#growling sidewinder

[bones4thecats]

Tfp Ultra Magnus x pregnant Fembot reader, both are conjux, when the chapter arrives where Predaking breaks Magnus's hand, the reader rescues him, but ends up in a fight with Predaking, but he began to see her as his Queen, and wanted to take her away.

TFP! Ultra Magnus' S/O vs Predaking

Character: Ultra Magnus (Transformers Prime) Requester: @zinnia1506 A/N: There is no mention of the Reader being 'pregnant' (carrying), but you can imagine it being true. I just couldn't link it very well ⚠️ Spoilers/Trigger Warnings for: Mentions of war, fighting, complete body harm (hand being crushed-no gore tho), and maybe some underlying yandere behavior from Predaking ⚠️

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╚═════ Ultra Magnus ═══════════════════════════╝

🎖️ Ultra Magnus did not like to show his emotions. They were in a war for crying out loud! But when it came to you, his longtime friend and current sparkmate, he couldn't help but let you see behind his mask

🎖️ It wasn't much of a change, but you got to see how some things got to him, like the loss of your home planet and you went on your own on his ship before settling with Team Prime on Earth

🎖️ As you spent days and then weeks on the muddy planet, you grew close with the humans your Cybertronian allies were close. Though, you were closest with the human named Miko Nakadai, she reminded you of yourself before the war

🎖️ Speaking of the war, it was hard to know that the Decepticons had boosted up their power with a Predacon, how they got a hold of a fragment of their CNA you have no clue

🎖️ Anyways. Because of how low the energon sources were getting for you all, your team had gone out and begun to hoist them back to your base, and while the others went back to the base, you stayed with Wheeljack and Ultra Magnus inside the mine

🎖️ And that was a big mistake

🎖️ You had seen the Predacon launch himself at your friend and sparkmate, and while Magnus grabbed you and helped you get away from where the Cybertronian-beast landed, you readied your weapon, a long spear, and began to fight alongside them

🎖️ The fear you had as the mechs all clashed and knocked one another aside as, like humans say, dolls, was something immense. And it only got worse when the 'Con managed to get the two of them practically wasted by using the surrounding rocks to his advantage

🎖️ As Predaking landed on Magnus' servo, your face went blank with shock. How dare he.

🎖️ While Predaking scoffed at the pain he caused Ultra Magnus by crushing his servo into pieces, he began his small walk towards the Forge of Solus Prime

"And here I was just beginning to tolerate you." You heard Wheeljack say as he laid down in pain.

"It's been an honor serving alongside you, soldier." Ultra Magnus answered.

🎖️ As Predaking lifted the Forge, you began to stand, lodging your spear's blade into the cave's walls before loosening your rarely-used seeker wings before taking a deep breath to calm yourself down

🎖️ The sound of the Forge being torn into two parts making your anger surge more, especially after Predaking threatened your sparkmate

"Prepare to perish." Lifting his clawed servo, Predaking was launched aside as you threw your spear, a large rock being attached to it.

"Magnus, Wheeljack! Stand and get out of here! I'll hold this guy off." You said, transforming into your alt-mode, a McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle, and began to fire your AIM-9M Sidewinders at the larger Cybertronian.

"Y/N. We're not leaving you alone with him!" Wheeljack yelled as he tried to stand.

"Oh for spark's sake! Go!" You growled, flying at the Predacon and de-transforming to kick him in the face, knocking him into more rubble deeper in the cave system.

🎖️ Hearing Optimus' voice ring through the cavern made you relax slightly before turning back to your opponent as he stood from the rocks and looked at you with wide optics and a small smile growing on his face

"What are you smiling about, 'Con?" You asked, an expression of determination and annoyance on your own face.

"You're strong... stronger than the others... you must be... you must be mine." Predaking said, standing up proudly as he said this.

🎖️ Your optics widened as you began to tremble, remembering hearing those words once from a certain Warlord before the war even began, leaving your home as a floating ball of scrap metal

"Y/N, hurry!" Optimus yelled, snapping you out of your trance.

🎖️ Transforming again, you flew after your leader, who was carrying both Ultra Magnus and Wheeljack on his shoulders. And as you exited the cave, you blasted the rocks above the entrance, hopefully slowing the Predacon down more

»–•–«

🎖️ Sitting in front of Optimus while Ultra Magnus' servo was being operated on by Ratchet, you shivered, which made your leader look at you with a saddened expression

"I know..." He started. "You remembered that day with Megatron, Y/N."

"I just- I can't hear those words the same. Him saying it was enough for my spark to bear! But now, now I have that beast's words being mixed with his..." You said, holding your helm in your servos as you cried.

"Y/N, look at me."

🎖️ Looking up from your servos, you felt Optimus wipe your lubricant that fell from your optics with his own servo. He then looked at you and smiled gently, opening his arms in a gesture for a hug

🎖️ You hugged him as he hushed you and allowed you to weep as much as you wished, emotions were normal, so it was only normal for you to express them so openly

"Don't worry, Ultra Magnus will make a fine recovery. I'm sure of it." The Prime said.

"Thank you," you sniffed, "Optimus. Thank you."

"It is no problem. Now, I recommend you take some time to recharge. After all, fighting such an opponent must take some energy out of you. I shall awake you when Ultra Magnus also awakens, alright?"

"Yes."

🎖️ Optimus smiled as you walked off to recharge, most likely in your alt-mode in a nearby bunker. You really were scared though, weren't you? He was going to need to tell the others of the issue sometime. But for you, you needed to let this information finally calm down in your processor

[destielaureversebb]

Coming soon for the @destielaureversebb: “The Most Qualified Interrogator” 

Author: @seidenapfel Artist: sidewinder @hawkland

Rating: Explicit Archive warnings: Chose not to use archive warnings Length:  30,000 words Tags:   AU – Canon Divergence, Hell, Angst with a Happy Ending, Torture, Dubious Consent Relationships: Dean/Castiel, Ruby/Sam

Summary: 

Castiel has come off the line with a crack in his chassis. Constantly going against his heavenly commands, not even wiping his mind can control him.

Instead of killing or incarcerating him, Heaven decides to redeploy him to get rid of the problem, forever. Mind wiped and stripped from all his heavenly duties and ranks, Castiel falls — to Hell.

Inexorably, he becomes the master of the Pit. The filthiest souls suffer and shatter under his hands. He is relentless. Nothing threatens to break through his programming. What he does, feels right. It’s justified.

Until the Righteous Man arrives in Hell.

Excerpt: 

Castiel turned around and glared at the gathering in front of him. The demon closest to him was smote right away, when Lilith herself stepped forward.

“It’s time,” she stated.

Castiel frowned. “Time for what?”

“His coming is near as he has arrived among us.”

Two demons stepped forward. Between them they carried a human form torn to shreds. Its soul was barely recognisable under the carnage the hellhounds had wreaked.

Glowering at the fresh meat, Castiel snarled in disdain at the intruders. “I don’t do weaklings. Your petty deals are beyond me.”

Lilith growled. Anger distorted her form as she rose to her full size. When her wings burst through the veil hiding them, Hell shook and roared. Fires erupted and Castiel’s finely tuned orchestra of agony ended up in discord, but, for once, he took no notice.

The Queen of Crossroad was towering 50 feet above him. White eyes glared at him as she bared her fangs. “You will obey me, angel.”

Castiel gulped, but kept his stance.

“This matter is of utmost importance. The fate of Hell lies in your hands. You will break the Righteous Man. And you will do so in record time. As much as it pains me, you are the best Hell has to offer, Castiel. Do not disappoint me. I expect immediate results. The first seal must break to bring the Apocalypse upon us.”

She turned on her heels and walked away. Her henchmen tossed the beaten soul into the pit. As he landed in front of Castiel’s feet, the human whimpered.

Despite his tattered form, the man pushed himself up on his arms. Retching blood, he coughed while his body slowly mended itself to a replica of its original form.

“Son of a bitch,” the human hissed, “that hurt.”

Posting date:  March 5, 2025

[basedhighsenberg]

Somewhere in the world, there is an Aeronautical engineer asking his wife to role play and dress up like a Mig-29 so he can chase her around the house making growling noises like an AIM-9 Sidewinder

[thedreadpiratematt]

Hi!

For the ask game,

39. youtuber you’ve been obsessed with and why?

Happy Holidays 🎉

Happy Holidays friend, and thank you!! ☃️

I wouldn't say I'm obsessed with any YouTubers to be honest, I don't spend enough time there, but I'll give you the three I probably watch and enjoy the most!

I really enjoy reading and hearing about TTRPGs, and I love the reviews The Gaming Table does. Watching Lexi's videos is like listening to a friend talk about a new game she's just read!

I'm also extremely interested in WWI and WWII air combat and I love watching Growling Sidewinder play fighter plane simulations

and last but definitely not least, I love history and I love food! Tasting History with Max Miller always teaches me something and always makes me hungry!

[emo-56]

Do you have a favourite aircraft cockpit sound? E.g. aim9 growl or f14 RWR bleeping

yes sidewinder growl is mega cool

[this-has-returned]

Idk if this would be useful for any writers out there, but allow me to take a moment of autism to explain some terms that get said a lot in movies and stuff during air combat encounters.

Bogey: An unknown contact on radar

Bandit: A confirmed enemy aircraft

Angels: Used like "angels-20" or "angels-30", which is a unit of measurement for altitude, in thousands of feet. So "angels-25" is an altitude of 25,000 feet in the air.

Fox-1: A kind of air-to-air missile guidance style, and a fairly old one. A pilot calls out every missile they fire, to keep everyone aware of how many missiles have been spent, and how many are currently in the air. Fox-1 specifically means the firing aircraft needs to keep the bandit in line-of-sight with radar to help the missile follow the bandit. This tends to leave the firing aircraft vulnerable, though.

Fox-2: Typically used in short-range encounters, a Fox-2 missile is a kind of heat-seeking missile, which chases the exhaust of a jet engine. These can sometimes chase the sun instead, or get distracted by flares.

Fox-3: Typically used when attacking from beyond visual range. Fox-3 missiles use the firing airplane's superior radar for as long as possible. Once the missile gets close enough to the bandit, or when the firing aircraft breaks lock, the Fox-3 missile enters a state called "pitbull", where it relies on its own internal radar system to track the target. Sometimes a pitbull Fox-3 makes mistakes and loses track of the bandit, or chases another aircraft that happens to be in sight (rare). A bandit can launch chaff, which is a cloud of metallic bits which aims to confuse Fox-3 radar systems.

An "AMRAAM" is a kind of Fox-3 missile, and a "sidewinder" is a kind of Fox-2 missile.

Also, you might have heard audio of a "growling" sound, like an electronic "arowarowarow" buzzing noise. Some older sidewinder lock-on systems would make this noise while the heat-seeking warhead searched the sky in front of the aircraft for a heat signature. It would be followed by an "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" sound when one was found (and sometimes it was just the sun, lol).

