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rotworld · 1 month ago

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20: Instinct

art by @exorbitantsqueakingnoises

you're the primary caretaker of a lorleian child who was raised in captivity. to help her learn how to survive in the wild, you've had to enlist the help of an adult lorleian with extremely territorial streak.

->original work. explicit; contains dub-con, mentions of child neglect/abuse, graphic descriptions of violence, murder, breeding kink and dirty talk, tentacles, terato, mentions of hard vore/cannibalism.

It’s a two hour drive from the Marine Life Rescue Center to the particular stretch of beach where Awimi has her rewilding lessons. The journey requires preparation: a custom child’s car seat, upholstered with soft absorbent padding that maintains moisture. A barrel of saltwater solution with an attached spritzing nozzle that dispenses in five-minute intervals. An array of increasingly complex plastic puzzle boxes, central chambers stuffed with shrimp and minnows. The van smells like a fish market but you only notice for the first ten minutes. You take a snaking coastal highway, the windows rolled down to let in the sea breeze, the scent of brine and the squawks of gulls.

“I’m hungry,” she complains. You can hear the squeal and creak of plastic coming from the backseat, and the sounds of her suckers popping off of things.

“You’re going to eat so many fish in just a little bit,” you assure her.

“Want fish now.”

“There’s fish in your box.”

“Want better fish,” she insists. One of her tentacles scoots down the side of your seat, playing with your seatbelt. “Fish that move.”

“Soon,” you promise. “I bet Ishi’s saving all the best ones for you.”

She pouts. “He better.”

You glance at the mirror frequently to make sure she hasn’t unbuckled her seatbelt and started sliding around. So far so good. She’s hard at work on one of the puzzle boxes, her enormous eyes and squiggling pupils trained intently on a stubborn sliding mechanism that she keeps prodding and picking at. It’s no wonder she’s so hungry with how big she’s gotten. Her tentacles used to dangle off the edge of the car seat without touching the floor and her hair-like head tendrils were just short, wiggling nubs.

Malnutrition and time spent in a cramped enclosure have impacted her growth and she’ll probably never be as large as an average adult of her subspecies, but she might get to be your size, at least. You’d worry a lot more if you weren’t certain she won’t be facing the open ocean alone.

“What are you most excited about today?” you ask her.

“The reef!” she says. Bored of the puzzle box, she passes it from her hands to her tentacles. They keep working on it even as her attention wanders to the rolling waves outside. “It’s pretty! And the water is good! And there’s lots of fish, and shells. Ishi is really good at shells. They should be easy to open but they’re not. You have to be really strong. Ishi is the strongest.”

“He is,” you agree. “But I bet you’ll grow up to be really strong, too. You’re already stronger than me.”

“Really?” She sounds suspicious.

“Yep. You remember that sardine jar I gave you last night?”

“Tasty,” she says.

“I’m not supposed to give you the whole jar,” you admit. “But I couldn’t get it open.”

Awimi grins. Her teeth are like rows of spikes.

There’s always a moment of tense, solemn silence when you pass beneath a rocky cliff with a view of the water. There’s an exit lane snaking up a steep hill to a sprawling, empty parking lot. The words “SEA SAFARI” are no longer mounted atop the decrepit ticket gates but their ghost remains in faded paint stains. You only saw the place once, and only in the midst of it being gutted and drained following a series of ruinous lawsuits. Awimi had crammed herself into the corner of a completely bare and featureless enclosure. She was clearly sick, her tentacles pale pink like raw clam when they should’ve been maroon speckled with white spots. Her chromatophors sparkled a warning when you waded in. She bit your hand when you offered her food and wrapped her tentacles all around your arm, suckers pulling harshly at your skin.

When you didn’t do anything—didn’t move, didn’t yell, didn’t try to hit her—she blinked her large eyes, banded like colorful marbles, and her suckers loosened. She was so small and weighed so little that you could lift her up and carry her in your arms, her tentacles winding around you like the straps of a harness. The Rescue Center had brought a tank to transport her but she wouldn’t get in. You spent the entire ride back with her clinging to your chest, misting her with a spray bottle while she tried to camouflage herself with the colors of your shirt.

“No more bad place,” Awimi says quietly.

“No more,” you promise her. The property’s already been sold as part of Sea Safari’s liquidation. They’re going to build a new shopping center aimed at summer tourists. “No one is allowed to catch you and put you in a little tank anymore.”

“What if they try?” she asks.

“Then we’ll stop them. So will Ishi. You know how strong he is.” More accurately, he’d kill them. He’d do it for a lot less. “Almost there,” you say. Awimi flicks her tentacles impatiently. You hear the snap of the puzzle box opening and then the crunch of shrimp.

Your destination is a shingle beach. Rocky, far from anything and bearing a horrific reputation of drownings and disappearances, it’s a quiet place that’s made for the perfect meeting spot. You park at the top of a steep, dirt hill and strip down to your wetsuit. Awimi is out of the van the moment you open her door, flinging off her seatbelt and oozing out in a flurry of excited movement. She’s a bit floppy on land but she’s perfectly capable of getting where she needs to go. She’s snuck out of her enclosures at the Rescue Center more times than you can count to grab a midnight snack from the freezer down the hall, the only evidence of her brief adventure a trail of puddles on the floor.

“Let’s go! Let’s go!” she says, suckers pulling at your ankle. You check your scuba gear one more time before you follow her down the bumpy slope. “Ishi’s here! Ishi!”

That’s unusual, you think. Usually he waits at the cove. When you look down the beach where seafoam trickles over the rocks, your stomach clenches in fear and revulsion.

There, at the very edge of the water, you see an enormous creature perched on the rocks. It’s an adult lorleian, the same subspecies as Awimi. His head tendrils are fully grown into gelatinous strands, smoothed back from his face and plastered flat to his back and shoulders like wet locks of hair. The webbing between his fingers is thicker than Awimi’s and not quite as transparent, and his torso is covered in old scars—everything from shark bites and serrated squid tentacle scrapes to knife wounds. He’s much larger than either of you, his lower half a mass of squirming, enormous tentacles, each one long, thick, and wrapped around a man in a waterproof coat who flails like he’s fighting for his life.

“Wait here for just a second,” you tell her.

“Why?” Awimi says.

“I have to ask Ishi a grown-up question. It won’t take long, I promise.” She pouts until you grab a puzzle box from the van, and then you rush down the beach. You hear awful gurgling sounds the closer you get, muffled screams and groans of pain. The man is almost entirely engulfed in the slithering grasp of unyielding tentacles. He thrashes and wails, limbs trapped, the full weight of a lorleian pinning him face-down in the shallow water rushing over the rocks.

“Ishyr,” you say, your voice firm.

The lorleian looks up and a shiver runs down your spine at the predatory coldness in his gaze. Like Awimi, his eyes are large with swirls and speckles of fantastic color. His pupils are long and narrow like a leering glare, constricted in the harshness of surface sunlight. “Yes?” he says, sounding bored.

“Stop.”

“Mm. No.” He holds your gaze while his tentacles squeeze tighter. One of the man’s arms is wrenched behind his back at an unnatural angle and then yanked out of the socket. You hear him try to scream, shoulders trembling and heaving. “He brought a crab trap. To steal my crabs. Isn’t that illegal?”

“Yes, but you can’t—”

“Then stop me.” Ishyr hunches over his prey possessively, leering at you. “Go on,” he says. “Try it. Come a little closer.” You don’t think he’d kill you in front of Awimi but you’re not certain. There’s no safe approach. His reach is long enough in every direction to catch you before you’re close enough to do anything. He watches your frown deepen with faint amusement and makes a rumbling sound, a grating purr that sets your teeth on edge. “Mhm. That’s what I thought.” Ishyr doesn’t dislocate the other arm. He wraps a tentacle all the way down, shoulder to wrist, and squeezes. You hear a series of sharp crunches as bones snap and shatter beneath ripping skin, blood darkening the man’s sleeve.

You move in sheer desperation, lunging at Ishyr. You don’t even get within arm’s reach before he has you encircled, two tentacles wrapped around your body with a threatening, bruising grip. He drags you closer until you’re ankle deep in the rising tide, seafoam tickling your ankles.

“That wasn’t smart,” he says. “You could die. I could strangle you. Snap your neck. Hold you under until you drown. That’s always fun. I could even do this.” His claws seize the man by the hair, dragging his head out of the water so you can see his bulging, terrified eyes and the tentacle threatening to break his jaw. You can see it bulging beneath the skin of his throat as it undulates and slithers deeper but you know he’s keeping it tightly compacted. The same way you might clench your first, Awimi and Ishyr can flex their muscles and alter the thickness of their tentacles. Useful for dragging prey out of tight spaces. “I can reach all kinds of things like this,” Ishyr murmurs. “Things you really don’t want me to reach.”

“Don’t,” you beg him. “Ishyr—”

He never looks away from your horrified gaze as he unclenches his muscles. The tentacle instantly expands to its full girth and you hear several things crack and pop inside the man’s body. Blood trickles from the ripped skin at the corner of his mouth. His eyes roll back in his head and you desperately hope he’s unconscious. Ishyr lets his head drop back into the slick stones gracelessly and something else crunches unpleasantly. He smirks at you. “Today’s lesson is how to open shells. Isn’t it?” A tentacle wraps around the man’s neck and twists sharply.

Your stomach churns. Ishyr lets you go and you stumble away from him, nearly losing your footing. He calls out to Awimi in Enteroctal Lorleian, a language of melodic trills and chirps that’s almost ear-piercing on the surface without water to muffle it. Awimi slowly scoots down the beach, glancing between the two of you. “Do you have to do that in front of her?” you whisper.

“Does she look upset to you?” he asks.

She doesn’t. Nervous, yes, the way she always does when you argue, but her eyes fall to the dead man as Ishyr snags the back of his shirt with a tentacle and starts to drag him into the water. She doesn’t look afraid, or disgusted, or even confused. She looks hungry. That’s the look she gives her puzzle boxes when she can smell fresh fish inside. Her suckers lap at the blood on the rocks. It doesn’t matter that it’s human. It’s flesh, and Ishyr killed it, so it must be meant for eating.

“Can I try?” she asks shyly.

You pointedly ignore the smug look Ishyr gives you. “Yes,” he answers in Lorleian. “But you have to open it yourself. I’ll show you.”

It’s an uncomfortably long swim to Ishyr’s cove, but only for you. Awimi blossoms once she’s in the water. She unfurls her tentacles in a big, shivering stretch and then she spins and flits around with bubbles jetting behind her. You can’t hear what she says to Ishyr or what he says back. Everything is muffled to your ears, Lorleian sounding like musical warbles and grunts. But she’s smiling, laughing with high-pitched tinkling sounds like dolphin squeals, her tentacles grabbing playfully at his, and Ishyr is so gentle with her. His tentacles make little grasping curls where they touch her skin, rubbing with featherlight gentleness the same way their subspecies strokes their soft, vulnerable eggs.

In the waving green stalks of a kelp forest, Ishyr suddenly comes to a stop, lower body flared defensively. He passes the corpse to his hands and engulfs Awimi with his tentacles, hiding her completely from view. Another lorleian drifts by—big, thick with muscle, a gray back and shoulders with a white underbelly. You recognize the sharp-tipped fins of a shark knifing through the kelp. It circles you once, then twice, slightly closer. Your heart leaps into your throat when something loops around your ankle and pulls.

Ishyr drags you over with a tentacle until you’re close enough to grab with his claw, long fingers wrapped all the way around your neck. You struggle when he lowers his mouth to your neck, dagger-like teeth pricking your wetsuit. He makes a low, rumbling sound that you feel more than you hear, a vibration quivering all across your body. The other lorleian circles one more time, staring at you intently, before it sneers and swims away. Ishyr waits for some sign invisible to you before he suddenly lets you go and starts swimming again, his tentacles parting to allow Awimi to swim back out.

He keeps you close after that, you notice. He looks back to make sure you’re still following several times, gesturing impatiently with a curl of the nearest tentacle.

The next time you surface is on the sandy beach of the cove. Ishyr and Awimi stop swimming and start snaking along the ground, pulling themselves out of the water. There’s a scattering of large rock formations and tide pools with small, colorful creatures darting around, and the mouth of a sea cave up ahead. Bones litter the shore, sun-bleached and picked clean. Some animal. Some lorleian. Some human. Ishyr drags the corpse with his tentacles, leaving a soggy, blood-speckled trail up the beach. He stops to glance back over at his shoulder.

“Might want to wait out here,” he says.

You don’t argue. You can smell dead fish and decay, and you have no desire to see his food stash again. He chirrups at Awimi and she makes a similar sound back, much higher in pitch. You swear he almost smiles.

You wait in the shadow of the cave’s entrance, watching the tide roll in and wisping clouds drift by. It’s peaceful here. Nothing but the whisper of the ocean and the faraway song of seabirds. You see crabs scurry around and small fish dart back and forth. A pod of dolphins cruise by in the distance, followed by a group of sleek gray lorleians. Coves like these are common spots for lorleians to rear young, whether they’re laying eggs in shallow nooks and burrows or whelping in the sand. It’s odd that Ishyr is the only one here, using it as a place to store his extras, but maybe he wasn’t alone once.

All those months ago when he first saw you with Awimi in your arms and tears in your eyes, maybe that’s why he showed himself—sliding slowly and carefully up the beach with a pensive expression—instead of just swimming away.

Their voices echo from further in the cave. Ishyr uses a very different tone with Awimi than he does with you, evident even when he speaks Lorleian. The sounds are longer and drawling in sharp contrast to Awimi’s quick trills. Patient, you think. He goes slow and he listens intently. You also hear some truly sickening sounds—the shredding of meat, the crack of sinew, the wet slurp of soft tissues and slippery organs sliding around.

It’s easy to lose track of time. Eventually, the chatter stops and the wet noises of a body coming apart fade to silence. You risk peeking deeper inside, only to find Ishyr very carefully depositing Awimi in a tide pool. She’s fast asleep, her tentacles curling and uncurling in unconscious motions. They cling to Ishyr’s arm when he sets her down until he plucks them off with his own, the gentle grip of his suckers seeming to soothe her. Ishyr strokes her head-tendrils.

“Say something when you come in,” he mutters, keeping his voice a low, quiet hiss. “I don’t like surprises, especially here.”

“Sorry,” you whisper. He glowers at you over his shoulder. “How is she?”

“Mm. She’s doing well.” That almost sounds like pride in his voice. “Very stubborn. It’s a good thing. She doesn’t give up, even when she’s frustrated. She speaks better. Do you practice with her?”

You wish you could. You don’t have the right organs to make the noises necessary for Lorleian, but you’ve studied to understand as much as you can. “There are recordings online,” you say. “I play them, and then we both try to figure out what they’re saying.”

Ishyr sloughs towards you, tentacles squishing wetly against the stone floor. He flicks his hand towards the entrance of the cave and you follow, easily keeping pace beside him. His tentacles keep wandering over and sliding against your legs. You wonder if he even notices he’s doing it. Awimi’s the same way—her limbs all have minds of their own and sometimes grasp or smack things when she’s not paying attention, acting on their own impulses.

“Do you have young of your own?” Ishyr asks. He doesn’t look directly at you but he watches you carefully out of the corner of his eye.

“Me? No,” you say, startled by the question.

“Mm. You could.” One of his tentacles slithers up to your thigh and you almost stumble. “Very easily, you could.” Ishyr snags you by the waist this time. You’d be more frightened if you weren’t so confused. His tentacles aren’t squeezing like they usually do. They’re loose and slippery, suckers plucking at your wetsuit and caressing your body. “Take this off,” he says.

“Wh—huh?” you ask.

Ishyr cups your chin and makes you look him in the eye. “Take this off,” he repeats with a sharp smile. “Or I will rip it off of you.”

“Ishyr, what—are you—wait a second!” You pull frantically at his tentacle when one of his suckers tugs threateningly at your sleeve. “What are you doing?”

Another tentacle winds up your thigh, the tip settling directly between your legs where it starts to stroke and writhe. You completely lose your train of thought at the sensation of his suckers clinging and releasing in short bursts. It feels like a kiss, like a hot, sucking mouth trying to get at your sex through your clothes. “Is it not obvious?” he asks, claws grasping your jaw.

“It’s unexpected,” you insist. “Do you even like me? Like, in any way?”

He regards you with narrowed eyes, searching your face for deception. “I haven’t been subtle.”

This is news to you. “You threaten me every time I see you—”

“And yet you live,” he says wryly. “If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead. More bones on this beach.” A tentacle drapes over your shoulder, the suckers honing in on your nipples and teasing them, pulling gently. The more you squirm, the more you’re surrounded by grasping, groping limbs. You’re surprised when he presses his lips against yours. They’re slick and salty, sharp teeth nibbling at your lower lip. “You’re here,” he murmurs, hot breath warming your mouth. “In my cove. My territory. I’ve invited you here, over and over, and I’ve let you leave alive. Either you’re kin, or someone trusted.”

He starts tugging at your wetsuit again and you find yourself complying. This doesn’t feel real. The truth is you’ve snuck a few glances at Ishyr in the time you’ve known him and had some thoughts you’re not too proud of about his tentacles. Never in a million years did you imagine he’d be hooking his claws around the zipper of your wetsuit and tugging it down with such hunger in his eyes.

“I’ve been contending with my instincts,” he admits. “But probably not the ones you’re thinking of. There’s a part of me that wants to bite when I see you doing stretches on the beach. You expose your neck…your belly…weak spots. Very enticing.” His tentacles squeeze those spots he likes so much while he speaks, suckling at your neck and wrapping around your stomach. Your face feels hot. Was he there when you did your warm ups before getting in the water? You don’t remember seeing him. Unless he’d stayed in the water, lurking somewhere just out of sight without saying anything…

Once your zipper’s down far enough, his tentacles are all over you. They’re helping, you think, trying to peel it off, but they’re also touching, fondling, feeling like tongues and fingers and firm hands and something else all together, all at once. Ishyr doesn’t waste any time. You’ve still got one leg in the wetsuit when you feel his suckers toying with your sex. You gasp and the tip of a tentacle fills your mouth. The taste is strange and briney, the texture slightly bumpy.

“Shhhh,” he whispers. “Awimi is sleeping.” It’s infuriating how calm and collected he is, not even panting as he encloses you in constant pleasure. A tentacle rubs your sex while another toys with your entrance, the rest coiling sensually around your chest and hips and thighs, suckers sliding wetly over your skin like thousands of tongues. “Had you ever seen our young? Before her? I bet you hadn’t. We’re very solitary and the shore is too dangerous for the little ones. For us, when we see a happy, healthy hatchling swimming alongside a beautiful mother…a dedicated father…a lorleian, strong enough to rear young and protect it…” He shivers with a groan. “Mm. I would’ve mated you in the sand the day we met if we were the same species. Given the little one a sibling…or two…or more.”

He’s getting excited the more he talks about it, pulling the tentacle out of your mouth and replacing it with his tongue. The sensation of being covered in him, draped in licking, sucking kisses and caressing hands, pushes you rapidly towards climax. He must be able to tell because you hear him moan into your mouth and then everything gets harder, faster and more intense. The tentacle engulfing your sex feels like it’s pulsating, the suckling sensation making you buck your hips and whimper against Ishyr’s tongue. He wraps around you firmly, urging you to rut against him harder, to ride the wave of ecstasy as long and hard as you can.

“If I could breed you, I would,” he murmurs, nipping the corner of your mouth. He trails kisses along your jaw to your ear, curling his tongue around the lobe. “You wouldn’t leave here empty. No, you wouldn’t leave at all. You’d be so, so full, it would only be a matter of time. Mm, you’re lucky I can’t. Seeing you with my eggs might ruin me. All I’d be able to think about is breeding you again, and again, and again.”

He pulls you against his body when you come, your chest pressed to his and your hips pumping frantically in the wet, pleasurable warmth of his tentacles. You’re still catching your breath when you realize he hasn’t stopped babbling, muttering in your ear about breeding and eggs and how unbearably sexy you’d be guarding his little translucent bundles of joy. He stiffens suddenly, tentacles suddenly going rigid before his whole body relaxes and he sags against you.

“Ishyr? Ishyr!” you hiss. He’s too heavy and you both end up on the floor of the cave. He’s not bothered about it, if the way he immediately wraps around you is any indication. “Did…did you…?”

“I had to calm myself,” he mutters, his speech slightly slurred. “Can’t mate you today. We need time. You have to take Awimi back when she’s finished napping.”

“Time?” you ask, intrigued. “How much time?”

Ishyr rolls onto his side and brings you with him. You’d call it spooning if he wasn’t somehow on every side of you simultaneously, warm and comfortable. “Mm. The better part of a day, ideally.”

“A day?” you echo, incredulous. “Do lorleians really mate that long?”

Ishyr smiles. It’s wide, sharp and threatening, the same way he smiles when he casually threatens to bash your skull open against the rocks for questioning what he’s teaching Awimi. Did he think you’d realize he was kidding somehow? Was that its own strange form of flirtation? “I guess you’ll find out, won’t you?” he purrs, tracing your lips with his claw.

You meet him halfway when he leans in for another kiss. You guess you will.

#rotpeach writes #goretober #original #continuing the accidental tradition of rotworld goretober single dad monsters

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grimtruthes · 11 months ago

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Simon “Ghost” Riley

These are my head cannons for this bitch. Fight me if you don’t like them, my 4’11 ass will beat you into submission :)

Proof read but I make mistakes and 9 times out of 10 I miss them

Have fun reading

Simon “Ghost” Riley

This dude snores, and loudly or not at all and it doesn’t even sound like he’s breathing, or alive at that matter.

This guy’s sleeping schedule is all over the place as well, like he cannot get a normal 8 hours rest without waking up at least once. It has gotten to the point where he just expects it and sets his alarm to wake up that early and train before going back to bed for a little later.

Simon Riley has a hidden sweet tooth, he will eat anything slightly sweet just for the hell of it. Cookies? Gone. Brownies? Inhaled. That slightly sweet treat you were saving? You bet your ass Simon got ahold of it.

Simon definitely has gotten his clothes at Spencer’s or Hot topic before no doubt. Those gloves? Got them from Hot topic. and he has a secret matching pair of boxers 🤫

Simon absolutely hates coffee with a burning passion. He is only a tea drinker through and through. He tried drinking Price’s coffee once and he was sick for days. He vowed to never try any coffee ever again.

This guy loves dogs. So so much, if he ever were to retire I see him becoming a dog owner of multiple different breeds. All of their names would be after loved ones. Like Johnny, Kyle, Tommy, etc.

