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anomander-dragnipurake · 4 years ago

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Possessed Chapter Four: Victory

‘I forgot the living could turn off their consciousnesses for hours at a time.’

Luigi didn’t want to wake up and would’ve gladly sunk back into unconsciousness if he could. King Boo wasn’t letting him though; he wanted to wake the rest of the way up and he was the one in control.

‘It’s probably the one good thing about being alive, you get to take breaks from your mind.’

Fully awake now, Luigi’s head hurt in probably one of the worst headaches he’d had in his entire life. The light was too bright when King Boo opened his eyes and sitting up made him feel dizzy.

They were in a cell, one of a grand total of two in the basement of Peach’s castle. As far as cells went it was probably a nice one even if it was barren, it had even had proper bed, though it wasn’t comfortably by any means. King Boo frowned at all of it though, his experiences with E. Gadd’s boo vault and being trapped in a painting had instilled a very strong dislike of being locked up or confined in anyway.

‘It’s bigger though so I suppose it’s not as bad. We can actually move around some, that’s new. I’d like to know how we got here though.’

We were knocked unconscious. By something that had clearly hit them in the back of the head, judging based off the apex of the headache, and thus there was no way to know who or what had done it.

King Boo made a wordless sound of displeasure both internally and externally. ‘Stupid fragile meat suit.’ He might’ve complained more but before he could…

“Luigi?” Mario was at the cell bars, holding one as he peered in.

Luigi’s mouth twisted into another evil grin as King Boo slid off the bed. “Nope, a little whack on the head ain’t gonna get rid of me.” As he spoke, he strode confidently over to stand in front of Mario.

Mario grimaced but didn’t pull away from the bars. As long as they were there though, he should be safe. “Let my bro go.”

King Boo took great pleasure in saying, “No!”

“Do it or else.”

“Or else what? You’ll beat me up? Torture me? You’d really do that to your brother?”

Mario faltered. “What do you want? What will convince you to let him go?”

“Well, right now I want you to let me out of this cell.” King Boo could probably break out with a little bit of magic and possibly some force but he wanted Mario to be the one to let him out. “And the only thing that’ll convince me to let my puppet go is when I get tired of dealing with it.” ‘I’m still having fun though so don’t expect that any time soon.’ Great, perfect, just wonderful, Luigi’s suffering probably wasn’t anywhere close to being done yet.

“I’m not letting you out until you let him go.” … Did Mario have a plan? He had to, right? He was going to force King Boo out… somehow. Hopefully soon.

‘He can try but he won’t succeed.’ “I don’t think you understand the position he’s in. I’m in control of his body, he feels everything that’s done to it. So, if I were to say… let his meat suit starve to death, he’d feel it. Or what about this?” He pointed at Luigi’s arm, the one Polterpup had bitten. It hurt less now and was bandaged. He poked it, hard enough to awaken some of that pain. “If I rubbed dirt in this, how long do you think it would take for him to die of infection? I’ve heard it’s a pretty painful and slow way to go.”

“You…” Mario tried to interrupted but King Boo kept talking.

“I should be able to keep his body alive beyond what’s natural too, prolonging his suffering. How long do you think I’ll be able to keep that up? And how many of his bones do you think I can get away with breaking without hindering my own…”

STOP! No more, please! Hadn’t Luigi suffered enough already? He couldn’t bare the thought of going through any of that. Don’t do that to me please! I can’t…. I just… can’t.

King Boo laughed out loud. “If only you could hear his thoughts. He’s begging me not to do that to him because he just can’t. And he’s oh so frightened of me, it’s wonderful.”

Mario glared with far more hate in his eyes than Luigi had ever seen before. “Don’t.”

King Boo stepped closer to the bars, grabbing one as he looked smugly down at Mario. “You going to try to stop me?”

Mario, always the brave one, didn’t back down or even flinch. “Yes. So, don’t worry bro, we’re going to save you. Just hold on, okay?”

Luigi wasn’t sure he could but if anyone could get him out of this, it was Mario. So… he’d try to, not that he could really do anything else anyway.

“You’re going to have to chain me up tight enough that I can’t hurt your brother’s body. And even then, if I struggle enough, I should be able to anyway. And what about my magic, huh? How are you going to stop me from using that to free myself or hurt him? Also, if I absolutely must, I can stop his heart beating whenever I please and there’s nothing you can do to prevent it.”

Now Mario did falter, his look of determination wavering, further pulling down Luigi’s own brief hopes of being saved. There… really wasn’t much or anything Mario could do stop King Boo, was there? Unless he had a way to exorcise King Boo this instant, there was no way he wasn’t going to suffer, potentially a lot, and maybe even die. Though, King Boo had already made it clear that that would be his last resort so by the time he did it, it’d probably be end up being a mercy.

“So,” King Boo, continued, reveling in his victory and forcing that feeling onto Luigi to increase his misery, “you’re going to unlock this cell door and let me leave unhindered.” Sealing King Boo’s victory once and for all. “Or I’m going to unbandage this,” he gestured to Luigi’s injured arm again, “and see how much worse I can make it with just my fingers. My suit’s already ruined, more blood on it won’t hurt.” ‘You think if I mess with it enough, I can get you to bleed to death from just this one wound?’

Please don’t. Luigi was already bracing himself for the worst though. In hindsight it made sense that King Boo could and would do such a thing if it could get him what he wanted.

‘I won’t, it’d be far too fast an end. And I like the infection idea more. I was just wondering because I actually don’t know that much about the living anymore, like how much blood you need to survive and stuff. Depending on what your brother does, I might get to learn some things though.’

Luigi never would’ve thought it possible but he was hoping Mario would do as King Boo said. As desperately as he wanted Mario to save him, he didn’t want to be tortured more than he wanted Mario to insist trying right now. He’d always been a coward like that. He wasn’t proud of it he couldn’t change it.

Mario glared at King Boo in silence, both hands gripping the bars now in a tight grasp. What he might be thinking, Luigi couldn’t guess but he could feel King Boo’s pleasure at the look of fury on his face. When he finally did speak it was through gritted teeth. “I hate you.”

“I know but you’re going to let me free anyway unless you’re okay with your brother suffering for a chance at defeating me. I’ll respect you if you are okay with that though, it’s certainly what I would do if I were somehow in your position.”

Those words seemed to break Mario. His shoulders sagged, the anger on his face melted to be more despair. “Fine,” he muttered under his breath after several seconds of defeated silence. He looked down and away for a second or two before looking back up to meet King Boo’s eyes again, with renewed determination. “Don’t think this means you win forever though. Luigi, I’m still going save you, okay? It’s just going to be a bit harder than I initially thought but I promise, I’ll do it as soon as possible.”

Luigi would’ve hugged him if he could and thanked him for acquiescing for now as well as for the promise. Mario had always been good at keeping his promises so honestly, he a had a bit more hope.

‘It’s foolish to believe he’ll save you,’ King Boo said with a scoff. Luigi didn’t care what he had to say about it though.

Mario turned and left, presumably to get the keys. When he returned to unlock the cell, his determination remained as he glared at King Boo, unafraid.

King Boo grinned at him as he strode out of the cell. His evil glee in the moment was almost overwhelming as it washed over Luigi – ‘sharing’ a body with an evil person was horrendous in more ways than he ever would’ve predicted. His victory here was so utterly complete, he was he let free of his confinement by his captor, he barely even had to do anything. He couldn’t have asked for a better way to rub it in Luigi’s face or Mario’s.

To rub it in even further he stuck Luigi’s tongue out at Mario and lifted his hands to either side of his head, making L’s with them; the universal sign of calling someone a loser. It was so childish, it was almost funny in the context of how messed up this situation was and how evil King Boo was. … King Boo didn’t care about being childish though; he was the victor here so he could do whatever he pleased. He even half-skipped his way out of the dungeon area.

They didn’t encounter anyone else, not even a passing toad, on their way up and out the rear of the castle. That was probably for the best, Luigi didn’t want King Boo to be tempted to hurt anyone should they try to stop him.

Luigi’s car was still where King Boo had parked it, making it easy to circle round to it and find. Where to now? Luigi asked with a mental sigh as King Boo hopped in.

‘Uh…’ King Boo paused, holding Luigi’s hand on the ignition. ‘I don’t actually know. I didn’t think this idea would work so I didn’t plan for anything beyond this point. … You don’t have any more friends, do you?’

Not really. Unlike Mario, he’d always been bad at making friends.

‘Heh, pathetic. I guess we’ll just have to find something fun to do then.’ With a laugh, he started the car and drove away.

That was fine though. Luigi wasn’t being physically tortured and Mario had promised to save him as soon as possible so. He just had to sit tight and be patient for now, everything would turn out okay in the end… hopefully.

There’s more to this story, I’m actively working it. But it’s more a part 2 due to it being so different, y’all will see why if/when you read the next part when it comes out. It’s either gonna be a sequel or just a part two, which here on tumblr is only gonna effect how I title the chapters.

#My writing #super mario bros #luigi's mansion #luigi's mansion 3 #Booigi #Luigi #King Boo #Mario #Angst #Bad guys win for now

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rareficsnstuff · 5 years ago

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Two Wins! [Bakugou, Uraraka]

Summary: Bakugou’s helping Uraraka with her fight training, but when she finally gets the upper hand, things get a little out of control and Bakugou seriously regrets this decision.

Words: 1,953

Warning: swearing

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“You ready for this, round face?”

“Are you?” said Uraraka confidently.

Uraraka had approached Bakugou, asking for help in her martial arts training. She honestly hadn’t expected him to agree, but his answer came with little to no hesitation in her favor. Gunhead’s martial arts were great and the experience was something she was definitely grateful for, but she wanted to learn from someone who was completely unafraid of hurting her and gain some experience of a real battle setting where she was actually in some sort of danger.

They had agreed on no quirks for the sake of focusing on basic aspects of martial arts and now they were standing in a small training gym, having finished warming up and preparing to spar.

There was a silent, stalled moment of tense anticipation before they were both suddenly running towards each other. Bakugou lifted a fist to strike her, but, anticipating this, Uraraka planted her feet and leaned back, swiveling to dodge it. She pivoted towards him, aiming an elbow at the back of his neck. In a flash, he turned towards her again, catching her elbow with one hand and grabbing her around the back of the neck with the other. Using her momentum, he easily dragged her to the floor before forcefully striking her in the throat.

With the wind knocked out of her, first from the force of landing so heavily on her back and second from Bakugou’s hit, she lay temporarily paralyzed, coughing and wheezing.

“You need to pay more attention to your balance and momentum! I just took you down because you were careless and gave me a chance to use it against you, stupid!” Bakugou lectured. Finally having recovered her ability to breath, Uraraka sat up.

“Got it,” she panted.

“C’mon! We’re going again!” Uraraka stood, prepping to face him once more.

