#he needs to warm them uuuuup

[irukasenseii]

He is childishly delighted by the reaction he'd gotten.

[ericsprincess]

baby we don’t need words

nc-17, Kevin Moon/reader, first date, cunnilingus, a tiny bit of dubcon

~~~

Your date talks way too much. 

~~~

A/N: My love and hate letter to Kevin. 

~~~

Shut up. Shut uuuuup. Shut the fuck uuuuuuuuup.

You take a sip from your glass of red wine and inconspicuously check your watch. Sigh. You are only 24 minutes into this date and you already want to bail. You’re this close to dramatically stabbing yourself with a fork, anything that would get you out of this situation. 

It’s not even a bad date per se. Technically, it’s probably the most “perfect” date you’ve ever been on. This guy - Kevin, as he introduced himself, when he asked for your number as you were waiting in the line at Starbucks - obviously put a lot of thought and effort into it. The restaurant is extra nice and fancy, but not an obvious dating spot. The table is perfectly placed with a view on the city. The candles are glimmering, making a beautiful atmosphere, together with the quiet music. Even the food he recommended to you is amazing, the wine he chose is even better. 

And Kevin himself looks stunning, in perfectly fitting black slacks and navy blue shirt, just tight enough to show off his body - tall, lean with the right amount of muscle and nice frame. His hair is done prettily, he smells expensive. Genuinely a stunning piece of man, that would make you straight up salivate, usually. Especially since he looks so sympathetic, he’s friendly and smiling and not at all threatening, like some men use to be when they hit on a woman. 

What’s worse, he made such a good first impression that you invested a lot of effort too. Getting asked out by a guy this hot is not a daily occurrence, not even for you. Your hair and nails are freshly done, your dress is new. Your underwear is matching. 

And it’s all for nothing, you think bitterly. 

Everything is perfect, save for the one fatal flaw - this guy just doesn’t shut up. And not only that. Whatever comes out of his mouth is cringe of the worst caliber and you’re about to break out in hives from it. 

He watches the cringiest shows and finds them funny.

He loves internet memes, but his taste is one of a 10 years old. You force out a laugh when he shows you some. Jesus Christ.

He loves music and plays instruments, but his obsessions with some singer is borderline unhealthy. No, you don’t want to go to the concert with him. 

He looooooves his job, but haaaaaaates his company. “But we are all just slaves of capitalism, aren’t we?”

His political views. Who even discusses politics on a first date? Time and place, dude. 

You try to participate in the conversation to your best abilities, but often you don’t even know how to react. You don’t want to be rude, so you try to find any interest and reply honestly and thoughtfully, despite it wearing your patience down, and it seems it’s working, judging by the bright smile he’s giving you. 

He obviously likes you more and more every minute. 

The worst is that despite all of it, you can clearly tell he’s a harmless, genuinely nice guy with a heart of gold. Someone who is a whole person, with interests, hobbies and opinions. Someone who loves his friends and family and has values he stands by. 

That all makes you feel even more shitty about the whole situation. You don’t want to hurt his feelings,

Plus, he’s really fucking hot. 

You look up at his face from your glass of wine and force a smile. You hope it doesn’t look too fake. Kevin leans forward and takes your hand in his. It’s dry and warm, and it feels really good. 

“What are you thinking about? You seem like you got lost in your thoughts for a minute,” he asks. He rubs your hand a little, and tilts his head in anticipation for your answer. Because, of course, he genuinely gives a fuck about what made you space out. 

He looks really beautiful in the candlelight. 

You down the rest of your wine and put the glass on the table. You decide in a split second. Ah, fuck it. 

“Yeah, I think I just felt something snap in my dress. Like, a zipper or something. I have to go to the bathroom to check it, will you go with me in case I need help? I’m not sure I can reach it,” you smile at him apologetically. 

“Sure, of course, no problem,” he agrees and gets up to follow you to the bathroom.

You open the door to the ladies room and check if it’s empty so that he can come there without hassle, then gesture to him to come inside. You find for you two an empty stall, push him in and lock the door. 

“Where exactly did you feel the zipper snap? Like, in the back? I can check it for you..” he rambles and you can’t take it anymore. You grab him by the shoulders and slam him against the stall wall. 

“There is nothing wrong with my zipper, and you better listen now. I’m at my fucking limit,” you lower your voice.  

“I had to listen to your stupid bullshit for half an hour already, which is 30 minutes too long,” you growl at him. “Do you ever stop and think about what’s coming out of your mouth? Like, think for a second and wonder, Maybe I should not say that?”

He opens his mouth to protest, but you immediately slap your hand over him to stop him. 

“No, no, no. No more talking from you, now you’re gonna listen, get it?” you ask. 

He nods, looking almost nervous, and swallows visibly. His eyes are almost bulging out. He’s definitely surprised and caught off-guard by the change of your demeanor. 

“Now, we are going to make a little deal and I will give you a choice. Either we end this date already and go home. Separately. And we will never speak again. Or, I can give you a second chance, but first you will reflect on whether every dumb thought you have needs to be said out loud and act accordingly,” you lay it down in front of him. You take your hand off his mouth, awaiting his answer. 

“The- the second, please,” he stutters out. He’s all red and embarrassed. 

However, what you can’t see, but definitely can feel, is a boner tenting his slacks. 

“Okay, but just know I’m giving you another chance only because you’re really cute and seem like a nice person,” you frown. “One more thing though. You have to apologize to me for wasting my time with your dumb rambles today.” 

“H-how?” 

“Very simple,” you grab the front of his shirt roughly and flip you both, so that you’re the one leaning on the wall. 

“On your knees,” you command and push on his shoulder, so that he kneels in front of you. 

And he does. He slowly, hesitantly falls on his knees on the ground, looking at your face, as if he weren’t sure if he heard you correctly.

You push up your tight dress and at that moment he snaps out of it and rushes to help you, taking off your panties for you. 

He doesn’t waste a second to kiss up your thighs, nuzzling into them and licking and sucking, leaving little marks on your skin. 

“You’re so beaut- ahhh!” you interrupt him by grabbing his hair. You pull him away from you and look into his eyes. 

“I said no talking,” you frown and push his head to your pussy. At least now he gets the hint and starts licking you, collecting all your wetness on his tongue and savoring your taste. 

You’ve already been so wound up from the adrenaline and also the fact that you’re in a public restroom, you know you’re not gonna last very long, so you close your eyes and enjoy how his tongue flicks quickly over your clit, getting you close at a rapid pace. After a little while, he must be getting tired, but he’s not stopping, only sometimes switching from using his tongue to sucking gently. It makes you feel so warm and everything is wet and you’re already almost there.

Clearly, he’s trying to earn that second date. 

You look down and for a moment just enjoy the sight of Kevin eating pussy eagerly, not saying a word. He looks so pretty like that with hair mussed up, cheeks red, barely breathing as his face is pressed closely to your body. You can see the hints of glimmering wetness on the lower part of his face, obscured by your body.

“See? You can be good for me, maybe you’re worth keeping…” you sigh and he moans in reply, but you let that one slide. Seeing the movement of hand sneaking down to touch his cock, although only over the pants, but clearly rubbing and squeezing with the purpose of getting himself off, you finally come, holding his head at your pussy so he doesn't even think of stopping or slowing down. 

Your orgasm has barely stopped ringing in your ears when you notice him gasping as he comes inside his pants, his face buried in your crotch still. His hips are barely humping the air as he’s rubbing his cock through his orgasm, finally slumping down when he’s finished. 

You smile brightly at him, as he kneels, spent and sweaty and ruined in front of you. There is a stain spreading in front of his dark slacks that will be only barely concealed by the restaurant’s low light.

You grab him by his shirt again and get him to stand, which he does, almost in haze, still not over his own orgasm. You pull him closer and kiss him deeply, so that you can taste yourself in his mouth. 

“So, about that second date….”

[sauljudgeman]

"Bad Boys" - A Robbery AU (Oneshot)

Trevor Belmont x Reader ❤���

Sypnosis: On the 5th anniversary of your relationship, Trevor's dumbass decides to ruin anything by stealing some valuables, kickstarting a journey you'd wish you'd end sooner than later.

(Hopefully, this doesn't suck lol)

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Chapter 1: Pilot

Thousands of pink candles stand in the middle of many round, circular tables, which are on the restaurant floor. Each one is dimly lit to create an atmosphere as warm as the sun's heat. Many of the tables are draped with white tablecloths that contrast the shiny black wood. At least 50 waiters stroll around the restaurant, some taking orders while others are delivering food and drinks. The chatter of over a hundred guests echo the walls of Steaua Miraculoasă, a prestigious dinner spot with a rich history that spans hundreds of years. But on this special night, there are two particular guests that need an introduction.

Tonight, you and Trevor Belmont gather together to have a romantic dinner date to celebrate a glorious five-year long relationship. You and Trevor had met under unique circumstances, when the two of them were still kids. At the time, you'd been walking around the park with your mother and father, a family moment that should've been a typical trip to a park. You'd spend at least an hour walking around and observing Mother Nature's striking green landscape, and then go back home. But after traveling for about 20 minutes on the pathway's sturdy gravel, you came to a halt, pointing out towards a random tree.

     “Mommy, daddy, look! There's a dead body right there!!”, you shout in fear.

     “Sweetie, what are you talking about?”, your mother questions, bewildered by the fact her daughter would claim such a thing. 

Your father is about to ask the same thing when suddenly, he looks under the tree to find a young Trevor Belmont, unconscious and dirty. While by no means was the little boy bruised, he clearly hadn't eaten or drank in days. Strands of hair scattered among the grass and the wooden surface, and the fatigued expression on Trevor's face were just a few of the signs of his recent habits. Brown dirt stains are found on his white wife beater and black sweatpants. And when you hurried off towards the unconscious Belmont boy's body to shake him awake (despite claiming that he was dead), you noticed that so much more is wrong with Trevor than you thought initially. All it took was a gentle touch to notice his cold body temperature and dry skin. Moving your hand up his arm to touch his mouth, you can feel his mouth, drier than the Sahara Desert and as sticky as fresh slime.

You sighed, exasperated by the situation, yet determined to help out a fellow child. Maybe if you successfully save Trevor’s life, he'll want to be your friend! And so…

You proceed to violently shake his body for 20 seconds straight, all the while you're shouting out loud:

   “WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UUUUUP, YOU DIRTY RAT! NO ONE LIKES TO SEE A DIRTY RAT OUTSIDE, DUMMY! SHOULDN'T YOU UNDERSTAND, BY NOW?!”

Needless to say, when young Trevor Belmont woke up to your insufferable screaming, he was…grumpy. Watching this whole scene play out, your parents just silently looked at one another, not knowing what to say.

Well, at least he wasn't dead.

Eventually, your parents carried him back into their white Chevrolet, and drove him back home. And after about 6 months, your mother and father were able to successfully adopt Trevor into the family. Despite Trevor's initial annoyance with how loud and boisterous you could be at times, over the years, he slowly began to fall for you. Deep down, your act of kindness had touched him, and he ultimately settled on the fact that maybe, just maybe, you might really be his other half, after all.

But back to the date. As you both treat yourselves to sizable portions of seasoned chicken, with a side of red beans and yellow rice, you have an adoring expression as you stare into your gruff lover's eyes, admiring each individual iris and each strand of stubble that's poking out like a man's erection on a steamy, sensual evening. Trevor, surprisingly, stares back with equal interest, lost in the beauty of your gorgeous locks, your soft pink lips as they crush a piece of meat, and the way your fingers gently drag across your thigh…which isn't your face.

As he continues to have his eyes linger on your thigh, he mutters, in an attempt to be flirty:

     “The juices on these drumsticks taste so sweet~”

You smirk in response, oblivious to his attempt at flirting, but in the mood to joke around. 

     “Maybe it's because you drowned the chicken with 10 bottles of fucking wine, you dumbfuck. Try to put all of that energy into not relapsing.”

Trevor falls silent. Offended by your remark, he  looks up from your meaty thigh, kindly places his fork down on his napkin, crosses his arms, and turns his head away from you and instead  focuses his eyes on one of the walls of Steaua Miraculoasă, which is decorated with a bunch of sparkly yellow stars. Each star happens to have a mirror to make the dining experience as luxurious and unconventional as possible. As Trevor looks into one of the mirrors, morose, he calmly states:

     “BLOODY HELL, (Y/N)! No need to be an ASSHOLE!”

You giggle softly in response, amused by Trevor's saltiness. After you and Trevor finish eating dinner, the same waiter that delivered your food returns to collect any missing payments. As you prepare to pay for your food, you take a quick glance at Trevor, and notice that he's stuffing something--or rather some things, into his pocket. You begin to question what else could he possibly be putting away, considering that the only thing  from home he brought with him was a golden leather wallet. But you shrugged it off. Perhaps Trevor's wallet just takes up that much space, and he was adjusting it to make sure that it fit comfortably and did not fall out of his pocket.

After the both of you paid for your meals, the waiter, a young white man with a blonde buzzcut and a blonde mustache, looks around the table and notices something strange. To start off, ALL of the silverware on the table is missing, including yours, and the pink candle that just a few minutes ago burned alight, has also gone missing. Confused, the waiter asks,

     “Excuse me, my lady and my good sir but…where's your silverware? And the candle?”

Your eyes light up with shock, caught off-guard by the waiter’s question. Wanting to see if he knows anything, you turn to Trevor with an expression that contains the same amount of confusion that the waiter has.

     “Uhm…do YOU know where they went, by any chance?”, you ask him with a hint of suspicion. Knowing that Trevor has a certain…history, you begin to worry that he did something fishy.

Trevor sighs, irritated by the sudden confrontation he faces.

     “Jesus Christ, love! The silverware and the candle got knocked into the floor, after I bumped into the table. Didn't you notice?”

You raise an eyebrow, not believing him whatsoever. Sure, you weren't paying attention to his every single move, but you're not an idiot either. You remember that prior to you giving the waiter your payment for your order, the pink candle AND the silverware had been on the table. And Trevor had never bumped into the table. So you're about to say something, when all of a sudden…

Your “genius” boyfriend gets the idea to pull out his antique whip from out of his shirt collar, break open a glass window that cost $50,000 to be built, and jump out of the window.

     “TREVOR, YOU GREEDY BASTARD! THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT OUR ANNIVERSARY! YOU COULD'VE AT LEAST ASKED FOR PERMISSION!”

You scream in horror, before quickly grabbing your bag and running off, shouting a goodbye at the appalled waiter as you do so.

The waiter in question slowly pulls out his Samsung phone, types “911”, and awkwardly utters the words:

     “Uhmm hello. Yes, officer. One of our customers just robbed us, and he…used a bull whip to make a shortcut out of the establishment…”

And so, ever since that fateful day on February 14th, 2024, you've known one thing about your husband, something that would turn your life upside down; the love of your life, Trevor Belmont, is a petty criminal. A very, VERY petty criminal.

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Thanks for reading! I'm honestly not that confident in my writing abilities on this one. I just hope that others will be able to enjoy it more! But honestly, for my first fanfic in years, the quality could've been so much worse.

Love you all, and have a nice day!

[zhousye]

Talk About Me @ jamie

a conversation between my muse and someone else about yours @dcrktides

status: accepting!

"so how's the 'finding a husband, wife or spouse' agenda going?"

it’s jesse who asks first. because of course it is. but interest lights up jennie’s eyes, like she’s been waiting for someone to bring it up. chances are, they’ve both been waiting for him to bring it up.

jamie scoffs.

“didn’t you say you were seeing someone?” jennie asks, unaffected. “what’s his name again...”

“kaan?”

“kaan! yes, that one.”

despite himself, jamie feels a smile tug at the corner of his lips. “yeah, we’re actually... still going on dates and stuff, i guess.”

now, now he has his siblings’ attention. they stare at him like he’s a movie screen and they’re eager for some entertainment, for a story to finally unfold and lift them from their boredom. “it’s nothing serious yet,” he rushes to correct the thoughts he knows are running through their minds. “we're... we're taking it slow, getting to know each other. he's busy too, so. but... i'm optimistic about it. i think..."

he doesn't wanna say he thinks kaan is the one. he doesn't believe in such things, in that implication that someone is made for you. but it's the words burning at the tip of his tongue. even if for solely poetic value. he's the one. but it's too soon. 

he’s still said too much, however. of course. of course he didn’t need to utter those words out loud for his siblings to hear them clear as day, judging by their matching smiles, the look they exchange. “i take it’s going well, then? and you’re happy?” jennie arches an eyebrow, and she still has that look on. 

deep down, jamie trusts his siblings have real trust and concern for his happiness and well-being. but he, too, can hear what they leave unsaid.

they wanna hear about him.

he rolls his eyes. and takes the bait. it is simply convenient, for, matter of fact, jamie wants to talk about him.

