#hq mascots

[mitiafrapp]

HQ tower

[pixelatedraindrops]

Getting sick from the rain? Jeez. You’re so pitiful, master…

…but as your adorable partner I can’t just leave you to suffer. So don't worry, I’ll help you out!

I’m forever haunting you, in sickness and in health 🌡️👻

[godofthestupid]

ok ok,the last few polls were very close especially for WuWa,so for next week I'm taking it out of the poll,but for the next next week it'll be only WuWa prompts

so for next week

[diltonsstrangescience]

A moment of appreciation, please, for these unreasonably adorable evil lackeys.

[rmorde]

Nanami saved the bakery girl like in canon but before he could leave, the owner of the shop comes out from the kitchen. In any other situation, this would have change nothing but the owner can actually see curses!

The poor owner is almost at his wit's end because he can see monsters invading his business but was helpless at getting rid of them.

He was tempted to have his bakery exorcised before but the monk recommended to him by a friend made the hairs at the back of his neck stand on its end It was Geto.

So, the owner tried to resort to various remedies from salt to charms. They were effective at first but were steadily losing potency over time. He doesn't know what to do. But then this customer came in and destroyed the monster like nothing! He was not about to let the man go.

That's how Nanami found himself employed in the bakery. It was a surreal experience. His original plan was to call Gojo so he could return as a sorcerer but the owner, a passable Window at best, begged him to stay and work for their shop.

Apparently the location has some ill luck. It is a natural hub for curses.

Nanami decided maybe he could hit two birds with one stone here. Sorcery work is tolerable shit but bakery work is heavenly. Maybe the latter could tip the scale of the former into much more palatable shit. His conscience would remain clean and he could indulge in his secret baking hobby courtesy of his grandmother that always fed him freshly baked goods whenever she sees him.

All was well. The hours were grueling between baking and exorcising curses but Nanami made do. In fact, he may even honestly say that he was enjoying himself.

Then horror upon horrors, into the bakery comes in a familiar face with two unfamiliar children tow.

"NANAMIN~!"

[danieyells]

idk if this has been brought up before, sorry if it has, and maybe I'm just thinking too hard on this but I keep looking at the official tokyo debunkers Twitter banner and like seeing taiga with that smirk, but then the broken piece has him with a wide eye + the theories of him seeing the future and such got me thinking.. or maybe it's just a cool banner, what do I know LOL

lol i waited until i got home because i had it saved in HQ for reasons that probably won't come to pass off the twitter page on my laptop

I LOVE THIS BANNER it's such a good image and it shows off Taiga's crazy. Taiga is kind of the game mascot atm, interestingly enough. He's the first character you meet, he's the game icon and twitter header, he has some important knowledge of a major plot point. . .you'd think it'd be Kaito since he's kind of your sidekick and the one who teaches you everything at first, but Taiga's got all the impact.

But yeah, either he's losing his mind back there, or he's Seeing Some Shit. The broken gap in the image showing him with wide eyes is very much a little suggestion of 'there is more going on here than you see on the surface' which, admittedly, is kind of the setting of the game('there's more to the world than meets the eye and you're thrown into the world of anomalies common sense would tell you aren't real') but. . .yeah, if you think about Taiga possibly being able to see the future, which is similarly a hidden aspect of him, then the image is even cooler.

I'm honestly getting more and more attached to that theory as time goes on. Because I remembered today at work. . .Taiga doesn't wear gloves with his uniform, unlike with his house outfit.

When the pc is in the torture chair and his hunger is triggered by their blood, he touches them, bare hand to bare skin.

and then suddenly he snaps out of it, suddenly aware that Romeo was coming.

to which I suspect. . .touching the pc caused them to enhance his stigma by accident. This happened to activate it automatically. And he saw the future without meaning to--perhaps in more detail than usual. That's also how he knew exactly where to shoot to hit the like dove--because he saw it fly in in his stigma's vision.

That's also why he said Ritsu could close the casino and he didn't need it.

The whole future he saw was so fucked(again?) and the casino wasn't helping to alleviate or avoid whatever he had made it for, or perhaps was causing more of a problem--it had, after all, spawned a dangerous anomaly. He just sort of lost steam and gave up all of a sudden. Yeah, take it away, we're fucked no matter what we do. (He got better, though. I too overcome my trauma and depression by forgetting things.)

