#i love this guy's fight i wanted to just hang out in their arena while they swim around

[brightmoontrigon]

elden beaſt

[tobiasdrake]

Digimon Adventure 02x04 - King of Darkness, Digimon Kaiser / Iron Vegiemon

Previously on Digimon Adventure: Channeling the ancient powers of great mythical forces like Horus, Pegasus, Queen Nefertiti, fire-breathing dragons, and the digging of holes, the Chosen Children are finally all together and ready to stop the Digimon Kaiser from kicking any more puppies.

Starting with a loose end the last episode left hanging.

We open inside the Digimon Kaiser's gladiator pit from the previous episode. Daisuke, Iori, Takeru, and Hikari are there, along with Taichi.

Agumon: BABY FLAME!!! V-Mon: V-MON HEAD!!!

A shot of Agumon's Baby Flame blows open one of the cells. V-mon's signature headbutt breaks open what's left of the wrecked bars. As he crashes inside, he creates an opening large enough for the Gotsumon inside to escape through.

V-Mon: Everyone, run! Daisuke: Hurry! This way, everyone!

Daisuke leads the escape with six rescued Gotsumon. They keep running until they're safely out of the arena. The Gotsumon collapse, exhausted, into the grass of a nearby field while the children stop to catch their breath.

Taichi: Mission complete! Agumon: Great work, guys.

No idea what's become of those two Elecmon.

This connects to the three Gotsumon we saw outside the gladiator pit last episode. Back there, they mentioned that the Kaiser had taken their nakama. The dub made the assumption that they were talking about the captured Elecmon, but here we see there were four other Gotsumon imprisoned here. Or three, if the Kaiser caught that one that got away since then and now.

In the dub:

Agumon: PEPPER BREATH!!! Veemon: VEE HEADBUTT!!! (Agumon and Veemon break two of the Gotsumon out) Veemon: C'mon, let's rock! Davis: (out of breath) That... was... easy.... (They escape to the field) Agumon: You guys are officially fugitives!

A little shallow; I don't like that Davis is gloating instead of participating but it's not a big enough deal to make a thing out of.

Once they catch their breath, the children have a moment to unpack.

Daisuke: I'd love to see the look on that Digimon Kaiser asshole's face when he finds out about this.

Man, they are pissed about last episode. Up until now, the Kaiser has been referred to as yatsu, which is a generally rude and disrespectful way of saying "that person". But now he's been downgraded to yarou, which is "that person" spit out as a profanity.

He was a jerkwad, a prick, a douche, but now he's a fuckstain, a piece of shit, a motherfucker.

Takeru: It's weird, though. Patamon: What is? Takeru: There was barely any security here, and he wasn't here either. Maybe he had business somewhere else and had to go there? Daisuke: What!? He just got scared and ran away. Isn't that right, Hikari-chan? Hikari: Mm... I agree with Takeru-kun. Daisuke: -_- Hikari: But what could he possibly be doing? Taichi: Hmm... In any case, let's head back to school. Koushiro and Miyako-chan must be worried about us.

As the children leave, Tailmon stops. She turns to look at the ominous black obelisk in the distance.

Once again, Daisuke tries to be macho and expects Hikari to back him up but, like Takeru, Hikari knows better.

Takeru mentions that the security was poor, but that implies that there was some security. Maybe that's what became of the two Elecmon?

In the dub:

Davis: If that's the kind of puny defense that the Digimon Emperor's gonna put up, then this fight will be over in the first round! T.K.: Something was weird. Patamon: What was? T.K.: Well, the fact that it was so easy for us to break out of that prison. There wasn't a single guard anywhere around! It's like he wanted us to do it. I think he's up to something. Davis: You're crazy! He took one look at our awesome skills and he hit the road! Isn't that right, Kari? Kari: Um... Actually, Davis, I'm gonna have to agree with T.K. Davis: -_- Awww.... Kari: This guy is not gonna let us get away that easy without some kind of reasoning. Tai: We'll worry about it later. Let's get back to the real world. I'm starving! I can practically smell the cafeteria from here! Davis: That's my peanut butter and jelly bean sandwich I've had in my pocket since last week. Kari: Yuck! (Gatomon stops to look at the obelisk) Gatomon: What's that tower?

I... don't know why Tai thinks an elementary a middle school cafeteria would be open at like 6 PM.

The dub got the part where it's weird that this was so easy, but didn't quite grasp the part of why it's weird. The question here is, "What is the Kaiser doing that's so important, it takes him and his forces away from defending his territories?"

The dub seems to imply that the Emperor let us take the Gotsumon on purpose as part of some sinister machination he has in play.

Let's find out. Time to check in with the Digimon Kaiser, inside his command center with only Wormmon for company.

The Kaiser's attention is focused on a grid of white and black squares. Suddenly, one of the white squares clicks over to black.

Kaiser: Another one just became mine.

At a hillside town for Digimon, a black obelisk now stands atop the hill. The Kaiser lays down the new law to an assembly of Gazimon and one familiar Gabumon, backed up by five black-ringed Veggiemon.

Kaiser: Do you see that black tower? That is a Dark Tower. Wherever it stands becomes my territory. And you are all my servants. Do you understand? Gabumon: (thinking) They're all being controlled by those Rings....

I don't think Gabumon's on the same page as the Kaiser here. Call it a hunch.

In the dub:

Emperor: The next one should be in place right about now.... There!

The dub has no audio cue when the grid square turns black. The Emperor himself is the audio cue.

Emperor: Now to let everyone know who's the boss. (Cut to the hillside town) Emperor: This Control Spire is the most dominating object in the Digi-World! Wherever I build one, that area will be under my control and all those around it will be my slaves! It's useless to try and escape! Those who do will have to answer to my soldiers! Gabumon: (thinking) How do I get myself into these things?

Dub Gabumon does seem to be on the same page, and is regretting it.

Love the name Control Spire, by the way. Dub Team went hard on that one. It's a lot more creative than Dark XYZ.

While the Kaiser lays down the law, we return to elementary school to give the kids who stayed behind a startle.

Koushiro & Miyako: EHHHHHHHHHH!?!?!

Koushiro: Why did you bring the Gotsumon here!? Taichi: What else could we do? We have no idea when the Digimon Kaiser might return. Right? Hikari: Yeah.

That agreement might be more convincing if it wasn't coming from your baby sister. Let's see what Daisuke-- no, he's your kouhai. Anyone else want to weigh in?

Miyako: How am I supposed to explain this to Fujjiyama-sensei if he finds out? Iori: It will be fine. We've prepared something just for that. Now, pose!

The six Gotsumon each take their own pose and hold it.

Iori: See? Don't they look like sculptures? Miyako: -_-

Okay. Follow-up question, why are you doing sculpting projects in computer club?

Koushiro: Miyako-kun, can I borrow your Digivice? Miyako: Eh? Why? Koushiro: The power from your Digivices must be what's opening the Gate, right? Taichi: Ahhh. Yeah, ours can't do it. We can have Daisuke and the others open the Gate and follow them through it, but.... Koushiro: I'd just like to examine it for a bit. Would that be okay?

Saying nothing, Miyako smiles and hands over her Digivice to Koushiro.

(You know, seeing them onscreen together, I suddenly realize that Koushiro is only Miyako's senior by one year. As the oldest of the new kids, she's 12-13 while Koushiro and Mimi are 13-14.)

In addition to finally exploring what those black obelisks are, we're also moving towards explaining why the unreliable Gate conveniently always happens to be open whenever one of the new kids is around.

In the dub:

Izzy: ARE YOU CRAZY, BRINGING THE GOTSUMON BACK FROM THE DIGITAL WORLD!?!? Tai: But we didn't have a choice! We couldn't just leave them for the Digimon Emperor to make into slaves, right? Kari: Yup. Yolei: But how are we gonna explain it if Mr. Fujiyama happens to come in here!? Cody: Don't worry, I'll tell him I'm taking a sculpting class and these are some of my early masterpieces. Hit it, boys! (The Gotsumon pose) Yolei: Yeesh. Early rejects might be a better phrase. -_- Izzy: Yolei, I've got a big favor to ask. Would it be alright with you if I borrowed your Digivice? Yolei: But what for? Izzy: Well, it's obvious the power from your Digivices opens the Gate to the Digital World. Our own Digivices don't seem to work. Tai: Izzy's right! I've tried using mine, but no luck. The only way we can get into the Digital World is if one of you opens the Gate for us. Izzy: So I wanted to try an experiment with the new Digivices, if that's okay with you. Yolei: Mhm. (hands over her Digivice)

This is good. They play up the Gotsumon posing a bit, but the joke is already that Miyako is unimpressed so having Yolei outright shit-talk the plan fits in pretty well.

Also, I guess the dub team also had questions about why they'd be doing sculpting in computer club because Cody offers a reasonable explanation for where the "sculptures" came from.

Back in the Digital World, the Kaiser has already erected a prison to house the Gazimon and Gabumon.

He cracks his whip at a pair of Veggiemon workers, startling them so badly they jump and leave poops behind.

Kaiser: C'mon, to the next area! Move it!

The Kaiser takes his seat on a litter, which eight Veggiemon are forced to carry. They move slowly enough that it'd probably be faster to get out and walk, but he seems satisfied with himself.

Gabumon watches through the barred window of a cell, which he shares with five Gazimon.

Gabumon: Yes, he's leaving! Now it's time to escape. PETIT FIRE!!!

Gabumon's Petit Fire blows the door off its hinges, crushing a Veggiemon guard on the other side. He and the Gazimon make a break for it, only for the spiked club tendril of a RedVeggiemon to smack Gabumon in the face and knock him off his feet.

Gabumon: AUGH!!! RedVeggiemon: Did you guys think you could escape!? That's impossible. Gabumon: You're.... RedVeggiemon: The fearsome, ripe vegetable REDVEGGIEMON!!!

Y'all remember RedVeggiemon. Pinocchimon led an army of them against the Chosen Children in his final battle. Cutting one down when they wanted to flee with him was his final mistake that got him killed by Yamato.

RedVeggiemon is an Adult-stage Plant-type Virus Digimon. They're Veggiemon, but stronger because they're an RPG palette-swap. The "Goblin Elite" to Veggiemon's "Goblin Soldier".

Narrator: RedVeggiemon. A sly and cunning Adult-stage Digimon. His special attack is a gust of intensely bad breath called Hazard Breath.

The original rundown specifically mentioned that RedVeggiemon is bigger and meaner than a regular Veggiemon. I suppose that much is already implied by this one's status as the big scary boss to beat, amid all the Veggiemon grunts.

RedV isn't appearing as part of a grunt swarm this time, so the show's letting their actions speak for themselves.

(Their name is still RedVagimon according to the official romanization. I'm so, so sorry. At least someone has it worse than Holsmon.)

In the dub:

Emperor: Let's move out! I've got an early tee time in the morning.

Not sure if he said "tea time" or "tee time" as both are things, but "tee time" makes more sense contextually to me. Tee time is what they call when you're scheduled to "tee off", beginning a round of golf.

Golf is commonly known as the Rich Asshole Sport, so that's more likely to be the reference here than "tea time", which would be a snooty British reference.

Gabumon: We're bustin' out tonight, boys. Ahhh, why wait? Everyone, stay to the back of the cell! BLUE BLASTER!!!

To soften the blow of Gabumon being punched in the face, they add the sound effect of a bowling bawl colliding with pins. Additionally, a white flash obscures the point of impact.

RedVegiemon is voiced as a noticeable celebrity impersonation of Jack Nicholson, best known for playing batshit unhinged characters like the Joker from the "first" Batman film and Jack Torrance in The Shining.

RedVegiemon: Apparently you don't listen to INSTRUCTIONS. Gabumon: Who are you!? RedVegiemon: I'm the Digi-World's biggest salad bar REDVEGIEMON!!! RedVegiemon: (rundown) I am the biggest and the ripest of all Vegiemon. My Stink Jet attack destroys my enemies with NOXIOUS FUMES!!!

"Noxious fumes" is one way to describe it, to be sure.

Unsurprisingly, "RedVagimon" does not make it onto the screen in the dub. They censored that right out and replaced it with "RedVegiemon".

Gabumon faces down RedVeggiemon.

Gabumon: What are you going to do? RedVegiemon: Trying to escape is a serious offense. The penalty is 100 lashes!

RedVegiemon strikes Gabumon to the ground and proceeds to carry out his whipping, counting each lash. The Gazimon shield their eyes, unable to watch Gabumon's gruesome punishment.

They don't make it to 100, though. The 73rd lash comes out more as a jab, which knocks the prone and battered Gabumon off a nearby cliff. Gabumon, barely conscious, falls into a raging river.

RedVegiemon: We only made it to 73? That's fine, he's probably dead by now.

God, imagine dubbing this for Fox Kids. "Oh, that last series got pretty dark but now they just have to fight another kid so how bad could--"

ONSCREEN WHIPPING OF RUNAWAY SLAVES. And to a character we know and love.

I mean, it's not the .44 magnum episode but still. Have fun, Dub Team!

Gabumon: Try to stop us, Stinky! RedVegiemon: For trying to escape, you get to smell my roots! AND I HAVE ROOT ROT!!!

Yeah, they're. Not. Doing the whipping. They cut the shots of Gabumon being lashed, but keep abstract shots of RedVegiemon's tentacle being swung, which they recontextualize. They also keep the Gazimon averting their eyes and a wider shot of the region.

RedVegiemon: (swing) Smell this! (swing) Smell it again! Gabumon: That's disgusting! No more, please! RedVegiemon: You kidding!? I'm just warming up!

Freeze-frame of Gabumon lying prone on the ground without any of the lashing animations.

RedVegiemon: Hey, if you can't stand the smell, get out of the kitchen! YAAAAAGH!!!

And then the one hit they can't avoid: The 73rd lash that knocks Gabumon off the cliff.

Gabumon: (sinking into river) My fur is dry clean only! RedVegiemon: Let that be a lesson to all of you: Don't try to defy the power of the DIGIMON EMPEROR!!!

And we close with an ominous warning but also a quip to keep things light and silly.

Despite what RedVeggiemon thinks, Gabumon's alive. He pulls himself out of the river, too weak to even stand but within fifty feet or so of one of those Gate access televisions.

Gabumon: (weakly) I can't die here... I have to spread the word....

With what little strength he has left, Gabumon crawls towards the Gate.

Gabumon: Everyone... Yamato....

He doesn't make it. Gabumon collapses in front of the TV.

Meanwhile, in the other reality, Yamato's band is in the middle of a concert. He's playing his guitar onstage to a crowd of screaming fangirls waving glowsticks.

In a bit of fourth-wall breaking fun, Yamato is singing "Walk on the Edge". The song was released on a music and drama CD around the time the Pinocchimon arc started, and here it's contextualized as a song he wrote for his band about his experiences in the Digital World.

Specifically, it seems to be about the fight he had with Taichi, and where his headspace was at during that time. The full lyrics are:

We're not ready yet; Just look at us! If I'm right and they break us, then what was even the point? If this is what you want, then I won't stop you. But just because you're passionate, it doesn't mean you're right. Cool off. Keep a level head. No matter what the game is, there's always a chance to win. I'm just fine on my own! I'll walk the edge of the knife. I'm not trying to act tough. But the weaker I get, the less bratty I become. Still, I can't find the data. But you'll see me become myself. I'll be cool. Won't give in to myself. No matter what the rules are, I'll break through them. Possible. Impossible. But we, the Chosen Children, can do it. I have a passionate heart too, but I can't use it as a shield. I'm just fine on my own! I'll walk the edge of the knife. I'll walk the edge of the knife!

I love the implication that Yamato's musical career came out of him unpacking the events of Digimon Adventure. It's such a natural extension of him pouring his feelings into his harmonica.

And also, out of everything he says in this song, "I have a passionate heart too but I can't use it as a shield" is the sickest burn he delivers to Taichi. That lyric is, without question, about Taichi's retaliatory "We'll fuck 'em up and get revenge and then I won't have to feel this way!" trauma response.

And now he's playing it to a giant crowd so that every girl their age in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area knows how much Taichi sucks. Yamato truly did get the last laugh. Though we only come in at "I can't use it as a shield" and the closing chorus.

In the dub:

Gabumon: (straining) I've got to... tell the others... They need to be warned.... (Gabumon crawls towards the TV) Gabumon: I have to find Matt.... (Gabumon collapses) Gabumon: Man, I stink....

Again, closing with a laugh line to try and ease off the darkness here.

Dub Team also has an original song for Matt and his band to sing. It's called "I Turn Around" and was recorded exclusively for the show. The lyrics are:

You've got a boy, you've got a girl, sitting' underneath a tree. They sit there everyday and even though, you may think this is the way the things should be, it may not always be that way. You can't take nothing for granted! You've gotta live life today! I turn around and I can see what's behind me. I turn back around and I can see what's ahead. And if you don't believe I'll be here all along, just turn around. Just turn around You wanna get, you gotta give. There is no other way to be. So give it a try. If what I say is really so, you got to let somebody see. You can't just keep it inside. You can't take nothing for granted! You've gotta live life today! I turn around and I can see what's behind me. I turn back around and I can see what's ahead. And if you don't believe I'll be here all along, just turn around. Just turn around You can't take nothing for granted! You've gotta live life today! I turn around and I can see what's behind me. I turn back around and I can see what's ahead. And if you don't believe I'll be here all along, just turn around. Just turn around I turn around and I can see what's behind me. I turn back around and I can see what's ahead. And if you don't believe I'll be here all along, just turn around. Just turn around

It's a bit more Generic Pop Song but still has something to say about life's unpredictability. Which makes sense for something a kid that was Isekai'd suddenly one summer might feel about life, but isn't referencing any specific moment of Matt's journey.

Once Yamato's concert finishes, he meets with Takeru out in the hall.

Yamato: So then, the immediate problem is that we need a place to hide the Gotsumon? Takeru: Onii-chan, do you know of any good places? Yamato: I don't know....

Nipping that conversation in the bud, one of the girls from the crowd runs up to Yamato with a marker.

Girl: Hey, can I get an autograph? Yamato: Sure.

Yamato takes the marker. The girl turns around so he can write it on the back of her white shirt.

Yamato: And your name is...? Girl: Motomiya. Motomiya Jun. Takeru: Eh!? Motomiya Jun!? You wouldn't happen to be Daisuke-kun's older sister, would you? Jun: That's right, but... who are you? Yamato: He's my little brother Takeru. Takeru: It's nice to meet you. Daisuke-kun and I are classmates. Jun: Is that right? Well, aren't you cute? You sign too!

Having collected Yamato's signature, Jun hands the marker over to Takeru and presents her back for his autograph.

Takeru: Eh!? Jun: Daisuke isn't cute at all. I wish my little brother was more like you guys.

Takeru's startled by the request, but he goes ahead and signs Jun's shirt. Oh, to be a fly on the wall when Daisuke sees that signature.

The dub kicks us off with a tortured pun.

Matt: Listen, T.K., just because I have a rock band, it doesn't mean I can hide a band of rocks that happen to be Digimon! T.K.: Well, think about it. Maybe they can be your backup singers. Matt: They sound too gravelly.

Goddammit, it was a bait and switch! The bad pun lulled me into a false sense of security only for Matt to follow up with a killer dad joke. XD

Girl: OHHHH!!! Can I have your autograph!? Matt: Sure. What's your name? Girl: Just make it to Jun Motomiya. T.K.: Did you say Motomiya? You wouldn't happen to be Davis's sister, would you? Jun: Yeah, that's right. Who are you? Matt: His name's T.K. He's my little brother. T.K.: It's nice to meet you, Jun. Your younger brother Davis and I are in the same class together. Jun: Will you sign my shirt too? I get all the cute boys to sign it. (Jun gives T.K. the marker) Jun: You may not know it, but I haven't washed this shirt in two years! T.K.: There's not a lot of room. Jun: I know. I think all boys are cute!

In the original, Jun's fangirling out over teenage rock icon Yamato and wants signatures from him and his cutie-patootie little brother.

Dub Jun, I guess, is a boy-crazy shirt fiend committing crimes against laundry, who roams the land with her marker looking for anyone male-shaped to sign her shirt. She isn't here for Yamato in particular.

Additionally, the "All the boys sign my shirt" thing replaces Jun shit-talking Daisuke, which will have ramifications for the plot down the road.

As fun as Jun is, beeping from Yamato's Digivice interrupts this conversation. He pulls it out, seeing the same flashing red symbols on his Digivice as Taichi got back in episode 1.

A moment later, Takeru's pocket computer goes off.

Takeru: Ah! My D-Terminal too!

Finally have a name for those little devices.

Takeru isn't getting the same message as Yamato, however. Instead, his is an email from Miyako.

Takeru: "SOS Signal Received. Come to Clubroom. Miyako." Onii-chan! Yamato: Is it Gabumon!?

The boys race off as fast as they can, leaving a confused Jun behind.

Once they're all gathered in the clubroom, nobody minces words. With a fierce look in her eyes, Miyako opens the Gate.

Miyako: Chosen Children... Roll out!

Here we have the start of a Miyako catchphrase. Pretty much everyone who's ever watched the subs knows Miyako for repeated phrases like "Bingo!" and "Chosen Children, let's roll!"

While she does say the English word "Bingo!", you have the subbers to thank for "Let's roll".

The phrase is "選ばれし子供たち出動! Erabareshi Kodomo-tachi, shutsudou!

The first part is, of course, Chosen Children. 出動 Shutsudou is a military-style order to dispatch into the field. Chosen children, deploy! Roll out! Engage! March!

I went back and forth about whether or not to change "Let's roll" because it's pretty iconic. But I ultimately settled on changing it for one reason, which we'll get to in a second. I went with "Roll out" so that it retains some semblance of "Let's roll", but there is a critical flaw in having her say "Let's roll" here.

In the dub:

Matt: There's some kind of trouble in the Digital World. T.K.: I just got an email. It's from Yolei. It says "Emergency! Hurry back to school!" Emergency? Matt: I hope Gabumon's okay. (Matt and T.K. return to T.K.'s school) Yolei: Back off, Davis! You're making me nervous! Davis: Can't you go any faster!? Yolei: Alright, the Gate's open. Shall we go?

Gotta add a bit of dialogue because we haven't made Davis out to be a dick in a while.

Minor nitpick: Yolei asks "Shall we go?" but she's not coming with us. She's staying behind, so it's weird for her to include herself in the group of people who will be going.

This, incidentally, is also the problem with translating 出動 shutsudou as "Let's roll" in this instance. We are not rolling anywhere. You are deploying but I am not.

Daisuke, Iori, Takeru, Hikari, and Yamato all cross over into the Digital World. They arrive right in front of Gabumon's prone body.

