#he stabbed himself to act like he was attacked but it was obvious he did it

[berners-sandie]

Columbo is my comfort show right now and I literally only came back to Tumblr after a man year hiatus, just to see Columbo content. And now I believe it's my turn to return content back to the masses. (The watermarks are for my Instagram meme page btw sorry)

[simplyluunaa]

˙⊹ ੈ✰[Finding You Almost Dead]✰ ੈ⊹˙

-ˏˋ. rules + masterlist ˊˎ-

Fandom: Danganronpa

Characters: Aoi Asahina, Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Kyoko Kirigiri, Mondo Owada, Sakura Ogami, Genocider Syo, Toko Fukawa

Warnings: !!NOT SPOILER FREE!! Set in the killing game, some slight angst, and mentions of blood and injury, but no death.

Other: Established relationship, though it's not super obvious. Also, this one is long!! (also also don’t ask about the logistics okay I didn’t think too hard about the cannon deaths timeline)

A/N: The motivation for this one was crazy I banged this out in just a couple of hours. Anyways!! Please excuse any mischaracterizations, but if you want any other characters feel free to request them!! (Not just the first game!! I write for any of them + the anime!!)

˚₊·—̳͟͞͞♡⟢Kiyotaka Ishimaru

When he found you, you were in the fourth-floor music room.

You had lacerations all along your body, unconscious in a small puddle of your own blood

He and Mondo were together, and when they saw the door to the music room ajar, they decided to investigate, but once Taka saw your body, he just screamed, which attracted the others

Kyoko quickly realizes the lack of body discovery announcement and checks your pulse, stating that you’re alive

He Mondo carries you to the nurse’s office

He cries like…so much

He and Mondo stay with you in the nurse's office and patch you up, Mondo kinda acting as a guard dog, not letting anyone near you, and Taka doing his best to keep himself and Mondo calm while they wait for you to wake up

Once you do, he’s once again, in tears

He’s barely able to resist the urge to pull you into a hug, instead, he grabs your hands

He’s just so happy that you’re okay!!

He’s too relieved that you’re okay that he forgets to ask if you remember who attacked you, so Mondo does that

When you say you don’t, his worry increases ten-fold

What if they don’t find out who did it? What if they attack you again while you’re still healing and end up actually killing you? What if they attack someone else?

Insists on having a non-official class trail in the dining hall, and Kyoko ends up taking the lead as most people didn’t investigate because you hadn’t died

The one who attacked you was Genocider Syo

Why? You were ‘flirting’ with Byakuya

You laughed at him because he made a stupid face after Makoto said something he disagreed with. 

She cornered you and cut you up, but intentionally didn’t kill you and avoided lethal areas

Toko didn’t know but doesn’t feel bad

Syo gets shunned, so by proxy, Toko does as well

Though they didn’t interact with the others, other than Byakuya, who doesn’t treat her any different than normal so…

⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊☽ ◯ ☾₊‧˙⋆˚｡⁺⋆

˚₊·—̳͟͞͞♡⟢Mondo Owada

When he found you, you were in the second-floor pool area

You had one stab wound in your abdomen, the knife lying next to you on the ground, you were unconscious in a pool of your own blood

Hina arranged for everyone to meet up at the pool to hopefully have some fun and get their mind off of the killing game for a while, so Mondo and a group of a few other guys were the ones to find you

He starts yelling at everyone around, which causes the girls to go investigate as well

Taka is the only one able to calm him down enough to tell him that you’re still breathing

It’s then he takes action, scooping you up and booking it to the nurses' office

Taka doesn’t yell at him for running in the halls for once

He tries to patch you up himself, but he has limited knowledge of how to do all this in the first place, and his hands shaking and his vision being clouded with tears aren’t helping either

So Taka does it for him while he holds your hands and cleans the blood off of you

Doesn’t want to let anyone close to you, other than Taka and maybe Kyoko, but even then he watching her closely

Does ask Kyoko to find out who did this

Also, he’s like…really pissed

Like infuriated

Swears he’ll kill whoever hurt you

When you wake up, he instantly scoops you up in a hug, accidentally squeezing your wound and hurting you

Almost drops you when you wince

He is hesitant to touch you at all after that because he hurt you!!

Of course, he asks if you remember who attacked you

When you say you don’t, he feels his temper kinda flare

He’s not mad at you, of course, but at the person who had hurt you

The one who attacked you was Leon Kuwata

Claims it was in self-defense because he thought you were a killer

In actuality, you just turned a corner and he was there with a knife, and tried to kill you!!

When it gets revealed that Leon did it, Sakura has to hold Mondo back so he doesn’t kill him

Leon is shunned, and Mondo is weary of everyone but Taka

Doesn’t let you out of his sight for a long while

⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊☽ ◯ ☾₊‧˙⋆˚｡⁺⋆

˚₊·—̳͟͞͞♡⟢Aoi Asahina

When she found you, you were in the Science Lab Storage Room

You had a large impact wound on your head, blood pouring from the wound, and you, of course, were unconscious

When Aoi spotted you, she wasted no time rushing over to you

So she finds out that you’re still alive very quickly

She scoops you up and rushes you over to the nurse's office, tears streaming down her face

Thankfully, whoever attacked you hadn’t cracked your skull, just broke the skin

Once you’re safe in the nurse's office, and she’s patching you up the others arrive, having seen her running through the halls with your body in her arms

Sakura is the one who comforts her the most, a few of the others go to the scene to see what had happened.

At the scene, they find a wooden mallet, after some inspection Kyoko confirms it was the weapon, the size matching the wound on you

Once you’re patched up, she asks Sakura to keep an eye on you and she asks Kyoko and Makoto to help her question everyone to see if they can find out who did it

Byakuya would probably also help, but only because he doesn’t want to be attacked next and they need to find out who the dangerous ones are

After a while, Hina checks back in on you, to see that you’re awake!

She gently hugs you, careful to avoid the wound, and cries, saying how thankful she is that you’re okay

Asks if you can remember what exactly happened

When you can’t she feels bad that she wasn’t there to protect you

The one who attacked you was Hifumi Yamada

He had attacked you under Celeste’s instruction (Like the third trial of the game), but he hit too soft and in the wrong spot, so you ended up surviving

Hifumi would fess up almost immediately, spilling everything he knows about the plan and why

They both get shunned, Celeste refusing to acknowledge him after that

⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊☽ ◯ ☾₊‧˙⋆˚｡⁺⋆

˚₊·—̳͟͞͞♡⟢Kyoko Kirigiri

When she found you, you were in the second-floor hallway

You were slumped against a wall, in an out-of-the-way area, with a few bruises on your body, but most importantly was a large impact wound on the back of your head, a splatter of blood on the wall showing where your head had been slammed against it

She very quickly notices that you’re not dead, and may or may not let out a sigh of relief

Thankfully, a few people are nearby, namely Makoto, Sakura, and Hina

Calmly asks Sakura to carry you to the nurse’s office, and for Hina to accompany you to help patch you up

She’s calm, mostly because she noticed the wound was only skin-deep

She stays to examine the scene, because even though you hadn’t died, you almost did, and she wants to figure out who attacked you

For everyone’s safety…but noticeably yours

It’s harder than investigating deaths, funnily enough, but she is able to gather some clues from the scene and starts to question the others

Once you wake up, she’s by your side as soon as she hears

One part to comfort you, another to see if you knew who had attacked you

You didn’t, but that’s okay, she's a detective, she’ll figure it out

If you want her to stay with you she will, but if you don’t mind either way, she’s going back to questioning the others

The one who attacked you was Mondo Owada

It was a heat-of-the-moment attack, and he didn’t even realize the damage he’d caused

He’d cave the second Kyoko put the smallest amount of pressure, apologizing profusely

Since he seems genuinely remorseful, half of the others are only slightly weary, while the other half shun him

Kyoko will only forgive him if you do, if you don’t however, she won’t either

⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊☽ ◯ ☾₊‧˙⋆˚｡⁺⋆

˚₊·—̳͟͞͞♡⟢Sakura Ogami

When she found you, you were in Classroom 1-A

You had a stab wound on your shoulder, and another one in your side, the knife nowhere to be found

She and Hina had been wandering around together, but after catching a glimpse of blood they busted into the room, both shocked to see your body covered in blood and two stab wounds

Sakura is almost too stunned to move until Hina sees your chest move as you breathe

Sakura scoops you up, she and Hina are silent as they take you to the nurse's office

They patch you up, also in silence

Sakura is seething, though (You remember when Hina got attacked by Syo? Yeah, like that but even more since you’re so badly hurt)

Almost crushed the bottle of medicine she was holding

Once you’re properly patched up, she requests a moment alone

Even though you’re asleep, she grabs your hands and kisses the backs of them, quietly promising to not let any more harm come to you

She checks in on you frequently and stays for long periods of time, just in case you wake up

You thankfully wake up when she’s around, and she’s right by your side

Again, gently takes your hands

After a long stretch of silence, she asks if you remember what happened, or who attacked you

When you say you don’t, she doesn’t press or ask any more questions related to that

Will give you a protein shake

The one who attacked you was Sayaka Maizono

She had meant to kill you to escape, but stabbing people is much harder and much more traumatizing than she had anticipated

She gets shunned, even by Makoto

⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊☽ ◯ ☾₊‧˙⋆˚｡⁺⋆

˚₊·—̳͟͞͞♡⟢Genocider Syo

She actually didn’t find you first, Toko did, but Toko fainted and Syo fronted, finding you in the third-floor Rec room

Freaks out, and runs into the hallway, chasing the nearest person down, putting her scissors to their neck, and threatening them

This person happens to be Makoto, and not far behind him is Kyoko, so the three went back to your body

Kyoko informs her that, while you aren’t dead, you will be if they don’t act quick

So, she scoops you up and runs you to the nurse's office

She tries to patch you up but doesn’t really know how resulting in loose bandages and her panicking over your body

Makoto and Kyoko are not too long after, and they help, though not without Syo watching their every move and threatening them if they make a wrong move

After they're done patching you up though, she makes them take at least three steps back

Stays in the nurse's office until you wake up, keeping everyone away

She even goes as far as to threaten Byakuya

She takes every step possible to keep herself from sneezing or passing out, so Toko doesn’t front

When you wake up, she grabs your hands and smiles in an oddly tender moment

Then asks if you remembers who attacked you, and then follows up by asking if she can kill them

When you say you don’t, she offers to torture everyone until she finds the attacker

Thankfully you don’t have to answer that, as Kyoko comes in, saying she knows who did it

The one who attacked you was Byakuya Togami

You’d ended up preventing a murder, getting everyone to get along, and ignore the motive this time

He thought the game was getting boring, so he took matters into his own hands

He hadn’t meant to injure you so severely, but he figured he hadn’t killed you, and you probably wouldn’t die from blood loss, so he left you there

Syo was furious and chased Byakuya down, Sakura and Hina having to hold her back so she wouldn’t kill him

Instead, she hurls insults at him, and the next few times she fronts, she tries to kill him all over again

⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊☽ ◯ ☾₊‧˙⋆˚｡⁺⋆

˚₊·—̳͟͞͞♡⟢Toko Fukawa (This one is a continuation of Syo’s!!)

She wouldn't front again until after it was revealed that Byakuya was the one who attacked you

When she next fronts, she’s confused

Firstly, she thinks you’re dead

You’re not, thank god

Secondly, you got attacked

Not very good

And thirdly, the person who attacked you Byakuya?

Toko immediately starts hurling insults at him, much like Syo had

She wonders how she’d ever liked someone so rotten

She hadn’t been obsessed with him for a while, but she still held a lot of respect for him up until now

Byakuya gets shunned, but he hadn’t interacted with the others much before this, so it doesn’t affect him too badly

The only real difference is that Toko insults him every time she sees him

⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊☽ ◯ ☾₊‧˙⋆˚｡⁺⋆

[batfambyval]

okay. So.

Serious Red Robin theory coming.

Tim wasn’t put in the Lazarus Pit. But. That doesn’t mean they didn’t use it on him. The pit’s healing properties have been shown to work in small portions. Like, the healing is proportional to the amount of lw used.

The cave with the pit isn’t exactly a sterile environment. So either the pit was needed or it was an attempt to put Tim off balance, a psychological weapon. Though the White Ghost’s reaction to the assumption seems to dispute that. If the pit’s healing is proportional to the amount used it makes sense that the psychological effects are to, along with the duration of those side effects.

Ra’s had serious reasons to use the pit on Tim, between the additional room for emotional manipulation and Tim’s life threatening injury which wasn’t immediately treated and was in fact exacerbated like, a lot… yeah. Tim lost a lot of blood. He lost was stabbed in the organ that filters blood: meaning all your blood passes through your spleen. He was bleeding out, he should have died, he dragged himself and another person to a car, drove said car back to the city, and got them both up to the penthouse. Recovering from that would take a long time, he shouldn’t have survived at all. But he healed quickly and well, it isn’t an issue, it happened and it was over. I know we as a fandom like to have fun with Tim’s missing spleen and what that means but… canon didn’t and looking back I feel like there was a lot pointing at the pit being used in a much more insidious was, not just in the logistics of Tim’s recovery.

Ra’s was insanely trusting of Tim. Not just in his ability to do what he wanted but in his belief that Tim would ultimately come around to his way of thinking. Now, I can obviously see that Tim was in a very vulnerable position and if Bruce hadn’t actually been alive Ra’s could definitely have succeeded. But it feels like more than that, especially with Tim’s ensuing behavior. A lot of his time with the league is glossed over or seen from Tam’s perspective, but Tim was acting different. It’s easy to attribute this to the objectively terrible situation and the year he’s had, but his behavior isn’t the same as it was at the beginning of the run either. And the difference in behavior fades. As Red Robin Tim is more ruthless and pragmatic, mostly due to necessity. Even stealing from a museum and fighting for it makes him incredibly uncomfortable. He still did it. But he was still acting like Tim, making jokes and doing his best to diffuse the situation and keep everyone alive. After the surgery his focus gets even more single minded. He barely puts up a fight about leading the league. Of course partly for Tam, and he tried to keep killing to a minimum but cmon. He was leading the league of ASSASSINS. There were assassinations happening. People died when he blew all the league bases and he barely registered that beyond thinking that the council of spiders probably made it out, implying part of him knew death was a possibility and he didn’t care. But he didn’t think about the moral implications of that in a way that was very reminiscent of Jason’s selective morality. If he had stopped to think about it he wouldn’t have done it, but he was focused to much on beating Ra’s, on not compromising, that the complexity of the situation didn’t sink in. The obvious effects of his actions, the possible deaths and injuries of anyone inside a league stronghold wasn’t acknowledged while the underlying message sent to his opponent was the only thing he could think about. Just like when Jason attacked Tim at Titans Tower to send a message to Bruce despite his hardline stance against hurting kids.

So. The League did use the pit on Tim, just a little. Maybe two tablespoons in the wound to accelerate recovery and weaken his morals a bit. It would certainly make a lot of sense. And the writer did change when Tim came back to Gotham so it’s entirely possible that it was meant to be touched on later but was discarded.

[yiminsuu]

No Control

Pairing: Leon S. Kennedy x F!Reader

Warnings: Sexual themes (+18), dubious consent, unprotected sex, (semi) public sex, breeding, some fluff and angst, La Plaga acts like an aphrodisiac, mutual pining, reader and Leon are bad at communication.

Author’s Note: People don't know how invested I am in the Resident Evil games right now, if I loved the original games you can imagine how much I adore the remakes. Also, I've been having the most horrid of writing blocks in existence, I had this draft for 2 months! 2 MONTHS!!

Roaming around the castle with, apparently, no exit, is frustrating and even more so when you think your friend can't be as dumb as people think she is, but here we are, Ashley has gone missing once more and I'm stuck with Leon, who is sick with La Plaga and refuses to take a minute to regain strength by resting. My worries grow the more we proceed, and it seems he is obsessed with taking all the hits to himself, even though I can use a gun. I'm not the one the government is looking for, I know very well no one is looking for me, and if Leon hadn't found me I wouldn't be alive to see Ashley or, for lack of better words, to see her running around the castle to supposedly keep us safe.

"Are you sure you are alright?" I spoke, receiving a glance from Leon as we make our way through a corridor. "I should be the one asking you that, that knife stab was not pretty." I refuse to let myself be the damsel in distress, and I admit I can do many things if you give me a weapon, but in the last attack we were surrounded by the monks. The excruciating pain came as a shock, I couldn't move and my scream must have made Leon panic because his attention went immediately to me and the wound on my shoulder. "Do you need me to change the bandage?" I shook my head and lowered my gaze, letting the silence invade the space. I don't know if he can feel the tension, but dammit, ever since this Ada appeared out of nowhere there was this tightness in the air I couldn't quite grasp. I'm afraid Leon isn't as talkative as he was a few hours ago and I wonder why, he makes sure I'm protected even if I don't need it... Most of the time... And he refuses to make eye contact. Perhaps I did or said something he didn't like but I don't really see him as the type to hold a grudge against something like that, Leon doesn't believe it, but he literally is an angel.

Suddenly, Leon halts all of his movements and holds his head tightly in his hands, grunting in pain as he fell to his knees. We need to get to a safer area, La Plaga surely is a son of bitch to deal with. I placed his arm around my neck and helped him to move before someone sees us, clenching my gun in rising stress. "(Y/N)..." He muttered my name in a very low tone, he's completely out of it. I took Leon for as long as I could before he let himself fall to his knees again, his back hitting the wall abruptly. "Leon? Hey, stay with me. I'll give you some medicine and I'll go look for Ashley." As soon as I said that, his pained expression was gone, replaced by an alarmed one. "You can't go on your own...!"

"We have to save Ashley, and you are too weak because of the virus. I'll be fast." Leon's hand grabbed my arm harshly, and I'm sure it was going to leave a mark soon. In reality, he looked a lot sicker than I thought he would, his eyes were changing to red little by little, and even like this, he refused to look at me. "I don't..." He whispered, I furrowed my brows in concern. "Want you to die..." I once wondered why he seemed closed off, so serious and quiet, his kind demeanor quickly rushed away those thoughts but this surely answered many questions I couldn't ask him for obvious reasons. 

I sighed deeply, sitting next to him and doing my best to calm down as he laid his head on my shoulder. We're not safe anywhere, so once someone finds us it will be game over, strangely, we haven't seen any enemy for the past 40 minutes.

Time goes by and we rest as much as we can in the lone room, I would occasionally touch Leon's head hoping he hasn't caught a fever, unfortunately, he was starting to burn up and I know it wasn't from walking under the cold rain. I kneel away and gain an unhearable mumble from the man, and checking on him closely, I see his rapidly rising chest, reddened cheeks, and hair disheveled from the short nap. "What is it doing to you?" I questioned confused, and slightly panicked when Leon opened his eyes to stare at me, pupils dilated and red with something I couldn't identify. "Leon...?" Slowly, he moved his legs apart and set down the shotgun, my eyes widened.

The bulge in his pants was massive. 

A whimper escaped from my lips before I recomposed myself, is this one of the side effects of La Plaga?

Leon looked embarrassed beyond belief, trying to hide his face as much as possible. "I want to touch you." He started. "I need to... You have to get away." Leon... Wants to touch me? 

No. This is not Leon, it's La Plaga speaking and messing with his body and mind, I have to find Luis as soon as possible and destroy the virus. "Hang in there." With that, I immediately ran away, but my heartbeat increased when the sound of footsteps caught up to me, crying loudly when two arms elevated me from behind. "Leon! Let me go--!" Before I know it, Leon lowered us, pressing my body onto the ground as his weight settles over my back. A groan escaped my lips, ready to grab my gun just to be swiftly incapacitated by the agent. "Leon...!"

