#he can cellblock D me

[spencerstargirl]

"Apparently he gave Lewis a shove and Reid went a little cellblock D on him."

14x12 "Hamelin"

[knightprincess]

Forgive Me (Echo x Medic Reader) Part 25

Words: 1.4K Warning: Angst and mentions of Trauma (if you squint) Pronouns Used: She/Her (Use of Y/N) Note: Sorry to say there are only a few chapters left and a little epilogue at the end.

“Crosshair,” called Echo. The ship was quiet, other than Rampart moaning about something none of them really cared for or took notice of. “Where would a staff member be taken if arrested?�� asked the Arc Trooper, wanting to think positively even when the dread was beginning to creep up. If things went right, they would successfully rescue Omega, (Y/N), and the clones held captive in the highly secure facility.

“Cellblock D,” answered Crosshair, doing his best to ignore his hand shaking again, the trauma constantly haunting him, preventing him from finding true peace. “But considering how valuable Snap is to Hemlock’s plans, he’d likely hold her in the tower above the training room,” he added, quickly realizing who the prisoner in question likely was. “Your missing commander should be within the normal cells, with the others intended to be a part of the Dark Trooper program.”

“Why would you help rescue the scientist who did that to you?” asked Rampart, raising his voice so the words reached the pair furthest from him. Hunter was the first to react, kicking the former vice admiral in the shin as if to get him to quiet down.

“Medic,” corrected Echo, his voice stern, with evidence of his dislike for the imperial operative before him flooding it. “She’s a medic, not a scientist,” he added, trying his best to keep a neutral voice, if only so Rampart didn’t detect the obvious affection and feelings he held for Snap and use it against him in the future.

“And she didn’t have a choice,” admitted Crosshair, recalling when he’d been put through the torment every day. The horror was painted on Snap’s features despite her efforts to hide it. She’d done her best to ensure all were comfortable after the torment she put each clone through. “We may have been the ones physically tortured, but she didn’t get away without consequence either,” added the sniper, suspecting the constant screams and agonizing yells of those she knew would have taken a toll mentally.

“Imagine the chaos if (Y/N) and Omega teamed up,” laughed Wrecker, trying to lighten the mood even when it felt as if happiness couldn’t exist until they’d overcome their final challenge—in this case, Hemlock and those wondering the halls of Mount Tantis.

“Hemlock and Tantis wouldn’t know what hit them,” replied Hunter, a shadow of a smirk appearing across his lips. Crosshair offered his small smirk, whereas Wrecker outwardly laughed as if he could imagine the havoc the two could cause around the secret facility. Echo could only shake his head. (Y/N) had training from the 501st; she was a combination of all she’d come across like Omega had inherited the best qualities of each batch member.

“Providing your plan to get there even works,” shrewdly commented Rampart, once again casting the shadow of doubt over the four men in his company. “That facility has the highest security I know of. No one gets there without Hemlock knowing. It is impossible to get there without a welcoming party ready to shoot us from the sky,” he added, matter-of-factly as if once again trying to convince them to abandon the idea of rescue and leave those they were trying to free to their unknown fate. “The CX troopers will likely be utilized as well, the best of the best.”

“You three go after Omega; I’ll find (Y/N), then meet in the cellblock,” said Echo, ignoring Rampart again. All of them did. Now they were aware that the CX Troopers and Shadows were the same, part of the secretive Dark Trooper project. “If we do happen to cross Shadows, knock them out with luck; what’s been done can be reversed,” added the Arc Trooper, not wording the latter half to float through his mind. Only kill if necessary, in case the shadow is someone they knew.

“And me?” questioned Rampart. “What will I be doing once I’ve completed my task?” he asked, suspecting that if and when things went wrong, he could bargain the information he had with the empire for whatever he wanted.

“It depends on whether we have to improvise,” Hunter bluntly stated, his voice cold yet determined. “We get the coordinates to Tantis; you can have your freedom. If not, you’re stuck with us until we do get there,” added the sergeant, making the stance clear and suggesting Rampart wouldn’t get what he wanted until they got what they wanted.

“I’ll go strip the armor,” declared Echo, sadness ricocheting through his voice. None of them wanted to strip away their individuality but were given no choice. If they wanted to succeed with their task, they had to blend in when wandering the imperial facilities, regardless of the location.

“What makes you think the medic is still alive?” asked Rampart, as if he sought to sow the seeds of doubt once more. “You forget I was once head of that project, and I was cast aside the moment I failed. What makes you think the empire or Hemlock would tolerate her failings?” he added, feeling a shiver go down his spine the moment the realization hit him. All four of them sent ice glares in his direction. Hatred was among the most prevalent to identify from the heat of their combined glares.

“What makes you think she failed?” Crosshair asked, countering Rampart’s attempts with his own to raise hope. Plus, he knew (Y/N) hadn’t failed at her task; all the Shadows out there were proof of that. Plus, if whispers were anything to go by, the project had recently been given more funding, as had the other Mount Tantis was home to.

The sniper didn’t bother to word his thoughts, the same thoughts his brothers were likely thinking and the truth Rampart had overlooked. Snap was far more valuable alive, regardless of whether she was a part of a project or not. Few could match her skills, and hardly any other civvies had the loyalty of clones like she did. (Y/N) was a weapon, one Hemlock, and likely other high-ranking officials had realized and would do anything within their power to keep in their procession.

“Echo,” said Hunter upon retrieving his black helmet from the elder trooper. “Have you thought about what you’re going to do after?” he whispered, knowing from Crosshair’s words that the healing process wouldn’t be easy for anyone involved in the project. Despite being safe for the most part, Crosshair still woke up after nightly terrors covered in a cold sweat, his heart pounding with fright and trauma. Neither of them doubted Snap would be any different. Although her torment hadn’t been physical, that any of them knew of, it had been psychological. The torment that could lead to far worse consequences and unseen damage.

“Rejoin the Rex and the efforts against the empire,” added Echo, as if his choice were obvious. Even if it wasn’t seen, there was still a war going on, battles to be won, and clones all over the galaxy to be freed.

“And Snap?” Hunter asked, allowing his concern for her to paint on his features, even if for a few fleeting seconds. “What are you going to do with her?” the Sergeant added, making his point clear. At the same time, it became all too obvious that Echo had either assumed she joined the effort for the freedom of clones or hadn’t given much thought to it. “Think over it, what’s best for her.”

Echo could only nod with a guilty conscience. He has been so wrapped up in the efforts to free the clones and get Omega as well as Snap back. He’d forgotten Snap hadn’t been trained for war, hadn’t been genetically altered to withstand the harshest of challenges life and war threw out. She was an ordinary civvi, a brave one but normal nonetheless. It would take her longer to recover from things, to accept she would be safe and free.

“I shouldn’t have let her go in,” replied Echo, sadness once again ringing through his voice. It began to dawn on him what the true cost could be. “I should have tried harder to convince her not to. Even if we win, I could still lose her, just in a different way.”

“You’ll never lose (Y/N), Echo,” began Hunter, as if he knew the trial the arc trooper now faced. “Your paths are different like they were after Anaxes,” he continued, pointing out how the pair had been on different paths before yet still found their way back to each other. That in itself was a win, and one few who found love could say they’d achieved.

Series Masterlist

[prisonprocess]

What’s Best About—Prison?

14.

Mike D. says:

I’m Mike, but everybody called me Mikey.  I was always the cute adorable one.  The one that the teachers liked, but also the other students, the other frat bros, the other interns, the other new attorneys in the firm.  The kinda guy that people call Mikey gets protected by a lot of shiny glass walls.  He’s always on the right side of the boss’s smile, the professor’s recommendation, the bartender’s “hey dude!”  Not to mention the annual statements on his trust fund.  When you’re Mikey, your ride is so easy, you barely feel the road.

Example: I used to sit at my desk in the Bancock Building and look out through my big glass window onto the street.  And what did I see?  In the summer I saw young professionals like me with their teal shirts clinging to their chests, not really sweaty, just trotting lightly along from Latte Lottie’s to their climate controlled offices.  In the winter I saw young professionals like me in their Barmani topcoats and their squeaky new North Nook boots, stomping proudly through the snow to their climate controlled offices.  And that’s what I saw.  I was surrounded by them; I was living in a world of Mikeys.

The Mikeys never noticed the non-Mikeys, the dudes that slowly mopped up the snow that the Mikeys tracked into the subway, the dudes that wandered into the office in their ugly little workie suits with their ugly names on their chests (“Tony” and “Jose” and “Mike”), the dudes that emptied the trash and fixed the A/C whenever the Mikeys complained that the temperature had reached 72 degrees.  But I noticed.  The muscles on the Mikeys came from the gym, not from Work.  The suits they wore might be expensive, but they wouldn’t keep the cold out.  The non-Mikeys were hard and solid.  They did the work.  They filled their suits.   They’d been put in uniform because guys like me needed to know what they were, and avoid them.  If the Mikeys crossed a line, they’d be given a Less than Favorable evaluation in the firm.  If the non-Mikeys crossed a line, they’d be living in a cellblock, someplace, for the rest of their lives.  

The important thing was not to get confused.  You’re making half a million a year.  Brevard and you have your townhouse in Hoboken.  And your three dogs.  And your friends who come for meats and treats on the weekend.  If you keep being who you are, you’ll be living in the Hamptons and commuting to your office in Washington.  You’ll spend time in Geneva.  You’ll do interviews. Your friend Matt is already assistant to the undersecretary.  He’ll help you to become the same.

So OK, I see the difference.  Which did I want to be?  The default position was, take another meeting, take another lunch.  The challenge was, can I live in a cage?

Finally I decided. It wasn’t hard for me to figure out how to do a crime.  The hard part was getting cuffed and pulled out of my office while all the shits who wanted my job were sending up waves of ooh’s and ahh’s.  Then there was the jail and the plea and the sentence and the bumpy ride to prison, chained to another shit-ass con.  But yeah, that happened.

And now I’m Mick. I’m one a the cons they drag outta the Pen when there’s a big snowfall on the streets in some important place, such as (guess where!) the streets around my former office.  They truck us in, and we spend the day slingin snow in our pretty orange striped suits.  Just so nobody thinks we’re human, right?  It’s somethin the Mikeys slow down to watch.  Sometimes the same Mikeys I knew in the office.  And yeah, it’s interesting . . . And, I dunno, embarrassing, I guess.  They recognize.  They point. They laugh.  They’re wearin a couple thousand dollars of office clothes, and all I got is 19.95 of convict stripes.  They’re the men.  I’m the monkey.  But I gotta smile on my face.

 Note: All stories by prisonprocess are purely fictional and have no relation to real persons of any kind.

[anthurak]

Why do you think ironwood didn’t try to use qrow as a hostage at the start of volume 8? He used all,of mantle as a hostage so it wouldn’t be a stretch if earlier he made ruby an ultimatum of ‘Give me penny or I kill your uncle” he was also already at the “shoot unarmed civilians” stage of his insanity

You know given Ironwood's reaction to Qrow escaping later in Volume 8, ie; barely-restrained anger clearly masking fear, I actually get the feeling Ironwood didn't go for that play simply because he simply didn't want to risk Qrow somehow getting loose.

Like it's never directly commented upon, but given contextual clues I think it's fair to assume that Jimmy is AFRAID of Qrow. I mean, did anyone else notice how he never went down to that cellblock himself while Qrow was there?

And to be fair, if Jimmy ever did walk into Qrow's cell, whether it be to interrogate, talk or even to outright execute him, I think we can all agree there was NO way he'd get back out of there alive :D

[willowcrowned]

Yo!! I've been working my way through a bunch of your AUs and have been having a blast and a half!! you're an awesome writer!! but oh my god the Luke travels back in time and says fuck?? that shit is the best!!!!

I'm so glad you're enjoying them! Here, have a bit of the luke goes back in time and says fuck au as a treat :D

-

Luke, in the three days he's been aboard General Kenobi's and Anakin's ship, has been rather enjoying himself. It's clean, quiet, and he's gotten to fulfill his many, many childhood dreams of hanging out with his father. Of course, his father doesn't know he's his father, and isn't technically a father at all yet, but it counts more than any other experience Luke has had with the man.

He's sure it'll be over soon, though. They haven't really interrogated him yet, and while some of that is because they're clearly entirely overwhelmed with repairs and planning, there's only so long they're going to go without investigating the rogue Jedi they've gotten ahold of.

Which is why when Kenobi stalks down to the cellblock, Anakin in tow, Luke isn't really all that surprised. He stands up, turns to face them with the sort of calm-and-in-control expression Old Ben had always had on.

And then he promptly does a double take, because they're holding. comm with Leia on it, glaring at him.

"Leia?"

“Luke,” Leia says, staring at him very intently, “what the hells are you doing with them?”

Luke blinks. “Hi.”

Leia glares at him. “Answer, now.”

“Bonding?” Luke offers.

“In what way— how is this part of your mission parameter? You were supposed to go in, clean up, and get out. How did you end up here?”

“How did you end up here?”

“You stupid wire-huffing droid pushed me into it!”

Luke perks up. “He’s here?”

“Alderaa’s halo, yes! He’s here!”

“What about Three—”

“I didn’t let him off the ship,” Leia answers before he can finish. “And I shouldn’t have let you get off the ship either. What part of ‘Quick, Outer-Rim checkup’ don’t you understand?”

“Well,” Luke retorts, “what part of ‘dangerous Force temple: do not enter’ do you not understand?”

“Enough to know that you wouldn’t listen!”

“Neither did you!”

“I am perfectly capable of—”

There’s a furious beeping from outside the range of the holo. Luke snorts. “How did he get through with you?”

“He was in the same room. I think it affects anyone who—”

Both Luke and Leia freeze.

“Han.”

“He’s coming after us,” Luke whispers.

“And that idiot is going to end up in the middle of a battlefield.”

“He’ll be fine,” Luke says, completely unconvincingly. “He’s a battle-hardened general.”

“He’s a barely-functional smuggler and you know it,” Leia counters, turning to face someone outside the range of the holo. “R2, can you set a recurring scan for Han’s comm?”

"Okay," Anakin says, and Luke is forcibly reminded that he and Leia are not alone. "What in the genuine fuck are you two talking about?"

Luke opens his mouth to speak before Leia gives him her patented 'shut-up-right-now-or-I'll-make-you' look. Instead, he looks at Kenobi.

A chill goes through him.

He's not— familiar with Ben, neither past nor future, but that is not a look of someone who doesn't know what's going on. Kenobi has them figured out at least halfway, and the scary thing is that he's not bothering to hide it. He thinks he knows what they are, if not who they are, and he hasn't told Anakin.

Luke freezes. Does he know who Anakin ends up as? Is that why he hasn't told him? Is Kenobi waiting to have all the information before he interrogates Luke?

More importantly, what is Luke supposed to say if Kenobi does come to him with the truth? He's a terrible liar!

Luke turns back to Leia, who is doing an excellent job of obfuscating every part of the truth from Anakin, and meets her eyes. She does a little half nod, so quick and tiny that no one else would have noticed. She's getting him out of here; he just has to be ready.

[queenofbaws]

y’all already know what im gonna ask for lmao. literally anything with Laura and Max, its a need lol (and happy quarry is out !! I love how you’ve been writing Dylan its amazing it makes me laugh every time lmfao)

((heheheuehuehuehue well happy quarry is out to you too!!! :D can i just say - ty a hundred times over for giving me an excuse to write these two??? they’re just...........so good. they’re just so good.))

six sentence sat(or)sunday!!!

“Okay, uh, I spy with my little eye...”

Laura raised her hands until they covered her face, all the while letting out a groan the likes of which would’ve put a beached whale to shame; it wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate what Max was trying to do, but...well, uh, she’d enjoyed the game a little more when they’d been in the car and there’d actually been shit to see. “Maaax,” she called across the cellblock (if the little backwoods holding cells really constituted a ‘block’), “I really don’t - ”

But he was ready for her: “Nah, hun, trust me on this, you’re gonna love it: I spy with my little eye...something...grey.”

She sat silently for a moment, then dropped her hands from her face, joking, “Um, gee, could it possibly be...the wall?”

“It is the wall - holy shit, you’re so fucking good at this game!” Max exclaimed, and oh, the second he started laughing that I’m-so-proud-of-myself laugh, Laura was helpless but to join in, her shoulders shaking and her cheeks aching from the now-unfamiliar strain of grinning like that.

[callmeoops]

Light in the Dark - Chapter Thirty-One

Warnings: Dixon Potty Mouth

Daryl found her outside as she piled the second-to-last body up. Once they were out of the cellblock she could load them on the truck and take them out to be buried. Well, she could help anyway. She’d gotten strong since the end of the world, but not lift a 200-pound man by herself strong. Besides, she thought that Dr. S had said something against heavy lifting…maybe.

“Hey.” He pulled her in for a hug. The words he’d told her last night in the guard tower hung heavily in her head. She wished she could do something to make it better.

She tried to comfort him with affection, rubbing her face against his chest. It was the best she could do seeing as Merle wasn’t too far away. “Hey you. I’m sorry.”

“Doc thinks it’s a flu. Patrick and Charlie weren’t bit, but…eyes were all swollen an’ bloody an’ shit. Hershel’s callin’ a council meetin’. Gotta do somethin’ to stop it from spreadin’.”

Olivia’s chest hurt as the fear leaked in. Charlie had just been outside yesterday. Olivia had waved to him before she found Daryl. How did he die overnight? What kind of flu was it to be that bad?

“Dun worry.” Daryl told her, as if she could not worry from that news, “Ain’t gunna let nothin’ happen ta ya. Ain’t gunna let nothin’ happen ta Lil’ Knee-Capper. Probably should stay away from Cody though. Jus’ in case.” He rubbed her arm quickly, his silent way of asking her to let him go. Once her arms had fallen he called to Merle, “Merle! Stay away from anyone not in Block D. Flu goin’ ‘round. Keep yer distance from Cody.”

Merle wiped the sweat off of his face and approached, “First walkers, now flu. Day jus’ keeps gettin’ better. The hell I’m suppose ta see Tonya tonight, huh?”

Daryl rolled his eyes, “Ain’t. Less you want ‘er gettin’ sick an’ dyin’. Shits killin’ people overnight.”

Merle took a step back from Olivia and Daryl, “See how it is. Tryin’ ta kill me, eh? Keep ya distance.”

“You’re already infected.” Olivia rolled her eyes, “We have a council meeting, but I’ll be back to help you load up when it’s over.”

Unknowing to her, Daryl shook his head and mouthed ‘no she won’t’ over her head.

They decided to put the sick ones in Cellblock A until they could be sure that everyone was feeling better. Karen and David were showing symptoms, which made Olivia more nervous. Had they been around Daryl? Had they been around Cody?

As Karen walked by, Daryl covered Olivia’s mouth and nose with his hand. She figured it was better than nothing. Even though she hated the position they were in, Daryl showing so much care about her never ceased to make her heart stutter.

Daryl had given her a look that told her ‘absolutely not’ when she asked to help him bury the dead after the meeting.

“Well, what can I do?” She asked. The question threw him off and she could tell by the way he chewed on his thumbnail. Olivia couldn’t go back to her cell block because she was infected. But he certainly didn’t want her doing anything to become sicker than she was and that meant limiting her exposure.

“Daryl-“

“Stop.” He cut Carol off before she could even begin. Of all people, Carol was the one who had been advocating for Olivia’s abilities the most since the announcement of her pregnancy. “Ya want her gettin’ sick?”

Carol rolled her eyes and hit him on the arm, “Daryl, stop. You know that none of us want that. I was just saying-“

“Ain’t sayin’ nothin’ worth hearin’. Le’s go, ‘Livia.” Daryl rushed off around the corner while Olivia whisper-apologized to Carol. Her apology, and Carol’s disregard for Daryl’s behavior, didn’t last long before the grumpy man called for Olivia.

Olivia waited until they were outside and away from other ears before scolding him as well, “Daryl. That wasn’t nice.”

“Nice ain’t savin’ my girl and my baby.” He brushed her off, “Ain’t lettin’ ya get sick. Ain’t losin’ you or Lil’ Knee-Capper.”

She rushed forward to grab his hand, pulling him back so he was forced to look at her, “Daryl…I appreciate the hell out of you and you know that-“

“Then we good.” He shrugged and tried to get out of her grip.

Olivia sighed, “Daryl.”

“Dun Daryl me! Ain’t losin’ ya. Neither a ya!”

“I know you’re scared right now but you cannot take that out on Carol-“

“Scared?!” Daryl finally yanked his arm out of her hand and started pacing around, “Ya think this is fuckin’ scary? ‘Livia I can lose ya overnight, in fuckin’ hours, ‘Livia! Can fuckin’ wake up an’ yer gone an’ ain’t a damn thin’ I can do ‘bout it! S’not scary, ‘Livia. S’fuckin’ terrifying!”

His words hung in the air between them. Olivia wasn’t sure what to say. There wasn’t anything she could do to make it better. She was already exposed. All they could do was hope that she wouldn’t catch it. They both knew that though. There wasn’t any comfort in saying it. And she certainly couldn’t tell him that she could guarantee her safety. Neither of them could do that now.

Daryl took a few deep breaths while she thought, slowing his rapid pacing to stop in front of her. Once he was calmer, he cupped her cheeks and rested his forehead against hers, “M’sorry m’being an asshole and ain’t lettin’ ya do stuff. Know ya ain’t happy ‘bout it, but damnit woman…need ya here. Not up in heaven, righ’ here.”

“I’m not looking to die on you, Daryl. You know that.” She whispered back.

“I know. Sometimes it ain’t in yer control. This…this thing, it ain’t in our control. Can’t tell it no, can’t shoot it an’ kill it. Need ya safe, Sunshine. Way ta keep ya safe is ta keep ya away from everyone.” Daryl’s brow furrowed for a moment as a thought came to him, “Can isolate. Judith an’ Beth. They’re upstairs in the offices. Ya can go up there, but in the library. Keep yerself safe.”

Olivia hesitated, “Daryl-“

“Please.” He looked so…desperate. He rubbed her cheeks and nudged her when her eyes drifted, “Please, Sunshine. S’how I can keep ya safe. S’how I can keep our baby safe.”

How could she argue with that?

.—.

Olivia figured there were worse places to be locked up. At least there was stuff to do in the library.

Daryl had brought her blankets, pillows, and a much-needed physical stress release session. Apparently she could add having sex in adventurous place to her resume. Was there a term for that?

She had never been inside of a prison before, had never seen the inside of a prison library, but Olivia found it was very well stocked. As a child, she never had the opportunity to spend time in the library. After school she had to get home to take care of her brothers and she had no vehicle of her own to go after they had fallen asleep for the night.