Simon swears he hated cats but the moment one comes up to him he’s a huge softie, picking them up and placing the cat into his sweater and keeping it warm and cozy. Without a doubt he would own a cat eventually and probably give it some stupid common name like “Luna” or “Garfield” or something like that.

Simon hates salty food, he isn’t too sure why himself but he just using a huge fan of salty food. Saltines and soup and stuff normally with a little salt is fine, but he won’t go out of his way to go and eat like soy sauce or any fish either. Or any type of salty meats like Ham, salami or specific types of sausages. He hates ham more than the dirt in his shoes.

Simon wears strictly black clothes if given the chance. Black to light gray are his favorite to wear without a doubt. He loves the color black so much all his gifts from other people always have something tied to the color black.

Simon has the music taste of a teenager who just found out who LINKIN PARK is: Breaking Benjamin, Staind, Three Days Grace, Skillet etc. if he could he would strictly listen to 2000’s rock music strictly

Simon is pretty gentle with kids surprisingly, he loves them actually. Always wanted kids himself but he never really got the chance considering he became a soldier right out of his butchers job and never cared much about romance or caring for another person besides his teammates.

He loves giving gag gifts all the time. It’s dumb but to him it’s the most hilarious thing ever, random non matching Socks, random shinny stones or bullet casings he found, gifts tied to inside jokes. He loves it all and gives them to the people he likes. On the other hand if he’s made to give a gift to some he hates, he will get the most generic brand cookies that are years old off the shelves of your common store and give them to that person.

Simon fucking Riley, will eat anything under the sun (given it’s not coffee or too salty) your mom’s cooking? He loves it, your burnt water ramen? He’s had worse. This asshole will steal you’re food then point and laugh at you.

His comfort food is mashed potatoes and gravy. He doesn’t even like gravy?? But yet gravy and potatoes are his favorite. Literally no one knows why.

#call of duty #cod #simon riley #headcanon #cod headcanons #Simon Headcannon’s #cod modern warfare #cod mw2

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medusapelagia · 12 days ago

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A Magnet For Trouble: CH 5 Friday? Six o’clock?

written for the @billybigbang2024 Read from CH 1, ..., CH6

With more art by @akichania HERE

TW: gun violence and blow job

(I was sure I posted this yesterday but... I forgot, lol XD! Sorry!

Read here or on AO3

Hiding a huge tattoo on the back isn't easy. Even if Jason did his best not to change in the locker room with the others, one of his fellow policemen saw his tattoo and now he's the talk of the station.

"I think it's badass." Patrick says, when he comes back to their car with two cups of coffee, "It’s a Revenge Angel, I think. Am I right?"

"Archangel Michael," Jason replies, grabbing the offered coffee, "We are still working on it, but Michael is the leader of all the angels. He's the protector and defender of truth, justice, and goodness. And it's also the patron saint of police officers, firefighters, and soldiers, so…"

“So he’s going to protect you who protect the other people. That’s cool.”

"Yeah, something like that." Jason mutters, yelping when the hot beverage stings his tongue, "Fuck! It's hot."

"It's coffee!" Patrick chuckles, while they keep patrolling the streets.

They are talking about last night's game, when the radio starts to croak, announcing a robbery attempt not far from where they are, so Patrick grabs the radio and immediately replies that they are on their way. Turning on the siren, Jason makes a U-turn in the middle of the road, holding on to the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles whiten.

"What's wrong?" Patrick asks, "It looks like you saw a ghost."

"That address. I know it." Jason replies, giving more gas to the car.

Once they get there Jason immediately notices that another police cruiser is already there, together with an ambulance. Jason parks the car and springs out of it as fast as he can.

"Gloria!" He calls, seeing the old woman sitting inside the ambulance, "You ok? What happened!"

"Jason! My boy! What are you doing here?" She replies with a soft smile, while her son shakes his head.

"He’s on duty, mom. He's a policeman, don't you remember? Billy told you." Max’s father says, turning his head toward the young policeman, "Someone tried to break the backdoor to get into the restaurant. Mom was baking some fresh bread and she heard them breaking the window and made them run."

" Il mattarello ho preso! " Gloria chuckles.

"What did she say?"

"She took the rolling pin to threaten them. Non avresti dovuto, ma. Potevano essere armati ." The man replies in Italian, but the woman shrugs.

" Il ristorante è la mia vita . My life!"

The EMT tries to convince the old woman to go with them to the hospital to be checked out, but she strongly refuses to leave, so after giving her declaration to the first policemen who got on-site, she drags Jason and Patrick toward the back of the restaurant and offers them some coffee.

"We're on duty." Jason tries to explain, not wanting to offend the woman who doesn't dignify that with an answer, and comes back with two espressos that she quietly puts in front of the two policemen.

"This place is becoming dangerous." she says, sitting with them at a little table, "When Antonio and I opened the restaurant forty years ago... it wasn't like that. Children used to play in the neighborhood, now… ah…" she sighs, gesturing animatedly.

Her son joins them, "Yeah, mamma is right. It's not the first time someone has tried to rob us. And you were lucky this time, Mom, but you shouldn't have gone to the back with a rolling pin."

The woman shrugs again, before going back to clean the broken glass from the floor.

"This place is her life. My dad and she started working here as waiters when they first moved to the US, and when the owner sold it, it took everything they had to buy it. It was a hard bet, but they won it." The man sighs, rubbing a hand through his hair, "I told her we should move somewhere else. Find another place in a quieter zone, but she doesn't want to leave the neighborhood. Everything here reminds her of my dad, so… But I don't want to keep you too long, I'm sure you have more important things to do than listen to us complain about the crime rate in the area."

Jason shakes his head.

"No, I'm glad you told us about your concerns. I'll talk about that with our captain and I'll ask him if we can patrol the area more closely," Jason promises, sharing a look with Patrick who nods in agreement.

"Dad?! Granny?!" Max yells, slamming the door open, "What the fuck happened?!"

Behind her, and equally breathless, stands Billy.

"Where's Gloria?" The blond man asks, searching for her in the room.

"Mom is cleaning the back. Someone tried to rob us. Again."

"We should buy a fucking gun! Or a rifle!" Max growls, "I told you so many times! We need something to protect us from those robbers!"

Her dad pinches the bridge of his nose, "No weapons in our home. It's Nonno Antonio's rule."

"He's not here to complain, is he?" Max snarls back, and Billy puts a calming hand on her shoulder, calling her name softly, "I don't care, ok? What if they got inside and Nonna was here alone? What about that?!" She yells again, wiggling out from Billy's grip.

Jason steps closer with a serious expression, "I know you’re scared Max, and it's ok. But rarely is a gun the right solution for this kind of situation. Whoever they were, they could have shot Gloria if she had a gun, and even if I’m not the most experienced policeman at the station I can tell you that I’ve already seen too many gun accidents happen. Weapons are dangerous."

"So what? We just wait for them to rob us or to kill us?" She insists, pushing Jason with rage.

The policeman steps back, letting her vent before adding, "I'll ask my captain to patrol this area more closely. I can't assure you that this won't happen again, but I'm pretty sure these robbers will remember for a long time the old woman that threatened them with a rolling pin."

"Nonna did what?" Max chuckles, while from the back Gloria yells that she's not that old.

Billy pulls himself together, rubbing a hand through his blond mane, “Thank god nothing happened.” He says, sitting in front of Jason, snatching his espresso and grimacing when he drinks it. “It’s cold! And bitter!”

“Should have asked before gulping it down as if it was vodka.” Jason replies before realizing that he has been way too relaxed in front of Patrick, “This is Patrick, my partner. Patrick this is Billy.” he says, making a little pause before adding, “A friend of mine.”

Billy glares at him for a quick moment, before reaching out with his hand, “Billy. Nice to meet you.”

“Patrick, nice to meet you too.”

“So you’re the one who keeps an eye on Jason, huh?” Billy says, getting comfortable.

“Oh no, it’s the other way around. I’m just a newbie. Jason is teaching me everything.” Patrick replies with an earnest smile, “Can I ask you a question?”

“Shoot.”

“Are you the one who tattooed Jason?” Jason and Billy share a silent look, “It’s just… you’re covered in tattoos so I thought…”

“I am. Is there a problem?”

“No, not at all, I think it’s pretty cool you know? It’s a great tattoo.”

“I still have to finish it, shade it properly, but yeah. I think we did a good job.”

“A tattoo? Where? I wanna see it! And why did you tattoo Jason but you don’t want to tattoo me?” Max complains, getting back to the room.

“Jason’s tattoo is personal, like every tattoo, and he doesn’t have to show you if he doesn’t want to, ok? And you’re way too young for a tattoo as I told you a million times.”

“You got your first at sixteen! You told me!” She complains loudly.

“And look at me now. Trying to make ends meet and always late with the rent. Not gonna happen, Max.”

Jason chuckles, “If it makes you feel any better he didn’t want to tattoo me either at first. It took quite a lot to convince him, and I’m definitely not sixteen.”

Max crosses her arms in front of her chest, rolling her eyes annoyed but resigned and Billy ruffles her hair, “I promise that if you still want a tattoo when you’re of age I’ll give you the best one. For free.”

“I expect nothing less! We have fed you for ages!” She retorts, still unhappy with Billy’s decision.

Jason smiles at the little interaction: those people aren’t Billy’s family by blood, but there’s no doubt they are the closest thing to a family Jason has ever seen: a family by choice. Max is still complaining that she’s not a kid, when Jason’s radio starts to crack, announcing another emergency they have to take care of.

“Duty calls.” The policeman announces, getting up, “Thanks for the coffee, and fix the backdoor as soon as you can. I’ll talk with the captain soon about stepping up patrols in the neighborhood.”

“Thank you for coming, Jason.” Max’s father says, patting on his back, “We really appreciate it.”

Jason shrugs, “I’m just doing my job.”

Patrick is already out the door when Billy calls Jason’s name once more.

“Pay attention.” He says, grabbing Jason’s wrist for a quick moment and all that Jason would like to do is kiss him right here and there. Just a peck, a way of saying I missed you and maybe something more, but he can’t. Not with Patrick a few feet away and Billy’s not-family staring at them.

“I’ll see you next week to complete the tattoo, right?” Jason asks and Billy releases his grip on Jason's wrist.

“Right. Friday? Six o’clock?”

“I’ll be there.”

For a moment Billy steps closer to Jason and whispers in his ear, “You won’t regret it,” and then he steps back toward Max, asking for a hammer to help fix the backdoor.

***

Friday night, at half past five Jason is already in front of Billy’s shop, feeling anxious. He remembers too well that Billy told him he was going to blow him after the tattoo, what he doesn’t know it’s if the tattoo artist remembers as well. And, more importantly, if he was serious about it or it was just a stupid joke.

Jason’s smoking a cigarette, standing in a corner where he has a good view of the shop but Billy can’t see him and he has watched the shop for long enough to know that Heather isn’t there, which means nothing. She might arrive at any moment.

The tattoo’s parlor door opens and Billy steps out, lighting a cigarette and gesturing to Jason to get closer.

“I’m on my break. How long were you going to hide in that corner like a creep?” Billy asks, holding the cigarette between his plump lips while he slides the pack of cigarettes in his back pocket.

“It’s too soon. I didn’t want to bother you if you had any clients.”

“You’ve been there long enough to know I’m alone.” Billy replies breathing in some smoke, “I even gave Heather all the money so I won’t have to worry about her coming back in case things get heated,” he smirks.

Jason is blushing at the implication when he replies, “I thought I chose a good observation point. It looks like yours was better.”

Billy chuckles, tapping the cigarette and letting the ash fall to the ground, “When you spend time on the streets you learn to look out for yourself. And I know you, Jason, I was pretty sure you would have come early.”

The policeman raises an eyebrow but doesn’t ask any questions and Billy doesn’t offer any details, so they quietly smoke their cigarettes before getting back inside and Billy turns the shop sign from open to closed.

Once again, Billy cleans Jason’s skin, takes a good look at his work, and asks him to lie on the chair and relax while he gets everything ready.

The snapping of his black gloves makes Jason shiver in anticipation and his traitorous dick twitches in his pants. Billy doesn’t notice, or if he does he doesn't comment. He simply grabs his stool and moves it closer to Jason.

“You can look if you want.”

“You told me not to move.”

“Not when I’m working, obviously, but now that the biggest part of the tattoo is done there’s no need for you to stare at the wall. Unless that’s what you want. I won’t be offended, I swear.” Billy chuckles.

Jason shivers, trying to hide his excitement. Seeing Billy work is always an experience. Seeing him frowning in concentration while his hands move quickly and precisely.

“So, you dealt well with the pain last time, right?”

Jason bites his lips, ashamed of admitting that he actually loved the experience of the mix of pain and pleasure that the needles penetrating his skin made him so excited his dick hurt into his pants the last time he was there.

“It’s ok, I get it. I love it too.” Billy tells him even if Jason hasn’t opened his mouth, “A tattoo gun moves the needles up and down, piercing your skin between fifty and three thousand times per minute while you have to remain calm and still, which is counterintuitive for your body which is used to trying to avoid pain, so your brain orders to your body to start releasing adrenaline dopamine, serotonin and endorphins to soothe you and suddenly a painful experience transforms into a very pleasurable one. I’m more into the controlled pain, inflicting pain on myself, knowing that I can stop when I want or keep going until I can’t take it anymore gives me a kind of excitement nothing else can compete with.” Billy confesses.

“Nothing else, huh? Should I be offended?”

Billy snorts, while the machine buzzes softly and he moves the gun over the recently healed skin, “Didn’t think you were such an egocentric guy. Are you asking me if I like to have sex with you? Because the answer is yes, but that kind of excitement is different. Even having you here, lying half naked for me does something to my ego, can’t deny it.”

“Do you say the same to all your clients?”

“Only to the hot ones.” Billy winks, “Now relax and let me work my magic.” Billy concludes, kissing Jason’s forehead, while he keeps working on shading the tattoo he made a couple of weeks before, “Did you have any problem with your tattoo?” Billy asks in a soothing tone, “Apart from the normal redness, swelling, and oozing.”

“Everything was fine,” Jason replies, feeling like his tongue is already way too big for his mouth, “Chrissy helped.”

“That’s nice of her. It’s hard to take care of a tattoo on the back if you’re alone.” Billy says, moving his eyes and finding Jason’s for a quick moment. He smiles at him, sweetly, “You're already feeling good, huh?” Billy says softly, caressing Jason’s face with his eyes, “It’s ok. I’m going to take good care of you, you know that, right?”

Jason nods, his eyes half closed.

“Good boy. Just relax for me and let me do my job, and once I'm done I’ll give you the reward I promised you.”

Jason shivers, his eyes wide with desire.

“You remember, right? I made you come here at this hour so we can take our time, finish your tattoo, and have some fun. After all, you’ll need to release all that tension.” Billy smirks and Jason is so lost that he can’t even blush at Billy’s words’ deeper meaning.

Once Billy feels satisfied with his shading he cleans Jason’s back and then guides him toward the mirror to look at his tattoo, now finally complete.

The Archangel, holding his shield and his sword, is standing on his back, staring at the audience with deep dark eyes that feel like they are judging all your sins.

“Do you like it?”

“I love it!” Jason replies, turning to kiss the tattoo artist. It’s just a normal reaction after being teased for so long. No deep personal feelings, just… maybe something more than friends with benefits. A kind of work-in-progress relationship Jason is already fond of.

“Sit here. I’ll grab a glass of juice for you.”

“Juice? I’m not a kid.” Jason protests, but Billy ignores him and comes back with a glass full of orange juice.

“Drink it slowly. It’s cold.”

Jason rolls his eyes but drinks the juice and when he finishes the glass he feels a little more stable.

“Better, huh?”

“How?”

“I have done this job for years, let’s say I developed an instinct to avoid dangerous situations. Now that you’re feeling better I think I have a promise to keep. If you want to.”

“Are you saying?”

“I want to blow you on that chair.”

“What if someone comes in?”

“The shop is closed and Heather isn’t coming. So, what do you say?”

Jason swallows slowly while Billy licks his lips and steps closer to him, hooking his belt with one finger.

“Is that a yes, babe?”

The policeman can only nod, his eyes pinned to Billy’s beautiful face while he opens his belt with one hand.

“Another secret skill you hid from me?” Jason asks while the buckle of his belt hits the metal chair’s metal leg.

“Maybe. Now shut up and enjoy.”

The tattoo artist quietly opens Jason’s zipper and lowers his black boxers just enough to free his aching dick that bounces free. Its head is already covered in precum.

“Eager, aren’t you?” Billy jokes, stroking Jason’s dick slowly, brushing his slit with his thumb.

Jason hisses but stays put.

“Good boy.” Billy praises him, before sucking his thumb and releasing it with a loud pop that makes Jason shiver.

The policeman takes a deep breath while Billy lowers himself between his legs, brushing his hard dick against his face, before licking a long and wet stripe from his balls to the throbbing head of his dick, and when Jason closes his eyes to enjoy the moment, Billy takes advantage of that moment to take Jason’s dick in his mouth in one go.

Jason startles, instinctively grabbing Billy’s hair and pulling him closer, and before he knows it Billy’s nose is nuzzling at his pubic hair and he has Jason’s dick down his throat.

Billy’s mouth is hot like a furnace and he sucks him off like a starving man, licking, sucking, swallowing around Jason’s dick. The policeman is already so aroused that it doesn’t take a lot for him to be dangerously close to his orgasm.

“Billy…” he mutters, trying to pull out, “Billy, I’m close.” Jason tries to explain, waiting for Billy to recoil. But he doesn’t. He keeps bobbing his head up and down, faster and harder, hollowing his cheeks until Jason can’t resist his mouth and his tongue, he spurts inside the other man's mouth with a throaty groan of pleasure coming from the depth of his soul.

Billy swallows everything, licking Jason’s dick clean and keeping it in his mouth as he slowly turns soft.

“Fuck. Billy. That was…” Jason has no words to explain how that was but it was good. Really good. Maybe even too good. He’s a greedy person and now he wants more. He wants to blow Billy, share his cum, lick into his mouth tasting Billy’s taste mixed with his, but Billy is still dressed and even if his dick is undeniably hard in his tight jeans he doesn’t seem to be looking for more.

“What? Are you disappointed?”

Jason shakes his head grabbing Billy’s wrist and dragging him down to kiss him hard and fuck him with his tongue. The bitter taste of his cum is still filling Billy’s mouth and they share it like a precious gift.

“I want to reciprocate.” Jason finally says while Billy sits comfortably in his lap, “Can I?”

Billy looks around for a moment and then he shakes his head, “Not here. I have to clean everything or Heather will kill me in the morning. Why don’t you keep those naughty thoughts in your dirty mind and we move this party back to my place? My bed is pretty comfortable.”

Jason sighs but nods, then he goes to the bathroom to freshen up while Billy cleans and disinfects every surface.

“I’m going to finish sweeping the floors and I’ll wait for you at the register. Take your time.” Billy says while Jason is still washing his face with ice-cold water.

Thank god Billy’s place is close or nothing would have saved him from an accusation of public indecency.

***

Jason is pulling his clothes back on in the back of the shop when the ring of the little bell over the door reverberates into the silence. Didn’t they close the door with the key? And why is someone entering the shop at this late hour?

Leaving his polo abandoned on the chair, he steps closer, peering at the entrance.

“Hi. I’m sorry we’re closed. You have to come back tomorrow if you want a tattoo.” Billy says, without turning his back, and Jason freezes: the man at Billy’s back has his face covered by a baseball cap and a scarf and is holding a gun with trembling hands.

When the man doesn’t reply Billy finally turns, annoyed, “Did you hear me? I told you-“

He stops in his tracks, looking with worry at the armed man in front of him.

“Give me all the money!” The armed man yells, “Give me the money or I’ll shoot you in the face!”

That’s a problem because Billy gave all the money to Heather planning to spend a lovely night with Jason.

“Listen, man. I don’t have any money, ok? My partner took the deposit to the bank already!” The blond replies, trying to keep calm, but the man takes another step toward Billy, and Jason finally opens the curtain, his chest naked, his back covered by a transparent protective film.

“Hey. He’s telling the truth. I’m his last customer. The shop is closed.”

The man turns abruptly, pointing the gun at Jason. He seems scared and confused, which is both a good thing because it means he’s not a professional robber, and a bad thing because it means he could do something unpredictable.

“You give me your wallet!” the robber insists, “And the watch! And the phone!” The man stutters, turning his attention toward Jason.

“Ok. Ok, let’s stay calm, huh? I’ll give you everything you asked for, ok? I’m just going to step closer to you to give you my wallet. It’s in my back pocket.” Jason replies, keeping his voice calm and reassuring, while Billy stiffens behind the register.

Jason has been trained to disarm armed people. He just needs to make sure that Billy is safe and he’s close enough to the threat.

One step. Two steps. Three-

“Don’t get any closer!” The man screams, shaking his gun, “Stay where you are and throw me the wallet.”

Jason immediately stops and nods in agreement. He’s still a little bit too far, but he can work with that. He keeps one hand in front of him to show to the man that he’s not a threat, and slowly moves the other arm behind his back, pretending to grab his wallet. The robber's eyes follow Jason’s movement, waiting expectantly for the wallet to be thrown at him, not knowing that, behind his back, Jason is making a fist and that he’s ready to jump up on him and punch him in the windpipe.

Gritting his teeth, Jason bolts against the attacker. The man, surprised by the movement, recoils a little and instinctively presses the gun’s trigger.

The gun shoots one bullet and the bang stuns both Jason and the attacker for a moment. Jason’s ears ring loudly but he’s the first to recover from the shock and he punches the man, making him fall on the ground. With a swift movement, he straddles the attacker, feeling the bad taste of bile in the back of his throat. Jason despises violence, and he is ashamed of punching a man in front of Billy, who has a history of domestic violence, but the instinct to protect him is stronger than anything else. He grabs the man’s hand and slams it on the ground until he releases the grip on the gun. He could grab it and point it at the robber’s face, but he decides to just push it out of reach.

“Billy, call 911!” He yells, fighting with the other man who keeps struggling under him, but thanks to a well-aimed kick and a rope that Billy somehow finds in the tattoo shop, the attacker is finally neutralized.

“Are you ok?” Jason asks, holding Billy’s chin and staring into his eyes: they are wide with terror and adrenaline.

“Me?!” Billy asks, shaking his head in disbelief, “You! You got shot, fucking moron!”

“I did not.” Jason chuckles, “He missed.”