"Quiet." Eyes widening at the deep sound of his voice, I noticed his breathing worsening the more he let the parasite take control. His hands shook and he slowly held up my leg to allow me to turn around, out of sympathy for someone I consider a friend, I stared into Leon's eyes. The sight broke my heart, he looked aroused, confused, a flushing mess of a guy that has an idea of what is about to happen. His brows furrowed the more tightly he grabbed on my clothing, just to have it ripped within a second, my only undergarments being my panties. I couldn't help but shiver from the cold surroundings. Leon bit his lip and glared at his own impotence to control the parasite, his firm, calloused fingers caress a smooth path along my skin before gently spreading my legs.

"It's okay..." Leon looked at me, bewildered at my words. If there was no way of escaping this, then at least we can make each other feel better somehow. "Just... Do what you have to do. I-I'll be fine..." 

Leon closed his eyes slowly and with a shaky breath, his knife sliced my last remaining decency and he cupped my cunt, both of us became acutely aware of just how wet I am. It would be a lie to claim Leon is not good-looking, a good guy, and perhaps I'm the bad one because I found myself daydreaming of him like this. The touch felt heated, the pressure is delicious, and I can’t help but push my hips up, seeking more contact, more friction, just more of Leon... But his hand is already moving away. The tip of one finger slides a line to my clit, and my whole body jolts at the electric contact, his nervous pants are hot as he made slow, precise circles over and over on my clit. Then his hand dips lower, sinking two thick fingers into me. It punches the air out of me, leaving only an ache, my mind feels raw around the edges, fuzzy with the sharp spike of heat spearing through me. 

I know what he's doing, Leon doesn't want to hurt me, but he's letting it harm him the more he tries to restrain it. He pulled his hand away, it’s like a bucket of cold water dumped over my head, I watch him through half-lidded eyes, breath panting as my lungs squeeze painfully tight in my chest. I heard the sound of a belt amongst our hard breathing, he sounded relieved for a second. I shivered when I felt his tip pressing against my hole, Leon holds himself there, and I spasm in place while the wait becomes excruciating. I don’t know what he’s doing until I hear the inhale of a breath.

"I'm sorry..."

Then I feel everything, pain, pleasure, warmth, the sensation of being filled without mercy. I moaned, his hand firm on my waist as he pins me down. His jaw tenses, watching himself slide out me slowly, waiting for some type of signal that would mean he can and should stop, but nothing comes, in fact, it makes it worse. Leon is looming above me, wrapping one hand around his slick cock, wet with pre-come dripping from the flushed tip. "Fuck..." He muttered, yanking me even closer toward him and notching the tip of his cock at my entrance. I braced myself for penetration, anticipating the stretch of him with a pathetic whimper.

The first slide as he filled me up again with his cock is fucking heaven, a sweet aching stretch that sends pleasure singing out along my every nerve. My thighs tremble, my body arching against him without any input from me, clenching down around his girth while my vision flickered. Leon groaned shamefully, he sounded desperate the faster he moved, I swear I can see fucking stars. He doesn’t stop, he can't, he thrusts himself into me with harsh, deep thrusts and pleasure spreads up my stomach, twining along my legs, and I can feel my orgasm building already.

My breath comes out as a sob, tears stinging my eyes as my cunt clenched and squeezed around the hardness of his cock, twitching and jerking in response. A hand rested against my cheek, it didn't slow Leon's motions, but it was the softest response I had from him since this whole ordeal started. I placed my hand on his in response to his concern, and those beautiful eyes of his slammed shut, biting out a curse. 

If this wasn't caused by a lethal virus I would be happy to think he feels the same way, but shit... Even if this is only to aid him a little I don’t mind being a cum bucket for a few hours. Muscles contract and clutch down in a way that's beyond my control when I'm rewarded with more deep thrusts. My eyes widened when he touched my cervix, making me whimper loudly. "L-Leon!!" It’s maddening, pleasure shoots through my entire being before rolling my eyes back and cumming around his cock...

He doesn't stop, Leon doesn't stop-- Fuck! He's not stopping!

I try to push him away from me, but it's all for naught as he relentlessly thrusts himself into me. "Almost, I'm almost there..." He spoke, his skin slapping against mine with no signs of stopping soon. Fucking liar, trying to make me feel better when we know it feels like we're both going to die. "Look at me, (Y/N)... Don't close your eyes." Slowly but surely, I indulged, and all I can see is his eyes burning into me, pupils blown so wide that they were almost pitch black. Leon's intense gaze fixed on me is like I'm the only thing that exists to him, I want him to stop, but I'm too far gone to say any word.

We're stripped of thinking at this point, Leon is going feral little by little and he's not letting me go, I doubt he will try to control La Plaga again. I screamed whenever he would hit my cervix, unable to close my mouth if only for shame, but I'm blissed out of my mind and overstimulated. I met his dark gaze, finding his eyes on my body once more, maybe he hasn't stopped staring at all. "Stop-- F-Fuck! Staring--!" I choked on a moan, it was barely coherent, but somehow I managed to get the words out. With a startled yell, I was pulled to his lap and sighed in relief at the change of position. "Better?" Leon whispered into my ear, once I nodded, he began thrusting as if he has the stamina to last a lifetime.

My hands clenched on his shirt, mentally cursing again and again at how perfectly he fills me, he's hitting every right spot. Leon puts a hand across my hair, his eyes softening and planting small kisses on my shoulder and neck to calm me down, repeating that he'll be over soon, that he's sorry. The sweet burning ache builds immediately, deep and consuming, the blissful pleasure swirls tight and insistent somewhere deep in my belly. I can't recognize any more words outside of my own, but Leon's voice is gentle, the softness is in direct contrast to the way I'm crying and begging. I reached up and tangled my hand in his hair, drawing him closer so I can kiss him.

Leon's arms come around me as his hips thrust up, a small cry coming out of my mouth as he licked my lips. He groaned, hips adjusting his angle, arms pulling me down greedily so I can meet his non-stopping strikes, again and again with a hard and rough pace. With this new position, it doesn’t take me long to feel that familiar warmth, all I can do is cling to him as everything inside me intensifies in every sense of the word. "(Y/N)..." Pleasure spills over my body, it's chaotic and too much, bright spots blinding my vision as I come, harder than I ever have in my life, and squirting all over Leon's shirt and lap. 

Leon still isn’t stopping, pushing deep into me as his thrusts don’t slow even when his cum coats my walls, a broken gasp escaping him. "F-Fuck, Leon!" The blinding bliss spikes through my blood, hot and piercing. It’s pitiful the way I'm sobbing and whining as he continues relentlessly with his strokes until both of us are completely spent. Finally, he stills, collapsing on the ground with me above him, and we lay there like that for a long moment, panting in absolute euphoria.

I feel sleepy and sated, with all the stress of being hunted down this was like a breath of fresh air, and reality went blurry and faded at the edges. "Didn't think this would happen, but thanks..." Leon said, panting. I hummed, trying to calm my heartbeat. "Sorry about your clothes."

I snickered at his awkwardness after such intense sex. "I doubt you are." The silence came back, but it wasn't as uncomfortable as I thought it would be, his arms were hugging my form and I felt safe and protected. Then he sat with me resting against him. "I'm alright, seriously. Still, I doubt I will be able to walk for a while." 

Leon looked away embarrassed but turned back to me, kissing my forehead. "Wanna get coffee after this?"

I smiled tiredly, but deep down the feeling of joy flourished. "Yeah, now go on and look for some clothes, I don't want Ashley to ask."

[sephirothsplaything]

DNA| Sec.80 high power-chapter 12

A/N: Act Two is officially here!! I'm so excited to write more action stuff. Also, I'm trying new stuff with diff povs so I hope this isn't wonky.

word count:2,191

Aemond and Rhaella parallels !!!!

AEMOND TARGARYEN WAS ANGRY. He had slain the bastard, involuntarily, to his dismay. Vhagar had disobeyed him, but he supposed dragons would act however they pleased in the end.

Nevertheless, regret bubbled inside him like a vile poison, he would follow suit in the way of his mount. Aemond would do as he pleased.

He could recall the shouts of his mother, condemning him for the act. It could have been amusing, at one time. The entirety of the realm now viewed him as a kinslayer.

It made him feel important, establishing himself as one not to be trifled with. Privately, he could admit there was a certain unplaceable emptiness.

Aegon had summoned Aemond to a council meeting to discuss matters that did not particularly interest him. He had already fashioned his own plans, much and more cunning than whatever his halfwit brother could produce.

His mother was not fond of his presence at the table, that much was clear. Aemond remained composed as the coin in his hand flitted between his fingers.

"The Riverlords can declare for me, lest they meet Sunfyre and Vhagar," Aegon stated flippantly. It annoyed Aemond, his brothers' unseriousness.

Establishing claim in Harrenhal was his own idea, an obvious one at that. All other lords in the surrounding area would bend the knee and follow suit.

"Rhaenyra has dragons." Alicent states.

"Mine are bigger." Aegon smirks.

Aemond wished to scoff at his brother's words. Vhagar was his. He alone mounted the biggest dragon. In some wicked irony, he is restrained to guard Kings Landing against attacks.

'Have you maintained your grip on my mother's dragon?' Aemond recalled the voice of Rhaella. At that time, it must have been a bitter jab for something she lacked. But her compelling voice that polluted his mind was almost mocking him.

It was not a possibility that Rhaella could have known Vhagar would do such a thing.

Aemond's eye flitted at the memory of her. Surely Rhaella had since heard the news by now. He longed to see her; Rhaella would be beyond furious with him, she would glare at him with those harsh eyes he adored terribly.

Aemond's grip on the coin tightened as he listened to the blabber of the counsel continue on.

His own plans would be heard, he would make sure of it.

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

The map was lit by candlelight as Aemond plotted out his own war in the company of Ser Criston Cole. They had bonded over the death of the strong bastard. Cole assured him it was necessary. Aemond would not be remiss to recognize the personal conviction in the knight's tone.

"It is a canny scheme." Ser Criston Cole admitted once he heard Aemond's proposal.

"But moot." Aemond leaned back in the chair,eye fixed onto the lines on the map that highlighted Riverrun.

"A war with dragons is inevitable." Criston Cole sighed out. Both sides engaged in a brinkmanship; Who would be the first to deliver fire and blood?

If Aemond was king, he would have since scorched Dragonstone and the Bitch Queen's supporters. Perhaps he would take Rhaella to his side before the fact. She could come to understand later, as Aemond knew she would.

"Alicent blames me for starting this war," Aemond said, a cruel smile displayed on his mouth.

It was strange to Aemond, why was he at fault? His mother plotted to usurp his father, her husband's throne.

"Your mother is gentle, Rhaenyra is the cunning spider." Criston Cole says after a time.

"She holds love for our enemy, that would make her a fool," Aemond says cooly. But alas there it was again, stabbing him in the chest.

Sharp hypocrisy. But his was different, he assured himself. Their love is different.

She loved him.

"Rhaella is a viper herself, more so now if she is under Rhaenyra." Criston Cole added.

Aemond's temper flared. Cole had forgotten himself, he knew nothing.

"Rhaella is of no consequence." Aemond decides out loud.

Criston Cole raised a brow. "She killed a kingsguard,you know."

A ghost of a smile found its way to Aemond's face. Something akin to pride swelled.

She was Daemon's daughter after all.

His Rhaella, fighting a guard. She had joined him in spilling blood. It was a comfort Aemond took in stride.

"She has no dragon," Aemond said. His tone was indicative of ending the conversation, which Criston Cole took note of.

--------

Aemond's longing had driven him to the streets of Silk that night. He recalled Rhaella's hands over him, she had been so uncharacteristically pliant for him. Her voice was lofty and skin ever so soft.

She knew her place, it seemed. Under him.

He craved something familiar to him. But she was far from him now, falling into a pit of black under the pretender.

Familiar led him to the only other women he had known.

"My prince." The Madame Sylvie greeted expectantly. She eyed his body down in a practiced glance.

Aemond did not speak much, as was routine. He only wished to feel.

.............................

RHAELLA TARGARYEN WAS ANGRY. Self-hatred ate her up like a parasite. Luke was dead and she still thought of Aemond. Rhaena had not left her room in days and she still thought of him.

Had he finally let his missing eye guide his temper? Surely there had to be more.

And if there wasn't? She didn't dare think that far.

It had been ten days since the death of Lucerys Velaryon. The Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen had scarcely been seen, leaving in the early mornings and entering the castle late into the night.

Searching for a body she'd likely never find, Rhaella figured. It was hardly her place to voice the opinion.

After the discovery that she had been meddling with the Cannibal dragon, Daemon snapped at her. Rhaella did not shrink, conviction had become her resolve.

From then on, her father decided that ignoring her altogether would be easier than back and forth.

Rhaella leaned her head back onto the wall of the cave, her curls catching in its rough fixtures.

Aegrarax was munching greedily on the dragon egg she had brought for him. In total, Rhaella had taken six to him over the course of a fortnight.

He still had not yet allowed Rhaella to fly, much to her frustration. But she must favor patience, a fact she reminded herself daily.

Dragons were not slaves. And wild dragons certainly weren't absolved of that point.

Rhaella reached out to touch him, taking comfort in the hardened scales. The Cannibal and grown something of used to her being in his territory.

Sometimes, he huffed in her direction in greeting. It made Rhaella grin. Her name day came and went. It was not celebrated in earnest. She received a letter from her grandsire, Corlys. Her grandmother had gifted her a dragon hairpin fashioned from Valyrian steel.

"You could stand to be more thankful," Rhaella muttered to the dragon. Climbing to the eggs was some task, soon someone would take notice.

The Cannibal's cave had become her new respite, something familiar to her.

It was dusk when Rhaella decided to return to the castle. She descended from the dragonmount with ease. It was common as of late that her dress was streaked with soot and ash. She sported it like a badge of honor.

The knights at the door moved aside for Rhaella as she entered. She wished to change her clothes, however the light of the painted table caught her eye.

The black council had gathered, awaiting their queen. It must've been under her father's command, as she was not informed of the meeting.

Jacaerys and not yet returned from Winterfell, no doubt still flying the distance.

Rhaena avoided the gaze of Rhaella, choosing to turn away. Perhaps she held it against her sister. Rhaella could hardly fault her for it. Sometimes it felt as though she was on Vhagar's back during the act.

Still, the stinging pain of being shunned by Rhaena was unshakeable.

Rhaella was alone, again.

She took her place on the opposite side of the table. Her eyes trailed over the lines of fire, outlining their path.

The blockade was upkept by Rhaenys, cutting off supplies to Kingslanding. Rhaella thought it was a rather passive-aggressive strategy. She could not be too critical though, she would've acted similarly.

"I see you've grown the sense to leave your cave," Daemon said. It had occurred to Rhaella that it was the first sentence her father had spoken in her direction in days.

He was softening.

"Sorry father, "Rhaella replied immediately. Her hands held each other, hoping it would help.

"Time must have left me."

Daemon gave something of a scoff. It satisfied Rhaella anyhow.

"Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, First of her name." Ser Erryk Cargyll announced.

All turned to see the sight. Rhaella didn't see a Queen nor a protector of the realm.

She only saw a grieving mother. Rhaenyra's hair was strewn messily. Dried tears streaked her face as she gripped a cloak in her hand with a deadly grip.

Rhaella supposed she had found something of value. Something to burn.

"Your council awaits your command," Daemon said. His hands hovered over the handle of dark sister.

Rhaenyra did not speak for a time. Fresh tears began to trail down.

"I want Aemond Targaryen." Queen Rhaenyra declares.

No one spoke. What more was there to say? Rhaella's hand twitched as plundering guilt choked her.

Even now, she could not rid herself of..whatever this was.

Love or blind obsession Rhaella couldn't be sure.

It was not a statement, the queen's words. It was an order.

For her father. He would kill Aemond, likely.

She should let it be. It would be the only way.

So why did her heart cry so profusely?

Queen Rhaenyra limped off to her chambers. One by one the lords exited the room.

"Rhaena?" Rhaella called. It proved fruitless as she was ignored.

Rhaella in a culpable desperation reaches for her sister's arm, which was jerked away instantly.

"Leave me." Rhaena hissed.

Alright then. She would not force it.

Finding herself in need of distraction, Rhaella trailed after her father.

She ensured there was a great bit of distance, lest she is noticed.

She found herself venturing further into the depths of the castle.

To the prisons.

Rhaella waited for a moment behind the door. Her ear strained as she attempted to listen for anything.

Mayhaps it was her mind playing tricks on her,but there was a voice she knew well that rang out.

Rhaella crawled out of sight as she watched Daemon stomp out of the cells in a huff.

"They should be treated as traitors to the crown." He barked out to the guard.

Her curiosity was officially peaked. After the halls cleared, Rhaella made her way to the holding cells.

And there sat Mysaria and Astris. Their clothes were dirty and their eyes tired.

Rhaella simply stared, eyes slightly widened.

"I am in no mood to deal with you of all people." Mysaria groaned.

Astris, at the sight of Rhaella, found it in herself to be accepting.

"I figured you'd find your way here, sooner or later," Astris said, her dark irises sparkling.

"How?" Was the first word that forced itself out of Rhaella. Last she saw them it was in flea bottom.

"Otto Hightower set fire to our home, that cunt." Astris muttered.

"And your dear father seems to think we are traitors to the realm," Mysaria adds darkly.

Rhaella leaned forward to the bars, eyes darting to and from the two women. Astris seemed mostly unharmed. Rhaella released a breath.

"Has he harmed you?" Rhaella questioned.

Mysaria shrugged her shoulders. She had been Daemon's previous paramore, Rhaella figured she was used to as much.

"He does not remember me, thank the Gods," Astris said.

Rhaella shook her head. She could not allow Astris to stay here like this. She was no longer her handmaid, she was a friend.

"I cannot assure for Mysaria but I shall find a way to free you," Rhaella promised she hoped it was a possibility.

"Take your time," Mysaria said snarkily

-----------

The following morning, the funeral for Lucerys Velaryon took place.

Rhaella stood by her grandmother, who placed a hand onto her shoulder. The warmth scorched her body.

Her grandmother was offering comfort and she did not deserve it.

Guilt clung unto her once more.

She was undeserving.

Rhaella watched as fire was set to Luke's clothes. Little Joffery threw a toy into the pyre as Jace held him.

The smoke caused her eyes to water. Perhaps she could cry, but she surrendered to the plummeting numbness.

If Luke were here, he'd make a joke of her condition. 'the strange one cannot cry for her cousin?'

Rhaena's choked sobs were agonizing. She wished to hug her sister,to apologize for the loss of her betrothed.

Maybe she could apologize for being the way she was. Whatever she was.

For now, Rhaella bowed her head,if Luke could feel her pains, she hoped he could forgive her

[starlxghtss]

The Bite

Anyone remembers that gory scene in Stranger Things 3 where Jonathan cuts into Eleven's leg with a burning knife? This but with Peter & Yondu :D

CW: Blood, Gore, Whump, Child whumpee, Open wound

--

It all didn’t exactly go the way it was planned. Not only that the stuff the Ravagers wanted to get for their own, was guarded by some tentacle alien monsters but also that they were outnumbered and thus had no chance against them.

More risk, more fun, Peter guessed when they were attacked by the critters that weren’t really satisfied with someone entering their nest.

The things weren’t too nice to look at. They appeared like huge spiders, only with living tentacles and faceless. Instead, they had wide open mouths with hundreds of sharp teeth. 

Pure nightmare fuel. 

But Peter tried to play it cool, acting all brave and 'manly' in front of the Ravagers, especially Yondu. 

He wasn't a little kid anymore, no, he's twelve now! 

Which means, he'll soon be old enough to fly the Milano all by himself, without Yondu or Kraglin or Tullk looking over his shoulder.