Libraries always looked peaceful in magazines and snips of TV shows she’d caught from other children. Oftentimes Olivia would hope to find a library to be locked away in for a while, just to have a brief moment of peace and serenity. In the shows, libraries had nice comfy chairs and sunlight pouring through windows. The people were able to read in silence and have great moments of self-reflection and growth.

That was not what was happening in the prison library.

Normally she loved to read, but her eyes and brain wouldn’t cooperate with her. She found herself staring at the pages, flipping them absentmindedly, only to have to go back and reread the entire chapter because she didn’t retain anything.

Her body was in the library, but her mind was anyplace else.

It was with Beth, who she could hear cooing and talking to Judith if she stood along the shared wall between them. It was with Cody, who was isolating with Carl to try and keep the illness from spreading. It was with Daryl, who was probably out burying the people he was tired of losing.

She wished she could be helpful. She wished she could have medication for everyone, so they didn’t have to be sick or die. The world was bad enough without a new illness going around. Things had been going so well.

Was this just proof that all good things came to a bitter end?

.--.

Daryl stopped by around dinner time and again before he went to bed.

Though it sucked not to see him, Olivia was grateful that she got to hear his voice and talk to him. At the end of the day, they’d both managed to avoid the illness.

The next morning Olivia felt just as good as she had the night before and tried not to think too hard about it. She didn’t want to take any chances and jinx something. There was a brief moment of panic when Rick brought her breakfast instead of Daryl, but that was quickly subsided when Rick explained that Daryl was at the council meeting.

Her favorite person did stop by after the meeting to tell her that he was going on a medicine run.

“Promise me you’ll be careful.” She leaned against the door. If she closed her eyes she could pretend that she was leaning against Daryl. It wasn’t working very well though.

“Always am. Get back with the meds an’ then ya can come outta quarantine ‘cause we can treat it. Missed ya a whole lot las’ night.”

Olivia smiled to herself. “I missed you too.”

“Not too cold up here? Ya comfy?”

Truthfully she had been a little cold without her familiar Daryl heater. But she would never tell him that, “I’m okay, Daryl. It’s as comfortable as it can be without you.”

He didn’t say anything then, letting them sit in silence. She hoped he was taking her reassurance well. She certainly hadn’t meant it to be negative. All she wanted to do was remind him that she missed him; that she needed him.

“Ya promise ya feelin’ alrigh’? Ain’t lyin’ ta me?”

“I promise.”

She felt something poke her leg by the door. Daryl’s pinky was stretched under the crack of the door, slowly moving along the floor, looking for hers. She stuck her own pinky out and linked them as best she could. His thick finger didn’t bend very well, the space between the door and the floor being almost too small for him to fit under it as it was.

“I love you, Daryl.”

“Love ya too, Sunshine.”

Daryl left shortly then for his run.

Olivia placed her head on the door and sobbed.

.--.

Olivia found that the worst part about being cooped up wasn’t being in the same space all day. The library was big and had windows to watch the key out of which gave her a nice change of scenery. No, the worst part was not knowing what was going on outside.

People often say that they fear the unknown. Olivia never understood that statement. She had always feared what she knew. She knew her father was violent. That was something to fear. She knew her parents were bad at getting groceries or having money for them. That was something to fear. She knew that her parents often went out to complete illegal tasks such as siphoning gasoline. That was something to fear.

Olivia never feared the unknown, because the known facts of her life were always much scarier than anything she could conjure up in her lack of imagination.

Now, the unknown was terrifying.

Two days had passed since Daryl left for medicine. Now, the prison walls shook around her as if the building had been hit by something.

“Beth? Beth can you hear me?” Olivia tried to call for the girl through the shared wall, but Judith was screaming, and she was sure that was taking Beth’s attention.

She knew she had to stay in the library or she could get sick. But the shaking scared her. Did they get earthquakes in Georgia? She didn’t think so. Which meant that someone had shot at the prison with something pretty darn large. A missile? A rocket?

Where they under attack?

Saying fuck it, she slowly opened the door to the hallway. Things seemed normal. Quiet she supposed, but probably because everyone else was tending to their duties or to the sick.

Still, she creeped down the hall in case something bad really was happening. She’d rather look like an idiot than a dead girl.

“‘Livia!” Daryl shouted for her, completely scaring her out of her skin. He ran up to her and waved Carl past him. Olivia tried to wrap her arms around him and pull him in for a hug, but he dodged her, “We gotta go, Sunshine. We gotta go. Go get yer bag and get to the courtyard. Gotta help get Judith, alrigh’?”

The urgency in Daryl’s voice scared her. He sounded panicked and Daryl was never panicked unless something bad was going on.

“What’s going on? What’s happening?”

“Get outside, stay close ta tha prison, hear? Governors back. Wants the prison an’ we can’t take ‘em.”

Her whole world spun around slowly, making her nauseous and dizzy. The governor. She covered her mouth to keep herself from puking up her breakfast. He came to kill them. He came to kill her and Daryl and their baby. No, no, no.

Daryl hugged her then, his whole body shaking. “S’alright, Sunshine. Ain’t lettin’ nothin’ happen ta ya. Get ya stuff, okay? I’ll meet ya in the courtyard. Go quick, okay?”

Olivia nodded as he released her and gave her a gentle push to the exit. She didn’t need much more than that. If Daryl thought they didn’t have a chance against this new army then they had no chance. She trusted his judgement blindly and did as he said.

When she stepped out of the prison she wished she could go inside, shut the door, and forget about life. Bullets flew through the air on both sides. The governor had come prepared: people, weapons, and artillery. A fucking tank.

Her hands went to cover her little baby bump instinctively. The only thoughts she had were around protecting her baby. She couldn’t let him get hit. She could get shot anywhere non-terminal, as long as her baby was safe.

A bullet hit the door beside her, bringing her out of her thoughts. If she was going to live through this day she had to move.

She ran left, trying to take some cover and get her bearings behind the outdoor cooking area. Using the wooden wall as cover, she cocked her pistol and peered over the edge. The man who had been firing at her was distracted by Tyreese, allowing her to take a clean shot.

There wasn’t time to look for Daryl as she fired and reloaded. The Governor’s men were coming in full force, the tank leading the charge.

Olivia tried to keep moving from cover to cover, trying to find anyone friendly. She’d lost sight of Tyreese, Beth, and Maggie. Daryl hadn’t been seen since she was inside. Cody…dear God Cody. Olivia hadn’t seen him either.

She tried not to focus on it. She just had to trust that her family could survive on their own, just like they were trusting her to survive. That was all she had to do. Keep moving, keep surviving. She could do this. She had to do this. She had to do it for Cody, for Daryl, for their baby.

For them, she could survive.

[miracle-sham]

Plan D for Dicey.

| {MaribatMarch2020 – Week 1, Day 6: Unconventional Weapon} |

| [Ao3 Link] | | [Masterlist Link] |

| Triggers/Warnings: D&D typical Violence, kidnapping/imprisoning of Player Characters, Explicit Language/Swearing, (Also not so much a Trigger/Warning but this a gen/platonic fic). |

| The Wayne (bat)family attempt to play their first streamed session of Warriors and Warlocks. Unpredictably, things go surprisingly well. |

| Word Count: 4323 |

==–==

| A/N: So firstly, I got really carried away writing this so it's being posted a day late. Sorry! But fun fact, this means I'm posting this on my birthday, so wooh! Also if you can't tell yet, I'm a massive D&D geek (been playing for roughly five years now but I still fell like a complete noob whenever I play or DM :P). And DC has its own version of D&D (W&W/Warriors and Warlocks) and upon reading Day 6's prompt, my immediate thought was the improvised weapons mechanic from D&D. Also also, I originally intended for this fic to be MariTim (hence the tags) but I got caught up in all the platonic fun of the family playing D&D I kinda forgot to write in the shippy bits? |

| A/N cont.: Writing this was actually a massive challenge because at the start of this I had absolutely zero idea on how to write a D&D session as a ficlet. So this might be a bit more clunky and unrefined compared to my normal work (or that could just be my self-doubt talking). As I mentioned earlier, I got really carried away writing this because I love D&D so much. I would have written more but this ficlet is long enough and late enough as is. But if I were to continue this ficlet in additional parts, I definitely can already think of so many ways to improve writing this sort of fic (and maybe next time I won't forget to add in shippy stuff). Anyway, thanks to those who read these A/Ns, and I hope you guys enjoy reading this! |

| If you want to be tagged in future oneshots/fics, or a specific Au, then comment or send me a DM/ask! |

| Also side note, Don't Like? Don't Read. Also also, please do not criticise any of my writing. This was written for fun and receiving criticism, even in a compliment/criticism sandwich, is the exact opposite of fun. |

==–==

Marinette, with Tikki on her shoulder, bursts into the Wayne Manor games room, barely able to contain her excitement. As the first in the room, she can't help but glance across the square conference U-table already set up with everyone's character sheets, dice equipment, other equipment, and snacks and drinks. Bounding over to her designated seat (right side, place nearest to the DM's section of the table), she pulls her chair out and sits down.

 The rest of the Wayne (bat)family, including Steph but sans Alfred and Barbara, slowly filter into the room and take their designated seats. Jason takes his seat next to Marinette whilst Dick takes the seat directly opposite. Steph nabs the seat beside Jason, Damian stakes a claim to the seat next to Dick (despite it already being his designated seat), Cass sits down in the seat beside Steph, leaving Bruce to take his seat next to Damian.

 Tim's the last of the family to enter. He slips into his seat, the DM's seat—as he is the most experienced Warriors and Warlocks player at the table—and grins downright ferally at his players.

 He looks up at the cameras and recording equipment that is set up in the middle of the open space in the square U-table. “Hello and welcome to Plan D for Dicey, the first-ever Wayne Family Warriors and Warlocks fifth edition stream. We weren't quite expecting so many people to petition that we stream our sessions after a few people—” Tim fake coughs twice, “—Dick and Marinette—” Tim fake coughs twice again (whilst Marinette and Dick both grin and wave cheerfully at the cameras), “—rambled about their characters and some highlights from previous sessions, on Twitter. So we decided to give this a go and see how the session pans out whilst being streamed. So as a word of warning, prepare yourselves for the Venators, probably one of the most dysfunctional parties in W&W to miraculously band together.”

 As soon as he says this, the rest of the table burst into grins and cheers (excluding Bruce who despite also smiling, looks like he's just aged five years). Marinette's side of the table all high five each other in their excitement.

 Tim pauses for a second. “For anyone unfamiliar with who I am, I'm Tim. And as you can probably tell from the table set up, I'm the Dungeon Master for this campaign. That's because I've been playing W&W for just over five years now and have had experience DMing before. But for the rest of the players here, this is their first campaign and by extension first time playing. So before we begin our session, first let us introduce our players and their characters.” He nods to Marinette's side of the table.

 She immediately slaps her hands on the table, pushes her chair out and stands, she waves at the cameras again. “Hi, I'm Marinette and my character is Nella Septa-Punctata. She's a Protector Aasimar Celestial Pact of the Chain Warlock, and she has a Sprite Familiar called Tikki. Nella's Chaotic Good and a little anxious but she tries her best to be a kind and heroic adventurer.” She then sits back down, scraping her chair back in again.

 Jason raises an eye at Marinette's antics but shrugs. “I'm Jay, I play a Winged Variant Feral Tiefling Gunslinger called Rehodros. He's Chaotic Neutral, verging on Chaotic Evil at times, and he only joined the Venators because they helped save him from backstory related stuff and he ended up getting reluctantly attached to them.”

 Deciding to also stand up from her chair as well as slap the table with both hands, Steph smirks at the cameras. “I'm Stephanie, my character's Speilsol Leyer, and she's a Chaotic Good Variant Human Ancestral Guardian Barbarian with the Tavern Brawler Feat. She lives for beating up bad guys and doing good, even if it goes against the law.”

 Cass decides to take things one step further and moves to sit on the back of the chair, balancing it carefully as to not let herself fall. She waves at the cameras. “Hi, I Cass. Play Balabitara. Neutral Good, Kalashtar Shadow Monk.” She then sits back down on the chair normally.

 With one half of the table introduced, Tim nods towards the other side of the table.

 Dick winks at the cameras, “I'm Dick and I play Niriwyse, a Chaotic Good Eladrin Glamour Bard who's along for the ride and just wants to have a good time.” At that, he wiggles his eyebrows.

 Scoffing, Damian glares at the cameras. “I am Damian and my character is Rokian. He is a Firbolg Circle of the Shepherd Druid and is Lawful Neutral in the sense that he believes the only laws that should be obeyed in the world, are that or the laws of nature. He begrudgingly joined this party of adventurers after they saved an animal friend of his.”

 This leaves Bruce as the only one to have not introduced himself and his character yet. He smiles his Brucie Wayne smile at the cameras. “My name's Brucie and my character is called Chirop. He's a Chaotic Good Bugbear Swashbuckler Rogue. He comes across as very gruff, but he's just a big old teddy bear at heart.”

 Tim coughs under his breath. “Alright, with our introductions over, let's get on with the show.” The lights in the room suddenly dim and turn a dark red shade whilst creepy echoing organ music begins to play from hidden speakers. “Last session, our brave party of seven adventurers were captured by the evil Lich Dreldaz whilst trying to rescue the beautiful princess Theophania—”

 “—Timothea!” Corrects the rest of the table.

 Rolling his eyes, Tim continues. “—from the cursed castle in which she has been trapped in, by Dreldaz.” He pauses, steepling his fingers as the dim red lighting becomes a dark grey shade. “The Venators awaken, only to find themselves shackled to the walls, in individual stone brick cells and stripped of any and all equipment bar the clothes on their backs. From what you all can immediately tell upon waking, these cells are small, cold, dark and dingy. What do you do?”

 The seven players all exchange glances between themselves.

 “I'd like to look around my cell, see if I can find anything or if I can get an idea of what the cellblock we're in looks like?” Jason announces after a few seconds.

 Tim nods. “Roll a perception check, please.”

 Jason narrows his eyes Tim. He reaches towards the red and black dice set beside his character sheet and picks up the D20. He shakes the dice in his hands before rolling it into the dice box. It lands on a 7. “Alright so because I don't have my gear any more, that means I don't have my eyes of the eagle right?”

 “That's right,” Tim responds.

 “Mmk, that's a seven then, plus my perception modifier… Fourteen total.” Jason glances up at Tim once he finishes calculating.

 Humming, Tim glances down at his Mysterious™ DM notes. “With your Darkvision, you manage to make out that there are two small barred windows on the walls adjacent to the wall with the cell door. The door luckily has a barred window in it too, but you're too far away to glean anything from peering at it.”

 Marinette purses her lips and double-checks her character sheet. “Is there anything magical about the darkness in these cells?”

 “Roll an Arcana check to see.” Is Tim's response.

 She reaches over to the pink and gold dice set beside her character sheet and picks up the D20. She shakes the dice in her hands before rolling it into the dice box. The D20 lands on a 16. “Sixteen! Wait, plus my arcana modifier, uh…” She scans her sheet for the relevant modifier, “plus six, so that's uh… oh heck maths, uhh I think that's twenty-two total? Yeah.” She nods to herself at calculating the maths.

 Jason snorts and addresses the cameras. “This is why you should stay in school kids!”

 Huffing, Marinette elbows him in the side. “Fight me!”

 Not evening flinching at the elbowing, Jason pats her on the top of her head. “Friendly fire, Mari! Friendly fire!”

 Tim waits for silence with his best poker face on. “As far as you can tell, there is nothing magical about the darkness!”

 “Really?” She furrows her brows. “Alright then.”

 He smiles in response.

 Dick glances down at his character sheet then up at Tim, he taps his fingers against the table idly as he speaks. “The walls of the cells are stone? So I can use my Cli Lyre to cast Stone Shape and create a hole in the stone where the metal shackles connect, which would free me, right!”

 Clicking his tongue, Tim shakes his head. “Nope, you don't have your Cli Lyre on you right now, so you can't cast any spells from it.”

Cursing under his breath, Dick frantically scans his character sheet for anything. He reaches his spells and freezes and slaps the spell sheet (and by extension, the table). “Ah hah!” He crows, “I will cast Knock on the shackles!”

 Tim raises an eyebrow, then looks down to flip through his spell cheat sheet. “When you cast the spell, it makes a loud knock that's audible for up to three hundred feet. Are you sure you want to cast this?”

 Dick falters and furrows his brow, then glances around the table at the rest of the party. “I think I'll wait and see if anyone else has a way to escape this first? Wait we can all hear each other speaking from our cells, right?”

 “You can indeed.” Tim answers.

 “I got nothin',” Jason admits, putting on his Rehodros voice, which is just his normal voice but deeper and with a raspy—almost hissing—clipped tone.

 Steph, using her Speilsol Leyer voice (which sounds like she's putting on a weak German accent), shrugs. “I could try breaking the shackles? I'm strong enough to do cool things like that?”

  “But that will also be fairly loud.” Bruce points out, speaking with a gruff tone of voice (which is significantly different from his gravelly Batman tone of voice) for Chirop. “If I had my lockpicks, it would be easy to escape stealthily. But without them, I can't see a way for me to get out of these shackles.”

 Damian wrinkles his nose. “I might be able to summon creatures, elementals, or fey but what I get is determined by the DM and may not be entirely helpful. However, I could try wildshaping?”

 Tim smiles cryptically and the lighting behind him changes from dark grey to lime green. “You could.”

 Damian nods. “Alright then, I will use my wildshape ability to transform into a spider.”

The lime green light fades to flickering orange-red light. “As you try to use your druidic abilities to magically assume the shape of a spider, you feel a burning sensation around your wrists, right where the shackles are. You are unable to transform and take…” Tim pauses as he pulls out his black and red dragon dice and rolls a D6 behind the DM screen. “Five points of fire damage.”

 Cursing under his breath in Arabic, Damian glares at Tim. He crosses out his current hp and writes down the new amount.

 Jason taps Marinette on the shoulder. “What about Nells, Mari? She got any tricks up her sleeve to escape?”

 Marinette startles at that, having been chewing her lip and staring intently at her character sheet since her arcana check. She licks her lips then glances up. “I might…”

 She taps a small stat block card with a pencil and turns to Tim with an intense stare. “Is Tikki nearby?”

 At that, Tim grins widely and raises a finger. “That,” He says, flipping through his notes, “is a very good question.”

 “Because on my notes, here it says that last session Tikki was invisible when we all got captured.” Marinette picks up her session notes journal and shows it to him.

 “Would you say Tikki followed after you when you got caught?”

 Marinette tilts her head to the side and Tikki whispers in her ear. Of course, the cameras inability to record kwamis means it just looks like she's thinking instead of listening to a flying red bug deity. “Yep, I would say that. I would also like to telepathically communicate with Tikki and ask if she can come and pick the locks because we gave her a spare Thieves' Tools kit last shopping session in case she needed to pick the locks during an invisible scouting mission!”

 “Indeed you did, so Tikki flies over to your cell and will try to pick the locks on your door first. So roll a d20 and add Tikki's Dex bonus.” He instructs.

 Marinette nods and picks up the dice, cupping her hands underneath it so Tikki can shake then roll it without it looking suspicious on camera. Tikki shakes the dice and drops it as Marinette separates her hands. The dice lands in the box and rolls a 16. “Plus Tikki's Dex mod, that's uh…” She scrambles for the Sprite Familiar statblock card, “Plus four, so dirty twenty!”

 “That's enough to pick the lock. Do you want Tikki to enter the cell and try to pick the lock?” He asks.

 She nods and repeats the roll with Tikki, this time rolling an eleven. “With mods, fifteen.” Tikki then returns to her place on Marinette's shoulder.

 “Tikki barely manages to get the locks open. The shackles open and you land on the cell floor.”

 Marinette punches the air. “Wooh! Freedom!”

 Cass then waves her hand in the air. “Shadowstep out?”

 Tim cocks his head to the side. “As you don't have Darkvision, you can't see outside your cell but you manage to use your shadowstep ability to escape the shackles. Then by peering out the barred window in the door, you manage to shadow step into the cellblock corridor.”

 Marinette and Cass share a high-five.

 “Let's go free everyone else!”

==–==

 It takes them ten minutes to finish freeing everyone else, and start making their way out of the dungeon cell block. The Venators now make their way through the bowels of the castle, searching for the armoury in which all their belongings have been stored.

 “As you push open the grand oak doors, the faint scent of sickly sweet rotting food and fire hits your noses. The doors reveal the next room to be a grand dining room with a long oak table, set as though prepared for a grand feast expecting many a guest. It's adequately lit but the two corners of the room above the door seem to glow with a dim greenish glow.” Tim pauses in his description as lighting changing to a dim greenish light behind him; he rolls a D8 four times (6, 7, 2, 4), behind the DM screen, followed by the rolling of a D20 four times (3, 19, 13, 18).

 “Oh god…” Dick mutters, 

 Jason huffs. “What are you going to torture us with now, oh great DM?”

 Tim smiles cruelly. “Four rays of fire are shot towards the party from somewhere within the dining room. First attack is an eight versus Chirop's AC?”

 Bruce sighs in relief. “That's a miss.”

 Tim continues to smile. “Mmk, the rest of the attacks are, twenty-four versus Balabitara's AC, eighteen versus Niriwyse's AC, and twenty-three verses Rokian's AC. I assume those hit.”

 Damian narrows his eyes at Tim, whilst Dick winces and Cass pouts.

 Tim rolls a D6 nine times, behind the DM screen. “Balabitara takes four points of fire damage, Niriwyse and Rokian both take eight points of fire damage.”

 The three all jot down the damage taken.

 Still smiling, like the truly evil DM that he is, Tim clasps his hands together. “Two skulls, enveloped with green flames, descend from the ceiling. One hovers over the grand table and the other hovers but the top of the opened doors, giving itself cover.” He pauses, then grins. “With the surprise round over, everyone roll initiative!”

 Out of habit, all seven players, and Tikki, roll their D20s in almost perfect sync. Dick rolls an 18, Cass rolls a 9, Jason rolls a 14, Bruce rolls a 16, Steph rolls a 17 with advantage, Damian rolls a 2, Marinette rolls a 10, and Tikki rolls a 14.

 “Twenty or above?” Tim asks.

 “Twenty three,” Bruce announces.

 Jason rolls his eyes. “Twenty-one.”

 Dick grins, “Twenty one as well!”

 Tim scribbles down the rolls on the initiative table. “D'awww, you both rolled twenty-one. Anyway, fifteen or above?”

 “Tikki rolled an eighteen.” Informs Marinette.

 “I got nineteen!” Steph exclaims.

 Jotting down those rolls as well, Tim asks “Alright, anyone ten or above?”

 Cass signs her roll, ‘fourteen.’

 “Thirteen.” Marinette answers.

 Tim glances at the initiative table, then at Damian. “And you Damian?”

 Damian scoffs. “Three.”

 “Okay.” Tim then rolls a D20 twice. “Chirop! You're up first!”

