually shook her hands a little bit, like jazz hands.

Ashley B’s eyes were so glazed you’d think they were a honey donut. ‘Yes, of course you do, you’re an Ashley. For now.’

The sentence was delivered so blase that Ashley A felt a genuine chill ride down her spine. Ashley B had been suspicious and rageful before, but never to this extent. How much had she messed up with this secret friendship thing? ‘Is it really worth all this?’, she worriedly thought, as B lifted the box lid and removed the cards and zit stickers, but, oddly enough, not the spinner.

As B began handing out cards to Q and T (but not A, of course) Ashley A couldn’t help but raise her hand, as if she was in class. ‘Um, Ashley B? How come you didn’t take out the spinner? And why are you sorting out the cards, they’re supposed to all be in one pile…’

‘Do you think I don’t know how this game works? Do you think I’m stupid, Ashley A? Do you think we’re all just dumb idiots who aren’t worth your time and energy?!’, Ashley B suddenly shouted, making everyone flinch. The crazed look in her eyes made Ashley A decide it wasn’t worth venturing further, so she instantly shook her head. ‘Literally the opposite of what I think! You’re stupid… Not!’

Ashley B seemed to accept this statement, so she cleared her throat and lifted her tea cup again, pinkie out. Q and T did as well, but Ashley A had been told not to lift her tea cup, so she just put her pinkie out and hoped with all her heart that was okay. ‘This is a… Special version of Girl Talk, designed specifically for this game.’

‘Ooh, c’est genial! That sounds very special! Thank you!’, Ashley A expressed politely, clapping her hands excitedly. Ashley B sighed and rolled her eyes. ‘Ashley A, this is a challenge to your all important position in The Ashley’s, not a prize on Wheel of Fortune. Try and take it seriously.’

Discouraged, Ashley A shrunk in her seat and nodded, feeling like a scolded cat. ‘Sorry.’, she whispered, looking around to see similarly disappointed expressions from Ashley Q and Ashley T (who were both enjoying their snacks of choice: Crazy dips mixed with fun dips and pop qwiz).

Satisfied with this showing of submissiveness, Ashley B began to explain the rules: ‘Me, Ashley Q and Ashley T each have a pack of question cards. You don’t get any, since they are all directed at YOU. That’s why I’ve taken the liberty of removing the spinner. We’re not gonna need it.’

The cold words had their intended effect. Ashley A gulped, teeth nearly chattering from the very thought of being the only one subjected to these questions. Still, a small voice in the back of her head beckoned her to remain optimistic of her friends intentions. ‘Maybe they aren’t choosing the REALLY embarrassing ones! They wouldn’t make it THAT hard, you’re friends!’

As if Ashley B could hear that voice, she picked a card and read out in a far too relaxed voice ‘What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you in front of a cute guy?’.

Ashley Q and T instantly ‘ooh!’-d, eating up the potential gossip, while Ashley A gaped and gawked, eyes nearly popping out of her skull (which would have been tres disgusting). ‘Wait… Wha… But… Are you sure…’, she mustered a lame protest, but the death stare from Ashley B was enough to silence her into co-operation. She would just have to grin and bare it.

The reason to her dismayed reaction was apparent only to B, though: See, while Ashley A had yet to find a single boy she truly deemed worthy enough to date her, she had a number of celebrity crushes, not to mention some directed to older kids in their block. One, a Zachary Tate that attended the high school a few blocks away, was a particular avenue of Ashley A’s affection. Tall, tanned and a smile that said ‘I’m bad, but in a good way, yo’, Zachary was exactly what Ashley pictured a future boyfriend of hers would be like. Naturally, a sophisticated lady such as herself could easily practice flirting with a boy 6 years her senior, so when opportunity came knocking one day (when Ashley A and B were downing fruit smoothies and he happened to walk into the store to order one of his own), Ashley A knew she had to take her shot.

But what happened after… It had haunted her nightmares for months.

Ashley A had never forgotten Ashley B’s actions that day. The way she instantly moved between her and Zachary, covering up any flagrant sights. The way she took charge and hid her away from prying, laughing eyes. The way she quietly and gently helped her out of the mess.

Those sympathetic eyes, eyes that were as reassuring as the words that came out of her mouth: “I swear I’ll literally never tell a soul what happened today, word is bond”, they had always come in the nick of time during that recurring nightmare, sweeping away the mortification Ashley A had felt that day, a crack in her heart that had healed into a tiny scar.

But now that scar was being opened, and Ashley A was gonna ruin her friend's fuzzy carpet with the gushing red that would flow from her stabbed heart.

‘I… Um… Well… It’s just…’, Ashley A kept on stuttering, face growing as red as the aforementioned gushing blood. How could she spit this out? No, no, she couldn’t, she just couldn’t! ‘The utter embarrassment! Ugh, this is the WORST DAY EVER!!!’, Ashley A cried out by mistake, and for once, she wasn’t exaggerating.

But Ashley B was having none of it, even if Ashley T and Ashley Q were growing a little concerned at the display of fear. Lifting a Zit Sticker (the punishment the game administered for skipping a dare), Ashley B wagged it like she was threatening a dog with a folded newspaper. ‘Do you WANT a Zit sticker? Do you WANT to make us think you’re hiding something? This is a challenge of your loyalty, of your dedication, Ashley Armbruster Junior! How can we call you our president if you can’t admit to a teensy little embarrassing moment? What kind of Ashley is scared to open up to her fellow Ashley’s?’, Ashley B lectured, each word dripping with venom. There was a fire in her now, perhaps a revealing one. Ashley A couldn’t help but wonder if she was still actually president of the Ashley’s.

But the shaming had worked. ‘I don’t want a zit sticker. I don’t want them to suspect me. I don’t want them to not trust me. I can be a part of the Ashley’s, I can! I’ll earn it!’, Ashley A motivated herself, clenching her fists super hard and puffing up her cheeks with air. She had to do this, she had to prove she can have both: The Ashley’s and The Gretchen!

Bravely facing all her friends, eyes open to their potential scorn, she slowly replied to the demeaning question: ‘I was at the smoothie place when… When Zachary Tate showed up.’

‘Oooh!’, Ashley Q and T echoed from before, seemingly forgetting how distressed their friend looked. The scent of juicy gossip was like blood to these henchwomen sharks.

Ashley A let that interruption pause her so she could gather any loose bits of strength. Then, mustering all her courage, she continued. ‘As I’m sure you all know, Zachary is the CUTEST boy in 6th Street High. He has schway hair and bangin’ blue eyes, and his smirk is oh so sex…’, Ashley A got sidetracked, admiring the features (though, if she was truly honest, she was more imagining an abstract body that happened to hold said features, rather than specifically Zachary. Oddly enough, the body was a little more feminine in nature, but Ashley A figured she was just missing a frame of reference for a male body. She’d need to look at some magazines when she was back home the next day). Ashley B snapped her fingers impatiently, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow. ‘Stick to the dare, Ashley A. We have imaginations.’,

Ashley A sheepishly grinned, blushing for a different reason. ‘Sorry.’

Then, she blushed from shame as she narrated her tragic tale. ‘Well, anyway, he was there. And, logically, I thought he’d be a great test subject for my flirtations, you know, for the day I find a boyfriend worthy of my FABULOUS looks.’, Ashley A bragged just a little, small pleasures and all. Ashley Q and T nodded, both deeply in denial too, it seems.

‘Yeah, yeah, you’re top of the pops and shit, GET TO THE GOODS, SISTER.’, Ashley B demanded, slamming her hands on the table, and Ashley A yiped, leaped into the air, and finally continued. ‘Okay, okay! So, like, I walk up to him, all giggly and starry eyed, putting on my “honey voice”, you know the one, reserved for my one and only, when suddenly he actually stares back, I think it was after I said he had abs that could melt butter, but it may have been after I remarked that his lips were probably tired from kissing every girl at campus, doesn’t matter, anyway, I don’t think he even heard all those, because he turned to me, like I said, with those sparkling eyes, and he sort of like whips his hair, ugh, TOO MUCH, but I digress, he looked at me and said ‘Hey, little girl, you need something?’, all innocent like, I think he wasn’t aware that I was into him, how adorable is that, boys are so dumb, but point is, well, when he did that, he was really close to my face, he’s tall so he had to lean down after all, and I could see his eyes and lips and everything, as you can imagine that was a LOT to take in all at once, and I had just drank my third smoothie, and I was honestly a little nervous as it was because I still haven’t practiced flirting that much, and, well, you see, um, one thing led to another, and, well, um…’

Ashley’s rant screeched to a halt as she grew redder and redder, not to mention smaller. Shrinking even further into her seat, Ashley A dared look up, and felt the walls closing in, their blaring yellow black colors spinning and spinning in derision, as if she was trapped in a spinning carousel and all the kids were laughing as she felt queasy, just like she did that day. Ashley Q and Ashley T held eager and curious looks, baring deep into her soul, but it was Ashley B’s eyes that truly made Ashley A hush up.

Because those eyes, once so sympathetic and kind, were now as dark and hollow as the inky night that swallowed her up every time she awoke from her nightmares.

‘Yes, Ashley A? What DID happen then? Do enlighten us.’, Ashley B enunciated in an excruciatingly slow way, despite knowing what happened. Maybe because she knew. Either way, she sipped her tea and grinned in anticipation, awaiting the dirt.

And Ashley A didn’t need to be reminded of the punishment for not co-operating. Swallowing the last remains of her pride, she choked out ‘And then… I vomited.’, before hiding her face in her trembling hands, hot tears running down her cheeks, smearing her makeup.

Despite this entire parade of apathy before her, Ashley A couldn’t help the minuscule and hopeful feeling that maybe, just maybe, her friends would be sympathetic to her pain. Maybe even feel bad for what she went through. Who wanted to throw up in front of their crush, after all? No, they had to understand! ‘They have to!’

I’m sad to say that the obvious did indeed happen.

‘SCANDALOUS!’, Ashley B, Q and T all chorused, clinking their tea cups and laughing up a storm, laughing and laughing and laughing for so long that Ashley A wondered if she was going deaf. The giggles rolled on and on, echoing in the halls of her mind, stored away for eternity. As long as she lived, she would never forget this moment, where she had felt truly alone, despite being surrounded by her bestest friends.

And then, Ashley Q lifted a card.

There was more.

There was so much more.

But Ashley A couldn’t say anything. She could only hang her head in shame, like a prisoner at death row, and silently pray that it wouldn’t hurt nearly as hard as this.

All the while, Muffin (who had been watching from above, unable to intervene without hurting her mama), tired of this crap, slinked away to the Grundler’s, deciding only a genius could help now.

And Penny? She was listening in to every word, impatiently awaiting the opening to bust open this scheme once and for all.

Poor Ashley M. She was an Ashley, which meant she wasn’t exactly much for running, or jumping, or really any physical activity. Normally, the very thought of exerting her body would have been enough to make her crawl back into bed and pretend no such concept existed.

But Ashley A, her owner, her friend, her mama… Needed her. Now more than ever. No one else could save her from the twisted game Ashley B had set up.

And so, with a heavy heart (and heavier lungs), Ashley M scaled brick walls and careened down them like she was in a marathon, ignoring how her entire body was on fire. ‘Ugh… Why… Can’t… They… Be… Neighbors?’, the kitty panted out in exhaustion, wiping sweat off her brow with her paw, as she forced her legs to keep moving despite it all.

The afternoon was slowly turning into evening. The moonlight was her only guide through this dark, lonely path. ‘Thankfully, they say cats have excellent night vision!’, Muffin smirked, peering through the night to see what she could, well, see.

…

‘Whoever said that should be taken out to the street and shot.’, the feline sassed, rolling her yellow eyes in derision. Now she’d have to climb every tree in every yard just to look in a window and see if she recognized the room Ashley A had brought her once. ‘At least the memory thing is true. A cat never forgets!’, she exclaimed proudly, only to squint in uncertainty. ‘Or was that an elephant? I forget.’

Thankfully, Muffin wasn’t gonna shatter any more myths about cats, like not falling on her feet, because the first house she tree scaled next to seemed to be the one! ‘Those are Gretchen’s friends, the ones Ashley said she loved to mock once! I wonder if she still doesn’t like them. Do we have to be nice to them like in-laws?’, she wondered, before chuckling and shaking her head. ‘I have to stop thinking like that. Why, the likelihood Ashley and Gretchen could be lesbians together are as high as me being lesbians with a… A dog!’

That silly notion brushed aside with a tail wag, Ashley M happily bopped side to side as she tip toed across the branch, practicing her runway strut. ‘One day, mama will take me to Milano. I have to look PURR-fect for my public!’.

However, she took a little too long, as suddenly, a Ruffed Grouse showed up, chowing down on the upper canopy of the aspen tree they were on. The bird slowly turned its head to her, and called out “pete-pete-peta-peta” to the cat.

Ashley M hackled up, hissed, whimpered a bit, and with her tail extra fluffy now, leapt for safety onto the window, thanking the lord that it was open…

Only to CRASH onto the chair next to Gretchen’s desk.

‘Woah! Did you hear something?’, Gus questioned from inside the closet, he and T.J somehow STILL searching for that wrench.

‘I think that was me. I dropped another tool box. How many does she HAVE?’, T.J questioned, voice echoing from inside the closet, as Ashley M slowly picked herself up and perked her ears at the speaking voices.

‘I guess they’re for different situations.’, Gus shrugged, finding a shoe box loaded with tools. ‘Hey, maybe it’s in this one.’

‘I hope it is. Pretty sure everyone went downstairs. I feel like I’m missing out on the action.’, T.J sighed, rummaging through the box, bumping into something, and dropping another three on the floor. ‘Oh man!’, he cried, growing miserable from this.

Ashley M snickered, tutting at the boys. ‘Oh, you’re missing out. I’m going to just waltz up to Gretchen and save my mama, and while you’ll be stuck in that closet being all loser and pathetic, I’M gonna get a nice fancy salmon dinner, with a side dish of cream! I’ll even get to watch the new episode of Baywatch! That Parker Stevenson is beach in beachin’. Get it, like bitchin’, but beach…’

Ashley M’s lil rant was unfortunately cut off by her walking straight into the door, banging her little head, screeching out in pain. Rubbing her head with her paw, she squinted in annoyance at the looming entry before her. ‘Now, isn’t that literally sooooo inconsiderate? Did no one think that a fancy cat such as myself might need to pass through and find Gretchen? No class, no class at all!’

Worse, Ashley M couldn’t reach the door on her own. She leapt up as high as she could, but the handle was tauntingly far away, teasing her. ‘Stop being so… So wooden! Don’t you know that wood is SOOOOOOOOO last Thursday! It’s all about being metal and close to my freakin’ paws! Ugh, whatEVER, I’ll find another way in!’, Ashley M screeched at the door in catspeak. She was lucky the door had chosen an elective in dogspeak instead, otherwise it would have smashed right into her.

Turning back to observe the rest of the room, Muffin tried to see if there was anything that could help her out. ‘Huh. Gretchen’s room is way emptier than Ashley’s. Where are all the necessities, like bean bag chairs, and mirrors, and plushies for me to talk to when I get lonely? Not even a 1 on the Ashley M room rating scale.’, Ashley M turned her nose up at the torrid place, only to spot Bearbert Bearstein, Gretchen’s secret teddy bear, peering from the corner of the bed, hidden as ever. Brightening up, Ashley M pulled him to her with her teeth and attempted to shake his hand. ‘A man of science! I could use your help, this is Ursa Major! See, I’m trying to help my mama, Ashley A? I’m sure you’ve heard of her. Tall, but all humans are. Pretty, but I’m sure you could tell considering her cat daughter, heh heh. But also deeply in the shit! Our fellow Ashley’s are being REALLY mean to her, which is SO WHACK! So, basically, in your professional scientific opinion, how can I open this stupid door? It’s being a REAL loser right now!’, Ashley M went on and on, pacing back and forth, her tail swishing in worry. Thanks to this, Bearbert got swiped at, and fell, head pointing towards the desk.

Ashley M, noticing this, smiled brightly and patted the bear on the head. ‘Thank you, doctor! Most helpful! I’ll recommend you to Barbshley next time she can’t pick a dress for date night!’

Resuming her strut from before, Ashley M swayed her head back and forth as she clawed her way up the stiff chair and then onto the desk. ‘Gee, she could get a comfier chair.’, she thought, only to gasp as she stared above her, accidentally recreating a scene from one of her mama’s new favorite animated movies, “Toy Story”. She wasn’t sure if she’d be proud of the coincidental pop culture reference or not, but her head was sort of packed with shocked thoughts and feelings.