“it has... i am,” he doesn’t hold back the smile now; accepts the warm, giddy feeling in his chest. “he... ah, he’s so great,” and now the smile is showing teeth. “he’s so funny. and fun. he’s really playful, but sweet too. he’s... nice,” jamie concludes. such a polysemic word seems adequate. it’s the best one he can find. he’s never been a poet, a master with words. it’s a given that he’ll grossly understate just what a person kaan is, but he still tries. “it’s... comfortable with him. he’s easy to talk to. and he’s undertanding. even about... you know...,” the fact that jamie is a little behind on the ‘sex with men’ department, the fact he’s still learning. the fact he’s still unlearning so many biases and misconceptions and gut reactions he has rooted in him. but kaan doesn’t seem to mind when jamie asks what he could do better. he doesn’t seem to mind he isn’t perfect at it.

he truly doesn’t seem to mind that jamie isn’t perfect at everything. and this isn’t only about the sex. which is why it means the world.

he swallows all of that down. those thoughts seem to heavy to be spoken out loud.

“and he’s so hot,” he groans instead, slamming his hand over his forehead.then, matter of factly, "beautiful tits."

"oh, shut uuuuup,” he hears jennie protest, whining as if a prude. he cackles. but jesse agrees. “yeah, if you’re not gonna share, don’t mention it.”

it’s not funny anymore. jamie glares at him. “go after men your age, won’t you?”

jesse waves his head no like a brat. no surprise. 

jamie ignores him “anyway... it’s been nice. oh, he’s a yoga teacher. and a fashionista.” he turns to jennie, “i think you’ll get along well.” his voice is unusually soft. the idea warms his chest: introducing kaan to his family. what is that, again? 5th base or something? he would like that, he realised. and maybe, maybe, hopefully, he would have it. “and we seem to want the same things, or at least he seems willing, you know?” he remembers to mention. marriage, is what he means. a family. an actual relationship; not a fling, but something to nurture for years to come. to hold hands and grow old together, he thinks to himself, and has to take a moment to wonder when did he absorb all the chinese classic poetry, when did he become the person that recites it.

surely, it’s all dad’s fault. he himself is not becoming cheesy now.

“so we’re meeting him, right?” jesse interrupts his track of thought, sounding a little too eager.

“hey, what did i say? we’re... taking things slow. we really have to spend more time together, and... he can’t always stay the night, you know?” jamie isn’t bothered. he isn’t. he’s not in a rush. kaan will tell him what he wants to tell him about himself when he feels like telling him. it’s fine, jamie repeats over and over in his mind. they’re in this to respect each other and their time. “and we still have a lot to learn about each other. but... i hope so,” he concludes. lets the bittersweet feeling die down, lets his mind wander to a happier, more certain future. lets himself do just that. hope. “i really hope so.”

[broccoliboix5peepeeman]

I need more soft and playful tododeku in my life. Just... Lazy morning cuddles under warm blankets and no wanting to get up because of morning chill in the room. Sleepy smiles, gentle kisses and teasing each other. Having silly tickle fights and no energy left after laughing. More kisses and soft back rubs. Just... Calm lazy morning without hurry and worries

AM I ASKING FOR TOO MUCH?

HONESTLY, YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MUCH SOFT TODODEKU 😍💖

Gahhhhh, you're so right! Hope this helps!

Izuku wakes up to find his husband curled against his side, fingertips tracing shapes across his chest. When their eyes meet, Shoto smiles softly and moves to press a kiss to a freckled bicep.

'Morning.' He murmurs, moving to run his hand through Izuku's bedhead and eliciting a pleased hum in response.

'Mmm. Morning, love.' Izuku yawns, the sleep in his eyes blurring his vision. As a result, he doesn't see Shoto stick his finger in his mouth until it's too late.

He squawks, 'Sho'o!'

His husband lifts his head and laughs in response, the corner of his eyes crinkling and dimples forming on his flushed cheeks. He removes his finger and places his hand over his mouth to hide his smile, but Izuku quickly catches his wrist. He loves Shoto's laugh. To cover it up would be a crime.

It's beautiful... and contagious, and Izuku finds himself chuckling along with him.

'I'm sorry.' Shoto calms down and moves to nuzzle into Izuku's neck. 'Couldn't help myself.'

'You really need to stop. One day, you'll get your finger bitten off.' He warns playfully. 'I saw you pull that move on Shinsou-kun once. He was not impressed.'

'Not my fault he couldn't handle the neutron style.'

'Dead meme, you dork.'

Shoto smiles against his neck and Izuku's heart flutters. Without thinking, he wraps an arm around his husband and draws him in closer, caressing his back with calloused fingertips and basking in the warmth Shoto radiates.

Several minutes pass in comfortable silence, until Izuku notices the time and groans. 'I don't wanna get uuuuup!'

'Then don't. Let's stay here.' Shoto emphasises his point by kissing the sensitive spot at the crook of his neck and Izuku is almost swayed.

'But I promised to meet Tenya-kun before work.' He moans as he tilts his head to give his husband better access.

'You promised me you'd do whatever I want.'

'You are horribly misquoting my wedding vows, Midoriya Shoto.' Izuku pouts. His husband takes the opportunity to lift his head up and meet his lips for a slow kiss.

Izuku can't help but respond, moving a hand to cup a scarred cheek. Between each kiss, he murmurs against soft lips. 'I guess-' A kiss. 'I can stay-' Another kiss. 'A few more minutes.'

Shoto hums approvingly and shuffles so he's on top of Izuku, trapping him before crashing their lips together once more.

'I love you.' He whispers adoringly. However, Izuku uses that opportunity to attack.

He doesn't know why he does it - maybe revenge for the yawn - but he darts for his husband's exposed armpits and begins tickling him. The shriek Shoto lets out in response would be mortifying if it was anyone but Izuku listening. His husband quickly tries to scramble back but strong arms wrap around his waist and pull him back.

They roll around the bed for what feels like forever; Shoto pleading for him to stop as Izuku tickles his sides, cackling. Eventually, when the both of them are wheezing, completely exhausted, Izuku collapses on top of Shoto as the two of them catch their breath.

'I hate you.' Shoto pants, to which Izuku plants a kiss on his sweaty forehead and laughs breathlessly.

'I love you too.'

[escapewithbts]

Get to Know Me Tag (BTS Edition)!

I have seen this tag list a couple places now and I thought it would be fun to answer the questions :) Feel free to do it, too!

~

1. Who was your bias when you first started liking BTS? 2. Who is your current bias? 3. Which member is your bias wrecker? 4. What is your favorite Bangtan Bomb? 5. What is your favorite BTS song? 6. Which member appears in your dreams the most? 7. What’s your favorite BTS music video? 8.Whose solo song and/or mixtape do you like the most? 9. What is your favorite BTS choreography? 10. How long have you been an ARMY? 11. Which album’s tracklist is your favorite? 12. Which member would you choose to be your best friend? 13. Which member would you choose to be your husband? 14. Which member makes you laugh the most? 15. Which episode of Run BTS! is your favorite?

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1. Who was your bias when you first started liking BTS?

 - RM! He was the first member I noticed and I was instantly attracted to his looks and mannerisms.

2. Who is your current bias?

  - Min Yoongi :) It’s funny because in the beginning when I would rank them in order of who I liked the most SUGA would always be last. It wasn’t until I really watched a lot of their interviews and videos that I realized how he really is and how it just takes time to warm up to him (a common occurrence with most new ARMY haha our sweet tsundere Yoongs).

3. Which member is your bias wrecker?

- Jungkookie! He’s so special and his dorkiness really gets to me sometimes. I think we would be good friends!

4. What is your favorite Bangtan Bomb?

- I have watched the one where Jungkook and Jimin do the ‘Coming of Age Ceremony’ dance way more times than I’d like to admit. They both look so sexy but adorable at the same time (let’s be real though, that’s every member always (their duality, man))... also I love the bomb of their dance practice for Baepsae, (which coincidentally is on the same day as the first clip of the other bomb). They look like they’re having so much fun, that song hypes me uuuuup and I think it’s hilarious that Yoongi loses rock, paper, scissors and has to do the freestyle dance.

5. What is your favorite BTS song?

- ahh I struggle with this so much! It really depends on my mood. When I want to be hyped up I listen to Baepsae or BTS Cypher 4 or UGH!. I also love the Mic Drop remix with Steve Aoki and Idol. Blood, Sweat and Tears is a good one, too. And of course Dynamite and Butter because I can sing along to those for the whole song. So... yeeeaah, clearly I don’t really have a favorite lol

6. Which member appears in your dreams the most?

- I dream about them kind of frequently tbh, it’s a little worrisome hahaha. Umm, I think SUGA has shown up the most

7. What’s your favorite BTS music video?

- Save Me or Mic Drop!

8. Who’s solo song and/or mixtape do you like the most?

   - I love Epiphany so much. Jin holds a special place in my heart. I’m also obsessed with Daechwita and Yoongi’s D-2 mixtape in general.

9. What is your favorite BTS choreography?

   - Idol!

10. How long have you been an ARMY?

   - Not long... only 10 months! Where had they been all my life??

11. Which album tracklist is your favorite?

  - Love Yourself: Answer! So many classics on that album

12. Which member would you choose to be your best friend?

  - Can all of them be an answer?? for real though. Jimin or Jungkook or Jin or j-hope. uhhhhh clearly I can’t decide LOL (and I have a friendship thing for the J line?)

13. Which member would you choose to be your husband?

   - Hmmm... probably Seokjin! He can cook, he and I have the same cheesy sense of humor, he seems pretty easy-going, he has a knack for fancier things but isn’t flashy about it, he’s goofy but serious/mature when he needs to be. idk, he just seems like he would be good husband material!

14. Which member makes you laugh the most?

    - omg all of them make me laugh. I’ve laughed so hard watching their videos that I’ve cried. It’s a great feeling haha. If I had to say one member, probably Jin or Namjoon. RM’s humor is so underrated.

15. Which episode of Run BTS! is your favorite?

   - I love episodes 83-85 called Summer Outing 1, 2 & 3 where they spend the day at a lake and participate in a bunch of water activites and then partake in a Manito game. I also love love love episodes 97 & 98 called Pajama Party omg Jungkook is adorable in those and they’re so hilarious. Honestly, I’ve made a whole list of my favorite Run episodes, maybe I will post it!

*

Read my BTS writings HERE

:)

[virgilantejustice]

Sleeping

Im not even going to say what this was inspired by. Just, go with it. (for conext though, this is seet in an au the sides are all dogs...)

Word count: ~660

Ships: none

T/Ws: major character death, blood, dogs, there is an unsympathetic character who's identity is kinda up for interpretation, (tell me if i missed any)

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      Patton ran out onto the road. The concrete was covered in rain, but it had stopped raining by then. Roman was sleeping out on the wet. That's rather odd, Patton thought, Roman doesn't usually like to get wet.

      He nuzzled his nose into Roman's fur. He expected it to be warm, but it was cold. Does fur go cold when you go to sleep? He nudged him with his paw. "Get up Sleepyhead," he laughed, sniffing at him.

      There was a strange smell. It smelled like metal? Maybe Roman had just gotten close to a human again, he liked the attention, and humans always smelled like metal. The smell was very strong on the ground around roman, where the rain looked like it had some kind of red mud mixed into it, maybe there was metal in the strange red water?

      "Roman," he sang, trying to rouse his drowsy friend. "Virgil says we gotta go, wake uuuuup!" He nuzzled Roman again under his chin, roman always laughed when he did that, it was what his did when he was being pouty because it would always make them both smile again. But Roman didn't giggle, he was still sleeping.

      Hm, Patton thought. He was confused. Why wouldn't roman wake up? Couldn't he hear him. Patton carefully lifted one of his ears in his teeth and flopped it back so he could mutter "Romaaaaan" right into it. 

      A sharp growl made him look up. Just on the other side of the road, there were lots of trees, and just inside the shade of the forest was a tall, sleek black dog with tall, pointy ears.

      "Hello," Patton said cheerily, padding a little closer, needing to tilt his head back to look at the other dog. "What's your name?"

      The other dog growled one more time, then narrowed his sharp eyes at Patton. This tall, sleek black dog also smells like metal, thought Patton.

      "Patton!" 

      Patton spun around to see virgil coming closer, he looked angry.

      "It's fine virgil," he chirped, "i'm just making a new friend!"

      The tall, sleek black dog growled again. Patton wondered if that was what other dogs did to make friends? So he turned back to the other dog and growled back at him, copying the way that he was showing his teeth in a toothy grin. 

      This made the other dog snarl louder and stalk closer. This is a very complicated way to make friends, Patton thought, copying his every move.

      Then Virgil jumped between them, also growling and grinning to show his teeth. The tall, sleek black dog glared at them one more time, his gaze lingering on roman, before prowling back into the forest.

      "What have I told you about talking to other dogs," virgil barked, looking at Patton with some kind of strange fear in his eyes.

      "I was just making a new friend," Patton replied, a little confused.

      Virgil sighed and shook his head. "Listen, we have to leave."

      "But," patton said, getting more confused, "what about Roman? He's asleep."

      "We just have to- we just have to leave him," virgil sighed.

      "But what about when he wakes up?" Patton asked, looking over his shoulder at him. "Will he follow us?"

      "Sure," virgil said in an oddly tight voice.

      Patton frowned a little, but then turned and walked back over to Roman. He smelled more like metal than he did before. Maybe the smell came from that other dog, and the red mud came from the forest? Were they friends? Roman did sometimes do the friend making face and noise at other dogs.

      "Sleep well, Ro," he muttered, pressing his nose into the cold, damp fur. He smelled like metal now too, and the red mud was on his paws. It looked odd, like little red shoes.

      Then he hurried back over to virgil who steered him away from Roman, blocking his view backwards. Strange, Patton thought, what do bad about seeing your friend sleeping?

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Taglist (tell me jf you want to be added or removed): @celeste-tyrrell @uwillbeefoundtonight @hopeoncelivedhere @stop-it-anxiety @soakinforsif @combine-the-kitchens @randomavengersquotes

[thenamesseven]

Plot: This time it gets a little bit more serious when Mark and you play around in bed after waking up.

Warnings: Some vanilla smut, nothing hardcore. Just a cute first time.

Hope you like it!

It was an international well known fact that nobody was allowed to disturb your sleep. You hated being woken up and not being able to finish that fantastic dream you were having, well, you simply just hated when somebody woke you up. You didn't have a specific reason, it just bothered you and made you grumpy for the rest of the day.

Although everyone seemed to know better than wake you up, your boyfriend Mark seemed to give two shits about this whenever you two slept together and he woke up before you. He was as much of an attention seeker as you, Mark always waits around 30 minutes for you to wake up and give him attention but if you haven't done it, he starts getting needy.

"Baby"

The first time you heard his raspy voice breaking through your dream, you quietly buried your face deeper into the pillow in an attempt to ignore him. Mark obviously noticed because his next move was wrapping his arms around your body, keeping you close to him while he left little kisses on the back of your neck.

"Babe"

This time he sounded like a whiny little kid whose mom was grounding him without his videogames for an entire week. His kissing got more persistant when his lips moved to your cheek.

"Mark" You groaned annoyed. He was cute and sweet but he also knew you wanted to sleep as much as possible on the weekends. "I want to sleep"

"You slept enough already" He muttered groaning back, complainning about your laziness "I've been awake for almost an hour and Im getting bored" Even when you had your eyes closed you could imagine him pouting as he looked down at you

"It's not my fault your idol routine is much more entertainning than my normal mornings" You mumbled yawning, reaching up to rub your eyes so you could open them "If you were that bored you could have cooked breakfast" You proposed teasingly, smiling a little.

"But doing it with you it's way better"

Mark was clingy, that's something you had noticed as soon as the two of you started dating. During the week if he had a schedule, your contact with each other would be restrained to texting and getting in Skype for some late night calls until one of you fell asleep that's why, when weekends came Mark abandoned the dorms to invade your place. As soon as he walks through the door he has his arms around you and doesn't let you go until Monday, when he has to leave again early in the morning. He wants to do everything with you except showering or activities that implied having both of you naked, that's a step none of you had taken yet.

Seeing you hadn't opened your eyes yet, Mark decided to take his clinginess to another level and literally laid his warm body on yours. Both of you were wearing clothes but that didn't stop your skin from feeling his warmth seeping through his clothes or your nose to inhale his natural scent now that he was closer.

"Wake uuuuup" He started shaking you gently, moving your hands away from your eyes so he could start leaving kisses on your face.

"Leave me aloneeee" You replied laughing a little, fighting with him to keep your hands on your face, hiding your morning face from him.