 Bruce looks slightly bewildered. He clears his throat. “Can I grab the nearest sharp pieces of cutlery and sneak behind a chair?”

 Tim nods. “Roll stealth.”

 He rolls an 18. “My stealth modifier is plus thirteen, so thirty-one to stealth.”

 Tim whistles, “To the rest of the Venators, it looks like Chirop just vanishes into thin air.”

“Are any of the enemies close enough that I could move into melee range?” He questions.

 “There's one floating Flameskull hovering five foot in the air, with your Long-Limbed trait, it's well within reach,” Tim informs.

 Bruce narrows his eyes. “I would like to stab the Flameskull with the sharp cutlery, knives are preferable.”

 “Roll to hit. As knives are close enough to daggers, I'll say you can get away with adding your proficiency bonus as well.”

 Bruce rolls, with advantage, a 19. “Plus my modifiers, that's twenty-eight to hit.”

 “That hits.”

 Bruce rolls for damage, 2. “That's two, so seven.” He then rolls for Surprise damage, 8 (5, 3), and Sneak Attack damage, 24 (6, 2, 5, 6, 5). “That's a total of 39 piercing damage. Then I'll use my bonus action to stab it again,” He rolls a 16, “Twenty-one to hit.”

  Tim puts on his best poker face. “That also hits.”

 “Then that'll be…” He rolls a 1. “One damage from the second attack.”

“The Flameskull you hit screeches in fury as it crumbles to bone dust.” Tim then proceeds to make a horrific screeching sound, for immersion of course.

 “What the fuck, Timbo?” Jason asks, wincing.

  Dick cringes. “At least you aren't right beside him! My poor ears!”

 “Rip us closest seats.” Mumbles Marinette, wrinkling her nose.

“Rehodros, you're up next!” Tim announces gleefully, ignoring his suffering players.

 Jason narrows his eyes at Tim, “I want to run over to the table, grab any food on the table that's not rotten, and yeet it at the nearest Flameskull.”

 Tim hums, “Okay, the only non-rotten food you can find, is a block of aged cheese and a bowl of hardened sugar cubes.

 Snorting, Jason cracks his knuckles. “Oh, I have to pick the block of aged cheese.”

 “Roll your attack then. But make sure you only add your Dex modifier to the attack as you're not proficient in improvised weaponry.”

 Jason rolls to attack and also gets a 19. “Twenty four to hit.”

 Tim snorts. “Yeah, that definitely hits, go ahead and roll damage.”

 Jason nods and rolls a 1D4, managing to get max damage. “Four! Wooh! Plus my Dex mod, that's nine damage!”

 “You lob the cheese at the Flameskull, managing to cause a couple of cracks to form on its skull. It turns it's furious gaze to you, intending to intimidate you but the effect is somewhat hindered by the melting cheese covering half of its skull.” Tim flips through his notes and marks down the damage taken.

 “Okay, then I want to grab the bowl of sugar and using my extra attack to throw that at the Flameskull, in the jaw.” Jason smirks and switches to his Rehodros voice, “You look like you've got a sssweet tooth, bonehead!” He rolls to attack and gets a 12. “Seventeen to hit?”

 “That will hit.”

 Jason rolls a 3 on the D4. “That's eight damage total.”

“As the bowl of sugar starts to melt from the heat of the fire, the sickly sweet scent of hot sugar begins to emanate from the Flameskull. The Flameskull does not look happy.” Tim pauses to glance at the initiative table. “Niriwyse! You're up.”

 Dick glances down at his spell list and beams. “I'm going to cast Vicious Mockery. And say,” he puts on his Niriwyse voice, which is just his voice but higher pitch and with a British Estuary accent, “Green is so not your colour!”

 Tim hums, then flips through his notes. “What's the spell Save DC on that again?”

 Quickly checking his spell sheet, Dick answers, “DC 16.”

 “Mmk,” Tim responds non-committally, before rolling a D20 twice from behind the DM screen. “That, unfortunately for you, is a nat 20. Which means it takes no damage and suffers no disadvantage. The Flameskull turns to you briefly, to cackle in your face, before turning its attention back to Rehodros.”

  Dick frowns. “Aww that failed, welp I'll use my bonus action to give Speilsol Leyer inspiration.” He clears his throat and puts on his Niriwyse voice to sing. “Let's get down to business! To defeat, this skull! Did they order heroes, no they asked for none! We're the saddest party you'll ever meet! But you can bet before we're through, Flameskull, we'll make dust out of you!”

 The rest of the table burst into cheers and groans.

 “Beautiful, Speilsol Leyer, you get 1D10 bardic inspiration,” Tim confirms. “And now it's your turn. Show the audience what you've got.”

 Steph giggles. “Okay, okay, I've got a really dumb idea.”

 Tim raises an eyebrow at her.

 “So, firstly, is there anything on the walls, like paintings? Wall sconces? Y'know.” She asks.

 “There's a painting of a naked elven lady on one wall, and a taxidermied fox head on the other,” Tim informs.

 Steph bounces in her seat. “Cool! So I'm gonna rage! Rip the taxidermied fox head off the wall, then run and leap up into the air to bludgeon the Flameskull with the fox head!”

 “Right. Make an athletics roll.”

 Rolling a D20, she gets 13. “Twenty one!”

 “You manage to jump into the air with expert grace. Roll to hit.”

 She rolls a 16. “That's a twenty-four to hit because I've got the Tavern Brawler Feat so I've got proficiency with improvised and-slash-or unconventional weapons!”

 He snorts. “That'll definitely hit, roll damage.”

 Steph picks up her D4 and rolls it, getting a 3. “Do with my strength modifier and Rage damage, that's ten damage! And uh, that's the end of my turn!”

 Tim scribbles down the damage taken, he then checks his notes quickly. “The sugary cheese-covered Flameskull starts to cackle madly. It casts fireball on the party, everyone make dexterity saving throws.”

 On cue, everyone in the party rolls their D20s. Tikki rolls an 18, Damian and Marinette both roll 16s, and Dick rolls a 4.

 Before Bruce rolls his dice, he proclaims, “I'd like to use evasion!” He then rolls and gets a 5. “Fourteen total.”

 “Evasion too!” Cass declares with a smile, she rolls her D20, getting 18. She then signs her result, ‘twenty-seven

 “Shit!” Jason mutters, staring at his roll of 2.

 “Nat one?” Tim questions.

 Jason shakes his head. “Natural two, so seven total.”

 “I also got seven,” Dick adds.

 “Seventeen,” Damian announces.

 “I rolled a nineteen and Tikki rolled a twenty-two.” Marinette pipes up.

 Steph frowns at her roll of nine. “Eleven…” She glances at her character sheet again. “Wait, no! I get advantage on dexterity saving throws!” She shakes the dice in her hands and blows on it for good luck, then rolls it into the dice box. It lands on an 18. Fist pumping the air, she cheers. “Yes! Dirty twenty, fuck yeah!”

 “Alright. Niriwyse and Rehodros both take…” Tim rolls a D6 eight times, behind the DM screen. “Twenty-three fire damage. And everyone else except Chirop and Balabitara take half that, so eleven damage. And of course, Chirop and Balabitara take no damage whatsoever.”

 “Wooh,” Bruce cheers.

 “Wait a second!” Jason interrupts, triple-checking his character sheet, “I've got fire resistance!”

 “Then you also take eleven damage instead of the full twenty-three.” Tim corrects. “And that's the end of the Flameskull's turn. Tikki's up now.”

 Marinette tilts her head to the side as Tikki whispers in her again. “Tikki is going to hold her turn.”

 Tim nods. “Okay then, it's Balabitara's turn.”

 Cass smiles sweetly. “Jump and punch?”

 “Roll an athletics check then, please.”

 She rolls a 13, and signs her results, ‘eighteen.’

 “You barely manage to leap within melee range of the Flameskull,” Tim narrates. “Roll to hit.”

 She rolls her dice again, rolling a flat 17. Again, she signs her result, ‘twenty-six.’

 “That will definitely hit.” He acknowledges.

 Cass then rolls damage, gets a 4, and signs the total, ‘nine.’ She glances down at her character sheet, and then back up at Tim. “Second attack?”

 Tim nods again, still jotting down the damage taken. “Go ahead and roll.”

 Rolling again, she gets a nine, so she signs the result, ‘eighteen.’

 He hums, “That'll also hit, roll damage.”

 She rolls and gets a 3. ‘Eight,’ she signs.

 Tim chuckles, “As you punch the Flameskull twice, the skull shatters and turns into sugary and cheesy skull dust.”

 Cass grins and fist-pumps the air as the rest of the table breaks into cheers.

 “Everyone breathe a sigh of relief! Encounter over.” He comments. “And I think we've reached our halfway mark, so we'll take a quick five minutes break to grab something to eat and drink, and we'll continue on after the break.”

==–==

| Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this little oneshot! Comments, likes, and reblogs are much appreciated! |

| @maribat-march2020 | | @vixen-uchiha |

[thesehauntedhills]

FELON GHOSTS AT THE END OF THE LINE

Now, for those you don't know me, let me tell you, "IMMA CHICKEN". I believe in the Holy Ghost and that leads me to believe in other Ghosts. Satan is a copycat master of deception, ya know. So, two places that I will not visit because after hearing of family and friends accounts of their visits to these places, I won't go. The two places are both in East Tennessee. One right here in Greene County, The Old Greene County Gaol. The old jail is located behind the Greene County Courthouse. The other place I will not go is located in Morgan County in the tiny town of Petros. Yep, that's it the former Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary. I've heard accounts from reputable, professional people of their visit to the former Prison and they share tales of being on the Ghost Walk tour and "something got on" them. Scared enough to go wait in the car for the others! Here follows is some information about the Prison . . . . and the Convicted Ghosts who demand their acquittal

Brushy State Penitentiary. Operating from 1896 to 2009, the penitentiary was known as the Alcatraz of the South. Brushy State once housed James Earl Ray, the man who assassinated Martin Luther King Jr. The vacant prison is surrounded by a rock wall.

The penitentiary stands in a notch in the Cumberland Mountains, hemmed in on three sides by the forbidding Frozen Head Wilderness. Over the years a surprising number of convicts escaped from the prison and headed into the hills -- but NONE ever made a successful escape . Hundreds of its inmates died anyway, worked to death in the prison's slave-labor coal mines or simply murdered by each other. The penitentiary produced so many dead bodies -- no one knows how many -- that it had its own morgue and crematorium.

I would say that Brushy has seen more than her fair share of death. She has seen some of the most brutal deaths that one could have imagined. She has seen the worst human behaviors, she has seen pure hate and sadly pure evil. That kind of evil will forever leave a negative “impression” on an environment. That kind of horror, trauma, negative energy, sadness, hate, bad and evil can crawl into every wall, corner, crook and cranny. We then must throw in the natural environment. Paranormal researchers have found that certain natural properties such as water, limestone and other stones can energize spirits. Well, Brushy Mountain has all of those in abundance all around them. There have been many ghost hunting teams to do investigations inside the prison since it’s closing in 2009 and the evidence that has come out of there has been extremely convincing. From one ghost who supposedly smokes a cigarette if you leave one as a gift to one who is named Jack Jett a prisoner who was murdered while talking on the phone

Today, the walls of the prison have been reopened, revamped. For one hundred bucks you can go on a ghost walk through the pentinuary.

A former Inmate recalled one night when a convict was stabbed to death, then was skinned, gutted, and flushed down a cell toilet, piece by piece, to hide the evidence. In the morning, all that was left was a garbage bag of human bones. "There was some bad, bad boys in here," said the former inmate. Prisoners who failed to mine their daily quota of coal, or who otherwise angered the guards, were tied to the exercise yard whipping post. The former inmate added that his granduncle was one of them, whipped so hard through his prison uniform that the cloth embedded into his flesh. Others were banished to The Hole, a lightless cellblock where each inmate was given two buckets: one for water and one for a bathroom. "You'd try to make a mark on one bucket so they wouldn't get switched around," he explained. "One guy was locked down in there 29 days. He put his head through the wall to kill himself."

Brushy Mountain State housed some of Tennessee’s worst criminals. The violence inside the prison was a problem that the prison guards had a horrible problem controlling. It was said in that at one point they averaged one murder a week. On Feb. 8th, 1982, a hostage situation occurred fueled by racism, two black inmates were killed by white prisoners. The white prisoners sawed through their bars, using a gun that had been smuggled inside took four guards hostage. They then went upstairs to where the black prisoners were housed and started shooting them as they went down the line. The prisoners then surrendered to the guards quietly. Nearly 100 executions also took place at Brushy State by electrocution, "Old Sparky".

All I'm saying is, "I believe" . I believe that many ghosts found the end of the line in this life here, but it never really ended . . . . .

Thanks for reading! SpOoKy !

As always drop a comment, share a story. Have you been brave enough to take the ghost walk? Please tell us about your experience!

Might ought to head to Morgan County mmmmm hmmmmm!

The former inmate now works as a tour guide in the prison like any good prison tour guide, is a nonstop monologue of horror tales. "People think a lot of these stories are made up, but I've seen things," he said. He recounted one time that a prisoner was beaten dead in the gymnasium bathroom. Another convict was deliberately crushed to death on the exercise yard weight bench. A third was burned alive in his own cell by a molotov cocktail tossed through the bars. Even the non-fatal stories are unsettling. He added that his prison blanket turned black from roach poop, and that one time it was so cold that it froze to the wall of his cell. "It'd get colder than a wooly-wooly bugger in here," he said. It's true: the unheated prison is closed to tourists from December through March because it's so cold.

~~banjo~~

@thesehauntedhills

🦋░T░h░e░s░e░🦋 ░H░a░u░n░t░e░d░ ░H░i░l░l░s░

[imaginesmai]

Dean Winchester-Please Don’t

Requested by @my-cup-of-coffeee, hope you like it!

Plot: while Dean and you’re trapped, he starts to realise that not everything is under control. 

This month I won’t be very active, because I’m going on a peregrination and then I’m on holidays! But feel free to do requests, I’ll have a lot of things already done that I’ll upload next week, and I’ll still be writting (just not often.)

The constant sound of drops of water hitting the floor was the only thing that he had been hearing for the past hour. At first, it had been irritating; but it was better to focus on it than the screams from the other rooms. There must had been at least twenty people in there, trapped as you were and suffering. When Dean thought about it, his blood boiled. It made him want to rip that door and to shoot every demon a few times. He wanted to burn the place down, to rip them to shreds, or at least to trap them until his brother was back. Sam promised everything was going to be fine, that he would be back with more hunters and that he would get you out of there.

But it had been more than four hours trapped in that hell, and Dean’s wishes were being drown in sorrow. Every few minutes, he would feel your arms gripping his middle tighter, when a particular loud scream sounded across the hall. A quiet sob would leave your mouth every time steps were heard outside that door, and the only thing he could do was to hug you tighter. To pretend that you weren’t locked in a cellblock, surrounded by demons and listening to other hunters die.

You weren’t a part of that world until that night. You had met Sam at university, and you had been dragged with the Winchester since then. Even if the relationship between you and Dean wasn’t the best in the beginning, he had learned to live with you and to love every inch of your body and personality. And he wasn’t ready to lose that yet.

“Nothing’s going to happen to you” he whispered, his voice rugged from not being used. “Sammy is going to get us out of here, don’t worry”

“That’s what he said four hours ago” you mumbled against his neck. Dean was sitting with his back against the wall, and you had nested between his legs. He gave you a soft nudge with his knee.

“He’s coming” he argued, his voice strong. “I’m sure he is. Maybe he’s getting more help, calling Cas or even driving here by now.”

“Okay” you said, not wanting to argue. The possibilities of Sam getting you before those demons opened the door were slim, but if Dean believed in his brother you would too. “I’m scared.”

“Hey, I already told you. Nothing’s gonna happen” he kissed the line of your hair. “We’ll be ordering take out at home and bothering Sammy in no time.”

That time, Dean had troubles believing his own lie. The hunt had been a big one, so a lot of hunters had been with the brothers. One of them had noticed a gap in Hell’s doors, and created a “committee” to close it. You weren’t with them, you were safe. Dean had left you in the bunker, sleeping in the couch as thousands of papers filled the desk. You were supposed to be there, waiting for them. Safe.

The demons had been smarter, faster. For each hunter, there was a loved person of them trapped in a cell in the lower level. Dean was one of the first to run down when he heard your scream, followed by many mates; once the hunter found their loved one in the cell and stepped inside, the doors closed. That’s how Sam was nearly the only one able to escape, because Dean stepped in first. He promised his brother he would find a solution, yet with the passing hours, the solution was flying away.

“I love you” your voice broke him away from his thoughts. Dean looked down to your scared face, dried tears on your cheeks. Still, he thought you were the most beautiful person in the world.

“I love you too, Y/N. And I’m going to say it each time you wake up” he attempted to smile. “Even when you push my face away, I’ll say it. I’ll even write it down on a pie.”

“Cooked by you?” you asked, raising a brow. “I don’t even think you can finish that pie, let along write something on it.”

“Hey! I can cook! You’re the one who doesn’t know how to appreciate my cooking.”

“Me and probably the entire world, D” you chuckled. “At least you’re good at ordering food, right?”

“You’re-“

Dean was interrupted by the door hitting the wall with a loud hit. He would have sworn that the piece of metal had been broken, and that meant that the demons were too strong. Because he had already tried to open that door for hours, and it hadn’t made any difference.

You curled back on his chest, your nails leaving painful red lines on his chest; he didn’t mind a bit. There were two of them, two men that could possibly belong to the pits of hell. Tall, bald and bigger than any human Dean had seen.

They stepped closer to you, slowly, as if they were savouring every second. Dean felt you trying to disappear in thin air, to become invisible to their eyes. And he was tempted to make a run for it, leaving you time enough to escape. Thinking about it, he could hold them for a while. Maybe a few seconds, but he couldn’t finish his plan.

“No!” Dean tried to reach for you, dragged away by one of the demons. His hand, big and rough, covered completely your arm, and had no problems in taking you out of the room.

He tried to get up and follow you, yet he was pushed back. He watched with desperation as the demon walked out with you, and kept hearing your screams and cries long after you were gone.

“What are you doing?!” he screamed, getting up again. Dean tried to push the demon, but he didn’t move. He just smirked. “Where are you taking her?! I’m the hunter! Don’t you know who I am?!”

The sickening smile on the demon’s face only made him angrier. Memories of what they could do to a person filled his head, his time in hell that had been long forgotten -mostly thanks to you, who had been with him every step of the way- coming back.

“I’m Dean fucking Winchester, asshole! I kill your kind just for fun!” he tried to punch the demon, but he dodged it easily. “Take me instead.”

He didn’t want to beg, that was the last thing he should do. Begging usually led to bad deals, and he didn’t want that. Dean only wanted you back, and it only had been a minutes. The demon’s happiness was making him sick, the silence was pushing him slowly towards the begging part.

“Are you not hearing me?! I-“

“You humans are a wonderful thing” the demon laughed, and in a second he had Dean against the wall, his head hitting it with a painful crack. Black dots filled his vision, but he could hear the demon well an clearly. “For us, you’re something similar to… what do you call them? Puppies? Those weak things that serve to entertain you. Yeah, puppies.”

An invisible hand pressed against Dean’s throat, the air escaping from his lungs. The palm was pressing against the front of his neck, and he chocked a few times.

“I know who you are, fool. Everyone knows you” he explained, disgust dripping from his voice. “Dean Winchester, I can say you’re a pain in the ass. And I thought that I would be more thrilled to have you here, but I must say you’re a little… disappointing.”

“Y-You don’t kn-know who-o you’re messing-ing with-th” Dean mumbled. Before he could say something else, the demon cut again his air supply.

“I know who I’m messing with” he rolled his eyes. “At first, I thought torturing you like I’ve done with your friends was a good idea. But, I mean, you’ve been in hell already. Why bother with that when I have something else to try? What was her name? Y/N?”

Dean trashed around at the mention of your name, trying to get free. The demon laughed again, a genuine belly laugh; like it was the best thing he had witnessed in ages.

Suddenly, the hunter was thrown to the other side of the cell, his back hitting the door and a painful crack leaving his wrist. He bit his lip to avoid any sound coming out, but he groaned when he tried to get up.

“What was your favourite part of hell, D?” the nickname, foreign in his lips, made Dean’s blood boil. He found the strength to get up slowly; when he did, he was thrown out of the cell, that time his elbow receiving the hit.

“Maybe you have any request? I can deliver it to our guy, it’ll build a beautiful memory between you two. Something to share.”

“Shut up!” Dean shouted from the ground, trying to stand. “You’re gonna swallow every word that it’s leaving your mouth.”

“That’s it?” the demon mocked him. “I thought that, seeing how much she cried and begged, she was the bitch in the relationship. But you’re not far behind.”

Dean lunged towards him, knocking him off his feet and falling on top of him. He managed to punch him twice before being turned around and receiving a hand hit to the jaw. The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth, and he rolled over to spit on the ground. The demon recovered quickly, like he hadn’t received not a soft breeze. His smile came back slowly, that time bigger if that was possible. Before receiving one last kick to the head, Dean could hear the demon’s words.

“Welcome back to hell, Winchester.”

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

He didn’t want to count them, it only made it worse. But his mind was making out of the situation a bad and cruel joke. Dean had tried everything; covering his ears with his hands, hiding his head between his legs, repeating the song that had been playing in the car when he had been driving there. Nothing could avoid the counting of your screams.

When he had woken up, he found himself in a different place. The cell was smaller, similar to a storage room which use had been modified. His legs hit the other side of the room if he sat down on the floor, and there wasn’t any kind of objects. Just him, the guilt and your screams.

His previous idea of ‘not begging’ was long forgotten. Dean had screamed, cried and banged the door until his voice was raw and his knuckles were bloody. By his judgement, he had probably a broken wrist and some fractured ribs, besides the bump in the back of his head. All of that was not important in the eyes of the hunter.

“That’s enough!” he kicked the door once more as your fiftieth sob sounded in the small cell. “Let me fucking out of here and fight like a man!”

“But we’re not men, Dean” the demon, the same that had been outside that door taunting him for hours, answered. “We’re demons, and we like to do things this way.”

“You like to torture innocent people? I’m sure you would take much more pleasure in hurting me.”

“I am hurting you, don’t you see?” the demon laughed. “You’re in there, hearing her scream and cry and doing nothing about it. That’s how you take care of your girl?

The first tear rolled down his cheek, impotence mixing the guilt and creating a huge lump on his throat. At the next scream, he closed his eyes and let the tears fall.

Dean was angry at the demons who where hurting you, sad because he made you believe that Sam would be there on time and he wasn’t, and desperate while hearing your pained screams. Above all of that, of course, stood the guilt. That small seed that had started on his stomach when he had found you in that cell with a recording of your screaming voice next to you and that, by then, was a grown feeling that filled his body.