Yamato: Gabumon! Gabumon: (slowly picks himself up) Ugh... Yamato...? Yamato: Hang in there, Gabumon!

Yamato quickly moves to Gabumon's side. However, his presence seems to rejuvenate Gabumon, who leaps to his feet with excitement.

Gabumon: Ahhhh! I've missed you! Yamato: What's wrong? What happened? Gabumon: Uh, you see--

Before Gabumon can get into it, the TV screen changes to show Miyako over in the human world.

Miyako: Everyone, I'm going over to Izumi-senpai's place to get my Digivice back. Poromon: In the meantime, I'll be serving as your contact. Daisuke: Got it.

Once that's settled, the TV shuts off. Tailmon offers some dry exposition.

Tailmon: This TV sends the SOS Signal to the other world. Agumon said the TV was how he contacted Taichi. Hikari: Is that right?

So as long as you're near one of these TVs, you can send one of those flashing red SOS messages to your Partner's Digivice. And not necessarily just your Partner, as Miyako picked up Gabumon's SOS as well.

In the dub:

Matt: Gabumon! Gabumon: ...oh, Matt.... Matt: Gabumon, are you okay? Gabumon: Let's just say... I'll never look at steamed vegetables the same way. Matt: Okay, I want you to tell me everything that happened. Gabumon: Good! We never talk anymore....

Gabumon sounds delirious. The smell must still be getting to him.

Yolei: Hey, everybody! I'm going over to Izzy's to get my Digivice back and then I'll meet up with you there. Poromon: (speaking rhythmically, as if reciting a poem) Have no fear while Yolei's gone / This place shall be guarded by Poromon! Davis: Stay in touch! Gatomon: Why do they call those things on top of the TV rabbit ears? Why don't they call them cat ears? After all, when was the last time you saw a rabbit sleeping on top of a TV? Kari: This is what you think of?

Miyako says nothing about joining them later. She will, though, so it's fair for Yolei to say that.

I don't know why Poromon is rhyming but I dig it.

They cut out Gatomon's dry exposition, replacing it with rambling. So we don't get to find out how the SOS Signal works in this version, but you can still glean it from context. It was pretty obvious that Gabumon was trying to reach the TV to send the signal out.

While Daisuke and Hikari were over at the TV, Yamato and Takeru have been debriefing Gabumon.

Patamon: Guys, we know our destination.

Gabumon leads them through the woods until the hillside town comes into view.

Gabumon: That is the city of Santa Geria. It used to be a beautiful city until the Digimon Kaiser came and imprisoned all of the city's Digimon. Tailmon: That tower! There was one at the place with the Gotsumon too! Gabumon: That's called a Dark Tower. The Digimon Kaiser built it. Daisuke: Alright, let's go-- Yamato: Wait!

Before Daisuke can get ahead of himself, Yamato stops him.

Yamato: Let me remind you that our goal is to free the captured Digimon. Daisuke: (dismissive) I know that! Armor Evolution will get it done in no time-- Takeru: That won't work. Daisuke: Huh? Takeru: If we do that, they might use the hostage Digimon as shields. Hikari: He's right. We're here to rescue the hostages. You're putting the cart before the horse. Daisuke: Gehhh!?!?

Everybody is trying to nip a Taichi Incident in the bud right now.

In the dub:

Patamon: Okay, break's over! Let's get back to work. (Gabumon shows them to the city) Gabumon: It's a small village called Santa Caria. Davis: Cool! Sounds like it's in California! Gabumon: It was always a quiet place. Everyone minded their own business. And then the Digimon Emperor came along. Gatomon: Look! There's one of those things that scared the Gotsumon! Gabumon: The Emperor calls them Control Spires.

...that scared the Gotsumon? The only person who reacted in any way to the Control Spire at the previous location was Gatomon.

Davis: Let's go-- Matt: Wait! Davis: Huh? Matt: We can't just rush in there. For all you know, he's in there waiting for us and this whole thing is just some kind of ambush! Davis: All we have to do is Armor Digivolve and blow them apart-- T.K.: It's not that simple! Davis: Huh? T.K.: He might be using some of the Digimon hostages as a shield to protect himself. Kari: T.K.'s right. We have to find a way to rescue the hostages and make sure that none of them get hurt. Davis: Gahhhhh....

Yamato, Takeru, and Hikari are all very clear in the original that this is a rescue mission and they can't have Daisuke compromising that mission because he's itching for a fight.

In the dub, T.K. and Kari still bring up the possibility of hostage Digimon used as shields, but Matt's main concern is that this is a trap.

It's not. The Digimon Kaiser is not out there claiming territories to trick them.

With Daisuke's passion now tempered, the strategy talk continues.

Patamon: The Guards are Veggiemon, right? They throw poop at you. Yamato: What do you know about RedVeggiemon? Patamon: Well....

While the veterans discuss shop, Daisuke gripes to Iori.

Daisuke: Tch! They're leaving us out of the loop. Iori, let's just go do it. Iori: No, I want to hear the plan. (Iori leaves Daisuke to join the others) Daisuke: TCH!!!

Iori joins the rest of the team as they start walking. It's time to move out.

Yamato: Alright, we'll infiltrate the prison-- Daisuke: H-Hang on a second! We're bringing Hikari-chan with us!? I'm against that! What with the poop enemies and all.... Hikari: It's fine. Takeru: You already saw the poop attacks in our last adventure, right? Hikari: Yep.

SHE WAS QUEEN OF THE FUCKING NUMEMON

Daisuke: Fuck you, Takeru! Don't you have even a bit of Telepathy!? Takeru: Telepathy? Iori: He meant to say Delicacy.

Specifically, he was trying to say the English word "delicacy" and landed on the English "telepathy". This joke will not translate into the dub. Nonetheless, Takeru, Hikari, and Iori all have a good laugh at the expense of Daisuke's poor grasp on English.

Iori humbly recognizes that he's new here and should defer to the wisdom and guidance of the veterans. But Daisuke is chomping at the bit, and is becoming increasingly a problem as his pride gets more and more wounded.

In the dub:

Patamon: They're being guarded by the Vegiemon. Watch out for the Digi-Sludge! Matt: Patamon, tell us everything you know about RedVegiemon. Patamon: Okay! Davis: (griping) Well, it looks like we're not needed around here. Let's go off and do things our own way! Cody: I think we should all stick together. Davis: UGH!!! Matt: Alright, I've got a plan to sneak into the prison. Davis: Wait a minute! It's too dangerous. We can't take the chance that any of us, especially Kari, might be attacked with that Digi-Sludge. Kari: No big deal. T.K.: Yeah, we've been attacked by a lot worse things than Digi-Sludge. Right, Kari? Kari: Yeah! Davis: GAH!!! I can't even believe you're not worried about Kari's wellbeing, T.A. T.K.: T.A.? Cody: He forgot how to spell T.K.!

Yeah, doesn't translate so they fit the running "Davis either can't or won't say T.K.'s name right" gag in. Though it doesn't quite fit; Davis has been doing this since episode 1 but they react like this is new.

But there's the added problem that they need to censor out poop. Davis refusing to let Kari encounter "Digi-Sludge" isn't something that makes a lot of sense. With poop, you kinda get what he's objecting to.

So they rewrote his objection to just... patronizingly feeling like this situation is too dangerous for Kari.

Which comes right out of left field as opposed to the poop thing, but still gets across the core point of this moment: That he's patronizingly talking down someone who's already walked these roads before.

Daisuke still sees Hikari as just this cool girl he has a crush on, and not the experienced Digimon veteran that she is. He only knows her as Taichi's little sister, and not as the Light of the Eight Gods. Which comes across just fine in Davis's dialogue.

The words themselves are a little awkward, but the spirit of the scene is captured pretty well.

Time to put the plan into action. The Chosen Children approach the front gate of Santa Geria, where five Vegiemon stand guard.

Veggiemon: HALT!!! Who are you supposed to be? Tailmon: We've captured the escaped Digimon and his nakama.

Per Yamato's plan, they've created counterfeit black Rings. Tailmon wears one over her right glove. Patamon and Armadimon have theirs around their waists. Then V-mon has his on his left forearm.

All are easily visible to the Veggiemon, as proof that they too serve the Digimon Kaiser. Meanwhile, the five children and Gabumon are tied together and forced to march.

Patamon: We'll throw them in prison! Armadimon: Come on! Double time it dagyaa!

The "minions" march the children into the city at a jogging pace, while the Veggiemon guards throw poop at them for funsies and laugh mockingly.

Once they're in the city and no longer in sight of the guard, they stop.

Patamon: They didn't even notice the fake Rings. Tailmon: That may be, but don't let your guard down. We're in the middle of enemy territory.

Seems like a solid time to go to commercial!

In the dub:

Vegiemon: STOP RIGHT THERE!!! Identify yourselves! Gatomon: It's okay. We're one of you. We just captured a Digimon and their friends. Patamon: Where are you taking us!? Armadillomon: Pipe down! You're all going to jail where you belong! (They march the children past the guards) Armadillomon: Move it, move it, move it! Patamon: Those guys didn't even notice these Rings are plastic. Gatomon: Don't start feeling too frisky yet. The first set of guards were just flunkies. We haven't even faced the pick of the litter, and even if we get past them, we still have to find a way to destroy the Control Spire!

Man, it's amazing that they didn't get caught given that Patamon blows his fucking lines. He's supposed to be one of the escorting troops but he talks like he's one of the captives. It's a good thing Armadillomon rolls with it so well.

Also, we are not trying to destroy the Control Spire. The dub is making the same mistake as Daisuke. It thinks we're here to kick ass and make the Digimon Emperor's forces eat dirt.

Coming back from commercial, a Veggiemon hurls the "prisoners" into a cell with the Gazimon.

Veggiemon: Quit wasting time and get in there! You'll each be punished with 100 lashes tomorrow! NYEHEHEHEHE GREAT JOB EVERYONE--eh?

While the Veggiemon is busy gloating, the other Digimon remove their fake Rings.

Tailmon: Great job to you too. NEKO PUNCH!!!

Tailmon's hit sends the Veggiemon back against the bars, knocking them out. V-mon and Armadimon jump the other three Veggiemon, with Armadimon pinning two while V-mon pummels the third.

(V-mon, your opponent is totally helpless. Punch the Ring, you dipshit.)

In the dub:

Vegiemon: Thanks for bringing the prisoners in. The Emperor will be pleased. We could have gotten 'em ourselves, you know. But I guess you beat us to the punch--DAH!!! (The team removes their fake Dark Rings) Gatomon: By the way, speaking of punch: LIGHTNING PAW!!!

I mean. They weren't about to have Veggiemon threaten the whipping, so instead they set up an ironic pun.

Jailbreak successful; Now we just need to get these Gazimon out of the city. Patamon scouts ahead and guides the team through Santa Geria's streets.

Rounding a corner, he does a sudden 180 and turns on the others.

Patamon: ACK STOP!!!

There are five Vegiemon down the stairs.

V-mon: This place is crawling with guards all of a sudden. Daisuke: (pulls out Digivice) Looks like we're up.

Daisuke takes a step to round the corner and confront the Vegiemon, but Yamato grabs him by the shoulder and pulls him back.

Yamato: Wait. After all the trouble we went to to rescue these Digimon, you're going to drag them into this? Daisuke: ...geh....

Daisuke isn't happy about it but he relents.

Gabumon: Let's go back up. We can head for the black tower on the hill. Patamon: Sounds good to me!

Patamon flies over Gabumon and the Gazimon's head, taking up a new scouting position for their new direction. The team moves out, except Daisuke and V-mon who hesitate in the back for a moment.

Daisuke stomps the ground in frustration.

Daisuke: WHY!?!? WHY!?!? V-mon: (concerned) Daisuke....

He's losing it.

In the dub::

Patamon: Quiet, there are more guards! Vegiemon: (faint) I got a straight, GYAHAHAHA!!! Veemon: The exit is blocked! We'll never get out now! Davis: (pulls out his Digivice) I'm tired of hiding anyway. Let's fight! (Davis tries to go out there but Matt stops him) Matt: Easy there, junior. You have to learn that fighting's not the only answer. It should only be your last resort. Davis: Mrrr.... Gabumon: Let's go back this way. We'll come out on top near the Control Spire! Patamon: Good idea! (Everyone heads that way) Davis: NNNNNNNGH WHY WON'T ANYONE LISTEN TO ME!?!? Veemon: What'd you say?

I love that the Vegiemon are playing poker. The original offers no explanation for why five of them are clustered together in this one random corner of the city.

Yamato offers a clear and concise reason for why Daisuke shouldn't go start a fight: It would endanger the Gazimon we came here to save, who are with us right now.

Matt only offers anti-violence platitudes.

The team makes its way up the hill towards the Dark Tower. Patamon seems to have given up scouting and flies near the back with Takeru. Yamato leads the way while Daisuke takes up the rear, pouting with his hands in his pockets.

Takeru: Oh, by the way, Daisuke-kun! I met your big sister today. Daisuke: Yeah, so what? Takeru: So what? Daisuke: My sister was talking trash about me. Takeru: That's not quite-- Daisuke: No, she was.

Yeah, she was. She called him uncute and said she wishes she had a brother like Takeru instead. It's pretty mild, but she was trash-talking him.

Incidentally, Daisuke refers to his sister with the slang term 姉貴 aneki instead of the more respectful お姉さん onee-san or お姉ちゃん onee-chan. This doesn't convey anything about their relationship; Just that, like Taichi, Daisuke's the kind of boy to use slang language.

Daisuke: My sister always has to badmouth me to every single person she meets. She hates me. Well, I hate that scary girl too, so that's fine. Yamato: HEY!!!

Overhearing this conversation pisses off Yamato, who comes running to yell at Daisuke.

Yamato: What the hell is wrong with you!? Daisuke: What!? Yamato: If you were my little brother, I wouldn't let that slide. I'd knock you on your ass! Daisuke: That's funny. Go on and hit me then! HIT ME!!!

Takeru grabs Yamato from behind, holding him back.

Takeru: Stop it! You aren't going to hit him, Onii-chan. You wouldn't do it, would you? Yamato: (puts down his fists) I won't. (to Daisuke) But watch your mouth!

With that, Yamato and Takeru turn back towards the front of the group and leave Daisuke in the back.

Daisuke's been pretty much a shit for this whole episode so far, but I feel for him with this one. Everybody's family situation is different. Daisuke isn't the good guy here, but he isn't the bad guy either. It's clear that his relationship with Jun is strained, but we don't know enough to know why.

By contrast, Yamato's behavior here is way out-of-line. He is, by his own admission, projecting himself and Takeru onto Jun and Daisuke's relationship. We don't know enough to know if Daisuke's being a brat and neither does he. Depending on context, Daisuke's statements may warrant correction, but "Shut the fuck up or I'll shut you up" isn't helping.

In the dub:

T.K.: Hey Davis, I almost forgot. I saw your sister today. Davis: Yeah? So what? T.K.: So nothing. Davis: She probably had a lot of bad things to say about me, didn't she? T.K.: Well, actually-- Davis: I know! She said that I bite my toenails and spit them on the floor and I used to suck my thumb until about a month ago! That I wet the bed every other Thursday; It was laundry day so it was alright. Well, she talked too much so when I see her, I'll teach her a lesson! Matt: Thanks for sharing but she didn't mention any of that! (Matt angrily runs to the back of the group) Davis: Say what? Matt: Your sister didn't say anything bad about you! In fact, she didn't even mention you! YOU'RE the one with the big mouth! Davis: If you've got a problem with me, why don't we settle it right now!? Matt: Hmph! (raises fists) (T.K. grabs Matt from behind) T.K.: Come on, Matt! Don't fight! He's younger than you are! He doesn't know any better. Matt: (puts down his fists) I don't care how young he is. He'd better learn some respect.

Here we see why they jettisoned Jun badmouthing Daisuke. It's so that they could rewrite this conversation as Davis being, just, the worst little shit who ever lived. Making wild, unreasonable accusations about his sister and then threatening violence against her to retaliate for the things she never said.

Absolutely wild to have Matt saying "Your sister never said anything bad about you!" and then it's true but only because they rewrote the scene where she did.

Now Jun is completely innocent of the accusation. At the same time, Davis is so much more nasty and aggressive and violent that it implies he might be abusing her.

Additionally, they cut out Yamato snapping and threatening to hit Daisuke. Instead, it's Davis who nearly provokes Matt into fighting because he's such a piece of shit.

What especially sucks is that the laundry day bit is a pretty solid joke. "It's laundry day so it's okay to wet the bed every other Thursday" implies that this is premeditated. That he plans to wet the bed at the time of least inconvenience. That's... absolutely hilarious, but it's ruined by the context it's in.

Once Takeru and Yamato are gone, Daisuke grumbles about how attacked he feels.

Daisuke: Asshole should stay the hell out of it! I can say whatever I want about that stupid girl. Hikari: Stop it, Daisuke-kun! Daisuke: Eh? Hikari: I hate anyone who'd badmouth his own big sister! Daisuke: Hate...?

Daisuke flinches as if struck. In his mind, he envisions a rose, with Hikari plucking petals as he imagines her speaking.

Hikari: (pluck) Hate. Hikari: (pluck) Hate. Hikari: (the entire rose disintegrates) Hate. Hikari: I HATE DAISUKE!!!

Apparently that was the end of the conversation, because Hikari returned to the group while Daisuke was spiraling into despair. As the team and their rescued Gazimon truck onwards, Daisuke remains behind, paralyzed.

V-mon: Daisuke.... Daisuke: She doesn't like me... Hikari-chan doesn't like me.... V-mon: (thinking) I've never seen Daisuke so depressed before. I have to cheer him up. V-mon: Daisuke!

Whatever V-mon intends to do, we cut away from it so we don't overhear.

In the dub:

Davis: Who does he think he is!? It's my sister and if I wanna call her names, that's what I'm gonna do! After all, that's what brothers are here for! Kari: That's enough, Davis! Davis: Huh!? Kari: I can't stand anyone who talks bad about their brother or sister! Davis: Me!?

Hikari specifies お姉さん onee-san, meaning older sister. She can't stand someone who'd badmouth their own older sister. She's clearly singling out Daisuke specifically.

Kari doesn't like hearing badmouthing of any sort of sibling.

In Davis's hallucination, he talks as if he's the one plucking petals even though it's clearly Hikari's hand.

Davis: (Kari plucks) She loves me. Davis: (Kari plucks) She hates me. Davis: (Rose disintegrates) She loves me. Davis: SHE HATES MEEEEEEEEE!!!

It's not well-timed to the animation. He almost gets all the way through "She hates me" before Kari's second pluck.

Veemon: Davis! What's the matter? Davis: It's Kari. She hates me. She thinks I'm a disgusting, worthless piece of dirt. Veemon: (thinking) I've never seen Davis so depressed. I've gotta cheer him up. (gasp) I know! Veemon: Knock knock!

That'll do it. Thanks, Veemon.

Once at the top of the hill, the group runs into a problem: There isn't a way down. The other side is an overhang above a vast chasm.

Takeru: We're going down from here? Hikari: It's too high! We won't make it!

(Hikari getting Piemon's observatory flashbacks. If anyone sees a basket with a rope in it, you leave that the fuck alone.)

Yamato: We'll need a rope or something.... Gabumon: I'll double back and try to find one. Gazimon: Wait for us!

Two of the Gazimon approach Gabumon.

Gazimon: To repay you for freeing us, we'll go. Gabumon: Thank you. In that case, let's go together.

Gabumon and the Gazimon head back the way they came. But as they pass Daisuke and V-mon, they're taken out by a poop barrage. The Gazimon in front both take poops to the face and fall back, knocking over Gabumon.

Gabumon: Euuuuugh....

While Gabumon whines, poops nail him in the face and shoulder.

The Veggiemon horde has found them. And, at their head, is RedVeggiemon.

RedVeggiemon: We won't allow that!

Okay, Daisuke. I think it's finally fight time.

In the dub:

T.K.: How do we get down from here!? Kari: There's no way to do it! It's too steep! Matt: If we only had a rope or something, we could climb down. Gabumon: No problem! I'll go look for one. Gazimon: Wait! We'll be the rope. We'll just hang onto each other and you can climb down the bunny slope. Our way of saying thanks! Gabumon: That would be great! Okay, let's go! (Gabumon and Gazimon descend past Davis and get hit by Digi-Sludge) Gabumon: Eugh.... RedVegiemon: Ha! No one's going anywhere!

Okay, first off, there are five of them. That isn't nearly enough Gazimon to form a monkey-chain all the way down this huge drop. Especially when they're like two feet tall apiece.

Second, this bizarre plan makes the following choreography confusing. There is now no explanation for why, after agreeing to this plan, Gabumon and the two Gazimon leave the cliffside and descend past Davis and Veemon on the way back to town.

Alright, we're boned and the stealthy approach is dead. Now is finally Daisuke's time.

V-mon: Yes, I'm in! Check this out, Daisuke. Daisuke: Eh? V-mon: They might be red, but they're still part of the Veggiemon nakama, right? They can't be that strong. I'll show you how cool I am, and that'll cheer you up!

V-mon charges into battle without another word.

Daisuke: Cheer me up--HEY, V-MON!!! Gabumon: V-MON, WAIT!!!

V-mon charges straight into RedVeggiemon's spiked club of a tendril. The hit knocks him back and causes him to briefly stumble, but he manages to keep his footing.

V-mon: Tch! RedVeggiemon: If this hits, it'll really hurt. RED HOT MACHINE GUN!!!

RedVeggiemon opens their mouth and fires a barrage of chili peppers. The attack completely blindsides V-mon, with multiple pepper bullets striking him in the face and knocking him on his back.

V-mon: WAUGH!!! Daisuke: Everyone, Armor Evolve! Iori: Right!

It's too late, though. The Veggiemon jump Daisuke and Iori, binding them with their tendrils so they can't activate their Digimentals.

Veggiemon: We won't let you!

With Takeru and Hikari also bound, Patamon makes a Hail Mary charge straight for RedVeggiemon. Their Red Hot Machine Gun shoots him out of the sky.

RedVeggiemon: HAZARD BREATH!!!

For the rest, RedVeggiemon lets out his noxious fumes, incapacitating them from the foul stench. Yamato, Gabumon, Tailmon, Armadimon, and the Gazimon are helpless against the foul odor.

Gabumon: Ugh, it smells like a bathroom.... Tailmon: It's killing my nose! Armadimon: I can't move!

The Veggiemon quickly descend upon them as well.