See, Gretchen had sort of accounted for T.J. and Gus to be out of the closet (unlike her) by now, and she was so distracted by all the hullabaloo with her friends, that she sort of set her project up to turn on.

And it had happened to turn on the moment Ashley M was below it. Or, well, her.

Looking slowly side to side, the mechanical marvel analyzed the entire room, filing away important bits of information: The shelves were high and packed to the brim, so those books were precariously dangling over her owner’s head; the bed’s mattress’ springs were loosening, that could be a health risk; Why on earth were those two human males taking so long to find a simple wrench, when she could spout info on any kind of wrench from her built in database?

Clearly, her (A.K.A, Gretchen Grundler, A.K.A Doctor Grundler) had to be contacted, and right now. A laboratory couldn’t be littered with such lollygaggers!

‘Doctor Grundler, can you read me? Doctor Grundler? Why won’t she answer?’, the robot wondered aloud, her speech program sounding like an artificial Jadzia Dax from Deep Space Nine, as she began computing the most likely scenarios. But it was evening, so Gretchen couldn’t be at school, and she had just programmed her, so she was unlikely to be at a friend’s house. Was someone keeping her owner up from attending to her pet project?

Slowly turning around to observe the desk, the machine tutted, judging her owner’s messy workspace. ‘Someone could get hurt! I better fix this up once I find Doctor Grundler.’

Suddenly, a tiny screen popped out from near her eye, as she began to narrate, her ears perked up for any danger. ‘B.U.D.D.Y mission log, terrandate 30-01-98. My first few minutes activated have been nothing short of calamitous. My owner is nowhere to be found, her workspace is a health hazard, and according to my sensors, there seems to be no sign of intelligent life anywhere.’

‘Hello!’, Ashley M meowed a greeting, hoping this narration didn’t imply this thing was… Shudder… A geek.

‘HALT. UNKNOWN PRESENCE DETECTED. STATE YOUR OBJECTIVE AND ALLEGIANCE, OR FACE THE DEADLY STRENGTH OF MY ATOMIC BARK.’, B.U.D.D.Y growled, adopting an attack stance she was notified by her database was “threatening and quite cool”.

Ashley M yelped in fear, jumping up into the air, baring her claws. Shaking her head, she made herself look as small as possible to avoid classification as a threat. ‘I’m just Ashley A’s cat! Ashley M, A.K.A Muffin! I was just searching for Gretchen, it’s an emergency!’

B.U.D.D.Y’s metal ears perked up at the mention of her owner, and she adopted a less threatening stance. ‘Emergency, you say? I was born for those!’

Then, chuckling, she added ‘Well, not born, I’m a robot dog, I was MADE for those. But it felt a fitting expression.’

Ashley M tilted her head, utterly confounded by the… Thing before her. Never in her life had she spoken to a dog, let alone a robot dog. She knew dogs were scary and dumb, thanks to TV and magazines. Except puppies. Puppies were angels.

But this one hadn’t torn her to shreds for existing… Yet. So perhaps she was worth asking help for?

‘Well, um, see, I was just about to get Gretchen, but then this STUPID door got all lame and didn’t open! Which was LITERALLY SO NOT SCHWAY BY THE WAY!’, Ashley M hissed at the door, planning to leave a very nasty review of it to Gretchen once possible. How could Ashley A be friends with a girl who had such a lame ass door?

‘Schway? What is this Schway? I better add that to my database later.’, B.U.D.D.Y questioned, tilting her head like Ashley M did, assuming this was an action everyone just did. Suddenly, a notification popped up in her eyes, and she gasped. ‘Wait, did you say Ashley A?’

‘Yes, Ashley A. Duh.’, Ashley M rolled her eyes. ‘She’s only the most famous person on the planet.’

B.U.D.D.Y’s database only contained a few humans so far. Gretchen’s family, friends, favorite scientists.

Ashley A was part of that list, and marked as quite important. It seemed as if her owner valued this… Ashley A significantly. If the emergency concerned not just her owner, but her owner’s friend, then this required her services post haste!

‘There’s not a moment to lose, Ashley M! Here, I’ll open the door for you!’, B.U.D.D.Y rushed, leaping off the desk and rushing onto the door. Ashley M, gracefully landing onto the floor and grooming her fur, nodded agreeably. ‘Finally, some service! Pity it had to be a dog, but I suppose beggars can’t be choosers.’

Ashley M was curious however as to how B.U.D.D.Y would open the door. ‘Say, um, canine? How exactly do you plan to…’

Suddenly, B.U.D.D.Y, standing right before the door, rose up from the floor onto the faraway handle, her legs springing up to make her 5 foot tall.

Ashley M’s jaw dropped as she gaped at the display of strength and cunning. As the door creaked open, B.U.D.D.Y turned to her new companion, and within a second, was back onto the ground with a tail wag. ‘Well, are you coming?’

Then, shaking her head, she apologized profusely. ‘Oh, where are my manners? Sorry, I was just made, well, today! I’m B.U.D.D.Y. It stands for Biometric Utility Dog Doubling Yokefellows! In short, I’m her buddy! Get it? Doctor Grundler is so clever.’, B.U.D.D.Y offered her cold metallic paw to Ashley M, who shook it, not feeling the cold stinging metal at all.

‘I’m… Less sure of my attraction to Parker Stevenson.’, she admitted, before blushing and going into denial. ‘I mean, um, what, no, I like men!’

‘...I like men too! They comprise 50% of Doctor Grundler’s inner circle! Speaking of her, we should really get to her! Lead the way, trusted feline!’, B.U.D.D.Y requested, standing at attention behind Ashley M, who gulped, still very red. ‘When I get back to Ashley A, she owes me two salmon. No one said I was gonna question my sexuality on this mission.’

And at the same time, back at Ashley B’s mansion, Penny Bly was going through her own mission complication. Specifically…

‘Nothing interesting’s happening!’, Penny protested from her vantage point, scrunched up inside the air vent that led into Ashley B’s room, the area covered up by a poster of Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in “Tomorrow Never Dies”. Penny had delicately cut out the eyes so she could look through, intending to glue those back on when she was done (she was a spy, not a vandal).

But did it matter? Her eyes had been spying this room’s occupants for ages, and nothing incriminating was happening! Sure, Ashley A had undergone numerous embarrassing questions and dares (“Without stumbling, hold your ankles and walk backwards 20 steps”, which thanks to Ashley’s known lack of fitness, led to her falling down over and over, eliciting more laughter; “Call the Cutest Guy In Your Class and Tell Him Jokes. He Has to Laugh Before You Hang Up on Him”, leading to ANOTHER humiliating phone call for Ashley A as she desperately tried to make Butch (she figured he was kinda cute? In a rugged way?) laugh, which was impossible, seeing as he was kind of a gloomy admirer of the macabre; “Stand On All Fours and Bark Like a Dog For 15 Seconds”, which was degrading enough, especially when Ashley far preferred cats, but she was pretty sure lasted 60 seconds actually; “Raid a Clothes Closet. Model the Tackiest Outfit You Can Put Together”, oh the horror, surely they knew how her second greatest fear was being mocked at a runway!; “Tell Each Player What She Does That Annoys You”, which somehow was the one card meant for the others to tell to Ashley A; and so on and so forth), but outside of some potentially embarrassing pics (which Penny was only going to resort to using if she was left with only blackmail as an option), she had nothing! Why, why did no one use a truth or dare card to get Ashley R over, or ask what was going on? Penny wasn’t against sadism, but surely it had to have a purpose beyond “Screw that person”?

Penny then recalled times she did just that.

‘All right, fine, but it’s still not helping me.’, she crossed her arms, sighing audibly. This momentarily alerted Ashley B, who looked over to her poster in curiosity, raising an eyebrow at the sudden sound.

Penny tensed up and froze, eyes flitting around in fear. If she was found out, she’d lose the gang’s trust AND potentially get humiliated herself! That was for Ashley A, not her! ‘I’m invisible, I’m nothing, I’m nobody…’, she whispered, repeating a well worn mantra, shaking and shivering and begging to survive.

Ashley B slowly neared the poster, inspecting it carefully, looking right into its eyes.

You could hear a pin drop. Penny bit her tongue and pinched her cheeks.

‘...Must have been these stupid vents. They’re not agreeing with your presence, Piercy. Too bad. I do.’, Ashley B flirted with the poster, batting her eyelashes seductively.

Penny sighed in relief, wiping her brow. ‘Phew! That was nearly a disaster!’

Then, because Ashley B was a 9 year old girl unaware someone was hiding behind her poster, the rich girl kissed the poster’s lips, pretending she could ever attain such importance… That is, of course she could, shut up.

Penny, growing green in her cheeks, rushed away from the vent to a safer area to hack and wheeze, spitting over and over. ‘Eww!!! Cooties, cooties, cooties!’

She took out her omelet and chewed it over to remove the taste of Ashley B from her lips. ‘Ugh, that’s better. Gosh. Whoever said a first kiss was an important milestone was in need of a brain transplant.’

Returning to her work, Penny suddenly heard the Ashley’s rush downstairs, which surprised her. What could the third challenge even be there? They’d already made her call people twice. Curious, she crawled through the vent to the kitchen area, muttering as she did. ‘For lazy rich girls that sit around all day in their stupid clubhouse, they sure like to move around during a sleepover. What happened to the sleep part? Not that I’ve ever been in a sleepover, but you know, I’m just making a healthy ass…’

And then, just like that, Penny suddenly fell through an unreinforced part of the attic and right onto the middle of the kitchen, just as the Ashley’s were finishing the trip down the stairs.

‘Umption!’, Penny finished as she screamed while falling, and now she had to stop herself from screaming for a different reason, because any second now her cover was blown! Desperately looking for an idea, Penny saw the Boulet’s kept a statue of Ashley A Sr. in their kitchen, rolled her eyes, mumbled ‘Not a brain cell to be found’, and did the logical thing, by standing next to it with a step stool and pretending to be a statue too.

Not a brain cell to be found for sure.

When the Ashley’s entered said kitchen, they all jolted, then stared suspiciously at the extra statue in the room. Penny, sweating bullets, tried her best not to blink. She won no blinking contests with her pet rat, she could win this… Right?

After a long and uncomfortable silence that made Penny make a mental note to check if she received long term cardiac issues from, an answer to her worries finally came. Ashley B tutted her tongue, shook her head, and turning to her friends, exclaimed:

‘I just don’t get modern art.’

The other three nodded and hummed in agreement, despite the four girl’s actual understanding of modern art being as voluminous as the amount of brain cells in the room.

Penny sighed in relief, loudly, making Ashley B turn around again. After another few tortuous seconds as a statue, Penny kept her relief to herself as the Ashley’s resumed their actual business: The Third Challenge.

‘For the Third Challenge, we require something most private of you, Ashley Armbruster.’, Ashley B lectured ominously, standing with her back turned to the girl, snapping her fingers at Q and T. ‘And so, I’ve decided Ashley Q and Ashley T tell you, because I’m not really in the mood, you know?’

Ashley Q and T, who weren’t exactly in the mood for this either but acquitted reluctantly, whispered in Ashley A’s ears what the challenge was.

Ashley A’s eyes widened, and her face flushed instantly. ‘I’m sorry, like, what do you wanna do with my literal UNDERWEAR?!’

‘Ashley A! A lady shouldn’t say such things out loud!’, Ashley B berated, wagging a scolding finger at her friend, as if she were her mother. ‘Just whisper them to keep the shame private! Jeez, you’d think you wanted the whole world to laugh at you, instead of just your best friends!’

Ashley A pouted, hanging her head in shame in habit by now, but still meekly protesting, wringing her hands in worry. ‘But… But… But why would I even WANT to freeze my underwear?’

Penny did all she could not to react to that. ‘Girl parties are so weird.’, she thought, wondering why they couldn’t just paint each other’s nails and gossip. That sounded a lot more fun in her opinion.

Ashley B sighed dramatically, sitting down on a chair Ashley Q and T quickly brought to her service, gesticulating to her best friend, even if that term felt a little ill fitting right now. ‘Ashley, this is a noted custom of teen girl sleepovers, which is our next big step on the road to being powerful and pretty woman. If you can’t freeze a pair of underpants, then how can you lead us into the big P: Puberty?’

Ashley shook her head and hands, trying to explain her case, as she felt her face get redder and redder, like a heatstroked tomato in a Clifford the Big Red Dog lookalike contest set on Mars. ‘No, no, I know that, duh! It’s just… Isn’t the prank supposed to be one of you doing that to me? Not me doing that to, well… Me?’, she asked, pointing at herself with both hands. What was this challenge even supposed to do, except demean her… ‘Oh, wait, yeah, that tracks.’

‘Exactly. Consider this challenge your punishment/test of will. You’ve shown commitment so far, but we need to know if this is the same Ashley A who would crawl through broken glass for us! Who would do anything for Ashley-kind!’, Ashley B explained, her eyes as fiery as her rhetoric, as she shook her fist in passionate display.

‘Um, I never crawled through broken…’, Ashley A started, but the dirty looks she received made her hush up. Nodding slowly, like a prisoner in death row, she trudged to her backpack (which she had left next to the table), deciding it was best to just get it over with. At least it couldn’t get much worse…

‘Oh, no!’, Ashley A suddenly cried, eyes flickering in fright, as she dug through her bag, tossing away her replacement PJ’s (in case of a stain) and concealed bag containing the Ashley R disguise. It had to be in there somewhere, between all the plushes and magazines and snack wrappers (she got hungry when she was anxious about her friends, okay?!).

‘Oh no what?��, Ashley B asked matter of factly, filing her nails, while Ashley Q and T shrugged at each other, legitimately confused. What was the holdup? Even Penny, as still as, well, a statue, craned her ears slightly to hear what was the hubbub.

Ashley A, voice growing anxious, held up her replacement black skirt and regular black jacket and called out without looking back ‘My underwear! I had changes of underwear right here! I always pack those!’

‘Must have forgotten. Too bad. Guess you’ll just have to use the ones you have on now.’, Ashley B waved her off with not an ounce of sympathy, resuming her nail grooming.

Ashley A was devastated. Penny was startled. Even Ashley Q and Ashley T found this perhaps just a little much. ‘Ashley B, are you sure? Maybe we can find a different challenge. There’s no need to…’, Ashley Q tried, chuckling to make herself sound less protesting, only for Ashley B to hit her with a death stare not dissimilar to her fathers. ‘Are you QUESTIONING my intentions? I crafted this plan SPECIFICALLY for Ashley A! So we can move past this, so we can finally be Ashley’s again!’

‘I know, I know, it’s just…’, Ashley Q panicked, trying to set things right again, but Ashley B growled and gripped her by the arm, hard. ‘Do you NOT want that?! Am I the only one that cares about US?!’

‘No, no! Of course not!’, Ashley Q trembled, fighting not to cry. Freeing her hand, she soothingly rubbed it, feeling sore from the grasp. ‘I… I was just thinking out loud. If you really think this is the way, then… Then I’ll do as you say.’

‘S…Same.’, Ashley T yiped, feeling terrible at how scared she was. She had wanted to ask Ashley B nicely to not grip Ashley Q’s arm like that, but decided it would be best to stay silent.

Turning her attentions back to Ashley A (after a centering nose breath), Ashley B pointed to the left. ‘Bathroom’s over there. We’ll wait.’

Ashley A opened her mouth to protest, barely getting 4 words out. ‘But… But Ashley B…’

‘Now, Ashley A.’

‘But Ashley B, I… Please… I don’t want to do this…’

‘Ashley A, do it now.’

‘But… It’s so embarrassing.’, Ashley A blubbered, feeling at the verge of tears.

Ashley B’s eyes grew dark, her voice darker. She stared daggers into Ashley A, seemingly holding herself back from slapping her. ‘You know what IS embarrassing?’.

She stood up and walked slowly up to Ashley A, every eye on her. It was like she was the house itself, unleashing its power onto the tiny human before it. Pointing in rage, she seethed ‘Not being able to trust our leader, a fellow Ashley, MY BEST FRIEND. What’s embarrassing is knowing I’d do ANYTHING for this group, while you can barely muster a FUCKING purple ensemble! What’s EMBARRASSING is that ALL I’m asking is that you prove your loyalty to us so that we can all just be Ashley’s again, and you bitch and moan about every single FUCKING thing!’