And although he still suffered from terrible nightmares, the boy hid his fears from the Ravagers. Or else they would never take him seriously if he would start talking about it and make it obvious that he was afraid of every mission. 

So Peter held his small blasters in his hand, shooting one of the beasts in the head as it was about to attack Gef. He's gotten a lot better since his training with Yondu and today would be the day where he could show him what he learned. 

"Cap'n, 's too many of 'em!" Oblo shouted to Yondu while fighting the alien monsters. 

Not even the skilled Ravager captain's arrow could kill all of them as they kept splitting into more over and over again, making it almost impossible for the others to defend themselves. 

"Gef, Tullk! Go get 'm ships ready for backin' off!" Yondu ordered, killing the thing in front of him with one whistle. "Kraglin, Peter, yer comin' with me!" 

"Yes sir!" 

Peter briefly glanced over to the others when, in this moment of distraction, one of the monsters knocked him over by stabbing a tentacle right into his left leg. The boy squinted his teeth in pain as the thing pulled him by his leg. It felt just like someone had rammed many knife blades into his skin, all at the same time. But to his luck, Oblo was there and cut through the tentacle, so that it let go off Peter’s leg. 

The part that got stuck in his leg, was still moving in an ache until he had pulled it out in an instant, letting out a shriek as he did so. The boy felt warm blood running down his leg underneath his dark leather pants while the wound started to sting. 

But the kid had pulled himself up and continued to shoot the monsters to help the others, trying to ignore the awful pain.

Kraglin, seeing the blood streaming down his leg, shouted over to him.

"Quill! Ya losin' blood!"

The Xandarian came over to the boy who stood there on shaky legs trying to still fight although every further step hurt even more. 

But the boy immediately waved off. "I-it's nothing! Just a small scratch!" He panted, his heart hammering in his chest.

Kraglin raised an eyebrow in disbelief but at the same time, he didn’t really have the time to ask himself about the kid's strange behavior. Soon, the hopeless situation came to an end. The Ravagers fled back to their ships, leaving the loot behind. 

"Hey, we're headin' off!" Peter heard one of the Ravagers yell as he was also making his way to the M-ship standing in the woods nearby. 

Of course, running with the wounded leg wasn’t that pleasant but in the last seconds the boy had made his way to the ship as few of the men had pulled him inside before the hatch closed. Peter held himself up to one of the rocket seats, almost losing balance when the ship left the planet behind. From second to second his breathing became heavier, his leg was burning. 

"Damn it! We was so close!" Peter heard one of the Ravagers complain about the failed mission. The man gnashed his teeth in anger. 

They all stood in the ship’s cockpit, heavily breathing. Right after, another snapped back, turning with a scowled face.

"Yeah, if ya ain’t lazed away that one transmitter, buttock!" 

"Ugh, shut'cher mouth, Halfnut! Ye ain't allowed sayin' anythin' after 'em last job on Contraxia!" 

The rest of the conversation Peter didn’t notice. His head suddenly got dizzy and he felt like everything was spinning around him. The boy tried to walk towards the exit of the cockpit while he only heard a ringing sound in his ears along with his own heavy breathing. Trying to look up to the lights on the ship’s ceiling, he saw them spinning before his eyes when his vision became blurry. 

In the distance, he only heard muffled talking from the others.

 "...'s up...with 'm?" 

Peter closed his eyes before he fainted, losing his balance. 

Only a few minutes passed when the boy had slowly gained back his eyesight. The first thing he saw was the blurred face of Kraglin, who called his name, slightly smacking his cheek so that he would return to reality. 

"Hey, Pete!"

Peter blinked his eyes, trying to understand what happened to him. As his consciousness kicked in again, he felt such a tormenting pain from his wounded leg which he had never experienced before. He squeezed his eyes shut, letting out a cry in pain. 

"Pete, what's wrong?!" Kraglin repeated in shock with widened eyes, staring at the kid, whose head he had shored on his knees.

In an instant, his glance fell on Peter's leg, where his dark pants were covered in dried blood. Slightly, he shoved up the fabric so that he could look at the wound. And to his horror, the wound wasn’t only infected and suppurated but swollen and it looked like something was moving underneath the skin. Everyone else standing beside seeing this was flinching back and gritting their teeth in disgust. 

"Oh shit!"

Peter lifted up his head a bit to look at the wound himself when he saw what made the others gagging. He screwed up his face in terror of what he was looking at while at the same time, the pain was still unbearable.

"'s that yer small scratch?" Kraglin frowned with a bit of sarcasm in his voice.

The boy ignored the comment, as he still stared at the wound with widened eyes, whimpering, pressing his lips together. Eventually, Yondu pushed away the others blocking the way while hissing at them.

"Out of the way!"

He hesitated when he saw the Terran laying there with tears running down his cheeks. Glancing at the wound the captain knew what to do immediately. In the same moment, he remembered the story about the same parasite monsters he used to scare the boy with when he didn't want to sleep. How ironic.

"Kraglin, keep 'm awake!" The Centaurian hollered, rushing to the back of the ship. 

Kraglin briefly looked up to his captain, then again turned back to Peter as ordered. He placed both hands on the boy's cheeks in tension about the whole situation. 

"Okay, kid, stay 'ere! Hey, look at me! Don't'cha close yer eyes, ye hear me?!" He sputtered nervously, moving Peter’s head while his eyelids became heavier from every second passing. 

In the meantime, Yondu went to the makeshift 'kitchen' of the small ship, which consisted only of a few drawers full of cutlery. He opened them in a rush, searching for something useful like a knife. In it, he finally found a huge one, holding the tip over the flame of a burner. Finally, the Centaurian took an old towel, ripping off a piece of it. 

Coming back to the cockpit with the knife and cloth, Yondu said to Peter briefly, "This'll gonna hurt as hell now, boy. 'ere, bite on that." 

He kneeled beside the terrified child and put the piece of cloth between Peter's teeth so that it would prevent him from screaming, because what now would follow, would be awfully painful. And although the Centaurian would really like to renounce doing that, it was the only way to save Peter’s life. He took the knife into one hand and looked at the Terran, who stared at him with widened eyes, clenching his jaw to bite on the piece of cloth. 

Without further ado, Yondu then started cutting with the burning knife into the flesh where the thing was moving. Blood and pus flowed out of the infected wound and Peter’s jaw tightened even more, he shut his eyes while he was screaming in pain, what through the rag in his mouth sounded more like a loud whine. 

The pain was so unbearable, that the poor boy was squirming and wailing but Kraglin held him tight in his grip. Every second felt like an entirety, pure torture. After the cut, now followed something more grievous than it already was. So Yondu didn’t hesitate to not torment Peter even more. The Centaurian reached his hand into the opened cut, to take out the parasite, making the Terran shriek louder while his eyes were flooded with tears. Yet, he didn’t dare to look, what, for his own sake, probably was better. 

"Just 'bout havin' it! Keep 'm still!" The captain growled to Kraglin, who tried to prevent Peter from moving around during the process. 

The Centaurian clenched his teeth and dug deeper into the wound, until he finally grabbed the slimy disgusting thing and tore it out of Peter’s leg. Throwing it away, the crowd of Ravagers behind them stepped aside in fear mixed with disgust of what they just witnessed. Peter tore the cloth out of his mouth, heavily breathing and crying when it was finally over.

"Hey, ya did it, Pete. It’s over." Kraglin said softly to him, placing a hand on the boy's back to calm him down.

Yondu put away the blood soaked knife and sighed in relief while more blood ran down his left hand. 

Just in time, he thought. Any moments later and he would’ve lost the boy.  

"That'll leave one huge scar, boy." Yondu said after he was finished bandaging Peter’s leg and knotted it up all tightly. 

The boy let out a small whimper and flinched as it still hurt but kept himself from crying. He didn't even shed another tear as the Centaurian had cleaned the wound with some alcohol, bravely swallowing his pain.

"But scars are cool, aren’t they?" Peter raised his head to look into the man's face. "They make me a real Ravager now!" 

Yondu snickered softly about the boy's words, tapping his blue fingers on Peter's leg. He grinned slightly at the kid, but instead of answering his question, he took him to task.

"Now ya tell me what'chu were plannin' with this." 

Peter felt his stomach tighten. He probably meant his behavior down there on the planet, Kraglin had told him for sure about that. 

"Why didn't 'cha tell Kraglin ye was wounded, heh?" Yondu dug deeper, sensing that Peter felt more uncomfortable now. He raised an eyebrow, expecting an answer. "So?" 

The boy gulbed, trying to avoid the captain's piercing look on him. Peter looked down, nervously fiddling his fingers. 

"I...uhm, I didn't want the others to know..." He mumbled under his breath, still with his head downcast. "Halfnut and Taserface just would've laughed at me again..." 

Great, now he could forget about flying the Milano for sure, Peter thought, ready for every punishment Yondu was about to give him. But then the boy felt a finger tucking under his chin, raising it and his eyes met the Centaurian's again. 

"Boy" Yondu said gently "Ya shouldn't listen to these jerks out there, they don't know shit. What'chu did was hella dangerous and stupid, ye could've died if I ain't saved ya." 

Peter opened his mouth but closed it again as the Ravager gave him a warning look. That's it, there comes his lecture about how he screwed up, he thought. 

"But ya also did good down there." 

Huh? Did he just praise him?

"I did... good?" Peter repeated in disbelief. 

"Don't 'chu think I ain't seen ya shootin' these parasites." Yondu smiled, pointing at his leg. "An' as for this, ya was really brave, boy. Had one of 'em too, when I was a young lad. And if my captain then ain't come to save me, I wouldn't be alive t'day. See?" 

The Centaurian shoved up his sleeve to reveal a long scar on his blue forearm, a similar one to Peter's. The boy gasped in surprise, realizing that the Ravager captain had been through the same pain as him. Still, it's weird to be praised when you expect to be scolded and such praise coming from Yondu is even weirder.

"So you're not mad?" Peter asked carefully, to make sure that there was not anything else behind all of this. Yondu was very unpredictable when it came down to things like these. 

But the Ravager just chuckled, ruffling Peter's hair. 

"I ain't, boy. But don't 'cha get used to it, yer lucky I'm in such a good mood today!" 

A little giggle escaped the boy's throat as the Centaurian stood up, making his way to the door of Peter's quartier. Outside in the hallway the boy already heard him yelling at his crew for screwing up the job and Peter could help but grin as Yondu returned back to his usual tough demeanor as Ravager captain.

But sometimes, in moments like these, he knew that there's this other side of him, a way softer one only Peter gets to see.

[justatiredghost]

No Freedom from Knowing ch9

The general mistrust of magic as well as dangerous people in his past kept Jonathan Sims isolated, hidden away where he hoped he might finally be safe. Until he met someone who might be worth shattering that peace for.

ao3

-

John woke slowly, the fog of sleep dissipating as the solid weight beside him slowly came into focus, as well as the warmth emanating from there, seeping into his bones. Somehow, he woke feeling content in a way he was completely unfamiliar with, the knowledge that Martin was with him preventing him from panicking at the foreign feeling. 

Waking up beside someone else was not something he was used to. Any previous relationships felt like a lifetime ago, like they happened to a completely different person. John let himself indulge in the feeling, in the warmth that would quickly become stifling, in his arm that was slowly going numb from the awkward position, and the absolute relief and fondness that swepped over him at how perfect it all was. 

He knew there were things he needed to do, concerns and fears he needed to contend with, but when Martin’s eyes fluttered open and eventually focused on him, a sleepy smile tugging at the corner of his lips, it was the only thing John was capable of caring about. 

John leaned in and kissed him, because he could, because he was allowed to. Because it made Martin smile. He knew his expression had to be one of self satisfaction when Martin did exactly that. 

“Good morning to you too,” Martin said, placing his hand on John’s arm, smoothing his thumb against his skin, and he looked so fond, it made John melt. 

This closeness was still so new, John felt himself somewhat overwhelmed despite how much he wanted to indulge in it. He wanted to stay here forever, but the agitated need to walk was greater and won out. 

“It’s still night, I think,” John said, squinting towards the window. “How about some dinner?”

Martin had barely opened his mouth to agree when John climbed over the top of him. It was either that or climb to the foot of the bed, and this way won a surprised laugh that filled him with such pride and fondness, he decided he’d chosen correctly. 

“Okay, okay, jeez,” Martin muttered, covering his burning red face until John had climbed off of him and the bed, before following. 

It was inevitable that they’d eventually have to talk about next steps. The place was still a mess, but Martin righted the table and chairs so they could at least sit down while they ate. Instead of sitting across from Martin, John elected to sit beside him, which neither of them commented on, although John could tell he wanted to given the pleased and amused smile Martin tried to hide behind his tea. 

“Maybe we can train the chickens,” Martin joked. “They can act as guard… um, chickens.”

“Guard chickens?” John repeated, deadpan. “I’ve been living with them for years and I can’t even get them to lay eggs in their nests like they’re supposed to. I think they’re beyond training, which is a shame, because I for one would love to see Elias attacked by chickens.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Martin said. “I don’t know how useful they’ll be, but I did get some weapons while I was in town.”

“Weapons?” John asked in alarm. While being able to defend himself was certainly an appealing idea, he didn’t actually know how to use— well, anything. He had to admit to himself that he was more likely to stab himself than anyone else.

“Look,” Martin said defensively. “I may not have any proper training with a sword, but I’ve made a few in my time and that includes testing the strength of the blade. I can work out the basics. Unless you’re going to tell me Elias is also a renowned dualist.”

“Not that I know of,” John said. “He’s likely far older than he looks, though, so who knows.”

“Great, that’s just great,” Martin griped, and John hoped it wasn’t obvious how endearing he found it. “Well, what about—“

And then all hell broke loose. 

It sounded like an explosion, rocking the house to its core, sending spiderwebbing cracks up the wall and ceiling, and knocking John to the ground, where he landed hard. His entire body felt like it was on fire, his magic ripped out of him as it tried to strengthen his wards against the unseen magical bombardment, but it was pointless, there was no way he had enough strength in him to combat that sort of power. 

It felt like he was being flayed open and ripped apart, everything he was torn out of him, leaving a ragged hole behind. He couldn’t even cry out, paralyzed by the agony. And worst of all, he could feel the exact moment his protections gave out. Everything that had shielded him from the outside world was stripped away and he was left vulnerable and broken in its wake. 

He tried to gasp, but he couldn’t get enough air in him, leaving him wheezing on the ground, grabbing at the neck of his shirt as if that would somehow alleviate the crushing weight on his lungs. 

“John? John, can you hear me? Please say you can hear me!”

He was vaguely aware of Martin over him, trying to support him. It was all he could do to reach out and cling to him, every movement a tremendous effort, his hands shaking too much to properly hold onto him. 

John could feel tears running down his face. He wanted to tell him to run, that all hope was lost and he needed to get as far from here as possible, but no words would come, only a strangled sob. Martin heaved him into his arms and carried him to the couch, staying close to hold him, to whisper reassurances that John didn’t know how to tell him meant nothing against the horrors of the world. The horrors that were coming for him. 

He could feel the full force of the Eye, of Beholding, glaring down on him now. It had been so long, he’d almost forgotten what it felt like to be such a target of that scrutiny; the at once intoxicating and horrific power that he was too weak to fight. He didn’t like who he was with it, the people he had hurt, the people he would likely hurt in the future. It had never been this intent on him, and he didn’t want to know what that meant. 

He cried for a long time, there in Martin’s arms, taking comfort where he didn’t deserve it. He should have pushed him away when he had the chance, at least then he would be far from here, where he might be spared whatever was coming. Martin was smoothing his sweat-dampened hair out of his face, trying to talk him down, when he finally got enough breath in him to speak again. 

“Elias will be coming for me,” John said, gripping Martin’s hand where it had been resting on his shoulder. He thought he might have been holding on too tightly, but he was so weak, it was likely Martin barely felt it. 

“Like hell he will,” Martin said, determination and a protective fury in his eyes that both warmed him, knowing someone could care for him so much, and also froze him to the bone, because he couldn’t get hurt, John couldn’t watch that happen. Elias wouldn’t hesitate to kill him if he wanted. 

“Please don’t try to fight him,” John said, still gasping for every word. At least the pain was lessening, the tight grip on his chest slowly growing slack. 

“I’m not just going to stand by! “

“Please, I can't protect you from him,” John begged, and he felt the tears in his eyes again. 

“Tough! It’ll be him that needs protecting.”

And, fuck, he loved this man so much. “Help me up,” he said, and Martin did just that, grabbing his cane and handing it to him as well. 

“Come on,” Martin said. “Let’s at least get somewhere more defensible.”

“Oh,” John said, and any remaining shred of hope he had fled from him completely. “Oh, god. They’re all coming.”

He could feel it. He could feel the unnatural tremor through the earth as they came, the fury and hatred whipped up into a supernatural frenzy, and he knew Elias was somehow the cause. He never did like to do his own dirty work. John shouldn’t have been able to see it, feel it, without his wards, but maybe this was one last gift from Elias. 

“What?” Martin said. “What’s going on? John?” 

“Martin, Martin I need you to listen to me,” John said, grabbing his arm tightly once again, desperately, as he spoke as quickly as he could. ”I need you to go out the back. They can’t find you here.”

“Is it the monsters?” Martin asked, and the set of his jaw told him there was nothing he could say to keep him safe. He’d fight them with his bare hands if he had to. “I’m not leaving you alone.”

“No, it’s not, it’s—“

“Come out, witch!” A voice yelled from outside, followed by another. “We know you’re in there, sorcerer!”

“Oh. Oh no,” Martin finally saw what he could; a crowd of people from the town, whipped into a frenzied mob, stepping out of the forest and into his clearing, armed with whatever weapons they could find. 

“They’re coming up with new things to call me all the time,” John said, almost hysterically, catching onto the absurd amidst the horror. 

“Maybe you can sneak out the back while I de-escalate,” Martin began. 

“No, no,” John said, stopping him when he made to walk towards the door. “Something isn’t right, I think Elias has done something, they can’t be reasoned with.”

“Are you sure? We have to at least try!” Martin insisted. 

“Look, if you at least stay here, stay hidden, I might be able to do something,” John lied. “It’s just, my magic won’t protect you, you have to stay safe.”

“I can protect myself—“ Martin began, indignation clear on his face. 

“Martin please, we don’t have time,” John said. But even as he begged, he knew there was no chance. Neither of them could leave the other in danger. They just weren’t capable of it. 

“You’re right, we don’t have time,” Martin said, a steeliness in his eyes. 

“Okay,” John relented, trying desperately to think of something, anything that might get them out of this alive. Or at least get Martin out. He didn’t know what was even happening, really, which made it impossible. 

And then, impulsively, Martin pulled him into a burning kiss. John wasn’t sure if the tears were his own or Martin’s. He wanted the moment to last forever, but a crash caused them to jerk apart. Someone had thrown a rock through a window.

Martin tried to position himself in front of John as they heated outside to confront what was happening. There was no way John could let him do that. He was going to face this head on, he was not going to cower. And he certainly wasn’t going to let Martin risk himself like that. It made his chest ache, knowing he would try to shield him from all of this and the pain he would suffer for it. No, they would face this side by side at the very least. 

A few people were at the head of the group, no doubt the spokesmen. This entire thing was beginning to feel surreal. This was the most organized mob he had ever witnessed. That was probably thanks to Elias, though. He always loved order and bureaucracy. 

A roar went up through the crowd when they spotted them and he suppressed a wince. He didn’t have his cane on him and he did his best to walk without limping, refusing to even lean on Martin. If nothing else, he wanted it to be said that he met his end with dignity, not groveling and crying. He would stand tall until he couldn’t anymore. 

There were shouts, demanding to know what he had done, but he couldn’t answer because he hadn’t done anything. He and Martin were left bewildered, trying desperately to figure out what was happening, what they were being accused of, until one of the lead figures called out louder than the rest. 