"I don't want tooo" Mark rolled on the bed, switching positions. He currently was with his back against the bed and you were the one laying on him. Finally opening your eyes, you rested both of your hands on either side of his head to give him an annoyed look. Mark simply smiled in return, brightly and so happily, that it had been difficult for you to stay mad at him "Morning beautiful"

"You're so cheesy" You scoffed chuckling, making him laugh underneath you as he kept staring up at you.

"Can't help myself when I have such an amazing girlfriend" You knew he was just trying to sugarcoat the fact that he had woke you up, his plan was to distract you with his cheesiness. You had figured him out a long time ago but never said anything, letting him be happy and thinking he could get away with a couple of compliments and a bright smile.

"I hate you" You groaned laying back down on him, burying your face against his warm neck to close your eyes again. Your arms instinctively snaked around Mark's body in a soft hug, he was holding you the same way except his thumbs had slid under your shirt and were now drawing little circles on your skin.

"I love you too" He replied with a soft chuckle, tilting his head enough to press a kiss against your cheek. Right then Mark noticed you had your eyes closed once again so in order to make you open them, he rolled on the bed for the second time, making you switch positions.

This time something happened that woke both of you up. Mark had miscalculated the distance between both of your bodies, resulting on him accidentally resting his hips against yours. It wouldn't have been awkward at all of you hadn't felt his morning wood between your legs but since life hated you, a small yet loud (enough for him to hear) gasp left your lips. Mark's head snapped up to look at you so fast that you genuinely feared he had broken his neck, his eyes met yours almost instantly.

You could see the embarrasment in his face. His cheeks had turned a deep red and his eyes were wide opened, probably expecting you to freak out or get mad at the sudden proximity. However, you could see a small glimpse of hesitation in his eyes mixed with a bit of desire. Mark had never forced you to do anything you didn't want to, he had never attempted to go further than a few heated kisses but the attraction between both of you was pretty obvious.

Seeing you were as frozen as him, Mark decided to make the first move, ready to get off of you and apologized with more sweet compliments and stupid jokes that would make you forget about this extremely awkward yet kind of tense moment.

"I...Uh...Let me go to the bathroom for a second" Mark muttered looking down at you, his eyes watching your reaction carefully. Even though he had said he was going to move, he didn't even tried to do it. His body was betraying him as much as yours was betraying you.

"It's okay" You quickly said reaching up to grip his shirt, holding him close in case he tried to move away again. Mark looked at you confused, his muscles still tense as he tried to read between the lines of what you said.

Was it okay to just stay there? Did you mean he didn't have to apologize? Was it okay to make a move?

Knowing he was stuck thinking about all the possible things that could go wrong right there you decided it would have to be you the one that made the first move. You took advantage of Mark being distracted enough to not realise what was going on and leaned in as fast as you could, with the intention of smashing your lips against his. However, you had been wrong and Mark was paying enough attention to notice you leaning in to kiss him at light speed. He moved away before you could kiss him, making a huge frown appear on your face.

What if he didn't want this to happen and you had read his signals wrong?

"Mark I'm sorry" You apologized blushing really hard, looking up at him "I thought you-"

He cut you off resting one finger against your lips, looking down into your eyes. "I just wanted be the one to make the move, shut up" He said giggling, leaning forward to finally make your lips meet in the sweetest and slowest kiss ever.

He started moving his lips against yours, calming your nerves, easing your tension away with every single gentle kiss. Once you were relaxed enough your lips started moving against his too, your hands moving up on his back to the back of his head to let your fingers get tangled in his hair. When you started returning his affection you felt Mark relaxing against your body, smiling into the kiss, probably content about you feeling the same way he did.

He had never brought up the subject of sex afraid that you would feel pressured. Mark had wanted to take things as slow as you wanted, to make you feel as good as possible with your relationship but now that you two seemed to be in the same page made him feel like the happiest man alive.

"I love you" His voice wasn't seductive or flirty, it was so sweet that you felt yourself melting underneath him as his lips moved down your jaw. Unlike his voice, his gestures were becoming a bit more intimate which cause your skin to turn into goosebumps wherever his fingers touched or wherever his lips kissed.

You gasped again, unconciously gripping his shirt tighter when his lips started drifting down your neck. He didn't need you to say those three words back, Mark could feel your affection in the way you squirmed and blushed with every single thing he did. Usually he was the clingy one, the one that whined the most of you two but having you being so vulnerable and dependable of his touch and attention under his body drove him wild, crazy. It gave him a sense of power stronger than when he walked on stage and heard thousands of people screaming his name.

He couldn't care less about that right now. He wanted you to be the only one who screamed his name, he wanted to make you his.

When Mark felt you were gripping the back of his shirt, he moved his body away from yours enough to pull his shirt over his head and toss it aside. Your hands froze on his shoulders but Mark's lips kept teasing the sensitive skin of your neck.

"(Y/N)" He whispered against your skin, whining a little before he moved away to rest his forehead against yours. You wanted to kiss him, his lips were so close that you could feel his breath caressing your face. You leaned in again to kiss him but he smiled, moving away once again. "Touch me"

Your lungs stopped working when you met his eyes filled of need and lust as your hands gently moved down his front. Your fingertips caressed the curves of his slightly defined abs, his skin being incredibly soft, even more than yours. Suddenly, Mark's hips pushed forward against yours making the both of you moan quietly. By the way his muscles kept getting tense you knew he was holding himself back and going slow because of you but you also knew that your slow touches and still hesitant kisses were driving him insane.

Moving your hands away from his body you reached down to take your shirt off, tossing it besides his. It was your boyfriend's turn to gasp now that you were half undressed with him in bed. Mark's eyes quickly moved down on your body, leaning in to peck your lips before he kept leaving small trails of kisses down your neck and lower on your body. When he reached the curves of your breasts he glanced up at you, his eyes asking for permission to keep going.

As soon as Mark noticed you were okay with it he simply kept kissing your breasts, also leaving kisses on your bra as his hands went to your back to unclip it. Honestly, you had been so focused on the feeling of his lips against your skin that you only noticed he had taken your bra off when he tossed it away on the piles of clothes both of you were making.

"You're so beautiful" He whispered with his eyes on yours, his hand moving up to cup your breasts and massage them gently. Mark smiled at the blush on your cheeks but he leaned down to kiss them "God, I don't know how I managed to get such a beautiful and wonderful girlfriend like you" His compliments made you giggle, Mark also smiled pecking your face until his lips met yours once again.

The both of you got into another passionate make out session, one where his hands kept doing wonderful things to your breasts that kept making the knot in your lower stomach even tighter. One of Mark's hands had drifted down your stomach and even lower onto your panties. You were sure his fingertips had found the wet spot on them and that made you blush even harder, burying your face against his neck in pure embarrasment.

"Don't be shy" He whispered against your ear, his breathing was heavy but his touch was still soft and gentle "In fact, it makes me so damn happy Im the one making you this..Wet baby" You moaned at his words, his lips nibbling your earlobe as he slid his hand inside your panties.

You just laid there, too shy to move your head away from his neck while he kept rubbing your sensitive clit that had been throbbing for attention. You could actually feel yourself clenching around nothing, getting needier and wanting more from him. Mark obviously sensed this and decided to give you some relief by sliding a finger inside of you, gently and always making sure you wouldn't be uncomfortable by it.

"You're so tight..." He whispered pecking your cheek, the feeling of his warm breath against your skin driving you crazy "I want to make you mine so bad (Y/N)"

"Then do it" You whispered back, pecking his lips. Mark looked down at you and smiled sweetly, no matter how much you wanted him now he had to make sure you were stretched out enough for him.

"Mhmm...In a little bit" He said softly, kissing your lips back before he slid another finger inside of you.

So long the pain hadn't been that horrible as some of your friends had described it, sure everytime Mark slid another finger inside or moved his hand a bit faster you felt a slight pain but it all soon turned into pleasure that pushed you straight to heaven. His fingers inside of you didn't last that long though, you kept begging Mark to give you more and even though he was a patient man he broke down minutes later.

"Let me get-" Mark leaned back to get something from the bed side table but froze, looking down at you "Shit..." He whispered running his fingers through his hair, sighing a little.

"What?" You asked laying there naked, struggling to keep your eyes away from the huge bulge inside his boxers.

"Protection...I don't...I wasn't expecting...And you don't have one there, right?" He asked looking at your closed drawer, knowing your negative answer he groaned and laid on you, taking deep breath against your neck.

His hips were against yours once again, his clothed member pressing against your naked entrance. You had always thought you wouldn't have sex with anybody without protection but right there, with Mark on you, you couldn't care less about it.

"M-Mark it's okay" You stuttered rubbing his back, avoiding his eyes when he leaned back to look at you.

"What?" He asked confused, frowning.

"We could get a pill later right? I...I want to keep going"

After your confession, there was a long silence that you didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad one. You turned your face a little to glance at him and Mark just smiled incredibly bright, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I love you so much" He whispered pulling down his underwear. Mark didn't even tossed it away this time he just laid down against your body so his sensitive skin could feel your wetness coating him.

He groaned with his eyes closed, biting his lower lip extremely hard as he looked at you. You were seconds away from moaning while he kept moving his hips against yours in slow yet painfully delicious movements.

"Mark" You moaned complaining, wrapping your legs around his hips to keep him closer to you "Please..." You begged quietly, your nails gently digging into his shoulders.

"I'm going to go as slow as I can okay?" He whispered, positioning his tip against your entrance with shaky hands. "If it hurts, if it makes you truly uncomfortable just tell me and I'll stop alright?" You nodded biting your lower lip a bit scared about what was going to happen. "I won't get mad, this is for both of us to enjoy not for only me, okay?" You nodded again, way more worried about the pain now "Are you sure about this?" He asked looking into your eyes.

"Are you serious?" You couldn't help but chuckle at his sudden question, Mark smiled nodding "Im sure, I love you and I want to be yours" You whispered happily, pulling him closer for a kiss.

Both of you melted against each other with deep kisses, it was like his lips were the only thing you needed to survive. Forget about oxygen, Mark kisses and tongue teasing were way better. Your boyfriend took advantage of the deep kisses that kept your mind distracted to gently push inside of you. Even when he was slow and gentle, the pain that went through your body when he started stretching your inner walls out made you get all tense and rigid. A quiet whimper left your lips while you two were kissing, Mark left short and quick pecks around your whole face sweetly, whispering sweet nothings to calm you and himself down.

"Shh baby it's okay" He muttered breathing heavy, resting his forehead against yours "I’m so sorry for hurting you” He pecked your lips, his eyes full of concern for hurting you as kept fighting with his inner self to not move and make you his yet “The pain will go away soon, just relax love”

At first it was difficult, every single time Mark made a small movement a wave of pain ran through your body, but after some brief seconds the pain started getting softer and softer or your body simply got used to it. At some point, your muscles weren’t tense anymore and Mark felt it, he started moving his hips against yours in slow and soft thrust, his eyes always in your face to make sure you weren't feeling bad anymore. It was a weird feeling, the pain was starting to get mixed up with pleasure, it was simply something you had never felt before. It felt good, even better when he quietly groaned or moaned against your skin.

The both of you got into a loop.

Mark started moving more comfortably and not too afraid of breaking your body, you kept moaning his name over and over again like if it was the only word you knew how to say. He praised you like he usually did but this time with his naked body against yours, feeling his lips brush against your own with every single word he said and hearing his quiet moans whenever you unconciously squeezed him inside of you, each compliment sounded more special, more heavenly and more lovingly.

“(Y/N)” Mark buried his face against your neck, his hands gripping the bedsheets underneath you as you felt his hips moving a little rougher against your own “God, I love you so fucking much” It was rare to hear Mark swear but in that moment you just found it hot.

“I love you too” You whispered.

That moment, with bith of you looking into each other's eyes was magical.

It was like both of your bodies were waiting for that small confession to get out from your lips before Mark sent you over the edge with one last thrust. You closed your eyes, your hands gripping his back strongly as if he was the only thing keeping you into this world, too overwhelmed by the sudden pleasure your first orgasm was making you feel. The loud moan that escaped your lips sent Mark into heaven, filling you up with his seed which was such an intimate gesture that made him blush as he looked down at your worn out yet satisfied face.

Before you could open your eyes once again and get all shy like you always did, Mark leaned forward and pressed his lips against yours in another deep kiss, one that told the both of you just how strong was your love for each toher

He stayed there with you, catching your breaths in a comforting silence before Mark stood up and opened his arms for you to get in them.

“What?” You asked tiredly, confused. Looking up at him, you pulled the bed sheets higher to cover most of your naked body

“Ah, don’t get shy now” He chuckled, pulling the sheets away before he picked you up, holding you close to his chest “Let’s get a bath, that will make you less sore later”

“I want to go to bed though, aren’t you tired?” You asked burying your face against his neck

“I said you slept enough” He replied laughing when he saw your pout. He leaned down moving his lips really close to your ear “And if we get back in bed it’s to go for a second round”

You slapped Mark’s chest hard feeling extremely embarrased which only made him laugh harder as he dragged you into the bathroom with him.

[ununniliad]

LNH20 Comics Presents #22: "The Return of Captain Killfile"

She fell

and she fell

and with a rude THUMP! she fell back into the world.

She scrambled to her feet. Disorientation. A sudden confusing sense of place.

Cold, but not the cold of space, a natural, wintery chill. Dark - night. Greenery, trees, bits of snow - nearby, a fence. Quiet here, but the quick rushing-river nose of traffic nearby, the clouds glowing softly. A city. Not a battle.

Last memory. Fighting. People she loved. ...fighting the people she loved. Because... because she had been Hildy, but now she was Captain Killfile, and they were trying to stop her from saving the world...

And then the wind kicked up and a copy of the Cleveland Plain Dealer hit her in the face.

She flailed around, electric crackling coming out of her gauntlets, and eventually managed to rip the paper off her face and examine it. What the-- Cleveland!? What was she doing in the second-most boring city in the nation[*]!?

[* In fact, the 2010 census shows Cleveland as the fourth-most boring city in the United States, with the current frontrunner being West Lafayette, Indiana! - Ed.(UE)]

She stared at the lines of ink, fragments of thought, memory, emotion bouncing into each other, forming new patterns before splitting and recombining. New city transit plan... tax breaks for people... protest against new law... rogue net.heroes... mmm. Something about that last one felt... off...

And only then, in her haze, did she paid attention to the date. February 20th... 2019?

Out of the fog, the memories rose up. The confrontation with her old team, now her enemies - the Saviors of the Net. Activating the great machine that would begin the process of healing. Sig.Lad, her mentor, her hero, the one who held her back and told her no until she had to leave, raising that damn sword, the Sword of .Sig, Excalibur, and pulling them away into a space where time blurred and softened... waking up and feeling the energies draining away, and draining away with them...

It had been twenty years. 

Well, shit.

How had it ended? Had her machine worked? Had she taken away the corrupting power of the net.humans - and had humanity managed to heal themselves?

She looked at the crumpled newspaper. Rogue net.heroes... But the printed words swam before her eyes. No. She had to see for herself. 

Captain Killfile... no, she told herself. Let's put that name aside. Right now, I am just myself; I am just Brunhilda.

Brunhilda seemed to still be wearing the gaudy gold-and-blue costume, from... before. When she'd taken over the airwaves, when she'd announced her plan to the world, standing in front of the camera and waiting. It'd been a bit spiteful; Sig.Lad had sent it to her a few months before as part of some weird attempt at reconnecting. That guy never knew how to do things in a normal way, just a net.hero way. That was part of...

Mmmm. Her mind was wandering, the fog still curling around it. She turned the hood and cape inside out, exposing the dark blue lining, and pulled the hood down over her face. Much less gaudy, pretty warm, and it'd let her see what 2019 was like without detection. Hopefully.

She slipped into the streets, keeping to the shadows, not hiding herself from passers-by but giving them more than a moment to pay attention to her presence. Subtle, like a ghost. Or like someone who lived in the world of ghosts, fighting them, death to a meaningless half-life...

Like Ghost Exterminator, the mysterious masked enigma of the 1950s. He (people thought it was a he, but nobody knew for sure) wandered thru the streets of San Francisco, stopping to help those in need. He didn't have any net.human powers, just skills, insight, and determination. Nobody knew why the name, either, but the big theory was that he was trying to rid himself of the ghosts who haunted him by helping others.

There had been more Ghost Exterminators in the decades since. It was an identity taken up by those who didn't want to operate under an identity of their own, living ghosts who fought the invisible specters that made society shudder and brought them into the light. Like she had. She'd seen what was wrong with the world that everybody else was too distracted or self-satisfied to realize, and fixed it.

Right?

Suddenly, action - damn, she'd left herself open in her distraction. Some kind of bright light next to her, and a loud voice-- "Greetings, Cleve.LAN.d!"