She set her forehead on Ashley’s staring right into her eyes, practically nudging them to act out, to prove their dishonesty. ‘YOU WANNA BE AN ASHLEY, A? YOU WANNA BE OUR FRIEND?!’

‘YES! I DO! I DO!’, Ashley A replied, terrified out of her wits, feeling her heart hammer in her chest, but not lying for a moment, her eyes standing still and meeting Ashley B’s.

‘...Then talk to the hand. Because all this face wants to see is a whack pair of underwear freezing in exactly 3 minutes. I don’t wanna hear promises. I wanna see action.’, Ashley B coldly replied, pointing to the direction of the bathroom.

Ashley A gulped, but nodded, to stay safe. She rushed off to the bathroom and prepared to do just that.

But as she closed the door, and looked in the mirror, holding the pair, she let herself shed one small pathetic tear.

‘Please love me again.’ she thought, as she braced herself to walk out to the kitchen.

It was like a death row march all over again, though Ashley assumed those prisoners never had to carry their underwear while their friends mocked and jeered them. Maybe. Ashley didn’t know how prison worked.

Slowly making her way to the sink, Ashley turned on the cold tap, and sighed. ‘This LITERALLY cannot get any wor…’

#ashley a #gretchen grundler #gretchen recess #recess ashley a #scandalous chemistry #disney recess #recess #ashley x gretchen

14 notes · View notes

snekinnatenk · 9 months ago

Text

Here’s a drawing of one of the flagship monsters of my worldbuilding project, a Vermiform Heron. I never actually finished this one, and this exact design may be outdated soon. Kinda surprised I never posted it.

Herons, named after their passing resemblance to the bird, are without question the most powerful non-unique creatures on all of Kallehast. Their nigh-unique ability to bend gravity, one of the most bloodhungry forms of esotericism, is reflected in their diet. Exclusively feeding on creatures with magic-rich blood, herons are terrifying mage-eaters capable of effortlessly snatching and devouring even a master esotericist like its namesake would a frog. Folk of the rural frontier, however, see herons as a boon- they are of little interest to the beast themselves. Hunting by sight, herons loiter at great altitudes, outpacing their own sound on the attack and striking without warning. They are the reason for the one trait shared by all esoteric beasts of Kallehast- a deep-seated, instinctual fear of open fields, where the sky can see them. This makes the farmlands around rural settlements like a soft barrier for the nastier creatures with a taste for people, which tend to be magical in nature. In ancient times, many cultures saw herons as divine agents, falling like a comet upon the predators of man as though sent by the gods. Those eaten by herons themselves would not have had such fabulous stories to tell. Modern academics know better, now knowing herons not to be angels, but descendants of the cosmic kin of true dragons. These primordial greater herons pierced the Firmament at the height of the Draconic Era millions of years ago, devouring them to the last in what can only be called a geological wink. Our modern herons, unable to grow fat off the same blood their parents so greedily gorged themselves on, are mere echoes of this past era. Despite this, they are monster enough.

#artists on tumblr #art #my art #artwork #drawing #traditional art #illustration #worldbuilding #monster design #cascade

41 notes · View notes

noideabutsims · 9 months ago

Text

Donut Co. Rugtastic Reset - True Colors Edition BOOK version has 14 Swatches BOOKSHELF version has 42 Swatches All of our CC can be found by typing " Donut " into the search bar! Images in game - You can find bonus images on our tumblr > HERE Most of my images have my reshade on - it changes the color minimally, so white may look a little off in photos, but in game it will look white/normal!! <3! You can size them up and down using the bracket keys. [ ] <- these ones. I personally, use the tool mod to size my items up and down, and specifically with these if you are wanting them to be "perfectly sized" i would recommend you grab the tool mod by twistedmexi! If you would like to use it in build-buy mode, you'll need BBB! The Bordered version and the non bordered version are separate, or you can grab the merged file. If you download all 3, you'll have double copies - and they will conflict. Please choose merged or unmerged - not both. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Name: Donut Co. Rugtastic Reset - True Colors Edition (With or Without Border) Buy Mode Description: Donut Co. gets it: sometimes the loudest statement is the one whispered with a wink. That's why we created a new collection of discreetly fabulous rugs! These designs are all about hidden meanings and subtle nods to the community – think rainbow geometrics woven in with everyday patterns, playful winks hidden within floral arrangements, and inclusive symbols disguised as everyday motifs. Imagine your Sim teens decorating their rooms with these rugs, creating a personal sanctuary where they feel safe to express themselves, even if it's just a secret smile at a knowing design. Donut Co. believes everyone deserves a space to be themselves, whether they're ready to shout it from the rooftops or simply let a hidden rainbow brighten their day. Let these rugs be a symbol of love, a quiet celebration of individuality, and a reminder that you're part of a vibrant, inclusive community, even if it takes a second look to see it. (Works best if you use the bracket keys "[" + "]" to size up and down, or my personal preference of the tool mod!) Will be releasing more content soon! stay tuned! ❤️ (NOT affiliated with EA or Maxis in any way! We just make CC! ) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DOWNLOAD: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/102634866?pr=true Curseforge: https://legacy.curseforge.com/sims4/build-buy/donut-co-rugtastic-reset-true-colors-edition Google Drive - MERGED BOOKS: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KjVl_-Ohzr5QJswMwJJsEKhyRvF5hzwj/view?usp=sharing No Border Books: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iTTalF5WkPrwyy5gbE3zNkAVk4EsmrxX/view?usp=sharing With Border Books: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xxmi7-5G6aGNaorpC0u2rqXHxxxyNkwF/view?usp=sharing MERGED BOOKSHELVES: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rpFTFcaYenUgdWxYB_YNORbUUjXonvQ0/view?usp=sharing No Border Bookshelves: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tSUnDaG-xG4AEtlX8n1u0W2c-cp8n8Yj/view?usp=sharing With Border Bookshelves: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xk-zgQWdUIMpbwWJQuWnhbkCrmoEShAf/view?usp=sharing @alwaysfreecc

23 notes · View notes

football-and-fanfics · 2 years ago

Text

Introduce Me - Benjamin Pavard

Who: Benjamin Pavard Prompt: Being introduced to his teammates. Requested by: anonymous Warnings: none

You had never been so nervous in your entire life. Tonight, at Bayern Munich's end of season dinner, would be the first time you were going to meet Benjamin's teammates. Over the year the two of you were together, you had met some of them individually, but this would be the first time you were going to meet the whole team, including Benjamin's coaches.

"D-do I look alright?" You asked nervously when you stepped out of the car in front of the restaurant where the dinner was held. You frantically smoothed out your dress, plucking at non-existent creases, and clutching your small handbag so tightly it made your knuckles turn white.

"Babe." Benjamin saw how nervous you were. He took your hand in his and squeezed it gently to comfort you. "You look fabulous. They're going to love you." "Are you sure?" You hesitated, "because this is a really big deal for me." Benjamin smiled warmly. "I know that, and I mean it when I say they're going to love you." Benjamin's words made you feel a little more confident, but you were still nervous when you stepped into the restaurant.

Immediately, you were surrounded by people you only knew from TV. For a few minutes you were completely starstruck. Everywhere you looked were people you only recognized from when you watched Benjamin's matches. "Breathe." Benjamin leaned in to softly whisper in your ear. "I'm trying." Your voice sounded a little higher and a lot less steady than usual.

Before you knew it, though, you found yourself shaking hands with Manuel. "Nice to meet you," the captain said politely, "Benjamin has told us a lot about you." "Did he?" You chuckled nervously. "There she is!" Thomas appeared by your side now, too. "Come on, Benji, introduce us." Benjamin laughed, before formally introducing you to his teammates.

It wasn’t long before you were deeply engaged in a conversation with Manuel and Thomas. They were indeed very nice, and genuinely interested to hear about your work as professional photographer.

All the nervousness had left you quickly enough, and you were truly enjoying yourself by now. Benjamin watched you interact with his teammates from a little distance, winking at you when you caught his eye. He had been right: you were an instant hit with the team.

Tags: @evie-pr, @auawdo, @meteora-fc, @stonesyyyy, @drizzyreese, @hbstre, @liverpoolfanfiction, @sternennebel2001, @mrswinksy, @themoon-shines

Add me to the tags list General masterlist | Benjamin Pavard masterlist

#benjamin pavard #benjamin pavard imagine #benjamin pavard blurb #benjamin pavard fanfic #benjamin pavard fanfiction #football imagine #football blurb #football fanfic #football fanfiction #footballer imagine #footballer blurb #footballer fanfic #footballer fanfiction #footballandfanficsbenjaminpavard

77 notes · View notes

grimowled · 8 months ago

Note

Are there any sinners that Stolas is incredibly fond of/interested in?

actually--yes! here's my essay on stolas and sinners, but for specifics, based on current interactions and various headcanons, have some non exhaustive examples to be updated. (obviously I won't name famous people in rl history stolas is fond of, because I'd basically be pulling a dante and putting them in hell lmao but there are many of those ...)

angel dust !! special mention for my lovely @poisonedspider and @poisonedxbeauty - angel is a hoot !! he makes stolas laugh, he's beautiful, smart, kinky and fabulous and terribly broken. he feeds into the owl prince's obsessive personality and he just wants to spoil and dote on him until he can't stay away. stolas can't help appreciating his natural ... talents and assets, and is quite fond of him :>

sir pentious !! in general pentious could pique his interest as someone of intellect, good manners and ambition. definitely fond of @dark-ambition's serpentine warlord, his intelligence and bloodthirsty drive are top tier! truly, stolas will indulge such a noteworthy sinner's ambition merely to see him bloom into his full potential, and watch it all unfold with morbid curiosity. in return he gets plenty of stimulating conversations on a variety of topics and a thrilling narrative. maybe he just wants someone who is worthy of receiving his knowledge, and to spend whole nights talking under the stars with ...

husk !! we are yet to fully interact with huskies (you know who you are ;)) but we think stolas would enjoy the sullen, wise old barcat with a gambling and drinking addiction; he will ask him to whip up pretty cocktails and tell him tales of his casino days, maybe even coax him into revealing a trick or two ... but mostly, he just sits there as a patron enjoying his deep, husky voice and fills his jar with ridiculous tips. now that's a cat to share secrets with. hoo hoot!

if we count overlords as well,

zestial !! he would definitely be considered something of a kindred spirit, an ancient literate nightmare. @zestials *wink wink*

alastor !! IDEK yet ... but he would be interesting to stolas. he likes the smart, peculiar old timey ones with great style and panache - natural entertainers with an air of mystery. I can see them getting along ... or at least be on stolas' radar.

there are MORE as always but this is getting terribly long as usual, so

... come write with me!! calling all sinners to the court of the owl prince!

#☽ [ ɪ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴍʏ ᴡᴀʏs ᴅᴀʀʟɪɴɢ | ANSW.]#Anonymous #☽ [ ᴛʜᴀᴛ's ᴀ ᴍᴏᴏᴅ ɢᴀʙʀɪᴇʟʟᴀ! | OOC]#☽ [ ᴀʟʟ ᴀʟᴏɴᴇ ᴜᴘᴏɴ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴛʜʀᴏɴᴇ | HC]#[sorry for name dropping but--ily!!]#[i hope i am not forgetting anyone!!]#[BUT I NEED MORE SINNERS COME INTERACT]#[let's write history together]

7 notes · View notes

kcscribbler · 1 year ago

Text

Combining these since they share a question!

Full Question List Here

5. Episode plot you wish they had handled differently?

TW discussion of consent/non-consent

Episode based, I personally hate episodes like Elaan of Troysius. I get that there wasn't the same awareness of consent vs non-consent that we have today, and that no one back then really accepted that it would be an issue which could have a male victim. But the rapey vibes in that episode give me the creeps.

There's also a big difference between Kirk intentionally seducing a woman for the sake of the mission (See Wink of an Eye, Catspaw, etc.) and being forced into it by some kind of external influence, biochemical or otherwise. This also happens to a milder degree earlier in canon, in Dagger of the Mind, and I hate it as much there, too.

Non-episode, I don't think the off-screen drama which led up to The Motion Picture was necessary. Characterization is what kept TOS alive when the plot dragged, and TMP draaaaaaaags. Not just for that reason, but it drags with little to no respite in anything else, in my opinion. The conflict resolution payoff was not, in my opinion, worth the first hour of the movie's impulse-speed crawl.

16. If you could steal the basic plot of an episode for one show and apply to another which would you choose?

Great minds must think alike, as I just had this come in on a previous ask, answered here. :)

17. What role would you have aboard a starship?

Oh, interesting. I'd love to say scientist, and maybe in that century I'd finally be able to do the math. Theoretical physics I comprehend just fine, but start asking me to do actual equations and I'm just hopelessly lost.

I'm guessing records officer would be most likely.

35. A minor character you wish had become a main character?

Answered more thoughtfully here, but I'll add another:

TAS was fantastic in several ways, but the biggest one for me was in showing that there were actualy non-human members of the Enterprise crew. I understand the budget for special effects, etc. just wasn't there in TOS, but it's nice to see that rectified in the animated series. Both M'Ress and Arex were fabulous.

Thank you for the asks!

#ask box #star trek

2 notes · View notes

stingslikeabee · 2 years ago

Note

❛ how 'bout I dress up in a bee outfit and show ya my stinger. ❜

unscripted asks . always accepting

There were almost no clients left at the lounge of the Honey Bee Inn at that hour - they were about to close and the patrons who were not willing to rent a room for the rest of the night upstairs with their girl of choice were about to be escorted outside. That, of course, did not apply to Reno.

The Turk was by the bar, facing a selection of empty glasses of different shapes and varying types of garnishes. The textbook evidence of the latest competition between the two mixologists that Melissa had hired a couple of years prior, and who fostered a friendly rivalry of sorts. On the chance they were both working, they tended to compete over their creations - the redhead had been happy to serve as judge.

But maybe he hadn't had enough food to go with the non-stop alcohol or perhaps their last batch from Costan tequila was really above the rest you could find in Wall Market - but Reno grew tipsy, although Melissa could only tell because she knew him well. Easy smiles, flirting lines and a feline grace to body movement were normal fare for Reno; it was the increasing quantity of word puns (and low giggles that accompanied these) that denounced his state to the madame.

Melissa parked herself at his side to hand over some gil to Dario - a customer had tipped the mixologist handsomely during the night and while the cash exchanged hands, Reno rested his chin over an open palm and looked at the inn proprietress - the only woman around sans the infamous bee costume and decked out in fine fabrics instead.

"Hey, Mel," he drawled, obtaining her attention and then grinning widely, "How 'bout I dress up in a bee outfit and show ya my stinger?" the Turk offered, eyebrows wiggling for added emphasis. Melissa's first reaction to that line was laughter - short and melodic but of the genuine kind; the idea of Reno dressing in the same uniform of her staff was entertaining for sure.

"Reno, darling, I'm sure you'd look fabulous," the woman replied with a smile of her own, a wink following for good measure - and while Melissa did believe he would likely look good in anything (the perks of having a figure blessed by genetics and never-ending charisma), she allowed her back to lean against the bar counter to look at the Turk, measuring him clinically for a second, "But I'm not sure any of my customers come here for the stinger, you know. I believe they are more into the deflowering experience."

The woman couldn't keep a serious face after that - her own response was just so bad that the madame chuckled almost immediately, shaking her head and then propelling herself forward, a hand landing on his closest shoulder. Melissa leaned in close next, as if she was about to share some juicy piece of intel, "But if I ever get requests for variety, you'll be the first one I'll call. In case you're looking for a career change, of course."

#bitterarcs #v: FFVII #replied #the fact that I actually have fanart of this #pretty sure I've seen it done for Rude too #(and they were wearing the girl costumes!)#the fact remains that Reno slays no matter what he wears

2 notes · View notes

sam-dugesian · 1 year ago

Text

Sam ruins everything: ADC

[intro up to "don't know why"]

???: "Wee! Hi everyone. I'm Sam and I'm new here." "I wonder what kind of adventures I'll get up to in this strange new world I've found myself in." "Let's find out together, shall we. [winks to the camera]" "First thing that's in order I think my new worldmates better get to know me better." "Hi everyone! I already memorised who you all are" "I'm here to steal the show." "Well, at least that's one way to put it [laughs at himself]." "Seems I've taken the form of Jester, a 'Joker', a fooool, if you will." "I wonder what that means." "So, Caine, what's on the agenda for today." "Today being my 'first day' in this quite fabulous existence."