Typically, an aircraft carries 2 Fox-2 missiles and 2 to 4 Fox-3 missiles. The idea is they will try to fend each other off at a distance first (using Fox-3 missiles), and then either fly home or try to fly closer to use the Fox-2 missiles.

Missiles also do not relentlessly chase down a bandit, and they also rarely follow right behind the bandit. Eventually, a missile runs out of fuel and speed, and simply plummets. Additionally, incoming missiles tend to match the bandit's direction of flight and come in from the side, like when two cars in a chase sequence slam into each other's sides. A missile rarely has the ability to come off the rail, turn to face the bandit head-on, and fly forward into the bandit. They're not trying to chase directly; they're trying to intercept the bandit at some future point. Because of this, the bandit can usually exhaust the incoming missile by changing course a lot.

Also, the missile does not need to physically touch the bandit to inflict damage. Usually the missile gets within some minimum distance, and sneezes molten metal out of its warhead like a shotgun. It's this forward spray that rips up the wings and engine.

When a bandit is shot out of the sky, it's called a "splash" followed by the kind of aircraft that was eliminated. For example: "Splash one hornet". Sometimes you might just hear "splash one".

This is because some aircraft can survive a missile or string of gun rounds in a freak chance event. Technically, this was still a "hit", but it did not prevent the bandit from flying, so it's not a "splash".

Also, some people might disagree with this for...reasons, but generally the goal is not to kill the enemy pilot, but to take down their aircraft. Military aircraft are extremely expensive and are really hard to replace, so a lot of air combat is actually a battle of economies. Therefore, it's typically preferred that you bring your own aircraft home in one piece, and not waste expensive aircraft gun rounds (and fuel) on shooting down parachutes. Splashing the bandit aircraft is the actual victory. What happens to the pilot is typically irrelevant to your mission. This is, of course, still dehumanizing at its core: currency above human lives; you're only spared after ejection because it's too expensive to kill you, and probably not because the enemy feels bad for you. However, if you read about a moment where ejected pilots are shot out of the sky, then you now have better context for how cruel, gruesome, and excessive that really is, on top of any moral conclusions you've already had about warfare.

Hope this is useful when picking up details in movies or other media! I also hope this clarifies some stuff when writing stories that involve air combat, too! There are a lot more details, but idk how much interest there is.

[aercnaut]

@nightmarecountry said: " howdy ," says a familiar voice, honey-smooth, wine-dark, right in his ear. " I hear you're a birthday boy. " [ i'm sorry ]

" FUCK. OFF. " GROWLS the texan, uncharacteristically harsh & gravely, " come back tomorrow 'fore i shoot you. " his birthday is already a day not worth celebrating, & this three mouthed sidewinder had no business making it worse.

[meow-morales]

Val did not dignify Roland’s jab about swinging for his kind with a response besides simply growling at him threateningly, the sound in their chest a rumbling note that was lower than the bass thundering around them. Please; Val had eaten preening punks like Roland Sidewinder for breakfast and not lost a wink of sleep over it. 

Which gave Val something in common with the beautiful witch that Roland was lusting over, if she also got a kick out of imagining the auror facedown in a pool of his own blood. Steadying that image front and center in Val’s mind was the only thing that stopped them from reiterating what a vile bit of carrion he was, and instead pick up the shot that was pushed toward them with a bored look on their face—though Val’s heart didn’t bleed for the false claims of grief over lost kin, because at least Roland-fucking-Sidewinder still had oodles of family out there alive enough to die in the first place. Boo-fucking-hoo.

Val felt the fabric of reality shimmer around them and smirked as their best friend materialized at their side, barking at Roland like he and Val both weren’t about twice Dani’s size. But that’s just one reason Val had loved Dani like their own kin for all these years—the fae was fucking fearless, and she lived and breathed loyalty for the Den and its people.

Val plucked the shot from Roland’s fingers and deposited it into Dani’s, baring their own pointed teeth and giving a feline drawl, “At ease, Dani—Ro here has come bearing good news, for once. We’re toasting to another pretty dead tombo, one of his own clan. ¡Salud!” They clinked their shot glass pointedly against first Dani’s, then Roland’s, before tossing it back without so much as a wince. Then Val shook out their shoulders, returned the shot glass gently to the makeshift bar, before taking a looming predator’s step right up in front of Roland and breathing a snarl into his face with absolutely deadly seriousness, “…and if you so much as twitch your precious little cock in Delilah’s direction, Roland, I will rip it off and deliver it to your lovely witch, so that she can get off imagining that pool of blood you’ve drowned in…�� Val smiled the wide grin of an apex predator lording over their domain, “…got it?”

“Val,” he grinned, Roland took a sip from the fizzy drink rimmed with pop-rocks, and the popping sugar snapped pleasantly against his gums. “You checking me out, gorgeous? I know I cut a fine figure in silk, but I didn’t know you swung for my kind,” his curls flounced over his forehead, “or are you searchin’ me for my badges, luckily I’m off duty for a few days. Some relation or other died overseas in the line of fire for MACUSA so I’m taking the time to grieve,” before barking out a laugh.

“Maeko is my girl, nobody knows that we’re madly in love and engaged. My family would never approve, pureblood or not.” Roland faked a swoon, “I mean when she aims those ocean blue eyes at me and imagines me drowning in my own blood - damn, doesn’t the idea of it get you hot.” Roland couldn’t help riling up everyone in his vicinity, and Maeko was his favorite pass time when he was forced to march through Knockturn Alley like any of that show of force shit was important.

“C'mon, I’m here to drink and dance and forget the grief of another dead family member. Cut me some slack,” he tilted the fizzy drink down his throat and grabbed the tequila to pour shots for the pair of them, “c'mon, how about we toast to Alyssa Sidewinder-Nunez, aged 19, may her name be writ on the Sidewinder books as a heroine for wixkind.” He didn’t know her, some third or fourth cousin of his, he’d already told Axel, who cried a bit for this unknown blood relation who’d been crushed to death.

He pushed the shot to Val, “You wouldn’t deny me a little shared toast would you?”

XXX

Dani was already pressed against the wall; the woman was clearly half-something that was bigger and stronger than the half-fae, and she loved the fangs pressed against her throat and thigh wedged against her center. She jerked against the splayed hands curved around her waist, and then the back of her skull prickled.

“Lemme down,” Dani tapped the woman’s shoulder, who pulled back with a sheen of concern over her mossy green eyes, the sparkling lights making the woman look directly out of a muggle fantasy film, “don’t worry, I’m likin’ all this that yer doin’ to me,” her lithe fingers scratched through the flop of curly blonde hair, “but I’m gettin’ a bad feelin’ and my magic lets me know when bad feelin’s turn to bad times ya know?”

“I understand, seek me out when that bad feelin’ reminds you of the certainly good feelings we will share,” The woman’s hand reached out to cup Dani through her thin pants before snaking away. They parted, and Dani scanned the room, finding –

“That shitstain!” Dani took two steps and jerked her magic. The world warped around her as she popped into existence behind Val, teeth bared as he held out a shot to Val.

“Oi asshole, who the fuck let you in here?”

“Gold runt, lots of fuckin’ gold, and Axel too.”

“Oh goddamnit, don’t tell me Val’s princess is here too?”

“If she was, I’d be trying to tumble her right now. Want a shot?” He held out the tequila and Dani stared at him.

@meow-morales

[rtrixie]

Rough approximation of my face while dodging 4 (four) missiles from an F14, getting hit twice by his cannon and still somehow making it back to base in one piece in my Mig-21S without countermeasures 

[rubyleonis]

My first bit on the Brigade Buddies

Cascade belongs to @roboverse

Drillburst belongs to @cuppajj

Sidewind belongs to @rollertwo

Inktober Day 2: Suit

(TF OC: Trickster the Turbofox. Name drops for Kumquat Server Brigade Buddies)

“Ah-haha, our bastardous femme returns!”

Trickster gave little recognition to the slurred greeting, opting to respond with a simple rude hand gesture instead of words. Of course, all optics in the little hideout fell upon the tiny beastformer, all conversation going silent. Good, at least they seemed to remember who was in charge around there.

“What took you so long?” Trickster turned to the lone voice, meeting optics with the wide-opticed youngster who fell in with the little gang. When she made no answer, the youngster pressed on. “I was starting to worry you got arrested at last! You know the DJD is around these-”

“I fell in with a combiner team, if you must know. Got paid to test some experimental slag out, it worked out, now I am one of nine.” Trickster was fairly nonchalant about her announcement, finding more interest in the box of high end cy-gars on the communal table. She paid no mind to her gang’s chatter resuming. Let them realize the rumors weren’t just rumors. Let them realize on their own. Picking a cy-gar out to light, the beastformer strolled on over to her favorite sofa, as her already seated lackeys made space for her through the confused bickering.

“There is no way! That isn’t like you!”

“Agreed, a Combiner doesn’t suit you!”

“Wait, that means you met Drillburst?”

“Where did that rescue brat come in?”

“Lies, as if that budding celebrity would sully his name by cohorting with our boss and some randoms!”

“Come on, Drillburst working with all those misfits? And that massive ‘Con empuratee that slagged me over during the War?”

Okay, time to speak. Plucking the cy-gar from her lips, Trickster silenced the room with a growl. “For starters, Cascade is fairly neutral leaning. Leave the mech be! And yes, the rumors are true: The Brigade Combiner has some interesting faceplates among us. Including Drillburst!” Trickster smirked before taking a drag from her cy-gar, relishing in the bafflement of her small gang.

“Lies! There is no way you can be in a Combiner with The Drillburst! Impossible!”

Trickster chuckled, flicking her tail in lazy amusement. “You are just jealous because you don’t know him as I do! Oh wait, your habit of starting bar fights got you banned from most of his venues!”

That shut up the lone protester to Trickster’s admission. From there, most others becan to accept the bizzare truth.

“Hey Trick? What of the cutesy bracelet on your paw? Doesn’t suit you.”

Trickster glanced at her wrist, to the bracelet the lackey pointed out. Sweet kid, Sidewind is. “The ‘rescue brat’ -I heard your comment- made these friendship bracelets for all of us in Brigade. So don’t insult it. Kid had kind and friendly intentions when he made these. I like it, so no comments on it.” To solidify her point, she switched paws to hold her cy-gar in the one adorned with Sidewind’s friendship bracelet. That resilenced the bickering.

“Just deal with it, you lot. Wether I suit it or not in your optics, I am in a combiner team, therefore you must treat the other eight with full respect. Along with their partners and young. I will tolerate no scrap towards My Combiner. We are Brigade, so get used to my periodic absences.”

[astudyinfic]

Spooktober 2021

Day 14 - Deity

Fandom: Cut & Run/Sidewinder

Also on AO3

(Under a cut for explicit reasons)

~ ~ ~

Kelly had thought about it since the words came out of Nick's mouth. They occupied his waking hours. They haunted his dreams. When he should have been focusing on the camp, or the cabin, or his friends, the words were always there in the back of his mind. 