. . .BUT UH YEAH. IT'S A SUPER GOOD BANNER IMAGE THAT SAYS A LOT. I really love it. Taiga is seeing into the code. It is traumatic but when he forgets in 15 minutes he'll be fine.

[gemini526sdumptruck]

Inanimate Magic Insanity AU

Explanation Post

Can’t believe episode 17 shook me enough to make me genuinely redraw an AU I made when I was 11 but here we are.

So yeah, with II coming to an end this month, I got nostalgic and decided I wanted to modernize an old II magical girl AU I made in 2016 called "Inanimate Magic Insanity", and try to actually make a story out of it!

I wanted to share a few of the designs I came up with, so here's Lightbulb, Paper, Marshmallow, and Apple, since they were kinda "main characters" in the original AU.

I'm gonna do my best to describe it, because this rework is this in a bit of an early phase lol.

Onto the actual AU itself (Notice: Very mild spoilers for II 2 Episodes 16 and 17, just in case):

So essentially the story takes place in a currently unnamed object city. Everything there was perfectly normal, everyone was doing their own thing and whatnot. But then one day, a mysterious force came and started attacking the city (atm I'm not 100% sure on what the "monsters of the week" are, but I'm thinking that they're like robots and robot phones, related to Meeple).

Enter one MePhone 4, who lives somewhere in town in a seemingly regular house. He saw all of this happening and basically thought "what if I could do something about this". So this led to him creating the heroes (I like to think he made them Powerpuff Girls style lol)! 19 (later 20) objects who would be normal civilians most of the time, but when there's trouble, they'll have the ability to turn into superheroes!

Little does anyone in the city know, that MePhone 4's normal looking house hides a super expansive, high-tech HQ which is sorta like "Mission Control". This is where the heroes are told and given their missions, where they eat, sleep, and hang out. Basically their home. It's very important to MePhone that nobody outside of the hero team discovers "Mission Control".

The kinds of missions the heroes go on range from simple public service to actually fighting the big bad villains. One group of heroes might be saving a kitten from a tree, another group might be fighting the villain of the week! Outside of going on missions, the heroes also get to do things in the city. Like hang out at the park, or go to stores, get jobs if they want to. They just can't tell anybody that they're the heroes or tell anyone about "Mission Control".

The Heroes (really gotta think of a team name for them lol):

Lightbulb- Power of Electricity

Paintbrush- Power of Colors

Paper- Power of Creativity (basically he has a magic pencil and whatever he draws with it comes to life)

Marshmallow- Power of Sweets

Apple- Power of Truth (that was her power in the OG idk lol)

Test Tube- Power of Science (and to a lesser extent Technology)

Bomb- Power of Fire

Tissues- Power of the Cold

Cheesy- Power of Comedy

Cherries- Power of Duplication

Microphone- Power of Music

Balloon- Power of Air

Suitcase- Power of Safety Nets

Nickel- Power of Metal

Knife- Power of Strength

Soap- Power of Bubbles

Yin Yang- Power of Light Manipulation

Lifering- Power of the Sea

Clover- Power of Nature

Bot- Team Mascot (they were still built by Test Tube in this AU, Bot joins the team later on)

As for all the other characters, they're either civilians living in the city or antagonists. They weren't created by MePhone in this AU. These guys are real.

Some notable ones atm are:

Baseball (he would befriend Suitcase, Nickel, and Balloon)

Fan (he's a huge fan of the heroes, he would spend his time theorizing on what the monsters are and who the heroes really are)

Goo (would eventually befriend Bot)

And yeah, that's most of what I have rn! Will add more if I come up with anything.

Character designs coming soon.

[adachimoe]

PSC Eps 10 & 11 "Ah-ha, I SEES it!"

Last time: Ep 1 + Explanation, Eps 2 + 4, Ep 5, Eps 6 + 7 (no Q&A), Eps 8 + 9

Episode 10

Episode 10 was a Nanako-centric Q&A that took place at the Persona Stalker Club Collab Cafe with Nanako's voice actress, Akemi Kanda, as the guest.