Jax: "Caine, is this one of your NPC's or is this a new sucker?" "Wait." "-'cause if it's a new character, we're gonna have to redo this whole theme song." "Wait, why am I asking-?"

Zooble: "I'm not gonna be doing this for long." "Wait, what did I say-?" "-and why couldn't I talk when Sam was talking back there."

Caine: "My my [error], It appears a new has entered this!"

Sam: "One of those things won't be here much longer."

Jax: "Just keep grabbing at it, that's not the way things are done here." "Huh? That's not how I talk."

Sam: "Go on, say the line. Chop chop."

Ragatha: "Let's just try to calm down." "Everything's gonna be okay, ancient one." "Ancient one? What the heck?" "We've all been through this." "We used exclusively." "Why would I need to-?" "You just need to get your head to-"

Sam: "'suup?"

Caine: "No, no, no, Saamamaa..." "We can't have any of that thaaat that-that thattat that." "The Amazing Digital Circus is a to be." "..." "You, my, into an world of, where it can exist!" "Accept curses."

Sam: "[says nothing and looks around with a cheeky little grin on their face]"

Caine: "Uh."

Ragatha: "W-well, don't freak out about it or anything." "-but, uh, we exactly."

Jax: "You ..."

Sam: "Oh, I beg to differ."

Zooble: "Shut up, Jax."

Jax: "Okay, why is that the only thing we've said, that actually plays out how we imagined it in our heads?"

Sam: "Haha, I like you Jax. You're fun to play with."

Ragatha: "Yeah it's weird isn't it?" "Ever since Sam showed up things a little different." "Wait, what am I saying?" "Sam's only just got here." "That makes no sense." "Caine, is this one of you tricks?" "... again?"

Jax: "We've been stuck here for years." "Old Kinger over there's supposedly been here the longest."

Kinger: "Am I seeing double again?"

Caine: "I'd like to give our brand new member a tour of the circus grounds first."

Sam: "Hey great idea." "I can show you the parts you don't know about yet."

Caine: "O-"

Sam: "That's the tent. The main thing." "The grounds. Oops lake and the zoom zoom place."

Caine: "The choice is yours. A cosmic buffet."

Sam: "Then there's the backdoor algorithm."

Caine: "Wait, you mean-"

Moon: "Hello Sam, I love you."

Caine: "Oh c'mon. Now you're just trying to annoy me."

Sam: "-and it's working."

Bubble: "I'm on it, boss."

Sam: "Bubble's my favorite one of you non-Caines." "-eeeven if she is just an extension of the creator's whims." "-a 'thought bubble', but uh not in the comic book sense."

Zooble: "Yeah, what are you talking about?" "Wait, where's Jax?"

Caine: "i am speaking pointless exposition." "Well, that's weird." "And why did Sam explain the world back there and not you know me?" "-since Sam is the ringleader and he's the one in charge here." "Wait, that's backwards, that's not what i meant."

Sam: "How about we talk about something else?"

Caine: "Well newbie, let's pick you out a new name."

Tambura: "Sam"

Caine: "Well that's odd." "Normally people who are new here don't have a name." "This thing is supposed to."

Tambura: "It's Sam and that's my final offer."

Caine: "Weird, it grew considerably longer just to fit all that in."

Zooble: "Speak for yourself."

Gangle: "What about Zooble." "Is this a new mask?"

Sam: "Let's check out my room." "Kaufmo's room." "Ex-Kaufmo's-room." "Don't worry, I stole the key from Caine's 'pocket'." "Hey, I wonder if I can put a turtle tank in this place." "Nice sky holes by the way, Caine." "After that I can go get my friend from Raggy's room."

Kaufmo: "I-"

Sam: "Hi, can you tell me about the exit, newbie?"

Kaufmo: "The exit? Well, why didn't you say so-?"

Sam: "-aaaand now he's free as well." "Hi, Gangle!"

Gangle: "Wh-? How did I get here?"

Sam: "Don't worry about Kaufmo." "I'm looking after him now." "I'm a doctor." "I know what's best." "He'll be how he should be soon enough." "-but what about you, Gangle?" "You feeling okay?"

Gangle: "Y-yeah, somehow." "I don't feel sorrowful or cheerful." "I don't even feel nothing at all." "I just feel uh-"

Sam: "Calm, contented, stable, ready to take on the world."

Gangle: "Yeah! Yeah! That's exactly how I feel!" "-b-but why?" "Nothing's happened to make me feel like that."

Sam: "I'm making a few changes around here." "You seem to be kind of in-tune with the world here." "In other words, I'm having a positive impact." "-oh and Gangle..?"

Gangle: "Yeah? [smiles]"

Sam: "Take that new face with you as you go." "It's no cliche."

Gangle: "Go w-"

Sam: "To Caine!" "(oh look that's my door)" "three empty doors." "skip that one too." "Fish room, my favorite." "Wait, I should stop talking." "My audience is gone." "Zoop!" "I just like still saying that."

???: "Wha-"

Sam: "Hi, your majesty." "Haha, you look like me." "Bye, your majesty."

???: "Wha-"

Sam: "A mirror." "I love mirrors." "Dammit!" "I hate the missions where I have to make people leave." "There's no-one to talk to." "No-one except my reflection that is." "-but that's kinda lame." "Oh me I'm actually doing it." "-so this is what it's like to have no friends." "I need to find Caine and get outta here." "Nice meeting ya pal. [handshakes reflection]" "Humans! Help me I'm lonely!" "Oh no! They're non-verbal!" "Enjoying the show audience?" "You see, this is me trying to act like a character in a show."

Jon: "I'm putting you in a silent movie next time."

Sam: "[hand gestures running off a cliff and points at camera]" "[runs like the hand gesture off camera]" "[turns around in chair] Hey, Bubble and..."

Caine: "It's Caine, try to remember it."

Sam: "I won't." "-so Bubble, I've got pizza at home." "Wanna come with?"

Bubble: "Why gee I-"

Sam: "Bubble, you can answer honestly around me."

Caine: "She-"

Sam: "Was that thing annoying you?" "Don't worry, they won't be a problem again." "-not to anyone."

Bubble: "Uh. Will they be-"

Sam: "Bubble listen." "You're the hardest one to fix here." "I mean I've taken care of everyone already." "I even dealt with the other restaurant attendants, while you weren't looking." "There's literally no-on else here." "-not even the weird stiff non-verbal humans, that were in a barrel for some reason."

Bubble: "The monkeys? [gasp] I spoke out of line! [presses lips shut]."

Sam: "That's it, games over, I'm bored now." "You're coming with me Bubble."

Bubble: "Don't pop me!"

Sam: "I won't do that. Zoop!"

Sam: "Well, I guess that's a job well-done."

Sam: "Other me, couldn't you have just waited in the mirror?"

Sam: "There was no-one to talk to."

Sam: "Fair I guess, but even though we're technically two different people, like actually in real life and all, don't you think it looks a bit lame for us to be talking to ourselves, at least as it would appear to our viewers."

Sam: "We should get outta here."

Sam: "Yeah we should."

Sam & Sam: "Bye guys! [waves at camera and then disappears]"

Jon: "Editor's note: this isn't meant to be good writing. I just did this for fun."

Sam: "-and I was also there."

Jon: "Ah!"

#the amazing digital circus #tadc #sam wamm

0 notes

disneyanduniversalnews · 2 years ago

Text

Wantilan Luau by Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando

After a long day in the theme parks, coming "home" to Loews Royal Pacific Resort transports you to an exotic South Seas paradise rich with culture. And let me tell you, the true Royal Pacific experience isn't complete without a night at the Wantilan Luau. The Wantilan Luau is an all-you-can-eat- and drink *wink* - dinner show complete with captivating hula and fire dancers that'll leave you enchanted by the stories of the South Seas.

Aloha-Welcome to the Feast

The Wantilan Luau is a feast featuring the treasure flavors of the South Pacific- so pack your loose-fitting Hawaiian shirts and an empty stomach. If you have an "eww pineapple on pizza is gross" kind of person traveling with you, maybe leave them at home. Just kidding.

When you arrive at the luau you'll be seated underneath the Wantilan Pavilion with a view of the resort's lush greenery, stage, fire pit, and of course, the BUFFET. Once seated, you're able to grab your beverages and peruse all of the buffet offerings non-stop through the remainder of the night (and during the show!)

A pro tip from a self-proclaimed all-you-eat-expert: Immediately take a visit to the buffet when you're seated and put a little bit of everything on your plate to start. Do the chit chatty things with your loved ones to get settled WHILE tasting all of the available offerings. THEN, right before the show starts pile up your plate with your favorite Polynesian flavors, sit back, relax and enjoy.

My favorite menu items were the iconic Pit-roasted Suckling Pig, Ahi Pike Salad, Fire-grilled Tender Beef, and Coconut Toasted Jasmine Rice. For dessert, the star was the Passion Fruit Creme Brulee. All of this paired fabulously with the all-you-care-to-enjoy mai tais I sipped on in my souvenir tiki mug (included with premium seating).

The Storytelling Dance of the South Seas

When you watch the dances, chants, and live music, you're not just watching a show void of meaning. You're experiencing fine art with rich history and culture as the performers share a slice of their ancestral knowledge on the stage.

A monologue begins our journey connecting the story of the show to the lore of Loews Royal Pacific Resort. You might be thinking "Lore? you're telling me there's a story behind this resort?" YOU BET THERE IS. In true nerd fashion, if there's a world-building lore I am HERE for it. So, here's some background.

The story starts in the era known as the Gold Age of Travel. Master pilot and adventurer Captain Jake embodied the spirt of the era and carried travelers throughout the Polynesia sharing his love for the traditions and culture of the islands celebrated through the show. According to legend, Jake's plane landed at Loews Royal Pacific Resort (you can spot it floating in the lagoon) and while he has since disappeared, his adventurous spirit remains around the resort. As the show prepares to begin, the narrator encourages you to sit back, relax, and like our beloved Captain Jake, savor the journey through the South Pacific.

While you're adventuring around Royal Pacific on your way to the luau, be sure to visit Jake's American Bar, built in his honor and read the papers and plaques o piece together the details around this tale.

The show travels from the fire pit to the stage, to the audience, and is split into five acts taking you through the Pacific islands of Hawaii, New Zealand, Tonga, Tahiti, and Samoa. As we venture though the five islands, we witness the story come to life through the traditional dances, roaring chants, radiant costumes, pounding of the Nafa Drums, Twirling of the Maori Poi Balls, flaming knives, and of course, audience participation- cue the mai tais.

As cliche as it sounds, the Wantilan Luau really does have something for everyone and very much so fits into my "buffet-style" itinerary for vacation. It's a performance full of beauty and emotion that will keep you entranced the whole way through, while diversifying your Universal vacation in a way you didn't think possible. You'll know it was a good night when you're a little sad that is has to end, but a walk-through Royal Pacific lobby breathing in that iconic Royal Pacific scent makes it all just a little bit better.

The Wantilan Luau is a weekly dinner show taking place most Saturday nights at 6 p.m. at Loews Royal Pacific Resort. The Wantilan Luau is a sperately ticketed event.

Must be 21 years and older with a valid identification to purchse or drink alcholic bevages.

0 notes

meduarts · 2 years ago

Text

Managing Life (Part 3/?)

Summary: Marinette has been Audrey Bourgeois' secretary ever since she voiced out her dream of having her own business. Audrey thinks that she should learn more about the nooks and crannies of running a fashion business. However, fate has other plans for her, and honestly, what can our resident guardian could do to counter fate?

Disclaimer: I do not own MLB or DCU.

Pairings: Dick Grayson/Marinette Dupain-Cheng

Taglist: @timinette-is-bestbest, @peach-blueberry-pie, @tinybrie, @taewinterbear95, @its-maemain, @flyhighdreamer, @kokoroluna @kitsun3699 @lilfuturescarss @kaimodius @sinoffalsejudgement @night-ngale @laydeekrayzee @fauxnormal @stella17luna @plz-excuse-my-inner-gay @ae-vixrose @toodaloo-kangaroo @ascetic-orange @l-of-the-gbt @lex-am @hemeraandnyxx @tbehartoo(Tell me if you want to be a part of the taglist!)

Bruce walked to the restaurant that Audrey and he agreed on and was led to a seat where he found his old friend waving at him with her signature mischievous smile. Audrey Bourgeois stood up and opened her arms, "Brucie darling! How fabulous it is that you could finally join us!" she crooned and gave him a hug.

The hug wasn't uncomfortable, in fact, it was a familiar hug that he had somewhat missed. He pulls away and gave her a charming smile "A pleasure as always Audrey, how's your daughter, and how's Andre?"

"Chloe-bee is as spectacular as ever and you know how Andre is, still running Paris as a Mayor should." She paused and her smile turned somber. "I heard about your loss, I'm so sorry, Brucie."

Bruce smiled weakly, "I'll manage. I met someone today that gave me hope."

"Good." Audrey nodded with a sniff "Now! I want to introduce you to my darling apprentice! Oh, you are going to love her, Brucie!" Then she turns around to reveal a girl who was looking at him like she had seen a ghost.

That's when he noticed that the girl was the same young woman who gave him the amulet at the park. "I'd like to introduce you to my darling apprentice! Bruce Wayne, meet Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Marinette darling, this is Brucie Wayne!"

The girl in question, who had been staring at him without his notice trying to override her shock of actually meeting Bruce Wayne at the park, stood up and held out her hand. "I-it's nice to meet you again, Sir! Oh merde, I hope I wasn't too nosey back then! Merde, you must think I'm some kind of lunatic preaching to you like that! I-it wasn't my attention!" She rambled on her apology.

The businessman chuckled and cupped her hand gently, "No, you don't need to apologize. I'm the one who should thank you."

"M-m-m-me??? T-thank m-me?? What for?" She stuttered.

"For giving me hope. It's not often that I could find a reason to hope in Gotham. But somehow you did, young lady." He said with a gentle smile to which Marinette replied with a bright smile of her own.

"You two have met before?" Audrey interrupted with a curious gleam in her eyes.

"Yes, a coincidence actually. I went to the park to get my head off...things and I met this young lady who was minding her own business. She gave me an amulet of sorts that somehow lifted my spirits."

"Ah, the famous Marinette Amulette. She made me one as well and the precious thing helped me mend my relationship with my Chloe-bee. You struck once again, Marinette." Audrey winked at her protege and the girl squeaked in embarrassment.

"Truly?" Bruce quirked up an eyebrow and looked at Marinette.

"I-it was nothing! I-i didn't make yours M Wayne! I-it was pure coincidence I assure you! The one that I gave you was from my mentor!"

Bruce's eyes widened, "Would you like it back?"

"Non! It's okay, I'm sure you need it more than I do." Marinette refused with a sweet smile.

"Always helping others, that's my Marinette!" Audrey bragged proudly and Marinette's face became even redder. "Anyways! Shall we start dining? I have a lot of things I want to brag about my precious protege!"

Bruce chuckled, "Well, I'm all ears."

With that, they all took their seats and began the meal course. Audrey bragged about how Marinette skillfully managed all the divisions in Style Queen, how the company profits had been increasing exponentially, and how Style Queen's latest fashion line as well as their fashion show became a hot topic in the fashion industry, she also bragged about how her employees worship the ground Marinette walks on, and how she handled rude clients as well as pushy investor.

Every accomplishment that Audrey proudly states made Marinette turns redder and redder. Bruce was a bit worried if the girl would combust anytime soon.

"The best of all, she is a great martial artist! Oh, I do not need extra bodyguards when I have to go outside or on the red carpet! Marinette has all the package and has soaked up all of my teachings about the fashion world! I am sure that this little girl will go on and have a huge fashion business!"

"I-i'm sure you are just over-exaggerating, Audrey! I still have much to learn! I still have little grasp of business management for large companies. Not that your company isn't large Audrey! B-but I wanted to build a company that will engage in different divisions! Not only fashion, perhaps in technology as well, and the food business!"

Audrey smiled warmly at Marinette and Bruce take notice of how soft it was. Audrey must really love the girl to be able to garner a such a smile.

"So, you want to build an empire?" state the owner of Wayne Enterprise.

Marinette looked at him with wide eyes, "E-empire?? N-noo, I-i could never! That would take time and connections! Big connections that I don't have at the moment!"

"Which you could start now. I'm sure there will be an opportunity coming to you soon." Bruce said with a secretive smile. He glanced at Audrey and the woman had a smug look on her face. Bruce sighed in defeat. "You were right, Audrey. She's going to places."

