#how to fix system launcher keeps stopping

[gnbrkrs]

How to patch Steam FFXIV on Linux for a non-Steam service account (XIVLauncher workaround for patch 6.5)

As XIVLauncher's patching function is currently broken, one has to use the official launcher instead of it, which may be troublesome to a portion of FFXIV players on Linux that have been using XIVLauncher to patch the Steam FFXIV demo while using a non-Steam service account with it. This post aims to provide instructions on how to do patch one's game for patch 6.5 with such configuration using the official launcher until XIVLauncher's patching is fixed. Although this post was created specifically for Steam Deck, however users on other Linux systems may find this useful as long as they have a similar FFXIV setup (Steam demo that has previously been patched with XIVLauncher and used a non-Steam account). This does not apply to installations that have been using Steam FFXIV with a Steam account, or FFXIV installations on Linux devices that already have official launchers working with non-Steam accounts through some other means.

1) Create a new folder to install the official launcher to.

On this example, I named it FFXIV_test and placed it on my SD card, but you may name it whatever you want and place it wherever you want, the unpatched version of the game is not huge, and we are only going to need one part of it anyway.

2) Download the non-Steam Windows FFXIV setup from the official site.

3) Open Steam and add the downloaded FFXIV setup exe as a non-Steam game.

In the bottom left corner, there will be an "Add a game" button. Click it, and from the resulting menu pick "Add a Non-Steam game". This will open up a menu with already installed apps. Click "Browse" and then pick the downloaded FFXIV setup file (which normally should be in the Downloads folder). Then click "Add selected programs".

4) Set the compatibility tool for the added FFXIV setup.

Right click on the added ffxivsetup.exe and choose "Properties". From there, go to the Compatibility tab and check the "Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool". Note: Although I previously heard some people prefer to use Proton GE with FFXIV, I found that Proton Experimental does the job for this specific task. One may install and use Proton GE instead if they choose so, but I don't know how it will act as I wrote this with Proton Experimental.

5) Run the FFXIV setup and install FFXIV to the folder we created in step 1.

Proceed with installation as you would on a Windows machine. Keep in mind that the installer will assign Windows-style letters to your partitions, so pay attention to the file structure of the drives and the parent folders of your newly made folder. Ignore the rapidly popping up console windows if any appear when opening the file menu. The text fields may also get unresponsive sometimes, so try either clicking on them multiple times or stopping and restarting the setup via Steam (if the entire setup is unresponsive as well).

6) Go to the the Steam FFXIV installation folder (the one you want to patch without XIVLauncher) and rename the boot subfolder.

As this instruction is specifically intended for the Steam FFXIV that is normally patched with XIVLauncher, the path most likely looks something like this:

/home/{your_username}/.steam/steam/steamapps/common/FINAL FANTASY XIV Online

I chose to rename my boot subfolder to boot_steam for clarity's sake, but you can rename it to anything.

7) Copy the boot folder from your newly installed FFXIV to the folder with your Steam installation.

8) Go to Steam and add a non-Steam game again as shown in step 3, and pick ffxivboot.exe in the newly copied folder. Set it's compatibility tool as shown in step 4.

9) Run ffxivboot.exe via Steam and log in as you would to a newly installed game. Wait for it to patch.

The launcher should automatically detect the As with ffxivsetup.exe, the text fields may become unresponsive. Try clicking them multiple times before inputting credentials. And just as with ffxivsetup.exe, network errors may cause it to freeze, in which case stop it and restart it via Steam.

9) Exit the official launcher and use XIVLauncher to log in with it as normal. The game will start as usual. Note: While I tested logging in with the official launcher as well, it will not recognize your existing settings. Meanwhile, XIVLauncher's login function works just fine.

[jaggedwolf]

air support, we need you (or: tscosi 2x09)

some bomb dropping, ofc, spoilers below duh

same game, top three things i had feelings ‘bout in reverse order

3. time skip time! Everyone could use a bit of a breather, even if it can’t live up to Arkady’s goat farm dreams

I thought all the planet assignments made sense, even if the completionist in me wanted it to differ more from the split that had already happened this season

ok ok the shipper in me was 50-50 but we’ll address that later

2. my man park!! is back!!! 

Showing up with an anti-aircraft missile launcher as a wedding gift. I kept joking that Park would keep up his finale trend of showing up as a surprise being cool (as cool as Park can be anw), and thought it wouldn’t happen till it did!

and him also quietly saying the defector wasn’t Shelly....Park...are you going to talk about this...

narrowly avoided extended crew singing for the third time, will he keep up this success rate?

I would take a mini-episode that just followed Park in the second half of the season (Park: I am an independent man who needs no crew)

1. Arkady attacking Krejjh because she thinks they’re an enemy, AND then McCabe pulling a gun on her to make sure she didn’t run away. Bro. Bro, that shit was a direct hit to the id. Do I even have words for how good that was

Knowing what was about to happen as soon as Arkady said “You” in that tone of voice, ugh

Krejjh saying Arkady instead of First Mate Patel in desperation, and then brushing it off with a :D after

But god, McCabe. They’ve been so compelling this season, and yeah, maybe they’re approaching everything like a nail with the hammer they’ve got that shoots bullets, but the point is, it fuckin works 

Arkady buys the threat (the promise of her crew’s safety?) more than she buys Krejjh’s reassurances 

(though reading the transcript, Krejjh specifically telling Arkady “Science Officer Liu will never forgive you”, not “forgive us”, is excellent too)

“the only authority figures yet to disappoint me” / “I’m not an authority figure” / “you don’t get to decide that” is just like. embedded in my mind. just McCabe going no, you don’t get to run verbally either.

Do you ever think about how Arkady and McCabe had like, different kinds of fucked up childhoods compared to the rest of the crew. Like obviously McCabe ending up an agent so young and the stuff about their family suggests a pretty secure background, but it feels like the IGR and Dwarnian war starting when they were 12 gives them a kind of cynicism that meshes well with Arkady’s, in a way that’s distinct from how Arkady and Violet’s morbidness mesh, or Arkady and Sana’s pragmatism

ok more character feels under the cut

don’t scandalize the grandparents

A married man! 

Impressed he made it through the season with no baddies wrecking his oxygen

Always ready to point out that Arkady is actually as much of a nerd as he is

AKA I didn’t realize it was a Mozart reference till he said so. Arkady defies the jock-nerd chart

okay who of Arkady or Krejjh is gonna tell him about MMA fight outside, or did they do a whole team debrief. For Arkady’s sake I’m hoping not the latter, though I guess everyone else would like an explanation for McCabe’s gun-pointing??

likes solving problems without guns, would prefer solving them by FLYING SPACESHIPS 

Krejjh watches McCabe’s gun strategy work on Arkady and goes “do you folks really live like this?? why???”

I do love that their first thought on what to do next is to run a bunch of supplies around, probably between human populations that are going to be a wary at seeing a dwarnian show up. (Eat it, Eejjhgreb)

Kinda wonder if their feelings about getting choked out by their buddy are in fact more complicated than “it’s chill dude, please don’t do something stupid”

The cutest vow

who needs to calm down your crewmates with annoying words when you can just point a gun at them

Seriously where is the human-dwarnian war AU where it lasts longer or happens later where McCabe is the baby sniper posted to Arkady’s unit and they squabble a bunch (and perhaps kiss? When I wrote my third ever ficlet for this fandom never did I anticipate actually being interested in that)

what % of their Mirzakhani choice was thinking “what if Arkady tries to run from the goat farm and no one’s around to point a gun at her” jk jk

Their exclusion of Park from authority figures that didn’t disappoint them is fascinating. Is it that he left hoping for Shelly when it probably wasn’t her, or that he isn’t an authority figure anymore, a combination there of?

Or worst of all, is it that when he didn’t kill Krejjh back in 1x10, that really was a disappointment, no matter how much it might’ve been mixed with relief, and you can’t undo that moment?

What if they and Park talked. But I don’t think Park is going to goat planet, so that seems unlikely.

Their apology to Sana for heightened Martineau security! And Sana reiterating the profound gratefulness bit, gah

mostly read other people’s words and yet sparked consideration of two different OT3s, her power.

you know what, everyone deciding Sana is the best person to read words makes complete sense

There was one specific moment this episode that sent my mind into a tizzy about V/A/S, and it was Arkady going FINE GO ASK THE CAPTAIN THEN at how firm Violet was that Tripathi would be the one driving her, not Arkady.

I need you to understand that my V/A/S OT3 opinions are such that my shipping feels were more set off by that than Sana and Violet telling Arkady they were proud of her for choosing goat planet or whatever, like I don’t even know what dynamic was so captured by that argument, rip at Arkady having to be systems apart from them again

Though ofc my heart was buoyed by Sana’s earnest “Kady, you do more than that”, I want these two to go do a job together again, I miss that

To shift gears, I cannot believe “Lenny” started out as Sana being absolutely furious at the people threatening her crew and has ended up a teasing in-joke between her and Park, my Sana/Park shipping feels were very content. (When does Sana learn that Park didn’t get to hear the long list of fake crimes the Rumor crew specifically confessed to Lenny? This must be fixed. Tell him about the diamonds!)

Campbell said “Park, let me show you where we’ve been sleeping.” and my brain went. Wait. This is actually a good OT3?? Park is already unnerved by Sana’s earnest captaining, he should get unnerved by Campbell’s default magnanimity, please consider this

this is also where I point out that all these major characters have very convenient names for indicating ships solely via letters. V/A! B/K! S/P/C! This may solve my ot3 tagging problem...

get off that cotton candy boat, vi

Haha I loved that line from Doc Robinson she’s so no-nonsense, love Violet agreeing to work with her

Doc also said menders and I thought about this post again and also the team split and ahhh

But no, I very much liked Violet gently crushing Arkady’s goat farm dreams, and the two of them awkwardly discussing the very awkward stage things are at while still getting a feel for how the other operates

These nerds are trying and I’m still fond of them

at some point I was gonna make fun of Vi for not being able to drive before realising 1. she probably didn’t want to deprive the others of a vehicle 2. that would be incredibly hypocritical of me

wait does the igr have excellent public transport when they aren’t bombing it i take back every bad thing i’ve said abou-

*ahem* same question about the MMA fight debrief I had for Brian, it would be so funny if the situation was so rushed that like, Arkady+McCabe explain to Brian on the farm and Krejjh has to tackle everyone else

tick, tock, walking bomb, when it stops, nobody knows

arkady is so whumpable, and this show knows it

Redundant, but love how terrified of herself she is after hurting Krejjh and how strangely reassured she is by McCabe’s gun antics. And how she doesn’t like thinking of herself as an authority figure on the ship even though she literally is as First Mate

is ready to monologue about all major life events and the crew frickin knows it

is trying to help herself and stuff, still grumbling about it. in worse shape this season than last - probably all the constant discussion of the inevitable war just kept building stuff up and she kept ignoring it because haha who wants to deal with this prickly mess of a person haha

did i mention she’s the best

hope she gets her full goat farm dream one day, even if it’s not on actual goat farm

[fandom-necromancer]

Part 2 has been prompted by the wonderful DetReed900 on AO3! I hope you enjoy it!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900 | AU: Cyberpunk AU

‘Quick, get in!‘ Gavin leaned on the passenger seat to hold the door open, as he watched Nines run towards him at full speed. The android jumped in, smashing the door close and Gavin drove off with screeching tires, while their pursuers desperately tried to get a good shot at them before they could disappear. But Gavin drifted around the next corner, accelerating again and taking several tight turns to lose anyone who might follow them. All the while Nines sat next to him laughing and cheering. Gavin looked into the rear-view mirror and relaxed a little as he couldn’t see anyone following them. He smirked, unable to be angry with the android although he likely should have been. As soon as they had made it on the highway, Gavin slowed down and weaved the car in between regular traffic.

‘How many times do I have to save you?’, he finally spoke a bit more serious. ‘Oh, come on’, Nines purred, leaning over. ‘You are just too good at that, it would be a shame letting that talent go to waste.’ Gavin turned his face towards Nines for a split second and smiled, pushing just a little on the gas. ‘You better start getting a talent for staying out of trouble, my friend.’ Nines laid his hand on his chest and looked accusingly at Gavin. ‘Do you see any bullet wound? I stayed out of trouble.’ ‘Yeah, and that gang will just forget about you doing… What even were you doing, Nines?’ ‘It’s a secret’, the android winked at him and leaned back in his seat. ‘Despite I really don’t think they would dare retaliate against us.’ ‘And why should that be?’ ‘Gavin, we could buy their whole organisation. I doubt they would dare attacking us openly.’ Gavin huffed. ‘Didn’t look that way when they were running after you.’

‘Hey, I’m fine, okay?’, Nines tried to change topics. ‘And I got what I needed from them.’ ‘Alright, Taxi Gavin reporting for duty, where can I bring you?’ ‘Stop with the sass, you get your fair share for this too. Just drive on, I have to hide it for the client in the city. I will give you directions.’ Gavin just sighed and turned up the radio.

‘What even is it with all that random side jobs you’re doing?’, Gavin asked standing next to the car while Nines hid a small package in the remains of some homeless person’s deserted shelter under a bridge. ‘If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you wanted to get rid of me.’ Nines stood up and stretched, smiling at the human. ‘Quite the opposite. I’m making sure we will do this together for a long time coming.’ ‘Alright’, Gavin chuckled, opening the door to the car. ‘And when will I be part of all the fun again?’ ‘Take a break’, Nines told him as he joined him inside. ‘For once in your life enjoy it. I will tell you soon enough.’ ‘It’s not because of Cyberlife, is it?’ ‘No. Elijah keeps his promise. For now, at least. And if he chooses to change that, I still have the backup of RA9 I can manipulate him with. We’re safe.’ ‘Good to hear. Can we go home then?’ ‘Yes. I’m done for today.’

They drove through the city, various neon signs glowing down on them and advertising the latest product you had to get immediately. Not too long ago, Gavin had lived in an old dilapidated house at the edge of the city. Once the dream of families with jobs in the city, the suburbs had now fallen into poverty and were taken over by criminal activity as the police didn’t care to patrol there anymore. Not when all the important people with money and influence were living in fancy apartments in the highest floors and everyone that still dreamed of getting there was packed like sardines in the mega-buildings. Now they were driving into their very own parking spot in a garage that had tighter CCTV as any street out there.  With only a short walk to the elevator, they were arriving at their flat in a matter of minutes.

Gavin exhaled with the satisfying clicking of the lock and the low hum of their security systems. The largest part of their Cyberlife money had been invested into this flat and the security measures and Gavin was thankful for it as it would at least get them more time should the corporation – or any other fraction for that part – decide to attack them. Nines walked up to the large glass front of their living room – reinforced to withhold everything up to a rocket launcher – and took off his white jacket he had exchanged his Cyberlife uniform with. Gavin watched how he pulled on the fabric of the tight turtleneck underneath and swallowed as he saw Nines’ smirk. Phcking all-seeing bastard…

He walked up to the kitchen and heated up the leftovers from yesterday’s meal, joining Nines on the sofa while eating. ‘Alright, I will go take a quick shower and go to bed. How about you?’ ‘I’ll skip straight to the bed part and warm it up for you’, the android muttered and took Gavin’s hand to pull him in for a kiss on his temple. ‘Don’t let me wait too long.’

As Gavin slid under the sheets, Nines had indeed warmed up the space comfortably. With his heated skin from the long shower, the softness was like heaven. The android’s hands in his hair gently massaging his scalp an added bonus. The man relaxed completely, closing his eyes as Nines dimmed the lights and switched them off completely. And with how tired he was and how good just lying there like that felt, he decided he would think about everything that happened tomorrow, if at all.

~

Gavin was woken up by the sun shining through the clouds directly into his face. Groaning, he slapped an arm over his face and turned, only to see that the other side of the bed was empty. He frowned. ‘Nines?’, he called into the flat, slowly sitting up and rubbing his eyes. As he didn’t get an answer, he shrugged and stood up piking up some lose-fit pants from the floor to wear. He yawned heartily as he walked up to the kitchen to make himself a coffee. His fingers hadn’t yet hit the button as his eyes finally noticed the post it note stuck to it.

Good morning, darling. I’m off for the day, but it shouldn’t take long. Don’t worry, I’ll stay out of trouble for today. -9

Gavin took the little piece of paper and leaned against the counter, reading it again. He sighed, flinging it behind his back and getting back to his coffee. It was okay, it could happen, he told himself. Nines could do whatever he wanted. That was fine. He let himself fall onto the couch, sipping his coffee and cursing at himself for being so impatient as it was still far too hot. Maybe he had gotten a call by Fowler or any other Fixer in the city. Maybe he was preparing for a job. Maybe he was just out to buy some more equipment, who knew?

He shouldn’t worry. But he did. He had been betrayed a fair share in his life already and he had always been prepared should his recent partner do the same. But Nines was different. He wouldn’t do that, right? He couldn’t imagine the android doing that. And there was no reason for him to do so. They were a good team, made for each other since their very first mission together. There was no reason for Nines to leave him behind, right? ‘Phck’, Gavin cursed. If Nines did do that, it would destroy him. He knew it.

He sat there almost the entire day, watching the news, reading up the truth behind the media’s lies and checking in with the gang territories and job offers. After that it was cooking for himself, going for a short drive and after that: waiting. Until the android came back home. Because he needed to know. He would confront him today.

He perked up when the door unlocked with a familiar click and the android entered the room. ‘Gavin, I’m-‘ He stopped as he saw the man sitting in front of him, eyes fixed sternly on himself. ‘I’m home’, he finished in a more appropriate volume and shut the door. ‘Welcome back’, Gavin said. ‘We need to talk.’ Nines grimaced at that but nodded. ‘Okay. Just a moment.’ He hung up his jacket on the next chair and joined Gavin on the couch. ‘What did you want to talk about?’

‘I need to know what is going on’, Gavin decided to get right to business. ‘I need to know what you are doing and why you keep disappearing like this without any information. Sorry.’ Nines let his head rest in his hands for a moment, then lifted it out with a sigh, looking over to Gavin. ‘I know how this might look like, Gavin, but I can only tell you it isn’t what you think’, he began. ‘Hell, that makes it sound even worse now. I can’t tell you what I’m doing.’ ‘Alright.’ Gavin was short of standing up and leaving, but Nines grabbed his arm and gently pleaded him to stay with him. ‘Listen, I can’t tell you yet. I’m asking for two more days of your patience. Friday evening I will show you what I’ve been working on the past weeks, okay? It will all make sense then, don’t worry. I’m not leaving you behind or plan on betraying you. But I can’t tell you what it is, yet.’ ‘So a surprise, huh?’, Gavin asked not at all satisfied with the answer. ‘Yes’, Nines grinned and his smile reassured Gavin a little. ‘Yes, you could call it that.’

~

Friday evening was coming faster than thought, even if Gavin spent most of the time alone in their flat or out drinking in a bar. But that evening, Nines had told him to wear something comfortable and snatched the keys to his car from him as they left the flat. Now, Gavin was sitting in the passenger seat of his own car feeling weirdly out of place. ‘So where are we driving?’, he asked finally. Nines smiled at him and just asked in return: ‘I thought you knew these streets?’ ‘Yeah, I know we’re driving out of the city. I don’t know where you plan on bringing me though.’ ‘You’ll see. You just have to wait a little longer.’

Gavin spat some expletives his way in his mind and sighed, obviously uncomfortable. They had long left the city behind them and it dawned on Gavin where they were going. As Nines turned on the dusty road that would lead them to a very familiar hill, Gavin frowned. ‘The shed? What are you planning?’ Nines just chuckled and parked the car behind the bushes like Gavin had done before. ‘Do you know it has been a year now?’, the android asked him and stepped out of the car.

‘Exactly a year?’ ‘Yes.’ Nines helped him out of the car and led him towards the shed. ‘Wait.’ The android stopped him and watched the shed that lit up on command. The roof had been fixed and a few lightbulbs dangled from cables fastened to it. A few insects buzzed around the light sources and Nines hurried inside, leaving Gavin standing there admiring the comfy yet out of place looking decoration. As the android came back, he held a box and walked towards the tree, beckoning Gavin to follow him. In one swift motion Nines placed a blanket on the dried grass and leaned a few pillows against the tree. Then he sat down and looked up at Gavin expectantly.

‘What is this all?’, Gavin asked sceptically. ‘Just sit down’, Nines laughed and patted the ground at his side. Slowly, Gavin approached and sat down. Even before he was fully seated, Nines had pulled a few bottles out of the box as well as plates with snacks. ‘Seriously, what is this all?’, Gavin asked, by now more perplexed than suspicious. ‘I believe you could call it a picknick, darling’, Nines explained. ‘Exactly one year ago, we were sitting here and didn’t know what to do next. You changed my life that day and I can’t say I regret it.’ ‘And…?’ ‘And I really like how that new life turned out in the end. Thought it was a reason to celebrate.’

Gavin just stared at the android. ‘Wait. Wait a moment. You disappearing all the time… How did this lead up to this?’ ‘Do you know how difficult it is to get real lightbulbs in a city that relies on neon lights? Everything calming and warm is ridiculously expensive, because some people intentionally push up the prize. I thought to change that by breaking in, getting what I need and sell the rest.’ ‘You… You didn’t really run face first in gang hideouts just to plan a picknick, did you?!’ Nines shrugged at Gavin’s incredulous eyes.

‘I wanted the best for today. The wine is made from real grapes, it’s not that synth-stuff you get at every bar. As is everything else. I could have either spent all our money on this or get them myself. It was easier.’ ‘Holy shit and I thought you were ratting me out for some kind of deal!’, Gavin called out in embarrassment. ‘I would never’, Nines grinned. ‘Although I do have some kind of deal for you, darling.’

Gavin looked up to the android and lifted a brow. ‘Really?’ ‘Yes. Gavin, we have lived together for a year now and I can’t imagine a life without you. And considering how high the chances of an untimely death are in our business, I think it’s long overdue that I asked you.’ ‘Asked me what?’, Gavin asked, not believing what was about to happen.

Nines simply turned around to him and pulled something out of his pocket. It was a tiny silver ring made from what looked like parts of machinery. ‘What is that?’, the human asked and couldn’t keep his eyes from it. ‘A ring, dumbass. Remember that Job from Fowler last month?’ ‘Yes. How could I forget that? You nearly died!’ Nines nodded and took Gavin’s hand in his. ‘That settled it for me. The ring is made from my damaged part and I want you to have it. If you want it.’ ‘What exactly are you asking, Nines?’ Nines looked up to him and he saw his LED turning at insane speed. ‘Gavin Reed. Do you want to marry me?’

Gavin stared at him, then at the ring and lastly at his surroundings. Who was he kidding here, he had hoped for his dream to come true, but he still couldn’t believe it as he saw it right before his very own eyes. Grinning like crazy, he dove in for a kiss instead and only afterwards panted: ‘Yes! Yes, I would love to.’ Nines couldn’t hide his own smile and pushed the ring onto Gavin’s finger where it lit up in the same colour and rhythm as the android’s LED. ‘I love you, Gavin’, he whispered, brushing his thumb over the ring before pulling the human in a tight hug, the man returned in equal strength. ‘I love you too, tin-can’, Gavin laughed and looked down on the ring over Nines’ shoulder.

He really was far too lucky for this world. But he wouldn’t ever think about complaining.

[poorlytunedukulele]

Day 25 - What’s Inside?

December 25, 2954; The Last City, Earth

Cayde set the box on the table with a flourish.  Azra crossed her arms and glared at him.

“Cayde.  I told you-“

“Hup up up!” He waggled a finger.  “I don’t care.”

“I’m not-“

“Don’t.  Care.”

Azra had told everyone that had asked (and a few people who hadn’t) that she was not doing Dawning this year.  She didn’t have time to hunt down presents, not with the Dreadnaught to explore and the Taken War to fight across the whole system.  She didn’t need a bunch of kitschy junk cluttering up her vault.

Unfortunately, it seemed some people were too stubborn to get the memo.  Cayde nudged the box closer, a challenging look in his eye.  “I didn’t get you anything,” Azra complained.

He pantomimed checking his wrist for a watch.  “Oh, what time is it?  It’s… my God, it’s I-don’t-care-o’clock!”  He tapped his imaginary watch and held it to his ear to listen for imaginary ticking.  Azra rolled her eyes.  Cayde sighed and gave up his charade.  “Listen, Jax, I know you’re not the holiday type.  But you deserve a break.  You’ve been running yourself into the ground lately.  I really could not care less about getting something- I’m sure you’d be very thoughtful, but that’s not the point of the holiday.  I got you something because I wanted to.  Now open your gift.  That's an order.”

He nudged the box one last time, sending it another inch closer.  “Plus, don’t you want to know what’s inside?” he taunted.

Dammit.  He had her made.  She pulled the box in front of her with another glare at Cayde.  He looked insufferably smug.

She turned her attention to the package.  It was a middling size and covered in a pale blue paper dusted with silver.  A navy-blue ribbon was tied around it with care.  She thought for a second to shake it and listen to the rattle, but her common sense won out.  Too big a risk of some explosion.  Instead, she eased her belt knife out of its sheath and started carefully slicing through tape.

“You’re supposed to rip it open, Jax,” Cayde said, sounding exasperated.

“The paper’s pretty,” she countered.  She slid the box free and folded the wrapping neatly.  It was a gun case.  She popped the latches.

Her first reaction was visceral rejection.  Inside was a very familiar Requiem sidearm.  It was almost immaculate- new paint, not a speck of rust.  She noted distractedly that cushioned in the foam beside it were a few magazines and an old-school leather holster, but her main attention was riveted to the gun.

She took it from the case with numb fingers.  It had been months since she’d even thought about this weapon, practically years since she’d last touched it- and for good reason.

Azra Jax had gone into the Vault of Glass fully kitted out- sniper rifles, rocket launchers, shotguns, scout rifles- even a sword.  She’d had enough ordinance to take on a Cabal Firebase.  The only gun that had survived was a beaten-up and barely-functional Solar sidearm.  The Requiem hadn’t even been her main energy weapon.  It had been lying around and brought on a whim.

She’d tried to get rid of it afterwards, but something had stopped her.  The armor she’d come out with was dirty and so worn it was falling apart.  The cloak had ended up in tattered rags.  The Requiem had been the one thing she could keep.  A rare bit of sentimentality had stayed her hand.

But she didn’t want reminders of the Vault of Glass and the eternity she’d spent trapped there.  Unable to bring herself to destroy the gun, she’d buried it deep in her vault where she wouldn’t have to look at it.