“We know this isn’t you, lad,” an older gentleman said to Martin. “Step away from him.”

“What are you talking about?” Martin asked. 

“He’s bewitched you.”

“What?” Martin said, somewhere between a scoff and a laugh. “Of all the stupid—“

“Just step away from him, it will all be over in a moment.”

“No! This is absurd, he hasn’t done anything.”

“He’s a monster!”

“What are you even—“ Martin said, furious and completely at a loss. 

“Actually,” John tried to whisper, because on some level he probably was a monster, they all seemed to get their power from the same place, but Martin just glared at him because now was not the time to be joking around. John personally thought, if not now, when? 

“He’ll kill us all given the chance,” another heckler called. 

“He’s been trying to help. He saved my life, probably plenty of yours, too!”

Martin continued to talk, to defend him, but that was when John saw him, out of the corner of his eye. Very casually lighting a cigarette, watching the entire thing unfold from the shadows of the trees, was Elias Bouchard. He was still dressed in his immaculately pressed suit, a strange contrast in the middle of the forest, a slight smile on his face, and John wondered how he ever could have looked up to this insufferable, cruel man. 

Realizing he was being watched, Elias waved briskly, his grin widening. Then, he looked out over the crowd and back at John, and it was clear exactly what he was thinking. Things were moving too slowly, perhaps he could liven things up a bit. 

A shout went out in the crowd and a rock suddenly struck John in the shoulder, causing him to stagger. He looked around in alarm, but Elias was gone and Martin was grabbing him, pulling him behind him, and then all chaos broke out. 

John was thankful, in a way. When the crowd surged forward, he and Martin were both grabbed and ripped apart. At least that meant whatever happened to him, Martin couldn’t be caught in the middle. He didn’t know what he would have done if Martin had taken a rock for him.  

“Stop it, stop! Can’t you see he hasn’t done anything?” Martin was yelling somewhere to his right. “Leave him alone!”

He caught sight of Martin, being restrained by several men, and he breathed a sigh of relief that they weren’t taking this out on him as well. If they truly thought he was being controlled, maybe they would let him go when they were finished. He hated that Martin was here for this at all, he couldn’t imagine how terrifying it would be to have their positions reversed, but at least he would live. 

He had a feeling where this was going, and while beaten to death wasn’t exactly an ideal end, if Martin was safe, he wouldn’t use his magic. He couldn’t. The idea terrified him so much more than the violence of the crowd. Once he started, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to stop. He would rip open their minds, expose knowledge and secrets for the Eye to feast on and it would be horrible to see. 

He doubted Martin would be able to look at him the same after that. He wouldn’t be able to look at himself, either. Assuming, of course, that it didn’t consume what was left of him in the process, until there was nothing but the thrill of power, making him as cruel as Elias. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to recognize Martin anymore if that happened. He wasn’t sure he could protect him from the Eye, or from himself. 

Through the throng, he managed to catch Martin’s eye and he tried to smile, tried to reassure him that everything would be okay, that he was okay with this. That just made the tears begin to flow down Martin’s face and his chest ached to see it. 

Then, someone punched John in the face and he couldn’t see anything anymore as he was sent sprawling. A sharp kick dug into his stomach and he did his best to curl into a ball, covering his head, as another caught him in the back. 

Out of the corner of his eye, back towards the house, he saw movement and managed to turn in time to see someone opening the door and slipping inside. Elias. It was Elias. And as their eyes met, he had the audacity to wink. And then he was gone, the door clicking shut behind him, and John was brought back to the current situation by a kick to his ribs

He always seemed to end up back here, under the boots of the people around him. He’d wanted to help them, but he’d failed at every turn. He’d done nothing but hide away and protect his own skin, while they fought and died to the creatures lurking in the darkness, the creatures he should have been able to work out, protect them from. 

Maybe this was the end he deserved. Elias had been right, he was a failure. He could do nothing for anyone, living off the work Gertrude had put in while contributing nothing of his own. He would die unmourned and forgotten. Hopefully Martin would eventually see him like that too, so he could move on and forget him like he deserved. 

John was fine with this, with keeping their focus on him, to let them take their rage and hatred out of his body, hoping it would be enough to satisfy them so they wouldn’t turn it on Martin or anyone else. It was a familiar oppressive terror, the hopelessness of knowing no one would save him, as they demonstrated just how far their hatred for him went. 

Somehow that was always more frightening than the physical pain; knowing for certain that whatever self loathing he possessed, their hatred for him was exponentially worse. It was unfathomable in its cruelty, that it could blind them until they couldn’t even see him as a person anymore. He was just a monster. Lower than a monster. And the world would be a better place without him in it. 

Someone stomped down on his ribs, causing him to cry out and flinch from his position, leaving his head exposed and he caught a kick to his forehead, dazing him. It almost made him miss it. There, an oppressive weight, fear and a bloodthirsty intent. But it wasn’t coming from the crowd, at least not completely. It was so much worse, so much bigger than all of them, and it fueled them all in their violence. 

Oh god. They were coming. More monsters than should have been in the forest, pressing in on all sides, feeding off of all of this. He tried to scramble to his feet, to cry out a warning, but he was knocked down immediately, brutally, and he had no breath for words, unable to even protect himself from the assault coming from all directions. 

And then the screaming began. 

First to arrive was the Slaughter, feeding off the long-festering anger of the townspeople and amplifying it, a horrible visage of a man, twice as tall and towering over the crowd, with too many heads and too many limbs, that sliced through those closest with swords and spears and knives. Then the Flesh, and John was grateful for his angle, unable to truly see the form they were taking. The last one he’d seen was hulking and bulging and dripping and he didn’t want a comparison. 

Then there was the fog. 

The crowd had backed off somewhat, distracted by the chaos, and John took advantage of the moment to search for where he’d last seen Martin, but he wasn’t there. Unhindered by the press of the mob now, as they began to scatter, John began dragging himself across the ground, desperately casting about. 

Martin had to still be here. The Lonely couldn’t have taken him so quickly, surely. But if it had, it would all be John’s fault, forcing him to watch all of this, leaving him helpless to stop it. John of all people knew what helplessness felt like, what it could do to a person, and he hated himself for putting him through that, for not even thinking. 

John could feel himself on the edge of desperation, near tears, when someone grabbed him by the back of his shirt and hauled him roughly to his feet. He staggered, forced to lean on the man holding him to stop himself from falling or being choked by his own clothing, his bad leg unable to take his weight. 

“Give them the witch,” a man shouted, and they dragged John forward a stumbling step. 

They were going to feed him to the monsters. And Martin was still out there, he needed his help. He tried to object, to explain it wouldn’t do anything, they didn’t care about him, but he knew it was useless before he’d even begun. Everything was happening in a blur around him, he could barely process any of it, the screaming of the injured and dying drowning everything out, his panic making it all into an incomprehensible wave of noise. 

He was vaguely aware of something hitting the man holding him and it was almost a relief when John was dropped unceremoniously to the ground, where he could press his face against the cool grass. But then he was looking up at Martin and he thought he might weep in relief. 

Martin was trying to check his injuries, but John grabbed at him and pulled him close enough to wrap his arms around his neck, pulling himself closer to give him a desperate hug, more relieved than he’d ever been in his life. 

“We need to go,” Martin said, and he tried to nod along, even though he didn’t know if he could. 

Martin pulled his arm across his shoulders and hauled him up. John bit back a cry of pain at the sudden movement and just tried to hang on, moving one foot in front of the other, dizzy from the movement. They were jostled several times, but Martin stood strong, determined. As they reached the perimeter, the fog grew thicker. 

“Martin,” John said, voice hoarse and painful, still barely able to get breath into his bruised lungs. “It’s coming, we can’t —“

“It’s okay,” Martin said, and the smile he gave him chilled him to the bone. He imagined it looked a lot like the one John had given him before the first blow had been struck. 

“No, Martin, please,” he tried to protest, but he was much too weak. 

And then they were swallowed up by the white, drawn into the depths of the Lonely, by Martin himself. John thought there was a chance he himself might be protected by the Eye, he might be able to retain his sense of self in that oppressive forsaken place, if it could even still reach him there, but Martin had no such protection. And yet Martin was welcoming it in like an old friend. And he was doing it for John, to get him somewhere safe, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. 

[overthinkingtaleblr]

Warning: this gets violent. Very violent. If it hits any limits, I am sorry.

been thinking about Video Canon: we've rarely seen Jimmy angry. The two I can think of was during a slender video and when Ghost/Jimmy was taunting the Housekeeper ("Come. Get. The watch. GET IT NOW!") And now I'm thinking about it in other situations.

When he can't find the guy he's trying to kill after hours of searching, he gets more and more destructive. He's tipping over furniture and screaming "WHERE ARE YOU?!" that becomes gutteral as he slowly loses his voice. His laugher becomes growls. He starts stabbing nearby inanimate objects and walls when they're not where he looked. His running shifts from toying to charging. He's sniffing the air for any smell of fear or anything that can give them away. It changes from a game to a hunt as he's blinded by the increasing bloodlust and frustration.

And when he finally finds them? He lunges, his rage loud and piercing with whatever voice he has left as the plunges the knife over and over, shredding and ripping the body apart until it's barely recognisable as part of this dimension. Until the room has gore shewn everywhere. Until he's practically dripping in blood.

It's not over yet as he drags himself out, panting and scraping the wall with his nails, feeling that dripping blood stain behind him. The anger is still there, burning on like a second skin. He storms off in a random direction, gritting his teeth as he scans around nearby for someone else to sink knifey into.

The only one who can really anger Jimmy right off the bat is CBF. All he can feel is betrayal and rage at the sight of them. They lied to him, all those years ago, back when he was alive.

They said that he was dead - he wasn't.

They said that they weren't real - they are.

They said that they'd not return - they lied.

And he wants to know why. Why did you lie? Why did you leave me? Why are you back after everything you said?! You could've saved me from those woods but you didn't! You didn't do anything! Why didn't you save me?! Why didn't you love me?!

Whenever Ghost has to deal with CBF, he can feel Jimmy's rage in the back of his mind. He can feel him trying to force a blackout. He can hear him screaming at him to let him out, let him out now. And he doesn't want to for an obvious reason: CBF can and probably will kill him - and take Ghost down with him.

Jimmy doesn't care. So what if they both die? So long as CBF ends up as nothing more than wet bits of boxes by the time he's done.

The content warning was not kidding— this was sent in a couple days ago, sorry for only getting to it now!

Jimmy getting more monstrous as he gets frustrated with a hunt is sooo interesting tbh,, it does imply there’s something more personal to his attacks than random chance or killing for killing’s sake and would absolutely be an interesting direction to focus on in a story.

Also, ghost and Jimmy only being in agreement that cbf needs to die? Very interesting, very very cool! Not much else I can add for now, just that Jimmy acting more and more desperate over something seemingly so shallow,,, it feels like toast would notice that.

[goddamnwebcomics]

GoddamnWebcomics's 4 Characters who should have turned evil and how

Jesus, it's been a while since I've written an article thingy. I've noticed that in my recent article thingies I've never really focused on the Hypotethical. I am always open to giving ideas what I would prefer but I've never been able to word it well.

Everyone except Twitter likes a good redemption, but I admit, people are missing out on the Art of the Corruption. This is not about writing characters who are good in the comic and rewriting comic around them being evil, this is pitching 4 hypothetical scenarios where a previously good or grey character becomes a villain, or even turns out to be evil all along.

And for this special article thingy, I believe we should start with the most obvious.

1. Riley and Kade (Alien Dice)

I feel that for Riley, we don't really need to change anything about the existing comic since he is always acting like a cunt, but where the point of change comes in is during Trasik's death.

Instead of you know, not being Trasik, we see that Trasik, after she dies, rather than turning into a mimic tries to gut out Riley's name but Riley tries to give her CPR (eww he's kissing his sister on the mouth), only for her to die. Riley is devastated but for some unknown reason he doesn't harbor ill will towards Chel or Lexx for her death. Everything after that is mostly unaltered, except Chel is creeped out by neither Kade or Riley showing any signs of grief regarding Trasik's death, and Chel is about to ask Riley at one point in relay why did Riley hide Lexx's mother's death from him, only for Riley to say some word salad shit ended with "GO TO BED"

Skip to the Gauntlet, Andisel issues Lexx to take on Riley's siblings that ALL PLAY. One by one Lexx kills or severely injures each of them, until he gets to Mauki. Mauki tells Lexx that if he wants Chel to have a happy life, it is at this point he should let himself be killed. Lexx, of course, does not believe that, but Stealth, who's been fighting on Lexx's side, believes that Mauki is speaking the truth. Riley shows up via relay to tell Lexx that Mauki is mad at Lexx for killing Trasik and he's trying to use his positive relationship with Lexx to manipulate him, Lexx thinks Riley is right and tired and just completely absorbed by fatigue, kills Mauki. Andisel is shocked that Lexx has survived The Gauntlet, but Riley is still on Lexx's ears, telling him now is the perfect chance to kill Andisel. Lexx is uncertain due to the guards around him, but Riley tells him Stealth can take care of the guards. Stealth however tells Riley she will not do anything he wants him to do, and he's been surprisingly stoic about his siblings being gorily injured or killed off. Riley removes Stealth's ability to relay, and tells Lexx if he kills Andisel, guards will be cowards and not do anything to him, and then he can have his freedom, and that Kade's ship is on the way to the ADC headquarters.

Lexx is uncertain but Riley yells "AFTER THIS YOU WILL BE FREE LEXX, NOW IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY, STOP BEING SO STUBBORN, YOU WILL GET TO BE WITH CHEL, JUST DO IT". Lexx, tired of hearing that fanged fucker in his ears, leaps and stabs Andisel in the heart in an attack that echoes Trasik's death. The guards try to do something to Lexx but they just run away in panic once Lexx rips out Andisel's heart and holds it up. "I killed another rishan" Lexx thinks and faints.

Meanwhile, Chel is in Earth talking with Lisaan when he spots a massive space armada heading towards Earth's way. Kade appears on a massive holoprojector screen, announcing that Earth has avoided the responsibilities of the Galactic Order for way too long, and that ADC kept Earth oblivious from rest of the galaxy for a reason, but it will all change now. Kade smiles as Riley tells him that Andisel is finally dead, and rest of ADC chairmen have fled. Lexx wakes up inside Kade's warship where he is watched over by multiple armed soldiers with Riley's family symbol on their chest. Lexx is unsure if they're protecting him or imprisoning him. Suddenly, Lexx is visited by Andisel's soul echo who finally explains that all this time he's been manipulated by Riley and Kade to make their twisted plan of taking over the galaxy come true. Death of Trasik was an attempt by Riley to get rest of his siblings on his side before The Gauntlet, but instead the siblings became even more opposed to Riley and Kade, and Mauki was made to be the one last messenger. Andisel admits that Lexx's death could've prevented the death of billions that is about to occur thanks to Kade's plan.

Now Riley tells that now that he no longer has to pretend being friends with Lexx, he finally feels free himself, only for really pissed off Chel to contact Riley via relay. Riley compliments her arrogantly, telling that she was so close to figuring this mystery out, but now that Earth will soon be enslaved, she can finally get Riley those chicks. Chel, absolutely furious, uses her imagination skills she learned from Riley to create a monstrous version of Lexx that causes Riley to fall unconscious.

As Chel and her family escape to secret CIA facility, Chel tries to contact Lexx via relay, but is shocked to learn that Kade disabled relay completely. Something that has also been noticed by Lexx, and now, the true final battle of Alien Dice is about to begin as Lexx tries to get back at his piece of shit friend for manipulating him all these years, alongside others that were hurt by Riley's actions.

2. Dr. Universe (Spinnerette)

From a "deconstructed" supervillain to an actual legitimate piece of shit, I think it's about time Ulysses N. Verde's real side finally got exposed.

Dr. Sighn has made a new breakthrough for ALS research and is seeking to fund it. Unfortunately, due to various complaints of General Evescroft, US government refuses to send any funds to the state of Ohio, fearing that supporting public projects will create more superheroes and more collateral damage. Dr. Universe, who has amassed quite a wealth thanks to his projects, is the richest man in the county and only one who can fund Sighn's project. Universe, being an objectivist and all, hates altruism and opposes the idea completely. Greta, who is already stressed out about having to marry Universe, remembers that the project could help Mecha Maid, their friend. Universe however doesn't want to fund it, stating that ALS would not exist if it could be easily identified in people. He states that "survival of the fittest" also works in the medical community, and there is no time to help those who are weaker.

Greta gets really upset, yelling at Universe that he sounds just like the government he hates. Universe tells Greta to calm down and not use straw man arguments, he knows exactly what is the difference between himself and the government. And it is not his duty as a supervillain to care about moral arguments.

That night Greta goes to meet Spinny and Mecha Maid. Mecha Maid is extremely upset about Sighn's experiments failing, stating that her armor can't keep her alive forever. Eventually, she will run out of energy to help herself. Spinny is also showing uncharacteristic amounts of concern and anger. Spinny demands why can't she pull Universe's hidden humanity out. Greta states that Universe's hidden humanity only cares about her and nothing else. Greta believes that only way Universe could ever donate to the research is if SHE became sick with ALS, but even then there still would be a small chance that he would not donate.

That night, Universe receives a grim word from IRS that he has been found evading taxes. Panicking that his empire could fall apart any moment, he decides to ask Greta if she would like to arrange their wedding earlier, believing that their union could save them from IRS. Greta is shocked at such a selfish claim, as Greta states she is wanting to get married on their anniversary for a reason. Universe states dates are subjective, and love is secondary to the progression of science. Greta storms off in absolute fury as she blows the engagement ring Universe gave her far away.

Universe, failing to realize that he was to blame for this, thinks Greta has been corrupted by "weak altruistic thinking" and decides to frame Dr. Sighn as a fraud. He publishes a "ALS documenting journal" which is intentionally filled with portions written by chatGPT and plagiarisms from other texts, which earns the ire of everyone and Sighn is fired on the spot and his project is halted. Mecha Maid doesn't believe one bit that Sighn did this, and as a matter of fact last thing Sighn did was yelling he was innocent before hitting the head of the university with a cricket bat. Mecha Maid and Spinny go investigate Universe's lab, while Greta distracts him with an apology date and quickly prove Universe wrote the original entry under Sighn's name.

Spinny confronts Universe, claiming she was a fool for thinking Universe had heart left in him, but Universe responds he, much like Ayn Rand, doesn't believe in love, and only wanted to marry Greta to advance their projects and avoid "retirement hurdles". Greta hears this and gets so furious she fights Universe, eventually resulting in Universe's lab exploding and taking Universe with it. As Spinny and Mech try to find a new life for Greta, Universe's gauntlet rises from the burning rubble...

3. Kevin (Console Girl)

We could honestly just continue from where we left off with Kevin.

Kevin absorbs Emilie and Game Girl into his arm, becoming a half-human half-console hybrid. Kevin comes to the realization that existence itself is one big video game, a badly programmed unfair one, and decides to destroy it.

Sarah meanwhile is kicking S.N.O.S's ass with GeoGeo, GeoGeo's power impresses S.N.O.S. who offers Sarah a possibility to join the Console Regime, and possibly even become a leader of the resistance. She reveals the plan of the Consoles is to invade Earth and make it habitable again, and humans could potentially survive if they move into their next evolutionary form, the consoles. Sarah doesn't consider this one bit, but before she can do anything, Kevin shows up. The panicking sore loser guy is running from Kevin who has basically become Gill from Street Fighter with his digital arm expanding to completely cover other half of his body. Kevin says some Dr. Manhattan shit before absorbing S.N.O.S. into himself, a metaphor for how M. Bison was replaced by Gill as a villain in Street Fighter games or something.