But when he lowers his eyes he sees that his chest is covered in blood, and now that the adrenaline is wearing off, he realizes that he feels light-headed.

In the background, the scratching of the wheels and the sounds of sirens is getting closer. Jason smiles: help is finally there. His colleagues will take care of Billy.

His vision starts to blur and the room is spinning too fast.

“Jason?” Billy calls, his voice distorted and far away, “Jason?! Look at me! Stay with me! Please! Jason! Jay!”

Before closing his eyes and collapsing on the ground, Jason's last thought is that, maybe, he should have told Billy that he was in love with him.

#billy big bang #billy big bang 2024 #stranger things #stranger things event #billy hargrove #Jason carver #alternate universe #modern universe #angst with happy ending #20k-30k #cargrove #A Magnet For Trouble #cw gun violence

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theroseceleste · 7 months ago

Text

Mafia Miguel - Part 7

You can find previous chapters below.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

Contains : Female reader, mentions of being restrained, injections, suffering of pain, murder, cardiac arrest and CPR.

Word count - 4038

Hope you enjoy chapter 7!

Don't forget after this chapter I'll post up a choice so you can choose which direction it will go. Be sure to follow and check for future posts!

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The giant science facility resembles something like a ghost town at night. All workers and lab technicians have clocked off and gone home. Labs are dark and deserted.

Miguel has no clue what time it is, but he suspects it’s the early hours of the morning.

He’s led through the building while his hands are still tied behind his back and his mouth still gagged. Dark, glaring eyes trained on the large man in front, leading the way. He clearly has somewhere very specific in mind.

One of the large man’s employees joins the small group of men walking down a corridor towards a lift. He carries a small metal case. Miguel eyes it suspiciously.

“Your wife was a very intelligent woman,” Kingpin says as he presses a button to call the elevator.

The sound of the lift mechanics whir into action behind the double metal sliding doors.

All Miguel can do is watch, scowling at Kingpin as he waits for the elevator to arrive.

Occasionally, his wrists tugs at his restraints, testing their strength. He longed to have the gag removed from his mouth. It is uncomfortable to say the least, feeling the dry cloth between his jaws.

A ding indicates the lift has arrived and the doors slide open, allowing the group to enter.

Kingpin looks like he is revelling in this exercise of gradually riling Miguel up. He takes a breath before speaking again.

“Her knowledge about spiders was extensive. Perfect for the job really,” he pauses as his captive wriggles aggressively.

The smug looking man seems to have touched a nerve.

“Such a shame she got too righteous about the nature of the project. She should have known you can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs…”

A now livid Miguel struggles against his restraints once again, more violently this time as the lift climbs up the building. As he pulls, he notices that his bonds feel like they’re getting weaker.

Kingpin watches with glee as his captive is pulled away from him. The angry lion doesn’t look quite so scary, tied up and gagged. He continues taunting Miguel, pushing in the dagger further, giving it a cruel sharp twist.

“I can show you where she worked, if you like? I bet you were so proud of her, working for a major corporation like Alchemax. And a leading scientist in her field too!”

His voice is in a mocking tone which pissed Miguel off even more.

“Sadly, it all went wrong for her when she couldn’t deal with testing the serum on live subjects anymore. Her refusal to cooperate after that was most frustrating.”

Between moments of pure anger, Miguel felt distraught that Maria went through this at work and couldn’t open up about it at home.

The lift’s metal doors slide open again revealing the bio-engineering floor. Lights flicker on as someone flips the switch while Kingpin leads Miguel into the room where the experiments took place…

***

Your car grinds to a halt in front of the Alchemax building. You have parked it in a space but it is hideously wonky, but frankly, you don’t care as you have bigger fish to fry.

Alchemax security guards spot you running towards the building, preparing to intercept you. For once, you find yourself glad that you’re able to shout that you work for Kingpin as you run past and dodge their attempts to grab you.

You knew they’d allow you through if you said you work for the large mafia boss. It seems Kingpin has Alchemax in his pocket, whether they liked it or not.

You need to go to the vault, which is under Alchemax. Kingpin and anyone who works for him unfortunately has access to it. Take a lift and select the basement floor.

Garcia’s voice echoes in your mind as you remember his instructions as you burst into the foyer of the science facility and head to the nearest lift you can find that goes to the basement.

The light on the call button blinks furiously as you press it repeatedly, willing this damn lift to hurry the hell up. Time is of the essence, you can’t waste any of it.

To your surprise one of your colleagues appears on the other side of the opening sliding doors. Your eyes lock on his own as they go wide. Realising who you are, he charges at you, shunting you against a wall as you yelp in shock.

“Kingpin thought you might show up, good job I found you first eh?”

You thrash against him in frustration. Every second that passes is precious time being wasted.

Adrenaline runs at an all time high within you as your heart pounds against your ribs frantically. You have to get away from him if you want to stand any chance at rescuing Miguel.

A tight grip forms around your arm as he tries to turn you away from him.

“Come on, the exit’s this way.”

“Let me go!” you scream as you jam your knee into his groin.

Your colleague cries out in agony and lets you go. His hands rushing to his crotch as he buckles over.

“You bitch!” he screams through gritted teeth, his seething expression fixed on you.

To make sure he doesn’t retaliate or follow, you hit him hard in the head to knock him out.

A thud fills the air as he collapses on the linoleum floor unconscious. His suit jacket flops open revealing something that catches your eye. You pause as you look down at it.

A gun in its holster is out on display. You’re not really a fan of guns, but you might be entering a kill or be killed situation. It’s best to be prepared - just in case.

Reaching down, you pull it out and take it with you. It feels weird to be carrying a weapon, as if things have suddenly become much more serious.

Finally, the lift door closes with you inside it and it begins its descent into the basement. Closing your eyes, you take a breath to calm yourself as you try to remember the next load of instructions Garcia had given you.

***

Miguel half expected that someone would have shown up by now. He knew Gabi would have called somebody. What’s holding people up?

His jaw flexes uncomfortably while his gag persists. Sympathy starts to rise for those he has gagged in the past. But at least they deserved it…

A lab surrounds him, along with Kingpin’s men.

Around the perimeter of the room are counters with cupboards underneath, stored with equipment; beakers; vials, microscopes and petri dishes - just to name a few.

Visions of his wife, Maria, sitting at the counter and running experiments dances in his mind as he looks around. Tears threaten to well up in his eyes as he remembers her but he blinks them away.

Then his gaze focuses on the centre of the room. A modified metal slab-like table stands ominously. He immediately gets a bad feeling about it. Straps are fixed halfway down and at the bottom of the table.

“I had the room set up exactly how it was when I last saw Maria alive. I thought you’d appreciate that.”

Kingpin chuckles darkly as he watches Miguel’s eyes fixate on the table.

“You see, I had to have her still enough so I could teach her a lesson. A lesson I considered teaching your new lady friend but I managed to find a way to get her to comply.”

There’s that wicked grin again. If Miguel had seen it, he’d have tried to smash that smile to smithereens, but he was busy putting the pieces together instead after the large man spoke.

His chest rises and falls as his breathing quickens. His mind, swimming with thoughts while he feels the room spin. Shock, anger and grief makes his entire body shake.

“Of course, I had to make it look like she had done it herself. Couldn’t have anyone pointing the blame at me now could I?”

Miguel is at his limit. Kingpin has more or less confessed to murdering Maria. And he looks so damn smug about it too. How he would love to wipe that smile off of his face. He fantasises doing it in the most hideous way possible. A growl rumbles low in his chest as his muscles tenses up.

With one last hard pull, the captive yanks at his bonds and breaks out. Rushing towards his captor.

Kingpin’s eyes widen momentarily and retreats behind a curtain formed by his men who all grab Miguel as he charges.

Muffled shouts and screams of rage fill the air as he kicks and thrashes around.

The force of Kingpin’s men drags and lifts the incensed man up onto the table.

One by one, each limb is strapped down but not without a violent struggle.

Wildly desperate and frightened brown eyes look around frantically. Searching for any kind of escape. Any kind of help. The sense of hopelessness engulfs him. Any chance to escape diminishes by the second.

Pulling against the straps is useless as they’re firmly attached to the table by chains, but he still tries out of sheer desperation.

“Roll up his left sleeve for me,” Kingpin orders one of his men, his tone commanding.

As someone carries out the task, the boss opens the metal case and produces a serum in a syringe equipped with a needle, all ready to go.

“Your wife was working on creating the perfect serum for me, to genetically enhance humans. But unfortunately, she was never able to make one that didn’t kill the test subject.”

Kingpin now begins his slow and taunting approach to Miguel. A broad, smug grin stamped across his face. An evil glint shines in his eyes.

“I’ll let you have a taste of her work. You can experience everything she went through in her final moments. And then you’ll be reunited with her. How sweet…”

Now standing right next to the violently thrashing man on the table, he speaks again.

“Keep him still for me. He’s just as wriggly as his wife was.” He speaks louder just so he can be heard over his captive’s angry roars.

Four pairs of hands working in unison press down on his limbs, holding him still. His chest heaves as he screams through the cloth. Eyes open wide and his brow severely furrowed as he watches the needle plunge into his lower arm and the contents of the syringe begins to empty.

Searing pain spreads through his veins. Every muscle tenses and an unpleasant tingling sensation crashes over him like a violent, freak wave on a beach. His body erupts with heat while his lungs struggle to get enough air in them through the gag.

Withdrawing the needle, Kingpin watches with glee as his captive is reacting - badly - to the serum.

Kingpin chuckles darkly, almost getting drowned out by Miguel’s agonised yells and screams.

“This, Mr. O'Hara, is only just the beginning. Sit tight.”

***

Rows upon rows of safe-like vaults are in front of you. Many corridors and alleyways of secure containment boxes to choose from.

I couldn’t store the antidote with project #2099 as I had to keep it safe. So I created my own project, #2100. Find that vault, the code is Maria’s birthday, September 28th.

Looking at signs on the walls, you see Alchemax has run thousands of experiments, too many to count. You look for a sign that indicates where the projects in the 2000’s are and follow the direction it points you in.

The sea of numbers goes down in numerical order as you stride along a corridor. Your eyes skimming over each project number until you find #2100.

September 28th… You think to yourself as you look at the number pad on the door of the box. It’s a three digit code.

Thinking quickly, you punch in 928 and a green light followed by a beep follows, indicating you entered in the correct code.

As the small vault unlocks, your eyes wander over to the containment box to the left, #2099. You sincerely hope you don’t need what’s inside #2100.

Pulling the door open, you grab a small case and run, not even taking the time to close the vault again.

Now the real hard work begins. You have absolutely no clue as to what floor Kingpin and Miguel are on. Entering the lift again, you spam the close button and press the first floor to begin the tedious task of finding the correct floor. You just hope you reach them in time.

If it wasn’t for pressing the button for each floor in the lift, you would have lost count of the number of levels you have tried in the large science facility. Your only saving grace is that every floor is pitch black and silent, suggesting no one is there.

So when you come to floor fifteen and you see lights on and hear bone chilling screams you know you’re in the right place. Your heart plummets as soon as you hear the sound.

As you rush out of the elevator, you see the bio-engineering lab is lined with windows all around it and the scene before you almost stops your heart completely.

Seeing Miguel screaming, sweating and writhing in agony on the table makes you worry you’re too late, but you can’t stop now. He’s restrained and gagged, in desperate need of help.

With the case in one hand and a gun in the other, you enter the lab. Kingpin and his goons seem preoccupied with their captive.

Lifting the weapon, your trembling finger rests on the trigger, aiming directly at Kingpin.

You steel yourself and make peace with what you have to do. If the roles were reversed, Kingpin wouldn’t think twice.

In reality, he’s killing the man you care about right in front of you, and he’d do the same to you if he knew that you’re there.

You promised Gabi you’d do everything in your power to get her papa home. Pulling that trigger is in your power. And that is what you have to do.

It’s scary how easily it can be done. Pulling that trigger wasn’t difficult physically. A shot rings out. The other four men look up as they flinch, while Kingpin crashes to the floor, dead. The force shakes the entire room.

You feel sick at the thought of what you have done but as you swallow hard, you bravely press on.

While Miguel continues to roar and thrash at his restraints, the other four men hold their hands up in surrender.

“Get the fuck out of here!” you yell at them while pointing the gun in their direction.

They didn’t need telling twice. As they scatter, you grab one roughly by their suit. Your aggressiveness surprises you.

“Call off the attack on O’Hara’s people while you’re at it.”

The man nods silently and leaves the room after you release him.

Heavy panting steals your attention.

Miguel, dripping with sweat, thrashes his head side to side as he reacts to the serum.

Prizing open the case, you seize the antidote, nicely prepared for injection already.

If the antidote needs to be administered, inject directly into the serum’s injection site.

You remember the last bit of Garcia's instructions. Rushing to the table in the centre of the lab, you urgently look for where the serum had been injected. It doesn’t take long, the skin on his left arm is a bright angry red and is hot to the touch.

You do everything you can to not cry. His pain and desperation is palpable. And the sight before you hurts you to look at. Seeing him so distressed hits you hard. You can’t bear to see him gagged. His mouth is freed as you pull at the cloth, although parts of you wish you hadn’t as his agonising screams hit you harder.

“Miguel!” You call out to him as you’re not even sure he knows you’re there.

Your hand caresses his contorted face of agony as you lean in close.

“I need you to stay still for me. I know it’s hard, but you’ve got to try. Please!”

He roars with eyes clamped shut as a fresh wave of pain rolls over him, you nearly scream when you spot two enlarged canines.

Desperately stroking his face and holding it more firmly, you try again.

“Please! You’ve got to do this for me!”

Miguel huffs as he registers a kinder touch. He grits his now razor sharp teeth as he tries to stay still long enough for you to do what you need to do.

Reaching over his shuddering body, you hold the needle above the injection site.

“I’m sorry if this hurts, Miguel…” you mutter as you press the needle into his skin.

His body immediately arches upwards beneath you, almost bucking you off of him. Another yell of pain erupts from his wide open mouth.

“I know!” you sob, tears streaming down your face “I know - please, stay still a little while longer…”

Your thumb presses down on the plunger of the syringe, pushing the life saving serum into his bloodstream. Hoping against hope that you’re not too late.

Once the syringe is totally empty, you pull it out and drop it as you return to Miguel’s top half.

As before, your hands cup his damp face, moving any hair stuck against his skin while he pants heavily.

What you would give for him to open his eyes. You wish for him to see you. To see that you came for him. To save him.

Relief washes over you as his breathing slows. The large heavy panting turns into short huffs. Tense muscles begin to relax as you continue to stroke his sweat soaked skin.

“Ga- Gabi…” he starts to mutter between his puffs as his breathing regulates.

A relieved smile spreads across your face. Snaking your arm under the back of his neck, you cradle his head gently.

“She’s at home, waiting for her papa.”

Miguel’s eyes remain closed, but he cracks a faint smile across his parted lips. You see just the tip of one of his large canine teeth peeking out. Just what did that serum do to him, you wonder as your fingers now run adoringly through his damp hair.

In that moment of peace, despite what he has just been through, you’re happy. You’re still not entirely sure if he knows who you are; but, you’re holding him close and caressing his hair. Something you thought you’d never be able to do again.

Leaning down, you plant a loving, tender kiss on his forehead as your fingers return to his cheek. Making the most of this precious moment.

As you lean close, the cold hard chain of his wrist restraints presses against your body. You realise the poor man is still bound to the table.

Placing his head back down gently, taking care not to move him suddenly, you start to undo the straps around his wrists.

As you go to move his hand away from the strap, you feel something sharp snagging your skin.

“Ouch!”

Your hand instinctively jumps away as you look down at what stabbed you. Nothing can stop your jaw from dropping in total shock.

Protruding out from his fingertips are razor edged, bloodied claws.

Scooping up his large right hand in yours, you inspect the talons more closely. Your fingers ghost delicately over them and then run along down his long, slender, manly digits. All the while Miguel remains calm as his breathing slows even more.

The silence between you is punctuated with the sounds of the velcro on the straps ripping apart from itself as you free him. His long limbs are heavy and you’re careful not to hurt yourself with the strange sharp claws on his other hand.

Looking at the clear result of the serum injection, you wonder if this is what Kingpin wanted for the men who do his dirty work? Has he managed what no other living thing could?

As you ask yourself those questions, you start to hear that his breathing has become laboured. The blissful feeling of relief drains from you as that sound doesn’t exactly fill you with confidence.

His brow creases as if he’s feeling pain again and begins to gasp for air.

Rushing to his side, you pick up his hand and squeeze it in hope to provoke a response from him. Your gaze desperately searches his expression, pleading for him to relax again.

“Miguel?” Your voice quivers slightly as you lean over him more.

Your other hand rests on his right shoulder and you start to shake him. He’s not responding.

“Miguel?”

You shake him harder as his laboured gasps continue but he still does not respond.

Something’s wrong - very wrong.

“No, no, no, no, no…” you murmur as your hand goes up to his cheek and tap him gently. Panic sets in. This isn’t supposed to happen. Has the antidote actually worked?

His brow furrows more as his breathing becomes faster and shallower.

“No - don’t… Don’t you dare…”

More tears stream down your face as you watch his struggle, totally powerless and without a clue in how to help him.

To your absolute horror, peace falls upon him once more. But the wrong kind of peace. His brow relaxes totally and his breathing stops all together.

“No…”

Eyes frantically search for signs of life in his face, hoping that he’ll move again in a second. But without any further change you search for a pulse in his neck. Nothing.

“No!”

Dropping his hand to his side, you feel his chest for a heart beat. Nothing. He has gone into cardiac arrest.

Shit!

A loud sob fills the air from your parted lips. Without even thinking, your body takes over. Clambering up onto the table, you straddle his body as you place the heel of your hand against the centre of his chest.

You feel something hard underneath his clothes. Undoing the first couple of buttons of his shirt, reveals a bulletproof vest. Nothing can get in the way of your attempt at CPR so you continue to undo all items of clothing covering his torso.

Once again, you place the heel of your hand in the centre of his chest while pressing the palm of your other hand on top. You push down hard enough to compress by about five centimetres and repeat thirty times at a fast pace.

“You’re not dying on me…” you pant between compresses. “Not today.”

The first thirty compressions are complete. Leaning forward you gently tilt his head back and pull at his chin to part his lips. Pinching his nose with your finger and thumb, you seal your mouth over his and blow firmly, twice.

His lifeless body rocks with each compression as you start the process all over again in a desperate bid to revive him. Sobbing and panting you think about his daughter. You said to Gabi you’d get her papa back, you can’t let her down.

“Come on!” You yell as you desperately will him to take a breath, open his eyes or do something!

It feels like an age since he stopped breathing, but it’s probably just been a minute.

More tears roll down your cheek as you continue to perform CPR. Your knees ache kneeling on the cold metal table but you press on. You don’t care if you can’t feel your legs anymore, if it means you bring him back.

“Damn it Miguel!”

Panic increases again as you do another thirty compressions and prepare to give him two more rescue breaths.

Suddenly, his body moves on its own as you seal your lips over his. The unexpected movement makes you pull away and gasp as he draws a sharp intake of breath. Relief washes over you as you see him breathe for himself for the first time since he fell silent.

His eyes snap wide open as they lock onto yours immediately. However they’re not how you remember them. The beautiful warm brown they used to be, is now replaced by a deep red.

“(Y/N)?”

----------

Part 8

I hope you enjoyed the drama. Sorry if I made anyone cry! Heh heh...

I'm currently open for commissions. If you have a scenario you'd like to be written about your OC and our lovely Miguel, please check out my carrd.co or get in touch via email (also on the website)

If you wish to support me on Twitter you can find me here.

#fanfic #miguel o'hara #atsv miguel #miguel spiderverse #commisions open #fem reader #female reader #mafiamiguel #mafia miguel #mafia au #readerxmiguelohara #reader x character

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grapefruide · 26 days ago

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Episode 8: Burned Out

Reading the transcript instead of listening to this one, as I still do not have international data and my headphones broke.

I have a penchant for Hill Top Road episodes. The presence and details of all the interactions with the different Fears and people is just great. Maybe this is why I liked the Eye so much, just because I liked learning about these things. I just mistook the reason.

It's not because I sought knowledge for it's own sake, it's because the concept fascinated me. The madness had to be my own.

Ivo here's work in wiring reminds me for some reason of that one video of that guy redoing an old lady's wiring and correctly guessed that her son, who did the (very bad) wirings' house burnt down.

Yeah sure bro go to a half-built house in the middle of the Oxfuck suburbs in the middle of the night and do wiring. Alone. That sounds safe and normal and cozy warm.

Damn do I hope this guy's gay

Oh fuck it's near South Park. That explains a lot.

Look, no offense to construction workers and I'm sure they're not all like this, but from what I've seen they leave a lot of nails just sitting around. I was tearing up my grandma's carpet once to have it replaced and there was just. Stuff under there. And my brother once made like 100 bucks with his magnets cleaning up people's yards after they'd had their roofs redone.

The tree! Oh, the beautiful tree. It's so infused and congested with Fear. I would sleep in it even if it gave me nightmares for the rest of my life. I bet it gave great fruit while it still lived lol

Reminds me of the tree from the Chronicles of Narnia, the one they made into a wardrobe. So much ancient power, I'm fucking salivating. God that sounds weird.

Anyway, the mention of the shadows makes me think of the Dark.

Hmm yes very normal guy this Raymond Fielding

Bet bro didn't check the dates on those papers

Why the fuck is Fielding here. What point does his presence serve. Like why does he have to be the inciting incident he is not that scary in and of himself.

Oh shit, this guy's got history. Fear of schizophrenia, fear of not knowing what's real... I mean, an awful disease. But. I like.

I self-diagnosed myself with schizophrenia at like. Age 7. I don't have schizophrenia, fucking shocker.

Ivo's dad reminds me of Montague in a way, each locked in a room working their life away in service of a fear, however aware of it they are, until their wife disappears in one way or another and their kid is left traumatized and is later touched by Fear themself in adulthood, often after the death of their father. Huh. Sure it doesn't signify anything.

Fractals are fucking cool, I would study them myself if I wasn't both on the run from the law at the moment and no good at math.

He's right about the hands.

I wonder if he ever saw the hallways.

Bro was just trying to see the hands for real, pity they were too sharp for him.

Isn't a huge part of construction work like. Spatial awareness. Fuckin dumbass.

This man is straight and I am in shambles

That's a pretty bad concussion if he had to stay in the hospital for two days, maybe it'll lead to further issues - or perhaps it's just because he lives alone and won't be able to care for himself with the injury.