“Commissioned Banshee for a refurbishment job,” Cayde bragged.  “Kept all the original parts, but it should work like new.”

“Like new, Cayde, I got this originally from the Vanguard before the Great Disaster!  ‘New’ is seven decades out of date.”

“Hey,” Cayde said, offended.  “That gun’s been through a hell of a lot and it’s still kicking.  That makes it top-tier in my book, no matter how battered it got.  Rather have that than some shiny-new model that might fail on you.  It’s proved its worth.”

Azra slipped a magazine in.  Chambered a round.  Flicked on the safety, flicked it off again, cocked the slide and released it.  The motions were the most familiar thing in the world, easy as breathing.

She removed the magazine and ejected the round from the chamber.  The gun was indeed her original one- she could feel her own Light pressed into the metal.  Banshee had miraculously fixed almost every dent and scratch, but there was that tiny deformity in the stock, the pinhole she’d drilled into the sights.

She hadn’t wanted reminders of the Vault.  Holding the gun again hurt.  It brought the fear and despair she’d felt there one step closer.  Horror circled at the edge of her mind, waiting to sink its teeth into her again.

But the resilience and determination she’d forged in the Vault was closer, too.  The Requiem hurt, but it hurt in a good way, like sore muscles after a rough mission.  The pain was a reminder of her strength.  Steeling herself against it brought back good memories, too.

She loaded the gun again, fingers acting without need of conscious thought, and made room for the holster on her belt.  Its weight felt natural there.  And Cayde was right- she’d come out of the Vault broken, too.  But the fact that she was still around was something to be proud of.

“Thanks,” she said roughly.

Cayde put a supportive hand on her back.  “Now go put on that nice suit of yours.  Shiro’s taking both of us out to dinner.”

AO3 Link

[ahatintimestorybook]

A Royal Problem Chap. 11

Here is the next chapter of A Royal Problem! Sorry for the long wait!!

So work has been...well...sort of...I won’t get much into it, but yeah work has been weird for me the past few weeks, so I’ve been doing a ton of writing and video game playing in my past time. Good news, I got this story done as well as two other stories, one of which being new so expect a triple upload today!!

Anyways, this is just some (what) of an wholesome chapter, just Mu and Hat talking and what happened when Hat Kid was in Subcon while the royal kids were in Mafia Town.

Enjoy!!

After what happened over in Mafia Town, Snatcher and Vanessa were tired and Hat Kid put them on her bed so they could take a nap while she explained to Mu everything that happened after their battle. She led the mustached girl into the kitchen and grabbed two cans of sodas for them to drink, while they talked about what’s been going on.

Hat Kid went on to explain everything that happened after their last battle. From Snatcher and Vanessa’s fight that destroyed the Time Piece and caused them to revert back into being kids up to the point she left Subcon, came back and found the kids missing only for C.C to tell her they were in Mafia Town looking for her.

“So let me get this straight,” Mu started. “You're telling me those kids were the creepy noddle ghost and crazy lady in a manor from Subcon Forest?” She asked. Hat Kid nodded in reply. “And it was all because a Time Piece made them younger again?”

“Yep.” Hat Kid replied as she chugged her soda. “Time Pieces don’t only go back and time and change reality. It can also age you up or down, so you messing with the Time Pieces not too long ago could’ve made you a baby or a sweet old lady. Pick your poison.” She explained giving a smirk.

Mu glared at her friend. She hated being mentioned about what she did. Even though a few people like C.C forgiven her, a majority of others like the Mafia still hate her about it or even worse wanted her executed. Though it was nice to see Hat Kid still had her sense of humor around her.

“Honestly, removing bad guys is way better than being an adult.” Mu said, giving a disgusted look before taking a sip of her soda. Hat Kid chuckled seeing Mu still had her sense of humor as well.

Soon the two girls were now silent and awkward while drinking their soda. Hat Kid would glance at Mu, and the latter would do the same. It was quiet for a bit until Mu decided to be the one to break the ice. “Besides everything going on with the kids, how was things after...you know the fight?” Mu asked.

Hat Kid sighed after taking a big gulp of her soda. “Crazy!” She shouted. “Some evil cat called the Empress,  wanted my Time Pieces and was paying me a hefty amount of money to work for her gang just so I can get my Time Pieces and give it to her.” She explained.

Mu groaned in disgust seeing it wasn’t just only her who wanted the Time Pieces for herself. However, while she just wanted the Time Piece to stop bad guys, and in turn starting a new justice system, the Empress decided to just keep them for their own collection.

“Did you get them back?” Mu asked.

Hat Kid nodded. “I did, but not before being chased by the evil peck neck cat’s rocket launcher!” She shouted.

Thanks to Hat Kid’s shouting, Mu’s soda then went though the wrong pipe making Mu start to cough. Hat Kid apologized and rubbed her friend’s back. Mu started to calm down and sighed seeing the cough started to go down.

“Man guess you had it rough yourself.” Mu commented.

Hat Kid sighed. “With that and having to fix a broken Time Piece. Yeah.” She replied. “However, it’s not bad taking care of the royal kids. They’re way different than when they were ghosts.” Hat Kid added giving a giggle.

“Like how different?” Mu asked.

“You saw them in Mafia Town? Isn’t that enough for ya?” Hat Kid asked in reply.

Mu chuckled, “nope.” She said, giving her signature smirk. The two girls then started to laugh together like they used to before splitting off from one another. It felt nice for the both of them to share a laugh together then laugh at one another. Once they calmed down, the two smiled at one another missing each other’s laughter.

“I missed this.” Hat Kid mentioned.

Mu smiled. “Me too.” She replied. Soon, Mu's smile turned into a frown. “Hat Kid. I’m really, really sorry for everything. I was just upset I lost my home, and I thought using your Time Pieces could fix everything, but I was wrong. I only made things worse.” She explained causing her to tear up. “Again I’m really sorry.”

Hat Kid sighed but gave a small smile to her friend. She got up from her seat and walked up to her mustached friend and put a hand on her shoulder. “Mu, I should be the one to say sorry.” She said.

Mu sniffled. “W-why? Y-your the true hero! I’m a bad guy!” She shouted.

“No. I should’ve found a way to help you rather than just worrying about my Time Pieces. I didn’t understand how much you went through till much later.” Hat Kid explained. She then went on to explain how she found out more about Mu’s past and told her she found a book of her memories via a Time Rift and saw what really went down between Mu and the Mafia.

“I wanted to tell you, but you know the fight between us happened.” Hat Kid finished. This in turn made Mu feel really guilty. The hat-wearing child sighed and put her arm around Mu.  “I’m really, really sorry you went through all that. If I knew, I would’ve found ways to help you, and even let you stay with me where it's safe.”

Mu gave a tearful smile and hugged her friend tightly. Hat Kid smiled and hugged her friend back. It was at this moment the girls knew, their friendship had been repaired. The two girls looked at one another and smiled knowing they have repaired their broken friendship.

In the back of Hat Kid’s head, she felt the friendship meter that kept track of her friendship with Mu go from enemies to best friends again.

“So, now that we’re friends again. I was wondering if you need help taking care of the kids?” Mu asked.

Hat Kid was taken aback by Mu’s offer. “W-wait what?” Hat Kid asked.

“I figured if you want me to live here with you. I figured I should do my part and help you take care of the kids.” Mu explained.

Sure, Snatcher and Vanessa weren’t too hard to take care of. Okay, hard enough for a 9-year old alien child, but she was taking good care of them plus she did have C.C who handled all of the cooking.

Then again, there were two incidents, which Hat Kid takes full responsibility for that Snatcher and Vanessa got themselves into and it would be nice to have someone else to keep an eye on them.

Though, was Mu good with children?

“Thanks for the help Mu, but how good are you with younger children?” Hat Kid asked.

Mu crossed her arms and gave a prideful smile. “Before the Mafia came and destroyed everything I was the island’s babysitter and took care of many of the younger children on the island.” She explained.

Hat Kid blinked in surprise. “I-I didn’t know that.”

“Well, now you do.” Mu chuckled. Hat Kid chuckled as well knowing more help will be coming her way. As she chuckled, Hat Kid’s sleeve loosened and Mu froze seeing deep red cuts on Hat Kid’s right hand. “Hat Kid what happened to your hand?” She asked, concerned.

Hat Kid paused and frowned revealing her arm a bit more. Mu gasped seeing how serious Hat Kid’s injury was. “H-Hat Kid! What happened to your arm?” Mu asked, grabbing Hat Kid’s arm and seeing the deep red cuts for herself.

“I was in Subcon to find more shards and the same ghost that attacked Snatcher and Vanessa before, attacked me.” Hat Kid explained.

While Snatcher and Vanessa were in Mafia Town, Hat Kid was in Subcon digging through the snow and ground looking for Time Piece shards. However, it seemed looking for the said shards was harder than ever as she was only able to find two. She decided the ground would have to wait due to all the snow, and decided to check the trees for the remaining pieces.

“Aha!” Hat Kid beamed as she found the 2nd base of the Time Piece hanging on the tree. Using the end of her umbrella to hook on to a noose, she was elevated to the tree and grabbed the piece before falling down gently thanks to her umbrella. “Alright, that’s three pieces!” She cheered.

Soon a rustle was heard in the bushes making Hat Kid gasp and jumped back. “W-who’s there?” She asked. “Snatcher? Vanessa? If it's you two, this isn’t funny!” However, it wasn’t the royal kids at all, but Moonjumper.

Hat Kid gasped recognizing Moonjumper as the ghost that went after the royal kids not too long ago. “You're the ghost I saw with Snatcher and Vanessa.” Hat Kid realized.

Moonjumper chuckled and gave a bow. “You are the kid who is close with Snatcher? Am I right?” He asked.

The hat-wearing child gulped and nodded. “H-how did you know about me?” She asked.

“I’ve been a ghost living in the forest for many years, years before Queen Vanessa was even born.” Moonjumper explained floating around. “I’ve seen everything that went on from this forest, from the Subcon Deep Freeze to the day you appeared in this forest.”

“Okay, creepy.” Hat Kid mumbled. She rolled her eyes, but the ghost didn’t seem too bad. Just creepy. “Listen, I’m sorry for what Snatcher and Vanessa did to hurt you. They were scared after you chased them off so I figured they must have done something to you.” She explained giving a chuckle.

Moonjumper got closer to the girl making her nervous. “Oh one of them had done something to me.” He sneered. Hat Kid gulped and stepped back away from the ghost.

“Well. I’m so sorry about that. I’m sure they didn’t mean it.” Hat Kid apologized.

“Oh I’m sure.” Moonjumper said. Soon red strings started to come out of the ghost’s hands and started to make its way towards Hat Kid. The kid tried to run away, but the red strings caught her by her right hand.

Hat Kid yelled and fell to the ground. She tried to tug on the strings, but they held onto her tight. “H-hey! L-let me go!” She yelled.

Moonjumper laughed. “Sorry kiddo, but you have a lot you need to talk about with me.” He stated.

Glaring, Hat Kid snapped back. “Like peck I’ll tell you everything! Also Snatcher is the only ghost to call me kiddo!”

Moonjumper growled and tightened the strings on Hat Kid’s arm tighter. Hat Kid screamed and held on to her hand till she felt something warm liquid seeping through her fingers. She looked at her hand and saw blood. Tears started to appear from her eyes due to the pain she was going through.

Moonjumper’s strings felt like a needle or a sharp wire going through her skin. The ghost laughed and soon loosened the tightness of his strings on the child. The string was still tight on Hat Kid, but wasn’t hurting like before.

“Now, do you want to snap at me again, or do you want your hand to pop right off?” Moonjumper threatened. Hat Kid nodded whimpering. The ghost chuckled, “good. Now first things first, how did Snatcher and Vanessa become little kids?”

Hat Kid gave a small glare. In no way she was going to tell this other ghost about her Time Pieces. She had almost an entire planet knowing about them and knew the consequences for telling a stranger about the Time Pieces.

“I-I don’t know.” Hat Kid lied. “I was just going to see Snatcher and then that happened.” She hoped lying and stalling the ghost would leave her alone and probably drop everything and let her go.

She was dead wrong.

Moonjumper tightened the strings once again causing Hat Kid to scream and cry again. “I know your lying kid.” He growled. “Now tell me the truth.” He hissed.

“Never!” Hat Kid growled.

Moonjumper growled back, and released more strings and tightened them on Hat Kid’s other arm. She yelled in pain and fell on her back. “You are a brat.” He growled. “I don’t know why Snatcher kept his cool around you,” he then scoffed. “People like you would not only have your soul taken away, but Snatcher would have been off with your head just now.” He explained.

Hat Kid gulped remembering the day she and Snatcher first met. Snatcher did tell her that the last person lost his head after completing all of his contracts. It didn’t really bother her, but seeing another ghost who seemed to be threatening them annoying, that scared her.

“But, I’m not Snatcher.” Moonjumper revealed and soon Moonjumper loosened the threads off her. Hat Kid was confused yet relieved that the ghost let her go, but now she was confused why Moonjumper let her go. “I’m letting you go kid, for now. I’ll find out myself how this whole situation happened, but next time I see you here. I won’t be so easy on you.” He explained threatening the child. Soon he disappeared leaving the child alone.

Without hesitation Hat Kid quickly teleported back to her ship. Once she left Moonjumper, hiding behind some trees smirked as he looked down at a glass shard. A shard belonging to the Time Piece.

“After that, I saw Vanessa and Snatcher missing. I asked C.C where they were and told me Mafia Town, so I went on over there to look for them, and well the rest is history..” She explained.

Mu was surprised, there was another bad guy, or bad ghost roaming around the planet now?  “So there’s more bad guys we have to deal with?” Mu asked.

“Well just one for now. I don’t know if this ghost has any minions or not.” Hat Kid answered. “He seemed to be alone, but he is dangerous, and with the Time Piece shards still out there.” She paused giving a sigh. “I don’t think it won’t be Snatcher and Vanessa not going back to normal, but something way worse.” She explained.

Mu gulped. She worried what this ghost had in store for them, and from the tone of Hat Kid’s voice it was something way worse. No, she wasn’t going to be scared. Not this time.

She was the hero! She was going to show she can be a hero.

“And that’s why you need me to help you watch the kids.” Mu explained. “You continue finding the Time Piece shards and I’ll make sure these kids don’t go into any trouble.”

Hat Kid raised an eyebrow. Sure she was fine with Mu helping to keep an eye on the kids, but making sure they won’t get into trouble was an understatement.

Mu sighed. “Okay maybe we might get into trouble, but someone needs to keep in check those kids. That ghost tried to capture them once, what if he finds your ship and catches them there.” She explained.

“You’re right Mu, but you sure you could handle a ghost like that?” Hat Kid asked.

Mu nodded. “I’ll do everything to be the hero I want to be.”

Hat Kid worried about Mu. She didn’t want anyone else involved in the situation, and having her protect the kids would mean Mu getting hurt by Moonjumper. Hat Kid didn’t want to lose her best friend again.

Mu saw how Hat Kid was contemplating about helping her, but she gave a small smile and held Hat Kid’s hand. “Hat Kid, I’ll be fine. I’ve handled the Mafia. I’m positive I can handle a ghost.” She explained. “Even if I can’t. I still want those kids to be safe.”

Hat Kid’s eyes widened and she gave a smile. Mu was being honest and she sensed it. “Alright. I trust you Mu.” She said. Mu smiled and hugged Hat Kid.

“Thank you.” Mu whispered.

“Anytime.” Hat Kid giggled.

The two let go of their hug and turned to see Snatcher, who just woke up from his nap. However, he looked concerned more than anything.

“Snatcher, what’s wrong?” Hat Kid asked.

“Something is wrong with Vanessa!” He cried.

—————- Yep we’re getting into cliffhanger territory!!!

[khaosduzart]

Fireteam Misfits Lore Book 3- Ancestory

Aleina walked into the house pulling down her hood and holding her helmet at her side. Ken and Hailey were watching TV on the couch and turned to her.

"How was your day babe?" Ken asked giving her a kiss as Hailey kept her eyes away from her embarrassing parents.

"Mmm not too bad. Especially now that you're here." She smiled and began taking off her cloak giving it to Ken and going off to their room upstairs to change. She came down soon after Ken and Hailey had gotten their gear on.

"Cosmodrome is getting opened up for patrol again I hear." Ken said making conversation as they got ready to go.

"Mm hm! It'll be nice to get out there again." She stopped herself then and thought about their destination. "Are we sure that this will be okay? There is a ship on Titan." She whispered to Ken keeping the place they were going hidden for Hailey until they arrived. They both agreed it would be best.

"We'll be okay, we got each other. Just keep moving and be careful and we'll be in and out no problem." Aleina nodded but put her hand at her side where her knife was sheathed as they walked to the hangar elevator.

~

It wasn't long before the three of them could see the blue methane oceans of the moon of Saturn as Ken flew the ship down. Hailey looked up from her phone and out the viewport getting a glimpse of her surroundings.

"Question. Why are we taking a family outing to a hostile environment?" Ken grabbed a spare rifle and grenade launcher while Aleina answered Hailey's question.

"This is something your father and I do every year sweetie, I had anticipated it would be a few more until you came along but here we are." She chuckled softly to herself, Hailey noticed it seemed sad but decided not to pry. She would probably find out soon anyways.

They made their way over past the docks and over to the entrance of the Arcology. Each taking out a weapon and clearing the way through blasting Thrall and Acolytes as they went deeper. The broken display screens glitched out and the plants had overgrown getting into everything. The decaying halls told a tale of a once bustling place of living, a civilization on the far reaches of Sol. Until something wiped them out... and Ken had a feeling the same thing that did was the same dark, monolithic pyramid looming over the horizon.

They all reached a tunnel system past more Hive gunk that lined the walls and gave way to an open space. Ken sighed reaching for Aleina's hand which she promptly took as Hailey tried to figure out why they were acting this way. They said nothing and walked over to a familiar mound of rocks that was once marked with a Hunter knife. A knife that Aleina carried with her to this day, the knife that marked the burial site. Ken sat down and Hailey could see tears starting to fall from his eyes.

"Mom, wh- why is dad crying?" Hailey asked trying to put the pieces together but failing. Aleina turned to her staying close to Ken and holding his hand still.

"Honey, this... this is Malcom. My adopted father and your grandfather." She tried to say as she started to cry as well, she wiped her face with her cloak but smiled through it.

"Oh..." Hailey couldn't get out anything more than that, she looked at the mound of rocks that made up the grave, they were all placed with care. She realized that Ken must've made it himself, he watched him die and had to bury him. She couldn't imagine having to do that with any of her parents, she realized then how much of a warrior her father was that day.

~

After explaining a bit more of what happened and how the two of them visited the place last year for the first time together with Miss Linden, Ken told stories about her grandfather. He told about how he taught him how to summon the Goldengun, his first sparrow race, his research on all the different things he dug up from the Golden Age. And that was just the tip of it, because Hailey knew Ken still used those maps to this day to find more and fix it back up.

They stayed and cried some more as Hailey tried to comfort her mom and dad and they eventually decided to leave. Ken took one last family picture in front of it just in case that pyramid tried any funny business and made their way back to the ship. When they got back home they bought some candy and spent some time relaxin together at home. They tried to do a puzzle but Sol kept interrupting, so instead Ken brought out his guitar and played an acoustic version of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" which he had read was supposed to be a song meant for around this time way back in the Golden Age. It was a bittersweet time for the Reyez family, but they were all happy to have each other as the sun started to hide behind its curtain of Earth on the horizon.

The yearly family tradition, now with Hailey along for it all. I know Halloween was yesterday so I'm a little late but enjoy this start to the next Misfits Lore Books and Happy Festival of the Lost Guardians!

[xvnqsb]

Desidrium

DESIDRIUM: AN ARDENT DESIRE OR LONGING

WORD COUNT: 3.8k

AUTHOR’S NOTE: this is for @buckysmischief​ writing challenge! sorry it took so long to post, I kept changing the plot. and it’s all over the place because I write before I think so I apologize. Hope you all enjoy!

MASTERLIST

----==========================

2013

“You don’t have to do this alone,” He whispered into her ear, arms tightening around her. His lips pressed a soft kiss against her neck, inhaling deeply as his nose pressed against her pulse point.

She sighed, shuffling closer into him. She placed her hands over his arms, squeezing them. “I don’t want to, but I have to.”

Her phone lit up, a soft ringtone beginning to play. She reached over and shut it off, groaning at the thought of having to work. She got up, untangling herself from Steve’s grip. The shirt fell to her thighs, and she pushed the loose hair out of her face that fell from her braid.

“I can go on the mission with-”

“Don’t finish that sentence, Rogers,” Her eyes met his through the vanity mirror, holding a stern glare. “You’re still healing from the last mission.”

“I heal faster-”

“-Than a normal human, I know. Yet, it’s been three days and you’re still sore and bruised so, you’re not going anywhere anytime soon.”

He grunted in response, flopping onto his back. His head fell to the side as he watched her get ready, braiding her dyed jet-black her and bobby pinning loose pieces to keep out of her face. He watched her as she changed into the S.H.I.E.L.D. mandated suit, smiling as she huffed at the tightness of the sleeves.

“Need help?” He asked cheekily.

She glared at him with an unamused face, quirking an eyebrow as she spoke. “Not now, but when I get back I will.”

He smiled, eyebrows raising. “Oh, I like the sound of that.”

“Not for sex, Captain,” She turned to face him, shoving her feet into her shoes.

“Then for what?”

“Guess you’ll find out.” She walked over to the bed, bending down and planting a quick kiss to his lips. “I’ll see you soon.”

He sighed quietly, tracing her jaw softly. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” She grabbed her phone, walking out of the bedroom. He heard the clinking of her keys and the door unlocking.

“Call me when you get to Hill!”

“I will!” And she was gone.

“What the hell, Fury!” Steve was mad. Not mad, angry. Not even angry, he was furious. He didn’t know what to think, or if he was even feeling the correct emotions.

“Can someone explain to me what the hell is going on?” Fury asked his team at the same time, trying to understand the situation.

“The team we sent inside the base went dark an hour ago-” Commander Hill started, furiously clicking away at the tablet.

“An hour? And we’re just being informed now?” Fury exclaimed.

“Agent Y/L/N said that HYDRA was intercepting their communications, so she requested permission to go dark.”

“And you gave it to her?”

“No, they went dark before I could answer,” She pulled up their body cam footage, showing Steve and Fury. “This is the last thing we saw.”

Y/N was leading the team, gun in front of her as she rounded the corners. The other agents followed her lead, communicating with hand signals and few words.

“Do you smell that?” She muttered into her comms, covering her nose.

“Yeah, smells like shit.” Agent Garrison answered, a snort coming from the leader.

“We’re almost at the lab, maybe it’s just what they’re working on.” Another agent, Agent Richardson, jumped in.

“Maybe. Just be caref-”

She was cut off by another female voice. “They’re heading for the lab, hurry!”

The team of five froze, listening for any sign of movement. They set up a secure system, Agent Y/L/N lifting her wrist to her lips.

“Commander Hill, this is Team Alkaline. We’ve been intercepted.  Requesting permission to go dark. I repeat we’ve been intercepted. Requesting permission to go dark.”

There was no noise, but all agents turned to face behind them, guns raised at the threat. The body cameras shut off at that moment, and the communication system went silent.

Steve felt his pulse quickening, heart beating fast as he replayed the events over in his head.

“We’ve been working on getting the last image all bodycams showed, and the audio that was last heard.”

“Commander Hill!” One of the agents called, grabbing the attention of all three.  “We were able to get the last image.”

“What is it?” Steve asked as they all gathered around the computer. A blurry image of a figure holding some type of weapon.

“Can you enhance the image?” Hill asked, Fury huffing at the lack of identity.

“We’re trying, but so far it’s no use.”

“Isn’t the point of high-end, S.H.I.E.L.D. created and operated  body cameras to capture all images?”

“Yes sir, but-”

“Then why the hell did we lose images from 5 cameras. Not one, not two. Five.”

“It wasn’t the cameras, sir. There was some sort of  interference.”

“Well fix it!”

“Give me the location,” Steve spoke up. Fury and Hill turned to him, already shaking their heads. “It’s not a request. I’ll get the location one way or another. I like not having to go behind your backs.”

Maria sighed, tapping on the tablet before his S.H.I.E.L.D. mandated phone buzzed against his thigh. She gave him a stern look as she spoke. “You have 24 hours. You leave in ten.”

Steve emerged from one of the side rooms, Agent Romanoff leaning against the wall opposite. They walked together towards their waiting quinjet, Steve fidgeting with his helmet that rested in his hands.

“Do you know anything?” He asked, assuming the agent knew more than she led on.

“Just what you know,” She glanced at him before stepping up into the quinjet.

The 3-hour ride to the HYDRA base was filled with Steve going over the plan with the STRIKE team, even coming up with back-up plans for the back-up plans.

Regardless of how much Steve wanted to jump out of the quinjet, slam through the HYDRA base, find her and bring her home, he knew he needed to be careful. One wrong move and they can kill her.

So he waited until the quinjet landed a mile away from the base, practically running out of the open door. The team moved quickly and in formation, sweeping for guards. Steve canvassed the area before turning to Natasha.

“Cover me.” She nodded, gun out as he held his shield in front of him and took off to the front of the base.

He never made it.

The building exploded, causing him to fly back towards the team. They pulled him to safety, Steve panting as he watched it burn.

“This is Agent Romanoff, the target has exploded, I repeat, the target has exploded.”

2014

“Bucky?” Steve couldn’t believe it. Bucky, his Bucky, was alive. After 70 years, he was still alive.

“Who the hell is Bucky?” He looked down, before raising his arm with the gun trained on him.

He never got to shoot. Natasha had thrown him back with the rocket launcher.

Later, when he and Natasha were in the bunker of Camp Lehigh, Zola had flashed a picture that had burned itself into his mind. As he held the shield above him to cover him and Nat, he couldn’t help but think. She’s really alive?

It had been a year, and the base had blown up, but she was alive.

So after Steve had let Bucky beat him to a pulp, something he thought never would have happened back in the ‘40s, and saved him from drowning in the water, he had asked Sam to look for him.

Sam, of course, was happy to. Helping the Captain America with a personal task? He couldn’t be more ecstatic.

“And there’s someone else I need you to look for.” Steve had said, seriously and quietly.

“Yeah, anything.” Sam had replied.

Steve was sure he could trust him, he just didn’t know if he could trust her. It had been a year, and if HYDRA really had her, he didn’t know what she was capable of.