Starting again, Uraraka charged at him, pausing just in time to dodge a kick from Bakugou. Taking his advice into account, she pivoted, grabbed his leg mid-kick and began throwing him to the ground in the direction of his momentum. But Bakugou being the one who had just taught her this, thought quickly enough to let her. He twisted his body and threw his arms out behind him to brace for the fall, freeing up his standing let to fly up and kick her in the side of the head. And with her momentum now following his to the ground, paired with the disorientation of the blow leaving her vision blurry and ears ringing, she fell on her side. Hard. Bakugou, still with the advantage, quickly righted himself, positioned himself over her, and, again, struck her in the throat.

“You’re opponent’s probly gonna know enough to use their momentum right! Just because you know it too and manage to get lucky for a second, doesn’t mean you can just let your guard down! Always be aware of your opponent’s position and where their limbs are and consider every possibility! YOU HAVE TO BE READY FOR A COUNTER AT ANY TIME! IT’S NOT THAT HARD!!”

“Yes,” she said as she stood, rubbing he head.

“AGAIN!”

“Right!”

This went on for quite some time: they would spar, Uraraka would lose, taken down in some-or-another painful way by Bakugou, and he would lecture her – loudly and angrily – on what she did wrong as she recovered.

Twelve. Twelve times Uraraka’s had her ass handed to her so far. She was beginning to feel very acquainted with the floor. She was sore all over and exhausted to her core, but she didn’t want to walk away from all this at the end of the day without having taken Bakugou down at least once.

“ARE YOU GETTING ANY OF THIS, ROUND FACE?! ARE YOU EVEN TRYING?! WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU?!” Bakugou chided after another failed attempt from Uraraka.

“Of course I’m trying!” she shouted “I’ve been taking your advice and I’ve gotten close a couple of times! And you don’t have to be such a jerk about it, either, Bakugou!”

“If you’re not strong enough to take me down, you don’t get to complain! It’s not like the villains are gonna be worried about hurting your feelings!”

“Alright, fine! Just stop yelling, would ya! How do you even still have a voice?”

“SHUT UP! WE’RE NOT DONE YET!”

“Yeah, yeah… COME AT ME, SPARKY!”

Irked, Bakugou ran towards her, thrusting a palm towards her jaw. Uraraka side-stepped and pushed his arm away with her palm, having little time to notice his other hand repeating the motion. She back-handed the new offence before thrusting a palm into his jaw, causing his head to jerk back as he lost his balance. Uraraka advanced on him. Thinking quickly, he used his loss of balance to throw himself into the air, drawing his knees up to spring them back out in a double kick at her chest. She side-stepped this, taking the opportunity to grab hold of his ankles, pivot on her heel, and throw him into the nearby wall. Now dazed and winded, Bakugou struggled for composure. Uraraka reached down to grab an ankle and a wrist, effectively dragging him away from the wall and flipping him onto his stomach – though not without having to dodge a few more kicks from the aspiring hero. Wasting no time, she pinned an arm behind him, knelt on his back, and struck him sharply in the back of the neck.

Coughing and grunting, Bakugou gracefully admitted defeat and went limp

“It’s about damn time, round face! Why the hell couldn’t you’ve done that before?!”

“The whole point of this training was because I couldn’t do it before, you jerk! You don’t have to be so mean about it!” she accented with a jab to the side of his ribs. To her surprise, he jerked heavily with a choked grunt. She blinked in confusion before she realized what had happened and smiled smugly to herself as she settled herself on his lower back.

“Get off me! We’re done here!”

“Aren’t you the one who said the one who loses doesn’t get to complain?” she chided teasingly. She was going to exploit this moment of sweet victory for all it was worth.

“THAT’S NOT WHAT I SAID! I SAID IF YOU AREN’T STRONG ENOUGH TO TAKE ME DOWN YOU DON’T GET TO COMPLAIN!” he finished with a startled squeak when she prodded his ribs again.

“But I did take you down, Bakugou. So I think the roles have been reversed ~.”

“Get OFF MEEEEE!!” he screamed, beginning to force himself off the ground in spite of Uraraka’s minimal weight. Before he reached a kneeling position, however, she jammed her fingers under the arm she still had pinned behind his back and he fell again face-first into the floor.

“HAAIIH!” That was an interesting noise… But it was the only significant noise he allowed himself to utter as she continued her assault. It was abruptly cut off by the sound of his teeth crashing together in an attempt to stifle the undeniable laughter spilling out.

“GrMMHmHn! MMMNnHMmhmhmn!” Bakugou squirmed and kicked, his free hand clawing desperately at the ground, but she managed to keep him pinned well enough.

“Oh, come oooon, Bakugou! Seriously?! Why are you even bothering to hold it back?! Isn’t that kind of exhausting? Just LAAAAAUGH!” she encouraged, suddenly switching to tickle his upper ribs.

“GAHAA-NO! STAPIT! LEHET ME GOOOOHOHAHAMHmmhm!” When the laughter started coming freely, he threw his free hand over his mouth to stifle it again. He was stubborn.

“Darn it, Bakugou, you had it! Get your hand away from your face!” she demanded, now tickling under that arm. This made him shriek into his palm before more smothered chuckles escaped. Her next move was risky, but she was willing to try it. At this point, she was willing to try anything! She was determined to wreck him.

“Oh, Bakugou’s laughter ~. Come out, come out wherever you are ~.” She sang as she released his wrist and forced her other hand under that arm as well. That got rid of his hand.

“AAAAH! Nohoho, stahapit! I sahaid lemme go damn iiiihihihahah!” With his arms glued to his sides and his strength waning, all he could do was laugh and wriggle like a worm as he kicked wildly behind her.

“I can’t believe you of all people are actually ticklish, Bakugou. It’s adorable ~” she teased.

“Shuhut up! I-hahaha! I’ll kihill youhuhuhahaha!” Bakugou’s usual ‘I’ll kill you’ threat was extraordinarily less effective when he was laughing uncontrollably like a child.

“Whatever you say, Bakugou…” Uraraka said flatly. Deciding he was weak enough now to get a little adventurous, she went to massage his lowest ribs – he jolted and squawked at this – before shifting once more to tickle his sides and hips.

“Are you ticklish everywhere, man?” she asked nonchalantly as he struggled for the upper hand, his face turning red and shirt ridding up. In yet another spur-of-the-moment impulses, she decided to utilize the fact of the newly exposed skin and slipped her hands under his shirt to skitter her fingers up and down his back.

“WAHAIT-NO!”

Everything stopped.

“…What was that, Bakugou?! You screamed like a girl!”

“SHUT UP! NO I DIDN’T!”

“Is this a bad spot ~?”

“Uraraka… don’t you fucking dare,” he warned darkly, painfully aware of the position of her hands still being on his very sensitive back. Her smile grew and she giggled.

“You’re the one who taught me ~. I’m only using the knowledge of my opponent’s weakness to my advantage, teach ~.” She began kneading through every inch of ticklish muscle on his back and Bakugou went ballistic. Though his entire back was obviously a huge weak spot, she noticed it got worse near his shoulders, so she decided to stay there. He nearly managed to throw her off a couple times as he thrashed and tried to crawl away. It was like riding an angry bull.

“DAHAHAAAA! NAHA-NAHAHAHAAOO! SHIHIHIIIT, URARAHAKAAA!” he screamed.

“Yeeees ~?”

“STAHA-STAP! URARAKA, PLEAHESE STAHAHAHAAP! I C-CAHAHAHAHAAAA!” Uraraka abruptly stopped and Bakugou gratefully gasped for air.

“Did- did you… just say… please?” she asked, dumbfounded.

“What?” Bakugou rasped. “GA!? HELL NO! I DON”T BEG!”

“Oh. Well, in that case…” she continued.

“FAHAHACK! NO-OKAY! OKAHAHAY! PLEASE, PLEHEASE, PLEHEHEHAHA! PLEHEASE!”

“Well, since you asked so nicely…” she said, climbing off him at last and leaving him panting, red-faced and sweaty on the floor.

“You piece of shihit,” Bakugou wheezed.

“That’s one win for me, Bakugou!... Or is it two? Because technically I did take you down with martial arts, but I think this was an entirely different kind of defeat…,” she pondered. “What do you think, Bakugou?”

“Just shut the hell up, round face,” he growled, climbing to his feet and staggering on wobbly legs. Uraraka giggled.

“You’re so cute. I’m just gonna go ahead and call it two wins, kay?”

“I TOLD YA TO SHUT UP! DON’T CALL ME CUTE!”

“Whatever you say ~. We better be getting back to the dorm,” she suggested as she turned to leave.

“Uraraka, wait!” she stopped, turning to him again.

“IF YOU TE-!... Don’t tell anyone… please.” Mumbling the last bit, he turned his head to the side, his lower lip jutting out in a small pout. Uraraka smiled sweetly.

“Of course not, Bakugou. I’d never do something like that.” Suddenly standing at attention, she faced him fully, placing a hand at her temple in a salute. “I keep secrets and I keep my promises!” she finished, winking and sticking her tongue out. Without further word, she spun on her heel and all but skipped away.

Grunting, Bakugou shoved his hands in his pockets and trudged after her.

#bnha #my hero academia #bakugou katsuki #uraraka ochako #tickle fic #swearing #for simplicity's sake let's just say Uraraka wears something like archer's gloves when she spars with Bakugou #so she doesn't accidentally activate her quirk...

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blastovkatamarinecromancy · 6 years ago

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[OC] Chapter 4 - The Phantom Revenge Strikes Back!

And the 4th chapter of my OCs, the Mu5keteers. You can see more about them in my blog by following this link. Anyway, big shout out to my boy @theoneandonlyspudbud for being so awesome!

ENJOY!!

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*******Scene 1: school daze (I just got this pun!)********

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The ancient Bell of Atlantica Academia's famous clock tower clanged loudly in a melodious tune, signaling the end of classes for the day. Soon afterward, a throng of students filled the quad, as some made their way toward their extracurricular clubs. Others hurried outside to spend the rest of their afternoon in the city before either returning home, or getting back to their dorms before curfew.

Among them, Lance and Bob walked leisurely through the quad.

"Maaaaan" Lance yawned, stretching his arms "you wanna hit the city? I don't want to hang out here much longer..."

"You're trying to avoid her, aren't you?" Bob smiled slyly

"Ugh! You would, too, if you were me! Every single day, I hear that annoying shrill voice-"

"Yoooohoooo! O Sir Laaaance!!" The annoying shrill voice rang out behind the two, sending shivers down Lance's spine. Lance begrudgingly turned toward the voice.

"Hi, Zilvana..." Lance sighed as he addressed the smiling Fencing club captain. Her coiling long blonde hair gleamed in the afternoon sun as a single streak of pink hair playfully curled in front of her face.

"Oh I am ever so glad to have ran into you" Zilvana tried to speak casually, failing to hide her shortness of breath "but drat it all, I must be off to attend my club duties!"

"Hmmm, yes..." Replied Lance curtly, seeing a variation of this scene replaying for almost every day since the school year started "...well, I don't want to keep y-"

"I know!" Interrupted Zilvana awkwardly, her face blushing red "how about you accompany me there? We c-can talk...um..and th-then maybe you'd consider sparring for a bit, y'know, up to you whatev."