In the dub:

Veemon: Alright, Davis, it's time for action! Davis: Huh? Veemon: I'm gonna take that overgrown tomato and turn him into vegetable soup! RedVegiemon: Hehehehehe.... Veemon: I'm gonna make vegetarians around the world proud! That ought to cheer you up! Davis: But-- Veemon: VEE HEADBUTT!!!

Veemon calls his attack here rather than simply charging in blind. Still gets popped in the face for his trouble though - With a white flash to obscure the impact.

RedVegiemon: And now for side dish: CHILI PEPPER PUMMEL!!! (Chili Pepper Pummel takes out Veemon) Davis: VEEMON!!! ARMOR-DIGIVOLVE!!! Cody: YEAH-- (Vegiemon take out Davis and Cody. More chili peppers drop Patamon.) RedVegiemon: STINK JET!!! Digimon: (miscellaneous noises while being gassed)

They took out a few lines of fight banter. Davis directs his instruction to Armor Digivolve to Veemon, whereas Daisuke was calling out to the whole team.

With the Chosen Children soundly defeated, RedVeggiemon triumphantly hoists V-mon aloft, wrapped up in both tendrils.

V-mon: I-I'm sorry, guys.... RedVeggiemon: An apology won't save you now!

RedVeggiemon slams V-mon down hard on the ground and releases him.

Daisuke: V-MON!!! V-mon: (pained) Daisuke.... RedVeggiemon: Now, it's time for this guy to take his 100 lashes! Watch closely!

Calling out his lashes, RedVeggiemon strikes V-mon first in the face, then the second and third go to his gut. V-mon stands back up, defiantly facing down his torturer.

RedVeggiemon: You've got some guts, don't you? But how long can you hold out?

Lashes four, five, and six are all shots to the face, trying to knock V-mon back to the ground. To his credit, he manages to stay standing through four and five, despite offering no resistance to speak of.

Gabumon: I can't watch! Yamato: There's nothing we can do! Daisuke: L-Let go.... V-mon!

Despite having three separate Veggiemon holding him back, Daisuke manages to take a couple steps forward. It's a futile gesture, however, as they wrestle him to the ground.

V-mon, back on the ground, tries to crawl to Daisuke.

V-mon: Daisuke--AUGH!!!

A hard lash to his back puts a stop to that. As the beating continues and V-mon screams and yelps offscreen, we pan over the rest of the team. Everybody's averting their eyes from V-mon's torture.

In the dub:

Veemon: Put me down or I'll toss you like a salad! RedVegiemon: In case you've forgotten, I have the upper hand here! (RedVegiemon slams Veemon) Davis: Urgh... VEEMON!!! Veemon: ... RedVegiemon: The key to good cooking is to always tenderize thoroughly like so!

Yeah, no getting away with "smell my stinky roots" this time. It's hard to disguise Veemon's beating.

They do, however, obscure the first three hits. They use a white flash to obscure the impact from the first, though you can still see it pretty well. Then they cut away before the second hit, going to a wider shot from a distance that keeps the pair in silhouette for a second, third, and fourth lashes.

(I think they played the footage of the third lash in reverse and then let it play forward again, because this shot was originally for one hit. It showed him moving from second to third, but they managed to get three hits out of it. Pretty clever, honestly.)

Veemon: (standing up) Is that your best shot!? RedVegiemon: Are you kidding? We're just getting started! How do you feel about flying!?

They cut lashes four and five, keeping only the sixth that seems to knock him off his feet. They also add an "object sailing through the air" sound to go with RedVegiemon's comment, even though the distance between them isn't going to grow any.

Gabumon: I can't watch this! Matt: Veemon doesn't stand a chance against him! Davis: VEEMON!!! I'M COMING!!! (Vegiemon wrestle Davis to the ground)

The scene of V-mon crawling on the ground and taking a hit to the back gets cut.

Lot of slicing and dicing needs to happen to get this scene to broadcast without the censors having a conniption, and we're not even done beating V-mon half to death yet.

The brutality continues, with V-mon grunting and yelping in pain with each count.

RedVeggiemon: 69! 70! 71! 72! 73! 74! 75! 76! 77! 78!

For the 69 through 72, they replay the footage from 4, 5, 6, and 7 but make it transparent, transposing it over a slowly zooming shot into the Dark Tower atop the hill.

73 through 76 appear as triangles showing V-mon's face contorted in pain, appearing once after another as RedVeggiemon calls the hits.

77 just shows Daisuke looking away with his eyes closed.

Then, at 78, we return to V-mon right after the hit has landed. RedVeggiemon lifts their tendril off V-mon's back, and V-mon picks himself up onto his hands and knees. Slowly, he climbs back to his feet.

V-mon: I can't give in... If I do, It'll make Daisuke's depression even worse!

Though RedVeggiemon doesn't call it, 79 hits V-mon right in the gut, knocking him back a couple steps towards the Dark Tower behind him.

Daisuke hears that, looking up suddenly.

Daisuke: (thinking) This is my fault. It's because I was feeling so dejected. He's trying to help me through it.

Despite the three Veggiemon holding him down, Daisuke finds the strength to stand up again.

Daisuke: HEY!!! CUT IT OUT!!! BEAT ME UP INSTEAD OF HIM!!! V-mon: DAISUKE!?!?

Daisuke's outburst distracts V-mon right before the next hit lands. The shot glances across his face and keeps going, hitting the Dark Tower behind him and cracking it. Still, it's enough to knock V-mon off his feet.

In the dub, we're getting some more editing.

RedVegiemon: Combine all your ingredients into a bowl. Next: STIR!!! BLEND!!! MIX!!! FRAPPE!!! And VOILA!!! The first course!

The transposed shots of V-mon getting hit are kept as made into non-animated still-frames of him recoiling in pain. Each one timed to RedVegiemon's cooking instructions. The four triangle slices of pain are presented together instead of one-at-a-time for the final hit.

The brutality here is implied, but still unmistakable.

RedVegiemon: Now, the entree! Veemon: (standing) No matter what you do, I'll never give up! I have to do my best to cheer Davis up, whatever the cost! Davis: (thinking) This whole thing is my fault! Veemon is doing this just for me!

A couple more hits are cut, replaced by a frozen still-image of Veemon looking defiant before the beating starts anew.

Davis: VEEMON, YOU CAN STOP NOW!!! I'M HAPPY!!! I'M HAPPY!!! I'M HAPPY!!! Veemon: You are!?

A white flash obscures the point of impact with the hit that breaks part of the Control Spire.

Davis still tries to intervene, but stops short of volunteering to take Veemon's lashes for him. It's a little awkward that he's pleading with Veemon to stop being beaten instead of pleading with RedVegiemon to stop beating Veemon.

Davis might not realize that, from Veemon's perspective, the alternative to sticking it out for him is giving up and dying.

Daisuke: I'm begging you, let V-mon go! Don't do this! RedVeggiemon: Isn't this a beautiful friendship? Don't worry, once he's done, it will be your turn next. Daisuke: STOP IT!!!

RedVeggiemon cracks their tendril down on V-mon's back while he's trying to crawl to safety.

As he explained at the outset, RedVeggiemon intends to administer the 100 lash penalty for every single person here. There is no 'instead'.

Yamato has managed to fetch his Digivice from his pocket but with the suppression from the Dark Digivice in effect, it's doing nothing.

Gabumon: If I could evolve.... Yamato: It's not responding! Gabumon: It's hopeless.... RedVeggiemon: 99!

The 99th hit lands in V-mon's gut. It shoves him back against the Dark Tower, cracking it further. I guess the Kaiser did not program his Rings to instill respect for his property. Seems like a pretty major oversight for a programming super-genius.

Daisuke: V-MON!!! RedVeggiemon: You've held up pretty well! This next one will be the last. I'LL SEND YOU TO HELL!!!

Saying the quiet part out loud, RedVeggiemon confirms that you're not supposed to survive the 100-lash penalty. It's a form of execution.

For the final lash, RedVeggiemon raises both tendrils and shoots them forward.

Daisuke: V-MOOO-- Daisuke & Yamato: --OOOOOOO-- Daisuke, Yamato, & Gabumon: --OOOOON!!!

As the fatal shot hurtles towards V-mon, Daisuke, Yamato, and Gabumon all appear one by one, crying out for him in chorus.

V-mon ducks away from the attack, darting to safety while RedVeggiemon's tendrils slam hard into the Dark Tower.

Energy surges through the Dark Tower. It crackles, malfunctioning from the damage inflicted to it by Ken's shitty programming.

In the dub, Davis finally starts talking to RedVegiemon.

Davis: Leave him alone now, you hear me? He's had enough! RedVegiemon: I don't doubt he's getting a little full, but he must have saved room for dessert and I've cooked up a sweet SURPRISE!!!

The lash to V-mon's back while he crawls away is cut.

Gabumon: If only I could Digivolve! Matt: There must be a way! Gabumon: But how...?

Matt and Gabumon are feeling a lot better about their chances of getting in this fight than their Japanese counterparts.

The gutshot that slams V-mon into the Dark Tower is kept, with a white flash to obscure the hit.

Davis: Veemon! RedVegiemon: And now here's the surprise I promised you: A double helping of SPIKE PUNCH!!! Davis: VEEMON!!! Matt: DUCK!!! Gabumon: NOW!!!

Matt and Gabumon might just be offering tactical advice. However, with the "There must be a way to Digivolve", there's a kinda-sorta implication that they might have planned to disable the Control Spire? Gatomon also mentioned earlier that destroying the Control Spire is part of their agenda here.

In the original, the team never intended to destroy the Dark Tower and have no idea what it does. RedVeggiemon breaking it with their reckless brutality is a happy accident. It's this moment when everyone finds out what, exactly, it does.

Suddenly Yamato's Digivice lights up. Gabumon wastes no time shaking off the Veggiemon holding him. Gabumon SHINKAAAAAA!!!!

With the old familiar sound of Show Me Your Brave Heart firing up, Gabumon evolves into Garurumon.

RedVeggiemon: W-WHAT!?!? Patamon: Gabumon.... Yamato: He was able to evolve....

With RedVeggiemon too busy olive oiling themselves to intervene, Garurumon turns on the Vegiemon. The horde releases the children and flees for their lives, to no avail.

Garurumon: FOX FIRE!!!

As Garurumon's flames wash over the retreating Veggiemon, we'll... Uh... We'll hope for the best, that the attack only destroyed their Rings.

In the dub:

Matt: Gabumon! How did you Digivolve!? (Garurumon scares the Vegiemon into retreat, then attacks) Garurumon: HOWLING BLASTER!!!

RedVegiemon doesn't get to react with more than just his face, sadly.

With the children no longer restrained, the tide has turned. Daisuke whips out his Digivice to join the fray.

Daisuke: DIGIMENTAL UP!!!

Leaving punishment mode behind, RedVegiemon goes back into attack mode with another volley of Red Hot Machine Gun. Their chili peppers ricochet harmlessly off of Fladramon's right palm.

Fladramon's left punch, on the other hand, sends RedVegiemon cathartically tumbling across the hillside.

Daisuke: V-mon, you endured the enemy's whipping and managed to evolve! Now it's your turn! Fight with everything you have and finish this! GANBARRE, FLADRAMON!!! Fladramon: RIGHT!!!

V-mon has persevered through great adversity, and now it's time for him to push through to the end and overcome.

In the dub, Flamedramon calls his left punch as an attack.

Flamedramon: FLAME FIST!!! Davis: Boy, am I glad to see you, Flamedramon! It's time for a little payback! I think we should give this overgrown houseplant a real cooking lesson! Flamedramon, get 'em! Flamedramon: HIYAH!!!

Davis's triumphant energy doesn't quite match Daisuke's ganbarre speech but he's giving it his all nonetheless.

Ganbarre, Fladramon.

RedVeggiemon: What the hell!?

RedVeggiemon sends both spiked tendrils forward. Fladramon catches them, gripping them between his armored claws, and yanks RedVeggiemon forward onto their face. Then, using the tendrils for leverage, he hoists RedVeggiemon into the air and slams him down onto the ground again and again for some cathartic retribution.

RedVeggiemon: Is that all you've got!? Fladramon: KNUCKLE FIRE!!!

RedVeggiemon immediately regrets asking that, as Fladramon's fireballs tear into them and set them ablaze. They scream in pain until the fire relents, then fall flat on their back.

RedVeggiemon: I give up.... Daisuke: We won!

In the dub:

RedVegiemon: You want a piece of me!? (Flamedramon slams RedVegiemon over and over) RedVegiemon: That hurt.... Flamedramon: FIRE ROCKET!!! RedVegiemon: (on fire) Augh! I've heard of grilled vegetables, but this is ridiculous! (The fire recedes and RedVegiemon collapses) RedVegiemon: Ugh.... Davis: You did it!

Unsurprisingly, the dub covers up RedVegiemon's agonized screeching by giving him a quip.

Miyako: GUYS!!!

Only now, with the fight already finished, does the cavalry arrive.

Miyako arrives with reinforcements. She's brought Taichi and Koushiro as well as Hawkmon, Agumon, and the Gotsumon. They're all excited to see Garurumon in his Adult stage.

Taichi & Koushiro: GARURUMON!!! Agumon: How did you evolve!? Garurumon: Ah, I'm not sure either. Patamon: You were able to evolve after that tower cracked, right? Miyako: Eh? Then, if we destroyed the tower...? Armadimon: Got it! That's right up my alley. I'd be best for this dagyaa. Iori: DIGIMENTAL UP!!!

In the dub:

Yolei: DAVIS!!! (Reinforcements arrive too late) Tai: Garurumon! Agumon: How were you able to Digivolve!? Garurumon: I'm not quite sure. Patamon: You know what I think? When RedVegiemon's punch cracked the Control Spire, we were free from its power. Hawkmon: They're certainly going to need a lot of glue. Armadillomon: We should destroy the Spire once and for all, and who better to do the job than Digmon? Cody: Yeah! DIGI-ARMOR ENERGIZE!!!

Yolei calls out directly to Davis instead of the whole team, and Hawkmon and Armadillomon rob her of her line. Rude.

Armadimon Armor Evolves into Digmon so he can take the entire obelisk with his Big Crack.

Digmon: BIG CRACK!!!

Once the Dark Tower falls, RedVeggiemon pulls off their Ring.

RedVeggiemon: Huh? What have I been doing all this time?

The other Veggiemon slide their Rings off as well.

Iori: Ah! The Evil Rings have lost their power! Miyako: So that's how it works. That makes sense. Hawkmon: What makes sense? Miyako: The tower isn't just for decoration. It's like a radio tower, channeling the Digimon Kaiser's power and spreading it across a wide area. Isn't that right, Izumi-senpai. Koushiro: Yes, I believe your theory is correct.

We officially have a name for the control devices beyond just calling them "the Rings". They are now Evil Rings, in English. I think Iori came up with that on the spot.

In the dub, Big Crack is no longer Gold Rush.

Digmon: ROCK CRACKIN'!!! (Digmon brings down the Control Spire) Digmon: Sorry, I forgot to yell timber! RedVegiemon: Whoa, did I get married while I was asleep? (The Vegiemon all remove their Dark Rings) Yolei: Oh, now I see how it works. Hawkmon: May I inquire as to what you're talking about? Yolei: The Spire. It acted like an electricity rod. The Digimon Emperor set it up to send out power to the Dark Rings, making it possible for him to control all of the Digimon throughout the area. Isn't that right, Izzy? Izzy: Yeah, I'm quite impressed with your theory, Yolei.

I'm not. She specifies that the Control Spire powers the Dark Rings, which is an incomplete explanation. It's also suppressing evolution. It's providing the signal for all of the Digimon Emperor effects in the region, not just the Dark Rings.

With this new discovery in mind, it's time to talk shop.

Taichi: The Chosen Children's objective is clear! Yamato: Yeah! To visit each area controlled by the Digimon Kaiser and destroy the towers he's built there. Takeru: We'll help with that (ganbaru), Onii-chan. Daisuke: So will I! Agumon: Plus, if we destroy the towers, we'll be able to evolve! Tailmon: It'll be easy! Taichi: Yes! Agumon, let's get to the Gotsumon's area! Hikari: Yeah! We'll come too!

Taichi and Hikari leave with their Partners and the Gotsumon. Yamato climbs up on Garurumon's back.

Yamato: We'll take responsibility for defending this area. Gazimon: (together) THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

In the dub:

Tai: I wonder how many more Control Spires there are scattered around the Digital World? Matt: Well, whatever the number is, one thing we know for sure is they all have to be destroyed. Quite a tough mission for the new DigiDestined, don't you think? T.K.: Leave it to us! We can handle it! Davis: You said it! Agumon: I guess someone should take the Gotsumon back to their homes now. Gatomon: I'm all over it! Tai: Come on! I'll lead the way! Kari: I'm right behind you, big brother! (Tai and Kari leave with their Partners and the Gotsumon) Matt: Garurumon will stay here and protect you guys from the Emperor. Gazimon: GARURUMON!!!

Matt is eager to wash his hands and be done with all this. He singles out the new kids as solely responsible for destroying the Control Spires. Then he hands Garurumon over to the Gazimon and excludes himself from responsibility for their protection.

In the original, destroying the Dark Towers is now the responsibility of the Chosen Children as a whole, and the Gazimon will be defended by 俺達 ore-tachi, the pluralized first-person pronoun.

Leaving Taichi, Hikari, and Yamato to finish up in the Digital World, the rest of the team returns to Computer Club.

(Taking Hikari was a good idea. She's gonna be the boys' ticket home since their Digivices can't open the Gate.)

Daisuke: I know it was all my fault. You were worried about me. I'm sorry, V-mon. Chibimon: Daisuke, you've grown up a bit! Daisuke: Eh!?

Daisuke has learned a valuable lesson from all this. We're just not sure what it is.

No, I kid. Daisuke's learned that his attitude and behavior has a knock-on effect on the people around him. His foul attitude led directly to V-mon going off half-cocked to try and impress him, and getting his teeth kicked in from a fight they would rightly have won if they'd approached it more cautiously from the beginning.

V-mon made reckless mistakes trying to impress Daisuke because Daisuke was mad that no one liked his reckless ideas. He let his bad attitude compromise the mission and get his Partner hurt, and he's taking responsibility for that.

Once Daisuke's done apologizing to Chibimon while using the wrong name, Koushiro grabs their attention at the computer.

Koushiro: Everyone, please have a look at this. Miyako: What's this? Koushiro: While I was examining the Digivice I borrowed from Miyako-kun, I found this.

Koushiro pulls up the same grid of black and white squares that we saw in the Kaiser's control room earlier.

Koushiro: It looks like a Digital Map.

Koushiro taps a white square in the middle of a field of black squares with a pen.

Koushiro: This used to be black, but now it's white. Therefore, that must be the region where we brought down the tower. Iori: But the black areas of the Digital World are spread out so wide! Daisuke: (determined) Then that means we're just getting started.

Yeah, we're on episode 4. This ain't wrapping up that quickly. :P

The dub takes a commercial break before we return to the human world.

Yolei: I'm glad the Gotsumon aren't staying with us anymore. Every time they touched my CDs, they scratched them! Cody: And they clogged the sink when they brushed their teeth! Davis: They were kinda cool, though.

Davis's apology wouldn't hit nearly as hard when he didn't try and take Veemon's punishment for him. It especially doesn't hit as hard when the dub doesn't even bother. It spends that time having Yolei and Cody whine about the inconvenience of sheltering refugees for one day.

Izzy: Hey, everyone, I really think you should take a look at this. Yolei: Wow, what is that? Izzy: I found it when I was examining your Digivice, Yolei. It seems to be a map of the Digital World. (Izzy taps the white square with a pen) Izzy: Do you see this white square? Well, it used to be black until we destroyed the Control Spire. Unfortunately, there are a lot of black squares left and they all have Spires. Cody: Gee, Izzy, it's going to take a long time to turn all of those black squares into white ones. Davis: And how do we know he won't build new Spires?

Daisuke's gung-ho moment is turned into Davis asking what is honestly a valid question. We'll never be rid of the Spires as long as the Kaiser's still out there erecting more. We're basically playing Risk.

Meanwhile, back in the Digital World.

Greymon brings the Dark Tower back in the Gotsumon region crashing to the ground.

Taichi: (thumbs up) Agumon can evolve into Greymon too!

In his control room, the Digimon Kaiser seems to have noticed the second black square in his territory suddenly turning white.

Kaiser: Oh? That must have been their handiwork. Well, no matter. That area isn't tactically important.

It's just the gladiator pit where he makes slaves fight for funsies. He can always build another one.

Kaiser: At this pace, I'll have conquered the entire world in less than a year. (Digimon Kaiser stands up dramatically) Kaiser: Every last Digimon will bow before me, serve me, and worship me! Hahahaha! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

While the Kaiser laughs maniacally, the camera slowly zooms on Wormmon's concerned face, watching silently as Ken-chan loses it.

In the dub:

Greymon: They don't make Control Spires like they used to. Tai: Ha! Way to go, Greymon! You're a one-mon wrecking crew!

Yeah, the Emperor's been skimping on the materials to save money lately. The new ones they're building now are basically papier-mache over a wooden frame. Turns out a child's allowance only extends so far.

The cut to the Digimon Kaiser begins with his Dark Digivice and then cuts to a wider shot of him in his control room. The dub has his Digivice beep to alert him that a region's been lost.

Emperor: What!? A Spire was destroyed!? Must be those meddling kids! Oh well. Doesn't really matter. That area was pretty unimportant in the grand scheme of things. Within a year, I'll have every area under my full control. (Digimon Emperor stands up dramatically) Emperor: And then finally, every living thing in the Digital World will become my slave forever! And that includes those kids too! Hahahahahahahaha!!! Narrator: What is the Digimon Emperor's master plan? More pieces to the puzzle revealed on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters.

...

This.

His master plan is this. He's going to build Control Spires all across the Digital World and enslave everyone.

He just. Told you.

Were you in the bathroom getting high all episode, Narrator?

Assessment: Surprised, after all the Yamato vs Daisuke build-up, that the episode never resolved that. V-mon's impulsive mistake to try and help Daisuke succeeded in pivoting the plot away from the growing tension between Daisuke and Yamato.

Daisuke learned a valuable lesson that relates to where he was at all episode emotionally, but he and Yamato never had the chance to bury the hatchet or have it out or what have you.

Yamato was definitely out-of-line when he threatened to hit Daisuke for trash-talking his sister. There is clearly hostility in Daisuke and Jun's relationship that we have insufficient information to assess, and it will be interesting to learn more down the road because this isn't the last we're seeing of Jun.

[tgrailwar-zero]

(despairingly) ... lack of funds...