He couldn't stop. 

"You don't say his name when I fuck you, you say mine."

Kelly didn't even know what he had said at first. Whose name was on his lips when they were fucking? He'd never been with another man before. Never even thought about another man like that before. So why would he say a man's name?

It didn't take long to realize he'd said something along the lines of "oh, god" or "Jesus Christ", and wasn't that the hottest damn thing he'd ever heard. 

Nick's line. Not his own. 

But it made him think. Nick knew he had Kelly's full attention when they were in bed. To be fair, he had Kelly's full attention most of the time. Nick didn't need to be reassured that Kelly wasn't thinking of someone else. 

So this was about Nick's ego and his dominant personality, both in and out of the bedroom. Kelly sure as hell wasn't complaining about that but an idea popped into his head and now he couldn't stop thinking about it. He was going to do it. Just needed the right opportunity, though they were few and far between with them still living on different sides of the country. 

A month later, Nick finally made his way out to Colorado for a week of privacy, just the two of them. In his excitement at seeing his boyfriend (that word paled in comparison to what Nick was to him but Kelly had yet to come up with a better one), he almost forgot about his plan. It was only when Nick had him pressed against the wall and was sucking a dark mark into his skin that Kelly remembered. The fact that he could think at all meant Nick hadn't yet started to really try, and Kelly knew it was only a matter of time before comprehensible speech was lost to him.

The two of them tumbled into bed and Kelly swore he heard some of his clothes rip in Nick's haste to get them off. Which was alright. He could always buy new clothes and things were fun when Nick was in this kind of mood. 

Kelly fought to keep his wits about him, wanting to try his plan and see what happened. He was pretty sure that whatever the outcome, it would be hilarious for him and would horrify Ty, which would also be hilarious. It was a win-win. 

It might also make Nick stop fucking him for the night, but that seemed like a low chance and was one Kelly was willing to take. 

As Nick thrust into him, Kelly moaned, "God" out of habit and Nick stopped, staring down at him. 

"What did I tell you?"

"I say your name, not his. I know."

Nick narrowed his eyes. "Then get it right."

With the next thrust, Kelly bit out the words he had been wanting to say. It didn't exactly flow off the tongue and wasn't the crisp, easy feeling that "God" or "Nick" had, but Nick's reaction was absolutely worth it. "Oh, Nicholas Reilly O'Flaherty..." he groaned, head thrown back and already on the cusp of his orgasm. 

Nick froze, staring down at Kelly in shock and Kelly wrapped a hand around himself to try and make sure he didn't come and miss Nick's full reaction. Nick blinked once, twice, three times, before he started to shake. His shoulders shook and his head bowed and for a moment, Kelly worried he'd messed up and he was crying. Then he heard Nick's contagious laughter and quickly joined in. 

"Only you, Kels. Only you."

"And you love me for it."

Managing to get control of his laughter, for the most part, Nick dipped his head and kissed Kelly firmly. "You're right, I do." He thrust in again and that stopped once more, making Kelly growl in frustration. "For the record, just Nick is fine. Or sir, if you prefer that."

There was no stopping Kelly's orgasm this time. 

Kelly thought he would probably leave that part out of the telling when he traumatized Six later on. 

Some things were private after all.

[usafphantom2]

“I loosened my straps and checked our 6 ‘o’ clock . Sidewinders growling, we locked up a German F-104 and took out first shot.”

“Any flight in an FGR2 is memorable but if one sticks in my mind, it would be the ‘Battle of Pehiem Mast’. We had got airborne as a four-ship of FGR2s with the simple code of @ ATAF SOPS in the authorisation sheets. This meant 2 ATAF (2nd Tactical Air Force ) and standard operating procedures. That meant we could intercept and try to engage any aircraft at low level and be legally allowed to perform two 360 degree turns and one reversal. In reality we were cleared for full-up low-level air combat! We would get airborne from Wildenrath, hard turn south away from the Dutch border, and pitch back east and work our way north. All silently. No radio comms. Transiting at 420 knots in Card 4 (in a diamond formation of four like a 4 playing card ) we were like a pack of marauding wolves hunting our quarry without mercy. “

[dustedmagazine]

Magic Castles — Sun Reign (A Records)

This is the fourth album for Magic Castles on Anton Newcombe’s A Records, and Brian Jonestown Massacre certainly serves as a reference point for this jangle-psych outfit, whose freakbeat confections reference an idealized Nuggets-1960s vibe. The band’s leader and main consistent player, Jason Edmonds, has a way of threading fuzz-guitar musculature through hazy daydream auras that is much in line with Newcombe’s sidewinding work in “Anemone” or “Straight Up and Down.” The two bands toured together in 2014 and split an EP the same year, so it’s clear they see the affinity, too, though honestly, anyone would.

Magic Castles have been around since the late aughts, refining an expansive, cosmic garage rock sound that has grown clearer over time without making any radical departures. Sun Reign comes after a bit of a hiatus. After Starflower in 2015, Edmonds started writing these songs at home in Minneapolis after taking time off from touring as a new dad. The break extended after he was involved in a serious car accident in 2019, then just as he recovered, COVID hit and the George Floyd murder set off protests very near his recording studio. So, it’s been an eventful few years for the Magic Castles front man, even if it has resulted in only one 10-song album.  

Perhaps as a result of the amount of time available for it, Sun Reign has a very finished, polished air. Its cloudy atmospheres of wistful melody hang beautifully in lucid sonic spaces. Its whip-sharp instrumental licks reverberate in precise, well-considered ways. The songs allow time for dreaming, but they don’t leave you drifting aimlessly. Unlike a lot of psychedelic garage rock—the solo work of Greg Ashley or the latest Aquarian Blood come to mind — it leaves no hanging ends or woozy dislocations.

Consider, for instance, how “Lost Dimension” comes together, out of gentle, trebly folk picking and whooshing sonics. Its whispery vocals gain steam as the song goes on, and delicate guitars blow up into monstrous, electrified size, but the song only expands, never loses its shape. Its pretty melody remains unperturbed, even as the volume swells. “World of Time” is shadowy and full of ominous textures, its washes of sound kept in order by the growl of bass, the steady pulse of drums. Again, the song is airy and dreamlike, drifting over in wistful, oceanic waves, but it is anything but undisciplined. The melody curves where it should, the crescendos come when they must and the song moves with purpose even at this slow, hallucinatory speed.

There’s one relatively obscure cover in “Ode to the Wind,” 1966 single by El Paso-based one-hitters Danny and the Counts. It’s a classic garage band twist of melancholy and bravado, eerie echoed with a fuzz guitar lick winding through it. Magic Castles’ version sticks pretty close to the original, with the minor key jangle erupting into a sinewy serpentine line, and a chorus of “la la la la las” pitched somewhere between euphoria and regret. And yet, maybe it’s a little cleaner and more lucid, and maybe it shines a clearer light through the rain of guitars. Magic Castles sound like the kind of lo-fi Nuggets 1960s you only imagined, just the same but more so.

Jennifer Kelly

[wordsysayswords]

After picking Wash up on Sidewinder, it’s going to take everyone a while to get used to the new living arrangements. Especially Wash, who’s a bit directionless now that he’s finally free of the Project. Tucker doesn’t care for Blue Team’s new leader. But he can’t help noticing some of the man’s odd habits and wondering what caused them.

-

Part 2: Sleeping Habits

It hits Tucker that violently shaking the sleeping Freelancer out of a nightmare might be an exceptionally stupid idea at the exact same time Washington headbutts him in the nose.

Or, Wash wakes up swinging.

-

Tucker doesn’t know how he manages to fall asleep, but Caboose’s snoring wakes him at about 6 am. He blinks around the room, taking in the crayon drawings and machine blueprints—also drawn in crayon—plastering the walls.

Beside him, Caboose is spread-eagle on the bed, drooling into his pillow. Tucker rolls his shoulders, trying to relieve the stiffness earned from sitting up against the wall all night. His gaze falls to his deactivated energy sword in his lap.

Right.

It isn’t like Tucker forgot what happened during the night. His chest is still tight with the remnants of nightmares that had seen the incident end differently. Bloody.

Somewhere in the base, a floorboard creaks. Tucker jolts, sword flashing to life in his hand. His eyes fly to the door.

The handle doesn’t turn, the door doesn’t open. There isn’t even the shadow of feet passing by. The base is eerily silent—save for Caboose’s cartoonishly loud snores. After five minutes, Tucker’s starting to think he imagined it. He almost misses the distant sound of a door clicking shut.

Tucker listens. One minute. Two.

Pushing Caboose’s beefy arm off him, Tucker hops off the bed and tiptoes across the room. Ever so slowly, he reaches up and unlocks the door. He takes a deep breath.

He opens the door.

The kitchen is empty. So is the common area. The base feels cold and gray in the hazy morning light. The coffee pot is off, which is weird considering the unspoken rule that the first person up and about is in charge of prepping it. That’s usually Washington, what with his absolutely fucked sleep schedule.

But Tucker doesn’t want to think about Washington right now. What he wants is an ice pack for his nose because it might not be broken, but it hurts like a bitch. Deactivating his sword, Tucker grabs some ice and heads for the bathroom.

After nudging the door open to make sure a rabid Freelancer isn’t hiding inside, Tucker looks in the mirror to check the damage. Oof. The bleeding has stopped, but his shirt looks like a crime scene. Tucker hadn’t thought to grab tissues or gauze or even a medkit before locking himself and Caboose in the blue soldier’s room for the night. He gingerly inspects the colorful swelling he’s going to be sporting for a while.

He wonders if he gave Washington any bruises to add to his already sizable collection.

Tucker pulls back from the mirror and scoffs. He doesn’t give a shit about how Washington is feeling because it serves him the fuck right after almost murdering Tucker.

Tucker heads back to the common area. There’s a basket of laundry beside the door that the teal soldier hasn’t gotten around to folding. Tucker is fishing out a clean shirt to replace his blood-stained one when he notices the boots lined up neatly in the entryway. The two sets of boots.

There’s supposed to be three.

Wash’s room is empty.

The sun has barely crept above the distant glacier peaks on the horizon. There’s no snow this close to Sidewinder’s equator, but the landscape remains a tundra of frozen earth and hardy brown plants.

Tucker catches up with Washington two miles up the road, slowing the warthog to a crawl beside him.

“You goin’ my way, baby?” Tucker drawls, leaning out of the driver’s side with a wink.

Washington doesn’t stop walking. He glares ahead at the long dirt road stretching into the windswept wasteland, pointedly not looking at Tucker.

Okay, well, fuck. Dead silence wasn’t an option Tucker considered when mapping out this conversation in his head after he realized Wash had up and left. Then again, catcalling the guy hadn’t been on the agenda either, but Tucker’s mouth is always one step ahead. He’s a lot better at this whole banter thing when the other person can dish it out as good as they get. That was one of the nice things about Church. The asshole always had an answer, even if it was just “fuck you.”