"For the last time, Zilvana" Lance sighed irritatingly "thanks, but no, thanks! I don't want to join the fencing club. Period!"

"But why not?!" Zilvana asked in frustration, stomping her foot on the ground "is it because of what happened on Orientation Day?! I already apologized to you two about that!! And also..."

Zilvana looked around cautiously at the nearly empty quad before whispering "...I kept 'Bob's' identity a secret, just like I promised!"

"It's got nothing to do with that!" Lance irritatingly replied. "It's just...ugh...how do I put this-"

"WHY DON'T YOU JUST SAY IT ALREADY?!" Zilvana shouted suddenly with her head down, shocking Lance and Bob. They looked toward her as she slowly raised her head, tears streaming down her puffy red cheeks.

"...you just don't like me, do you?" Zilvana blurted as she wiped her tears ineffectively with her hands and sleeves "no matter what I do, you'll always hate me!"

"N-no, that's not it" stuttered Lance, trying to avoid Bob's accusatory glance while reaching out an uncertain hand toward the crying third-year student "...Zilva-"

Suddenly, Lance felt a playful pounce onto his left shoulder as a slender arm wrapped around his left arm, and soft fingers casually grasping his own.

"Aww, you heartbreaker. You made another girl cry! How mean~"

"Yu-Yukio?!" Lance was startled by the sudden entrance of the former Motorcycle Bandit, of the now-defunct Wheely Rad Bandit team/family. She wore Atlantica Academia's uniform with the plaid skirt and long black stockings. The notches on the shoulder decorations of her jacket identifies her as a second-year student.

"Aww, you do remember me!" Yukio smiled, gently caressing the arm of the blushing Lance "I guess our kiss made an impression on you~"

"Ki-KISS?!!" Bob and Zilvana shouted in unison, before looking at each other for a second and glancing away in embarrassment, their cheeks burning red.

"Haha!" Teased Yukio "y'all Jealous?"

Yukio's satisfied smile quickly changed when a bike helmet lightly smacked her over the head. She rubbed the top of her head, letting go of Lance and looking toward her attacker.

"Owie! What the heck, Randy?!" She groaned at her brother, who was wearing a one-piece biking suit, while walking beside a red ten-speed bike.

"Quit teasing the kid, dum-dum" Randy scolded "you just stole a peck on his cheek when he wasn't looking. What are ya, his Grandma?!"

"Wow! I didn't know you two went to school here!" Lance exclaimed, trying to change the subject and avoiding the glares of Bob and Zilvana.

"Hey there, Lance!" Randy beamed an earnest smile, that's missing a few front teeth "well, she is, but I ain't. My street smarts ain't good enough to get me enrolled here. Not like mah smarty-pants sister!"

"Aw it's a darn shame, Randy!" Yukio pouted "I would've liked if we went to the same school together..."

"Now now, sis..." Randy patted Yukio's head affectionately "ain't no use hitching yer wagon to a derailed train like me. You're gonna do great things, kid! Yer the only one who can keep up with Pop when he gets all science-y on ya." Randy then turned toward Lance and the others, bragging while beaming with pride "did y'all know Yuki got'erself a full scholarship, on account of her engineering smarts?!"

Lance opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a shrill bird noise blaring from his SmartBand. His brows knit as his face took on a serious expression. He whipped the SmartBand in front of him, with the HoloOrb facing upward.

"Lance, here" he spoke clearly toward the blinking HoloOrb, which immediately glowed and a rectangular HoloScreen floated in the air at eye-level. "What's going on, Feiroz?"

The former Leader of the Love Maidens furrowed her thick eyebrows "Lancelot! We have a situation at a construction site downtown, near 4th and Bradley Street! Details are sketchy, but it looks like a Challenger Team. The rest of the team are en route, proceed with caution!"

"Understood!" The HoloScreen flickered off, while Lance took off his backpack hastily.

"Lancelot?!" Snorted Bob derisively

"You shouldn't make fun of other people's names, 'BOB'!" Lance said defensively, throwing his backpack toward his dorm mate "can you please take this back to our room with you? Sorry, but I gotta go, guys!"

He then sprinted toward the general direction of downtown, bringing the SmartBand closer to his mouth as he yelled into its microphone.

"ONE FOR ALL..."

Holographic spikes of ice sprawled across his body, covering him whole in an unintentionally comical running ice cocoon, before shattering completely as he emerged fully clothed in his Ice Musketeer outfit.

"...AND ALL FOR VICTORY!"

The Ice Musketeer switched from sprinting to summoning a patch of ice that appear slightly in front of him, allowing him to slide endlessly if he wishes it. He used his cryokinetic Psy-Q ability once more to create a huge ice ramp to clear the school main building in a single leap, accompanied by the thrilled cheers of the students watching in the quad.

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********Scene 2: Demolition ZOOne***********

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"RRRAAAGH"

A primal roar emerged from a hulking figure in the strange black outfit with a slight owl motif. Her fists curled up inside the unusual gauntlets she wore that resemble giant wrecking balls. She punched another steel beam in the almost empty construction zone with her massive fists, completely bending it out of shape and nearly tearing it out of the ground where it was firmly rooted in the foundations.

"GRAHAHAHAHA! Ja almust gutt it, Sally" a thick Scandinavian accent bellowed from behind the muscular woman, which belonged to a big-bellied, half-naked, bearded man.

"What's it to ya, Bull Dozer?" Growled Sally, flipping her neon-purple hair that's jutting out of the modified boxing headgear she wore.

"Isa nice puunch but iv ja vanna do some real damage..." Bull Dozer boasted, a strange mechanism on his back lifted his massive shoulder pads and locked them firmly in place on top of the long bullhorns attached to his hardhat. He turned toward another steel beam and knelt down, aiming the gigantic shovel-like contraption on his head. "...joo call da Bull!"

Bull Dozer's massive mechanical boots hummed softly as their light-up display glowed red, just before he thrusted his massive body with astonishing speed! He kept his head low as his tree trunk-like legs propelled him ever closer toward his helpless target. The impact was undoubtfully devastating, the steel beam completely got torn from its foundation and was sent flying to the far side of the construction zone.

"Gahahahaha! JA! I am de 'Epic', ja?" Rojoiced Bull Dozer triumphantly, patting the dirt from his thick fur loincloth.

"Bah!" Spat sally disgustingly "all you did was send it flying away. What if that was an opponent and they landed safely on their feet?"

She turned back toward the bent steel beam she punched earlier and expertly took an orthodox boxing stance. Her blue eyes grew colder as she stared down the steel beam.

"It's easy to destroy the weak." She unleashed a flurry of jabs at the steel beam, bending it in different directions with each punch.

"But it's so much fun to play with someone strong. Someone who's almost at your level, who thinks they can beat you." Her eyes lit up with chilling bloodlust as she switched up her stance and delivered explosive right-left hook combos, causing the steel beam to bend and twist in uncanny angles.

"And then mercilessly maul them in the ring" her relentless barrage became even more savage, the steel beam is practically putty between her fists! "Destroy every shred of hope, every iota of self-confidence, watch their very essence drip away with every punch that pulverizes their pretty little face..."

Suddenly, Sally stopped her murderous assault and smugly sneered at the steel beam as it stood twisted beyond recognition for a few scant seconds, before collapsing sadly to the ground.

"...and then watch them wither away right before your eyes." Sally flashed a sadistic grin as she looked at her handiwork with a perverse sense of pleasure.

"...I-I uh joost leik rooning into things and watch them fly off rully far..."

"Pathetic" snorted Sally in disappointed disgust.

"Quit yer belly-achin' and get ta smashin'!!" Growled a hairy, hunchbacked man carrying a gigantic wrench that's almost as tall as he is.

"You're sure this will get their attention, Seamus?" Asked Sally.

"Dun ya worry none, Wrecking B-owl. Nuthin' attracts a super-team more'n property damage-"

The rest of Seamus's words were drowned out by the deafening sounds of an erratic locomotive a few feet away from them. They both turned toward the source to find a thin tall girl hopping on one prosthetic peg leg, while the tip of her other peg leg extended and retracted rapidly like a mini jackhammer.

"Umm...Mr. Chang, sir?" Meekly implored the girl with the mostly shaved head, a tuft of blonde hair with red highlights just above her forehead shook violently with the vibrations from her malfunctioning leg "it's happening again..."

"Aw, fer Christ sake, Jackie..." Seamus Chang slid a hidden knob on his gigantic monkey wrench while making his way closer to the frightened girl. The side of his wrench opened up like a Swiss army knife, revealing an assortment of tools. He grasped the Phillips head screwdriver and pulled it out along with a long retractable cable attached to the end of it. Then he grabbed the erratically shaking peg leg under his arm in an attempt to stabilize it while using the screwdriver to navigate its circuitry.

"I tol' ya ta be careful with the controls, lass. These things are very sensitive." Seamus grumbled, finally able to shut off the incessant hammering. He tugged slightly on the screwdriver, and the retractable cable dragged it back into its compartment.

"S-sorry, Mr. Chang..." Jackie answered pensively.

Seamus's features softened as he extended a giant hairy hand, stroking her cheek reassuringly "Ah, it's all right, lass, it's what I'm here for. Are ya ready fer action, Jackrabbit Hammer?"

Jackie smiled enthusiastically at the mention of her superhero name and she replied confidently "You know it, Monkey Wrench!"

With a click of a button on the built-in controls in her gauntlets, the jackhammer tips of her peg legs were replaced with two powerful springs. She took a few practice hops, reaching higher and higher with each leap, before crouching low upon landing with her third hop and shooting up three stories into the air!! She pressed the buttons again at the acme of her ascent, switching back to the jackhammer tips upon her descent toward a pile of stacked cinderblocks. The thunderous impact tore through the blocks faster than a greased up hamster shooting out of a potato gun, while Jackrabbit Hammer maniacally laughed in satisfaction.

"I'm all for destroying private property of those capitalist tower tycoons" Sally sighed "but I don't know if clearing out the area was a good idea. They may have gotten here sooner if we had a few hostages-"

A whizzing whistle ripped through the air, forcing the weirdly-garbed vandals to look upward to the source of the sound. Only to be met with a good-sized ball of fire whose size keeps getting gooder and gooder with each passing second.

"Look out!!" Monkey Wrench shouted as he leapt backward to avoid the fireball, which exploded threateningly in the empty space between the criminals.

"First contact!!" Panted the low-flying Fire Musketeer "I win!!"

"Tristan, you flying butt!" Priya slid from a nearby street light and onto a stack of steel pipes with the aid of the electromagnetic soles on her boots, acting like a miniaturized maglev train. "Throwing stuff doesn't qualify as 'first contact', you dork! I was way ahead of you!"

"Be that as it may-" Tristan rebuttal was interrupted by the sloshing sound of an oily projectile that hit its target with a satisfying SPLAT. Tristan looked down at his clogged up boots, then at Monkey Wrench holding what used to be his namesake and now is a weird-looking greaseball shooting catapult, and finally looking down at the rapidly approaching ground. It all happened within the span of one second, which is why he didn't even have a chance to yell for help.