... it's not even like we're overly wasteful... haven't blown money on luxuries at all... it'd be so nice... uff... seriously, why is it so hard to settle our cash...

NERO: "Well, you are right that the Bout is rather promising in terms of funds."

MUSASHI: "Speaking of the Bout, my match is coming up. We've gotta go-- you too, managers! Let's get moving!"

Heading to the arena, you found yourself in the locker rooms, speaking with JAGUAR MAN.

JAGUAR MAN: "Normally, it'd just be our lovely Samurai running solo... However, since she's a Servant and Moby Dick is considered a 'final boss-tier enemy', I figured you could come along. If you want to keep things legit, you can just sit back and watch instead of helping."

It seemed like you were allowed to come and help this time around.

Really. With JAGUAR MAN running things, the rules were more akin to 'suggestions', weren't they?

JAGUAR MAN: "Anyways, don't die! You acted as a real promising heel during the match with the Fairy Guy, so I'd like to see more of you! Bye!"

Wasn't killing banned? Did the Moby Dick program understand that?

Before you could ask any other questions- you were suddenly warped into the 'battle zone' along with MUSASHI. You were falling from quite the distance, the samurai flipping in the air and swooping towards you, clutching you in her arms and holding you to her chest as she touched down onto the ground, her boots skidding against rock and gravel.

She put you down, looking around. You saw a drab-looking coastline, surrounded by dark waters and heavy cloud cover.

MUSASHI: "...Phew... let's do this, Managers!"

It was quiet. You heard the sound of the waves crashing, before a transmission echoed over the zone you had been transported to.

--

JAGUAR MAN: "Oh man, I know you've all been waiting for this! Two prime fighters! Moby Dick, our nigh-undefeatable oceanic behemoth! The Null Zero Samurai, our cold-blooded, beautiful rookie! And we have a rare guest, one of the few people who's bested Moby Dick- the mighty Jishnu has suddenly found free time during the Main Bout matches, so he's here to help with commentary!"

DURYODHANA: "Ha ha ha. Would you like to keep pouring salt on the wound, or can we get started?"

DURYODHANA: "Anyways, this is a rather momentous occasion. There aren't many fighters that I think will be able to even last 10 seconds against Moby Dick, but I have a feeling that we're seeing a fighter that will make it to the rare echelons of 'people who aren't obliterated instantly'."

JAGUAR MAN: "While Father Kotomine will be covering Adamant and the Man-Slayer, and Miss Cat will be guest-commentating on the Cuauhtli and Strong-Mask Bout, we'll be doing double-duty covering the-- huh? Hang on, the Wandering Blade just lost. That fast? Really? I guess we're just covering Moby Dick and the Samurai, then! Jishnu, do you have any last minute advice?"

DURYODHANA: "Not just anyone can fight Moby Dick. It takes a solid awareness of your surroundings, and ingenuity. Hardly anything ever works twice against that thing. But, the goal is simple-- either knock it out for 10 seconds, or get it to fully retreat. In other words, the resourceful tend to have better chances."

JAGAUR MAN: "And with that, fine people of the Solar Cell-- let's have ourselves a Bout!"

--

Once it ended, you found yourself back in the eerie atmosphere of the beach, the only noise coming from the waves lapping against the shore.

Off in the distance, you heard the sound of a whale bellowing. No sights of anything, however.

The first thing that caught your eye was a small dock, and a person standing on a large ship. That was probably used in the fight against MOBY DICK, to give people a nautical advantage.

The first thing MUSASHI saw was herself in the water's reflection.

MUSASHI: "Hel~lo there..."

...Right. The charm effect on the Mystic Code. She stood, looking at her reflection in the ocean water before a wave broke it up, MUSASHI blinking a few times before looking around.

MUSASHI: "Oh, sweet! A ship!"

SABER beamed, rushing over.

MUSASHI: "Yoo-hoo! Hi there, beautiful lady standing next to a beautiful ship!"

The person on the ship looked down, leaning over the railing with a disarmingly friendly smile.

PRIVATEER: "Hahaha, what an introduction! You can just call me the 'Privateer'. I was summoned for a more flashy purpose, but this and that happened, so I'm working freelance. Anyways-- 1500 PPT, and you have a boat set and ready to sail against Moby Dick!"

Oh, alright. That made sen--

--Huh?

Wait...

What?

1500 PPT?

MUSASHI: "Wait, you're charging us? Don't you work for the Bout? I thought it'd be free!"

PRIVATEER: "My contract with the Jaguar just requires me to have a boat available for any participating fighters. Which I do. There's a free one down there. Look."

She pointed at a run-down, wooden dinghy next to the ship. It looked… stable. In the sense that it could float. And it didn't really seem to be doing that very well either.

Did JAGUAR MAN know about this?

...Actually, knowing her, she probably approved it.

PRIVATEER: "But… A good boat, and maybe some extra help? That costs money. It's not like my price is steep, it's only 10% of the prize pot… and if you can beat Moby Dick, don't you have a solid chance at being the champ and winning all that cash anyways? Besides, I'm sure you've heard that Moby Dick is a 'final-boss tier' Enemy Program. You'll need everything you can get. You scratch my back, I scratch yours. So, whad'dya say?"

…Did you somehow find a person more shrewd (greedy) than PRETENDER? Still… it wasn't like you had to use it. It was a luxury…

…A luxury, that's all it was…

...You didn't NEED to have a good ship in order to take down Moby Dick, right?

[axilarycobra]

[Wings of Fire] C Dragon Character Headcanons

Hey, guys! Back for the next letter (there are a lot of characters with C names so I decided to just do the letter C so it isn't too long because I think if it's too long, it's less likely to be read completely).

Quick note: if you like any of these, they're all okay to use! If they're super specific headcanons, like my headcanons for Armadillo's & Anaconda's backstory, then I would maybe like some kind of credit because those are more developed stories that do include original characters (Armadillo's father, Anaconda's mother, etc.). But most of them aren't really so specific that I think I have any right to own them, especially since they aren't my characters. Although if you ever do use a headcanon for anything, I'd love to see it so please feel free to tag me!

Also also, just want to point out because I've seen this before, but yeah, these aren't headcanons. I made this stuff up, but no one uses the word for that (I don't even remember it) and I don't like it so I'm calling these headcanons.

Cs

Cadelle - Cadelle is one of the greatest historians in the HiveWing tribe, but she kept her research a secret from the queen and ladies because she was not a fan of them; she enjoys Jewel better as queen than Wasp. She remained in the Hive Kingdom after Jewel became queen, but she lent her research to the universities in the LeafSilk Kingdom at Cricket’s request because she secretly doesn’t hate Cricket.

Camel - after the war, Camel settled down in the SandWing stronghold and worked in the mailroom which he enjoyed a lot more than being a soldier. Camel’s sister is Saguaro and their parents would always compare them, making Camel feel insecure since he wasn’t as strong or tough as her.

Canyon - Canyon never liked Scarlet, he just wanted to be king because it would make other dragons look at him more; he secretly cared how Tailwind viewed him and would go out of his way to interact with them because he wanted validation from them as their younger brother.

Capybara - Capybara is Thorn’s cousin.

Carabid - before Wasp learned about Carabid’s power, he was a nerdy HiveWing who spent all of his time in libraries, similar to Cricket; he was timid, shy, and tried to help out SilkWings when he could; after Wasp used him as a weapon against many dragons, he felt guilty, but eventually found a home in the LeafSilk Kingdom where he worked as the librarian, archivists, scientist, and journalist in Chrysalis University.

Cardinal - Cardinal is Cliff’s best friend; as Cliff grows older, Cardinal hangs out with him a lot. He is the dragonet of Jasper and a SkyWing who Jasper is now divorced from.

Caribou (bard’s daughter) - at JMA, Caribou is placed in the gold winglet and becomes friends with Sepia, Newt, Barracuda, Changbai, Alba, and Snail.

Caribou (bard’s friend’s sister) - Caribou is a jewelry maker and owns a shop in Village-of-the-Plentiful-Seals.

Caribou (bard’s friend) - Caribou was from the circle rankings and the palace, but moved away due to the pressure, finding a home in Village-of-the-Plentiful-Seals. Their brother is Fjord, but they hadn’t seen their brother since they left and were informed after the war that he had died in Scarlet’s arena.

Caribou (bard’s grandmother) - Caribou was a scholar who worked as a traveling librarian before settling down permanently in Village-of-the-Plentiful-Seals.

Caribou (bard’s mother) - Caribou is one of the village scouts who protect the village from any dangers; this includes hunting polar bears, scouting for avalanches, and watching for other dragons.

Caribou (bard) - Caribou used to dream of meeting dragons from the other tribes, but when the war happened, they hid in their village, afraid to fight other dragons; while their daughter is at JMA, they plan to go on trips to the different kingdoms to meet other dragons.

Caribou (princess) - Caribou was considered one of the most beautiful IceWings in the kingdom while she was alive; many believed that she married Snowstorm, but she only had eggs with Snowstorm, which she raised with her wife; Caribou was the daughter of the IceWing queen, but she never wanted the throne, so her cousin, Queen Marble, challenged her aunt instead.

Carmine - Carmine did not have a close relationship with her daughters and only viewed them as being necessary for the throne, despite being upset that Sunset died, she just had another daughter to replace her.

Carnelian - Carnelian would have eventually warmed up to her winglet and become friends with them, especially Umber and Winter. She had a sister named Torch who she looked up to and was an elite soldier for Ruby which is why she hated being sent to JMA.

Cattail - after the war, Cattail and her siblings learned how to handle cattle and started a successful cattle farm in the Diamond Spray Delta; Cattail boasts that she laid the egg of the dragonet of destiny, but all of the MudWings she is around tell her that she doesn’t even care about him.

Cereus - Cereus becomes one of Blaze’s friends in the SandWing stronghold. During the war, her family pressured her to have eggs so she did with Camel; however, neither of them are in love, but they still raise the dragonets together.

Cerulean - Cerulean is one of Turtle’s meaner brothers, but he tries his best to be nice to Turtle ever since Turtle saved the world.

Chafer - Chafer is one of Lady Cicada’s sons, which is why he looks similar to her; it is also why he and Scarab knew each other and why Scarab was so okay with shutting his store down for a day.

Chameleon - after losing his scroll, Chameleon tried to find somewhere to go, and at the request of Kinkajou, returned to the Rainforest Kingdom where Glory apologized to him and welcomed him back to the Rainforest Kingdom; he apologized for his nasty behavior towards everyone and eventually started working with the other healers; the masks he made under different tribes somehow materialized into real dragons who had to figure out how to navigate the world themselves.

Changbai - Changbai is reserved and doesn’t often speak; they are in a relationship with Alba. They have an interest in history and geography. When they were a dragonet and lived in the Ice Kingdom, Changbai was told that their father died when they were very young, but this was a cover-up, as their father was Hvitur, an IceWing who had to flee due to his forbidden romance with Prince Narwhal.

Char - Char was a childhood friend of Oasis; when Oasis was pressured by her mother to find a dragon to marry, she just chose Char because she believed that it would be easy to marry him without actually having to love him, but she quickly found that spending time around Char was quite annoying and the two often had to spend time apart.

Cicada (AGttDW) - Cicada was the second queen of the HiveWings; she was respectful of the other tribes, but also ambitious, eager to expand her tribe.

Cicada (TLC) - Cicada loved art and before the Tree Wars, she used to make wood carvings as a dragonet; she is resentful of Wasp for making rules that censored trees.

Cinnabar - Cinnabar would become a member of the SilkWing Assembly, by request of Tau. Cinnabar eventually starts dating Io and Tau and is reunited with her grandmother Danaid.

Clay - Clay never liked to read because his eyes always hurt when he tried to read something; later in life, he would get glasses that would help him be able to read clearly without pain; Clay developed an interest in music and would go on to teach a music class at JMA.

Clearpool - as an adult, Clearpool returned to the Kingdom of the Sea where she inherited the throne from Pearl.

Clearsight - Clearsight never romantically loved Darkstalker, and just saw him as a close friend. On Pantala, she had dragonets with both Sunstreak and Maple, although it is commonly censored that she had LeafWing dragonets. She went on to have more dragonets with BeetleWings so the HiveWings became their own tribe, but her NightWing/LeafWing dragonets were so few, a new tribe wasn’t created from them.

Cliff - despite being a prince, when Cliff grows up, he becomes a trusted advisor to the SkyWing queen.

Clorinde - when the SilkWings were looking for staff members for Chrysalis University, Luna, Io, Swordtail, and Blue searched for their old art teacher so that they could bring them to be a professor at the university. They are the parent of Glider.

Clubtail - Clubtail fulfills his lifelong dream of owning a sweets store, where he uses his flamesilk to make baked sweets. He is the father of Grayling, who believed he was killed by Lady Bloodworm, but was actually taken to Wasp Hive to be returned to the flamesilk factory without Grayling’s knowledge.

Cobra - Cobra and Thorn knew each other as dragonets and after Cobra was thrown into Thorn’s dungeon, Thorn tried to convince her to become good so Cobra can be released. Cobra hasn’t committed yet, but Thorn keeps coming back to her every week to talk.

Cobra Lily - Cobra Lily becomes one of the soldiers in the LeafWing military, one of the military bodies that protects the LeafSilk Kingdom.

Cochineal - Cochineal was the younger of her and Scarab; she would constantly taunt her older sister and make fun of her; during her reign as queen, Scarab would try to suggest things to her, but Cochineal dismissed her every time. When Cochineal had lots of daughters, Wasp was her least favorite and she hoped Wasp wouldn’t be the one to become queen, but things didn’t turn out how she liked, as Wasp had figured out the secret of the Book of Clearsight, so Cochineal was forced to give her the throne so Wasp wouldn’t reveal it to the tribe.

Coconut - after returning from JMA, Coconut became a fruit gatherer in the Rainforest Kingdom; he works as an apprentice under Mangrove and Orchid, the two treat him like a son.

Comet - Comet was a fictional character who never actually existed; there exists ancient NightWing fanfiction between him and Mindhealer.

Commodore - Commodore was the youngest of Clearsight’s dragonets with Sunstreak; he loved telling stories and became an author, his mother would help him with printing his books.

Copperhead - Copperhead met his RainWing lover during a negotiation between the two tribes, the RainWing also being a prince; when they ran off, Copperhead was welcomed by the RainWing tribe.

Coral - Coral’s mother, Queen Conch, never paid attention to Coral when she was a dragonet. Because of this, Coral felt lonely and when she had dragonets, she coddled them because she believed that it would make them feel like they weren’t lonely.

Cowrie - Cowrie was very supportive of Clearpool and protected her when they returned to the Kingdom of the Sea.

Coypu - Coypu never knew that she wasn’t related to Sawgrass until she was elderly and had passed the throne on to her daughter.

Crane (L1) - Crane was one of the last ambitious MudWing queens in history; all of her siblings had died during skirmishes with the RainWings and SeaWings, causing her to make big military decisions since she had nothing else to lose.

Crane (TDP) - before her death, Crane had gotten into contact with the Talons of Peace and hoped to convince her siblings to join it.

Cricket - Cricket became a librarian and archivist at Sapling Academy, and later, Chrysalis University; she raised Bumblebee like a daughter to her and Blue, but the two didn’t date for a long time and just see each other as close friends after breaking up.

Crocodile - Crocodile lost all of her siblings during the war, which is why she chose to work for Burn. She survived Glory’s venom and is held as a prisoner by Queen Coral.

Crystal - Crystal and Gharial have dragonets together; they decided to raise their dragonets not as royals, just having them be regular Sanctuary residents.

Current - after returning to the Kingdom of the Sea, Current decided to go into aquaculture, as he liked to make food, but couldn’t stand the sight of knives. He would go on to meet someone and raise dragonets away from the palace, but his dragonets were never considered part of the royal family.

[readingandwritingandreading]

From The Ground Up - Part 3

My Blurb: Welcome to part 3! This chapter features a special guest from a previous story! Mostly cause I missed her. My taglist is always open. Remember REBLOGS are gold!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Summary: Drew’s been in the wrestling business a long time and seen his fair share of Alpha & Omega drama. He’s certain when he finds his Omega this won’t be a problem, until the scent of cherries and orchids fill his senses and Cassidy Riley strolls into his life and he realizes a real relationship has to be built from the ground up. 

Pairing: Alpha Drew McIntyre x Omega OFC Cassidy Riley 

Warnings: A/B/O Dynamics, Drew being soft.

Status: In Progress

Tagging: @pioched | @ashes-writing | @cherrytheeredheadmamaclaymore | @thebookwormcat​ 

Read First: From the Ground Up Masterlist

Also Check Out: My Whole Masterlist 

I stood from my spot on the crate, double checking my watch and stretching. I had been…waiting…in one of the quiet hallways, I only had a couple interviews tonight. I sighed, it was the last show in England, Raw after Money in the Bank. I knew Drew was here in the arena, his scent was in the air and the pain in my head was back down to a dull throb. Combined with the headache from the little sleep I got last night, I was a mess. The more I thought about how Drew had acted, the angrier I got, and the more I tossed and turned. A tug on my dress had me turning and looking down to see a blue eyed little boy looking up at me, his hand grabbing the glittery sequins of my dress.

“Hi little guy. Where did you come from?” He smiled, stretching his little hands towards me. I picked him up, settling him on my hip as I glanced around to see if his parents were nearby. “Where is your mom or dad?” 

“Dada fight!” he exclaimed and I laughed. Well that narrowed it down a little bit. 

“Dimitri! There you are! Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!” a brunette appeared from around the corner pushing a stroller with another toddler in it. She quickly grabbed the boy from my arms, apologizing the whole time she strapped him into the stroller beside his brother. 

“It’s ok, no harm done. I love kids!” I smiled, waving at the other boy. “I’m Cassidy Riley.” I extended my hand in greeting. 

“Kiya Aichner-Barthel, nice to meet you.” she smiled, nodding her head towards the toddlers. “This is Dimitri & Luka. They’re excited to see their dads match tonight.”

“Oh! You must be Giovanni & Ludwig’s mate!” I had heard that they had a shared mate and a set of twin boys.

“Ugh, I hate their new names. Like Vince wanted to make sure everyone knew their nationality by using the most stereotypical ones they could find.” she shuddered. “So why are you hiding out back here? This is usually the kind of place I occupy the boys while Fabian and Marcel are busy.”

I blushed, not sure how much to divulge. Drew was starting a feud with the leader of her pack. I didn’t want to cause problems. “I’m just having some issues with my mate.” I hedged with a small smile. 

“Alphas right? Hang on.” She grinned before handing each of the boys an applesauce pouch out of her bag and syncing her phone up to the show broadcast that was going on around us. Then she hopped up on the box I had vacated and patted the spot beside her. “I have two, and am therefore a plethora of knowledge. When did you meet?.”

Smiling, I sat beside her. “Yesterday, it didn’t go well. I haven’t seen him today but I know he’s here.” 

“Why didn’t it go well? I mean I literally dropped everything and ran away when I met Fabian and Marcel, they had to catch me in my office to talk to me." She laughed, handing me an applesauce pouch and opening one for herself. 

I accepted it gratefully, I had barely eaten today which wasn’t helping the tiredness or the headache. Looking at my watch again I sat down next to Kiya and told her everything that had happened between me and Drew so far. She nodded along and asked a couple questions but then seemed to be contemplating. 

“Can I offer you some advice that helped me?” I nodded and she continued. “When I first found Fabian & Marcel I was terrified. I only knew them from their in ring personas and I had just gotten out of a terrible relationship. But then my friend told me: ’the universe just put two people, made just for you, right in front of your face’. So I gave them a chance and it was true. They are everything I could have ever wanted in mates. They provide for our family, they are attentive fathers and doting partners.” She shrugged, looking down at the boys playing in the stroller and babbling at the screen. “If Drew is your mate then somewhere inside him is the alpha you need. I’m not saying give into the caveman act, there’s a difference between protecting and controlling, but give him a chance to prove he can be more.” 

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

I grit my teeth at Riddle’s babble during our interview with Saxton. I wasn’t thrilled about teaming with him but if it helped pave the way to the Intercontinental title then so be it. After the interview I pulled Byron aside. “Where is Cassidy?” I knew she was in the building but I hadn’t spotted her all night and had been too busy to track her down until now. 

“Hiding from you I assume,” I raised my eyebrow at his tone but he stood his ground. This wasn’t the first sign of loyalty that had been shown to my mate tonight. Kayla had chewed me a new one and berated me about having to spend half the night listening to Cassidy toss and turn in the room next to hers. That encounter had at least told me which hotel she was in, allowing me to adjust my reservation accordingly. 

Fighting for calm, I held my hands out in a pleading manner. “I just want to talk to her, apologize for my behavior.” 

He contemplates me for a few seconds before pulling out his schedule for the night. “She’s due to interview Becky near catering in five minutes.” I thanked him and turned to head that way but he grabbed my arm. “Cassidy’s a great person, don’t screw this up.” I nodded before taking off. 

The interview had started when I arrived so I stood off to the side out of her line of sight and took her in, something I hadn’t had time to do yesterday. She stood taller than Becky, with similar copper waves that flowed to her chest. She was wearing a gold sequin covered dress that showed off her legs. Mine. My dick twitched at the thought of them wrapped around my waist but I took a deep breath to steady myself. She wasn’t going to hop into bed with me right away, she had made that clear. I had a plan though, I just had to get her to talk to me first.

Becky’s interview was cut short when Zoey attacked her from behind. Cassidy quickly stepped off camera, putting her closer to me and I headed towards her, uncomfortable with how close she was to a fight. She felt my presence as I approached and stiffened, turning slowly to face me. 

“Hey,” her voice was almost a whisper and she looked around like she was searching for an escape. 

My chest constricted at her reaction. I didn’t want my Omega to be afraid in my presence. “Can we talk?” I forced my expression to be calm and my voice soft.

She looked at me then, clearly startled by the change from yesterday. “I have one more interview in 10 minutes, then Raw Talk.” 

I nodded, pulling a slip of paper from my pocket. I had expected this and wasn’t going to be deterred. “I’m in the same hotel, text me when you get done?” Her hand trembled as she reached for it, gasping softly when our hands made contact.

One of the backstage directors found her then, informing her the match was shortened and she was needed at the gorilla. I scowled at him but she smiled and said she would be there shortly. “I’ll text you.” Her voice had gone soft again and I groaned as her scent surrounded me when she walked around me. 

Two hours later I was pacing my hotel room relentlessly. I had secured the room across from hers and the pain lessening had told me she returned an hour ago but I hadn’t heard from her yet. 