She rolled to the side and reached for her sword-- and it wasn't there. Falling back on net.hero instincts already, tch.

It was a giant TV, on the side of some kind of sports stadium. On it was a woman, a decade older than her, in a gaudy blue-and-gold mask and hood, with a megalomaniacal expression on her face. "I certainly hope you've missed me! But let me reintroduce myself!" She threw her arms out, flinging her gold-sequined cape to the sides. "I am... CAPTAIN KILLFILE!"

Brunhilda blinked. "...the heck you say," she murmured.

The fake!? took a step back, gesturing grandoisely at an enormous, complicated machine, all neon lights and chrome. "I have rebuilt my patented Kill-O-Ray, and am ready to unleash its awesome force!"

"That's not what it was called," snarled Brunhilda, her back going up. Some kind of awful parody, what was this?

"The fine government of this fair city has an hour to deliver ten million dollars in unmarked bills to the observation deck of the Terminal Tower - or I'll activate my device, and allow the dreaded Killfile to sweep over the land once more!" She pushed her face back into the camera, grinning with devilish glee. "Yes, you don't want that, do you? You may complain about your net.heroes, but ohhhhh, how you hated them going away! Ha ha!"

It felt like Brunhilda had been kicked in the stomach. What. No. Okay. No. Calm down. Fuck. Ugh. No. She pushed the storm of screaming thoughts out of her head and tried to concentrate on the screen.

"That's right!" shouted the masked face. "This is... THE RETURN OF CAPTAIN KILLFILE!"

"ugh shut uuuuup," she muttered, listening. Terminal Tower. Observation deck.

"And in case you doubt me..." The faux Captain stepped to the side, revealing a table with a shiny apple on a plate painted like a bullseye. Brunhilda noticed the glass lenses sliding along the machine's surface, passing past each other, clicking into place. They hummed, and the lights in the room seemed to darken, especially around the apple, which seemed to-- not disappear, nothing as sudden as that, but become less noticeable, more like the background, layer by layer, until it was completely gone.

Damn. That was absolutely real Killfile Energy. Sometime in the last twenty years, someone else had gotten up to her level - insult to injury.

"One hour, ladies, gents and honored guests! The clock starts--" Her hand hovered over a huge digital readout, pushed a big red button on it, and it started counting down. "Now!" The image disappeared, the screen turning an all-over blue with a big 'VIDEO' on it.

Brunhilda breathed in. Captain Killfile breathed out. All right. All right. Calm down. Breathe.

This was why she came out in Cleveland, twenty years later. To be shown this, to... stop this? To... understand? Ugh. But she didn't understand. Not yet. Why didn't... hated? Maybe it was a lie. Maybe it had made life better and this clown was like one of those politicians who talked about how much better things were with the new trade agreement even as it ground people into dust.

Or maybe she'd ground people into dust, thoughtlessly, caring only about herself-- no, calm down Hildy, you're okay, said the voice in her head that sounded just like Sig.Lad and ugh didn't that sting now. But she listened, and it said: See what's going on, take the time to understand, and see if you can help.

Okay.

Her Killfile Gauntlets were on the fritz, and she didn't have much time to tinker, but she knew just how to set up a killfile that would absorb energy weapons and shield her from detection, not to mention keep any externally-imposed killfiles from being placed on her. As for non-energy weapons, well, she'd just have to fall back on her fight training.

Now. Where was the Terminal Tower? Well, when you weren't sure where to find someone to fight, follow the police cars.

It turned out to be only a few minutes' walk. There was a big plaza around it with a bunch of expensive-looking restaurants and stores, now evacuated as the police set up a cordon. She kept back half a block, staying in the shadows to maximize the stealth effect of her killfile. How would she get in? Sure, she wasn't especially visible, but someone with that level of killfile technology would have ways of seeing thru it...

"Hi!"

"GAH!" She leapt in the air, spinning around and landing in a defense position, ready to strike at... a ten-year-old? What? Not only that, but a ten-year-old standing in an alleyway, wearing something that looked like miniaturized night vision goggles, but with googly eyes glued on them. He was looking right at her...

Then she recognized him. This kid wasn't just a kid, he was Kid Enthusiastic, an immortal who was actually older than her. (Not a lot older, but still.) He'd occasionally worked with the Saviors, but had never wanted to join - he had his own stuff going on. But it looked like he had a team now; there were a bunch of figures in colorful spandex behind him in the alley. Looked like teenagers, actually. Kinda familiar, but they must've been born after she disappeared...

"Who are you?" said the Kid. Damn, she was still zoning out. Okay, focus. "I thought I knew all the net.heroes operating in this area!"

"I'm, uh..." Captain Killfile was out, and she sure as heck wasn't going back to Kid Killfile. She flicked a switch on her gauntlet, appearing in the teenagers' vision like a spectre manifesting. "Ghost Exterminator."

"Ohhhhh!" Kid E clapped his hands with his famed energy. "One of them, gotcha gotcha. Well, I'm Kid Enthusiastic, and these are.." He gestured to the teens, who stepped out of the alley and posed! "The Ultimate Saviors!"

"Saviors?" Waaaaait a minute... she squinted. "As in... the Saviors of the Net?" There were five of them, all wearing masks, but their facial structures were clear as daylight, and... oh boy. Oh boy. 

"Yeah, that's right! Apparently W.H.A.T.E.V.E.R. wanted to clone them and have their own set of mind-controlled net.heroes! So we all busted out, together!" He spun around and pointed at them. "Ultimate Saviors, roll call!"

"Super Scary Dazzle Bird!" A young man in his late teens stepped out at Kid Enthusiastic's call. His costume was part black and part holographic sparklies, with long wings drooping off of the arms, and held a long fighting staff in a defensive pose. His eyes twitched back and forth, making sure that despite Kid E's loudness, no one was looking towards them. Brunhilda knew from the color choices alone that this must be the clone of Chromium Age Very-Scary-Disturbed-Creature Man.

"Robot Girl!" A girl whose skin glimmered chrome, with cat ears and a feline muzzle, wearing a green belly-shirt and shorts with a bright red belt, gloves and boots. She swept her long silver hair out of her face as it fluttered in the cold February wind and gave Brunhilda a level gaze, sizing her up. The outfit was terrible for this weather, but it didn't matter - this was the clone of MechaKat, who could nanobiologically turn flesh to titanium alloy. And if they had her, they probably also had...

"Action Lad!" A boy in a red wraparound jacket with silver trim and silver pants and wearing a transparent red visor, with a friendly but focused expression, and his hand on a sword hilt at his belt. Yep, that was him but younger - Sig.Lad, her old mentor, her new-old foe. She kept her face steady as the feelings whirled. Could this night get any more tuned to probe her insecurities?

"Kid Kindle!" This one was even younger - thirteen, maybe fourteen, with red hair that flickered with little tongues of fire as she watched, wearing a white robe with flames flickering along the bottom and a long scarf around his mouth. His eyes were excited, taking in the new visitor, and it was hard to keep her face steady, because boy did she ever know those eyes and that fire, boy did she know that boy - Flamebroiled Lad, avatar of the cosmic entity of intense emotion, the Flamebroiled Force. Her nemesis, her archrival, that stupid jerk who kept hogging the other Nintendo controller. Her brrrrr... o. Her bro.

And with a sudden shuddering shock that made the February evening feel balmy by comparison, she realized who the last clone would be--

"Kid Killswitch!" And there she came, in shining white armor with a bright red "power off" symbol on the chest, that familiar face, those familiar eyes, intelligent and curious and driven and broken, no, not that, said the voice in her head, but eyes that had known both pain and joy, like and unlike her own - the clone of Captain Killfile.

Brunhilda tried to release the churning whirlwind of emotions into some form that could be understood by men, but all that came out of her mouth was a murmured "...I'm too young to be my own mom..."

"...a?" Kid Enthusiastic tilted his head to the side, looking up at her curiously.

She shook her head, took a deep breath, and put away every feeling she didn't have time for right now. An incredibly useful skill from the life-or-death battle days. "That is, uh... Saviors, huh? So how are they ultimate?"

"Because they're the best and I love them!" Kid Enthusiastic spun around and posed, holding his arms wide as he showed off his team.

"Right yeah." Mecha-- er, Robot Girl stepped forward. "And apparently the lady what messed up the original Saviors is back and serious, so it's our job to stop her since they can't. Got a problem with that?"

Brunhilda couldn't help but smile. Well, well, the kids are all right. "Nope. Was just thinking the same thing."

"I don't know if I'd say it's our job," said Action Lad, stepping forward non-confrontationally into Robot Girl's confrontation space, "that seems to be basic survival."

Kid E nodded! "We've been laying low while we try'n contact the LNH. It's hard - W.H.A.T.E.V.E.R. has facial recognition technology they use on all the security cam footage they can grab, and they can grab nearly all of it. So we've been keeping under wraps."

"But we still have to get out there and save people!" Kid Kindle's hair burst briefly into full flame, and he grinned in enthusiasm. Great, another one taking after his mentor. "We can't just stay in a safehouse and send emails!"

"So we wear facial-recognition-defeating face paint when we're undercover, and go on missions without it, since it's going to be obvious either way that the team of five teenage net.heroes that appeared out of nowhere are the same five teenage net.humans that disappeared from not-so-protective custody." Super Scary Dazzle Bird (what a name!) looked off towards the Terminal Tower. "Speaking of which, if you're coming with us, we'd better get going. The clock is still ticking."

The LNH must be the Something Net.Heroes, and Whatever... Net.villans? Government agency? Something else? Bad guys, or so Kid Enthusiastic thought, and she had to admit, cloning her old team in order to have some kind of controlled force didn't seem like an especially ethical thing. Had they taken over during the Killfile, when there weren't any net.heroes to stop them?

Brunhilda released her anxious feelings again, though this time it was harder. "Right. Time to team up and beat the bad guy." Just like the old days, only now, the bad guy was her...

No, the bad guy was a cheap copy who had no idea what she'd actually been trying to do. And she could at least take responsibility for her imitators, and deal with whatever else she'd unleashed later.

Heh. W.H.A.T.E.V.E.R. else.

Kid Killswitch hadn't said anything. She was still looking at Brunhilda. But she nodded and followed along with everyone else.

Brunhilda took a battery from Super Scary Dazzle Bird and wired it into her gauntlets, extending the killfile to cover all of them. They snuck past the cops, Robot Girl and Action Lad keeping their eyes on the perimeter in case someone caught a glimpse.

There were a couple of muscly dudes in gold-and-blue suits standing next to the entrance. Kid Kindle reached out, a lance of emotional fire shooting out and hitting one of them in the back; nostalgia and guilt flared in Brunhilda's chest at the display of power.

The goon straightened up from his slumped position and pushed the other one roughly. "Hey, wake up! I don't wanna lose my paycheck because of you!"

Another blast of energizing anger, and the other goon pushed back. "Shut up! You're the one who said this was gonna be an easy job, and now there's ten thousand cops out there and we're probably gonna be left holding the bag!"

"You shut up! God, I should never have dated you!" The one goon slapped the other goon, and the other goon slapped back, and they grabbed each other and started rolling on the ground, passionately making out, and Brunhilda and the Ultimate Saviors snuck inside.

Down a small, lightless corridor, and down to the elevator. Robot Girl leaned in, removing the panel and sticking her fingers in among the wires. She stretched out her hand and a screen appeared showing datastreams zipping back and forth; Kid Killswitch and Super Scary Dazzle Bird leaned in to analyze it. Action Lad and Kid Kindle spread out, keeping watch.

Kid E bounced in place, watching his charges figure out the puzzle. Brunhilda leaned back on the wall next to him, watching them as well, especially the one who was-and-wasn't her. "They have a heck of a lot of personality, for people who came out of a vat not long ago."

Kid E nodded enthusiastically! "They're not just regular clones, they're biotropic duplicates! W.H.A.T.E.V.E.R. stole the device that Sig.Lad used to copy people's power signatures and used it to template them as they were growing? They even lured a Salamander[*] in to possess Kid Kindle! But we stole the device back and now Action Lad's using it!"

[* Also known as Ifrits, Salamanders are the fiery elemental offspring of the Flamebroiled Force which possessed and empowered Flamebroiled Lad! - Ed.(UE)]

"Ahhh." Brunhilda ran the tip of her tongue over her lip. "So... their personalities are clones too?"

"Sort of." Kid E wiggled his hand. "They're definitely their own people, tho - I knew the originals, and these guys aren't making the same choices they would've."

"Mmmm..." Brunhilda breathed in deep, let it out. "That's good, that's real good..."

"All right." Super Scary Dazzle Bird stood up and turned to them, all business. (God, that name. Not that it was any sillier than Chromium Age Very-Scary-Disturbed-Creature Man.) "We've hacked the elevator so that it'll take us to the top without triggering alarm system notifications. But to do that, it has to go slow - it'll take us fifteen minutes to get up there."

"We only have, like, twenty minutes left before the deadline!" Kid Kindle brought his fists against his chest, eyes wide in passion and fear. "What if she actually brings back the Killfile!?"

"She won't." Brunhilda straightened up, squaring her shoulders. "As you can probably tell, I have, uh, some experience with killfile tech." She gestured at the ceiling. "That machine she's got is advanced, but there's no way it could project a subject-based killfile broad enough to cover Ohio, let alone the world." You'd need a much bigger power source, and the one she'd used... wasn't available. As far as she knew.

"Could still do some damage, though," remarked Kid Killswitch, looking up at her. 

Aw, baby's first words... Brunhilda regretted the sarcastic thought immediately. "Oh yeah, and how. Killfiles can mess with all sorts of important shit. She could take Cleveland down hard, and her next blackmail scheme would seem all the more real."

"So we'd better hurry." MechaKat closed her hand, the screen disappeared, and the door of the elevator opened. They all shuffled in, and silently, it began to rise. In the background, a jazzy instrumental version of "Mad World" started playing.

"Right," said Action Lad. "Ultimate Saviors... waiting mode!!"

Brunhilda watched as all five of them sat down and immediately pulled Magic: The Gathering decks out of somewhere in their costumes, shuffling up with practiced speed. "Turn one, mountain, lighting bolt Action Lad." "Why me!?" "Because we don't have time for one of your weird blue shapeshifter decks!" "Awww..."

Kid Enthusiastic leaned back against the wall next to her. "So~"

"...so?"

"Feels like you've got some more questions in you! And we've got time."

The side of Brunhilda's mouth turned down at his easy poke at her boundaries... but it wasn't like she didn't have a thousand and one questions, bubbling and burning in her belly, about this new world she'd found herself one of the creators of. And the most burning of them all... "Well... you were around back then, right? What was the Killfile like?"

"Oh man. It mega sucked," Kid Enthusiastic chirped. "I mean, life was kind of normal, but the kind of normal where you're working a crappy job and it's gray and depressing outside, you know?"

"...oh." It felt like cold water had been thrown in her face. The boxes that she'd put her feelings in earlier burst open, flooding her system with complicated griefs.

"Like," continued Kid E, not noticing her face's fall, "there were so many bad guys and even though they couldn't build Kill-O-Rays or send robot goons at you, they could still just keep making things worse all the time." He hummed, looking off into the distance in appreciation. "Even though things really suck right now, people are really fighting, too. Back then, it seemed like hardly any of us could fight - or could even see there was anything worth fighting!"

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. That was... that was...

Brunhilda Ampulle had been just another kid kicking around the foster care system, just kind of existing, and then she looked up and someone had reached out a hand and she'd taken it. And she'd become a net.hero because that hand had belonged to a net hero.

But that was only why she'd started doing it. She'd kept doing it because she could just reach out and help people, right in front of her. And she'd done that for a while and she wasn't just existing, she was living, and she was... getting better, most days.

And eventually she'd gotten better enough to where she could lift her head up, and look out at the world... and see that, actually, there were a lot more awful things going on out there, outside her city and her team, than she had realized. Things she couldn't just reach out and affect. Things none of the net.heroes seemed to be able to affect, even the stupidly powerful ones who Kept Watch Over The World. But those net.heroes kept going, kept getting into big splashy fights over things that seemed so small, and those faraway troubles just kept getting better, just kept getting closer. And then...

Look, people died all the time, she knew that, you fought guys with guns and that happened. But this hadn't been in a fight, and it hadn't been someone who signed up for it, and... it was so unnecessary, so meaningless, and Alice wasn't even... She was nice and kind and good and people like that weren't even supposed to...

Well. So she left. She left, and one of her little theoretical ideas turned into a big not-so-theoretical idea, and... and she became one of those troubles, and...

"It wasn't all bad, tho."

"--oh!?" Brunhilda jerked out of her reverie, hardly even caring that the Ultimate Saviors had all looked up at her half-squeaked exclamation. She settled back, and they returned to their game.