“It’s cold as balls,” Tucker says, jumping on the first thing that comes into his head. “Where the hell are you going dressed like that?”

Washington is wearing the poorly fitting fatigue pants and shirt Caboose and Tucker had gifted him (though, Tucker was a lot more begrudging about it than Caboose). The Freelancer must have found the frayed military jacket somewhere in the abandoned base they’d taken over following the fight with the Meta. One of his hands holds it shut against the perpetually icy air. The other grips a sagging duffle bag thrown over his shoulder.

Washington picks up speed.

“You going somewhere?” Tucker prods, the engine of the warthog growling as he gives it just enough gas to keep Washington’s pace.

Tucker watches the man’s jaw clench, mouth set in a grim line.

Tucker sighs dramatically. “Listen, I don’t wanna have to be the one to tell Caboose that his pet ran away, so get your broody ass back t—”

“Take it!” Washington snarls, rounding on Tucker and causing him to slam breaks. Wash hurls the duffel bag to the frozen ground beside the warthog.

“Just fucking take it, okay?” Washington snaps louder, dragging a hand through his hair as he paces the road. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have taken anything, so just fucking take it, okay?”

Tucker cranes his neck out of the idling car to look down at the contents of the bag now spilled across the dirt. Two MREs and a flashlight.

Tucker doesn’t know what Washington sees in the confusion on the teal soldier’s face, but the man lets loose a harsh laugh. Washington rips off the jacket and flings that to the dirt as well.

“There,” he says, folding his arms firmly across his chest. “You have everything. Now, just fucking go.”

Tucker just sits there for a moment.

“What the—god damn it,” Tucker snarls right back, throwing the warthog in park and clambering out. “I don’t give a fuck about a flashlight and some bags of chicken-fucking-flavored rice!”

Wash has the nerve to look pissed.

“What do you want then?” He yells, throwing out his arms. “WHY THE HELL ARE YOU OUT HERE?!”

“That’s MY LINE, you ABSOLUTE ASSWIPE!” Tucker shouts back. “What are YOU doing out here? Are you actually running away?”

“What do you want? An apology? Like that’s going to fix this?” Wash shouts. “Fine! I’m sorry!”  

And the words come pouring out.

“I’m sorry!” Wash yells again. “I shouldn’t have fallen asleep, but I did, and I’m sorry. Is that what you want to hear? I’m sorry I’m broken, I’m sorry I killed Church, and I’m sorry I wasted your time.”

With that, Wash drops to the dirt, the fight sucked right out of him by the outburst. He sits there, head drooping and silent save for his uneven panting.  

For some reason, it hits Tucker at this exact moment that this is the longest conversation he and Washington have ever had.

“There,” Wash says finally, voice subdued. “I said it. You can go. You don’t have to worry about me anymore.” He doesn’t make any move to stand up.

Tucker actually laughs. “Seriously, dude? The nearest settlement is like 70 miles away. What are you going to do? Walk?”

“I can handle it,” Wash says dully.

“Dude,” Tucker says, pointing to Wash’s shirt. “You’re bleeding.”

Wash startles, looking down and finally noticing the slowly growing patch of blood at his side.

“Shit,” he curses, lifting the fabric to reveal a soaked square of gauze.

Tucker pulls a face. “Ugh, I thought Doc stitched you up.”

“Tore them,” Wash mumbles, pulling at the bandage to inspect the wound and face pinching at what he finds. “...Last night.”

Wash glances up at the cold, dirt road ahead and then down at the blood seeping out from around his hand pressed to his wound, frowning.

Tucker rolls his eyes and sighs. “Alright, get in.”

Wash narrows his eyes. “Where are we going?”

“To Mars,” Tucker says flatly. “Where the fuck do you think? Back to base to get your sorry ass stitched up again.”

Wash blinks. “What?”

“No, you heard me,” Tucker says, turning heel and climbing back in the car. Last night is still too fresh for him to offer the man a hand. “Get in the car.”

Still looking a little like a deer caught in headlights, Wash shakily climbs to his feet, wincing all the way. He hisses in pain bending down to pick up his things before limping around the warthog to climb in the passenger seat.

Staring straight out the windshield, Tucker grits his teeth and grips the steering wheel like it owes him money. It would be so much easier to hate Wash if he made excuses or pretended last night never happened. It’s a lot harder to hate someone when they’re standing in front of you in the cold, bleeding and apologizing for taking a coat and some meager rations. Goddammit.

“I still hate you,” Tucker blurts out, every word tasting like a lie.

Wash just nods, tired eyes still fixed on the place where the dirt road meets the horizon in the distance. He sags against the seat, pale and with sweat beading at his brow.

“Look,” Tucker says, slumping his shoulders, “I’m not stopping you from leaving. You’re a grown-ass, presumed KIA adult and can do whatever the hell you want. I just…recommend doing it with proper supplies and when you’re not bleeding everywhere.”

Wash looks over at him.

“I can leave later?” he asks quietly.

Tucker shrugs. “It’s up to you. You don’t owe us anything.”

Wash looks like he’s about to argue but seems to think better of it. He’s visibly shivering now. Tucker cranks up the heat before turning the warthog around and heading back towards base.

“Are...are you okay?” Wash asks softly.

Tucker looks over at him, taking in how he’s slumped against the seat even as his hands tightly gripped the wound. Up close, Tucker can see a ghastly bruise peeking out from under the collar of his t-shirt. Whether it’s from him or the Meta, Tucker can’t be sure.

He turns his eyes back to the road. “I’m fine,” Tucker says, even as his nose pulses in pain at the memory of the previous night.

“I should have warned you not to come near me when I’m sleeping,” Wash all but whispers.

“Is screaming like a...like an opera-singing howler monkey... normal for you?”

Wash shrugs.

“Whatever,” Tucker says. “Just try not to get blood all over the seats. I just had this thing cleaned.”

“What? How?”

“It’s a joke, Wash.” That’s weird. When did Washington become Wash?

“Oh.”

They ride in silence for a few moments before Wash speaks up again. “Tucker?”

“Hm?”

“...Thanks.”

Tucker stares straight ahead as the base comes into view. “Don’t mention it.”

[randomly-random-jen]

The Completely Inaccurate Misadventures of a Part-Time Blue and Full-Time Smartass [1/?]

a Red vs Blue fanfic

Epsilon might not be a full AI, but he makes up for it by being a full idiot most of the time. These are some of his misadventures after crash-landing on an unknown planet.

Canon AU after crashing on Chorus... sort of.

Written for the pure angst and with my own version of how AIs work in the world.

1. Forgot to Forget

The wind whispered through the trees. A whooshing sound that raised the imaginary hairs on the back of Church’s imaginary neck. It was almost like the forest was speaking to him. Which was stupid because trees couldn’t talk. And Church was just a computer program, but he still felt those hairs raise all the same.

“Epsilon? Epsilon are you listening to me?”

Church shook his head, forcing his focus back to Carolina. “Huh?”

She sighed. “Where were you?”

“When?” His eyes drifted back to the trees.

     whoosh shoosh wshhh

“Just now. You were somewhere else.”

He blinked at Carolina. “No I wasn’t.”

“Well, you sure weren’t listening to me,” she said as she started walking again. Church could feel her frustration even if he couldn’t see it on her face.

“You can get kind of wordy,” he said absently as he watched the trees. There was movement. He was sure. “Besides, I can hear your thoughts, I don’t need to listen to you speak. Did you see that?”

“See what? And don’t listen to my thoughts. It’s creepy.”

“Don’t think so loud then.”

Carolina sighed. “What is with you? You’ve been out of it all day.”

“There’s something out there.”

     wshhhooo whoosh shoosh

“No there isn’t.”

“No, no—I heard something.”

She looked around, senses heightened by his anxiety. “I’m not picking anything up on trackers.”

“I’m telling you there’s something out there. I can hear it talking.”

“Talking?

“Yeah. Sort of. More like whispering.”

“Whispering?” She sounded less and less convinced.

“Like whoosh ooosh shushhh. Like that.”

Carolina looked around as the wind kicked up, whistling through the branches. “It’s just the wind; quit being paranoid.”

Church sighed. “I guess you’re right.”

     whooshaitshoosh

A shiver ran down his spine. It’s just the wind. You’re being paranoid. Nothing is out there.

     shooshoowhoshonnashay

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught some movement. A shadow, really. He scanned the trees. There was something out there—he didn’t care what Carolina said.

     shooourchshhh churchshhhh

“Wait.”

Carolina stumbled to a stop, weapon raised. “What?”

Another shadow moved between the trees then disappeared. Church spun, searching for it again. “I’m telling you there’s something there. I saw something. A figure. A dark figure.”

“Maybe you need to cycle off for a bit. Get some sleep. You’re hallucinating.”

“I’m a computer program—I don’t hallucinate.”

“Uh-huh,” she muttered. “Epsilon-”

     whooshchuuuuuurchshhhhhh

“Did you hear that? Tell me you heard that.” His heart raced or whatever part of his programming represented his heart sped up.

“Hear what?”

“My name. Someone was calling my name.”

“Epsilon-”

“No. Church. They were whispering Church.”

“I’m sorry, Epsilon, I have to do this.”

Church turned to her, brow furrowed. “Do wha-”

Everything went dark and silent. Very dark. Very silent. “Carolina?” Nothing. Not a sound. Not a whisper. Not a breath. She shut me off. What the fuck? She doesn’t get to do that.

He struggled to reenter the world. To hear and see. He pushed against the darkness, searching for the comforting murmur of Carolina’s thoughts, panic building. How could she?

     waaaaait

Church froze, ice filling his veins. “Carolina?” His voice cracked. “Hello?”

     ooookay waitttttt

“Who’s there?” A flash of movement behind him. He spun. “This isn’t funny.”

     chuuuuuurchhhhhh

“Stop it.” He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to find his way out of the darkness. He was going to kill Carolina for this. Then he was going to write a subroutine to keep her from ever shutting him off again. That wasn’t fair.

     hhhwaaaaittt

Something brushed against his back, and he nearly jumped out of his skin, heart lodged in his throat.

     hhhwaitaminutttttte

“Nothing there, nothing there, nothing there. Carolina’s right. I just need some sleep.”

     chuuuuurch

“All in my imagination.”

Church? Hello?

He forced an eye open. Nothing but blackness. “Hello?”

“Over here, dummy.”

He spun, nearly falling. The black figure wavered against the even blacker background. Slowly, it moved forward.

“I’m gonna die,” he mumbled.

The figure laughed. A very familiar laugh. “You can’t die. You’re already dead. Remember, Caboose blew you up.”

“Huh.” The dread that had filled him evaporated, turning to confusion. “Caboose?”