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

I toyed with the slip of paper as I sat on my bed. My other hand held my phone where I had already copied Drew’s number written in his bold scrawling writing to my phone but I hadn’t messaged him yet. I knew he was close, he must have switched hotels because the pain was considerably less than it had been last night. Keeping Kiya’s words in mind, I opened a blank chat, staring at the cursor blinking on the screen. How do I start this conversation? Oh hey, it’s me, your mate. Sure, let's give this thing a try. Sure, you’re gorgeous but you’re kind of an asshole and I'm not sure how this is going to work. Ugh! I pressed my head back into the pillow, staring at the ceiling, my phone flopping to my stomach.

With the exception of one boyfriend that lasted for a year, I had waited for my Alpha. My true mate. Why was I hesitating now? I didn’t want to be alone anymore. By any standard Drew was the perfect Alpha. He was big and strong, more than capable of protecting and caring for his Omega’s needs. Speaking of, he was also hot as hell. His entrance gear and deep accent made him seem like he had just waltzed off the cover of a historical romance novel. That thought alone had me wiggling and clamping my thighs together.

The attraction was there for him as well, I had seen it in his eyes after my interview with Becky. The memory of the way he looked at me with undisguised want had me grabbing my phone. I had to at least give this a shot. 

“Hey…it’s Cassidy.” 

I took a deep breath and watched the three bubbles pop up on the screen immediately after my message was sent. Ok, so he was waiting by the phone. I jumped when a knock sounded on my door. Leaving my phone on the bed, I walked to the door and looked through the peephole and smiled. 

“Hi,” I breathed, momentarily stunned by Drew’s presence in front of me. He had showered and changed like I had, the black shirt and leather jacket accentuating his broad chest. The dark jeans and boots completing the outfit has me suppressing a bolt of desire. Stupid mate hormones. 

“I hope this is ok, I wanted to talk to you in person.” His voice pulled me out of my perusal of his body and I blushed at the look in his eye. “Can I come in?”

I glanced back at my room, it wasn’t a mess, but allowing him into my personal space right now didn’t seem like a good idea. That coffee and pine smell were playing havoc on my senses. He must have caught the indecision on my face, quickly producing an alternative.  “We can go for a walk by the water if you’d rather. I know a little ice cream place we could stop at.” 

“That would be nice, let me grab my shoes.” I agreed, relieved at the safer option. “Ice cream is the way to an Omega’s heart.” I told him as I slid on my sneakers, reveling in the laugh that lit up his face.

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

I chuckled at the way Cassidy’s eyes lit up when I handed her the waffle cone filled with rocky road ice cream. She hadn’t hesitated in ordering it even when faced with the mountain of options at the shop. Mental note, her favorite ice cream is rocky road. I was determined to show her I could be better than what she saw last night, though the heated way she had let her eyes drift over me when she opened her door told me that biology was working in my favor.

“So, um…what did you want to talk about?” She broke the silence as we left the shop and headed towards the waterfront. Her eyes were on the stores around us but I could almost feel her apprehension.

“I wanted to apologize for last night. I was hyped up for my return and finding you gone, I got a case of Alpha brain.” Her snort of derision spurned me on. “It’s no excuse, you were injured and I blamed you for it. But I will be a better mate than that. I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.” I watched her expression as I spoke, heartened to see a small smile appear. 

She turned to face me, “I accept and appreciate the apology. It was a very…overwhelming event for me as well.” She stopped to gaze out over the water before continuing. “I have wanted this for a long time also but I was serious last night about not jumping immediately into bed with you. Mate or not.” She met my eyes hesitantly, a shiver running through her. 

“I understand and I have come up with a plan for that.” She tilted her head curiously at my statement. “When is your next heat due?”

She balked, eyes glaring. “That’s kind of personal.” She shivered again when the wind picked up.

I grinned, “At the risk of sounding like a caveman again; I'm your mate, I need to know these things.” 

She huffed, pulling her phone out of her pocket and opening an app, “Roughly three weeks from now.”

“Perfect,” I gently led her to a nearby bench, pulling off my jacket and draping it around her. “That gives me three weeks to woo you.” She snorted and I smiled before growing serious. “The pain is going to be too much if we are apart, I know you didn’t sleep well last night.” I gently used her chin to turn her face back to me when she turned away. “I didn’t fare much better.” 

“What are you suggesting?” She eyed me warily but snuggled further into my jacket.

“We travel together, share a room.” I shrugged.

“Drew!” she jolted back like i’d shocked her. 

“We don’t have to share a bed, unless you want to.” I shrugged when she glared at me. “Thought I’d check.”

She toyed with the sleeve of my jacket, looking uncertain. “I don’t know…we could have separate beds?” she bit her lip. “And no sex.”

“Scouts honor.” I held my right hand up. “No sex…unless you ask for it.” I added.

She rolled her eyes and sighed. I held my breath while she contemplated my plan. “Ok, when do we start?”

I pulled her into a hug causing her to squeak and laugh. “We need to make sure we are on the same flight tomorrow and then we look at the schedule for the next three weeks.”

She nodded but didn’t make an attempt to pull out of my arms. “What about tonight? There’s only one bed in my room.”

“I’m right across the hall if you need me. I switched hotels when I found out where you were staying.” I replied, unable to resist pressing my nose to her hair and reveling in the orchid and cherry scent. 

[radiantlyrey]

Thoughts on Uprising Ep8 “The Reward”

- (pre-viewing note: is this the episode where a program nearly gets drawn and quartered?? I remember this vividly from 10 years ago but it hasn’t popped up yet…..) (note from later: APPARENTLY IT IS!!! OKAY THEN.)

- I haven’t mentioned this yet, but the recaps before each episode are a fucking delight. it’s like a full-on course in double meaning and irony and the delivery is just *chef’s kiss* I know there’s a button to skip the recaps but they’re so fun I usually watch them anyway…….

- cold open: it’s pretty obvious from early on that this is a dream, and I did not realize/remember that programs dreamed! this is useful information for fic-writing, thank you show. the content of the dream itself is a little disturbing, mostly from the way the Renegade is just ragdolling around while Tesler ineffectively tries to fight him. it’s honestly a great way to display Tesler’s insecurities, and very effective at that.

- Tesler has got a good point—they’re wasting too many resources on tracking down the Renegade; they might as well outsource the bulk of the work. his speech in the arena is very effective; Henriksen is a great VA for him, and honestly Tesler is pretty effectively terrifying as the main villain of the series. (nitpick: the “RENEGADE FREE ARGON” sign during Tesler’s speech needs a fricking hyphen after “Renegade.” Though in a delicious twist of irony, the Renegade is trying to free Argon, so without the hyphen there’s a delightful double meaning in there.)

- related to the speech, Tesler wishes the programs of Argon “Happy Hunting” which made me think of Janelle Monae’s song “Violet Stars Happy Hunting!!!” from her first Metropolis album. It is a banger of a song, and it also got me to thinking about whether there are bounty hunters on the Grid at all?? Like, given the Renegade issue in Argon alone, there must be other enemies of the state that Clu wants eliminated, right? (but then that digs into the whole issue of currency on the Grid, which there is no mention of AT ALL and argh) but that’s just my brain running away from me……

- semi B plot with Paige and Pavel (tho I’ll be honest, this ep is all A plot): Paige is doing her job, Pavel is being paranoid, though his paranoia may be slightly justified. also we got Bartik and Hopper hanging around again, and these guys still baffle the fuck out of me, especially Bartik??? But I’ve gone over that like three times now, so I’ll let it lie for now. and it’s absolutely no surprise that Pavel’s being sneaky about things… ugh.

- also the whole neighbor turning on neighbor thing that we see here is… a little disturbing, for a Y7 show??? maybe not, I don’t have a good gauge for these things. it just seems a little reminiscent of some parts of history, to me? I don’t know. (mind you, with the Scars episodes up next, I’ll have plenty to talk about in re: appropriateness for 7 year olds……) (don’t remember much about Scars, but I do remember the fucking TORTURE SCENES)

- meanwhile, it’s nice to see Beck actually hanging out with his friends for once (and also nice that Zed calls him on the fact that he has not been hanging with them very much recently) (ya gotta get a better work-work-life balance there, kiddo) it is nice that Tron deferred to his judgement on what they needed to do about the hunt for the Renegade (and I loved Beck’s “finally he listens to me” reaction….) tho it kind of sucks that their favorite club has turned into an army hangout….

- and then we have a one-scene, one-minute character in Gorn! who fascinates me to no end. apparently memory modifications are possible, but it’s a specialized task that takes a steady hand and a good deal of patience. which Pavel of course lacks. anyway, what a fascinating one-off character; kind of hoping she pops up again at some point…..

- I love that Beck and Paige are approaching this whole “Hopper’s the Renegade!” thing from two completely different angles, both arriving at the same truth (albeit for very different reasons…) Beck’s smooth moves getting in with Link are hilarious, for one, and Paige actually like…. listening to people is cool of her, and another indicator of her complex character.

- and then MARA FUCKS UP REAL BAD HOLY SHIT GIRLLLLLL. Mind you, Tesler’s already in a prickly mood, so it’s no surprise (also considering what he did to Paige’s friends way back when) that he decides to execute Zed and Mara as sympathizers… tho I find it hilarious because literally the previous episode Zed was complaining about how the Renegade is a menace to society, etc. I also like that Mara and Zed are trying to do the right thing even though neither of them like Hopper very much. good on them.

- further notes on the public execution: okay, so it’s more drawing and thirding than drawing and quartering, but nonetheless. (also file under things I’m surprised they got away with putting in a Y7 show…..) love that Beck has a growing history of grand theft auto, what with stealing the roadster from Link to save his friends (and Hopper). the sequence where Beck swoops in to save everyone is really neat, too. that missile gun of Pavel’s was kind of terrifying tho….

- also it is kinda tragic that Beck got to spend time with his friends… but also not. poor kid.

- and re: Zed/Mara - this crush thing between the two of them is going to KILL ME, I swear!!!!!!!! USE YOUR WORDS, KIDS. IT AIN’T THAT HARD!!!!

- all in all: pretty fun episode, though not necessarily a lighter one…..

I may or may not get to Scars (both parts) tonight, we’ll just have to see………….

[phoenixyfriend]

When Obi-Wan gets to AotC, there's also about two dozen Anakin clones on-site. They're all girls because... IDK Anakin is trans. They have a hive mind and are developmentally a few years younger than Anakin himself.

It's incredibly unsettling to Obi-Wan.

It's almost definitely a "fuck with Anakin's already fragile mental health" ploy by Palpatine, along with a "what if Jedi Black Widows, for me, a Sith Lord. Wouldn't that be neat? That would be neat."

Anakin is torn between "this freaks me out" and "GANG OF BABY SISTERS LET'S GOOOOOOO."

(I just finished reading Like Real People Do by glimmerglanger, so this is definitely inspired by that and the obligatory 'lay back in bed and daydream variations on plot points of that fic you just really enjoyed,' and also a little by Same Heart, Same Blood by loosingletters.)

They're physically like 14-16 on average, and Anakin's vibrating out of his skin with a million conflicting emotions, but when he tells Padme she's just like "oh, you have a handmaiden gang!"

I told this to @willowcrowned and she suggested:

Once Anakin decides to repress the part of him that’s weirded out and just regard them as baby sisters he gets. A little strange about it The first time one of them dies he may or may not slaughter every person he can [in response to Padme's comment] Anakin starts worrying that he needs to get them cool matching outfits

I also chatted about it with @firebirdeternal and they said:

Gang of Unsettling Smol Siblings is exactly the Karma that Anakin deserves

Do you think the Clones have a kind of Collective Name that they use at first that eventually just kind of morphs into a new last name? Skysisters or something? Like Palpatine was trying to be clever and name them like the Nightsisters.

I initially went with "functionally one person" hive-mind but I'm torn.

I think maybe they're BASICALLY one person on Kamino but drift into Separate Consciousness once they're far enough apart physically that their minds don't blend from proximity anymore.

Then they start Dating (like half of them are dating Fett clones because they grew up with these dudes, it's like childhood friends romance), and Anakin loses his mind about Protecting Them and They're Too Young.

Padme: You're nineteen and we just got married, they can date. Anakin: THEY'RE EIGHT. Padme: And the Fett clones are ten and dying for us in the field. Get them rights before you panic about their love lives.

Firebird:

it could be worse, one of them could imprint on Obi-Wan. "Anakin I promise I won't yell at you for the next five stupid things you do if you can figure out a way to stop this baby from having a crush on me" (I like the idea of Obi-wan bargaining not with "I won't be mad at you ever" because they Both Know That's Not True, and instead haggling with specific allowances. Like he's handing out Stupidity Coupons)

Please imagine Mace and Obi-Wan's personal responses to the idea of suddenly having to deal with not one, not two, but OVER TWENTY SKYWALKERS.

Plo is delighted to take one off their hands.

So is Yoda.

Willow:

Mace is like. okay suicide isn’t the Jedi way but on the other hand. i physically cannot deal with this Yoda: a skywalker, you say? one who is tall enough to reach the top shelf, you say? such a skywalker, bring me

Anakin would be given at least one because fuck you, suffer with us, but he's still a padawan so Ugh, fine, no.

I want to say one stays on Coruscant to hang out with the Guard, and ends up half-adopted by Padme. She keeps dressing up the Aniclone left with her in handmaiden outfits and sending selfies to Anakin.

"Hanging out with the little SiL!"

Anakin has so many issues about WHEN his genetic material was acquired.

And there's some confusion from the Fett clones about how much of a hive mind is normal for Jedi. They are confused that the answer is basically none, and "this is WHY nobody clones a Jedi"

ONE OF THEM STEALS BOBA FROM THE ARENA ON GEONOSIS.

Firebird:

"I have followed in our progenitor's footsteps and acquired a sibling." holds up a struggling Boba "He bites."

Willow:

Ooooo okay so if they have a sort of hive mind then they probably don’t have names other than their designations on Kamino right BUT When they SEPARATE The one that picks Boba up on Geonosis gets a name specifically for that. Okay what if the one Padmé picks up gets some variant on ‘pretty’ because she’s always being dressed up BELLE Maybe Yoda’s Ani has a name that means thief? Because obviously Yoda is using Anakin to steal sweets

So, to make the timeline work...

I don't think anyone would give Anakin one of his sisters until after he's knighted at least.

So obviously when they're doing initial placements none of the sisters go to him or Obi-Wan.

Once he's knighted, of course they're already all placed with someone, and Anakin instead gets Ahsoka. He loves Ahsoka. She is also a little sister. He said so.

At some point afterwards, one of the sisters is left without a place because the Master that was in charge of her died in the field battle.

That sister then gets placed with Obi-Wan, because he's already mostly-successfully raised one Skywalker, so he can do it again.

Anakin gets to hang out with her basically all the time.

Ahsoka is very very jealous of this girl stealing Anakin's attention.

Anakin is oblivious to the rivalry.

He asks Barriss to look after them while he's discussing Adult War Things with Luminara and Obi-Wan, and Barriss gets an eye into This Mess, which is quickly colored by Ahsoka growing a puppy crush on the lovely Miss Offee herself.

Firebird:

Ahsoka: Ah yes, my nemesis. Anisister: Ah yes, my new older sister whom I want to impress so bad.

"I will impress her by being Stoic and Competent" "Oh my god she must think she's so much better than me what a bitch"

Anakin is oblivious to most things to be fair Anakin: Laser focused precision fighting machine who can read the tiniest body movements and predict your moves seconds in advance, who also cannot understand even the most basic social nuance. I was originally writing this as to Dunk on Anakin but then I made myself sad, because none of those things are really his fault.

So you know that post about like, Sasuke and Brooding, specifically in the context of "Brooding" as it's used to refer to Nesting Chickens? Grouchy and protective and sitting on a tennis ball trying to hatch it because they're just. "These are my Babies." Anakin Broods. Baby sisters. Must protecc. "I'm actually fine and extremely deadly in combat." "MUST PROTECT."

Bad Guy: [catches Ahsoka in a Trap] Aniclone: Must rescue sister! Aniclone: [fights, is not winning fight, gets ouched] Ahsoka tearing her way out of Trap: I lived bitch. Also: stay the fuck away from her. [murders so hard]

Ahsoka catches the Protective Older Sib feels by the traditional method: "Hey, only I'm allowed to be mean to them."

Willow:

Oh Anakin has no clue what’s going on. He walks in on Ahsoka glaring at the Ani and is like!!! Little sisters!!! Bonding!!! When Ahsoka was about three seconds away from tossing her out of the airlock. Ahsoka mistakenly assumes that Barriss has a crush on the Ani, and gets even MORE jealous.

Obi-Wan is like oh god. I can’t take care of an Anakin going through puberty again. He’s great with periods and other stuff because he read about a billion books. He is TERRIBLE with everything else, as he was the first time.

Barriss is like???? YOU'RE BOTH CHILDREN, PLEASE CALM DOWN, I HAVE ZERO INTEREST IN DATING ANYONE, LET ALONE SOMEONE YOUR AGE.

IDK how old Obi-Wan's Aniclone is, probably physically the same age as Ahsoka?

Per @atagotiak on discord:

Also something something, similarities btw Anakin and Obi-Wan where like. "Am I a parent? That seems uncomfortable, I'm too young to be a dad to a kid this age, I mean I'm cool with being a mentor/caretaker but..."

Obi-Wan can't even sidestep parenthood this time.

"Is Anakin basically your dad?" "Uhhhhhh" [Muffled discussion] "So Obi-Wan is your dad." "Okay!" "WAIT NO I DIDN'T AGREE TO THIS"

Ahsoka: She's stealing my brother, that BITCH. Obi-Wan's Aniclone: new sister new sister new sister gotta make a good impression

Firebird:

I feel like the Sister Squad would make very effective interstellar espionage agents Even like, kind of by accident. They just get encouraged to branch out in their interests and figure out what they want to do with their lives and end up all over the dang place, and since they're all pretty dang competent they tend to gravitate towards Important Positions wherever they end up. Except for one sister who just retires to raise Space Sheep.

I like that in this AU Palpatine is just like "I will create an army of Loyal Murderers who will obey my every whim and also be a big psychological lever on my Other Pet Murderer," and then they all just Baby Duckling imprint on the first Jedi to be nice to them instead and he has to just be like "Wait no not like that."

AND one of them Steals Boba

I want Obi-Wan's Aniclone to start dating Fives. All the sisters judge her for it, because he's a Goof. A very competent, ARC Trooper goof! But a goof.

Not as goofy as Anakin, though.

Firebird:

Who expects a clone of Anakin Skywalker to not make questionable lifelong romantic choices impulsively?

[tired-teacher-blog]

Hi there I was wondering if you’d write a ~fluff~ with Aizawa and his wife reader, where even though they’ve been together since UA, and he loves her immensely and she’s also a history teacher/teacher’s assistant (basically inseparable), but she feels insecure still around the fact that Emi/Ms. Joke still likes Aizawa and flirts with him (even when Aizawa and reader are together) like at the student licensing exam arena.. :3

Sure thing love. Here you go and I hope you like it!

Title: Insecure

Characters: Aizawa Shōta/ fem reader/ Emi Fukukado aka Ms.Joke

Genre : fluff/ angst/ one shot/ no manga spoilers/ happy ending

Masterlist

_"I'm waiting for you at the front gate sweetheart." You smiled to yourself reading your husband's message and immediately gathered your things and ran out to meet him.

It was a dreadful day, some of your students missed the deadline to deliver their assignments, and you had to sit there and listen to all kinds of excuses. You had a soft spot for them and were afraid they figured it out and were using it against you. But you were going to put that on hold for a moment because all you wanted then was to run out and see your husband.

Sure enough, there he was standing at the front gate like he told you he was, with a tired look on his face. Yours on the other hand lit up as soon as you saw him and you couldn't help calling his name from a distance:" Shōta!"

He immediately turned to meet your gaze and smiled at your figure running towards him. You jumped on him and hugged him tightly.

_" Honey we're still on school ground."

_" Oh right! I'm sorry." You answered shyly after stepping away from him.

_" ... Whatever, come here." He said before pulling you in for a kiss. You melted in his embrace and almost forgot where you were. But a loud laugh brought you back to reality so you instantly pushed him away and turned to meet the source.

_" Oh you two love birds are too much aren't you? Rubbing your happy married life on my face."

_" Oh.. you." Aizawa noted with clear annoyance in his voice.

_" It's so nice to see you again ms Fukukado." You greeted her while bowing your head down apologetically for your husband's remark.

_" Oh come on y/n don't be a stranger! I'm used to his silly remarks." She answered you enthusiastically and put her arm around his like it was the most natural thing to do.

You felt a pang in your heart and you didn't know exactly how to interpret it. Was it jealousy? You weren't even sure, all you wanted was to ask her not touch your husband the way she was, but you couldn't.

_" Why are you here anyway?" Aizawa asked her in a monotone voice.

_" Oh I'm here for business, and I thought I should come visit my Shōta while I'm in town." She responded cutely and got even closer to him.

Why was she touching him like that? Why didn't he push her away? And most of all, why were you struggling to keep your tears at bay?

Both of them were catching up and you were just.. there. You've never felt so out of place and all you wanted at that moment was for her to stop talking and just leave.

Having those thoughts made you feel terrible, Emi did nothing wrong after all.

It was awful of you to hang your insecurities on her back. And without even realizing it, you walked up slowly to your husband and hugged his other arm tightly. Doing so seemed to bring his attention back to you, and he swiftly freed his arm from his friend's clutches and said:" it's getting dark out here, maybe we should talk tomorrow."

_" Oh my you're right! I never realized how late it was! I still have some unpacking to do so I'll catch up with you guys later!" The ever so cheerful Ms Joke blurted out and left in a hurry.

_" Get there safely." You responded bowing.

_" Let's go babe." Shōta grabbed your hand and started walking. He barely said anything all the way home and you were wallowing in self pity. You hated yourself for the miserable ideas that kept fighting inside your brain, and you just wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

You knew all too well that Emi liked your husband, and that her feelings haven't changed much even after he married you, and the realization only stabbed your self esteem further. She was still his friend though, and she actually did nothing wrong. Were You overreacting? You couldn't wait to get home and properly apologize to your husband for being so childish.

As soon as you stepped in the living room and opened your mouth to speak, Shōta pulled you into a tight hug. You didn't understand what was happening, and all you could do was burry your face in his chest and just... Cry. You felt so pathetic.

_" I'm sorry.. I'm so sorry.. I really am.. I.."

He cut you off with a kiss, and your mind just went blank.

_" Don't say anything babe, you did nothing wrong, I get it." He reassured you between kisses. He really does get you, and same goes for you, you know all about each other's anxieties and insecurities and are always there for one another.