"Yeah, like..." Kid Enthusiastic rubbed his chin, teasing out a complex emotion. "I feel like... After  the Killfile, people appreciated us more. No, like, not just us, the whole... the whole idea." He put his hands out, squeezing something invisible. "Even when the government was trying to control us and there were a lot of people pushing against us, there were so many people who, it seemed like... had woken up after decades, maybe their whole lives, and realized that actually fighting evil is good?"

"I..." She closed her mouth, a little puff of breath escaping out her nose. That answer was... frustrating. Not exactly the positive impact she'd wanted from her efforts - "people suffered so much that they realized they had to give a shit".

...on the other hand... maybe that was the best outcome she could've hoped for...

She rested her head against the wall of the elevator and listened to the soft rumbling as it moved. Even before Alice... did it, Brunhilda had realized that there was something wrong with the world. A huge, low-level grossness, an apathy, spreading over it. She remembered seeing cartoons about Saving the Planet, and thinking they were lame, and then realizing that no, this was a real problem that kept getting worse as people kept laughing at it. She heard how stupid that woman who spilled coffee on herself was, and came to understand that the "joke" was that someone would want to get money and apology from a trillion-dollar corporation that just kept growing and growing and taking and taking, and how foolish and lazy that was. She saw that bombs were being lobbed every day straight into schools full of little kids who weren't white and weren't Christian and the generals shrugged and said "oops, accident" and it just kept going on in the background and everyone was grumbling about it but no one was shouting, no one really and truly cared and...

And it had to be someone's fault. It hadn't always been like this, someone had caused this, but who was powerful enough to change the entire world like that?

And she looked around herself and realized: It was us. The net.heroes, the net.villains. They were powerful and everyone looked up to them, the celebrities and heroes of the world. 

And the more she looked for it, the more she saw it. Their, our, weird self-obsession, our attachment to their own battles, and especially, the way that, whenever we tried to confront wars and environmental damage and real suffering, it never produced a solution that stuck. Even the Saviors, even Sig.Lad, only ever put band-aids on the problems.

And then... Look, sometimes you stretched out your hand to someone and they were in too bad of a place to take it. She knew that, she'd always known that, but when... When you got someone out of a burning building, especially when you sat and talked with them, and they turned out to be really cool, and nice, and maybe were going to join your game group, and said "I'll be okay", they weren't... Alice wasn't just supposed to... if you saved their life they didn't have the right to...

With effort she pulled herself out of that loop and glanced at Kid Enthusiastic. He gave her a cheery smile, then turned away, seeming to sense that she was done talking for now. She wouldn't have chalked him up for that kind of social awareness, but it was already clear he had a lot going on under the facade...

The music kept playing, a weird, jazzy loop, and as she watched the teen she had once been play, she slipped back into her memories...

So she'd taken a leave of absence from the Saviors.

...so she'd had an enormous screaming crying argument with the Saviors and left. And after she'd parked herself in a cheap hotel and cried everything out, she had made some plans.

She'd used the Saviors' wages she'd saved up and the modest royalties from her patents to buy a workshop in Clearwater Hill, one of Net.ropolis's poorest neighborhoods. And she set about working in the solution. The Killfile Device.

She'd been thinking of it as something she could present to the smart, reasonable heroes, talk it over and use it as a tool to scrape the worst bits out of net.humanity before it was too late. A decision she wouldn't have to make alone.

But... a few months in, people had noticed she wasn't with the Saviors anymore. Action Bimonthly, a mid-level magazine about net.hero goings-on, contacted her for an interview. And she was so excited, she could tell people - no, not all the details, but what she'd noticed, her goals, and get the message out, and there would be like-minded people who would come to her and they could work together...

And the interview came out and... nobody seemed to notice? Nobody came out of the woodwork to join in her cause? She didn't hear anything? 

No, it had been worse than that, because she had certainly heard things when she read the letters to the editor in Action. How people like her were making a fuss, distracting from the real issues, making the people who were actually trying to fix things look bad.

So she didn't take any more interviews after that. She just worked. She had already started and she couldn't stop now and she didn't think about what would happen when she was done.

But there was one thing she couldn't figure out, one thing she'd been hoping to get help with from somebody - a power source.

And a little voice was whispering in her head. Quietly at first, and she pushed it away and kept working, but louder and louder as she went deeper and deeper into single-minded focus. The net.heroes caused this problem. The net.heroes had the power.

Killfile Energy filtered, separated. She could separate the power from those who had it, use their own wasted might that had tried and failed so many times to save the world, to finally save it once and for all.

She built a power-channeling device. Just to test the idea. And if she found someone who wanted to help and had the power she could use it for that, right?

And the day came when every part of the device was done and there weren't any more tweaks left to make, and there weren't any more tests to be run, and she had to stop and face the prospect of actually using it.

By this time, the obsessive thoughts were a constant background pounding. She had to show them. She had to stop them. Before it was too late. It was almost too late. Something awful was going to rush up at any second, some net.hero with too much power was going to make a mistake, and smash the world flat, and it would be her fault. But it was okay. She had the machine, and she could use it and fix things, save the world... 

And she knew how she could get the power.

She knew how to bring net.heroes running. Net.heroes with the power to feel her machine. And part of her knew just which heroes it would end up being. Part of her begged her not to. She broke down into crying fits, finally telling herself that she would just talk to them first, that they'd have to hear her out when she had this power at her back.

She cleaned herself up. She put on that costume. She activated her stealth killfiles. She walked straight into the big national news studio with no one seeing, put every living soul who could stop her in a half-hour killfile bubble, put the cameras on her and sent out her message. 

This time she wasn't able to hold it back like she did in the interview. She told the world what was wrong with it and why; how the net.heroes had gone too far, and not knowing or understanding, had betrayed the rest of humanity. She announced her plan to clear them away and let the world heal. And she told them where to find her. Then she turned her killfiles back on and walked away.

And of course when she got to the workshop the Saviors were there already and of course they would have seen her coming in and of course there was no time to talk, right, it wasn't that she was striking the first blow because she knew in her heart that if she said what she meant she would be rejected again, of course not of course not

Even though Sig.Lad was already trying to reach out as she pushed them back with a killfile shell, even though Lurking Girl broke her solitude to ask why, even though she could see the bitter sadness in MechaKat's eyes

And the only one strong enough to break thru her shells burst in, as she knew he would, knocking her back against the machine, Felix, her stupid little brother fighting her again, she'd never told him she thought of him like that, he was yelling at her about how she was betraying them all, and she yelled at him about how he didn't understand because he only cared about fake shit like anime and being a hero

And she pulled the lever

And the killfile activated, splitting him in two, Felix Landers and the Flamebroiled Force, never to be reunited, discarding the one and sending the other into the machine, straight thru her

All the rage, all the fear, all the resentment, all the secret impossible buried hope, channeled straight thru her body and mind and into her machine and she felt it unfold, the dampening blanket enfolding the world

And in the distance, a glint of metal, Sig.Lad raised his sword, and somehow she could see his eyes, great and sad and knowing it was over, and summoning his own death, because the wielder of Excalibur could only have one end, opening the gate to the fairy world to sleep forever, and time slowing down and slipping away

and she'd been right some net.hero with too much power made a mistake and smashed the world flat and it was her that's what she was that's what she'd done it was her fault she wasn't a hero she'd never been a hero that's why Captain Killfile was the worst net.villain ever

"Hey... are you okay?"

Brunhilda jerked back to reality. Without realizing it, she'd slumped to the ground, legs folded up against her. Kid Enthusiastic and the Ultimate Saviors were gathered around her, looking down with concern and/or worry. Her head and face were tingling, and she reached up with a shaking hand to touch her face... yes, it was covered in tears.

"I..." She swallowed thickly, trying to find words, but all that came to mind was... the Killfile wasn't set with an ending date. It could have lasted for centuries. Somehow, the Saviors had stopped that but... it could have been so much worse and it was all her fault...

Wait, something was wrong, other than everything...

"The music stopped," she said.

Everyone's head turned. With a click, the doors began to open...

Kid Killswitch grabbed Brunhilda's wrist, grabbed the loose wire and touched it to the battery. The stealth killfile spread out to cover them.

The doors slid open. The guards stationed on either side of the elevator peered inside. Everyone held their breath...

The guards looked at each other, shrugged, and settled back in place. The door slowly closed. Everyone breathed out.

Robot Girl leaned in and slapped her hand on the button panel. "Keeping the door closed, keeping us in place."

"Right. Everybody, put your fingers in your ears and go la-la-la," said Kid Killswitch.

"...why!?" said Super Scary Dazzle Bird, throwing his hands in the air. "This isn't the kind of--"

"Just do it, nerd!" Kid Killswitch rolled her eyes. 

Kid Kindle turned. "Kid E, what do you--"

"La la la la-- were we not supposed to yet?"

Super Scary Dazzle Bird sighed. "Okay, okay, fine... la la la la..."

"I gotta keep my hand here," said Robot Girl, "but I'll turn off my audio inputs, okay?"

"Sure yeah whatever." Kid Killswitch waited until everyone was la-la-la-ing, and turned to Brunhilda. "Okay. Get up, Captain Killfile."

"I..." She took in a shuddering breath, let it out. Too late to deny it and she didn't have the composure anyway. She didn't even feel as shocked as she should. "How?"

Kid Killswitch rolled her eyes again. "We know who we're supposed to be. You think I don't know that face from splashing cold water on it at three in the morning, wondering when I would start feeling the urge to Go Bad?"

"...fuck..." The guilt stabbed right back into her brain. "sorry."

"Look--" Kid Killswitch shook her head and made a pushing-it-away motion. "Don't worry about it. I don't think there's anybody who didn't get their parents' anxieties. Maybe Kid E. Anyway, that's not what I wanted to say and we don't have much time." She ran her hand thru her hair, looking off to the side. "I read that interview. I wanted to know who you were and why you did it and I dug that up and... it made sense."

Brunhilda blinked, a bit of the haze of grief and guilt lifting, replaced by intrigued confusion. "...seriously?" She actually found a copy after twenty years? How-- wait, it made sense?

"Yeah. Like, I dunno if I agree with you twenty years on, but like, you were clearly not crazy, you clearly had a good goal in mind, you were clearly tryin'a help." She grinned that same always-a-bit-smug grin. "After I read it I didn't have quite as many nightmares."

"...wow." The huge weight hanging on Brunhilda's nerves and bones started to rise off a bit. "Y'know, you're the first one who's ever said that?"

"Not surprised. Controversial shit, and you were shooting it into the void. You didn't have anybody to talk over ideas with, did ya?"

"I mean..." She sighed. "The Saviors, but..."

"Yeah. They didn't get it." She looked over her shoulder, at everyone going 'la la la'. "It's different with these nerds. They support my stupid ideas, even if they give me shit for them. And I support theirs, even if they're morons half the time."

"Yeah..." Brunhilda was... jealous and happy at the same time. Today was just a smorgasbord of new emotions, huh. "You don't have to be like me."

"Hey, look." Kid Killswitch stuck her finger in Brunhilda's face. Jeez, she couldn't have been this rude, right? "My point is? I want to be like you."

"...kid." Brunhilda squinted in disbelief. "Thanks for being nice to the crazy lady, but. I just broke down crying because I fucked up the world so bad."

"EXACTLY, crazy lady!" Kid Killswitch gesticulated passionately. "You fucked up and you know it and now you're gonna try and fix it, right?"

"..." Flashes of what she'd done - the blanket, formed from her own resentment and pain wrapping around the world. "I don't think I can..." But under that pain... that purpose. To be the hand that reached out. "But... fuck it. Whatever I can do, I'll do." She breathed out, and a little more of that awful weight floated away. "That's who I am now. Someone who makes up for the Killfile."

"Right." Kid Killswitch nodded firmly. "That's who I want to be. Someone who makes mistakes and makes up for it and keeps going." She looked Brunhilda in the eye. "A hero."

Brunhilda sucked in her breath. "Damn. How are you this smart when you just came out of a tube?"

Kid Killswitch giggled, with that bit of familiar bubbly snottiness. She'd missed feeling that way. "I got it from you, bozo. I literally have your brain."

"Right." Brunhilda shook herself out, ran her hands thru her hair. "Well... thanks."

Kid Killswitch snerked. "Don't thank me, I'm being selfish. The others get to be clones of heroes, why shouldn't I?" She reached out a hand. "C'mon. Get up... Ghost Exterminator."

Brunhilda grinned and took the hand, pulling herself up. She still didn't feel like a good person, exactly. But hell. She didn't have to be, to be a hero.

Kid Killswitch tapped Kid E on the shoulder, and they got the others to stop la-la-la-ing while Brunhilda smoothed herself out. Super Scary Dazzle Bird fluffed out his cape irritably. "So what was that about?"

"Simple. Remember when Kid E told us about secret weaknesses, like Captain Minority being vulnerable to artificial vanilla flavor?" Kid Killswitch gestured to Brunhilda. "Well, Ghosty here just got hit with her secret weakness, and I figured out what it was and helped her out."

"'Cause you're so smart," grinned Kid Kindle, and held out his fist.

"'Cause I'm so smart!" grinned Kid Killswitch, and bumped it.

"And you didn't wanna expose the secret to everybody!" Kid Enthusiastic pumped his fists. "Good job!"

"Yeah, nice, there's problems," said Robot Girl, hand still on the panel. "The mayor gave in and there's a chopper that's gonna set down on the roof in like two minutes with the money."

"I mean, better for her to get away with the money than for people to get hurt," said Action Lad.

"Yeah," said Brunhilda, cracking her knuckles. "But even better to kick her ass."

"Just tell me when," said Robot Girl.

"Everybody!" called out Kid Enthusiastic gleefully, even though they were all literally right there. "Cool team pose!"

"Come on," groused Kid Killswitch, but she was grinning. She and Kid Kindle lined up on one side of Kid Enthusiastic, Super Scary Dazzle Bird and Action Lad on the other, forming a V. Brunhilda got over on the left side of the door, mirroring Robot Girl on the left. All seven of them got into action stances, and Robot Girl took her hand off the door.

With a ding, the door opened. One of the goons was kneeling down, whistling, examining the mechanism. She looked up, still whistling...

And Robot Girl's metal fist plowed into her chin, knocking her back and away.

The other goon straightened up, going for the ray gun at her side. "Ey, it's some kinda ghost!"

"More like a Ghost Exterminator!" Brunhilda's gauntleted knuckles impacted the goon's stomach. The banter was comforting.

"Oofda!" She went down too, and Super Scary Dazzle Bird and Kid Killswitch grabbed the dropped ray guns. The seven net.heroes ran down the hall and Action Lad kicked the door in.

The fake Captain Killfile was gloating at the cameras, as her goons moved her machine onto a dolly. "Thank you for your service, Cleveland! You've got a lovely city here - hope it stays that way, haha!"

Kid Killswitch lifted the ray gun she'd grabbed, aimed, fired it at the impostor... only for the beam to fade into nothing before it hit her!

"Shit!" said Brunhilda. "She's got a personal defense killfile!"

"Ha-hah!" the impostor crowed, turning to face them, pumping her fist in glee. "We have guests! Blacklisters, activate the Killfile Killfile!" 

One of the goons hit a switch on the big machine, and Brunhilda felt a soft wave of dampening energy roll over the room - dropping the Killfile that kept them hidden.

"Looks like we're doing this the hard way, guys!" Kid Enthusiastic leapt into the fray, and the team followed in his wake of morale.

She turned to the camera and gave it a wink. "Now the whole city will see the true might of the legendary-- Captain Killfile!!"

Of course she had to keep saying that, grumbled Brunhilda. And now "killfile" didn't sound like a word anymore.

Robot Girl lashed out with metal claws, slicing ray guns in two. "You have a team name for your minions? That's way too retro, lady."

"I dunno, though." Action Lad took the hilt from the scabbard he wore, and pulled out an enormous pen with a sword-like hilt and a glowing blue tip. He inscribed a name in the air, writing "Linguini Lass" with liquid light, in loopy, flowing cursive. "I'd say it's so retro it's cool again." He pulled the pen away, and the looping script flowed into his body, outlining him in neon blue. His limbs stretched out, noodle-like, to entangle the goons.

Kid Kindle shot empowering energy into the bodies of his teammates. "Yeah! I'm glad we got a net.villain with some style!"

Robot Girl knocked two goons' heads together and sighed. "Yeah, that's what I thought you'd say."

Brunhilda scooted sideways in the fray. "Hey," she murmured to Kid Killswitch, "I got an idea."

"I'm listening..."

Super Scary Dazzle Bird was attempting more shots at the impostor, reasoning that if the Killfile Killfile had killfiled their killfile, then her own killfile must also be killfiled. (And now "killfile" *really* didn't look like a word anymore.) Unfortunately, said impostor had made it over to the Kill-O-Ray, which seemed to be protected by a non-killfile-based forcefield, and was flipping switches and cackling.