I love the word diocese, it reminds me of eglantines

Agnes is so fucking cool she would make a great fruit

wait how the fuck did she get an education

Wonder who the house belongs to now. The statement says the legal troubles over ownership were resolved, but how?

Bro doesn't believe in ghosts. Such an L move

Too bad about the tree, but it does make sense.

This apple reminds me of the Tree of Growth cult. A beautiful apple in a horrible place, seemingly engulfed with fear, but it shrivels away to nothing upon closer inspection.

This continues to confirm my hypothesis that Fears go after people who are less likely to be believed. This of course increases the psychological trauma of the experience but also lowers the likelihood that the Fears' true nature will be discovered. Very clever.

This is a good statement, a great introduction to the problem of Hilltop Road. Jude Approved!

#jude's tma liveblog #tma #the magnus archives #mag 8 #burned out #tma liveblog

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fluentmoviequoter · 7 months ago

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to being ghosts.

Chapter 6 - Your Ghost

Chapter Warnings: takes place 6 months after ch 5, brief angst, mentions of Vic's parental trauma, references to previous torture and scars, fluff and happy ending. 1.1k+ words.

6 Months Later

“Wait, you’re an EO?” the barista asks. “That’s awesome. Do you mind me asking what your power is?”

“Uh, thanks. I can raise the dead,” Sydney answers softly.

“Sick. Is that your dog? He’s adorable.”

Dol barks in answer, and Sydney gestures for him to return to the table.

“There’s a few EOs here that I work with but none of them have powers that cool. One of them can heat things, though, which comes in handy in a coffee shop.”

“I bet,” Sydney murmurs. She accepts her hot chocolate and escapes with a “thank you” before she has to answer any other questions about her powers.

“Still think the new world is better than the NWC?” Mitch asks with a smile.

“Yes and no. The whole ‘EOs are welcome to live as the people they are’ is great, but everyone talking about being EOs is weird. Some guy told me that it meant I not only looked extraordinary but was ExtraOrdinary, so pickup lines haven’t improved.”

“Maybe don’t tell Vic about the flirting part.”

“If we ever see him again,” Sydney says into her cup.

“He did like San Francisco,” Mitch muses. “We could always just start looking for him.”

“I don’t think he’d go back there,” Sydney answers, looking over Mitch’s head.

“Why?” Mitch inquires.

She gestures to the television screen mounted over the door with her chin. “Because she’s not there,” she says.

Mitch sees you on television, once again denying your role in the war against the New World Charter. He smiles, and Sydney stands with her cup before calling Dol. They have a home to call their own now, and though Victor comes and goes as he pleases, the family of misfits he’s created finally feels like a real family. Sydney, Mitch, and Dol head home and ignore your interview because the story hasn’t changed, no matter how much praise you receive.

Someone calls your name as you walk out of the city hall building. You see the news van parked by the door and shake your head. Being hailed as a savior isn’t something you enjoy, and you’re ready for something else to happen, so you’re not the center of attention anymore. Despite that, you smile and greet the reporter kindly.

“You are being credited with the new freedom circling the globe following the elimination of the New World Charter. Many people want to know what happened in the black site in Oregon that led to the beginning of your fight for EOs and freedom for all,” she says into the microphone before moving it toward you.

“I don’t know why people think I did so much. That night in Oregon was… terrifying, and I would have died if not for a caring EO who saved me and used the opportunity to do the right thing,” you answer.

“So, you maintain that you had no role in the EO versus NWC war?”

“I do. I mean, look at me, do I look like I could change the world? Anyone can change the world, but it takes a special kind of person to run into danger for others.”

“Thanks for talking to me, then, and enjoy the new world.”

“You, too.”

As she returns to the van and they rush out of the parking lot, hopefully seeking a new story to fixate on, you notice a person standing behind your car. You shake your head and smile when you see the black trench coat below the blond hair.

“Victor Vale,” you greet. “What can I do for you?”

He turns slowly and rakes his eyes over you. You have scars from your time in the Canada region with Smoak and even more from accompanying Victor when he infiltrated the New World Charter headquarters, but that’s not what Victor sees.

“Have you heard her recently?” Victor asks.

“I haven’t. Not since she told me you were good.”

“Angie,” Victor says softly. “Our ghost friend. Her name was Angie Knight.”

“How long have you known?” you ask as you step closer to him.

“Since she told us that Daniels was on our tail. I- I didn’t know how to bring it up or if it would matter.”

“Tell me that it at least gave you some closure. If she came back to help, she can’t be mad at you, Vic.”

Victor looks away and waits a moment before saying, “Someone found Daniels. They started working on that hotel and a worker found the body, called the police.”

You nod and promise, “I’ll make it disappear. My contact in the FBI has a vague idea of how much damage we- I left.”

“So, you’ll take credit for my crimes, but not my heroic efforts?” Victor teases.

“Something like that. Vic, I am forever indebted to you. My entire life is yours. Anything you need, say the word.”

Victor flexes his hands at his sides before asking, “What about some company? Maybe a little government immunity to do one more thing?”

“The company I can certainly provide. But I’m private sector now, Vic, I don’t decide who gets immunity.”

“That’s even better. No one can make you do anything you don’t want to in the private sector, and you can just prove how good you are.”

“What do you want to do?”

“Someone wrote a book about EOs and how unnatural they are. I’d like to show them just how wrong they are.”

You raise your eyebrows to ask, “That wouldn’t be the one by the Vales would it?”

“I hadn’t noticed the authors’ names.”

“I see. If you want to do this one more time, remind these people that EOs are still humans with rights, you know I’m with you all the way.”

“Rights to-“

“Not to break laws, Vic,” you interrupt with a laugh. “I’m starting to think you just use me to be a better criminal.”

“Why not a better human, a better EO?”

You sigh and reach for Victor’s hand as you promise, “I’ve got your back, Victor Vale.”

The war you’ve already won makes this seem like an argument more than a battle, and Victor’s openness with you is the best reward of them all. His comfort around you makes you feel at home anywhere, though you suspect he is about to invite you back to his house, where he and his family live together happily. You’ll always have a home there, too.

“Tell me where you want me and when, and I’ll be there. Or, if you want me to wait beside you until the plan is in place, I can do that, too. Luckily for me, I can have your back from anywhere.”

Victor listens to your promises, feels your touch, and remembers why he trusts you and feels comfortable near you. Victor Vale takes a deep breath, then opens his eyes and smiles.

#to being ghosts.#victor vale x reader #victor vale #vicious #vicious ve schwab #fem!reader

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yuexuan · 1 year ago

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[Review]惊悚练习生

Title: 惊悚练习生 Thriller trainee

Author: 妄鸦

Length: 251 chapters + 8 extras

Tag: transmigration, infinite flow, horror

Summary [taken from novel updates]:

The washed-up magician Zong Jiu transmigrated into a horror, infinite flow novel about a survival show, taking the place of the cannon fodder who died tragically in the first evaluation round. This show was very interesting. Out of the tens of thousands of people, only a hundred people could survive, and the c-position (strongest contender) could even get a universal wish ticket.

If it were someone else, they’d probably be scared to death.

No one expected that Zong Jiu was not only unafraid, but also caused a sensational stir, shamelessly showing off his tricks the whole way.

Once his tricks stopped, and his life could be considered safe and sound, he ended up in a rivalry with the novel’s big villain.

Today you try to get at me, tomorrow I’ll get you back, back and forth, it’s pretty fun, heh.

As a result, though it was just playing around, one time they got carried away and really did end up sleeping together. Watching the nemesis who was pressing him to the ground, Zong Jiu lazily lifted his gaze. “If you want to kill me then kill me, don’t speak nonsense.” Even when at a disadvantage, he showed no trace of fear, and actually continued to provoke him.

That person used his ice-cold finger to trace his ear, and the action heading toward the aorta suddenly stopped.

“What a pity. I’ve changed my mind.”

—

He was once very willing to personally give Zong Jiu death. Every day, he used to regret not gouging out his flesh, personally snapping his neck. But after this person fell into his hands, another, more urgent desire grew like weeds.

Compared to winning or losing, he would rather see him crying and panting, with eyes red, begging for mercy.

Novel | Novel [translated]

Comments **contain spoilers**:

The summary pretty much covers the gist of the novel. The main couple has an enemy-to-lover dynamic, with the MC being a cool and stoic world-class magician, whilst the ML being a cunning devil. On the surface, the two of them are arch nemesis, but beneath it all, they are pretty much the same type of person, seeking the thrills within each horror show.

Highlights:

The tension between the main couple is solid. ML is constantly trying to create troubles for MC and MC is constantly thinking outside-of-the-box to beat ML’s games. As the no. 1 trainee and ‘trainer’, ML has the ability to control any trainee and NPC of his choice, sending them to obstruct MC’s progress. Fortunately, MC received a stack of tarot cards that enabled him to seek out the characters that were controlled. The entire plot revolves around the two of them playing a figurative game of chess, until their enmity eventually evolves into something more hehe.

As with many infinite flow stories, worldbuilding is always a highlight. I liked how there were more ‘relaxing’ games after each ‘show’, where the trainees were allowed to rest or bet their lives on additional rewards. Out of all these games, I particularly liked the amusement park arc where MC befriended the monsters/ghosts and received their assistance in winning the game. It was kinda sweet watching the monsters/ghosts feeling happy interacting with the trainees.

Another unique aspect is that there were shows where trainees had to work together to survive. For example, the arc where they had to pass exams in a school was particularly touching when members of the 9th class sacrificed themselves to ensure the survival of the rest of the class ):

Aside from the main pairing, I also liked the second pairing a lot - watching them go from F-tier trainees to A-tier trainees through their hard work was so sweet and I wished there were more moments of them together.

Things I didn’t like:

This novel reminded me a lot of <这该死的求生欲>, where the main pairing also had an enemy-to-lover dynamic and ML was one of the bosses. More importantly, the writing style also reeks of chūnibyō from time to time. The way the novel described the interactions between the main couple and their appearances can come off as very immature-ish haha. That said, it does get better in the latter half of the story, especially after the two realized that they had special feelings for one another.

#review #danmei #惊悚练习生 #thriller trainee

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pmatga · 1 year ago

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Just found your blog and I really like it ❤️ so if it's not too much trouble more head cannons about your OC please

you didn't specify which oc you meant so fuck it. you get Multiple

blair spellman

idk if i've ever mentioned it before (i probably have and i just forgot lol) but she has fire powers like her dad! they aren't as strong as his are though bc she's still alive and fleshy and made up of water. she really doesn't use her powers for anything more than lighting a cigarette when she can't find her lighter, however; that's bc she can't control them all that well. like she's not accidentally setting shit on fire left and right (not since puberty at least), but if she has a great emotional outburst (especially an angry outburst), Bad Shit might happen. thankfully blair didn't really inherit their father's temper so Bad Shit doesn't really happen all that often. don't get me wrong, they Do have issues with anger but that's more due to trauma than anything related to bets (plus she deals with her anger issues in a different, yet still unhealthy way)

is the type to wear axe body spray in lieu of Actually showering because "it’s basically the same thing, right?"

prefers nightclubs to house parties.

another thing that i don't remember if i've ever mentioned before: they were on the track team back in high school. their coach once told them that if they worked hard enough, they could really go places (funny how that worked out). she's not nearly as good of a runner than she used to be, but she can still, say, outrun a swarm of ghosts if she tries hard enough (adrenaline is crazy man)

their last name, spellman, is a surname they decided for themself. and even after reconnecting with their mom's side of their bio family, they still keep their last name as spellman. it's Important to them.

has little to no social media presence. like they have accounts but they never post, they mostly just lurk

she accidentally burned down the last place she worked at (a 7/11). an argument between her and a coworker got heated (pun only slightly intended) and…well. i'm sure you can guess. thankfully no else aside from blair & her coworker were there and they got out more or less fine, so she didn't kill or seriously injure anyone (and she's lucky she didn't). and bc they could never really prove it was her---everything pointed to an electrical fire, even if they could never figure out how the fire got started so quickly nor why it didn't spread beyond the store---she never got in trouble for it nor did she have to pay for it. it scared the shit out of her though, and ever since she tends to stay away from the vicinity.

robert jadeite

if he were in the show, there'd be a running joke abt him having Just So Many shitty jobs. does he just quit/get fired a lot, or does he actually have 15+ jobs? we will never know. for example: waiter, late night gas station attendant, cashier at pacmart (walmart), working the drive-thru at pacdonalds (mcdonalds), pacbucks barista (or maybe starpacs? idk), the guy at a water park who tells you when you can go down the slide, etc. he has so many jobs and he hates every single one of them.

has a semi-popular youtube (pactube?) channel. all his videos are either "sitting in my car or on my kitchen/bathroom floor" style rant vids or 1-3 hour long vids on a hyperfixation-induced rabbit hole he'd gone down.

prefers house parties to nightclubs.

has pretty bad insomnia. he's lucky if he gets 4-5 hours of sleep a night.

he's a college dropout (mental health reasons + mid-semester identity crisis) and was majoring in marketing prior to that. he currently doesn't know what he wants to do with his life and doesn't like thinking abt it bc thinking abt the future scares him.

orbitalia spheros

she’s betrayus & stratos’ half-sister and her bio dad is japanese (or pac-japanese? since tokyo is called pac-tokyo). she didn't meet her bio dad until later in life, as rotunda never told him abt orbitalia's existence. things were shaky between the two of them at first (orbie & her dad i mean) but they're more or less alright now

sunny and orbitalia were best friends back in high school. they drifted apart some in college but they were still very close. orbie & zac were Also friends but weren't As close as she and sunny were.

she Does Not have a good relationship with either of her brothers; she's never really been close with either of them tbh. it's mostly why she almost never comes down to pacopolis except to pick up elliptica whenever she visits.

has made a few attempts to get back into the dating scene over the years, but each and every time these relationships end up dissolving bc her heart's just...not into it (and also bc well. never receiving closure on whatever happened to her husband kinda makes it hard for her to properly grieve which makes it hard to Actually move on). she's still friends with most of her exes though.

akahiro murasaki

was Not A Fan of his in-laws. this is mostly for two reasons: 1.) if there is one thing that both of the spheros brothers are equally good at, it’s at testing the patience of everyone forced by social convention to interact with them, and 2.) orbitalia told akahiro Some Really Concerning Shit abt growing up with rotunda as a mother and stratos & betrayus as brothers. y'know that thing where you're telling someone what you think is a funny story only for them to look at you in horror bc it was actually traumatic? yeah. so while he was willing to be civil for orbitalia's (and later elliptica's) sake, he didn't really go out of his way to be overly friendly to them.

is a transhet man (he/him), he & orbitalia were t4t

liked wearing boots with slight heels (much like his brother-in-laws ironically enough). not really so he'd seem taller (he was 5'9" and was perfectly content with that) but bc they looked good and that's it

was quietly self-confident. he looked good, he was good at what he did, he knew it, and he didn't necessarily feel the need to flaunt it (those kind of ppl annoyed the hell out of him tbh).

that being said he Did have some insecurities, mostly abt whether or not he was actually a good husband and (later on) a good father. as i've said before, he wasn't the most emotionally demonstrative person in the world and he worried abt whether or not orbitalia & elliptica knew that he loved them. orbitalia did (even if she did occasionally have her doubts bc anxiety be like that) and elliptica did too (at the time, at least. nowadays elli's not entirely sure)

gwendolyn hollow

her voiceclaim is sally from the nightmare before christmas

you know how i once mentioned that she uses secret tape recorders to record things? yeah. she does that so 1.) she doesn't have to just rely on her poor memory, 2.) she can decipher anything she doesn't understand later, and 3.) as a sort of audio diary.

is an appreciator of small things, like buttons and strings of ribbon, rocks, animal bones, and such. sometimes she will stare at little things that interest her for so long that griffin or even the good doctor pacenstein himself have to tell her to “move along, girl.”

slightly related to the above hc: pacenstein & griffin call her "girl" a lot. keep in mind she's at least 20 years old.

her middle name, elizabeth, is derived from pacenstein's ex-fiancée elizabeth from way back in the 1800s. and yes it's fucking weird that a.) griffin let his great+ uncle name his first and only child and b.) pacenstein named his grand niece after his ex. like sure it's just her middle name but still. weird shit.

isn't allowed to interact or even show her face to any visitors to pacenstein manor. this is bc the last time she interacted with a visitor (it was literally just to take their coat), they took one look at her, got freaked out, and made an excuse to leave. she was never really told Why but was led to believe it was bc she resembles her great-uncle. it's not.

genuinely doesn't know Jack Shit abt almost anything that's happened outside the castle and what little she Has learned has been history from like...200 years ago, so nothing recent. a whole fucking WAR happened within her lifetime and she's completely unaware of any of it.

griffin hollow

as the caretaker of pacenstein manor and the only one who can/is allowed to leave the castle, he’s usually the one who takes care of dr. pacenstein’s personal affairs---gathering supplies and equipment for them both (yes sometimes this includes Literal Graverobbing), arranging meetings with potential clients, and finding out any recent developments in pacworld (never hurts to keep informed!).

is really fucking cowardly and tends to bend towards dr. pacenstein's will, especially where gwen is concerned. he is Far Too Willing to throw her under the bus if it means getting his great+ uncle's approval.

much like his great-uncle (and much like most of his contemporaries tbh), he believes that his intelligence is far superior to most people’s and that others should be grateful to bask in his presence. unlike his great-uncle (and most of his contemporaries), however, he also knows that this isn’t a stance that endears him to others, so he usually shuts up abt it.

he doesn't express anger in the traditional sense. like he won’t yell (most of the time), get physically violent (again most of the time), or even directly tell someone he’s angry. instead, he chooses to express anger by doing this…passive-aggressive, just downright weird shit whenever he's mad abt something. like "accidentally" locking someone in a room/out of the house, hiding things (usually sentimental possessions or necessary items like keys), turning off the heating/air conditioner with no warning, etc..

#blair spellman #robert jadeite #orbitalia spheros #akahiro murasaki #gwendolyn hollow #griffin hollow #pmatga oc #pmatga #asks #anonymous #also i guess these aren't Really hcs bc i decide what is canon with them #but you get the idea

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sunnys567 · 2 years ago

Text

Friends in Strange Places Ch. 3

What if Vlad was good instead of evil? Link to chapter 1:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/39040329/chapters/97656390

-------------------------------------------------- Within a secret lab in a castle that once belonged to the Wisconsin Dairy King, light flickered on the face of Vlad Masters. He was focused very intensely on the soldering project he was working on. He hadn't left the lab in the last seven hours.

In the corner of the lab, two green vultures were picking through a pile of various machine bits. They looked over at Vlad, who was totally absorbed by his work, then made eye contact with each other. One of them coked an eyebrow and the other nodded.

"Oi, Vlad, ve're gonna take a quick break. Stretch our vings a bit, ya know?"

"Yes, yes, very good." Vlad replied, not looking up from his soldering. "Take as long as you need."

"Vouldn't hurt to take a break yourself, yeah? You've veen vorking in here an awful long time."

"Perhaps later. I don't quite feel the need for one yet."

The first vulture looked at the second one who just shrugged. He set the machine part in his beak down, and the two of them turned intangible and flew through the floor.

They returned to solidity as they arrived in one of Vlad's libraries. A third vulture was perched on one of the armchairs by the fireplace, a newspaper in his wings. He looked up at the other birds' arrival.

"Dat lunatic's not still vorking, is he?" He asked the other two. They nodded solemnly in response.

"Ve tried to convince him to take a break," The raspy voiced vulture said. "But he vouldn't go for it."

"D'oh ver Pete's sake!" The lead vulture threw up his wings in indignation, his newspaper pages splattering across the floor. "Dis is just getting ridiculous! I'm going to go knock some sense into dat guy!"

With that, he turned intangible and flew up through the ceiling. The other two looked at each other.

"Think ve should go too?" The vulture with the glasses asked his companion.

"Nah. Poor Vlad's gonna feel attacked enough vith just him up there. Besides, I'd like to catch up on da local politics." The raspy voiced vulture replied, rifling through the pile of disconnected newspaper.

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

"Plasmius!" Vlad's heart almost stopped as the bird popped up from the floor. "I have a bone ta pick vith you!"

"Can't it wait? I'm rather busy."

"Dat's exactly da problem! Ever since you returned from Amity Park you've done nothing but vork, vork, vork! If you're not in da lab, you're on da phone! And vhenever you do go out it's just to talk vork vith da suits!"

"My apologies for having a job. It's a thing humans have."

"Don't you sass me! You know I know how all dat stuff vorks you great buffoon!"

The vulture perched on Vlad's work table.

"Even ghosts need a break from time to time Vlad. I mean, I get vhy you don't want to come down to Florida with me and da birds, but why don't you go back down to Amity, eh? Ve're close to securing a path to the Fenton's portal. I bet dat ghost kid would be happy to see you. You of all people know how lonely it can get, being in his position."

"He's not lonely. He has friends who are aware of his situation and understand and accept him for his 'position'." Vlad lifted his goggles and looked at the vulture. "He's a teenager. I don't imagine he wants to spend his time hanging around with an old man like me."

"Ay ay ay." the vulture shook his head. "Vell, vhat about dose other two, yeah? You should go down and catch up vith dos freaks."

"Jack and Maddie are ghost hunters." Realizing the vulture wasn't going to leave him alone, Vlad begun packing away his tools. "Do I have to explain to you why it's a bad idea for someone like me to spend long periods of time around them?"

The vulture slowly sighed.

"Vlad. You and I both know you're better dan dat. You've had twenty years of practice keeping your powers hidden. Heck, da kid's veen living vith dem for months and he hasn't veen found out. And if dat doofus hasn't been caught, you're more dan safe."

"I don't want to bother them."

The vulture raised his eye brow at Vlad.

"Dat's veak Vlad. Ve saw how happy dos idiots vere to see you when dey came down here."

"I told you to stop spying on me when I have guests!"

"And I vant you to stop lying to my face, but ve can't all get vhat ve vant, can ve?"

The two of them glared at each other.

"You know, Vlad," the vulture's tone became uncharacteristically soft "You've been cooped up in dis castle with no one but us ghosts for da last two decades. Change can be scary, but it can also be good fer ya, you know? Personally, I tink you deserve to go after what makes you happy for a change, yeah?"

Vlad stared at his neatly organized soldering kit for a few seconds.

"Perhaps you're right."

"Finally!" the vulture threw up his wings and smiled "You're starting to listen to reason!"

"I'm going to the cabin for the week. That should provide a sufficient break."