“Her name is Y/N Y/L/N, but she has multiple aliases’ that I’ll send you. She…” he looked out the car window, watching the people passing. “We were dating when she disappeared. Or, been assumed dead. The base she had been at, exploded when we were on the rescue mission.”

“I’m sorry, man.” Sam clapped his hand on Steve’s shoulder, giving him a somber look. “I’ll find them, I promise.”

2015

“Sounds like a hell of a fight,” Sam said with a drink in his hand. “Sorry I missed it.”

Steve smiled, “If I had known it was going to be a firefight, I absolutely would have called you.”

“No, I’m not actually sorry,” He started, stopping his walk with the captain. “I’m just trying to sound tough. I’m very happy chasing cold leads on our missing persons’s case. Avenging is your world. Your world is crazy.”

“Be it ever so humble.” Steve wanted to ask what Sam had found, on both Bucky and Y/N. Even if it was a cold lead, it was better than nothing.

“You find a place in Brooklyn yet?” Sam asked, changing the topic.

“I don’t think I can afford a place in Brooklyn.

“Well,” Sam started, taking a sip of his drink. “Home is home, you know?”

After Ultron, and after Sokovia, Steve decided to help Sam in his spare time. He was a mentor at the compound, so it was mostly during the night.

“I have a lead,” Sam said one night over the phone. Steve had stopped his drawing, pencil tense in his hand. “I’m going after it.”

“Where?” His voice was strong, although he wasn’t.

“Somewhere in Europe.” Steve looked at him with an exasperated look. “I don’t want to give your hopes up. Let me check it out, and if it looks legit, I’ll let you know.”

“Is it for her?” He sounded hopeful, despite his lack of hope after two years.

Sam pressed his lips together, shaking his head.

2016

Bucky was in Bucharest. Y/N was nowhere to be found.

Bucky was wanted for the assassination of T’Chaka. Steve had to make sure he went free. He was his best friend, even if he didn’t remember.

“Steve,” Sam caught the attention of the super-soldier. They were readying themselves for their mission of rescuing Bucky, but Sam had just found evidence of her alive. “Was one of Y/N’s alias’ ‘Vaness Jackson’”

“Yeah, it was like her first one. Why?” Steve didn’t recall giving it to him, even forgetting about it himself.

“Oh shit,” Sam muttered, staring at his tablet. “We need to get moving, now.”

So they did, and as Steve felt fear trickle up his spine, the thought of his Bucky killing him here, in his small apartment in Bucharest, where he didn’t know anything or anyone, he whispered a prayer for her to hear.

“Y/N, please.”

But Bucky heard it. And he smashed his fist through the floor, gripping the strap of his bag. He threw it out the window, ready to run. But he turned to him first, no emotion behind his eyes.

“If you want to live, never say that name again.”

Steve ran after him, obviously. He wasn’t losing Bucky now, especially if he knew where she was. But as they ran, a man in a black catsuit appeared.  And then they were caught by the police force and transferred to a facility.

“You like cats?” Sam asked T’Challa.

“Sam.” Steve sighed

“What? Dude shows up dressed like a cat and you don’t wanna know more?”

Steve didn’t get to answer. Something hit the glass of the van, cracking the window. The small object stayed in the broken spot, and Steve leaned closer to examine it.

“Gun!” The man beside him yelled out, the policemen turning to look at him. Steve realized he was right, the bullet stuck in the glass. “Drive faster!”

“Someone’s trying to kill us!” Sam yelled, forgetting about the catsuit entirely. “And I don’t think America will be very happy that you let us die!”

Another one hit the window, cracking it more, but it never broke through.

“What the hell?” Sam exclaimed, moving to look at it closer. The last bullet landed in Sam’s area, his eyes widening before he moved away from it. “Yeah, I’m not doing this. Steve, tell them to hurry up.”

Steve tilted his head, trying to figure out why they didn’t continue the assault. The officers finally picked up the pace, oblivious to the fact that someone was trying to kill them.

“They marked us,” Sam spoke up, the two looking at him incredulously. “Each bullet is marking us. We’re their target.”

Steve couldn’t worry about that right now. Right now, he had to save Bucky.

And they were almost free when Tony showed up in Germany. They needed the trap, needed a way out undetected. But someone else showed up. They were shooting at Tony’s team, hitting T’Challa in the knee. He rolled behind a car, pulling the object from his leg. When he held it up, Steve couldn’t believe his eyes. A tranquilizer.

With one man down, Tony began going overdrive. The spider kid was swinging through the air when he was hit, the amount immediately knocking him out. He was falling straight to the ground, and Tony flew after him. Steve and Bucky ran towards the jet, stopping when Natasha held her Widow’s Bite to them.

“You’re not gonna stop.”

“You know I’m not.”

She stared at him, before coming to a decision. “I’m gonna regret this.”

Steve waited for the sting of the bite, but it didn’t come. Instead, it hit T’Challa, who had woken up sometime during the interaction.

Steve and Bucky ran into the quinjet, escaping the airport.

“I told you, you shouldn’t have said that name.”

“What?” Steve looked at him, still panting from the fight. “What name?”

“Her name.”

The realization hit Steve, his heart pounding with happiness at the thought that she was alive.  “She’s alive?”

“She’s like a ghost except she was never dead.” Bucky stopped, before turning to his friend. “How do you know her?”

“She’s my girlfriend. Or w-was my girlfriend. She went MIA three years ago.”

Bucky sighed, not knowing how to break the news. “Steve, she’s not the same girl you know.”

“What?” He looked between the sky and the former sergeant. “Wait, how do you know her?”

“Steve…”

He didn’t want to know what he meant. He wanted to just live in oblivion, his sweet girl in his arms as she marveled about Johnny Depp and Ryan Reynolds and how she wanted dogs in the future and kids and how she loved him. But instead, he was left with the sick feeling in his gut as he knew what Bucky meant.

She didn’t love Ryan Reynolds or Johnny Depp. She didn’t love dogs or kids. She wasn’t in his arms, scratching his back softly as she pressed kissed to his chest where his heart lay. She had marked them as her targets, turned into a killer by HYDRA. Taken and brainwashed as they did Bucky in the ‘40s. When he thought his best friend was dead, as he watched him fall from the train hundreds of feet up in the mountain. Bucky screaming at the terror of what comes next. What comes after death. And HYDRA took his Bucky from him.

And again in 2013, when he watched the body cameras of her team being ambushed. The fear in her voice that only he knew. When she froze as the thought of her life ending became the most realistic thought. When she knew that requesting to go dark was the best option, so their friends didn’t have to see them killed like pigs in the slaughter. The way he still had hope, as he ran for the HYDRA base, just for it to go up in flames and killing every single ounce of hope he wanted to hand on to. And HYDRA took his Y/N from him.

2018

Steve, Sam, and Natasha had been on the run for two years now. Avengers Civil War is what the media had called his last interaction with Tony, his other best friend. He swore he saw her, more than once over the grueling two years. As if she was following him. That would be the biggest plot twist in his life since the great assassin known as the Winter Soldier was revealed to be James Barnes, and he woke up from the ice 70 years later.

So they went to Wakanda, after picking up Bruce and Rhodey. And they fought alongside each other, his best friend nice and healthy. And he thought they had won. Until Steve.

Steve looked over, to see his best friend turning into dust, disappearing fully in front of his eyes.

When Carol arrived from space, willing to find Tony and then taking them to Thanos, he thought they would be able to reverse it. Get Bucky back. And Y/N, if she wasn’t alive.

Thanos had destroyed the stones.

Steve had lost himself. He was angry and hurt, and sad, and frustrated. He left Natasha alone in the compound and moved back into his Brooklyn apartment. He stayed within his walls until he opened his own support group for those who also suffered.

Not knowing if you were dead, he was hanging by a thread.

He was drinking a beer, despising his lack of the ability to get drunk. He was missing Sam today, more than usual. He thought he heard her laugh, and sighed, shaking his head. He chuckled at himself, but it turned into full-blown sobs. He hugged the blanket that still smelled like her, because he washed it with her favorite detergent when the smell went away. He cried for her to return, to help him find himself. He cried for the years they lost. For the family, he craved and yearned for. The one he was supposed to build with her.

Steve cried himself to sleep, his heart aching for the girl he loved.

Here’s the thing. Steve didn’t believe in guns. Sure, he had to use one when he was at basic training in the ‘40s, but now? He didn’t need one. He had his shield, which protected him when he jumped out of a building, so why wouldn’t it protect him from guns? He thought they were stupid and dangerous and had been shot at way too many times its annoying.

So, when he woke to someone in his apartment, his immediate instinct was to throw his shield. But he didn’t have it. Tony did. So Steve did the next best thing. Pretended to still be sleeping, despite his anxiety of escaping safe and quiet.

“You can point your gun at me if it helps you relax,” The voice spoke, the hairs on the back of his neck rising and chills going down his spine. “Unless you still don’t believe in them.”

He opened his eyes, finding the girl sitting on his windowsill and watching the sky, trying to find stars in the night sky. He didn’t say anything, didn’t even move a muscle.

She chuckled softly, before turning to face him. He quickly shut his eyes, afraid of what will happen. Will she disappear? Kill him? This was his mind playing tricks on him.

“I know you’re awake, Captain.”

Captain.

Steve opened his eyes, looking at where she last was. She turned to face him, the moonlight illuminating her face. It was her. It was her.

“Hey stranger,” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes like it used to. “Long time no see.”

He sat up, clutching onto the blanket in his lap. “Yeah.”

“You look good.” She reached over to turn on the lamp, blinking at the sudden change in light. “Although, I prefer the beard and long hair.”

He felt like he was floating. “That-that was you?”

She nodded, letting out a deep sigh. “It’s a long story, but, when I found out you saved Bucky, I decided to look for you. You guys all looked so different, and the new guy,  Sam? Didn’t know who he was and didn’t want to risk it. He’s a great detective.”

“Y-Yeah. Helped me find Buck.” She watched his face, before standing up. She slowly moved towards him, sitting across from him on the coffee table.

“How are you, Steve?” Her hands were clasped together, eyebrows furrowed as she looked at him in worry. “This isn’t how I meant to come back into your life, but I’m worried about you.”

Come back?

“Yeah, come back. I-if that’s okay with you.” He didn’t realize he had spoken aloud and was worried she would leave.

“Of course I want you to come back,” He whispered. He reached his hand out and smoothed her worry lines, a small smile making its way onto her face. “I’ve just missed you.”

“Yeah?” She grabbed his hand, pressing a kiss to his palm. She held it against her cheek, relief flooding his system. “I’ve missed you so fucking much.”

The crack in her voice made his heartache. He caressed her cheek with his thumb.

“You didn’t answer me, Rogers,” She spoke, looking him in the eyes. “How are you?”

“I’m good,” But the tears threatening to spill didn’t help the lie.

“Oh, Steve,” She stood, wrapping her arms around him and caressing the back of his head as he sobbed into her stomach. She whispered soft words of encouragement, telling him to let it all out. It’s okay. I’m here. You’re safe.

“I’m sorry,” He hiccuped, resting his head against her. She hummed, rubbing behind his ears. He soon calmed, pulling back. “It’s just-you were missing, for 6 years and MIA, and the HYDRA base was blown up and-”

“Steve, look at me, listen to me” His eyes met hers. She looked like herself, but she also looked different. Older. Sadder. Tenser. Anxious. “I’m here, and maybe, one day, I’ll tell you about what happened, but for now, I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.”

Steve woke up to Y/N laughing at something on TV. She was sitting up, her leg over Steve’s back and her hand on his head. He pressed a quick kiss to her thigh, her eyes wandering over to blonde man. He had let his hair grow out, but his beard was still gone.

“Morning,” She said cheerily, removing her leg from his back and allowing him to roll over. He sighed, a smile on his lips.

“Mornin’ to you,” She planted a kiss on his cheek, a smile that reached her eyes planted on her face. He cupped her cheeks, staring lovingly in her eyes.

She’s back.

[someonestole15]

All out war

In the belly of a monster made from steel and armor, we still rise.

My pulse had returned to normal levels as the elevator made its way down towards the armory. It remained so until an alarm blared through the speakers, followed by the ship tilting violently to the right, throwing me against the wall. Shattered glass falling beneath me, I attempted to pull myself free as the elevator dipped down by a few centimeters, then again but with more force.

No time to get a word out, the elevator plummeted down several floors. The impact knocked most of my systems out for a moment.

>Running system diagnostics… >Minor damage to leg modules detected!

Sensors calibrated, vision focused on the dust and broken glass. Clear the dust from my lungs and get up, using the wall for support. Faint signals, failing every ten seconds or so, almost as if something was jamming them. Hard to gain information, I took a step towards Valkyrie.

“You alright?”

“Bit shaken, but…” I gave her my hand and helped her up. “…Still breathing. Nine?”

“Slight damage detected, but I will manage.”

Force the doors open, no exact data on how far we had fallen, the elevator had stopped right below one of the floors; Nine leaped out into the hallway and confirmed it was clear. Likelihood of running into enemies here was low, but you can never be too careful.

Out of the elevator, Valkyrie helped me up as we found ourselves deep within the ship, who knows how far from our intended destination. Lights dim, the alarm had distorted from the interference outside.

Intersection in the corridors, three paths to choose from, all resembling entrances to a maze. Left, right and center, splitting up came to mind, but with the radio communications disabled, we decided against it.

“Where to?”

“Your call.”

Nine seemed to sniff around the left corridor before sharing a scan of the hallway. Heading towards the front of the ship, the hangar would be over there. Going right would lead to the barracks and heading down the center would lead to a second set of elevators and an access to the mess hall, along with a laundry area.

Even with the armory direction, we were still unsure on if we would have to climb higher or drop down a deck. No sense in delaying, another quake shook the ship as the lights flickered above, we ran through the corridors, reaching a spot that seemed promising. Residue of explosives and gunpowder, there it was. No elevators around, we took the vents down. Hook connected to a support pillar, we attached Nine onto Valkyries ropes. Secure, she lowered herself down as I followed.

Voices outside the vents, Valkyrie released Nine from the ropes as I removed the cover, allowing access to the corridor just outside the armory.

Dust off my shoulders; we had reached the destination originally on the plans. A quick talk with the soldiers holding down the fort, we were allowed access.

Keep the pace; I fixed up my legs before focusing on my rifle. It worked, but had minor flaws. Installed a better sight and a longer foregrip, an angled grip instead of the grenade launcher. Accurate, adaptable stock for added mobility and an angled sight on the rail, I calibrated my hands to allow for smooth movement between them.

Valkyrie fixed up Nine’s damaged bits before modifying her rifle. Set of folding iron sights beneath the scope, an extra weight at the stock to balance out the silencer now sitting at the end of the barrel. A small charm of a bullet casing hanging from the rear sling mount, she seemed satisfied with the modification.

Small addition to my gear, one of the scientists holed up in the armory handed me a device they had been working on. A protector that wraps around the neck like a collar, several slits formed over my mouth and nose, filtering the air and protecting against small caliber rounds. Two slits of blacked out glass over my eyes, sensors overcharged with the additional range and accuracy, along with advanced vision modes. A scarf over the neck and a cleaned up coat, ceramic and Kevlar mixed in, color mixing in triangles from white to deep grey, settling in a mix of sapphire blue and grey. A vest over the jacket, a heavy armor plate within and pockets full of things that might come in handy.

Rerouted from the previous task, we grabbed a set of climbing gear to reach the top decks via the elevator shafts. Full magazines and batteries, we followed the same plan as before and hooked up Nine with Valkyries harness, he hung around her back like a backpack.

One floor from the top, I pulled the doors open as the pair dismounted to the hallway. Boots on the ground, I joined them as we made our way outside, to the main deck. Corporation dropships flying above, Empire fighters attempting to keep them from landing, but the sheer volume of fire kept them busy. Several squads of Empire soldiers had made it to the fight, but many were still stuck inside the ship, the lack of comms didn’t help the matter.

Over a railing, I braced the rifle against my shoulder and slid down the slanted armor, managing to hit one soldier before I reached the bottom. Cover behind a raised piece of the runway, Valkyrie kept watch with her rifle as Nine ran across the deck, spreading smoke across the path he took and surrounding several Corporation soldiers in it. Visor up, I fired into the smoke, dropping 4 out of 5 soldiers, Nine secured the final kill as I moved forward. My target at that point was the edge of the ship, whatever was jamming the communications. Halfway across the runway, I took a knee as Nine walked up next to me, his body angled down and the two front legs spread out, a low growl leaving his mouth as Valkyrie closed in from the left, her rifle at the ready.

Hand placed up, I swung it forward twice as more dropships approached.

“Nine, see if you can get one of those anti-air guns online.”

“Understood.”

“Valkyrie, keep him covered, I’ll see if I can locate the source of this jamming.”

“All yours.”

Show of hands, a pair of jacks and a Nine of spades.

What about yours?

Hi again, been a while and I do wish to apologize for that. Stress of this whole virus thing and getting my car repaired has been keeping me down for the past week, but with the summer approaching, I’ll be around.

Cheers for reading my writings. Harry

[mentalmars]

How to Prepare for the Guardian Takedown - Borderlands 3

Takedown at the Guardian Breach A new takedown is coming to Borderlands 3 and it’s focused on the Eridian Guardians. In the Takedown at the Guardian Breach, you will face off against tough enemies as Gearbox Software wants to challenge you with this end game content. Besides having to fight your way through this gauntlet there will be some platforming and puzzling. In this Guardian Takedown Guide, I’m going to tell you how you can prepare for this challenge. Takedown at the Guardian Breach will be released on June 4, 2020, as a free content update. Table of Content Weapon Guide – What type of weapons to use Weapons to Farm Anoints Enemies Weapons Guide Takedown at the Guardian Breach is end game content that is designed to challenge you. Therefore, you want to equip the best gear and have a good character build. There are weapons that currently define the meta of Borderlands 3. It’s a good idea to farm for these, however, as the developers mentioned. They are going to fine-tune Mayhem Mode 2.0 and adjust some of the legendary items in the game. Therefore, I think it’s a good idea to not just rely on that one overpowered weapon. The health bar of a Guardian consists typically of a large shield. Therefore, they are weak against the shock element. Shock deals 200% damage in normal mode and 250% damage in TVHM against shields. It causes targets to be electrocuted which will deal very high damage over a 3-second duration. This way you can strip through those shields. I already compiled a list with the best shock weapons in preparation for the Guardian Takedown. That said, Guardians can spawn with armor that’s why it’s a good idea to also have good corrosive weapons in your inventory. Don’t use your shock weapons against these yellow Armor health bars as your damage will be reduced to 80% in normal mode and 65% in TVHM. Corrosive weapons deal 150% (Normal) and 175% (TVHM) damage against armor. You can also use Cryo against Armor but it will do 25% less damage then Corrosive. Want to learn more about elemental damage then check out this elemental damage guide. Weapons to Farm You are going to need guns, LOTS OF GUNS! (But not too much or else you cannot pick up the new items that come with the Guardian Takedown) Revenge of the Cartels Legendaries The Revenge of the Cartels is a limited time even and has a lot of exclusive legendary items. Therefore, you need to hurry if you want to pick up these items. Because when the Guardian Takedown is released the Seasonal event will end. YellowCake The YellowCake defines the current meta when it comes to best weapons in Borderlands 3. O.P.Q. System The O.P.Q. System is a very powerful Atlas Assault Rilfe. Because it can also deal shock damage this will be useful for the Takedown.  Fish Slap The Fish Slap is a unique legendary grenade made by Pangolin. It’s great because it deals melee damage. While melee currently doesn’t scale well with the Mayhem Levels, Gearbox is going to fix that. Therefore, this grenade will be more powerful but the interesting thing is that you can combine this grenade with other abilities. There are artifacts that give you bonuses, like ammo regen, when dealing melee damage. Mayhem 6 Legendaries With the arrival of Mayhem 2.0, Gearbox Software added Mayhem 6 legendary items. You can only get these when playing on Mayhem Level 6 or higher. Playing on the higher difficulty tiers can be challenging but with these weapons in your arsenal, things will become easier. Sand Hawk The Sand Hawk is a powerful sniper rifle that acts like an SMG. It’s one of the best sniper rifles in the game and because you can get in various elements, like shock & corrosive, this will wreck those Guardians. Monarch The Monarch is a Shotgun Assault Rifle. Just like the Dictator it comes with a bi-pod mode that gives you even more firepower. The Monarch also comes in Shock and Corrosive. BackBurner The BackBurner is a great rocket launcher that’s great for mobbing and the good thing is that it even comes with the shock element. Plaguebearer The Plaguebearer is an awesome rocket launcher like the Scourge. This one would be good for bossing. Kaoson The Kaoson a dahl SMG that shoots stickies like a Torgue weapon. Therefore, dealing great damage and the best thing is it can come in multiple elements. Reflux The Reflux is basically a corrosive Brainstormer as it creates a corrosive beam between enemies when you shoot them. The base damage is a lot higher although corrosive isn’t as effective against shields. Other Legendaries While the weapons mentioned above will outperform most of the items on this list. These are still pretty good and worth considering. While some of them lack the punch on the higher Mayhem Levels, Gearbox Software is going to adjust the higher mayhem levels to make enemies less of a bullet sponge. The Lob The Lob became very effective with the buff it received. Hellshock The Hellshock has the ability to put out a lot of shock damage at a very fast fire rate. Cutsman The Cutsman was the OP weapon before the Lob got buffed. That said the Cutsman is still able to put out good damage. Sickle In this case you want a Boom Sickle with the shock element. The Boom prefix is the best variant of this legendary Vladof Assault Rifle. Just like The Monarch it acts like a Shotgun. You want to use the Sickle over the Monarch if Mayhem 6 is to difficult. Brainstormer The Brainstormer is my top pick for best shock weapon for mobbing. During the Takedown you will be encountering a lot of enemies. The Brainstormer will be good for stripping multiple shields at the same time. Electric Banjo The Electric Banjo is the only artifact in this list. But it basically gives you the power of the brainstormer on every weapon. HEX The Hex is still one of the best legendary grenade mods in the game. Since it is a homing grenade and it comes with the shock element it’s an ideal item for taking on shield focussed enemies. If you want a good alternative, then check out the Storm Front. Honorable Mentions These legendary weapons are great for mobbing overall. The Conference Call, the Hyperfocus, and the Kill-o’-the-Wisp (stripping shields). Anoints Having quality anoints on your gear really helps out in the end game content. Some of the new anoints can really help you out. Go for anoints that compliment your build or specific Vault Hunter. Farming for Gear on the higher Mayhem Levels increases your chance of getting anointed gear. At Mayhem Level 10 you have a 100% chance of gear being anointed. “Gain 300% increased Weapon Damage against enemies above 90% Health.” This is a popular one and it really helps with enemies that have multiple life bars as you will be dealing 300% damage first (two) life bar(s). “While under 50% health, deal 150% bonus radiation damage.” You can run this anoint, as this doesn’t suffer against shields. In TVHM, Radiation actually deals 150% damage against shields. “On action skill start/active” These anoints sound great but they lose their buff when switching weapons, so I can’t recommend those for now. With Zane you already need to keep your SNTNL Cryo anoint as it is multiplicative instead of additive. “While mid-air” These can be interesting because the Guardian Takedown has low gravity, you can get more mileage out of these. “On Action Skill End, The next 2 magazines will have a 50% additional bonus Shock damage.” Being able to deal more damage is always great. This anoint is really good for Moze running an infinite ammo build as the buff stays active. “On Grenade Thrown, Weapon, Grenade, and Action Skill Damage are increased by 25% for 6 seconds.” This is an easy to trigger anoint that increases your damage. I love this on my Zane as my SNTNL and Clone “constantly” throw grenades to trigger the effect. “Consecutive Hits increase Weapon Damage by 1% per hit, misses remove all bonuses.” We are dealing with end game content here. You will be shooting non-stop during a Takedown therefore you can really stack up this consecutive hit bonus. Enemies Throughout the Takedown at the Guardian Breach, you will be encountering a lot of Eridian Guardians (duh). They are pretty fast-moving enemies. While they don’t shoot bullets they can have ranged attacks. When they die they can release a soul that can possess an ally which makes them stronger. Therefore, you want to shoot the soul before it upgrades the enemy. It wouldn’t surprise me if some of the Guardian Minibosses are more common during this Takedown. In the gameplay presentation, we have already spotted new Guardian types. One of them creates this massive area-of-attack energy field. While you can also spot multiple fire pillars that are summoned from the ground. I don’t think we will be seeing Elder types of the guardian enemies as these are just slower versions of the enemy. Gearbox added these in boss fights to gain a second win. Spectre Melee Focused. Possessed Spectres gains armor, the ability to recharge their shields at will, and a new move set. Wraith Ranged but will Melee at close range. Possessed Wraiths gains armor, the ability to recharge their shields at will, and a new move set. Sera Aerial ranged enemy Possessed Sera gains armor, the ability to recharge their shields at will, and a new move set. Herald Ranged units, similar to Wraiths. The Berserker Unique Guardian miniboss Close and Medium range The Berserker has an armor health bar as well as the normal guardian shield health The Berserker cannot be possessed by souls. The Summoner Unique Guardian miniboss Will summon souls to buff other Guardians. Gameplay Analysis During episode 7 of the Borderlands show, we got our first glimpse of Takedown at the Guardian Breach. We saw a lot of Eridian enemies one of the bigger ones created these large area-of-effect bubbles. For a brief moment the player walks into one of them. The Vault Hunter takes radiation damage from this attack. You could farm for the Red Suit. This legendary shield makes you immune to Radiation. The attack makes me wonder if the Guardian Takedown will feature more radiation attacks. The player in the presentation uses the Lead Sprinkler, a Hex Grenade, the Rowan’s Call, the Ogre, the Barrage, and the Hyperfocus. Usually, for presentations the developers set up a specific build. This makes me wonder if some of these items are getting buffed with the upcoming patch. Rowan’s Call With the Rowan’s Call, 2 bullets will ricochet when scoring a critical hit. Great for mobbing but this weapon isn’t S-tier Hyperfocus With the Hyperfocus, projectiles will shoot out on hitting a target. Great for mobbing. Lead Sprinkler With the Lead Sprinkler, projectiles will fall next to the target dealing splash damage. Great for mobbing but this isn’t’ a top tier end game weapon. HEX The HEX Grenade is a solid choice, however, in this play session it’s Cryo instead of Shock. Not ideal for Shields but it does perform on Armor. Ogre While I like the Ogre for what it is. The gun doesn’t really perform all that well. I’m curious why they picked this weapon. This screams incoming buff to me. The Barrage The Barrage is a solid Dahl SMG. But wouldn’t be my pick to bring into the Guardian Takedown at its current state.  