Q: Does Nanako know that the bear costume and the blonde boy are both Teddie? A: People in general think that Teddie is a pretty boy who began working part-time at Junes in an animal mascot outfit. The Investigation Team sometimes talk about Shadows in front of Nanako and she doesn't know find it weird because a lot of things are weird to her at that age.

(This question was more like, "Does Nanako know that Kuma and Kumada are the same person?" Teddie's JP name is Kuma which just means bear. But when he comes out of the TV and into Junes for the first time, we find out that someone asked who he is and he replied, "Kuma da". Da is the copula (to be, i am, is, etc), so he was answering, "I'm Kuma", but "Kumada" is also a Japanese family name, so the people at Junes interpreted this as him saying his name is "Kumada". Because of this, when Teddie is outside the TV in reality and working at Junes and stuff, he goes by "Kumada". This didn't carry over in English - He's called Teddie by people, and the lines at Junes were turned into people mishearing his name as "Terry or Eddie".)

Q: During the omurice contest, Nanako says that everyone's omurice is delicious. Did she really mean that or was she just being polite? A: She calls everyone's omurice delicious, but her voice was clearly different when she tried the protagonist's, so I think she was just being polite. Q: Why does Nanako like Junes? A: Probably because where she lives, Junes is the most fun place she can go to. Also, Nanako likes the Junes commercial because kids her age like those catchy jingles with meaningless lyrics that have onomatopoeia.

Episode 11

Episode 11 was a Yukiko-centric Q&A around Christmas time with her va, Ami Koshimizu, as the guest, also in Yukiko cosplay.

Q: How did the omurice Yukiko made during the omurice contest not have any flavor? It gets wrapped in an egg, so shouldn't you at least be able to taste egg................ A: Humans can deceive their taste buds by manipulating info about their sense of sight and smell. These various factors must have come together to do something miraculous. Hopefully the Amagi Inn doesn't die with Yukiko! Q: What type of hot spring is at Yukiko's inn? What kind of benefits does it offer? Also, how much is it for 2 days / 1 night? A: The type is what's generally known as a radon spring. Radon springs have medicinal properties so that's one of the Amagi Inn's specialties. The price is based on the season, but it's also the most luxury inn around the Yasoinaba area, so the price is reasonable. Q: Yukiko was the one who took over after her mother collapsed, but her father is never mentioned. Is he still alive, or is he dead like Kanji's father? A: No, he isn't dead. But he is the manager of an old traditional inn, so he has a lot of office work and goes to meetings outside of the inn.

(My understanding for ryokans where the family home *is* the ryokan, which is the case with Yukiko's family's ryokan, is they pass mother to daughter. The wife focuses on the guests and the husband does the more clerical stuff. It's gender specific too - Even if Yukiko was a guy, he wouldn't be allowed to inherit the ryokan and would be expected to marry a woman to inherit it. Or, if he didn't marry, the family would "adopt" an adult woman as their daughter so it would still be inherited within the family. This is why Yukiko brings up her and the protagonist running the ryokan together and greeting customers in her romance Social Link.)

Stalker Club Cafe Stuff

Something from ep 10 that people may or may not find entertaining cause it's vaguely Adachi related and this blog is Adachi HQ:

One of the dishes at the Stalker Club Cafe was the "Stretchy Spaghetti with Eaten Eggplant". This menu item is based on a joke from episode 3 of PSC, specifically from the (Purposely) Misheard Lyrics Theater (called Persora - a portmanteau of Persona + Soramimi), where the English lyrics "Could turn out to be" from the Arena opening "Best Friends" was misheard in Japanese as "kutta nasubi", meaning "eaten eggplant".

During these Persora segments, sometimes the Etrian Odyssey illustrator would make doodles based on what the misheard lyrics are. And for "Could turn out to be / kutta nasubi", he drew Adachi eating Nanako's eggplant animal. These animals are left out during Obon Festival for your dead relatives to occupy. The eggplant in particular is supposed to be a cow - chonky and slow so that your relatives stay with you longer.

So yeah, this is a drawing of Adachi eating an eggplant animal (that Nanako probably left out for her mother...) based on trying to hear English lyrics as Japanese words.