The vulture's sour expression was back in an instant.

"Oh no, you're not fooling anyvun! You're gonna spend da whole veek collecting, and analyzing and basically da same stuff you do around here anyway. Dat cabin just means more vork!"

"Well, it'll be a break form your squawking, at any rate." Vlad said as the door to the lab slid open. "You three can handle the rest of the cleanup, can't you? Great. I'll be upstairs, packing for my trip."

The door slid closed before the lead vulture could respond.

"Oooooh, dat Plasmius." he fumed. "If he didn't give such good vacation time, I'd peck dat idiot's eyeballs out."

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

Maddie sighed next to Jack on the couch.

He was working on a cross stitch pattern of a ghost. She was holding an old photograph of a time she'd taken Danny to Amity Park Park when he was nine. In the photo Maddie was hugging the smiling Danny's shoulders. They both looked so happy.

They didn't seem to have days like that anymore.

"I miss Danny." she said out loud.

"I think he's up in his room." Jack responded without looking up from his work.

"Or did I send him to clean up the lab?" he tapped his chin thoughtfully with the needle.

"No, not like that Jack. It feels like we used to be a lot closer than we are now. Danny would always come to me about everything. Problems, secrets, or even just to ramble about space." Maddy smiled briefly at the memory before frowning again. "I'd give anything for him to open up to us. Or even just hear him list the moons of Jupiter or something."

"Speaking of space, he is a teenager Madds. Teenagers need space to grow and figure themselves out."

"I know Jack." Maddie sighed. "It just almost seems like he's purposely been avoiding us for the last few months. Have you noticed how quiet and nervous he's gotten? And it feels like it came on suddenly. Ever since the-"

Their conversation was interrupted by the doorbell.

"I'll get it!" Jack cried, practically leaping from his seat. Maddie smiled. That man was like a distractible puppy. She sighed and went back to staring longingly at the photo.

Jack opened the door and met the most dour looking letter carrier he'd ever seen. He wordlessly handed Jack a white envelope.

"Thanks man." Jack said.

Were you supposed to tip delivery people? Jack thought the mail carriers usually just dropped letters in the mailbox and left, so he wasn't sure what the protocol was here.

He had heard stories about the US postal service that were scarier than any ghosts he'd ever faced, so he figured he'd better tip the letter carrier, just to be safe.

He dug through his pockets for a coin and flipped it into the mail carrier's hand. The coin almost seemed to disappear in his palm. Weird.

Jack began to retreat into his house. "By the way," he paused halfway through closing the door "You might want to get some sun, pal. You're as pale as a ghost." He shut the door the rest of the way before the carrier could respond.

There was no return address on the envelope. In fact, there wasn't any address at all. Not even a stamp. Not a clue as to who it was for. Guess I'll just have to open it and find out. Jack thought, as he sliced open the envelope with a Fenton Letter Opener they kept on the table near the door. He pulled out the contents, which were a piece of paper and a brochure. He quickly skimmed the letter as he walked back to Maddy.

"It seems to be for Danny." He said, handing the letter and brochure over to her. "Some kind of science-convention thingy he was randomly selected for."

Maddie sat up and hungrily scanned the papers. She was beaming when she finished reading.

"Jackpot!" Maddie pounded her fist in the air. "This is is exactly what the doctor ordered!" she said, seemingly talking to the paper. Where's Danny?"

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

Up in his room, Danny was in an intense state of focus. He summoned a small ball of ecto energy and held it, clenching his hand into a tight fist.

Tucker and Sam, who were sitting on a bean bag and an office chair respectfully, gave each other doubtful glances.

The energy around Danny's hand began to glow brighter. Sweat began to gather around Danny's forehead. He tried as hard as he could to maintain the ball's stability while feeding it more energy, but eventually he lost control and a giant ecto beam shot out of Danny's hand, the kickback knocking him off the bed.

Sam and Tucker ducked as the beam bounced wildly around Danny's room before flying out the open window. A horrible squacking sound was heard from outside.

"That...was probably nothing." Tucker said.

"Hey, um, maybe we should move this somewhere safer, preferably without delicate computers and open windows?" Sam asked.

"Ugh!" Danny grunted in frustration as he got up from the floor. "I've been practicing forever, but I haven't made any progress!" Danny looked down at his hand. "How did Vlad even do that?"

"Maybe you could ask him?" Sam suggested.

"I'd love to!" Danny threw his arms into the air before flopping down onto his bed. "But he hasn't been back since the Axiom fiasco."

"Wait, seriously? But that was..."

"Nearly two months ago." Danny finished for her.

"Really? Dang." Tucker said. He looked over at Sam. "I thought you said he'd try to clear up his schedule."

"It was an educated guess," Sam raised her hands defensively. "But still just a guess. Does seem kind of weird, though."

"I overheard Mom say she's basically given up on calling him." Danny said. Sam frowned at that statement.

"That's a shame." Tucker said. "I'd hoped we'd see him again. That guy was cool. Kind of scary, but cool. Equal parts scary and cool."

Danny laughed at that.

"I know what you mean. I literally thought he was a nightmare I was having the first time I ran into him."

"He must really hate your parents, Danny." Sam said.

"What?"

"I mean, he's obviously avoiding them. Unless he's got beef with you. You didn't say anything stupid to him, did you?"

"What, no! But why would he be avoiding my parents? They're his best friends."

"You know Danny," Tucker said "We're your best friends, and you typically don't go twenty years in between seeing us."

"Guys!" Danny was starting to get ticked. He didn't know why Sam and Tucker were so on Vlad's case. "When Vlad got turned half-ghost by the accident, he didn't have nearly as much information as we did. He was figuring everything out on his own. It's perfectly reasonable that he was worried about slipping up and accidentally revealing himself to someone, especially my ghost-hating parents. I mean, remember how worried we were at first?"

"Okay, but he can control his powers now." Sam said. "So why's he still hiding?"

That made Danny pause. Why was Vlad still-

Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by Danny's door being kicked open.

"Dad!" Danny said "What have I told you about- wait, Mom?"

"Sorry Sweetie, I know privacy's important, but I was just so excited to show you this!"

She thrust out a piece of paper towards him.

"The...Rekluks Center Science Symposium?" Danny read.

"Working to lure and capture unique scientific minds with our educational display of rare scientific collections?" Tucker read from the pamphlet.

"Yup. Pack you bags Danny, we're going to Florida!"

"What?" Danny said.

"What?" Tucker and Sam said together.

"What?" Jazz head popped into Danny's doorframe. -------------------------------

"At least you're going somewhere." Jazz moped. Tucker and Sam had long since left, and Danny was waiting in the living room for his mom to finish getting ready to go. "Meanwhile I'm doomed to special alone bonding time with Dad."

"And I'm stuck on a plane all weekend with Mom. Want to trade?"

"I'd love to. That science symposium actually sounds interesting. Who were the organizers agian...Rekluks?" Jazz narrowed her eyes at the pamphlet. "Okay, that sounds more like some kind of Bionicle name than a real organization, which I guess makes sense for a company run by a bunch of weirdos in Florida." Danny raised an eyebrow.

"Bionicles Jazz?" he smirked.

"Oh! Look at whatever Mom and Dad are doing!"

Danny looked over and saw his dad handing his mom some kind of belt.

"To keep you safe from ghosts, I converted the family ghost shield into this! I call it the Spectre Deflector! No ghost creeps gonna lay a hand on you in Florida!"

Or talon, Danny thought to himself.

"That's wonderful Jack!" Maddie smiled, fastening the belt around her waist. "Are you sure you and Jazz will be alright without the ghost shield for the weekend?" Maddie smiled, fastening the belt around her waist.

"The two of us'll be fine. We've got all the other ghost weapons here. I'd rather you had the protection. You never now what can happen." Jack narrowed his eyes ominously.

"Yeah, I might get bored to death." Danny muttered.

Jazz patted him sympathetically on the back.

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

"Isn't this nice Danny?" Maddie smiled at him from the other side of the table.

"Our own private plane for a weekend getaway with just the two of us?"

"Do you want the truth, or one of those little white lies I tell you to not hurt your feelings?" Danny scowled.

Maddie sighed.

"Look Danny, I know this was kind of sprung on you, but maybe we should try not starting off on the wrong foot. Just look out at that sunny Florida coastline!"

"Folks, this is your captain speaking," a voice on the overhead said. "If you look to your left, you'll notice the cold hard landscape of the Colorado Rocky Mountains."

"Colorado?" Danny looked out the window. "But that's nowhere near Florida!"

"And if you look to your right," the captain continued "You'll see me evacuating the plane before it goes careening out of control."

Danny and Maddie rushed over to the other side of the plane just in time to see the pilot falling for a few seconds before he was obscured by a parachute.

They looked at each other before rushing to the front of he plane. The cockpit was empty.

Maddie jumped into the pilot's seat and grabbed the controls.

"They're jammed!" she grunted, yanking ineffectively at the wheel. "I don't know how we're going to get out of this one!"

"I know one way." Danny quietly groaned. He crouched down and transformed.

This wasn't at all how he wanted his mom to find out, but it was objectively better than dying.

He stood up and grabbed Maddie's shoulders. The light on the buckle of the Spectre Deflector glowed green, and Danny was suddenly enveloped in painful green electricity. He stumbled backwards and fell to the ground, transforming back into his human form.

Maddie, who'd been too occupied to notice what Danny had been doing, shortly gave up with the controls. She looked up and saw Danny dazed on the ground.

"Danny!" she jumped out of her seat. "Are you alright?"

She moved to put a hand to Danny's forehead, but he slapped it away.

"I'm fine mom!"

A brief look of hurt flashed across Maddie's face, but it was soon replaced by a focused determination as she scanned the cabin. She suddenly shot up and dashed back into the cabin of the plane, shortly returning with two grey backpacks with giant green 'F's stitched onto them.

"Put that on!" she said, thrusting one at Danny. "We're jumping!"

Danny swung the backpack over his shoulder as he followed Maddie out of the cockpit. Once she'd double checked Danny's parachute was secure, Maddie threw open the emergency exit door and she and Danny jumped.

They freefell for a few seconds.

"Three...two...one! Deploy you chute Danny!"

Danny pulled the string, and after the initial jolt, he and Maddie were both gently floating to the ground.

"Why on earth did you bring your own parachutes?" Danny asked, the adrenaline beginning to wear off.

"In case ghosts attacked the plane."

"Seriously? Why would a ghost ever be involved in hijacking a plane?"

"Folks, this is your captain speaking," Maddie and Danny both looked over to see the pilot floating down next to them "I'm here to inform you that you've been the victim of a cruel hoax."

There was a sudden pop and a flash of light, and the pilot and his parachute were transformed into a green ghostly mail carrier.

"Happy landing!" he said before flying out of sight.

Maddie gave Danny a smug look. He crossed his arms saltily as the two of them descended below the treetops.

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

They passed the next few hours in silence, Maddie slicing her way through the foliage, Danny following closely (but not too closely) behind. He was very careful not to accidentally touch her.

Eventually, the sun began to dip below the horizon and Maddie decided they should stop by a small stream to make camp.

Maddie put Danny in charge of making the fire while she set up camp. Luckily, she'd happened to bring along sleeping bags in dehydrated pills, which Danny thought was kind of insane, but admittedly convenient.

When she was done setting those up, alongside a lean-to shelter, Maddie sat down next to the tired Danny by the fire. She started rifling through her hip bag.

"Fenton jerky?

"Why do you have all this?" Danny asked, taking a piece.

"It never hurts to be prepared Danny. Case in point." Maddy gestured to the woods around them.

"Yeah. You wouldn't happen to have a cell phone in there, would you?"

"How would that help you if a ghost attacked?" Maddie laughed.

Once Danny had finished his jerky, he noticed that his mom hadn't even started hers.

"Y'know Danny," she said, fiddling with the jerky in her hands "Being stranded in the woods aside, I'm glad we're getting to spend this time together."

"I guess."

There was another pause. Maddie sighed.

"I feel like we haven't been doing that a lot lately."

"I'm a teenager now. I have homework, and I hang out with Sam and Tucker, and you and dad have your ghost stuff."

"I know teenagers have their own lives and don't want to hang out with boring adults all the time, Danny. I was a teenager once and I've already raised one." Maddie laughed briefly before her face turned serious.

"I understand that you need space, but it just seems like ever since the accident-"

"The accident has nothing to do with anything!" Danny said a little too quickly. Maddie looked at him for a few seconds before she continued talking.

"Look, Danny. It's okay if you're mad at your father and me. I wouldn't blame you. It's just that, whatever's going on, I don't want you to feel like you have to hide it from us. "

As Maddie was talking, she reached out and brushed Danny's hand. Danny yelped at the shocking sensation and pulled his hand away.

"Don't touch me!" he snapped. Maddie looked like he'd slapped her.

"Danny, I'm sorry, I-"

"I'm going to sleep now." Danny shot up and began dragging one of the sleeping bags away from the makeshift tent. Maddie didn't stop him.

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

Danny was having trouble sleeping. He couldn't get his mom's hurt face out of his head.

He hadn't meant to snap at her. Really, he hadn't. The Spectre Deflector just hurt. A lot. He knew how that must have looked to his mom, but what was he supposed to tell her?

Danny rolled over and sighed. What did she mean about the accident? Sure, some of his time had been eaten up by ghost hunting, especially when the portal first opened, but major ghosts only popped up a few times a month at most now. He'd actually gone back to making his curfew and turning in his homework. Things were getting better, so what was worrying his mom?

Had she noticed him trying to hide his powers? Did she notice how nervous he got whenever they brought out their latest device? She'd never noticed his powers acting up, but did she notice him running away at random times?

Danny thought he'd been hiding it well, but his mom seemed to realize that something was off. Were other people noticing? Did his dad and Jazz notice? Okay, his dad probably hadn't, but Jazz had been offering to drive him to school a lot more lately, and there was that incident with the guidance counsellor.

At the time Danny had been focused on the fact that Spectra turned out to be a joy-sucking ghost, but Jazz really had been trying to get Danny some help.

She'd also mentioned the accident. Just like his mom had.

Was keeping his ghost powers a secret affecting his relationship with his family?

Danny sat up and got out of his sleeping bag. This was a lot. He needed a break from thinking, and he needed to pee.

He'd barely walked a few feet into the trees when he felt the familiar chill run up his body and out his mouth.

His ghost sense.

Danny was suddenly on high alert.

He barely heard it. An almost imperceptible click, but it was enough to make Danny instinctively lean left, just in time to see a blue beam shoot past him on the right.

He squinted in the direction the beam came from and spotted the faintest glow amongst the branches. There was a soft rustling as the glow retreated into the woods.

"Oh no you don't!" Danny said, thrusting up his arms. "I'm Going Ghost!"

The woods were briefly illuminated by the dual white rings that travelled up and down his body, changing him into ghost form.

The woods darkened again as his transformation concluded, but now Danny's ghostly aura lit up the area around him, making it easier to navigate the woods.

"Even when I'm on vacation, you ghosts just can't leave me alone!" Danny complained as he flew after the ghost.

He didn't have to fly for long before the light from the other ghost was once again visible through the trees. Danny quickly shot out an ecto blast. He heard the snapping of wood and a deep grunt as the blast hit its target.

Danny stopped flying as he emerged into a small clearing. Standing at the other end, shoulder slightly smoking, was none other than-

"Skulker?"

"Surprise whelp!" Skulker said, a bazooka on his shoulder, that Danny somehow hadn't noticed before, whining to life.

Danny barely moved out of the way in time to hear the crunch of a tree splintering apart where he had just been.

"What are you doing in Colorado? And how did you get back in your ecto skeleton?"

"If there's one thing I've learned as a hunter, it's how to be patient and resourceful!"

"Um, actually, that's two-" Danny was interrupted by Skulker whipping out a wrist blaster and nailing Danny square in the chest. The blaster wasn't as powerful as the bazooka, but it was enough to knock Danny back into the trees.

Danny recovered pretty quickly, though, and managed to look up just in time to see a blue net headed straight for him. He quickly blasted it to shreds before retreating into the trees, hoping that would make it harder for Skulker to hit him.

After flying a good distance away, Danny looked over his shoulder. He didn't see Skulker.

Danny stopped and looked around. He couldn't spot any signs of Skulker anywhere. Where was he?

A jolt of electric pain suddenly hit Danny in the back, making him cry out. The pain spread through the rest of his body and lingered, forcing Danny out of the air. He felt himself transforming back into human mode.

"What the-" Danny tried to transform back but it didn't work. "How did you-"

He looked up and saw Skulker standing over him, a wide grin on his face and a small taser-looking device clutched in his hand.

"This device designed to suppress your ghost powers. For the next few hours, you're nothing more than a pathetic human. I call it, the Ecto Minimus!"

"Wow, did you come up with that name all by yourself?" Danny hoped his sarcastic tone was covering up how terrified he was.

"You may have bested me back on your own turf, whelp," Skulker said, hoisting Danny up by his shirt collar "But the great outdoors is the domain of Skulker, the greatest hunter in the Ghost Zone!"

Danny gulped.

Suddenly, a shrill unearthly battle cry rang through the night, and a large shape descended on Skulker from the treetops, causing him to drop Danny to the ground.

Danny watched as Skulker struggled to remove the attacker from himself, but they clung on tight and relentlessly pounded at his helmet.

"You get your filthy mitts off my son you giant hunk of ecto-junk!"

"Mom?"

Maddie Fenton continued to slash and yell. Sparks began flying off of Skulkers helmet in every direction. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Skulker turned himself intangible, Maddie's screams finally relenting as she fell to the ground. Skulker flew backwards a few feet and then turned invisible.

"Your invisibility tricks won't work on me ecto-freak!" Maddie yelled into the trees

"If I see you anywhere near me or my son I will personally slice every limb of your ecto armour to shreds!"

Maddie turned and walked towards Danny, her face softening.

"Danny, are you alright?"

"Y-yeah, I'm okay..."

"Then you'd better have a good explanation," her face hardened again "for what you were doing so far from camp young man."

She reached down and grabbed Danny's arm.

"Wait! Mom, don't-"

"Oh no, you are not getting out of this." Maddie interrupted, pulling Danny onto his feet. "Running into the middle of the woods by yourself as night is incredibly dangerous."

To Danny's surprise, the Spectre Deflector didn't go off. Wow. That Ecto Minimus really worked. The name still sucked.

"I didn't run off, Sk- the ghost attacked me at camp."

"And you ran into the woods instead of towards me? Danny, that's basically playing right into its hand!"

"It wasn't like I was trying to get killed by a ghost!"

Maddie sighed. It wasn't an angry sigh, though.

"I'm sorry Danny. You're right, it's not like you got attacked on purpose. I was just so worried. When I woke up to those horrible noises, and then you weren't in your sleeping bag, and- anyway it doesn't matter."

Maddie began rifling through her bag. She pulled out a key and inserted it into the Spectre Deflector.

Danny felt more guilt being added on to the already immense pile in his stomach.

"Mom, I-"

Before Danny could finish speaking she'd snapped the Deflector around his own waist.

"I didn't think we'd actually run into any ghosts on this trip," she said "But, since I seemed to have been wrong about that, you'd better wear that for protection Danny. And stay close to me. Who knows what could be lurking in these woods."

With that, Maddie turned around and began slicing through the foliage. Danny gave the Specter deflector a few experimental tugs. It was not coming off.

"Well this is just great." he said to himself before setting off to follow his mom.

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

They walked in silence for a long while. Maddie was continuously scanning their surroundings as they walked, ready for action. She didn't notice how Danny flinched every time a leaf so much as rustled.

He hated to admit it, but Danny was feeling incredibly off-kilter and vulnerable without his powers. It was like a part of him was missing. A part of him that would be really useful if they happened to get attacked by a ghost, which was likely in this situation.

Maddie suddenly froze and threw her arm out in front of Danny. He almost bumped into her in the dark.

She turned to look at him and pointed ahead. Danny wasn't sure how he missed it but, just on the other side of the bushed they were standing behind, was a glowing green moose. It's head was bent over a small stream.

Danny had never seen a moose before and was rather taken aback by the creature's size. Was it just huge because it was a ghost? Danny knew moose and deer were different, but this ghost was a lot bigger than the deer he'd seen back at home.

The ghost moose lifted it's head and turned to look directly where Maddie and Danny were standing.

All three of them just stood there looking at each other for a solid minute. It felt like an hour.

"I'm going to approach it." Maddie finally whispered. "Try and scare it off."

"Mom are you crazy!" Danny hissed back. "Look at the size of that thing, there's no way it'll be scared by you!"

"No matter how big it is, Danny, it's still a ghost. And any ghost that knows what's good for it will fear me."

That statement kind of made Danny fear her, even if he wasn't technically a ghost right now. He held his breath as Maddie stepped out from behind the bushes. She approached the ghost slowly but confidently, Fenton Machete poised in front of her torso.

The moose's fur began to fluff up and its ears went back.

Did that mean his mom's plan was working? Was the ghost scared?

A rustling from above made Danny to snap his head up. Above him in the trees, three pairs of glowing red eyes were staring down at him.

"Mom?" Danny said, right as another rustle sounded in the bushes behind the moose.

"Shh!"

"Mom, the moose isn't alone."

Maddie turned her head around to look at Danny. That was when the the moose began to bat the ground with it's front hooves. Danny didn't know how he knew, but he knew that that wasn't a good sign.

"Mom look out! The moose!" he shouted.

Maddie barely had time to jump out of the way as the moose attempted to charge her. It sailed past, but turned right back around and started pawing the ground again.

A bunch of green glowing goats jumped out from the bushes Danny had seen rustling earlier and started bleating like crazy, their cries causing a cacophony of chaos and confusion. Many of them tried to ram Maddie, but she fought them back expertly, dodging half of them and deflecting the other half with her machete. It was both incredible and terrifying to watch.

Danny's eyes were drawn away from the tense battle by the sound of horrible hissing above him. The raccoons were all standing straight up and their teeth were bared menacingly.

In the distance Danny saw some large green birds approaching from above. Danny assumed they would be about as friendly as the rest of the ghost animals.

"I can handle them Danny!" Maddie called from the throng of goats. "It's you I'm worried about! Run!"

It was like a battle was going on in his body. On the one hand, he was powerless, unarmed, and in great danger here, but he couldn't just leave-

"I SAID RUN DANNY!"

The part of Danny's brain telling him to run won out at the desperation in his mother's voice, and he was suddenly fleeing from the ghost animals as fast as his legs could take him.