Fortunately, help was already on its way in the form of leafy vines forming a soft intertwined ball to cushion Tristan's unscheduled landing.

"Phew!" Sighed Tristan in relief, turning toward the Green Musketeer with gratitude "thanks for the save, Blossom!"

"Any time, fearless leader." Smirked Blossom, riding on a throng of sturdy green vines.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Lad!" Monkey Wrench pressed another hidden lever on the catapult, returning it to its original wrench form. "Was I supposed ta wait fer ya ta finish yer squabblin'? Too bad the Demolition ZOOne ain't so accommodating ta yer domestic nonsense. How's about you concede yer sanction to us, and we'll let ya be?"

"Blossom, watch out!" Priya shouted to warn the Green Musketeer of the 400 pounds of Scandinavian fury barreling down toward the redhead. Blossom used her Botankinesis to manipulate the vines, vaulting her into the air and over the head of the charging Bull Dozer; who crashed into the cluster of vines as they were tightening around him while Blossom landed gracefully behind him.

Priya was so captivated by Blossom's performance, that she barely noticed the huge fist charging ominously toward her face. Fortunately, the Lightning Musketeer anticipated it with cat-like senses and dodged it with even cat-ier reflexes!

"VANDERLUSS!" A chilling scream echoed through the construction site/warzone as Wrecking B-owl stared at Priya with menacing glee.

"S-Sally?!" Priya flustered "didn't recognize you in that outfit...they say black is slimming, but you're still as massive as ever..."

"YES!" Sally snarled, grabbing a steel beam and lifting it like a gigantic baseball club "spout your boastful quips! Your bravado will make your crushing defeat all the sweeter!"

Wrecking B-owl swung the steel beam in a sweeping wide arc, barely missing the ducking Tristan who was fighting the strangely agile Monkey Wrench.

"Ach! Watch where ya swingin' that thing, ya daft-EEEEEE!!" Screeched Monkey Wrench as he narrowly dodged Sally's second swing.

"I got'em, Mr. Chang!!" A cheerful shriek arose from Jackrabbit Hammer as her peg legs sprouted springs to enable her to swiftly cross the construction site in three long leaps.

Just as she was about to land the third leap, a sheet of ice formed underneath her projected landing spot. The slippery ice robbed the teenage dynamo of her equilibrium, causing her to slip and fall comically on her face.

"I got her!" Proclaimed Lance, approaching the fallen rabbit to deliver the not-really-final-but-still-quite-incapacitating-and-involves-an-ice-prison blow. But before he could even form a single icicle, Jackrabbit sprang to her feet with an impressive somersault launching over Lance's head. She switched her peg legs' configuration to the mini-jackhammers in mid-jump, crushing the icy ground as she landed. With a flick of the built-in controls in her gloves' palms, the motors on her legs came to life with a terrifying roar! She lunged at Lance, delivering a spinning flurry of kicks and somersaults in the direction of the retreating Musketeer.

"Uhhhh, I DON'T GOT HER!" Lance yelled panicking as a high-kick knocked his rapier from his hand and lightly grazed his cheek.

"LANCE!" Cried out Blossom, inadvertently loosening her Botankinetic control over the vines ensnaring Bull Dozer. The energetic Scandinavian took the chance to wiggle his way out of his leafy prison.

"Guahahaha! Worry about yooself, gurl!" Bull Dozer snapped the vines like a stick of slimjim! His mechanical boots glowed red with a menacing hum before he charged toward the distracted Blossom. Suddenly, a heavy figure crashed from the sky between Blossom and the charging Bull!

"Looks like I'm just in time for the rodeo!" The Love Musketeer girded himself for the ensuing impact, as the two giants collided violently "Blossom, go help the kid!"

"Thanks, Lee!" Blossom yelled back, allowing a cluster of sturdy vines to carry her rapidly toward the struggling Ice Musketeer and away from the brawling titans.

Nearby, the battle between Priya and her hulking rival still rages on, the Lightning Musketeer staying on the defensive as she dodges Wrecking B-owl's wild swings.

"You can't Rope-a-dope me, Vanderluss" snarled Sally ecstatically "I can do this all day! On the other hand, you're looking a bit sluggish!"

Sally swung the massive girder in a vicious low arc, sending the gravel and dust bellowing upward. When the dust settled (literally), Sally was surprised to find that Priya was nowhere to be seen!

"Up here!" Sally turned her head to see Priya perching atop the far end of the girder, the soles of her Tesla Boots stuck on the metal surface like magnets.

"I wasn't trying to tire you out" Priya smirked as she used her Fulgurkinesis to gather the static electricity in the air toward the coils on her Tesla Gauntlets, which channeled the electric current throughout its conductive lining. "I was just learning the timing of your swings so I can do ...THIS!"

Priya thrusted her left hand on the girder, sending a massive electric shock toward the unsuspecting Sally. The gigantic brute let out a short yelp as she dropped one end of the girder onto the ground, which was more a reaction of surprise than a response to pain. Priya, still magnetized to the fallen girder, took advantage of Sally's brief opening to build up the charge in her right hand, which ended up becoming almost twice as powerful as the one she unleashed from her left hand just now.

She then used her Psy-Q ability to build up a magnetic charge on the soles of her feet to do something slightly different. Priya always used the magnetic capability of her Tesla Boots like a maglev train, allowing her to simply hover and slide over most metallic objects. Now, she's building up opposite magnetic charges around the girder and herself, her Tesla Boots lighting up like a Christmas tree.

Like a flash of lightning, Priya shot up the length of the metal girder toward the unsuspecting Wrecking B-owl, who was still holding up the girder with both hands. Priya's right fist clenched low as she aimed it at Sally's face to deliver a...

"Railgun Uppercut!!"

Her fist exploded into Sally's unprotected jaw in a fury of sparks! Sally's whole body lit up with electricity as it went stiff, she then immediately fell flat on her back.

"You always did have a glass jaw..." Mumbled Priya as she rubbed her bruised knuckles.

"HA!" Heckled Tristan, as he dodged another wide swing from Monkey Wrench's monkey wrench “I thought you were too embarrassed to do attack names!"

"It was embarrassing when you said it, nerd." Priya materialized a pair of handcuffs from her SmartBand's custom teleportation app, and used them to restrain the unconscious black-clad behemoth. "When I name them, they're awesome!"

"Just keep yappin' yer fool mouth" grunted Seamus "it's anglin' for a good smackin'"

Suddenly, an 8-bit rendition of William Tell's overture blared from Tristan's SmartBand, before a holo-screen floated from the glowing HoloOrb.

"Now's not a good time, Sarah!" Cried Tristan, ducking another close swing before Priya stepped in to divert his attacker's attention.

"Well, make time!" Sarah replied impatiently "you have to get everybody out of there! The area's not safe."

Tristan somersaulted over the charging Monkey Wrench, letting Priya press on her attack, and answered Sarah as he tumbled on the ground "what do you mean it's not safe?"

"I had Theresa run a topographical and spectrographic scan of the area" Sarah leaned slightly off to the side to reveal the smiling former Love Maiden beside her on the neighboring dispatch console "and we found that the construction crew didn't dig deep enough for their foundations! There is an underground air pocket approximately 200 meters below the surface, which does not correspond to any subway or sewer tunnels"

At that moment, Tristan glanced around to account for his teammates and their opponents. The Lightning Musketeer was keeping Monkey Wrench occupied. The Love Musketeer was locking arms with Bull Dozer, neither of them budging an inch. And finally, the Green and the Ice Musketeers were fighting off Jackrabbit Hammer, who launched herself into the air, only to dive feet first into Lance with her mini-jackhammer peg legs chugging away madly.

Lance deftly dodged her attack as she sank into the soft ground that he occupied seconds ago.

"Haha! You're good, little flea!" Chuckled Jackie trying to free her peg legs from the gravely surface, only to be surprised when the ground sucked her in further! "Wa-Whoah!"

"Oh no!" Tristan shouted in panic, both members of the Mu5keteers and Demolition Zoone alike watched in fear as the ground around Jackie crumbled and the sinkhole kept getting wider and deeper.

"JACKIE!" Shouted Monkey Wrench, ignoring his fight with Priya.

"BLOSSOOOOOM!!" Yelled Priya, panicking as she saw Blossom stumble into the sinkhole while trying to rescue her opponent!

"LANCE!" Tristan cried out, running in his gunked-up boots toward his brother who struggled to hold up the weight of the two girls, before the ground crumbled underneath them.

***************************************************

************Scene 3: Down the Hatch!********

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All members of both teams still above ground (and conscious) rushed toward the edge of the sinkhole-

"STOP!"

Blossom's voice bellowed from below, causing everyone to tense up and slowly look into the abyss anxiously.

"Blossom..." Priya dried her tears, looking toward Blossom while feeling partially relieved. "...you're ok..."

"Not ...ungh... for long" Lance replied, his back pressed against the wall of the hole, as his feet are firmly planted on one of Blossom's vines portruding horizontally a considerable distance down the dark chasm.

"Lance is right, this hole could collapse at any second" she was nestled gently in an outcropping of vines as she was cradling an unconscious Jackrabbit Hammer in her arms.

"Dammit! My boots are too gunked up to fly down there to you guys!" Yelled back Tristan in frustration.

"M-my girl...how is Jackie?" Seamus trembled as he inched closer to the edge to look at his teammate with a terribly worried expression. "...please tell me she's all right...?"

Blossom gave him the most reassuring smile she can offer given the circumstances as she said "It's Mr. Chang, right? Well, she's still breathing, but I think she's concussed from one of the fallen rocks hitting her in the head. We need to get her medical attention immediately!"

"Well -unghhh- we can't have her shimmy up the wall" Lance winced "I'm doing all I can just to keep this -urrgghh- hole from collapsing on us any further."

Blossom glanced up at the partially frozen, muddy wall, as she fumbled with the controls on Jackie's gauntlets. Blossom pressed the button that she saw Jackie press earlier which retracted the jackhammer tips of the unconscious girl's peg legs and produced the industrial-strength springs she used to hop around.

"Tristan!" Shouted Blossom standing up with the comatose Jackie, getting the girl up on her springy legs and angling her body carefully "I'm going to make her hop up to you guys-"

"WAIT" Tristan shouted back "don't let her hop straight up, she needs to be launched at an..." Tristan paused, his lips moving soundlessly as he did the math in his head "...82 degrees angle- just lean forward a b- no, that's too far- yes, perfec-"

"NO, ya rube!" Seamus interrupted gruffly, trying to hide the tears in his eyes "ya need to account for wind resistance, lean her back a bit more! I'll catch her...please..."

"Ok, Mr. Chang, sir." Blossom smiled sweetly, obliging Seamus's instructions.

"Ungghh, Blossom?" Inquired Lance, straining against the steadily collapsing wall.

"Yes, sweetie?" Replied Blossom casually, readying Jackie's limp body for its flight.