All your worries vanished at once, and you finally smiled.

Shōta leaned in and placed a soft kiss on your forehead, and another one on your temple, and then on your nose, until he reached your lips. You had your eyes closed waiting for the kiss that never came, so you opened them slowly and were welcomed by a smirking Shōta:" I love you gorgeous, only you, I always have and always will. If it's not you then it can't be anyone else, never forget that." He said while caressing your cheeks. His comforting words and his soft and warm touch were all you needed to feel secure. You nodded and nuzzled up against his touch before mouthing a soft "I love you". He finally leaned in and kissed you deeply on the lips melting what's left of your concerns.

[testopluv]

2 of us | poly! crypto x mirage x reader (gender neutral)

Warnings: N/A

Summary: Mirage and crypto are in the apex arena with you and are trying to impress you and have your attention, they get distracted with impressing you and loses the games.

Authors note: I've been thing about this when I was playing Apex with my friends, couldn't resist writing it lol. 바보 means dumbass, 맙소사 means good grief

Word count: 605

"You guys ready? I'm the jumpmaster!"

"Of course we are, Witt."

"I wasn't asking YOUUUUUU, I was asking our lovely partner here... PARK."

You can't believe you actually agreed to go into the games with them but it also makes since you did because you guys are in a relationship after all. But questions pop up in your head on to why they agreed for a poly relationship when they clearly hate each other?? Doesn't matter, atleast you have 2 idiots by your side in this polyamourous relationship of yours. Ever since you got into a poly relationship with them they've been fighting over you. NON STOP. Oh you're playing with cryptos drone? Nah you're hanging out with mirage now. It's like a fight to the death to see who can get your attention.

Your partners landed at skyhook and was looking around in supply bins. Suddenly Elliot spots a level 3 armor and pings it for you. "Shield right here, level 4 for a special someone~." Obviously wanting you to get it but also crypto found something too, "A vault key for someone special." He says as he pings the vault key. You slowly think they're fighting for you but at the same time they're just being sweet.. to you that is. Without thinking you take both and ping survey camp for more bins. Crypto and mirage exchange death stares and follow behind you.

You got too far ahead and suddenly you announce that you're being shot at by a sniper up top and was knocked down. This is the perfect opportunity for them to show that they can be the best boyfriends ever; crypto uses his drone and uses his ult and mirage uses his decoys and tries to trick or bamboozle the enemy.. they think they've got you but cryptos drone gets shot down and he gets found by another squad and is down and the sniper knew who was real so mirage is down, squad eliminated.

"Heh.. we make a great team.." Elliot rubs the back of his neck in awkwardness. "You're the idiot that thought you got the enemy, 바보." Crypto straightens his jacket and turns his face away from mirage. "No, it was my fault I'm sorry I ran further than you guys I should've thought soo-" You we're cut off by crypto kissing you RIGHT IN FRONT of mirage's baffled and defeated face. Mirage gets pouty and folds his arm trying not to get jealous as if he already wasn't. He gets impatient and decides to step in, "ALRIGHT LET THEM BREATHE!". To be honest, you couldn't breathe even though the kiss was long and hot. Mirage pulls you in and kisses you as well to get revenge on crypto, this leaves crypto to put his hands in his pocket and smirk. This was like a victory to crypto, "맙소사.." Unlike the last kiss, mirage actually lets you breathe and moves away from your lips.

"Sooo, how was that for both?" Mirage asked since this was kinda his first kiss but he won't admit it. Crypto kinda wanted to know as well because he looks like he has experience but he doesn't so having feedback would make him less embarrassed. "By the you guys kiss, I'll take it that it was your first kiss. Mirage had a sloppy kiss and crypto was hot but our teeth almost touched." Mirage and crypto look at you like :0 because they thought they did great for their first kiss. Crypto and mirage try to make it up to by making out with you on the couch on the ship.

To bad it's ruined now because octane died and he was solo.. "WHAT THE FUCK!?" He says while looking at you guys in the couch.

[justaloserwhowrites]

Hopeful Part 1

A/N: This is based off of a dream I had, and I really just wanted to put it into words.

Pairing: Peter Parker x Stark!Avenger!Reader

Warnings: death, grief, disappearance (side note these warnings are for the story as a whole)

You had woke up a little late. On your way to make yourself breakfast, you see that you had a text from your dad.

Tony: Hey kiddo. Out for a run with Pep see ya soon

You smile a little. Pepper was always really good for your dad, and you couldn't believe it took him so long to actually ask her to marry him. After everything, you wouldn't blame Pepper for not wanting to stick around, but they made it work and it made you happy to see your dad so happy.

You continue making some eggs and bacon before starting your training for the day. Being 16, your dad was so hesitant to allow you to start training to be an Avenger, but with much convincing, begging, and pleading, he agreed. Therefore, Tony was lead to create an at home training program for you with holograms. Happy also helped from time to time like he did for your dad.

After your breakfast, you head down to your training room.

"Morning, FRIDAY. Can we get the training program started?" You ask the AI while wrapping your knuckles for later.

"Sure thing, Miss Stark. Which area would like to focus on today?"

"Run a knife fight simulation, and bump the level up to 7." You told the AI as you finish your wrapping and standd in the middle of your arena.

"Got it."

You start to fighting and are shortly cut off by FRIDAY telling you, "Miss Stark, you have an incoming call. It's from Peter."

"Okay. FRIDAY answer it." You say a little annoyed.

"Hey, babe. Sorry to interrupt you, but something crazy is happening." Peter rushingly says out of breathe.

"What do you mean, Peter?"

"There's a giant space donut attacking New York," he says again with his voice cracking as if he was scared.

"FRIDAY, bring up everything you got on some space donut," you command, and within seconds you see news coverage all over the city of this literal space donut, "Pete, please don't go after this thing."

"A little too late for that. They need my help. I have to help," Peter sounds slightly muffled, and you hear shuffling around, probably changing into his suit.

"Okay, I know I can't stop you. Please, be safe Pete. I'll see you when this is done."

"I will. I'll see you when these shitheads are gone. I love you, (Y/N)." You didn't get to say it back before the line cut. Immediately, you think to call Pepper.

"Pepper, where are you and Dad? What's going on?" You were so worried for their safety that tears had welled up in your eyes.

"(Y/N), it's okay. I'm okay, but Tony- Tony went after that thing. He went with Bruce and a guy in robes, and now his location says he's on that street. I'm almost home. I'll be there in a second." You could tell she was either running or just so anxious she's out of breathe.

"Peter is there, too. I couldn't talk him out of it." You say as a whimper letting a tear fall down.

"Hey. They'll be okay, sweetie. Your dad is very persistent," She quietly says with a slight shake of her own voice, not fully believing her own words. "Happy is taking me back to the house, and we'll pack some bags and go upstate." With that, the phone hangs up. You run to your room not bothering to change you throw clothes into clothes into a bag. You bring your bag to the front of the house and receive a text from Pete.

Peter: I'm on the spaceship. If I don't make it back, just know I love you (Y/N).

You broke down on the street crying. When Pepper and Happy pull up, she also has tears running down her face. She crouches down to hold you.

"He's up there, isn't he?" Pepper asks softly, while holding your chin.

"Yeah. I just wished I could've stopped him." You weep into her chest.

"I know. I know how you feel." She says, as you feel her tears fall softly on your head.

Pepper holds you for what seems like an eternity. After you seem to have calmed down, she helps you into the car and goes up to pack a bag. While you wait in the car, you silently cry while looking at pictures of you and Peter and some pictures Peter and your dad working in the lab. You hadn't noticed that Pepper had finished packing and was outside. The slam of the trunk had scared you so you put your phone without locking it. Pepper and Happy get into the car, and the car starts to make its way out of the city. Pepper looks over you and then at your phone that was left on the goofy picture of Tony and Peter holding the Stark internship award.

"It's gonna be okay, sweetie. They are two of the bravest people in the world. I'm sure they'll be just fine. Why don't you just rest?" She says as she locks your phone and places a sweater you as you lean against the door. You look out the window with tearful eyes, watching as the city moves farther away, and then your vision fades to black.

[weepylucifer]

AU where Mand’alor Din meets Leia through politics before he even sees Luke again and oh boy

Leia, who’s lived and breathed politics for every single day of her life sees this guy who’s clearly new to being a head of state and whose advisors are all pulling in different directions while he just tries his best and is like “Hey dude? I know we’re sorta on opposite sides of negotiating a treaty here but, do you need help? A crash-course in ruling a nation maybe?” and Din’s like “Oh thank GOD yes please, but no I’m not gonna join the New Republic that’d be crazy”

they are now unstoppable besties

Leia notices that her new bestie sometimes makes mention of a kid? He adopted a kid and then he lost the kid somehow and it’s extremely sad. She assumes the poor kid must’ve died. Very tragic. You can hang out with my horrible toddler if you ever miss that life

Din gathers that his new bestie has a brother who runs a school for specially gifted kids or something and doesn’t com as much as Leia thinks he should. That sucks. You can hang out with me and pretend we’re brother sister if you ever miss that life

The dots are never connected until at some point Luke appears in the political arena for some event at which the Senate thought it would be picturesque to have their Jedi present

Leia is like “Hey Din this is the brother I mentioned, Luke Skywalker, he’s a Jedi Master”. Din is like THE DARK MAN TOOK MY SON

Leia, now rapidly putting the pieces together, in the same inflection in which Griffin Mcelroy said “the same blastoise”: “THE SAME KID”

obviously Leia tears Luke a new one for not just spiriting her new bestie’s child away but also running off with Prince Grogu of Mandalore, Son of the Mand’alor

“You can’t just DO these things you can’t just steal the child of a neutral system’s ruler, do you know what an awkward situation you’re putting the New Republic in?? Din is very precious to me now and you’re over here trying to kick off Mando-Jedi Wars 2: This Time It’s Personal, you are killing me, you are killing your sister”

Luke who lives in an abandoned temple on a nowhere moon and has no idea what’s going on anywhere: “What”

Leia is by this point hitting him with Yoda’s stick that she just made appear out of nowhere and demanding he apologize profusely and let Din see his son before this becomes an intergalactic incident and she does Not give a Shit about the Jedi Code. Luke is like god I guess, please step this way Mr Mand’alor

2 weeks of Din reuniting with Grogu at the temple later Luke appears to Leia again like “I have fallen in love with the Mandalorian.”

task failed successfully

“He’s just so gentle with Grogu and he fights so good and he has a moustache under the helmet I SAW IT. Did you know. He is so strong and safe he is doing his best. His armor is so shiny and the Force sings when he is near. Our destinies are entwined. I just want to get dicked down again”

Leia’s like fuckin marry him I GUESS

Han started fucking Boba Fett like 8 bullet points ago

[sunshinereddie]

ok i just got home from work and i was thinking about the figure skater/hockey player reddie au for my entire shift so :)) here we go

eddie is a competitive figure skater and he’s always been super competitive about it. when he goes off to college, he is pleased to find that there’s a skating rink only five minutes away from campus and he immediately books some times to practice there

one night he goes to the rink to practice because there’s a competition coming up and he needs to practice a lot. so he goes to the rink and gets on the ice and starts warming up, and it’s barely been five minutes when there’s a knock against the plexiglass

eddie looks and sees another boy, around his age, standing at the entrance to the rink with a hockey stick and a bucket of pucks

the guy then tells eddie he needs to leave because he has the rink booked, to which eddie’s like um no, i have the space booked for the next two hours. he pulls out his confirmation, and the other guy pulls out his as well, and sure enough the rink has double booked them for that night

eddie thinks that because he was there first he should be able to use it, but the other guy (eddie can read the surname TOZIER on the back of his jersey) insists that he needs the rink because he has a game this weekend and needs to practice his shots or else the coach will bench him for the next entire game

after bickering for a while they decide to stop wasting their time and just to share the space for the night, each of them getting half the rink each

but of course they’re childish and cannot share properly

every time richie misses the net and slams the puck against the wall (which happens more often than not) it makes eddie lose focus, eddie keeps skating into richie’s half because he needs the space for his routine and they spend more time getting mad at each other than actually practicing

from then on, their interactions at the rink are limited to snarky comments as richie arrives at the rink at the same time eddie’s leaving (“how was your game last night, tozier? heard you spent most of the game on the bench again” “no no no, you must have heard wrong, i played a little in the first half, and then i spent the rest of the night in your mother’s bed” “i’ll kill you with your own hockey stick” “ooh i’m so scared ;)” )

but of course snarky comments eventually turn into flirty banter (though neither of them actually realize that they’re flirting) and eventually eddie finds himself hanging around the arena later after practice until richie shows up,, sometimes richie arrives at the arena a few minutes before his booked time to stretch and to get ready and definitely not to stare at eddie while he’s skating

one time as they’re kinda becoming friends richie mentions that he has a game that weekend, not really thinking anything of it, until it’s game night and richie steps out onto the ice and he sees eddie sitting in the audience (richie plays harder than ever that night and it’s because they really needed to win and definitely not because his crush eddie was watching him)

during one of richie’s games before he and eddie get together, for the entire game richie and a player from the other team have been playing super tough with each other and both of them are close to snapping. towards the end the other player mutters something under his breath and richie loses it and swings a punch, and they get into a fight. richie, as batshit crazy as he is, is still not the strongest and toughest so when the other guy sends one punch into his head richie is out cold. he wakes up a while later with a stinging headache and when he opens his eyes he looks up and sees eddie. a second later he gets his bearings and realizes that he’s in the locker room, lying on a bench, with his head in eddie’s lap while eddie pressed and ice pack to his head. richie is super embarrassed but eddie insists that he needs to keep resting (“whatever you say, dr k”) and tbh richie cant really complain about lying in eddie’s lap as eddie runs his hand through richie’s hair so they stay like that for a while, until the game finishes and then eddie walks richie home afterwards :)

also this is kinda a joke but not really but for their first kiss i would love it if richie goes to one of eddie’s competitions and eddie just finished his routine and he did it perfectly and he’s so happy and because he’s worked so hard on it so he gets off the ice to go talk to richie and richie just runs and tackles and kisses him full yuri on ice style. that’s all i want

BONUS: richie gets insanely jealous when eddie has to do partner routines and he’s sitting in the audience grumpily watching eddie dance passionately and intimately with someone else. but it’s okay bc eddie just has to give richie extra kisses afterwards to make up for it </3

i hope y’all liked these hcs :) i love this au so so much ⛸🏒💞

[bxcketbarnes]

Grandmaster’s Daughter

Pairing: Loki Laufeyson x Reader

Words: 3900+

Author’s Note: Back at it again with some more Loki fiiiiics. This is the most motivation I’ve had to write for a long while. I’m really happy right now. Anyway, I hope you guys like this! Let me know what you thought xox

You walk into the room your father sits in while watching the arena fights. You can see the excitement on his face as you move around the couch, sitting down beside him.

"Hi, sweetheart," your father greets and you smile at him.

"Hi, Dad," you chuckle and lean against the back of the couch, crossing your legs. "Who's fighting your champion today?"

The Grandmaster shrugs his shoulders and mumbles a random name. You glance around the room and see the usual crowd until your eyes find a new face. You tilt your head to the side, analyzing the new guy.

Raven-colored hair, green eyes, shoulder-length black hair, pink lips. Cute. You think to yourself as the man sits at the other end of the long couch.

His eyes suddenly meet yours and you give him a small smile. "I've never seen you here before," you mention, and the man nods his head once, fingers tapping against his legs.

"I got here a few days ago. My name's Loki," he introduces, crossing one of his legs over the other.

"Hi, Loki," you greet and hold out your hand for him to take. Loki shakes it gently as you continue to speak, "I'm Y/N. The Grandmaster's daughter… in case you didn't know."

The two of you chuckle as the raven-haired man scratches the back of his neck. "Actually, I had no idea the Grandmaster had children," he confesses and you giggle while nodding your head.

"Yeah, he doesn't talk about me to others much. Most likely because I'm usually with him all the time, so he assumes people know," you tell him and Loki lets out a quiet ah. 

Your father shushes the two of you and you chuckle softly and turn your attention back to the fight. Loki glances towards you once more, feeling a smile come to his lips as you lean back against the couch.

This place doesn't seem all that bad… Loki thinks while turning his gaze back towards the arena.

-

"You've gotten pretty close to my daughter the past few weeks haven't you, Loki?" The Grandmaster says and Loki snaps his head in your father's direction.

"I- Yeah, she's a lovely lady," he tells the older man and he grins in response while nodding his head in agreement.

"That she is. She's just like her mother," the man states before walking away from him. Loki lets out a sigh of relief before sitting down in the chair.

One of the servers hands Loki a glass of champagne and he downs three-quarters of the bubbly liquid in one gulp. "Thirsty, are we?" Your voice asks while sitting beside him.

Loki jumps slightly and looks towards you, a playful smile on your lips. "Yeah, something like that," Loki mumbles with a chuckle while wiping his hands on his pants. "Your dad was just questioning me about our friendship."

You roll your eyes and take a sip of your drink. "Typical dad for ya," you mention with a giggle, and Loki hums.

"I don't have that experience," he mentions and your eyes drift back towards the man, seeing his green eyes staring down at his hands. "My dad isn't my dad. I'm- well, it's complicated."

"I'm sorry, Loki. I didn't mean to bring up a touchy subject," you say with a frown and Loki leans back in his chair, shaking his head.

"You're fine, darling. I didn't mean to damper the mood," the raven-haired man gives you a reassuring smile.

You let out a breath and return his smile and pats his leg. "I'm glad you're here, Loki. You're very interesting," you grin and feel your heart flutter in your chest.

"Me too. I'm starting to like being on this planet," Loki confesses and both of your cheeks blush at his words. You tuck a strand of hair behind your ear and take another sip of your drink, ignoring the way your heart beats quicker around this man.

Your father walks into the room as Loki begins to tell everyone a story. Your eyes look at the blonde man sitting in the chair, seeing him look around the place as the Grandmaster tells him all about what he does here.

"People come far and wide to unwillingly participate in it. And you, my friend, might just be part of the new cast. What do you say to that?"

"We're not friends and I don't give a shit about your games. I'm going back to Asgard," the man says and your father chuckles.

"Ass-guard."

You roll your eyes at the Grandmaster and his inability to hear things properly. Your father goes back to making music with his keyboard as the new contender continues to look around the room.

His eyes meet yours at first and you give him a sympathetic smile as you feel bad about the man being in this position. "Loki?" The man mumbles and you furrow your eyebrows and glance towards the raven-haired man. "Loki! Loki!"

Loki looks in the direction where his name is being called, green eyes widening a bit, and stands up. He clears his throat and excuses himself, his eyes meeting yours quickly. "Excuse me," Loki mumbles and walks towards the buff man.

You watch the two interact with one another and you'd be lying if you said you weren't intrigued by what's happening. You slowly stand up and walk towards the two of them, seeing your father creeping towards them as well.

“What are we whispering about?” Your father whispers besides the two men and the blonde lets out a yelp, causing you to chuckle. “Time works real different around these parts. On any other world, I’d be, like, millions of years old. But here on Sakaar...”

The Grandmaster makes a face and you can’t help but laugh, covering your mouth as you run a hand through your hair. There’s an awkward silence between all of you as both Loki and the blonde stare at your father.

“In any case, you know this, uh… You call yourself Lord of Thunder?” Grandmaster asks the raven-haired man.

“God of Thunder,” the blonde corrects and chuckles, motioning his head towards your father. “Tell him.”

“I’ve never met this man in my life,” Loki states, and you hum to yourself, seeing the large smile on his face.

“He’s my brother,” Lord of Thunder angrily says and you raise an eyebrow, intrigued by this whole situation.

Loki shakes his head and looks towards the Grandmaster, “adopted.”

Your father looks down at his hands, asking the raven-haired man if he’s any sort of fighter. If you had to guess by the way he’s dressed, he’s been in a few fights in his lifetime. “Take this think out of my neck and I’ll show you,” the blonde laughs and your father joins in while fixing his collar.

“Now, listen to that. He’s threatening me. Hey, Sparkles, here’s the deal,” Grandmaster starts and you walk away from the three men, having enough of the conversation they’re having.

You find it interesting that Loki would lie about not knowing this Lord of Thunder and you definitely want to question him about it later.

-

You step out of the shower when there’s a knock on your door. You glance towards the metal structure, furrowing your eyebrows as you wonder who it could be. You wrap a towel around your body, tightly securing it before heading towards the door. You open it to reveal Loki standing on the other side of it.

“O-Oh, sorry I didn’t know you were-” he cuts himself off and looks away from you, feeling his cheeks blush. A chuckle leaves your lips as you invite him into your room, telling him that it’s completely fine.

Loki hesitantly walks into your room before you close the door. The man sits down on the edge of your bed, playing with his fingers as you head towards your closet. “What can I help you with, Loki?” You ask him and shut the closet door most of the way so you can change into something more presentable.

“Uhm, I wanted to talk to you about my brother,” he states as his green eyes look around your room. He’s never been inside your room before, only making it to your door when he walks you home after the two of you hang out. “There’s a reason I never told you about him.”

Once you finish getting dressed you walk out of the closet, drying your hair with the towel that was wrapped around your body. “I understand that you have reasons to be reserved, Loki, and you don’t need to explain yourself to me. I’m just curious as to why you would lie to Grandmaster,” you explain to him and Loki presses his lips together before standing up.

“My brother can be a bit of an idiot and I didn’t want to jeopardize Grandmaster’s trust,” he confesses. You look up at him as he stands a few inches in front of you, his eyes gazing into yours. “I also didn’t want you to think that I’ve been keeping secrets or anything.”

Your heart flutters in your chest at Loki’s words and you tuck a strand of hair behind your ear before looking away from him. “Loki, my dad likes you. He truly does. He’s mentioned it to me quite a few times since we’ve become friends. And, don’t tell him I said this, but he can be a bit oblivious,” you start off and the raven-haired man lets out a breath of relief, “all he cares about is his precious champion. He’s not going to care about Lord of Thunder being your brother.”

“Thor,” Loki corrects and you furrow your eyebrows in confusion, “Lord of Thunder? His name is Thor.”

“Oh! Well, that’s a pretty neat name,” you chuckle and Loki joins in while scratching the back of his neck. “And, don’t worry about ruining anything with me. I like you. You’re fun to be around and you definitely make watching these fights more bearable.”

He smiles down at you and you take a step towards him before wrapping your arms around his waist. Loki runs his hand through your wet hair as the two of you stand in each other’s embrace for a few moments. Loki can feel his heart pounding against his chest, one of his hands slowly running up and down your back.