"Of course! I don't remember the last time I have been wrong!" Audrey boasted and took a sip of her wine.

Marinette decided that all of these compliments are getting her light-headed so she excused herself from the table to go to the restroom.

"So? What did I tell you? Isn't she amazing?" Audrey gushed happily. "Marinette has been a blessing to me and I'm sure she will be to you too."

"Perhaps," He shrugged "I'm going to ask her for her portfolio and resume-"

"Already way ahead of you, Brucie. I have sent you an email with an attachment! I was a bit concerned to let her go, however, if she passes your interview. I know I can rest easy knowing that someone fair is going to take care of my protege." The Style Queen lamented as she took another sip of her wine.

"When do you think would be the perfect time to interview her? I know that your schedule is packed for the week?"

"Perhaps on Thursday? I can send her to you in the morning and in the afternoon I shall be there for the fitting for your family as well."

"Perfect." He agreed easily and texted his assistant about the change of schedule. Almost immediately Marinette joins them again and all discussion about her stopped as they enjoyed their respective dinner.

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

Marinette threw herself on her hotel bed and reflect on what had happened today. Her first day in Gotham and she had accidentally met Bruce Wayne at the park, console the grieving man as if she knows what was going on in his life which she doesn't, met the guy again at dinner which sent her into an apology frenzy and somehow blabbed out her dreams of becoming a businesswoman!

She groaned pathetically and start hitting herself with a pillow. Plagg and Trixx looked at each other and sighed exasperatedly. Their guardian is having one of those mental breakdowns, she usually does that only this time it's for a questionable reason.

"Guardian, I think you are overreacting," said Trixx as he floats next to her head. "It's not as bad as it seems."

"I made a fool of myself, Trixx. How am I not overreacting?" Marinette muffled underneath the pillow.

"Kitten, I don't think you made a fool of yourself." Plagg countered with a snark.

Marinette moved the pillow to glare at the kwami of destruction, "Plagg, I met the man earlier in the park and failed to notice who he was! Then I made the brilliant move to spout some wisdom shit to him as if I know how he felt! After that, I completely rambled on about my dreams of having my own business! I probably sound like a fool to him!"

Plagg sighed heavily and floated above Marinette's face. "Pigtails, you gave him the advice that Fu did when you lost your friends. Sure it doesn't seem like the same context but doesn't tell me that advice didn't help you during Fu's passing. You said it yourself, you're doing the next right thing and that right thing just so happens to be giving a grieving man a piece of advice.

The man even thanked you for giving him hope! Plus, not knowing who he was and treating him as a normal man who was grieving the loss of his son is probably something that he needs! No judgments or snarky comments whatsoever. Then, the dinner thing.

The man seemed very interested in your dreams, pigtail. He doesn't sound condescending and instead he was genuinely interested in your ideas. Personally, that's not a mess up, kid."

Marinette had sat herself up upon listening to Plagg's speech, her eyes had started to water and she had been looking at Plagg in gratitude. She sniffed as the first teardrop falls to her pillow. "You really think so?"

"Yes, kit! I was there in your purse too, remember? Now you got two eyewitnesses, so no beating yourself up!" Trixx joined and floated next to Plagg.

Marinette sniffled as tears started to rain down her cheeks.

"Oh, Marinette..." Tikki's voice popped up and gave the girl a hug. The other kwamis started to show up as well and they all gave Marinette a hug of their own.

"Thank you." She whispered in a small voice. Plagg scoffed and gave her a light kiss on her cheek.

"Marinette, you're our true guardian, our true champion, and lastly you are ours to protect, ours love, ours to cherish. We'll be there to tell you when you mess up and we'll be there to help you pick up the pieces when you break down. Never forget about that." Tikki promised.

Marinette felt better after hearing her beloved kwami's encouraging words. "So...do you think I made a good impression?"

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

On Tuesday morning, just like what she had scheduled Marinette and Audrey went to the scheduled shoot at Gotham Garden. Everything was kind of hectic and Marinette was this close to ripping out her hair out of pure stress. If another bad thing happens, she was sure to snap.

They were in the middle of a shoot when something did happen. The Riddler made an appearance and Marinette was not happy. While the Gothamites had made themselves scarce like it was rehearsed, Marinette was not taking any of it.

"What is this?!" She yelled in anger, she felt Duusu's magic flowing from the peacock brooch on her chest, fueling her anger as a result.

"I do not consent to get our photoshoot ruined by some fashion disaster!" She screamed as she manhandled the closest goon and threw them into a pond nearby. "I was having a bad day and this-this connard decided to make things even worse! Non! I do not consent! I do not need it!" She screeched angrily as she breaks one of the goons' arms.

The main villain's jaw dropped, who wouldn't? A petite Chinese-french woman just throws a man twice her size and she doesn't look like she's stopping any soon! The Riddler quickly hid his shock and played his role as a villain.

"Well well well, a brave woman is she? Now, I am here to test people's intelligence, that's all. No harm done, right?"

"Non! You will leave at once! When you have a better sense of style you can come back again. I mean what are you wearing?! It. Is. A. Mess!" Marinette growled as she flipped another goon that tries to tackle her. When she finally stands in front of the Riddler she had already manhandled 4 goons out of her way and it looks like Riddler is next.

"Ah-" "ferme ta gueulei! You do not get to speak! Not in this situation, oh no monsieur!" She interrupts harshly and pulls down the ridiculously garish purple tie.

"If you do not get your ridiculous-looking bowler hat out of here, I will strip off your clothes, shred it all, and have you sent to Arkham naked! Do you understand me?!" She snarled and glared at the Riddler.

"Are you threatening me, little girl?"

Marinette snapped.

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

Batman arrived to find a half-naked hog-tied Riddler, his tied-up goons, and the french young girl he had met yesterday laughing maniacally while happily ripping part of what seems to be the Riddler's clothes.

"What's the situa- what the hell," Nightwing whispered dumbly next to him. "I-is that Riddler? Hog-tied with his own tie?"

"I believe it is..." Batman answered equally in shock. He was watching Marinette warily as she throws pieces of the Riddler's clothing onto the burning pile. She was even humming a happy tune while doing so! Batman was speechless.

As he and Nightwing watched the girl, Audrey Bourgeois decided to make herself known. "Ah, Monsieur Batman! Lovely of you to finally clean this mess. I'm sure you can handle the GCPD, oui?"

Batman cleared his throat, "Yes, of course, Madame. May I ask what happened?"

"The fashion disaster just crashed into our photoshoot and my already stressed out assistant is taking none of his...what do you Americans say it? Ah, bullshit."

"I-is she always like this?" Nightwing asked in concern.

"Non...Well sometimes. The shoot was not running as smoothly as she would've liked and the fashion disaster just came at the wrong place at the wrong time." Audrey explained as she watches Marinette rip apart the last piece of the Riddler clothes.

Marinette then skipped to the Riddler happily, "Now! What have you learned today?" She chippers with a bright smile.

The Riddler flinched, "U-uh n-not to w-wear too m-many symbols?"

"Good! What else?"

"B-bowler hats a-are a fashion no." "And?"

"U-uh..." He faltered, face paling as he tries to find the answer. Marinette frowned and puts her hand on her waist while staring down menacingly at the rogue.

"Find your hue." Marinette spelled out patiently. The Riddler nodded shakily and gave her a small smile.

"R-right! F-find m-my hue." He agreed franticly.

"Good! If you want more fashion tips, just search for MDC and I'm sure they will help!" She clapped excitedly and turns around to find new audiences who were looking at her with various types of amusement. "Bonjour, are you taking the walking disaster to Arkham?" She asked sweetly.

Batman and Nightwing looked at each other as if having a silent discussion before the older of the two nodded at the young designer.

"Excellent. I've made sure he and his accomplices are tied up nicely. I am pretty good with my knots! Can we resume our photoshoot while we wait for the GCPD to come?"

"Uhhhh..." Nightwing looked at Batman for help. Batman was speechless but quickly hid his astonishment with a cough.

"Perhaps, a break? I'm sure the other would appreciate it."

Marinette squeaked and turned around to see the Gothamite models all looking at her in awe but still trembling after witnessing the ordeal.

"Merde, Je suis desole! Take five everybody! I think we have warm tea ready for this kind of situation. Make sure everybody stays calm and well rested, yes?" She ordered with an apologetic bow. "I am so sorry you have to experience that!"

The group of models looked at each other before giving her cheers and shouts of excitement. "Ma'am, you were awesome!" "So cool!" "A Badass!" "The Riddler got his ass handed to him! YEAH!"

Marinette jolts and hid her face behind her hands in embarrassment. "J-just take five!" She whimpered and turned to see Nightwing eyeing her in amusement. She blushed even more under his gaze and meekly stepped behind Audrey. "I'm just going to be quiet now." She laughed awkwardly.

The GCPD eventually came and was surprised and couldn't even begin to describe what they felt when they got a hold of the situation. The Riddler was shaking like a leaf, paling whenever the small assistant made a pointed glare at him, and the goons were no better. They were begging, yes begging, to be arrested immediately.

Commissioner Gordon walked to Batman and Nightwing who were standing with two women. "What the hell happened, Batman?" He gritted out when he saw the whimpering state of the Riddler. The vigilantes both share a look before Batman decided to give him an answer.

"The young woman should be able to answer that question, Jim." He said and nodded over to a small young lady with blue-black hair, large round blue eyes, and fair white skin. Is she one of Bruce's?

The girl in question meeped and made confusing noises while her cheeks began to redden and spread to her ears. Nightwing and the other lady burst out laughing next to Batman while the Bat just sighed tiredly at his hand.

"Ah, did I say that out loud? Pardon me, miss."

Marinette tried to smile but it looked a tad awkward, "I-it's fine, and no, I-i'm not a Wayne." She answered politely. Gordon clears his throat and starts questioning the young woman and she tried to explain to her best capabilities.

Honestly, he was shocked and confused. The Commissioner looked at Batman and the vigilante only gave him a nod, as if agreeing to the whole story.

"Thank you for the statement, miss. I hope this doesn't happen again in a near future." He nodded politely and went off to interrogate the other eyewitnesses as well. After he had collected all the statements, cementing the facts that the petite woman did handle the Riddler and his goons single-handedly he left transferring the criminals to Arkham to the other officers. Batman left the scene deciding to escort the entourage back to Arkham while Nightwing stayed back to make sure everything is settled.

Nightwing wasn't quite sure about his opinion regarding the petite girl in front of him. In a glimpse, the girl doesn't look like she could throw men twice her size or have the guts to scream at a supervillain. Either she was brave or a complete idiot, and he wasn't sure which category the girl falls in.

She looks like she couldn't hurt a fly but apparently, that wasn't it! Nightwing continues to watch the girl as she fumbles around, even tripping a few times over nothing, trying to make sure that the models and staff she's working with are okay. That girl is an enigma and Nightwing, doesn't know how to feel about it.

After he was sure that everything would be fine when he left, he went back to the cave. He pushed away any lingering thoughts about the girl, it's not like he was going to meet her again, anyways.

460 notes · View notes

thelaundrybitch · 2 years ago

Text

Pillow Wars - TMNT HC's

TURTLE DOVES!

I hope y'all are doing well and staying safe 🥰😘

This evening I will be answering a FABULOUS ask from @lec743

The original ask:

Can you write a story about the reader (or an OC of your choice idc) having an all out Pillow War with one of the turtles (I'd prefer it to be all four of them but that's my only preference so you can make the singular choice of turtle if your adamant about sticking to one character at a time). I want mayhem! I want blood (the blood being silly string)! I want the king to fall to their pillowy demise! laughs evil-y clears throat Anyway, I don't want there to be any romance in it, maybe just playful flirting… And that just about covers it. Hope I'm not asking too much from you.

I had a lot of fun writing this! Thank you so much for indulging me with hilarity and shenanigans!!!

I hope you like it 😘

Warnings: swearwords, fluffy butt whooping, and lots of fun 😂

Another attempt at Gender Neutral reader insert - please be kind about any mistakes I may have overlooked 💜

Shout out to my girl @leosgirl82 for being my second set of eyes and the other half of my brain

Scooby Drew strikes again 😂🥰😘💜

Reblogs only please!

Pillow Wars

Same ol' same ol'

You get to the lair

Raph is thumbing through a motorcycle magazine

Mike is sitting in the recliner playing a game

Don is in the lab

Leo is locked in his room doing GOD knows what

And you're bored.

And since no one wants to entertain you

*ominous music*

It's time to shake things up

If your memory serves you correctly

Michelangelo

Needs a good ass beating

For eating all the homemade cookies that you brought down

For EVERYONE to enjoy

However

You walked in on him

LICKING THE CONTAINER CLEAN

Despite your warnings

Of his untimely demise

If he ate all four dozen cookies

And didn't leave anything but crumbs

For everyone else.

Again.

That asshole decided to eat everything

Crumbs included.

You throw a pillow at Raph

Because you KNOW he gives a good butt whooping

And you keep walking like nothing happened

Just to stand on the sidelines to watch as the chaos ensues

Making Mike look like the culprit

Raph looks up from his magazine

*Unimpressed Raph*

*Big eyed Mike*

"Oh yeah? You little sh*t?"

Mike pleads innocence

Raph isn't buying it

Pummels Mike with a non-stop barrage of pillows

Including the couch cushions

Mike is screaming for help like a dramatic five year old

Yells for Leo to "save meeeeee"

Enter unimpressed™ Leo

He had been reading.

TF you two, cut the crap before you break something.

Mike and Raph stop for a moment

And look at each other with huge smiles

"Like your FACE!" Yells Mike

Insert Mike and Raph pelting Leo with all the pillows.

That's it.

Leo picks up the pillows and GOES AFTER Mike

Insert Mike screaming like a five year old again.

You run to the lab and get Don

OMG DON

MIKE NEEDS HELP

LIKE NOW

Don jumps up from his desk

And takes off at full speed out of the lab

You follow him

But not close

Because you're snickering

"WHAT IS GOING ON?!"

Don is in a panic upon seeing Raph holding Mike down so Leo can beat the shit out of him with a pillow.

Mike is still screaming like a Meemie

Everyone stops

And looks at Don

Pillow fluff is everywhere

Feathers are floating down like snow

Leo and Raph get up and point at Mike

Simultaneously they yell

"HE STARTED IT!"

Mike pleads innocence again.

You pick up one of the pillows

That had mysteriously ended up in the hall

*Wink wink*

And smack Don in the back of the head

Oops

You meant for it to hit his shell

😬☠️

Don turns around slowly

*Chucky vibes*

His glasses have half fallen off his face.

He walks over to you

S L O W L Y

He holds out a hand

A pillow materializes in his palm

*Samurai yelling as all 4 of them come after you*

*Get the snot beaten out of you*

You have fluff coming out of your ears

And feathers in places they shouldn't be

Don helps you up

Everyone is chuckling and cleaning up

When all of a sudden

Five pillows are whipped

At the speed of light

Smacking each of you square in the face

You all turn

And see…

SPLINTER?!

With his arsenal of pillows

Ready ...

For round two

Enjoying my work? Find my Master list HERE

@leosgirl82 @turtle-babe83 @digitl-art-monstr @rheawritesforfun @drowninghell @mysticboombox @raphsweapondealer @chicchanmooshy @roxosupreme @raphslovemuffin80 @post-apocalyptic-daydream @nittleboo @xanadu-702 @xanadu702 @pheradream15 @mistyroselove @ashleighclark98 @jurikyu-blog @sewerninno @tmntspidergirl @raphielover @zombiesnips-blog @yumefuusen @fyreball66 @turtlesmakemehappy @angelcatlowyn @fluffytriceratops @doctorelleth @meowph-132 @jaenisamusculargurl @writinandcrying @toomanyotpslove @tkappi @raisin-shell @exovapor @captain-kinda-trash @imagine-turtles

*If you aren’t on this list, please let me know if you want me to tag you in my other work or if you prefer me to not tag you 😘

514 notes · View notes

lynnie-ee · 2 years ago

Note

I enjoyed your story about the prefect proposing to the ghost bride. At the end, she tosses the bouquet and walks away but what if some of the boys are moved by her proposal and want to catch the traditional bouquet. How would it play out among them and what will Yuu think when she later sees they have the bouquet? Choose any characters you'd like to focus on. Thank you!

╰┈➤"The prefect thought everything would go back to normal after the success of her proposal towards Eliza, but it seems like she caught the interest of a certain student with her words."

╰►Lowkey a continuation for this oneshot.