Brunhilda stepped directly in front of the cameras. She summoned all the performative net.hero drama she was capable of, and pointed dramatically at the impostor with her right hand, bare now, her index finger aligned perfectly with her target. "Stop right there! I know you're not the real Captain Killfile!"

The impostor's body stiffened, and she spun around, her manic grin a bit stiffer and less real than it had been a moment ago. "Hah!" She straightened, tossing her arm so that her sparkly cape billowed dramatically. "And why would you make such a foolish proclamation? Some kind of net.hero trickery?"

"No." The heavy weight of grief and guilt was laying against Brunhilda's chest. But she knew, now. She'd let guilt fester in her, guilt over not being the one to fix the world all by herself, and it had lead to a lot of terrible things. You were supposed to share the weight of the world, because it belonged to everybody; you weren't supposed to hold it up alone until it crushed you and everybody else in the process. She didn't need to be the one to solve everything. She just needed to let out the knowledge, the feelings, she was holding inside - spread them to the world, as far as she could, and let everyone know the truth.

"It's because..." Brunhilda pulled down her hood, and looked up at the impostor. "Because my name is Brunhilda Ampulle. And I..." She looked directly into the camera. "I was Captain Killfile."

Everything was quiet for a moment.

"...wait, what!?" shouted Kid Kindle, before dodging yet another kick by a Blacklister.

"You..." the impostor's eyes narrowed. She ripped the gaudy cape and hood off, tossing it on the floor. From her belt she pulled a metal tube and hit a button on it, and out popped a blade of searing gray-white nothingness that hurt the eyes to look at - coherent Killfile Energy. "It's YOUR FAULT!"

Action Lad undropped his jaw. "G-- C-- Ghost Exterminator, catch!" He tossed his pen-sword thru the air.

Brunhilda caught it as it came down, just in time to block the impostor's blade. "Yeah, it was. All my fault." She danced back, parried, thrusted. "What's your story?"

"Jessica Blackstone, heiress to the scientific traditions of Patricia Blackstone!" Jessica dodged the thrust, going in with big, wild slashes - not as wild as they seemed, though, and Brunhilda had to twist and counter with expert timing. "I was eleven when the Killfile went up! My mother had been an expert in the field of killfile weapons research! Courted by governments, showered in grant money, treated like a queen! And I, her princess! We had money and wealth! And then it all went away!" 

"Gotcha. This is a revenge story." Brunhilda's attention was focused. She didn't think about the plan going off in the background, just on the woman in front of her. Keep her talking. Keep her fighting. "So what happened?"

"Hah, as if you didn't know!" The two blades, energy and narrative, locked against each other, and the two fighters were face to face. Jessica shouted in Brunhilda's face, little flecks of spittle flying - ew. "With the great Killfile up, killfile technology lost much of its power, for it's difficult to put a killfile over a killfile! My mother knew that problem could be cracked, but the powers that were did not care! We lost our prestige, our wealth! I had to go to public school!"

"...right. And then?" Brunhilda pushed back and fell into a defensive position, her back to the machine. She's ranting now, let it happen, no matter how dumb it is. 

"And then the Killfile fell, and I dedicated my life to cracking the problem! I became the world's preeminent specialist in Killfile Energy! And I swore I would use the position to take back the wealth and power that you had denied me!" She was far too angry at Brunhilda to attack her now, glaring, yelling, wanting her to hear every word. "I'm greater than you ever were! Stronger! Smarter!"

Kid Killswitch stepped forward, on Brunhilda's left. "Hey, bitch," she called to what's-her-name. "If you're so smart, do you know what happens when you bring together two rapidly fluctuating opposite-polarity killfiles?"

"...yeah," said Jessica, looking at Kid Killswitch like she was an idiot for asking. "You create a standing watchlist wave that destroys... destroys any killfiles--"

She jumped towards them but it was too late. Kid Killswitch lifted the right-hand gauntlet that Brunhilda had given her, the one she'd spent the fight rewiring to the opposite polarity and setting to fluctuate. Brunhilda lifted her left-hand gauntlet, still radiating Killfile Energy, and slammed them together.

A sphere of un-energy burst from the point of contact, knocking them apart, knocking back the impostor, knocking down the Blacklisters and the Ultimate Saviors. The room shone, dazzling and bright, everything standing out against everything else. The Kill-O-Ray sparked and smoked, and with a pop! an apple reappeared.

Everything was quiet for a few moments. Then Kid Killswitch pulled herself up in front of the cameras. "Hey, folks... hope you enjoyed. City is safe, Captain Killfile is no more, and..." She thumped her chest. "You can call me Captain Killfile now." She clicked off the camera and sighed. "That feels good."

Kid Enthusiastic hopped up next, running across the room. "OMG good job!" He pulled out a glob of green goo and used it to stick Jessica's hands together and stick her to a pillar.

"...hey..." Jessica muttered, woozily.

He tossed another glob of goo between his hands, watching Brunhilda as she pulled herself up. "Don't suppose I need to stick you in place for the cops too~"

Brunhilda shook her head. "Think you probably guessed that I'm not gonna be fighting heroes anytime soon."

He giggled, but his eyes were a bit more serious, looking her up and down. "Yeah... I don't think you are." He put the goo away. "But what are you gonna be doing?"

"Better question, what are we gonna be doing," said Super Scary Dazzle Bird, dusting off his cape. "What happened to keeping a low profile?"

"That's net.heroing," said Action Lad. "This was gonna be big one way or another. Can I have that back?" He nodded to the pen-sword.

"Oh, sure." Brunhilda handed it back.

"Wait wait wait wait wait," said Kid Kindle, popping up. "Are we just gonna ignore that she just confessed to being Captain Killfile?" He turned to Kid Kill-- nope, she was Captain Killfile now. "Why do you want the name?"

Captain Killfille grinned. "Right of conquest. Claiming my heritage. And maybe I just wanna shock the norms."

Brunhilda grinned. "Hey, I'm not using it."

Action Lad grinned. "I guess this really was... the return of Captain Killfile."

Robot Girl covered her face. "Why."

Action Lad shrugged exaggeratedly~ "I've decided to lean into dad jokes."

"Seriously, tho," said Kid Enthusiastic, bouncing in place. "What's your plans? You're pretty clearly messed up, twenty years out of time by the look of it-- you gotta tell me how that happened-- and you probably don't have anywhere to go."

Brunhilda rubbed her face. "Yeah, you're right. And I gotta.." She closed her eyes, and felt the pain suddenly well up again, felt a tear threatening to form in the corner of her eye. The weight wasn't gone just 'cause she'd done one thing. But it didn't hurt quite as much.

"Actually..." She rubbed her eyes. "I think I was wrong, before. I think I definitely need to be taken into custody." She looked over the six of them. "But the 2019 cops sound like they suck. So how about y'all taking me in until you can remand me to that net.hero team you've been trying to contact?"

"...oh, good idea," said Action Lad, doing his post-battle stretches.

"I suppose that's the safest option," harrumphed Super Scary Dazzle Bird, crossing his arms.

Robot Girl rolled her eyes. "I guess--"

"WAIT WAIT WAIT." Kid Kindle skidded in front of Brunhilda, waving his hands at the rest of them. "You're really saying that we literally take in the biggest bad guy of all time!? Right after-- ALL THAT!?"

Captain Killfile stepped forward. "Dude." She looked put her hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eye. "I trust her."

"..." He siiiiiiiighed dramatically, flopping his head back and rolling his eyes. "Fiiiiiiine. I guess somebody's gotta keep an eye on her."

"Welp, that's settled!" Kid E clapped his hands. "Now... let's scram already, the cops will be here soon!"

"Right!" The Ultimate Saviors clattered down the hallway, but Kid Enthusiastic took Brunhilda's arm before she could follow.

"By the way," he said. "Hildy. If it's okay to call you that."

"Heh... you can call me anything you want, now, I guess," she said. "What is it?"

"Just wanted to let you know. Felix?" He smiled big up at her. "He's the leader of the LNH!"

One more burst of cold surprise for the evening. "...ah heck." She'd have to face him, eventually. She'd have to apologize... She could feel the tears welling up again, and quickly rubbed her eyes. He'd survived. He... her brother was okay. "Always... always knew he'd make somethin' of himself."

"Yeah." He smiled up at her, and took her hand. "Let's go, Ghost Exterminator."

And they walked off into the chill winter night.

[voyages-extraordinaires]

C:R ~VE~ Chapter 45

“I feel disgusting…” I pace back and forth across the room the guards led us to. In actuality, Conseil is bunking with Ned and Barbicane farther down the hall, but I asked him to stay with me until I calm down.

“He was listening to EVERYTHING, Conseil!” I turn towards the man sitting on my bed looking thoughtful as always. “I could bathe for months and I don’t think my skin would stop crawling!”

I hug myself before sitting down next to Conseil. “What’s worse is all those awful things he said. Conseil, what should I do?”

“I hate giving advice,” Conseil says flatly. “And I wasn’t there for the majority of it, anyhow.”

He taps me on the shoulder and gestures for me to turn around, which I do. He begins to undo my braid and thread it out through his fingers before taking a hairbrush to it.

“Where did you even find a brush?” I say with a laugh.

“I like to think I’m prepared for anything,” he replies.

The soothing motion of the hairbrush begins to make me relax, and I slump forward slightly.

It’s still difficult for me to speak, though: “You really weren’t planning on killing Nemo…?”

“Of course not,” says Conseil. “Believe me, I’m not proud of such underhandedness, but Ned’s actions were… well, they weren’t unexpected but I was still surprised… whatever that means.”

Silence settles back in and I close my eyes, using the time to think about everything that’s happened.

“I don’t need to be protected.”

“Yes, you’ve said that,” replies Conseil.

I shake my head, making him fuss as he has to sort my hair back out.

“I’m not the only one who’s said that,” I say. “I think I understand where you’re coming from a little more, Conseil.”

“Do you?” he asks.

“Sometimes, you want so badly to protect someone from the bad choices they’re making. You might say or do things that you swear is in their best interest, but you forget to listen to them in the process…”

I turn around and look at my best friend. “I love Nemo. I know that makes you worry, but I can’t stop loving him.”

Conseil just sighs and pulls strands of my hair out of the brush.

“But I shouldn’t have left you behind,” I continue. “I think I have a better understanding of what you went through.”

Conseil looks at me. “Professor, please don’t say things like that until you have to sail around the Atlantic Ocean for a month looking for any sign of a submarine! Oh, and all that with a man twice your size who is an absolute brute and—”

“And… calls you sweetheart?”

Conseil turns me back around to give my hair another brushing, but not before I see his cheeks redden.

-----

“Putting this place to good use!”

The next day, Ned swings his arms happily as he looks around the shooting range. “Okay, Polly, over here.”

“When did I become Polly to you?” I ask as I follow the large man.

“About the tenth time I heard Impey call you that,” he replies. “Okay, we’re going to have a shooting lesson.”

My eyes widen. “Shooting lesson?”

“Yeah, like pew-pew? Ever shot a pistol before?”

“I was taught how to use a hunting rifle when I was younger, but I never used it,” I say. “I’m really not one for violence.”

“Yeah? What about defense? What if your beau decides it’d be fun to try and blow you up?”

“Ned Land, that’s--”

“You don’t think it could happen? Fine, then what about that Hatteras guy? What if he shows up under your bed one night?”

“…………”

Ned Land and I stare each other down before I slowly reach out my hand and say: “Give me that gun.”

Ned Land puts the gun in my hand, and I’m surprised by how heavy it is.

“Okay, now aim it at the target.” Ned takes a step back and watches as I lift the gun.

Then he bursts out laughing.

“What, are you going to a fencing match or something? Does m’lady want me to fetch her rapier?”

I glare at him out of the corner of my eyes. “There are a million reasons to laugh at me, Ned, and most of them don’t require you taking the time to put a gun in my hand.” I lower the weapon and begin to walk away when Ned shoos me back to the target.

“No, no, come on. Here, spread your legs apart and don’t lock those knees up. Keep them loose, bend them a bit. Use both hands to hold the pistol. You don’t want to look tough, you want to be effective.”

I follow Ned’s instructions and take a deep breath when he takes a step back.

“Okay, on the count of three, I want you to fire. One—”

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait a minuuuuuuute!”

My breath is gone in a moment, but I’m too nervous to tear my eyes away from the target so I can only hear Nemo as he swaggers in.

“Wheeeeeere are you aiming, my dear? You’re more likely to hit the ceeeeeeeiling than any person with a stance like that!”

His words are so acidic that my chest burns when he calls me ‘my dear’.

“Looks fine to me,” says Ned.

“It looks fine to yooooooooou because you’re a 200cm tall imbecile who can’t looooooook beyond his nooooooooose! Or maybe you’re so used to harpooning that you’ve gotten your angles mixed uuuuup! Either waaaaaay…”

I shiver when Nemo steps behind me and put his hands on my arms.

“Lower,” he says. “Looooooooooower…”

I bring the pistol down to the height he insists on.

“The man was right about oooooone thing… accuracy over style is beeeeeest for beginners. Don’t aim for the heeeeead…”

He pokes the back of my head.

“Aim for the torsoooo…”

He drags his finger down the back of my neck and the length of my spine, making my hairs stand on end.

He puts his hands on my hips and moves one of his legs in-between mine, making my eyelids flutter for a split second until I realize he’s trying to fix my stance.

“My sweetheart wouldn’t forgive me for leaving you alone with that creep,” Ned mutters, crossing his arms. “But I really don’t want to stick around for this. Just remember, Polly: that guy’s half the reason I wanted to teach you how to fire a gun in the first place.”

“She would neeeeeeeeeever have shot me with such a bad stance!” Nemo guffaws. “Shoo.”

I hear Ned Land groan as he exits, shutting the door behind him.

“I wasn’t planning on—”

“You shush,” says Nemo. He runs his hands back up my body and adjusts my shoulders while muttering: “And people say myyyyyyyyyy posture is bad…”

It feels so good for him to touch me again. Even if it’s just for a lesson, I never want to forget this sensation. His hands are so warm I can feel the heat through the fabric. I’m losing my mind just being close to him again.

Damn it all! Damn Aleister and damn me too! When Nemo lets go of my shoulders I lower the gun to look back at him.

He looks a little surprised—at least, that’s what the noise that comes out of his mouth tells me—but he still bends towards me as I arch up to press my lips to his.

Closed mouth, lips to lips. It’s still so wonderful that my mouth aches for more as we part.

The silence that follows is unbearable.

I finally speak to fill it: “Hatteras wanted me to tell him if I was a good person,”

I’m surprised when the edges of Nemo’s lips tug into a smile and he lets out a giggle. “Now you’ve got meeeeeeee curious, too! What did you tell hiiiiiiiiim?”

“I don’t know…” I say. “He wanted to know if a person could still be good if they willingly stay at the sides of those who hurt others. Do I really do that...? I don’t know how to answer him. What do you think, Nemo? Am I…”

I look away. “Am I a good person?”

Nemo tilts his head and idly toys with the gun that—when did he take that?! I look from my empty hands to his awful grin.

“I have a better questiooooooon for you, my darling,” he says. “Do you caaaaaaare whether you are or not?”

I look up at him.

‘That crazed, dangerous grin that you fell in love with.’

Hatteras’ quiet voice shoots through my mind like ice, and my stomach lurches. A realization hits me, no matter how much I want to keep it buried.

I take a deep breath. “I don’t. I really don’t care… not one bit.”

Nemo shrugs, swinging the gun back and forth on his finger like it’s a toy instead of a weapon. “The definiiiiiiition of a ‘good person’ is uuuuusually dictated by victors. The magnetic puuuuull of a moral compass is skewed by politics, biases, wealth… that’s why I laughed when the Royal Society tooooold me I didn’t have ooooone. My ‘ethics’, if they can be called that, are dictated by nobody but myself.”

“And what are your ethics telling you now?” I tilt my head.

Nemo scrunches his nose and looks deep in thought.

“Weapons are fuuuuuuuuuuun,” he finally says as he sets the gun down.

“That’s… it?”

“That’s aaaaaaaaaaall I feel the need to tell you.”

His serious voice is a grim reminder of the distance between us. That even though we were touching only moments before, our minds were separated by a valley of distrust.

And our hearts…

My thought process is interrupted by Nemo grabbing my wrists and yanking me up so I’m barely on my tiptoes and staring into the cold metal of his goggles.

I try to tell him that I really do want to understand him, but when I open my mouth he covers it with his own, sliding his tongue in so deep that I’m afraid I’ll choke. I squeeze my eyes shut and try to fend his tongue off with my own, but this only makes him moan and grip my wrists tighter.