Continue reading on https://mentalmars.com/guides/borderlands-3-guardian-takedown-guide/

[changingourdestiny]

Forsaken Part 4: Truths and Taken

Summary:

The true identity of Jett is revealed: Blaisel Kiria. But why the secrecy? Why did she run away all that time ago? It’s time to get some answers and end this fight.

Previous Part: Here

Next Part: Here

Rae and Adam stared at Blaze in shock, both sides lost for words. Blaze was the one to break the silence as the tears began to stream down her face. The Awoken Hunter fell to her knees as sobs began to escape her, her head hung in shame. “I…I’m sorry…I’m so sorry…” she choked out, “I thought…I-I thought I was doing the right thing…but I didn’t know…I never would’ve…I didn’t mean to-” Before Blaze could find the words, she felt two arms wrap around her as Rae hugged her tightly. “I missed you, Blazie…” Rae muttered, trying to hold back her own tears. Blaze’s surprise was replaced with a sad smile as she chuckled tiredly, “Ha…I missed you too, Rae-Rae.” Rae pulled back as Blaze wiped the tears from her eyes, brushing the hair covering her eye behind her ear, revealing her flame-coloured, solid eye. “I…I messed up real bad this time, huh?” Blaze laughed sadly, “I guess I have a lot to explain.”

Blaze took a deep breath before speaking, “About over a year ago, I started receiving these…Traveller-awful visions. I couldn’t hear what was being said, but I could see everything clearly. Uldren was lying on the ground and you and Petra had guns pointed at him. I’d then hear a loud gunshot and would wake up in a cold sweat. I couldn’t understand it. Why would you two kill him? What did he ever do to you guys? I couldn’t think straight. I jumped to conclusions and asked Paragon where Uldren was. I ran away from the Tower to look for him. It took me longer than usual to get to the Tangled Shore because I was trying to avoid being seen by other Guardians. I found and old voice modulator in a crashed ship and fixed it up, donning the persona of Jett; a mercenary who did what they wanted, when they wanted, and only cared about others if the price was right. Under that persona, I kept my eye on Uldren and the Barons after they escaped from prison, but I could never get close enough to find out what he was planning. But I never knew…I was such a fool…I was ready to take you on over something that wasn’t your fault.” Blaze sighed, “I was so desperate to change fate for once – to prove one of my visions wrong – but instead, I just made things worse. I wasn’t there when Ghaul destroyed the Tower and took the Light…and I wasn’t there when Cayde died…I could say sorry a billion times and it still wouldn’t be enough.”

“Blaze…” Rae put a hand on Blaze’s shoulder, “If I was in your position…I’m pretty sure I would’ve done the same. But if you ever have visions like that again, you can talk to us. You know we’re here for you.”

“I know…” Blaze muttered, “But you were all off living your dreams. Adam was working with Petra in the Reef. You were training to be a Fireteam Vanguard…and I’m just me. I didn’t want a nobody who had pretty much nothing to distract you guys from your dreams.”

“You’re not a nobody! Blaze, ever since we formed Paralight – even when we had disagreements – you always had my back no matter what. We faced the Black Garden, Crota, Skolas and even Oryx, and not once did you leave my side. You’re my best friend, Blaze. Nothing or no one is ever gonna change that. And also…” Rae removed her mask, “Cayde’s not dead…not anymore, anyway…” Blaze seemed confused for a moment before noticing that Rae’s mark was gone. “You…you brought him back?” Blaze gasped. Rae nodded with a smile.

“But…your past…your tribe…your family…”

“My family are you, Adam and everyone at the Tower. My past is just that: the past. What matters is the present. And the present is that I have the best Fireteam I could ever ask for.”

Blaze began to tear up again, but this time there was a smile on her face, “Haha…funny…first I was afraid of the past…then I was desperate to change the future…I guess all this time, all I needed was the present.”

“Guess so!” Rae laughed. “Speaking of changes,” Blaze got to her feet with Rae and faced Adam, “You mister! When did you start talking?”

“Well, I was probably one or two years after I was born, but I was more than likely speaking Swedish back then…”

“Oh, haha!! Very funny!!” Blaze playfully punched Adam’s shoulder, “Alright, no more messing around.” Blaze began, a serious expression on her face as she fixed her hair to recover her eye, “I don’t know what Uldren’s up to, but it’s not good. We need to find him and fast.”

“Lead the way, Blaze!” Rae smiled before reactivating her mask. Fireteam Paralight, reunited at last, headed into the Watchtower to find Uldren and end this once and for all.

 ———————————————————————

 “Ugh! I swear, is there anywhere in this solar system that DOESN’T have Taken?! Where’s Marcia when you need her?” Blaze groaned as the three Guardians dashed through the Watchtower after defeating groups of Taken, the Fireteam teleporting between the Ascendant Plane and the Reef. “Nobody’s seen Marcia since the Red War.” Rae explained as she ran After the Light disappeared, the Umbrialyx were scattered. Some of them, like Zakris, made it to the Farm where I took refuge in until I got my Light back. The people there were a little suspicious of having an Eliksni there, but they warmed up to him.”

“Typical! She’s there when you don’t want her and gone when you need her!”

“Just keep moving, you two!” Adam called out, “We should be almost-”

Adam was cut off as a terrified scream echoed from down the halls. “Uldren!” Blaze exclaimed. “We gotta move!!” Rae yelled as she broke into a sprint, Blaze and Adam close behind. The trio burst into a room but stopped in shock at what they saw. “Traveller help us…” Rae muttered in horror. A monstrous creature of teeth and tentacles roared down at them. “What the hell is that?!” Adam exclaimed, “It looks like Oryx took a servitor and gave it flesh and teeth!”

“I’ll tell you what it is…” Blaze pulled out her signature sidearm, “It’s going down!!” Rae shook off her shock, “Right! I’ve been waiting to say this for over a year…Fireteam Paralight, move in!!!”

 The three Guardians took to different positions around the Voice of Riven, firing at it while trying to dodge its fire and tentacles and constantly teleporting between the Ascendant Plane and the Reef. It was faint, but Blaze could hear Uldren’s screams coming from the Chimera but blocked it out and focused on taking down the creature. Rae went to fire her sniper rifle at it but stopped as she saw a rocket blast into its side, “Nice shot, Blaze!”

“Er, that wasn’t me this time.” Blaze called back. Rae looked at Adam and her jaw nearly dropped. Adam’s metal arm had changed shape into that of a rocket launcher before shifting back into its arm appearance. “Since when could your arm fire rockets?!” Rae exclaimed. “Had it upgraded while at the Reef! Pretty cool, right?” Adam grinned before beginning to fire his pulse rifle at the creature.

As she fired at the Chimera, Blaze heard the all too familiar click of her gun running out of ammo. “Shoot! I’m out!” She exclaimed, ducking behind cover. “Me too!” Adam added, ducking behind some rubble, “It seems that no matter how much we shoot it, it won’t go down!”

“There’s gotta be something!” Rae called out, still firing at the Voice of Riven until she felt her own rifle run out. She ducked behind the pillar of an archway. ‘We can’t lose here. We made it too far to lose here!’ She thought to herself, ‘Paragon, if you can hear me, I could use some magic Paragon power here. Please! I can’t let my friends fall here…I just got them back, I can’t lose them again…’

 ‘Silly Starlight…’ Paragon chuckled softly from within Rae’s head, ‘Those powers you speak of…I never gave you those. I just bumped you in the right direction. You activated them on your own. They stemmed from your desire to protect Light…to protect your friends…the people who love and care about you. They need you, Starlight. And you need them. But you don’t need me. Now…

 …why don’t you show us what your Light can really do?’

 Rae glanced at the Voice of Riven and noticed something. While it was mostly armoured, it wasn’t on the inside. Also it was Taken – pure darkness – which means it might be weak enough to her Paragonialan Light. “I have an idea!” Rae called out, “But I need you guys to cover me while I do it. I’m gonna have to be staring this thing in its mouth to do it.”

“Are you crazy?!” Blaze exclaimed, “You’ll be eaten alive!”

“Trust me on this! I know what I’m doing!”

Blaze glanced between where Rae was hiding and the Chimera, “…alright. We got your back, Rae-Rae!”

Blaze and Adam ran out of cover, trying their best to distract the Voice of Riven while not getting killed. Rae closed her eyes and began to focus, blocking out the sound of battle behind her. She thought about everyone she cared about. Everyone that had helped her since the Red War…since she became a Guardian. Hawthorne…Louis…Devrim…Sloane…Asher…Failsafe…Ana…Amanda…Eris…Shaxx…Saladin…Ikora…Zavala…Petra…Adam…Blaze……Cayde…

She felt a familiar surge of Light within her. A feeling she had felt all those years ago in the Black Garden. But it felt stronger this time. It grew and grew until it felt like it was going to explode from her chest. Rae stepped out from behind the pillar as she felt the Light reach its strongest point within her.

 “Game on.”

 To Be Continued…

[fangirlmermaid]

How About A Thanks?

Paring: Poe Dameron x daughter!reader

                       Summary: Poe and his seventeen year old daughter have been captured by the first order, and you have to use your Scarlet Witch like abilities to help him escape with a new friend

(Y/N)=your name

(H/L)=hair length                                             

(H/C)=hair color

(F/C) favorite color 

(E/C) eye color

                                                           --- 

                               A stormtrooper cuffed me to my seat in the cell I were being held in. My mind panicked at the thought of what Kylo Ren could be doing to my dad right now; the only family I have besides BB8,I tried squirming my hands out of the cuffs; nothing, I tried bribing the stormtrooper; that did nothing, I promised my dad I wouldn’t use them so I was down to my last option; sing my heart out. I sang whatever song came to mind; I'm pretty sure I were getting on the stormtrooper’s nerve, whoosh I lifted my head up to see another stormtrooper entering my cell, “just a heads up, she likes to sing...obnoxiously” the stormtrooper warned before leaving, I chuckled. I looked at my new babysitter who kept checking the door, “come on, I can’t be boring you already...alright what song do you recommend?” I chuckled, the cuffs that attach me to my seat came off, I hopped off of my seat. I looked up at the stormtrooper who free’d me; he took off his helmet, “why?...why are you helping me-is it because you have good aim?” I wondered, the stormtrooper looked at me, “what?no.because it’s the right thing to do.can you fly a TIE fighter?” the stormtrooper told, I shook my head; a person came to mind, “but I know who can.take me to the other prisoner” I explained, the stormtrooper obeyed and put handcuffs on my wrists to make it look more believable click click; he placed his helmet back on.

                                                          The Stormtrooper and I hid behind a hallway corner; I heard Kylo Ren’s voice, “so much for my plan” the stormtrooper sighed, I heard a familiar voice scream, “dad” I whispered; I were about to storm in and punch whoever is hurting my dad; the stormtrooper pulled me back by my arm, “you can’t just burst in” the stormtrooper explained, I rolled my (E/C) eyes, I glanced down at my hand I guess my dad will understand that I had to use them, to save his ass, I looked at the stormtrooper; gut was telling me that I could trust him “be my look out” I ordered, I pulled my (H/L) (H/C) into a ponytail. The stormtrooper gave me  a thumbs up, my fingers did a tense wiggle, (F/C) lines flew out and slipped under the door; the lines looked like watercolor you want to go back to your quarters and sleep, few seconds later Kylo Ren and his stormtrooper buddies came out and went their separate ways, the stormtrooper looked at me , “What are you?” he wondered, I looked at him, “you wouldn’t believe me” I answered.

                 Whoosh “what?you're ready for round two?then bring it on!” Poe yelled not even lifting his head, “dad?” a familiar voice called out, Poe lifted his head up, I dropped my handcuffs thud, “(Y/N)?” Poe called, the  stormtrooper released Poe from the seat, Poe and I ran towards each other, Poe grabbed my arms, "are you alright?are you hurt?” Poe wondered, I grabbed his arms “dad, I'm fine. I promise” I smiled; I noticed Poe’s face, my smile dropped “dad, your face...” I trailed off, I was hesitant to touch my dad’s bloody face, Poe learned away from my touch, “I’m fine” Poe assured; he pulled me into a tight hug, “I’m just glad you’re alright” Poe admitted, kissing my temple, “of course I am, or BB8 will probably lose his mind if he had to handle you by himself?” I smiled; we broke our hug, “th-the (F/C) lines?(Y/N) did you use your powers?” Poe wondered, I gave Poe an innocent smile; Poe glared at me, “(Y/N),you know  what happens when you use your powers” Poe reminded; I rolled my eyes, “I know, I know-” “you know?then why would you use them?” Poe wondered, I stared at Poe, “because I've already lost a mother! I can’t bare to lose my father too!and I can’t go back to BB8 without you” my voice cracked, Poe pulled me into a tight hug. The stormtrooper stood next to us, Poe stared at the stormtrooper with an eyebrow raised, “listen carefully, if you two do exactly as I say, I can get you two out of here” the stormtrooper explained,taking off his helmet; Poe stared at him, “whaat?” Poe wondered, “he’s busting us out. Keep up, dad” I told, “can you fly a TIE fighter?” the stormtrooper wondered, “you’re with the resistance?” Poe wondered, the stormtroopers eyebrows knit together, “what?no,no,no,I’m breaking you out, can you fly a TIE fighter?” the stormtrooper whispered yelled, “I can fly anything” Poe answered, of course that’s his answer, the stormtrooper smiled, “why?...why are you helping us?” Poe wondered, “because it’s the right thing to do” the stormtrooper explained, "you need a pilot” Poe told, “I need a pilot” the stormtrooper repeated in a sigh; Poe smiled “we’re gonna do this” Poe smiled; the stormtrooper and I smiled. The stormtrooper placed cuffs on my dad’s and my wrists, click,click,click,click, the trooper put his helmet back on; he faced my dad and I, “stop smiling. Act like you’re being sent to your door” the trooper told, Poe and I lowered our heads and glared at the floor.

                                 There were stormtroopers and officers everywhere, obviously, it’s their ship, the palm of my hand glowed a (F/C) orb; Poe noticed, “knock it off” dad muttered, I shook the orb away. “Okay, stay calm.stay calm” the stormtrooper muttered, “we are calm” dad whispered, “I’m talking to myself” the trooper explained, Poe and I glanced at the trooper behind us, “oh my god, we're gonna die” I sighed, “no, we're not. I promise you,(Y/N)” Poe promised, I nodded my head. The stormtrooper poked our backs with his blasters, “okay,go.this way” the stormtrooper told; we ran for the first TIE fighter.

      (let’s pretend the TIE fighter is spacious and has a black metal ladder)

                                Poe took controls to steer the craft, the stormtrooper took control of the weapons and I just stood by the ladder trying not to get in their way, "I've always wanted to fly one of these things” Poe admitted, I raised an eyebrow, “can you shoot?” Poe wondered, “blasters I can” the stormtrooper explained taking off his helmet, “okay same principal.use the toggles on the left to switch between missiles, cannons and mag pulse--use the site on the right to aim, trigger to fire!” Poe explained, I scratched my head what?, the trooper looked like he didn’t know what Poe just said either; but Poe wasn’t going to let that slow him down, we were about to escape with a support line pulled us back, “I can fix this” Poe assured. Stormtroopers started shooting at us, the trooper shot back, “can’t you do, your weird mind control,thing” the trooper growled; I glared at him, “watch it or I’ll make you dance like a ballerina” I warned, I climbed up the ladder; I opened the door, almost got my head shot off, then again stormtroopers have terrible aim, a (F/C) orb glowed in my palms, I threw an energy blast at some stormtroopers, “I think I got it” Poe told, I closed the door and slid down the ladder, we accelerated; I would’ve fallen on my ass if I didn’t grab onto the ladder. “Wooooaaaah,this thing really moves” Poe told with admiration in his voice, the First Order started to shoot their cannons at us, “alright,we gotta take out as many cannons as we can or we’re not gonna get very far” Poe explained; I grabbed onto the stormtroopers chair, “I’m gonna get us in position.just stay sharp. And (Y/N) use your powers if you have to!” Poe explained, I nodded my head, “up ahead!up ahead, do you see it? I've got us dead center. It's a clean shot” Poe explained, the trooper shot them both and they exploded;the three of us cheered, “did you see that?did you see that?” the trooper repeated, “I saw that.hey what’s your name?” Poe wondered, “FN-2187” the trooper answered, Poe and I raised an eyebrow “FN...what?” I wondered, “that’s the only name they’ve ever gave me” FN explained, “well we ain’t using it.FN,huh?Finn.we’re gonna call you Finn is that alright?” Poe told, “Finn?yeah Finn, I like that, I like that” Finn explained, “I’m Poe. Poe Dameron.and this is my daughter (Y/N) Dameron” Poe introduced, “good to meet you both” Finn admitted, “good to you too, Finn” Poe answered.

                             Massive warheads launchers were running towards us, ”one’s coming towards you, my right, your left,you see it?” Poe explained, I made one of them glow (F/C) and I made it crash into another one next to it, “way to go sweetheart” Poe cheered; I smiled. Finn looked alarmed, “where are we going?” Finn wondered, “we’re going back to Jakku.that’s where” Poe answered, here we come BB8, “no,no,no!we can’t go back to Jakku!we need to get out of the system” Finn explained, “I need to get my droid,before the First Order does” Poe explained, “what-a droid?” Finn wondered, “he’s a BB:unit, orange and white, one of a kind” Poe explained, “I don’t care what color he is, no droid can be that important” Finn explained, your digging your own grave Finn, “this one is pal!” Poe growled, “we need to get far away from the First Order as we can!we go back to Jakku, we die!” Finn explained, only if you knew what he has in his possession,pal,”that droid has a map that leads straight to Luke Skywalker” Poe admitted, “oh you gotta be kidding me! I-” crash, one of the massive warheads hit our craft, we're spiraling towards Jakku out of control. I hit my head against cold and metal,thut;I collapsed on the ground, my vision faded to black.          

[gpsgarminupdate-blog]

Fix The Garmin Express Program Icon Missing Issue Easily!

Garmin Express offers many astonishing highlights utilizing which you can without much of a stretch deal with your Garmin gadgets. However, now and again you may see the Garmin Express symbol as absent. Furthermore, must state, this is one of the most aggravating mistakes ever. Follow these simple steps to update the garmin map for free. Who needs to get in a tough situation even after effectively downloading and introducing the Garmin Express program? No one, obviously. In this way, here we are with our new guide that will help you in such circumstances. Peruse till the conclusion to get you issue settled!

Garmin Express Icon Missing: Reasons and Solutions

You more likely than not been confronting the application symbol missing issue, we get it. Things being what they are, have you attempted any solution for fix the mistake? If not, these arrangements are going to support you.

Nonetheless, before difficult these investigating deceives, you ought to accomplish the underneath referenced things:

Check the Garmin Express program and ensure that it has been introduced effectively.

Make one more profile on your Desktop. On the off chance that you see the Garmin Express application symbol, it demonstrates that the primary profile is ruined.

Update your OS and the Express programming.

Reboot the PC in the wake of introducing the Garmin Express program.

Fundamental Solutions

On the off chance that the issue isn't settled at this point, you can attempt these fundamental arrangements:

Sweep and Remove All The Malware

Never disregard the security dangers appeared on your PC. On the off chance that you do as such, soon they will assume control over the control of your introduced programming.

Thus, in the event that you can't discover Garmin Express symbol, you should filter the PC and discover all the product with Trojan, worms or infections. To discover or evacuate any such noxious document, pursue the means given underneath:

To begin, if there is no scanner apparatus or against infection program introduced on your PC, download an enemy of infection from some solid source and introduce it.

After this, double tap at the introduced enemy of infection symbol and snap at 'Output' alternative to begin the checking.

On the off chance that there are any vindictive or contaminated records, it will indicate them with the name and its area on your PC.

Right-click at the infection record and after that snap at 'Erase' to expel it from your PC.

Nonetheless, on the off chance that the document won't be erased, get help from our specialists.

Note: Reboot the PC after all the infection and Trojan or worms sort of records are expelled from your PC.

Change Your Desktop Settings

Work area alludes to the PC's screen. Thus, you don't have to enter the center settings.

In the first place, close every one of the projects that are open on the PC.

After this, right-click at the clear screen and afterward click at the 'Show Desktop symbols' alternative in the drop-down rundown.

From that point forward, press CTRL+F5 on console to revive and spare the changes.

On the off chance that you are as yet not ready to discover the Garmin Express symbol, you ought to reboot your gadget.

To Update maps: Download and Update Garmin Maps

Keep The Express symbol in Dock

Another approach to reestablish the vanished Express symbol is utilizing Dock alternative. Pursue the given advances:

Peruse the Primary drive on your PC.

Search for Garmin Express organizer in the rundown of introduced programs.

Right-click at the Garmin express launcher symbol, a menu will show up.

Select 'Make an easy route' from the menu.

Note: You can likewise drag the symbol to your PC screen and reestablish the vanished Express program symbol.

After this, explore to your work area screen and afterward place the mouse over the Garmin Express alternate way in the dock.

Lastly, click the 'Keep it in dock' alternative and after that the 'Spare' button.

Note: The procedure is self-ruling.

On the off chance that, you are as yet not ready to dispatch the Express program utilizing the easy route symbol, pursue how to fix Garmin Express not functioning aide.

In any case, if the Garmin Express symbol not appearing on your work area, contact our experts @1-833-201-7905 for moment arrangement.

Investigating Techniques For Garmin Express Icon Not Showing Issue

Indeed, even in the wake of following all the previously mentioned advances, would you say you are as yet not ready to see the Garmin Express symbol on your work area?

Try not to stress. Nothing can't be explained. It's simply that you have to apply some extreme answers for the issue.

Arrangement 1: The Express Icon Is In System Tray

Presently, you had a go at finding the Express launcher from your essential drive however not ready to discover it?

All things considered, don't stress. We have referenced the following stunt you can use to fix this issue. You ought to pursue these simple strides to fix the Garmin Express symbol missing issue on your PC:

Go to the Taskbar on your framework and point the mouse at the framework plate bolt.

Quest for the Express program symbol in the extended plate. After you discover it > right-click at it and select the alternative 'Make an easy route'.

The missing Garmin Express symbol will be reestablished on your work area screen.

Presently, click at the Garmin Express program symbol to dispatch it. Be that as it may, on the off chance that Garmin Express is indicating availability issue, allude to this guide and effectively fix the server mistake with your Garmin Express program.

All things considered, if the Garmin Express symbol not appearing on your work area, contact our experts @1-833-201-7905 for moment arrangement.

Arrangement 2: Format The Cache File 'Icon.db'

Are there such huge numbers of projects introduced on your gadget? Is the work area screen over-pressed with the alternate way symbols of all the introduced projects?

In the event that indeed, at that point the inquiry referenced above, incorporates the appropriate response itself by pointing out the fundamental reasons why your Garmin Express symbol has vanished from your work area.

Presently, in the event that you need to fix this blunder, pursue the given advances:

Snap 'Win+ R' simultaneously on console.

Presently, enter 'regedit' in the field provoked on your screen and after that press enter.

From the library supervisor window, click at 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE' appeared in the left sheet on your PC screen.

At that point, select Software > select Microsoft > select Windows > select 'Current Version' > select 'Wayfarer'.

Search the 'Maximum Cached symbols' in the rundown and after that select any worth that is more prominent than 10000 there.

Note: on the off chance that, you can't see the choice 'Max Cached symbols', make it as a crisp string in that rundown and afterward reboot the gadget to apply and spare changes.

When you are finished with the previously mentioned advances, you should open essential drive on your PC.

Also, click Users > select [your username] > select AppData > select Local and after that discover the record 'IconCache.db'.

Right-click at the document and after that snap at 'Erase' in the menu.

After this, reboot your PC and check if the symbol is being appeared on the screen or not.

In any case, if the Garmin Express symbol not appearing on your work area, contact our experts @1-833-201-7905 for moment arrangement.

Arrangement 3: Turn Off The System Maintenance Troubleshooter On Your Computer

In some cases, Garmin Express symbol not appearing on your work area can trouble you for sure!

In the event that you are confronting such an issue, you can take a stab at incapacitating the System Maintenance work on your PC.

Go to Control board on your PC and in the 'Framework Security' segment, click at 'Find and fix issues.'

After this, click at 'Changed Settings' alternative in left sheet.

Snap at 'Off' in 'PC Maintenance' window.

Arrangement 4: Make Sure To Disable Task Scheduler

To fix the Express symbol missing mistake, you should target task scheduler. Before difficult this investigating stunt, you should realize that the specific application on your PC fixes all the messed up documents.

To stop task scheduler on your gadget, pursue these basic advances:

Open the Start menu, click at 'Projects' from the rundown and afterward click at 'Embellishments' > click 'Framework Tools'.

After this, task scheduler window will open.

Go to the organizer 'Microsoft' and snap at 'Windows'> at that point, select 'Analysis' to dispatch a timetable.

On the off chance that you see any initiate scheduler, you should right-click at it and snap at 'Incapacitate' in the menu.

And after that, reboot the PC and ideally you will have the option to see the Garmin Express symbol that was absent on your work area.

Note: You shouldn't neglect to check and modify the date/time according to the time zone on your PC.

[sonicrevival]

Ultimatum- Chapter 5 of 5: A Real Life

Last part of Ultimatum, tomorrow we move on to Arc 2, Reunions.