╰►Who's here? : Trey, Cater, Rook, Lilia and Ortho (Platonic, as Idia’s wingman).

╰►Female reader, scenario, non-established relationship.

╰►Note: Thanks for requesting <3 English is not my first language, so feel free to tell me if there's any grammatical mistake!

╰►Masterlist. (requests open)

⤿

﹙❥﹚Trey Clover ❜ ˖ ࣪⊹ ִֶָ

“I guess this is a sign for me to get married, haha…”

⤿

As the prefect throw the bouquet in the air to have a dramatic departure from the cafeteria, she failed to calculate the direction of her toss, and she had to stop in the middle of her walk when she realized the flowers landed in an inconvenient place.

On Trey’s head, to be more exact.

(Y/n) rushed to the vicehousewarden, gently removing the bouquet from his head, an embarrassed expression on her face, as Trey chuckled at her behaviour.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to throw it at you, are you alright?”

“Of course, don’t worry. At least you didn’t toss it with too much strength.”

“Hey! I threw it with all my energy! Are you calling me weak?”

“Uh? So, you intended to hit me mercilessly with it then?”

“I never said that.” The prefect playfully smacked Trey’s shoulder, making him laugh again, as he stared fondly at the Ramshackle student.

“But I wonder what might this insinuate? Don’t you think it could be a hint or something?” He smiled, the wedding bouquet now resting in his hands.

⤿

﹙❥﹚Cater Diamond ❜ ˖ ࣪⊹ ִֶָ

“Wedding trends are so cool~ I wonder if I'll go viral once I get married?”

⤿

The next day after the ghost incident, the Ramshackle first-year walked towards the Heartslabyul Dorm to visit her friends, just to make sure they were doing okay after the events of the previous day.

On her way there, she checked Magicam on her phone, scrolling through different posts, most of them from Cater, as he was always the most active out of everyone.

But a certain picture caught her attention, while she walked through the magic mirror. A selfie of Cater, holding her bouquet as he winked at the camera, with a bunch of hashtags on the caption.

"I see you're looking at my pics, (Y/n)! They're fabulous, right?" The third-year student suddenly appeared next to her, it seemed like he just finished painting the roses. "But it's been such a long we’ve uploaded a picture together! I have the #perfect accessory, come with me~”

Once they arrived at his room, he quickly showed the prefect her own flower bouquet, which she used for the proposal the day before.

“This will look great, say cheese (Y/n)!”.

It turned out to be a cute photo, even when the prefect didn’t expect to see the hashtags ‘#WeddingBouquet #PutARingOnIt #MrAndMrsDiamond?’ on the caption.

⤿

﹙𑁍﹚Rook Hunt ❜ ˖ ࣪⊹ ִֶָ

“Such delightful performance! Oh, how marvelous can you be?”

⤿

Right after (Y/n) left the cafeteria, she could hear the sound of steps behind her, and soon, Rook appeared next to the prefect, a pleased smile on his face.

“You were certainly charming, Trickster! The grace and delicacy of your words have blessed my ears, I’ve never been more thankful for being in your glorious presence, I-”

“Is that the bouquet that Epel made for our spectacle from before?” The prefect interrupted, curiously gazing at the flowers that the hunter held.

“Indeed. I couldn’t let such a beautiful arrangement of flowers be wasted, even less after being carried by someone as divine as you.”

“Oh…” The prefect mumbled, a faint tint of red rushing to her cheeks. “Well, you can keep it, if you want…You helped me to come up with those romantic words before, I guess it’s fair.

“I did assist you with the basics, but most of what you said was effective due to your skill. A charm like yours could enchant anyone, mon chéri.” The third-year gazed affectionally towards the Ramshackle prefect.

“Although I hope to be the object of your affections, next time you hold a wedding bouquet.”

⤿

﹙⌦﹚Ortho Shroud ❜ ˖ ࣪⊹ ִֶָ

(who is on the mission of getting a partner for his shut-in brother)

“Oooh, if you two get married, you’d be my sister-in-law, right?”

⤿

“(Y/n)! My brother asked me to return your flower bouquet to you!” Appeared Ortho at the Ramshackle door, the morning after the whole incident.

“Ah, hello Ortho.” The prefect greeted, smiling at him. “I actually throw it because of the traditional toss of the weddings, but thanks either way.” She received the flowers, two small papers attached to the flowers.

‘thx for ur help yesterday. very nice of you ig.’ Was written on one of the notes, the prefect easily recognizing Idia’s handwriting. The other piece of paper was a discount coupon for the videogames store in the city.

“What tradition?”

“Well, the bride has to toss the bouquet at the guests, and the one who catches it, it’s supposed to get married next.” (Y/n) explained, confused at the now excited look on Ortho’s face.

“My brother was who caught it!”

“Really? That’s cool.”

“But it’s probably going to be difficult. He doesn’t interact with a lot of people, you know?”

“Don’t say that! There’s gotta be someone that wants to be with Idia, he’s nice once you get to know him, after all.”

“I guess that leaves you as the only option, perhaps you’d be interested on helping my brother to follow the tradition…?”

⤿

﹙⚔﹚Lilia Vanrouge ❜ ˖ ࣪⊹ ִֶָ

“Fufufu~ Marriage sounds very appealing right now.”

⤿

A week after Idia was kidnapped by the phantom bride, everything had come back to normal. As usual, you went to Diasomnia to visit one of your friends, the vicehousewarden of the said dorm. Lilia invited you regularly to join him at a gaming session, and that day wasn’t an exception.

“Oh, what a coincidence, that bouquet looks just like the one I had last week.” The magicless student mumbled as she casually gazed around the vicehousewarden's room, as they took a break before the next game's round.

“It is the same, actually!” The fae explained, chuckling at the confused expression of the prefect. “Isn’t that a human tradition? To catch the bouquet of the bride?”

“Yeah, but why would you want it?”

“I heard that the one that gets it is supposed to be the next to get married~ And after so long, I think it's normal for a man of my age to want a formal relationship, don’t you think?”

(Y/n) laughed at the words of the Diasomnia third-year, thinking he was just joking.

“I think you missed a few steps, Lilia. As far as I’m concerned, you don’t even have a partner. “

The dark-haired fae grinned widely, his entire aura changing, as he gazed confidently at the prefect’s eyes.

“Maybe you can help me with that, (Y/n).”

⤿

689 notes · View notes

nightowlfandom · 2 years ago

Text

Villain! BNHA AU- Our Little Apprentice: Episode-Todoroki Pt1

CHECK OUT MY MASTERLIST HERE!!

X RATED PROMPT LIST| NON X RATED PROMPT LIST

Triggers- Fem! Reader, talks of cheating, violence,

Episode-PROLOGUE| Episode-Deku| Episode- Bakugou

Leggo!

Now playing- Episode: Todoroki

...

O.R.C.H.I.D- Kink Unlocked : Temperature Play

(Flashback)

“Y/N please let’s talk about this!”

“Talk about what?!” you snapped. “The fact that I FOUND you with your tongue down some girl’s throat?” your voice wavered. “AND DO NOT TELL ME IT WAS FOR THE CAMERAS.” you held out a threatening finger. “How could you do this to me?”

“Y/N I would never! I didn’t! My agency thinks I should be with her to boost my reputation! They probably fabricated the whole thing with someone who looked like me!”

“What did you say in response?” you asked. “When they said it...what did you say?”

He was silent.

“So this is about your fucking agency.” you laughed harshly. “Forget old quirkless Y/N and her clumsy ass...do you think that excuses what you did?”

“Y/N this isn’t about you being quirkless- Maybe to them but-!”

“I don’t believe you...you were wearing the bracelet I gave you for your birthday that one year...the one you suddenly lost the minute you went mainstream...Remember?”

“Maybe the others are right...you’re probably just insecure but that doesn’t mean-.”

Your face faltered as those words left his lips. “Insecure?” You cut him off. “...M-me being hurt that I saw you or someone I thought willingly kissed someone else for publicity is me being insecure?” you dared to ask. “Me already having to deal with people telling you I’m a charity case...is that it?” you crossed your arms.

“That’s not what I said-”

“THAT’S HOW IT SOUNDS...I watched you kiss her like you kiss me...without so much as a hitch!”

“Y/N you’re emotional right now. Let’s please talk about this! How can I prove to you-”

(Flashback end)

“Y/N? Y/N!” Izuku waved his hand in your face, snapping you out of your daze. “Did you hear me?”

“Huh?” you raised an eyebrow. “Sorry, I didn’t. What did you say?”

“I said you did a good job on the heist.” he repeated himself. “In both regards.” he winked. You felt your face heat up. “How did everything go?”

You all had returned to the warehouse. You had been zoning in and out since everyone was talking about...shit- who cared.

“A few troublemakers but I made short work of them.” you replied. “They weren’t well armed at all.”

“Well thanks to your device, we were able to successfully extort that asshole and get what we wanted, what was it’s name again?” Tenya asked.

“O.R.C.H.I.D. Short for Operative Really Cool Hyper Intelligent Device....I was 16 when I thought of it don’t judge me. She’s the most powerful super computer in the world.”

“What made you build her?” asked Izuku.

“I was build as a homework helper for Y/N while she was still in school. Then she gave me hyper intel to allow me to interact as humans do...along with this totally fabulous style.” the silver haired avatar gloated.

“Aren’t you scared she’d turned against you?” Shoto asked, making you roll your eyes.

“Y/N is my creator...I’d never turn against her...you on the other hand. One command and you’re all dust.”

“She’s kidding.” you shook your head. “O.R.C.H.I.D, behave.”

“They all have muscles, they shouldn’t be scared.” your A.I rolled her eyes.

“Okay, you’re being muted.” you pressed a button that completely folded up your super computer back into a laptop sized disk.

“That still impresses me no matter how many times I see it.” Izuku shook his head.

“T-thanks.” you stared down at your fingers. “Not that I’m grateful to be here but, do I actually have a place to sleep or am I just gonna stay here with a blow up mattress.” you half joked.

“Oh we all have our own bedrooms. I’ll show you yours now if you want.”

“That’d be great.” you nervously smile.

“G’night Y/N~” Denki sang as you passed him. “Feel free to come to my room any time.”

“No one is gonna let me live this down are they?” you whispered to yourself.

You got your answer in the form of a smack to your ass, courtesy of Katsuki who hadn’t stopped smirking since all you to the warehouse. Of course. “Y/N is easily the best piece of ass I’ve ever had.” he boasted, not caring if you could hear.

“God the things I’d do to her-”

“You and me both dude.”

“I can’t wait to bed her over and-”

“Good night, Y/N.”

“Go die, Shoto.” you spat in response as you and Izuku left the board room.

“Dude what did you do to make her hate you so much?” Kirishima asked as you walked farther down the hall. You and Izuku stopped outside a door with your name written on it in black permanent marker.

“It’s not much, but-”

“It’s perfect.” you waved him off. It was twice as big as the shoebox bedroom you used to live in. “A paint job is all it needs.” you nodded.

“Great. Um...I’ll leave you to it then...Hey Y/N?”

“Yeah Izu-” he cut you off with a very quick peck on the lips.

“I’m really glad you’re here...really.” he grabbed your hand. “I really did miss my best friend.”

“I missed you too Izu.” your faced heated intensely like it did did when he gave you a heart-shaped cookie with your name on it for Valentines day once. “Just don’t make me regret this, okay?”

“I won’t. I promise.” he whispered. “...Night.”

“....Have nice dreams.” you called quietly as the door closed. “ORCHID, set up.”

“Setting up!”

You grabbed your handheld keyboard as you sat on the cute little twin bed they had picked out for you. “Why am I doing this?” you sighed. “I’ve always fought for the greater good.”

“...Well, and I’m sorry to say this...the greater good hasn’t treated you well since you were a child and I was only as big as a cellphone helping you with your homework. I know I’ve been against this...but maybe you should be making the world pay.”

“Weren’t you just reprimanding me for doing this like 12 hours ago? anyways...That’s what I’m afraid of. What if I have to fight the people I call my friends.”

“According to my data, no one in your graduating class has taken up hero work. All of them are imprisoned...or doing the devil’s work.”

‘Really?” you raised an eyebrow. “So it was only me and my naivety. I guess I thought since I finally got a quirk of my own, I owed it to God or whoever else was listening...cuz I thought it was a blessing.” you began undressing yourself from your day clothes.

“When you built me, you promised to use my data to help people. But you never said which side you’d fight on...you’re allowed to change your mind at any time...remember that. I just want you to be happy.”

You nodded as your AI companion assured you. You missed your friends and Izuku was right. Humanity sucked ass. “Okay then.” you pulled your shirt over your head. “Fine.”

“Y/N, someone’s outside your door.”

“Huh?” you looked up at your screen.

“Not outside anymore.” a new voice grabbed your attention

“DUDE WHAT THE FUCK!” you sent a power blast at Shoto who had barged in.

“Too slow.” he smirked, stopping it with an ice shield. “To think I can encapsulate your quirk in my palms...much like I’ve encapsulated your heart, Y/N.” he hummed as he shut the door.

“GET OUT!” you yelled, not caring if the whole damn compound could hear. You hid behind your discarded clothes. “WHY ARE YOU IN HERE!”

“I assumed you were hungry so I was told to bring you dinner.”

“And you couldn’t knock like a regular FUCKING PERSON!” you seethed. You ran behind the bed and bent down grabbing a bunch of random clothes out of your duffel. “Or leave it outside the damn door!”

“I’ve been acquainted with your body on more than one occasion Y/N.”

You grumpily put of a pair of pajama shorts and the first shirt you saw sticking out. “Fuck off.”

“You kept my shirt?”

“Huh?” you looked down. It was a plain black button-up that you instantly recognized to be his. You stole it from him when you slept over at his place one night. “Whatever-”

“Y/N...” Shoto began. “Can we talk?”

“About what?” you crossed your arms. “I have nothing to say to you!”

“I never cheated on you...”

“This again!” you seethed. “Shoto, I am NOT worried about that right now.” You noticed he was holding a plate. “Is that what I think it is?”

“Pizza rolls and mozzarella sticks...your favorite midnight snack as I remember.” he smiled as he set it on the table.

There was an uncomfortable silence between us, and you hated it.

“Remember when we first met?” he broke the silence.

“How could I forget...” you huffed.

Flashback

“Need help with that?”

Your body froze as the helping hand came out of nowhere. The book you had been trying to reach was put in your hand with ease.

“Um...thanks!” you smiled nervously. You had already heard rumors from some of the girls around, but at the same time they told you not to get your hopes up.

“I’ve never seen you around here, I can only assume you’re new?”

“Mhm? Y/N L/N..I’m that quirkless girl you may have heard about.”

“Oh, really? I didn’t hear th-”

“Don’t lie. Please, it will make it easier for us to get along.” you laughed stiffly.

“S-sorry, I just didn’t think you wanted to talk about it.” he smiled. “If it’s any consolation, I also heard you were quite beautiful...”

“From who?”

“My conscious.”

“What?” you went wide eyed.

“I ...I don’t know why I said that....” he froze. “I’m sorry.” he rasped.

“N-no, that’s okay.” you giggled. “Um....I liked it.”

(End Flashback)

...

“To think we’ve come so far since then.” he mused.

“Well, things change.”

“To think something as trivial as a mistaken kiss-”

“Is that what you call it, you were practically dry humping the girl.”

“Oh, now you’re being dramatic on purpose.” he glared.

“Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t think the ‘unce unce’ music affected your brain too” you scoffed, crossing your arms. “Seriously, it’s like you don’t even remember!”

“Y/N...are we talking about the same instance?” he raised an eyebrow. “I am very lost right now.”

“Well you shouldn’t be! You’d think you’d remember your own birthday party!”

“Birthday party?...You’re not talking about the kiss?”

“Of course I’m not talking about the kiss! I’m talking about the club!”

For some odd reason he looked hella confused. “Y/N, what on Earth are you-”

“You don’t remember walking out of a club on your 18th birthday like 7 years ago? Before graduation?”

“Y/N, I have no idea what you’re talking about!”

“You are so unbelievable!” You seethed. “You don’t remember being at The King of Hearts Club in Tokyo.”

“Of course I do, it was my birthday, but Y/N...I left like 3 hours after I got there to go to your place!”

“Oh really, because I went there after Bakugou called my phone saying you were drunk as hell and needed to be picked up.” you scoffed.

Now YOU were confused. How did he not remember?! “I wonder-....”

“Wonder what?” he asked.