At the cafe, Kanda mentions that it really looks like there's a bite missing from her eggplant, and the hosts joke about that being because of Adachi, like the illustration, then they start blaming his voice actor for this lol.

Cabbage.

Lastly, some very important info here -- the menu at the Collab Cafe included a dish called the Cabbage Cop's Simple Snack based on the cabbage dish Madono mentions during the episode 5 Q&A (cabbage, seaweed, and sesame):

[altocat]

Can we please get a sad headcanon about the colar being a way to control and hurt Sephiroth and a silly headcanon about it being a fashion statement? 🙏

(Design belongs to whoever is designing those ridiculous outfits for EC)

Sephiroth had been wearing the collar under his clothes for a long, loooong time. Especially after Rhadore. Hojo installed a tracker in the back in order to keep tabs on his son's location everywhere he went, whether it was far away or close nearby at HQ for whenever the scientist needed to grab him. Shinra upper management always found it amusing, comparing Sephiroth to a trained dog scampering around at their beck and call. It was partially this that inspired their stupid dog mascot, Stamp, the name taken from one of Sephiroth's old anonymous codenames back when he was still just a child.

Sephiroth hates the collar tremendously. He hates wearing it. He hates the idea of being watched. He HATES when Genesis starts giggling at it thinking Sephiroth is just really kinky and not because he HAS to wear it. Eventually, Sephiroth can't take it anymore and tears the thing to shreds, tossing it in the ocean at the first opportunity. Thereafter, and ESPECIALLY when he starts leaving his bare chest exposed under his armor, he seems to FLAUNT the fact that he no longer wears a collar. He strides confidently forward full tits out not even caring if everyone looks. He WANTS them to look. He wants them to see that he's not COMPLETELY on Shinra's leash. Lies he tells himself, of course. But it makes him feel better.

Hojo tries to convince him to wear another collar as he gets older. For his "safety" of course, especially with Angeal and Genesis going rogue. You really can't be too careful!

Sephiroth tells Hojo that if he ever tries to collar him again, he'll give Hojo a very nice pretty collar of his own. Made from rope.

[stevebattle]

"H.J." promotional robot by ShowAmerica Inc., Elmhurst, Ill. (1982). "Officials at the H.J. Heinz Co. can stop worrying. H.J. – their saucy ketchup bottle robot – has been found. The 6-foot-tall automated mascot, used to promote the firm's more than 57 varieties of products at industry shows and other events, mysteriously disappeared Oct. 8 on the way to a show in Cleveland. United Airlines officials said the big bottle apparently had been sitting in the airline's San Francisco freight terminal for several weeks before anyone noticed, a Heinz spokeswoman said. H.J. then was sent to its listed destination, Cleveland, much too late for that show. An observant airline worker pieced together the whole story and shipped the robot to Chicago. H.J. was taken back to his home at ShowAmerica Inc. in Elmhurst, Ill., where he was greeted by H.J. II – a twin who filled in for him at some scheduled shows. Heinz officials said a reward offered for H.J.'s return, two cases of ketchup, will go to the airline employee who recognized the robot." – Ketchup robot found, UPI Archives, Nov 5, 1982.

The second photo shows the happy reunion of H.J. (left) with H.J. II (right) at ShowAmerica Inc. HQ – The State-of-the-Art Robot Catalog, by Phil Berger (1984).

[mitiafrapp]

Eepy time 💤

[ross-hollander]

Folk tales from the...

...reaches of the Sphere and beyond. Larger than life and maybe, but then maybe not, based on true stories. Nonetheless, firmly embedded in the hearts and souls of those who have grown up on the stories of their exploits and adventures:

Tall Ricardo, the pilot who didn't fit his cockpit. Tales range from "Tall Ricardo had to shoot the top out of his cockpit to let his head poke out" to "Tall Ricardo piloted an Atlas by wearing it like a mascot suit in a kiddie restaurant".

Jump Jet Jackie, who pilots the Stellarhawk, a modified Phoenix Hawk, and who waited at the (completely wrong) spaceport for her ship to come in for so long that she tinkered up her 'mech to fly between systems, and fights pirates and strange aliens in many a comic or storybook.