He choked a sob and heard the demon laugh. Couldn’t care less about it.

“I think it’s time for a walk” the demon started. “What do you say, Winchester? Have you been a good boy?”

Since he had woken up in that cell, the demon had taken delight in treating Dean like a dog. He had passed him a bowl with water, mocked him for barking like a dog and calling him a bad boy when he kicked the door. His jaw tensed hardly, and he fisted his hands.

“I’m waiting for a answer” he scoffed, as if he was talking to a kid. “Do you want a walk? Might be your last chance to see her breathing. I would say alive, but-“

“Fine” Dean mumbled. “Get me out of here”

“Time for a walk, then!” the door opened slowly. “But I can’t take you out without your leash, right?”

Just as he said those words, an invisible force gripped his neck and forced the air out of lungs. Blinding light filled the small space and Dean had to close his eyes for a second. The fresh air hit his face like a wave of hope; if there was fresh air, it meant it had to come from somewhere. Somewhere in that basement there could be an opening or an exit, and he was ready to find where.

He was pushed out the room and fell to his knees; when he looked up, his world came crushing down. You were curled in a bed, making yourself seem like a small ball. In the cold winter nights, Dean liked to tell you that you looked like a kitten; rubbing against him to make him cuddle you, curling yourself until he couldn’t see your face. Usually, that position caused his heart to fill with love. In that moment it wasn’t filling with nothing different from guilt and fear.

Under the table, there was a huge pool of blood that dripped from the side where you were laying. Your back was facing him, but it was enough to understand that they weren’t being nice to you. It was marked with long strips made with a lash probably, the edges bloody and irritated.

“No…” it was nothing more than a whisper, but the demon heard him and laughed loudly. “No! Fucking asshole, I’m going to kill you! Let me go!”

He trashed around for a bit, tying to get rid of the invisible force. Your ears perked up at his voice, and turned around in a too-quick movement. The basement became blurry, so you closed your eyes and waited a few seconds to open them again. Dean was in the same position when you did; on his knees a few feet away with tears in his face and anger in his screams.

You barely registered the hands picking you up and throwing you the floor. A soft whimper came out of your mouth, blood filling it and making you gag.

“Don’t touch her! Step away from her!” Dean shouted and tried once more to reach you. That time, he was thrown back by the demon who had been torturing you since you went back.

He fell on his left arm, his previously bruised elbow probably broken. Tired of being thrown around like a rag doll, Dean let out a frustrated scream and got up again. His shaky legs only allowed him to kneel, and he had to put his hand on the wall to support himself.

Before he could say anything else or the demons laugh more, a loud beeping started. It reminded him to a fire alarm, but louder. So much louder.

“Do we kill them?” the demon who had been with you asked to the other one, frowning. He didn’t move from your side, and put his boot on top of you. You shifted a little, searching Dean’s eyes and trying to get comfort there.

“No. We leave them here” he answered, but he didn’t sound convincing. “I’m feeling generous. Might give you a few minutes to say your goodbyes while we check that out.”

“Why? I was nearly finished with her” the other argued. The boot pressed harder against your side, and made you cry. With your right hand you tried to grab the table’s leg and get away, yet it was useless. He pressed harder until you swore you would cough up a lung. “Let me kill her in front of that-“

“Enough!” the demon who was holding Dean screamed, and everything fell silent. The alarm kept ringing as they had a staring competition, to see who was right. It seemed that the one who talked had more authority, as the other scoffed and turned away.

The demon left gripped Dean by the end of his shirt and throwed him towards you. The invisible force released his neck shortly after, and the hunter waster no time in getting to you. He picked you up and sat you against the table’s legs, your pained breaths hitting him deep on his chest.

“Hey sweetheart” he gave you a half smile and cupped your face. The tears didn’t stop flowing; if so, they fell harder. Dean tried to wipe them away, but more came and you found yourself crying in his neck. “No, don’t cry Y/N. They-They’re gone. That’s probably Sammy coming from us. You’re safe, I’ve got you.”

“It hurts…”

The sweet things he was mumbling against your hair made you calm for a bit, and he kept saying them until you could breath again. Dean rubbed your back with his bloody hand, avoiding the parts where the lashes were. The alarms kept ringing, and the more time it passed the more you thought that you had a chance. Maybe Dean was right.

“D?” you whispered, breaking the peace of the moment. He looked down at you with the same smile he had had since he met you, that managed to sweep you off your feet every time. “Do you really think it’s Sam?”

“Of course, sweetheart” he said. “Sammy’s gonna get us out of here. How’re you feeling?”

“I can’t wait to go to sleep” you sighed, and went back to his neck.

You stayed like that for what seemed hours, the irritating sound of the alarm making your ears hurt. Slowly, Dean’s hands caressing you and the tempting numbness feeling of closing your eyes started to call you.

Dean was moving his eyes up and down the place, searching for that little escape where the fresh air came from. He was very aware of your face in his shoulder, your hands on his back and the blood that was coating his fingers. It wasn’t all his.

But everything was going to be fine, he thought. The demons had probably went to investigate that sound, finding Sammy outside ready to beat their asses, right? He was going to run past that door and drive you to the hospital. They would tell you that you were alright and that you could go home, and you would lie with him in bed for hours. Right?

“It doesn’t hurt no more” he almost missed your words, because they were so low that even without the alarm he wouldn’t have heard them. The soft breathe against his neck made him know you had said something.

He looked down at you, his comforting smile ready and his eyes happy to have you in his arms. It all disappeared when he saw you closing your eyes.

“W-What?” he strutted, suddenly very aware of how cold you were. “Y/N, what did you sa-said?”

“It doesn’t hurt anymore. My back, I mean” you smiled softly, enjoying the calm that seemed to surround you. Reality was that panic was making room in Dean’s brain too quickly, and suddenly the possibility of Sammy not getting there in time was real. “I could sleep like this.”

“Yeah, you can’t sweetheart, I’m sorry” he attempted to chuckle, but it came out a little high-pitched. “I’m serious. Don’t fall sleep, okay? We´ll go to sleep in our bed, not here. P-Please.”

His voice broke in the end when you just hummed in approval. He knew that, by then, it was highly unprovable that you were hearing him; let along understanding.

“Don’t you dare to die on me, please” he begged. “Y/N, I-I can’t-I love you, alright? You can’t just leave me”

You tried, you really tried to keep your eyes open, to say something to comfort your hunter. But the last thing you did before blacking out was give his thigh a soft squeeze and one last smile.

“Don’t touch her!”, “Take me instead”, “Don’t you dare to die on me!” & “It hurts” From my prompt list Angst 

Want to know more about me? Here is my Masterlist! Feedback is always appreciated!!

[napoleoninrags]

President Barabbas

The mob chose a mobster. Elections have consequences.

by Greg Olear

"Easter is a very special day for me ... Easter Sunday, and you'll have packed churches all over our country.” —Donald John Trump, 24 March 2020

I WAS RAISED Catholic, which meant that every Sunday, come hell or high water, we went to church. The Catholic Mass is extremely rote. There’s a lot of call-and-response, a lot of standing up and sitting down, a lot of the same material, repeated over and over and over again. The Apostles’ Creed, for example, has been recited at Mass, in much the same way, since it was codified at the Council of Nicaea during the reign of Constantine the Great, a mere 17 centuries ago.

The best day of the liturgical year, in my recollection, was Palm Sunday. The priest always shared the same story: Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect, appeared before his subjects in Jerusalem on the occasion of Passover, and agreed to free a single Jewish prisoner. The mob had to choose: should Pilate free Jesus, the alleged “King of the Jews,” or Barabbas, a notorious criminal? Whereupon we, role-playing in the pews, would cry, WE WANT BARABBAS! My brother and I shouted with gusto, to my mother’s extreme annoyance: WE WANT BARABBAS! And so the killer was set free, and Christ condemned to die.

I didn’t know at the time that this passage, perpetuating as it does the “Jews killed Jesus” myth, was used for centuries by anti-Semites to justify their despicable deeds. I never interpreted it that way. To me, the story is about how mobs, led as they are by riled-up morons, can easily be fooled and manipulated into voting against their best interests.

The 2016 election is a recent example of how the angry masses, presented with a clear choice of good guy versus bad guy, chose unwisely. It’s not fair to either party to compare Hillary Clinton with Jesus Christ, and Pontius Pilate did not use the Electoral College system in determining whom to pardon, but notorious criminal Donald John Trump is absolutely President Barabbas. The mob went with the mobster.

Three years into the Trump Administration, and a shocking number of the president’s associates are either in prison, about to head to prison, under indictment, or under investigation. There is Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign chair, currently incarcerated. There is Michael Cohen, Trump’s longtime personal attorney, fixer, and bagman: ditto. There is the treacherous Michael Flynn, awaiting his sentence (or, perhaps, his pardon). There is Trump’s longtime buddy and shadow campaign advisor Roger Stone, soon to toddle off to the hoosegow. There’s also those who have not yet been indicted because of the nefarious machinations of the corrupt Attorney General, William Barr: Rudy Giuliani, Jared Kushner, Mike Pompeo, Mike Pence, Mick Mulvaney, Erik Prince, and Trump’s lousy kids Ivanka, Eric, and Don Junior.

What is remarkable here, aside from the obvious fact that Trump cavorts with an uncanny number of crooks, is that none of these people has flipped. Manafort pretended to, only to ratfuck the FBI. Flynn, too, lied to investigators. Only Cohen gave up some dirt—but how much did he really surrender? The thing is, the rest of these people aren’t nearly as hard. Trump wants to pardon Roger Stone because he knows him well enough to know that he will sing to stay out of the Big House. Jared Kushner, aka Boy Plunder, has done so many illicit things that he will keep FBI agents busy for years; is Mr. Ivanka really not going to flip to avoid prison? And I can’t imagine Don Junior exhibiting the same trollish swagger around Cellblock D.

Trump’s partners in crime are all selfish assholes. They have no real loyalty. Giuliani, for example, loathes Trump with every fiber of his noxious being. He’s only protecting him out of his own self-interest. At some point, to preserve themselves, these fuckers will all turn on each other, and it will be the end of Reservoir Dogs all up in here: a bunch of petty crooks threatening to take each other down.

So why haven’t they?

A big queen sits in the middle of the stalemated chessboard, preventing all movement. The queen’s name is William Barr. He is the titular Attorney General of the United States, but his actual function is to slow-roll the Department of Justice from its takedown of Trump and his co-conspirators. To that end, he holds up witnesses. He stymies evidence from being sent to prosecutors. He cock-blocks US Attorneys, sure as he cock-blocked Mueller. He kicks the can and kicks it again and again and again, hoping to run out the clock. Barr has been so successful that the GOP is not even remotely worried about the bad stuff coming out. He’s gummed up the works so badly that we couldn’t even get witnesses at the fucking impeachment trial.

With a big, fat cork in the bottle of evidence, Trump and his fellow criminals do not have to fear retribution from law enforcement for as long as he stays in office. The only danger now is if they turn on each other. If they respect omertà, they are golden. Thus it is in all of their interests—Trump’s, but also Pence’s, McConnell’s, Pompeo’s, Kushner’s, and so on—to stay the course. These people will do anything, including exacerbate a global health crisis, to not get caught. They don’t care if we die. Repeat: they don’t care if we die. As Mr. White says in Reservoir Dogs: “The choice between doing ten years and taking out some stupid motherfucker, ain’t no choice at all.”

What are they hiding?

In Trump’s case, generations of criminal involvement with the mob—first La Cosa Nostra, later the Russian mafiya. His grandfather was a minor pimp at the dawn of the organized crime era, but Donald’s father, Fred Trump, was, as Lincoln’s Bible tells us, “a businessman front for the Genovese crime family.”

To best understand Fred, just track his rise from single-family home construction to big residential developments. From Shore Haven (1947) to Beach Haven to Trump Village, all were done with known mafia partners, in Genovese-controlled territory, and eventually with a fully Genovese-owned construction company (HRH Construction).

When the Russian mafiya began rolling in, they landed in Fred’s properties and partnered with the Genovese on some big ticket scams. This was also during the time that Fred and his attorney Roy Cohn set up S&A concrete (via Nick Auletta)—a joint venture between Tony Salerno (Genovese boss) and Paul Castellano (Gambino boss), so that donald could build in Manhattan. Remember donald’s quote, “Even my father, he said, you don’t want to go to Manhattan. That’s not our territory?” That’s because Manhattan, for construction, was Gambino territory. They controlled the concrete and unions. And Fred was a very loyal, shrewd front for the Genovese. To get his idiot, greedy kid into Manhattan, Fred and Roy Cohn had to get those two mob bosses to agree on a joint venture.

When the Russian mafiya pushed out the Italian mob after the fall of the Soviet Union, Donald Trump began laundering money for unseemly Vor associates of Semion Mogilevich. The Russians extended him credit when no US bank would touch him, and he remains in their debt—a fact the Mazars and Deutsche Bank documents will reveal, which is why Trump has moved heaven and earth to keep said documents secret.

Because the Russian mafiya works hand in glove with the Russian government, Trump is also, as Hillary Clinton correctly told us four years ago, Putin’s puppet. His ties to Russian intelligence (Putin, remember, is ex-KGB) go back decades. Recruitment of Trump by the KGB began in the Reagan Administration; for all we know, his succession of ex-Soviet-bloc wives better reflect his allegiance to the Soviets than his taste in women. He is also connected to the Russian organized crime via his friend Jeffrey Epstein, a collector of kompromat and money launderer for arms dealers; Epstein’s longtime partner was Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of Robert Maxwell, the spy and former business partner of, yes, Semion Mogilevich.

Trump’s underworld ties were all there in 2016, barely below the surface, for all the world to see. Wayne Barrett wrote about them for the Village Voice. Robert Friedman alluded to them in Red Mafiya. Craig Unger covers them closely in House of Trump, House of Putin. The mainstream media knew damned well what the guy really was, but chose to equate Trump’s years of actual mobbed-up crimes with HRC’s email server. The result? Every half-wit Fox News watcher proclaims, with a straight face, that Hillary, not Donald, is the crook!

Truth: Trump is a notorious criminal, a serial rapist and sexual assailant, wholly owned by the mob, controlled by the underworld and the Kremlin. He is a latter-day Barabbas—and because of the whims of a riled-up mob, he’s now, somehow, the President of the United States. Make no mistake: If he thinks it will help him avoid prosecution, he will order the churches open for Easter without qualm or hesitation. In his calculus, Jesus gave up His life for us, so we should give up our lives for Trump. He will happily pervert the holiest of Christian holy days to get what he wants. To this monster, nothing is sacred..

[siderealxmelody]

@wayward-roleplays Auction day, a day that unwanted omegas dread. As well as a day that lonely alphas love. This auction house induce heat on all omegas on auction day then let alphas browse the cages to get an idea what to bid for. Now in cellblock J in cage 8 sits a small omega that is nothing but skin and bone, she hides in one of the darkest corners of the cell trying to hide.

Adam sighed as his older sons dragged him this - this den of inequality. "What you all get up to in your spare time does not interest me. Let me be."

Malcom rolled his eyes and stopped to look at his father - darker brown eyes giving him a skeptic look.

"Father, you need some fun and besides they've been made for this. If they ever become too unruly we can just kill them and sell them for parts."

Adam hummed walking toward cell block D. He wasn't really looking.

"Perhaps, but this - they almost look human Malcolm, perhaps they do not deserve this fate."

Ajax glared at Malcolm, they were here to persuade their father to get an Omega they could finally have when he was done with it. Not some liberation movement.

"That may be father, but look at their bodies, they are unnatural - they appear more like monsters and caricatures of us than humanity."

Adam hummed thoughtfully. He was too drunk to really think about any of this. He stopped at a scrawny Omega.

"This one."

His sons balked, they were hoping for one of the ones in Block A or B, they'd take even C and D!

But J?

"Why?"

Ajax finally asked. Adam shrugged leaning over the cage.

"I like its eyes."

[miz-joelys-sherlollilists]

S3: The One Who Mattered Most Fics (#-H) - Updated 07/14/20

Series 3 stories about our darling OTP. Abbreviated to S3: Matters Most when I do my latest and greatest posts. I-P can be found here, and Q-Z are here.

#

6. Rebound by picturestoproveit (Rated M, One-Shot) 50 Reasons fic, PWP AO3 2013

12. Because it’s half-time: Half-Time by mizjoely (Rated M, One-Shot) 50 Reasons Fic, PWP, Love American (Sherlolly) Style AO3 2013 

19. Celebrate major victory by favorite team and/or political candidate: Touchdown by mizjoely (Rated M, One-Shot) Sequelto Half-Time, PWP, 50 Reasons Fic ff.net 2016

20 Questions by Vega’s Ring (Rated T, One-Shot) ff.net 2018

20. Bathroom Sex by EloiseAtThePlaza (Rated M, One-Shot) Jealous!lock, Christmas, PWP, 50 Reasons fic AO3 2014

28. Time An Egg by jane1111kimo (Rated M, One-Shot) PWP, 50 Reasons Fic AO3 2016

29. To avoid doing cleaning, studying, or work of any kind: The Case of the dirty kitchen by ducktiny (Rated M, One-Shot) PWP, 50 Reasons Fic AO3 2016

30. Because she wants to: Love Songs for Losers by hobbitsdoitbetter (Rated T, One-Shot) 50 Reasons fic, PWP AO3 2014

32: To cheer someone up (pity) by Whytejigsaw (Rated M, One-Shot) Wed!lock, PWP, 50 Reasons Fic AO3 2014

A

A birthday gift from Fairy-Godmother by kendrapendragon (Rated M, Complete, Multi-Chapter) Dom/Sub, PWP, Birthday fic, Dubcon AO3 2016

A Creative Man by MoldyMangoes (Rated T, Complete, Two-Parter) HABD Molly ff.net 2014

A Dance In The Dark by condiemint (Rated K, One-Shot) Wedding (J/M), Shall We Dance? tumblr 2014

A Goodbye by mel loves all (Rated K+, One-Shot) Wedding (J/M) tumblr 2015

A Moment In Darkness (The Missus Chronicles) by heyitsgmats (Rated K+, One-Shot) Trapped Together ff.net 2014

A Silent Vow by afteriwake (Rated T, One-Shot) Songfic AO3 2015

A Study in Jealousy by benedictedcumberbatched (Rated T, One-Shot) Jealous!lock AO3 2014

A Very Jealous Sherlock by Kalila1221 (Rated M, One-Shot) jealous!lock ff.net 2015

A While (The Missus Chronicles) by heyitsgmats (Rated K+, One-Shot) ff.net 2014

Absurd by Lady Dudley (Rated K, One-Shot) Quarantine fic ff.net 2020

Addressing The Issue by Dreamin (Rated T, One-Shot) Jealouslock AO3 2019

Adventures In The Tea Trade (Be-Bop-A-Sherlock series) by hobbitsdoitbetter (Rated T, One-Shot) Secret Relationship, Outside Looking In AO3 2014

All That Glitters by mizjoely (Rated T, One-Shot) Secret Relationship AO3 2015

An Entire Bottle of Scotch by Tearoom Saloon (Rated K+, One-Shot) Drunk!lock, Wedding (J/M) ff.net 2014

An Interlude in the Morgue by noveltyromance (Rated K, One-Shot) AO3 2017

Anatomically Correct Heart by GoddessOfApples (Rated K, One-Shot) Valentine’s Day, Locker!lock ff.net 2014

And a Crappy New Year! By Whytejigsaw (Rated K+, One-Shot) New Year fic  AO3 2012

And You’ll Be Mine by Phoebe_Snow (Rated T, One-Shot) Proposal, Jealous!lock AO3 2017

Apologies by simplyshelbs16 (Rated T, One-Shot) SAW 2019 ff.net 2019

Are You Happy? by simplyshelbs16 (Rated T, One-Shot) Wedding (J/M) ff.net 2017

Artistic License by cactusnell (Rated T, One-Shot) Tattoo!lock AO3 2015

AU of Empty hearse scene... (Empty Hearse AUs series) by Ukthxbye (Rated T, One-Shot) AO3 2018

AU of I guess the rest... (Empty Hearse AUs series) by Ukthxbye (Rated M, One-Shot) AO3 2018

The Awakening of Molly Hooper by TC (thecollective) (Rated M, series) Dom/Sublock AO3 2014

B

Be My Wife by ModWannabe (Rated K, One-Shot) Fake Relationship ff.net 2014

Because You Asked by darnedchild (Rated K, One-Shot) SAW 19 AO3 2019

The Befores and The Afters (The Pirate Annie Holmes series) by FromTheBoundlessSea (Rated K, One-Shot) Parent!lock, Outside Looking In AO3 2019

The Benefit of Friendship by lilsherlockian1975 (Rated M, Complete, Two-Parter) SAW ‘19 ff.net 2019

The Best Christmas Gift by Dreamin (Rated T, One-Shot) Christmas AO3 2018

Bestial Urges by Apprentice08 (Rated T, Incomplete, Multi-Chapter) Casefic ff.net 2013

Billiards by mae-jones (Rated T, One-Shot) tumblr 2015

Billy's Analysis (The Missus Chronicles) by heyitsgmats (Rated K, One-Shot)  ff.net 2014

Blackbird Singing (Chemical Reactions series) by HarrisonHolmes2014 (Rated M, One-Shot) Parentlock, Songfic AO3 2015

Bleeding Secrets by mizjoely (Rated T, One-Shot) AO3 2017

Bodyguard by mizjoely (Rated T, One-Shot) jealous!lock, Proposal AO3 2014

Bright are the stars that shine by OhAine (Rated T, One-Shot) AO3 2016

Bro-Down by o0katiekins0o (Rated T, Complete, Multi-Chapter) AO3 2014

Broken Hearts by flimflam99 (Rated T, Incomplete, Multi-Chapter) Kidnapped!, S3 AU AO3 2017

Burn My Bridges Down by dietplainlite (Rated M, Complete, Two-Parter) Wedding (J/M), PWP ff.net 2014 

C

The Case of the Jaded Detective by FluffySherlollyFan119 (Rated M, Incomplete, Multi-Chapter) Jealous!lock, Dom/Sublock, Jealous!lock, Drunk!lock AO3 2014

Celebrating his idea of Valentine’s Day by zora arian (Rated K+, One-Shot) ff.net 2014

Cellblock Confessions by Emcee Frodis (Rated T, One-Shot) Drunk!lock ff.net 2014

Change by terrified (Rated K, One-Shot) locker!lock ff.net 2015

Change Just One Thing by Mistykins06 (Rated T, One-Shot) Wedding (J/M) AO3 2015 

Chapter 3: ”Trapped” in a Small Space by Juldooz (Rated T, One-Shot) Trapped Together AO3 2020