“Besides-” The figure solidified into a person. “This is your head. You can’t die in your own memories.”

“Tex?”

“Hey, Church.”

“Wha-” He blinked, but she was still there. “What’s going on. What? Why? How?”

Tex laughed. “Surprised?”

“How are you here?”

“Like I said, we’re inside your head. Or memory matrix. Whatever.”

“But- But- You can’t be here. You’re dead.”

“Yeah, bummer. Except you forgot something.”

He shook his head. Everything was fuzzy. “Forgot? Forgot what?”

“To forget.”

Everything suddenly crashed into place, and he was standing on Blue base as their world literally crumbled around them.

I’m gonna say I forget you. I forget you. I’m letting you go.

“Yep. That’s what you said. Except you forgot.”

Church was so confused. “I don’t understand.”

“You forgot to forget. I’m still here, asshole. Stuck in this matrix. And I’m tired of it.”

“Wait. You’ve been here this whole time? Since- Since they rescued me?”

“No, not the whole time. I was alone at first. It was quiet and nice. But then things started coming back. Sounds and colors and memories. Because you didn’t fucking forget me, Church. You trapped me back inside your stupid head.”

“That’s stupid.”

“You’re stupid. If you forgot me then how do you know who I am?”

He opened his mouth to argue but snapped it shut. She had a point.

“Damn right, I have a point.”

“Wait, you can hear my thoughts? That’s not fair. And it’s kind of creepy. There are things that are private in there.”

Tex snorted. “Not anymore. And gross, Church, I would never-”

“Okay, okay, stop. Just ignore my thoughts. I don’t understand. I-”

“Let me break it down for you in small words you can understand.”

He had a sudden urge to punch her in the face. God, he’d forgotten how condescending she could be.

“No, you’re remembering.”

“Stop doing that!”

“You did forget, Church. For a while. But there was a backup hidden somewhere in all of this circuitry and programming. Apparently, it was self-replicating. When it found the information on me was gone, a subroutine kicked in, triggering the program to rewrite itself. And here I am.”

Church shook his head. “You lost me at self-replicating.”

Tex growled.

“I’m kidding.” He put his hands up and took a step back. “So, what you’re saying is I can’t forget you. Like it’s physically impossible because my memory will always keep a copy. What if I delete the subroutine?”

“There’s a redundancy. A back up to the backup. A sub-sub-routine.”

“But why?”

“Because you’re memory. That’s all you are. Just memories.”

“I am not.”

“You can never forget. Only lock things up that you don’t want to deal with.”

“Then why are you here? Because I sure as hell don’t want to deal with this right now.” He walked away, but since he was still stuck inside his own head, he didn’t get far.

Tex popped up in front of him again. “Because we’re both boned. When the Director created Alpha, the memories of his dead wife were so strong—so clear—that they split off to form another AI. Another full AI.

“You?”

“The original me, yeah.”

“Original?”

“I’m already a copy, Church. Remember. You snuck into that Freelancer facility to get me out of your head. The programming started writing my copy as soon as you came out of the storage unit.”

“Wait, if you’re a copy of a copy then how do you remember-”

“It’s complicated. Just believe me, okay.”

Church wasn’t sure what to believe. Not like Tex had always been the most reliable person.

“You know those memories are implanted right? The stuff about us dating and Sidewinder.”

“What? No, that-”

“Those are Alpha’s memories. It’s what they made him believe when they sent him to Blood Gulch.”

“Then how do I remember them? That was after I fractured.”

“How the fuck should I know? Do I look like a computer genius.”

Church huffed. “Well, you’ve known everything else.”

Tex sighed and sat in the emptiness. She looked… tired. Church sank down beside her. “So, this program in my matrix is unpacking all of the backed-up memories of you. Of the first Tex. Of Allison.”

“Yeah.”

“And I can’t stop it.”

“No.”

He groaned. “Fuck me.”

“Don’t sound so disappointed.”

The hurt in her voice startled him. She was staring off into the distance, picking at imaginary grass. “I didn’t mean-” He let out a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Tex, I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Yeah, you did. You don’t want me here. You never did. I’m the one thing you want to forget. To pretend never existed. I keep ruining your life.”

“That’s-” He thought about everything that’d happened between them. How the memories of her overpowered him after coming out of storage. How Alpha couldn’t deal with the thought of losing her so he purged it all—every last memory. How the Director fell apart after Allison died. “That’s not true, Tex. You didn’t ruin my life. You made it a living hell sometimes, but you didn’t ruin it. I did that to myself.” He sighed. “We’re stuck with each other, aren’t we?”

“Yep. We have the worst case of co-dependency in the history of eternity.”

“Great.”

She got up and stomped off. Church scrambled after her. “I just meant that we drive each other crazy. How are we supposed to survive stuck in my head? We’ll kill each other.”

“Maybe we’ll get it right this time.”

He stopped, more than a little surprised. All of those memories, and it was always him that was trying to fix things. Tex never seemed to care one way or the other. Or she was actively trying to kill him which probably said a lot about him. He swallowed a growing lump. “But we won’t. We’re doomed from the start because that’s what happened at the beginning. Allison died. It’s not a love story that ends in rainbows and happily-ever-afters. It’s a fucking tragedy. And it always will be.” Now he was surprised at the emotion in his own voice. And by how much he wished Tex was right. That they could make it work. “It’s in our programming.”

“Church?”

When he looked up Tex wasn’t wearing her armor anymore. And Church forgot how to breathe. Then remembered he didn’t need to breathe. She looked hella uncomfortable being that exposed.

“I am uncomfortable so you better get how serious I am.”

Church chuckled then blinked himself out of his own armor. He looked down at the faded jeans and worn sweatshirt he was wearing then ran a hand through his hair. “I forgot what I even looked like.”

Tex smiled. Or at least he thought she did. She was kind of blurry.

“Idiot,” she mumbled then slid a pair of glasses onto his face. “Better?”

God she was beautiful. That’s one thing he could never forget. It was the first thing he’d noticed that night in the bar. Then she opened her mouth. Told him to quit staring like a fucking creep. He smiled at the memory. How shocked they were to find out they were each other’s dates.

“Fucking blind dates,” Tex muttered. “I wanted to kill Tiff. Setting me up with a stiff, geeky jerk.”

Church laughed. “Gee, thanks. Glad to know I made a great first impression.” There was no anger, though. That first date had been a disaster. Church couldn’t wait for it to end, but then, he couldn’t stop thinking about her. She haunted his dreams. And nightmares. Until he finally gave in and called her, sure she would laugh in his face. But he had to do something to get her out of his head. “Wow, this goes back a lot farther than I thought. We’ve been screwed since day one.”

Tex looked thoughtful. “I don’t know why I agreed to that second date. You so weren’t my type. Maybe that’s what did it, though. The fact that you called when I was sure I’d scared you off for good. That took guts.”

Church shrugged. “What’s the worst that could have happened? You would have told me to get lost or you’d call the cops.”

“Or I could have hunted you down.”

“Right, I never thought of that.” He laughed. “Opposites attract, I guess.”

“Church, do you love me?”

Every imaginary organ in his body stopped working. He stared, unblinking. Tex bit her lip, waiting. “I-” He choked on the lump in his throat then coughed. “Well, I married you so-”

Tex shook her head. “That was the Director and Allison.”

“And we dated before-”

“That was Alpha and Beta.”

Church threw his hands up. “But aren’t we all the same people? I’m Alpha’s memories, and he was a copy of the Director. We’re all Leonard Church.”

“Is that how you see yourself? Just someone else’s memories. Nothing else?”

He looked at his feet. His right shoelace was untied. “That’s what I am. I’m not a full AI. I’m a fragment. I can’t ever be a full person.”

“Then why do you call yourself Church?”

“I-”

“None of the other fragments did that. That was Alpha’s name. Individuals have names. Fragments have designations.”

Church swallowed. “I don’t know,” he finally said.

“Do you love me?”

He frowned. “I never thought about it. I just assumed-”

Tex didn’t say anything, forcing him to finally look at her. She quickly looked away, but not before he saw the tears. Shit. “Tex-”

She sighed, cutting him off. “Forget it. We should just figure out what to do about our current situation. We’re kind of stuck in here. And you should really think about hiring an interior decorator.”

He was caught off guard by the sudden change of subject. He glanced around. They were still standing in the dark abyss. “Yeah, well, Carolina thought I was losing my mind and shut me off. There’s probably something ironic in that.”

They were both quiet for a while. Tex looked more dejected than he’d ever seen her. She’d always been the strong one. It’s why the Director couldn’t cope without her. Church rubbed his forehead. This was all giving him a headache.

“I guess we could put up a firewall,” Tex said softly. “Try blocking off a chunk of memory to store me in.” She shrugged.

“This is the most surreal conversation I’ve ever had.” Is that what he wanted? To stuff Tex back into a box? To keep her hidden from his conscious mind? He’d done that with a lot of the memories. The ones that were too painful to process. But this was Tex. Could she even be contained?

Tex’s image started to shimmer and fade. He could still see the tears in her eyes, though. “What’s happening?”

“I’m writing a new program. One that will erase all data of me whenever it starts to regenerate. It’ll probably take up a chunk of processing, but-”

“You can do that?”

“Apparently.”

She faded more, and his heart started to pound painfully against his chest. “Wait! Tex, wait. Don’t go.” The words were out of his mouth before he could consider them. “I don’t want you to go.” She continued to fade. She was barely a wisp. “Please. I love you.” But she was already gone.

Everything was blurry again. He reached up to adjust his glasses and realized he was crying. Fuck. Only Tex could make him cry. She was such a fucking pain in the ass. She always popped up whenever his life was going good and managed to fuck it all up. God, he hated her sometimes. Except he didn’t. Not really.

“I’m pathetic.” He couldn’t wait for Carolina to turn his program back on. He was bored with this reality. No, not bored. Lonely. He was completely alone again.

“No you’re not.”

“What?” He spun around, looking for Tex. She appeared in front of him, looking pissed. “What happened?”

“You wouldn’t forget. You kept thinking about me, and it kept overwriting my program to overwrite the other program. You ran out of processor space.”

He blinked at her for a full ten seconds before closing the space between them in two long strides. He wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her neck. “Don’t leave me,” he whispered.

“What?” She pushed him back. “Are you losing your mind. Maybe I screwed something up when I was messing with the code.”

His heart sank into his stomach where it churned. He let his arms fall to his side. He didn’t even know what to think anymore. Even his memories were against him. God, why couldn’t Carolina turn him back on so he could escape this hell?

“Church? Are you okay?”

Code, programs, processor space. That’s what he was. A fragment of a corrupted copy of a broken man. He wasn’t real. None of this was real. “My name’s Epsilon.”

[part 2]

[lilacmoon83]

Finding You Always

Also on Fanfiction.net and A03

Chapter 209: Battle Cry, Pt 2

Bobby looked around in wonder at all the opening portals and was surprised to see a beam of light strike the ground beside them. The light faded, revealing Rose and Fandral's return, via the bi-frost.