Aino Tiffany, youngest spy in the Combine. She combined a photographic memory with a natural curiosity to crack many cases of smugglers or infiltrators in her spaceport hometown. (There was also a TV adaptation, but most viewers agreed that the producers somehow managed to make the original plots even more nationalist, and the political intrigue ruined the simple mysteries.)

Mad Vlad Mavis, who stopped an entire strike fleet during the Third Succession War by donning a crazed mishmash of official-looking military apparel and screaming orders on every comms channel until he was red in the face, succeeding in making the invaders believe their own HQ had ordered them to return to base. To this day, spouting nebulous authorizations or pulling rank for matters that really don't need it is called Mad Vladding.

David Friedwald the One Shot Kid, who was facing down bankruptcy when he spent his last cash on a 'mech with a single autocannon round. He always brought in his marks for mercenary work, but never managed to keep enough of the bounty (due to misadventures, repair costs for the 'mech, bills to pay, etc.) to afford any more than another single shell to replace the spent one.

Big Nancy Brown, a mesa of a woman with an invincible smile and arms thick around as truck tires, who had a hundred suitors in any port of call, and with nothing but grit, wit and her trusty multitool pocket-knife survived everything from the Isle of Man-Eating Crabs to the Trackless Polar Wastelands. A 'child of Nancy Brown' is someone who relishes the need or chance to rough it.

Kumar Langdon, the pirate's pirate, a privateer legend who dismantled whole corsair armadas with rusty old freighters and a few dozen marines. They say he studied tactics so closely he could recite each move of each battle of each Succession War, all off by heart. He could win a fleet battle with a metal pail, an oxygen tank, and an automatic pistol.

[tranquil-slaughterhouse]

Apology Tour Reaction Pt. 1

the look on Stolas' face when Blitzo comes over makes me worried and concerned

Blitzo is always a fuck-your-boundaries kind of person huh

Stolas is getting really cold & tired...

An anti-Blitzo party fopr being the freshest ex. Hosted by Verosika

"Too much imp to simp" sure Jan

This guy is a proud heartbreaker huh?

"I DON'T LOOK DOWN ON YOU!" What were you trying to convey with the phrase "impish plaything" then huh???

Looks like Blitzo never told Stolas about the Harvest Moon Festival incident with Striker huh

"I didn't really think you could actually get hurt!" Moxxie didn't tell him about how angelic weaponry works???

I hear that PARANOiD DJ Look My Way motif there

Stating that love ballads are even gayer than Stolas right now is weird

Blitzo kinda gets it but outright refuses to accept his problematic view of the now crumbled relationship

Blitzo can Sorry! the fuck out of anyone

so that's why it's called Apology To- HEY IT'S MARTHA!

MRS. mAYBERRY?! lESBEINS WITH EACH OTHER? Making peace with the wrecker?

is annying kid Eddie from the pilot I wonder?

why would he say sorry to DHORKS when they'll eventually find a way to invade Hell?

Snif Snif I smell a homesexual

Can give flowers to Jesse but not send a fucking sorry text to Stolas?

A sorry basket to Loo Loo mascot?

Nobody fucking cleaned up DHORKS HQ?! You guys have enough money to hire a janitor!

He's at the bootlegged Emmys? What for? How would he apologize?

lol CHERUB in bandages and shit

Now that's just petty

He killed that Holidaze character!

It's that grandpa guy from those Brandon Rogers vids

Blitzo? More like Shitzo!

Alone in a crowded room...

[jerseyartblog]

It's the Schweiden Adlers flock--specifically Ushiwaka, Hoshiumi and Kageyama-- with their shared brain cell that they bump between them

As always, I want to do HQ!!! fanart but sometimes I just want to draw the boys as their mascots, lmao 

[patiusarchivist]

Behold my spookysona, Willy the Billy. I am a huge sucker of shambling mascot revenants. Horribly wheezing and human teeth behind animal teeth and all.

Based on my state's basketball and football animals, being a murder victim and his spirit patchworked two mascot suits together into a frankenstein's Jason Voorhes. No one knows if he is a ghost or a reanimated corpse, the survivors of his haunts never get the chance of discovering.

His physical appearance already giving a horrible presentation of someone trapped in their suit, the only sign of a human being his one lidless dead eye and the shadowed hint of teeth behind his mascot's. Nevermind the horrid smell and wheezing of punctured lungs and whimpering, the last things heard in the pitfall that he fell into.