Christmas Cardigan by katiebuttercup (Rated K, One-Shot) Christmas AO3 2017

Coffee by noveltyromance (Rated K+, One-Shot) Christmas AO3 2017

Coffee Later by MelyndaR (Rated K, One-Shot) AO3 2014

Coffee, Tea, Hot Chocolate by Dreamin (Rated K, One-Shot) AO3 2018

Cold Turkey by JJJ12 (Rated M, Complete, Two-Parter) Wank!lock, PWP AO3 2018

Come here. Let me fix it. by ll_again (Rated K+, One-Shot) Wedding (J/M) AO3 2017

Congratulations, By The Way by Writingwife83 (Rated K+, One-Shot) Songfic AO3 2015

Consent by terrified (Rated K, One-Shot) Christmas ff.net 2014

The Consequences of Sentiment (Such Horrible Things series) by OccasionallyCreative (Rated T, One-Shot) Swaplock AO3 2014

Could I Have This Dance by Dreamin (Rated K, One-Shot) Wedding (Other)  AO3 2017

CPR Lessons by SimplyShelbs16 (Rated K+, One-Shot) Wedding (J/M) ff.net 2017

Cut A Rug by lizzieBdarcy (Rated M, In Progress, Multi-Chapter) Fake Relationship, Casefic, Shall We Dance?, Songfic, Slow Burn ff.net 2020

D

D..did you just make that noise? by sunken_standard (Rated T, One-Shot) AO3 2017

Daddy’s Girl by mizjoely (Rated M, One-Shot) Roleplaying, PWP AO3 2016

Damsel in Distress by theSapphireSky (Rated K+, One-Shot) HABD Sherlock  tumblr 2015

The Dance by Cee5 (Rated T, One-Shot) songfic, Shall We Dance?, Wedding (J/M) AO3 2014

Dance With Me: A Sherlolly Fanfiction by wibblywobblytimeywimey45 (Rated K+, One-Shot) Shall We Dance?, Wedding (J/M) ff.net 2014

Dancing! By redtaxi (Rated K, One-Shot) Shall We Dance?, Wedding (J/M) ff.net 2014

Dead men eat no cereal by TheresaWritesStuff (Rated K, One-Shot) AO3 2017

Deadtime Stories by Gypsy Rose2014 (Rated M, Complete, Two-Parter) Drunk!lock, Wedding (J/M) ff.net 2014

Declarations by afteriwake (Rated K, One-Shot) tumblr 2017

Detective Mary by MissMollyBloom (Rated K+, One-Shot)  AO3 2020

Do I have to? by askmeaboutmyoctopustheory (Rated T, One-Shot) Drunk!lock  AO3 2018

Do I Wanna Know? by benedicted-cumberbatched (Rated K+, One-Shot) Songfic AO3 2014

Do you really think I could ever replace you? by Sunken_Standard (Rated T, One-Shot) AO3 2017

Doff That Jumper! by sherlockian87 (Rated M, One-Shot) Secret Relationship, PWP ff.net 2015

Don’t Mess With His Pathologist by lilsherlockian1975 (Rated T, One-Shot) HABD Molly AO3 2015

Don’t Mess With My Pathologist by MrsMCrieff (Rated M, Complete, Two-Parter) HABD Molly, Vamp!lock, Soulmates AO3 2018

Drabble for the day by conchepcion (Rated K, One-Shot) Clueless Dating, Secret Relationship tumblr 2015

dreams, like soap bubbles by broomclosetkink (Rated M, Complete, Multi-Chapter) Angry Sex AO3 2014

Dreamweaver by Cutebutpsycho (Rated M, One-Shot) Songfic AO3 2018

Dressed to Kilt (Sight Unseen series) by SilverMiko (Rated M, One-Shot) Halloween AO3 2017

Drugged for Christmas by Ameliapoand (Rated K+, One-Shot) HLV AU, Christmast AO3 2014

Drunken Comfort by afteriwake (Rated K+, One-Shot) Drunk!lock AO3 2018

E

Enduring Atlas by DearCollectress (Rated M, One-Shot) Dom!lock ff.net 2014

The Engagement’s Over by Girlwitharedsweater (Rated M, Complete, Multi-Chapter) Drunk!lock ff.net 2014

Even Though It All Went Wrong (The Minor Fall, The Major Lift series) by Keira_63 (Rated T, One-Shot) AO3 2020

Exchange by Dreamin (Rated T, One-Shot) Retail AU, 1st Meeting AO3 2017

Experimentation by beeeinyourbonnet (Rated M, One-Shot) PWP, Virgin!lock ff.net 2014

F

The Fake Engagement by MrsMCrieff (Rated M, Complete, Multi-Chapter) Fake Relationship ff.net 2014

The Family Detective (The Family Man AU) by I 4 2 write (Rated T, Complete, Multi-Chapter) Fan/Sup, Adapt/Crossover ff.net 2015

The Fiction He Lives (Sight Unseen series) by SilverMiko (Rated T, One-Shot) AO3 2017

Filter by Lono (Rated M, One-Shot) PWP, Wank!lock AO3 2014

Filter Free by cactusnell (Rated T, One-Shot) High!lock ff.net 2015

Fisherman's Blues (Sight Unseen series) by SilverMiko (Rated T, One-Shot) AO3 2017

Five Weddings and a Funeral by floosilver8 (Rated M, Complete, Multi-Chapter) AO3 2014

Forensics by HeayPuckett (Rated K+, One-Shot) AO3 2014

Forwards or Backwards by Succi (Rated T, Complete, Multi-Chapter) ff.net 2014

From the Corner of My Eye to the Back of My Mind by Lono (Rated T, One-Shot) New Years ff.net 2014

From the Wrong Man to the Right One by GoodShipSherlollipop (Rated T, Complete, Multi-Chapter) ff.net 2020

G

Go by terrified (Rated T, One-Shot) Songfic ff.net 2014

Green-Eyed Monster by afteriwake (Rated K+, One-Shot) Jealous!lock AO3 2015

H

Handyman by cactusnell (Rated T, One-Shot) Jealous!lock AO3 2015

Happy New Year by LadySolitaire83 (Rated T, One-Shot) New Years, Proposal AO3 2014

He Said He Loved Me by afteriwake (Rated K, One-Shot) AO3 2018

The Heart Wants What It Wants by SimplyShelbs16 (Rated K+, One-Shot) SAW ‘19 ff.net 2019

He’s giving her a present… by danae24 (Rated K, One-Shot) Valentine fic AO3 2016

He’s Wrong For You by afteriwake (Rated K, One-Shot) Jealous!lock AO3 2015

Here Be Dragons (Isn't She Beautiful series) by katemiller (Rated M, One-Shot) Engaged, Parentlock AO3 2020

The Hidden Talents of Sherlock Holmes and Molly Hooper by the_noble_bachelorette84 (Rated M, One-Shot) songfic, Fake Relationship AO3 2014

His Biggest Weakness by Dreamin (Rated T, One-Shot) AO3 2017

Holiday Spirit by geekmama (Rated T, Chapter  of longer fic) Halloween, Secret Relationship AO3 2016

Honeymoon in Croydon by hobbitsdoitbetter (Rated T, One-Shot) Wedding Interruptus AO3 2014

How Dare You? by 3seconds (Rated T, Complete, Multi-Chapter) AO3 2016

How The Mighty Fall by hanorganaas (Rated K+, One-Shot) Wedding (J/M) AO3 2014

Hugs by CuriousVanilla (Rated K+, One-Shot) S3: Matters Most, Jealous!lock ff.net 2016

[allstarsstorymode867]

All-Stars -Story Mode- [CHAPTER 14] Part 5

Part 4

Sorry for taking so long but I had finished it but also, I kinda had a change in plans about Chapter 15; I am going to get it started early after this part but Frisk and Bendy will come back in Chapter 15 to defeat Radec thankfully before several of our heroes will be taking to the world of Dead Rising and the reveal of our true villain will be there soon. Enjoy! ^^

-Back to Miss Pauling again! :D-

Miss Pauling had ran without looking back,

left, right, left, right, left, right, left are her feet whom hit the ground as fast as she could to get away from them. She panted as she reared around the corner and hid behind it. She panted as she watched two other soldiers ran pass her and away from sight.

She took time to calm her heart down and recount what had happened, “Hell… That could’ve gone much better,” she said, “Still, it’s odd about those vines coming out of nowhere just to shield us from the rockets. I wonder if…” she concluded before she could finish that sentence.

“Miss Pauling!” A familiar voice called out, as well as with the feet running on the ground. “Oh boy…” she groaned internally, she then turned to see that voice belongs to Scout. “You’re alright!” he said stopping in front of her as she rolled her eyes.

“I’m glad to see you too, Scout.” she said as Soldier, Demoman, Pyro, P!Dempsey, P!Takeo, Erron and Gordon had come around the corner after him and seeing Miss Pauling for the first time.

“Hello Miss Pauling!” Soldier is the second one to greet her, “We came here just in time to rescue you and the hostages!” he said happily as he placed a bloodstained shovel on his shoulder, before looking at Demoman.

“Oh, and keeping Demoman sober during battle this time around as well!” he added, Demoman only rolled his eye with a smile.

“And you must be?” she said as she looked over to Erron and Gordon, “They’re with us.” Dempsey quickly answered as Miss Pauling looked over to him and said “You must be “Tank” Dempsey.”

The Marine nodded and looking over to Takeo, “And Spy had told you this is-” he was beginning to say but soon noticed Miss Pauling was looking at him in shock and confusion. “But you- You were- had just-” she started to say through her stammering as he and Takeo had raised their eyebrows towards this.

Miss Pauling couldn’t believe that he can’t be in two places at once, first he was wearing wearing WWII uniform, cut hair and looked older but now, he is very much like how Spy described; black hair tied in a bun, uniform with ripped sleeves, bandaged hands and younger.

“Pauling?” Takeo asked in concern, “You seemed shaken.”

“I am…. Fine.” she answered with a sigh leaving her mouth, Scout raised an eyebrow toward her reaction upon seeing Takeo and this meeting. She then looked over to Demoman and said “Demo, do you have any alcohol on you?” in defeat.

“Sorry but I don’t have any on me this time, Miss Pauling.” he said nervously, she could only look at him, unconvinced and unwilling to let that Demoman go with the idea of him carrying alcohol everywhere he goes, she then said again “Hand one over Demoman, I have known you too much to know that you carry them around already.”

He was hesitating for a moment but then reluctant, handing her the bottle of scrumpy he had in his pouch and watched as she chugged it all down. Dempsey had a little while to think about this when walked beside him before looking at him and saying “Do you know what’s up with her?”

“Hm?”

“Her reaction,” Erron explained further, “If she had already met him then-”

“Best to save it for later.” Dempsey quickly interjected, “I was only asking.” Erron said as he rolled his eyes to which the Marine walked away from him to Miss Pauling. “Alright, Miss Pauling, do you know how we are gonna get out of this alive once we rescue them?”

Miss Pauling choked when he said it, “Um… I haven’t figured that one out yet,” she said nervously, “You haven’t figured that yet?” Dempsey said disappointed.

“I had figured out yet, and…” she said as she trailed off, “And what, Miss Pauling?” Scout asked as he continued to look around for any enemy lurking around. “Well, I ran into another group on my way here, three men and one woman and-”

“Let me guess; from another timeline?” Dempsey interrupted.

“In truth: Yes.” she answered, “Seems to be from the early 1900’s though.”

“Are they from the time before the time of the First World War?” Takeo questioned, Miss Pauling looked at him with a questioning expression, “Possibly.” she answered. “My guess is 1910 or 12. I am not so sure.”

“Hey, we are familiar with time travel and jumping from one dimension after another.” Dempsey said as his hands are in the air with an honest tone. Erron looks down as he said nothing while he listens to them talk, his mind begins to trail off with questions: Is this another Mortal Kombat tournament? Or was something much more serious happening?

He was an Earthrealmer and now a hitman for hire in the Outworld, he had been to six realms and back but this is all new to him somehow and meeting other people that he had never known other than Kotal Kahn, Outlanders and others but these people? He’s not so sure anymore.

He looked over to Gordon like he had an answer but the man of few words only shrugged, “Gordon, y'all gonna talk eventually.” Erron insisted, “Most of the time, you are a man of few words.”

Gordon wondered for a moment and then he actually said “Alright.” to which made everyone looked at him, “Well damn,” Dempsey said, “He speaks.”

“I thought he was a mute,” Pauling raised an eyebrow before turning to Erron and said “Are you-?”

“I was a prisoner here, well, was a prisoner until the kids had escaped who helped me to escape from them as well.” 

“Are you talking about a kid with a striped long sleeve shirt and a talking mug?” she asked as she looked at him, Erron nodded.

“The mission was a failure!” Soldier said, “He was a prisoner of war that was held in Cellblock Point B that is in the police station from here and there’s a hole in the their cell next to his and it’s about 7 cells on the right! They are must be half way out by now!”

“He had-??”

Scout quickly chimed in by saying “It’s a long story, happened was that he had helped them escape the mess by convincing Mugman to use some type of blast or whatever and now they’re escaping through the caves.”

“Huh…” she said, surprised and relieved, “I had sent Cuphead to-”

“You had sent Cuphead to-?” Dempsey said before being cut by gunfire sounded through the air as they all looked up at the sky, Erron shushed everyone as he whispered “Stay quiet.” before getting out two revolvers as everyone else done the said as they all backed up to the wall.

The Outlander then side-stepping to another end of the wall where Miss Pauling had came from, “Don’t lose your head, Cowboy.” Dempsey cautioned, Erron nodded and peeked to see whatever is waiting on the other side.

He sees two Helghan soldiers, he cursed under his breath and muttered “We’ve got company.” as everyone looked at each other then at one another. “Crap.” Scout muttered, Demoman looked at him and whispered “How many are there, laddie?”

“Only two,” Erron replied in a whisper as he kept his eyes on them, “If they come over here, I am sure that we can take them.”

“Yes, sir!” Soldier whispered as others nodded as well, that is when Erron begins to listen to them talking on a via communication device, it seemed to have caught his interest as he listened in to what they are saying.

“Has he found them?” one of them said to the radio, “Not yet, the human child and the boy had made a way out but… I am sure that Colonel Mael Radec will find them.”

“What we will do next after?”

“They will be taught in discipline,” one of the other answered, “As punishment for escaping the hands of the Helghan Empire to be exact, they may be children but they must learn hard lessons in life.”

“Right.” Other agreed before asking “And as for the invaders?”

“They will be captured and then executed, no more interference and we can not risk it any longer.” The soldier answered with malice and that made Erron’s spine chilled when he heard what they will do if Radec had found Frisk and Mugman.

Then a voice came up from the communicator, they quickly answered “Yes?”

On the communicator, screams are heard as well a laugh of a maniacal mad man trying to take down the door as another voice called out in pure blood curdling horror had yelled “Their Doctor is different from what Colonel Radec had described! He is wearing what appears to be a general's uniform and his eyes are not like any-” then all of a sudden the door had been broken down and laughter are both heard in the background as he pleaded “No! No!! AGGH-” before being cut off with static.

“Come in…? Come in!” One of the soldiers had said as he tried to reconnect the signal as the other is listening on to what was going on until the significant other had looked at him and hits him with an StA-14 Rifle and said “We have to get to them! Go! Go!” before running with another followed suit.

As soon as they are gone, Dempsey asked “Are they gone, Erron?” as Erron looked over his shoulder and answered “Yeah but what they said is worse.” as he put one of the revolvers away.

“And I don’t think that none of you aren’t going to like it.” he continued.

“Then spit it out then.” Dempsey said with impatience, Erron had paused for a moment before laying out on what he had heard from them to others beside him and after he finished, Miss Pauling said “Alright, even though I had covered up things and I had disposed of the bodies but that way too far.” with disgust.

“I know!” Erron said, knowing now there’s something that needs to be done to not let them have their way on them, “Does that mean we are-”

“Going into the caves and find them before he does,” Dempsey concluded, “Erron knows the way back there.”

Erron nodded and said “I may not be paid but I am looking for the thrill so I hope that cave holds it in store for us.” as he walked ahead with everyone following close behind, “It better be big enough for us to go in there, it’s be hell if it’s too small.” Scout muttered as he walked ahead of Soldier and Demoman while Takeo said “Do not speak of hell, Scout.”

-To Ultimis Richtofen’s side during the radio transmission-

He couldn’t be a lot more happier than he was back in Der Raise with his comrades and with the Helghan soldiers that seemed to got his bloodlust an attention he needed. He felt so much stronger when they had came after he called out its name. As it turns out, that name had belong to the demon who comes after their name is heeded.

_ _ _ _ _

He had killed every Helghast that had stood his way as they were surprised that he didn’t seem to be bothered that he was injured and bleeding, the wounds he had gotten are seemed to be healing by themselves as he took out some type of food or a chocolate bar and ate it. Restoring his Health Points,

He just couldn’t help but follow their lead into killing and slaughtering a group of them in cold blood running through his veins. The blood got on him and a dagger he had in his hand as he made one swift move on the Helghan Soldier who was on the ground.

And like that, blood sprayed at his direction as the blade met the throat and slashed it open, soldier’s blood is on his face, his uniform and on his boots as he joyfully yelled “Zhe blood! ZHE BEAUTIFUL BLOOD!!”

That’s when he heard someone making a radio transmission from the chief's office, then he heard a voice that had overpowered the others as it said.

*Looks like someone is trying to get help.

*It’ll be a darn shame if you’re left out.

*Mind joining the conversion, Edward? =)

Without a moment to think, he ran towards the office and tried the door handle but it was to be locked, he knocked on the door then soon began to bang it.

Then the terrified trooper managed to get the transmission working, he yelled into the radio “Their Doctor is different from what Colonel Radec had described!” with each banging from the other side is more and more aggressive with grave strength of the Doctor.

*Better do it quickly, the call is going to be cancelled soon

*I would want his friends to know what we have done.

*S T A Y  D E T I R M I N E D .

Voice had called out again with a sour rich command, that made Richtofen go even more intention of getting inside the office and that was the point he had began to slam his thin body onto the door, with an ill intention for a thirst of blood is his one desire and he wants it right now.

His shoulder is getting more bruised with each hit and the glass on the door is cracking with each force. The soldier is more in need of help as he heard each thrust that the Doctor is charging and the door had aged for a while, it was ready to give way any minute.

He is an Elite Shock Trooper of Helghan Empire and a part of the Helghast Defense Forces. But he was prepared for this human- no, this monster, this creature, this… demon possessing him.

“He is wearing what appears to be a general's uniform and his eyes are not like any-” he was interrupted as the glass had broken from the outside, he turned and saw Edward Richtofen’s eyes, they were sea cyan/light green blue but they are now different, much much more different than before and now,

they had turned into dark navy blue with slit glowing crimson red as they are filled with bloodlust and vile and wicked as his lips had curled into a menacing, sinister smile with two pink circles on each of his cheeks as he exclaimed “Heeeere’s Eddy!”

The Helghan Shock trooper was perilized in fear as he looked into the monster’s eyes and watched helplessly as the butcher reached his hand through the broken window as he felt a supernatural force to unlock it, all the while he hasn’t let his glaze be removed from the soldier, he wanted this soldier to know it will be the last thing he will be seeing.

Without pausing, a clicking sound was heard and with a firm move, he turned the doorknob and opened the door with creep. A smile is still on his face as entered the room with a bloodstain dagger, he still smiling a vicious a grin before laughing as he stalked towards the soldier with each step like a hungry wolf.

The trooper begins to plead for mercy as he had began to back up slowly to get the heck away from him as possible, trying to avoid the distance getting closer and closer.

“Please, have mercy.” he gasped, only for the Doctor to reply “I am sorry but zhe Doctor is all out of mercy.” with the same grin.

He then screamed in terror “No! No!! AGGH-” before the Richtofen had lashed out to the man  before him and then begins to gut him while he screams in agony and Edward laughing while he had plunged and pulled the knife as blood is spraying from him and all over the doctor but he didn’t stop as he kept striking, stabbing and wounding the poor Helghan trooper that is that is being held down on the floor against his will.

“P-Please! S-Stop!” he choked out in a rasp, in need of air as he felt his lungs are being filled with blood as he knew he’s drowning in it, he looked horrible, gravely injured as the Doctor looked at him with knife and spleen he had cut out of him as he stood on his knees. He was still smiling as he looked at the man before him but he is somewhat annoyed.

He had been stabbed, cut open and bleeding but he is still not dying quick enough than he thought. He had killed people in the past but this Helghast was different, “Vhy won’t you just die!?” he said impatiently towards the dying man, “Because....” he managed croaked, “Helghan… The planet… our planet… had made us all stronger…”

*Just finish the job, Doctor.

Richtofen, annoyed and enraged, yelled at him “Oh shut your trap und die already!!” before he blacked out for a moment, he did remember bits of it however. He remembered his teeth digging into hard yet soft skin, blood oozed and sprayed on his face and the soldier gurgling before splitting something in his mouth out.

*You won!

*Rewards: 236 Gold and Helghast’s gas mask.

*LOVE had increased to Level 55!

He came to and see what had happened as he teased the iron taste of blood as he licked his thin lips and sees the Helghast before him with his throat bitten off and blood flowing out of the wound and his golden orange eyes had faded to gray a little.

Richtofen noticed that he had also ripped off some pieces of his armored uniform along with the gas mask that seemed futuristic so it must’ve been the reason why he had saw his face in the first place.

Seeing a Helghast before him

As his eyes are slowly returning to their normal state, he placed the spleen beside the body and looked at him in the face, he can tell that he had red bags under his eyes like he had an alternate version of dark circles under the eyes.

His skin is pale like he was sick, it felt like it had been when he was looking at a corpse that is very much different than humans or zombies. He had thought about what he said for a moment, “Helghan made us all stronger.” were his last words before hands of fate had cut him by the throat.

*Feeling curious now, Eddie?

_ _ _ _ _ had said after they had their fun with the Doctor, he only nodded “I vonder vhat he means by this “Helghan” had made them stronger,” he said as he was astonished to see one of them before.

*Helghan is their home planet,

*The planet was deemed uninhabitable due to hazardous dust and lightning storms, it’s environment is toxic to them and in all honesty; they were humans once before setting in there.

*After being exposed to the planet’s hazard, they suffered nausea, cramps, and vomiting are common within hours.

*After that, they had turned after their lungs functions are increased, tendons had strengthened, and more oxygenated blood.

*As it was happening to it’s settlements, they had increased in size and numbers of the now mutated Helghast.

“Und I had one of zhem,” he said as he smiled, “I vonder now on vhat zheir kidneys looked like!” he gushed as he readies the dagger again but _ _ _ _ _ had stopped him again, Richtofen looked at them with loathsome expression.

*Rather not do that.