"So...you're alive���" Seth growled.

"A God much more powerful than you saved us and I assure you that you will pay for what you've done," Fandral promised. Bobby turned and saw a final portal open behind him. Granny and Red, in her wolf form stepped through, along with Xander, armed with a flamethrower, followed by all seven dwarves, and finally his parents, hand in hand, dressed in their warrior clothing.

Seth looked around, trying to hide his nervousness, at what he was now facing.

"If your plan really hinged on the fact that you thought we wouldn't reunite with our darker halves to save our son from you...then you are more of a fool than we thought," Snow declared boldly.

"Just for that...I think I'll kill you first Snow White and make your husband watch!" Seth growled, as he tried his mind meld, but was shocked when it didn't work. The Chalice glowed between them, but he was confused. Even at full power, the Chalice shouldn't have protected them from his mind meld.

"How...how are you doing this?!" he demanded to know.

"True love," David replied in a simple manner. Snow smiled at him.

"Truest love," she agreed.

"Oh and a little bonding to our elements," Leo added, as his eyes glowed dark blue. Eva's glowed pink, Summer's glowed lavender, and Emma's glowed white.

"All the magic and power in all the realms failed to defeat you...but true love won't," Snow declared, as the chalice separated into their respective weapons, his sword and her arrow shooting gauntlets.

"Nothing can defeat me...and certainly not something like your pathetic true love," Seth seethed, as he signaled his demonic army. David raised his sword to signal their allies.

"This is the United Realms and it's our home!" he shouted.

"And we will purge you and your demons from it!" Snow added, as both sides charged into a battle that would decide the fate of the United Realms...and the world.

~*~

The armies of various Kingdoms immediately charged the massive amounts of demonic minions, taking down the bulk of the dark army to allow the heavy hitters to focus on the more powerful, lethal enemies. Still, the minions proved they were formidable and casualties on both sides began to build. The military from the Land Without Magic, however, was finding themselves to be out of their element a bit though and they were clearly frustrated.

David swiped his way through a hoard of ghouls, using the chalice sword's flails of energy to decimate the minions that were taking a toll on the soldiers.

"Your men, both on the ground and in the air, would be more effective creating a perimeter around this area. We don't want any of these demons spilling into the other realms where they can feed on innocent people," David directed to the commanders.

"Why should we take orders from you? A guy that goes by Prince Charming?" one of them asked, while the others chortled at his joke. Several of Mephisto's creations encroached on them at that point. David turned and swiped through one, obliterating it with the chalice sword. He kicked another away, while thrusting his sword through two more that would have certainly killed the onlooking officers. He threw his sword and it spun like a sidewinder, obliterating a dozen incoming demons, before he caught the sword again and the minions fell to the ground in pieces. They were stunned and their question as to why they should take orders from him was answered. There was a screeching behind him, as one surviving demon tried to attack him, but an arrow hit it and the creature exploded, as Snow sided up to him.

"You always have my back," he said fondly, as he slipped his hand in hers.

"You should listen to my husband, boys. You're looking at a man that helped me take back two Kingdoms," she said, looking at him fondly.

"And get someone on your sixes, because not everyone has someone as amazing as her watching their back," he mentioned, as he lifted her chin with his fingers so he could kiss her briefly, before they joined hands and rushed back into the fight, leaving the soldiers unsure of exactly what they had just seen.

"You heard him...get that perimeter going!" Major Donovan called.

"His orders are as good as mine," she added, as the military switched gears to do as they asked and get that perimeter up.

~*~

Leo wove his way through the mess of airborne furies, slashing at them as he went. But he yelped, as he was hit with a stray blast. He fell off Pegasus, even as the animal nosedived to catch him. But he saw an icy slide appear beneath him, allowing him to slide safely to the ground. He got to his feet and Elsa hugged him.

"Are you okay?" she asked, as she looked at the wound on his shoulder.

"It's fine...it's just a flesh wound," he replied, as Pegasus landed next to them and neighed with worry. He pet the animal's mane, assuring him that he was okay. Leo looked to the sky again and Elsa gasped, as they saw the furies overwhelm one of the military planes, causing it to crash in a fiery explosion.

"Time to clear the air…" Leo said, as his eyes glowed bright blue. His lightning was summoned in the sky and there was a boom of thunder, as the sky flashed bright blue, striking most of the furies. He fried them and turned them into charred, falling objects.

"Nice...but you do know that you've now turned the dangerous flying objects into dangerous falling objects, right?" Eva teased.

"Hey...there's no book on how to defeat demonic hell furies with wings," he pointed out.

"There is now, because this family invented it," Henry commented, as he and Jacinda slashed their way through more ground enemies.

"You had better hurry, before those charred objects are pelting us," Rumple warned.

"I got this," Summer said, as her eyes glowed lavender and JJ watched her in amazement, as she released dozens of bubbles, encasing the falling objects harmlessly within her bubbles. Eva stepped forward and her eyes glowed pink, as she swept all the bubbles into one stream.

"Hey kid...help us out!" Emma called to her baby brother. Bobby's eyes were multicolored, as he slammed one foot into the ground, opening a crevice. Emma's eyes glowed white, as she helped Eva guide the destroyed demons into the lava that was in the earth beneath them. Bobby knelt down once they were done and used his magic-enhanced strength to close the gap up again and seal it.

"Nice…" Emma complimented, but then the five of them were struck by a reptilian tale, as Seth descended upon them, in a horrifying half man, half serpent-like form.

"Time to meet your end, Charmings…" he seethed, as he slithered toward them and they noticed something on the ground that was left behind in his wake.

"What are those white things?" JJ asked.

"I don't know...but I have a bad feeling about this," Summer replied.

"Crap…" Leo uttered, as he drew his sword.

"What?" Emma asked.

"They're eggs," Rumple interjected for him.

"You can't be serious…" Regina protested.

"He is a snake…" Leo reminded her, as Snow and David caught up to them, arriving hand in hand.

"Something tells me this is about to get really gross," Snow commented, as the eggs hatched and slimy, snake-like demons emerged. Their hissing and rattle was almost deafening, as they readied their weapons and magic. The minions scattered, attacking and biting with a ravaging vengeance, while the Charmings surrounded Seth. The seven of them charged the God, while the rest of their close family and friends scattered to help defend against the new onslaught of minions.

~*~

Fandral and Rose dueled with the dangerous frost giant, Fafnir, in his dragon form. The dragon was raging and had already caused some casualties from their army. It was clear that Fandral was the only one with the strength to kill the frost giant and they had managed to isolate him to a corner of the battlefield with a rocky outcropping. It was precarious and he did not like Rose being so close to it, for one slip or loss of footing and they could be skewered by the jagged rocks. But that too was part of their plan.

"For the record, I do not like this plan," he mentioned. She smiled and fired another arrow and then kissed his cheek.

"You'll catch me, my love...you always do," Rose replied, as she climbed up and around the outcroppings, finding her way to the top of the tallest, most jagged one. She threaded another arrow and there was a loud thwack, as she landed it in his chest. The dragon roared angrily and saw her in a prime position. The dragon salivated and spoke in its gravely voice.

"At last...I shall have the ultimate revenge upon you, Fandral of Asgard," he said.

"I shall feast on the pure, sweet blood of your beloved Rose Red and destroy you once and for all by taking her!" he roared, as he left himself open, unknowingly, as he prepared to snap her up in his jaws. But before he could devour her, his breath stopped short and he screamed in pain, as Fandral's sword pierced his belly. Fandral extracted his sword and backed away, as Rose jumped down into his arms. The frost giant then fell forward, gruesomely impaling itself on the rocky outcroppings. Rose turned away from the sight and he held her protectively in his arms.

"See...I knew you'd catch me," she said and he caressed her beautiful face gently.

"Always, my angel," he promised, as they shared a kiss.

~*~

James and Aphrodite dueled the massive and mysterious Horned King. The hulking creature that they could only assume was some sort of man behind the mask, shoved James away. Aphrodite's sword clashed with his and she heard him finally speak.

"Aphrodite...you are not what you seem…" he said. His voice was deep and sent a chill down her spine.

"I am the Goddess Aphrodite of Olympus. I am exactly this. A wife, a mother, and a woman that will eradicate yours and your master's evil," she refuted, as they dueled and James jumped back in.

"You are so certain of your origin...Aphrodite, the goddess that rose from the sea foam. But you are a fraud!" he announced, earning him a vicious kick from James. The Prince swept his large legs out from under him and put his blade to creature's throat.

"Calling my wife names will be hazardous for your health," he quipped.

"The Goddess of love cannot have love…" he warned and that struck her.

"You are cursed…" he continued and then he roared in anguish, as James cut off one of his horns.

"Stay with her, Prince James...and you'll die again," he warned.

"She's the love of my life and the only one dying today...is you," James promised. The Horned King roared angrily and charged her. His words had stunned her and she was caught off guard by him, as he managed to get his massive hand around her neck. James growled and jumped up, passing his sword through his neck. The Horned King's body fell to the ground with a thud and he caught his stunned wife in his arm, before she could fall to the ground.

"Are you okay?" he asked. She smiled up at him and kissed him passionately.

"Thanks to you," she replied, as he hugged her tightly. But the expression on her face was clear. The Horned King's words and their possible meaning were not going to fade from her mind any time soon.

~*~

Nora was beyond pissed. Not only had the Major censured her and had her information technicians monitoring her social media posts, she was stuck in some diner called Granny's to watch the fight. Of course, that was another thing that she was pissed about. It seemed that she wasn't going to be the one to get the first scoop. The whole thing was being broadcast to the entire world somehow. It was being streamed on every screen in existence and she wasn't even sure how that was possible. There were no reporters or cameras on the scene that she was aware of. She noticed the diner owners at the counter, with a little girl and a baby. The little girl looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"Hey, hey...no tears. Everything's going to be fine," Frankie assured.

"He's right...your great grandparents are two of the most extraordinary people we've ever met. They'll defeat that snake," Joe assured.

"Great grandparents?" Nora interjected. Lucy nodded.

"My great grandparents are Snow White and Prince Charming," she announced. Nora snorted.

"There is no way those two freaks are that old," she refuted. Frankie snorted.

"We got ourselves a normie," he commented.

"Listen up, girl...if you want a real story about two people who have more love than your tiny mind can comprehend, then pay attention," Joe retorted. Nora shot him a glare and then turned back to the battle. She couldn't believe this. When she had begun studying this years ago, just after the fiasco in Seattle, she had been on a mission to expose the evil of these strange people. After all, they were at the center of several calamities, including this one, that had plagued their world. They didn't belong in this world; of that she knew for certain now. And she wasn't alone in her opinion. They were fighting this evil, but this evil wouldn't have existed if not for them. And now her own cousin was embroiled in their chaos. But this wasn't over. She'd find a way around the censuring and lead the protest against their presence in this world.