Warning: Horror Movie Expected Tropes

Often appearing at his former school of Lamen Senior High around the time of his murder (October, of course), his first appearance being in vengeance of the typical bully group.

Already a tall, lanky boy in life, perfect for his school enjoyment as the school ram mascot and basketball player, he only grew more in his vengeful resurrection. Willy's big hands ending with real, body-tearing claws. Claws that tore into a few while others died by accidents and frightful ends in the paranormal aspects.

Willy was defeated on the end of Spooky Night, burning by the spill of a overturned car and its following explosion. The survivors thought it was his end, no - not even close. Appearing in the nightmares and corner of his killers' eyes off and on, their guilt becoming a consistent one.

He appeared again, ensuring his surviving murderers did leave their Senior Year without his own 'goodbye'. Hunting again, but his seemingly contained habit extended even more, when a gang of drug-dealers were prowling in the night bumped into the wheezing horror. This brought more of the city's attention and police, bringing pressure on the school and the kids. One, who have been driven to the asulym, was visited by the revenant. One who said to have seen his horrible face and how far his spirit has been corroded in their lie.

Finally, when having his last three murderers cornered in the gym - about to finish them - finish them off, he was stopped by the police chief. A bullet flying for his skull, only to vanish and at least, it couldn't be hidden and his last resting site was revealed: the foundation of the soon-to-be Uha Corps HQ building.

Instead of revealing the truth, it remained hidden while his body was burned and William's horrible animal-twisted screams exhumed. The belief that his spirit was finally coming free. However, it wasn't of peace. And while the incidents were investigated and eyewitnesses drew up stories to this cryptid murder, the last three graduated and left the city in fear and hoping to leave it behind.

The rumours of him appearing to other students and facility over the years till his name was cementing into a city urban legend: Willy the Billy.

He is still around and waiting. They will return...and they will pay.

[winters8child]

It´s been a long, long time

Chapter 43

Steve and I stood in the conference room of Avengers Tower, the weight of the day’s events hanging heavy in the air. His eyes, usually so full of warmth and resolve, now bore into me with a fierce, disappointed glare. "I told you to stay here where it’s safe," he said, his voice edged with frustration. "But you couldn’t do that, could you?"

We had just returned from the hospital, and the shock of Fury’s death had left us all reeling. Natasha and Maria Hill, an agent I’d met only today, were both clearly devastated.

"I have the same serum you do," I shot back, my voice trembling with a mix of anger and hurt. "Why do you treat me like I’m made of glass? I’m just as strong as you are!"

Steve’s jaw tightened, and he ran a hand through his tousled hair, a clear sign of his rising frustration. "But I’m not being reckless about it!" he snapped, his hands clenching into fists at his sides.

I could feel the sting of his words, a bitter reminder of the reckless decision I had made to go to my apartment alone. I didn’t want to admit that part of me had been wrong, especially not to Steve. My arms crossed defensively over my chest as I glared at him, my voice sharp with the rawness of my emotions. "So what am I supposed to be? Forever cast in the shadow of Captain America? Your mascot wife on the sidelines?"

"Would that be so bad... being my wife?" he asked, his voice unexpectedly earnest as if he were opening up a secret part of himself.

I flinched at the sudden shift in our conversation, my heart skipping a beat at the gravity of his words. "What? No! That’s not what I meant at all... Are you seriously asking me this?" I stammered, my voice betraying a mix of surprise and confusion.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Maria Hill said, her voice strained, “but Alexander Pierce wants to talk to you immediately. He’s at S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ.” She stood in the doorway, her eyes puffy and red as if she’d been crying.

Steve’s gaze shifted from mine to Maria’s, his reluctance evident as he took in her message. “I’ll be there,” he replied, his tone clipped.

Maria’s eyes flicked to me, and she added, “He expects the both of you.” I was not sure what to think of that, I was not even part of the mission, yet he wanted to see me too. With Fury gone, I guessed that Pierce might want to see if I had any potential. I hadn’t had many interactions with Fury, but he had always seemed like a good man. I wondered if Pierce shared those qualities.