*I can hear someone coming, looks like you’re on your own, Partner. = )

Richtofen watched as _ _ _ _ _ disappears into thin air while the German had watched, then soon a female voice had muttered in disgust “What had done this?” in which had caught Edward’s attention.

Scarlett had come in and saw the aftermath of the massacre, she carefully looked around to see if anything…. Or anyone is still here all the while she’d held a revolver in her hand.

The Doctor cautiously stood up and tipped-toed to the door, cautiously peeked from the office to see who it was and saw her.looking around. “A woman,” A first thought came in his head, a smile quickly drew on his face.

“An easy target for me but….” he trailed off once he realized that she is armed, “I better zhink fast on approach.” he said as he looked back on the body that is laying on the ground. He thought about his strategy for a minute but only for a minute until he heard her called out.

“Is there anyone here?” is what she had called out to someone who is hopefully still alive, Richtofen peered from the door again before reaching the back pouch to search for anything until he felt something and then getting it out to see a syringe filled with glowing subscene of 115 mixed with crimson blood.

“I am!~” He called out from the room he is in and before stepping out of the room and Scarlett was surprised to see that his appearance had changed. “Vhy fräulein, you looked surprised.” he chirped happily but he too was surprised when she said his name.

“You looked…. Different, Richtofen.” she said rather awkwardly, Richtofen simply smiled at her words as he walked over to her at a threatening yet calming pace as he replied “As in zhat I “dressed different”, have you not been expecting me to be here?”

“No, no I didn’t.” She said with a suspicious tone her voice as she began to realize that this one, this Richtofen, is someone else entirely and may be dangerous.

She was beginning to raise her revolver at him but the Doctor had gently placed his hand on it and then have it lower it back down gently as he held something behind his back.

“Don’t fret, ve are zhe only ones here und afterall… I am a doctor.” he said as Scarlett carefully looked at him then he suddenly fastens the syringe to it’s icepick grip as he yelled “Und as a doctor, I know vhat’s best for you!” in twisted excitement with the eyes that are obviously not sane as he harshly held her hand to keep her in place that took her by surprise.

He then thrusts his hand towards the side of her neck but the hand that was holding the syringe was knocked off when a wrench was thrown at his hand, quickly disarming him as he grunted in pain.

When he reached and picked it up but he hissed in pain, he then held his hand to assume a bleeding cut injury as he took his rubber glove from the hand to have a further look on the palm while she watched speechless until she felt a hand on her shoulder and a familiar voice rang out.

“Scarlett,” P!Nikolai said in a serious tone, “Run.”

(Drawn by @sampoststuff on Tumblr)

Scarlett turned to look at the Russian before looking back at the new insane Richtofen before them, the German looked at them with anger.

“What is going-”

“Just run, Miss Rhodes!” Nikolai demanded once again and this time, Scarlett did just that when the adrenaline had began to tense and then made her blood rushed harshly through her veins and her mind went into flight mode.

She had no time to question the situation she had put herself in so she just ran for it, Nikolai had followed suit, running as fast as his feet had grown wings of their own as they go around the corner and then into another hallway.

Ultimis Richtofen had just got up with the syringe in his other hand as they ran through the hallway after violently opened the double door to make their escape from him, the doors closed slowly until they are forced opened once again with them hitting the wall with a crash that echoed throughout the halls.

A smile he had on his face is the one that could be able to frighten the prey just a mile away, he coldly said “Bad move, other Nikki…”

He then ran after them down the halls as he heard their feet hitting the floor as they ran, his frustration had turned on at this point as he is losing gain on them. That is until he saw a silhouette of a person that is about Nikolai’s height, his anger quickly accelerated into searing joy when he saw it.

Shifting into a sprint, he made a mad dash towards the silhouette who had realized this and was about to get out a weapon or run or even maybe both but even for an aged German general, he really can run so quickly.

He caught up to him and then held him in by the shoulders before plunging the syringe deep, deep into his neck at full force as he screeched in pain, he can clearly hear a song playing somewhere in the police station and he wasn’t paying to it but he could hear the last lyrics.

Oh, my eyes are seein' red

Double vision from the blood we've shed

The only way I'm leavin' is dead

That's the state of my, state

of my, state of my head

The person under him was struggling a bit but eventually, he stopped moving before dropping on the floor unconscious while the sadistic doctor watches but was in shock when the lightbulb lit up back to life and saw that it wasn’t Primis Nikolai he had managed to get but it was one of the elite troopers he had mistook for him.

“Was?!” he snapped as he looked at him, he then kneeled down and picked him up by the armor collar, “You’re not NIkolai!! Vhere are zhey!? Vhere…” he growled until a thought ran through his head, “If zhere’s anozher Nikolai here,” he said, “Zhen…” he continued as he smiled, “Zhere’s a good chance zhat zhere’s anozher me somevhere.”

Achievement Unlocked:  Cold Blood “Humans are the Real Monsters”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Primis Richtofen is looking out from his hiding place to not only look at the 4 Helghan Elite Troopers but to the gate that Engineer and others had managed to close shut to keep the dead at bay for some time.

He stood there and held tightly of the Ray Gun clenched in his hand as the blood vials of his jingled a bit but quickly held them tight quietly as one of the Elite Trooper heard it on his left but was distracted when another tapped his shoulder to get his attraction.

“Strange sounds are coming from the gate, take caution.” they said under a whisper with strict, he nodded before noticing something on his left, Edward quickly hid back behind the old concrete wall that hid him well despite the seemly 80 years had passed.

He knew that he was going to be caught soon and he could only imagine what they will do to him and feared that they will take the Summoning Key from him if he’s killed and that will be very bad, not only failed to save his universe but let his friends, his mentor and everyone down as well.

He silently cursed under his breath as he when checked his ammo for the Ray Gun and to realize that he only had three batteries, “One against only six Helghasts vho vere well armed to zhe teeth,” he whispered, “I do not like zhe odds in zhis.”

He peeked again but immediately hides back when bullets had been fired, he cursed under his breath when he heard their boots coming to his direction, he then managed to get one of the batteries inside the weapon as he unclipped it’s muzzle and then placed it inside before closing the muzzle back on with a gentle click.

He inhaled and then slowly let the breath out of his lungs as he closed his eyes for a moment then braced himself for the unwanted fight, summoning up what little courage he had before going out of cover and then opened fire at the Troopers.

“Get down!” They yelled as they ducked while most of their own tripped, then two of them proceeded to open fire immediately as he took cover again. He waited for a moment for them to stop firing and this is when he heard them calling out, saying “Surrender! This is far as your kind had gone today!”

He cursed under his breath again, “I really vish that I should've let Dempsey teach me how to fight back vith mein bare hands.” he muttered as he looked at the shadows on the dirt-covered ground, then he heard a familiar French voice whispered beside him “You know,”

Richtofen looked and gasped to see that it’s Spy, with a smile on his face and a cigarette between his fingers, his back to the wall and said “hiding won’t save you.”

Richtofen raised an eyebrow then looked back to see that they coming closer then turned back to look at the Frenchman but he had disappeared just as Trooper had came out and aimed the rifle at him.

Edward turned around surprised but before he could pull the trigger, the other had suddenly looked at him before turning StA-52 Assault Rifle on him and then fired a bullet at the back of the head, killing him. He then heard a familiar voice distorted through the re-breather “¡Por México!” in Spanish as the fellow soldiers looked in shock before one of them saying “Traitor!” then pointing their weapons at him.

Troopers weren’t in for what will come next though, a revolver had suddenly sounded off and another had gone down without a pause with blood spurting out as they looked at him before turning to see the Spy with a revolver in hand and after he was upon being seen by the Elite Helghast, one of them yelled out “Spy!” and they pointed the rifles at him instead.

“Gentlemen.” Spy said calmly as any other gentlemen would do, holding the revolver in hand while using the other hand to adjust his tie and clearing his throat.

“I take the point most of you were after me?” he asked, one of them nodding as they had still had their guns pointed at him. Spy seemed unamazed or scared to see that they are armed, he looked at the unfamiliar assault rifles before letting his eyes gaze at them with courage and saying as if to taunt to them “Cowards, let’s settle this like gentlemen!”

“Surrender, now.” one of them said grimly as Spy studied their reactions before looking at the Trooper who had just killed one of their own and said “Do think I was the only one who can backstab their teammates in the back.”

They looked confused at first until they heard him undoing his re-breather, that made them to turn around and saw that it really wasn’t one of their own but Diego who had dressed up as one.

“Hola, Helghast.” he greeted with a smile, Helghasts weren’t really in for that type of surprise as they found out they had been tricked into thinking he was one of their own in disguise. None of them didn’t have time to react before Diego opened fired with StA-52 rifle on them.

Sound of a revolver opened fire sounded in Richtofen’s ears quickly and saw that it was Spy who had aimed and fired as the soldier fell down without a sound with a spray of blood launched out of the back of the head.

Richtofen then finally fired at them with another burst of courage, just as Dempsey and others had rounded the corner before stopping to see what is going on. Miss Pauling had still time to use the double-barrel pistol to take them on as she began to fire.

Erron pulled his two revolvers out of their hosts while Dempsey gives Gordon one of his pistols for him to use and then they began firing at the troopers, one by one they fell down on the ground.

One of them try to charge in with a combat knife but Pyro had swung their axe at the knife and it knocked it out of his hands. Allowing Demoman to swing the Eyelander at the base of the neck, decapitating him completely.

The head rolled on the ground as the last body falls down, “Well… That was easy.” Dempsey said as he lowered his pistol down and looking at Richtofen, “Ya’ll okay, doc?”

“I am fine Dempsey, thanks to Diego and Spy here.” Richtofen said as others looked over to them, “Hola, you must what the doctor calls “Dempsey,” right?” Diego asked, Dempsey nodded “Yeah? Hi.”

“Been brought here too?” Erron asked, “Of course!” Diego answered without hesitation, “We are from 1912 originally, a different world.”

“Quite a coincidence.” Takeo replied, already on that point, the Hispanic man reminded him of Dempsey because they are both confident whenever battle is going on. “Also, as long as you’re here, do mind helping me getting this armor off of me please?” Diego asked as he dropped the helmet on the ground, Erron and Demoman walked over to him and helped him out of the armor winch it’s difficult to.

“How did managed to get this on ya, Diego?” Dempsey asked as he undid the pieces of the chest armor, “I had questioned the same thing when I had put it on,” Diego answered with trouble of removing the arm piece and the glove on his wrist and forearm.

Richtofen is looking at them helping the Mexican out of the armor as he shook his head with a small smile when he heard Miss Pauling walking to him. “Hello, are you Doctor Edward Richtofen?” she asked as he turned to look at her, “Ja, I am Doctor Edward Richtofen, I am from Dimension 63 in zhe year of 1918 originally, zhe same year vhere zhe First World War had ended if I am correct.” he answered as he placed the ray gun away in his pouch.

“You must be Fräulein Pauling I had been told about.” he asked as he looked at her carefully, she nodded with ease. If this is the time where she should’ve have a clipboard just to write this down, now she wished it would be a good time to do so as she said “It is nice to meet you, Doctor Richtofen.”

“Just one more…” Erron said as he undid the last strap that kept the armor together, freeing Diego as he removes it. “¡Gracias, señor!” he said happily as he lets it fall to the floor with a satisfying ploof, finally been freed of the uniform, suit and the armor.

“You have no idea how stiffly it is wearing it, Amigo.” he said without hesitation as he stretches, Dempsey only rolled his eyes with a small smile while he watched. He then looked over to Miss Pauling and said “It’s to run into you once again on the same day, Miss Pauling.” with a gently “Oh silly me” manner.

“You too.” said Miss Pauling as she adjusted her glasses then reloads the double barrel pistol with a few bullets she had left on her, with a click.

“Alright, what was new so far?” She asked not only in curiosity, but in context of someone who wants to be informed of what was going on so far. Takeo looked over to her and said “From start to finish, Misu Pauling?”

“Yeah.”

Edward thought about it for a moment, he began to answer with honesty, “Vell, ve vere brought here by an unknown entity,”

“Yep,” she said as she got out a notepad and pen then wrote it down after Richtofen said that, “And?” she asked immediately.

“Zhen ve are fighting not only zhe undead but soldiers from a planet far from here,” he continued.

“And me hiding my a$$ from them and wait until you guys got here.”

“Zhen three children und a wolf came out of nowhere und, zhey got involved vith our war vith zhe Helghasts.”

“And we already know why Radec wanted both Cuphead and Mugman for.”

“Zhen ve’d met a cowboy.”

“Obvious.” Erron said with boredom.

“Und ve bumped into four more people who are not involvement vith us vhatsoever but zhey had zheir own reasons.”

“Crossing paths with Diego and his friends, I get that.”

“Si.” Diego agreed with a nod.

“As of right now, we're here, trying to take Mael Radec down but had known zhat he won't go down vithout a fight.” Richtofen concluded as he stepped to the side to let Spy go pass him.

“And we will know how this is going to affect him after we’re through with him and his men.” she said as she finished writing up notes and then closing the pad, looking up with fast plundering buzz.

“But there is another thing I had…” she began to say when they heard footsteps coming their way, making everyone to raise their guns to whoever is coming but they didn’t expect both P!Nikolai and Scarlett coming their running and panting like crazy.

They then stopped once they felt they were safe far from the madman, they are panting, cursing and trying to catch their breath after running from the psycho. “Ah… Ah… Is he still after us?” Scarlett had been the first to ask Nikolai that while she trying to catch her breath.

The Russian Sergeant turned his head to look at the direction where they came from, no one, no one was behind them thankfully while he took deep breaths to even out his breathing. “He’s not chasing us… I now believed that we had managed to…. Got away from him.” he panted as he rested his hands on his knees.

Richtofen, Takeo and Dempsey walked over to their teammate while Diego walked over to Scarlett with concerned but she seemed to jumped when she saw Richtofen but thankfully realized he’s a different version.

Dempsey had to put his hand on Nikolai’s shoulder, getting him to look at the marine corporal before him and he asked “What. Happened. Nik?” clearly but mostly in a hushed whisper.

Miss Pauling was confused, along with Scout, Pyro, Demoman, Spy, Soldier, Sniper and with Scarlett and Diego who are looking at them with further curiosity.

They were watching as the four men were whispering until Richtofen said “Vhat…?!”, Diego raised an eyebrow towards the German’s reaction at what Nikolai had explained what had happened earlier. They noticed that Takeo and Dempsey were surprised as well but continued to listen.

Scout was curious as all heck than others, finally, he asked out of thought “Hey, is there something wrong there?”

None of them didn’t respond to his question, only eerie silence they had left him with, “Hey, mate, what is going on there?” Sniper broke the ice when he said that, “Is there a bloody problem there? Had the Helghasts done something?”

Another silence fell, finally Richtofen finally answered “I vas afraid zhis would eventually happened.” as fear toned and luck in his voice. “About what, my German friend?” Diego asked but the Origins Crew got up as Richtofen said nothing but Tank had answered for him. “Sorry but, we’ll just talk about it later.”

“Oi think you brookes better-” Sniper was beginning to say but the crew ran off into the direction where Nikolai had came in just when Diego had called out “Hey, where are you four running off to? Explain yourselves!”

“Diego,” Scarlett began as she grabbed him by the arm, making him look over to her, “Get Shaw and Bruno”

“Right now?”

“Right now, Diego, we need to regroup.” she demanded, Diego looked down for a moment then looked at her again.

“Alright, Scarlett.” Diego agreed with a nod was about to run off but Scarlett stopped, “Hold on,” she said and then getting out a welling pistol and handing it to him as she said “Just in case there are Helghasts, got it?”

He smiled then nodded, “Alright.” then runs off to find them as Miss Pauling looked at her and said, “Let me guess; you’re gonna go after them?”

“Yes,” Scarlett answered, getting out another welling pistol she had kept before looking at her, “And you wanted to know what is going on if you really wanted to go with me.” before putting a small smile.

Miss Pauling scoffed at her response, “Like I wanted to go with you.” before looking away from her, then she looked at Spy and said “Get everyone and met us at the cell block B, Spy! Do it now!”

“Yes, ma’am.” he said as he got out his butterfly knife out, shushering Scout to get going as Sniper said “Stay in one piece, mates!” as he followed closely behind Demoman and Soldier who yelled out “USA!”

“Are they with you?” Scarlett as she checked to make sure that she had bullets loaded into it as she walked ahead of her to go back to where she came from. Miss Pauling soon followed her to the road back to the office where she and Nikolai had escaped as she said “Yep and if you-”

“Had them go after me if I left you with Radec? I now think we now have something to relate if that happens.” she said to winch made Pauling sniggered a little but clears her throat to be more professional on the task at hand as Scarlett shook her head with a smile.

Both women walked carefully through the area with pistols ready if they are threatened by any soldier from Helghan when they encountered them, “Is there any reason for you go after him?” Miss Pauling asked as she looked around and saw that what had happened when someone had killed a few troopers in the area and a discarded ray gun that appeared to be upgraded into Mark II to winch she had picked up to inspect it.

“Well, it was hard to remember memory how we got here but we do know that him and his men are here through radio transmission that I happened to fix up and tapped in.” she explained, “So, we figured if this was The Order’s doing and we decided to take him prisoner and find out if they were responsible for this mess.”

“If it wasn’t him or the Order cult-thing…?” she asked awkwardly as she carefully placed the Ray Gun Mark II into her waist pouch for future use.

*You put Ray Gun Mk II in your inventory.

“If it wasn’t them then, we are dealing with something worse than both of them combined.” Scarlett answered as she stood on the side of the door, welling pistol in hand before peeking in through the door, expecting someone to be there but no one so far.

Miss Pauling then walks to her as she enters the police station and even through, she had first thought it was going to be a small building but this Police station is different, way different.

If you want to paint a picture of the police station, you must first draw a big triangle,at the center, that’s an entrance hall and a reception desk at the end of it, then draw a circle above the triangle, you will see at least several desks of each detective fit for a job, then sketch up a square on top of the circle; There, you will see that it’s the Chief's office. And lastly, draw two more but smallish triangles with cells, both of them are Cell Blocks Point A and B.

She didn’t expect a bloodbath that lies within, bodies of Elite soldiers and troopers are scattered about on the floor with various stab and slash wounds that claimed their lives. “Oh god…” Miss Pauling muttered as she had never seen anything like this before, other times in the Gravel Wars, she had seen stuff like this in her world but nothing like this.

“It was like this when I got here when I had heard the yelling, panicking and screaming so I decided to investigate.” Scarlett explained more as she carefully walked for the Chief’s office that is where she had first encountered Richtofen’s Ultimis counterpart.

Then soon, they heard Tank’s voice saying “Just take the f*&%ing step back!” as a sound of someone going between two intervals.

“I do not get how zhis is possible! Zhere has to be a possible reason vhy you are here!” Richtofen said while trying to remain calm when his other voice had strikes back “Zhere is a reason vhy both of us are here, Edward! Zhe only answer is ozher more impossible questions.” with feral tone.

“Sshh...” Scarlett hushed as she slowly back up to the wall, becking Pauling to do the same as her so as well. she didn’t want to but whatever’s going on and why there are two same voices talking to each other but she wanted to know what this was about so she did as she was looking at her like she was looking out for her and their safety.

“What should we do, Miss Rhod-?”

“Just call me “Scarlett,” Pauling.” she whispered, “Scarlett,” Miss Pauling whispered a reply through her lips as they scooting across the wall closer, closer to the door with the light of an electrical lightbulb illuminating the glow from within the room.

They were ready if that crap hits the fan quickly, they a nod from Scarlett to go and see what was going on as they hear familiar voices talking to similar voices that sounded like them.

*Alright, time to find out what is up.

“Ready?” Scarlett muttered to her as she raised her gun, Miss Pauling nodding a yes as she double checked her gun to make sure she had loaded bullets before sighing a breath out. “Ready.” she whispered, with another nod from Scarlett who is now determined to find out what is with the crew.

They were hoping that they were really some hallucination and the fact they were just going crazy but what they saw was quite much worse.

(Outro cutscene from Call of Duty Zombies Classified Map, rightfully made and belongs to ⒸTreyarch)

As it turns out; they were two crews of each other, looked exactly like each other but wearing different clothing from both World War I all the way to World War II, it was almost as if their other selves had aged but still had fight in them.

They both turned to noticed the two women standing there in awe, Miss Pauling took her glasses off as she said “Is it me or am I seeing double….”

“Miss Pauling,” Scarlett mumbled as she recalled what Bendy had told her earlier about alternate dimensions and different timelines, as of right now, she is now getting it what he had meant.

It quickly clicked in her head, “Oh no, why is there more of them??” she finally asked as she placed her glasses back on while her eyes had gone wide open.

“Well damned, there are women here too.” Ultimis Dempsey said as he looked at them with a surprised look on his face as he is between both versions of Richtofens who are facing each other.

“And they both good looking, like 7th wife Nikolai had.” U!Nikolai gushed before drinking vodka from a bottle, winch made his Primis counterpart shook his head and turned away, disgusted.

He then said “Is that you wanted to do, Nikolai? Drink on until you’d drown in pitiful alcohol haze was your plan?” as he turned back to face him before finishing “Or make a huge difference for once in your life?”

Both Takeos only looked at each and from what Miss Pauling can tell they had a lot of questions for each other as well but they kept silent for the whole thing that is going on.

Dempseys stood quiet as well but they knew this wasn’t right when both of them had just met each other, Primis Dempsey still had guilt about putting himself down back in the castle as he said nothing but first time, in fear of his Ultimis self had asked about it.

All of that what seem silence for a while until Scarlett said “Were they involved when all of this took this?”

Both crews looked at her with confused yet curious looks on their faces, then it was Ultimis Richtofen the first one to speak up “Vell, ve are zhe first but had no relation to zhe situation zhat ve are now currently in.”

“Und zhat is zhe truth,” Primis Richtofen corrected with a matter-of-factly calm in his voice, “Please do not mind of mein original self, he can be… Dramanic.”

“Dramanic?! *Gasps* me?!” His Ultimis self gasped in disbelief as he placed his hand on his chest, “Mein life,” he began, to say with a sigh “vas a Shakespearean tragedy.” while he closed his eyes with composer.

His Primis counterpart rolled his eyes with annoyance as he crossed his arms as Ultimis Dempsey looked at him, knowing that this Richtofen wasn’t as unhinged as his Ultimis self and a lot more sane than him, he is insane, yes but had no other choice but to trust this Nazi and consider him a teammate.

“Do you know what is happening, Miss Pauling?” Ultimis Takeo asked as he looked at her with concern. Miss Pauling looked over to him, already had questions of her own and just wanted to be done with the ordeal they were in.

“I was hoping you guys knew,” she answered, “But I do know that something otherworldly had brought us here for something it wants.”