“ORCHID can access video feeds...if she can get the footage- or at least coordinates”

“Already on it!” your AI companion spoke. “Shoto Todoroki entered The King of Hearts club at 8PM and left at 11:15PM”

Now you were even more confused. “But I got there at arounf 11:30...I SAW him!...Show me the camera feed! The Red Room is where I saw him.”

“Showing camera footage of The Red Room of the King of Hearts club Jan. 11th, 7 years ago.”

You watched in complete shock. The screen showed someone who very much looked like Shoto from the back, but what really killed you was the fact that the person you thought was Shoto morphed into someone else. You saw yourself on camera stomping off 45 seconds before he morphed back into someone completely different.

“My files show that the person in question has a quirk that allows them to take on the form of another.” O.R.C.H.I.D spoke. “They were arrested 3 years ago for attempting to impersonate the U.S president and is currently in the Los Angeles State Prison.”

You didn’t know how to feel, what to do, but you knew one thing....

Shoto was telling the truth...

“Oh my god.” you covered your mouth with your hands.

“I never cheated on you Y/N...I swear on my life.”

“I...I blamed you...I said I never wanted to see you again.” you whimpered. “I said those awful things to you.”

You felt your soul start to ache.

“No- don’t do what I think you’re about to do.” he ushered up to you and held the sides of your face. “Don’t say what I think you’re about to say.”

“Shoto I spent the last 7 years of my life hating you-”

“And I sent the last 7 waiting for the day I could redeem myself.” he replied. “It’s not your fault, What you saw was your reality in that moment...whether you knew it or not. When you told me what you saw I knew something was wrong but I knew your trust in me was so fucked from the whole agency thing, that I couldn’t get you to believe me.”

You telling Izuku who also kicked his ass the next week wasn’t any help either....

“I- I...” you felt the tears sting your eyes.

“Shh, don’t cry...please don’t cry.” he began pecking your lips. “Shhhh.” He rested his forehead against yours, and you were full on crying now. He wrapped his arms around your, holding you close for the first time in years. He always wanted to do it, he just didn’t think it would be under this circumstance.

“I am so sorry.” you sobbed into his shoulder. “Shoto I-”

“Shh, it’s okay.” he laughed. “Please don’t cry...”

Shoto tightened his hold on you, but you couldn’t see him clenching his fists. Watching that footage sent a chill up his spine that could curdle blood. He spent years wondering what he did only to be framed...this wouldn’t go without a little visit to the states...but for a...courtesy visit...but first-

“Y/N...” he made you look at him. “Look at me.” he held your gaze. “Oh, I missed you so much baby~ Did you miss me?”

“Um....mhm.” you sheepishly nodded.

“Then...why don’t we celebrate a little...hm?”

“What do you mean by that?” you had completely forgotten your hunger at this point.

“Let me show you~”

... To be continued (Coming Soon)

I just wanted to say....um...thanks for being patient with me...um...I haven’t been okay...but I will be..I promise.

138 notes · View notes

alderaphid · 3 years ago

Text

New Hire (Glamrock Freddy/reader): Chapter 5

Rating: Teen

Summary: A promotion comes with new responsibilities... and new problems. Karens are, unfortunately, universal.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

6409 words

---

Being promoted to a new position at the Pizzaplex meant one thing was sure to happen again.

Training.

With the switch over came new responsibilities and rules as well as a boatload of NDAs - and of course, the dreaded training videos.

At least those ended up being somewhat enjoyable (and not as god-awfully long). They were vintage; a relic of times long since past. With handlers simply not being a thing for so long, there had been no reason to make cutsy little videos with Helpy the bear outlining how to perform basic animatronic inspections alongside warning of dismemberment and bodily harm. Instead a man with a tired, if slightly eccentric, voice went over the details of what a handler would do while on the clock with ancient images of the old pizzerias. There was enough emphasis on the harm and lawsuits that would follow for trying to take a peek under the costumes that you couldn’t help but give a chuckle. This had to be exaggerated to some extent - then you thought about the missing children and their gruesome fates. That wiped the smile off your face really quick.

But again, the videos were quick. Just under two hours of watching and you were then made to descend into the sublevels to enter Parts and Services where you were to be trained on simple maintenance.

The same mechanic that had helped you with Freddy was waiting for you alongside an energetic, familiar face.

“Hello friend!” Chica exclaimed, waving with both hands and hopping on one foot as you entered the wide open room.

“Hey Chica!” you replied with the same enthusiasm, walking forward and lacing fingers. She shook your hands back and forth excitedly.

“I’m so happy that you got that promotion! You’re going to do fabulous!”

“Eheh, thanks.” you replied, face heating up at her compliment. She blinked happily and then backed up as the mechanic coughed.

“Alright you two, we should get down to business.” they gestured to a work bench made of steel and Chica nodded, walking over to stand beside it.

“I’ll be the lab rat! Or is lab chicken more appropriate?” she pondered aloud as she tapped the bench, creating a metallic clang that reverberated around the chamber.

“It’s time for my diagnostic check and you’ll be performing it!”

You balked at her nonchalance.

“Oh, I don’t want to hurt you.” you said. She giggled, a bubbly high-pitched sound.

“That why the mech’ is here! They know what they’re doing and they’ll show you the ropes!”

You looked to the mechanic, who nodded. You swallowed hard and Chica winked.

“I trust you.”

“Okay. How do I start?” you asked the mechanic.

“We ask the animatronics to show us all their articulation. That’s the most non-invasive way to see if there’s a problem.”

“Okay…” you stared at Chica, who stared back, completely still with an intense stare fixed on you. You cleared your throat.

“Can you, uh, articulate all your joints?” the words felt weird in your mouth, but Chica responded instantly in such a way that startled you some.

“Of course!” she leaned on the workbench and lifted one leg, turning it side to side and bending her knee ninety degrees before rotating her ankle in a full circle, then doing so with her other leg. Standing up straight she turned at the waist and then rolled her neck and shoulders, bending he elbows and rolling her wrists before finally flexing her fingers.

“Did you notice how the movements were smooth, without pause or stuttering?” the mechanic asked. You nodded.

“That’s a sign that most everything is running as it should. If there were pauses in articulation or even a complete freeze when rotating, its likely a hardware issue with the endoskeleton. If there’s stuttering, then it’s likely a software issue or disconnected wires.”

The mechanic drew closer to both you and Chica, tugging on a pair of gloves that came from their tool belt.

“I’m going to open up Chica’s shell now. Each animatronic has buttons located at different points on their body that allow removal of their outer components. They need a hard press, so there’s no way to accidentally set them off.”

The mechanic gestured to different parts of Chica’s body.

“Monty’s chest release is located here. Roxann’es is here, Freddy’s is here.” they mimicked pressing buttons at Chica’s shoulders, back of the neck, and her arms.

“Chica’s are located right here.” The mechanic then placed either hand just under where her armpits would be. With a click, the mechanic pulled the pink shell of Chica’s front off, setting it on the bench beside her.

Inside was a dark gray steel endoskeleton surrounded by colorful wires and small buttons, a handful of switches. You felt your stomach squirm at the sight, even despite it not being gory in the slightest. And yet you were fascinated, leaning forward to take it all in.

“Here is where Chica keeps storing the garbage she eats.” the mechanic explained, pointing at a medium sized cavity just around where her lungs would be.

“Hey!” Chica exclaimed, making the best pout she could at the mechanic.

“What? What do you call the contents of a trash can then?” they asked, deadpan. She blinked at them, then mumbled,

“Snacks…”

“Right. Moving on.” The mechanic rolled their eyes.

“The inner working of our animatronics are possibly the greatest achievement of the company. While the software is immensely complex, the hardware is quite simple and organized in color codes. This means that the software is stabilized by straightforward mechanics. If the hardware was any more difficult to manage, the animatronics would hardly be able to move without encountering problems.”

You nodded along to the mechanics lecture, absorbing maybe thirty percent of the information as the mechanic pointed at and prodded wires and buttons. Movement or voicebox problems were usually due to loose or uncoated wires, while behavioral or technical problems were due to the switches and buttons being pressed or flicked in the opposite direction.

After the demonstration, the mechanic finally replaced Chica’s shell, which she brushed off with her hands in a sort of soothing motion. You had the idea that seeing her own skeleton was a bit uncomfortable, and you couldn’t blame her for feeling relieved that it was over.

“Now, verbal commands are something that the technicians have been messing around with since the handler position had been suggested.” the mechanic stripped their gloves off and stuffed them into a pocket of their tool belt, “ These are person specific - each animatronic must be able to see the face of the person issuing the command, which will then be validated or not before responding. It’s a quick reaction, though, microseconds if I remember.”

“Yeah?” you said. The mechanic nodded and then handed you a slip of paper.

“Here’s a list of commands that are currently active. Try each one out.”

You looked to Chica, tilting your head. She clasped her hands together.

“Don’t worry, your employee profile has already been verified! Just try them out!”

“Okay…” you unfolded the piece of paper.

The list was short and honestly a lot of sense. Each phrase had to be uttered after the word ‘ protocol’ and was straightforward in how it affected the animatronic.

Halt made Chica completely freeze for a few seconds, hands opening wide. That seemed to be in place to interrupt movement.

Diagnose made her slump a little, eyelids half-closing. She responded when you asked her if she was okay, and the mechanic explained that it enabled a more passive state to properly evaluate her condition.

Red alert made her jump right back up, pupils shining with a bright white LED. Her face was blank, completely void of the microexpressions you were used to. Her eyes bounced between the mechanic and you before scanning the room.

“You should say the next one.” the mechanic whispered, gaining the attention of Chica who stared dead-eyed at them.

All clear made the light wink away from Chica’s eyes, and she blinked a few times before gasping.

“Well, that was a little weird!” she chirped, giggling.

“What happened there?” you asked. The mechanic opened their mouth, but Chica cut them off.

“You activated my security programming instantly.”

“Yeah-” the mechanic jumped in.

“The technicians decided that the manual switch could be upgraded with voice activation. It’s for emergencies.”

“Emergencies like what? Chica’s a performer, wouldn’t the S.T.A.F.F bots be the security?”

What could the main animatronics do with security - how could there be a benefit to giving their most expensive robots free roam and retrieval?

The answer came to you a second before the mechanic answered.

“Missing kids.”

“Ah.”

Your training was pretty much done after that visit to Parts and Services. There wasn’t much else to teach you - the job was essentially glorified robot babysitting. A ‘99% boredom and 1% panic’ type of deal with a splash of child herding. Your presence in private party rooms warranted a special note on the website as well, which felt a little weird. You would obviously be in uniform, it wasn’t like you were a random guest slipping into places you weren’t supposed to be…

The new job had your security clearance move up four levels, from level Two to level Six. You could enter plenty of places you couldn’t before to allow you to move quicker from one place to another. As it turns out, you were going to be running all over the Pizzaplex facilitating interactions for the four main performers. There wasn’t a real plan in mind other than allowing you to go to the sublevels and other mostly deserted places to avoid the crowds that would otherwise slow you down.

Woof.

But hey, the pay. And the uniform wasn’t that bad either, especially since it was free. Cheap cotton pants were replaced by sturdy black jeans with a little blue star embroidered on the left scoop pocket. The shirt was nearly the same (though that had been good quality in the first place), but instead of a short sleeve pull over it was a long sleeve button up, and instead of stripes it was mainly one solid color. The shirt was a dark plum purple with a pen pocket and bright red sleeve caps. A black patch had been sewn onto the right sleeve with white letters that proclaimed you a ‘Pizzaplex Handler’ alongside a goofy design of Freddy’s face, also highlighted in white thread. Your shoes and cap stayed the same as there was no reason to change them.

The timing of your shifts had changed as well. As much as the company would have liked keeping you there from open to close, that was simply impossible. Instead, they narrowed the hours that parties could book one of the four main animatronics and put your shift exactly to those hours. This meant, of course, that bookings were now tightly packed within your shift and would make everything harder. You had the fleeting thought of asking for a segway like the guy in Mall Cop - but you knew the company would adamantly refuse that request. You had legs, didn’t you?

So, suited up in your brand spanking new uniform and a card reel for your security clearance badge, you walked onto your first shift.

It wasn’t as bad as you imagined it to be.

You were still exhausted, of course. Bouncing from one side of the Pizzaplex to the other like you were in a pinball machine was hell on your legs and feet - you basically wobbled your way to your car and collapsed in the seat - but it could have been way worse.

There had been over a dozen parties you needed to supervise, feeling strange and out of place with your unique uniform and garnering suspicious looks from the parents of the kids. The kids themselves didn’t mind your presence, quickly accepting your role as you made comments and suggestions as to how they interacted and touched whomever you were watching over. Monty seemed to be the most grateful for your helping hand, being much more calmer than you had seen in any kid-involved party participation. His tail was a pretty good indicator of his mood, though you assumed he had no idea, looking at you with a relieved sneer as you directed touchy kids to back off (in much nicer terms).

Roxanne was a bit harder to read, both soaking up attention and then quickly snubbing kids in nearly the same breath. In all honesty she acted more like a cat than a wolf - though you would never utter that in front of her if you wanted to stay intact. You were still trying to figure out her own indicators but you were getting pretty close. Not a single kid cried while you were there, which was a huge success in your books.

Chica was probably the easiest to supervise at parties. She was cheerful and patient, giving hugs freely and accepting as many pictures as the parents wanted. She did try to snatch a slice of pizza out of a kids hands, but you were quick to pick the kid up and away, making a cheeky joke about her being hungry that the kids laughed at.

Then there was Freddy.

There was no problems with him at all; quite honestly he was better than Chica. He chatted and joked with kids, giving piggy back rides and allowing the kids to use him as a playground without issue. He was calm, he was kind, he was patient - that was the matter of contention. Standing so close for so long and helping to herd the kids had the two of you brushing arms or hands, tingles left in their wake. He apologized each time, and you accepted it with a hushed voice, painfully aware of how your heart wrenched and how he could most definitely see your heart rate increase.

But all in all it was fine. Little to no problems like the ones that had been reported for the past couple of weeks. Of Monty and Roxanne breaking things, of Roxanne and Chica making kids cry (for being rash and stealing food, respectively) and you were proud of the fact that it was likely no complaints were going to be filed marked with today’s date.

This job was going to be easier than you thought.

Your Fazwatch pinged ten minutes before each party starring an animatronic was to occur. That meant it was pinging every. Twenty. Minutes.

You wished you could mute it, but adjusting the notification settings did nothing. Something was set up in your timetable to make it beep out a cheery tune that grated against your ear drums.

Like what was happening right now. Chica was chattering excitedly at a kid, graciously accepting their drawing as others looked on, fingers in their nose or some sort of food in their hand, waiting their turn to get a hug or give her their drawing. You already had a few in your hand when your watch jingled the tune that you would likely be hearing in your nightmares.

You fought the urge to rip the stupid thing off your wrist and smash it against the table and instead smoothed a hand down your neck. The current kid stepped aside for the one behind him to step forward. They had a few fries in their hand, snacking on them. You watched as Chica’s eyes widened slightly before she leaned right down.

“Oh hello there!” she chirped, speaking to the kid with all her attention zeroed in on the food in their hand. Uh oh.

“Hey all!” you called out, catching the attention of the room.

“Chica’s gotta head out now to practice her guitar!”

As you said this you put a hand on her shoulder and applied a bit of pressure, the animatronic standing up and out of range of chomping on the fries with a disappointed expression.

The kids all cried out in defiance but you stayed firm, aware of the seconds ticking away from your next appearance.

“If you stay around she’ll be playing a show soon! You can see her again then!”

You motioned for her to follow you, which she did with a little huff.

“She was offering those fries to me!” Chica argued as soon as the door to the room had closed.

“No, she was eating them. Totally different.”

Chica grumbled, and you glanced at your Fazwatch to see where you were supposed to appear next.

Roxy Raceway. Great. That was almost exactly opposite of where you currently were.

“So do you wanna come listen to me practice?” Chica asked.

“I have places a person can sit, and I think the nail polish on my vanity are real-”

You cut her off with an apologetic expression.

“Sorry Chica, I gotta skedaddle right now. The Raceway is my next stop. Maybe another time?”

“Okayyyy. “She sighed, crossing her arms, “Another time then. But I’ll keep you to that!”

You laughed and gave her a wave before jogging away, weaving around a few guests before stepping into a merchandise shop and slipping into the backroom, heading down the dim hallway.