Twenty minutes later, Steve and I were sitting in Pierce’s office. We had ridden Steve’s bike through the chaotic streets, expertly navigating the sea of vehicles. We were both clad in our suits—Steve’s idea to make a strong impression on Pierce. He told us about his close relationship with Fury, and how they had different views on how to go about a mission. Fury had saved Pierce's daughter in the process, resulting in Fury being promoted even though he had ignored his direct orders.

“Captain, why was Nick in your apartment last night?” Pierce asked, his eyes darting between Steve and me as if searching for a hint of deception.

Steve had already filled me in on the way here: Fury had warned him that S.H.I.E.L.D. was compromised and that no one could be trusted. I wasn’t surprised—secrets and deception had always been part of the organization’s fabric. Steve and I exchanged a look, the weight of Fury’s warning still heavy on our minds.

“I don’t know,” Steve said, shaking his head slowly, his expression somber. “Did you know the apartment was bugged?” Pierce pressed, his tone revealing his own distrust.

I was stunned by the revelation. The thought that our private space had been violated left me feeling almost faint, a sickening realization that even our most personal moments were under surveillance. “I did, because Nick told me,” Steve said, his voice steady but with an edge of frustration.

“Did he tell you he was the one who bugged it?” Pierce shot back, his eyes narrowing as he scrutinized us.

My eyes widened in shock, while Steve tried to mask his surprise.

Pierce continued, laying out a grim scenario. “It seems Fury was behind the attack on the container ship you and Ms. Romanoff were on. He was selling classified intel, and when the deal went wrong, it led to his death.”

Steve broke the silence with a firm rebuttal. “If you knew Nick Fury, you’d know that’s not true.”

“Why do you think we’re having this conversation?” Pierce said, strolling over to the large windows and peering out at the city below. He turned back to us, his gaze intense. “Captain, you were the last person to see Nick alive. I don’t believe that’s a coincidence, and I doubt you do either.” His eyes flicked to me. “So I’m asking you again. Why was he there?” He seemed to understand that if Steve had any information, I would be the first to hear it.

“He told me not to trust anyone,” Steve said, his expression one of guarded suspicion. This was more than a conversation; it was an interrogation.

“I wonder if that included him,” Pierce said with a hint of scorn.

“I’m sorry, those were his last words,” Steve apologized, his tone heavy. “Excuse us,” he said as he adjusted his shield and guided me to the door with a sense of urgency.

“Captain, somebody murdered my friend, and I’m going to find out why. Anyone who gets in my way is going to regret it.” Pierce’s voice rang out, a cold edge to his words that made it clear this was no mere rhetoric.

Steve stopped midstep, turning around slowly to face Pierce. “Anyone,” Pierce repeated, his eyes flicking meaningfully between Steve and me. The threat was unmistakable now, a dangerous warning cloaked in the guise of a polite declaration.

I clenched my fists at my sides, fury seething beneath my skin. Before I could act on it, Steve’s hand was firmly on my arm, pulling me away with a decisive grip.

“Let’s go,” he said, his voice sharp and urgent as he guided me out of the office. The weight of Pierce’s threat hung over us like a dark cloud, a chilling reminder of the danger we were facing.

As we stepped into the glass elevator, Steve kept a tight hold of my hand, his distress evident in the lines etched into his face. Just before the doors closed, Rumlow and his team slipped in.

“Captain,” Rumlow greeted, his gaze lingering on me with an unsettling mix of curiosity and something darker. The elevator began its descent, the hum of its machinery filling the silence. Rumlow’s eyes shifted back to Steve. “Evidence Response found some fibers on the roof they want us to see. Do you want me to get the TAC team ready?”

“No, let’s see what it is first,” Steve replied, his eyes fixed on the floor. His entire body was coiled with tension, his grip on my hand tightening as if it were the only thing anchoring him.

The elevator stopped to let in more people, and Steve’s gaze swept over each newcomer with wary scrutiny, finally settling on me. His grip on my hand tightened almost imperceptibly, and he gave me a warning look that made my pulse quicken.

Understanding dawned on me in that moment. Steve gave me a quick nod, and I responded in kind. He then turned to the others with a hard edge to his voice.

“Before we get started, does anyone want to get out?”

And then, all hell broke loose.