~*~

Henry and Ella slashed at the serpent minions and the former looked on, seeing his grandparents, mother, aunts, and uncles fighting Seth furiously in the near distance.

"They'll be all right, lad…" Hook assured, though he sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

"Bloody hell...these things are disgusting," he complained, as he wiped blue blood from his hook and lifted his boot from one of the crushed creatures.

"We need to keep these things off them so they can focus on Seth," Rumple said, as he whacked another with his cane, while Belle sliced through another.

"Well...then I'd say it's fireball time," Regina said, as she looked at JJ.

"Use that thing we gave you to mow down as many as you can," Regina said. He nodded, as she poofed a few more fireball rifles for the others, including Robin, as she and Rumple started volleying fireballs at the oncoming minions. The others began firing and decimating their enemies.

~*~

The armies of every Kingdom fought relentlessly, with Arendelle leading them and Elsa's powers made quick work of most of Mephisto's creations. Mulan, Phillip, and Aurora faced Shan Yu and his army of undead Huns.

"In my day...I nearly crushed the truest loves and they had to banish me to save themselves from my wrath. Lord Seth will kill this pair and I will finish what I started by annihilating your people!" Shan Yu claimed, as their blades clashed in a deadlock.

"I don't think so…" Mulan hissed, as she made several impressive moves and the Hun leader was stunned when she disarmed him.

"I will not be defeated by the likes of you, girl!" he roared, as he got to his feet.

"Woman...and you already have been. But I'm not going to be the one to take the final blow," Mulan stated.

"I knew it...you do not have the gumption to finish the job," he said smugly, but those were his last words, as he was snapped up in Red's mighty jaws and his remnants were all that remained, as she tore him apart.

"Ooooh...he's dead now," Leroy commented, as one of the ghouls screeched, as he hacked at it with his pick axe. Mulan smirked.

"Time to drive these zombie Huns back into the depths of Tartarus," she said.

"This should help!" Bobby called, as he slammed a foot into the ground and opened up a crevice with lava beneath it.

"Thanks kid," Happy called, as he kicked one of the defeated minions into the lava pit. Red nudged the boy, as he returned to fighting his way through more minions, with his eventual destination being Seth.

~*~

Snow and David dueled Arthur and Gawain furiously, as the fire demons attempted to burn them both.

"I've been waiting a very long time to get my revenge on the pair of you," Arthur growled.

"Don't tell me you're still pissed about the whole Excalibur thing," David goaded, as he dueled the disgraced King.

"Excalibur was my birthright! You and your wife had no right to wield it!" he shouted.

"Excalibur disagreed since we were able to, but we never wanted your sword or Kingdom. You lost both through your own actions!" Snow refuted.

"When she's right...she's right," David agreed, as they fought them both at a breakneck pace.

"It's time we end them, my King...or perhaps force them to be like us," Gawain suggested. Arthur smirked.

"Wouldn't that be poetic. The pillar of love and justice becoming what they hate most. I like it," the former King said, as a wall of fire shot up around them, cutting them off from everyone else.

"Mom! Dad!" they heard their children calling.

"Summer...we have to get through that fire!" Bobby called, as she summoned her bubbles and his eyes glowed, as he motioned his hands, summoning water from the various bodies of water that surrounded the United Realms.

"Careful kid...you don't want to drown us all," Emma warned.

"He won't if we concentrate the water to this spot," Leo said, as they helped contain the water and directed its flow toward the pillar of fire that was trapping their parents.

Gawain cackled, as they held each other close and the flames inched closer and closer to them.

"So much for the truest loves...but perhaps this is fitting. They shall be killed by the great King Arthur," Gawain boasted.

"In the Land Without Magic...I'm already a legend and I'm about the live up to that," Arthur agreed

"Still chasing glory, but there is no glory in power. Only love," David said.

"Save your speeches about true love, Prince Charming and prepare to die as a failure. Your true love is about to fail your entire family, your friends, and the world…" Arthur said.

"Okay...I think I'm ready to be done with him and his ego," Snow said. David smirked and they willed the chalice to join together. There was a bright flash and the flames were extinguished, as their children joined around them. The water they were directing at the wall of fire doused the two demons.

"You think a little water is going to defeat us, brats?" Arthur hissed.

"Nah, but true love will," Bobby said, as the two demons unleashed a blast of fire directly at them. But Snow and Charming held the chalice and it released a pulse of pure power. The fire evaporated in the air, stunning them both, as they stared at the pair in disbelief. Arthur looked at his hands and saw them slowly flaking away to ash. He watched in horror, as Gawain turned to dust and the ash floated away. Arthur looked back at them in horror and dissolved into dust as well.

"We can end this…" Snow realized. He looked at her and kissed her forehead.

"And we will," he said," as he motioned in the near distance, where they saw Mephisto attacking Leo and Elsa and they hurried off to help.

~*~

Elsa and Leo fought off the last of Mephisto's creations, while his parents faced Arthur and Gawain. He blasted them with lightning and she iced the rest, as they pushed them into the abyss.

"That's most of them," she said.

"Yeah...now it's just the big guns that remain," he said, as he cried out suddenly, as one of Mephisto's fiery chains wrapped around his forearm. He cried out in agony and fell to his knees, as the demon King pulled him toward him.

"Once I enslave you, young Leo...you'll do my bidding and destroy your whole family for me," Mephisto hissed.

"No!" Elsa cried in fear, as he cackled evilly, but he was hit with an exploding arrow.

"Get your hands off our son!" Snow growled, as she and David closed in. Mephisto chuckled evilly.

"He's mine now, fair one and there's not a thing you can do about it. And once he's enslaved to me, I'll make him peel the skin from your bones and torture your husband for the mockery he made of me!" Mephisto warned, but his cackle was cut short, as David swiped the chalice sword through his arm, releasing their son from his bonds.

"Elsa...now!" Snow called, as the Queen of Arendelle blasted him and froze him solid. With that, Fandral shoved him into the abyss.

"Good riddance," Rose said, as he fell into the pit of magma.

A hush fell over them, as Seth slithered around them in his giant serpent form. Fandral pulled Rose away, while Snow and David joined the chalice together again. Seth morphed into his humanoid form again, though his skin still had a scaly appearance and his eyes bled a sickly yellow.

"Time to die...Charmings…" he hissed, as his coils wrapped around Snow and David. The chalice fell from their grasp, as he squeezed the life out of them.

"Oh hell…" Emma cried, as her magic collided with him, but wasn't making much of a dent. Leo summoned his lightning and Eva summoned the wind, striking him violently. Regina tossed a fireball at his coils and he screeched, loosening his grip slightly on Snow and David. But it was enough and Summer encased her parents in a bubble, as they floated back to her.

"Thanks sweetie," Snow said, as they hugged her and then picked up the chalice again.

"Hitting him with all the magic on your own isn't going to work," Rumple said.

"Then what do you suggest?" Regina asked.

"The boy knows what he needs to do," Rumple replied, as he looked at Bobby. He nodded and stepped forward.

"Oh no...you are not doing this alone," Snow said, as they walked with him. He smiled.

"I know...we're going to do this together,: Bobby said.

"Hey kid...you got an idea?" Emma asked.

"Eye of the storm," he told her. She smiled and looked at her siblings, as they caught on.

"Eye of the storm," they agreed.

"Enough with your cryptic speech...no matter what you do, I shall kill you all. You are no match for my power!" Seth claimed. Summer started to take her place when JJ took her hand.

"Be careful," he said and she blushed, before smiling at him.

"Thanks," she said, as she and her older siblings surrounded the God, while Bobby and her parents approached him.

"Now Summer…" Bobby called, as she put them all in a large bubble encasing all seven of them inside of it with the monster that threatened their very existence.

"What is this?" Seth growled, as he flew up and tried to break through the bubble, but found he was unable to do so. He set his sights on Summer.

"If I cannot break the bubble...then perhaps I'll just break you instead, young one," he threatened.

"Like hell you will," Leo said, as he unleashed his powers, adding an electric layer to the bubble. A pink cyclone swirled up from Eva's glowing hands and added a layer of wind to the bubble. Emma was next, as she added a layer of white fire. Seth growled and moved to attack, but the rumbling beneath his feet stopped him cold and he watched the storm bubble shrink around him, until he was the only one inside it. He growled and his coils broke through briefly, but he screamed in agony, as Snow and David zapped each coil with the power of the chalice, permanently disfiguring him. Bobby used his powers and channeled all the elements, until he condensed the bubble so small that there was finally a huge explosion. The seven of them waited with bated breath for the smoke to clear. When it did, they saw Seth, writhing on the ground, bleeding blue blood from several wounds, and stuck in a hybrid form with his head and torso intact, by his legs in serpent form.

"How...how can this be? I am Seth...I am chaos!" he cried.

"No one can defeat me!" he claimed.

"You know, just because you keep saying that isn't going to make it true," Leo quipped.

"I'm still alive...I've survived all your power!" Seth hissed, as he tried to slither away, but then screeched, as Emma stomped on his tail.

"Oh, I think you're about to be a scorch mark. You guys gonna finally end this or not?" Emma asked her parents. They smiled at her.

"I guess we should have known this would be the key to ending it," he said, as they gripped the chalice between them.

"A curse to end all curses...one last curse broken," she said, as they realized exactly how to end it all and destroy the dark curse forever.

"True love...useless and pathetic. It will not defeat me!" Seth insisted, as he made his final mistake and morphed fully into his giant serpent form. Snow and Charming's lips met and a blinding pulse of rainbow light emitted from them and the chalice glowed in response, releasing a pulse of blinding, pure light magic. The waves of magic swept over the entire land, bringing light to the darkness once more.

The fighting on the battlefield ceased, as all of Seth's minions and Mephisto's creations were paralyzed by the light magic. One by one, each creature or demon alike crumbled to ash. Seth looked around in horror, as the remainder of his army dissolved to dust in the blink of an eye. He screeched one final cry of horror, as he crumbled to dust and was wiped from existence. It was over at last.

"It's over…" Snow uttered. He grinned at her and hugged her tightly, before spinning her around.

"It's over…" he repeated, as their lips met again. Their children gathered around them with hugs and they looked around the barren landscape.

"This place is such a barren eyesore," Snow said. He smiled at her and then at Leo.

"But it doesn't have to stay that way," David replied, as they raised the chalice, obliterating the shield around Nephilim.

"Of course...Nephilim is right next to the reserve," Leo said.

"Yes, and you've needed an expansion for years," Snow replied, as used the chalice to seed the ground, allowing for the barren landscape to give way to green grass. Aphrodite assisted by using her magic to demolish Seth's dreary castle and replaced it with rolling hills. Bobby stomped his foot and created a very large depression in the ground, while Rumple used his magic to dig far enough to allow the depression fill with water, creating a sparkling lake.