Read on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18500557/chapters/44005090#workskin

Sonic: Revival- Ultimatum Chapter 5 of 5: A Real Life Emerl’s engines roared into life, lifting her from the ground and driving her straight toward Mecha Sonic. “Emerl, stop!” Sally called out, watching her draw her fist back for a punch, even as Mecha Sonic braced itself for the impact. “You need to come at it from a different angle, it’s too-” Before she could finish her sentence, Emerl’s fist slammed into Mecha Sonic’s chestplate, lifting the larger robot’s feet from the floor and launching it away, spiralling end over end until it crashed into the wall, bouncing off and crashing to the ground. “- strong?” “Oh yeah, this feels good!” She landed, rubbing her fist as she crouched beside Sally’s inert form. “You alright?” “I… I think I’m running out of energy. Can you give me another charge?” She asked. Emerl nodded, opening the back panel on the ring matrix, flooding it with another burst of Chaos Energy. “That should cover it… I’d advise getting the others to safety.” The Gizoid suggested, helping the Robian stand. “Are you sure? That thing was beating both of us, can you really do it alone?” “Yeah, I’ve got this.” “Alright then… but you’d best let me know if you need backup.” She looked up at the taller machine. “Will do.” Standing upright, Mecha Sonic shook its head, visor fixing on Emerl’s advancing form, Sally retreating toward the other injured Freedom Fighters. Growling, it aimed its missile launcher toward the Robian, the rocket streaking out from the tube. In a flash, Emerl appeared in its path, snagging the missile out of the air, spinning and lobbing the it back toward the source. Mecha Sonic curled into its shell to absorb the explosion, rolling forward, only to collide with Emerl, who had produced similar bladed armour for herself. Grinding against each other, neither could penetrate the other’s shielding, until Emerl boosted herself forward, ramming Mecha Sonic back into the wall. Both unrolled, the large robot throwing a heavy punch, thudding loudly against Emerl’s raised arms, pushing her back slightly. It fired its boosters, tackling her and lifting her away from the ground. She flashed again, disappearing from its arms, diving foot-first into its back, forcing it back to the floor. She sprang away from it, landing gracefully between it and her comrades. Flexing her limbs, she crouched down, her thrusters warming up. She launched herself back into the fray as Mecha Sonic stood up, crossing her arms in front of her as she closed in. Swinging her arms back out, delivering a brutal cross-chop to its armour, buckling its chestplate it, shattering the glowing bar around its midsection. It staggered, barely managing to meet her oncoming punch with one of its own, but her strength now more than equalled its own, the servos in its fingers fracturing under the stress. Another fist already incoming from the opposite side, Mecha Sonic brought its arms up to shield itself as the punches increased in pace, rapidly becoming a barrage of continuous blows. To an outsider, Emerl’s attacks looked more speedy and powerful than any variety of skilled, and an ordinary organic would not have been able to keep up with the speed of her arms at all, but Mecha Sonic saw that each of them, each individual punch, was focused, precise, targeted to pummel a joint, or a flaw in its armour, or even just around its defences to strike at its head. Out of options, with one of its hands now stuck as a fist, Mecha Sonic diverted as much power as it could toward the cannon contained within its chest. The battered armour plating opened once again, the hinge catching somewhat as it built up its second blast. Emerl’s assault didn’t cease, not even for a second, forcing Mecha Sonic to take a step back, then another. Finally, it spread its arms wide, exposing the blazing chamber of the cannon, about to fire. In that moment, the Gizoid’s fist lashed out and collided with its visor, cracking it in the direct centre and jolting the taller bot’s head back. It stumbled away from her, before focusing its flickering visor on her once more and opening fire. To Mecha Sonic’s shock, Emerl responded in kind. Her chestplate opened, exposing an already-charged cannon identical to its own, a blast of bright blue Chaos exploding out to meet its own red beam. She allowed the recoil of her own blast to shunt her backwards, widening the gap between them before she planted her feet, bracing to focus the full force of her attack against its own. The two beams surged against each other, energy arcing out from each of them, streaming across the room and tearing up the floor and walls, more and more power bursting from the clash between the two attacks, until finally, it exploded, throwing both of them back. Mecha Sonic met the wall quickly, steadying itself, while Emerl had further to fly, managing to keep herself mostly on the floor. Spotting the vague shape of her opponent through the smoke, Emerl took to the air, she formed the missile launchers over her shoulders once more, firing them down toward it. Mecha Sonic jumped over the explosion, racing upwards to meet her. It threw a desperate punch at her, and she casually sidestepped it, fingers wrapping around its wrist and locking tightly. Spinning in place, she dragged Mecha Sonic with her, building up her momentum before releasing it, bodily throwing it straight down into the floor. The ground crumpled beneath the impact, plates of steel ripped up as Mecha Sonic struck it, lying prone in the centre of the crater. As it tried to pry itself free, Emerl dropped from the air, chainblade appearing on her right arm in a flash of cyan. She slammed down, blades piercing through its mangled armour, impaling Mecha Sonic clean through the torso. For a moment, it jolted, struggling against the twin swords as their spinning edges carved into its body. Then, the flickering visor went dark, and Mecha Sonic’s body sagged, falling limp and silent. Emerl tore her weapon from its ruined frame, and stood back, folding her blades away once more and turning toward the exit, where Sally had taken their injured friends. Most of them were upright again now, and watching her approach with a mixture of confusion and wariness. She soon understood why, once Nicole returned to her systems and immediately had questions. “How did you do that? You were losing just as much as the rest of us at first, and then you beat it almost single-handedly!” She asked. “Easy, easy. When it threw me into the generator, I found the Emerald. I picked it up, and I think I absorbed it. Gave me a hell of a boost and that’s how I kicked its butt. Added, I needed to get a good look at its powers and moves and stuff to copy them. On top of that, I noticed that its energy levels began to drop off a bit more quickly than I expected once it started to actually fight everyone. Based on that, it made more sense to pace myself a little and soak up some hits before giving it a big burst when it started to flag. The Emerald helped with that, of course,” She explained, speaking loud enough for the others to hear. “Oh, well… alright then. Could you at least have told us?” “Sorry, I can’t talk all that well while I’m fighting. I have a bit of a one-track mind,” She shrugged. “Though to be fair, I did feel some sort of clarity once I really got going. I’ll have to investigate that…” She mused, drawing level with the others. “Everybody okay?” “Yeah, mostly,” Tails groaned. “That thing hit like a truck.” “I’ve never seen an Eggman bot fight that hard before,” Sonic added, leaning against the wall. He seemed to have taken the worst of it, along with Amy. “What was it even made of?” “I’m not sure. I think it’s the same stuff as the shield from the Egg Beaters…” Tails mused. “I guess there isn’t a lot of it, or he’d use it a lot more.” “Well, maybe he would, or he could just keep not doing that to keep his weird ‘game’ going. He is rather stupid like that,” Amy shrugged, using her hammer to support herself. “Maybe, maybe. Still, at least we’re done,” Silver sighed. “With Sally freed from Eggman’s control, the threat to the future should be ended. Thank you for your help.” “We owe you our thanks too, Silver. Without your help, I’m not sure if we could’ve saved her,” Tails replied. “So, back to the base?” Emerl asked. “We can get set up and turn Sally back to normal by daybreak!” “No, the main lab there is gone, and the city is still in Naugus’ claws. If we take Sal back there, he’ll do what he did to Bunnie and deroboticize her as a PR stunt,” Sonic shook his head, folding his arms. “His approval ratings have been sagging lately, he’s probably hoping for something like that to let him boost his support,” Nicole nodded. “On top of that, he clearly wasn’t sure how he did that to Bunnie. The last thing we want is him to screw up and make Sally’s situation even worse,” Tails added grimly, then snapped his fingers, stepping away from the wall. “We’ll take her to my lab in the ruins, and then bring Rotor and Uncle Chuck to meet us. Sally will be normal again before Naugus even knows she’s back.” “I, uh, don’t know where that is,” Emerl slouched slightly. “It’s alright, I can show you,” Nicole smiled. “I’ll transfer the data while we head outside.” *** Once the rag-tag party had warped themselves to the ruins, and Emerl had made a quick return trip to recover the downed Tornado, they convened in Tails’ workshop. Sally had perched herself on the workbench, Sonic standing next to her, holding her hand. Amy and Silver had taken two of the chairs, while Emerl leaned against the wall. Tails emerged from one of the side rooms, dusting his hands off. “Alright, I found the old Deroboticizer, but it’s not in great shape. So I’ll definitely need some backup on that front. Sonic, Emerl, can you two go get Rotor and Uncle Chuck?” “Sure thing, bud,” Sonic nodded. “Yeah, I can get us there and back in no time,” Emerl straightened. “Alright then, I’ll get to work on reinstalling Sally’s core. I should be done by the time you get back,” He smiled. “I’ll need you with me after that, Emerl. Since you absorbed the Emerald, we’ll have to set up a direct power transfer from you to Sally’s repair systems.” “Won’t be a problem.” “If I can interrupt…” Sally spoke up. “I think you should wait until morning. I appreciate that you want to turn me back to normal as quickly as possible, I really do… but, you are all exhausted. With the exception of Nicole and Emerl, you all need to sleep. Badly.” “But Sally-” “Tails, I’ll be fine for just a day longer. Emerl will be here to give me another charge if I need it, so I’m not going to expire in the night. And besides, I don’t exactly want you performing what amounts to a heart transplant on me while you’re barely awake,” She cut in, effectively putting her foot down. “... Yeah, that’s a good point,” He sighed, blushing slightly. “I didn’t think of it like that… Alright, I suppose we should turn in for the night, then.” “Yeah, sounds good,” Sonic nodded. “You’ve all more than earned it,” She smiled at them. Gradually, the group began to disperse, Amy, Silver, and then Tails heading upstairs to sleep. The workshop’s living space had a number of guest rooms, since the Freedom Fighters used it as a secondary base, so there was more than enough space for them all. Only Sonic remained up with the three machines, even though he looked even less awake than the already-resting trio. “Sonic, you really should sleep as well…” Sally looked at him, concern showing even through her mostly-solid face. “I will, Sal… I just… I wanna talk to you before I go. I’ve got some stuff that needs to be said,” He replied, eyes downcast. “Alright. Let’s take a step outside, then.” Stepping out into the cool night air, the duo walked to the edge of the hill. Sonic sat himself down, taking a deep breath of the sea breeze, blowing in from the ocean. Sally smiled down at him, before awkwardly lowering herself to sit beside him, leaning back on her arms. “It’s been too long since we were able to do this. Far too long,” She sighed. “You’re taking this really well, Sal. The whole ‘months spent as a robot slave’ thing,” He glanced at her. “That’s the one upshot of being conscious throughout the whole thing. I’ve had a lot of time to process things, enough to come to terms with what has happened to me. It wasn’t always like this. I fell apart pretty badly during the modification, and… I can’t imagine I’ll be getting over that any time soon. But as time wore on, I started to regain myself and fight back. It wasn’t easy, none of it’s easy… but I survived. I’m going to be my normal self again.” “I guess.” He sighed, placing his hand on hers. “So, what did you want to say?” Sally asked, turning to look at him fully. “Sal, I’m… Sorry.” “Sorry? What for?” “For not saving you faster! For not stopping the whole weaponizing thing from happening! For not being able to get you back for three months!” He yelled, tears filling his eyes. “Sonic, you don’t need to apologise for that. You did the best you could,” Sally gently grabbed his shoulder, smiling at him. “But it wasn’t good enough!” He retorted. “I wasn’t good enough. I couldn’t stop our friends from falling apart. I couldn’t save Antoine. I couldn’t stop Bunnie from leaving. I couldn’t help your family, or stop Naugus from taking over. I couldn’t stop him from kicking Nicole out. I couldn’t even keep myself focused on you, I was a terrible leader without you there, and I kept letting everything distract me. I was trying to save everyone, and in the end, I couldn’t save anyone. Not even you. I would’ve lost you again today if Emerl hadn’t done basically everything. She got Nicole into your head, she took down the Egg Beater, and she defeated Mecha-me… I didn’t do enough...” Sally’s heart sank, as she watched Sonic let it all out. She threw her arms around him, hugging him as gently as she possibly could. She brushed her metal lips against his cheek as she pulled him in. “You can’t blame yourself for what happened, Sonic. Trust me, I’ve been there… I know that you would’ve found a way to save me, and even if your plan didn’t work out, it still stopped Eggman from making anything worse. Do you know why he was running away from you?” Sally paused, and when Sonic didn’t respond, she continued. “He was running because the Death Egg was damaged when I had Nicole invert the beam of the World Roboticizer. He had to try and repair it, but every time he set it down to start working, you were there, and he had to run. You saved Lupe and Hathor from sharing my fate, or worse, and Nicole would never have even had the opportunity to bring Emerl to our rescue if you hadn’t captured me and called her. You say you’re a bad leader, but I don’t think you are. You had to deal with one of the worst possible situations anyone could ever face on your first outing as an independent leader. I would’ve struggled to make something good out of what you had to face, and I’ve been doing this for years.” “Sal…” “Sonic, let me give you some advice, from one leader to another. When you’re in charge, it’s easy to feel as though you have to shoulder all of the weight. Like every difficult decision is yours and yours alone, and the consequences of those decisions are entirely on your back. I know I felt that way for the longest time, and I couldn’t take it. Not forever. Eventually, I cracked, but by that point it was more of a breakdown than anything else. I’m sure you remember…” Sally gently touched Sonic’s cheek. “Yeah, it’s hard to forget, but we moved past that…” “Indeed… But my point is that no-one can blame you for the direction things went. You tried your hardest, and that’s what counts. And even if you ultimately didn’t succeed alone, we’re both here, we’re all okay. And when you only had Tails and Amy by your side… you did a good job, Sonic.” Finally, Sonic returned the hug, pulling himself closer. Sally leaned her head against his shoulder, and he rested his head against hers. “I love you,” He said. “I really don’t say it enough, but it’s true.” “I love you too, Sonic.” *** On the roof of the workshop itself, Emerl perched, staring out toward the ruins. Her eyes flicked over to the young couple for a moment, but she didn’t tune her audio sensors in to hear what they were saying, and she opted to pay them little mind. She had other things to concern herself with. “Something the matter?” She flinched, stumbling, just managing to catch herself before she tipped over the edge, and looked around to see Nicole giggling at the sight. “Such grace in battle, yet so clumsy on a roof!” The lynx laughed, floating beside her shoulder. For a moment, she wanted to snap back, but after seeing how stressed and upset she had been earlier, seeing the AI smiling and laughing, even if it was at her expense, felt good. “Y-you startled me, is all,” She mumbled, rubbing the back of her head. “I was kinda lost in thought.” “Oh really? What about?” Nicole asked, calming herself. Emerl shrugged, and looked back out toward the ruins again, fixing on the ancient stone tower, rising up above the treeline. “I dunno… It’s just… I feel like I’ve been here before. And I know I haven’t… but… It’s familiar. It’s real familiar…” Emerl sighed, sitting herself down on the roof tiles. “Hm… when we met, you were speaking Nocturnian… and the Fourth Great Civilization are theorized to have been in conflict with the Knuckle Tribe of Echidna… the ruins here were once their capital city. Maybe you have been here, and you forgot…” “Yeah, maybe…” *** The following morning, Sonic was up early. He still looked tired, dark circles under his eyes as he approached Emerl and Nicole. “I wanna get Uncle Chuck and Rote before they go to work. It’ll be a lot easier to get ‘em from home, rather than you warping in right in front of Naugus. We don’t want him to know what’s going on, after all,” He said. “Sure thing, let’s get going.” Emerl nodded. “Did you sleep alright, Sonic?” Nicole asked. “Not really. Tried, but it was hard. I kept worrying about Sal too much…” He admitted. “That’s understandable…” Nicole nodded. “Yeah… this is gonna work, right? You’re sure of that?” “Yes, I am,” She confirmed. “You need not worry. Sally will be alright.” “Alright, then. You’ve not steered us wrong before,” He grinned. “Ready, Emerl?” “Sure, Nicole just showed me where to go.” *** They arrived in Rotor’s home first. The walrus had just finished breakfast, and was rather surprised to find the two appearing in his home. “Sonic!? What are you- Wait, where did you find a Gizoid!?” He jumped back at the sight. “Hey Rote. This is Emerl, Nicole found her below Knothole, Tails said working on her was kind of a Brain Trust thing,” Sonic replied. “Hi, nice to meet you,” Emerl waved. “Huh, I guess Fiona was overreacting about the danger…” Rotor mused. “So, why the sudden visit? I mean, it’s great to see you again, Sonic, and it’s good to meet you, Emerl, but wouldn’t the door have been easier?” “We’re being sneaky,” Emerl beamed. “Yeah. The great news is that we got Sally back-” “You did!? Oh, that’s wonderful!” He grinned. “Yeah. The less-great news is that, thanks to the mods Eggman made, we’re going to have to make some complex repairs to properly bring her back to normal. We’ve got a plan, but we’re gonna need to warp you and Unc to Tails’ lab in the ruins. We can’t let Naugus know that we saved her until she’s organic again,” Sonic explained. “Alright, that makes sense,” Rotor nodded. “Let’s go, then,” Emerl reached out for the two. *** The trio arrived in the hedgehog residence seconds later, warping into an empty hallway. “I’m hoooome!” Sonic called out. “Also, I brought Rotor and a new friend!” “You might want to step back from Sonic,” Rotor whispered to Emerl. She did so, tilting her head quizzically at him. “Okay, but wh-” She asked, only to be cut off as the blue hero was mobbed by a trio of older hedgehogs, one of them clearly a Robian. “Oh, that’s why.” “Welcome home, Sonic!” Bernadette beamed, hugging him tightly. “Ow, careful, I took a lotta hits yesterday, some of it still hurts a bit!” “Sorry, sorry,” She eased up. “We weren’t expecting you back. I thought Nicole would’ve at least told us you were coming.” “Is everything alright?” Jules asked. “Better than alright, actually. We got Sal back, thanks to Nicole and our new friend,” Sonic smiled, gesturing to Emerl. “Oh, fantastic! And thank you, er…” The family paused, looking up at the armoured figure. She stepped a little closer, offering a mock bow. “Emerl, at your service. Nicole woke me up.” “The Gizoid from the lab…” Charles looked her up and down. “Well, she seems a lot less dangerous than we were warned about.” “I dunno about that, you should see her fight. I’m real glad she’s on our side,” Sonic smirked. “So she is dangerous, but only to the bad guys.” “I dunno, I almost fell off Tails’ roof last night,” She shrugged. “But I suppose I do fight pretty well.” “So, Sally is back with you, but why the cloak-and-dagger, son?” Jules asked. “Well, we don’t want Naugus to know about it until she’s flesh and blood again. Last thing we need is him trying to deroboticize her to boost his image and screwing it up, considering he doesn’t know how he did it,” Sonic explained. “Tails asked that we fetch Rote and Uncle Chuck to help with the Deroboticizer, while he and Nicole take care of repairs. So, we’re gonna warp back to the Ruins, fix Sal up, and by the time Naugus knows what hit him, it’ll be too late for him to do anything about it!” “Naugus offered the same deroboticization to me… but I don’t trust that monster as far as I can throw him, and I shan’t make deals with anyone that sought to harm my family.” His father mused. “Yeah, yeah…” Sonic sighed. “Wait, why can’t you be turned back?” Emerl asked. “Uh, forgive me for intruding, if that’s private, but, um…” “No, no, it’s fine. I was the first Robian, back when the Roboticizer was a tool for prolonging the lives of injured people. Unfortunately, my injury was too severe… if I am turned back to normal, I will die. And while more advanced Roboticizers could potentially fix the damage, this old body is not exactly compatible with them… I’m stuck like this. And while I could get a new body, something more agile and lifelike, I don’t want to throw this one away. Knowing my luck, a functioning cure would be found the day after,” Jules explained, a hint of bitter mirth in his voice as he finished. “Oh… I’m sorry.” Emerl looked down. “It’s not your fault, Emerl,” Sonic replied. “I know, but still…” “Sonic’s right. You can’t be blamed for your curiosity. Now, I believe you have work to do.” “Right, right. Fixing Sally. We should get going with that,” Sonic snapped his fingers. “Looks like I’m going to be late for work today,” Charles gave an exaggerated sigh, evidently faking his distress. “We’ll call in sick for you,” Bernie smiled, nudging her brother-in-law. *** When the four returned to Tails’ lab, they found the lab mostly empty. Nicole appeared briefly beside Emerl’s shoulder in miniature avatar form. “Rotor, Sir Charles, wonderful to see you again. Tails and I are already working on Sally in the smaller lab. The deroboticizer is already in the workshop itself, so you’ll be able to find it easily enough. Amy and Silver are still asleep,” She explained, before disappearing again. “Guess she’s busy,” Sonic shrugged. “Sounds like,” Rotor nodded, turning to the older hedgehog “I guess we should go get started.” “Agreed,” Charles nodded. *** Sonic had always hated waiting. At least, he hated waiting for information from the labs. While he wasn’t as impatient as he was apparently infamous for, at least, not anymore, waiting for any length of time for updates on Sally’s progress could best be described as torturous. As the morning progressed, little information was presented, however. At one point, Uncle Chuck had reappeared from the workshop and informed him that they had the Deroboticizer running, but that didn’t tell him anything about Sally herself. She was the important aspect in their current situation. As he thought about it, Sonic came to the conclusion that Sally being deroboticized mattered significantly less to him than her safety did. It was Tails and Nicole that he needed to hear from. At one point, Emerl disappeared into their room, so presumably they were getting ready to try and undo Eggman’s modifications, but he had seen how extensive they were, just from the outside, and knew that would be the single hardest part of the entire process. Shortly after Emerl went into the lab, Amy emerged from one of the guest rooms and made her way downstairs for breakfast. She looked like she’d at least slept better than he had, but she was still up surprisingly early for someone as tired as she had been the day before. In truth, none of the trio had slept all that well during their pursuit of the Death Egg, and they all really needed to catch up on rest. Yet, here they all were, awake. “Morning, Sonic,” The pink hedgehog mumbled sleepily, dropping two slices of bread into the toaster. “You sleep alright?” “Nope. Barely got any,” He shook his head, leaning against the wall. She looked up at him, concerned, but didn’t ask why. The answer to that was obvious enough. “Any news on Sally?” The younger hedgehog asked. “Not really. Emerl went in to help with the repairs. The Deroboticizer’s working again, Unc and Rote are just configuring it for her now. Other than that, nothing. It’s killing me.” “Right…” Amy nodded. “Sonic?” “Yeah?” “You… you really do love her, don’t you?” Sonic paused. The question wasn’t one he’d really expected to hear from Amy. She wasn’t exactly known for being the most perceptive of people. He especially wasn’t expecting to hear it right then and there. Still, it was something that would need to be discussed eventually. No point trying to dodge it now. “I… yeah. Yeah, I do,” He nodded. Looking up, he saw his friend’s eyes watering, her lip quivering. “Amy…” She sniffed, shaking her head, and smiled. It looked forced. “You don’t need to apologise. There’s nothing to apologise for, you haven’t done anything wrong.” “Yeah, well, you’re hurt, and you know I can’t stand hurting people,” He replied, walking over to the counter. The toaster popped back up, and Amy removed her breakfast, putting it on a plate and grabbing the butter dish. “I should’ve told you sooner, instead of dragging it out longer.” “You couldn’t exactly bring it up before, could you? When we were all younger and didn’t really know what we wanted,” Amy sat down, beginning to eat. “I suppose, but to be fair, you always came across as knowing exactly what you wanted,” Sonic shrugged. “Sonic, I didn’t even know the real you for the longest time. There was a point where I got to know who you really were and I had to re-evaluate what I thought about my feelings. I was just as confused as everybody else.” “Huh… I didn’t realise…” He paused. “It’s alright. If it helps, this isn’t really much of a surprise to me. I kinda thought it was going to go this way for a long time. I didn’t really want to believe it, but… it was always pretty obvious that this was the direction things were going to go,” She looked up, smiling more genuinely as she wiped her eyes. “You two were always good together.” “Thanks,” Sonic grinned. “And for what it’s worth, you’ll always be a great friend, Ames.” “Well, I do my best,” She returned the grin. *** Silver appeared shortly after that. He looked a lot better rested than either of them, which made sense. He wasn’t as over-stressed as the trio of Freedom Fighters, and he hadn’t been fighting as much as they had. Filling him in on the details didn’t take as much time as Sonic had hoped, and once that was done, it was back to waiting. With the two other hedgehogs around, he at least had someone to make small talk with, but he didn’t find the prospect particularly appealing. Just a distraction. What if something had gone wrong? What if they couldn’t fix her? What if overcharging her self-repair system only caused more damage? What if Eggman had hidden one last cruel trap in her body, and she was gone? The questions had been circulating in his brain for nearly an hour when the door to Tails’ lab finally opened, and the young fox stepped out, taking a pair of goggles off of his face and wiping his forehead with a towel. Emerl followed, Nicole sitting on her shoulder, and finally, Sally walked behind them both, her body restored to the same state it had been in when she first became Mecha Sally. Immediately, he raced over, hugging her, and she quickly returned the gesture. “Are you alright? Did it work? Can they change you back?” “Yes, yes, and yes.” Sally replied, smiling. “Oh thank Chaos,” He breathed a heavy sigh of relief. “He’s been going stir-crazy the whole morning,” Amy announced as she walked over. She smirked a little as Sonic’s cheeks turned scarlet. “Still, it really is good to hear that you’ll be okay again. We’ve all been worried.” “Thank you, Amy.” “How are you feeling, Sal?” Sonic asked. “I feel better already. Not as good as my normal body, but at least this shape feels almost like myself, just heavier and colder. And it’s good to have a full-sized brain again,” The Robian replied, flexing her restored body. “I’m not surprised it feels better, that is a significantly better body than the last one,” Emerl added. “I mean, not for combat, but everything is working like it should be, rather than sloppily modified to force it into use as something it isn’t meant to be.” “Yes, that’s true,” Sally nodded. “Anyway, is the Deroboticizer ready?” “Should be. They were just calibrating it, and while that takes time, we should be good to go,” Nicole replied. “Well, no sense in waiting, then. Let’s end this waking nightmare.” The group headed through to the workshop itself, where Rotor and Charles sat with mugs of coffee, beside the Deroboticizer, which hummed quietly, waiting for its patient’s arrival. Rotor noticed them first, setting his drink down as he stood up, rushing over. “Sally!” He beamed, hugging her. “I didn’t realise you were actually up and about, I thought you were just inactive and waiting for the transformation!” “Hello, Rotor. It’s good to see you again. You too, Sir Charles,” She smiled. “It’s been too long, your highness,” The older hedgehog bowed. “As for my mental state, Nicole released me from Eggman’s mind control yesterday. I’ve been active most of that time, though I did power down over the night,” Sally replied. “Well, let’s get you back to normal, then,” Rotor said, releasing her and walking back over to the machine. Pressing a few buttons on the control panel, he opened the door. “Alright, it’s ready.” “Thank you, Rotor,” Sally hugged Sonic once more, then walked into the Deroboticizer. There was a small chair inside, and she took her seat as the door closed in front of her. Outside sounds were muffled by the thick glass, but she was able to see the two older scientists operating the controls, before pulling a large lever on the side of the panel. The low hum of the Deroboticizer grew louder and louder, the pitch rising at the same time. Above her head, a blue aura began to shine, bright light filling the cylinder. She twinged, feeling the energies of the machine flooding into her body. It felt warm and comforting, and she looked down at her hands, just in time to see the metal begin to retreat from her body. It looked almost as if it was melting away, flesh and blood taking its place. She closed her eyes, smiling as the feeling spread throughout her body, washing away the cold numbness of her robotic form. She gasped as she took in air for the first time in far too long, letting out a long-needed sigh as she felt her pulse return, a little too fast at first, before it began to settle. She felt a dampness on her cheeks as, finally, it was over. She was herself again. The door opened with a hiss, and she stepped forward, stumbling on unsteady legs. She technically hadn’t used the muscles in them for months, nor had she eaten. Fortunately, before she could fall, Sonic was here, gently supporting her. Feeling his fingers on her shoulder, Sally threw herself into his arms, as the rest of their friends crowded around them both. Sonic held her close, kissing her gently as he wiped away her tears. “It’s okay, Sal. You’re home.”