The doors closed, and chaos erupted. Steve swung his shield up, deflecting the first punch aimed at him. I darted forward, my agility on full display as I kicked an agent’s legs out from under him, sending him sprawling.

“On your left!” Steve’s shout cut through the noise. I rolled across the floor, my fists connecting with an agent’s midsection before flipping backwards to avoid a retaliatory punch.

Steve grabbed an agent by the collar, throwing him into the wall with a resounding thud. I was already on the move, my movements a fluid dance as I took down another agent with a swift elbow to the face.

An agent lunged at Steve with a knife, but he deflected the attack with a well-timed shield strike. I sprang in from the side, kicking the agent’s weapon out of his hand and following up with a precise spin kick that sent him crashing into the corner of the elevator.

“Watch your back!” I warned as I twisted an agent’s arm behind his back, using him as a shield against another attacker’s punch.

Steve gritted his teeth, swinging his shield in a wide arc to take down two agents at once. He moved with purpose, each strike precise and powerful. I could feel his presence beside me, our movements synchronized as we fought back-to-back.

Rumlow moved in, a sneer on his face as he pulled out a stun gun. I caught his eye and nodded subtly to Steve.

“Got it,” Steve grunted. He blocked an incoming punch and rolled out of the way, giving me a clear shot. I leaped forward, my hand moving in a blur as I disarmed Rumlow and took him down with a series of quick, calculated strikes.

With Rumlow subdued, we continued to fight the remaining agents. The confined space of the elevator worked in our favor, allowing us to effectively manage the threats surrounding us.

Finally, as the last agent was knocked out, the elevator’s descent slowed, and the doors opened to reveal a more open corridor. I wiped a trickle of sweat from my brow, my eyes scanning for any more threats. Steve let out a relieved breath, his shield still up and ready. “Nice work,” he said, glancing at me with a hint of a smile.

But it was not over yet, as the doors opened we were faced with a whole squad of soldiers storming at us. Steve put his arms around me and said "It's better when you close your eyes", as he jumped through the glass, his shield forward.

We landed in the lobby with an ear-splitting crash, glass all around us, as people ran away in panic. Everything hurt, although Steve had taken the brunt of the impact, me landing on top of him. We grunted as we struggled to get up and ran out of the building to get his bike.

“Get on,” Steve commanded, climbing onto the bike. I swung a leg over and settled behind him, wrapping my arms around his waist.

As the engine roared to life, I felt a surge of adrenaline. The garage doors were beginning to close, but Steve revved the engine and shot forward, weaving through the narrowing gap just in time.

We hit the open road, the wind whipping past us as we sped away from the compound. My grip tightened around Steve, my mind racing with the implications of what we had just uncovered. S.H.I.E.L.D. was compromised, and we were now targets.

“Hold on tight!” Steve shouted over the roar of the engine. I pressed myself closer to him, my eyes scanning the rearview mirrors for any signs of pursuit.

Just as I spotted a convoy of black SUVs gaining on us, Steve swerved sharply, taking a side street at breakneck speed. The sudden change in direction threw our pursuers off, but they quickly adjusted, their engines roaring in pursuit.

“We need to lose them,” I said, my voice steady despite the chaos.

“Working on it,” Steve replied, his focus intense. He maneuvered the bike through the city streets with expert precision, taking sharp turns and weaving through traffic.

Up ahead, a construction site loomed. Steve sped towards it, and I realized his plan. As we approached the site, he accelerated, the bike soaring off a makeshift ramp and landing on the other side with a bone-jarring thud.

The SUVs screeched to a halt, unable to follow us across the gap. Steve didn’t slow down, navigating the narrow alleyways and backstreets until we were far from the immediate danger.

Finally, he brought the bike to a stop in a deserted alley. We both dismounted, breathing heavily. I scanned the area, ensuring we hadn’t been followed.

“Nice driving,” I said, offering him a small smile.

“Thanks,” Steve replied, his expression serious. “But we’re not out of the woods yet. We need to figure out our next move.”

“Agreed,” I said, my mind already working on a plan. “We need to find a safe place to regroup and figure out who we can trust.”

Steve nodded, his eyes meeting mine with unwavering determination. “Let’s go.”

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