I flush as I realize that I’m moaning as well, though it’s drowned out by his volume. He must hear it, though, because when he finally pulls back his breathless smile tells me that he knows everything.

“I really… reeeeeeeeeeally wish you hadn’t pissed me off…”

He leans forward and runs his tongue over my lower lip before taking it into his mouth and nipping it with such sharpness that I can taste my own blood when he kisses me again.

“Even now I’m a slave to the beauty of sciiieeencee…..” his voice is muffled by our kisses. “You don’t understand me at all, and yeeeet…”

He pulls me to stand on top of his boots so we’re closer in height before kissing me again, this time gently as he wraps his arms around me.

“You have my body completely ensnared… feeeeeeeel it?”

He moves his leg and pushes me against him, and I nod breathlessly.

“You’re the biology professooooor, Polly-chaaaaaan. Tell me, what should we do noooooow?”

I throw my arms around his neck and kiss him so hard that even his confused noise is crushed under my lips. Nemo stumbles back against the wall, making it easier for me to keep his shoulders pinned as I continue to kiss him.

But why do I feel so empty? He wants it, I want it, but… it’s not the same if there’s no connection behind it, no desire to express love for one another.

Even as he runs his fingers through my hair and practically rips my braid undone, I think about how much I would rather hold him and tell him how much he means to me. Something he surely wouldn’t listen to right now.

“I…” I keep on kissing him, despite tears welling in my eyes. “I miss you so much!”

I wrap my arms around his waist before I melt into sobs, burying my head in his shoulder.

It’s a long time before Nemo shifts.

“Mmm…” he turns his head and rests his cheek on my shoulder. “It’s so nice to be the ‘wanted’ ooooone…”

He gently begins to pet my hair, shushing me like I’m a fussing child.

“Do you know what feels even better, though… my Pauline?”

I lean my head into his neck, enjoying his warmth again. It’s been too long.

He continues to pet my hair as he murmurs: “Holding that power over someone else.”

I furrow my eyebrows as I try to make sense of what he’s saying before I’m suddenly shoved back. As I stumble, Nemo grabs the pistol and aims.

I’m not breathing as I feel the bullet whizz past my body and thunk into something hard. Trembling, I look over my shoulder to see a small device in the wall, now smoking and sputtering sparks.

“Scaaaaaaaaaared?” His mad smile widens. “Gooooood…” He tilts his head as if to examine me before straightening up. “But I really was just tired of our intimaaaaate moments being broadcast…”

“Hatteras,” I mutter. I look back at Nemo, trying to think of what to say next.

“Nemo, I’m…” I take a deep breath. “I’m sorry I didn’t try to understand. I was just so angry and hurt, I…”

He cuts me off with a sharp wave of his hand before turning on his heels.

“See you laaaaaater… Aronnax.”

He looks away, humming to himself like I’m not even there anymore.

[thewritingsofafemalehunter]

Just a Dream

Warnings: none

Word count: 1393

Parings: Dean x reader

A blissful sigh escaped (Y/N) as she rolled over in bed, snuggling into the warm body currently wrapped around her. The body besides her shifted slightly getting more comfortable their arm tightening around her waist and their face nuzzling into the side of her neck causing her to giggle softly. Opening her eyes she moved away from the face in her neck and looked up at the man besides her who was looking back down at her a smile on his face. Bending down he placed a butterfly kiss on her cheek causing her to giggle again and he smiled before placing several more all over her face. She laughed as she placed her hands on his naked chest lightly shoving him away and he laughed as he continued to place butterfly kisses on her face.

“Dean, stop it!” She giggled shoving at him again and he laughed finally stopping and pulling her closer to him, resting his chin on top of her head.

“Sorry baby, I just couldn’t help it you’re just so beautiful when you smile and adorable when you giggle.” Dean muttered moving his chin long enough to kiss the top of her head, (Y/N) sighed contently cuddling into his chest ignoring the odd sensation in her stomach.

“Whatever you say babe.” She muttered and Dean chuckled the sound vibrating his chest and causing a large smile to spread across her face as a silence fell across the two of them. For a long while they just laid there in bed cuddling content smiles on their faces, all good things must come to an end eventually and that’s exactly what happened when the sound of little feet pounding against the hardwood floor reached their ears seconds before their door was flung open.

“Mommy! Daddy! Wake up!” (Y/D/N) shouted as she jumped on to their bed rapidly crawling her way towards them as she then flopped down on top of them causing them both to groan. The two of them pretending to still be asleep causing their daughter to groan and shake them while she whined.

 “Mommy! Daddy! Waaaaake uuuuup!” She whined shaking them and (Y/N) giggled opening her eyes to look at Dean.

“The gig is up sweetheart.” Dean said as he let go of his wife making room for their daughter who quickly slid into the spot between the two of them.

“Dang.” (Y/N) said as she opened her eyes looking at her daughter who was smiling happily at them her light brown hair all messy from sleep, that weird feeling returning as she looked at her daughter and Dean but again she ignored it again chopping it up to just the beginning of the flu or something.

“I’m hungry.” (Y/D/N) whined looking at her parents and (Y/N) and Dean looked at each other small smiles on her face.

“You take her, I’ll go make breakfast.” (Y/N) said throwing off the covers and standing up as Dean grabbed a hold of (Y/D/N) roaring like a fake monster making (Y/D/N) screech in laughter. (Y/N) smiled to herself shaking her head lightly as she walked out of the room and downstairs.

~Later that day~

(Y/N) stood on her back porch a loving smile on her face and her arms crossed comfortably over her chest as she watched Dean play with their two year old on the swing set. The adorable giggles of their daughter floated through the air on the comfortable breeze, Dean’s chuckles soon joined their daughters as he pushed her on the swings.

“Higher daddy! Higher!” (Y/D/N) shouted as she gripped the chains of the swing tightly and her light brown hair swirled around her face, and Dean chuckled.

“Alright sweetheart,hang on.” He said as he pushed her a little harder than before and (Y/N) watched as she went up a fraction of an inch higher than before that smile never leaving (Y/N)’s face as she watched.

“Higher! Higher!” (Y/D/N) called again and again Dean obliged pushing her just a little higher. 

“Having fun you two?” (Y/N) asked as she walked off the porch and towards them, Dean looked over at her a wide goofy grin appearing on his face as he quickly looked her over.

“Hey, sweetheart, what’s up?” He asked as he leaned over slightly kissing her cheek before he returned to pushing (Y/D/N).

“Hi mommy!” (Y/D/N) called out as she continued to swing and (Y/N) giggled lightly.

“Hi baby girl, and nothing dear just wanted to come see how my two favorite people were doing and to tell you that lunch is ready.” (Y/N) answered, Dean looked at her skeptically like he didn’t fully believe her but she ignored the look, knowing that he was just being the overly concerned husband that he always was and she gave him a small smile. Truth was though that she hadn’t exactly been feeling all that well today something had just felt wrong all day, and she hadn’t been able to shake that feeling no matter how hard she tried. And it had been that way since she had woken up this morning wrapped up in Dean’s arms but of course she wasn’t going to tell him that he would confine her to her bed. 

“Yay! Lunch!” (Y/D/N) shouted as Dean stopped the swings for her and she jumped down from the swings, running up to (Y/N) she grabbed her hand and started trying to tug her back towards the house with all her little might and (Y/N) smiled at her before allowing her to pull her towards the house again.

“You sure hun?” Dean asked as he followed (Y/N) and his daughter inside.

“I’m positive.” She said as they walked into the kitchen where three sandwiches were sat on plates on the table. (Y/D/N) quickly let go of her hand though and ran up to the table, pulling out her chair and climbing up into it.

“Alright, if you say so.” Dean said as he walked up to his seat and sat down. (Y/N)’s steps faltered slightly as she walked to her seat, her hand flying to her stomach the world pitching in front of her and the weird feeling inside of her suddenly intensifying. She squeezed her eyes closed against the dizziness and when she opened her eyes again, she screamed slightly the face of a strange tattooed man flashing in front of her before it disappeared. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest, her eyes darting around the kitchen afraid that that thing whatever it was would come back. Eventually her eyes landed on Dean who was gently grabbing her shoulder staring at her a look of worry and concern on his face but they quickly looked away again paranoia joining the weird feeling in her stomach.

“(Y/N) what’s wrong?” Dean asked, his hands moving from her shoulders to her face, gently cupping her cheeks and forcing her frantic eyes to focus on him solely on him. As she stared at him she slowly calmed down her heart rate slowing.

“Daddy, what’s wrong with mommy?” (Y/D/N) asked looking at (Y/N) worriedly and Dean cast a glance over his shoulder looking at (Y/D/N) who stood behind him looking up at (Y/N) in worry.

“I don’t know sweetheart but she needs to wake up, please wake up.” (Y/N)’s face scrunched up in confusion as she looked at Dean the world blurring and refocusing constantly and she felt like she was floating the world around her. The background constantly changing as the world blurred and focused going from her kitchen to some dark and dingy room.

“Mommy are you going to wake up? Please wake up.” She looked down at her daughter who was suddenly standing besides her looking up at her the world still blurring and focusing again her heart hammering in her chest and she felt like she was floating. She was confused about why her daughter sounded like her husband and she looked back at Dean who was looking at her in concern, her eyes rolled up into the back of her head her eyelids slipping closed.

[zonerobotnik]

So after posting about how Danny is way too old for Dipper, I then proceeded to make a one-shot where DANNY cares, but Phantom doesn't give a damn. Enjoy this student-teacher relationship one-shot.

*He's staring at us again.* Yes, Danny was fully aware. He focused on the lesson - well, tried to, anyway. Between Dipper Pines' staring and Phantom teasing him, it was a bit distracting. *You know what he wants. And since when have human laws applied to us?* Uh, how about since he was half-human? Danny took the chance to roll his eyes at his ghost-half as he looked at the board to write something down. *We could go to him, you know. Invisible...intangible...no one would know. You know he wants it.* Nope, nope, Danny was not having those images in his head in the middle of class, shooting that down RIGHT now. *We could even come to him while he sleeps. He can think it was all a pleasant dream.* Again, NOPE. Danny glanced at the dreamy-eyed boy and sighed. Of all the students to grow a crush on him, why did it have to be the really smart one that always helped him out? Oh, wait, that was ALWAYS the case. Uuuuuugh. The bell rang and he set down the ruler he'd been using as a pointer. "Alright, we'll pick this up again tomorrow. For now, read chapter 15, and make sure to get plenty of studying in for the test this Thursday." The students got up and left the room with their books, all but one. Dipper Pines hung back to help him clean up after class. Why did his class have to be the last one of the day? "Here, let me help you with that.” Dipper said, walking up to him and picking up the whiteboard eraser. “Sure, go ahead.” Danny walked over to drag the desk he had moved out of the way back into place. “My sister's got art club after school...” Dipper glanced at him. “Do you think, maybe, I could stay with you until she's done?” Danny sighed and went to pick up another eraser. “I have to go home, you know.” “Oh...I guess you do. Probably have a wife and kids at home.” Dipper nodded. “No, not really.” Danny shook his head. “Actually, I was planning to sit down and watch a movie.” He then froze as he realized something. 'Shit.' He thought. 'I should've just let him keep on thinking I wasn't single! Fuuuuuuck.' *Hahahahahahahaha! You fucked up, Fenton!* 'Shut up, shut up, shut uuuuup.' Danny thought in a sing-song tone. “I...guess I could stay a bit longer. Wouldn't want anything to happen to you.” He said, moving the eraser away from the now-clean whiteboard. Well. Now he didn't have anything else to do. Well, he supposed he could clean the room, but it was always impeccable by the end of class. That's the beauty of not working with chemicals. “Thank you.” Dipper said softly, and he looked over to see the boy was blushing as he stood next to him. Okay, he really needed to do something here. *Yeah, we do.* Okay, first of all, fuck off, Phantom. Now, he really needed to make it known to Dipper Pines that this...relationship he wanted wasn't going to happen. Dipper was 16, he was 23. It was wrong. Way more than wrong, it was illegal. *What the human laws don't know never hurt them.* Okay, once again, SHUT THE FUCK UP, PHANTOM. He wasn't sure at what point his ghost half decided to fuck all human laws, but it had became dangerously risky to split with his ghost-half after he caught him seducing a teenager. Like what he was talking about doing right now. Maybe he just felt perpetually like a teenager, maybe that explained it. Dan Phantom was a ten year old in an adult's body, so maybe, even if you change physically, you don't age mentally once you're dead? Ugh, this was complicated. And Dipper just said something to him and he missed it. Damn it. “Sorry, what was that?” He asked. “I said that I really enjoy spending time with you.” Dipper said, fidgeting with the zipper of his vest. “You make me feel...appreciated. And warm. Talking to you, hearing you teach me things...I want to learn more.” Wow, okay. Maybe he should just pretend he was spacing out again. Wait, would that be rude? No, come on, you have to tell the kid how you really feel. *Or you could leave it to me.* Wait, what? No, no, no-- His eyes flashed green before he smiled and placed a hand on Dipper's shoulder. “I like talking to you, too. You're a very bright boy, and you ask questions others would never dare to.” Dipper blushed a bit. “Really?” “Do you hear any of those others asking your questions?” He knelt down a bit, looking him in the eyes. “I mean it, Dipper. You're a very special boy.” He moved his hand up to cup Dipper's chin, feeling the warmth of his blushing cheeks under his hand. “And special boys should be rewarded.” He leaned in and kissed his nose. Dipper blushed even picker and Phantom chuckled softly. Imagine if he'd kissed his lips! Ah, humans were such fun! He could feel Fenton fighting for control, but he wasn't done yet. They both knew who was the stronger here. *Phantom, I swear if you do anything to him then I'll split with you and stick you in the Fenton Thermos!* Phantom just smirked a bit and moved his hand from Dipper's chin, trailing it down to the zipper of his vest. “I want to appreciate you some more, Dipper. Would you like that?” He purred, pulling the zipper down slowly, exposing his vulnerable neck. Dipper nodded, his cheeks deliciously pink. “U-Uh-huh.” Phantom leaned in and pressed a kiss to Dipper's neck, making him yelp in surprise. “Shhh. Let's not make any noise, hm? People are still in the building. Unless you'd like to stop now?” He asked against Dipper's neck. “N-No, sir.” Dipper shook his head. “Good. I don't want to stop, either.” Phantom moved his hand down Dipper's chest, slipping his fingers under his shirt. Then he moved his head up, his mouth inches away from Dipper's lips. “Dipper! Art club got canceled, so we can go home now!” Mabel said from outside the door. Dipper and Phantom jolted and Phantom sighed before moving away from Dipper, just as his twin sister threw open the door with a big smile. “Come on, let's go get donuts on the way home!” “Uh...sure.” Dipper nodded, looking up at Danny. “See you tomorrow, Mr. Fenton.” “See you tomorrow.” Phantom smiled, waving as he was pulled out by his enthusiastic sister. His eyes eyes flashed again before Fenton took control again. “Phantom...” He growled. “You're...grounded.” *Yeah, we'll see how long that lasts.* End

[someone1348]

Revenge for the lee mood dearest sibling of mine!

You were just hanging out with Eret and Foolish. Mainly Foolish tell you two different tales from the past, who actually was a wonderful story teller. Both of you sitting in Eret’s castle as the fire roared on to keep you guys warm. You leaned onto Eret a bit more. Getting comfy as you cuddled her, she wrapped her arms around you. Thought didn’t notice he brushed your sides, causing you giggle lightly. They were confused for a second and then notched what happened.

He ran his fingers lightly over your sides up to your underarms, skipping your ribs. This causing a whine, which got a chuckle from Eret. She moved her head on your shoulder and leaned into your ear, “Not yet, sweet little lee”

Foolish looked confused as you began to giggle a bit more and had a blush across your face, “Eret? Is K alright?”

“Hm? Oh yes, just lightly tickling them is all~,” they said in a very soft voice. Foolish eyes lit up at this statement and moved closer to you two, “You want join in too don’t you?”

A nod from the shark boy was all the monarch needed. He warned for him to gentle as honestly she was in a very soft mood. Foolish nodded and slowly moved up and down your sides, as Eret moved their fingers over your underarms, drawing patterns and circles.

“Uuuuup and dowwwwwwn! Uuuuup! Annmmmmd down!” Foolish said giggling a little as he moved up and down your sides lightly. Sometimes forgetting the pattern and tracing shapes there.

“Isn’t this nice? Lightly tickled with your two favorite lers? Tickling your ticklish body allllll over?” Eret whispered into your ear. You blushed more and whined at her words. He chuckled at this, “Awww, did I fluster you? Did I fluster you little lee? Tktktktktktk—“

“Ereeeeet! I want to fluster them too!” Foolish whined as Eret chuckled at his whining. Moving to nibble on your neck lightly as Foolish moved his hands over your stomach and lightly traced, and moved closer you left ear.