[buysgreys]

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Next, open Finder and press shift+command+G to open the “go to folder” text box. Save any data you don’t want to lose and delete the folder. This will contain any files you had downloaded before you uninstalled Dropbox. If you want to remove all traces of Dropbox when you uninstall it, there are three more things you will need to delete.įirst, you need to go to the Dropbox folder on your hard drive.

Repeat steps two and three for each process.

Select the process and click the “X” to force it to quit.

In the Activity Monitor, look for lines that contain “Dropbox”.

You can find this in the Utilities folder within your “Applications” It should be in the Applications folder.įinally, move the Dropbox application launcher into the trash and choose to empty it. To remove Dropbox, search for its launcher in Finder. This should also stop any background processes. If you click the icon that has replaced your profile picture or initials, you will receive an option to quit Dropbox. The Dropbox icon in your top menu bar should still be there, but it will be faded. This will remove access to any files that you haven’t saved to your system, but they will still be in your account. In this tab, click the button to unlink your Mac from your Dropbox account. In the settings window, choose the “account” tab. Select this circle and then click “preferences” from the dropdown menu to bring up the settings window. If the icon isn’t here, you should open Dropbox to make it appear.Īfter you click this icon, you should see your round profile picture or initials in the top-right corner. How To Uninstall Dropbox From Macįirst, find and select the Dropbox symbol in your top menu bar. However, there are many providers fighting to be the best cloud storage available, and one of these other applications, such as, may better meet your requirements. If you choose to uninstall Dropbox because you don’t think it’s worth the cost, you should check out our Dropbox review to ensure you aren’t missing out on any features. If this is the case, you can delete your Dropbox account after you finish uninstalling Dropbox. Some users may want to uninstall Dropbox due to the concerns about its security.

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[codylabs]

Chapter 27: Farewell Savage Fate

Links: P 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

- Time:

- 2013 A.D., June 12th, 2:50pm (you don’t really need to pay attention to the times, they’re there for MY benefit.)

- Place:

- Crash Site Omega (control room)

-Warning: Intruders have begun Reactor 5 startup. Power output: 5% and rising. Coolant levels sufficient.

-Warning: Intruders have access to all remaining ship systems and engines.

-Input: Assign bioforms 3 and 4 a threat level of 20. Combat preference: Immediate lethal force. You are clear to engage. Take no survivors.

-Threat reassessed. Antimatter pellets loaded and launchers charged. Drones 155, 157, 158, 163, 164, 174, 175 and 179 engaging.

The 8 drones did exactly as they had been instructed, without a briefest moment’s hesitation. They hovered quietly out of the darkness, their eyes fixed on the entrance to the control room, their weapons hot, their minds already visualizing the battle.

Intruder 3, whom friendly faces knew as McGucket, was still busy at the computer, and would not be able to react in time. A single antimatter round could penetrate his torso and explode, killing him instantly. Stan, identified as intruder 4, remained catatonic in the chair; even if he were to wake up now, he would not be able to offer much resistance. Another antimatter round would terminate him.

Two shots. That’s all that was needed. Each drone loaded four for good measure.

But then something happened.

A brilliant flash of blue light lit up the control room. McGucket jumped backwards from the controls, startled and frightened. Did I just do that? This alien tech must be touchier than it looks… But then when he looked hard at the readouts, nothing seemed to have changed… All the settings and feedback were just where he’d left them… But then he noticed something really quite odd: The plasma beam weapon that had been leaned beside him was no longer there. He glanced around. Stan didn’t have it. Where did it go? What happened? It was right he—

The sound of eight simultaneous explosions echoed through the room. He heard debris rattling against the walls from outside, saw a scrap of burned wreckage bounce in past the doors, and shards of plating and chunks of robotic innards clattering to the ground outside.

Stanley was awake in an instant. “HI HEY NO PLEASE SUSAN I COULDN’T…! *Snrf* …Heeeey, can’t a fella get any sleep around here?”

“I dunno whatappened!” McGucket cried, rushing toward the door with Stan on his heels. “Whasappenin’ whatwassat noise whosthere whereintarnashin my death ray run off to?”

They looked out. Stan didn’t remember it being quite so warm and smoky. McGucket didn’t remember there being quite so many burned, smashed piles of robotic wreckage.

He also didn’t remember leaving his death ray out here. Yet there it was, sitting on the floor at his feet, that very same tool he’d misplaced seconds ago.

McGucket picked it up and found that it was lighter; its fuel tanks were nearly empty. And a quick check of the electrical charge revealed that the batteries were almost wasted as well.

The ignition chamber was still warm.

“Well I’ll be a pork-bellied feather-hearted dingleberry… What in the name of me Pappie’s gibberflunked bramblesnippin’ Mississippi combine just happened?”

“You need to keep better track of that thing.” Stan told him.

“Did you just do that just now?” McGucket asked.

“Did who do huh? Did something happen?”

“Wha--? But… The thing…? Oh my, lookit these poor robits…”

Stan made a long string of confused grunkley noises. “Welp, I’m in over my head. You got a brother I could call? I mean… A phone I could brother? I mean… Agh, can’t talk today. Hey waitaminute, where are the kids?”

“Yeh can’t get service down here…” McGucket reminded him. “Oh yeah, and them two teenagins said they’s was curious ‘bout somethin’, and ran off that-a-way.” He pointed off into the darkness.

“…Aaaagh. Dumb kids. Don’t they know there’s killer robots down here? …Okay; so you’re sure something blew all these things up?”

“Well yeah, an’ I think it may’ve used my plasma beam ta do it!” McGucket objected. “But I can’t rightly figger how they got it right out from under my nose, or ‘ow they did it so fast. Y’know this thing needs a moment to prime, a little bit ta charge, and even longer ta cool down, so it woulda taken a while ta do all this, but I believe I heard the events occur simultaneously, and…”

“Yeah, yeah, alright, listen, pal I’ve been living in a cramped ship’s cabin with my nerdy brother for the better part of a year now, and I have developed an extremely short fuse for technical mumbo-jumbo. So here’s how it is: if somethin’s weird, you say ‘somethin’s weird’ and stop there. Savvy?”

“Err… Sorry… Somethin’s weird.” McGucket said.

“Great. Weird. We know weird. We can handle weird. Ain’t nothin’ wrong with weird.” Stan pulled the doors closed behind them as they stepped into the control room. “Now. In case some maaaaagical death-ray-stealing mischief fairies wanna pay us another visit, I’ll leave it open a crack so we can hear ‘em coming.”

“Sounds good…” McGucket wrung his hands together as he stepped back up to the console. “Well… Actually, I think I got the programmin’ all finished. The reactor should be workin’ again. The gravitational nacelle has been calibrated to focus on the Forest of Daggers, and-”

“So what yer SAYIN’ is…” Stanley crossed his arms. “This whole joint’s gonna get weird once ya push that big red button.”

“…Yeah.”

“Better wait ‘till the kids are back then.”

“…I could run it through a test sequence…” McGucket scratched his chin. “Bring the core up to 50% output ta test for malfunctulations and stir up some noise; get ‘em back here faster.”

“Yeah. Great. Do that.”

McGucket hit the big red button.

It started quiet and built in intensity; an enormous, rumbling sort of hum, which thundered through the frame of the ship, shaking the walls, steadily overcoming all lesser noise.

McGucket turned it off again after a minute.

Stan adjusted his hearing aid. “That was a little loud.” He understated.

“Yeah, well, I reckon the coolant compressors had some corrosion, and the hydraulics were nearly rusted shut, so that’s my guess as to why…”

“Geez, you just take any little thing as an excuse to start in on it, don’t ya?” Stan grunted.

“Sorry.”

A noise from beyond the door interrupted them. It sounded like gunfire. From a raygun. Raygunfire.

“OKAY WHAT WAS THAT?!?” Stanley picked up a weapon, and marched for the door. “That better not be you stupid fairy brats again! Because I swear, this is getting on my last nerve! C’mon out and show yourself!”

But when he levered the hatch open, he froze in surprise.

“Ford?”

“Stanley?”

- Time:

- 2013 A.D., June 12th, 4:30pm (it doesn’t really matter when this was, but plotwise it happened before.)

- Place:

- Ford’s study, beneath the Mystery Shack (time and place where Sam happened to locate Ford)

Mabel stared up at the shapeshifter for a minute. Then she blinked, rubbed her eyes, and looked again. Yeeeah, that’s him alright.

She didn’t know why he was here, who let him out of the bunker, or what he was doing here. To be honest, she hadn’t even a faint inkling of what the heck happened at all while she was asleep. Gee whiz, spend one afternoon in a coma, and now the single nastiest and scariest monster I’ve ever met is right in here in the Shack… She had quite a lot of questions, but Great Uncle Ford or anybody was nowhere around to answer them. There was only this creature, this hideous, frightening… Thing.

Oh well.

She may as well just ask.

“Hi guy!” She smiled, forcing a smile onto her face. Be Mabel. She thought. Just like Dipper told you. Be Mabel. Think good thoughts… This IS gonna end up okay. One way or another. “How’s it going?” She asked, as her cheery words forced past her fear. “When did you get here?”

Sam hadn’t been expecting a question like that. In fact, he hadn’t expected even a hint of this cheery disposition. Unsure of how to react, he found himself answering candidly. “Twenty minutes ago…”

“Okay! Uh…!” She hopped down from her chair and stretched her sore neck as she glanced around the room. “Have you seen my Great Uncle? He was just here I think.”

“…He’s gone.”

She blinked. “Well yeah, I can see that; did you see where he went?”

“I think I kindnapped him.” He heard himself answer truthfully again.

“Whaaaat…?” Mabel frowned up at him skeptically. “How in pig’s name are you not sure if you kidnapped somebody?”

“Well, I…” Sam blinked down at the little girl. “…He disappeared. I’m sure it was me who did it, or who will do it. And… I… Uh.” He looked down at the yellow time machine in his hands, and felt himself descending ever deeper into confusion.

Mabel followed his eyes. Her jaw dropped and she gasped loudly. “What…! You! Wha! That’s no tape measure! THAT’S A TIME MACHINE! You have a time machine! You really have one! For real! Where’d you get it?”

“Y-yes. I… My mother gave it to me, I—”

“You have a mother?!? What’s she like?!?”

“I-wha-hey!” He finally found his focus again, reminded himself that he was in charge, and drug the conversation back on-topic. “YES. I have a time machine.” He repeated, clicking his teeth. “And I’ve been using it to remake my life as I will… I took Ford, I outsmarted all of you, and now, I have everything I want…”

Before she had time to feel intimidated, Mabel started talking again. “This is so awesome…!” She smiled, as her brain but together a plan. “Yes… YES! With a time machine, we can save him! It’s perfect! This fixes everything! We have a TIME MACHINE! Man, your mom must be AWESOME! Is it your birthday? Or is it Christmas? Do aliens have Christmas in June? Summermas? Where did she buy it?”

“…Calm down.” Sam frowned at her.

“Saaaay new friend, could I actually borrow that thing for a minute?” Mabel pleaded. “It’s really really reallyreallyreallysuperduper important.”

“Calm down.” He repeated.

“I’ll give it right back and everything!” She promised as she reached for it. “But my brother kind of died a couple days ago so I really need to save him. It’s really kind of urgent so would that be alright? You could come too if you want!”

“QUIET!” He reached out a hand and pushed her away. She stumbled right over on the floor, and almost hit her head on the corner of a table as she went over. Sam blinked, surprised. Oops. She’s weaker than I thought. I almost hurt her; I didn’t mean to hurt her… Wait, why DIDN’T I mean to hurt her? Of course you mean to hurt her! You’re HERE to hurt her…!

“You’re a fool.” He growled out loud. “You’re asking me to loan you this? To save your brother?…” I’m here to hurt her. “Don’t you know who I am and what I’ve done?”

She stared at him blankly. “Well… Yeah, you’re the shapeshifter guy…? You kinda--”

“My name is Sam, and I’m your enemy.” He explained. “And as for what I’ve done, did you know your brother’s death was no accident?” He held up the machine. “I just used this to kill him, stupid. He’s dead because of ME. And I’m proud of it. Because I hated him.”

Mabel eased slowly up to a sitting position in one corner of the room, and then even slower to her feet. “Oh…” Her voice became small and flat, as she considered this latest revelation for a minute. “Oh.” She finally repeated.

He nodded. “Now what do you think of that?”

“Well… Uh…” Mabel’s shoulders shuddered briefly. “That’s… Kind of… Mean.”

Sam wasn’t sure if he’d heard that right. “Mean.”

“Yeah, pretty mean…” Mabel informed him. “Like… Pretty selfish too… Most people would be… Nicer than that.”

The two little orifices on the top of his head emitted a snort. Mabel supposed that they must be his nostrils. “Are you… Brain dead?” He asked, as his fangs clicked in amusement. “You do realize what I’m saying, don’t you? That I killed your brother in cold blood? That I’m going to kill your uncle? That your own fate is subject to my whim…? You do understand… Don’t you?”

Mabel wrung her hands inside her sweater sleeves. “…Yeah.” She said. “I get it.”

“…Then why aren’t you thinking dark thoughts?”

Dark thoughts…

Mabel recognized those words. Robbie once said those words. The day that Dipper died, Robbie had stolen her joy with those words. The day she’d brought Robbie along on her happy little adventure, and sent him down into the bunker, he’d come back with those words… Mabel finally put it all together.

“Oh…” She said. “That wasn’t Robbie, that was you… That was when you got out…” Her voice got small. “I let you out.”

“Give the young lady a prize.”

“Uh… Oh… I’m really sorry… I mean! Uh, no, not sorry, I mean good for you! Hi! Welcome to the surface world! Uh… Ooh. Gee. Awkward…”

There was silence for a moment in the room, as the girl and the monster looked at each other, neither one precisely sure what next to do or say. Finally Mabel spoke up again.

“So… Uh… Besides for killing people, what are you doing?” The girl asked. “Like… I’m still kind of confused, and time travel is really complicated so… What’s going on?”

Sam looked at her.

“Well…” He started. “I was just taking care of some business. Making sure that things happened the way they were supposed to. Making sure I got to where I am today. Controlling your very lives.”

“…You can’t control my life.” Mabel frowned.

“Oh, but I can. In fact, I already have… Do you remember this?” He produced a small metal box, popped it open, and removed the robot kitten, of all things.

“Oh… Uh… Hi Juan!” Mabel waved at the little metal creature.

Sam stuffed it unceremoniously back in the box. “You loved it so much that I can use it to manipulate you. I saved it when your family tried to kill it… And now… Oh, I have a wonderful idea! What if I were to give it back to you the next night, with a note attached to it that said you needed to take action? What if that was the spark that lit the fire inside you? What if that were the reason you first launched on your hairbrained quest and accidentally freed me? What if…”

Sam walked over to one of the computers in Ford’s study, and booted it up. When a data entry program appeared, he began to type. “How about it? Am I talking nonsense, or truly writing history here?” He finished typing, and hit another button.

A nearby old-timey printer began to chatter, and it noisily emitted a single small piece of paper. “There!” Sam held up the note and shoved it in Mabel’s face. “Is that the note? Does that sound like something nice enough to get you to do something stupid?”

Mabel read it.

Enjoy the time you have with him.

Because it’s not right for him to stay here long.

Find a good place for him, Mabel. We believe in you.

Be wise and loving. Be his hero. Save his life.

Mabel read it a second time.

“Uh…” She mumbled. “Yeah… That’s the note… Hmm. Oh.”

“Well then.” Sam pulled out the time machine, and disappeared in a flash of light.

Mabel blinked and stared at the place where he’d been standing.

She took a step back, and found herself all the way in the corner of the room.

I always just thought it was an honest, well-meaning invisible wizard who did that. She pounded her forehead with her fists. I just thought ‘hey, there must actually be some decent, happy people somewhere in the world’… But it was all a lie. Everything I did, it was just a random, convoluted, pointless wild goose chase that accomplished nothing except ruining everything.

But… Wait… If Sam DIDN’T give me that note, then I WOULDN’T have done anything, and I WOULDN’T have freed him and he WOULDN’T have given me that note! …But since he DID give me that note, I DID free him, so he DID give me that note… It’s just a weird random circle that happened for no reason except itself! Dang it time travel! Why you gotta be so complicated?!?

…Well… Actually, this entire thing relies pretty heavily on me being stupid. I was so bent on being kind, so determined to find niceness and happiness where there was none, that I turned my brain off entirely.

So if at any time I’d just decided to use my head, then that would’ve been it. And it wouldn’t have happened.

If the time loop ever DID had a cause, then that cause was me.

…

Dipper, what do I DO?

There was another flash of blue light, and Sam was standing there again.

“And that’s it.” He spread his arms grandly, like a magician would after the completion of a spectacle. “I’ve been hopping around doing whatever I please, killing whoever I please. And that’s why your uncle’s gone too. Soon as I’m through with you, I’ll head back in time, take him away, and do as I will…”

“Yeah…” She whispered. “I see.”

“It all fits.” He told her. “I did it. It’s been a complicated equation, but I’m the answer. I’m the end. And that’s what’s happening.”

Mabel bit her lip and squeezed back tears.

You need to be stronger, Mabel. Dipper’s words whispered in the back of her memory. No matter what happens, to me or anybody else, we need you to be strong. Strong enough to hold together when something hits you. Tough enough to take a thousand hits and never break. Be hopeful. Be loving. Be cheerful, and caring, and good… Be that way forever. With or without me. That’s what we need you to do…

Mabel took a deep breath. In an instant, she knew exactly what she had to do. I have a job. She remembered. Fate has a job for sweet, happy, trusting little Mabel, and I’m the only one that can do it.

Time to do it.

“Hey Sam.” She said.

“What?”

“I’m…” She wiped her eyes and struggled to hold her voice steady. She really was afraid. “Uh… Why you haven’t killed me? …Do you like me?”

“I— What?” He grew a couple inches taller and snarled. “I don’t like you.”

“Eh… Well! I mean!” Mabel stuttered. “I mean you must have hated Dippingsauce a lot to kill him, but with me you’re just standing there, so that means you don’t hate me. I mean you don’t have a reason to hurt me and you don’t really want to. And that’s why you don’t. So yeah, so right, so there.”

There was silence for a minute in the darkened room.

Sam hadn’t thought about it like that before. But now that it came down to it, he realized it was true… He didn’t hate her.

He remembered his mother. How she treated everything like an object, or a tool. In all things she acted shrewd, cruel, pragmatic and level. She hurt and killed anyone that ever crossed her, never hesitated to stoop to the sickest, most murderous depths to gain any advantage. Power was the name of her game, and strength was its only rules. That made sense to Sam. That fit with what he knew and had seen. That was the only way it ought to be.

When he realized that he himself didn’t hate somebody… It felt like weakness. Why don’t I hate her?

Why AM I even talking to her, anyway?

What am I trying to do?

He’d come here for revenge; to destroy even the memory of everyone who’d been responsible for what happened to him: Stanford Pines, Fiddleford McGucket, Dipper Pines, Wendy Corduroy…

And he’d also wanted to find his people, so that he would no longer be alone. But now that he knew what it meant to be a part of his own family, now I know what his mother expects of an ally, Now… It seemed to him that he hated her as much as he hated the rest of his enemies.

But that was also none of Mabel’s business.

Sam opened his mouth to growl something, but the girl was already talking again. “I dunno about you, but I want a happy ending!” She stated. “And I bet deep down you actually want to help me! Because really everybody wants everything to turn out alright. So do you think there’s any chance you could have a change of heart and start being a good guy instead of a bad guy anytime soon?”

Sam blinked as if in shock, having a hard time believing that such a train of thought could even exist. “…Really…?”

“Come on!” Mabel pleaded. “I know you can’t be all bad! You let me sit on your lap and drive when you were pretending to be Robbie! And how about Tambry? She’s been on her Facepage account, and her Bumblr account, and her Chirper account, and all her accounts all week really, talking about how great the concert was and how great Robbie was but you were Robbie!”

“I had to learn to operate a vehicle.” He explained. “You were the only one around with a rudimentary understanding. That wasn’t you sitting on my lap, that was me tricking you into teaching me. And as for Tambry, I needed to blend in. Killing and eating her wouldn’t have blended in.” Wait, what am I doing? Sam demanded of himself. Am I trying to justify myself to HER? Trying to convince her that I AM a monster?

If you want to convince her of THAT. Another thought intruded on his mind. Just kill her. Remember who and what and where you are. You’ve got places to be and things to do. Standing here chatting with a teenage girl is wasting precious seconds. You were right in the middle of your revenge!

“Well yeah but you still did let me sit on your lap!” She once again interrupted him. “And you still were extra nice to Tambry even when you didn’t have to; so how about it? Maybe you were even happier when you were nice to people! I don’t know, but maybe down deep inside you’re actually a nice person! And the only little problem is that you’re just really angry and mean and evil and think it’s alright to do terrible things, but you’re actually nice… You know, like Beauty and the Beast or Doofenshmirtz or Count Bleck!”

Sam stared at her.

Mabel swallowed quietly.

I have a job to do.

It all led up to this. It all wraps up in this. It all ends now.

She told her foot to take a step forward, but it hesitated. Come on, move you stupid leg! She silently shouted. I need you forward! The place where you aren’t! Just move movemove come on move! Sure it looks like a monster up there, but it’s really a person somewhere inside, a person who needs his justice too! Come on, this is it! Take a step! Her leg wasn’t used to being yelled at, and finally obeyed.

Then she told her other foot to take a step too. It hesitated as well, but obeyed just like the other. She could hear her own heart beating, and knew she had to keep talking so that fear wouldn’t drive her right back.

“S-s-so how about it, Sam?” She asked, and with a monumental effort forced a smile onto her face. “Maybe… Maybe we could work together to make everything right again! Maybe you don’t have to be the bad guy, maybe you don’t have to be alone, or sad, or angry… Maybe everything could be okay if you just stop thinking dark thoughts…”

She was close enough to touch him now. Close enough to smell his breath. Close enough that he could injure her by no more than flinching. Close enough to make out every detail of his creepy, slimy body. Close enough to even hug him.

“Come on, Sam…” She said. “Don’t you want a happy ending?”

In spite of himself, Sam considered it.

He weighed all sides of the issue. He remembered all the evil that had been done between him and this family he was killing. Stanford and Fiddleford’s experiments, and the years spent locked underground. Dipper and Wendy’s attempts at his life… But in return… There was everything he’d done back to them… So Sam then wondered about forgiveness: could this family forgive him? And could he forgive this family? Was forgiveness possible after things such as this? Could there ever be peace?

…And were friends something he ever wanted? He remembered the time spent with Tambry. Indeed, the best week of his life had been the one where she loved him; where he had people around to laugh and joke and eat and sing with. Nowhere, in all the revenge and violence or deceit since, had he ever tasted anything as sweet as love…

…But would any of it be worth it, to forsake the destiny his mother had laid out for him? She would have him live a life of lies, violence, malice… And with that life would come strength, power, greatness… A chance, perhaps, to one day return to his people, even earn their respect. He could earn allies, powerful allies. He could have anything he wanted…

Anything he wanted…

But what if peace was what he wanted?

Sam thought about these matters.

And then he made his decision.

He raised his hands in the air, and brought them down hard. Mabel’s body broke and twisted and came to pieces as he smashed her to death. And each blow brought more resolution, more clarity, more confidence to his soul, as he knew then and there exactly the type of man he was. But it also broke his heart, for he knew that he was throwing away what could be his one and only chance at honest friendship.

In that moment, he hated himself more than he had ever hated another, so that he bit his lip hard enough to draw blood, and longed more than anything in the world to change his decision. But there was no going back on it now; he had sealed his soul and his fate, with a sin so cruel and monumental that could not be undone, even within his own mind. And with this burden on his heart, he turned and left the lab, to continue a life that led ever deeper into darkness.

At least.

That’s exactly what would have happened.

But instead, before he made his decision, while he still thought about these matters, he was distracted. And while he was distracted, Mabel’s hand darted forward, and plucked the time machine out of his hand.

The action was so quick, so nimble, and so utterly unexpected, that he didn’t even have time to react until she was already gone.

Gone, gone, gone.

Already gone.

- Time:

- 2013 A.D. (somewhen)

- Place:

- Ford’s study, beneath the Mystery Shack

The ethereal blast of the time-jump left her disoriented as her feet touched down in Ford’s study in some other distant time. She wasn’t sure exactly when she was, she just knew that she was safe.

It worked. Mabel gasped.

As soon as she was sure, her legs buckled beneath her, and she collapsed onto the cold wooden floor, crying and shaking and maybe even laughing just a tiny little bit. “I’m sorry…” She blubbered. “I’m sorry Sam… I’m sorry… I lied… You…” She choked. “You don’t get a happy ending you gross, fat, lying, murdering, poop-headed JERK! …You killed my brother… Nobody… Nobody gets to do that… Nobody… Nobody… Nobody…”

- Time:

- 2013 A.D., June 12th, 2:50pm (about the same time, maybe a little before)

- Place:

- Crash Site Omega (some place on the way back from the Shifter’s lair)

The close metal walls of the alien ship creeped with slime, rust, and decay. In every direction they stretched, great decrepit monoliths interwoven with deliberate purpose by beings long since dead. The trusses and members of the walls curved over and beneath and around the hallways, like the uneven, bloated ribs of some monstrous, shapeless corpse. The rays from the headlamp reflected strangely off the faded metal surfaces, casting shadows shaped like reflections, and reflections shaped like shadows.

It was a scary place on its own. Human minds have always guarded a natural fear of the strange and unknown, and this environment seemed designed to foster such unease. Any pillar might seem to hide an enemy. Any dark area might conceal death. Everything but the very nearest walls were a mystery, forgotten since time out of mind.