“We should probably get going. The match is going to start in any minute,” Loki mumbles and you let out a sigh, nodding your head in agreement.

The two of you head towards the viewing room, hands brushing against each other during the walk there. “Do you think your brother has a chance against the champion?” You ask Loki and look over at him.

He shrugs his shoulders in response while motioning for you to head into the room first. You chuckle and thank him quietly, grabbing a drink from the server as Loki follows closely behind. “It’s possible, but if this champion has beaten every single other contender that’s come through here, it’s a low possibility,” Loki explains as the two of you get closer to the glass.

You and Loki stand close together as your father introduces the first contestant.

"Making his first appearance, though he looks quite promising… got a couple of tricks up his sleeve. I’ll say no more, see what you think. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you… Lord of Thunder!”

You cringe slightly as everyone in the arena begins to boo at Loki’s brother.

“Let’s get ready to welcome this guy. Here he comes.”

Fireworks begin to go off along with green smoke bombs. You take another sip of your drink as you can feel the rumbling of the champion beneath your feet.

“He is a creature. What can we say about him? Well, he’s unique. There’s none like him. I feel a special connection with him. He’s undefeated. He’s the reigning. He’s the defending. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you… your incredible…”

A large green man bursts his way through the doors as they were opening and a gasp leaves your lips. You’ve seen plenty of matches and you’ve never stuck around for the big event, and you had no idea the champion was this large. The monster lets out a roar before yelling “hulk” to the crowd, holding both a large blunt weapon and ax.

“Yes!” Thor screams and the cheering in the area dies down. Is this man insane? You think to yourself as you notice Loki backing away from you through your peripheral vision.

“I have to get off this planet,” he breathes out, fear in his green eyes, and starts to leave before you can say anything. 

The Grandmaster stops him from leaving, pushing the raven-haired man back towards you. “Hey, hey, hey. Where are you going?” He asks with a smile before your father’s eyes meet yours. “Hi, sweetheart. Glad you could make this one.”

You give him a tight-lipped smile as Loki slowly moves to stand beside you. You give him a curious look and rest a hand on his forearm. “You okay?” You ask quietly and Loki nods his head slightly.

“I-I’m fine, yeah,” he stutters and you frown, having an inkling that he’s keeping something from you. “I’ll tell you later. I promise.”

The Grandmaster sits down on the couch as you and Loki join him. You sit pretty close to Loki as your father sits on the complete opposite side of the elongated couch. Just like when you first met. You nod your head at his promise, making sure he’ll keep his word as you bring your gaze back down towards the arena.

“Hey! Hey!” Thor yells while waving the weapon in his arm, gaining your father’s attention. “We know each other. He’s a friend from work!”

The Grandmaster looks towards the two of you with wide eyes and Loki clears his throat, deciding not to say anything. You chew on your nails as the fight begins, letting out a breath every time Thor manages to doge Hulk’s attacks.

After Hulk punches Thor into the wall, Thor grabs the giant hammer that’s embedded into it as Hulk runs towards the man. The blonde strikes at the right moment, sending the Hulk halfway across the arena. Your lips part in surprise and everyone goes quiet, hearing your father mumble a confused what?

There’s a quiet moment between the two competitors before Hulk grabs a hold of Thor’s leg and thrashes him around a bit. The big guy throws Thor towards the middle of the arena and Loki jumps up from his spot. “Yes! Yes! That’s how it feels!” Loki yells before chuckling, earning a confused look from yourself and the Grandmaster. “I’m just a huge fan of the sport.”

Your father laughs in response as you stay quiet, not knowing how much more you can watch. You push yourself up from the couch, excusing yourself from the room.

"Sweetheart the fight-" your father starts but you cut him off.

"I can't watch this, dad. I'm sorry. I know you want me to be a part of this and all, but I can't," you mumble and Grandmaster sighs before nodding his head.

Your eyes move to Loki as he looks over his shoulder at you. "I'll see you later?" He asks and you give him a light smile while nodding your head in response.

-

You run your fingers through your hair as you look out the window in your room. You heard from people that Thor lost the fight and was brought up to the Champions room. You're confused as to why your father would do that, but you don't know half the reasons why he does anything.

The past few hours you've debated going to talk to him, see how he's doing. It's no secret that you've never agreed with your father's game. You felt bad for the people who have died. They could've had families for all you know. It's a reason you hardly attend any of the fights. Until you met Loki. Your father took a liking to him pretty quickly and he's the only reason you even tolerated the matches, to be near him.

You push yourself up from the floor as you begin to make your way towards the Champion's room when the Grandmaster's voice comes through the intercom of the building.

"Sakaar, hear ye. Attention, please. I have some bad news. My beloved exalted champion has turned up missing. Take to the streets! Celebrate my champion. It seems that that criminally seductive, Lord of Thunder, has stolen him away."

"Shit," you mumble and throw on a jacket before making your way to where your father does most of his punishments.

"You just missed him, love," a woman who works with your dad mentions as you head towards the large door. You furrow your eyebrows in confusion, wondering how she knew who you're looking for. "You're looking for Loki, right?"

You nod your head in answer and point in the other direction, telling you that he and Valkyrie went down that hall. "Thank you," you tell her, and she smiles at you.

"Just be careful! I don't know the reason but Valkyrie had Loki in chains," she informs you, and your stomach drops before rushing in the direction she pointed you in.

You find Valkyrie's room and look around before hacking into the system, something you learned from an old friend years ago.  

The door opens and you let out a breathy laugh, proud that you were able to succeed.

"Y/N?" Loki's voice calls out and your eyes meet him, a short gasp leaving your lips. "How'd you get in here?"

You run into the room and kneel beside him, looking for a way to take the chains off as Valkyrie's door shuts. "I hacked into the keypad," you inform him and Loki laughs in response.

"Well, aren't you devious," he grins and you look up at him. "But, maybe it's for the best that you don't release me."

You furrow your eyebrows together in confusion, lowering your hands from the chain he's wrapped in. "How come?" You ask and before Loki could answer Valkyrie's door opens.

"How'd you get in here?!" She asks while stepping towards you.

A gasp leaves your lips as the tip of her sword rests against your throat. "I-I hacked the system," you mumble quietly and take a glance towards Loki. "I heard you locked him up so I came to free him."

Thor takes a step forward and makes Valkyrie drop her weapon. "She means no harm," he tells her and the woman scoffs in response.

"Means no harm?! She would've let him go if we didn't come in when we did!" She argues and Loki clears his throat, gaining everyone's attention.

"To be fair, I told her not to let me go," he informs the group and you're nodding your head in agreement.

"It's true. He told me just before you guys came in," you mumble and slowly get up from the floor.

Valkyrie narrows her eyes at you before pressing you against the wall, her hands wrapping around your throat. "Betray us and I'll kill you slowly," she growls and you gulp, nodding your head in response.

She walks back towards Thor and the shorter man as you slide down against the wall, your chest heaving. Loki glances towards you and you give him a small smile.

"You okay?" He asks quietly and you nod your head again. Thor notices the softness in his brother's eyes as the raven-haired looks down at you.

"So, what's the plan?" Valkyrie asks Thor.

-

You couldn't believe your ears. You'd be lying if you said it didn't hurt to hear Loki ask for safe passage off of the planet. You didn't want Loki to leave, not after falling for the man. You're left alone in Valkyrie's room as everyone began working on the plan. You push yourself off of the floor before walking out of the woman’s apartment, deciding to make your way down to where your father’s ship is stored.

“Maybe, I can convince him to stay,” you mumble to yourself as you stand in the elevator, slowly waiting for it to drop you off. A deep sigh leaves your lips as so many thoughts play through your head.

You reach the lower level of the tower where all the ships are stored and look around the large area to see if the group is still here. You glance towards where your father’s ship is normally parked, your stomach dropping to see that it’s not there anymore. Your ears perk up as you can hear someone grunting and you furrow your eyebrows together as you walk towards the noise.

A gasp leaves your lips as you see Loki laying on the floor, getting electrocuted by an obedience disc that everyone uses. “Loki,” you call out before rushing towards the man. You grab the remote to it before kneeling beside him, turning it off. Loki pants heavily as his green eyes meet yours for a few moments before slowly shutting them.

“Oh, thank you,” he breathes out and you giggle softly while resting a hand on his chest.

“I thought you left with everyone else?” You ask immediately and the man shakes his head. Footsteps can be heard behind you and you glance over your shoulder to see all of your father’s contenders standing behind you.

“Hey, guys. We’re about to jump on that ginormous spaceship. You wanna come?” The man you know as Korg asks the two of you.

Loki slowly sits up, his hand resting against the ground as he lets out a breathy laugh. “Well, you do seem like you’re in desperate need of leadership,” Loki points out before glancing towards you, seeing the saddened look on your face.

“Why, thank you,” Korg mentions as the group begins to walk towards the ship.

You push yourself up from the floor, clearing your throat as Loki’s eyes move to you once more. “So, you’re really leaving?” You ask and the man sighs before nodding his head.

“I need to help my brother stop our sister,” he says and you nod your head in understanding, your hands moving to grab a hold of his wrists. Loki’s hands find yours before lacing your fingers together.

The raven-haired man brings your hand to his lips, kissing the back of it. “Come with me,” he mumbles and your heart skips a beat, eyes widening at his request. “You could be so much more than the Grandmaster’s daughter. You won’t have to deal with the malicious fights that he puts on. You can live a somewhat normal life.”

Your hand squeezes his as a smile comes to your lips. “Any other reason you’d want me to come with?” You question in hope that the man has some sort of feelings for you.

Loki chuckles as one of his hands leaves yours to wrap around your waist, pulling your body closer to his. Your cheeks blush as your hands now rest on his chest, your eyes looking up at him through your lashes. “There might be,” he whispers and you shudder a bit in his arms.

Your hands slide up his chest before wrapping them around his neck, your fingers gliding through his black hair. Your heart beats quickly in your chest as Loki moves his free hand to your face, stroking your cheekbone.

"So, what will it be, darling?" Loki asks and you smile brightly.

You lean on your toes and place a light kiss on the man's lips, earning a short groan from him. "We better get going," you giggle and Loki's grip on your waist tighten before the two of you run towards the ship.

Goodbye, Sakaar. Goodbye, Father.

-

Taglist: @poweredbyghostadventures @valentine5sos​ @deephideoutmilkshake @noisynightmarefest​ @albinoclifford @jessalyn-jpeg​ @suchalonelysunflower​ @maddz-world​ @queen-of-mischief​

[myhockeyworld87]

Frisky for a Fight - Jamie Benn

Word Count: 3,250

POV: Reader

Warnings: NSFW, Language, Smut

Notes: So watching Jamie Benn fight the other night was just a turn on for me and I ended up writing a little something for it. I decided to use the reader from Ruined, hope you guys don’t care. As always I love to hear your feedback. Happy Reading!!!

(Also not my pic)

You didn’t see the exchange between Zadorov and Dellandrea, only the commentary from the announcers that the young pup had made a hit on the Blackhawk, and then words were exchanged. The television was always on in the training room for you to watch the game if, you weren't on the ramp. You’d been marking down a few things in your charts after taking care of a couple of the guys during intermission, which is why you missed Jamie drop the gloves when play resumed. As soon as you heard them say that, you picked your head up to see the exchange.

You had a love-hate relationship with Jamie fighting, always had. On the one hand, you hated it, because there was always this risk of him getting hurt. While on the other, you found it incredibly sexy. There was just something about seeing him all angry and fired up, that just did things to you, and this fight was definitely doing it to you now. Which was wrong, so wrong. Your panties she should not be getting wet at this moment, but the minute he threw that left uppercut right into Zadorv’s face, you felt your pussy clench.

The fight only last seconds, as the refs came in and broke it up rather quickly after that. You watched Jamie, skate over to the penalty box taking off his helmet, pushing his hair back once he got in, giving you a chance to see what the damage was to his face. Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be any, but you wouldn’t be able to tell until the second intermission which was a while away. There was no point in making yourself suffer, so you headed up towards the bench to see if you could get a closer look without seeming to be hovering over him.

You stood there on the runway, leaning against the wall arms folded as you waited. Jamie saw you staring, could tell by your stance you weren’t pleased that he’d got into another fight, though it was the first of the shortened season. He knew he’d be in for an earful the second the period ended. You kept staring at him over there in that box, all the while Jamie was fretting. Not about dealing with Bones, he knew his coach wouldn’t give him too much hell, but you; you were a different story and the last person he wanted to displease.

When they finally released him and he skated over to the bench to the sound of sticks taping once again cheering him on, you were able to assess the damage. He looked good, nothing seemed to be bruising or swelling, though he should probably get some ice on those knuckles; just for preventative measures. Jamie's eyes darted around to all his teammates before they laid square on you. His signature puppy dog's eyes coming out to tell you he was sorry. You simply shook your head and made your way back to the training room.

Bones talked to guys briefly after the second period before you went in. “So how bad are you?” you asked, grabbing his hands to see the damage. There were a few scraps but nothing that was bleeding or needing attention.

“I’m fine.” He snipped back, earning a disapproving glare from you. He could fight all he wanted with them, but he would not be picking one with you.

“I can see that,” you retorted. “Put some ice on those before they swell.” The guys went about their usual intermission break, making changes here and there with plays, and pointing out weaknesses they could try and capitalize on. All while guzzling Gatorade and something to give them a bit more energy in the third. Everyone started to filter back to the bench as the reprieve was over while Jamie lingered behind.

“Sorry I was snippy before. I just thought you were going to yell at me for fighting.”

“As long as you’re not hurt. I have no need to yell.” You shrugged off the matter, not wanting to get into how the whole thing actually made you dripping wet. He turned to head back down the ramp and out to the bench, a sulking look on his face as if he didn't believe that you were mad at him. "Jame," you yelled out, making sure there weren't too many prying eyes around before you grabbed him and kissed him hard on the mouth. "I'm not encouraging you to fight again, but I was very turned on by that punch to Zadorov's face." You couldn't let him go back out on the ice in a brooding mood, or he'd definitely be dropping the gloves in the third.

"Really?" His eyes perked up, and there was a distinct sparkle to them. One that you'd seen many times as before right before he ripped your clothes off, though that wouldn't be happening here.

"Yes, but if you do it again; you won’t be finding out exactly how wet I am,” you whispered, before swatting at his padded ass. “Now get back out there, captain.” The smile on his face told you, that you didn’t need to worry about him fighting the rest of the game, as he made his way back onto the ice; a little more pep in his step than before.

For the rest of the game, Jamie seemed to behave himself. There might have been an unnecessary check here and quite possibly a shove that wasn’t needed there, but at least his fists weren’t flying into anyone’s face. The game didn’t end how they hoped, as the Stars fell to Chicago. After a few words from coach, some of the guys, including Jamie, headed over to do media. You saw him roll his eyes at having to sit through what he considered the worst form of torture. It was even more so that, now that he knew how turned on you were after his fight. He was definitely distracted as the reporters fired off a few questions, little did they know where his mind actually was.

You finished cleaning up the training room, letting the athletic trainers go early as you waited for Jamie to finish up. He was just finishing buttoning up his shirt when you walked into the locker room. He spied you and his hands immediately stopped, leaving a good four buttons hanging undone. “So you found that little fight sexy, eh?”

There was no one else in the locker room as everyone else had left. So, you were free to saunter up to him and slide your hands up his torso until you could feel his exposed chest. “I’ll admit it was kind of hot.”

“Just kind of?” He grabbed your waist, pressing your body intimately to his where you could feel his erection.

“Well, I guess there’s only one way to find out.” His eyebrows lifted at your suggestion, while his hands roamed down the cheeks of your ass, gathering the fabric of your skirt as he went. It was nothing new for the two of you to get a little frisky when no one else was around. Jamie admitting once that he always wanted to have sex on his locker stall, was all it took to make that fantasy a reality, and while it didn’t happen often, it had happened a couple of times.

His hands worked the globes of your ass, the cool air hitting them as he hiked your skirt up to your waist. Fingers shifting, you felt him move to your core, where you knew he’d find your panties moist. “Fuck baby, have you been this wet since the second?”

“Uh huh,” you moaned before kissing him hard. To your surprise, Jamie moved his hand away and started shimming your skirt back down your lips. “Aren't we…” He didn’t let you finish, just grabbed your hand and headed out of the locker room. You knew you weren’t headed to the car, as he left his jacket hanging. “Where are we going?”

“I’m feeling frisky tonight.”

“I gathered that when you dropped the gloves.” He rolled his eyes as he looked back at you.

When he headed up the ramp that led to the bench, you pulled back on his hand. “Everyone’s gone.” He told you, and while you knew that all of the players and coaches weren’t there, there were still people that worked in the arena milling about. “Come on babe, trust me. Unless you just want to wait until we’re home?” His free hand, snuck between your thighs, letting his fingers dance along your folds.

You moaned in frustration. There wasn’t really a choice here. “No, I don’t.” The minutes the words were out of your mouth, he had your feet moving again. The arena was dark, except for the emergency lighting that dimly lit up the place. Shockingly, he opened the door to the ice though and stepped out onto it.

He picked you up and carried you across to the penalty box before you could even ask where you were going. “I couldn’t stop thinking about taking you here all third period. I’d like to say overtime too, but I was trying to concentrate on the game then.” You laughed, the sound echoing through the building, which made you immediately quiet again. “Thought we could actually do some sinning in this bin.”

He set you down inside the box first before coming behind you and closing the door. The wicked gleam in his eye matched the smirk on your face and the next thing you knew he was shoving you up against the glass, his mouth hot and heavy on yours. Your hands scrambled to undo his shirttails, while he shoved your jacket off your shoulders. His mouth was everywhere, on your lips and on your neck as they made their way down to your breasts. Jamie sucked on a perk nipple through the fabric of your blouse; your back arching into him.

You were so lost in the sensation of his lips that you didn’t realize the loud moan that escaped you.  “Shh,” Jamie hushed before capturing your lips with his. Regaining some of your senses, you quickly undid his belt buckle, before sliding the zipper of his pants down. If you were going to do this you might as well, live out a little fantasy of your own. You pushed back on Jamie’s chest, causing him to pull back in question.

“Since we’re sinning. There’s a little something I’ve always wanted to do to you here.” Pushing both his pants and boxers down to his knees, you backed him up to the bench, where he sat only hours ago for fighting. As you stared over at him earlier your mind had wanted to do one thing and now you had the opportunity. He sat down hard with just a simple push of your hand. His legs spreading immediately, as you sunk down to your knees. You wasted no time, letting your hand drift up his thighs, before guiding his cock into your mouth.

Jamie hissed out his pleasure. His hand threading through your hair as you sunk down on him. “Fuck baby, that feels so good.” You heard his head hit the back of the glass, as he hit the back of your throat. You worked the length of him in and out of your mouth. Part of you wished that the camera that was there was on, recording this. You wanted to see Jamie caught up in ecstasy as you worked your magic on him, but that would have to be for another time. He gathered your locks into a loose ponytail so he could watch you bob up and down on his cock. “Jesus, you look so beautiful.” They were whispered words of praise that went straight to your core.

When you hollowed out your cheeks, his head fell back once again against the plexiglass. It was then that you picked up speed and added a little hum. The vibrations sending Jamie almost spiraling to the point of no return, but he held it together even though his hips lifted off the bench. He was close. You could feel it in the way that his balls tightened under your touch and the way he seemed to almost let go completely. He held on by a small single thread and you knew it was because he didn’t want to spend in your mouth. He wanted to be buried deep inside your pussy when he finally came.

There was both disappointment and relief in his eyes as you released him with a pop; saliva and precum dripping from your mouth. He lifted you off the ground, then brought your mouth to his in a soul-searing kiss. “Fuck baby, you’re so good to me.” His hands worked the fabric of your skirt again, the cold of the ice making you shiver. Jamie hooked his fingers in the strings of your panties and ripped them off your body. You wanted to chide him for being so careless with the lace garment but that sheer animal magnetism of the action drew you to him even more.

You straddled him. Legs on both sides of his hips, as you slowly guided his member to your pussy. The feel of him deep inside you was like no other. It was like coming home and yet something new every single time. You’d been wanting this for the last couple of hours and now here you both were, though you hadn’t imagined it quite like this. Slowly, you swiveled your hips, making both you and Jamie hiss out in pleasure. You began to ride building up a rhythm that you both loved.

Jamie took hold of your hips, helping to steady you as you moved. Vaguely, you realized you pressed a hand to the glass behind Jamie and wondered if the imprint would still be there the next game. Would anyone realized that it wasn’t just someone trying to bang on the glass, but instead it was you being carried away in pure bliss as you rode their captain. Jamie brought you back to reality as he slid the v-neck blouse you wore off one shoulder so he could play with your breast. “I just want to rip this off you.”

“Do it,” you hissed out, knowing that he’d buy you dozens more to replace it. It was harder to tear than the panties but then Jamie was a man on a mission, just like he was earlier. His hands tore at the fabric the same ones that had punched Zadorov only hours ago. Now they were gentler, as they cupped your breast, tweaking and playing with the nipple. You threw your head back, only to have his mouth replace his fingers. He sucked on the turret peak then gently bit down. Your hips shot up, as a rush of wetness flooded Jamie’s cock buried inside you.

Suddenly, Jamie’s hands were on your ass and in one fluid motion he lifted you both up. Instinctively, you wrapped your legs around his waist as your back was pressed against the plexiglass; your heels digging into his ass but he enjoyed the bite. You clung to Jamie as he began to pound his cock into you. Foreheads pressed together, all that could be heard in the arena was the two of you panting as you sought that high you both craved. “Come on baby…” Jamie breathed out. “Cum for me.”

He was holding out, waiting for you and with a shift of his hips, he hit that sweet spot and sent you over the plateau. A silent scream was all that you let out as pleasure coursed through your veins. Jamie tucked his head into your neck, as he thrust a few more times before finding his own release. He held you up against the glass for a minute as your breathing calmed. “Can you stand?”

“I think so.” You’d forgotten about your heels until he set you down on them, but Jamie’s hands lingered on your hips to steady you. Once you regained your balance, you shimmied your skirt back down, while Jamie righted himself as well. “Where are my panties?” you whispered, only the receive a smirk from Jamie. The dim lighting wasn’t really conducive to finding your clothing, which even if it was ripped you still wanted.

Jamie lightly chuckled before he said, “We could always leave them for someone to find.”

“Jamie!” It was a little louder than you intended but you’d be totally mortified if someone on the team found them laying there.

“Is someone out there?” a voice called out shocking you.