"Your vines, rather -urghh- this wall, can't support the recoil from launching her up in the air. You do know that, right?"

"We don't have any other choice" Blossom answered resolutely "she needs to be looked after right away."

"I think I heard some of these -unghh- fallen rocks hit water down there. If we fall, actually when we fall..."

"Yes, I heard them, too."

Lance looked at Blossom with determination "...do you trust me?"

"Always."

Blossom smiled as she made the springs on Jackie's legs coil tightly, before they unfurled upward, launching Jackie's unconscious body at the agreed upon angle into the arms of the relieved Seamus. As predicted, the recoil from the jump tore the vines viciously from its roots on the wall, bringing a good chunk of half frozen earth tumbling down.

In the mess of tangled leaves, clay, and ice, the two Musketeers were free-falling down toward the abyss. Lance dove quickly like a bird of prey toward the fallen Blossom. He embraced her tightly as they fell into the nearly-bottomless pit!

"LANCE!!"

"BLOSSOOOoOM!!"

The cries of the panicked Musketeers aboveground barely reached their two fallen comrades as the hole started expanding and collapsing in on itself.

"Hold your horses!" Leopold yelled anxiously, firmly restraining his two friends from getting closer to the dangerous abyss "you'll fall in, too!"

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*************Scene 4: The Hole***************

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"Ok, Blossom" Lance was closing his eyes in deep concentration, letting his Cryokinesis reach the mystery body of water far below- hopefully faster than their bodies would physically reach it "Get ready..."

Lance somersaulted in mid-air with Blossom in tow, making himself stand upright while princess-carrying the Green Musketeer. Suddenly, a spiral of ice sprang from the dark depth of the pit, connecting perfectly with Lance's feet.

"...hold on tight!" Blossom obliged, grasping her arms around his neck closely. Lance's eyes glowed a faint blue as they widened in gleeful terror. The downward spiral they were sliding on gradually slowed down their insanely fast descent. After several dozen spirals, they were finally at a leisurely speed where they gently skidded to a peaceful stop, barely causing the water at their feet to ripple upon their intrusion.

Nonetheless, the tension and strain from this harrowing ordeal brought Lance to his knees as he groaned with exhaustion and relief. Blossom, who landed gracefully on her feet, knelt down beside Lance while tenderly caressing his cheek.

"You did it, champ!" Blossom said affectionately.

"Y-yeah..." Lance mumbled, his cheeks blushing, as he gently patted her hand away. He stood up and looked up at the far dim light up above. "...we're a long way down..."

A distant creaking sound emanated from the ceiling, just before a handful of dirt floated down to the waters below.

"It's not safe to stand here" Blossom commented, using the Lantern App on her SmartBand to look around.

Lance wiped some of the fallen dirt off his hat, only to halt his hand while touching the blue feather adorning it. He took off his hat to have a closer look.

"Blossom?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"There's an air current here, see?" He pointed the feather gently wafting to a faint breeze "there must be another exit somewhere..."

"KZZzzshhhtt..you guys-kzzhhtt-ear me?"

The garbled voice emanating from the glowing HoloOrbs on their SmartBands startled the two Musketeers. Blossom hurriedly answered back "Tristan? Is that you?!"

"BLO-Kzzsshhhtt-ooomm!! Ar-krsssshhhh-ou Okay?!"

Blossom sighed upon hearing Priya's panicked voice "Calm down, Pri! We're all right."

"But this hole does not look safe" added Lance grimly "it could collapse at any minute. We can't risk climbing out the way we came. We have to find another way out..."

"Where wo-krrssshhtt-ind another-rsshhkkzz-ay out?!"

"Leopold, there's a faint breeze in this tunnel coming from the opposite direction of the hole" Blossom replied "we're bound to find another way out if we follow it."

"NO! It-skkshhhh-dangerous! W-whoaa-ksshhhhhSZZZzz!"

"Tristan? You ok, bro?" Lance asked worriedly. He was alerted to the noise up from the ceiling as Blossom dragged him out of the way of more falling debris.

In a few seconds, the shaft they occupied earlier was completely blocked up with mud and rocks, as the two Musketeers caught their breath in a nearby tunnel.

"Well..." Blossom cleared her throat as she stood up straight and looked toward the far end of the tunnel with the aid of her SmartBand's lantern App. "I guess we better mosey on, yeah?"

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**********Scene 5: The Underworld**********

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The two colourful figures roamed uncertainly through the drab and damp structures underground. The cavernous and drafty path they were walking through is not really a tunnel so much as a geometrical nightmare of collapsed buildings and concrete structures.

Lance managed to stammer an inquisitive "wh-what are those buildings?"

Blossom did not break her stride as she replied "there were many floods during the Apocalypse, many of which were strong enough to destroy numerous coastal cities lining the Atlantic."

Blossom then touched the HoloOrb on her SmartBand which caused the Lantern App's light to condense into a spotlight. The focused beam of light swiveled between the different monuments and mangled street signs, all of them belonging to various countries that bordered the Atlantic Ocean.

"The debris from across the world..." Blossom continued solemnly “...the tides pulled all of those broken pieces into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. When the Arachnae landed on Earth over a thousand years ago, they decided to build Atlantica city on top of the wreckage."

"That doesn't sound very safe..." Chimed in Lance, while looking around in the dark.

"It wasn't..." smiled Blossom "...sinkholes like the one we fell through were quite common in the early days of building the city. But eventually, they were able to stabilize the foundation to a reliable degree."

"Wow" said Lance "you sure know a lot about this stuff..."

Blossom sighed and replied "...it's kinda hard to ignore history..." She turned her spotlight toward a fallen skyscraper that may have once been a grand hotel. The light shone brightly on the mostly rusted sign with the Stylized 'E' in the logo of the 'Everglades Towers' emblazoned on it "...especially when your name keeps popping up whenever there's mentions of corruption, greed, and total disregard for basic human decency..."

"Blossom..." Lance reached out a hesitant hand towards his teammate's shoulder, only to freeze midway as his eyes see a peculiar movement "...we're not alone here..."

The ominous words hung heavily in the air between them as they both became keenly aware of a distorted space just hovering in front of the stylized 'E' on the rusted sign in front of them.

"Oh no..." Lance muttered fearfully, slowly unleashing his rapier "...not this guy again"

An impossibly white hand burst from the distorted space. The rest of the pale body followed through the distortion and floated eerily in front of them.

"So..." Blossom stood defiant and upright, taking a measure of the apparition "...that's the Phantom Musketeer?"

To say that the Phantom was glowing would be inaccurate, its body simply did not allow for a single shadow to lay its dark tendrils upon its pale form. Even in the dark depths of the underworld, the white ghostly figure was clearly visible.

Blossom took out her wooden rapier from its sheath and said "... I thought it'd be taller."

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*****Scene 6: The Menacing Phantom******

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Lights from the Musketeers' HoloOrbs danced wildly in the dank underground, accompanied by the distorted clangs of metal-and-wood-on-warped-dark-matter. Blossom and Lance tried to surround the Phantom, flanking it from both sides, but it was more than capable of warding them off - even overpowering them a little. The Green Musketeer took advantage of a slim opening to deliver a deadly thrust, but it was anticipated by the ghostly figure as it evaded it deftly before bringing its blackened blade down on the leafy rapier. Blossom rapier's blade broke off cleanly in the attack and she stumbled to the ground due to her unspent momentum.

"BLOSSOM!!" Lance screamed in a panic, a thick wall of ice erected itself between Blossom and their attacker.

"Lance, no!" Blossom shouted after her young friend, a twinge of anger and frustration laced her words. From beyond the wall, she can hear the distorted sounds of swords clashing and the desperate grunts from Lance.

She reached for a grenade pellet from one of the pouches of her belt, which was a bigger version of the pellets that she normally shoots from her sword's firing mechanism hidden in the hilt. She threw the grenade onto the ground, shattering it upon impact, prompting a rapidly growing cluster of huge vines! Each one was as thick as a tree trunk.

"Dammit, boy..." Blossom muttered to herself, her angry eyes smouldered with a faint green glow, as she directed the leafy tendrils with her hands to demolish the icy wall! Lance stared in awe as the vines continued their undaunting charge by slamming the Phantom and carrying it along several feet into the air, before smashing into the ruins of a toppled skyscraper.

"Whoah..." Lance exclaimed before being jerked to his feet as Blossom grabbed him roughly by the collar "B-Blossom...?!!"

"What the hell was that?!" Blossom's brow knit angrily as she spat out those words "that was stupid and reckless!"

"I-I just..." Lance stumbled on his words trying to avoid Blossom's enraged stare "...I was just keeping a p-promise..."

"A PROMISE?!" Blossom suddenly released Lance's collar from her grip, causing him to stumble and fall on his butt "what kind of promise makes you risk your life like that...and for what?! You think it's your job to rescue me or something?"

"B-Blossom" Lance stuttered nervously, slowly getting up and patting the dirt from his outfit "that's not what-"

"I don't need to be rescued!" Blossom interrupted forcefully "I know what you're doing! You're trying to be like him, but you can't! Stop trying to copy Armand, you'll never be like him-"

Blossom stopped herself in mid-sentence, her angered expression quickly changed to one of guilt and regret.

"Oh no...Lance...I didn't mean... I-I'm sorry" Blossom covered her face, backing away slowly, before turning around and running down one of the tunnels at full speed.

"Blossom! Wait!" Lance hastily ran after her.

***************************************************

***********Scene 7: Big shoes to fill***********

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A pair of green boots stamped through ankle-deep waters covering the darkened tunnels through the underground ruins. Followed closely by a similar pair of blue boots of someone much shorter.

"Blossom" Lance panted behind the Green Musketeer, who was sprinting a few feet in front of him "w-wait up...huff..."

Blossom ignored him as she ran ahead, which prompted Lance to call out to her apologetically "look, I'm sorry! I don't know what I did that upset you...huff puff...so much...but I'm sorry!"

Blossom reached the end of the tunnel that opened up toward a wide open cavern where pipes and various tunnels protruded from all over the concrete and steel makeshift walls, spilling their liquid content in the center where a huge pool of water-like substance sort of rested at the bottom.

Noticing the precipitous drop, Blossom turned around toward the rushing Lance. As he got closer, Lance noticed Blossom's watery red eyes that looked toward him with great sorrow and shame.

"Lance, I-" her words were drowned out by a creaking sound from below her feet, as the ground groaned under her weight and finally gave out with an awful shrieking noise, dragging Blossom downward and out of Lance's sight.

"BLOSSOM!" Lance's panicked shout almost rivaled the cacophonous sounds of the fallen debris, as he sped toward the edge to look for his teammate.

"Stay back!" Blossom called out, hanging on to a protruding pipe with one hand, while her other arm dangled limply by her side.

"What's wrong with your arm?" Lance climbed carefully down the side of the cliff toward Blossom.