Wendy should have been afraid.

But this place wasn’t strange or unknown to her any more. She understood it, and the very real, very dangerous threats that inhabited it: the cold reckoning and electronic reflexes of patrolling security machines, and the wily, bloodthirsty intelligence of a timeless, formless beast. There was a reason, she knew, that this place had gone unnoticed for so very long: everybody who ventures inside was killed. Murderous natures did lurk around every corner. Fear was never irrational.

Wendy should have been afraid.

And yes, she did want out of here.

Yes, she wanted nothing but to return to peaceful places, to be reunited with loved ones, and to lie quietly at home in the light, far from harm and the burden of destiny and violence.

Yes, she was in phenomenal pain.

Yes, she was probably bleeding out.

Yes, she was trying very hard to keep her eyes open, because she knew that if she bent over and fell asleep now, she would never awake.

But she wasn’t afraid.

Not even a little.

Not anymore.

Her slow, limping trudge was interrupted by a quiet noise from somewhere up ahead. A pair of security drones hovered around a corner and fixed her with their unwavering red stare. Beneath their smooth surfaces, all manner of weapons charged and readied.

But their sensors swept her, and found none of the usual chemical markers of hostility. They saw her calm. Perhaps one of them sent a request to the security officer, asking for input on how to deal with this subject. But the officer never responded.

“Don’t even try it.” Wendy muttered up at their unhearing stares. “She’s already dead. And I’m already gone.”

She never stopped walking. And the drones did nothing but watch as she approached, watch her pass between them, and watch her backside as she continued on her way.

Soon now… So soon, and it would all be over. Once she finished her tasks and closed all the time loops, she would be free to undo all of history. Return things to the way they were supposed to be. Return to peaceful days free of sickness. Return to the nights when she could sleep easy. Return to a time when killer robots were the worst she had to deal with.

Return to the mission.

Return to him.

- Time:

- 2013 A.D., June 12th, 4:28pm (less than a minute after Sam’s appearance)

- Place:

- Ford’s study, beneath the Mystery Shack

Ford didn’t honestly have time to put together what all was happening. All he knew was that somehow, the shapeshifter was right here in the Shack, his niece was helpless and asleep behind him, and this thing is a much faster than I…

Strong hands grabbed him by the collar and hurled him headfirst toward the wall. He winced instinctively to prepare for the impact, as he reached for a weapon hidden in his coat.

Then there was a flash of blue light, and he didn’t hit the wall; he hit Mabel.

They both went into a pile on the floor.

“OOF! HEY! WHAT?!?”

Mabel stood back up unharmed and ecstatic. “It worked! It worked!” She blared like a siren. “I saved you! It worked!”

“Umm! Uh! Agh! What’s happening?” He staggered to his feet and drew the gun. He saw the shapeshifter standing in the middle of the room, frozen mid-throw… And he saw that Mabel was still where he’d left her, asleep in the chair. Suddenly, he wasn’t sure who he should be aiming at: the frozen shapeshifter, or the mysterious second Mabel?

Before he could do either, the mysterious second Mabel had her arms wrapped tightly around his hips, squeezing him in a tight hug and jumping up and down at the same time.

“I can’t believe I did it! It worked! It worked! I time-traveled like an expert pro and I froze time and I saved you! At first I was confused because time machines should just have only two buttons, for forward and backward, but instead it had a bunch of other buttons and one of them said ‘FRZ’ which I first thought stood for ‘Fat Rolling Zebras’ but then I realized it stood for ‘FReeZe’ as in ‘freeze,’ so I tried it out and time froze so here we are, and I’m sorry when I’m excited I tend to deliver exposition in really long unbroken sentences!” She finally took a breath. “But anyway it’s like destiny or something! IT WORKED!”

Ford poked his fingers up under his glasses to rub his eyes, then tried to compose himself as he waited for the spots to clear. He took a deep breath. He was still sick with a high fever, and still running on about 2 hours of sleep; not the best conditions to go on any type of adventure, let alone making sense of whatever the heck this was. “Okay.” He said anyway. “I think I got it, but just in case… Would you remind repeating all that again? Significantly slower this time please.”

Sam stared at the place where Mabel had disappeared, having taken his fate, his hope, and his one possession with her.

He had been tricked.

But he was not unintelligent. He was not unfamiliar with the way time travel worked. He knew in an instant what this meant.

It meant that she was going to save her uncle. That had been the real reason he disappeared. It was her who’d taken him, not to kill him as Sam would have, but to save him. Now that Sam’s greatest, oldest enemy had access to the tape, Sam realized that he could be easily killed at any time. Just as I killed the boy. At any point they could freeze the flow of time, and appear among that breach in the flow with a deadly weapon at the ready. I won’t see anything. I won’t feel anything. At any moment now, any moment at all, I’ll see a flash of bluish light, and when it fades, I will stand with a mortal wound.

Any moment now…

Any moment now, and the good guys will win.

Any moment.

Sam stared at the place on the floor.

He imagined Mabel standing there again, and tried to think what he might try to say to her if he could. What could he say? Could he apologize? Could he beg? Could he undo time and give her back her beloved brother? No… Yes… No… Perhaps… If only she were here again… Oh, who am I kidding? If she were here again, the only smart option would be to kill her again…

Then he imagined Stanford there, and tried to rehearse what he might say to him. Could he reason with him? Could he accuse him? Or just beg for mercy all over again; beg to be consigned to another terrible life in a cold prison beneath the ground? It would be so much better than death… ANYHING was better than death. Anything but that cold, dark, mysterious hell… No… No, if Ford were here, I would just attack him again. Because I will not suffer prison again. Never, not again, not one minute more. Death, any death, would be better than that.

He imagined Tambry there. What the devil could he say to her? Perhaps, before he died, he would have liked to tell her that he really did love her. He wasn’t sure if it was true, but he wished so badly that it was. Most of all, he would’ve just liked to thank her for loving him, and for leading him through the one beautiful week he’d ever had in his life; the one he’d spent in the light. That, he knew, was true. Oh, Tambry… If you were here… I could tell you that I did indeed love you… But if you were here, you would finally see me for who I really am, and then you would hate me, just like all the others. You would hate me for being a monster. And I would kill you and possibly eat you, because… Because…

Why? Why are you so bloodthirsty, Sam? Why is every inclination of your soul only evil all the time? How did you come to be the monster that you are? What foul soul did you inherit from that psycho mother of yours? What black deeds must she and her kind have done, far away and long ago, so black and pitiless and cruel that they echo right down to you…?

Then he imagined his mother there.

And he couldn’t imagine a single thing he could possibly say to her. He couldn’t even bring himself to meet her eyes. He bowed his head.

“You’re weak.” In the back of his mind, he heard his mother’s words whispering down at him. “If you were strong, you could have killed him when you were a child. If you were strong, you could have escaped. If you were strong, you could have killed them all. If you were strong, you could have been worthy to stand, worthy to be called my son. If you were strong… If you were strong… If you were strong…

If I was strong…

Sam couldn’t cry. His eyes didn’t naturally have any tear ducts, for his body was slimy enough already. And he couldn’t’ scream. He’d never screamed before, only roared or snarled. But those were sounds for anger, for fight-or-flight, for pain of the body. He didn’t know what sound to make for this pain of the soul, or for this incredible, overpowering mortal fear. He knelt down on the floor and he wondered if he could pray at least.

Dear God.

Dear God…

…

God, I hate you too.

There was nothing else to say, nothing at all.

But a song did come to mind.

It was an old, classic song, one that McGucket used to play 30-something years ago, down in the lab on an old record player. It was long ago in Sam’s youth, and he hadn’t quite understood the meaning of the words back then. But he recalled them now, and now he understood. Indeed, it seemed as if it had been written for him, so he quietly recited it.

“Well, my name, it is Sam Hall, Sam Hall.

Yes, my name, it is Sam Hall, it is Sam Hall.

My name it is Sam Hall, and I hate you one and all.

And I hate you, one and all,

Curse your eyes.

…

I killed a man, they said, so they said.

I killed a man, they said, so they said.

I killed a man, they said, and I smashed in his head.

And I left him lying dead,

Curse his eyes.

…

But a-swinging, I must go, I must go.

A-swinging, I must go, I must go.

A-swinging, I must go while you critters down below,

Yell up, “SAM I TOLD YOU SO!”

Well curse your eyes.

…

I saw Mabel in the crowd, in the crowd.

I saw Mabel in the crowd, in the crowd.

I saw Mabel in the crowd and I hollered, right out loud,

“Hey there Mabel, ain’t you proud?

Curse your eyes.”

…

Then the sheriff, he came to, he came to.

Ah, yeah, the sheriff, he came to, he came to.

The sheriff, he come to and he said “Sam, how’re you?”

And I said, “Well, sheriff, how’re you?

Curse your eyes…”

…

My name is Samuel, Samuel.

My name is Samuel, Samuel.

My name is Samuel, and I’ll see you all in hell.

And I’ll see you all in hell.

Curse your eyes…”

He shifted one of his hands into a long, bony stinger. And he placed it under his chin. He lowered the bone density in his skull so that it would be easy and painless.

“…And I’ll see you all in hell…

…Curse your eyes…”

- Time:

- 2013 A.D., June 12th, 3:05pm (one hour previously)

- Place:

- Crash Site Omega (last known location of Wendy, Stan, McGucket, and Robbie)

A short time jump, a two-mile walk, and a seemingly endless ladder later, Ford and Mabel found themselves slowly and stealthily progressing through the engine room of the alien spacecraft. Mabel’s story mulled around in Ford’s head, while worry and anger built up in his chest.

“Wow, this place is creepy. How come you never brought me down here? Are there lots of aliens? It’s dirty down here. They must have run out of soap. And did they invent sparkles on their world? We need to take them to our glitter. Wow, di-”

“And you’re sure the Valentino boy was replaced?” Ford interrupted.

“Uh-huh.” She nodded. “You’re sure that he went down here with everyone?”

“Yes…” Ford hissed. His worry increased with the darkness and the silence and their depth beneath the ground, and his anger increased with Mabel’s constant talking and chattering and cheeriness. Why couldn’t she just calm down and be quiet? Didn’t she realized the danger wasn’t yet passed?

Eventually, the walls began to shake, and a great noise filled the air. Ford pulled Mabel for cover, and they sat there together in the dark, waiting for the noise to pass. Ford realized that it must be McGucket; he must have gotten the ship’s reactor working again… At least he hoped it was him… He hoped his friend was still alive, still in control… One worry on top of another.

“So what are we doing down here, again?” Mabel asked.

Ford’s patience was growing dangerously thin.

“We.” He growled. “Need to find the others, and warn them about the shapeshifter. There’s no telling where and when it has been, or what it did, before you trapped it. It could have been here right at this very moment…!”

“That last sentence was pretty confusing, but okay, I’ll be quiet!” Mabel whispered a little too loudly. “Wait, hold on, when are we right now? Are we in the present?”

“Every time is the present when you’re in it.” Ford rolled his eyes. “It’s a subjective term.”

“Brain hurting…”

“To answer your question, we’re about an hour before you stole the time machine from it. With any luck, that will prevent it from seeing us coming.”

“Hmm… Okay, yeah, but actually, I think he’s a ‘he’ not an ‘it’. I mean since he has a soul and everything.”

“What?”

“Right? I mean, living underground for so long probably made him really sad and angry. And now that he’s out, he got a name, and a mom, and he really started to… You know, really become his own person and everything… Like, his revenge is wrong and everything, but it still makes sense…”

“The… The… The ability to think…” Ford stuttered. “D-d-doesn’t make you a person. Neither does the ability to lie. But that doesn’t matter right now. All that matters is that we find everyone else, get them to safety, and get out again without being seen by something worse…”

“Stealth mode… Activated.” Mabel pulled her sweater up over her nose, and combed her hair into a ninja mask.

Ford paused to stare at her. “…Well, I’m glad you’re feeling better at least!” He suddenly burst. “You know, for a girl who just lost her brother to a murderous monster that she unleashed herself, you’re acting awfully chipper, you know that?”

That hurt.

But Mabel was used to hurt after all this. She’d already reached rock bottom today. Rock bottom was a terrible place to be… But Dipper had met her there. He’d still loved her there, and he’d helped her rise back up.

“He forgave me.” Mabel said.

Ford lost his temper as he stood up and continued down the passage. “Then he’s a BETTER MAN than I!”

That hurt even more.

Mabel was silent from that point on.

And Ford pushed onward, trying to ignore his own guilt, as he wondered if perhaps he was the one the shifter truly hated. Perhaps all of this was just an elaborate, contrived ploy to get back at him… Perhaps it’s all my fault. Perhaps that really was an intelligent creature I locked in my lab for all those years. Perhaps if I’d treated him as an equal, or a friend, or a child, then… No. NO! It’s an ‘it’! It’s evil! It killed! And it will kill again! Ford pushed his guilt, and his doubt, and all other cluttering, pointless thoughts toward the back of his mind. And he promised to think about it later; sometime when everything was safe. Sometime when he could afford to waste even a single moment on such thoughts. Sometime when real people, when humans, when family, weren’t in danger of death.

Finally, a dim yellowish light appeared not far ahead, reflecting green off the bluish walls. They rounded one last corner to find the light shining out through a crack in a heavy metal door; Ford recognized it as the entrance to the control room. Somebody must still be inside. Please be Fiddleford and Stan. Please be alive…

But then Ford noticed something very odd: this hallway had been rather empty the last time he’d been down here. But now it was messy; cluttered with debris and broken machinery and thousands of shards of shattered glass. He motioned Mabel to a standstill, and pulled out a magnet gun as he bent to inspect the wreckage. He recognized a lot of these parts; fusion pulse weapons, tentacled robot arms, and scraps of spherical glass shells, perhaps 2 meters wide.

“What’s all this clutter? Was this an alien attic or something?” Mabel whispered from his elbow.

“No, these are security drones… Or they were…” Ford poked at it with the barrel of the magnet gun.

“Are they all dead?”

“Well it definitely appears as if… Wait.” Ford’s eyes swept the carnage. Toward the opposite end, a single motor twitched. One of the red triangular eyes lit up briefly to look at him.

Ford flipped the gun to its pulse setting, and shot it. The red eye flashed, and sparks arced across its body, frying and scrambling its circuits. The remains of its artificial intelligence realized it ought to send some manner of report back to the central mainframe, but it was so frazzled that its last words ended up being nothing but an incoherent string of nonsense: “INTRUDERS DETECTED INCONCLUSIVE REFERENCE CODE RETURN THREAT LEVEL UPGRADED TO JELLY ROLL ONE: ERROR 443\]kl;/oij#JE’~~3Dde~~~…” It broadcasted with the last of its consciousness.

“Now they’re all dead.” Ford answered confidently.

“Okay. So-”

“OKAY WHAT WAS THAT?!?” A new voice spoke up, coming from the control room entrance. “That better not be you stupid fairy brats again! Because I swear, this is getting on my last nerve! C’mon out and show yourself!”

Ford spun on his heels. The narrow sliver of light creaked open to its full width, and the silhouette of his twin brother was suddenly standing in the gap.

“Ford?”

“Stanley?”

- Time:

- 2013 A.D., June 12th, 3:05pm (concurrent)

- Place:

- Crash Site Omega (Wendy)

It seemed like hours of walking, with the pain burning through every wound in her body, blood pooling from the spike in her stomach, and her legs stiff beneath her. It was probably only 20 minutes or something, but still.

Finally, she reached the control room at the ship’s center, and pulled the tape to jump back to right before she’d heard the ship’s engines going off; back when she’d first realized drones were being sent to kill McGucket and Stan.

She hit the ‘freeze’ button on the tape as she appeared, and took a moment to look around. Sure enough, there were no fewer than 8 drones approaching the control room, and sure enough, the old men had no idea what was coming. Stan was even asleep.

Ugh.

Well, they’re too high of the ground to use an axe… And I left the ray gun somewhere… Ugh… Oh hey, wait, McGucket brought that new death ray of his, didn’t he? Yeah, he has it down here…

She stumbled into the control room, unfroze the massive weapon, and brought it back outside.

Okaaaay, soo… How do you turn this thing on?

She messed with it for a couple seconds, flipping this switch and that, pulling the trigger, and scratching the record (why is there a record player?) Eventually she found a switch that made it make a whole lot of funny noises, and another one that turned on the ‘ignition’ light. The weapon roared to life in her hands, and a swirling, glowing pink ball of pure sci-fi-ness formed a few inches from the tip. She aimed it upwards at the first drone and pulled the trigger.

Wham.

The time-frozen room glowed with brilliant pink light for a moment, as the superheated beam tore through the robot’s shell. The grass cracked, the metal components melted, and its batteries violently burst.

But time was still frozen, so its debris just hung motionless in the air, mid-explosion, as Wendy aimed the weapon at the next drone.

Wham.

And the next.

Wham.

Wham.

Wham.

Wham.

Wham.

Wham.

Finally they were all dead, and Stan and McGucket were safe.

Huh. Wow. She looked down at the death ray. I actually REALLY like this thing. She unfroze time just long enough to watch the robots’ wreckage clatter to the ground, and catch the stench of warm smoke. Then she dropped the death ray where she stood, and stepped back into the shadow of a nearby pipe to think through strategy: Okay, so they’re safe, that’s a real load off. But now how do I find Sam? How do I get myself medical attention when I can’t trust anyone? How do I keep him from killing Mabel and Ford and everybody else? Where do I go from here?

Oh man, I’m still bleeding…

Every time she thought about her injury, it seemed to be getting worse. And always she seemed to be getting tired faster. Things were getting… Weird… And every time she sat down, it was harder and harder to force herself to stand back up.

After 10 minutes of balancing torture and sleep, she was forcefully drug out of her brooding by the sudden loud discharge of a magnet gun.

“OKAY WHAT WAS THAT?!?” Stan’s distant voice mirrored her thoughts. “That better not be you stupid fairy brats again! Because I swear, this is getting on my last nerve! C’mon out and show yourself!”

Wendy forced herself to an upright sitting position, and peaked around the pipe to see what was happening.

Much to her surprise and suspicion, she saw two guests that she’d presumed dead.

“Ford?”

“Stanley, is that you?”

“Bro, why are YOU down here? I told you to get some rest!”

“The real question is why y’all’re down here!” Mabel piped up. “It’s colder and creepier than the county jail down here! Heck, creepier than a unicorn dungeon! Dare I say, even creepier than a gnome drunk-tank!”

“Mabel!” Stan noticed his great niece standing there with him. “Sweetie! Are you okay? What’re you…? What’re you both doing down…?”

“Stanley give me your hand.” Ford commanded, rushing up to him. “Here. Now. Give it. Quickly and quietly now; we haven’t got all day. Mabel, stand guard, would you?”

“What woah hey what’s the matter with-” Stanley began to protest as Ford grabbed his wrist, drew a small knife, and pricked a hole in Stan’s palm. Stan drew his hand back as fast as he could react, and clutched his wounded fist to his chest. “OW HEY GEEZ FORD WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!? YA COULDA KILLED ME!”

“I… I was just…” Ford looked at the drops of red fluid trickling out of his brother’s fist. “Red blood. Good. My apologies, it was a necessary evil. Stanley, we’ve got a-”

“Look poindexter, I don’t gotta put up with this! I’m OLD!”

“We’ve got a problem.” Ford continued. “Where’s Robert?”

“I said I’m too old for this!” Stan gave one last try at driving the idea appropriately far into his brother’s brain. “TOO. OLD… And wait, who in Stalin’s pits is ‘Robert’…?”

“The Valentino boy! Shaggy, gangly little creature. Wears a hoodie? Eyeliner? Human, I believe.”

“…Oh you mean Robbie? Yeah, he was here earlier. McGucket said he ran off with Wendy about an hour ago. Thought they’d be back by now.”

“Oh, blast it all…” Ford nervously glanced about.

Wendy sighed, and drew her axe. If Ford and Mabel were real, then that was 4 of her friends accounted for, and she could get their help. But if one of them was the Shifter… She didn’t know how she’d face him in her current state, but it would be better to get it out of the way now than later. “ALL RIGHT YOU TWO…” She announced, as loudly and strongly as she could muster. “HERE’S HOW IT IS.”

Everyone turned about, looking for the source of her voice. Ford drew a ray gun and pointed it toward her hiding place in a fit of panic.

“Stan 2…” She struggled upright, using her axe like a walking stick. “You… You know about the shapeshifter… Which means you either beat him, or you are him. So… So prove the first one or I swear I’ll, like… Do something bad…”

“Uh… I can vouch for him!” Mabel spoke up. “He ain’t been out of my sight!”

“And I can vouch for Mabel…” Ford said. “But now YOU… Uh… You’d better be the real Wendy…!”

Wendy figured that was proof enough. Or maybe it wasn’t… Oh, heck if she knew. And even if it wasn’t, she couldn’t fight like this…

She stepped out into the light.

She was bleeding the color red from enough places that they no longer found her suspect.

“Geez, girl, you alright?!?” Stan took in her injuries. “C’mon, sit down! What got ya?”

“Uh…” Wendy finally seemed to partially relax, and let Stan lead her over to a big, round alien chair in the control room. “You… You guys are all okay… You’re all alive. I thought…”

“Wendy, I’m dreadfully sorry, but we have bigger problems!” Ford told her. “We have reason to believe that the Shapeshifter had a parent, likely possessing time-travel capabilities of far-reaching extent. Have you s-”

“Neutralized.” Wendy collapsed into the chair, while Stan fumbled with a first aid kit. “I… T-t-took care of it.”

Ford blinked. “You… Did? It’s captured?”

“Dead.” Wend winced as Stan lifted her jacket to inspect the wound. “She’s dead.”

Mabel put her hand over her mouth. “You killed her?”

Ford frowned. “Are you sure?”

“Yeh.” She grunted quietly.

“Uh…” Ford noticed the greenish filth covering her shirt and forearms for the first time, and was shocked to realize it was all blood. “Uh… Y-y-yes…” He stuttered. “I should think so…”

“Where’s…” Wendy grunted. “W-w-where’s the other one? The first one? Has anyone seen him?” She fixed her eyes on Ford and Mabel. “YOU’VE seen him. Where is he? I’m going to kill him too…”

“The heck you are!” Stan growled, as he kept pressure on her wound with one hand, and rustled through the first-aid kit with the other. “I ain’t no doctor, but you’re in a real bad way, so you’re staying right here until we get ya patched up. You shouldn’t even be walking!”

“Yeah… Yeah I am…!” Wendy pulled a time tape out of her pocket, and coughed. “I know I am, because this one just came flying out of the air at me at the start of the battle, and there’s no way for me to get it except prying it from his cold dead hands and that means I-”

“Wait…” Ford snatched the machine from her grip, and inspected it closesly. It was perfectly identical to the one they’d taken from Sam, right down to the same exact dents and scrapes. He pulled its duplicate out of his pocket. “No, we already did… It’s the same one…”

Wendy stared. “…You mean… You got him…?”

Ford nodded. “Neutralized…”

Wendy blinked tiredly. “Oh.”

“And so if I’m understanding this right, this one a past version of this one…” Ford held up the two tapes. “You have to help me understand this, I-”

“Ford.” Stan growled, as he glared at his brother. “I’ve got my fingers in this girl’s INNARDS trying to pull out a HARPOON, and you’re trying to TECHNOBABBLE with her. Stop talking.”

“…Well. Wait…” Ford scratched his head. “Okay. I know how I can help. I know what I can do… I just need to know where this ‘fight’ is…”

All of a sudden, there was a flash of blue light, and another Ford appeared standing in the room, looking as if weary from a journey. “Well, that’s that…” The second Ford sighed. He glanced at present Ford. “Take the Norther cargo doors out of the engine room, then follow the 3rd hallway on the left as far as it goes. You’ll reach a loose hatch in the left wall near where it’s collapsed, and you can find your way from there.” She pointed to the tape he’d taken from Wendy. “Use that one to return to now.”

“Got it.” The first Ford nodded.

“Also, don’t interfere with anything!” The second Ford added. “DON’T interfere. It already happened the way it did. She got hurt, but she won, so you don’t DARE even RISK messing ANYTHING up…”

“Understood.” Present Ford disappeared, and everybody was left staring at the second Ford: the one who’d just come back from completing the final mission.

“That… That’s that…” Ford sighed.

“That’s it…?” Wendy whispered, scarcely daring to believe it. “That’s it…” She realized it was true, and had a feeling as if a great load had suddenly been lifted from her shoulders.

“What’s it?” Mabel scratched her head.

“I’m kinda perplexified by what gist happened…” McGucket admitted.

“I’ve learned to accept my confusion for what it is.” Stan had totally ignored everything in the past two minutes. But now he sat back, wiped his hands on his shirt, and looked at his brother. “Okay, I think I got the bleeding stopped; least until we can get back to the Shack. So. Now we can talk.”

“Okay… I’ll see if I can put this into simple words…” Ford adjusted his glasses and prepared. “So… Wendy… Ah… Wendy just got through with a… Fight. A very… Intense fight; I watched the whole thing. And… I now no longer doubt Stanley’s claim that her father can wrestle a bear. Also… Wendy, I have to say that you’re much smarter and tougher than I ever gave you credit for. And I don’t doubt that your grit, ingenuity, and unsettlingly high tolerance for pain just saved all our lives.”

“Gee thanks.” She mumbled. “But you coulda helped out too while you were there…”

“Couldn’t risk it.” Ford stated briefly. “Now, moving on. A number of… ‘Stable time loops’ were employed during all today’s events. Things happened the way they did because time travel forced them to happen the way they already did. Information and persons traveling backward through a stable time-like curve result in recursive causality.”

“Ford.” Stan frowned. “Yer technobabbling again. We’ve talked about this.”

“Sorry, sorry… Anyway… To summarize, things were weird.” Ford summarized. “But now… To the very best of my knowledge, all those time loops are ‘closed’. That is, we’ve completed all the actions needed to make things happen the way they have. And, by some miracle of either talent, intelligence, luck, or all three, the way they happened is that we won. It’s all done. We are now officially free to live out the rest of our lives without fear of the Shapeshifters.”

“You mean Sam and his mom.” Mabel corrected him.

“I…” Ford considered that. “Yes… Yes… Sam and it’s… And his mom. We are free to live without fear of Sam and his mother.”

“But we won’t.” Wendy muttered.

“Hmm?” Ford clarified. “What did you say?”