“It’s just me Bill,” Jamie yelled to one of the custodians. “I was looking for my mouthguard.” You looked at Jamie questioningly and he just shrugged, as if it was the best he could think of on short notice. When you looked down embarrassed that you’d been caught, you finally saw your torn panties under Jamie’s foot. You shot down and snatched the garment up and shoved it in Jamie’s pocket. “Found it,” he yelled out to Bill. “I’ll be out of here shortly.”

“No problem Cap.” You heard Bill start to leave only to stop short and turn back around. “Hell of fight tonight, Cap. Hope we get to see some more like that this season. It seems to gets everyone riled up.”

“It sure does,” Jamie yelled back at Bill while grabbing your ass at the same time. “It sure does,” he repeated only this time quieter so only you would hear.

“Don’t even think that this is going to be a little habit, Benn.”

“Aww, come on baby. You have to admit it was fun. I don’t think I’ll ever sit in this box again without having a little smile on my face.”

“Well don’t think that this is some kind of reward for fighting because let me tell you; the first time I’m stitching you up because someone planted a facer on you, I already have your punishment in mind and it won't be anything like this.” You opened the door to the penalty box and waited for Jamie to step out and carry you since you had heels on. Which he did of course.

“What kind of punishment.” He queried as you made your way across the ice.

"That’s for me to know and for you to hopefully not find out.”

“This isn’t going to be like when you tried to get me to stop chewing snuff is it?”

“It worked, didn’t it. You don’t chew that shit anymore.”

“No, because if I did you wouldn’t let me near you.” It was true, every time Jamie chewed snuff you made it a point that sex, including kissing and whatnot was off the table, at least until he brushed, flossed, and rinsed with mouthwash. You weren’t sure what Jamie’s punishment was going to be for fighting yet but it would definitely run along those lines. “What happens if they all end up like this?”

Hmm, well that might be an entirely different story, as you were still ready to continue what you started in the sin bin. “Hmmm, I guess we will have to see if it’s still a turn on when it happens again.”

Jamie came up and grabbed your waist hauling you against him. “I’m more interested if you’re still turned on now.”

“Take me home and let’s find out.”  

[thewritetofreespeech]

JUJUTSU KAISEN | SATORU GOJO + READER

(tags: teacher x student, nsfw, a little megumi + reader!unrequited)

The sound of batons clanging together rung out amongst the trees around Tokyo Tech. Their sound almost rhythmic. Musical. Until their song was cut off by a pained gasped for air and the fumbling sound of someone falling on their ass. “On your feet Megumi!” You shout at the first year, who looked up at you from his spot on the ground. “You should know by now that when I come at you from the left with that move that I’m already coming at you from the right when you block. I’ve put you on your ass with it like 100 times now.”

The black haired teen pouted, though he would insist that he wasn’t, as he looked away and muttered a sullen, “Sorry [Y/N]-senpai.”

You sigh, but quickly offer up a smile and step forward to offer him your hand. “The fight isn’t just about what’s going on in front of you. It’s about wasn’t going on 10 seconds from now that you have account for too.”

“Such wise words!” Both you and Megumi look up, past the little arena you had built for yourself, to Gojo at the top of the stairs. “[Y/N]-chan is so smart. I was very wise to leave Megumi-kun in their care while I was gone.”

“You didn’t ‘leave him in my care’ Gojo-sensei. Aside from he’s a grown man, you more just took off without telling anyone anything.”

“Sorry, sorry, you’re right!” The white-haired man laughed at your accurate recounting of events. Amused, as always, by everything. “I was called away on a mission. Very important. They didn’t even give me a chance to get a clean pair of underwear. Those slave drivers.” Both you and Megumi frown at his antics. Honestly, if he wasn’t so strong, no one would put up with him most days. “Unfortunately, they’re sending me out again tomorrow. I’m only here to get a clean bill of health to go back in the field. Sorry Megumi. Your training is going to have to be on hold again for a little while longer.”

“That’s ok.” Megumi replied. Seeming used to the disappointment and having to play second fiddle to his teacher’s first job as a jujutsu sorcerer. “I have my own missions. And [Y/N]-senpai is doing a good job of helping me while you’re away.”

You offer the first year a soft smile. Happy for the praise.

Satoru clapped once and offered you both a big grin before stating, “[Y/N]-chan is so reliable! This is why I have them look after my precious students while I’m away.” You roll your eyes. Realizing it’s pointless to argue with him on the fact that, again, he’d never asked. You were just doing the first years a solid. “I do need to talk to you though, [Y/N]-chan. Can you go play with Yuji-kun and Nobara-chan for a while Megumi?”

The younger teen frowned. Megumi apparently not liking being brushed off like a child, but didn’t argue. He gave a stern ‘yes sensei’ before leaving to go find his classmates. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

“Not here.” Gojo replied to your question. Pressing his fingers to his lips. “Too many eyes and ears.”

He led you back to one of the main buildings. Getting you into an empty classroom before he closed the door and pinned you against it. His teeth almost crashing into yours with the force of how he kissed you. “Yare, yare…I’ve been wanting to do that all day.” You couldn’t see his grin with how close you still were, but you could hear it in his voice. His quick, nimble fingers already going for your uniform coat. “Watching you spar with Megumi really made my blood boil. I’m a lucky guy. To have a strong, smart, sexy woman for my girl.”

“Satoru—“ Your voice was cut off when he slipped his knee between your legs higher up to rub against you. Shamefully making you moan. He really had been gone too long, and his body wasn’t the only one that was boiling from your spar with Megumi.

“I missed you.” Satoru said, whispered really into your ear, before he attacked your neck. You moan again. He knows that was your weak spot. “We have to be quick. I wish we could be together longer, but I have to leave again soon.”

“Seriously?” You ask. Looking up at him while your hands cling to the front of his uniform. You thought he’d just said that to mess with Megumi.

“Yeah. It sucks. Sometimes I think those old farts just keep sending me on stupid missions to keep us apart.”

You sigh, and want to shake your head but it’s too busy tipping back in pleasure as he fondled your breasts. That’s not why they do it.

Aside from the simple fact that they send Satoru because he was the strongest, and there were just so few of you, they couldn’t send him away because of your relationship because no one knew about your relationship. It was a secret. And that’s how it would have to be until you graduated next year. You love Satoru, and he loved you, but the world and the school wouldn’t appreciate a student dating a teacher. Even you had to admit that this wasn’t right, but you couldn’t stop yourself when it came to Satoru.

“I won’t be gone long. Just a few days.” You gasp when the older man entered you. The move slow and deliberate as he pushed into you, as well as lifted your feet off the ground to wrap your legs around his waist. “Don’t worry. You’ll have Megumi to keep you company.”

“Don’t…joke…about that…” Your voice stuttered with everyone of his thrusts. Trying to stifle your moans as you were still on campus and in a classroom, but it felt so good!

You know he’s talking about Megumi having a crush on you. A fact you are aware of and felt bad about. He was a sweet guy. He didn’t deserve to have his feelings hurt. And, honestly, you should be with him. He was closer to you in age. He was a nice guy, who was smart, a good fighter, and could offer you a more appropriate relationship you didn’t have to keep secret all the time.

And here you were. Fucking his teacher.

“Shit. Fuck! I’m gonna cum.”

“S-Satoru!” You cry out back to him as you came as well. Walls quivering around his cock as it pulsed inside you.

You both stay like that for a bit. Enjoying your stolen moment, and a chance to catch your breath, before Satoru let you down. “Is that all you came back for?” You ask, once you had straightened yourself up.

“No. Of course not. I really did need that sign off. And those clean undies I mentioned.” Satoru quipped with a grin, and you roll your eyes. Ever the jokester.

You pause in adjusting your uniform top when he took chin between his fingers and tilted it up to him. Giving you a kiss that made you swoon. “I did really just want to come back and see you. But I can’t help myself when I’m around you.” You blush a little at his confession. Making Satoru smirk before he let you go. “When I get back, I should have a little break this time. We’ll hang out proper. Go see a movie. Get some crepes in the park. The works.” You smile a little at the prospect and lean up to give him a kiss this time.

“It’s a date.” You told him.

“That’s what I was planning on.” He replied. Patting your head before you both leave the room to go your separate ways. Just one more year and you could leave together like you wanted.

[aficwhore]

Truth Is

Chapter 1: A Night Many Months Ago

Frankie "Catfish" Morales x F!reader

Summary: When reuniting for the mission in Colombia, Frankie and the reader (nicknamed "Chipmunk"), bicker due to their rocky past. After some angry exchanges, a few truths come out, changing both of their perspectives. Will the relationship be mended? Or once this is over, will they go back to the way things were before?

Word Count: 3K

Warnings: explicit language, blood, violence, guns/weapons, lots of angst and emotions, infidelity, talk of sex and sexual encounters, drinking, mentions of drugs, talk of death, and talk of mental health(PTSD, depression).

A/N: This was inspired by the song "Truth Is" by Sabrina Claudio. I want to make this a series (my first series ever), but it's still being decided, so please let me know if you want this to be continued! And I am still taking requests and prompts! Thanks Lovelies <3

"Cmon, please Chip, we can't do this without you." Santiago begged, his hands clasped together in front of him to show his desperation as he stood before me in my small apartment kitchen. I sighed, glancing around our surroundings. He had come to ask about joining one last escapade, one last job and we'd all be set for the rest of our lives.

Finally breaking the silence and meeting his weary gaze, "Who all have you rounded up? If Will or Benny said no, there's no way I'm doing it without them." I took another deep breath, turning to continue the dishes I had been doing when Pope showed up.

Santi's face began to light up, his stance growing slightly as he grinned, "Great! They both wanted in, so did Tom." Seeming relieved he leaned against the counter next to the sink and crossed his arms.

"And F-Fish?" I hesitated, pausing the scrubbing on the porcelain dish in my hand. It felt like the air in my lungs no longer existed. My heart began to pound it's way up my throat and into my ears.

His head dipped down, feeling the concern laced in my voice. Clearing his voice, he quietly explained "Haven't asked him yet, he was last on my list."

I silently placed the last dish onto the rack near the sink and wiped my wet hands on my jeans, looking down and watching the wet marks gradually making themselves known. No longer forcing myself to make eye contact, I nodded at the ground.

"Look, querida, if you two just talked I'm sure it would work out." He pushed himself off the counter and stepped towards me, reaching a hand out and gently rubbing my shoulder to console me. "But don't let this change your mind, we really do need you."

"When are you going to mention it to him?" I breathed out, wanting to keep any and all emotions at bay. His hand on my arm squeezed, as if he was trying to give me some courage.

"Tonight, at Benny's fight, I thought his spirits would be up enough to persuade him." He chuckled lightly, knowing his plan was to take a little bit of advantage of Frankie's mood.

I laughed softly, "Definitely sounds like a Santi move if you ask me."

He smirked and shook his head "I know, shame on me." As he dropped his hand back to his side he quirked, "You should come tonight, we can go out for drinks after the fight, relax a little before we leave tomorrow."

It took me a second to register what he said, but when I did I burst out "wait what?! Tomorrow? Santi, why didn't you tell me that? You forgot the biggest detail!"

He cowered down slightly, rubbing the back of his neck "Because I knew you'd yell at me, it was worth a shot putting off the anger a little longer." He smiled coyly.

Rolling my eyes I couldn't help but forgive his dumb smile. "Well it starts soon, why don't I get my things real quick and we can head to the arena together?"

His smile widened, "Of course!" I grabbed my purse and keys, making sure to turn off the lights and lock the door behind me. As we made our way down the elevator and out to his car, Santi told me a few details about the missions and the plan. But once we got into his rinky dink ford truck, I turned to him.

"About Frankie, I'm sure one of the boys told you, but just in case; his license was revoked." Santi's face contorted with confusion.

"What? How? Did he crash or hurt somebody?" He questioned quickly.

After taking a breath of courage I spoke, "No Pope. He-He was caught with coke."

Santi stayed quiet, turning the engine on. "I don't get it" A sad expression plastered on his face.

With a furrow in my brow I spoke again, "What don't you get? He was doing drugs, hardcore ones at that". I began to ramble more, "For what reason, I'm not sure, maybe the PTSD and depression. Maybe he felt he had no one to go to-"

"Stop. I know." He cut me off while finally shifting the gear into drive and moving up forward. "You can't blame anyone for this. All we can do is move on and help him. He's our friend, okay? But I know he's still the same Fish, just a little turned around."

"I know, okay. I can't help it. From what the boys told me, he seems to be a lot better." I added, stirring in my seat. "Anyways, it's been awhile since all of us have been back together. It's exciting."

Santi snickered, "But didn't you all hang out while I've been out of the U.S.?"

Seeing that we're close to the arena's parking garage I explained, "I mean, yea, but only me, Ironhead, Benny and Fish. I haven't talked to Redfly in months, we all had a fallout with him. Especially me."

"Tom didn't say anything when I talked to him, Do you wanna fill me in?" He asked with a quirked eyebrow.

Huffing, I turn to face him, telling him the events of that night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The four of us, the Millers, Frankie and I sat on my couch, watching TV and talking, when we hear a bang at the door. I got up to open it and find Tom slumped on the doorway. He looked rough and smelled like he had been drinking the past several days. "Woah, Tom, you're really drunk, and you drove here?"

He snapped, beginning to yell, "Who are you to judge me? Huh? My wife left me, this is how I cope." He angrily pushed his way past me and tumbled into the living room. He was greeted with the boys standing around him with concerned faces.

"What the hell were you thinking? You know how dangerous that is? You know you could've called and we would've been there for you!" I raised my voice back, causing Tom to swing around to face me.

He laughed darkly, "Oh shut up 'Miss Perfect,' just like you did for Fish? When he was nose deep in coke? Or are you too self obsessed? Or do you just have favorites!"

"Hey man, that's not cool." Will interrupted and tried to get a handle on Tom. Frankie lowered his head in embarrassment. Will reached forward and placed a hand on his back, but things escalated more.

"Oh okay, yea protect the whore, we all know she's there for you guys more than just talking. I wouldn't doubt it if you all fucked her too. But me? Nah, you leave me out of everything." Tom howled, yanking away from Will and slurring his words and no longer making sense.

Anger becoming more prominent, I spoke, "Seriously?! Whore?! How is it my fault that you push us away and don't let us help? We include you in everything, but you have your head so far stuck up your ass you never show up!" I've come face to face with him, my hot breath and voice blowing into his face above me. "And another thing, I'm not a whore, you asshole, I'm with Frankie!"

He leaned closer to me, his breath reeking of alcohol, "Just him? Does he know where you're at everyday Monday and Wednesday at 1?! I doubt it!"

Frankie speaks up, "What? What is he talking about?" A devilish smirk makes its way to Tom's face.

"Nothing, I swear it's nothing." I try to explain, making eye contact with my partially hurt lover.

"Tell him, tell him you've been seeing a 'Dr. Philips.' Go on, do it." He rubs it in.

Looking behind Tom, I saw Frankie looking like his world had just shattered. "You've been seeing someone?!"

Panicking, I speak, "Yes, but it's not what you think, I promise!"

"Then what is it?" Tom adds, stumbling back a foot and crossing his arms contently at the damage he just caused.

Benny spoke up, knowing the truth about who I was "seeing." "You need to leave man, you have no right to say shit like that. You don't know the real situation"

Tom burst, yelling "I want her to admit it! I want her to admit that she isn't the perfect bitch she makes herself out to be!"

"Fuck you! Get the hell out of my house!" I scream, tears slightly welling in my eyes. "Frankie-" I turn to him, but to find him grabbing his things. "Baby please, let me explain."

"Explain what? You've been cheating on me?" his voice is loud, and cracks slightly.

A tear breaks its way down my cheek, "I haven't, Frankie, please believe me." I grab his hand, trying to stall his movements, but he pulls away.

"You just admitted it!" He frowns and yanks his hand away and heads for the door.

"That's right Fishie boy! Leave her, she's no good anyway!" Tom squawks as Benny grabs a hold of him and shoves him to the door, Will right behind to help.

"You bastard!" I lunged forward and swung my hand, landing right on the side of his face with a loud crack. Frankie spun around, startled at my actions.

The action only fueled Tom's anger because he ripped away from Benny's grip and grabbed me. I didn't back down and started to shove him and swing my arms, hitting him in the face and chest as he fought back.

But just as quickly as the fight started, it ended. Frankie tore me off of Tom, pinning me to his chest and stopping my brutal hits. Will and Benny wrested Tom into submission and dragged him out of the front door as he yelled slurs at me, and dumped him outside with a battered face.

While the brothers were dealing with a drunk Redfly, Frankie scolded and verbally fought with me.

"Just tell me! Who is Dr. Philips!" He questioned, slightly shaking me by the shoulders.

With many emotions running through my head, I couldn't process what was going on. "I-I can't, Frankie, I can't even admit it to myself." Tears streaming down my face I brought my hands up to the sides of his face. "But you have to believe me, por favor (please)."

Francisco looked like he was fighting an emotional battle in his mind. He finally spoke, "Either you tell me, or I leave, I can't do this, not if you keep things from me."

Feeling my heart break, I whispered "Please, mi amor (my love), don't make me. I'm not strong enough." My eyes now running like an open faucet and my hands tightly pressed to his cheeks.

He blinks away tears, reaching his hands up to grab mine and pull them away from his face, "Then I have to go." He drops my hands and turns to leave.

"Por favor no me dejes! (Please don't leave me)" I call after him, watching as he heads out of the door and into the night, leaving me alone. I drop to the floor, tears blurring my vision and all that can be heard are my sobs.

After what feels like hours, Will and Benny return, picking me up off the floor and taking me to my bed. They lay me down, attempting to help my emotional breakdown. They pick up whatever mess that was left after the event of that night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~end flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"And after that night, Tom was no longer invited anywhere with us. Frankie distanced himself and refused to talk to me. But Will and Benny did their best to be there for me in any way they could. They did the same for Frankie. But as for Tom, they casted him out, because he changed, badly." I finished covering the story of that night, fighting the tears that threatened to spill. "And the Dr. Philips I was seeing, was my therapist. I didn't want anyone to know I wasn't okay mentally. I was embarrassed and part of me didn't want to admit I needed help. The lives we chose aren't easy."

Santi parked, and seemed shocked, "I'm sorry love, I knew you split with Fish, but didn't know any details or about Tom." He reached over and patted my thigh sympathetically. "I really am sorry that you went through all of that because Tom was an asshole. You really don't have to do this-"

"No I want to, I'm in a better place, so is everyone else." I smiled shyly, wanting to lift the spirits. "So what do you say? Let's go wrangle up our boys and get rich?"

Pope smiled brightly, "Hell yes!" We both got out of the car, and headed to the back of the arena and knocked, hoping Will was there to open it like he told Santi he would. Much to our luck, the door swung open to reveal a tall, smiling, blonde Miller brother.

"Brother!" Santi chuckled as he pulled the eldest Miller into a hug, clapping each other on the back. They pulled away as Pope headed inside to find the others.

"Hey pretty girl, long time no see." Will joked, hugging me tightly.

I scoffed, "Will, you were just at my house last night." We both laughed and he led me into a rank smelling locker room, which I assumed was for Benny to get ready. As we rounded the corner, I saw Benny and Tom chatting on one of the benches between the lockers.

"Chipmunk!" Benny roared as he ran over, picked me up and spun me around. "I missed you! I'm so glad you could make it!" He sat me back down and stepped back to sit on the bench again.

"Of course, I wouldn't miss you getting your ass beat for the world!" I giggled as I winked at him, showing the younger of us a bit of love.

He shook his head with a grin. As my eyes left him, they met with the eyes of Tom. He seemed to have a look of regret, trying to give me a sad smile.

I walked over to him, reaching my hand in a fist forward, lightly tapping his shoulder, "Hey fly, how you been?"

A small wave of relief washed over him as he responded "I'm good Chip, how are you? And look I'm really sorry, I wasn't in a good place and I regret-"

"Its okay Tom, really, it is. I'm just glad you're better. It's water under the bridge." I sit next to him and pat his back, showing that all, or at least most, is forgiven.

He nods slowly, "Thank you, it means a lot that you're here."

"Oh cmon you have to admit it, you couldn't do it without me, the best there is." I pretend to act over confident and burst into laughter. And Tom joins in.

As Tom and I begin to catch up, talking about what we've missed these past several months, I overhear a conversation.

"Hermano (brother)! How are you?" Santi greets Frankie, I assume, he was the last of us, who wasn't already here. When I realize that it is him, my heart begins to race. My skin starts to burn and get hot, my palms becoming sweaty.

"Pope! Benny! Ironhead! What is this, a reunion?" Frankie's voice echoes as they come closer. As the three round the corner, "All we need is Redfly and Chip-" Frankie stops as we become revealed to him. Tom gets up immediately and struts over to give Fish a hug. Frankie's face lights up with glee and hugs him back. When they step away from each other, I wearily stand up and all he does is give an awkward smile and nods in my direction.

Benny attempts to whisper to Santi, "Ouch, that's cold." And Santi jabs him in the stomach with his elbow, causing him to double over and make a "hmf" sound.

Being slightly hurt, I break the uneasy tension by opening an invitation, "Alright well I'm gonna go get a beer and find us some good seats, it's close to showtime!" Faking a smile I continue, "Who's coming?"

"Me, I can't be in here with this doofus anymore." Will chuckle as he ruffles Ben's hair and follows right behind me.

When we make it to the concession stand and order beers, Will taps my arm, "How are you feeling?"

With a sigh, "Honestly I expected that, but it hurt more when it actually happened. But what can I say." I grab out drinks from the concession worker and thank her and turn on my heels to find a seat. "I love him, and if that means waiting to mend things, it worth it, even if it means waiting forever."

Will offers a sympathetic grin. "It'll work, just watch. Oh! Over there! Perfect seats!" He points as his attention was caught by an opening near the rink. He pursues it as I follow behind.

While we sit, we joke around, waiting for the rest of the gang to come sit and watch Benny get thrown around. Finally the last three show up and sit with us, Tom sat on Will's right side, me on his other side, Santi on my left, but when Frankie walks up, he bends down and whispers to Santi, causing him to scoot further away from me and leaving room for Frankie to slot himself between us. Which took me by surprise. Once he was seated, he glanced over to me and gave me a genuine smile.

We don't say a word as the lights begin to dim and the announcer's voice breaks through the speaks, introducing our dear Benny and his opponent.

Our small group starts to cheer and scream Benny's name, to show him support. As he enters the rink, he searches for us, and when he finds us, he smiles big.

In the midst of all the commotion, Frankie leans over and whispers to me, "I missed you, cariño (sweetheart)."

My face whips around to meet a very close Fish, who is smiling. "I missed you too." I give a small smile and lean to my side to shoulder bump him, as he places a hand on my knee.