It was hard to navigate through the thick brush in the dark. Danny almost tripped at least twenty time, but he kept running. His lungs began to burn, but he didn't stop.

After a bit, Danny noticed a light in the distance. For a second he was worried it was Skulker, but the light was more yellow than Skulker's sterile white aura. Danny had no idea what that light could be, but he decided to find out. He got as close as he could without being detected and stopped running.

Big mistake.

Every muscle in his body was suddenly overwhelmed with exhaustion.. Danny began panting, gulping in as much air as he could, but it didn't help the burning in his lungs.

Danny looked into the light. His vision had actually gone blurry from the exertion, but he could see that there was a person holding an electric lantern. He hoped they were friendly.

"Daniel?"

Wait a minute, he knew that voice.

"Vlad?"

"What in the sweet sarsaparilla are you-"

The sound of rusting leaves interrupted them.

"Get behind me." Vlad commanded, reaching to push Danny out of the way.

"No, Vlad, wait I-"

Too late. Vlad's hand made contact with Danny, and the light on the Spectre Deflector went off. Vlad screamed as green electricity enveloped him. He yanked his hand away from Danny and fell to the ground. The sparks faded, but Vlad was still dazed.

Danny's head snapped toward the woods where the rustling was getting louder. He realized he was too weak and tired to fight back or run as he looked between the dazed Vlad and the rustling trees, panic rising.

He braced himself for the worst as the noises were suddenly right next to them. A group of small green animals burst from the foliage, heading straight towards Danny and Vlad. They were moving too fast for Danny to identify them all, but he was pretty sure saw some rabbits and chipmunks.

Danny instinctively threw his arms up in front of his face, but the animals just ran right past the two of them, disappearing back into the woods. They either ran around or between Vlad and Danny.

Danny watched the swarm of animals until they stopped coming. A green squirrel jumped down from above somewhere and landed beside Vlad. It turned to face him and began chittering wildly, waving it's arms frantically.

"Sorry, Joe." Vlad said, leaning on his elbow to face the squirrel. "I left the translator back at the lodge. I don't know what you're trying to tell me, but rest assured, if there's trouble afoot, I will find and take care of it." Vlad said the last bit with a finality that almost made Danny shudder.

This seemed to satisfy the squirrel, who ran off after the other animals. The woods were suddenly quiet again.

"Well," Vlad grunted, pushing himself onto his knees. "Something seems to have gotten them riled up."

"Yeah. Uh, are you okay?" Danny asked, offering a hand to help him up.

"Yes dear boy, I'm quite alri-" as Vlad grabbed Danny's hand, the indictor light on the Spectre Deflecter went off again and Vlad was once again screaming and sparking. Panicking, Danny dropped his hand, causing Vlad to fall back down to the ground. The electricity quickly vanished.

"Oops, sorry. You should, uh, probably avoid touching me."

"Noted." Vlad gritted from the ground.

Danny was worried he'd done some serious damage. He let out a sigh of relief when Vlad finally sat up.

"Beef brisket," Vlad swore as he rubbed his head "Whatever you've got there packs quite the punch."

"My dad calls it the Spectre Deflector. He converted the house ghost shield into a belt to protect my mom from ghosts on our trip."

"I suppose a personal protective device of that nature would require such a powerful regulator." Vlad nodded. "But why on earth isn't it effecting you?"

"My powers got disrupted. I'm all human for the next...well, I don't actually know how long." The Ecto Minimus did wear off, right? Skulker had implied it did. Danny sure hoped it did. "But I am zero per cent ghost right now, I guess." "The Spector Deflector can disrupt your powers?"

"No, it electrocutes me too. I ran into Skulker earlier. He's got some kind of new gizmo."

"Butter biscuits! I thought Skulker had abandoned this area! And here I thought this would be a nice peaceful week of quiet research." Vlad floated back onto his feet and brushed himself off. "You mentioned your mother. Is she around?"

"Yeah, but we got separated a bit ago. I think Skulker rigged up this whole trip as a way to get to me."

"I suppose that makes sense. Which direction were you with her last? We should start walking."

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

"...and so after my mom kicked Skulker's butt we ran into a buch of ghost animals and got seperated." Danny finished explaining as he and Vlad walked.

"It seems Skulker's caused you quite a bit of trouble this weekend. He always has been rather persistent. And annoying."

"Can't argue with you there." Danny laughed. "So, what brings you to this neck of the woods?"

"Ghost research."

"Can't you do that back in Wisconsin?"

"As it happens, Skulker used to use these very woods as a sort of practice hunting ground. He left it many years ago, but the spirits' of the beasts Skulker slayed still linger here, making it one of the most lucrative spots for ghost research. Outside of the Ghost Zone itself, of course."

"I didn't know animals could leave ghosts."

"Didn't we fight three such spectres the last time we met?"

"Oh. Yeah, I mean, I kinda thought ghosts like that just...formed I guess?"

"It is true that some creatures seem to be able to manifest a form from the excess ectoplasm in the Ghost Zone. I assume the formation of the ghosts in these woods was somewhat relevant to the spectral nature of their hunter, but it is quite difficult to determine what truly causes a ghost to form. Similar trials have yielded completely different results, so the question of what ghosts are and where they come from may perhaps always be a mystery."

Danny was too stunned to speak. It was like someone had taught his parents to talk fancy.

They continued to walk in silence for a bit.

Danny suddenly rememebered something that he wanted to talk to Vlad about.

"Vlad." Danny said. "We haven't seen you in months."

"I've been busy, Daniel." Vlad said. "Between my CEO duties and arduous ghost research, it can be rather difficult to find the time to stop by."

Danny thought back to his conversation with Sam and Tucker.

"Do you...actually want to see us?"

"What? Of course, don't be ridiculous."

Vlad seemed genuinely taken aback by Danny's accusation. Danny didn't want to offend him, but something about the whole situation just wasn't sitting right, and Danny knew that it would continue to bug him if he didn't find out. And if he didn't find out now, then he might not see Vlad for another few months.

"To be honest, if really feels like you don't."

"Daniel, I told you, I'm extremely busy, and-"

"It's been months. You've only stopped by once since the reunion. And you don't pick up the phone when my mom calls you."

"As I said," Vlad's tone was steadily getting less friendly. "I'm-"

"Busy, yeah, I know." Danny was running out of patience too. "I get that you've got a lot going on, but honestly it just seems like you can't be bothered to haul your butt down to Amity to see us."

"That's enough Daniel. Drop it."

"Are you telling me you're too busy for a five-minute phone conversation? Or even an e-mail?"

"I said drop it."

"I just want to know why. Are you still angry at them? You say you're not, but you act like you-"

"How could I be angry at them?!" Vlad's eyes glowed a dangerous red. "They're my only friends! You have no idea what you're talking about!"

Danny took a startled step back.

The red glow faded from Vlad's eyes. He looked horrified by what he'd just done.

"Daniel, I-"

A blue blast suddenly came out of nowhere and hit Danny, knocking him back into a tree.

"Daniel!" Vlad cried. He turned to face where the beam had come from, anger in his eyes.

Skulker stepped out from the shadows, a wide grin on his metal face.

"Well, what do you know," he smiled "I didn't expect to run into both halfas in the same place."

A black ring appeared around Vlad's waist.

"You have five seconds to explain who you are and what you want," the ring split in two, transforming him into his ghost form. "Before I personally tear you apart piece by piece."

"Vlad, that's Skulker," Danny said from the ground. The impact from the tree had left him too dazed to get up. "He's here for my pelt."

"That's Skulker? He was a lot smaller the last time I saw him. When did he get that armour?"

"You like it?" Skulker gestured to his suit. "I've had some upgrades! Now,"

Skulker raised his arm and fired at Vlad with a double barreled wrist blaster. Vlad went intangible and sunk into the ground.

Danny felt Vlad grab him from behind and rise into the air. He set Danny down on a particularly thick tree branch.

"Stay here." Vlad said, voice firm. "This shouldn't take long."

"Where else would I go?" Danny muttered, clutching the trunk of the tree as Vlad flew away.

After getting some distance from Danny, Vlad threw some pink energy blasts at Skulker. Unfortunately, he was able to dodge most of Vlad's hits using the the trees as cover. A few of Vlad's blasts did manage to hit Skulker, but they didn't seem to do much damage to his sturdy armour.

Skulker soon began firing back with his wrist blaster, but Vlad was able to use the trees to the same advantage Skulker had. Vlad was more nimble than Skulker, so he managed to avoid all of Skulker's blasts.

As Vlad dodged, he moved closer to Skulker and Danny saw him charge up ecto energy in his arm like he had the night he fought Technus. Once Vlad was close enough, he dashed over to Skulker and grabbed his wrist blaster with his charged-up hand, melting the blaster clean off Skulker's arm.

Vlad smirked as he unceremoniously dropped the deformed lump of metal to the ground.

Vlad threw a punch at Skulker, but Skulker managed to dodge it and jabbed Vlad with a familiar device. Danny's heart stopped as he watched him fall to the ground, screaming and surrounded by pink electricity.

The black rings returned, reverting Vlad to his human form.

A rare look of panic crossed Vlad's face. Some black stars sparked around him as he unsuccessfully attempted to change back into his ghost form.

Vlad pushed himself up from the ground and threw all his momentum into a punch directed at Skulker.

Grinning, Skulker reached out and caught Vlad's oncoming fist. Vlad could barely stifle a pained noise as his hand made contact with the hard metal of Skulker's armour.

"Nice try, Plasmius." Skulker sneered. "But I'm afraid both of you are useless in this form, and that terrifying blue hunter is currently occupied by my previous conquests, leaving both your pelts ripe for the picking."

"Ew." Danny and Vlad said at the same time.

"Complain all you want," Skulker pointed his arm canon directly at Vlad's face

"There's nothing you can do to escape your fate."

The gun began to whine. Vlad shut his eyes from the glare. Danny clutched the trunk of the tree even tighter.

SHWINK!

There was a sudden blur of motion, and Skulker's canon arm fell clean off, the glow from the barrel fading away.

Danny didn't recognize the figure standing beside Skulker right away. They were covered from head to toe in dark mud and leaves, which was probably why no one had noticed their approach.

"I warned you to stay away from my son ghost!"

"Mom?"

"Maddie?"

Maddie moved with incredible speed. She danced and hopped around Skulker, hacking at his armour with her Fenton Machete.

Skulker tried to fight her off, but his clunky armour clearly wasn't designed to take on such an agile opponent at close range. Bits of metal and sparks flew off of Skulker as he desperately flailed about, failing to hinder the enraged Maddie in any way. His other arm soon joined the first one on the ground.

"This is what happens when you mess with me ghost!" Maddie cried as she jammed the Fenton Machete into Skulker's face.

Skulker's head went flying and landed a few meters away. A tiny green blob with limb's crawled out from inside of it.

"I yield! I yield!" he squeaked "You are the superior hunter! I admit it! I'm out of here!"

The tiny Skulker turned intangible and dove into the ground.

Behind Maddie, the body of Skulker's now empty armour swayed and fell to the ground with a crash.

Danny and Vlad just blinked.

Maddie looked at Vlad.

"Now, what in the sweet sarsaparilla are you doing in Colorado, Vlad?"

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

"It's very fortunate we ran into you out there, Vlad." Maddie said. "You're sure it's not a bother having us here?"

"Oh don't be ridiculous Maddie." Vlad smiled "What else am I going to do? Just send you two out there to fend for yourselves in those treacherous woods? Preposterous. Anyway, this is where you'll be staying."

After clearing up some confusion and getting Danny out of the tree, Vlad had led the group back to his log villa. It was smaller than his mansion, but it was still quite big. Vlad told them it was a very old structure, but it had had electricity and running water installed at some point, which Danny was very thankful for.

Vlad had offered to give them a tour, but after spending hours on edge in the woods at night, Danny and Maddie just wanted to go to sleep. Vlad was very understanding and had led them directly to the spare bedrooms.

"Ooh, this is much ritzier than our makeshift campsite, eh Danny?" Maddie gently elbowed Danny in the side. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to change into a less muddy jumpsuit."

With that, Maddie walked into the bedroom and shut the door.

"She brought an extra jumpsuit, but no cell phone." Danny wasn't even surprised anymore.

"Yes, that does sound like Maddie." Vlad smiled fondly. "I'll show you your room now, Daniel."

Danny took a look around as they walked down the hall. All the walls in this house seemed to be made of wood planks or logs. It was kind of cool, looking at all the knots and long swirls of the grain. The floors were also wood, but they were mostly covered by fuzzy red carpeting.

They turned a corner, and Danny was blown away by the number of doorframes he saw. This house seemed to have infinity rooms.

"You sure have a lot of spare rooms. I didn't think you'd have too many guests here."

"Oh no, besides for the all the ghost animals, I never have company. The ones who originally built this house likely did. I believe that they had a rather large family. Anyway, here we are."

Vlad stopped walking and opened a door to reveal a room that was pretty similar to the one Maddie was staying in. Danny stepped in and looked around. The colours of the bed spread were very pale. The whole bed looked very soft. And comfy. Just looking at the bed seemed to increase Danny's already pretty high levels of tiredness.

He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard a chittering sound somewhere behind him. A green squirrel seemed to fall from the ceiling and landed on Vlad's shoulder. Vlad did not seem particularly surprised by this.

"Much appreciated, Joe." he said, accepting something shiny from the squirrel's mouth. Vlad tossed the object to Danny.

"Figured you could use that." he said.

Danny looked at the object in his hand. It was a key. He inserted it into the Spectre Deflector and turned it. There was an audible click and the belt unstrapped itself and fell from Danny's waist.

"Thanks." he said, picking up the Deflector and stuffing it in his pocket with the key. "But how did you get it?"

"I simply asked my friend here." Vlad smiled, gesturing to the squirrel on his shoulder. "I would have retrieved it myself, but it seems my intangibility yet to return."

The squirrel chittered indignantly on Vlad's shoulder.

"Ah yes, of course." Vlad dug somewhere under his collar and pulled out an acorn. He held it out to the squirrel, who snatched it and scampered away.

"You'd think providing them sanctuary would be enough of a reward on it's own." He said, watching the squirrel dart down the hall. "Then again, I suppose this isn't my house. I just pay for it."

"Wait, the animals live here?"

"Yes. Many years ago, when Skulker used to terrorize the animals here, I found out that he would persist after them even when they'd already been killed. I suppose he was testing the effectiveness of his gear on ghosts as well as the living. It felt cruel to torment those creatures endlessly, and Skulker had learned very quickly not to mess with me, so I told the animals that they could hide in the house. Even after Skulker left most of them stuck around. I still see them going in and out of here every time I stop by."

"So it's a real animal house here." Danny said.

Vlad smiled a little at Danny's joke.

"Your powers haven't returned yet, have they?" he asked.

Danny looked down at his hand. He tried to turn it invisible, but nothing happened.

"Nope."

"Shame. I wonder how long this lasts." Vlad stared at his own hand for a few seconds. "It's strange. For quite a while I actually despised my ghostliness and would have done anything to get rid of it. Even today I don't know if I'd say I like it, but now that it's gone, I feel sort of..."

"Incomplete?"

"Yes, that's the word. Anyway, I'll leave you now. I'm sure you're anxious to get some sleep." Vlad gave Danny a wave as he walked away.

Danny stared at the door where Vlad had just been. He knew exactly what he meant. The first month after the accident he'd have done anything to undo it, but now, well, he wasn't so sure. He'd kind of grown to like his powers. He probably wouldn't have any problems with being half-ghost if he didn't have to keep it a secret from his family. That was kind of the only downside. That, and getting electrocuted by the Spectre Deflector.

Exhaustion began to overtake Danny. He gave in and faceplanted into the bed. He wanted to lay there forever, but after about thirty seconds his body reminded him what he had been doing before Skulker showed up.

He'd needed to pee two hours ago and he hadn't. Now he really needed to pee. Quietly grumbling, Danny pushed himself off of the bed and began searching the halls, on the hunt for a bathroom.

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

Danny was completely lost. He couldn't find a bathroom, or the way back to his room.

Having the ability to fly and turn intangible would have been really helpful right now, Danny thought bitterly to himself. After another few minutes of roaming, Danny suddenly noticed a rhythmic creaking noise.

Crrk

Crik

Crrk

Crik

Curious, Danny walked in the direction the noise was coming from. He turned a corner and saw a light coming from a nearby room. He walked closer and peeked past the doorframe.

At the back wall of the room, near a large window, Danny saw the source of the creaking: an ancient looking rocking chair was steadily rocking back and forth. Why Vlad hadn't mentioned someone was here. Wait, hadn't he said he never had people over?

Danny froze when he noticed the spectral green tail hanging over the edge of the seat, swaying along to the rocking of the chair.

His powers still hadn't returned, so he had no way to protect himself if the ghost was hostile.

Maybe the ghost wasn't hostile?

Danny figured he should go tell Vlad about the ghost just in case. Even if Vlad didn't have weapons, his mom certainly would.

"Is that you, Vladdie dearest?" a voice asked from the rocking chair. Shoot.

"Um...n-no. My name's Danny. I'm staying here with Vlad for the night. Um, do you know him?"

The ghost laughed. It wasn't a mean laugh.

"Of course I know him dearest. Come in, come in. It's a bit foolish carrying a conversation from the hallway."

Danny stepped into the room. There wasn't much in it. Just a dresser and a bookshelf filled with knick-knacks. There wasn't even a bed. The light he'd seen was coming from one of those old oil lamps on the dresser. The walls were made of the same unfinished wood as all the other walls in the house, but there were a few colourful flowers crudely painted on them low to the ground.

"Don't be shy now. Come over here where I can see you, dearest."

Danny gulped. The ghost seemed harmless, friendly even, but he couldn't help feeling vulnerable without his powers. How did Sam and Tucker face malicious ghosts like this all the time?

Danny took a few steps towards the window. He almost jumped when the rocking chair began to float a few inches off the ground. The chair turned 180 degrees and sank back down to the ground.

"That's better." The ghost smiled. She was quite tiny. Her glowing skin was the translucent green colour that ghosts often were. She was wearing a matching dress and bonnet that were a horrendously pink gaudy floral patterns. Danny might've barfed if he'd seen that pattern in any other context, but they strangely seemed to suit the ghost that was wearing them.

She peered at Danny through the thinnest wire glasses he'd ever seen. Her eyes, despite glowing a menacing red, were shaped into soft slits as if she was half drifting off to sleep.

"Hmmm, the first human guest Vlad's had in years and it's a child. Strange. Are you Vlad's son perhaps? He's never talked about you." "What? Oh, no. I'm just a friend. My mom's friends with Vlad, and she's here too and she brought me along." Danny wondered if the ghost could tell how nervous he was.

"No guests for nearly twenty years then suddenly two guests? My that Vlad is a strange one. Ah, but where are my manners? I know your name, but you don't know mine. Danny, my name is Bernadette. My friends call me Bernie, though." She paused and narrowed her eyes at him. "You can call me Bernie, you seem like the friendly sort."

"It's, um, nice to meet you Bernie." Danny felt his body relax. He was 99% sure Bernie wasn't going to attack him at this point. That did leave Danny with the awkward problem of not knowing what to say to an elderly ghost.

"So...are you friends with Vlad?"

"Ah, dearest Vlad." Bernie smiled fondly. "What a nice young man. He takes such good care of me. Well, I suppose I don't need much taking care of, being a ghost and all, but the sweet thing always comes to see me when he's up here. He doesn't come up too much, he's so busy with his big company. He runs it, you know. But when he does come he always visits me. Asks how I'm doing, if I need anything, just sits and listens to me gab away. What a doll." Bernie looked over at the bookshelf.

"You know he brought all my treasures down for me from the attic when he first found me. Being a ghost makes it awful hard to pick things up, let me tell you. I do love not having to cook anymore, though. Anyway, Vlad went and fetched all my things the seconds I told him about them. He said it was to apologize for infesting my house with all the wild life, even though I didn't mind one bit. I rather like the little critters. Even the bears and such don't cause trouble. I always wanted to see some live bears up close when I was alive. Ma and Pa never let me get to close to them though. Quite dangerous creatures, when you're alive anyway. Which I'm not, so there Ma and Pa!" Bernie chuckled.

Danny felt a yawn coming on. He tried to stifle it but it had been a strenuous night, and it was quite late.

"My goodness!" Bernie's eyes widened slightly, as though she were snapping out of a daze. "How rude of me! I do forget you humans still need sleep! And here I am rambling away when you're so clearly tuckered out, you poor thing. Off you get now!"

"Oh, yeah, thanks. Sorry, I am kind of tired."

"No need to apologize young man. You've been nothing but patient and polite with me. Don't you worry about hurting my feelings. I've got nothing but time, and I'll go on for forever if you let me. Now off to bed with you."

"You wouldn't happen to know where the bathroom is, would you?"

"Considering I've been living in this house for the last five hundred years, I would hope so." Bernie laughed. "It's down the hall at your first left turn."

"Thanks Bernie." Danny said as he headed out the door. "Goodnight."

"Such a polite young man. Goodnight Danny."

As Danny left Bernie's rocker floated into the air and turned to face the window again.

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

Danny sighed. He'd found the bathroom, but now he was having trouble finding his room again. Why did everywhere in this lodge look the same?

He stopped when he heard voices coming from a nearby room.

His mom and Vlad must've been in there talking. Danny stopped by the doorway and peeked inside. The two of them were standing by an unlit fireplace, a nearby lamp giving the room a soft yellow glow. Danny assumed this was some sort of sitting room.

"...couldn't get the ectoplasm out of the carpet for weeks!" Danny heard his mom say. "You can still see it glowing when it's really dark outside!"

They laughed for a bit and then there was a few seconds of silence.

"You could come back with us, you know." Maddie said. "Jack would be ecstatic to see you."

"Sadly, I can't Maddie. I've got a tight schedule to keep. I would love to come down, but I simply don't have the time to spare."

Maddie picked up an ornament from the mantle. She looked at it as she spoke.

"You know Vlad, it's alright. You can tell me the truth."

"What do you mean?"

"I know you're still mad at us about the accident."

Vlad blinked a few times before responding.

"What? Of course I'm not mad, that was all in the past. I've told you, I don't hold any resentment towards you or Jack. It was an accident, after all."

"Then why don't you want to see us?"

"What? Don't be ridiculous, of course I want to see you. You and Jack are my best friends!"

"You say that Vlad, but you never stop by. I've called you. Many times, and you never call back."

"I'm CEO of a very lucrative company Maddie. That keeps me rather-"

"Busy. I know. Too busy to fit a five minute phone call in over the course of three months."