They eventually work together with Professor Guy to figure out some plan to stop the Kevin menace. Idk, I just wanted to focus on how they become evil and not so much how they get defeated.

4. Forzoi (Gene Catlow)

Once again, you don't need to actually change that much from his existing screentime.

Carson finally gives up and submits to Forzoi, Forzoi chuckles and says "Very well, it seems you have finally woken up". In the Menagerie City, Borzoi and Beryl are about to confront Matt and Cydnee, when Forzoi appears. At first Matt guesses that this is Carson in the dog puppet body, but Forzoi begins speaking to Matt similar to how he did with Carson. Matt actually starts choking to death in front of everyone's eyes, begging his life to be spared. "No, you are Nothing." Forzoi's creepy voice states as Cydnee screams in horror. "And you will die the same way Nothings die, neither with a bang nor a whimper." Matt begins to slowly dissolve out of existence as his body crumples up. "Does it feel familiar?" Forzoi asks, which are the last words he says before Matt vanishes. Borzoi now realizes that this copy of himself is...a more extreme case.

Everyone detects Matt's death, Friendship Island, Big Cats, the Old Rabbits, Gene and Catwhis, well they don't really detect his death as much they notice the guy they have been spying on constantly has gone dead silent, which is far from a good sign.

"Gene...did you do this?" Catwhis asks. Gene and the rest of Family try to run but a copy of Forzoi appears in front of them. He admits the last hurdle is gone, and now they can finally begin to build the World of Friends, what with everyone approving the idea and Friendship Islandium being placed everywhere. At first Gene and his gang are overjoyed. Borzoi is trying to run to warn Gene but Forzoi makes him run in place. "You will not tell what you saw, to anyone ever." Soon we find out that Forzoi is capable of appearing anywhere and everywhere due to omnipresentness of Sight of the Soul.

Overtime, Gene and his friends find themselves being unable to question what happened to Matt, but Gene desperately wants to find out. He ends up using the void to go Tane's dimension but once Gene asks Tane to figure out what happened to Matt's presence, Tane gets horrified and states it is the exact same force that attacked his dimension and shuts him down.

Gene soon learns he is in exact position as Matt was, being watched constantly by an omnipresent enemy, but no matter what he does, he will become weaker and weaker and all his plans are exposed. Meanwhile Forzoi takes over Simmy and learns the full life histories of anyone wearing the suits. Forzoi however returns to using Carson as a puppet because he admits he is fun to torment. His end goal is uniting the world so he can absorb all of the world's life-force. It turns out that Forzoi is the oldest force in the existence, possibly a fragment from the Creator of All Things, and because immortality turns people insane, he is more insane than anyone, destroying every advanced society so he can absorb it and make himself live longer, because to him, death of him is the death of everything.

Gene has realized that everything he has done, Family of Intelligent Life, Sight of the Soul, becoming a Tech Master, helping Friendship Island, making Matt weak and creating the World of Friends, has helped Forzoi all this time. Now it's up to him and the rest of his allies to fix this mess he created. Also Carson dies at some point.

[lizhly-writes]

hi. i'm back. and we end up smash-cutting to dinner.

"you're a friend of my son's, i take it?" the woman says, smiling warmly at him like any parent delighted to see that their child has made friends. "tell me about yourself."

oh, she thinks he's her son's friend? that's nice. mc would feel nicer about this if he wasn't currently seeing boss subtitles. in addition, it looks like his level is too low for him to see her stats, which probably absolutely means she can smear him into a bloody paste onto the ground.

[ eliminate DESCENDANT OF THE BETRAYER ]

kill the woman.

the new quest pings uncomfortably in the back of his mind. no penalty, no time limit, and more xp than what killing her son would give, which makes sense, if she's some kind of miniboss and friend(!) is... normal(ish). but it's still pretty small for something really fucking suicidal. is the system trying to kill him?

he's never seen the system react like this. certainly, it's offered him xp for murder before, but there's normally an obvious reason for issuing the quest to begin with. even if they're hostile, the quest isn't issued until he's getting openly attacked. the penalty for losing the fight is obvious -- death, serious injury, etc. so what's this?

"mother."

"i'm allowed to learn about your friends, dear."

[ eliminate RUNAWAY'S CHILD]

kill the boy.

[ kill her. kill him. kill them both. kill them]

the woman makes eye contact and smiles at him. can she hear the notification? she had appeared the moment the quest to kill her son had appeared. was that coincidence or did she know?

he can't afford to freeze up, so he doesn't. instead, he eats dinner, and, in the most natural way he can, unloads his tragic backstory. his own mother, who always held out hope that his father would come for them; her unfortunate death and him being left to fend for himself; her last wish, that his father would acknowledge him. you know, that kind of shit.

the food is very good; the audience is suitably sympathetic. he doesn't really have a lot to complain about. everything seems fine.

his friend is frowning faintly. he's looking at his mother.

you need to get off this island.

"It seems you've had quite a difficult life," the woman says. "is there really any point in going back?"

mc doesn't have a choice but to go back. there's a time limit ticking down in his mind -- he has to go back, whether he likes it or not. he frames this as his duty to fulfill his mother's wish.

"i see. in that case, we can help you along the way. you need to get back home? certainly, it's possible to lend you a boat and some supplies."

[ status effect inflicted: drowse]

what?

[ quest: stay awake

objective: stay awake

reward: --

penalty ???

]

there's -- she's cast a spell. she must have, there's no reason for him to be feeling so tired all of a sudden --

"ah, but in the morning, of course. no reason to set off on a journey at night. it's getting late -- you must be getting tired."

she doesn't act like she's cast a spell. she's acting like nothing's wrong at all, like of course it's normal for him to be tired for no reason at all.

[ status effect inflicted: drowse]

it's getting so hard to move. if he -- splash his face with water, stab himself with a knife --

[ user 002 does not have the requisite ability to resist spellcasting! ]

[ status effect inflicted: sleep]

[ quest: failed ]

"oh dear... i didn't think he'd fall asleep so quickly. menander, could you get him off the table?"

"mother. what did you do?"

"i imagine it's obvious at this point."

"what did you do."

"sshhh... you'll wake him. we can't have that. every growing boy needs plenty of rest. he's got a long day ahead of him tomorrow. didn't he want to get off this island?"

[ status effect inflicted: north? south? where? ]

"then why did you cast that on him?"

"it's good to have friends. it's not good to take chances."

"he's fine. you know he's fine. you liked him, right?"

"being likable doesn't actually mean being not dangerous. you know it's not safe to let anyone else here."

[ -1 directionality! ]

[ -2 directionality! ]

[ -4 directionality! ]

[ -8 directionality! ]

[ status effect inflicted: exile from the island]

thinking about transmigrators again.

we have our mc, reborn into a difficult childhood. he is a bastard son of a noble bloodline, desperate to prove himself and gain recognition. he's read this story before. it's one of those classic power fantasies where a downtrodden normal guy becomes awesome and gets the girl and destroys anyone who dares to doubt him. he's got a system and he's got a level up feature and he knows how this is supposed to go.

except... there is something wrong here.

the starting conditions are.... too hard? it's not like there was a system in the book, so he can't directly compare, but there are just too many quests in here. a couple of them, he recognizes as certain plot points, but the rest -- no. and the failure conditions for these...

why are the penalties so harsh?

he's the protagonist, he knows he has a good ending ready for him if he gets far enough. but of course, that's the problem: can he get far enough?

he's only level 1. he should be going through the starting tutorial. but almost all the penalties involve him suffering major injuries or nearly dying. the protagonist did not go through all of this in the beginning, he knows this. there's something really wrong.

he tries. he tries. he tries. get better faster strong, as quickly as he can, because he knows he won't survive if he doesn't. he gets desperate. he gets clever.

he isn't clever enough.

he loses one of his gambles and fails one of his quests. the penalty is getting tossed into the sea -- and he does not last long in the water.

boy drowns.

...well. almost.

[unnerving-presence]

Oh I finally have an idea for a request.

Headcanons of The Oni, Ghostface, Michael and Frank getting brutaly killed by the survivor reader because they were fed up with being the hunted one. To the point were the entity doesn't let the reader in trials anymore

this is by far the coolest idea i’ve ever seen thank you for requesting anon!

i’m gonna guess reader isn’t dating them because i imagine that they would rather talk to them about it then… kill them lol.

i’m don’t know how to write murdering people in a cool way because i don’t murder people so i’m sorry if this isn’t that good 💀

this is quite a long chapter, so be aware

Kazan Yamaoka/The Oni:

The last thing he ever expected a survivor to do to him was kill him. He thought that nobody would dare oppose him, considering his large stature and deadly equipment. Though it seemed he was wrong.

He’s very surprised at first. His careless grip on his sword allowing you to easily knock it out of his grasp and take it for yourself. He makes a mental note to never make a stupid move like that again.

He may have had his kanabo, but he couldn’t grab it fast enough as you quickly slashed and stabbed at his body, slicing tendons and breaking skin. It’s obvious you didn’t know how to properly use a katana, but somehow your blind rage made it hurt all the worse.

It was like when he died all over again. Like the mob surrounding him again. Beating him, stabbing him, calling him names. And it seemed you knew exactly where to make it hurt also. Even reopening wounds. It’s quite pathetic that’s he’s dying like this, he thinks. All because he underestimated a survivor and let them catch him off guard.

After the Entity revives him from the dead, he gets quite angry that he even let a survivor lay a finger on him. He takes the time that he has alone to go thoroughly trash his realm. Crushing statues, ripping the foundations off some of the shrines. He messed it up so badly that he had to go to his granddaughters realm so the Entity could fix his up.

He seeks you out after finding that you’re not even allowed in trials anymore. As much as he wants to, he knows he can’t kill you outside of trials. So he takes you to Rin’s realm with him so he can talk with you about why you did what you did.

He can’t speak much english or really understand it, so he has Rin do the talking for him. After you tell him why, he sort of understands. He was like that at some point in his life. Tired of being targeted and treated like an animal. Just don’t do that shit again and you guys will be on pretty good terms. Hes still kind of angry at you though

Michael Myers/The Shape:

It takes a lot to kill someone like him. He’s not an easy target. He’s been burned, beat, shot, stabbed, bit. He’s been through it all, so when you manage to get your hands on something sharp, Michael didn’t really think much of it. How greatly he underestimated you.

He’s not one to visibly show emotion, but damn can you tell that he is angry. How can a shard of glass do this much to him? Why can’t he move his arms? What are you doing to him?

You stab every place you possibly could. His wrists, his neck, his arms, his stomach. Pretty much everywhere. You even stab his eye. The good one i mean. Until you know he’s dead, you’re not stopping your attacks.

He puts up quite a fight, managing to get his hand around your neck before you can stab it. He can’t really do much though, most of his limbs aren’t even functional at this point from how much you’ve stabbed them.

When he’s sent back to his realm alive and well, he quickly seeks you out. He’s going to make you suffer, no matter what the Entity says. Unfortunately the Entity says he can’t hurt you outside of trials. That’s not really stopping Michael though.

Definitely tries choking you to death the second he sees you but a quick stab in the arm from the Entity makes him rethink his actions. Now he just sort of.. stares at you. He probably doesn’t stop until he’s taken into another trial just to make you uncomfortable. Yeah he’s petty like that.

He can only assume that you’re not allowed in trials since he never even sees you in them anymore. This makes him ever the more angry since he can’t even kill you back. He forever holds a grudge against you. Prepared to be stalked from afar until Michael decides to stop being a petty bitch.

Ghostface/Danny Johnson:

I guess this is what he gets for being cocky all the time huh? He’s pretty confident in himself and thought this ‘game’ was well played on his part. The Entity even granted him the favor of killing a survivor. Until he was the one that was being killed.

He does give you a few punches and tries to get you under him, but a quick slash to his abdomen has him on the ground, holding himself up with one hand and desperately trying to search for his knife with the other. Damn it, you have it don’t you?

It takes more to kill him than you thought, but he’s not as tough as most killers. Finally thrusting the knife in through his neck quickly puts him out of his misery. Knowing he’s dead doesn’t stop you from stabbing him a few more times in his chest though.

Apparently he hadn’t studied you as much as he should’ve. He’s very impressed, he has to admit, but he’s been humiliated. In his eyes he has atleast. Looks like he needs to put you in your place and show you who the real killer is here.

Though finding out soon after that you haven’t been seen in any of the other killers trials, he sort of pissed. He can’t even get payback! He’ll probably whine to the Entity about it though he knows she won’t listen.

He’ll keep his distance for now. He’s sort of embarrassed that you, a puny survivor has killed him, a killer. It doesn’t sit right in his head and he’ll probably get a laugh or two if he tells the other killers so he just keeps it to himself.

Still pissed though. If he ever sees you wandering around he might insult you a bit but it’s all he can really do. I wouldn’t get too close though. He might have the courage to give you a stab in the chest if he’s feeling rebellious.

Frank Morrison/The Legion:

I imagine it goes how his mori would. He would try to swing at you but misses as you quickly duck to avoid the attack. He manages to stab your arm as you shove him back. Unlucky for him, his grip loosened on the knife and was now deep into your arm.

The pain didn’t seem to stop you from yanking the knife out of your arm, and giving him a taste of his own medicine, stabbing him in the shoulder and throwing him to the ground. Before he even has a chance to recover, you’re on top of him dragging the knife through his stomach before ripping his mask off and impaling him straight through his mouth.

He doesn’t have much of a chance to fight back. Your anger far surpassing his, caring about nothing more than making him suffer. In the little time he has to think, he wonders why the Entity is even allowing this. More importantly, why are you so damn strong?

He’s sort of scared of you to be honest, and it takes a lot for him to be scared. That look on your face as you clambered on top of him. You looked like you didn’t have even an inch of humanity left in you. Atleast in the moment you didn’t, not when you were so fed up with dying over and over again. He really felt like he wasn’t coming back after knowing you were going to kill him.

He might tell his friends about it, but nobody else. He trusts them enough to take it seriously and to comfort him. As much as a tough guy he is, he’s really just shocked about the whole thing. He’s never the one that has to die, so he’s never thought much about it, but when you’re in a situation like that, he understands how the survivors feel.

He’s sort of glad you aren’t in trials anymore. He doesn’t want his friends to be hurt, and he definitely doesn’t want himself to be hurt if that’s how you’re going to act near him. Though if you do manage to get near him and talk with him, he will start to understand why you did what you did. He’s not sure if he entirely forgives you, but atleast he knows you won’t hurt him again.

[marvel-noms]

Can i suggest an oneshot where Thor noms Loki? (not pairing, just protective brother vore)

Oh course anon!!)

“Thor I see that look. absolutely not.” Loki grounds out, staring at his brother with annoyance. Every since everyone found out he had acted by the will of Thanos they had made it their apparent mission to keep him ‘safe’ which was annoying when it was Thor and ten times worse when the Midgardians got the ability as well.

“Brother, I have no idea what you’re referring too.” Thor responds an air of false innocence in his tone. Loki takes a step back manifesting his knives. They wouldn’t do much damage, Thor having compared them to the Midgard animal of a cat. It was probably due to his size.

He bares his teeth in response trying to see if he could scoot past his oaf of a brother, or at least create an illusion to distract. He takes a swipe at the fingers that come to scoop him up, grimacing when his back hit the wall. “I am beyond serious brother, I will stab you.” He practically hisses out, knives raised as his brother looked at him fondly.

“You haven’t been sleeping Loki. While it may not affect us as much as the Midgards it is hurting you. I see it in your eyes.” Gods the one time his oaf of a brother was observant enough it had to be now. “It’s none of your concern.” He snaps back, though he could feel himself lowering his knives.

“Friend Stark speaks of it too, you see him don’t you? You see the carnage, the control..the outcome.”

Loki swallows nervously trying to force the images away. He didn’t want to relieve it, he didn’t need to. It was a tad comforting to know that someone shared the same experience as he.

“I know the heat is uncomfortable so..I had friend Stark aid in that regards.” Thor presented him with an odd looking pill, it was blue in nature and had icy tendrils. “What is this.” Loki turns his gaze from the pill to his brother, narrowing them in what he hoped was threatening and not confused.

“Friend Stark explains that it makes the stomach colder, no pain for the one who takes it and will reverse in a few hours.” Thor explains his smile only growing with each passing second. Loki hesitates a sense of relief washing over him. It was obvious that he would be going down regardless but there wouldn’t be an uncomfortable heat that made his skin crawl.

“Fine.”

Thor gives him a confused glance before speaking. “You accept?”

“Yes. But if anyone asks I will deny it.” Loki hisses back, as he sheaths his daggers. Sleep had started to make his life unbearable and he craved the normal blissful nothingness as he rested.

Thor didn’t seem to question it, taking the pill without so much as blinking. Ha eager bastard. “This doesn’t mean you have my permission to do this during battle, I am more than capable of doing so.” He warns as he was plucked up by his waist. “But of course brother.”

“I don’t like your tone. Who taught you sarcasm.”

Loki rolls his eyes when the only answer he got was being slid into his brother’s mouth with a rumbling chuckle. “Bastard.” He mutters under his breath, kicking the teeth once he was sealed in darkness. Surprisingly It was indeed much cooler than he was used to and while it wasn’t freezing it was a welcome change from the heat.

“Don’t drag it out this time your oaf.” He adds on, shoving at the tongue when it started it’s attack on him. He groans in annoyance as saliva soaked his clothing. He happened to like the outfit that the spider child picked out for him. He hoped these Midgardian clothing cleaners were as good as they claimed.He grimaces when the muscle continues it’s job, saliva building up to the point he knew he would be going down.

The tilt of gravity makes his insides flip and soon his feet were positioned right before his brother’s throat, the flesh pulsing ominously. “Get on with it you drama queen.” He snaps patting the muscle beneath him. No sooner did he finish his sentence a swallow pulled him down, the muscles rippling over him as he was pulled further into his brother.

His teeth hits the tight ring of muscle to the stomach, it gives easily and soon he’s plopping into the stomach. The heat was..gone. The stomach had a cool air to it, the electricity sparking under the muscle making the stomach almost..comforting.

“Are you alright brother?” The loudness of his brother was toned down much to his relief. “Yes. I’m fine.” Loki settles down against the muscle, letting the movement press into him. He sighs and closes his rest, relieved to find none of the images haunted him.

“If anyone asks where I am just say I am causing chaos with the hot dog cart man.”

“Of course brother. “

[scaramoon]

he accidentally hurts you while sparring

DILUC, KAEYA, XIAO, CHILDE — gn!reader

warnings/genre: kinda hurt/comfort? idk it’s mostly fluffy, mentions of blood and (very) minor injuries, swearing in childe’s

notes: rbs are v much appreciated, please and ty !! also pls ignore that i got carried away w xiao’s </3

━━ diluc;

you’ll have to be insistent if you even want him to spar with you; he knows you’re fully capable of standing your ground but... he’s worried

he’ll act like he doesn’t, but it’s obvious that he keeps close by whenever you’re sparring with someone

but if you wear him down enough or you’re good with your words, you can convince him to be your sparring partner

lmao just tell him you’ll get kaeya to do it 💀

“don’t- don’t hold your sword like that.” he said, his tone was flat but you’d known him long enough to be able to find the concern in it.

“i know how to hold a sword, diluc,” you responded. “i asked for a partner, not a teacher, remember?”

red eyes flashed towards you and something like a smile appeared on your lover’s lips. you mirrored it, letting your lips curl into a grin.