"I-I think it got dislocated when I fell. I can't pull myself up..." Blossom winced in pain "I told you to stay back! You'll fall, too"

"No, I won't" Lance's boots froze to the side of the cliff "I told you, I made a promise-"

Blossom's eyes widened in rage as she interrupted him "What kind of promise forces you to risk your life like an idiot?!"

In her outburst, the damp pipe in her hand started to slip away and she lost her grip on it. Lance shot his hand toward hers and grasped her arm firmly.

"The promise I made..." Lance strained as he held on to Blossom's arm “...is the same one you made! I made this promise to you, to Tristan, to Priya and Leopold!! I MADE A PROMISE TO ANYONE IN DANGER!"

"L-Lance...?"

"One for All..." Lance grunted, every muscle in his body tensed and coiled desperately "...AND ALL FOR VICTORRRRRYYY!!"

Lance used every ounce of his strength to pull Blossom to safety, the ice on his boots becoming thicker and spike-ier. With the Green Musketeer sitting safely in the half-collapsed tunnel, Lance slowly melted the ice anchoring him the Cliffside before pulling himself up as well. They both sat in the relative horizontal safety of the tunnel as they panted from relief and exertion.

Eventually, Lance broke the silence, looking at Blossom wistfully "I know I'll never be Armand...he's...he's someone I look up to and respect a whole lot... His are big shoes to fill..."

"...Lance..."

"But I don't want to wear his shoes! I am my own Mu5keteer! I will proudly walk in his footsteps, but at my own pace..."

"Heh..." Blossom managed to smile bitterly "you think you could squeeze in a few more walking metaphors in there?"

"Ha...I guess I've been thinking about it a lot...metaphors help me put painful things in perspective..."

"Hey, speaking of pain..." Blossom grabbed her limp arm with her functioning one, and with one sharp motion she shoved her arm back in its socket. Her shrill scream of pain lasted all of two seconds, but it packed so much agony in it.

"Oh Lord!" Lance exclaimed in shock, drawing closer toward the wincing Blossom "are you ok?!"

"M'fine..." Whimpered Blossom sheepishly, while ineffectually rubbing her recently un-dislocated shoulder.

"Kzzssshht~an you hear me~shhzzztt"

Lance and Blossom perked up upon hearing the familiar, yet static-laden, voice of Tristan coming through their SmartBands. They quickly raised the HoloOrb closer in order to hear the garbled words more clearly.

"Tristan!" Lance exclaimed "we must be close to the surface."

Blossom craned her head to look up at the ceiling of the cavern where they almost fell earlier. The ceiling was a tangled mess of girders and concrete that - just barely - allowed a dim light to trickle in from above.

"I have an idea." Smiled Blossom as she fiddled with the capsule-shooter at the hilt of her broken rapier, selecting a specific capsule containing one of her patented mutated Edan plant strains. She then aimed the firing mechanism downward toward the pool of liquid and fired of a capsule.

"I hope that's mostly water down there..."

***************************************************

**************Scene 8: Rosethorn*************

***************************************************

Lance and Blossom watched as a single, thick vine rose steadily from the waters below, thanks to Blossom's Psy-Q ability of Botankinesis. The Green Musketeer concentrated on the mutated plant below, her eyes glowing a faint emerald hue.

"Ok, get on" Blossom said as the top of the vine made its way closer to their perch on the cliff's side. It then curled up, accommodating a mostly flat surface for the two Musketeers to stand on safely.

"Now, just like what we did with the Big Bandit a few months ago" Blossom turned her head toward Lance and smiled gently "I need you to slightly freeze the water in the vine, and use your powers to stabilize it for me."

Blossom then lifted her hands dramatically, in an effort to gather concentration for her powers "I'll focus on directing it upward."

"Aye aye, cap'n!" Lance cheerfully answered as he lifted his head up toward the dim light, his eyes glowing a soft blue. Alas, his happy-go-lucky demeanor evaporated once he spotted an uncomfortably familiar ripple in the space just above them.

"Uhh...Blossom..." Lance whispered nervously, a primal fear response urging him to flee just as pure determination roots him steadfastly on the leafy green platform.

"I see it" Blossom pulled out her broken rapier from its sheath and stopped the plant from rising any further "whatever happens, I need you to keep this platform stabilized. I will deal with the Phantom."

"But, you don't -"

"Listen, before we fell in, you asked me if I trusted you." Blossom interrupted resolutely, taking her eyes off of the slowly emerging Phantom Musketeer and smiled at Lance reassuringly "now I'm asking you: do you trust me?"

Lance smiled confidently back at her and answered "always."

His smile wavered a bit as his gaze floated down toward what's left of Blossom's wooden rapier. Upon noticing his concern, Blossom chuckled bravely "haha, don't worry about it. As long as I have water..."

Blossom abruptly bent down on one knee, and in one swift movement, she stabbed the engorged vine at her feet with her broken blade. At the same time, the Phantom Musketeer floated down menacingly, his dark blade shimmer and distort the space around it madly.

"...I am never unarmed!" With another swift movement, Blossom pulled out her newly regrown blade from its wet, makeshift sheath as she blocks the Phantom's strike!

"Whoah!" Lance looked dumbfounded at the miraculously repaired blade, its edge looked even sharper than before.

"Heh, you liked that?" Blossom smirked as she expertly parried the Phantom's furious attacks "well, you're gonna love this!"

With that, Blossom's eyes flared with green fire as the rosebud decoration on the hilt of her rapier bloomed majestically. It caused the leaf-like crossguard to expand outward, the sword's handle elongated far beyond the grip size for a one-handed weapon, and the blade itself thickened and grew even longer.

Lance looked in awe as he witnessed, right before his eyes, how Blossom's wooden rapier transformed into a fearsome Zweihander, its dark mahogany blade shimmered in the dim light.

"Say hello to Rosethorn, the Everlasting Blade..." Blossom balanced the long blade in her hands and lifted it skyward "...there's nothing that she can't cut!!"

With a dramatic flourish, Blossom brought down the gigantic sword down on the Phantom Musketeer, who lifted his blade in an attempt to impede it. However, unlike their previous encounter, Rosethorn was not in the mood for any nonsense from the shifty distorted mess standing between her and the juicy, might-be-flesh of her target. Rosethorn seemed to grow bigger and stronger as Blossom's eyes glowed a brighter shade of green.

With a sound like glass breaking running through a distorted synthesizer, the ebony blade of the Phantom Musketeer cracked for a split second, before shattering in all directions like confetti! Rosethorn merrily completed her devastating arc to slash across the Phantom's chest. Instead of blood spurting from its wound, inky black tendrils sprang out eerily, accompanied by an unearthly silent screech that almost shattered the two Musketeers' eardrums.

Lance and Blossom were conflicted whether to plug up their ears to stop the noise, or to cup their hands over them to listen to it better. It was like the absence of sound made it even more deafening.

The Phantom convulsed violently, as shadows crept along its body, making his features more defined. Blossom's eyes widened in shock, staring intently while the shadows roughly sketch an anguished expression on the blank canvas of a face in front of them. The long nose, high cheekbones, and pointed chin were all too familiar to the two Musketeers; but it was Blossom who tried to reach closer with her trembling hand in disbelief.

Suddenly, a low rumbling like a distant locomotive could be hear from above. Lance looked up - while Blossom was still entranced by the Phantom's appearance - only to find the tip of two miniaturized Jackhammers pierce through the ceiling. Debris fell gently beside them as a ray of warm sunlight gently wafted through, illuminating the whole cavern below.

Blossom and Lance winced, their eyes adjusting to the harsh light, and was surprised to see the Phantom vanishing before their very eyes! They looked around incredulously, and then at each other. Blossom finally spoke, tears welling up in her eyes as her knees fell to the ground "that...that was Armand's face...wasn't it...?"

Lance hurried over and kneeled down besides her, holding her shoulders gently "I...I don't know what we saw...but we'll figure it out..."

Lance then hugged her closely, hearing her softly sob on his shoulder, before continuing "...it's what we do, after all..."

"Hahaha! There they are!" The cheerful cackle from above prompted the two Musketeer to look up toward a smiling Jackrabbit Hammer with a bandaged head while she was being lowered in a harness. "My heroes!"

"BLOSSOOOM!!" Shouted Priya, trying to dry her tears ineffectively "you're all right! Thank goodness!"

"I'm so happy you're safe" Tristan smiled wearily "not that I had any doubts, mind you..."

Leopold put a reassuring hand on both Priya's and Tristan's shoulders and just smiled silently, while watching the two prodigal Musketeers are hoisted out of the darkness of the ruins and into the light of a new dawn.

***************************************************

*********************Epilogue*******************

***************************************************

"Yes? Sorry, there's no training for today."

Zilvana called out upon hearing the soft sound of the gym door slowly opening.

"Oh, sorry...I'll come back tomo-"

"Oh, L-Lance!" Zilvana whirled toward the familiar voice "I-I didn't know it was you! Please, do come in."

Lance sheepishly entered the gymnasium and closed the door gently behind him. Zilvana looked on with great concern as she inquired worriedly "Goodness gracious! You're all bandaged up!"

Lance absentmindedly scratched at the bandages on his arms, before stopping to stroke the little tuft of hair that managed to peek out from the bandages. He nervously managed to squeak out a reply "Y-yeah, it was one crazy weekend...but listen, that's not why I'm here..."

"Then why are you here?" Zilvana asked sternly, memories of their last encounter still left hanging in the air between them.

"Zilvana...there's something I need to explain to you..." Lance said pensively "...after I became the Ice Musketeer, I began to feel that all eyes are on me... I felt like I'm always being compared to...him..."

"Lance..." Zilvana softly mumbled "...you know that's not true..."

“Of course, I do!” Lance snapped, only to apologetically add “…sorry…I do know that…but the feeling just made me defensive…I wanted to distance myself from Armand any way I can…”

Lance then looked toward Zilvana with a remorseful expression “…which included being in the fencing club…but I was wrong to use my hang up to be so rude to you…”

“Lance, you were not rude to refuse my invitation…” Zilvana replied regretfully “…I shouldn’t have pushed after you have said no…I was just…I was so impressed by how skilled you were! I felt it was a waste NOT to be in the club…”

"To be honest, I was a flattered..." Lance interjected "...I didn't have a fencing club in middle school, so I never experienced someone wanting me to join one so badly."

"Hey, now...I wasn't THAT desperate!"

"The point is..." Lance smiled "...I have to give it a chance...but...I don't think I'm ready to dive deep into the club..."

Lance looked at the excited Zilvana before continuing "...do you think we can start with a few sparring matches here and there?"

"EeEeeeeeeeee!" Zilvana squealed with glee while jumping up and down "that's all I ever wanted! Here!" She then threw some of the fencing gear lying on the ground toward Lance.

"What? Now?!"

"Oh, like you've got anything better to do!" She hurriedly put on the fencing vest, helmet and gloves "c'mon! First to ten points win! En garde!"

Lance sighed concedingly as he donned the borrowed gear carefully. He then adopted an orthodox stance while replying with a smile through the mesh of the face guard.

"En Garde."