“How do you know that when someone who has gone from one place to another is Richtofen.” P!Dempsey pointed at his teammate who nodded, “Vhatever is going on, I fear zhat ve are dealing vith something more evil.”

“More evil? More Evil??” U!Richtofen said as he looked at him, “Zhen it means more power for us! Edvard, jusht imagine how much ve could achieve vith our combine intelligent and power zhat is unimaginable in our hands!” all the with a messed up smile on his face to winch his Primis self had noticed and recognized as he knew what he… himself had done to his teammates that would make his untrustworthy and still regretting it if he was in his shoes.

“Ve could rule zhe vorld if ve managed to capture zhat type of power… Und ve vill get bored vith it so ve’ll properly destroy it…”

Ultimis Richtofen’s smile snagged a little as he listened to his other self continued “Zhen ve vill do zhe same vith another vorld zhen another zhen another. Over und over again.” as he looked at him. He then reassured “Trust me, Edvard, zhere’s something else out zhere. Something else much vorse zhan both of us combined.”

Ultimis Richtofen nodded before clearing his throat, “Vell, for once. I believe you’re right.”

They then looked over to the two women as they looked back at back at them, Scarlett then said “I think we should save all of this for later but for now, we have to get to Cell Block B and look for Colonel Mael Radec!”

P!Nikolai nodded as U!Takeo had questioned “Mael Radec? What has he done for this?” as he looked at him, the Sergeant looked at the others and said “What he had done is something that none of you have ever seen before.” as he got out his shotgun and then cocked it back, ready for battle ahead of them, “Soldiers from a different plane of existence.” he finished as everyone looked at each other with much determination.

[the-walking-memelords]

Allegiances: Chapter 16

Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 |Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 17

Series is rated M

Word Count: 6191

The final showdown between Clementine and Lilly.

Read it on Ao3!

Read it on Wattpad!

Warning for Graphic Depictions of Violence

The silver beams of the full moon guided them through the dark, twisting branches of the forest as the kids marched towards their final battlefield. The stars danced above, bidding the teens good luck on their mission.

Anxiety ran high at the possibility of failure. Being killed, or worse, being captured was a fate Clementine tried desperately to push out of her mind.

We push on, we fight on, we look forward, never back.

Clementine held her head high with her eyes trained forward at the path ahead as her boots stomped through the dirt. Her fingers fiddled with the strap of her quiver, making sure it was fastened securely as she gripped the metal bow in her other hand.

A smooth draw.

It was truly the best weapon the school had in their arsenal, but it couldn't compare to even a revolver. God, she wished she had a gun. Yonatan's rifle had been missing from his corpse once the dust cleared. Such a precious weapon no doubt snatched back by one of the other soldiers.

The burning orange glow of the distant torches cut through the blue of the night.

“You all know what to do.” Mitch addressed the group as they reached the clearing.

“Willy, you get the raft. Ruby and Tenn, free those horses. Me, Louis, and Clementine will go after the others and plant the bomb.”

A decently solid plan.

“Only the group going up to the boat needs to douse themselves in guts.” Clem added

“If we don’t regroup before the bomb goes off, don’t wait around too long. Every walker in the county is gonna make a beeline for this shore.”

Suddenly, a bright white light flooded the area as the kids threw themselves to the dirt. The spotlight paid them no mind as it moved past, focusing instead, on a walker lumbering towards the source. A loud gunshot rang, signalling the end of that walker’s journey.

Hopefully, James brought enough of them for us to sneak past her.

The kids kept their heads low as they picked themselves up.

“I guess now we just wait for your walker friend to show up with his herd.” Ruby whispered.

Speak of the devil.

“Won’t have to wait too long.” Clementine smirked, seeing the masked boy accidentally sneak up behind the redhead.

“Good Lord!” Ruby tried to contain her surprise at the sudden stranger.

“Uh, hi.” James stood awkwardly as the group stared at him. This must have been his first time around such a group in years.

“Guys, this is James.” Clem introduced.

The others didn’t seem too sure how to react upon actually meeting the guy who wore human skin. Their faces mostly held mild unsettlement mixed with wonder. That is, except for one.

“You’re mask looks so cool.” Willy didn’t hide his enthusiasm but at least kept his voice down. “How do you get the skin like that? Can I try it on?”

“I... uh… Clementine?” James begged for help. Even with all of the control he held over the walkers, he was powerless against this excited child.

“Willy. Cool it.” Mitch interjected before Clem got the chance. “We got a job to do.”

“Right. Sorry.” Willy backed off, and James let out a small sigh of relief.

“It just looks so real.”

I mean, it is.

“Functional, and fashionable. I’ll take two.” Louis comment got a lighthearted eye roll from Clem and a small chuckle from James.

“The walkers will be here soon. I’ll lead them to the boat, but that’s as far as I go.” He reminded them.

“Thank you, James.” Clementine smiled before looking at the other kids. They looked back at her with confidence, which was reassuring.

“See you on the other side.”

When the group dispersed to wait out the arrival of their undead distraction, James pulled Clementine aside. She followed him to the edge of the path, where they stood just within the treeline.

“The noise from the boat will draw the herd towards the water.” He explained.

“You can join them as they pass through.”

“Then we can get on board and save our friends.” Clementine said determinedly.

A lone walker stumbled across the path, no doubt only a prelude for what was to come.

“Your friends aren’t what I expected. They’re… different. Open-minded. Accepting.” He seemed surprised.

“That’s not usually how my first impressions go. That one kid even called me… cool.”

“They could be your friends too, y’know. Once this is all over, you could come back to the school with us.” Clem offered.

“I didn’t think I could trust a group again after getting screwed over so many times, but these people are different. It really feels like a home.”

“I haven’t lived with a group in a long time but...” Clementine noticed him smiling through the hole in his mask as he thought about having a home.

“It does sound nice… I’ll have to think about it.”

James reached his hands behind his head, removing his mask and revealing his face. Clementine looked at the skin mask in his hands. Wearing it was one of the more unnerving things she’d done. She couldn't imagine wearing it full-time.

“There’s something I wanted to show you.” Nervousness crept into his tone.

The boy reached into his pocket, revealing a small plastic bag with a Polaroid photo inside. He cupped the photograph gently in his hands. Depicted in the photo were two boys, one who was clearly James several years younger, and another boy around the same age as him in the picture who also appeared to be of Korean descent. The other boy sat with his arm around James’ shoulder, the two boys smiling happily at the camera.

“This is… was… my boyfriend, Charlie. We joined the Whisperers together.” James confessed, admiring the photo with a wistful smile.

“But it changed him. In a way that couldn’t be undone. It changed both of us.”

“What do you mean?” All the stories Clementine had heard spoke of cruelty beyond all words. Closer to animals than people.

“The Whisperers were my.. Family… from a young age.” He continued, looking shaken as he recalled his past.

“I witnessed so much death and suffering. Eventually, I became the cause of it.”

James’ story began to mirror her own a little bit.

“Weakness was considered a poison, and I believed in that. Fiercely. One day, our Alpha had ordered us to attack a community that had wronged her in some way. And when another boy expressed sympathy for them…” James bit his lip as he held a hand over his face.

“...I slit his throat without hesitation.”

What?

“That doesn’t sound like you.” Clementine was taken aback by his words. James killed a member of his own group? Just like that? It sounded like he was telling the story of some other boy. It was hard to believe such a violent and bloodthirsty act came from the kind-hearted boy standing next to her.

“You killed a child?”

“I didn’t consider who he was, what he felt. Honestly, I don't even remember his name. All I knew was that someone like him would only slow us down.” James grimaced at his own actions.

“After he died, I kept hearing his words in my head over and over. ‘Those people are like us! Just on a different path!’ I stopped killing after that. I changed. But no one else did.”

Some evils just can’t be undone.

“The Whisperers preyed on the young especially, twisting their minds with their sick methods. I don’t want what happened to Charlie to happen to your friends.”

Clementine’s next words were cut off by the moans of the dead emanating from the path. Several of the undead began to emerge from the forest, following the light right to the boat.

“The herd will be upon us shortly. Soon there will be enough of them to provide cover.” James adorned his mask once again as he moved to inspect the herd’s progress.

“Good luck out there.”

Clementine nodded as she stepped out of sight back towards the clearing.

“Clem?” The small voice of Tennessee caught her attention. He played with his hands as he stood before her sadly.

“Louis told me… about my sisters.”

Poor kid.

“He said that… Sophie died… and Minnie is one of them now.” He looked down at his hands as he seemed to fight back tears for a moment.

“If you see her… can you tell her I forgive her?”

“Tenn…”

“I just want her to be happy. Where ever she decides to go.” The scarred boy said pleadingly.

“Tenn, look at me.” She knelt down to his height.

“I can’t promise how things are gonna go in there, but I can promise that I will try. If we find her, I’m going to try to convince her to come home. I mean, I changed, maybe she can too.”

“I changed, but no one else did.”

James words suddenly echoed in her head.

Would their stories end up following a similar narrative?

“Thank you, Clem.” The now smiling boy hugged her tight.

“Stay safe out there, okay?” Clementine smiled back.

“Okay.” With that, they parted ways, and Clem began to search for Louis.

---

She found Louis standing alone, leaning against a tree. His eyes were trained on the boat. The dreadlocks that swung in front of his face cast shadows that made it hard to read his expression, but Clem could guess what he was thinking.

“This is really happening, isn’t it?” He said slightly panicked as she approached.” We’re about to walk onto a boat of armed adults, save our friends, and somehow, blow that shit to hell while getting out in one piece.”

Well, when you say it like that it only sounds more impossible.

“I can take us right to the cellblock, and the boiler room is on the way.” She assured.

“The Delta will be so occupied with the walkers that if anyone is there, maybe it’ll be one guard. Between the three of us? I like those odds.”

“Damn right.” He said low.

She hoped her confidence would rub off on him. Once they were inside, hesitation wasn’t an option.

“I just don’t want to fuck this up. People’s lives are depending on us. Depending on me. God, I just…” It was clear that the stress was beginning to get to him.

“Louis, we can’t fall apart right now. Violet’s lost if we don't go. They all are.” Clementine didn’t want to think about her friends befalling the same fate as her.

“I know. I know.” He took a deep breath, stepping aside and mumbling to himself.

“C’mon, Louis. Get it together.”

“We’re going to be okay.” She tried to smile.

“Clem, can you do me a favour?” His eyes were serious.

“What is it?”

“I need you to slap me.”

Excuse me?

“Right here.” Louis pointed to the right side of his face.

“Just to help pull me out of this.”

Clementine watched him in mild amusement as he stood with his eyes closed, bracing for impact. She rolled her eyes and took a step forward.

She stood on her toes. Also grabbing a fistful of his shirt in order to reach her lips to his. Louis tensed for a moment, expecting a slap and getting a kiss, but quickly melted into it as he pulled her close. They savoured it, on the off-chance it was their last.

They broke after a moment, foreheads pressed together, their breath warm on each other’s faces.

“I uh… don't know if I feel more focused or less.” He chuckled.

“Don’t worry.” She assured him one more time.

“We’ll be home by sunrise.”

“Hey lovebirds.” Mitch called from a short distance away, startling the couple. “The walkers are ready, let's get a move on.”

---

The groans and snarls of the herd were almost deafening as the three blood-soaked teens approached. The spotlight was blinding as it pointed to the mass of the dead. The voices of the Delta soldiers could be heard faintly. Orders barked left and right. For a moment, Clementine thought she could hear Lilly among them.

The crack of a gunshot rang out as a walker a few feet to Clem’s right fell still on the ground.

“Stay behind the walkers, use them as shields.” She whispered to the two boys.

The spotlight no longer focused its attention on the herd, swinging over towards a raft of supplies floating off down the river.

“Good job, Willy.” She heard Mitch mumble under his breath.

The yelling only increased as the panicked whinnies of the horses sounded and a bright blaze of hay lit up the night.

They tried to stay relatively together as one by one the herd was thinned out. Whenever that spotlight found its way to Clementine, she dove for a walker, gripping onto its torn clothes and rotting flesh until the bullet meant for her dropped the walker instead.

More soldiers began to emerge from the boat to fight the herd just as the three reached the pier.

“We can’t risk leaving cover, we’ll have to crawl along the side of the dock.” Clementine lead them as they dipped into the freezing water. She felt a chill run up her body as they scurried along the side, gripping onto the soggy wood. The water around them became a dark red as the guts washed from their clothing. With their camouflage gone, escaping would be a little trickier.

The gap above the door was barely large enough for Clementine to squeeze through, and with walkers on the way, the time-crunch made it even more difficult. Mitch held off any of the dead that got too close as Louis boosted her up. It took some maneuvering, but she managed to twist her way in, slamming the lever to open the door.

“Let’s blow these sons o’ bitches to hell.” Mitch examined the bomb in his hands, which he somehow managed to keep dry while wading through the water.

Clementine nodded, ducking and diving through the halls of Delta, a soldier prowled around, trying to get an angle on the advancing walkers.

We’re so close.

She dove for cover once more as a raider rounded the corner, but not quickly enough.

“Who’s there?” The deep voice of the large man echoed through the metal hall. He let out a low growl before beginning to creep forward.

“Give me a damn city name.”

“Rockingham.” Clementine blurted out, hoping he wouldn’t recognize her voice.

“Well hurry up and get the fuck out there before we lose the whole ship to these things!” The man hurried down another passageway as Clem, Louis, and Mitch finally reached the boiler room.

“There ya go, Mitch’s Masterpiece.” Mitch grinned mischievously as he placed the explosive in the bottom door of the boiler.

Oh God, he named it?

Clem didn’t have time to question it before they booked it through the final stretch of their journey. Clementine was correct in the cellblock only containing one guard, but of course, that guard had to be…

“Minerva.” Clementine called to her.

Minnie immediately drew her crossbow, her brows crossed in a scowl. Clem and the others returned the favour by drawing their weapons as well.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” The redhead stared in shock at the three that stood before her, focusing her anger mainly on the girl.

“If you got my little brother mixed up in this I swear to God I will gut you before the commander gets the chance.”

Jesus.

“Tenn’s fine.” Clementine told her, still being cautious in case Minerva had an itchy trigger finger.

“He wanted me to tell you that he forgives you.”

Clementine lowered her bow as a gesture of good faith and saw Minerva’s stance become more hesitant.

“Come with us, Minnie. Tenn wants to see his big sister again. It isn’t too late.” Clem begged.

“We don’t belong to the Delta. We have a home, and it isn’t with them.”

They stared each other down for a moment before Minerva slowly lowered her weapon.

“Fine. I’ll help you get the others out. Then we go.”

The four of them searched for the cells that contained their friends.

“Clementine?” Aasim exclaimed in surprise.

Omar let out a groan as he stood from within the same cell as Aasim, limping on one leg.

“Are you okay?” Mitch questioned the injured boy.

“I’m alright, burns like hell though.” Omar said as he leaned an arm on Aasim for balance.

“Clementine, help me with Vi and Brody while they get those guys out.” Minerva lifted the latch at the bottom of the door, allowing it to swing open.

Clementine cautiously stepped inside, finding the two girls huddled away from each other against the far wall. She didn’t even get a chance to get a word out before the butt of Minnie’s crossbow connected with the back of her neck, sending her crashing to the floor. Her ears rang as her vision blurred, barely being able to process the sounds of three people yelling before her vision fully faded to black.

---

The sound of broken, muffled sobs brought Clementine back to reality. As the blurred vision finally subsided, she was able to focus on the source of the sound.

The shaking form of Brody sat in the corner with her knees pulled tightly to her chest and her face buried as if the poor girl was trying to make herself so small that she could disappear from this awful place.

"Brody?" Clem called softly, eliciting no response.

"She's been like that since we woke up here." Violet's voice came flatly from where she sat slouched against the wall, focusing on her hand that was picking at the rips in her jeans.

"Seeing Minnie again only made it worse."

"Are you alright?" She tried to get her best friend to look at her, and when she finally did, Clementine's blood ran cold at the sight of the ice in her gaze.

"...Vi?"

"I didn't believe her, y'know. When she started spouting all that shit about you being one of them, and all that shit about the kid… I thought she was just trying to fuck with our heads." She spoke in a frustrated growl.

"But then I knew. I got grabbed. We locked eyes, and you looked away."

Clementine didn't know how to respond. She chose to save Louis instead of Violet. She knew this would happen. She had no excuse.

"I'm sorry, Violet." Clementine practically pleaded.

"I didn't want any of this."

"You didn't want it to happen, but you knew it would." The blonde spit back.

"And you lied about it."

"I'm going to make this right." She swore.

"We came to bring everyone home, and that's what we're going to do."

"Then we're all going to die like Marlon did." Violet's face softened, the ice in her eyes melted leaving them empty with hopelessness.

Clementine turned to locate her other friends, to find someone else already waiting by the door.

“You’ve really flown off the fucking rails, haven’t you?” Minerva scowled at her through the bars.

“You put everyone on this fucking ship in danger. My brother in danger. On some pointless rescue attempt. Fucking traitor.”

How could she have the audacity to call Clementine a traitor? She was the one actively working against her friends for the people who kidnapped her away from them.

“This is bullshit, Minnie.” Louis challenged her from the cell across the hall.

“How the fuck could you go along with this after what they did to you and Sophie?”

“Minerva, please.” Clementine gripped the metal bars tightly.

“This is our chance to all go home, don’t you see that?”

“You’re on real thin fucking ice, Clementine.” She growled, their faces only inches apart with the bars of the cell between them.

“Just sit down and shut up, or that kid of yours will get a bullet to the head right in front of you before we even leave this dock.”

What the fuck does she mean?

“Is she awake?” That sickening voice asked from somewhere Clem couldn’t see.

“Yes, ma’am.” Minerva answered obediently before stepping back, allowing her commander to step into view.

“I see you’ve decided to return home after all.” Lilly sang.

“Fuck you.”

“It’s nice to see you too.” The woman smiled as she pulled her pistol from the holster on her hip.

“Back up.”

Clementine obeyed, slowly stepping backwards as Minerva opened the latch to let her into the cell. She was basically trapped in the corner with Minerva’s crossbow pointed right between her eyes. Lilly took a seat on the cot along the wall, the metal frame creaking under the sudden weight.

Clem looked at her two friends also trapped with her. Brody’s laboured breathing only worsened with the threat now only a few feet away. Violet actually scooched closer to the terrified girl, putting her arm around her in an attempt to quiet her down.

“I’m not the only visitor you have today.” The smile never faded from her lips. Lilly nodded to Minerva, giving her some kind of signal.

What fucking game is this?

Clementine felt her heart jump into her throat as Minnie stepped to the side, allowing her little boy to squeeze past. Clem’s shocked expression was met by AJ’s unsure gaze.

“AJ?” Clementine cried out as she stepped towards him, only to be blocked by Minerva’s threatening weapon.

He looked nearly the same as the last time she saw him, the only difference she could tell was that his hair had been cut shorter, not sticking out under the blue baseball cap as much as it had been before.

AJ said nothing as he turned his head towards Lilly, who patted the spot beside her on the cot. The child took quick steps to meet at the instructed spot, sitting on the far side of Lilly from where Clementine stood.

He was right there. Right there. So close, yet still that evil bitch stood between them.

“AJ here has barely said a word the last few days. He’s been terribly upset after he heard about you abandoning him for a brand new family.” Lilly imitated a pouty tone as she taunted the girl.

“Don’t you fucking DARE twist his head like that!” Clementine began to burn with rage.

“AJ isn’t stupid. He knows better than to believe you.”

“AJ isn’t stupid and that's why he’s still alive. He knows better than to disobey orders. He knows better than to go against the people who cared for him.” Lilly wrapped her arm around AJ’s shoulder.

“He’ll make a better soldier than you ever were, considering you ended up being such a disappointing failure.”

“Get your fucking hand off of him.” Clementine growled with a voice full of venom.

“Clem…” AJ finally spoke, an uneasy look across his face as he froze against the woman’s touch.

“Shush, AJ. She doesn’t deserve your attention.” Lilly cooed.

I’m going to fucking kill her.

“And that’s exactly the kind of insubordination we can’t tolerate.” The woman looked back over at Minerva.

“Minnie here is a shining example of everything you were supposed to be. Of course, she and her sister got off to a rocky start when they first joined our ranks, but look where she is now.”

Minerva’s eyes appeared to be empty of her own free will. She stood as if her limbs were tied with strings, moving only when the puppeteer saw fit.

“Let me tell you a story, I call it: The Parable of the Twins.” As Lilly spoke, Clementine saw the icy blue spheres of Minnie’s eyes fill with fear.

“Two girls were taken from their home, and brought to a new place to live. They had to leave their friends and family behind and that was hard at first. They shed a lot of tears.

But the new place was a good place. The people grew corn and raised pigs, and the girls ate well for the first time in years. They had hot showers. Clean clothes. Beds. They were given guns and trained to use them.

The people there were kind to these girls. All that was asked for in return, was that they help defend the group. You see, this place had a lot of enemies, killers and thieves, people who wanted what they had. They needed help fighting, or they’d lose everything they’d built. Their crops, their power, even their lives.”

“I wonder if that’s how the twins would tell it.” Clementine interrupted. Stealing a couple of kids away from their home? Nothing could justify it.

“One of the twins would.” Lilly smirked.

“One of the girls saw this was a place worth fighting for, and her tears dried.

But the other twin… she could never forget her old home. She rejected every gift. Every opportunity. Stirred up trouble every chance she got.

She convinced her sister to help her steal a raft and leave on the river. Of course, they didn’t get far.”

Clementine’s stomach twisted as the story continued.

“What happened then, Minerva?”

There was a moment of hesitation before the tall girl’s eyes drained of fear, refilling with malice.

“I killed her.” Minerva’s words although quiet, set off an explosive response to those listening.

Confused cries of disbelief came from the teens in all three cells.

“What the fuck?”

“Holy shit.”

“Is that true?”

“You killed your own sister? Why would you do that?” Lilly locked eyes with Clem, sending the girl a sinister stare. This was a demonstration of power. Lilly proving her dominance over the others.

“She was twisting my head with her lies.”

“And?”

“I made a mistake. I needed to show my loyalty to the place I called home.” Minerva spoke with scary certainty as if she fully believed in the things she was saying.

“You fucking brainwashed her!” Louis yelled, slamming his fist against the cell door.

“You sick fucks!”

“Pull the mouthy one out of the cell.” Lilly called to Dorian before turning back to Clem.

“He clearly didn’t get the moral of the story.”

Clem looked over Minnie’s shoulder, seeing the fear in his eyes as Dorian approached his cell.

“Don’t you fucking hurt him!” She growled, trying to step forward but once again stopped by Minerva and her crossbow.

“Lilly, I’m the one who screwed you over. Do whatever you want to me, but don’t hurt any of them.”

Especially not him.