“of course,” he said, smallest hint of a playful tone in his voice.

but he was quick, and you may have underestimated just how well trained he was. normally, you could have blocked him. this time, however, you weren’t expecting it and you’d already began to drop your dominant hand to your side.

he noticed that, but he was just a little too late. diluc was used to the momentum of his weapon, but it wasn’t often that he had to stop it. he tried to step back before he hurt you, your name falling from his lips, desperation and worry coating his voice.

and then, just as soon as he’s processed it, his claymore was on the ground and he was watching you crouch and hold your upper arm. your seethe of pain sent guilt rushing through him.

it took him a moment to decide whether or not to go over to you; he wanted to, he really wanted to, but a part of him feared that you didn’t want him near you.

he couldn’t help it though.

“y/n?” diluc’s tone was almost a command, loud but desperate, wanting you to look at him and tell him that you were perfectly fine — wanting that to be the truth.

tears pricked in the corners of your eyes but you looked at him nonetheless. he hated that look in your eyes. seeing you in pain was one thing, but the knowledge that he was the cause of it twisted his heart in unbearable ways.

“i’m ok, diluc,” you said, quieter than you normally would. “just a little scratch, see?”

you moved your hand from where it was holding onto your arm. blood coated your fingers and the clothing surrounding the new wound, but it was clear that the cut wasn’t deep.

he didn’t say anything. his lips were pressed into a thin line as he kneeled beside you. eyebrows pinned in worry and concentration evident in his eyes, he started ripping at your sleeve to get a better look.

“diluc.” you said. your voice was more commanding this time as you moved away from him. why couldn’t he see it really wasn’t so bad?

“i didn’t mean to hurt you.” this time you could see clearly just how distressed he was.

he looked like he was about to cry and he wasn’t the one that’d been hurt. not physically, anyway; you had no idea how his chest hurt, how he felt like he couldn’t breathe.

you stared at him for a little longer. “i said i’m fine. but if it will help you sleep at night, you can come help me clean it, deal?”

“of course, dove.”

━━ kaeya;

he actually likes sparring with you

he doesn’t often get the chance, but whenever both of you are able to, he sees it as time he gets to spend with you

and any time spent with you is never time wasted in his eyes

plus he gets to do the sword under your chin thing and tease you </3

“dead.” you said proudly, standing over your lover, your sword under his chin.

a playful grin spread across his lips as he let you enjoy your win. you backed away and allowed him to stand up, dust himself off. a stretch of his arms, and then he was picking up his sword to go again.

“ready?” kaeya asked, smirk stretching his lips.

“yeah,” you said, smiling back. your gloved hand tightened around your sword’s hilt; the gloves were making your hands sweaty, your grip loosening. “actually, w-”

“y/n!”

the next thing you realized was a stinging at you side. your hand immediately came to the cut, taking an instinctive step back. the sound of kaeya’s sword hitting the ground met your ears, his hands were on your arms a second later.

“hey, hey, you’re okay.” he tried to sound calm but if was a bad attempt. he crouched down onto the ground, guiding you to sit in front of him. cautious hands grabbed the hem of your shirt, kaeya looking up at you. “can I look, love?”

“yeah, but I’m fine.” you said, though your face was twisted in pain.

his eyes were full of pity when he looked at you, jaw clenching before he lifted your shirt enough to see the wound. on first appearance, it looked worse than it really was.

“see?” you spoke again. “all good.”

he didn’t say anything at first. he just pulled you closer to him, chin hooked over your shoulder, though he was careful not to agitate your cut.

“not really. but it’s okay, we’re gonna get you all better, yeah?”

“kaeya, seriously, i’m fine. you don’t need-”

“y/n.” his voice was still sweet and concerned, but more stern when he spoke this time. “let me take care of you.”

“...fine.”

━━ xiao;

good luck getting him to spar with you in the first place

it doesn’t matter how much you tell him you want to, he’ll keep turning you down

needless to say, you’ll have to play your cards right to get him to agree to it

“what if i hurt you, y/n?”

“i’ll be under-trained and get hurt if you don’t help me.”

“you know i’ll always be there if you call for me.”

“and if you can’t come?”

“...”

“I don’t think this is a good idea.” he stated simply, eyes narrowing at you. you only threw him a smile.

“what’s the worst that can happen? you won’t even use your real pole arm, you have a stick. you can’t stab me with it, xiao.”

“I would rather not think about ‘stabbing’ you in the first place.” he huffed. “but... you need to be safe, in case one day I can’t keep you safe myself.”

a smile crossed your face as you gripped your weapon, ready for him to start.

you may have miscalculated the power and ability of an adeptus though. you quickly found yourself tired and overwhelmed, just blocking and dodging was almost too much. he could sense your fatigue already, and he was listening for you to call him to stop. xiao was ready to stop on a dime, but he knew that you were stubborn and insistent.

his “pole arm” came close to your side, and he really thought you would dodge this one. you’d done it before. but he felt the wood hit you, you falling to the ground, holding your side soon after.

his make-shift weapon was long forgotten now. he was kneeling beside you in seconds, gentle fingers running along what he was sure was a broken rib. he didn’t find one, but the guilt was already eating him and that knowledge did nothing to stop it.

“ow! that hurts, don’t touch me.” you said, seething in pain and making a pitiful attempt to move away from him.

xiao did not cry.

he didn’t, it just wasn’t something he was accustomed to, and quite honestly he wasn’t sure if adepti could cry. but the idea of you being scared of him started tears to fill his eyes; his chest was tight, and he had this uncomfortable lump in his throat.

“no, no,” you started, propping yourself on your elbows and then sitting all the way up.

you tried to reach and hold his face, to wipe the tears off, but he turned away from you; he kept kneeling, but shifted to a position a little farther away from you. the adeptus made a noise something like a squeak, and it seemed to surprise him. he didn’t wait for you to finish talking, he turned away and looked anywhere except you.

“xiao, baby, that’s not what I meant. you can- I just meant don’t put your hands directly where I got hurt... xiao? can you look at me?”

it took him a few more moments before he turned his head back to you. you knew he wasn’t always the most emotional, but you didn’t think you’d seen him like this before. he hummed, not trusting his voice. still, he wouldn’t look you in the eyes.

“I’m fine, you didn’t hurt me. its just a little bruise, there’s not even blood... I’m not scared of you, xiao, it’s not your fault.”

he stared at you for another moment before he cleared his throat and stood up. “can we at least have someone make sure you’re okay?”

“yeah.”

“...and you won’t ask me to do that again?”

“of course not.”

━━ childe;

he has mixed feelings about sparring with you

of course, it’s an odd form of quality time, but he likes it

plus that means he won’t have to watch you spar with anyone else

but there’s always the risk that you could get hurt

he’s an archer though, so he only “attacks” you with his melee — he thought he was being a lot more careful

“ready?” childe smiled, twirling one of his weapons around his finger.

“as always.” you said, gripping your own weapon.

“mhm, sweetheart, I’m sure you’re ‘always ready’,” childe said dropped his hands to his sides and stepping closer to you.

you knew what he was trying to do — he attempted to pull this off every time you sparred with him, and you never failed to catch him. seem relaxed, and whenever you thought he wouldn’t, he’d attempt to get the better of you.

this time, however, you were not as quick as you usually were. childe knew that you always saw through this; not once had you’d failed to block him, so maybe he put his trust in his weapons more than he should have.

he stopped when both of you look at the clean, but bloody, cut he’d made. his eyes widened as it sinked in, coming to the realization that he’d hurt you

“y/n- shit, I’m sorry,” he said, panic clear in his voice, though he tried to hide it. his hand was on your shoulder, guiding you to sit on the ground. “are you- you’re okay, it’s not that deep. we’re gonna get that healed and you’ll be fine, yeah?”

for words so reassuring, his panicked tone was saying something along the lines of ‘shit shit fuck dammit, i accidentally hurt my own partner, what the fuck-’

“yeah, it’s no biggie,” you said, smiling a little at him. “it’s just a little cut, I get worse on commissions.”

you knew that later he would claim he was totally calm. in reality, he was trying his best to clean the wound with his vision, and he’d get better help whenever he could get to bubu pharmacy.

“you owe me kisses though, y’know,” you teased.

‘good,’ he thought. ‘they aren’t mad at me.’

“whatever ya want, love.”

“oh? maybe I’ll take cuddles too.”

[faeryworlds]

outbreaksurvived​:

@faeryworlds

“Ah, no more bikinis at the beach then.” Randy quipped, holding Sidney close to him. He had won, had survived copycat Ghostface killers, and married the girl from high school who often occupied his dreams. “I still have you beat on scars, with being swiss cheesed by Billy’s mother, with kitchen housewares.”

He had a flashback to Stu Macher’s house, and the taller high school student throwing him down the stairs, and begging Sidney to give him Dewey’s handgun. Both of them accusing the other of being the masked killer, and Sidney had basically said, “Fuck both of you!” to them and locked the door, and ran right into Billy’s arms.

“I hate that fucking house. I wish they’d burn it down, to be honest.” Randy groaned, and he began to cough a bit, his lungs acting up a bit, as he reached into the kitchen cabinet, to get one of his pills from a prescription bottle. Randy Meeks wasn’t exactly in top health, and was pushing his mid-fourties, lucky to be alive. He had been in a coma for seven weeks, after his stabbing attack, fighting to not go to that great big movie store in the sky, with Sid praying and holding his hand.

The new revelation about Billy having a daughter was taunting, and Randy didn’t know how to feel about it, pausing in his mid-drink of wine. “Wait, so you mean that Billy was really cheating on you with someone? What a piece of shit. A snake in the grass. Although it hardly matters. He got close to you so that he could kill you.” He sighed. “I don’t know, Sid. I’m not the President of the Loomis Family fan club, for obvious reasons.” Billy’s mother almost killed him, and Billy himself had shot him.

He bites his lip, as he smiled happily, as he cupped at Sidney’s bottom, through the back of her jeans, leaning in to kiss her neck provocatively. “Well, I have a few ideas of amends. I did take my medication tonight.” Randy chuckled. “Maybe…the two of us putting the kids to bed, and heading off to bed early.”\

Randy’s face lights up some. “Well, our baby daughter threw up all over me today, while feeding her!” He laughs. “So I got the FULL fatherhood experience today, Sid.”

He sighed, thinking about how Dewey had died, upset. “Don’t go, Sidney. Things are real now, and even Dewey bought it this time. Remake and sequel rules state that nobody is safe, even main characters.” He brushed a lock of his woman’s hair aside. “You don’t have to go back to Woodsboro. You have nothing to prove to this ghost-faced motherfucker.”

Originally posted by northernwet

“Hmm, I didn’t know we were keeping score who is winning when it comes down to scars.“ I think she, him and Gale all three had jus trauma to the Stu Macher house, since she was there for a second time and once again because of a ghostface attack. “I don’t think they will burn it down, Randy. Another family will move in that house.” Sidney was looking at him when he started coughing, yes she was worried about him. Especially that his health wasn’t that great to begin with. Even when Billy is dead he can get on Randy’s nerves. “He really was cheating on me with someone else and got that person pregnant. Because Sam is in her mid-twenties, I wasn’t even surprised when I heard about it. Randy, Sam isn’t like Billy. Okay yes she killed her boyfriend, so did I back in 1996.”

When he started kissing her neck she was closing her eyes for a short moment as she opened them again. A small grin appeared onto the woman her face when she heard what he had to say. “Heading to bed early you say, you know that doesn’t sound like a bad idea at all.” She smiled and then laughed hearing him say that. “Not the first time that happened, babe.” There was no way in hell she would ever step foot in Woodsboro again, that was the last time and the only reason she went back was when she heard Dewey had died and she wanted to be there for Gale. For now Sidney was going to stay here with Randy and their kids and be a mom and wife. Just like she had done the past ten years until recently when the attacks happened again. 

“I would love to hear the few ideas you have in mind that I can make amends with you. I have a feeling what one of those ideas might be.“ She then looked at him, leaning in to kiss him. “Does this mean you want to put the kids to bed now? Because I am all in for it. Since I do have to make it up to my husband.“ She ran her fingers through his hair, as it had been a while since well they would call it an early night. 

Time to just make sure the kids are in bed although Allison is old enough to go to bed herself and she most of the time is in her room anyway to play on her Nintendo Switch or to talk to her friends.. She didn’t even knew pre-teens were doing things like that, then again time change with how pre-teens and teens act right. 

[shootingsun]

pllsss tell me abt ur interpretation of A pls ty

HI YES I WILL DO THAT (this post is long and I am willing to rant more if I must)

Under the cut!!

Okay so A's real/true name was Aren Cadmus (because I think it's a pretty name and that is enough reasoning) - he knew his own name but never really talked about it to anyone but B, and that is what I shall refer to him as in this post along with A.

He was born on the 26th of September and was 19 when he died.

Backstory plot thing:

Before B came to the orphanage, A was the golden child of the orphanage, sweet, polite, respectful etc. Actually, Beyond didn't like him at first! Is this because he considered A to be a lost cause due to his short lifespan? Yes. But also because he thought Aren was too boring for him. But A thought that B was interesting and cool and did want to be his friend. They became friends eventually though, through the fun little thing we call the Power of Incredible Violence.

When they were both 9, B tried to run away from the orphanage in the middle of the night. He then ended up cornered in an alley in the small town nearby by someone with v obvious malicious intent. (This person had a very short lifespan, B noted at the time). Beyond was gonna fight back when they attempted to hurt him, but there was actually no need to because here comes Aren with a stick to beat the shit out of the attacker. Like, beat them into unconsciousness as they bleed out on the floor. Even at this time, B was not exactly Normal (TM) and was not scared in the slightest, infact he was a little bit like ":0, I thought u were basic but I guess I was wrong??". He then decides that this person is now going to be HIS person and that they can commit crimes together. It's a very good bonding activity :D. (Did the attacker bleed out and die? ...maybe, if they did, A didn't know).

Aren was totally down for violence and other sketchy things, it's just that he lied about it. B respected his commitment to his 'I'm a good person who most definitely wouldn't commit aggravated assualt' act. A was very pleased that he had made a friend who he didn't have to constantly lie about his moral compass to. It worked out for both of them :D. Also all of the teachers/adults were scared shitless because the seemingly sane one was now hanging out with with the kid who would shove children down the stairs in order to get to his monthly Akazukin Chacha manga delivery the minute it arrived. Aren liked that B didn't hide his darker tendencies, he really envied it sometimes. They became a chaos duo that may or may not stab you if you talked smack about the other.

Still plot but not exactly backstory:

It took them around a year of annoying every adult in the place but eventually A and BB got to share a room. A's favorite child was Linda because they both liked art and also because she wasn't a threat to his Sucessorship thing. He didn't care as much about being L as B did but he wasn't dispassionate about it or anything, he just tried not to make it his whole life (and failed miserably). He was never actually diagnosed with anything but he was Autistic (every Wammy kid is). Aren was told that he was gonna be L's sucessor when he was 13, but they had planned for him to be a successor earlier than that.

Also him and Beyond were kinda partners but also maybe not because nobody actually knew except for them what they were and they never told anyone. (I think it was romantic, but I'm open to anything as long as they were close ngl)

A was really good at drawing, he had sketchbooks and stuff. Really big on semi-realism but also liked to do abstract art on bad days. He liked to have B model for him, Aren liked to draw people, Beyond liked attention, it made both of them happy. These sketchbooks were hidden in the floorboards of his room and have pages missing from where Beyond ripped out all the pictures of himself after A died.

Aren had a lot of practical knowledge, but also wanted to kill himself during exam times and couldn't for the life of him figure out how to revise. Most of his high grades came from coursework and debates he had in lessons.

Swivel chairs were his favorite kind of chair, he always sat in one if he was actually working. In the library, he would be willing to start a fist fight as long as it meant he got the swivel chair.

He stopped trying to hide how much he hated everyone around a year before his death. A just really stopped caring. Because Gifted child burnout, I don't need to elaborate.

His love languages? BIG BIG BIG ACTS OF SERVICE KIND OF PERSON. If he likes you he will do things for you!! (Like bash a guys head in with a stick). For receiving love language wise... I feel like he likes company. He wants to know that they're there, that they won't abandon him, so I feel like Aren would be into quality time and words of affirmation.

A knew Jujutsu! He was a purple belt at it and would use it for self defense purposes.

Would slide down the staircase of the orphanage and nearly kick people if they were sat on the stairs. Many people would stick near the middle of the stairs because A would give absolutely no warning and just be coming down a massive staircase at high speed about to kick anyone within legs reach for the lols.

"B corrupted you!" "No I corrupted myself, B is my enabler I'll have you know." - Aren Cadmus, 1999

He had a complex about feeling not listened to. A felt like when he talked, nobody actually cared what he was saying and that he couldn't do anything about the way his life was. It was sad.

[dp-marvel94]

Fangs or No Fangs

For Phic Phight 2021. Jack and Maddie know that Danny is Phantom. They saw him transform and they knew they should talk about it with him. But...even after two weeks, that conversation feels impossible. And so Maddie has a plan: a trip to the planetarium to cheer Danny up, to finally see him smile, and to pave the way for the truth.

Word Count: 8,191

Also on AO3 and Fanfiction.net

Note: So this story is a bit of a mess of three prompts. I started with the first one and it veered into this. Part reveal fic. Part post-reveal family bonding (err....Jack and Maddie know and Danny knows that they knew but they haven't talked about it and no one's acting like they know so...?) Either way, it's all an unholy mix of fluff and angst.

Prompt by @amabsis : The Fenton’s notice that Danny isn’t smiling as much, so the only reasonable thing to do is take him out to cheer him up! What happens when they do manage to get him to smile, and they find out he has small fangs?

Prompt by @charcoalhawk: Maddie and Jack find out that their son is phantom and fully support him. Danny and Jazz however did not get that memo.

Prompt by @phan-pheeking-tastic : Post-Reveal Family Bonding

It had been two weeks since Maddie and her husband had found out what the portal had actually done to their son. Two weeks since they learned that their baby boy was a ghost. Two weeks since they saw their ghostly enemy, Phantom, turn into their son. 

It was on a normal ghost hunt. They’d been following Phantom, for once not yelling their normal insults but stalking him silently. The pair turned around a corner, to find Phantom standing with his back to them, a ring of light around his waist. Maddie tensed, anticipating an attack. Then the ring passed over the ghost’s head and the woman gasped. Her heart just about stopped, staring at the figure in front of her.

The figure, wearing jeans and a t-shirt and now with black hair, turned around. His blue eyes widened in panicked fear.

“Danny?” Jack whispered in awe beside her.

The boy’s mouth fell open, body stiff with fear. Maddie blinked and the boy in front of them, their son, their Danny, disappeared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two went home, numb with disbelief. Maddie thought it was a dream at first; she must have imagined it. Or this was Phantom playing a trick on them except…

Maddie knocked on her son’s bedroom door to check on him. “Danny?” The sound of feet pacing and heavy breathing came from behind the door. Then there was a sudden clatter, a yelp as if the boy had ran into something. The woman frowned. “Can I come in sweetie?”

“Just...just a second.” Danny called, voice echoing but unusually high with obvious nerves.

There was a flash of light, visible from under the door. Maddie paled, wheels turning in her head. Then seconds later, her son pulled open the door, opening it only wide enough to see his deathly pale face. “Yeah? What’s….”  He coughed, forcing his voice into a more normal pitch. “What’s up?”

The mother stared into his wide eyes, biting her own lip. “Danny….” She hesitated, suddenly unsure. “Is there...do you want to...Is everything alright?”

The boy paled at the question, shaking slightly. “Yeah. Everything’s...everything’s fine. I’m fine. You’re fine. Everything’s fine.”

Maddie frowned. “Danny...are you sure-”

He cut her off, starting to push the door closed. “Yeah. Yep. It’s fine. I’ve...I’ve got homework. Seeyouinthemorningbye!” The teenager said the words so quickly, Maddie could hardly understand them. Then the door slammed in her face.