**************************************

*******The End of Chapter 4*****

**************************************

#my art #OC #musketeers #mu5keteers #sci fi & fantasy

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clarenecessities · 7 years ago

Text

spooky planes

Word Count: 2249 Rating: PG Summary: Star Wars, goofs, a magic-off Chapter Warnings: gun mention [First] [Previous] [Next]

“So we can’t play video games until Adrien gets his act together, and/or signs a contract,” said Nino, frowning thoughtfully. “What do you guys wanna do instead? What do sídhes do for fun?”

“Uh,” said Adrien, grimacing.

“Jinx people,” Plagg answered promptly, with a self-satisfied smile stretching so wide his whiskers lifted. Nino’s eyes narrowed.

“Or bless them!” Adrien added hastily. “It’s not all bad luck!”

“No kidding,” Marinette laughed, gesturing at herself. “Is that it, though? I didn’t think the sídhe interacted with our world all that often.”

“He’s got deer spying on us,” said Nino, pointing at Plagg like a child tattling on its friend. “They go back to his place and tell him all our secrets.”

“Not all of them. Just the good ones.”

“What Plagg is trying to say,” Adrien cut in, glaring ferociously at him, “is that we generally entertain ourselves with magic.”

“Is there like… do you have magic video games?” asked Nino. “Like you had magic lights and magic doors and everything, do you have like… I dunno, virtual reality or something? Or like a rock that plays .mp3 files?”

“Uh, well, mostly it’s—”

“Oh my god do you have magic guns??”

“What.”

“Like a—like a laser cannon but it’s blasting you with magic!” said Nino. He mimed holding a moderately sized blaster to his shoulder, squinting one eye. “Pew! Pew pew!”

“I feel like I’m missing some cultural context here, but my gut instinct is no,” said Adrien, grinning at him. “Is this from a human Star War? Is it this light ‘saber’?”

Nino dropped the imaginary gun to point at him, as accusingly as he had pointed at Plagg. “Oh, nice try, man, but you know it’s Star Wars. You can’t put this one past ol’ Nino.”

“Ah, but does he know it’s ‘lightsaber’?” asked Marinette, raising an eyebrow in his direction.

“That’s what I said!” he protested innocently, grin widening. “Light saber!”

“He did this with ‘sleepover’ too,” muttered Nino, with an affected scowl. “Was that a goof? Were you goofing with me before?”

“I don’t know about these sleep overs, but I can guarantee you he knows it’s lightsaber,” said Plagg. “We broke into a nerd’s house once and watched all of them.”

“All of them?” Nino repeated dubiously. “Even the Christmas special?”

“Especially the Christmas special.”

“We’ve seen the ones that haven’t come out yet, too,” Adrien put in smugly. Take that, linear time.

“Aw what!” Nino yelped. “No spoilers!”

“Oh, so you don’t want to know that Luke is actually—”

“I’ll kill you,” said Nino, pretending to hoist his imaginary gun back up. “I’ll do it, man.”

“Mercy,” Adrien pleaded, a bubbling laugh ruining his affectation. He mimed a swoon, tossing the back of his hand against his forehead—and hadn’t he learned that from Nino? His smile was so wide he was worried his face might split in half. Only two days and he was already a master of human mannerisms.

“No murdering in my room,” said Marinette, putting a hand where she imagined the barrel would be. Nino lowered his own hands obligingly, though he still pretended to menace Adrien with a scowl. She turned to the sídhthe. “How is it that you entertain yourselves with magic?”

“In much the way you appear to,” said Plagg, with an approving nod to her various creations. “Enchantments and things—plenty of contests to see who’s better at what. There’s nothing quite so gratifying as destroying your friends in competition.”

“Not even destroying your enemies in competition?” asked Adrien.

Plagg didn’t answer, but his eyes gleamed when he smiled at him.

“We could have a contest, I guess,” said Marinette, humming to herself as she looked around. “Although I don’t know what there is that hasn’t already been enchanted, aside from the electronics…”

“How about your sketchbook?” Nino suggested, pointing at few loose sheets of paper on her desk. “We could have an airplane-building contest.”

“I can’t build a whole—”

“A paper airplane, Adrien.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” said Nino, rubbing his chin. “You two build your planes without touching them, and then we’ll race ‘em and see which flies better.”

“You’re not gonna build one?” asked Marinette, raising an eyebrow as she reached across Plagg to flick the paper towards herself.

“Oh, I am,” said Nino, grinning, “but I get to use my hands, on account of I’m only making minimum wolf-wage, magically speaking.”

“Are we allowed to—”

“Ah-ah!” Plagg interrupted, jumping abruptly into Adrien’s lap to silence him. “What have I taught you?”

Adrien sighed heavily. “Permission is for dogs.”

“That’s right.”

“Should I be offended, or does he mean real dogs?” asked Nino, sliding a sheet closer to Adrien. Adrien shifted Plagg off his lap, scooping him up and dumping him on the chaise beside him, while he slid to the floor.

“You’re not a dog,” he said, rolling his eyes, “you’re a wolf. Sometimes. Uh.”

“I get it, I get it,” said Nino, waving him off with a laugh. He pulled his own sheet closer to him, lining it up carefully with the wooden floor. “There is a weredog at school though, right Marinette?”

Marinette looked up from where she was frowning intensely at her sheet of paper, wand laying across her lap as she plotted her course of action. “Hm? Oh, well he’s not a weredog so much as… I don’t know, he can turn into a dog sometimes or something.” She scowled to herself. “You know, they really ought to do some kind of gen ed for all the species, I don’t think I know half of—hey!”

Adrien looked up innocently from his paper. “What?”

“He said no hands and you know it!”

“Maybe so,” said Adrien, lifting his chin to curb his smile, “but he didn’t say no feet.” He flexed his bare toes menacingly in her direction.

“He didn’t say no paws either,” said Plagg dryly from beside him. “Though I suppose if we’ve learned anything from your little adventure today, it’s that you don’t know when to ask for my help.”

“You’re just jealous you didn’t think of it,” said Adrien, straightening his crease with a gentle blur of magic, the same shade of green as his eyes. Across from him, Marinette had begun working, maneuvering each corner of the paper with a flick of her wand. Nino was ignoring all of them, tongue peeking out from behind his teeth as he focused on keeping his lines straight.

“Okay,” said Plagg, after a full minute had passed. “I’m bored. Time’s up.”

“Wait wait wait I’m almoooost—done!” said Nino, lifting his plane with a flourish.

They stood shoulder to shoulder, feet lined up behind a tape measurer which had helpfully inched its way into a starting line, rather like a caterpillar.

“Ready,” drawled Plagg, “aaaaaand… go!”

Adrien gritted his teeth, leaning his whole weight into the throw.

It flew like an arrow, beautiful, straight and true, before nosediving sharply and plunging into the floor so sharply it bent its nose.

“Noooo,” said Adrien, falling dramatically to his knees behind the starting line and reaching out a trembling hand as though to cradle his broken creation.

“Okay, okay, so the cat can’t fly,” said Nino, rolling his shoulders. “It’s wolf time.”

“Nino, wolves can’t fly either,” said Marinette, laughing as she laid a consoling hand on Adrien’s shoulder.

“Uh, excuse me, haven’t you ever seen Balto 3: Wings of Change?” asked Nino, winding up as if pitching a baseball, and letting it fly.

His plane made it a good distance, floating much more gently than Adrien’s had. It landed almost touching the far wall, perfectly parallel to the floorboards. Nino bowed as dramatically as Adrien had crumpled. “How’s that for wolves don’t fly?” he asked, smirking up at Marinette.

“Hm,” she said simply, a mischievous grin blooming to life as she tossed her plane.

It was too soft, Adrien thought privately; she had scarcely moved her wrist, let alone her elbow—it would never beat Nino’s.

His eyes widened as, instead of nosediving like his, or drifting down like Nino’s, Marinette’s plane began to rise.

“Wh—hey!” Nino exclaimed, pointing as the plane looped around his grounded attempt and sailed leisurely back to Marinette’s waiting hand. She laughed, a triumphant, exhilarated laugh that had Adrien laughing along before he knew it.

Her laugh, apparently, was as infectious as the rest of her, and he relished in it as Nino shouted through his own stifled chortling, and Marinette did a ridiculous victory lap around her room.

“That was clearly cheating!” said Nino when he had at last smothered his giggles.

“You said only magic, no hands,” Marinette sang. “You never said no enchanting.”

“Quite a pair you two make,” said Nino, looking between Marinette and Adrien, who had slid from his knees to his stomach to reach his plane, and was now curled around it like a cat with a mouse. “Rematch! No enchantments and no feet!”

“As thrilled as I would be to defend my title,” said Marinette, smirking, “someone’s coming upstairs.”

Adrien blinked, rolling into a sitting position, reaching out with his magic just as the there was a rap at the trapdoor.

“Come in!” called Marinette, and a familiar face emerged with a sheepish smile.

“Hello,” said Mlle. Bustier, wincing in apology. “I’m so sorry you children had to go through that. We’ll be talking about it more tomorrow, but for this evening I think everyone’s had… enough. I’ve come to fetch Nino.”

“Oh,” said Nino, grabbing his headphones off the floor. “Did you guys get the school fixed up?”

“Yes,” she confirmed, sighing. “The damage was mostly to the classrooms facing the courtyard, so your room was largely unaffected, I’m sure you’ll be glad to know. The window was broken, but it was an easy fix.”

“Cool, alright,” said Nino, bobbing his head in a strange, jerky nod, like it wasn’t cool or alright. Adrien frowned, leaning into Nino’s magic a little, but could only tell that it was agitated—which could mean practically anything. He exchanged a worried glance with Marinette.

“Are you ready to come home or would you like to stay a little longer?” Mlle. Bustier asked politely.

“I’ll go back, I guess,” said Nino, shrugging as he gathered the rest of his things, including his paper airplane. “I’m pretty worn out from last night still, even without all this stuff. Baba needs a nap, y’know?”

“Yeah,” said Marinette, and though he thought Nino was telling the truth, Adrien was sure she was as suspicious as he was about what he hadn’t said.

“I’ll see you tomorrow though, right man?” he asked before he could stop himself, getting to his feet.

“Of course,” said Nino, smiling back with such sincerity that Adrien almost melted at the relief of tension. Whatever was going on, it wasn’t because he’d messed something up again. Probably Nino just didn’t know how to leave either, or… something. He clasped hands with Adrien in a friendly, jostling sort of way, clapping him on the back, and shot Marinette some finger guns as he descended the staircase to a chorus of farewells.

Adrien scarcely waited for the front door to close before turning to Marinette in a whirl. “Was he okay?” he asked immediately.

“Kind of,” said Marinette, but she didn’t sound worried. She just sounded… sad. “I think… Nino doesn’t really like living at the school. I think he gets lonely.”

“Oh,” said Adrien, gaze shifting to the floor. Lonely.

He could understand lonely.

“Yeah,” said Marinette, doubtlessly reading his own sadness, “we offered to let him stay here, but he didn’t want to be a bother. You may have noticed, he can be a little… he feels guilty about stuff a lot.”