“Enjoy the tickles little lee? I bet you arrrrre! I know I love tickling you, I bet Eret dose too! To see your face all blushy and cute!” Foolish teased as Eret stopped his nibbles and nodded. Whispering into your ear too.

“Oh I do very much so love tickling this little lee so much, if I could I would tickle you forever. Sound nice? Tickling you like this forever, held close to us?” Eret said lowly into your ear. Your face flushed a deep red which caused Foolish to giggle.

“Awww! Their face is red again! Soooo cute!” the shark boy said happily. Moving his hands between kneeling your sides and tracing your tummy.

“Very cute~ Now I say we give this cutie some rib tickles, don’t you agree?” the monarch said giving your neck a few nibbles. Foolish nodded and lifted your shirt up.

He went to the left side of ribs, nibbling lightly. Eret placing their hands over the right, tracing up and down. Light scratching the bones. Leaning down to give a small raspberry before returning to tracing.

“Such tasty ribs, wouldn’t you say Foolish?” as she got a mood from the shark.

“Very tasty! Om nom nom!” Foolish teased which made you laughter rise a bit in pitch.

After a bit they stopped. Rubbing away the ghost tickles. Eret wrapping their arms around your middle again, Foolish resting against your left side. Returning to his stories from before. You falling asleep to the warmth of the room, their cuddling, and the stories Foolish was telling. Feeling nice and safe as you drifted off. The two sharing a fond look before falling asleep as well.

:]

Take it!

I'll get you back later! >:]

[judgeredward]

We Are Really Stupid - Crashing Out

It was like any summer school day: boring, never-ending, and stupidly warm. For Nathan ‘Nate’ Waters, it just seemed to drag on and on.

He, like every boy in the school, was dressed in the summer uniform. It was a white short-sleeve shirt with a solid red line going down the side of the arms, along with a red, black and white tie. He wore a pair of black school trousers, and black shoes, which felt like they were on fire. A silver metallic watch was on his left wrist, and a pair of small headphones was around his neck. He had brown-black hair of a decent length, with a few bangs in the fringe to show off his rocky attitude.

He was, at that moment, on the verge of falling asleep, until a balled-up piece of paper hit him on the back of the head, before bouncing down onto his desk. He sighed, before opening the ball. It was his friend’s writing, Ben ‘BD’ Daines.

‘Dude, we gotta get him outta here’

Nate turned to BD, who was a few rows behind him. “How the hell are you gonna do that?” he mouthed to him.

BD was a guy that could be depended on no matter what it was. If you needed a friend, this was the boy to go to. He was a tall, thin guy, with short blond hair, and had a black stud in his right ear in the shape of a card. It had the print of the ace of hearts.

BD shrugged. “I dunno. Where the hell is Rat when ya need him?”

Ryan ‘Rat’ Thomas was one of their other friends. He was a really dim-witted but big-hearted guy. You tell him to jump off a cliff; he’d sprint at the bloody edge. However, for some odd reason, he wasn’t in class.

A vibration in both of their pockets made their brows turn downwards. It was someone texting them. They both sighed, before quickly slipping their phones out. They both had the same text: ‘Shut. Up.’

“Wait, that’s it?”

They both turned to the sender, a girl by the name of Emily ‘Raven’ Rivers. She too was a close friend of Nate, BD and Rat.

Raven had long, black hair, down to her mid back. She was dressed in similar clothes to the boys, except she wore a skirt instead of trousers, had flat black shoes, and her shirt was more form-fitting to her figure, of which BD had confided in Nate that he had fantasised over more than once, even though they were close friends. What he basically meant, Nate had figured, was that he’d knocked one off on her, which was essentially… bloody disgusting.

BD glared at her. “We’re trying to get out of class, numb-skull.”

“Oops.”

Nate sent her a text, asking if she’d got any ideas. She shook her head when she read it.  She thought for a few moments, before she sent both boys a text: ‘8]’

“What?” BD looked up in confusion towards Raven, unsure of what it meant.

Another text came through then. ‘His glasses. You know how easily he gets confused about them.’

‘…Alright. I’ll give it a shot.’ Nate stuck his hand up, before speaking out loud. “Sir, you sure you can read properly? Where are your glasses?”

Mr. Williams looked up from his papers, before looking back at them. He then frowned. “Eh? Where’s my specta-thingamajigy?”

Your specta-what now? Nate thought, totally perplexed by his response. He voiced the same thought out then, just as people in the class were looking up at the conversation.

“My spectacles! My reading implements!”

The glasses?

Mr. Williams looked confused. “Class is dismissed!”

There was the universal look of confusion, before the sound of scraping chairs and chatter broke out. Nate, BD, and Raven looked at each other, bewildered but really happy. How in the hell did that work?!

Mr. Williams left the room first, with a confused look on his face. He seemed to be muttering about where he’d left his glasses, by the sound of it.

The trio left the class soon after, greeted the moment they stepped outside by a blast of fresh, cold air. They all sighed in bliss, bathed in the refreshing wind.

A girl’s voice called Raven by her nickname, which meant it was her best friend, Amelia ‘Amy’ Valentine. She had reddish-brown hair, with similar length to Raven’s. She was certainly the brains of the group, almost always acing tests and getting really high grades. Nate recalled one time that she had cried for a whole day because she got a B. That took a lot of hugging to sort out.

“Hey Amy,” Raven said with a grin. “You seen Rat anywhere?”

Amy shrugged. “Last I saw him was in the common room with Swifty.”

Swifty was the nickname of the final part of their gang, Jonathan McCoy. He was named Swifty due to the fact that he was both the only one so far that can drive as well as speeding pretty much wherever he went in the car. And he tended to talk fast.

BD sighed. “Figures he’d mitch class. C’mon, we’d better get them both before heading off.” None of them had any more lessons for the rest of the day, and were going to Nate’s house, since Nate had a pretty big TV, all three major games consoles, and a lot of food. This was what they all did since coming back for their A-Levels on a Friday: head off early to Nate’s, eat whatever was in the kitchen, get drunk, and wake up the next morning with a sore head.

Nate’s parents worked as housing agents, so Nate pretty much had a lot of money on hold, which was how he was able to buy the food all the time.

The four began to walk to the sixth-form common room, but they met up with Rat and Swifty halfway there.

Rat was called that because… in fact, nobody really knew why, he was just called Rat one day, and it stuck. Some reckoned it was because he had two massive front teeth when he was younger, but there wasn’t any real proof, as his teeth right now were perfectly normal. Rat was wearing a hooded jacket over his shirt, coloured brown, and had light brown, short hair. His eyes matched his hair.

Swifty had the same eyes, but his hair was black, and went down past his shoulders. At heart, Swifty was a rocker, even more so than Nate, proven that he wore a spiked wristband, and a few straps on his other wrist that had band names on them. He’d certainly gone to more rock shows than Nate had.

The two gave the others a stupid grin. “Hey guys,” Rat said, in his usual, slightly dumb-sounding voice. “How was class?”

“You ditched us!” BD said with a gasp. “Thanks. We had to make up some crap about his glasses.”

Raven shook her head at Rat. “Don’t ask us how it worked, it just did.”

Amy loosened the knot on her tie a little. “C’mon, let’s go. I’m gonna drown in my own sweat if we don’t get to Nate’s now!”

“Gross,” said Swifty with a grimace. “We walking to your place, or driving?” he asked Nate.

“Dude, you left your car at my place.”

“Oh yeah…”

The group signed out of the school, before quickly making their way to Nate’s, which was only a five minute walk from the school. His house was pretty big on the outside, with a varnished wood balcony and an underground garage large enough for two cars. There was a small garden in the back, but it was rarely used by Nate.

Raven sighed. “Why do you get all the good stuff?”

Raven’s family wasn’t exactly the richest of people. In fact, they’ve never been on holiday, only scraping by with the bare minimum. She remembered, with a slight shame, that she had more Christmas presents one year from the gang than she had off her family. Only Amy ever knew that fact.

“Hey, it’s everybody’s stuff once you’re inside, remember,” Nate said as he unlocked the door. “Just don’t… blow stuff up.”

Rat and Swifty both thought of the same memory, where they’d sort of blew a hole in the wall with mixing a BB gun with a mini-explosive round they had found in the basement. Nate’s grandfather kept a lot of explosive things from his time in the Cold war under his son’s house. Not that Nate’s grandfather was American, but he had served in the army at one time, and had participated with some actions in the war.

“No, we won’t,” Rat said with his usual stupid grin.

Amy sighed. “Please, we don’t want to clean up your stuff again with a sore head like last time.” They had to repair the wall the next day (which was the week previous) with a hangover, which wasn’t the best of ideas. Mind you, it’s not often that they do come up with great ideas anyway.

“OK!” Rat said with the same grin. Both he and Swifty went into the house, and ran off into the basement.

“Oh God, give me strength,” Nate said with a sigh.

“Don’t worry about it dude.” BD slapped Nate on the back. “Let’s get that PS3 on. I’ve been practicing.”

“If your driving’s even twice as better as last time, you still won’t beat me.”

BD grinned mischievously. “You’re on!”

Raven and Amy rolled their eyes. “Ugh. Boys,” they said, but still followed the two into the main living room.

There was a gigantic television screen that took up one whole side of the wall, whilst the leading consoles of the time were all set up and plugged into the sockets under the screen. There was also a Sky+ box that had the film and sport packages. Why? Because they all either watched a film together before crashing or they watched the rugby/football whenever it was on. In the four corners of the room there were speakers, as well as a speaker built into the ceiling, and also a subwoofer integrated to provide the bass. It was, in a nutshell, pretty damn loud. The sofas surrounded the TV, whilst there were a few gaming chairs in front of it, in which Nate and BD immediately sat in.

“Dude, you sure you been practicing?” Nate asked a few minutes later, who was at least half a lap in front of BD.

“Hey, at least I’m not a lap behind like last time,” BD answered.

Amy scoffed. “You’re still losing though.”

“Shut uuuuup!” BD said with an annoyed voice. He then cringed when his car smashed into the side of the wall. “Oh great, thanks Amy. Now I’ve lost for sure!”

Meanwhile, underneath them…

“Crayons!”

“Vaseline!”

“Water!”

“Dust!”

“Aaaaaand, mix!”

Rat and Swifty were throwing all sorts of stuff into a giant pot, which was never a good idea. Especially since that dust was explosive powder. And the less said about the water, the better.

“We’re outta stuff to mix,” Rat said with a sad frown when he saw that they had nothing left.

Swifty grinned. “There’s a lot of stuff in Nate’s garage.”

Both of their eyes widened, before running out of the door that led to the garage. “Let’s go get them!”

Swifty skidded to a halt. “Wait, wait.”

“What?” Rat asked, looking eager to get more stuff.

“I’m thirsty. You want a drink?”

Rat nodded. “Sure. I’ll go get the stuff.”

“Coke?”

“Yep.”

Swifty went upstairs to get drinks, passing the gang who were sucked in by the big TV. He asked them if they wanted anything, but they responded with a vague “No.” Swifty shook his head, not totally understanding how games could be so interesting. It wasn’t the fact that he wasn’t a fan of gaming; he just didn’t get sucked in, as such.

BANG!

The floor shook. Swifty’s eyes widened, knowing that was certainly not a good thing. Oh God Rat, what the hell have you done? Swifty got up, leaving the drinks where they were in the fridge. “I’ll go take a look,” he said to the gang, who nodded at him when they looked over to him.

Swifty quickly went downstairs, worried that there was another hole in the wall waiting to be fixed. Thankfully, when he reached the basement, it wasn’t the case. It was a lot more… comical.

“Dude! What the hell happened?!” Swifty asked Rat, laughing.

Rat, from the front, was covered from head to foot in black soot. By the shattered pot on the floor, and the lingering smell of smoke, Swifty guessed that the pot had exploded when Rat had put something in, causing it to shatter, and basically set fire to Rat.

“I blew the pot up,” Rat said with a grin. “It hurt.”

“Well, no!” Swifty said with a sarcastic gasp. “Dude, we gotta clean this up before Nate sees it and kills us.”

“He’ll probably kill us.”

“He will kill us.”

For the next ten minutes at least, the pair cleaned up the pieces of pot, and threw them into the bin outside via the garage. After that, Rat went off to wash his face off and get some of the soot off. How he was able to get all of it off though, was something that Swifty thought about. It was all over his clothes and everything. “Good luck on that,” he’d said to Rat as he left. Rat grinned like usual. Swifty sighed, before heading back upstairs. He’d never got that coke afterwards.

BD was waiting by the top of the stairs with a curious smirk. “What was that all about?”

“Nothing major,” Swifty answered. “Rat just dropped something down the stairs.”

“What the hell was it?”

“I dunno, but whatever it was, it got him covered in this black stuff.”

BD shook his head. “Heh, that idiot. Where is he now?”

“Trying to wash it off.” Swifty and BD went into the kitchen. “You want a drink?”

“Nah, already got one,” BD answered, picking up a Carling can.

“Dude, you’re already drinking? It’s only four o’clock.”

BD brushed it off with his hand. “Aaah, don’t worry about it. It’s not as if I got anything tomorrow morning. I got a driving lesson on Monday after school, so I’d have recovered by then anyway.”

“Fair enough.”

The two watched the girls play on the Wii, who were playing Wii Fit. Of course they are, Swifty thought happily. It was always… a pleasure to watch the girls play on the Wii.

BD and Swifty have a common thing between them: they both fancied the pants off the girls. Never in a million years go out with them, but to watch them as friends… that was the benefit of it all, really; watching girls without being classed as perverts.

The two got out their usual piece of paper, hidden between the gaps of two cupboards, and wrote down a few things about the girls: how far they were leaning, what moans they were making, if there was any cleavage visible through their school shirts, etc., etc. Basically, they were being proper teenage boys.

Nate looked over to them both, and shook his head whilst smiling. You utter pervs! He looked over to the stairs when he heard someone coming up them. It was Rat, whose jacket and trousers still had some residue of the black soot on them.

“What happened to you?” Nate asked him, who looked both confused and worried at the question. Thankfully, Swifty came to his rescue.

“Oh, Rat dropped something down the stairs. Don’t ask me what, I have no idea. But whatever it was, it made him covered in black soo– stuff.” He’d almost said soot.

Nate shrugged, before he wrinkled his nose at something. “Jeez, what the hell was that stuff? Smells like something was burning.”

Both Swifty and Rat froze. They’d completely forgotten about the smell. Swifty racked his brains, trying to think of something. Crap, crap, crap! Now what?!

“Who knows what that stuff was,” BD said. “You know what sorta crap is down there. Knowing Rat’s luck, he dropped a box of that gunpowder you were telling me about the other day.”

Rat seized on the chance. “Yeah, it did have something like a gun on it. I was taking it downstairs, ’cause I saw it somewhere around the top of the stairs.”

Nate sighed. “Ugh, Gramps is a freakin’ idiot sometimes. Don’t worry; I’ll talk to him about it later.”

Swifty and Rat let out a breath of relief. For the first time in their lives, they’d talked themselves out of a situation.

The four went into the living room, watching the girls finish off their exercising. They both panted, sweat beads rolling down their foreheads.

“Phew!” Raven said with a relieved sigh. “Finally done.”

“And not a moment too soon,” Amy said.

All four boys thought the same thing: No you haven’t.

Amy turned to them, and shook her head at them gawping at her and Raven. “Haven’t you anything better to do than watch girls?”

BD and Swifty shook their heads. “Nope.”

She glared at the pair. “This is why you two don’t have girlfriends!”

The two looked as if her words had pierced their hearts. It was a known fact among the group that it was only BD and Swifty that hadn’t been involved in love yet. Rat had gone out with a girl a couple of years back, but things didn’t work out after three months. Raven had a year-long relationship with a gothic guy before he turned emo and started to creep her out. Amy had a couple of boyfriends who all turned against her. Nate had had a seven-month relationship with a girl who had moved away. Nate and that girl still kept in touch, and while they tried to do a long-distance thing, they figured it was best to break up for the time being.

Amy looked awkward after saying that, and went to quickly apologise to the two with a hug. “I didn’t mean to say it like that, you know that!” Both BD and Swifty looked at each other with a wink over her shoulders.

The rest of that night was light-hearted, like it always was. They ended up watching a film, and getting drunk. They were all giggling when Nate’s parents walked in, looking absolutely wrecked from the day’s work. His parents bid the gang a quick good night, before hurrying upstairs to their room, not exactly wanting to be in the same room as six drunken teens.

Nate really couldn’t remember much after the end of the film, but when he woke up the next morning with his legs dangling over the back of the sofa, beer bottles around it, and with both Amy’s and Rat’s heads sleeping on his stomach, he realised that it had been one heck of a great night.