Dread dropped like a rock in the mother’s stomach. Shaking herself, the woman turned back and started down the stairs. She and Jack needed to talk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“It’s true. Isn’t it?” Her husband said, as soon as he saw her weary face. “Danny’s...Danny’s Phantom. Our son…”

“Our son’s a ghost.” Maddie whispered. Danny’s panicked expression in the alley and just minutes before in his bedroom, flashed in her mind. “It must be true. All the evidence is there.”

How their equipment targeted their son. The injuries he tried to hide, to blame on bullies. Skipping class, the detentions, the missing assignments. Missing curfew, sneaking out. His constant exhaustion. Their equipment going missing, only to end up in Phantom’s hands. Their children’s fervent support of the ghost boy.

Danny was Phantom. He must be. They saw him change. They saw him as a ghost. Danny….he was a ghost, meaning...he was dead. And it was the portal. It must have been. The portal, their life’s work, the machine that he had said just gave him a little shock, must have killed him. Except….did it? It had been two years since then and Danny had grown. Maddie had hugged him since and he was warm. She’d felt his heartbeat. He seemed to be alive so….?

The parents didn’t know. Danny was a ghost...and yet he was not? Or he was still alive but had some kind of ghost powers? 

Maddie put her head in her hands. “We should talk to Danny.” 

“In the morning.” Jack yawned, rubbing his tired eyes. “I’m exhausted and Danny….” He looked down, guilty.

The mother sighed. “He must be tired too, if he’s not already asleep.” They had been talking for hours at this point, processing what they’d seen and hypothesizing. Both of them needed to lay down and calm their racing thoughts. So the pair went up to bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maddie really had wanted to talk to Danny in the morning. But he’d dashed out without as much as a word to them. He did have school. They could wait and talk to him after, right?

Then after school, he raced up to his room with the excuse of homework before Maddie could even look at him. Soon after, he disappeared from his room and the mother saw a report about Phantom fighting the hunter ghost in the park. Guilt stabbed at her heart. 

When he came home after curfew (and luckily uninjured), the woman didn’t have the heart to chastise him. And he looked so tired, so weary. He ran up the stairs, muttering an apology.

Talking to Danny the next morning turned into that afternoon again, turned into the next day, turned into waiting for the weekend. But then the boy was always over at his friends’ house or busy doing homework. He was nervous, flighty, skittish, and tense the brief times he was near his parents. And when he was, Danny wouldn’t look at them, wouldn’t talk to them, could hardly stand to be in the same room. 

Maddie cursed herself. She knew they needed to have this conversation. She and Jack needed to talk to their son. So why couldn’t either seem to gather the courage? Why did the thought of talking about what the portal had actually done to their son, about how their work, their words, their actions, had affected him, make Maddie’s stomach roll? Why did it make her heart lodge in her throat, her lungs refuse to take in air? Why did it feel so insurmountable, like the guilt, the secrets would bury her alive?

Part of her wished that Danny would say something himself, that he would break the silence. Hell, she wished Jazz would call them out but no such luck. Instead a few days turned into a week, turned into two weeks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maddie sighed, looking down at her coffee. It made her insides squirm anxiously, thinking about all this. All that they’d done before they knew, her continued silence. The guilt was eating the woman up inside and Danny’s sober mood broke her heart. It had been so long since she’d seen him look anything but nervous and distrustful, since he’d been in the same room as them for more than five minutes. The mother’s shoulders fell. He looked so sad, so anxious; she’d given anything to see him smile again.

A soft yawn sounded beside her, causing the mother to look. The boy himself was swaying sleepily, standing at the counter. How had he gotten there without her noticing? He was so quiet, silent as a ghost. Maddie shook her head at the thought. 

Then she frowned, letting out a short gasp. Danny’s had his hand through, literally intangibly, through the cupboard. 

The boy turned, eyes widening; he suddenly looked very awake. He pulled his hand out, clutching a box of cereal. “Uh…. morning, Mom.” He paled, eyes widening.

Maddie’s frown deepened at that. “Good morning sweetie.” She eyed the coffee pot, trying to wipe the surprise off her face. “Do you want some coffee?”

“No.” Danny shook his head, biting his lip. “I’m good. I’ll just...uhh...bye.”

The mother held out a hand. “Danny. Wait.”

The boy didn’t respond, instead turning and practically sprinting away at almost inhuman speed. Maddie wanted to chastise him for running in the house. Instead, she put her head in her hands. Did Danny do things like that all this time? If he did, how the hell had they not noticed? They were really that bad parents, weren’t they?

Annoyance at herself flared at the thought as Maddie raised her head. She balled her fists. “We need to do something.” The woman looked at her husband. “We have to talk to Danny. Today. Actually….” She stood up, looking in the direction her son had gone.

“Wait Madds.” Jack interrupted. The mother looked down at where he was still seated. “We can’t just spring this on him.”

Maddie’s eyes twitched angrily. “Jack.”

“Just listen.” The man held up his hands. “How about we go out and do something together as a family? The Amity Park Science Center, they have a new planetarium show. Danny will love it. He’ll have a good time. He’ll get to relax and see that...see that we want to spend time with him.” The man worried his lip, his voice wavering with emotion. “I just want him to feel comfortable and safe talking to us, Maddie.”

Maddie’s expression softened and she sat down, grateful for husband’s insight. “You’re right.” She sighed. “Maybe doing something like a normal family will help him relax. And then...then we can talk to him when we get home tonight.”

With that, the parents agreed and informed both of the kids, earning wary but tentative agreement from both. Maddie frowned at that. The distrust stung but both Fenton parents had earned that distrust. They were ready to do what they could to fix that, starting with removing or deactivating all of the anti-ghost weapons in the GAV. They’d already moved all ghost hunting equipment into the basement and discussed dismantling some of the more dangerous-to-ghost equipment. But the ghosts, ones that their son had unbeknownst to them been combatting for the past few years, were still a very real threat to the town. They’d need to find a way to keep their weapons from being able to hurt him (Maddie’s heart ached at the thought) but that was for another time.

Now, Jack and Maddie were waiting downstairs for both kids to finish getting ready. Jazz walked down the stairs, a tight frown still on her face. 

The girl raised her brow at the sight of her parents. “What are you wearing?”

Jack glanced at his wife and then down at himself. “Just jeans and a t-shirt, Jazzarincess.” He scratched at his neck, trying to look less uncomfortable than he was.

“But...you’re not in your jumpsuits?” The girl asked, still unsure.

Maddie shrugged. “We just wanted to wear something a little different, sweetie.” And a little more normal, the woman hoped she implied.

If Jazz understood the implication, she didn’t comment. Instead, she turned as Danny came bobbing down the stairs. The two shared knowingly looks, the boy’s eyebrow twitching as he noticed his parents’ clothes.

He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, shifting nervously. “Where are we going?” He asked quietly.

“To the Amity Science Center.” Jack beamed. “They’ve got a new show at the planetarium. Doesn’t that sound exciting, son?”

For just a moment, interest sparked in Danny’s eyes at the word planetarium. Then the wary look was back. Maddie sighed. “Come on kids.” Hopefully, he would enjoy himself and this would in fact help him to loosen up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The fifteen minute car ride to the Science Center was quiet and tense. Danny glanced anxiously  around the GAV as if expecting weapons to activate and point at him. He flinched at every bump in the road. Jazz looked worriedly between her brother and her parents, her brow furrowed with thought. Honestly, Maddie wasn’t expecting much better but it still stung. Half-heartedly, she tried to idly chat with Jazz but the teen just looked all the more wary.

Soon enough, the family arrived at their destination. They quickly passed through the queue to pay and then entered the first room, a geology exhibit. The kids wander off, softly talking to each other while passively looking at the displays. Maddie could pick up the worried tones but walked away, deliberately not eavesdropping. They were probably wondering about why exactly their parents were being so ‘weirdly normal’ and taking them out for a family day. But after a minute, the pair drifted apart, Danny wandering to the back while Jazz looked at a large display on the left wall. 

Maddie was reading about volcanoes when she spotted her son at the case to her right. His eyes roved over the display, widening at the words. His frown slowly ticked up. The mother raised a brow at his expression, feeling relief. 

She then looked into the case wondering what had him relaxing. Oh, of course. These were the meteoroids. They even had one rock from the moon that had mystified Danny even since he was a little boy. 

Danny’s eyes lit up at the exhibit, literally. For just a moment, neon green flashed in his eyes. His teeth flashed in a smile. Maddie let out a small relieved gasp at the sight. 

It was then, Danny noticed her. His eyes widened and his head turned, hand automatically moving to cover his mouth.

The mother’s expression instantly fell and she wondered at the behavior. But she didn’t say anything, instead allowing Danny to wander off again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The family continued exploring, slowly moving from exhibit to exhibit. To Maddie’s dismay, Danny was tense at first. She hadn’t seen him smile again since the meteors. His expression was uncharacteristically neutral. It’s not that he was bored (not that he’d even been bored on a trip here) but he was visibly anxious, not allowing himself to relax.

That eventually changed, as the group entered the heart of the museum, the dinosaur exhibit. Life-sized replicas of T rex, Triceratops, and Raptors loomed over them, faux rocks, plants, and wall murals simulating Earth when the dinosaurs walked on it. With the shifting lights, the occasional dinosaurian roars over the speakers, and the excitable little kids running around, it was lively. Danny and Jazz were huddled over a display of replica triceratops eggs while Maddie looked at a fossil of a primitive flowering plant.

“Oh Danny! Stand there. I want a picture.” Jazz’s voice came from behind her and the mother turned.

“No. Jazz. Come on.” Danny pouted.

“Please.” The girl begged.

After a moment, Danny huffed. “Fine.” 

The boy moved to stand in front of the replica raptor what his sister had pointed out. He forced a closed lip smile, holding out two fingers in a peace sign. There was a flash of light from Jazz’s phone, leaving the other teen blinking. “Jazz.” He whined. 

“Sorry.” She smiled, sheepishly. Then she held out her phone. “Now take my picture.”

Danny wrinkled his nose, obviously displeased but played along anyway as his sister came to stand beside the raptor. “You should stick your hand in its mouth and look like you're screaming.”

Jazz rolled her eyes, instead just smiling at the camera. That is, until a roar sounded from the speaker directly behind her. The girl shrieked in surprise at the noise, jolting forward and holding her hand over her heart.

Danny blinked in surprise before suddenly cackling with laughter and pointing at the now huffing girl. He snapped a few pictures, capturing her undignified face.

Meanwhile, Maddie beamed. Hearing her son laugh after so long was a beautiful sound. She walked forward, wanting to join the moment.

Then Danny spotted her. He blushed, covering his mouth with one hand before his chuckles quieted. His mother’s expression fell again. That was odd. This was the second time he’d covered his mouth once she’d seen him enjoying himself. She raised a brow as if to ask but Danny ignored the look.

Instead, he started leading Jazz away. “Come on. Let’s get some pictures in front of the T rex.”

Maddie turned, watching them walk away and noting the oddity. Jazz had been the one wanting pictures. The girl also wore a disappointed look as she softly said something to her brother, earning a frown from him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This continued as Danny seemed to enjoy the trip and grow more comfortable. Maddie would catch glimpses of him smiling at an exhibit or laughing at something his sister said. Then he would see her watching from a distance and cover his face. It was deeply bothersome. Did he not want his parents to see him enjoying himself?

By the time they were waiting for the doors of the planetarium to open for their show, Maddie’s stomach was flopping with anxiety over the behavior. Along the walls of the hallway leading to the theater was a display about the history of space travel. Ever since they'd first brought Danny here as a seven year old, this section had always brought her son such joy. He would smile and ramble, often even jumping up and down in eager anticipation for the doors of the planetarium to open.

Now, Danny was visibly trying to contain himself. Even as his wide eyes eagerly roved over the displays, his lips were forcefully pinched closed, almost as if the boy was exerting great effort to not smile. The display broke Maddie’s heart.

Then, the woman’s face set in determination. She wasn’t having this. They come here to cheer Danny up, for some parent-child bonding, so that’s what she would do. Maddie took a step forward, preparing to ask Danny what he was looking at. But then the doors to the planetarium opened.

Danny turned at the noise, meeting her eyes. His mother gave him a comforting smile. “Come sweetie. It’s time for the show.”

The boy nodded, giving her a closed mouth smile. He walked in front of her, into the theater and Jack and Jazz followed.

Maddie paused in front of a group of four seats. “How’s here, Danny?”

“Looks good.” The boy confirmed, sitting down.

Jazz sat to his left and after a moment’s hesitation, Maddie took a set to his right. Briefly, the boy tensed.

“Danny boy!” Jack’s enthusiastic exclamation cut through. “Are you excited?”

The boy blinked, turning. “For what?”

“For the show, dear.” Maddie chuckled.

“The show. Right.” Danny nodded. “It’s supposed to be about blackholes.” The corner of his lip turned up. “The poster looked awesome.” At that, the boy relaxed, letting out a breath.

Beside him, Maddie settled into her seat, relaxing as well. She hoped Danny would enjoy this. Soon, the lights dimmed, an image of the Milky Way appearing onto the dome in front of them.

“It’s starting.” The woman whispered happily to her son.

Danny perked up, his eyes widening at the sight. Music played through the speakers and the image shifted, the stars and clouds of the galaxy moving as if in a time lapses. “Wow.” The boy awed.

But the show was just getting started. Narration began playing through the speakers, the story of blackholes and their discovery. The life cycle of stars and their death. It was mesmerizing, the swirling images above and in front of them in the dark. It made Maddie’s lips part in a pleased smile, the beauty making the breath catch in her throat. Space really was incredible; the woman understood why her son loved it so. Thinking for her son….

Beside her, Maddie heard an excited gasp. She looked to the side, slowly taking in her son’s face. His eyes were wide, staring at the wall as the corner of his mouth turned though his lips didn’t part. He was clearly enamored with the program and therefore didn’t notice the mother’s observation at all. The woman smiled; he really was adorable when...he….was….

Maddie’s thoughts trailed off, her eyes widening. For a second, something flickered in Danny’s eyes before disappearing. The woman’s brow furrowed. A breath later, she saw it again. Ethereal green light flicker in his eyes, circling his iris before disappearing. Slowly, the boy’s lips parted. He blinked. The glow, the ghostly glow returned and Maddie’s jaw dropped. The light swirled like galaxies, overtaking his irises. 

The mother stared. At the glowing eyes. Her son's glowing eyes. She recognized that shade of ghostly green. Phantom’s eyes. Maddie tried to shake away her surprise. She knew her son as Phantom. She did. She knew he was a ghost, or part ghost, or...she didn’t really know but….

Danny’s mouth parted into a grin. And Maddie’s heart skipped a beat. He was smiling. Danny was smiling. The ghostly light was swirling in his eyes, the light reflecting off his cheeks, his freckles. His freckles… they were glowy faintly and… shifting across his face, forming constellations. It was almost...beautiful. No, not almost. The boy’s smile widened, his teeth shining in the dark. He looked so happy and it was the most beautiful thing Maddie had seen in weeks.

All too soon, the planetarium show ended, the lights slowly turning on. Danny stayed looking forward for a bit as the ghostly light of his eyes dimmed. But he was still relaxed, smiling widely. At that sigh, Maddie finally noticed something. His teeth were...odd. On the top and bottom, his canines were unusually long and sharp, almost like….

The woman gasped, drawing her son’s attention. He paled, eyes widening in alarm.

Maddie pointed, quietly asking. “Danny? Are those-”

“No.” Danny cut her off, his mouth snapping shut. He covered his mouth with his hand as he rambled. “Of course not. Of course, I don’t have fangs. That’s ridiculous. Why would I have- Umph.” Jazz elbowing him cut off.

The woman frowned, opening her mouth to reply. But she had no idea what to say. 

Luckily, Jack came to her rescue. He patted her knee. “Let’s go get some lunch, Madds.” His voice lowered. “And we can talk about…” He pointedly looked at Danny, letting the statement linger.

Maddie nodded in agreement. “Come on kids.” 

She stood up and fronted. Danny looked pale and worried again. She offered him a comforting smile. At that, his eyebrow twitched but his anxious expression lingered. Then Jazz nudged him, before standing. “Come on Danny.” She offered her hand, pulled him out of his seat, and started walking out of the room, deliberately standing between her brother and her parents.

Disappointment rose in Maddie at that but she pushed it down. They would talk about all this soon enough but as for now… the woman’s stomach growled…. Getting food sounded like a good idea.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ten minutes later, the family took their seats at a secluded table in the Center’s cafe. They’d bought overpriced sandwiches and now Danny was taking small, tentative bits of his meatball sub. Maddie looked down, picked up her reuben, and started eating. At the same time, Jack dug in and Jazz nibbled on her chicken salad.

There was silence for a long while, the buzz of the other patrons surrounding them. The woman wanted to make conversation, to ask what Danny had thought of the planetarium show. He’s enjoyed it, clearly. But Maddie wanted to hear him ramble excitedly about it. She wanted to see him smile again. 

But Danny looked so tense now, so worried. His shoulders were hitched, almost all the way up to his ears and he was pointedly avoiding looking at his parents. The sight of her son's fangs and his face once he realized that she’d seen them flashed in her mind. She wanted to ask about those. When did he grow fangs? And why? It was because he was a ghost, wasn’t it? Many ghosts they’d seen did have fangs. But did Phantom? Maddie couldn’t remember seeing them before, not that she’d seen that version of her son up close often. Granted...she hadn’t seen him smile in either form for what felt like months. The woman’s heart fell. 

Danny’s quiet voice broke through her thoughts. “Are you gonna ask?”

Maddie looked up, the corner of her lips twitching down at the sight. His shoulders hunched, eyes downcast. The mother reached forward, wanting to squeeze his hand comfortingly but hesisted. Instead, she offered him a caring smile. “Do they hurt?”

The boy looked at her, brow furrowing in confusion. “What?”

“When my wisdom teeth came in, I remember my gums and jaw being really sore.” The woman shook her head, focusing on the boy’s closed mouth. “I know it’s not the same thing but…. If they’re giving you problems, we can take you to the dentists.”

Danny frowned. “No. I don’t...I don’t need to go to the dentist.” He wrung his hands. “They don’t hurt or anything. Haven’t at all really.”

Jack raised a brow. “Even when they were growing in?”

The boy opened and closed his mouth before covering his face with his hand again. He glanced at his sister, worriedly. Jazz raised one brow, frowning deeply. She then looked at the parents briefly, her expression all the more confused. 

Danny’s forehead wrinkled. After a long moment, he answered. “They... uhh… I just woke up one morning and...my teeth were like this?”

Maddie blinked in surprise, taking in the words. The fangs just showed up overnight? Well…maybe that was better than them slowly growing and causing the boy pain. 

With that thought, the woman forced the confused expression off her face. “Can we see your teeth, Danny?” She gently asked.

The boy’s eyes widened and he vigorously shook his head.

Beside the mother, Jack’s expression softened. He reached forward, patting the boy’s arm with surprising gentleness. “It’s alright Danny-boy. You can show us.”

Danny didn’t flinch at the touch, instead looking thoughtfully between the two adults. Slowly he opened his mouth. There on display were his small fangs.

Maddie leaned forward, observing. Unlike last time, she wasn’t surprised. She’d known what to anticipate and to her shame, the woman had expected to feel discomfort or even disgust at the inhuman dentistry. But no such feelings arose. Instead her expression softened. She smiled authentically. “Aww sweetie.... They’re adorable.”

Danny blushed, gapping at the reaction. His embarrassed expression intensified as Jack replied.

“Ah come on Madds. You can’t call him cute.” The man grinned. “Our Danno’s fierce! And those fangs just make him look more badass.”

The boy blinked rapidly, like he could hardly believe what he was hearing, like the words just didn’t compute. Jazz looked equally confused.