Maddie put the ornament back on the mantle and faced Vlad.

"And then the few times we do get to see you, you seem anxious to leave as soon as possible. You barely seemed like you wanted to be at our house the one time you stopped by. And even when you invited us to your place, you disappeared five minutes after we arrived, and then we barely got to see you at the party. There was an actual ghost attack, and you missed it!"

Maddie took a calming breath.

"I want to spend time with you, Vlad. I miss you. Jack and I both do. It was so painful, not seeing you for the last twenty years, but when we do see you now it feels like it's just to tease us before you go right back to ghosting us."

Maddie probably didn't notice how Vlad tensed up at that wording, but Danny did.

"We want to be friends with you again, Vlad, but honestly it doesn't seem like you really want to be friends with us. You don't trust us and that hurts. I can't stand what you're doing to me. I want to stop re-opening the wound you left. The worst part of all of this is that you can't even be honest about it."

Vlad didn't say anything. He didn't even move. He just stood there with a stupefied look on his face.

"I should go to bed." Maddie turned away from him.

That seemed to break Vlad out of his stupor.

"Maddie, I-"

"Thanks again for letting us stay the night."

Danny began to panic as his mom approached the door. He managed to turn himself invisible just as she entered the hall.

He turned invisible? Nice, his powers were back!

He turned visible again as soon as his mom was out of sight.

Danny peeked around the doorframe into the sitting room. He wondered if he should go in and talk to Vlad.

He took a deep breath and entered the room. Vlad turned at the sound of his footsteps.

"Oh, Daniel." Vlad's ever-present smile nowhere to be found. "What are you doing?"

He didn't sound angry, just tired.

"Uh, my ghost powers are back."

"Oh, good." Vlad didn't seem that excited about that news.

"Also I, uh, kind of heard that last bit of your conversation." Danny rubbed the back of his neck.

"Oh."

Danny had no idea what to say. He wondered if maybe he should have just left.

"I'm...sorry for snapping at you earlier." Vlad said "That was uncalled for."

"Oh." Danny said awkwardly. "It's fine."

"No, it was completely inappropriate." Vlad sighed. "I suppose the things you were saying weren't completely untrue. You and Maddie both. I just...didn't want to face them. You were right. I've...I've just been awful to Jack and Maddie, haven't I? To all of you."

Vlad sat on the sofa and buried his face in his hands. Danny had no idea what to do.

"I want to see them, I really do. I just...I can't risk them finding out."

"I get what you mean, I really do, but it's not too hard a secret to hide from them.

I've done pretty well, so it shouldn't be a problem for y-"

"No, Daniel," Vlad put his hands down and leaned on his lap. "It's different for me. I just...on some deep level I just can't risk Jack and Maddie finding out. If...if they knew what I...what I really was...I can't lose Jack and Maddie, I just can't! Then I-I'd have nothing..."

"It kind of seems like you already have."

Vlad looked at Danny. The most deflated expression he'd ever seen flashed across Vlad's face, but it quickly replaced with a neutral expression.

"I think," Vlad said as he stood up. "That I should go to bed. It's late."

His tone was level. Too level. Expressionless, he proceeded to walked past Danny.

"Wait!" Vlad stopped at the doorway. "I'm sorry, Vlad. I-I didn't mean to-"

"You didn't do anything wrong Daniel. I'm just...tired. Very tired. This night has...given me a lot to think about."

With that he turned around and walked out into the hall, leaving Danny alone in the sitting room. He sighed to himself. If only Jazz had been here. She'd probably know how to fix things between Vlad and Mom.

Not that she'd be working with the full picture, but still, she'd probably have done a better job than Danny did.

Vlad wasn't the only one that was tired. Danny yawned before heading back out to the hall to continue searching for his room. At least it would be easier to find now that his powers were back.

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

Danny wasn't sure what time he woke up the next morning, but the sun had fully risen. He stretched and put on his clothes from yesterday (which felt pretty gross).

The lodge was slightly easier to navigate in the daytime, so Danny only wandered around the halls for a little bit until he found the kitchen. His mom was already there, fully dressed and cooking some eggs.

"Good morning Sweetie. Did you sleep alright?"

"Yeah, I did. Is Vlad up yet?"

"He left a note." Maddie turned back to the eggs. "He said he had to set out early to get some stuff done, so he won't be around to see us off."

"Oh." Danny picked up the note from the island. His mom had summed it up pretty well. "Wait, what's he saying about a helicopter?"

"Oh, we discussed it last night. Vlad keeps a helicopter out here for emergencies, and he's letting us take it to get home."

"Wait, you can pilot a helicopter?"

"Of course. Breakfast is ready!" Maddy scooped some scrambled eggs onto a plate and handed it to Danny. "There you go."

Danny noticed that his eggs looked paler than normal.

"You put milk in the eggs?" Danny said as he sat down.

"Is that a problem?" Maddie looked worried.

"No, no! That's actually the way I like them. Jazz thinks its weird, and she's usually the one that makes the eggs, so I haven't had them in a while. This is...really nice."

Maddie smiled and took a seat across from Danny.

"Your father hates it too."

"Really? Dad hates a food?"

"That's the one food he won't eat. Well, he'll eat it, but he'll tell me how weird I am the whole time."

"So for about two seconds?"

"Daniel!" his mom feigned offense.

Danny laughed at that. His mom laughed too.

They ate very quickly. Danny had been too tired last night to realize how hungry he was.

"Did you make your bed this morning?" Maddie asked as she collected Danny's empty plate.

"Ummmm, yes?" Danny smiled wide.

"Alright, you can go up and double check your bed while I was the dishes, and then we'll set off."

Danny rolled his eyes as he headed back to his bedroom.

After he finished actually making the bed (to the best of his ability), he decided to make a quick stop before heading back to the kitchen.

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

"Bernie? Hello?" Danny pushed open the door to Bernie's room. She was sitting in her rocker like last night, only now the curtains were closed and she was facing towards the door. Her eyes were shut and her hands were folded on her lap. She looked so peaceful.

Her eyes fluttered open.

"Oh, sorry." Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"Oh don't be silly." Bernie waved a hand at him. "I was just resting my eyes."

"Oh. Well, anyway, my mom and I were about to leave, and I just wanted to say goodbye real quick. You're pretty much the only friendly ghost I've ever met."

"Well how nice of you Danny." Bernie beamed. "Come here, I have something for you."

"Oh, " Danny stepped into the room "Thanks, but you don't have to-"

"Oh nonsense! Now, hold out your hand."

Danny held out his hand. Bernie waved her hand over his palm. Three green (what Danny assumed were) wrapped candies appeared in the air and fell into his palm. They glowed faintly.

"Um, thanks Bernie." Danny hadn't expected that, but he guessed it made sense for an old lady to have hard candies.

Bernie closed Danny's fingers with her hand. Her touch was so gentle Danny barely even felt it. "Poor Vladdie. He's so good to me, but he never talks about his own friends. I can sense his loneliness. He reminds me of my own son in that way. It's good he has friends now, though. You share those with Vlad and your mother now."

"I will. See you Bernie" Danny smiled. He turned and began towards door.

"Goodbye Danny." Bernie began to relax back into her chair. "Do me a favour and take care of Vladdie for me. Won't you?"

"I will." Danny said as he walked out the door.

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

Getting ready to go was a very fast process when all your luggage had been lost in a plane crash. They were soon in the air heading back to Amity. "

Did you...ask Vlad if he wanted to come with us?" Danny asked. "To, like, maybe visit Dad?" He hoped his mom didn't notice how tacked on that last part was.

"I did. He said he was too busy."

"Oh."

Maddie's expression was neutral. Too neutral. She wasn't disappointed that Vlad wasn't coming, she'd accepted that fact. Maybe before she'd even invited him. It made Danny feel worse for his mom than he would have if she'd looked sad.

They flew in silence for a few minutes before Maddie sighed.

"Look, Danny, I'm sorry about this weekend."

"What do you mean? You're not the one who hijacked the plane."

"No, I meant that conversation by the fire."

Even after all the chaos, Danny hadn't forgotten about that night. He still felt terrible about it.

"Mom, it's okay."

"No Danny, it's not okay. You haven't been acting okay for a while, and I assumed I could just jump in and fix everything in a single weekend. If we're being honest though, I should've addressed this months ago. I shouldn't have let things go on for as long as they did. I told myself you needed some space, but maybe I was just too scared to face the fact that, even if it was unintentional, your father and I hurt you. A part of me was scared that if I brought this up, it'd just end up pushing you further away. But that was irresponsible of me, and not at all how a parent should act. You weren't getting better by not talking about it, but I was being too cowardly to help."

Maddie took a calming breath before continuing.

"I just want you to know that, if you hold any resentment towards me or your father, we understand. We messed up big time with the portal. And other things. But whatever you're going through, I want to be there to help. Your father and I both do. Even if it's something you think we won't want to hear, we can take it, I promise. I know you're getting older and you need to figure some things our yourself, but we want to be there for you in whatever way we can."

Maddie turned to face Danny.

"I love you Danny, and I want to be a part of your life. I'm sorry if I've been forgetting to show you that lately."

Danny didn't know what to say.

How long had she been thinking like this? How long had she assumed everything was her fault?

Why hadn't Mom said something earlier? Why did she hide this from him? Finding out she'd been keeping this information a secret from him for so long made Danny feel so hurt and guilty.

...Oh.

The knot that had been in Danny's stomach for the last fifteen hours began to loosen as he realized what he had to do. He put a hand on his mom's shoulder. Maddie seemed genuinely surprised by the physical contact.

"It's not your fault Mom." Danny said. "I've been...going through some stuff. It's nothing bad, it's just..." Danny struggled to find the words. How could he explain it without telling the truth? "I just...didn't think about how it would affect other people. I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm sorry." Danny looked at his feet in shame.

"You don't have to be sorry."

Dany looked up from the floor when he felt something touch his hand. He saw his mom's black gloved hand covering his own.

"You can always tell me about it, you know."

"I..."

Danny looked into his mother's eyes. They were so hopeful.

"Not...not today. But maybe someday."

Maddie was smiling, but Danny wasn't sure what kind of a smile it was.

He wasn't sure if he meant what he said. Maybe he did. The thought terrified him.

Danny didn't want to think about that right now though. He'd think about that later when he was alone. For now he needed a distraction.

Danny reached into his pocket.

"What have you got there?" Maddie asked.

Danny pulled out a tiny bottle filled with orange pop.

"I found a bunch of these in Vlad's kitchen fridge." He said, uncapping the bottle.

"And you took one? Without asking?"

"Vlad's a gazillionaire and he had like, a million more of these things." Danny took a swig. "Oh, wow that's nice."

"Daniel James Fenton, that is not the-"

"You want some?" Danny held the bottle out to her.

Maddie stopped speaking. Sharing pop had been a strange but special sort of tradition with her and Danny. One they hadn't done in years. Maddie thought Danny had forgotten about it.

"I- well...alright, hand it over." she accepted the bottle from Danny and took a drink. Her eyes went wide. "Holy moley, that stuff is good!"

"Right?"

"Seriously," Maddie turned the bottle around "What is in this?"

"Eyes on the road, Mom!"

"We're in the sky Danny." Maddie said.

THUMP!

Danny and Maddie nearly jumped out of their seats when a seagull crashed into the helicopter's windscreen. They both just stared at the surprised bird as it slid down the glass and out of sight.

"But, yeah, I'll just look at his when we get home." She said handing the bottle back to Danny.

Danny rolled his eyes affectionately.

This really was nice.

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

"You know Danny, I'm thinking maybe we shouldn't tell them what happened on the trip." Maddie said as they approached their house. "Your father will be so disappointed to hear he missed fighting ghosts and seeing Vlad."

"I'm okay with that."

"We're home!" Maddie announced as they opened the door.

Jack was sitting on the couch working on his embroidery while Jazz sat on the other end reading a very thick book.

"Hey, welcome back! How was the trip?"

"Oh, you know," Maddie said.

"Boring." Danny added.

"Nothing interesting."

"Snooze."

"Who even cares?"

"I'm gonna go call Sam and Tucker." Danny said. He made to leave, but then stopped and kissed his mom on the cheek. "I had fun though. We should spend more time together."

Danny went upstairs. Maddie watched with a smile on her face.

"So," She turned to Jack "Anything interesting happen here?"

"Oh, nothing really." Jack said.

"Same old same old." Jazz added.

"Boring."

"Ho hum."

"Yawn."

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

Danny had barely opened his bedroom door when he felt his ghost sense go off.

"Seriously? I haven't even been home for five minutes!"

Danny went over to his window and threw it open. He looked around. He didn't see any ghosts.

"Aaaaaaargh!" Came a war cry from below. Danny looked down. A giant green beaver ran out the front door, with Jazz on its back, her arms wrapped around it's neck.

"Dad execute maneuver nine!" she commanded.

"On it Jazzy-pants!"

Danny couldn't see his father from this angle, but he did see Jazz barrel roll off the beaver just in time for it to get tangled up in a bunch of metallic rope.

While the beaver struggled on the ground, Jack came into view and gave Jazz a high five. The two of them looked down at their handiwork with pride.

Danny stuck his head back inside and closed the window. Jazz ghost hunting? With their father?

That was the strangest thing he'd seen all weekend.

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

Epilogue --------------------------------------------------

"I don't know about you two," Tucker said as they sat down to lunch on Monday "But I'm ready to die after the test Lancer just gave us."

"It wasn't that bad if you actually read the book." Sam smirked. Tucker glared at her. "What'd you get Danny?"

Before Danny could answer, he felt the cold chill of his ghost sense. He looked up and saw something green whizz by the window.

"Guys, trouble!" he said, standing up from his seat.

Before anyone could do anything else, Danny saw something else out the window; a red figure floated in place on a hover board. They fired a few pink beams from an ecto blaster before zooming out of sight, presumably after the ghost.

"Did you guys see that?"

"Oh, yeah, we actually-" Tucker started to say.

Danny was running towards the door before he could finish his sentence.

He burst outside and stopped at the sight above him. The red Figure and the ghost were locked in battle high above him, the red person shooting furiously at the ghost who was weaving around, dodging their blasts.

The red person didn't seem to have great aim, but they eventually connected with the ghost who gave off a howl and shot off in the opposite direction of Casper High.

"And you'd better stay away you gooey creep!" The red person shouted after it.

Once it was clear the ghost wasn't coming back, the red person zoomed out of sight.

Danny blinked at the sky.

"Okay, who the heck was that?"

"The Red Huntress." Sam said. Danny hadn't even noticed that she and Tucker had arrived.

"Wait," he said "You know her?"

"Yeah, we saw her hunting some ghost Sam and I were about to go after while you were in Florida."

"Colorado." Danny corrected Tucker.

"Colorado." Tucker repeated.

"We didn't get to talk to her," Sam said "But she seems pretty driven. Shouted her name at the ghost she was chasing. Fancy tech, a lot of confidence, but not a lot of experience, I'm guessing."

"Yeah her aim's not great." Danny frowned.

"She doesn't seem to have a thermos or anything to contain the ghosts she hunts either. That costume's awesome though!"

"I can agree with you there." Sam nodded.

Danny put his head in his hands.

"I was only gone for ONE DAY!"

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

#danny phantom #dp #danny phantom fanfic #dp fanfic #friends in strange places #fisp #writing #fanfic

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confusedshades · 1 year ago

Text

So I see this going one of two ways.

Scenario 1

Danny and Jazz explain what happened, Bruce concerned looks into their background and does some digging. He agrees to take them back to Amity so that Danny can deal with his Rogue but only if he agrees to letting Bruce talk to the Fentons about how they're neglecting their kids and Danny calling the JL directly about any possible future Big Incidents where he needs backup. They agree and things work out. Bruce in the meantime uses the JL to start destroying the Anti Ecto Acts without telling the two. Bruce times the conversation with the Drs. Fenton while Danny is taking care of his problem and a few months down the line he quietly gets Jazz a full ride to her choice of college. Danny splits his time between staying with Jazz and with his parents. Their relationship with the Drs. Fenton becomes easier but it never becomes a full fledged relationship.

Scenario 2

Danny and Jazz don't trust the man in front of them. But they agree to go inside. They're confronted by a gaggle of semi adult kids who take one look at these two and start placing bets. ("2 days." "Oh come on! I saw a week!" "Hmm you're both idiots. I say 72 hours." "Dami!" "Richard, you must agree with me. Father has a certain weakness for adoption, and these two fit the bill. He started with you after all." "He's not wrong there Dickiebird." "I will thank you children not to make fun of Master Bruce over his weakness. Especially in front of two guests so young." A chorus of "Sorry Alfred.")

That night, Danny goes ghost and talks to the ghosts on the manor grounds (the place is old. There are tonnes of ghosts floating around) and in Gotham. He made sure to not be seen by anyone.

He gets back and reports everything he found out to Jazz. He also finds a phone that he uses to message Sam and Tucker that night. They obviously freaked out over their disappearance, but calm down when Danny tells them what is happening. Danny and Jazz debate amongst themselves over staying here versus going back. Jazz can tell that these people may be vigilantes but they do genuinely love each other. Danny doesn't want to leave Amity unprotected.

They decide to talk to the man in the morning to see if there's a way to find a middle ground. He's a vigilante, hell he's Batman, he should want to help.

In the morning, Jazz and Danny mention they're from a little town called Amity Park and how they have a ghost problem. How there are these Anti Ecto Acts that allow government agencies and mad scientists to experiment on ghosts when these ghosts are doing nothing wrong, and not harming anyone. Some are causing problems but mostly they're big on playing pranks.

Bruce becomes Batman in front of them and thanks them for the information. He disappears for a bit and comes back a few hours later telling the kids how he's going to deal with the ghosts, namely shut down the portal with a handy device that sucks in all ghosts in a set vicinity, that some JL members has already been dispatched to squash the Anti Ecto Acts, and Superboy who has a particular history with government agencies is already on site playing whack a mole with the place. The scientists are being rounded up by the Titans and YJ teams, and the ghosts captured have been set free. Once things settle down he's happy to take them back to their home if they want, but they're also welcome to stay.

Jazz and Danny talked amongst themselves that night, and contacted their friends. Heard from them what had been happening in Amity. (Turns out that Batman works fast when it comes to things like this. The ghosts have been set free from the GiW labs, Fenton traps, etc. The labs are basically smoking craters apparently). Jazz would still like to go back but realises that for Danny, maybe staying is better. He can choose to stay silent about his ghost half, or he can reveal it but for once he has a choice.

They've spent some time with all of Bruce's semi adult kids, been witness to the man tripping over the kitchen threshold and groaning into the linoleum just that morning while the one called Jason just laughed while Call-me-Dick just huffed at him and walked over to help Bruce. (Was this really The Batman?) Damian had introduced them to his menagerie and been spied taking care of them. (Danny's poke into Jazz's side told her that kid was the slightly stabby baby vigilante and her raised eyebrows said it all.)

When the two kids were taken back to Amity Park early next morning, (the day of the deadline) Jazz was faced with the horrific realisation that their parents hadn't realised that their two kids were missing. Instead they were more concerned about the whole Ghost problem being dealt with.

They didn't even notice that Jazz and Danny were babies. No longer teenagers. Jack and Maddie Fenton didn't even look as they basically threw a Ghost fighting outfit at them and rushed out of the house saying to follow them. Didn't even wait to let them climb in the van. Or pause for them further down the road. Not that either Jazz or Danny would have.

Jazz and Danny instead wait out the clock. After spending some time with the Bats, they realise what they should've had all along. There was no way that Jazz could even think of staying herself (she knew that even being as busy as the Wayne's were, they still were close and looked after each other - and there was no way she was going to leave Danny behind. He should grow up in a relatively normal home. Surrounded by love, by support, by family. Family that chooses each other.

They show Batman the portal, and pack their bags quietly. They say goodbye to their friends. They leave a note for their parents but both know that they won't even notice. Jazz has Bruce call the school to let them know about change in guardianship. After everything is dealt with, both on the ghostly side and on the personal side, they choose to continue staying with Bruce. They choose family.

Halloween prompts year 2 day 31

Happy Halloween 🎃

Danny sighed, staring dejected at the empty cabinets. His parents forgot to go to get groceries again. "Guess its another cereal night."

"I can head to the store right fast if you want something." Jazz said from the table where she was casually eating her own cereal.

Danny sighed again, this time with the full force of his teen angst, "Unless they're selling a way to make our parents less crazy, no thanks."

Jazz got up from the table and began to approach him, "Danny.." he cringed. Danny hated that soft tone. It ment he'd either hurt her feelings or said something she thought required a gentle approach to. "I know our parents aren't perfect-"

"I don't want them to be perfect!" He cut her off, "I just want all of us to be happy and healthy and sane! Is that too much to ask?!" Aaand now she looked hurt, "Sorry."

Now it was her turn to sigh before bringing him into a hug, "I wish things were different. I wish we were kids again had someone willing to raise us in a kind respectful way, someone who could fix all our problems."

"So you have wished it, so it shall be!!" A feminine voice rang out and everything turned green...

------

Bruce was casually walking around in the greenery of the manor grounds, basking in the sunlight and fresh air as Alfred ordered when a portal made from what looked like Lazarus waters spat out a little kid no older than six years old in a blue dress with a matching big blue bow in her hair followed by a younger darked haired boy in a blue t-shirt and cargoshorts.

"No! Ugh!" The younger kid jumped to his feet, "We gotta get back to Amity! If I don't defeat her in 48 ours the wish becomes permanent!"

That sounded alarming and he began to approach after the kid tried to run, only to trip and faceplant into the grass. The kid muttered about how small his legs were which made Bruce wonder if the child was dead aged or shrunk somehow.

As it turned out talking to the yiunger kid was difficult but he eventually managed to convince the older one to come to the manor with him and her brother to explain things...

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sagaduwyrm · 2 years ago

Text

I know it's a classic trope of danny phantom x dc crossovers that the Justice League or the Batfam finds out about Amity Park and immediately starts an investigation, but honestly, that doesn't really make sense in world.

Like, there are ghosts in Illinois. Whoopdeedoo. There are aliens in Metropolis, assassins in Star City, metas in Central, and every type of crazy imaginable and a few that no one would ever think of in Gotham. The DC world is a very weird place.