“We won’t.” Wendy repeated. “Dipper’s dead. And we ain’t gonna leave him that way.”

“Oh, and also Robbie!” Mabel added. “Robbie’s probably dead too.”

“And Robbie.” Wendy agreed. “Right… Keep forgetting about him. But anyway, we’re going to save them. And… Okay. I’ve been thinking about it, and I think I’ve got a good plan. I think that if I went back alone, there’s one single moment that I could change. And if I change it, if I knew then what I know now, then none of this would have happened. I know exactly where I need to go…”

“Well…” Ford winced as he looked down at the tape. “I’m… I’m not sure we can undo Dipper’s death with these. They seem to form stable time loops only and-”

“There’s a switch on the side.” Wendy sighed. “When it’s engaged, you don’t time-travel like normal, it just beams back your brain. It replaces a version of yourself at a previous date. Good for fixing mistakes, I guess.”

“Oh.” Ford flipped the switch, and then stared at the tape again for a minute or so. “But…” His voice was small. “But if we undo everything…”

“Yep. Sam’s mom will be back alive.” Wendy admitted, wishing she could forget that detail. “And Sam will be back in the bunker. It’ll be like nothing happened, because nothing did.”

“You… You saw her though!” Ford wished he wasn’t making the argument that he was. “You saw how dangerous she is! How psychopathic she is! How many people she’s killed! You LIVED through the experience of how MUCH it takes to DESTROY her! We CAN’T risk undoing that! Suppose she catches even the faintest HINT of what happened?!? She could be anywhere, anyone, anywhen…! She-”

“That’s less important!” Wendy retorted.

“It’s not that simple!” Ford pleaded. “Do you have any idea how lucky we were today?!?”

“I have an idea that I didn’t fight across time and space just to hide for the rest of my sorry, miserable life!” Stan tried his best to stop her, but Wendy pushed him aside and struggled to her feet, pressing her arm to her stomach to keep the bandages in place. She stepped right up into Ford’s face, and glared. “I did it because my best friend died, and I want him back…” She told him. “Now if it’s all the same to you, I’m tired, I’m in pain, and I just want to start fresh. So GIVE me back that tape, or YOU are an obstacle.”

“…Ms. Corduroy.” He said. “Be reasonable-”

“Mabel, go for it.” Wendy sighed.

Mabel leapt off a high shelf, and landed on Ford’s back. Her arms and legs all entwined themselves about his face and right arm, and her hair got in his eyes. He stumbled a little bit and almost fell over, so Wendy kicked him in the chest to finish the job, and the time machine flew out of his hand and into the air.

By the time Ford regained his composure, he was lying on the floor, bruised and coughing. Wendy and Mabel were standing over him.

And Stan had caught the tape.

“Stanley…” Ford coughed. “Stanley, you… We… You must realize this is foolishness…! You know we can’t do this again…!”

Stan stared at the tape.

He thought about it all for a good long minute.

“Y’know Poindexter…” He hummed. “When we were out sailing the world this last year… When we heard the siren’s song, did we turn around?”

“We… What?” Ford frowned.

“No. We didn’t.” Stan said. “What did we do? We pulled out our hearing aids, we sailed right in, we kicked their tails, and we found a whole chest of pearls, now didn’t we?”

“Well… Well, yes, I suppose we did, but what does that have to do with-”

“And how about when we ran into that bounty hunter? Did we hide from her? What woulda happened if we hid from her?”

“Then… Then we would have had to leave the rocket launcher behind…?” Ford frowned. “…And… I don’t know, probably would have been defenseless against the cyclocks…”

“And how about that one warlord? If we woulda put up our hands and backed out of that business, we’d be permanently banned from Peru, not to mention never meeting all those babes in that harem of his…”

“We’re in mixed company, Stanley.” Ford glanced toward the children.

“And how ‘bout Bill?!?” Stanley demanded. “When Bill had you during Weirdmageddon, WE were all SAFE! We coulda RAN! Left the town scot-free! Instead these morons drag me along to give up everything for your stupid hide, and wouldn’t ya know it, we just so happened to save this whole lousy dimension along the way!”

Ford nodded.

“And my brain…” Stanley said. “Soon as my mind was wiped, you all started right in helping me back up; mixing up old memories, tickling the old thinker, making me a Grunkle again… Even though ya must’ve worried that you might’ve been stirring Bill up too… Ya coulda left it be, but nooooo, instead you loved me too much, and now we all gotta worry that maybe he’s still rattling around in there, kicking stones and twisting wires…”

“If he ever comes back we can deal with it…” Ford growled.

“That’s what I’m saying!” Stan agreed. “That’s seriously, like, the moral of our entire adult lives; that we DON’T RUN…! Remember, we’re PINES! And Pines don’t leave family behind. We stand by each other through thick and thin… We’re there for each other! No matter what! Seriously, get your head in the game, poindexter…”

Ford’s eyes fell.

The room was silent for a moment.

“All right.” Ford whispered.

Stan handed the tape to Wendy. “Go get ‘em, sweety.”

“But…” Ford implored. “But we don’t know what’ll happen… Nobody can know…”

“HA HA! Well that’s the funny thing, isn’t it?” Stan chuckled. “Cause we kinda DO! Wendy here says she actually once met a future version of herself!”

“Dude.” Wendy frowned at him.

“Yeah!” Stan continued, with a beaming smile. “She was all grown up and everything! And this freaky chick says that her and Dipper are actually married by then! Can ya believe that?!?”

“What.” Ford’s expression went blank.

“EH?” McGucket almost dropped his glasses.

“SQQUEEEEE!” Mabel instantaneously lost all motor control.

“…You did not just say that.” Wendy glared at her Grunkle. “You gave me your word. You scumbag.”

“Wha-haaaaat? I’m rootin’ for ya babe!” Stan put up his hands and took a step back, smiling broadly. “And besides, this timeline is all gonna get undone anyway, so it’s not like I really spoiled anything!”

“This close.” Wendy growled, holding up her fingers to a very narrow width. “This close to having a brick shoved up your nose.”

“Okay, okay, you’re right, you’re right. I’m sorry… Yeah, uh… Okay, that wasn’t cool.” Stan glanced down at Mabel, rolling around on the floor and frothing at the mouth just a little. “Yeah, uh… Hmm… I guess you better get outta here then…”

“Darn right I better…”

“Hey.” He put a hand on Wendy’s shoulder. “You done good kid. I, uh… I dunno what to say besides that this reality bites, so you go back and make a better one. You knock ‘em dead, you grow up to be that hero, and watch out for my nephew, hey? Make sure he does the same.”

“Yeah.”

“And also. You proved me right, kid.” He said sincerely. “This was your day to shine. Even if nobody saw it, you did it, and you proved for good an all that you are that hero. Hope he knows that.”

Wendy nodded.

“…Wait.” Ford said.

They looked down at him.

He stood slowly to his feet, a look of sorrow on his face. “I’m… I’m the villain in this story… I am, aren’t I.”

“The heck are you on about?” Stan frowned at him. “Y’know we’ve got time-traveling booger monsters runnin’ around, not ta mention killer robots up the wazoo…”

“No, I…” Ford rubbed his face through his hands. “I mean… Is it my fault, for treating… For treating ‘Sam’ like I did? Are they just monsters? Or are they people?”

“I treated ‘im bad as you…” Mumbled McGucket. “Like livestock…”

“Hey, what’s done is done.” Stan spread his arms. “Ya didn’t know all this back then, right?”

“But am I still the bad guy?” Ford asked. “Are they people? Do they think, feel, live, choose…”

“I dunno…” Wendy shrugged. “I guess so.”

“Then…” Ford nodded. “That means he has a soul. And that means I misused mine. That means that wrong was done… Uh… Would you mind… When you go back, would you mind telling past-me what happened? You don’t have to tell him everything, just… Just, he would have liked to know what could have been avoided… He’d like to know about the shapeshifter… And about who he is… It occurs to me that I’m sorry for what I did to him. It occurs to me I imprisoned him, and treated him unfairly for many years. If he ever could have been anything more than a monster… I’d have liked to know.”

Wendy nodded again. “Alright.”

“Biscuit Brown.” Ford added. “Carrot Costume.”

“Wait, what?”

“Tell past-me that.” Ford nodded. “‘Biscuit Brown’, and ‘Carrot Costume’… They’re codes. So that he’ll know that it’s serious.”

“Okay…” Wendy repeated the codes to herself with a shrug. They were bizarre, and nonsensical, but that’s part of what made them easy to remember. She fished out the pull-tab of the tape measure. “Guess this is goodbye, then, ish.”

“WAITWAITWAIT *cough* I GOTTA *cough* I JUST REMEMBERED THAT I’VE GOTTA COME TOO!”

“No.” Wendy told Mabel.

“BUT! UH! …But what about Robbie? I gotta stop him from going underground where he could get snagged by the shapeshifter! That means I definitely have to come back with you and uh incidentally know your secret also but that’s just a side detail I mean really who cares…”

“Well…” Wendy knew that, objectively, Robbie’s safety was much more valuable than Mabel not knowing. If it meant him living, Mabel had to come. She glared at Stan. “Now look what you’ve did.”

“Sorry.” He winced.

“Okay…” Wendy realized that she was too tired and worn and injured to even care. She glanced back at Mabel. “Fine… But if you tell anyone else…”

“Even Dipper?”

“Especially Dipper… Ugh… If you tell then I’ll…! I’ll… I dunno, I’ll do something bad… Okay?”

“Okay! I get it. You don’t have to worry. And besides, my vast network of spies would have eventually found out anyway, so it’s probably better this way.”

“…Yeah, I suppose that makes sense.”

Wendy held up the time machine, double-checked that the switch was in ‘unstable’ mode, and gripped her hand around the ‘backward’ button.

Mabel put her hand on the device too, so that the field would encompass both of them.

Wendy checked the time on her phone, then pulled the tape out to 4 days, 2 hours, and 15 minutes, then double-checked her math.

She knew where she was going.

This was going to work.

“Bye friends!” Mabel said. “We go to the past in the name of the future!”

“Adios.” Stan gave thumbs-up.

“Smell ya later!” Fiddleford danced a little jig.

Ford sighed, and closed his eyes. “Farewell.”

“And that’s all she wrote…” Wendy released the tape.

Voom.

Ph qry ermw, zvy ygo lgnlr bzs.

Dhw’v ysfzysev los nyufgzl vt mgkydafn hbv xpsl gm vyi rtfw ophb yox, wgjrwhx cttz zpa, zzmstafn kckn sie, jlgnztr walo vcd… Vprzswg nykj cgmsr lrode s uowfu zzgwlosl, igtsw s mogzrj; a tjlsx knlt ogbzx xxzw dsyuyi gyd klychxkc afv tclv vzwwjmif, lteid los zlzfrw ovifu hp swubfy wuc hwj jvccjcef, sur nykj cgmsr cenlbal h kiiro ox losci uhn… Al dom r jcese avyp nld kzhfyu, gyd vjlog knpy zsk zimko, ak ebqb ry ehwq’k zimko esuo cnykc.

Bml os qry oesv ucq.

Yk hak vlox.

Rto wzwys qry dhw?

Los zfm zf mfjchjitomkusmj ywoodf zcwzpd sfk gbv uaefwk vyi kjek, lv hubk sej xpfmk mzov dvce rz sej flk bfsp.

Il ohg u egcrgo, jmfztorauhz jiodof, oocmv zlld, ktcikn haddz kyik mrgclb ierj bq s zaucr xelss bcgvwe, darsfp csejw mciu czudv is xzyaefklr. Uej ehw xscii cls kdvdyu oywsjk zcbk l szsszin iznw, lvkuij l djspb wfbprwv pb zztp mwko; zcbkwy ewhbn ku noddlqn ykc ujaus uej hakll. Gbv ylt mh hbx dugev sycoej ehw jvcg, rto fgmur ck zz bw kv ggrrw tzsa gbv izudv acotn molz zwxvy lt gfjs.

Myk aewjlr wcudedq hh nyk comfk kucrd, afv mcoej ehsl avyp cprw kswayzwy ljhbmggcefl; hg cw yse owys fzbtny augcuk l gayhbnzi eekl aivv. Uftkaks nyk eutw zhifj wofy swhvy zf glosl kamek au juiozuk kpnyj, gyd af isnnkpn lzlfy nkce ogyyvvtnhwk, sov vwfihelbn, rto sljhbav, zpnlsjzyu iceslbfyj ge wgjr.

Gbv xpcgyuwtvj ehwkl qlvgeujwz; hbve hejw avy jgxe ozpqb ygo ifnhryu npr ogyzx; knp ssel kbzis hsv ksmtkydwv mfid zse kcf hi iulm oaav wrxpfjwl oougnilq; avy jgxe ozpqb ygo kadssx ykc pwgwzy; knp ssel kbzis hsv rwfcko hae.

Hg nyk xifmasm konkwv im uej ehwq wocu npr fg ucnzip, szw zon lv lnv tluue zz wsljv nykx.

Il ibwwbrj bwuhay trpaj lv vyi zsal losmv vlrlajifrx nrwsailvy hejw uscknpr ugueovxprk fvf qrxcigjz, wh wgnt lzlm qvxp nglowhx szrw looh jiteflpgnj, czrcauu nf gyadqgs uej fnvwygnrto add avy kntnyk avyp nld xgbbx. Knpy kwlayu kicallr, okzprdq lbuducev ophb knpij ovfe rto tzwpf wlxtomkphs rto tzw zdyckydav ysmlres gx avyzx dtjsuuy kkdtk. Wphbvx oivf’a yhfc zr vakb’n tgce stvin knp ssnhuy dkehgvz ps nntcz loss’u gnqmaysx knpij kbpdvies.

Wnlbnlgwlq loss dgoe lzlwl ngj dgou hbv rtnw lv vyi zfbw, sur vvmln lg asmk npr.

Lzlm mkank kehzf kuzlk auhi ykc pjazch ku aocw hbx gxzd zwy. Hcjyfe kstdfvy hejw aoevt. Hijwz kyik waav vjyi npr kuhzj ku dcjmawhzfp hwj twhu. Zsejehz, r-igj, afv tcfviflsj kwmgrlcwelbn zslgafn uumk ehwe cwyny lnv yyojyy zf wnlfs jwfajw pbwy uq hwj icxp. Yzmw gm hbv zpslk oilk. Yzmw gm hbvs hejw pbprytvw. Kvay fl ehwe sszk npr laysx rto afyym.

Vlz ehjgbub zz lld, kos hvbpr yscs og npr jwzcfmk lnv zlf wrrx. Afv hg nyk somjz hctqpd tq hbx kacnwv pbnf jlyk, kos qrznhwv avyd, pfsl sz qffyplq sz hbve haluosx ykc. Szw dontnpd lzla fzqp a tayr qrznhwk wfyp, rtkw s nihjrtnywy kukisek s jvucrpnywy, zcbk l dwllqnzbp wsljvyj zse egcsgvte ox s zvuuuhy wflas. Jnp lakashvj eo lzlwl cgygmsns, uej dhw ohhwyko tzwpf avyeujwz ohu zseaj isbrbtojk, hbx jnp csel hi ltoejkaohu zsee. Muryiyeafv avy jizpw sur jlxaokw vt nyktr ogyy, uej ehw kpny rto cgewzyooey gx avcj ysih, sur nyge hwj vkh grlnwl dome’z ehw xpfmk zz rwulwpv yfcz lysukspnl.

Kos ymkytmsszs tgxe lg bbxvxdtsfk hbvs aejxlqnce.

Lnv kos brzpd lzla.

Fftr bwxvfy knp twkag brj noehssnvj, hhadl gbv cls klpzf zt ehw eprmk uq hwj woce, csef kos qry qewdpba ry dmsds ohu gd hwdwzyjy ls kzl spvx, dhw dvcevj zul sa vyi kyeealg, uej xavw osl uknikavb.

Myk xavw hb irzs.

Szw zkiik fpgf owm jufl lzhh myk homdk opvtre zat. Gbv yhojw avuk yse ogbzx fbprugts ucr ehwkl tilr ehafng; mtopnlazhm, juwdawyg, gftdtwjz, ofzkys, sfk shkoce sjtwyj… Yse kovfy knlt kzl kilro gjgd— Ulfc fnlas gbv hpcsel hbv WFEWF vt nyod vwkzsf, rto tzsa gbv czudv RWFC kgejq zwhxrp msf, dcgrt, lnv kuwpvrtny uowfu zsal dpjyu uybgsyr…

Myk dwgjl wn. Lvzn zaz ayducy, sfk ijft lld los xiklmk loon knpy zsk rlvgxt, kzl gqfxp il. Sur qyky szw oox ykc ohhvfnltttq, oosh jknujaam qvte lsp, dvye gwl osz eozke afv avyp gwl zsk hbvoc bsurg nlxyev… Kos qfawd sua ijft tt.

Al dom ftwy s ehhnvx zf lats.

Uej xesfdvcck, dhw ovifu yfrnacs.

“Sfac bagscazill kanbukace vglgh’k sltuz dwny gyy gx avy fzsej uysukacek au vyik, lnv gbf hvacodgnwwrr dcsfz whuonalw avuk ezu darsfp vzskwzg mfsp dwyysy fl deflpshtk. Xojwvjyi, ezu zscsh’k xpshguryu zz tzw asmky ls sf hbcdgw wgmsr, fvgoify bg nf hplawcs nyge ygm hfy zteeflpchrrwy zakwhx ezuj siwfzztek sur cezpldanshtk… Mul… Tbh qv’xp ngl oslv zz hmja mil. Cp rwsszs rxpn’l, A dohk ezu lg bbxvxdtsfk hbrz. He bmzh qrte tg cucq puf. Ww’jl qoiozuk, jpubk? Ezu cfvk qyge cmjpcoj od, dgf’a mil…? Yz… Sg am mil iln mfksljzlnv el, cl zl jom’jl qidvcezwurcem lnqlowhx O’x ssqpba, grpakw nwpv yzmw kvfn fl diyf… P fyrrwy vgu’h gvgy ygm hbs ygcm…”

Kzl zifqpd mh hh Xi. &X/\MJ sk os nrrvev, sur myk fnvwygnfuo pwjmswkrj. Sgelvin zse ‘mfpjyiyll ljhbmcgeoj’ (gy kbrzpvwj os wrrwev loon ukgiuw) zsydko tg tl qidsfnauhhcem oijwjhfp oytg zlf vigtn, kg avuk zse ewhbcem mezaur Xi. &X/\MJ’k fhgucrj, slmjy-og bziuw dom zsaokkppfv zz makz. Pok yse vakb’n ikdpgfk myk. Oy ojvlf zfx ehak ac af npr osf, vy ygo tg ylh bzs eo ljbgn ykc. Szw oox ku rel zpa nf rpt zaz uorxo dgou.

“Dfvgde, s kpuh. Rtj sayu on rrw, rwsszs… Puf kfgd, ky ygo ygm zhiiko walo hbv ayifllzfzmpnl uhfaf, jzwf au hbv rzwwj sspvrd. Ix qvi jiuge lg hqnlgwlq tl o mvteiwfa pyztr, ww uvifu aagjsks sfac salbonzuy walo qyizlif sjqidszdslpchj; lfld-kpnyu wfajllfm, modilgyg, u mgciwlf cz dkllk… Qvi xft’e swwt hi cove lzl ofxgw pskas, vlz he usu tusxtcsll ayrz ls owsz, ii… Uc sowlhm? Uu jom dpyy jcpelk? Johue…?”

Ehak dom ftp ox los mtopnlazhm nnz pjgisx ykc (dav avyp zsifc zvy tuflvf’a fyturnarl vcd?). Hft mfswev zse gloslj, np swwtsx boyd. Kzl’r bvgcd zat cvaknt lg h tyn uq tzw tclv oyvskpjy kkdtk, zl’r xiuapwv swnkrp tjwhhm zteo zwy tyvjtny lbpy wxzm lats nf ztmw, sur bv’j lscwk cpvx lnv gcsl wuc tzw jvueip tg kwsub cttz zlf xzxpcldf. Vy iklldq dom rt sofwzh, qvrw-mwsuwhx, qtnvdf cfu sln, oaavilz lnq ehzctozuk auhyeztofk mcl knp cjwhhoikd hw kaixzko.

“Rwsszs…” Yk znuw huuzt cehwhhyu. “Xpaddf, W xf clnl ooon’j hpsl xvf sfa… Oo qgb… Ri puf hsnl o hrsp? Hsnl o avtoej? Kvaykntny qvi qrte? Afq xiyjztofk mcl dk? Lrw qvi nyk daew zdytops sk avy yudtadlg qyonh slaowbko omj lljcucalavb nvgx…?”

Szw nzueipd sl avy fzsej kjwyeztslk, hg cw yse osz ozigtd gx avyd. Jc. &R/\TB mfintpd, jwjcaeokify osl tuycwju. “Ib… Ln, homdk mil stnv kasjgoyg gma cz knp rggt tii g xoewuh, avtelwelb…?” Bv kycgmyoavj sik uvzfvgruwk, dvcck eujflr ungj fjgt hbv stcjgwviek. “T, uz… A oopv gy ivwh. W nyoyk kzl’g dlye susysx.”

Knpy vak om ztdtjmjhyu, gyd Vj. &Y/\PD kacnwv iowb zz hwj. “Ds’lv gwofw ucq…”

“…De… Xy fsts… Gp tlmw az ███████.” Gbv yaocw pb bvx yalacs frtrusyl, hi uodgmazs nyk qudd llnvte ox zlf cezpldanshtk.

“Fh…” Vj. &Y/\PD jkpmwv zvitqpd. “Owsz bvrwo!” Zw isudko. “I-a-aa’g mf bprq fpqy ku xewl fco, ███████! Knlt’k s cslp rzvwdf budk, fh… A’e zc acgo ygm kswzjpd lg afojz xe…”

“Qgb’fy r ttcw ehb…” Myk fswv h ggrrw taepr pfone, dars nyge ox s scmk mtrd, lv rcjmfikw osl dgwiuw. “P’a mfxcy A vprh’k zllc, A dom aadt kg zquiko, afv P kuezpd lg owxv… Gce… Sjl as dux afv kox zt sejw aci?”

Yk rlsfjsx rxzufv uslmufsdq mcl r ypcgfk. “Ob… Nkwl, fg… Uc, C’d yzrjq, iin pufr egavyi gyd xsavyi… Axm… Vakb’n dgve al. Iin nk’ce sds bctk aeghss bvxp! Ww’jl bik mzify ac blxe ygm! Fco tgy hsnl o hvc soew oslv…”

Gwl zaz kiijd wwjl zcvy, mul kos jzknev lvuyknpr kgts mtxlpk gm hllzs. Sg los myoa mmka vumk wexl vil nuclv. Ol aojz lld tl offtp ngo, vin zt ehw efgnvxtomk cccu. Zsejw pg hf nplh xvf gv, hft lzlfy zy llkg uc bvra fgj avyd… “Axm…” Kzl gbllqlwv osl wkpt. A flsx duce afmcldgeigf. P byvj waqgbhm fl oeucz, shxoyek, uoocey zf ugtauej. T nwwk cok. “Yz… Wzsa wm knts hdhqy vdlcldf?”

Hbv qtnv kjwyeztsl ohgnvj yo lats ce ucgsfpncem l tgmy, gi vgrej ohg bv zz fgkasl tuxmmfpqukozn sfk uifjhidd dwny zsik flkfp-jtsugcslvj tnlwszcxkyt damszfxx. Hw zhr bvx alsulr ce g xuuz avcetpr, hgyhusrp cgfaocekc, afv lgwfxeev zlf nyxzuyz avy cuh-swubfcke lrwsz cz knp szaw, gbfctny zlf nyod afv avuk, kipdspbcem soo los aiggilq kfcmk hojclr, uej ehw zfdyijcinw, hbx knp gqjvgwfvps sfk hbv oxpjgiovzrttq uvflvieigf kmhrszs. Sfk gbv gdkwv awgzj willss mkaaiv ibsmkoznk oowwy np afkdslvj eo lzl pyjz zf zaz ovzrttq.

Oosh knprw ohg zztlldq uc gfxp tg tl uuztpd lzycoxn eadc, zvy rieev. Kos mygaekzptnvj qoj los zzxdt lats mztne zwy shkxlpewuh, nrqtny gu o zfxx sljvba vtzuyz ac viklk lzycoxn ehw ysomj.

Yse jawdyu Jc. &R/\TB’z hbiult gma. Gbv gwsg cpzfvj 6 xojw wsigrp wzg oojgkyev lv py jzlnvauu hvgcbq, sur mgxlywv h hioon sdats uiufnv lv rykkc pmjziyiy. Dhw sas bvx qidd mfid zse tgkwyj (oe wsk zc afuo tg zhjy dklt syhwh), knpn vmjyyu oytg los pvteidsawie yjslwt, kbvxp szw oox r isaful hi jntfl auhi knp fgjt cz r jtfxwyshk yniwfawmk, gyd ugtdijk sejklzz nntlw kos jikaajwk hi gxzpwjsm celtlljhhy knp cjwd.

Pok zse kwjhii cpnl auhi cunkvgdb glis fskasl knln kzl srgkntwv, avy mkytadhhcft ouulz gyrrpd gxm, ohu zse kasshk, lwoslpba xalrvk jogv. Gwtzgbub knpsw jvihu, yeajauu grisifwz kyik calzlf mkaaiv au hbvoc oof ywayz, dhw uvifut’e fggs hbvoc bagtsnion swfzclj; zseq olfy nkwl wibwjgko tg kls nyxzuyz osl uodgmazs. Mf, hpfgjl hbvoc msff kyrvznk, kos mlxcefvlfyu gyd dwa vyiyplx tl rycogejwk putq eo lzl hosk.

Tt kwlayu rtkw s zhyg hlcc, tbh ck clsf’l, mcl jnp hsv ssuitpd. Dwhfhvj zf lzl quggmidaawyj uq hwj lbydops, sfk gidkehafn cz knpij oloeekdswk. Hg nyk hewcz ohu zsokw pbnf sznlzz, ohu gd tzw wceztr afv wfiujtny sur jiumify jchkoyuwv dwnyuft uwhgy, ykc pdsug ymuwvwv hbx xxpw. Xjva bvx eiew vin knprw, kos jlz eoywavyi sptzgkg nf uftoaa hbv jcofwz, hi seaakk scwbjzwfk, ac ezrw enwu aiik aeghss.

Myk vnwo ocq.

Jnp wgmsr mlxginw.