Maddie waved the man off. “No one said he can’t be cute and fierce.” Her smile widened. “Our fierce little man.”

Danny facepalmed, whining. “Mom!”

The response was so normal, the typical reaction to a teenager being embarrassed by their parents in public. It made Maddie’s heart sing in relief, so much so, she started laughing. A moment later, Jack did as well.

The kids stared at the adults, both looking embarrassed and slightly tensed. But slowly, the pair relaxed, a soft smile crossing Jazz’s face. Danny’s lip parted as he snorted as well, shaking his head.

After a long moment, Maddie and Jack’s chuckling stopped and Danny’s smile faded. He eyed the adults, with crossed arms and a raised brow. “So...are you gonna ask why….?” He trailed off but Maddie knew what he was asking.

The parents looked at each other before Jack shrugged. “If your teeth aren’t bothering you and you’re happy with them, we don’t need to worry about it. Do we?”

“Um...I guess… but…” Danny still looked unsure, glancing between the two.

Maddie tried to comfort him. “You don’t have to tell us why, if you don’t want to. If you’re not ready.” Her expression was just serious, just forceful enough. Hopefully, he understood what she was really trying to say, what she was implying.

The boy uncrossed his arms, looking at her thoughtfully. “And...you’re okay with me having...having fangs?”

“Of course we are.” The woman’s expression softened. “We love you no matter what you look like.” It was odd wording for comforting her son about his strange teeth but that wasn’t what this was really about.

Something that might have been realization flashed in Danny’s eyes. He might just have understood.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of their time at the museum was much more relaxing after that. The family talked more freely as they finished eating. After lunch, they finished exploring the museum exhibits and visited the aquarium portion of the center.

“Look! The shark feeding’s in ten minutes.” Danny pointed at the tank, his fangs poking just below his lips as he gave his parents a tentative smile. “Come on.”

He bounded forward, positioning himself near the front of the growing crowd. Maddie stood right behind him, the two chatting about the earlier planetarium show while waiting. The corner of Danny’s mouth gradually turned up as he got more involved in the conversation. Then he was actually smiling. For a second, his hand reflexively swung up to cover his mouth but then he lowered the appendage. He smiled unsurely but when Maddie made no comment, nor did her open expression change, he relaxed. Soon, the boy was talking animatedly and Maddie cherished every word.

Minutes later, the shark feeding and subsequent educational talk captured the mother and son’s attention. Or rather, it just managed to wholeheartedly capture Danny’s interest. Maddie’s eyes flickering between the tank, the volunteer answering questions, and her son’s happy face, small fangs included. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The family continued exploring. Danny cheered softly at the touch tank, once one of the stingrays finally paused long enough for him to touch it. 

“Yes! Finally! See. That wasn’t so bad.” He talked to the animal, gently passing his fingers along the soft skin.

He smiled at Jazz cooing over the adorable poison dart frogs.

“Awww. I just want to pick it up. Cup the little guy in my hands. It’s so cute.” The girl leaned against the glass.

The boy chuckled. “Jazz. It’s a poison dart frog. You’d be deader than me in five minutes.”

The other teen huffed, blushing before she rolled her eyes teasingly.

Danny and Jack stopped in front of the jellyfish tank, their translucent bodies hovering behind the glass.

“Danno! Ghost jellyfish!” The man pointed excitedly.

The teen shook his head. “There’s no way that’s what they’re called.”

Jack thumped the sign. “Yes they are!” Danny blinked, reading the sign in disbelief. The man continued. “Imagine it son. Ghost jellyfish that came back as ghosts. Ghost ghost jellyfish!” 

Danny laughed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After that, the family explored the outdoor exhibits. Meerkats, Tortoises, Gibbons, Lemurs, Nile Crocodile, Red Pandas. The zoo’s star exhibits: the tigers and wolves. Yes, even the petting zoo.

They enjoyed all of it. Maddie asked the zookeeper's questions. Jazz took pictures. Jack peered through the glass with his normal boyish excitement. And Danny smiled.

Danny nudged his father. “Hey Dad. Can I have a dollar to feed the goats?”

“Sure kiddo.” Jack fished out his wallet and pulled out two bills. “For you and your sister.”

The boy nodded, handing the bills over to one of the employees and receiving two cups of feed. He handed one to Jazz and entered the enclosure. He smiled as the animals crowded up, eagerly sniffing at the cup.

“Alright. Alright. Here you go.” He grabbed a handful of pellets and held his hand out. An enthusiastic goat ate the food out of his hand. “Hey! Hey! That tickles!” The boy chuckled, scratching the animal on its head.

Maddie watched, enamored. Her son looked so happy, smiling so brightly. 

“Oh, do you want some?” Danny asked, holding his feed-filled palm out to one of the sheep. The sheep licked the food out of his hand and he petted the curly wool.

True to what she had said, his little fangs were cute. And what’s more….

His eyes flickered towards Maddie’s face, noticing her attention. He didn’t stop smiling as he finished giving the goats, sheep, and donkey food and pets. 

Ten minutes later, he turned over the empty cup. “That’s it guys. I’m out.”

The animals sniffed, wandering away as they seemed to realize they wouldn’t get any more food from the boy. That same enthusiastic goat persisted, nudging and licking Danny’s open hand. “I don’t have any more food for you.” He laughed. The goat bayed. “You can complain all you want. You’re not getting any more from me.” He petted the animal’s head anyway.

What’s more, seeing Danny enjoying himself and not turning away when Maddie noticed him smile, made the woman feel happy herself and hopeful. Spending time with the kids as a normal family did seem to get Danny and even Jazz in a better mood and more relaxed, like she and Jack had hoped. And Maddie found that she had enjoyed herself as well, despite the bumps. Yes, this was a day well spent and the mother wished it wouldn’t end.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

But all too soon, the Science Center closed and the family had to leave. They piled into the GAV and as Jack started driving them home, the reality of what they’d have to face, the conversation they’d need to have once they got home, struck Maddie. Her insides flopped with sudden nerves. They needed to talk about it. Danny’s accident and his ghostly abilities. His alter ego, Phantom. The ghost fighting and resulting injuries. All the secrets. Guilt sunk in her stomach like rock. There needed to be apologies. For her and Jack’s part in the accident. For the times they’d ranted about capturing Phantom at the dinner table. The insults. The times they chased him, they shot at him. Danny’s fear filled face when they’d seen him change in that alley flash in her mind. They had terrified him and -

“Can we uh….can we stop somewhere for dinner?” Danny’s nervous voice cut through her thoughts.

Maddie frowned, glancing back at him. He was pale and biting at his lip. The woman furrowed her brow wondering at the sudden change in mood. Maybe he had picked up on her own nervousness. She glanced at her husband. Jack was also quiet and uncharacteristically focused on the road.

“We can.” Her eyes flickered in front of them, spotting a Nasty Burger a few blocks away. “There’s Nast Burger right there.” She frowned. “Wait. That one doesn’t have a dining room. Is eating in the cat alright?”

“Sure, Madds.” Jack nodded and turned into the parking lot less than a minute later. He rolled down the window after pulling up to order.

“Welcome to the Nasty Burger.” Came a voice through the speaker. “What would you like?”

After some deliberation, Jack recited the orders and pulled forward. He paid and then received the bags of food which he handed to Maddie. He pulled away from the window and parked. The woman surveyed the meals and passed Jazz and Danny’s food to them in the back seat. 

The family ate in near silence for a while. Music softly filtered through the radio and outside was the sound of traffic but inside the vehicle, no one spoke. Maddie’s mind swirled, going over possibilities for the upcoming conversation. Where to start. How to approach this. Should they apologize first? Hint that they know about Danny’s secret identity. Just come right out and say it? Really, they should have done that long before now. They knew that Danny was Phantom and he knew that they knew. They should have talked to him about this weeks ago but...why was this so hard? How hadn’t they noticed sooner? Why couldn’t she just-

A gasp sounded in the back seat. Maddie stiffened, looking back in time to see a blue mist exit Danny’s mouth. The mother’s brow furrowed. It wasn’t cold enough to...Wait...understanding hit her as the boy’s eyes flickered side to side. Something glowing and green flashed in front of the GAV and there was an echoing roar.

Maddie paled. In front of them in the parking lot was a giant ghostly beast. It was a mix between a bear and a cat, snarling and hissing fiercely. The ghost growled at some teenagers sitting at a picnic table near the ordering window and in response, the kids bolted away, screaming.

Behind her, Danny was fumbling with his seat belt. His eyes widened panickedly as he looked between the scene in front of them and his parents. “I uh...I need to….” His hands were shaking as he fumbled over his words.

The mother glanced between her son and the attacking ghost. Part of her screamed to move; it was her job as a ghost hunter to protect people but….

“Uh...I need to...I need to go to the bathroom?” Danny stood, his knees knocking together even as his eyes flickered from his mom to the spectral attacker.

Maddie’s heart fell; she knew what this was actually about. “Danny.” She said softly.

Jazz bit her lip, turning from her brother to parents. “Shouldn’t you get...get out there?”

“Jazz.” The mother frowned. “Danny.”

“We’ll be fine.” The girl’s pitch rose as she flopped a hand, forcibly casual.

“Yeah.” The boy took a step back, eyes still pinned on his mother. “We’ll be fine. You guys go deal with the ghost.” He motioned behind him, towards the GAV’s toilet. “And I’ll just be in-”

“Danny!” Maddie interrupted. She stood up and turned, standing in the gap between the driver’s and front passenger’s seat. “We know. Danny. We know that you’re Phantom.”

The boy paled, his eyes widening with shock. “What? That’s not-”

Maddie pointed through the front window, forcefully. “Go.”

Danny’s lip trembled. Fear flickered over his face and underneath it, hurt. The mother’s eyes widened at the reaction before it hit her. She’d said the wrong thing. She’d messed up. Why do she keep-

“Go deal with the ghost, son.” Beside her, Jack had turned. His normally booming voice was so gentle. “You can change. Go deal with the ghost and we’ll be here when you get back.”

The boy stared at the man, anxiously searching his face. He was still shaking slightly and...were his eyes watering? Maddie remained frozen, watching. She wanted to speak up, to offer him comfort and reassurance. But the words stayed locked in his throat.

Then there was a roar outside, a boom. Danny’s head turned and he sprinted. Maddie blinked, paling as he literally passed through the closed door. A second later, something flashed out the corner of her eye. Maddie turned, watching as Phantom….Danny flew out in front of the GAV, shooting an ectoblast at the other ghost. Her knees shaking, Maddie fell into her seat. The bear-cat growled and shot a fireball at the ghost boy.

Maddie’s heart skipped a beat, her hand twitching over the door handle. They should go out there. She and Jack should be dealing with this. She reached for the holster on her belt. Her brow wrinkled as she found...nothing. Wait...she wasn’t in her hazmat suit. No belt, no holster, no ectogun. She frantically looked on the floor, before glancing behind her. There had to be something, someway to-

“Mom.” Jazz’s quiet voice came from behind her. “Danny will be fine. He knows what he’s doing.”

Yes. Maddie nodded, trying to agree. She had seen Phantom in action and he was competent. But...this was...this was Danny. Danny was out there fighting the ghost. Her heart rate increased. “No. We need to-”

Jack’s hand was on her arm. “No. We can’t, Maddie.” His voice wavered. “No guns. Not..not after we….”

The woman swallowed, understanding. No. No. They could go out there, wheedling guns, not after….Maddie shivered as the memory hit her. Pointing a bazooka at Phantom….Danny… his eyes wide with fear. Chasing him down while yelling insults. Danny...Danny, her son, even if glowing and floating with green eyes and fangs...Danny dodging their shots.

Maddie felt her breath quicken. No, they couldn’t go after the ghost in their current state. They shouldn’t, couldn’t, wouldn’t dream of, pointing any ectogun in Danny’s general direction. Not when they hadn’t made sure their weapons won’t target him, that they couldn’t hurt him. Not when…..Danny’s fearful face, just minutes ago...not when he might think they...they wanted to hurt him.

Another growl and a crash and the mother’s head suddenly whipped up, just in time to see a flash of blue light. Floating twenty feet in front of them was Danny, holding a thermos and pointing it at the other ghost. The bear-cat hissed as it was sucked in but seconds later, it disappeared. 

Maddie let out a relieved sigh, as her son caped the thermos. Then the boy’s head turned, his eyes meeting hers through the window. His shoulders were raised, his wide eyes misty. His lip trembled and then he disappeared.

The woman gasped, reaching forward. “Danny. Come back.”

The boy didn’t reappear and Maddie’s heart skipped a beat. Her hand reached for the door again. She needed to find her son, to reassure him, to -

A knock sounded at the side door, across from where Jazz and Danny had been sitting. Maddie flinched, looking back. Another knock.

Maddie frowned, brow furrowing. “I don’t see...anything.” Nothing and no one was visible through the window but...that didn’t mean no one was there.

“Danny.” Jazz called, standing. Warrily, she glanced between her parents. She bit her lip. “Mom? Dad?”

“Danny’s….Danny’s invisible, on the other side of the door. Isn’t he?” Maddie asked.

The girl nodded. “I think so.”

“You can open the door for him, Jazz.” Jack sighed. He looked down guiltily.

Hesitantly, the teenage girl stepped forward. Her hand hovered over the handle before she pulled it open. “It’s okay, Danny.” She whispered. “You can come inside.”

There was no reply as Jazz stepped back. The hair on the back of Maddie’s neck raised as the temperature dipped. Her eyes widened as the door slide closed, seemingly by itself. Then there was the shaky sound of someone sighing. And finally….Danny reappeared.

Maddie’s heart skipped a beat. There he was. The ghost boy. Phantom. Danny. Her Danny...her son, floating in the mind of the GAV. He trembled nervously in the air, his misty green eyes flickering between the ghost hunters. He looked so scared and...something in Maddie broke.

The woman stood up, suddenly. Her hands started shaking, her eyes watering. “Danny.” Her voice shook.

“Mom?” His echoing voice questioned.

Maddie nodded, hesitantly approaching. “Yes, sweetie.” She reached forward, gently touching his arm even as he flinched. “I love you so much.”

Danny’s eyes watered, his voice trembling. “You...you really mean that? Really? Even though I’m…I’m...” He shook his head, unable to force more words out.

Tears started to blur her vision. “Oh, baby. Yes. Yes. I love you so much.” Her breath quickened, a sob threatening to escape. “We...we should have said something sooner.”

“No. I….I should have…told you. I should have...” Danny looked down, sniffling.

Maddie gently pulled the boy into her arms. “I...I should have reassured you.” Danny stiffened before relaxing into the hug. “I should have made you feel safe, like you could trust me with this.”

Footsteps sounded behind him. “Danny boy.” Jack squeezed in beside the two. “I am so sorry, son. I love you so much.” The man wrapped his arms around his son and wife.

With that, Danny finally started crying. A soft sob broke forth from his throat. “Mom. Dad.” He whined. “I just... I’ve been waiting...waiting for the other shoe to drop and you’d see. You’d finally say...say something and…. And...” He sobbed. “You’d see what a monster...what a freak..a freak I...I am…”

“No. Danny. No. You’re not...you’re not a monster. You’re..You’re my baby boy….You’re my baby, no matter what. I’m...I’m so sorry you ever...we ever made you think….” Maddie cried, squeezing him tighter as he cried. He was cold. So cold. But solid in her arms. She could feel the slight fluttering of his heart, pressed up against her own heart. And the ectoenergy swirling under his skin. That was new, something she’d never felt before. And she thanked the heavens that she hadn’t, that she’d never laid hands on Phantom when they hadn’t known the truth, that they had never landed a shot on him. Maddie choked through her sobs. “We messed up. We messed up so badly. And I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I need to do better.”

“Danny. I’m sorry.” Jack reassured, sniffling himself. “I’m so sorry too. I have so much to make up for. Me and your Mom...we...we will...we’ll make this up to you.”

Danny warbled. “Mom. Dad. I...I love you guys. I love you guys so much.”

The words pricked at Maddie’s heart as much as they uplifted her. All that they had done and he still said that. All the woman could find in herself to do right then was hold her son tighter. 

For a second, the woman saw movement out of the corner to her eyes. A flash of red hair and...relief on Jazz’s face. The girl joined the group hug. “I love you little brother.”

Danny sniffled, nodding in acknowledgement even as he continued crying.

For a long moment, the family stayed huddled together. All of them were crying, trembling slightly with emotion. But through the sadness, another emotion broke through...relief. Danny sighed, the corner of his lip turning up slightly as his tears slowed.

Finally, the boy gently pulled out of their hold. He wiped his wet face. “You really...you really mean all that?” He looked between his parents. “You’re okay with….this?” He motioned up and down his body. “You’re okay that I’m a ghost? That I’m Phantom?”

Maddie offered him a watery smile. “Yes. I love you no matter what or who you are.” She placed one hand on his face and Danny’s lips parted just enough to see his fangs. “No matter what you look like, you’re my son.”

Dad nodded. “Fangs or no fangs. Ghost or human or….something inbetween.”

The woman glanced down, at the slow movement of his chest, the glow radiating from his body, the air below where he floated. “We don’t really understand this. But...I know I’d like to.”

For a moment, Danny looked worried. He floated back, away from Maddie’s hand.

Jack’s expression softened. “We want to know what life is like for you now. How we can help and support you.”

Maddie agreed. “We haven’t been there for you for a while but we’re here now.”

Danny nodded. “Okay….Okay...I think..I think I believe you.”

The parents looked at each other and Maddie’s stomach flopped. His tentativeness was understandable but still… it made her heart hurt. They’d lost much of Danny’s trust and would have to work to gain that trust back. They were fortunate he was willing to try rebuilding their relationship at all.

The mother sighed. “We do have a lot to talk about but….” She motioned around the crowded GAV. “We should go home first.”

Danny nodded. “Yeah.” With that, everyone stepped away, returning to their seats. The teenager glanced down at himself, blushing. “I’m still in...ghost form. I’ll just….” He bit his lip, closing his eyes.

Then a ring of white light, the same one that started all of this, formed around his waist. The light passed and Danny, now with black hair and blue eyes, gracefully touched down. He picked up his fast food bag and pulled out his half eaten burger. He took a bit before looking up at his parents, both of whom were standing and marveling at his recent transformation.

He smiled sheepishly. “Uhh...can we get milkshakes?”

Maddie blinked at the seeming random question. Beside her, Jack laughed. “Sure thing, Danno.” He walked to his seat and buckled. “What do you want? Peanut butter and bacon?”

Jazz wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Ew. Why would you eat that?”

Meanwhile, Danny laughed. “Because it’s delicious.” He addressed Jack. “Yeah Dad. That sounds amazing.”

The man nodded. “Madds, what about you?”

The question drew the woman out of her observation. She returned to her seat, answering. “Mint Chocolate chip sounds good to me.”

“I’ll do strawberry cheesecake.” Jazz piped in.

“Okay. Peanut butter bacon, mint chip, strawberry cheesecake.” The man listed off. “And I’ll do...peanut butter banana.”

Jack repeated the list while he pulled back into the drive through line. And Maddie sighed, relieved. Finally addressing Danny’s secret had not gone as she’d planned. But…. she glanced to the back to see Danny and Jazz were eating and chatting with each other, looking as relieved as she was. It went well, all things considered. As she said, there was much to figure out. But...today they’d had a fun time as a family. They’d relaxed, they’d bonded, they’d finally seen Danny smile again, after months. And...the truth was out. Apologies were made. After the fear, mistrust, and anxiety, Danny and Jazz as well knew that she and Jack would fully support Danny, ghost powers and Phantom alter ego included. 

Maddie looked back, meeting Danny’s eyes in the rearview mirror. He gave her a fanged smile. Yes, it felt like...everything would be okay