More than that, I think it kind of misunderstands what the Justice League originally was. A lot of the time fanon and canon both treat it like some kind of centralized superhero organization with the main group as the bosses. This isn't really how it started in the comics though, from what I understand. At first, the Justice League was a bunch of independent supers with their own independent territories who occasionally talked to each other. They would get together if say, there were aliens in Star City and Green Arrow needed advice on how to take care of them, or if there was a worldwide threat they needed to work together to address, but for the most part each hero had their own jurisdiction and they were not fond of people intruding in that territory. Local problems were dealt with by local heros, and if there wasn't a local hero? Just wait a couple of weeks, the police can handle it until someone pops up.

My point is that the League is really unlikely to try to swoop in and completely figure out Amity Park's situation, or even to really care about it once they realize that they already have both Phantom and Red Huntress. At most they might invite them to a few get togethers for networking.

I bet Batman wouldn't even care that much. I know he's the king of paranoia and contingencies, but he focuses almost all of that on people he knows are threats. He doesn't have time to care about a couple small town heros with small town problems, the Joker just got out of Arkham and he's going to kill hundreds of they don't catch him fast. (This isn't to say I think B would look down on small timers, but he would probably see them as little leagues, because he has no reason to suspect that it's that important. People with the power of the Justice League aren't just crawling out of the wood work, and it makes far more sense for him to assume that the problems in Amity Park aren't particularly powerful. Like how non Gothamites never believe that normal human rogues could actually be that dangerous.)

Crazy stuff is everywhere in the DC world, and unless you make it their problem, most supers assume that it's taken care of.

That said, it would totally be awesome if the Justice League was throwing a get together for lesser known less powerful heroes and just didn't realize what they had invited until it smacks them in the face.

#danny phantom #fandom stuff #batman #dp x dc #crossover #dp x dc crossover #justice league #the dc world is crazy #there is a brand new problem every fifty feet #ghosts aren't going to break the paradigm #the Justice League would absolutely fall into the trap of assuming #that because the ghosts stay in the middle of nowhere and don't cause them problems that they aren't that dangerous #nevermind that when they were new supers they consistently managed enormous problems too without help #not sure how much sense this makes #but yeah #DPxDC #DCxDP

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kurosstuff · 2 years ago

Note

I don't know if you watched it but I have a Natasha Romanoff x Wife Reader request that's pure heartbreak and angst that takes place in the What If zombies episode/ universe

Pure heartbreak angst you say? Ok bet- also I watched it once don't remember a whole lot

Also idk how to write fight scenes

Also putting this on my Ao3 so if you want you can read it there instead- here's a link if you wanna read it there instead

https://archiveofourown.org/works/42440733

Warning(s): zombies so yeah- very descriptive at some parts on what zombies do, violence, detailed death, gore, not a happy ending

Natasha Romanoff x Wife!Reader (what if: zombies)

Natasha held your hand. Looking up at the stars. A gentle smile on her face full of life. A look if younger you saw would have thought this was a complete stranger. Someone who looked like Agent Romanoff. But it wasn't some stranger- nor was it apart of some undercover mission.

This is the real unmasked Natasha

Someone who was always tense on edge for anything to happen- was relaxed- looking over at you Natasha grinned leaning against your shoulder

"I love you" she smiled brightly. Biting her lip she looked down at your hand in hers- touching the ring on your finger

"I love you more" kissing the top of her head you leaned against it gently.

"Impossible"

It was the beginning of the end- no one knew it yet. Everyone was happy, cheering- you married the woman you loved. Your guys life was happy and full, nothing could go wrong.

Until it did.

It was like someone dropped a pin in a quiet room disrupting the place- one so big it left a huge impact on not just a small group.

But everyone alive

It was supposed to be a quick misson. Just figure out about the odd attacks in the city and get out. It was supposed to be the final mission before you and your wife Natasha's break.

A break for you both to share a home. A break for your life to begin with just one another. To start a family.

"Come on love" Natasha spoke holding your hand, smiling gently "it'll be quick just a quick check around the area then we'll be done" smirking she leaned in close "then we can be alone for our own.. mission"

Before you could respond Tony faked gaged ad he passed you by "ugh.. get it together love birds.

"So here's the plan" Steve spoke standing infront of you all. Standing the same familiar 'I'm Captain America' stance he has. "We get to the city. Find any survivors and figure out the type of damage is going on" looking at every individual person to ensure they were listening to everything he was saying.

"OK. Well everyone sit down and we'll be there in a couple hours."

Once you landed the doors opened. A horrible smell hit you all. Smelled of chemicals and death. Coughing you looked out of the smokey streets.

It was quiet.

Too quiet.

It was like a ghost town

Stepping out onto the usually busy street, you all pulled your weapons out incase of anything to go wrong. Looking along the street, care were left stranded either parked or in the middle like some accident happened. Doors were open- windows smashed. Stepping close to one car you noticed blood on the inside and hood of the car

"Guys" you called drawing their attention to you "look at this" Tony who stood closest to you- leaned over to look inside. He sighed softly leaving straight up.

"There's no one inside. Just a lot of blood. To much for someone to survive." He spoke sadly. His eyes glanced down he stopped moving for a moment. "Wait." Walking on the other side of the car you followed close behind clutching the gun in your hand tighter ready if anythinf were to happen. You swallowed the lump in your throat

There was a blood trail from the car to the building beside it.

"Hey. Don't worry it'll be fine" Tony spoke patting your shoulder "lets just check- maybe I was wrong. Maybe someone did survive" walking up to the building he looked back to make sure you were following. "Ok. You go down that hall-" pointing down the left hall. The nerves were hit- a bad feeling sinking in your stomach the longer you stayed in this place but it wasn't so bad knowing a friend was nearby.

"I'll go down that one. Just yell and I'll come running" with that as you rounded the corner you separated from Tony you felt more at ease- going along the hall you glanced at each door before attempting to open it- jammed. Checking another same issue. Huffing you glanced down the hall- seeing a staircase. Walking up it you noticed a door slightly open. You walked to it before slowing down- taking a deep breath you barged in gun pointed incase of an attack- looking around the bedroom it seemed like a mess- the blankets on the bed half off draped on the floor- papers sprung about almost in a rush

A door on the opposite side was locked shut. The deadbolt kept it locked from the inside. Huming you took a glance at the table- some air conditioner hanging out the window- it looks like it might fall at anytime, a book caught your attention- glancing back at the door you came from you lowered your gun.

'Just a peak will be fine'

Picking up the book you stopped- an odd sound came from down the hall- a crunching sound yet- squishy noises were with it. You couldn't put a idea or name of what it could be- placing the book down you pulled your gun.

Stopping in place- you listened for that weird crunching sound to happen again. Going to the door you stopped at the handle. Giving it a moment you took a deep sigh before unlocking thr deadbolt and opening it as quietly as you could. Entering slowly nothing unusual was around- the sound never stopped as you entered out- the wood beneath your feet creaked every now and again. The smell in the room was awful- putting your hand to your mouth for a second to not puck or gag- you cursed under your breath slightly before you looked down the hallway- your gun drawn in defense. It was too dark to see anything grabbing your flashlight from you jacket you switched it on and shun it down. A person was crouched down- their back turned to you, over a laying down body- which looked to be female- stepping closely slowly you saw blood on the person laying down- looking back to the one with their back turned to you their shoulders shook. Like their crying

"..E-excuse me?" You spoke breaking the silence. The figure stopped moving- the noise stopped. They titled their head as if to listen as they slowly stood. "are- are you ok?" Turning sharply you gasped. The horrible sight- Their face bloodied- Jaw looked completely dislocated. Like it was hanging on a thread- bound to snap. Chunks of something on their chin dropped to the floor. Looking down at the laying person- you finally realized what that sound was.

They were eating the woman's face- the skin of her face ripped off- bones broken in. Then the groaning started from the woman. Looking at the person again you swallowed the lump in your throat "Stay right where you are" pointing at the figure the blood dropping onto the floor beneath them. With a groan it sprinted at you like an animal charging towards its prey- to feast upon the prey- you.

Shooting them didn't seem to slow them down even a little bit- not even in the legs- it was as if they either didn't feel it or- who knows what else it could be. Stepping back as it drew near you took another shot-

Click

"What the fuck-" looking down at the gun your heart raced faster- you could hear it in your ears. You're out of bullets. Looking around the room the thing kept getting closer until it reached trying to swipe at you with its mangled arm- continuing to back up and dodge the thing until you hit the wall- "shit" huffing you pulled your knife out aiming when they struck again.

Which they did

Taking the knife you stabbed their arm- didn't even seem to faze them either- "what-" you spoke confused. It leaped for you again before a light beam hit it in the head. Toppling to the floor you heard a sigh

"I told you to yell if you needed any help."

You let a sigh of relief escape you "Oh thank god" walking over to him. Tony was gonna make a joke until he saw how shaken up you were- noticing the concerned look on his face you explained what you saw before he came in.

"Oh shit." Wincing Tony shivered in disgusted "that sounds disgusting" patting your arm comfortingly "don't worry. No face eating guys will eat your face I'll make sure of it."

"..thanks"

"Natasha would kill me"

"She would"

Gently guiding you away from the hall- the mess- Tony brought you to the front- opening the door he held it for you. Standing on the side walk the both of you stayed quiet for a moment to think of what to do next. The obvious answer is to find the others- but how would they go about this matter.

"He-" a rearing noise of something scraping them snapping was heard above you both. Looking up something seemed to be falling- pushing you out of the way Tony landed in a odd way- a Crack was heard in his suit making him scuff in annoyance "Oh come on."

"Wh- what happened?" You spoke pulling him up gently as you could- checking for any injuries you could possibly see on him

"The stupid thing knocked the 'beam' out." Tony replied rolling his eyes playfully from the use of your nickname for his hand repulsors. "I shouldn't have taking this one out before testing it properly.." He mumbled

"You mean to tell me. You brought that new hand beam thing you've been working on. And never tested it..?"

"I am now"

"Look. It's going to be fine." Tony said with a smile- "You'll be fine and get to have so-" red clouded your face- crunching and snapping was heard. Blinking your heartbeat in your ears ran hard- loud. Almost deafening. You didn't see the person yelling for you- or running towards you

Grabing your arm dragging you away the sounds of the groans- screams became static in your ears. With your free hand you reached for your face- a sob broke out of you. Wiping his blood off as much as you could you turned and ran along side the person holding your arm.

"-N! Get a hold of yourself!"

Blinking you glanced beside you Clint was yelling out dragging you along with him. You kept looking straight ahead never taking your eyes off the door as those things charged at you both from behind. The sickening metal breaking from Tony's suit echoed as his screams turned to gurgling noises. You didn't want to think of what that meant

Running in the state you were in you didn't even realize you were in some room- didn't hear someone call for you. You were in such a daze it wasn't until someone brought you into their arms you snapped out of it.

It was Natasha. Pulling away from a second Natasha looked you up and down to make sure you were fine. That there were no injuries. Sighing in relief when she found none

Bringing you into her arms Natasha held you as you sobbed- whispering comforting words to you. Blinking away her tears she pulled back to look at you smiling sadly

"It wasn't your fault."

You sobbed more Natsha held you close- her own tears falling on you once she heard what happened. What those things did to Tony. Clint walked around the room with a grunt trying to find anything that could help scratching his arm harshly as he went.

"Hey sorry to interrupt but have you seen Steve?"

With a solem shake of Natasha's head, Clint didn't want to ask what happened. "He saved me" was all Natasha said before bringing her attention back to her wife- holding you in her arms she rubbed your back. Clint went back to trying to find anything that could help.

"Wait." Natasha spoke pulling back a bit after you slowly stopped sobbing. "I think I saw some papers in the other room. Maybe it can give a clue for whatever the hells happening" pressing a kiss to your check she pulled away fully

"I'll go look. Y/N stay here and help Clint" with that Natasha quickly left the room

It was quiet in the room as you both searched high and low for anything that could help in this situation. Anything to explain why people were eating each other- or at least explain why nothing was stoping them.

"Thank you by the way" you said looking through some drawers a confused hum escaped Clint- looking over at him you dropped the pencil back in closing the drawer "for dragging me here- saving me"

Huming he nodded his head looking over at you "of course. I couldn't just leav-" coughing harshly Clint leaned against the wall groaning in pain holding his arm. Looking over at him you rushed to his side "it's- it's fine" pulling his hand away he looked at the bloody mark on his arm- furrowing his eyebrows in confusion "that uh- guy" swallowing he looked over at you showing the bleeding wound looking closer the indents surrounding it seemed like teeth marks.

"This sick guy I think almost bit my whole ass arm out." Sighing he leaned against the wall closer for more support. "Had a run in before helping you"

"..maybe he had rabies? Or something. You look really pale" you spoke slowly- his face pale sweating badly. "Are you feeling sick?" Moving to feel his forehead he moved out of the way huffing painfully as he did

Glancing at you sadly "Don't- Don't touch me" panting he held his wounded arm tightly to his chest- nodding your head you leaned back holding your hands up. Clint stumbled overhimself panting heavily- he didn't seem to be all there.

"I think I'm just- just hungry" Clint groaned out painfully. Blinking a couple times before he fell hard on the floor. Rushing towards him with a yell you helped him lean on his back. Putting your head to his chest to hear a heartbeat. You waited.

There was none

"NATASHA-" you screamed out- Natasha ran infrom the other room- her face paled at fhe sight of her bestfriend on the ground rushing towards the both of you she reached over to feel a pulse.

"What happened"

"I- I don't know- all the sudden he was in pain from some bite a guy did on his arm then collapsed." Searching around for a pulse. She stopped- tears fell before Natasha started to sob

There was no pulse.

Nothing to show any sighs of Clint being alive.

A slam was heard down the hall. Standing up you looked at the two one last time before rushing to see what was going on- too many of those things that have been attacking you all were in- those dead eyes trained solely on you. They started to run- rushing to the door you slammed it shut- using your body to keep it closed while you locked it.

"Nat- we have trouble" before she could get up something from the corner of her eye caught her attention. Turning to face Clint again she waited

Clint moved

"..Clint? Are you alive?" Natasha asked hopefully- slowly walking towards her best friend- he groaned lowly. "Hey- Clint you'll be ok-" reaching him Natasha stopped to glance at you- holding the door as the banging continued-

You had a bad feeling about this.

Reaching a hand out towards him Natasha cleared her throat- before she could touch him Clint jumped up the broken leg cracked making a sickening crunch- you both froze watching him. Turning towards Natasha he leaped- without thinking you rushed forward to grab Natasha yanking her out of the way. Yelling Natasha regained her balance

"CLINT- what are you doing? That's Natasha" you yelled standing infront of her- she stared frozen- Clint moaned painfully walking awkwardly towards you on his broken leg- as if he didn't feel it. As if it wasn't broken. Swiping at you this time Clint jumped forward- putting your hands on his shoulders to push him away the way he moved his head forward uncaring of you pushing him away- the way he moved his mouth

It was like he wanted to bite you.

"STOP THIS CLINT-"

Natasha yanked him away from you- his attention once again on the red head- pointing towards the door "hold that shut." Moving back at the pounding door you didnt take your eyes off the two. "Come on. What the fuck is happening" Natasha spoke tears going down her cheek- she watched her best friend die. Yet here he is- alive and attacking her and her wife. Charging towards her Natasha pulled her dual batons out striking his arms and side- it didn't do anything barely doing anything besides making him move back

Clint tackled Natasha down his face close to her side punching him she winced jumping up- bring a distance from him she glanced at the glass

"I'm so sorry"

Using the broken glass Natasha closed her eyes stabing down on his head- a hopefully quick end- the groaning stopped once she did. Leaning back she looked down at her best friend- the one she failed to protect. The one she killed in the end. Looking at her bloodied hands- she felt disgusted.

"We need to go"

Walking the halls as slowly as you two were seemed to be getting anyone nowhere. It's been at least 3 hours or so since Natasha lost her bestfriend- she was walking infront of you not speaking or making any gesture she was upset she was in work mode but even in her work mode- she seemed tired

"Are you tired?"

Silence

"Maybe we should take a break?"

Silence.

Natasha made no move to respond but at the idea of a quick break- Natasha walked into the room beside the two of you. Following she pointed at the chair in the middle of the room next to a messy desk. Sitting down you watched Natasha walk making sure the whole room was clear.

Natasha came back a moment or so later- silent- she stood infront of you watching you silently- it was clear she was trying to think of some way to voice her thoughts. So you gave her the time to figure it out. A couple minutes later she finally spoke

"You'll go to the tower I'm sure there's someone still there. That place is locked up tight. Tony made sure of it" Natasha spoke leaning against the wall with a huff. "Someone will help you" Turning to face Natasha your eyes narrowed

"You mean both of us are going-"

"I'm not going with this time."

Natasha shook her head- the confusion on your face turned to a look of horror when Natasha sighed shakily moving her jacket showing her bloodied side. Her breath quickened in a daze

"No"

Rushing towards Natasha your eyes stung. Blinking away the tears you refused to let them fall. Not now. Not here. Grabbing her arm you pulled Natasha to sit to look closer at the bite. "It'll be fine. You always pull through"

"You always do"

"Not this time Y/N." Natasha spoke softly- looking you over- looking at all the details of your face- memorizing every marking, every little crease in your face when your gaze shifted- the words you spoke to her slurred in her mind. Natasha can't figure out what your saying to her really.

"I love you" Natasha didn't know if she spoke the words aloud or was just thinking it- but by the way you stopped and looked at her she figured she did say it. Shaking she brought her hand up to your face brushing the tears away- "I love you so much. I want you to know how much you mean to me."

Her chest hurt.

Breathing started to hurt- it felt like she was getting sick. She's been shot and stabbed many times- tortured on many different occasions but none of them hurt as much as it does now- she's leaving you and there's nothing she or anyone can do to stop it. "I think-" wincing in pain she looked up at you "I think this is it for me"

"Don't say that-" you choked- "You'll be fine"

"I-" Turning to face Natasha- who in turn gasped out in pain- "I can't leave you- please" sobbing you held her shaking hands "Natasha you'll be fine!"

Pushing you away the veins around the bite in her side darkened- spreading up working at a fast pace- it wouldn't be long until it fully took over her- no matter how much she tried to fight back.

"What-" clearing your throat you blinked away your tears "what If we.. uh cut the infected area..?" With a shake of her head she shakily pulled the collar of her suit back showing the darkened veins spreading fast past her shoulder.

"Wouldn't work" taking a moment to get her breath again "-anyways. Its on my side" panting in a cold sweat Natasha looked like she was gonna puke.

"I- I feel sick"

Natasha wanted to kiss you- at least one more time but she didn't want to risk the chance of infecting you- so she settled with holding your hand for as much time she can- even if the feeling of your hand in hers made her hand feel like it was on fire. She would deal with it.

"Please. Leave. I- I don't want this for you" Natasha let go of your hand leaning back away- she's starting to feel hungry. Blinking slowly the words you spoke again slurred- she couldn't make out what you were saying but she knew them by heart just like she knew you. You wanted to stay. "No. Leave now. Please. This" gritting her teeth- it's getting harder to hold her limbs back "this is my final wish." Looking at her for a moment- the tears wouldn't stop coming- she couldn't hear what you were saying anymore- the words played of what you'd want to say played but it didn't feel real.

Cause it wasn't.

Her vision started to blur the shape that made up you shook your lips moving yet no sound could be heard "I-" biting her lip harshly she tasted her blood. "I can't hear you" sobbing her heart shattered "I can't see you" panting heavily she shook- "Why can't I see you? Why?" She wasn't sure if what she was saying was actually being said- she can't even hear herself. She can't hear anything but her own mind screaming this to stop- for it to make sense.

"Please." Natasha sobbed her vision going black- she can't make out a single thing "I just want to see you again." The feeling of you on her vanished. She couldn't feel anything. She wasn't sure if she was crying anymore

Was she?

Where was she?

Why does it not hurt anymore?

It became silent as Natasha sat slumped in her seat- her hand in yours became limp- colder then it was a second ago. The cries she let out haunted you- standing up you wiped your tears harshly.

"I love you"

You left without looking back

It's been days since you began walking. Clutching the knife and gun close to you as you walked. Any movement your eyes would train on to make sure it wasn't any of those...things around. You still couldn't figure out how to fight them enough to get away- didn't want to take a chance in a battle with an unknown enemy.

Any fight with the unknown is dangerous- even ones where you can see them but don't know how to actually take them down. Sighing you checked how many bullets you had in your gun.

4 rounds. Then your done.

A knife is good but not good enough to hold your own against those man eating things. Your friend died and came back. Did the same happen to your wife-? To Natasha? Did this thing spread? This.. sickness? Was a virus a better word for this situation.

You stopped walking- groaning noises was heard from behind the truck infront of you. Biting your lip you had two choices. Go around to see what's on the otherside and get to the jet or find another way.

"Fuck it"

What else do you gotta lose anyways. All you have now was the knife and gun in your hands. You prayed everyone else was safe at the tower. And outside of it. Taking a deep breath you turned to go around the truck. A handful of those man eating things stood wandering around some not moving. Just staring. Limbs eaten off on some. Some less gross to look at. But all covered in blood.

You took a step back hoping none would look over at you. One stopped moving leaning up to smell into the air- slowly turning to you. 'Shit' letting out a ear piercing scream it charged at you- the others turned to look as well. Running as fast as you could the building in your view. Safer in a building then out in the street where those things were chasing you. Shooting two shots at the two creatures that got too close.

2 rounds left

Barging into the door you quickly scanned around seeing a table rushing towards it you knocked the recently burnt candles off it- using the table you blocked off the door inside. With a soft panting sigh you looked around- the pounding on the door loud. The table won't keep them out for long- but hopefully enough for you to figure out what to do.

The place you found yourself in was a living room. Leading into the kitchen. Broken glass was littered acrossed the floor. Bloody hand prints on the wall or anywhere they could reach. Clinging to your knife you decided to stalk around to make sure you were alone.

It was a empty. No upstairs. Or even a back door. Going out the window seemed impossible- every tug and pull at them just served to be useless. It was like it wasn't supposed to be opened. Breaking it was out of the question as well. Don't want to attrack more of those thin-

The table creaked. You held your breath. Crouching down in the corner your eyes never left the door.

It was the end.

Everyone was gone. In a bloodied mangled pile- they must be at this point- there were no tears to shed at this point. Your will to move on stopped. Stopped when the love of your life died- when you lost your friends. Family.

There was no going back.

The banging on the door continued. Like someone was ramming their body against it. The slaming hit so hard the table moved partially out of the way

Then it was silent-you held your breath for as long as you could never looking away from the door- nor blinking. Afraid if you did it would be all over. Even when your eyes burned begging you to blink.

You refused- with a soft sigh you slowly stood up from your crouched position. Accepting.

The door creaked open

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