You emerged from the side door in the Raceway to a huge group of kids and parents milling around and causing the regular amount of chaos. There had to be at least twenty kids in the party, and guessing by their excited chatter this was the party that you were supposed to supervise.

As you tried to catch your breath from the rush to get to the Raceway, one of the parents spotted you and immediately deemed you as smaller than an ant.

“Um, excuse me? Excuse me!”

You raised both eyebrows as a short woman with a shorter haircut stomped her way over to you.

“Where is that robot? I paid a lot of good money for the racer party package and we haven’t seen a second of it since coming in. My baby has been waiting so patiently to see it!”

You blinked hard at her superior tone.

“Well, it looks like she’s in a race right now.” you replied, pointing at one of the monitors embedded in the wall that swapped between a few cameras that overlooked the racetrack, showing a current race where about ten go carts were zipping around the track. Roxanne was in the lead, expertly performing tight corners and drifting like she was made with wheels in her feet.

You weren't sure how the parent had completely missed this. The entrance to the racetrack was about fifteen feet away and there was clearly racing music and the sound of engines revving pumping out of it.

“Well, I don’t see why there’s a race going on right now, I paid to have the race track for an hour! Alone!” she punctuated her words with jabs of her finger. You were quickly coming to terms with the idea of being stuck with her for that entire hour, and suppressed the urge to sigh.

“I’m sorry. If there’s a race right now, it means that they paid to use the track as well. It’s obviously a scheduling issue and entirely on the company.”

The mom sniffed.

“You’re damn right it’s on the company. I have no idea why my baby likes this place anyway, it’s noisy and full of greasy, horrible food.”

You silently agreed but made no move to let her know.

“The current race should be done soon. As soon as that happens I’ll make sure your group has a full sixty minutes on the track. Again, I’m sorry.”

The lady ‘humph’-ed and then turned away, stomping back over to the group to relay the news. The kids seemed relatively indifferent, messing with the steering wheels on the wall, and you sucked in air through your teeth while making your way to the S.T.A.F.F bots manning the counter.

“Hey there.” you pulled your badge up from your hip to let the bots scan it.

“Is a birthday party currently scheduled for the Raceway?”

“Yes.” one of the bots responded automatically.

“Can you extend their time an extra fifteen minutes, from sixty to seventy-five minutes?” you asked. The one you were talking to nodded stiffly.

“Are you authorizing the time change?”

“Yes.”

The bot then made a few beeping noises.

“Time for the party has been extended.”

“Thanks.” it was likely much more time than they needed for the current race to end, but it wouldn’t hurt to let them know of your generosity.

Of course, when you went to tell the mom, she simply replied,

“Well, it was the least you could do!”

Great.

It was only another minute before the racers exited, a bunch of tweens no older than fourteen talking excitedly amongst each other and carefully avoiding the group alongside the mom, who gave them all a sour stink eye.

The birthday party quickly erupted into cheers as Roxanne exited the track, flicking some of her hair over her shoulder. Her tail swished from side to side at the kids excitement.

“Well hey there pups, you ready for some rockin’ motor mayhem?”

A chorus of yes-es made her trademark smirk flash across her face. She placed a hand on her hip and beckoned to the group with the other.

“Well come on then!” Roxanne began to turn away, trusting the kids to follow.

“Hold on!” a shrill voice screeched, stopping the gaggle of kids from rampaging into the raceway. Roxanne froze as well, before making a slow, deliberate turn to face the same mom you were having trouble with.

“Yes?” Roxanne asked, short and clipped.

“I want pictures before they all go racing! I paid for it!”

Roxanne’s eyes flickered to you, showing blatant dislike, and you grimaced but nodded.

“Fine.”

She made her way over to the group, pausing for a second as the mom directed her to the wall, staring into the mom’s eyes for an uncomfortable second before complying. The mom then began belting orders to the kids who, frankly, looked bored as they lined up for a group shot, then smaller group photos of five or so kids.

Somewhere around the twentieth photo the trouble mom noticed you were still hanging around. She lowered her digital camera and made a face at you.

“Don’t you have work somewhere else to do?” she snapped. You bit back a nasty, vitriolic reply, but before you could filter it into something nicer Roxy responded for you.

“This is their job.” the wolf said, still holding a kid at her hip.

“They’re my handler to make sure everything goes smoothly. It’s stated on their uniform. Do you need glasses or something?”

Roxanne’s icy words coated the area with tension, even the kids didn’t dare breath as the animatronic tilted her head at the mom, who for once had no snotty reply.

“I think you’ve gotten enough pictures.” Roxanne set the child she was holding back on their feet before crowing,

“Come on kids! Race time! Adults can sit in the stands!”

She pointed at the entrance to the racetrack and the kids all ran happily into the safety area as Roxanne herself slid up to you, lacing her arm in yours.

“You get track time too, handler.” she said, looking down at you while not-so-subtly shielding you from the poisonous look of the trouble mom while leading you into the safety area.

“Ha, thanks Rox- um, but I can sit in the stands.” far away from the trio of parents who were now giving you bad looks.

“No can-do hun, you’re racing and that’s it. Don’t argue!” she tapped her finger on your mouth, interrupting you from opening your mouth to indeed argue like she said. You frowned instead as she unlaced her arm and then grabbed a helmet from the rack, weaving around the mess of kids as they argued over colors and sizes.

Roxanne had selected you a green one, and you accepted it with a huff.

“Don’t act so glum, it’s bad luck for a race.”

“Is it?” you couldn’t help but snark, a smile coming over your face as Roxanne shrugged.

“I dunno, probably! Come on now, the bot’s almost done rambling.”

There was indeed a S.T.A.F.F bot explaining the rules of the racetrack on an elevated stage in the corner that you had missed. If it was any consolation, the kids didn’t seem to be listening either. As soon as the bot was done its spiel the service door began coiling upward, allowing you, Roxanne, and the group of kids to properly enter the racetrack.

You had never been inside before. The ceiling was curved, a concave orange ceiling with purple structural supports. A bright green line of light ran along the length of the room. On either end the walls sported huge murals of Roxanne standing in a sort of desert, mesa formations in the distance while she held two checkered flags in her outstretched hands, wearing a red leather jacket and black shades.

The racetrack itself was full of twists and turns, elevated to at least twenty feet in the air at its highest point. The elevated track had stripes of purple lights along with bumper guards to stop kids from tumbling off.

The carts were in standard formation on the racetrack, each parked at a white line and staggered. The birthday kid beelined to the cart at the front, and everyone else started squabbling over which carts they wanted.

You didn’t have a preference, deciding to wait on the last cart. You could see the stands just past the racetrack and the parents were sitting with a handful of randoms, all three together in a tight line. You looked away, feeling awkward for being the only adult on the track.

“Ah ah kid! Sorry but that’s my car.”

You turned to watch as Roxy plucked a kid up out of the green cart at the end, setting him on the ground before climbing in.

“Why do you get it?” he complained.

“Because it’s my racetrack.”

You jumped in before the kid could get the idea to cry.

“You can take this one!” you pointed at the cart just next to Roxannes.

“It’s the same color and everything!”

The kid pouted but did as you said, climbing in and buckling up. You shot a look at Roxanne who rolled her eyes. You mouthed ‘be nice’ at her, which she pretended to not see, checking on her nails.

Jeez, how fickle could she be?

You brushed it off and hopped into an orange go cart; the steering wheel stuck out of a rectangular shape that forced your legs into different sections, each with a pedal you could press on. The steering wheel sat somewhere around your belly button, the plastic seat needing to be pushed back some to hold your adult body. Front, back, and side bumpers protected the body and rubber tires. Two cross belts had to be clicked into place before the on button lit up, allowing you to turn on your cart.

You had the fleeting thought that you should have made sure that all the kids were buckled properly - why wasn’t there anyone there to do that? - but it was quickly dashed by a disembodied voice speaking overhead. Funny enough, it was the same one that announced performances on the Main Stage.

Roxy Raceway recruits, ready your engines!

You heard revving all around you, and carefully tested your own pedals. The left one did nothing, but when you touched the right pedal your own engine growled. Oh wow.

On your marks!

You’d probably be great at this. You already drove on a daily basis, and it wasn’t so different, right?

Ready… Set… Go!

An honest-to-god airhorn sound wailed through the arena, and you smashed your foot on the gas.

The tires squealed as your cart jumped forward, sputtering from your harsh pressure. You eased up immediately, gulping as carts grumbled behind you. As the first corner came up, you turned your wheel, then turned and turned and-

You had let up on the gas while turning, going even slower than before. The three carts behind caught up and passed you, Roxanne being the first to zip ahead with a loud, brash cackle. Wh- she passed you on the right! That was a mean maneuver!

Yeah, no, this was nothing like driving. The controls were floaty and the carts needed slow acceleration or they’d shudder like they were in an earthquake. You were quite embarrassed by both being dead last and by how difficult it was to get around - each corner the momentum made you slow down unconsciously, each straight away making your cart shudder from the speed and quick acceleration. You were actually looped by a few of the kids including the birthday girl, who was pretty good at go carting, before finally getting it somewhat.

Halfway through your second loop, the next person to pass you was Roxanne.

She was leaning way forward, spinning her wheel like a roulette wheel and expertly drifting around the corner, disappearing from view with a wavering chuckle. Whoa, she was even better. It made sense though; she drove this track every day, sometimes several times a day. She knew it like the back of her hand.

You decided that racing kids after being shown that you sucked at go carting was a lost cause. Instead you continued to practice, setting aside your ego to imitate Roxanne. Leaning forward, keeping your palm to the wheel and turning with that pressure, fish tailing in the straight aways.

Time passed so quickly that it felt as if you had only been racing for ten minutes before the fast-paced music that was pumping through the speakers was cut off.

Last circuit! Make it count!

You were most likely way, way behind everyone else, but you still furrowed your brow in concentration, using all the tricks you had garnered to speed up, no longer fearing the inertia of the corners but instead laughing at the fuzzy feeling.

You slowed down and stopped at the designated white line, unbuckling yourself and hopping out of the cart, breathing heavy as you took the helmet off and shook your head from side to side.

“Wow…” you whispered to yourself, tucking the helmet under an arm and using your other hand to fix your hair, which was definitely suffering from being stuck under the helmet. You heard the chatter around you disappear, but you were still stuck in reliving the moments.

“Hey pup, enjoy the race?”

The voice made you jump and you turned, smiling, to face Roxanne.

“Did I? That was incredible, I’d never go carted before and just- wow, the inertia around corners was so fun! No wonder you like racing!”

“For sure, Roxanne chuckled, “So what score didja get?”

You scoffed.

“Is a negative number possible?

“Eh, win some lose some.” the wolf tipped her hands side to side, “Except for me. I always win.”

“You got first place?” you asked as the two of you began walking back into the gear room, absent of the birthday party group.

“Of course I did!” Roxanne bragged, rolling her head as she placed a hand on her hip, ears wiggling.

“That kid was good, but not good enough to beat me! Gotta spend more time at the track if she wants to even have a chance at that.”

“Now now.” you chastened her, setting your helmet back on the rack.

“Being competitive is fine, but no one likes a braggart.”

“Says last place.”

“And I own it! I’m humble!” you rolled your eyes and playfully poked her arm.

“Have a slice of humble pie sometime!”

Roxanne huffed and gave you a look, to which you poked your tongue out at her. She couldn't help but laugh.

“Okay okay, I’ll stop.” she replied.

“Good!” you looked to your watch, fighting a nostril flare as it conveniently beeped right in your face, alerting you to the fact that another party needed your attendance, again at the opposite end of the Pizzaplex. Whomever was allowing this needed a smack.

You wanted a quick exit, so you gave a quick goodbye to Roxanne and left her in the gear room to tidy the helmets as you fast walked out the exit, intending to slip back through the employee side door.

Unfortunately for you, you were quickly accosted by a seething parent.

“You!” the mom who had been making trouble for you all this time stepped right in your path, blocking your exit and making you nearly skid to a stop. She jabbed one of her fingers right in your face, making you flinch.

“How DARE you let that stupid machine beat my daughter! She’s been bawling her eyes out for coming in second! I should have you know that she is a go cart CHAMPION and has never lost a race until now! You need to control that DOG and put it in it’s place! My daughter DOES NOT deserve this kind of treatment! We are

Each sentence only seemed to embolden her, her voice rising to a pitch that only dogs could hear as she screamed in your face. You were leaned back, frozen in shock and letting her keep fueling herself. She started insulting you and the company personally, calling you ‘lazy’ and ‘incompetent’ while threatening to start a review tanking campaign on Facebook as her kid howled behind her, being comforted by the other two parents.

“I have NEVER experienced this kind of LOUSY and HATEFUL customer service! I want the name and number of your manager right now to report you for a horrific experience! I will never be coming here again, do you understand me!?”

As the mom paused to take a breath, puffing up to continue her tirade, a clanking sound came from behind you.

“EXCUSE ME?”

Roxanne shouted so loud that it shocked the kid so much they stopped crying, the mom stopping mid sentence. You looked to see her stalk up beside you, absolutely towering over the mother, who seemed to shrink under the utter look of hatred Roxanne held.

“YOUR BRAT LOST FAIR AND SQUARE. THERE IS NOTHING YOU OR YOUR ENTOURAGE CAN DO TO CHANGE THAT.”

Her hand dropped to your shoulder in a harsh thud, which you again flinched at. Roxanne’s gaze snapped to you, eyes softening to make sure you were okay before zeroing back in on the mom.

“You will not be leaving a bad review. You will not organize a review tank. In fact, you won’t be doing much of anything here anymore.” She spoke firmly, shortly, each word full of venom.

Security S.T.A.F.F bots seemed to come out of no where, surrounding the group of kids and parents, who gasped and then chattered nervously. The trouble mom seemed to shrink even lower.

“Hope you really, really meant it when you said you’d never come back, because you just earned both you and all those snot nosed brats a long term ban from the Pizzaplex.”

Roxanne made a sharp movement with her free hand, which made the security bots starting speaking out of unison, directing the group out of the Raceway and to the nearest exit.

“Now get. OUT.” Roxanne snarled, lunging forward and snapping her jaw at the mom. With a shriek the woman turned on her heel and waddled as quick as she could to her entourage, who were then whisked out of sight.

“Need a hug pup?” now that the mom was gone, Roxanne’s voice quieted down from a thunderous boom to something a touch lower than her regular volume. You shook your head, then nodded, turning into her arms as a sob escaped your lips.

Roxanne shushed you, patting your back as you pressed your forehead to her shell, hands covering your face as tears fell from your lashes.

You had been yelled at before. Had customers give you nasty looks and clipped answers. But this was the first time someone had concentrated all their anger onto you like you were a burden the entire world had to deal with. Like you were the source of al their problems, ever. You had enough of amind to think about reprimanding Roxanne for snapping her jaws at a guest, but not enough to actually do it.

Then you heard something that had a sob catch in your throat.

“Is something wrong? Who is crying?”

Oh good lord. Of course this would happen.

You heard Freddy’s hard footsteps come up, a small sound leaving his voice box as he identified you.

“Angry guest.” Roxanne explained, pausing her patting of your back.

“If you saw a group being escorted out, that’s them.”

“I see.”

You grit your teeth, sighing, which was picked up by Roxanne.

“You good now?” she asked, releasing your shoulders. You nodded, brushing away stray tears with your fingers, smearing wetness off your cheeks.

“I have to go.” your voice was small, low to avoid cracking. Your hand kept at your lower eyelid as you turned some, rubbing at your lower lashes, trying to scoot around Roxanne and avoid Freddy’s searching eyes.

But of course he still probably saw your puffy eyes and tearstained face, still as he was, giving you a wide berth.

You ignored the urge to look back at the two animatronics as you scanned your card and slipped into the back hallway, covering your face again as the door slid shut, bathing you in darkness.

What a mess. And now you had only a handful of minutes to calm down and get your butt to the birthday party.

You tried breathing evenly as you walked to the party room, hoping you just looked tired as you arrived no more than a minute late.

As you facilitated the interaction between Monty and the kids, you were surprised by him offering you a napkin in a quiet moment. He said nothing, turning back to receive a fist bump from a kid hopped up on FizzyFaz, but you felt the kindness as you retreated to the trashcan to blow your nose and discard it. Someone must have communicated to him over the network, and for that you were glad. It made the rest of your shift a little easier.

#fnaf #five nights at freddy's security breach #security breach #security breach fnaf #x reader #fnaf x reader #glamrock freddy x reader #alder writes

33 notes · View notes