“Yeah,” Adrien agreed quietly. He looked to Plagg, who was quiet for once, watching the two of them while his tail swung in slow, lazy arcs behind him.

“We should get going too,” he said after a few moments, “Tikki was fit to be tied when she heard, and I know she wants to see you.”

“Oh jeez,” groaned Adrien. “You could have said something! She’s gonna flip out!”

“Who’s Tikki?”

“Queen of the aos sídhe,” said Adrien, “sort-of raised me, worries excessively about my safety, is going to absolutely skin Plagg when we get home for not telling her I was okay!”

“Oh, she knew you were okay!” said Plagg, rolling his eyes as he stood with a lazy stretch. “Give her some credit, kid, she’s not queen for nothing.”

“Yeah, yeah,” grumbled Adrien, hastily snatching his things off the floor. “Um. Sorry to run out like this Marinette, but thank you for having us over. I’m also sorry about Plagg. Just like, in general.”

“Any time,” she said graciously, smiling at him and passing a purring Plagg into his waiting hands. “I’d say you’ll have to have us over sometime, but I really don’t want your house to kill me.”

“Me either,” said Adrien, with a sincere shudder at the thought. “Um, and thank your parents for us, please, tell them it’s a royal emergency, they’ll understand—and thank you for the food! And the… um…” Was it weird to thank people for being friends with you? Adrien wasn’t sure.

Marinette’s smile widened, so it seemed she’d gotten the message all the same. “You’re welcome,” she said, and Plagg’s eyes flashed green, and the world dissolved into home around them.

#clare's writing #spooky ml au #miraculous ladybug

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marinette-buginette · 8 years ago

Note

If you're still doing prompts and are comfortable writing it, how about either cam girl ladybug or cam boy chat noir? Personally I'd love to see how you'd write cam boy chat noir but it's your choice :) only if you're comfortable writing it xx

THIS PROMPT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE OUT ONE WEEK AGO IM SO SORRY

Ah, you are really sweet anon, asking me if I’m comfortable with it. That’d be a yes, lol. I’m not the best writer for sin, but I’m trying. Also, I kind of thought of a cam au before and you just gave me a reason to write it lol. And I’m glad you are more interested in cam boy Chat, cause that would have been my pick. So here we go.

SIN UNDER THE CUT

Adrien honestly didn’t remember how this started. No, literally he didn’t remember. He was pretty convinced he make an account on that site while drunk and sad. Seriously, his brain, in drowned in sadness and expensive wine said ‘hey, why don’t you become a cam boy, you are handsome enough for people to pay to see you get naked’. And he actually did it. What possessed him to actually keep the whole thing on? A feeling of extreme confidence and sexiness that he had the nerve to display only while wearing a mask. The mask was part of the appeal sure, though Adrien wore it at first because the last thing he needed was pictures or videos of Adrien Agreste doing cam work. That would have been a scandal he would never get out of.

(Well, he would have gotten out of it, when his father would have killed him and feed his corpse to ashera cats for bringing shame upon the family name.)

So he kept a mask on and the nickname of Chat Noir and just kept doing it. It was surprisingly fun and he had to admit it really gave him a confidence boost and just a feeling of freedom overall. He was getting mostly naked for cameras anyway these days, but the difference between modeling and chatting was that he was actually enjoying the later. So he put his mask and clothes on, turned the laptop on and smirked.

Showtime.

Marinette decided she isn’t playing poker ever again in her damn life. No, wait. She maybe would play poker again, cause she wrecked all the other players and got all the money. She won’t get victory-drunk with Alya and make stupid bets with her again. Honestly, accepting to do a video chat was the worst dare she could say yes to. But there was no way she was backing off from it. No way. Only to see the smug ‘you can’t doooo it, Mari can’t actually do it’ grin off Alya’s face. One does not give Marinette Dupain-Cheng a challenge and expects her to not do it.

(She can’t believe she will actually pay money to see a dick. It better be a damn good dick.)

Fifteen minutes later Marinette found herself in a private chat room. And well, the person on the other side wasn’t exactly what she expected. She expected a handsome guy. Which he was, at a first look. She didn’t expect the black mask, though. And in all honestly and probably ignorance, she didn’t expect him to be fully dressed either. Well the faster they start, the faster they finish.

LadyLuck: Hi!

ChatNoir: Hello there my lady. How can I entertain you on this fine evening?

He smiled at the camera and Marinette’s eyebrows shot up. She saw men trying to pull charming with a dash of wicked smiles before and frankly, they all failed miserably. Until now. Marinette could have probably just keep staring at him, but then she realized she should give an answer.

LadyLuck: Just do what you know.

She wondered if that was too dry for an answer. Truth to be told, she had no idea what she was supposed to request. Isn’t like she was doing this to get off, so she had no special requirement. Chat flashed her a smirk before getting up. Marinette waited for clothes to come flying off, but it wasn’t what happened. Instead, he kept staring at the camera as he rolled the sleeves of his black shirt up. Marinette inhaled. The move itself was not sexual at all, though, Marinette always found sleeves rolled up to make almost anyone more attractive. But this man just made her blush with that move. He looked at the camera in a sultry way as he slowly stretched his hands, showcasing his arm muscles. Then he casually sat back in the chair, trailing his fingers over his neck and undoing the first button of his shirt. Marinette felt the blush spreading over her cheeks. This was ridiculous, he didn’t even get undressed and yet, Marinette felt more turned on that she had in months. Maybe it was the fact that black looked so good on him. Or the messy blond hair that looked incredibly good on him. Or those green eyes that seemed to be in a constant state of ‘let me undress you and make love to you all night long.’

LadyLuck: Never in my life had I thought rolling your sleeves up could be erotic.

LadyLuck: (Btw I really love the details in your shirt’s buttons, that’s some great craft right there)

ChatNoir: I’m honored you think so, My Lady

ChatNoir: (I have a soft spot for little details in clothing)

ChatNoir: Shall I continue the little show?

LadyLuck: Please

He smirked smugly, then winked at the camera. He started slow, running a hand through his hair. Then, he run his right hand over his face, slowly, as if he was trying to rub the sleep away from his eyes. Only to lick along his index finger as his hand was going lower, down his neck, finally reaching his buttons. He obviously liked to take his time as he undid every button almost painfully slow. Marinette felt a wave of heat rush across her face and neck. Ah, she knew the type. Taking everything so annoyingly slow, only to make you squirm and be so starved for contact, for touch and for release. Damn, if only he was in the room with her she’d show him how one simply doesn’t pull that trick on Marinette Dupain-Cheng and gets out of it unpunished. But for all that was worth, she was enjoying the show.

He was running his fingers over his bare skin every time he let go of yet another button. It was a very nice chest and an even better stomach. Lean yet strong muscles. And the small trail of blond hair that disappeared under the dark jeans making her mind wonder. Just like the v lines. Marinette sighed in delight. He was a visual treat. Her attention was drawn back to his face and she was almost taken aback by the smug smirk. He looked as if she knew exactly what was going through her mind. He licked his lips tentatively then he got up, taking the shirt off in the process. He began to stretch again and flex, changing his position often enough to give her a show of his abs, arms and back muscles. Marinette would lie if she said she wasn’t getting hotter with every minute. The redness already covered her cheeks and neck, but Marinette did her best to keep herself in control. Honestly.Chat looked at the camera just then. It was an intense look. His gaze was piercing through the screen and Marinette almost felt like he was right here, with her, promising with his eyes how good he will fuck her. Marinette felt her mouth go dry as he started to undo his belt. Just as with every move before, he took his time going through every notch while he kept his lust-filled eyes on the camera, and automatically staring into Marinette’s soul. With a wink, he pulled the belt off and opened the button of his jeans. Marinette gulped as he hooked his fingers in the band of the jeans. And when he let his jeans fall to the floor, Marinette gave up on any false pretense. She was turned on. No reason to deny it anymore. Chat sat back down while Marinette appreciated how good the black briefs looked on him.

ChatNoir: You are surprisingly quite my lady. Aren’t you enjoying the show?

LadyLuck: Au contraire. I’m just enjoying the visual feast.

ChatNoir: Would you like it to be more than just visual?

LadyLuck: … I’m listening.

ChatNoir: I have a microphone, in case you want to hear my voice.

Marinette looked at the small smirk he was showing, obviously confident she would be up for it. He winked at her again. God, those winks were messing with her brain. She wanted to hear his voice, but it could be a total disappointment. Okay, no. No way someone looking like that had a nonattractive voice. It would be a waste of everything.

LadyLuck: I’m all ears.

She already has the volume of her laptop turned on so she just laid back in her chair, biting her lip in anticipation as Chat brought the microphone close to him.

“Bonsoir, my lady. I hope you are enjoying this fine evening we get to spend together.”

Marinette melted. She let her head fall on her desk as she moaned loudly. She expected his voice to be attractive but that… that was more that she could ever hope or fantasize about. She couldn’t even think some proper words to describe it. It was… sex. Yes, that was it. So deep, and sultry and just pure sex turning on every hormone in her body.

LadyLuck: Please, keep talking.

“Of course. Anything for a wonderful lady such as yourself.”

Marinette was glad she was sitting, cause her legs just turned to jelly. God, was it even possible to be this attracted to a voice? It shouldn’t be humanly possible to be that good looking and have such a sinful voice. Looking at the screen again Marinette noticed he was having that look again. That 'I’m gonna fuck you so good you’ll forget your own name’ look. Oh, how she craved that right now. Biting her lip, Marinette slid her hand down her stomach and in the band of her panties.

“You are so quite, my lady. I almost feel like you aren’t really enjoying this.” he licked his lips slowly as Marinette continued to toy with herself as she enjoyed the double show. “But I think I know better what’s going on right now. I think this is very… pleasurable for you.”

Marinette moaned loudly at the sound of his laugh. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Honestly, she could barely remember what happened in the next fifteen minutes. Between the wonderful visual of Chat’s fingers running all over his skin and slipping inside his briefs and the orgasmic sound of his voice echoing from the speakers, Marinette was convinced she was put in some sort of blissful trance of sexual satisfaction. She could barely remember anything aside from the waves of pleasure washing over her again and again, a deep voice teasing her and green eyes piercing her soul. She moaned loudly as she came, going limp against the back of her chair, her eyes closing for a couple of seconds, enough to make her wonder if it was possible to go into a coma because of an orgasm. When she gathered herself enough, she glanced at her screen again. Chat was sitting comfortably in his chair with a satisfied grin on his face, obviously knowing what was going on with her. With trembling hands, Marinette typed.

LadyLuck: Well, this was an amazing experience. Say, can I hire you again sometime?

He smiled at her, his green eyes glimmering with something she couldn’t quite place.

ChatNoir: It would be my pleasure, my lady.

#miraculous ladybug #ladybug x chat noir #ladynoir #adrien x marinette #adrinette #marinette x chat noir #marichat #ladybug x adrien #ladrien #TML #my writing

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