“You misunderstand.” She sang.

“This isn’t a negotiation.”

The door to the adjacent cell swung open as Dorian stepped inside. Mitch quickly stepped between them giving the taller woman a threatening glare.

“Don’t.” Mitch spit.

“Ey yo, you better get out of the way or you gonna get yourself hurt.” Dorian shoved the boy out of the way, grabbing Louis by the collar of his shirt, cleaver in hand.

Mitch jumped at her, pinning her against the wall as Louis fell back into the cell. Dorian swiped her cleaver at her attacker, slicing deep across Mitch’s cheekbone. Blood began to run down his face as Dorian threw him back into the cell, slamming the door. Mitch grimaced in pain as he pressed his hand to his face, attempting to stop the blood flow.

“Enough of this shit.” Lilly stood, tugging on AJ’s arm as she pulled him away from the cell.

“Dorian, start the boiler. I want us out of here.”

Minerva slammed the door behind them as Lilly and AJ disappeared down the hall.

This ship is going to blow. We need to get the fuck out.

Clementine tugged on the cheap steel, enough force, and maybe she could break the hinges.

“Get the fuck back!” Minerva barked, her voice almost on the verge of tears.

“This is all your fucking fault!”

“Her fault?” Louis yelled back.

“You killed Sophie? What the fuck?”

With Minerva’s back turned, Clementine tried to force the door again. A pair of hands dug into her shoulders, ripping her backwards and pinning her to the wall.

“What are you doing?” The blonde fought.

“You’re gonna get us all killed!”

Violet tried to keep Clementine down, but her thin frame was no match for Clem’s muscle. She tried not to be too rough as she released herself from Violet’s grasp, pressing her forearm to her friend’s throat as Clem pinned Vi against the wall.

“What the fuck are you doing?” The choking sounds caught Minnie’s attention as she unlocked the door to break up the fight.

Wrong move.

Clementine launched herself at the door, effectively knocking the crossbow from the redhead’s hands. Clem landed a knee to the other girl's stomach as she knocked her backwards. She reached out and undid the lock to Louis and Mitch’s cell before Minnie could recover= but, of course, Minerva had gone through the same training she had.

Minerva landed a swift kick to the side of Clementine’s knee, knocking her leg out from under her. She sat on top of the smaller girl, brandishing a large hunting knife and using all of her weight to try to push it into Clem’s chest.

They grappled with each other, Minerva having the size advantage. The tip of the knife dug into Clem’s collar bone, the beginning of her losing this battle.

Mitch grabbed Minerva by the hood of her jacket, pulling her off of Clem and slamming her head against the wall. Unconscious, but alive.

“You guys get the others out of here. I’m going after AJ.” Clem ignored the drops of blood rolling down her chest as she grabbed Minerva’s knife.

“I’m going with you.” Louis insisted, squeezing her hand.

“I promised I’d help you save him, after all.”

---

Louis and Clementine crept across the top deck of the boat, following that evil woman’s voice as she fed the boy all kinds of lies about Clementine.

“I’ve known Clem since this all started. She had a weak man teach her all of the wrong lessons, the same lessons that would have gotten you killed.”

“Commander! We found these two in the herd.” A girl with close-cut blonde hair revealed two more prisoners.

Shit.

“Tennessee.” Lilly sang.

“My my how your big sister has missed you.”

Her gaze moved from the young boy to the older one. She ripped James’ mask off his face just as he began to regain consciousness.

“No wonder there were so many walkers.” Lilly tossed the mask aside in disgust.

“Tell me there aren’t more of you?”

“You don’t fucking scare me.” James hissed at the woman.

“They’ve got James and Tenn,” Clementine whispered.

“Shit.” He swore.

“What are we gonna do?”

“The thing about people like him, AJ, is that they’re too broken to fit into a community. They won't fight for anyone but themselves.” Lilly spit on James.

“Kill it.” Lilly ordered.

Oh fuck, James!

Just as the blonde woman pointed her rifle at James, Tennessee grabbed the gun off her belt, aiming it wildly between the two soldiers.

“Stop hurting people!” The boy begged.

“Just give me my friends back, o-or else…”

Lilly stared at the boy, seeing what was obvious to everyone. She bent over, pressing her forehead to the end of the barrel.

“Do it, then.” She called his bluff.

“Save your friends. That’s what you came to do, right?”

Tennessee’s hands shook like mad. What little bit of confidence he had faded as the tears started to drip down his cheeks.

“Oh I see, you came here to cry.” Lilly easily snatched the gun from Tenn, turning it on him.

“You’re not a soldier either.”

Louis and Clem took that moment to spring into action. Louis grappled for the blonde’s rifle as James put her in a chokehold.

Clementine tackled Lilly to the ground. The short girl was easily thrown off, however, her knife skittering across the deck and the gun flying from the woman’s hand.

Clem crawled for the gun. Not fast enough as Lilly grabbed a fistful of her hair and painfully yanked the girl back. Lilly pinned her to the ground, an ugly scowl on her face as her fingers tightened around Clementine’s throat.

Louis wrapped his arm around the woman’s neck, putting her in a headlock and pulling her off of Clem, leaving the girl gasping for her breath. Lilly was still much bigger and stronger than any of them, slamming her elbow into Louis’ jaw and knocking him to the ground.

Just before Lilly could pounce on Clem again, AJ buried Minnie’s knife deep into Lilly’s thigh, brandishing a revolver of his own as she screamed in pain.

“AJ wait!” Lilly cried, looking for mercy in the young boy’s eyes.

“Clementine can’t take care of you like we can. The Delta is your home now. She's trying to steal you away from it.”

“We had a home! You stole us! Just like you stole the twins and made one kill the other.” Clem’s little boy shakily pointed the revolver at the bleeding woman, the ball cap dipping low, almost obscuring his eyes.

“You’re not gonna make me kill Clem!”

“AJ!” James approached slowly.

“She’s been beat, put the gun down.”

“You didn’t see what she did!” The boy argued.

“She took me away and made Clem do a bunch of awful stuff to get me back!”

Clementine couldn’t let this happen. Let AJ take a life? At such a young age? It was something she never wanted him to have to do at all.

I can’t let him kill her.

Clementine stopped thinking, and let her rage take over.

An animal-like screech left Clementine’s body as she threw herself at Lilly. She ripped the bloody knife from the woman’s leg, Lilly screaming in agony, the woman turned to attack the girl, but was unable to dodge her next attack.

Clementine swiped the knife at Lilly’s face, cutting right through the woman’s right eye. Lilly screamed again as she fell onto her back clutching her face, blood gushing from the now empty socket.

It wasn’t enough. The pain wasn’t enough. She needed to feel more. Clementine raised the knife again and again, puncturing the woman’s torso over and over long after she stopped moving. Lilly didn’t deserve to die so soon. She deserved to feel it all. Every stab and slash. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks but she couldn’t stop. The face of every person who died because of this woman’s desires flashed through her mind. Every stab was another soul avenged. Before long Lilly’s chest became nothing more than a lump of blood, mangled flesh, and protruding bones.

Rot in hell you fucking bitch.

Yet still, it didn’t feel like enough. All the torture she an AJ had gone through, nothing could take that back. Clementine raised her knife again, aiming for where her heart would be if this monster of a human being even had one. A firm hand clasped around her wrist. She looked up through her tear-blurred vision to see James staring down at her in horror.

“It’s over, Clementine.” James pulled the bloody knife from her hand, which she didn’t resist.

Louis helped her up, holding her close even though her clothes were soaked with blood.

“It’s over now.” He whispered in her ear as he stroked her hair.

Clementine couldn’t focus on him, instead taking in what she had just done. Lilly now looked as if she had been attacked by a walker. It did not look like the work of a human being.

I’m still the animal she trained me to be.

AJ had never moved through the whole ordeal. The small boy stood soundly with both hands gripping his gun. He hardly flinched at the horrid sight before him.

“She was a monster, wasn’t she?” He asked, his eyes going from Clem to the mangled corpse.

“Yeah, and I stopped her.” Clem was finally free, but couldn’t find the will to smile.

“She’s not going to hurt us anymore.”

She wanted to hug her boy, to pull him close and make him believe she’d never leave him again, but she couldn’t. Not like this, covered in Lilly’s blood.

“We’re gonna go home now, okay Goofball?” Her voice broke as fresh tears cut through the blood that stained her face.

The clatter of the knife hitting the deck made her jump slightly. Clem turned to see James staring intently at the body in front of him.

“You… you ripped her apart.” James gasped in disbelief at what he had just witnessed.

“It was like watching a wild animal!”

“I had a history with her. You don’t know what she’s done to us.” Clementine wouldn’t let him make her think this killing was anything but just.

“She deserved it.”

“Nothing could justify such a slaughter.” He hissed.

A loud boom shook the entire deck, nearly knocking them all to the floor. Black smoke rose from the smokestack as Clementine realized that their borrowed time had run short.

“Oh shit, the bomb!” Clementine tackled AJ to the floor just as the shockwave of the explosion knocked her against the metal wall.

[beingatoaster]

A long time ago @memetrash-coyote brought up Bryn dueling someone for Yelkha’s honor, and doing it shirtless to prove she wasn’t up to any tricks. I wrote about 500 words of this piece then, and sat on it for like six months; lately, though, I’ve thrown some more words at it, and now it is more or less Done. :D

One of the guards had enough magic to drop some kind of paralysis spell on her and the innkeeper both. Then they were hauled off to the local jail to cool off, and let it wear off, before the guard captain showed up an hour later. He listened to both their indignant protests  with an unchanging expression of patient irritation, rubbing his thumb absently against the icon of some stern-faced human god or other that was attached to his official tabard.

"What I am getting from this," he said at last, gesturing them both to silence, "is that you, ma'am, committed, and in fact admitted to, assault, and you, Jenkins, incited it, and admit as much as well."

"He called us bloodthirsty savages, and he said 'I've got children' like we would ever hurt a child, and-"

"She punched me in the face!" the innkeeper broke in, pointing furiously to his black eye. Not that he hadn't left a couple bruises on Yelkha himself--he was a big man, and a sturdy one--but she wasn't going to act like his clumsy blows counted as real injuries, whether he milked his own deserved bruise or not. "Which just goes to prove what I said, they're-"

"They're what, Jenkins? Savages, right? Just because they're half-orcs? Remind me, please, whether you recall what my father was?" The guard captain pinched the bridge of his nose. As soon as the innkeeper subsided, ducking his head guiltily and muttering something apologetic, he turned to point at Yelkha. "And would you care to explain, ma'am, why you thought punching a man who'd just called you bloodthirsty was supposed to refute that accusation?"

Yelkha decided not to ask what 'refute' meant; she figured she could guess from context. She couldn't keep from answering anyway, though, clenching her hands around the edge of the cellblock bench to try and tamp down her anger. "Maybe I've got some temper, but he said it about both of us, and Bryn-"

"Ah, yes," the guard captain interrupted again. "The troubadour who was with you. I've spoken to her already. Extensively."

Some of the tight anger went out of Yelkha's jaw and shoulders, and she sat up eagerly. "She's here? I know she backed me up. Wait, she's not in trouble, is she? She didn't do anything, she was still outside with Gurgiu."

"No, she's not in trouble," the guard captain said. "But she had... some thoughts on the matter, legally speaking. It seems that while she's not familiar with our town's laws, she has had an education on the duchy's older legal codes. Which are still in force, and which can still be invoked, though the Duchess prefers we use the modern codes."

"That don't mean she gets to get away with blacking my eye," the innkeeper said, sitting up in alarm. "There's no law that covers that."

"No," the guard captain said, and pinched the bridge of his nose again, looking pained. "But there is an old law about incitement to duel. It's the basis of our law about inciting assault, and it legally justifies the declaration of a challenge. Now, this woman did not issue a formal challenge, so it was still an assault. One mitigated by your incitement, so I had intended to commute the sentence to a week or so of public service, but as she herself just pointed out, you didn't direct the comments only to her."

The innkeeper scowled. "Wait, the one with the fancy coat and all the flowers in her hair? She wants to duel me?"

Yelkha had to grip the edge of the bench. "Bryn is a better fighter than everyone in this town put together."

"So she's dangerous enough to refuse a room to, but not dangerous enough to fear dueling," the guard captain said wryly.

"Well, dueling's got rules," the innkeeper said, and there was a shrewd look on his face. "Person who's challenged gets to choose the weapons, right? And I was in the wars. I know how to use a sword. Big brutes like their kind go for heavier weapons--no offense meant, Captain."

The guard-captain pressed his hand over his holy icon, flat-faced, then nodded. "Very well. The crux of it is, since you've accepted the duel, Jenkins, if you win, your accusations are considered substantiated, the assault will not be considered incited, which means fifty lashes and ejection from town for you, ma'am, and the challenger will formally apologize. If she wins, your accusations are considered unsubstantiated, the assault is considered justified, and you will formally apologize to them."

"Wait, I didn't say I accepted the duel!" the innkeeper protested, while Yelkha was still working her way through the tangle of fancy, unfamiliar Common. "When'd I accept?"

"You chose your weapons, Jenkins," the captain said, his face still impassive. "I believe that constitutes acceptance. The duel will be tomorrow, at dawn, with myself as Tyr's paladin officiating. Both of you will remain in your cells until then, and a room and a guard will be provided here for the challenger so that I may be certain nothing underhanded takes place overnight. The healer will be in later to be sure that you're in fighting shape. Rest well, Jenkins, ma'am."

He nodded to both of them, then turned and strode out, ignoring the innkeeper's blustering protests. Yelkha waited until he was outside the door, and the guard was looking away to call something after him, before she punched the air. Fuck, Bryn was clever.

***

The next morning the guards arrived early with breakfast and ushered the innkeeper out of his cell soon after, waving off Yelkha's questions as they vanished him out the door. Before she could stew too long in her own agitation, though, a couple of them returned--with company. Yelkha leapt to her feet as Bryn came through the doorway.

She was nearly vibrating with eagerness while they unlocked the cell, and rushed out so fast she nearly knocked a guard over in her haste. Bryn only got half of a word out before Yelkha pulled her in for a kiss, holding her tight against her own body and drinking in the scent and taste and feel of her after a lonely and uncomfortable night apart. When she finally pulled back, Bryn's cheeks were flushed, and a couple of red flowers had sprouted in her hair.

"You're the smartest person I know," Yelkha told her, resting her forehead against Bryn's and grinning toothily at her.

Bryn laughed. "That's sweet of you, lovely. I knew a story Ma told me about this part of the country, and it turned out the important parts were true. Are you all right? They didn't give you trouble in here overnight, did they?"

"No trouble at all," Yelkha assured her. "I wanted to punch that weasel-eyed elf-son all night, but I figured I'd just wait and let you do it for me, hey?"

"And you get to watch," Bryn said, smiling back at her. "They tried to tell me that you had to stay here until we saw how it went, but then they told me I get to have a second, and the second has to be there, and there was nothing that said that my second couldn't be you."

"So smart," Yelkha said, swooping in to kiss her cheek.

One of the guards cleared her throat loudly, and Bryn, to Yelkha's disappointment, took a step back. "I think it's time for us to go, lovely. We can continue that after the fight."

The grin she flashed over her shoulder was warm and fierce enough that Yelkha couldn't regret the loss of her warmth too badly. Not when she was going to get to see Bryn take that asshole of an innkeeper out.

***

It seemed like the whole town had gathered for the duel, men and women and children crowding the square. Bryn, performer that she was, didn't seem bothered, either by the hushed whispers among them or the ring of curious, half-hostile stares. The crowd had left an open ring at their center, and she stood at the opposite edge from her opponent while the guard captain laid out terms.

He meant to judge this as neutrally as possible, from what as Yelkha could tell. Well, she had guessed he was something of a fair man. Yelkha stood as patient and quiet as she could, clenching her fists and setting her jaw against the anger still boiling through her blood at the sight of the innkeeper's sneering face. She wanted more than anything to lash out--at the man across the ring, at the guards standing nervously around her, at this peering judgemental crowd--but she couldn't do that, not and upset all of Bryn's efforts for her.

They seemed to have come to an agreement. Bryn was showing her sword to the guard captain, now; he looked it over, nodded approval, and walked across the open ring to inspect the innkeeper's weapon. Bryn waited for him to return to the center, sheathing her sword at his command, and he raised his hand high. The crowd hushed.

Before he could bring his hand down, Bryn spoke. "One more thing," she said, her voice ringing clear in the expectant silence. "To make sure you can't accuse me of having any tricks up my sleeve if I win...."

She shrugged her shoulders, and her long coat slid off, falling in a pile of leather and fur to the ground behind her. One of the guards started forward to pick it up, and Yelkha stepped in front of her, scooping up the coat herself before the human could do it.

"...I'll be fighting without sleeves," Bryn finished, and Yelkha could hear the grin in her voice.

Another murmur ran through the crowd, and the guard captain needed a moment to stop staring, but then he forced the blank expression back onto his face and nodded. "In the interest of fairness, I will ask your opponent-"

"No need. I'm not worried about him," Bryn said. She squared her shoulders, muscles moving under the tattooed skin. Yelkha couldn't help but let her gaze run over the smooth curve of them, admiring the sweep of her shoulder blades, the way they stood out a bit more when she straightened her neck.

"Very well," the guard captain said, and brought his hand down.

Even when she was fighting with sword and shield, rather than magic and claw, Bryn moved with the grace of the elements, with the assurance of someone deeply connected with the earth. She lunged towards her opponent with the smooth swiftness of a hunting predator, like a flame just-lit running down the length of a wick. In comparison, the innkeeper was a slow, ungainly, lumbering thing, both too rough and too timid, lashing out from an over-confident stance and then stumbling back as soon as he faced resistance.

Not that Yelkha hadn't already known that about him. But she took an unpleasant satisfaction at seeing the comparison and knowing that all his peers watching would know it now, too.

There were still a handful of flowers left in Bryn's hair from the kiss she and Yelkha had shared, though Yelkha only realized now that there had been no others--Bryn must have been more anxious than she seemed, spending the night alone. A couple shook free as they exchanged blows, Bryn's sword ringing against his as he went on the defensive and tried to parry her attacks. But there were more sprouting, small golden flowers like yellow flames spreading through the black of her hair and falling around them as she pressed the attack.

The terms of the duel were to first blood, and Yelkha knew, as impressed as she'd been by Bryn's bold move, that it made Bryn more vulnerable than the innkeeper. He must have known it too, because he suddenly switched from the swinging blows he'd been trying before to quick, sharp stabs, less easily parried. Trying to poke a hole in her skin, Yelkha thought, anger surging until she could hear her teeth grind; trying to just draw blood first, without any skill or finesse or honor to the attack. Yelkha didn't put much stock in honor as humans defined it, but she knew that it was part of the whole concept of a duel.

Bryn stepped aside from the jabs instead of trying to deflect them. One step, two steps, three, moving steadily left, giving the impression that she was on the defensive herself, being driven by his assault. Then a forth stab, a fourth step, and she turned and kept turning, swinging as she went, catching his arm with her blade and yanking it down in a strike a bit more savage than Yelkha knew had really been necessary.

Crimson bloomed down the length of the innkeeper's sleeve, soaking the fabric. With a howl, he dropped his sword, doubling over and clutching his arm. "You cut it off!"

"First blood!" the guard captain shouted, stepping into the ring. He planted his foot on the innkeeper's fallen sword and held his hand out for Bryn's; she handed it over immediately, stepping back. "First blood to the challenger!"

The innkeeper was still howling, but a healer with the same holy icon as the guard captain had already rushed into the ring, kneeling beside him to lay on hands. A wave of chatter washed through the crowd, ending the anxious hush; Yelkha could still feel some hostility in the stares, but the tension had broken, not risen. She pushed forward into the ring as it broke up, rushing to Bryn, ignoring the pair of guards still dogging her heels.

"You sure showed him, hey?" Yelkha said, reaching out with a grin to grab Bryn's shoulder.

She'd meant to say more, but looking at the fierce delight on Bryn's face, the growing color haloing her head, she pulled Bryn in for another kiss instead. Heat and hunger flooded through her at the press of Bryn's lips, at the feel of her breasts against Yelkha's own with only the rough linen fabric of Yelkha's shirt between them. Bryn kissed back with all the sharp ferocity she always had after a victory, with a forceful edge that she only took on with her adrenaline pumping. Yelkha leaned into it, letting Bryn reel her closer, her other hand coming around to the small of Bryn's back as her long coat slid forgotten to pile at their feet.

The guard captain coughed, awkwardly, for what Yelkha thought might have been the third time, and she made herself pull back just a little. "That settled it, right?" she asked him. "He was an asshole, and we didn't have to take it from him."

"Legally, yes," the guard captain said. He had turned his face away from them, but she could see enough of his face to tell his cheeks had gone pink. "You are considered justified. Morally.... My apologies to you both, but I wouldn't advise you to stay in town through the evening. If for no other reason, Jenkins does own the only inn, and it's still within his rights as a businessman to refuse you a room."

"We wouldn't stay here if you paid us," Bryn said. "All our things are still packed, and we're leaving. Right, lovely?"

It sat poorly with Yelkha to give in so easily, whatever the guard captain said. They'd won the duel, hadn't they? But if Bryn wanted to leave, Yelkha would go along with it. And they'd been planning to trade Bryn's playing for an inn room anyway; these people would be a shitty audience, and they didn't deserve the privilege.

"There's plenty of better places to spend the night," she agreed.

"That's for the best," the guard captain said, sounding relieved. He still wasn't looking at them. "Though, ma'am, if you would please dress yourself before you depart, I would be very grateful. I believe we do have some laws on the books about public decency."

"Public what?" Yelkha asked, confused.

"Wearing clothes," he said, his voice growing more strained. "Women are expected to cover themselves up, for the sake of the town's morals."

Yelkha groaned in disgust, but she bent down to pick up Bryn's jacket, shaking it out carefully before she handed it back to her. "Lowlanders! You all wear too much for your weather, and it's boiled your brains out."

Bryn laughed as she took the jacket. "I should probably put a shirt on, if we're going to be riding the rest of the day."

"Or you could just put that back on until we get out of town," Yelkha said, the heat still pounding in her blood flaring at the sight of it draped over her bare shoulders like a cloak, her whole front still showing, breasts faintly shiny with sweat. "And once we're far enough not to be bothered, you take it back off again, hey?"

"It does make a good blanket," Bryn answered, eyes glinting, and pulled it the rest of the way on. "Let's go, lovely."

Yelkha had to fight the urge to kiss her again right then and there. They had to find Gurgiu first, or else she'd get too distracted, when she really didn't want to linger here. But she didn't think Gurgiu would mind following the road on his own, once they got out of town. Even if Bryn kept her jacket on until they found a sheltered spot, Yelkha had every intention of getting her hands under it as soon as she could.