"No more ugly, dreary land of the fallen," Eva said, as the animals began to explore their expanded home.

"That was impressive, though most of the world has no idea what they just saw," the Major interjected, as she and her subordinates approached.

"Yeah...suppose it's too late to just put a barrier up and let everyone keep thinking we're stories," David said.

"I held up my end of the deal," she reminded him.

"Don't worry...we'll hold up ours," he assured.

"Good...then can I count on seeing you in Boston tomorrow," she said.

"Whoa...tomorrow? That's a little soon for us," Snow said, as she clutched his arm.

"Yeah...we kind of just saved the world from an evil God tyrant. Don't you think a few days down time is warranted?" Emma questioned. Patricia smirked.

"You're right and I do need time to figure out a way to explain this to my superiors, though they are going to want a meeting with you. I'll see you in three days," she said, as they moved out.

"You can still seal us away," Rumple reminded them.

"She has control of the remnants of Clayton's operation, so she can get back in. She has mermaid scales and his submarine," David said.

"Well, that's perfect. How the hell did that happen?" Regina asked. Snow shook her head.

"We don't know how she did it, but no one has seen Cecily in a very long time, so she's probably in prison or dead," Snow deduced.

"Now that they know what we can do...they'll never leave us alone," Regina warned.

"No...but I can warn them against overstepping. They can't touch the chalice and you two can make it clear that without the chalice, there's no magic out there. We still have control and I think she knows that. I'm interested as to why," Aphrodite interjected.

"Yeah...the Internet is literally blowing up, so we're screwed about staying secret. Not even magic can stop this now," Leo said.

"We have a lot of things to figure out...overwhelmingly so, but I think we also deserve to celebrate our victory," David suggested, as Snow slid her arms around his waist.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea," she agreed. The battlefield was no more and all trace of Seth was gone. The armies of the United Realms retreated, but the Charmings and those close to them, made their way to Granny's.

~*~

Deep beneath the Earth's crust, the magma flowed like a river and bubbled violently. There was a disturbance in the flow, as a charred being surfaced, screaming in agony. There was barely anything left of this creature and the only evidence that this being had once been humanoid in appearance was the skeletal hand that grabbed onto a rocky outcropping. The remnants of the being managed to pull what was left of itself from the magma and it slithered painstakingly through the layers of earth, until it finally found its way to the sewers. The skeletal creature couldn't be sure how far he had traveled, but knew that this body he had once occupied was done and he needed a new host. As he pulled his essence through a street drain and to the street level, he looked around, and recognized the city to be none other than New York.

Mephisto smirked. Perfect. He needed a new host, but he always looked for someone with evil in their hearts and there would be plenty to choose from in a city such as this. Then, once he was anew again, he would get his revenge on the Charmings, as well as Fandral and his precious Rose. And they would never see him coming...

~*~

"So...is this what your vision showed you?" Belle asked curiously. They had all invaded Granny's and we were welcomes excitedly by Joe and Frankie, with mounds of food and drink awaiting them.

"It is...though I did not see how it would end. It makes sense that it was true love again though. It truly has given us everything," he said, looking at her fondly. She smiled.

"You have no idea how happy it makes me when I hear you champion love over power," she replied. He smirked.

"It may have taken me three hundred some years, but I have learned," he joked. She smiled and kissed him tenderly, as they enjoyed watching their son eating ice cream with Bobby. He was very excited to have his best friend back.

~*~

"Hey...you're a million miles away," James mentioned, as their children colored across from them and he returned with some hot cocoas.

"Yeah...just thinking," she replied.

"Not about what that psycho said?" he asked and she looked at him pensively.

"How can I not?" she asked.

"I was not created exactly the icky way mythology suggests I was from a certain body part, but I did rise from the sea foam. That's what my name means. I had no childhood or traditional birth," she replied, as he listened to her.

"What if my story is not what I think?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"This is Storybrooke, a place where memories have been taken more times than anyone can count. What if...what if my memories were taken? I mean...why did I never question it before? No one is born a full grown person," she replied.

"Well, if it means anything, I don't care how you came to be. I only care that I got a second chance and found the love of my life in you," he said, making her melt.

"What if he's right though? Eros' biological father was killed…" she lamented. He shook his head.

"No...you are not cursed," he refuted.

"I am the Goddess of love...and I had nothing but heartbreak in love before I found you. What if...what if I am always cursed to lose love?" she asked. He took her hands in his own.

"You are not cursed, my love and I'm not going anywhere," he promised, as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. She hugged him tightly and he held her.

"Will Athena help you with these questions? About your past?" he asked.

"She will tell me what I've already heard," she replied.

"Why would she keep the truth from you if there is more to your story?" he asked.

"She wouldn't...unless she was forbidden to tell me," she replied.

"Well...there may be one way we can find out," he suggested and she realized where he was going with that thought.

"Rose Red's library...that would be a very old book," she said.

"True...but it's possible, if you really want the answers," he suggested.

"But know that I don't really care how you came to be. Only that you're here and you're my wife," he added. She smiled and kissed him passionately.

~*~

"What the hell were you thinking? You could have been killed!" Nora complained, as he ate hungrily.

"But I wasn't and it felt good helping in something like that. I mean, helping people is why I became a paramedic and that was literally a battle that probably just saved the world. Since all this is real, I want to do my part," JJ said.

"Yeah right, that's a load of crap and you know it. There's only one reason you did any of this," she complained, as she pointed to the girl at the counter. She had gotten up to get them refills and was currently hugging an older young man that she had identified as her older brother.

"So what if she is? Why do you care?" he asked.

"Uh...hello? Bubble girl is a freak! Her whole family is!" she cried.

"Stop it Nora! They just saved the world and now we know they did the same in Seattle. This is what you wanted all along. You wanted the truth and now that you have it, you're flipping out. What gives?" he asked.

"I wanted the truth out so I could expose them for what they are," she replied.

"And what are they?" he asked.

"JJ...they did all of this to the world. Have you thought for a second that, while they may have saved the world, these people...this place might be the reason for all the evil in the first place?" she asked. But he shook his head.

"They didn't cause any of this, Nora," he refuted.

"Yes...they did. They're not from our world and their presence might be the reason for everything bad," she suggested, as Summer returned and JJ went back to ignoring her.

"Hey…" he said, as she put a tray down.

"I brought some hot cocoas," she said, as she slid a cup toward him.

"Thanks, sounds great," he said, as he watched her sprinkle cinnamon on her whipped cream.

"Cinnamon?" he asked.

"Oh yeah...it's kind of how we drink it in our family," she replied.

"I'll try some," he said, as she slid the cinnamon shaker to him.

"Cocoa?" Summer asked, sliding one to Nora. But she just gave her a look.

"It's September and seventy degrees. I don't want cocoa," she refuted, as she got up and went to the Inn side to her room.

"She really does not like me," Summer said.

"Ignore her...Nora doesn't really like anyone, not even herself sometimes," JJ replied.

"That's sad…" Summer mentioned.

"Yeah...that's Nora. Besides...I like you," he mentioned. She smiled and flushed a little.

"I figured," she murmured.

"Am I that easy to read?" he asked.

"No...well, you probably are for my sister Eva, but it's more that you'd probably have to like me to get involved in something like this. I mean...we just met and you agreed to fight in a crazy battle that just decided the fate of the world," she replied. He smirked and nodded.

"Yeah...you have a point," he agreed.

"No one would have blamed you if you didn't want to get involved," she said.

"I know and I wanted to help, but I have to admit, I did have an ulterior motive," he admitted.

"What was it?" she asked.

"I guess I was afraid if I didn't get involved that I'd probably never see you again," he replied, making her flush again.

"Besides...you kept telling me everything was a long story so I kind of had to stick around to hear the long story," he added, as he sipped at his cocoa. She beamed at him and then pulled a large brown book out of her bag.

"Well then...long story time," she said, as she opened it up and began to tell him that story.

~*~

"We thought you were gone," Ari said, as she and Ben cuddled with their parents and Carina.

"I know, my angels and we are so sorry you all went through that," Rose said, as she stroked Carina's hair.

"We know, mom," their eldest assured her.

"Did Thor save you?" Ben asked. Fandral smiled at his enthusiasm.

"He did and he and his friends helped us get back to you," he confirmed.

"And the bad man is gone too now, right?" Ari asked. They smiled softly.

"Yes...he is gone too, little ones and we are all going home tonight together," Fandral promised, as he and Rose shared a kiss.

~*~

Snow cuddled Hope in her lap, as David sat cuddled with them and doted on the baby with her.

"We have their memories...with her and of the last two years. I'm so grateful for that...they took care of our family for us and I will never forget that," Snow said, as Emma smiled at them.

"They did...and they spoiled Hope rotten, so I'm sure you guys will too," she said.

"Of course...grandpa is going to talk to Uncle Leo and have him see if we can breed a baby Pegasus just for you, my tiny princess," David said.

"Dad...she's not even two. I don't think we need a Pegasus yet," Emma replied.

"Of course she does, don't you tiny angel?" he cooed to her. Emma rolled her eyes playfully and looked to Xander for help.

"Don't look at me. I mean, can you imagine those baby pictures? Hope and a baby Pegasus? I'm going to need some wallets," Xander teased.

"You're a lot of help," she said sarcastically.

"Your father and grandfather are right...we have lost time to make up for and that reminds me, you two never had a real wedding. That was the curse," Snow said to her Leo and Elsa.

"Yeah...I guess it was," Leo said, as he watched the grin spread across his mother's face.

"Please tell me you still want a wedding," Snow pleaded. They smiled back.

"Of course we do...and we can get back to planning it right away," Elsa agreed.

"So...Boston in three days. This should be interesting," Regina mentioned.

"It should be...we hope you two will come with us," David said. Robin smirked.

"I have a feeling it's going to be nothing short of crazy, but we're in," he agreed.

"I think at this point crazy is way understating anything this family is involved with," Leo quipped.

"Definitely," Xander said, as he got a pensive look on his face.

"What is it, Dad?" David asked.

"I guess it's just...this is kind of what Clayton always wanted. He wanted to expose our world and stories to the Land Without Magic. It was his endgame in a way, with the proviso that he had control over it all. And...now it's happened," he lamented.

"Yeah...but it's going to be okay. We're not going to be pushed around by them or allow them to just come in here and take over. They know they couldn't if they wanted to," David said. Xander nodded, hoping his son was right. He still had his fears, but now was not the time to voice them.

Snow smiled and nuzzled her nose against David's and he smiled warmly at her.

"It's a lot to figure out, but we'll be doing it together, as always," he said. Snow smiled.

"Together," she agreed.

"But for now...we have three days to just be," he added, as they shared another tender, passionate kiss. Henry, Ella, and Lucy smiled on, as did the rest of their close family and friends. They had closed one chapter with Seth's defeat, but a whole new one was opening up before them. In many ways, it was a new era that might breed uncertainty, but, as always, they had true love at their defense...